Weekend Wrap

I found myself with some free time yesterday, and wrote a preview post for this week's U.S. Open, which you'll find below on the home page.  It's early week stuff, the history of the club and it's prior Opens.  Today we'll wrap the weekend's action, and then flood the zone in anticipation of Thursday's kick-off.

Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory - So, imagine you're Mike Whan, and you feel the need to distract the viewing public from your exclusion of the most recent major-winner from the week's field.  Mission accomplished, baby!  Here's Golf Digest's header:

AN OFF-THE-WALL WIN

Mirim Lee chips in three times, benefits from a bit of controversy and takes the ANA Inspiration title in a playoff after the wildest of back nines. 

Well, that's not all she benefited from, but perhaps you haven't heard of this wall, which Beth Ann Nichols has named for all eternity:

Opinion: Great Wall of Dinah overshadows dramatic ANA Inspiration finish

Well played, Mike.  All the elements were there, starting with the miracle that the event could be played at all.  Back when the various golf organizations were acting the part of Stalin and Churchill dividing post-war Europe, the LPGA was....well, Poland.  

Then you're blessed with an incredible leaderboard, with the biggest names in the women's game contending:

Let me interject this from the current Tour Confidential:

4. The ANA leaderboard was loaded — Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson finished at 15-under alongside Lee to advance to the playoff, and Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis and Lydia Ko all finished within five of the lead. What was your biggest takeaway from the week?

Yet, this is all we're talking about:

 Well, at least it blends seamlessly into the background... Yeah, right.  

Kudos to Beth Ann for the moniker, so we'll allow her to explain:

It seemed almost destined to happen.

Build an eyesore of a wall on an island green and balls will bounce. Bogeys will turn into birdies. Even an eagle! It’s the same for everyone, of course. But the LPGA had a dreamy finish in store, and it all came to a crashing, truly comical halt.

Mirim Lee won the tournament outright with her three chip-ins, including an electric eagle on the 72nd hole. No one can dispute the way she coolly kept her head in the game while the blonde bombers traded blows in the spotlight.

But Lee’s eagle came on the heels of a 5-wood that might have found the water had the Great Wall of Dinah not stopped it cold. That was the plan all along for Lee, and no one can blame her.

Beth Ann would be more accurate if she struck that "almost destined" and replaced it with "intended."  But then, that "almost" should go as well... Get me rewrite, stat!  Here's the player's view:

In the midst of this mind-numbing insanity, perhaps the funniest detail is the undersized font used for the ANA logos...  You've places this hideous artificial signage in the field of play, but the logo is so small as to be illegible.... Can't anyone here play this game?

There are a couple of points to make.  First, in a normal year with spectators, there's typically a corporate hospitality suite there, and the organizers have argued to make it consistent with prior versions of the event.  So, because you screw up the integrity of a risk-reward hole in other years, that requires you to do so this year?  I'm sorry, but that's just a logic fail...

Plus, and this seems rather important, your big, blue wall was much closer to the green than that hospitality area.  Therefore, Mirim Lee and Brooke Henderson got to drop just off the green...  Yeah, Jerry Folz and Judy Rankin kept telling us how tough the up-and down was, yet all the girls either got up-and-in or, in the case of the winner, holed it...

Ironically, the ANA is a knock-off of the Masters, copying all their notable traditions.  I say it's ironic, because Augusta National has quite a similar golf hole, their fifteenth.  It's a reachable Par-5 with water both fronting and behind the green.  Do they put a grandstand there?  

The second point is agronomic... To wit, that in the current conditions the hole changes:

The Covid-induced move of Dinah Shore’s old tournament from April to September brought higher temperatures and a springier strain of Bermuda on the firm greens, meaning that any player who went for it on the watery, do-or-die par-5 18th had a good chance of going long.

But instead of the players’ balls trickling into the water behind the island green, the wall served as a discordant backstop, taking all the risk out of what could have been a thrilling risk-reward hole. (It’s true that in the past there has been a grandstand set about four paces further back than the wall, but with fans barred from the grounds this year there was no reason to have any clutter behind the green.)

Boo-friggin' hoo!  This confirms that view:

Carlota Ciganda, Lee’s playing partner, went farther: “Without that wall, no one would go for the green,” she said. “No one.”

OK, so move the tees up twenty yards.  One almost gets the sense that they felt a need to protect the players, that they didn't want them embarrassed.  Of course, we 're not exactly talking about the wonderful players, we're talking about the silly wall.

Mirim Lee does the most spot on impression of Craig Perks, but its tainted by the damn wall:

The inherent beauty of sports is that it is not scripted, which was never more apparent than on a wild Sunday on a man-made oasis in this broiling desert. It featured a pair of marquee stars, an

interloper who wedged her way into the affair and a cameo by an edifice dubbed the Great Wall of Dinah.

The winner of the ANA Inspiration was Mirim Lee, a 29-year-old South Korean who holed three chip shots, two on the back nine on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills C.C., and defeated Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson by holing a five-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole.

In the immediate aftermath, as Lee struggled to get control of her emotions, Golf Channel’s Jerry Foltz asked her, “Are you in disbelief right now?”

“Yes,” she replied.

All of us, kid... It's just where you chipped from on No. 18 makes it all kind of a joke...

Here were the answers to that question excerpted above:

Dethier: At the beginning of the week, I wrote a rundown of the top 10 women’s golfers under the age of 25. The top four on that list — Nelly Korda (T2), Minjee Lee (T7), Brooke Henderson (T2) and Nasa Hataoka (T7) — each finished in the top 7, as did Lydia Ko (6th), who seems to be finding her form. This leaderboard was a dream, and if the LPGA’s most compelling stars can get into the mix at its biggest events, that’s a really good thing for the tour.

Sens: Watching Ko continue to claw herself up from a dark place is enough to cheer any fan. But what stood out to me wasn’t just the quality of her play and the play of the field but the variety of personalities and swings on a tour that in recent years was criticized for producing too much sameness

Zak: That Brooke Henderson might be the most fun player to watch on the LPGA Tour. She’s an absolute bulldog, and that swing is just electric. The Women’s PGA Championship is just a few weeks away!

Bamberger: Exactly. Women’s golf is loaded with talent and personality. I look forward to the PGA at Aronimink, in my distant backyard. (Credential application in!)

Fair enough, but there's this bitter aftertaste.... Great players who are fun to watch, and that's why I watched this event instead of Silverado.  But then they paint the clown's face around the hole...

Of course the TC panel was asked about the GWOD, so I might as well copy-and-paste their thoughts:

3. Mirim Lee of South Korea made an eagle on the 72nd hole of the ANA Inspiration, followed by a birdie on the first playoff hole to win her first major championship. Lee’s heroics on 18 in regulation were aided by an artificial wall behind the green — a structure that served as a promotional vehicle for the event — that prevented balls from rolling into the pond behind the green. Her second shot on the 72nd hole, which was likely destined for the water, instead rebounded off the wall and stayed dry, from where she chipped in for the eagle to advance to the playoff. Prominent placements for sponsor promotion are essential for any event, but was The Great Wall of Dinah, as it was dubbed by Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols, a step too far?

Dylan nails it here: 

Dethier: Yes, it was too far. Here’s the problem: When you have a grandstand that’s covered in sponsor logos, the grandstand is still serving its primary function — that is, holding human spectators. Even if it’s basically just an excuse to get that branding out there, the grandstands feel more forgivable. (Except in the years when East Lake finished with that grandstand-ringed, long par-3 — that was horrible!) In this case, I think sponsors would have been better served by a floating logo, a la the Travelers Umbrella at TPC River Highlands. Instead, despite Lee’s heroics, I was left with a weird taste in my mouth after what was a terrific event all week long.

Sens: I suppose the contrarian argument would be that it played the same for everyone. But I agree with Dylan. As great as the chip was, the moment was diminished by what came before it. No one wants to see even the faintest trace of an asterisk next to a win, so why set up the closing hole in a way that is so likely to raise controversy and questions. It could have been easily avoided.

Zak: Of course it played the same for everyone, but it didn’t feel like major championship golf. Not when the 72nd, risk-reward hole has a get-outta-jail-free card. Back in July, I wrote about how weird it is to see signage everywhere at an event without fans. I’m not sure of the proper solution, but I know it doesn’t feel right. Surely there must be another way to offer significant sponsor value without it feeling like a pinball machine.

That last argument is so profoundly stupid, because it took all challenge out of the shot.  The ladies could blast the ball to moon, secure in the knowledge that the wall would stop their missiles.  What it really accomplishes is to take the water in front out of play, because why agonize over club selection?  Just hit your longest club and you'll be rewarded with a cushy drop... Grandstanding is a real thing, and it's so very nice when they can still grandstand even in the absence of, you know, grandstands...

Of course, Mike Bamberger conveys his unique take with an admirable economy of words: 

Bamberger: Absolutely absurd. Is there any signage on the wall beside the Road Hole?

Careful, Mike, we don't want to be giving them any ideas...

Alas, the victim gets the last word:

“It was always going to come down to that wall,” Jessica said, ruefully.

Yup.  And we all knew it as soon as we saw it early in the week.  

The First Since... -  He seems like a nice enough man, and there's little doubt that this will be more popular than his previous win:

More than 11 years later, Stewart Cink is a PGA Tour champion once again.

The 47-year-old polished off consecutive 65s on the weekend in Napa, Calif. at the Safeway

Open to win by two, his first victory since he famously beat Tom Watson at the 2009 British Open at Turnberry. Cink made just one bogey in his final 40 holes at Silverado Resort and Spa.

Cink’s son Reagan was on the bag caddying for him this week, and thanks to altered regulations his wife Lisa was among the few walking outside the ropes Sunday afternoon. A PGA Tour working through the pandemic offers a different scene, and talking with family members during rounds was a welcomed one for the Cinks.

“I was just comfortable winning or not winning today,” Cink said afterward. He said his improved, thankful mentality was key in keeping him calm throughout the finishing stretch, and the week as a whole.

The son on the bag is a nice touch, but wife Lisa has also survived a cancer scare as well.  So, a great win for their family.  Of course, none of us have forgiven him for 2009...

I think we can judge the relevance of this event from the fact that the Tour Confidential panel never touched the subject.  I can't remember them dissing the big tour like that previously...  With the ANA and tennis to distract, I certainly didn't watch any of it...  Jammed in the week before the rescheduled U.S. Open, and a continent away, it was about as week a field as one can imagine.

For those of you excited by Phil's tune-up for Winged Foot, I don't know what you're smoking, but I hope you brought enough to share.  His T44 doesn't tell us much, though it was quite the weak field.  But if you're looking for a sign of his Winged Foot prospects, look no more than here:

Phil's driving accuracy for the season is safely into two figures, so he's got that going for him.  OK, I have no clue what season they're counting, since this was the first event of the season, and he apparently drove it more accurately this week.  But hitting either 14.29% or 21.43% of fairways seems perfectly designed to ensure that Phil has the weekend free.

Radio Silence - The media hasn't exactly distinguished themselves lately, but it's not easy to find any coverage of this week's Champions Tour event.  There's nothing at Golf Magazine or Golf Digest's websites, and only this curious coverage at Golfweek.  So, this guy won, which is always fun:

So, was there anything of note about this event?  Well, heck yeah, but this is as close to that subject as they go:

Jimenez knew going to the final hole he only needed par to win, and after a shaky tee shot put him in the rough, his second shot set him up for a 35-foot birdie putt. He didn’t need to make it to win, but doing so would’ve brought the house down at the first tournament to allow fans since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

So, the first golf tournament with fans?  Maybe the first professional sports event with fans, and nowhere do they tell us how it went...  What am I missing?

I assume it went fine, because if it hadn't the entire national press corps would be doing live remotes from South Dakota decrying the inhumanity of it all...

For background on the decision to allow spectators, see this Bob Harig item at ESPN.  Plus, Lumpy is there, which always makes Employee No. 2 happy.

Carolina On My Mind - Via Shack, a couple of local reactions to the USGA's Pinehurst announcement.  First, this editorial from the Southern Pines Pilot, which ledes with this spit take:

The USGA’s series of announcements will take time to fully comprehend and take an adequate measure. If you love and play the game of golf, there is much to love. The USGA is the arbiter, trend setter and final authority of golf in the United States.

Its championships are legendary, the players among the best in the world. Its rules are adhered to meticulously on courses across the country. No ball or club is considered legitimate unless it is first tested and approved by the USGA. That operation is now done out of the organization’s headquarters in New Jersey, but in a few years that will be done here.

Which is funnier, that participants are only "among" the best players in the world, or that its rules are followed "meticulously"?  Too close to call, I'm thinking.... Would now be a good time to talk legendary Shinnecock U.S. Opens or, better yet, those meticulous rules used at Oakmont?  Yeah, hasn't been a great decade or three for the organization... 

As for that last bit, I agree that's quite the get.  I'm ecstatic to know that they'll shortly be abdicating their responsibility to govern equipment changes from North Carolina instead of New Jersey.  The biggest impact being that the next delay of their Distance Insights Project will carry a Pinehurst, NC dateline in lieu of Far Hills, NJ.

And this "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" moment:

The USGA’s total employment — 50 — will be modest, but its value is much greater. Economic and golf officials believe the USGA’s operations in Pinehurst can serve as a magnet for other golf-industry employers. Just as the club grip manufacturer Golf Pride built a new headquarters and testing facility out at Pinehurst No. 8, it’s not a stretch to think that other equipment manufacturers might cluster similar operations here, just as they do now in central California.

Modest?  More like inconsequential...  But even that is a grand over-statement, as fifteen of those jobs are already in Pinehurst.  And, as Shack notes, Carlsbad is about as close to central California as I am in Westchester County.  

This Coastal's Coastal editorial seems far better reasoned:

Governor Cooper’s announcement early this week that he and the legislature have signed a deal costing the state $18 million to bring a portion of the U.S. Golf Association (USGA) operations to Pinehurst is another example of the disconnect elected officials have with the economic conditions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent government mandated business restrictions.

This announcement smacks of cronyism and is definitely the wrong message at the worst moment.

Ya think?  Cronyism is what government does, so we shouldn't be surprised in the least...  Though, this argument does not sway me:

But this announcement is particularly galling since it comes at a time when many businesses in the hospitality industry are experiencing financial disaster as a result of the very politicians, who are taking credit for economic growth, have diminished those prospects for others. Approximately 170,000 hospitality workers remain unemployed as the governor’s mandates restrict the numbers of customers served in restaurants and keeps bars and taverns closed under the guise to reducing the coronavirus contagion. It should be noted the governor’s original intentions were to “bend the curve” of people infected which succeeded months ago, and yet his restrictions remain in place.

That's just sloppy reasoning, as at best it argues for the delay in the announcement.  It's a stupid deal on the merits, but this is just lazy opinion journalism.  But they do get to the crux of the matter:

Ms. Travis’ Carolina Journal article delineates numbers that should concern taxpayers and should be a concern to all elected officials. Billed as the Championship NC Act, the governor with the legislature’s approval is underwriting the $18 million giveaway with $3.5 million from the One North Carolina Fund, a discretionary cash grant that the governor can use for “job-creation projects” and $100,000 from the Job Development Investment Grant. This leaves $14.5 million yet to be funded, And there are yet undefined tax breaks coming from the state.

It is worth noting that many of these funds are designed to finance investments in low income regions of the state identified as Tier 1 or 2 counties. Moore County and particularly Pinehurst with a median income of $80,128 qualifies as one of few Tier 3 or high-income communities in North Carolina.

Borrowing a golf term for bad shot, Governor Cooper has played a shank shot. While fighting to keep thousands of businesses closed resulting in tens of thousands being unemployed, he proudly announces giving funds for a project in one of the wealthiest communities in the state to a company that last year reported revenues of $211 million. It’s too late to make a course change but not too late to make a player change.

Again they beclown themselves in attempting to use golf terminology, but that's not the important point.

One cannot determine the efficacy of government programs without understanding their intent.  This is not a mistake, this is design to a specific purpose:

I'll leave you there, and be back with that aforementioned deep dive into the U.S. Open.

USGA is legally required to spend just $5 million of its own money on the project, while North Carolinians remain on the hook for $18 million, said Jon Sanders, JLF’s director of regulatory studies. The Championship NC Act carves out a benefit for the state, too, ordering USGA to provide the Commerce Department a “hospitality pavilion” at each men’s championship.

“Defining it as a ‘gift’ lets the governor and legislators do a statutory Jedi hand wave and say it isn’t a form of quid pro quo,” Sanders said. “We (Lawmakers) gave them (USGA) $18 million, and out of the goodness of their hearts they just up and let us enjoy this large, catered gathering place at a major championship sporting event for free. Oh, but just men’s championships, for some reason.”

So, they're not only corrupt, but they're corrupt misogynists... Noted.

Of course when looking at government corruption, the bigger crime is typically that which is perfectly legal... and mostly unnecessary:

“I’m so tired of these things, I can’t even work up fire for it,” Joe Coletti, JLF’s senior fellow for fiscal and tax policy, said after the USGA announcement. “This is the state helping Pinehurst Resort with something that was probably gonna happen anyway.”

Le Sigh!