Weekend Wrap

Have you missed me as much as I've missed you?

The Duf Abides - Rooting for the Duf at Unplayable Lies HQ has been the provenance of Employee No. 2, but even I have to admit to some begrudging admiration after yesterday's gritty performance:

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Jack Nicklaus probably deserves better, his long-running PGA Tour event just outside the town where he grew up once again plagued by bad weather and 

C'mon Duf, a little self-control please.

delays. 

But there was the Golden Bear, sitting beside his wife, Barbara, on a deck chair behind the 18th green in the Sunday gloaming, waiting to -- hopefully -- welcome another champion amid the raindrops following two lengthy stoppages that threatened to push the tournament to Monday. 

And there was Jason Dufner to save the day, as he holed a 32-foot par putt just a few yards from Nicklaus, one that clinched a Memorial Tournament victory that didn't seem possible after the 2013 PGA Championship winner shot 77 on Saturday.

First player since Faldo at Augusta in '89 to win with a round of 77 or higher:

"I've always been a fighter," said Dufner, who shot a final-round 68. "Especially since I turned professional. Doing this hasn't come easy for me. There's been a lot of struggles and a lot of setbacks. I didn't come straight out of college and play the PGA Tour. It took me almost 10 years to get out here. Took me another two after that to win and actually get to where I felt comfortable.

"So I always take pride in kind of being a fighter, trying to come back. I played really good a couple of weeks ago in Dallas and have a great history at Colonial, and I missed the cut. I was pissed. I was upset. I was disappointed. You have all these thoughts in the moment."

Well, you pretty much have to be a fighter when you putt that poorly, but still...  Without the use of Google, I'll go way out on a limb and guess that in the '89 Masters Faldo didn't open 65-65.

Shack had this take:

Not only did Jason Dufner win the Memorial for a long-awaited return to the winner's

circle, he did it in entertainingly bizarre fashion. The weather, the wind, the rain, the delays, the quality leaderboard, the 16th hole and the 18th all tried to trip up the third-round 77-shooter. But Dufner somehow overcame it all to win at Jack's place for his fifth PGA Tour victory. 

He heads to Erin Hills and the U.S. Open a legitimate threat given his play, ball striking and newfound confidence.

OK, Geoff, but sometimes a banana is just a banana....So, now that I've stuck a little shiv in Shack, let me give him props for this item that you won't see elsewhere:

The weather was feisty but the quality of the leaderboard made it a bit eye-opening that only nine players hit Muirfield Village's 16 green Sunday. To have only nine players in the final round of the Memorial keep their tee shots on the putting surface was one thing, but to have so many miss so badly will be of even greater concern when the tour staff reviews the ShotLink numbers.

The 2017 leaderboard was stacked with some pretty big names, and while we'd love to chalk this up to just the wind, the hole's odd angle, yardage and green complex, the combination of issues remains problematic, at best. New green firmness can no longer be blamed. 

The greens in regulation Thursday to Sunday looked like this: 44, 40, 47 and 9. One birdie Sunday.

Yeah, it's not a great hole.  Difficult, for sure, but on a track where Jack lets the guys play and make good numbers, it's a bit of an eyesore.

Geoff also supplies the scatter diagrams:

And the green view:

Anyone know who made the lone birdie?  Jack was bragging about the hole on the CBS broadcast, and it may well be necessary to keep the guys from breaking 60, but that doesn't mean we have to enjoy it.

Before we leave Dublin, OH, the Tour Confidential gang chimed in with this exchange:

3. Weather delays aside, the Memorial produced quite the finish. Jason Dufner prevailed, but Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Justin Thomas and Matt Kuchar were in or around the lead on Sunday. Who among the also-rans will take the most away from the week? 

Bamberger: Dustin Johnson. He missed the cut, went to Erin Hills and got himself acclimated on a bombers course the likes of which the U.S. Open has never been played on before.

That's a good one, Bams.  especially as the list of also-rans didn't finish well.  But DJ's loss of form since returning from injury has to be worrying...

OK, I lied... One more:

4. During the Memorial telecast, we were treated to footage from Golf Channel's documentary on Jack Nicklaus, in which today's stars were shown the Golden Bear's list of accomplishments and asked what impressed them most. The list is long and impressive: the 18 major titles, the 19 runner-up finishes in majors, never finishing worse than sixth at the British Open from 1966 to '80, among a slew of feats. What is Jack's greatest accomplishment?

Bamberger: Some of his accomplishments cannot be contained on a list: his 55-year marriage to Barbara Nicklaus, his ability to keep a sense of balance in his life, his commitment to his children and grandchildren. The longevity, as Joe notes, is astounding. His UTTER DOMINATION of the ‘70s, with all the extraordinary players he faced then, to me takes the (German Chocolate) cake. Forty majors, eight wins and only five events where HE WAS NOT IN THE TOP 10. With a busy home life and a busy business life, he came to play every single time.

It's a staggering body of work for sure.  But it also poses an interesting hypothetical....  Jack played very conservatively in the big events, waiting for the other guy to falter.  Had he played more aggressively, could he have won more than 18 majors at the expense of some of those seconds and top-fives?  Food for thought....

What Happens in Atlantic City...  There's a part of me that's always happy when this girl wins:

In-Kyung Kim didn’t expect victory to come this soon. Playing in only her sixth event of 2017, the 28-year-old closed with a 2-under 69 to hold off Anna Nordqvist, who was

seeking her third consecutive title at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. 

“I really prepared for this summer,” said Kim, who didn’t start her season until mid-March due to an injury she suffered from falling down a flight of stairs at the end of 2016. 

“I really didn’t expect it right away, but I knew my game was better than last year.”

While Kim took home the trophy, Ariya Jutanugarn claimed the No. 1 ranking without hitting a shot. Jutanugarn skipped the ShopRite event but will ascend to the top after So Yeon Ryu missed the cut for the first time in 64 events.

Why am I happy for her?  Because of this.  Especially since on Saturday I missed about four of those, but only the ones that were straight downhill leaving me ten feet coming back....  Not that I'm bitter...

Erin Ho Huh? - We'll have no shortage of U.S. Open coverage in the days ahead, but just a few stories to cover for now.

First up, of course, is Phil being Phil:

Mickelson said he has not officially withdrawn from the tournament, which begins June

15 at Erin Hills in Wisconsin, and will wait closer to the event to do so, barring some change that would allow him to play. 

"I wanted to make sure they had enough notice to accommodate it,'' said Mickelson, who said he called United States Golf Association executive director Mike Davis to inform him of his plans. "So that's why I'm saying something today, but it doesn't look good for me playing. But I'm really excited about this moment in our family's life.'' 

Amanda, who turns 18 this month, is Mickelson and wife Amy's oldest child. She will be giving the commencement speech June 15, which is the first day of the U.S. Open.

My only gripe is how this connecting of the dots from Pinehurts 1999 makes me feel so very old:

Mickelson's caddie, Jim Mackay, carried a beeper in his golf bag, and he pledged he would take off regardless of his situation in the tournament. 

Mickelson finished second to Payne Stewart when the late golfer holed a 12-foot par putt on the final hole to edge him by a stroke; had Stewart missed, he and Mickelson would have had an 18-hole playoff to decide the tournament -- on the day Amanda ended up being born. That was the first of his record six runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open.

"Yeah, I go back and, every year at the U.S. Open, I think back about that '99 Open,'' Mickelson said. "The birth of your child, any child, but especially your first child is the most emotional event you can ever experience and share together with your wife."

It also makes me miss Payne.... Just to complete that circle of life, that was the first of Phil's six runner-up finishes in the event he needs to complete the career slam....  

The TC panel guys seem to be betting on a stay of execution:

Josh Sens: Very, given the hole in his career grand slam resume. I've already received a number of emails from friends saying, "There's got to be more to this story." Such are the times we live in. But I'm going to take a break from the cynicism of our age and take this as the word of a guy who just really wants to be there with his daughter. Good for him. He's already older than Hale Irwin was when he became the oldest winner of an Open. And winning hasn't gotten any easier. I suspect we're down to a count-on-one-hand number of legit chances. 

Michael Bamberger: Oh, gentle Josh, do no fret: I believe between now and the Thursday bell of U.S. Open week, all will be resolved. If not, I would urge FOX to bring in Sir Bones as a guest commentator. As for Phil's remaining chances, this one is the first best one of the rest of his life. Actually, with its wide fairways and LONG holes, and greens that require the fellas to play the ball in the air, this course should be ideal for him. Although it is a trudge.

A Thursday graduation seems odd, though the politics of moving it to another day could be surprisingly fierce.

I'll also note that it puts the USGA in a weird place as far as their pairings....  Do they intentionally give Phil a late-early slot to maximize the chances of a weather delay actually helping him?

Stay tuned, but he gets double Father-of-the-Year points....  Next up, Adam Scott plays bad cop:

Scott subscribes to the premise that the USGA pushes too hard to get courses right to the edge with a target winning score of even par, and believes it behooves the organization to 

take a bigger view of its role in trying to govern and even grow the game. 

“Maybe it’s time to do away with the even-par target, just thinking about the bigger picture of the game of golf,” Scott said after finishing up at Memorial on Sunday, where he shot 74 to finish at 1-under 287. 

“If their major pinnacle event for them requires courses to be the way they are, it doesn’t set a good example for every other bit of golf that they try to promote. Maybe we should get the numbers out of our heads and try a new strategy.”

Egads, when you've lost Adam Scott, you've lost the country....  I'm not sure which country, but that's not important now.

My problem with the comments is that this connective tissue is awfully thin:

On the heels of controversial greens conditions at Chambers Bay, a first-time venue, in 2015, and a rules controversy hovering over its eventual winner (Dustin Johnson) for six holes at Oakmont last June (he was penalized after play for his ball moving on the fifth green), the USGA realizes its reputation and mission has been questioned. In heading to another first-time venue at Erin Hills, there is an inherent pressure that the championship not be overshadowed by the golf course or by the rules.

Two God-awful situations of the USGA's creation for sure, but without a common thread as I see it.  Do we have a problem with the set-up of Oakmont in 2016?  I don't see one, once we changed the rule regarding balls moving on frictionless greens.... Heap all the opprobrium you want on the USGA for not recgnizing the need to change the rule (or, more accurately, screwing up their first attempt) and for their handling of the DJ issue, Lord knows they deserve it....  

Chambers Bay is the far more convoluted situation, as they lost the greens do to an historically hot spell in the two months leading up to the Open.  The venue wasn't to everyone's liking and they're no doubt on the hook for some of the causes of a need to go outside the box in choosing venues, so have at them...

But this isn't the Tom Meeks era in which six-inch rough is used to protect Par, so it's a tough issue....  They want the Open to be the sternest test in golf, and I've no particular issue with that...  It's just having lost the equipment and golf ball arms race, how does one accomplish that?  

Here's how Adam delicately phrases it:

Asked if criticism pointed at the USGA has been fair, Scott said he thought it was. 

“I think they’ve really dropped the ball with where the game is at, over the last 20 years especially,” Scott said. “I know their intent is not to do that. I don’t question their intent at all. … I guess their primary role of administering and looking after the game, they’ve kind of dropped the ball in that sense and gotten worried about other things.”

That's why I think the bit above is a red herring....  That link is about their most recent initiative related to green-reading material.  I think we can all see the issues in doing nothing about the equipment and ball, but taking the guys' yardage books away....  Can you say bifurcation?

But this last one is a head-scratcher:

“Whether it’s rules changes or any other decisions they make, I think their process is out,” Scott said. “I just don’t see how they get to some of these decisions. . . . They’re hanging onto the Rules of Golf by a thread, really. That’s why they’re panicky and they’re trying to see what’s going on out here on Tour.”

Does anyone have a clue as to what that last bit means?

On our way out the door, I'll link you to Shack's comprehensive post on U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying.  Lots of good stories and I always love the old guys that continue to try to make it back to their national Open.  Good for them...

I do worry about the guys at Canoe Brook, though, as it's going to be a dreadful day to go 36, even if you're wearing Skechers golf shoes.

Tiger Droppings -  Occasionally the best part of a Tour Confidential discussion is the question, notably here:

2. In his 2000 Sportsman of the Year feature about Tiger Woods, the late, great Frank Deford proved to be eerily prescient when he wrote: "Tiger is such an extraordinary champion and so widely admired that we have granted him a sort of spiritual amnesty. His persona is still insulated by his deeds, his misjudgments immunized by his youth. Sometime soon, though, we will weary of the tedium of his persistent success and start peering more deeply into that heavenly smile and beyond those steely eyes. Won't we? Because that's the nature of the beast—us. This, right now, may be the best Tiger will ever have it. Until, that is, he becomes a Grand Old Man, and we fall in love with him again." Look 10 to 15 years down the road. Where will Tiger be in his life?

Nailed it, he did.  

Most curious item of the week goes to the previously unknown to me Mercer Baggs (how's that for a name?) who has this ever-so-curious post up at the Golf Channel blog.  Here's a sample:

Not that image. The mussed hair. The lifeless stare. Shame and sobriety slowly overcoming whatever had overwhelmed him. 

And not that image. The one of him nearly falling while trying to tie his shoe on the hood of a police car. Or the one of him wavering like a barely tethered and tattered flag. Or the one of him unable to comprehend basic instructions, staggering like a punch-drunk former champion, barefoot because he never could get those shoes tied. 

We have to get that video up ASAP. 

That’s understood. Not everyone will agree, but clicking on a link or pressing play is done by choice. It’s not a forced action. Protesting and apathy can sometimes be one in the same. It’s OK not to look. 

This, however, is news. And we are a news outlet. 

So why, then, did posting this feel like putting down Lennie?

Like putting down Lennie?  He goes on in this manner for quite a bit....Baggsie ( as Tiger would no doubt call him), Mr. Woods will be fine, it's you I'm worried about.  If you're going to take a DUI story this hard, you might have stumbled into the wrong line of work....