Weekend Wrap - Long, Strange Trip Edition

Well, this has certainly been fun....  Employee No. 2 and I were both whacked pretty hard by the Covid thing (she uses a scatological reference to describe her reaction), but I'm hoping that we're at long last coming out of it.

But I'm unclear as to its effect on my blogging.... For instance, did I hear that a college sophomore won a PGA Tour event, or is that just some bizarre Wuhan Flu fever dream?

The Kids Are All Right - Amusingly, this had folks curious and/or upset earlier in the week:

The American Express golf tournament rarely gives one of its coveted sponsor exemptions to an amateur, but Nick Dunlap is a rare amateur.

Dunlap, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Alabama, won the U.S. Amateur last year in Denver and two years after he won the U.S. Junior Amateur at Pinehurst in 2021. Only one other golfer has pulled off the U.S. Junior Amateur-U.S. Amateur double: A guy named Tiger Woods.

This week’s PGA event, which begins Thursday in La Quinta, California, will be the fourth professional event Dunlap has played in. He’s played in the last two U.S. Opens and the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship. So even though he’s performed on the sport’s biggest stage, he’s still thrilled to get the invite to The American Express.

I'm easy, as I can live with just about any sponsor's exemptions not named John Daly..... 

But how had those prior experiences gone?

Tournament executive director Pat McCabe said giving Dunlap one of the event’s eight sponsor’s exemptions was a pretty easy call.

“I just think it’s important to give these decorated young players opportunities like this,” McCabe said. “It will be fun to see him out there playing with the pros at a PGA event. We’re excited to have him here.”

Dunlap did not make the cut in his other three pro tournaments, so that’s a streak he’d like to see end this week. He feels like his game suits the three courses used in the event, and his secret weapon on the bag is former assistant coach Hunter Hamrick.

As long as the kid knows his place and is gone by Sunday.....What?  The ingrate!

Having seen a bit of his U.S. Amateur win, I pretty much knew the kid was gonnna be a stud.  What I didn't fully understand is that, at age 20, he already is.... Now I didn't see all that much of his day, though the break between those NFL games (gee, kids, are we over the Bills?) allowed me to see him finish.  Unfortunately, it also allowed me to see Sam Burns finish, who might actually be the Josh Allen of professional golf.  

I didn't see his double-bogey on No. 7, but I did catch the bounce-back birdie on No. 8, which told me he wasn't going away.  For most of the remainder of the round it felt like he would come up just short, and maybe that helped him manage his way around PGA West?  

Shall we dive into the Tour Confidential panel?

1. Nick Dunlap, a 20-year-old amateur making his fourth career PGA Tour start, made history at the American Express. He shot 60 on Saturday (tying the lowest round by an amateur in PGA Tour history) and then closed with a 70 on Sunday to win by one and become the first amateur to win on Tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991. How in the world did he do it?

By posting the low number?  Just spitballin' here.... 

James Colgan: He did it by being — by a relatively wide margin — the best player in the field this week. All weekend long he displayed the mix of shotmaking skill and ice-cold putting that have turned golfers into very wealthy golfers for as long as time. And, considering his name now sits alongside those like Mickelson and Woods, I think it’s fair to suggest Dunlap could be a very wealthy golfer very soon.

The Tiger shout-out is odd, given that that connection relates to them being the only men to win both a Junior and an Amateur, which is both a mere oddity and also has nothing to do with the events of this week.  As one commentator noted, the odd thing about Tiger's unprecedented amateur career is how poorly he played when teeing it up in professional events.  Odd, given that once he started cashing checks, it took an hour-and-a-half for him to own them. 

Josh Sens: So much comes down to the mental game. Dunlap said he thought of the pressure as a

privilege. That’s easy to say. But he played like he believed it.

Alan Bastable: It was another reminder that today’s top college players are unafraid to embrace big moments at the pro level. I was so impressed not only by Dunlap’s game but also by his maturity. In his post-round pressers, he sounded like he’d been there before. And as Josh said, he oozed self-belief. As Dunlap himself said Sunday evening, “I felt the script today was already written.” Pretty cool. One thing that really surprised me, though: Dunlap’s admission that he thought he had a two-shot lead as he played the 72nd hole. How he could have been misinformed on such critical information felt like a strategic gaffe that could have come back to bite him.

Misinformed?  Does Alan not understand how golf tournaments are conducted?  He's hitting on an interesting moment,  but he can't be bothered listening to the broadcast?  His colleague James Colgan provides the explanation:

As Golf Channel broadcaster Steve Burkowski and analyst Brandel Chamblee watched the 20-year-old think through his crucial 72nd hole, they seemed terrified to address the truth: Dunlap was about to hit the biggest shot of his entire life with less knowledge about the current

competitive situation than any fan with a stable internet connection standing within 10 feet of him.

“He doesn’t know the score,” Chamblee said. “He can’t.”

Eventually, he settled on a club and smoked an iron well right, striking a fan and miraculously dribbling past the greenside bunker. The strategy, he said later, was simple: “just don’t hit it in the water.”

It wasn’t until after he cleared the fairway that word finally reached Dunlap himself: his lead was only one. Those of us watching at home let out audible yelps of relief when Dunlap’s approach came to rest in a collection area just off the back side of the green. He had managed to avoid the doomsday scenario dreaded by every golfer since the beginning of time: losing a game of leaderboard bingo.

Your humble blogger has two reactions, the first is to note how recent this concept of always knowing where you stand is in the history of our game.   If you read accounts of Bobby Jones or Ben Hogan you will quickly realize that the players had little understanding of what other players had done.

Perhaps the most famous example of this is Sam Snead coming to his final hole in the 1939 U.S. Open believing he needed a birdie to win.  He played the hole aggressively, found two bunkers, and made a triple-bogey.  Not only would a bogey have won it, but Snead never won an Open. But this was professional golf for its first 100 years until the age of television.

But the second point to make is that sometimes it doesn't matter.  In this case, he really only could play the shot the way he did (he got a bit lucky in how it bounced), both because of the water and to ensure that a playoff would be his worst possible outcome.

Gee, here's a tough question:

2. Dunlap had an impressive resume prior to this week, as just last summer he became the second golfer ever (joining Tiger Woods) to win both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Am. Now, with this win under his belt, is he the frontrunner to be the game’s next star?

Colgan: Yep. There’s been an awesome youth movement in the pro game over the last several years, but no one has entered the sport with more momentum than Dunlap. Hovland, Wolff, Morikawa, and Scheffler all entered with huge hype, but nobody’s quite done anything like this. We’re witnessing something seriously rare.

Sens: Agreed. It’s a fickle game and nothing is guaranteed. But as spectacular as this was, there was also nothing fluky about it. No reason to think there won’t be more if the same to come.

Bastable: Lol, he’s already a PGA Tour winner — who you gonna put ahead of him?! Speaking of Tiger, I loved what Dunlap said about how chasing Tiger’s records will motivate him: “I know that’s an extremely high bar, and I don’t know if that comes off really cocky or not, but for me that’s something.” Nobody’s expecting Dunlap to put up Woodsian numbers but you have to appreciate him setting the bar high for himself. Going to be very fun to track his development.

Any dolt answering in the negative would lose his journalism license, though the guy that should is the one that wrote the question.  First, we'll stipulate that the kid is a stud, but our TC panel can't bothered with the most pressing issue.... Anyone remember the final scene of the movie, The Candidate?

The American Express champion Nick Dunlap has a big decision to make – to turn pro or not to turn pro.

The first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991 is exempt on the PGA Tour through the 2026 season, so technically there’s no rush. But if he turns pro, he’s also exempt into the remaining seven signature events this season, several of which are limited field, no-cut events with purses of at least $20 million (as well as The Sentry in 2025). It’s a no-brainer for the Alabama sophomore, right?

And you probably thought you didn't need another reason to hate Tiger and Rory's money grab?  But you were misinformed...

But nothing is simple in this golf world right now..... who was the last amateur to win on Tour?  Anyone know where that guy is playing these days?

There is, of course, a wild card to be considered in all of this. There’s no doubt that LIV Golf will circle with a lucrative offer that will make him think twice about whether he wants to try to win a ring or have a bank account with Saudi-funded generational wealth.

During a virtual press conference I asked Dunlap if he or his representatives have been contacted by LIV, and if so, does he have any interest in competing in the league?

“As of right now I have no idea, I really don’t,” he said.

He shared that he is represented by GSE and agent Kevin Canning, who Dunlap said worked a deal for Jason Kokrak to go to LIV. GSE also represents Bryson DeChambeau and numerous of their clientele jumped to LIV for big bucks.

Another fine mess you've gotten us into, Jay!

Two last bits before we move on from Coachella.  First, the TC panel had this on the latest audition:

4. NBC’s lead analyst “tryout” continued at the American Express, this time with Brandel Chamblee getting his spot in the chair. What did you think of Brandel in that role? And was he different — for better or for worse — than the studio-analyst version golf fans are used to?

Colgan: I expanded on this further in the Hot Mic newsletter, but I was seriously impressed with

Brandel’s work. Made me feel smarter for watching, and rose to the moment following Dunlap’s win. I think he should be a serious consideration for the lead analyst chair.

Sens: Chamblee is better known for deep-dive pre and post-round analyses. But he was especially good at being Johnny-on-the-spot this week. His commentary was clear, concise and insightful throughout. You could say he benefited from being handed a great story. But, as they say of clutch golfers, he also met the moment. I say hire the man for the hot-seat role.

Bastable: Full disclosure: I was able to watch only on Sunday afternoon, but during that stretch Chamblee sounded prepared and at ease. I didn’t hear any vintage Chamblee analysis or candor that might make for Monday-morning blog-post fodder, but no doubt those nuggets would come if he gets tapped for the job.

I'm more than a little surprised that Brandel wants the gig.... Were I him, I think I'd would bitterly cling to the cushy studio and Live From gig.   Not sure I watched enough to trust my opinion, but he was fine.  He's a little prone to hyperbola, not least when he declared that a massive drive by DJ at Kapalua to be the best drive ever in a significant professional event.  Did I mention that it was at Kapalua?  One of these days I'll stop laughing....

A million dollar putt is almost a cliché for these entitle brats, but in this case it comes with a heck of a twist:

Christiaan Bezuidenout drains million-dollar putt on 72nd hole, claims first-place money for second-place finish

Are we at the point where we have to collectively agree on how to pronounce the guy's name?

Other Results -  The TC panel came up with quite the way of dissing the rest of the golf world, combining these two events into one meager question:

3. Who had the other most impressive, or important, finish on Sunday: Rory McIlroy, who won the Dubai Desert Classic after letting a different tournament title slip through the cracks a week earlier? Lydia Ko, who was winless on the LPGA Tour last year but won the season-opener on Sunday? Or Justin Thomas, who finished T3 at the AmEx, after he had just two top 5s all of last season?

Have our expectations for JT been so reduced that we're celebrating him coming within two strokes of a 20-year old kid that hasn't started shaving yet?  If I'm JT, I am royally pissed at that question...

Colgan: Rory! Who quickly flipped the narrative after last week’s struggles in Dubai into a conversation about how he’s had two top-2 finishes in two starts this year. But to your point, seeing both JT and Rory card some strong early-season finishes fuels some major optimism for the year ahead. I’m giddy.

Rory winning a meaningless event on a soft desert course flips your script?  Are you sure you're in the right line of work?  After the back-door top ten at the masters, this is Rory's signature move.

Sens: Call me biased, as Ko is my favorite golfer on any tour. But she had such a perplexingly poor 2023, coupled with caddie and swing coach changes. I’d argue that her return to the

winner’s circle is more striking than either Rory or JT’s play — Rory has long been hot and cold from one event to the next. And Thomas was showing signs of revival before this week.

Bastable: Yeah, a January win in the Middle East for Rory doesn’t exactly get my motor running. I’m with Sens. Ko is a huge asset for the women’s game, both on and off the course (she’s always elite in the press room), so her return to form is a big deal for the women’s game. Here’s hoping this week portends more success to come in ‘24.     

Of course it has to be Lydia, because of her potentially outsized importance to the LPGA (and the LPGA's greater need for visibility).  Plus, I still kinda have that thing for her, though I remain convinced that losing the glasses is when it all went bad for her.

The Road Ahead - Anyone have a clue as to what comes next?  Because we are in quite the weird interregnum, no?

Not gonna push myself too hard here, but the big news is the allegations that surfaced last week against the man of the hour, Yasir al-Rumayyan.  Eamon Lynch does with it what Eamon Lynch does:

During whatever passes for his quiet moments these days, Jay Monahan must yearn for the time when his news consumption was principally focused on the sports and business pages, those

being the areas most consequential to his remit as commissioner of the PGA Tour. Nowadays, he must also turn to international affairs, one assumes with a knot in his gut at what might await.

This week, one dispatch was downright ulcerative.

A lawsuit accused the Tour’s soon-to-be partner, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, of taking part in a malicious campaign to punish a dissident defector whose children have been imprisoned for four years without due process. Allegations leveled in lawsuits are often hyperbolic, of course. Many colorful claims evaporate when oaths are administered or are dismissed with something approximating derision by a court, at least in the case of one chap who seems to think that both jurisprudence and the rules of golf are matters of personal interpretation.

Why, is this a problem?  certainly I see a fit with Patrick Reed and Pat Perez..... as for Phil, by now they're soul mates.

Eamon actually provide more background on the participants:

On paper, Al-Rumayyan’s latest entanglement could be viewed as a squabble between stooges for a despotic government. His accuser is Dr Saad Aljabri, the former chief of Saudi intelligence. Aljabri claims that companies under Al-Rumayyan’s control have been used to apply pressure on his family, and it’s not the first time an asset in the PIF portfolio has been implicated in nefarious activity. A charter jet company seized by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and transferred to Al-Rumayyan’s fund was later alleged to have been used in the murder of Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi. There has been no suggestion that Al-Rumayyan was involved in that gruesome act, but there’s still reason for his business associates to be apprehensive.

Al-Rumayyan enjoys a reputation as a sophisticated, savvy dealmaker (his bankrolling of Greg Norman’s ego notwithstanding) but he’s like everyone else in Saudi Arabia’s state apparatus: a factotum for MBS. These are not people likely to demur if called upon to act on a matter close to the Crown Prince’s heart. There’s evidence of what MBS has been known to ask of loyalists — particularly those who have demonstrated proficiency with a bonesaw — so anyone who is in business with the Saudi fund can’t delay scanning the international news section until after they’re done with the funnies.

How lucky for them that no one is too despicable for the Patrick Cantlays of the world to cash their checks....

 I'm just going to keep copying-and-pasting Eamon's rant:

Whatever troublesome relationships the Tour has encountered in the past — say, a sponsoring bank that defrauds customers (Wells Fargo) or an occasional Ponzi schemer (Allen Stanford) — the wrongdoing wasn’t known in advance of contracts being signed. No blissful ignorance defense exists when it comes to the sovereign wealth fund of a government with a lousy human rights record. Nor does this situation mirror Saudi involvement in other sports, like F1 or cricket. There’s an enormous difference between sponsorship and ownership, and if agreement is reached with PIF, the U.S. and European tours — and the private investors of Strategic Sports Group — risk having to ‘own’ more than mere equity. Harvard Business School can’t teach one how to predict the perils of a direct relationship with an autocratic regime headed by a capricious prince who doesn’t take well to criticism. But then, it shouldn’t have to.

A blueprint exists in how to handle proximity to abuses, though. It has been furnished by the LIV golfers who slavishly refer to Al-Rumayyan as His Excellency, often shortened to “H.E.” in a hollow attempt to suggest familiarity that elevates them above serf status. The strategy is to brazen it out, prevaricate if questioned, insist the association is strictly commercial, and repeatedly point to other entities that also take Saudi investment. It works. The past few years have proven that revenue is exculpatory in the minds of many, based on the wretched assumption that everyone would overlook cruelties for cash if presented the option.

If a day arrives when Monahan is forced to explain his organization’s adjacency to another Saudi outrage, it shouldn’t be overlooked that this partnership wasn’t brought about by the imperial ambitions of executives in Ponte Vedra or Wentworth. It’s happening because the best players in the world feel entitled to compensation beyond their worth in any rational market. By presenting a ransom demand that only the Saudis will pay, golfers on the PGA Tour are forcing a deal that absolves them of individual decision-making responsibility. And if there’s a reputational price to be paid for that later, well, it’s like bad yardages or swing slumps. Someone else will take the fall.

But Eamon, you're forgetting the best part.  They're jumping into bed with the bonecutters after Tiger and Rory used the threat to carve the rank and file out of the vast riches.  Between the PIP program and the limited fields in the ultra-rich Signature Events, approximately twenty players have stake a preemptive claim on the Saudi riches, to fend off a threat that allegedly doesn't exist any longer.  So, why aren't we unwinding those arrangements?

That sound you hear is Rahm Emanuel asking, "Why didn't I think of this?"

Yanno that part above where Eamon says the players feel entitled to riches above and beyond their value?  here's their value:

No golf telecasts were in the top 100 sports broadcasts in 2023.

With 12.1 million viewers (golf's most-watched event), the final round of the Masters was the 131st-most-viewed sporting event: https://t.co/akRTR7xhPR

— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) January 5, 2024

That's the Masters, which dwarfs all other golf broadcasts.  I only wish we had been provided with the largest audience for an actual PGA Tour event, which might well not have been in the top 200.

Patrick and his wingmen simply refuse to be bound by economic reality..... and Jay isn't gonna let that get in the way of a deal.

Along these lines is this piece from Ewan Murray in the Guardian, the most interesting bits being the Saudi's investment in a Premiere League club:

In Newcastle, discourse surrounds whether Eddie Howe can retain his job or whether an injury crisis and the demands associated with Champions League football mean the manager has legitimately extenuating circumstances for a Premier League position of 10th. Just as well for Howe he isn’t dealing with ruthless overlords. Newcastle’s followers are audibly frustrated that financial fair play rules prevent the club from throwing even more money at players. Not even the Saudis can circumvent that.

The Premier League insisted it had “legally binding assurances” the kingdom of Saudi Arabia would not control Newcastle. Before peace broke out in golf, the Saudis argued Rumayyan and the fund he controls should be spared the giving of evidence during legal wrangling on the basis of sovereign immunity. Eyebrows were raised among some Premier League clubs but, in keeping to form, the matter basically disappeared. Let’s focus on VAR.

Remind you of anything?  Remember Jay's assurances that he would control everything?  The Saudis are, if he's to be believed, prepared to invest billons and not have any control..... Yanno, I was born in the morning, just not THIS morning.

That's it for today's' rant.  We'll have more as the week proceeds, though I'll make up the schedule as we go along.