Monday, April 3, 2023

Weekend Wrap - Are You Ready to Rumble Edition

Yeah, I quite agree, the week in front of us is the far more interesting bit.  Though we did get that Saturday sneak preview...

Blame Canada - I hope he can live with himself after keeping these guys from a Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwich:

At the 2019 Valero Texas Open, Corey Conners became the first Monday Qualifier to win on the PGA Tour in nine years.

Four years later, Conners is a winner on the PGA Tour once again, but this time without surviving the theatrics of a 6-for-1 playoff just to get into the field.

Conners shot a final-round, bogey-free 68 at TPC San Antonio Sunday to come from behind and win the 2023 Valero Texas Open by one stroke over Sam Stevens.

“I’ve drawn from some of the experience I had here and really happy with the way that I hit the ball and got myself in position,” Conners said after the round. “Just kept things simple, felt relaxed. It was certainly challenging and a battle out there, but just an amazing day and can’t believe it. It’s a relief that it’s over.”

The win for the Canadian, his second on the PGA Tour and at the event, ended any hope of a final bid to next week’s first major of the year at the Masters. Conners and Honda Classic winner Chris Kirk were the only players in the top 10 of the leaderboard who had already secured their spots for Augusta.

Sam Stevens, Patrick Rodgers and Sam Ryder not only have no tee times on Thursday, but have reinforced the feast or famine nature of Tour Live in the Age of LIV.  The only remaining drama will be whether they generated a discernible Nielsen rating, as well as whether they beat that other event in Orlando.

A Rose By Any Other Name... - I've good news for Ms. Zhang.  Those lady professionals will never be invited to Augusta National, so your long nightmare has ended....  Unless, of course, Rachel and Megha lure you back for your junior year.

But it was touch and go there:

Rose Zhang refused to quit.

With all the adversity she faced on Saturday at Augusta National, no one would’ve blamed her if she did. Her swing was out of sorts. There was a three-hour weather delay during the middle of the round. The best players in amateur golf had her in their sights. And she had the weight of expectations — from the outside and within — on her shoulders.

Despite it all, the Stanford sophomore stood tall and weathered it all, swing by gutsy swing, to emerge victorious at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

“To overcome everything,” said Zhang, who shot a final-round 76. “I’m just super grateful to be here.”

With the win, Zhang put an exclamation point on one of the most decorated amateur careers of all time.

Usually it's only the losers that go to this watery grave:

The back nine par-5s at Augusta National are glimmering with opportunity, yet rife with
catastrophe. Play them well, and birdies (and eagles) abound. Play them poorly, and your chance at glory can vanish. When Zhang played the 15th during the final round, it looked as though she would fall victim to the latter.

Clinging to a two-shot lead in the final pairing, Zhang put herself into a beautiful position off the tee. She had just over 230 yards into the green and, after debating with her father/caddie, Haibin, she opted to go for the green. 

As soon as the ball left the clubface, she knew she’d made a mistake. Her ball never threatened the putting surface, finishing in the water short of the hole.

“It wasn’t the smartest decision,” Zhang said.

Perhaps.  With a two-stroke lead at that point the lay-up made more sense, although that wedge in is no picnic...

It's a great event, but one that should be so much better if not for the pigheadedness of the Grand Poobahs.  Obviously the girls should play the entire event at AHGC, and the unnecessary cruelty of that cut line is hard to take given that cuts have been rendered passé by our betters.  But the black mark this event will always carry is the unnecessary destruction of the single most interesting women's event of the year....strike that, the single most historically important women's professional event.

Michael Bamberger makes an interesting point, though one I have been on both sides of:

Each year, when the women play Augusta National in the third and final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, they play the course as its architects, Bobby Jones and Alister
MacKenzie, intended it to play. They play a course that makes sense in every way, a course we can relate to, a course that invites people to take up this bewildering and beautiful walking game, a course that tests all 14 clubs, some of them used in a variety of ways.

The way Tiger Woods played golf and used the tools of his trade, it was as if he carried 40 clubs. That’s why Sean Foley, Tiger’s former swing coach, says that Woods would have won twice as many majors had there never been an equipment revolution in the years since Woods turned pro, in 1996.

The equipment revolution, with the launching of the Titleist ProV1 as an elemental part of it, has changed the fundamental nature of the course for the world’s best male golfers, nearly all of them touring pros who spend most of their waking hours sorting through the problems golf presents.

That is a tiny but influential population of golfers.

Interesting accompanying photo. Prior to the first of the four installments, I had ventured a guess that we would find the ladies play on that back nine excruciatingly boring, as those two Par-5's are entertaining only to the extent that the guys are going for the green.  But in that inaugural event, the only two players drawing attention, Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi, over-powered those holes much as the men do, with the former's eagle on No. 13 the critical moment.

The Tour Confidential panel spared a lone query for this event:

The No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, Rose Zhang, triumphed in a playoff at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on Saturday, her latest victory in a young career filled with them. What impressed you about her play this week?

Colgan: I was at the ANWA in 2021 when Rose collapsed on No. 13 to lose the title, and thought we were in for a repeat performance Saturday when she made a mess of No. 15. The collapse never came, though she may have flirted with it, and now — with the ANWA, a Women’s Am, NCAA Championship and World No. 1 Amateur Ranking — she’s the most decorated amateur golfer this side of Jordan Spieth

Zak: She could have crumbled. Saturday wasn’t her day. And when her approach into 15 splashed, she could have completely given up. But her approaches into 16, 17 and 18 were all basically pin-high. She reset herself once she had blown the lead and then kept going. She’ll be in that position again somewhere down the road. The best players can play their way out of it.

Berhow: She won without her best stuff, which is what elite players find ways to do. She didn’t let her late mistake on 15 derail the tournament. She followed it with a great shot into 16 and played solid golf the rest of the way. Nothing flashy, but got it done. It’s funny to think about all she has accomplished now. I profiled Rose four years ago when she was one of the youngest players in this field. Her coach told me a story about when she was a junior she innocently asked him, “When am I going to win a trophy?” She’s got a lot of ‘em now!

She does and the NCAAs are in a little over a month.  After that, it's hard to see much for her to accomplish in the amateur game, though life on the big-girl tour can be a lonely existence.  And those Stanford girls do seem to enjoy being together, though you'd have to think she'll move up a weight class. 

Georgia On My Mind - Really, Gary?

Is that why you keep pulling s**t like this?


See that guy seated, Gary?  He actually wasn't welcome back in the day, so it was very special of you and your Hunter-Bidenesque grifter son, to step all over his moment in the sun.

“After all I’ve contributed to the tournament and been an ambassador for them, I can’t go and have a practice round there with my three grandchildren without having to beg a member to play with us, and there’s always some excuse. It’s terribly, terribly sad,” Player told The Times.

“I’ve played my role: I’ve won it three times; I was in the top ten 15 times; I made the most number of cuts in a row ever (23), yet here we are struggling to get a round. If it wasn’t for the players, (Augusta National) would just be another golf course in Georgia.

“It’s just sad – and I put great emphasis on the word ‘sad’ – that Augusta (doesn’t) make you feel welcome in that regard because I helped make this tournament what it is.”

Perhaps they should, but when you say they don't make you feel welcome...

Come Thursday, Player will join Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson as honorary starters ahead of the 2023 Masters, something he has done for more than a decade.

A times like this I'm sure you ask yourself the same question as I do, what would Eamon Lynch say?

Lynch: Fore please! Gary Player now making a fool of himself

More of a recurring theme, but still...Probably time to get out of Eamon's way:

Player’s grumbling won’t surprise Augusta National’s evasive members, who are presumably weary of lectures about everything from their improper weight to his pristine bowel movements. He is well-known as an insufferable braggart whose ceaseless self-promotion makes Donald Trump appear downright modest by comparison. To borrow Jimmy Breslin’s rapier twist on Rudolph Giuliani, Player is a small man in search of a balcony.

While he is the most persistent bellyacher rolling down Magnolia Drive this week, he is not the only one.

 Really?  What else you got?

Bryson DeChambeau has bemoaned Tiger Woods cutting off contact since the pseudoscientist decamped to LIV, not even acknowledging a birthday text message. Bubba Watson insisted there’s no bad blood between players and that any suggestion of such is media mischief, ignoring the fact that LIV has been scattering subpoenas like confetti at one of Greg Norman’s weddings. Joaquin Niemann clearly wasn’t cc’d on Bubba’s memo. He said LIV guys are motivated to perform because of the “hate” directed toward them by other players, a comment that illustrates how quickly the rot sets in when a man orbits Sergio Garcia.

But Eamon's just getting warmed up:

While his contemporaries Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus were welcomed as fully-fledged members at Augusta National, Player remains an honorary member, a status conferred on all past Masters champions. If the club was hesitant to extend full privileges to a three-time winner, events have justified the caution.

Two years ago, his shiftless son Wayne sullied a first-tee tribute to Lee Elder, positioning a sleeve of golf balls he was pimping at just head height behind the wheelchair-bound honoree, right in the camera line. A couple years prior he was embroiled in an escapade over the selling of Masters access. Wayne is now unwelcome at the club, an exclusion that even the most ardent advocate for inclusion can cheer.


The son’s antics would have caused many a father stay home for the shame of it. This father has many attributes—not least his commendable charity work—but a sense of shame isn’t among them. Both his life story and career record show Player is a man not easily deterred, while his words show one not easily embarrassed. How else to explain the mix of narcissism and petulance underpinning his crack that Augusta National would be “just another golf course in Georgia” without guys like him?

Come to think of it, that Golf Saudi logo suits him quite well...

I assume my readers to be as alien to social media as their favorite blogger, but in that milieu this is quite the effective retort:

Heh!.  I'd have gone with "Your mother swims after troop ships", but yours is good too.

How's this for a "ripped from the headlines" bit?

Love at the Masters: Proposals over the years at the Augusta National

Oh, so not the Davis III kind?  This kind?


 Remember, kids, if you're down on a knee at ANGC, the green shirt is mandatory....

I didn't know proposing there was a thing, but it has to end better than this one, no?


She said yes, although the putative groom was unable to recall the actual question....

In his Quad post about that ANWA, Geoff had some early notes on the golf course:
  • There was already a wet feel underfoot before Saturday’s storms blew through. It’s going to play long. The revelations you pay for!
  • The greens were a bit firmer and faster than in past ANWA’s, likely in anticipation of the rain coming.
  • The 15th lake bank has seen slightly different presentations over the years. , A very tight cut this year stood out after Antonia Malate’s final round 9 where, after the rain, two of her shots spun back into the pond upon landing into the middle of the green.
  • Flora and fauna watchers should not get hopes up for massive splashes of color. Most of the on-course azaleas appear to have already peaked, but the white and pink dogwood are hanging in.
  • Oh my is that new 13th tee far back! I’ll have some photos in Tuesday’s edition, but we have the first official MillerBrown shot

Geoff's previous post was on the lengthening of this hole, framed by this analysis of the hole (the premise of the Michael Bamberger item above):

In my opinion this thirteenth hole is one of the finest holes for competitive play I have ever seen. The player is first tempted to dare the creek on his tee shot by playing close to the corner, because if he attains this position he has not only shortened the hole but obtained a more level lie for his second shot. Driving out to the right not only increases the length of the second, but encounters an annoying sidehill lie. The second shot as well entails a momentous decision whether or not to try for the green. A player who dares the creek on either his first or second shot may very easily encounter a six or seven on this hole. Yet reward of successful, bold play is most enticing. BOBBY JONES

Obviously the hole will play tougher, though the tee shot might be easier:

In the grand scheme of life pressures, it’s not a big deal to lay up even though eagle 3’s or birdie 4’s become less likely.

“I think you’re going to see some guys really have to think hard about what that second shot entails,” says CBS on-course reporter Dottie Pepper, who also has good news for players based on watching the last two Masters from the ground.

“Over the last ten years or so as the golf ball has traveled farther, it has become one of those really difficult tee shots at Augusta National. Because so many players have lost the ball to the right through the dogleg or have had to take more risk down the lefthand side. So I’m anxious to see if there will in fact be more drives that find the fairway.”

Her CBS colleague Trevor Immelman is the 2008 Masters champion and new lead analyst this year. He endorsed Pepper’s view.

“You have about 300 yards to run through on a direct line now,” he said. “So it’s going to be putting the players right around the corner.”

Geoff makes the case that the set-up will be tricky perhaps, given the heavy rains and the limitations on tee boxes noted above.  The trick is to ensure that they mostly still go for it, just with more sense that it's actually a "momentous decision", which will require a few balls in the water one assumes.

The Tour Confidential panel is in Masters-Only (technically, Augusta-only) mode, and what might you think they'd use for their lede?  C'mon, that's an easy one:

Tiger Woods has a press conference scheduled for Tuesday at the Masters, so it’s safe to assume he’ll play as long as he’s healthy. It will be just his second start in nine months and first since his T45 at the Genesis Invitational in February. How well do you expect a 47-year-old Woods to play next week? Can he contend?

Josh Berhow: Yes, he can definitely contend. Can he win? I’m not sure his game is that sharp at this point, given his limited schedule. He was 47th here last year, but let’s remember that it was
his first start since his car accident and the fact that he even talked 72 holes — let alone made the cut — was surprising. He also, as expected, lost juice on the weekend and shot a pair of 78s to fall down the leaderboard. That’s pretty un-Tiger-like, even for the version we see these days. His Saturday 67 at Riviera earlier this year gave lots of reason for optimism.

James Colgan: IF Tiger’s healthy, yes he can contend, and, at this golf course, he can also win. He’s not the favorite to do that, nor is he expected to, but can he? Absolutely.

Josh Sens: It’s possible, of course, but a lot of things that are possible don’t happen. And it won’t happen here. He’ll make the weekend, and then, as they did last year, the hills will take their toll. I hope I’m wrong, and that we get a Sunday pairing of Tiger and Phil in the final group. Speaking of which: that would be an interesting line. I’m sure Vegas has it. Tiger vs. Phil for the week.

Sean Zak: If the bar for contention is Woods being within five shots when he turns to the back nine Sunday, no I don’t see it happening. I don’t think he’s capable of breaking par four-straight days, and that’s kind of what he’d need to do.

He certainly looked much stronger at The Riv, but four days still seems a big ask... 

Name your best storyline for this 87th Masters.

Berhow: Remember back in 2015 or 2016 when we loved to use the Big 3 or Big 4 title to explain pro golf’s hierarchy? I think we have a Big 3 now with Rory, Rahm and Scheffler, and I’m anxious to see which one claims the throne. They all need this win for different reasons: Rory needs it to complete the career grand slam, Rahm so his number of major titles (still just one) properly reflects his incredible skill set, and Scheffler — trying to go back-to-back — to leave no doubt he’s the dude.

Colgan: The Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwich is BACK!!!!! That’s both the biggest AND the best storyline here. Too inside baseball? Ok — I’ll zoom out a little further. The first LIV-PGA Tour war taking place at Augusta National ain’t half-bad.

Sens: Can Bernhard Langer reach the lengthened 13th in two? Nah. It’s the LIV subplot for sure. A reprise of Reed and Rory? A Tiger/Phil pairing? The entire event is too polite for the tensions to play out in the open, but we know they exist among some players, and plenty of people will be watching through a Tour vs. LIV lens. Among other things, it will be a kind of Rorschach test: everyone looking at the same thing and drawing different conclusions about the two tours. But particularly about the prominent LIV players and whether they have lost their edge, etc.

Zak: The boys above have covered it all!

Their edge?  Pretty sure they've lost their minds....

How about an underrated storyline no one is talking about?

Berhow: Cam Smith has seemingly been destined to win a Masters. He’s a great ball-striker and superb putter, which is what you need to do well at Augusta National. He’s had four top 10s in his five starts there (including his last three), but the Champion Golfer of the Year has been flying under the radar since he went to LIV. Now he’s back in the spotlight again. How will he perform?

Colgan: Love that, Josh. Cam Smith is a deeply underrated storyline. So is, strangely enough, Tiger Woods. The early stages of last year’s tournament were consumed by Tigermania, but this year feels notably less hyped.

Sens: Phil’s return after his self-imposed exile last year. I don’t think anyone is expecting him to contend, but this was always his happy place. And he has said he thinks he still has a major or two in him. How will he perform since becoming the poster child for golf’s polarization? I think an MRI would reveal a sizable chip on his shoulder heading into this year’s Masters. I’m curious to see how he carries himself, not to mention how he scores.

Zak: Brooks Koepka suddenly looks like he might be Brooks Koepka again. I think there’s a short list of LIV players who could actually strike fear in the rest of the field, and he’s on it, alongside Dustin Johnson and Cam Smith.

Obviously, if you're looking to peg a LIVster to piss off the world and contend, Cam is gonna be your guy.  But if we're looking for underrated stories, his performance on LIV qualifies, as his line of T5, T24 and T26 against those loaded fields seems off....He's still Cam Smith and we know he can play this track, but still curious.  

There are plenty favorites to win this week, among them defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy. Are you taking that trio to win, or the field?

Berhow: I’m taking that trio, but I like Scottie the best out of that group. Remember he won by three last year — and that was with a four-putt on the 72nd hole. He hasn’t slowed down since.

Colgan: Give me the field! Those three are all awesome, they’ve all played great this year, but this is the hardest tournament in golf to win — and 66 percent of that grouping has never done it!

Sens: Agreed, James. If it’s a straight-up bet, you take the field. Smith. Spieth. Cantlay. Schauffele. DJ. Burns. Im. On and on. Of course, any of the big three could easily step on their throats. But there are just too many other guys capable of doing it to dismiss their numbers.

Zak: No one is talking about Collin Morikawa. That will feel crazy in one week when he’s wearing a new jacket.

As Jay Monahan told me, you always take the field.  Obviously Tiger, Rory and all those terrific peni agree, which is why in their future money grabs they've dispensed with the field....

Name the major-less player who has the best chance to grab their first this week.

Berhow: We’ve been jotting down names like Schauffele, Cantlay and Hovland in this space for a couple of years now, and here we are again. Here’s a couple more. Sam Burns missed two straight cuts at the Genesis and Bay Hill, but he’s found his form lately and is coming off that Match Play win. He’s missed the cut here in his only appearance. One major-less player I’m looking forward to seeing is Max Homa. He’s taken his game to another level this year but is still looking for his first top 10 in a major. So, long answer longer: I’ll take Xander.

Colgan: Xander!! Unless we’re counting the Olympics as a major, at which point I’ll take Tony Finau (so long as his ankle stays intact at the Par-3 on Wednesday).

Sens: Hard to argue with any of the above. But I’ll go with Sungjae Im. Two top 10s in three tries. Augusta suits him, and he now has enough rounds under his belt to meet the ‘course knowledge’ requirements.

Zak: Max Homa is going to flip a major switch at some point. It’s the most logical next step in his career. Why not this week?

I'm reacting to the Tour nonsense by hoping that Xander and Patrick remain major-less....   I know Max is a social media darling, but we're talking the Masters here, not PIP.

Eighteen LIV Golf members are in this Masters, and those same players have played just three LIV events this calendar year. The lighter schedule was attractive to some of the players who went to LIV, but now with the Masters here, could it leave some of these guys rusty due to less reps?

Berhow: Maybe, but as pro golfers I like to think they know what’s best for their games, which means they’ll put in the work with teachers, on the range or on the course on their own time. Maybe they can’t simulate that clutch-time experience you get competing in a tournament as often, but if they’ve made it this far in golf they’ve been doing that their whole lives already. I think it helps them coming off a tournament this past weekend.

Colgan: Absolutely yes. We haven’t seen or heard a relevant moment from a LIV player since the Open Championship. That’s hugely significant as it relates to “peaking at the right time,” as we hear so many golfers talk about doing.

Sens: No doubt. I think this is one of the more interesting elements of this year’s Masters. But I also think the dynamics stand to affect different players differently. Cam Smith has never been known as a grinder. Maybe the chill schedule of late doesn’t hurt him at all. Ditto Dustin Johnson. And we’ve seen how negative energy tends to bring Patrick Reed to life. The consensus seems to be that most LIV guys are going to be non-factors. Maybe those doubter vibes will have a Jor-el-under-a-yellow-sun effect on Reed. Who knows. Watching all of this will be part of the fun.

Zak: I think playing the week before is more of an asset for LIV guys than we think. There’s no sitting at home. When one or more of them play well this week, they’ll acknowledge it, too.

What a muddle question.... They're not really playing less on LIV which features a 14-event schedule, very similar to what the top guys play on the legacy tour.  It's true that there have only been three to date, but two have been in the last three weeks, so rust isn't really the issue.

The argument is over the events themselves, as beating up on a bunch of seniors doesn't seem the optimal way for a guy to hone his game.  That said, it's a world of small sample sizes and these guys have claimed victim status, so who knows what might happen beginning Thursday.

Lastly, click your shoes together and repeat after me, "There's no place like gnome":

The local paper in Augusta published a short story about the crazy long line that formed to get into the merchandise center at Augusta National shortly after the gates opened on Saturday. That customers would immediately flock to the gift shop is not that surprising given it was the first day it was open to the public, and well, buying Masters swag is its own tradition unlike any other.

What might be surprising, however, is the item that the story noted was of highest demand. It’s not a hat or a polo shirt or a pin flag. It was a Masters-themed patron gnome.

 It's a stunner, for sure:

But it's not exactly a stocking stuffer at current prices:

Suffice it to say, the gnome is a bit of an acquired taste.

“The first time I saw him, I was like, ‘Is that it?’” Hershey said. “But he’s growing on me. I think they’re amazing.”

The full-size gnomes retail for $49.50, the smaller versions for $29.50, but to judge their true value you might want to hop on eBay and see just what these guys are going for on the open market. As of Sunday morning, there were 113 listings, mostly of the 2023 model, with bidding prices ranging from $100 to upwards of $300. A "vintage" 2019 edition was going for $480. And a set of 2019, 2020 and 2021 offerings were set at $1,000 or best offer.

I'm pretty sure LIV will have their own version available at their next event.  It's perfect, since Phil and Patrick are pretty gnomish in real life.

We'll be flooding the zone as the week unfolds.  I took a look at the weather forecast which seems to feature thunderstorms most days.  Not sure what that bodes for viewing, but it has a voice whispering "Rory" in my ear.  Can you say, "Now or never"?

OK, I lied....one more amusing bit from this homage parody account:

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