by Gary Williams | May 5, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Brooks Koepka winning the LIV golf event in Singapore can represent whatever level of accomplishment you choose to make it, but it likely signifies a more competitive Koepka at the PGA Championship. Brooks spoke of his own disappointment at his performance at the Masters which is a self-motivating strategy that has always proved effective for Koepka. A win at Valhalla would be bold type in the historical record. Back-to-Back PGA’s for the second time would equal the accomplishment of Tiger Woods who won in 1999 and 2000 and again in 2006 and 2007. It would also signify his fourth Wannamaker trophy tying him with Tiger Woods and putting him one behind the all-time leaders of Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagan with five PGA Championship victories. Finally, if he were to win in Louisville it would be major championship number six, equaling the likes of Mickelson, Faldo, and Trevino in the grand pantheon. Koepka is a significant storyline at Valhalla.
- The absence of Scottie Scheffler from the Wells Fargo Championship is not surprising and not alarming as it relates to his chances to win the PGA Championship. In his 10 tour wins, including both major wins, Scheffler took at least one week off before those victories and in the case of both wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he had taken a couple weeks off after the west coast swing. The break for the birth of the first child for Scottie and his wife Meredith may prove to be exactly what he needed beyond the enrichment of their lives headed into the major sprint.
- Tiger Woods received the least surprising thing this week, a special exemption into the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. In the wasteland of social media there were suggestions and opinions that Woods should have to go through sectional qualifying. Those opinions are from those who are either uniformed or are trolling. Neither way is the best way to go through life. Jack Nicklaus received eight exemptions into the U.S. Open culminating with his last start at Pebble Beach in 2000. Arnold Palmer received five exemptions into the U.S. Open with the last coming at Oakmont, poignantly in 1994. Icons get the invite to the championship they helped make in their prime. Additionally, Scott Verplank, David Ishee, Jay Sigel, and Aaron Baddeley received special exemptions into America’s oldest major and people are questioning Tiger Woods getting his first exemption? Get used to it because, like Nicklaus, the passes will continue likely until his final one in 2032 at Pebble Beach where his first U.S. Open win occurred by 15 shots in 2000.
- The Cognizant Founders Cup on the LPGA has some real juice this week as Nelly Korda pursues her sixth straight win. Upper Montclair Golf Club is a charming spot in Clifton, NJ. The Sopranos shot scenes there through the years and the place has tournament history with Gene Littler winning the first ThunderBird Classic in 1962. Lee Trevino, Nancy Lopez, Lorena Ochoa, Pat Bradley and Arnold Palmer have also won at Upper Montclair. First pitches at Yankee Stadium from a couple players this past weekend kicked off the promotional blitz and Nelly changes the game on the assignment desk at the New York papers. Her streak gives buzz and the New York media, while covered up with Rangers playoff hockey and Knicks playoff basketball, will give an increased amount of column space to Korda and the field. There is nothing like winning in North Jersey!
- Anthony Kim is now five events into his return to professional golf and he’s yet to have a week that signifies quantitative progress. He’s finished 50th or worse in every event including this past week in Singapore where he finished 53rd out of 54 players. His stats are at the absolute bottom of every important category including fairways hit, less than 40% and greens hit in regulation, less than 50%. I said from the beginning that the whole season would give an indicator if he can ascend legitimately to a lofty place again and the results so far should surprise no one including Anthony himself. A generation of players has come and gone since he last competed and the end then was not good. He appears happy and grateful but his insistence on engaging people on social media who are carving him up is the definition of wasted energy. Enjoy sobriety, your family, this opportunity to play again and leave the agita behind.
- I was able to see the renovation to the Finley Golf Course at the University of North Carolina this past week. The Tarheel men’s team is the number 1 seed in the regional being contested there this coming week in the NCAA championships. Having played the golf course regularly in the early 90’s it’s a great new chapter for the teams, students and residents of Chapel Hill. A new putting course, “The Heel”, a robust practice area for the teams with short game and multiple tees and the renovation of the golf course by Carolina alum Davis Love III and his brother Mark give Finley all the assets to compete with the best college facilities in the country. In a sport void of economic impact on the bottom line of an athletic budget, golf is blessed with insane support from the private sector made up of golf loving alums.
- Miles Russell made a Korn Ferry Tour cut a few weeks ago at age 15 and this week it was 16-year-old Kris Kim from Surrey, England who made the cut on a sponsor exemption at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Kim is the Boys amateur champion and beat Russell in a Junior Ryder Cup singles match 5 and 4. This coming week, Blades Brown, a 16-year-old from Nashville, TN gets his shot on a sponsor exemption into the new Myrtle Beach tour event that is opposite the Wells Fargo Championship. Brown has an NIL deal with Transcend Capital Advisors who have harvested NIL deals with other top college and amateur talent. Brown is a top target for every major college program and look to make it three juniors making professional cuts in the last month. Totally insane.
- The news this week that Jack Nicklaus played Augusta National three times after the Masters is sensational. Michael Jordan is not playing pick up at old Chicago Stadium, and Joe Montana is not throwing seam routes to Jerry Rice at Candlestick Park. Neither venue even exists anymore which amplifies the point about golf allowing all of us to be romantic about the greats including the greats taking these walks. In a classic Nicklaus humble brag moment, he shared dismissingly that he posted rounds of 88, 90, and 91. He’s 84 years old!! Maybe, yes sir!
- Phil Mickelson responded this week to a post on Twitter/X about the perceived challenges for LIV players and major championship starts with the following, “maybe some LIV players won’t be missed. But what if NONE of the LIV players played? Would they be missed? What about next year when more great players join? Or the following year? At some point they will care and will have to answer to sponsors and television. FAAFO”. Here is what won’t happen… Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka in the prime of their careers with finite major championship starts in the grand scheme are not going to boycott majors so Talor Gooch can get a start. Rahm and Koepka are not crusading for LIV’s place in golf, they are two dudes who took the cash, would like unification but are not dying on the major vine for other LIV guys. It’s not to say they won’t show some phony threat to boycott, but they are NOT missing majors for the cause. Not in this lifetime.
- Bandon Dunes resort celebrated their 25th anniversary this past week with the inclusion of golf “influencers” and the men responsible for the design of the five courses and Bandon Preserve and the new “Shorty’s” offering. Bandon Dunes ushered in the era of retail golf at outposts from the Cabot Properties, Streamsong and Sand Valley to name a few. Mike Keiser, the visionary for Bandon Dunes NEEDS to be enshrined into the World Golf Hall of Fame. In addition to creating foundations at Bandon Dunes to turn profit into charity for conservation and community through several of their assets like Bandon Preserve and Shorty’s he’s driven a sector of the industry well into the future. Job creation for designers, golf professionals, agronomists, service workers and administrative positions. More importantly, he’s literally helped bring joy through the game to hundreds and hundreds of thousands of golfers. He’s a true pioneer in the game and his place in the 2026 HOF class is overdue.
- The Signature Series comes to Charlotte this week and the swan song for the Wells Fargo Championship. Wells Fargo, according to multiple sources, offered to renew their agreement with the PGA Tour for more than 20 million dollars annually and the Tour declined. From the inception of the event, then the Wachovia Championship, the tour has been blessed with the consistency of a presenting sponsor and Quail Hollow Club as a venue except in years that conflicted with a PGA Championship and the Presidents Cup. It’s widely believed that beyond the PGA Championship in 2025 the tour will return to Quail Hollow with a new sponsor, likely to be announced in the coming weeks. What is certain is that Quail Hollow, its new sponsor clearly paying north of 20 million annually and the relationship between the Harris family and the powers within the PGA Tour will keep the event, which started in 2003, as an elevated/signature/designated event into the 2030’s. Charlotte likes the big event, Charlotte can’t count on its local teams to win, period, and golf is a big draw in the market. It has been from day one.
- Jordan Spieth’s fourth missed cut in his last six starts is beyond disconcerting. The lingering issues with the partially torn tendon sheath in his left wrist have prompted calls from broadcast analysts for Jordan to shut it down for a while or possibly face surgery. Spieth sags into May with no form, no record at Quail Hollow other than a good team week in 2022 with Justin Thomas in the Presidents Cup and his prospects of completing the career grand slam at the PGA at Valhalla seeming beyond remote. Spieth is a sticky player. He plays well and the audience sticks around. The tour currently has few of them and his current state of play is a downer for the PGA Tour C-suite.
- The passing of Peter Oosterhuis the day before his 76th birthday this past Thursday conjured sadness from all corners. Peter played globally, broadcast for virtually every media partner of the main tours and created friendships at all levels of the golf community. I was fortunate to conduct many interviews with Peter in the infancy of “Morning Drive” on Golf Channel at the beginning of the last decade. Warm, thoughtful, deferential and exceedingly humble was his make-up. He exuded grace and nobody took a bad view of Peter. What a dignified journey and truly gone too early as a victim of the hideous destruction of Alzheimer’s disease. God speed good sir.
- Adrian Otaegui won the Volvo China Open for his 5th win on the DP World Tour. Couple odd notes about Otaegui and the event. It’s the first time the DP World Tour has been back to China in five years and for Otaegui it gets him into the PGA Championship as he sneaks into the top 3 in the Asian Swing standings on the DP tour which brings with it an invite to Valhalla. Sebastian Soderberg led the Asian swing standings punctuated by another top 5. Soderberg will be making his first start in the PGA. Soderberg won the 2019 European Masters in Switzerland in one of my all-time favorite gangsome playoffs. The playoff included Soderberg, Kalle Samooja, Andres Romero, Lorenzo Gagli, and RORY MCILROY!! Yes, Rory off his Tour Championship and FedEx Cup title the previous week in Atlanta jetted to Switzerland to satisfy a sponsor commitment with Omega and couldn’t quite cross the line in what is one of the great golf geek trivia questions of all time. Name the five players in the European Masters in 2019? After that name the six guys in the playoff at Riviera in 2001.
- Why doesn’t an event in professional golf build or rebuild their brand around the regal optics of the Kentucky Derby. Golf is in a tremendous and interesting place regarding fashion and style. More brands are entering the space with influencers and players driving the interest. Most people like a costume party and this crosses all demographics. All sporting events generations ago were attended in elegant and dignified garb. Taking an event and making it an event should be more than just a signature beverage. How golf doesn’t have one event where it’s about what you wear is a loss.
- Jake Knapp had another very good week on tour. Jake is a good watch outside of his too methodical “think box” approach. His easy speed, absence of violence at impact, soft soling of the club at address and overall appearance is a cool thing. He will be interesting to watch through the summer to see if he can build a case for Montreal.
- The news that Sweetens Cove will close at the end of May for the summer is a tough choice for their team. The harshness of a winter spell did such damage to their turf that they have made the decision to re-grass and re-open at the beginning of September. One of the true fun factories will be sorely missed amongst its legion of devotees. See ya in September.
- The 5 Clubs PGA Championship Preview Show Part 1 will be released on Monday on all of our platforms including our YouTube channel. Access via our website www.5Clubsgolf.com and on all digital audio platforms.
by Gary Williams | Apr 29, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- The report from James Corrigan in the Telegraph this past week pretty eliminates any doubt as to whether the best European players, starting with Jon Rahm, will be on the Euro side at Bethpage in September of 2025. Guy Kinnings of the DP World Tour shared the details of the parameters in place that allows for Rahm and Tyrell Hatton to make the side. It also simply amplifies what we already knew from the moment Rory McIlroy laid down his marker upon Rahm’s departure for LIV. When Rory said Rahm would be at Bethpage he was going to be at Bethpage.
- As we head into the month of May and the PGA on the horizon two weeks from Thursday, I believe the PGA of America would like to have a different narrative pre-championship than they had last year with a great deal of focus on exemptions, world rankings and LIV. I believe they would like to introduce Tiger Woods as the Ryder Cup captain for next year. As I wrote during Masters week it’s a possibility, he will accept the post and his relationship with Seth Waugh really matters as the PGA tries to convince Tiger to take on the task. The PGA would get a pre-championship jolt if that news were shared but it’s a tricky balance from their stage and not trying to upstage themselves with their (PGA) other crown jewel.
- Its crystal clear that players formerly playing on the PGA Tour who were born outside the United States and Europe will not be on the International Presidents Cup Team. Even a win for any top American who plays on LIV in one of the last three majors of the year I do not think will matter in the way it did for Brooks Koepka last year. Unless the tour and LIV make enormous progress toward an agreement, I do not see a way for a tour property to be inclusive of a “former” member. As an aside, the United States is walking into a buzzsaw of an environment in Montreal in September and any ambivalence on their part will be met with a beating.
- Joel Dahmen was rocking the bucket hat with the crown of the hat cut out at the Zurich Classic. Is it a “Vucket” hat or a “Bizor”. I prefer vucket but he did not invent the style like Payne Stewart did with the sleeveless rainwear at the 1999 U.S. Open. Kip Henley, long time caddy on tour came up with the cut-out top of the bucket hat years ago. Dahmen, whichever hat he’s wearing, looks trimmed down and as fit as I’ve ever seen.
- Conference champions were crowned in men’s college golf this past week and several things appear clear. The SEC, like football, could see one of several schools win a national title. Jackson Koivun, Auburn’s freshman individual conference title holder, is a very special talent. Poise, process and execution. He could win the individual NCAA title in several weeks and it will be the furthest thing from an upset.
- LIV golf has clearly found a captive audience for their product in Adelaide. Estimates of crowds close to 100,000 were lathered up for the three days of competition but this is not a surprise. Australia is a fantastic sporting nation starved to see the best players in the world. There are currently few other places in the world quite like Australia and LIV would be best served to have additional events there if the goal is big crowds, plus so many wonderful courses. I’m curious to see what kind of a crowd they can draw with their Nashville event the week after the U.S. Open in Pinehurst.
- The historic clubs have all done wonderful jobs gathering and presenting their own history in the form of decorative books. Olympic Club is soon to release their own with the great writer Jaime Diaz contributing the bulk of the written word. Chicago Golf Club has just made their wonderful history available in a book titled “The Prairie Raynor”. A collaboration between John Moran, the club’s historian and Dr. Rand Jerris has produced a stunning book of photographs, illustrations and essays to celebrate one of true originals in every way. If you can find a way to secure one, I highly recommend it.
- In the aftermath of Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler’s latest wins last week I penned a piece at www.5Clubsgolf.com about the appealing nature of athletes in any sport separating themselves. What I also heard a fair amount of this week was gimmicky and contrived ways to get them on the same course immediately. One, the best way to derail any streak is to alter their routines including doing some Amazon Prime under the lights hit and giggle. Secondly, they are most interesting when they are beating their competition and to suggest an exhibition with them chirping the whole time as a marketable item would also suggest you were not a marketing major. What they do and where they do it is the answer to what stage they should be on for the foreseeable future.
- For the first six years of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, utilizing the team format I have advocated for the better ball format to be used on Friday and Sunday. I’ve been converted to the alternate shot format for the final day. In the absence of so many top players in the field and many guys trying to win for the first time I am all for the discomfort of the next shot being yours. Finding rhythm is hard enough when you’re trying to win for the first time on your own ball but the prospect of living and dying with another player with modest tour accomplishments is compelling.
- Yuto Katsuragawa has Japan on a roll. Keita Nakajima won the recent Hero Indian Open and with additional wins from Japanese born players on the DP World Tour the nation is currently cresting with male accomplishment. Include the most recent win from Hideki Matsuyama and you have the makings for a memorable stretch for a golf crazy nation.
- Rory McIlroy simply being in the Zurich classic field was going to be a win for the event. For the team of McIlroy and Lowry to contend the whole week made it even easier for fans to make the choice to follow the twosome later in the day over the weekend. As Colt Knost said on the broadcast Sunday, he had never seen crowds that size there before. Not even close. When legit stars add spots on the schedule for the first time the tournament organizers then root quietly but desperately for them to win in hopes they may return.
- The CJ groups investment in golf is to be applauded. They support players with sponsorship deals and put their name as a title sponsor as well and now they’ve taken over the event in Dallas that is simply known as “The Nelson”. Here is hoping that Byron Nelson’s name which remains in the new branding has staying power. Bing Crosby and Bob Hope eventually saw their names fade away at iconic events but while they contributed to golf, they were not one of its all-time legends. Byron Nelson is and let’s make sure it stays on the marquee in perpetuity.
- Golf Digest released their latest installment in their series, “All 18 Holes”. This episode gives the viewer a wonderful tutorial from Gil Hanse on his design of the Ohoopee Match Club in Cobb Town, GA. The land is a rugged and sandy tapestry that is eroded in the most beautiful way and the golf course is so balanced with the looks and visuals. You get low country, sand belt, sand hills and scrub oaks akin to Pine Valley. The club is wonderful in so many ways and the Digest aerials give it an appropriate tribute.
- If North Carolina is going to get that elusive national championship in men’s golf this is the year. They won the ACC title in match play over Florida State for the first time since 2006. Similarly, to Vanderbilt, the Heels have players with a ton of accomplishment and experience. It’s time.
- Northwestern has produced some very fine players through the last two decades but Mike Small’s Illinois men’s program has dominated the Big 10 conference. This week Northwestern won the Big 10 title at famed Scioto. The Wildcat athletic program has seen an awakening from their basketball program under Chris Collins after a decades long slumber and the football program is amid a stadium rebuild that will create one of the finest collegiate stadiums in America that is a privately funded project led by the Ryan family. Men’s golf though is alive and well in Evanston.
- My favorite part of handling all the postgame shows for Zurich on the PGA Tour radio network on SiriusXM was hearing all the interviews with the teams after their rounds. My highlights include David Skinns sharing that he was perplexed by the Falcons taking Michael Penix Jr. in the first round of the NFL draft. Skinns has a friend on the Falcons staff so he’s a fan. Secondly, hearing Ryan Brehm and Mark Hubbard express their genuine love for each other and how much they value the time together was simply fantastic.
- I don’t think I could think of a weirder way for two guys to enter a playoff. Post a low score three hours before the event ends and then go back out against the biggest star in the field playing alternate shot. Bizarro.
- Rory should have all Zurich insurance policies he wants for life. What a dream for the sponsor and he declared they are coming back in 2025.
by Gary Williams | Apr 22, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- I was part of the group that included Ben Crenshaw in April of 2011 when they re-opened Pinehurst #2 after the Coore/Crenshaw restoration. I love what they did then but having played the golf course again this past Monday I have the same question with an additional follow up as it prepares for another U.S. Open in June. Are there simply too many bare and reasonable lies in the native areas to adequately and accurately punish errant shots? Secondly, will the new putting surfaces of Bermuda grass be an additional deterrent against the best players in the world?
- I spent a fair amount of time at Streamsong upon its opening in 2012 before the hotel and even before the black course. I did walk the property with Gil Hanse during construction and marveled at the enormity of the sandpit he was playing in. Spending the past week there with a large group who were there to enjoy all of it I’m widely impressed by how they’ve grown up as a destination. The red, blue and black is a great lineup of courses and the addition of the Coore/Crenshaw “The Chain” short course is fantastic. Add “The Bucket” the 36-hole putting course and Streamsong is humming. Most importantly, the responsiveness and attitude of the entire staff is next level great.
- The coming week signifies the return of LIV golf to Australia. Of all the great golf nations, Australia has been negatively impacted as much as any with the golf calendar preventing top players from supporting their great events at the end of the year. LIV whets their appetite and the event at Adelaide last year was a scene. The audience for American television will likely be modest but the interest down under will be off the charts.
- Miles Russell made history this week as the youngest player to make a Korn Ferry Tour cut at the LECOM Suncoast Classic. He’s a child. I mean that respectfully. He’s not a man child with uncommon size for a 15-year-old. He’s representative of what 15-year-old boys look like until he gets on a golf course. He has refined skill and course management of a 25-year-old. The most important skill any player can possess is the skill to score. 68-66-70-66 for the 15-year-old this past week is silly good. His public journey has begun and he’s challenging the definition of the word precocious.
- I was very bullish on Jordan Spieth to begin 2024 and as we approach the month of May I am concerned about his ability to make it through the season. He spoke this past week about the condition of his wrist and the only real way to improve the condition short of surgery is extended rest. The major season comes and goes very swiftly and his chances at his own career grand slam at the PGA at Valhalla next month appear slim.
- I applaud Chevron for investing in the women’s game. Moving the first major of the year from the historic site in the California desert was not easy but change comes to most things. What Chevron must do is turn on the city of Houston just weeks after the PGA Tour was just in town. The atmosphere has been decidedly flat for two years and I know the town provides options that’s why they must be more creative to initiate on site participation from fans. Bedroom communities with few options are captive, big cities need to be motivated.
- The Golfers Journal film on the story of Cabot Citrus Farms is worth your time. Formerly known as World Woods the rebirth of this property is a fantastic study. Having gone to World Woods in 1996 I thought it was the future. An outpost of two distinctly different courses as a true golf destination. It ultimately failed for reasons explained in the film. This is the good stuff being done by Golfers Journal.
- Rory McIlroy heads to a team event and the end of April without a win on the PGA Tour in 2024. He won in the middle east to start the year and vowed to play more heading toward the major season and the results are average by his standards. One top 10 and a final round scoring average outside the top 115 is simply unacceptable for Rory. May better be his month with his annual return to Quail Hollow and the Wells Fargo Championship followed by the PGA at Valhalla. Two places with great memories you can only hope stir his performance level.
- So Yeon Ryu officially ended her career this past week at the Chevron Championship. Six LPGA victories including two major victories as well as ascending to world number 1 punctuate her career achievements. Above all that bold type was the thing that defined her GRACE. Ryu was dignified, delightful, grateful and always accommodating. She was and will remain such a credit to the game of golf.
- Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt announced this week that he will return to school for his final year. He has a PGA Tour card secured through PGA Tour U and with that luxury and a nice stream of income coming in through excellent sponsorship Sargent will be the biggest star in college golf for another year. Vanderbilt has been agonizingly close to winning a national title but missed qualifying for match play last year in the NCAA tournament. This current group has tons of experience and depth and will enter May as one of the favorites. Sargent is setting marks at Vanderbilt that will likely endure for decades.
- Ludvig Aberg gets plenty of attention but his consistency for a player seeing golf courses and going through the professional acclimation process would be amplified even more if he wasn’t being overshadowed by the person he most resembles in demeanor and maturity, Scottie Scheffler.
- Sahith Theegala will be on the United States Presidents Cup team. I’m anti hot-takery but that’s as close as I’ll venture into that over-populated landscape.
- In 2005 Annika Sorenstam and Tiger Woods combined to win 16 times including two major victories each. The current runs of Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler have the elements to equal that tandem for a calendar year. Korda and Scheffler share an equipment company in TaylorMade and an apparel provider in Nike. The opportunities for collaboration seem bountiful.
- Billy Horschel winning the Corales Puntacana event marks his 8th career win on the PGA Tour. Eight wins in any era is a bounty for a player. His inability to contend in majors has kept him from being on more than the one Presidents Cup team but multiple playoff wins, winning Memorial and being a FedEx Cup champion is a very productive career with tread left on the tires.
- Nelly Korda’s career at the beginning of 2024 was eight wins and one major title. As of Sunday night, her 2024 season is five wins (in a row) and one major title. To say she’s embarking on a career year is just the beginning of the narrative. We may be witness to one of the great seasons in women’s golf history and that includes a gold medal opportunity in Paris. Where this goes with interest and mainstream appeal is the most interesting question. She’s a golf rock star.
- Scottie Scheffler’s career to begin 2024 was six career wins with one major title. As of now his 2024 season is four wins and one major title. He’s having his best career season, and it’s not May 1. He also has a reasonable chance to have the type of year that is comparable in many ways to the best years of Tiger Woods, omitting the 2000 season which is simply not imaginable. A Vardon trophy, maybe multiple major victories, seven or eight wins and a plethora of top 5’s. Dominance at a time of global parity is widely impressive. This only gets more interesting.
- The PGA Tour rolling the dice on Sunday without any alteration to their tee times is dubious and confounding. Every solitary meteorologist had storms as a distinct, if not definite possibility, for the low country of South Carolina. Oddly, the painfully slow pace of the Chevron Championship may have allowed for a larger audience for the women while the men waited out a lengthy delay.
- The Zurich Classic is a departure with the team format being thrust into the heart of the spring and major championship season, but they did the right thing when they made the change because they were dying on the scheduling vine. This week they get Rory and Shane Lowry in the field as the result of an inebriated post Ryder Cup lunch pledge to each other. They still need to make better ball the format on the final day when you can see teams go crazy who are off the pace.
by Gary Williams | Apr 8, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Tiger Woods being here and playing for his 24th straight Masters cuts made, eclipsing the mark he is currently shares with Gary Player and Fred Couples is enough to ask of someone who hasn’t completed an official event since February of 2023.
- The 40th anniversary of Ben Crenshaw’s 1984 Masters victory will be celebrated this week. It’s the most I’ll ever be invested in a golf tournament. I watched the Masters wearing my spikes in my parents’ family room. Yes, I most certainly did.
- Phil Mickelson is arguably the greatest “old” player ever. He is the oldest major winner and surprised many with his Sunday 65 and his 2nd place in 2023. I’m not feeling a great week for Phil but Augusta National is kind to its elders and Phil is the king of the surprise.
- Augusta National used to be even wider a golf course than it currently is with the second cut of rough and the cluster of tall pines that were planted after the turn of the century but there are still some wide corridors. Hole #11 measures 82 yards wide at its broadest point and yet it still annually ranks as one of the toughest holes on the course.
- Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 champion, is coming to the Masters with big momentum. Hideki is unafraid to streak and he’s streaking right now including his win at Riviera. He would be my second overall pick in the draft.
- For all the elevation change at Augusta National the most pronounced drop on any of the greens occurs on the 6th green. From back right to front right the elevation drops four and a half feet. The back right shelf hole location looks miniscule from the elevated tee.
- Rory McIlroy is trying to win a major for the first time since August of 2014 and complete the career grand slam. Of all the factors for why he hasn’t gotten it done at Augusta there are none more telling than his slow starts. He is on a current streak of five straight Masters Thursdays of 72 or worse and during that period he’s played the first round in eight over par. Winners at Augusta always get off to good starts. Only one player this century was outside the top 10 after the FIRST round. Tiger Woods in 2005 and 2019 is that guy.
- The 7th hole has undergone significant change over the years. It was once a bunkerless hole like the 14th, now it has the most bunkers of any hole around the green with five. The shallow green and subtle but severe tilt from back to front make the 7th a silently sinister hole.
- Jordan Spieth already has six top 4 finishes in the Masters in ten starts. His iron play this year will likely make many people shy away from betting the 2015 champion but there is no one currently in the Masters field who feels more liberated when he gets to Augusta than Spieth. I expect another top five.
- The 14th green is art. Ask the likes of Gil Hanse and Ben Crenshaw which green is awe inspiring and it’s the 14th. It’s the largest on the course at 9,880 square feet and has so much pronounced and subtle movement that you can spend all day studying it and I highly recommend doing just that if you’re attending the Masters.
- Jon Rahm has been very consistent about his schedule since turning pro and how many events he plays in advance of the first major. This year he comes to the defense of his Masters title playing only 15 competitive rounds compared to an average of 25 over the past five years. Will he have the sharpness required through the bag starting Thursday.
- The drop from the tenth tee to the bottom of the course at 11 green is widely discussed. The 59 feet climb from the 18th tee to the back of the 18th green is more subtle but very significant. The final climb after the long walk is arduous as is the necessity to account for the climb for your final full shot of the tournament.
- Wyndham Clark comes to Augusta as a first-time participant, but he also arrives as a major champion and arguably the second best player currently on the PGA Tour. While there hasn’t been a first-time winner since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 there have been outstanding debuts in the last decade from Jordan Spieth in 2014 and Sung Jae Im in 2020 who both finished 2nd.
- Brooks Koepka has two seconds at the Masters in 2019 and 2023. He is the best major champion of his generation and has clearly shown that form is immaterial when it comes to his chances in majors. A Masters win would add another player to the career grand slam pool. Rory is a Masters away, Spieth a PGA away and Mickelson a distant U.S. Open away. If Koepka wins the green jacket he would go to Royal Troon with the slam on the line and all the Open Championships going forward.
- The two holes that have remained unchanged from a yardage standpoint are holes 3 and 12. At 350 and 150 yards respectively the two holes are brilliantly designed. The 12th is a mental torture chamber, and the 3rd is so exacting with where you hit your second shot that they will never be compromised by the distance in the men’s game.
- 20 years ago, Phil Mickelson was 33 years old with 22 PGA Tour wins and NO majors. Its unimaginable what the discourse would be on social media if there was a player with that resume today. Phil managed to have a major championship window that was open for 18 years. From 2004 until May of 2021. It’s hard to imagine another player ever winning his first at 33 and his 6th at almost 51.
- The ceremonial tee shots this Wednesday that will include 74-year-old Tom Watson, the 84-year-old Jack Nicklaus and the 88-year-old Gary Player should be cherished.
- Daily Masters diaries will be coming every day this week. Stay tuned for thoughts and observations, plus run-ins with who knows who that I will be sharing and Masters cuisine sampling. I’m here to bring it all to the 5 Clubs family.
by Gary Williams | Apr 1, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- The news this past weekend that Tiger Woods made a trip to Augusta National is not surprising. Reportedly he played with a fellow former U.S. Amateur champion and Justin Thomas. I can only hope that Augusta National chairman, Fred Ridley, and Tiger busted JT’s chops for not winning the Theodore Havemeyer trophy.
- Tiger’s recon trips have been legendary through the decades. His first look at Bethpage before the 2002 U.S. Open, 2004 at Shinnecock, 2007 at Oakmont when he played with Bob Ford who shared that Tiger literally didn’t miss a shot a week before missing a playoff by a shot. These trips will always be cool, but it’s transitioned from whether he was even money to win to whether he will make it through the week. Here’s hoping for an injury or ailment free Masters for the five-time champion.
- Houston has fantastic history with professional golf and professional golfers including the recently deceased Jackie Burke Jr. and Jimmy Demaret. Memorial Park was Demaret’s haunt for years and this past week was a really encouraging week for the future of the event. After moving venues and moving to the fall the event is back in the spring and with the heavy overseed, the proximity to downtown and the provocative stretch of holes on the inward nine, Houston has a bright future. Rightfully so.
- Sahith Theegala is a delightful guy and a fantastic young player. He was given first pitch honors at an Astros/Yankees game and to his credit he threw from the mound and the ball made it across the plate. It’s a nervy experience for sure and at bare minimum he didn’t go full 50 Cent or Gary Dell’Abate.
- Justin Ray has rightfully established himself as the go to guy for virtually any query related to present day info or historical data on professional golf. I am starting to envision his inbox being like Jim Carrey’s in the movie, “Bruce Almighty”. Give the man a day off please.
- Keita Nakajima, who was ranked #1 in the world amateur rankings for 87 weeks won his first event on the DP World Tour. At 23 years old and moving steadily up the world rankings, he is likely to gain exemptions into majors this year. He professed his desire to get to the PGA Tour and offers Japanese golf fans a belief that they may have their next star.
- Another former world #1 amateur from Japan, Takumi Kanaya also won this past week claiming the opening event on the Japan Tour including shooting 64-65 on the weekend. A former Asia-Pacific Amateur champion, Kanaya now has six wins on the top Japanese tour at 25 years old. The Far East is coming with serious talent.
- The 15th hole at Memorial Park was quite the scene this past week especially on Saturday when the final two groups played the hole in five over par. The hole was measuring 121 yards to the right front pin and world number 1 Scottie Scheffler hit his tee shot to within 10 feet before it retreated off the green and into the water where he proceeded to make double bogey. Walking the fine line between good hole and ridiculous hole is razor thin and according to many players Saturday’s set up made the hole pretty stupid.
- Alejandro Tosti got testy with Tony Finau on Saturday on the fourth green in an effort to determine who was away on the putting surface. John Wood said it was an “icy” situation. Tosti has a few episodes from his time on the Korn Ferry Tour and he was already an interesting story from his roots in Argentina to his college years at the University of Florida. Here’s hoping he remains feisty and confrontational. Since the creation of LIV too many of the guys we would all pick a side for or against are playing on that tour. I toast Tosti for being him.
- The report this week that several top names have already privately declared that they will not participate in the Olympics might be a bit premature. With the reliance on world rankings several of these players may only be stating that they would not make their nation’s respective teams and in the event any of them win a major or closely contend their feelings might be amended. The bottom line is that the golf competition in the Olympics has not gotten the cleanest runaway since it was re-introduced after more than 100 years off the program. First it was the Zika virus excuse in 2016 and then covid effected the field in 2021 in Tokyo. Paris might be the LIV/World rankings wrinkle.
- Bryson Dechambeau recently played nine holes with a ball that would be on the conforming list once the ball rollback is instituted in 2028 for elite players. What was likely an exercise to portray the ball as a disaster and bad for the men’s professional game may have had the inverse effect. I was pro rollback and I’m not more pro rollback because of his melodramatic exhibition but it most certainly made many more curious to see the game played with a rollbacked ball.
- During covid David Skinns was driving a food delivery truck to help pay the bills. He came into this season without a top 10 in his PGA Tour career having played most of his career on the Korn Ferry Tour and now in one month he has two top 10’s and possible starts in signature series events. Keeping the dream alive in his 40’s is always a great story.
- Tony Finau had a solid week in his defense of winning in Houston a year ago last October, but it is simply too much to look at the putting stroke and then glance at the putting stats that show him outside the top 140 on tour and make him a Masters favorite. He is a major contender until further notice, but he hasn’t performed as a favorite and Augusta National is unkind to the uncomfortable on their greens.
- Rory McIlroy will play this week at Valero in San Antonio and I’m not sure there is anything that will occur that will influence anyone’s thoughts about his Masters chances. He will get reasonable consideration but his form and the current form of Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele and a few others should put Rory firmly on the second line of favorites.
- The Augusta National Women’s Amateur has become what everyone thought it would become. Special but it’s not the U.S. Women’s amateur. The amateur is the most grueling and most mentally taxing examination in amateur golf. Playing and winning at Augusta National has massive cache but it’s not the amateur.
- Stephen Jaeger was always productive on the Korn ferry Tour, but he has struggled to find firm footing when he’s graduated to the PGA Tour until now. Nine pars on the inward nine Sunday was mundane but he was playing with world #1 and more importantly his determination to gain speed and distance has changed everything for him, including now being a PGA Tour winner.
- Scottie Scheffler is the surest contender in years. His putter was tepid on Sunday but his second to 18 was a shot no one else could produce. He missed a playoff by a shot with the sloppiest three putt on Friday and a clownish double bogey on 15 on Saturday after spinning it into the water. It’s an almost impossible thought that he won’t be lurking at the worst on the weekend at Augusta National.
- American women winning three events before the first major of the season is a very rare occurrence with Patty Berg, Louise Suggs, Kathy Whitworth, JoAnne Carner and now Nelly Korda. Korda is a freight train headed into the major championship season and she is VERY good for business.
by Gary Williams | Mar 25, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Jesper Svensson won the Porsche Singapore Classic in a playoff over Kiradech Aphibarnrat. Svensson shot a final round 63 to secure his first win on the DP World Tour. After winning on the Nordic Golf League in 2020 and then the B-NL Challenge Tour, Svensson began his ascent on leaderboards on the DP World Tour. Based on the reaction from some established players in Europe the Swede has a high ceiling.
- Californian Asterisk Talley won the girls division and Giovanni Daniele Binaghi from Italy won the boys division of the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. Talley led wire to wire and the 15-year old’s 9 under is the lowest total recorded on the girl’s side. Binaghi went 30 holes without a bogey and shot 64 in the final round. Italy might have another top talent for future Ryder Cup consideration.
- The reports that Tiger Woods was fully engaged in the meetings last week between the PGA Tour and Yasir Al-Rumayyan and the PIF should come as zero surprise. If it was reported that Tiger acted disinterested, then you might have a story. As for Al-Rumayyan, you think he was pumped to play golf with Tiger? Based on his golf nerdiness he had to be downright giddy.
- Hughes Norton was Tiger Woods’ first agent, and he was a super-agent to the stars in the 70’s. 80’s and 90’s. His new book, “Rainmaker” is a recommended read for all the stories about Greg Norman, Raymond Floyd, Fred Couples, Curtis Strange and of course Tiger. It also provides very good historical context about the growth of IMG as a sports agency and industry monolith. Hughes joined me for an hour conversation about the book and his motivation to tell his story including Tiger Woods firing him and then losing his job and career. It’s available on all the digital audio platforms, our YouTube channel and website at www.5Clubsgolf.com
- Jordan Spieth missed his second straight cut and unlike the Players where his record is abysmal the missed cut at Valspar is more troubling because he plays very well at the Copperhead Course including winning there in 2015. The most troubling is the continued poor iron play. Spieth needs to find something in his final start in a week’s time at Valero for many people, me included, to believe he’s a real contender at the Masters.
- Justin Thomas entered the weekend at Valspar as the favorite and after Saturday’s debacle was left scratching his head. His putting performance on the weekend, punctuated by the Saturday 79, was among the worst statistically in the last several years on the PGA Tour. After a solid start to his season, he has become a question mark again, especially on the weekend. He’s missed the cut in two of his last four starts and his putting stats are among the worst on tour. NOT the trend line for Augusta National.
- Rory McIlroy has always let his opinions evolve with time and information. His stance on LIV/PIF is a case study on why it’s important not to take absolute positions. He made it clear and without ambiguity that he did not like the source of the LIV money at all and later that he hated LIV. He still says nothing positive about the LIV product, but he has become almost an advocate for Yasir Al-Rimayyan. He said this past week that there is a clear distinction between LIV and PIF and that LIV and specifically Greg Norman have done Yasir a disservice in the way they’ve represented him. He is now unabashedly supportive of PIF investment the PGA Tour.
- The Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship this past week on the LPGA was played at Palos Verdes Golf Club outside of Los Angeles. Golf in Southern California is so rich with good golf courses. Wilshire Country Club is undergoing a major capital project and Hillcrest, which hosted a U.S. sectional qualifier in 2023 also underwent a restoration, both under the direction of Kyle Phillips. Phillips doesn’t get the attention of Gil Hanse or Coore/Crenshaw but his work is outstanding.
- Speaking of Kyle Phillips, he will design the third golf course and final golf course at the Apogee Club in Martin County, FL with construction getting rolling in 2025. I played the first golf course completed at Apogee this past week which was designed by Gil Hanse/Jim Wagner and their great team. The project is ambitious to say the least. Three courses, a 55 acre practice complex, two clubhouses, 55 cottages for members and their guests and every other conceivable amenity. The developers are Steve Ross and Michael Pascucci, owner of the Miami Dolphins and the founder of Sebonack respectively. This is a legacy project for both men who are in their 80’s. Apogee amplifies the appetite for super high end golf offerings, specifically in South Florida. The Hanse course ties in the natural surrounds exceptionally well and shows off the deft touch of Hanse/Wagner to create something that simply fits in.
- I also took in the Grove XXIII experience for the first time while in South Florida. Michael Jordan loves golf, and he also loves the finer things and the best toys. Grove XXIII is one of golf’s great toy departments. The caddies on scooters, souped up golf carts, a grill room that would be the ideal place to watch every single global sporting event simultaneously and the best wagyu nachos in golf. What an obscene display of every bell and every whistle. GOAT doing GOAT things.
- Houston has been a fantastic market for professional golf for decades and decades. It will once again play host to the women’s first major next week at the Chevron and this coming week it returns to an early spring date on the PGA Tour. Houston had embraced the week before the Masters date at Golf Club of Houston and attracted good fields with an agronomic set up trying to mirror Augusta National. The event moved to the fall at a re-done Memorial Park under the direction of Tom Doak. The field is ok this coming week, but they have made progress and getting out of the fall was critical to reclaim a semblance of what they used to be.
- Billy Harmon has spoken publicly and passionately about his life of recovery from alcoholism. This weekend Bill and his wife Robin hosted the Harmon Recovery Foundation fundraiser. With the PGA Tour Champions in Southern California, Bill was able to garner the support of many of his old friends to participate in the golf outing on Monday to raise money for the foundation, including Mark Calcavecchia, Billy Andrade, Jay Haas, Joe Durant, Mark Hensby and brother Butch Harmon. Bill Harmon is an inspiration and a guiding light for so many in the recovery community.
- Xander Schauffele lives inside the top 10 and makes a ton of cash but he leaves you wanting. His Sunday 65 at Valspar gave him another great result but winning separates players, not top 10’s. He is inching toward two years without a win on the PGA Tour and he will go into the Masters as a legit favorite but he’s got a vortex he needs to break through to be looked upon the way JT, Scheffler, Rahm, Morikawa and Koepka are.
- Cam Young finishing second is what he does but the inevitability of him winning is stronger than any non-winner currently playing. What I will not subscribe to is the idea that him winning will open the floodgates. His putter, which failed him on 18 Sunday, will be the preventative of him winning in bunches. His ball striking is elite but it’s not as good as Scottie Scheffler, who is, and Scottie almost went a year without a win when his putter went ice cold. Young is a threat at Augusta, but he needs strides to make him a short list favorite.
- Peter Malnati has kept his name in the golf news over the past couple years because he’s been representing the rank and file on the policy board. His win at a ball strikers paradise is beyond impressive. He had absolutely zero record at Valspar and he’s a pea-shooting unicorn in a land of bombers. Him winning can inspire anyone that they can do it they believe they can do it. Peter oozes positivity and his immediate reflections with Kira Dixon were outstanding. What a great win.
- Grant Boone never seeks personal attention as the primary host of the LPGA on Golf Channel. Grant is such a professional broadcaster. Excellent in all areas.
- Michael Bamberger has returned to Golf.com and Golf magazine and his first profile of David Feherty is outstanding. Michael is such a wonderful writer and his ability to capture the essence of someone is a wonderful skill.
- Nelly Korda winning on the LPGA is the best result for that tour. Full stop.
