Late-Week Logorrhoea

 Boy, it just seems like forever since we've been together.  We've got lots to cover, so please buckle in.

ZoZo Rising - Sebastian Munoz is no longer a surprise on a Tour leaderboard, but the manner in which he got there is noteworthy:

Don’t ask Sebastian Munoz to explain what got into him on Thursday at Sherwood Country Club near Los Angeles. The 27-year-old Colombian holed out twice for eagle, poured in eight birdies and

overcame a double bogey as well as two bogeys on the front nine. But explain why the Golf Gods seemed to be in his corner during a round of 8-under 64 to grab the first-round lead at the Zozo Championship? No, sir.

“I just get out of the way,” he said. “At first I was like what should I do, should I be more calm, should I attack more? I just stopped trying to play anything and just keep playing golf. It’s just one of those days; it happens.”

Funny enough, Munoz’s round started inauspiciously with a bogey, but he quickly righted the ship by canning a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 2, the first of three consecutive birdies. A par at the fifth ended his birdie streak but he began a new one by draining a 36-footer at 6. Then Munoz didn’t even bother to use his putter at No. 7, holing out for eagle at from 168 yards.

Math is still hard, so let me distill it for you.  he shot 64 with two bogeys...and a double.  So, and this where the match gets tricky, He posted -8 after playing three holes in +4.... leading me to the conclusion that he played the other fifteen holes in -12.  Yup, nothing to see here.

The headlines, though, are more about two guys that has admittedly done much in this game, just not recently.  First, the Striped One:

Tiger Woods struggles

Tiger Woods has won five Hero World Championships at Sherwood. He won the Zozo last year.

Only one player had a worse score than him Thursday among the 77 players who finished. And that player was just a stroke behind.

Woods shot 3-over on the front and 1-over on the back for a 4-over 75. He is 12 shots behind Munoz.

His two bogeys and one double bogey on the front came on Sherwood’s three par-5s, which, according to the PGA Tour, is the first time he’s ever made bogey or worse on three par-5s in one round.

And we know how the guys pout when they make par on  a three-shotter.... But isn't this a perfect synecdoche for the current state of journalism?  You tell us that there's one player he beat, yet failed to complete the thought.  Doing the job American journalists won't do, it's Adam Long who posted 77.

But the strangest hot take has to be Shack's:

Woods, looking fit and swinging beautifully, posted a disastrous 76, his worst round at Sherwood by two. He headed straight to the parking lot after signing a card with two birdies, four bogies and a double at the par-5 13th.

Fit and swinging beautifully?  Is that even true?  I didn't watch anything but the last twenty minutes live, but the brief clips I saw of Tiger he seemed to be walking very...well, cautiously.  As a purely existential matter, I guess you could be swinging beautifully and hitting cold shanks, though most of our reactions to the mechanics are influenced by the flight of the golf ball.  

Of course, at least Tiger finished his day with 14 functioning golf clubs... I know, it's quite the low bar, but it's important to maintain at least some rudimentary standards.  This is about all you need to know about Rory's day:

I don't get bent our of shape (see what I did there) over the guys getting a little hot, as it wouldn't be much of a game if they didn't care.  At least Rory is only nine off the lead, whereas Tiger is a full dozen.  Of course no one seems to think Rory was swinging beautifully...

The death throes of Jordan Spieth have been illuminating to me.  His game has completely deserted him, yet he maintains his equilibrium and makes the best of it all.  Recently he was the victim of this cruel prank, yet took it graciously.  I do think there's an inner ring of hell awaiting the prankster, but that's not important now.

Michael Greller is off mourning the loss of his mother, so Jordan had to make do with a fill-in caddie, and it didn't go as well as hoped:

On the surface, the senior Spieth did just fine Thursday, as Jordan shot a respectable two-under 70 to begin the tournament. But upon closer inspection, it appears Shawn committed the cardinal sin of caddieing.

It happened on their fourth hole of the day, the par-5 13th.

Here’s how it played out in Jordan’s own words:

“It was funny … I'm stepping into the ball and he goes, ‘Just don’t overdo it.’

“I’m like … I step back, step back in. I’m like, ‘Dad, there’s only really like one or two things you just can’t do and that’s just don’t say not to hit it somewhere while I’m stepping into the shot.’

“He goes, ‘Well, you know, you did it on No. 11, so I didn’t want you to do it on 13.’

“I’m like, ‘I didn’t overdo it.’ ”

Spieth wound up striping his tee shot down the center of the fairway and made par on the hole—so clearly dad’s faux pas didn’t affect his son too much.

Dads, it appears, are always going to be Dads.

OK, just to be clear, there's way more than one or two things one can't do.  Lord knows I did most of them in my brief career on the bag including, notable, that lost 8-iron.  Alas, a quick Google search is not exhuming that long-ago post, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

But I need a ruling.  I've always thought it's "caddie" vs. "caddy",  but "caddying" in lieu of "caddieing".  You guys agree?

About Those Fans... - We've expended a gaggle of pixels on the no-fans thing, speculating as to who it helps and who it hurts.  Not that any greater understanding of the phenomenon has been achieved, but we've had way too much time on our hands.  Some thoughts on this subject, beginning with the reaction of our pampered Tour Professional class, penned by an Undercover Caddie:

What’s it like on tour without fans? You came to the right place. I’ve seen what the players have

said, and though I’m not calling them liars, they aren’t being honest, either. In their defense, what are players supposed to say? We’re glad fans are at home. They’re pests. This makes our jobs so less demanding. Come on. No one is that boneheaded.

But it’s the truth.

Listen, everyone misses fans. Most players are alphas; they enjoy entertaining you, and there’s no drug that feels as good as doing what you love and getting loved for it. On the caddie front, no one ever accused us of being introverted souls. But the fact is, life at the golf course is easier without spectators.

The accompanying photo is pretty funny, because the only reason some players might prefer having fans is... Well, there's a reason it's called grandstanding.

Here he deals with the Tiger/Rory issue:

OK, maybe no one. I heard the comments from Tiger and Rory, that they’re struggling to adapt to the fan-less atmosphere. You can’t print my initial reaction, but after mulling it over, I get it. What they deal with is so far removed from the average tour experience that this new environment is a glitch in their Matrix. Here’s the thing, though: That applies to maybe 10 players out of the 150-something regulars out here. Take Kevin Streelman. Been nails for a decade, won some events, made bank. There are tournament directors who don’t recognize Kevin Streelman when he walks into a clubhouse. We’re in the show, but there’s a lot of anonymity in the show. So for a lot of players and caddies, the upshot of no fans is quashing … well, the awkwardness.

Many tournaments don’t have massive gatherings on Thursday and Friday, or any morning round, for that matter. If you’re not a star—and we just established how rare that label is—most of your round is played in front of three dozen fans who aren’t invested in your score. Out of those 30 or so people, half are golfers, meaning a good shot receives a smattering of applause. At times you feel like you’ve invaded someone’s private party. One former player told me it’s harder to play in front of a handful of fans than 5,000 of them. The crowd blends into the landscape, but individuals pop out. More than a decade into this, he’s right. It’s weird, and you never quite get used to it.

An interesting take, for sure, but we're forced to make our way to the very last paragraph to find the buried lede:

OK, one thing is better: no pro-ams. Do you see brokers in the layup line at an NBA game? How about salesmen taking hacks in the batting cage at Fenway Park? Listen, the Wednesday events do a lot for charity. We meet some interesting people through them, and no, they’re not all chops. But if you’re asking if I’d rather my man prep for a tournament by (a) playing with fellow pros or (b) acting as a tour guide … I think you know my answer.

There is that niggling detail worth noting.  The golf ecosystem collapses without those Wednesday Pro-Ams, so suck it up, buckeroo!

But see what you think of this premise:

Can big crowds help a golf ball drop into the cup? Our experts say it's possible

When I first saw this, and it's a browser tab that's been open for some time, I figured it was about crowd noise causing a ball hanging on the lip to drop, a reaction somewhat supported by this accompanying photo:

 Obviously it's Tiger on the 16th at Augusta, but it's not THAT iconic shot from No. 16...

But they're going for a mind meld kind of thing:

Instructor Sean Foley factors spectators even more heavily. “You could have thousands of people around a green, and they all want Tiger’s putt to go in. Thoughts are electromagnetic energy, and energy is force. Don’t tell me that doesn’t help a putt drop.” Foley swears it happened on the bumpy, downhill 12-footer Tiger Woods—his student from 2010-’14—sank to force a playoff against Rocco Mediate at the 2008 U.S. Open. Jesper Parnevik doesn’t exactly disagree. As Parnevik told Golf Digest’s Guy Yocom in 2016, “I had the same putt one hour earlier—same distance, same line. I played two inches of break, and the ball hardly broke. When Tiger’s ball left the putter, I saw he’d played a foot of break, which was way too much. But as Tiger stared at the ball, it moved—a lot—and fell in. That was some serious Uri Geller, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Force-like shit.” Whether it was Tiger’s mind or the collective consciousness of the crowd that willed it in, we’ll let the mystics debate.

Energy might be force, but you might want to see someone about these delusions...

Lastly, there's this:

Concerned about COVID, Phil Mickelson balks at playing Houston Open with fans in week before Masters

I completely get it.  If there's one thing we've learned,  its' that our senior citizens are the most vulnerable...

About Those Ladies... - A couple of items provoking reactions from your humble blogger.  I've had some qualms about LPGA Commish Mike Whan recently, but I very much like this:

Mike Whan isn’t afraid to try something new. It’s part of what has made him such a successful commissioner of the LPGA. He’s also a great communicator.

Put those two things together and you have a commissioner working as an on-course reporter in Round 1 of the LPGA Drive On Championship. Added bonus: He has a house at Reynolds Lake Oconee and has played the Great Waters Course numerous times.

The fast-talking Whan proved to be a natural covering the marquee group of Danielle Kang, Stacy Lewis and Mel Reid. Whan said he apologized to all three players in advance because “being quiet and whispering” is not his thing.

Just good fun, which is exactly what the ladies need, since they can't compete based upon the quality of the golf.

This was probably the best moment, and I can assume that Mike's check is in the mail:

Whan even conducted mid-round interviews, asking players what they would do if they were commissioner for an hour.

“Hire Mike Whan back!” said Kang, who looked more nervous than usual with a mic in her face.

Speaking of Mike's miscues, doesn't this seem like one?

The list of pandemic shake-ups is growing, and the Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup are just another

addition to that ever-expanding scroll. For the first time in 2023, professional golf’s most important team events will be played in back-to-back weeks.

The Ladies European Tour announced on Monday that the 2023 Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin, in the heart of Spain’s Costa del Sol, will take place Sept. 18-24. The Ryder Cup will be played the following week, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, at Italy’s Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.

It’s a shake-up, for sure, but officials have taken to looking at that fortnight of high-intensity team golf as a festival of sorts.

“Match play golf between Europe and the USA brings a totally unique perspective and atmosphere to our sport and it is tremendous for fans in Europe that our continent will play host to the Solheim Cup and the Ryder Cup in consecutive weeks in 2023,” said Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour.

OK, yet I feel obligated to remind that one of these is unlike the other, and doesn't a side-by-side comparison just further highlight that awkward fact?  Of course, in the context of women's golf, U.S. vs. Europe has the feel of, well, there's just no way to sugar coat this, a consolation match.  

About That Golf Boom... - Our little game is off the ventilator and hitting it out of the park, per Golf Datatech:

“The story keeps getting better as golf continues to surge coming out of the shutdown, and Q3 equipment sales suggests that 2020 will likely end up positive for the entire year,” said John Krzynowek, Partner, Golf Datatech, LLC. “Year-to-date sales for total equipment are now up 0.2% compared to 2019, and considering the size of the hole created by the shutdown in April and May this recovery has been nothing short of remarkable. While the US economy will not enjoy a ‘V Shaped Recovery’ in 2020, if golf continues on this trajectory we will be there soon.”

The category leaders in sales for September were golf bags at +19% and wedges at +18%, while golf shoes were +2%. Overall, the golf club category was +0.9% for the month, with balls and gloves trending slightly lower, -2.7%.

Tempered perhaps by this on Golf Channel:

At least one industry insider will tell you that the company began reaching beyond its core audience at a time when its TV rights would come at a substantially higher price, which apparently was the case when the PGA Tour completed negotiations with all of its suitors this spring. ESPN was awarded the digital/streaming rights through 2030, a coveted property, given that so many viewers have taken to watching pro golf on something other than a television.

Golf Channel ended up paying more for something it already had – something that could be worth less in nine years than it is now. Without live golf as the nucleus of its programming, however, the network’s value would be greatly diminished. It had little choice but to meet the Tour’s financial demands.

Not that serious golf fans are all that concerned with such matters. The most noticeable change in Golf Channel’s identity is likely to come from the dissolution of its website, GolfChannel.com, which will be integrated into NBCSports.com by the end of 2020 and become accessible only by the scroll-down menu so prevalent on other general-sports sites.

Repeat after me, the recreational game is not the professional game...  But that website bit seems quite the unforced error.  Though I'm highly skeptical that the network ever reached beyond its core audience. 

About Those Road Trips - I forgot to include on amusing bit from my day at Mountain Ridge.  There they refer to the first cut off the fairways as "brisket."  Though I've been reliably informed that it's, in reality, the second cut that's where the action is... 

Many of you will know of the sad news from Willow Ridge, our prior club.  I returned yesterday to play a final round there, though I do hope it won't prove to be a final loop.  The most notable thing is that I played my round with a Tempo Walk, a robotized powered cart.

Here's how it looks set up before teeing off:

It's big and it's heavy.... The good news is it has room for anything and everything.  You can see the cooler, as well as the screen of its GPS system.  The positioning of the bag is slightly awkward, it's a little higher than is perfect for grabbing and returning clubs, though that's not of any import at all.  The strap system might need a rethink, as the bag is in perfect position in the photo, but quickly slipped so that pockets were less accessible.

I was told that this first generation model is in the $4,500 price range which, combined with its 200 lb. weight, means that it's not an item for individuals.  Willow Ridge acquired ten of them in the Spring, and they rent them to their members as they do buggies.  

This is how it looked ascending WRCC's steep ninth hole:

Notice the transponder in the small of my back.  That's the communication link to the device, with a switch to toggle it on and off.  By the ninth hole I had shed my vest, prior to which it was slightly awkward reaching behind and under a top layer.  Not a high degree of difficulty, but one has to do it repetitively.

Here's how it looks in action:

That's quite the steep hill which the device handled readily, and you can take it almost anywhere.

I found it a hoot to walk the course being followed by my faithful companion although, unlike my host, I felt no compulsion to name it.  It's a very clever idea, that I'd be surprised to not see more of in the future.

That said, there is still some glitchiness in its functionality.  The Stop function seemed to work with absolutely no issues, but in the restart after hitting a shot it sometimes fails to respond immediately.  Walking around to its front seemed to clear this usually, but if one is not focused on it you could easily get 100 yards down the fairway before noticing one is alone.  Perhaps it's just a rigid adherence to social distancing guidelines.

The device certainly follows the player well enough for open fairways and for most paved surfaces.  But anywhere featuring tight quarters, curbing, etc. requires a level of precision we don't usually consider when ambling around the golf course.  I scraped any number of curbs and trees, and my host and I had more than a few sideswipes.  Given that we want to be walking the course with our playing partners, that might prove to be the harder issue for Club Car to resolve.  But a pro tip, if you ever employ such a device, please be sure to take the collision coverage.

To me this is a very interesting work in progress, a beta test of a product that might have a good future in our game.  I didn't use it as such, but that front section by the video screen looked like a seat on which the player could rest.  All they need to do is adequately power it so the player can ride up hills like that ninth hole (or, I'm sure Bobby D. would agree here, the 15th at Fairview), and we'd have ourselves a sure hit.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday.