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The 2020 PGA Championship started a new 11-year deal for CBS and ESPN with a west coast date but without fans in the COVID-19 era. The lack of buzz did not hurt the numbers, however.

According to Showbuzzdaily, the final round on CBS drew a 3.27 average Nielsen rating, and peaked at 6.873 million during the back nine. That’s up from last year’s first-ever May playing but down significantly from the most recent August playing in 2018 when Brooks Koepka dueled with Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, among others.

ESPN’s week was also a big success, with early Sunday coverage up over 60% from last year, a significantly younger audience, and the most-watched cable portion of the PGA Championship in 10 years. From the ESPN press release:

Sunday’s final round coverage, which aired from noon until 3 p.m. ET, averaged 1,965,000 viewers, up 60 percent over TNT’s final-round telecast from 2019 and the most-viewed final round on cable since 2010. Sunday’s telecast peaked at 2.4 million viewers and was above 2 million from 1:15 – 3 p.m.

Across all four rounds, ESPN averaged 1,659,000 viewers and 399,000 viewers in the ages 18-49 demographic, up 35 percent and 54 percent, respectively, from TNT’s coverage last year. In addition to being the most-viewed PGA Championship on cable since 2010, ESPN’s average of ages 18-49 viewers was up 40 percent over the past five years.

Filed under something slightly different, Vokey’s Limited Jet Black SM8 wedge isn’t so much an extension of the SM8 lineup as it is the pre-bundling of Vokey’s popular Jet Black heads with a new shaft and custom grip option.

Simply put, the Limited Jet Black is an SM8 with a Dynamic Gold S200 Black Onyx shaft and an exclusive Golf Pride Mult-Compound grip in black and gray. The grip was made exclusively for this release and features Vokey’s signature BV Wings logo.

The entire package comes together as an almost totally murdered-out black-on-black-on-black design.

The Vokey Limited Jet Black SM8 offering is by no means a world-beater – and I’m deducting points for not including the Wedge Works Low Bounce K Grind in the release – but it’s a cool aesthetic option that’s there if you want it.

2020 ELECTRIC PUSH CART BUYER’S GUIDE

What a difference a year makes.

Thanks to a remarkable and unprecedented 2020, the U.S. was introduced to and now knows all about electric and push carts. If you wanted to play golf in the pandemic, individual carts were the only option.

Although it seems every avid golfer owns a cart of some sort, the U.S. still falls behind Europe. Apparently, Motocaddy is No. 1 in unit sales globally which is an impressive achievement considering the U.S. is still a relatively untapped source.

All the carts we tested are electric and some models are undeniably more feature-rich than others (though none is equipped with any gopher detectors). Some carts follow you. Others have a built-in GPS, and can tell you how far you’ve walked, and plenty more.

Whether you’re looking to buy a new electric cart today, looking for some buying advice or just want a closer look at what’s on the market, this guide will help you find the right cart to fit your needs.

Everything about the 2020 PGA Championship week was a success, from compliance with COVID-19 guidelines to the quality of play. But with only essential personnel, coaches and media on site—no ten-percenters though—the energy was quite different. So were the things you did not get to overhear.

—I miss having my agent here to watch me warm up and blocking everyone from learning my secrets.

—Baba booey.

—The Wannamaker Trophy’s lid is clipped on tight, ready to go for the ceremony!

It’s a major tradition unlike any other: the Classic Sports TV breakdown of shots shown.

And breaking news: CBS blew away last year’s PGA performance to show more shots than ever previously documented for any major.

Check out the breakdown here, but this is noteworthy:

This resulted in an average of 1.69 strokes per minute which is by far the highest I have ever recorded for any golf major since starting this tracking in 2014. The previous high was 1.41 for the 2017 Masters. For comparison, the 2019 PGA had only 1.14 shots per minute.

With no paying spectators in attendance, CBS focused on golf rather than fan reactions. With so many players in contention, CBS moved around constantly and showed between 48 and 57 strokes for seven different players. Eleven players received coverage for at least 10 shots.

I have seen quite a bit of grumbling that Morikawa did not get more coverage and an on-course reporter.

Longtime golf writer Craig Dolch makes a strong and civilized case for Justin Thomas to consider after some less-than-great language overheard during last week’s PGA Championship.

There’s a huge difference between trash talking, like West Palm Beach native Brooks Koepka did before the final round – when he pointed out he was the only player on the leaderboard with more than one major – and talking trash like Thomas did at least twice during his final round.

Every year the PGA Tour receives complaints from the FCC from viewers after hearing expletives during a golf telecast. Tiger Woods memorably dropped the f-bomb during a Saturday morning telecast in 2000, when he knocked his tee shot at Pebble Beach’s 18th hole into the Pacific Ocean while completing a rain-delayed second round.

Spit happens on a golf course. But there’s an easy cure.

As Dolch notes, PGA Tour fines don’t mean much and have long been an unsuccessful deterrent to swearing. And it’s a double-edged sword, as we love to see passionate players get in their strange little zones on the course. Yet in the open microphone era of fan-free COVID-19, they also have to be aware that more can be heard than ever before.

Since pace of play has improved without fans and backstopping seems to have finally become less of a thing, maybe it’s time for the Commissioner to send a friendly reminder for players to try their best to choose their words more carefully.

In golf, distance matters. Here are five guaranteed ways to go further down your fairways.

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He hasn't played much the past five months. The playoffs are coming. There are two more majors in 2020. So how does Tiger Woods prepare for what's next?

I covered plenty on winner Collin Morikawa, the 16th shot for the ages, Phil’s audition(?) on CBS, Tiger’s short game letting him down, the incredible leaderboard logjam, the curious “who is longest” debate this weekend and more for The Athletic.

You can check it out here and as always, thanks for support my work here, there and wherever it appears!

Theft is dreadful and I do feel for Bud Cauley, who played last week’s PGA Championship after getting in as an alternate. Experiencing a break-in resulting in the loss of his backpack undoubtedly caused enormous inconvenience and frustration.

However, reading that he called 911 and was unhappy he could not get through or to get an officer on the scene, seems like a fine opportunity to remind everyone that 911 is for emergencies only.

I could only read half the comments but I’m fairly sure that by the end the Governor was the thief and jamming the 911 lines to cover up his crime.

Tpc Harding is a great golf course but you can have the rest of that place. My car window got busted in yesterday, in the middle of a busy street and someone stole my backpack. i called 911 and couldn’t get a police officer to come because they were so overworked. Dump!

A post shared by budcauley (@budcauley) on Aug 10, 2020 at 4:25am PDT

Way back in July the voters here overwhelmingly feel there is no better time than now to expedite the inevitable plan of action, the R&A and USGA have announced a second pandemic-related delay of their Distance Insights Project.

For Immediate Release:

UPDATE FROM THE R&A AND THE USGA ON GOLF’S DISTANCE INSIGHTS PROJECT

10 August 2020, St Andrews, Scotland and Liberty Corner, NJ, USA:  On 18 March 2020, The R&A and the USGA announced that the release of research topics related to the next phase of the Distance Insights Project would be delayed to allow the wider golf industry to focus on its response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

Given continued health concerns and the impact on golf worldwide, The R&A and the USGA are now targeting March 2021 for the release of equipment research topics. We will continue to monitor the recovery of the golf industry and may update this target date accordingly. In accordance with the Equipment Rulemaking Procedures, the time for golf equipment manufacturers and other interested parties to participate in this research will also be amended to account for the delay.

In the interim, The R&A and the USGA will continue to monitor the effects of distance on the game. 

A lot is happening in the NBA bubble. Beefs, playoff races, budding rivalries. Whatever. The Lakers are having a Madden tournament and LeBron is not in the lead. Elsewhere, bad putting and taking shots at the Astros.

TaylorMade has unveiled a new species of spider: the Spider FCG.

While this mallet putter definitely shares some DNA with its Spider ancestors, the FCG may be better categorized as an evolutionary offshoot. You will recognize classic Spider characteristics such as multi-material construction and a True Roll insert. However, you’ll quickly discover that the Spider FCG is truly living on a different web.

Putting Your Best Face Forward

The most significant design change with the Spider FCG is indicated in its name. “FCG” stands for Forward Center of Gravity. Those of you familiar with Spider design, and mallet design in general, will see that this is a departure from convention. Typical mallet design pushes the weight rearward and outward. This boosts MOI and ultimately causes the center of gravity to be towards the back of the putter.

It’s one of the greatest differences between mallet and blade putters. Blades feel like blades and mallets feel like mallets because of the overall distribution of head weight. A putter is going to feel different if the mass is at the face, like a blade, or inches behind the face, like a mallet.

This is it, people. The Mizuno JPX921 Iron is here, or at least coming soon. As a man who appreciates the beauty of MP but leans heavily towards JPX, I’m here for all of it. This is the one I’m always waiting for.

Fans of any one brand or even product families have stories, milestones … something you can point to on a timeline to explain why a product resonates with you. Maybe it’s a club you played back in the day. Maybe a brand rep liked your tweet. It can be any reason at all but for many in Mizuno’s camp, because it’s a Mizuno has always been reason enough.

For me, it started with the JPX850. It remains one of my favorite irons of all time and I kick myself (several times a year) for ever letting them go. Within the broader Mizuno ecosystem, JPX850 was the iron that began reshaping and redefining JPX as something other than Mizuno’s game-improvement offering.

JPXEZ undid some of that but we won’t talk about that.

Looks can be (purposely) deceiving. That’s the premise behind the Mizuno ES21 wedge.

Attire that you can actually wear from the office to the golf course. A work conference in a tropical location. The mullet. Anything that looks how we want it to but functions as we need it to is a rare gem, indeed.

It’s the beauty of multi-functionality.

Skinny

Mizuno is adamant that the ES21 is not a game-improvement wedge. I repeat, this is not a game improvement wedge.

The new TaylorMade SIM DHY and UDI utility irons represent both a jump to the left and a step to right for the company. In either case, both are a giant step away from the GAPR experiment.

If you’re the kind of golfer who finds utility irons exciting, we could probably hang out. Sure, irons are sexy, wedges are cool, and putters are fun, but utility irons are kinda like kale. They are potentially good for you, but they’re no meat-lovers pizza with extra everything.

You may or may not find the new TaylorMade DHY and UDI utility irons exciting, but they are interesting, especially within the context of GAPR. And depending on your game, you may find something that fills a, uhh, gap.

GAPR: Folly or Forethought

Two years ago, TaylorMade took a stab at creating a new category in that undiscovered country between driving irons and hybrids. GAPR LO, MID, and HI bridged a gap many of us didn’t know existed and did so rather garishly. They performed, but looks-wise they were, well, an acquired taste.

Do golfers need three options between irons and metal woods that aren’t hybrids? Apparently not, as GAPR is gone and TaylorMade is calling the new models what they are: utility irons.

We’ve covered TaylorMade’s MG2 series before. You can read the specifics here and not much has changed with this release. With the TaylorMade MG2 TW Wedge, you still get the milled sole for more precise tolerances. You still get a laser-etched surface texture for more spin on short shots (actual mileage may vary) and you get optimized mass distribution for control. And, of course, you get Raw Face Technology. What’s new here are the letters TW and the new grinds that come with them.

All of the above gives you the chance to play the same wedges (more or less) that Tiger plays – and I actually like that. TaylorMade says Tiger’s sole designs feature complex and unique sole geometry and while that might be true, what we’re talking about are two new mid-high bounce MG2 options designed for versatility.

TaylorMade MG2 TW Sand Wedge

The 56-degree sand wedge has 12 degrees of bounce. As you expect from all things Tiger, it’s designed with versatility and creativity in mind. The aggressive heel relief allows the face to be opened, closed or, if you’re feeling crazy, played dead nuts square. The Tiger perspective is that the versatility allows him to manipulate the shot based on what the lie gives him.

TaylorMade MG2 TW Lob Wedge

With the golf equipment market booming, TaylorMade is pushing ahead with the release of its three new P7 series irons – the P7MB, P7MC and the P770.

Just one guy’s opinion here but, frankly, the first two look like solid-enough designs elevated by descriptive language borrowed heavily from Mizuno’s linguistic playbook. The third, the P770, offers a simple story but packs a powerful punch that could redefine a category that has perhaps lost its way.

Each of the three models targets the better player, though there’s some wiggle room with the P770. Its market appeal should prove to be orders of magnitude higher than the other two (probably combined), so let’s start there.

TaylorMade P770

TaylorMade’s tagline for P770 is Let the Sibling Rivalry Begin. That rivalry is with the P790 which is, by any reasonable measure, P770’s big brother. P770 has got Speed Foam, tungsten weighting (up to 46 grams) and Thru Slot Speed Pockets. Cosmetically, the design is cleaner than P790 (“clean” is a theme across all of TaylorMade’s new irons) but the shape is similar, though smaller enough to matter.

Warriors guard Stephen Curry was deputized as a "guest reporter'' for the final round of the PGA Championship, and he rewarded Collin Morikawa with the first two questions after his win.

Geoffshackelford.com readers had faith in the 23-year-old

Those words are surreal to type given that just three years ago we were getting ready to know Collin Morikawa better at the 2017 Walker Cup. Even though he stayed at Cal for four years and was an All-American in each, and even though he seems to average 69.2 at every level he plays, it’s nonetheless stunning to see him win at 23 against a field where nearly all of the top players were relevant on a course presented in classic major championship fashion.

Even better, while his ability to hit fairways and overall steadiness was vital, it was the one major risk he took Sunday at the par-4 16th that made the difference. Here’s is Ben Everill’s account at PGATour.com on a shot we’ll talk about for years to come.

I’ve filed for The Athletic on that and many other components from the day, but just in case you missed the shot for the ages, here is Morikawa driving the 16th green where he made eagle en route to his -13 winning total.