Weekend Wrap - Polar Vortex Edition

Yeah, this winter weather isn't going according to plan.... And it's no better in British Columbia than in Utah.  Though it was fun watching them play football in the snow yesterday.

Oh, The Tour Season Has Already Started? - I've watched almost no golf these last three weeks, only occasionally catching a gander at the leaderboards.  It's hard to imagine the Tour can be over the moon, though I think this falls under GWB's famous "soft bigotry of low expectations" bit:

PGA Tour Sony Open Hits Final Round High

Last Sunday’s final round of the PGA Tour Sony Open delivered a 0.35 rating and 545,000 viewers on Golf Channel, up 6% in ratings and 4% in viewership from last year (0.33, 524K) and 106% and 93% respectively from 2017 (0.17, 282K). It surpassed last year as the most-watched final round of the tournament in at least a decade.

Yeah, it's a third-tier event, but those are Sunday numbers.... Did Golf Channel break two dozen viewers on Thursday-Friday?  Just a reminder that those are from Hawaii, so they benefit allegedly from broadcasting in Prime Time...

I'm sure the Austrian golf GOAT drew eyeballs yesterday, though this might only be the first of many amusing headers:

Sepp Straka, who shaved his head before season, wins American Express

Well, it worked for that Samson guy....

It was a relatively easy win, though he let it get away down the stretch:

Sepp Straka was on a cruise control all week at the American Express. The Austrian entered Sunday with a four-shot lead and appeared to march to his third PGA Tour win while strolling into the record books.

Straka was able to hold off Jason Day and Justin Thomas on Sunday to secure the victory at 25-under-par. But his shot at joining an exclusive PGA Tour club — one that even Tiger Woods isn’t part of — went up in flames on the par-15 16th hole.

Straka arrived at the 16th hole on Sunday having not made a bogey all week. He had gone 69 consecutive holes without a bogey and needed just three more bogey-free holes to become the fourth player ever to win a 72-hole stroke play event while not making a bogey. Lee Trivino (1974 Greater New Orleans Open), J.T. Poston (2019 Wyndham Championship), and Tom Kim (2022 Shriners Children’s Open) are the other three to achieve such a feat.

I can't stop laughing at that typo.  Yeah, it's been decades since gholf.com has had proofreaders, but they seem to be confusing one of our all-time greats with a thoroughly mediocre relief pitcher.

There's little from this event of note, though you might want to dive in on William Mouw's baker's dozen....Hee seems to have taken it well.

Sit tight, we'll get back to the Tour in a moment, but first....

Simulate This - The Tour Confidential gang took on Tiger's TGL debut:

Tiger Woods made his TGL debut on Tuesday, as his Jupiter Links team lost to Los Angeles in the second edition of the new tech-infused league. What were your thoughts on Tiger the player and Tiger the entertainer?

James Colgan: I thought Tiger proved why the TGL built its business around him. He is

interesting enough for the world to pay attention no matter what he’s doing. That’s insanely valuable for golf in any form, including simulator golf.

Josh Schrock: There’s no question people will keep tuning in to watch Tiger mash balls into a simulator screen. We only get to see him four or five times a year otherwise. But Tiger the entertainer needs some work. His best on-mic moments can’t be him crying laughing at Kevin Kisner’s hosel rocket, and saying his mom is booing him. The league needs more from him on that end to have long-term growth.

Alan Bastable: Dream scenario was the little-walking-required sim league bringing out the best in Tiger. That did not happen. Instead, Woods looked ordinary at best…well, as ordinary as Tiger Woods can look, anyway. His speed seemed okay, but his iron play and short game left much to be desired. Tiger doubling over in laughter after Kiz’s bunker botch was fun if only because it showed us Tiger in a state in which we rarely see him. But goes without saying TGL will need more of Woods reacting to good shots than bad ones if this thing is going to take flight.

Sorry, Josh, but whether folks will keep tuning in to see Tiger mash balls into a screen remains very much in doubt.....

I think the 9% Tiger premium was at the low end of expectations but, more importantly, now comes the hard part.  You've gotten eyeballs from the technology and then from the Big Cat, now remind me why folks should come back....

Two weeks ago, TGL’s long-awaited debut drew 919,000 average viewers on ESPN, and Tiger’s debut last week pushed that number to over a million. Now that viewers know what TGL is (and won’t see Tiger this week), what do you expect to see from the ratings? Can TGL continue to increase viewership? How much will we learn from this coming week’s numbers?

Colgan: The biggest questions for the TGL are still ahead of them. Will people continue to care when the novelty and Tiger factors are gone? The ratings are going to be lower, but by how much? I would say anything in the 700-800K range again this week would be a win.

Schrock: I agree, James. It wasn’t a shock that over a million people tuned in to watch the Cat walk out to “Eye of the Tiger” and goof around with Max Homa and Kevin Kisner. I expect they’ll be big numbers in two weeks when Tiger is back and faces Rory’s team. But how many people are going to watch Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay and Billy Horschel against Rickie Fowler, Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick? If there’s no massive drop-off this week, then the TGL should feel good about its chances of building out some type of audience while working out the kinks.

Bastable: Hard to imagine a scenario in which this week’s numbers don’t take a hit, and not just because of Tiger’s absence. If you tuned in to the first two events, you witnessed two drama-starved blowouts and also puzzling looks from world-class players who watched seemingly well stuck wedge shots miss their marks by 10 or 15 yards. Both of those developments might give viewers pause about returning for a third straight week.

This week looks to be a tough one for them, no?  Not only is there a limited audience for Patrick Cantlay's and Cameron Young's rapier-like wits, but folks will be coming off three straight days of prime-time football.... 

Everyone has been focused on that January 27th Tiger v. Rory match-up, which has me chortling.  First, Rory is certainly an alpha dog in our game (or a dog of some ilk), but do we think people will tune in just for Rory?  Yeah, not so much....

Even more amusingly, is the fit of Rory with this event.  You caught those comments about those wedges that flew greens by 30 yards?  Not only is that about the worst thing for us to be discussing, as it undermines the whole integrity thing of the event.  But what's the weakest part of Rory's game?  OK, yeah I remember Pinehurst, so I'll grant you the short-putt issues, but the Ulsterman has never been able to control the distance of his wedges... So, if Tiger's flying greens by thirty yards with a wedge, what's the over-under for Rory?

But now let me pay off a concern you might have heard only from your humble blogger:

Collin Morikawa withdraws from 2025 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines

Each week so far during the PGA Tour's 2025 season, fans have seen a big-name golfer withdraw from an event.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was a scratch for the season-opening Sentry at Kapalua after a Christmas day kitchen accident. Jake Knapp withdrew from the Sony Open in Hawaii. Scheffler and Xander Schauffele then both WD'd from Week 3 at The American Express.

Up next for the PGA Tour is the Farmers Insurance Open, and that event will be minus one of the game's popular players. The field of 156 was announced Friday but two days later, we learned Collin Morikawa will be a no-go for the tournament. Wesley Bryan is now in the field replacing him.

Have you stopped laughing at Jake Knapp being included in the list of big-name WDs?  

But can you guess why I'm including this with the TGL content?  Let me make it even more blindingly obvious:

In Morikawa's lone start in 2025 at The Sentry, he finished solo second.

Except that he had another start on a Tuesday night in South Florida.... Are you with me?

Shockingly, Collin and Xander didn't want to finish an event in Hawaii and have to make their way to Florida by Tuesday, so note which they gave up.   This to me is the ignored issue with the TGL, to wit, that they are competing for talent with the Tour's traditional sponsors such as Sony and Framers Insurance.   But it's easy to see Farmer's motivation for not renewing....  Not only did the Tour decimate any opportunity for them to generate a respectable field by declaring other events "Special" (OK, admittedly it's not the designation, but rather that $20 million purse), now the TGL is cherry-picking SoCal boys that might otherwise have gone to Torrey....  Why would anyone trust the Tour after this?

Second Best Header of the Day - I don't care about the event, but is this the best Hatton-related header ever, or is that too competitive a category?

A day after smashing a tee marker, Tyrrell Hatton holds it together in Dubai to collect his eighth Euro Tour victory

Not sure where everything is headed, but one assumes that Tyrell will be at Bethpage....  and we wouldn't want it otherwise.

I might was well through this in from the TC panel:

Tyrrell Hatton held off Daniel Hillier to win the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday to pick up

his second win in his last five starts, and he’s finished in the top 10 in all six of his starts since the 2024 LIV season ended. Is Hatton primed to have the best 2025 of any LIV Golf player? If not, who will?

Colgan: Jon Rahm! He’s officially due for a major. Also, if Bryson keeps his 2024 form, he’ll be a favorite in every major,

Schrock: I think Hatton is a sleeper major contender. He’s played well on LIV and now has won two DP World Tour events in his last handful of starts. But I think it’s going to be Rahm. He knows the narrative that’s out there after his subpar major season last year, and I think he’ll come back in a big way this year. I’d go Rahm, Bryson and then Hatton. But don’t be surprised if Hatton contends and wins at either Quail Hollow or Oakmont.

Bastable: It’s Bryson’s world (and YouTube channel); we’re all just living in it. He has another major win in him this year, and maybe a couple. LIV should be drafting off BDC in as many ways as it can.

Yeah, what they said..... Still puzzled by Rahm's 2024, but Tyrell isn't in their league, though I do think he has major thorn-in-our-side potential at Bethpage.

Location, Location, Location - Not only has the start to the Tour season been a yawn, but among the few reasons to tune in are the premiere venues such as....well, hold that thought.

Once I saw this I knew they were in trouble:

Genesis Invitational creates 'LA Strong' shirts for fire relief support as dangerous weather still threatens region 

So, it's the weather that's the issue?  But at least everyone has their pronouns correct....

Then came this, which at least seems to have the causality accurate:

PGA Tour monitoring Los Angeles fires with Riviera stop scheduled in four weeks

Finally:

The PGA Tour is moving next month's Genesis Invitational to an alternate site after wildfires near

Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, and other parts of Los Angeles killed at least 25 people and destroyed thousands of structures.

The Genesis Invitational, which is hosted by Tiger Woods, was scheduled to be played at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13-16.

"The PGA Tour's focus continues to be on the safety and well-being of those affected by the unprecedented natural disaster in Greater Los Angeles," the tour said in a statement Thursday. "We are grateful for the life-saving efforts of first responders and the tireless work being done to put an end to the tragic wildfires.

"In collaboration with Genesis, The Riviera Country Club and TGR Live, and out of respect for the unfolding situation, we have determined that the 2025 Genesis Invitational will be played at an alternate location the week of February 10-16."

I'm sure they'll come up with somewhere interesting, no?

The PGA Tour said the alternate course would be announced in the coming days.

Among the potential locations under consideration, according to sources, are La Quinta Country Club in La Quinta, California, the site of this week's American Express, and Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California, which will host next week's Farmers Insurance Open.

OMG, Farmers should sue the bastards.  There wasn't any reason to play in their event, but even a SoCal native only nee4ds to play Torrey once a year.....

Fox Back In The Henhouse -  You've heard already that LIV inked a deal with Fox, though the details are worth noting.  I'll not cover it per se, though I will copy-and-paste this from the TC folks:

Speaking of TV viewership, LIV Golf will open the 2025 season with a long-awaited TV deal with Fox, one that ensures more than half of this season’s schedule will air live on Fox or FS1 with additional rounds available on other Fox properties. While it’s obvious that it should boost LIV viewership numbers, how much of an impact do you believe it will have in eyeballs and increased interest? A little, or a lot?

Colgan: I’d say this TV deal is Greg Norman’s legacy as LIV CEO. He convinced his pals, the Murdochs, to sign up for LIV, legitimizing the league’s TV audience for at least 2 years. But will

this deal actually legitimize the league? I’m doubtful. I think most golf fans have made up their minds on LIV by now.

Schrock: Having LIV Miami air on FOX or FS1 instead of the CW and Caffeine TV is an obvious step up, but I don’t think that’s a reason to believe fans are now all of a sudden going to flock to watch LIV. After three seasons, the fans who like LIV and what it presents will watch, and everyone else will either tune into the PGA Tour or go out and play golf themselves. Having LIV air before the latest episode of “9-1-1 Lone Star” isn’t going to move the needle for most.

Bastable: Right, simply airing LIV events on network TV doesn’t solve for the league’s watchability problem. To most fans, it still will feel like so little is a stake in LIV events, because, other than wheelbarrows of cash, so little is at stake. This is all likely to change, of course — whatever PIF and the PGA Tour are cooking up is likely to give LIV contests more gravitas. And you have to figure Fox’s brass has some insight into whatever that plan might be.

The poker tell is in the question, note that close to half of the broadcasts rate even FS1, which nobody knows where to find on their Cable system.  I don't even know what their other properties are, so good luck watching those events.

Alan Bastable does hint at the question it provokes, which is what has been shared with Fox as to those negotiations and the future of LIV.   Of course the other question is whether money is changing hands, about which they are quite mum.

That will have to sate you for today.  If you're interested, remember that Torrey I is a Wednesday-Saturday affair..  I would expect to see you at some point as the week unfolds.