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.