Golfing News & Blog Articles

As a member of the European Tour’s Board of Directors, I didn’t expect Paul McGinley to tip his hand much in this Sky Sports piece endorsing the PGA Tour alliance announced Friday.

As I reported Friday, the board McGinley sits on had been briefed on the offer and opened the European Tour books to Raine Group. And on a careful reading and even a shred of imagination there is plenty to read into McGinley’s endorsement.

After calling the deal the “right partnership” for the European Tour and the sport, he gets to some of the primary motives of the “alliance”:

The idea is that we become a little bit more international in terms of the schedule of the world's top players, so they're able to visit other places and play in other events on the European Tour.

Three of the four major championships are played in America every year and a lot of the World Golf Championships have migrated back to the USA. I think the players can eventually expect, hopefully from a European point of view, a more international flavour to the world's best events.

The Alfred Dunhill Championship traditionally delivers the best nature shots of the golf year. And as always, the European Tour broadcast provided plenty of images from Leopard Creek’s location next to Kruger National Park.

This handy roundup was posted by the European Tour social team:

A post shared by European Tour (@europeantour)

Chief Executive Colorfully Coordinated sported a less-than-comforting black-on-black motif for Friday’s hastily-arranged Zoom to spin the European Tour’s “landmark strategic alliance” with the PGA Tour.

Based on the reports by those partaking in the call, Keith Pelley remained light on details about the surprising Thanksgiving Friday announcement. Skepticism was in order given that it’s traditionally a day reserved for only Grade A, First Team, All-World news dumps.

The Daily Mail’s Derek Lawrenson noted the 72 hour mention by Pelley and suggested the announcement was meant to torpedo an upcoming announcement.

The alliance has been years in the making but came together in the space of 72 hours as both tours look to kill off the upstart Saudi-backed Premier Golf League. 

The PGL have promised untold millions to the top players and were rumoured to be ready to make a big announcement next month regarding a circuit for the elite they hoped would be up and running by 2023.

South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout held off Sean Crocker to win the 2020 Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek. And while the 26-year-old’s second win came over a so-so field, Bezuidenhout picks up a win in his native land, comfortably moves inside the all-important world top 50 (41st), and has solidified himself as a player-to-watch heading into 2021.

But as Brentley Romine reminds us, it’s the Bezuidenhout journey that is even more incredible.

Bezuidenhout has much to be proud of. For those who need a refresher, here are the spark notes: Bezuidenhout nearly died when he was 2 years old after unknowingly drinking from a Coke bottle that had been contaminated with rat poison. The poison took a toll on his body, affecting his nervous system and causing a stutter, which in turn led to bouts with anxiety and depression. When Bezuidenhout turned 14, his doctor prescribed him medication that helped him “enjoy my life again,” Bezuidenhout wrote last year in a blog post for EuropeanTour.com, but the beta blockers were also a banned substance, and despite Bezuidenhout being adamant that he filled out the proper paperwork, he was disqualified from the 2014 British Amateur and subsequently banned for nine months.

“It felt like my life was over. ... I was inconsolable,” he wrote in the same post. “However, I eventually turned this into energy to help me come back stronger.”

His emotional post round interview and the Director’s Cut of the final round highlights.

As the 45th President winds down his tenure, Donald Trump made his 292nd visit to one of his properties on Thanksgiving day.

If I were the third hole at Trump National Washington D.C., I’d be concerned about my architectural future after this shot, assessment and reaction…

We knew the sides were talking months ago. Then news on a mega-tour merger went silent as the focus turned to merely getting 2020 golf tournaments off the ground.

Then we got the Friday-after-Thanksgiving news.

Belaboring the cynical timing of Friday’s “landmark strategic alliance” announcement could grow tiresome, but it’s also hard to filter much of anything out of the detail-light European Tour-PGA Tour release without returning to the odd rush to share so little detail.

This much is apparent: Jay Monahan joins the European Tour Board of Directors and with it, he brings a check of an undetermined amount to own a stake in their impressive television production operation. Less apparent: how much of that is an investment in a media operation versus a quick way to help the European Tour’s finances?

In a call with UK writers, ET Chief Keith Pelley refuted the idea that this was about finances:

Thanks to reader T for The Economist’s look at launch angle golf as carried out by Bryson DeChambeau to impressive effect.

There is this explanation of how he’s defying trends by launching.

The model’s lessons are intuitive. To thump the ball as far as possible, maximise clubhead speed and launch angle while minimising spin (which causes the ball to soar higher, rather than racing forward). However, most players face a trade-off between these goals, explains Paul Wood of Ping, a club manufacturer. Harder impacts usually mean flatter trajectories. Although the average male player swings faster and produces less spin than in 2007, launch angles have declined since then.

One golfer, however, has escaped this constraint. Bryson DeChambeau, a physics graduate with oddly designed clubs and a voracious appetite for data, is nicknamed the “Mad Scientist”. While the PGA Tour was suspended because of covid-19, he added 18kg (40lbs) of bulk. This has allowed him to swing faster than anyone else. But he has also managed to smash the ball with a high launch angle, rather than a low one—an unprecedented combination that might owe something to his unusually stiff wrists and robotic technique.

Putting Shotlink data to good use, The Economist put together a stunning chart showing DeChambeau’s outlier (for now) status in the launch/speed world:

Cookie Jar Golf did a fine job highlighting the charm of endangered Cleeve Hill and they’ve posted another important short film on Brora Golf Club. Earlier in this grand year you may recall there were concerns about Brora’s future and the positive response to helping one of the world’s oldest and most important courses survive.

It’s all covered in this enjoyable four minutes:

Despite a very solid field and compelling finish, Golf Channel’s four-round broadcast of the 2020 RSM Classic failed to garner more than a few cataract-free eyeballs.

ShowBuzzDaily with the gruesome ratings showing an average of 346,000 watched the final round, with only 31,000 of those not Villages-eligible.

The post-fall Masters slot and wealth of viewing options made this a no-win situation even with all of the long-bombing athletes today.

A variation of that question gets asked pretty frequently of most anyone who calls themselves a golf writer and there are no easy answers. Derek Lawrenson highlights the recent struggles of Rickie Fowler’s efforts to retool his swing in his weekly Daily Mail column and writes:

The Californian has played in 18 consecutive tournaments without so much as a top-10 finish and is now on the brink of falling outside the world’s top 50 for the first time in a decade.

That’s quite some fall for a man who won six times between 2015 and 2017 after finishing in the top five in all four majors in 2014.

It’s another illustration that while golf might be the slowest of games, it has a fast-changing landscape. Who could have imagined just five years ago that Jordan Spieth and Fowler, back then the two golden boys of American golf, would both be ranked outside the top 50 and all but forgotten heading into 2021?

At 27 and 31 respectively, it’s too glib and easy to say they will be back. It’s certainly the hope given they’re two of the game’s nice guys.

The New York Post’s Nicki Gostin handles the big picture, well, better than most details. Also for non-Gram users, their hefty roundup of the best comments is below. Though you can always “view comments” on the post and see the comedic best of humanity in these dark times.

A post shared by Greg Norman (@shark_gregnorman)

Yahoo’s Shalise Manza Young points out that a 51% decline in Masters ratings was in line with other drops in major sports, placing it as the fourth-worst on the list of significant events after the Stanley Cup, Preakness and the U.S. Open final round 56% drop.

Since almost no golfers partook in social justice causes this year, golf did not suffer a backlash cited as the cause of overall ratings drops:

There have been acknowledgements of the renewed call for racial reckoning that began with George Floyd’s killing in late May, with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan releasing a statement 10 days after Floyd’s death that followed other corporations who made nebulous commitments to increasing diversity in their ranks, and senior tour player Kirk Triplett played with a BLM sticker on his bag.

But other than a few players participating in the performative #BlackoutTuesday on Instagram in June, there hasn’t exactly been a groundswell of public support for the movement in golf.

So save the “It’s those damn social justice warriors, I just want to watch my sports!” B.S.

The European Tour kicked off three weeks in South Africa with a bang that got plenty of attention on social media: Wilco Nienaber’s 439-yard drive during the Joburg Open’s first round.

The huge number took on added interest Sunday when Nienaber contended, ultimately finishing second to Joachim Hansen.

But the 20-year-old and his prodigious length—a 337-yard European Tour average in limited starts—has been mentioned by South Africans who witnessed his victory in the 2019 South African Amateur.

Like America’s Cameron Champ, it’s the effortlessness of his swing that might be more shocking (aided by those fairway heights, as a few remaining desperadoes like to claim.)

That’s Tony Johnstone and Alison Whitacker on the call from Randpark, elevation 5000 feet:

CBS Moneywatch’s Megan Cerullo doesn’t tell us much we haven’t already read about golf in the pandemic. Still, after years of stories about the decline of the sport’s participation numbers, it’s worth noting pieces like this one, if nothing else to highlight that a resurgence in the game had nothing to do with the opportunity to spend $600 for ten more yards off the tee.

In August, consumers spent a record $331 million on clubs, balls, gloves and other gear — that was up 32% over the year-ago period and topped the previous sales record for that month in 2006, according to Golf Datatech. 

For the first 10 months of 2020, golf equipment sales were up nearly 30% compared to the same period last year, Matt Powell, an analyst with market research firm NPD Group, told CBS MoneyWatch. Training tools, such as hitting screens, swing aids and putting matts are up 75% as enthusiasts practice their technique away from the golf course.

And this is a nice reminder that all that well-intentioned capital devoted to nine-hole ad campaigns could never be as effective as having more people work from home.

The millions of Americans now working from home because of the virus is also boosting golf, with more people sneaking away from their desks to play a quick nine holes. 

I can’t say from the parts I watched that we’ll be talking about 2020’s RSM Classic years or even days from now. But Robert Streb did pull off a couple of minor miracles, starting with an out-of-nowhere week, as documented by Golfweek’s Adam Schupak:

Streb hasn’t finished in the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings in each of the past three seasons, and his recent form didn’t suggest he’d earn his first title in six years. He had shot in the 60s only three times in his last 12 rounds entering this week, but posted four straight rounds in the 60s, including a 63 on Friday and closed with a 2-under 68 to finish with a 72-hole aggregate of 19-under 263.

“I felt like things were starting to get a little better and I wasn’t quite getting the results, but wasn’t expecting this, either,” he admitted.

Streb’s approach on the second playoff hole was spectacular:

WHAT A SHOT. 😱@therealstrebber nailed his approach on the second playoff hole to win @TheRSMClassic. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/sAmFE6otjR

Paulsen at SportsMediaWatch summarizes the 2020 Masters ratings and overall huge declines with 2020’s one-off November playing.

Dustin Johnson’s win sank 51% in ratings and 48% in viewership from Tiger Woods’ iconic win last year, which aired in an even earlier timeslot (9 AM rather than 10), but on the tournament’s usual April weekend (6.9, 10.81M). Compared to 2018, the last time the final round aired in its usual late afternoon window, ratings and viewership fell 57% from a 7.9 and 13.03 million.

The steep declines and record-lows are in keeping with the overall trend for sports on television since the wave of cancellations and postponements in March. The NBA Finals (7.49M) and World Series (9.79M) both set all-time record lows in viewership, declining 49 and 30 percent respectively from last year. Stanley Cup Final viewership plunged 61% to a 13-year low (2.15M). All three Triple Crown horse races hit lows, with each down at least 32%.

While it’s still too soon to say whether any of these playings of major events will turn out to be regretted, I sense that even with huge ratings declines 2020 has reinforced the timelessness of the above-mentioned events.

In a strange way, by playing through it feels like the strength of the time-honored spectacles and their normal place on the calendar has only been strengthened. Whether its the many Masters traditions, or the Derby on the first Saturday in May, or the World Series in front of fans, all of these big time events feel even more indelible after having been deprived of experiencing them in normal ways. No one will questions a return the traditional playings.

NEVER give up on your dreams. From Carolinas Junior Boys' Champion to @TheMasters record-setter. The Carolinas couldn't be prouder of @DJohnsonPGA's accomplishments in this great game. #MondayMotivation at #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/xZ8mz49SmK

Nothing against elite country clubs or clubby junior golf circuits, but 2020’s three major championships were each won by sons of less conventional

Collin Morikawa, the PGA Championship winner at Harding Park, got his start at southern California’s Chevy Chase Country Club, which is not to be confused with Riviera.

Bryson DeChambeau, the U.S. Open champion at Winged Foot, refined his game at Madera’s Dragonfly.

And the 2020 Masters winner got his start at Weed Hill driving range, the family operation of golf architect Bobby Weed.

Longtime and revered golf photographer Leonard Kamsler has passed. He was 85.

Golf Digest’s Peter Morrice put together this tribute to Kamsler with some of his best images and wrote:

Kamsler took assignments in other fields as well, working for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Disney on Ice and the Harlem Globetrotters. He even shot for country-music labels and medical journals. But golf was the constant. Known for his innovative techniques, he brought high-speed stroboscopic photography to golf in the 1970s using a Hulcher camera, developed to analyze football plays. Kamsler retooled his Hulcher to shoot 100 frames per second, more than 200 images for a single swing, and the frame-by-frame swing sequence was born.

From Alan Bastable’s story at Golf.com:

Kamsler shot all the greats, even the famously camera-shy Ben Hogan — well, sort of. According to one story Kamsler liked to tell, he was assigned to snap a swing sequence of Hogan in Texas. “Hogan would never, ever permit anyone to photograph him,” Dave Allen, a former GOLF Magazine instruction editor, wrote in a text message on Tuesday. “So Hogan was out on this one hole with a shag bag to hit balls. Leonard tried to camouflage himself as a bush and sneak up on Hogan. He went through some great pains to do this, hauling his heavy camera out there and then covering himself with some green plant life he gathered along the way. Well, there’s a reason they called Hogan The Hawk — he spotted Leonard nearly right away, picked up his bag of balls and moved on.”

Lukas Michel played the 2020 Masters and joined Rod Morri, Mike Clayton and yours truly to talk about the experience. Naturally we got sidetracked on distance talk because that’s what we do. But we also managed to cover a lot about Michel’s special week in Augusta include his practice rounds, favorite holes and the amateur dinner.

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