Friday, May 28, 2021

Your Friday Frisson

I have a golf outing this morning that looks like it should beat the rain... But it does leave me seriously on the clock... 

He's Baaack - Forget that silly PGA Championship title, Phil is back with more....well, who knows what to call it:

The Match"—the made-for-TV events with Phil Mickelson taking part as one of the headliners each time—will return for a fourth time, Turner Sports announced on Wednesday, with a July 6 match
slated for The Reserve at Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Mont., on TNT.

Mickelson—the 2021 PGA champion and a two-time winner in this format—will pair with Tom Brady, who Phil was teamed with in the second version of The Match at Medalist. They'll face Bryson DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers, who will each make their debut in "Capital One's The Match" series. And once again, Turner says each competitor will be mic'd up throughout the competition, which will be a modified alternate-shot format, Turner says.

It has that "ripped from the headlines" feel, as both DeChambeau and Rodgers have featured prominently in  recent news cycles.  More on that in a sec.

Big Sky is ski country, and the golf course reflects that:

The Reserve at Moonlight Basin, ranked No. 2 on Golf Digest's most recent Best in State rankings in Montana, can be tipped out at 8,000 yards and features a 777-yard 17th hole. The course sits at 7,000 feet above elevation, built on an old ski mountain—so Mickelson and Co. will have the opportunity to hit some bombs.

At that elevation (and 7,500 feet has been cited as well) and playing downhill, that's a 777-yeard Par-5 that's likely reachable for the two pros... Just the speculation as to how far Bryson can launch it at 7,000 feet will draw some eyeballs...

 The trash talk is well under way:

That's actually a clever quip in reference to that strange field goal Green Bay kicked in their conference championship game, though that decision was most certainly not Rodgers'.

We know that suits in Ponte Vedra Beach are all over the synergy, and we have some fine examples today in connection with the Brooks-Bryson imbroglio.  That original video, by the way, has been taken down, notwithstanding the fact that enough folks had already seen it to achieve herd immunity.  Shack had this on the glorious spat:

Glorious!

Except in the State-guided media world.

As I noted in an earlier post, NBC/Golf Channel is “investigating” the origins of the video. And while the episode is a little embarrassing in various ways for Koepka and the network’s leadership, it amounts to a very small deal in the grand scheme and hopefully will not lead to a low paid, overworked employee losing their job.

Given the incredible number of times the clip was watched before getting taken down—as many saw it as tuned in for the final round of the PGA—you’d think media operations constantly searching for “engagement” and “impressions” with a young, hip, male audience would be reporting the above fun that does possibly have ramifications for the Ryder Cup.

The efforts to run from such good fodder suggest this is a grave matter at the Global Home and their internal “listening” reports are being drawn up to analyze the reactions. (GolfChannel.com and PGATour.com have touched no part of the social fodder while GolfDigest.com has buried an item on it where stories go to die, also known as The Loop…yes it still exists.)

So I guess the attempts at make this gaffe go away tells us not to expect an update on the Player Impact Program ramifications. Darn.

Give it up, Geoff.  In order to work for the Tour, one is required to have one's sense of humor surgically removed.

But Brady seems very much on his game:


Whereas Bryson's response has a forced feel to it:


Can't we all just get along?

Andy Nesbitt is a bit ga-ga for that meme:

Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau have been in a goofy golf feud for quite some time. The two obviously aren’t big fans of each other and haven’t been all that concerned about hiding that fact.


It’s an incredible video. Maybe the best golf video ever. I watched it like 40 times last night and I look forward to watching it more today.

Bad news, Andy, as one of the Five Families, omertà is maintained by any means necessary.  So, that video sleeps with the fishes...

The best part is in the end when Koepka tells Lewis he wouldn’t care at all if the video made it on TV. That’s how much he loathes DeChambeau. He’s not afraid to hide it at all.

And you know what? This feud and that hatred is so great for golf.

Koepka and DeChambeau or two of the best golfers in the world and a personal rivalry like this can only make things more interesting when they find themselves battling down the stretch of a tournament, which could happen any week the two are in the field.

The PGA Tour can be a very vanilla place where lots of guys are happy for a top 20 finish and the six- to seven-figure payout that comes with that. There are lots of smiles, waves to the crowd after a nice shot or a big putt, and aw shucks reactions to big moments.

What the Tour lacks is any real disdain felt between some players that leads to some epic Sunday showdowns and cause casual fans to sit down and tune in.

Until now.

 Well, we used to have Tiger v. Phil, though they've decided to go all BFF on us.  But we'll always have Tiger v. Sergio to fall back on... Notice a trend?

I’ve said before that the PGA Tour should do everything in its power to have these two great golfers paired up together in a tournament and I feel even more passionate about that right now. I mean, imagine if the USGA did that for the first two rounds of the upcoming U.S. Open? It would be ratings gold. Then imagine if they’re in the final group on Sunday battling for the win? My. Goodness.

In the interest of Five Family relations I'm pretty sure that Mike Davis wouldn't do that to his goof buddy Jay Monahan... although he is a lame duck.

Of course, this is the real elephant in the corner:

These two guys are also likely going to be key figures on the U.S. Ryder Cup team this year, which will make for a very interesting team room. There’s no way captain Steve Stricker would pair them together on that stage, but imagine if he did!? Again, there’s NO chance of that happening at all but just allow me to dream a little bit on this Tuesday morning.

Allow me to dream!

You were right the first time, there is no chance of that happening.  But Brooks is running up the score of guys that don't want to play with him, DJ being the first, so Stricker's hand seems dealt be fate.  It just so happens there's this other guy with whom no one wants to be paired, so remember that you heard it here first, I'm guessing we'll see a Brooks Koepka-Patrick Reed pairing at Whistling Straits.

And as Sean Zak informs, nothing is new under the sun:

Brooks? Bryson? United States Ryder Cup drama goes back nearly 100 years

But the truth is, drama has followed the Ryder Cup everywhere. Organize the best players in the world into a system they’re not used to and ask them to play for no money, but with implied significance that affects their legacy? Emotions are guaranteed to run hot.
Sarazen and Hagen.

For every modern tale like Patrick Reed slamming Jim Furyk’s decisions in Paris in 2018, there’s a moment in history where a legendary golfer did something just as brash. Actually, even more brash. Take, for instance, the plight of Gene Sarazen.

Sarazen will forever be one of the greatest golfers to ever live, and he knew it. In the spring of 1938, after he had amassed his seven major championships and won the career Grand Slam, he was 36 years old and thinking about everything he had earned within the game. He was short on one goal in particular: a Ryder Cup captaincy.

The Ryder Cup was still in its infancy at the time — it had only been played six times — and Walter Hagen had captained the American team every single time. Great Britain and Ireland had won four of those occasions, and the most recent two Cups. Sarazen, with his 7-2-3 career record in the matches, wanted his time in the lead spot, but he wouldn’t get it.

So he did what players have done since time immemorial, he threw a hissy fit and quit.

Good times.

A Market Glut - Hey kids, exciting news today about yet another way to Live Under Par™:

The Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide and OhioHealth partner to offer COVID-19 vaccinations

Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccines will be available to patrons attending the 2021 Memorial Tournament on June 4, 5 and 6

Dublin, Ohio – The Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, in partnership with OhioHealth, announced today they will host on-site COVID-19 vaccination opportunities for patrons attending the 46th playing of the Memorial.

The Memorial Tournament’s on-site vaccination location will be conveniently located near the Tournament’s main entrance, adjacent to the Information Tent on the west side of the Practice Area. The vaccination station will be staffed by OhioHealth and offer Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccines to Memorial patrons from Friday, June 4 to Sunday, June 6, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“The Memorial is excited to welcome back fans to this year’s Tournament and happy to partner with OhioHealth to offer those individuals the opportunity to get vaccinated,” said Memorial Tournament Executive Director Dan Sullivan. “This is a perfect way to enjoy the world’s best golfers, and all that the Memorial Tournament has to offer, while also helping more Ohioans get vaccinated.”

 That didn't take long... What's second prize, two vaccines?

The NCAA's, Women First - The NCAA Golf Championships have successfully usurped the Men's and Women's Amateurs as the premiere amateur event, at least in the opinion of your humble blogger.  It's perhaps not a fair fight, because it's the team aspect that rules:

After leading Ole Miss to a dominant victory at the NCAA Championship – the first women’s
title in school history – head coach Kory Henkes said, “If you get the right people on your team anything can happen.”

When you look at the Rebel roster, Kennedy Swann stands out.

The Austin, Texas, native with the big smile and even bigger game has been the emotional leader and a sparkplug for Ole Miss, but this weekend at Grayhawk Golf Club almost never happened for two reasons. The first? Swann, a Clemson transfer two years ago, was unsure about returning for a fifth year after COVID-19 wiped out the 2019-2020 season. The second?

“To be honest, at first I told her no,” Henkes said of the initial call about a transfer. “I just didn’t know if it was the right fit for where we were going with our program at the time. After talking to her I said, ‘alright, I’ll give you a second chance, but if you mess up, you’re done.’ It was strict for the first year, and she didn’t blow it. She took advantage of every opportunity.”

It's the team match play format that makes this so compelling.  Really a great event, and the men follow this week also at Grayhawk.  

Just a bit of a shame that it now comes directly on the heels of the PGA Championship.  Having watched far too much golf over the weekend, it took some endurance to dive into this.   But that endurance was amply rewarded.

Colonial Daze - Not much interest in this event, but a good early leaderboard:

Jordan Spieth and Sergio Garcia lead

Jordan Spieth and Sergio Garcia both fired bogey-free rounds of seven-under 63 on Thursday to lead the field by two shots. Spieth is seeking his 13th career Tour victory, while Garcia is seeking his 12th. Both players are experiencing a bit of a career resurgence over the past several months, with Garcia claiming the Sanderson Farms Championship in October — his first PGA Tour victory since his 2017 Masters win — and Spieth winning the Valero Texas Open in April, which was his first victory since the 2017 Travelers Championship.

Colonial is also where Garcia won his very first PGA Tour event, 20 years ago (!), in 2001.

 I'm still a bit unclear as to why this guy even showed:

What about Phil?

Despite becoming the oldest player ever to win a major championship (the sixth of his career) at the PGA over the weekend, Mickelson honored his commitment to play in this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge. His performance wasn’t quite as dazzling at what was on display at Kiawah’s Ocean course, though, as he signed for a round of three-over 73 — 10 shots off the pace and currently T87. While Mickelson didn’t suffer any disasters during the first round, he did make five bogeys and only two birdies on the day.

Even so, he does make a good point:

And we'll be hearing about that from him incessantly, but who could blame him?

I do, alas, have to run.  Enjoy your holiday weekend, no matter how cold and wet it might be. 

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