Tuesday Trifles

I got a little worked up on that U.S. Open post, so let's deal with the rest of our golf news....  A heads up that tomorrow is a travel day, so check back later in the week.

Tiger Scat - This will likely be scattier than usual, but that's why you continue to drop by.  We'll dive in with John Feinstein's take, which is captured by is header:

The state of Tiger's comeback (so far) 

Fans and critics will interpret Woods' first three starts in different ways but one thing seems hard to deny: There's real suspense again when he tees it up

The piece doesn't have a strong conclusion, but there are good moments, such as this:

Although you wouldn’t have known it reading internet headlines on Sunday morning, Woods was never in serious contention to win, but he was well within the top 20 all

week. It began quickly on Thursday with two birdies on his first four holes, as he pieced together rounds of 70-71-69-70. He talked in his usual Woodsian way about feeling as if he was, “back in the flow,” and how he knew he just needed more “reps.” 

At no point did the subject of his glutes come up. Which was a good thing.

No argument there.  

Allow to go back to Alan Shipnuck's mailbag, which I'll remind preceeded the Honda:

Does Tiger have a better chance competing with 13 clubs or 14 clubs? I'm serious. His score Thursday at Riviera certainly would have been lower without a driver. I get that he's always been a bit wild, even in his prime. But it's really bad right now. -@CHFounder 

And that same round he was bombing his 3-wood long and straight, which made the misbehaving driver even more painful. In fact, Tiger hits his 5-wood farther than Zach Johnson hits his driver. I'd love to see Tiger be more conservative off the tee, because through the rest of the bag he looks pretty solid. But he's not ready to concede 30-50 yards to the DJs and McIlroys of the world. Part of that is tactical; he knows it's tough to beat guys ceding that much yardage. And part of it is vanity; Tiger is simply too proud to capitulate. So, we're all gonna be along for this wild ride as he continues to try to figure it out.

That's gonna leave a mark.....on Zach.

Admittedly, this question has less urgency after the Honda, during which he seemed more comfortable with the driver as the week progressed.  But I just wanted to note that we've down this road with Tiger before.  Notably, when he won at Hoylake and Southern Hills in '06 by leaving the driver in the bag.... Driver woes are nothing new to the man.

Dylan Dethier, a new writer at Golf.com, is growing on me.  This take-down of Stephen A. Smith is a fun read, though admittedly it's preying on the weak.   

SAS: At his height, he was the greatest golfer we’ve ever seen. his long game, his short game, and everything in between was just surreal. Again, I know this. And the fact that he was black in a sport that was never known for being too welcoming to folks with a darker hue only made Tiger Woods’ accomplishments that more riveting, that more mesmerizing. Bravo brother (clapping), hats off to you. 

DD: YES! Transcendent player. Invaluable to the game. Couldn’t have put it better myself.

I don't quibble tat he's a darker hue, but I should remind you both that the word for which you're searching is Cablinasian. 

SAS: Can we say this: that was a long time ago? What’s all the fuss about now? 

DD: Uhh…well, Stephen, remember all those things you said before? The guy with the wins and the surreal golf game and the unprecedented transcendent appeal? That guy’s back playing competitive golf! At a high level! That’s what all the fuss is about.

Well done, Dylan, though the score is tempered by the extremely low degree of difficulty.

A Master Class in.....Class - Justin Thomas demonstrates that he's a good guy with this:

Justin Thomas apologizes, says he overreacted by kicking out unruly fan

The ability to reconsider our actions and express remorse is what separates us from the apes.  So, Mr. Ape-Man, screaming at Justin and Luke List, you've received an apology from JT.  Anything you'd like to say to him?  I thought not.... 

Never Too Early To Panic - I kid, but I had wanted to look into this, then saw this comment from the Tour Confidential panel:

6. We've spent a lot time in this forum in 2018 discussing Tiger Woods. With eight tournaments behind us this calendar year, what OTHER story line has most grabbed your attention? 

Wood: The strength of the European Ryder Cup team. There is too much installing the U.S. as heavy favorites, and I just don't think their team is getting enough respect. We all know about Rose, Sergio, Stenson, and Rory Mcilroy, Add #2 in the world Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, and Alex Noren to the mix and you've got a very, very strong core to go to the first tee with. I can't wait.

And a couple more:

Shipnuck: I agree with both Dylan and Woody — it's been a stellar start to a year that promises so much more, and Paris is gonna be a bonkers way to end it. 

Sens: Buckle up for early April. The Masters might not start ‘til the back nine on Sunday, but you know we'll be talking about it endlessly til then. And not that anyone asked me, but Europe wins in Paris.

Shipnuck is, of curse, all in, having written that piece predicting U.S. dominance for the next few decades....  OK, maybe not that long.

Here's that Euro Ryder Cup team, according to this week's OWGR:

1.  Justin Rose
2. Rory McIlroy
3. Tommy Fleetwood
4. Sergio Garcia
5. Henrik Stenson
6. Alex Noren
7. Tyrell Hatton
8. Paul Casey
9. Rafa Cabrera Bello
10. Francesco Molinari
11. Ross Fisher
12. Matthew Fitzpatrick

There's little quaetion that the U.S. has more fire power at the top and is deeper at the bottom, but that Euro roster is no pushover.

And if you're thinking that it's all about that task force?

A few weeks ago the Northern Irishman questioned Phil Mickelson about the U.S. Ryder 

Cup task force and how it managed to help right the ship for the U.S. team. His conclusion? The Americans are imitating the Europeans.

“Basically, all they are doing is copying what the Europeans have done. That's what he said,” McIlroy said in his pre-tournament press conference at the Honda Classic. 

“He said the first thing they did in that task force was Phil played a video, a 12-minute video of Paul McGinley to all of them,” McIlroy said. McGinley led Team Europe to a victory in 2014 at Gleneagles.

So Phil, that Gleneagles presser was just about sticking it to Watson?  I knew, but now everyone knows.

Remembering Pete -  His legacy has some warts, but he was always one of the nicest guys in the biz:

Pete couldn’t come to the phone, Alice said, because he was playing golf at The Little Club near their home in Delray Beach, Fla. Then she apologized that there would be no

return phone call. “He’s not really able to use the phone much anymore,” she said quietly. 

Her next few words were devastating. 

Pete Dye, perhaps the game’s most transformative course designer, has been stricken with Alzheimer’s. It’s the cruelest of ironies that Dye is fit enough at age 92 to play golf most days but no longer can articulate the ideas that altered the rubric of golf course architecture. 

“It’s such a tragedy that such a wonderful mind is being lost,” said Alice, who has been his faithful sidekick on a number of his works, including the renowned Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, during their 68 years of marriage. She couldn’t muster any more words except to say, “you should talk to the boys,” meaning their two sons, Perry and P.B.

I'm comforted that he can at least go out and play a little.... But in thinking of Pete, let me leave you with this:

“It’s the end of an era,” added Bill Coore, who worked for Dye for three years and is now enjoying a sensational run partnering with former Masters winner Ben Crenshaw. “Before Pete came along, golf architecture was Robert Trent Jones and that philosophy. That was the standard. Pete took the game and design in a different direction.”

It seems like everyone in the field worked at one point for Pete, and they all speak fondly of him.  That's quite a legacy.

I'll leave you here and see you later in the week. 

An Unforced Error

I'm at an age where the distinction between a principled stand and shouting "Get off my lawn" can be elusive.  Take the latest announcement from Far Hills, which Golf Digest is applauding:

The U.S. Open's 18-hole playoff dies a not-so-sudden (but much appreciated) death

I think this is a horrible unforced error....am I wrong?  The subheader doesn't make me reconsider:

USGA officials could no longer put traditional ahead of practicality—and players applaud the decision

Just yesterday Shack was reminding us that players aren't paid to think.  Timely, that.

There is a chamber in our hearts where nostalgia flickers, and it brings us each a unique comfort. But nostalgia is neither practical or marketable. We simply don’t have time for

it, even if we have more capacity to feel it as we age. 

“Nostalgia is always doomed and dooming,” according to author Sherman Alexie. 

That was precisely the sentiment I felt when the USGA announced Monday that it was ending its traditional 18-hole playoff in the U.S. Open in favor of a two-hole aggregate format. The USGA had been the last holdout among the four major championships to shorten its playoff, though it already had abandoned the 18-hole variety in the U.S. Women’s Open and the U.S. Senior Open. Starting this year, each of those championships, as well as the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open, will adopt the new two-hole scheme.

Speak for yourself, son, as I'm retired.  As my ski buddy Lee is won't to say, I have nothing to do and all day to do it....

The author provides a history lesson on Open playoffs, but this quote from my namesake is the gist of the argument:

“We live in a Snapchat world. I think you can make arguments for and against. In this case, I’m not sure two holes is enough, but at least the players are warmed up, ready to go, and you get it done.” —1987 U.S. Open champion Scott Simpson

How can I, of all people, challenge that appeal to authority.  And yet I will....

I actually think a good case against the move is made by the photos accompanying the piece.  For instance, anyone remember that Tiger moment above?  That was after sinking the putt on the 72nd green to force everyone back on  Monday.  And this one:

Interestingly, those playoffs both went 19 holes....

You want more history?  How about these three?

My enlightened readers don't needs captions to identify the participants above, but those are obviously three of the most iconic moments in the event's history, indeed in the history of our game.

And my argument isn't just to continue to do what we've always done, because an 18-hole Monday playoff isn't how we used to do it.  Anyone remember this?

There is no debating that, even if the sentimental part of us is inclined to disagree. But in 1931 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, Billy Burke and George Von Elm engaged in the longest playoff in golf history when their scheduled 36-hole playoff ended in a tie. With no sudden death at their disposal, they had to endure another 36 holes, and Burke won by a stroke. The next year the USGA shortened the format to 18 holes.

My argument is that this is part of the DNA of the U.S. Open, the sternest test in golf.   And length sudden death playoff feels like a crap shoot, heck even 18 holes is a crapshoot.  I'll remind you that Bobby Jones avoided any match play event where the matches were 18-holes, because he felt that was insufficient for the better player to prevail.  That's how one thinks when one is the better player....

The author is quite fair in noting that the Monday playoffs can be anticlimactic, but isn't that what sports are all about.  My excitement over that riveting Retief Goosen - Mark Brooks tie in 2001 has barely faded, though every event has it's improbable winners.  I just think they're repudiating their birthright to make Fox or somebody happy, and I think they'll live to regret it.

And of course we're all a bit inconsistent as relates to the USGA.  We want them to listen to us (or at least to listen to Jack) in the distance debate, but at times it's better then they don't care what we think.  After all, why should my arguments be any more consistent than my golf game?

Now the choice of a two hole format is simply bizarre, give that the PGA uses three holes and the Open Championship four.  Perhaps even more damning, when they back off of the 18-hole playoff for the Women's U.S. Open they went to three holes.... Yup, they don't seem terribly committed to their previously-stated convictions....  Not a good look.

Shack has some speculation on the two-hole issue:

It is hard not to conclude this was a decision driven by a desire to appease television, or worse, to anticipate what networks might want without an actual demand from the broadcast partner. Given that 18-hole Monday playoffs were kept in place because of the championship's importance, this declaration that the U.S. Open is using one less hole than the PGA or Players--and two holes fewer than The Open--subtly diminishes the stature of the U.S. Open. Given how satisfying the three-hole aggregate has been as an ideal solution between the vagaries of sudden death and the excess of returning on a Monday, this can only be chalked up to a decision in the best interests of an entity other than the U.S. Open. 

If television is the culprit, I find it hard to believe Fox or any network would prefer to be blamed for compromising the integrity of America's national championship to get to some summer programming on a Sunday night. This feels more like the USGA Executive Committee anticipating the imaginary needs of a television partner overpaying to broadcast their championships.

That's the self-inflicted problem with the sudden-death option, especially if there are any weather issues.  They so desperately want to have it both ways, the scheduled close at 6:00-7:00 EDT, but with time for the playoff....  Remember Valhalla?  Inevitably we'll have a two-hole playoff spill into Monday anyway, or they'll make them finish in the gloamin'.....

And this last bit is even more alarming:

**Since we know the Five Families have been known to work together, I am wondering if the two-hole number was chosen because The Masters could conveniently go to such a format using the 10th and 18th holes, allowing the USGA to say--Augusta National offers two and so do we. The Masters would be better with a two hole playoff over sudden death, but even should former USGA President and new Chairman Fred Ridley institute such a change, this should not guide the U.S. Open's approach.

 You're all getting coal in your stockings!

Weekend Wrap

Yesterday was quite the day for your humble blogger.  A mere 5" of fresh snow was reported, yet in certain spots deep pillows of powder were to be found and enjoyed.  As a result, every part of my body is hurting, with the exception of my fingers with which I hunt and peck.

I also got sucked back into investment banker mode this morning, so hence the delayed start to blogging.  This might be a tad brief therefore, but we'll eventually get to everything of importance.

Honda Happenings - From Brian Wacker's game story:

A season after winning five times and being named the PGA Tour player of the year, Justin Thomas might end up with an encore that’s even better. 

Time will tell. 

So far, he’s off to a pretty good start. 

Sunday at the Honda Classic, Thomas made two birdies over his final six holes, including one on the 18th, to force a playoff with Luke List. He then went on to claim the title with another birdie on the first hole of sudden death. The victory was his second of the 2017-’18 season, seventh in his last 31 starts and eighth of his pro career. It also moved Thomas to a career-best third on the Official World Golf Ranking and just ahead of good friend Jordan Spieth.

The kid's good, but I couldn't help but root for Luke List.  List has been wandering the desert for what must feel like forty years, and could have really used this to jump-start his career.

JT also had to fend off an all-too typical fan patron:

While walking up to the 16th tee, tied for the lead, Thomas heard a fan yell in his

direction: “I hope you hit it in the water!” 

Thomas looked back at the spectator but didn’t say anything. 

After Thomas ripped a long iron into the fairway, the same fan began shouting for the shot to get into the bunker. 

“I was like, OK, I’ve had enough,” Thomas said afterward. “I just turned around and asked who it was, and he didn’t want to say anything, now that I had actually acknowledged him. So he got to leave a couple holes early.

This is getting really old....  Of course, I'm old enough to remember when drunks would quietly cry in their beer.

Let;'s acknowledge that ejection isn't much oa a penalty here.  The lout was at the 16th tee as the last group went through, so he wasn't going to see any more golf played in any event.  All JT accomplished was to ensure that the guy beat the traffic out of PGA National.

It's a subject for another day, but the Tour needs to figure how how to impose some penalty on these Mashed Potato guys..... 

Tiger Scat - What to think after a most curious of weeks for the Big Cat?   

Tiger Woods bombing drives, living pin high, playing meaningful golf on a Sunday.

This is what progressing nicely looks like. 

Woods led the field at the Honda Classic in driving distance and was first in proximity to the hole. He even sniffed the periphery of contention in the final round, climbing to within three of the lead after making his fourth birdie of the day, an 18-footer he holed on the 14th at PGA National. 

His undoing, like a lot of players in the field this week, came on Nos. 15 through 17, arguably the toughest three-hole stretch on the PGA Tour. Woods played those holes in a combined nine over this week, including three over on Sunday when he rinsed his tee shot en route to making double-bogey 5 at 15. He followed with a three-putt bogey on the par-4 16th, and that was that. A even-par 70 at day's end left him with an even-par 280 for the week and a 12th-place showing.

He made several of the worst swings I've seen at No. 15, but he showed lots of good stuff as well.

 At these kinds of odds, we can all agree it's a short.  Shall we see what the knowledgeable folks on the Tour Confidential panel saw?  

1. Tiger Woods now has three PGA Tour starts under his belt in 2018: a T-23 at Torrey Pines (72-71-70-72), a MC at Riviera (72-76) and a 12th-place finish at PGA National (70-71-69-70). From what you've seen from him so far in the early stages of this comeback, are you more or less convinced today than you were six weeks ago that Woods will win again on Tour?

Kind of a silly framing of the question, as if he can finish 12th it's hard to say he can't win....

John Wood, caddie for Matt Kuchar: I was convinced before, and I'm more convinced now. He seems completely healthy. His short game looks vintage Tiger, his putting looks very good, and he is bombing it.

All true, though the misses are alarmingly big.

Dylan Dethier: More! What else could we have gotten from Tiger? Sure, he didn't win, but he showed he can grind, contend, and swing out of his shoes. The fire is there, and much of the game seems to be, too. Excited to see where Tiger goes from here.

Michael Bamberger: Until this week, I didn't know what golf meant to him, and I didn't know how good he could still be. I believe he can win on Tour again. And if he can do that, he can win a major.

More importantly, he believes he can win again.  Will he?  Isn't that why we'll be watching?

Be Still My Foolish Heart -  We've all debated the USGA's choice of U.S. Open venues, but they've been hitting it of the park on the Walker Cup.  Now comes word that our friends in the GB&I are on the same page:

THE 49TH WALKER CUP TO BE PLAYED AT ST ANDREWS IN 2023 

26 February 2018, St Andrews, Scotland: A historic milestone in the rich heritage of the Walker Cup will be reached at the Home of Golf in 2023 when the international match between Great Britain and Ireland and the United States is played at St Andrews.

The occasion will mark exactly 101 years since the biennial encounter was first contested at the National Golf Links of America in 1922 and will be the ninth time that the Walker Cup has been played at St Andrews; more than any other venue in its history.

Now we just need to expand the TV window. 

Distance, A Dissent - I think Geoff is a little overly harsh on a James Hahn tweet, though I'm in basic agreement with him.

Here's Geoff's header:

Distance Debate Reminder: Golf Pros Are Not Paid To Think

Here's just a minor portion of Geoff's rant:

There is also concern from some elite players on the skill front, namely a view that great ballstrikers may no longer be enjoying rewards commensurate with their skill or physical strength. But there will also be reactions reminiscent of gun owners any time a common sense piece of legislation is suggested: don’t you dare take my guns away under any circumstances!

So even when it’s in a player’s interest to perhaps see some minor tweak to the rules to restore skill (a ball that spins more, a driver head size restriction), we are likely to hear mostly shallow, incoherent or financially-driven declarations that the governing bodies are evil people out to ruin lives.

 Here's the offending tweet:

I actually took it to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but also credited Hahn with making a case that there are many factors driving the increased distance, and that some of those are obviously outside the USGA's ability to control.

There are additional tweets which I like far less, and I do believe that we need to address this issue.  I just think that Hahn is making arguments that need to and can be addressed, and that calling him stupid, as the header does, isn't especially helpful.  I also say that recognizing that I'm usually the one calling the guy stupid.....

I'll leave you here and promise to be back tomorrow.  Unless, you know, freshies....

Bonus Weekend Content

I sat down an hour ago to bang out some of those random musings you so crave, and had no Internet.  I know, a cruel twist of fate....  Even more curious is that, while Internet service has resumed, I get a security warning when I go to GeoffShackelford.com..... Good thing we rarely link to him.

Tiger Scat - This Golfweek header seems a bit much:

Resilient Tiger Woods in the hunt at Honda Classic entering weekend

I'm fine with the "R-word", Tiger gets high marks for grinding....  It's just that I have a higher standard for the "H-word".

To me, Mike Bamberger asks the most interesting of questions:

A different game: How much patience will Tiger Woods have if golf never becomes easy for him again?

 Although I've phrased it differently, how much tolerance will he have for sucking....  But same point.

Back in the day, Tiger Woods would suck the life out of tournaments. It was all Tiger. The most extreme example of that phenomenon was at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble

Beach, which he won by 15 shots. It was a sight to behold, one pure shot after another, with nary a practice swing. The whole thing was grooved and programmed. He was taking over the national Open in a way nobody had ever even imagined was possible. It was exciting. Also very boring. 

On a sun-drenched Friday afternoon at the Honda, Woods sucked the life out of this tournament in an altogether different way. Probably 90 percent of the walking spectators on the course were following Woods, not because he is dominant, not even because he was once dominant, but because he’s now a lot more like us: frail, flawed, trying to fit in. It’s poignant. It was only nine months ago that he was the subject of a gruesome Palm Beach County police mug shot. Here, a half-dozen or more uniformed police officers are walking inside the ropes with Woods.

I'm not sure it was necessary to bring up the mug shot, and I'm usually the one accused of overt hostility to that man....

Could Woods possibly win again? Or is he destined to do what he did here on Thursday and Friday, hit a bunch of vintage shots and others that were just plain terrible and piece together rounds that look ordinary on the card and extraordinary if you saw what he had to do to post them? How much patience will he have if golf never becomes easy for him again?

That's the same sense I had as well, that the bad shots were inexplicably bad....

“It was a good grind out there,” Woods told Golf Channel when his Friday round was

over. In fact, he said those words twice. Well, he was always a grinder, maybe the best grinder the game has ever seen. He’s shown that, for these two rounds in South Florida, anyhow, he still has the grinder mentality. 

But he didn’t win that 2000 U.S. Open by 15 because of his ability to grind. He’s golf’s 79/14 man because he had magic in every one of his 14 clubs, magic and skill and strength and speed.

OK, but that grinding is necessary if he's to win out there again.  Admittedly, not sufficient.....

I'm back after another Internet outage....  Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking.  Let's catch up on some other things we missed while I was off in Wyoming.

Crowd Sourced - From Sunday night's Tour Confidential Panel:

3. After the third round at the Genesis Open, Justin Thomas said the raucous crowds were a problem, as they have been at other events this season. “At the end it got a little out of hand," he said. "I guess it's a part of it now, unfortunately. I wish it wasn't. I wish people didn't think it was so amusing to yell and all that stuff while we're trying to hit shots and play." Is Thomas onto something? Are PGA Tour galleries getting too frisky?

Sens: Careful what you wish for. You want to grow the game and broaden the audience? The audience you attract isn’t going to be as steeped in polite golf-clap traditions. Different tournaments also seem to attract a different level of yahoo-ism. Add Tiger’s return to the mix, and the electricity in the atmosphere cranks up further. So yeah, I would say more and more spectators could probably use an etiquette lesson. If you’re yelling in someone’s backswing, you don’t belong there. And if you’re yelling 'You da man' or 'Mashed potatoes!' specifically, I’m not sure you belong anywhere.

You're gonna have to pry those mashed potatoes from my cold, dead fingers.

Kidding aside, I believe this to be a very interesting subject, as the "Grow the game" mantra is accepted without reservation.  Whereas, back here on planet Earth, the process of growing the game benefits some but might annoy or impair others.

Alan Shipnuck had an interesting take on this subject in his weekly mailbag:

Should golf really be played in complete silence? What other sport demands fans keep still and quiet? -@WadePretorius 

Tennis, at least for every serve. But to me, the prevailing silence is the most intense part of being at a golf tournament. In this noisy, cluttered world we live in, you simply never get to experience that kind of stillness while being among so many people. When I took my kids to their first tournaments this was their favorite part, the delicious tension that comes with having to be utterly silent and then the release of screaming your head off when something cool happens. I'd hate for golf to lose this thing that makes it so unique. As we're seeing, all it takes is a couple of yahoos to shatter the experience for the players and fans. I hope aggressive actions by the Tour and zero-tolerance policing by fellow fans will get us through this fraught moment.

At the risk of being pegged as a senile curmudgeon, what if golf is better as a niche sport?   Were it any other business, I'd no doubt be spouting the notion that if you're not growing, you're dying.  It's further true, as noted by another writer on the TC panel, that every new generation of players will bring their own fans into the mix and of course that game has always evolved.  I guess the distinction is between drawing new folks into our game, as opposed to changing our game in the misguided belief that otherwise our game will wither and die.

United We Post - Golf.com convened a special addition Tour Confidential panel to discuss.....this?

1. The USGA and R&A have announced a major handicap overhaul, with the implementation of a new World Handicap System beginning in 2020. How significant is this move? And do you feel there’s a need for a uniform global system?

Really?  

Josh Sens: The more serious you are about golf, the more significant it is. For the casual player, I don’t see it as a game-changer. But if you you play in a lot of handicapped

matches and events, it’s a bit deal. And if you play in periodic matches against a certain sandbagger from Wales, as I do, it’s also a new dawn. Sorry, Stephen. Now you have to put in all your scores, not just the ones from “competition.” No more 15 index for you. You’ll be closer to the 5 you really are. As for “need,” I say it was needed in the same way that I need a drink every night: it’s a good thing and I’m all for it, but the world also would have survived without it.

Joe Passov: This is a pretty serious overhaul of the handicapping system, but not in a stop-the-presses way, as we experienced with last year’s proposed rules changes for 2019. Kudos to the USGA and the other ruling bodies for putting more “real world” emphasis on how we calculate scores and handicaps. As far as uniformity, I’m meh. I play all over the world, and my modest handicap seldom encounters any issues with other players and other clubs. And in fact, I always kind of liked the variety from country to country. Knowing what SSS stood for (Standard Scratch Score, in the UK) always scored me free beer in local golf trivia contests.

Standard Scratch this, Joe!

This is both appropriate and a complete nothingburger.....  I guess I'm a big winner, because I can now post all of those horrible scores I shoot in Scotland and Ireland.  Carpe diem, golf buddies, after this goes into effect you might want to avoid those $5 Nassau's with me after a trip until my index regresses to the mean.

2. What’s the highlight of the new system?

Sens: See above. I’m a fan of the change that requires our counterparts across the pond to post competitive and recreational scores. That old rule was a vestige of a bygone era. The new one makes the system more reflective of how the game is actually played today. Also: I dig the new limits placed on sudden upward movements in handicap. It makes it harder for willful sandbaggers to pad their handicaps, and for unusual runs of poor play to distort a player’s index.

Where has Josh been playing?  Because my experience is that weeks of bad scores don't move the needle, but one good one pushes me down a full tick.

Bamberger: Ultimately, it’s simpler. Net double bogey is the highest score you can make. Perfect.

Have the done away with Equitable Stroke Control?  I'll go to my grave not understand how seven can be your maximum score on a hole regardless of its par....

3. Do you suspect the changes will encourage more golfers to keep a handicap?

Is that a good thing?  Here's one answer to that query which leaves me cold:

Bastable: I like that you need only play 54 holes to get your handicap up and running as opposed to 90 under the current system. If you're ambitious (and fit) enough, you can set up a handicap in a single day. The built-in algorithm that prevents a run of unusually poor scores from juicing your handicap also makes sense. That means one or two off-weeks — and we've all been there — won't send your number surging.

Nirvana!   I know all Millennials have ADD, but what purpose is served in establishing handicaps based on such a small sample size.  That's exactly what we've been told is the problem with the U.K. system.

I'm going to leave you here and we'll talk again soon....

Back To Business

Hope you were able to productively use your free time the last five days.... my longest vacation from blogging in forever.

So, shall we pick up where we left off?

Tiger Beat - When last we spoke, Tiger was in the process of missing the cut at Riviera....badly.  Mike Bamberger has an interesting take on yesterday's action, focused on the most vital of things:

The world — the golf world — has changed since then. Justin Thomas, for one thing, playing right in front of Woods on Thursday, has come to the fore. Another new thing (to

my in-person eyes) is Woods's black Monster Energy golf bag, with his name on it in small block white letters and nine lime-green logo Ms, in a in a typeface one could call Freddy Krueger Serif. Tour yardage books have more green information in them than they did even three years ago, and Woods on Thursday spent more time looking at his yardage book with a putter in hand than I had ever noticed before.

OK, I don't know what Freddy Krueger Serif means either, and yet I'm amused.

This will surely sound weird, but Woods's Thursday round showed a golfer who had to work too hard to end the day where he began it, at even par. As he was signing his scorecard, Justin Thomas was on a riser, talking to reporters. He had shot a three-under 67, despite four bogeys. Well, that's what happens when you're playing with a free mind and a free swing. You're not trying to play perfect golf. You know there are going to be bad holes and more good holes. Woods is not there yet. Whether he has enough golf left in him to get back there is a question only his golf schedule over the next few years will answer.

Not weird at all.... His short game has been the only thing keeping him from scores that begin with 8's in each of his seven competitive rounds.

Tiger himself had this to say about his fused game:

“I can’t create the same angles I used to be able to create naturally,” Woods said.

“Obviously I’m fused, so it’s a little bit different and I’m starting to learn what it feels like under the gun. Some of the shots I like to play, they’re not the same as they used to be and that part I’m going to have to learn. It’s not something that I’m used to because I’ve never felt like this, but this is the new norm.”

As is typical when Tiger speaks of his game, I'm left scratching my head.  But even par puts him T23, the high water mark for this comeback.  

Ryan Lavner sees improvement and goes to the videotape ShotLink for support:

It was by far his most impressive round in this nascent comeback. 

Playing in a steady 20-mph wind, Woods was better in all facets of the game Thursday at PGA National. Better off the tee. Better with his irons. And better on and around the “scratchy” greens. 

He hung tough to shoot 70 – four shots better than his playing partner, Patton Kizzire, a two-time winner this season and the current FedExCup leader – and afterward Woods said that it was a “very positive” day and that he was “very solid.”

This seems to be the strongest case:

Officially, he hit only seven of 14 fairways and just 10 greens, but some of those misses off the tee were a few paces into the rough, and some of those iron shots finished just off the edge of the green. 

The more telling stat was this: His proximity to the hole (28 feet) was more than an 11-foot improvement over his first two starts this year. And also this: He was 11th among the early starters in strokes gained-tee to green, which measures a player’s all-around ball-striking. Last week, at Riviera, he ranked 121st.

He'll be the centerpiece of today's Golf Channel coverage, so pull up an easy chair and draw you own conclusions.

The State of The Game -  A somewhat interesting few days of chatter about our little game, with the lead played by Mr. Jack.

Jack is an unofficial host this week, and recounted this conversation with the USGA's Mike Davis:

Nicklaus said he discussed the matter with U.S. Golf Association CEO Mike Davis over dinner Sunday night.

“Mike said, ‘We’re getting there. We’re going to get there. I need your help when we get there.'” Nicklaus said. “I said, ‘That’s fine. I’m happy to help you. I’ve only been yelling at you for 40 years.’ 1977 is the first time I went to the USGA.” 

Nicklaus said sarcastically he assumed that meant the USGA would be studying the issue for ‘another 10 years or so.’

Heh.  I don't remember Jack ever being that snarky, but I like it....

Theb Randall Mell got him to name names....well, one name at least:

“Titleist controls the game,” Nicklaus said. “And I don't understand why Titleist would be against it. I know they are, but I don't understand why you would be against it. They make probably the best product. If they make the best product, whether it's 20 percent shorter ... What difference would it make? Their market share isn't going to change a bit. They are still going to dominate the game."

Titleist representatives could not be immediately reached by Golf Channel.

Ummmmm...Jack, are your security arrangements adequate?

But I should note that while everyone if focused on the ball, their solutions are not all consistent.  To me it would seem that bifurcation is the path of least resistance, and the R&A would seem to agree, at least it seems that way from the recent comments of Martin Slumbers.

Mike Davis has made repeated statements that it's not just the men's elite game, and Jack's vision has been to play different balls based upon the length of the course.

Nicklaus said he would like to see golf courses and golf balls rated, so that different courses could be played with different rated balls. For example, a ball rolled back “70 percent” would fit courses rated for that ball. He said players could still play those courses with a 100 percent ball, but handicapping could be factored into the game so players could compete using differently rated balls. 

“And so then if a guy wants to play with a 90 or 100 percent golf ball, it makes it shorter and faster for him to play,” Nicklaus said. 

Nicklaus believes rating balls like that would make shorter courses more playable again. He believes creating differently rated balls would also make more money for ball manufacturers. 

“Then you don't have any obsolete golf courses.” Nicklaus said. “Right now we only have one golf course that's not obsolete, as I said earlier [Augusta National], in my opinion.”

More on that one course below, but doesn't Jack's plan seem needlessly complicated?

Jack also believe that the ball is the major culprit in slow play, which to me is a bit of a stretch.  I guess if the logic is that the longer ball has resulted in faster green speeds, but I'm reluctant to mix these issues together.

Not that slow play isn't an issue, there's just far more involved than the ball.  You all remember my man-crush on Geoff Ogilvy, well he's back with a typically thoughtful piece on the things that take the fun out of golf.   First up, well of course:

The first is obvious and one that will no doubt resonate with all of you: Slow play. It is the one thing that affects me most during an event. Everyone has a natural pace, so some people are just naturally slow in everything they do. My father is one of those. But even if that is the case, there is – at least to me – little excuse for playing golf slowly. If you do all the little things between shots quickly, you can almost take as long as you want over a shot and not fall behind. 

On Tour, the most frustrating aspect of slow play is being ready to hit, then looking over to see the guy with the honour just about to start his pre-shot routine. In other words, he has been doing something else entirely at a time when he should have been working out his yardage and figuring what club he needs to use. It is just so thoughtless and selfish. And it drives me nuts.

Good thing he wasn't paired with J.B. at Torrey.... or Kevin Na, who he mentions specifically.  Did you catch him last week with his JB-esque tap-in?  If not, Shack has the skinny on his trip to the woodshed courtesy of retired cricketer Kevin Pietersen.  When you've lost the retired cricketers.....

But back to Ogilvy, who has so much more:

Architecturally, my biggest pet peeve is what I call “double hazards.” For example, a fairway bunker directly behind a tree. That sounds ridiculous. But I see it so often, even on “great” courses where a tree planted 40-years ago has grown to be simply inappropriate. Valderrama in Spain has a few of those. 

The idea of any hazard is to test the recovery skills of players. But put a tree in front of that hazard and you bring everyone down to the same level. Everyone is reduced to chipping out sideways. When I see that happening I always wonder why the bunker and tree are not replaced by a small water hazard, where you take a one-shot penalty and move on. That is, in effect, what has been created by “doubling” the bunker and the tree. So yes, have a tree. Or a bunker. But not both.

 Give it a read, as he's the most thoughtful player out there.

Handicaps, Standardized - The last time we trod this ground was when the USGA disallowed the posting of solo rounds, but now comes the details of our Brave New World:

There is, however, a flaw in the system. Specifically, there isn’t just one system for

calculating handicaps. While the USGA formula is used by the largest number of golfers worldwide—roughly 10 million of the 16 million who have handicaps—it coexists with five other systems, none of which easily translates with one another. In Great Britain & Ireland, there’s the Council of National Golf Unions (CONGU), which computes handicaps incrementally off a limited number of rounds. In Europe, they use a variation of CONGU called European Golf Association. Australia, South Africa and Argentina use their own systems similar to the USGA’s. Suddenly, the virtue of having a handicap isn’t quite so virtuous. 

Enter the World Handicap System (WHS), announced jointly on Tuesday by the USGA and R&A, the result of six years of conversations, deliberations and mathematical modeling among the statistical gurus who oversee the current formulas. The goal? To clear up confusion and create a single Handicap Index that’s easy to obtain and maintain, and is truly portable.

The biggest surprise for most is the absence of the R&A on that list of governing organizations.  

Fact is that the new system will mostly mirror the existing U.S. system, though it will be based on the best eight (currently it's ten) of your most recent twenty posted scores, which should skew us all a bit lower.  Sandbaggers are hereby put on notice that they'll have to work a bit harder, but we all know they have it in them.

Augusta Being Augusta - While we were away, news broke of another hole to be lengthened at ANGC.  Fortunately it's not the 13th:

Big changes could be coming soon to Augusta National Golf Club’s fifth hole, according to preliminary site plans filed Jan. 30 with the Augusta Planning and Development

Department.

The tee box for Masters Tournament play on the 455-yard, par-4 hole could be pushed back an estimated 20-30 yards across Old Berckmans Road. The new tee would alleviate congestion at the fourth green and current fifth tee, which are just a few yards apart. 

Old Berckmans Road has been closed to through traffic since 2015, but the plans call for the road to curve around the area that will be used as a tee box.

Shack had this cryptic take on it:

From the purely Jones-MacKenzie point of view, it will be interesting to see if the fairway bunkers and slopes require recontouring to retain the original dynamics intended to reflect some Old Course strategies.

Interestingly, two guys with four green jackets are OK with the change:

“I’m a big fan of making the hard holes harder and the easy holes easier,” Mickelson said Sunday at the Genesis Open. “So making No. 5 harder, which is perennially a difficult par, or should be one of the harder par-4s out there, I’m a big fan of. What I’m not a fan of is taking a hole like 7 and making it the second-toughest par on the golf course. I think that’s a mistake. I think making 5 more difficult is not.”

Phil has been consistent on this subject, and this guy concurs:

Jordan Spieth believes the proposed changes would force driver into players’ hands on what he described as a “3-wood hole” given the pitch of the fairway, and added that firm and fast conditions could potentially push a longer fifth hole to the brink of playability. 

“It would make an already very difficult hole even harder,” Spieth said. “If the greens are firm and fast, then it’s a pretty dicey hole given how severe that green is. But when you can still land a mid-iron on and stop it on the back of that green, then it makes sense. So I think they’d probably do a mix of the tees.”

Though I have no idea what he means by that last bit, given that ANGC famously will only allow two tee boxes on each hole, which have to accommodate Phil, Jordan and Condi Rice.  Phil drives it 320 ans Condi drives it, oh maybe 95 yards, so you see the issues....

I'll leave you there....  I've got more, so perhaps some bonus weekend blogging is in order.  The key word being maybe.....  

Your Friday Frisson

Is now a good time for the bad news?  OK, maybe later....

Opening to Mixed Reviews.... - I saw only a bit of it, but those reports that it's now winning time seem to have an expansive definition of "Now".  First is the insightful analysis of Golf Digest:

Tiger Woods had his moments, just not enough of them to fuel optimism

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Big crowds. Pristine weather. Tiger Woods, the hometown hero back for the first time in over a decade, on one of the greatest golf courses you’ll find anywhere. There was even an opening-hole birdie on the drivable par-4 10th—actually three of them in the group—after he laid up to 85 yards, wedged to nine feet and knocked in the putt. 

It felt like the old days. 

Thursday started so promising for Tiger in the opening round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club. 

It didn’t last.

His opening sequence went birdie-double-bogey-birdie.... But get a load of this whiplash inducing header from Golf.com:

Tiger Woods’s opening round at Riviera featured the good, bad and ugly, but optimism still abounds

C'mon guys, can't you agree on anything?  Is optimism abounding or is it sadly unfueled?

But at least the latter include this great photo from Tiger's Dancing with the Stars audition:

If that doesn't reinjure his back, I guess nothing will....

It's a very bunched leaderboard, but +1 puts him T63, though he's tied with the population of a small midwesterrn town.  The topline numbers weren't great:

Ah, but there also was the bad and the ugly during a round that caused fresh concern whether Woods can find a fairway. He hit eight of 14 fairways, and just 7 of 18 greens. He fanned his tee shot to the right at the 11th and never found the ball as it apparently hung up in a eucalyptus tree. Woods made double bogey.

Jeez, he it more fairways than greens?   That's not something you see every day, and suggests that the iron play wasn't up to snuff....

He'll be on a cut watch, but the more interesting thing to watch for today might be whether he commits to Honda....He plays in the afternoon, so Golf Channel will be all-Tiger, all the time.

His Shot - Guy Yocum's My Shot feature usually delivers, and this month it's Zach Johnson telling stories.  First, this will cement Kooch's rep in perpetuity:

IN THE MONTHS leading up to that 2012 Ryder Cup, someone started messing with

my locker. I’d open it, and everything would be rearranged, or a mountain of wadded-up paper would come pouring out. Another time it was filled completely with bottles of Old Chub Scotch Ale, which was random and had no connection with anything. It got a little irritating. Who would do stuff like that, over and over? 

It continued at the Ryder Cup. Early in the week, I opened my locker and found it plastered with magazine photos of Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte in their Speedos, with things written on them you can’t print. The mildest said something like, Hi, Zach, what do you think of my rock-hard abs? Your friend, Michael.At the opening ceremony on Thursday night, Michael Phelps actually was there. He was with Omega, one of the sponsors, and was there to help get the crowd into it. I saw Matt Kuchar walk over to Michael and whisper something in his ear. Michael nods, then comes over to me and introduces himself. After I say, “It’s great to meet you, Michael,” he leans in and whispers, “Zach, what do you think of my rock-hard abs?” Kuchar is doubled over, laughing. It hits me: Kuchar’s locker has always been right next to mine because we’re J-K alphabetically—he’d been the one messing with my locker. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it, but one day I’l have my revenge.

Ya gotta love the long con....  Though I'll remind you that this was Medinah, so it all ended in tears.

And this was interesting, about a guy from the course Zach played growing up:

THERE WERE CHARACTERS when I was growing up at Elmcrest. One guy showed up every week with a new set of clubs, the very latest. Shoes, balls and accessories, too. Somehow he got his stuff before our pro did, and all us kids couldn’t wait to see what he’d bring out next. He had a deep, gravelly voice and called everybody “ma’am” and “sir.” He was a total golf fanatic. He and his buddies played all day long and gambled up a storm. It turned out he was Bob Parsons, who today owns PXG. I play his clubs. Needless to say, I always have the latest, just like him.

There's much more.

Introducing....  - Mike Bamberger takes on the introduction of their new owner, Howard Milstein, to their readers:

Howard, his son Michael and their Emigrant colleagues are always on the lookout for good business opportunities. And if those opportunities involve golf, so much the better! 

The new owner with two familiar faces.

In 2007, Howard and Jack Nicklaus became business partners. In subsequent years, Howard (via Emigrant Bank) invested in the Japanese equipment manufacturer Miura and some techy golf companies. In the fall, when Time Inc. announced that it would be selling its two golf titles, Howard and Michael Milstein (a 6-handicap golfer) and various other Emigrants rolled up their sleeves, looked at what we were doing and won over both us and the day. 

Part of it, of course, is writing a competitive check. (Terms were not disclosed.) But part of it, too, was Emigrant's vision for us. Expand, in this age of media contraction. Our new owners believe more is more and better is better. In time you'll see enhancements to the magazine, and the website will have a cleaner look. You'll find more original content in our channels, in our game stories, profiles, interviews, travel stories, videos and rubrics not yet invented. We also intend to offer you even more help in improving your game, and finding the best places to play, the best places to buy clubs, the best ways to get fitted for clubs, the best methods to get those clubs to perform under the scrutiny of your friends and frenemies.

It's news that someone sees opportunity in our game.  It's perhaps even bigger news that someone sees opportunity in media.....  The combination is either inspired or suicidal.... stay tuned.

Invest With Your Head - On the few times I've blogged prop bets, the source was undoubtedly Alex Myers, a man with far too much time on his hands.  But this is a promising premise for a magazine piece, no?

This is all to say that the concept of buying shares of a professional golfer has a natural appeal to me. Although still probably not mom-approved, it’s a more grown-up form of

gambling than betting on the spread of a game. And financial planners always stress how important it is to diversify your portfolio. What’s more diverse than investing in a British golfer you've never heard of?

It's a fun read, including the offering solicitation and contract....But we may need to chack back in with Alex in summer:

My next order of business was finding a way to justify risking that much. At first, I

considered trying to turn it into a work expense for this story, but again, what if I wound up winning some serious cash? I didn’t want to be forced into forking it over to the company. Instead, I figured I could re-allocate the $250 I was about to spend on renewing my air conditioning service plan. I could put that off for one year, right? What’s the worst that will happen? As far as I can tell, all they really ever do is stop by once and tell me my AC is running OK. Plus, there are plenty of great golfers out there who owe their start to some sort of sponsor/investor structure. Zach Johnson is forever grateful for a group that staked him when he was a young pro and now he has a green jacket AND a claret jug. (OMG, Dave Coupland is definitely winning the British Open!) And just like that, I had talked myself back into those two shares.

Enjoy, and perhaps root for Mr. Coupland.... Just for the benefit of Alex' bride.  

That Bad News -  Off to ski in a bit, but that's not the issue.  Tomorrow I depart with a small posse to Jackson Hole, no doubt a futile attempt to chase powder.  At this juncture, I've not yet decided whether the laptop comes along for the ride and whether there will be any blogging.  Do check back and I'll be in touch if possible, but it depends upon conditions and the amount of alcohol consumed.

Odds and Ends

I'm back in Western HQ, and there's even some fresh snow....  likely what the kids call dust on crust.

Tiger, The Yin and the Yang - Brady Riggs has four reasons that The Big Cat's new swing is built to last:

1. BUILT TO BLAST

Over time, Tiger has gone from a wiry dynamo to a mature, physically imposing veteran. And it's not just for looks — his new swing demands that his upper body produce most of the speed. His legs help support more than they "work" (see No. 4), which is perfectly fine if you're strong up top.

Yeah, but why?  That wiry dynamo had the perfect body for golf, no?

It's mostly technical, but there's little doubt tat he can hit if far enough, but plenty as relates to him keeping it on the planet.

 This guy takes a Lion Tiger in Winter tack:

In the years since, we've come to know him this way: the busted Escalade, the tabloid

revelations, the infidelities, the divorce; the dropped sponsorships, the press conference, the campaign to resuscitate his image; the long absences, the last-minute withdrawals, the loose drives, the wonky putter; the lost years, the sense that we were watching the finest golfer of his generation come undone in real time. But during that week at Torrey Pines, 10 years ago this June, we were still enjoying the glow of his halcyon days, and when night fell on Tiger Woods's performance at the 2008 U.S. Open, the legend was amplified.

OK, but that Escalade was almost as long ago as Torrey....

Now, as Woods mounts yet another comeback, with the most recent of his 14 major championship titles nearing its 10th anniversary, it's hard not to feel sorrow; his has become a story about what it means to achieve and then to lose greatness, a tragedy of hubris in the face of those fickle creatures we call the sporting gods.

I get it, but athletic careers almost always end on a downer.....

He had what seems a decent day on Wednesday, going the full eighteen:

Woods was the first guy out in the Wednesday pro-am, teeing off with a group that included actor Mark Wahlberg at 6:40 a.m. As the hours progressed, his gallery swelled, and even included PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. He put together a tidy round, hitting 8 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens, with three birdies against just one bogey. 

But the wayward driver that crippled him in his comeback three weeks ago at Torrey Pines was still on Woods’ mind. After hitting his tee shot on 18, he handed the club (sans headcover) to a rep to be taken away for an adjustment. He was hitting it again on the range shortly afterward, with four young kids quietly gathered on the grass behind him watching intently. Between shots, Woods tapped keepsake balls back toward them.

It is what it is and we'll see what we see....unless, of course, we're watching the Olympics instead.

As noted, Tiger played the event with the Artist Formerly Known as Marky Mark, and he brings his own weirdness to the proceedings:

Let’s start with the entourage. 

His personal chef never was never more than 30 feet from Wahlberg, carrying two coolers the entire way. Inside? One of his client’s eight daily meals at the ready. (Eight!) The nuclear codes drift further away from the president of the United States than Wahlberg’s lunch boxes. Sea bass is Wahlberg’s preference and TMOF can say that watching a chef carving up fish mid-round was certainly a first. 

Then there’s Wahlberg playing the entire round with Apple AirPods in his ears. Fans, fellow players and even commissioner Jay Monahan, who stopped by to say hello, asked what he could be listening to while still paying attention to his fans, playing partners and Tiger.

Of course he has an Entourage, he wrote the book.   No word on whether Turtle was in the gallery.....

But The Forecaddie didn't stop digging until he got to the bottom of the obvious issue:

The Forecaddie asked Wahlberg’s playing partner, super-friendly CAA partner Rob Light. But even one of the music business’ most powerful figures was not sure. Turns out, after talking to many sources, TMOF learned Wahlberg was not listening to anything. He’s just prepared if his iPhone should ring and a little double tap of the wireless headphones might turn up Jack Nicklaus or Will Ferrell on the line. 

This naturally begged another question: Who would be important enough to accept a call when you’re playing golf with Tiger Woods, someone Wahlberg calls the greatest ever (don’t tell Jack)?

 Where's Stevie when we need him?  

Riviera Loco - Shack loves The Riv, in fact you'll probably see him sitting with the AP's Doug Ferguson in the bleachers on the tenth hole most of the week.  He's posted two video in which he talks about the two most famous features of the golf course.

First, as relates to the maddening tenth hole:

Why there are still non-native shrubs on the fascinating 10th at Riviera is a question for another day, but the obvious answer is that they now serve as a defense of a hole rendered too easily drivable. They were planted long ago for no good reason and have been kept to keep the hole from becoming even more of a bomb-and-gouge-fest than it already is.

Bottlebrush, they call it....

Then that famous sixth hole bunker.  Good stuff.

Problem Identified - Doug Ferguson with news that the suits in Ponte Vedra Beach have realized a conundrum:

The problem with a postseason bonus program in golf is making the system volatile enough to come down to the final tournament while rewarding the player with the best season. The PGA Tour Champions might have a solution for the Charles Schwab Cup.

The amusement value comes from two obvious points...  First, that it took Kevin Sutherland to awake them to this issue and that, secondarily, it only seems an issue with the Schwab.  

Though they deny the first:

But this wasn’t a response to Sutherland winning.

What made officials rethink the playoff points system was that two players, Paul Goydos and Lee Janzen, had a reasonable chance on the last day to win the Schwab Cup even though they were outside the top 20 in the standings. That would have looked even more awkward in light of Langer’s big season.

I'm having trouble understanding how those two could be any less deserving a season-long honor than the actual winner, but have at it boys.

Then maybe you can understand that the FedEx Cup has the very same issues....  Unless, of course, Billy Ho is your idea of the best player in the game.

I'm going to go get myself some of that powdery goodness.....See you tomorrow.