I hope your feast was as compelling as ours... Not only will I rise above the effects of that amino acid, but also above the lower-back pain caused by a certain 5-year old.
Just a quick note about our blogging schedule going forward. Tuesday I head out to Unplayable Lies Western HQ. The good news is that I'll be in place to blog the Hero and Prez Cup from there. Whether I'll blog on Monday and Wednesday is still TBD, based upon my schedule and the existence of anything worth blogging. As for today, just a couple of items for your amusement.
But I Didn't Get Him Anything - It's a special anniversary, and Mike Bamberger tries to capture the zeitgeist of the day:
Thanksgiving, 2009. That was the low point. Not for Tiger.
For us.
Tiger ran over that hydrant and all hell broke loose. That one-car collision brought down more than a water dispenser. It razed all the walls around one of the most famous and accomplished people in the world. In its aftermath, Woods apologized to his wife, to his sponsors, to his fans. It should have been the other way around.
What gave us the right to spy on him? To read his private text messages? To hang on every interview his various girlfriends gave to Vanity Fair and the network morning shows and TMZ?
OK, Mike, we weren't actually spying on him... We just couldn't avoid the stories. But if the revelations were that devastating to you, you might want to see someone about that, because it seems you might have been a tad over-invested.
But Mike's confusion does not preclude him from droning on, and perhaps this is an instance in which a strong editor might have been helpful:
The story of Tiger’s Thanksgiving-from-hell is the story of his infidelity. How did his ability at golf make his sex life any of our business? Yes, the way he sold himself in various advertising campaigns, and in his many superficial interactions with reporters, contained layers and layers of misdirection and misrepresentation. Those of us who were supposed to be telling you what he was, quote, really like, did a lousy job of it, and this reporter should be at the front of the line. Still, as Big Jack said, “It’s none of my business.”
Nicklaus was too well-mannered to use the word sex. As in, His sex life is none of my business.
That’s not true in every case. Religious leaders, teachers, elected officials, chieftains abusing their power, many of those situations could be and should be viewed differently. The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team did the best work reporters can do. The #MeToo movement has righted all manner of wrongs. We properly demand a certain code of behavior from people we view as moral authority figures.
Tiger Woods was not a moral authority figure. He was just an exceptional athlete. His original sin was saying yes to all those big-ticket contracts that required him to smile for the camera and pretend to be somebody he was not. The rules changed on Tiger, but nobody told him. Name-your-athlete, circa 1997, didn’t get the treatment Gary Hart, presidential candidate, got on the good ship Monkey Business in 1987. Twenty years later, Tiger was fair game, but he didn’t know it. Tiger Woods, married man, father of two young children. Either he didn’t know or didn’t care. But who were we to judge his sex life?
Mike, are you listening to yourself? Exactly no rules were changed on Tiger, and that suggestion implies that Tiger couldn't have known that what he was doing was wrong. Do you really want to leave that impression? Because the very fact of his efforts to hide his behavior, seems to indicate that he might have known it was, you know, wrong...
I will note that Mike does better with this fanciful case for Tiger as POY. Mind you, I'm not buying the case, but at least he makes a case....
Gobble, Gobble - With the Tour season ending the weekend prior to Thanksgiving, the turkey metaphor is going to get a workout. We had Golf.Mag's version earlier in the week, and today we have Golf Digest's. It is very much the rounding up of the usual suspects, including this that I think was omitted from the first list:
Lexi ThompsonLexi experienced heartbreak at the year’s first two majors, but her worst moment of 2019came off the course ahead of the final one. After realizing she left her passport in her golf bag, Thompson had the bag—which was packed in a truck with the belongings of 40 other players competing in the Women’s British Open—tracked down by her caddie, causing all the clubs to be delayed in transit by about six hours. Which meant all those players missed out on a full day’s practice waiting on the clubs arrival. “I can’t apologize enough,” Thompson said after. She now knows you also can’t be too careful when traveling
Or is the bigger turkey a tour that schedules back-to-back majors? As for this one, where is Abraham Zapruder when we need him most:
Bronte Law
And one of the LPGA’s rising stars had quite the falling moment during a tournament:
She’s just lucky no video ever surfaced.
I do love it when they can make fun of their own missteps out there. It reminds me of Henrik Stenson amusing us all about a shank, after the Tour had strong-armed YouTube into removing the offending video.
But this my fave part of the item:
RELATED: A look back at the biggest golf turkeys of 2018
Talk about your low-impact blogging... A misty-eyed walk down memory lane. Can anyone remember who we were tweaking at this time last year? Anyone? Bueller?
You're gonna hate yourself, because of course there was Patrick:
Patrick ReedWe said there was no particular order, but. . . Seriously, where do we begin this guy? Although, Reed broke through for his first major championship at the Masters, he also managed to eject a European Tour camera crew, throw most of his entire Ryder Cup team — including his idol, Tiger Woods — under the bus, and publicly complain about his complimentary tickets at a Red Sox game.
As I recall, they were seated in the non-existent "line-drive section.... Good thing for PatrcickAnd this guy, whose 2019 wasn't any better: they did this year's awards before the Prez Cup, since he has an issue in playing with others.
And this guy, for whom 2019 wasn't much better:
J.B. Holmes
Slow play on the PGA Tour is nothing new, but Holmes managed to draw the most ire on the topic during the final hole of regulation of the Farmers Insurance Open. Needing an eagle to tie for the lead on the closing par five, this human rain delay took four MINUTES and 10 seconds to play his second shot from 239 yards out in the fairway.
Given those swirling winds and his drive to win the tournament it wouldn't have bothered me all that much, except....
And after all that, he LAID UP! We know these guys have a lot of money on the line, but c'mon. Playing partner Alex Noren, who actually had a legit chance of winning, patiently waited through all that, but hit a poor second, only made par, and wound up losing to Jason Day in a playoff. A playoff that finished the following day, no thanks to J.B.
Not so much trying to win...
And this, that the truly astute reader will remember that I mistakenly attributed to 2019:
Doris Chen’s mom
The most bizarre golf rules situation of the year involved Doris Chen, the 2014 NCAA champ, and her mom, Yuh-Guey Lin, who allegedly moved her daughter’s golf ball back in bounds during LPGA Q School. Despite Doris’s claims to the contrary, she was disqualified from the event and her caddie didn’t seem too broken up about it. Maybe Montana was onto something with that rule, after all. . .
You can click through to understand that Montana reference, as well to remind yourself of all of last year's fun.
If you're craving more of this, Golf Channel has a video-filled item on the shots of the year. It's a bit overly Tiger-centric, but fun.
Giving Thanks For Alan - For his mailbag, in any event.... Shall we?
I’d imagine the PGA Tour is thrilled not to have to spend billions of dollars “Todd- proofing” their courses. How annoyed (if at all) are the non-elite Tour players that Rickie Fowler was picked for the Presidents Cup ahead of much more deservingplayers? -@bcunningham0
This is an underrated aspect to the Prez Cup intrigue. Golf is supposed to be the ultimate meritocracy, but the U.S. team increasingly feels like a secret society, ruled by all-powerful cliques. Sure, Todd could have played his way onto the team through the points list, but life/golf doesn’t always conform to prescribed timelines. Capt. Woods was granted a mulligan and could have taken not only the hottest player in the game but also one who has become a folk hero for his inspirational career resurrection. Instead, Tiger made the most uninspired pick imaginable, taking his Jupiter golf buddy who has been 1) idle, 2) sick. Hard not to think that the fix was in.
I certainly agree with Alan on his first bit, what I usually ferer to as Phil's hostile takeover of the U.S. Ryder Cup effort. Though, to be fair, his absence as a Vice Captain is one of the more puzzling aspects of the event.
But while arguments can be made for and against this pick, but I've always argued to take the best player available, or at least the best player whose skill sets seems to fit. You want to argue for Kiz or Na, I'm all ears and open to persuasion. You want to argue for Brendon Todd, then I'm significantly less open to persuasion, because of the weak fields against which he won.
This is certainly a hot take:
Is Rahm’s year now better than McIlroy’s? -@gogodadgetwilly
It’s an interesting question. Rahm won four tournaments, including two national Opens, plus the Euro Tour’s version of the FedEx Cup. He also contended to the bitter end at the U.S. Open while McIlroy was never in the hunt at any of the four majors. But I think Rory has a slight edge overall based on the quality of his wins: the Players, a WGC, the Tour Championship (to take the actual FedEx Cup) and a national Open, up in Canada. Great play by both of them…but not enough to wrest POY from Brooks.
I don't even remember where Rahmbo won, but my sense is he had a disappointing year....
And this related bit:
Who will win their major first, Rahm or Fleetwood? -@pkeen52
Rahm is an absolute monster. I love Fleetwood but Rahm is longer off the tee, probably a better chipper and definitely a superior putter. So I gotta go with the beefy Spaniard.
One of the guys wins regularly, and the other never wins, so hard to argue with Alan's call.
A couple of takes on those new course rankings:
What are your thoughts on the top 100 in the World per Golf Magazine (and the next 50)? -@MWhiteLinks
I’m a company man, so take this with a grain of salt, but I think it’s a really strong list. That Pebble and Augusta National both dropped a little bit is deserved and reflective of a revitalized list that is not built on old reputations. Some overrated courses plummeted, as they should have: Nine Bridges, Trump Aberdeen, Oakland Hills. Others fell off the list entirely, deservedly: Baltusrol Lower, Yas Links, Oitavos Dunes. I *love* some of the courses that are new to the Top 100, especially Sleepy Hollow, Bandon Trails and Yale. Of course I have quibbles: Cape Wickham at 60 is waaay too low. That Royal St. George’s is higher than Cruden Bay and North Berwick West is an abomination. Cape Kidnappers ahead of New South Wales? C’mon. Whistling Straits ahead of Kingsbarns? I think not. And I’m going to have a problem with any Top 100 that doesn’t include MPCC Shore. But second-guessing is what makes these lists so fun.
I think his assertion that this list is not reliant on old reputation is silly, though it might very well be less so than prior versions. But I'm not even sure that that's necessarily a good thing, as a reverence for designs that have stood the test of time seems appropriate.
How does Augusta National, one of the most recognizable courses in the world, drop in Golf’s 2020-2021, list while Pine Valley, one of the most elusive courses, remain #1? Even Tiger admitted to not having played Pine Valley. -@GoranBarnes
Well, the folks who do the rating can and do play more or less anywhere. I’ve seen the raw numbers and Pine Valley and Augusta National had almost exactly the same number of “votes,” which is to say, the number of raters who played them over the last two years. What is hurting Augusta National is that the course has increasingly strayed from the vision of creators Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones, who strived to transport the shot values of the Old Course into a parkland setting. What used to be a vast canvas that encouraged artistic impression has been cluttered with trees and rough, and until Augusta National returns to its roots I expect it will keep dropping in the ranking.
Yes, and to their credit they posted an item discussing exactly that fall in ANGC's ranking.
Also of interest is this take on the perennial top-ranked course by Tom Doak:
Indeed, Pine Valley’s refusal to cater to the weak golfer has always been a huge part of its appeal to better golfers, who are generally the kind of people who work in the golf business (present company excepted!) and travel around to rate golf courses. From theday George Crump conceived the place, the attitude has been that if you’re not good enough to play there, stay away, just as you should stay away from Mount Everest. That attitude gives the course an air of exclusivity that goes beyond the issue of connections and access. Yes, it’s hard to get on, and a bit hard to get to, its entrance located on a hard-to-find road that runs alongside an amusement park called Splash World in an otherwise nondescript suburban swatch of southern New Jersey. Above all, though, it’s hard to score on.That same unapologetic approach allowed Crump — a hotelier with an obsessive streak, willing to devote his fortune and his life to this project — to build 18 great golf holes, with the decisions the golfer must make starkly framed by the native sand and vegetation of the Pine Barrens. Every hole at Pine Valley is dramatic and memorable — even the holes that nobody talks much about, like the par-4 4th up and over a ridge off the tee, or the dogleg 6th playing around the Great Pit of Carkoon on the right, or the medium-length 11th, with its perfect tee shot into a saddled fairway and perfect pitch back up a narrow valley. Any of those holes would be the best and certainly the most dramatic hole on 99 percent of golf courses in the world.
The standard is incredible. The four par-3 holes are memorable and varied. The long par 4s can kill you, but so can the 330-yard ones. There are only two par-5 holes, because it’s hard to build a great par 5, but there are no risk/reward easy birdie holes here: It took almost a century for either of them to be reached in two shots. At the 7th, you’ve got to carry Hell’s Half Acre with your second shot, and if you miss your second shot to the right at the 15th, you’re in even worse shape. Pine Valley is intimidating from the tee yet Crump never asked the player to make a carry of more than 165 yards.
Crump knew what he wanted and didn't have to answer to anyone else,. But, if you're going to be a one-ff course designer, it helps to have the right kind of friends:
How did a novice at golf course design get it all so right? Golf was the only priority — the handful of houses inside the gates were an afterthought — and Crump was smart enough to pay zero attention to conventional wisdom as to how things should be done. Instead, he got help from Harry Colt to make sure his routing was sound, and then bounced ideas off his golfing friends, who included A.W. Tillinghast and George Thomas. I don’t mean to imply those guys designed Pine Valley — Tillinghast and Thomas had designed one course each at that point — but it never hurts to spend your days talking about golf design with others who have a real passion for it.
All of this after telling us in his opening 'graph that PV is NOT his favorite course in the world... But his concluding 'graph is just perfect:
The world doesn’t need a lot more courses that are just like Pine Valley. Designers keep trying to imitate it, and they will forever fall short. But if more golf courses were developed by guys who cared as much as George Crump did, we’d be on the right road.
True that.
The Ladies - A couple of quick hits, and then I'll let you get on with your day. This from Alan's mailbag:
The LPGA seems to be on a significant upward trajectory. When will the PGA Tour realize a collaborative tournament with the women will raise its own stature? -@CountDownDave
This is especially true given that the team format has revitalized the Tour stop in New Orleans. Coed teams would be even more fun. I guess the issue is that non-Tour members (i.e. the LPGA players) would be significantly impacting the fortunes of the Tour rank-and-file, but who cares? I have no doubt Mike Whan can make this happen, but I’m far less confident in Jay Monahan.
It's an obvious play, though there really isn't much in it for the guys, other than some #metoo-inspired good will. They perhaps run the risk of having a fun week, but are we sure we want to open that can of worms.
In terms of the actual question, that upward trajectory is true enough, though there are no shortage of flashing red lights. As noted above, back-to-back majors isn't exactly a sign of strength, nor was the deal with Evian that created the fifth major (Nurse Ratched only wished she thought of so designating the Players Championship. So much better to be the fifth of five than the fifth of four).
Their rousing finish last weekend, with its historic $1.5 million winner's take, was seen by approximately no one.
Shack with the lay-up:
According to Sports Business Journal’s weekend roundup, the CME Tour Group Championship drew a .3 and an average of 395,000 viewers on NBC, down 33% from last year’s final round on ABC. The rating made it by far the lowest rated sports event on network TV last weekend and as Paulsen notes at Sports Media Watch “easily” the lowest since its run on broadcast TV dating to 2015.
Figure skating, on tape, drew double the audience.
OK, that last bit was harsh but fair.
But I'm actually more focused on that switch from ABC to NBC. I've previously noted that Whan might be shooting himself in the foot with his desire to have network coverage, because folks don't actually know where to find them. I did look for them last Sunday... Unsuccessfully, as it turned out.
Have a great weekend and I'll see you down the road.
No comments:
Post a Comment