Late-Week Laments

Not much to report on the skiing front.  Maybe some fresh snow Monday, but that comes with some extremely cold weather....But thought you might enjoy a picture of the rather impressive stalactite currently featured on my terrace:

Scenes From the Wasted - I watched a bit of it, but not the part where this guy really got on a roll:

Wyndham Clark leads 

Twenty-six-year-old Wyndham Clark sits atop the leaderboard alone through one round, after firing a scorching round of 10-under-par 61. The 2017 University of Oregon grad’s perfect round included an incredible 10 birdies and zero bogeys. 

Clark is playing his second full season on the PGA Tour this year, and is still seeking his maiden victory, though he did have three top 10s last season, and made it to the BMW Championship in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

 There wasn't a lick of wind, and we know what these guys do in such benign conditions.  

Who else is in the hunt? 

Tour veterans Billy Horschel and J.B. Holmes also had excellent opening rounds on Thursday, firing an eight-under-par 63 and a seven-under-par 64, respectively.

Two of Holmes’ five career Tour titles were won at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, in 2006 and 2008. His most recent win was last year’s Genesis Open.

How did the big names play? 

Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm, Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley and Zach Johnson had the best rounds of the recognizable-name set, with scores of four-under-par 67. 

Justin Thomas and Matt Kuchar shot three-under-par 68s while Bubba Watson and Tony Finau shot two-under-par 69s. 

Gary Woodland and Bryson DeChambeau are nine shots behind Clark’s lead after one-under-par 70s, and defending champ Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth have some work to do on Friday if they want to stick around for the weekend after opening with rounds of three-over-par 74.

Exit question:  When does Jordan cease to be a "big name"?  I'm going with March.

This guy had a pretty memorable day as well:

Holmes, 37, preferred the 175-yard, par-3 fourth hole to No. 16 Thursday. He cut a 7-iron that cleared the front bunker and trickled into the hole for his fourth ace on the PGA Tour and the first at the fourth since 2007. Despite the hole-in-one, Holmes was struggling along at even par for the round through eight holes when he caught fire. He drained a 47-foot birdie putt at 10 en route to shooting 30 on his second nine and shoot 7-under 64 to trail Clark by three strokes.

Holmes attribute his turnaround to the magic hands of his trainer, Marc Wahl, who massaged his right elbow as he walked from the ninth green to the 10th tee. “My arm stopped hurting as much,” said Holmes, who said he’s been bothered by tendinitis for six years.

Lots of Kobe tributes, including Max Homa:

And Justin Thomas:

 And Tony Finau:

All good, though let me just add my gratitude that Jon Rahm remembers this guy:

Eamon Lynch pens an ode to the gladiators that take on the 16th hole:

Somewhere in a quiet corner of the locker room at TPC Scottsdale there might be a player who doesn’t enjoy the famously boisterous atmosphere at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, who loathes the beer-fueled histrionics at the Birds Nest 16th hole, who would rather go about his craft in the more traditional, cathedral-like environments of the PGA Tour. 

But if such a player does in fact exist, he’s not about to admit it in public.

As Eamon himself notes in his next graph, such a player would seem more likely to vote with his feet.  Unlike the Premiere Golf League, players are not required to show up every week.

Count me as in tune with this guy:

Even the players who say they enjoy the atmosphere concede they’ll be happy to leave it behind come Sunday night. “It’s quite amazing. I think it’s good to have it at least once a year,” said Ben An. “But I wouldn’t take it every single week.”

I'd change that "At least" to "Not more than once", but otherwise he nailed it.

Scenes From Saudi - It's almost like he's auditioning for something:

Scores were low across the board on the opening day of the European Tour’s Saudi

International, but no one made more back-nine noise than Phil Mickelson, even if he didn’t end up with the lead by day’s end. 

Mickelson, playing the tournament for the first time after opting out of his usual Phoenix PGA Tour stop, strung together seven birdies plus a bogey coming home at Royal Greens G&CC in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. It left him with a 4-under 66, which was just two shots off the pace. 

Mickelson needed an explosive back nine considering that he double-bogeyed his second hole and followed each of two front-nine birdies with an immediate bogey.

If Phil's gonna make noise, I much prefer that he do it with his clubs....  And clearly this guy agrees with me:

Just a shame that Brendan was limited to only 280 characters, as I suspect he could have gone on at length.  

Tron Carter, another of the hew golf media guys, had this about the Euro Tour's choice of venue, though he uses that other tour's marketing tagline for his skewering:

I don't follow, Tron.  I had been reliably informed that it's merely another culture, one equally valid as our own.  

Sergio, The Reckoning - Yeah, if only...  He's back in Saudi on an appearance fee freebie, and attempting to atone for his behavior last year.  First, a rehash for those new to these pages:

Sergio Garcia has spoken at length of the shame he felt after being disqualified in the inaugural Saudi International for damaging greens, admitting: "It was something I'm not proud of". 

The Spaniard made the admission on his return to Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City for this week's $3.5 million event on the European Tour.

The Ryder Cup star was eliminated from the tournament 12 months ago after taking his frustrations out on a number of putting surfaces in the third round.

Players in the four groups immediately behind him all complained to rules officials about the state he'd left them, apparently having attacked the greens with his putter, with Garcia being disqualified under Rule 1.2a.

Not proud of?  I'm happy to see the word "Shame" employed, but you'll have noted that it only comes from Martin Dempster, the article's author.   

But eliminated, Martin?  I think "Disqualified" is the word for which you searched in vain....But it gets worse, as Sergio has just a wee bit of trouble with the concept of personal agency:

“It was tough and is something that you never want to be a part of, and it kind of catches you by surprise," said Garcia when asked about his last visit here. 

"It was just an unfortunate thing that happened. The only thing I can do is keep working on my own family and on my game, and try to do the best I can." 

Just an unfortunate thing that happened?  Notice the use of the passive construction.... It's not something that Sergio did, it's just something that happened.  Of course, while Sergio might have been surprised, the rest of us not so much....

And here he verges into an interesting subject, about which I'd be inclined to be sympathetic:

He added: "It’s just a learning experience of life. I think there is a lesson for all of us as we’ve all grown up around golf and it’s not an easy place to grow because there are so many eyes on you.

“You want to do the best you can personally but then again at the same time you want to do really well at your sport - and it’s a thin line between doing well or getting frustrated.

“It has happened to all of us, we are all human and things happen that we’re not proud of. But, when it does, you just try to learn and become better."

The pressure these guys are under must be intense, and the frustration when things go wrong must be off the charts.  And then bad things start happening....

But obviously, Sergio, you're not actually partaking of that "Learning experience" when you duck responsibility for your actions, and think of them as something that just happens to you.  You behaved like a spoiled 8-year old....  I mean, damaging greens?  Who does that?

Oh, and here's something else that happened to Sergio a few years ago:

 See the emotional growth and maturity?

Women and Children Hardest Hit - Hey, I'm half right:

The LPGA’s spring Asia swing will be one tournament short in 2020. The upcoming Blue Bay LPGA, held on China’s Hainan Island, has been canceled due to concerns over

the coronavirus outbreak, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the situation, who spoke to Golfweek on the condition of anonymity before it was officially announced. 

The LPGA confirmed the cancellation on Thursday with the following statement: 

“Given the current health concerns and significant travel restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus in China, the LPGA along with our partners in China have made the decision to cancel the 2020 Blue Bay LPGA, which was scheduled to take place March 5-8 on Hainan Island. Any time you cancel an event, it is a difficult decision and we appreciate how hard our title partner (Blue Bay), IMG, the China LPGA and the China Golf Association have worked to host an incredible event. The health and safety of our players, fans and everyone working on the event is always our highest priority. While we are disappointed that the tournament won’t take place this season, we look forward to going back to Blue Bay in 2021 and for many years to come.”

Better safe than sorry, as the arc of this story is still to be determined.  But at least our media is focused on that which is of prime importance right now:

You mean the absence of Asians?  Yeah, I figured as much....

Furyk at Fifty - I love the homemade swing, and he seems like quite the nice guy...  But I'm not a fan of the premise of this John Feinstein paen:

How Jim Furyk carved his unique path to a Hall of Fame career

I think Jim has had himself a nice little career, I just don't think it should warrant a Hall pass.  John sums it up here:

• Won a U.S. Open.

• Won 17 times on the PGA Tour.

• Played on nine Ryder Cup teams.

• Captained a Ryder Cup team.

• Earned more than $71 million, ranking third on golf’s all-time money list.

• Broken 60 on tour twice (shooting 59 at the BMW Championship in 2013 and then becoming the first player to shoot 58 in a tournament, at the Travelers Championship in 2016).

Like I said, a nice little career.... I think the strongest of those data points is the seventeen wins....  a very respectable total in the age of Tiger.  Of course, it's not an overly impressive listing of events:

A little over-weighted towards Vegas, no?  

Making Ryder Cups is its own accomplishment, especially when you do so over a span approaching two decades.  That said, his 10-20-4 record seems kinda crappy, no?  A Ryder Cup captaincy is also quite a vote of confidence from your peers, though perhaps they weren't aware of his actual record....  But even there, how does one make the case that he was, you know, a good captain?  To me, playing Phil in foursomes is de facto evidence that he wasn't good at his assigned task.

To me, the hardest aspect of his record to weigh are the 58 and 59, mostly because he seems such an unlikely candidate for such pyrotechnics.  I'm professionally trained to consider any 18 holes of golf to be statistically insignificant yet, in Sergio's formulation, this keeps happening to Jim.  

I see it as a nice career, certainly one in which he over-achieved versus expectations, but one not suggesting, you know, immortality.  But standards have been reduced such that he'll be a shoo-in, but that only renders the Hall irrelevant.

Have a great weekend.