Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Weekend Wrap - 24 Hour Lag Edition

Apologies for the unexplained absence yesterday.  A husbandly obligation arose after posting on Friday, but all is good.  

I actually expected to write an abbreviated post, but Tate seems to feel that the perfect venue for his post-breaky nap is in your humble blogger's lap, and I certainly don't want to be dissuading him on that score.  Although I did just that a moment ago, so he's taken it in stride.

The Jordan Rules - I watched very little of it, but that which I saw seemed quite....well, messy.  Though I did catch this scene, and had much the same reaction:

When Jordan Spieth finished his final round at the RBC Heritage by holing a 10-foot birdie putt to reach 13 under and take the clubhouse lead with a closing 66, he made his way to the scoring shack
and was greeted by a group of about 40 delirious children. As he signed his scorecard, the chants came from outside: "Spieth! Spieth! Spieth" and then "We want Jor-dan!" He wasn't quite ready to sign their hats and flags, but he walked over to the rabid young mob and explained the situation with that measured, sincere tone that has become so familiar—he was sorry, but there was a playoff coming maybe, or maybe he'd lose outright. One way or another, however, he'd be back when it was over.

Witnessing that moment, two questions came to mind: Who else would do that? And who else in golf, give or take a Tiger Woods, would inspire that kind of reaction in the first place?

A moment later, the epiphany: He inspires that kind of reaction because he's the kind of person who would take the time to explain to a group of kids why he couldn't stay.

Well, as the famed African explorer noted, "hello, I must be going..."   

"I never missed a cut at the Masters before," Spieth said, "and very rarely had not had a chance to
win on the weekend. So I hated it. It was the worst feeling. It was the worst feeling as a golfer that I can remember."

And so, he redoubled his efforts, put in hours of practice, and managed—just barely—to cross the line again, the 13th victory on tour for the 28-year-old. Was he lucky to win, or unlucky? On the unlucky side, there was the debacle on nine and the horror story from the 18th hole on Saturday, when for the second time in three weeks, Spieth somehow blew a tap-in in a scene that remains painful to watch.

"I won the tournament without a putter," he said after his round, and later, he reflected on the embarrassing moment.

While you might think that hyperbolic, it's drama queen Jordan, after all, but these numbers are not at all what you might expect:

Jordan Spieth, Elite Ball-striker might take some getting used to...

This as well:

The Tour Confidential gang has thoughts as well:

1. Jordan Spieth is back. Again. Spieth made two eagles, shot a five-under 66 and parred the first hole of a playoff with Patrick Cantlay on Sunday to win the RBC Heritage, his first victory since last Easter, and his 13th PGA Tour win overall. Notably, it also helped him overcome a disastrous 18-inch missed putt a day earlier. Everything taken into account, what’s your assessment of the Spieth win?

Josh Sens: He’s been striking it well for a while now (to the amazement of some of us who can’t figure out how he’s making that awkward-looking pre-shot routine work so well) but was having an off-brand stretch with his putter. His putter came back this week. I think it’s also notable that this win came on the heels of his first missed cut at the Masters. GOLF.com’s own gambling prognosticator, Erick Lindgren, picked Spieth to win this week, saying he expected a prideful bounce back. I don’t discount that as a factor.

For some, Jordan's mouth makes him unwatchable, and for the rest of us it just might be that awkward practice swing that just seems all wrong.  I won't belabor it, but Luke Kerr-Dineen does. 

Dylan Dethier: This certainly wasn’t one of Spieth’s most dominant victories, but the roller coaster nature of the entire experience served to remind us that he’s the game’s most intriguing figure because he can hit shocking golf shots of every variety. The fact that he overcame such a subpar putting performance is a testament to his ball striking and hopefully a sign of more brilliance to come.

Michael Bamberger: He backed into this win. He won with a par. But he won. He’s won more recently than Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau — even Scottie Scheffler. He won! He’ll be on the Presidents Cup team. He’ll contend more before the year’s out. He won on a good course with a good field on CBS. It counts.

Josh Berhow: Backed in? Come on, Michael! I’ll give him credit for two front-nine eagles and a birdie on the 18th that was good for a 66 and, turns out, just enough for a playoff. This is the Jordan Spieth I think we’ll see from now on (and I’m pretty sure I said this after his last win) — a guy who is always grinding, always tinkering, always luring us in, always giving us reasons to believe. Then, just a week later, leaving us scratching our heads. It’s a roller coaster. It’s not for everyone. But when he finds it, it’s a blast to watch. 

Bamberger: Well, good point, Josh — backed in is too strong, but pars don’t win many Tour playoffs.

Well, it's no fun at all if we can't be just a little harsh, so I'm Ok saying he backed in.  He did just enough to overcome that 18-inch miss that was on an endless loop on Golf Channel.

The week might be best remembered for two bizarre rules violations.  We'll let the TC guys deal with the more significant of the two:

4. In one of the more bizarre rules scenarios you’ll see, Harold Varner hit a tee shot near an out-of-bounds area at the RBC Heritage, then asked a fan to check whether a ball was his. Varner confirmed it was — and then things got really interesting. A rules official was called over. Varner said the man moved the ball from inbounds to out of bounds while checking. But the man said he didn’t, Varner said, and the rules official sided with the man. Whew! What’s your read on how the situation was adjudicated?


Sens: If things went down as Varner says they did, that’s a very strange way to go about things. The foundations of the rules are underpinned by the idea that you trust the player. It flies in the face of that principle if Varner’s word was discounted.

Dethier: Yep, Sens is spot on here. It was tough for us to see the entire exchange, but it certainly didn’t feel like a satisfying conclusion to the ruling. Varner wound up missing the playoff by a single shot on Sunday, and I think he has a legitimate gripe, if it went down as he described.

Bamberger: Agree with all Josh Sens says, but here’s something even more basic: DO IT YOURSELF. A central tenet of golf is self-reliance. Fans do look for balls often, but you never hear of a player or a caddie ASKING fans to look for balls. If a fan does find a ball, the player typically steps right in and takes over — it’s the player’s job to identify the ball and proceed from there. In other words, how did it ever get to the situation where it was the “fan’s word” over the “player’s word”? If the fan moved it, was there a way to determine if it went from inbounds to out of bounds? Lacking confirmation, you had to presume the ball was out of bounds. That is the rules official protecting all the other players. Even saying “it’s mine” based on the fan’s description is odd to me. It sounds like yours, but until you put your own eyes on it, in the spot where it lays, you cannot know. The golfer is collecting evidence: Is it my ball, and where is it? It’s not a crime scene, but the player is in charge of it, and the player’s job is to make sure it doesn’t turn into one.

Berhow: Yes, weird that they took the fan’s word over the player’s. But, as Michael said, that’s not an issue if Harold or his caddie goes over there themselves. Sure, there was a lot going on and some odd circumstances, but this one’s also a bit of bad luck.

I feel bad for Varner, but what the hell were he and his caddie thinking?  Trusting a rando without even an admonition to not touch the ball?  This is pretty basic stuff, though the slippers were quite the nice touch.

The killer, of course, is that he finished a shot out of the playoff.  But, really Harold, you have only yourself to blame.

The second involved the winner's former Longhorn teammate:

Step with me into the Obscure Rules Section of the PGA Tour Library and observe the final-round action of one Dylan Frittelli, who hit a tee shot offline and got punished in a wholly unexpected way.

Frittelli began Sunday at the RBC Heritage in a share of 38th place, four under par and seven shots off the lead. As a result, the TV cameras only caught up to him on the sixth hole, after his tee shot had come to rest in a particularly unfortunate spot: In a tree some seven feet off the ground.

That’s right: Frittelli’s wayward drive at the 6th got caught up in some Spanish moss. That’s where it stuck, suspended, as he approached.

Frittelli seemed to enjoy the challenge. He surveyed the lie from all angles, assessed his landing area and pulled out driver. He gripped the driver halfway down the shaft, swung it forward like an axe into a tree and watched, satisfied, as the ball popped out and rolled into the fairway.

Next he did something distinctly professional: From 144 yards in the fairway he stuck a short iron to 10 feet and rolled in the putt.

Nice par, right?!

Not so fast.

Do I even need to post the denouement?

c. Making Stroke While Standing Across or on Line of Play

The player must not make a stroke from a stance with a foot deliberately placed on each side of, or with either foot deliberately touching, the line of play or an extension of that line behind the ball.

For this Rule only, the line of play does not include a reasonable distance on either side.

Exception – There Is No Penalty If Stance Is Taken Accidentally or to Avoid Another Player’s Line of Play.

Frittelli was deemed to have straddled his line and was therefore docked two strokes. What began as an epic par save turned into a brutal double bogey. He went from one over par for the day to three over. He bogeyed the next hole, too, and stalled out the rest of the day, making bogey at No. 13 and par everywhere else to finish T66.

OK, the rules of golf can be an ass, though this is why they always call in rules officials, or at least should, pace of play be damned.  There is good news, in that it was chump change involved:

Did the penalty matter? Not much, if you consider just the two shots. Frittelli’s T56 became T66 and cost him only $1,520.

But here's the maddening and troubling bit:

Frittelli has taken this in good humor, but how do we reconcile this:

“I think the rule was applied correctly, I just think it’s kind of ridiculous that it’s so hard and fast and concrete,” he said. “There was a seasoned rules official standing 15 feet away and it didn’t occur to him, either. The fact that there’s no leeway for an official to apply the rule when there’s no benefit to me playing it that way, when it wasn’t written for this situation, that’s what I don’t love.”

The rules official has one job, and that's to head off penalties.... It just rankles to have the player payer pay the price under such circumstances.

Given that we've just wrapped Jordan's win, let's grab a few Jordan-related bits from the hot-off-the-press Ask Alan:

Is Jordan Spieth the most entertaining golfer of all time or the most maddening? @Kevinp613

I think is why the good lord gave us the ampersand. 

Yes. And that is what makes him so riveting. He is both a golfing genius and a tortured soul. He can make the hard stuff look easy and the easy stuff look impossible. Spieth has both superpowers and intense frailties. Watching him scuffle to fulfill his vast potential is the best show in the game. What a competitor.

He is both those things, for sure.  Oh, not the most entertaining in a forever sense, Seve or Chi Chi would lap him there.  But he does certainly have a flare for the dramatic, and can make you cringe as well.

This is not a bad question:

From this day forward, who has the better career: Jordan or Justin Thomas? @AndrewJFleming

Oooh, tough one. Thomas has more firepower and never loses the plot the way Spieth does. But JT doesn’t have Jordan’s grit—in fairness, nobody this side of Tiger does—and he does not play with the same kind of joy. Perhaps because it has been nearly five years since he won his only major championship, Thomas seems increasingly frustrated/oppressed on the golf course. He appears more fixated on the results than the process. Meanwhile, Spieth manifests joy in the struggles. For that reason, I think Jordan will have a longer, more fruitful career.

I've been down on JT for some time, and I wonder how long Bones will stick around to collect T30 checks.  But, while I'd guess Jordan would finish with better numbers, from now forward I think I'd opt for the guy with that firepower.  Of course, what I'd really like to do is duck the question until after Southern Hills, which might just be one of Jordan's better chances to complete the Career Salami.

And one more:

If Spieth never wins another event, is he still a Hall of Famer? Three majors and a FedEx Cup winner and other wins. I say yes. @Skroutyboy

No question. I mean, have you seen some of the other folks in the Hall? If they put Billy Payne in there but deny Jordan, we will burn that place to the ground and I’m bringing the gasoline and the matches.

Alan's answer is correct, but Billy Payne?  Obviously Payne got elected as a contributor, so the reference point is more than a little odd (and if we're going to oust from that pool, don't we start with Nurse Ratched?).  But the bar was lowered with Woosie, Monty and Fred, so Jordan's been in for some time now.

Tiger Scat - Our two call-and-response sources both have some random musings about the Big Cat, starting with the Golf.com gang:

2. Tiger Woods, whose return at the Masters marked his first play in over 13 months, will play in another event, though it may not be what you had expected. The JP McManus Pro-Am Twitter account tweeted on Thursday that Woods will be playing in the 2022 event, which is scheduled for July 4-5 at Adare Manor Hotel Golf Club, in Limerick, Ireland. It’s also just one week before the Open Championship returns to St. Andrews, Scotland, a short flight away from Limerick. Considering this news, and how Woods looked at Augusta, how do you see Woods’ schedule shaping up this year?

Sens: The majors and one or two more, including the Memorial. I would place the over-under line at five appearances for the rest of the season

Dethier: The PGA Championship (a good fit!), the U.S. Open (not so much), Memorial (he’ll hope they cut the rough), JP McManus’ shindig, the Open Championship, the Hero World Challenge and perhaps 1-2 others, like playoff events or the Zozo, depending on a whole bunch of things.

Bamberger: I don’t know. The McManus event and the Open — and maybe the Presidents Cup, where you don’t have to play very much at all, and your presence means a great deal. That’s about it. (Note: Everything I predict about TIger Woods is wrong. You can count on it, almost.)

Berhow: PGA, U.S. Open, JP McManus Pro-Am, Open Championship, Presidents Cup, Hero. I want to say the Memorial, but gnarly rough and a renovation since Tiger has last played it might make him think twice, not to mention it would make three events in a five-week span if he plays the PGA two weeks before it and the U.S Open two weeks after it. I think he’d be a great addition to the Presidents Cup team; he might not play in many more and he doesn’t have to play a ton of sessions. Here’s hoping he’s healthy enough to put together a handful of starts this year.

OK, a lot to unpack here, but let me first dispense with the obvious.  Playoff events?  Dylan, you ignorant slut!

I don't know how anyone can answer this, given Tiger's rather bizarre view of the world.  Committing to two events in July, including a corporate outing, while taking the fifth on the PGA Championship?  

I am actually mellowing slightly on the McManus thing, because it occurred to me that he'll be in a buggy, so I expect he'll tell us he's doing it for the reps and feelz.  The Prez Cup is something I hadn't considered, though I really don't know why he'd bother, there being so much more downside than the other kind.

Alan Shipnuck had some Tiger stuff as well:

With his headline dominance, Tiger may be stifling the stardom of golf’s current and future talent. Do you agree? #AskAlan @GoranBarnes

Scottie Scheffler hardest hit?   

I don’t know, maybe he’s giving them more room to develop. With Tiger around there’s certainly less of a white-hot spotlight on the game’s best young players. What boggles the mind is that circa 2015-16 it seemed like the Tiger-Phil epoch had finally ended. Woods was plagued by the chip yips and debilitating back problems, and an aging Mickelson hadn’t won in ages. Yet all these years later they still tower over the sport. I thought we would all have to wean ourselves from their cults of personality, but apparently they are still going to be making headlines when Spieth, et al reach the Senior Tour.

I really don't even understand the premise of the question.  What talent has he stifled? 

Despite three-putts galore and shoddy chipping, Tiger still has speed and precision. That said, he was in noticeable pain as the Masters wore on, and it took a Herculean effort just to finish 72 holes. How much lower is his score if he used a cart? #AskAlan @opinionsvary328

That’s like asking what I will serve at the Champions Dinner after I win the Masters — that ain’t happening, and neither is Tiger riding in a cart.

There are more interesting questions buried therein, such as how much harder this specific venue was to walk, and what we should expect when we see him next.

Feel Like Some Saudi Doings? - I saw Harold Varner interviewed after his Saturday 63 that gave him the lead.  He was asked about confidence from success, and he refereed to winning in Saudi Arabia with words to the effect of, "I take great confidence form my win in that place that can't be mentioned".  I at least was amused, because at that time I wished that it had happened anywhere else.

So, there's a place that we can't mention and form that we'll segue to the man we can't mention:

3. Woods, various outlets reported, also has submitted his entry for the 2022 U.S. Open — as has Phil Mickelson. When do you foresee Mickelson making his next start, and how much are we likely to see him in competition this year?

Sens: The question is where: on the PGA Tour or in one of Norman’s LIV Golf events. So much conjecture at this point. Has he been suspended? Not sure how any of us can know Phil’s sked when he himself might not know it. If I had to guess, I’d say a couple of times.

Dethier: He’ll play the PGA Championship, right?! It’s tough to imagine that Mickelson wouldn’t show up to Southern Hills to celebrate the crowning achievement of this stage of his career. With that said, there are extenuating circumstances here, so it’s tough to know anything for sure.

Bamberger: My guess is he’ll play the Open at the Old Course — because how can you not? Other than that, I’m with Josh — he likely doesn’t know himself.

Berhow: It’s hard to imagine him not defending a PGA Championship title. The first one back will obviously be the toughest for him, but after that, I think he can eventually get back to a pretty normal Mickelson-like schedule, if he wants one (and is allowed one). But I’m not ready to bet any real money on where exactly we’ll see him next because there are just so many layers here it’s impossible to predict.

I do think Mikey Bams just laid some inadvertent BS on us, much as I admire the man.  It seems silly to talk about him being in St. Andrews without discussing what happens before then.

I do think you have to start by asking the question, "What does Phil want?"  Does he want to be in St. Andrews?  Does he want to be welcomed back into polite society, or is he still craving leverage?  Over, yanno, legacy.... If he wants this to be behind him, I can's see him passing on the victory lap at Southern Hills... Of course, there's all those zeros on the checks being offered....

I think we see Phil either in May or June.  Of course, the Shipnuck book drops on May 17th and the first round of the PGA is on May 19th, so that could be deliciously awkward.  The other key date is early June, and so it begins:

A career journeyman has become the first PGA Tour member to apply for permission to compete
in a controversial tournament funded by the Saudi Arabian regime in England this summer.

Multiple sources told Golfweek that Robert Garrigus has requested a release from the PGA Tour to play in the LIV Golf Invitational, scheduled for June 9-11 at the Centurion Club in London. PGA Tour members are required to obtain a waiver to compete in events held on other circuits. Such applications must be submitted at least 45 days before the first round of the tournament, which means the deadline for players to request a green light to play for Saudi cash in London is Monday, April 25.

Sources say Garrigus is the only Tour player who has filed for a waiver so far, though others are expected to do so. The Tour must decide on applications 30 days before the event begins, or by Tuesday, May 10.

The plot will thicken very quickly, sop what say you, Jay?  This event will be on opposite the Canadian Open, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a sponsor in deeper than RBC (excepting FedEx).  Obviously Jay would prefer to head off waiver requests, as opposed to denying them, but he can't threaten them all.

Alan Leftovers - We'll close with those bits from Alan's mailbag that haven't been used above:

Has Ted Scott wrapped up Caddie of the Year honors? @CCGabriel1

Don’t sleep on Michael Greller! Caddying for Spieth must be like riding a bucking bronco. If Jordan completes the career Grand Slam next month at Southern Hills, Greller may brood his way to the mythical COY honors.

The two longest suffering caddies on Tour, though Greller gets my nod if only because Scheffler seems an easier gig than Bubba.

Do you think Scottie wins more or less than three majors? @modernml

Here is an incomplete list of players who have won fewer than three majors: Greg Norman, Johnny Miller, Dustin Johnson, Bernhard Langer, Curtis Strange, Ben Crenshaw, Jose Maria Olazabal, Tony Jacklin, Zach Johnson, Fred Couples, Davis Love III, Tom Weiskopf, Tom Kite, Sergio Garcia, Jason Day and Justin Thomas. Clearly, winning three is a monumental achievement. I certainly think Scheffler has the game and the head for it, but life can get in the way. Ask all the dudes in this paragraph.

My basic approach is to see him win his second before we contemplate the third...  

But, please:

Is this the largest crop of contenders for Best Player Never to Have Won a Major? Hovland. Cantlay. Cam Smith. Xander. Sungjae. It was Scottie before this week, unless you count career longevity. Now who is it? @evandawson

You’re missing out on an important part of being BPNTHWAM, which is suffering. You have to lose a major or two even to be considered, and there needs to be a sense of struggle. You can make the case that Tony Finau is a better choice than any of the players you cited. Xander Schauffele has been there a couple of times, but the wins for him are so sporadic the dread title is not his, at least not yet. (And Olympic gold is a quasi-major.) Cam Smith certainly warrants strong consideration. If he spends another year knocking on the door but doesn’t get it done, I’ll be ready to anoint him.

Really, whatever happened to Rickie?  To the best of my knowledge, Hovland doesn't even have a top ten in a major, and apparently Scottie was both the BPNTHWAM and the BPNTHWARTE (regular tour event) simultaneously, so Inm calling BS on the whole bloody thing.

Employee No. 2 asked me this very question recently:

Anthony Kim would be an instant draw for one of the new tours. Realistically, what do you imagine they would have to offer him to come out and play? @HighFades

The cult of AK is remarkably durable. I’m hearing a big-ticket documentary about him is in the works, and not long ago I was interviewed for a multi-part podcast covering his flummoxing career. I agree that if he signed up with the Saudis or PGL it would stimulate a massive amount of interest, at least in the short-term. But AK is now middle-aged at almost 37 and has been out of the game for a decade, having been chased away by injuries and the driver yips. What if he comes back and can’t break 80? All the intrigue would evaporate, and I think AK knows that and it’s part of what has kept him in self-imposed exile. For him to put himself out there would require a check with a lot of commas and zeros.

It also quite clearly fails the laugh test.  It's a pretty strong admission that you can't draw the kind of field you promised, so color me skeptical.  That said, it's Greg Norman, so the usual rules regarding shame obviously don't apply...

The bigger enigma: Rickie Fowler’s downfall from the player who won the Players (2015) and finished top five in every major in 2014, or Matthew Wolff’s struggles—the can’t-miss bomber who was once the top collegiate prospect, even above the likes of Hovland and Morikawa? #AskAlan @opinionsvary328

You could call them enigmas, or maybe both players are proof that succeeding in professional golf is about a lot more than the golf swing. Butch Harmon fired Fowler basically because he felt Rickie didn’t have a burning desire to be a great player. But he’s always had a great life, and now married with a child, maybe that’s enough for Fowler. Wolff has been admirably open about his mental health struggles, and that appears to be an ongoing battle. Going forward he may define victory in very different ways than most players. From the outside looking in it can be vexing that neither player has won at the clip we expected, but I believe both are seeking peace more than trophies.

Or perhaps it's the game of golf that's the bigger enigma...

Seems insignificant, but has Bryson wrecked his career permanently in his seemingly maniacal pursuit of hitting a golf ball farther than any other human being? Can he dial his body back to normalcy and prevent injury and actually work on other parts of his game? @rchinnis

It’s not insignificant, it’s a huge story. This guy destroyed Winged Foot by creating a template for how the game could be played. Now that pursuit has seemingly broken him. This is the stuff of Shakespeare, not the sports page. I don’t think DeChambeau knows how to dial anything back, and doing so would be a kind of concession he is loathe to make. I think he’ll keep going 100 mph and let the chips fall where they may.

Isn't the bigger question why, with so many guys that have bulked up experiencing injuries, do guys continue to add the muscle mass?

 Lastly, I continue to wonder whether his pack with the devil lapsed on the 12th tee as well:

What has happened to Fr. Molinari? @BigAlFishes

Walking off the 11th green on Masters Sunday in 2019, on the precipice of snagging a green jacket, Francesco was the best player in the world, having dominated a Ryder Cup and tamed Carnoustie with Tiger Woods breathing down his neck. Then he was swept away in a tsunami of Tigermania. Three years later, Molinari is still lost at sea. He moved his family to Los Angeles during Covid, and that’s a huge lifestyle change. There have been nagging injuries. But it is stunning how far he has fallen. Frankie turns 40 in November; he still has time to be the player he was. Here’s hoping.

As noted two questions above, we've had no shortage of stunning falls from grace in our game.  The rarity is that it was all tied to one swing.  

OK, I Lied -  One last bit that hits close to home for your humble blogger:

I've struggled with chipping and pitching, having found the hosel on far too many occasions.  While I think I've diagnosed and solved the problem, I remain at all times one bad takeaway from disaster.... 

I believe the Wednesday game will be pushed late enough in the day to allow for Midweek Musings, though those plans have not yet been finalized.  However it resolves, we'll catch up as the schedule allows.

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