Thursday Threads - Ancillary Product Edition

The tell is that there's nothing related to the PGA Tour's core product that I feel compelled to discuss....Perhaps my "tell" should, yanno, tell them something.... Not that they're listening to mere fans.

Full Swing And Miss - Wherein my two sports passions, golf and the N.Y. Yankees are mashed up.

Season Three is out, can you feel golf growing?  I had been reliably informed that Season One would transform golf into Formula One, so I'm sure further growth in the game isn't feasible.

Despite being in the bag, Shane Ryan seems less than thrilled by it all:

In Season 3, 'Full Swing' struggles to connect until it's too late

Hard to connect with the audience when you're FIGJAMing them..... This does sound about right:

Each season, Netflix's “Full Swing” features dozens of players, spouses, children, commentators and other personalities around the world of professional golf, but it's hard not to conclude that the show's favorite character is “Full Swing” itself. This belongs to the class of documentary that can't resist showing off its means of production—a clapping slate, a producer's voice—and if it were possible to get Vegas odds on how the very first scene of the season would play, the heavy favorite would have paid off.

There's an inherent smugness to the whole undertaking, the cool kids deigning to share said coolness with those less well endowed....

If you hadn't guessed by then that you were watching Season 3 of “Full Swing," the cavalry was on its way: more slates clap over more famous faces, Tom Kim tells his puppy "you're on Season

3 Netflix, buddy," and within five minutes, they even get Ben Stiller on camera saying, "I started watching ‘Full Swing,’ it's great. … It's really well done."

This is nothing new—“Full Swing” has always been a show that insists on itself—but where in past seasons the self-consideration verging on narcissism seemed like tactical bombast, promoting something bigger, louder and sexier, now all that "this ain't your daddy's golf" bravado feels like insecurity. When you're afraid that you don't have the goods, one time-honored strategy is to loudly proclaim that you have the goods.

And they'll proclaim it repeatedly....  My biggest memory of the first two seasons is that each clip is repeated ad nauseum.

Sounds like we don't need to tune in for a bit:

If this sounds a little brutal so far, rest assured that at times in its third season, “Full Swing” really does have the goods, mostly in the final two episodes. In fact, the very last scene of the last episode is classic “Full Swing”: just when you feel at your most underwhelmed, they hit you with something so jaw-dropping that it not only makes the entire ride feel worth it, but instantly adds a level of almost delirious intrigue to the 2025 season. (I won't spoil it, but I won't need to—it involves Keegan Bradley, and you're going to be seeing it everywhere soon enough.)

Other times, though—frankly, too often—they're drawing dead. In the trailer, there's a focus on Scottie Scheffler's arrest, Rory McIlroy's divorce, Bryson DeChambeau's comeback from the dire days of 2021 and the U.S. Open drama at Pinehurst. As it happens, they end up putting all four of those stories in one episode, and from my perch as someone who was very excited to get new information or at least a deeper perspective from the main figures on any one of them, the result is a significant disappointment. There's just not much there that you haven't seen, and it seems that the principal characters—all of them featured subjects this season—simply didn't want to talk about it.

 And some amusing bits:

While we're enumerating complaints, there is also the persistent feeling from past seasons that the talking heads are being fed their lines rather than speaking them organically, and that certain proclamations are meant to build drama in ways that stretch belief (the show's depiction of Gary Woodland and Camilo Villegas was mostly superb, but the assertions in the final two episodes that they're "one of the most beloved players on tour" is not based on any reality I recognize). There are narrative issues, too. We see a full hour of Olympic build-up, but aside from a throwaway mention in an earlier episode, you’d barely know Scheffler won gold. And in a throwback to Season 1, the coverage of majors seems disjointed at best. (It must have been annoying for the producers that Xander Schauffele, who allegedly had a major hand in limiting their Ryder Cup access last year, won two of them.) In these moments, it becomes impossible for “Full Swing” to feel immersive.

Allegedly?  I guess someone is still worried about access.....  But the bigger issue is, if players such as Xander and Patrick are that worried about protecting their image, there isn't much of a reason to watch, is there?

The very same Shane Ryan seems to be reacting quite differently here:

6 key lessons we learned from 'Full Swing' Season 3

I didn't know it was supposed to be educational.

1. Keegan Bradley is even more intense than we thought

Last season, Bradley was a great subject, and having the cameras follow him around as he tried

and eventually failed to make the Ryder Cup painted a picture of a man who, more than other professionals, lives and dies with his fortunes on the golf course. After Bradley endured a decade in the wilderness, with a few snubs along the way, his Rome rejection at the hands of Zach Johnson hit you like a sledgehammer, even though you already knew what happened. This season, there's redemption for Bradley, who not only makes the Presidents Cup team, wins a big Day 1 match and clinches the winning point, but also gets named Ryder Cup captain.

Through much of the season, the story is uplifting, but in the final moments, with a speech to the Presidents Cup team that begins with "I've been underestimated my whole ****ing life," you can see the red-hot fire burning. We won't spoil what comes next, but to call it bulletin board material for Team Europe is a massive understatement, and it shows yet again that beneath a sometimes placid exterior, Bradley burns with a desire to prove himself, fueled by a strong undercurrent of resentment for the respect he feels he deserved but never got.

Spoiler alert, bet you didn't see this coming?

"I'm gonna get criticized as the captain next year. They're gonna underestimate me, they're gonna doubt me. I've been doubted my whole f-----g life. That's when I do my best work.

"We're gonna go to Bethpage to kick their f-----g ass."

Great, Keegs, now do a road game....

To me, these bits actually sound far more interesting than the Scottie/Keegan/Rory bits:

1. Ludvig Åberg making coffee

In some ways this is the heart of this show right? To see some human side to these golfing cyborgs? After all, we know what it’s like to watch Ludvig Aberg hit a golf ball. (It’s very cool

and impressive.) We know what it’s like to watch him win a tournament. (Also very cool and impressive.) We know that look; he’s in his golf uniform, in his golf mindset, hitting shots under pressure, going through the ritualistic car wash after, celebrations and interviews, all within the confines of a TV broadcast.

But what’s it like when he’s trying to froth milk with a new coffee machine in his new North Florida residence?

2. Neal Shipley pondering a late-night order — at Augusta National

Aberg takes the role of leading man during the opening episode, but amateur Neal Shipley is an

unexpected delight. He’ll make you laugh and he’ll make you feel and he’ll take you inside a round with Tiger Woods, but first he’ll take you inside a different corner of Augusta National than we’ve ever seen: the Crow’s Nest, where the amateurs stay tournament week (though often just for a night), and where we learn that dinner is served until 10 p.m. The fact that Shipley is coming from dinner doesn’t seem like a disqualifier as he mulls a second session.

Shipley is a known character, and I've acknowledged that Ludvig's facial reactions might be the best the TGL has to offer.

I will probably watch it in Utah, though the timing does oddly conflict with the Tour's other non-traditional offering....

The Day After Golf League - The memo has gone out and it's a home run....  Oops, wrong sport from which to analogize.  Still:

‘Golf’s getting better’: Pros discuss secret key to TGL’s continued surge

The technology has made the pros look silly at times. The simulator has seemingly had moments where it didn’t read the flight of the shot properly, leading to pros looking confused when a shot they thought was hit well drifts off course.

While the tech remains imperfect, the players are starting to figure it out, as evidenced by the lessons Tony Finau got from teammates Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala during his lone practice day at the SoFi Center.

“When it came to hitting into the screen, I noticed for my fade, it’s easy to hit it up the left side of the screen, and I felt like it wasn’t coming back, so I started to aim a little bit more to the right, and I kind of watched Collin and Sahith hitting, and it wasn’t anything they told me, but just watching them,” Finau, who signed a one-match contract with LAGC said.

Makes sense that there might be a learning curve, but it's probably more important that the matches have been more competitive.

It would take a heart of stone not to laugh at this, however:

TGL has been a success in Year 1 but a potential playoff issue looms

Rory keeps telling us that the key to the future is that we know when he (and his BFF) are going to play.  So, this has to be a positive, right?

As a result, the last few weeks of TGL have shown the best of what the league can be. The matches have been competitive, the golf has gotten better as players have figured out the tech, the stars have completely bought in and it’s attracting interest from a wide swath of people.

With the playoffs on deck, TGL is set up nicely for a big second season that could see the league

expand and bring in more of the world’s best golfers. Tony Finau just played on a one-match contract for Los Angeles Golf Club and raved about the experience. Jason Day and Brooks Koepka (who knows what the future of reunification holds) have been in attendance. The league should also look into adding LPGA players as they look to the future.

A strong playoff season would do the league wonders as it looks to capitalize on its new-found momentum. There’s just one problem: TGL’s two biggest needle-movers are currently on the outside of the playoff picture with one match to go.

As TGL looks to build to a crescendo at the end of its inaugural season, it would greatly benefit the league to have both Woods and McIlroy’s teams in the playoffs.

I have not been able to confirm this, but you know that Tiger and Rory are already working on how to reduce TGL field sizes for Season 2....  

Meanwhile,  this is the latest viewership trend line I can find:

Week 1 - 919,000

Week 2 - 1,005,000

Week 3 - 682,000

Week 4 - 864,000

Week 5 - 544,000

Week 6 - 365,000

Week 7 - 546,000

Week 6 is a bit of an asterisk because that was 3 separate matches and an average of those three.

Removing the Pilot in Week 1, the two big weeks featured Tiger Woods.

That paints a pretty good picture that without Tiger, you are looking at in the neighborhood of a little over half a million viewers.

Two weeks in that 500,000 viewer neighborhood and this observer seems to assume it's sustainable.  Color me skeptical, but shouldn't we expect those numbers to jump for the playoffs?  I mean, it's all on the line....  The audience sizes seem awfully small to this observer, though it's true enough that nobody actually watches real golf.

I shall leave things here.  My travel schedule is up in the air, so please do check back early and often and have a great weekend.

Weekend Wrap - Return Of The Prodigal Blogger Edition

Since my last post, how many times have you hit refresh?  Go ahead, you can admit it.... We don't judge here at Unplayable Lies.  Yeah, that's not quite right, we don't judge our readers, that is.

It was my intention to blog our trip, a grand, old-style road trip in which your humble blogger covered 2,442 miles, from Henefer, UT to Golden, British Columbia and back, covering three resorts, in addition to the heliskiing.  But I'm out of control with photos and haven't seen any of the video my nephew captured on his fancy new Go-Pro alternative I bought him in December in anticipation of this adventure.

We got stiffed on fresh snow and there was much else that didn't go according to plan, but it was still a grand adventure shared with my brother and nephew.  Bear with me as I still intend to share it with you when Zack gets through the video. 

But for now, let's gently dip our toe back into the golf worlds....

Mexico - I plucked myself down Sunday afternoon intending to watch a taped Yankee exhibition game in front of the fire, only to discover that Optimum overruled my taping instructions.  There was golf on, allegedly an actual PGA Tour event, just one unburdened by recognizable players.  Shack noticed:

Person-American Named Brian Campbell Books Masters Trip

Hmmmm, I'm guessing he wasn't enthralled....

The field was dreadfully weak:

The field featured just two top 30 players (Aaron Rai and Akshay Bahtia), four top 50 players, and just 26 in the top 100. And that’s with the OWGR heavily tilted toward the PGA Tour.

Which often can provide surprisingly dramatic viewing, because the guys are actually fighting for their professional careers.....  Though I'll have to agree with Geoff, this one laid an egg.  Campbell has a compelling story of survival and the young South African will be heard from, yet it was all as flat as three-day old seltzer....

Dylan Dethier, in his Monday Finish column, provides a good summary of relative firepower:

Imagine, for a moment, you’re in the shoes of a particular player this past Sunday afternoon in the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld.

Good news: You’re in a playoff to win on the PGA Tour!

Some bad news: Your opponent is 20-year-old rising star Aldrich Potgieter. He’s unscarred and unafraid. You? You’re about to turn 32. You’ve earned your PGA Tour card and you’ve lost it and, after 150-plus starts in the minor leagues, you’ve earned it back. You know the preciousness of this opportunity and you know the consequences of a misstep. It’ll be tough to play free.

Some more bad news: Your opponent’s swing speed is 17 mph faster than yours. His ball speed is nearly 30 mph higher. He carries his tee shots, on average, 51 yards longer than you do. He hits 59 percent of his tee shots longer than 320 yards while you clear that threshold less than four percent of the time. He is arguably the longest driver on the PGA Tour. You are arguably the shortest.

Some more bad news: You’re playing a par 5.

But then he was the beneficiary of an unbelievable bounce:

Some more bad news: Even though you are one of the straightest drivers in professional golf — your “good drive” percentage is over 90, ranking second on Tour — now your tee shot is slicing

so far right of the fairway that it’s almost certainly headed out of bounds. A tee shot out of bounds means you’ll re-tee hitting three which means, really, your goose is cooked.

Who are you? You’re Brian Campbell, southern California native and Illinois graduate. You’ve spent the better part of a decade bouncing between the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour and back to the Korn Ferry Tour. You’ve remained relatively anonymous because you’ve never quite played your way out of anonymity; you’ve never finished inside the top 10 in a PGA Tour event, never cracked the top 100 in the world and less than two years ago you’d fallen outside the top 1000. A strong 2024 season on the KFT got you back to the big show and now you’ve gotten yourself to the brink of a career-changing victory. Until this sliced drive, of course…

But then something wild happens: Your ball crashes into the woods and then it crashes out. You’re fine. You have a second chance. Pros often say that you need some luck to win, that you need a few bounces to go your way. They’re not usually this literal.

Crazy lucky, but Campbell and his caddie paid homage:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour)

Not a day the Tour wants us to remember, which could also be said about most events this year.  As they head to Florida, I'm reminded that the West Coast Swing is the best of the Tour, quite the depressing thought.

The Tour Confidential panel did deign to cover the event, for what that's worth:

Brian Campbell won the Mexico Open, beating rookie Aldrich Potgieter in the second hole of a playoff after Campbell’s drive ricocheted off a tree out of bounds and he still made birdie. What impressed you most about Campbell’s first Tour title?

Marksbury: Anytime a player wins a playoff, it’s usually indicative of some serious mettle. Campbell is no exception. But I’m inclined to look beyond his performance this week to the journey he’s been on for the past 10 years, grinding on the Korn Ferry Tour. He showed some serious grit to simply get his Tour card for this year, and now he has his first PGA Tour win. I love stories like that — and his looks like it’s just beginning.

Sens: For starters, it came after long years in the wilderness, trying to regain the Tour card he’d lost. But this week, he was also paired for the last two rounds with a kid who was knocking it some 40 yards past him off the tee. He could have easily gotten away from his own game trying to keep up. But he stayed patient. I don’t think anyone would call the round a pretty one, but grinding isn’t supposed to be pretty.

Bastable: Color me impressed by how Campbell managed his nerves. On Sunday evening, he admitted he felt like throwing up most of the day, and perhaps never was that jitteriness more evident than when, on the second playoff hole, he sliced his tee shot into the trees. But instead of letting that bit of messiness undo him, he took advantage of a break for the ages and still made birdie. Pretty cool stuff. How much did the win mean to him and his wife, Kelsi? Her tears said it all.

Curious.... You presume to know the spouse's name, but get an important detail wrong?  Not sure you're quite on board with this journalism thing:

Girlfriend of golfer Brian Campbell gets emotional after his chaotic first PGA Tour win

Perhaps you should have checked the AP's style book (a little topical humor for those who get it).  And even a query on the youngster:

Potgieter, at just 20 years old, nearly became one of the youngest winners in Tour history, and this comes after he became the youngest winner in Korn Ferry Tour history last season. What did you think of his week, and is he the best young prospect in the game?

Marksbury: Is it just me, or does it seem like there’s a new young gun to discuss every week? We had Blades Brown making his first PGA Tour cut on Friday at 17 years old, Ludvig Aberg is ranked fourth in the world at just 25, and Nick Dunlap and Akshay Bhatia already have two wins each at age 21 and 23, respectively. And let’s not forget about Luke Clanton, who’s 21! Given the ball-striking prowess we witnessed this week, I certainly expect Potgieter to make a name for himself in a similar fashion. But the “best young prospect” race boasts a pretty competitive field.

Sens: Combine this week with his final-group showing at the Farmers, and he’s made a strong first impression. But if today’s balky chipping was any indication, his short game still needs polish. I’m with Jess. He’s obviously a huge talent, but I don’t know how you single out the best in such a thick crowd.

Bastable: Is 25 still considered “young” on the PGA Tour? If so, you won’t find a better BYP (Best Young Prospect) than Luddy Aberg. Potgieter is the real deal, though. I liked what he said about learning how to play under Sunday pressure, first at Torrey and then again this week. The only way to experience it — and improve at it — is by getting yourself in the mix.

Hits it a mile and I'm guessing that he might fit Employee No. 2's parameters, especially now that Lumpy is retired.  We need more jowly players out there....

Deal Or No Deal -  Do we even care?  Rory keeps beating the drums on reunification, but I'm thinking that four times a year is about right:

The latest PGA Tour-PIF “reunification” meeting was initiated by President Donald Trump and held at the White House on Thursday, leading to more speculation that some sort of

long-awaited deal could come soon. Regardless of how soon a deal is made, based on what you’ve heard and learned over the past several months, what might the future of men’s pro golf look like? One tour? Two working alongside each other? And what about the team component? What’s your best prediction?

Jessica Marksbury: My best guess is that we’ll see the creation of a new series of tournaments that will be set apart from both the PGA Tour and LIV but will be open to players from both leagues — with significant investment from PIF. It’s clear that both sides want to see the best players in the world competing against each other more than four times a year, and adding events as opposed to fusing the two tours together seems like the most logical way forward. From what we’ve been hearing, LIV isn’t going anywhere, so this would allow both leagues to continue to exist independently while still “unifying” the world’s top players.

Josh Sens: Agreed, Jess. LIV doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. I see both circuits continuing on in their parallel universes, with some kind of limited-event world tour that gets the big guns together more often than the four times a year we now see in the majors. On a side note, whatever happens, I would expect LIV-ers like Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka to appear on opposite teams in this year’s Ryder Cup.

Alan Bastable: Just what pro golf needs: another tour. But, yes…some version of what my two wise colleagues have sketched out does seem like the most likely scenario, because what’s the alternative? Hard to fathom LIV contractees having carte blanche privileges on the PGA Tour, and it’s equally hard to fathom PGA Tour stars moonlighting at LIV events; the LIV model doesn’t support drop-ins, or at least the tour’s current construct doesn’t. Whatever happens, it seems likely President Trump’s courses will continue to be part of the equation. Why else would he be so involved?

Having ruined the Tour through limited-field moneygrabs, we'll now superimpose WGC-like moneygrabs on top, with presumably even larger purses? What could go wrong?

Leaving the Tour with a series of weeks like the one we just had?  Will Nielsen be able to discern an audience?   

That Other League - I actually looked to see if the TGL was on last night, and failed to find it buried on ESPN2.  That's a good sign, no?

While I was lost in British Columbia they had a triple-header, and the sycophants thought it rocked:

TGL’s triple-header was electric. Can it maintain the momentum?

The formula has always been about the best players in the world caring and coaxing the viewers

to invest in the outcome. If they care, the viewer cares.

TGL seems to know what it is and what it isn’t. McIlroy and Woods have been upfront about wanting the league to be additive to the professional landscape. They don’t want it to be a substitute for tournament golf, but hope it can drum interest from people who aren’t attached to traditional golf. Halfway through its first season, TGL seems to have a competitive identity. It has a backyard feel, playing around with college buddies, only with the best golfers on the planet, all of whom are competitive psychos.

The players also seem to be settling into their role as entertainers. The banter was never going to be the draw, but we are now getting insight into their thought processes and how they feel about the other players in the league. That was never more apparent than in their commentary around Aberg.

“Ludvig is just different,” McIlroy said after Aberg hit the longest drive in TGL history. “He’s feeling himself right now.”

But is anyone watching?

The ratings tell a similar story. Monday’s Presidents Day triple-header (featuring two matinee matches and an evening bout split between ESPN and ESPN2) delivered some of the league’s

smallest TV ratings to date, delivering 347,000 (ESPN), 377,000 (ESPN) and 357,000 (ESPN2) average viewers, respectively. Those holiday numbers, while only a fraction of the 1.05 million who tuned in for Tiger Woods’ debut in week 2, represent modest gains over the broadcasts in the same windows last year, and fall generally in line with expectations for the holiday, time slot and home network.

Of course, it’s probably not in the TGL’s long-term best interests to have its telecasts vacillating between a quarter-million and a million average viewers on any given week (if not growth, consistency is a sought-after trait in the TV world), even if this most recent batch of TV numbers weren’t totally out of character with the schedule. One of the league’s biggest advantages is its partnership with ESPN, which has broadcast the league’s matches on Monday and Tuesdays as part of an agreement that sees the TGL cover production costs. The so-called “Worldwide Leader” provides plenty of cover (and a high floor) for a sports property emerging into the marketplace, and the Monday and Tuesday primetime slots given to the league have mostly paid viewership dividends.

Two obvious points present.  First, it's hard to imagine that  these audience numbers can support the valuation underlying the SSG investment, much less the capital under discussion from PIF.  Of course it can't help that these paltry viewership numbers are similar to the audiences tuning in for the Tour's actual events.... Making Rory's case that TGL be additive ironic.

Secondly, the trend line points down, so at this juncture it's unclear if they're still shedding those tuning in out of curiosity.... In other words, we may not yet have scraped the bottom.  A cheery thought that...

The good news is that the product seems to be improving.....though the golfing press isn't exactly going to tell us otherwise, are they?  I will tune in again, assuming I can find it.

That will have to do for today kids.  I'm going to try to appear more consistently, but we'll see how that plays out in the real world.  Have a great week.

 

Thursday Themes - Microblogging Edition

 That header is a bit of a tell, assuring you that I won't keep you long....

But at the end I'll give you a heads up on our scheduling issues.  Spoiler alert:  You may have to get along without me for a while.

Rising From The Ashes - It's that week on the calendar once more, when all of America turns it's eyes to The Wasted™, though we're being assured that it won't be quite as wasted as last year:

Coming off perfect storm for chaos, WM Phoenix Open makes changes in effort to restore order

Restore?  That implies a fact not in evidence....

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Matt Mooney might need to upload a new version of the Weather.com app to his phone shortly. He has been wearing it out for the past month, anxiously checking this

week’s forecast. Such is life as tournament chairman for the 2025 WM Phoenix Open, a year after some rain-soaked days at TPC Scottsdale resulted in overcrowding issues and a muddy mess, most notably on Saturday when both the main entrance and alcohol sales were temporarily closed.

That experience inspired multiple changes being implemented this year by The Thunderbirds, organizers of the infamously raucous tournament. “I think you can’t control the weather was the biggest lesson from last year,” Mooney said. “I think that we definitely have made a concerted effort to evaluate the way people flow through the golf course during those really high traffic times, on midday Friday and Saturday. The biggest challenge we had last year was this is a Stadium-built golf course. It’s made for fans to be able to sit on these big hillsides. It was designed that way. When that all turns to mud, and people are jammed into cart paths, nobody wins.”

Last year, rain on Thursday and Saturday turned those usually grassy hillsides into slippery quagmires, forcing spectators to crowd onto the carts paths. That created logjams of dangerous proportions in numerous areas, including packed walkways leading to the first tee, behind the second green, and in between the 10th and 16th greens. At one point Saturday afternoon, organizers briefly closed down the main entrance (much to the dismay of ticket holders trying to enter at the time) and suspended alcohol sales for the rest of that day, all in an effort to rein in the chaotic crowd and alleviate the congested atmosphere.

Yeah, it was just the war and that lying son of a bitch.....  Yeah, the weather was bad last year, but perhaps the business model that depends on widespread public drunkenness was also a factor.... Just spitballin' here.

So, this is the big change:

That led directly to what Mooney called one of the most impactful changes this year: a new

entrance/exit located just south of the main entrance area on Hayden Road adjoining the course.

“The ability to have all the people that are coming out of 16, 17 and 18 to be able to go straight out of 18 tee and be right on Hayden is, I think, huge,” he said. “The area at the main entrance coming through the main entrance behind 18 green has always gotten so congested. Even though we know we’re going to have a little bit better syncing of our crowd numbers, I think that probably gives me the most comfort. Fans just have a lot of options.”

Sounds prudent, though you'll quickly note that they're bitterly clinging to their circus:

The infamous race to the 16th hole on Saturday morning—fans start lining up the night before for the half-mile run to snag one of the coveted 3,700 General Admission seats at the par-3 16th—will still commence from the main entrance at 7 a.m., followed by the new entrance opening 30 minutes later.

I'm sure it'll all be fine....What could go wrong?

Regression Is A Bitch - So, are you consumed by the TGL?  Are you distraught over Boston Commons' two-match losing streak?  This guy seems completely in the tank:

TGL Week 5 Superlatives: Invalid readings, Keegan's frustrations and a TGL frontrunner emerges

Well, "worst" is a superlative..... But he must have seen something I missed:

Best Performance: Justin Rose

Though Collin Morikawa, one of the best iron players on earth, delivered the highlight reel shots on Tuesday, Rosey asserted himself as the beating heart of the best team in TGL so far. The 2013

U.S. Open winner, 2018 FedEx Cup champ and four-time Ryder Cup victor has taken on unofficial captain status for LAGC, handling the crowd, sinking clutch putts and generally leading from the front. This simulator stuff might be a young man’s game, but Rose is out to prove it’s an old man’s sport.

Worst Performance: Adam Scott

It was a tough night for Adam Scott at the dish, who began by leaving his routine approach on the par-4 first well short. His tee shots on the 2nd and 5th found the penalty area and bunker, respectively, and he didn’t even scare the hole on a 5-foot birdie putt that would have gotten Boston Common back in the match on the 7th. Needless to say, Scott should sit for a match or two and give Hideki Matsuyama a chance to show his TGL mettle. Speaking of which …

Hideki Matswhoama?: Hideki Matsuyama

OK, we just wanted to make the pun, but BCG have started their maiden TGL campaign with back-to-back losses and we have still yet to see Hideki Matsuyama. Big Green need something, or perhaps someone, to give them a spark, and the record breaking 2025 Sentry winner might be just the guy to keep the WBZ-FM callers at bay for another week.

But, was any of it entertaining?  Or even watchable?

Watchable may be a value judgment, though it does appear to be less watched:

The fifth match of the TGL season was its least-watched yet, though there are some silver linings for the simulator golf league.

Tuesday’s match between Los Angeles Golf Club and Boston Common Golf averaged just 544,000 viewers in the 9 p.m. ET window on ESPN, down 37% from last week’s overtime thriller featuring Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links Golf Club (864,000 viewers). It was the third time in three weeks that TGL has aired in a different time slot.

These would be their silver linings:

TGL has regularly been able to compete with college basketball from a viewership perspective through its first several weeks, though the tides might be turning some as we approach March. Last week, a North Carolina-Pittsburgh men’s college basketball game averaged 826,000 viewers in the same Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET time slot on ESPN

Through five weeks, TGL has been averaging 810,000 viewers per match, with 42% of its audience coming from the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic, which is on par with what the NBA draws in that demo.

Fair enough, but there's no reason to think it can't go lower... They've benefitted from the curiosity factor, but what is the sustainable level of the audience?  And perhaps, based upon these latest viewership number, we can give up any illusions that folks will tune in to watch Rory?  Just spitballin' again.

Today's Dose of Common Sense - I've always had mixed feelings about Charley Hoffman, likeable enough but he's shared some howlers over the years.  Like JT, he decided to share some thoughts with the Tour's membership, which will quite obvious be aggressively rejected:

Charley Hoffman didn’t pull any punches when he sent a letter to PGA Tour members on Sunday

night to address the rampant slow-play issues, criticize the Aon Swing 5 pathway into Signature Events, and take top players to task for how they are managing their schedules.

“Here’s something else to think about,” Hoffman wrote. “If we truly care about strengthening our Tour, we should be supporting as many PGA Tour events as we can. Many of you keep saying you want to play fewer events, yet you still find time for TGL, Race to Dubai, and other non-PGA Tour events, and that’s going to continue regardless of field size.

“The best competition happens when the best players go head-to-head in a deep, competitive field — not in small, limited-entry events that leave deserving players on the outside looking in. This Tour was built on open competition, where anyone with the game to compete has a chance to prove it against the best. That’s what has made our Tour special for generations, and we need to keep pushing for that.”

Are you taking notes?   In case you're unclear as to my emphasis, that bolding above might help focus.  Deep, competitive fields?  Not exactly capturing the zeitgeist, is he?

Charley apparently didn't get the memo that the game can only grow is Patrick Cantlay gets paid....

Shockingly, Patrick hasn't reached out to Charley:

“It has been positive,” Hoffman said. “Now, I haven’t heard from the top players. I did sort of call out the top players about playing other venues and other things. I’m not saying don’t do that. But there’s a lot of great PGA Tour events and great sponsors that run events that would love to have the top players play on a more regular basis. Everybody gets tired out here, but it’s our job to sort of support the brand, support our product and just play as many tournaments as we can. Also, obviously, the more competition, more storylines, more players in the field, the better.”

Careful Charley, you're threatening their rice bowls....

Rory took his comments personally, and responds by accusing him of looking out for himself:

After his TGL match on Tuesday night, McIlroy addressed Hoffman’s letter and the critiques that were seemingly directed at him.

“I think the thing he forgot to mention is the PGA Tour owns 20 percent of TGL, so he’s criticizing his own product,” McIlroy said. “They also own a good chunk of European Tour Productions, so again — I thought some of the elements of the letter were fine, addressed some issues. He was criticizing the Aon Swing 5. He was sixth in that.

“He talks about having it be for the good of the Tour, but he’s also talking about himself, as well,” McIlroy continued. “I thought a couple of [his thoughts] were pointed at me a little bit because TGL, Race to Dubai, non-PGA Tour events like the Showdown that Scottie and I did in December, I’ve been vocal about not wanting to play quite as much so it seemed like it was pointed at me. Look, what every player has to do is look out for themselves. We have to do what’s best for our own individual careers, and yes, at the back of our mind try to do whatever we can to help the Tour, but I think the best way for any of us to help the Tour is to tee it up and play as best we can.”

Ain't that rich.  the Tour's elite perpetrated a coup that puts the Italian Job to shame, then accused Charley of looking out for No. 1.  He is, but unlike Rory and Tiger, he doesn't have to leverage to bend the Tour to his will.  I find it all quite shameful, so Rory should anticipate more incoming...

More importantly, the Tour has been putting on a dreadful show, and the ratings are reflective of that, in some cases even failing to draw a larger audience than the TGL  Maybe you goys want to think through how it's all working out.

Schedule - I leave Saturday on an epic road trip with my brother and nephew, from Idaho up to British Columbia.  The main objective is three days of heli-skiing, but with stops at places you may never have heard of such as Revelstoke and Schweitzer (in Sand Point, ID).  I have not yet packed, but it will be quite the undertaking just to get on the road.  In December I bought a new video camera that nephew Zack has been learning to use, and I'd of course love to blog our adventure.  The problem is that I just don't know at this point whether I can jam my laptop in for the trip.

Worst case, assuming the laptop stays in Park City, it'll be a full two weeks before I would blog again.  If the laptop does make the trip, then we'll be dependent on Zack to provide short videos or stills to share.  I just don't know at this point, but I'm skeptical that I'll have the luxury of bring the laptop.

The other issue is the lack of snow in BC.  Revelstoke is at this point forecasting all of 1" in the next ten days.  Not sure what that means for our heli outing, but fingers crossed.  Keep the faith and I'll blog as I'm able.

Weekend Wrap -

Again with the mea culpas....  the week got busy and I got lazy.  Well, when I say I "got" lazy, I mean said laziness remained in full force and effect.

We'll deal with our future scheduling issues at a later time, shall we talk a little golf.....

Overinterpret Much? - A very impressive win indeed, so shall we cue the overreactions?  It starts with the headers:

Rory McIlroy wins when golf needed a Rory win

I have no issue stipulating to golf's neediness but, as with any clinical diagnosis, I'd strongly suggest a second opinion.... Though perhaps I should have gone with the "Irony Alert" bit, since the premise is that a win by Rory was the antidote to the negative changes to professional golf promoted by, checking notes, Rory.

So, do tell:

Toying with his opponents had come to an end. That seems an exaggeration of Rory McIlroy’s standing and prowess in professional golf, given the past few years have been noted not for what

he has done so much as what almost was. It also seems too dismissive of this field, who for 67 holes at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am kept pace with the 35-year-old Ulsterman. But then McIlroy took a line you’re not supposed to take on Sunday at the par-5 14th tee at Pebble Beach Golf Links, an aim that requires accuracy and power and above all else conviction. 

Professional golf is a kinetic chain; McIlroy’s 339-yard drive over a towering tree and rough and sand and more rough into the middle of the fairway some 221 yards from the hole only mattered if he took advantage of it which the next shot, and the next. For those scoring at home, he did just that. McIlroy found the green with his second shot, then dropped a 27-footer for eagle, turning the final four holes at this golf mecca into a victory march.

It was the same exact line he took off the tee on Friday and Saturday, when he notoriously failed to take advantage of a mid-iron into the green.  Of course, if you're looking for supporting evidence of the necessity of the USGA/R&A ball "rollback" plans, look no further....

Shack also overinterprets:

In winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by three strokes over Shane Lowry, McIlroy added another world-class title to his 27-win PGA Tour portfolio. For a player consumed with winning more majors, the overpowering performance delivered a dramatic validation for his off-season of tedious simulator work mixed with some bucket list traveling. As with so many of the four-time major champion’s recent performances on courses set up to trip a younger version of McIlroy, Sunday’s 66 culminated in a Pebble Beach metamorphosis.

During two prior pro-am appearances on the Monterey Peninsula, McIlroy missed a cut in 2018 playing alongside his dad before not turning up again until last year’s T66. In two major starts at Pebble Beach, McIlroy missed the 2010 U.S. Open cut before improving to a T9 in 2019 when winner Gary Woodland was eight strokes better.

The latter U.S. Open performance highlights how much McIlroy's game has matured when it comes to classic designs set up in the firm, fast conditions that he resisted early in his Hall of Fame career. But much has changed in his mindset and appreciation of the game. So much so that the 35-year-old’s biggest career hurdle going forward may be overcoming his indifference to mediocre courses and soft setups.

Geez, sure you wanna go THERE, Geoff?  You seem to be forgetting that he always throws us a tease in the run-up to Augusta....

But get these comments from Rory, which might have been appropriate back in the long ago days of resisting LIV:

“Good venues are a big part of the storyline,” he said after Saturday’s round. “When we go to major championships, especially a U.S. Open and an Open Championship, I always feel like the golf course is a big part of the storyline heading into Thursday. Sometimes on the PGA Tour, that isn't the case because whether you play a run-of-the-mill TPC or whatever it is, it just isn't that interesting.”

But McIlroy also knows what a tall task it is to find venues capable of bringing out the best from players in our era of wild-caught-salmon-infused distances.

Well, that's good to know, but some of us have been noting that venues matter for some time now, but Rory was of course focused on his core obligations of decreasing playing opportunities for the Tour's rank-and-file.

See, he's still on the job:

'It stinks for the people Monday-ing' but qualifiers are ending at seven PGA Tour events

 Can't let the riff-raff even dream of pegging it with the big boys, don't want them getting uppity.  

Back to that original linked piece:

McIlroy conquered both Mother Nature's fury and a field of elite challengers, playing his best on the back nine to transform what had been a tightly packed leaderboard into a commanding procession on the Monterey Peninsula. His triumph came at an opportune moment for the PGA Tour, which craved a signature victory in a signature event from one of its standard-bearers more than McIlroy needed to add to his already illustrious résumé.

The temptation is to frame this week purely through the lens of the PGA Tour's struggles. The reality isn’t great: Viewership has continued to free fall in 2025, pace of play has devolved into a farce—so egregious that broadcast partners are publicly rebuking their own product—and the shadow of golf's civil war continues to loom, with radio silence on any reconciliation. Yet for all the (warranted) concerns about the tour's present and future, the past three days have reinforced the remarkably simple formula for success: Good fields at good venues create compelling golf and transcend any administrative chaos.

Hey. this concept of good fields sounds promising.... How about we try it?  Nah, once you let the plebes into an event, they start to think they belong.

Logically, I always cite the many years of the WGCs as a cautionary tale, but the current generation is just so much better.  They spend a couple of years flaunting their alpha-greed, then limit their fields to only those guys (of course I'm exaggerating) we've come to hate..... Take a bow, Patrick!

But we can only laugh at this irony.... Rory is telling us that venues matter, so why can't we actually see the best bits of said venue?  It's complicated:

Of course, it wouldn’t be professional golf without an unnecessary self-own: A coverage blackout during the Sunday’s final-round transition from Golf Channel to CBS—exacerbated by an NCAA basketball game that ran past its TV window—robbed viewers of watching the leaders navigate parts of Pebble's iconic seaside stretch. Having McIlroy, the game’s most magnetic presence this side of Tiger, covers a lot of holes. One good week doesn’t make those problems disappear. But it does, if only for a few days, give hope that all the drama can fade into the background rather than continue to command center stage.

Yeah, do they realize the clown show they're putting on?  We're headed to Mars soon, but we can't properly time the TV window for a college hoops game.... Or is it intentional?

The Tour Confidential gang wants in on the over-interpreting:

It was a busy week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a star-studded Signature Event where we had wild weather on an iconic golf course, the return of Scottie Scheffler, a handful of interesting pre-round press conferences and, of course, Rory McIlroy’s 27th career PGA Tour victory. What’s your main Pebble Beach takeaway?

Josh Sens: That a short injury layoff has done nothing to change Scottie Scheffler and that 2025

will be much like 2024. No, he didn’t win this week. But if his putter behaves even halfway decently, we will need two hands to count his victories this season. Also, a reminder that venues matter. Those Pebble views–and shot demands– never get old.

James Colgan: Other than Rory McIlroy making our jobs easy prior to Masters week? In all seriousness, so impressed with the way he played this week. He talked on Tuesday about changing his wedge approach to fire at pins, rather than missing to “safe places.” That worked. I think he should keep doing that.

Dylan Dethier: The PGA Tour season is officially underway! Good golf. Familiar names on the leaderboard. Epic Pebble Beach visuals. And a proper champion with a heck of a weekend. Golf fans needed this.

They didn't step too deep into it, and I agree with the writers on the appeal of the venue, though Geoff posted a cri de coeur about how much better it used to be:

While the Saturday pro-am antics and celebrity juice may be gone, a new tradition has become part of tournaments at Pebble Beach Golf Links. My apologies in advance, but I’m going to immodestly take credit for helping start an annual debate about the old Pebble Beach look. (I hereby submit Exhibit A, 1999’s The Golden Age of Golf Design.)

In the twenty-five years since that book of vintage photos was released, I’ve continued to push the case for old Pebble’s beauty and brilliance on my blog, in this newsletter, in magazine stories, and even on the Golf Channel, where we considered the complexities involved in restoring more of the old look. This feature aired prior to the 2019 U.S. Open:

As the photos and course evolution have become better understood, Pebble Beach has begun to reclaim green space on several holes (6, 8, 13, 14, 17, most notably). Much of the work still fails to reclaim valuable hole locations and other subtleties found on a classic course. (At least the early week footage in 2025 suggests a revamped sixth green looks infinitely better, at least when seen from a sensational crane view shot.)

I did my usual bristling when CBS presented the design history of the place, which somehow goes from Neville/Grant to Jack Nicklaus!  without explanation.  yes, jack built a new fifth hole when that prime real estate was acquired, but there's a forgotten man:

Some confusion over Pebble Beach’s architects involves a basic misunderstanding of how the design reached its 1929 zenith. Over the years, and after I presented all of the evidence of Pebble Beach’s evolution in Golden Age, various rankings and other listings have continued to misunderstand the role of H. Chandler Egan. If he’s mentioned at all.

Why overlook the man? He was reportedly a nice fellow and a great American story: Ivy Leaguer, Olympic medalist, and epic golfer who designed sensational courses. Perhaps his name is still left out because it doesn’t fit on a listing?

In official resort materials, the Pebble Beach Company has long skirted mentions of Egan until recent years, where he’s at least viewed as a contributor. But it underestimates his impact. And I get that it’s easy to become enamored with the idea of two amateurs having somehow created a masterpiece only to never to do it again. Some type of one-hit wonder euphoria.

I'm unclear as to what that 1919 version was, but the key bit in Pebble's evolution was Chandler Egan's work in preparation for the 1929 U.S. Amateur.   Geoff even brings in some AI to buttress his claims:

And, yes, the Good Doci

tor was hanging around at that time as well..... I'll spare you the story of Bobby Jones' shocking first round loss in that Amateur, and how it freed up time for him to play Cypress Point and in the opening day festivities at Pasatiempo.  We don't actually know whether Jones and Mackenzie had previously met at St. Andrews, but there's little doubt that seeing those two projects influenced Jones.  As you have heard, they subsequently collaborated on a project in Georgia.

You should read Geoff's post, but I'll just use this photo of the 7th green to show how much better the place could look:

That's how it would have looked before Samuel F.B. Morse got there....

Back to the TC and this inevitable query:

Sunday was the third time McIlroy has won in his season debut on the PGA Tour (the others in 2021 and 2022 at the CJ Cup), but he’s still looking to end a lengthy major drought, which has now reached a decade. Which 2025 major venue sets up best for Rory?

Colgan: Hard to see him losing at Quail Hollow if he plays like he did in Pebble. That course is tailor-made for his game, and features none of the existential concern attached to two of the year’s four venues, Augusta National and Royal Portrush.

Dethier: I like Colgan giving him this year’s PGA Championship but let’s REALLY get wild and get drunk with recency bias: With Scheffler and Schauffele coming off injuries, this is basically his year to win ‘em all, right? (Consider this the reverse jinx.) Augusta still sets up well. He has epic history at Portrush. And Quail Hollow was built with his game specifically in mind. I think it’s really just a question of whether he can win at Oakmont and go four for four.

Sens: Exactly. And if the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes is still a thing, he’ll win that, too. Seriously, though, I said it a few months ago and I’ll repeat it. This is the year when recent history inverts and McIlroy wins the Masters. His vanquishing of the hobgoblins will be the story of the year.

Josh, care to make it interesting?  Talk about a movie we've seen before....  But the Bobby Jones reference is on point, as Rory's problem resides in the 5 1.2' between his ears.  I mean, let me see if I have Dylan right, the man whose major drought is measured in decades is going to win them all?

Udder Stuff - I refuse to get bogged down, so some quick hits and then I'll focus on my turns.  First, the TC panel's take on that great week of TGL action:

Last week’s fourth installment of TGL might have been the best edition to date, as McIlroy’s squad clipped Tiger Woods’ team in an overtime tiebreaker. While the extra starpower helped, ratings came in at 864,000 average viewers (which ranks third among the four matches). Did that match and those ratings give you reason for optimism, or pessimism?

Sens: I’ve been skeptical about TGL’s staying power from the start, and those ratings did little to dispel my doubts. Ironically, I suspect that the league’s biggest impact may be not in the

simulated game but in the green-grass world, where it stands to further the urgency of the conversation around pace of play. This is anecdotal, but the most popular feature of TGL appears to be the shot clock. It really is nice to see the guys have to step up and hit. Let’s hope that spills into the non-virtual game..

Colgan: Optimism! The TGL has delivered three decent ratings stories in four weeks, which is three more decent ratings stories than LIV has delivered in three years! There are obviously still major questions about the league’s long-term standing considering the contributions it will need from players not named Tiger and Rory. But in the same sense, it’s funny to think about how much better the week-by-week would be with LIV’s stars filling out the remainder of the rosters.

Dethier: Optimism, but more because of the match itself (compelling action) than the ratings (good, if unspectacular). Everybody seemed to walk away saying, “wow, that was fun!” which is the only real bar we should be using as measurement. Good TGL week. Good PGA Tour week. Just in time for the end of football season.

Am I the only one that sees a huge red flag in those ratings?  This was supposed to be THE Week, and they even featured a competitive match, but where are the eyeballs?

I haven't bothered to look at this week's match-up, but don't we think we've seen the high water mark for viewership  We've drawn everyone that was merely curious or wanted to sniff Tiger's jock?  Now, what reason is there to stay?

This one has me chuckling:

Speaking of Tiger, in a PGA Tour Champions presser, Paul Azinger said he feels Woods might feel “obligated” to join the senior tour when Woods turns 50. “The Tour has given Tiger a lot of money the last few years with that Player Impact Program,” Azinger said. “I’m sure he’s going to give back, and it’s going to be to all the benefit of these guys out here that are over 50.” Do you agree with Azinger?

Sens: His health permitting, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tiger make some appearances on the over-50 circuit. But “obligation” won’t be the driving force. He lives to compete and I suspect he doesn’t think he owes anyone anything. And while I can’t see the week-to-week schedule of the Champions Tour satisfying his competitive appetite, playing in a few senior majors along the way might do the trick.

Colgan: I’m going to assume I didn’t hear the full extent of Azinger’s opinion and give him the benefit of the doubt. But from these words alone, it’s one of the worst golf opinions I’ve heard in a long time. The Tour could pay Tiger PIP money every year from now until the end of time and it still wouldn’t make up for the debt the Tour owes Tiger. Tiger Woods isn’t obligated to give the PGA Tour a bag of golf tees, let alone a few weeks per year of his time. If he chooses to play on the Champs Tour, good on him, but it’ll be because he wants to win and compete, not because he ‘owes’ anyone at Tour HQ anything.

Dethier: James nailed this one. Let’s hope this was taken somehow out of tone or context because Tiger Woods does not owe the PGA Tour one single thing and yet he’s still serving on its board just ‘cause. It’s certainly not his responsibility to prop up the champions tour.

The first response, as always, is that Zinger says a lot of things, which is how he relegated himself to being the lead analyst for the round belly tour.   Interestingly, none of the writers seem to take this as the wishful thinking it is, that analyst chair being the TV equivalent of Siberia.

I don't quite agree that Tiger owes the Tour nothing, but I do agree that Tiger will evidence no such obligation because, in case you haven't been watching, Tiger does only that which he wants to do.  For instance, you might have assumed he'd take on the Ryder Cup captaincy, but he wants to pretend to be busy.....  If you want the man, you'll have to pay him.

Who cares, gents:

The fourth LIV Golf season kicks off this week in Saudi Arabia — complete with a new TV deal — as the breakaway league plays on as a potential merger with the PGA Tour continues to drag on. What’s your biggest LIV Golf storyline or question you want answered as we head into Year 4?

Sens: It’s hard for me to separate any thoughts about LIV from thoughts about the majors, the only events where we get to see all of the best in one place. Will the LIV guys continue to show well in them? Or will the pessimistic predictions about the LIV guys losing their edge start to come true? Also, as more time wears on, and fewer LIV players have pathways into the biggest events, will disgruntlement spread? Any growing evidence of buyer’s remorse? It sure didn’t look like money bought Jon Rahm happiness last year. For him and other guys who might have expected a deal to have been worked out by now, how much disillusionment will they feel. And show.

Colgan: I’m interested in the TV broadcast, which seems to be driving tee times under the lights in Saudi Arabia and beyond. The tech is better than it gets credit for.

Dethier: I’m interested in whether people will be interested. Will LIV get momentum thanks to its Fox TV deal? We’ll get something closer to an apples-to-apples ratings comparison, which should inform the conversation around the pro game going forward.

We get it.  This year when we choose to not watch, it's an entirely different network to ignore.   

And today in BS:

At Pebble Beach, several PGA Tour executives met with reporters to discuss the pillars of their “Fan Forward” initiative. While our writers on-site already broke this down in detail here, we’ll ask for your succinct take: what nugget was most intriguing to you?

Sens: The tough talk around slow play, and the prospect of naming and shaming laggards by posting individual pace data. Will that tough talk turn into firm action? I hope so. Plenty of other sports have managed to pick up the pace. It’s long past time for professional golf to do the same.

Colgan: I was in that meeting (alongside my pal Dylan), and am intrigued by the changes hinted on the broadcast side. On one hand, I like the idea of focus group testing different broadcasts to see what fans really want. On the other hand, my social sciences degree says focus group testing might not be a cure-all for the issues the Tour can fix, to say nothing of the ones it can’t.

Dethier: The slow-play stuff is a hot topic, and for good reason — but I was intrigued by their acknowledgment that the Tour Championship may well get a major format shakeup as soon as this season. I’m sure we’ll never land on a perfect solution but it sounds like we’re moving in a more exciting direction…

It's always special when they pretend to care about the fans..... But all they do is talk, and aren't we a little worried about changing the Tour Championship format in the middle of the bloody season?  Can you say "Clown Show"?  I thought you could....

Today in schadenfreude:

Obama Center subcontractor files $40M discrimination lawsuit against engineering firm for overruns

A Chicago-based subcontractor is suing one of the firms involved in managing the construction of the Obama Presidential Center for $40 million, claiming racial discriminatory practices forced the firm to do extra work that left it at risk of bankruptcy, according to a lawsuit.

Robert McGee, the owner of II in One, which provided concrete and rebar services for the center starting in 2021, filed the lawsuit in federal court last month against New York-based Thornton Tomasetti, which oversees structural engineering and design services for the $830 million project.

McGee claims that Thornton Tomasetti changed standards and imposed new rules around rebar spacing and tolerance requirements that differed from the American Concrete Institute standards, which resulted in “excessively rigorous and unnecessary inspection” and massive overruns.

The confluence of racial allegations and construction standards is hard to fathom, but even a rank amateur will notice that the concrete isn't supposed to look like this:

An ugly, Soviet piece of garbage that can’t support its own weight is a perfect metaphor for the entire Obama presidency. https://t.co/ksdirGsGtg

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) February 2, 2025

A couple of points to make here.  First, the golf connection, this is on a site that previously held a 36-hole facility beloved by local residents.  The 36 holes was to be converted into an 18-hole championship course, so that Obama could feed his ego by luring the Tour there.  But note the lack of concern for the locals, giving up one of their two tracks for the glory of the Light Worker.

The second thought is noted in that tweet.  Obama would be better served in his denials that he's a communist were his architectural choices less, what's the world, Stalinist?  If you wanted to build a more off-putting structure, what would you do differently?

Lastly, did he won slaves too?  I thought we only vandalized statues of American founders:

The Old Tom Morris statue at St. Andrews was vandalized for the second time in 4 months

I don’t know what to say. The Tom Morris statue has been damaged again. The club was snapped off and they didn’t leave the club this time. If anybody saw anything, please DM. Seems that there was some partying going on. Broken glass near statue etc. pic.twitter.com/Y2rTrn0Qil

— roger mcstravick (@R_McStravick) February 2, 2025

He must be one of those settler-colonists we hear so much about..... The Auld Grey Toon seems to have morphed into a bad neighborhood.  Good thing the bride and I will stay in Pittenweem this summer.

Have a great week.  not sure of the schedule, but I'll pop in as time and news allows.