Tuesday Trifles

And just a few of them at that...  A quiet day, you'll not be surprised to hear.  Early appointments Wednesday and Friday will likely preclude blogging, and only one of them is golf.

Memphis in June August - We have an early favorite for most unintentionally hilarious header of the day:

Organizers are striving to maintain WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational traditions

You mean like that Tuesday evening Champions Dinner?  Seriously, what could those be?

The idea was simple. 

When Memphis’ annual PGA Tour event earned a World Golf Championships designation, officials and organizers decided the first such tournament at TPC Southwind in 2019 would feature a subtle but proud theme: Memphis itself. 

Both of its title sponsors were well represented. Barbecue was a focal point. The emphasis was to highlight the hallmarks of the Bluff City as best it could for golfers, fans and spectators throughout and around the 240-acre venue. But any hopes of establishing any sort of tradition tied to the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational appeared to be dashed when the PGA Tour announced earlier this month that fans – which showed up in record-number droves in 2019 – would not be allowed on-site due to health and safety concerns related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Now I just want to make sure I have this right.  You think the way to promote Memphis is to bring the Tour there at the height of summer?  

“We want this to be Memphis’ WGC,” Smith said.

I think what's really happened is that, with the PGA Championship's move to May, their previous core function of showing us Lumpy in a soaking-wet golf shirt had been abandoned.  As we've all learned, nature abhors a vacuum...

 So, they put their heads together and came up with this bespoke solution:

So, rather than do away with the concept completely, organizers partnered with Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous, Central BBQ, Hog Wild BBQ and Germantown Commissary to keep up the spirit of the event – even if it’s from a distance – by offering a variety of catering packages for pick-up or delivery at discounted rates (through Aug. 2), which will also include various tournament merchandise. 

“What we’ve done this year, we’ve tried to create some energy around ‘The Pit at Home,’” Smith said. “We’re encouraging people who won’t be on-site to watch the broadcast but also get a little taste of Memphis and what was on the grounds last year.”

Wow, take-out!  Not like anyone has tried that lately...  And they're far from finished with novel solutions to the novel Corona virus:

The tournament is also going old-school in its preparations for possible inclement weather. In keeping with social distancing efforts, officials are doing away with the 15-passenger vans that are reserved for shuttling golfers off the course when bad weather strikes. 

“Now, it’ll be 80-plus golf carts,” Smith said. “If we have a weather situation, we’ll have to tell Dustin Johnson, ‘Go grab your cart and drive to the clubhouse.’ Flexibility is the key. There’s not really a playbook to put on a golf tournament in the middle of a pandemic. But we do have a pretty good plan. And I do think the Tour has done a great job of adopting a plan and having it be an evolving plan.”

Wow, I didn't see that one coming... Golf carts to transport golfers?  I do hope you've filed the paperwork to protect that intellectual property...

Every April we're treated to those stories about how Augusta National will fix Jordan Spieth?  I know, ironic in that it was ANGC that broke him in the first place, but that's not important now...

I mention that because Dylan Dethier has a late-breaking piece up about the five big winners from last week.  I know, I certainly moved on as quickly as possible, but this one will surprise you, at least initially:

4. Future Brooks Koepka 

You might be saying to yourselves, “Wait a minute. Brooks Koepka?! He missed the cut

this week! He’s gone MC-T62-MC his last three starts!” To which I would say: Fair point. However! 

We’re headed to Memphis, which is where the world No. 6 should catch some seriously good vibes. The last time he went walkin’ in Memphis was at last year’s WGC here, when he throttled Rory McIlroy in the final group on Sunday and walked away with a statement victory. Now he’ll be back! 

If that feeling isn’t enough to get Koepka swinging freely, he needn’t wait much longer for some more good feelings. It’s hard to imagine someone better suited for the action at TPC Harding Park in two weeks’ time than Koepka, who you’ll recall has won the last two editions of the PGA Championship. He’s got one in the Midwest, at Bellerive in 2018. He got one on the East Coast, at Bethpage Black. Can he make it a cross-country trifecta with a triumph in the Bay Area?

He also throws kid brother Chase into the mix, but that's a different matter entirely.  But what to make of former alpha dog Brooksie, whose game has been in serious remission.  I don't know if it's the knee or not, but he sure hasn't been the same guy.

We all tend to overplay the return to venues where players have had success.  It matters until it doesn't, so good luck with that.  I will concede one thing to Dylan, that missing the cut was likely better for Brooks than making it on the number...  He just looked to me like a guy that needed to be anywhere else but the golf course in that moment.  

Derek Lawrenson catches up with instructor Pete Cowan who goes the tough love route.  First, a framing of the state of the man's game:

Now look at him on his return to Elvis Presley country. All shook up doesn’t begin to cover it. Never mind winning, he has not even featured on a leaderboard since Rory

McIlroy beat him to £12.2million for the FedEx Cup in Atlanta last September. 

Koepka dismissed talk at the time of a growing rivalry between the two and subsequent events have unwittingly borne him out. He is not even among the top 125 who will contest the first of the three FedEx Cup play-off events next month, much less the finale which is open to the top 30. After lapping the field at the top of the world rankings a year ago, Koepka is now down to sixth.

Here's the money quote:

‘When you get an injury as bad as that you’re never 100 per cent right again,’ said Cowen. ‘But I don’t think it’s a problem. That’s finding excuses for the fact he’s swinging it badly. We don’t need excuses, we need to sort it out.’ 

Cowen believes it is more a question of attitude. ‘When he’s at his best, he’s bulletproof. He doesn’t care what other people are doing, he just puts results on the board,’ he said. ‘The US Open at Shinnecock Hills in 2018 was a classic case in point. With his caddy Ricky Elliott, I was talking it through with him, how he played every hole in the final round, he was all over the place at times. But he had belief he would win. He had body language that said, “I’m going to get the job done”. That’s what we need to get back.’

True, but I still suspect we'll see another surgeon go at that knee in the near future.

Sacrificing Straw Men Needlessly -  Charley Hoffman has been quite the Company Man on the subject of distance.  Apparently there's nothing to see here, and I feel bad that I might have implied otherwise...Here's what he has to say, so see what you think of his debating skills:

This talk of bifurcation has been fiercely debated with stakeholders across the golf world 

weighing in on the polarizing topic. On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar, Charley Hoffman offered up his thoughts on opposing bifurcation. He pointed to Bryson DeChambeau as an example of the uselessness of rolling equipment back.

“I think playing under one rules makes our sport really special,” Hoffman said. “I think Bryson is the perfect example of why we don’t need to do it. Roll back anything. The guy was average to long hitter prior and he went and worked his a—off and found a way to hit it further. That is a perfect example of getting better. Why would you want to roll it back?”

One rules?  OK, I've been reliably informed that grammar is racist, so I should probably let that pass.  But it seems to this observer that there's been a subtle move of the goalposts.  It used to be said that we play the same equipment as the pros, a laughable concept to anyone that knows the game.  

That last bit we've discussed frequently, the concept that distance gains should somehow be out of the purview of regulators when originating in physical conditioning, launch monitor fine tuning of specs or whatever.  The logical fail here is that the premise is merely stated, with no attempt to support it.  I take the opposite position, that the specific source is largely irrelevant to the issue of whether to regulate.

But now comes the face plant:

Hoffman went on to point out that even if there is a roll back, the DeChambeau’s of the world will still have an advantage. And better equipment isn’t the only reason pros these days are hitting the ball further. Better athletes are playing the game now and fitness has changed the sport. 

“The best athletes in the world are starting to play golf now,” Hoffman said. “That’s why it’s going further.”

Do you know who's arguing that rolling back the ball will negate Bryson's (or anyone's) distance advantage?  Exactly no one.  So, why does that straw man have to be sacrificed?

The ability to hit the ball long and straight has always been an advantage, and always will/should be.  The argument is about the de-skilling of the game from these distance gains, along with the less frequently discussed  reduced spin of the modern, solid-core ball, that makes crooked shots far less crooked.  

Charley is the Chairman of the Players Advisory Council, and the Tour has made it clear that they will not accede to any regulatory effort relating to equipment or the golf ball.  Even if one stipulates that the governing bodies have awoken to the harm being done the game, the intransigence of the PGA Tour and PGA of America becomes quite the hurdle to surmount.

I'll curtail the rant for now, and merely link to this item from Geoff Shackelford:

Great Listen: Fried Egg's Podcast Stories, The Ball

Fine, fine work by The Fried Egg’s Garrett Morrison to present the history of the golf ball in fresh fashion and format. I highly recommend all three episodes and his effort to educate audiences to the remarkable strife and conflict the matter of selling golf balls has delivered to golf.

I learned a lot and felt unabashedly reassured that some form of golf ball regulation would be a really good thing for the game. But that’s me. I’m guessing even those who do not agree and place the perceived profit impact of a few companies over what’s best for the sport, will still feel more intelligent after listening.

I haven't listened, though this is one I might just have to make the time for.  My only hesitation is that he apparently starts with the gutty, whereas the featherie and Alan Robertson deserve a moment in the sun:

The relationship between Robertson and Morris soured when the guttie ball was introduced (see golf ball - history). Robertson caught Morris playing with a guttie, and fired him on the spot. Robertson attempted to suppress the popularity of the new and cheaper ball, which hastened the end of his own 100-year-old business making the featherie ball. Morris accepted the march of progress and felt obliged to leave Robertson and set up his own workshop. Morris moved to Prestwick in 1851, on the west coast of Scotland, to build a new golf course, where he served as professional and greenkeeper. The guttie ball revolutionized golf and Robertson's featherie business did indeed collapse, although Robertson quickly moved to manufacture the guttie, which was made from liquid rubber (gutta percha) found in Malaysia.

You think Pro-V1's are expensive?  Golf was a game only for gentlemen, because no one else could afford a featherie...  

Dateline: Augusta, GA -  Scott Michaux has the sweet golf gig at the local Augusta newspaper (although this link is to the Global Golf Post), and he offers this on the mood there at present:

Augusta National Golf Club – closed since March – has been silent since announcing on April 6 its intention to stage the Masters in front of a full cast of patrons in the fall. That pronouncement included a pretty important disclaimer from Masters chairman Fred

Ridley: “We want to emphasize that our future plans are incumbent upon favorable counsel and direction from health officials.”

Despite silence from Magnolia Lane, two disparate thoughts are racing through the minds of Augusta business leaders desperate for the revenue jolt a fully attended Masters Tournament would provide. The first is serious concern that the Masters will have to follow suit with the PGA Tour and either play behind closed doors or cancel. The second is a blind faith that Augusta National is capable of pulling off magic in the middle of a pandemic. 

“If anybody can do it, they can do it,” said Sean Frantom, the sales and community engagement manager at Augusta’s newly opened Topgolf. “We hope and pray it happens for many, many different reasons. But right now, it doesn’t look very positive.”

“I think the whole town is concerned, I really do,” said John Engler, a former PGA Tour pro whose family’s business in Augusta includes a downtown hotel. “The No. 1 thing is for everyone to be safe and feel safe. If anybody can have fans it would be Augusta National. They’d be able to figure it out.”

Dog bites man... Got it.

What ANGC has that the other two majors don't, is time.  Of course hotel and hospitality operators will panic, it's their livelihood on the line.   And they've lost both their biggest week as well as most of the summer, so they could use a break.

There's just little anyone can say in the present moment.

Quick Hits - I inadvertently omitted this amusing bit from yesterday's blogging of the Tour Confidential panel.  Asking this of John Wood is priceless, almost as good as having Greg Norman in the booth when DJ 3-jacked on No. 18 to toss away that U.S. Open:

During the first round of the 3M Open, Sangmoon Bae hit his drive on the par-5 18th in the water, hit his approach into the water, then holed out from 250 yards. What’s the most ghastly-to-great hole you’ve ever witnessed? 

Zak: Happy Gilmore at the Tour Championship? Wasn’t there myself but it certainly comes to mind. Fred Couples on the bank at Augusta? Tiger Woods left of 16 green? Apologies for taking the obvious answers.

Bamberger: Interesting question, because it so often goes the other way. I’d have to say that five-footer JVD made to get himself into the Open playoff at Carnoustie in 1999. After the trauma he endured to get there, that putt was amazing. But Spieth at Royal Birkdale, from the driving range after that crazy slice, has to be up there, too. 

Sens: Great real world example, Michael. But as with so many things in life, the finest illustration comes from Bugs Bunny. 

Wood: Bill Haas, 18th hole, Tour Championship playoff vs Hunter Mahan. Sigh. Damn you Bill. And of course Spieth at the 13th at Birkdale, vs. Kuchar. Damn you, Jordan. (Laughing, of course) 

Shipnuck: We feel your pain, Woody. One time at Cruden Bay I was playing with my friend Matt Ginella and on a drivable par-4 he blew his tee shot off the planet, declared it lost, reteed … and lipped-out the next one. Routine tap-in par.

The other bit I forgot was to circle back on a subtle change to the format.  Anyone notice it? nyone?  Bueller?

It seems they are no longer numbering their questions.  I assume they're reacting to my relentless snark over the first question each week relating to a certain Cablinasian player.... Or something...

Golf in the Middle Kingdom -  The game, including its major tours, has a bit of an obsession with the Chinese market, one that they'd be wise to get over.  Here's an item that has little to do with our mandate:

A Chinese Tycoon Denounced Xi Jinping. Now He Faces Prosecution

Of course he does... But, prosecution for what, exactly?

The party announced the expulsion of the tycoon, Ren Zhiqiang, late Thursday, and said that it had seized his assets for “serious violations of discipline and law” that included the possession of golf club memberships. Officials also took aim at Mr. Ren’s family, accusing him of “colluding with his children to accumulate wealth without restraint.”

That bold face is all mine....Of course, that last bit is odd, because I'm so old I can remember when they were singing a different tune.  But the PGA Tour should be on notice that it's strange to be promoting golf in a country where jail time is meted out for the hate crime of belonging to a golf club.  Just sayin'.

See you on Thursday, I hope.

Weekend Wrap

Fortunately, blogging is an indoor sport, since I'm not sure that venturing out today is such a good idea...

Titanic Thompson - When in doubt, your humble blogger roots for either the old guy or the guy that needs it most.  One doesn't need a Venn diagram to know those circles overlap perfectly, at least this week:

Michael Thompson, who hadn’t won in seven-plus years and 166 starts, sprinkled in a spectacular bunker shot with a superbly mundane round of golf to calmly win his second PGA Tour title, beating a surging Adam Long by two strokes in the 3M Open.

Thompson, who had a share of the lead after 18 and 54 holes, birdied two of his last three holes at TPC Twin Cities to come home in four-under 67 and 19-under 265 to keep Long and a long list of other challengers at bay.

Thompson, 35, looked like a seasoned pro and not one who was enduring a season on the brink. He came into the week ranked 151st in the FedEx Cup standings. He was ranked 218th in the world. In 227 career starts he had registered just 17 top-10s and four top-three finishes, including his victory at the 2013 Honda Classic. All of his primary strokes gained stats were negative except putting. He ranked 180th in driving distance and 131st in greens in regulation, the latter despite being one of the tour’s most accurate off the tee.

If you’re wondering where we’re going with this, well, we’re not quite sure. It’s all rather confounding. But, hey, at least we’re not alone.

Sir Nick Faldo was knitting together a thought on the CBS telecast as Thompson was sauntering up to his perfectly placed drive on the 18th hole that was more inquiry than elucidation.

“When a guy wins like this and he looks like a champion all week you wonder, Where has it been?” Faldo mused. “What’s the tipping point, what’s the fine line in this game where you go from struggle, struggle, struggle to then look this good and this controlled?”

I think we can all agree that a flummoxed Nick Faldo is a dog-bites-man story...

This is exactly why field size matters, because when you limit WGCs and Invitationals to 75 players (78 are listed for this coming week's WGC in Memphis), this is who's excluded.  Dare I mention the Masters?

It's not great for ratings, but there is a deep satisfaction in seeing the quintessential Tour rabbit seize an opportunity, especially one that will never draw a comparison to, say, Bryson... 

Did you catch his post-round interview?  Am I the only one that finds Amanda Balionis awkward at best?  I completely understand her qualifications for the gig, both of them, but that pun on Adam Long's name should at the very least require a multi-week time out.  Can't she have a jet-ski accident or something?

Thompson himself drew raves for sharing his emotions:

You could hear Michael Thompson’s voice crack with his first word as his responded to

CBS Sports’ Amanda Balionis when she asked him about how it felt to win the 3M Open on Sunday. The broadcast team had set things up well for those watching at home, noting how Thompson hadn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2013, a stretch spanning 166 tour starts. Then there was the fact that Thompson and his family had been living through the COVID-19 pandemic in a most unique way, having adopted a baby daughter in April.

It was only natural then for Thompson’s emotions to come through loud and clear as he tried to answer Balionis.

 Seven years, man!  That's a long time in the golf desert...

Alex Myers does a deeper dive on the adoption and related adjustments, as if we needed another reason to root for the guy.  Here's one more:

This gets him into Memphis, the PGA and Winged Foot, where he played in a U.S. Amateur.  Not sure about the Masters, but perhaps if he can keep the strong play going...

As is far from unusual, the more interesting bits are usually related to those that came up short.  This guy for sure:

What a weekend from Adam Long

Great stat, as always, from Justin Ray here:

If not for Thompson’s red-hot putter, Long more than likely would have become the fourth player to accomplish this ridiculous feat in the last decade. His seven-under 64 saw him climb 11 spots up the leader board, and he eventually settled for solo second. He now has two runner-ups since his breakthrough victory at the American Express in 2019, plus an eighth-place finish at the Waste Management in 2019. He may be a 31-year-old journeyman, but he’s proving to be far more than a random one-hit wonder.

He’s also now going to get to play in the U.S. Open. Long’s solo second place finished was good enough to earn him an automatic exemption to play at Winged Foot in September.

Good stuff for sure...

This one reached its sell-by date long ago, though it's most interesting for what comes next:

The human ATM went full human ATM

Before we praise Charles Howell III for his 96th—96th !!!— career top-10 finish on the PGA Tour, we first have a bone to pick: How do you leave that eagle putt short on 18

that would have gotten you a share of the clubhouse lead? Chucky Three Sticks, of all people, could have afforded a three-putt had he juiced the eagle putt past the hole like he should have. That thing simply must get to or past the hole, especially when you are closing in on $40 million career on-course earnings. C’mon Chuck, live a little!

Turns out, it wouldn’t have been enough to win the tournament, anyway, so we’ll let it slide. Short eagle effort or not, 96 career top 10s is flat-out incredible. And yet, he’s still nowhere near Tiger Woods’ all-time record of … wait for it … 199. Yeah, that dude is pretty good.

I beg to differ.  Leaving that eagle putt short was as on-brand as these things get...  

More importantly, if we're casting the biopic of Chucky Three Sticks' career, isn't this guy the logical choice to play the lead?

Tony, Tony, Tony

Speaking of top-10 machines, that pretty much sums up Tony Finau’s existence right now. It sounds disrespectful, sure, but it’s also true. Big Tone now has 30 top-10 finishes

without a victory since the beginning of the 2016-’17 season. That’s 14 clear of the next closest competitor, Tommy Fleetwood, who has 16. What’s most frustrating about Finau is that these are no ordinary top 10s, as he’s often in serious contention. His T-3 on Sunday marks his 15th top-five finish since the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open. That is a LOT of opportunities to not cash in a win on.

For Finau fans, bettors or anyone interesting in rooting for a genuine good guy, Sunday had to be the most unacceptable miss so far. Outside of Matthew Wolff or a hobbled Brooks Koepka, Finau was easily the most-talented player to tee it up at TPC Twin Cities this week. At 16 under through 64 holes, this was Finau’s tournament for the taking, and he played the final eight holes in even par. With his length, Finau should be playing those final three holes in two under at minimum. If he couldn’t get it done this week, when can we ever expect him too?

This all may sound harsh, but for the Finau faithful, it’s all out of love. Happy to be proven wrong, sooner rather than later. I fully expect this paragraph to end up on the Freezing Cold Takes Twitter account when he wins the PGA at Harding Park.

Yeah, this one seemed perfectly attuned for his redemption, except that Michael Thompson didn't get the memo...

I notices something strange in this week's Tour Confidential confab, see if you can suss it out from this on our Tony:

Tony Finau, who split with his longtime caddie and now has his swing coach, Boyd Summerhays, on the bag, had an excellent week at the 3M, finishing T3, three shots behind winner Michael Thompson. But the week also represented another missed opportunity for Finau, who now has 30 top-10 finishes since his first and only Tour win, in 2016. Do you suspect his Sunday struggles are more physical or mental?

Zak: There is nothing — NOTHING! — wrong with the physical version of Tony Finau. So I’d guess there’s something mentally he needs to check off before getting it done. I think he tipped that off by changing up his caddie situation. He knows he’s damn good and now he’s going to make moves on it. I suspect he gets it done very soon.

Bamberger: It must be really hard for Tony to make a caddie change. They ate so many meals together, reviewed so many shots together, came up on Tour together. That he could make the move shows a mentality we have not seen on Sundays. I’d have to think the struggles are more mental than physical. Tiger would say the same. I think his next five years will be better than his last five. That’s asking a lot.

Sens: The caddie change tells you everything you need to know about where Finau himself thinks he needs a boost. That’s a psychological change, not a physical one. He’s looking to sharpen the edges around the great physical arsenal he already has.

Shipnuck: You have to remember that Finau came from nothing, and that he has an entire Brady Bunch of kids. It’s easy to imagine that his first few years on Tour he was happy to finish in the top 10, collect a big check, secure his job and take care of his family. Now he needs to find an entirely different approach. That’s not easy for such a gentle giant.

Wood: It’s timing. Once he crosses the line in a big one, he’ll tell himself, “That wasn’t that hard.” I think he may be trying to do too much to answer all the doubters on Sunday, rather than just being Tony Finau. I know he lacks nothing to win more. I saw him up close at the Ryder Cup in France, as well as really up close at the President’s Cup in Melbourne. There aren’t many tougher places to play than a team event on the road, and he had the goods there. Once he realizes he just has to be who he is and not something more, he’ll start winning. A lot.

We basically hear this about every player...  Once he gets the first, the floodgates will open and yada, yada yada.  My own suspicion is that games are more likely to go into remission after a breakthrough win, though I'd love for someone to run the numbers.

Of course it's mental, there's a reason his Sunday scoring average is so much higher than the other three days.  That said, he's not a great putter, and that was painfully in evidence yesterday.  There is that recurring reason that he comes up short....

Anyone unfamiliar with the header reference should look here.

Golf In The Time of Corona - I've been reliably informed that Orange Man Bad, though this seems a good thing:

The White House has eased travel restrictions for players, caddies and other essential personnel entering the United States to compete on the PGA Tour. 

Players were informed late Friday via email that the move is based on groups who are “subject to COVID-19 testing and screening through the Tour’s rigorous health and safety protocols throughout a tournament week” and that they won’t be subject to the current 14-day quarantine period. 

The timing of the move is crucial for players with two of the season’s biggest events scheduled for the next two weeks – the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and the PGA Championship.

And logical, given the rigorous testing done on-site.  But can anyone unravel this for me:

Westwood is committed to play next week’s World Golf Championship in Memphis, but he told reporters Saturday at the British Masters that he doesn’t intend to travel to the U.S. despite the policy change.

When you say committed, you mean what exactly? 

I haven't seen anything from Eddie Pepperill, but Mr. Westwood sounds like he just doesn't need the aggravation, so he'd be better served to not blame it on the pandemic:

"It's just not the life I'm used to. I got out on the golf course and I am struggling for motivation a little bit. There is a lot more to consider. The two American tournaments,

next week and the following week, I'm still concerned that America doesn't take it (the virus) as seriously as the rest of the world. It still seems to be one of the hotspots for outbreaks. I can control me not getting the virus and take all the measures I can, but somebody might pass it on. I don't really want to get ill with it and I'm slightly asthmatic. If I tested in Memphis I would have to stay there for two weeks... right now there are too many ifs."

We'll be OK without you, Lee. 

With Lee scratched, who ya got in the PGA?  That TC panel offers their thoughts:

Things begin to get interesting in pro golf over the next few weeks. A World Golf Championship comes first, this week in Memphis. Then follows the PGA Championship in two weeks, and the Tour playoffs and the U.S. Open after that. After a month and a half of play since golf’s return, who is best positioned to make a run? 

Sean Zak: It feels like we’ve seen brilliance and B.S. from each of the game’s best players. Justin Thomas blew a big lead late. Jon Rahm didn’t get it going until the Memorial. Rory seems stuck in neutral. Bryson was cruising along until making a 10. Koepka is hampered by a bum knee and his buddy DJ is working through a dinged up back. So … I look elsewhere! And Xander Schauffele is the man. He has played tough golf courses as well as anyone not named Koepka the last few years, and he’s been very solid since he returned. Get your betting slips in, folks!

Michael Bamberger: I’d say Rory. He likes summer golf. He’s due. He’s playing well, at times. He’s won PGA Championships twice before. Tanned, rested, ready — Rory.

Alan Shipnuck: And don’t forget that Rory won the Match Play at Harding Park! He’s been a forgotten man lately — I, too, think that changes as we get to the meat of the season.

Josh Sens: If anything, these past few weeks have reminded us how futile it is to predict in this game. But I’ll bite … Tony Finau! So close these last two starts, and now with his Tour-leading 30th Top 10 in last few years. New caddie on his bag, and a swing tweak to add even more distance. If this guy isn’t due, I don’t know who is. 

John Wood: Collin Morikawa. He’s just ALWAYS there. He’s as brilliant a ballstriker as there is in the game today, seems unflappable, and played his collegiate golf across the bay from Harding Park. I know someone this good can’t fly under the radar, but outside of those big names mentioned above, he’s as good a bet as any.

Ya gotta love Josh, picking the guy that can't close in Dublin or Minneapolis to close in a major...  Or, at least a quasi-major. 

I, for one, need more information on conditions and weather before choosing my stiff who will miss the cut be ten strokes.  The X-man strikes me as a logical choice, though I could us saying that for the next decade as well.  At least if he gets in the hunt, you don't worry about the moment being too big for him...

As for those Rory dead-enders?  perhaps they should read this from Shane Ryan at their biggest competitor:

Breaking down why Rory McIlroy's PGA Tour restart has been so sluggish

Do we have enough time?

There are a few things we can glean here, and a few that remain a little confusing. First off, even in this time of relative struggle, he’s fantastic off the tee—top five in three of the four events. Second, the idea that he’s weak on his approach shots is backed up by the numbers. On that topic, it’s worth noting that low finishes, from 40 and above, would probably be worse when compared to the entire field, while high finishes would suffer less. In other words, the gap between his great driving and his sub-par approach shots is actually bigger than it looks here. The same is true with putting, although he’s improved measurably in the last two events. He’s been inconsistent around the green, a stat which compiles shots from 30 yards and closer, but compared to the other stats, this isn’t quite as important.

His distance control on his wedges remains dreadful, a problem considering how many wedges he hits.  His putting isn't much better.  I wouldn't recommend him for any money bets, unless you hear that it will be soft and calm that week.

On Ernie and Distance - Mike Clayton, who we featured on Friday, frames Ernie's recent comments through the lens of the Good Doctor:

"Narrow fairways bordered by long grass make bad golfers. They do so by destroying the harmony and continuity of the game and in causing a stilted and cramped style, destroying all freedom of play.” 

“Our game is in a good place. Equipment improvements and distance are here to stay. Full stop. We need a ‘serious’ premium on accuracy. Golf courses don’t need to be longer. Make the Tour rough knee high, fairways fast and firm which is fair for all players.” 

Is the former, Dr Alister MacKenzie’s view, one from an era long past, irrelevant to the realities of the modern game? Or, as Ernie Els’ tweet from 18 July suggests, are narrow fairways lined on both sides with smothering long grass the way forward?

 The good news is that we've won this debate as relates to the larger amateur and club game, as virtually all new courses constructed adhere to the Golden Age precepts.  Of course, they're not building many new courses, but it applies to restorations as well. 

That said, Ernie's vision for the elite professional game sounds quite dreary, as the Tour Confidentilistas note:

Ernie Els jumped into the distance debate this week, saying that neither equipment nor the length of courses need amending. “We need a serious premium on accuracy,” Els said. “Make the Tour rough knee high, fairways fast and firm, which is fair for all players.” Agree? 

Zak: I can sense a slight exaggeration from Ernie, but his point remains. Knee-high rough is not the answer, nor is calf-high rough. At least not week-in and week-out. I had multiple Tour caddies explain the differences between 3M and Memorial setups this week. While they all tended to believe it was a bit extreme, the firmness of the fairways and greens coupled with longer rough and some wind were the exact recipe for testing the world’s best. Those are all more reasonable solutions than just letting the grass grow and grow and grow.

Bamberger: Only with the F&F part. The game lacks balance now. There’s too much emphasis on the tee shot. It’s certainly not the players fault. But foot-high rough doesn’t make golf more interesting, it makes it less interesting. We want to see all manner of shots, including the recovery shot. Tiger became Tiger on the basis of his recovery game, his iron play, his driving game, his chipping game. His everything.

Sens: I agree to a point. Problem is, there comes a point where defending through course conditions alone leads to flat-out goofy setups, and then you’re not making it more fair for anyone. At that point is where I start to think: rolling back the ball is the better long-term solution. 

Wood: Of course, he’s correct. I would love to see firm fairways, hard greens, deep rough every single week. But It’s not going to happen. There’s no way for tournaments to collude to make course setups more difficult, with more emphasis on hitting fairways. And here’s why: the tournaments are in competition with each other to attract players. When a player is choosing a schedule, they’re just like anyone who plays golf: a major factor in deciding where they play is choosing someplace they enjoy. They know a handful of times a year, namely U.S. Opens, the Masters, they’re going to have to play courses with less room for error. But week-in, week-out, they won’t do it. And to be honest with you, I don’t think the networks would enjoy it either. Long drives sell. The ratings just simply wouldn’t be as good if the guys who can hit it 350 are hitting 4-irons off every tee.

Shipnuck: John’s point is well-taken, and amplify’s Michael’s: the setup Ernie is advocating sounds dreadfully boring. Who wants to watch the best players chipping out sideways? It’s fun at a few select majors, but every week would be a snooze. And the problem with resting everything on firm/fast setups is that it’s an outdoor game, and rain showers are common in the spring and summer. To test players with the current benign Tour setups we need courses that are 9,000-10,000 yards, but that requires an obscene amount of land, water and maintenance hours. The only real solution is obvious: throttle back the equipment. But Ernie and many others are paid to subvert that point.

Tom Meeks, call your office... For those that are old enough to remember his dreadful U.S. Open set-ups.... 

But I want to make a different point this time.  If you have your golf course #firmandfast, you don't need foot-deep rough, do you?  Anyone remember the Prez Cup at Royal Melbourne?  Was there any deep rough there? 

But the reality is that F&F rarely presents, so what else you got?  If foot deep rough is your answer, I'd suggest that you're asking the wrong questions...

Back to Mike Clayton who offers this explanation for those struggling to understand the arguments:

St Andrews is the model for all others to follow. It isn’t just a place of extraordinary historical importance. It doesn’t find itself at the centre of the golf world by accident, historical luck or quirk. It is the model because it has great holes and no course is as enduringly fascinating to play. 

That fascination comes from a simple concept, namely, that the golfer must work out where best to play and how best to play every single shot. This concept doesn’t work unless the course is wide enough to make you think and provides lies of a nature which give players a variety of shots from which to choose. There is rough grass on the Old course as well as gorse and any number of places where you might find an unplayable lie, but it isn’t a persistent hazard that envelops you the moment you stray off course.

Royal Melbourne and Augusta National, two of MacKenzie’s greatest layouts, look much different from St Andrews. The fairways of both are lined with trees. Royal Melbourne sits on a deep bed of perfect sand while Augusta is on heavy red clay. None of the three relies on long grass to determine the best players under tournament conditions. 

This simple feature was perhaps the most important lesson Alister MacKenzie took from the Old course.

For sure, but an Open at the Old Course these days is even more dependent upon weather than ever.  If it presents with soft conditions and little wind, it's a bit scary to think how low they might go.

Still Not Dead -  I thought we had put this nonsense to bed:

The Premier Golf League remains confident of delivering a breakaway tour, with formal offer letters recently submitted to a batch of top level players. The guaranteed money on

offer to those approached is understood to total hundreds of millions of dollars, underlining the strength of the PGL despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The PGA Tour and European Tour has been strong in their resistance to the PGL concept, which is backed by the New York-based Raine Group. The PGL model has been compared to Formula One, where the best play the best every week and a team element is included. Rory McIlroy vehemently dismissed the plan in February, with the Northern Irishman stating: “I value that I have autonomy of freedom over everything that I do. But if you go and play this other golf league you’re not going to have that choice.”

It is understood McIlroy is not one of the players approached in this PGL move. Those who have been linked with the breakaway include Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Paul Casey. The PGL declined to comment on recent events when approached. Yet whether the PGL can convince elite golfers to offer a commitment against the PGA Tour in particular remains to be seen. As part of a recently agreed broadcasting deal, the PGA Tour agreed to offer commercial incentives to players who provide the greatest value.

Obviously I misunderstood their business plan.  I didn't realize that their objective was to create the world's foremost senior tour.  Good luck, guys.

Are we to understand that they'll build their tour around a bunch of guys whose best days are long behind them?  Koepka is the only guy on that list remotely still in the prime of his career, not that he's exactly hitting it out of the park recently. 

The buried lede is in that last 'graoh of the excerpt, as I've heard of but seen no details on how the PGA Tour plans to entice it's show ponies to stay at home.  As is common knowledge, the Euro Tour finds itself in a world of hurt, and this will surprise no one:

Intriguingly, Raine is also understood to have held talks with the European Tour. This at least infers an increased willingness to involve golf’s existing stakeholders in the PGL plan. When asked about such discussions, a European Tour spokesperson said: “For the past couple of years we have been proactively sought out by a number of private equity companies, all of whom recognise the strength and influence of the European Tour across golf’s global ecosystem.”

Except that the mission statement is to attract the top players in the world, and we don't find those guys on the Euro Tour....  Some, for a portion of the year, but not close to enough to deliver on their premise.

Morning in Dornoch - We'd have been there on Thursday if not for that pesky pandemic, so enjoy this beautiful video from Royal Dornoch:

Summer mornings on the links at Royal Dornoch 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #linksgolf #friendsofroyaldornoch #summer #Scotland pic.twitter.com/ncAEXoe7tC

— Matthew Harris GOLF (@MattHarrisPIXs) July 26, 2020

Just need to figure out how to center the embedded tweets....

Stay cool and I'll see you soon.

Late Week Laments

The big one being, you know, not being in Scotland in the present moment.  There was however, a mitigating moment yesterday, when I came downstairs only to find this on the kitchen counter:

Well, never mind....  Blogger has decided to not allow me to upload photos because...  well, it's Google, so they do as they damn well please.

Upon Further Review:  I closed out of and re-opened Blogger and, problem solved:

It was supposed to be a photo of a bannoffee pie that my bride made for me in order to lessen the sting of not being in Strathpeffer this week.  We were supposed to play an event at Royal Dornoch yesterday, and I would embed a photo of Elsie's own version of that culinary classic from our 2015 visit. 

For those unfamiliar with the genre:

Banoffee Pie: a classic combination of bananas and toffee, layered in a crunchy graham cracker crust and crowned with whipped cream. You’ll fall in love!

True that!  Though to clarify, both with the pie as well as the pastry chef...

Today In Tour Life - Minneapolis seemed a good call in 2019, though less so in 2020.  From Nick Piastowski's three things feature:

Richy Werenski leads

Richy Werenski is ranked 248th in the world. No player was better on Thursday.

Werenski birdied half of his holes on his way to an 8-under 63, his best score ever in relation to par. He was one shot ahead of Michael Thompson, two shots ahead of seven golfers, including Tony Finau and Matthew Wolff, and three shots better than 10 golfers.

“Yeah, irons were really good,” Werenski said. “I definitely could have hit it better off the tee – I found some fairways – but wasn’t really solid with the driver. But the irons were really good, so I sort of made up for it and putted pretty darn well.”

 Hopefully the chase pack will have some show ponies.

Tony Finau, Matthew Wolff contending

Wolff, the defending champion, made eight birdies, and Finau, a week removed from holding a share of the lead through two rounds at the Memorial, made seven on their way to 6-under 65s. Joining them at two back were Max Homa, Ryan Moore, Xinjun Zhang, Nick Watney and Bo Hoag. 

At 5-under were Kyle Stanley, Brendon de Jonge, Talor Gooch, Patrick Rodgers, Bronson Burgoon, Robert Garrigus, Charl Schwartzel, Aaron Baddeley, Chris Kirk and Bo Van Pelt, who made a hole in one on the 195-yard, par-3 8th. Seven golfers were at 4-under, and 14 golfers were at 3-under.

 Nick Watney?  Didn't he die a few weeks back?  Oh, never mind.... 

One of course can only laugh at that reference to Finau's 36-hole lead, because that's burying the lede on steroids.  This guy is dancing around it as well:

After parting with longtime caddie, Tony Finau shoots 65 with coach on his bag

Last week, he was the 36-hole co-leader at the Memorial, but stumbled on the weekend, including a 78 on Sunday to finish T-8.

A stumble?  He walked off the 11th green on Saturday at -3 for the day (-12 for his first 47 holes of the week), and as I recall tied for the lead.  He then proceeded to play the remaining 25 holes in +10, which seems to this observer as more than a stumble...

Back to Nick who informs us that this guy is out, but not until an epic Tin Cup homage:

Dustin Johnson is out

Dustin Johnson, at No. 4, the highest-ranked player in the field, played his first six holes at 1-under. He played his last six holes at 1-under.

He played his middle six holes at 9-over and finished at 7-over 78 – tied for last in the 156-player field – before withdrawing from the tournament later in the afternoon with a back injury.

Johnson was 4-over on the par-5 18th.

He hit a drive down the right side of the fairway. From 198 yards out, he hit his approach into the water in front of the green. Penalty and drop. He hit another into the water. Penalty and drop. He hit another into the water. Penalty and drop.

He hit his eighth shot to within 3 feet of the cup. He tapped in for a 9.

“Hit a great drive on 18, and we only had like 199 to cover from where I was, 208 flag. It was a perfect 6-iron,” Johnson said. “Hit it right at it, and never once did I think it was going to go in the water. That never crossed my mind when it was in the air. Just went in the water, and I hit two more shots in the water, then I hit a good one, made a tap-in for a 9.”

Sometimes a ShotLink graphic says it all more succinctly:

Brian Wacker poses this query:

What’s wrong with Dustin Johnson?

Alas, I'd need a far bigger blog to go there...

Now, I for one am prepared to accept that there's an issue with the guy in light of this:

But in his next start, last week’s Memorial Tournament, Johnson shot stunning back-to-back eight-over 80s at Muirfield Village, where he beat just one player in the field.

Do we know whether he was anywhere near a Jet-ski?  And by Jet-ski I quite obviously refer to that which Jay McInerney dubbed Bolivian marching powder...

Because when a guy has a physical issue and plays like a 12-handicap, usually then mention it:

Johnson made no reference to his back in the post-round interview before pulling out of

the tournament 30 minutes later. 

What it means for him moving forward remains to be seen. Johnson has twice won at TPC Southwind, site of next week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, and the 2019-’20 season’s first and only major, the PGA Championship, is the following week. Though it’s unlikely he will miss any time. 

“He absolutely plans to play,” Johnson’s agent, David Winkle, told Golf Digest in a text message. “He was experiencing some tightness in his back, which requires rest and treatment, both of which he’ll get the next few days."

Well, yes, he has arranged a few days off for himself....

In contrast to DJ's play on that 18th hole, this guy accomplished that which DJ could only dream of.  Though this header might be a bit overwrought:

This is it, this is the greatest par save in the history of professional golf

I imagine the South Korean to be livid...Who in their right mind would want to hole out from 250 yards and have it be for par?

Other Notable WD's - You'd like to think that folks would treat playing opportunities with a little more respect, given how scarce they are in the present moment.  First up for our snark is this increasingly annoying guy:

Tony Romo made his Korn Ferry Tour debut at the Price Cutter Charity Championship this week. It was over as soon as it started.

Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current CBS Sports analyst, withdrew from the Price Cutter Championship after just four holes on Thursday, citing a wrist injury. 

Speaking to media after dropping out, Romo says he believes he has torn cartilage in his wrist.

“If I could hold the golf club, I’d still be out there playing,” Romo said. “I just can’t.”

Romo dropped out of the celebrity-driven American Century Championship two weeks ago with the same injury. Getting a field invite through sponsor exemption, Romo said he was still able to hit his driver “80 to 90 percent” early in the week with the ailment.

Tony, let's not waste time with pleasantries, to take a spot in this event makes you a dick.  To do so when you can't hold the golf club, well what comes after dick?

These guys have nowhere to play, and you're taking a slot from them...What is wrong with these people?  Whatever the arguments about generating buzz in normal times, can we not set aside the clown show in 2020?  We've seen the guy play, and he's very good... for a football broadcaster.  Guys are trying to salvage careers, and Tony's admiring his chiseled good looks in the mirror...

The good news?  With social justice patches on uniforms and kneeling for the national anthem, there's really no incentive to watch any more football....

This one generates more sympathy, but this piece is unintentionally hilarious:

The European Tour has provided support to Andrew Johnston after the Englishman withdrew following nine holes of the British Masters on Wednesday, citing unease over

the post-lockdown environment. 

The event at Close House, which marks the resumption of the European Tour, is being played in a strict and biosecure format where no one is allowed beyond the course or hotel. “I’m struggling to get my head around it all,” Johnston said. “One minute I’m coming out of lockdown, going out for dinner, and then the next I’m back in lockdown in a hotel room.” 

Although the Tour will not comment specifically on individual player cases because of confidentiality agreements, it is understood the chief medical officer, Dr Andrew Murray, has offered assistance to Johnston. 

The Tour said: “We offer all of our players a comprehensive programme to support their mental health and wellbeing. This includes a mental health support hotline, which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. We are also aware that everyone has their own unique circumstances at the moment, which is why the 2020 season is an optional one for our players.”

Sounds like they have Beef in a padded room at an undisclosed location...  Not really sure you've done him any favors with that.

I'm also unclear what it means to characterize a golf season as "optional"?  I mean, it's always optional, no?

Johnston explained he considered not entering the British Masters . “I’ve been on-off saying I’m going to play, I’m not going to play, for months,” the 31-year-old said. “I kept changing my mind. But being here and being confined to the hotel, confined to the course and not being able to bring my family is ultimately not what I want and not how I want to live my life. 

“We like to travel as a family and it’s just been very difficult to get my head around being stuck in those two places and then coming out and trying to compete. It just doesn’t feel right. I tried to come up here but I was leaving it later and later. I came up Tuesday morning to try to be away as small a time as possible, but it’s not good prep for a tournament and it shows I don’t really want to be here.

There is nothing wrong with not wanting to be there, and to this observer that doesn't require a mental health intervention.  That said, if you don't want to be there, it's preferable to make that determination before, you know, being there....  It's just another precious playing opportunity that's been squandered.

In contrast to Beef, this Limey can make a decision.  Though this unrelated item clues us in:

This ‘extreme diet’ has Eddie Pepperell losing major weight

Did someone say something about losing majors?

Eddie Pepperell 'not interested' in travelling for US PGA and US Open

Really?

“Under the current restrictions on travelling to America, I won’t go because you have to quarantine for two weeks going out there and that’s not something I am interested in

doing,” said Pepperell. “I am still on the entry list in case they change the rules, but I am not interested in spending two weeks in quarantine.

“Some players have clearly gone out there and not abided by the rules, but should I play this event there is no way that I can do that if there is anyone that cares to look at it, they would know I have broken the rules and I am not going to do that. The fact that it is in San Francisco and it is so far away I am not that interested in taking a 12-hour flight, that is way down on the list of priorities.”

I guess it really is optional.

On the one hand, we've all seen the wide range of reactions to the pandemic, and have all learned that we have to let others chart their own course through it.

But how does one explain a world class athlete that just can't be bothered doing that which is necessary to play in his sport's biggest events?  I'm as pissed as he that there's no UK major this year and we can all readily stipulate that it's a major inconvenience for the foreign players not based in the U.S., but it makes it hard to take him seriously as a player.   And I have to ask, would the Ryder Cup have been too inconvenient as well?

Strange times.

I'm Gonna Need a Bigger Blog - I know I already used that bit, but new material is such an inconvenience....  But I think you'll agree with the bigger point:

13 more of the dumbest things in golf

For those keeping a scorecard at home, this is the third such installment, so we're at thirty-nine in total.  Though it's hard to imagine this didn't make either of those prior lists:

Cozying up to the beverage cart girl

Yes, you’re absolutely right. That lovely 20-something young lady is absolutely in love with your 40-, 50-, 60-something pot-bellied self. Yeesh. It is perfectly fine to be polite and engage in conversation, but stop the overt flirting tactics and realize that $10 tip you dropped in order to impress her is as useful as setting money on fire. Stop being creepy, order a drink, chat for a moment and drop her a couple of bucks for the effort. Proper, as the Brits might say.

Cart Girls and the 3metoo era are an interesting fit...  You call it sexual assault whereas it feels more like entrapment to this observer...

It's not all that amusing a list, though I do hope one of the earlier lists included iron headcovers...

Your Long Read of the Day - You'll want to read this in its entirety, a joint interview from Down Under with architectural partners Mike Clayton and Geoff Ogilvy.  Here, they're asked how they came to know of each other:

So, Mike, when did you first come across the young Geoff Ogilvy? 

MC: It must have been 1995. Geoff led the Vic Open after three days. That was the first time I saw him, or knew about him. I remember writing in the paper that I’d never seen him play but he must be good if he is beating some the players who were there that week.  

Then he shot 78 in the last round, the same day I three-putted the last green to miss the play-off by one.

And when did you, Geoff, first become aware of this eccentric figure who was out there wandering in the mist, ranting and raving about courses? 

GO: I knew who he was because I had been at every tournament in Melbourne since around 1980. Mike played in them all and he was pretty high-profile at the time. I know I got his autograph at least once. But never at the end of a bad round.

MC: (Laughs) I was the worst. If I had a bad finish, I was throwing clubs and balls around. 

GO: Anyway, I started to see Mike when I was hanging around at the Victoria Golf Club, where Mike’s design company was doing some work. And it went from there.

When did it become clear you were on the same wavelength, at least in course design? 

GO: I don’t know if I actually was. When I was a kid it was all about playing golf. It wasn’t until I started going to other places that I realised Mike was right in what he was saying: The courses in Melbourne are really good, everywhere else is kind of sh*t. 

Having said that, most of the time I had no idea what he was talking about when he started ranting and raving about bad golf holes. But gradually I started to get it. He helped me look at holes and courses in a different way. And from a different perspective. Not many look at golf the way Mike does.

For example? 

GO: He would say something like, “That bunker shouldn’t be there. It should be over there instead”. And I’d be, “Well, what’s the difference?” Like most people do, I thought the bunker looked fine where it was. So he would explain to me how, if I challenged the bunker on the other side I would get a better angle into the green. He would point that out on basically every hole we ever played back then (laughs). 

That was the period when Mike was playing less and getting more and more into course design. So he was looking for that sort of thing when he was out there rather than just playing holes as they were. Anyway, he obviously knew what he was talking about. And I was happy to listen. It was interesting stuff. And I got more and more into it.

Why are you still here?  I thought we agreed that you'd go read the entire interview, and I'll see you back here on Monday.