The Card – Volume XXXIII

by | Mar 25, 2024 | The Card

18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…

 

  1. Jesper Svensson won the Porsche Singapore Classic in a playoff over Kiradech Aphibarnrat. Svensson shot a final round 63 to secure his first win on the DP World Tour.  After winning on the Nordic Golf League in 2020 and then the B-NL Challenge Tour, Svensson began his ascent on leaderboards on the DP World Tour.  Based on the reaction from some established players in Europe the Swede has a high ceiling.  
  1. Californian Asterisk Talley won the girls division and Giovanni Daniele Binaghi from Italy won the boys division of the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.  Talley led wire to wire and the 15-year old’s 9 under is the lowest total recorded on the girl’s side.  Binaghi went 30 holes without a bogey and shot 64 in the final round.  Italy might have another top talent for future Ryder Cup consideration. 
  1. The reports that Tiger Woods was fully engaged in the meetings last week between the PGA Tour and Yasir Al-Rumayyan and the PIF should come as zero surprise.  If it was reported that Tiger acted disinterested, then you might have a story.  As for Al-Rumayyan, you think he was pumped to play golf with Tiger?  Based on his golf nerdiness he had to be downright giddy.
  1. Hughes Norton was Tiger Woods’ first agent, and he was a super-agent to the stars in the 70’s. 80’s and 90’s.  His new book, “Rainmaker” is a recommended read for all the stories about Greg Norman, Raymond Floyd, Fred Couples, Curtis Strange and of course Tiger.  It also provides very good historical context about the growth of IMG as a sports agency and industry monolith.  Hughes joined me for an hour conversation about the book and his motivation to tell his story including Tiger Woods firing him and then losing his job and career. It’s available on all the digital audio platforms, our YouTube channel and website at www.5Clubsgolf.com 
  1. Jordan Spieth missed his second straight cut and unlike the Players where his record is abysmal the missed cut at Valspar is more troubling because he plays very well at the Copperhead Course including winning there in 2015.  The most troubling is the continued poor iron play.  Spieth needs to find something in his final start in a week’s time at Valero for many people, me included, to believe he’s a real contender at the Masters.
  1. Justin Thomas entered the weekend at Valspar as the favorite and after Saturday’s debacle was left scratching his head.  His putting performance on the weekend, punctuated by the Saturday 79, was among the worst statistically in the last several years on the PGA Tour. After a solid start to his season, he has become a question mark again, especially on the weekend.  He’s missed the cut in two of his last four starts and his putting stats are among the worst on tour.  NOT the trend line for Augusta National.
  1. Rory McIlroy has always let his opinions evolve with time and information.  His stance on LIV/PIF is a case study on why it’s important not to take absolute positions.  He made it clear and without ambiguity that he did not like the source of the LIV money at all and later that he hated LIV.  He still says nothing positive about the LIV product, but he has become almost an advocate for Yasir Al-Rimayyan.  He said this past week that there is a clear distinction between LIV and PIF and that LIV and specifically Greg Norman have done Yasir a disservice in the way they’ve represented him.  He is now unabashedly supportive of PIF investment the PGA Tour.
  1. The Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship this past week on the LPGA was played at Palos Verdes Golf Club outside of Los Angeles.  Golf in Southern California is so rich with good golf courses.  Wilshire Country Club is undergoing a major capital project and Hillcrest, which hosted a U.S. sectional qualifier in 2023 also underwent a restoration, both under the direction of Kyle Phillips.  Phillips doesn’t get the attention of Gil Hanse or Coore/Crenshaw but his work is outstanding.
  1. Speaking of Kyle Phillips, he will design the third golf course and final golf course at the Apogee Club in Martin County, FL with construction getting rolling in 2025.  I played the first golf course completed at Apogee this past week which was designed by Gil Hanse/Jim Wagner and their great team.  The project is ambitious to say the least.  Three courses, a 55 acre practice complex, two clubhouses, 55 cottages for members and their guests and every other conceivable amenity.  The developers are Steve Ross and Michael Pascucci, owner of the Miami Dolphins and the founder of Sebonack respectively.  This is a legacy project for both men who are in their 80’s.  Apogee amplifies the appetite for super high end golf offerings, specifically in South Florida.  The Hanse course ties in the natural surrounds exceptionally well and shows off the deft touch of Hanse/Wagner to create something that simply fits in.
  1. I also took in the Grove XXIII experience for the first time while in South Florida.  Michael Jordan loves golf, and he also loves the finer things and the best toys.  Grove XXIII is one of golf’s great toy departments.  The caddies on scooters, souped up golf carts, a grill room that would be the ideal place to watch every single global sporting event simultaneously and the best wagyu nachos in golf.  What an obscene display of every bell and every whistle.  GOAT doing GOAT things.
  1. Houston has been a fantastic market for professional golf for decades and decades.  It will once again play host to the women’s first major next week at the Chevron and this coming week it returns to an early spring date on the PGA Tour.  Houston had embraced the week before the Masters date at Golf Club of Houston and attracted good fields with an agronomic set up trying to mirror Augusta National.  The event moved to the fall at a re-done Memorial Park under the direction of Tom Doak.  The field is ok this coming week, but they have made progress and getting out of the fall was critical to reclaim a semblance of what they used to be.
  1. Billy Harmon has spoken publicly and passionately about his life of recovery from alcoholism.  This weekend Bill and his wife Robin hosted the Harmon Recovery Foundation fundraiser.  With the PGA Tour Champions in Southern California, Bill was able to garner the support of many of his old friends to participate in the golf outing on Monday to raise money for the foundation,  including Mark Calcavecchia, Billy Andrade, Jay Haas, Joe Durant, Mark Hensby and brother Butch Harmon.  Bill Harmon is an inspiration and a guiding light for so many in the recovery community.
  1. Xander Schauffele lives inside the top 10 and makes a ton of cash but he leaves you wanting.  His Sunday 65 at Valspar gave him another great result but winning separates players, not top 10’s.  He is inching toward two years without a win on the PGA Tour and he will go into the Masters as a legit favorite but he’s got a vortex he needs to break through to be looked upon the way JT, Scheffler, Rahm, Morikawa and Koepka are.  
  1. Cam Young finishing second is what he does but the inevitability of him winning is stronger than any non-winner currently playing.  What I will not subscribe to is the idea that him winning will open the floodgates.  His putter, which failed him on 18 Sunday, will be the preventative of him winning in bunches.  His ball striking is elite but it’s not as good as Scottie Scheffler, who is, and Scottie almost went a year without a win when his putter went ice cold.  Young is a threat at Augusta, but he needs strides to make him a short list favorite.
  1. Peter Malnati has kept his name in the golf news over the past couple years because he’s been representing the rank and file on the policy board.  His win at a ball strikers paradise is beyond impressive.  He had absolutely zero record at Valspar and he’s a pea-shooting unicorn in a land of bombers.  Him winning can inspire anyone that they can do it they believe they can do it.  Peter oozes positivity and his immediate reflections with Kira Dixon were outstanding.  What a great win.
  1. Grant Boone never seeks personal attention as the primary host of the LPGA on Golf Channel.  Grant is such a professional broadcaster.  Excellent in all areas.
  1. Michael Bamberger has returned to Golf.com and Golf magazine and his first profile of David Feherty is outstanding.  Michael is such a wonderful writer and his ability to capture the essence of someone is a wonderful skill.
  1. Nelly Korda winning on the LPGA is the best result for that tour.  Full stop.

The Card – Volume XXXII

by | Mar 18, 2024 | The Card

18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…

 

  1. This was an outstanding week for NBC/Golf Channel’s team.  The Live From crew and their aggregate of writers and reporters filled early week hours.  The decision to bring Gary Koch and Roger Maltbie back was nostalgic and they were what they’ve always been, excellent.  That should be duplicated at the U.S. Open.  The combination of Mike Tirico and Dan Hicks made the broadcast feel weightier.  The limited commercials and enhanced graphic packages raised the TV product and Kevin Kisner and Brad Faxon meshed.  All together it was very well done start to finish. 
  1. Great chemistry doesn’t need reps.  The Live From team of Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley have not been together since last fall, and they did not miss a beat.  It is a superior television product and the lack of recognition from those responsible for handing out Emmy nominations should be ashamed.  I consume, and have consumed, studio shows in all sports for decades and there are not five better studio programs in all of sports.  Lerner is a world class host, McGinley has depth and righteousness, and Chamblee is a true lethal weapon of eloquence, quantitative data and historical context.  This is not a golf bias; this is a bias toward great television work.   
  1. The 5 Clubs team knows how good Johnson Wagner can be at the golf gasbagging job.  He knows it and he loves it.  This past week under the direction of senior coordinating producers Matt Hegarty and Alan Robson of Golf Channel, Johnson was unleashed to show his range.  They expertly put him in a variety of roles from an early walk and talk with Justin Thomas to his nightly re-enactments of events from the day at the Players.  Expect more of “What Would Johnson Do” going forward at the PGA, the U.S. Open and beyond.  We hope the co-host of “The Wagyu Filet Show” will still have time for 5 Clubs duties. 
  1. The annual debate of the merits of the 17th hole at the stadium course are always going to be interesting.  I think it’s the most appropriate hole for the Players and especially where it is on the golf course.  It is provocative, controversial (not to me at all), telegenic and captivating.  What more could you possibly want from a televised golf hole in a professional event.  Alice Dye, you nailed it. 
  1. Jordan Spieth missed the cut at the Players.  No shock, that’s his sixth missed cut since his debut T4 in 2014.  Spieth is in the top 10 in strokes gained total for the season and his chipping and putting have been have excellent.  He needs to improve his iron play between now and Masters week.  I remain very bullish on him at Augusta because nobody has been more consistently good since his first three starts at the Masters produced a 2-1-2 area code.  He’s my Masters pick until further notice. 
  1. Jay Monahan’s Tuesday press conference was neither damaging nor fortifying to his current persona amongst the fans and the media.  Kevin Van Valkenburg of ‘No Laying Up” wrote an excellent piece summarizing the challenges and dynamics at work right now for the commissioner but the biggest challenge I see and feel facing Monahan is the ongoing vibe that he has been irretrievably diminished.  
  1. This past week you heard more opinions on the path forward for the tour from the stars to the “rank and file”.  The common conclusion is that the house is divided and that’s not only at the top between the likes of Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.  
  1. Speaking of Spieth and McIlroy, the drop ruling on the 7th hole on Thursday of the Players along with Viktor Hovland got a ton of attention.  Three stars taking that amount of time is uncommon, but one thing was unequivocally true.  It was an adult and professional discussion.  It never got contentious or confrontational.  If I’m a fellow competitor I want Rory’s group to not be pushovers or disinterested in what he is doing.  All parties wanted to get it right.  It was a good lesson. 
  1. Anthony Kim played in his first event since his return with a cut and he missed it by eight shots.  I’ll remind you what I said in advance of his first start on LIV, let’s give a thorough assessment at the end of the year.  He’s been exactly what you’d expect him to be.  Overmatched. 
  1. Shane Lowry had T4 at PGA National and 3rd at Bay Hill and just added another solid finish at the Players with a final round 66.  Add to that his last four starts at the Masters have produced four results in the top 25 punctuated by a T3 in 2022.  He is doing a proper build to the first major of the year.  
  1. The world’s best junior golf tournament will be held this coming week.  The Junior Invitational at Sage Valley was created in 2011 and winners in the modest history include Scottie Scheffler, Austin Eckroat, Joaquin Neimann, Akshay Bhatia, Caleb Surratt, and Aldrich Potgieter.  Sage Valley wanted to make a contribution when the club was founded, and they’ve cultivated an event that provides the biggest stage for junior golfers.  They have more recently added a girl’s division and Anna Davis is the reigning girl’s winner. 
  1. Sam Ryder put together one of the greatest roller coaster rides in Players Championship history.  Ryder set an all-time Players at the stadium course record by recording 27 birdies for the week.  He also added 10 bogeys, 2 double bogeys and a triple bogey.  If you were a friend of Ryder and walked all four rounds with him, you will be equally exhilarated and nauseous. 
  1. When he concluded his final round, Patrick Cantlay confirmed that members of the PGA Tour’s policy board will have a meet and greet with members of the Public investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.  How substantive the get together will be is hard to say but the sharing of ideas beyond Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Jay Monahan had to happen if they expect to truly advance the dialogue. 
  1. Rory McIlroy recorded 26 birdies for the week, but he offset that great stat with too many double bogeys.  He has yet to record a top 15 in five starts on the PGA Tour but he did get a win in the Middle East to start the year.  He committed to more golf in advance to the Masters and his personal Rubicon, but the build has not fired yet.  It may mean very little when he gets to Augusta National but not being in contention one time in the United States for three months would be odd and not ideal. 
  1. Scottie Scheffler in his own words said he slapped it around on Saturday because of the neck discomfort.  That line will stand up for a long time.  He is doing historical stuff and if he putts reasonably well, he is going to win.  The other thing about Scheffler is that he is not distracted.  He’s not attending clandestine meetings with the PIF or sparring on social media.  He plays golf for a living and does it better than anyone. 
  1. Brian Harman will leave the Players proving once again that he is among the best.  His shot shaping and insistence on being in the mix bodes well for him as we head into major championship season.  He would not be among the Masters favorites, but he is carving out a reputation in a bombers era as a throwback. 
  1. Wyndham Clark did not have his best stuff on Saturday and gutted out a 70.  Sunday his putter failed him and yet he hit monster shots on 16, 17, and 18 and his violent lip out on the closing hole will be a lasting image of the championship.  He’s got as much big tools as anyone, and he looms very large at Augusta National. 
  1. The Players was the type of event that the PGA Tour desperately needed.  The best stood tall, and the golf course is always a costar.  The men’s professional game needed a boast and the best player and the stage delivered.