Late Week Laments

We'll throw you a curveball (I might have watched that other sport yesterday), and lede with something other than The Masters.

Don't Know Much About History - Geoff had a quick post about that certain signage on Links Road, but now he's back with a full-length screed about it, and attention must be paid:

For those who have grown up when the professional golf shop was a vital gathering place, the resurrection of Old Tom Morris’s hub at 15 Links was yet another reminder

that virtually all important golf development started in St. Andrews. Bear with me here, but seeing the Tom Morris name plastered over with the sterile "The Open" branding warrants a deeper dive into this retail space's past. 

When the Links Trust restored this sacred spot in 2011, it was seen by the golf world as a nice tribute to the “Grand Old Man of Golf.” But the shop’s lineage, when imagined through the writings of early golf pioneers, becomes more clear. Or even profound.

Old Tom got his start in St. Andrews making featheries for Alan Robertson, the greatest golfer of the pre-Open era.  As Geoff continues, my reaction is one of alarm that those making such decisions don't recognize Old Tom as the indispensable man:

Layers of carpet and dry wall covered the bones of Old Tom’s longtime hub of storytelling, golf ball sales and clubmaking. When the layers were peeled back to reveal the origins of the shop, the significance of this location became more clear to anyone with a little imagination.

There are the deep etchings in the floor from the days when a team of artisans were crafting clubs. Also revealed was that one-of-a-kind grey stonework that supported Old Tom’s footsteps, the fireplace where gutta was shaped, and most breathtaking of all, the wood counter where he or his team of craftsman could work while looking out at the Home green shaped by Morris.

And, as we've covered a time or two, Old Tom influenced a certain American who brought that which he learned home:

When a young Charles Blair Macdonald--widely considered the father of American golf

Sheila Walker, Old Tom's great-granddaughter, watches the '15 Open.

after importing the best of Scottish golf principles to the States-- arrived in St Andrews, he was too young to be allowed in the Royal and Ancient clubhouse.

“The day after I arrived in St. Andrews my grandfather took me to genial and much beloved old Tom Morris and bought me three or four clubs,” he wrote in Scotland’s Gift—Golf. “He also secured a locker in Tom’s shop, for juniors were not permitted in the Royal and Ancient Club, to which both my grandfather and my uncle, Colonel William Macdonald, belonged.”

The man responsible for bringing the most important golfing principles to an America, at a time when the early game was a warped version of the sport thriving in Scotland, began his education in Old Tom’s shop. 

“Old Tom was the Grand Old Man of golf,” Macdonald wrote, “The philosopher and friend of all youthful, aspiring golfers.” 

We’ll never know what lessons were imparted to Macdonald by Old Tom during many visits there, but it is easy to imagine him learning about golf architecture, course maintenance, clubmaking or the impact an influential elder can have on an impressionable lad.

Tillinghast also met Old Tom on a pilgrimage to St. Andrews in 1896, and Geoff references (but does not post) a picture of the tow in the open shop door.  Nor was I able to find it through a Google image search. 

I'll of course repeat my recommendation of Tommy's Honor, the book before the film, which covers the long arc of Old Tom's life.  And that amazing life is the way to tell our history, as opposed to sweeping it into the dustbin of history.

Masters Detritus -  It will soon be upon us.... We'll start with Travelin' Joe, who is challenging the Gods by ranking the holes at ANGC.  This is madness, because we know there are no weak holes at the club, right?

I know how your minds work, so we'll dive right in with the worst hole:

18. 17th hole, par 4, 440 yards: 141 points

Highest Rank: 5

Lowest Rank: 18

Comments: "A deceptively good hole, because the tee shot is kind of exacting"; "Green is subtle, yet powerful, especially on the mind of a player on Sunday who's chasing a leader or trying to protect a lead"; "Just not very inspiring and tough. The hole I would least love to play"; "Losing the Eisenhower Tree was huge. Now it's the worst hole — or least best — at ANGC."

Fair enough, as it's not much of a tee shot after losing the Ike Tree.  And, of course, it gets further penalized for being late in the round.

At the risk of going longer than your attention span, let me deal with the next two together:

17. 7th hole, par 4, 450 yards: 219 points

Highest Rank: 6

Lowest Rank: 18

Comments: "With the narrowing of the fairway, they've made the hole more interesting. Now you're really challenged to hit driver, because you don't want to be approaching this green with a 5- or 6-iron"; "Approach shots can be funneled to tucked pins — always fun — but I liked it better when it was shorter."; "This hole was ruined. You can't keep a green that size that was designed for a wedge and now it's a 7-iron."

16. 5th hole, par 4, 455 yards: 225 points

Highest Rank: 4

Lowest Rank: 18 

Comments: "The green is unique and truly outstanding. I hope they lengthen the hole to require the long-iron run-in approach that was originally intended"; “Tough tee shot, interesting green"; “Outside of the elephant buried in the green, not much happening here."

I'm going to channel my inner Phil here, but this is where the club is erring.  No. 7 is supposed to be a birdie opportunity, and pinching the fairway renders the hole uninteresting. Whereas lengthening No. 5 will make it far more interesting, though that challenge will manifest itself through bogie avoidance.

I quite agree with the low ranking of the 15th hole, history be damned.  It's no doubt dramatic for Masters play, but can't be a whole lot of fun for the members.  I'll also spare you my dissertation on the 16th green, and let's just see what might possibly be Joe's favorite hole at the joint:

1. 13th hole, par 5, 510 yards: 627 points

Highest Rank: 1

Lowest Rank: 4 

Comments: "Best short par-5 in the world"; "The most fun hole where anything could happen"; "The ultimate daring hole. Despite equipment advances, the hole still gets into a good player's head"; "The most beautiful, strategic hole in golf."

You know what's wrong with this hole?  Absolutely friggin' nothing....  And that's why talk of it being lengthened is so discouraging.  I encourage folks to recognize Par for the artificial construct it is, and to simply watch the best players in the game deal with the challenges this hole presents. 

I would also recommend to the Golf Committee at the club to change the Par for The Masters, before adding a yard in length to the hole.

Now, keep your eyes on my hands as I tie those first two items together, in conjunction with the distance debate:

Major champion and winning Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger said other iconic golf courses could be in trouble but not Augusta National. 

“The Old Course at St Andrews, the home of golf, is different, because the course isn’t as long and the greens are pretty easy to putt and don’t have nearly as much slope,” Azinger said. “Augusta’s greens are frightfully fast, and they can stick the pins two paces from the edge. 

“Augusta can always be defended. St Andrews is in trouble.”

I'd argue that The Rubicon has already been crossed, as they've moved at least one tee onto an adjoining course and sped the greens up to the point where golf balls won't stay put in the wind.

This guy is making the logical connection between distance and scoring:

Since the Masters began in 1934, there’s something that has never happened during the tournament. Something that many people likely will find difficult to believe, but it’s true. Since the first time it was played in 1934, 6,467 golfers have teed it up and 4,159 of them have played all four rounds of the tournament.

Not one of them, however, has shot four rounds in the 60s in one Masters. 

The course that made going low in major-championship golf fashionable has also been remarkably stingy in doing so for four straight tournament rounds. How miserly is Augusta? Consider that it has happened on 40 occasions in the other three majors: 27 times at the PGA Championship, 10 times at the Open Championship and even three times in the U.S. Open, generally considered the stingiest major in terms of rounds in relation to par.

OK, but two guys have shot -18, so it's not like there aren't low scores to be had.  But the more important is whether we like what has to be done to the golf course to keep scoring under control.  For instance, those trees pinching the 7th fairway above?

I'm already running late, so I'll not excerpt Shack's feature on the Masters app....As noted yesterday, they embrace the technology in some instances, but we had to wait until 2018 for shot-tracing on the CBS broadcast.

And one lat bit.... this gloating over Shot-tracing technology includes this photo:

If only.  First of all, as I constantly remind folks, when Bubba hit this shot, we had no idea where he was, because the club doesn't allow on-course reporters.  So, even if they had tracer available for approach shots, we'd not have know what the ball flight meant.  Here's what they're telling us about its use:

The Masters' live streaming channels have included shot tracer in previous years, but this is the first time that the television coverage will include it. Shot tracer will appear on a select number of holes during the tournament: No. 9, 10, 13, 15, and 18.

I had assumed it would only be used on tee shots, but we'll see.  A couple of those holes are so straight that I don't particularly see the need, but the tee shot on No. 13 makes it all worth it.  At least until they push it back fifty yards.

Golf In The Middle Kingdom - Brian Costa has a curious item in the Wall Street Journal that fails to deliver the goods:

The Next Chinese Trade Advantage: Professional Golfers

Feng Shanshan is the No. 1 women’s golfer in the world, while Li Haotong makes his Masters debut next week

OK, and your evidence for this is?

Li Haotong has been playing golf in the U.S. for about three years, long enough to notice just how much this country imports from his home country. 

“You guys are going to die without China,” he joked. “Toothbrush, everything. Everything you can think of: made in China.”

Except, until recently, elite professional golfers. That is changing quickly. 

On Thursday, Feng Shanshan will begin the first women’s golf major of the year, the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, Calif., as the top-ranked player in the world. She became the first Chinese golfer to earn that coveted status last fall. 

One week later, Li will tee off at the Masters as the highest-ranked Chinese male golfer ever, at No. 41 in the world. Last summer, at age 21, he finished third at the British Open. Earlier this year, he edged Rory McIlroy to win the Dubai Desert Classic.

Can anyone name the second best Chinese golfer of either gender?  Please forgive my insensitivity, but I'm old enough to remember when there were only two genders...

Perhaps this is the source of Costa's confusion:

For all its wealth, and a population of 1.4 billion, China has never particularly taken to golf. Mao Zedong banned the sport while leading China’s socialist transformation starting in 1949, viewing golf as too elitist. There was a course construction boom in the early 2000s, though that stalled in recent years amid government crackdowns on corruption, which made golf-playing by officials a taboo and on the overbuilding of golf courses, which was seen as wasteful.

China, despite its great gains, remains an extremely poor country.... Which is why the concept that it will be the future of golf is such silliness, the the Party's bizarre relationship with the game is quite the riddle.

Cheap Shots - Just a couple of quickies before we all get on with our day:

Isn't This Why We Have Tinder and Grinder? - Pro makes public plea to fellow Tour players to be his teammate at the Zurich Classic (or else he can't play)

Perhaps a look at Rule 14-1b will lend clarity to this question? - Whatever happened to Adam Scott?

Thursday Threads

Time is a bit short this morning, so just a few notes for y'all...

Masters Bits - A week from now, balls will be in the air....It seems a tad early to panic over this:

We are nine days away from the first round of the 2018 Masters. And we are five days from the official start of Masters week, Sunday’s Drive, Chip and Putt Finals at Augusta

National. 

As of now, the early-week weather forecast calls for some clouds and maximum temperatures in the high 70s. However, rain and thunderstorms are expected once the competition begins, with the worst day projected to be Friday when there is an 80-percent chance of rain and thunderstorms are expected.

It seems like ages since we've seen the place firm and fast....  But everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything.

Do we get results, or what?  Finally the Masters broadcast enters the 20th century:

Golf’s biggest annual television event, the Masters, will have a slightly different look this year. 

CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus announced that U.S. audiences will see shot-tracing technology on five holes – Nos. 9, 10, 13, 15 and 18. CBS has promoted the expanded use of shot-tracing technology in its regular PGA Tour coverage, but until this year, it had been used only in digital coverage of the Masters. Now U.S. viewers will see it during the nine hours of weekend coverage on CBS. 

“We’re trying to blend in the technology with our traditional coverage,” McManus said during a media conference call. “We’ve had good success with this on our digital platforms, and we think the time is right to introduce it into our regular coverage on Saturday and Sunday.”

Shot-tracing on No. 13?  I just got a Chris Matthews thrill up my leg.... As the man said, progress is slow.

And who doesn't love these items:

2018 Masters: 10 golfers to watch at Augusta

You could no doubt list the first ten names that come to mind, and have a second career as a golf writer.  

So, enough with the Masters for now?

Tiger Scat -  That book continues to make the rounds, but Steiny and his minions have a word of caution:

Two of Tiger Woods's top representatives have challenged the reporting in a much-

buzzed-about new Woods biography, alleging that the book is "littered with egregious errors" and the authors "can't even manage basic truth and accuracy." 

In a sharply-worded 648-word statement released Wednesday, Woods's manager, Mark Steinberg, and chief spokesperson, Glenn Greenspan, claim the book, Tiger Woods, is a "re-hash" of previous Woods biographies and that the authors, Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian, "did zero fact checking with us of any kind."

What did you expect them to say, "It's Twue!  It's Twue!"?

The authors of course have their own re-rebuttal:

"Between January 2016 and February 2018, we made repeated attempts to interview Tiger himself through his representatives, Glenn Greenspan and Mark Steinberg. As we write in our book, they imposed conditions for Tiger’s cooperation that no serious journalist would accept. 

"As for our sourcing and research, as responsible biographers we are very open in our book about the use of Tiger’s own extensive written and public statements as a crucial source of insights, facts, and reflections. We credit these and other previously written books and articles about Tiger Woods for providing valuable reference and verification for our narrative.

 A former Clinton hack had this on one of the more controversial accounts in the book:

In a piece on Golfdigest.com (which last week published the excerpt in question), former Clinton counselor Doug Band vehemently disputes how the Woods-Clinton round is portrayed by the authors, Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian. The authors' account describes a rude and at times disrespectful Woods in respect to his interactions with Clinton, alleging that the two didn't get along and the round was little more than a forced photo-op.

"The whole notion that Tiger was disrespectful toward the President is completely false," Band writes. "The way the authors describe the round of golf (and the events surrounding it) is not only inaccurate, it's mean-spirited." 

Band claims the outing was collegial and "they came to the game with respect for each other and left it with more."

All parties should keep those statements handy, as it appears they'll need to deny everything yet again:

Tiger Woods's recent on-course renaissance has not only helped him reclaim his place as the most-talked about person in the golf world. It's also seen him break back into the spotlight of the greater sports world and beyond. 

More proof of that came Tuesday, when Variety reported that documentary director and producer Alex Gibney is developing a new documentary series about Tiger's life and career. The new biography 'Tiger Woods' written by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian will be the foundation of the series. Both authors have signed on as executive producers.

What a shame, but I need to wash my hair the day it airs...

 The Schedule - Doug Ferguson takes a deep dive into the 2019 scheule, which confirms the report from The Forecaddie on the schedule leading up to The Masters.  We'll let Doug take it from there:

The PGA Championship will be May 16-19 at Bethpage Black in 2019, which is certain to disrupt the Texas swing. 

The AT&T Byron Nelson is likely to precede the PGA Championship and Colonial would be on the other side of the PGA. Houston would get another pre-major spot on the calendar, this time before the U.S. Open. The week before the U.S. Open had belonged to the St. Jude Classic since 2007, but next year it becomes a World Golf Championship and is likely to be played the first weekend in August.

Many ledes buried... First, both Colonial and The nelson appear to have survived, that's news.  Equally of note, the former we presume to have done so without having an actual sponsor.

But it's last bit that is noteworthy, at least to me.  If we're done with Firestone, I'll shed no crocodile tears.  But Memphis in August?  Haven't these kids suffered enough?

And here's some craziness:

According to three people involved in the discussions, sponsorship is coming together for a new event in Detroit, while the 3M Championship at the TPC Twin Cities (currently a PGA Tour Champions event) wants a spot on the PGA Tour schedule. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the proposals are not finalized. 

There’s one other potential wrinkle to the end. The FedEx Cup playoffs will be three tournaments instead of four, and while this is the final year of the playoff event at the TPC Boston (previously Deutsche Bank, currently Dell Technologies Championship), it might not be the end of Boston. 

One possibility the tour is exploring is for The Northern Trust to alternate between the New York area (such as Liberty National) and Boston.

Two new events?  I only count two that are disappearing, D.C. and the one playoff week.  Any other volunteers?

Alan, Asked - His mailbag feature is always good fun, but there are some discordant notes this week.  Shall we bundle those items related to the Ryder Cup?

Is his horrible Ryder Cup record and failed visit to the 2011 French Open (comments about the people, Paris and whatnot) enough reason to keep Bubba

home in September? -@JJ_Slice 

It's true that Bubba stunk it up at his last Ryder Cup, going 0-3 in 2014, but in '10 and '12 he was highly effective in fourballs, winning three out of four matches. His game is so quirky it doesn't translate to alternate shot, and he has looked overwhelmed in losing all three of his singles matches, but Bubba has reminded all of us this year that he still has a ton of game and he should be dangerous in better-ball at the Ryder. And not only is he older/wiser but the vice captaincy in 2016 was, I think, the first time Bubba ever felt accepted by his peers. It had a profound impact on him. He'll definitely be in Paris and I think will turn out to be an asset. As for his long-ago comments about the City of Light, well, they'll get exhumed but Bubba doesn't make a good heel because of his palpable awkwardness and need to be liked. He'll be fine.

I come from the Al Davis school of golf... Just win, Baby!

He's never left Bagdad, Fl and you're surprised that he's uncomfortable in a foreign country?  But how can you not like him in a fourball?  And one assumes, per Alan, that he's grown some and will be more comfortable....  If he's one of your top 12, he's in.

Is Poulter back in the picture? -Pipe (@FelipeLanus)

He has to be. Europe's four hottest players so far this year have been (arguably) Fleetwood, Noren, Hatton and Rahm. One glaring problem: they've played in a combined zero Ryder Cups. Poulter is more than experienced; he's a Ryder Cup legend. A universal reaction to Poulter's run at the Match Play seemed to be, 'How the heck is this guy in the field?!' But starting in November he had a nice run on the Euro tour, including a T6 in Dubai. If he can keep finding his form, I don't see any scenario where Poulter isn't a captain's pick.

He'll be awfully tempting to Mr. Bjorn, though there was that big honkin' egg he laid at Gleneagles...

At this stage, it is doubtful that there will be a French player on the European team at the next Ryder Cup. If so and if I am correct, it will be a first: not a single player from the nation hosting the event. And a captain from Denmark. A factor or not? #askalan -Yannick (@Ycochen) 

Europe has always enjoyed a robust homefield advantage in golf-mad places like Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. It's a little bit of a risk to visit France, a country with much less of a golf culture, but presumably all the hooligans from the UK and beyond will roadtrip to Le Golf National. And while it will be a slight buzzkill if the host country doesn’t have a homegrown hero I'm pretty sure the singing on the first tee will be as loud as ever!

You really gonna make me check their points list to see where Alexander Levy currently sits?  Sorry, no time, but this couldn't matter less.

Alan, does @TweeterAlliss get on your nerves? -@IanOPhotography 

Nah, I enjoy the sparring, and he's far wittier than most trolls. Without giving too much away, I can tell you that Tweeter and I have been chatting about me journeying to the linksland and us engaging a good-versus-evil, Ryder Cup style grudge match. Could be the golf event of the century.

Need a 4th?  How about a referee?

This is sort of related: 

Why can't we all just accept that match play is great for the Ryder Cup and our local member-guest, but doesn't work for the Tour? You have a fix? -@MikeMcCarten 

Yeah, the championship match was a snooze, and that seems to happen with a depressing regularity. In my games with pals we do automatic 2-down presses, and that offers a chance at salvation. Short of introducing betting game gimmicks, the best fix for the Match Play would be to drastically reduce the size of the field, to 32 or even 16. That way you're guaranteed that the biggest names will play deeper into the draw. But I don't think Monahan has the stones to do this. Or, if you keep the field at 64, throw out the World Ranking as a basis of seeding and let a committee stack the brackets for maximum drama. Spieth vs. Reed was delicious — who wouldn't want a bunch more pairings with built-in intrigue?

I guess he didn't actually see the Spieth v. Reed match, which was surpassingly strange...   But the issue I think with field size is that there are simply too many matches...  One or more of the guys are gonna be running on fumes, it just happened to be Kisner this year.

Since length/defending par isn't as important for match play, which classic course(s) would be he most fun as WGC-Match Play venue? #AskAlan -Steve (@_SMisner) 

So many choices here. Pretty much any course that has different options and angles of attack: National Golf Links. Pine Valley. Chicago. CPC. Fishers Island. Crystal Downs. Peachtree…

Kind of silly, in that the Tour actually found a good venue for this event.  Yeah, we can dream about Pine Valley or Cypress Point, but it's still a big event with a massive footprint that those places can't possibly accommodate.

But this one is peak silliness:

We've seen NBA, NFL, & NFL players chime in about social issues, but there hasn't been anything from the PGA or the LPGA. Why is that? -Karl (@TheKarltopia)

Well, don't sell Peter Malnati short – he had some very eloquent things to say last fall on a number of political topics.

Paul Goydos gave me some searing quotes about the sitting President. And let us not forget Grayson Murray's intellectually nuanced tweets about police shootings or the brave civil disobedience of the 1993 U.S. Ryder Cup team, members of which made noise about not visiting the White House because they objected to President Clinton's tax plan. (I'm not making this up; they eventually went.) But I see your larger point. Right now it's just not part of the culture of the sport. Note that when the players from the leagues you cited have chosen to protest — by kneeling, wearing t-shirts emblazoned with a message, etc. — they have pretty much always had teammates alongside them to offer support. Golfers don't have that luxury, which makes the protests riskier, and lonelier. And of course many golfers have conservative country club values and don't feel there is much to protest. The same can be said of the CEOs that sign them to endorsement deals and many of their fans, so I don't see things changing any time soon.

Karl, you ask that as if it's a good thing?  Have you seen the NFL's ratings?  As the kids say, Get Woke, Go Broke.

Here's a novel concept.... how about leaving sports to be about the games.  I know, an idea so crazy it just might work....Any time you make a political point, you're likely alienating half of your audience.  So, how about we continue to respect said audience enough to not impose our silly little feelings on them?

Of course, like anyone else, I'm dying to know how Bubba feels about those steel tariffs....I Kid!

Midweek Musings

It is without a doubt the best time of year... Opening Day followed by you-know-what down in Georgia.

Masters Stuff - Doug Ferguson has a useful bit of perspective for us all, though it's unlikely that many will take heed.  The piece ostensibly reviews the major story lines leading into The Masters, though to this reader here's the key bit:

Look at the landscape in 2017. Jordan Spieth won big at Pebble Beach and had never finished worse than runner-up in three Masters. Thomas shot 59, set a PGA Tour scoring record for 72 holes and swept Hawaii to begin his emergence as the next young star. Hideki Matsuyama was on a roll. Jon Rahm was just getting started. Rickie Fowler won again. And then Johnson found another gear and won three straight tournaments. 

And then Sergio Garcia won his first major in his 20th year as a pro.

The message?  Put on your damn shoes before running down that staircase.... But you get my point, it's golf a no one knows anything.

Add this to the list of fun Masters items:

THE MASTERS GREEN JACKET: 13 THINGS TO KNOW

Fair enough... whatcha got?

7. The jackets are made in Ohio, but the fabric is from Georgia – a tropical weight wool. 

8. The estimated cost to make is $250, although not confirmed publicly. Each jacketneeds approximately 2 1/2 yards to make and it takes about a month. 

9. The last time fabric was purchased was in 1990. That’s because it was a 500-yard roll which is enough to make 200 green jackets.

So, every time a guy wins a second or third masters, they save $250....  But wait, there's more:

10. Here’s something we can’t see on TV without zooming in – the three-button, single-breasted blazer has custom brass buttons inscribed with the Augusta National logo. 

11. “Masters Green” is Pantone 342 to match the rye grass of Augusta National’s fairways.

Pantone 342.  Got it.

You know how I'm always harping on the field size?  Get this:

The Masters, perennially the paramount event of the golf calendar, feels even bigger this year with a host of engaging storylines and return of a certain 14-time major winner. Somewhat ironic, as the Masters field is smaller than it has been in decades. 

Four players qualified for the tournament via Official World Golf Ranking following the WGC-Match Play, and one spot is potentially up for grabs at this week's Houston Open. But with Brooks Koepka officially dropping out of the proceedings—the reigning U.S. Open champion remains sidelined with a wrist injury—the 2018 Masters field will feature no more than 87 players, the smallest amount of entrants since 1997.

Unlike any other event, when a player like Koepka drops out his spot vaporizes, as opposed to going to the next guy on the list.

 While 87 might seem adequate to the task, you have to deduct the amateurs and non-competitive former champions to get to the core field.  Gotta ask, do they even need to cut the field on Friday?  

This strikes me as wishful thinking from Joel Beall:

Why Jordan Spieth's putting struggles won't matter at the Masters

But do tell:

Entering the Houston Open, Spieth ranks 172nd in strokes gained/putting. Struggles that

have rendered his ball striking moot, and have correlated to quick outs at his last two events. Though he's experienced short-game troubles in the past, this slump is a different vexation. And one that's taking its toll: following his WGC-Dell Match Play loss to Patrick Reed, Spieth was distraught, conceding he was unsure if he could fix the issue in time for Augusta National. 

The good news for Spieth? It may not matter. 

Analytics and statisticians have long established that "Drive for show, putt for dough," is a misnomer. Tournaments are routinely decided by a player's performance off the tee and in approach, with the work on the greens ancillary, if not downright irrelevant, to the proceedings. The same has not been said about Augusta National, where putting—supposedly—remains paramount. The Georgia confines are suited to bombers, yes, but distance is for naught if a player is lost on the greens. A belief that explains why Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy, otherworldly talents not exactly known for their putting prowess, have yet to hit the Masters jackpot.

I've read his whole piece and I have no clue what his point may be.  He throws a lot of date against the wall, and all of it ends up on the floor.  But buried deep si this bit from another guy:

"At Augusta, you don't need to putt great, you need to not waste any shots, no three-putts, hole everything inside five feet," McIlroy said. "You don't need to hole every 15-footer that you look at, you need to be efficient, just not to be wasteful."

Joel, have you seen Jordan on those five-footers recently?  He's been comically bad, not even threatening the hole....  It seems to me that either he's able somehow to fix that, or he's not going to be in the mix.

You'll also want to read this exhaustive John Strege account of media coverage of the Masters from Day One.  It covers the gamut, from Grantland Rice to Frank Chirkinian to...well, Martha Burke.  In a perfect world, you'd have all read this, David Owen's highly-readable account of how it all came to be.

What Strege misses, and it may be do to space limitations, is the maddening inconsistency of it all.  For instance, there's this anecdote:

Augusta National’s television committee suggested in the wake of the tournament that an effort should be made to show the 12th hole and 13th green, the “most picturesque part of our golf course,” it said, according to a story by Owen in Golf Digest. CBS declined. 

Irony alert: Augusta National in later years took incessant grief from viewers and media for stubbornly refusing to televise the front nine, yet initially it was the club arguing for expanding coverage.

The famed Quonset Hut media center, prone to flooding.

 Biggest laugh?  Has to be this bit:

The year marked the end of Jackson Stephens’ reign as the chairman of Augusta National during which he had grappled with the media over his refusal to allow front-nine television coverage of the Masters leaders. In one such memorable exchange, in response to when it might happen, he explained, “progress is slow.” 

Why? 

“Well, progress is slow because we don’t want it to happen,” he replied. 

His most memorable rejoinder, however, was in response to having been asked what was intended to be a gotcha question. “Do you watch the Super Bowl?” 

“Fourth quarter,” Stephens said.

These guys are good!  But they don't do anything they don't want to do.....

Strege also discusses Masters.org and the Masters app, amongst the most innovative in the game.  Yet, they don't allow ProTracer, on-course reporters or, heaven forfend, a blimp.  It's all quite bizarre.

Lastly, Adam Schupak with a crackdown on the after-market for Masters tickets:

The tournament has long prohibited the reselling of its coveted single-day tickets and multi-day badges, but last year it added a new defense to catch offenders: color-coded strips on the bottom of the tickets that the tournament's ticket police can use as secret decoder rings of sorts to determine the original purchasers. Each of the colors in the six-color design represents a letter and five numbers that match the corresponding ticket number. 

It is unknown whether the club is using the strips to make an example of a few unlucky sellers or to power a wider-scale crackdown. 

Augusta National Golf Club declined to comment for this story.

It would seem inevitable that some unlucky souls will spend a fortune on travel and lodging, only to see the event on CBS.

Tim Herron is back with his highly-anticipated Masters scripting:

Damn!  I'm steering clear of him on Saturday, but I might never be able to get that image out of my mind....

Lastly, before we move on, Shack had this great image from the first Augusta Invitational:

Time To Move On - Lexi is undoubtedly hoping that this is the last time she'll be called upon to talk about it:

Tuesday at Mission Hills Country Club, a composed, smiling Thompson sat in a captain’s chair in the ANA press room and addressed the four-stroke penalty on the back

nine Sunday that ultimately led to significant changes in the Rules of Golf.

“That night was extremely rough,” said Thompson of the hours that followed the toughest loss of her career. “I was screaming, crying. You know, I’ve re-lived it for a while. I had nightmares about it. You know, I still occasionally do.” 

Thompson, 23, cried on every tee shot that followed her encounter with rules officials after the 12th hole. She said it was the fans who allowed her to finish the way she did. 

“I heard them chanting my name on every shot, every tee,” she said. “I heard them on the green chanting my name, and I was like, I have to finish strong for them.”

She handled it well and almost won it despite the nonsense, but I'm not sure the rules changes will prove to be to our liking over the long-term.  

And it's officially on at the year's first major.  How do I know?  Well, they've broken into the sake barrel:

You thought I was kidding?  But can someone whisper to them that barrel has only one "l"?

I'll be watching the ladies this week, as it will be far more interesting than anything in Houston.

Can You Say Unforced Error? - Adjacent to the 18th green of The Old Course sits...well, therein lies the tale.  

Here's what it used to be:

Got that?  The R&A has just scrubbed Old Tom from our collective memories....  Shack has a little spittle running down his cheek over this:

Vandalism in golf takes many shapes and sizes, and while I know the purveyors of The Open will argue that Tom Morris was one of the proud creators and winners of The Open, there is no way to sugarcoat this as anything other than a dreadful, vandalous act as verified by the Twitter replies:

OK, not sure about Twitter as an appeal to authority, but otherwise I;m with him.

Every golf professional and golf shop owes something to this location's historical importance. Furthermore, the change is made all the more appalling by recent Links Trust efforts to restore the shop and highlight it's importance. The name Tom Morris has been an integral part of Links Road for well over a century and golfers from across the globe have come to pay their respects.

I can't even guess what they were thinking....  Setting aside the fact that his son may have been the greatest player ever, was there a man more important to the game of golf than Old Tom? 

Tuesday Tastings

No one quite knows how the Masters golf tournament became a "major." The little world of golf looked up one morning and there it was on the doorstep marked, "Important. Refrigerate After Opening. Store With the British Open, the American Open, and PGA. Keep out of reach of children.

JIM MURRAY

I think you meant Open Championship, but many folks are surprised to learn that The Masters is the youngest of the four majors, by some bit.

The Masters, A Slow Build -  We're going to take it ever so slowly, we'll just tentatively dip our toe into the water.   First, the unlikeliest of participants, as profiled by Alan Shipnuck:

The place of business for the new United States Mid-Amateur champ is not a white-shoe law firm, or an investment bank, or any other perch that denotes comfort and privilege.

No, Matt Parziale's office is a sagging firehouse in a scrappy part of Brockton, Mass., a suburb of Boston that has seen better days. On a recent afternoon, Parziale stopped by the imposing colonial on Pleasant Street. 

The gray wood floors look like they haven't seen varnish in decades. Paint is peeling in a few spots. Parziale showed off the small, pungent room where he has slept countless nights over the last five years, a bare mattress crammed into each of its four corners. Just down the hall, the station's on-duty firefighters were enjoying a hearty lunch while a mindless action flick played in the background. The room lit up as soon as Parziale, a boyish 30-year-old, peeked in. 

"Hey, Hollywood!" someone yelled in greeting. Parziale could only smile, having known in advance that such good-natured abuse was inevitable.

Let me just add this short bit as well:

Somewhere Bobby Jones must be smiling about the culture clash of a horde of Beantown back-drafters tromping along his gilded fairways. But it was Jones's abiding love for amateur golf that created a spot in the Masters for a guy like Parziale and his cinematic journey to Augusta.

It's a great story, the more so given his hometown, from which sprung the most important American amateur golfer ever....  with apologies to Mr. Jones.

Let me just insert a minor dissent here.  The world has turned a few times since the days of Mr. Jones, whose amateur status made him the last man standing.  It was a principled stand for him, and it's great that the club continues to honor the legacy of its founder.  My frustration, and we've been over this ground previously, is that the field remains so small that these playing slots are far too precious to waste on those that can't possibly compete.

My preferred solution is to expand the field to 120 or so, and then by all means invite the ams and former champs... Heck, give Stormy Daniels an invite if you're so inclined, but as of now the competitive field is really thin and not worthy of a major.

Remember that we recently learned that the last fifty Masters' final round broadcasts are available on YouTube?  So, how far back does that go?  Well. 2,018 minus fifty is....one minus five, carry the six....that should be 1968.  Yeah, that was a bummer, man, but Sean Zak sits through it so we don't have to:

Roberto De Vicenzo could not have been more casual. 

In the moments after he finished with a final round "65" at the 1968 Masters, De Vicenzo 

sat there at the scoring table waiting for the tournament to finish. He had posted a score of "11 under." Bob Goalby approached the 18th green with the same score. De Vicenzo sat there, one leg up on the arm of his lawn chair, as casual as can be in this most nerve-wracking moment. Goalby would make his par.

As a visual, Casual De Vicenzo becomes quite ironic. The 45-year-old Argentinian — who was celebrating his birthday that day, no less — had just signed his scorecard with one too many fours on it. After De Vicenzo made an impressive birdie on the par-4 17th, the man playing with him — Tommy Aaron — wrote down "4" instead of "3." That meant his 65 became a 66 when the figures were totaled, and De Vicenzo signed off on it. The green-coated purveyors of the Masters were forced to follow the Rules of Golf by the book, take his signed score and rule Goalby the Masters Champion.

Life is too short to ever watch that again.  The Butler Cabin interviews have become the sine qua non of awkwardness in a normal year, you can only imagine that year's....

And don't miss this Guy Yocum My Shot with Bob Goalby.  I'll give you tease related to '68, but you'll want to read it all, as he dishes on Snead, Moe Norman, Billy Casper and so much more:

WE'RE AT THE 50-YEAR mark of that Masters, and history is being kinder to me. Young people especially don't know about the controversy because it was so long ago. To

them, I'm just a Masters champion. They'll say, "That's so cool. What year did you win? Can you tell me about it?" And I tell them about how I shot 66 on Sunday, the overflowing parking lot and the letter Bobby Jones wrote me about my shot to the 15th. Time is allowing me to be at peace and to feel even more proud and satisfied.

The hate mail he received was unbelievable.... Goalby, you might recall, is Jay Haas' Uncle, and therefore Bill's something-or-other....

A couple of thoughts on the incident.  First, Goalby himself recounts some concurrent liberties taken with the rules, and the simple fact of the matter is that Augusta National pretty much could have done what they wanted in the moment.

That said, their decision to enforce the rules was viewed by many as resulting from Clifford Roberts' dislike of brown people, and that's an unjustified position.  Roberts took it upon himself to create opportunities for both DeVincenzo and Goalby after the fact, understanding that the ruling wasn't good for either, and maintained a warm relationship with DeVincenzo for the remainder of his life.

The odds remain quite wacky:

The 2018 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club is getting closer by the day, and the

return of Tiger Woods has made a splash when it comes to finding a betting favorite. 

Woods is still the favorite at 9/1, and behind him are Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas all at 10/1, according to Golfodds.com. 

Jordan Spieth is 12/1, Phil Mickelson is 16/1 and defending champion Sergio Garcia is 25/1.

In the middle of his first round at Bay Hill, he got as low as 8-1.... But for anyone out there thinking Tiger is more likely to win than DJ, JT or Rory, I've got some swampland that might interest you.

Jim Gorant is new to me, but see if you don't agree that we'd get on with this rather cruel feature:

In 1997, Ben Crenshaw was only two years removed from his second green-jacket win but not playing particularly well at Augusta National. He opened the final round at 6-

over and treaded water until a birdie and par at holes 13 and 14 brought him to the par-5 15th with a chance to finish with a flourish. Never a big hitter, Gentle Ben knocked his first two strokes to wedge distance and took dead aim at the front-right pin placement. But the shot played directly into the wind, which subtracted a tad of carry and added a touch of spin. The ball hit the green and sucked back into the pond like a surfer caught in the undertow. 

Crenshaw dropped another ball, eyed the pin and swung a little harder. Same result. Then another ball, another swing, another glug. By now, even the pine needles were cringing. Lying 8, Crenshaw swung again. This time the ball stuck, and two putts later he was in for an 11, the highest score recorded on hole 15 in Masters tournament play.

The feat made Crenshaw a member of a club that no one is in a particular rush to join: the group of players who've posted the highest scores on each hole at Augusta National. It's an exclusive but democratic crew of dubious achievers, a mix of anonymous Masters participants and the game's greatest players. All it takes is a few bad swings and…

Here's his role of dishonor:

There's no shortage of great players and champions who show up, from The King to Freddie....But my favorite has to be the companion piece to The Sands of Nakagima..... And do read his account of the hole, which has an artistic flare to it all.

Lastly, for now, a few oddball Masters records:

2. Of the 28 holes-in-one recorded in Masters history, one was at the 350-yard par-4 3rd. Jeff Sluman pulled off the feat in 1992.

He'd be on my list of least likely... Did it hit a sprinkler head or something?

And we're not going to hold this against the man, since he didn't take a spot that would have gone to a more worthy player:

15. The highest score ever shot in a single round was Billy Casper's 106 in 2005, though it never went down in the official ledger. Casper, who teed it up that day to give his family members one last chance to see him play Augusta, withdrew without turning in his card.

Anyone understand this sign?  That guy on top seems to have made a zero and a ten in the same round.

 And this one is just plain curious:

16. In the history of the event, each of the par-fives has been double-eagled exactly once.

King Louie's on No. 2 completed the set.

Shocking, I Tell Ya -  See if you have the same reax as I did:

Tiger Woods commits to play The National this summer

Big deal, it's right next door to Shinnecock where he's be for the U.S. Open in June....  What?  Oh, that's very different....

There will be no 11th-hour commitment by Tiger Woods to his foundation’s summer PGA Tour tournament, The National. Woods committed Monday to play in the June 28-July 1 event at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farms in Potomac, Md. The tournament benefits Woods’ charitable foundation. 

“I am really looking forward to being back in the D.C. area this summer playing in The National,” Woods said in a release. “As a two-time champion of this event benefiting my foundation, The National has always been a special event for me.”

Just having a bit of fun with y'all...  The real news here is that the event has no title sponsor and is a likely contraction candidate...  The only progress is that they now have avenue. though one without the cachet of Congressional.

Contain Your Joy - With the move of the PGA to May, one had to ask oneself how the PGA of America might wean itself of its northern venues.  The answer is upon us:

Hazeltine -- site of the U.S. Ryder Cup Team’s 17-11 victory in 2016 -- will become the first American venue to host a second Ryder Cup. Four English courses have hosted multiple Ryder Cups: The Belfry (1985, ’89, ‘93, 2002); Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club (1961, ‘77); Royal Birkdale Golf Club (1965, ’69) and Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club (1933, ’37).

Must you?  The only worse than the dreadful venues the PGA picks is returning to them.  The only good news is that I'm guessing that they'll never return to Medinah....

You know those great gold telecast videos in which they superimpose the Spanish soccer announcers?  The PGA tries it's own version thereof, with Dan Hicks and Johnny's commentary over video of the only sport routinely considered more boring than golf.

Holy Sorrento! - No spoilers, just go watch the video here for some great announcing...Best part, there's an actual car called The Stinger.  Insert your own Tiger joke here....

Weekend Wrap

Back in the saddle at Unplayable Lies World HQ, in which we begin our descent into Augusta....  But first, how about that weekend....

The BubbaMaster - A very impressive week for the man from Bagdad:

AUSTIN, Texas – Tiger Woods. Phil Mickelson. Ernie Els. Rory McIlroy. Two already in the World Golf Hall of Fame. Two others who are destined to be there. 

Add Bubba Watson to that list. On Sunday, thanks to his 7-and-6 rout of Kevin Kisner in the finals of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, he became just the fifth player to win multiple World Golf Championships and multiple majors. 

That may seem like trivia but it’s hardly trivial. It’s a neat little list -- not that Bubba has any interest in that. “You don’t think about lists or anything,” he said an hour or so after playing his 109th hole of a long week at Austin Country Club. “You just think about trophies and trying to win.”

Actually, when you put it like that, it makes it seem really trivial.   But it's a match-play win in an even year, so you know where thoughts are turning....

The Tour Confidential gang is asked the obvious question in a curious manner:

1. After going nearly two years without a victory and dropping out of the top 100, Bubba Watson has now picked up two wins in his last four starts following his victory at the WGC Match Play on Sunday. Now he's getting ready for Augusta, where he's already won twice. How many Masters favorites would you put ahead of a surging Bubba?

Sean Zak: Ahead of him? No one. I see it as a six- or seven-horse race between the "favorites." That includes him, DJ, JT, Phil, Rory, Spieth and Eldrick. Rose, too. There is no single favorite I'd rank higher than the others.

Michael Bamberger: I like Rory's chances slightly more than Bubba's. I would put Bubba right alongside Langer, King Louie, Tiger, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Phil and Daniel Berger. And Fred.

Bams has been milking the Langer bit since the Carter Administration, but has he seen the latest Charles Schwab Cup standings?   I'm OK with Fred, as well, but Daniel Berger?  That's crazy talk....

The other guys are mostly on the same page, and who's to argue.  There are few guys scarier on that track than Bubba, though I just can't get my head around the concept of Bubba winning three Masters.  

At Golfweek, Shack takes a shot at the future of this event, including some agronomic insights we don't get elsewhere:

While the format will forever be part of the discussion with this event, Dell and the supportive fans of Austin have been happy to ensure at least three days with some of the world’s best players. The event’s placement close to the Masters also has been a source of griping, but after next year’s event, the calendar could force a move to May, when players can then complain about the less-than-perfect format for PGA Championship preparation. 

A May move likely would make the 1,200 or so members of Austin Country Club happy, as their course no longer would need a cumbersome winter overseeding and they’d get back some peak spring golf season dates. They also will continue to collect one of the PGA Tour’s largest site rental fees.

That's interesting for sure, though he's reading from a different script than anyone else on the subject.  Last I heard, the match-play is in its same slot next year, so the resume the griping, boys.

Geoff has a fine suggestion that a portion of their charitable giving go to save the beloved Muny:

Of greater concern should be ensuring that Dell and Austin remain engaged in an event that also has brought out the best in the PGA Tour’s Championship Management division, operators of all WGC events. The community continues to be invested in the week thanks to more tickets available since Year One, when the Dell was essentially a members-only affair. There have been $2.1 million in charitable contributions made with another million expected from the 2018 tournament. While all the causes are worthy, the event might be invigorated by a short-term charitable backing of the Save Muny cause. 

The sense of community here is stronger and more progressive than most growing cities, best evidenced by a sold-out Friday night fundraiser attended by Ben Crenshaw and hosted by Austin’s Criquet shirt brand. The Save Muny cause is raising funds to protect and restore Lions Municipal, the lovely and affordable course operated by the city where Crenshaw grew up playing. The University of Texas owns the property and wants to bulldoze it for commercial real estate, even as organizations such as the U.S. Golf Association have spoken out to save this ideal city-center American public golf treasure.

Here's his tweet from their Friday fundraiser:

Great idea, just not necessarily what I want to discuss.  

Did you catch Bubba's comments after his semi-final win.  He suggested that Kisner and Alex Noren should go many extra holes to wear themselves out and, while it only went the one extra hole, he played an obviously gassed Kisner in the final.  And Kiz wasn't the only one... did you catch Poulter in his quarter-final or JT all-day Sunday?

Yes, there were extenuating circumstances.  First, as relates to the latter:

But how much was the pressure of getting to No. 1 weighing on Thomas? Apparently, a

lot. 

"I haven't had such a hard time not thinking about something so much," a candid Thomas told reporters after the loss. "And that really sucked. I couldn't stop thinking about it, to be perfectly honest. And I think you're constantly getting questions about it with the media, but I need to be mentally stronger than that, and understand that it's just a match."

Really?  Mikey Bams had this answer when asked in the TC panel:

Bamberger: Very surprised. Maybe there's a major cash incentive to becoming No. 1. Otherwise, it's largely ceremonial, computer-driven and meaningless.

It's not even as important as Mike makes it seem.  Unless, of course, Lee Westwood is your golf God....

I never thought I'd be capable of actual sympathy for Ian Poulter, but this is just so wrong:

"I guess I should never listen to other people," said Poulter. "You finish a round of golf and the press and everybody are telling you you're in the Masters, and then you get a text message 10 minutes before you tee off to correct everybody, to say 'oh, we've made a mistake, actually, no, that was wrong, you're not in.'" 

Poulter lost to Kevin Kisner 8&6 after finding out the math was wrong and he needed to win that match for a Masters berth.

My concern is that this event is just making the guys play too many matches, so the guy that wins is that guy that isn't tested early in the week.  That's the pattern for DJ last year and Bubba this year.  I get that, even with pool play, the early rounds are the best days of the event.  But we need them to have something left in the tank on Sunday. no?

Nothing To See Here -  Shack review recent history on the subject here, but James Hahn is the latest to weigh in:

Hahn took to Twitter to claim that on the second-to-last hole of his match against Dufner, a "guy yell[ed] purposely on my back swing." The tweet was later deleted, but the full

text read, "Fought hard today after a bad start. 2 down, 4 to go, guy yells purposely on my back swing. Whether we like it or not, this is where the game is going. My fault for not expecting the worst from fans. Just sucks to lose a match that way." 

It's unclear which shot Hahn is referring to, but he did make a bogey 5 on the par-4 15th hole while Reed made par to move to 3 up in the match.

Eammon Lynch will no doubt be receiving a call from Ponte Vedra Beach:

This isn’t a referendum on growing the game or about tweedy killjoys debating alcohol sales policies. It ought to be a simple solution for the Tour: Welcome all fans, let them enjoy a drink, but broom the jerks immediately. All it requires is extra security deployed around the high-profile players who attract the beer-goggle boors. 

No genuine golf fans will be driven away by such an approach.

Excuse me, Eammon, but I've been reliably informed that this is indeed a good problem to have, caused by all the new fans drawn to the game by all the time the guys spend in the gym.  These new fans are not yet familiar with the nuances of our game, so we have to accommodate ourselves to their need to scream "Mashed potatoes"on Jame's backswing, otherwise we're all gonna die.  Or something...

Thud - Did we all enjoy that Friday Spieth-Reed match?  Here's the TC panel on it:

4. Longtime Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup partners Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth faced off in a highly publicized duel on Friday of the WGC Match Play, with Reed winning 2 and 1 and knocking Spieth out of the tournament. Earlier in the week video surfaced of Reed taking a (light-hearted?) jab at Spieth while taking a drop at Bay Hill, and at the WGC Reed also joked that his "back still hurts from the last Ryder Cup," insinuating he anchored their pairing. Is their "feud" all in good fun, or is there more than meets the eye there?

Zak: Well, considering Patrick Reed doesn't win as many tournaments, OR contend in majors, this is one of those moments (as is the Ryder Cup) where he can exert how great a player he is (or even how great a player he thinks he is). So, I'd surmise there is more than meets the eye on Reed's end... but we all know who owns a bigger piece of the American golf pie. They know it, too. 

Sens: Just speculating here but Reed sure sounds like a man with a mini ax to grind. Probably some professional jealousy there. Again, though, I appreciate the honesty. 

Bamberger: In humor there's almost always some truth. Good fun, yes — but not all in good fun.

They're way off in the long grass, methinks.

First and foremost, it was reminder of how crazy our game, and match-play is our game on steroids.... 

But guys, who cares that Patrick needs his little grudges, because none of us really expect much from that guy at Augusta.  But can we not agree that Jordan is officially a mess?  Shane Ryan is the only guy out there that is on this case, and he's all over it:

• The two times he had a chance to add to the Patrick Reed match-play mythos, he showed the most subtle kind of reluctance. When the Golf Channel asked him how

"tough" the match was, he said, "I mean, I don't think it would have been that tough to beat me today. I just didn't have a really good day. You know, sometimes that happens." And later, when the question was more explicit: "I didn't feel like his match-play toughness had much to do with the match today. There were a lot of holes given to him. He had a lot of pick-the-ball-up throughout the day." Of course, Spieth went on to praise specific shots Reed made, but the way he took the air out of the broader theme hinted at some residual annoyance with the match, and maybe—to read perhaps too far—with Reed himself. At the very least, we know that Spieth does not want to think of himself as one who couldn't rise to the occasion, or who was intimidated by his opponent.

• The higher the stakes, and the more nervous Spieth feels, the more he talks with his caddie, Michael Greller. On the first few holes Friday, the two were staging one-act plays on every tee box. The wind didn't help, of course, but that alone doesn't explain the dynamic, which almost seemed like seeking reassurance. These talks shortened and finally dried up on the back nine, though by then, even as he fought on, there had been some faint emotional concession. 

• Spieth is a constant self-talker, but these dialogues verged on begging. On the par-3 seventh, he urged his ball with words and gestures to stay up, and spun in a circle—"God dangit...God dangit"—when it wouldn't oblige. As he watched his second shot on the par-5 12th sail to the green, he exhorted it onward, and was upset when it didn't run very far toward the hole.

I have no interest in Jordan at Augusta....  In fact, it could get very ugly.  Though he is playing Houston this week, so maybe he'll find something.

Scenes From a Train Wreck - It's sad when bad things happen to nice people, but I think retiring at age 30 is well within reach:

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Lydia Ko’s changes in 2018 weren’t limited to her team. The 20-year-old is 15 pounds lighter thanks to a new cardio routine. 

“For somebody that does zero cardio to just a little bit made a huge difference,” said Ko.

“I don’t feel bloated, which I think is a huge thing,” she said. “I’m trying to gain more muscle and lose a bit of the unnecessary fat. Everybody seems like they are hitting it longer and longer.”

Well, everyone but you, that is.  

Ko finished the 2017 season ranked 137th on the LPGA in driving distance at 243 yards. She was 126th the year before. In 2015, when Ko took all the year-end accolades and was No. 1 in the world, she ranked 60th in driving at 250 yards. In her rookie season she was 66th.

Our little girl has contracted a virulent case of Luke Donald disease...  she's shorter than the other girls and doesn't hit too many fairways.  Short and crooked is a bad combo....

I don't wanna say it's the glasses, but it's the glasses.