A great weekend here in the Northeast, but that can diminish my excitement over the start of the 2020-21 FedEx Cup campaign...I'm sure you have that on your calendar for...Thusrday.
DJ In Full - The first thing you need to know is that I watched exactly five minutes of it all, those being the last five. Did I miss anything? I'm guessing not, and I'll further guess that Shackelford agrees with me, at least that's my interpretation of this Sunday night header:
Report: Moribund PGA Tour "Playoffs" To (Mercifully) End Monday
That's a fancy word, Geoff, shall we see it's definition?
I guess I should at least pretend to care about the actual golf:
ATLANTA – Hard to believe that two months ago Dustin Johnson shot 80-80 to miss the cut in the Memorial Tournament and then posted a 78 in the first round of the 3M Open the following week before withdrawing.
Well, the world No. 1 got over that stretch of abnormality rather quickly and capped off the PGA Tour season and his own six-week tour de force on Labor Day with a resilient victory in the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.
Johnson, who began the tournament with a two-shot lead as the No. 1 seed due to the staggered scoring format and led by five entering the final round after a sizzling 64 in Sunday’s third round, had to work hard to hold off Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas to win the FedEx Cup and $15 million.
Well, that does sound like edge-of-your-seat stuff...
So now we're done pretending to care... I haven't read through this Brian Wacker piece, but the early spit takes seem encouraging. For instance this:
Already a major champion, the top-ranked player in the world and with at least one victory in each of his 13 seasons on the PGA Tour, there was little he hadn’t accomplished.
Spot on. Though the little he hasn't accomplished includes, oh I don't know, a Masters, an Open Championship, a PGA and a Players Championship. Not to mention a marriage...
Of course Brian mentions that other stuff, if only to dismiss it:
In the tournament—and in Johnson’s sometimes star-crossed career. For all his accomplishments, he’s had more than a few blunders along the way, from falling down in major championships to infamously falling down a set of stairs at Augusta National.
Though he might be the only person in America to uncritically accept the stairs story... Not sure his nine-iron had an air-tight alibi.
Now this isn't exactly as I heard it on TV:
“Being a FedEx Cup champion is something that I really wanted to do,” Johnson said. “I wanted to hold that trophy at the end of the day. It was something that I wanted to accomplish during my career.”
The way I heard it, the FedEx Cup was the title DJ wanted the most, which could be the most DJ thing ever. After all, who would want to win a masters and have to hang in Augusta in April for the next fifty years?
The Tour Confidential Panel is, of course, all over this, asking the questions dividing America, such as this:
1. Dustin Johnson won both the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup at East Lake on Sunday, capping a blazing end to the season. Johnson won three times in 2019-20 (the Travelers and the Northern Trust were his other two titles). Can anyone else make a case for the Player of the Year?
Wow, he won both? perhaps you guys didn't get the memo, but you can'y any longer win one without the other...
Josh Sens: Well, Justin Thomas won three times and Brendon Todd won twice while seeming to be in the mix nearly every week. But DJ did what Sugar Ray Leonard used to do: finished with a flurry. This one goes decisively to him.
Zephyr Melton: You could make a compelling case for JT or even Collin Morikawa, but the heater DJ went on over the last month of the season gives him the edge. If he keeps it up, he could take the early lead in next season’s race with a win at Winged Foot in a couple weeks, too.
Sean Zak: Nope! It’s DJ all the way. Thrilled he did it toward the end so we could be swayed even easier.
OK, I'm old enough to remember when you couldn't be POY without a major. Though in a year with only the one major...
James Colgan: Sens is right, what about Brendon Todd? Or was he a better fit for POTY at the season’s 54-hole mark than at the end? Jokes aside, it’s gotta be DJ. No question about it.
Oh, so Brendon Todd is now a punchline? Not sure he had that coming, as all he did wa splay well when no one was watching. Not an issue, at least until the meat of the season was lost.
Michael Bamberger: His only real competition is Jay Monahan, who isn’t of course a player but was the most significant figure in getting this odd golf year back in action.
Mike, don't make me mention that Chainsmokers concert...
As for this next bit, I just can't believe they didn't think it the perfect coda:
2. Perennial question but needs to be asked: Does the current FedEx Cup format have it right? If not, how would you improve it?
Well, perennial since 2007. Equally perennial is the resounding "no" in response...
Sens: I know a lot of careful, number-crunching thought went into it, but giving a professional golfer a head start at the beginning of a tournament is too absurd for me to accept. This isn’t a weekend club competition. Get rid of the handicapping.
Melton: I’m not sold on the current format. I know it makes viewing more friendly for the casual fan, but the lack of contenders as a result of the handicapped leaderboard can make it a bit of a snoozer. Incorporating some sort of match-play component to determine the FedEx Cup champ could be a fun twist that still allows for the casual fan to easily comprehend.
Zak: Stroke play for two days, then match play for two? Feels like we all want that. If we need to give the season a bunch of value, allow for FedEx Cup ranking to guarantee a spot in match play.
Josh, I think you have this exactly backwards. No club competition would ever conceive of such a thing, which is the exclusive purview of those geniuses in PVB.
Colgan: I love the idea of incentivizing strong performance, but I think — as my colleague Josh Berhow pointed out last week — the best way to do that is to shift to match play. This weekend was a great proof of concept for how beneficial it is to start a tournament at 10 under, but it was decidedly not a great proof that doing so manufactures compelling golf. It’s time for match play.
OK, I'll play along.... What exactly is this "proof of concept" for the benefits of a -10 start? because it seems kind of arbitrary to this observer, not to mention... well Josh used absurd.
I won't get into it now, but these good gentlemen are, I believe, showing the right instincts but latching onto the wrong solution with match play.
Bamberger: I’ve been down this road before: play all three tournaments, winner is the winner of one 216-hole event. Cut players after each round.
Again Mike shows good instincts, making it a shoot-out. However, I actually think a reset each week works better, but ultimately we want a handful of players on the course vying for the $15 million large. Anyway, the good news is that we don't have to discuss this for a year.
What? Damn!
Johnson Claims $15 Million And Now We Don't Have To Hear About The FedExCup Again Until Thursday
They can't make us listen.... With back-to-back majors the next two weeks (the ladies first, then the Foot), I would suggest we focus there...
California Dreaming - I'm going to ignore Winged Foot for the moment, but we'll certainly get to it in good time. When to revised golf calendar was released, I din't exactly focus on the odd timing of this event. Geoff captures it nicely with this one graphic:
I'm melting!
Larry Bonahan of the local paper asks this non-rhetorical question:
As LPGA preps for ANA Inspiration, how hot is too hot?
The heat
The Palm Springs area just saw a weekend where the thermometer hit a record-breaking 122 on Saturday and 120 on Sunday. How hot will it be this week should be a topic of conversation for everyone during the ANA Inspiration. The weather forecast calls for it to be a little cooler. Desert residents might handle 105 degrees, but we probably aren’t walking 18 holes of golf in that kind of heat, either. Some players will react well, others might struggle. Hopefully, the temperatures will stay under 110 degrees on the weekend.
Can a human being tell the difference between 109 and 122? I mean, dead is dead, right?
The LPGA has granted this relief to the combatants:
In a memo to players and caddies that went out on Thursday, LPGA Chief Tour Operations Officer Heather Daly-Donofrio wrote: “Projected temperatures next week will range from 105-115 and we are very conscious of the high heat. 2020 has been the year of health and safety, and with that in mind, we will be allowing caddies to take carts for the week.”
The cart rule isn’t mandatory. Some will choose to walk and carry the bag as always. Push carts are also an option for caddies. Players may ride in carts during practice rounds but must walk during tournament rounds.
Please tell me that Dame Laura Davies is sitting this one out. The heat is not the only issue facing the gals:
No defending champion
This is no one’s fault, of course, unless you blame the coronavirus. Jin Young Ko didn’t make it
to Mission Hills to defend her title because of travel restrictions and an abundance of caution. That means she can’t join Sandra Post and Annika Sorenstam as winners of the ANA Inspiration in consecutive years.
No fans
Maybe having no fans on the golf course won’t mean much to players who are playing the fifth hole on a Thursday afternoon. But the players who make the cut for the weekend will certainly miss the atmosphere of supportive desert fans on the first and 10th tees as they begin their rounds and on the 18th green Sunday. The tournament is doing lots of things to create some atmosphere for the players, but there is no substitute for high-fives with fans as the winner walks up the 18th green before crossing Poppie’s Pond.
You couldn't allow fans with these temperatures. I'm worried enough about the players... perhaps Sophia Popov isn't as unlucky as we thought.
The TC gang actually spared a thought for the ladies:
4. The second major of the LPGA season kicks off this week, the ANA Inspiration. World No. 1 Jin Young Ko, who is sheltering in place at home in Korea, will not be in the field but otherwise the tournament is stacked. What story line are you most excited to see play out?Sens: Danielle Kang has been on such a great run of late. I’m keen to see if she can nab another major. But, as I always do, I’m rooting hardest for Lydia Ko.Melton: Could another Cinderella run be in the cards a-la Sophia Popov at the Women’s Open? I’d love to see another long-shot have a career-changing week.
Zak: Going to keep beating this drum: would be great to see Nelly Korda win a major.
Colgan: It was 120 degrees on Sunday in Rancho Mirage. For all the individual storylines, I’m most interested to see how the pros fare in a high-stress, ridiculously high-heat scenario. Maybe they’ll be unaffected by it, but I certainly wouldn’t be.
Bamberger: All great calls and I’ll add to that this: This is a great moment for the women to really have the stage to themselves, between the Tour Championship and the U.S. Open. I hope people turn it on in droves.
Predicting a Cinderella is good, adding the name of said Cinderella would be far better... As per Mike, this is the event that I'll watch this coming week. The men will also be in hot, fiery California, though will anyone play the East lake-Silverado-Winged Foot trilogy? That's a lot of air miles, and a quick turn around this week with the Monday finish.
The Times They Are A-Changin' - This isn't an event otherwise on anyone's radar, though history is to be made:
There hasn’t been a top-level professional golf tournament staged in the world with fans in attendance since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. That is going to change next week for the PGA Tour Champions event in Sioux Falls, S.D.The third annual Sanford International, sponsored by the health company that has been administering COVID-19 tests for the PGA Tour, is welcoming fans to Minnehana Country Club for the 54-hole tournament, Friday through Sunday, according to a report by the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. A Golfweek report said that 10,000 daily tickets are being sold.The decision to allow fans at the tournament comes at a time when South Dakota is among the states experiencing the highest surge in COVID-19 cases. South Dakota has reported an average of more than 300 confirmed cases a day in the past week—187 percent more from two weeks ago, according to The New York Times COVID-19 database. As of Saturday, the South Dakota Department of Health reported 14,889 cases and 173 deaths.
Still trying to freak us out over case numbers, but Pravda is no match for one of the best governors in America. I mean, she's no Gretchen Whitmer....
It'll be interesting to see how it goes. Just remember, if we had listened to the Chicken Littles, the tour would have shut down in Hartford.
John de Coupland Got There First - A couple of items on Scottish golf, first this referenced in the header:
Lawrie Officially Opens New 7th Hole at Royal Dornoch
Former Open champion Paul Lawrie has officially opened the stunning new 7th hole on theChampionship Course at Royal Dornoch.
Ahead of his Tartan Pro Tour event over the famed Highland links today and tomorrow (7 and 8 September), Lawrie took time out to play the revised hole and meet local members.
While the par-4 hole, known as ‘Pier’, has been in play since the end of last year, the global COVID-19 pandemic put paid to Royal Dornoch officially unveiling the hole until now. The changes were proposed by Tom Mackenzie of renowned designers Mackenzie and Ebert.
In further enhancing the stunning championship test over the links, the new hole – which measures 485 yards from the blue tees – has been pivoted to the right so the sea is in view for the entire length of the hole. It also features a green with only the sea and sky beyond it, a replica of the previous one.
The work was first proposed after a course review in 2013 and approved by the club in 2015.
I'm still struggling to get my head around the concept that Royal Dornoch could be improved...
Although it sounds like our Fairview Greens Committee supervised the building of the now-abandoned 7th hole:
Golf architect, Mackenzie, added: “The view from the 7th tee is one of the most famous in the world of golf. Is there a first-time visitor to Dornoch who has not taken that photo down over the course?
“It seemed frustrating that once down off the tee, the sea disappeared until the green on the highest part of the course. There was plenty of room to the right so, logically, it made sense to rotate the hole that way, so the entire hole enjoyed the same glorious view with a new sea vista behind the green. It adds wonderfully to the Dornoch experience.”
The former 7th green was added to the course after World War II in 1946 when the course was extended by George Duncan, another ex-Open champion. Local legend has it that the club is simply returning the hole to the style that Duncan first envisaged
General Manager Neil Hampton, who is celebrating 10 years of service at a venue regularly ranked as one of the best in the world, tells the tale of Dornoch folklore: “The local stories are such that George Duncan actually pegged out the 7th hole right along the top of the hill, but during the night some unscrupulous local moved the pegs inland! The hole was then built along the peg line!
“We think we are really putting it back to where George originally designed the hole, namely offering a classic links hole across the top of the hill and offering stunning views that we previously only enjoyed from the 7th tee. You now get those panoramas from every single pace that you walk along the 7th fairway.”
A story far to good to risk fact-checking, but your humble blogger needs to see this improvement first-hand. We had planned to play in an open competition there with Elsie and John prior to setting up house in Pittenweem, so hopefully we can reschedule that for 2021.
Just west of Pittenweem is this new daily-fee links:
Dumbarnie Links opened in May in the East Neuk of Fife, not far to the south of St. Andrews, Scotland, offering 1.5 miles of beachfront and a Clive Clark layout on the north shore of the Firth of Forth. The public-access, daily-fee layout is part of the 5,000-acre Balcarres Estate that dates back to the 16th century and is owned by Lord Balnie.
The course features 80 feet of elevation changes with constant views of the Firth. The layout sits on 345 acres of sand and fescue, and instead of a classic out-and-back links, Dumbarnie Links is a mix of two big loops that highlight many elevated tee boxes and water views as the land climbs away from the beach. Muirfield and North Berwick are on the opposite side of the Firth.
The all-walking course can be stretched to 7,612 yards for pros, but the tees typically are set between 5,100 and 6,900 yards.
Of course, your initial reaction likely mirrors my own, to wit, could they have picked a worse year to open?
The original high-end daily-fee Sottish club, Kingsbarns, is a mere few miles down the road. And like Kingsbarns, there's no plans to, you know, give it away:
Green fees for international golfers range from around $230 to $315, and Dumbarnie Links’ season runs through Nov. 15. The course also offers a discounted replay rate that is good for five days after the initial round.
The review is notable mostly for the photos, linksy eye candy indeed:
I'm sure we'll give it a go at some point, though it's not only the photos that take my breath away...
I shall leave you here, and we'll likely next visit on Thursday.
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