There's a promise of storms on the way, but nothing that affects us just now. There's an old saying that there are no friends on powder days.... No blog posts as well.
More Patrick? - From my Twitter feed, in retweeting Mike Bamberger's piece from yesterday, we get this trenchant insight from Lawrence Donegan:
This is a good, timely analysis. https://t.co/T6yMfPsBpo— Bradley S. Klein (@BradleySKlein) January 7, 2020
Although the bit about the golf world not buying it seems more like wishful thinking. See, for instance, Woods, Eldrick.
John Feinstein has a long form piece on the man, and it's quite the curious thing. Good time to refill your coffee cup if you're so inclined:
There’s a scene in the first episode of the brilliant TV show “The West Wing” in which Rob Lowe, playing presidential communications director Sam Seaborn, tries to explainto chief-of-staff Leo McGarry’s daughter that he’s really not as bad a guy as he appears to be.
“I really am a good guy,” he says. “But I’m a good guy having a very bad day.”
Patrick Reed would tell you he’s a good guy—and I’m one of those who would agree with him. But there’s no doubt that he’s had enough bad days that he’s earned a reputation on the PGA Tour among players and spectators as a bad guy that’s not likely to go away anytime soon.
Would Webb Simpson share that opinion? Never mind, let's let him go on?
Now, here's John again with his uniquely passive construction:
Reed has had more than one bad day during his often-tumultuous PGA Tour career, but when he’s willing to open up to people, it’s clear he not only is a good guy but wants to be a good guy. He could just use some counseling on how to handle bad days.
OK, John, I'm having a sad over all the bad days this poor lad has endured. But, and I'm just spitballin' here, do you see Patrick as having any agency in the creation of those bad days? Or it's just a cloud that's always over him?
But wait, things get curiouser and curiouser. Here's John's rather careful rendition of the Albany incident:
Reed’s most recent bad day came in early December at the 18-man exhibition tournament to benefit Tiger Woods’ foundation—and the players in the event, who split up a $3.5 million purse with no cut. During the third round, Reed found himself in a sandy waste area. As he lined up for practice swings, he appeared to dig his club into the sand behind the ball. At the end of the round, after viewing the video, PGA Tour rules official Slugger White told Reed to add two to his score for the day—giving him a two-over-par 74.
Reed insisted he wasn’t attempting to improve his lie, but also said he understood how the camera angle might make it appear that was his intent.
Appeared? Oh, and that description is equally curious, and he seems to go to pains to avoid noting that Reed did it twice, as he appeared, we can all use these weaselly terms, to be unhappy with his lie after the first excavation effort.
Three things are worth noting here: First, Reed didn’t apologize then, hasn’t apologized as of now and—almost certainly—won’t apologize in the future. Two, White, who had an angry run-in with Woods over a two-stroke penalty he assessed him during the 2013 BMW Championship, said that Reed was “a complete gentleman” when he told him he was going to be penalized. Three, Reed bounced back the next day to shoot a 66 and finished third. If nothing else, Reed has proved over the years that controversy doesn’t often affect his golf.
OK, I'm of course flattered with John's comparison to that incident at the BMW, which your humble correspondent has done previously. But I remain amused at how important some folks seem to find his civility to Slugger White... Isn't this a rather low standard?
But that last sentence I think is horribly wrong, and conveys a fundamental misunderstanding of our antihero. Patrick has shown that he thrives amid the controversy... In fact, he seems to have a need for it, and has created it at every juncture of his life. It's what he does to the rest of us, the U.S. Prez Cup Team being only the most recent example.
But we're not close to done yet:
Then came the 2018 Ryder Cup. Captain Jim Furyk elected to break up the team of Reedand Spieth that had been so successful in 2014 and 2016 (and was initially suggested by Spieth at Gleneagles) to pair Spieth with Justin Thomas. Reed said he was “blindsided” by the change and added that it was clear to him that Spieth simply didn’t want to play with him. When Furyk explained he thought he could create two strong teams by splitting Reed and Spieth up, Reed called the explanation “b.s.” When he was roundly criticized for his comments, Reed noted that when Mickelson called captain Tom Watson out after the matches at Gleneagles he was praised, but “When I did it, I got destroyed.”
There are, clearly, double standards at times. When Reed snapped a wedge over his knee during the second round of last year’s U.S. Open, it became a big story. Other players break or throw clubs with barely a whisper. Of course, Reed’s a major champion with a controversial past, so he’s more likely to draw attention for any misbehavior.
Wow, that's a world class nonsense-word ration, and John really should know better. Reed's offenses from that 2018 Ryder Cup are legion, but all lead back to the fact that he was all too eager to sell out his teammates to excuse his poor play. And he even sold out his hero Tiger Woods in the bargain...
But the craziest thing is the comparisons with Phil's infamous 2014 press conference performance art. As if that's an ideal that anyone should strive to match...
Can anyone guess how John tied this nonsense together? It's a beaut:
That being said, Reed could use some public-relations counseling. His circle is a tight one: Justine, Kessler and Kevin Kirk, his swing coach. There is me-against-the-world approach taken by Reed and his team. Some of that is understandable, but backing off it and understanding that there has never been a public figure who didn’t make mistakes—and admitting to one almost always defuses the issue—might work better.
Reed is almost certainly going to continue to hear it from fans—his past is too ingrained in the minds of the golf public for it to stop. Matt Kuchar, one of the game’s most popular players, was heckled frequently last year after initially underpaying his caddie following a victory in Mexico—even though he eventually did pay him more and apologized for the initial misstep. And if Reed is hearing it from the ordinarily docile galleries in Hawaii, imagine what will happen in louder venues, like TPC Scottsdale or TPC Sawgrass? Or in New York this summer at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot? This isn’t something that's just going to go away.
Reed’s unlikely to get the benefit of doubt anytime soon. Except from those who know him best.
Sam Seaborn did end up dating Leo McGarry’s daughter. Redemption is always possible.
OK, John, I'm going to try to break this to you gently, but The West Wing was a piece of fiction. I'm pretty sure the writers didn't intend it as a How-To guide.
That first 'graph reverts to John's default passive construction. That tight circle appears to be just something that happened, having nothing to do with actions of Mr. Reed. Mr. Table For One is just a misunderstood child.... OK, got it.
Burying The Lede - I completely get that Orange Man Bad, but doesn't this Golf Digest header kind of miss the point?
American golfers remain committed to events in Middle East despite rising tensions with Iran
The reaction of the American golfers is a story, but a sidebar kind of story. Isn't the real issue the Euro Tour's reliance on the Middle East to support their schedule? These are Euro Tour events, and the involvement of Americans is basically their willingness to, you know, cash checks...
But wait, things get curiouser (it seems to be that kind of day):
The United States issued a security alert last week to all Americans living in Iran to leavethe country following the death of Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran's Quds military force, after he was killed Thursday by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. Additionally, the U.S. state department advised caution when traveling to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates—site of the Euro Tour's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Omega Dubai Desert Classic and the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisors, all held in January—and encouraged citizens to "maintain a high level of vigilance" due to the conflict in the area.
There are Americans living in Iran? Hasn't this been an issue since 1979?
Koepka, who missed the Presidents Cup due to lingering knee issues, confirmed on Monday that he will make his first start since pulling out of the CJ Cup with injury in October at next week's Abu Dhabi Championship. The World No. 1 is also scheduled to compete in the Saudi International. Johnson (the event's defending champ) and Reed are also returning to the Saudi, while Mickelson is making his tournament debut. DeChambeau will make appearances in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The Euro Tour added that it is closely watching the Iran situation, and taking the necessary steps to ensure protection to players and their families.
“The safety of our players, staff and stakeholders and everyone involved in each and every one of our tournaments around the world is our top priority," the tour told Golf Digest. "The European Tour constantly monitors what is happening in all of our host countries, taking any safety advice from the relevant agencies where appropriate, and we will continue to do so for all of our tournaments around the world."
But what is the underlying assumption here? That Iran would attack innocent golfers? But I had been reliably informed that Islam is a religion of peace...
Not a word for the predicament of Keith Pelley and his Tour? Really, who cares whether Koepka, reed, et.al. cash big checks, but has anyone noticed that the Iranians have bombed the Saudi oil fields and threatened to close the Straits of Hormuz, yet the price of oil has barely budged? Isn't that kind of important?
Meanwhile, I think the players will survive, but I'm more worried about the safety of those Saudi greens. After all, word is that Sergio will be in the field....
A Big Gamble - You know when people tell you it's not the money, it's the money? Via Geoff, we have a look back at this deep dive and these comments from the Commish:
Of that estimated $150 billion wagered, approximately 2 percent – $3 billion – is bet on golf.
Monahan said making money off legalized sports betting is not the main reason the PGA Tour is invested in what will be a new world order. The hope is to get one-quarter of 1 percent of the money wagered on the PGA Tour. That’s approximately $7.5 million annually if the estimates of what’s being bet are accurate.
Got it, Jay, it's most certainly not the money. But of course my reaction is to channel my inner Peggy Lee, Is that all there is? Puny, in other words.
This AP piece has some interesting background on how we got where we are:
Professional sports leagues struck out in their quest for a cut of sports betting money by claiming they needed payments to help protect the integrity of games.
They also fumbled an attempt to claim a share of betting proceeds by saying the games are the intellectual property of the leagues, and that they should be compensated when others profit off them.
But with two strikes against them, the leagues may have hit on a way to cash in: selling their official data to gambling companies, making the case that the leagues are creating new products for gamblers to bet on.
Six of the largest U.S. bookmakers already use official league data under terms they negotiated directly with the leagues.
As one, my readership mouths "Shotlink"...
But:
Why is this important? Sports betting has very small profit margins, typically between 5% and 7%. With state taxes, payments to technology partners, marketing and other expenses, even a seemingly small additional cost, such as a quarter of 1% of the amount bet, quickly adds up and affects the bottom line for bookmakers.
That is no small concern in what right now amounts to a gold rush in the year-and-a-half-old sports betting market in the U.S., with dozens of companies scrambling for market share — and the likelihood that not everyone in business today will be in the market in 5 years.
And here's the golf-specific hook:
The PGA Tour says it is creating new betting opportunities through its complicated (and expensive) ShotLink technology.
“ShotLink gathers data from every shot; there are more than 30,000 shots in a golf tournament,” said Andy Levinson, senior vice president for tournament administration with the PGA Tour. “We’re collecting multiple data points, and they are going to be potential betting points. There’s going to be opportunities over a season to have millions of markets created in golf. You’re talking about distance, ball location, whether it’s on the fairway or in the rough. If a player has a 10-foot uphill putt, there’s going to be historical data on that shot. Our sport is perfect for it.
“That requires 60 people every week; we have to lug 5 miles of cable,” he said. “We have cameras, laser systems around our greens. It’s an extremely expensive process.”
Is it? I just don't see it, but I'm quite clearly not the target market. For instance, I scrupulously avoid Living Under Par, so I've got that going for me.
I just can't see this as a good thing for our game, though I'm sure all sorts of NFL officials decried fantasy football... It's just that the combination of betting and fan proximity seems like an obvious problem, no? I find Jay's eagerness off=putting, as he's the guy that's supposed to protect the game from these people. But I've been wrong before, maybe once or twice....
Missing Links - I'm not sure I've done this before, but I'm motivationally challenged, so will just link to a few items that you want read with only minor comments.
A 2019 Golf Quiz - I got two of them wrong, though one I should have requested a breakfast ball on (the first question).
Still Not In The Golf Business - They run saloons with a golf theme, but are headed for a rich IPO.
A Tribute To Those We Lost in 2019 - Life is poorer without Dan Jenkins, not that I ever expected otherwise.
A Deep Dive On That Shot - A fun take on JT's mind fart on No. 18 on Sunday. A long list of things that will make your golf ball go left....
A Misnomer - Young Turk Alex Myers summarizes the latest in his weekly feature called The Grind, which is anything but.
Channeling My Inner David Merrick - One of favorite quotes ever is Merrick's, "It's not enough that I should succeed, others should fail". In that vein, I take alarming pleasure in the fact that Eammon Lynch has never played Lahinch. Did I mention that you should get off my lawn? It's not an admirable side of me, yet there it is....
Happy reading.
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