Weeked Wrap

Yeah, it's been a while.  Where have you all been?  Though now might not be the best time to tell you how much golf I've planned for this week.  

Rahmbo Reigns - Actual drama there at the end, though much had to be ignored:

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Jon Rahm vanquished any potential demons Sunday with a playoff-winning putt from the heavens at Olympia Fields.

In a battle of the world’s top two players in the BMW Championship, Rahm made a 66-foot putt for birdie on the 18th hole to topple world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who had made a 43-footer to force the playoff and then watched his 30-footer to extend the extra session to a second hole finish one inch to the right.

“I still can’t believe what just happened,” Rahm said of his Sunday miracle. “I think we all want the flashy finish, but not the stress that comes with it.”

Yeah, though the more telling moment was when DJ sank his snake in regulation, and the nation collectively muttered, "rut roh", assuming this would cost him the win:

Rahm couldn’t believe what happened on Saturday when he had a brain cramp on the fifth green and picked up his golf ball without marking it and was penalized one shot. He said after the round he just hoped he didn’t lose by a shot. He didn’t because he kept his composure after the gaffe and lit up the leaderboard the rest of the way on a course playing more like a U.S. Open than a PGA Tour event.

“I don’t know if I would have won had it not happened,” Rahm said. “It kind of made me mad at myself, and I just went on with my focus after that and was able to play amazing golf and stayed aggressive. Maybe if I hadn’t I would have two-putted and maybe stayed complacent. I don’t know because I had such a good start. I can tell you after that two-putt, making that six-footer for bogey, I was like, OK, that’s it, no playing around, go. That’s kind of what mentally did it for me.”

So, what did we think of it all?  Even in a world without other sports to distract us it fails to linger on the palate methinks.  And save your e-mails, I know that some other sports are reputedly being played, I just don't know a soul that's watching...

Shack seems especially cranky, and this week's Tour Confidential panel sets new heights for...well, just being strange.  For instance, this is the only question they have about Rahm's allegedly dramatic win:

1. Jon Rahm dropped a 66-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff with Dustin Johnson to claim the BMW Championship on Sunday. Where does Rahm bomb rank among the all-time great putts, non-major division?

OK, I could see this as an exit question, especially as that "non-major" qualification limits us to putts about which we don't care.  So, what do they come up with?

Josh Sens: Similar territory to Rahm’s eagle bomb on the last at Torrey. Reminiscent of Tiger’s “better than most” at Sawgrass. Rahm got robbed in the sense that there were no fans. For the first time all year, I found myself missing spectators. Those last 25 minutes would have been good, loud fun.

I like the former better as a comparison, merely because of its walk-off nature, as Tiger's was on the Saturday.  And yes, at Torrey there were still golfers on the course behind Rahm, the bomb merely made the lead secure (of course, no one will remember that Rahm didn't actually need the putt at Torrey).

Dylan Dethier: Just ahead of Collin Morikawa’s putt at the Workday, I suppose, given it was double the length and difficulty! And ahead of Justin Thomas’ putt at the same event, given he didn’t win. One stat I saw declared that Rahm was 20 times as likely to three-putt as one-putt from there. That’s a solid make.

OK, Dylan makes a small point, to wit, that the biggest difference between Colin's and Jon's putts was what happened with the other guy...

Michael Bamberger: Tiger, 18, Sunday, Bay Hill, 2008, packed house, Arnold watching, four majors coming.

Anyone know what the heck Mike is going for with that "four majors coming"?  I'll just note that there were only two coming for Tiger in 2008, coincidentally the number we have "coming" in our present moment.

Nick Piastowski: It’s up there, for sure. My favorite is a personal one. A few years back, I was 2-over through seven holes. On the 8th, a par-5, I hit a drive down the middle, then a 5-wood to maybe somewhere around 120 feet away. I putted the third. It went up a ridge and down a ridge, and then my buddy’s hands went up. Eagle. I parred 9. First and only time I shot even-par for nine holes. The all-time great putt, non-major division, TBH.

Nick, I simply have the available vocabulary to make you understand the extent to which America could not give a rat's ass about your eagle.  Your failure to understand that is trouble... The absence of editors to enforce that understanding is likely fatal.  

To be fair, I do think Alan nailed this one well:

Alan Shipnuck: Just slightly ahead of DJ’s crazy bender to force sudden death!

Well, duh! 

Do you care who's going to East Lake?  I know, I'll try to limit the passive aggressiveness, but this time of year could actually be good fun, if we could only let it...Read this if you care:

FedEx Cup Playoffs: 8 bubble players who are in (or out) for the Tour Championship

Amidst the tedium and drudgery of Steve Sands, there was a moment of actual interest.  To wit:

Mackenzie Hughes: In

Hughes entered the week in 36th place but crept up the leaderboard and needed to par 18 to

secure his spot inside the top 30. His approach went into the greenside bunker, and he needed to get up and down to head to East Lake. If he bogeyed, he’d drop to 32nd and miss next week.

“If this was just a Wednesday practice round, nine times out of 10 he’d get it up and in,” said NBC analyst Paul Azinger. But this wasn’t any Wednesday practice round.

Hughes splashed it to five feet and rolled in the putt, which led to an emotional fist-pump and 28th-place finish in the standings.

To me, that was the only pure moment of the day.   left unsaid was the the young man, quite obviously aware of where things stood, had that moment where all he had to do was make a simple par and he'd greatly enhance his status in the game.  That shot can be the hardest in the game, and he failed to pull it off.... yet presumably gave himself a talking-to, bucked himself up and got it up and in.  More like this, please.

Back to our curious lads at golf.com:

2. The 30-player field is set for the Tour Championship at East Lake next week. Several notables are on the outside looking in, including Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay and Adam Scott. Who are you most surprised didn’t make the cut?

Surprised how?  Surprised when?  

Sens: Cantlay. Both Tiger and Scott had played such limited schedules heading into the playoffs. Tiger had battled back issues. Scott always battles the putter. Cantlay was the one with no obvious vulnerabilities.

Dethier: Ditto. Cantlay has seemed more or less rock-solid the past couple years, his results held together by elite ball-striking. Woods and Scott have played incomplete schedules and have plenty of excuses, but Cantlay feels like he should be there, without question.

Bamberger: Tiger. He’d like to get that Sam Snead record out of the way. Winning events on courses he knows with small fields is the best way to get that done. #letthelegendgrow #Clapton: let it grow, let it grow, let it blossom, let flow. If Tiger gets to East Lake, he has about a 10 percent chance of winning. But he had to get there.

Piastowski: Tiger, Cantlay and Scott are all surprising. They just didn’t play enough. Gary Woodland is also a bit of a surprise – six top 10s this year, the most of any player to not make Atlanta, and more than some who did.

Shipnuck: After Scott won at Riv, I thought he was going to have a renaissance. Alas, he never refound his mojo after the restart.

Alan does remind us that before the world went crazy Adam Scott seemed headed to a different type of season, though he chose to wait an awfully long time before teeing it up post-Corona.

Let me just note that Cantlay is becoming an interesting case... Many have pegged him to break through and the back story makes us want that to be the case, but it's getting a little late, no?  Maybe not late, but I had expected to see more from him by now.

Of course, their Tiger-myopia might require some kind of intervention:

3. Does missing out on East Lake and having more time to rest improve Tiger’s chances at his next start, the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, or would he have benefited from four more rounds to work out the kinks?

Really?  What exactly was it about seeing him lapped by the field that makes you like his chances at The Foot?

You guys can click through if you want, I'll just excerpt the usually logical Alan Shipnuck:

Shipnuck: Playing three weeks in a row is a non-starter for Tiger at this point so I’m glad he’s getting a week off. But I’d love to see him peg it at Silverado to straighten out his putting.

 Alan, if three weeks in a row is a non-starter, why was Tiger grinding this week for the sole purpose of qualifying to play for the third week in a row?

It begs the question that I've posed previously, why is Tiger even playing these events?  He shows up in San Francisco rusty as heck, yet is willing to subject his back to the Bataan death March for the FedEx Cup?  Obviously Tiger wants to get his 83rd win and clear the halve with Snead, but wouldn't you think that his primary focus at this stage would be padding his total of majors?  We saw the same thing last year after the Masters win (I get the hangover and I'm sure he would have been better served by the PGA staying in August), but if he doesn't care about the majors, why should we?

Hold on, I lied...  I can't possibly not excerpt this priceless GMTU moment:

Sens: At this point, I would think the time off is more likely to do him good than harm. Does he really need more reps at this point? Don’t think so.

Bamberger: At this point, I would think the time off is more likely to do him harm than good. Does he really need more reps at this point? I think so.

A little clever on Mike's part, though kind of undermines the premise of the writer's confab.  To me, it reinforces that Tiger's willful refusal to share any information about the condition of his back renders opinions irrelevant.  My own idiosyncratic reaction is that, since I can't know his physical condition, I just stop caring about him as a player and cease expecting anything from him.  Oh, and I get a little peeved at their inability to move on to more interesting topics...

OK, so I mentioned that Shack was cranky.  Taking them in reverse chronological order, he was first a bit tough on the NBC crew:

Oh, and that amazing putt helped Rahm claim the BMW Championship in a thrilling finish over Dustin Johnson, who also made a doozy to send the tournament into overtime.

But I digress. Why focus on the BMW when the real story is next week’s Thursday leaderboard? While we’re in the midst of this playoff let’s send it down to Steve Sands for more. Will JT be four back or two back next Friday? Could Rahm cut into his deficit next week with a win this week? Inquiring minds do not need to know.

Fourteen years into this FedExCup, we’re still subjected to the hard sell. I realize there is a gargantuan sum of money at stake. And a season-long sponsor demanding full value for their investment even at the expense of other sponsors trying to have their moment. Yet once again, a compelling final round on a penalizing parkland course was mostly overshadowed by the effort to push FedExCup narratives that no sane individual cares about in the best of times. During a pandemic, it’s nails-on-the-chalkboard stuff. Especially with a fascinating final round featuring a better-than-most variety of characters.

As NBC’s Paul Azinger noted on Saturday, the FedExCup is a “pretty prestigious” competition. That was an apparently slight he mopped up after an 904 area code undoubtedly popped-up on someone’s screen. This overall demand to focus on the perennially lame “playoff’ race was more of a shame than normal. The NBC team really never got to go deep on any topic or even do something mildly in-depth on the difficult setup conditions. There were just too many non-BMW obligations to juggle.

Even Mackenzie Hughes’s putt to get into the Tour Championship, while dramatic, felt like NBC’s team turning it into Ouimet beating Vardon and Ray. The hard sell brings down genuinely great moments.

Producer Tommy Roy was working without several once-normal production values that would have made this “playoff” event better. Yet the final putt replay sequence was vintage NBC stuff, yet not having an aerial shot of a few key tee shots getting amazing kicks off of trees turned out to be a huge storytelling miss we’re not used to with NBC. Particularly with CBS now mastering that element over the last 11 weeks and Winged Foot looming in two weeks, we can only hope the accountants loosen some purse strings. (NBC’s 2006 U.S. Open coverage was so epic in part thanks to aerial’s of Phil’s 18th hole adventure.)

Mercifully on this Sunday, we had Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm to thank for an unforgettable 2020 BMW finish.

The fault lies in that 904 area code, but we've been having this discussion for many a year.  They've doubled down on crazy with that bizarre staggered start to the Tour Championship, with the added frisson that this all makes even less sense in the year of the pandemic.  

The other source of his crankiness was the golf course, though it was interesting to this observer how many folks took comfort in the tougher conditions.  Admittedly, there was quite the stark contrast, DJ winning in Boston at -30 and securing a playoff sot at -4 the following week.  Here was Shack's take on the Tom Meeks era throwback:

Since 2003 I’d somehow forgotten what an absolute snoozer Olympia Fields can be on TV. As in,

get out the hair dryer-to-deal-with-pillow-drool-dull, confirms the blogger coming off two amazing BMW Championship afternoon power naps.

That said, if par-protecting-fests-to-make-up-for-the-apparent-indignity-of-Jim-Furyk-winning-your-U.S.-Open, Olympia Fields is certainly a contrast from last week’s birdiefest. However, with a logjam of masterful venues in the queue, the USGA likely shrinking things down to a rota, several bigger name classics offering restored designs, Olympia Fields is not getting a U.S. Open anytime soon.

I hadn't forgotten,but you guys know how I can latch onto a grudge... I find the golf on such a venue unnecessarily boring, though it does seem we've reduced this argument to a binary choice between the last two weeks....  But I'll mercifully leave that argument for another day...

Rory had an interesting take, interesting because he applauded conditions obviously unsuitable to his golf skills.  But in so doing, he trigger your humble blogger:

Asked if Olympia Fields could be a good U.S. Open venue, McIlroy said yes and added this zinger: “I think what they could do is hire the Western Golf Association to set (it) up. Yeah, this would be a wonderful test for a U.S. Open.”

 Ah yes, the Western Golf Association?  Didn't they once run an important event in our game?

There's a rant coming, but first a couple of notes from Geoff:

The course was softened in 2003 by weather but more notably, the PGA Tour rules and agronomy staff oversees the setup this week. So I’m not entirely sure Rory’s punch landed.

Ironically, the event ushering in this whole players v. USGA was at Shinnecock Hills a year later. Not all believe that’s a coincidence.

Similar, the Massacre at Winged Foot was the year after Johnny Miller torched Oakmont for the 63 he mentioned every now and again...

Let me acknowledge that reader Mark W. has previously warned me off this rant, but it's not my fault that they keep triggering me.  Did you happen to catch the multiple references to the 117-year history of the BMW Championship?  Did that strike you as off-putting as it did your humble correspondent?  First, there's this kinda obvious point:

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, commonly referred to as BMW, is a German multinational company which produces luxury vehicles and motorcycles. The company was founded in 1916 as a manufacturer of aircraft engines, which it produced from 1917 until 1918 and again from 1933 to 1945.

Yup, match remains hard, but it seems a company founded in 1916 has been running a golf tournament since 1899....  These guys are good.

The reality is closer to this:

The penultimate tournament of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoff, the BMW Championship replaced the venerable and much respected Western Open on the schedule in 2007. The Western Open was played nearly continuously since 1899 and at one time would have been considered one of golf’s Majors.

Yeah, there's a howler buried in there.

The reality is that the PGA Tour dumped the Western Open to create space on their schedule for the FedEx Cup events, seemingly indifferent to the history involved.  The Western was the second oldest professional golf tournament in the U.S. (the oldest obviously being the U.S. Open), a legacy that you'd think stewards of the game might see the value in retaining.

It's only in the last few years that the Tour and/or NBC have sought to alleged connective tissue between the two, an almost comical assertion when taking the event to Philadelphia.  My point is to reject the Tour's attempt to rewrite history.  You killed the Western Open because you didn't see the value, and replaced it with the hot mess that is the FedEx Cup, which has zero history prior to 2007.

Just a couple more items and I'll let you go.

Wither Phil - That Tc panel did note Phil's senior moment:

5. Phil Mickelson debuted on the Champions Tour and destroyed the Champions PGA Tour, shooting 22-under over three rounds and winning by four shots. (Tiger Woods speculated at the BMW Championship that Mickelson could win every event on the Champions.) With an eye on Winged Foot and Augusta, how much can you read into Mickelson’s form by his play on the senior circuit?

Sens: Not much. Mickelson had played some pretty strong golf on the regular Tour already this year. It’s pretty common for just-turned 50 stars to dominate when they debut on the senior circuit. The surprise would have been for him to show up in the Ozarks and NOT do well.

Bamberger: Absolutely agree with you, Josh. You can’t compare a wide-open short course with slow greens and easy pins against a field that is not at your level with Winged Foot for a U.S. Open or Augusta National for a Masters against the best players in the world. Plus, 54 holes. You gotta play 72 in majors. You have to get to the house. That’s HARD. I recall Bernhard winning a senior event by eight in a winter event in Florida. I was there. I asked Craig Stadler what, if anything, it said about Bernhard’s chances for the Masters. “Not a thing,” Stadler said.

Dethier: Disagree. You could play the easiest course in the world, and I would still be impressed if you shot 61 — so for Mickelson to do it with all that added pressure was super impressive. It was a reminder that when Phil’s feeling himself, he can still do something very special on the course. Winged Foot? I don’t see it. But I could see him making some noise at Augusta. …

Piastowski: Golf is a game of confidence. Winning, anywhere, was better than sitting at home, or getting pulverized by Olympia Fields.

Shipnuck: Phil driving it 350 yards and straight is a dangerous fellow. I can see him using the Senior Tour to rejuvenate his confidence and then take that with him to the flat-bellies.

A good moment for the game and especially for that Tour.  There's no downside to winning, it's just that Phil seems an especially bad fit for Winged Foot....  

Of course, the question is, how much will he play on that tour?

How much will Mickelson hang around his fellow seniors? That is the real question, and the answer would seem to be not much. At least for the foreseeable future.

In February, before he nearly defended his title at Pebble Beach, Mickelson said he didn’t want to, “hurt the Champions Tour in any way, and if not playing the Champions Tour is going to hurt it, I’ll play a couple of events. I’ll probably play one, two or three events a year because I want to support it; I want it to be successful.”

I assume the answer will be driven by how well he plays.  If he stays competitive on the big tour, a handful of outings to stay sharp makes sense.  But if his play underwhelms, he'll have to decide between this tour and the broadcast booth...  Unless he just wants to sell coffee...

55! - I'll leave you with this guys rather good day:

It’s been said that seeing good golf shots breeds good golf shots. If that’s the case, Alexander Hughes must’ve been watching Scottie Scheffler shoot a 59 last Friday at the Northern Trust.

Hughes, a former player at Central Oklahoma, tied the Guinness Book of World Records’ lowest score in a single round of golf with a 55 on Thursday at South Lakes Golf Course in Jenks,

Oklahoma.

After making par on the first hole, Hughes made a hole-in-one on the 155-yard par-3 second, followed by another par. Then he got hot, birdieing Nos. 4-8 with an eagle on No. 9 to make the turn at 9-under 26. His birdie streak ended on No. 10 with a par on 11, but the four-year letter winner at Central got to 10 under with a birdie on No. 12.

Hughes appeared to finally cool down with two more pars on Nos. 13 and 14 before making eagle on No. 15 and ending his round on a three-hole birdie streak to finish his back nine at 7 under 29, bringing his total to 16-under 55.

One assumes he'll shoot 80 next time out, but wow.

Apparently he just missed chipping in on No. 18 for 54....

See y'all tomorrow.

Thursday Threads

A last minute decision to play this morning, so just a couple of quick bits.  Then I'll likely next see you on Monday morning.

Phil in Phull - He Came, he saw and he rocked those aviators:

Phil Mickelson put the over-50-set of golfers on notice that he’ll be a force to be reckoned with, should he decide to play on PGA Tour Champions. Mickelson posted 5-under 66 in the final round to go wire-to-wire and win the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National by four strokes over Tim Petrovic.

“Sometimes you just run into a buzz saw,” Petrovic said. ” I ran into a Phil buzz saw this week because he made a lot of birdies.”

Ozarks National is located not far from Branson, Missouri, where the likes of crooners Andy Williams, Glen Campbell and Dolly Parton enjoyed performing during their golden years. In almost any game played today, the half-century man is long gone, having stepped aside to make room for the young. Except in golf. At 50, Mickelson’s competitive juices still are flowing.

Mickelson became the 20th player to win in his senior debut, joining a fraternity that includes Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, and just last month, Jim Furyk. Even Tiger Woods took notice.

We'll get to Tiger's comments in a sec, but just let the concept of this as U.S. Open preparation sink in, and you'll no doubt understand his chances at Winged Foot.  Yeah, holding off Tim Petrovic on a golf course featuring 70-yard wide fairways is just like...

As for the Striped One, he couldn't have been more complimentary:

Look, it’s easy to laugh off Mickelson’s achievement as an unfair matchup, the golf equivalent of LeBron James rolling over a neighborhood pickup basketball game. Mickelson’s odds to win the tournament were as low as +220 (bet $100 to win $220); that’s getting in the neighborhood of prime Tiger right there.

Woods himself knows just how much of an advantage Mickelson currently owns. “He was already one of the longest hitters out here [on the PGA Tour],” Woods said Wednesday at the BMW Championship, “and now he goes to where he’s going to pick up a huge advantage off the tee ... There’s no reason why he can’t win every event he plays out there. He’s got such a big advantage over the rest of the field just with sheer length.”

Out there?  Passive-aggressive much?

Phil getting phaves at this moment in time isn't a surprise, though here we have further hagiography on of that other gig:

A few weeks after Phil’s debut, you can count Brandel Chamblee and Paul Azinger among those

impressed.

“I love Phil,” Azinger said. “I thought he was awesome in the booth. He could do that anytime he wants. He and Faldo went at it kind of like Faldo and I went at it. I think it’s nice to have a foil sometimes, and that’s kind of how that looked to me.”

Chamblee echoed Azinger’s sentiment, even going as far as to compare Lefty to another star player turned right-hand-man to Jim Nantz.

“I think honestly he could get in the booth and be Tony Romo-esque,” Chamblee said in a conference call with media Monday. “He sounded like — look, he’s got a little bit of — and he’ll admit this, he’s got a little BS in him. He’s got a little — he wants to figure things out. He wants to give you the needle. He wants to have fun. He’s enjoyed — he enjoys all the smack talk in the game, and that makes for great commentating.”

I think the comparison to Romo is quite apt, as neither has sniffed a PGA Tour cut in some time...

I do think he was very good in the booth, though I think part of that reaction is the comparison with the lifeless CBS crew.  I can't imagine Phil having interest in the gig for the long term, though, so I tend to minimize the excitement level.

Boys v. Girls -  A couple of interesting thumb-suckers via Shack that riff of last weekend's viewing alternatives.  First, this from The Fried Egg's Andy Johnson:

Hit and Run vs. Home Run Derby

The appeal of women’s professional golf in the power era

During the 2020 Women’s Open, played at a windy, 6,632-yard Royal Troon, we saw just that. Cunning and shotmaking came to the forefront. The competitors’ typical trajectories and spin rates brought slopes on and around the greens into play. Fronting bunkers were intimidating, often prompting players to aim away from a pin if they had a poor angle.

 As a diehard golf fan, I felt how a diehard baseball fan must feel during the postseason. In playoff baseball games, the margins are slim, and the most successful teams manufacture runs in nuanced ways: hit and runs, safety squeezes, pitch-outs. Similarly, the Women’s Open highlighted precise driving, well-struck long irons, varied short-game play, and patience. This is the kind of stuff that tragics love and obsess over. And in golf, despite advances in equipment, the intricacies we crave can still be found in women’s tournaments because the scale of the players’ games fits the scale of the venues.

At the PGA Tour’s Northern Trust, on the other hand, those scales were completely mismatched.

Fronting bunkers?  Oh, never mind, though you'll want to see his take on that other golf as well:

At the PGA Tour’s Northern Trust, on the other hand, those scales were completely mismatched.

Dustin Johnson went 67-60-64-63, causing many to wonder whether TPC Boston, in spite of a recent renovation by Gil Hanse, was already out of date. But the low scores themselves are less important than how they were achieved: a monotonous repetition of crushed drivers and three-quarter wedges. I don’t mean to discount Johnson’s incredible performance against a strong field; he played the modern men’s game as well as it can be played. But it was all pretty simplistic compared to what we saw at Royal Troon.

If the Women’s Open was like playoff baseball, the Northern Trust resembled the Home Tour Derby: a fun, once-a-year exhibition that typically turns into a yawner after a few minutes. I suspect that distinction will only become clearer without new equipment regulations.

Writing from Down Under, Dan brown has a very similar take:

At the same time the TPC Boston was giving up birdies like they were jellybeans, across the Atlantic, the world's best women's players were having a hell of a time at Royal Troon.

With 65-kilometre-per-hour winds ripping off the Firth of Clyde on Scotland's west coast, this classic 140-year-old links was baring its teeth. The leader after the first two rounds was Swede Dani Holmqvist.

She shot rounds of 70 and 71 to be 1-under, the only player in red figures.

The cut was set at 9-over par. Three golfers had rounds of over 80 in the first two days and still played the weekend.

And it was glorious to watch.

It WAS glorious to watch, though I think there's quite a significant category error involved.   As y'all know all too well, I'm a fan of the women's game and its unique charms, but I think here the bulk of the credit is due links golf, and especially links golf played in weather.

All the same, I couldn't be happier that folks noticed...

The C-Word - At his BMW presser, Tiger had his own unique take on a crowd patron-less Masters:

“It’s going to make a big difference to all of us,” Woods said Wednesday at the BMW Championship. “It has out here week-in and week-out. We just don’t have the same type of energy and the distractions.

“There at Augusta National, you just have all those roars that would go up if somebody did something, somewhere, and then scoreboard watching and trying to figure out what’s going on, there aren’t a lot of big leaderboards out there, so that will be very different.”

Augusta National announced earlier this month that the Masters, now rescheduled for Nov. 12-15, would be played without patrons for the first time. Woods said when he first went to Augusta to play a practice round in 1995, it was “eye-opening” just how much room there was on the course when it wasn’t lined with 40,000 spectators.

“When you put 40,000 people on such a small piece of property – I know there’s no rough, but it gets confined,” he said. “But this will be very different. This will be a fun Masters, and I’m looking forward to defending.”

Confined?  Though perhaps it's that "small piece of property" that's the stranger bit...

There's been lots of speculation about how the fan-free environment might hurt Tiger, though it's hard to draw conclusions when he's played so little...The best news is that if this Masters isn't your cuppa, it's a short wait until the 2021 edition.

If Phil is heading to the broadcast booth, wither Tiger?  Well, perhaps he can reinvent himself as a swing coach (or even a life coach):

Jason Day has yet to settle on a new swing coach after recently splitting with long-time instructor

and mentor Colin Swatton. In the meantime, he's relying on a pretty good source for some help: Tiger Woods.

During a teleconference with several Australian golf writers on Tuesday (hat tip to our friends at Australian Golf Digest), the 12-time PGA Tour winner revealed he's been leaning on the 15-time major champ for advice of late—both concerning the golf swing and overcoming career obstacles.

“I have been talking to Tiger about his swing and what he’s been through,” Day said.

One doesn't need to look far for the logic of that dropped dime:

"Well, Jason and I have had a great relationship for a very long time, since he's been on tour, and yeah, we've talked about a number of things, and obviously one of the topics we do tend to talk about because we both have bad backs now and mine is a little bit more progressed than his, is trying to deal with it, trying to manage it, and the evolution of the swing," Woods said. "We can't do what we used to do, and how do you evolve that and still be effective. But also recovery from day-to-day. Recovery techniques have changed over the years, and lifting protocols have changed. So that's a lot to do with it, but yeah, the swing does evolve, it does change. You can only swing the club how the body allows you to do, and I know that firsthand from all my nine previous procedures that I've had done to my body. It's just one of those things that as we age we wear things out."

More than a decade younger, Day is looking to get out in front a bit of that aging process. But he's also not looking to do anything drastic.

“I just feel like I’ve asked questions and he’s willing to answer them, and I’m trying to make changes right now in my swing," Day said. "I’m trying to make slow changes because I really don’t want to mess with my playing feels."

Why wouldn't you?

Rules Officials to the Stars -  Two titans of the rules world have retired:

That’s what John Paramor and Andy McFee have done, with a distinct style, for the European Tour for more than four decades, with Paramor beginning in April 1976 and McFee in September 1983. Each eventually ascending to chief referee status on the circuit.

This fall, the duo will work their final tournament. Paramor and McFee will step down after the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, on Oct. 8-11.

Their place in the game is significant—European Tour chief Keith Pelley referred to each as a legend, and both have presided over important and innumerable rulings through the years. Good friends, they recently sat down to reminisce about some of their more memorable moments here.

Paramor is the better known in the U.S., but they've both worked this turf well for many a year.

Besides thanking them, the real reason to blog the retirement is to revisit Paramor's most notable ruling, an encounter with a certain Spaniard very much in the lion's den:

In the lead for the most of the tournament and with the spectators eager to see their prodigal son win on home soil, the Spaniard suddenly found himself tied for the lead with Bernhard Langer after failing to birdie the par-5 17th. Then Ballesteros pushed his tee shot at the 18th to the right and his ball settled behind a tree. Seeking relief because of animal hole behind his ball that he said interfered with his swing, Ballesteros called for an official.

Enter Paramor.

“Just behind it was this massive hole that some animal of some description almost certainly dug there,” Paramor recalled. “It did take me a long time and I thought, This is not going to go well for me, because obviously in a tournament in Spain. The vast majority of spectators are Spanish. They were desperate for Seve to win.”

And Ballesteros was desperate for relief. Under the Rules of Golf, he would be entitled to a free drop had the hole been caused by a burrowing animal.

Paramor determined it wasn’t because there was no evidence (animal droppings) it had been and at one point stuck his finger in the hole while examining it. That’s when he felt the Spaniard’s hand on his shoulder and heard him say to be careful because whatever had caused the hole might bite.

“What a lovely thing to say to me in that moment of very, very high pressure,” Paramor said.

Gentlemanly indeed.

But a moment later, with lips pursed, Ballesteros shot Paramor a parting death stare. Then he went on to bogey the hole to lose by one.

Well, Seve.  We're not supposed to speak ill of the dead, which preclude me from speaking of Seve.... Let's just say that he saw lots of penumbras in the rules book, and needed to be stared down more than just this one instance.  But Paramor was one who had the requisite cujones... 

Have a great weekend and we'll catch up on everything Monday morning.

Tuesday Trifles

Still very much in browser tab hell, so let's not waste time on pleasantries...

Optimal Launch Conditions - It's quite nice of Phil to spend some time with the older folks, and it seemed to go OK:

RIDGEDALE, Mo. (AP) -- Just about the only poor shot Phil Mickelson hit in his PGA Tour Champions debut was a wayward iron off the tee.

He still turned it into a birdie.

It was one of five straight on the back nine Monday for the five-time major champion, who decided to make his over-50 debut this week after missing the cut at The Northern Trust and getting eliminated from the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs.

Mickelson finished with 11 birdies and shot a 10-under 61 to take a one-shot lead over David McKenzie.

"It's a lot of fun. It's a fun environment. And it's fun to see a lot of the guys I grew up watching, and played with them for a number of years, and played a bunch of Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups with a lot of of guys out here," Mickelson said. "I was a little nervous, too, because I wanted to come out and play well. I was playing really well."

And they'll love hearing how you used to watch them on TV when you were just a wee lad...

So, how great is Monday evening golf?  Long-time readers will recall that I've been advocating for non-Sunday conclusions to events for many a year, though admittedly that thought is usually directed at the LPGA.  Of course weekdays are tough for fans and volunteers, but those are problems that 2020 has rendered moot.

Admittedly his continued claims to be playing well seem more credible after that 61, still it's an interesting glide path into an Open:

“I went into Boston last week, I shot 61, 63, 4 back home and I was like ready to play,” Mickelson said. “Then I get there and I shoot 3 over and it just threw me off. So I wanted to keep playing because I felt like I was playing well. So to have the opportunity to play in these events and this one in particular was really special and I’m very appreciative of that.”

Mickelson’s playing with the over-50 crowd. But he’s playing under par. In two weeks, he’ll rejoin the PGA Tour for the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif. The week after, it’s the U.S. Open, the one major that has eluded him, at Winged Foot Golf Club, site of one of his greatest near-misses. If he can be a champion on the Champions, maybe he can finally win a U.S. Open championship. 

Napa actually makes some sense as a tune-up, as it's got that tight, tree-lined fairway feel to it.  I get that he wanted more reps, but any track you can torch to the tune of 61 probably won't feel like Open prep.

Of course, for Phil it's all about the bombs coffee:

I’m not saying you’re going to also shoot 61 after starting your day with COFFEE FOR WELLNESS. What I’m saying is you just might want to try it in a couple weeks when it comes out. 😏— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 25, 2020

Yeah, I'll get right on that, Phil.  You, on the other hand, might want to mix in a little decaf...

Since we're on Phil, Brian Wacker has noticed an eerie convergence with this very recent winner, at least through the first thirteen years of their careers:

I would think DJ to be pleased by this, as Phil has notably bagged four more of the big game, and would have us believe he's not quite finished yet.

It is interesting how careers evolve, and I remember well the thought that Phil might never win a major.  DJ sure has the look of a guy that should win more, though that could well just be the recency bias speaking... Of course a guy looks like he'll never lose when he's lapping the field by eleven strokes.  

Home Game - The dominoes are starting to fall, as the PGA Tour's Fall Asian swing is a non-starter in a year with a November Masters.  Of course, they found the perfect venue, one that can match Nine Bridges for artificiality:

With the PGA Tour’s fall Asia swing not happening, reports of a revamped swing in the western United States is starting to come to fruition. One leg is now official: the CJ Cup moving from Nine Bridges in Korea to Las Vegas’ exclusive Shadow Creek.

The October 15-18 date will follow the already-scheduled Shriner’s in Las Vegas, giving the Tour a nice one-two desert swing minimizing travel. Now, there are casinos so…it might a COVID exposure wash.

Two events in Asia, Japan’s Zozo and China’s HSBC, remain on the current schedule but are not expected to happen in those locales.

Shadow Creek certainly failed to impress during The Match, though that might not have been the fairest test.  You guys know that I'm triggered by the Fazio name, but at least there was a logic in book-ending this with the Shriners.  We'll just hope those other two events land in more interesting locales...

On Scoring - There's been an interesting pattern since the reboot, and I'm a bit unclear what to make of it all.  First, though, just a quick review of the bidding on the subject of distance, whereby those opposed to regulation of equipment use the absence of scoring improvement as support for the premise that it's all good.

Those of us in the other camp cite the offsetting changes to course set-up needed to maintain the scoring levels.  The most obvious being the lengthening of golf courses, with many analysts envisioning 8,000 yards and longer being necessary in the near future.  Equally important is what's happened to green speeds, which have resulted in incidents such as DJ's penalty at Oakmont and the stoppage of play on the Old Course due to high winds in 2015.  I'm old enough to remember when a links could actually be played in high winds....

But hasn't scoring been obscenely low since the restart?  From that DJ/Phil item above, this about the week in Boston:

Dustin Johnson’s victory Sunday at The Northern Trust, where he won by 11 strokes (!), finished at 30 under par (!!) and by his own admission played the best golf of his life on his way to a second-round 60—in which he was 11 under through 11 holes (!!!)—was no doubt impressive. But as my colleague John Feinstein pointed out on Twitter, there were 38 players who finished the week double-digits under par at TPC Boston.

And that second round featured Scottie Scheffler's 59 in addition to the above-cited 60 from DJ.  This is some serious fire power, the only question being perhaps one of sample size.

Justin Thomas thinks along similar lines:

“I said it a couple years ago – I still think someone is going to shoot a 56 or 57 or 58 on Tour, whether it’s next couple years or 10 or 15 years,” said Thomas, who shot a 67 on Friday, eight strokes behind Scheffler. “We’re all getting so much better, and especially if you get a place like this with really good greens, and if it’s soft, we’re pretty good with our distance control and pretty good at golf to where we get it rolling, who knows what can happen.”

 It almost happened a few hours after Scheffler signed for his 59.

Johnson shot a 9-under 27 on his front nine, the lowest nine-hole score in relation to par in PGA Tour history, with birdies on 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8 and eagles on 2 and 4. He was 11-under through 11 holes. Johnson parred his final seven holes, but had birdie putts on all seven.

 56? Le Sigh!

In a post written after those Friday pyrotechnics, Shack found it strange that the guys and those opining on events credited everything except the most obvious factor:

I’m not a huge fan of using low scoring to make the case to tighten up the equipment rules in the

name of protecting skill. When scores aren’t low, the we technophobes hear stuff such as, “see, nothing to see here!” The same folks can’t be found when records are broken. Or they just chalk it up to modern athletes, arguably the last thing explaining an efficient scoring week.

So when players post a 59 and a 60 on the same day—under the relentless strain of PGA Tour Playoff pressure—it would be easy to highlight how overmatched TPC Boston looks. (Particularly when Dustin Johnson went out in 27, birdied the 10th and 11th, and seemed destined to shoot 57. )

But we know Tom Brodeur’s crew presents typically outstanding conditions. Players are usually peaking in August. And the updated modern design already appears overmatched by modern distances. Still, it’s notable how various intrusions of technological advances—clubs, balls, launch monitors, green reading books—are rarely cited in the scoring conversation.

Take Saturday’s CBS discussion citing consistency of agronomy (Dottie Pepper) and “quality of play” or “quality of setup” (Nick Faldo). No one mentioned clubs and balls which, if taken away from the players and replaced with something from 5, 10 or 15 years ago, seems more likely to impact the scoring.

After quoting from that Thomas bit, he adds this bit of delicious irony:

Players deserve credit for their role in performing so well, but why is it so seemingly off-limits to admit that technological advances in equipment, agronomy, club fitting, are the greatest influence of all? Or worse, an apparent insult to a modern golfer to suggest they are producing incredible scores thanks to improved implements.

PS - you’re paid to say the clubs and balls are the greatest ever made, so do it!

Strange that.

Did you catch that bit about agronomy?  This has become something of an all-purpose excuse, and an odd one at that.  Odd because in one notable case, Augusta National, we've seen agronomy used specifically to minimize distance.  There the grass is mowed in the opposite direction of play, though of course we haven't been informed as to the effect this has.  But Shack is back with actual data that challenges this myth.   To wit, it ain't the roll-out:

The average PGA Tour drive rolls 16.9 yards in that 13-year span on a 289.9 yard average, meaning roll accounts for barely more than 5% of the average tee shot.

From 2007 to 2012 the average tee shot produced 19.1 yards of roll.

From 2014 to 2019 the average produced 15.1 yards of roll.

The amount of time the ball hits the ground and starts running is on the decline. Agronomy is playing less of a factor while the carry average has outpaced driving distance average.

I would assume, though Geoff doesn't touch on this, that roll is decreasing partially due to players hitting the ball higher, part of the launch monitor effect.  They're just hitting it a mile, however one chooses to parse the data...  

On a related note, I've had this Gary Van Sickle item open for a while, and it's long past time to use it or lose it.  Gary's basic premise is that the 350-yard drive is here to stay, because...

The forces in golf aren’t universally in agreement that anything should be done. And if something is to be done, they definitely disagree on what that should be.

 Ya think?  So, how did we get here, Gary?

Golfers have gained distance because athletes are bigger and stronger; driver heads are bigger and better; shafts are better than ever and frequency matched for optimum performance; instruction is better thanks to super slo-mo video and other technologies; and the game now draws from a global pool of players.

I certainly agree that there are many contributing factors, but a list that excludes the golf ball seems...well, incomplete.  But he does get to the ball, and introduces an option not on many lists:

Any plan almost certainly would have to include bifurcation, that is, different sets of rules for amateurs and pros. Recreational golf, despite the recent surge of play during COVID-19, struggles to find new players to replace the baby-boomer generation, the last of the golf addicts.

Making amateur hacks give up distance with reduced-flight balls or drivers isn’t just a tough sell; it’s a non-starter.

The golf ball isn’t the only culprit in today’s power game, but it is a leading one. Fixing that isn’t so easy.

One option is to make the ball slightly larger. The laws of friction will reduce its flight. That’s been done before. The British “small ball” was used in the United Kingdom until late in the 20th century, and it went farther than the slightly larger American model. Another bump on ball size could do the trick, although amateurs would protest vehemently.

Another option would be to limit ball dimples and their shapes, in hopes of taking another percentage point or two off ball flight and by giving golf balls more curve than today’s forgiving models. We’re in a golden age of golf-ball technology. The old balls, when mis-hit, curved way off-line. Not anymore. More spin would bring more skill back.

A third option would be to turn back the clock and make wound balata golf balls again. Golf.com recently used a swing robot to test-hit 1990-era liquid-center balata balls, and results showed an approximate 22-32-yard decrease in driving distance. Not bad.

I'm not sure Gary sold his first two premises, which are that action needs to be taken and that bifurcation is the most logical path forward.  I believe those to be true, though mostly for reasons of practicality.  Similarly, the ball is quite obviously not the only source of distance gains, but it provides the most readily available option, especially in light of the fact that golf is alone in allowing its participants to bring their own balls.

But I would like everyone to read his description of those options as relates to the ball, as our myopic focus on distance is somewhat misleading.  The reduction of spin in the modern solid-core ball might be as important a factor, and is far less understood.  

Give him a read, as he also analyzes the logical interests of all affected parties, and concludes that the chances of the governing bodies prevailing are extremely remote.  I can't argue with his assessment of the arrayed forces on the field of battle, but that just compels us to continue making the arguments in the hope of winning more converts.

Restoration News - A bit of a boomlet in Detroit area golf recently, as the Tour is making annual stops at Detroit Golf Club and the round-bellies have rediscovered Warwick Hills.  But does anyone remember Oakland Hills?  

Oakland Hills has hosted six U.S. Opens, but not since 1996. Since then, it has hosted the Ryder

Cup in 2004 and the 2016 U.S. Amateur. It has also hosted three PGA Championships (1972, 1979, 2008).

"It's not like this golf course was broken," said Hanse, who has some Michigan ties from his early days in golf-course design, notably working in the Traverse City area (he lived right behind a Kentucky Fried Chicken, he still recalls), and also spending time in Gaylord.

The goal here, Hanse said, was to make the course tougher for the best players in the world, while making it more playable for the members. The project was all about finding that "sweet spot," he said.

So, what went wrong?  Oh, those guys:

The club's goal was to get the course back to looking more like its original design, by legendary Donald Ross, the architect of the first 18, which opened in 1918. Robert Trent Jones and Rees Jones were involved in updates over the years.

Folks know of Rees as The Open Doctor, though his Dad was the previous holder of that honorific.  His renovation famously turned Oakland Hills into a "monster" slayed by Hogan in that 1951 Open.

 Perhaps of greatest interest is the club's objective:

The USGA, which is said to already be planning a visit to the club, perhaps as early as this summer, has its venues booked for the U.S. Open through 2027, and the PGA Championship is

accounted for through 2031. Oakland Hills clearly hopes it gets one or both, possibly even a U.S. Open before the end of the decade. A regular PGA Tour event isn't the goal, and never has been — and especially with the Rocket Mortgage Classic on the PGA Tour's schedule just down the road.

The Presidents Cup, which pits the U.S. against the world (except for Europe), is available starting in 2030.

"We're here to host a major championship," said Steve Brady, the head pro, adding that even if Oakland Hills doesn't get another major, the membership will find the renovation well worth the commitment.

"We're not just about making Tour players rich."

Who doesn't like a well-aimed dis at the Tour?  But this bit about making it harder for the elite player and easier for your members?  How dose that work exactly?  Obviously our majors need to be held somewhere, but a redesign costing $12 million to lure a major once every ten years?  Color me skeptical...

More to my liking is this redesign of a public course in Alameda, CA:

The turnaround began in 2012, when Greenway Golf, a Bay Area-based golf management

company, assumed the lease at Corica Park and, a few years later, embarked on an ambitious renovation project. The goal was to create an Australian Sandbelt-style golf experience, inspired by such celebrated courses as Royal Melbourne, Metropolitan and Kingston Heath.

Why try to emulate golf Down Under?

A few reasons.

 One of Greenway Golf’s founders was George Kelley, a California native and former Tour pro who’d competed in Australia in the early 1970s and had fallen hard for the courses there. He loved the tight lies and the bouncy ground and the creative shots that they encouraged. He knew that Sandbelt-style golf was wildly entertaining.

Other good reasons, as well.   It looks great and must be a hoot to play, so what's not to like?

I shall leave you here, and be back with more on Thursday.  

Weekend Wrap

A great weekend to wrap for y'all, and a truly frightening number of open browser tabs.  We'll not dispense with them all today, so we'll have to perform some browser tab triage...

DJ By a Few - If this was an answer to his former workout buddy Brooks, it was a few weeks late:

Only Mother Nature stopped Dustin Johnson.

En route to polishing off a thunderous masterpiece in the Northern Trust on Sunday at TPC Boston, Johnson had to head for shelter instead of the winner’s circle just after hitting his tee shot on the 71st hole as storm cells moved over Norton, Massachusetts.

The carefree Johnson, however, wasn’t shaken.

Until then, he was the only feared force on the grounds. And once the foul stuff cleared after an hour’s worth of delay, Johnson needed just seven more shots to beat darkness and complete his thrashing of the best players in the world.

With an 8-under-par 63, Johnson put the bow on a staggering display of power, precision and touch as he sent all others fleeing with rounds of 67-60-64-63 to end at 30-under 254 to win by 11 shots, the largest margin of victory this season.

Wow, these guys are good.  He managed to maintain his composure with an 11-stroke lead and two to play?   I saw none of the weekend action, but when a guy runs away from the field like that, one assumes it had to be a special week:

He hit all 18 greens in regulation on the final day and won for the second time this season and for the 22nd time in his career.

“Obviously, this was a really good week,” the understated Johnson said. “I missed quite a few short putts, but other than that, I did everything pretty well. My ball-striking was really unbelievable. I found something on Wednesday. I played some really good golf, and it was a lot of fun.

“So I’m looking forward to the rest of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.”

How many of those shorties did he miss?  Of course, you know what kind of week it was...  One in which a guy could shoot 60 on Friday, and not have the low round of the day.

The Tour Confidential panel did have this on the winner.  You'll notice that it took a few questions to get to DJ, but in this case their priorities are beyond reproach.  Hold that thought:

3. Dustin Johnson obliterated the field at the Northern Trust, finishing at 30-under and 11 shots ahead of Harris English. It’s fashionable to tweak Johnson for his lack of major titles (one, the 2016 U.S. Open, paired with four runner-up finishes), but his win at TPC Boston was his 22nd career title, meaning Johnson, who is 36, has won more tournaments than Phil Mickelson had through the same number of Tour starts. You’d also have a hard time finding a player who has been more consistent over the past decade-plus, with Johnson picking up at least one win in all but one calendar year since 2008 (2014 was the outlier). How would you encapsulate Johnson’s career to this point?

One of the great underachievers in our game... which is mostly a reflection of his other-worldly talent.

Sens: Ridiculous displays of dominance mixed with bizarre misfortunes and periodic brain cramps. Everything from the waste-area mishap at Whistling Straits to the slip down the stairs on the eve of the 2017 Masters when he was world No. 1 and a heavy favorite to win. That he has only one major is maybe the wackiest of the many weird things that have happened to him.

Periodic?  If only....

Dethier: Well put. What’s crazy to me is just how much another major championship — just one

more! — would elevate his resume. When I think of Johnson’s wins, I think of their sheer dominance, and with all the other stars taking turns at world No. 1, we lost track of him for a little while. Not anymore. It feels like gravity has brought DJ back to the top spot, right where he belongs.

Piastowski: Maybe it’s just best said this way. Golf is really hard. I think this is fair to DJ. In listening to the players, you get the sense that they believe he’s been, quite possibly, one of the top three or so most talented players, putter to driver, on Tour. Long and accurate off the tee. Long and accurate with his irons. Good with the flatstick. And the regular-season victories reflect that. And four times a year over his career, something just wasn’t just quite right. Now, could he have managed certain scenarios differently? Yeah. Yeah … we do wonder what coulda been. He’ll go down as one of the best ever. And, yeah, golf is really hard.

I'll just remind you of this trenchant insight into the demands of our game:

Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a-half-inch course... the space between your ears.

Bobby Jones

On THAT course, DJ is a double-digit handicapper...Remember, back in the day they would "compliment" DJ by asserting that he was too stupid to feel pressure.

See if you like this reference point:

Bamberger: He is his era’s Tom Weiskopf, without Weiskopf’s style or charm or charisma. He’s a mega-talent who can win on any course, if he can make short putts as he has been. He might surprise us. He might win another major. Either way, his career will finish in the Hall of Fame. You hope Weiskopf gets in before him, though.

 He's Tom Weiskopf without the interesting bits?  Works for me.

I've already referenced it, but this on his Friday 60 is an eerie synechdoche for his entire career:

4. In the second round at TPC Boston, Johnson was a mind-bending 11 under through 11 holes and seemingly bound for his first-career 59, if not a 58 or 57. But needing to play the final seven holes in just 1-under to post golf’s magical number, Johnson made seven straight pars to shoot 60. It must be asked: Was DJ’s 60 more dazzling – or disappointing?

Sens: Both. And in that sense, something of a microcosm of his career.

 Dethier: I think what’s overlooked there is just how much easier the opening stretch was at TPC Boston than the finishing portion. Still, it was a bummer watching him pull the wrong club off the tee on 18 (driver instead of 3-wood), leading to an overly conservative layup, which ultimately protected his 60. To answer the question, though, it was ultimately disappointing — but only because our expectations are ridiculous and Tour players have broken our brains.

Piastowski: See my answer to question 3! This really does encapsulate DJ’s career in a way, doesn’t it? We were all imagining what coulda been after he was 11-under through 11. Was he actually gonna shoot 12-under 59? 14-under? Shoot, let’s go to 18-under! Then he parred the final seven holes, and he shot maybe the worst 60 ever, right? That’s just so funny to write. Worst 60. This well-seasoned, perfectly cooked filet mignon is actually a half-ounce smaller than I asked for. I hate it. Haha. Golf is hard.

Bamberger: Dazzling. If that’s the choice, dazzling. The proof is that we’re talking about it. Especially the first 11.

Berhow: It was disappointingly dazzling.

Your call.  Either great minds think alike, or we've tripped over an argument so blindingly obvious that it couldn't be avoided.   Yeah, I'd go with the latter as well...

A few more items tied to the week's golf, beginning with those exciting playoffs.  Win or go home it isn't, but there are some folks heading home:

These 5 big-name players just got knocked out of the PGA Tour playoffs

But the list is comprised mostly of the type of player that would be expected to say, "I'm still big, it's just the golf that got small."  All you need to do is eye the accompanying picture:

Is it cruel to note that both those guys reached their sell-by date in....oh, I don't know, 2018?

In the lead-in to Boston, we had Rory publicly airing his negative attitude and the effect it was having on his golf.  There was also a thought that the venue, where he's won twice previously, might have pulled him out of his funk, but that obviously wasn't the cases.  perhaps the high-point of his week was his Saturday pairing with this guy:

Attractive pairing, ugly golf for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in Northern Trust

NORTON, Mass.—The pairing was glitzy. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Nineteen major championships and an even 100 PGA Tour wins between them.

Both players made the cut on the number, and they were the second group off on Saturday morning at the Northern Trust, but there was still a semi-buzz in the air as the game’s biggest stars of the last two decades shared a tee box. Both players hit the first fairway, and both stuck their approaches inside 10 feet. The sun was out and the vibes were positive.

The rest of the day … not so much.

Woods and McIlroy both struggled mightily on another ideal day for scoring at TPC Boston. Woods lost nearly 3.5 strokes to the field putting en route to a two-over 73, while McIlroy had two front-nine triple bogeys on his way to 74.

Here's a pro tip for you.   The second group off is never "glitzy".

But I think we can all relate to this:

In related news, neither player spoke to the media after the round, opting instead for burgers at an outdoor picnic table. There wasn’t much to say, and nothing cures a bad round quite like a burger.

They reportedly didn't talk to the media, yet their comments over a burger are somewhat interesting.  For instance, Rory had this about his lackluster play:

“This is going to sound really bad,” McIlroy said. “But I feel like the last few weeks, I’ve just been going through the motions. I want to get an intensity and some sort of fire, but I just haven’t been able to. And look, that’s partly to do with the atmosphere and partly to do with how I’m playing. I’m not inspiring myself, and I’m trying to get inspiration from outside sources to get something going.”

He has spoken in recent weeks about the sameness of the events without fans, and it’s understandable; there’s no way to replicate the feeling of a large-scale Tour event. Graeme McDowell said he felt like a “golfing zombie” earlier this week; McIlroy agreed with that assessment.

It’s always interesting seeing McIlroy process things in real time in his press conferences, and that was certainly the case as he tried to brainstorm motivational tricks on Sunday. Sometimes it helps to set up another game inside his head, he said, or to make a bet with his caddie.

“Maybe that’s the strategy,” he said. “I do that in practice rounds sometimes with Harry (Diamond) and we make a lot of bets and I try to shoot scores and try to win dinner, whatever it is. Maybe that.”

What’s funny is the idea that McIlroy would get more engaged playing his caddie for dinner than merely playing for the FedEx Cup, which has a $15 million first place prize — a prize McIlroy won last season.

That Rory can't get excited about the sill, albeit lucrative FedEx Cup, can only endear him to us, though perhaps the lede is buried.  I would argue that there are few players more in need of a strong caddie than Rory, for whom the childhood best friend on the bag might be a leading indicator of a lack of seriousness... 

A Major Breakthrough - I did watch some golf over the weekend, just not from that event in Boston.  We've seen this movie before, but it's one of great things about our game:

Sophia Popov overcomes losing her LPGA card, long battle with Lyme disease to win AIG Women's British Open

I almost quit playing last year.” That sentence might go down as one of the most unlikely ever spoken during an AIG Women’s British Open champion’s speech. But it’s Sophia Popov’s reality.

A battle with Lyme disease that went undiagnosed for three years and resulted in a 25-pound

weight loss, and a game that wasn’t up to the standards she knew she was capable of left the 27-year-old German questioning whether she should continue on as a professional golfer. But Popov instead pushed forward into the 2020 season, believing that this is what she was meant to do. Now, all questions are answered: Popov is a major champion, Germany’s first female major winner, shooting a closing three-under 68 at Royal Troon (for a seven-under 277 total) to win by two over Jasmine Suwannapura.

In 2019, Popov lost her LPGA card, sending her back to the tour’s Q Series. But that didn’t go well. She missed getting her card back by a shot, landing her on the Symetra Tour. At a time when she wanted to be moving forward with her career, it was a step backward. Then the global pandemic hit, and the shortened Symetra and LPGA schedules resulted in the tour carrying over players’ 2020 status into 2021. Popov was suddenly looking at two seasons on the Symetra Tour. Unless, that is, something seemingly impossible happened, and she was able to win a major—one of only two ways to get from Symetra to LPGA for 2021.

She was the 305th-ranked player in the world heading into this week, but I'm guessing she'll move up a notch.  Only Shack seems aware of the unprecedented double just achieved for the first time ever:

Women's Open: Popov Takes The Improbable Troon North-Troon Double

Heh!  Geoff explains:

In May, Popov won a Cactus Tour event at Troon North, named for Royal Troon and co-designed by Tom Weiskopf, 1973 Open winner at Troon.

They'll be talking about it for decades...

 Those TC writers debated this question:

1. Sophia Popov went from caddying at the start of the LPGA restart to winning the Women’s Open, prevailing by two strokes over Jasmine Suwannapura in difficult conditions at Royal Troon. Popov, who was ranked 304th in the world heading into the week, joins 2003 Open Championship winner Ben Curtis as the only players to win a major while ranked outside of the top 300. Where does Popov’s victory rank among the all-time improbable major winners?

The category was actually retired after that Ouimet guy, but whatever...

Josh Sens: That was epic. Like, Francis Ouimet underdog-hero stuff. In a way, it was almost more impressive than Curtis’ great win, as she started the final day with the lead. That’s a ton of pressure, and a different path to victory than what we saw from Curtis, who was playing well ahead of the leaders and got to post a score early in tough conditions. That’s not to take away from Curtis’ win. Only to marvel all the more at Popov’s.

I actually don't like the Curtis analogy, because he completed his 72 holes of play without any thought that he could win the event.  This girl, but also other candidates like Shaun Micheel and Todd Hamilton, slept on the lead Saturday night.  

I have no idea what Dylan's been drinking:

Dylan Dethier: It made me think back to those pictures of Francesco Molinari caddying for his brother at the Masters a few years back, which resurfaced when he played in the final group last year. The thing about Molinari, though, is that his playing career was never in nearly so much doubt as Popov’s. She nearly quit the game just last year! Big ups to her — she was relentless down the stretch.

Excuse me?  Frankie had made Ryder Cup teams and the like, so Dylan needs to bone up on some golf history.

Nick Piastowski: Man, you could make a case for most improbable. John Daly’s win at the 1991 PGA comes to mind – he had been the ninth alternate at the start of the week – and there have been numerous other out-of-nowheres in history. But Popov didn’t even have LPGA status and made the tournament only after tying for ninth at the Marathon LPGA Classic two weeks ago – and she played in that only after the tournament couldn’t fill the field due to the pandemic. Pretty incredible.

Josh Berhow: It’s right up there with some of the best, but I think what makes it really stand out is just how she did it. This wasn’t a little-wind, short-sleeve birdie-fest. This was cold, rainy and windy with all the gnarly fescue and unpredictability of the ground game that makes major links golf great. I think it’s one thing for an unknown player to get hot and run off birdie after birdie and put up a couple of low-60 numbers to snag a major, but I think it’s an entirely different mental test when you are battling the elements and grinding for pars. It’s more taxing. (Four straight rounds of even-par would have been good enough for fifth place!) And to me that’s why I think this is even more impressive for a golfer who was playing for everything with little to fall back on. It was fantastic.

Michael Bamberger: Jack Fleck beating Hogan in that playoff at Olympic might top it. But it was great golf.

I'm shocked that curmudgeonly Mikey Bams would come up with Fleck, though that doesn't augur well for Popov, since Fleck never won another event...  Oh, and if I'm being churlish, Jasmine Suwannapura has never been confused with Hogan...

They then follow it up with this silly tangent:

2. Among the other standouts at the Women’s Open (if the social-media raves were any indication) was Royal Troon, which forced the players to play a full arsenal of shots in wild and windy conditions. Given the buzz around the event, would the LPGA be wise to stage more tournaments on the classic links courses of the U.K.?

Dethier: Every tour should aspire to play more tournaments on classic links courses in the U.K. We get morning golf. Windy golf. Clever golf. Random, tricky, hilarious golf. Royal Troon was brutish on Thursday and Friday and yielded more on the weekend. It was terrific to watch and had me looking up Scottish golf trips while I took it in.

Piastowski: Variety is the spice of life, right? I’m for it. Players needed every club in the bag and every shot in the bag to win, which should be what you’d expect from a major championship. Yes, the wind and elements inflated the scores a bit, but no one was immune. When it was over, you really got the sense that Popov was most deserving.

Berhow: The LPGA markets itself as a global tour and does a great job already with stops across the U.S., Asia, Australia and more, but a few more stops in Scotland or England would be very well-received. I’d watch every event on those types of links courses, but that’s also because we just don’t see as much of it here in the States.

Bamberger: Seaside golf, golf in the wind, golf on firm greens is, I think, more enjoyable to play and more enjoyable to watch and more challenging. It’s not by any means the only form of golf. But I’d welcome the chance to see more of it (and play more of it, too).

Of course it would be epic, as it's perfect for the ladies' game, but the thread ignores the challenges of Mike Whan.  It is an international tour more than the men's game, but you might have noticed that its center of gravity is far from Europe.

How about we ask for something that would see to be more readily attainable, which is that we take a Solheim Cup to a great links?  And how do we feel about the ladies following the men's rota?  It's not that I'm opposed, it's just that there seems to be an opportunity being ignored...

Let me digress with this Eamon Lynch piece related to the venue announcement last week:

Opinion: Why Muirfield matters so much to the women's game

Does it?  And, if so, is that a good thing?

Eamon frames his argument with that first Women's Open held at The Old Course in 2007, which feels to me like a category error.  But here's the gist of his argument:

The R&A’s lineup for the women in the next five years speaks volumes about the organization’s commitment to elevating the women’s game: Carnoustie (2021), Muirfield (2022), Walton Heath (2023), St. Andrews (2024) and Royal Porthcawl (2025).

“This is what we need,” said veteran pro Angela Stanford. “People turn on the TV to watch the course. Now we are on them!”

The Old Course has always been a public venue open to people with cervixes, unlike the Royal & Ancient which was most certainly not cervix-friendly.  I do completely get the instinct to go to those places where one hasn't previously been welcome, but I'm not sure replicating the men's rota will actually prove effective.  For instance, here's that venue schedule:

The R&A’s lineup for the women in the next five years speaks volumes about the organization’s commitment to elevating the women’s game: Carnoustie (2021), Muirfield (2022), Walton Heath (2023), St. Andrews (2024) and Royal Porthcawl (2025).

To this observer, the two of greatest interest are Walton heath and Porthcawl, for the very reason that the men don't go there...

If I were Mike Whan and Martin Slumbers, I'd be advocating for the development of  a Women's Open Championship rota, and wouldn't it be interesting to think through the places one could take this event.  Let me just throw out some thoughts:

Instead of following the men to Royal St, George's, can I interest anyone in Royal Cinque Ports or the newly-restored Prince's?

In lieu of Birkdale, any interest in Hillside and that dramatic back nine?

The men returned to Portrush last year, and I'm guessing that either Ireland would take the call.  County Down might be too akin to the Honourable Company, but Lahinch would rock.  Put the ladies on the Klondyke and Dell holes and it could be magical...

Prestwick anyone?  North Berwick?  Western Gailes? 

You get my drift.

A couple of other items from the week at Troon.  This was by far my favorite player all week, though she had a rough Sunday.  Here, let me give you a couple of clues:

Here's the background:

Yep, you’re seeing that image correctly. Lindsey Weaver opted for a pushcart instead of a caddie at the AIG Women’s British Open at Royal Troon. The 26-year-old, who played her rookie LPGA Tour season in 2018 and got her card back at Q school in 2019 for the 2020 season, usually hires local caddies. Part of the LPGA’s return protocols included disallowing local caddies. In conjunction with that, the tour allowed the option to not use a caddie at all.

But it’s not just about rolling the bag. Weaver is also raking her own bunkers, doing her own yardages, grabbing divots, reading putts, selecting clubs. Sure, these are all things any professional golfer is completely capable of doing, but when you’re out there having to do it all yourself, and you’re the only one doing it by yourself, whilst atop the leaderboard of a major, it can add up.

And humping that pushcart in those Thursday-Friday winds will take it out of you.... or, you know, give you a shin splint.  I love it, but then again I'm a little old school...

Next, Sophia Popov is the new Daniel Berger:

Sophia Popov became the improbable winner of the AIG Women’s British Open on Sunday, earning LPGA status for the 2020 season.

But that season won’t start until the Cambia Portland Classic because amazingly, she’s not in the ANA Inspiration field.

How is that possible?

Because the LPGA’s majors are out of order due to COVID-19, Popov’s five-year exemption won’t start until 2021. An LPGA official explained that since the ANA field was basically filled when the tour had to shut down, they’ve chosen to honor that field. The only exemption adjustment was changing the cutoff for top 20 on the money list.

But because Popov, 28, isn’t an LPGA member (she missed out on her card by a single shot last fall at Q-Series), her $675,000 earnings won’t count as official money.

The victory does put Popov into the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in October. It does not, however, get her into the U.S. Women’s Open in December. Like the ANA, her five-year exemption into the Women’s Open begins next year at the Olympic Club.

We all understand how this happens, but one assumes that they'll fix this somehow...  Because it's great to hold these majors (I'm talking to you, Mr. Slumbers), but if the field exclude top players it becomes too easy to deride the results.

One last bit before moving on, another incident of... well, whatever will we call it?  Whatever it is, it needs to stop quickly, because this ruling will not stand much scrutiny.  There seems little doubt that if we were casting for the Dustin Johnson of the LPGA, you wouldn't have to look any further than Lexi Thompson.  If DJ is Tom Weiskopf absent the interesting bit, then Lexi is DJ without, you know, the wins... 

Toward the end of her first round, and in brutal playing conditions at Royal Troon, Thompson had missed her tee shot out to the right on the par-5 16th. Her ball rolled right up against a tuft of fescue grass, making it tricky to get the clubface clean on the ball.

After sizing up the shot, Thompson very clearly used the clubhead to touch the grass, pushing it away from her ball. Was it an intentional move to improve her lie? That’s what most commenters on social media determined.

That last bit might be the worst appeal to authority ever, the more so because intent is irrelevant.  Here we go by Yoda rules, there is no trying, there's only doing or not doing.

But can't we all agree that this is a really bad look for a professional golfer:

 

Of course, those rules changes to make our game millennial-friendly also include this bit that renders them unenforceable:

“There is no penalty if, before making the next stroke, the player eliminates that improvement by restoring the original conditions….”

Really?  You're going to force us to determine whether a blade of grass returns to its original position?  And you think we'll respect you in the morning?

Geoff gets it:

Let’s forget the obvious issues with playing it as it lies and spell it out for commissioners and governing bodies of the world intoxicated by playing prowess over rules sanctity these days. A common reaction to Thompson’s actions went something like this: if she did that in my group, at my club or in the Yucatan National Thursday night league play, she’d be penalized.

The idea that the golfing public has higher standards these days should be troubling for Commissioners and governing bodies who want to coddle players instead of dishing out penalties. And for the corporations overpaying to sponsor events because the competitors are seen as more righteous than other athletes, when will this perception of pro golfers living above the rules cause them consternation?

Not enforcing the rules, including the biggest and most important of them all, could end up becoming very costly for the pro game.

Penalized?   More importantly, she'd be shunned...

It's really dispiriting that those charged with the governance of our game seem so reluctant to, what's that word, govern.

Reports of Our Demise... - Golf has enjoyed a moment courtesy of that pesky pandemic.  At Fairview we've logged more than double the rounds played in 2019, and unfortunately the course is showing the affects thereof.  But this does surprise me a bit:

According to figures from industry research firm Golf Datatech, the numbers from July for the sales of all categories of golf equipment were moving into record-setting territory. In some categories (notably the biggest ticket categories of woods and irons), sales were more than 50 percent higher than what they were last July. Each of the club and ball categories were up more than 25 percent in both units and dollars compared to a year ago. Specifically:

Balls: Up 27 percent in units, 28 percent in dollars

Putters: Up 32 percent in units, 36 percent in dollars

Wedges: Up 64 percent in units, 74 percent in dollars

Woods: Up 74 percent in units, 68 percent in dollars

Irons: Up 83 percent in units, 93 percent in dollars

I'm shocked that the equipment numbers are that strong, given the shutdowns and associated factors.  For instance, we did have TaylorMade show up unannounced for a demo day a while back, but all it accomplished was to trigger complaints from our Fairview Karens, resulting in all future demo days being cancelled.

But given the high level of play I'd have expected ball sales to be the strongest category... shows what I know.

We can only assume that this equipment is excluded from those sales totals:

120,000 fakes seized in largest golf counterfeit raid ever  

Just don't you dare call these fakes "Chinese", because that would be racist. 

Elder Care - Some folks were quite surprised by this announcement:

Only Phil could think that he's been playing well, though this is a good boost for them (and for us as well):

While Branson isn’t what it used to be—at least until post-COVID shows get people paying to

watch performing holograms of Roy Clark, Glen Campbell and Tony Orlando—the next big thing is Phil Mickelson turning up at Ozarks National to begin a new Champions Tour career. 

For this special Monday-Wednesday of old man golf, we have a Coore-Crenshaw course making its national TV debut.

Then there is Phil’s first grouping with Retief Goosen and 2020/21 Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker. Since carts seem likely at Ozarks, it’s an ideal opportunity for Lefty to show off his cart-driving skills (hint, hint Captain Strick).

And finally, there is the group prior to Mickelson featuring Bernhard Langer, Darren Clarke and old buddy Vijay Singh, who might even bring out a special pair of spikes to welcome Mickelson.

My listings say Golf Channel is bringing us this fine entertainment from 6-8 eastern time Monday.

Monday golf to watch?  On a new Coore-Crenshaw?  I'll see if I can work into my busy schedule...

Though I doubt he'd enjoy Eamon's take on it all:

Lynch: Phil Mickelson doesn't really want to play with the old guys, but needs them more than he’ll admit

Phil is a man with a thirst to be relevant. That explains not just his nebulous flirtation with the TV booth but also with the proposed Premier Golf League splinter tour, both of which promise — at wildly differing scales — pay days based on name recognition rather than on performance. That might be the “champions tour” he ultimately dreams of.

Until such times as the Saudis come calling with a wheelbarrow full of blood money, Mickelson will probably learn the same lesson as many legends who went before him: that while the PGA Tour Champions isn’t the big stage he’s accustomed to, it’s still a very competitive arena. Take Herr Langer. The German turns 63 on Thursday. He finished second last week. Beating him might deliver all the confidence Mickelson will need this side of Winged Foot.

Phil still has some good play left in him, as he proved at Memphis.  But he also has lots of that other kind, but it's good to see him sufficiently open to the experience.  Because last we heard, it wasn't for him:

When will Mickelson get serious about senior golf? 

“When I stop hitting bombs, I’ll play the Champions tour, but I’m hitting some crazy bombs now,” he laughed.

One last vist with the TC gang, and then I'll let you get on with your day:

6. Phil Mickelson, who just a few months ago didn’t seem destined for the Champions Tour anytime soon (“When I stop hitting bombs I’ll play the Champions Tour, but I’m hitting some crazy bombs right now,” he said in January), will make his debut on the 50-and-over circuit in the Ozarks this week. Are you surprised to see Mickelson moonlighting out there so soon?

Sens: Not really. A lot of factors go into a decision like that. A gap in a schedule opens. A financial incentive appears. Maybe that all syncs up at a property owned by a guy (in this case, Johnny Morris) with a lot of industry pull. And on and on. All of those appear to have aligned for Phil in this case.

Dethier: Phil likes to play, he likes to talk smack and he likes to win. He’ll be the big man on campus right away when he tees it up on the Champions Tour, and he’ll bring plenty of attention with him, too.

Piastowski: Not really. An opportunity to play competitively and win cash and build the coffee brand? Phil’s in. But … I woulda LOVED to have seen him moonlighting in the broadcast booth. Playing does keep him sharp for Winged Foot, though.

Bamberger: My guess is that Phil is setting himself up for next year, to be the first-ever calendar-year winner of the senior golf Triple Crown: U.S. Senior Open, Senior British Open, Senior PGA Championship. He can do it ahead of Tiger.

Berhow: No. I mentioned in this same space back in June, when he turned 50, that a few spot starts for him on the Champ Tour would go a long way for that circuit. He knows all of the guys there and can be competitive immediately. It’s a win-win. He can still contend on the PGA Tour if he has a good week too.

You knew someone would mention that other guy...  I think Eamon gets it better than Mike at this point:

The PGA Tour Champions needs more, because the next superstar in its queue doesn’t turn 50 until December of 2025, and a man with young kids, a healthy portfolio and an unhealthy body isn’t a good bet to be pegging it against a 68-year-old Bernhard Langer every week.

I know Jack scoffed at senior golf, and then won two Senior U.S. Opens, but....  I just can't imagine Tiger pegging it at a single senior event.  Not least because he might be looping for this young star:

When the child of a star athlete starts competing in the same sport, unfair expectations are a given. Results, at least the kind Charlie Woods has produced of late, are much harder to come by.

While Tiger Woods competes in the FedEx Cup, Charlie has been busy dominating the South Florida junior golf circuit.

Two weeks after winning a nine-hole U.S. Kids event by five shots thanks to a three-under-par 33, Charlie, 11, finished in red figures again on Saturday. This time, he won his 9-11 age division by three shots at a PGA South Florida Section tournament.

This has shown Tiger in a great light, so we'll stay tuned.  But how'd you like to be an 11-year old showing up for the final round, paired with Charlie Woods in a red shirt?  Unless, you know, Rich Beem or Y.E. Yang have sons that age... 

Required Read of the Day - OK, I lied about letting you get on with your day, but you'll forgive me when you read this.  As you know, Joel Dahmen is one of my favorite guys out there, not least because he'll never receive a Christmas card from Sung Kang.  

Dahmen played in the Boston event and failed to make the cut. What came next isn't quite The Match, but it's highly entertaining:

No, that's one those awful wonderful ideas....

This might be the funniest bit:

Sweeney also sent Dahmen a message of his own on Instagram — a social media platform he actually does use — expressing interest. Out of the hundreds of replies, Dahmen zeroed in on Sweeney and Thorny Lea. The two went back and forth with messages to decide the stakes and settled on a four-ball match.

Sweeney called on his cousin Andrew Roy, a plus handicap with professional-golf aspirations, as his partner. Dahmen chose PGA Tour winner Nick Taylor, his roommate from their days as teammates at the University of Washington. The locals got a few strokes per side, and the match was set for 9:30 a.m. Dahmen just had one last question — could they wear shorts?

“Now I’m just laughing,” Sweeney said. “This PGA Tour player just asked me permission to wear shorts. It just felt surreal.”

Spoiler alert:  permission granted:

 

What are doing still here?  Just go read the whole thing and you can thank me tomorrow.