Weekend Wrap -

Which insufferably humid Southern city held the more absurd event this weekend?  That was mostly rhetorical, as Geoff ledes with the dispiriting singularity:

It’s not easy to put on a successful golf tournament. These weird little gatherings of golfers require hundreds of people and lots of luck to pull off. It takes very little to negatively impact how we

reflect on the outcome and remember a week. But in general, the winning formula typically involves a strange concoction of venue, weather, market, history, media, players, agronomy, volunteers, and fan turnout. Oftentimes, it’s a lot like a magical performance where the set list, setting and something mysterious in the air allowed musicians to take their art to another level. In golf, it’s usually a properly prepared course with a special setting and fan vibe that takes 72 holes of generally boring stroke play and produces something magical.

This was not one of those weeks.

And the fault lies with forces far beyond the control of players or the people who put in long hours to make tournaments go. Not helping matters: we’re coming off an absurd Masters. The bar is unfairly high right now. But this weekend’s first LPGA major and only team event on the PGA Tour reinforced just how the pursuit of a buck or desire for control can undermine the otherwise noble mission of giving players a stage for success.

Not sure I'm completely on board with Geoff here, though the two events combined for quite the odd Sunday.  But where I part with Geoff is that the event featuring better food was always been a PGA Tour backwater, whereas the ladies were putting on what used to be their best event of the year.....

Houston, You ARE The Problem - Ironic that Geoff would cite the Masters hangover, missing that 600-lb. elephant in the corner, to wit, that it's those very Lords of Augusta that put the LPGA in this mess.  They had a great first major, so naturally the golf world couldn't let that stand.

Your humble blogger was sitting in front of a fire watching the Zurich because, yanno, alternate shot can be fun.  Employee No. 2 yelled from the kitchen that the ladies were beginning a 5-player playoff, and my reactions were fairly humorous.  First, I asked Theresa, "Do we know any of the ladies involved?", a question never to be asked about the LPGA for obvious reasons.  My second reaction, when I realized I did know one of the ladies, was even funnier.

Shall we allow Geoff to rant?

The Chevron Championship finished its third year at Carlton Woods outside Houston and

appeared to lose whatever momentum the tournament enjoyed after Nelly Korda’s dramatic win in 2024. The major formerly known as the “Dinah” never felt remotely close to a big, important, and distinguished event until Sunday’s 18th hole shenanigans. That’s when the golf was surrounded by crowds that could be called, well, crowds. Over the previous three days, the galleries looked more like those of a college event. Worse, the all-important hospitality tents—the ones we were told three years ago were vital in justifying Chevron’s investment and the move away from greater Palm Springs supported by former champions of the event who also picked up sponsorship deals with the oil company—sat largely empty until Sunday. Then, the corporate chalets became a TIO backstop used by players to avoid taking on the lake fronting the green.

Then there is April in the suburbs of Houston. A lot of rain fell again, leading to soft conditions for three days. Sunday’s finale seemed more major-like thanks to superintendent Tim Huber’s crew getting enough moisture out of the greens. They appeared to restore a need for precision down the stretch. So they’ll always have that.

The final turd atop this Sunday sundae involved pace of play. The LPGA that cracked down on players practicing during pro-am rounds earlier in the week did nothing to speed up the final round. Setting aside a conversation over whether a major championship should have a pro-am at all, Sunday’s final threesome took an inexcusable five hours and 46 minutes.

Are we quite certain there aren't more turds to be found?   Geoff, I think might be focused on the wrong conversation...  This event should have a Pro-Am, for the simple reason that it's forfeited any claim to majordom.

As noted, I turn on the playoff and see Ariya Jutanugarn, and I'm quite pleased to see her.  I always had a soft spot for her, a player of tremendous physical talents who struggled to control her emotions on the course, hiding them behind a stoic, yet vulnerable mien.  I recount to Theresa her 2016 heartbreak, when  her devastating collapse down the stretch handed Lydia Ko that iteration of the Dinah.  I sense the possibility of redemption, utterly clueless as to how Ariya found herself in that 5-player playoff.

Let it be anything but another 18-th hole meltdown by Ariya..... Oh, never mind:

Before the playoff, the par 5 18th hole had already seen all sorts of strange stuff, including use of the corporate chalet as a backstop to get a free drop. The move backfired on Jutanugarn who hit one of the worst flubs in major history. Since this is a family newsletter and some of you are reading this over a croissant, orange juice, and coffee only the way Jeeves can brew it, I won’t embed the link.

By the time Saigo made birdie on the first playoff hole to win (after also getting free temporary immovable obstruction relief), the other four had missed their shots at birdie, including a nightmarish three-putt from Ruoning Yin. Unphased by watching the mess made by Yin, the 23-year-old Saigo putted last and sank the winning birdie putt to pick up her first major championship and LPGA Tour victory. This feat makes her the 46th player to earn her inaugural LPGA win at a major and first since Allisen Corpuz at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open. Saigo is the eighth player to do it at the Chevron/Dinah.

There's nothing remotely surprising about a player abusing the TIO rules, it's pretty much an everyday occurrence in professional golf, the term of art being "grandstanding."  It's long frustrated me, because the answer is obvious and has even been occasionally employed, at least at Open Championships.  You can't avoid the tournament build-out, but the means to control players abusing it is to make the resulting drops be under unfavorable conditions.  

I only watched the playoff hole, but it certainly wasn't the LPGA's best moment.  Let's see what the Tour Confidential panel made of it:

Mao Saigo won the LPGA’s first major of the year, the Chevron Championship, emerging from a five-person playoff to win for the first time in her LPGA career. Although the talk of the tournament wasn’t just the 23-year-old’s win, but the chaotic finish, controversial 18th hole and more. What was your takeaway from a dizzying Sunday at the Chevron?

Jessica Marksbury: The LPGA has done so much to combat slow play this year, and it’s a shame that some long decisions down the stretch ended up as a part of the storyline on Sunday. But, that

aside, the grandstand issue is worthy of discussion. It’s a topic that comes up at plenty of PGA Tour events — and for good reason. I don’t think a grandstand should double as a why-not-go-for-it bail-out, but who can blame players for strategizing that way when the rules allow it?

Josh Berhow: The grandstands aren’t great. Here’s one way to look at it: middling weekend golfers would swing way more confidently if they had a backstop like that they could use. The best players in the world shouldn’t have that option. It’s especially rough when it’s on the last hole. That said, a five-way playoff to decide a major? Hard to beat that. Good on Mao Saigo for staying tough.

Dylan Dethier: It was delightful chaos. Good but bad. Maybe the perfect encapsulation was Haeran Ryu, who was out of contention but playing in the final group with two players who would end up in that playoff. But Ryu took forever to pull a club in the fairway, eventually took one extra, nuked it into the stands long, took forever to pick a spot to drop and then chipped in for eagle. Just a combo of the silliest stuff you could imagine and incredible shows of golf skill. That’s the beauty of tournament golf — but safe to say there’s room for improvement.

That Dylan Dethier description reminds me of J.B. Holmes taking most of my adulthood to pull a club on the 18th hole, though that one at least included the amusement of Holmes choosing to eschew any chance of winning by laying up.

Astute Confidentialistas will have picked up on the fact that this is a week in which the questions are not numbered, which correlates highly with inane questions.  Often this presents as Tiger sycophancy, but today is an even weirder instance of that phenomenon

Lexi Thompson contended at the Chevron and tied for 14th, and all of this comes in her first season following last year’s announcement that she’d no longer play a full-time schedule. Despite her plan to scale back, she’s already played four events this season and has received some criticism for her “retirement.” Is this fair or not?

Marksbury: Yes, I think it’s fair. Playing four out of nine tournaments this year certainly doesn’t look like a proper “retirement.” But Lexi did say that her plan was more of a “stepping away” from a full-time schedule than a proper retirement. When I spoke with her last year, it sounded like she was looking forward to enjoying more of what life had to offer away from tournament golf, like additional unstructured time with family, friends and not having to wake up to an early alarm every day. This schedule doesn’t seem to jive with that plan, so maybe that’s still in the future.

Berhow: I think the argument here should be regarding the definition of the word “retirement,” which is one she never used when she announced this on Instagram last year. Her words were “stepping away from a full professional golf schedule.” But let’s be honest, “retirement” rolls off the tongue a little easier than “will no longer play a full-time schedule,” so that’s what everyone has been going with. I don’t think she’s doing anything wrong. She said she won’t play full time; it’s up to her what that means. And when she does play it still gives tournaments more juice, so it’s a win for events and fans.

Dethier: It’s all a little strange and awkward, isn’t it? Like, we probably just didn’t need to do the farewell tour — we could have just come together and been excited for Lexi to find a little more balance in her playing schedule. I think we’ll get used to her being mostly around at the big events, and hopefully her newfound freedom continues, too.

I'm not sure on what planet a T14, five shots out of the playoff, would be considered  "contending", but I'm pretty sure it's not this one....

I'll confess to a lack of understanding as to the fascination with Lexi.... She came out at a tender age with great physical tale4nts and therefore great promise, the comparisons to Michelle Wie being quite obvious.  But the actual record never lived up to the physical talents, and that chasm eventually ate away at her confidence, and to this observer it became too painful to watch.

A couple of quick final points and then we'll move our focus to the weirdness in NOLA.  First, things that make a blogger laugh:

Mao Saigo's victory plunge at the LPGA Chevron turned scary because she can't swim

 Yeah, you can't make this up....

But there is a larger issue here, which is that the Chevron folks have tried to maintain the ties to the Dinah-era, and that should be a good thing, right?  But Dinah doesn't belong in Houston and their attempts to cling to the former event come across to this observer as just sad and needy.  Dinah has left the building, and you have to find something genuine down there to build around.

The second bit comes from Beth Ann Nichols, a major supporter of women's golf:

Nichols: LPGA's Chevron Championship must reclaim its status as golf's first major

I actually preferred the header on the home page and URL, which was "Three Years Into Chevron's Big Move, It's Time For Change.  I must be quite the astute observer, because I beat Beth Ann there by two years.  Heck, I was there when I heard the announcement that they were Houston bound.

The Masters hangover looms large here in Texas. Three years into the Chevron Championship’s move away from Dinah Shore and into a spot on the post-Augusta calendar, and it’s already clear that something needs to change.

First, let’s get the obvious out of the way: Texas golf isn’t anything like Mission Hills.

There’s much to miss about Dinah’s place, but there’s no indication that Chevron has any desire to move away from its corporate base in Houston. As it’s been noted many times, there’s no line of blue-chip sponsors waiting to do business with the LPGA. The long-term commitment of an American institution like Chevron – which signed on for a six-year partnership – can’t be taken lightly.

The Club at Carlton Woods isn’t spectator-friendly. It’s a long walk just out to the first and 10th tees, and there’s not much bouncing around between groups. Fans must either commit and go the distance, or hang out between the ninth and 18th holes, where there’s a variety of things to do.

Speaking of fans, the galleries have been sparse this week, though they did pick up Saturday afternoon. It doesn’t help that there’s an Ironman competition going on Saturday morning in The Woodlands and many locals understandably chose to avoid getting caught up in the race detours.

Not to mention the thunderstorms and high humidity that can quickly turn the festivities into a downright slog.

It’s also worth noting that media attendance at this event is depressingly sparse.

What to do?

A date change would help.

 Yes, but please pay attention, for a lede is about to be buried:

The LPGA should endeavor to do everything it can to reclaim the billing of golf’s first major.

Anything after the Masters becomes an afterthought with little to no build-up.

Finding a spot after The Players but before the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in March would go a long way toward reclaiming some of the national conversation. The week after The Players would put the women one week ahead of the PGA Tour stop in Houston and two weeks ahead of the ANWA.

Of course, the LPGA would need to make sure it could secure a big enough television window and, ideally, add another full-field event early in the year to give players more chances to qualify.

They had the perfect date, but Beth Ann doesn't want to say out loud that it's that very ANWA that stole their perfect date.   

I think Beth Ann has it right, though this lady wants to double-down on stupid:

Two-time major champion Stacy Lewis grew up in The Woodlands and would like to see the event moved to September.

“I think it needs to be played in the fall when the golf course is firmer and faster, in general,” said Lewis.

But that’s not all, Lewis would also like to see the LPGA move its headquarters to The Woodlands area, where there can be even more focus on what would be an LPGA fully-owned-and-operated event.

“Would be your last major of the year,” said Lewis. “LPGA owns it, blow it out.”

The fall, of course, is football season, so network exposure would be an issue, though Lewis notes that with the media landscape changing so rapidly, who knows what might soon be in play.

You know when the best time to play in Houston is?  Is never good for you?

Stacey ignores that their Open Championship and the Evian, the fifth of four majors, are already clogging up that part of the LPGA calendar, so Stacey appears to want to do unto the Evian that which got done to the Dinah.

But this is why what Augusta National did was so ill-considered.  The sports calendar is always hostile for the ladies, the weeks Beth Ann is speaking of will compete with March Madness and other major sporting properties, and it seems unlikely that any sponsors will see opportunity there.  They are well and truly s*****d, but they are also deep into a certain river in Egypt if they think they can make this combination of date and venue work.

Zurich Zeitgeist - Geoff captures the strange doings in NOLA:

Meanwhile, over at the PGA Tour where someone thought it’d be cool to be like the IOC and control all broadcasting pictures, sound, and commentary—even though no network partner asked for the courtesy—an outage of some kind knocked out the ability to show final round golf for several hours. This included the final portion of Golf Channel’s pre-network final round coverage that ended without explanation. After an hour or so of uncertainty, an official Tour social media account acknowledged the issue but gave few details. This went about as well as you’d expect.

The mid-round weather delay softened the outage blow since this would have meant showing last year’s taped final round until the storm passed. But since the PGA Tour wanted control of the compound as part of its current nine-year deal, they’ll have to explain what happened to cause such a huge embarrassment for their partners at Golf Channel, CBS and Zurich. The rest of us? We’ll have to endure months of make-good Zurich ads instead of golf shots.

It’s all quite perplexing since the Tour is quietly laying people off while sitting on $1.5 billion in private equity cash. While putting together $20 million comp packages for the Commissioner who engineered the bold, unasked-for new broadcasting structure that did not work on Sunday. And one that also included a pricey a new building where the Champions Tour announcers have sounded like they’re talking inside a shipping container. Under the Atlantic. In 1993.

I came home and tried to watch it on tape later, and it took me a while to figure out what a cock-up it was.  Here's the TC gang's take:

Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin won the Zurich Classic, holding off the Højgaard twins at TPC Louisiana. Now nine(!) years into the team format, what’s your review? Does it work? Would you tweak it even more? Should other Tour stops take notice?

Marksbury: I think this tournament format works so well because it’s unique, and not one of several team-play events on the schedule. It’s fun and different. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Berhow: It works because it’s the only one. I don’t mind it; and I think players kind of like the change of pace. If they don’t, they get a week off. Although since it already doesn’t count for World Ranking points I’d even consider leaning into the uniqueness a little more with the format. What does that mean? I don’t know yet. But there’s opportunity here.

Dethier: It works because it’s the only one but also because we get just enough compelling teams. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry upped the juice of this event the last two years. The Højgaard twins are an electric pair. And Griffin and Novak are the perfect duo of guys-that-seem-like-everymen but could actually just kick your teeth in at golf. Thrilled for them, happy for the tournament, bummer about the bizarre mid-Sunday power blackout. Thank goodness for the volatility of alternate shot; see you again next year!

I think it works because of the extent to which the event didn't work before the format change.  The way I see it, the Tour has been bifurcated into the Haves and Have-Nots, leaving Zurich as perhaps the best-positioned of the later (maybe Phoenix would nose them out).  Because of the team format, they at least have a hook to grab a top player or two, and on alternate-shot days they also provide a reason for us to tune in.  Let's not overstate it, because the team format got them Rory and Shane, but is there another comparable?

Best Player On The Planet - Always fun to throw Phil's hyperbola and other nonsense back at him, but is there a more enigmatic player than this guy?

Joaquin Niemann ran away from the field at LIV Golf Mexico City, claiming his third win in just the sixth LIV event of the season and securing a spot in the 2025 U.S. Open. Although why hasn’t this success translated to majors yet?

Marksbury: I guess there are a lot of factors you can cite here — you could compare LIV courses and its format to the PGA Tour, the depth of field, mental prep and more. But really, majors are just so, so hard to win. Rory is a prime example! I can’t help but think that Joaquin will have his major breakout soon — perhaps even this year.

Berhow: His case is particularly odd because he’s yet to record a major top 10, but it’s coming. Like Rory going for the career Grand Slam, he got enough at-bats and someone with that kind of talent was bound to take advantage. The same will happen for Niemann eventually.

Dethier: What’s bizarre is that Joaco’s game so clearly travels. Winning in Mexico City at altitude — where you need plenty of math and some comical carry distances to contend — was just another reminder. We’ve known for a while just how talented he is. He’s become a better closer in recent years, too. But yeah, it’s time to see more in majors, though I get the sense he’s putting more pressure on himself than anyone could from the outside.

Not only do I think he's a strong talent, but he's also earne3d some begrudging respect by his willingness to travel and play to ensure his access to majors.  But despite showing us the goods in regular play, how do we grapple with this record?

In 23 Major appearances he is yet to record a top-10, with his best result of T16 coming at the 2023 Masters. He has made the cut in his last four Major appearances, however, and recently recorded a T29 finish at Augusta National.

Obviously it's a dreadful major resume, but the only citations come from the Masters, where the tiny field size renders those accomplishments not all that noteworthy.  The masters is the easiest cut in golf, at least once you have the tee time.

That's it for today, kids.  I'll be back later in the week, although it does seem that the Wednesday Game™ can safely return to morning play based upon the weather forecast.   So you'll not se me that morning,  which I can only hope won't ruin your week.

Midweek Musings - Day Late Edition

I was planning to blog yesterday, but got tied up with a contractor trying to solve one of our recurring pesky issues....  What would you like to discuss?

Masters Detritus - Still sifting through the aftershocks, though the protagonist himself is back at work, if one can call hanging with Shane Lowry work.

We'll all say "Amen" to this, though perhaps respectful silence might be the more appropriate reaction:

In 6 silent minutes, CBS delivered a Masters broadcast masterpiece

Golf television is an exercise in relentless motion. On a typical Sunday, eight voices are employed to speak about at least 50 balls spread over 18 fields, while two dozen production folks work any number of jobs focused on the past (replays), present (directing) and future (production, graphics, commercials, pre-produced segments).

When it works, it all sounds like a symphony orchestra — a series of masterfully talented individuals serving as a necessary piece of a much larger whole. And when it works really well, sometimes it sounds like it did for six straight minutes on Masters Sunday: nothing at all.

CBS did not say a word for six minutes as Rory McIlroy wept his way to the scorer’s room at Augusta National on Masters Sunday. Instead, in what might be the CBS team’s finest moment under the leadership of lead producer Sellers Shy, the network sat back and watched, holding a single steady-camera on McIlroy as he faced his first moments as the Grand Slam winner.

It can be excruciating — and feel somewhat counterproductive — for those who are paid to talk to sit in silence in the aftermath of a historic moment. But often silence tells the story far better than analysis could. That was the case here.

Well, that's exactly what the Ayatollah preached to them for all those years.  And now that Sir Nick's blubbering is off mic, there's a chance.

Though this feels like quite the stretch:

EXTRA KUDOS

Shy was thrilled with his team’s handling of the situation, but the unsung hero of it all was Nantz, who delivered the closing line — “The long journey is over — McIlroy has his masterpiece!” — and then disappeared into the night.

Nantz’s grasp of the brevity required in that moment was quickly followed by the rest of his CBS Sports counterparts and delivered an added depth of emotion.

“In that moment, that’s when you want Jim Nantz,” Shy said. “He knows what to do in that moment, and we all take his lead. The visuals speak for themselves.”

Those faux-spontaneous reactions from Nancy-Boy are among my least favorite moments.  They seem about as spontaneous as the interviews with the sponsor's CEO.

And wither Rory in the interim?

McIlroy’s first stop after Augusta was London, where he and his wife, Erica, are building a house. From there, McIlroy said, he, Erica and their 4-year-old daughter, Poppy, hopped a jet to Belfast to spend time with Rory’s parents, Gerry and Rosie, and “a few other people that are important to me.”

Among that group of revelers, McIlroy said, were Michael Bannon, Rory’s swing coach since his Holywood youth, and Rory’s caddie and boyhood friend, Harry Diamond, and his wife. “To celebrate with the people that have been a part of this whole thing for my entire career, my entire life, was absolutely amazing,” McIlroy said.

London, eh?  

Not really linked to this bit, but Employee No. 2 felt that the vibe between Rory and Erica in the aftermath of his win was....well, coolish.  

But that linked piece did answer a minor lingering question, why weren't his parents there?   The broadcasters spoke as if they were, without a doubt, in Northern Ireland, and I assumed they were being their characteristic clueless selves.  In fact, I gave it a verbal "Pshaw", noting that Gerry was for sure watching from the grill room at Seminole.

Well, mark this date on your calendars, because the clueless have stumbled upon a clue:

Earlier this month at Augusta National, though, Gerry and Rosie were nowhere to be found. As a victorious Rory walked from the 18th green to scoring on Sunday evening, tearfully embracing

seemingly everyone in his path, his mother and father were nearly 4,000 miles away, back home in Northern Ireland.

And, from the sound of it, surrounded by boxes.

Rory said Wednesday that his parents missed his Grand Slam moment because they were moving houses.

“Which they said was a good thing,” Rory said on Michael Breed’s SiriusXM show. “They were glad they had something to do to take their mind off what was happening at the Masters.”

You know, parental stress and all.

When Rory did finally connect with Gerry and Rosie?

“Very emotional,” Rory said. “It was amazing to relive the week — and not just relive the week but the entire journey we’ve been on to get to this point.” He added, “Being an only child, I obviously have an extremely close bond with my parents, and to be able to share this with them was incredibly special.”

Which do we think is ore stressful, closing out the career slam or moving?  I know, kind of a coin toss, no?

Geoff's Cutmakers post is available, though he has thus far denied us the third of the troika, where folks visit the woodshed.  But he has all sorts of good stuff here, this one being right in my sweet spot:

Tribute Pins. The Lords should never be discouraged from celebrating history. They do it so well and with a level of authenticity that only adds to the accomplishment of winning the Masters. But

taking it onto the course for the final round and losing the iconic 16th hole pin placement to celebrate Jack Nicklaus’ winning putt from 1975? To coincide with elaborately planned social and CBS rollouts? It was a bit like putting pickles on the Masters Pimento Cheese sandwich. I love pickles. Who doesn’t love pickles? But you don’t mess with a proven recipe. Especially since the 16th’s upper left shelf offers the least interesting pin on the green. There’s good reason it’s no longer used on Sundays: even if a player hits a great shot, the green’s steep pitch leads to few made putts. The green contours are more pronounced than in Nicklaus’s day, making a repeat of his putt unlikely. The 16th played to a 3.019 average Sunday and saw 10 birdies despite 83% of the field hitting the green. The players took more putts per GIR there on Sunday than any day of the week. In the name of watching balls feed dramatically to the hole and players doing amazing things (it’s harder than it looks), let’s hope they go back to the normal Sunday pin. After all, it pays tribute to all of the amazing moments at No. 16.

I don't actually love pickles, or was that question rhetorical?

It's quite obviously a horrible pin, and I have long expressed some doubts about this hole and green.  Geoff correctly notes the drama of the traditional Sunday pin, but to me it's the only good location on the green.  And even there it's a bit of a conundrum, because it's a Par-3 with water and the pin is placed closest to said water, except that, because of the slopes, the players never have to fire at that water-adjacent pin, they can play safely right of it.

This was his lede item, and there's much praise for the set-up, so much praise that one wonders why it's included in the middle tier.  But it also includes one unbelievable howler from Geoff:

Course Setup. Probably the best setup of the last decade, it’s no coincidence we got a thrilling weekend of play with a nice variety of contenders. The first two rounds were especially good with a nice mix of hole locations. Perhaps worried about pace of play due to the huge field size, or simply realizing that a hybrid blend of hole locations makes for a better setup, the Cup and Tee Marker Placement Committee did a fantastic job presenting the course while working in a few fresh looks. Better weather helped. But huge swings in humidity and temperature from morning to evening must have made finding the green speed and firmness sweet spot the ultimate first-world battle. This year, the increasingly excessive 18th hole seemed to play better thanks to the markers going down in the 440-450 range instead of going back to 465. The 72.807 scoring average was the lowest since 2020 (71.752). For the fourth year in a row, the second nine (36.899) played almost a stroke harder than the front nine (35.909). The course played surprisingly tough on Sunday when the greens veered close to the speed limit and McIlroy mentioned it played more like a U.S. Open. The sense of defensiveness might have been a product of the pressure he faced more than setup, since there were 12 rounds in the 60s led by Rose and Hideki Matsuyama posting final round 66s.

Huge field size?  At the Masters?  That's a good one,. Geoff.

The 2025 Masters field consisted of 95 golfers. The field was one of the smaller ones on the PGA Tour, typically featuring around 90-100 players. While some players initially had invitations, a few had to withdraw due to injuries or other reasons, resulting in the final field of 95.

I is at the higher end of the field size they allow, and I could understand Geoff making that point.  But HUGE?  This is the era we live in, where 95 players are too many to get around a golf course.  Sheesh!

Need a laugh?

Butler Cabin. This year’s surprising explosion of white orchids and stockpiling of firewood

added to an aesthetic rollercoaster ride that has featured ferns, flowers, unusual table pieces, five-alarm scarring above the fireplace, and the annual school detention center body language. Without an amateur making the cut, this year’s ceremony moved briskly. Since the telecast ran long and everyone just wanted to hear from McIlroy, the whole thing was shaping up to be the least-awkward Butler ceremony on record. But in a tradition unlike any other, Scottie Scheffler kept the weirdness streak alive despite doing his third straight year in the Cabin. After putting the jacket on McIlroy and shaking the new champion’s hand, he rapidly exited stage left. It wasn’t quite a full “Bennett,” named after low amateur Sam’s abrupt mid-ceremony departure in 2023. Nonetheless, the tradition continues.

The problem here is that the kids don't know any history.  The Butler Cabin ceremony in recent years is awkward and bad television, but not to an extent that it becomes entertaining.  But Jim Nantz is no Clifford Roberts, but amuse yourself at some point and seek out some of those YouTube videos.  My personal favorite is when he asked Seve how tall he is....  I know, the look on Seve's face is just priceless.

Udder Stuff - Just between us kids, I already have my eye on the exit.....  In a more recent post, Geoff was lauding the week at Harbor Town:

Novel concept: put on a closely contested competition played at a compelling and proven venue, maybe include a few people we’ve heard of, sprinkle it with underdogs or comeback stories, and call it a golf tournament. If possible, throw some history on the grill and guess what? People worldwide start to forget the last few years of bratdom, greed, entitlement, brooding, bungling, and, hopefully, the whole creator-with-a-capital-C mishegas.

While this concept explains the huge Masters ratings, the impact of Rory McIlroy’s playoff win over Justin Rose spilled into the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head. Harbour Town week sometimes features a sleepy vibe following the Masters, but instead, we got firm, fast greens, a tight leaderboard, and Justin Thomas’s emotional bid to win again after severely over-tinkering the last few years. The sports fans rewarded with a thrilling Masters finished tuned in again to produce the most-watched Heritage in 23 years, peaking at 6 million viewers Sunday evening on CBS and also drawing (undisclosed) strong numbers via Paramount+ (which, incidentally, has more than double the subscriber base as NBC’s Peacock).

Golf Channel also reported eye-opening Heritage numbers to reinforce a newfound fan enthusiasm largely thanks to McIlroy and a thrilling Masters: the network averaged 562,000 viewers on Thursday and Friday, up 35% from last year. Those were the most-watched early rounds on record. And despite Golf Channel reaching far fewer homes than just a few years ago, a whopping 1.2 million viewers tuned in for Sunday’s lead-in coverage.

But I was reliably informed that professional golf can only thrive if we let the LIV guys come back....

Knowing the place (not that I've neem there for some time), this seems mad:

In its annual pre-championship economic outlook, the R&A announced that it expects 278,000 fans will attend this year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush. If such numbers pass through the gates, it will be the best-attended Open Championship held outside of St Andrews.

Also…

• The R&A says one million ticket ballot applications were submitted.

• The attendance expected would surpass 2019’s 237,750 fans who witnessed Shane Lowry’s six-shot victory over Tommy Fleetwood.

• The 153rd Open will also be the largest ever sporting event held in Northern Ireland.

• The event will generate more than £213 million in total economic benefit according to an independent forecast by the Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University.

• The Open will account for £63 million of the benefit, with “the destination marketing benefit” exceeding £150 million.

• Under the “Kids Go Free” initiative more than 27,000 tickets are available for those under the age of 16, with reduced price tickets for fans under the age of 25.

• 89,000 spectators are expected to attend the four sold-out Practice Days up from 61,000 fans who attended the equivalent days in 2019.

• 4,600 have booked a place in the on-site Open Camping Village and have proudly committed to a week free of 21st-century indoor plumbing.

It is a spectacular venue, an event I am eagerly anticipating.  However, given the size of Portrush, I can only assume that most of those 278,000 souls will be sleeping in their cars.

Doing the job American bloggers won't do, Geoff has posted updated Ryder Cup point standings.  First, the home team:

Did you ever consider J.J. Spaun or Andrew Novak Ryder Cup material?  The names that follow also seem unlikely to rock your world, guys like Tom Hoge, Daniel Berger, Lucas Glover and Billy Ho.  Feel free to remind me that one of those guys won a U.S. Open at the Ryder Cup venue, but I'll have to remind you that that was 16 years ago....

The Captain seems to be going the wrong direction, sitting in 21st place as we speak (full points list is here).  names that are further down include Max Homa (24th), Jordan Spieth (30th) and Brooks Koepka, who has also won a major at this venue (80th).

It certainly doesn't feel like a juggernaut, not that the other guys don't have their issues:

Also not a juggernaut, though I feel that recent play has elevated the Euro's prospects somewhat.  Viktor coming back from the dead is huge, and one expects Ludvig to be a killer in this.  Current Euro standings can be found here, and I encourage you to not take comfort from Laurie Canter being there, since I expect Robert MacIntyre and, especially, Sepp Straka to be there.

That will have to sate you for today.  Not planning on blogging tomorrow unless something drives me towards the keyboard,.  Worst case, we'll catch up on Monday.  Have a great weekend.

Weekend Wrap - Low Country Edition

Hope everyone had a good weekend.  Perhaps Spring might actually be settling in.... But still folks are clinging to that event from the prior weekend, which in a rational world would  

Harbor Town -  I did see the ending, the last 2-3 holes and the playoff, and Harbor Town remains a fun and visually striking venue.  But it's quite the mess if you want coherence from your schedule.  Let me explain...

Obviously a Tour schedule should exhibit variety, and up top few years ago this event had a very sustainable position.  It was post-Masters winddown week, a collective chill after the intense pressure of the year's first major.  Harbor Town was perfect, a short hop from Augusta and a delightful Low Country vibe, ignoring that first post-Covid event in 2020.  To this observer it worked perfectly, and guys had the option of playing or not playing as they preferred.

But now we all understand that golf can't succeed unless we know with mathematical certainty that Patrick will get paid, and you're either a "Have" or you're on the menu.... Given that life as a "have Not" isn't viable, the sponsors have to pony up and turn into something that matters, but it's still the week after the Masters.  Setting aside my hatred of the limited-field Signature Events Money Grabs™, I have no objection to Harbor Town being so designated, it just takes a mental midget to think that, under a situation where a handful of events are elevated, that one of those should be this week.

Apparently, I'm not the only one with such a reaction.  As a proxy I'll submit this week's Tour Confidential panel.  As Unplayable Lies dead-enders know, I use this feature for low-impact blogging, but I also use their Q&A's as a proxy for what folks think matters.  By far, the most frequent issue upon which I've pounced in the past is their Tiger sycophancy.  

This week we see the writers mull two follow-up Masters questions before getting to JT's win.  Well played, Jay!  You commit to rendering eight events as special, and then you allow one of them to be buried under the continued excitement over the Masters ( an event that, does, actually, matter).  You guys are playing some kind of 3D chess, eh?

I didn't watch enough to have a feel for Thomas' play, though Andrew Novak has become a bit of a hard-luck case.  here was that TC bit on JT:

3. Last week, Rory ended his major drought, and on Sunday at the RBC Heritage, Justin Thomas ended his winless slump, beating Andrew Novak in a playoff at Harbour Town to pick up his first win since the 2022 PGA Championship. Thomas reminded us of his firepower with his 61 Thursday; what had been holding him back during this winless stretch?

Melton: Golf is hard, and even the best in the world go through slumps. Watching superstars go through struggles reminds us how hard this game is, and gives us an even greater appreciation for those who win year in and year out.

Schrock: I think Zephyr nailed it. Thomas won and won a lot from 2015 to 2022. Even the best modern pro golfers go in slumps, unless your name is Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson or Rory McIlroy. Thomas was inaccurate with the driver as he tooled his swing and then his normally reliable putter went away. It all seems to be back now, which is good news for the PGA Tour. The more stars at the peak of their powers, the better. Next up: Jordan Spieth?

Piastowski: Swing stuff. Expectation stuff. Other pros being better stuff. It happens. But then it snowballs, and that’s hard to shovel out of. But man, full-power JT is fun to watch. And yeah, his first PGA Championship win came at Quail Hollow.

 I think you'd have to start with the putter but, when it goes bad in this game, it all goes bad.

What's intriguing if you're a JT fan, is that next major venue..... He, of course, won a PGA there, and that guy that just got fitted for an ugly green jacket has also had some success there.

You guys know what interest me, so of course this was my favorite story of the week, trigger4ed by this social media post:

Wow, that sounds so out of character for Patrick..... Not!

By way of background,. I've long thought the signing thing was out of control and, even if you sign for a five-year old, it might end up on E-Bay.  And the4y are at their "office", but still, it isn't hard to see what a bad look this is.  My favorite buried detail is that Xander was signing on the course, X-Man being Patrick's a-hole buddy....

What does this story tell us?  That Patrick is a dick?  Old news, I hear you saying.... He is, in the priceless formulation of that long-ago Alan Shipnuck reader, the terrific penis.

Reactions on social media were predictable:

It's fair to say the golf fan's post has divided opinion with golf fans.

Some PGA Tour fans consider Cantlay has every right to do what he wants and doesn't have to stop during a practice round if he doesn't want to, even for a little kid.

Others seem not quite so forgiving though for a practice day, and think it's a disgrace he would say 'no' and walk straight past the young lad.

We'll let you head over to Instagram and X / Twitter now to see what everyone makes of it all.

As a wise man once said, "I Don't Owe Anyone Anything".

This story is a perfect synecdoche of the current state of professional golf.  Think of every recent pronouncement from the Tour about fan engagement and the need to unify the game for the fans and yada, yada, yada.....  Obviously they've been taking quite the PR hit and their press releases show it, but those are of course just words.  In the unscripted moments Patrick and Collin Morikawa tell us quite clearly what they think of golf fans.....  even the young ones.  But Patrick will lecture us on what we need to do to grow the game, which, as I understand it, mostly involves paying him.

Two quick follow ups.  First, the above was posted by a fan on site, who later deleted it.  

It took off because your observation confirmed the impression we've developed about these guys....

The second point to makes i that none of the major golf publications have touched this story.  They did cover the Morikawa bit, but apparently the policy as relates to this guy is Omertà.

Masters Detritus - I'm already on the clock, so let's first grab those two bits from the TC gang:

1. Now that we’ve had a week to fully digest the 2025 Masters and Rory McIlroy’s first green jacket (and career Grand Slam), where would you rank it among some of the best Masters of all time?

Zephyr Melton: I can reliably rank Masters only in my lifetime (since 1994), and in that time

frame, I’d rank it top three, with 1997 and 2019 being the others. The excitement of Sunday, mixed with the historical implications, made it one of the best watches I’ve ever had. What a tournament.

Josh Schrock: To me, it’s probably the best in my lifetime. Tiger’s win in 2019 was amazing just for the incredible feat of him becoming the Tiger Woods of old one last time at Augusta National, but the final round itself wasn’t as thrilling as what we witnessed last week. That’s because Tiger hit just fairways and the middle of greens while Rory oscillated between full flight and complete meltdown. The yo-yo nature of the final round, coupled with the grand slam and what would have been the worst devastation of Rory’s career, made it No. 1 on my list. I’ll go 2025, 2019 and 1997, with an honorable mention to 2004.

Nick Piastowski: Whew, I’ve been thinking about this all week. Jack in ’86. Mize’s chip-in. Tiger’s first and last wins. There’ve been some outstanding ones. But what didn’t this Masters have? Tight leaderboard. Good leaderboard. Dramatic finish. Ecstatic and popular winner. Hard to beat, for sure.

The problem is that these are 25-year old kids and their golf memories go back an hour-and-a-half.   I'm actually annoyed by this trend to call it an all-time great Masters, because I feel it doesn't qualify.  In a way it's something even more interesting, we saw a man fighting his demons for five hours.  I get why people were entranced and gutted at the end, but it wasn't a great day of golf.

What's interesting is that Augusta National gave these guys a huge hint with that 16th hole pin placement, but they apparently had b locked the caller.  What was missing from Rory's win was challengers playing at the top of their game.  Jack in '75 had to beat Miller and Weiskopf at the peak of their powers, whereas the only guy that made a run at Rory started from way too far back (and the run would have been incidental if Rory hadn't come back towards the pack).

It was a great show, it just wasn't really great golf.

Let me just added props for that great photo, which I hadn't seen elsewhere.

But now we jump the shark:

2. With his Masters title in his back pocket, a major drought snapped and that weight finally off his shoulders, what do you expect to see from McIlroy in the remaining three majors? Are you picking him as the early favorite to win any of the remaining three?

Melton: When you’re hot, you’re hot. Golfers tend to win in bunches, and when that window is open, it’s critical to take advantage. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Rory in the hunt many more times this season, especially in the majors.

Schrock: With the career grand slam done and dusted, why not win all four? Next up is the PGA at Quail Hollow, a course McIlroy has dominated in his career. The Open is at Royal Portrush, where he owns the course record, and he has been one of the best U.S. Open players over the past four years — he just doesn’t have a win to show for it. I think he wins at least one more this year, especially with Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele still searching post injury.

Piastowski: Yes. I’m in. I’ve fallen victim to recency bias after like every major, but picking him to be the favorite for the next three doesn’t seem too outlandish. Schrock explains why above. But yeah, golf. Being the favorite is one thing. Winning is another. Shoot, folks were thinking the same of Scottie Scheffler as late as last December.

At least the last guy acknowledged the recency bias....  Of course Quail Hollow would have Rory salivating, but we're forgetting the last decade awfully quickly.

Unfortunately, I am out of time.  I still have more Masters leftovers, which I'll try to get to in the coming days.  Of course, as you may have noticed, I'm the laziest blogger on the planet.... Have a great week.

Midweek Musings - Masters Detritus Edition

Best.  Masters.  Evah?  I've been a little surprised at how many are making that claim, without the benefit of historical citations, for sure.  My takeaway was that it was a uniquely captivating spectacle, but there were too many missing ingredients for it to reach the pantheon.  It was, however, a unique five-hour window into the black hole between a tormented player's ears, and even came with a happy ending...  Something rare in our game.

The biggest missing element were challengers....  Compare and contrast with the Masters honored on the 16th green.  Yah, I know it's from the paleolithic era, but there you had the three best players in the world at the top of their games.  Can we see the difference?  Here the best we can say is that Rosie got it rolling late.....  

What do we have for the kids today?  Well, we have several in the Winners-Losers genre, though the former to me were very thin on the ground.  Shall we start with JR (after all, there's little left to say about Rory):

Justin Rose. A second straight major finishing second hurts, losing in a second Masters playoff is positively cruel. This did not stop him from once again demonstrating pure class in the aftermath.

Even better, this time his 20-percenter was not giving the green coats a wrap-it-up signal to cut short another dignified stiff-upper-lip assessment of the week. One that included making 10 birdies Sunday, one short of the record for any Masters round. Rose joins Tom Weiskopf (4), Johnny Miller (3) Tom Kite (3) and Greg Norman in Hall of Fame company to come so close on multiple occasions. Rose also nearly tied the largest 54-hole comeback in Masters history when starting the final round seven strokes back. It’s not out of the question that he can still add another major with such an incredible attitude. “There's no point in being too despondent about it and you look at all the good stuff that got me into this situation,” Rose said. “You can't skip through a career without a little bit of heartache. It's not going to happen. If you're willing to lift the big championships, you've to put yourself on the line. You have to risk feeling this way to get the reverse. It's all -- it nets out.”

I got asked by our head professional yesterday whether anyone else had ever lost two Masters playoffs, and I came up empty in the moment:

Justin Rose is the second player in Masters history to lose two playoff matches. The first was Ben Hogan, who lost playoff matches in 1942 and 1954.

1942?  Wow, I wouldn't have even thought there would have been a Masters in 1942, but we were only in the war for five months at that point.  The livestock grazing in Amen Corner came later... and the next Masters after this one was in 1946.  Any guesses as to who took Hogan down?

One of my longstanding gripes is the treatment of playoff losers.  Certainly the didn't win, but isn't it a higher form of loss than a typical second place finish?  The playoff loser shot the best score of the week, which is the objective at the start of the week, no?  We all understand that second place can be an agonizing close call, or it can be  fifteen shots back, right Ernie and Miggy (anyone get that reference)?

Let me share my two favorite major playoff factoids.  The first will come via a question, has any player lost all four majors in playoffs?  Anyone?  Bueller?  You're gonna hate yourself, because the answer is blindingly obvious.  I'll throw some hints your way.....  Calcavecchia?  Ring any bells?

How about Fuzzy?  Do visions of white towels pop into your mind?  Larry Mize, anyone?

But that's a little too recent and obvious, no?  Anyone remember Craig Wood?  

Craig Ralph Wood (November 18, 1901 – May 7, 1968) was an American professional golfer in the 1930s and 1940s, the winner of 21 PGA Tour titles including two major championships and a member of three Ryder Cup teams (1931, 1933, 1935). Wood was the first player to lose all four major championships in extra holes.

The asterisk is because the PGA was then a match-play event, hence that "extra holes" bit.  Wood is most famous as the victim of Gene Sarazan's "Shot heard 'round the world" at the 1935 Masters Augusta National Invitational.

The other major playoff factoid that amuses me relates to the King.  Arnie was.... well, he was the damn King, so you know what he was, but his major haul of seven may strike some as meager as compared to his stature in the game.  Arnie only won one U.S. Open, his famous charge in 1960 to steal it from a young Jack and an elderly Hogan, but folks seem to forget that Palmer lost three U.S. Open playoffs in five years.  Think about that level of frustration:

• 1962 - Jack Nicklaus (Oakmont)
• 1963 - Julius Boros (The Country Club)
• 1966 - Billy Casper (Olympic)

He shot the low number in four Opens, and won only the one.  Jack shot the low number five times, and won four of those.

Geoff seems to be grading on a curve:

Bryson DeChambeau. A remarkable performance given what appeared to be his (at best) B-game. Birdieing three of the last four holes Saturday appeared to put a damper on McIlroy’s mood and added even more tension on Sunday. While DeChambeau ended up four strokes from the playoff, the week shows more deep Masters runs are in his future. He should ignore the haters seizing on his open, perhaps silly answers to questions. Majors would be far less interesting without DeChambeau around.

Fair enough, though I can't help being disappointed at his failure to provide a serious challenge to Rory.  

The other problem is that I can't stop laughing at him for calling Augusta a Par-67.  It's beyond funny that the man who uttered that statement was the only player in the field to lay up off the third tee.  Wasn't that the sequence that lost him the Masters?   Somehow on the walk from the second green to third tee he morphed into Len Mattiace....

It probably says more about our outsized expectations than it does about the young man, but I expected more from him this week:

Ludvig Aberg. Two Masters, two incredible performances. The elegant Swede briefly tied for the lead through 16 holes before a three-putt at 17 and 18th hole triple bogey. In the logoclad overkill world of professional golf, last week’s bright outfits stood out against his peers sporting a drab array of cow pasture beige, Chernobyl gray, and hyperion treatment plant blues. The 25-year-old leaned into a lively Adidas revival, and his willingness to celebrate Masters springtime sure classed up the joint. A future Masters win also seems inevitable.

A weirdly-sized photo that I stole from Geoff.....not great formatting for sure.

A for this one, color me unmoved:

Harry Diamond. The endlessly-badgered bagman bought at least two weeks of criticism for not stopping his man from playing a shot. McIlroy’s faith in his looping pal paid off when we found out Diamond’s reassuring post-18th hole bogey words gave his player the boost needed to birdie the hole in sudden-death. And we learned he was not wild about an insane recovery play on the seventh that would have been a disaster. One quibble: next time your man pitches one from behind the 15th hole into the pond, you must tackle him when he’s walking back to the drop area and bringing a 10 into play.

Fair enough, Geoff, but now do St. Andrews, Pinehurst and LACC..... see the problem?

It was never about Harry, it was about what the  choice to put Harry on the bag told us about Rory.  Specifically, that it was more important for him to be comfortable than to be challenged.  If you're looking to explain the years 2015-2024, that's a pretty good start.  When Rory pulled the wrong club on the 16th hole at Pinehurst, wasn't that Harry on the bag?

Then Geoff had this on TV stuff:

Ratings. CBS averaged 12.7 million for Sunday’s final round and the audience peaked at a whopping 19.543 million viewers from 7-7:15 p.m. ET. Streaming numbers were not disclosed but added to the huge numbers. Sunday’s average audience size was up a stunning 33% from last year. Sky Sports says Sunday was its most-watched day in network history, with 7.5 million tuning in and 1.85 million watching after midnight when McIlroy and Rose played the 18th hole. To put the peak 19.5 million number in perspective, SBJ’s Josh Carpenter noted that it was only “700K less than the 20.2 million average for Tiger's win in 1997.” The numbers are especially remarkable given the well-documented decline in linear television reach.

CBS. The record pollen levels did not stop Jim Nantz from guiding the team who are—weirdly—in different announce locations. They were working an extra two hours this year on what is already a break-light, tense, just-don’t-call-it-a-mob-scene, broadcast. The variety of announcer locations was rarely noticeable, even with Frank Nobilo covering the 16th from the 11th where his view of Amen Corner takes priority, Ian Baker Finch from a super tower position, and Andrew Catalon above the 14th green. No one talked over each other and they all offered sparse but smart commentary regarding play on multiple holes, highlighted by moments like Baker-Finch noting how no one was getting up and down on No. 4 from where DeChambeau had hit his tee shot. Dottie Pepper was more indispensable than ever and added key observations about wind, shot choices, and things said inside the ropes. She shined best during Sunday’s 7th hole sequence when McIlroy pulled off an insane shot from the left second cut. Another set of eyes on the ground is desperately needed for shootout years like this one. Rose’s 66 lacked an (American) television voice during his epic comeback. And Sky’s on-course reporter is weirdly relegated to outside-the-rope status. What parts I heard from Sky’s announce team left a lot to be desired, particularly when Nick Faldo couldn’t resist talking about himself way too much.

I'm not at all surprised at the boffo ratings, which is where that Saturday putt by Bryson on the 18th green was so impactful (I'm also guessing the cold weather on the East Coast didn't hurt).  Not sure Corey Connors paired with Rory would have generated the same frisson... It's almost a relief to confirm that people will watch golf.  Well, maybe not golf per se, but The Masters.

Another set of eyes on the ground?  It's Augusta, Geoff, it took us fifty years to get Dottie and shot-tracing.

There's another aspect tot he ratings that folks might want to think through, to wit, the commercial load.  I totally get that this can't be replicated elsewhere.  After all. Augusta National has left more money on the table over the decades than DOGE has found fraudulent U.S. Aid disbursements.  But I have a radical concept to promote, to wit, that 12.7 million people tune in because the broadcast is watchable..  I know, an idea so crazy it just might work.

Cue the over-interpretations:

After sizzling Masters, now is the time for PGA Tour, LIV Tour Golf to strike a deal

 Why?  Do we think the John Deere would suddenly feel like the Masters if PReed was there?

For instance, we know how tough it is for a top golfer, even an all-time great like Rory McIlroy, to put away a tournament. It seemed like McIlroy had won three or four times before he finally won it. We also learned never to rule out a talented golfer like Justin Rose, who was finished after Saturday but built a stirring comeback to force a playoff Sunday. And we learned that the most talented golfers in the world can look like double-digit handicappers at times at Augusta National.

But one thing that we certainly learned, though maybe not as blatantly as the other lessons, is that men’s golf desperately needs to get the game united again.

Think about it. As the 2025 Masters unfolded, excitement grew over how many of the greats in the game were playing the same golf course at the same time. McIlroy, now a five-time major champion, was trying to hold off Bryson DeChambeau, a two-time U.S. Open winner. But when was the last time you thought about DeChambeau? Probably when he won the U.S. Open last year in a duel down the stretch with McIlroy.

Lots of words that don't remotely prove out the premise.  The Sunday excitement was provided almost exclusively by non-LIV players, leading me to an alternative conclusion, to wit, that the Masters was exciting because the Masters is always exciting.  DeChambeau benefitted from that more than he contributed to it, which I don't mean as a knock on him.  The magic is the event, not in this year's passing circus.

Before I move on, ESPN threw up some silliness in terms of winners from the week:

Schlabach: Besides McIlroy, I'll go with a couple of aging former Masters champions: Zach Johnson and Bubba Watson.

Johnson, 49, had fallen to 289th in the world rankings after missing eight cuts in 2024 and not doing much of anything this season, outside of tying for 21st in the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. He didn't play much golf last fall while watching his son play his senior year of high school football, and he seemed to have an eye on PGA Tour Champions when he turns 50 next year.

Plus, he has been battling a right elbow injury since last summer.

The 2007 Masters champion made six birdies in an eight-hole stretch and carded a 6-under 66 on Saturday, his best round at Augusta National. He tied for eighth at 5 under, his best finish on the PGA Tour since 2021.

"I still feel like I have it," Johnson said. "I don't know if pride is the right thing, proud, whatever you want to call it."

Watson, 46, hadn't done much of anything in the LIV Golf League -- his best finish this season was a tie for 12th in Saudi Arabia in the opener. He's currently 36th in the individual points standings.

But the two-time Masters winner matched his career low with a 4-under 68 on Sunday and tied for 14th at 3 under. It was his best finish at Augusta National since tying for 12th in 2019.

Watson was making his 17th start at the Masters, and his course knowledge was a bonus.

"You're always trying to get information," Watson said. "But as you get older that information doesn't do as good as it used to."

Uggetti: If we're going for the non-Rory division, it's easy to look toward Max Homa, who finished in a tie for 12th.

Perhaps no one was searching for a semblance of a positive week on the golf course coming into this week more than Homa, who had missed five straight cuts before arriving in Augusta and had been forthright about how much he was fighting his swing.

So, how do you get right?

For Homa, it appears the answer is playing Augusta National four days in a row. Over four rounds, Homa broke par every single time.

"It's awesome. This has been just not fun at all," Homa said after making the cut Friday. "It does feel good to not beat myself out here."

Homa clearly feels some level of comfort here, and he showed it. A year after he finished in a tie for third, his T-12 finish earns him an automatic invite for next year.

Of course, Homa isn't just looking for positive weeks like this one; he's after consistency and winning. There's plenty of work left to do.

"Tough times don't last; tough people do," Homa said. "At the end of the day, if you get out of your own head it's just one event. You can miss the cut by one and feel like garbage. It sucks. But always closer than you think."

The first bit is funny, no?  When have Bubba and Zach ever been used in the same sentence?   One of the peculiarities of Augusta is how well some of the old-times play, and it's all kinds of old-times.  You couldn't find two more disparate players than these two, heck Zach is the only guy that lays up on all the Par-5's every year (the year he won was because the weather was so God-awful that they all had to lay up).

The irony is that Homa is auditioning to join this crew, but without the green jacket that gets him invited back each year.  This is the first decent golf Max has shown us since last year's Masters, and I don't his chances unless he throws some numbers up elsewhere.

But this feels way too early:

Too-early favorites for the rest of the majors?

Schlabach: McIlroy will probably be the favorite at the next major championship, the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 15-18. He has won the Wells Fargo Championship at the same course four times, in 2010, 2015, 2021 and 2024, and set the course record twice with a 62 in 2010 and 61 five years later. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him add his sixth major and third PGA Championship title next month. I'll go with Rory to win a second straight major next month.

I'm expecting Scheffler to have a couple of victories under his belt by the time he arrives at the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh on June 12-15. He had three straight top-10 finishes in the major before tying for 41st at Pinehurst No. 2 last year. Players aren't going to be able to bomb it around Oakmont because of its narrow fairways and myriad bunkers, so give me someone who can control his ball and work it both ways. Scheffler isn't going through an entire season without a major championship victory.

McIlroy will also be a sentimental favorite when the Open Championship returns to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland on July 17-20. He missed the cut the last time The Open was played there in 2019, carding a quadruple-bogey 8 on the first hole and a triple-bogey 7 on the last in an opening round of 8-over 79. He tried to battle back and make the cut with a 6-under 65 in the second round but missed the weekend by one. Keep an eye on Irishman Shane Lowry, who won the previous Open Championship at Royal Portrush. He's playing great golf, too.

Uggetti: Mark has the favorites nailed, so I'll add some names that are worth considering.

Ludvig Åberg has now finished inside the top 10 at Augusta two years in a row, and though he has had only one other top-12 finish at a major in eight tries, his game is tailor-made for pretty much every possible major championship setup. The 2025 Genesis Invitational winner has the ballstriking to compete with the likes of Scheffler and McIlroy, and he has shown repeatedly that even when down late on a Sunday, he has the firepower to make a charge.

Keep a close eye too on Xander Schauffele. This week at Augusta, Schauffele once again did not look like he was fully back in peak form following the rib injury that sidelined him earlier this season, but he still gritted out a T-8 finish after an opening 73.

And let's, of course, not forget about who was leading the tournament after two holes Sunday. DeChambeau will not let this loss deter him from continuing to threaten at major tournaments. Quail Hollow and Oakmont are likely to be setups that favor DeChambeau's length and give him a chance to add to his own major total.

I don't know these writers, but thanks for sharing all those blindingly obvious names.   I especially love Uggetti's digging deep to come up three guys clearly among the top ten players on the planet.  

That's it for today.  Catch you down the road as we continue to process.