Golfing News & Blog Articles

I filed this top 20 heading into the PGA yesterday, though after seeing Tiger late Monday and sleeping on it, he may need to move up into the top 5. Oh well, he’s played once since February.

Please check out the list I filed for The Athletic making my case for various players. There are a few names mentioned who may not getting enough attention. And remember, it’s currently 40% off to subscribe, so the cost alone will help make you some money in states where gambling is legal!

Besides my list, you can run it up against Daniel Rapoport’s field ranking at GolfDigest.com.

Rob Bolton’s always-reliable PGATour.com Power Ranking included many of the same names and thoughts in my piece. Whew!

ESPN.com’s team also makes their picks here.

With Justin Thomas winning and returning to world No. 1 at the WGC FedEx St Jude, their gelling as a team on short notice, adds one more intriguing pre-PGA Championship story (Rex Hoggard on that for GolfChannel.com.)

I enjoyed Michael Bamberger’s thoughts, prompted by the win, on player-caddie relationships, how we overrate them and underrate them at the same time.

Some years later, Angelo summarized his work with Nicklaus thusly: “He asked me to do two things. When he’s not playing well, one, remind him that he’s the best golfer out there. And two, that there’s plenty of holes left.”

In his own way, that’s pretty much what Joe LaCava does for Tiger. It’s always interesting, watching two people interacting with some meaningful thing on the line. Caddie-player. Husband-wife. Doctor-patient. Pitcher-catcher. This is a big week for Bones and JT.

Despite the bizarre times, some pretty nice efforts have been made to enhance your connection to this true muni and its lore.

Do not miss Bill Nierkerken’s San Francisco Chronicle slideshow of various tournament and historic moments at Harding Park over the years.

PGATour.com’s Sean Martin files a really super and comprehensive look at Harding Park with a nice range of history and design change information.

I’m getting mixed predictions on one topic he touches upon: balls staying up in the flattop Cypress. It happened in the match play here, and while it used to be more prevalent before the trees received more care, still something to keep an eye on given the launch angle approach.

Harding Park’s curving fairways require players to choose how aggressive they want to be and to shape their tee shots. Players have to be careful to avoid the cypress trees, which are known to swallow golf balls, though.

“I've seen enough (balls) get stuck to where I'm going to try my hardest to avoid cutting off doglegs too much,” Jordan Spieth said before the 2015 Match Play.

Maybe we need This Is Major back? Or, the playoffs just mean that much.

Because Ryan Moore just played in the Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California and is passing up the PGA Championship in San Francisco, reports GolfDigest.com’s Joel Beall.

Some Ricky Bobby in this one…

Moore's camp told Golf Digest's Brian Wacker that Moore didn't want to play both the Barracuda and PGA, and listed as ninth alternate for the PGA at the beginning of last week, decided to play in the Barracuda. When he ultimately got into the Harding Park field, Moore decided to pass, sticking to his original plan. Instead he is opting for rest in hopes for a FedEx Cup posteason run.

Oh, and of course, left unsaid, a late Wyndham Rewards run too. Majors, schmajors!

Not that I’m saying he’s come to some events unprepared, but there was definitely an urgency to the Monday proceedings at Harding Park. Getting comfortable on the green was the primary focus, particualrly given that his swing, ball-striking and body all appear ready to go.

—Short game consultant Matt Killen went nine holes with him and they discussed his putting at times.

—He played one of his approach shots as if a real putt, but with Joe LaCava giving his read first, then consulting the green reading charts, before putting.

—Woods practiced putting one-handed a few times

—Flexibility appeared excellent despite the cool conditions. No 80% swings as we’ve seen in run-ups or early week of majors.

Greetings From San Francisco!

I covered a lot of ground in this contribution for The Athletic, where I’ll be filing pieces all week from San Francisco (40% off subscriptions, currently, btw and well worth it especially now that the NBA and MLB are in action).

What I did leave out of the list: there is something magical about coastal San Francisco golf and major conditions. It’s some sort of enchanting mix of the fog, crisp blue skies, those incredible Monterey Cypress and the zany city nearby fueling the magic.

So yes, the fans won’t be here, but something tells me we are in for a wild week. Check out the five best reasons to get excited here.

One other note: Ron Sirak reminds us that it’s been over a year since a men’s major. That alone should get you excited!

The drivable(?) 16th hole at TPC Harding Park

Glory’s only shot! This (really) is major. The 2020 PGA Championship is here!

While there isn’t much to study here architecturally unless insipid bunkers on the outside of doglegs are your thing. But you can’t help but be enraptured by the birds-eye view of the majestic Monterey Cypress. And the cart paths. Roomy!

If the sun comes out, expect CBS’s new live drone, the Goodyear Blimp and other elements to provide great visuals. It stinks not having crowds this week more than any event on the calendar, but we’ll march on.

From the PGA of America’s YouTube page:

Martin Dempster catches up with Alfred Dunill Links chief Johan Rupert about cancelling the annual fall European Tour event in St Andrews that includes a pro-am. Safety was at the forefront of his decision.

“People could be acting in good faith and just accidentally cause reinfection. If you look at that time of the year in September and October, it’s cool, so people are indoors, they are going to be in pubs. Imagine everything going well and a couple of asymptomatic people come and they restart it. It is not responsible.

“Sorry, I love St Andrews too much and I love the Old Course too much. It is the culture, the space and the people that we love and we are not going to do anything to endanger that.

“My only sadness about the event being called off this year is for the community of St Andrews and also the community of Carnoustie because I know how much this event means to them. Also the caddies. I’ve had the same caddie for 17 years. It is devastating in that respect.”

The event would have been played in early October immediately following the Ryder Cup, which has also been postponed until 2021.

Dakota jumps in on the broadcast and doesn't miss a beat as he calls the great approach by Rickie Fowler.

📺 | CBS pic.twitter.com/vdTA1BrjLw

What would have been a dreary gray Saturday in Memphis perked up with CBS asking some patients of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to highlight the amazing work of Danny Thomas’s vision and the children currently under the hospital’s care who also love golf.

Not only did it provide a welcome break from the usual golf on TV and relentless cheerleading, but one in particular is already a budding announcer. Brentley Romine at GolfChannel.com with Dakota Cunningham’s story.

“Would you take this at the flag, Dakota?” Ian Baker-Finch asked Cunningham as Fowler prepared to hit his second shot into the ninth green, which is guarded by water.

“I sure would, right at it,” Cunningham responded, without hesitation.

Cunningham’s announcing captured the hearts of many on social media, with some people demanding CBS hire the kid on the spot. Nantz also invited him back next year before letting Cunningham send the telecast to commercial by reading the leaderboard.

CBS posted this on their account and I’m pretty sure it won’t get a take down notice, either. Great stuff Dakota and all of the kids who are bravely fighting.

Major props to Branden Grace, tied for second after two rounds of the Barracuda Championship, choosing to alert PGA Tour officials to possible mild symptoms that could easily have been attributed to altitude. Unfortunately, he ended up testing positive for COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw from the opposite field event.

His voluntary admission is particularly noble given that Grace is 156th in the FedExCup, has fallen to 79th in the world and could use the good week he was primed for. He will likely WD from next week’s PGA where he has two recent top tens. Grace is also the only player to have shot 62 in a major championship.

The full PGA Tour statement:

PGA TOUR player Branden Grace has withdrawn from the Barracuda Championship prior to the third round after testing positive for COVID-19. 

 “I felt great all week,” said Grace. “Last night, I was tired and thought it had to do with the altitude. This morning, I notified the PGA TOUR about my symptoms before going to the golf course. I wanted to get tested out of respect for my peers and everyone involved with the tournament. While it is unfortunate given my position on the leaderboard, the most important thing is our health.”

 The PGA TOUR has implemented its response plan in consultation with medical experts, including working with those who may have had close contact with Grace. Grace’s caddie tested negative for COVID-19, but in accordance with CDC guidelines and TOUR health and safety protocols, he will quarantine for a period of 14 days. After conducting necessary contact tracing, the TOUR’s medical advisors are not recommending any additional testing at this time.

Grace will have the PGA TOUR’s full support throughout his self-isolation period of 10 days per CDC guidelines and TOUR health and safety protocols.

I believe the kids would call this trolling.

Brooks Koepka Friday at the WGC FedEx St Jude in a tough spot. A day after Bryson DeCahmbeau and caddie lobbied for relief from a dangerous situation in the form of an ant hole as well as a burrowing animal hole:

No matter how @BKoepka plays this weekend, we’ll always have this. pic.twitter.com/uxGKT9Xr2Y

Michael Shamburger filed a nice post recapping both situations including the clip originally Tweeted by PGA TOUR partner CBS before getting scrubbed by Cult Ponte Vedra.

Enjoy while you a before the Brand Police serve a warrant on Shamburger show up at his doorstep in a valiant effort to protect Bryson’s image.

This kind of analysis of Davis Love’s brief CBS stint might have made fans more appreciative of the Hall of Famer’s short TV career.

Rex Hoggard talks to Love about the end of his CBS stint.

“Go back to the four West Coast events and I got off to a rough start and it just wasn’t working for me,” Love said. “I found the mechanics hard and being entertaining was hard. It’s kind of like you’re hitting it bad and you start getting worse and worse and worse. I was surprised how nervous I was.”

Ah we never noticed. Well, some of us.

“I found out that it was a lot harder than I thought,” Love said. “We kind of had a perfect storm with [CBS lead producer Lance Barrow] leaving and my situation at home with the fire and coronavirus. Nothing was normal and I’m trying to learn a business when nothing is normal.”

You gotta give the members of @Inverness_Club a huge amount of credit for giving-up their course at short notice during the height of the season for a regular tour event, knowing they’ll do the same next year for #SolheimCup - big gesture of support for womens golf. #DriveOn pic.twitter.com/2iPgfs3BVo

Hardly unexpected but still nice to see: the LPGA’s finest are restarting their season at rejuvenated Inverness. And while the “major championship” conditions presented by veteran ace super John Zimmers could be a tough way to restart after a pandemic-driven break, I couldn’t be happier to see one of America’s great clubs and tournament courses back in fine form.

And let’s be clear: Inverness only fell out of favor because of regulatory malfeasance (as much as I’d love to blame the Fazio’s, it was still great even after their visit.)

The news wasn’t 100% perfect—one player tested positive for COVID-19 on site and another at home—the players sound excited to be back and grateful to be playing Inverness, even if some are going caddieless, as Beth Ann Nichols notes in this Golfweek story.

As for the course, the LPGA.com notes in advance of Friday’s first round include these player remarks about Donald Ross’s design.

With all due respect to Yoda, the spirit of the rules is not strong with this one.

Since the PGA Tour took down the video tweeted by their partners at CBS—paying lavishly for the rights btw—below is a shortened version posted that will inevitably be targeted by Cult Ponte Vedra in a futile attempt to scrub evidence of unsportsmanlike conduct by Bryson Dechambeau. The full version would allow you to see the various avenues he attempts to pursue in search of a better lie, including the spotting of one red ant in hopes of protecting himself form harms way.

This came after his Memorial antics whining about a ruling and mashing down rough, proceeded by his caddy trying to bully a camera operator. The total package should give you an idea of just how dire the situation is in the players-first, rules/golf core values of the game a distant-second-mindset that has overtaken the PGA Tour.

Brian Wacker at GolfDigest.com with the details and DeChambeau’s post-round comments suggesting he’s always going to respect the officials.

Bryson wants a drop because of a red ant

He is the worst pic.twitter.com/lRd2j44xMn

His name mentioned as a player who has received an offer letter, Henrik Stenson was asked about the Premier Golf League’s prospects Wednesday in Memphis where he’s playing the WGC FedEx St. Jude Classic.

Q. I'm going to straight for the jugular. Your name's been mentioned as one of the players that's may be involved in the Premier Golf League. Can you comment on that, please?

HENRIK STENSON: I think we've all kind of seen--we've seen some of the things in the press and, yeah, I know a little bit what's going on behind the scenes and I'm following it closely, like a lot of other people. Yeah, we'll see what happens in the future really.

Q. Can you say now whether you've been approached or not, or is that sort of under cover?

HENRIK STENSON: Well, we'll--

Inverness’ 18th hole

One of the great places in American golf lore unveils a radically restored layout this Friday when the LPGA kicks off its 2020 season. So thanks to the Fried Egg for helping prep us with this overview of Andrew Green’s Inverness restoration, a welcome tonic from the men managing muggy, mundane Memphis this week. Golf Channel coverage of the LPGA Drive-On Championship starts Friday from 9-11:30 am ET.

Awesome day checking out the refreshed Inverness with @GreenGCA - great new bunkering, gets the Ross feel back at a historic place. Green complexes are phenomenal and it now stretches to over 7800 yards - 6 major championships...should be matter of time before #7 pic.twitter.com/NO6rZwQuwl

This week, @invernessclubgolf hosts the @lpga_tour Drive On Championship. A Donald Ross design, Inverness recently underwent a renovation by @green_gca Here, Green discusses his first impressions of the property and his discovery of three new Ross-inspired holes.

A post shared by The Fried Egg (@fried_egg_golf) on Jul 29, 2020 at 3:35pm PDT

One of the most respected former USGA Presidents has passed.

Grant Spaeth, collegiate golfing great and advocate for the game, followed in the mold of fellow Northern Californian Sandy Tatum and could safely be characterized as the last of an era attracted to serve the game for unselfish reasons.

David Shefter is thankfully still around at USGA.org to memorialize the life and interesting times of Spaeth.

This I didn’t know:

Spaeth graduated from Stanford and Harvard Law School before a brief stint in the U.S. Army, later establishing a law practice in Palo Alto. He also devoted a good deal of time to public service. He served as the deputy secretary for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare from 1978-80, and was a Palo Alto city councilman.

1920’s golf cartoon still—sadly—relevant

It’s too exhausting at this point to even try to address golf pros—even smart and nice ones like Webb Simpson—who fail to understand even the basics of what it takes to create a golf hole of strategy and interest for a variety of players.

So I’ll let the above Tweet do the talking, but if you must, here is the entire question and answer in Memphis raving about the brilliance of TPC Southwind, one of the most beloved courses on the planet, said no one. All while wearing his Titleist billboard (Wally what brainwashing chips do you embed in those caps?).

Q. Going back to what you just said about this course being--not being a--or being a point A to point B golf course, looking ahead to next week at Harding Park, how would you characterize that golf course?

WEBB SIMPSON: Yeah. So that one I think is kind of a tweener. It is long and bombers will have an advantage, because it is longer, there's a lot of drivers, but there's not as many forced carries out at Harding Park as some of these long golf courses.

And I've been pretty vocal. I don't think technology's the problem with our game, I think it's golf course design. I think you would solve a lot of problems on this length issue if architects would get a little more creative on doglegs,

Rory McIlroy was asked on the eve of the WGC FedEx St Jude when he’ll be comfortable playing in front of fans again. The short version: not any time soon.

RORY McILROY: When would I feel comfortable when there's fans back on the golf course? I think I guess when there's less of a chance of people getting sick, I guess. And whether that's--you know, they discover more with the virus or there's different treatments, whether that's a vaccine or other treatments. So, I don't know. Again, like being out here, I feel pretty safe. We get tested multiple times a week, and inside the bubble I think we're pretty much not--obviously you can limit your exposure as much as you can. But yeah, it's hard. I don't know, I don't know. Whether it's a vaccination or whether it's something happens where there's a breakthrough and we know a little bit more about what's going on with the virus, but I probably can't give you a definitive answer about when I would be comfortable with crowds again.

Later in the interview McIlroy conceded he now understands the views of European players unwilling to travel for tournaments. This, after suggesting he would be leery of traveling to Europe or anywhere this fall. He had previously questioned some for an unwillingness to quarantine to be part of the PGA Tour’s restart.

And then regarding--like I--honestly, I don't know if I see myself going back to Europe this year. I don't know. I don't know if I want to travel, I don't know if I want to be exposed to more things and more people. So I don't know. I have no idea. I'm sort of taking it week by week. I've got my schedule planned up until the U.S. Open, which is obviously a couple weeks after the TOUR Championship, and then I honestly don't have any--I have no idea what I'm going to do after that.

And…

While the lack of U.S. Open fans garnered most headlines, the status of New York’s quarantine rules and those attempting to make the September event a go has been addressed. From Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com report:

Earlier this month, the New York Department of Health issued guidance that eases the travel order for all professional sports teams, allowing players, coaches and team staff to be exempt from quarantine to play games, practice or provide support.

That exemption also extends to competitors in the U.S. Open. And not just to players and caddies but to everyone on site at Winged Foot, including staff, officials and media.

“Every person on site will be considered essential personnel,” USGA CEO Mike Davis told Golf Digest. “Everyone will be tested before they come on site.”

Governor Andrew Cuomo made the news part of his daily update and gives the impression of potentially tougher protocols than essentials have been facing at PGA Tour events.

The USGA will put protocols in place to protect players and staff, including rigorous protocols for testing, cleaning, use of face coverings and social distancing. 

"The 2020 U.S. Open will take place at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck this September. The national championship is a great event. It will be held without fans and the organizers are working with the State Department of Health to ensure everyone's safety," Governor Cuomo said. "Today's numbers show continued progress - and our goal now is to protect that progress as states across the nation see their infections rates surge. We cannot go backwards, so remember to wear your mask and stay New York Tough."

New York’s restrictions on visitors continue to expand, but will now be irrelevant to essential U.S. Open visitors.