Hartford Hell Week

I take a day off to play a little golf, and all hell breaks loose...Shall we see what it's all about.

Corona in Cromwell - As I heard it, every player in the field at the Travelers has tested positive and...  well, that might be a slight exaggeration.  As best I can make it out, here is what has actually happened.

On the heels of Nick Watney's positive test in Hilton Head, here's the timeline for the week::

Monday: Koepka, his coach Claude Harmon, and Elliott each tested negative for the coronavirus. Koepka and Elliott traveled to Ellington Ridge Country Club to cheer on Brooks’ brother Chase, who made it into the field through the Monday qualifier. 

Tuesday: Koepka and Elliott played a practice round with McDowell. After the practice round, McDowell found out Comboy (still in Orlando) had tested positive for coronavirus. McDowell announced he was withdrawing from the event. Cameron Champ also announced he had tested positive and was withdrawing from the Travelers as well. 

Wednesday: Koepka, Elliott, Harmon and McDowell went back for additional tests after hearing of Comboy’s positive result. Elliott’s returned positive, while the other three tested negative. McDowell returned to Orlando via private plane while Koepka and his team ponder next steps.

That cut off a bit prematurely, as Brooks and brother Chase have withdrawn.  Also, one further withdrawal:

Webb Simpson – WD’d out of an abundance of caution after a member of his family

tested positive. Simpson tested negative when he arrived on site. 

“While my tests this week were negative, I feel like it is my responsibility to take care of my family and protect my peers in the field by withdrawing,” Simpson said. 

So far, there have been seven positives in 2757 tests conducted by the Tour.

 I'm unclear as to whether that seven positives includes the Korn Ferry Tour.  

A total of five players have withdrawn, including a show pony or two, so that's gonna get folks' attention.  And while positive tests always felt inevitable, this volume certainly exceeds my expectations.

That said, has everyone lost their bloody minds?  Employee No.2 refers to the spaciness we've all experienced during the lockdown as Corona-Brain, and it seems to affect the press corp as well, including our Shack.  Let me give you a couple of examples, this first one from Luke Kerr-Dineen:

But the chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and unfortunately, the PGA Tour has a big one: The laissez-faire attitude of its players and caddies. 

Only after Brooks Koepka’s WD did I witness a handful of players wearing masks, and even then, it was only a handful. On Wednesday afternoon, coaches roamed the range with impunity. There were countless fist bumps and handshakes, and equipment changing hands. At one point, I witnessed a group of eight players and caddies huddled on a small tee box, waiting to tee off, one of the players killing time by going through another’s bag, grabbing his clubs and making practice swings before putting them back.

It’s easy to laser-in on individual anecdotes and cast wide generalizations, but the truth is, at least from my two days on site, that through some combination of not caring enough and feeling comfortable enough, the players simply aren’t, in the words of the PGA Tour’s most recent statement on the matter, “doing their part.”

Wow, equipment changing hands...  We can't have that.  

Alan Shipnuck isn't fooling around...teeth will be rended and garments gnashed, at least according to this header:

Why the PGA Tour should hit the brakes on its season again

Le Sigh!  

The whirlwind of bad news has overshadowed a stellar field in Hartford and raises 

Who was that masked man?

serious doubts about the Tour’s ambitious plan to reintroduce fans at the Memorial, a mere three weeks from now. It has also thrown into sharp relief the hubris of the Tour trying to barnstorm the county amid a raging pandemic. All the major team sports remain sidelined as the leagues work out the precise details of creating hermetically sealed environments in which to compete, with players marooned in one place for the duration. The PGA Tour is a movable feast, traveling to a different city each week and along the way introducing an incalculable number of complications.

The Tour has trumpeted its own bubble but, really, it’s more like a breezeway, through which hundreds and hundreds of people pass every week. There are the players and caddies, of course, but also the many folks with whom they interact: swing coaches, trainers, agents, Tour officials, chefs, equipment reps, wives, girlfriends, nannies and sundry others. The collective level of vigilance to preventative measures is varying, to say the least, and all of these people are traveling across a country in which the number of coronavirus cases is still spiking three months after the first mitigation efforts began.

I guess Alan had a better lockdown than your humble blogger, because he clearly wants to go back for more of the same....

Bartender, chill pills for the entire room, please.  Let me see if I can sum up the current state of play:

1. A higher than expected number of players/caddies have arrived at the Tour's venue with the virus, and:
2. The world collectively melts down because players are not wearing masks on the driving range and putting green, risking transmission withing the bubble.

Except that there is no evidence that anything hinted in No. 2 above has happened.  Because of two relevant facts:

1. You're not going to catch this thing outdoors, and:
2. You're not going to catch this from surfaces.

Now, does everyone feel better?  

I'm not saying there aren't problems, but those problems aren't on the range at TPC River Highlands.  Those problems are out in the greater U.S. of A.....

As you know, the Tour has attempted to tighten the bubble this week, including the hangers on in the testing protocol:

The system in place isn’t perfect, and any rational person knew it wouldn’t be — there are just too many variables. This is the first week coaches and media were tested, all of whom have been permitted to roam the grounds even as they await their official test results. That was always the most concerning loophole in the PGA Tour’s policy: that players and caddies could be carrying the virus and potentially spreading it on-site, unknowingly, until proven that they have the virus.

It certainly makes sense to guard against on-site spread, but that's a remote possibility as long as the players remain outside.  As I understand things, they were only indoors for pressers, and that's now been discontinued:

Also, kudos to the PGA Tour media team for axing all press conferences to focus on the matter at hand: more positive tests, more signs pro golfers are not immune to the virus, and more signs the that tour officials hear the bubble bursting.

There's also been quite a bit of discussion about that movable feast, contrasted with the NBAs concept of an isolation chamber, this from that LKD piece being typical:

Over the past months, millions of Americans have seen their day-to-day routines upended. In large parts of the country the simplest of golfing pleasures, like retrieving

one’s ball from the hole, or walking into a clubhouse, have been interrupted (and, yes, big picture, we’re very aware these altered customs are trivial). Golfers yearn for some sense of normalcy, and the return of the PGA Tour was supposed to provide it. In retrospect, perhaps the Tour should’ve followed the NBA’s model and pitched up at a sprawling property like Pinehurst, taken over the resort and played different courses over a series of weeks.

I think that was both unrealistic and unnecessary though, like all opinions these days, we'll see how reality treats it.  My take is that golf is intrinsically safer by virtue of it being outdoors and having no need for physical contact, whereas basketball is little more than an enlarged petri dish.

As seems always to be the case, folks are screaming for things (the wearing of masks) that don't remotely address the problem, which is folks arriving at the venue with the virus.  But it might be helpful to think of this problem in its component parts.  I see basically two:

1. Players' (and caddies, etc.) arrival at the venue and:
2. Players' etc. activities during the tournament week.

The former involves travel and family life in all its manifestations, excluding those presumably that arrive on the Tour's shuttle from the prior venue.  I can't find it right now, but one of the positive tests was a guy that flew a crowded commercial flight to Hartford, so we can guess the source of his infection.  But all are tested upon arrival, and those who have been in contact with those testing positive have done the right thing and withdrawn.  It seems the Tour is handling this part reasonably well, as I've not heard any suggestions for additional actions here.

That second category might be one requiring further scrutiny, as last week we heard Justin Thomas express concerns about packed restaurants, though it was unclear to what extent players were involved.  Geoff is all over the gym issue:

Then we learned the bubble was expanding to instructors, upgrading one set of tests and physio trailers would all be on site because, apparently, players were stupid enough to be hitting gyms in a time of a coronavirus easily spread in…gyms.

That's probably wise, though I'm not sure that transmission in gyms is quite the established fact that Geoff seems to assume.  Of course, I'm old enough to remember when we were told that face masks provided no benefit...

Perhaps this would be a good time to remind all that the number of deaths from the Wuhan flu contracted while playing golf remains zero.  In the context of the Tour, we have a group of young and healthy folks, a population one assumes has adequate levels of Vitamin D, so the cost of an infection is almost nil.  I'd also remind folks that this was the plan...  Flatten the Curve was designed not to reduce the number of infections, but rather to delay them....  Yet, an increase in positive tests has folks in freak out mode.

To me, and I've been pretty skeptical of the lockdown from the start, the risk of playing professional golf is quite manageable.  The issue I see down the road is The Memorial, specifically it's plan to allow 8,000 spectators per day on site.  Given the demographics of the golf audience, an abundance of caution seems to me to dictate a second look at those plans.  

Shall we move on to more pleasant topics?  Fair enough, though they might not all be that pleasant...

Scenes From a Meltdown - Mike Bamberger revisits a surreal moment in golf, that being Phil's play of the 18th hole at Winged Foot in 2006.  Remind me, how did that all turn out?

I'll skip most of Mike's set-up, and begin with this bit on the tee shot:

Loomis stood on the tee where Phil stood in 2006 and watched the clip. It’s a golfing nightmare. It’s like watching a freight train slowly derail. Johnny Miller is in the NBC

booth, alongside Dan Hicks, who is also a Winged Foot member. (Jim Nantz is a Winged Foot member, too.) In the clip, Phil, is wearing brown pants and a yellow shirt, an Arnold combo, at least now and again. Phil teed it up from the far left side of tee box. “This better be a 4-wood,” Miller says. Miller, the 1983 U.S. Open winner, was made for this moment. It’s not a 4-wood. 

Loomis has his own take on the club selection: It’s rational. The one place you can’t go off the tee on 18 is left. You can make par from the right rough. You can make par from a fairway bunker 290 yards out on the right side of the hole. But left is a disaster. For a left-handed golfer who liked to hit hard, fade drivers, Loomis explained, you aim at the right bunker and hit it with some oomph. It’s not asking too much.

I too never got excessively exorcised about the driver off the tee.  I always felt it could be argued either way, though what came next was pretty clear cut.  But see the bad break Phil got:

Now Loomis was striding down the fairway, Esley beside him, recording. Loomis had made that walk a thousand or more times. He figured out where Phil’s ball came to rest and the bad luck he had in drawing a clean lie. Had Phil’s ball settled in the lush rough in which Loomis is standing, he would have had no choice but to pitch out his second shot and hit a wedge from there. He likely would have had a putt to win on the green, and a second putt to tie. But the lie was clean and Phil is Phil and the shot he was attempting was borderline insane.

Borderline?  C'mon, this is full frontal insanity on display.  But only for Phil could a clean lie be a bad break.

The thought process has always astonished me.  Phil is supposed to be the premier wedge player of his era, but apparently he didn't like his chances of getting up and down from 100 yards.  Nor, apparently, did he like his chances in a Monday playoff with Geoff Ogilvy.  We all love his aggressive style of play, but at a certain point that becomes a parody of itself, as if he wasn't really trying to win.

The Year From Hell -  Gary Van Sickle covers the important subject of playing opportunities.  We all know what's happening out there, I just haven't seen it in plain English before this:

The 2020 PGA Tour is virtually a closed shop. It seems likely that this will be remembered as Golf’s Dead-end Year … unless Tiger Woods performs extraordinary heroics. 

There is no realistic path to the PGA Tour this year for non-tour members, barring the double miracle of beating 144 other pros for one of two Monday qualifying spots and then winning the actual event. Good luck with that. Powerball jackpot odds are only slightly worse. 

Most of the blame for the PGA Tour’s new closed-shop status falls on the coronavirus pandemic that short-sheeted the PGA Tour season. There were no good options to fix this unexpected shutdown. 

The fairest way might have been to share the pain. Instead, PGA Tour players will “shelter in place” in a different way. Those with exempt status or partial exempt status will keep it for an additional year and enjoy the equivalent of one and two-thirds seasons with status. All others will go two full years without it.

 I'm not a fan of the closed shop in a normal year, but anyone on their way up will be stymied.

That reference to Monday qualifying is spot-on, as they reduced the number of slots from four to two.  But, as Gary explains, this doesn't end with the FedEx Cup:

That’ll be 36 events this season, down from the original 49, if all goes as planned, but the 2019-20 season won’t end there. It will roll over into 2020-21 and keep going. No PGA Tour players will be sent down to the minors, so to speak. No Korn Ferry Tour players will advance to the big tour. There will be no Q-School to get onto the KFT. And there will be no Mackenzie Tour, period. Sorry, Canadian fans. Its season was wiped out. 

Well, if you expected members of the Player Advisory Council to vote themselves out of million-dollar-a-year jobs because a few events got canceled, you’re probably still waiting for Congress to defund itself for being incompetent time-wasters. 

Collegians are the ones getting the worst deal in this Dead-end Year. That’s no surprise. They get the worst deal every year.

One of those guys fighting to make his way onto the Tour is Mike Van Sickle....  

Also one of those is Fairview's own David Pastore.  No doubt you've read about Chase Koepka qualifying, with his big bro on hand to watch (they've both withdrawn).  The other survivor of that 5-2 playoff was David, a huge accomplishment.  David qualified twice on Mondays last season, at the Honda and at Torrey Pines, though failed to make either cut.

As GVS makes clear, there is no way forward for a young professional golfer in the current moment.  The guild protects its own....

The Case Against.... - John Huggan is one of the old curmudgeons of the game, so unsurprising to see this from him:

The downside of the Bryson DeChambeau experiment

John makes a fairly conventional case, but he makes it well.  He even uses this optimistic take as his framing device:

Last month, Rory McIlroy was a guest on the McKellar Golf Journal podcast. During what turned out to be a fascinating 90-minute conversation with the world’s top-ranked golfer, one of the hosts—OK, it was me—was banging on about/bemoaning the rise of science and the relative demise of artistry in the game at the highest level.

“You are right about that,” McIlroy said. “But the artist will always win.”

But is that right?  Here's John's rebuttal:

The danger is obvious. More and more, distance off the tee is going to be an absolute

prerequisite for anyone with ambitions to win tournaments at the highest level. On fewer occasions over the course of a season will those not physically blessed with turbo-charged clubhead speed be able to harbor even small hopes of the ultimate success. More and more, the golf played on the professional tours will be a one-dimensional blast. Creativity. Imagination. Strategy. All three will be less important.

This is not a good thing. Think about it. How can a game that all-but eliminates those who play with the artistic style of a Seve Ballesteros or a Lee Trevino be said to be improving?

This contention, I concede, might have something to do with my imminent 60th birthday—but golf at the highest level just isn’t as interesting to watch as it used to be. I also plead guilty to a level of snobbery here. To me, the game is at its best when it features a high level of the aforementioned creativity, imagination and strategy. In contrast, a glorified long-driving contest holds little appeal, even if it does attract the casual fan. “Mashed potatoes” is not my favorite dish.

John, you're still a child....This is one of those anecdotes:

On what is normally Kingston Heath’s par-3 fifth, Su hit a hybrid club through the wind that was quartering against and from right to left and onto the green. Mike hit a 4-iron. So did I. And Nicolas used an 8-iron. What was more depressing than the disparity between those clubs was the type of shot the gifted Belgian hit. Knowing the ball he was using was not going to spin much and thus not “balloon” into the air, he simply smashed it toward the target.

Seeing that, we challenged Nicolas to play a “proper” shot with a 6-iron. Which he did. There is no question he has the skill and technique to flight the ball in any conditions. That is obvious. Yet the little punchy hold-up shot in the right-to-left wind isn’t one he’d much think about hitting in a tournament. For him, the “proper” way to hit the shot was using force, not finesse.

I've long thought that we've erred in focusing exclusively on distance, whereas the reduced spin of the modern ball might be equally important.  It's a good piece, though John seemingly fails to connect the dots between the lower-spinning ball and reduced shotmaking...  It's hard to curve the modern ball, so the kids don't spend all that much time learning those skills.

I'll just add this bit from Hartford that give Huggan's arguments a ripped-from-the-headlines feel:

And this follow-up:

So, maybe next season?

Bubba Being Bubba - I've always had a soft spot for the Bubba.  I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, but I've always thought him an over-achiever.  But when asked about the importance of early week pairings, he had this response:

“Yes, it matters tremendously. There's guys that are a shot, maybe a two-shot penalty when you see their name on that sheet,” Watson said. “Maybe that's what they say about

me, too, so I guess it works both ways. I like to have fun and be energetic. You know, when you see a certain name, you know you can joke around, you know you can have fun and kind of get away from the stress and not talking and just walking down the fairway.

“You know, yeah, I look forward to seeing who the pairings are and sometimes I start praying early trying to get a good one.”

Ummm, Bubba, I've got a follow-up question.  I wonder how much overlap there is with Sergio's list of those deserving the virus.... 

But mostly we just want names....

Enjoy your day and we'll no doubt meet again tomorrow morning.

Tuesday Trifles

I shan't keep you here too long, but there are a few things that we do need to discuss.  Especially since our regular Wednesday game will precluded any midweek musings.

Sanity Prevails - I'm reminded of this quote, typically (though likely apocryphally) attributed to Churchill:

Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing…after they have exhausted all other possibilities.

We're quite obviously and justifiably not nearly that sanguine about our major golf organizations, about whom we're more likely to advise that you "Follow the money".

Your humble correspondent has been consistently skeptical about a certain team event scheduled for late September.  While there's been a healthy back-and-forth over the concept of a spectator-free Ryder Cup, my arguments have focused instead on basic fairness.  In the year of our discontent, with dramatically curtailed playing opportunities, I simply couldn't and can't see how we devote a prime week to a 24-player exhibition.  I mean, if we're really all in this together....

So, having exhausted all other possibilities, the PGA of America has embraced sanity:

Confirmation that the Ryder Cup, due to be held in September at Whistling Straits, will be postponed until 2021 is expected next week. 

The PGA of America has announced the first major of the year, the US PGA Championship, will be held in early August without spectators. Talks between the PGA of America and the European Tour, who preside jointly over the Ryder Cup, and local government officials in Wisconsin are now close to completion despite a public line of “no change” to existing arrangements. Work on the spectator build at Whistling Straits, ordinarily well under way by now, is not believed to have meaningfully started. 

With health and safety concerns to the fore – playing the biennial competition without spectators has never been a serious option – postponement is now seen as the most responsible solution. As recently as last month hopes had been raised that the Ryder Cup could take place. The relevant parties have considered the US and Europe facing off in front of reduced numbers, with around 25,000 per day mooted, but that is not now thought viable amid coronavirus concerns. Ongoing travel restrictions – such as quarantine – are also a factor.

Excuse me?  Playing without spectators was never a serious consideration?  I seem to remember Paul McGinley lecturing us that we had to take one for the team.... 

I still think the PGA of America screwed the pooch during the restart negotiations.  They likely could have moved the PGA Championship to a September date, by which time fans might have been allowed.  Further news on the schedule looking forward:

The Ryder Cup will remain in “odd” years following the switch, as was the case before 9/11 led to a 12-month delay to its 2001 version. That Europe will wait until 2023 for a home Ryder Cup, which will be held in Italy, will reduce recurring speculation about the state of the European Tour’s finances. A knock-on benefit will arise for Adare Manor, which will now be the Ryder Cup host in 2027 – 100 years on from the first official staging of the event. A delayed Irish Open could fill this year’s Ryder Cup slot.

Lots of moving parts here, but notable is that Ryder Cups will no longer be contested in Olympic years (excepting, of course, 2021), which is likely helpful.

Last time we visited this issue, the PGA Tour was locked down, refusing to consider moving the 2021 Prez Cup at Quail Hollow.  Like me, you'll logically have assumed that this has all been settled, but you'd be wrong:

With next year an exception, it is believed the Ryder Cup’s host broadcasters in the US are comfortable with a move away from Olympic years. There will be a 2021 clash between the Ryder Cup and male golf’s other international team event, the Presidents Cup. While the assumption is the Presidents Cup, which is a property of the PGA Tour, will move to 2022 that has not yet been set in stone.

WTF!  It has to move to 2022... You want a revolt?  Try to make Brooksie and the guys play a Ryder Cup, Prez Cup and the Olympics in the same year...  I'm assuming that the Tour will have no choice but to move its event into 2022, though I'm surprised that they don't have this locked down just yet.

Before we leave this subject, remember those curious comments from Rory about his Euro peers?  Yanno, this bit:

“If I were in their shoes and I was asked to come over to the States and quarantine for

two weeks before these tournaments, I would have done that,” he said. 

“If you really care about your career and care about moving forward, you should be here, I think. Last week was 70 World Ranking points for the winner, this week 74. 

“I get there are different variables and families involved, but we all have the means to rent a very nice house in a gated community in Florida. It’s not a hardship for two weeks to come over and quarantine.”

I know, why would you go there about your friends?  We have a rebuttal, most of which is behind the Telegraph's paywall, but the gist is clear from the header:

Lee Westwood: Rory McIlroy has probably had a rethink after comments on PGA Tour earning ranking points

Has he now?  And would this have been an immaculately conceived rethink, or did Westy have a role in Rory's deliberation?  Any chance you guys might share the text thread with us?

Reality Bites -  There will be no shortage of such stories in the coming months, though this was in the works before we had ever heard of the Wuhan wet market.  But it'll be ugly for sure:

The cheapest countries you can retire in

Dak Prescott signs $31.4M franchise tag

Golf Channel announces major layoffs coming to Orlando-based staff

The Golf Channel on Monday told most of its Orlando-based staff that it would be laid off starting August 29, then allowed those staffers to reapply for a smaller pool of jobs. 

The Golf Channel, owned by NBC, announced in February that it would move its offices from Orlando to Stamford, Connecticut, starting later this year as part of a corporate consolidation.

In a company-wide Microsoft Teams call at 1 p.m. ET, a Golf Channel executive and a human resources representative informed employees of the latest plan regarding its move. 

All employees will be allowed to reapply for their jobs – if they’re still available. Those whose jobs are eliminated in Phase I will find out as early as Tuesday that their current jobs will end August 29. Those in Phase II will be let go sometime between Oct. 31 and Dec. 31. 

“As we announced in February, Golf Channel will be moving its media operations primarily to NBC Sports’ headquarters in Stamford, Conn., by year-end, while GOLFNOW and GOLFPASS will continue to operate from Orlando,” a Golf Channel spokesman said in a statement to Golfweek on Monday. “This week, we’re moving forward with our next phase with date notifications for impacted employees. As our business continues to evolve, NBC Sports is committed to delivering world-class golf coverage for our loyal audiences, and serving golfers’ needs through our portfolio of industry-leading technology and services.”

Stamford is just a strange place to locate an organization dedicated to the game of golf, and one assume that will limit their in studio appearances.  But mostly I think of The King, and that they wouldn't have done this if he were still with us.

A Good Day For Muni Golf -  Andy Johnson at The Fried Egg has great news about efforts to save some architectural landmarks in our game, including the involvement of all the usual suspects:

American municipal golf got a boost today as the National Park Service announced that it will begin negotiations with National Links Trust to operate three municipal golf 

East Potomac

courses in Washington, D.C., under a long-term lease. National Links Trust (NLT), a non-profit headed by Michael McCartin and Will Smith, plans to make a multi-year, multi-million-dollar investment in the East Potomac, Rock Creek Park, and Langston golf properties.

As The Fried Egg previously reported, NLT has partnered with management company Troon Golf, developer Mike Keiser, and a trio of leading design firms. Tom Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design hopes to restore Walter Travis’s reversible layout at East Potomac; Hanse Golf Course Design has agreed to improve Rock Creek Park, a William Flynn design; and Beau Welling, a senior design consultant for Tiger Woods’s TGR Design, looks to renovate Langston.

“Our plan calls for celebrating the history of the three golf courses, particularly their role in the integration of public golf and recreational facilities in both the greater Washington, D.C., area and the nation,” McCartin said in a press release today. “We are honored to take on the responsibility of revitalizing these remarkable properties and look forward to expanding recreational opportunities for underserved communities, including seniors, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those new to golf.”

A reversible Walter Travis design?  Be still my foolish heart...While Langston can't brag of a design credit comparable to Travis or Flynn, it has a history very much worthy of preserving:

The final piece of the puzzle was Langston Golf Course. When Langston opened in 1939, it was one of only 20 courses in the country open to Black golfers. The course was designed with the help of William Gordon, and it soon became a hub of the African-American game. Many well-known Black golfers—including Ted Rhodes, Ethel Funches, Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder, and Calvin Peete—played there regularly.

While I have some misgivings about municipal golf, local governments being so competent at their core functions I'm reluctant to see them distracted by things like golf.  Those qualms aside, these are obviously course that were both critical to the growth of our game and of architectural interest, so I'm thrilled to see them restored and their continued availability ensured.

I'll also draw the stark contrast between these projects and the Obama library project on the South Side of Chicago, which will actually eliminate nine holes for the residents.  The unforced error there is the siren song of building a "Championship" course and luring the PGA Tour, which does exactly nothing for the local residents.  

More like DC please... Words you probably never thought you'd hear from me.

There's Got To Be A Morning After - Lots of sturm und drang from the Nick Watney positive test, but I'm having trouble seeing an actual problem.  First, the SuD:

Trip to Hilton Head leaves players shaken, pondering changes due to COVID-19

“It definitely got me thinking about kind of everything that I’ve done this week,” Webb Simpson said. “I’ve tried to be really careful, but I could probably be more careful. I

hadn’t really gone out to dinner. I’ve gotten takeout every night. But in terms of even wearing the mask, any time I’m out of my comfort zone away from the golf course, I think it’s smart. 

“And really, the six-foot rule I’ve been good about, but I probably could be better. So it definitely got me thinking.” 

Added Ryan Palmer: “Everything you do, you’ve got to pay attention.”

If you say so, but I'm unclear on why that might be.  here's another similar take:

After a positive test, where does the PGA Tour go from here?

 Ummmm...Hartford?

So this is the concern I guess:

Again, Watney has not publicly spoken on his positive test, but according to McIlroy, it 

GMTA: Watney uses the same putter as your humble blogger.

was a fitness tracker that notified Watney his respiratory rates were up, a possible sign of a COVID-19 infection. A source close to Watney confirmed to Golf Digest that the tracker’s data is what prompted a new test.

This is problematic, as Watney had tested negative earlier in the week and under the tour’s guidelines wouldn’t have been tested again until he provided a sample for the chartered flight (which he didn’t use when traveling from Colonial to Harbour Town). One can drive themselves mad with theoreticals, but without the fitness tracker, Watney could have gone along unfettered until taking his arrival test upon getting to the Travelers earlier this coming week.

Unfettered?  Well, we certainly can't have that in the People's Republic. And yes, there is an issue with the gestation period:

Upon the announcement of Watney’s result, the tour announced, “For the health and well-being of all associated with the tournament and those within the community, the tour has begun implementing its response plan in consultation with medical experts including working with those who may have had close contact with Nick.” The tour later confirmed that 11 tests were conducted on Friday to those who were around Watney, “with all 11 tests being negative,” a tour spokesperson told Golf Digest on Saturday.

However, preliminary research shows that if someone is tested too early, one day after potential exposure, their viral load may be below the threshold of detection, rendering a negative result.

“You wouldn’t detect someone being positive from exposure that quickly,” Dr. Adalja said. “We often wait several days. We monitor them, even those who are asymptomatic. Testing the day of, even a day after, contact would not show a positive test.”

Fair enough, but can we pause the perpetual freak-out to remember one salient fact:

“It is very, very unlikely [Watney catching COVID-19] happened at the golf course,” said Dr. Adalja. “We continue to find out more about this virus every day, but we know outdoor transmission is much less likely than other activities.”

The low probability factors in the occasional breach of social distancing, like players and caddies touching clubs and groups congregating at the practice green. This is not to imply the virus can’t be passed while at the golf course, Dr. Adalja said. Just that the meaningful detective work should begin with where else Watney’s been, and who he was with.

Folks seem way too committed to the perpetual freak out, and I just keep wondering to whose benefit that inures.

Sergio Being Sergio - I forgot to include Sergio's priceless reaction to the news of Watney's positive test in yesterday's wrap of the Heritage.  Sergio continues to battle his inner demons, though far more publicly than is advisable:

“I felt terrible for Nick because he's probably one of the nicest guys on Tour,” Garcia said after shooting 65 on Saturday. “Unfortunately, it had to happen to him. So there's a lot of other people that probably deserved it a lot more than him, and he's the one that got it.”

Le Sigh!  Now Alan Shipnuck had this in response:

 If only.

But I think Sergio is onto something here, and I'd like to offer up a selection protocol.  I would prioritize the following souls as deserving of the virus:

1. Highest Priority:  Any player that has expectorated into a golf hole that fellow players will be reaching into to retrieve their balls.
2. Secondary Priority:  Any player that intentionally damaged greens during a golf tournament.  

So, yeah, I'm pretty interested in who that guy thinks "deserves" the virus...

The Hole Story - Golf.com has been running some interesting architectural features lately, a modest help given the many hours we have to fill.  The latest of these is for folks to identify their favorite golf hole, and today we have a gem.  The 13th hole at iconic North Berwick is called The Pit, and it's a bit of a shock if one doesn't know it's coming.  I'll let Brian Curley explain, first with a qualification:

I would imagine that one’s favorite anything would be a combination of comfort, inspiration, admiration and joy, be it a book, movie, song or golf hole.

That said, I’m going to add another requirement and insist that it be a “true” golf hole (not one of those pretty boy, garden-variety parkland holes) and, therefore, a links hole where the ball tumbles along the terrain, falling victim to or benefiting from the effects of gravity.

Brian, you are very much preaching to the choir, so do go on:

There are many to choose from but one of the best is the 13th at North Berwick,“The Pit.” 

This short, quirky par-4 plays along the shoreline and features an ancient stone wall that runs on a straight line for most of the hole, dividing the fairway from the green.

Avoiding a couple of pot bunkers and playing close to the wall leaves the best angle of approach but also can impede the shot. Play away from the wall and you are left with a precarious drop shot over the wall to a tiny green set into a punchbowl backed by gorse. 

The green surface is within a footstep of touching the stone wall. It’s one of those holes you think about and look forward to while standing on the first tee.

From personal experience I can tell you that it's very hard to commit to the line indicated by one's caddie...

Tom Doak also likes the hole, as per this bad scan from his update Confidential Guide to Golf Courses:

North Berwick is famous for its original Redan green, though this to me is the far more interesting golf hole, not least because that Redan is actually a mostly blind shot.

As long as we're in Scotland, may I regale you with some bits from Crail.  Jim McArthur is the club's current captain, and you might recall from these pages that I spoke to him back in March when he phoned to wish me a happy birthday back in March.  That was a nice surprise, but Jim has been sending a weekly letter to the members that I've enjoyed greatly.

Crail is a place with no shortage of history, you'll remember it's claim to be the seventh oldest golf club in the world.  Jim's latest missive raises the question of how golf cups came to be 4 1/4 inches in diameter, and it turns out that Crail Golfing Society has early records that relate to this:

In the early days of golf, fore caddies would set off over the links in the general direction of where the first green might be traditionally located. He carried a flag largely to show the following golfers the general direction of play. 

The caddies would then scoop sand out of the hole to tee up the ball within the required club length from the hole. Clearly the shape and depth of the hole would start to vary greatly. 

As the game began to develop away from match play to stroke play so the need for a standard hole size began to emerge. 

The minutes of Royal Aberdeen refer to the use of 6” holes. What caused to be the size of choice? The exact reasons for why that first tool cut holes at the now-standard diameter are lost to history. But it was almost certainly a completely arbitrary thing. 

The earliest references to hole liners are 1825 at Montrose and in 1829 Royal Mussleburgh, who paid an account to a local Blacksmith, Robert Gay for “forming the hole, the sum of £1”. 

Royal Mussleburgh display the oldest hole cutter which in existence in their clubhouse and it is interesting to note that it cuts a hole 4 ¼ inches in diameter which was confirmed as the official diameter in 1894 and is the size of the hole today. Just how the original blacksmith hit on this measurement is open to conjecture.

I had always heard that that cup diameter originated in Musselburgh, the result of that 19th century blacksmith referenced above, who just happened to have a pipe of that size.  But the Crail connection comes from the Society's records:

In 1874, 7th August, Crail Golfing Society minutes state” that iron cases be got for the holes on the links to prevent the holes from being destroyed.” 

1875, 14th May, Crail Golfing Society minutes state “there was shown to the meeting one of the eight iron rings which had just been got for the golf holes”. It was agreed that they should be left in the holes during that part of the year when there is most play on the links.

Crail is best known for their Balcomie Links, an 1895 Old Tom Morris design (the first nine holes, with the second nine added a few years later).  So these references are to the prior site, but that reference to eight iron rings is a mystery....  Like so much of golf's history, the result of happenstance.

Stay cool in this heat (for my East Coast readers), and I'll no doubt see you Thursday morning.

Weekend Wrap

Lots to discuss, even including a little golf...

Webb In Full - How can you not like the guy?  I forget who said it, but he's been described as the Tour leader in Strokes Gained: Attitude, exactly that which is needed to come back after they banned the method of putting on which your career hinged.

I don't know what he did during that 2 1/2 hour delay, but it certainly worked:

After 11 holes, Simpson was two strokes out of the lead. Over the next seven, he grabbed it.

On 12, his approach dropped to 10 feet. He made the birdie. On 13, his approach dropped to 22 feet. He made the birdie. On 15, a par-5, he was home in two, and he made the birdie. He never lost the lead from there.

He secured it on 16 and 17. On 16, his approach dropped to 14 feet. He made the birdie. That gave him the outright lead. On 17, his tee shot dropped to 17 feet. He made the birdie. That gave him a cushion.

“I think it’s a good thing that guys were making birdies because they kind of forced me to be a little more aggressive and know that pars weren’t going to cut it,” Simpson said. “I was only 2-under through 11 holes today for the round and had to make birdies.”

Guys were certainly making birdies except, yanno, when they were making eagles....

Christopher Powers at Golf Digest has five takeaways on offer, including this new acronym:

Webb Simpson is the BPITWRN

Following his strong first two rounds, I posed this question on Friday evening: Is Webb Simpson the BPITWRN (Best Player In The World Right Now)? Over the last year, one

could argue only Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm have had more impressive records than the former U.S. Open winner. After his performance this week, Simpson’s last 12 months are now absolutely on par with the World No. 1 and No. 2.

What was so incredible about Simpson’s victory on Sunday was that his putter went completely cold early in the day, usually a sign of a fade into T-15 territory for even the best in the world. But a switch flipped at the 12th, where Simpson made his first of five birdies on his final seven holes, four from 10-plus feet. He finished the week second in strokes gained/putting, much of that due to gaining an insane 6.008 strokes on the greens on Friday. But the final stretch Sunday was far more important, because it came in the clutch. Simpson is now a seven-time tour winner, and if he stays on this trajectory, I smell major No. 2 in his near future.

God, no, though doesn't the BPITWRN have to be Daniel Berger?  If you literally mean right NOW.

What Powers elides is that we've seen the last two weeks is play on courses that favor the bunters over the home run hitters.  But it's easy to underrate guys like the Webber, who don't possess the firepower of the Rory's and Brooksies, but that also makes it fun to root for them....

More from Powers:

Abraham Ancer is the new close calls king

Since the 2018 Quicken Loans National, Ancer has finished inside the top five eight

times. On a number of those occasions, he’s either finished runner-up, been within a shot or two to begin the final round, or posted a number and got clipped by a stroke. On Sunday at Harbour Town, Ancer played in the final group and was doing a damn good job of controlling his own destiny, and then Webb went OFF. All these close calls are a sign he’s doing something right, but he seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The dude needs to get a break or two for once and he’ll absolutely get a win. Also, putting better would help (Ancer lost strokes on the greens this week).

So he's the BPNTHWA?  Best player never to have won anything...

I was actually surprised at how far he was hitting the ball....  Good player whose time will come, I still keep wondering why Tiger was such a dick to him at the Prez Cup.

One last bit from here:

Brooks Koepka is definitely back

There are at least two or three “is he back?” stories in golf seemingly every week. After Daniel Berger answered that question with his victory at Colonial, the “is he back” focus

remained on Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka. Spieth appeared to be back after shooting a back-nine 29 on Thursday, but then he went back to hitting it all over creation. Koepka’s play on the weekend leads me to believe that he is absolutely fully back. He’s now shot eight consecutive rounds in the 60s, something he last did between the third round of the 2018 WGC-Bridgestone and the second round of the 2018 Northern Trust. In between those two events came his PGA Championship win at Bellerive. So if he’s returning to that level, he’s definitely back.

As with his play last week at Colonial, he certainly looks to be healthy again.  He appears to have benefited from the lockdown  and the knee no longer seems to bother him.  I would expect that he'll be a force as we head towards those majors, though there was that one putt he gagged on just as it seemed he might have an outside chance.  The kind of gaggy stroke these guys can make when they haven't had one that mattered for a while...

As I said Sunday morning to my playing partners, either you shot 63 or you got lapped... This week's Tour Confidential addressed the low scoring:

3. Low scoring was abundant at the RBC, with 40 players finishing at 12-under or better – the number that won last year’s tournament. In just the Tour’s second event back after a three-month hiatus, are you surprised that players have been able to play so well so quickly? 

Berhow: Not really. These guys are that good. Twenty under was T14 on the Korn Ferry Tour this week! 

Zak: Nope! They knew this was coming, and Mother Nature has treated them well. The course setups have been easy. Also, the fields have been deeper than these tournaments have ever seen. It all adds up to low scoring.

Sens: Not at all. This is what they do. Especially on vulnerable courses. No surprise that these guys can go low after a layoff. If you separated Sean Zak from his keyboard for six weeks, you’d expect him to come back firing on all cylinders and churning out his usual poetic prose.

Bamberger: Not at all. This is what they do. I could go on. 

Shipnuck: Hot weather equals soft greens, because a lot of water is required to keep the grass alive. Receptive greens allow Tour players to tear up any course.

Each of these first two venues were unnaturally vulnerable....  there's a reason they don't usually go to Fort Worth or the Low Country in the dog days of summer.

 This as well:

4. Another PGA Tour tournament, another display of power from Bryson DeChambeau. While hitting balls on the range at Harbour Town Golf Links, he was forced to move back, as his drives were going over the netting. Will he single-handedly reintroduce the “roll back the ball” debate?

Berhow: I don’t think so. He’s just one person, and this formula isn’t for everyone. There used to be a debate about golfers bulking up and if that was good for their game, but Bryson has taken it to another level. He has proven (again) there’s no one right way to do things. He’s essentially becoming a World Long Drive competitor with a more complete game. That’s insane. 

Zak: Bryson is going to be used in every distance debate from now until it creates change. He purposefully worked to test the limits of the technology and his body, and it’s leading to success on the cookie-cutter Tour. Who’s to say that Jordan Spieth couldn’t do the same? Or how about when Bryson neuters TPC Harding Park in a good weather week and shoots 20-under in a major? This is all about him, and it’s beautiful to watch.

Sens: Bryson’s Bruce Banner transition has made for a great story and some eye-popping moments. But he’s far from the only guy blasting the ball to oblivion. I don’t see a big rollback push coming in his wake. Depending on how his health holds up, he might rekindle the debate over the physical costs of the modern bomber game. But that’s to be seen. 

Shipnuck: Bryson has ended the debate as to whether or not Tour players should hit driver on every hole. They should. If more players adopt his go-for-broke style, courses will play even shorter than they already are, which is too short to begin with. We’ve known for a decade-plus that the distance gains on Tour have rendered pretty much every course on the planet obsolete and yet nothing has been done. I’m not sure Bryson alone can change that, but if he is in the vanguard or a further revolution, something’s gotta give.

But perhaps there's more to come, as the beast himself has this comment earlier in the week:

Bryson DeChambeau constrained by Harbour Town: 'I couldn't unleash Kraken'

First Cam Champ comes out and blows it twenty yards past the other guys.  Then Bryson beefs up and hits it twenty yards past Cam....  Then the USGA/R&A tell us there's been another 1.6 yards of  distance increase on average, so it's all a little bewildering.  I don't know where this goes, but I wouldn't put money on the backbone of our governing organizations....

Golf In The Time of Corona - You've heard the news about Nick Watney's positive test by now, and the freak-out is well under way in certain quarters.  Those quarters very much include Shack's blog, so let's have at it:

Before arriving to the course for his second round, he reported symptoms consistent with 

COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Watney was tested again, and the result came back positive. 

Si Woo Kim saw him in passing on the range, and Rory McIlroy said he chatted with Watney on the putting green. McIlroy said they were at a distance, and that Watney sent him a text about the positive result after McIlroy finished his round. 

''He was just saying, `Look, I hope I didn't get too close to you.' He feels badly that he was here today at the golf course,'' McIlroy said. ''I said to him, `If I was in your position, I probably would have been here, too. At this point, you just have to concentrate on getting better and getting healthy.'''

First freak out: Watney also saw Koepka in the parking lot so could have infected two of the top-ranked players in the world.  OK. world, take a few deep breaths.... Now, don't you feel better?

First, a young, healthy person (one who probably does not have a Vitamin D deficiency based upon his profession), has the virus.  He's not gonna die, folks, he's just going to be inconvenienced a bit.

More importantly, those interactions with Rory and Brooks?  They were outdoors, folks, and one thing we know pretty well is you're not gonna get infected outdoors.  I'm having trouble finding it right now, but every person he crossed paths with has been tested and proven negative for the virus, an entirely predictable result.

Even prior to the disclosure of Watney's test, there had been a little bit of a freak out over the relaxed vibe at Hilton Head:

Justin Thomas was probably the most blunt about the scene, as Joel Beall reports for GolfDigest.com. 

"Yeah, obviously, I was bummed [about Watney]. I don't want to—it's a shame because ... we have done such a great job these first two weeks,” Thomas said. “I mean, no offense to Hilton Head, but they're seeming to not take it very seriously. It's an absolute zoo around here. There's people everywhere. The beaches are absolutely packed. Every restaurant, from what I've seen when I've been driving by, is absolutely crowded. So I would say it's no coincidence that there's got to be a lot of stuff going on around here.

It's maddening that people won't limit themselves to activities approved by our betters as safe...Yanno, things like rioting and looting... How can we be this deep into the pandemic and still be worrying about folks on beaches?  Perhaps because our media is working overtime to keep us at peak freak out?  And you know they intend to keep up until...oh, I don't know, say November 3rd?

 Here's an excerpt from Geoff's post-tourney screed:

Everybody is watching. 

That was Commissioner Jay Monahan’s statement at the PGA Tour’s first event back. And through two events—at least to anyone watching at home—the PGA Tour looks like 

a collection of very fine golfers, caddies, volunteers and officials who see themselves as above taking measures to ensure the safety of themselves or others. 

Just consider the other sports on television this weekend while the storm-delayed RBC Heritage played out (ultimately won by Webb Simpson in the stunning Hilton Head twilight).

The Professional Bull Riders and everyone around them wore masks on CBS.

The pit crews and drivers at NASCAR have been showing on Fox broadcasts how seriously they are taking the privilege of competing in a time other sports are stalled (granted, they do have other disgusting and potentially fatal issues to deal with).

How about the USA Cornhole Club Championship on NBC Sports? Yep, distancing and masks.

Horse racing across the world has performed incredibly, with everything from Royal Ascot to Los Alamitos showing that life can temporarily go on in with masks.

And I’m sure if they still televised dog races, we’d see they’d be willing to follow protocols, too.

Then there is the pitiful performance of the PGA Tour, which, unlike the above mentioned sports, had a contestant test positive for the virus.

Did this result in an uptick in more careful behavior in front of CBS cameras this weekend? Or an appearance by a leading Tour official to address the situation?

Of course not.

If you've seen the ratings, you'll that "Everybody is watching" is quite the howler....And that Cornhole reference is a new contender for worst appeal to authority ever...

But this is all about masks?  Outdoors?  In the heat?  I'm old enough to remember when the authorities told us that masks aren't actually helpful.  Heck, that's nothing, I'm old enough to remember when the sainted Dr. Fauci assured us we had nothing to worry about from the virus...

But Geoff has this absolute moral authority shtick going in which anyone not in a mask is a merchant of death....  As if we haven't seen the over-hyping of the virus, the massive misdirections (surfaces anyone?) and the wanton failures of those in authority.  

There are some legitimate grounds for concerns about the Tour's protocols, though apparently a significant one is being addressed this coming week:

The PGA Tour is scheduled to play next week in Cromwell, Connecticut, where the Travelers Championship is testing everyone - including volunteers and media - who will be on property. 

Tournament organizers made that decision. The PGA Tour has tried to create a bubble of its key people at tournaments, designating player hotels as an option and urging everyone in the bubble to avoid outside contact. Some players have been renting houses. There is no regulation if they choose to eat out. 

Hilton Head has been particularly busy this week, with local restaurants packed with people who typically come to this quiet island on the Atlantic coast for vacation.

''South Carolina's open. If you go anywhere to a restaurant, there's a lot of people there right now,'' Spieth said. ''So I guess that's probably best case is that he got it on his own outside'' the bubble.

Testing everyone seems both wise and doable.  But there's an air of unreality about just how tight a bubble could ever be.  This ties in directly with my views on the unnecessarily punitive stay-at-home orders from so many governors, often in states relatively mildly hit by the virus.  Humans have an innate need to be active and socialize, and if your health care policy doesn't accommodate that, it's actually bad policy.  

My immediate thought when hearing of Watrney's positive test was that it's likely good news for the Tour.  We as a society seem unable to deal with the slightest risks, but a young, healthy person contracting Covid is barely a minor inconvenience.  Oh, and maybe this will make you feel better for Nick:

Wacker notes Watney must quarantine for 10 days in Hilton Head or drive home immediately to Austin, Texas. He will receive $100,000 for his troubles and we hope, nothing more than some mild symptoms.

I get the sense that Geoff actually thinks the virus is a death sentence....  Where could he have possibly gotten that idea?

The Skinny on Bryson -  Shane Ryan on the Kraken:

Like most men with oversized chests and arms, the New Bryson DeChambeau looks

perpetually uncomfortable, as though his body retains a memory of the range and fluidity it once knew, and yet can't adjust to life inside the prison bars of bulging muscle.

There is not much grace to his game now, and he's never more rigid and confined than when he's on the green. Contrary to perception—or at least my perception of the broader perception—he's been an above-average putter in the 2020 season and has performed decently at the RBC Heritage this week. But the stroke is ugly, stiff and regimented, and though he must have a great deal of "feel" and "touch" to the shot, those elements are invisible to the naked eye. All you can see is a slab of a man attempting to turn into a plank, to become a thick fulcrum with no deviations ... robotic, repeatable.

So true.  I've struggled at times to put my own reactions into words, as I simply don't enjoy watching him play the game.  

The drive is different. The drive is a thunder-slap, and the shot on which all those cumbersome muscles come unleashed and you can see the strongman give way to the athlete. It only lasts a millisecond, but there's a whip-like quality then, and the remnants of his thinner, more graceful self find equilibrium with all that new strength. The synthesis is almost frightening. I watched in awe the first time I saw him pull out the driver on the par-five second hole at Harbour Town Golf Links on Saturday, and I stayed in awe even though he blasted it out-of-bounds at one of the easiest holes he'd play all day.

This is why I came to Hilton Head, if I'm being honest with myself. To see DeChambeau hit that drive, and to reckon with the question of whether he's some kind of lunatic Don Quixote, gulping down snake oil, or whether he's about to transform the sport.

God, I hope not....  As I've mentioned frequently, I'm a skeptic on muscle mass and golf, still pining for that body Tiger came out with in 1996.  But that seems a minority opinion, though I would encourage others to at least give it some time to see if Bryson stays healthy.

We have a Shipnuck mailbag that we'll get to, but might as well segue to this Q&A that's on point:

Are you enjoying watching the 240 lb. incredible bulk that is Bryson DeChambeau averaging 330 yards off the tee? I’m not. Give me 310 yards from the 160 lb. weakling that is Justin Thomas any day of the week! -@TheGolfDivoTee

Watching Bryson right now is akin to going to the circus: it’s a thrilling, death-defying show that overwhelms the senses. I deeply admire DeChambeau’s obsession with

improvement and the dedication it has taken to remake his body and swing. He has taken bomb-and-gouge to its illogical extreme and is deservedly reaping the benefits. Alas, if you watch a bearded lady swallowing swords four days in a row, week after week, at some point the thrill is gone. I was a little melancholy hearing the stat that the average yardage Bryson had left on Colonial’s par-4s was 110 yards. A proud course was reduced to pitch-and-putt, and the artistry of the sport snuffed out entirely. Hilton Head is another supposed shotmaker’s course, but if Bryson flies every dogleg it will play exactly the same as Colonial, which is to say, boring.

The saving grace was the Webb won...at least this week (to be fair to Alan, his mailbag was posted on Friday). 

Memorial Day - Interesting the way things are playing out, but The Memorial will be the only event with spectators at least until August.  Dave Shedloski has an interesting feature on how they plan to manage their logistics, which includes this howler:

Hollis Cavner, 3M Open Executive Tournament Director, sought permission to allow about 5,500 fans onto the grounds of the course in the suburb of Blaine, Minn. Most of those were to be via free admission to military families and veterans. “On a property that’s 250 acres, with 5,500 people, you’re talking about the equivalence of three people in a Walmart Supercenter,” Cavner said.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz wouldn’t go for it, largely, Cavner said, because he fears an increase in COVID-19 infections after riots and protests broke out in the wake of a killing of George Floyd. “He said that they feel like there is going to be a spike in July with all that is going on here,” Cavner said. “That came up in our conversations.”

You're worried about that NOW?  

I'll let you explore the piece, but let me just clarify one point.  I don't worry much about the players and caddies, because they're mostly young and healthy (though perhaps Fluff might take some time off).  But golf spectators?  Far more troubling, as it's an older demo, where we can't be as sanguine about infections.  And really, that was Jay Monahan's disgrace at The Players, as he seemed quite clearly to not care much about the customers.

Alan. Asked - The plan is to riff off Alan's hard work, and to then let you get on with your days:

Why are the young guns so bad at closing? JT is 1 for 3 this year and even the win was in spite of awful shots at 18 at Kapalua, repeatedly. Bryson now has two 71st hole bogeys with the lead. Throw in Xander’s lip out, Jordan and Rory playing awful in contention on Sunday, etc. etc. -@brianros1 

Winning a third of the time when you have a chance is, historically, pretty darn good. I

think in this era of social media and wall-to-wall television coverage, every blown opportunity is examined and discussed in forensic detail, whereas in the old days guys could sputter on Sunday and it would go largely undetected. All that said, I agree it’s frustrating when so many would-be stars repeatedly fail to capitalize on their opportunities. Maybe they’ve been made soft by the money, or they’re scarred by the attention given to their crack-ups, or they’re over-coached and thus unable to fix the flaws once they’re alone between the ropes. Every player is different so it’s tough to generalize, but clearly the ability to close is one of the most precious skills in the sport.

Or golf is hard?  Do we think Xander is proud to be the accompanying photo for this lead question?

But was Jordan bad at closing (yanno, before he lost the plot)?  How about Brooks?  really, it's been ever thus...  Some weeks you hold it together, but the next week you might spit the bit.

Did I hear someone mention the former Golden Child?

Will Jordan Spieth ever return to form as one of the world’s best golfers? He seems so mentally broken when he gets into contention on the weekends. He makes mistakes that quite frankly you don’t see pros make i.e. chunk wedges, short putts missed, etc. -@s_ciech 

Well, plenty of other pros missed important putts on Sunday, and from Hunter Mahan to Constantino Rocca, chunked wedges happen from time to time. But your thesis is correct that Spieth has looked alarmingly fragile over the last two years and he did make five brutal bogeys on Sunday to torpedo his chances at victory. Somehow, the near-miss at Colonial still represents progress. He played great golf for three days and on Sunday still hung in there despite the mistakes. I get asked about Spieth a lot in this space and my answer remains the same: he’s too tough, too smart and too talented not to figure this out. Of course, he had one of the greatest seasons in golf history at age 22; it’s likely he’ll never reach those heights again. Still, I expect him to claw his way back to the front ranks of the game.

Care to make it interesting, Alan?  A week after Colonial, progress seems as fleeting as ever, so consider that Colonial might be the outlier.

Collin Morikawa 10 career wins: over or under? -@mcdonough 

Under. Ten is a huge career. I love the kid’s swing as much as everyone else but blowing that short putt in the playoff was concerning. It’s not even the miss itself; that happens. But Morikawa stood over that ball forever, frozen. That hints at something deeper, especially for a guy who ranks near the bottom of the Tour’s putting stats. I hope he shakes this off and proves me wrong but the scar tissue from that miss will run deep.

I'm not as worried about the one scar, it's just awfully hard to win out there.

What is the best/worst things about golf with no fans? Have you ever seen so many missed short putts on tour? -@Golfingbrock 

I loved the look of the course: so pure and uncluttered without the grandstands and other detritus. The absence of obnoxious jabronis shouting nonsense was blissful. I did miss the ambient cheers on Sunday but only a little; the emotion from the players told us pretty much everything we needed to know about the magnitude of the moment. As for the putting, some of that was competitive rust, a lot of it is Colonial’s insistence on having bent grass greens despite the scorching temperatures of Texas summers. By Sunday afternoon the putting surfaces looked grey. They were so burnt-out and crusty I’m sure it affected the players, who were already trying to finish off one of the most unusual and stressful weeks of their careers.

Best thing:  No TIOs, therefore no grandstanding.  Play it as it lies, boys!

Where does Colonial rank among the regular stops on the PGA Tour? -@SteveThomsonMN 

Near the top. The ambience (in normal times) is great, the course a delightful throwback, and it enjoys a long, rich history. What’s not to like?

Agreed, though it's not an especially competitive category.  Once the Tour leaves the West coast, there aren't too many venues to get excited about.

Comment on the contrast in the reaction/coverage of Vijay getting pilloried for entering a KFT event only to back out, while Luke List was praised for dropping down? Not critiquing/defending either, just curious about the inconsistent responses to the same thing. – @tahewett 

The fundamental difference is that Vijay is a Hall of Famer with trillions in the bank who has largely forsaken the PGA Tour in favor of the old-guy circuit. A KFT tournament for him would be somewhere between a lark and spring training. List is a youngish guy trying to advance his career, which is theoretically the whole reason the KFT exists. He’s a full-time Tour player who would have loved to be at Colonial but didn’t qualify so it made sense for him to grind in AAA.

 Vijay is 57.  Luke List is 35.  What are they doing in the same discussion?

If you could only pick one player to win any week at any course for the next 10 years is that player JT? He has the most complete game IMO. #askalan -@BAIllini98 

I think JT is the right answer, though Rahm deserves mention. So does Koepka, but given the serious injuries he has sustained over the last couple of years you have to wonder if his body will hold up for the next decade.

Can I get back to you in, say, ten years?

Tough putts to end Morikawa and Schauffele’s runs. What are the worst lip-outs of all time? Dough Sanders? (Open) Scott Hoch? (Masters) Brandt Snedeker? (BMW) IK Kim? Daley? (Q-School?) -@frazerrice

Excellent list. Don’t forget Phil’s spinout to cost him a 59 in Phoenix. Or Norman’s to lose in sudden death at the 1993 PGA Championship. Or Nick Price’s on the final hole of the third round of the ’86 Masters, costing him a 62. Or Tiger at the ’07 PGA, which also cost him a 62. Golf, man.

Several of those weren't lip outs, notably Sanders and Joe Daley at Q-School.  Sanders' putt didn't sniff the hole, and Daley's hit the cup lined and popped straight back at him.  I'd maybe add Jack at Baltusrol '80 to shoot 62?

Who will have the better career, the man who missed the first 21 cuts of his pro career (Rose) or the man who just made the first 21 cuts of his pro career (Morikawa)? #AskAlan -@pkeen52 

Rose is a slightly frustrating case, because he’s been close to transcendence but not quite able to get there. Still, a U.S. Open win (at Merion!), the Gold Medal, a stint at No. 1, 10 PGA Tour wins and a bevy of other victories around the world, an Order of Merit title, a FedEx Cup…when you lay it all out like that, I think he’s done enough to make it to the Hall of Fame. Any 23 year-old on the planet would be crazy not to sign up for that resume.

Just a cute question for sure, though Morikawa would take Rose's career in a heartbeat.

Is Sheep Ranch the best course at Bandon now??? -@GolferMurray 

I don’t like to use “best” in this context. Sheep Ranch doesn’t have terrain nearly as interesting as Bandon Dunes or Trails. It is not the same kind of test as Pacific. But Sheep Ranch is outrageously fun and utterly charming. If I had 10 rounds up there I’d go 3 at Bandon, 3 at Trails, 2 at Sheep, 1 at Pacific and 1 at Old Mac. The beauty of Bandon is that everyone will split those 10 rounds up a different way, and we’re all right.

I just have to get my butt back there to settle the debate.

Enjoy your day and we'll visit again soon.