Monday, October 5, 2020

Weekend Wrap

I did watch some golf yesterday, just not the golf I wanted to see...  Thanks, Cablevision, you're very special...

Eyes Wide Shut - Yup, that's a thing now, which we'll get to in a bit.  But first, just when you think we're through with the enfant terrible of the golf world, he's back:

All week in Mississippi, the story was Sergio Garcia’s eyes-closed putting technique, as it should have been. Garcia, a notoriously bad putter, had found something that was working, and then said he
had been doing it for a few years now (the jury is still out on that). But it didn’t matter if he started it three years ago or this week at the Country Club of Jackson. It was working, and it was working well now, so it was obviously going to be a big topic.

However, Sergio fittingly wound up winning this tournament on Sunday thanks to his irons, the best clubs in his bag for his entire 20-plus-year career as a pro. Yes, he did still putt quite well during his final-round 67, the best he had all week actually, but the deciding shot came with an iron.

A good-looking shot? Try phenomenal. Try tournament-ending. It came from 171 yards out, and it set up the easiest putt of the week for the 40-year-old Spaniard (we still have trouble believing El Niño is 40). Eyes closed or not, that one was going in, and it gave him his first PGA Tour win since the 2017 Masters. He did win on the European Tour almost exactly one year ago at the KLM Open, but even with that victory Garcia still dropped out of the top 50 of the OWGR for the first time in nearly a decade. A timely win, and more importantly, a special one, as Garcia explained.

Sergio is one of those polarizing figures that will always generate a split verdict.  I've always loved watching him swing a club, and he's long been the guy I point to as explanation of the concept of lag in a golf swing.  But the demons are often in control, whether it's spitting into the cup or damaging greens.   

He's also the poster child for our inflated expectations after breakthrough wins.  The Era of Good Feeling that was anticipated after his Masters win (not to mention marriage and family) arrived stillborn in the Saudi desert.

The Tour Confidential panel takes on the underlying existential issues involved:

Sergio! Three and a half years after his Masters victory, Sergio Garcia is a PGA Tour
winner again, stuffing his approach on the 72nd hole of the Sanderson Farms Championship to edge Peter Malnati by a stroke. What’s the significance of this win for a 40-year-old who, in 2020, missed qualifying for the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time in his career and who also just recently had slipped out of the top 50 in the World Ranking for the first time since 2011?

Dylan Dethier: It means a ton. Look, Sergio is no stranger to the winner’s circle — he’s got a worldwide win in each of the last 10 years, tied with Justin Rose for longest in the world — but winning on the PGA Tour in this fashion was a heck of a statement. If this signals the beginning of another run for fortysomething Sergio, nearly 20 years after his first W, that’s a good thing for golf.

It might mean a ton, but only to Sergio....  The surprise here is how such a great ball-striker can go into such a tailspin, but the margins are just that fine out there.

Alan Shipnuck: It’s great to have him back in the conversation. Few players in golf are as polarizing as Sergio, or more fun to watch. We’ll see how much grind he has left and if he wants to be a consistent contender, but for now let’s just enjoy the show. I’m sure Padraig did — an in-form Garcia would be a huge boost for Team Europe.

Polarizing?  Where have I heard that before?  Normally I'd scoff at the RC implications, but that Euro squad shapes up as uniquely shallow.  Of course, Alan has notice the same, which only resulted in him being the toast of the 2018 Euro victory celebration... 

Sean Zak: Anytime you can re-prove to yourself that you’re one of the best in the world, it’s significant for confidence, alone. I’ve still got it. I’m still this good.

Josh Sens: After the big win at Augusta, when he finally got the best-player-to-never monkey off his back, a lot of us expected a lot more of this from Sergio. So in a way the surprise is that it took him this long to win again. But a big deal, for sure, especially for such an emotional player who has seemed to undermine himself with a kind of Eeyore gloom and self doubt. This has got to be a sweet boost for him. Funny game, right? You never know when the magic is going to strike.

Michael Bamberger: I would say this win for Sergio means to him what Phil’s win at Pebble last year means to him. Nice to know you can still do it, but no real impact on your life.

There's a reason Bamberger bats clean-up.  

I'll just add that Sergio las long topped that list of great ball-strikers that can't putt.  Accordingly, when he seems to find something with his putter, the tendency is to over-interpret and to assume it can be maintained.  Of course the harsh reality is that he's been a poor putter for those 20+ years, and everything regresses to the mean... 

Shack makes a good point (and makes it amusingly) that I'd like to second.  Sergio won the event with this shot from the 18th fairway:

To which Geoff responded thusly:

Two shots down the stretch took putting out of the equation and remind you why fairway shot tracer is as vital to the future of watching PGA Tour golf as having a functional mute button:

Of course this event wasn't broadcast by CBS, therefore the mute button wasn't quite as critical...  But shot tracer everywhere, please.

If the eyes shut thing is new to you, check this piece out.   Was he really closing his eyes at Augusta?  Color me skeptical, but here's the TC gang's reactions:

Garcia turned heads this week by putting with his eyes closed. “I would love to putt with my eyes open,” said Garcia, who added he’s been employing this method for three years, including during his Masters win, “but I feel like my stroke is more consistent when I kind of try to forget about it and just kind of feel it.” (The practice worked in Mississippi, where Garcia picked up 1.79 shots on the field in SG: Putting, which was 28th best in the field.) Should more players — both pros and hackers alike — give eyes-shut putting a whirl?

Dethier: Oh, definitely. This isn’t so different from the Jordan Spieth look-at-the-hole trick that people were trying everywhere during Spieth’s run a few years back. When you’re looking at your ball, it’s easy to add a certain hitch or let fear creep in. Eyes closed? You’re guaranteed to keep it smooth. Even if golfers don’t incorporate it on the course, it’s a great exercise for the putting green just to find the feel of a worry-free stroke. 

Shipnuck: Hey, why not? Whatever works.

Zak: I was personally surprised to see just how poor a putter Sergio has been for most of the 2010s. Do whatever you’ve gotta do, mate. Get that ball in the hole.

Sean, the problem with sharing that bit is that it sort of argues to ignore your opinions.  How could you watch golf without noticing that?  I mean, there's reason Sergio destroyed greens in Saudi Arabia and not tee boxes... 

Sens: You mean, there are people who put with their eyes open? I’ve never been able to bear watching myself.

Bamberger: Does he mean this literally? [Editor’s note: he does!] I don’t recall ever seeing him putt with his eyes actually closed. Maybe cameras, TV and otherwise, don’t pick that up, but I think he means not so focused on the ball, or a line on the ball. But Johnny Miller did at times putt with his eyes closed, so who knows? I think Shivas may have, too.

Shivas?  I'll take your word for it, because I couldn't get fifty pages into that impenetrable morass.

So, before leaving this event, how much do we love Peter Malnati?

Malnati, 33, hadn’t had a top-10 on the PGA Tour since the 2016 Hyundai Tournament of Champions but closed with a 9-under-par 63 that gave him the clubhouse lead until Garcia sank a 2-footer on the final hole.

Malnati, who teed off 1 hour, 40 minutes ahead of the leaders, waited out the rest of the day’s play by having a picnic with his wife, Alicia, and son, Hatcher, who turns 1 in two weeks. Malnati went to the range to warm up for a potential playoff a hole before Garcia won his first PGA Tour title since the 2017 Masters.

He actually said he was going to get in the pool with his son, which seemed unwise.  The images of him with his family were appealing, as are comments like these:

“This is my dream job, and I get to do it every day, and it beats me up and it’s so hard, and the competition out here is so strong, and you fail so much,” Malnati said. “What I did out there today felt like, it just felt awesome.

“I feel like I won the tournament.”

Compare this to Bryson berating a cameraman and worried bout his brand... It is a dream job, though we don't often see the guys act as if they understand that.  

Scotland, Denied -  Tough year for your humble blogger as relates to Scotland.  First, the small matter of that summer trip we cancelled...  That still hurts, but did you catch any of the Scottish Open on Saturday?  Cold and wet, with more than a wee breeze, and watching the guys handle those conditions was good fun. 

But, having taped the first three rounds under my prevailing schedule, Cablevision decided that I had no interest in the final round and failed to tape it.  Anyway, it was apparently good fun:

Tommy Fleetwood pulled some late Sunday drama at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, but ultimately Aaron Rai had the last word. When Fleetwood, the European Ryder Cupper, holed a 20-footer for birdie at the closing hole to catch Rai at 11 under, it meant a playoff
between the two Englishmen.

Fleetwood fell to Rai on the first playoff hole. Even though Rai hit it in a bunker off the tee to give Fleetwood the early advantage, Fleetwood three-putted from just off the green to give Rai the title.

For Rai, it’s a bit of redemption after finishing runner-up at last week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. His win at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, also moves him inside the top five in the Race to Dubai Rankings and into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

You guys know I'm a cheap date when it comes to links golf, and we were denied our full portion size this year.  A couple of interesting aspects to the event, first being the role of TV in the proceedings:

Our Shack, not to be confused with LadyShack, had these thoughts:

I didn’t think much of the assistance because television is part of the competition in so many different ways. Plus, only those devoid of a heart want to see an avoidable lost ball. (Though many commenters expressed delight in pros experiencing what we mere mortals go through.)

 Since the fan-free return, Brooks Koepka predicted lost balls earlier this year and we did see two consequential ones created by Winged Foot’s rough. But this situation was different:

A) This is the most linksy course professional golf has visited since the restart, with lost balls

more easily found due to the variety of grasses and other odd landmarks. (One of Westwood’s lost balls came down near some yellow wildflowers and a tree stump, which the Sky team relayed to the on-course reporter).

B) There was a view that one player, a likable veteran, received assistance because he’s a likable veteran, while another leader did not earn similar treatment. While happenstance is mostly likely the culprit, the inequitable treatment had a fair share demanding that television stay out of the proceedings in the name of fairness.

I don’t believe this is a Rules issue as much as it’s a philosophic question of what role should television play? With betting projected to become a prime revenue source and the fan based connected to the proceedings via capital, these weird little first world dilemmas take on a different edge with outside money on the line. We already know how upset viewers get when they perceive a slight when tallying up shots shown, so imagine if one player is seemingly helped more than another?

This topic may be moot when spectators return and any television assistance will return to its former role as the equivalent of fans identifying where a ball went. But for a while attendance will be light, cameras will still roll and I suspect, there will be a randomness to lost balls identified with the help of television.

It's  certainly not a rules issue, per se.  I'm not actually sure it's an issue at all, though betting will, as Geoff notes, intensify reactions to these random incidents that will happen in a game played dover hundreds of acres of partially manicured land.

The other interesting bit relates to the future of this event.  I suspect that you'll be surprised to hear this about the last four years:

After being played at the same venue for the last four years as part of a cost-saving exercise, the men's and ladies' Scottish Opens could be set to go their separate ways again.

A return to the events being held at different courses going forward was indicated by Martin Gilbert as he sat down with the media at The Renaissance Club today for the last time wearing an Aberdeen Standard Investments hat.

Mainly to save on the cost of infrastructure, the two events were held at the same venue for the first time in 2017 at Dundonald Links, with the arrangement being repeated at Gullane in 2018 then at The Renaissance Club for the past two years.

"We thought it would help economically, but it hasn’t really. It’s not as clear-cut a benefit as we would have thought," admitted Gilbert, who officially retired as chairman of Aberdeen Standard Investments earlier this week and has been saying his farewells at the men's event taking place on the East Lothian coast.

“It was an economic decision that doesn’t really stack up. I think you could separate them. The ladies deserves a separate course.

He doesn't really explain what he means by not working out.  Did the savings not materialize?  

There's a few things undoubtedly going on here, though those venue selections (Gullane excepted) could be part of the issue.  Dundonald and the Renaissance Club are links most Americans have never heard of, so that might be wee issue.   

The problem, of course, is that they just sound so clueless about things, this for instance:

As for future venues for the men's tournament, that has still to be decided, though Gilbert, who is staying involved in golf as a new European Tour board member, is not giving up on his dream of it returning to somewhere like Carnoustie one day.

Under Peter Dawson's reign as the R&A chief executive, the European Tour were told that Open Championship venues were off limits for the Scottish Open, but Gilbert is ready to test the water on that with Martin Slumbers.

"It would be fantastic," he said. "You would love to go to Carnoustie and St Andrews, though I don't know you'd ever get St Andrews. We'd also love to go back to the west coast as well at some stage. It's finding a course of the right calibre."

Carnoustie is the last place they should take a Scottish Open.  First and foremost, the Scottish Open is not the Open Championship, and they'd do well to bear that in mind.  We see these venues sufficiently often, and this event has worked best when they blaze their own trail, and here I'm thinking Castle Stuart, Royal Aberdeen and the aforementioned Gullane.

But, of course, the other issue is that Carnasty is just too difficult .  I'm old enough to remember when this event was played at Loch Lomond, profoundly silly the week prior to the Open.  A links primer is a good hook to get Americans over a week early, but they very much don't want to be beaten up the week before a major.  Given the uncertainties of the weather, it would be counter-productive to make them grind at the Scottish.

At least they seem to get this basic issue:

Asked if the plan was to keep the event on a links course, he added: It's obviously a decision between the Scottish Government, Aberdeen Standard Investments and the European Tour, but I'd say so.

"It's become a success since we moved it to a links course and I saw a video of players being asked about their favourite courses in Scotland and they were all links courses apart from one. I said to myself, 'that just shows'.”

There's just no reason to go to Scotland and play inland...

Looking Forward - the ladies are playing their KPMG/PGA event this week at the worthy Aronomink, and that Tc panel previews it for us:

The third LPGA major of the year, the KPMG Women’s PGA, kicks off this week at Aronomink, outside Philadelphia. What storyline are you most excited to see play out?

Dethier: Nelly Korda is staking her claim as the best golfer in the world. Can she win her first major championship and grab that top spot?

Shipnuck: Yes, how she bounces back from the crushing loss at Dinah will be quite revealing. But look out for Mel Reid! Her win this week sent a jolt through the golf world. Her games sets up well for tough courses and Reid has star quality – all she needs to do is keep winning and golf fans will fall in love with her.

Have we confirmed there will be no blue wall in Philly?  

Zak: It’s still Lydia Ko for me. She has been ascending again, if ever so slowly. It’s fun to watch it play out over months and years instead of a one-week resurgence, a la Sergio. Ko has played well in the toughest events this year, and Aronimink will be no pushover. Would love to see her back in contention at yet another major. Won’t even get started on asking for a victory. The pursuit is too fun to watch.

Sens: Zak beat me to it. How can you not be drawn to Ko? A great fall from the mountaintop, and now clambering back up from the abyss. And doing it all with such class and grace. To my mind, she’s the easiest player to root for in the game. Not just the women’s game. In golf, period.

Class and grace?  I guess firing everyone around her is the class, and this would be the grace.  The bride and I walked with Lydia and her parents at Westchester Country Club in the initial installment of this week's event, and she presented as genuine and appealing (I especially remember her offering bottles of water to the kids on a hot day).  It's not that she doesn't have class and grace, it's just that there's another side that's been painful to watch.

Bamberger: How Sophia Popov plays in another major. How these great young golfers take to an old-timey course. How the PGA of America sets up the course.

Hey, I'm just glad that Sophia gets to play in another major.  I'm old enough to remember when winning a major guaranteed a tee time in the nest one, but Mike Whan has other ideas.

And this on the coming slate of PGA Tour events:

The five remaining events before the Masters will be conducted at an eclectic mix of courses, including two rookie sites: Shriners (TPC Summerlin), CJ Cup (Shadow Creek), Zozo (Sherwood), Bermuda Championship (Port Royal), Houston Open (Memorial Park). Which of those Masters warm-ups are you most intrigued by, and why?

Dethier: Memorial Park. I love a good muni project, and Houston has dived into this one under the watchful eye of Tom Doak, with an assist from Brooks Koepka! I’m excited to see how it plays, first off, and then to see how the community responds to a new gem of a city track.

Shipnuck: Seconded. Though Port Royal is really fun and funky and the views are amazing.

Zak: Personally, I’ve never seen Sherwood! Hoping to understand why many seem to like it. Or if there isn’t much there for the TV viewer who will never play it…

Sens: Count me in for some muni love, though getting another closeup look at Shadow Creek should be good fun as well.

Bamberger: Memorial Park, followed by Memorial Park. My memory of Port Royal is that it is WAY too short to contain a touring professional, so curious to see how that plays out. But as Beck always says when he’s on the British chat shows: Public golf. It’s where it’s at! I got two lob wedges and a microphone. I have no idea what that means or why he says it. But he does and he is often ahead of the curve, both in music and in golf. Sam Snead used to speak of the connection between the two, but that’s another subject for another day.

Beck?  Mike is just a national treasure...

I'm marginally interested in seeing Shadow Creek with normal production values, because it looked dreary during that Tiger-Phil pillow fight.  Of course, Cypress Point would have probably looked dreary as well, given the quality of the golf that day.  

The bigger question is will they ever return to China...  

My New Fave - After Peter Malnati, perhaps, but did you hear this story:

Superstitious pro hilariously wears same outfit on back-to-back days

If you think that's hilarious, wait until you see his lockdown beard:


 Laugh all you want, but it seems that it worked.  This gave rise to some fun in that TC panel:

After a third-round 67 gave Korn Ferry pro Evan Harmeling the lead at the Savannah Golf Championship, he elected to wear the exact same outfit in the final round. (Why mess with a good thing, right?) Harmeling’s sartorial strategizing paid off: On Sunday he beat Kevin Dougherty in a playoff. What’s the wildest golfer superstition you’ve encountered?

Dethier: First of all, big-time props to Harmeling, a Massachusetts man and my contemporary on the New England mini-tours who used to play events like the Greater Bangor Open (he won the 2013 Charlie’s Maine Open) and now may well be headed to the PGA Tour. As for superstitions? My frequent roommate on the Canadian Tour, Brian Hughes, would frequently play entire rounds without watching either of his playing partners make a single swing, saying he wanted to avoid “bad vibes.” He’d look away, wait for the sound of impact and then play his shot. An all-timer.

There are for sure some swings that I don't advise watching...

Shipnuck: I love how Ernie Els discards his golf ball after every birdie, under the theory that every ball has only bird in it.

Zak: Wearing a red shirt during the final day of an event. Every single tournament.

Good thing Patrick isn't doing that any longer...

Sens: “Oh, Billy, Billy, Billy. Oh, Billy, Billy, Billy.” That was pretty weird, but it seemed to work.

Can't we ban gratuitous Caddyshack references?

Bamberger: I caddied for a player who liked to play balls stamped with an 8. Sometimes he couldn’t get them and played with other numbers, but he wasn’t happy about it. This player was one of the smartest people I ever knew. If you want to find out why 8 was meaningful to him, you can ask Tiger’s mother.

 Peter Teravainen, I assume, for whom Mike caddied on the Euro Tour, and which comprised the delightful and unexpected first half of this book.

I'll see you tomorrow.

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