And a fine weekend it was for your humble blogger. A weekend that's not quite over, thanks to the Monday holiday...Fortunately for my vast readership, today's golf is of the p.m. variety.
Houston, Is This a Problem? - Beats me, because I sure didn't watch any of it, and I'm pretty much the target demo. That said, how can we not love this story:
Lanto Griffin: From Broke To The PGA Tour In Five Months
That's a reprint (repost?) of a Golf Digest first-person account from 2018, and well worth your time. The young man slept on a 54-hole lead and was able to get it to the clubhouse on Sunday, which makes me think we'll see more of him. Of course, I said the same thing about Shaun Micheel, and I've been on a run lately projecting obvious regression candidates, so who knows?
Of course you'll be wondering about that name:
When your hippy parents name you after a spiritual master—and not just any master but Lord Lanto, an “ascended master,” a Chohan of the Second Ray of Illumination, or lessformally, the Lord of Light—you sure as hell better figure out how to be all masterly in
And, so, it has come to pass for Lanto Griffin, who has not quite mastered the game of golf—and no man as yet has—but he is going to the Masters, a spiritual destination if ever there was one, if you’re a golfer. And, what's more, he has ascended to the very heights of the FedEx Cup standings. The look from on high must be stunning.
Huh? I had been reliably informed that Barack Obama was the Lord of Light. But check this out for a deep dive on Lord Lanto:
On October 30, 1966, in cooperation with the God and Goddess Meru, Lanto was granted the dispensation by the Karmic Board for a “mighty transcendent golden flame
Add a Titleist hat, and it's like they were separated at birth. of illumination” to pulsate three hundred feet into the atmosphere over the colleges, universities, divinity and theological schools of America and the world whose students and faculty were and would be receptive to knowledge from higher spheres.The ascended master Lanto conducts classes at the Royal Teton Retreat, the initial retreat of the Great White Brotherhood to where we may ask to be taken in our etheric body at night. Here we learn the fundamentals of the path of initiation. Because of the dispensation of opening the seven retreats of the seven chohans, many tens of thousands of souls are receiving training at inner levels to accelerate their consciousness for the New Age.
I've got a few matters pending before that Karmic Board, but in these times that Great White Brotherhood could be problematic.
Etheric bodies notwithstanding, I found myself rooting for this guy:
Peter Malnati is the 36-hole leader at the 2019 Houston Open. That’s a big deal for a pro with only one career PGA Tour win. Despite that, there’s a good chance Malnati walks off the course and surrenders his lead this weekend.
Everyone please remain calm...
Even though a second PGA Tour win would be a big deal, Malnati has an even bigger deal to… deal with: the birth of his first child. Malnati’s pregnant wife Alicia is due in two weeks, but she could have the baby at any time. If their baby decides his time has come this weekend, Malnati is prepared to drop everything and head to the hospital to be with his wife.
“It’s beyond words to say the excitement and I’m 98 percent excited, two percent terrified, all of that is definitely at play right now. My wife’s the best and she’s going to be the best mother, so we’re going to handle things all right back home, it will be all good.”
That 2% seems on the low side, perhaps resulting in his faltering over the weekend. But he spoke about dreaming of those scenes where young kids run out onto the final green after Dad has won, and I'm just a sap for those kind of stories.
The defining feature of this week is the weak field that showed up, and Shack kicks around the Masters invite for Lanto:
As a longtime proponent of the Masters bequeathing invitation status on most PGA Tour events—excluding opposite field weeks—the brief and controversial change in this policy during Hootie Johnson’s tenure seems a thing of the distant past.When Chairman Billy Payne restored this grand perk of a PGA Tour victory, the logicwas solid and the support unanimous. But with the new schedule dynamics and several fall European Tour events crushing the PGA Tour stops in field quality, the Masters should reconsider the automatic and coveted invitation.
The most obvious reason: golf is an international game and the founders of the Masters made special efforts to include foreign-born players. But the more glaring purpose: huge disparities in field strength.In recent weeks, the BMW PGA Championship, Alfred Dunhill Links and Italian Open all enjoyed decisively superior fields to competing PGA Tour stops:
BMW PGA (416) vs. Sanderson Farms (106)Alfred Dunhill Links (323) vs. Safeway Open (289)Italian Open (248) vs. Houston Open (73)
Last week’s Houston Open featured no top 30 players, two from the world top 50 and was the weakest non-opposite week field in nearly five years. The winner, Lanto Griffin, will receive a Masters invitation while the winner of this week’s much stronger Italian Open will likely have to get in off of his world ranking status (Bernd Wieberger also won the Scottish Open).
Yeah, not a great look for sure, but we also shouldn't over-react given that this is the first year for the event in the Fall. I do think the strengthening of the Euro Tour events is a positive result from the schedule change, however I don't think it will be understood as such in Fortress Ponte Vedra Beach.
Of course, this was my favorite moment from the week:
The latest example of this occurred on Friday at the Houston Open, where Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler was hanging right on the projected cut line on his final hole of the day. Needing at worst a par and potentially a birdie, Scheffler appeared to slightly lose his balance at impact at the Golf Club of Houston's par-3 ninth. As the Golf Channel cameras cut to a shot of Scheffler's ball finding the greenside bunker, Scheffler could be heard saying "Are you kidding me?" adding, "You can't keep your mouth quiet for five minutes, man? Right in the middle of my swing."
Insert your own Bio Kim joke here. Better yet, we've got another item teed up to draw the contrast with Korean culture....
It's Different Over There - Remember that awkward post-victory interview with Kevin Na last Sunday. The one where he went off for a full minute in Korean, with references to false rumors and all that? There is quite the back-story, as Alan Shipnuck reports:
At the heart of Na’s emotional public statement in Vegas is the lingering fallout from the broken engagement with a native Korean woman whose last name is Chung; her identity is a secret in the Korean press and Na declined to provide her first name, saying, “It’spart of what’s unfair about this situation — I’m a public figure and get no privacy while she gets to hide her identity. But I don’t want to reveal it because that would feel like a low blow.” They met in the spring of 2013 through a matchmaker and were engaged before year’s end. They were to be married in November 2014 but the relationship ended a month before the wedding.
In Korean culture, calling off a wedding is a big deal. In October 2014, Na was in Seoul to compete in the Korean Open. The families agreed to meet. It was supposed to be just the formerly-betrothed and their parents but the Chung family brought along a man described as an uncle who turned out to be their attorney, Sukhwa Lee. In Na’s mind the gathering was a respectful way to formally end the engagement and gain closure, but in his telling the Chung family was still trying to salvage the union by any means necessary. Says Na, “Her dad told me, If you don’t change your mind and marry my daughter I’m coming after you.”
And come the did, including this rather bizarre scene:
A couple of days later Na arrived at Woo Jeong Hills golf course for the first round of the Open. Awaiting was Chung’s mother, picketing the front entrance to the club with a sign that said, “American Golfer Na! Give back my daughter’s life as cleanly as you sent her stuff back.”
And it gets worse:
It got messier. Chung filed a lawsuit seeking compensatory damages from Na. The complaint included salacious details about the couple’s sex life, which received titillating coverage in the Korean tabloids. “The reason why my daughter publicly sued him was to prevent future victims,” Chung’s mother told reporters at the time. The Korean term for saving face is chae-myun. It is deeply ingrained in the culture. Being left at the altar by a golf star would be a profound loss of chae-myun.
According to Na, Chung never lived with him in Las Vegas but made three long visits during their engagement, each ranging from six to eight weeks. (In Korea it is traditional for children to live with their parents until they are married.) The Korean press has reported a judge ruled that based on the time Chung spent in Las Vegas she deserved the status of a “common-law wife” and was thus entitled to $400,000 of Na’s earnings. Na disputes these details, saying he wound up paying half of that and it was “mostly” to cover expenses the Chungs incurred related to the wedding and his then-fiancee’s airfare to and from Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Na countersued for defamation of character. It took years for the lawsuits to be adjudicated. “Not only did I win my suit,” Na says, “but she had to pay me close to $50,000, when a typical ruling in a defamation lawsuit is only a few hundred dollars. I think that shows the judge agreed how damaging the statements were.”
Third wave feminism has not yet washed up upon the Korean shores, but this seems to me a tale of a young man caught between the old and new ways. It strikes our modern sensitivity as hopelessly archaic, though it's easier to see in the Bio Kim saga that which has been lost. But perhaps naive of Na to think he can straddle such disparate cultures as well.
Shack On Modernity - I think Geoff is way over-interpreting this news but, even when I disagree, he always makes us think:
Every time you hear someone wax on about how the game does not have a slow playproblem, just look where the money is going.Every time someone bellows on about how an expanding golf course footprint has not been damaging the sport, point them to Topgolf’s growth.And every time someone mocks the two greatest ever to play the game saying distance is getting out of hand, look where Tiger Woods is investing his efforts.The surprise “Popstroke” news last week revealed Woods’ support of a modernized miniature golf concept, serving as another reminder that elements of our sport remainl attractive to potential customers and investors. The communal and easy-to-understand components to golf (hit a driver, wack a putt) seem attractive enough that capital continues to go toward settings offering food, live sports-viewing and a putt-putt concept with Woods’ backing.Why is something similar not happening with golf courses?
A while back we had an interview with the CEO of TopGolf, in which he made clear that they are not in the golf business.... Tey run saloons that just happen to have a golf theme.
But that last bit is curious, because Geoff has been there with the rest of us laughing at Hack Golf, Frisbee Golf and Flogton, all of which laid a huge egg. The reason is simple, that there are millions of golfer that like the game pretty much as it is, despite what we hear from the purveyors of doom.
Besides, I've been reliably informed that we're all gonna die in twelve years anyway, so I'm gonna chill.
Haven't We Suffered Enough? - The weekly Tour Confidential panel takes on the threshhold issue of our era:
1. Phil Mickelson has played on 24 straight Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup teams — qualifying for 20 — yet he’ll be among those who need a pick from Captain Tiger Woods to make the Presidents Cup team that’s heading to Australia in December. Mickelson’s in the field at this week’s CJ Cup in South Korea, but should his middling play continue — he hasn’t had a top 10 since he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February — he could put himself in a tough spot. Should Woods pick him for the Presidents Cup team, and will he?
Sean Zak: No he shouldn’t and no he won’t. I’d be willing to forget about Mickelson’s struggles from March through the FedEx Cup if he came out refreshed this fall andplayed like a top-20 player again. He just hasn’t. A missed cut at the Safeway (which he generally plays well at) and a 61st-place finish in Vegas are not good enough for Woods to even consider him. [This will also make it easier to appropriately rate Mickelson for next year’s Ryder Cup. Consider it a reset.]
Josh Sens: The past doesn’t have to be a precedent. Phil’s had a great run, but all things come to an end. He’s been off his game. Sentimentality would be the most compelling reason to pick him, but I doubt Tiger is feeling especially sentimental about this.
Dylan Dethier: Mickelson should be on the team — as a vice captain! With so many tempting American options, there’s no way to defend Mickelson as a playing member of the squad.
Josh Berhow: So I had this whole thing typed out saying I think Tiger will take Phil, and then I realized that I also think Tiger is going to pick himself, and then all of a sudden that’s only three picks he can make and, well, sorry Phil. That’s too much of a reach right now.
Depends on whether we're trying to win... But these are the wages of allowing that disgraceful 2014 hostile takeover of the Ryder Cup, since there's no serious case to be made that Phil should be there with his golf bag.
Nor should this guy:
2. Mickelson’s not the only perennial Presidents/Ryder Cupper who needs to impress Woods. So, too, does Jordan Spieth, who hasn’t won since the 2017 British Open at Royal Birkdale, and who will make his 2019-20 season debut at the CJ Cup. Same question: Should Tiger pick Spieth, and will he?
Zak: No he shouldn’t and no he won’t. Again, the form has not been present. The easiest thing for Tiger to do is to look at the players who have played best and best recently. Feels obvious, I know, but when the Americans lose, Woods should be able to say he chose the best captain’s picks, not just the people who have been there before.
Sens: What Sean said. No one doubts Spieth’s fire, but many other great players have been in far better form.
Dethier: Spieth could change the conversation this week if, say, he wins the CJ Cup. Short of that, I don’t see it. He was better than people think in the latter half of the Tour season — but still not quite good enough.
Berhow: I changed my mind again. Jordan’s in! I’ll explain more later (in the next question), but he was much better the last 1/4 of last season, and he and Justin Thomas were 3-1 together in Paris. That might be enough to get Jordan on the squad.
When the Americans lose? That's brave, Sean, but I could actually see it happening as well. I see it more vividly if Tiger picks Phil and himself for sure....
And one more on this subject, which happens to make the best case imaginable for a Spieth pick:
3. Let’s finish what we’ve started. Acknowledging that there are a few starts left for players to boost their stocks, who, at this point, should Woods select with his four picks?
Zak: Finau, Na, Reed, Fowler.
Dethier: Finau, Reed, Fowler, Woods.
Sens: Finau, Fowler, Na and, because now’s as good a time as any to test out the young guns, Matthew Wolff.
Berhow: Finau (first man out after auto-qualifying), Woods (you know he wants to), Rickie (solid pick) and Spieth. At first I had this with Reed getting the pick over Jordan, but then I remembered everything that happened in Paris, and back then I wrote about how that could hurt Patrick if he ever needs a pick. Well, that time is now, and I think it will hurt him. This is still somewhat of a popularity contest with these things, and Spieth might get the nod over Patrick. (And then let’s just hope Patrick live tweets the whole Cup.)
Well argued, Josh, though with perhaps a minor clarification. The more interesting Reed Twitter feed might be Justine's....
Joe, Up Close - He seems like an ordinary Joe, and who doesn't like that in a guy? For instance, many folks are puzzled by ordinary cause and effect relationships, whereas it's pretty simple:
How special was the night you were inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame?
A very nice night. I had 12 caddie buddies there. Tiger and his girl and his crew showed up, which was fantastic. He didn’t have to do that. I know he’s at the event already, but still he takes an hour out of his night to do that is fantastic. That meant a lot to me. I was humbled by it and it’s a great honor. I tell people I’m in the Caddie Hall of Fame because I work for hall of fame golfers. That’s how it works.
Pretty much. Though, there is the little matter of inducing them to hire you....
Any doubts about his favorite tourney?
What is your favorite course when you are caddying?
My favorite tournament is Augusta. That’s the easy answer. I think every caddie wouldsay that. I do enjoy going to the British Open, no matter the venue. I think it’s a great atmosphere, great tournament, it’s where it all started. So those are my two favorite tournaments to work. In terms of the golf courses, I love Muirfield Village in Ohio. I love Riviera. And I love Sawgrass. Those are probably my top three that we play every (year). There’s plenty that we don’t play all the time that are great, classic golf courses. But in terms of seeing every year, those are my three favorites.
I'm shocked.... This might mildly surprise folks, just because it was an off-year for the lad:
Who’s impressed you in the last few years among the young players who have come out on tour?
The guy that comes to my mind if you’re talking guys 25 and under is probably Justin Thomas. It’s a combination of two things. Obviously he has the physical gift of playing, but he has a great mind for it. He’s a grinder. He works his butt off. He wants it badly. But he doesn’t take himself too seriously to the point where he can’t play golf. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. So if I’m buying stock on a guy 25 and under, it’s Justin Thomas.
Exit Question - One last bit from the TC panel riffing off of Henrik's trusty 3-wood:
6. Henrik Stenson finally parted ways with his trusty Callaway Diablo Octane Tour 3-wood, a club that’s been synonymous with the Swede’s name since he added it to his arsenal a decade ago. What’s one club (or accessory) in your bag that you can’t live without?
Zak: It’s a 2014 Adams Pro 20-degree hybrid. On Full Send, it goes about 240, but more importantly it gets me out of the rough everywhere. I will be worse off without it someday.Sens: Until very recently, it was a bronze Ping Anser 2, the first and only putter I ever owned. But a few weeks ago it slipped out of my bag as I was walking home from the course in Oakland. Sniff. I suspect it’s on sale right now somewhere on the internet.
Berhow: My 2011 TaylorMade Burner Superfast 2.0 3-wood, complete with a grip that’s so overdue for a fresh one it’s frayed and unraveling from the bottom. I actually was digging deep on the web a few months ago trying to find the exact same model so I could have it with my other bag I keep at my parents’ house several states away, but alas, I got side tracked and never finished the job. Guess I know what I’m doing tonight.
Dethier: Every club in my bag is on permanent probation — I don’t want anyone getting too comfortable in there.
That seems wise, Dylan.
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