Midweek Musings, Actual Golf Edition

Lost in the miasma of the flood-the-zone Tiger coverage, is some actual golf news....

The NCAA's - It's been great, though there hasn't been much oxygen available.  First, the indy champ:

SUGAR GROVE, Ill. – Alabama coach Jay Seawell was recruiting at the Future Masters in Dothan, Ala., when someone suggested he go watch this kid from Mississippi. Seawell 

took a look at 11-year-old Braden Thornberry, noted the uniqueness of his golf swing and thought “that probably won’t last.” 

“Boy were a lot of people wrong,” said Seawell. “He’s the real deal.” 

Thornberry became the first Ole Miss player in program history to win the NCAA Championship on May 29, topping the field by four strokes at Rich Harvest Farms. He took a look at the windy forecast and smiled: his kind of fight. 

Thornberry’s deft touch around the greens helped him record one of only four rounds under par. He closed with a 1-under 71 and 11-under 277 total. Arkansas freshman Mason Overstreet (71) finished solo second at 7 under while Vanderbilt’s Matthias Schwab (75) and Theo Humphrey (70), along with Texas’ Scottie Scheffler (78), tied for third.

All I know is that funky, homemade swing held up best in the blustery final round conditions....

Those conditions made the qualification process for the match play team event must-see TV, as defending champs Oregon posted early and by the time the carnage was complete they were in fifth place.   

Here's Shack's take on a great day of team match-play, but I repeat myself:

The passion of match play has once again made both men's and women's NCAA viewing 

a real joy for those of us who can have a television on all day. A big tip of the cap to Brandt Packer's Golf Channel crew for all of the great reaction shots, aerial footage and NCAA coverage. 

How good was Tuesday's action? 

The Nike Star Trek line sported by Oregon, Vanderbilt and others is actually growing on me. 

Then again, it helps to see the clothes in school colors instead of the Best Pastels of Key West. 

While the Ducks are the defending champs, Oregon's unlikely ascension to the final versus Oklahoma comes after they barely made the team match play portion of the proceedings. Brentley Romine with the Golfweek.com roundup of Oregon defeating Vanderbilt 3-2 and Oklahoma defeating home state hosts Illinois 3½ - 1½ to deprive us of a Pac-12 v. Big 10 match.

It's just great drama, and you'll not want to miss the final set of matches today.  Here's the lineup:

Match 1: No. 130 Blaine Hale (Oklahoma) vs. No. 14 Norman Xiong (Oregon), 3:10 p.m. ET

Hale beat Xiong by six shots in stroke play. 

Match 2: No. 53 Max McGreevy (Oklahoma) vs. No. 121 Edwin Yi (Oregon), 3:20 p.m. ET

McGreevy beat Yi by nine shots in stroke play. 

Match 3: No. 149 Rylee Reinertson (Oklahoma) vs. No. 1 Wyndham Clark (Oregon), 3:30 p.m. ET

Clark beat Reinertson by three shots in match play. 

Match 4: No. 51 Grant Hirschman (Oklahoma) vs. No. 114 Ryan Gronlund (Oregon), 3:40 p.m. ET

Gronlund beat Hirschman by five shots in stroke play. 

Match 5: No. 98 Brad Dalke (Oklahoma) vs. No. 366 Sulman Raza (Oregon), 3:50 p.m. ET

Dalke beat Raza by five shots in stroke play.

You should ignore those stroke play results, as they mean as much right now as the kid's horoscopes.

That last match could be the decider, as Dahlke was the U.S. Open runner-up and Raza appears to be Ian Poulter reincarnate.

Coverage starts at 4;00 in the East, and DVR's should be set.

We Have the Beef - In the U.S. Open, that is:

Englishman Aaron Rai carried his magnificent recent form to Walton Heath Golf Club to earn medalist honors in U.S. Open sectional qualifying and secure his major championship debut at Erin Hills next month. 

The Wolverhampton native, who has won two events on the European Challenge Tour this season, made an incredible late run, with five birdies and an eagle in his final nine holes of the 36-hole qualifier to card a second-round, 8-under 64 and come in at 14-under 130. 

Li Haotong of China, meanwhile, will also make his U.S. Open debut at Erin Hills after he matched Rai’s 64 in Round 2 to place second with a 13-under total. 

Frenchman Alexander Levy will return to the U.S. Open after he finished in a share of third place at 12-under par alongside 2006 U.S. Amateur champion Richie Ramsay. Levy tied for 27th in 2015 at Chambers Bay, his only U.S. Open start, while Ramsay will play the U.S. Open for the first time in 10 years and the first time as a professional.. 

Andrew “Beef” Johnston, who was a fan favorite in his U.S. Open debut at Oakmont Country Club last year, delighted the crowds at Walton Heath, making a hole-in-one on the second hole of the New Course during his morning round, and then recording a pair of eagles during Round 2 to earn his spot with one stroke to spare at 10-under 134.

Shack is, as usual, all over the seemy underbelly of the UK qualifier:

A European Tour story at USOpen.com details how the first U.S. Open sectional went at Walton Heath and in a tradition unlike any other, 23 Euros couldn't be bothered to finish.

Longtime readers know I'm a bit of a WD at Walton Heath connoisseur, so it was nice to see that the current generation is just as disrespectful as recent years when the number usually hovers around 24 WD's.

That's really low rent.... 

Wisdom From Our Elders - Jack had an interesting take on Rory's WD from The Memorial:

“You think I had any injuries when I played? Do you think Arnold had any injuries when he played? Do you think Gary had any injuries when he played? How many tournaments do you think that we entered that we withdrew from during the course of our career?” Nicklaus said. 

He put his forefinger to his thumb to signal zero. 

“Never entered if I wasn’t going to play,” Nicklaus said.

I remember Jack hurting his wrist before the '72 PGA, but that's about all.  But playing through aches and pains is different from real injuries, and sometimes rest is needed.  But do go on, Jack:

“Would they withdraw back 30 years ago? Probably not, because that wasn’t the norm,” Nicklaus said. “We played through it. We had a ton of injuries and I played through it. But that’s sort of the norm today. And the guys … I made my own decisions. I didn’t have an entourage. I didn’t have a fitness trainer. I didn’t have a nutritionist, whatever you all have, somebody to cut my toenails in the morning.

Yeah, that's a good one for sure.... 

I certainly don't think Tiger's retinue has been helpful, but that's for different reasons.... Alas, he wasn't asked about his gym work during his career.....

Tulsa On My Mind - A Most curious announcement from the PGA of America about venues:

PGA of America to Conduct PGA Championship and KitchenAid Senior PGA

Championship at Southern Hills Country Club 

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (May 30, 2017) – The PGA of America announced today that it will host two different major championships at Southern Hills Country Club, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, between now and 2030. 

Southern Hills will host the 2021 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship—the most historic and prestigious major championship in senior golf—and also will be the venue for a PGA Championship no later than 2030.

Surprisingly, it's not the description of the KitchenAid-sponsored event, though that's a worthy howler.

They have awarded Southern Hills a PGA for a year to be named later....  Is it too early to produce the swag?  Why would they do that?  Shack nails it:

The PGA of America is returning to Southern Hills in a big way, awarding the Senior PGA in 2021 and a PGA Championship some time between "now and 2030." The uncertain timing suggests the venue is on standby as a possible replacement course should the PGA Championship move to May, or should they choose to replace an upcoming venue for any other reason. The intrigue!

Too late to replace Bellerive next year? Sorry...

Here's the list of future site awards:

              2017         Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina

              2018         Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis, Missouri

              2019        Bethpage Black, Farmingdale, New York

              2020        TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, California

              2021         The Ocean Course, Kiawah Island (South Carolina) Golf Resort

              2022        Trump International Golf Club, Bedminster, New Jersey

              2023        Oak Hill Country Club, Pittsford, New York

              2024-30* Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, Oklahoma

              * Date to be announced 

The love affair with U.S. Open site hand-me-downs remains perplexing for an event lacking an identity, but so is the affection for hot-weather venues in August (and St. Louis and Tulsa very much qualify).  Have they not seen Lumpy in a wet golf shirt?

But it's those last two that come to mind, for differing reasons.  Rochester in May is a non-starter, and they'll no doubt be watching how the women's Open in Bedminster plays out. 

Tiger, The Hangover

What to lede with today?  Give me a moment, I'll come up with something.

Regrets, I've had a few....  Including yesterday's post, in which I got TMZ'd.  More on that in a bit, first let's cover some of the more basic facts:

The report of Woods's Memorial Day DUI arrest was released by the Jupiter Police Department Tuesday, and it details an alarmingly dangerous string of events for Woods,

who last played professional golf in February. 

According to the report, Officer Palladino saw Woods's black Mercedes stopped in the right lane with the vehicle running, brake lights on and right blinker flashing at 4:22 a.m. The officer reported that Woods was alone in the car, had his seat belt on and was found asleep at the wheel. 

"Woods had extremely slow and slurred speech," according to the report, which listed Woods's attitude as "sluggish, sleepy, unable to walk alone."

So, the reports of the car bobbing and weaving were inaccurate, did they get anything else wrong?

Woods, 41, blew a 0.000 in two breathalyzer tests. He said in his statement Monday night that alcohol was not a factor, instead that it was "an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications." According to the report, Woods said he was taking Solarex, Vicodin, Torix and Vioxx (but that Vioxx hadn't been taken this year). 

Woods told the officer he was "coming from LA California from golfing" and that he "did not know where he was. Woods had changed his story of where he was going and where he was coming from. Woods asked how far from his house he was."

He blew a 0.0000?  I just have to think that there's a better way of expressing that....

But, credit where do, his statement appears to substantively accurate, at least as far as the absence of alcohol and his cooperation with the police are concerned, and those are not small things in the present instance.

This TMZ timeline of inaccurate reports is pretty damn funny, or it would be if they had any self-awareness.  Here's the first entry:

5/30 -- Contrary to what law enforcement sources told us Monday, according to the police report Tiger did not have alcohol in his system and did not refuse a breathalyzer. He also was found stopped on the side of the road and not weaving. 

And, according to the police report, Tiger was cooperative.

Other than that, you really nailed the story.... But did that same "law enforcement source" give you this little tidbit as well:

1:00 PM PT -- We've learned Tiger's girlfriend, Kristin Smith, learned about the arrest while shopping at a Neiman Marcus store in Dallas. Someone called her and, according to several eyewitnesses, "she went crazy" and said "I knew it, I knew it." We're told she began crying, then bought $5k worth of merchandise and left.

She was just upset that he didn't use his one phone call to check in with her.....

This guy seems to be barking up the wrong tree:

Woods does not appear interested in a legal battle over the incident. In his statement, Woods writes, "I understand the severity of what I did and I take full responsibility for my actions." Although this statement does not constitute an express admission to breaking the law, it signals that Woods accepts blame.

If Woods still elected to defend himself from the DUI charge, he could invoke several types of defenses. For instance, Woods might contend that his performance in the field sobriety test was far better than is depicted in the police report and that the police lacked probable cause to charge him. He could also stress that his car was stopped the whole time while it was in the view of police officers. Although the car engine was running, Woods might argue the car was not going anywhere while he was impaired.

More likely, Woods, who is scheduled to appear in court on July 5, will work out a plea deal with prosecutors. In such a deal, Woods would plead guilty or no contest to a lesser charge, such as reckless driving. Under Florida law, a first time conviction for DUI can lead to several kinds of penalties, including: loss of a driver's license for 180 days to a 1 year; a fine of $1,000; probation of up to a year; 50 hours of community service; and an ignition interlock device installed in any car driven by the defendant. Penalties for reckless driving are similar, though less severe.

Not a lot of folks have thought that Tiger would do a perp walk....  

Even this is a secondary issue:

HOW THE DUI MATTER COULD IMPACT WOODS'S ENDORSEMENT DEALS AND MORALS CLAUSES

Woods's incentive to direct publication attention away from the incident as quickly as possible relates to his endorsement deals. As Woods knows from the aftermath of his 2009-10 marital infidelity scandal, companies with which he signs endorsement deals can likely exit those deals upon a finding he engaged in "immoral" conduct. Indeed, endorsement deals normally contain "morals clauses," which authorize the endorsed company to cut ties with the endorsing athlete if that athlete brings himself/herself or the company into public disrepute. Morals clauses are normally worded in vague verbiage that supplies the company with wide discretion. Back in 2009-10, Woods lost millions of dollars in endorsement deals with several companies, including AT&T and Accenture, due to public outcry over his cheating on his then-wife, Elin Nordegren.

The author covers this issue competently, explaining the typically-vague nature of morals clauses in such contracts.  He does tease us with the image of dash-cam video being released, but let's agree that monetary issues are secondary at this moment....  

Rex Hoggard assesses the state of the matter as follows:

Only time and an ongoing police investigation will tell if Woods’ version of the events on Monday dovetail with reality, but the mountain of evidence released on Tuesday suggests that Woods made a mistake – a terrible mistake, but a mistake, nonetheless. And not only did he do so, but in a complete break from the norm it appears he has owned that miscue, no excuses, no qualifiers, no subterfuge. 

“I understand the severity of what I did and take full responsibility for my actions,” Woods said in a statement. “What happened was an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications. I didn't realize the mix of medications had affected me so strongly.”

No doubt it is to Tiger's credit that the critical facts in his post-incident statement are proving accurate, but it's awfully early to credit him with taking full responsibility based only on that one statement.

Ian O'Connor files this mostly off-putting piece, though he looks hard for a silver lining:

No, the Tiger Woods you met in that Jupiter, Florida, police report is not the Tiger Woods 

presented to you by Tiger, his sponsors and his reps. That Woods was a new and improved human being since his extramarital sex scandal from hell, a better father and friend, with or without golf in his life. 

This Woods was found asleep in his damaged Mercedes in the dead of night, with his brake lights on, his right blinker flashing, his bumpers banged up, and his two driver-side tires flat. He could have accidentally killed himself. He could have accidentally killed a perfectly innocent motorist or pedestrian who happened to be on the wrong street at the wrong time. 

The good news? Woods had his seat belt fastened. The bad news? He was lost in every literal and figurative way.

Good news indeed....  Though the condition of the car remains one of the unexplained aspects of the story, as well as his movements for the evening.  Everyone has assumed that he was at his restaurant, though I've not seen that confirmed, and anyone he was with would seem to have some 'splainin' to do about letting him get behind the wheel.

O'Connor pays lip service to the issue of the man's children, but this is how he closes:

But we all get into the business of watching and caring about sports for a simple reason: We want to see athletes do things physically that were once thought impossible. Their warmth and generosity of spirit along the way is merely a bonus, not a prerequisite. 

So yeah, I'd like to see Woods find his way home sooner rather than later. So what if he has spent most of his career as a taker instead of a giver. I just want to fully appreciate the artist at work one last time, in one last tournament, on one last Sunday.

Any volunteers to break the news to Ian that it's not about him?  The judges give that one a perfect ten for tone deafness....  

We've all heard of emergency golf lessons and I've played many an emergency nine in my day, but this must truly be end days for Golf.com to convene an emergency Tour Confidential panel midweek.  Opening query: the most alarming part of the story:

Michael Bamberger: I think the most disturbing aspect of the story is what it could mean for his future as a father. There are courts that would restrict his ability to be with his children in an unsupervised setting with a DUI conviction. I don't know a thing about Tiger's private life but it's obvious that being a father to his children is his highest priority now. He slipped. He has to figure out for himself how and why. Being a public person will only make it harder.

I credit Mike for looking at the bigger picture, though I'm skeptical that this is actually that major an issue.  He might have to hire a driver for sure, but if he's half the father he presents himself to be this will work out.

To me, this from the excerpt above is the shocker:

According to the report, Woods said he was taking Solarex, Vicodin, Torix and Vioxx (but that Vioxx hadn't been taken this year).

For a man who told us a mere week ago that he's pain-free, that's quite the tasting menu....

The gang is then asked to compare this with 2009:

Shipnuck: Well, that was the biggest sex scandal in the Internet age, driven not only by the endless salacious details but also the sheer shock of how different the real Woods was from his public image. Nobody is shocked now. Really, the overriding emotion is sadness.

Bamberger: No sentient person could have any sense of schadenfreude for what he is enduring now. In 2009, many mean-spirited people did.

I don'y have any strong quibbles with these answers, though I should confess that I chose these two answers because the arc of Tiger's life has continued to track their roman a clef.  For those like Ian O'Connor desperately hoping for a happy ending, the book ends with a successful comeback.

But while we all had fun with the stream of prurient details from his sex scandal, it showed us man pretty hollow at the core, and one not terribly consumed by fatherhood.  Not a pretty picture for sure, and we hope the more recent image is also the more accurate.  The guys take a quick shot at the future of Tiger Woods, professional golfer:

Sens: Right. The injuries and surgeries are just part of Tiger's tangle of problems. His decline has always seemed almost as much psychological as physical, and this is a new low. But maybe it will be the bottoming-out moment the experts talk about. The point that pushes him toward the positive change he needs. 

Ritter: There is absolutely no way the DUI helps him on the course. But if this episode forces Woods to face a problem he may be battling, that would be the one silver lining.

Given how far removed he currently is from golf-related activities, that seems like a very secondary problem.  In an earlier piece, Mike Bamberger might have hit on a more pressing issue:

Every chance he gets, Woods talks about the role he plays in his the life of his son and daughter and what it means to him. It's moving and telling. But few 41-year-old men want to be a fulltime dad and nothing else. Woods used to have golf to fill his time, to give him drive, to let him exercise his vast competitive urge. For now, anyway, he doesn't. Still, the time must be filled. Tiger Woods faces the challenge we all do: how to fill that time productively. The answer to that difficult question for him now seems more pressing.

Call of Duty?  We've seen many a professional athlete stumble when their playing days have ended, though golf, because of the longer playing careers and senior tour, has been somewhat immune from this phenomenon.

I've been accused of hating Tiger, which is actually quite far from the truth.  I've never been the biggest fan of Tiger the man, but like just about all I was a huge fan of Tiger the golfer.  But back in the day, Tiger the man wasn't of great importance to golf fans.... 

I've not like the Tiger of the last few years much, though, as readers of this blog might have noticed.  The complete lack of candor about his physical condition and the abuse of sponsors and tournament organizers has, in my opinion, been self-destructive and unnecessary.  I got it when he was bestriding the planet, but I've found his attempts to be one of the guys unconvincing....

Let's give him time and see how he deals with what appears to be an abuse of prescription meds....  I'd be encouraged if he cleaned house of the sycophants surrounding him, and some honesty about his use of painkillers would be refreshing.  I could even find my way to some excitement about a 2018 comeback, but show us some character in the near-term please.  If only for the children....

Tiger, The Fall

Yesterday's post ironically included a couple of Golf Mag. writers crediting our hero with newfound candor with respect to a post on his website.  The premise was pretty thin....  a sentence to the effect that he truly, madly, deeply wanted to play professional golf again....

A few hours later this new broke:

It's not—as the various credible news sites have it—a pretty timeline. Tiger Woods was arrested on a DUI charge in Jupiter, Fla., on Memorial Day at around 3 a.m., booked at a Palm Beach County jail at 7:18 a.m. and released under his own recognizance around 11 a.m. By high noon, his mug shot was all over the internet. 

Woods lives up the road from Jupiter on the secluded barrier beach of Hobe Sound, but his restaurant, the Woods Jupiter, is in Jupiter, a beachside almost suburban in the northern tip of Palm Beach County. He was pulled over, according to local news reports, near the intersection of Military Trail and Indian Creek Parkway, about three miles south of his restaurant and further from his home. It was not immediately known whether there were passengers in the car.

My first reaction was that he's so committed to a return to the Tour, that he was in the gym until zero dark thirty....  Oh, did you want to see that mug shot?

It's a time of day when few look their best, but this one will get old for him in a hurry....

Here is Mike Bamberger's take on the photo:

The mug shot, not surprisingly, shows Woods as you have never seen him before. It is disturbing. In it, the iconic golfer, 41, a single father of two children, wears a white T-shirt and he looks bloated, exhausted and unkempt. DUI in Florida is a state crime, according to a state government website, triggered by "impairment of normal faculties or unlawful blood alcohol or breath alcohol level of .08 or above." The broad terms cover both drunk driving and impairment by drug use. A first offense typically does not carry any prison time. Woods spent eight hours in custody on Monday. There is no known record of him ever being arrested before.

No, no arrests that we know of, but a strange history as relates to holiday weekends....  And while he's a single man and the young 'uns were presumably with their mother, what the heck was he doing on the road at 3:00 a.m.?  Chasing tail is the obvious response, but can one engage in such activity when one can't twist ones' body for months?  I know, that's above my pay grade as well....

Shack was first to the post with an open letter to Tiger at Golfweek:

All of those and many other stellar accomplishments are in danger of being forgotten. 

The latest chapter in your demise, complete with a mug shot that will follow you for life, threatens to overshadow the legacy you’ve built. 

Worse, the chance to grow old with dignity is now in play. 

Gone are the days you’ll be a blue-chip pitchman. Let that go. In November, 2009 you were arguably still the world’s most revered athlete and one of the most famous people on the planet. Everyone wanted their children to be like you. But those days of raking in millions off your smile, charm and playing prowess are over.

Perhaps a tad overwrought, but shall we let Geoff continue?

With a 3 a.m. DUI after last week proclaiming online how good you felt, the stakes are much greater. Your life, your children and your legacy are on the line. Will you finally reach out and let others in the close-knit world of golf help? 

The track record says no. You like to do things your way and now look where it’s gotten you. Your behavior of late has raised eyebrows and made heads shake. You no-showed to the Genesis Open even when you were in town and the tournament host, WD’ing from a press conference and a surprise meet-and-greet with kids. Just last week you missed Tiger Jam for the first time ever, even as you then wrote on your website that you finally had the surgery necessary to alleviate pain.

Geoff, you have to let go....  As a wise man once said, it is what it is.

Good buddy Notah Begay took time out from his coverage of the NCAA's to offer this:

Begay first touched on how he felt after learning what happened, saying "I'm saddened by the news; it's embarrassing for Tiger." Begay continued by noting his own DUI arrest 17 years ago, and how it changed his life. "It's hopefully something that he'll learn from, he'll grow from and take responsibility for and use it to make some changes."

This is important, as Notah dealt with his own DUI in a forthright way, much to his credit.  But while Notah makes the case that this should be embarrassing to him, that Tiger feels embarrassment is an assumption awaiting confirmation...

Jaime Diaz, who has written extensively on the fall of Tiger, has a longer piece that includes some interesting reflections from Earl.  But he notes that in this case the acorn fell far from the tree:

It would seem unlikely that Woods will publicly be forthcoming about his inner life, including this latest ordeal, even though some professionals in the mental-health field would advise him that it would be productive. If he follows precedent, after an initial statement he and his camp will never voluntarily mention the DUI, and hope that if and when Woods begins playing competitively again, public curiosity will have dissipated, and even transformed from condemnation to sympathy and forgiveness. Especially, as has been the pattern, if Woods gives indications that he can play well again. His historical greatness is such that the majority of those who love golf will continue to hope that he can again exhibit a genius the game has arguably never seen.

Why start now, Jaime?  Think how long it would take him to develop his candor feels....

It's kind of a downer of a conclusion:

Through all this, the words of longtime Woods’ friend, Michael Jordan, spoken to Wright Thompson in a 2016 story in ESPN the Magazine, take on extra significance. “The thing is about T-Dub, he cannot erase,” Jordan said. “That's what he really wants. He wants to erase the things that happened." 

All pretty dark stuff. But at the moment, there’s no other way to spin it. The Tiger Woods story, sad for awhile now, has grown sadder.

Obviously in the early hours of the story the operative assumption was that alcohol was involved.  Yanno, it was a DUI after all....  Later in the day, Tiger released this statement on his website:

So, it isn't what it is, it's something completely different..... I feel much better, how about you?

OK, a couple of interesting bit from Morning Read:

The Palm Beach Post, quoting a Jupiter police spokeswoman, said Woods was driving south on Military Trail (County Road 809) at 3 a.m. when he was stopped. His home on Jupiter Island is in the opposite direction, the newspaper reported. Jupiter police were expected to release more details today, including the arrest report.

So, either heading somewhere else or so impaired that he didn't know where he was heading...  I hate when that happens.  And this:

Celebrity website TMZ.com, citing unnamed law-enforcement sources, said Woods was driving a 2015 Mercedes-Benz “erratically, all over the road,” adding that he was “arrogant” during the stop and refused to take a Breathalyzer test. Under Florida’s “implied consent” law, that refusal would trigger an automatic license suspension.

So, by fully cooperated, he means that he gave them the old "Do you know who I am?"  More substantively, because he refused the breathalyzer, his assurance that alcohol was "not involved" is not verifiable.  Note that he doesn't explicitly deny drinking....

And, to circle back to the "candor" that other saw in his recent comments, he called himself "pain free,"  So why the sudden medication cocktail in the dead of night away from home, when he's pain free?

Oh, and back to Jaime for this reminder:

But common sense and past experience tells us such things—among celebrities and non-celebrities alike—don’t usually happen in a vacuum. Woods has unavoidably been subject to rumors, and some have involved speculation about excessive drinking or the use of painkillers. They gained traction after Woods’ car hit a fire hydrant in front of his Orlando home in late 2009. A former mistress said that Woods regularly took Ambien, while other sources said he had taken the drug on the night of the accident. 

In the scandal-infused aftermath, Woods entered a Mississippi rehabilitation center called Gentle Path, which specializes in treating sex addiction. But the center’s website says it also addresses “co-occurring disorders” including those involving alcohol.

Officer, I wasn't drunk, it's just a "co-occurring disorder".... 

There's lots of commentary, with folks understandably struggling to put the nes in perspective and overusing the word "sad".  Ryan Lavner first:

Sad because one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet has been reduced to this new low. 

Sad because the most dominant golfer ever has been betrayed by his body, and undone by his ego, and his competitive future is a mystery. 

Sad because he needs support, and guidance, and it’s unclear who will provide it. 

Sad because he has meant so much to so many, because he has touched so many lives, and his fall from grace has been staggering.

Actually, given the extent to which he has walled himself off, the surprising thing is that the needed support is readily available, with Notah Begay perfectly positioned to play the lead.  The issue is the unwillingness of Tiger to accept it.

But that last sentence deserves a second reading...  Go ahead, I'll wait while you do so.  Has he meant so much to so many and, if so, is that his doing or ours?  He's a professional athlete that has never been especially forthcoming, so why would we assume that we know him?   We might miss his particular skill set on the golf course, but his personal failings should be of no particular import to us....

And Jason Sobel:

Look at those sunken eyes in that mugshot and we no longer see the mercurial golfer who once seemed so invincible inside the ropes. There often was debate during his prime over whether Woods intimidated his opponents. He wasn't just better than them, the argument stated, he also was tougher. It's difficult to beat a guy who holds not just a physical and technical advantage over the field, but a mental one, as well. 

This, though, is Woods at his most vulnerable. It is an image he never wanted to portray to anyone, let alone the entire, gawking world. And it's a sad one, the very portrait of a man who has made mistakes.

I suspect we'll learn much in the nest few days about the incident, but I'll be surprised if Team Tiger shares much about the cause.  We still don't know for sure that he was at his restaurant, where he was headed or even if he was alone in his car.  One assumes that there are many unflattering details to be buried, and that Team Tiger will go to their playbook to do so....

If they can see their way to accepting this vulnerability and sharing Tiger's struggles, I'll be rooting for his recovery.  If it's the same-old same-old, then we'll just have fun with the tawdriness that's sure to ooze out.  That to me is what's profoundly sad....

Weekend Wrap

Fortunately, it's not necessary to have watched the action to opine thereon....

Colonial Times - Kevin Kisner is a budding superstar I'm reliably informed,  Good thing I'm so assured, because his actual results haven't made that case:

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Kevin Kisner birdied the first three holes on the back nine to take the lead and held on to win at Colonial despite a Sunday charge by defending 

Whoever designed the trophy seems to be over-compensating...

champion Jordan Spieth. 

Kisner shot a 4-under 66 to finish at 10-under 270, including a clutch par save on the 18th hole after a wayward tee shot and an approach that was off the back side of the green and well below the hole. He finished a stroke ahead of Spieth, Sean O'Hair and Jon Rahm. 

Spieth shot a bogey-free 65, and was standing on a chair to see over the crowd at the 18th green when Kisner putted up the mound to 5 feet of the cup and then made the winning putt. That came right after Rahm's 10-foot birdie chance skirted just to the left of the hole.

That linked piece sums up the litany of his near misses, and we'll grant that it's hard to win out there.  The biggest surprise to me is Rahm's performance at one of the more claustrophobic venues on Tour, though I saw none of it.  Did he leave the driver in the bag or overpower her?

Kyle Porter grades the contenders, starting with the winner:

You can erase all of that, though, as he gets win No. 2 over what will probably turn out to be two of the five best players of their generation (Rahm and Spieth). It wasn't their turn on Sunday, however, as Kisner held court and took a trophy out from under a litany of studs. It was only a matter of time, it seemed for Kisner, and that moment finally arrived on Sunday. Overall grade: A+

Hmmmm.... seems like we should be saving the A+ for scoring records and the like, but he did win.

Phil Mickelson (T29): Lefty was undone by a single bad day (75 on Friday) in his first appearance at Colonial since 2010. He played solidly on the weekend, though, and it appears that he will play every week through the U.S. Open now. That seems insane for a soon-to-be 47-year-old, but Mickelson isn't a normal soon-to-be 47-year-old, apparently. He gets a B- for his play on the course, but an A+ for the high kick. Overall grade: B

Yanno, this isn't figure skating where they toss the high and the low.....

Jordan Spieth (T2): Last year's champ nearly willed himself into a playoff, but he lacked a bit of a closing kick. Still, his 65 on Sunday (and performance all week) should quiet the folks talking about how off he's been all season. Spieth was locked in, and if anything, the last month has proven that there are just certain courses he doesn't feel comfortable on. Grade: A

Jon Rahm (T2): I'm in awe. The numbers tell a startling story for the 22-year-old who just moved into the OWGR top 10, but they don't tell the whole thing.

He was hammering 340-yard drives coming home, and touching them off with absurd paintings like this one on the par-4 17th. This should be illegal for anyone, much less somebody who hits it as far as Rahm. Grade: A

Obviously we're grading on the curve....why don't we just give them all participation ribbons?   Both had good weeks, as Spieth was worried about the cut line midday Friday.  But I'll give the nod to the Spaniard, since this isn't a track on which he should excel.

Shack has on odd take on the week's action, that it it helps clarify our betting options for Erin Hills.  Color me skeptical, though he does drop a bombshell here:

At Colonial, Kevin Kisner held off a fun array of players (Spieth, Rahm, Simpson) and styles to win the a very entertaining Dean and Deluca. Not only did the historic venue and leaderboard help, but CBS seemed especially on its game with production values and announcing.

Their announcing?  Now that's a welcome change, though I'll admit to a concern that it's more the result of the systematic lowering of Geoff's standards. 

Bernie Rules - You knew this before they teed it up on Thursday:

STERLING, Va. -- Bernhard Langer played near-flawless golf and took advantage of

Vijay Singh's late mistakes to win the Senior PGA Championship at Trump National on Sunday for his record ninth senior major.

The Senior PGA was the only major that had eluded the 59-year-old German star during his dominant decade-long run on the 50-and-over circuit. He tied Jack Nicklaus' senior major record last week with a comeback victory in the Regions Tradition in Alabama. 

Despite a few dozen protesters, the drama remained on the course at President Donald Trump's club on the shores of the Potomac River. Trump, coming off a nine-day trip abroad, did not attend the final round.

On the one hand, it's pretty amazing given that senior golf is ironically a young-man's game....  On the other hand, do we care?  The Tour Confidential panel led with this question:

Bernhard Langer outlasted Vijay Singh at the Senior PGA Championship and picked up a record ninth senior major title. Though Langer's 32 career wins on the senior circuit still trail Hale Irwin's 45, is it time to consider the German as the best senior player of all time?

But when Travelin' Joe is the voice of reason...

Joe Passov: I'm awed by Langer's consistency and will put him in Hale Irwin's class right now for prowess on the senior tour. Sam Snead, however, gets my vote as the best senior player of of all time, in a close race with Gary Player. Snead didn't have the benefit of a full slate of regular Champions tour events with which to compile old-guy wins and majors. He was nearly 70 when the senior tour took off. The one "major" he could and did play in was the PGA Seniors -- which he captured a record six times. But look what else he did as a "senior:" He shot his age (67) at a PGA Tour event, the 1979 Quad Cities, then beat it in the same tournament (66). Anybody else done that? At age 61, he made the cut at the U.S. Open (1973), the oldest to do so. He finished THIRD at the 1974 PGA at age 62, behind only Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus. I could go on. This guy was good -- even when he was old.

Langer is a wonderful character for many reasons, including his recurring battles with the yips and his gracious handling of his difficult role at Kiawah in '91.  I'll also note that he's the one guy that's adapted to the anchoring ban without skipping a beat...  

Noren Time - Respect must be paid:

VIRGINIA WATER, England – Alex Noren didn’t have victory on his mind when he

began the final round of the $7 million BMW PGA Championship. The Swede was just looking to get some mojo for next week’s Nordea Masters. 

He got that in spades with the best round of his life. 

Noren fired a course record 10-under-par 62 to come from seven shots off the lead to win the European Tour’s flagship event.

You have to like a guy like this....  After years as a tour rabbit on a secondary circuit, something clicks in his early thirties and he starts piling up the wins.  

But back to Shack's take vis-a-vis the U.S. Open:

Whew! 

If we went another week without some names showing signs of life headed to Erin Hills, the hardest prognostication U.S. Open was not going to get any easier. But, after some pre and post Masters lulls, we can see glimmers of great hope in Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Alex Noren, Henrik Stenson and yes, Kevin Kisner's game. The Memorial this week should also give us insights into the likes of Day, Johnson, Matsuyama and Mickelson. But first, in Europe...

Noren's win will move him to the 8th spot in the OWGR, where the air is awfully thin.  But while Shack sees Noren as a U.S. Open contender, he himself is focused on the Nordea Masters.  Somehow I think I'll lean towards the player on this one....

But before we leave this event, the TC panel was asked about the two rules issues that arose on Thursday that we dissected in the post immediately below:

The European PGA Championship at Wentworth provided a couple of interesting rules situations in the first round. After chipping in for eagle, Ernie Els called a penalty on himself, saying he feared he might have improved his lie after checking to see if his ball was embedded. Branden Grace was granted a dubious free drop after his ball plugged near the lip of a bunker, after saying his feet were touching the rubber lining when he took a stance. Grace had the lead early on Sunday, but he faltered on the final nine. Were the golf gods talking?

Here's a couple of their responses :

Ritter: Grace brought in a ref and was given the drop. These 50-50 decisions happen all the time. It's Grace's right as a competitor to bring in the official if he feels something

amiss, and the official made the call. Nothing to see here.

Sens: Maybe I'll be struck down from on high for saying this but I don't believe in the golf gods. We alone are responsible for our play and no one and nothing else. If Grace felt a nagging conscience (and I'm not suggesting that he did) then that was on him. Not some made up being or beings.

Most interesting to me is that none of the five writers had a word to say about Ernie....  I totally get why Grace's situation is the more compelling, but not a word of praise for Els?

But none of us can know whether Grace actually caught the bunker lining when taking his stance, or kept digging until the earlier of reaching China or catching the liner....

Rut Roh, Part II -  I'm reliably informed that it's not the weight lifting....

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) -- Rory McIlroy is skipping the Memorial Tournament next week

because of a nagging rib injury that also forced him to miss the European Tour event this week in England.

"It's disappointing to miss the Memorial Tournament," McIlroy said Friday in a statement released by tournament officials. "This tournament attracts such a stellar field, and I was excited to try and better my fourth-place finish from last year. The Memorial Tournament is one of the best tour stops of the year and I hope everyone involved has a great week" 

The second-ranked McIlroy sustained a hairline fracture during the South African Open in January, causing him to miss four tournaments over seven weeks. He played four times in six weeks upon his return until taking a post-Masters break to get married. The injury surfaced again from long practice sessions leading to The Players Championship.

You see, it wasn't the lifting, it was those long practice sessions before The Players....  Yeah, that's the ticket!

Asked and Answered - Alan ledes with this programming note:

Welcome to another edition of #AskAlan. These are now going to be a weekly thing. (Consider yourself warned.) I want the Knockdown to be an ongoing conversation between me and you, the lunatic fringe of golf fans. Please keep the thoughtful questions coming…

Between me and you?  Sigh!  You're a writer Alan, is basic grammar above your pay grade?  That said, it's always a fun feature, even if it has my mother, a grammar Nazi of the first order, spinning in her grave.

Here's my fave from this week's installment:

“One a scale of 1-10 how nervous is the Tour that parts of Vijay's lawsuit were allowed to proceed? How nervous should they be?” -Jeremy (@IndyJerome) 

11. This is akin to the situation in Washington—Robert Mueller may not find a smoking gun on Russian collusion, but if he digs into Trump’s taxes and business dealings who knows what will be uncovered? Likewise, Singh’s lawsuit could pull back the curtain on decades of the Tour’s top-secret disciplinary matters, and regardless of what a judge decides about Vijay’s case, there may be all kinds of juicy revelations. Here’s hoping!

That's one more than 10, no?  Bonus point for the Nigel Tufnel reference....

Any juicy revelations will be good fun, but the real hope is that this will lead to a less opaque process and a more rational drug-testing regimen.

“If Phil & [Patrick] Reed both stay out of the top 10, are they automatic President's Cup picks? #AskAlan” -Brian (@brianros1) 

I think they have to be. Reed (currently seventh in points) has proven he can raise his game in team events, and Phil (16th) is the heartbeat of the squad and a de facto playing captain who, by the way, was last seen in one of the greatest Ryder Cup singles matches of all-time. Billy Horschel just moved up to 18th, and he would bring a lot of firepower and a lot of Reed’s grittiness, but who would you rather have? Among the rest of the bubble boys no one else has a really compelling case except maybe Daniel Berger (ninth), simply because he’s a young’un and the U.S. team needs to start grooming replacements for some of its aging stalwarts.

Inconceivable that either won't be at Liberty National.  While Phil's game is a little suspect, the reality is that it's more suitable for match-play than stroke-play.  Let's just hope that Captain Stricker limits his appearance in alternate shot.

“Do you think the move to Trinity Forest will give the Nelson some juice next year? Or will the bomb-and-gougers hate the course too much?” -@public_golfer 

Among the many ways pro golfers are different from us is that most of them don’t really care about how “good” a course is; their overriding interest is how it synthesizes with their game, and if they can maximize their idiosyncratic advantages. I haven’t been to Trinity yet but love the minimalist look. Dustin Johnson is more interested in making birdies, and over the years he made so many at TPC Las Colinas that he came to love the course, even though most everyone else was lukewarm at best about it. I spent some time with Dustin and his brother and caddie, Austin, last week, and both were lamenting the move. Beyond the course, the players, caddies and wives loved the logistics of the Nelson: everyone would stay on-site at the Four Seasons, which has an awesome gym and a basketball court that was populated by the Tour types. Meanwhile, the wives swarmed the lovely pool and spa. So the move to Trinity will end this camarderie and convenience, and it’s another reason the change of venues is risky for a tournament that has struggled to define itself since Lord Byron’s death in 2006.

Interesting take, but given that the players regularly voted Las Colinas their least favorite venue, DJ may be an outlier.....

But in the forthcoming contraction Olympics, this event is desperately in need of some buzz and it would have been far riskier to stay where they were.

“Which junior or college golfers are you most excited to see on Tour? Are there any prodigies on the horizon?” -@handsomeburglr 

Maverick McNealy at Stanford, for sure. He has a such a mature game, and I’ve been enjoying the will-he-or-won’t-he questions about whether he’ll turn pro or go into the business world. Of course he’s going to go pro! What’s more fun, traveling the world playing golf or sitting behind a desk? And he can always go the Joe Ogilvie route and retire from the Tour early and pursue a second career in the straight world.

No doubt Alan penned his response before this:

SUGAR GROVE, Ill. – Maverick McNealy’s college career ended quietly Sunday, with few fans left at Rich Harvest Farms and the top teams back at their hotel and the leader

17 shots ahead. 

For the third consecutive year, No. 2-ranked Stanford failed to survive the 54-hole cut at the NCAA Championship. It was the final chapter of McNealy’s fascinating career, as he rose from overlooked No. 5 man to Player of the Year to, now, the will-he-or-won’t-he? star who earlier this week won the Hogan Award as the nation’s top amateur and college player.

Just a reminder that Golf Channel coverage of the men's NCAA's starts today at 4:00, though Rich Harvest Farms has to be quagmire by now.

“Will anyone ever enforce a slow play penalty on Jason (All) Day?” -@PaulRWilkinson 

Well, if the Tour rules officials didn’t do it on Sunday, I think we can safely say it’s never going to happen. Coming down the stretch at the Nelson, Day was repeatedly timed at a minute to a minute and and a half to play his shots, and on one occasion he took nearly two full minutes. Forty seconds is supposed to be the maximum. I think public shaming is the only possible solution, but unfortunately, Day isn’t a social media creature. Perhaps golf fans should go full Flav and wear shot clocks around their necks?

I din't see any of it, but the clock is irrelevant if the group is in position on the golf course....  Whether that should be the case is a different matter entirely, but I also think we need to allow a little flexibility for the heat of battle on Sunday.

This is why I may have seemed dismissive of Geoff's search for U.S. Open form:

“Who else has missed 4-5 cuts the past few weeks that I can put my money on?” -@PhilipGallo 

That’s the big lesson from the last two weeks, when S.W. Kim and Billy Horschel won on the back of some very desultory play: All of these guys are one swing thought or one small tweak from catching fire. Yet it’s impossible to say who’s next, which is what makes it so fun for the rest of us.

 It's golf, need I say more?

“Do you think the European tour's Rolex Series will weaken PGA Tour fields/attract Americans to come over and play?” -Jurre (@MisterJurre)

These are separate issues. With the exception of Patrick Reed, top Americans have shown little interest in joining the European tour, and the Rolex Series isn’t going to change that—there’s still more money and World Ranking points available in the U.S., not to mention a Cracker Barrel on every corner. But top international players are now being enticed to leave their homebases in Florida and play a few more times on the Euro tour, so that will certainly impact the PGA Tour events that fall on the same week. Would Colonial love to have Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Ernie Els, Beef, Thomas Pieters and a handful of others who instead are playing at Wentworth? For sure.

Alan is exactly right, this is about keeping the hole team at home.  The status quo ante is that the cream of Euro talent is playing the minimum number of events necessary to keep Euro Tour membership and Ryder Cup eligibility.

The only place you'll see Yanks is at the Irish and Scottish Opens in the run-up to the Open Championship, because they now offer three consecutive weeks of links golf.  That said, you'll see far fewer Yanks than you'd expect....

Exit Question - From the TC panel:

Tiger Woods gave us an update on his recovery from his latest back procedure, calling it a success but adding he won't be rushing back to the PGA Tour anytime

soon. Let's focus on this comment from Woods: "I want to say unequivocally, I want to play professional golf again." Does this sound like a guy who will play competitively again?

Shipnuck: I was most struck by the the honest tone of this diary entry - it felt like the most candid Tiger has ever been talking about his body. I think his time is up as a competitive golfer but if he can expand upon this openness I'd love to see Tiger as a TV commentator, if such a things interests him.

Sens: I'm with Alan. Seemed like Tiger at his most forthright. Tiger as an announcer is an intriguing idea. Lord knows he rarely reveals anything interesting about himself. But his insights into the game would be interesting to hear.

Can anyone point out exactly where this candor can be found?  I hope he's pain free and that he still has the desire to play again, but doesn't he sort of need to say that to keep the sponsors happy and maintain his relevance?  After all, I'm reliably informed that Call of Duty can get old....

But Tiger as a TV talking head?  That's not gonna happen...Evah!

I Lied - One last bit from the TC panel:

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times tweeted this a couple of days ago: My father-in-law calls a so-so golf shot a "son-in-law" shot: "Not what I was hoping for, but it will do." What's your favorite such golf term?

 The surprising thing here is how little they come up with....  this is the best of the bunch:

Passov: The best ones I've heard can't be mentioned on a family website. However, I did once play with a disc jockey from Dallas who seemed to have one of these expressions for every shot. I remember laying the sod over and taking a huge divot on a fat shot, which he called an "Al Gore" -- (Earth first) and later I left a putt teetering on the edge of the hole, which he called a "South America" -- (One more revolution).

OK, we call that last one a third-world putt, but I'll also note that if it falls it becomes a Rockefeller.....  You'll have to intuit the reason.

I heard a new one over the weekend, a Ray-Ray round...  Playing the front side like Ray Floyd and the back like Ray Charles.....  

My favorite of this genre is a non-golf term.  I had the good fortune to be seated next to the writer Calvin Trillin at a charity dinner many years ago.  Trillin famously used his family extensively in his writings, including his two daughters.  He'd refer to the boys they dated as Kerenskys, after this guy, who led the Russian government for an hour-and-a-half in 1917 after the Tsar's abdication but before the October revolution in which Lenin seized power.

Delightfully obscure, though he wasn't terribly optimistic about his future son-in-law's, was he?

Late-Week Laments

Just a couple of quick items, as we're headed to Jersey for breakfast with my Dad, rapidly approaching his 96th birthday.

Unplayable Lies, Euro Edition - What's in the water at Wentworth, and why is it only affecting the South Africans?  

First, the Big Easy shows why our game is different than all others:

Els appeared to shoot a 3-under 69 in the opening round at Wentworth, but the four-tme major champ ultimately signed for a 1-under 71. The discrepancy arose on the par-5 12th 

hole, where Els chipped in from the rough for an apparent eagle. 

Prior to hitting his chip shot, Els thought he may have a plugged lie and asked his playing partners if he could investigate. They consented, and Els examined his lie and replaced his ball after determining it wasn't plugged. Despite being in the rough, he made good contact on the chip - almost too good, according to Els. 

"I just felt uncomfortable by the way the ball came out," Els told reporters. "The ball came out way too good, so I felt I didn't quite probably put it (back) exactly where I should have."

Well, there was that time in last year's NBA Finals when Draymond Green told the ref that he got Lebron on the wrist...   Yeah, right.  This is a pretty special thing about our game, and we need to preserve it even if, make that especially if, not all players live up to Ernie's standards.  But let's let the big guy go on:

He consulted with a European Tour rules official, who explained that Els and Els alone knew what the original lie was and whether or not he had adequately replaced it. But golf is an honorable game where self-assessed penalties often arise, and Els ultimately felt the best resolution was to take a two-shot penalty under Rule 20-7 for "playing from wrong place." 

"Under the rules you try and put it back the way you think it should be, but I still felt uncomfortable with it, so we took a two-shot penalty," Els said. "I know deep down the ball wasn't quite where it should be and I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

This inherent decency is why I can almost forgive his serial desecration of Harry S. Colt's classic West Course....  But of course the astute reader seizes on that "almost" as the key word.

But far more pixels have died in the discussion of a drop taken by Ernie's countryman Brandon Grace:

Grace incurred the wrath of his peers for getting relief in a bunker on the 13th hole.

After eagling the 12th hole to get to 6-under-par and into a tie for the lead, Grace’s approach shot to the par-4, 13th plugged in the upslope of a greenside bunker. The South African began twisting his feet into the sand before calling for a rules official. 

Grace said his feet were touching the rubber lining underneath the sand and he couldn’t take a proper stance. 

USGA rules official Mark Hill gave Grace a free drop as a result. Instead of the double bogey that might have ensued, Grace only dropped one shot.

Hmmm.... here's how it played among his peer group:

Paul McGinley criticized Grace’s action during television commentary and afterwards. “It was ridiculous,” McGinley said. “If you twist your feet enough you’re bound to eventually reach the bunker lining. That means anytime a player wants relief from a poor lie he can simply twist his feet until he reaches the bunker lining. That can’t be right.”

Danny Willett took to twitter to complain. He tweeted: “@EuropeanTour please explain that drop?! Burying feet enough in to get to the base of the bunker???” 

Fellow Englishman Daniel Brooks also had reservations about the ruling. “Wow strangest drop I’ve ever seen there,” he tweeted.

Hmmmm...Oh, I said that already.  It depends what the meaning of is taking a stance is, I presume.   Grace sounds eminently reasonable here:

"I got a plugged lie," Grace explained on Sky Sports. "Fortunately for me, I had a ruling like this in China last year where when I took my stance, my feet were touching the material beneath the sand.

"I couldn't really get the grip and kept on slipping, so knowing what happened in the past I asked the official. Fortunately for me, it worked out this time." 

Grace couldn't take advantage as he pitched out of the sand to 12 feet but missed the putt to save par, before dropping another shot along the closing stretch to slip into a share of fifth.

This is why a player's honor is so vital,because, as that rules official told Ernie, only the player can know for sure.  Grace has been with us long enough and has not the faintest whiff of a rules shirker, so he gets the benefit of the doubt.

Washington Week in Preview -  You know there will be no shortage of nonsense this week,  with the Senior PGA at POTUS's DC golf course, an event Shack amusing dubs the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship That'll Eventually Be Won By Bernhard Langer.  Good one Geoff, but at least the course is getting favorable reactions from the players:

“I like it very much,” said Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, who turned 50 three years ago but is making his Senior PGA debut this week. “It’s a long golf course from the back. It has all kinds of distance. And the greens, there’s a lot of movement on them. I think it’s going to defend itself very well. It’s a great golf course.”

And from Bring in Da Funk:

Funk returned two weeks ago to get a bit of a refresher course on the facility that has since been renovated with input from Trump, director of golf Kevin Morris, director of grounds Brad Enie and golf course architect Tom Fazio II. 

By Trump's elevated standards, that's quite the waterfall.

“When Donald bought it, and I don’t even know how long that’s been . . . but the view of that river is spectacular,” Funk said. “It’s just absolutely beautiful, a spectacular backdrop and setting. When you’re up here on the hill, you look down and it’s great. But actually, when you’re down there playing . . . that whole golf course is mainly on a flood plain down there and it’s really pretty. It’s just a really good golf course.”

There were environmentalists whining about the tree removal program, though it was completely within the club's rights to do so.

This is the last guy I'd go to for thoughtful commentary, but he likes the joint as well:

Daly was preparing to play in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, which begins

Thursday under a rainy weather forecast at Trump National Golf Club, Washington, D.C., which is actually about 20 miles outside of the nation’s capital. He loves the Tom Fazio-designed golf course. 

“The golf course is beautiful,” he said. “It’s got some pretty good tough par 3s. The par 5s, if I drive it really well, I can get home to most of them. I think here it’s just keeping it in the fairway. The rough’s up, it’s a little damp, which makes it tougher to hit out of, but it’s a great, great golf course. Unbelievable golf course. I’m looking forward to it.”

He's also the last guy I'd go to for thoughtful political commentary, but you won't be shocked that these comments are getting attention:

STERLING, Va. — John Daly first met Donald Trump 25 years ago, and, for the two-time major champion, their relationship has never wavered — including now, as the 45th president faces multiple investigations into his campaign’s and administration’s ties to Russia. 

“It was another tournament we played that didn’t last very long,” Daly said Wednesday of their 1992 meeting, “but I played in the pro-am with him and we have been friends ever since. I love what he’s doing for our country.” 

Daly, who won his first PGA Tour Champions event this month in Houston, says there hasn’t been enough criticism of Democrats, namely the Clinton family. 

“There’s been a lot of things go on with the Democrats that people just want to ignore now,” he said. “They don’t, they just want to pick on my buddy. Let him do his job and just see what he does. He’s doing great so far.”

Opinions are like you-know-whats, and there's never been a doubt that Long John has one of those.  I guess we should let him finish his thoughts:

But the week will not be without potential distractions. Protests are planned for the weekend near the club. Daly said he intends to ignore anything outside the ropes, imploring Trump critics to let him pursue his agenda. 

“He’s the President of the United States,” he said. “I think people need to get on his wagon and ride with him and let him do what he’s doing and leave him alone. It’s not going to change for at least, you know, this year and three more.”

Shack gets off another good one:

Normally I'd suggest John Daly abstain from wagon references given his multiple climbs on and off the wagon, but the man loves his President Trump and the job the 45th president is doing.

If he hadn't beaten me to it, I'd have gone that direction as well....  I'd actually counsel Daly to the effect that criticism of the President is an important aspect of civic life, and his buddy has provided no shortage of appropriate opportunities for such civic participation.  Constant vigilance remains appropriate, though the shrill and inaccurate nature of that remains fair game, as does the lack of respect for the office.

Speaking of which, Christine Brennan goes in search of a story to support the narrative and is shocked to find that there's gambling in Casablanca:

A trip up the Potomac River to Trump’s Northern Virginia retreat on the eve of the senior men’s major tournament reveals the delicate dance that is taking place between the controversial and embattled U.S. president and golf’s numerous stakeholders. It’s an exercise in initial support, followed by nervous retreat. Everyone is happy to be here, of course, but no one really wants to talk about it. In other words, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Boy, isn't she incredibly sensitive to the gleichschaltung?  Though I'm guessing that she had that lede drafted before she cruised through the club's gates.... But she's found proof positive that misogyny rules the day:

Unfortunately, Funk wasn’t in the interview room for five minutes when he uttered a sexist remark. He was joking about how he gets new fairway metals every birthday to

keep up with lengthening golf courses and said, “I feel like I should be on the ladies tour right now.” 

He immediately caught himself with another attempt at humor: “I didn’t mean that in a derogatory sense, not at all. Just because Annika (Sorenstam) outdrove me, I’m a little bitter, but, no …” 

But, no, indeed. It was fascinating that those blatantly sexist words came so easily to him. They tumbled off his tongue as if he had said them one hundred times before. Perhaps this was the first time, but it sure didn’t sound like it. 

This was a man who sounded quite comfortable delivering a snide remark about women’s golf. This was the man with Trump’s name over his heart.

OK, Christine, we get where you're coming from, the patriarchy continues to oppress you.  But that snide comment wasn't about women's golf, it was actually about his own game.  It's a fact of life that women are not as big and strong as men, and in our little world they don't hit it as far as men.  

It's just a maddeningly lazy column by a hack journalist, who well knows that it means nothing.  But this kind of humorless society is getting old...  As one of my favorite bloggers would say, "If you want more Trump, this is how you get it."

Belgian Waffle -  Thomas Pieters ensures his place on Keith Pelley's Christmas card list with his comments from Wentworth:

After a four-under 68, which left him two off Johan Carlsson’s lead, the young Belgian

explained why he skipped the Players two weeks ago. “I needed the rest. Yeah, I got a lot of heat on social media for that but if that’s their opinion fine. I was happy with my decision.” 

Asked which tournament he would prefer to win, Pieters was unequivocal.

“This one,” he replied. “Why? Because this is our tour, and I look at the history of this event with Seve [Ballesteros] and everything. I see this tournament as the next biggest to the majors. It would mean a lot to be the champion here.” 

How Keith Pelley, the European Tour chief executive, would have loved those words. The PGA Tour not so much. Pieters joined the US circuit this year and there were raised eyebrows when he missed the Players. No, they do not take rejection well.

He's a loyal European, and we've no problem with that.  But it does drop The Players down to the sixth of four....  Just sayin'.

Early tee times Saturday and Sunday, so we probably won't see each other until Monday morning....  Sorry, but it's hard on me as well.