A bit frustrating to be blogging the weekend golf action, when there was exactly nil of it for your humble blogger... And the extended forecast? Continued Nilness.....
In other news, a really bad week for professional luggage-handlers....
Return of the Kooch - Where ya been, Matt? From the invaluable 30-second guide:
Who won: Matt Kuchar (two-under 69, 22 under overall)
How it happened: Kuchar opened the day with a four-shot lead, although it shrunk tothree when he made the turn. After birdies on 11 and 13, Kuchar went bogey-bogey on 14 and 15 — both three-putts, the former from off the green — and his lead was trimmed to one over Danny Lee with two to play and Lee in the group ahead. Lee missed a birdie putt on 18 to sign for a 65 and get in at 21 under. Kuchar two-putted on 18, making a three-footer for par, to secure the one-shot victory.
Why it matters: It’s Kuchar’s first win since the 2014 RBC Heritage, when he beat Luke Donald by a stroke. The last time he held the 54-hole lead, at the 2016 Memorial, he shot 73 and tied for 4th. This week he closed it out. The 40-year-old has now won eight times on the PGA Tour.
As for those Tour caddies, yanno, the ones that are an integral part of the team?
A man known as “El Tucan” just got paid.
Matt Kuchar shot 69 on Sunday to win the Mayakoba Golf Classic by one over Danny Lee and claim his first victory since April 2014, and he did so with a local caddie named David.
Kuchar committed to the event late, and his regular caddie, John Wood, had a prior engagement already scheduled. So Kuchar reached out to a few other caddies he knew, but none were able to help him out. His last option was to talk with tournament director Joe Mazzeo, who paired Kuchar with a local looper named David, although he’s most known in the area as “El Tucan.”
So, where was John Wood?
As for Wood? Kuchar said he was likely flying to Australia when he won on Sunday night. Wood and Kuchar reunite at next week’s Australian Open.
“I’m sure John’s disappointed not to have worked this week,” Kuchar said. “He’s a great caddie, John does a fantastic job. I look forward to getting back with him next week, but I’m excited for El Tucan; sorry for John.”
In other news from Mayakoba, this guy at least slammed the trunk quietly:
Jordan Spieth made an early exit Friday at the Mayakoba Classic. It was a fitting end to an uncharacteristic year for Spieth, who went winless and failed to qualify for the Tour Championship.
Spieth shot 2-under 69 in the second round to miss the cut in his final start of 2018. He began the year ranked No. 2 in the Official World Golf Rankings and fell all the way to No. 14 due in part to prolonged putting struggles.
The missed cut in Mexico was his first since the U.S. Open in June and followed an underwhelming T-55 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas. He’s planning to take the rest of the year off and will marry long-time girlfriend Annie Verret later this month.
His most recent win, the 2017 British Open came amid a stretch of two victories, two runner-ups and nothing worse than a T-28 over his final nine starts in 2017.
But I had been reliably informed that he was "oh, so close"...Upon further review, perhaps that source isn't all that reliable:
Spieth was optimistic going into this week and said his ballstriking has been solid, but he shot even-par 71 Thursday and never got enough going to change the narrative going into a new year.
The weekly Tour Confidential confab led with our fallen hero:
1. Jordan Spieth, who was just passed by Tiger Woods in the OWGR last week, ended the 2018 calendar year with a missed cut at the Mayakoba. It’s his first winless year on Tour since 2014. Are you buying or selling Spieth stock for 2019?
Sean Zak: Buy, buy, buy! Today I was reminded that he was one decent drive away from possibly the greatest round in major championship history. Of course, I’m talking about the Masters. His game is built to succeed on tough golf courses (like Carnoustie), and I imagine he’ll tighten his game up in the spring.
Carnoustie? Who wants to break it to Sean that they won't be going back there for a while? More substantively, that 18th hole at Augusta might be an admisison against interest, as the lawyers like to say. He came to that tee with a chance to make history (as well as snatch it from designated arch-villain Patrick Reed), and only missed his line by fifty yards.
Alan Bastable: Right, it’s like the old Wall Street adage — buy low, sell high. Still, golf is a funny game. It’s also hard to fathom that Tiger hasn’t won a major in more than a decade or that Rory has won just once since 2016. Most troubling about Spieth isn’t so much that he’s not winning but that he’s just not contending all that much. Last season he had just five top 10s. Compare that to the previous three seasons when he racked up a combined 35.
Michael Bamberger: Or the Warren Buffett adage: buy and hold. I like Spieth’s next 20-plus years.
The question was cleverly framed, because the stock is so damn cheap that it makes little sense to sell.... I'd polish off my Graham-Dodd Capital Asset Pricing Model, but it would only serve to remind us of how poorly he's putting... Let's just hope Annie and he have a wonderful wedding and happy life together.
Return of Westy - I know, but bear with me, because it comes with some crazy coincidences. First, the game story:
Five back-nine birdies helped Lee Westwood erase a three-shot deficit to start the dayand chase down Sergio Garcia to win the Nedbank Golf Challenge on Sunday in Sun City, South Africa.
Westwood shot an eight-under 64 at Gary Player Country Club to finish 15 under and beat Garcia (70) by three. Garcia opened Sunday leading Louis Oosthuizen by two and Westwood by three. Oosthuizen (69) finished alone in third at 11 under.
The 45-year-old Westwood kick-started his round with an eagle on the par-5 2nd hole. He closed with four birdies in his last six holes. His girlfriend and caddie, Helen Storey, jumped into his arms when he finished on the 72nd green.
It’s Westwood’s first European Tour victory since the 2014 Maybank Malaysian Open. His last victory was the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters in 2015, an Asian Tour event.“You are never sure whether you are going to be able to do it again,” Westwood said post-round, fighting tears.
First coincidence is the absence of a regular caddie.....A regular squeeze, yes. Although, Kooch allowed his regular squeeze to caddie for another player, not that there's anything wrong with that.
But back over to the TC panel for the second coincidence:
2. Which was the more impressive drought-snapping win on Sunday: Matt Kucharat the Mayakoba or Lee Westwood at the Nedbank Golf Challenge?
Dethier: The most impressive thing was the incredible statistical anomaly pointed out by Golf Channel’s Justin Ray: Westwood hadn’t won since 4/20/14. Kuchar also hadn’t won since, you guessed it: 4/20/14. That’s cosmic.
Freaky, no? I guess this last bit makes it three:
Bamberger: I’ll say Westwood only because his name never crosses my mind, although I do recall that both gents were assistant captains in Paris this year.
Excuse me, Mike, that's Vice Captain.
They seem to have more fun on the Euro Tour, don't you agree?
Great Moments in Ryder Cup History - A wacky postscript to the Ryder Cup, one that drips with irony:
The Ryder Cup had its share of weekend thrills for fans, but for players the drama began much earlier. Tuesday evening, to be exact. And not at Le Golf National but seven milesaway at the Trianon Palace hotel, which was home to both the U.S. and European teams. That’s when officials from the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) arrived unannounced to conduct random drug tests.
The players had reason to be surprised. It was the first time drug tests were administered at a Ryder Cup. That it happened in Paris should be less surprising. The French take their anti-doping laws seriously. That’s why Lance Armstrong now owns as many Tour de France victories as Jack Nicklaus.
I'll have to take his word for the fact that the French take their anti-doping regimen seriously, but I'll just note that that hasn't, you know, always been the case.... I'm guessing they'd prefer not to be reminded of Mr. Armstrong.
This got the rumor mill humming:
In the murky uncertainty about who was tested, gossip fertilized rumors. On the range at last week’s PGA Tour stop in Las Vegas, speculation was rampant that a U.S. team member had tested positive. Names were whispered with a disregard for actual evidence. Within hours, that chatter had spread as far afield as Florida.
It wasn’t true.
Gee, I wonder whose name it was that they whispered.... Because when it comes to rumors of failed rug tests, there's an undisputed leader in the clubhouse.
I suppose it's of interest that most simply don't want to talk about being tested, though it's unclear why:
“All the results are in and there were no positive tests,” said Maggie Durand, a spokeswoman for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), to which the French AFLD affiliate reported its findings. When asked about the method of testing, WADA confirmed it was urinalysis. And about the players tested?Representatives for many players – including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth – didn’t respond to an inquiry on the matter. The London office of IMG, which handles the affairs of four European team members, referred questions to the European Tour, which handles none of them. Agents for Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka politely declined comment, citing team room confidentiality.
In the end, managers for just four of the 24 Ryder Cup players were willing to directly address the events of that Tuesday evening in Paris. Representatives for Tommy Fleetwood and Thorbjorn Olesen said that neither had been asked for a sample. Agents for Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter confirmed they were among the eight men tested.
But this is spit-out-your-coffee-funny:
It may be just a coincidence that the only players willing to address the issue are European. But perhaps it’s not.
Former PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem took a cagey approach to drug testing – and any disciplinary proceedings, for that matter – that seemed less focused on transparency than on circling the wagons around potential threats to a wholesome brand image. Players and managers would seem to have learned from the old boss.
Cagey? Now is not the time for me to rant, but that's not how one spells disingenuous.
GaGa Over Suzy - I am Woman her me roar...Oh, excuse me, that's Womyn:
Whaley, 51, is the 41st president of the PGA. Jim Richerson, the senior vice presidentbusiness development for Troon, was elected vice president, while John Lindert, the director of golf/chief operating officer at The Country Club of Lansing in Lansing, Mich., was elected secretary.
“It feels great," Whaley said after the election. "You think about, you imagine it, you work so hard with so many people, as part of a group, as part as a team, that you lose sight of it. But ttoday it was fun. It's wonderful to be in this position. A huge responsibility, but i’m humbled and honored. I’m so gratefuful to the PGA of America. I’m humbled by the fact that our 29,000 members have confidence in me to lead the PGA of America.
“Obviously, as a woman, at the end of the day, if, like the Renee Powells and Mary Bea Porters, women who led by example, others see me in that role, how exciting for the game beyond enhancing our members’ careers.”
I'm always amused by the pass this organization gets from the SJW's, similar to when they were late to the game with their KPMG LPGA event a few years back. As for this?
Whaley said she has no specific agenda in place, beyond continuing what the association has been trying to do: Grow the game.
Oh, is that what they're been doing? Becaue, you know, it's not intuitively obvious...
The TC panel had thoughts here as well:
4. Suzy Whaley was officially introduced as the first female president of the PGA of America. What’s the one issue or topic you would like to see Whaley tackle first?
Zak: Anything she can do to make golf’s governing bodies less old, rich and white. I think she has PLENTY of potential to do so in that role.
Seth Waugh, call your office.
Bamberger: Well said, young Zak, though I hope, for your sake, you are someday old, rich and white. I think Pres. Whaley and the PGA are headed in this direction already: more programs at public schools where kids can be introduced to the game. If they get bit by the bug, they’ll find a way to a course and to equipment.
Are they? Because except for lowering the toxic masculinity, I'm thinking this guy has a useful warning:
Bastable: One complaint I’ve heard from at least a couple of club pros is that the PGA spends too much time and energy sweating the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup and not enough tending to its member pros. I think there’s a feeling that the association could do more to help fill the pros’ lesson books. In an era when digital instruction has come to the fore, I’ll suspect you also see Whaley, Seth Waugh and the rest of PGA brass spend more time thinking about how to connect teachers to students in the virtual space.
She's first and foremost a teaching professional, and that's to the the good. And while most folks will remember her for her appearance in the Hartford Tour event, there was a notable difference with other such attempts:
Before Annika and Michelle and Brittany, there was Suzy
Whaley became the first woman since Babe Didrikson Zaharias (Zaharias played in four PGA Tour events from 1938-1945), to qualify for a PGA Tour event when she won the Connecticut PGA section championship in 2002, which earned her a spot in the Greater Hartford Open.
According to USA Today, though Annika Sorenstam made her PGA Tour debut before Whaley, it was Whaley who motivated Sorenstam to accept her sponsor’s invitation to play at Colonial.
She got there the old-fashioned way, she qualified.
Driver v. Driver - The Forecaddie informs us that the Justin Rose signing with Honma could indicate a coming driver war:
The Man Out Front also hears Rose is not the only Honma adoptee in 2019, with at least one high-profile player already signed and possibly as many as two more names youknow headed to the company leaning on former TaylorMade CEO Mark King for guidance as it expands into markets outside of Asia. Not coincidentally, King signed Rose two decades ago.
TMOF is hearing from agents that TaylorMade is reducing its program paying middle-tier Tour players to use their big sticks. New owner KPS Capital Partners is pinning its marketing hopes on big names and recent high-priced signees. With Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods leading the way, that’s an impressive roster of marketing firepower.
TM is now under private equity ownership, meaning adult supervision. But change is afoot for sure:
Still, it’s a surprising shift for a company that has dominated driver counts since The Forecaddie was in diapers. Couple this news with Callaway winning the driver count at last week’s Mayakoba Golf Classic along with Ping taking the numbers crown at the Charles Schwab Championship, and the battle to claim driver supremacy will add even more spice to the 2019 season.
Cally, sure. But Ping?
The biggest effect might merely be Mark King destroying another equipment company... stay tuned.
I'll leave you there and we can catch up tomorrow.
nice information
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