The Decade In Review

Or some such thing... I've got some open browser tabs and you're no doubt bored silly by the football by now.

Pebble In Full - As you've no doubt discerned, Pebble Beach is that consensus top ten golf course that I refuse to worship.  It's in large part pure petulance, but also a recognition that it really ought to be so much better, given the quality of the real estate.

In a similar vein, I always say that the Torrey Pines property is a ten, but the golf course is a five.  Pebble, admittedly is more a 7.5-8, but that still leaves us wanting more.

Interestingly, the folks at Pebble did something that I really should hate, but it ends up making my case.  If they returned the golf course to this look, as Chandler Egan and company had it for the iconic 1929 U.S. Amateur, they could charge anything they wanted for it:

As Geoff explains, this is a photo he published in his Golden Age of Golf Design, which they colorized:

If you return it to that look, I promise to withhold any future snark...

That Was A Quick Decade - The aughts kind of flew by, which is probably for the better.  But, of course, everyone feels compelled to sum the decade up.  Care for a sampling menu?

Young Turk Alex Myers at least has a fun slant on it:

The top 30 PGA Tour events of the past decade in 10 words or less

What do you remember from 2010?

Greenbrier Classic: Boom baby! Stuart Appleby shoots Sunday 59. Tough break, Jeff Overton. 

St. Jude Classic: Robert Garrigus collapses. Lee Westwood wins. Swamp ass. (Not pictured. You're welcome.)

Shell Houston Open: Anthony Kim’s last win. Miss you, AK. (Pictured. You're welcome.)

AK and Boom Baby in the same year?  How quickly we forget... 

Alas, this is a highly selective history.  For instance, CTRL:F- Allenby yields zero results.

There's actually a Tour Confidential panel, and they continue to live in their Tiger-centric bubble:

1. Much has happened in golf in the past decade, but we might have witnessed a strong contender for greatest moment of the 2010s last April at Augusta National. What say you, was Tiger’s Masters triumph the game’s best moment of the past decade? 

Michael Bamberger: Well, it was the best big moment, but a note about it: he built to it. Honda and Tampa. Carnoustie, Bellerieve. East Lake. Tiger’s golf is about the work and the steps. 

Josh Sens: No doubt it had the widest reverberations. I can think of some seriously heart-tugging moments (Amy Bockerstette’s par with Gary Woodland in Phoenix); and some nearly as electric ones (that Reed/Rory singles match in the Ryder Cup put the crowd in a frenzy, as did Tiger’s win at East Lake). But Tiger at Augusta was the one moment that had my friends who don’t play golf eager to talk about golf. A reminder of Tiger’s unique reach. 

Sean Zak: It was definitely the biggest moment. I’d pick it apart, though, and call Woods’ walk with Charlie to the scoring area the best moment. All the chills. 

Alan Shipnuck: Phil winning the Masters for a cancer-stricken Amy in 2010. Rory bouncing back to win the Open at Congo just months after his self-immolation in Amen Corner. Spieth’s epic bogey and then back-nine charge at Birkdale. Shane Lowry being carried home by the singing of the Irish island. These were all indelible moments but Tiger’s win, and the outpouring of emotion surrounding it, is on an entirely different level. 

Dylan Dethier: It would be really hard to find another time that a golf event transcended the sport in a similar fashion, like, ever. I wasn’t alive for Jack’s Masters win in ‘86, though that might have had a similar vibe. Tiger Woods is among the biggest athletes of all time; the crowning moment of his comeback was the sports story of the year and definitely the golf story of the decade, by far.

The list is kind of short, no?  Rory at Congressional leaves me a bit cold, given how soft the course was...  I do agree with Alan that Phil's 2010 Masters was really emotional, and we all, of course, just hate Dylan for his contribution.

Alex Myers takes a second bite of the apple, ranking the top ten majors of the decade.  His top pick is the obvious, but this seems quite mad for the silver:

2. 2014 PGA Championship

In terms of pure final-round entertainment, this was No. 1 with four big names (Rory

McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson and Rickie Fowler) battling down the stretch at Valhalla. It’s also the only major of the decade in which four golfers wound up playing together (sort of) on the final hole when the final group was allowed to hit into the penultimate pairing (Phil wasn’t too pleased about that!) to avoid a Monday finish. McIlroy, whose back-nine rally after blowing his 54-hole lead on the front was fueled by an eagle on the 10th hole, nearly found the water with his tee shot on No. 18. Minutes later, he tapped in for par in near darkness to win by one and claim a fourth major at 25. Wild times! But aren't they always at Valhalla?

Henrik I don't remember.  It was a cluster-eff finish, in which all parties beclowned themselves.  But Alex seems to be the only person besides your humble blogger that remembers how close Rory came to blowing it in his rush to finish.

Also, anyone notice that this was Rory's last major?  Oh yeah, I seem to recall Brooks pointing it out....

But really, the 2010 Masters (Amy), the Henrik-Phil duel at Troon and Phil at Muirfield I would have higher.  Heck, I'd have Adam Scott's and Sergio v. Justin higher than this one.  Upon further review, throw in Jordan at Birkdale as well, if Alex wants a crazy final round.

Back to our TC gang, for a rather more interesting question:

2. What is the most significant way in which the game has changed/evolved over the last 10 years, either at the pro level or for recreational players? 

Bamberger: On Tour, driving accuracy is close to meaningless. But the biggest change I fear is the attitude about the rules, at least at times, in places. Over the course of the decade the attitude seems to be shifting to catch-me-if-you-can. That’s troubling. On a more positive note, more golfers have more appreciation for simpler golf, less everything. Less is more. It really is. 

Sens: At the pro level: distance. It has altered everything. Not just the way the best players play, but also the courses and setups that are viable for competitions. To Michael’s point about simpler golf — it’s had a great, corrective influence on course design, not just at the blowout resorts but at the smaller, local level. The fact that a muni here in Oakland, Calif., (Corica Park) was redone in the manner of an Aussie sandbelt course says a lot about this shift.

Those are interesting answers I think.  It's ironic, but the distance explosion overlaps with a trend towards minimalism in course design.  I don't think golf at the elite level ever overlapped much with the recreational game, but I think the recent past has seen that divergence accelerate.  

Zak: Feels crazy to say this but we started the decade without female members at Augusta National. We ended it with women amateurs balling out on the legendary course, streamed live on TV. Women members are now allowed at Muirfield, too. Tadd Fujikawa felt comfortable enough to tell us all about his personal story. Relatively speaking, these were tiny news stories, but they weigh a ton.

A few women that played ANGC as guests are now members...  I don't object, but how does that affect the rest of us?   

Dethier: On Tour, I’d say the tech has made the biggest difference. Everything from increased ShotLink and Strokes Gained data to Trackman to 3D imaging and all manner of biomechanical analysis has made players (in general) better and smarter. For the recreational golfer the biggest differences lie in the golf courses; there has been a constriction since the pre-recession boom, though there’s a silver lining that newer properties are better conceived. 

Shipnuck: I like all of the above answers. I would add that there seems to be a more widespread appreciation for the game among those who play it. Water and land is becoming more scarce, we’re all overwhelmed by our phones, life moves faster, we’re all busier — being on the golf course with friends is the perfect antidote. The movement to loosen up and just have fun on the course is spreading and that’s a great evolution from the stuffiness of yore.

I like Alan's answer, but left unsaid is the seeming lack of confidence in the timeless appeal of our game to golf's governing bodies.  For centuries folks have gravitated to golf, but the millennials won't unless we dumb down the language?   

I also think Mike is on to something, though I'm unclear as to its magnitude.  This latest generation clearly has an issue with the protecting the field obligation, though I'm unclear if it goes deeper than that.  I don't think we need to over-interpret Patrick Reed, he's got that long resume of being a jerk.

3. While we already got a taste of the 2019-20 season with the fall events, the Sentry Tournament of Champions kicks off the new calendar-year season this week in Hawaii. Which player — could be a youngster or a surprising resurgent veteran — do you foresee making waves in 2020? 

Bamberger: Jordan Spieth. Xander. Cantlay. Patrick Reed, one way or the other. 

It's really endearing how all-in on Jordan Mike remains.... I just can't share his confidence. 

Sens: I wouldn’t have said this even right after the Masters, but following the show he put on this fall, Tiger. 

Zak: Matthew Wolff is the easy and obvious answer. Excited to watch him play the majors (and contend). 

Shipnuck: Hard to believe Viktor Hovland hasn’t won yet. That is going to change. Soon. 

He's been out there an hour-and-a-half, and Alan thinks he should have won already.  That's a vo=te of confidence, for sure, but life must be awfully frustrating for him.  

Dethier: I’m fascinated by the future of Matt Wallace.

Fortunately for Dylan I'm too lazy to Google it, but I'm pretty confident that Matt Wallace's name and any form of the word "fascinating: have never been used in the same sentence.

4. What’s most likely to happen in 2020: Brooks Koepka wins another major, Tiger Woods wins major No.16 or Jordan Spieth snaps his 0-for-55 slump (and counting) and wins at least one PGA Tour event? 

Bamberger: Absolutely Spieth, on math alone. So many more chances. 

OK, but just because of that math. 

Sens: Can’t argue with Michael’s math, but I’m going to place a longer-shot wager on Tiger. 

Zak: Spieth is going to get it done again. He’ll have one of those Spieth Weeks where he can’t miss and ends up making 300 feet of putts and wins by three. 

Shipnuck: I’m all in on Brooks. He’s going to win the Masters, because Brooks. 

Dethier: Yeah, Spieth has a better chance in 20-ish tries than Tiger or Brooks do in four. What’s interesting is that a couple of months ago, you’d have said Brooks was more likely to win a 2020 major than Tiger — in a landslide. At the moment it feels like more of a toss-up, although I guess that’s me discounting Koepka again, which has never worked well for us.

Guess what, Brooks is still far more likely to snag one than Tiger.  Anyone remember Saturday at the Prez Cup?  He's still got to get awfully lucky on weather and draws...  Harding in May?  The British Isles pretty much any time?   

Now the boys go into hype mode:

5. Adam Scott was among the pros who declined to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, and he recently said he’s not so sure about 2020 in Tokyo, either. “I’m just going to take my time and see,” Scott said. “I’ve made it clear it’s not my priority, but I wouldn’t rule it out.” Rory McIlroy was among the high-profile pros who also bowed out of the 2016 Games, but he’s seemed to change course about 2020. Do you think more pros will be receptive to the 2020 Games than what we saw in 2016, and should they feel obligated to play? 

Bamberger: No one should feel obligated to play, but Tiger’s intense desire to do so will spread far and wide, I suspect. 

Sens: Obligated? No. But there will definitely be more interest. Not just because 2016 was a success but also because there won’t be the same fear-mongering that there was around the Games in Rio. Zika. Crime. Unfamiliarity about Brazil in general — those were unfortunate factors that kept a lot of players away. 

Zak: I think the smarter bunch of pros view the groupthink from 2016 as a mistake. The top Americans all seem interested, and the fancy prize of a gold medal is just so rare that it’s worth playing for regardless of the jam-packed schedule. 

Shipnuck: Memo to Adam Scott: go away. We don’t want you or need you. I’m so sick of the top players’ B.S. around the Games. Their selfish fear-mongering in 2016 was a monumental embarrassment for golf. They’ll sell their souls and fly around the world for a meaningless tournament in Saudi Arabia but are too cool to be a part of the most venerated and widely watched athletic competition on the planet? Every golfer in Rio had an incredible experience. Japan will build on that. If any players don’t want to be a part of it they simply need to shut their mouths and step aside — plenty of others will treasure the experience. 

Dethier: Tough to top Shippy here; I’ll just add that nearly every athlete on the planet dreams of playing in the Olympic Games. The idea that golfers wouldn’t care about the Olympics is just illogical; it’s weird and ultimately won’t last.

Errrr Alan, have you considered seeing someone about that anger?

Venerated?  I'm sorry Alan, but Olympic golf is a bad joke.  There are barely thirty world -class golfers there, and they can't be bothered coming up with a format that might interest.  Go into huckster mode to your heart's content, but it's not a serious golfing event, so why should Adam take it seriously?

And the IOC?  A tad corrupt for my tastes... When one lies down with dogs....

So, a kidney stone of a decade?  How about 2019 itself?

Brian Wacker sums up the biggest controversies of 2019, and the length of the list is itself troubling.  So, whatcha got, Brian?

Slow play: If you remember the painstaking length of time it took J.B. Holmes to play his final round at Riviera (5½ hours!) more than his actual win at the Genesis Open, you

wouldn’t be alone. It was yet another instance of slow play becoming a public lament for fans—and even fellow players. Holmes’ pedestrian ways resurfaced during the final round of the Open Championship, his playing partner (and outspoken slow-play critic) Brooks Koepka unable to (completely) hide his disgust. But Holmes’ methodical ways were overshadowed when video of Bryson DeChambeau’s dawdling at the Northern Trust went viral. Koepka once more went public with him anger about the issue, calling out DeChambeau by name, a rarity amongst the brotherhood. Both the PGA Tour and European Tour have plans to address the issue in 2020, but will it be enough for slow pokes to truly pick up the pace?

Is it controversial if we all feel the same way about it?

But in terms of favorite moments of the year, JB Holmes' disintegration when paired with Koepka at Portrush ranks highly.   

This one is self-inflicted:

John Daly and a cart: Nothing quite says major championship like John Daly cruising

around in a cart during the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, a smoke in one hand and a Diet Coke in the cupholder. The PGA of America approved Daly’s use for the cart, citing ADA laws. It was an image that didn’t fly with the R&A, which denied Daly the use of a cart for the Open Championship at Royal Portrush (different country, different laws), so he withdrew from the event.

The real question is why is he even in the field?  I'm so old that I remember when the PGA of America used to brag about the strength of the field at their signature event.  But I can see where it's better to clog the field up with fat old guys like Daly, Rick Beem and Shaun Micheel...

And, of course:

Patrick Reed vs. the sand: A year after embroiling himself in a Ryder Cup controversy, Reed was at it again, this time at the Hero World Challenge. During the third round, TV cameras showed Reed twice knocking away sand from behind his ball while taking a couple of practice swings in a waste bunker. Reed was penalized two strokes for improving the line of his stroke, but claimed he had no ill-intent and that the cameras caught him at a bad angle. This only fostered more negative chatter toward him. The controversy followed Reed the next week to the Presidents Cup in Australia, where the home team’s fans were relentless with their insults. Reed’s caddie, Kessler Karain, eventually got into an altercation with a fan, resulting in the looper being removed from the bag for Sunday’s singles matches—and providing one last controversy in a year littered with them.

Pretty much Patrick against the rest of us...

Last Rounds -  Golfweek comes up with a seemingly interesting premise, asking PGA Tour pros where they'd play that hypothetical last round.  The flaw in the plan is that they're tour pros, not the most imaginative group.  Think I'm being unduly harsh?

Luke List, Augusta National 

Adam Long, Augusta National

Adam Scott, Augusta National 

“I won my major there, after all, so, so many good memories.”

Rickie Fowler, Augusta National

“I’d want the greens firm and fast so you could play the course the way it was designed.” 

Emiliano Grillo, Augusta National 

“Have you ever been there? Enough said.” 

Morgan Hoffmann, Augusta National

Abraham Ancer, Augusta National

Scott Brown, Augusta National 

Harris English, Augusta National

I think I'm sensing a trend...

This guy at least shows some imagination:

Bo Van Pelt, Pebble Beach and Augusta National 

“Front nine at Pebble Beach, back nine at Augusta. National. How good would that?”

Lots of love for Pebble and Cypress, though this guy will never make it as a course rater:

Bryson DeChambeau, Cypress Point 

“It’s my favorite course in the world. It’s on the most beautiful setting and was designed brilliantly with match play in mind where it starts fairly easily and gets more and more demanding. A lot of people think No. 18 is a bad golf hole. I happen to think it is one of the best because you have to hit two perfect shots to get to the green.”

That's profoundly silly, as Cypress Point is very much as good as he says.  However, it's despite the first and 18th holes being weak.  Those of us that love seaside golf accommodate to this fact, as it's so often necessary to traverse the less interesting land to get to the good stuff.  But let's maintain some standards, shall we?

Who knew Ryder Cup captains were just like the rest of us:

Jim Furyk, Pine Valley

“I’ve never been so I might as well play a course I’ve always wanted to play. I hear it’s No. 1.” 

Steve Stricker, Pine Valley

“Pine Valley because I’ve heard so many good things about it and I’ve never been there.”

Well, should you need a fourth... I wouldn't need much more than an hour's notice.

Predictions Are Hard - Especially, it so happens, about the future.  Nevertheless, Dan Rappaport takes a shot at predicting 2020 story lines.  This one is quite curious:

Phil Mickelson 

On June 16, Phil Mickelson turns 50, a significant birthday in the golf world. Lefty becomes eligible to play the PGA Tour Champions just two days before the tournament

he wants to win most, the U.S. Open, begins at the place where he was closest to winning it: Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y. He’s already older than history’s oldest major winner, and Father Time seemed to make some inroads against Mickelson last year, as he dropped out of the top 50 in the World Ranking for the first time in 26 years. 

Still, we can’t put anything past Mickelson, who might be hitting the ball farther than he ever has, and 2020 feels like a bit of a crossroads. There’s the potential he’ll continue to slide down the rankings and transition to a more-limited tournament schedule, or he’ll rediscover some lost accuracy and deliver another late-career flourish. One thing to keep in mind: Lefty will be eligible for the U.S. Senior Open, which will be held at Newport Country Club the week after Winged Foot. How cruelly poetic would it be for Mickelson to win the Senior Open in his first try after an elusive three-decade quest for the U.S. Open?

Lost accuracy?  I must of been away that weekend...

It's easy to forget that he's won in each of the last two seasons, but I don't think even he has his hopes up for Winged Foot.

I predict this will be quickly buried:

Distance Insights Project Report 

Sixteen months ago, the USGA and R&A launched the Distance Insights Project, a study to determine the effects of distance on golf writ large. The distance debate, primarily at the professional level, has been going on for years, with critics suggesting several factors, including modern equipment, are rendering classic courses obsolete for high-level tournament play and blurring the lines between truly elite ball-strikers and bombers who wouldn’t be as dominant in other eras. The most common suggestion has been a bifurcation of the rules: one set for the pros, one set for the Joes, with a rollback of the ball among the ideas floated. Officials at the USGA and R&A have gone quiet on where they might stand on the issue, having sent mixed signals in the past and wanting the work of the report to finish without bias. The PGA Tour would have to be on board with any change as well, with it being unlikely they’d be interested in any significant alternatives. (Interestingly, PGA Tour driving distances were down 2.2 yards in the 2018-’19 season.) 

No matter its findings, the opening statement of the report, which is expected to be released on Feb. 4, will mark a turning point in the debate. Distance could be deemed a serious problem with an aggressive course of action suggested. Or, more likely, the report will acknowledge increasing distances but prescribe less radical solutions than equipment-based fixes. Put simply: this document could turn the game on its head or be a whole lot of nothing. Smart money is more on the latter, for better or worse.

I think Dan just called me smart.  Or called my money smart...

American Ryder Cup chances 

Somewhat lost amid the Presidents Cup drama-vortex is the fact that an extremely strong (on paper) U.S. team nearly lost to a hodgepodge International side that had only two players in the top 20 and an average World Ranking outside the top 50. 

The sample size is still too small for a scientist’s liking, but it’s not so small that we can’t say recent U.S. national team performances have fallen short of the sum of their parts. The Americans have lost seven of the past nine Ryder Cups, and 2018’s shellacking at Le Golf National still feels fresh. The U.S. will surely field another loaded team at Whistling Straits, which will be set up to the Americans liking—something approaching 8,000 yards, soft, minimal rough and fast greens. If the Americans can’t win back the cup in September, well … it may be Task Force time again.

Oh, I assume they can still win a home game....  right?  Of course, we'll have all sorts of fun watching Patrick Reed's name in the qualification race...  There's a zero percent chance of his receiving a captain's pick, though admittedly I might have said that previously.

For Mike Bamberger:

Jordan Spieth’s strokes gained/tee-to-green 

As far as Jordan Spieth’s slump goes, you’ve read enough in the way of narratives. We’ll

focus on one statistic: strokes gained/tee to green, which measures how a player compares to his peers on every shot that isn’t a putt. Here are Spieth’s rankings in that category for the first six years of his career, starting back in 2013: seventh, 38th, fourth, 25th, second, 23rd. 

In 2018-’19, with a -.403 strokes gained/tee to green, Spieth plummeted to 157th. That’s why he struggled so much this summer despite finishing second in strokes gained/putting. Spieth’s swing has been off for more than two years now, and despite his repeated assertions that a fix is right around the corner, the signs of a turnaround have been few and fleeting. Spieth’s putter drew all the headlines, but as he was winning three majors and 11 PGA Tour titles before age 24, it was thanks to being one of world’s very best iron players. He will need to vastly improve his ball-striking from last season if he’s to return to the world elite. And if he doesn’t, you have to wonder whether a more radical change within the Spieth camp might be in the offing.

Yeah, I find myself a skeptic on Jordan, though the game is more fun with Jordan and his mouth in the mix.  But what clinic does one seek out to treat Luke Donald Disease?

Kids, I've no idea when I'll blog next.  I head back to Utah on Wednesday and Kapalua kicks off on Thursday, so I'll check in at some point.

A happy and healthy New Year to all of my readers, and thanks for spending time with these silly musings.

Weekend Wrap

The weekend featured a lot of sniffling, sneezing and that dry, hacking cough.  But on the positive side, we have discovered the best Kleenex in the world.  Amusingly, it's not even, actually, Kleenex....

Christmas In Carlsbad - By now you've seen it, no doubt.  And, no, I have no tips on how to unsee it:

Apparently this was 18-months in the making, and no CGI was involved.  You can read all about it, and may be surprised to find out that getting the guys into the onesies wasn't the hardest part.

Luckiest men on the planet?  That would be Justin Rose and Sergio....After all, sight unseen I assume the Honma and Cally X-mas cards to be the less embarrassing...

I myself am reminded of Alan Shipnuck's item Friday on the disconnect between hard-hitting journalism and fanboyism...  I'm just wondering, Alan, which is this?

Happy Trails, Tim - Golf Insider Tim Rosaforte is retiring at the end of the year, and deserves a nice send-off I think.  Here's Golfweek's traditional encomium:

“Tim Rosaforte has been a stalwart of golf journalism for more than 40 years, first as a newspaper reporter in South Florida, then as a magazine writer for Sports Illustrated,

Golf Digest and Golf World, and finally as a television insider for NBC and Golf Channel,” said Geoff Russell, executive editor of Golf Channel. “As our industry evolved, Tim evolved with it. No matter the platform, he excelled and established the standard for the rest of us to try and match. Golf Channel will miss him, and so will the entire golf community. But our loss is his family’s gain. No one I know deserves a happier retirement more than Tim Rosaforte.”

The list of Rosaforte’s accomplishments in telling the stories of golf’s biggest names and events is staggering. He reported from more than 125 majors and 17 Ryder Cups throughout his career and racked up writing awards from the Golf Writers Association of America. 

He is a recipient of both the PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, as well as the Lincoln Werden Journalism Award, and is the author of three books. 

“It’s been a great run, but now it’s time to reset my focus from golf to family,” Rosaforte told the Golf Channel. “I’ll always have fond memories of Golf Channel and all the great people that work there.”

But perhaps you would prefer a more personal reflection?  It so happens that Geoff has you covered, and amusingly so in that he and Tim apparently didn't get off on the best foot:

Rosie and I didn’t get off to the best of starts. I can’t imagine what it was? Could have been the Yul Brynner blog references. Which, he mentioned a time or two. Or could have 

been when we had a minor manspat over his references to The Riv, The Foot and The Beach, for which he later signed a hat that I still keep here on the estate.

As I got to work with Tim Rosaforte at Golf World, I became a great admirer of his reporting skills. I’ll never forget sitting next to him at St. Andrews in 2010 as he worked two phones making long distance calls to South Africa. All in an effort to find out any little nugget on Louis Oosthuizen as he closed in on a surprising Open Championship win.

Those little insights would shape the impressions viewers and readers had of players. No one else in golf media was doing what Tim did by introducing us to players thrust into the limelight, or filling out the backstory of those we thought we knew. That kind of reporter is still valued in other sports but may be a dying breed in golf. Whether the world’s finest golfers genuinely appreciated how much Rosie’s reporting rounded out fan perception of them, I don’t know. I suspect most appreciated his efforts judging by how many returned his calls or texts.

I love that photo above, in which Tim appears to be invading Nurse Ratched's personal space...  And this one as well:

That is from the 2008 U.S. Open, when Geoff was seemingly approaching his teens.

My one encounter with Tim came at the Hertz counter at Manchester Airport in 2010.  I was heading home after two weeks in the Southport area and Tim was en route to Celtic Manor to cover the The Ryder Cup.  After exchanging a few cryptic comments about that event, Tim asked me that question that one golfer asks another in such circumstances:

"Whered'ja play?"

Tim himself is (or at least was) a member of Hillside, so of course I gave him grief for never having invited me....  A lovely man... So lovely, I won't even mention that Suzann Pettersen interview.

Happy Trails, Tim.

Ready For Its Close-Up - Meet Phil Friedman, an unlikely golf hero:

For that, you’ll have to turn back to 1963. Classes are in session at Amherst College, in western Massachusetts, and Friedmann, an enterprising freshman, is earning cash under the table with a hamburger stand he runs from his dorm room. One of his loyal customers is Mike Keiser, a fellow freshman from down the hall. 

“I remember that I liked him,” Friedmann says, “and that he liked the burgers.” 

The two form a friendship. Some years after college, they cofound a business. It’s based in Chicago, where they both grew up, and it specializes in recyclable greeting cards. In those early days, it’s just Friedmann and Keiser sharing an office, if not always the duties. Some afternoons, Keiser, who’d played on the Amherst golf team, signs off early and slips out with his clubs for a twilight round. 

“I’d say, ‘Wait a minute. So you want me to finish up alone here?’” Friedmann says. 

“And he’d say, ‘Yes, that would be great.'”

Friedman turned down the opportunity to co-invest in Bandon Dunes, staying on the periphery:

In the 1980s, with greeting card sales going gangbusters, Keiser starts buying land in southern Oregon, patching together the seaside parcels that will one day give rise to Bandon Dunes. Friedmann looks on with interest but remains uninvolved, other than to float his friend a loan when the cost of building Bandon stretches Keiser thin.

An exception comes with a scenic swatch of real estate just north of the resort. When it goes up for sale in the late ’90s, Friedmann and Keiser go dutch on it, splitting the purchase 50-50. They call the property the Bally Bandon Sheep Ranch, a moniker inspired by Ballybunion, a storied Irish links they both admire, but also by a misunderstanding: Friedmann thinks that bally means beautiful in Gaelic. It does not. But no matter — the Sheep Ranch is beautiful.

That being the iconic Sheep Farm, which at one point actually featured sheep.  Give it a read, a it's the odds-on favorite to be the most memorable new golf course of 2020.  

I Saw It On TV -  Shockingly, the Golf.com gang took time out from shilling for TaylorMade to provide a new Tour Confidential panel, one in which they attempt to fix golf broadcasts:

According to John Ourand of Sports Business Journal, CBS and NBC have agreed to “broad terms of new deals” for long-term TV rights to continue to broadcast PGA Tour events. The Tour will reportedly receive $700 million per year, up from $400 million. In assessing how the networks currently cover the Tour, where do their telecasts have the most room for improvement?

I'm gonna need a bigger blog, no?

Luke Kerr-Dineen, instruction editor: Of course I’m going to say this, but I genuinely

think there’s room for more instruction in the current broadcasts. Golf right now is being covered like so many other sports, and it’s great at it. But the industry would do well to remind itself that golf is more participatory than every other mainstream sport. The people who watch the most golf are the same ones that play it the most. Viewers aren’t rooting for a team; they’re watching because they love golf, and want to see the same game they play on the weekends being performed at the highest level. So let’s take the opportunity to educate; to break down the action in innovative and explanatory ways. Help deepen golfers’ knowledge, and explain the underlying principles for newcomers who may be tuning in, and it’s better for everyone.

I'm OK with educating, think of Peter Kostis flipping video of Jack's swing around and comparing him to Bubba....  Good stuff.  But actual instruction?  Come to think of it, the only thing that could make CBS' broadcast worse might be adding Martin Hall's grating voice to the 18th hole tower.

Michael Bamberger: The tournament coverage does not do nearly enough to get the viewer interested in the lives of the players. We know their swings and where they stand in the FedEx rankings but we know very little about their lives. If we did, we’d be more connected to the tournaments in which they play.

The old ABC Up-Close-and-Personal playbook....  It seems to me this is all CBS does these days, to the exclusion of live action.

Sean Zak: The best content is ALWAYS player-caddie conversations. Each Saturday and Sunday round should have two players and their caddies mic’d up. Make it a Tour rule. We might learn a lot about Dustin and AJ Johnson. Or Harry Diamond, who says so little. That is a gigantic missed opportunity for context just staring us in the face.

Hysterical!  Oh, for sure, these conversations are great and improvements in audio capture are at the top of the list of areas in which the broadcasts have improved.  It's just that with all of the interesting and competent caddies out there, these are your two examples?  Two guys most in need of a strong hand on the rudder, and they both hire Harpo Marx.

And this follow up:

Are you surprised the Tour didn’t formulate a more radical plan, like start its own network? 

LKD: No. The PGA Tour is making a smarter, savvier choice. Rather than assuming all the overhead of spinning up a new network in an increasingly saturated market, they’re outsourcing their operation for a king’s ransom. After all, why leave all that money on

the table in pursuit of a high-stakes that might not work? Instead, between NBC, CBS, and whoever wins their streaming rights (either GOLFTV or ESPN, by all accounts), the tour can shape the perception of the product across three different platforms with minimal risk. 

Bamberger: Two words you seldom see in the same sentence are golf and radical. No, not surprised at all. The golf method is to tweak what is working.

Zak: Not very surprised, though PGA Tour Live is sort of always in place, and I see it taking up the same role as NBATV: occasionally great matchups take place there, but largely it’s for the diehards. Leave the remaining rounds for the common, visiting fan. 

Wall: Not really. It’s a massive undertaking and I’m not sure the Tour wants to dedicate the financial resources — yet. With a new Tour headquarters in the works, there had to be talks about having the space to expand if things were ever brought in house. I wouldn’t be if Monahan and crew go for it after the next television contract expires.

You know what the downside of cashing big checks is?  Yup, there isn't one...

 Wither Tiger - For those that can't get their fill, Alex Myers compiles 101 things that happened to Tiger in 2019.  There are some nuggets there, I for one enjoyed the 20-year celebration with Paul Tesori.  But, of course, this is really the only one that mattered:

101. Won the Masters.

That little thing?

A couple on the man from the TC gang:

Fred Couples, who was an assistant captain at the President Cup, said Tiger Woods benched himself on the third day of the matches because his body was spent. Tiger, who turns 44 next week, had nothing short of a remarkable 2019, but what’s your read on his physical state as we enter a new calendar year? 

LKD: I have no real read on his physical state, apart from being perpetually skeptical, which I think is pretty normal at this point. Tiger seems to wear down remarkably quickly. He was exhausted towards the latter-part of 2018, which his Tour Championship win masked-over somewhat (remember all those stories of his swing speed slowing down?). This year there were constant stories of him feeling exhausted following his Masters win that persisted throughout the final three majors of the year. This doesn’t mean he’s going to get injured again soon — nothing of the sort — but it’s a constant reminder of Tiger’s new reality. 

Bamberger: I’m sure what Fred said was accurate, but it likely goes deeper than that: it takes Tiger at least three hours to get ready for a round of golf, and a week to recover from a tournament. How often do you want to do that? I think Tiger’s fine in 2020–for about eight events, tops. He’ll be at eight others in body but not in spirit. 

Zak: At this point, I don’t expect Tiger to play a lot of high intensity golf three straight weeks. Considering all his duties in Australia, it’s not shocking he didn’t feel up to it. He’ll pace out his schedule per usual this year, which really just means my answer for his physcial state is “check-check-check.” All seems normal. 

Wall: I don’t think he’ll play just the majors, but my expectation is to see Tiger at fewer events in 2020. I figure he’ll play at least one event in the weeks leading up to each major, and then add a few WGC’s and some of his usual stops to keep it under 15 starts. Given his injury history and the time it takes to get his body ready before each round, playing 15 is a full load.

He's bad at this sharing thing, so how would any of us know?  

Since we’re on the topic, will Tiger win a major next year? 

LKD: I don’t think so, but I hope I’m wrong. I mean, would it really surprise you if he picked up another Masters win? 

Bamberger: No. Which means he will. I suppose the Open. You know which one. 

Zak: The odds are he will not, and I’ll take those odds. Augusta, he’ll have a solid shot, sure. Harding Park should be chilly and tight, so no. Winged Foot is intriguing, but a toss-up for the entire field. Like Bamberger, I like his chances best at Royal St. George’s, where he’ll be one of the smartest players in the field. There’s four degrees of latitude difference between Kent and Portrush, and about 8-10 degrees temperature difference in July. It could be as tame as Carnoustie was in 2018.

Wall: Yep, he’ll pick up No. 16 at the Open Championship. Still believe he has two majors left in the tank.

Except for Augusta, he'd have to get very lucky as to the weather.  Amusing that guys are all in on The Open Championship, because it would be hard to pick a venue for which Tiger would be less excited.  From losing his opening tee shot in 2004 to missing the event due to injury in 2011, perhaps Goldfinger is the only player less excited about the return to Sandwich.

 One last Tiger item:

Pebble Beach's nine-hole par-3 course, Peter Hay, has always been a bit pedestrian in

nature. But that's about to change. 

The resort announced on Tuesday that Tiger Woods' design firm, TGR Design, will start reconstruction of the rather mundane layout in 2020, rethinking the previous routing to include a second hole that will replicate Pebble Beach's famous seventh hole—by the exact elevation change, exact dimension of the green and even wind direction, as the proposed second hole at Peter Hay will play due south just like the famous par-3 seventh. 

Conversations about the vision of Peter Hay were actually sparked by Tiger Woods during his preparations for the U.S. Open this year, Pebble Beach vice president and Director of Golf John Sawin told Golf Digest on Tuesday. Tiger noticed that some construction was ongoing at Peter Hay, which served as the grand entrance to the U.S. Open last year, and he expressed an interest in being involved in the future of a reimagined short course at Pebble Beach.

I didn't even know they had a Par-3...  Tiger has actually proven to be more of a student of architecture than I'd have expected, so this is a good fit.  Now, about that South Side Chicago nonsense.....

Cheap Shots - Some potential clicks if you've time to kill:

This one might be every bit as funny as Two-Gloves' prostitution arrest:  Gio Valiante, sports psychologist who has appeared on Golf Channel, arrested on battery charge

Having ruined everything else... - Transgender golfer shares her dream of competing in World Long Drive events

I'll even give you an excerpt of this one:

O’Neill, who is a 43-year-old transgender woman, shared her story of chasing her dream to compete in World Long Drive Association events.

I'll stipulate to the fact that she's 43 and transgender...  As for the rest...  Amusingly, they just can't help providing too much information, can they?

The World Long Drive Association and Golf Channel have a policy in place for transgender athletes and O’Neill has met the conditions of the rules. “A competitor who has had gender reassignment must have had a gonadectomy no less than two years prior to the registration deadline for the specific WLDA event.”

Stick a fork in it, women's sports has just died.  Think they'll ever convict the murderer?

I don't think you're using the word "interesting" correctly - The 9 most interesting golf equipment stories of 2019

Quite a few of these, such as Eddie Pepperell's Tin Cup moment and Russell Henley's penalty, aren't even really equipment stories.

Kids, I can't imagine when next the need to blog will present.  But, who knows, there are lots of hours to fill in the next ten days, so check back early and often.

Late-Week Lamentations

I am starting to feel a little better, thanks for asking.  If not quite back to human, then at least humanish...Just a few small items, focusing on the amusing side of our game.  My objective is simply that, if you enter Ctrl-F and type in Patrick Reed, you will get zero hits.

Popcorn, Popped - Hank is made as hell and won't take it any more:

Hank Haney is suing the PGA Tour for damages after the cancellation of his radio show earlier this year, he announced Wednesday. The suit claims that the Tour “improperly

intimidated, enticed and threatened Sirius XM…to suspend and ultimately terminate Haney’s radio broadcast.” The action came after Haney made a series of dismissive, racially-charged comments about the LPGA tour. 

Haney, best known as Tiger Woods’ former swing coach, argues that the PGA Tour was not party to the agreement between him and Sirius XM and alleges the show’s cancellation was just the latest example of the Tour interfering with his business ventures. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, makes the claim that the Tour was responsible for suppressing sales of Haney’s book, The Big Miss, for the cancellation of both his Golf Channel show The Haney Project and his radio show on SiriusXM. 

In a release, Haney’s legal team cites “revenge” as a motive for the Tour and writes that “the only obstacle he faced was a PGA Tour bent on seeking revenge for Haney’s 2012 truth-telling book.”

Do tell, Hank.   This Golf Digest piece delves a little deeper into Hank's allegations:

According to the documents, Haney, 64, is seeking damages "for the harm the PGA TOUR caused when it improperly intimidated, enticed and threatened Sirius XMRadio, Inc. (SiriusXM) to suspend and ultimately terminate Haney’s radio broadcast on SiriusXM’s PGA Tour Radio station." Haney claims the Tour has "long attempted to disrupt and interfere in Haney’s business," most notably regarding the release of his book, "The Big Miss," a tell-all from Haney's time as Tiger Woods' swing coach.

"At the time of the release in 2012, as the substantive content of the book became public through previews, the PGA Tour induced both 'PGA Tour Superstores' and 'PGA Tour Shops' to cancel previously placed orders of The Big Miss," the lawsuit asserts. "Upon information and belief, the PGA Tour further induced smaller shops to back out of their preorders for the book." 

Haney also alleges the Tour forced the Golf Channel to discontinue his "Hank Haney Project" TV show on the network and SiriusXM to terminate Haney's business relationship. According to Haney, these actions have cost advertising revenues that "would have amounted to millions" over the life of Haney's agreements.

Who doesn't love a cat fight?  Especially with the Big Cat sitting in the wings....

On the one hand, it's hard for me to conceive that the Tour would care sufficiently about Haney to take the actions alleged.  But, on the other hand, there is one guy that's known for holding a grudge, just ask Abe Ancer, and the Tour has been known to be overly solicitous of his thoughts.

But this is no time to concern ourselves with the merits of the case, as all this blogger wants for Christmas is full-blown discovery....  Should be good fun.

Let's remember the eerie prescience of Hank's prediction:

The transgression: immediately before the LPGA U.S. Open, Hank admitted he did not follow women’s golf and, when pushed to forecast a winner, said he could only guess that the winner would have the surname “Lee,” the surname of six golfers in the tournament, all ranked in the top 100. Indeed, the eventual winner was Jeongeun Lee.

Excuse me, where are those layers and layers of fact checkers.  The winners name was Jeongeun Lee6, the 6 actually proving Hank's point, as politically incorrect as it may be.

2019 In Full - It was an OK year, but no better than that in my book.  But others disagree...  For instance, Alan Shipnuck from his weekly mailbag:

Will the 2019 calendar year in golf rank as one of the most memorable years in golf history?#AskAlan -@GoranBarnes 

Tiger’s Masters victory automatically elevates it to highly memorable. The Solheim Cup pushes 2019 to another level. So does the deep feeling, and indelible images, of Shane Lowry’s victory at The Open and the incredible play and sportsmanship at the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. The Presidents Cup nudges 2019 further into rarified air. Brooks at the PGA Championship, Rory’s breakthrough at the Players, the superb run of J.Y. Ko — yeah, it was a helluva year.

Wow, did you live the same year as I did?  You cite Rory's Players, whereas I can't get the image of his opening tee shot at Portrush out of my mind....  And how do you mention the Prez Cup without noting he who must not be mentioned today?  Brooks?  Golf Channel replayed the final round from Bethpage last night, and it was quire the dreary affair.  Alan seems too young for rose-colored glasses, and we'll have more on that in a bit...

Dylan Dehtier and Sean Zak take a different approach, setting up this match play bracket for the year:

Is that a kidney stone of a year or what?  And that's without including the fat boy with the shovel....Although, you know, sand.....

It's pretty bizarre, but I'll let you experience it for yourselves.

And for those that truly have too much time on their hands, we have the twenty-one (yup, though with some category errors) top rules issues of the year, many of which you'll have either forgotten or never heard of.  Here's a sample:

Good times.

But riddle me this, Batman, how do you do an exhaustive review of 2019 rules imbroglios and not include Billy Mayfair?  Dylan Dythier's similar piece only includes five examples, and yet Billy appropriately leads:

5. Billy Mayfair 

The penalty: Mayfair, tied for the lead on Saturday of the Invesco QQQ Championship, ran into two separate rules issues in just seven holes. On No. 11, Mayfair conducted a lengthy search for his ball, which he eventually found. On No. 17, Mayfair’s ball moved six inches after he addressed it with his wedge, but his explanation to the rules official was misleading, according to Golf Channel broadcasters. Two potential penalties. 

The verdict: Strap yourself in: First, when Mayfair got into the scoring area after his round, he was shown what happened on No. 17 and acknowledged that he had in fact caused the ball to move. Then the volunteer scorer called in, adamant that Mayfair had taken well over the allotted three minutes to find his ball back at No. 11. After reviewing the footage, the search was determined to have taken 4:50 or more. As a result, he had played what was technically an “out-of-play” ball. DQ! 

Notable because: Double rules conundrums. Changing stories. Volunteer call-ins. Second-guessing announcers. And of course, the two most dramatic letters in the game: DQ. This one had it all.

Just remember, golf is a game played by gentlemen....  Billy put the lie to that with his incredibly malleable accounting of two incidents.  

Choosing the golfer who behaved most poorly in 2019 is incredibly difficult, given how many worthy candidates there are.  But Billy should be proud of his performance and, really, it's just an honor to be nominated.

You'll guess Dylan's winner, but I think he misunderstands the significance:

Notable because: Even if it had just been the two strokes, this would have been relevant — Reed ended up losing the tournament by just two strokes, after all. Instead, it took on a life of its own. Because the Presidents Cup loomed, because Patrick Reed was involved, because it involved accusations that included the word “cheater,” which always raises alarm bells in the golf world.

Errr, not really...  What's notable to this observer is when the guys reveal themselves to us...  In this case, it was the man who much not be named's reaction.  Apparently my lyin' eyes are unreliable narrators, and I shouldn't trust them any longer.  Good to know.

More Alan -  Some quick hits from that mailbag:

We hear a lot about the role of the captain in team events. There’s a lot involved: player and vice captain selections, pairings and singles lineup strategy, coaching, inspiration, psychology, course management, etc. What did Tiger bring to his first captaincy? -@Konocomment 

The cult of personality. The players on his team love and idolize Tiger and were deeply determined to win for him. He didn’t do everything right — picking Reed was certainly a disaster. In fairness to Tiger, he couldn’t have known a cheating scandal would erupt the week before the Cup, but Reed always represented a high degree of risk. To keep doubling-down on Reed when he was playing poorly and seemingly affected by all the bad juju was a display of stubbornness by Tiger that hurt his team. Still, I liked that Capt. Woods had the steel to bench his buddy Bryson as well as DJ, the second-highest ranked American. His singles lineup came up aces. He did enough to win, which is what matters. In the final analysis, the emotion that Tiger displayed, and evoked in his players, is what we’ll remember about this Cup.

What I'll remember most is Tiger's play, as well as the fact they he once again looked us in the eye and lied about his physical condition.  In a friggin' exhibition.... To me that's Tiger's career in a nutshell.

But when it comes to captains, I'm old school like that Watson guy... It's about twelve players, not pods.

But perhaps this one sheds a little light:

Fess up: Weren’t you choking up a bit watching Tiger seeking out people to hug? Like he was making up for lost time? -@Ronjfitz 

I wasn’t quite choking up but I was certainly moved. Kyle Porter had a perceptive tweet that captured the moment: “Tiger’s life has been weird as hell, and I think he’s genuinely enjoying what a lot of us figured out in high school or college: That all the achievement in the world isn’t worth much if you don’t have a good community to share it with.” For most of his career, Tiger erected a fortress around his inner-self. When golf was taken away from him he was left to rattle around an empty mansion, with only his trophies and Call of Duty for companionship. In this final act of his career it has been quite meaningful to see him connect with his colleagues and other folks in the game.

But really, just a little.  He had that at Stanford, so it was a choice, not something forced on him.

Has the PGA Tour’s habit of Jaywashing inconvenient deviations from its carefully scripted propaganda program reached a tipping point? -@Lou@TireWorld 

That was one of the takeaways from the Reed fiasco: When the Tour fails to police the players then mob justice will prevail — on Twitter or in the gallery, or both. Unfortunately, the Tour has staked its entire business model on selling “perfect gentlemen.” To not only acknowledge misbehavior but to discourage it with public suspensions would force the Tour to admit that some of these guys are not, in fact, always good. Tour brass simply refuses to go there, which is creating this weird dynamic where fans are frustrated by the lack of accountability and taking it out on the players…who would probably prefer a short suspension so they can enjoy the good P.R. of the inevitable comeback tour.

I do like the term, but this obviously predates Jay.  It's really tiresome but, I think more importantly, counter-productive.  I actually do think most of the guys are gentlemen, and that Billy Mayfair, Sung Kang and Shovel-Boy are notable exceptions.  And public shame is exactly the method to promote proper behavior.

Whose Presidents Cup performance has you most excited for their 2020 season? #AskAlan -@EthanZimman 

I’ve been a huge Sungjae fan going back to this year’s L.A. Open, when I watched him shape shots at Riv and we shared a ridiculous amount of Korean BBQ in K-town, so I can’t pick Im because I was already excited to see how he builds on his ROY campaign. I’m gonna go with Justin Thomas. He never got it going in the majors this year but it feels like he’s ready to explode. With Spieth’s slump, Reed’s woes, and DJ’s malaise, Thomas needs to step up and become the elite American who pushes Koepka. After his breakthrough 2017, Thomas has played quite well over the last two seasons, but I want more from him.

Alan, that's just a bizarre answer.  Jt has been held back by injuries in the last year or so, but did you happen to notice his bizarrely poor Sunday singles match.  JT could definitely be an alpha dog, but nothing that happened in Oz changes our perceptions of him.

Sunjae Im is an obvious answer, but another answer is Ancer... He, see what I did there?  I'd also add Tony Finau, just because if he ever develops confidence with the putter, there will be no stopping him.  Assuming, of course, that the confidence is justified.

If Royal Melbourne was a golf course in central Wisconsin or the NW would we be complaining about the lack of rough and all the short par 4’s? -@fakePoulter 

Perhaps. It is clearly way too short for the modern professional game, but that’s not Royal Melbourne’s fault — every course that currently exists on this planet is also too short. It still presented a fascinating, artful test and looked great on TV. Unlike, say, Erin Hills, it played firm and fast, and unlike, say, Chambers Bay, the greens were utterly pure. But I’m interested in your citation of the lack of rough as a bad thing — that made the course play tougher, because balls could roll (and roll and roll…) into the fiendish bunkers and off the shoulders of the greens, leading to some hellacious recovery shots.

I was gonna label it a category error, because those sandbelt conditions can't be found in Central Wisconsin.   Except, it so happens that you can.

In theory, there is clearly room for the PGA Championship to occasionally go global and play it at a highly regarded place like Royal Melbourne. But is there *really* room for it? The $$$ factor tells me no way. #AskAlan -@DannyLawhon 

Well, the PGA Championship is run by an organization called the Professional Golfers Association of America. It has a constituency of 27,000 pros, and the flagship tournament is where many of them gather. It was the former boss of the PGA of America, Pete Bevacqua, who first floated the idea of taking the tournament global. We spoke at some length about it and the biggest pushback he got was from PGA pros who didn’t want to miss out on the annual chance to network and host friends and clients. Since the PGA brass essentially works for the pros, you can’t overstate how important the membership’s voice is on this issue. What makes the most sense to me is move the World Golf Championship out of the bustling metropolis of Memphis when the summer schedule is utterly slammed and take it to Royal Melbourne every December. This would be a highlight of the season and also lure more top players to the Australian Open, a proud tournament that deserves stronger fields.

Excuse me Alan, but your evidence that the PGA of America brass work for those 27,000 members is what exactly?  Have you talked to any of those members, because nothing the brass works on, think Frisco, seems to benefit the dues-paying members.

Is Patrick Reed the biggest villain in golf history? I guess I can’t think of another player with such a dreadful public persona. -@SteveThomsonMN 

Mid-90’s Colin Montgomerie was so much fun to mock because he was the perfect caricature of the huffy, puffy Brit. But, really, his biggest offense was getting mad at a blimp and/or destroying the U.S. at the Ryder Cup. John Daly trashed plenty of hotel rooms and was involved in innumerable controversies but he was so open about his demons that many (most?) people wound up rooting for him. There have been plenty of players through the years who were prickly or anti-social or just not very nice but that doesn’t rise to the level of villainy. For now, I think Reed reigns supreme as the baddest of the bad guys.

Hagen?  Poults?  There simply has to be a better answer to this great question, though I'm drawing mostly a blank.

When can we expect a sequel to The Swinger featuring a caddie, his petulant boss, and unruly fans? -@JKnox_59 

I continue to hector Bamberger about this. It’s going to happen. It must. A pudgy antihero with some dark secrets sounds compelling. I’d like to go deeper on the Will Martinsen character — he’s a quirky fellow with a lot of baggage! Perhaps we have a golf-obsessed President who, prior to taking office, lured Will into some shady financial transactions involving a golf course development in Moscow. We could have a hot-blooded Spaniard with anger-management issues. A lanky American superstar with a wandering eye. We could delve into the shady underbelly of Jupiter life. The possibilities are literally endless.

Alan must be in a bubble somewhere.  He didn't get the memo that the Russia stuff is no longer operative, so he needs to replace Moscow with Kiev.

Player of the decade? -@Jesserdodson 

It’s an easy call: Inbee Park. Rory would be the second choice.

I'm cool with Inbee.

Alan Goes Deep - It's fun every once in a while to deal with a piece about which I am clueless.  Actually, that universe is undoubtedly larger than I realize, so let's talk about one in which I recognize said cluelessness.

Alan got this odd question for his mailbag, and the Golf.com gang spun it off as a stand-alone column:

Here's his lede:

In terms of age, I fall more or less in the middle of this spectrum. By training, my journalistic sensibilities are Old Mannish. My snarky social media usage definitely skews Fanboyesque. Somehow I stayed out of the recent crossfire, I guess because I have a foot in both camps. 

These are certainly interesting times in the golf media. Like the rest of you, I was wildly entertained by all the Twitter trash-talking but it was also awkward because I’m friendly with all of the protagonists and value their different voices. It was an illuminating episode because what spilled out into the open has been brewing for a long time.

He goes on at length, and it's really well worth your time.  As a golf insider, it's interesting to see his reaction to the No Laying Up crew, and the changes to the journalistic landscape.

I just find it somewhere between comical and ironic to be discussing journalistic standards at a time when real journalists seem committed to beclowning itself on a daily basis.  It's a profession that seems desperately in need of our respect and praise, though unwilling to act deserving of it.

I totally get that sports journalists are inherently compromised, and I'm OK with that as long as they're not completely in the bag.  Alan, I've always felt, does a pretty good job of straddling that fence.  No doubt the media world is crumbling around them, and at least Alan tries to sort through the underlying issues.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you somewhere down the road.