Weekend Wrap

Hope y'all had a good weekend.....

The Professor Schools The Tour - For some reason he chose Sir Nick and the Nancy Boy over Amanda Balionis and her chalkboard on Saturday, but he called himself a Man on a Mission.  I think we can agree that Mission, Accomplished:

PARAMUS, N.J. – With players fighting to prolong their season and Tiger Woods coming off a near-win at the PGA Championship, there were more storylines at the start of this year’s Northern Trust than bunkers at Ridgewood Country Club. 

But in the end, Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau penned the final chapter to a few.

DeChambeau’s sizzling 63 on Saturday and birdie-birdie start on Sunday sucked most of the drama out of the final round. Sure, Aaron Wise pulled within two shots on the back nine, but after he made back-to-back bogeys on 16 and 17, and DeChambeau birded 12 and 13, his second PGA Tour win of the season felt inevitable once again. 

The 24-year-old DeChambeau likely removed any remaining doubts in the mind of Jim Furyk about giving him a captain’s pick onto the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

I can't imagine what more Captain Furyk would need to see at this juncture.  I'm usually the one cautioning against the siren song of "recent form", but this kid was also ninth in the season-long points compilation.  Oh, and Tiger wants him on the team....

Finau now becomes the more interesting case.... But, hold that thought.

As for that Saturday appearance in the CBS booth, I shan't be missing Sir Nick between now and Torrey:

Dylan Dethier tells us that there's way more to the lad than the Mad Professor shtick:

PARAMUS, N.J. — As the sun set on Ridgewood Country Club following Saturday 

Last man standing....

night’s third round, one player remained on the driving range. There was no way to know that Bryson DeChambeau had just polished off a near-flawless eight-under 63 to blitz to the top of the Northern Trust leaderboard; he attacked the range session as he always does, with a unique desperation at odds with his level of play. 

“I’ve always had to work twice as hard as everybody, growing up,” DeChambeau said. This is among his recurring themes; he is obsessed with his own lack of talent. It’s one of the few things he is probably wrong about — he’s undeniably talented — but it’s a delusion that keeps him obsessed with improvement. “I was always a guy that would study for three hours and barely get an A on the test and you would have another guy next to me who would study for maybe 30 minutes and ace it,” he said.

The weekly Tour Confidential gabfest agrees:

2. Bryson DeChambeau built a four-shot lead after 54 holes at The Northern Trust and never left the outcome in doubt on Sunday, shooting 69 and beating runner-up Tony Finau by four. DeChambeau was the first man out in Ryder Cup auto qualifying after the eight spots were solidified after the PGA Championship. Has this victory, his second of the season, guaranteed his spot when captain Jim Furyk announces the first three picks on Sept. 4?

Shipnuck: It’s done and dusted. With Tiger and Phil as locks, the only intrigue is now around the final pick, though Finau’s strong second at Ridgewood may have taken away all of that suspense, too.

Sens: What Alan said. DeChambeau was already putting up an impressive season. Add this further evidence of “recent form” and he’s a shoo-in. 

Berhow: He’s in! Lots of practice rounds with Tiger, too. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them team up.

It was a good week at the right time, but I'm still not there in seeing Tony Finau as a lock.  His game is a mismatch for the golf course, as he's currently 188th in driving accuracy and 88th in Strokes Gained: Putting.  The logic for taking him would be to play him only in fourballs, but hopefully our captain already plans to do that with Tiger and Phil.  

Back to the TC gang with an odd question, that generated some interesting reactions:

3. With captain’s picks looming, DeChambeau and Finau were among those to beef up their resumes. But, with one event remaining to prove themselves (and with the final pick coming a tournament after that), which Ryder Cup captain’s pick hopeful took the biggest step backward at Ridgewood?

Shipnuck: DeChambeau and Justin Thomas will be rookies. If Furyk wants to add another veteran instead of a third rookie in Finau the only options that make sense are Zach Johnson and Kevin Kisner. Given the disparity in their resumes, Kiz needs to clearly outplay Zach but the opposite happened at Ridgewood. So, I’ll say Kisner here.

I just think that the last pick demands a better putter, a Kisner or Brian Harman perhaps.  But, to be fair, those guys haven't played well lately...  But here's where it gets interesting:

Bamberger: I just don’t see Phil as a lock. Now is an excellent time for him to become an assistant captain, and a captain-in-training. I don’t see Furyk having any trouble telling Phil that. He’s had a great run. He’ll be an interesting and original captain. It’s the cruelest and greatest aspect of golf, that Phil still needs to play his way on to the team, at this late date.

Ummmm, Mike, I have a follow-up question.  I agree with him that Phil shouldn't be a lock, but I tend to think of Furyk as more of a hostage these days, with little choice in the matter.  What does Mike see that makes him believe that Furyk has XXL cujones?

Eamon Lynch seems to agree with your humble blogger on all points:

The absence of tangible results is why so much emphasis is placed on Mickelson’s intangibles, his leadership qualities and popularity with younger team members. 

“Phil’s been that basically for the last four or five Ryder Cups. He’s been a playing

captain. He’s been a leader for the team,” said Davis Love III, who was nominally captain for two of those Cups. 

That’s true, but it’s also the kind of immeasurable metric that implies Mickelson has a place on Team USA until he decides to step aside. And who will tell an aging monarch when it is time to abdicate for the good of the kingdom? It’s unlikely to be Furyk, who shared all nine of his Ryder Cup team rooms with Mickelson. 

This is Phil’s team, and the captain knows it. 

It’s been that way since his 2014 coup against Tom Watson at Gleneagles, an unseemly knifing that ultimately led a PGA of America task force to hand more power to players, including in the choosing of captains.

I've been calling it a hostile takeover, but coup works as well, maybe better.  Eamon isn't finished, though:

There are sentimental reasons for picking Mickelson: he’s made every Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup squad since 1994, and he’s just two wins shy of passing Billy Casper as the top U.S. Ryder Cup points scorer ever. Mickelson’s overall record is 18-20-7. Not atrocious, by any means, but shy of what a vaunted team leader might be expected to deliver. (His last three Cups brightened a grim ledger after seven consecutive losing performances.) 

Captain’s picks ought to sacrifice misty-eyed sentiment for present form and future potential. Right now, Furyk’s team features a single rookie: Justin Thomas. Adding fresh blood would be a commendable investment in the future of Team USA, and all of the most-worthy recruits — DeChambeau, Schauffele, Kisner and Finau — are playing better than the 48-year-old veteran of 12 teams. 

Mickelson’s leadership and popularity are reasons why he should be in Paris. Current form is why his sticks should stay in California. Tiger earning a pick frees up a vice-captain position. Phil should be a lock for that.

Not.  Gonna.  Happen.  But if it allows a little more light to be cast upon that infamous 2014 presser... 

Back to the drama that is the FedEx Cup, as Ryan Palmer was the biggest mover of the week.   Like you, I live and die with the updates about Bornson Burgoon moving up from 111th place to 73rd, what a thing.  But I want to know what kind of dirt they have on the Texan that would make him agree to this:

I wonder if those involved did this as an homage, or are they merely too young to remember:

On to Boston.

The Reviews Are In - That TC panel leads with Tiger v. Phil, but do we think the principals will head the warning flares?   Yeah, what am I thinking?

1. Phil Mickelson joined Twitter on Wednesday, and sure enough the $9 million match play event versus Tiger Woods was announced later that day for Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas. (GOLF.com first reported that discussions for the match were in the works.) Turner Sports will produce the match and offer it through pay-per-view and a premium streaming service. No information has been released about pricing. Should golf fans be miffed they have to pay to watch Tiger vs. Phil? Are you? And how much will golf/sports fans be willing to cough up to watch?

Josh Sens: The pay-per-view decision strikes me as tone-deaf. There was always a degree of cynicism behind the marketing of Phil and Tiger’s evolving friendship and rivalry. This just makes that cynicism more explicit. I was never especially interested in watching these guys play for other people’s money. (They already do enough of that.) Less so now. I’ll watch because I should, but not because I’m all that excited by it. No doubt some people will buy in, though.

Alan Shipnuck: This ain’t the freakin’ Ryder Cup — I’m not sure there’s that much demand. For $9.99 some fans will tune in because it could be fun. For $19.99 only the lunatic fringe will buy in. Any more than that and it’s full-blown insanity. I guess in this ever-changing media landscape it’s worth a try but it’s hard for me to imagine PPV will be anything like blockbuster.

I remain surprised by the PPV decision, which seems an unnecessary risk.  Isn't the trade-off between PPV and commercials?  How are they going to fill the airtime while these guys walk to their balls?  

Josh Berhow: Golf fans have the right to be a little peeved. The vast majority of the golf 

world was giddy about this event when Shipnuck broke it last month. And then you start to see all the orchestrating behind the scenes like the Masters practice round and Phil’s timely Twitter account. You can tell this is a show. Not a golf match. And those fans who were pumped to watch are probably now a little bummed they didn’t see the pay-per-view angle coming. It’s hard to blame the network — you gotta make money — but there’s a lot of pressure on Phil and Tiger (and producers) now to make sure this isn’t a flop. 

Dylan Dethier: This whole thing feels weird and forced now. It still has potential, of course — it’s Tiger and Phil! And we’re still months away. But there’s something particularly appealing about the secret money matches that big-time pros must play against one another at their home clubs, when they are most truly themselves. This feels like the opposite of that.

Josh could have added the Tour, whose pairing of the two at The Players was part of the awkward dance.

Michael Bamberger: I can’t tell you how bored I already am of every aspect of this match. Whatever mild interest I had has left the building.

Didn't Mike get the memo that this frees them up to be "real"?   That's a pretty embarrassing ohfer amongst guys whose contracts require them to be enthusiastic.... If the match is a dud, the backlash should be good fun.

Shack looks at the involvement of AT&T, though methinks he's stretching the implications.  First, his excerpt from a Market Watch column:

AT&T said it will distribute live pay-per-view coverage on a number of its platforms, including DirecTV, AT&T U-verse and sports streaming site B/R Live. The company

said the match will also be available on other on-demand platforms, and a rebroadcast will air on the TNT network. The pay-per-view price was not announced. 

In a statement, AT&T said the two will be able to make side challenges: “Woods and Mickelson will selectively make side-challenges against one another during the match. For instance, Woods or Mickelson could raise the stakes by challenging the other to a long-drive, closest-to-the-pin or similar competition during a hole as they play their match, with money being donated to the winning golfer’s charity of choice.”

OK, but it's left unclear as to to the extent of their investment in the match....  Here's Geoff's thoughts:

While long focused on sponsoring tournaments and providing bonus coverage on its more recent acquisition, DirecTV, this is the first major play by AT&T on the golf content side. With CEO Randall Stephenson on the PGA Tour Policy Board, could their role in the match and use of TNT as the broadcasting brand to deliver the coverage--despite consistently loathsome reviews of their PGA Championship effort--give folks the impression AT&T is getting in the golf business.

Or, is this all a way to justify their recent mergers by bringing together too many AT&T properties under the AT&T umbrella: DirecTV, TNT, Bleacher Report, HBO and AT&T U-Verse? 

Time will tell, but a big PGA Championship bid does not seem too far fetched. Certainly bidding on some PGA Tour events for 2022 and beyond seems plausible. One question remains and probably always will go unanswered: what does Stephenson do when these matters come up before the PGA Tour Policy Board?

One assumes that he recuses himself, but I don't see where this is going?  As an outlet for streaming coverage, why not?   I might also be tempted to remind Geoff that the contract for the PGA Championship is not awarded by the Tour....  But still, it will go to either CBS or NBC, because there's simply no way yet to monetize it through AT&T's properties.

Udder Stuff - OK, I lied...  I'm not providing anything significant here, just this one addition to the Gallery of Awkward Photographs.  Brooke Henderson won the LPGA event in her native Canada, leading to this....well, you decide:

Really?  You couldn't come up with a third hat so that guy on the right didn't have to give up his?