Tuesday Trifles

Does it seem a little quiet to you?  Get used to it, as that will be the prevailing conditions until April.

Amateur Relief - One recurring theme in these pages has been the diminished state of the U.S. Amateur.  That's hard to watch, given that I'm old enough to (almost) remember when it was a more meaningful championship than the U.S. Open.

The primary culprit has undoubtedly been the PGA Tour, most significantly in discontinuing of Q-School.  Requiring young players to complete a year of indentured servitude on the Nationwide Nike Hogan Web.com Corn Fairy Tour can only force them to turn pro earlier, thereby weakening the field at the USGA's August event.

It's also true that some of the Am's thunder has been stolen by the NCAA, whose move to the team match-play format has been a home run.  But the key here is the calendar... the kids will stay until May, but August is too big an ask.

I'm not sure this will have a huge effect, but I was nonetheless pleased by this announcement from USGA, as it's nice for them to at least acknowledge the effect they can have on the young 'uns:

As the U.S. Women’s Amateur kicks off in Mississippi, the eventual winner will get to celebrate an undeniably grand perk whether or not she remains an amateur. 

Going forward immediately, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur reigning champions can use their exemptions into the U.S. Open whether they turn pro or not, the USGA announced Monday. 

“We believe this change gives our champions an important option as they choose whether and when to embark on their professional careers,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA Senior Managing Director of Championships. 

Four of the last 10 U.S. Amateur winners and three of the last 10 U.S. Women’s Amateur champions passed on using the exemption in favor of turning pro. With around 10 months between the completion of the amateurs and the opens, players increasingly have been unable to justify passing up professional golf opportunities for one tournament appearance, even one of the U.S. Open’s stature.

This will forever be know as The Hovland Rule, because of the following:

Hovland played great at the U.S. Open, finishing T-12, before finally turning pro the following week at the Travelers Championship. It was the first of five PGA Tour events Hovland played on sponsor’s exemptions. In those events, the 21-year-old from Norway continued to shine, earning the equivalent of 305 FedEx Cup points. But that was not enough to crack the top 125 in the FedEx Cup points standings (he was 143rd), to be able to secure a PGA Tour card for 2019-’20, and now must play in the Korn Ferry Tour Final Series to try to get on the PGA Tour next season.

As is so often typical, the narrative breaks down under examination:

Even though everyone knows the USGA does not move quickly, Monday’s welcome change in allowing the reigning U.S. Amateur winner to retain their U.S. Open

exemption even if they turn pro in the months after winning, was met with fingers pointed at Viktor Hovland. 

While it is logical that Hovland remained an amateur to play the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, therefore costing him valuable FedExCup points had he been playing as a pro, it is illogical to think the USGA acted within hours of Hovland missing out on earning his PGA Tour card by just a few points.

Of course they did not and of course they have been contemplating this change for some time.

Even better, based on the points handed out at Pebble Beach, Bill Speros at Golfweek reasons that Hovland still would have missed earning his card…by one point.

But that ignores his opportunity to play in other events between the NCAAs and the Open at Pebble.  It's good for them to give the kids additional flexibility, though it's another party that has frozen the kids out.

Ryan Lavner is with me on this, decrying the closed shop that is the PGA Tour, making a point that I hadn't considered:

Forget about the roughly $330,000 that Hovland left on the table by remaining an amateur. If he was good enough to accrue more than 100 FedExCup points in those limited starts, then he should be able to apply them once he turned pro this summer.

After all, he earned those points based on his skill, not his status. 

Why should he have to start at zero like everyone else? 

A Tour spokesperson said Monday that the amateur issue has been reviewed in the past and that the Player Advisory Council and Board have “taken the view that the PGA Tour is an organization of professional golfers, and therefore membership criteria should be based on play as a professional.” In light of the USGA’s decision, the Player Advisory Council is expected to reconsider the events that have a special eligibility category for the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, such as the Arnold Palmer Invitational and RBC Heritage.

 Nice little racket you got going there...

But the Tour still has done little to help its future stars and change the reality that it’s a closed shop with fewer access points to the big circuit. The top young players face a tougher road to instant membership, with all but a select few forced to apprentice for at least a year on the various developmental tours before they can get their shot. 

The USGA recognized the shifting landscape and offered at least a small reprieve. 

The Tour should do the same for the amateurs who previously earned those precious points.

 And yet, John Daly can seemingly tee it up whenever it strikes his fancy....

Shibunomania - Who can turn the world on with her smile?  Yeah, that Japanese kid who won at Woburn.... Randall Mell has a lovely profile of the kid:

The 20-year-old from Japan won the hearts and minds of England and beyond with what can only be described as a blissful romp to the trophy at Woburn Golf Club. 

She reshaped what it looks like to play under intense pressure. 

Has anybody ever made it look more fun playing the back nine on the Sunday of a major while tied for the lead? 

Shibuno knew where she stood as she marched through a tunnel of adoring new fans to reach the 18th tee, but with her 10,000-watt smile fully radiating, she began high-fiving anybody who wanted a high five.

I wish I had seen it, but I can hardly believe this story:

And after striping her drive into the middle of the final fairway, she seemed oblivious to the mounting tension. She stood behind her bag, lightheartedly chatting with her caddie while waiting for the green to clear.

In fact, she said something that made her caddie burst out laughing. 

What did she say? 

“I said if I shank this second shot, it would be very embarrassing,” Shibuno said. 

A media center full of reporters laughed.

She said the S-word out loud, and lived to tell of it.... She's my new hero.

FedEx Cup Fever -  Have you caught it?  Believe me, it's not because they haven't been trying to beat us senseless with it....

For instance, this:

Everything you need to know about the 2019 FedEx Cup Playoffs

Is this one of those shortest book ever written jokes?

How it works 

The FedEx Cup is a season-long competition where players on the PGA Tour compete for points in order to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. It began in 2007 and is now in its 13th year. Justin Rose is the defending champion, while Tiger Woods is the only player to have won it multiple times. 

Players can earn points based on their finishes at each of the events on the tournament schedule. The more wins and better finishes you have, the more points you rack up. While alternate events will offer as much as 300 points to the winner, major tournaments and the Players Championship award 600 points to the winner. Regular PGA Tour events offer 500 points, while World Golf Championships award 550 points to the victor.

Pretty exciting stuff, no?  And just a remnder, they'l be using a Nascar-like staggered start at East Lake:

For the first time, the Tour Championship will be a strokes-based system where the player with the lowest score will win both the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup. Therefore, in order to win the FedEx Cup, you must win the Tour Championship.

Can'y wait to see how folks react to this....

This Golf Digest slide show is unintentionally funny:

THE FEDEX CUP'S MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS

Why is it funny?  Because this is the picture they use on the home page:

That was a special moment, but it was coincidentally during the FedEx Cup playoffs....  And here's a Pro Tip, guys:  If you're most memorable moments include Heath Slocum, they're likely not all that memorable.

Think Golf Digest is in the tank for the Tour?  In addition to that amusing slideshow, they also offer FAQ's about the faux playoffs, though they seem to elide anything that might, you know, make us laugh at it all.  For example:

Is that it for the changes? I could have sworn I read something about the scoring system getting overhauled. 

It did, actually. (Good memory!) Specifically, for the Tour Championship. Instead of all 30 players starting with the same score, this year players will be staggered by strokes based on where they stand in the FedEx Cup points list. The No. 1 ranked player will start the final tournament at 10 under par, with the No. 2 player at eight under, and then seven under, six under and five under for Nos. 3-5. Nos. 6-10 will be at four under; Nos. 11-15 start at three under; Nos. 16-20 start at two under; Nos. 21-25 start at one under; and Nos. 26-30 start at even par. The individual with the best score after the stroke adjustment, not merely the best 72-hole score, will be the winner of the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.

But then a minor issue arose, in that the folks running the Official World Golf Rankings refused to award points based upon those final results incorporating the staggered start.  So, we descend through the looking glass, and OWGR points will be awarded based on what the guys shoot over those 72 holes.  Which means that a guy from the back of the field could be awarded a "win", while never having to close out a tournament....  What could go wrong?

If you haven't caught the fever yet, Golf Digest will not stop trying:

The good, the bad and the painful: A history of Tiger Woods at Liberty National

There's nothing all that good or bad, just a couple of second place finishes.  But, you know, heath Slocum!

Golf Is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want -  Folks like to get bent out of shape, so this story tees up nicely for them:

Putt, putt, pray? Churchgoers will be able to do exactly that soon at Rochester Cathedral, located just outside of London. 

A mini golf complex has been constructed within the cathedral and its design is focused on many bridges. Reverend Rachel Phillips has said those bridges are included to draw connections for people to the bridges that must be built in their own lives spiritually.

Sink the putt into the clowns mouth, and be granted...I don't know, absolution.

Of course, this was reminiscent of our 2007 visit to Ballintubber Abbey in Co. Mayo, Ireland:

We did....

Your Gratuitous Trump-Bashing Du Jour - The Forecaddie has done some good actual reporting, though in this case he seems to have done little more than read a newspaper:

With The Northern Trust landing at Liberty National this week, The Forecaddie recalls

not long ago how Trump Ferry Point was thought to be part of the tournament’s rotation. Shoot, The Man Out Front is old enough to remember back in 2014 how Trump Ferry Point was considered by some to be penciled in for a U.S. Open at some point. 

Now, the New York muni is losing money, has no big tournaments on the schedule and golf’s biggest organizations have locked up other, mostly older venues instead of chasing modern venues. 

The backstory: what turned out to be an erroneous Golf.com report five years ago had the Jack Nicklaus and Trump Golf-managed public course hosting the 2017 and 2020 Barclays, now the Northern Trust. That same year, the USGA’s Mike Davis made two high-profile visits to the course featuring amazing New York City views, ostensibly to chime in with thoughts on what worked and what did not. There was a race to lock up New York-area courses and public venues, and Ferry Point fit beautifully as a New York City-owned property, a TV-friendly location and the Nicklaus branding adding to its allure.

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you, that Trump would oversell one of his properties.  Though it's not actually his, he's just the guy that got it finished and operates it.

A New York Daily News story this week outlined how, after posting profits around $500,000 a year, Trump Golf reported a $122,000 loss for Ferry Point and blamed the

city for a delayed gas pipe installation that cut into clubhouse revenues. The city gave Trump Golf a four-year rent-free start and covers irrigation costs. Next year a $300,000 rent fee will be tacked on to the bottom line. 

With rounds for the course down, the Forecaddie poked around the online tee sheet and found that even in the prime month of August, in a strong economy and with reviews for the course mostly positive, Trump Ferry Point appears to be wide open for play most weekdays and weekend afternoons. At a $224 green fee and offering barely-noticeable variable pricing, the cost to play is significantly higher than other New York City courses.

This is an issue with most high-end daily fee facilities, similar to the Pete Dye course at Pound Ridge.  Additionally, Ferry Point is burdened with a uniquely horrible location next to the traffic choke-point Whitestone Bridge.

This was a predictable failure, but the failure belongs to and has been paid by the citizens of New York City.  Despite that which one might read in the Daily News....

Thanks For Trying To Cheer Me Up - Somehow I missed this Q&A from Shippy's mailbag:

Give me something to look forward on the golf calendar for the rest of the year. Seriously, there is not one thing to get excited about. – @DJohnsonsSWAG 

Umm, the BMW PGA Championship, the flagship event of the European Tour? Next week’s Ladies Scottish Open. The Korn Ferry playoffs, which throb with tension. The Dunhill on the f’ing Old Course. The Solheim Cup. The Australian Open. The South African Open. The LPGA’s Tour Championship. The First Tee Open, the best event on the Senior Tour. Must I go on?

I'll concede him the Dunhill, though his list just makes all the more depressed....  At first, when I saw the BMW, I thought he was going to try to sell us on the wonders of Medinah.   

I'm playing tomorrow, so there will likely be no blogging.