We've got 15" of fresh stuff, and it's still coming down.... See what I do for you folks?
Type Casting - OK, I saw only a bit of it, after I'd made it through my tapes of the football games, but my reaction is that all involved were perfectly cast. First, the two main protagonists:
Gary Woodland has held the 54-hole lead seven times throughout his career.
Xander Schauffele doesn’t know what that feels like.
Schauffele is used to moving up from behind the pack and he did it again Sunday, shooting 11-under 62 while overcoming a 6-stroke deficit to beat Woodland by a shot and pick up his fourth career PGA Tour win at the Tournament of Champions.
“I think the next step in my career is to learn to be cool under the gun, having a lead and maintaining it,” Schauffele said.
First things first for the 25-year-old – Appreciate a day like Sunday’s final round at Kapalua’s Plantation Course. It included two spectacular eagles, first with a 54-foot putt at the par-5 ninth and later a 106-yard hole-out at the par-4 12th.
It's what he does, and sufficiently often to warrant our attention. As for Woodland, I would imagine he's a big fan of Charles Howell's recent win:
That brings us to Woodland and the cruel nature of competition. For some, like Schaufelle, winning seems to come so easily. For others it seems very hard despite talent that is not disproportional to ones counterparts.
Woodland has failed to convert all seven of those 54-hole leads. This week marked his 10th career runner-up finish compared to three Tour wins, all of them via comeback.
He shot 5-under 68 throughout a bogey-free final round but couldn’t birdie the par-5 18th in order to force a playoff, missing a 10-foot putt after a mediocre chip shot. Woodland stood tall and congratulated Schauffele outside the scoring trailer ahead of a post-round interview press conference, a request some players definitely would have turned down.
He didn't play poorly at all, and made quite the clutch matching birdie on the difficult 17th.... and yet, it looked as though his life were flashing in front of his eyes as he tentatively played the 18th.
OK, so who else played to type? And no, the Bears are not an acceptable answer, though ski buddy Mitch will be cranky, a rarity on powder days. Dave Shedloski had this poignant header at the close of business Saturday:
I'm gonna go with "No" here.... A strong, resounding no.....
But wait, we're not even close to done here.... There was DJ doing DJ things as well:
It didn’t take long for the Rules of Golf to strike on the PGA Tour in 2019. The unluckyvictim of his own mistake is none other than Dustin Johnson. DJ’s blunder at the Tournament of Champions is the first official rules infraction of the year, but Johnson can’t blame the new rule changes for his error.
Here’s how it all went down.
Johnson hit a wild drive on the par-4 4th hole during the second round at Kapalua’s Plantation course. When he got up to the area of his ball, a marshal pointed to a hazard and told the former World No. 1 that he’d find his ball in there. Johnson found a TaylorMade ball and proceeded to hit his shot.
Were you under the impression that it was only new rules of which DJ might be blissfully ignorant? As always, DJ takes full responsibility:
Johnson took full blame for the error, saying “obviously it was my fault.”
Yeah, we knew....
“I should have — the Marshal had it marked, said it went in the hazard right there, so and there was a ball right there and it was a TaylorMade. I could see the logo on the side, so I just, obviously, just assumed it was mine. And it was way up in there, so I didn’t want to move anything. But I guess now understanding the new rule, I still, I got to identify, if it moves it’s not a penalty. So that won’t ever happen again. I can promise you that. But, yeah, it’s just bad luck,” Johnson said on Friday.
The punch line, of course, is that this isn't one of the new rules, having changed a few years back.... But it's DJ, so just the thought that perhaps e should know the rules will take some time to penetrate.
Lastly, we can't talk rules without including the Mad Professor, can we? You might have seen him putting with the flagstick in, which worked out pretty well. In fact, as per this lead question from the Tour Confidential panel, better than pretty well:
1. The Sentry Tournament of Champions gave us our first glimpse at the long-awaited revisions to the Rules of Golf, and we saw a little bit of everything: Justin Thomas said he can’t take himself seriously putting with the flagstick in, yet Bryson DeChambeau did just that and led the field in Strokes Gained: putting in Round 1. Brandel Chamblee even said he expects nearly every player to putt with the flagstick in by season’s end. We also had DeChambeau calling the new knee-high drop rule “absurd” and saw Webb Simpson elude a penalty for stepping on his ball (it would have cost him a stroke last year). Recognizing it’s a small sample size, what’s your biggest takeaway from week 1 on Tour with the new rules? What worked? What didn’t?
Bryson has this suggestion for the drop rule:
DeChambeau commented on the rule following the second round at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii on Friday. When asked which rule caught his attention the most, he answered, “I think the knee drop one. That you have to drop it from knee height is a bit absurd, unfortunately.”
“I think that you should be able to go from knee height to shoulder height. There should be no issue with that, whatever you want to do, honestly. There’s a lot of questions about that.”
Perhaps someday someone will explain what was wrong with shoulder height.... But as you see above, it looks like a candidate for Monty Python's Department of Silly Walks. Didn't anyone consider that making golfers look silly isn't a great way to grow the game?
Mike Bamberger does have the explanation I requested:
Michael Bamberger: The knee-drop looks ridiculous. It exists for a very limited purpose, to stop multiple drops on slopes. I think the professor has it right: a better rule would be to drop anywhere from knee to shoulder height. The flagstick in makes the professional game look amateurish. I like it for us. It looks strange on them. Golfers are creatures of habit. A generation coming up on it might putt with the flagstick in but those on Tour will be slow to change, no matter what Dr. Pelz says. The step-on-ball rule is a definite improvement.
Pretty weak, though I guess it's another pace-of-play rationale. But I don't like giving the players an option, because no advantage should be gained from a drop. But even I have to admit silly only part of the time is better than sill all of the time....
Shall we move on? there's powder a'waiting....
Everyone Likes Mike - That TC panel deals with the Mike Davis legacy, including an Alan Shipnuck story that says it all. Here the query and some preliminary thoughts from the writers:
3. USGA top dog Mike Davis has handled every U.S. Open setup since 2005, but he won’t this year. As he transitions into a new role at the organization, Davis is ceding set-up duties to John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s senior managing director ofchampionships. Davis’s tenure as set-up czar undoubtedly had its highs and lows; how would you assess the job he did and the legacy he left behind?
Ritter: The USGA has done a lot to try to grow the game. Over time Davis took some chances — like taking the event to Chambers Bay and Erin Hills. Most would probably say those gambles didn’t pay off, but I’m still glad he took the chances. He also tried to de-emphasize par as a winning score at a U.S. Open, although I’m not sure it worked. And fair or unfair, you could make a case the U.S. Open has slipped in prestige over the last decade. So, while most of his tenure was successful and his heart was in the right place, the missteps left a mark.
Sens: I’m with Jeff on moving the U.S. Open to new venues — a populist move that was great in theory but didn’t play out well in practice. Throw in the rules controversies and the course set-up gaffs, and I think the slip ups are what most people will remember. Some would also argue that the U.S. Open has lost some of its sense of identify, which goes hand in hand with that slip in prestige.
This is a bigger issue than we can deal with here, but it's completely unsurprising to me that the stress points resulting from the distance explosion would be felt by those trying to present the sternest test. That said, Mike has to take much of the heat because his organization hasn't shown leadership on distance/equipment issues, and they've also failed to address the use of technology. As just an example, when DJ's ball moved at the far end of the Oakmont golf course, rules officials had no place to view said video except by returning to the clubhouse.
And that Shipnuck story, well no surprise that it's from Oakmont:
Shipnuck: Davis is a good guy who truly loves the game and has poured his heart and soul into the USGA. But there were simply too many screwups on his watch. I’ll never forget in 2016, while Dustin was playing the final holes and confusion reigned, I found Davis upstairs in the Oakmont clubhouse, having just taken a shower so he could be fresher for the awards ceremony. It was tragicomic. The tournament was in flames but he didn’t seem to fully grasp the gravity of the situation.
That's quite the Nero-fiddling-while-Rome-burns image, and amusingly it was the same awards ceremony where USGA President Diana "Open Bar" Murphy earned her moniker.
Distaff Doings - Jessica Marksbury is feeling the sisterhood, with eight stories worth watching on the LPGA this season, including pimping the DJ of the women's game:
1. LEXI THOMPSON IS BACK!
America’s top female player has endured a tough couple of years. In addition to dealingwith the fallout from her 2017 ANA Inspiration rules controversy, her mother was diagnosed with cancer and her grandmother passed away. Last July, Thompson withdrew from the Women’s British Open to “recharge [her] mental batteries,” and in October, she revealed she struggles with her body image. Ahead of the final LPGA event of the season in November, Thompson announced that she had split with her caddie. But then, despite all the adversity she had faced, Thompson triumphed at the CME with her brother on the bag, her first victory in over a year and the tenth of her career. Can she keep the momentum going in 2019?
Talent to burn, but not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer.... If DJ and Lexi had a love child.... No, let's not go there...
As for Michelle's return from injury and Lydia's resurgence? Color me skeptical....But the most interesting story in women's golf is not to be found on the LPGA, it concerns America's sweetheart Lucy Li:
Early this week, Apple posted a video advertisement for its smart watch on social media that featured the 16-year-old star amateur golfer, Lucy Li.
Among those who took notice were officials at the USGA, who have now gone in for a closer look.
Under scrutiny is whether Li’s participation in the video, a 15-second spot for the Apple Watch, constitutes a violation of her amateur status.
Rut roh! How could it not be a violation? the far more interesting question is what the USGA will do about it.
The reactions, though, are pretty amusing.... Lucy herself, had this:
Li told Golf Digest that she is unable to discuss the video because of non-disclosure agreement she signed with Apple. Li’s mother, Amy, told Golf Digest that neither Lucy nor her family were paid for her participation in the video.
Apple has not responded to an email inquiry from GOLF.com.
Both those are spit-out-your-coffee funny, that Apple wouldn't let you talk about their product that they paid you to promote or, alternatively, that your parents let your image be used without compensation.
Shack is all over this here, including folks opining that this will be allowed to slide because we should just be happy that Apple has acknowledged the game of golf....here's a bit of his rant:
The image and reputation of the amateur game was already in decline. Looking the other way on Li, as the governing bodies will surely do after checking with their image consultants, won’t stem the bleeding nor will it change behavior of “amateurs”. Players with exemptions to major championships regularly pass them up and turn pro instead of taking once-in-a-lifetime playing opportunities. The mid-amateur world is played in almost complete anonymity while the best amateur tournaments in the United States barely register a blip.At the U.S. Amateur, a vast majority of spectators are either family, friends, agents or representatives of manufacturers who swarm players and even cheer on those who use their equipment.The lure of professional golf is the only thing keeping amateur golf relevant. It’s a feeder world for men and women and Li will not be punished for acting like a pro when she’s likely turning pro soon, anyway. The modern USGA will not take on a player in such high profile fashion, particularly a young woman who has been a big part of their events. As Frank Hannigan always lamented, the organization’s decision-making is driven by a desire to be loved and a fear of being seen as having interfered with someone’s ability to make a living. The rules of amateur status are nothing more now than a linked page on a website.So if we’ve reached this point, why not just accept that by allowing players to be paid for their time promoting products? Let them pay a few bills and live the American dream? The ones who want to be pro golfers look like they are already operating that way because they don’t care what the governing bodies think. A society where every opportunity to profit must be protected will probably side with Li and other players who are just playing golf ultimately just to make a buck.
It will be quite interesting to see this adjudicated. I'm not as down on the state of the amateur game as Geoff, I just think that the USGA has abdicated to the NCAA, where golf is quite strong. The only viable role will inevitably be as a feeder system to professional golf, so we should be thinking about how to encourage the kids to exploit the benefits of this opportunity with clear and realistic rules.
Marking His Territory - While Jay Monahan is a refreshing change from Nurse Ratched, we can all agree that's a low bar to clear. But these comments on distance make clear that nothing is going to change:
“Here’s the way I look at it. Players are getting younger. They’re getting more athletic,”Monahan said. “Look at those two things. Then you look at technology and data and players can optimize their swings, they can optimize their clubs, and that trend only continues in terms of the power of technology and data. You look at course conditioning and you look at weather. Those are a lot of the variables that go into it.”
Monahan said despite the year-over-year increase, driving distance and its impact on players winning relative to approach shots, putting and other areas of the game hasn’t increased.
The average distance on measured drives was 296.1 yards in 2018, up from 292.1 yards in 2017.
And the gains from circa 2000? Never mind, nothing to see here.... But this is the interesting bit:
“We’re gonna be a party to all these discussions,” Monahan said. “We’re going to understand everybody’s perspectives as the USGA and R&A move forward with their Distance Insights project, but it’s hard to argue you should be changing anything right now because the sport is growing and thriving.”
But I had been reliably informed that our game is dying....
In-Round Interviews - Hard to believe, but this is an actual issue.... They tried some of it at Kapalua, and it comes off mostly as awkward. Here's the TC panel's take:
2. The Tour tested in-round interviews at the Sentry TOC, with an eye on perhaps incorporating them in more events. Thomas declined an interview, saying, “That’s mine and [caddie Jimmy Johnson’s] time, whether we’re talking about whatever, or even the next shot. For me, there’s no benefit. It’s only going to make me look worse.” Rory McIlroy said he wasn’t asked to do any interviews but said he has told the European Tour no before. (The Euro Tour has been conducting these interviews for a couple of years now.) Are you a fan of this practice, and, if so, should players feel compelled to comply?
Ritter: I don’t blame players for turning it down. That time in between shots is still a time to concentrate and stay in the moment. Anybody here watch MLB broadcasts, where the boothmen interview managers in between innings? Those interviews sound good on paper, but I find they’re usually awkward and rarely add anything to the telecast. I suspect golf may suffer a similar fate.
Sens: Also, interviewing a manager is an entirely different level of interference than interviewing a player. I’m with Jeff on this. If players aren’t comfortable with it, they should be able to opt out. Let their caddies do the talking instead perhaps.
I know, who really cares? But there was one amusing bit captured by Shack:
Leishman did, however, hit a poor tee shot at 17 after a chat at 16, but as Ben Everill notes for PGATour.com, the Aussie was not blaming the loss of focus on having a microphone in the vicinity of his lips.“Nah that was just me, that was just a crap shot,” Leishman joked after his 5-under 68 left him fifth.
“I do (those type of interviews) in Australia every year; I think it's cool as it gives good access for the fans.
“I'm certainly not blaming my bad shot on it as it was walking up to 16 green so it wasn't as though it was right before (that tee shot).
"No one is going to blame an interview if they go birdie, birdie, birdie.”
Oh never rule anything out, Leish!
But I agree that this is their office and no one should be forced to give an interview during their round.
An Ode to.... The Stymie - You folks know how a I feel about the stymie, though I've had little luck in utilizing it in play with the boys. Lee Patterson, a new name to me, posted this from Henry Longhurst from 1952, when the stymie went the way of hickory shafts:
It's such a hoot, a shame that we've lost it in match play.....
There's talk of a road trip tomorrow, so we'll see whether there's time to blog.
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