Not to brag or anything, but in my last blog post I predicted (correctly) that the PGA of America would move the 2022 PGA Championship away from Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey. I didn’t think it would happen this quickly (I tended to lean in the direction that John Feinstein indicated where it would be announced after Joe Biden was sworn in).
"The PGA of America Board of Directors voted tonight to exercise the right to terminate the agreement to play the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster." — Jim Richerson, PGA of America President
Pretty clear. I don’t know if the USGA has put anything out (as of this writing they haven’t), or if there is an internal understanding that they will never pursue that option. Honestly either one works at this point, although on some level Trump has to know that he will never see another major championship (his course in Sterling, Virginia hosted the 2017 Senior PGA Championship and his course in New Jersey hosted the 2017 US Women’s Open) at one of his courses.
So what to do with the 2022 PGA Championship? My thoughts keep going to the idea that 2021 is going to be a ‘highly limited or no fans’ option (in which case you have options you otherwise wouldn’t have) and that Kiawah would be smart to agree to move to 2022, opening up this year. But, the logistics then become a nightmare. So, if you’re hosting it in May of 2022 (and Kiawah isn’t moving off of this year) and need a venue, here are my suggestions, in no particular order:
Bethpage Black. It’s very much on the PGA’s radar, and is slated to host the Ryder Cup in 2025. In the same general area as New Jersey. A good trial balloon for security and routing come 2025, which should be bonkers. Going to a public course would be a good statement about accessibility of the game if that’s something the PGA of America cares about.
Chambers Bay. Has the space to hold a major championship and by all accounts they don’t have the turf issues they had in 2015. Reminder that west coast events mean a prime time finish on the east coast. Also means thunderstorms aren’t really an issue. Do not let anyone from the USGA on course grounds unless they buy a ticket.
Riviera. Move the Genesis Open to Sherwood for one year (which can accommodate fans), and play the PGA at Riviera. West Coast prime time finish on a course that everyone respects. May in California would be perfect.
Hazeltine. One of those PGA shortlist venues that has hosted PGA-run events. May in Minnesota is a bit of a lottery weather-wise, but Minnesotans have long shown they will turn up for events.
TPC Potomac. Not sure if the PGA would ever go to a TPC network course, but it’s shown it holds up to modern pros when you look at scores from the last year of the AT&T National. Not slated to host anything so not like nearby Congressional having to give up their course for renovations, then majors.
Pebble Beach. It “has” hosted a PGA (1977). The ultimate in “plug and play” courses. Long history, everyone knows the course, and west coast takes thunderstorms (and dangerous heat/humidity) out of play.
Why, hello there. It’s New Year’s Day 2021, and we’re all still here. Nobody’s hung over because we were all responsible and stayed home in small groups rather than going out to large parties (unless you’re rich or an elected official, in which case fill your boots on the taxpayer dime). After an off-season of a few weeks, the 2021 PGA Tour golf season starts next week in Hawaii. The LPGA gets things going a few weeks later in Florida (I know I say this all the time, but seriously- if you only have time to watch one tour, watch the LPGA).
I’m sure that there are those who have made predictions on every event already, and while I admire their commitment, I’m not that writer. I just don’t have the time to keep up, and neither do you in all likelihood. However, I’ve put together some prognostications about the game that I’ve broken down into the following categories: Professional Tours, Media/Publications/Equipment, and Local News.
PRO TOURS
One of the California West Coast events is getting moved/postponed/canceled. The COVID situation in Southern California is beyond dire (they’re out of hospital beds and are turning away patients from hospitals). They had to move the Rose Bowl game to Texas. If you look at the events in La Quinta (Amex), La Jolla (Farmers Insurance) and LA (Genesis), it’s hard to see these events taking place unless there is a massive sea change in cases. For the record, I’m hoping that this doesn’t happen and that the caseloads in California plummet and everything reverts to pre-COVID world.
We will see another fan-less West Coast swing and (unfortunately) a fan-less Masters. This isn’t political. COVID isn’t going to go away because of a new administration. If 35-40% of the population keeps going around thinking that it’s some giant hoax, then nothing is going to change.
The 2022 PGA Championship is getting moved. My out-of-the-box suggestion? Cancel the Genesis in February and move the 2021 PGA from Kiawah to Riviera. Then play the 2022 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. If the PGA of America thought the 1990 event was unpleasant, playing the 2022 event where its scheduled to be held will be far worse.
A Canadian man and at least one American woman are going to win majors in 2021.
Bryson DeChambeau will win at least one event and will skip an event due to injury.
Two of the men’s major winners will be first-time winners.
Europe will retain the Ryder Cup.
At least one prominent American male player will opt out of participating in the Olympics.
MEDIA/EQUIPMENT/PUBLICATIONS
CBS and NBC will continue the trial balloon of dumping some weekend coverage onto their over-the-top streaming services (CBS All Access and Peacock respectively). There will be complaints and ratings will be flat/down slightly.
Brandel Chamblee will say something outrageous. It will be forgotten within 72 hours.
Golf Channel will be talking about doing another reboot or possibly pushing the majority of its programming to Peacock by the end of 2021.
CBS and NBC will add another 1-2 minutes of commercials to their weekend coverage, angering viewers. All because they overpaid for the PGA Tour rights package (bidding against who I have no idea) for reasons that make zero sense.
Expect the legacy golf magazines to trim another 1-2 issues per year off the print editions. And yet, there will be at least 27 subscription forms in each copy. Their equipment issues will have the kind of conflicts of interest that would never been allowed a decade ago.
Brick and mortar stores that thrive will figure out the secret sauce that makes them a better option than online. This will start with better size options, and better service. My plea to the stores: make the experience of shopping in your stores better than shopping online. Please. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve gone into a pro shop/store with money to spend and walk out because nothing they have in the store is my size, I could easily pay for a round anywhere except Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass.
2022 is going to be interesting because several NBC/Comcast rights deals (NHL, Premier League) come up for renewal (the NHL deal comes up after this season). Could this open the floodgates for a consolidation of golf TV rights? I know this seems insane, but if I told you that Fox was going to walk away from its USGA package in 2020, would you have thought I was crazy 12 months ago?
LOCAL NEWS
Rounds played in the DMV will take a slight hit when the cicadas make their once-every-17-years appearance this spring. You’ve been warned. Last time was in 2004 (courses without a lot of trees won’t have any issues). The largest factor in the area will remain the weather. If it’s favorable (we have normal rainfall, spring starts when it’s supposed to and it’s not surface of the sun hot for two months straight), then people will show up. This area is still underserved with respect to public courses.
More of a wish, but Columbia Association will decide that they’ve done enough to screw up golf courses (they’re treading dangerously into Everything They Touch Dies territory) and turn over management of both Hobbits Glen and Fairway Hills to one of the big boys of course management (Troon, Kemper Sports, Billy Casper, ClubCorp, hell at this point might as well enlist Club Pro Guy and his fine superintendent Miguel Vega). If anyone at CA is reading this, you have zero clue how to run a golf course and the people who actually work at your courses know this better than I do. Actually, Columbia Association can’t really run a literal one-car parade. They screwed up their gyms, they tried suing to prevent the annual Festival of Lights at Merriweather, and they’re doing their dead level best to continue to piss people off.
No local courses are going to close in 2021. There was enough of a cull in 2018-2019 (and there definitely was one) and 2020 ended up being pretty good in terms of rounds played (once courses opened). For now, all eyes are on DC as we watch to see what happens with the DC courses being redone by The Links Trust (Tom Doak and Gil Hanse working together) and eventually being managed by Troon.
Expect a hurricane, record rainfall, record heat and several other acts of God from August 23-29. The BMW Championship is at Baltimore’s Caves Valley. You think I’m kidding. Not even a bit. I’m old enough to remember the TUESDAY FINISH in 2006 at the then-FBR Open at what is now TPC Potomac. I really hope I’m wrong on this, but history doesn’t exactly bode well.
I will play when I can, and probably maintain the kind of mediocrity that I’m famous for. But I play fast, so there’s that.
Best wishes for a Happy New Year, and let’s all hope that in 12 months we’re remembering 2021 for the good things.
SONG OF THE DAY
This is more than 35 years old and it’s still good. From the OG’s of Goth:
Another PGA Tour season is almost done; after 11 months, a global pandemic, a cancellation of the Open Championship and moving every major around, we’re at the FedEx Cup Tour Championship.
The format last year that’s being carried over this year is that Dustin Johnson starts the tournament with a 10 shot lead over the guy who finishes 30th. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go shake my head and pretend that this isn’t really the case. Of all of the hair-brained ideas to come from professional golf, this might be the dumbest. Why is it that sports I love do the stupidest things on the earth (looking at you, Superleague and your “sure we’ll take free pizzas from a horrible chain as payment for sponsorship” galaxy brain idea)?
To put it as mildly as I can, this goes against everything sports are supposed to be about. What next- give Usain Bolt a 10-meter head start because he’s the defending 100 meter champion? Give the team with the best regular season a 7-point lead to start the Super Bowl? The team with the most regular season points gets a 1-goal lead to start in every game of the Stanley Cup Final? I mean, what the actual hell are we talking about? What’s wrong with you people?
Don’t worry; your faithful scribe has a solution that would treat the FedEx Cup Tour Championship like a real championship; one that balances rewarding regular season performance and require a player to lift their game. Reward regular season performance, and have a final one-day winner take all conclusion that a casual fan can understand. Like any championship, the hard work is getting to that final. So we’re going to start with the final round being it’s own entity. Like the Super Bowl. Simple enough?
The top 30 getting into the Tour Championship is a good number; there isn’t any need to play around with that. I even like finishing on Labor Day weekend with the finale on Monday (when people are off work; ideally the Tour can push so that they ‘own’ Labor Day). Ideally the Tour would look to have the final round on the West Coast for an east coast prime-time finish every other year (non-Ryder Cup years). Courses on the West Coast? Riviera is the obvious choice, but if Chambers Bay is in better shape that’s a second option. I get using East Lake for Ryder Cup years (especially when the US has to fly to Europe as this will cut down on travel time). While we’re at it, the Chicago area should have a permanent slot on the Tour.
The question becomes this- how do you reward season-long excellence while maintaining the integrity of the competition? The same way other sports do it; by seeding and providing other advantages that maintain the integrity of the competition.
My Modest Proposal
So with that being said, let me explain how a five-round (Thursday-Monday) championship would work in a way that would provide a satisfying finale, reward year-round performance and give you a simple, easy-to-identify champion. You start with the top 30 playing three rounds of stroke play; the top 16 get into the fourth round (if there’s a tie for 16th you have a playoff), and then you have one day of match play with the 16 going down to 8 with that final round being a one-and-done entity of itself. In other words, getting to a championship and having one day to win or lose with everyone starting the final round at 0.
Under my Tour Championship Final proposal, the top seed gets the following advantages as a reward for his season-long excellence and being the top seed.
He gets to pick his tee time for the first three rounds and who he plays with. Maybe he likes to go out early. Maybe he wants an early-late-late (he gets to pick). Maybe he wants to take advantage of potential weather or play with someone he’s comfortable with. Call it home field advantage. He has to declare the day before each round so he can pick and choose and give himself the optimal time and opponent. Not a bad reward.
He’s guaranteed to get into the semi-final Sunday round of 16 so even if his game goes to pot during the first three qualifying rounds, he has that second chance (other playoff formats allow the top seeds a ‘double elimination’ of sorts). There’s your tangible reward for regular season excellence; a second chance. Those are two big carrots that don’t turn the competition into a farce but provide a tangible reward for that year-long excellence.
The round of sixteen are seeded based on their first three rounds (your top seed going in would be seeded based on his performance, but if he otherwise didn’t qualify he’d be seeded 16th). Eight matches of match play. Winners go to the Final. Losers are done. Sudden death playoffs if tied after 18 holes. It’s something of a different strategy from stroke play, but designed to force players to think differently for one day.
The eight players who win their matches go to the Championship/Grand Final. One round for everything. Four twosomes; playing partners and order are drawn at random out of a hat. Everything resets for the Championship or Grand Final round. One round. One day. Low score (stroke play) is your Tour/FedEx Cup champion. Tie? Sudden-death playoff. You now have a true Championship Final. What you did before to get there matters not; it’s the player who’s the best on the day who wins. Much like the Super Bowl, Final Four championship, and NBA/NHL/MLB Game 7’s. It’s not what you did before, it’s what you do on the day. Nobody starts the day having to sit on a lead or trying to come from behind. One round. Low score wins. Much like other sports, you had to battle to get into the playoffs and continue to advance. You finished in the top 15/16 of the field after three rounds and beat someone in a match play environment to get to the Championship Final.
The average sports fan couldn’t explain the FedEx Cup, nor could most golf fans. The average sports fan can easily understand “one round, winner take all” events. You’ve competed all year, and everything you did goes out the window. No head start, no being able to play conservatively to protect a lead. Under my proposal, winning the FedEx Cup Championship Final would also earn the winner a 10-year exemption (up from five), a lifetime exemption to the Players Championship, and a guaranteed spot in next year’s playoffs (the first round only). These are all PGA Tour-controlled entities so you’re not having to ask the USGA or PGA of America to get involved.
Having eight players provides NBC or CBS plenty of coverage options so you aren’t just focused on one group and reduces the likelihood of not having any name players. Oh, and no commercials for the last 90 minutes.
Hopefully the Tour decides to adopt this format and give fans a real Championship.
Late Sunday night the Associated Press reported that Fox was walking away from it’s 12 year USGA rights deal starting this year, with NBC/Golf Channel picking up the rights. For viewers, this means that the US Open (which Fox was already advertising for this year’s event that was moved to September) will be on NBC. It’s not clear who will pick up early-round coverage for Thursday and Fridays; Golf Channel would make a ton of sense, but they also have NBCSN as a viable alternative.
The USGA’s press release spells out the details. Sort of. Doesn’t really indicate how many hours will be on Golf Channel or NBC, but we digress.
I’ve been critical of Fox for a host of reasons. I’m old enough to remember when they won US free-to-air rights for the NHL back in the mid 1990’s and gave viewers…glow pucks and animated characters. I kid you not. Who thought any of this made sense?
You “could” make the argument that the Fox Glowing Puck was a precursor to the ProTracer/Top-Tracer technology that should be as common as watching in HD. I won’t. Because the puck is black, and it’s on a white ice surface. Not hard to follow if you have eyes. Just watch where the players go. Easy.
I was very critical of their 2015 and 2016 US Open coverage and deservedly so because it was terrible. I don’t blame Fox as much as I do the USGA, who (based on multiple articles) seemed to want to go to Fox when the previous rights deal expired in 2014. The USGA wanted this. They wanted a broadcaster who had never covered the sport to cover the country’s national championship as their first broadcast. It wasn’t as if Fox was covering the PGA Tour (or even a pro tour of some kind).
They brought in Joe Buck, who had never called golf before and never really improved (as I’ve said, if were doing 8-10 tournaments a year covering the PGA and/or LPGA Tour maybe it works better, but when he sees these players one week a year it’s always going to be problematic). Greg Norman was their first analyst (smart, knows the game but couldn’t translate that into being that 18th hole analyst). They flooded the air with people who had never worked together before on one of the two biggest viewing tournaments of the year. They were unwilling to cover the controversy over Dustin Johnson’s ball moving in 2016 despite pros going after the USGA on social media(and were unwilling to call out the USGA’s incompetence in course setup in 2015, 2016 and 2018). These are all self-inflicted wounds.
Sidebar: Joe Buck did several cameos on the IFC show “Brockmire” and he was outstanding and came off as a guy you’d totally want to hang out with. If he brought that persona to his baseball and football coverage it would help a ton. He was funny and he was able to throw a few good barbs out there. If you’re looking for a show to binge-watch you could do worse. Hank Azaria is hilarious.
Not to beat a dead horse, but Oakmont 2016 and Shinnecock 2018 should have been easy, but the USGA’s motto of “hold my beer while we fix that problem that didn’t exist” came into play.
Having said that, they did bring about some real change on the production side:
The continuous leaderboard bug on weekend coverage or at the very least Sundays should become a permanent staple. CBS and NBC have to make this part of their coverage on a weekly basis.
Pro Tracer technology. At first I wasn’t sure about this, but it works and doesn’t detract from the coverage. Unlike hockey it doesn’t clutter the screen. It adds to it.
Drones. I remember watching Fox’s initial coverage of the 2014 Franklin Templeton Shootout and being excited about the use of drones. Full credit to the lads at No Laying Up who use drones extremely well. Again, it very much adds to the viewing experience.
Uninterrupted coverage during the last hour. The Masters has long been the gold standard because they don’t clog up the viewing experience with an enema of commercials. It’s a clean broadcast free of junk which serves the viewer well.
“If” I were NBC, here’s some things I’d do that would demonstrate a real understanding of how to take the good things that Fox did, and improve upon them. Time to teach an old dog some new tricks.
Use Mike Tirico as your studio host, and bring back Johnny Miller in some kind of a role for the US Open only. He’s done this for horse racing and occasionally for their NHL coverage.
Pro Tracer needs to be on every hole all four rounds. Period.
Use NBCSN for an alternate feed during weekend late day coverage. They did this at the 2014 Ryder Cup. Don’t need announcers. Just show golf. Doesn’t sound like this is the plan according to Jeremy Schilling. If Peacock were to take this on then it could be a nice “add on” option.
Adapt and use a leaderboard bug during the final round and leave it.
Drones should be part of their overall coverage. Follow the Fox blueprint on their usage. The question everyone at NBC/Golf Channel should be asking is “how do we improve our coverage?” and ask this every day.
The only potential issue that I can see (from 2021 onward) is their Stanley Cup Final coverage running into the golf (especially for any west coast events, like in 2021 and 2023) which means that the Saturday/Sunday are going to be tricky options (even if you go to an afternoon start you have overtime as a potential issue). Especially next year (2021 at Torrey Pines) if the NHL starts late and runs past the early June finish that they’ve had in 2018 and 2019 (finishing before June 10th) and/or if the NHL adds teams to their playoffs.
Coming Soon to Peacock (hopefully not)!
Overall I think this is a good move but we won’t know until September when it’s US Open time.
From the 2nd tee at Rattlewood. I make a long shadow at sunup. Can’t really explain that it looks like my arms are out. They’re not.
Hope you’re enjoying your Labor/Labour Day. After running a bunch of errands I had something of a brain cramp because I was convinced that today was the final round of a Playoff event, but thanks to the Tour’s new schedule, your only option is the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship (which I’d like to see get elevated to NBC for the final two rounds). The Champions and LPGA Tours wrapped up on Sunday as did the European Tour.
9th hole at Rattlewood. All about getting your second shot close unless you’re a REAL bomber and can hit a draw that stops on an elevated green that slopes hard from right to left.
Not to beat a dead horse but there’s no reason for the PGA Tour to avoid Labo(u)r Day weekend, but we digress. I’m not the first one to suggest this, but a West Coast Tour Championship (whispers softly…use Riviera on a mini-rota with Olympic Club, LACC and maybe Chambers Bay) in prime time over Labor Day weekend gets you eyeballs you’re otherwise not getting.
No golf next weekend as I’ve got commitments both days but I plan on playing the following two weeks before heading on vacation. Plus, I’ll admit to being a bit gun-shy about potential impact from Hurricane Dorian (all the best to everyone in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas).
I played Saturday at Rattlewood fearful of rust from not having played in two weeks; no issues. Got off to a good start and had as good of day with my irons as I’ve had in some time, with 11 GIR. Didn’t convert much (1 birdie and 35 putts), but a 78 is never bad. Had a bit of a blow-up on 18 where I had to make a 15 foot putt to save bogey, but overall a good round.
12th hole at Rattlewood. Just over 225 from the blue tee; playing 230+. Hit a 3 wood to 18 feet, putt to tap-in distance for a very satisfying par on a hole that’s closer to a par 3 1/2.
Less than four weeks before I head to the desert on vacation for the first time in two years. Looking forward to it.
Johnny Miller and Seve Ballesteros. Probably not discussing that 63 at Oakmont.
With the NBA season tipping off last night, the NHL season entering its third week (thankfully, the Leafs are off to a hot start and yes- those of you who follow me on Twitter may see my feed become more Leaf-centric for a while), the MLB playoffs down to the last four and the NFL season doing what it does, some things get lost in the shuffle. This week’s announcement that Johnny Miller will be leaving the broadcast booth after he does one final event (the 2019 Waste Management Open- CBS has (pro football championship game whose title shan’t be mentioned) a conflict so they’re dumping the coverage to NBC (NBC will dump a February weekend to CBS every 4 years when it conflicts with the end of the Winter Olympics). Related, thumbs up to Golfweek’s ‘The Forecaddie’ for getting this first.
NBC’s decision to use Paul Azinger from Fox is a colossal disappointment. In multiple years of working with Joe Buck on Fox, they still have zero chemistry and they still provide nothing of value to the viewer. Buck has this habit of having to put his stamp on things; great moments in sports don’t need it (and he has this habit of talking over things when letting the pictures speak would be better for all involved).
From watching US Opens on Fox, Azinger’s biggest fault is that he routinely fails to use his biggest strength, which is his perspective as a former player. Viewers don’t need narratives about tradition. We aren’t former touring professionals; Paul is. He’s won a major, and yet, he rarely (if ever) provides that perspective. He’s too busy talking about the history of the game. Put me in the head of a guy trying to win a major and spare me waxing poetic about how great you think the USGA is. The final round of a major isn’t that time nor the place. Four full years with Fox and other than Shane Bacon and Brad Faxon, there’s not a single reason to listen (their technology is fantastic).
Miller has been part of NBC since 1990. By and large, he’s taken the viewer into what players are thinking on the back nine on Sunday when they’re trying to win. He used the word ‘choke’ in context with a player. He hasn’t shied away from being critical of players. I know the Tiger fanboys don’t want to hear this (lest anyone speak ill of Dear Tiger), but offering criticisms of players is quite literally why many of the talking heads have jobs. He’s been critical of the best players, which is his job. Being critical of the top players (when warranted) is part of that.
Any budding announcers, regardless of sport, should remember that if you’re doing TV, the viewer is watching. He/she can see. Your words should supplement what’s being viewed. Analysts should think similarly. I’ve never played professional sports. Paul Azinger has. He’s won a major. So help me, the viewer, know what’s going on by telling me things I can’t see. If an on-course reporter can tell me what kind of lie that “X” has in the rough, walk me through what a player might be thinking given this information. Don’t use 25 words if 15 are sufficient, but don’t use 25 if you need 40 or 50 to provide context.
Challenge: watch the final round of an event with the volume off for 30-40 minutes. Notice how little most announcers contribute? They go from shot to shot, and tell you that player X is putting for birdie/par. Think about the maddening four minutes that JB Holmes spent trying to figure out his second shot at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. Now, think about how little (if anything) the announcers were contributing to this debacle.
Miller, at his best, provided that reason to listen. He won majors, and knew what it was like (he also successfully managed to balance family life & fatherhood with a professional career) to be in contention. Yes- he could go on a bit about his famous 63 at Oakmont (and yes- I may or may not have made a drinking game about Miller) but the fact is he shot a 63 and won a US Open, which, to borrow a term, means he has Scoreboard. More significantly, he could articulate what a tour pro was going through in a final round, which often gets lost in the shuffle.
I’m not NBC/Golf Channel, but if I was, I’d have given some of their internal folks a crack at the job before going outside and sharing Azinger with Fox (where Azinger would be useful is during Ryder Cup week; having him and Colin Montgomerie together would be an absolute must-listen). David Duval and Justin Leonard have the ‘won a major’ box ticked, and Brandel Chamblee would provide a bit of spice (and controversy) to broadcasts. Frank Nobilo is another option I’d like to see given a crack. Maybe, if you were bringing Mike Tirico into the booth (replacing Dan Hicks) I could get behind reuniting Tirico and Azinger, but beyond that, it’s a hard pass.
So thanks for everything, Johnny. Hope you’re able to enjoy retirement with your family (which has always been your top priority, as it should).
To borrow one of their old marketing terms, this is major. Let’s go to the video:
KPMG LPGA Championship: 2022, 2027
Senior PGA Championship: 2025, 2033
Junior PGA Championship: 2024
PGA Club Professional Championship: 2029
PGA Championship: 2031
Ryder Cup: 2036
Staggering. Badly needed. I’ve written previously how the PGA Tour leaving this area with their revamped 2018-19 “wrap-around” season was one of the dumber things they’ve done (more on that later), and in comes the PGA of America with 8 championships to be held at Congressional. That Keith Foster (h/t to Brandon Porath for letting me know about this) will ‘hopefully’ redo Congressional and undo much of Rees Jones’ work is the whipped cream and cherry on top of a delicious sundae.
Let’s start with the LPGA. Their tour should be playing the best courses in the world (this includes majors). They’ve played at Oakmont for a US Open (Christina Kim raved about Oakmont; good enough for me) and Pinehurst #2. Pebble Beach should be on their rota of US Open venues. The women can, and should be playing the same rota of courses as the men. Their tour is more than capable and deserves it.
The Senior PGA comes back twice (RTJ is more than worthy if they want a venue in Virginia) and they get the same; iconic course in a big media market.
The Junior and PGA Club Professional events aren’t high-profile but holding them at Congressional is a nice signal that they want to upgrade the caliber of courses. Good for them.
The PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup speak for themselves. The Ryder Cup is very much a ‘one shot’ deal (not to get too far ahead but by September (please let September be dry that year) of 2036 Patrick Reed will be 46, Rory McIlroy will be 47 which is that sweet spot for captains). Assuming the PGA Championship doesn’t move off its new May slot, in DC May ‘can’ be really nice and is typically devoid of the swamp-ass humidity of summer (hopefully concurrent with a deep Capitals run to the Conference Final where they lose to my beloved Leafs while the Nationals get off to a roaring start).
Tour Championship:
The announcement today about changes for the 2019 Tour Championship are, at best, foolhardy and at worst, the single dumbest idea in professional sports. From the Golfweek article:
The player who has the most FedEx Cup points after next season’s BMW Championship will start the first round of the 2019 Tour Championship with a score of 10 under par and a two-shot lead over the second-highest FedEx Cup point earner who will begin at 8 under. The player ranked third will start at 7 under, while the golfers who arrive at East Lake in fourth and fifth will start at 6 under and 5 under, respectively. The next five players on the list will begin at 4 under par, with scores regressing by one shot for every five golfers until the players who enter the Tour Championship ranked between 26th and 30th start the events at even par on the first day.
Drinking bleach sounds better than this steaming turd.
I have spent two days trying to come up with anything remotely close to it in terms of a comparable. The pro tennis tours wouldn’t let the #1 player start up 2-0 in the first set. Track & field doesn’t let the fastest qualifier have a 10 meter head start. No professional team sport lets a team start a game up in score over the other team. You know who did this?
The original American Gladiators (the one that started in 1989).
Take that in. The PGA Tour looked at American Gladiators and thought “hey, they’ve got something there.”
So that’s where professional golf is. The obvious answer of having a match play Tour Championship doesn’t work for TV because they’re afraid of a bad final match-up (I’m just spit-balling here, but if your top 30 players can’t produce a decent final round that will get eyeballs, that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of your marketing efforts). So we’ll rule that out because of…reasons.
The other option is play a Wed-Sat 72 hole event, and the top 4 (or 6) make the Final Round; a one-round low-score wins it all deal (easy to market; 4 or 6 players, one round, low score wins the Tour Championship and the $15 million). If you go to the top 6 and want to reward season-long excellence, give the top 1 (or 2) finishers in the standings an automatic berth in the Final Round. A top seed earning a bye? Yeah, there’s a ton of evidence showing this happening in other sports. If you want to give the top seed something, let them pick who they play with in the Final Round and if they go out in the first or second group (maybe you pick a couple guys who you’re comfortable with rather than a couple guys you don’t get on with).
Another idea is a form of gradual elimination. Start by playing 2 rounds of ‘qualifiers’ (like the first two rounds at most events) and let the top half advance into the next stage (giving the top 2 or 4 finishers an automatic bye into the next stage- their benefit after a long season is a less grueling path to the Final Round), and then have 2 rounds of single-round eliminations. Say you get the top 30 whittled down after 2 days to the top 14 or 16. Round 3 cuts it down to 10, round 4 cuts it to 6, and then the top 6 play a Final Round for everything. It’s about elevating your game for the playoffs. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard athletes talk about that before.
You could play the Tour Championship on the West Coast (nothing against East Lake) and finish in prime time on the East Coast on either Sunday or Monday (start on Golf Channel, switch to NBC). It’s not like the TV landscape in late August is over-run with better options unless the orgy of so-called reality TV shows and reruns has some grand appeal.
The argument that is being made is down to what value does the regular season have? Does being the best player over the course of a long season matter as opposed to a ‘playoff’ system that the Tour seems to want. In team sports, it’s the team that performs best in the playoffs that wins the championship. In the NFL, a 14-2 regular season record is great but teams have lost Super Bowls to teams with 9-7 records. Is the 14-2 team better because of their record over a 17-week regular season or is a 9-7 team better because in the Super Bowl they were the better team on that day? Note- either case has valid points. What you can’t do is say to the 14-2 team that you’re going to start the Super Bowl up 14-0 over the 9-7 team.
That, dear reader, is what the PGA Tour is trying to do. They want their Super Bowl, but they want to give the team with the best record a head start. It’s a terrible idea; the Tour and its fans deserve better.
The 2006 US Ryder Cup Team photo. Majestic in its earth-tones (photo property of Alamy).
As everyone takes a collective breath from the thrilling conclusion that was the final round of the 100th USPGA Championship at Bellerive, the next major event in the golf calendar is the Ryder Cup from September 28-30 in France (no disrespect to the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but the Ryder Cup is something else entirely different). The US will be looking to win on foreign soil in a Ryder Cup for the first time since 1993 while Europe will want to reclaim the trophy away from the US team.
With qualifying for Ryder Cup spots completed, this means that 8 of the 12 spots on the US team are filled, leaving Jim Furyk in charge of picking the last 4 spots in early September. The players who have qualified so far are as follows: Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, and Webb Simpson.
Players being considered for the last 4 spots are (in order of ranking) Bryson Dechambeau, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Xander Schauffele, Matt Kuchar, Kevin Kisner, Tony Finau, Kyle Stanley, Bryan Harman, Kevin Na, Gary Woodland and Zach Johnson. Jimmy Walker (#24) and JB Holmes (#31) are also rumored to being considered.
In order to make the best decision possible, Jim Furyk with his assistant captain Steve Stricker conducted interviews with each player. They were supposed to be private, but SGIC spies were successful in planting a wireless microphone and obtained tapes of those conversations; the transcriptions appear below. And lordy, there are tapes.
Jim Furyk (JF): Well, Steve, we really have a tough job ahead of us today. We have 14 world-class professionals to talk to for only 4 spots. Any thoughts?
Steve Stricker (SS): Yeah. Just do what I did last year. Take the best players. Why are you overthinking this? Didn’t Alan Shipnuck say we were in an era of US dominance? I mean, he’s smart, right?
JF: Seriously? That International Team was awful. Hal Sutton could have put his cowboy hat back on and captained our boys to a win. The Europeans are a lot better so we have to be stronger from 1-12. Speaking of which, how do you think I’d look in a cowboy hat.
SS: Ridiculous.
JF: I disagree.
SS: Well, let’s talk to these guys and see what they have to say.
JF: Sounds good. Bryson, come on in.
Bryson Dechambeau comes in wearing his trademark Hogan cap, a lab coat and carrying several scientific instruments.
JF: Bryson, why do you think you should be a captain’s pick for the 2018 Ryder Cup team?
Bryson Dechambeau: Well, I won the Memorial Tournament this year, and I won a US Amateur before turning professional and my calculations show that my chakra will come into peak bloom in late September. My strokes gained average is up nearly a stroke over last year.
JF: And then what happened?
BD: Things went okay, I guess. I mean, I finished 9th in the standings behind Webb Simpson!
SS: Minus your temper tantrum. Finishing behind Webb isn’t really a selling point.
There’s a door exploding as Tiger Woods kicks the door in holding two cans of Monster energy drink…he drinks one of the cans in one large chug and throws the empty at Bryson’s head.
Tiger Woods (TW): Oh, that’s nice nerd boy. You won a US Amateur. I have 3 of those. In a row. You won the Memorial? Isn’t that nice. I’ve won it 5 times.
BD: You’re also a lot older than me.
TW: And better.
JF: Tiger, if you can just wait your turn, we’ll get to everyone.
TW: (grabs other can of Monster, chugs it in one move) Jim, you will put me on the team. NOW.
JF: I don’t know. Steve, what do you think?
SS: Tiger, how does your back feel? Can you hold up for all 3 days?
TW: I don’t know (loud noise as he turns his hat around, chugs a 4th can and proceeds to bench press an 800 pound anvil that just happened to be in the room). Pretty good I suppose.
JF: Tiger, I’m concerned because you’ve only been a part of one winning Ryder Cup team.
TW: I’m not. Jim, the only reason you have two Ryder Cup wins to my one win is because I was injured in 2008 after I won the US Open on a broken leg. You know damn well I’d have been on the team.
JF: I shot a 59 and a 58.
TW: 14 majors, not counting my 3 US Amateur wins.
JF: I won a US Open. I mean, doesn’t everyone have a US Open win?
A loud “screw you both” is heard from outside the room in a voice that sounds very much like Phil Mickelson’s voice.
SS: Guys, come on. This isn’t working. Bryson, how are you going to handle hostile crowds in France? A European Ryder Cup crowd can be pretty daunting.
BD: Well, I did a statistical regression analysis on that and my analysis shows that their crowds are actually quite tame.
SS: Your stats are wrong.
JF: You’ll have to give up that stupid Hogan cap if selected.
BD: Wow…that’s a total buzzkill. Wouldn’t the entire team look good wearing those?
TW: Only if we wear blade collars.
SS: No Hogan caps, no blade collars, and ixnay on the Miz-zay.
JF: Bryson, I’m really concerned that their fans are going to get under your skin. Hopefully none of the players in contention for captains picks have done anything that’s garnered worldwide ridicule this summer…
(Noise coming from outside the room getting progressively louder playing “Ole, Ole Ole Ole, Ole, Ole”). Phil Mickelson, wearing a bolero jacket, chaps, a KPMG cap and a dress shirt strolls in while dancing. The dancing goes on for several minutes much to the annoyance of everyone in the room.
Phil Mickelson: Hey, everybody! Who’s ready to defend our Ryder Cup win from 2016?
All: Phil, no. Just, no.
PM: Come on guys. Jim, I called the Mizzen and Main guys to have some stuff worked up for this year. You KNOW you want this.
TW: Does Mizzen and Main now do blade collars? Let’s say I’m asking for a friend.
PM: I don’t know, Tiger. Let me ask them (the audio sounds like he’s pulling out his cellphone); Siri, call Mizzen and Main.
JF: No, Phil, I don’t. We already have uniforms. Steve, was he like this last year?
SS: No; he was busy taking selfies after the 41st straight time Kuchar beat him in ping pong. Honestly I just let Tiger do half the pairings; I couldn’t find him a pet squirrel.
TW: Steve’s good at taking suggestions. Actually, Jim, I have an idea. How about you just let me run things.
PM: Jim, I swear if you make us wear that godforsaken Chiliwear crap, my press conference after Sunday’s singles will make my 2014 rant look tame.
TW: Does Chiliwear offer a blade collar option?
JF: Not going to let that one die, are you.
TW: Not a chance, unless you decide to pick Club Pro Guy as an assistant captain.
JF: Okay, you three go sit in the room next door while I call in the next candidates.
Xander Schauffele, Matt Kuchar, Kevin Kisner and Tony Finau walk in.
JF: Who are you people?
Xander (XS): I won the Tour Championship last year.
Matt Kuchar (MK): I almost won the Open Championship last year and I’m the best ping pong player on tour. Ask Phil.
Kevin Kisner (KK): I’m competitive every week.
Tony Finau (TF): I rolled my ankle at Augusta and still finished T10 and I’m usually on the first or second page of leaderboards. Perhaps you’d like a display of strength and agility…
JF: Please don’t.
MK: Lest we forget, Phil and I have done pretty well as partners since Keegan Bradley is only seen on the side of milk cartons these days.
XS: I’ve been competitive in all 4 majors.
KK: I tied for 2nd at the British Open.
JF: Let me think about it. Who else is out there?
Kevin Na, Gary Woodland, Zach Johnson, JB Holmes and Jimmy Walker walk in.
JF: Hi fellas. Why are you all here?
Zach Johnson (ZJ): Well, speaking as the only guy with multiple majors, we think you should consider one or more of us for those captain’s selections. You need someone who’s won a major overseas.
JB Holmes (JB): And someone with Ryder Cup experience.
Jimmy Walker (JW): I’d say a PGA Championship win is what you need.
Kevin Na (KN): People will literally stab themselves in the eye to avoid playing with me.
JB: Me too! Apparently people hate it when I take 4 minutes to lay up.
KN: Or become a weapons-grade head case on the tee.
JF: JB, just leave. Please. Now.
JB: C’mon…
TW from adjacent room: JB, I think you were asked to leave. I still have a few cans of Monster over here. I think it’s best you leave now.
(JB Holmes leaves room muttering to himself)
ZJ: Why do people throw Propecia at me?
TW: Beats me, but if you don’t want it I know someone who will take it off your hands.
Gary Woodland (GW): How about some feats of strength to decide this?
JF: I’ve made up my mind.
SS: Thanks for including me in your thought process.
JF: Thanks for being overly passive-aggressive.
SS: Whatever. Ask me what it’s like to captain a US side to victory.
JF: Okay, here’s how it goes. Tiger, Phil, Kuchar, and Xander. You guys are in. Everyone else, thanks for coming. Zach, I’d like to have you be an assistant captain. Tony, you’re my 13th man so if anyone withdraws or gets hurt prior, you’re in the team.
BD: Seriously?
JF: Yes. Everyone, thanks for showing up today. Let’s all remember that regardless of anything, we all want the US to win in Paris and bring the Ryder Cup back home.
SS: What we really need is someone we can all rally against.
JF: I agree.
SS: Someone who will really cause the team to work together.
JF: Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
SS: I am.
JF: Great. It’s good to know that with everything going on, we still have one person who we can call on who we know will get the team properly motivated to go out there motivated to show them.
SS: You want me to call or do you want to call?
JF: Let’s do it together. We’ll use my phone.
JF/SS together: “Hey, Brandel, we need your help!”
SONG OF THE DAY #1
Johnny Marr still has the heater.
SONG OF THE DAY #2
Australian Rugby League hasn’t always been the biggest bunch of geniuses on the planet, but this is some legendary stuff. This is an OFFICIAL promotion. The 80s’ were weird, man.
So after roughly 80 bazillion picks of who will/won’t/might/maybe contend at this week’s US Open at Shinnecock Hills, the winner was Brooks Koepka, otherwise known as the same guy who won last year.
But unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly a week of smooth sailing. Traffic (who knew that summer traffic in a summer destination was going to be an issue other than the millions of people who live/work/vacation in the area), course set-up, and a host of other issues got everyone riled up. Rather than offer my opinions, I’m ceding the floor to Golf Twitter to argue the issues of the week.
Issue: Phil Mickelson’s attempt at playing polo on 13 on Saturday was a disgrace and he should have been DQ on the spot and drawn & quartered. Or he was making a comment about the course conditions. Let’s go to the evidence.
For: He deliberately hit a moving ball to keep it from running off the green!
Against: The USGA gave him a 2-stroke penalty as prescribed by the rules.
For: Several players weren’t exactly happy with this. They typically don’t sound off en masse unless something goes completely off the rails (see Johnson, Dustin in 2016).
Against: He’s Phil Mickelson. It was his birthday! Fans love the guy! Fans don’t care what the haters think.
For: Oh, so the rules don’t apply to beloved players. His explanation was…well, you watch it.
Against: He wasn’t going to win so what’s the big deal? Shut up! Phil’s awesome!
For: Have you heard of protecting the field?
Against: Dummy says what?
For: He should have done the honorable thing and WD on Saturday night.
Against: He offered to and the USGA said no. Says his wife Amy.
Resolved: We disagree. Brendan Porath has a pretty smart take here. I also think John Feinstein gets it right (his words, not mine):
Here are two things that are crystal clear: First, Mickelson embarrassed himself with his sprint, spin and putt while his bogey putt was still rolling. Second, the USGA, already having a bad day because of the way Shinnecock Hills was set up, embarrassed itself further by not disqualifying Mickelson the instant he smugly told the media his act was intentional.
Issue: The USGA’s course set-up went off the rails. Again.
For: When you look at every foul-up or controversy at a men’s US Open, the problem can be traced back to course set-up. Golf Channel certainly didn’t mince words.
Against: It’s the National Championship! It’s supposed to be hard! Who wants to see someone win with 20 under as a score?
For: The USGA admitted that they lost the course on Saturday and several players agreed.
Against: Oh great, now the players are turning into snowflakes because the course is a bit difficult. Why not just get rid of all the rough and give everyone a trophy? I want it harder!
For: The greens were dead. Again. After pinkie-swearing that there would not be a repeat of 2004. They lost them in 2016, 2015, 2014. Merion was lambasted in 2013.
Against: US Open is supposed to be hard. HULK SMASH. Put bears in the fairway and land sharks in the rough. MUST MAKE HARD. What- they can’t play in wind anymore? Winning score should be 20 over par so that us regular golfers can relate!
For: It was windier than they expected. In an area that is known to be windy. Apparently with all this technology they literally can’t forecast wind a day in advance.
Against: It’s the National Championship, not some random tournament.
For: You can create a difficult challenge without stressing out greens.
Against: NO YOU CAN’T. They should be stimping out at 20. I WANT CARNAGE!!!
For: The Masters, Open Championship and USPGA manage course set-up without turning greens into parking lots.
Against: Did I stutter? I WANT CARNAGE! Tears, blood, and everything unfair. It’s our national championship and it should be hard!
For: It already is.
Against: No it’s not. I want a literal bloodbath. I want a 79 to be the low score of the week. I want to see scores in the 100’s. 9,000 yard courses, bunkers with poisonous snakes, 5-yard wide fairways. AHHHHH!
For: In that case they should just change the putting surfaces to concrete.
Against: Now you’re talking!
Resolved: Somewhere between last year’s event and this year, the USGA can and should create a difficult test that involves something more than lightning-fast greens. Luckily they should not need to do much to Pebble Beach for 2019.
Issue: Fans at the US Open behave inappropriately.
For: You don’t see this in Augusta or at the Open Championship.
Against: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Killjoy. Stop being a hater, broheim.
Resolved: The 2024 Ryder Cup is going to be a gong show.
Issue: Fox completed their 4th US Open so only 8 more years of this.
For: Their production and their technical advances are outstanding.
Against: Joe Buck.
For: Shane Bacon was outstanding.
Against: The Bill Hemmer interview during the 2nd round was a special kind of tone-deaf stupidity you only get from Fox.
For: Brad Faxon was outstanding. Not flashy, but does a solid job of telling the viewer something they probably don’t know.
Against: Picking up player-caddie discussions are great. Fan discussions about their…ahem…partners isn’t. Who thought this was a good idea?
For: Mike Davis appeared at the end of the 3rd round and took the hit for the course setup.
Against: Seriously. Get rid of Joe Buck. While you’re at it, tell Paul Azinger to drop the Grumpy Old Man bit.
Resolved: If Fox feels like they need him around, push Buck into a host role (think Bob Costas when NBC had the US Open) and find a competent 18th hole tower announcer. Maybe Shane Bacon is the answer, maybe he’s not. Think beyond the norm. Some people are good at golf. Buck isn’t. It’s been four years of USGA events; he’s not going to get better. It’s just not his thing.
SONG OF THE DAY
30 years ago today I went with some friends to see Depeche Mode at the Rose Bowl in California. Good times, minus the five couples around me who broke up (including the couple I went with), and two people projectile vomiting in the sink of the men’s washroom. Enjoy.
Last weekend’s Farmers Insurance Open should have been remembered for Tiger Woods returning to competitive golf and posting a better-than-expected finish in the top 30 and Jason Day winning in a 6-hole playoff that finished on Monday due to darkness on Sunday night. Unfortunately, what most die-hard types are talking about are the beyond-ridiculous four minutes and ten seconds it took for JB Holmes to play his second shot on 18 on Sunday.
You read this correctly; it took JB four minutes and ten seconds to play one shot. For the record, if someone I got stuck playing with pulled this, they’re getting left behind.
Golf already has a litany of issues; adding a televised slow play meltdown at a time when CBS was cutting into their coverage of the Grammy Awards was at best terrible. When Jim Nantz calls you out on live TV (he might have had an early dinner reservation for all I know, but still) for slow play, there’s a problem never mind all the people who wanted to watch the Grammy Awards getting pissed His fellow tour pros called him out on Twitter (calling him in his face en masse afterwards would have been preferable). The final threesome took six hours to finish and finished more than a hole and a half behind the group in front of them (at most public courses you’d have the marshal/player assistant/golf police drop the hammer). People wonder why slow play is a problem; it’s because people see this on TV and when they go to their local course they do the same crap (glacial pace of play, taking forever to read a green when putting, etc.).
Making matters worse, Holmes responded with something along the lines of not knowing he had a homework assignment due. He didn’t know how long he was taking was his actual excuse, which is some straight up bad etiquette. Again, pull this at any public course and the other people in your group and the marshal/ranger is going to light you up (and they should).
The solution is simple; the rules say it’s 40 seconds to pull a club and complete your shot. Two warnings, then a stroke penalty. Anything longer than 60 seconds is an automatic stroke penalty. Three stroke penalties in a tournament and it’s an automatic DQ. Two DQ’s in a season and you’re ineligible for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Three and you lose your card and are ineligible for sponsor exemptions. Make Ready Golf mandatory for PGA Tour events. I’d go so far as to set a daily time par based on the course, weather conditions, and how early/late the player goes out and make finishing outside a threshold of the time par a stroke penalty. Until you start hitting players where it hurts (on their scorecard, making them ineligible for playoffs and losing their Tour card), you’ll see the same crap every week.
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