The Card – Volume LIV

by | Sep 22, 2024 | The Card

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

 

  1. The opining on LIV golf and the PIF of Saudi Arabia has been comical at times beginning at the beginning with many pundits exclaiming LIV’s demise before they even launched.  This past week there was a report that one of the stipulations being proposed by PGA Tour members is that LIV players give back their signing bonuses specifically Jon Rahm.  Is it likely that tour players have voiced that as a reflex to a possible return for some players?  Sure, but as a reasonable negotiation point it’s imbecilic.  PGA Tour players at the top of the food chain trickling down to the upper middle class on the tour have leveraged the tour into a challenging financial position.  Seeking additional monetary retribution from defectors is not how all of this is going to be resolved. 
  1. The modest roll-out of the latest incarnation of the match featuring Bryson and Brooks vs. Rory and Scottie was telling on several levels.  It was not augmented by a PGA Tour attention seeking blitz and the sponsorship and venue was not identified.  Rory’s persistence in cleansing the waters with LIV is not new, it’s just more pronounced. The first indication that he was softening his position publicly was his practice round at the 2023 Masters with Brooks which was the first Masters with LIV players.  Additionally, Rory has aligned himself with Scottie who has been the most agnostic figure regarding all the unrest in the men’s sport.  Scottie and Brooks have the same agent, which is a wrinkle in all this, but Rory is being as impactful as he can be in spurring a resolution.  Rory is more fortified financially than virtually any other player, but he’s only focused on common ground and has expressed no interest in extracting money from LIV guys.
  1. Yasir Al-Rumayyan showed up at PGA Frisco this past week like many of us do when we find ourselves in the same town as a new venue or historic venue and we simply want to go by and see it unannounced.  But the head of the public investment fund of Saudi Arabia just turning up at PGA Frisco is funny, peculiar and kind of head scratching.  Within 24 hours the PGA of America announced something that we already knew and that is that LIV players will be eligible for the Ryder Cup on the United States side.  The visit by Yasir and the announcement seems oddly timed and I think that’s all it is.  The more interesting questions going forward how are quickly the Europeans re-engage former Ryder Cup stalwarts like Westwood, Poulter, Garcia and McDowell into the leadership system and will Keegan Bradley include LIV players in roles beyond potential team members?  I think the answer to both are beyond Bethpage, but Rahm, Hatton, Brooks and Bryson will be outfitted for competition a year from this time.
  1. The pre-event press conferences at LIV’s final team event of the year struck a consistent refrain from the headline players led by Phil Mickelson.  While changes to the overall construct of the tour is expected the appeals and desires for the team component to grow is telling.  The global footprint in the final four months of the year is the most viable pathway for integration between LIV and the PGA Tour.  The team dynamic being the primary driver of what is formed between the two entities and while there are only a few LIV players that the PGA Tour is anxious to re-introduce to tour events, the viability of top players like Scheffler, Schauffele and McIlroy playing some team events around the world is the carrot for LIV and the for profit arm of the PGA Tour is likely utilizing viability studies to assess the market value and revenue streams for the tour’s ignited a team division of its businesses.  The bigger question is how many top players want hard commitments outside the United States during football season?  The indication is not many.
  1. Matteo Manessero having two straight weeks with a chance to win big events, the Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship, is a testament to his belief and determination.  Manessero was ranked 1333 in the world at the end of 2019.  Five years later he is back inside the top 100 and he wasn’t gifted anything.  He was uneven on the final nine holes of both events but his ability to play his way into leads in big events is another big step for the one-time golden child of the DP World Tour.  
  1. Peter Malnati made the decision to travel to Wentworth to play the DP World Tour’s premier event.  Malnati missed the cut, but the grander point is the one worth making.  The best way to learn about yourself and grow is to take yourself to uncommon places.  Malnati is a great story in 2024 in his ability to express gratitude after winning the Valspar in March and after sharing his vulnerability and compassion after the passing of Grayson Murray in May.  Peter is an example that you don’t have to be a star to be an inspiring leader for your organization.
  1. Thriston Lawrence may have butchered the first playoff hole of the BMW PGA Championship, but he displayed more evidence that he is a top 50 player in the world heading into 2025 and his star will be on the rise even more in the United States.  At 27 with four wins on the DP world tour and a 4th place finish at the Open Championship Lawrence is projected to be on the Presidents Cup team in 2026 and I would have him in Montreal if I was Mike Weir as an indoctrination into the competition and look at him as a future commodity.  Building the culture to change the narrative requires different thinking.
  1. I made a point of watching the final couple holes of Mark O’Meara’s career as he came down the stretch at Pebble Beach on Saturday night.  Mark found a gear in the late 90’s rooted in his time and relationship with Tiger Woods that changed his historical trajectory.  The story of his first win on tour in 1984 was built on a summer of insane production and relentless play.  He played 32 events that year and had 11 top ten’s and four 2nd place finishes before breaking through in Milwaukee and finally winning by five shots over the best player in the world, Tom Watson.  Mark closing the book at Pebble where he won five times and once with his Dad, Big Bob, as his amateur partner.  I once played in a three-day event with Mark in Chicago, and I was a steaming bag of dog excrement and every time I see Mark I apologize.  Congratulations on a hall of fame career as a player and person.
  1. Rory’s year of heartbreak continues.  To his immense credit he keeps playing his way into the biggest moments in most tournaments and he did it again at the BMW PGA Championship.  This time it was Billy Horschel and his eagle on the second playoff hole that added another gutting chapter to Rory’s season.  The sensational way that Rory has come up short in some of these events does not rival Greg’ Norman’s episodic heartbreak but the results are eerily similar.  Rory will give it another try at St. Andrews in a weeks’ time at the Dunhill and if he happens to win that event with his dad it will be a wonderful elixir for a year of soul crushing seconds.
  1. Has any player evolved in the public’s eye more in the last decade than Billy Horschel.  He has thought beyond his own borders by becoming a global player.  He has been willing to share his righteous opinions about tour issues with the content leaders in the game and he has been a pragmatic and dignified professional. His comportment after the Open Championship was admirable.  His support of Aaron Rai down the stretch at the Wyndham Championship as Rai was trying to win for the first time was admirable.  Finally, his reflection on beating Rory in the playoff was top class and authentic.  Impressive evolution.
  1. Mike Weir needs a raucous atmosphere in Montreal from the opening match on Thursday.  He will most certainly get that from fantastic Canadian golf fans, but the rub is maintaining it.  Expect Canadian players to lead the home team on that first day and I will focus on the players who are there, but it will always confound me that Nick Taylor is not on the team.  His win last year in Canada was the biggest moment in Canadian golf since Weir won the Masters not to mention he’s unafraid of the big moments.  A total miss.
  1. Min Woo Lee will be the breakout star this week for either team.  Like Tom Kim, Max Homa, Sergio Garcia, and Patrick Reed in recent memory in team competitions, Lee is a hot dog in the best way.  He’s a showoff and he will be completely turned on by the environment.  
  1. The other big question for Mike Weir this week is what he will get and how many matches from Adam Scott and Jason Day.  Scott has had a very good run of golf going back to late summer and Day is a malleable team guy willing to play with anyone.  Scott is the presumptive captain in 2028 in Australia and you just wonder if he will experience winning the event just once as a player.
  1. This is a critical week for Keegan Bradley as he assesses pairing and the culture.  He knows that the Ryder Cup team next September will most likely include Bryson and Brooks which is big oxygen coming into the team room.  The other questions include who on this U.S. team beyond the top five are viable back half the roster guys at Bethpage.  Finally, can he identify a solid partner for Scottie Scheffler not named Sam Burns since he is far from a lock for next year.
  1. Jim Furyk made it clear this past week he’s not in on the premise that the USA losing is in the best future interests of the event.  The imbalance is a challenge to rev up a fan base amid football season, but the health of the event financially is very good.  The next three events starting in Chicago and then onto Australia will be home runs for a sponsorship and hospitality standpoint just like this one will be, as were Quail Hollow and Royal Melbourne.  The PGA Tour hasn’t built this for thirty years to suddenly share in the profits.  If you want a mixed team event, I’m for it but it will not be this event.
  1. The Johnson Wagner re-enactments this week in Montreal will be epic.  After long days having Johnson on the lager lathered fairways of Royal Montreal will be a tremendous scene.  Expect the cackling from Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley on the “Live From” desk to be next level.
  1. This week we will release for the 1st part of a 2-part conversation with Rich Lerner of Golf Channel.  Learning about Rich’s path in the game and his career and life in television is nostalgic and illuminating.  From his view of his partners on Live From to the best broadcasters of all time and his look at where it’s all going.  Rich is a friend and an elite essayist and host.  I know you’ll enjoy this broad and deep conversation available on the website and YouTube channel at 5 Clubs.
  1. I’m headed to the Scottish Highlands this week and you can count on daily diaries and short videos from Royal Dornoch, Nairn, Skibo Castle, Muirfield, Gullane and North Berwick.  Highs in the upper 40’s and low 50’s.  That’s four-ply cashmere layering weather.  Hell yeah!

The Card – Volume LIII

by | Sep 16, 2024 | The Card

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

 

  1. The Solheim Cup is the crown jewel of the LPGA and therefore every finite detail is amplified when you have the most attention you can get as a sports organization.  Which makes the abject fiasco of the shuttle service on Friday morning and then again when fans were leaving that night a mind-blowing failure.  The infrastructure of the club, RTJ, the years of planning and the necessity to execute the entry and exit of your fans expertly should prompt a complete overhaul of the policies and procedures of the LPGA’s Solheim Cup planning team.  Lastly, offering free general admission tickets to fans who already have tickets and just had a miserable experience is not the right concession.  Simply put, a complete disaster. 
  1. The pre-determined decision made by Jack Fulghum, Megan Khang’s caddy and Taylor Takada, Alison Lee’s caddy to rip their shirts off if either of their players holed out a shot from the fairway is one of the dumbest things I’ve seen in a team competition.  After audibling from a 500 dollar wager the caddy duo took center stage after Lee holed her second shot on the 2nd hole.  The 2nd hole, that alone is ridiculous, but compounding the imbecilic behavior was the reality that Madelene Sagstrom still had a shot from the fairway.  The American team was let off the hook when Suzann Petterson, the European captain, took a lighthearted attitude towards the caddy buffoonery.  Let’s all agree that caddies being a part of any team competition story now or ever is not the objective.
  1. Speaking of Petterson, if this is the end of her direct involvement in the Solheim Cup as a front facing figure in the competition she will go down as one of the true legends of the event.  Her walk off win into retirement will likely never be duplicated but it was always her appetite for the confrontation of the competition that made her the perfect Solheim Cup antagonist.
  1. Despite getting dusted in Sunday singles 6&4 by Charley Hull, the week for Nelly Korda was a rousing success.  She was the centerpiece of the American team and was fantastic in team play with Megan Khang and Allisen Corpuz with superior shot making and timely eagle putts that put a charge into the home crowd.  She was also the chief hype person for the team.  Additionally, she was the most sought-after photo op amongst the celebs on the first tee including Jessica Alba, whose Solheim Cup fandom I was not aware of.  Nelly was a big winner.
  1. Megan Khang was a superstar for Stacy Lewis’ team.  She was a part of three blowouts including her singles win of 6&5 over Emily Pederson.  Certain players are built for the environment of a Solheim Cup where you don’t ease into the competition.  You are tossed into the blender on the first tee and you either get oriented to it or you will get overrun.  Khang was basking in the blender.
  1. The news of Tiger Woods’ sixth back surgery didn’t hit with much surprise.  It was simply a reminder that the focus on one ailment or physical issue, naturally neglects the other significant physical challenges Tiger deals with as he approaches his 49th birthday in late December.  We all hope he can play some golf with Charlie and at his own event before the new year but the plausibility of Tiger ever really being able to win again gets even more remote.  It doesn’t change the interest and curiosity in his pursuit of being competitive in the majors but the likelihood that he will have a chapter in the twilight of his career like Phil, Jack, Watson and Snead is hard to fathom.  If you can’t play enough around those weeks, you just can’t win.
  1. PGA Tour you have to know that scheduling a meeting with the principles of the public investment fund of Saudi Arabia in New York City on the eve of 9-11 or on 9-11 is at minimum a very bad look, and at worst, a sloppy and tone-deaf gesture void of awareness.  Have the meeting almost anywhere, but NOT there and not on 9-11. Do we really even have to ask?
  1. Rory McIlroy has had many examples of the duality of his career.  Extraordinary accomplishment and mind-bending heartbreak.  I have no idea if the conclusion of the Irish Open summed up his year or his career.  McIlroy possessed a two-shot lead late on Sunday at Royal County Down only to see Rasmus Hojgaard post 65 with a birdie-birdie-birdie finish to deny McIlroy a truly sweet victory in his home country of Northern Ireland.  Rory bogeyed the 15th and then 3-putted the 17th to be forced to make eagle on the last hole to tie Hojgaard Rory produced two majestic shots only to burn the right edge with his eagle putt and experience once again a searing loss at home.  All historic players have chapters of heartbreak, but Rory has a rolodex of heartache in the last couple years unmatched by any player of his ilk.  He also never has a title gifted to him.
  1. Declaring any golf course, the best in the world is a fool’s errand.  However, I think most well-traveled golfers can construct a relatively short list and Royal County Down would be on that list.  Seeing it presented from the sky with drones and getting a week of brisk and dry conditions only showcased the wonder of RCD even more.  The collage of the Mourne mountains, the dundrum bay and the routing of the holes on the championship course is a golf nirvana. 
  1. Alex Fitzpatrick posted his fourth top 10 on the DP World Tour and the younger brother U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick looks the part.  At 25 after a full college experience at Wake Forest behind him Alex is likely not going to thrust himself into the Ryder Cup conversation for 2025 but his future is bright and his girlfriend, Rachel Kuehn, also an All American at Wake Forest, is just beginning her professional journey.
  1. This past week the founder and owner of the Ohoopee Match Club welcomed 24 kids from The First Tee and Underrated Golf.  12 boys and 12 girls given three full days of golf, fellowship, and time with a collection of mentors who have experienced enormous success in a variety of fields from business to sports to music.  To be there to witness the joy and gratitude of these young people was one of the highlights of the year.  Additionally, every kid received a significant contribution towards their college experiences.  The Indigo and Gopher matches is being annualized and its impact on young people invested in golf is just beginning.
  1. The addition of Brandt Snedeker to Jim Furyk’s Presidents Cup staff is the latest indication of the big pivot in the team USA brain trust.  It’s not unreasonable that Snedeker could be a captain of either USA team in the immediate future.  Continuity amongst the voices in the room between the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup captains’ rooms should be used to the Americans advantage.  It will be interesting to see if Tiger will want to be present at Bethpage knowing how his place there will naturally take the attention away from Keegan Bradley.  His decision not to captain the team next year likely means he will stay away altogether.  
  1. Max Homa missing the cut in Napa is not a nightmare scenario for his position on the Presidents Cup team but his inability to find some form and good thoughts at a place with great personal memories is not what Homa and captain Jim Furyk were hoping for this past week.  Homa has thrived in his two cup appearances, but his form was decidedly better than it is currently.
  1. Jimmy Walker played in the Irish Open this past week and shot 65 on Sunday to finish tied for 7th place.  Walker was among the best players in the world when he won the PGA in 2016 and soon after was stricken with Lyme’s disease which stripped him of his competitiveness on the PGA tour almost altogether.  The story of what happened to Walker has received little attention and the story should be told of the years of neurological unrest Walker dealt with.
  1. Lexi Thompson’s Solheim Cup career concluded Sunday with a difficult 1 down loss to Celine Boutier.  Thompson had a decent week and it’s inevitable that she will captain the United States team, the question is when.  The U.S. has a number of marquee players from the past 15 years who are likely to get the nod over the next decade.  Where does Thompson fall in the line and the bigger question is will Michelle Wie get the appointment?  Emphatically yes and you can expect it before Lexi gets her own captaincy.
  1. The next six weeks of golf in the northeast and Midwest are the best days.  Lower temperatures, lower humidity and an abundance of color on the ground and in the trees.  From Northern Michigan to Plymouth Massachusetts, to East Hampton New York this is the greatest playing window of the year.
  1. Lilia Vu making the winning putt for the United States is appropriate.  She has become the most reliable big game hunter in the sport.  Unwavering ability to thrive under intense pressure and her putt to force the extension of her singles match to the 18th hole symbolized who she is, a total stud.
  1. International Team golf competitions are the most enthralling form of golf entertainment.  Primarily because we see it infrequently, it’s confrontational, the players emote unlike any other time that they are playing, and we know we are getting resolution every four hours with matches.  The Solheim Cup managed a tricky situation with back-to-back editions, but it is now on the International Presidents Cup team to bring the fight to the United States or the cries for a radical reconstruction of the format will get louder than they already are.