Monday, May 13, 2019

Weekend Wrap

Wet!  That pretty much wraps any weekend these days, no?  This one did differ in being wet AND friggin' cold, but at least we finally got our opening day event in.

The Full Nelson - I did watch just a little of it yesterday, and it was every bit as exciting as expected....  Yeah, less a feature and more a bug:
As we've seen on multiple occasions on the PGA Tour of late, as recent as last week at the Wells Fargo, it's not exaggerating to say anyone in the field can win. All it takes is one good week for it all to come together. Just ask Max Homa, whose win at Quail Hollow came two seasons after he missed 15 of 17 cuts on tour in 2017. 
Unlike Homa, though, Sung Kang came quite close to breaking through in his previous 158 starts on tour, collecting four top-three finishes in his career, including a runner up at the 2017 Shell Houston Open. If the 31-year-old from South Korea kept plugging away, his time would come too. 
It did come Sunday at Trinity Forest, where Kang carded a final-round 67 to edge out Scott Piercy and Matt Every by two shots to win the AT&T Byron Nelson. Kang, who permanently moved to the Dallas area in 2011, was stagnant early in the day, playing his first seven holes in even par and briefly losing the lead to Every. But he recovered by making six birdies and two bogeys on his final 11 holes to come out on top. 
"Yesterday we finished too late," said Kang, referring to the Saturday night finish following a seven-hour rain delay, which forced him and the leaders to return to the course early on Sunday to finish their third rounds. 
"I didn't have time to sleep much, only slept about three hours. So I talked to my caddie—I can't really be fully focused for a whole 18 holes, so I just wanted to be chill and having some fun and then when my turn came just try to really focus in and it worked out great. I'm so happy right now."
Well, that's good, because if you're not happy now...

Longstanding grinder finally breaks through, you might be expecting me to love the moment.  However, the reader with too much time on his hands will recall that Kang's name was cited recently on these pages, and not at all favorably.  A precis of the incident can be readily found by Googling Kang's name with that of Joel Dahmen, this one topped Google's hits.  No need to re-litigate it here, but Kang took a clearly illegal drop, aided and abetted by a PGA Tour rules official.  The most damning piece of evidence was Kang's own words describing his ball flight, but the official chose to disregard that testimony.  It was a bad incident and forgiveness requires contrition....

In other news from Trinity Forest, this was ill-considered, as they know it's always the husband:
PGA Tour player accidentally hits wife in head with errant shot at AT&T Byron Nelson
And your proof for its accidentality is what exactly?  I mean, these guys are good, and it's so hard to live under par with the old ball and chain around....

Matt Every had a near miss, though the strongest praise was for his early-week form:

Take that, John Daly.....  Rory, as well.

Shall we talk a bit about the PGA?  Or shall we make like a golf magazine, and only speak of the event as it relates to Tiger?  

Bethpage Blues - Lots of discussion, just no real agreement on the specifics...  For instance, this guy thinks Black will live up to its original mandate to torment the player:
For the first time ever, the PGA Championship will be played in May instead of August.
The 101st edition of the tournament will be played on the infamous Black Course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island for the first time as well. Because of the change in timing of this year’s tournament, Bethpage Black is all but certain to play differently in the spring compared to the summer. 
The difference in seasons could also result in the course being even more difficult than it already is, according to PGA of America’s Chief Championships Officer Kerry Haigh. 
“It is likely that the course will play more difficult in May than it would have in August due to the fact that the health of the grasses is significantly better in May,” Haigh said. “The fairways, roughs and greens are all actively growing at that time of year, whereas in August they are struggling to stay alive due to the heat and humidity.”
Well, grass needs two basics to start growing in the Spring, water and sun/warmth....  It's had plenty of the former (too much, actually, but thank god it's built on a sandy substrate), and probably just enough of the latter.... This to me could be the bigger factor:
“It is also more likely that we may have stronger winds and more moderate air temperatures which will also make it more challenging as well as more enjoyable to walk around for both players, caddies and spectators,” Haigh said.
Shack begs to differ:
Warning: The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course That Players May Light Up During The 2019 PGA
For three simple reasons: spring conditions, simple greens and huge changes in the game.  
As Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo noted in this week’s CBS call to promote the new May date for the PGA Championship, the combination of spring conditions and more rain the weekend before means rough is likely to be inconsistent. While long and playing long due to cool conditions, the course should be soft.
Except for the drunk in a cart, they're all very highly skilled.

But as Tom Dunne notes for Golfweek, Bethpage Black was meant to be a beast from the start and has largely maintained that reputation. (I’m sure it’ll still give players some fits but do remember that the 265-yard carry off the 10th tee in 2002 was understandably controversial. Today, it would take a major wind to restore that fear factor. )

Another factor worth watching: the relatively simple greens. In recent years hole locations have been in some astounding places to protect scoring but a soft Bethpage hasn’t many places to hide the holes. So even if the greens are slower than players like and maybe a little bumpy by day’s end, the lack of complexity in the green complexes makes the place more vulnerable.

So it will be interesting to see how the place’s reputation is viewed if the players score well in this PGA. It shouldn’t matter one bit. Because we all know the place has taken on a lot of water and will do so again all day Monday (100% chance of rain). But this is The Black and the good people of Long Island want their course to extract pain!
I tend towards Shack's position here, especially as the forecast for the tournament days looks pretty benign, with maybe just enough showers to keep the place soft.

Joel Beall takes on the issue of whether a Black PGA will look any different than a Black U.S. Open and, while the sample size is quite small, it sure looks like it'll be just as wet.  Not necessarily a good thing....
The conceit of a U.S. Open setup conjures passionate, opinionated responses. For better or worse—as of late, a lean towards “worse”—it is as much of the tournament’s narrative 
as the field. 
The PGA of America, meanwhile. goes to great lengths to ensure setups at the PGA Championships aren't quite as interesting. It eschews the spotlight, preferring the players serve as frontmen while the course provides the backdrop. 
“It is their major championship,” Kerry Haigh, chief championship officer of the PGA of America, said last year. “We want to showcase the best players in the world on great golf courses. I don't really want to talk about it [course setup] because we are not the story."
PGA Championship venues aren’t contrived for the pursuit of an arbitrary winning score. Haigh and the PGA of America play the cards dealt by the course. If anything, one could make the criticism the organization errs on the side of caution, leaving setups that resemble what's regularly seen on the PGA Tour. 
"I'm not saying there's no strategy. I'm not saying that," Pat Perez said at Bellerive last year. "I'm just saying it's—you know, it's not—it's a big course, and there's only really one way to play it. Try to hit as far as you can and hit the fairway and try to attack the pins when the greens are soft. That's kind of what it is."
Errr Pat, that's exactly what you're saying...  But wait, it gets far more amusing:
Admittedly, the disparity can’t be chalked up to ideology alone. There’s a stigma, perhaps undeservedly so, that the quality of PGA courses is slightly below that of the U.S. Open. It’s not that Bellerive, Quail Hollow or Valhalla are bad tracks; they’re just not Shinnecock, Oakmont or Winged Foot. 
Which is what makes this year’s Wanamaker host a compelling study.
OK, Joel, but if Bellerive isn't a bad course, amuse me and tell me what is....  The USGA takes must deserved heat for their recent cock-ups, deserved if only because they're the ones that failed to secure the barn door on distance....

But, if anything, the PGA is the more ridiculous premise.  They complain that the PGA doesn't get any respect, and then they keep taking it to discarded U.S. Open venues....  Why do they guess the venues were discarded?  I mean Atlanta Athletic Club and Bellerive?  In August no less....

And Joel seems a tad simplistic here:
What gives the Black its beastly spirit is rather elementary, at least compared to other challenging tests. Shinnecock requires nuance, strategy and creativity. Discipline and short-game prowess are the methodology at Oakmont. Bethpage? Hit it long, hit it straight and hit the greens. Tiger Woods, en route to winning the 2002 U.S. Open, hit a tournament-best 73.61 greens in regulation versus the event average of 50.64, found 73.21 fairways against the field's 59.13 percentage, and boasted an average driving distance of 280.5 yards to the field's 265.5 mark. Same deal for Lucas Glover, winner of the 2009 U.S. Open: 291.1 yards off the tee to the competition's 273-yard average, 72.22 GIR versus the field's 58.52 figure, and a 71.3 fairway percentage compared to the field's 63.57 performance.
Of course, long and straight kind of works anywhere...  The issue comes in assessing the trade-off between length and accuracy, and Joel isn't terribly helpful there.  And wasn't 2009 kind of a long time ago?  

 Alex Myers doesn't seem like he would be old enough to remember this:
PGA Championship 2019: 13 crazy things that happened the last time Bethpage Black hosted a major
Can any of the thirteen out-crazy the fact that Lucas Glover won?  Apparently twelve did....

I totally did not remember this:
2. David Duval almost won

The former World No. 1 is certainly a much bigger name than Glover, but by 2009 he was basically a ceremonial golfer. Still, the 882nd-ranked golfer qualified for the U.S. Open that year and nearly shocked the world. Consider that Duval hadn't had a top-10 in
nearly seven years, and in 2005, he made one cut in 20 starts and earned $7,630 for the season. He would add three more top-10s over the next two seasons, before turning most of his attention to broadcasting. At the time, Duval's surprising performance was a big deal, but it often gets overlooked because of another random close call a month later when a 59-year-old Tom Watson nearly won the Open Championship. 
3. David Duval almost won—with a TRIPLE BOGEY in the final round 
Making Duval's overall comeback even crazier was his final-round comeback. His dreams of winning seemed dashed after a triple bogey on the par-3 third that dropped him eight shots behind, yet he bounced back with five birdies, including three straight on holes 14-16 to briefly tie for the lead. But after he nearly holed a chip on par-3 17, his five-foot par putt didn't drop. "Lipped out twice on that hole today," he joked after. But seriously, with a roller coaster final-round 71, he was that close to one of the most stunning wins in golf history.
Rickie Barnes and almost a Tuesday finish....   They rushed back after 2002, and then after this nightmare never had a thought of going back.  

Shack throws another meme into the mix, the twilight of the Munis hosting majors....  
The state of New York’s glorious Bethpage State Park hosts this week’s 2019 PGA Championship and the 2024 Ryder Cup, while Harding Park is site of next year’s PGA. Throw in one US Open at a true public venue—2021 at Torrey Pines—and that’s about it in the way of muni’s hosting majors. The foreseeable future has been lined up for both the PGA and U.S. Open, with clubs or upscale resort courses the focus. 

But do not despair, as I make the case that these majors at muni’s spawned interest in restoring classic public courses, with a tip of the cap to the new National Links Trust and efforts around the country.
Torrey is a half breed, it does function like a uni for local residents, if you ignore the access issues, though they price like a high-end daily fee for visiting golfers.  What are his other examples?  Chambers?  Erin Hills?  It was a nice thought back in the day, but really didn't play out as intended.

Course superintendent Andy Wilson previews specific golf holes:
What holes do you think will play as the most difficult on the course? 
Nos. 10, 11, 12; that’s a pretty tough way to start your day. That’s three tough par-4s, two 
of which are 500-plus yards. And then 15 and 16 is another titan and a tough two-hole stretch. 17 is no picnic for a par-3. On the front nine, 5 and 9 play difficult. 9 might not seem like a tough hole, but for the Barclays, 9 was a fairly difficult hole. Usually, especially for Thursday and Friday, you see some players in the red. It’s because they’re starting on the front. Scores start to come down as you head to the back. So players who start from the back tees are at a disadvantage. 
On what holes will players will find some relief? 
No. 13 is a par-5 on the back nine and 14 is the shortest par-3 on the course, so I think those are the holes on the back where guys would look to make up some ground. The 7th hole will play as a par-4 again like it did for the U.S. Open. It played as a par-5 at the Barclays so back to a par-70. I think the players like the course. It’s a difficult, but fair test. No. 3 is a tough par-3. It’s a great hole. So the first two holes are probably the pretty holes, maybe the not the most difficult holes. I think No. 3 is where the course starts showing its teeth.
We all remember how brutal Nos. 10 and twelve were into the wind in 2002, though that's almost the Paleozoic era in terms of distance.   But there are an endless array of long, tough Par-4's, so we'll need to watch the clubs guys are hitting into the greens.

Shall we check in with the Tour Confidentialistas?  
2. The A.W. Tillinghast-designed, 7,432-yard par 70 that is Bethpage Black needs little introduction. Its holes are long and so is its rough, and the first time a major was played there (in 2002), Woods was the only player to break par. The Tour’s mashers — Brooks, DJ, Bubba, et al. — have an advantage on most course setups, but will that be especially true this week? 
Sens: Yes — and that puts it in stark contrast to the two more compelling majors that follow it (the U.S. at Pebble and the British Open at Portrush), which are bound to bring more styles into the mix. 
Ritter: Oh, yeah: advantage, bombers. Expect someone from the Tour’s group of 310-yard hitters to lift the Wanamaker. 
Berhow: Yeah, it’s going to be tough for the Kisners and Z. Johnsons of the Tour. I guess weather could be the equalizer, but it’s a touch too soon to predict that.
Especially with the seventh hole playing as a Par-4....  But it seems likely that it'll be the bombers that manage to find a lot of fairways, no?  
Bamberger: I need a thesaurus for “absolutely.” I would be shocked to see anyone other than a proven long-and-straight driver as your winner… Your Jon Rahms, your Dustin Johnsons, your Brooks Koepkas. In Dallas, the fellas swung out of their cleat, because they could. That won’t be the case this week. Rory. Not Phil. Jason Day. Not Tiger. But I’m ready to be proven wrong. 
Shipnuck: It’s one of the brawniest courses on the planet, but with long, wet, juicy rough, playing out of the fairway will be paramount. Length is always an advantage. This week, accuracy is just as important.
Not Phil seems like a lay-up....
3. The PGA historically has been the last of the four majors on the calendar. It is now the second. We’ve debated the move in this space before, but now that we’re on the cusp of PGA week, does the new date feel beneficial for the championship formerly known as “glory’s last shot”?
But "This is major" still works....  It's still stupid, but that doesn't seem a concern for our golf organizations these days.
Sens: Glory’s third-to-last-shot isn’t exactly a thrilling tagline, is it? Not sure what it does for the PGA, but it’s good fun for fans and that’s what matters. Less waiting between the biggies. Bring it on. 
Ritter: If we’re pitching new marketing campaigns, I like “Glory comes second now!” The May date feels awkward this year because it’s new and we’re adjusting. Let’s give it a little time — or at least one event — before passing judgement. 
Berhow: With apologies to the good folks at the PGA of America, it’s still not the Masters, U.S. Open or British, but yes, absolutely, the PGA has some added mojo with this move. May will be great for it and I don’t think it hurts the British Open, which will be the fourth now, one bit.
Which makes it first alternate for the Triple Crown.
Shipnuck: It’s a game-changer for the PGA. At the rate we’re going it could soon pass the U.S. Open in the public imagination.
Really, Alan?  Because I don't see it, and I'm guessing you'll be singing from a different hymnal when we get to your sainted Pebble Beach next month.  

I'm perfectly OK with the calendar logic of the move to May, though it does drive venue issues...   Of course this is the organization that took us to Atlanta, Louisville and Kiawah in sweltering August, so what could go wrong?

It'll not shock you that I have a thing or twelve to say about this query:
5. John Daly will be in the field at the PGA Championship, but he’s not walking this beast of a course. Daly, who won the PGA in 1995, applied for a cart through the American with Disabilities Act and was approved by the PGA of America. He’ll be the first pro to ride a cart in a major since Casey Martin in 1998. Martin, by the way, is fine with Daly using a cart. But Nick Faldo, not so much. “I think walking is an integral part of being a pro golfer,” he said during a conference call last week. “I’ll leave it at that.” Do you have any issues with Daly using a cart this week? And should the rest of the field?
OK, Long John availing himself of the ADA  might be the most Daly thing ever.  At least now we know stupidity is a disability.  But it's these two answers that require defenestration:
Sens: Longtime Daly fan here but, 1) I’m not crazy about the past-champions exemption for this event; feels like Masters-Lite; and 2) this is a guy who made something of a celebration of his poor health decisions for years. In fact, he profited from them. Yeah. I know. Other factors can contribute to the deterioration of his knee but come on, don’t tell me his choices aren’t at least partly related to his inability to walk the course. 
Ritter: Yeah, I love Daly and think he’s great for the game, but I’m not crazy about this decision. If Casey Martin came along today, I think golf, and by extension, society, is in a different place now compared to back then, and Casey would be allowed to compete on Tour with his cart. But Martin’s chronic, degenerative illness is different from Daly’s situation, and now the PGA opens Pandora’s box. Should the other AARPers be allowed to take a cart? Should everyone in the field? Is that something we’re comfortable with?
I'd love to ask Josh and Jeff what they love about the guy, though we could answer for them just as readily.  But they're writers for a major golf publication, so they really should be aware of this:
The 456-page file, obtained by The Florida Times-Union, covers the years 1991 through late 2008 and revealed the following: 
• That the PGA Tour, on seven occasions, ordered Daly to undergo counseling or enter alcohol rehabilitation; 
• That Daly was placed on Tour probation six times;
• That Daly was cited 11 times for "conduct unbecoming a professional";
• That Daly was flagged 21 times for "failure to give best efforts";
• That Daly accrued fines of nearly $100,000 during the period covered in the file. 
The final transgression listed in his file, according to the Times-Union, details Daly's six-month suspension from the PGA Tour at the start of the 2009 golf season after his October 2008 arrest, in which he was found intoxicated outside a Hooters restaurant in North Carolina.
Again, Josh and Jeff, what is it about this man that appeals to you?  Because he seems to be making a mockery of the game at which you earn your living....and yet, they keep giving this jerk sponsors' exemptions.

The gangs then turns to picking their winners....  well, ok, not really winners:
6. The boisterous Bethpage galleries have never been shy about letting players know exactly how they feel. (Right, Sergio?) Which player is most likely to get an earful from the New York crowds at this PGA?
I don't actually expect this to be a huge issue this week unless, of course, the decide to sell beer.  But I am quite worried about that 2024 Ryder Cup....or, yanno, should Sergio contend.
Sens: Beloved Everyman that he is, Daly is still bound to take some flack for the cart. And don’t forget Matt Kuchar. He may have settled up with his fill-in caddie, but fans have selective memories, especially drunk ones, and the whole stinginess thing makes an easy target. 
Bamberger: They’ll cheer Daly. The New Yorker’s attitude is stick it to the man. (Grew up on Long Island.) 
Ritter: I was kicking this around with a colleague this week, and we decided that Rory is quietly lurking as a possible Bethpage villain. First, he’s not an American, which is significant for this debate. He’s also intense and emotional, and he might — might! — react if a loudmouth gave him a shout, which as we all know would only create a snowball effect. 
Bamberger: Rory has the candid gene — New Yorkers feast on it. He’ll have no problem.
It'll likely be situational....  I'd think it's much ado about nothing, unless a foreign player is up against a fan favorite down the stretch....  And there's really only two of those, Tiger and this guy:


Bamberger: Sergio is on his second-chance tour. He’ll get through the week unscathed. I don’t think it’ll be a player at all. I think it’ll be a rules official who has a stopwatch out the first time a player gets in the gnarly wet rough on Thursday. Three minutes goes fast. I fear I will be proven correct.
So those damaged greens and bunker hissy fit?  Just pull something like that this week....

Tiger Scat -  It's all some folks want to talk about, and the TC panel predictably led with him:
1. Welcome to PGA Championship week. Tournament favorite Tiger Woods will make his first start since his Masters win last month (although he was spotted practicing at Bethpage as early as Wednesday). Will the 43-year-old be refreshed for Bethpage Black, or are you expecting rust? And where does he finish?
Josh Sens: Tiger will be good and ready, and I expect that to be plenty good enough for a top 10. Of course, he could win, but this will be both a deeper field and a tougher venue
for Tiger’s game (more strain on the driver). Recoveries of the kind he made in the Masters (birdies after wild tee shots on 14 the first two rounds, for instance) will be harder to come by. I don’t see him as the odds-on favorite but we’ll see plenty of him over the weekend. 
Jeff Ritter: I want to agree with Sens, but another top 10 feels like a big ask. I saw the video where Woods limped into that post-Augusta interview, and then he never entered Quail Hollow. It sure feels like that Masters win took a lot out of him, and it’s understandable. Woods’ week might turn out to be a well-earned letdown … but I’m ready to be proven wrong. 
Josh Berhow: Refreshed! I actually thought him skipping Quail Hollow was a positive sign — he’s confident enough about his game that he doesn’t need another start. I like Tiger to top 10 this week and wouldn’t be surprised to see him contend. The guy can game-manage his way off the tee and make his money with stellar iron play all week. 
Michael Bamberger: No rust. Mentally ready. Game sharp. But I think the course might prove too long and hilly for him, as a walker and a driver. To borrow a phrase (thanks, Jeff), I’m ready to be proven wrong. 
Alan Shipnuck: If he drives it like he did at the Masters he will contend to the bitter end. If he doesn’t, it will be an uphill battle, to say the least. Tiger knows how to peak, physically and mentally. I think he’ll make a strong run
I do agree that he'll need to hit fairways this week.  But an awful lot of things needed to go right for him at Augusta, and it would seem unlikely that the other guys would be so cooperative again.

These guys seem all in on his prospects:
Tiger Woods’ recent Masters win after a 14-year drought at Augusta and 11 years after his U.S. Open victory at Torrey Pines has unleashed a new wave of Tiger Mania — even when it comes to Tour caddies. 
According to a recent poll conducted by the Caddie Network, 53.6 percent of Tour caddies believe Woods will match Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships, while 37.5 percent believe Woods will surpass that number. 
Perhaps the upcoming major schedule has them feeling optimistic: Tiger now has 15 major titles on his resume, and will play Bethpage Black in next week’s PGA Championship and Pebble Beach in June’s U.S. Open — two venues where he has won major titles before.
Even if you're Sam or Charlie Woods, those numbers are quite delusional.  I think it far more likely that he hangs up the spikes with 15 majors than with 18 or 19, but just in case I'll likely watch.

This guy as well, though he at least lets Joe LaCava be the voice of reason:
Yes, 18 is back in play. 
“Bethpage sets up well for him because you have to hit some shots, you have to hit it
both ways,” LaCava said. “It has some length to it, and it could play longer because it could be softer because of the time of the year, so that’s good for him. And he has just as much experience playing the course as anyone.” 
LaCava knows his boss isn’t about to go overboard celebrating his Masters title, that he isn’t ready to find a rocking chair and kick up his golf shoes. Nope, LaCava knows Tiger will dig in his spikes and move forward without looking too far ahead. 
“He knows you have to worry about 16 before you get to 18,” LaCava said. “It’s hard not to think about 18, especially now that he’s gotten to 15. But he’s smart enough to know the win at Augusta wasn’t a free ride to 18. He knows he has to continue to grind. And he will.”
Yeah, 18 isn't really in play until he bags No. 17....  

It also reminds me of all those folks that said Augusta would fix Jordan Spieth.  It's an argument, but it begs the question of what happens when it doesn't....  like it didn't.  All these people talking about 18-19 because he's won at the next two venues, will they issue retractions if Tigers doesn't win one of these two?  

See you tomorrow?   Where else would any of us go in this damn weather? 
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