Weekend Wrap

'tis a sad day in golf.... well, in your humble bloggers' golf that is, as aeration commences.  You know the drill, large tines creating huge holes in the turf that will still be visible when we first play in the spring.  I won't be bitter...maybe just a little.

Can't Anyone Here Play this Game - I actually watched much of the Saturday and Sunday coverage, and what I saw should definitely have stayed in Vegas.  Though one has to be happy for this young man:

Before all the pain, the exhausting and frustrating rehab sessions, and before the long interludes in which he wasn’t allowed to so much as pick up a club, Patrick Cantlay had

talent and promise and hardly a care in the world. 

That was five years ago, when he turned professional after a stellar amateur career and was expected to be the next big thing before Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and their peers began their incursion into the game’s upper ranks. 

On Sunday at TPC Summerlin, Cantlay proved he still has talent and promise. He is still that same golfer. 

He’s just not the same person. 

Cares in the world? Got ’em. So be it.

He was the can't miss kid that seemingly missed, due to injury and tragedy. 

Meticulous, stoic, and adroit, Cantlay heralded his potential a year earlier in the same event when he fired a second-round 60 at TPC River Highlands, the lowest score ever recorded by an amateur in a PGA Tour event, in grabbing the 36-hole lead. That came after finishing T-21 at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional. 

The kid had the skills and the head for the game. Just not the back. 

Cantlay first was sidelined after withdrawing from the 2013 Colonial with a back injury that turned out to be a stress fracture in his L5 vertebrae. Somehow, he came back in the fall for one start in the Web.com Tour Finals, finishing second in the Hotel Fitness Championship to retain his PGA Tour card.

And the tragedy?

That’s because of the terrible loss he suffered in 2016 while working his way back to health. In February, he watched in horror as his best friend and caddie Chris Roth was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver. Cantlay was just 10 feet away when the accident occurred at an intersection in Newport Beach, Calif. 

Not a day goes by that he doesn’t think of that terrible night.

That said, the golf got quite ugly down the stretch, as the three guys in the playoff played that 18th hole a combined 6-over par, without so much as a ball in the water.  I like to see the guys challenged as much as anyone, but this was just cruel.  

Fittingly, the Tour Confidential panel had nothing to say about this event, as no questions were asked....  What happens in Vegas apparently really does stay in Vegas....

Tiger, Unplugged - Coaching legend Geno Auriemma is going after the cool millennials with his Holding Court podcast, and scored Tiger for the second installment.  Curious, but interesting....

Now I've not yet listened, but Shack has and is highly complimentary:

Woods opens up about everything from technology to fly fishing to how he pays his

caddie. Huge props to Coach Auriemma for asking great questions (and knowing the game and Tiger), but also to Tiger for doing a podcast where the conversational atmosphere leads to better insights. More than any interview I can recall, you hear him go into the kind of depth that shows how smart he is and how much thought he gives to all subjects.

I most enjoyed his thoughts on technology and the ball. Transcribed here for proper documentation as I'm sure his support of any effort to create a tournament ball will be very important.

OK, so here's Geoff's transcriptions, with his set-ups as well:

After talking about persimmon and the differences in spin and accuracy of contact for his generation and today's stars, Coach asks "if they had to play with persimmon and the old balata balls, would they still be able to do it?"

No. Because we were taught to knock off spin and the new balls don’t spin a whole hell of a lot. They go a lot further and a lot straighter but they don’t spin. Well, now these guys, let’s say Bubba Watson, who curves the ball a ton with these harder balls. If he played a balata it might be coming back at him. Like a complete boomerang. 

Auriemma then asks if Tiger would be in favor of any equipment changes in the game right now? 

The only thing I would say is that we need to do something about the golf ball. I just think it’s going too far because we’re having to build golf courses…if you want to have a championship venue, they’ve got to be 73, 7400 yards long and if the game keeps progressing the way it is with technology, I think that the 8,000 yard golf course is not too far away. And that’s pretty scary. We don’t have enough property to be designing these types of golf courses. And it just makes it so much more complicated.

 Tiger also makes the case for the B-word:

Some of the guys say yes. The USGA is already looking at it. They’re doing some research on what the world would look like if you rolled it back 10 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent…the game of golf is on the kind of, there’s a down cycle as far as participation. We don’t have a whole lot of new golfers coming into the game. We don’t have any sustainability in the game as well. So, with that being said, you don’t want to give up the amateurs from hitting the ball further and straighter. But with the tour pros you might want to roll the ball back. The talks we’ve had on tour with the Commissioner and our board is where is the line of demarcation. Do we have it at PGA Tour levels, do we have it at the Web.com Tour level, do we have it at the mini-tour level, so there is that debate as well. I don’t see it happening in the near future but at least there’s talks about it now.

That last bit isn't quite as big a conundrum as Tiger seems to think, as the line would be drawn at the top tier of the amateur game.  If there's a Masters bid on offer, you'd need to be playing with Masters-compliant equipment.  The analogy here I think is baseball and the use of aluminum bats in college and below.

Shack in a later post fires up his Wabac Machine, which he'll use to good effect a couple more times in today's post, to remind us that this is actually a consistent position for Tiger.  he has this from Tiger in 2005:

Hey, I am one of the guys that if they did roll the ball back, it would help me out a little bit. I would have an advantage. Any long guy who hits the ball long and high would have more of an advantage because now we're having to hit longer irons in the greens, other guys are having to hit hybrids and woods, so you have an advantage. 

From a personal standpoint and competitive standpoint, I won't mind them rolling the ball back because I would have an advantage.

Geoff makes two important points to keep in mind as relates to this subject:

1. This is not merely and older and shorter-hitting Tiger looking to level the playing field with the brutes from the Class of '11, and;
2. It's as much about spin as it is about distance.

This is the main focus of this week's Tour Confidential, in which they are first asked whether Tiger's comments will have any effect on the powers that be:

Alan Shipnuck: No. The toothpaste is already out of the tube. The USGA rolling back the ball would force the blue coats to admit that, as an institution, they have royally screwed things up. They are not inclined to make such an admission. It also risks litigation from the ball manufacturers, which no one wants. To use another Tigerism, it is what it is.

Josh Sens: Agreed that there will be no mandated roll-back for the reasons Alan cites. But maybe a growing interest in events designated for the throwback ball? A certain club in Georgia would have the power to do that. A new tradition unlike any other, anyone? 

Jeff Ritter: Or, maybe a Fall Series or exhibition event could try a limited-flight ball, just to see (wait for it) how it flies. But as mentioned, the juiced ball is probably here to stay. I do like that Tiger is slowly taking on more of an advocate role as time passes. How would he fix slow play? That's one issue where he, along with other players, could band together and create some changes.

I just can't see how Augusta National can do this in isolation, especially given the level of effort that would be required for the players to adapt to any kind of rolled-back ball.

You can go read their second question on this subject, which misses that Tiger has actually been consistent on this subject, and would have been in his prime a major beneficiary of any such effort.

I'll give Geoff the last word:

Also, Woods included a lengthy and illuminating chapter in his 1997 Masters book earlier this year that goes into great depth about why he sees the situation not helping the sport. It is not a coincidence that he's reached a stronger conclusion than a decade ago since he's gone into golf course design.

I'm inclined to quibble only because he's done so few courses, and actually seems more enthusiatic about his short courses and practice facilities.

While everyone is focused on this one issue, apparently there was quite a bit of blogging gold in that interview, as Dylan Dethier has nine takeaways:

3. HE'S STILL UPSET THAT HE BEAT STEPHEN AMES 9 AND 8 INSTEAD OF 10 AND 8 

Yeah, it's safe to say that Tiger is quite the competitor. This exchange said it all:

GA: "When Stephen Ames said that nonsense about you right before you played him in the world championship match and you beat him like…"

TW: "9 and 8."

GA: "…9 and 8. That was nothing personal, right?"

TW: "He didn't quite respect the way that I could play the game of golf. So I just had to show him that I could still play. And you have no idea how ticked I was when I missed that putt on the 10th hole to beat him 10 and 8."

But it's not like he holds a grudge or anything....

And this:

4. HE CAN'T GO BACK TO THE SWING HE HAD IN 2000, NO MATTER HOW OFTEN PEOPLE BRING IT UP

"So people ask me, why don't you go back to your 2000 swing?" Woods said. "I can't. My knee is trashed from all those years of playing that way. I've had four operations on my knee. Forget when my back was bad — pre-surgery and pre-back problems, people were saying the same thing: 'Why don't you go back to 2000?' I can't, my knee's trashed from playing that way, I can't do that any more. I have to look for a different way."

I always thought it was the left knee that would end his career....  And, in a sense, I may have been correct.

And I am simply not capable of leaving the Tiger beat without a link to the estimable Ron Sirak's take on Tiger's comeback, including this rather curious analogy in the lede:

If you feel like you’ve heard this story before, you have. If you feel like this is that episode of Gilligan’s Island where the castaways are almost rescued but Gilligan messes it up, it is. Believe me, I know. I’ve written it before. Tiger is coming back. We’ve been here before, yet this is a show always worth watching.

Tiger as Gilligan?  I'm guessing that Ron is now in that slot right below Dan Jenkins on Tiger's s**t list.

Shanghai Surprise, Part II - You think DJ had the worst week in China at the HSBC, with his Sunday collapse handing the title to Justin Rose?  It turns out that Henrik Stenson injured himself and his participation in the late stages of the Race to Dubai is in doubt.

Always a shame when that happens, but I'm wondering if the swing in question was captured on video....  What?  Surely you jest?

As to how he injured himself Stenson was also cryptic, suggesting that the injury occurred during a pre-tournament publicity presentation that included the Swede being hoisted into the air by a harness like a “superhero.” 

“I’m not superman even though certain people thought I was superman,” he said in Turkey.

No, and stop calling me Shirley.... But do you mean this little bit of fun?

That's spit-out-your-drink-funny, though probably not to Henrik.  Can't wait to see what they come up with at the HSBC next year.....

Balls, Said the Queen - We had some fun with the Bubbamesiser being "Ball-free" last week, a comment too good to pass up.  But, as referenced above, Shack reminds us of Bubba's comments in announcing his deal with Volvik:

"I was naturally intrigued by the colors Volvik offers,” said Watson. “Then I started testing the ball and saw what I could do with it. It does everything I want it to: go high, go low, curve, spin and it has the distance I’m looking for. I’m always trying to find new ways to grow the game and have fun out there and Volvik’s approach is the same. I couldn’t be more excited to have a colorful start to the year with Volvik!"

Yanno, a cynic could almost conclude that it's all about the money with these guys....

The Shirtless One -  Greg Norman has gotten weird beyond belief, most notably in his need to share his naked torso with us all.  But there's a grandiosity to him that's also off-putting...

On Thursday we had a bit of fun with his huge product launch of the pimped-out golf carts, which seemed to this observer to confirm all the worst stereotypes of golfers....  But, maybe there's a business opportunity there....But Geoff finds that tease from the Shark to which I alluded, and I think you'll see my point about delusions of grandeur:

“In the middle second quarter of next year, I’ll invite you guys down to my office,” he said. “We will tell you exactly how we’re going to break this cast iron that’s been wrapped around golf for so long. We’re going to shatter it. The institutions (USGA, R&A, PGA of America, PGA Tour) will eventually buy into it because they will have to buy into it. They won’t have a choice.”

Has anyone else noticed this cast-iron  wrapped around our game?  Apparently the PGA Tour, where they actually walk the golf course, will be saved by pimped-out golf carts with Internet connectivity....  Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth....

Oh, and think I'm overdoing the full frontal bit?  For reasons that I'm sure appealed to him, he posted this on Instagram of his visit to the Golf Magazine offices:

As one commenter notes, even Adam Scott seems to be asking, WTF?

Strange Daze in Social Media - Curious:

If you thought President Donald Trump's now-famous round of 73 with Sen. Lindsey Graham was pretty good, wait until you hear what he did next. 

According to his GHIN page, the president posted a round of 68 in October of this year, by far the lowest score listed on his handicap report (h/t The Hill). The 68 is also the only round Trump has posted since he became president, and it dropped his handicap index to a 2.5 as of Nov. 1.

 This is alarmingly easy to do, though whoever did it put in a ridiculously low course rating.  Of course this is only golf, not nearly as important as this.  Remember kids, nothing on the Internet is safe.

PGA of America News - Pete Bevaqua, the face of the organization, had his contract extended through 2024.  

I don't have any strong feelings here, though I do think the move of their marque championship to May is an unforced error.  

In more meaningful news is this:

San Francisco’s Olympic Club, a venue awash in golf history, has agreed to host the

2028 PGA Championship and 2032 Ryder Cup, The Chronicle has learned.

The deal, which will be officially announced Wednesday in a news conference at the club, effectively removes Olympic from the U.S. Open rotation for the foreseeable future. 

That’s big news in golf circles, because the club’s Lake Course has hosted the Open five times, from Jack Fleck stunning Ben Hogan in 1955 to Webb Simpson winning in 2012. The United States Golf Association, the organization that runs America’s national championship, offered the 2027 U.S. Open to the Olympic Club, but contract talks stalled over the past several months.

Really?  You think it a good idea to force me to calculate how old I'll be in 2032?  Unnecessary roughness for sure...

Committed to May for the PGA Championship, I can see the appeal of San Francisco....  But the attraction of hand-me-down U.S. Open venues continues to strike me as a mistake.  The PGA is the one major without an established identity, and the recycled venues just makes the event seem second tier.  I think they've been better served when they've found newer courses such as Whistling Straits and perhaps Kiawah (despite its logistical shortcomings).

One of most rigid rules of blogging is to tread cautiously anywhere I'm in agreement with Joe Passov, so imagine my concern when the Confidentialistas were asked if this is a good move:

Shipnuck: This is all about the Ryder Cup, not the PGA. There hasn't been a West Coast Ryder Cup in more than half a century, so hallelujah! 

Sens: Hear, hear! Right in the ‘hood. I'm taking extra fish oil pills now with the hopes of still being around for it. 

Ritter: Congrats, Left Coasters. The Ryder Cup out West will be a blast. 

Passov: I'm glad you all love the idea of prime-time (West Coast) Ryder Cup golf, because the lack of risk/reward on Olympic's Lake course will make for some sleep-inducing matches. Olympic is blanketed with tough par-4s, with fairways bracketed by demanding rough—and not a single water hazard. It's a great, stern U.S. Open venue, but there's no drama involved for a Ryder Cup, no matter how the PGA re-routs the course. Maybe flatten the 17th fairway a bit and shorten the 18th by 30 yards to inject some match-play excitement, but I'm not holding my breath.

It's an OK U.S. Open venue, but a dreadful choice for the Ryder Cup.  Unfortunately there's no imagination as to where to take the event, whose smaller footprint and match-play format would allow for more interesting venue choices.

Let's hope after Greg Norman brings them to their knees with his pimped-out golf carts, that the venue choices improve.

See you tomorrow.  I've got lots in reserve... 

Thursday Threads

OK, my heart isn't really in it, as you'll quickly deduce.  But I'm playing tomorrow morning, so I feel a begrudging sense of obligation...

Is Anyone Here a Marine Biologist? - The sea, she was angry that day....  OK, enough with the Seinfeld references.... Top life coach (yeah, gotta get me one of those) Tony Robbins really wants you to know that he's got a house in Fiji....  This life coach thing apparently pays well.

Shack has the video of the golf balls he hits into the ocean that dissolve into fish food... No word on how they spin off his wedges.

Why Not the Best? - The John Daly thing has been done to death, so if you're gonna go as a professional golfer, you could do worse than the POY:

Funny that it's the kid with the over-sized Polo logo, no?

The kid has game, though, given that Thomas wore this get-up just once (as I recall it).

Anything But That - Where do you thin he's going with this?

Greg Norman unveils the 'Shark Experience'

Gee, what would the full-frontal Shark Experience be?  Maybe gagging with a six-shot lead in the final round of the Masters, three-putting to lose a PGA....  Don't go anywhere, I've got more.

But no, snark aside, this is the revolutionary fourth-quarter announcement of game-changing technology in conjunction with Verizon.....  Are you ready for all assumptions about our game to be tossed asunder?

On Wednesday, the Greg Norman Company announced the launch of "Shark Experience," a new golf technology—a teched-up golf cart—that Norman hopes will revolutionize the on-course experience for golfers. 

Norman's company has partnered with Verizon, Club Car and GPSI, a leader in golf GPS technology to produce golf cart equipped with an HD-touchscreen that streams music, live sports and highlights, premium videos and golf tips from the Shark himself. 

I recently had a chance to test-drive the carts on the course. It marked the first time I had ever teed it up with my own walk-up song (Luke Bryan's "Kick the Dust Up"). I was also able to easily get my yardages while watching highlights and analysis from the weekend's Penn State-Ohio State football game.

 Egads, just what we need out there.

This guy really got the full-frontal experience, with The Shark himself along for the ride:

The best feature of the cart are two speakers whose cones are designed and angled to project sound directly at the center of the bench. The tone is loud and rich, but

diminishes to a point of near inaudibility 40 feet from the cart. Which is a key feature to respect the sacred space of golfers who want only birdsong and babbling creeks. And also to prevent an arguably worse aesthetic crime: the clashing of disparate musical choices within a foursome. 

Being a weekday morning, the only live sports programming available was women’s tennis. It crossed my mind this could serve as a segue to Chris Evert, but Greg and I were getting along too well to bring up ex-wives. I searched using the touch-screen keyboard, though future iterations of the cart will be Bluetooth enabled, allowing control of the screen direct from a phone. The current programming available on Shark Experience is the same as Verizon’s GO90 app. Personally, I’m not the kind of golfer who’ll likely ever watch a TV show while playing, but I could see how PGA Tour coverage or football might really enhance a slow weekend round.

How are the porn channels?  That's about the only thing that would get your humble blogger into one of those carts, especially given the upcharge.

And it just keeps getting worse:

“Potential” is a keyword, as Norman emphasizes that the technology is in an “embryonic stage.” While the rollout version will feature short playing-tip videos, an immature form of Shot Tracer and a way to tip the beverage cart without your wallet, the role of a screen in a golf cart will be limited only by the imaginations of future software developers. Maybe gaming platforms, linked launch monitors and other ideas centered on performance are only a few seasons away.

Embryonic?  Stillborn?  Whatever.....

Playing tips?  Let's not worry about those fuddy-duddy rules at all.... Just a comically bad idea, whose time has no doubt come.

All the News -  The N.Y. Times continues to beclown itself in its long established manner, but this article linked by Shack is curious beyond belief.  Posted on Halloween, here's the header:

What 8 Golfers and Fans Wore to the Presidents Cup

This was like a month ago and hardly moved the needle then.... And that which Rickie and Anirban Lahiri wore was decided by others.  OK, so they found a couple of crazies:

Chuck Garris 

Occupation: Tax attorney 

Age: 65 

Are you into America? 

I am.

Tell me about your outfit. 

We haven’t been to a Presidents Cup, but we’ve gone to Ryder Cups before so I am used to the Europeans really dressing for the occasion. So I started Googling. 

What does one Google? 

I was looking primarily for the shoes, and then I just matched the rest up. I typed in “flag shoes.” They were perfect. 

And how did you choose your shorts? 

I started with the shoes, then got the socks. And these are just white normal shorts. 

Would you wear this when you’re playing golf? 

I might wear the socks. But you have to wear a collared shirt.

Are you into America?  That comes as a shock to those toiling on Eighth Avenue...

But it's the N.Y. Times with it's layers and layers of fact checkers and editors.....  So this is of course at the bottom of the piece:

Correction: November 1, 2017

An earlier version of this article misstated the given name of a participant in the Presidents Cup. He is Mike Weir, not Bob. The article also misstated his role in the tournament. He was a captain's assistant, not a player.

Bob Weir was the lead singer for The Grateful Dead, which is a different thing altogether....  Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln?

Quick Takes - A way to get you out of here sooner:

This is another good take on the Major Series of Putting....Gotta love the buy-in matches.

This wasn't a fair fight, the guy is Chinese for God's sake.

Happy Birthday, Gary! - #Planks4Player

Intriguing new rain gear, though likely not legal.

That explains why you had to adopt - 'My deal was up, and so I'm ball-free:' Bubba announces split with Volvik

The stomach?  OK, maybe even lower - Politico: "Trump finds golf isn't the way to Congress' heart"

Midweek Musings

Yesterday's news hit hard, as back in the day I used to roller-blade on that very path.... 

Tiger Scat - You know my horribly conflicted to this story.  On the one hand, I'm something of a golf fan, so OMG, Tiger's Back!  On the other hand, it hasn't been pretty, has it?  There's the serial misrepresentations, the financial cost to others and the shear repetitiveness of it all...

I know, this time will be different....  First, Sean Zak with the history lesson, if you have the stomach for it.

Kevin Cunningham with a roundup of the reactions from the golf world.....  

It was my understand that there wouldn't be any math....

And this guy clearly knows his way around PhotoShop:

The mock turtle is priceless....

I don't know why Golf Digest has Matthew Rudy write this piece when they could have simply recycled whatever they posted a year ago

When Tiger Woods returns, what exactly should we be looking for?

Here's the gist of ot:

"How does his forward swing look relative to 'protecting' his back?" asks Harmon, who is based at Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells, Calif. "Most people with back issues

seem to subconsciously protect their back. Is he still going to be bound by this idea of 'explosiveness' he always talks about, or is he going to be willing to change his style of play?"

Harmon counts Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Jay Haas as older players Woods admires who have played effective "old-guy" golf with this different style: "They have played wonderful golf into their 40s and 50s by putting the ball in the fairway, on the green and having good short games. Like baseball pitchers who go from being flamethrowers to learning new pitches and changing speeds, he's way too smart not to go down this road."

At the risk of being a downer, let's remember that last year's hero World couldn't have gone better for Tiger, yet it meant nothing....

Alan Shipnuck got a Tiger query as well, and as always had an interesting take (fear not, we'll cover the rest of his mailbag below):

"Is Tiger so dependent on outside love and adulation that he'll risk years of rehab to grab that ring one more time?" - David (@Dstan58)

And you think I'm hostile to Tiger?  He's a professional golfer, so I'm gonna say that we shouldn't be surprised when people in that line of work want to play golf, but let's see what Alan has for us.

It's pretty clear that we're all in a co-dependent relationship with Tiger. He can't quit us just as we can't quit him. The guy is only 41 – what is he supposed to do for the rest of his life? Of course he had to try to come back. And if he blows out his back again he'll deal with that pain later. Right now nothing matters but instant gratification, for all of us.

It's that "we-can't-quit-him" part that troubles me a little... It may work, it more likely won't pan out, but everyone seems a little too needy when it comes to Tiger.  

Things I Missed -  Was this even televised?

LAS VEGAS — For 10 days this fall, some of the best putters -- and certainly, the most

avid -- descended on Sin City for the inaugural Major Series of Putting. Hailing from all around the country and beyond, they played for big checks under bright lights while showcasing a wide variety of strokes on the green. Here's some of what I saw in my three days covering the event. 

Construction for the MSOP Stadium began in August. It was built in a parking lot just off the Vegas strip, behind Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. The plan was for this to be a temporary structure, but tournament organizers are hoping it becomes a permanent destination, much like Topgolf Las Vegas, which sits about a pitching wedge away (that's Topgolf's net in the background). 

Inside is an 18-hole putting course made by Southwest Greens in conjunction with Nicklaus Design. All the holes are par 2s, but they range from six to 55 feet in distance, and each has two sets of tees, which offer distinctly different challenges.

Lots of way cool photos, inlcuding this of the leaderboard:

Amusingly, they even had course set-up issues reminiscent of the 7th hole at Shinnecock:

The cause of the delay? The diabolical third hole. It's only 15 feet, but it played to a stroke average of 3.0 (.7 more difficult than any other despite being the fifth-shortest hole) during Day 1 of the All Pro Championship. Here, a tournament director sweeps the area while a rules official watches to try to make the severe slope more playable. After the round was over, of course. No U.S. Open/Shinnecock seventh hole controversy here!

Really fun stuff, don't miss the guy whose putter stands up on its own.  And there were ringers:

The setting and format of the event weren't what Knost is used to, either, but he showed his putting prowess throughout the two-day tournament. The 2007 U.S. Amateur champ who will tee it up down the road at TPC Summerline starting on Thursday beat Brad Faxon in the semifinals before falling to Nygren, 3 and 2. 

"It’s a lot of putting. A lot of rounds. But it was really cool, it was fun," said Knost, who ranked in the top 30 in strokes gained/putting in each of his last two full seasons on the PGA Tour. "You’re adrenaline’s going a little. You want to win, obviously."

How is it that CBS passed on this event, when it's a perfect fit.  Lord knows when they cover the Tour they can't be bothered showing us anything but guys putting.... 

Who Ya Gonna Believe - Yeah, I saw some of it and it wasn't pretty....  It being late-season Hideki Matsuyama:

Matsuyama’s putting during his slump in the four-event FedEx Cup Playoffs was worse than his season average, culminating in an awful performance at the Tour Championship, 

where he finished last in the 30-player field in strokes gained: putting with an average of -2.462. 

But going inside the numbers reveals poor putting may not have been the most significant cause for concern. 

Matsuyama overcomes poor putting at many events with superior driving and iron play, but during the FedEx Cup Playoffs he was inconsistent with his woods and irons. As seen in the chart on these pages, Matsuyama’s strokes gained: approach-the-green average was erratic, and in two of the four events he had a negative average off the tee and around the greens.

Let's also remember that while the stats are interesting, these are also a very small sample size....  But for those of us that have trouble dealing with how our own games get out of sorts, it's comforting to see it happens as well to the best players in the world. 

A Moral Dilemma - Should golf architects be choosy about their clients?  The obvious answer is that it depends..... Anyway, this was the story:

Dictators have been known to stretch the truth about their golfing abilities in public, and now the leader of Turkmenistan is no different, according to a report by The Guardian. 

Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan, opened a brand-new golf course in his home country last week. On hand was Jack Nicklaus, whose company the leader tapped to build the course. 

The Guardian tells us how the government publicized the opening, "In footage aired on the state TV channel Altyn Asyr and published by Radio Liberty, a voiceover claimed that at the opening of the course last week, 'our nation’s leader hit the hole from 75 metres [246ft]', despite windy conditions."

OMG, he did that in the wind!  Funny swing video at the link...

But this is Jack's client (from Wikipedia):

However, according to most international observers, he now leads one of the most oppressive and closed regimes in the world. Freedom House has consistently ranked 

He has all the expected friends as well.

Turkmenistan near the bottom of its Freedom in the Worldrankings ever since Berdimuhamedow took office; in 2017, for instance, the country was one of 11 with the lowest aggregate scores for political and civil rights.[46] Human Rights Watch noted that Berdimuhamedow not only has complete control over public life, but presides over a regime that does not tolerate "alternative political or religious expression" and has complete control over the media.[47] Reporters Without Borders has ranked Turkmenistan near the bottom of its Press Freedom Index for most of Berdimuhamedow's tenure. In 2017, for instance, it ranked Turkmenistan 178th out of 180 countries surveyed--ahead of only Eritrea and North Korea. Besides noting the government's total control over the media, RSF noted that Internet access is heavily censored, and that satellite dishes--one of the few remaining ways to get independent news coverage--have been removed by government officials.

They're not building too many golf courses in the developed world, so what's a guy to do?  I'd prefer that Jack not enable such a thug, but you'll see a point develop below.

They Said It Wouldn't Last - We've seen all sorts of player struggle when changing equipment, but some deals seem crazier than others.  Tell me this one didn't have you scratching your head when it was announced:

Well, chicks dig the long ball... Did this in any way cause his horrible play?  I have no clue, but he's got no one but himself to blame....

Alan, Asked - Here's the payoff for the trip to Turkmenistan:

"This is bugging me: Shoal Creek's owner in 1990 said, "We don't discriminate in every other area except the blacks." PGA Championship was pulled. Trump Bedminster owner in 2017: "Some very fine people" marched among Charlottesville neo-Nazis. The 2022 PGA Championship has not been pulled. Is Trump "good for golf," as PGA of America CEO Peter Bevacqua says?" - @SethCooley6

There's a whole lotta nonsense in that question, including some historical revisionism.  Here's Alan's lengthy take:

It's a minor point, but the 1990 PGA Championship was in fact played at Shoal Creek as scheduled, even in the wake of founder Hall Thompson's incendiary comments. But it was a watershed moment for golf, forcing the sport to address its long history of institutionalized racism and leading to new bylaws ensuring that any host venue have non-discriminatory memberships. (Of course, this also led to weaselly rationalizations that Augusta National wasn't subject to the jurisdiction of the PGA Tour, USGA or PGA of America.)

Trump is a different kettle of fish because, on a very simplistic level, he's the President of the United States. Enough Americans love the guy – or, at the very least, voted for him – that golf's governing bodies can simply point to the election results as proof that the public is not bothered by his inflammatory rhetoric.

And to have the sitting President tweet 8 times about a women's golf event, as DJT did from the Women's Open, buttresses Bevacqua's claim that Trump is good for business. To walk away from one of Trump's venues now would lead to a political controversy that would spill off the sports page into the mainstream. Given Trump's fondness for weaponizing the legal system, a lawsuit would be inevitable.

OK, some good, some not so much.  But there's no denying golf's history of exclusion, and we can all agree that much progress has been made.

But sport is intended as a refuge from the cares of the world, and I'd prefer that we not spoil said refuge.  I've been informed that Trump is, literally Hitler, but that presents an obvious problem....  If Trump is Hitler, what is Hitler himself?  Or, say, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov?

Let's remember what's going on in other sports...  I'd suggest that this should be a cautionary tale as opposed to a how-to guide:

I don't actually think the score is that close....  

OK, lecture is over and we'll get to the sillier stuff in Alan's mailbag, such as this:

"#AskAlan Is it ever okay for guys playing in a USGA qualifying event to wear yoga pants under shorts?" - @Bob_Debaker 

Yeah, I saw those photos, too, and it was indeed horrifying. I think we can all agree that yoga pants are one of mankind's greatest inventions, but they should never be worn by men…even in yoga class.

Men go to yoga classes?   I'll need names please....

"If Kevin Sutherland (0 victories this season) wins the season-ender next week in Phoenix and Bernhard Langer (7 wins) finishes 2nd, Sutherland gets the Schwab

Cup and $1M bonus. How is this remotely a thing?" - @LinksPlayers 

First of all, bonus points for being the first person ever to get worked up about anything related to the Senior tour. But the answer is, it's a true playoff, in which a lower seed can win the championship if they pull off the upset. To extend the metaphor, Langer is clearly the regular season MVP and Player of the Year. But if he wants to be the champ, he has to perform in the big game.

That's far too loose a definition of "a thing" for me....  I just want those insidious commercials to end.

"Laser, handheld GPS, phone app or walk it off?" - Lou (@Lou_TireWorld) 

Your timing is amazing. For my entire adult life I have resisted any devices and walked off the yardages. I enjoy the romance of having to figure it out on my own and the mental workout of triangulating all the factors to arrive at what I think is the best guess. But I've grown wary of the side-eye from playing partners as I huff up and down the fairway looking for the elusive sprinkler heads, and lasers are undeniably more precise. So, with a heavy heart, two days ago I ordered a Bushnell Pro X2. We'll see how it goes, but I'm sure I'm gonna miss the days when I absolutely pure an iron shot and miss the green entirely because I've done the math wrong.

Perhaps Alan's famous lack of an ace has been clarified?  I love walking stuff off as well, but it's really hard to argue with an exact yardage to a pin.  I actually find myself annoyed when caddies don't have lasers....  Spoiled much?

"Will Patrick Reed win multiple majors? #AskAlan" - Kod (@chief11)

How about multiple Tour events?! For all of the Ryder Cup heroics, memes, and Captain America jokes, Reed has won only two events over the last 3.5 years, and lifetime he has only one top-10 in the majors: this year's PGA Championship, where he had a chance to win until making a mess of the 72nd hole. Hopefully he can build on that experience and becomes a consistent contender.

The majors should actually suit Reed's game better than everyday Tour events; he is one of the best chippers and putters in golf, a skill set that is more important as the setups become increasingly extreme. But his work with the driver is miles away from many of the top players and that is what holds him back when the grass gets longer and fairways skinnier at the majors.

Alan is spot on, as reed's Ryder Cup heroics have blinded many to the fact that he's an also ran on Tour.

"I'm still fixated on Phil winning the U.S. Open. How many years ahead is he exempt from qualifying and do you think Pebble is his best bet?" - Jim (@jimsorr) 

Winners of the Open Championship are exempt into our national championship for the next five years, so the 2018 U.S. Open is Phil's last free ride from the victory in Muirfield. He can punch his ticket to the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by finishing in the top 10 next year at Shinny or making the Tour Championship. The top 60 in the World Ranking at the cutoff point in June 2019 also get into the field. 

If Phil fails on all of these fronts he could still get a special exemption from the USGA, which seems likely given his special connection to Pebble Beach: in addition to winning the Clambake four times, he made his pro debut there at the '92 U.S. Open. If the USGA doesn't come through Phil can still play his way in through qualifying, which he is certainly not too proud to try.

Yes, Pebble Beach is definitely his best shot, and not just because of his past success there. Because of houses, roads, maintenance buildings and, uh, the Pacific Ocean, the course is already maxed out, distance-wise. At barely 7,000 yards and in the firm conditions of summer, it will play so short that Phil won't need to hit driver on any hole. That club has always been his weakness, and he's now giving up a lot of yardage to the bombers half his age, so reducing its importance helps Mickelson in a big way. At the '19 Open, Phil will be able to lean on his iron play and short-game magic, in addition to his course knowledge. Sounds like a good place to make a last stand.

I'm thinking it's not quite as good a fit as Alan, because of the wind and greater firmness of the course in June.  It played very linksy in 2010, and that will be the objective in 2019 as well.

As for an exemption, he'd be better served to earn his way in.  The USGA can be very stingy with those...  More importantly, if he's not in the top sixty at that time, why would we think he can do anything useful there?

 Best Golf Halloween Costume Evah - We have a wiener, courtesy of the folks at Pinehurst:

Where do a get a 6" shaft for my putter?

Tuesday Trifles

It's a big day in our little game...

He's Baaaack - Polish up those Big Cat Bingo boards, because that guy is back.  Not back like at The Safeway we hope, but you get the drift:

The wait is over. 

Tiger Woods is playing the Hero World Challenge. 

Woods tweeted at 5 p.m. ET Monday that he'll make his return to competitive golf at next month's Hero World Challenge, which will be his first start since February. 

"I am excited to return to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge," Woods said on his website. "Albany is the perfect setting and it will be great to join this outstanding field. I want to thank Pawan Munjal and Hero MotoCorp for their continued support of this tournament and my foundation. I would also like to thank the fans for their unwavering support during my injury."

We're in a generous mood, so we'll add bonus points for displaying actual humor in the announcement:

No word on the length of the deliberations of the Committee of 1, but that Berger guy was a no-brainer....

Will Gray was of a like mind:

To his credit, Woods appears to have used his time away from the game to turn over a

new, self-deprecating leaf. He grinned his way around Liberty National as an assistant captain and displayed a level of self-awareness with his “return of the stinger” tweet last week that would have seemed out of place a decade ago. 

Even Monday’s announcement included a reference to the “committee of 1” which granted Woods, the tournament host, an exemption specifically reserved for the tournament host. 

The thought of a largely healthy Woods returning to action is tantalizing enough, but for that same player to be willing to have a little fun while trying to keep up with players half his age? The internet has combusted over less.

Oh heck, I've got the Internet combusting over far less below.... 

But Will also makes this important point:

Don’t discount the allure of making his much-anticipated return in the highly-controlled environment of Albany. With an 18-man field, unofficial stakes, sparse crowds, limited media and a forgiving course with which he’s familiar, there are plenty of reasons to circle this particular week, even if he seems to be progressing ahead of any discernible schedule.

Methinks it's that small field that's the key, because it eliminates the early morning tee times.  If you've ever had a cranky back, you'll know what a 7:30 tee time in January can feel like.

Shack is buying, and I never realized what a cheap date he is:

That’s why I’m buying stock in Woods this time around. He’s not posting video of his swing on social media because he wants to sign a new endorsement contract. He appears to legitimately feel good about his body and place in the game. Woods is acting like someone excited to be getting back on the course.

I’m also buying because golf desperately needs to rekindle a longtime tradition of the game: older champions competing against new blood. We’ve been deprived of a generational showdown a la 1960 at Cherry Hills, where young gun Jack Nicklaus, superstar Arnold Palmer and legend Ben Hogan converged in a final-round showdown. Woods the historian knows that no matter how far the kids hit the ball today, the list of major venues in the next five years will still reward a wise and clever player.

OK, but I'm guessing that the Vegas odds won't be to anyone's liking...  And all those folks that bought this time last year got burned.

And to his credit, Shack posts these Jason Sobel cautionary words on his blog:

Woods made a similar return from injury at this same event last year, finishing in a share of last place among those who completed four rounds, but in a tie for the tournament lead in birdies with eventual champion Hideki Matsuyama. 

A month later, Woods missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, which was followed by the withdrawal in Dubai a week later.

The enduring mystery of the last cycle remains that the guy we saw at Albany wasn't the same guy that showed up at Torrey.  If I wasn't clear above, the concern is that the Hero is such a soft landing that he might be rushing things....

He's Baack, Part II - Not the big Him, of course, but significant all the same:

Europe’s chances of regaining the Ryder Cup have been given a major boost by Paul Casey’s decision to rejoin the European Tour. 

Casey has confirmed he will take up his European Tour membership at the start of next year after a three-year absence. He will make his first start in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January, a tournament he has won twice (2007 and 2009). It will be his first European Tour start since the 2015 BMW Masters. 

“As hard as it was trying to make it work three years ago – struggling with my game, dropping out of the top 50 – I have missed it (the European Tour) too much,” Casey said. “I have missed my contribution to English golf, British golf, my contribution to Europe.”

His contribution to Europe?  I guess he's a Remain dead-ender....  Joshing aside, he belongs on the Euro Ryder Cup team, despite the acrimony remaining from not being a Captain's pick by Colin Montgomerie in 2010 despite being in the Top Ten in the OWGR.

Millennials Heart Agrihoods - This story has me oh so confused:

Millennials are saying "so long" to the country club and "hello" to the farm. 

Many so-called agrihoods — short for "agricultural neighborhoods" — are cropping up around the US, and they're aimed at farm-to-table-loving millennials. 

Loosely defined by the Urban Land Institute as master-planned housing communities with working farms as their focus, agrihoods have ample green space, barns, and outdoor community kitchens. Some boast greenhouses and rows and rows of fruit trees. The homes are typically built to high environmental standards — think solar panels and composting. 

Agrihoods are designed to appeal to young, active families who love to eat healthy and spend time outdoors — and they're not off the grid.

It appears that agrihoods are, in fact, a thing, and there are some 150 of them already....

The confusion is that this only applies to those millennials that have, in fact, moved out of their parents' basement....  So that 150 might be the high-water mark.

Golf, Explained to the Internet -  As noted above, the Internet melts down about every five minutes over nonsense, more often than not Trump-related.

Sam Weinman with just the latest version:

Sorry, Internet, but Donald Trump might not be cheating at golf in this video

 As if you need to know more, but here' the skinny:

Here's the clip in question of Trump playing golf over the weekend in Virginia, as captured by NBC's Kelly O'Donnell. It shows Trump missing a putt, then trotting after his ball to pick it up before it stops.

Could this be the most overt display of golf cheating ever captured of a sitting president? At the risk of disappointing hot takers and conspiracy theorists everywhere, probably not. 

Although it's possible that Trump's warped version of golf scorekeeping allows him to take a free run at every putt with universal assurance that the next one is good -- it's his golf course, dammit! -- the more likely scenario is less dramatic. Instead, it's very possible that Trump was in a match where he needed to make the first putt for him to factor into the hole at all. And when he missed, as is customary, he just decided to get out of the way by picking up his ball.

If only Kelly O'Donnell worked at a network that had some familiarity with our game.... Video is at the link, but I think we can safely move on.

Golf is Cool - So says an acknowledged arbiter of cool, per the completely cool Jaime Diaz:

Haskins' skill set and connections would have served him well in any number of endeavors. Improbably—some might say quixotically—and definitely idealistically, for

the past two decades he has focused on the world of golf. 

As the founder of a tournament and former PGA of America senior director of diversity and multicultural initiatives, Haskins has put himself on the forefront of the struggle to increase the presence and prominence of African-Americans in golf. 

"I love the game and its history, and I love black people," says Haskins, 49. "I know all three of those entities become valuable to the world the more they intersect. And that's what I try to do."

I love all people, but that's not important now....

But this is why the golf is dead meme is so silly:

The golf landscape seemed more promising in 2000, when Haskins began his tournament. He had begun playing only two years before, after his curiosity had been piqued by NBA players' conversations. "So often, it was all about golf, where they had played or were going to play next, some idea about the golf swing," he says. "I was surprised—they were clearly doing it all the time."

Everything seemed more promising in 2000, at least until that butterfly ballot and the like.  But cool people love our game....  others will follow.  Give it a read....

When Ryan Met Tiger -  A great piece that ties together two of this week's storylines:

The pair squared off in the final at the 1993 U.S. Junior Amateur, played at Waverley

Country Club in Portland, Ore., with Woods looking to capture his third straight junior title. Armour came in determined not to fall prey to what had happened the year before.

Then 17 years old, Armour was all square in the final match with Woods with four to play. The Ohio kid proceeded to drain a 40-footer for birdie at the 15th to take a 1-up lead, and when Woods shockingly missed a 4-footer for par at the next, Armour was dormie-2. 

As Sports Illustrated reported at the time, Armour had a plan to finish things out: “I thought, ‘Two pars and the national title is yours.’ ” 

If you’re sensing this is where the tale might’ve turned … good instincts.

No spoiler alert required, as you know how it turned out....  The only thing missing is a photo of the lads from the Wabac Machine.

'Tis the Season -  For regrettable costumes, that is:

That's Peter Uihlein and girlfriend Chelsea Gates doing the Teenage Mutant Ninja thing.....  The dogs look appropriately puzzled.