Thursday Threads

Lots of breaking news, so let's have at it...

Deal, Finally Done - Like Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, the cool kids at Adidas have been wearing a dead carcass around their necks for far too long...  Finally, relief:

TaylorMade Golf has a new owner, with KPS Capital Partners LP purchasing the company -- as well Adams Golf and Ashworth -- for $425 million.

The news was announced internally to employees on Wednesday afternoon, completing a year-long search for a buyer. 

The purchase follows an internal announcement in March that adidas AG would begin a formal separation process with TaylorMade Golf which began immediately and would conclude in October 2017. The KPS purchase should be completed in fall 2017, according to company communication. 

The New York-based KPS Capital Partners manages $5.7 billion in investments in several companies, including Chassis Brakes International and Electrical Components International.

Now, before we get excited about that transaction valuation, you might want to see this:

About half of the $425 million will be paid in cash, while the remaining portion will be paid in the form of a secured note and contingent considerations. The final sale is expected to be completed in late 2017.

Secured?  That likely means that it's secured by the shares being purchased, in which case it's secured in name only....

Got a moment for some happy talk?

“This is the beginning of an exciting new era for TaylorMade, and our entire

management team is excited to partner with KPS in this next phase of our growth and continued development of our brands, business and people,” Abeles said in a statement. “The TaylorMade team is deeply committed to making the most technically advanced performance-driven golf equipment, and this mission will never change. Given their strategic vision, operational resources and significant access to capital, KPS is the ideal partner to help TaylorMade build upon its strong momentum.”

Private equity is not a terrific fit for the golf equipment industry, as their hurdle rates are seemingly higher than our niche industry can meet.  For instance, PE firms typically require a 20-25% cash return on invested capital.  We can't do the math because we don't how the deal will be financed by KPS, but those "operational resources and access to capital" will be tightly controlled.

But the obvious conclusion is that there were no strategic buyers and Adidas wanted gone....  So, Mission Accomplished.

TPC Ya - Finally folks are focused on the changes at Sawgrass, including Jeff Babineau, who hears that players are taking a conservative approach to the 12th:

This year’s Players, which begins on Thursday, hopes to infuse even more excitement on the back nine, transforming the formerly pedestrian 12th hole – “a plain Jane kind of a

hole,” says last year’s champion, Jason Day – into something that will get the party started well before players step to the reachable par-5 16th and please-stay-dry, famous island 17th. 

So the 12th hole has been shortened to 302 yards, hoping to lure players to stand on the tee, unsheath drivers, and produce a bold swing for the fences. It may even be shortened for a round or two, putting 3-woods into players’ hands. But the 12th, in its current state, may be far too much risk for seemingly little reward. 

Fowler even has looked ahead at the weather forecast – the first three rounds, winds are expected to be helping, and off the left – but he sounds as if he’ll resist any temptation to make the hero play.

The culprit seems to be the firmness and the slope:

Players have been feeling out the new-look 12th in practice rounds, and discovering quickly that the slope and firmness of the green propels many balls left, down the slope and into the water hazard. The last thing a player wants to do on an already-demanding golf course is be scrambling for par and possibly making 5 on a dinky 302-yard bunny of a hole.

“With regard to the green,” said Day, who shot 15-under 273 a year ago, winning by four, “I was here last Saturday and it was running 12.8 (on the Stimpmeter) and that’s pretty slick. If you hit it right, either on the fairway – the fairway chip is not too bad, but if you hit it in the bunkers or the rough and get yourself out of position, that green slopes away pretty quick. I played it yesterday, and some parts that have slope on the left, if you just dropped a ball and let it just kind of trickle down, it would go in the water. So, any sort of speed with anything is going to go in the water.

Will it be softer in March?  Never mind, Geoff has some great photos, first from the tee:

Looks doable from there, though that's easy for me to say.  He adds this photo from the lay-up area, showing the mounding that can obscure the player's view of the green:

And this view from behind the green:

With the mound shaved, balls will kick down into the water....  It should be a fairly routine up-and-in for par, but they're not in it for fours on this hole.

Shack says the players are griping about the slope, but advocates a wait and see attitude...  Just gotta say, if the geniuses in Ponte Vedra have redesigned this hole, resulting in an endless procession of iron lay-ups, that'll be quite the cock-up.

In other doings, you're no doubt aware of the Wednesday tradition, in which the loopers hold a closest-to-the-pin contest in honor of Bruce Edwards....  Well, this is...errr....highly unusual:

The unofficial estimate is about 102-104 yards for this golf ball toss on to No. 17. Caddies traditionally hit a shot to raise some funds for the Bruce Edwards Foundation. 

James Hahn's caddie, Mark Urbanek, instead threw a golf ball across the lake and onto the island green. I'm not sure how many would understand how impressive this feat is, but my rotator cuff hurts just watching:

Please tell me he spun it back....  Video at the link.

Then there's our weekly installment of players caddies behaving badly.... I'm guessing that's not Henrik's old trusty....

Rory's Feminine Side - I'm pretty sure that Ben Hogan never cried, but just think of the Tour as one big safe space and you won't be far wrong:

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rory McIlroy showed up to Augusta, Ga., last month trying to land the final piece in his historic quest to land a career Grand Slam. The Masters is the only championship he is missing, and he tied for seventh. Will McIlroy cry on that day in the future that he finally is fitted for a green jacket? Debatable. But this year’s finish did reduce him to tears, as watching old pal Sergio Garcia finally win his first major really moved him emotionally. 

“I cried. I cried. It was unbelievable,” said McIlroy, who sped down Washington Road after his final round was done on Sunday to get to his rental house to watch the finish. Once there, he was screaming at his television as he watched two good friends – Garcia and Justin Rose – battle for the title. When Garcia missed a putt to win on the 72nd hole, McIlroy was cursing at the TV.

OK, but this is way too much information:

One other nice byproduct of McIlroy’s wedding to American Erica Stoll? It helped to patch up some simmering animosity between former Ryder Cup teammates Garcia and Padraig Harrington, two of the wedding attendees. McIlroy even scrolled through his phone just to show a photo of the two huddled next to one another, Garcia seemingly ready to plant a kiss on the Dubliner’s cheek.

I hope they'll be happy together, but I had naturally assumed that this is what made Rory cry:

The important thing is that they included the FedEx Cup trophy.... 

Did Someone Mention the FedEx Cup? - Shack pulls together a Day-2 post on the FedEx renewal, though his lede seems like mostly wishful thinking:

For fans, there was only one piece of news that should have come out of FedEx's renewal that matters: an improved format and better flow to the PGA Tour schedule.

Given the complex nature of the changes being discussed, neither happened. But it's worth waiting to see how things play out in hopes of turning an odd algorithm-driven competition into one that is a true playoff at season's end.

I agree that it's worth waiting, but only because we've not been given much osf a choice in the matter...  But while Jay Monahan have made it clear that they're looking at the schedule and at their TV contracts, there's not been a word uttered that leads to a conclusion that there's something less than optimal in their format.  Just sayin'....

Adam Schupak has some silliness in his account:

McIlroy took a more pragmatic approach to the FedEx Cup, which has succeeded in bringing the top players together to compete after the major season by dangling $35 million in prize money, including a $10 million payout to the winner. 

"It's brought another dimension to the PGA Tour," McIlroy said. "It's really gained traction. People are excited about it."

Really?  Name five such people.  At least five that haven't won the damn thing...

During his news conference with the media, Monahan kept his cards close to the vest. It has been widely reported that the Tour would like to move the Players back to March and swap the PGA Championship from its traditional August date to May so the FedEx Cup can conclude over Labor Day weekend and avoid clashing with the NFL season. 

"Right now, we don't have any plans on moving it back to March," Monahan said. "That's certainly been part of the consideration set." 

Multiple sources say it is inevitable, but Monahan continues to play coy. 

"You don't know that because I don't know that,” he said. “So how do you know that?"

You people can't handle the truth!

Obviously they don't want to talk about the inevitable contraction ahead:

Q. Can you just ever see a day where a tournament that performs well in its community and charity and everything else, there's not room for it on the schedule?

JAY MONAHAN: No, I think there will always be room. Using that fact pattern, there will always be room because you're talking about a tournament that's performed very well, that's performed well for us and we have got a strong relationship with, so I could see change in the schedule, but I can't see a removal of a partner from our schedule, because we have a duty and a commitment the to do everything we can to build those partnerships. I don't know, but that would be my response to it; we're certainly not thinking that way.

This is a problem entirely of  Commissioner Ratched's creation, so I'm not intending to pile on the man cleaning up the mess.  But the issue is that Doug Ferguson's question above is quite naive.  I'll remind that last week's Wells Fargo event was once the brightest star in the constellation, but moving the Players to the week after cured that...

And while Jay's answer seems sensible, that we're not going to kill off successful events, the rumors about the Boston playoff event might be contradictory evidence.

But kudos to Rex Hoggard for unearthing this somewhat shocking detail:

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Along with the announcement on Tuesday that the

PGA Tour has reached a new, 10-year agreement with FedEx to sponsor the circuit’s season-long points race came news that the deal includes a category exclusivity clause. 

According to sources, the clause will keep players from participating in the season-long race if they have endorsement deals with one of FedEx’s competitors. 

“All I'm going to say on that front is when you're in business with someone for 30 years, and you're about to commit to 10 more, you do some things to protect each other on a long-term basis,” commissioner Jay Monahan said. “That's what we've done in this agreement, and our players know that; our players understand it; our players think so highly of FedEx and what they've meant to them in terms of playing financial opportunities. So we do everything we can to protect our partners.”

OK, let's dispense with the first obvious question about the recognizable players in the photo above:

Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen both have endorsement deals with UPS but have been grandfathered in and will not be impacted. Their manager, ISM’s Chubby Chandler, said he has not received any official correspondence from the Tour regarding the sponsorship status of either player.

But the Chubby one puts his rather sizable finger on the issue:

“I’m grateful the two guys are alright and I understand why they [the Tour has] done it, [but] what will they do if MasterCard wants to do the same thing?” Chandler said. “It opens up a bag of worms. Do you go on the amount of money they pay or what? Do you set aside one sponsor for another sponsor? ... Legally, I can’t see how it works. The guys are independent contractors.”

There's another question that no one has thought of, which is how is FedEx's business defined.   Are we conceiving them as a delivery company, with only the USPS, UPS and DHL excluded.  What about ShipSticks and Luggage Forward?  Or, per their amusing commercials, are we think of them as an e-commerce consulting company, where they'd compete with a wide range of players...

But the concept that PGA Tour members would be excluded from the FedEx Cup is pretty crazy, no?  Two classes of members and all... someone needs to look at the language of this provision.

We Have A Wiener - The people have spoken, at least the Internet trolls among them, and there's rejoicing in India:

So you’ve probably heard by now that the ShopRite LPGA Classic is giving its final spot to a player via a Twitter fan poll. You may have some strong thoughts on this matter.

But whatever the case, we have a winner. 

The tournament revealed Monday that Sharmila Nicollet was the poll’s winner, meaning Nicollet has earned the final spot in that field.

Over 25,000 votes were cast, and Nicollet earned 39 percent of the tallies. Her closest pursuer, Blair O’Neal, came in at 30 percent. The other two players fighting for that spot via this poll were Carly Booth (25 percent) and Susana Benavides (6 percent).

Well, that was quite hurtful to Susana to release the vote tallies, but she should realize it's an honor just to be nominated.  And should she need consolation....

Spit Takes - Your mileage may vary....

I Don't Need No Stinkin' Matrix - Golf's Bad Behavior Matrix.  Though it's pretty amusing...

I don't want to play where he does if taking divots in the green is common....

I'm skeptical.... About the Popcorn - John Daly claims he lost 67 pounds by adopting a 'whisky and popcorn' diet.  Alternative take: A mere drop in the ocean.  

Good Call On The Latter - Murray details caddie split, deactivates Twitter account.  That's Grayson Murray, who basically used Twitter to trash players far more accomplished than he.  His description of his mid-round caddie termination makes it seem like just a misunderstanding:

“I thought it was kind of unfair that it happened in the ninth fairway,” Murray said before his practice round Tuesday at The Players. “There could have been a way that we both

managed to get through the next nine and a half holes and figured it out after that. It’s too bad that it happened that way because I had a chance to make some birdies and have a better finish. But that’s beside the point. In my head, I’m upset about it and ready to count down the holes to the finish.”

Murray has known Hicks, who was on the bag for Payne Stewart’s 1999 U.S. Open victory, since he was 10, and their families have been close for several years. Murray says that neither he nor his caddie did a “very good job of separating the friendship and business.”

So, what could have provoked this hot-headed caddie to leave?

Their issues boiled over Sunday, after Murray was talked into hitting 3-wood instead of a driver (wound up short, in a greenside bunker) on No. 7 at Eagle Point and then flew a gap wedge over the green on 8. 

Walking off the green, Murray smacked his putter against his bag, breaking the secondary strap. He received an “earful” from Hicks as they walked to the next tee.

After hitting his tee shot on 9, Murray found his father, Eric, outside the ropes. 

“Dad, I’m done after this round with Hicksy, I just want you to know that,” Murray said.

His father told him to get through the next 10 holes and they’d deal with it later. But Hicks apparently overheard Murray’s comments and confronted him in the fairway.

Yeah, that'll do it....The choice of Robert Allenby as a role model seems curious....