Weekend Wrap - Auld Langer Syne Edition

I know I promised this wrappage to you on Monday and, dammit, I'm delivering on said promise.  It's not my fault that you failed to ask what time on Monday.  The fault lies in the stars or, closer to home, a feline that missed his father and simply refused to curtail his early morning lap time.  Now if his brother would only get with the program!  

Fathers & Sons - It was great, though there seems to have been some eighteen superfluous teams there, some of which got virtually no air time at all.... Didn't see much of Sir Nick, which is quite the good thing indeed.

By now you know the results:

Team Bernhard Langer beats Team Tiger Woods for 6th PNC Championship title

Six?  

The Woods family broke a long drought Sunday at the PNC Championship, but the most famous family in golf is still searching for the winner’s circle.

On the par-3 hole at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Charlie Woods smoothed a 7-iron from 176 yards that took one hop and rolled right into the cup for an ace.

The golf world went wild as the younger Woods accomplished something his 15-time major-winning father, Tiger Woods, hadn’t done in competition in 26 years, during his third year on the PGA Tour. It was Charlie’s first hole-in-one in his entire golf career at the same event where he made his first career eagle four years ago in 2020.

Team Woods kept rolling after that. The first-round co-leaders after a 59 Saturday, kept making birdies. They finished with a 57 Sunday and a record-setting 36-hole score of 28 under, but in the end it wasn’t enough. Team Bernhard and Jason Langer also finished at the same score and Bernhard, the last to putt in the first playoff hole, just curled in an eagle putt to beat the Woods’ and win their second straight PNC Championship.

It was really cool, yet the ace was to me only the second most memorable shot of the day, and I'm not referring to that other ace....

The Woods’ playing partners Sunday and defending champions, the Langers pulled into shares of

the lead three times on Sunday, but could never take the outright lead away from team Woods. The pairs kept matching each other shot for shot, matching birdies on the same hole nine times, and answering Charlie’s hole-in-one on No. 4 with an eagle on the par-5 5th.

Both teams parred the 17th hole and birdied the 18th hole after the Langers missed an eagle putt from just off the green.

That sent them back to the 18th where Charlie Woods and Bernhard Langer, hit it nearly in the same position as regulation. Tiger Woods hit their approach just right of the green while Jason Langer — playing from 20 yards closer thanks to dad Bernhard playing nearly 50 yards farther up than Charlie — hit his approach 20 feet left of the hole in the center of the green.

Team Langer has now won a record six PNC Championships with Jason now having won four times while brother Stefan — who caddied for Jason — has won twice.

The shot that most wowed me?  It so happens it wowed another guy with perhaps higher standards than my own:

Tiger Woods says Bernhard Langer hit one of the greatest shots he’s seen at the PNC Championship

They made eight birdies on the back nine on Sunday to book themselves a place in the play-off. And one of the highlights came on the par five 14th where they managed to make a four.

The two-time Masters champion took advantage of the scramble rules to give himself a perfect lie in the sand, and hit a sumptuous driver. And following their victory, both members of Team Woods were full of praise for how good the veteran remains.

“It was awesome,” Charlie Woods said about Langer’s performance.

Tiger Woods replied: “It’s incredible, right?

“Speechless. He didn’t miss a shot out there,” Charlie added.

I certainly didn't have a 67-year old man hitting driver out of a fairway bunker on my PNC bingo card....

Is it too early to overreact?  Trick question... You'll know where the TC panel wants to go with it all:

Tiger Woods teamed with his son, Charlie, at the PNC Championship, making the 36-hole scramble his first start since the Open Championship in July (and his latest back surgery). Sunday had it all: Charlie’s first-ever hole-in-one, an impressive driver off the deck from Tiger and, ultimately, the Langers beating Team Woods in a playoff. What were your thoughts on Tiger and Charlie’s weekend in Florida?

Zephyr Melton: It was a lot of fun — especially so because they were in contention coming down the stretch. It’s also nice to see Tiger smiling (rather than grimacing) on the

golf course. The tournament didn’t give any meaningful insights into Tiger’s future competitive chances (this course is a bunny slope while majors are played on black diamonds) but that’s OK. Just seeing Tiger and Charlie having fun out there is a treat in itself.

Alan Bastable: Fun, sure. But also competitive. You could feel both teams burning to win in that playoff. Also, not to get all sentimental, but you must tip your hat to the game at large on this December Sunday! What other sport allows participants of such varying ages and abilities to compete equitably against one another in such a charged environment? To be more specific, you had arguably the best golfer ever and his 15-year-old kid squaring off against a 67-year-old who won his last major 34 years ago and his investment banker son — and it made for a riveting watch. By the way, what a pleasure to see Tiger hitting pressure-filled shots just three months removed from his sixth back surgery and in the wake of what was otherwise a mostly grim season for him. For Tiger optimists, 2025 is undoubtedly looking brighter than it did a week ago.

Jack Hirsh: I think you guys covered any meaningful takeaways from Tiger’s week, but how about Chuck to make the ace and then come up with some pretty clutch shots the rest of the way, especially putts! I too made my first hole-in-one at 15 in a tournament and barely kept my next swing on the golf course (I finished that round double-birdie-triple). Again, we have to temper our expectations for Charlie as he is just a 15-year-old kid playing with a completely unfair amount of pressure, but it was certainly fun to see the mannerism comparisons once again and the whole Woods family having fun.

Yeah, those PEFU's can be a bitch.....

But it was fun, a perfect match-up of skills and personalities.  What amused me was the thought that Bernhard's Investment Banker son probably plays no more golf than the Big Cat himself, though we could argue over who showed more rust.

This is a fun event, though we should also realize that Tiger is likely ruining it, because no one will have much interest in watching the OMearas or Lehmans after Charlie moves on.

But you know where they'll go with this (hence the "overreaction" comment):

Analyst Peter Jacobsen raved about Tiger’s week, saying he was “overwhelmed and excited for the world of golf and for Tiger to see how well he responded [physically] and how well he played.” Do you agree?

Melton: Not really. This is a silly-season event played on a benign and flat Florida course. Suggesting this event points to future success is foolish.

Bastable: Who let the Grinch into this roundtable?! No doubt Ritz-Carlton Golf Club ain’t Oakmont, but c’mon, Z, our guy walked 55 holes in three days! Not sure anyone saw that coming. I will say his game left something to be desired. There were some highlights — that driver off the deck to 30 feet comes to mind — but when the heat was on in the playoff, Tiger’s iron play and putting was not sharp. By his own admission, he’s rusty. Question is, can he play enough meaningful golf in ’25 to shake that rust off? At 49 and with his body still requiring much more rejuvenation, that feels like a mighty ask.

Hirsh: Who woulda thought Basty would be the conductor of the hype train? Slow down there, Speed Racer! He’s Tiger-Freaking-Woods, of course he’s going to hit amazing shots like that all the time when it doesn’t matter. He’s the greatest to ever live and continues to defy expectations, but it’s time to accept that we just might not see that in the heat of PGA Tour or major championship competition. That’s not to say he can’t handle the pressure, but pressure manifests itself physically just as much as mentally and his body has been through more than most 49-year-olds. Let’s see if he even ends up playing at Genesis first.

I'll go in two different directions here.  First, he did look like he was walking more freely, and he didn't even take a cart for any of the three days.  So, that's really great.

But, just a reminder that we've seen this movie before, many times in fact.  As Tiger, himself, said, at this point he's a useful scramble partner, so he's got that going for him.

We won't hear or see anything from him until Riviera, so cool your excitement.

One last bit, just in case you found those tees a bit sketchy, is this deep dive on the tee boxes employed.  No doubt you saw Tiger dump two tee balls from the 18th tee into a fairway bunker, one that Langer carried easily both timers.  Here's why, the tees Tiger played from being on top:

Hole 18: 557-yard par-5

Hole 18: 475-yard par-5

Charlie and Jason Langer played a box between those two, but Bernhard played almost 1,100 yards less golf course than Tiger....  Obviously they need to play different tees (not to mention the ladies playing), but it did feel like the yardage difference was too heavily weighted to Bernhard on that one hole, which as they finished was the only hole that mattered.  

The other truly weird note was the one-hour gap in coverage between Golf Channel and NBC.  Given the absence of any meaningful golf (and December DP World Tour events won't qualify), it's mind-boggling that they go dark for an hour.  How lucky were they that Charlie didn't make his ace while they were on break....

The Slowdown - The TC panel weighed in:

The much-hyped Crypto Showdown — the PGA Tour vs. LIV match featuring Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler vs. Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka — drew just 625,000 viewers, according to Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter. While this wasn’t a part of “The Match” franchise, it would have ranked as the second-lowest viewership total ever. What gives? And are we starting to see a scary trend for made-for-TV matches?

Melton: Ratings are down across the sport, and this event was no different. It’s tough to get hyped for events that have so little on the line — and I think the lackluster ratings illustrate that. With so much else on the docket this week (CFB playoffs, NFL games, NBA and NHL early season, etc.) sports fans only have so much bandwidth. A meaningless event with cryptocurrency on the line is obviously low on the list of viewing priorities for the average sports watcher.

Bastable: I actually thought the crypto purse was one of the more compelling angles! Cash is so 2023. But yeah, it’s no secret that pro golf is oversaturated and about to get even more so when TGL comes online next month. That means any exhibition that doesn’t feature Tiger and Charlie will be a tough sell regardless of how it’s marketed. The PGA Tour-vs.-LIV tension might have been a good hook a couple of years ago — trouble is, much of that angst has since dissipated.

Hirsh: I wasn’t one of those viewers, but not because I didn’t want to watch it. I think Z is spot on that ratings are down, and while pitting LIV vs. the PGA Tour is a good sell, that happens at the majors too and those ratings are down as well. People aren’t going to tune back into golf until there’s less talk about politics, backroom dealings and division and more talk about golf and just golf.

Tiger and Charlie?  I was reliably informed by Rory that the only impediment to growth in the game is folks not knowing when Rory is pegging it.  Well, Rors, the whole world knew you were playing, heck they were still chuckling over Bryson's sick burn that you fed him on a platter.  And yet, as one they rose up and chose to ignore it....  It's almost as if the events and venues matter, whereas they're gaslighting us that all that matters is Patrick Cantlay getting paid.

Amusingly, I had this browser tab still open on my home PC:

Unanimous? PGA Tour players don't all agree with Tiger Woods that sweeping changes are good for the game

They're not gonna suggest that Tiger is in this for himself?  Say it ain't so, Joe!

Here's a longish excerpt that captures much of the issues:

"I think the entire — I'll say the majority of the Tour felt the same way," Woods said of the changes approved in a recent board meeting last month during his Tuesday press conference ahead of the Hero World Challenge, the tournament that he serves as host and benefits his foundation. "The PAC was involved, the subcommittees on the PAC were involved and it was unanimous across the board what we need to do to present a better product and something better for our fans, for our events, our sponsors. Redefining what a Tour pro is, streamlining that."

Fellow Tour policy board member Patrick Cantlay echoed Woods' sentiment.

"We listened to the PAC really closely all year," Cantlay said. "There are 16 guys on the PAC, they're representative of each part of the membership, that's how they're selected. So I know that those changes have widespread support among a lot of members. As policy board members, it's important for us to do what the membership's telling us and listen to the PAC so that's how that decision came about."

But Woods choice of the word "unanimous" may have been a stretch. One member of the Tour's Player Advisory Council expressed his disappointment to Golfweek with the process involved, noting that he wasn't involved in the sub-committee that reshaped the pathways to the Tour.

"The changes in terms of gutting the Tour, I didn't even spend a minute of my time on the PAC discussing that," said a member of the PAC. "And then, you know, I got an email saying, thank you to the PAC for discussing these difficult topics and making the Tour change for hopefully the better. And like, my name's on it, and it was hard for me because I'm getting this email thanking me for all my hard work and I don't even know about this stuff."

This PAC member requested anonymity because he was elected by his peers and hopes to continue to make a difference for them through his role serving but wanted his experience to be known. Several other players, including current and former PAC members and some of the smartest and most thoughtful speakers on the Tour's inner workings, have commented to Golfweek and other media outlets to express their concerns about some of the changes that will be implemented. Here are some of the responses to know.

As the Democratic party has made famous in enforcing its conformity, you don't have to fall in love, but you do need to fall in line....

That anonymous Rabbit is undoubtedly not Peter Malnatti, whose vote was bought with a sponsor's exemption into Riviera.  It also not Adam Scott, whose vote was procured with sponsors' exemptions into, checking notes, every Signature Event.   Uniformity is easily obtained when you need only a handful of votes and you have coin of the realm to barter.

But here's a guy that isn't hiding behind anonymity:

Maverick McNealy already has left his mark on changes to the Tour. If you haven't read the story

on how McNealy did the math and figured out that inequity in the FedEx points this season. That will be rectified next season thanks to him crunching the numbers. Read all about it here.

When asked at the RSM Classic a few weeks ago to name what he thinks is the next step for the Tour if it were to make one more change, he replied, "I have a hard time defending Signature Event fields of 72 players if we're going to limit the number of players that have a card.

"I think 120 is a beautiful number, I think it's very competitive. I think a cut is an integral part of our sport and I think it would be really cool to play signature events at 120 players over the 72," said McNealy, a member of the PAC as of June. "With eight tournaments, that's 400 more playing opportunities. It just seems like a layup to me. There's a bunch of arguments why 72 is the number. None of them have convinced me yet, but that's my personal opinion."

120 is still too small, though obviously a massive improvement over the world created for the care and feeding of Cantlay.  But a cut, Mav?  Oh, the inhumanity....

What Could Go Wrong? - Golf Digest did a deep dive into the TGL venue, and the technology sounds interesting:

First impressions of the custom-built SoFi Center that serves as the home of TGL, the new simulator-based team golf circuit that debuts in January, is that no expense appears to have been spared. It is singularly impressive, operationally functional and groundbreaking in the technical sense for which it was created.

In other words, it’s darn cool.

Mike McCarley, co-founder of TMRW Sports with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, on Wednesday invited about 50 members of the media for a sneak peek at the venue where TGL will stage all of its matches starting Jan. 7 with a prime-time premiere on ESPN. Reporters got a look at the almost-completed 1,500-seat stadium on the campus of Palm Beach State College, and PGA Tour players Wyndham Clark, Rickie Fowler and Billy Horschel, who represent three of the six four-man teams that will compete in the new league, gave a presentation. They marched through a tunnel onto the “field” after an introduction that included smoke, flashing lights and loud music, a glimpse of how they will enter when the cameras roll.

Smoke?  I do hope we have the requisite nubile wenches as well....

There won’t be a bad seat in the house with spectator seating horseshoed around the 250,000 square feet of playing area that features a “screen” zone and a “green” zone. The screen is monstrous, 64 feet tall by 53 feet wide. It measures five stories high and fills nearly one end of the stadium. The inaugural virtual holes were created by Nicklaus Design, Beau Welling and Agustín Pizá. To ensure that the virtual results of shots accurately reflect the actual quality of the shot struck, TGL is employing 18 Full Swing radar devices combined with eight Top Tracer optical cameras.

The green zone, meanwhile, for shots 50 yards and in, as well as putts, sits on a turntable 41 yards in diameter and features seven cup placements and an almost infinite number of contouring options with 567 hydraulic jacks underneath it.

All of which sounds fascinating.... for about fifteen minutes.

“When we started on this journey,” McCarley said, “you take a sport like golf that's got 600 years of history and tradition and everything that comes with that, the good and the bad. And we really wanted to keep one foot firmly planted in the traditional game. And there's elements of that. But with the other foot, we really wanted to be … more into the future and embracing the future technology.

“From very early conversations with Tiger and Rory, both of them shared that thesis in a way that they saw what was happening just in their daily lives and how can we bring that into golf and help bring the game, not necessarily to a more modern presentation, but just put it together in a way and showcase it in a way that there will be people who don't necessarily follow the traditional game, but will get into it because of the way we present this. And then because of that, they may become fans of the traditional game in a certain way.

“New, fun, fast technology, team sports, it all kind of goes together.”

"This is something new and innovative that is going to really help grow the game of golf," Clark said. "It will give people a new perspective of us in a different arena where it's more intimate and you kind of get to see our personalities."

I think this is the perfect day to contemplate this endeavor, specifically those Showdown ratings above.  But, Mr. McCarley, can any of that impressive technology make Tiger interesting?  Because the Showdown feature four of the best players on the planet, playing a dramatic venue (not to be confused with a good venue) under the lights, and no one could be bothered tuning in.  I'm sure this will work, right?

That will be all for today.  I'll wish all my readers a joyous Christmas, and probably see you later in the week, assuming there's something to blog.