Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Tuesday Tastings - Masters Hangover Edition

Often it's the second day f blogging that offers the deepest insights, though a quick pass through the major golf websites portends disappointment.  I guess the golfing press was focused on paying their taxes or consumed by the WNBA draft....

Let's see what we can come up with for you...

The Man In Green - Let's lead with ESPN's wrap up post:

Answering golf's biggest questions after Scottie Scheffler's Masters win

Big questions like Jason Day's vest?

The actually start with this one:

What's the ceiling for Scheffler?

This guy begins reasonably enough:

Schlabach: I honestly don't think Scheffler has a ceiling right now. Over the past two years, he has matured tremendously as a golfer. He admitted Sunday that playing golf will become less of a
priority after his wife, Meredith, gives birth to their first child later this month.

But Scheffler also said that he will always care deeply about winning golf tournaments -- almost wanting to win too much. I think capturing a second green jacket is confirmation that he's the best golfer in the world. He has won nine times since February 2022, but only one of them was at a major championship.

Now, he has won two green jackets. I don't think it's a question of whether Scheffler will win another major championship. It's a question of how many he's going to win and how long it's going to take him to pile them up.

But then the sound of his own voice becomes so intoxicating that he simply can't control his fingers on the keyboard....

Honestly, is it too early to talk about him winning a potential Grand Slam this season?

That's a hard YES!  The proper time to discuss Scottie's slam would be after he wins at Pinehurst, having also won at Valhalla.  But thanks for asking.

He is the best player in the world that just accomplished what I think may be the hardest thing n this maddening game, winning when you're expected to win.  That said, it's still golf, as the guy playing valet to Scottie in the above photo could attest.

We featured Ted Scott yesterday, who had this to say about teaming up with his new boss:

Scott had seen Scheffler play up close at the 2021 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where
Scheffler paired with Scott's old boss, Bubba Watson. And that was because nobody else wanted to play with Watson, according to Scheffler. A chance encounter, one might call it.

A few months later, Scott and Watson split, and Scheffler came calling. Scott's life has since changed in a big way, and he had no idea that would be the case when he took he job.

"When he called me, I had no idea he was that good," Scott said Sunday at Augusta National. "We [Scott and Bubba Watson] were his partner in New Orleans. I was like, yeah, he's a good player, and he's a great guy. I'd love to hang out with him.

"After two weeks, I was like, this guy is really good. Now it's like, wow, he is really good. I'm surprised, too."

This exchange from the 13th fairway was interesting:

Scott praised his boss' patience and his experience around Augusta National, though he did get a touch aggressive on the 13th hole when he didn't really need to. He was ahead by three strokes but decided to go for the green anyway from the rough. Naturally, he hit a piercing 4-iron to the safe side of the green and two-putted for birdie from 75 feet.

"He just seemed focused on doing Scottie Scheffler things," Scott said. "That's what he said on 13. He goes, should we go for it? I said, absolutely. Why don't we do what we do and what we're good at. He's the best ball striker in the world.

"He hit an unbelievable 4-iron, which is just incredible to that small target. Those targets seem big when you're caddieing for Scottie Scheffler. That's how good he is."

I wasn't so sure in the moment that was such a good call, but that's why he's the Augusta legend.....

I'll admit that I was hoping that Meredith would drop the kid yesterday, because how cool would it be to have your father win a Masters on your birthday.... But it's a grueling gauntlet after you win,. two green jacket ceremonies, multiple press availabilities and dinner with the members..... So, while we think he then rushed home to his bride....

We don't judge here at Unplayable Lies (Ed: Yeah, that's a good one), but does Scottie seem a dive bar kind of guy to you?

Mr. Shackelford does give Scottie his props, including this bit:

His power off the tee proved to be a noticeable asset on the weekend, but it’s his old-soul course management and self-confidence that carried the day. Scheffler joins legendary company as a two-time Masters champion by age 27: Nicklaus, Ballesteros and Woods.

But also has a bone or two to pick from the second hole:

The only blemish to his week was another concerning bout with the spirit of the rules. A subset of our world admires someone who stretches the boundaries of decorum in a quest for victory, but
Scheffler’s second hole issues Sunday probably should have been more closely scrutinized by tournament officials and CBS. Scheffer dropped forward from a crosswalk after what looked like another tense conversation with an official. Then, after airmailing the green, he failed to consult his playing partner or an official after possibly causing his ball to oscillate after persistent club grounding behind the ball. The patrons absolved him but they are not running the tournament. As with his 18th hole incident in 2022, the second hole situation highlighted Scheffler’s pushy persistence with officials and a disappointing lack of concern for how disappointing his spirit-pushing behavior comes across.

Don't know what to do with that rant.  I saw the drop and reacted similarly, though I didn't catch the interaction with the rules official.  As for the action behind the green, I'm with Geoff that this banging of clubs behind their balls has to come to an end.  I'm clueless as to why he would do that on a tight Augusta lie, though it simply can't be a Patrick Reed-inspired attempt to improve his lie.... But, Geoff, if all his ball did was oscillate, why is that a problem?

Men Not In Green - Not a good week for the LIVsters, much to your humble blogger's pleasure.  This item covers how each of the baker's dozen finished, including these five lost souls:

Missed cut: 6 over and worse

Sergio Garcia: 7 over

Bubba Watson: 10 over

Charl Schwartzel: 11 over

Dustin Johnson: 13 over

Adrian Meronk: 14 over

Folks are most surprised by DJ, though should they really be?   Don't know if you caught any of Sergio, but he had it coming just for those yellow pants on Thursday....  In fact, he owes Jason Day a thank you note.  His play makes this tweet look silly, as do the shorts:

The glass-half-full reaction is that the fledgling tour had two guys finish T6, which isn't so awfully bad.  The official Unplayable Lies reaction is that the best LIV could do was nine strokes off the winning score..... that doesn't sound as good, does it?

The serious issue is one we discussed last year, does the LIV schedule properly prepare these guys for the big events?  I made the case back then, but Phil, Brooks and Reed made my arguments seem weak.  But let's flip back to that ESPN item, specifically their assessment of the week's losers:

Uggetti: Several golfers finished below Jon Rahm this week, but plenty of golfers finished above him, too, including Scheffler, who beat Rahm by 20 shots. As a defending Masters champion, it's never easy to be the one who has to put the green jacket on the winner knowing full well you did not retain it.

But for Rahm, the dilemma goes beyond Butler Cabin. He showed up to Augusta having played less golf in the lead-up than any other year because of his departure to LIV Golf. It was unclear how much his game would suffer, if at all, from playing in 54-hole events and not tournaments like the Genesis Invitational, where he had also won in 2023.

Rahm looked sluggish, never seeming to find the ideal form to compete, let alone contend. It's difficult to repeat as a Masters champion, but it's also not a great sign that Rahm will leave Augusta and have to wait a week before heading to Australia and Singapore to play against worse fields in order to get ready for the next major in mid May.

The man doesn't seem very happy, does he?  And how about this hot take:

The Spaniard’s dire performance led to a withering take-down from respected Daily Mail journalist Oliver Holt, who wrote: “He played his final round wearing the air of a man who is beginning to realise he has made a horrible mistake. He was the king of the world and all of golf stretched out before him, waiting to be conquered. And then he sabotaged it all.

“He ruined his legacy by turning his back on mainstream golf at the height of his powers and joining a tour with a 54-hole format, where the lack of intensity seems to have left Rahm singularly unprepared for a return to the demands of more competitive golf.”

One of the amusing side notes to this is the acute sensitivity of the LIVsters to perceived slights, as if their rejection of the Tour that made them fabulously wealthy shouldn't affect them.  Interesting theory, but even this guy is whining about microaggressions:


"Yes, I have noticed hostile attitudes," Rahm said. "But I expected it, my friends have continued
to be my friends, but some with whom I had a very cordial relationship have not even looked at my face."

Rahm gave no indication of who he was referring to. Though one man we can definitely rule out is Scottie Scheffler, who Rahm was chuckling with during the green jacket ceremony following Scheffler's victory. No ill will there, it would appear.

Rahm says he was much more surprised by who it was that iced him as opposed to the icing in general.

"If someone changes their opinion [of me] it's your issue, not mine," he said. "I knew what was going to happen but I didn't know who."

I told you we would end up hating all these guys....  He sticks a shiv in their back and still expects them to adore him...Good luck with that.

But, gee, he gets iced by unnamed PGA Tour members, so wouldn't your first guess be the Artist Formerly Known as Patty Ice?

The writer of the El Mundo article, Hugo Costa, alluded to the fact that Rahm did have a "good relationship" with both Max Homa and Patrick Cantlay prior to leaving for LIV and that those two "could have had gestures of contempt" toward the Spaniard at the Masters. Rahm did not call out anyone by name.

To me, the funniest part of this is that the whine was apparently only for a Spanish audience..... Do they know we have the Internet? 

Did you catch Greg Norman's appearance in the gallery on Thursday and Friday?  Funny that he wasn't to be seen over the weekend, when his guys went South, but it gives Eamon Lynch a chance to review some history:

For nigh on 40 years, numbers have had a painful way of exposing Greg Norman’s shortcomings at Augusta National. Some have been small, like the 5 he carded on the last hole in 1986 to finish runner-up. Or the six bogeys he made in the final round a year later on his way to finishing runner-up. Or the 11-shot swing he authored in ’96 that turned a six-stroke lead into a five-shot defeat as he finished … well, you know.

A cheap shot perhaps, but he certainly has it coming... But more numbers as well:

Each competitor in the field at the Masters gets eight passes to be used for family, friends and
hangers-on, though Augusta National sets some parameters on who they may be used for. Players also have the option to purchase four additional badges. With 13 LIV golfers competing this week, that represents dozens of opportunities for one of them to bring their boss to the tournament as thanks for allowing them to grow the game.

Ridley knew that Norman couldn’t be trusted if admitted, that a man prone to grandstanding and grievances would likely use the Masters to platform his pettiness. This year has proved those fears justified.

The Great White Pilot Fish told the Washington Post that he’s here to support his guys. “I’m here because we have 13 players that won 10 Masters between them,” he said. “I’m here just to support them, do the best I can to show them, ‘Hey, you know, the boss is here rooting for you.’”

Yet none of those thirteen had a ticket to spare for the boss?  Curious.

But Eamon seems to think him a stalker:

For three straight days, Norman has appeared at Augusta National wearing his trademark straw hat, doing all he can to ensure he is noticed. And he wants to be noticed by one man in particular. On Wednesday and Thursday, he rode the rope line in view of Rory McIlroy, one of his more vocal and consistent critics. Even if McIlroy wasn’t in pursuit of the career grand slam, Norman would be about as welcome in his field of vision as glaucoma. Norman knows this, yet has opted to act as the unofficial troll of the Masters.

Perhaps we'll get to Rory later, but Norman on the rope line reeks of desperation, no?  I've been critical of Tiger and Rory for calling out Norman on the grounds that they're punching down.  Norman is irrelevant in my opinion, a figurehead that is best ignored.... Perhaps Eamon should have ignored him as well. 

One last LIV bit, also from Eamon Lynch, with an unlikely premise:

Lynch: Where have you gone Patrick Reed? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you!

Not just the nation Eamon, but the whole bloody world.

This 88th Masters is again serving as a canary in golf’s coal mine, this time by highlighting what is missing. Which is friction, villainy, antagonism, jerks.

Wry observers and social media commandoes will say there’s plenty of the above, but what
matters is where it manifests. The PGA Tour’s boardroom is fertile terrain, for example, but behind-the-scenes bickering isn’t core to the product. Inside the ropes, men’s professional golf has become a drama lacking compelling characters. In a sport that we’re told is struggling, an astonishing number of people are actually getting better off — players, agents, executives, bot farmers. Only the fans are making do with less. A lot less.

Only one LIV player has been competitively relevant so far at Augusta National, but competitiveness is immaterial to entertainment and engagement. Bryson DeChambeau ranks among the most polarizing players the sport has ever produced, simultaneously admirable in his devotion to the craft, endearing (almost) in his absence of self-awareness, and exasperating in his buffoonery. His presence is additive to the proceedings. His presence on the leaderboard is a bonus.

The same applies to Patrick Reed, who has taken a break this week from legal combat. And to Brooks Koepka, softened some by fatherhood but still exuding a carefully cultivated air of pouty menace. Even to Sergio Garcia. Last week he posted to social media a photo with LIV guys and a caption stating, “We’re coming for that green jacket,” only to find himself closer to a straitjacket after finishing the second round bogey-bogey-bogey-double bogey to miss the cut by one.

There's something to this argument, though I find it so amusing how all the a*****es jumped.

But I think Eamon is burying the lede here.  Isn't the real problem that we now also hate the guys that stayed behind?   The aggressive sense of entitlement and the exclusion of so many of their peers from the money grabs puts the lie to it being a game for gentlemen.

Men Not In Green, Ever - Could our Rory have had a worse week?  OK, maybe it was all about seeing Norman stalking him, but those Friday winds exposed Rory and the profound shortcomings of his game.  He drives it like a God, but the closer he gets the greens the more he resembles youre humble blogger.

Those ESPN guys had these thoughts, starting with the guy that's conceded the Slam to Scottie:

Is Rory ever going to complete the career Grand Slam?

Schlabach: I'm still a believer in Rory finally winning a green jacket and becoming only the sixth men's golfer to complete the career Grand Slam in the Masters era. I don't think his performance
at Augusta National was a result of him buckling under pressure or wanting a green jacket too much. His current form just isn't great, and he knows it.

McIlroy carded a 1-under 71 in the first round and a 6-over 77 in the second. He didn't play well in the windy conditions, but he wasn't the only one who struggled. He has just one top-10 finish in seven tour events, so his results weren't great coming into Augusta National.

After Sunday's round, McIlroy said he was confident he can turn things around before he plays the final three majors. He's scheduled to play in this week's RBC Heritage and with Shane Lowry in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event April 25-28. It sounds like Rory is going to keep grinding to figure things out.

"Yeah, probably not the right time to be analytical at the moment, but I think as well if you're really going to make wholesale changes it's hard to play a lot of golf and make them at the same time," McIlroy said.

"I don't feel like I need to make wholesale changes. That's why I'm playing a lot. But if the time comes that I need to make wholesale changes with my golf swing and really try to reassess, it could be a six-month to a year process. ... I don't think I'm there yet, but there may come a time where I need to address that and really go back to the drawing board."

So, Dear Reader, which is lamer?  Rory's denial or Schlabach's blind acceptance thereof?  It's bene ten long years in the desert and he continues to play his worst when he wants it the most, so keep on keeping on.  I continue to over-interpret the childhood bets friend on the bag, but you'd think he'd feel some urgency one of these days, no?

Uggetti: Everything about McIlroy's experience and talent indicates that he will win another major. Whether it can be at Augusta is a whole other question.

As the four-time major winner talked about this week, he has tried almost every different approach coming into the Masters -- arriving early, arriving late -- and though he has done everything from finish in the top-10 to miss the cut the past few years, he has yet to come close to winning.

"All I can do is come here and try my best," McIlroy said after his 1-under round Saturday. "That's what I do every time I show up. Some years it's better than others. I've just got to keep showing up and try to do the right thing."

Though McIlroy leaves Augusta with a tie for 22nd, there are several opportunities this year for him to add to his major total. He heads to Valhalla for the PGA Championship next, the site of his last major win in 2014. Familiarity hasn't done much for McIlroy at Augusta -- or elsewhere for that matter -- but his game is simply too good to not result in another major.

I'm curious to see how McIlroy approaches Augusta next year after another disappointing result. Will he play more? Will he play less? Will he see another swing coach? Or can he simply stay the course? This year, McIlroy was a firsthand witness to how Scheffler was able to conquer Augusta for the second time in three years.

McIlroy needs only one, but perhaps the key would be winning a major before Augusta. Of course, that's easier said than done, but if McIlroy can win at Valhalla or Pinehurst or Royal Troon, maybe some of the pressure surrounding this week can dissipate and allow him to freely chase after the coveted fourth major on his résumé.

I'm laughing at how bad these guys are at their job.  Everything about his experience says he'll win another major, except that he keeps playing like crap in them.  For, yanno, a decade now....  Did you see him at Portrush?  

His point in that last 'graph is interesting.  I agree that perhaps heading into Augusta '25 would be easier with another pelt, I just view it as a low-probability event.  But, if you think he could grab one of the next three, to me there's one that's the obvious fit.  Which is why I find this really strange:

Against perhaps better judgment, I'll pick McIlroy to win The Open at Royal Troon Golf Course in Scotland on July 18-21. McIlroy's major drought will be nearly 10 years long by then -- he last won at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla -- and it has to end at some point.

He tied for fifth at Royal Troon in 2016 and for sixth at Royal Liverpool during Brian Harman's breakthrough major win in July 2023. He tied for fifth at the 2016 Open at Royal Troon and had two top-six finishes in the past two Opens.

Perhaps?  Did you not see Rory in the wind on Friday?  Have you ever been to the West Coast of Scotland?

If Rory were to win one of these, to me it's the next one that jumps out.  Les because of 2014, than because it's got the best possibility of being in Rory's sweet spot, low wind and soft.  Obviously were the event still in August, I'd like his chances far more.

But that takes second place to this prediction:

As far as the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina on June 13-16, I'll go with Norway's Viktor Hovland, the reigning FedEx Cup champion. I know his game was a mess at the Masters, but his game sets up perfectly for Pinehurst No. 2. Hovland hits the ball long and accurately off the tee, and he's one of the best ball strikers in the world with an iron in his hand. There's plenty of time for him to get his form back in order before the U.S. Open.

Really?  

Let me know how that pick works out for you....

I will have to leave you here, as breakfast is being served.  I'll will likely skip tomorrow and see what Thursday brings us.   

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