Match Play Friday - Trunks Will be Slammed

I was able to watch much of yesterday's golf, of course after watching the great Luke Voit take care of business....  

I remain the '62 Mets of Fantasy Golf, but even I know better than this:

I'll speak slowly so Ryan can follow, but they were merely paired together in a stroke play event.... they weren't playing against each other.

And it would have been worse had Tiger not pulled this sick shot off:

There's video at the link if you were in a bubble, and it was crazy good....  Best part was Sned's reaction.

Jessica Marksbury, who's a far btter player than analyst, offers up five upsets from Day 2, leading with Sneds over Tiger.  Jess, one thing I've learned is that there really aren't any upsets in coin flips..

But what else you got?

Dustin Johnson lost to Branden Grace

Dustin Johnson, the Match Play’s No. 1 seed, fell to Branden Grace on the 18th hole.

It was a close match all the way through, as neither player ever led by more than 1-up and both carded five birdies, but two of Grace’s birdies were on the four closing holes.

Grace is now the group leader with two full points. If DJ can manage to win tomorrow and Grace loses, DJ will move on, but a win or a tie on Friday will seal the deal for Grace.

OK, I get it, the No. 1 player in the world and all.... Still Jess, if DJ wins and Grace loses they'll both have 2-1-0 records, so kindly explain how DJ would advance.... Hey, she's blonde and math remains hard.

Billy Horschel beat Bubba Watson 

Considering his unfortunate demise on the final hole of Wednesday’s match, it’s fair to say that defending champ Bubba Watson may not be in the right head space this week.

But it’s still surprising to see a player of his caliber go down in this format.

I acknowledge that in watching Billy Ho and Bubba on Wednesday, it was difficult to imagine either winning a match.  

Jon Rahm lost to J.B. Holmes 

Rahm, the No. 8 seed, made headlines on Wednesday for his margin of victory against Si Woo Kim, whom he defeated 7&5. Thursday was different, however, and Rahm fell to Holmes 2&1 in what was a more lopsided victory than the match result indicates. 

Rahm won only one hole on the front side, and Holmes had Rahm 6-down on the 11th tee. Rahm then rallied mightily, winning four holes in a row to get back to 2-down on the 15th tee, but unfortunately, it was too little, too late. Holmes held on to win 2-up on No. 17. 

Holmes and Rahm have one point each, and their group is currently topped by Matt Kuchar, with two points.

I'm not as sold on the Spaniard as many others, but how do you get 6-down to JB?

Jim Furyk beat Phil Mickelson 

What more can we say about the ageless Jim Furyk? The 48-year-old veteran has three top-10 finishes this season — including a runner-up finish at the Players Championship — and seems as on-form as ever. 

Still, he beat Jason Day 2-up on Wednesday, and that was surprising. On Thursday, he battled Phil Mickelson to the 18th hole, where they both made birdie, and Furyk prevailed again, 1-up.

Jess, have you seen Phil lately?  Like, say, Wednesday?  And you're still surprised by this?

You want one that surprised me?  The articles is by Shack, but I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and guess that he's not responsible for this header:

Jordan Spieth advances to Round 3 at WGC-Match Play

Nobody has advanced anywhere yet, we're still in pool play.... 

 With the Masters starting in two weeks, Spieth is understandably focused on finding a

game that has left him 186th on the FedExCup points list and without a top-5 finish since last year’s third-place finish in Augusta.The Longhorn is showing signs of regaining his game playing in front of admiring Austin galleries and on a course he played regularly in his two years playing under Texas coach John Fields.

“Really solid golf,” Spieth said on a day he took a 6-up lead before a sloppy shot at the short par-4 13th. “I kind of shot myself in the foot to not just go ahead and close it out on 13, just trying to kind of over-trust a few things and kind of see where they’re at and all of a sudden it’s it was like, wow, this is the match now. So that wasn’t good.” 

While a weekend appearance and strong play here would be a bonus, Spieth says he’s not focused on results.

He said he was close.... he wouldn't like to us (or himself), would he?

Here are today's matches:

Matches, tee times 

9:20 a.m.Eddie Pepperell (34) 0-1-1 vs. Emiliano Grillo (53) 0-2-0 (Group 2) 

9:31 a.m.Jason Day (12) 0-2-0 vs. Phil Mickelson (20) 0-2-0 (Group 12) 

9:42 a.m.Henrik Stenson (37) 2-0-0 vs. Jim Furyk (52) 2-0-0 (Group 12) 

9:53 a.m.Justin Thomas (5) 1-1-0 vs. Keegan Bradley (31) 0-1-1 (Group 5)

10:04 a.m.Matt Wallace (33) 1-1-0 vs. Lucas Bjerregaard (50) 1-0-1 (Group 5)

10:15 a.m.Tiger Woods (13) 1-1-0 vs. Patrick Cantlay (18) 1-0-1 (Group 13)

10:26 a.m.Brandt Snedeker (44) 1-0-1 vs. Aaron Wise (61) 0-2-0 (Group 13)

10:37 a.m.Rory McIlroy (4) 2-0-0 vs. Matthew Fitzpatrick (32) 0-2-0 (Group 4)

10:48 a.m.Justin Harding (47) 1-1-0 vs. Luke List (64) 1-1-0 (Group 4)

10:59 a.m.Xander Schauffele (9) 1-0-1 vs. Rafa Cabrera Bello (29) 0-1-1 (Group 9)

11:10 a.m.Tyrrell Hatton (35) 1-0-1 vs. Lee Westwood (62) 0-1-1 (Group 9)

11:21 a.m.Jon Rahm (8) 1-1-0 vs. Matt Kuchar (23) 2-0-0 (Group 8)

11:32 a.m.J.B. Holmes (43) 1-1-0 vs. Si Woo Kim (54) 0-2-0 (Group 8)

11:43 a.m.Patrick Reed (16) 0-1-1 vs. Sergio Garcia (26) 2-0-0 (Group 16)

11:54 a.m.Shane Lowry (46) 0-1-1 vs. Andrew Putnam (51) 1-1-0 (Group 16)

12:05 p.m.Dustin Johnson (1) 1-1-0 vs. Hideki Matsuyama (24) 0-1-1 (Group 1)

12:16 p.m.Branden Grace (40) 2-0-0 vs. Chez Reavie (55) 0-1-1 (Group 1)

12:27 p.m.Tommy Fleetwood (11) 1-0-1 vs. Louis Oosthuizen (19) 1-1-0 (Group 11)

12:38 p.m.Kyle Stanley (41) 1-0-1 vs. Byeong Hun An (49) 0-2-0 (Group 11)

12:49 p.m.Bryson DeChambeau (6) 1-1-0 vs. Marc Leishman (17) 2-0-0 (Group 6)

1 p.m.Kiradech Aphibarnrat (39) 1-1-0 vs. Russell Knox (59) 0-2-0 (Group 6)

1:11 p.m.Tony Finau (14) 1-1-0 vs. Ian Poulter (30) 1-1-0 (Group 14)

1:22 p.m.Kevin Kisner (48) 1-1-0 vs. Keith Mitchell (56) 1-1-0 (Group 14)

1:33 p.m.Brooks Koepka (3) 0-1-1 vs. Alex Noren (27) 1-1-0 (Group 3)

1:44 p.m.HaoTong Li (36) 2-0-0 vs. Tom Lewis (60) 0-1-1 (Group 3)

1:55 p.m.Paul Casey (10) 1-0-1 vs. Cameron Smith (25) 0-2-0 (Group 10)

2:06 p.m.Charles Howell III (42) 1-0-1 vs. Abraham Ancer (58) 1-1-0 (Group 10)

2:17 p.m.Francesco Molinari (7) 2-0-0 vs. Webb Simpson (21) 0-1-1 (Group 7)

2:28 p.m.Thorbjørn Olesen (45) 1-1-0 vs. Satoshi Kodaira (63) 0-1-1 (Group 7)

2:39 p.m.Bubba Watson (15) 0-2-0 vs. Jordan Spieth (28) 1-0-1 (Group 15)

2:50 p.m.Billy Horschel (38) 1-0-1 vs. Kevin Na (57) 1-1-0 (Group 15)

3:01 p.m.Justin Rose (2) 1-0-1 vs. Gary Woodland (22) 2-0-0 (Group 2)

The formatting has gone a bit haywire, so apologies for that.  Unless I missed one, that bolded Furyk-Stenson match is the only one featuring two players who have won both prior matches.  The last match, thanks to JR's miracle halve tie, is the moral equivalent of the same.

Lastly, I'll just call your attention to the volatile Keegan Bradley playing in a meaningless match.  He's older and presumably wiser and my gues sis that JT isn't as triggering as Miggy was, and it would be folly t predict fireworks....  But just the same, I'd keep tabs on him if I were running the GC broadcast.

The Forecaddie must have read my rant on the changing terminology imposed by our betters, and had this:

The Forecaddie has heard your complaints and is here to settle scores over the Halve vs. Tie debate. Viewers of the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play have been livid about

Golf Channel’s use of the word “tie” to describe the state of a match or a concluded one. Adding to the first world outrage: the PGA Tour system feeding apps and on-site scoreboards is still using “AS” for matches All Square and “Halve” to describe matches tied after 18 holes. 

Under the new rules of golf, television technically is using the proper lingo while the PGA Tour is using the old descriptions. But the explanation in the new rules says “previous terms halved and all square are still part of the rule book and acceptable, if necessary.” 

As part of the rules simplification, the USGA and R&A changed the words in an effort to employ “more accessible and commonly used language.” 

The Man Out Front asked the top-notch team at the PGA Tour’s ShotLink why it did not adopt the new lingo for this week’s event in Austin. The answer was understandable given all of the confusion over new rules: the team didn’t find out about the preferred new words until Tuesday. For now, they are sticking with the old standbys Halve and All Square, with plans to reevaluate before the next big match play stop when the Presidents Cup heads to Melbourne in December.

So, the language I've been using since 1744 is still acceptable, "if necessary." But if the PGA Tour didn't hear about this until Tuesday, I feel a little better about it sneaking up on me.

As for the "D-word", well that's of far more recent origin:

While Golfweek told you about these changes on Monday, The Forecaddie has since learned of another casualty of the simplified language: dormie. A word floating around the sport since the days of Mary Queen of Scots and first seen in an 1847 dictionary, dormie has been used to describe an insurmountable lead and was often misunderstood by broadcasters if an event was going extra holes to settle matches. 

Sadly, “dormie” has been dropped from the rules of golf, perhaps less due to its lack of accessibility and more to its relative uselessness. But as this week has shown, it’s still acceptable to use the word, if necessary.

Again with the "if necessary"...  Who decides?   

I'm going to try to pretend that the USGA doesn't exist for the remainder of the weekend, although I don't know how much golf I'll be in a position to watch.  But to me that's the very definition of necessary.

Peace In Our Time - The damage has been done, and this does little to change anything we've learned:

Not only has he been paid, Ortiz and Kuchar met in a clubhouse dining room in late February, when the Tour went to Mexico City for a World Golf Championship event.

Over a 40-minute glass of morning orange juice on Feb. 23, the Saturday of the tournament, each apologized to the other, Ortiz said in a recent phone interview and through an interpreter. 

“Matt said, ‘Hey, David, how are you?’” Ortiz said. “I apologized for the [difficulty] the situation created. I told him it was never my intention to embarrass him, but I felt eventually I had to tell the truth. Matt also offered an apology. He said it was all a misunderstanding. He asked me how my family was. He showed me a picture of his family and a video of a hole-in-one made by one of his sons.” 

Ortiz said there were four people at the breakfast table, including a sports psychologist “who is very close to Matt.” The fourth person was Roberto Molina, the manager of corporate partnerships for the Mayakoba tournament. Molina served as an interpreter, when needed. Ortiz said that all through the meeting he was excited to be in close proximity to other star golfers, including Rory McIlroy.

Kooch shouldn't be banned from polite society for one mistake, although this was really more than the one.  He demonstrated that his instincts were all wrong, and we can't unlearn that....  But glad they cleared the air and hop to see Matt be a little more generous going forward.  Also, perhaps, a little more truthful....

Ladies Day - Some news about the girls and their forthcoming day at Augusta National:

Augusta National has invited LPGA legend Nancy Lopez as well as fellow World Golf Hall of Famers Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa and Se Ri Pak to next week’s inaugural August National Women’s Amateur event at the invitation of Fred Ridley, chairman of

the golf club. 

All four iconic players will be on hand for a player-only evening function on Friday, April 5 and take part in the first-tee ceremony on Saturday, April 6 to kick off the final round. 

“The young players competing in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur have grown up inspired by the contributions and accomplishments of Annika Sorenstam, Nancy Lopez, Lorena Ochoa and Se Ri Pak,” said Ridley. “I cannot think of a better way to encourage this year’s inaugural field and mark this important moment in the sport than to have the support and presence of these four legends.”

That's very nice and for sure they've picked the ladies most deserving of the honor, but can we let these girls play 18?  Nobody remembers but in the days of the original honorary starters, they were allowed to play a few holes.   

And the girls will be playing for this:

No issues, though I kinda expected crystal.  Exit question:  Will Lucy wear her Apple watch?

Living Under Par... To Living Under an Overpass - The PGA Tour is all in on legalized sports betting, but am I the only that's apprehensive?  Ron Green, Jr. is out with the first of a two-parter on the subject for the Global Golf Post, and let's see where we think this is going:

Soon, though, it will become a marriage of sorts, wagering on professional golf having

been sanctified by a Supreme Court ruling last year that struck down a federal law prohibiting legalized sports gambling. Each state can now pass its own legislation to allow sports gambling and a handful have already begun the process with many more expected to follow. 

Within five years, legalized sports betting is expected to be a familiar piece of the national landscape and the PGA Tour will be a part of it. 

Perhaps more to the point, the PGA Tour wants to be part of it.

It's their eagerness that I find troubling, although I understand that their hand has been forced by that Supreme Court decision.  Although the eagerness is also likely due to this:

Of that estimated $150 billion wagered, approximately 2 percent – $3 billion – is bet on golf. 

Monahan said making money off legalized sports betting is not the main reason the PGA Tour is invested in what will be a new world order. The hope is to get one-quarter of 1 percent of the money wagered on the PGA Tour. That’s approximately $7.5 million annually if the estimates of what’s being bet are accurate.

The suits in Ponte Vedra Beach don't return phone calls fro a measly $7.5 million, so I'm guessing that we're being low-balled here.  It's of course all about engagement and what's that phrase?  Oh yeah, Living Under Par™:

“We’ve had people betting on PGA Tour competitions that have been on our property and at our tournaments for a long period of time. It’s legal in certain markets, it’s illegal in others,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said. 

“People still bet. They find a way. As we got into it and really studied it and looked at fan behavior at our tournaments and what people are doing, it’s very clear that some people are here for that purpose. They have been for a long period of time.”

Some are undoubtedly there for that purpose, but that doesn't mean you have to be their bookmaker....

 They are at least paying lip service to some obvious concerns:

The tour understands that the integrity of the competition must be protected at all costs and it is working with various agencies and other leagues to make sure that is its top priority. 

“The utmost concern is the integrity of our sport and our game and our Tour,” said Kevin Streelman, a member of the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council, which helps set tour policy. 

“We’re trying to stay ahead of it as much as possible which is why we developed the Integrity Program. I think it will be a small, step by step process where we take things as they come and tread lightly.”

So, what do they envision?

It can be as simple as trying to pick the winner of each week’s tournament or as complex as wagering on each shot a player hits. It can be as simple or as complex as a bettor chooses to make it. 

Recently, the tour announced a partnership with IMG that will allow for the distribution of ShotLink data for the purposes of sports betting. The focus is on international markets where betting is already legal but it will quickly move to the U.S. 

The information will not be available before 2020 but it will allow bettors to get more detailed with their wagers. 

“What that’s going to do is give fans the ability to not only bet on the winner and the low score of the day but you’re going to be able to bet much more granularly,” Levinson said.

“You’re going to be able to bet shot by shot. You’re going to have a situation where fans are going to be locked in and engaged throughout the competition. It’s going to be a fun way to bet. 

“Our sport is unique in that we have 72 balls in the air at any given moment as opposed to one. For people who like to engage in sports betting and may not be interested in the PGA Tour golf, this is going to be a really fun sport to get engaged with.”

There's other things that make golf unique, including the fact that it's one of the few sports that can only be played during daylight.  Meaning that down-on-hi-luck addicted gambler desperately seeking action on a Thursday morning....

 All of the happy talk about fan engagement and living in relation to par mask the ugly reality, that sports books exist for the sole purpose of separating their customers from their money.  You lose, every single one of you, over the long-term....  It's so much like state lotteries, which serve as an incredibly regressive tax on those least fortunate....  and then the kids never see the money as promised bu the politicians.

Like alcohol and other vices, there's no issue with small wagering for fun but, inevitably for a small percentage of the population, this becomes an addiction that can destroy lives.  And the PGA Tour wants a piece of this action....

I remain hopeful that betting on golf will remain a sideshow, as I don't really the game lends itself third-party wagering, but that seems to be a minority opinion.  

Shack has this skepticism, most of which I share:

Levinson is one of the tour’s sharpest minds, so I trust that he’s seeing things to make them believe shot-by-shot betting will be fun and functional. 

Our first glimpse into the merging of a match and stats came at last fall’s match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. As slow as golf is, the match did not seem to move slowly enough to assess a shot and the player’s stats before placing a bet in time. But that may change with better-designed apps that react by crafting a wager immediately after a shot has come to rest, sending us a phone notification of the

”opportunity” and making the bet option fun and fast.

You probably will be able to bet on that granular basis, just why would you want to?

Have a great weekend.