Golfing News & Blog Articles

He’s back with the flatbellies at this week’s ZOZO Championship outside L.A— but Phil Mickelson is now 2 for 2 on the PGA Tour Champions after passing Mike Weir to win the Dominion Energy Classic.

He may make some odd course management decisions, but the flexibility and strength at 50 is so impressive and why he could be competitive a long time:

"If he gets this on the green, he's Superman."

🦸 pic.twitter.com/GAZo1QJNG8

His post-65 final round comments:

He's done it again! @PhilMickelson after second win. https://t.co/JPTFcJ2JxL

If you watched—and judging by the crickets on social media you didn’t—the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek produced a rewarding finish where a journeyman finally broke through after a mind-numbing 233 starts.

Jason Kokrak has contended so many times and finally broke through in the Asia Swing event moved to Las Vegas, holding off Xander Schauffele at Shadow Creek.

Kokrak’s first PGA Tour victory comes in his 233rd career start and as Ben Everill notes, the long-hitter won this on with the short stick. And maybe some local knowledge.

With just a little research we would have known Kokrak is part of at BetMGM-sponsored crew who often play Shadow Creek – one of the more exclusive courses in the U.S. While the majority of players in the field this week had never played the course or had less than a handful of rounds at the place, Kokrak guesses he’s been out here “north of 20 rounds.”

“I have played quite a few rounds here at Shadow Creek so I know the greens pretty well, I know the little intricacies of this place. Not like some of the local caddies, but it is definitely a place that I feel comfortable at,” he said.

And he played with that sort of familiarity, leading the field in Strokes Gained: Putting for the first time in his now 10-season career.

Kokrak “gained” 10.293 strokes on the field with his putting.

Happy 160th birthday to The Open and that grand October 17th day at Prestwick when a small gathering played for the belt.

No author is listed, but what a perfect way to commemorate the beginning of it all (for pro golf at least) by highlighting what the world looked like then. And I’m sure all of the grateful pro golfers aound the world today uttered a thought or two of appreciation today for the pioneering work of the Morris’s and Park’s that has allowed them to stockpile Porsches and bloated annuities.

A few of my favorites from 1860, courtesy of The Open site:

- Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States of America, making him the first Republican to hold the office.

- In 1860, there were only 33 American states, as opposed to the 50 that exist now, while the population of the USA was approximately 31 million. Today, the US population is over ten times as great, at 330 million.

Defending Champions Adam Scott, Inbee Park and Matt Jones

For the first time since the final year of World War II, the men’s Australian Open golf tournament will not be staged. Due to COVID-19 related issues, Golf Australia has also announced the cancellation of the Australian PGA and Women’s Open, which were last cancelled in 1995 and 2006, respectively.

From Golf Australia’s announcement:

“But even with multiple contingency plans, it has reached a point where decisions have to be made and this, regrettably, is the one we’ve had to take.”

A raft of measures were considered – including players entering a hub and competing while serving a strict quarantine period, as well as restricting crowd numbers and movement – but all options were unviable.
“We look forward to bringing all three tournaments alive again when they return as normal for summer 2021-22,” Kirkman said.

The Australian Open and Australian PGA Championship – the feature events on the PGA Tour of Australasia – were originally slated for a late November and early December window, to be played at Melbourne’s Kingston Heath and Brisbane’s Royal Queensland, respectively.

It appears it's time to press pause on the ANGC No. 13 Tee discussion - at least for now 😉 ©12OCT2020 David Dobbins/EurekaEarth * #EurekaEarth #NotDrone #DiscoverThePresent * #themasters #aerialphoto #aerialphotography #augustaga #augustanational #golfstagram #instagolf #golf #golfer #loveaugusta #masters #masters2020 #mastersgolf #morningdrive #tigerwoods #pgatour #golfaugusta #whyilovethisgame #augustanational #angc #pga365 #golfporn #augustanational #topgolf #fallMasters #topgolfaugusta #beautifulgolfcourses

The service road is in, the trees are planted and room has been left for a new 13th tee at Augusta National. All that’s missing is that magical blue hue in Rae’s Creek!

As you can see from Eureka Earth’s latest shot, the land acquired from Augusta Country Club behind the current tee now includes a handsomely decorated service road with lights, landscaping and even a sound wall on the inside corner to shield a future 13th tee.

This is all my nice build-up to pointing out the obvious: it will be years before an extended 13th tee could look even remotely attractive.

Now, I know what you’re saying, extending the par-5 13th would be all about restoring the risk-reward nature. Who cares if the back drop is more Sage Valley than Augusta National. The answer? The Lords of Augusta care.

The Houston Open hosted by the Astros* Foundation will be the second PGA Tour stop to welcome back fans. Capped at 2000 a day, as ESPN.com’s Bob Harig reports here, masks will be required. So will financing.

The Tour and the Houston Open announced Friday that up to 2,000 tickets would be available per day at $79 for the opening round and $109 per day for the remaining three rounds, prices that include food options.

The tour has not allowed spectators at events since returning from a 13-week break due to the coronavirus pandemic in June. The PGA Championship and U.S. Open were played without spectators, and the Masters will also not permit them when it is played next month.

I note the price merely because a round of golf at Memorial, renovated by Tom Doak and Brooks Koepka for the Houston Open, charges $30 on weekdays and $38 on weekends for 18 holes. Now that’s a deal!

Distance deniers have long found excuses for why golf’s governing bodies should not do their job by taking some dimples off the ball or reducing driver head sizes for elites. So they’ve blamed everything from agronomic influences to silly assertions about the crossover athletic abilities of modern golfers. But the message is always the same: tweaking the existing equipment rules to ensure courses and skill remain relevant would be unfathomable.

Typically, the contrarians are motivated by pure dollars and (ad) cents. Lately even more casual golfers are invested in the notion of athleticism as a life style that makes them, as average golfers, athletes too. Yikes.

Long ago we were told the equipment rules had drawn a line in the sand and anything more would prompt action. That was May, 2002. Now carry distances are absurd, Bryson DeChambeau has proven that speed and good putting can be everything, and even Rory McIlroy admits to making moves in an effort to maintain relevance.

From his pre-CJ Cup press conference at Shadow Creek, as reported by Rex Hoggard:

McIlroy also addressed the issue of whether the distance craze has reached a tipping point.

“It's the way the game's going,” he said. “I got sent a really good article last weekend, it was in the Wall Street Journal just about every single sport becoming faster, longer, stronger and I don't think golf's any different. I'm just trying to keep up with the way it's going.”

Unless Jack Nicklaus comes out of retirement and shocks everyone by forcing a playoff with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy, I’m pretty sure no one wants 2020-labeled gear. Even from The Masters.

But as reported previously, the club confirmed that those with ticket privileges lost due to the pandemic will still be able buy Masters merchandise online. From Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com story:

“Patrons will have the ability to shop,” a club spokesperson said via email, noting that means specifically ticket holders of record.

So those who were fortunate enough to have purchased tickets for the 2020 tournament through Augusta National will still be able to get their hands on this year’s merchandise. More details will be sent to ticket holders via email. There is also a limit of two orders per person, though it’s unclear if there is a limit to the number of items per order.

This will be fascinating as both an e-commerce story and on an eBay sales watch front.

With Phil Mickelson the lone professional and Peyton Manning expected to return, it sounds like the pro will take on the amateurs this day-after-Thanksgiving. Charles Barkley and Steph Curry step in to The Match 3, report Anthony Crupi and Scott Soshnick for Sportico.

The event is again expected to be played the day after Thanksgiving. The Match 2, one of the first post-pandemic live sports events, was the most watched golf telecast in cable history.

I don’t believe that will happen this time around. Just saying. Only the boldest predictions can be found here.

Paulsen looks at the declines in 2020 sports ratings and golf enjoys a split decision, with a big win for CBS Sports.

CBS’s “return” events are among the few sports up in the ratings, as was the PGA Championship (though I’d argue a surprising mere 3% given the fantastic finish and west coast prime time slot).

The U.S. Open’s move back to NBC/Golf Channel/Peacock and from Father’s Day to September proved deadly in the ratings department. Although comparable to other declines in the NBA and NHL.

Paulsen does not include NBC’s other playoff events, but they were flat to down.

The updated chart: pic.twitter.com/fJXFanuKOQ

Grayhawk lost the 2020 NCAA men’s and women’s golf championships due to the pandemic. But the coaches committees ratified a new deal that awarded the 2023 NCAA’s to the Scottsdale course and then moves the event to Carlsbad’s La Costa resort.

Adam Woodward at Golfweek with the news and noble effort to get the championships in prime time and where thunderstorms are not a part of daily life, both very good things.

The U.S. Open champion gave an interview on Sirius/XM and was asked again about last week’s “mockery” comments from Matthew Fitzpatrick. Like Einstein and Newton, Bryson’s approach will be better understood by future generations.

“You Look at Einstein, you look at Newton, you look at all these big-time names in the science field there’s been a lot of people that have been called crazy. Decades later they’re like, wow, that person was actually pretty interesting, he did a lot of amazing things. I’m not saying that’s what I’m going to do but, shoot, I hope so one day. That’d be fun.”

That would be fun.

If the governing bodies cared about this distance stuff and the amazing cascade of events we’ve witnessed this year, they’d be alarmed by other DeChambeau suggestions of “no end game” to the distance pursuit and this on long drivers:

”They’re still 25 mph faster than me. I mean, there’s so much room for improvement, I feel like.”

Those thirsting for the original links won’t quite get it at the Fairmont St Andrews, a Sam Torrance design that looks overshaped and, well, isn’t Crail, Elie or the Old Course. But it beats the silliness of Shadow Creek!

Brandon Tucker offers this preview in case you saw St. Andrews on your European Tour listing and got excited. The fall Dunhill Links this is not, but we’ll take something seaside with St Andrews in the title no matter what. Lee Westwood headlines the Scottish Championship Presented by AXA.

Links views 😍 #AXAScottishChamps

A post shared by European Tour (@europeantour) on Oct 14, 2020 at 11:33am PDT

Jerry Tarde’s “Last Call” column in the pre-November Masters issue makes a terrific case for what’s been lost with the end of true three-shot holes.

There’s something about the symphony of a par 5 that makes it greater than the sum of its shots. It requires more forward thinking, more self-restraint and sufferance, risk and reward at once. It can be cataclysmic like Sam Snead’s triple-bogey 8 when all he needed was a par on the last hole in the 1939 U.S. Open, or heroic like a 5 on the 18th at Pebble Beach any day of the week.

I was standing on the green of Pine Valley’s behemoth uphill 15th hole, measuring over 600 yards, about 15 years ago, when the second shot of the club’s pro, David Clark, bounded onto the putting surface, stopped and glacially rolled back off the fringe. David is a good player, but not Bryson DeChambeau. I remember thinking, Have I just witnessed the death of par 5s?

He eventually includes Tom Doak’s views on how to roll things back to restore relevancy and you’re feeling really good about the case Tarde’s making.

There used to be a list of what Tom Doak called in 1982 “the untouchables”—par 5s that had never been reached in two. In researching Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses today, we’ve found only one untouchable left—the 675-yard 16th at Olympic’s Lake Course.

**Blogger’s note because the fact checkers are gone: even that 675 tee is one, only used for the 2012 U.S. Open. Go on…

The world No. 3 revealed pre-CJ Cup in Vegas that he, too, is looking to find more clubhead speed despite already having plenty in his tank. (Thomas has perennially averaged between 116-117 mph.)

Adam Schupak at Golfweek.com on Justin Thomas seeing what Bryson DeChambeau has done with modern technology and dieting.

“I’m not far off. It’s really about messing with some different stuff and different training and explosiveness to be able to pick up something,” he said. “There’s different ways to do it. I mean, the absolute No. 1 thing is I’m continuing to stay injury free and I’m continuing to progress in a good direction in terms of staying healthy and staying fit. But if I can do that while incorporating some more speed, then that’s big.”

Thomas has recovered from a 2019 wrist injury to be one of the game’s elite. While it’s great to read his strength work is centered around injury prevention, it’s hard not to wonder about the injury implications in pursuit of speed.

However it is quite easy to wonder if anyone in St Andrews or Far Hills is concerned by what they are reading.

I’m not sure there is much to analyze in the dreadful golf ratings last weekend given the confluence of MLB playoffs, NBA finals, college football and NFL.

Showbuzzdaily.com has the 2020 Shriner’s and KPMG LPGA numbers, with golf easily the lowest on their list of weekly sports ratings.

Dustin Johnson becomes the highest-profile golfer to test positive for COVID-19 after reportedly asking for a follow-up test at the CJ Cup upon feeling virus symptoms.

The world No. 1’s WD from the event at Shadow Creek was announced by the PGA Tour.

From Joel Beall’s GolfDigest.com report:

“Obviously, I am very disappointed,” Johnson said in a statement. “I was really looking forward to competing this week, but will do everything I can to return as quickly as possible. I have already had a few calls with the TOUR’s medical team and appreciate all the support and guidance they have given me.”

Tony Finau, who tested positive for the virus had intimated he was hopeful of a return this week at Shadow Creek, but the world No. 17 withdrew from the event late Tuesday afternoon.

While cargo shorts are no longer the scourge they once were in the eyes of stylistas, they are a staple of certain rallies where cut-off sleeve shirts and bald eagle-adorned golf shirts dominate.

I’ve never fully grasped the offense taken by golf clubs toward cargos. Maybe it’s the overall “working class” vibe that makes Thurston uncomfortable. Perhaps those extra pockets are just too convenient of a place to hide stolen silverware or, gasp, a mobile phone!

The offensiveness of hoodies also confounds as much as the perceived functional benefit of golfing in one. They are the millennial’s quarter-zip. If wearing one makes them more comfortable playing golf, then have at them. Or, apparently not.

After Tyrrell Hatton’s BMW PGA win in an Adidas hoodie, we have evidence of clubs taking a cargo-like stance against this sinister fashion trend. From The Club:

Sunday : One of the world's best golfers won a big tournament wearing a hoodie. Maybe golf will progress and trust people to dress themselves?

Tuesday : pic.twitter.com/5xpMX2qOtE

Apparently this whole athlete thing also entails weight, diet and equipment work leading into a major, not exactly a boost to the PGA Tour that loves the jock narrative and who pulled off a miraculous salvation of the lucrative CJ Cup and ZOZO Championships. Irony can be inconvenient.

From Steve DiMeglio’s post-Shriner’s wrap of U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau’s pre-November Masters plans.

“I’m going to be working out like crazy. The first week back home, I’m not really going to touch a club too much and going to be training pretty hard and getting myself up to hopefully around 245, something like that, in weight. Be the first time I’ve ever done that, so I’m going to be consuming a lot and see and working out a lot and see what we can do from there.”

Gotta be ready to go twelve rounds.

Now, as for the whole skill vs. equipment debate, DeChambeau eed up the governing bodies to take action. At least, in a world of governing bodies that like to govern. That’s because the other focus of DeChambeau’s preparation involves equipment testing.

Whether you are pro-betting or not, the prospect of live odds integration into telecasts should provide stellar entertainment. After all, announcers today are dancing around criticism of much of anything, so it should make for spectacular listening as they dance around the live odds.

“Rossi, did you see Collin Morikawa just move to 10-1 on that birdie? Mighty attractive price with just 31 holes to go and only six players in front of him, all imminently beatable, right?”

“Yes Jim, I’m opening up my BETMGM app as we speak to put down a hundon, AND jump on his head-to-head with Pat Reed who had a terribly long call with his wife on the range. That’s value you just can’t get at the dog track. At least, so I hear.”

Should be fun. And better than hearing about FedExCup projections.

For Immediate Release: