Midweek Musings

I've got a golf game later this morning, so just a few odds and end to tide you over....

An Existential Crisis - Shack with a thumbsucker:

Shinnecock's 7th: When Is A Redan Not A Redan?

My head is already hurting...  I give, when?

Since the last U.S. Open here, the Redan has become a household name. A brand. The children of North Berwick's original and still very much alive 15th hole has developed a cult following. There are even reverse Redans.

Labeled a Redan, Shinnecock Hills' 7th is a step-child at best. The hole shares almost none of the attributes making the original or the offshoots so much fun to play. (Ron Whitten does a nice job in this piece for GolfDigest.com getting into the Redan's background, its history at Shinnecock and the ideal playability. An accompanying Dom Furore photo also beautifully shows how some faults of the Redan could be remedied by a move of the tee toward the left.)

And here's that photo:

I certainly could use more explication of all those obvious faults to be found in the photo.  Moving the tee left is intriguing, but my natural draw renders me a cheap date on such issues.

Here's the rest of Geoff's post:

It's been some time since I've seen the 7th and while it's probably great fun to play at certain green speeds or for late afternoon giggles, the controversial par-3 just doesn't quite match the rest of this stupendously sound work of architecture. 

Since the 2004 U.S. Open, more short grass has been installed around the putting surface, which was also expanded by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. Yet walking around the green again and getting reacquainted, I find it difficult to see how the hole is a good test of skill or a fun one to play.

I raise all of this on the U.S. Open eve not to call out the hole in advance apology for the inevitable shenanigans, but to make sure after this week we are not lumping all other Redans in with the problem child.

Shenanigans?  I thought we were taking the high road?  I played it in hot, sticky conditions, so wouldn't presume to judge the playability.   But this item leaves me wanting more.

Tiger Scat - Speaking of going low, this is quite the header:

What will fail Woods at Shinnecock Hills? It could be his driver, putter or nothing at all

Although that last option seems unlikely... Tiger does add to his reputation with these answers in his presser:

How has your life changed since your Memorial Day DUI in 2017? "It's gotten better," he said with a smirk. 

What are Hideki Matsuyama's chances this week? "Well, Hideki is one of the best players out there." 

Has this year been frustrating? "Golf is always frustrating," Woods said. Thankfully he continued. "You've seen the tournaments I've played in this year," Woods surmised to the media. “There's always something."

How do we get this guy to stop over-sharing?  He had this to offer on the venue:

THE MODERATOR: We're certainly glad to have you back here at Shinnecock this week. Can you talk about what it means to be back and your impressions of the course so far this week? 

TIGER WOODS: It has changed a lot. From the two times I've played it previously, it's a lot longer. The fairways seem to be about twice as wide. It's a very different -- very different test, very different look. So many of the trees are gone.

The greens aren't quite up to probably speed yet, but they're right where they want them. And as the golf course dries out, this golf course is going to be another great U.S. Open test.

Twice as wide?  Despite The Narrowing™?  I get the sense it will be fine, especially as there doesn't seem to be any heavy winds in the forecast...

Q. Tiger, by any chance, besides reps, have you done anything specifically to address your putting? And by any chance did Stricks take a look last night? 

TIGER WOODS: No, Stricks didn't take a look at it. I worked on it pretty hard this past week. Just had to hit a lot of putts, just put in the legwork, and I was able to do that.

My stroke feels good, and we're back on old bumpy poa. So hopefully hit good solid putts and see what happens.

Well, it only gets bumpy late in the day, so perhaps he feels that's not a concern of his on the weekend.

But the best Tiger item comes courtesy of Jason Day, who recalls the Tiger of '04:

“I texted him the other day. I sent him a picture. It was him at this event in 2004, and he had, looked like, MC Hammer pants on. I’m like, ‘Hey, man, look at these pants. They’re terrible.’ He had plates on them and everything. It was like the old school stuff. And he didn’t text me back.”

MC Hammer?  Setting aside for a moment that that just has to be racist, can it also be true?

It's twue, it's twue!

This seems to be his biggest concern:

The USGA expected heavy traffic in the area surrounding Shinnecock Hills during U.S. Open week. 

But not anything like this. 

In a press conference on Tuesday, Tiger Woods said that the situation was so bad that competitors might not make it to the course on time. 

"There are a few guys so far this week have said it's taken them from the hotel 2 1/2 to 3 hours," he said. "You know, there's a good chance that someone might miss their time."

He also agreed that his luxury yacht, called "Privacy," where he's staying during the tournament, helps him to avoid traffic snarls. "Yeah, staying on the dinghy helps," he said.

It's a nightmare, completely dependent on one road.   In the height of the season....  Before 1986, no one thought you could stage an Open there, and the event hasn't gotten any smaller since then.

Less Is More - It's going to take a strong constitution to get through this week....  No, not the players.  I mean, four long days of Joe Buck.  His boss has this encouraging note:

In the three years since Fox replaced NBC as the TV home of the U.S. Open, Loomis and his team have tinkered with everything from mic cups, to graphic panels flanking the 

action, to unusual camera angles positioned to accentuate elevation changes. Many of those elements will be part of this week’s coverage as well. But in at least one critical area, Loomis has conceded to his critics.

“One of the things I realized over the years is that because we just show up [for a handful of golf broadcasts each year] and people are not as familiar with our voices, maybe having fewer announcers is better than more,” Loomis said. 

While still boasting a robust team featuring the likes of Joe Buck, Paul Azinger and Brad Faxon, Loomis acknowledges the first few years of the network’s golf venture went overboard with the sheer number of announcers (Fox’s first press release in 2015 announcing its team featured a comical phone-book-length list of talent). His reasoning at the time was simple: Because of the sheer number of hours the network is on air (this year will feature a total of 160 hours on various channels), Loomis was worried his announcers would get burned out by Sunday. Hence he tapped former players like Tom Weiskopf, Darren Clarke and LPGA standouts Juli Inkster and Natalie Gulbis to help fill the air.

Three years?  Shouldn't we be measuring in dog years?

As a wise man once said, it is what it is....

Close Only Counts In.... -  Nothing to see here folks:

Jordan Spieth said he hasn’t paid attention to others dissecting his putting stroke and trying to explain why Spieth currently ranks 190th in strokes gained: putting, 161st in

three-putt avoidance and T-144 in percentage of putts made inside of 10 feet. He’s too busy trying to get his stroke back. 

And on Tuesday at Shinnecock Hills, Spieth expressed that he’s getting close to rediscovering his typical form on the greens. 

“Everyone goes through peaks and valleys of results in any part of your game, and I just got a little off in setup (with the putter) and I’m really starting to bring it back now,” Spieth said. “It feels very good.”

As long a sit feels good.... It looks like hell, but no reason not to take the young man's word for it.

Backstopping, A Follow-Up -  You know Jimmy Walker as a professional golfer, though it happens that he's also skilled in other sports.  In fact, he shows quite the deft touch here, so deft that we hardly notice those goalposts being moved:

"It happens all the time where, you chip, you pitch a ball up on the green and you ask the person that's coming next, if they're pitching, ‘Do you want me to go mark that?' That's just the way it is. It happens," Walker told Golf Channel. "And a lot of times you leave it in the other player's hands. ‘Do you want the ball marked?' I've always asked, ‘Do you want it marked?' I give that person the option. I was just trying to shed some light on how it actually happens out here."

No, Jimmy, that's not what you said.  As a wise man once said, we have the Internet and we can fact check your ass.  Here was Jimmy's quote from my Monday post:

Former pro and course designer Michael Clayton replied, saying, “So you decide who is worthy of your help and who isn’t?" 

“I try to help everyone,” Walker said. “Especially if they got a bad break or got short sided. I’ve asked 'do you want me to leave the ball?’"

I assume the reader can discern the subtle but important difference.  Mike Bamberger is an old school purist, and his header tells you all you need to know about his thoughts:

The backstopping debate intensifies, but a simple solution is in plain sight

Here's another guy whose ass needs an MRI:

Justin Thomas, however, pleaded the Fifth. "There's really nothing for me to say because no matter what, it's going to be the wrong side. So I'd rather not just get into it."

JT, you might recall, was the lad that found a penumbra in the original thirteen rules of golf that allows him to rush to play his shot to take advantage of a strategically located golf ball.  Oh, and it only happens like twice a year....

So, yeah Justin, if you're gonna spout drivel like that, there's gonna be a reaction....

Mikey Bams' solution  is for them to just mark their damn balls....  What a concept.  However, I think they don't see the issue, and therefore won't do so unless some encouragement is provided, and that likely needs to be some form of stick.