Late Week Lamentations

The ski season is winding towards its close, a sad time to be sure.  The only saving grace is that the entire golf season awaits us.

Today In Rules Stuff - They must be feeling the heat in Far Hills Liberty Corner, because Thomas Pagel is talking to just about anyone.  First up is Andrew Both of Reuters, previously unknown to your humble correspondent.  He opens with this noncontroversial general statement of principle:

The U.S. Golf Association (USGA) wants professionals to feel comfortable questioning the rules, but the organization's mission does not include engaging in a popularity contest, says senior director of governance Thomas Pagel.

Good luck threading that needle, not the least because of this priceless quote that Shack astutely has as the header of his blog today:

I am sure there is no body of professional games players who so cheerfully know so little of the rules of their game as do professional golfers. 

HENRY LONGHURST

True that.  As we heard from Rory a while back, "I've got better things to do than read the rulebook".  

Both of course gets to JT's recent criticism:

A raft of new rules were introduced for 2019 and there has been vocal dissent from certain players, including American Justin Thomas. 

The world number five's latest outburst came three weeks ago at the Honda Classic,

where he was unable to replace a nine-iron he had bent striking a tree on his follow-through. 

Under the old rule, had an official deemed the club unfit for play Thomas could have replaced the club, assuming there was a replacement handy. 

The new rule allows players to continue using a damaged club, even bending it back into shape if possible, but not to replace it during a round. 

"You can just add that one to the list of rules that don't make any sense," Thomas told reporters. 

"If you break or bend the club in play, I don't see where the harm is in replacing it."

I can't work up any real interest in this rule, as it happens so infrequently and the only people that could conceivably replace it would be the Touring pros.  Pagel cites the logic for the rule change, so if you're interested by all means click through.

But he does give us a glimmer of hope for peace in our time:

"Justin and I have connected. I thought it was very positive conversation. I want to keep the nature of it private."

Fair enough to respect JT's privavcy, but can you just tell us whether the parties have agreed on the shape of the conference table?

The more interesting conversation was with Michael Bamberger, and largely focused on the penalty incurred by Webb Simpson for inadvertently causing his ball to move on the fringe.   Pagel explains the differences involved had the ball actually been on the green:

Pagel expressed sympathy for Simpson’s bad luck and then dutifully explained why the

rulebook gives a player a one-shot penalty if you’re off the green and no penalty if you’re on it. The latter, the so-called Dustin Johnson Rule of 2016, allows for that fact that you might have already had your hand on a ball on the green, that greens are more closely mown, and that a random outside agency – most notably wind – can move a ball on a green more readily.

I have no sympathy for Webb here, as I think he's barking up the wrong tree.  But let's acknowledge that the USGA completely botched that first rewrite of the rule about balls on the green moving, and only seem to have gotten it right after DJ at Oakmont.  But what happened to Webb has been a penalty since the original 13 rules of the game were committed to paper in 1744, so deal with it, Webby.

 And I completely agree with this statement:

“As much as possible, the rulebook tries to keep the question of ‘intent’ out of the discussion, because intention is hard to define,” Pagel said. 

One person, for instance, could claim an exemption from a penalty because of intention while another, in those same circumstances, might not. That’s not a level playing field.

And yet, the rules and the enforcement thereof (which are perhaps two different things) do seemingly raise intent as a defense.  Shall I cite some examples?

1.  At the Hero World Challenge a couple of years ago, Hideki Matsuyama duffed a chip shot and, while the ball was in motion back towards him, used his club to tamp down the divot he had just created.  No penalty was assessed because he indicated that i was not his intent to improve his lie on the next shot.
2. There have been rumblings about Bernhard Langer and others using the broomstick using their chest to stabilize the putter, possibly violating the ban on anchoring.  My understanding is that no penalty will be assessed as long as they state that it isn't their intention to anchor, regardless of what actually occurs.

I'm sure there are other instances that escape me in the moment, but it seems to me that the USGA has themselves opened this can of worms.  

Also not helpful was their drafting of the rules precluding caddies from aligning their players, which resolved a problem not in existence previously on the PGA Tour, but creating a trap for players and caddies merely doing that which they've always done.

Another fine mess you've gotten us into....

Today In World Rankings Stuff - The Official World Golf Rankings seem to only come under scrutiny when there's a rugby scrum at the top, or when an obviously unsuitable candidate grabs that top spot (Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, call your offices).  

As regular readers know, the OWGR are a much bigger factor down the list, say in the 40-60 range, because of its use to qualify players for the WGC's and especially the majors.  Which is why Doug Ferguson's lede is so concerning:

Two tournaments on different continents illustrate why PGA Tour players are increasingly skeptical about the world ranking.

Against a field as strong as some majors, Tommy Fleetwood shared the lead after 18 and 36 holes, played in the final group and was still in the mix at The Players Championship until a tee shot into the water on the 17th hole. His three-way tie for fifth was worth 16.53 ranking points. 

Earlier that day, Guido Migliozzi won his first European Tour title at the Kenya Open, which until this year was a Challenge Tour event. The strength of its field was slightly weaker than the Boonchu Ruangkit Championship on the Asian Development Tour in January. 

Migliozzi received 24 ranking points, the minimum for the European Tour.

I just scanned the leaderboard from that Kenya Open, and the only player in the top twenty of whom I've heard is Thomas Bjorn.  This was a European Tour event in name only.... It's unclear to me whether their strength of field adjustments are broken, or whether its that that needs to be revisited.

Ferguson also names names:

Does it matter that winning the Kenya Open was equal to fourth place at The Players Championship? Not yet. Migliozzi moved up 377 spots to No. 199. 

But it mattered to Justin Harding, a 33-year-old South African who finished in a three-way tie for second at the Kenya Open and moved up four spots to No. 48 in the world, giving him a reasonable shot at getting into the Masters. 

Harding has won five times over the last 10 months — twice in South Africa, twice in Asia, once on the European Tour in the Qatar Masters.

Any algorithm will yield funny results at times, but that disparity in last week's events is quite obvious. 

I Saw It On TV - I've not blogged the recent announcements regarding golf content, for a number of reasons.  Mostly the concept of watching more golf is pretty scary....  In fact, anyone watching more golf than your humble blogger seems more a candidate for an intervention, than for additional content.

Evin Priest writes from down under about the frustration of Australian golf fans, whose salvation is nigh:

Golf TV's future plans are to capture every shot at PGA Tour events and have a bunker-

style facility package of live footage for individual countries. 

"The vision for us, which is a number of years away, is every shot, of every player, on every hole," Rick Anderson, the PGA Tour's chief media officer, said. 

But with PGA Tour fields ranging from 30 to 156 players, how Golf TV will capture every shot is yet to be determined. 

"I want to be clear here ... I can't put an exact timeline on it, but we have identified the need to localise the viewing experience," Kaplan said.

Why not?  I just think the market for this has to be pretty small.  Here's Geoff's take, perhaps more relevant than my own since he's way closer to being a millennial:

I suppose I could see how some golfers are like teams to a fan, but in an individual sport where only one player in the modern game elicits a desire from fans to see every shot he hits, I’m still having a hard time seeing how this is the best use of resources. But maybe international markets may be a different animal and the approach may sell.

Hmmmm, what one player does he have in mind?  As the kids are won't to say, developing....

Today In Golf Pictures -  Yanno those billboards that say "This Space Available"?  First we had Duf's hat, now this one:

Seems like it's more for rent than sale, but has he reached out to DUDe Wipes?  Imagine the synergies avialable in a Duf-Pieters pairing.

There's a place in Houston called Battleground Golf Club, and this week it's quite apt:

Remember, the camera adds ten pounds:

He's reportedly a big Tiger fan, and was rewarded with a smile from his hero.  It could have gone badly....

The GOAT: Round of Sixteen - They're milking things, and only giving us two of the eight matches.  Now on the tee:

Arnold Palmer vs. Mickey Wright

Baltusrol (Lower) G.C. Springfield, N.J.

Playing from a shorter set of tees—terms Wright reluctantly agreed to—she hit several of her tee shots 20 yards past Palmer’s and took a 2-up lead through 10 holes. The possibility of her defeating The King seemed not only plausible, but likely. 

On the 11th tee, the tension building, a Bronx-accented voice from the gallery yelled, “Time to loosen your girdle, Arnie!” Palmer’s face flushed at the remark, and he tore into his tee shot, outdriving Wright this time by 10 yards. Thus began a patented Palmer charge, with birdies at the 11th, 12th and 13th giving him a 1-up lead. Wright didn’t flinch, making solid pars for halves at the next two holes, but Palmer birdies from long range at the 16th and 17th ended the match, 3 and 1. 

“If I felt pressure like that every time I played golf,” Palmer said, “I’d climb right back on that tractor for good.”

Palmer def. Wright 3 &1

This had a sense of the inevitable about it, but the next one should be on PPV:

Ben Hogan vs. Byron Nelson

Whiskey Ranch, Fort Worth

Wassup with that odd venue?

The plan had been for the old Fort Worth rivals to play at Glen Garden Country Club, where they had caddied and learned to play as youngsters. But when they arrived and found some of the 112 acres had been transformed into an outstanding whiskey distillery, teetotaling Byron blanched. Hogan noted skeptically that the course had been altered, its par shortened to 68. But with half of Fort Worth in attendance to see the showdown, Nelson said, “Ben, seeing as you’re here and I’m here, let’s just play.” The Hawk, hungry to avenge his loss to Nelson in a long-ago Glen Garden caddie championship, agreed. 

The ball-striking exhibition that ensued was spectacular, even on a course that measured just over 5,000 yards. They each birdied six of the first nine holes, and Nelson provided the match highlight with a hole-in-one at the par-3 seventh. At the turn it was Nelson by 1 up. The small, push-up greens continued to offer little defense on the back nine. On the 12th tee, while waiting for the gallery to clear the fairway, Hogan pointed to a piece of sloped ground in the distance and said, “The older kids used to roll me down that hill in a barrel.” Nelson’s reply—“You won nine majors and 64 tournaments, so apparently it didn’t hurt you much”—seemed to irritate Hogan slightly. He won the 12th to square the match, and a short time later birdied the 15th to take a 1-up lead.

The finish seems very, ummm, Hoganesque:

Hogan missed a three-footer for birdie at the 16th, and his supporters swore they noticed the slightest bit of yip in his stroke, but there was no need to worry. Hogan never relinquished his 1-up advantage, matching Nelson’s birdie on the 18th for one of the most satisfying match-play victories of his career. After spending a few minutes with reporters, Hogan declined a celebratory sip of whiskey and instead limped toward the ninth fairway, caddie and shag bag in tow. “Where you going, Ben?” Nelson asked. 

“There’s still daylight and time for some practice,” Hogan answered. “I hear that Palmer fella doesn’t lie down for anybody.” 

Hogan def. Nelson 1 up

Fun match-up, given that Hogan was famously immune to Palmer's charms.   

Here's the current bracket:

Anybody know how I can get a bet down on Hagen to take out Phil? 

Have a great weekend.