Labor Day Laments

A slow news day means I shan't keep you long....

Tiger Scat - This will shock exactly no one:

Tiger Woods appears to be exploring some alternatives on the greens. The 14-time major champion was testing out a new “Tiger”-stamped putter during Thursday’s practice round at the Dell Technologies Championship. GolfWeek’s David Dusek posted pictures of the new blade. 

Woods made headlines when he switched to TaylorMade’s Ardmore 3 mallet at last month’s Quicken Loans and has been using the same putter since. But he struggled with his putting at last week’s Northern Trust, ranking 79th in strokes gained putting of players to make the cut. 

“You have to make putts,” Woods said on Sunday. “That’s the only way we’re going to shoot low rounds. I didn’t do it this week.” On Thursday, Woods was alternating practice between the Ardmore 3 and the new option, according to Dusek. 

The new putter is a TP Collection Black Copper Juno with “Tiger” stamped in red on the back. The putter resembles the style of Woods’s tried-and-true Scotty Cameron, a blade-style putter with a plumber’s-neck hosel. It seemed to work, for one hole at least: Dusek reported that Woods holed a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 1 in Thursday’s Pro-Am with the new wand.

Similar to his Scotty gamer, but he needs to find one that offers something more than temporary relief.

These guys need to get a room, with the bromance beginning at Hazeltine in 2016:

Woods was there as a vice captain, having missed the entire season due to injury. DeChambeau was simply a spectator, having just earned his PGA Tour card following a

victory at the Web.com Tour’s DAP Championship a few weeks earlier. Still, the quirky young pro with the Hogan cap and single-length irons had enough chutzpah to show up in Minnesota anyway, figuring he’d be on the other side of the ropes soon enough so why not see what the atmosphere was all about. It earned him a cart ride with Woods. 

“To see how smart he is, [I asked him] what are our odds or percentages of X and X, if you put this pairing, in this session, what are the odds of us winning,” Woods said. “And he said I’ll give you half the hole. And he came back with the answer.”

Does anyone understand what the heck he's talking about?  As if there is one answer to a nonsensical question as that....

“He and I playing together would be fantastic,” Woods said. “I know that we think about the game completely differently. I’m very much a feel-oriented guy, and he’s very much a numbers guy, but for some reason we get along great and we work.”

It makes sense. Both are golf nerds. Their games also would match up well. Woods has been wild with his driving much of the year, ranking 119th in strokes gained/off the tee, while DeChambeau has been much steadier, ranking 16th in the same category. Where DeChambeau has been somewhat average around the green, Woods has been much steadier.

It's a tad amusing that he considers himself a feel player, given his technical answers to any swing-related questions.  Remember the "I have to match the release point on my chips with that of my full swing"?  

I just took a quick gander at the venue, and three of four Par-3's are even-numbered holes.  I'm not over the moon about Tiger in foursomes, but I could see this pairing with Bryson hitting the tee shots on the odd-numbered holes.

And, on a different subject:

Safeway Open ticket revenue going to fire relief is as good a reason as there is for Tiger Woods to play

To me, this is an interesting test of Tiger 3.0.  To me, Tiger has never shown much love to the sponsors that pay the freight.  He's always waited until the absolute last minute to commit to an event, thereby limiting the benefit derived.  In 2016 he took a large appearance fee and flew to the Middle East, and DQ'd after one miserable round in which he barely broke 80.

Here's the background of Tiger and this event:

Jeff Sanders, the executive director of the Safeway Open, declined to comment on the possibility of a Woods’ commitment to play other than to say in an email, “We would

love for Tiger to play in the Safeway Open whenever it works for his schedule! Great to see him healthy & playing so well.” 

Woods, meanwhile, has yet to fulfill an obligation to play in the Safeway Open based on his having received a “conflicting event release” from the tour in 2012 to participate in the Turkish Airlines World Golf, an eight-player exhibition event played opposite what was then called the Frys.com Open, the PGA Tour event now sponsored by Safeway.

In turn, Woods, as well as the seven other PGA Tour members—Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar, Lee Westwood, Webb Simpson, Hunter Mahan and Charl Schwartzel—agreed to add the Napa event to their schedules at some point. The seven all fulfilled their obligations in 2014 and ’15. 

Woods committed to playing in the 2016 event, which would have marked a return from more than a year away from competitive golf because of back surgery. But he withdrew on Monday of tournament week, citing the state of his game. “My health is good, and I feel strong, but my game is vulnerable and not where it needs to be,” he said in a statement then.

You imagine the Chinese Fire Drill his entry triggered, only to have him pull the rug out a few days later....  So, does our new warm and cuddly Tiger do the right thing?  I'm going with "No", but I'd be delighted to be proven wrong.

Euro Scat -  Is this attitude, or has he been assured of a pick?

Sergio Garcia has already been a vice-captain on one Ryder Cup team. He doesn’t plan on doing it again this year if he isn’t picked to play on his fourth consecutive team.

The 38-year-old Spainard has struggled this season. He’s dropped from 10th to 27th in the World Ranking and missed the cut at all four majors. He won’t auto qualify for the European Ryder Cup team, so he’ll need to receive one of Thomas Bjorn’s four captain’s picks if he wants to play in his fourth consecutive Cup. 

And if he’s not selected but instead asked to help out as a vice-captain again, like he did in 2010, Garcia said he’d likely pass. 

“Probably not,” he told Alan Shipnuck on the GOLF.com Podcast. “I have done that already and I know how hard it is to be an assistant captain, so probably not.”

I know, I'm tempted to jump on that last bit as well.  But if you're hoping to play,  I can see where it would be tough with nothing to do except ferry sandwiches to the boys.

 The Euro's automatic qualifiers will be set as of the close of play Sunday in Denmark, though their masterful plan of pairing candidates for captain's picks with the captains went awry as folf got in the way.  Here are the scores:

Westwood, -4/68

Pieters, -3/69

Olesen, +1/73 

Karlsson, E/72

Fitzpatrick, E/72 

Bjorn, -2/70

Pepperell, -2/70

So, just let the captains play....  It's one round, so this for amusement only.  But on a more serious note, these are the guys that our task force are copying...

Lastly, I'm pretty sure that Phil isn't playing in Denmark, though this feature seems tailor made for him:

The tee is in the hospitality tent, saving Phil the trouble of playing into it...

Setting A Low Bar - It's a curious piece for sure, but I guess we'll let Sam Weinman explain:

The 9 features of an actually not terrible golf course

Great golf courses are easy. Design, conditioning, simple beauty. The ingredients that comprise our best courses, whether by feel or by scientific criteria, are firmly established. The tricky part is everything else; the vast middle tier of quirky, scruffy-around-the-edges layouts that feature just enough redemptive qualities to draw people back. What “best of” lists they crack don’t cover more than a few zip codes. But for one reason or another, they work. 

To understand what constitutes an actually not terrible golf course, consider how you would use it in this sentence: “Yeah, it’s not great, but…” The rest is mostly subjective, but there are some common elements that allow us to stomach everything else.

All righty, Sam whatcha got:

“Good bones”: Like a once grand colonial fallen into disrepair, here you could squint from the first tee and detect the vague outline of greatness. A gently-winding dogleg cutting through the trees. A face bunker strategically guarding the right side of the green. It’s all there if someone could just put actual sand in the bunkers, and clean up the beer cans in the creek.

Fair enough.   I'll even enthusiastically agree with him on this:

Walkability: The only thing worse than a bad golf course is a bad golf course comprised 

of absurd elevation changes or tedious stretches between greens and tees. At least when walking, you’re privy to exercise and moments of quiet reflection, and you don’t have to trudge back across the fairway because you brought the wrong wedge. You’ll grade the whole experience on a more favorable scale, especially since they can’t ding you $25 for the mandatory cart.

But he loses me here:

Casual vibe: Golf often has to fight off its pretentious instincts of collared shirts and prolonged silence. We’re not saying those elements are bad. But they likely heighten expectation. By contrast, those courses that defy convention—T shirts, portable speakers, allowing you to bring a thermos of some mysterious homemade concoction—take some of the pressure off. Vital to this equation, of course, is that they’re not charging much at the door, otherwise you’re just overpaying for the right to not iron your clothes.

No thanks.  I don't actually think a collared shirt is too much to ask....

As Are We All -  From Alex Myer's weekly feature The Grind, watch him traverse the first two stages of grief:

WE'RE BUYING

THE MATCH: Phil and Tiger (But let’s be honest, mostly, Phil) have brilliantly teased this event for months before finally making it official. Is a $9 million match between two aging stars a total money grab? Yes. But is it still worth watching (At least, the first one)? Yes. It’s Tiger vs. Phil with a LOT of money on the line. And besides, it’s been a decade since the Skins Game went away. This fills that silly season void on Thanksgiving weekend.

WE'RE SELLING 

THE MATCH on Pay-per-view: I understand these guys were never going to actually risk that much of their own money, but it’s a shame this won’t be shown to the masses for free. Well, relatively free. My cable bill is a total joke. Here’s what Tiger had to say about it. "I think they can afford it and I think it will be done differently. You know, how many times have we all purchased fights, whether it's MMA or it's boxing, whatever it may be. We all purchase those fights.”

I've been hearing that from other as well.  Do we sense a face-plant coming?

Alex also has a funny item on DJ & Paulina, which begins with DJ being interviewed by Amanda Balionis:

Admittedly, the body language doesn't look great, but surely she has nothing to worry about...  Apparently the reaction on social media was such that Amanda felt compelled to post this photo showing everyone getting along just great.

I'm just glad that the girls are getting along....  Not to mention the fact that, after two children, Paulina is still happy to show off her lady parts.   

Have a great holiday weekend, and we'll catch up on Tuesday.

Thursday Threads

A few news and notes for y'all....

FedEx Cup Stuff - A few reactions to the proposed changes to the Tour Championship, first the seemingly positive:

“In all sports you’ve got to win the final game of the year to win,” Jimmy Walker said. “If they want it to be a real playoff, you have to win the final event to win the whole

thing. I guess that’s where they’re going, so I think that’s probably right where it’s supposed to be.”

Yes, and they wanted it to be a real playoff, right up until the moment they realized that a playoff could result in Tiger being eliminated. 

One concern Chappell raised is that because the scenarios could get so confusing, players didn’t know what they needed to do in order to win the cup at East Lake. All they knew was they’d have a much better chance if they won the whole tournament, so that kept them motivated throughout the week.

Aren't they watching Steve Sands and his white board?  That really speaks to the complexity of the formula, of which I know no fans.  Some were not quite as enthusiastic:

That’s an unprecedented scoring change, for sure. Russell Henley, when informed of the reported changes, said it “Sounds kind of weird.” He figured it will add to the excitement in that a player has to win the tournament to win the whole thing, even if that includes a big head start.

More than "kind of" for sure.  And this:

“I think putting an emphasis on winning the FedEx Cup is great and not having a tournament within a tournament makes sense to change it up,” Chappell said. “I just would find it hard for those guys that are in 27th to 30th place to start a tournament 10 shots back and if you bogey the first two holes, how motivated are you going to be? It’s going to be pretty easy to take your golf ball and go home from that point on.”

Are you suggesting that Tour players sometimes fail to give maximum effort?   I suspect he'll be hearing from the home office on this...

Lastly, perhaps I didn't focus on the fine print, but this was news to me:

TPC Boston will be out of the rotation next year, with the playoffs going from four events to three. The Northern Trust will now alternate between Liberty National in New Jersey and Boston, with the Tour Championship concluding on August 25.

Ick!  I knew they had gone to great lengths to include TPC Boston, which is fine.  But I hadn't realized that they've discarde all of the interesting New Yor area venues, Bethpage, Ridgewood and Plainfield.  I get it, Tillie and Donald Ross are merely dead white men to whom today's modern players can't be expected to relate.

Ryder Cup Stuff -  Nothing too serious here, but that Bryson kid makes for good copy.  First this on a potential pairing:

Which raised the question: Has DeChambeau entertained any ideas on who he'd like to

play with in Paris? Particularly the thought of a certain 14-time major winner by his side? 

“It would be an honor to play with him,” DeChambeau said of Woods. “I think we could have some great chemistry out there and hopefully maybe intimidate some people, that would be nice.” 

Given the play of both this summer—along with the fact that Tiger is, well, Tiger—a DeChambeau-Woods combo is a pairing that has to frighten the French partisans...and delight those watching from the U. S. of A.

You mean like the Tiger-Phil pairing intimidated the Euros in '04?   To be fair, his use of "maybe" and "hopefully" limits the damage here, though whoever wrote the header wasn't being helpful.

But he also shows that he's well prepared for the demands of a slot on the team:

Bryson DeChambeau is known for his analytical approach to golf. In a press conference ahead of the Dell Technologies Championship on Wednesday, he proved that he also approaches his hobbies that way, specifically, improving his ping pong abilities. 

“I loved ping-pong. I used to practice at lunchtime with a couple of buddies of mine against this little robot. We bought a robot, not kidding, and we got a robot where this thing would shoot out the ball, different velocities, and different spin rates. This is what professionals practice with. We practiced every lunch period for a couple of years,” he said. DeChambeau went on to say that the robot worked: “I got pretty good, needless to say.”

Pretty good will not be good enough, especially if Kooch makes the team.

Shall we file this under wishful thinking?

One of the biggest storylines heading into the Masters was Spieth’s struggles on the green, but a funny thing started happening, under the radar, in early June. Spieth, who until this season had a reputation for being an elite putter, started to get his mojo back with his flatstick. 

“If you look at the last month, which is all I need to look at this year, my putting has been fantastic,” Spieth said as beads of sweat dripped down his face. “I’ve been one of the top putters on tour.”

That's not what my lyin' eyes tell me, but apparently there's data:

He’s right. Spieth missed the cut at The Memorial in June, not because he putted poorly, but because his iron game let him down. Starting with that event, statistically, Spieth’s putting has been outstanding, with a daily strokes gained putting average in five events of 0.944. To give that number reference, if that was Spieth’s average for the season, he would rank second on the PGA Tour behind Jason Day’s 0.965.

If true, that only means that he's giving it away from tee-to-green....  

We Can Only Hope -  Another tease:

Miller told the AP's Doug Ferguson that he'll be part of NBC's coverage of the Waste

Management Phoenix Open that weekend. But after that, his schedule and contract are up in the air.

“It’s been 50 years on the road, and part of me is saying, ’That’s enough,’” Miller said at a Tuesday media event ahead of the Safeway Open in October. “I haven’t gotten to that point yet. They’re still trying to convince me to keep going. So we’ll see. I usually listen to my gut, so to speak, and my wife. Right now, I am planning on scaling down even more. We’ll see what happens. Maybe I will say, ‘Hey, one more year.’”

At this point, the only thing that Johnny brings to the table is that he's not Nick Faldo.....   and that's not nothing.

But he's been working such a limited schedule that there's no point to retiring.  More interestingly, who do we think NBC sees in that role?  Maltbie is no spring chicken, Feherty also and has gotten lost at NBC and Bones hasn't blown me away.  Who am I missing?

A Little Cheese With That Whine, Sir? - Shack has good fun with this one:

Just when you felt like we were turning a corner, the PGA Tour's 21st century Bobby Joe Grooves took to Instagram to complain about free tickets to Fenway Park in the "line drive" section that prompted him to spend $650 on an upgrade that put him with other PGA Tour players who, hint, hint, got the good seats to begin with. And you wonder why Jay Monahan is prematurely grey?

Here's the offending post:

 Oh, the inhumanity of it all....  The comments were not kind:

Not especially clever, but my what pearly whites those girls have....

Another Day Under the Patriarchy - Shack and I both missed this story from a few weeks ago, about which I have very mixed feelings.  It's easy to see how one could take this as either rampant sexism or just another whine:

But what about free equipment? Surely that’s easy to come by. Turns out even a current World No. 1 might have to pull out a credit card for a new 3-wood. 

Two months ago, when Inbee Park was No. 1, caddie Brad Beecher reached out to a TaylorMade rep on behalf of Park to get replacements for the 3-wood, 5-wood and two Rescue clubs she had in her bag. Park is a Srixon staff player but is only required to have nine Srixon clubs in the bag. For more than five years she has played with four TaylorMade woods. That timespan includes six of her seven majors, an Olympic gold medal and more than 100 weeks as the No. 1 player in the world. 

Park received the same response as several other LPGAers: A new company policy stipulates that players must use a TaylorMade driver to get free product. 

Park almost immediately put new Srixon woods in the bag. 

“That’s where we are,” Park said at Royal Lytham. “It’s frustrating, but there’s nothing I can do at the moment.”

I am surprised, but let's remember that it's a business.  To the extent that this is a clearly established policy and is applied consistently, we can disagree with the policy but I'd encourage folks to avoid the sexism nonsense.

Given that your humble blogger, who actually watches women's golf, had no clue that Inbee had TM clubs in her bag, doesn't that tell us that there's no benefit derived from the relationship?  In bee has Srixon logos on her bags and clothing, so no doubt the TM folks think that she should go elsewhere for her free stuff.

But you know what else surprises me?  Here's another excerpt that'll point you in the right direction:

Martin, the 2014 British Open champion, said she hasn’t found a driver that can beat the TaylorMade M2. She actually bought a backup driver on Walmart.com. Bought her own Epon wedges too. Martin calls the whole situation unfortunate but will open her wallet to get what’s best for her game.

I'd have asked Inbee which clubs she preferred?  If it's the TaylorMades, I'm shocked that she wouldn't pop for the cost of the replacements.  If she finds them comparable, then go to the guys that have skin in the game....

Golf is Still Dead -  Mike Stachura picks up on an interesting number, and also frames it in an amusing anecdote:

Rounds played numbers for July were down across the U.S. by 1.6 percent compared to July 2017, which might be the most misleading statistic in golf history next to Jeff

Sluman holding the record for the longest drive ever recorded on the PGA Tour (473 yards, in 2003—yes, that Jeff Sluman and, yes, that 2003). 

The slight decline in rounds played is remarkable in that it came in a month where many sections of the country were receiving buckets of rain that likely washed out entire weekends, even weeks of rounds. At the very least, it could close a course to golf carts, further chilling the incentive for some to play.

Those blue states were the hardest hit, followed by the green.  Good catch by Mike.

A Man and His Majors -  The great Dan Jenkins is back with some excerpts from his forthcoming book, which seems to cover the panoramic sweep of his career.  You'll of course read it all, as we don't see much of the great man in his dotage.  But does he ever have stories, including these about another great man:

I was privileged to meet Bobby Jones back then. He used to invite two or three writers to 

lunch with him in his cottage most days of Masters Week. I was fortunate to be invited to one session. My relationship with Hogan had something to do with it. 

Jones couldn't have been more gracious. Except when I wanted to talk about Bobby Jones, he wanted to talk about Ben Hogan. 

Another brush with him came on the Augusta National course before the 1954 Masters. Writers were welcome to play the course for free if they showed up on the previous weekend. I was standing on the 15th tee with two other writers when a cart pulled up behind us. Sitting in the cart were Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts. 

They both smiled at me. Cliff Roberts also associated me with Hogan. He said, "We came out to see how the new mound is playing on this hole. Don't let us bother you." 

Bother me? Why would it bother me? I only had to hit a drive with Bobby Jones watching. Happily, my soaring hook didn't hit anything but a pine tree.

I like this next bit as well, though you need to understand the evolution of the press quarters at Augusta, from tent to quonset hut to lecture hall to the current palace.  Dan frames it quite nicely:

Looking back on it, I recall that I wrote about Hogan and Snead in the old tent, about Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus in the Quonset hut, and about Tiger Woods and Phil 

The quonset hut.

Mickelson in the lecture hall. 

Trudging forward amid talk of a new facility, I was eager to see what the latest Augusta National pressroom had in store for us. It was rumored to be decadent. When I arrived for the 2017 Masters, the press building's stunning exterior all at once brought to mind Windsor Castle, Versailles, the Biltmore Estates, Twelve Oaks and Tara. 

There it stood in the midst of a grove of beautiful trees and manicured lawns, all of which looked as if they'd been there forever when in fact they'd been planted, placed and groomed practically overnight.

Good stuff.

Where You Been, John :  John Garrity has long been one of my favorite golf writers, after all he discovered Askernish Old and wrote the book on Carne.  That said, John had seemingly disappeared from the face of the Earth in recent years, though he's back with this questionable thought:

Parkland perfection: Ireland’s links courses get all the glory, but its inland designs are fabulous, too

Really?  It's a tough sell, John.  As you might know, ther get quite a bit of rain and without the sandy substrate to ensure proper drainage....  well, you know.

John has obviously enjoyed Westport Golf Club, and I don't begrudge that.  In fact, Employee No. 2 and I had a tee time there in 2007, but we opted out as it was one of my seriously over-booked trips.

But more to the point, I fail to see the logic in parkland golf in either Ireland and Scotland, at least for the traveling American golfer.  Most of us go there for the sole purpose of experiencing links golf, so why waste the time inland?  Get thee to the linksland, you'll be glad you did.

Udder Stuff

Man, this two post per day pace is quite the grind....  It's just a lucky thing that I've got nothing to do and all day to do it...

Ryder Cup Ruminations - OK, Shack again gets the lede, by boldly going where no man should tread:

Poll: Should Jim Furyk Revisit A Tiger-Phil Ryder Cup Pairing?

No, next question please.  Seriously, what are you thinking?  Actually, Geoff takes the con position:

While Eamon Lynch at Golfweek joins the choir of Phil Mickelson dissenters in saying Lefty should be left off the 2018 Ryder Cup team, we all know he's going to be on the

team because of his match play prowess and ability to elevate the game of a younger playing partner (see Bradley, Fowler, Kisner).

Given the unsuccessful 2004 Ryder Cup pairing by Captain Hal Sutton, the idea seems implausible, yet they each may play just 18 a day in Paris and could make for a natural pairing. I say no way, Jaime Diaz in today's Alternate Shot said yes it should happen.

You'll have to click through to watch that Morning Drive video, but how do I get a piece of Shack's press?

At the risk of taking this far too seriously, I'm a tad surprised that there was no clarification of which format was under consideration.  Neither of these guys should be out there in foursomes, and they'd each benefit from a more consistent partner in best ball.

Alan Shipnuck had no shortage of Ryder Cup-related queries in his mailbag as well:

When Bryson contends, he inspires me to practice, play, experiment. When Jordan contends (holing putts from everywhere) I want to put the clubs away. When Tiger contends, I just want to watch. What inspires you? -@JeffSanchezPGA 

This is quite a thought-provoking question. I love watching DJ, et al do their thing but I’m most inspired by the gritty grinders – the Brian Gays and Kevin Nas of the world, who can’t overpower a course and instead have to rely on guile and precision. I know I can’t smash a 250 yard 5-iron like Koepka – that’s an entirely different game. But if I was more dedicated I could sort of replicate what Zach Johnson does, so that’s why I enjoy watching such masters. Although I should add that thanks to Bryson I’m now playing a single-length set of Edel irons so clearly I know the mania of which you speak.

Good question and answer, though while I agree with him on the appeal of watching the grinders, I find it interesting that he picked two of the most unwatchable of the genus-species.   Zack, for sure, Kevin Na, not with a gun to my head....

Is Bryson underrated? #AskAlan -@PurdeuMatt05 

I think he’s both under- and overrated. Three wins in the span of 13 months at the age of 24 is pretty special. But there is so much noise around Bryson – much of warranted, admittedly – that his actual accomplishments have largely gotten lost, which makes him underrated. On the other hand, he receives way more attention than Brooks Koepka, which would makDeChambeau very overrated. So even in this way Bryson remains enigmatic.

It is prett special, and it also happens to be the same total number of wins that that other guy has....  Of course Bryson gets more ink than the average bear, he's the weirdest cat out there.

Please tell me Tony is in the Ryder Cup, yeah? -@NoRealSports 

At this point, it’s hard to imagine Finau has not locked up his spot. I’ve felt all along that Cap. Furyk would want as many hardened veterans as possible to take into a hostile environment, but while Zach Johnson has been solid Finau has been borderline-spectacular. No other Ryder Cup veteran has done anything this summer to warrant consideration. This U.S. team is so deep Furyk now has the luxury of picking specialists, much like USA Basketball selecting a defensive stopper to fill a specific need. Finau could be a monster in fourballs — just pair him with a steady partner and turn him loose.

I agree with his logic, but beg to differ on the conclusion.  Who exactly are those four steady partners he needs for fourballs, and are there enough to also cover foursomes?  I assume that Furyk will do as suggested yesterday, and take Tiger, Phil and Bryson next week, leaving him another event before that last selection.  Which segues nicely into this:

If Spieth-Reed and Tiger-Bryson are “locks” to be pairings, what are a couple other American duos you’d like to see? -@ScottMichaux 

Tiger and Phil, of course! I’ve been saying for months it’s gonna happen, despite Furyk’s protestations. I still believe it will. How about a pairing of the Bash Brothers, Brooks and Dustin? I wouldn’t want to be the poor Euros who have to handle all that virility and machismo. I also want to see Tiger-PReed, because that will be extra saucy. And a Jordan-JT combo could also be great, given their chemistry. This U.S. team is so stacked there are almost too many possibilities.

Hmmm.... lets' start by challenging the assumption that the Spieth-Reed team will remain intact.  Remember their match in Austin, when Reed spoke of his back hurting after the prior Ryder Cup?  Facing facts, Jordan's game is at a strange juncture, especially problematic for alternate shot, and I'll be quite surprised if he plays all five sessions.

I'd be shocked if The Bash Brothers aren't paired in best ball, but I don't see Tiger with Reed.  Although, now that he's eschewing red on Sundays, perhaps rapprochement is possible....

I guess this fits here as well:

So you think Brooks’s success will cause Dustin to try harder and could that actually hurt Dustin’s game? #askalan -Sam (@swilliams8) 

Dustin is already trying quite hard – the guy grinds in the gym, on the range and even at the dinner table. But no doubt DJ’s pride is hurting. He’s always been the swami/big brother in that relationship and now quite suddenly he has been utterly eclipsed by his protégé. Dustin’s and Brooks’s lives are so incestuous: same swing coach, trainer and management firm. If any strain does develop in their relationship it will get very complicated very fast. Hopefully Dustin does some soul-searching and figures out what Brooks has found that allows him to shine on the biggest stages, because that is the missing piece in Johnson’s career. It would be awesome if DJ picks off another major or two next year and turns a friendship into an epic rivalry.

Well, DJ isn't known for doing "complicated", so I'm not staying up nights on this issue.

 What Happens in Vegas... - OK, so I buried the lede above.  Tiger and Phil will not be paired in Paris for one obvious reason, that being $24.99.  As the old joke has it, business is business.

Jason Sobel has a vision for the Battle in the Desert, a vision that's been clouded with the recent news:

As I’ve written previously, I’m all-in for the impending Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson match in Las Vegas during Thanksgiving weekend. 

Well, I was all-in. 

Now I’m just mostly in, based on the latest news to be leaked about the event.

It’s not the money that has me pulling back. I’d never begrudge anyone the potential for a hefty paycheck, even if it’s a couple of insanely rich dudes going after $9 million.

Some have suggested it would mean more if they were playing for their own money; I think there should be — and maybe it just hasn’t been announced yet — a charitable component to the proceedings. 

None of that would keep me from being fully invested in the fate of this match, though. It’s the idea of this being a reported $24.99 pay-per-view event that really rubs me the wrong way.

All of us, Jason.

The vision is a betting extravaganza, including:

“Buy” some mulligans 

We’ve all done it in the annual scramble to support the local Little League team: Plunk down an extra $20, then gratuitously keep putting those 10-footers until one of ‘em finally drops for birdie. Well, even if mullies were $10K for these guys, they wouldn’t flinch. So we need a different method of payment. 

Here’s the idea: For each shot they want a redo, Tiger or Phil must look into the camera and speak in glowing terms about the other player for 30 seconds. 

I mean, like, really pour it on. And the complimented player must approve that the terms were glowing enough, or else, well, the other guy will have to take a mulligan on his mulligan take. 

Let’s limit this to one time per side, out of fear of it turning into some sort of love-fest out there.

Yanno, I find myself longing for the good old days when these guys rightfully hated each other.  The PPV price point was obviously the last straw, but I'm finding myself hoping that it blows up in their faces....

Udder Alan - he had more good stuff, including this gem:

What would be the response (from you, the public, the press, and the PGA) if Finau somehow wins the FedEx Cup without winning a single tournament all year? #AskAlan -Bud (@tombagjr) 

I would consider it the greatest thing ever, because it would highlight how kooky the points system has been all along. Clearly this doomsday scenario haunts the dreams of various Tour executives, which is why we’re getting yet another tweak to the points race.

On the other hand, remember when that tree fell in the forest?

And this, which I could have included in the prior sub-post:

#AskAlan Count me out for pay-per-view on Phil vs. Tiger. But being in the gallery could be fun. How many fans* will be in? *non agent, sponsor, media, etc. -Alex (@alwilly13) 

Not many! Because that entails paying for more buses to bring in fans to a remote location, food vendors to feed them, bathrooms, etc., and that just cuts into the almighty bottom line. This is purely a television show and all the organizers want are a few hundred warm bodies to ring each green so it doesn’t look too barren on TV. They’ll get those numbers from the minions in your asterisk.

C'mon, who wants to deal with all those pesky civilians when the guys are demontrating how they keep it real.

How do you square Tiger’s diplomacy when asked about his relationship with Trump with the racism he has faced playing what has historically been an all- white sport? -Andrew (@BordrWallflower) 

To borrow from one of our greatest philosophers, it is what it is.

Huh?  I don't even pretend to understand what one thing has to do with the other, but has anyone ever asked Tiger how he could play golf with Obama?

Stat So? -  Shane Ryan and Mark Broadie combine forces to generate this interesting analysis:

Which players step up the most at majors? New stat answers an old question

An interesting premise, I'll grant you.  The idea was triggered by a Jason Sobel item that used finish order, but with Broadie crunching the numbers we'll obviously use strokes gained.  After all, he invented the metric and literally wrote the book on it.

The astute reader will have sense the "but" on the horizon, as the results, excluding Brooks and Jordan, are not at all what we'd have expected:

Seriously, Victor Dubuisson?  So, before diving in, I thought you might enjoy the bottom twenty:

I do encourage you to focus on the years the data cover, as it excludes majors won by McDowell, Bradley and Watson (the first of his two Masters).

Here is the authors' rousing coda:

SG/Major Outperformance answers a very old question, but more than that, it shines a light on what we’ve seen but only half understood with our own eyes. Yes, Jordan Spieth (0.79) has an extra gear in majors, even when he’s struggling. Yes, Jon Rahm (-0.86) has failed to contain his emotions and find a measure of stability in the biggest events. Yes, Alex Noren (-0.74) seems to light it up every week before disappearing four times per year. Yes, there was something a bit magical about the brief emergence of Victor Dubuisson (0.83). 

The fascinating examples don’t end there. As Rickie Fowler (0.55) enters his 30s without a major, isn’t it more tragic that he’s defined by the lack of a title at tournaments where he excels? Doesn’t it shine a harsh light on players who lack the length to score big at modern major courses (Graeme McDowell, -0.31) or who have lost their putting touch with the years (Keegan Bradley, -0.36)? Like other great stats, SG Major Outperformance tells new stories while adding color to old ones. It’s a number that transcends numbers.

Hmmm, was it really the years that caused Keegs to lose his putting touch?  Are you guys sure there wasn't some sort of external event.... Eh, never mind.

But how should we react when such a rigorous analysis yields such garbage results?  I'm not sure what in their methodology undermined it, but I had actually hoped it would identify guys that have the game to win majors, but hadn't yet broken through.  There's a couple of those, Fowler, Xander and Finau most notably, but when they're buried amid Steve Stricker and Robert Streb, it's more likely that it's just statistical noise perhaps from a small sample size.

Broadie has done great work in this field, but this isn't worthy of his reputation.

See you tomorrow, but I'm imposing a one-post limit. 

Waugh Games

Once again a post goes sufficiently long that it warrants a room of its own....  In this case, musings about the new kid in town.

Shack gets our musefest off to a ripping start with this prime example of the genre:

The rumblings in recent weeks have been met with an understandable: "Yes, that's a nice rumor but Seth doesn't need that job or want it," the power players would say when Seth Waugh was suggested as the leading candidate to become PGA of America CEO.

Now that the former Deutsche Bank CEO and current PGA of America advisory board member has been officially announced as Pete Bevacqua's replacement, the question will still be asked: why is an executive of his prowess, reputation, bank account and career arc taking on this position? 

Or, to put it less-tactfully, why would a 60-year-old with ten club memberships, a net worth of $80 million, expensive homes in nice places and golf's most glorious tan/hair combo want to hear from 29,000 members about their excessive dues? Or, more alarmingly, report to a Grand Jury-sized board that forcefully condemns social media dust-ups but supports drunk drivers in leadership positions?

Lots of good bits there, all faithfully linked so they must be true (or at least too good to check).  Though in our little bubble that tan/hair combo is an extremely competitive category....

But of greater importance, it seems that overnight the PGA went from 28,000 to 29,000 members.  Is there nothing that Seth Waugh can't do?

 OK, I'll bite, why would he take the gig?

A) His love of golf is well established. Deutsche Bank built an incredible tour event in Boston in short time under his watch, one that sadly (and ironically) dies this week under the Dell Technologies banner due to changes in the PGA Tour schedule and post-2008 priority changes for his former employer.

The irony is rich, but perhaps the best gloss on this one is that he got Deutsche Bank out before the music stopped?  What else ya got, Geoff?

B) Waugh was tight with former CEO Bevacqua, has been/continues to be a mentor to current PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, and at 60 can only play so much golf. Also, this is an organization in the sport he loves, based (at least for now) near his winter home, seems like a wise way to stay in the game of dealmaking and keeps in him in the golf and business game.

And this differs from A) how?  And trust me, a man in his early sixties can still play an obscene amount of golf....  It just may not be, you know, good golf.

C) He's well versed in the PGA's current issues and may see an opportunity to make a major deal. So, what is that megadeal?

Let me just say that were I the owner of a certain tract of land in Frisco, TX, I'd be accepting any reasonable offer.... I've tried Googling it to no avail, but where do we go to get a listing of those ten clubs to which Waugh belongs?  I demand transparency, so I can bring the hate with cause.

Though you know where we're headed, and Shack does at least drop some names:

How about a stronger partnership with the PGA Tour? Or, more intriguingly, a merger? 

Consider what currently sits before the PGA of America: an expiring television contract for the PGA Championship and a possible headquarters move to Frisco, Texas. Those are big ticket items that will shape the organization for decades to come and left by Pete Bevacqua for the next CEO when he moved to NBC Sports. Does Seth Waugh really take the PGA job to quibble with a Mark Lazarus or Sean McManus over commercial breaks-per-hour and then have a celebratory dinner when the deal is done? When he could be playing Cypress Point or Seminole or National Golf Links? 

Probably not. But stranger things have happened.

 OK, so let's see if Geoff can pierce my well-reasoned pessimism.....

What would incentivize these two to get hitched? 

Money, of course.

Let's start with the easy issue: office space. 

If the two organizations joined forces, here's betting the PGA Tour could find room in their new Foster-designed headquarters. It's not Palm Beach, but it's also not Frisco for the PGA of America staff who would still like to serve the members and keep their jobs in a place where palm trees don't wilt. There would undoubtedly be consolidation on some fronts, though the PGA of America is a pretty lean operation.

Really?  he references the ugly late 60's divorce, but thinks that can be forgiven and forgotten over some excess cubicles?  

But here's where a merger makes sense: power, money and branding. 

Rights to PGA of America's PGA Championship expire for CBS in 2019. The PGA Tour's rights expire in 2021 with the networks and Golf Channel. It is no secret that the PGA Tour would like its own channel or an ownership stake in NBC's Golf Channel. They passed up that opportunity when the current deal was negotiated but these two entities begin a new streaming partnership in 2019 for PGA Tour Live.

Currently, two major media corporations have shown a love of golf and content: Comcast and AT&T, headed by two CEO's--Brian Roberts of Comcast and Randal Stephenson of AT&T--are both Augusta National members who sign big checks in golf and are lodged in megadeal madness to expand their companies.

I'm guessing that ANGC is not one of Waugh's ten memberships, but that perhaps solves the prior query as to why he'd consider the PGA of America CEOship.  Yes, there are expiring contracts for rights fees, but I'm still awaiting something that passes for logic.

How does a stronger partnership serve the PGA Tour and PGA of America members? 

The deal would give the PGA Tour ownership of a major championship and partial ownership of the Ryder Cup. A deal would put an end to the meaningless but vanity-destroying confusion over PGA Tour vs. PGA of America. And most of all, such a partnership would further convince one of those two media companies to respect their position in the form of dollars in some way. The PGA of America's members will have to get something out of all of this, but what that would be, remains unclear.

OK, the PGA of America has something that the Tour covets, two things actually.  And while I get that they'd like a mulligan for those 1968 negotiations, that underwhelms as a rationale for merging organizations that serve disparate constituencies.  Yanno, the logic for the divorce in the first place...

How does a possible merger serve the fans? 

I haven't a clue. But none of the above-mentioned power players hopes to be in golf for the next few decades only to get on the bad side of consumers and to scare off subscribers. They want to make money, make deals and extend their reach. They like golf.

Still, mergers of non-profits (haruumph!) should deliver something tangible and exciting. And that's why Seth Waugh's decision to take the CEO job could lead to some big and compelling moves.

Don't feel bad, Geoff, you're not the only one that hasn't a clue.... though you might be the only one admitting such.

Rex Hoggard scored a Q&A with the man, and I'm shocked that Shack left this howler unexcerpted:

SW: I’ve always had that golden rule and we all know what that means. To be self-enforcing cures a lot of ills and makes for cultures that are self-fulfilling. 

My son played every sport, but none of the basketball or baseball kids would take off their hat when they shook your hand, the golf kids did. All those things are enormously valuable in a society that’s moving so quickly. Being a gentleman or gentlewoman really matters.

That hat-and-sunglasses-doffing on the 18th green is a nice little tradition, but in and of itself its pretty meaningless....  It doesn't make our game better than others, Seth.

These quotes will get much wider play:

GC.com: What are your thoughts on the current move by golf’s rule-makers to examine

how technology is impacting the game, particularly distance gains in recent years at the highest levels?

SW: I have an opinion as a golfer, but not as a CEO yet. I pride myself on coming in without preconceived notions and hearing all the sides and I haven’t done that yet. I don’t think you can do this without the sign-on of these 29,000 [members]. I think golf should be more fun instead of less fun. I don’t think we need to make the game harder.

I look forward to getting in the middle of the conversation, but it’s premature to give an opinion because it’s not informed without hearing all the sides of the argument.

And what might that opinion "as a golfer" be?  

I don't blame him for ducking this right now, given that the ink on his contract is not yet dry...  But doesn't this highlight why the organizations don't belong under the same roof?  Technology affects golf differently at the elite versus the club level, and Waugh's new organization should be the advocate for those 28,000 29,000 members. 

That said, I'll go out with this Dave Shedloski profile of the man, in which I find this bit a little rich:

But what motivates him most, beyond helping the membership, is what the PGA of America can do for the game. 

“I’ll have a really interesting seat at the table as far as how golf evolves,” he said. “The PGA, in my mind, is the organization in the best position to be solely of the game and for the game. We have a pure mission through our membership to grow the game, and that puts us in a position of neutrality, to some degree, if you will. We can bring people to the table to enhance the game as a whole as opposed to a particular slice of the pie. 

“I believe the game is worthy and hugely important in all its values. Societally, I think it’s important," Waugh added. "We all talk about growing it, but how do we make it into our kids’ game as opposed to our parents’ game or our game? I don’t pretend to know what the answers are. But I look forward to being a collaborator and partner with the other leaders in our game to work in the best interest of the game.”

Yet every item on this subject leads with that PGA Championship TV contract and relocation to Frisco.... I agree that he deserves a seat at the table, I just worry that their ownership of those two lucrative elite events provides an obvious conflict, and has led to the membership being disenchanted with their leadership.  I'm most interested in how he views that conflict, and in how he proposes to address it. 

Udder Stuff

Two posts in a day?  Does that mean I get double the pay?

Ryder Cup Ruminations - John Feinstein takes his time poring over the tea leaves, first as relates to the U.S. squad:

Bryson DeChambeau made Jim Furyk’s life a good deal more complicated this past weekend. With his dominant victory at The Northern Trust—the opener of the so-called PGA Tour playoffs—DeChambeau made it pretty much impossible for Furyk not to name him as one of his four Ryder Cup captain’s picks next Tuesday.

Really?  I don't think I agree with this analysis of the status quo ante either:

The minute the PGA ended with Tiger Woods 10th on the points list and Phil Mickelson 11th, they were locks to be two of Furyk’s picks. Matt Kuchar, who finished 13th, was also a likely pick because of his experience and because he brings a looseness to the U.S team room that is desperately needed. 

Now though, Kuchar may have to play his way into the final spot during the next three tournaments because Furyk has to seriously consider Tony Finau, if only because Finau can be a birdie-making machine.

I have no doubt that Furyk would like Kooch to be on the squad, but there's the small matter of the quality of his play.  At No. 13 on the points list, there's no compelling case to be made for the guy, and T60 at Ridgewood doesn't move the needle.

That said, this does seem like the likely scenario:

Furyk will announce Woods, Mickelson and DeChambeau the day after Labor Day and then sit back and see what happens in Philadelphia before making his final decision on the Horschel pick.

Yes, though his discussion of Finau is somewhat lacking....  No question that the young man has certain very interesting skills....  It's just that his specific skills don't seem well matched to the golf course and the team.  What I mean by that last bit is that he seems perfect for fourballs, but that's pretty much the same skill set that Tiger and Phil bring.  

Turning to the Euros, this is a little curious, no?

Europe’s points list race ends this coming weekend after the European Tour's Made in Denmark tournament. European captain Thomas Bjorn will announce his four captains picks the day after Furyk announces his first three. 

Europe’s biggest problem at Hazeltine was a lack of experience: Darren Clarke had six rookies on his team and, playing on the road, most struggled. The notable exception was Thomas Pieters, who went 4-1, winning three matches paired with McIlroy and his singles match.

Yes, that Euro team feature a bunch of rookies that qualified automatically.  But left unsaid is that the veterans added through captain's picks, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, were God-awful as well.  

As of this moment, Bjorn is going to have five rookies on his team: the mercurial Jon

Rahm; Tommy Fleetwood; Tyrell Hatton; Alex Noren; and Thorbjorn Olesen. McIlroy, Francesco Molinari and Justin Rose are the only veterans who have locked up spots off the two European points lists. 

That means Bjorn must add experience with his captains picks: Ian Poulter, who has had an excellent comeback year and is just outside an automatic spot on the points list, is a lock. Poulter is one of the great Ryder Cup players of his generation and his fire was clearly missed in the European team room two years ago even though he was a vice captain.

“It’s not the same when you’re not playing,” he said. “There’s only so much you can say to guys. I NEED to be playing again.”

Must?  I think John errs in his definitions, as Tommy Fleetwood and Alex Noren aren't exactly babes in the woods.  Also misguided is Poults, as it was his play that inspired, not anything he could say.  It's also amusing that forgotten is how poorly he played at Gleneagles, it just wasn't a factor in the outcome .  

He will. So will Henrik Stenson, the temperamental opposite of Poulter, but a rock in the team room, who, like Kuchar, brings a good deal of humor to the room. He and Rose have been Europe’s most consistent team in recent years, and Bjorn is not going to break them up. 

That leaves two spots. Chances are Bjorn will overlook Sergio Garcia’s terrible summer (he did show signs of life in Greensboro) and name him to a ninth Ryder Cup team. The Ryder Cup has always brought out the best in Garcia, dating to his debut in 1999 at The Country Club as a 19-year-old—the youngest player in Cup history. 

Garcia teamed well with fellow Spaniard Cabrera-Bello at Hazeltine, which is why Bjorn will probably pick both or neither. In all likelihood, it will be both. 

The European standings could change this week and if Olesen doesn’t hang on to the last spot, he’s probably not going to be on the team. Bjorn would probably opt for a more experienced player like Fitzpatrick, Pieters or perhaps even Paul Casey.

I certainly understand the appeal of Poults and Casey, though I can't believe that either Rafa or Pieters will be left off the squad.  That I believe would be doing us a favor....

Been There, Done That -  I'll get to the more current item in a bit, but does anyone remember Ted Bishop?  I thought he was mad as a hatter during his term as President of the PGA of America, though I've actually come to see a more well-rounded man since his defenestration for ill-considered tweets.  But he had an item earlier this month that is really quite delusional:

One morning last week, I was quietly minding my own business in Indiana when a member of the golf media reached out via text from Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, site of the PGA Championship. 

“Some rumblings here the PGA and PGA Tour in merger talks…”

Say what?   Those who don't know their history.....

Funny thing is that I've been waiting endlessly for this article to emerge from behind Golf.com's paywall, detailing the two years of armed hostilities that resulted in the formation of the PGA Tour as we now know it:

The Professional Golfers’ Association of America formed in 1916 as an organization of golf pros—people who ran pro shops and gave lessons. Many clubs in the northern states closed for the winter, so the pros who toiled there would head south to pick up extra

work and compete in tournaments. The PGA began to organize the events, and by the 1930s a winter tour had become somewhat stable, with a number of annual dates and a steady stream of players. 

Still, the small purses, usually put up by chambers of commerce or resorts looking to stoke tourism, were not enough for anyone to live on, and when the weather turned, players went home to their “real” jobs. That remained true until the 1950s, when the schedule of events had expanded and the purses had grown large enough that some players decided to go out on tour full time. Suddenly, the PGA was comprised of two groups: golf pros and pro golfers. 

Through the ’60s, the gulf between those two factions grew wider, aided by demographic shifts and the convergence of two transformative forces: the swashbuckling Palmer and TV. In 1958, the total prize money available on tour sat at $1 million; by ’68 it had hit $5.6 million. Competition for that cash was Darwinian. Each year, tournament winners and the top-60 money earners from the previous season were granted exempt status, but otherwise fields were filled by one-round, top-scorers-get-in Monday qualifiers.

It's a very interesting story of course, and Nicklaus as rabble rouser will surprise many.  But it's easy to see how the club pros and the emerging touring professionals have different objectives, and really don't belong in the same organization.  So, why does Ted think this is an idea that's time has come?

Here's an example of the two organizations’ business acumen: The Tour manages more than 30 properties and nets a profit in excess of $10 million per year on its golf operations. The PGA runs two properties and loses money. 

“The PGA of America is at a huge disadvantage from a structural standpoint, whereas the Tour is set up like a business,” said Deane Beman, a former commissioner of the PGA Tour. “Without question, a single organization combining the Tour and the PGA would have more influence on the game of golf. The two together would be more effective in marketing and growing the game.”     

OK, but what's in it for the Tour?  He never really gets around to that and, in fact, argues that the only logical incentive should be taken off the negotiation table:

As valued assets, the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup actually could be major stumbling blocks in a potential merger. 

“You have to eliminate that as an obstacle,” Beman said. “The value of those should be used for the benefit of PGA members. Follow the money. Does it directly benefit the PGA member? It’s not easy. It would be a hell of a transaction, and it would take a lot of strategy. There was probably a better chance of doing this in the early 1980s than now because there is so much money involved today.”

Good luck with that....  Yes, it's never easy getting folks to agree to a deal in which the only benefits are to others...This last 'graph is laugh-out-loud funny:

As Beman suggests, one PGA organization would be stronger, and life could be better for all of its members. Many PGA members think that their association has become too corporate and less member-focused. A merger with the Tour might change all of that, plus it could put the PGA in a position in which it could have a far greater international presence in growing the game and helping golf professionals around the world.

Yeah, that's the ticket....  The cure for having become too corporate and ignoring their member sis to give them access to another pot of gold.  Profoundly silly...

While we're here, Ted is back in the current moment with another curious cure for an organization that's become too corporate:

Seth Waugh could be a game-changer for the PGA of America. Sources close to the

PGA’s search for a chief executive officer tell Morning Read that Waugh’s hiring could be a “done deal” soon, with an announcement possible before next month’s Ryder Cup.

Waugh, the former CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas, could be just the man to lead the PGA’s 28,000 members and apprentices. He would bring a wealth of business and golf experience to one of the most unique and challenging leadership positions in golf. 

Perhaps his greatest attribute is his business experience. Waugh, a former Wall Street bond executive, worked from 2000 to 2013 at Deutsche Bank. He operated the German company’s sales and trading businesses in the U.S. before being promoted to CEO of the Americas region. In 2003, Waugh created the PGA Tour’s Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. The tournament, known today as the Dell Technologies Championship, has been part of the FedEx Cup playoffs since 2007. Waugh is no stranger to big-time golf events.

He might be a good guy and he might be the right guy, but if your concern is about the organization becoming too corporate..... And as for his ability to relate to the rank and file members?  Shack confirms that he's truly a man of the people:

A member of ten golf clubs—including Seminole in Palm Beach near PGA headquarters where he spends his winters—Waugh serves on various boards and still works in the finance sector. He’s also one of the managing partners of the Pebble Beach Company.

Think how many of those 28,000 members he's known from his ten clubs....  There is one point of Ted's with which I agree:

And about that rumored move to Frisco, which seems to have been hanging out there for months: It’s hard to see Waugh wearing a cowboy hat and chaps.

Wouldn't you want to stay closer to Seminole?

Wither Rickie -  I perhaps should have included this above, but this could have larger Ryder Cup implications:

Rickie Fowler has withdrawn from this week’s Dell Technologies Championship due to a lingering oblique injury. 

He also sat out last week’s Northern Trust, the first event in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. 

The 29-year-old Fowler is 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings and already guaranteed through to the next stage of the postseason with the top 70 advancing to the BMW Championship at Aroninmink in two weeks. Of greater concern, however, could be the Ryder Cup, which is just over a month away.

Ya think?  he hasn't been playing all that well, so I'm unclear as to whether this is a bug or a feature.  But we might be back to captains placing names in envelopes..... 

Scenes From Latinoamérica - Alan Shipnuck has been talking about this assignment for  quite some time, a compelling take on the grind that is the PGA's Latin America developmental tour:

To truly understand the PGA Tour Latinoamérica (LAT), it is necessary to experience one of the ornate travel days that define this far-flung circuit. Speeding to the Montego

Bay airport, Michael Buttacovali was squished into a minivan along with a family of four. The trophy he had won with a closing 62 at the Jamaica Classic was at his feet, and a baby stroller kept toppling over and smashing into his shoulder, although Buttacovali barely flinched. “If you’re gonna survive on this tour, you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable,” he said. 

At 5 a.m., the airport began filling up with players in the unofficial travel-day uniform of shorts, graphic T-shirts, hats with the logo of a hometown sports team, and fashionable sneakers, although Harry Higgs, a 6’2”, 235 lb. Dallas resident who is a bit of a dandy, was flashing tassel loafers. Near the departure gate, the Latin American players clustered around tables, daintily sipping espresso. The Yanks were slouched in the airport chairs, trading gossip about Lee Westwood’s love life and LeBron James’s free agency. Costa Rica is southwest of Jamaica, but since there are no direct flights, this motley crew was flying north to connect through Miami. (It could be worse; the following week, to get from Costa Rica to the Dominican Republic, a cash-strapped rookie named Mike Balcar would first fly to Houston and then Toronto, an absurd itinerary cooked up by Orbitz to save him a few hundred bucks.) As the players filed down the plane’s aisle, they exchanged elaborate handshakes with their seated comrades, and the few who had snagged extra legroom were hailed for their “exit row swag.”

 Not to mention "golf bag roulette" on every flight.... Oh, the glamour.  Give it a read, as it's quite the grind....

Can You Say "Tone Deaf"? - I just happened across this, which is interestingly not on any of the major golf website as of now:

The forthcoming Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson Thanksgiving 18-hole “The Match” showdown will be produced by Turner and distributed across a wide range of AT&T/Warner Media properties, from preview and shoulder programming on HBO and Bleacher Report to the actual event pay-per-view on AT&T, DirecTV, potentially other providers and B/R Live to a later reair on TNT. We now have more details on the price of the pay-per-view broadcast, with Sports Business Journal‘s John Ourand including in his in-depth report on the deal that Turner “is expected to charge viewers less than $30” and numerous people (including media reporter Jim Miller) tweeting about it being $24.99 (although ESPN’s Darren Rovell tweeted that “no price has been set yet“). If it is $24.99, that’s an interestingly-low threshold compared to many pay-per-view events in other sports, and one which may reflect some of the challenges of this event.

It may be low compared to boxing and MMA, but it strikes me as high for a meaningless exhibition in a niche sport.  It was this guy that made me aware of it:

So do I, especially at that price point.  I'm thinking that these guys are overplaying their hand.

Two long posts I assume are enough for you ungrateful wretches....  If not, feel free to reach out to our customer support team.