Weekend Wrap

I'm back in the saddle, after three days of trying to keep up with the young punks.  The good news is that I probably don't need my quads for blogging....

Singh For Your Supper - It seemed they were destined to always be the bridesmaids....

Thanks to a “committee” decision, Vijay and Qass Singh were not placed in the final grouping of Sunday’s final round of the PNC Championship, despite finishing earlier than the team they shared second place with.

That team was, of course, Tiger and Charlie Woods.

But the Singhs ended up as the last team standing Sunday. Vijay and 32-year-old son Qass fired a second-straight 59 to edge defending champions John Daly and John Daly II, and Justin and Mike Thomas, by two strokes. They’re the first team in PNC history to shoot two sub-60 rounds in the tournament.

“It’s about time, yeah, so I’m thrilled,” said Qass, who works in the insurance business. “I’m so happy. This is already the best week, so this is just making it just, you know, no words can describe. It’s going to be a memory I’m going to have forever.”

I'm sorry, is that not the team you wanted to discuss?  We'll circle back to that committee decision, but first this little bit of Vijay's winning personality:

“Funny thing is we don’t really know what’s going on there until 18,” the 59-year-old Vijay said. “Whoever is looking should put some scoreboards out there so we have some idea what the hell we are doing out there.”

Entitled much?  I mean, it's the friggin' Father-Son, so maybe chill a bit...

As noted, they were due:

The win is the first in 16 tries for Vijay and Qass, who finished second three times and third three times in the event. Like the Woodses and Dalys this week, the Singhs also dealt with their own injury woes. Vijay was dealing with a sore foot that forced him to wear running shoes this week, as opposed to golf shoes.

OK, but even playing with his son, Vijay remains an awfully tough guy to warm up to.  If he were maybe five years younger, he's be the LIV prototype, no?  Prickly personality, with his best years behind him and rules imbroglios following is around?  Is that not the profile McKinsey designed for LIV?

Team Charlie - I watched a bit of yesterday's action, though crashed before its conclusion.  Watching Charlie develop under his father's guidance is a uniquely interesting thing, and it does cast Tiger in a far more appealing light than usual:

The 2022 PNC Championship didn’t by any means have the stakes of a U.S. Open or Masters,

but as Tiger has told us many times, he doesn't enter tournaments to finish in second place. He was at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club this past week, competing with his 13-year-old son, Charlie, in the two-player team event, to win.

The problem was that neither Woods had their best stuff.

Mind you, despite having played just nine competitive rounds on the PGA Tour this year, the most recent coming five months ago, Tiger’s swing was impressive at times during the two-day exhibition. He drove his ball past Justin Thomas on multiple occasions and flagged a series of long irons to set up birdie opportunities. But even during the good rounds, in 2022, there's no escaping reality for Tiger.

Translated into Tigerese, they didn't have their A-game.   

Silver lining?

And, perhaps most important of all, an opportunity for Charlie to learn his dad's superpower of fighting through.

"It's probably a great learning opportunity for Charlie," Justin Thomas, who finished two back of Team Singh, said. "To be in competition and just being like, 'Hey, I didn't have my best stuff.'"

Yanno, Charlie, it is what it is.... How many times do you think he's heard that?

I took some time to watch their post-round pressers for both days, and it's fun watching Tiger's reactions to Charlie's answers, this being the most notable:

At the same time, Charlie was also impressed at what he saw from his dad.

"I feel like I already knew what he was capable of,” Charlie said, “and then yesterday, that's the best he's ever played in a while, and that kind of shocked me a little bit."

“I used to be good," Tiger responded with a smirk.

Lots of eye-rolling involved, but an appealing side of Tiger.

Shall we see what those Tour Confidentialistas thought?  Yeah, you know that was a rhetorical question, right?

1. Our James Colgan, on site for this week’s PNC Championship, wrote about Tiger Woods’ eventful year despite the 15-time major champ playing just three official events. Woods, along with Rory McIlroy, was the PGA Tour’s most loyal and vocal backer in the year LIV Golf was born. With less and less golf in front of him, how important do you think Woods’ 2022 will be to his legacy?

Josh Berhow: Not as significant as becoming the first Black player to win the Masters, or winning the Tiger Slam, or winning the U.S. Open on a broken leg, but the words Tiger uses

matter, and as he ages, they’ll start to matter a lot more than his play, which will be less significant as those days wind down. A lot of it depends on what happens with LIV Golf. If it doesn’t last, how much credit will guys like Tiger and Rory receive? If it does, will people remember what they said? Rory was one of the first guys to say he wanted to be on the right side of history, and Tiger’s actions and words have proven he agrees with that. It’s too early to tell, but this year is another important chapter in Woods’ career, and for different reasons than what we’ve seen before.

Dylan Dethier: Woods has pointed out that the PGA Tour is where he’s made his legacy. In other words, that legacy would be diminished if the PGA Tour was to be diminished. Woods’ 2022 was defined by his decision to speak out in support of the Tour, and his hand in architecting its future. It was also defined by his appearances at the majors: His improbable appearance at the Masters; his rally to make the cut at the PGA; and his memorable walk up No. 18 at the Old Course when he played the Open. He’s never had a year quite like this one — it will define what comes next.

Sean Zak: 2022 for Woods felt like one of those moments in the movies where the main character decides, “this is the first step in the rest of my life.” It was the first year where he really, truly had to grow comfortable with doing less and making it count more. That stands for him still trying to contend despite fewer opportunities as well as saying more with fewer speaking opportunities. His voice has never been more important to the PGA Tour, and Woods recognized that. He spoke up. If he didn’t, we’d be singing a different tune about the battle with LIV Golf. At the end of his career, 2022 could be nothing more than the start of a new chapter, but this chapter might be the most revealing.

I think that's mostly right, though I'm still troubled by that off-kilter Hero World presser.  Not only did he get his ass fact-checked by the unhinged Phil, but punching down at Greg Norman seemed foolish.  

2. Vijay Singh and his son, Qass, won the PNC Championship, but, as in previous years, Tiger Woods and Charlie Woods stole the show and the headlines. Did this week reveal anything new to you about the Tiger/Charlie dynamic?

I guess that's so they can't be accused of not mentioning the winners?

Berhow: Charlie, whether it’s intended or not, has many of his dad’s mannerisms, including playing through some injuries. It’s fun to watch them together. This tournament was already a fun one-off on the pro golf schedule, but Tiger and Charlie entering it have really elevated it the past three years. There’s also a really fun dynamic there when they play with the Thomases. Was good to see another Tour star get in on the action with Jordan Spieth joining this year as well.

Dethier: This is the first time we’ve heard Charlie talk about Tiger. And while Charlie knows in theory how good his father was in his prime, this week he saw something different — and better. “Yesterday — that’s the best he’s played in a while,” Charlie said after the second round. So to answer the question, I learned that Charlie’s still learning about his dad. That’s cool.

Zak: This week was a reminder of what seems like a real two-way friendship between father and son. Tiger gets so much joy out of competing with Charlie, and Charlie gets so many lessons from perhaps the best golf teacher in the world. Son pushes Dad’s buttons. Dad reminds Son when he’s going too far. We’ve all been there.

This seems the relevant bit, Tiger playing the exact role that Earl played for him:

But he’s softened as a dad even while indulging in the gamesmanship that his father visited upon him: the well-timed jangling of coins, ripping of Velcro, and/or clearing of throat.

“If I can get into his head,” Tiger said of Charlie, “that means someone else can get into his head. It’s going to get to a point where I can’t get into his head, and then no one else can.”

Though no Mike Douglass show appearances for young Charlie....

And this on that controversy:

3. The Thomases led after the first day, with Team Woods and Team Singh tied for second. Yet despite the Singhs finishing their round first on Saturday, it was Tiger and Charlie who were in the final grouping on Sunday with Justin and Mike Thomas. Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard reported: “As one tournament official explained, with a knowing smile, the pairings were adjusted by a ‘committee’ decision.” Any issue with this?

Berhow: Hmm, a slightly odd move, but I’m not offended and I don’t think anyone else should be. Yes, they are playing for some money, but this is a fun, laid-back event. Slightly tweaking the final-round pairings to get Tiger and Charlie and the Thomases together makes sense to appease one person they desperately want to keep coming back (Mr. Woods), and it makes for a better made-for-TV grouping, especially considering how well those four gel together. It’s also worth noting this wasn’t an egregious tee times tweak, with Tiger and Charlie three or four back, for example. They had the same score. Oh well.

Dethier: Nah. I consulted with a committee of my own and determined that if the tournament you’re arguing about is a scramble that includes 13-year-olds, you can basically make up any rules you want.

Zak: LOL, no. And anyone who has an issue can kick rocks. First, this should be the rule, anyway, for pro golf played on TV. And second, this event should be kept as casual as possible. If reworking the pairings in — and this should be noted — the slightest fashion is possible, do it.

Am I the only one in America troubled by this?  Only a little bit, but still...

If you want the Committee to play matchmaker, then just announce ahead of time that you won't be adhering to the typical protocols.  Just a little weird to do in the dark of night, as it were.

But the other thing is that, to this observer, it kind of violates the spirit of the event, bring legends from all different eras together.  I just think they should go out of their way to pair Tiger-Charlie with Lee Trevino or whoever....

I guess what I'm really saying is that I'd have been more favorably disposed to it if they hadn't paired them already in the Saturday round.  

And this tiresome yet inevitable question:

4. The PNC Championship was the last time we’ll see the elder Woods compete in 2022, and we’re not yet sure when we’ll see him next in 2023. He said his goal for this past year was to play in just the Open Championship, but he ended up playing an additional two majors. When do you guess we’ll see Tiger next, and what do you think 2023 has in store for him? (And there’s no chance he can win another major, like Padraig Harrington just predicted, is there?)

Berhow: I’m guessing Tiger decides to be just a host at the Genesis Invitational and doesn’t play, but I bet we see him at the Players Championship the next month. And I think this year was very much a blueprint of what we’ll see from Tiger going forward: the majors if he can, a PNC Championship with Charlie, and maybe a random start here or there. I don’t expect him to win another major — sorry, Paddy! — but if it’s going to happen anywhere, it will be Augusta, and crazier things have happened.

Dethier: Man, I dunno. He’s hitting the crap out of the ball — Justin Thomas was one of the longer hitters on the PGA Tour last year and said Woods is currently longer than he is. Walking just seems like a massive issue right now. Walking 72 holes of stroke play is a taxing endeavor, so Woods contending in 2023 seems like a long shot. But I’ve sworn off swearing off Tiger Woods.

Zak: Woods already looked a lot better this weekend than last weekend. I’d guess he gets daily treatment for his plantar fasciitis throughout January and gives it a go at Riviera for the Genesis. The course is hilly on the 1st and hilly on the 18th. Everywhere in between should be somewhat comfortable for him by then.

The Players?  That's quite the howler....

I don't think there's a chance in hades we see him before Augusta, but if he wanted a Florida appearance I'd be betting on Bay Hill....

LIVeration - Actual news from last week:

One of the top executives of LIV Golf has resigned, according to a report from the New York

Times.

That would be Atul Khosla, chief operating officer of the Saudi-backed circuit. Khosla, 43, left his job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to join LIV in January 2022. Khosla is a sports-business veteran; before his five years with the Buccaneers, he spent six years as COO of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club and five years with Alli Sports, which is a part of NBC Sports Group.

Khosla was seen as one of the voices of reason inside LIV, sources tell Golf Digest. Against criticism that LIV Golf was nothing more than a publicity stunt to improve the reputation of Saudi Arabia—which funds the golf entity through its Public Investment Fund—Khosla insisted the organization’s goals were business related.

So, let me see if I have this right, shilling for the bonecutters makes you the "voice of reason"?   Compared to Greg Norman, sure, but that's an awfully low bar....

He had these further comments about the viability of the enterprise:

“If you look at the investment portfolio of our primary investor, PIF, they have invested all over the world in incredibly large businesses that they believe will be profitable,” Khosla told Golf Digest this summer. “Their view of this is no different. That’s the expectation that we have from our board.

“Like any other startup, do we have upfront costs to get the product off the ground? Yes, we do. And it is no different than a burn rate that an Uber may have or any other startup tech might have to get the product off the ground with a vision of disrupting the space. We are fortunate, of course, to have an institution that has the patience to be able to go through this methodically and in the right fashion.”

Ya think?  Because I hadn't heard that Uber gave Phil $200 million large....

So, what's it all about Alfie?  Here's the take from that TC confab, the last response being the most thought-provoking:

5. LIV Golf’s President and COO, Atul Khosla, resigned from his role as the breakaway league prepares for its first full season. Is this a sign that things aren’t progressing as quickly as LIV’s brass would like, or not much of anything?

Berhow: It’s hard to say. LIV had ambitious goals for Year 1, but given all the hurdles they faced over the past year, I’m not sure it would have ever been easy to create a realistic set of goals in the first place. The first year of anything is hard to predict.

Dethier: Two things are true: No. 1, there’s turbulence in the ranks. This is a bad sign for LIV; Khosla was a legitimizing force on the organization’s business side. And yes, despite their early success, they’re still projecting behind where they’d like to be. But No. 2 is that we should be wary of writing off LIV. As long as a few very powerful decision-makers remain determined for it to succeed, it’s not going to suddenly vanish. It’ll also be interesting to hear more about why he stepped aside — if we ever get the chance.

Zak: Let me lead with a timeline. On Oct. 29th, Atul Khosla walked media members through LIV Golf’s future business plan. On Oct. 30th, I asked him a simple question: “Can you sell this thing?”

“Absolutely,” he said. “[I] had to show the world what it was all about.”

He was awfully confident that weekend, but then left his post in a matter of weeks? To me, that is alarming. I’ll just leave it at that.

I just want to get ahead of the curve and state that Atul Khosla did not commit suicide.

We can't know for sure, there might well have been personal issues.  But, given that I think they're between a rock and a hard place, this is at the least very curious.  We're all wondering about future defections and about that TV contract and, the cynic in me says, were it going well the COO wouldn't have employed his parachute.

One last bit, Eamon Lynch takes his characteristic look at the LIV world and its mouthpiece:

With his carefully curated image of a man swaggering across the global stage disrupting industries, dictating terms and settling scores, Greg Norman exhibits a delusion common among

courtiers who imagine themselves in the vein of those for whom they labor. But far from earning comparison to MBS, or even with Yasir al-Rumayyan, the Crown Prince’s bagman at Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Norman increasingly calls to mind another legendary figure from the region: Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf.

Al-Sahhaf is better remembered as “Comical Ali,” a derisive moniker he acquired while serving as Saddam Hussein’s spokesman during the Iraq War two decades ago. His every utterance defied ample evidence to the contrary, most memorably his insistence that American troops had been slaughtered outside Baghdad, even as U.S. tanks rolled through the very neighborhood in which he stood. The hapless shilling for middle eastern autocrats and a refusal to acknowledge reality seems eerily familiar today, although Norman lacks the levity provided by Al-Sahhaf’s obvious lunacy.

Funny, though we can agree that the LOW degree of difficulty makes it impossible to post a good score.

But the best part is his parsing of Greggy's nonsense:

This week, he gamely presented the fact that Justin Thomas took a meeting with LIV—and didn’t immediately squat on the concept—as evidence of the league’s success, while omitting that the conversation took place some time ago and that Thomas has since been vocally loyal to the PGA Tour. The contortions continued when Norman said that Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy “have no idea what they’re talking about” and accused them of being childish for saying he had to be replaced as CEO, before adding that the door to LIV remains open for them, much as a drowning man’s arms are open to anyone who wishes to toss him a life vest.

Combined with the Khosla resignation, there certainly is the appearance of a bit of flailing amongst the LIVsters, though that Dylan Dethier qualification above should be reinforced.  I can't speculate on how this all looks to the Saudis, but we can have no clue as to how long they might bankroll it.

And here's Eamon's take on that McKinsey report:

The off-boarding of another key executive followed a damaging New York Times report on Dec. 11 that detailed the struggle facing Saudi golf ambitions, based on a 2021 report by the regime’s consultant of choice, McKinsey and Company. McKinsey has long flattered odious clients—the company previously helped identify Saudi dissidents on social media who were later targeted by the government—yet even its dependable toadies couldn’t manufacture a plausible path to success for LIV, at least not as a conventional investment.

McKinsey took pains to note that it wasn’t challenging the laughable assumptions underpinning LIV’s projections. On that basis, the most optimistic scenario—one that required signing every top player, obtaining a broadcast deal, and experiencing no pushback from the PGA Tour—suggested earnings (not profit) of several hundred million dollars annually by 2028. Failing to meet those benchmarks, which is how things stand, would see losses in excess of $350 million a year. That study was completed before LIV had to throw grossly inflated sums at players to sign on.

In the cagey language of consultancy, the report was a throbbing, neon stop sign. McKinsey created a decision matrix that was then ignored, and LIV was launched with no market research to determine whether it was a product craved by anyone other than Norman and the players and agents who would burrow into MBS’s purse. That McKinsey’s assessment was ignored illustrates just how few people in Riyadh needed to be sold a bill of goods for LIV to get this far. Concomitant to that is how few people must lose faith before the plug is pulled.

This makes me wonder whether Eamon has seen the actual McKinsey work product, or is limited to that Pravda account.  I don't actually think it was so much a stop sign as a report that sufficiently vague to allow the Saudis to claim it justified whatever they wanted to do in the first place.

I shall leave you here and we'll visit again soon.