Weekend Wrap

I would typically dive into the results of the PGA Tour event at this juncture, but Shack went on one of his iconic rants about venues, so let's let the young man vent:

It's been a long time since a course has elicited as many texts, Tweet responses and consistent commentary. They all went something like this: "Wilshire looks great! Fun viewing! Great crowds!" 

Perhaps it was the prime-time placement of the LPGA Tour action from stately and cool Wilshire Country Club. Maybe it was that ingeniously placed crane shot, conspiring with the late light to make Wilshire and surrounding old Hollywood look so darn cool. And just possibly all of that, with enthusiastic commentary from Gannon/Stupples/Cockerill/Foltz/Rinaldi juxtaposed with the already-tired-looking and soulless TPC San Antonio served as yet another remind of golf in a classy old course in the city center is way better than rural TPC golf. 

Wilshire won the week 8&7 over TPC San Antonio.

All of this should sting at PGA Tour headquarters but won't, even though the Valero Texas Open used to be played at a beloved city-center course with Tillinghast ties and big crowds. The PGA Tour chases the money and worries about the fallout of going to antiseptic, suburban, bloated venues later. Or the events just die and no one examines the ties between venues with soul and those where even a novice detects the joylessness.

As the PGA Tour pursues a mind-bogglingly short-sighted position in favor distance advances that will all but rule out quaint, city-center courses on a more human-scale like Wilshire, they will have no one to blame when the numbers speak volumes.

Wilshire was quite the revelation for sure, especially in light of the prime time TV window.   Interestingly, I found the proximity to major thoroughfares part of its charm, as if it drew energy from the city.  Ironic, given it's a city that has proven itself apathetic to sports of all kinds over the years....

Let's stick with the ladies, who no doubt have hit a home run with their return to L.A.  Part of making the week a success is a worthy and popular champion, as Geoff explains:

If you pitched the Hugel-JTBC L.A. Open inaugural story to an executive from one of the studios up the street from Wilshire Country Club, the verdict would have been

something like: "na, too good to be true." 

You had the big sister of a top player always playing second fiddle and in her 156th start, holding off a legend of the sport and a sweet-swinging star-in-the-making in Jin Young Ko (with both nearly acing a final hole that created the hoped-for theater.) Just off the green was the year-younger little sis, bawling like a baby at the sight of big sister finally winning on the LPGA Tour.

Throw in some beautiful late light, huge crowds, a fantastic setting dotted by the Hollywood sign and a tournament that wasn't even on a schedule a few months ago, and you have a special week for LA's return to the LPGA schedule. 

As Beth Ann Baldry writes, Moriya Jutanagarn's win was one for the family, who were all on hand to enjoy a special day at a special course.

I fell for younger sister Ariya during her meltdown at The Dinah a few years back...  After a horrible snap hook into the water off the 18th tee, she rested her head on her caddie's shoulders and could be seen mouthing the words "I'm sorry" to him.  

I've no reluctance to allow Shack to do my work for me, so we'll just do the copy-and-paste thingee with these lovely tweets from folks around the game:

This is the image that will stay with us:

A great week for the girls, but try to find anything about it at Golf.com.  The only indication on their home page that women play the game is their article from last week on the Ko-Leadbetter cage match.  And since someone mention our Lydia, she made the cut on the number but had a decent weekend to finish T31.  Not only is she not competitive any longer, but the emergence of rookie sensation Jin Young left Lydia twelve shots out of a tie for low Ko.

Stickin' It To The Girls - I failed you, Dear readers, though it was kind of you to not rub it in.  I had a muted response to an announcement from Augusta regarding their ladies amateur event, but I failed to pick up on the implications for the girls:

LOS ANGELES – LPGA commissioner Mike Whan found out about the new Augusta National Women’s Amateur not long before the rest of the world. That’s significant and disappointing in that it gave Whan less than a year to address a perplexing schedule conflict: The Augusta amateur event will be held the same week as the LPGA’s first major. 

Brittany Lincicome’s reaction to the news fell in line with a lot of folks.

“I wish I was an amateur,” the two-time major winner said. “I’ve never gotten to play Augusta. I’m super jealous.” 

When told the dates for the new event conflict with the ANA Inspiration, Lincicome crinkled her brow and said, “There’s always a catch, isn’t there?”

The Dinah Shore Kraft ANA Inspiration has its own rich history, but has also adopted many of the treasured customs of The Masters, including invitations to the best amateur players.  See the issue?

Give the item a read, as there isn't an easy answer to the dilemma.  Moving the ANA a week earlier pits it against the Dell Match-Play, which an unusually long TV window to accommodate 32 matches per day on Wednesday-Friday.  Two weeks later seems more promising, though it conflicts with the rhythms of desert life.  The event has benefited, I believe, from being the first major of the year, and would suffer from airing during the post-Masters letdown.

It is ironic, no, that in seemingly throwing a bone to women's golf, the Augusta folks seem instead to have hurt it.

San Antonio, Because We Must - I watched very little of it, though I did catch Sergio's highlight reel.  Shack had a pretty good take on it:

Sergio Releases First Single Off The New Record: San Antonio Hurl

Great to see Sergio Garcia getting back to his roots by shelving the big name producer and the lavish string arrangements for a stripped-down, acoustic version of his classic

club right-handed club hurl.

Following a missed cut at The Masters, Sergio's first single off the new album pays homage to Lyle Lovett's classic: San Antonio Hurl. Reviewers will swoon over how little speed he's lost even as he shifts to a left-handed toss. 

Mercifully this time around, he kept his Roguedriver--with groundbreaking Jailbreak Technologyno less--out of a lake and instead deposited the wounded weapon into cedar-infested shrubbery. 

The hurl took place in round two of the Valero Texas Open. Make sure to watch all the way through to :48 when analyst Billy Kratzert suggests the club hurl was "highly untypical of Sergio" while the Spaniard takes another lash at something in the shrubbery! He's living under par!

Shack's got the video at the link.  I remember way back when conventional wisdom was that winning The Masters, combined with a happy home life, would free him up to do great things.  If anything, he's seems crankier than ever.... While everything regresses to the mean, we can all pray that said regression does go quite this far.

Andrew Landry won the event, but you can find a game story if you're sufficiently interested.  I will say that I wouldn't let him on my greens in these:

Back to Geoff and his upbeat take on the date shift for this event:

The Valero will change dates next year to a pre-Masters slot. But major changes in the TPC San Antoniodesign and maintenance will be needed to build upon what Houston did in the pre-Masters position. Though as I noted in last week's Alternate Shot, the Valero should be careful what it wishes for in demanding the pre-Masters date. Houston's venue offered no masterpiece, but it also didn't make players want to hurl their drivers. 

As Eamon Lynch notes for Golfweek, the May calendar spot is not helping the Valero, nor is the stagnant nature of PGA Tour golf. But really, it's all about the venue for players, fans, television and ultimately, the sponsors footing the bills. 

That same poll declared the AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio the fourth-worst stop on the schedule, suggesting that being named for a corporation isn’t the most objectionable thing about it. The Greg Norman design (presumably he confessed to it under interrogation) hosted last week’s Valero Texas Open. It is one of the Tour’s oldest and most respected events and raises huge sums for charity. Yet players look forward to TPC San Antonio much as a condemned man does the gallows.

The Truth That Dare Not Be Told -  Shane Ryan read that John Feinstein item on The Rage of Rahm, and dares to candidly address the subject in this:

Anger & Golf: A Love Story 

Professional golf is a game of anger, which isn't necessarily a bad thing

I don't know that I'd call it a love story, but let's see where Shane takes us:

While reading John Feinstein’s story about the increasingly famous temper of Jon Rahm, I couldn’t help remembering one of the simplest and most reliable truths I learned while following the PGA Tour: Golfers are never more than one shot away from rage. 

It’s an angry sport full of angry people, and for every moment of triumph and joy, there are hundreds of temper tantrums, big and small, to tilt the emotional balance in favor of fury. The old PGA Tour slogan, “These guys are good,” is a lie by omission. Sure, they can play, but that’s missing the real point. Spend any time on the scene, and you’ll come away with a very different message: These guys are mad.

Great lede and the photos work as well:

Now, we just need to hope that he's prepared to name names...  Be still my foolish heart, he is:

Depending on the player, the anger takes different forms. With someone like Bubba Watson, it seems to come out of nowhere, and either engenders itself in a self-pitying quality or shoots out at the nearest target—occasionally his caddie. Patrick Reed’s anger is more predictable. If he has a bad round, red blotches appear on his cheeks, he grits his teeth, and he retreats with his wife after rounds, declining to talk with the media after his round. 

Others, such as Tiger Woods or Rahm, keep it together in front of the reporters, but can’t help themselves from shouting obscenities after bad drives that are inevitably caught on camera and result in lectures from the TV commentators and undisclosed fines from the tour. Other players throw things. Others sulk. 

Ernie Els and Ian Poulter represent yet another variety—players who look mildly irritated on the course, but save their true bile for the reporters waiting to ask about their struggles. It’s a recurring theme; they’re already angry, and we make an easy target.

I just have to say, this is likely the first time anyone has ever compared Ernie and Poults.  You can always see the steam coming out of the latter's ears, whereas Ernie's a pussycat.

Fun read, as he gets into the psychology of it all.  The dilemma is that it's an infuriating game, and no one is immune.  To me there's nothing comparable in having no one but ourselves to blame...  The guys that are best served are those that instinctively give vent to the anger, but are able to move on by the time they get to their golf ball.  To me, Tiger is the obvious example here...

There is a bit of a problem with profanity for sure, kids overhearing Tiger's F-bombs and the like.  I really don't know what to do about that, maybe the kids just need to suck it up?

Pasatiempo, A Love Story - Travelin' Joe pens this homage to Mackenzie's classic course:

Many consider Dr. Alister MacKenzie to be golf's greatest architect. I do. The man

boasts design or co-design credits at Augusta National, Cypress Point and Royal Melbourne. Enough said. Unfortunately, access to these storied tracks is limited to captains of industry, well-connected celebrities, and those who can afford the soft seats on a flight to Australia. There is, however, an opportunity for J.Q. Public to enjoy some of MacKenzie's finest work—at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif. 

The layout features all of the elements that made MacKenzie a master, including multiple options for attacking a hole; large, undulating greens; sprawling, multi-lobed bunkers; and an artful use of deception. His emphasis on strategy, variety and natural beauty, combined with his disdain for dense rough, blind shots and artificial features, made him a hero to mid- and high-handicappers.

I don't think too many people have the Good Doctor at the top of their lists, because there isn't much opportunity to play his work.  But I once passed up an opportunity to make it there, a decision I regret to this day.

This is the only one if his masterpieces that he saw completed.  He made all of one trip to Augusta and the Australian sandbelt, and he passed before Cypress Point was finished.   

Zurich, A Preview - This preview starts on quite the silly note:

Can't possibly wait until the Ryder Cup for another team golf event? Worry not, golf fans: The Zurich Classic of New Orleans will provide you with the fix you need. Here's everything you need to know about the changes to the regular Tour stop in Louisiana.

 Props to those involved for seizing the opportunity to create interest in this event, but comparing it to The Ryder Cup is off-putting.  It's a fun week, but anyone tuning in and expecting to feel the intensity will be sorely disappointed.

there is a slight tweak to the format:

3. FORMAT 

The 2017 edition was a two-man team event, with two rounds each of foursome and

four-ball play. It was the first time the Zurich Classic wasn't a stroke-play event. Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith beat Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown in a Monday playoff last year. Blixt and Smith are back to defend their title this year. 

Eighty teams (160 players) are entered. The top committed players choose their playing partner, provided they have full PGA Tour status or have been invited to play the event on a sponsor exemption. 

Rounds one and three will be four-ball (best ball), and rounds two and four will be foursomes (alternate shot). (This is reversed from 2017.) A cut will be made after 36 holes with the top 35 teams, including ties, advancing to the weekend. A new, and fun, wrinkle to this year's edition — teams that advance to the weekend will select their own walk-up music for the 1st tee.

 I like trying alternate shot for the final round, let's see how the lads handle that.

In a highly uninteresting Tour Confidential, they had so little to talk about that they took their shot at handicapping this event:

Zak: Well, it's Rose and Stenson for sure. No other team is as stacked with elite talent and playing as well as these two. Total upset if they don't contend. 

Ritter: Rose and Stenson seem menacing, but they teamed up last year and missed the cut, so … ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Put me down for Ryan Palmer-Jordan Spieth, who placed 4th last year. 

Shipnuck: Bubba-Kooch. Lotsa firepower there, and they might just have an unbeatable quirky chemistry.

Hmmm..Alan, the guy who's always happy paired with the guy that's never happy?  I agree it's interesting, though I'd like a private word with Kooch when the week is over.

Did any of these guys have Blixt-Cam Smith last year?

 This All Ya Got? - lest you think I unfairly dissed the TC gang, this was their lead query this week:

1. It's been one year since Tiger Woods announced his fourth back surgery, but what followed was a highly unpredictable turn of events — the DUI arrest, the inpatient treatment, the firing of his swing coach and, eventually, his return and the surprisingly strong play that followed. What does the *next* year hold for him?

How is this any different from our analysis after The Masters?  Most of the guys seem to be conceding him a spot on the Ryder Cup team and/or a W, which still seems premature to me.  And I do think Ritter and Shipnuck throw an appropriate caution flag:

Jeff Ritter: His back is holding up so far, but Tiger's body is still the ultimate wild card. (And that includes his knees, Achilles, neck and any other setback that could crop up.) If his run of good health continues, he's going to win somewhere. Like Sean said, a good bet is a breakthrough at a lower-wattage event, like maybe his Bahamian stop in December. In the meantime, he'll play on the Ryder Cup squad, and I could see it all building to him winning a major in 2019 or ‘20 if he's able to continue to practice and play as much as he'd like. 

Alan Shipnuck,: One thing I've learned is to never make predictions for Tiger. Ten years ago he was the Chosen One, a lock to break Jack's record. Five years ago he had rebuilt his life post-scandal and was No. 1 again. One year ago he was a mess. Right now he's rebuilding his life and his golf game, but who knows?

Yeah, I wonder about that left knee.  It's still quite the violent swing, and that torque on the knee could yet again be an issue.  The other thing that I haven't seen anyone mention, is his tolerance for mediocrity.  If he doesn't win soon, he might not be out there terribly long....