Tuesday Trifles

In which we give the girls their due, and cover other odds and ends.

In Praise of Minjee - As well as the venue....  Geoff had this great quote about the joint topping his blog:

…a golf course designed by Norman Macbeth, an amateur golfer and member of the club. He was limited to using 105 acres in a developing urban environment. He also had to deal with a barranca that had carved its way through the property. He came up with a brilliant design using the barranca as a prime factor in the play of thirteen holes. The result was and is a unique golf experience loaded with stimulating challenges and related rewards. SANDY TATUM on Wilshire

And a delight it is.  First, the game story:

The second edition of the HUGEL–AIR Premia LA Open lacked the drama of a Hollywood script thanks to the exquisite play of Minjee Lee. 

Her missing polo – soaked from the 18th-hole celebration – was the day’s biggest mystery. 

The young Aussie held a five-shot lead when she made the turn at Wilshire Country Club, and while Sei Young Kim tightened it up down the stretch, the 22-year-old collected her fifth career LPGA title with a leisurely walk up the par-3 18th. 

Lee is projected to move to No. 2 in the world. 

“I’m mean it’s pretty cool,” said a grinning Lee, “going to be my PB (personal best).”

Funny, she doesn't look Australian....  At least not any more so than Vijay looks Fijian or Lydia looks like a Kiwi.  Of course w elive in a day and age when Rory Sabbatini is a proud Slovak, so looks can deceive...

Better yet, Wilshire should be a fixture on the LPGA schedule for the foreseeable future:

Maybe it’s the Golf Channel shots of the old movie studio lots or perhaps it’s Wilshire

Country Club’s charming architecture, but The Forecaddie is ecstatic to hear the mid-city club has extended its commitment to LPGA golf for an additional five years. 

Initially, the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open was signed for three years in December 2017 as part of the club’s centennial celebration. The Man Out Front worried that might lead to a little fatigue with members after two years, but from informal surveys around the lively clubhouse area, the club is gladly hosting the world’s best female golfers. With the extension, the club will host through 2025. 

It has not hurt that late afternoon tee times put the course on Golf Channel’s East Coast prime-time coverage, earning a new level of national respect for a course typically in the shadows of Riviera and Los Angeles Country Club.

That's indeed great news, though did you catch the caveat?

The small, pitched greens and glorious bunkering once again produced a worthy all around winner in new Rolex world No. 2 Minjee Lee. Now The Forecaddie just hopes the event locks up sponsors Hugel and Air Premia for years to come. 

Hugel is a South Korea-based maker of beauty products, including Botox, and has hopes of entering the U.S. market soon. The Forecaddie hears all are happy with the sponsorship, with hopes of an extension beyond next year to join Wilshire’s commitment for tournament operator Eiger Marketing Group. 

Besides highlighting a great track, the return of the “LA Open” moniker is proving relatable to a longtime southern California audience. Since that was the name of the PGA Tour stop for more than 70 years and abandoned in 1995, it’s helped boost the LPGA’s return to the city after a 10-year absence. Now The Forecaddie hopes there are many more years to come.

Botox?  The jokes just write themselves, but the guys had no issue cashing checks from Cialis, so let's be fair here.... (Ed: Why start now?).

Isn't it funny, though, how important a simple little thing like that LA Open moniker can be?  It's hard to keep sponsors happy, but hopefully here it'll work for them all.

Gearhead Central - As you know, I don't blog equipment all that often, only when there's something of specific interest to me.  Jonathan Wall does a weekly roundup on the subject, called Wall-to-Wall... Clearly they stayed up nights thinking up that title, which is marginally more imaginative than Ask Alan...So, we've got that going for us....

A couple of interesting items this week, none more so than this take on those rich equipment deals:

Ryan Palmer isn’t hurting for an equipment endorsement check after his Zurich Classic victory with Jon Rahm. Then again, Palmer hasn’t been worried about equipment deals for some time now. Back in December, Palmer made it clear on GolfWRX’s ‘Gear Dive’ podcast that there was no longer a need to sign for 13 or 14 clubs. 

“Well the problem today is, you’re having to sign the full bag,” Palmer said “With TaylorMade, you’re having to sign the full staff, the ball. Titleist, full clubs, the ball. Callaway will get you in a driver deal. TaylorMade doesn’t have driver deals out there. Ping is obviously full staff, full clubs. So it’s just, guys, are not wanting to sign away every club in their bag. I mean, for me, I got an Odyssey putter, Vokey wedges, Srixon irons, TaylorMade woods.” 

Palmer had four different brands in the bag on Sunday, including a TaylorMade R15 5-wood that’s nearly a decade old. The club dates all the way back to Palmer’s 2010 Sony Open win and highlights the importance of having clubs he trusts in the bag, regardless of their age or wear.

“You know, honestly, some of the contracts aren’t worth what the money we’re playing for,” he said. “That’s the way I’ve always looked at it, the last few years, and I’d rather take the clubs I’m comfortable with and have confidence in than going out there with something I’m not used to just get a couple hundred thousand more dollars.”

Clearly, the times they are a-changin'....  We've always been more focused on those equipment changes resulting from a player chasing large checks...  Now we have two major brands, TM and Titleist, effectively under private equity ownership, and those marketing dollars will be rationalized....

 I like this one as well:

Seven heaven 

Tommy Fleetwood’s stellar approach shot from 269 yards into the par-5 18th at TPC

Louisiana left partner Sergio Garcia an eagle putt from just inside 30 feet. Right before Fleetwood pulled the trigger on the shot, on-course announcer Dottie Pepper noted the Englishman was going to execute the shot with a Ping G410 7-wood. 

Whether you want to believe it or not, the 7-wood continues to have a spot in the professional ranks. In fact, Fleetwod was so enamored with the club and benefits it offered, he dropped the lone Nike club (Vapor Fly 5-wood) left in his bag earlier this season. 

What makes the club even more interesting is that Fleetwood only needed two shots on the range to feel confident about the setup change. While the 7-wood remains an uncommon sight on tour, that hasn’t stopped some marquee names from using it in competition, including Bubba Watson, Marc Leishman and Jason Dufner.

I have great memories of my old Big Bertha 7-wood....  though I wonder if any of the shots I remember actually happened.

More Ladies Stuff -  They're ready for their close-up in Dubai:

Golf's seen its share of made-for-TV spectacles played under the lights, most recently at the infamous "wedge-off" between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson last November at Shadow Creek. Yet there's never been an official, professional golf tournament held at

night. At least until this week. 

The Ladies European Tour is set to host the first ever day-night event—dubbed the Omega Moonlight Classic—on the Faldo Course at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai. Formerly known as the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, the new-look 54-hole tournament has been switched from December to May so it can be played in both the sunshine and floodlights. 

“We think playing under lights is going to be absolutely awesome," said tournament director David Spencer. "Playing the tournament in May and under lights further showcases what an incredible golfing destination Dubai has become and how long our golfing season lasts each year.

Fair enough, though wasn't it just yesterday that we were agonizing over that Carly Booth story?

Thirty seconds of Googling leads me to this page:

According to human rights organizations, the government of the U.A.E violates a number of fundamental human rights. The UAE does not have democratically elected institutions and citizens do not have the right to change their government or to form political parties. There are reports of forced disappearances in the UAE, many foreign nationals and Emirati citizens have been abducted by the UAE government and illegally detained and tortured in undisclosed locations. [1][2] In numerous instances, the UAE government has tortured people in custody (especially expats and political dissidents).[3][4][5][6][7] and has denied their citizens the right to a speedy trial and access to counsel during official investigations.[1][2] 

Flogging and stoning are legal forms of judicial punishment in the UAE due to Sharia courts.[8] The government restricts freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and the local media is censored to avoid criticizing the government, government officials or royal families. Freedom of association and freedom of religion are also curtailed. 

Despite being elected to the UN Council, the UAE has not signed most international human-rights and labor-rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

So, they seem like bad guys, but Carly's Tour is in bed with them....  And while I suppose there's a case to be made that the Saudi's are worse, nobody is actually going to the trouble of making that case.

So, here's a thought...  How about we put the rules down on paper before we crucify the players for violations thereof?  I know, an idea so crazy that it just might work.

Still More Ladies Stuff - Beth Ann Nichols agonizes over that awkward weekend in April:

Lauren Stephenson had a hard time tearing herself away from the final-round telecast of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur to go warm up for Round 3 of the ANA Inspiration. Everything about it was bigger than she’d imagined, and the LPGA rookie’s peers were putting on one heckuva show. 

“I had major FOMO,” said Stephenson, who left Alabama a semester early to join the

LPGA. (That’s “fear of missing out” for non-millennials.) 

Word is out. The Augusta women’s event is the best amateur tournament in the world. It far exceeds most women’s professional events too in every measure that counts outside of a purse. 

Will the allure of the ANWA die down next year? Not a chance.

Not sure I agree with Beth Ann's last bit there.  I do think undue attention was paid to the ANWA because it was the first opportunity to see women play the venue, and I do expect that to wane next year.  Of course the LPGA is poorly positioned to allow any depletion of their viewer base, and the bigger point is to avoid the dilemma it poses for the players.

Beth Ann doesn't mince words:

It’s a battle the LPGA simply can’t win. 

The argument that the ANA shouldn’t move simply because they were there first isn’t good enough. LPGA veterans are tired of having to move their events around to fit within the PGA Tour schedule. The tour moved the ANA previously to get it away from The Players Championship. Augusta National coming along and bigfooting their major left plenty of players steaming and for good reason. 

The LPGA didn’t create this schedule conflict, but they’re going to have to be the ones that fix it. 

Moving the date forward seems to be the best option. Crowds at the ANA have been dwindling for years. It’s a bad look for TV and makes for a flat atmosphere on the ground. If the ANA moves further into April, even more of the seasonal desert folks will have left town. That cuts into the number of fans and volunteers. It also puts the event up against Coachella, which presents a whole host of extra headaches.

All true, though those of us who care about this stuff should keep in mind that Fred Ridley's gift to women's golf came with one heck of a price tag.....

Jay Monahan, Perhaps? - Pravda had an interesting piece on sports gambling a few days ago, which included this bit:

The reluctance of state lawmakers, gambling analysts say, is based on a growing consensus that legal sports betting may not bring the windfall that economic forecasters predicted only a few months ago. 

“There were a lot of people who didn’t know what they were talking about,” said Allen Godfrey, the executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, which oversees the sports betting ventures around Tunica.

That is Tunica, MS, a town that is..... well, all in, on sports gambling.   As you know, I've been skeptical as to the effect this would have on our little game of golf, but it turns out to be a far bigger yawn in total:

Since the Supreme Court’s decision last May, which raised the prospect of hundreds of millions in new tax revenue, just six states have given final approval to allow legal sports betting. In a seventh state, New Mexico, Native American tribes have begun offering

sports betting with federal approval. 

In all, about a dozen states are considering sports gambling bills. But lawmakers and gambling analysts say only two or three of those states are likely to approve sports betting this legislative session, in part because of disappointing experiences in states where betting was recently made legal.

West Virginia, for instance, has collected only one-fourth of the monthly tax revenue it projected. Pennsylvania and Mississippi have received only about half of the tax revenue they had anticipated, according to data from those states. 

Rhode Island has done even worse: State budget officials had assumed that sports betting would bring in nearly $1 million a month, but only about $50,000 is coming in each month.

It's also predatory and regressive.....Not a good look and something the PGA Tour, should, I believe, be uncomfortable with as a profit center.  It's quite the cautionary tale, not that anyone's paying attention.

I'll let you get on with your day.  I'm not sure about blogging tomorrow, as there's talk of a 9:30 fourball....

Weekend Wrap

But one in which your humble correspondent watched very little golf, and that which I did watch was of the distaff variety...

Zurich Zaniness - Golf mag with their useful 30-second summary:

Who won: Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer (three-under 69, 26 under overall) / Rounds 1 and 3 best-ball; Rounds 2 and 4 alternate shot.

Why it matters: It’s Rahm’s third PGA Tour victory and first of the year, but the win was even sweeter for his partner, Palmer, who at 42 is 18 years older than Rahm (24). Palmer has now won four times on Tour, but this was his first in nearly a decade. His last victory was the Sony Open in 2010. 

Who lost: Mullinax and Stallings were tied with Rahm and Palmer to begin the day, but they played the front nine in one over and then, still just one off the lead at the turn, made bogeys on 11, 13 and the drivable par-4 16 to tumble out of contention. They shot 77 and tied for 13th. 

Best shot when it mattered: Faced with a 24-footer to save par on the 15th hole, Rahm drained it and kept their three-shot lead (and momentum) intact. That came after the duo birdied the 13th and 14th to push ahead of the pack.

Take heart, Patrick, Ryan Palmer shows that there's possibilities for former Jordan Spieth partners....  Actually, among the few minutes I saw on Saturday, the key shot might have been Palmer saving bogey after both put their tee balls in the water on the Par-3 seventeenth....

There's been a surprising amount of existential angst over this event, which Dan Kilbridge captures:

Watching the teammate dominos fall is a huge part of the Zurich Classic’s appeal in the 

Fix No. 1 might be to arrange for two trophies....

days and weeks leading up. Dissecting the pairings and eventually their chosen walk-up music might be more intriguing than the actual golf. 

International Presidents Cup team captain Ernie Els even introduced the idea of treating it as a chance to prep for the December matches at Royal Melbourne, with international players staying at the same hotel and bonding after-hours. Jason Day and Adam Scott played together for the first time, but that experiment ended early in a missed cut.

OK, who's gonna remind Ernie that the December event is match play, whereas this one.... oh, never mind.

Of course, isn't this the killer, bring all discussion to a screeching halt point?

There’s also something to be said for simply breaking up the weekly PGA Tour “Groundhog Day” routine with the two-man teams, rotating rounds of best-ball and alternate-shot, and little touches like the first-tee music. The decision to switch it up in 2017 had its critics, but does anyone really think that one more 72-hole stroke play tournament each year is what’s missing in golf?

Shack has his own take on the format:

When you need excruciatingly painful exercises like walk-up music—executed better this year, slightly—and December Presidents Cup testing grounds, something is amiss.

I’d start by making the foursomes play modified, with each player hitting a tee shot. Or, if the purity is just that important to someone, then back to Thursday-Saturday rounds. To finish on a Sunday with a format that is about making the fewest mistakes instead of what is the most fun to watch, once again announces to fans that the PGA Tour was not thinking of you. Or if they were, they believed you like watching hard-earned pars being made.

Well, if it weren't for that live under par thing.... Alternate shot is such an interesting format to watch them play, but a bunch of no-names with eight-figure bank accounts is admittedly a tough sell.

Tiger Scat -  The needle is most certainly moved, as his decision to skip Charlotte was the most discussed news item, at least in my fourball....  There might be a sample-size issue there, but whatever....

The Tour Confidential panel led with this query:

1. In a surprising move, Tiger Woods decided to skip this week’s Wells Fargo Championship, although his agent, Mark Steinberg, said it is not due to injury (a video from earlier in the week appeared to show Woods limping). “[Tiger is] still digesting and appreciating what happened two weeks ago,” Steinberg told ESPN’s Bob Harig. Woods’ next start appears to be the PGA Championship on May 16-19. Does Woods’ decision to skip Quail Hollow, and go from the Masters to the PGA, change your opinion on his chances in the second major of the season?

Sean Zak: Doesn’t change my opinion on the PGA but it does interest me. The major season is so jam-packed now that hopes of seeing him play elsewhere, like Minneapolis or Detroit, seem futile. That’s sad, even if it’s smart. 

Josh Sens: Well said, Sean. Then again, given what he’s done, watching Tiger in anything less than a major almost seems anticlimactic. The historic hunt is back on, and it’s once again the most compelling story in golf.

Josh Berhow: If the guy wants to soak in No. 15 a little more, he deserves it. Also, how about this — what if him skipping Quail Hollow makes me even moreconfident in his PGA prospects? It just tells me Tiger is happy with where his game is and is comfortable taking that to Bethpage Black, which I’m sure he’s got a great game plan for already. 

Michael Bamberger: I think he prepares more mentally than physically in this incarnation. I would think it improves his chances to win there.

Fair enough, but let's remember his unusually good record after layoffs.....  Not that it's all that recent, of course, but as long as we're turning the clock back....

Shack says we should chill:

If It Makes You Feel Better, Tiger Will Still Be Teeing Up Way More Than Hogan Did

Setting the bar pretty low, for sure...  But that TC gang hit upon the potential contradiction in the news this week:

2. Woods won’t play the Wells Fargo Championship, but he did recently commit to the PGA Tour’s inaugural ZOZO Championship in Japan in October. It’s quite the haul for Woods, who said at the end of last year he will be limiting his schedule and hasn’t played in as many overseas events in the last couple of years. Woods will also be in Australia for the Presidents Cup in December. Thoughts on Woods’ latest international commitment?

Zak: Anytime I see Tiger play overseas in a non-major, I see dollar signs. Regardless of who is sending those dollars and which direction they’re flying in, that’s what I see. It is a good thing. 

Sens: No doubt. This is all about the $$$. As for any effect on Woods’ health or game, it strikes me as a non-factor. Last I checked, his air travel does not involve cramped seats in the back of an airplane. He goes to bed. He wakes up in Tokyo. Big deal.

All I remember is his last trip to the Middle East, where he ended the first round on the wrong side of 80 and then withdrew...  Private travel notwithstanding, the travel can't be good and he has another long trip planned for December.  Methinks spanning the globe chasing appearance fees really isn't a great look for the guy, and I're rather he showed up in the Napa Valley and make good on his bat-and-switch from a few years back.

Eating Our Young - This is easily my favorite story of the day, as our game sends what can only charitably be describes as mixed messages:

Scotland’s Carly Booth has encountered an online backlash after announcing a sponsorship deal with Golf Saudi in social media posts that were subsequently deleted.

Booth wrote on Twitter and Instagram: “I am honoured to represent @Golf_Saudi as they acknowledge that women in sport is of paramount importance. Although culturally they are in a different place to some countries, they are doing everything they can to introduce girls and women into sport and lead healthy lifestyles.”

But who drives the cart?  Also, is she allowed in public without a male relative as an escort?

You know where this goes:

“Writing ‘culturally in a different place’, as in women just got the right to drive, are able 

I had this photo in my files... Think the Saudis have seen it?

to finally attend sporting events if they are seated separately from men, and where [the] death penalty is executed against women’s rights activists. Cool, Carly,” Alvarez tweeted in response. 

She later added: “This lacks total awareness of the human-rights violations inflicted on women in Saudi Arabia … until SA stops murdering & imprisoning women’s rights activists there is no reason to be an ambassador for them.” 

The Talksport presenter Georgie Bingham wrote: “Crikey Carly, I think you might want to head to Google and a bit of ‘women’s rights, Saudi Arabia’ before announcing that.”

Equally amusing, as we saw during l'Affaire Kooch, people are awfully quick to lay the blame elsewhere, as Eamon Lynch notes: is all over.  Before we get to his take on this, he covers the Kooch and Sergio messes, adding to Sergio's lore with this:

OMG, that was a near-miss spit take....Her's Eamon going in for the kill:

One can mount a defense for Booth, but it’s unflattering: devotion to her craft leaves little time to study geopolitics and human rights; women golfers, and particularly those in Europe, subsist on vapors so deals aren’t easily rejected, no matter how morally questionable the source. 

But no exculpatory defense exists for the fatuous pillocks on her management team, who devised the deal, who displayed a mesmerizing disregard for the risk to her reputation, who presumably helped author the social posts, who thoroughly failed at their most basic function: they left their client looking like both a fool and a jerk.

OK, but how exactly does he know what her management advised?  As I noted during Kooch's fiasco, the most likely scenario is that the player's management is doing that which the player wanted.  Aldo, Eamon might have buried the lede, specifically in his argument that they should have protected her reputation, when perhaps there really isn't all that much to protect:

What reputation Booth enjoys owes more to her appearance in ESPN’s 2013 Body issue than to her play on the Ladies European Tour. Her world rank is 351st. But posts on her social media accounts on April 24 left her more exposed to scrutiny than that ESPN shoot.

We know that he's drawn the ire of certain self-appointed SJW's, though I'd like to see some proof for his last point, given that her body is clearly up to any scrutiny demanded.

The TC gang echoes Eamon's displeasure:

4. Ladies European Tour player Carly Booth received so much backlash about a tweet promoting her sponsorship with Golf Saudi that she removed the post altogether. Did she deserve this kind of heat? And who should receive the blame: Booth or her management team? 

Zak: As a human who should be aware of the news/vibe/connotations around a sponsor decision, yeah she’s deserving of some heat. But as we all know, there are multiple people involved with this decision. They all probably expected this, even Saudi Golf. So…they still went for it. Booth AND her management team should receive blame. 

Berhow: Yeah, both deserve some blame, and at some point she should have realized it would get some blowback, and I think she did (to a degree) with the qualifying text she wrote in her post. But that’s also why you pay your management team, to manage you. They did not do that here. At least not well.

This story amuses me because of the newfound evils of the Saudi regime....Really guys, they've been this way forever.  Not only was the Kashoggi story misinterpreted, but golf has been doing big business with equally noxious regimes the world over.

How about somebody put the rules down on paper, so that we can all agree?  It's inappropriate for Carly to cash their check, but seemingly OK for the Euro Tour to spend a month in the Middle East to avoid the harsh Euro winter?

What's Become of Edoardo? - This was a popular question a few weeks back, as we damn near had our first Masters champion that has looped in the event....  That would have been epic, no?

Turns out the less famous and successful Molinari brother is on a mission from God:

Molinari took to Twitter to vent about slow play after playing a five-and-a-half-hour round Saturday at the European Tour’s Trophee Hassan II, saying, “It’s time that professional golf does something serious for slow play.” He then tweeted out a list of every player who has been timed, penalized and fined this season because of slow play in European Tour, WGC and major tournaments.

And to think that I had been reliably informed that naming names was wrong....

This guy thinks he's off topic:

“I saw his tweet this morning when he came off the course, ‘We need to play faster, blah, blah, blah.’ I get it,” McDowell said Saturday at the Zurich Classic. “I hear where Edoardo is coming from, but he is, what shall we say, flogging a dead horse? 

“It’s not a dead horse, but it’s pretty dead. What do you want to do? We can’t get around there much quicker. Is 20 minutes going to change his life? Listen, I like Edoardo, nice kid, but I think he’s just frustrated.” 

McDowell pointed out that he feels like the pace-of-play policy on the European Tour is more stringent than the PGA Tour’s policy, though he said even that is “getting tougher and tougher.” 

“Listen, golf courses are long, golf courses are hard, we’re playing for a lot of money, it’s a big business, it is what it is,” McDowell said. “There’s just no way to speed the game up really. You can try these small percentiles, but at the end of the day it’s very hard to get around a 7,600-yard golf course with tucked pins with a three-ball in less than 4:45, 5 hours. You can’t do it.”

Still, we wish him well...  Well, some of us do, he might not be especially welcome by some in the locker room:

Berhow: Media members and casual fans of course love to see this, but I doubt this move gained Molinari friends inside the locker room. But here’s the kicker: this won’t change anything. It’s the same old story. Courses are long, courses are hard and guys are playing for major paychecks. Nothing will change because they still don’t have a reason to speed up. 

Sens: Not just applause. A standing ovation. Josh is right that a single tweet is not going to change anything. But if enough players of Molinari’s gravitas get actively behind the idea of speeding up play, something will eventually have to give. The glacial pace of golf is the absolute worst thing about the game, from the pro level on down. What I never hear discussed in all this talk of players competing for so much money is this: Does playing at an agonizing pace actually improve performance? I’d like to see some numbers one way or the other. I suspect we’d find that playing with a little dispatch is not a bad thing for scoring either.

I could get behind his effort, though not until we come up with a more effective rules protocol...

Opening Acts -  Here's a fun one on which we'll make our graceful exit:

From Merion to St. Andrews: The five greatest opening tee shots in golf

Only five, so I'm thinking we should go through them all..... The first candidate is inevitable:

1. Old Course at St. Andrews 

St. Andrews, Scotland

“Knees knocking, everyone watching.”

“So wide yet so scary.”

“The hair stands up on any normal neck.”

“It’s so wide…and yet the OB stakes on the right are so white.”

“100+ yards wide never looked so narrow. Did I mention the burn?”

OK, I guess.  It gets there exclusively based on reputation and the aura of the majestc clubhouse, as it's not much of an actual golf shot.   Most of us can't actually reach the burn, and it's about 120-yards wide.... Next up is the only one I've not played:

2. Merion GC (East) 

Ardmore, Pa.

“From lunch to the first tee in less than 10 seconds!”

“Quiet please, on table four.”

“Why did the glassware and silverware suddenly stop clinking when I took my stance?”

“You do not want to hook one here.”

“Would everyone please stop looking at me?”

“At lunch time, it is the scariest opening tee shot.”

“Great anticipation versus fear and exposure!”

I don't remember this as being, well, memorable, but I've only seen it on TV.....

This one you knew was coming:

3. Machrihanish GC 

Argyll, Scotland

“All of Scotland to the right.”

“That drive over the Atlantic!”

“How much do I take off the first shot of the day?”

“Entire rounds have been mentally surrendered here.”

“Better hope the wind is not directly into your face.”

“It’s the ultimate in risk/reward in a dramatic setting.”

“Scary and unique…think of the permissions needed to build this today.”

Although I adore Machrihanish, I'm a bit of a dissenter on this golf hole and the tee shot.  It's your basic cape hole, but not one that taxes one's capabilities.  It's not a long hole and there's not reason to flirt with the beach, so I don't find it all that strategically interesting.

It is an unusual location for a tee box, and is quite memorable.....

For a more demanding opening tee shot and first hole, look no further than...

4. Portstewart (Strand) 

Portstewart, Northern Ireland

“How steep is that drop?”

“Nothing prepares you for the stunning view down the 1st.”

This is the far more spectacular setting, and the front nine is played among those dramatic dunes in the photo.  A really tough hole as well.... as this last entry:

5. Old Prestwick GC 

Prestwick, Scotland

“Hope my tee ball doesn’t start heading south in the adjacent coal train.”

“A trip back in time with the railroad!”

It's ironic that four out of five come from the Old World links.  So often we find great links with weak opening and closing holes, because of the need to get players out to the more interesting terrain.  Of course there are exceptions, as this list shows.

Another might come from Elie, a smallish links that is No. 1 on my list to play in August, for the simple reason that I've not played it previously.  There an old submarine telescope is provide for use in assuring that the fairway is clear....

See you tomorrow I hope.

Your Friday Frisson

I am on the clock this morning, though I think we should have sufficient time to cover that which you need to know...

Down Time - It's not all glamour on the big Tour, at least not when the weather gods are in a foul mood:

AVONDALE, La. – The Zurich Classic weather delay is approaching the four-hour mark when another lightning bolt flashes across the sky outside the clubhouse at TPC Louisiana.

Water bottles are scattered all around the fringe of the practice green, left behind as players doubled back to stay dry. A caddie who hasn’t moved in more than 15 minutes is sitting in a rocking chair on the patio and makes a soft snoring sound, perking up only after hearing the voice of a Golf Channel anchor giving an on-air update just a few yards away. 

The grounds are mostly empty and have been since Round 1 play was first suspended at 9:41 a.m. CT due to dangerous weather, with the team-format event on hold for most of Thursday. 

The players aren’t really sure what the plan is during the early afternoon, with tournament officials hoping to squeeze a few more holes in before the end of the day. They just know what this means for the rest of the tournament.

It turned into a 7 1/2 hour stoppage, with players trapped awaiting word from the Tour as to when play might resume.  It's for this reason that I often wonder about the wisdom of playing the week prior to a major....

Don't Know Much About History.... - A few unrelated items that we can jam in here....  First, about that greatest comeback ever meme, Shane Ryan thinks it needs to be quantified:

Nicklaus, Woods or Hogan? An extremely 'scientific' look at who had golf's most impressive comeback

Not to be argumentative, but from what did Jack come back?  The calendar?

Shane applies logic to that which is emotional, beginning here:

Category 1: The Lowest Low 

The strength of any comeback must be measured by the depths to which the player had sunk at his lowest moment.

Although he seems to turn it into a game of 5-3-1, which is amusing:

Tiger: There's quite a bit more here. We've got the Thanksgiving debacle, the various

affairs, sex addiction, DUI and injury after injury, to the point that as recently as 2017 he thought he was done for good. Tiger's lows were very low. 

Hogan: Read the litany of injuries Hogan suffered when he threw himself across his wife to protect her from an impending head-on clash with a Greyhound bus in February 1949: Fracture collar bone, left ankle fracture, double-pelvis fracture, chipped rib and blood clots that almost killed him—all of which led to a 59-day stay in the hospital and a nine-month absence from golf. Plus, how good could medical care have been back then? 

It's actually kinda tough to decide between Tiger and Hogan here—Tiger has him by longevity and emotional despair, but in the end I have to give the nod to Hogan for the sheer severity of the wreck, and the damage it wrought on his body.

Hogan 3, Tiger 2, Jack 1.

Two factors that I'd add....  First, Tiger's downfall had that healthy self-inflicted aspect to it, which the reader is free to accommodate as he or she sees fit.  The second, which argues for a higher score for Hogan, is the state of medicine on 1949 vs. 2017....

No spoilers, but Shane's crie de coeur that the science is settled seems unconvincing.... at least to this reader.

Alan Shipnuck's mailbag from yesterday had a query that relates:

When Jack won in ’86 did people know it was a farewell? Or did they think he was ‘back’? -@NaaderBajwa 

I still remember a big SI feature on Nicklaus that came out a month or so after that Masters in which he talked about a renewed desire and focus. That carried him to a tie for 8th at the ensuing U.S. Open, and he made some noise at the ’87 Masters (T7), but he never won again. It was a different era, in which few players were relevant after 40, and prior to the ’86 Masters, Big Jack had been in decline for years, having won only once since 1982, and contended only one time (barely) in the preceding eight majors. So despite the great man’s optimism, I think most fans understood they had witnessed a glorious farewell. 

Tiger is in an entirely different position – he easily could have won the final two majors of 2018, and he closed the season with a victory at the Tour Championship. His game is a lot more ascendant than Nicklaus’ was at the time of their respective Masters renaissances. But the cruel thing about golf is that you never know when you’ve just enjoyed your last victory.

While Alan overstates Tiger's run in the 2018 majors, the obvious fact is that Tiger was considered a far bigger factor coming into this Masters than Jack was in '86, and therefore logically should have more chances.  

Eamon Lynch has been en fuego recently, though on this issue he's a recent convert:

But according to Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch, Woods should already have the record.

Woods grabbed win No. 81 two weeks ago with his one-shot victory in the Masters. It was Tiger’s fifth green jacket and 15th major title.

Snead’s record of 82 PGA Tour victories includes five team events. Woods has none.

“This isn’t a record that should be debatable,” Lynch says. “We’ll just have to wait until Tiger puts it to rest for good. And when No. 82 comes, it will be just like the 81 that preceded it. The work of one man hitting every shot that counts.”

Even some of the individual events that The Slammer has counted are suspect, but such is the nature of comparisons across eras....

The Lords of Augusta - One wishes they could contribute to the game in a more cooperative manner....  The subject being that wonderful ANWA, wonderful except for the date....  Now comes word of who's likely to blink first:

A year later, the reality of the August National Women’s Amateur and its impact on the ANA Inspiration seem clear to tournament producer International Management Group

and sponsor All Nippon Airways: lower TV ratings, lower attendance, a concerned title sponsor and increased talk of moving the ANA Inspiration away from its traditional date during the first week of April. 

“At this point, I think it’s 50-50 we stay, 50-50 we move,” said Chris Garrett of IMG, who serves as tournament director for the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. 

Any move of the tournament, potentially two weeks later into April which could conflict with the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, would need the cooperation of the LPGA, Mission Hills Country Club and broadcast partner Golf Channel and would require some changes for other LPGA spring tournaments as well.

There is no good answer here, as their traditional date was simply perfect until the green-jacket mafia big-footed them.  Why the ANWA couldn't be contested the week after the Masters remains unanswered.....  unasked, seemingly.

News You Can Use -  Anytime someone tells you the science is settled, hold tightly to your wallet....  But here's the latest installment of "In or Out?"  Golf Digest is the anti-Bryson:

THE 99.9967% SOLUTION 

Based on probability and standard deviation calculations and PGA Tour statistics, the best tour players would strike the flagstick dead-center from 20 to 25 feet about 3.3 

Photo by Todd Detwiler

percent of the time. If you assume the best pros would rarely roll their first putt nine feet past the hole —perhaps one in a thousand times—that would make leaving the flagstick in a benefit on only .0033 percent of all putts from 20 to 25 feet. And that's for the best pros. For a typical amateur, those percentages are much worse.

Putts rolling just off-center and 4½ feet beyond the hole were tested with three flagsticks: fiberglass (the one played most often on the PGA Tour), tapered aluminum and multi-diamater aluminum. All measured approximately one-half inch in diameter at green level. Fiberglass, the lightest, had the least negative results with 61 percent made, followed by multi-diameter (38 percent) and then tapered (36 percent). Each was worse than no flagstick (90 percent).

I had to copy that "Photo" credit above....I'm wondering what kind of lens Todd used....

WIND ADVISORY

In strong winds, the flagstick can bend, creating more space on one half of the hole and less on the other. In tests, that change opened up one side of the hole by an eighth of an inch—or the size of a golf-ball dimple. Seems inconsequential compared to just pulling out the flagstick, which opens up the entire hole.

In my experience, the wind is typically moving the flagstick back and forth, and I want no part of that on short putts.  

News You Can Use, Part II -  You can use this in the unlikely event you're a touring professional or happen to answer to the name "Kooch"....

Undercover Tour Pro: Economics 101 for hiring club caddies

UTP is a little tough on our Kooch with this:

Every week on the PGA Tour there's a discrepancy over money. Somebody hasn't been paid what they think they're owed. Multiple times I've had caddies who worked for me previously call to say their new boss hasn't paid them in a while, and might I nudge that

player? Caddies are a desperate lot. Too often they're so happy to get a bag that they start without a clear agreement. Given the stakes, it's the obligation of the player to spell it out. It's an eight-second conversation to say, “$1,500 for the week, 5 percent of a made cut, 7 percent of a top 10, 10 percent for a win, you'll get a check at the end of the week”—which, by the way, is the most common deal out here. And I've never heard of a caddie walking away because an offer was too low. The pro holds all the power to do the right thing. Or not.

There's wiggle room in the weekly rate if it's a Web.com event or I have a local caddie who hasn't incurred travel expenses—but I believe those percentages are sacrosanct. A human being has thrown his hat in the ring alongside mine. He's passed up other opportunities. Although caddieing isn't rocket science, I'm trusting this person to potentially influence a situation that could alter my career. The least I can do is let him be part of the action. Buddies included. If I'm going to a “vacation” destination like Phoenix or Puerto Rico, often I'll invite a friend to loop. I'm not paying a weekly rate, but I'll cover the airfare, hotel, food and bar tabs. If I make a paycheck, he's getting the same percentage I'd give a full-time caddie. My bud took a week off work to hang with me.

Sacrosanct?  That's not my understanding, nor does it strike me as logical....  and I think he muddies the waters in bringing in buddies who take his bag for a week.

As relates to our Kooch, I believe in the spirit, if not the letter of the UTP comments:

Another element not to be discounted is the power of contagious energy. There are caddie/player duos on the PGA Tour who hate one another, but they stick together because it seems to work professionally. But when a club caddie is issued the bib with your name on it, you'll always see a smile from ear to ear. They're pumped, which gets me pumped to play well. 

You can bet Kuchar's Mexican caddie was a bundle of spirit. Not only because he was excited to be in the arena of the PGA Tour, but because he thought he was part of the team.

El Tucan didn't expect 10%, which makes me think it's far from sacrosanct.  But he expected more than can be fit into an envelope, and a guy that had spent four long years in the wilderness should have understood that.

Mend It, Don't End It -  Not that I care, but you're gonna need some qualification system for majors and WGC's and the like....  Rex Hoggard tells us that there's trouble in River City:

The Official World Golf Ranking is as complicated as it is overlooked. 

Other than the occasional conversation about who is or is not the world’s top-ranked player and the random indignation when a player moves up on the list without even playing, talk of minimum divisors and average ranking points are largely the realm of the few zealots who are mathematically savvy enough to understand how it works. 

Within PGA Tour circles, however, the ranking has become a frequent talking point. At a player-only meeting in February, Tour commissioner Jay Monahan addressed, what’s best described as, growing discontent for the ranking. 

“We went to [the world ranking governing board] at The Open Championship last year and very directly told them our concerns and asked them for a review of the world ranking system. That process is underway,” Monahan said.

And when you've lost the suits in Ponte Vedra Beach...... There's always one result that has us all rolling our eyes, and this is Rex's:

Essentially this is a perception problem for Tour types. Consider that Brendan Jones received more world ranking points (16) for his victory at the Token Homemate Cup on the Japan Golf Tour than J.T. Poston did for finishing tied for sixth at the RBC Heritage on Sunday (10.44). 

Those who question that scale are supported by simple math. The strength of field based on the world ranking for the Heritage was 460, compared with a strength of field for the Token Homemate Cup of 35. Statistically that would make the Tour stop 13 times deeper than the event in Japan, yet the winner at Harbour Town received about four times the points (58) as Jones.

This is an interesting subject to me, mostly because of the statistical ignorance on parade, such as this howler from Rex:

There needed to be a list. But today professional golf is overrun with lists. From the FedExCup to the Race to Dubai every major circuit has performance-based rankings, and one can argue that each list is a much better guide to current competitive relevance. Each list is also immune to the ranking bias, be it real or perceived, that currently dogs the world ranking.

Really, Rex?  There's no bias to the FedEx Cup points list?  Are we talking before or after the multiple resets?

There seem to be two major misconceptions in play, the first being the mistaken focus on the top of the list.  Rex is correct that our focus tends to be on who tops the list, but that has no practical implications.  As the No. 1 slot rotates between Justin Rose and DJ, it's helpful to remember that they both will play in the U.S. Open.  The greater import is around the cut-off number, sixty for the Open, in which players such as Abraham Ancer, Chez Reavie and Emiliano Grillo are duking it out, and the golf fan has little insight as to who is more deserving....  But examples such as the one cited by Rex obviously call into question the fairness of the methodology.

That said, any methodology will at times yield strange results....People seem to naively assume that there's some obvious answer that will yield incontestable conclusions, and that's just not how statistics work.  Any methodology will look foolish under certain circumstances, the best that we can hope for is that it seem logical and transparent.

I'll wish you a good weekend, though if you live near me in the Northeast it might well be golf-free.

Midweek Musings - Thursday Edition

Thanks for being so understanding about yesterday's early departure.  The weather being what it's been, one needs to take advantage of any nice days the weather gods mistakenly allow.  For those keeping a scorecard at home, Bobby D. evened up our season-long series of exhibition matches at one apiece.  Surprisingly, he felt it important that I mention that in the blog today, almost as if he instinctively sensed a high-water mark....

Zurich Time - A soft spot on the schedule for sure, but we get to see the lads play two days of alternate shot.  Golfweek handicaps teams to watch this week, including Team Patrick:

Patrick Reed/Patrick Cantlay 

Pat Squared returns for a third consecutive year and you will not find a steelier duo in golf. Doesn’t exist. These guys aren’t buddy-buddy with many fellow players on Tour

and seem to like it that way. And they might soon share a U.S. team room, with Cantlay quietly climbing up the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup points lists. He’s also playing some really good golf and should soon become a much bigger name on the heels of his Sunday Masters charge. Rather than best friends teaming up, this partnership feels more like a one-week business agreement amongst mercenaries. That’s kind of fun and different on today’s PGA Tour. And, again, do not be surprised if these two end up playing together for their country in the coming years.

No word from Justine as to which players refused to play with Patrick, so I'll revert to my default answer of, "All of them".

And Team Koepka:

Brooks Koepka/Chase Koepka 

The three-time major champion Brooks annually teaming up with brother Chase at this event is one of his most endearing qualities. Chase is still grinding away in Europe and a win this week would give him a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. Brooks is coming off another serious major charge, which shouldn’t surprise anyone by now. The Brothers Koepka finished T-5 in 2017 and missed the cut a year ago, and seeing them in contention with that exemption on the line for Chase would make for some high drama.

Alas, one of these is not like the other....

 It's admittedly a tough week to get excited about golf, but this is easily my favorite header from the week, and a clear piece of guidance for those running the WGC Match-Play event:

Alligator devours snake in winner-take-all clash before Zurich Classic

Got that?  No silly round-robin pool play for these intense competitors...  Go big or go.....well, to the gator's stomach.

The Sunday night Tour Confidential panel took on this event's seemingly diminishing appeal:

5. The Zurich Classic two-man team event begins on Thursday in New Orleans. It’s four-balls in Rounds 1 and 3 and foursomes in Rounds 2 and 4. What’s a change you would suggest to make it even better?

Bamberger: I like it as is, but I’d expand it. Two more team events. I’d love to see a mixed-team event return, and an event where a Tour player picks a partner who must be 60 or over. Also, these events could be played anywhere. Myopia Hunt, Cypress Point, the West Palm Beach muni (when it is renovated and reopened), Bandon, on it goes, would all be good venues. 

Sens: Mixed teams, for sure. And yes, give us a glimpse of more courses we so rarely see. Chicago Golf Club. Pine Valley. Seminole. And on. Or go the opposite route and stick purely with the best munis coast to coast. 

Zak: Make it match play.

Dethier: It should all be foursomes, aka alternate shot. (Did the USGA not address this naming horror?) The highs and lows of alternate shot make for better drama, period.

Shhh, Dylan, don't be giving them ideas.... A mixed event would be fun, but it obviously belongs in the shoulder season.....

And for those that encourage such nonsense, an allegedly definitive ranking of all 38 walk-up songs... It's actually pretty funny, how badly the choices play to an older demographic.  Yanno, like your humble blogger.

An Edifice Complex -  The PGA of America is committed to growing the game....  I'm of course happy that they remind us of this continually, because it would be impossible to deduce from their actions.

For instance, it seems that building a massive new headquarters and two excessively long golf courses in Frisco, TX will magically result in the game expanding...  See how easy this is?  As for those 29,000 members and their reaction to their heavy dues bankrolling such a complex...well, look, a squirrel.

Here's the skinny on the Gil Hanse design:

The East Course, measuring 7,603 yards from the back tees with a par of 72, has already

been tapped to host two PGA Championships, the first in 2027 and another in ’34, along with a tentative Ryder Cup in 2040. 

Hanse, who designed the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has recently redone Pinehurst No. 4 and is currently working on a complete renovation at Oakland Hills GC, outside Detroit. But it was his recent redo of the Maxwell classic at Southern Hills CC in Tulsa, Okla., that motivated him for the PGA Frisco project. 

“I think you saw a true restoration of the (original) Maxwell course at Southern Hills and you’ll see a lot of stylistic imports from Maxwell at the PGA course here,” Hanse said Monday a press event for the new PGA of America HQ. “I haven’t been to all the Maxwell courses, but you will see the deep bunkers around the greens and the smaller greens. That’s part of what I hope to see [here].”

Are you perhaps thinking that it's borderline crazy to award major championships to a golf course that doesn't you know, exist?   Hold my beer, because those two PGA's are the least of it:

But wait, there's more according to Shack:

Anyway, the new development will have a monster Omni Hotel, offices to process those pricey PGA member dues and will serve as the 2027 PGA Championship host site. Also, a possible 2040 Ryder Cup is headed there, with the task force inevitably penciling in Captain Jordan Spieth in Frisco to play the 7,603 yard Gil Hanse course as the primary venue. The project breaks ground this winter and debuts three years later with the 2023 PGA Senior Championship.

Beau Welling will be doing the second course. (Awkwardly, Hanse recently renovated one of Welling’s biggest projects from the Fazio years, Pinehurst No. 4.)

I think a Texas Ryder Cup demands a Captain Patrick Reed, no?  I'm not sure I'd be penciling Jordan in for anything right now, except perhaps the 2022 Web.com Q-School?  Too soon?

At the risk of repeating myself, what exactly does this do for those 29,000 dues-paying members?

A Greek Tragedy - Alan Shipnuck write the definitive history of Peter Kessler, aptly formatting it as a Greek Tragedy....  Of course I was struck by this inconsequential bit:

JANET: Do you think just this once you could not play golf on Saturday and Sunday? Last weekend you missed Chris’s game and he cried afterward. And the weekend before that Jennifer was upset when you skipped her recital. 

KESSLER: Baby, I’ve already got 54 holes lined up at Fairview. On the train ride home I was reading this old Sam Snead book, and he wrote that to perfect your rhythm…

Yup, that's our Fairview, where Peter is not especially welcome these days....

If you're unfamiliar with the story of how it went bad for Kessler, you'll want to read Alan's piece.  Riffing on our Greek Tragedy theme, let's just note that like Icarus the ending was inevitable:

SCENE VIII: The Golf Talk Live set. Kessler is in his chair, getting dusted with makeup. Palmer lingers on the edge of the scene. With a greedy gulp he finishes the drink in his hand and walks unsteadily to his chair. Disbelief flashes in Kessler’s eyes. The cameraman does the familiar countdown on his fingers. Kessler opens the show by repeating his breakfast monologue word for word. 

KESSLER: …easier for people who find it extremely difficult. Am I right? 

PALMER, unsmiling: I’ve had so many letters saying things to hurt me. Some of my

good friends have crushed me with some of their comments. They’ve used words like “cheating” in their comments. The last thing in the world I would ever tolerate is cheating. That word, if you said it to me sitting here, I’d probably punch you in the nose right now, and I mean it. 

KESSLER, to the theater audience: I should’ve just smiled and said, “I’d take you in a heartbeat,” and just let it go. But I didn’t. We wound up having a debate that neither one of us wanted. I was trying to do what is right for the sanctity of the game, so maybe I was a little too tough. But I kept trying to give Arnold an out, and he wouldn’t take it. And because he was drunk, and emotional, he kept saying the wrong things and digging the hole even deeper. I’m sitting there thinking, this is really fantastic TV, but the great Arnold Palmer, the chairman and co-founder of the Golf Channel, is humiliating himself on my show. Now I’m really f—ed.

An extremely bright man, a great knowledge and understanding of golf and oh that voice....  But it couldn't last.... just because of who he is.

A Purist's Lament - Shack, of course, and he's not amused with what they're doing to the old girl.  Today it's Shell Bunker, which now looks like this:

The perfect kidney-shaped swimming pool...  Who knew the sheep were so precise?

Here's Geoff's rant:

I don’t meant to be cruel, but the fascination in Scotland these days with constant rebuilding of Old Course bunkers with an eye toward mechanical precision is increasingly tough to watch, particularly when we know a sense of naturalness is essential to reminding the golfer that most of these pits were accidental in origin. The more man-made they look, the more the golfer is likely to reject them.

He helpfully provides this look back in time for a postcard:

I'm not sure that all of Scotland should be held accountable for this, but the R&A and Links Trust have some 'splainin' to do....

This trend spans two R&A administrations, beginning with Chief Inspector Dawson adding thos etwo whirlpool-looking bunkers short of the second green as part of his "treatment" before the 2015 Open Championship. 

I'll hopefully be able to give you a first-hand assessment of the new Shell bunker...  The bride and I are renting a house in Fife in August, and will surely do the daily ballot thing to try to play the Old Course again.

In Aid of the Cause - We are very long on Alan Shipnuck today, and we've not even gotten to his mailbag yet.  But this should be of interest, as he spent a day as a ShotLink volunteer.  Of course he's a borderline millennial, so forget learning how the data is captured and used, it's all about how it made Alan feel:

The Tour doesn’t advertise this, but the ShotLink data can also be used to calculate each player’s pace of play. Once I learned that, I became swollen with self-importance. I sidled up to Kelly, whom I’ve interviewed many times, and informed him that if he

wasn’t nice to me, I’d manipulate the data to earn him a slow-play penalty. He offered a signed ball as a bribe, which I greedily accepted. This was a flagrant violation of the rules Elsesser had laid down for me: “Don’t bother the players — let them initiate any conversation. Don’t go on the green or fringe. Try to look professional, because you might wind up on TV. Basically, you’re doing a good job if nobody knows you’re there.” 

And yet it was impossible not to feel kind of special marching down the middle of the fairway, loaded with as much gear as a Navy SEAL. No wonder being a ShotLink volunteer can be addictive. Behind Pebble’s second green I chatted with Dick and Patti Marriott. They were working one of the lasers. For the last decade, the couple has traveled to Pebble from their home in St. Louis, and the par-5 second hole has become their favorite spot because “there’s always a lot of action with the players

going for the green,” said Dick. They take turns on the laser. “We’re both over 70 now, and our bladders are small,” he said by way of explanation. What keeps them coming back? “It’s a nice way to watch golf,” said Patti. “The players are kind to us because, I think, they recognize we’re helping them do their job better. And it’s fun

to be a little part of the show.”

You are special, Alan, and you've got that participation ribbon to prove it.... he does, despite himslef, reveal some of the complexity of capturing this data, without which Mark Broadie would be just another boring statistics professor.

Tiger Scat - He's always been a team player, so you'll not be surprised at the news that he's support the Tour's expansion of its schedule:

Japan’s first official PGA Tour event, the ZOZO Championship, will feature Tiger Woods for its debut. 

The ZOZO Championship will be held at Accordia Golf Chiba Narashino Country Club on Oct. 24-27 outside Tokyo. 

The event features a $9.75 million purse and will replace the CIMB Classic that was held in Malaysia. It is part of a three-tournament Asia swing in the fall that also features the CJ Cup in South Korea and the HSBC Champions World Golf Championship in China. The events all boast larger-than-normal Tour purses. 

“I’m excited to play in the inaugural ZOZO Championship in October, and return to Japan, one of my favorite countries. It’s going to be a fun fall,” Woods posted on Twitter.

So selfless.... Obviously nothing in it for him....  What?

The ZOZO Championship will have a $9.75 million purse, with a field of 78 players and no 36-hole cut. Woods last appeared in an official event in Japan at the 2006 Dunlop Phoenix, in which he lost in a playoff to Padraig Harrington. 

Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent, told ESPN.com during the Masters two weeks ago that a likely destination for exhibition matches as part of the GolfTV deal was Japan, where Woods would possibly take on another player or invite a series of players for a one-day competition, format to be determined. That would not have any impact on future matches that involve Phil Mickelson.

Well, as long as he's in the 'hood.....  What, did you still believe in Santa Claus and free lunches?

There is further scheduling news as well:

Tiger Woods alters Hero World Challenge date to accommodate Presidents Cup, but conflict remains with Aussie Open

The logic of a December Prez Cup at Royal Melbourne was that the guys would play in some of the Aussie events as long as they were Down Under.  Now we have the Captain ensuring the lack of preparation:

“There are so many things that are up in the air,” Woods said at last year's Hero. “One of the logistical things I'm trying to figure out is try to get where there's like eight to 10 guys plus four or five more, and you're getting close to 50 people from the Bahamas to Australia in time for a practice round, opening ceremonies and the event. We have our work ahead of us trying to logistically try to make this all happen.”

Keeping this itinerary in mind, Hero officials announced on Tuesday morning that this year's schedule has been moved to a Wednesday-Saturday slate, hoping the extra day provides enough breathing room for players competing in both. The tournament will be held Dec. 4-7.

Hey, as long as you're there for the opening ceremonies..... Since you'll ask:

The flight time for the roughly 9,817-mile trip from Nassau to Melbourne, Australia, is about 20 hours, not including stops.

Because those tight travel schedules worked out so well last September in Paris.... 

Alan had an interesting Tiger question in his mailbag this week:

Alternate universe in a post-Freddie Couples Hall of Famer world: Tiger retires tomorrow. His post-scandal career, on its own, is it good enough for the Hall? 10 wins, 1 Masters, 1 PGA runner up, 9 top 10s in majors (out of 25 played). -@ShawnFury 

And additional bonus points for a player of the year award and spending more than a calendar year at number one. It’s certainly a better resume than Couples’ and arguably superior to recent inductees like Colin Montgomerie and Retief Goosen, so I guess we have to say yes. Which is absolutely wild.

Silly, but it is wild...  I think they bury the lede, though, because when you adjust for all the time missed by injury it's a crazy high winning percentage, especially for a guy past his prime.

If they made a movie about TW right now, who would you pick to play him? -@RichWojo 

Michael B. Jordan. With Tim O’Neal serving as the on-course body double.

Can anyone tell me who these people are?

I got Woods winning at Bethpage. You too? -@JoeGunter 

Too soon.

I've been wrong about this before, but the most likely major total for Tiger when he retires is....you might not like this, fifteen. 

With Tiger now off the board here, who in your view is the most likely player to win another major that hasn’t won one in at least 10 years? -@Cstiles24 

Lucas Glover.

The only other guy I can think of is Stewart Cink....  Who else won their last major more than ten years ago and is still active and competitive?

Funny story, at least to me....  Golf Channel had a rerun of the 1999 PGA Championship last night, the one with Sergio's scissor kick.  In the hunt was Mr. Cink, with an unbelievably full head of hair.  I mean the guy was wearing a visor, and was well within his rights to do so.  I almost didn't recognize him....

Among those praising Tiger's Masters win was this unlikely guy.... Bygones, I guess.

Lastly, an amusing slideshow from Golf Digest of Tiger's regrettable fashion choices...  Among the highlights:

Amusing, but it pales in comparison to what he did to poor Kelli Keuhne:

Coincidence? - We don't believe much in them here at Unplayable Lies, but the reader can make his own call.

First comes this news:

New York state tax revenues plummet by $3.7 billion

Then comes this:

New York Lawmakers Tee Up Tax Bill That Takes a Swing at Golf Courses 

Industry advocates have sounded the alarm about proposed legislation that could raise property taxes

It's behind their paywall, but the gist of it is that they want to vale real estate in its highest and best use, irrespective of its actual use.  

Business owners and industry representatives fear the measure would usher in tax hikes for many facilities, prompt closures of courses and hurt local tourism and hospitality markets at a time when the sport faces stiff competition to gain more fans. 

Home builders are watering at the mouth at a lot of golf course land and would pay 10 times what it’s worth as a golf course,” said Jay Karen, chief executive of the National Golf Course Owners Association. “If all of the sudden we saw tax bills at golf courses increasing by a factor of 10, you are going to see an acceleration of golf course closures.” 

The bill’s Democratic sponsors, Sen. David Carlucci and Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, and proponents say it is about golf courses, especially country clubs with high-end amenities, paying their fair share of taxes.

Yes, and their fair share of taxes is pretty much all of them....  How about churches?  Or better yet, who wants to hand deliver that new market-rate assessment to the local mosque?

I'm going to sign off here and we'll meet back here tomorrow at the same time....