Unplayable Lies: Tuesday Trifles

It's a big day in our little game...

He's Baaaack - Polish up those Big Cat Bingo boards, because that guy is back. Not back like at The Safeway we hope, but you get the drift:

The wait is over.

Tiger Woods is playing the Hero World Challenge.

Woods tweeted at 5 p.m. ET Monday that he'll make his return to competitive golf at next month's Hero World Challenge, which will be his first start since February.

"I am excited to return to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge," Woods said on his website. "Albany is the perfect setting and it will be great to join this outstanding field. I want to thank Pawan Munjal and Hero MotoCorp for their continued support of this tournament and my foundation. I would also like to thank the fans for their unwavering support during my injury."

We're in a generous mood, so we'll add bonus points for displaying actual humor in the announcement:

No word on the length of the deliberations of the Committee of 1, but that Berger guy was a no-brainer....

Will Gray was of a like mind:

To his credit, Woods appears to have used his time away from the game to turn over a

new, self-deprecating leaf. He grinned his way around Liberty National as an assistant captain and displayed a level of self-awareness with his “return of the stinger” tweet last week that would have seemed out of place a decade ago.

Even Monday’s announcement included a reference to the “committee of 1” which granted Woods, the tournament host, an exemption specifically reserved for the tournament host.

The thought of a largely healthy Woods returning to action is tantalizing enough, but for that same player to be willing to have a little fun while trying to keep up with players half his age? The internet has combusted over less.

Oh heck, I've got the Internet combusting over far less below....

But Will also makes this important point:

Don’t discount the allure of making his much-anticipated return in the highly-controlled environment of Albany. With an 18-man field, unofficial stakes, sparse crowds, limited media and a forgiving course with which he’s familiar, there are plenty of reasons to circle this particular week, even if he seems to be progressing ahead of any discernible schedule.

Methinks it's that small field that's the key, because it eliminates the early morning tee times. If you've ever had a cranky back, you'll know what a 7:30 tee time in January can feel like.

Shack is buying, and I never realized what a cheap date he is:

That’s why I’m buying stock in Woods this time around. He’s not posting video of his swing on social media because he wants to sign a new endorsement contract. He appears to legitimately feel good about his body and place in the game. Woods is acting like someone excited to be getting back on the course.

I’m also buying because golf desperately needs to rekindle a longtime tradition of the game: older champions competing against new blood. We’ve been deprived of a generational showdown a la 1960 at Cherry Hills, where young gun Jack Nicklaus, superstar Arnold Palmer and legend Ben Hogan converged in a final-round showdown. Woods the historian knows that no matter how far the kids hit the ball today, the list of major venues in the next five years will still reward a wise and clever player.

OK, but I'm guessing that the Vegas odds won't be to anyone's liking... And all those folks that bought this time last year got burned.

And to his credit, Shack posts these Jason Sobel cautionary words on his blog:

Woods made a similar return from injury at this same event last year, finishing in a share of last place among those who completed four rounds, but in a tie for the tournament lead in birdies with eventual champion Hideki Matsuyama.

A month later, Woods missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, which was followed by the withdrawal in Dubai a week later.

The enduring mystery of the last cycle remains that the guy we saw at Albany wasn't the same guy that showed up at Torrey. If I wasn't clear above, the concern is that the Hero is such a soft landing that he might be rushing things....

He's Baack, Part II - Not the big Him, of course, but significant all the same:

Europe’s chances of regaining the Ryder Cup have been given a major boost by Paul Casey’s decision to rejoin the European Tour.

Casey has confirmed he will take up his European Tour membership at the start of next year after a three-year absence. He will make his first start in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January, a tournament he has won twice (2007 and 2009). It will be his first European Tour start since the 2015 BMW Masters.

“As hard as it was trying to make it work three years ago – struggling with my game, dropping out of the top 50 – I have missed it (the European Tour) too much,” Casey said. “I have missed my contribution to English golf, British golf, my contribution to Europe.”

His contribution to Europe? I guess he's a Remain dead-ender.... Joshing aside, he belongs on the Euro Ryder Cup team, despite the acrimony remaining from not being a Captain's pick by Colin Montgomerie in 2010 despite being in the Top Ten in the OWGR.

Millennials Heart Agrihoods - This story has me oh so confused:

Millennials are saying "so long" to the country club and "hello" to the farm.

Many so-called agrihoods — short for "agricultural neighborhoods" — are cropping up around the US, and they're aimed at farm-to-table-loving millennials.

Loosely defined by the Urban Land Institute as master-planned housing communities with working farms as their focus, agrihoods have ample green space, barns, and outdoor community kitchens. Some boast greenhouses and rows and rows of fruit trees. The homes are typically built to high environmental standards — think solar panels and composting.

Agrihoods are designed to appeal to young, active families who love to eat healthy and spend time outdoors — and they're not off the grid.

It appears that agrihoods are, in fact, a thing, and there are some 150 of them already....

The confusion is that this only applies to those millennials that have, in fact, moved out of their parents' basement.... So that 150 might be the high-water mark.

Golf, Explained to the Internet - As noted above, the Internet melts down about every five minutes over nonsense, more often than not Trump-related.

Sam Weinman with just the latest version:

Sorry, Internet, but Donald Trump might not be cheating at golf in this video

As if you need to know more, but here' the skinny:

Here's the clip in question of Trump playing golf over the weekend in Virginia, as captured by NBC's Kelly O'Donnell. It shows Trump missing a putt, then trotting after his ball to pick it up before it stops.

Could this be the most overt display of golf cheating ever captured of a sitting president? At the risk of disappointing hot takers and conspiracy theorists everywhere, probably not.

Although it's possible that Trump's warped version of golf scorekeeping allows him to take a free run at every putt with universal assurance that the next one is good -- it's his golf course, dammit! -- the more likely scenario is less dramatic. Instead, it's very possible that Trump was in a match where he needed to make the first putt for him to factor into the hole at all. And when he missed, as is customary, he just decided to get out of the way by picking up his ball.

If only Kelly O'Donnell worked at a network that had some familiarity with our game.... Video is at the link, but I think we can safely move on.

Golf is Cool - So says an acknowledged arbiter of cool, per the completely cool Jaime Diaz:

Haskins' skill set and connections would have served him well in any number of endeavors. Improbably—some might say quixotically—and definitely idealistically, for

the past two decades he has focused on the world of golf.

As the founder of a tournament and former PGA of America senior director of diversity and multicultural initiatives, Haskins has put himself on the forefront of the struggle to increase the presence and prominence of African-Americans in golf.

"I love the game and its history, and I love black people," says Haskins, 49. "I know all three of those entities become valuable to the world the more they intersect. And that's what I try to do."

I love all people, but that's not important now....

But this is why the golf is dead meme is so silly:

The golf landscape seemed more promising in 2000, when Haskins began his tournament. He had begun playing only two years before, after his curiosity had been piqued by NBA players' conversations. "So often, it was all about golf, where they had played or were going to play next, some idea about the golf swing," he says. "I was surprised—they were clearly doing it all the time."

Everything seemed more promising in 2000, at least until that butterfly ballot and the like. But cool people love our game.... others will follow. Give it a read....

When Ryan Met Tiger - A great piece that ties together two of this week's storylines:

The pair squared off in the final at the 1993 U.S. Junior Amateur, played at Waverley

Country Club in Portland, Ore., with Woods looking to capture his third straight junior title. Armour came in determined not to fall prey to what had happened the year before.

Then 17 years old, Armour was all square in the final match with Woods with four to play. The Ohio kid proceeded to drain a 40-footer for birdie at the 15th to take a 1-up lead, and when Woods shockingly missed a 4-footer for par at the next, Armour was dormie-2.