The exciting PGA Tour playoffs start this morning, and your humble blogger is a week from departure for Scotland... Guess which is the more significant? All sorts of scheduling issues ahead, so I'll deal with the calendar below.
The Fever - Your humble blogger remains bereft of excitement, so we're fortunate to have Dylan Dethier with no less than seven reasons to be stoked:
PRESIDENTS CUP DRAMA (U.S. Edition)
Yes, there’s that looming Woods-as-playing-captain drama looming, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to U.S. Presidents Cup intrigue. Take a peek at the list of players who would need a captain’s pick to qualify: Rickie Fowler (11), Tiger Woods (12), Phil Mickelson (14), Patrick Reed (17), Bubba Watson (19), Jordan Spieth (29) and then — bear with me — Collin Morikawa (57) and Matthew Wolff (81).
If the perennial faces of American team golf don’t rally throughout the playoffs, Woods will be forced to make some tricky cuts. The intrigue here is partly the Presidents Cup itself but largely the opportunity to establish a tangible ranking of current American players. Ranking stuff is fun! This will be no exception.
Have the words "Presidents Cup" and drama ever been used in the same sentence? Excluding, of course, ironically...
Dylan double-dips (and who doesn't love alliteration) here with a matching entry about the International team, where the issue of greatest import is that Jazz Janewattananond make the team, just to hear Gary McCord stumble over the name.
But I'm not sure how much more of this I can watch:
WHAT’S UP WITH JORDAN SPIETH?
The Golden Boy who was remains among the most fascinating characters on Tour, butfor a different reason now. Spieth currently has an unmatched ability to go from world-beater to hopelessly lost one day to the next — like last week, when he plummeted 66 spots on the Saturday leaderboard to go from contention to missing the secondary cut. Spieth’s elite putting can duct-tape together sketchy ball-striking from time to time, and he’s got plenty to play for — two good tournaments could earn him a spot in the Tour Championship and re-entry into Presidents Cup pick talk. On the other hand, his scoring average has skyrocketed on weekends all season, which is now a big enough sample size to red-flag Spieth’s reliability.
Damn Lies! I've been reliably informed that our Jordan's game is so very close to returning to form...
Of course, there's this little change in format:
WEIRD FINALE FORMATTING
You don’t have to like it. But admit that you’re curious how it will all feel when it starts. Remember, this year’s Tour Championship has a bizarre, untested new format where the No. 1 player in the FedEx standings will start the week at 10 under par, with the rest of the field beginning several strokes behind. If Koepka takes his head start and just burns the chase pack, this will all feel sort of dumb and anticlimactic. But, Woods’ win last year excepted, the Tour Championship/FedEx Cup split already made the season finale feel sort of dumb and anticlimactic, so this at least gives us a clean resolution by week’s end — and a shootout with crazy money on the line.
What's this untested bit? Nascar and Formula One have been using this format for years, and there's no difference in golf.
Despite Dylan's best efforts, I remain stubbornly unstoked.....though, of course, your mileage may vary.
In the interest of continuity, here's a snippet on this subject from Alan Shipnuck's new mailbag:
Aren’t you excited about the new Tour Championship format with seeding from -10 to even par? Will Brooks be able to muster a fist-pump after he boat-races everyone? -@mdstoner
I liked the idea when it was announced just for its sheer nuttiness, but now that the Tour Championship is nearly upon us I’m starting to rethink things. I mean, if Brooks does open with a 64 it could get ugly early. And if Tiger shoots the best 72- hole score but doesn’t win the tournament there will be hell to pay in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Probably some other scenarios as well, but as for the concept of Tiger shooting the best score, fans will want to read this Mike Bamberger take on Tiger releasing his chakra, or something... It's got that new-agey feel to it, but this curmudgeon remains puzzled by Tiger's post-Masters extended vacation. For a man that's supposedly rediscovered his love of the game, he doesn't seem to want to play it all that often....
Of course, I don't know how his back is feeling, and no doubt you heard him throwing cold water on his playoff run earlier in the week. Despite the warm weather, there was this warning sign as well:
Near the end of his first nine at Liberty National, Woods appeared to be in pain, wincing after a handful of shots. He decided to pack it in on the pro-am at the ninth, refrainingfrom hitting full swings for the rest of the morning.
Woods did continue to walk with his amateur partners on the final nine holes, and he threw down balls around greens to work on his short game. His spirits also were up, chatting with his group and briefly meeting PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
Nevertheless, word of Woods’ decision quickly spread and became the talk of the course.
Walking off the 18th green, Woods addressed the media, conceding his body felt “stiff.”“This is how it is,” Woods said by the Liberty National clubhouse. “Some days I’m stiffer than others. Yesterday, I was out there driving it great. … Today, I'm stiff. Hopefully I'm not that way tomorrow."
Woods tried to placate worries by adding that “it’s best to be smart” about matters like this, and that halting his round was merely precautionary.
As an aside, this can't be good for the Tour's dalliance with legalized gambling. When the only player bettors care about wakes up with a hinky back, seems like a pretty big flaw in the business model. But what do I know, I've never been a Live Under Par™ kind of guy...
Better yet, the festivities will get off to a low key start this morning:
Tiger Woods will be greeted by a surreal sight Thursday morning at the Northern Trust. And we're not referring to the Manhattan skyline.
On Wednesday afternoon a vicious storm rolled through the New York metropolitan area, with a tornado touching down just miles from Liberty National, site of this week's FedEx Cup Playoff event. The course did not receive the brunt of the weather, although it failed to escape unscathed.
Due to heavy rain and winds up to 60 mph, grandstands, hospitality venues, signage, tents and fences were damaged.PGA Tour and tournament officials confirmed Wednesday night that no one was hurt. However, fans won't be allowed onto Liberty National until 10 a.m. on Thursday, as maintenance crews race to repair damage to the course.
It's always a bit eerie when that happens, but the items header has that myopic focus that's not actually helpful for the Tour and our game:
Tiger Woods, field to begin Northern Trust on empty course as storm damage forces organizers to delay fan entrance Thursday
If a tree falls in the woods and Tiger doesn't hear it....
But wait, there's more good news for the Tour, as two of the Tour's big names decided to talk about slow play...First, the sheriff:
“I get that you can take a long time for your thought process, but once you’re donethinking about it, just go. What else is there to do? That’s been the problem I have,” Koepka said Wednesday. “It’s just gotten out of hand. It seems now that there are so many sports psychologists and everybody telling everybody that they can’t hit it until they are ready, that you have to fully process everything. I mean, I take 15 seconds and go, and I’ve done all right.”
Hey, they have an inalienable right to wait for their wind.... Then this guy with the funny accent:
Rory McIlroy doesn’t think a shot clock in golf would be the perfect fix to pacing issues, but the Northern Irishman wants something done.
“For me, I think the guys that are slow are the guys that get too many chances before they are penalized,” McIlroy said. “So, it should be a warning and then a shot. It should be, you’re put on the clock and that is your warning, and then if you get a bad time while on the clock, it’s a shot. That will stamp it out right away.
“I don’t understand why we can’t just implement that. We are not children that need to [be] told five or six times what to do. OK, you’re on the clock. OK, I know if I play slowly here, I’m going to get penalized, and I think that’s the way forward.”
Not what Jay Monahan wants the guys talking about this weekend, though doing anything about seems off the table.
One last bit before we move, again with headers that don't deliver the goods. Apparently there was an award ceremony for those exciting Wyndham Awards, which somehow I tragically missed. This header seems to promise bad blood, no?
Rory McIlroy takes savage jab at Matt Kuchar for caddie-payment controversy
Savage? Rory has never seemed the type, but this certainly has promise.... Though you're gonna be disappointed:
As players were interviewed in front of a small crowd, Kuchar explained how he was bummed that McIlroy beat him by only two points (574 to 572), which was a difference of $300,000. McIlroy, who finished second on the list, grabbed $1.5 million while
Remind me, which of these guys is the savage? Kuchar earned $1.2 million for third.“I’m still mad; Rory was just telling me he passed me by two points — two points,” Kuchar said. “That’s $300,000 over two points.”
That’s when McIlroy decided to bring up one of the most controversial stories of the season.
“And we all know what money means to him,” McIlroy quipped.
Kuchar, McIlroy, Koepka and the rest of the crowd broke out in laughter, which gave way to a few “Ohhhs.”
Kooch will make him pay for that jab, but savagery it ain't.
Golfers Behaving Badly, A Recurring Feature - In fact, it's basically the raison d'etre of this modest little blog.
We'll lede with our current bad-boy, Thorbjorn Olesen, where the surprise is mostly the absence of any further details of the incident. I mean, why bother having British tabloids if they're not all over a story such as this?
There's news, but not much in the way of details:
Danish golfer Thorbjorn Olesen has been charged with sexual assault, common assault and being drunk on an aircraft. He is scheduled to appear in an English court on Aug. 21.
Also Tuesday, the European Tour suspended Olesen pending the investigation into his arrest. A Tour spokesperson confirmed the ban, saying the Tour would have no comment during the ongoing legal proceedings.
Setting aside our horror at his behavior, there are a couple of amusing aspect to the story... First,as we've noted previously, the appearance of Ian Poulter in a supporting role:
Olesen allegedly assaulted a woman and urinated in the aisle of a plane while drunk on the flight. The Sun reported that Ian Poulter had to calm the 29-year-old Olesen after Olesen was allegedly abusive toward passengers and crew in first class. Olesen allegedly assaulted the woman while Poulter slept.
Poults as the voice of reason and calm is certainly casting against type, but him sleeping through the assault has comedic overtones as well.... can we hope that the victim did the same?
This is amusing as well:
“He started abusing some of the passengers and crew and then made a pass at one of the female passengers before taking a leak in the aisle,” one passenger on the flight told The Sun. “It was shocking behavior. You would expect it maybe on a budget airline but not in the first-class cabin on BA.”
On exactly which budget airline do you expect passengers to pee in the aisle? I'd posit that he has it exactly backwards, because in First Class the drinks are free. Also, the passengers tend to be a more entitled lot, not inclined towards asking, "Mother, may I pee in the aisle?"
But how is it that the golfing press hasn't filled in any background on the perp? He's been on tour for quite a few years now, hobnobbing with players, writers, sponsors and hangers-on, yet no one has seen fit to fill in his background. Is there a history here?
We segue now from a this isolated incident the the man that has quite obviously locked up the lifetime achievement award in the category, finding that the problem is us:
From childhood psychiatry to criminal institutions, the correlation between age and irresponsible behavior, and the corresponding forgiveness granted the behavior, is acontentious debate. Though western judicial systems have generally become less permissive and lenient toward youth in the past 30 years, there remains a high threshold for thoughtless and erratic actions stemming from immaturity, according to Stephen J. Morse, professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Adolescents make serious mistakes as a result of developmental immaturity that they would not make under similar circumstances after they mature,” Morse wrote in his paper “Immaturity and Irresponsibility,” dealing with the weight of one’s actions. “Consequently, many argue, adolescents should be protected from the full consequences of their immature mistakes, lest their lives be ruined by developmental factors they would outgrow in the normal course of life.”
In a way, fans were protecting Garcia by not holding him accountable. More so than most stars, Tiger included, Sergio was timeless in our collective mind, forever the prodigy that pranced up Medinah’s fairways with the exuberance only a 19-year-old can muster. Those images from that PGA Championship weekend, now 20 years gone, were indelible, instilling a deep-rooted rationalization, Holden would argue, to what would follow.:
Hey, I've done my part... How many times can I post that spitting video?
Interestingly, Morse dumps this on the fans, without any mention of the Tours, yanno, the party obviously responsible for disciplining that litany of unbecoming conduct. We don't know what actions they've taken, because they take the position that all golfers are gentlemen. So, who you gonna believe, Nurse Ratched or your lyin' eyes?
Swing Coaches Behaving Badly - Given the frequency with which David Leadbetter has been fired by his pupils, you'd think his skin might have thickened. But despite the passage of almost four years, this one still seems raw:
David Leadbetter, who was Ko's swing coach from November 2013 to December 2016, said the constant changes—Ko has switched coaches and caddies multiple times since
The couple in happier times. they worked together, in addition to switching her equipment—are part of the problem. Leadbetter didn't stop there, offering his opinion on what she needs to do to resurrect her career in a radio interview with New Zealand’s Radio Sport.
"My advice would be look to take a break right now," Leadbetter said in the interview, according to a Reuters report. “She doesn’t need to play for the rest of the year.
Despite no longer being on Team Ko's payroll, he only wants the best for out Lydia. Yeah, right, as we can readily see that he's being constructive in his criticism:
Part of that team is Ko's parents, who Leadbetter was not afraid to call out.
"Her parents have a lot to answer for—a case of unbelievable ignorance," he said. "They tell her when to go to bed, what to eat, what to wear, when to practice and what to practice. And they expect her to win every tournament. ... They need to let her go, let her fly, let her leave the nest so to speak and find her own way. If she can do that, we could see Lydia back."
This is not the first time Leadbetter has referred to Ko's parents as part of the problem, though the most recent time he mentioned only her father. In a blog post last April, which Leadbetter wrote in response to an ESPN piece about the deterioration of Ko's game, he cited an instance when Ko's father, whom he referred to as a "non-accomplished golfer," heard rumors that Ko needed to change her swing and made suggestions to her to change it, without any input from her coaches.
That's great, David, because a lot of spurned advisers would resort to unsupported ad hominems, but you're above all that.
We all have our concerns about Lydia's path, but this is quite obviously a man still settling scores. But this can't be good for business, can it? Say you're a parent of a teen phenom.... Do you take her or him to the Harmons, who take the ups and downs of this business with some perspective, or Leadbetter, who will call you names for years after the divorce.
Lydia had this when asked for comment:
It hasn't been the same since she lost the glasses... Not sure those shades will do the trick, but it's a start.
Alan in Full - Shippy's mailbag had some other goodies, such as a fun riff on the adorable Hinako Shibuno:
Is joy making a comeback? I swear, Shibuno and Hovland look like they are smiling and legit enjoying themselves out there. Refreshing to say the least. – @laz_versalles
It really is. Gawd, how we’ve suffered: Furyk’s scowl, Stacy Lewis’ furrowed brow, Dustin’s blank stare, Bryson’s huffiness, J.B. Holmes’ look of constipation, Lexi’s slumped shoulders… we can go on and on. Golf is fun, and these people are supposed to be in the entertainment business. Shibuno’s delight was contagious, and her brisk pace of play a revelation — hopefully she can inspire other pros, and not just us observers. It would make for a more enjoyable product, and all these dour golfers might discover that if their attitude and body language improve their score might follow suit.
What, you don't find JB Holmes joyful? It's a business like any other, so we should be surprised when they treat it as such. But that said, the reaction to this young lady is quite genuine.
How would you rank Shibuno’s victory in terms of significant events in history of women’s pro golf? I’d put it very high on the list. -Dave (@popsandsunshine)
Well, it’s not Babe Zaharias winning the U.S. Women’s Open in 1948 or Nancy Lopez’s win streak in ‘78 or Se Ri Pak’s Open victory in ’98. It was certainly a joyous performance, but we won’t know the significance for a while. Can Shibuno keep winning and be a crossover figure who draws in fans and lifts the sport? Or is this Birdie Kim redux, a lovable character who has one great moment and then quietly fades away? I hope it’s the former, but only time will tell.
John Daly at Crooked Stick? let's hope we don't feel about Shibuno the way we do about Daly many years later.
On the Wyndham:
How can an event like the Wyndham survive if it’s always the last event before the playoffs? Listen, playoffs for golf don’t exactly get the juices going for even the most hardcore of fans – so the whole “let’s see who can make the 125 and keep their cards for next season” is not enough? -@KeithKHorton
The lack of starpower is certainly an issue, but I think this slot has actually given Greensboro some identity — it’s the Last Chance Saloon of golf tournaments. If you follow the game you have to be invested in some of the guys lurking in the nether regions of the Cup standings and thus fighting for their livelihoods. Sunday at Sedgefield is about as tense as it gets.
Alan hits all the right notes here. It seems to be working for Wyndham, who has doubled down, and watching guys fighting for their careers can be good theater.
Of course, there are the softballs:
Exactly how much money will FedEx have to spend to make golf nerds care about their Cup? -@jarodhitchcock
No such number exists. But instead of kvetching about the Cup I try to focus on the fact we get three tournaments with good fields and pretty good venues and the added bonus that there is drama at the bottom of the leaderboard as well as the top.
Liberty National? Medinah? East Lake? Which of these even sniffs "Pretty good"? But he's right about good fields....
Why are so many stars having down seasons? From Jordan’s debacle, to JT, Rickie, DJ, Bryson & Xander doing very little after Feb (none contended more than 1-2x), to Jason Day being invisible, the non-majors have never wanted for star power more. -@brianros1
Some of the reasons are idiosyncratic, like JT’s wrist injury. I have an upcoming GOLF Magazine cover story about how Bryson has gone mental experimenting with wedges. Dustin has had his manhood taken by Brooks. But for sure it’s a disconcerting trend. The new schedule may be partly to blame, as some players have struggled to recalibrate their biorhythms. Hopefully things return to normal next season because it’s always more fun when the stars are playing their best.
The majors as well, no? These things tend to ebb and flow, so a bit early to panic.... Except, maybe, for Jordan, who seems in full ebb mode.
Now that the season is effectively over, what are your thoughts on the ebbs and flows of this new season structure? Seems like some players (like JR) are not so crazy about it. -@SNESdrunk
I’m not so sure what all the kvetching is about – I like the rhythm of the new schedule. Pebble-LA-Mexico City-Players-Match Play is an awesome way to kick off things, and then it’s a major a month, which is kind of awesome. For all the bellyaching, the season ends basically three weeks earlier – not a big deal in my book. Yes, it’s a long wait until the Masters, but in the old days it also felt like an eternity from the PGA until Augusta. I, for one, am looking forward to having the chance to miss the Tour for a little while.
True enough, but April seems like it's an eternity away.
Is Dustin Johnson considered the biggest underachiever in golf since Greg Norman? -Jeff (@War_Eagle1988)
I know it feels like Dustin has been around since the days of Old Tom Morris, but he just turned 35. He still has plenty of time to win three or four more major championships and achieve his awesome potential. But, yes, if he ends his career with only the one major it will be epic underachieving. As for Shark, for a long time he was wildly overrated and now he’s skewing toward under appreciated. Yes, he should’ve nabbed way more majors, but his worldwide victory total is pretty mind-boggling, and the many weeks he spent at number one tells you how much of a force he was.
Yanno, I could see conceding DJ 3-4 majors in the immediate aftermath of Oakmont, but has he contended in one since then? I think the Norman parallel is reasonably apt, though at least Norman made a habit of contending....
Blogging Schedule - It's mostly bad news, kids, but we'll get through it together. Tomorrow I have an early Governors Cup match and Monday is the Met. Golf Writers outing to Bethpage Black, so blogging is possible either day. We leave for Scotland a week from today, so you can amuse yourselves with the thought of how the Black always destroys my golf game days before we head to the Auld Sod. I expect they'll give us the Sunday PGA Championship pins as well, so there goes my putting stroke along with my swing.
I'll plan on a light blogging schedule for the remainder of next week, as I don't want you to go into withdrawal. Then, a sis our tradition, I'll invite you to tag along digitally for our Golf in the Kingdom (of Fife) trip. That's always good fun, at least for me....
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