Weekend Wrap - Hit & Giggle Edition

 Was that fun, or what?

Where shall we start?  With the winners one assumes.....  Just kidding, you know how much I love that guy in the Santa suit, so let's start with a sentimental take, specifically Dylan Dethier with two moments that captured the emotional zeitgeist:

ORLANDO, Fla. — On Saturday morning at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, the announcer began the most-anticipated first-tee introduction of the entire golf season.

“From Jupiter Island …” he began.

Tiger Woods turned away from the crowd. He was dressed in a peach Nike shirt, black pants and a black hat. His son, Charlie, stood before him, a head shorter but dressed the same: peach Nike shirt, black pants, black hat. “Hey,” Tiger whispered, to catch his attention. He said it again, this time with urgency, and pulled him close.

“Hey! Love you.”

To be fair, that exact scenario happened about twenty times on the first tee, so soul-stirring is perhaps a bit over the top....

But we did notice this one that tugged at out heartstrings a bit:

28 hours and 35 holes later, Team Woods stood in the 18th fairway. They would need eagle to

have any realistic chance at a PNC Championship win, but they’d thrown “realistic” out the window at least an hour before. Charlie and Tiger had reeled off 11 birdies in a row; the 12-year-old was leading the team, relishing in the pressure, and the 46-year-old was stepping up as needed, stuffing wedges and burying clutch putts.

Charlie’s fairway-wood approach chased up toward the green but ran out of steam and fell into the front left bunker. Tiger striped a long-iron, but it just stayed ever so slightly too far to the right and trickled over the back edge. If they were going to win, it would take a chip-in to do so.

Tiger hadn’t walked an entire hole all week. Even on the par-3s, he’d trekked only as far as it took to get from the cart path to the green. He’d lamented the fact that he was unable to walk the course with Charlie, acknowledging that it just wasn’t quite the same to putter down the fairway at low speed. But now, with roughly 2,490 of the 2,500 ticketed fans gathered behind the 18th green, he left his cart with his caddie, called for Charlie to wait up and mustered the energy for one final push, a 200-yard stroll home, step-for-step with his son.

Of course, the job description requires me to remain cynical at all times, so I'll have to note that the emotional walk ended with their one competitive hiccup all day, the failure to get up-and-down from just off the green.   

Want an amusing peak behind the blogging curtain?  In typing that intro paragraph on auto-pilot, my fingers unconsciously followed the name "Dylan" with the name "Thomas".  Was that just Pavlovian call-and-response, or is there a deeper meaning, given that the Welsh poet had some famous words about the ageing process, specifically encouraging us "Do not go gentle into that good night".  That's as good as any framing device for Tiger's week, no?

Do you find yourself wondering what the Tour Confidential panel covered this week?  That's a little inside joke, as we frequently call them out for their myopic Tiger-centrism, though we're inclined to give them a pass this week:

1. Where to begin?! Tiger Woods, playing alongside his 12-year-old son, Charlie, made his first start since his car crash, at the PNC Championship, in Orlando — and the results were spectacular. On Sunday, in the second and final round of the 36-hole scramble, Tiger and Charlie made 11 consecutive birdies to charge up the leaderboard and finish second, at 25-under, two back of John Daly and his son, John II. Your impressions of what you witnessed, please.

Where to begin?  Sounds like every Monday morning of your humble blogger's life.... well, not next Monday, but most.

Zephyr Melton: That was fun! After the accident back in February, it seemed unlikely Tiger would ever play again, so seeing him hitting quality shots with the cameras on was neat to see.

Michael Bamberger: It’s almost super-human. You take the two best golfers at your club and put them in this format. They’re going to shoot maybe 10-under — 25-under is incredible, scramble better-ball and all. It speaks to Charlie’s improvement, and his father’s will.

Nick Piastowski: Thank you, science. We may never completely know what shape the elder Woods was in after his crash, but a limp and a slightly revamped swing some 10 months afterward gives you some hint. And for him to be hitting 300-yard drives and sticking irons to within inches is … I don’t know? Unbelievable. Unreal. Unnatural. Pick your ‘un.’ Also, on the young Charlie front, maybe the more impressive thing than his swing is his coolness around a crowd. I sometimes get swing jitters with three playing partners — and there’s Charlie hitting fairways in front of thousands.

Dylan Dethier: I was standing on the back of the 17th tee when Charlie Woods pulled 5-iron, cut it off the left water and watched it stop some 4 feet from the hole. I found myself laughing out loud. The entire scene was so feel-good, so preposterous, so much better than whatever we could have predicted 10 months ago, three months ago, last week. I won’t soon forget that feeling.

James Colgan: My first (and biggest) impression is that it’s amazing how important we make 72 holes of stroke play sound when one of the best events of the year is a 36-hole, best ball scramble. Maybe that whole week-in, week-out grind would be better served if we occasionally catered to different styles of play.

It's always been the best of the silly-season events, because of the obvious pleasure in seeing the spawn of great golfers.  Now, having actual relevant Tour players involved is kind of a new thing, though the outlier here is more JT than Tiger.  But sure, I watched every minute of it, and no one mistakes me for a Tiger fanboy.

To me, the first issue is about the actual golf, what did we see from Tiger with a club in his hand.  Riffing off early action, Dylan Thomas Dethier asked this question:

How far is Tiger Woods hitting it? That depends on when you ask

Strangely, Dylan begins his piece speaking of endurance and walking, but finally pays off his header:

NBC measured Woods’ tee shot at No. 5 at 171 mph ball speed. For context, that measures up quite respectably; last season, the Tour average was 170.44 mph. For context, Bryson DeChambeau averaged 190.7. Jon Rahm averaged 178.5. Collin Morikawa averaged 168.6. He’s in the neighborhood.

 Which is a whole lot more speed than Tiger primised here:

He has talked obsessively about speed. A few weeks ago in the Bahamas, he said he had no speed. He told Golf Digest that Charlie’s ball speed was higher. On Friday, he reiterated the same:

“I just don’t have the speed, you know. It is what it is. The ball doesn’t fly as far.”

Dan Hicks at one point spoke of him hitting it 310-320....  How much longer than that does he need to be?

For our third example, we have three examples provided by Woods himself, who said he hit three

balls “exactly how I wanted to. My old numbers.” The first came on his second shot at the par-5 third, where his approach went right over the flagstick.

“It was a 220-yard 4-iron which I hit probably eight feet behind the hole,” he said.

The next, which he described as “a good one at 14,” was in fact a sizzled fairway wood that found the front edge of the green on the par-5. The third shot came at the penultimate hole, a par-3 over water that played some 175 yards into a light breeze. Woods mulled 6-iron but then switched to 7, pured it on a perfect line and flew the green, settling on the back fringe. NBC registered that ball speed at 131, well above average for a 7-iron.

“I smoked a 7-iron at 17,” he said. “I didn’t believe I could get it there, but it was one of my old shots, so to be able to turn that thing down and hit that thing and squeeze it out there like that — that was nice, even though it wasn’t pin-high, but just the shot, the feel and the shape is what I was seeing.”

Have you considered the possibility that these guys are bigger sandbaggers than we are?   And apparently I'm not the only one that thinks so:

Now it’s time we admit testimony into the public record, first that of Thomas.

“Man, I was so impressed by the speed that he had and the shots he was hitting,” he said. “At least from my perspective, it looked like a lot of the moves and everything were there.”

What does he know about Tour-level golf?

But that was Friday and Saturday, and there's little doubt that he looked even better on Sunday:

“Way impressed,” said Sunday playing partner Matt Kuchar, who has played his fair share of golf with his fellow 40-pluser. “He’s still flushing it. Still has speed. Irons are spectacular. Tiger Woods of old-like irons. Huntin’ flags, pin high every time. It’s awesome.”

You'll not be surprised that this guy begged to differ:

TIGER WOODS: No, no, no, no.

Q. You don't agree with that?

TIGER WOODS: I totally disagree. I'm not -- I'm not at that level. I can't compete again these guys right now, no. It's going to take a lot of work to get to where I feel like I can compete at these guys and be at a high level.

They're both right.  That Tiger is so close to Tour speed, even if it's not every swing, is quite the thing at this early juncture, which feed the comeback narrative.  There are still issues, for sure, but that speed was quite the shocker to this observer.

So, about those issues:

2. Tiger made it clear that he’s still nowhere near being able to walk 18 holes and did not articulate a timeline for his PGA Tour return. But what did these two rounds tell you about both his physical condition and the state of his game?

Melton: Look, Tiger hit some great shots and looked far further along than many of us thought he’d be at this stage, but trying to dissect the state of his game based on a 36-hole, two-man scramble is a fool’s errand. There’s a wide gap in the quality of golf needed to compete on Tour as opposed to winning a hit-and-giggle. I’m still tempering my expectations.

Bamberger: Right now, Tiger could not talk nine holes, let alone 18 holes a day for four or five days. The shape of his swing is gorgeous, But the speed, the zip, the audacious confidence to

attempt this and that — the things that made him Tiger Woods — are not there. That doesn’t mean they won’t come back.

Piastowski: I can’t say much more than above, that yes, he’s nowhere near the condition to walk an entire round, let alone four, and yes, this was just a swing to get him through an event successfully at this point in time. But as I watched, I couldn’t help but wonder what focusing maybe only on tempo and short game and course management would do for this “new” Tiger. (Tiger 3.0?) That’s not to say that he hasn’t done all that before. But if this were solely his game going forward, where his mind, and not his power, were what he leaned on, what does that look like? It was already a strength. Maybe even his biggest one. What would happen if it got stronger?

Dethier: Closer than I would have guessed. Closer than most reliable witnesses would have guessed, too. Mike Thomas, Justin Thomas, Joe LaCava and Matt Kuchar all said he was closer than they would have guessed, too. But Sunday took a toll on Tiger, no doubt. I was there as he finished his media remarks and watched as he took a deep exhale, because he could finally turn off for a few moments. Being “on” will take training, and it encompasses walking, grinding, practicing, trying.

Colgan: He’s not close, but goodness, I expected him to look much further. The leg (and how it’ll impact his ability to swing a driver) is still a rather significant question mark, sure. But it’s clear the rest of his game hasn’t missed a beat.

He can't walk a golf course yet, so patience will be needed. But 170-mph ball speed gets my attention...

3. From what you saw or heard from Tiger over the past three days, what most surprised you?

Melton: I noted it above, but I think we were all surprised at how far along in his recovery he was. I’m glad to see he can still enjoy the game.

Bamberger: His life changed permanently as a result of a car crash that is essentially inexplicable. Yet he presents himself pretty much as he always has, even as he says he won’t be playing the Tour full time ever again. Well, when did he ever play the Tour on a full-time basis? He took Nicklaus’ limited schedule formula to an even more limited place.

Piastowski: I’m not sure if I’m answering the question correctly here, but I want to get it out, so here goes. (This wouldn’t be a good way to answer during a test, but we’re a friendly bunch here at TC.) Maybe the most memorable part of the three days was Friday after the pro-am, when, on the range, Tiger dropped his bag against a cart, used it as a back pillow and relaxed on the ground as Charlie hit balls. We don’t get many looks at the Woods camp outside of Tour player Tiger, but when we do, they make an impression. And dad watching son hit balls while leaned up against a cart was impressionable.

Dethier: I was surprised that he hit 174 mph ball speed on Sunday, and even more surprised given that number came on a drive he described as “weak and spinny” to his manager, Rob McNamara, as they drove from the 13th tee. That’s above-average speed, even when “average” is his freakish group of peers on the PGA Tour.

Colgan: Agreed on that ball-speed number, Dylan — I thought he’d be somewhere in the 160s. I was also struck by Tiger’s intensity. He was pretty dialed for someone I expected to be pretty sentimental. I know that’s kinda his thing, but he also described this event as a ‘hit-and-giggle’ less than 20 days ago.

Yeah, not much there that we haven't heard elsewhere.  So, what did we think of Tiger's partner?

4. Tiger didn’t do it alone at the PNC — his co-star, Charlie, also dazzled with a steady diet of smashed drives and holed putts. Which part of Charlie’s game most impressed you?

Melton: It’s super impressive to see how well Charlie can perform with the cameras on him for every shot. I can’t imagine trying to pull off some of the shots he executed with a camera in my face.

Bamberger: His sense of fun. His flowing follow-through. His rhythm and athleticism. The ease with which he catches the ball when it is tossed to him.

Piastowski: I mentioned his coolness above, but I’ll toss in the razzing of Justin Thomas. Seems like Charlie can’t stand to lose. Like his pop.

Dethier: His distance control. Those wedges land pin-high. I’m not sure if that was conveyed via lessons, osmosis or DNA, but it’s something he has in common with his dad. Also, he’s got that tunnel vision.

Colgan: His precociousness. He wasn’t scared of the moment, and I’m pretty sure I was scared of the moment for him. He’s just a kid, and who knows what his future in golf holds, but kudos to Charlie (and the folks raising him) for encouraging that spark.

Yeah, pretty cocky kid, but with the chops to deliver on it.  I was most interested in watching him as he struggled a bit on Saturday, but the camera loves him and it's hard to imagine him not being Tour-ready in, say, another couple of years.  Kidding...at least I think I'm kidding.

I did catch this meme in my Twitter feed:

— Alan Shipnuck (@AlanShipnuck) December 17, 2021

I'm pretty sure you guys don't come to this blog for parenting advice, but did anyone get the sense that Charlie wanted to be anywhere else?   By all accounts they played last year because Charlie wanted to, so I'm not getting worked up over the child abuse angle.

Geoff had this on the youngster:

Charlie Woods is incredible. This is a newsletter about majors and I’m still not comfortable with the focus on a 12-year-old’s every move, but when he hits the shot of the day on 17 right before dad flails one out to the right from the very same tee box, this has to be one of the shots of 2021:

— Golf Monthly (@GolfMonthly) December 20, 2021

Geoff also had this nice bit:

The photo above was unimaginable just a few weeks ago. Congrats to all involved and especially to the doctors and nurses who Tiger thanked after the round: “I'm very lucky and very thankful to all of the surgeons and the nurses that have helped me along the line and all my physios. They have pushed me and they have worked on me, and even on my hard, dog days, to get my butt in the gym sometimes, and there are some days I don't want to do it, just to keep pushing me and to keep going.”

The only one missing is Elin.  We saw her last year, though I wonder if that was only due to the absence of spectators.

A couple of moments that caught our eye.  Everyone by now has seen the video of Nellie Korda asking Tiger for a photo, so I'll not take the time to embed that video here.  But what struck me is that in Sunday's final round 23-year old Nelly Korda was paired with 82-year old Lee Trevino.... Just think about that for a while...

Geoff caught a weird one as well.  You no doubt saw the photo of the dinner Friday night:

Nice event, despite Daly coming as Santa....  Everyone pputting on their best face....well not quite everyone.  Did you happen to catch Clan Thomas sitting behind Tiger and Charlie:

WTF!  Did their luggage get lost or something?

Here's Geoff's snark:

The Thomases. Justin Thomas wore his best Henley to the PNC’s annual pro-am dinner. Maybe the household-chores look was meant to distract from that now-robust U.S. Open intermediate cut atop his noggin?

Not to be outdone, dad Mike went rogue with his best long sleeve, four-logo, Footjoy mauve moisture-wicker. Wearing the hat inside was an extra rebellious shot fired at club maitre d’s of the world. Even though it’s never good when John Daly dresses better than you, we’ll give dad the benefit since he’s experiencing severe back pain and was a trooper to even play.

Charlie seems underdressed as well, though he at least has the excuse of, checking notes, being 12-years old.

I'm sure I'll have a few more thoughts as the week goes on, plus we'll catch up on other golf news as well.