Golfing News & Blog Articles

Bill Haas became the 16th PGA Tour player to test positive for COVID-19 in advance of this week’s 2020 finale, as announced by the Tour.

PGA TOUR Statement on Bill Haas

As part of the PGA TOUR's pre-tournament screening process this week at The RSM Classic, PGA TOUR member Bill Haas tested positive for COVID-19 and has been withdrawn from the event.
 
“It’s obviously disappointing news to receive, but my focus is now on recovery and ensuring the health and well-being of my family,” said Haas. 

Haas will have the PGA TOUR’s full support throughout his self-isolation under CDC guidelines. 

Meanwhile the union representing broadcast technicians issued high praise for CBS’s efforts to keep their team healthy and safe since the PGA Tour restart, but criticized Comcast’s NBC/Golf Channel unit for not requiring testing of workers at their televised events.

Not only will the 2022 BMW be Delaware’s first-ever PGA Tour event it’ll be staged at Wilmington Country Club, home club since 2014 of President-elect Joe Biden.

From Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com story on the news of Wilmington’s Robert Trent Jones-designed South Course hosting the second-playoff stop.

While this is Wilmington C.C.’s first pro tournament, the club has played host to several top amateur events since its founding in 1901. Among the notables are the 1971 U.S. Amateur, played on the Robert Trent Jones-designed South Course and won by Canada’s Gary Cowen, and the 1913 U.S. Women’s Amateur on the property’s Old Course when Gladys Ravenscroft was the champion. The 2013 Palmer Cup was also held on the South Course, with a United States team that included Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger and Patrick Rodgers.

The bit of bad news: this means the PGA Tour’s bizarre relationship with the golf-mad Chicago market continues, with 2021’s BMW at Caves Valley (Maryland) and now Wilmington in 2022. The former Western Open has mostly been played in Chicago but has moved around.

With a 10 a.m. ET final round start to clear room for the Bills-Cardinals, the 2020 Masters recorded a 3.37 final round rating with an average of 5.58 million viewers. That’s down over four points from the epic 2019’s Masters (7.7/10.8 million average) won by Tiger Woods (which also started and ended earlier than normal, but was played in April).

ShowbuzzDaily.com’s Mitch Metzcalf with all of the numbers, including Saturday’s 3.05 rating. 2019’s Saturday telecast drew a 5.5.

While this is undoubtedly the lowest rated Masters since numbers were tabulated, weekday coverage on ESPN did not see such extreme declines, drawing an average of 2.2 million Thursday and almost 2.8 million Friday.

Friday’s telecast was the top rated cable show.

Two other ratings notes from Michael McCarthy, veteran media reporter:

Tremendous news on all fronts as the NCAA Championships eventually move west in 2024 to La Costa for what sounds like an audition as a permanent host site: Gil Hanse has been enlisted to renovate the Champions course in advance of the event.

Once a regular site for the PGA Tour’s Tournament of Champions and later the WGC Match Play, La Costa’s course has lost a few steps even as the resort and spa were upgraded. A rethinking should position it back in the limelight of tournament golf thanks to the facilities and location in golf’s west coast hub.

Well, of course, until all of the manufacturers move to Pinehurst to be closer to the USGA ;).

Anyway, For Immediate Release:

NCAA Selects Omni La Costa Resort & Spa as first “neutral” site to Host Trio of National Championships following Gil Hanse Renovation

Reimagined Champions Course to Host Men’s, Women’s NCAAs in 2024, 2025 and 2026
Carlsbad, Calif. – The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Golf Committees has selected Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, Southern California’s premier golf and luxury resort destination, as the host site for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 Division I Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships. Play will be conducted on the resort’s famed Champions Course following a planned 2022 renovation by acclaimed golf course architect Gil Hanse.

Understandably still saddened by the loss of his partner on Scottish golf course planning, Sean Connery, President Donald Trump faces scrutiny from the Scottish government. “Due accountability” was how First Minister Nicola Sturgeon put it during a lively Parliament session after the Green Party co-leader and frequent Trump critic Patrick Harvie sought an “unexplained wealth order” to determine the source of Turnberry financing.

The Scotish leader said she wouldn’t protect “the soon-to-be former president of the United States” from “due accountability in Scotland” if wrongdoing is found. An investigation, including an unexplained wealth order, would be up to the Crown Office, the independent public prosecution system in Scotland, Sturgeon added. 

Green Party leader Patrick Harvie has contended Trump’s Scottish resorts raise suspicions because neither Turnberry (which lost $26 million in 2016) nor Aberdeen has turned a profit or paid a penny in taxes to Scotland since Trump purchased them. All of the revenue is allegedly absorbed by costs — with many of the expenses flowing back to the president’s Trump Organization.

“We need to protect Scotland’s good name from association with the toxic Trump brand,” Harvie said in Parliament. 

The Green Party press release calling for an investigation.

Here goes, though I’ll be blunt, this is a nice win by a nice guy but by no means does this one write itself. But hey, Tiger made 10 and still shot 76 before placing the green jacket on Dustin Johnson who posted a tournament record 268 for his second major title.

Dateline Augusta, GA, starting with USA Today’s Steve DiMeglio:

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Just a month ago, Dustin Johnson was holed up in a Las Vegas hotel room self-quarantining for 11 days after testing positive for COVID-19.

Now, after a week of record-setting brilliance in the Masters, he can head to the exclusive Champions Locker Room at Augusta National for the rest of his life.

The Augusta Chronicle managed to bring back David Westin after laying off everyone who writes golf (good job Morris geniuses!) and he penned this:

No winners and losers column should be this long. But for a tradition hopefully unlike any other ever again? What the heck…  

Winners

Dustin Johnson – The best player in the world overcame COVID-19, had to shed his coveted green reading books for the week, and after a few Sunday hiccups validated his consistent excellence. While he played the par-5’s in -11, his brilliance elsewhere differentiated him from everyone else: -4 on the par-3’s and -5 on the par-4’s to break the Masters scoring record. A well-earned Green Jacket in a Hall of Fame career, capped off with a rare smile and red eyes. He’s human!

April – All things considered, Augusta National proved as pleasant as ever to see in November. But the springtime vibes and inability to present a firmer, faster course served as a reminder that everything about the place is geared toward springtime. Hopefully this never happens again.  

PGA and U.S. Open – The first two rescheduled majors felt like championship examinations with most demands you’d expect at a Grand Slam event. Augusta National, while prepared as well as can be in November with tough growing conditions leading up to the event, did not present the intense test we have come to know at majors.

It’s not a shocking statement in one sense: we’ve known a Masters without fans would be different and might benefit players not used to the pressures of a huge gallery.

After three days and a four-stroke Dustin Johnson lead, Justin Thomas said the Sunday morning task—up early boys and girls, the NFL apparently matters more!—is tougher for chasers.

From Rex Hoggard’s GolfChannel.com story:

“I think it's a really big deal there's no patrons here,” said Justin Thomas, who pulled to within two strokes of front-runner Dustin Johnson before making four bogeys over his last seven holes. “That would have really played to my advantage or other guys trying to chase DJ.”

Another perk of the early start to accommodate the NFL: the leader will not have all day to ponder the possibilities. Normally, Masters leaders tee off around 2 pm when they’ll be finishing this Sunday’s. That’s four-and-a-half hours not to think of everything that might go wrong.

Besides being looking unbecoming of the elegance that is Augusta National and totally contradicting the philosophy of the course designers, 2020’s new higher cut has turned out to be a sanctuary. From mudballs.

Longtime Masters watchers know of the mudball’s recent rise after the club started mowing fairways longer and toward tees to offset modern distances. Bubba Watson popularized the term by making sure to let us know his ball was covered in mud clumps.

Alan Shipnuck quotes players following round two about the new tall stuff and both Rickie Fowler* and Adam Scott noted the preference of rough—”in some situations”—over the fairways (mudball!).

The second cut was introduced as a low-key penalty for errant drives; it makes it a little harder to impart spin, and that is significant when playing to precise spots on the ultimate second-shot golf course. But the rain taketh and the rain giveth. Adam Scott has been largely unbothered by the vagaries of the rough because the saturated greens are still so soft that even spinless shots from the second cut are stopping dead. “Normally, you’re just losing that little bit of control,” Scott says, “and on a firmer green, you’ve got some difficult decisions to make on how you’re going to manage to get it on the green or keep it on the green. It’s a little more straightforward out there at the moment.”

And because it’s 2020, there are times when hitting it into the rough can actually feel advantageous. Fowler estimates he’s getting half-a-dozen mudballs per round on the closely-cropped fairways. “Actually, I mentioned it to [playing partner Willett] yesterday when we were on 11. He had just missed the fairway right, into the first cut, and chipped a 6- or 7-iron down there to the middle of the green. I was in the middle of the fairway with a mud ball and had to aim over at 12 tee, and I still almost hit it in the water. So I feel like it’s almost harder to pick up mud balls in that first cut. In some situations, you’d almost rather that, or you wouldn’t mind it.”

Without those sulfourous green reading books sidelined this week and with a tightly bunched leaderboard where the slightest mistake could lose a green jacket, caddies take on extra meaning at The Masters.

Ward Clayton filed a definitive piece for Masters.com this week on the art of charting Augusta National compared to normal weeks where more of the charting is already done for players and caddies. How we got here is pretty incredible and there remains so much local knowledge to Augusta National.

Just a sampling from the piece related to the shining star that is 2020:

Yardages are important, especially this week when a landmark such as grandstands are absent and another marker must be documented. But at Augusta National, it’s the greens that are the final exam. Putts that look to break one way do the exact opposite or roll out much more than expected, resulting in head scratching and insecurity.

Willie Lee “Pappy” Stokes, the godfather of Augusta National caddies and a five-time winner as a caddie, quickly figured out a secret that Augusta National caddies carried for decades. In the caddie facilities adjacent to the Tournament Practice Facility, simple framed maps of green complexes hang on the walls. On every drawing, there is a distinct red dot, showing the direction of Rae’s Creek from that green – and the tendency for putts to break to the lowest point on the property when it’s not evident to the naked eye. Many caddies over the years have denoted that red dot in their personal Augusta National yardage books.

While most major 2020 sports events have seen significant ratings declines, day one of the rescheduled Masters fared well. The 2.2 million average nearly caught 2019’s 2.5 million played in the traditional April slot.

From ESPN PR:

ESPN’s live telecast of the first round of the Masters Tournament on Thursday, Nov. 12, averaged 2.2 million viewers, airing from 1 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET from Augusta National Golf Club.

With the tournament being played in November after being postponed from its traditional April date due to the pandemic, the audience peaked between 5:15 and 5:30 p.m. at 2.44 million viewers. Last year’s first round, in addition to being played in April, also aired later in the day (3-7:30 p.m.) and averaged 2.5 million viewers.

ESPN will televise the completion of the second round of the Masters at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. On both Saturday and Sunday, ESPN+ will have live feeds of Featured Groups and Featured Holes during Tournament play.

2020 Masters: Jon Rahm in the 11th hole rough

Given the time of year, Augusta National was never going to be agronomically perfect for the rescheduled Masters. So we’ll gladly look past the thin rye grass and the weak tee turf given the tricky window for laying down rye seed and uncertainty this event would be played.

But in the grand scheme, the clunky rough (a.k.a. second cut) grown is obviously higher this year and no matter the height, contradicts the well-stated philosophy of Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie, the tall stuff looks so shallow and unnecessary on a masterfully-designed course highlighted by width and certainly never embellished by artificial tall grass.

The rough looks curb-like while giving off a grow-in look that is unbecoming of a masterpiece.

The tall stuff is also functionally problematic. From Michael Bamberger’s Golf.com account:

The defending champion and five-time Masters winner managed a first Thursday: a bogey-free opener. Normally a slow starter, Woods has positioned himself in historic position. From GolfDigest.com’s Brian Wacker notes on Tiger’s 2020 Masters 68:

Thursday marked the ninth time that Woods has broken par in the first round of the tournament. On the previous eight occasions, he finished no worse than a tie for eighth. Four of those times, he went on to win, including last year, when he opened with a 70 on his way to a 13-under total and one-stroke victory.

ESPN.com’s Bob Harig shares this from the patron-free grounds of Augusta National.

But Thursday brought him back to familiar ground, and perhaps he willed himself to a good score without the supporters who typically carry him. Sure, his buddy Peyton Manning was there. So was NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. As Augusta National members, they were among the few allowed to attend.

Woods went the entire round without a bogey, a first for him on opening day at the Masters and the first time in any major round since the 2009 PGA Championship -- a span of 105 rounds.

But the U.S. Open champion still managed a two-under-par 70 despite visiting some bizarre locations and double-bogeying the par-5 13th.

Ryan Lavner at Golf Channel.com writes:

How he easily cleared the deep bunkers on the left side of the 495-yard fifth hole.

Said Rahm, laughing: “There were a couple of them that were reality checks (for me).”

Even without any roll, DeChambeau hit hybrid into the uphill, par-5 eighth and had no more than 7-iron into the other three longest holes.

They were lucky to get as many holes in Thursday as they did at Augusta after the worst of rains passed just west of the Masters. Still, a three hour delay in November is a killer for getting threesomes around Augusta National in orderly fashion.

So Friday’s coverage will now commence on ESPN to cover the round conclusion (where Justin Thomas is -5 through ten holes). Second round coverage and all online/app streams will continue on as planned.

Full-field, traditional coverage of the first round of @TheMasters continues LIVE tomorrow (Friday) at 7:30am ET on ESPN. #themasters #golf

If round two is not completed Friday—highly likely—then Saturday morning is also likely to again see round two concluding coverage go live on ESPN (with Woods and DeChambeau in the window).

Depending on how things go, the tournament could still finish on time. But should CBS have to run off to its all-vital NFL game at 4 pm ET, it seems the Sunday option is to turn coverage over to ESPN parent network ABC:

Following Paul Casey’s 2020 Masters opening 65, GolfDigest.com’s Dave Sheloski caught up with Casey instructor Peter Kostis. The longtime instructor, Titleist peddler and CBS announcer is missing his first Masters since 1990, but explains what Casey’s been up to in finding a post-ZOZO Championship game.

“His posture was slumping because of low energy, so that made a huge difference. Then we got his tempo up and he saw immediate improvement,” Kostis said. “That kind of got him going. He got re-energized.”

Increasing Casey’s tempo in his putting stroke to match it up with his swing was one additional tweak. His backswing was too long and slow. “That’s still in the works, and it’s tough to take a putting change to a place like Augusta, but he’s very good and just going out and trying to play comfortably and not worrying about the technical stuff,” Kostis said.

After his round, Casey spoke to media and according to this item by Golf.com’s James Colgan, Casey seems to not realize Augusta National’s greens are bent grass.

“It’s not just the softness of the greens,” he said. “There’s a little bit of Bermuda still in there.  So, the Bermuda has a twofold effect.  One, the greens are very receptive coming in …  And obviously the putts are not as quick as well.”

Even at 62 it’s not a surprise when Larry Mize plays well at Augusta National.

The 1987 champion has made three made cuts in the last six years and opened strong again with a 2-under 70. Given the talk of Bryson DeChambeau’s aggressive approach to the course, the disparity in driving distances could not be ignored. After round one DeChambeau’s 334.6 had Mize’s 247.4 by 87 yards. From AP’s Doug Ferguson:

It was a thrill for Mize, especially after making three straight birdies early in his round and looking up to see his name on the leaderboard.

“I did happen to see that,” Mize said. “Wow, that’s kind of cool. I’d like to be there more often. It’s always fun to see your name up on the leaderboard here. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep it. But it was nice to come back and finish really well on the back nine. I played really solid coming in and really felt good.”

In today's first round of @TheMasters, what little bit of golf I saw after the rain was like throwing darts. There was no wind to speak of, the greens had no fire in them, and everywhere the ball hit just stopped. That is hardly Augusta National at its finest or most challenging.

Rising extra early to fulfill his Honorary Starter duties, Jack Nicklaus later watched the 2020 Masters opening round and didn’t care for what he saw of the rain-delayed golf. When play was suspended due to darkness, 50 players were under par, potentially shattering the single round record of 38.

Nonetheless, it’s a surprising criticism given the rain delay, the already soft state of the course and in a month when it’s normally finding its seasonal agronomic footing. It undoubtedly is not playing as the club might hope, but the bar should be a touch lower this year and I don’t think many will care.

Anyway, here is the Honorary Starter’s ceremony in the virtual dark. (Big holiday bonus to the emergency umbrella-holder for Chairman Ridley and his perfect lid.)

This morning Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player continued the Honorary Starter tradition that began in 1963. #themasters pic.twitter.com/sDC20f1avp

To be answered by the fall 2020 Masters, in no particular order:

The Lords of Augusta are going to let CBS fly a drone over the property? While the Masters is going? I’ll believe it when I see it.

Will players survive without their teams due to COVID restrictions?

With no crowds (and revealing roars), slow scoreboards and no cell phones outdoors (unless you’re Sir Nick), will players even know where they stand on the final nine? Could that impact a strategic decision down the stretch?

What will a Monday finish look like? (Sorry, folks with non-refundable reservations but Thursday’s forecast is not peachy).

Lance Barrow will slide on a headset one last time this week as he bids farewell producing CBS’s 2020 Masters coverage.

He’s penned a lovely Golf.com recollection of his time working for CBS. As always I suggest reading the full piece. A teaser:

My starting salary was $60 a week. You learn, and you rise, by doing, by listening, by watching — and by getting the job done. Chuck would say to me, “Humble yourself: Get me half a cup of black.”

In golf and TV, your classroom is everywhere. In my early years there were many Sunday nights when, after a tournament, I found myself on the same flight back to Dallas-Fort Worth as Don January, Lee Trevino and Charles Coody. They would all be in their sports coats, of course, so I would be, too. They would talk about the shots they hit, what the other players were like under pressure, rules disputes. All I did was listen.