It's a big day for my little clan.... I haven't previously mentioned it, but Employee No. 2 is in the Dominican republic for a few days of sun, and later today will play Teeth of the Dog. We'll see what kind of review she can provide us all, as I've never been.
All Things Jordan - Our Jordan kicks off his apology tour later today, playing the Sony to make up for his failure to play the minimum number of events last season. He had this on the new drop rule:
Making his 2019 debut at the Sony Open, the three-time major winner couldn't understand the logic behind the switch.
“One that I don’t really understand necessarily is the drop," Spieth said on Wednesday. "“You drop it knee height, but like, what’s the advantage of dropping it shoulder height? It’s actually probably a disadvantage, so why can’t you still do that? You should be able to drop it from shoulder to knee height in my opinion. It doesn’t do any good and honestly it’s like, a frustrating asterisk that I have to re-pick it up and re-drop from your knee."
According to the USGA, this alteration was made to increase the chance of a ball staying within the relief area.
Hey, physics is hard.... Though the opinion of amateurs that he displays is less than flattering:
“What if they just take a drop from the cart path. I don’t think they probably care. They will still drop it from the shoulder. Technically, you take a drop from your shoulder and play out, you could be penalized for that. Doesn’t make much sense.
Hey, when the big boys released the original draft, drops could be taken from 1" above the ground. At least we're up to knee-height... He also referred to it as akin to a "frustrating asterisk"... Not only do I not understand what he means. but Roger Maris was unavailable for comment.
Jordan had some comments on a more important subject as well, but Dave Shedloski framed it with a world-class appeal to authority:
No one is immune from the game’s ebbs and flows, though sometimes it’s difficult to figure where one starts and the other stops. Or as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus wrote, “The way upward and the way downward is one and the same.” And to think, Heraclitus, born in 535 BC, who came to be known as “the weeping philosopher” because of his melancholy disposition, never picked up a golf club.
Wish I'd a thought of using that one.... Just call me The Weeping Blogger. Back to that threshhold question, what's wrong with Jordan Spieth?
What’s wrong with Jordan Spieth? Not much. But just enough to send him asking thesame exact question that he knows a lot of others are asking.
“The thing for us,” Spieth began, “is not to get caught up in today’s news. It’s easy to sometimes when you’re not used to it. I haven’t seen, read or heard anything on it. I learned that lesson already because I know what’s wrong with Jordan Spieth, and I know what’s right with Jordan Spieth.
“I know how to get where I want to go with my golf game and have fun doing it. … I don’t really know what anyone has said other than something is wrong. I know my results aren’t the same, and I know I’m not playing as well. Clearly, I already know that.”
He keeps telling us how close he is, and then his play disproves it.... Perhaps it's not quite as clear as he thinks. Let's see how he looks over those four-footers this week.
All Things Adam - Scott, that is.... hey, it could have been Hadwin. The Aussie has some thoughts on the new rules:
Adam Scott says doing things the unconventional way never bothered him before, so he’s not about to stop now.
Scott, who makes his third PGA Tour start of the season at this week’s Sony Open, told reporters on Wednesday that he plans to leave the flagstick in on every putt following the revisions to the Rules of Golf. And it doesn’t matter the stage or aesthetics, either. He said he would leave it in on a six-footer to win the Masters.
“As you know, I’m not a person who cares how things look,” he said. “I was a 30-year old man putting with a broomstick.”
I love that last bit for its self-deprecating humor, but also for the irony of the matinee idol not caring about how things look.... I guess he's got the luxury of not caring.
This could get a little awkward out there, as players differ on pin strategies. You could see the pin going in and out multiple times as the players putt out.
Adam also shared thoughts on his schedule, to which the suits in Ponte Vedra Beach might want to pay attention:
The new PGA Tour schedule that kicked in this year was designed to flow better, with the four majors lined up in consecutive months, but it also is more compact, which leads to some hard choices for players making out their itineraries for the year.
It's not unheard of for a player to skip a World Golf Championship event. But Adam Scott currently is entertaining the notion that he might not play in any of the three remaining WGC events this season.
"In the end I just kind of took the simple approach and thought I'll just play the ones I like and that make sense to play," the former No. 1 player in the world said Wednesday at the Sony Open in Hawaii. "Any inconvenience, whether it's a big tournament or not -- I don't know how everyone can define a big tournament differently -- but at the moment I have not scheduled a World Golf Championship because they don't fall in the right weeks for me."
Good on you, mate. Shack liked it as well, offering these comments:
Anyone who has looked at the new PGA Tour schedule sees weak spots on the list where top players will be tempted to stay home. Mexico City sits awkwardly before a busy run of Florida events, the Match Play still very close to the Masters and the WGC moving to Memphis after the major season and before the playoffs.Wouldn’t it be ironic if the WGC’s, field killers to so many longtime PGA Tour stops, were to start taking hits because of the schedule?
This may be worthy of a longer discussion, but this is not a risk-free strategy for the Aussie. The WGC's probably don't help prepare one for majors, but for many players they're integral to the process of qualifying for the majors, representing easy world ranking points (not to mention guaranteed cash). Adam is currently No. 41 in the world, and needs to maintain that for automatic invites, excepting The Masters in which he can play into dotage.
The best of the WGC's to me is the Match Play, but it's in just a horrible slot two weeks before the Masters. As for the former Bridgestone moving to Memphis, I'd play there for sure if there were a gun to my head.... Otherwise, life is far too short.
Missed It By This Much - Joel Beall with a cautionary tale of what happens when one loses one's card, beginning with this to frame the margin of error:
The number was 5,509. That’s how many strokes Martin Piller took on the PGA Tour last season. He needed 5,508.
The shaved stroke could have come at Mayakoba or Palm Springs. It would have done the trick in Dallas or Houston as well. Without a doubt, it was the difference in Greensboro. Piller entered the regular-season finale, the Wyndham Championship, 124th in the FedEx Cup standings. The top 125 players advance to the postseason; more importantly, they keep full tour membership the following year.
“I thought I was in good shape,” says Piller, a Texas native whose wife Gerina plays on the LPGA Tour. “I was two under through two days. That felt like it was going to be enough.”
It wasn’t. Piller missed the cut by one shot. Nick Taylor and Harris English, both on the outside of the top 125 to start the Wyndham, made the weekend, grabbing enough points for playoff invites. Piller dropped to 126th.
One shot. One shot and Piller would have kept his card, and the splendor and security that come with it. Instead the 33-year-old is here. What “here” is … well, it’s tough to explain.
“To be honest, I’m not sure how to describe it,” Piller says.
The older I get, the more I feel the cruelty of sports... And of course, we all know that this guy has a new baby at home.
Mikey Likes It - That Bamberger guy is back with his seven best things in golf, so see if he gets you excited about the Sony:
7. Best Chance for a Record-Old WinnerThis is the best chance all year for Sam Snead to be knocked off his pedestal as the Oldest Winner on Tour. Snead won at Greensboro at age 52 in 1965. This week, at theSony Open in Hawaii, Davis Love, who is 54, and Vijay Singh, 55, are in the field. The Waialae Country Club course is short and its Bermuda greens are flat and slow (by typical Tour standards). All you have to do to win there is play good golf from start to finish. Nothing crazy. Play the wind, play to positions, choose your spots. It’s all about guile. There’s no PGA Tour stat for guile, but these guys have it.
6. Best Names in the Monday QualifierThese names were all on the tee sheet for the Monday qualifier for the Sony Open: Ted Purdy, Billy Hurley, Mac O’Grady, Matt Every — and Tadd Fujikawa. The first four are all former Tour winners. (O’Grady, a noted and singular golf instructor, is 67 and the results show no card for him.) Fujikawa is the first openly gay male professional golfer. None made it. There’s more going on each Monday than we realize. A kid named Brent Grant, co-medalist at the Monday qualifier, is playing in his first Tour event this week as a pro. I can tell you one thing about him for sure: he’s good enough to dream.
I'm still in shock over his calling Vijay one of the nicest guys out there.... I agree with the top item to a certain extent, though the nerves would have to hold up down the stretch. So, an MC seems the far liklier outcome....
This is very true as well:
2. Best News for Golf WritersPadraig Harrington being named Ryder Cup captain. Possibly the best golf talker since Lee Trevino. So smart, insightful, funny, original, and not just when he has a mic under his chin. At the 2005 Masters, I caddied for a Scotsman in the field, Stuart Wilson, the reigning British Amateur champion. He sought Harrington’s autograph, for his mother. “You’re her favorite player,” Stuart told him. Paddy said, “Wouldn’t that be you?”
Amusingly, we segue now a story in which we see Paddy coming to grips with his new gig:
Former world No. 1 McIlroy has created a rift with his home circuit by threatening to quit the European Tour this year in favor of the PGA Tour, and calling the Europeancircuit a “stepping stone” to the PGA Tour. Some have questioned his commitment to his home tour. Not Harrington.
Harrington, who will lead Europe at Whistling Straits in two years’ time, says McIlroy will be fully behind Europe’s efforts to successfully defend the trophy he helped win in France last year.
“I can only look at his actions,” said Harrington, who succeeds Thomas Bjorn as captain. “That man loves the Ryder Cup. He’s become a leader in the team room. He gives so much to the Ryder Cup; the Ryder Cup gives so much back to Rory that he can’t get anywhere else. He is a leader. He’s 30 years of age and he gets to be a leader. He gets the glory, the opportunity to be loved on the golf course. He gets the exuberance, the crowd.
What does babysitting pay these days, Paddy?
Alan, Asked - Shipnuck is in the house with his mailbag, so let's start with a Rory query:
That was an absolutely shocking final round from Rory. -@RalphWardlaw
Was it, though? Did you watch the final round of last year’s Masters or TourChampionship? Do you remember the three-footer Rory blew on the back nine at Carnoustie to torpedo his bid? Unfortunately, his Sunday letdowns have become a thing. For sure, a player’s weaknesses are magnified by pressure, and McIlroy’s woebegone Sundays have featured shaky putting and sloppy wedge play. But the problem appears to be metaphysical. At the first sign of distress, the bouncy strut disappears, the shoulders slump and Rory loses all of his alpha energy. I’m not sure what the cure is for that. Unfortunately, I’m not sure McIlroy knows, either.
To be shocked by a Sunday collapse from Rors, you'd have to have been in a North Korean POW camp for the last year, no?
Here's another topical take:
I think the flagstick will be a nightmare for my weekend group (20+ guys blind draw) as the flag will go in and out based on individual preference. What is your take? #AskAlan I won’t be able to find out until better weather here in the Northeast. -John (@jkellegrew)
I was interested in Bryson’s comments from Maui talking about not wanting to disrupt his playing partners being part of the decision-making on how to use the pin. I agree that it could get complicated. For sure it will be a time-saver when everyone has long putts but all of us are going to have to learn the dance of navigating short putts when some players want the pin in and some don’t.
Good on Bryson for being conscious of his playing partners, but I suspect this will get awkward at times.
So Paddy Harrington was named 2020 Ryder Cup captain. Who do you have at the top of the U.S. pick? ’22? 2024 at Bethpage Black: Who’s the U.S. captain, Phil or Tiger? #AskAlan -Brett (@BFlynn27)
In this post-Task Force era, you have to look at the vice captains, since there is anemphasis on continuity. Steve Stricker is the obvious choice for 2020, with the Cup being in Wisconsin, at Whistling Straits. He’s been in plenty of Ryder Cup team rooms and served as captain of the 2017 Presidents Cup, so Stricker has the v.c.The big question is whether golf’s shyest, most unassuming star wants to deal with all of the attendant hassles and pressures that come with the job. Only Stricker knows the answer to that. If he takes a pass, that leaves ’18 vice captains Matt Kuchar (40 years old), Zach Johnson (42), and David Duval (47). I’m sure both of those first two names want to try to play their way onto one more team. Duval is a bit of a wild card – a lone wolf as a player, not part of the Ryder clique over the last decade as he concentrated on TV, but a big hit in his surprise role in Paris. I think the analytical Duval would make a helluva captain but ultimately expect Stricker to get talked into taking the job by his many friends who are part of the U.S. side. After that, it lines up for Zach Johnson in ’22, Phil in ’24 and Tiger in ’26.
Continuity? I had been reliably informed that it was all about pods...
If Stricker didn't want the gig, then he shouldn't have taken the VC and Prez Cup captaincy gigs. I remain surprised that Tiger isn't using his leverage to land a home game, as the away games will remain quite difficult to win.
Of course there's some amusing bits:
#AskAlan Since Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, teed it up in the 16th century have you ever seen as dainty a drop as Bryson DeChambeau’s at Kapalua? -@CountDownDave
Up until Xander’s closing pyrotechnics, that was honestly the most riveting part of the week. Apparently the blue coats at the USGA are evil geniuses, because they have turned something as mundane as a penalty drop into must-see TV!
And one more on the TOC:
How about opening up the Maui tournament to winners of European Tour events, too? -@HanfordChris
This is the best idea I’ve heard in a while. The problem with the T o’ C now is that a bunch of veterans are rusty and/or treating it like a working vacation, and the rookies are distracted having to host a dozen family members and/or don’t know how to play the course or handle the winds, so the whole tournament comes down to maybe ten dudes. A deeper field would lead to more action on the leaderboard.
I agree that this event has lost it's mojo, though I think that's at least partially a function of how soft the course has played in recent years. It's still got those great visuals, but it was so much fun watching the balls careen wildly on the turf.... Now they hit and stick, and I've not heard a good explanation of the change.
How many tournaments will Gary ‘I can putt now (ignore the 72nd hole for birdie)’ Woodland win this year? #AskAlan -@EthanZimman
Well, the putt that mattered the most was the 10-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole, so it’s kind of hard to ignore that one. And Woodland remains oh-fer-his-career in protecting 54-hole leads. And his weekend play at last year’s PGA Championship was particularly painful. So, while there are few guys I’d rather watch swing the club, the winning formula remains elusive for Woodland. Some guys figure it out later in life (paging Kenny Perry), but Woodland is 34 – it’s approaching the now-or-never stage.
Exactly.
Time to think about skiing.... See you tomorrow?
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