Golfing News & Blog Articles

Paul Sullivan of the New York Times considers what the loss of normal U.S. Open revenue means for the various initiatives receiving USGA support. The story, as with others on the topic, mentioned a general number of $165 million in tournament revenue with $70 million in profit.

The two entities mentioned that got my eye:

Girls Golf, which works with girls to teach them golf and life skills, was hit with a double whammy in March. It receives $1 million from the U.S.G.A. and the L.P.G.A., the governing body for women’s golf, which halted its season in March.

“We didn’t really know what was going to happen,” said Nancy Henderson, chief teaching officer and president of the L.P.G.A. Foundation. “Our initial focus was our Girls Golf sites weren’t able to do programming in person, so we moved a lot of it online.”

While grants from both organizations came through, Ms. Henderson remains worried about next year. “That’s the big question,” she said. “You don’t know if you’ll be back to a new normal.”

Regarding the new normal and the sites hosting, there is a startling change in fees for 2020 host Winged Foot. According to Bryan Marsal, the chairman of the 2020 U.S. Open, the club will see only about 10% of what was expected.

“Our compensation was based on the number of fans that came to watch the tournament, plus the amount of merchandise that was sold in the merchandise tent, plus the corporate tents that were sold and the rental of the property,” he said. “We’ve had a 90 percent reduction in the revenue going to the club.”

If you’ve watched early week coverage from Winged Foot, you know the 18th green just has something special going on. I don’t recall that sense the last time the West hosted in 2006. So we’ll chalk up that eye-catching quality to the restoration work reclaiming both shape, size and artistic flair to this historic location.

John Fischer takes us back to the putt that changed golf history and forced a 1929 U.S. Open playoff. Carve out a few minutes to go back to his moment, which now is easier to visuale in 2020 thanks to the green reclaiming its identical look.

The 12-foot putt that Jones faced on the 72nd hole was downhill on a fast green, with a left-to-right break. Jones took a few extra seconds to look over the putt. The gallery had swelled to 7,000, some standing back as far as the knoll in the 18th fairway to get a good view of the green.

Jones decided on his line and aimed 1½ feet above the cup. He stroked the ball amid dead silence from the huge crowd. The ball slowly rolled down the slope and seemed to hesitate at the edge of the cup. The gallery let out a collective gasp. Then, after seeming to hang on the lip, the ball fell into the cup. Thunderous cheering and applause followed. Jones had done it. He had tied Espinosa.

If you want to keep going back, why not get a little Grantland Rice in your life. His dispatch well after that day and one of the last things he authored.

Sam Harrop loves golf and knows music. He has combined his passions to become the golf parody song hit-maker. This week, for the U.S. Open, he finally got to write a song for his favorite player, Phil Mickelson.

Dustin Johnson comes in hot for the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Is he the best bet to win on this difficult track? Here are our picks for the tournament.

MyGolfSpy Ball Lab is where we quantify the quality and consistency of the golf balls on the market to help you find the best ball for your money. Today, we’re taking a look at the Bridgestone Tour B XS.  An overview of the equipment we use can be found here. To learn more about our test process, how we define “bad” balls and our True Price metric, check out our About MyGolfSpy Ball Lab page.

The Tour B XS is Tiger’s golf ball. While we probably don’t need to say much more than that, Tiger is almost certainly the reason why the Tour B XS is now neck and neck with Bridgestone’s traditional bestseller (Tour B RX) at retail.

In this report, we’ll give you the rundown on what we learned about the 2020 Tour B XS and let you know how it stacks up against other golf balls on the market. Finally, we’ll give you the True Price – how much it costs to get a dozen good golf balls.

About the 2020 Bridgestone Tour B XS

Tiger hasn't been great since the restart. Is the U.S. Open at Winged Foot the place he finds his game? He's just one of the big question marks going into the year's second major. There's Phil and Bryson and the difficulty of Winged Foot.

Despite years of planning and the USGA’s extensive data on distance, it appears Bryson DeChambeau’s U.S. Open driving range work will force a Tuesday evening change to Winged Foot’s temporary fencing.

I'm told the USGA plans to move the netting back on the temporary range set up on the East Course. Bryson was bombing balls over it in the direction of parked cars. Send him out there with the scissors and add it to the list pic.twitter.com/1ritnMO25H

— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) September 15, 2020

I’ve independently confirmed from two sources the veracity of Brendan Porath’s Tuesday Tweet based on an email to members.

The temporary range was not deep enough for today’s triathletes who’ve been armed with launch monitors, plant-based diets and conforming non-conforming equipment. And now the fence must move.

If you know anything about the USGA, you’re aware of the planning, refinement and expense that goes into a U.S. Open site preparation. Rarely does something like this happen. They’ve done this before.

We have a lot going on in American sports. It’s an unprecedented situation and sports ratings have been all over the map. But golf has retained its audience and even shown increases while most sports are seeing declines.

Then there was last week.

The final round of the LPGA’s second major and the 2020 Safeway Classic aired up against NBA and NHL playoffs, the first NFL Sunday, U.S. Open tennis finals, and major league baseball. Then there is cordcutting. And a pandemic. Still, not even at The Villages, where Golf Channel reigns with the non-coveted demo Americans, were many watching last weekend.

Golf Channel’s airing of the ANA and season-opening Safeway were lightly watched in the way Korn Ferry and Tin Cup reairings of reairings are watched.

The numbers from Showbuzzdaily.com are embedded above, with the previous week’s Tour Championship-Monday finish omitted (but covered here).

The energy normally provided by spectators will be missing this week when the U.S. Open gets underway at Winged Foot Golf Club in Westchester County, New York, and Justin Thomas said that will take a lot out of the proceedings.

Due to poor air quality caused by wildfires, the LPGA Tour's Portland Classic this weekend has been reduced to 54 holes.

Tiger Woods called Winged Foot Golf Club, site of this week's U.S. Open, one of the most difficult courses in the world.

Todd Montoya entered a St. Jude's charity raffle not expecting to win. Then, while caddying at the Safeway Open, he found out he won a $500,000 home. He ended up having a better week than his golfer, Brian Stuard.

Lee Wybranski’s logo edition print.

The groupings are out and even with the field reduced to 144, it’s hard not to notice the size of those tee time windows. Times start about 12 minutes after sunrise and barring a shockingly fast pace of play, the last groups out will be playing well past sunset. Friday’s cloudy forecast suggests a Saturday morning finish is possible.

But hey, they’re playing a U.S. “Open” at Winged Foot, so what’s not to love?

Here is the field “by the numbers” for those wondering how many former U.S. Open Champions and how man Pub Links runner-ups made it.

Some themes are discernable but nothing like years past.

Of course, without fans I’m not sure why I’m even highlighting groups worth singling out to watch!

Gary Woodland will begin defense of his U.S. Open title alongside Open champion Shane Lowry and U.S. Amateur winner Andy Ogletree on Thursday at 1:05 p.m. at Winged Foot Golf Club.

Titleist teases their new TSI 2 + 3 Drivers as being played on tour. Plus, Dustin downplays his victory, and we read the best of the worst comments from Most Wanted Speakers.

0:48 – Chris’ Japanese Head Cover Collection3:54 –  Dustin Johnson wins the FedEx Cup with a somber celebration7:14 –  Titleist TSI 2 + 3 drivers appear on the USGA conforming list15:25 – Best of the Worst: Speaker Review Comments25:46 – Harry’s English Phrase: Double Feature

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The post Titleist TSI: New Drivers On Tour | NPG 57 appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

A par on the final hole of the 2006 U.S. Open would have altered the conversation. Phil Mickelson would have won his first U.S. Open and third consecutive major. Tiger Woods was struggling after his father's death. Instead, Phil had his "idiot" moment.

The Callaway Mack Daddy CB wedge offers a perimeter-weighted cavity-back design. That alone differentiates it from the majority of specialty wedges on the market today.

If you play game-improvement irons and have never felt comfortable with blade-style wedges or you’ve gotten wise to the fact that your set-matching A, G, S or L wedges don’t spin worth a damn, you’re exactly who Callaway is hoping to reach with its new wedges.

Contradictions in the Wedge Market

You may have never considered this but the wedge space is rife with contradictions. They’re mostly of the industry’s own making. The topic has been covered before by Cleveland and Mizuno but the conversation is relevant again with Callaway entering the fray.

It’s indisputable that the majority of golfers plays game-improvement or super game-improvement irons. Equally true is that the overwhelming majority of wedges sold are blade designs like Vokey and Mack Daddy JAWS.

He's the best player in the world. He's on a roll. He's already won this event once. Open-and-shut case? Not all our experts are convinced. They landed on a few other names, too, to win this week at Winged Foot.

Adam Schupak at Golfweek asks all the right questions in part one of this chat with Johnny Miller, who, frankly is missed as analysts increasingly cheer-lead and coddle.

There was this on calling a crappy shot a crappy shot:

GOLFWEEK: Have you become softer and less critical when you watch the PGA Tour now that you’re no longer in the broadcast booth?

JM: I don’t know if the word is critical. I see things that the other guys don’t see. When I see those things, I want to share them with the public. If it’s a crappy shot, it’s a crappy shot, it’s nothing personal. If I say it is a great shot, I want people to think, dang, Johnny, thought that was a great shot.

Like in the 2006 U.S. Open, we saw Phil (Mickelson) make two mental errors. You don’t have to play it like you’re on a white horse prancing up to the green. Poop it up there with a 3-iron, hit a 4-iron somewhere around the green, up and in or worst-case scenario you’re in a playoff. That was the biggest fall apart in that U.S. Open on the last hole in history. Harrington bogeyed the last three holes to lose by two. Furyk bogeyed the last hole. Mickelson made double bogey. Montgomerie got hosed, I thought. He had to wait for like 5 minutes. I thought he got such a bad break there. Then he chili-dipped it short of the green and didn’t get it up and in. Never has the last hole had so many scenarios. It was just incredible. That course is tough. Oakmont and Winged Foot must be the two toughest courses in tournament golf.

Ah…let’s get Johnny on Zoom this week! Or Comcast Business Solutions. Or whatever it takes!

GW: What did you think of NBC reacquiring the U.S. Open broadcast rights?

JM: If I had known that, I might have gone another year. It wasn’t like I had to retire.

I realize the branding folks have taken over so the chance John Bodenhamer issued these exact words is slim. But when a player withdraws from the 2020 U.S. Open due to a positive coronavirus test, is it really necessary to highlight his good USGA stock?

Hopefully Scottie Scheffler and Sam Horsfield never experience symptoms. The condolence quotes on their WD’s announced Sunday and Monday, respectively.

“We are sorry to lose a member of the USGA family in this year’s U.S. Open field,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA senior managing director, Championships. “Scottie has had a phenomenal rookie season and we look forward to welcoming him back to the U.S. Open Championship for many years to come.” 

Eh….”sorry”, “losing” and “family” member in 2020 just not a great ring to it.

“Sam has had an excellent year on the European Tour, winning the UK series to earn a spot in this year’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot, and we are disappointed to lose a player of his caliber from the field,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA senior managing director, Championships. “Sam has a wonderful USGA pedigree and we look forward to watching him play in future U.S. Open Championships.”