by Gary Williams | Jul 24, 2023 | The Card
- Brian Harman did to an Open Championship field what other Americans like Jones, Hagen, Palmer and Woods did before him, win by six or more.
- Scottie Scheffler is having one of the great statistical ball-striking seasons of all time but being shut out in the majors and his last win being in March leaves his season feeling unfilled, to this point.
- The Player of the Year race has fallen flat.
- Royal Liverpool’s new 17th hole didn’t hit the mark. It reduced the whole field to hit a wedge to the middle of the green and have the same length putt.
- Jason Day and Rickie Fowler are having a great ‘Comeback Player of the Year” race, if one actually still existed.
- First tee shot in the air and last putt holed every day is now the standard broadcast model for three majors. With the much smaller field and a superior digital product, The Masters continues to be the standard.
- Nick Faldo’s retirement from broadcasting has allowed him much more free time for broadcasting.
- Sepp Straka will be the most southern member of the European Ryder Cup team of all time.
- The U.S. Ryder Cup team is much less of a favorite in Rome than anyone thought they would be eight months ago.
- The Wyndham Championship is gonna be tremendous.
- A dose of Jaime Diaz on the “Live From” set each night is good for everyone.
- Rory McIlroy goes into his 10th year in pursuit of his 5th major title. The average time it has taken for the other eighteen men who have won 5 majors or more to get major win number 5, less than two and half years.
- Who is the most accomplished player yet to truly contend to win a major? Patrick Cantlay. One top 5 and it was a distant third at the 2019 PGA.
- First seven names on the Open leaderboard were from different nations. In the absence of a dominant one, and more global depth, we are looking at a decade like the 90’s where there were 28 different major champions.
- The Open was the worst performing major by LIV players and it wasn’t even close with only one top 20 finish by Henrik Stenson who finished T13.
- This will be the week that Jay Monahan will begin his in-person relationship rehabilitation with Tour members, if it’s possible.
- Matthew Jordan top 10’ing at his home club after hitting the opening tee shot was Michael Block lite, minus the “Raising Canes” sponsorship.
- Tiger Woods will play in the next major.
by Gary Williams | Jul 17, 2023 | The Card
The Card – Volume I
18 thoughts, observations and predictions:
- Rory’s 2-3 finish with the wind pumping and his two-iron to 18 that set up his winning birdie at the Scottish may portend a historic week upcoming and the beginning of his second major wave.
- Robert MacIntyre just made the European Ryder Cup team.
- Iona Stephen is a star broadcaster. So comfortable, confident and makes short conversations redeemable.
- I wish Nick Faldo’s hole-in-one reaction in his Ryder Cup singles match against Paul Azinger was equal to Steph Curry’s. A homicide as a footnote to a Ryder Cup would trump The Concession.
- I’ve taken more lessons in the last two months than I have in three decades and I am starting to get the chasing distance rabbit hole.
- The hood on Tommy Fleetwood’s Friday hoodie at the Scottish was from the wardrobe of the “Dead Poets Society”.
- Jim McMahon never missing a start in the American Century in the event’s history is pretty ironic.
- More co-sanctioned events are coming and not fast enough. Barbasol was a stew of backgrounds, nations and career paths.
- Linn Grant was the latest legit 59 watch on a major tour this past week at Dana Open. He never broke golf’s sound barrier, but Lanny Wadkins remains the guy, to me, least afraid of shooting nothing.
- Hoylake doesn’t get the affection of others in the rota but it is a canyon of ball striking heroes.
- Tyrrell Hatton is Ryder Cup Europe’s new world class irritant. Americans will loathe him come late September and he’s gonna be a very tough point.
- Steve Stricker won his 3rd senior major this year. Could senior accomplishments nudge a player into the hall of fame? Emphatically NO.
- Jay Monahan returns to work this week and fence mending with his players is far more important right now than public posturing about control of something that is far from complete.
- Cam Smith’s road since St. Andrews is as unorthodox as we’ve seen in generations and he absolutely can repeat.
- The new 17th at Hoylake will get tons of deserved attention as we are seeing a refreshing desire to showcase the teeny 3’s at majors. Nice that Troon’s postage stamp, 12 at Augusta and 7 at Pebble have some new company.
- Crystal Downs really, really got to me. Time capsule stuff. Testament to the value and joy of staying true to what you’ve always been.
- Peter Alliss you are missed, this week just amplifies it for all of us.
- Rory is the pick.
Enjoy the Open Championship.
