Your Friday Frisson - ANWA Edition

My brother scored us some opening day tickets yesterday, so your humble blogger is still on a baseball high....Anyone remember those late 1950's Braves?  They had two top flight starting pitchers, so came up with the "Spahn and Sain and two days of rain" ditty....  For this Yankee team I'm going with "Nestor and Cole, then crawl into a hole".  

Some golf?

A Rose In Bloom - She's been in this position before without finishing it, but it just seems she's quite a bit better than the other girls:

Rose Zhang has a knack for making golf look incredibly easy, and the Stanford star is up to her usual antics once again this week.

Over the first two rounds of the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the 19-year-old phenom has made just one bogey at Champions Retreat — host course for the opening two rounds of the 54-hole event — and will enter Saturday’s final round at Augusta National Golf Club with a five shot lead at 13 under.

The world’s top-ranked amateur shot the low round of the day on Thursday, a blistering 7-under 65 to follow her 6-under 66 in Wednesday’s opening round. Zhang set the 18-hole tournament record for low score in the first round then beat her own mark in the second.

An equipment representative said it best: “There’s a lot of really good players here, but there’s one great one.”

My favorite fun fact about the young lady is that she's won both a Women's Amateur and a Junior Amateur, but she won the big girl event before the junior.... Not sure that's happened before.

 She seems to understand that there remains work to do:

After winning the U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Women’s Amateur and NCAA individual national championship, the ANWA is the final event left for Zhang to conquer in her accolade-laden amateur career.

“The job’s not done yet,” said the always humble Zhang. “We still have to go out there and play a good round.”

I have incredibly mixed feelings about this event as longtime readers will know.  While the support of ANGC for women's amateur golf is welcome, they destroyed the best women's professional event in the process.  They're inherent stubbornness is on a display as well, keeping them at another venue for the first two rounds and limiting how many girls can play on Saturday.  In an amazing concession this year, they've generously agreed to allow the low thirty and ties to play on Saturday, as if it matters how many groups they have. In prior years, those T30s would have had to play off.... sheesh, why do you guys hate women so?

With Rose in full flight, the drama was around that cut line:

Below her, though, were some recognizable names in women’s golf who were clawing just to be

able to play the final round at Augusta National Golf Club on Saturday. The cut for that honor comes at the top 30 and ties, and top players such as reigning U.S. Women's Amateur champ Jensen Castle, No. 12-ranked Amari Avery, 2021 runner-up Emilia Migliaccio, and Stanford’s Megha Ganne entered their last nine holes under enormous pressure and in complete grind mode.

The trio of players who also made it on the number were Kentucky’s Castle, who overcame two double bogeys and birdied the 18th hole in a round of 76; Auburn’s Megan Schofill, who scored 71 and will play on Saturday for the first time in three tries; and English 19-year-old Lottie Woad, whose six birdies in the round included one at 18.

Migliaccio, 23, was feeling her own pressure. The fifth-year player at Wake Forest nearly won the tournament two years ago, losing in a playoff, and then last year missed the cut. She desperately wanted to compete on Saturday again, and she rallied from suffering a double bogey on the third hole (her 12th of the day) by stringing together three straight birdies to close a round of 74 that put her tied for 21st place at one over.

Greg Norman might to be taking notes, golfers fighting for their lives is compelling theater....  Of course, Jay, Rory and Tiger should be taking notes as well.

This was, shall we say, unfortunate:

As Anna Davis stood near the scoring area at Champions Retreat on Thursday afternoon, her demeanor was one of quiet resignation. Minutes earlier, she had signed for a second-round score

of even-par 72 at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, and with a four-over total 148, the reigning ANWA champion would not be among the top 31 scorers to make the cut and advance to Saturday’s final round at Augusta National Golf Club.

Davis, 17, missed the cut by two strokes—a margin made more painful because she suffered four strokes worth of penalties in her opening round of 76 after she mistakenly played preferred lies for two shots from the rough on the opening hole. The committee issued a rules sheet before the tournament that stated that players could only lift, clean and replace their ball in grass the length of the fairway or shorter.

DJ, call your office!  I'm going to spend way too much time on this, just because Anna's caddie does, first with this:

He also contended that there should have been lift, clean and place through the green because of numerous mud balls that Davis incurred after the course received five inches of rain earlier in the week.

OK, that's what's known as an opinion, though those offered after the fact are of dubious value.  I certainly didn't see any issues in watching some of both day's broadcasts, but they did get a lot of rain...

And he does take a little of the heat:

Bisharat has taken the setback hard. “It’s going to be a long flight home,” he said. He is accepting responsibility for the gaffes, because he feels it was his responsibility to know what the specific rules situation was. Bisharat said he did look at the competition committee’s memorandum regarding the Model Local Rule that was distributed in the locker room and caddies’ room. But he said his eyes went to bullet points about lift, clean and place, and not to the paragraph that designated only the grass cut at “fairway height or less” was designated for preferred lies.

“I read that sheet of paper three times, and it’s really embarrassing to say, I’m a college graduate and I skipped over that part every time,” he said. “In my defense, in junior golf, amateur golf, pro golf, we have read thousands of those sheets. It didn’t look any different than any other one.”

Well, we've seen what goes in in colleges these days, so as long as you got everyone's pronouns correct.... But we can all agree he should have left it there:

Bisharat said he also was disappointed by the way the Model Local Rule was communicated. He said in many other events there is an official on the first tee to offer rules clarifications.

“On the first tee yesterday, there were zero words spoken about lift, clean and place,” Bisharat said. “That was the first time in a golf tournament that I’ve seen that. Not one word spoken about it, but it was on a piece of paper.”

Bisharat is likely to be fuming over the incident for some time.

Manifest failures and yet, miraculously, no other competitor had any issues....

Augusta Stuff - Some history lessons, including this about the founding:

Bobby Jones vs. the world: The untold story of how the Masters became the Masters

It's all a happy accident, though the writer is focused on one interesting aspect, the framing of the sporting press.  But lots of background color as well:

Eleven years from your reading of this, the Masters will celebrate its 100th birthday (if not its 100th playing). However, in 1934, the tournament was no shoo-in to reach its current exalted status, let alone be considered the fourth major championship of golf’s modern era. For starters, the U.S. economy was just starting to creep back from rock bottom during the Great Depression, but it still had a long way to go. Spectators did not turn out by the tens of thousands. An eight-day pass (including four days of practice rounds and other events, such as a long drive contest) went for $5.50 — that kind of dough could buy a lot of food at a time when people were so busted and spirits were so broken that some citizens cheered on the criminal and occasionally violent antics of Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow and John Dillinger, all three of whom literally bit the bullet the same year.

Augusta, Ga., had a population of about 60,000 in 1934, and not too many folks were going to travel from Atlanta and pay to see the likes of Paul Runyan and Horton Smith, even if they were very fine golfers. Walter Hagen was a draw, of course, and he was there at age 41. Not so Gene Sarazen, who would have added juice to the star power of the invitee list, nor reigning U.S. Open champ Johnny Goodman. The week of the Masters, Sarazen departed for a global exhibition tour. Goodman, who today remains the last amateur to win the U.S. Open, stayed home in Nebraska, likely because he didn’t care to make the trip to Augusta or couldn’t afford it. Instead, as the opening round was being played in Georgia, Goodman shot 70 in a spring outing of members at the Field Club of Omaha.

Only two sportsmen in the U.S. at the time could have inspired more than a few hundred people to turn out at Augusta National. One was Babe Ruth, who, at that moment, was playing Grapefruit League ball, preparing for his final season as a Yankee.

At 10:35, the other megastar of the era’s sporting scene would step onto Augusta’s first tee and into the arena for the first time in four years. He was the winner of the Grand Slam in 1930 and nine other major titles dating back to 1923, a quarter-finalist in the U.S. Amateur at age 14 in 1916. He retired from competition at age 28, with no realm left to conquer.

Here's the flavor of that hype:

Associated Pressman Dillon Graham set the tale of the tape: “Jones is playing several rounds a week on courses around Atlanta in preparation for his comeback. Occasionally, he comes here [Augusta] for a few days’ practice. Judging from his scores, his game is as good as ever. He’ll be a little heavier than his usual tournament weight, tipping the scales around 185.”

It was Rice, however, who played the hypemaster as Thursday drew near. Under the headline: “’Let’s Get Bobby!’ Professionals’ Cry on Eve of the Emperor’s Return to Battle,” Rice wrote: “Here is the one unique situation in competitive sport. Surrounded by old and young rivals who love him and admire him, the slogan still is ‘Let’s get Bobby.’ They are all after his scalp. And there isn’t one of them who won’t admit it is the hardest scalp to lift that sport has ever known.

“It is the most remarkable situation I have ever seen. There are more than 60 of the greatest golf players in the world, professionals and amateurs, and the one idea of this field is to beat Jones. Sport has never seen anything like this.”

Not content to paint Jones against the backdrop of golf, Rice positioned the “comeback” as something unprecedented in all sports.

Crazy, given Jones' mixed feelings on the subject and certain knowledge that his game wasn't of that standard any longer.... But the photos are pretty great:

That's the 12th green, though played as the third in that first year, though I'm reluctant to call it The Masters just yet.

Bob Harig has a ten-year anniversary for us.  Remember this?

Harig gets this right:

A shocking sequence

Virtually the entire golf world missed what occurred on the 15th hole on April 12, 2013. Ten years later, the entire episode elicits all manner of opinion. The shot Woods hit that bounded off the flagstick was replayed dozens of times. So was the next one that he hit close to the hole. In real time—and in the hours afterward—nobody caught what had occurred: Woods had taken an improper drop in the fairway.

The CBS broadcasters never mentioned it. Nor did Golf Channel in its postround wrap-up show. Media on-site who interviewed Woods never noticed. And when Woods was interviewed by ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi in the moments after signing his scorecard, he casually said, “I played it two yards back’’ from where he hit his original shot, which did not trigger any alarm bells. Woods used the same terminology in his postround description of the shot with the media.

Then:

Nobody knew what had played out behind the scenes as Woods took roughly an hour to finish his second round. A TV viewer—something that was common at the time—noticed the drop and wondered whether it was legal. So he alerted Augusta National officials that something might be amiss.

The viewer, however, was not just some random guy on a couch. The PGA Tour and the major championships might have taken dozens of such calls on any given week. But this happened to be David Eger, a longtime and respected rules official who had worked in an official capacity for both the United States Golf Association and the PGA Tour.

Curiously, this is how Harig describes Fred Ridley's role:

“I said, ‘Fred, David called me and you need to look at Tiger’s drop.’ So Fred was aware of it,” Bradley says. “To him, it was like splitting hairs. They didn’t question him. At the time I got the call, Tiger was still on the course.

“To be fair, the committee should have penalized Tiger. And Fred’s a rules expert. But he thought it was splitting hairs."

It’s quite possible that Ridley and the rules officials he conferred with believed that it was a technicality. “As near as possible’’ is a bit of a nebulous term. What if Woods had dropped a foot closer? Two feet closer? They made a judgment in the moment and didn’t believe it was a penalty. (The rule now states that you drop within a club length, not “near as possible.”)

Ironic, no, that the man charged with saving our game, was at the center of this rules issue....  Here's the thing though, the first rule of rules officiating is that you always speak to the player.....

Alan Shipnuck reacted to Harig's piece by linking to his own deep dive for the same publication, which covered the more personal issue involved:

Eger knew that Mickey Bradley, a PGA Tour rules official, was working the Masters. He sent him a text about what he had spotted. Bradley had already left the course, so he forwarded the text to Mark Russell, the Tour's vice president for rules and competition and a fellow member of the Masters rules committee. Bradley then called Ridley. "He thanked me for bringing it to his attention," Bradley says of Ridley. "He was very professional." The clock was ticking—Woods was going to complete his round in about 20 minutes—so Russell also texted Ridley. "Fred definitely knew that this had originated with David Eger," says Russell.

And there's the rub, because Ridley and Eger have some history. "We've had a few disagreements through the years," Eger admits. He played for the 1989 U.S. Walker Cup team, which was captained by Ridley. In an opening-day foursomes match Eger recalls conceding a 10-inch putt, earning an admonishment from his captain that he found insulting. Eger competed at the U.S. Open nine years later, and during a backup in play he practiced his putting on the vacant 7th green. Though it is allowed at the Open, Ridley, who was then the USGA's treasurer and working the event as a rules official, approached Eger and suggested he was committing a violation. Eger told him to check with another official and continued putting. Ridley returned to acknowledge his mistake, but the hard feelings endure. Eger recounted these episodes in a first-person piece in the October 2013 Golf Digest and concluded with the kind of public put-down that is rare in the chummy world of golf administration: "In my view, Ridley's knowledge of the Rules of Golf was, and is, suspect."

Can't we all just get along?  I'd always heard that Ridley considered Eger a yenta, and that made him predisposed to ignore the implications of the situation.   Although Alan's use of the m-word here seems curious:

Nevertheless, Ridley was mobilized by Eger's text. He went to tournament headquarters to review footage of Woods's drop. For all their specificity, the Rules of Golf allow for judgment calls; case in point is the phrase "as nearly as possible" in 26-1a. But because Woods had left a sizable divot, it was easy to be precise. "Clearly, two yards is not as nearly as possible," says Russell. The Masters rules committee is populated by experts, but Ridley asked none of them to review the drop with him. He alone would be Woods's judge and jury.

But it was those comments to Tom Rinaldi that sealed the deal:

It wasn't difficult for Woods to identify the spot of the original shot; the divot hole was easily seen on the pristine fairway, and LaCava was standing nearby. Instead, Woods backed up two paces while keeping an imaginary line between the divot and the flag. Later, he spelled out his thinking for Rinaldi. His 33-word explanation would prove fateful: "So I went back to where I was and actually took two yards farther back and tried to hit my shot another two yards off of what I felt like I hit it."

Here Woods was a victim of his hubris; he could have hit 100 balls from the previous spot, and it's highly unlikely he would have nicked the flagstick again. But in his mind he needed those extra two yards to prevent lightning from striking twice.

It was exactly hubris, telling us how smart he was but leaving Ridley, who hadn't heard those words until later, in quite the pickle...

Fred doesn't come off very good, does he?

As Ridley stared at his TV screen, reviewing the drop, the moment of truth arrived for him, for Woods and for a tournament they both venerate. Ridley may have had a history of being a consensus builder, but Augusta National has long clung to an autocratic style. Did Ridley choose not to see a violation because he knew the tip had come from Eger? Was he hesitant to create more bad headlines while the tournament was being pilloried for the Guan penalty? Did Ridley think his chances of succeeding Payne as chairman—he'd long been considered the heir apparent—would be jeopardized if he DQ'd Tiger Woods from the Masters? All we can do is wonder, because Ridley has retreated behind Augusta National's traditional wall of silence: Through the club he declined to be interviewed for this story.

Ridley's initial mistake in not spotting the violation was compounded by an even bigger one: Although consulting with a player is standard procedure in such a situation, he chose not to talk with Woods before he signed his scorecard. "I fully expected to see a half-dozen guys in green jackets intercept Tiger as he walked off the [18th] green," says Eger. No one materialized.

Given Ridley's malfeasance, the decision not to DQ Tiger was, I continue to believe, the right one. It's just that, given Ridley's importance on issues of the ball and LIV, this walk down memory lane doesn't inspire much confidence.

This was an odd note as well from Alan's piece:

About Augusta National's flagsticks: Though a club spokesman says otherwise, one caddie suggests there was something different about them in 2013. "All the players and caddies were talking about it," says the veteran caddie, who requested anonymity. "They were like twice as thick as usual. I had a feeling someone was going to get a bad break and have a ball bounce hard off the flag."

Exit Strategy -  I got to the keyboard late and am already behind schedule, so I'll just leave you this bit of amusement for the weekend:

NEW: if a LIV player wants to break their contract, the penalty is 2x-4x their signing bonus, per @AlexMiceli.

If Brooks Koepka received $100m as reported, that could mean up to a $400 million penalty if he wanted to leave.

Article: https://t.co/dTLWNinWqR pic.twitter.com/56NxKf28FN

— John Nucci (@JNucci23) March 28, 2023

Great.  Now do Phil's.....

Seriously, couldn't happen to a nicer group of fellows.

I guess I'll throw this in on a similar subject:

Conceding that he tended to be more of a lone wolf keeping to his team at tournaments,

DeChambeau said, “I was always kind of a guy who did it myself so I didn’t have too much contact with too many players but we’re cordial. I’ve talked with Jordan (Spieth) numerous times at Dallas National, anybody that’s out there, Will (Zalatoris) I’ve had a couple of conversations with but no problems.”

Asked if anybody had cut him off, DeChambeau answered, “Yeah, definitely, I’m sure you can guess who.”

DeChambeau chuckled.

When asked if he was referring to Woods, DeChambeau said, “Yeah, I’m not going to throw anyone under the bus. He’s been a great friend. I texted him on his birthday. It is what it is. He has his viewpoints on it and thinks we’re potentially hurting his record. If anything, nobody is ever going to touch his record. That’s just it, that’s the bottom line. There’s a chance to grow the game even more and I hope one day he’ll see the vision that we all have out here.”

Based upon the ratings, it seems no one has seen the vision you have out there....

One last bit I've forgotten to use from Dylan Dethier's Monday Finish column:

In a Q&A in the Hollywood Reporter, Ben Affleck explained that he’d first met Michael Jordan — an important figure in his new movie, Air, which centers Jordan, Nike and a sneaker-business revolution — at his golf course. (We’re assuming that meant Grove XXIII.) Did Affleck play?

“I waited for him to finish playing. I don’t golf myself. Because I just feel like it eats people’s lives up,” he said. “I look at golf like meth. They have better teeth, but it doesn’t seem like people ever come out of that. Once they start golfing, you just don’t ever see them again. So anyway, I waited.”

Nailed it.

See you guys on Monday. 

Midweek Musings - Lull Before The Storm Edition

A week out and one can only hope the recording devices have been installed for that Tuesday night dinner....

An Awkward Masters - I've been reliably informed that it's just business.... Yeah, I didn't buy it either.   Josh Sens sets the table:

Hello, friends, and welcome to the first Masters since the outbreak of golf’s civil war.

No, Jim Nantz isn’t going to say that. But he might think it. A lot of people probably will.

How could the thought not cross a golf fan’s mind in advance of the game’s most prestigious invitational?

As they have each spring, since 1934 — aside from a pause during World War II and an autumn one-off during the pandemic — the greatest players on the planet will soon gather at Augusta National Golf Club to compete for a green jacket and a place in history.

Same as always, except not exactly.

There’s no getting around it. A conflict has erupted in the men’s professional game, and this year’s Masters field will feature foot soldiers from both sides of the fight.

Not that bad blood is apt to spill into the open. Not at Augusta. No grounds in golf require more decorum. Everyone is on their best behavior. The tumult of the world doesn’t tend to make it down Magnolia Lane.

Friends?  There certainly will be many in that room Tuesday evening, but the more interesting bits are those that only pretended to be friends..... That Tiger-Phil handshake ought to be a fun moment, though I'm guessing that the Big Cat and Sergio will just circle each other....

Josh gets at the rifts involved:

One that stands out is Tuesday evening of Masters week, when past winners of the tournament swing open their lockers, slip on their green jackets, stride into the Founders Room on the second floor of the clubhouse and assume their usual spots for the most exclusive meal in golf.

Though there is no assigned seating at the Masters Champions Dinner, there are customary place settings. Ben Crenshaw camps out at the head of the table, next to the club chairman and the defending champ. Tiger takes up a post alongside Mark O’Meara. Ray Floyd rubs elbows with Fred Couples, while Nick Faldo and Vijay Singh flank Gary Player, whose fellow South Africans Trevor Immelman and Charl Schwartzel cluster with the Aussie Adam Scott. So go the unofficial arrangements, shaped by age, geography and disposition.

And Phil?  Sergio?  PReed?  I'm actually wondering who would sit willingly with the latter even before the LIV thing made him an even bigger pariah.

At 52, Mickelson has said that he still has a few major victories in him. No tournament means more to him than the Masters; sitting out the event in 2022, as he chose to do, could not have been easy for him. Just as his absence was big news last year, so will his presence be this year, as he returns to Augusta for the first time since becoming the poster child for LIV.

Well, obviously something means more to him than the Masters....  It's funny that Josh has used last year's event as a framing device, but not as relates to this one guy.  As of last April, most folks were taken in by that Phil Fauxpology and thought he was off remaking himself into the man he wanted to be.  Your humble blogger nailed this one, having actually understood that the only actual apology was to the Saudis....  The good news is that he already was the man he wanted to be, but the even better news is that we only have to endure him four times per year.

This one doesn't add much either:

How will the networks cover LIV golfers at the Masters? CBS says, 'We’re not going to put our heads in the sand'

Well said, because to this observer that conjures images of Sergio losing his head in the sand, ironically in Saudi Arabia....

It was an obvious question and one that CBS Sports’s Chairman Sean McManus knew he was

going to be asked during the network’s annual pre-Masters conference call – it’ll be the 68th consecutive year for CBS broadcasting the Masters! – with sports writers. And McManus, who has been reticent in discussing LIV, gave a good answer.

“We’re not going to cover up or hide anything,” he said. “As I’ve said often, our job is to cover the golf tournament. We’re not going to show any different treatment for the golfers who have played on the LIV Tour than the other golfer. If there is a pertinent point or something that we feel we should bring up in our coverage Saturday or Sunday or on our other coverage throughout the week, we’re not going to put our heads in the sand.”

How else could they play it?  But this says more about Golf Channel than the current mess:

“I don’t think there’s any way around it. This would be the first time that I can recall that Tiger Woods will very likely, certainly on Monday night barring any breaking news with respect to his health, first time that I can remember that on ‘Live From,’ we likely, underline likely, will not lead with Tiger Woods, but instead the presence of LIV Golf, the 18 players that are set to tee it up there,” said Golf Channel host Rich Lerner. “At this point not knowing what may be said or how LIV players may or may not interact with PGA Tour players, without knowing that at this point, our goal going in at this point is to cover LIV at least initially through the competitive lens.

At least we've got that going for us...

Sunday's Tour Confidential had one on this topic that I kept in my hip pocvket for today:

Masters week is creeping closer, meaning we’re also nearing what could be one of the most awkward Masters Champions Dinners in recent memory when PGA Tour and LIV golfers

break bread together. Fred Couples has pulled no punches expressing some of his grievances, and just last week Ben Crenshaw said while he doesn’t anticipate much animosity, “it’s going to be difficult” at times and expects a few tense moments. How do you think golf’s most famous dinner will go down, and should some of the longest-tenured champs feel any pressure to make sure things go smoothly?

Melton: I would imagine the dinner will go smoothly, but with some awkward moments. I’d imagine the vibe will be similar to an awkward holiday dinner. Fireworks seem unlikely — no one wants to embarrass the green jackets.

Hirsh: I’m just waiting to hear what Tiger’s awkward joke is that everyone will be forced to laugh at.

Marksbury: I don’t think there’s any reason to believe things won’t go smoothly — this is Augusta National, after all! There are mini-groups of buddies who sit together every year. I don’t think any of those relationships have been irreparably damaged over the last year. My guess is players will gravitate toward their familiar comfort zones, and all will be well.

Does Phil do a presser?  Yeah, I'm taking the under on that one....

Forget the LIV nonsense, there is great news on a far ore important front:

After being unavailable during the 2022 Masters, Augusta National’s Peach Ice Cream sandwich was seen on menus at the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which gets underway Wednesday at Champions Retreat Golf Club.

It's not just a Peach Ice Cream Sandwich, it's a Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwich....

If only they were in Costco....

I'm Sure It Will All Work Out - Does this explain everything to you?

Sean Zak doers a deep dive, but I'm guessing this won't make those troops any happier:

It’s not getting harder to become a Tour member

…it’s just getting better for the best players. The Tour has made no changes to the number of golfers who will have a Tour card in their wallets next year. One hundred and twenty five is still the magic total. When that list of 125 is locked into place — that’s changing.

In other news, it also hasn't gotten any harder to be an AARP member or to get an extended warranty for your car, which has the same relevance for the rabbits of the world...

We have lost track of the Fall, and this clarifies a bit:

The fall will determine the top 125

When the Tour’s regular season has ended, and the FedEx Cup has played out, players ranked 51st to 70th will have next year’s job security locked in, but will have more incentives to play that fall. The top 10 players during a series of fall tournaments will play their way into the first two designated events in 2024 (likely Pebble Beach and Riviera). Beyond that, players ranked 71st or worse will be encouraged to play in the fall to maintain their place above the water line, which is set at No. 125. For example, James Hahn finished 117th last year. Hahn would take his 400 FedEx Cup points and move on to the fall, hopeful to rack up enough points to make sure he doesn’t drop down to 126th. The fall will exist as a secondary playoffs, if you will, to determine who can confidently start to build a schedule for the next calendar year. The pressure will be on — whoever finishes 125th will have no issues. Whoever finishes 126th will drop down the Priority Ranking, beneath the incoming players from the DP World Tour, graduates from the Korn Ferry Tour and Q-School. Put simply, finishing 126th is actually like finishing 171st or worse. The fall is important! The Tour shared this infographic with its membership Monday evening.

Yeah, that guy that falls to 126 might want to look into selling aluminum siding....

 And then there's the....swings:

Swing, swing, swing…swing, swing.

A popular term golf fans will have to get used to is Swing. Full Swing, half-swing, West Coast Swing. The new schedule will include many “swings” between designated events, little two- or three-tournament bursts where points are gained for further access into the big events. There is bound to be a swing in January and a swing before the Masters and a swing through the Texas events in May. When the designated event stretch passes, the swing points reset. On to the next swing.

This is how the Tour keeps its hottest players playing its most important events. If Joel Dahmen finishes in the top 5 at the Sony Open, then finishes T16 at the AmEx and polishes it off with a T8 at Torrey Pines, he’ll have played better golf than most non-winners at those tournaments and will be close to the top of the West Coast “swing” qualification. Had he not already been exempt, he would probably earn his way into the reportedly designated Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That designated field would be filled as such:

Are your eyes glazing over?  It's not enough to get the best players, they're going to get the hottest players as well.  Of course there has to be fall-out, but those top twenty likely assume they'll be bulletproof, either through their OWGR or, as a last resort, those four sponsor's exemptions.   My sense is that the disposition of those sponsors exemptions will become a hot-button issue as the rank and file watch themselves boxed out of the big-money events.

Alan To The Rescue - As I had warned on Monday, this week is a bit of a staycation from blogging, so a Shippy mailbag is just what the doctor ordered.  Shall we lede with some Augusta stuff?

What Sunday final pairing are you hoping for at Augusta? @Feralgolfer

There is only one correct answer to this, and it’s Rory-PReed: Tour vs. LIV, good vs. evil, etc. Despite what happened in Dubai, I think Reed is more game for this kind of death match. It reminds me of the Fred Couples-Corey Pavin matchups in the ’90s, when the grittier, guttier finesse player somehow seemed to have the advantage despite being miles shorter off the tee. The earth will stop spinning on its axis if we get this on the back nine on Sunday at the Masters.

Which is the pairing I dread the most....  How the LIV guys before is going to be way over-interpreted, but let's hope PReed's form has permanently abandoned him. 

With the Big 3 of Rory, Scottie and Jon peaking at the right time, how much money will you spend to watch a final four pairing of Rory/Scottie, then Jon/Tiger at Augusta? #AskAlan @DeyAlcalde

Well, I didn’t even include Tiger in the question above because I’m trying to be real. Obviously a Tiger-Phil final pairing would make all of our faces melt. But in your Final Four I’d sub in Cam Smith for Scheffler; I think he’s more fun to watch, and the guy’s short-game genius is uniquely suited to Augusta National. But it is indeed exciting that so many top players appear to be peaking with Augusta upon us.

Tiger?  yeah, that's asking a bit much.... But that last sentence is kind of curious, no?  Because those PGA Tour alpha dogs have been playing well, but the LIV show ponies haven't...well,  shown.  They are playing in Orlando this week, so we'll see how that one plays out.  But I quite agree with Alan that Cam is the guy to watch.....

This is perhaps the most interesting subject touched upon:

How much will the small amount of competition the LIV players have had going into the Masters hurt their chances compared to PGA Tour players? Can’t imagine going from a no-cut event where they play music and guys are in shorts to the pressure of Augusta. How can you be prepared? #AskAlan @legalshieldrob

This is certainly a fundamental question—Dustin Johnson has played only 22 competitive rounds going back to last July! (Others have supplemented the LIV events with starts on the Euro or Asian tours, or both.) It helps that there is a LIV event this week, so all of those players will get some reps. Fairly or not, this Masters sets up as a referendum on LIV’s very existence. If a handful of its players contend, or (gawd forbid!) one wins, we can retire this line of questioning for the foreseeable future. But if the LIV guys collectively struggle, it will be an inescapable talking point… at least until the PGA Championship.

The fundamental issue is a bit deeper than Alan touches upon, because most of these guys went to LICV specifically to avoid the grind, so the conclusion seems quite obvious.  Equally obvious is that a guy like Cam hasn't forfeited all of his golf skills since last July, so a small sample size could result in just about anything happening.... 

A couple of match-play mopes:

How can Golf Twitter get the Swilican Patio torn down in less than 24 hours yet we can’t save the Match Play? I know the PGA Tour has their excuses, but you would think/hope the fans’ opinions matter? @ZitiDoggsGolf

Awww, it’s so adorable you think the fans matter. Unfortunately, these decisions are driven primarily by TV and sponsors, and this year’s Match Play was case in point. For four days it provided thrills and chills, lighting up Golf Twitter, but Sunday afternoon was an absolute snooze. I haven’t seen the championship match’s TV ratings, but they promise to be abysmal. Some of this could be solved with a little creative thinking: The final match should be a closeout, so as soon as the match ends the players start a new one over the remaining holes for half the cash. Maybe the six guys who get eliminated from the Elite Eight stick around and on Sunday afternoon play as two-man teams, with a round-robin format featuring six-hole matches that are alternate shot, worst-ball scramble, etc. But in its current iteration, the final day of the Match Play is often a letdown and that, ultimately, is what killed it.

Because there were no terrific peni involved with that patio..... Seriously, if there were a constituency for the match-play among those top players, don't we think Jay would have figured it out? 

I’m going to miss the Match Play and definitely miss Austin CC. It’s one of the few courses on Tour that makes me say, “I want to play that course!” Which courses on Tour give you that same feeling? #AskAlan @AriSlater1978

A bunch on the West Coast swing (lol): Kapalua, Pebble Beach, Spyglass, MPCC, Riviera. Some others are sprinkled later in the year: Colonial, Muirfield Village, Detroit CC, Sedgefield, Port Royal. But, uh, that’s kind of it.

I don't have quite the same reaction as these two, but it was a perfect venue for this specific event.  The only thing wrong was the date, just too close to the Masters for comfort....  But as good as it was, you'll notice how unimportant it is to anyone with actual influence.  Just remember that, when it came time to step up and save the event, Jay responded with radio silence....

Who is the best golfer without a major championship win? @justapedn_cob

Recency bias would suggest Sam Burns, but Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau, Billy Horschel and Will Zalatoris all have to be in the conversation. A crucial piece of this is that said player has to be ascendent, so guys like Lee Westwood, Paul Casey and Matt Kuchar have aged out. Also, the dreaded title of Best Player Never to Have Won a Major has to be earned through some heartbreak in the majors. Zalatoris has endured that but can claim only one career win. With eight Tour victories in the last 5½ years, plus a FedEx Cup title, Cantlay has the best resume but he has never been there at the end of a major, which is disqualifying. I’m going with Schauffele, who can boast a bunch of Tour wins and, crucially, six top-five finishes in a major. Of course, some folks would consider an Olympic gold medal on par with a major championship, but that’s a different question!

That's easy, it's Rory.  At least he has no majors in the modern era....

The only folks that consider an Olympic medal a major are those without a major... Seriously, you think those designated events have a BS field, take a look just at the American players that weren't at the Olympics.

This might be the untold story of LIV:

Burns is the last big name (ish) GSE guy not to defect? What to make of this? @Hammbear2024

Oooh, you have struck a rich vein here. The management agency GSE Worldwide has sent a whopping 11 players to LIV. Meanwhile, Mark Steinberg’s Excel Sports Management has not a single LIV client. (Well, it did dump Thomas Pieters as soon as he signed.) In my LIV Tour book, I will go into the agent wars in great detail; Steinberg’s role in all of this is fascinating. I hate to be a tease—actually, I love it!—but I gotta save this stuff for the book, Woodward-style.

On the one hand, that part of the story has been left uncovered.  On the other hand, given his Phil bio and that Alan feels he can't be critical of the Saudis because of Abu Ghraib, I probably won't feel compelled to take that trip with him.

This is quite the weird take:

#Askalan With all the talk about the golf ball, has there ever been consideration for golf courses installing local rules on certain holes where driver or woods are not allowed? They can make rules for grounding clubs in waste areas, etc., so why not clubs? Fixes the problem immediately. @RyanMacCW

I have to say I’ve never thought of this solution. But I can’t endorse it because such a rule would fundamentally alter how the game is played—I certainly don’t want a golf course mandating which clubs the best players in the world can and can’t use. And what about short hitters who need a driver or 3-wood on these hypothetical holes? Restricting the ball by 5 percent seems simpler to me.

The better question is about limiting themselves to the ball....  Obviously other options include the head size and characteristics of the driver, although I certainly understand keeping it simple.

How much stock is put into how players do in individual match play events when it comes time to pick for the Ryder Cup? Not suggesting guys like Morikowa or Zalatoris should get left off the team because they didn’t play their best last week, but do captains look at results in these events? #AskAlan @BigManLeroyHen

It’s a factor, but only minimally. I mean, Kevin Kisner won the Match Play in 2019 and Billy Horschel prevailed in 2021, and both were snubbed for the ’21 Ryder Cup team. More important factors would be a player’s form leading into the Ryder Cup, previous Cup experience and his ability to be a good teammate.

That last bit deserves way more attention, though not at this moment.... It doesn't hurt to have match-play street cred, but it's far more important to be good at the golf thing. There's only the one match-play event and it's on a quasi-funky course that features dormant rough, so you really don't want to attach too much significance to what happens there.

I guess the next two could have been included above with the Augusta threads:

LIV is going this week to a course that by all accounts does not enhance prep for Augusta. Why doesn’t LIV go to courses like Bandon Dunes/Cabot Cove for the first few years? They won’t get a lot of fans on site, but LIV should be focusing on gaining market share. Cool courses would help. @KeithKhorton

There has been so much to digest around LIV’s launch that there has been almost zero discourse about the quality of the venues, or lack thereof. Let’s just say that this week’s host venue in Orlando, Orange County National, is not going to be mistaken for Riviera. I agree with your premise but there is one flaw: The Bandons and Cabots of the world would have to want the LIVers. Many courses have turned them down already, and it would be a surprise if a traditionalist like Mike Keiser, with his allegiance to the USGA, would ever entertain the thought. But I agree that LIV should push hard for unique and interesting venues, which have been lacking so far.

Can we declare a moratorium on taking professional events to Bandon?  Keiser doesn't want them and the courses aren't suitable, and we should be thankful for that.  They've grabbed a couple of decent venues from the Tour (Mayakoba and, sadly to your humbler blogger, The Greenbrier) and the Tour obviously pushed them into bed with Trump.  Otherwise, it's a dreary lot though, as Alan correctly noted above, the Tour's roster of venues isn't much to speak of either...

How much money is lost annually betting Rory at Augusta? @LoopersProShop

Trillions of dollars. But not as much as was lost on Tiger from 2006 to ’13.

Good answer, though trillions seems a tad high....  There's going to be a lot of money on Rory this year as well, though I'd want to see a soft golf course and low winds before going that direction.

In honor of Bamberger’s newest hitting the shelves, can you give us your all-time desert island top 5 golf books? @luke_peacock

Down The Fairway, Bobby Jones

The Bogey Man, George Plimpton

The Dogged Victims of Inexorable Fate, Dan Jenkins

Golf In The Kingdom, Michael Murphy

To The Linksland, Bamberger

I did like Mike's prior book, and who doesn't love Jenkins?  But I remain unconvinced that anyone could actually get through the impenetrable Golf in the Kingdom, and I'll call BS on anyone that tells me they consider it profound.

In fact, the second half of the Bamberger book, which I reviewed here but can't find in the moment via Google, was exactly that which the Murphy book should have been....

That's it for now, I'll catch you down the road.

Weekend Wrap - Arrivederci Match Play Addition

A fun week of bookending actual golf (36 holes, in total) with endless hours watching from Austin.... I'm sure I'll watch just as many hours from Houston next year....NOT!

The Tour, Stymied - The fact that it was such a good week of match-ups to this observer is salt in the wound.  Oh, a certain kind of person will focus on that Sunday afternoon 6&5 clunker, but it was quite the week of feral match-play, at least for those not triggered by such things.

The bride and I played nine holes around midday, leaving me with a dilemma upon arriving home.  I opted for the DVR tape of the semis, given that two matches is better than one....  And was I ever rewarded, of course not realizing that the final match was pushed back due to each semi going extra holes.  First, a game story:

AUSTIN — If you win in the shadows, you still win, and you can bet Sam Burns wasn't bothered by the various narratives swirling around him as he took home the title in the final WGC-Dell

Technologies Match Play with a 6-and-5 win over Cameron Young on a listless Sunday afternoon in the Texas capital. The glory, the $3.5 million prize money payout, the surprising shot of success in what has been a difficult year—all of it is sustenance transcending what everyone else might be thinking.

In other words, good for Burns. The highlight of his week came on Sunday morning, when the 26-year-old Louisiana native stared down his friend Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world and the undisputed alpha of this event, in their semifinal clash. Burns survived a blown lead and a five-foot putt from Scheffler that would have relegated Burns to the consolation match, winning on the third extra hole with a gutsy putt. That sealed a date with Young, who also went to extra holes to defeat a juggernaut (Rory McIlroy). It was little surprise that both looked—and played—exhausted as the mercury rose at Austin Country Club.

Even the crowd, in full throat during the morning matches, seemed subdued. By his own admission Burns got off to a slow start with a bogey on 2. He was still 1 down two holes later, but then Burns brought the heat; if you thought the nifty 27 on the front-nine that Young posted earlier in the week against poor Davis Thompson was impressive, what Burns unleased was almost as devastating.

Shadows?  Why ya throwing shade at the guy?

There's a lot of silly talk, but match play events often conclude with a whimper....  Were you unclear why the PGA Championship is no longer contested at match-play?  Or, more topically, why this event no longer exists?  It's a great event that offers more interesting moments than most, but those events typically come far too early in the week and at unpredictable moments.  

Just take this installment, which feature an atypically exciting Sunday.... It's just that the excitement was embargoed on Golf Channel in the morning...(technically, early afternoon).

The Tour Confidential panel had some thoughts:

Sam Burns beat Cam Young to win the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club on Sunday, which was the Tour’s last annual match-play event until/if anything gets added in the future. The match-play format has been scrutinized in the past,

much of which has been due to sponsors wanting top talent to stick around to attract fans and TV viewers. If the match play returns, should a new format come with it? And what kind of course/location might be a good fit?

Zephyr Melton: I dig the format as is. Pods allow every player at least 54 holes, and then the knockout rounds are always exciting. As an Austin transplant, I’m sad to see the tournament leaving ACC, and I’d love to see it return to the shores of Lake Austin someday.

Jack Hirsh: I agree with Z. I think this is the format that makes the most stakeholders happy. Would I love to see a true 64-man knockout bracket? Yes, but there has to be a balance between volatility, entertainment and satisfying the sponsors. Austin Country Club has been a great host. Jon Rahm mentioned earlier in the week how it’s great for match play and maybe not the best for stroke play since there are so many risk-reward holes. Match Play allows some more creative setups since there’s no par or field to protect. That allows a course like, say Bandon Dunes, that could be used. Would love to see a more out-of-the-box course, but I would definitely not be upset for Austin to return.

Jessica Marksbury: Well said, guys. I don’t think anyone can argue with the big-name talent that was showcased from the Round of 16 onward. This was a great sign-off from Austin (at least, for now). As Jack said, nothing really matches the drama of a 64-man knockout, but this format feels like the right balance.

This is an example of asking too many questions and missing the elephant in the corner, to wit, why is that gentleman taking a leak on the scoreboard?

But they really have missed the threshold bit of why no match-play ever again?  Think about what that says about the Tour management and those A-list players....  You remember them right?  The guys that pouted until it was agreed to keep the riffraff out of their big-money games?

As I've noted before, the demise of this event seems to me deliberately shrouded in mystery.  The Tour has blamed it on Austin Country Club getting greedy, which one can believe up to a point.  But those accounts are more than just a little bit curious, including the fact that ACC came around, albeit late:

The Tour sent Austin Country Club a proposal more than four months ago and ACC pushed back hard, countering with an exorbitant increase to its site fee and ticket demands for its members.

The Tour balked and for several months there was no communication between the two parties. It didn’t help matters that the membership was split with a sizable camp that thought the event had run its course there. According to one source, ACC came to its senses and tried to re-engage, but the Tour went “radio silent” for four months. Two weeks ago, ACC sent the Tour an unsolicited proposal agreeing to the Tour’s original terms and to extend the deal by an additional two years.

“I heard it didn’t go well,” said a PGA Tour tournament director for another event, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of his relationship with both parties. “They’re out of there.”

Radio silence?  Missing from those accounts was any mention of the title sponsor, though perhaps this fills in that gap:

It’s not too often that the Tour pulls up stakes and leaves a city unless a sponsor flees and doing so is the last resort. But a source says that in August, the Tour turned down Intel, which Dell wanted as a partner, to serve as the presenting sponsor. The chipmaker was ready to sign on the dotted line for five years for somewhere between $5 million to $8 million per year. But the Tour, perhaps knowing that its schedule must evolve to counter the attack of LIV Golf, the upstart league, would only commit to one year. No deal was made.

Geez, they had Intel ready to commit, but preferred nothing to that....because:

As previously reported by Golfweek, Jim Crane, the billionaire owner of the Houston Astros, has been playing hard ball in hopes of getting the Houston stop back into the main schedule, preferably with a spring date. The CJ Cup, which originated in South Korea in 2017 but has been played in the U.S. since the pandemic and was held most recently in South Carolina in October, also is itching to upgrade its dates from the fall schedule. The Tour has yet to release its schedule for next season but the loss of the Match Play could mean at least one less designated event in 2024, or its replacement in the schedule could be elevated.

Which should have us spitting out our coffee, given that The very same Jim Crane chose the Fall over the Spring just a few years ago, because apparently it gest a little toasty in Houston in May....  

One more silly bit under this header:

PGA Tour’s decision to stop match play was a mistake. Here’s how to fix it

Which ledes with this encouraging quote:

Yeah, I just think, I think for right now, for next season’s schedule, it didn’t work. But match play has been a staple out here. It’s been a staple on the DP World Tour. I think that there’s — that will certainly be a consideration as we go forward.” — Jay Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner, March 7

Why was it that "it didn't work"?  Because Jay responded to legitimate interest in saving the event with radio silence....  But after seeing Jay's nose growing, his promise that it will be a consideration going forward has the value of Hitler telling Chamberlain that, after Czechoslovakia, I'm good.  remind me, how did that work out?

Back to that Nick Piastowski piece, including this head-in-the-sand way to fix it:

Keep it as is. Keep it at Austin Country Club.

The city is great. There’s barbecue. Who doesn’t like burnt ends?

And Pete Dye-designed Austin CC — with its scorable holes and drivable par-4s (plural) and water and sand and trees — fits. Beautiful carnage.

How's that for a summary of the current state of golf journalism.  His fix is to have Jay go back to that which he gave that radio silence....  Yanno that Pennybacker Bridge that's in all the photos?  That smell is it burning....

Jay is going to save this Tour from LIV, even if he has to destroy it in the process....

But, if you thought that a stupid thought, hold my beer

Move it to TPC Scottsdale. Make the WM Phoenix Open match play.

If the concern is money, the fans will come to TPC Scottsdale. If you’re worried about having just four players on the final day, the fans will still come to the WM Phoenix Open.

But mainly here, No. 16 must have match play. Our one suggestion would be to move it up in the routing — possibly as the 11th hole — so every match goes through. And let the good times roll and the booze flow.

Gee, Nick, you might want to try to get out more.  In case, you haven't noticed, Phoenix already has an event and it's been, well, mildly successful as currently organized.  You're suggesting that they trash their model, which they've spent several decades building and which works quite well for Super Bowl weekend.

There is a germ of an idea buried in there, that TPC Scottsdale would work well for a match-play event, but so would Sawgrass.... So, should we do away with the Players?  I've long argued that one of the cups could go to either of those venues and be quite interesting, though props to the USGA for taking the Amateur there way back when.

But Nick clearly doesn't understand our brave new world:

Make a non-elevated tournament match play. Let’s have a bracket at the John Deere.

We’ve heard some concerns from the non-designated folks. (The Fire Pit Collective wrote a wonderful piece here.) It’s understandable: If the stars are going to the big events, the little guy gets lost. Here’s the answer: Make yourself unique. Stand out from the stroke-play sea.

You hearing this, John Deere Classic?

Rahm may even be in. Earlier in the week, he was asked if he would play a tournament if it had match play, regardless of its designated status.

“I most likely would, yeah” he said. “I love match play. Why not? It’s a really fun format, so I probably would, yes.”

The John Deere is likely in a nasty predicament, but a Korn-Ferry match-play bracket doesn't seem like the ticket.... 

There's two ways to get the alpha dogs to a match-play event.  Either compel as part of their membership or make the purse large enough that they can't skip it.  Otherwise, they'll be opting out due to Zika or other worthy excuses....

This I like only because I was wondering what might be worse than that staggered start?

Make the Tour Championship match play

To make this fair, you’d have to bake in some byes. A long season deserves some spoils.

But do you really want to determine your Tour champion?

Make it mano a mano.

For all the money.

I love the idea of the FedEx Cup being a high-stakes shootout, but we have years of experience at the Tour recoiling in horror at any uncertainty as to who would be left standing.  What we've learned from LIV and the designated events is that, like LIV, they want to stage exhibition matches so  all of those terrific peni (spell check is unhappy with my pluralization) will remain in their comfort zones.

Given all the range of subjects, and I would have thought previewing Masters form a higher priority, I just thought this a curious question:

Jason Day advanced to the Round of 16 of the Match Play, and although he lost 2 and 1 to Scottie Scheffler, the surge into the weekend improved his OWGR and punched his ticket to the Masters, which he failed to qualify for last year. The former No. 1 has battled vertigo, injuries and swing changes and just last year was 175th in the World Ranking. Now he’s finished top 20 in eight of his last events. How impressive has his turnaround been; what’s been the key?

Melton: Health seems to be a big factor in his return to relevance. Plus, golf is a hard game. It’s easy to lose your swag, and sometimes for years at a time. He looks to be regaining confidence in his game, and he’ll be a dark horse to contend at Augusta.

Hirsh: Super impressive. It’s actually a good model for Spieth to look at. Day was the best putter on Tour in 2016, and No. 2 in strokes gained: putting. By 2021 he was 95th in the stat. So far in 2023, he’s 12th on Tour. He’s also had a big resurgence in his ball striking, which is probably all credited to his health and subsequent swing changes. He went from 145th in strokes gained: approach last year to 23rd this season.

Marksbury: It’s great to see Day playing well again. There are few things harder than rebuilding your swing, and like Spieth, Day has been open about his struggles, which makes him an easy guy to root for. In February, Day opened up about what a difficult journey it’s been for him recently: physical and mental struggles, the loss of his mom. And with all that going on, then you have to try and play your best golf? It’s so hard. But he’s finally seeing the fruit of all his efforts with Chris Como, and hopefully, that will snowball into the confidence he’s been missing.

Huh?  Look at those four semi-finalists and Augusta coming up soon, and JDay is the one guy you ask about?  I always think Day looks good and he's certainly been playing better, but hard to understand the interest here, although happy for him to be in  the field in two weeks.

Here's who else punched that ticket:

Keith Mitchell, Min Woo Lee assured top 50 and a spot at Augusta National. The Masters field will be no more than 88 players. It's the fourth time in the last six years for a sub-90 field.

— Doug Ferguson (@dougferguson405) March 26, 2023

Unfortunately, every invective we've thrown at those 70-player designated event fields applies here as well.  Remember, while 88 sounds larger thanb 70, it's really not because of the amateurs and former champions.

 Add this to that discussion of why the PGA is no longer match play:

NBC ad sales team when there's only four balls in play pic.twitter.com/3kb1O7A9vL

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) March 26, 2023

Funny, though more of a yeas and no situation.  Their love of that empty air time will be mitigated by the absence of actual viewers....

The Revolution Will Be Televised - OK, technically only streamed on Fridays, but you get it....

So, have you been confused by the LIV ratings kerfuffle?  Here's the background:

On Monday, some outlets reported that LIV’s second tournament in Tucson, Ariz. drew 279,000

average viewers on the CW. This data came from Nielsen and showed LIV’s audience struggling to reach even the thresholds set by the league’s first broadcast in Mayakoba.

But on Friday, for the second time in as many events, LIV released data that ran somewhat counter to Nielsen’s. LIV’s data showed its broadcasts drew some 407,000 viewers. Yes, that marked a drop of some 130,000 average viewers next to week 1 (537,000), but it also showed markedly higher viewership than was reported over the weekend and the early week.

At this point, it’s fairly reasonable that you, like me, have a ton of questions. Why are we getting two sets of data from every tournament? Why aren’t we getting data from LIV’s broadcasts as quickly as we are from the PGA Tour’s broadcasts? What’s reliable? And, of course, how on earth do we make sense of all of this?

James Colgan does a deep dive into the sources and methodologies, though I tend to focus on some obvious points.  First, even if you accept their numbers, that's not many eyeballs and, second, if you lose 25% of them each week, then this might over sooner than we thought...

Why is LIV’s data so much different than Nielsen’s?

LIV execs are quick to point out that Nielsen ratings — the ones that have been dropping overnight and in the days following LIV broadcasts — don’t provide a full picture of the LIV audience size. Are they right? It’s complicated.

Not every CW station is carrying LIV events, which means Nielsen’s CW ratings actually include LIV and non-LIV viewership. This is because Nielsen tracks audience size by network only. The data they’ve released is a measure of everyone watching the CW, in all the television markets in the U.S., during the hours LIV is on the air. This includes the group of CW affiliate stations that have withheld from broadcasting LIV events throughout the United States because those affiliates are owned by CBS (a broadcast partner of the PGA Tour). The group of non-LIV CW affiliates makes up some 23 percent of TV markets around the U.S., including some stations located in major markets, like Philadelphia and Chicago.

Until we have market-specific data from LIV or Nielsen, it’s impossible to know how much the non-CW audience is affecting LIV’s viewership. So just as it’s possible that Nielsen is underreporting LIV’s audience (as LIV contests), it’s also possible that 279,000 Nielsen number may actually be too high for the total number of people watching LIV on the CW.

Are your eyes glazing over yet?

Why is it taking so long to receive audience data from LIV?

LIV is utilizing a company called iSpotTV — a Nielsen competitor — to collect its audience data. iSpot markets itself on its ability to capture “100 percent” of audience data from a broadcast, encompassing those who watched live, out of home, and later on DVR. Capturing all of that data takes time. A source told GOLF that for the first two broadcasts of the LIV season, LIV didn’t receive its preliminary viewership from iSpot until Wednesday evening, and didn’t receive final viewership until later on Thursday at earliest.

This delay is bad for transparency and also puts LIV at a major disadvantage in public opinion, particularly as Nielsen reports data days in advance.

“That’s just the schedule of iSpot’s collection of our viewership data,” LIV chief media officer Will Staeger said. “We’ll put out the numbers when we have them.”

Does it need to be this complicated?  

What's obvious is that the Tour has crushed LIV in the head-to-head Nielsens, and there's no reason to assume that relative measure would be any different if we had iSpotTV data for the PGA.  

The rationale from the Saudi side would be that it's a start-up and folks don't know where to find it.  Those arguments have some value, though they've buried an assumption that those that have found it will hang around.    

Colgan has done some good work there, but I like the piece mostly for this precious euphemism:

Still, it’s fair to wonder if these viewership numbers represent good news to LIV leadership. Yes, as LIV execs caution, it’s still plenty early. But after spending billions getting the league off the ground and recruiting some of golf’s most entertaining talent, LIV’s foothold with golf fans remains close to 20 percent the size of the PGA Tour.

Golf's most "entertaining talent"?  That's what we're calling Poults and PReed these days?  I'm just saying, the euphemism is quite obviously needed because there isn't much actual talent on display....

The TC panel was similarly blown away:

LIV Golf released preliminary TV numbers for its Tucson event March 18-19 — its second as part of its broadcast deal with the CW — and ratings dropped 24 percent when compared with its first event of the season. LIV sources told GOLF.com some drop-off was expected due to competition with the NCAA basketball tournament, but that said, what’s your takeaway here? Surprised?

Sure, it must have been the NCAAs..... Of course, they were up against the Valspar and its historically-weak field, but whatever...

Melton: LIV is obsessed with trying to control the narrative, so it’s not surprising to hear them having an excuse ready (no matter how legitimate it might be). As far as the lackluster numbers go — is anyone really surprised? The product thus far has been pretty uninspiring, and with the big-name stars near the bottom of the leaderboard, there isn’t much reason to tune in.

Hirsh: No, not surprised at all. LIV is running a propaganda campaign to make you think more people care about their product than really do. Their first event is always going to do better just on the sheer novelty factor. After that, people lose interest, especially when marquee names (Looking at you Bryson) are finishing 44th out of 48 while guys who haven’t won on the PGA Tour in nearly a decade are winning.

Marksbury: In order to be invested in an outcome, the viewer needs to be invested in what’s at stake. The PGA Tour has the advantage of offering major championship exemptions and Tour membership in addition to the award of big-time money to its winners. LIV is working with big money alone, so the “aspiration” factor is lacking since the team format has yet to draw eyeballs. But in fairness, this is only tournament No. 2 on the CW. Things could very well change.

It's actually pretty laughable, because the Tour has culled its heard of events in reaction to LIV, attempting to create a firewall of strong events.  LIV has decided to go around this Maginot line, but is losing 10-1 to dead-man-walking events like Honda and Tampa.  Doesn't sound so very promising to me, but what do I know?

Alas, I must leave you here.  It'll likely be a low-key week of blogging, stockpiling energy for our typical flood-the-zone coverage next week.