Thursday Themes - Slow News Cycle Edition

I'm at the keyboard and raring to go, if only there were a bone upon which to gnaw....  Join me for some table scraps?

Price Check in Aisle Four - This one should come with an irony alert, not least because of that People's Country Club thing:

Have the people been priced out of “The people’s country club?” That is the general worry on social media after ticket prices for next year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, revealed earlier this

year, went viral. Golf Twitter can be a tough crowd, yet this wasn’t just a few amplified voices manufacturing a controversy, as the subject became one of the trending topics on both X and Google trends Monday. We do our best to sort the Ryder Cup mess out below.

Wait, what Ryder Cup controversy?

The uproar began when No Laying Up’s Kevin Van Valkenburg posted a screenshot of the daily badge prices for the 2025 Ryder Cup. He amplified it by writing: “I would like to go on the record now and say that if Europe wins the Ryder Cup at Bethpage because the crowds were turned into a polite snooze fest like LACC by the insane ticket prices, it's going to go down as a massive own goal.” That would be a nod to the infamous turnout at last year’s U.S. Open, where tight confines and a persnickety Los Angeles Country Club membership limited the allotment of general admission tickets to fans, leading to one of the quieter galleries in recent major history. But this time it’s not topography or a club keeping the public out, but potentially the cost. Entry for one of the event’s three days of competition starts at $750 per person, with practice days tagged at $255.

First, that's quite the hefty price tag for remarkably little golf action, especially on Friday and Saturday.  I've long been worried about this very event, because of the anticipated unruly crowds combined with all-day alcohol and no golf to watch, but perhaps the PGA of America has it all under control....

I've been reliably informed by the Vice President that inflation is transitory and a high-class problem:

That, uh, seems high?

Also correct. Using last year’s Ryder Cup as context, general admission tickets into Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy were between €50 ($52.97) and €60 ($63.56) for the practice days, €250 ($264.83) for Friday and Saturday tickets and €260 ($275.42) for Sunday. Yes, New York is a big market, but it’s not like Rome is a particularly small town.

This won't make it look any more reasonable either:

How does that compare with other golf events?

It’s on the expensive end of the spectrum. Masters badges—inarguably the gold standard for golf tournament experiences in the United States—cost $140 per tournament day and $100 for practice rounds. The USGA is charging $60 to $85 for practice-round tickets at next year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont, with general admission on tournament days ranging from $150 to $200. Last year’s Open Championship at Royal Troon averaged around €100 for tournament days. As for the PGA Championship (which, like the Ryder Cup, is run by the PGA of America), next year’s tickets for tournament days clock in at $219, although that does include food and drink.

But on a per shot basis?  At those majors you'll see 156 guys playing 18 holes.... at the Ryder Cup you'll see....well, twelve golf shots.

To this point I've deliberately elided the bigger irony, to wit, the last three years have been about creating compensation for Patrick Cantlay above the level the golf ecosystem can support, which one assumes ultimately turns into higher TV rights fees and ticket prices.  It's just, what's the word, ironic, 
that this should arise at that one event where the guys don't get paid....

This will only reignite the Ryder Cup’s player-payment debate, won’t it?

Absolutely. It was just last year that reports surfaced that American players questioned whether there should be payment for participation in the event (currently, players don’t receive money for competing but each is given $200,000 to donate to charities of their choosing). In the wake of Xander Schauffele reportedly being threatened with dismissal from the U.S. team over issues with the player benefit agreement, his father Stefan Schauffele said the topic of payment for players was worth having a “meaningful conversation about.” Considering major golf events are run by a free workforce of volunteers and the changing landscape of name, image and likeness usage in American sports, the 2025 ticket prices will only give more fodder to critics that the PGA of America may need to start sharing the massive amounts of profit its make from the biennial match.

God, I love golf journalists!  How could you possible cover the controversy over payments at the Rome Ryder Cup and mention Xander but not Patrick?   Just a reminder, he was that guy without a hat.... Perhaps you might remember why?

Let's see how he does here:

What’s the defense?

So far, the PGA of America has not commented about the prices since the debate became heated. If we had to make an argument (and to be clear, it’s not one we’re taking a side on), there is demand for an event that only comes to this country three days every four years. Yes, the Ryder Cup is expensive compared to other golf tournaments, but against other premier spectacles—say, the Super Bowl or a Taylor Swift concert—the prices are about in-line with the market. Of course, the Super Bowl drew 130 million audience last year compared to the Ryder Cup’s 3.4 million, so maybe not the best comparison.

Shall we see how he did?

Ryder Cup championship director doubles down on ticket prices after controversy: 'We view ourselves as a Tier 1 event

I think the Ryder Cup is a Tier 1 event, though he might be indicating that the PGA Championship belongs in a lower tier....Good to know.

On Wednesday, the PGA of America's Bryan Karns went on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio to discuss the ticket pricing for the biennial event, which will return to the United States at Bethpage Black next fall. Speaking with Taylor Zarzour, Karns, the Championship Director at the PGA, not only defended the prices—$255 for a practice day, $750 for a competition day, to be clear—he essentially doubled down on them, saying that the demand for the event is at an all-time high.

"We view ourselves as a Tier 1 event that's on par with a World Series, or with an NBA Finals Game 7," Karns said. "That was a part of it. So when we look at pricing, we're able to tap into data from all these different venues.

"We're able to see, 'what do people pay?'" Karns continued. "So that really drove this, too. Again, our position in this landscape [is] where do we see ourselves? I think that's the reality. There are people who have the Ryder Cup on their bucket list in the same way that someone would have a Yankees opening game World Series on their bucket list. Ultimately, we felt like that's where we are. The demand is at an all-time high for this event, so we wanted to make sure we priced it appropriately."

There's logic to the argument, and their argument is buttressed by the assumption that they'll sell all their ticket inventory, but the argument still leaves me cold.  Those World Series and Super Bowl comps are for an assigned seat that allows one to see every second of the event.  What does the sap who pays $750 for a Friday ticket at Bethpage actually see?  Shockingly little, which seems like it should matter....

But Van Valkenbug is pointing to a potential further irony, that justifying these ticket prices by comparing it to a Super Bowl might result in a Super Bowl crowd, which are notoriously quieter by virtue of being neutral sites.  Mind you, there is no way the Euros are going to win this, but it would make your humble blogger laugh if the PGA of America allowed their greed to impair the evnt.

The Peter Principle - Guys are kicked upstairs all the time, but surely not this guy, right?  Wrong, and please stop calling me Shirley:

Greg Norman’s tenure as the CEO of LIV Golf has been a tumultuous one as the 20-time PGA

Tour winner and former world No. 1 has butted heads with numerous organizations, made outlandish claims about the league’s ascension and even had him showing up at major events with tickets from a secondary market.

But according to a new report from Sports Business Journal, the Saudi-based league is working behind the scenes to find a replacement for Norman as CEO, even though the two-time British Open champ could be retained in senior leadership.

According to SBJ, Norman has remained in decent favor with the ownership group, so he could still be used in a multitude of roles in the future.

Tumultuous would seem the least of it,  I might have called it a billion dollar failure.  Not that it's Greg's fault, as he was always a  figurehead.  He served them well only in the sense that he attracted some of the stray voltage, inducing Tiger and Rory to punch down.  But it's all inconsequential, as all important decisions were made above his pay grade.

The bigger issue is whether they'd be casting him aside as part of a rapprochement with the PGA Tour.  Stay tuned....

Dylan's Wish List - Dylan Dethier had some fun bits in his weekly Monday Finish column, that will sustain me through this post, including this big question:

ONE BIG QUESTION

Where should the PGA Tour go next?

Now that the Tour has checked off Utah for the first time in six decades, which uninhabited states should it visit next? Factoring in venues, crowds, proximity to golf-hungry populations and personal bias, here are five…

Honorable mention: Illinois. I’m not including the Land of Lincoln because the John Deere is technically in Silvis, Ill. every July — but that’s a different Illinois than the Chicago area, which was terrific as BMW Championship host last summer and should have a Tour event more frequently.

 5. Alaska

What, like you wouldn’t watch the Yukon Challenge? Bring in David McLay-Kidd to design TPC Matanuska Glacier, leave your mark as the best golf course in Alaska, tee off any time you want…

 4. Pennsylvania

Next year’s Truist (the artist formerly known as the Wells Fargo) is coming to Philly Cricket Club next summer, which should serve as a proper litmus test. In my mind greater Philadelphia is ideal for a golf tournament — a blend of well-to-do Main-Liners and ungovernable Eagles fans? Sure! — so let’s make it happen.

 3. Wisconsin

Let’s tap into the ghost of the Greater Milwaukee Open and take advantage of elite golf by the lake.

 2. Washington

I’ll make no attempt to hide this list’s bias; I live in Seattle and I’m from (spoiler alert) Massachusetts. But it’s time the Tour returns to Chambers Bay. Amazon, Microsoft, T-Mobile — let’s make it happen!

 1. Massachusetts

Okay, let’s talk full vision. I may expand on this for a future piece, but the simple version: Memphis and East Lake are fine Tour venues but they should be in the spring, not the summer. August in the Southeast is humid and lifeless. The Tour’s three playoff events should rotate as follows:

Playoff Event I: The West. I’m talking Chambers Bay (Wash.), Castle Pines (Colo.), Pebble Beach (Calif.) etc.

Playoff Event II: The Midwest. This is where Wisconsin and Chicago come in. Whistling Straits or Erin Hills (Wisc.), Olympia Fields or Medinah (Ill.), maybe even Crooked Stick (Ind.)? Okay, that sounds hot and humid, too, but you see where I’m going. 

Playoff Event III: The Northeast. Let’s ping from Greater Boston to Long Island to Philadelphia and back, one every three years, constant rotation. This is your new Tour Championship. Does this ignore all existing big-time sponsorships tying the TC to Atlanta and East Lake? Sure it does. But that, for our purposes here, is not my concern. See you at The Country Club!

Yeah, but they're so damn insane in Ponte Vedra Beach, that I almost hate to take on this subject.

You have to start with that which I think is the peak insanity:

1. The Tour has abandoned many major markets, including New York City, Boston and Chicago.  I think Dylan would have been better served to think in terms of markets as opposed to sates, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are very different places it goes without saying.  Specifically, in slimming the FedEx Cup from four to three events they left New York and Boston, which makes little sense to this observer.
2. If you're going to conduct your season-ending event in Augusta, is Atlanta and Memphis really the best you can do?  I used to joke about the PGA of America taking their August PGA Championship to such places so that we could have the pleasure of seeing Tim Herron in a sweaty golf shirt, but this is no better.

It's great of Dylan to reimagine it, but no one is home.

Dylan's second bit is on the rampaging Danes, something I'm familiar with from Scotland, where there are all sorts of memories (including a stone wall on the Craighead Links at Crail):

And then, from our latest segment of “confusing Viking-esque names”: At the French Open, Rasmus Hojgaard finished T13 at 10 under par. You may have heard of Rasmus; he’s a young, talented Danish pro with five DP World Tour wins including one over Rory McIlroy at last month’s Irish Open. You may have also heard of his twin brother, Nicolai Hojgaard, who made it onto last year’s European Ryder Cup team and played the PGA Tour this season. Nicolai finished one shot behind his brother in T18 at 9 under par.

But get this: two other Danes finished at 9 under alongside Nicolai. The first is Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen. The second is Niklas Norgaard. What’s the point? There isn’t one, really, except that Rasmus Hojgaard is a different guy than Rasmus Neergard and Nicolai Hojgaard is a different guy than Niklas Norgaard. Hojgaards and Neergards and Norgaards everywhere you look. Nicolai is already on the PGA Tour; Rasmus H. and Niklas N. are likely to join him there next year. Buckle up, American broadcasters.

What's the over-under for the number of Danes at Bethpage?  

That's it for this week.  Go Yanks and have a great weekend. 

Weekend Wrap - Dog Days of October Edition

OK, the timing isn't perfect, as I recommit to regular blogging just as golf news asymptotically approaches zero...  Lemonade, anyone?

Black Desert Blues - Despite those winter datelines in these pages, I know very little about the state of Utah, and had never previously heard of the place:

Matt McCarty just keeps winning, no matter the tour.

The 26-year-old former Santa Clara University golfer smashed his drive within 3 feet of the hole at

the drivable par-4, 14thgreen at Black Desert Resort to set up an eagle en route to posting a final-round 4-under 67 on Sunday and win the inaugural Black Desert Championship in Ivins, Utah.

“I knew if I played well this week after last week then I could maybe have a chance but to do it like this? I don’t know how you could expect this, to be honest,” he said.

McCarty won three times in a span of six events on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn a promotion to the PGA Tour and in just his second start in the big leagues, he returned to the winner’s circle with a 72-hole total of 23-under 261 and a three-shot victory over Stephan Jaeger.

Quite the heater McCarty has been on, though the field was such that this isn't much more than a KF win, though it most certainly paid better (and comes with a ticket to Augusta).  How bad was the field?  Per Geoff:

The first PGA Tour visit Utah in 61 years featured just two players ranked in the world top 15 and only 18 of the top 100. Utah’s best golfer—Tony Finau—passed citing his assistant coaching duties at the PGA Junior League Championship.

It's late October and they're up against the NFL AND the MLB League Championship series, so what's the point?   As for the venue?  Good to see them breaking the mold a bit, though not sure this is exactly the model.....  Why?

Guess how many penalties the lava caused in Black Desert Championship. Hint: It's over 200!

As stunning and otherworldly as the scenery is at the Black Desert Resort in Utah, it likely wasn’t

the red rock hills as a backdrop or the Tom Weiskopf-designed layout that convinced the PGA Tour to stage a tournament there before a single public round had ever been played. It was all about the black lava rock that flowed around the edge of nearly every green and fairway, presenting a test that most tour players hadn’t seen before.

Just don’t tell the guys who got stuck in the lava to agree that it was a thing of beauty. The lava essentially played like a water hazard, with few balls being playable once they entered. The lucky ones were able to take an unplayable lie and drop their ball within two club lengths—as McCarty did in saving a bogey at the 10th on Saturday. There were hard luck stories like that of Sam Ryder, whose approach went so deep into a black hole near the 18th green in the third round that he had to return to his original spot in the fairway.

The lava rock kept PGA Tour rules officials speeding around in carts with their walkie-talkies. Responding to an inquiry from Golf Digest, tour media officials said there were a combined 203 penalties caused by lava or lost ball circumstances during the four rounds. (Those categories are coded the same.) That number did not include water penalty drops on three holes at Black Desert. There were 65 rulings in Round 1 and 56 in Round 2 when the field was 132. There were 33 in Round 3 and 49 in Round 4 after 69 golfers made the cut.

And, as night follows day:

As for the Black Desert Championship’s debut?

The lava-lined course looked interesting enough even if bunkers and cart paths were sometimes indiscernable in the late light. More concerning: pace of play went to places that even the worst cynic could never fathom for a PGA Tour-run event where slow play penalties are outlawed.

The Black Desert was unable to finish either the first or second round on time even without weather issues.

Sunday’s final round was played in twosomes but somehow took the leaders four hours and fifty minutes to play 18 holes.

Twosomes!

As Geoff notes, McCarty is the kind of story that golf can produce, though we done much to inhibit the opportunities of such young players in recent years:

I’d even go further and say McCarty’s gradual rise is just the kind of story that built the PGA Tour and is more likely to create longer careers. There is also genuine fan satisfaction found by investing in a largely unheralded college golfer who steadily progresses before achieving extreme success. Stories like McCarty make more people appreciate the value of the Tour’s meritocracy. The same model now under threat in response to LIV’s limited-field, no-cut, rich-get-richer drabness.

While a nice golfer at Santa Clara, the left-handed McCarty was hardly the product of any AJGA mills or elite university programs where practice takes priority over studying.

After qualifying for PGA Tour Canada in 2021, McCarty graduated to the Korn Ferry Tour where he made 16 of 25 cuts to finish 55th in 2022. He then made 12 of 16 cuts to finish 35th in 2023 and, as can happen in this silly game, McCarty found a new gear in 2024 when he made 21 of 25 cuts on his way to ten winds and nine top 10’s.

With his win in Utah, McCarty became the second player to win on the PGA Tour in the same season after earning the “Three-Victory Promotion. ” It was the Battlefield Promotion when Jason Gore accomplished a similar feat in 2005 at the 84 Lumber Classic.

Winning in just his fourth PGA Tour start means McCarty joins less-than elite company —Seve excluded—in “fewest starts before first PGA Tour win (since 1970)”:

1 – Jim Benepe (1988 BMW Championship)

2 – Garrick Higgo (2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree)

3 – Bob Gilder (1976 WM Phoenix Open), Seve Ballesteros (1978 Wyndham Championship), Russell Henley (2013 Sony Open in Hawaii), Matt McCarty (2024 Black Desert Championship)

The win is also McCarty’s fourth in his last 10 combined starts.

Just a reminder that the powers that be tell us we have no interest in the professional growth of a player such as McCarty, and that the entire professional game needs to be organized around, checking notes, Patrick Cantlay.  So, back to football for us all.

Autumn Blues - Rory has a sad on, according to an interview with The Scotsman:

In the interview, McIlroy did express confidence in the Tour and PIF coming to an agreement on a PIF investment in PGA Tour Enterprises soon. But he also sowed doubt that any potential merger between the Tour and LIV Golf was imminent.

“I think by year’s end, whether the Public Investment Fund will invest in PGA Tour Enterprises… that doesn’t solve the problem of where we find ourselves in golf, the schedule and everything,” McIlroy told The Scotsman.

He went on to explain that he thinks the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, and the star players split between them, will continue on their own paths for years, with only occasional events featuring players from both tours competing against each other.

“I think all tours are going to keep trucking along and doing their own thing for the foreseeable future and I think the best thing we can maybe hope for is a bit of crossover between them,” McIlroy said. “Then maybe while that is happening over that period of time, whether it be one year, two years, three years, just trying to figure out the rest.”

It's OK, Rory.  Since we're not watching in any event, it doesn't really matter who might be playing....

Ever the deep thinker, Rory puts his finger on the very problem:

McIlroy also revealed that while there is positive momentum toward a deal on both sides, one thing in particular is getting in the way of an agreement: lawyers.

“I think there is a willingness there from all parties to try and get it to happen but you’ve got tons of lawyers in the middle of it,” McIlroy claimed.

Sure, Rory, you guys had things completely under control until the lawyers got involved....  Sheesh!

The Tour Confidential panel picked up on this subject, but without advancing the ball much:

In an interview with The Scotsman, Rory McIlroy said it was likely LIV golfers and PGA Tour golfers would keep “doing their own thing for the foreseeable future.” The interview followed some interesting pairings at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship where McIlroy played with both PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan. What do you make of McIlroy’s assessment?

Josh Sens: It comes across as confirmation of what has seemed apparent for a while now: the two

are moving in separate orbits, with little intention of overlapping except for the occasional major and televised stunt event. The Tour, it seems, is comfortable enough with its private cash infusion that it can keep on keeping on for the time being. And LIV, which doesn’t need the money and likely never will, can do the same. None of this is especially good news for fans, but they’ve never been treated as the top priority in any of this anyway.

Zephyr Melton: Bad news for those who want to see a unified professional game in the near future. Here’s to hoping things can get sorted out sooner rather than later. Every passing year with a fractured game does more damage — and the fans are the biggest losers.

Dylan Dethier: It’s impossible to out-bleak those two answers, so let’s talk process. As I understand it, the Saudi PIF’s involvement with the PGA Tour would start with an investment in PGA Tour Enterprises, the Tour’s new for-profit wing. Then, with the gradual approval of the Department of Justice, things could (theoretically, depending on the cooperation of several important parties) eventually tick in the direction of unification. But yeah, we’re not on the brink of resolution, I don’t think.

Obviously Josh and Zephyr couldn't be bothered reading the Rory interview, as he seems to think there's a financing deal near at hand.  That said, the operation issues of making LIV go away seems interesting, as does the operation of Liv while the Justice Department reviews an application (could their TV ratings go any lower?).  Also of interest and perhaps greater importance, no one seems interested in considering whose Justice Department will be conducting the review.

Dylan is the only one of the three to remotely consider the weird environment in which these two tours might operate....  Could actually make it all worse, concentrating golf's fans even more on those four events.

With profound implications for this event as well:

The next Ryder Cup may be nearly a year away, but you wouldn’t know at this week’s press conference with captains Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald. One of the more surprising learnings was that Donald was in contact with European legend and LIV Golfer Sergio Garcia, who is apparently considering rejoining the DP World Tour in hopes of being able to play at Bethpage next fall. Use your glass ball, will Garcia and other LIV golfers like Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton be on the European team next September?

Sens: Rory McIlroy said he hopes that Rahm will be eligible, and you’ve got to bet enough other powerful voices in the game feel the same that it will happen. We should all hope it does. Makes for a better competition, and if nothing else, golf fans deserve a few days of Sergio Garcia playing in front of hostile New York crowds–assuming Donald deems the state of Sergio’s game–or his Ryder Cup history–justification enough for the pick.

Melton: Hatton and Rahm need to be on the team for the Euros to put out their most competitive team, but I’m not as sold on Segio. He’s still playing some decent golf, but as the European team showed last summer, they’ve got lots of young talent they can lean on. Perhaps he will be a part of the team as an assistant captain?

Dethier: Rahm will be there. Hatton will be there. Sergio has been playing pretty well on LIV (and played well at Pinehurst) so it’s not out of the question. I’m not sure which other LIV pros would be in contention on the European side — Paul Casey? Richard Bland?!? — but to Sens’ point, if Garcia was upset with the unregulated crowds at Open Championship qualifying this summer, Bethpage would be a fascinating cauldron to drop him into…

Sergio could not have put more effort into effing both tours on his way out the door, so if he's not persona non grata, I don't know who should be.  But Rory doesn't hesitate in the slightest to shed whatever remaining standards he might have once maintained....

Speaking of the Ryder Cup, U.S. Captain Keegan Bradley, who used to sneak on Bethpage Black while in college, said he expects the New York crowd to cheer “proudly and loudly.” He said he wants it to be a tough place to play for both teams but, ’nobody on either team wants this to get uncomfortable or weird out there.” What kind of atmosphere do you expect on Long Island?

Sens: Sorry, but that’s like saying, we’re going to hold a rabbit convention in a python pit but we’re really hoping there are no injuries or hurt feelings.

Melton: It’s going to be rowdy and hostile for the Euros. New York sports fans aren’t especially kind to opposing teams, and the Ryder Cup will be no different. Expect lots of jeers and heckling from outside the ropes — and a few ejections, too.

Dethier: I expect the atmosphere to get both uncomfortable and weird. As we saw last fall, the European fans don’t have much restraint — but they definitely have more than their Long Island counterparts. It’s going to be glorious and, at least a couple times, over the top.

First, let's enjoy that Keegan can say something some ridiculous and insincere, and apparently note be challenged.  

I've been noting for years the risks of this event, which no one seems to be taking sufficiently seriously.  The dog that doesn't bark in those answers is the unique format of the Ryder Cup, in which there's precious little actual golf to be seen on Friday and Saturday.  You'll have the crowds there from zero dark thirty and adult beverage will be consumed, but in each of the two sessions those days there are only four games, meaning an hour of golf will interrupt four hours of drinking.....I'm sure it will work out fine.

It's a hot mess and little will change in the near term, so we should all find alternative sources of amusement.

Montreal Blues - I'm marginally amused by the lingering animus from the Prez Cup, especially in view of the Ryder Cup heading to Bethpage.  Both Tom Kim and Wyndham Clark try to explain what went down, the former through his sensible looper:

We heard Tom Kim’s caddie’s side of the story, too. Veteran looper Paul Tesori joined SiriusXM’s PGA Tour Radio earlier this week to back up what his boss had said about the U.S. team crossing the line, just with one critique: He didn’t need to say so in the media.

“Obviously, I witnessed three scenarios where members of the U.S. team emphatically got

personal with Tom and yes, cursed at him and got very personal,” Tesori said. “And at the end of the day, no one wants that. These two guys that had done it, I don’t think that’s in their character at all. I know one of them apologized, which is a great thing. The heat of the moment got to him.

“But I do want to say something about that. When Tom mentioned that in the Saturday press conference, I didn’t know he had [said so]. And when he came in, he shared with me what he did, and this is part of what a 52-year-old veteran can share with a 22-year-old.

“I said, ‘Tom, you have every right to feel the way you did.’ One of them, I witnessed a foot away from me. And the feelings I had inside were very New York Bethpagey. I wanted to react physically, and I was upset by what had happened, but at the end of the day, I also know the character of the person this happened with I don’t believe is that way, and Tom handled it really well.

“At the end of the day, he can’t go to the media and pronounce that,” Tesori concluded. “You got to go talk to your captains about it, go talk to your teammates about it, and it’s a learning experience for Tom. And I think that’s what it comes down to.”

And the Clark rebuttal:

“Earlier that morning [Keegan Bradley] and I played Tom and Si Woo,” Clark told Loop host Chris Powers. “And we witnessed them making tons of putts on us and playing unbelievable and then obviously witnessed all of the celebrations that they were doing. And then just some of the other antics that maybe people weren’t seeing on TV, that obviously just kind of gets you to where you’re a little frustrated because some of it was extreme, in my opinion.

“And some of it seemed a little fabricated and so it almost didn’t seem authentic, especially for someone that’s usually pretty quiet, and so it almost seemed like they were trying to do something. So we could feel that. And so [Keegan] and I lost, they beat us fair and square. They played unbelievable.”

After their 4-and-3 defeat, the story picked up, Clark said, when he and Tony Finau started following Kim/Kim vs. Cantlay/Schauffele that afternoon.

“So we started seeing some of the best golf I’ve ever seen in a match, at any cup,” he said. “I mean, they were just birdie after birdie. Every other hole. It was quite amazing and I mean, as far as the cussing that was going on or any of the trash-talking, I feel like on our team, we were doing it only towards our guys.

“Guys were saying, y’know, LFG [ed. note: I’ll let you translate] for our team and I think that’s where the cussing was. Now, there were times when we were close to their team or even their players where we were screaming for our guys. But you also gotta realize we’re the away team, so we don’t have as much noise, we’re trying to create extra noise. So maybe we were heard more than if we were the home team because the crowd, you know, out, you know, does hear us.

“But really when it comes down to Si Woo’s deal, I mean, Si Woo’s [chip-in] on 16 is one of the best shots I’ve ever witnessed up close and Si Woo is a dog. He is literally one of my favorite guys on the PGA Tour and has so much talent and you know, that shot was just unbelievable.

And this rousing coda:

“And then we go to 18, obviously, and we both were sitting there and we’re like, ‘Man, if we win this hole, we’re for sure giving them — we’re putting it right back in their face.’ And so sure enough, I mean, Patty Ice made, made it and, you know, I think people got me because I kind of was a little more, but I’m pretty sure Tony and I both did it and I think it was great.

“I mean, you know, what, if you’re gonna talk trash and do things like that, then you got to be able to handle it coming right back at you. So, yeah, I mean, it was really fun.”

Sorry, those excerpts got a bit long, even though I elided the Steph Curry bit.  But two points, first it seems a bit rich for Tom Kim to be complaining about anyone else's antics, no?  How funny is it that he steals another guy's bit and, most amusingly, gets it wrong.  When you've done the "Night, night" thing to your opponent too early, you might wanna shut your pie hole.

Nearly two weeks after the event concluded, we’re still hearing about the Tom Kim cursing controversy from the Presidents Cup. This time, U.S. team member Wyndham Clark offered his take of the events on “The Loop” podcast. Is this sort of chippiness a story or is this helping to legitimize the rivalry at the Presidents Cup?

Sens: It is trivial, junior high stuff, which in today’s world, makes it headline news. But it could only legitimize a ‘rivalry’ if there were a rivalry to begin with. That can’t be the case when one side pretty much always beats up on the other. The Presidents Cup isn’t a rivalry. It’s an abusive relationship.

Melton: Feels like a bit of a nothingburger. In sports, sometimes there’s a little trash talk — and that’s ok! No need to relitigate the tiniest disagreement.'

Dethier: I think it’s a story just because clearly both sides still feel something about it. This will be, in some ways, the enduring legacy of this year’s Presidents Cup — ramped-up emotions on both sides. There may not be full-on bad blood, but things were a little tense leaving Montreal. That’s not a bad thing.

For those of us of a certain age, it might ring a bell.  It feels a little Tony Jacklin-like, to wit, the Washington Generals showing signs of being tired of losing.  I think the chippiness is a story and maybe not a bad story, but only to the extent that it's used to create a viable competitor.  The problem for now is that their feistiness was in the service of an 18 1/2 - 11 1/2 home game beatdown.... 

Tom Kim could be seen as auditioning to be Seve, though Kim needs to be a far better player to make that impersonation compelling.  But who do we have to play the Jacklin role?  

That's all for today.  Blogging will be dependent on the news cycle, though I'll catch up with you at some point this week for sure.

Midweek Musings - Back In The Saddle Edition

So, how do we do this blogging thing?  Gonna work my way back in with some open browser tabs and see where it all goes...

Scenes From The Auld Grey Toon - Much ado about nothing, from Monday's Tour Confidential panel:

There were some curious pairings at last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, as PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Rory McIlroy all saw time playing together during the first three rounds. We’ll take a guess and say pairings like this don’t happen by chance. What do you make of them? And does it give you any clues about the state of golf’s current merger?

James Colgan: It was the continuation of a unifying theory I first learned as a local club caddie almost a decade ago: Golf is a powerful social lubricant. It would benefit these dudes to share some

common turf every few weeks for the sake of golf, and a pro-am is one (high-profile) way to do so. It means nothing — nothing — for the pace of the merger. But that’s okay.

Josh Sens: It’s optics. No more, no less. Zero impact on the merger itself. On the other hand, imagine how it would look if they all showed up at the same high-profile pro-am and didn’t spend time together on the course? There was really no other choice.

Dylan Dethier: Those photos don’t lie: these are men who know it’s in each of their best interests to be in business together. Also, this appearance represents something of a victory for Al-Rumayyan, who seems to have achieved full assimilation at one of golf’s highest-profile parties just a couple years after his LIV startup ripped a hole in the middle of pro golf. Something is coming. Very slowly.

Optics, eh?  The reader should feel free to insert their own tree-in-the-forest analogy: 

More golf viewership from Sunday:

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship: 49,000
Korn Ferry Tour Championship: 49,000
Constellation Furyk & Friends (taped): 57,000

— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) October 8, 2024

As Ian Faith predicted, golf's appeal is becoming increasingly selective....  And given the ongoing efforts to turn the PGA Tour into LIV, I'm confident they can drive those ratings even lower.

Whose role is most important in dealings like this? Rory McIlroy as a middleman? Al-Rumayyan as the man with leverage? Or Monahan as the commissioner who’s under pressure to bring the sport together?

Rory?  Man, just about spit out my coffee at that one....

Colgan: It’s definitely not Rory, who is, it should be remembered, a golfer and not an expert in

M&A. The pressure on Monahan to keep his Tour and golf afloat is tremendous, but secretly, so is the pressure on Al-Rumayyan, whose hopes of Saudi legitimacy in golf still very much remain in question.

Sens: Ultimately, it’s about money, so in that sense, Al-Rumayyan has the most sway. But Rory has an interesting role as a former Tour hardliner who now stands as the game’s highest-profile globalist, inclined toward striking conciliatory tones. You can throw all the money you want at a product, but in the end, you need interesting performers to make the show work. And Rory is the game’s most powerful figure in that regard who is still competitively relevant.

Dethier: Jay and Yasir need each other for their respective organizations to realize long-term success, but there are also short-term incentives for them to be at war. Rory is crucially important as a high-profile peacemaker who can bridge that gap ASAP. But that doesn’t mean everybody on both sides will like it.

 Monahan has been neutered, so the real answer is undoubtedly Cantlay.  

Both sides have weak hands, but we're missing one critical piece of data, to wit, the PGA Tour's burn rate.  How long does that $1.5 billion large last?

So, what was the point?  There really wasn't much of one:

Indeed, something of a huddle developed, one joined at various times by Horschel, Rory McIlroy and various others eager to say hello.

“We didn’t talk about what’s going on in the game,” shrugged McIlroy, who opened with a three-under 69. “We talked about Newcastle United [the Saudi-owned English Premier League soccer club]. We talked about some of the other stuff Yasir owns. It was all very cordial. Other than that, I obviously didn’t see much of what was going on in the group ahead, but it’s not as if we don’t all know each other. We’ve been doing this dance for a couple of years now. I’m not sure we can take much from today. They were behaving like golfers, which is what we are here to do. Who knows? I keep saying time will tell. And there’s only so many ways I can answer the same question.”

Though I did like this image:

So what exactly was being said between the two main protagonists in their many private moments must remain something of a mystery. Neither had anything to say publicly at the conclusion of their rounds. Monahan turned down a request from the waiting media. And Yasir? One look at the grim-faced henchmen in the golf cart following H.E (His Excellency) was enough to discourage even the bravest journalist.

Still, Johann Rupert, the billionaire businessman whose “toy” this tournament is, did offer some background as to how Monahan and H.E. conveniently found their way into the 9 a.m. group on Carnoustie’s 10th tee. Long a proponent of a Neville Chamberlain like “peace for our time” accord, the South African owned up to being half of the duo behind the pairing.

Remind me, how did Chamberlain's efforts work out?  More importantly, how would H.E. feel about that Neville call-out?  Because the genocidal dictator that was appeased in no way resembles the Saudi monarchy....

A couple of other notes from the Dunhill, a great event that no one actually watches (great because of the venues).  Here's one guy channeling his inner humble blogger:

Matt Fitzpatrick says he's 'past the point of caring' about professional golf 'coming together'

"Yeah, I don't think they are going to decide the future of golf in five hours around Carnoustie," Fitzpatrick said. "I know Carnoustie is pretty bloody hard. Not much time for talking.

"I think in terms of bringing the game together this week, I'm past the point of caring. I just don't care. Me saying things to the PGA Tour board, me saying things to the DP World Tour board, it's not going to change, so why am I going to waste my time talking about it."

 You and me both.

This was the other amusing bit, from a Scot no less:

Robert MacIntyre is the best Scottish golfer in the world, but he’s not a fan of one of the game’s most famous holes in his home country.

MacIntyre tied for 25th at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday at St. Andrews, but he could’ve placed higher if not for stumbling in both weekend rounds at the Road Hole, the par-4 17th. He made a double on Saturday and then had a bogey on Sunday, after which he had plenty to say about the hole.

“Blow it up,” he grumbled. “I don’t think there are many worse holes in world of golf. It needs to be a hole you are able to hit a golf shot into and not one where you just hit it onto the green and try to get up and down.”

Tell us how you feel, Bobby Mac.

You know how these things go.  Cue the walkback in 3, 2, 1:

I'll take a moment o of my all-encompassing hatred for all these guys, and suggest we give Bobby Mac a warning for his intemperance.  We do actually want these guys to care, so a little frustration is to be expected, and perhaps even encouraged.  But while in detention, we should require him to write an essay on the architectural merit of the hole, just so it should be a learning experience.

On That Cup - We've all solved the existential issues of the Prez Cup, confident that the solution is, checking notes, Lydia Ko.  I've expended some pixels to note that the SSG investment might be an impediment, but Eamon Lynch has his own personal fever dream:

Lynch: The PGA Tour’s best fix for the Presidents Cup? Sell the International team and get out of the way

Sell it to whom?  Yasir?

If nothing else, Eamon's ledes always amuse, this being no exception:

Some storylines recycle through golf’s ecosystem with the dreary predictability of a Patrick Reed lawsuit filing. The now annual Tiger Woods comeback is one, with attendant speculation about whether a man more compromised than, well, a Patrick Reed lawsuit, can actually win again. Rory McIlroy’s yearly tilt at the Masters is too, invariably followed with commentary about pressure and perspective (neither of which is induced by a Patrick Reed lawsuit). Another tried-and-true narrative has been making the rounds again this week: What can be done to salvage the Presidents Cup?

That's so unfair, as it's been hours since the last frivolous Patrick Read lawsuit....

Debates over how to address the imbalance can be as animated as the actual matches. Suggestions include reducing the number of points contested to accommodate the lack of depth on the International bench (that has already been tried, going from 34 points to 30 in ’15); shortening the duration (from four days to three); changing the format (by making it a co-ed event with top women golfers); and binning it entirely.

One potential change that hasn’t gotten due consideration is this: ownership.

The Presidents Cup belongs to the PGA Tour. It was created in the waning hours of Deane Beman’s tenure as commissioner and first staged under his successor, Tim Finchem, who was eager to mooch whatever revenue he could from the enthusiasm around team golf generated by the Ryder Cup. The Tour decides who captains both teams, who is eligible to play on both teams, and where the competition will take place. Golfers who defected to LIV — like Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann and Abraham Ancer — are ineligible, making what was a tough task nigh on impossible for the International team, though to be fair they were waxed with even more impressive line-ups before LIV.

Which only highlights how weak the Tour is, not controlling any of the actual events about which golf fans care.  

I love columns like this, but let's not pretend it's remotely feasible, as this excerpt confirms:

Last year, the ex-player and now board member of PGA Tour Enterprises, Joe Ogilvie, sent his fellow Tour members a letter outlining the impact of accepting private investment, which happened months later. He listed a number of assets the Tour owned and mused on their worth and growth potential. He included the Presidents Cup and mentioned it again in a subsequent appearance on Golf Today. The event, Ogilvie seemed to be suggesting, had unrealized value. Which raises a delicate question: In whose hands?

But, Eamon, where do we think that $12 billion valuation came from, and does the model work if you give away half of it?  I know he's talking of selling it, but the key word is unrealized value, so how much could they get and. more importantly, from whom?

He does even consider that guy as a buyer:

Perhaps the Strategic Sports Group chaps have run the numbers to arrive at a valuation of the Presidents Cup’s International component, but it’s surely nine figures and with better potential for long-term returns than any nine-figure LIV contract that expires after a few years. So who could buy it?

The most obvious candidate — and least appealing for those concerned with mundanities like human rights — is the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. But there are plenty of alternatives who are invested in golf and who preach a gospel of global growth.

One such man, South African billionaire Johann Rupert, is hosting the Dunhill Links Championship in St. Andrews this week. There’s Pawan Munjal, CEO of Hero MotoCorp and a familiar figure to fans through his relationship with Woods. Or Mexican tycoon Ricardo Salinas, who brought a WGC tournament to his homeland. Perhaps Abdullah Al Naboodah, an Emerati investor deeply involved with the DP World Tour, or Korean industrialist Jin Roy Ryu, who underwrote the ’15 Cup in Seoul. Heck, even Chinese-Thai businessman Chanchai Ruayrungruag, a colorful eccentric who purchased Wentworth Golf Club a decade ago and proceeded to oust many of its members. (I once attended an evening at which he elbowed China’s premier opera soprano aside on a Beijing stage so he could sing himself, the sound of which surely had every cat owner within earshot wondering if their pet was being garroted.)

What a hot mess we've created, though it seems strange to carve the various Asian and Down Under tours out of the process, no?

Not gonna happen, but I still think this doesn't address competitiveness, leaving the ladies as the more logical strategic move.

On Ratings -  Via Geoff, the latest from Sports Business Journal's Josh Carpenter:

Digging into the numbers, the tour averaged 2.2 million viewers for its Sunday telecasts (no majors) in 2024, a drop of 19% from 2.7 million in 2023. With majors included, that Sunday number in 2024 jumps to 2.8 million. On Saturdays, the tour earned 1.5 million viewers, down 17% from 1.8 million last year.

On NBC, the tour averaged just more than 2 million viewers for all tour events (no streaming included), down 5% from last year’s weekend rounds on NBC (which did not include the playoffs, as those were on CBS in 2023).

On Sunday only, NBC in 2024 drew 2.35 million, down 2% from 2023. Removing the three FedEx Cup Playoffs events from NBC’s average this year, that average goes to 1.98 million, which would be 6% lower compared to last year on NBC.

Hemingway, in a quote often attributed to Mark Twain, described the process by which companies go bankrupt as "Gradually, then suddenly".  I'm not sure which applies to a 19% loss of viewers....

But Geoff has me flummoxed with what comes next (he is as well):

According to Nielsen, when implementing big data, the tour’s weekend broadcast coverage in 2023 would see a 17% increase. In 2024, those numbers jump to a 20% increase, the spokesperson said, which would be among the largest for a major stick-and-ball sport.

I don't suppose anyone would care to tell us what the heck "big data" means?   Here's Geoff's musing:

This all seems a tad strange.

Let’s start with here: if Nielsen is so sure the current numbers are not up to snuff, why are they waiting to unveil the updated metrics?

And given how tiny golf streaming numbers are whenever overall viewing figures are released after Nielsen overnights, what is it they are purportedly tabulating to increase viewership so significantly?

Perhaps the new “big data” will include other elements beyond pure telecast streaming numbers like social media views and YouTube views?

We’ll see in 2025.

Even if the numbers go up 15-20%, the Tour’s reach via Golf Channel continues to deliver unfathomably low audience numbers as the Comcast-owned network bleeds homes and viewer loyalty. According to Carpenter, viewership for last weekend’s Sanderson Farms Championship (won by Kevin Yu) saw a Sunday audience of 136,000 (133K in 2023), while Saturday’s third round drew just 95,000 (115K in 2023). Those are incomprehensibly low viewership numbers even if they’re boosted by 20%.

More than a tad, I'd say.... I'm guessing that noise in the background is goalposts being moved.

That will have to satisfy you for today and this week.  I will likely see you next on Monday.  Have a great weekend.

Robert Dembner - RIP

You might have noticed a bit of an hiatus in my blogging... Life has a way of coming at us hard.

A sad week for Theresa and me, as well as for the entire Fairview community, as we lost a wonderful man and great friend:

Robert Dembner

May 8, 1944 - September 28, 2024

Better known in these pages as Bobby D.,

The photo is from his 80th birthday party back in May, but what followed was a dreadful summer of health issues which Bob accepted with his characteristic grace.  Bob was a great player, winning five Fairview Club Championships, though I of course only saw his game in Autumn.  But the skills were still in evidence, almost more interesting seeing them applied in the face of the inevitable effects of aging.

Bob was a great friend to me, and golf just hasn't been the same without his presence.  He was also a great friend of this blog, always with an encouraging word to me and recommending to others that they check it out.  As an example, on a recent Scotland trip I was posting from mu bubble, completely uncertain whether that which I was writing was worth the pixels.  In the middle of said funk I receive an e-mail from Bob describing his enjoyment of those posts, the prefect message at the perfect time from the perfect source... That was Bob.

I played over the weekend with a fellow member of the Wednesday Game™.  After hitting a good shot he noted that, had Bob been with us, his face would light up with pleasure that his friend had pulled off a good shot...  That was also our Bobby.

He was a man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again. - Hamlet

R.I.P.

Regular blogging will resume this week, secure in the knowledge that that's what Bob would have wanted.