by Gary Williams | Feb 19, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Tiger Woods has made six official starts since his 2021 car accident, and he’s finished 72 holes just twice. That small dose of competition includes a missed cut and three WD’s.
- Tiger’s goal of playing once a month seemed ambitious to many when he made that declaration last December at the Hero World Challenge and even though his inability to even finish 36 holes was attributed to the flu, it just appears that his progression toward something significant becomes increasingly more tenuous.
- For me to believe that Tiger can possibly contend somewhere at some point will require him to progress forward from wherever the previous starting point appeared to be, psychologically and physically. There is simply no way to declare that his week at Riviera was progress. So where is the next place to possibly achieve progress? Bay Hill or the Players?
- Scottie Scheffler squandered a great opportunity to win in Phoenix and added another distressing week of putting at Riviera in an event he never contended in. The historic statistical season of 2023 is following an eerily similar pattern in 2024. Top three ball-striking with putting stats outside the top 100. Scottie doesn’t need to putt great to win because he hits more good shots than anyone, but putting poorly will cost him more wins and Augusta is appearing now on the horizon.
- David Puig, 22 years old, and currently one of the youngest players on LIV golf won again on the Asian Tour. Last year he started outside the top 1000 in the official world golf rankings but his willingness to play Asian Tour events outside of his LIV schedule has given him a huge boost. His win this week in Malaysia is added to his win last fall in Singapore and he’s now projected inside the top 150 in the world. Another example of the insane depth globally of players under 24.
- Jordan Spieth was rightfully disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. The question is whether the rule is too punitive, and should it even exist altogether in today’s world of digital transmission? One, the rule is most certainly too punitive. Disqualification should not be the punishment for a clerical error. I’ve heard many people declare that signing the card is a time-honored tradition. It’s a time adhered to practice; I have never considered it one of the game’s great traditions. With the level of redundancy now at the professional level maintaining the scorecard practice is romantic and I’m fine with it continuing but the sport of professional golf NEVER wants to find itself in a position to explain why the person with the lowest score was disqualified from the Masters because of a scoring error. Times change and the penalty of disqualification should be changed.
- Chase Johnson was in the Genesis Invitational on a special invite and made the cut. The 28-year-old from Kent State is trying to keep his dream alive and whatever the balance of 2024 looks like, he made the cut in a signature series event on the PGA Tour.
- Gary Woodland was in the field at Genesis on a special invite as well, and he too made the cut. The 2019 U.S. Open champion is TRULY one of the most sensible and real dudes on the PGA Tour. I wrote about his candor a few weeks ago regarding his brain tumor and Gary having success and making progress is just good.
- The end of the west coast swing, Mexico is a different category, makes me melancholy. It marks the conclusion of the best, in my opinion, stretches on the PGA Tour for golf courses and contrast. The nostalgia of the California desert, the allure of Pebble Beach, the regality of Riviera and the enormity of Phoenix. It’s top of class despite the proliferation of buffoonery at Waste Management this year.
- I played the new Crossroads at Palmetto Bluff this past week. The 9-hole, multiple routing on 52 acres from Rob Collins and Tad King. It has a decidedly Sweetens Cove bent to it, especially the communal nature of the experience. Fire pits, food trucks and soon enough a dock for boats to drive right up to the course. The holes are a blast for 17-, 37- and 77-year-old golfers. Dramatic landforms, enormous greens with countless pin-able areas and so many angles to play all the holes from. This a massive gift for the membership there and I hope they create a pathway for outside play. It’s too good not to share.
- Getting a couple days at Congaree allowed me to learn even more about the nuance of the best Fazio golf course I’ve played. The edginess is uncommon for Fazio and the turf conditions are the firmest and fastest in the USA. So much ground game can be employed, and the club is anxious to host great events. It will play host to the 2025 Palmer Cup, and it would be in the USGA’s best interest to find bring a senior open there especially with Tiger turning 50 in under two years. The PGA Tour had an ambitious bid from Congaree to host the 2026 Presidents Cup and decided on the uninspiring choice of taking it to Medinah. Congaree is making real impact on young people using golf as a pathway in life and it is a fabulous site for championship golf.
- I don’t think it’s the clothes, but Jason Day looks ten years younger. Clean shaven every day may be a factor, but he looks youthful and energized. There is real value in having your own look, which he finally now has, and he is going to be a trendy Masters pick with a building of form and his record at Augusta National.
- Our 5 Clubs book club, which we conduct on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio every two weeks, is honoring the 30th anniversary of Michael Bamberger’s “To The Linksland”. It is being republished and I highly recommend everything Michael writes and if you have not read this memoir on his journey to Europe as a newlywed to caddy on the European Tour do it now. I believe Bamberger and Jaime Diaz are the two greatest golf writers of the last 40 years.
- Hideki Matsuyama remains an enormous global star in the professional game and his final round 62 was as scintillating a round as you could construct on a Sunday at Riviera. He’s destined for the World Golf Hall of Fame and his victory at the Genesis is bold type on his resume. When Hideki starts taking his hand off the club in his follow through it means he’s staking it. His 9th career PGA Tour victory is among his absolute finest.
- I had sensible people who cover golf ask me if I was concerned with Will Zalatoris after his first start of the year. Those folks have gone into hibernation. The broomstick looks quite comfortable in his hands and his golf swing looks fantastic. He’s a superior ball striker with an absence of fear in the best fields and on the best courses. He’s trending big time.
- Patrick Cantlay is painfully slow and when he plays poorly it becomes a complete drag. Cantlay and Schauffele were beyond flat together on Sunday and their combined winless streak is at 37 months. You add with that the longshots who have already won this year and you wonder how achievable a 5-win season is anymore on the PGA Tour and that’s considering the quality of player who has departed for LIV.
- Eric Cole finished tied for 10th. When he cashes a fat check, which is regularly, I smile. The pro’s pro. I’m so all in on Eric Cole.
- Kira K. Dixon is a rising star. She’s exceedingly likable and totally comfortable asking questions of all players. She’s earned the assignment of covering swimming this summer in Paris on NBC and she’s fast-tracking for the biggest assignments in all of NBC’s sporting portfolio.
by Gary Williams | Feb 12, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Tiger Woods 2024. It will begin this week at his event and his own goal is an event a month. IF that is achieved, with relatively good health, its plausible that he could climb his way into legit contention. That means Sunday late with critical shots struck within 4 of the lead with nine holes to go. IF that happens anywhere, and, if it happens at a major, no one is prepared to truly process it. The 2019 Masters was an ascension to the summit that was worthy of a screenplay, a W in 2024 would challenge sensibilities in a new way. Five years removed from Augusta, his right lower leg almost removed, and a complete absence of a tournament schedule makes the climb virtually unimaginable. Like I said, we are not ready for this.
- The Tiger apparel launch is interesting in the strategy. He’s 48 and his actual screen time during tournaments is predicated on him being able to play. Does he represent as a solo act. Do they have a cadence to introduce other players wearing the line? Nike never max’d the TW brand as it was not an appealing line for green grass facilities. He’s remade his golf swing many times and recalibrated his corporate portfolio, but this is truly HIS gear. What impact and cultural relevancy can it have? It starts this week.
- The first Signature series event in 2024 with a cut is Tiger’s event. Wholly appropriate considering his dogged determination to always compete on every solitary shot. The tour needs to understand that Jack, Tiger and Arnie represent the platinum standard and if their desire and belief is that a cut is essential to elite championship golf, especially amongst the very best, then there is zero argument for the other side. Zero.
- I mentioned two weeks ago that Kazuma Kobori was a special talent, and his roll continues. The 22-year-old from New Zealand turned pro in November and has won three times in his last five starts. He’s a virtual lock for a DP World Tour card in 2025. Kobori came to the States and won the 2023 Western Amateur, a huge win, and he’s showing he could be a part of a wildly talented collection of players turning pro simultaneously.
- Cristobal del Solar shot 57 and Aldrich Potgieter shot 59 this past week at the Korn Ferry event at the Country Club of Bogota. The golf course was absurdly short and the stroked gains stats support that the round of 57 was not the most other worldly round ever shot. What is absolutely true is that there are simply not many places that can prevent these players from undressing all but a handful of venues in men’s professional golf outside of the major championship rota and those sites are more vulnerable than they’ve ever been. Pinehurst #2 will be a fascinating examination with the width of the course and the absence of truly dense rough. Especially since the USGA has made #2 the anchor of all anchor sites for its biggest championship.
- Vegas worked for LIV. Talking to several sources on the grounds, especially Saturday, the place had a true atmosphere. The metrics of the television audience is not the comprehensive way to evaluate what traction the events and the tour are gaining. The shoulder discussions across media platforms, the coverage from legacy media, of which there were several reporters from those outfits in Vegas give a truer picture. Add the leaderboard and LIV has had an encouraging fortnight.
- Dustin Johnson is the last person interested in the legacy of Dustin Johnson but it’s quite interesting. Labeled an underachiever, his overall production flies in the face of that premise. He’s the winningest player of his generation as we speak. He has shown uncommon resiliency in the manner he won almost immediately after the debacle of the 2010 PGA and then winning the U.S. Open the year after the Chambers Bay 3-putt. Additionally, he never had years without at least a win, and he went undefeated in his final Ryder Cup when the public and media had moved on to the younger generation being the biggest stars. It’s hard to gauge the value of LIV wins in its infancy but he could be the winningest player when he departs eventually. I know I’m there for his Hall of Fame induction speech.
- Wenyi Ding shot 27 under, a total of 189, to win the college Amer Ari Invitational in Hawaii. The freshman from Arizona State may or may not have set a college record. The record is immaterial to the fact that he shot 189 over three rounds. Exhibit #100000 that the kids are coming, and they don’t want to wait their turn.
- As Mr. Keating articulated in “Dead Poets Society”, sucking the marrow out of life doesn’t mean choking on the bone. That’s where the WM Phoenix Open found itself this year. I like the enormity of the event but the wholesale drunkenness of the event coupled with the patience of many players was an awful look for the event. They have a brand and it’s a massive party, but you eventually see the charm, or what can be mistaken as charm, choked out of everything by gluttony.
- The Zach Johnson incident sums up the week. Were fans likely being douchey and relentless? Yes. Does Zach come off as hypersensitive? Yes. The fans, who were likely hammered, don’t care, and while Johnson may have heard just enough, to confront the fans comes off whiny. Zach is able to land the punch, so to speak, when he claps back but he likely won’t score with the judges.
- Getting a second look at The Tree Farm this past week only re-affirmed what I thought on my first visit. The club will quickly ascend to one of the best hangs in golf because of the culture and touch points being created by their team. Secondly, the work of Tom Doak on the routing and the collaboration of Kye Goalby and Zac Blair on the design and build out of the course is fantastic. The 6th green is a piece of art, the loop of 5-6-7 is so so good and the willingness to be unorthodox by starting with a par 3 and ending with a drivable par 4 distinguishes the experience. The atmosphere around the outdoor space at the soon to be finished clubhouse will make it one of the best spots in golf.
- The differing opinions from PGA Tour players about the reentry of LIV players into tour fields at some point is a classic example of not being able to see what the greater good is because of pride, hurt feelings or both. Fans want the best players as often as possible playing against one another. The inability or unwillingness of guys who stayed to simply acknowledge that fact is telling. Be angry or betrayed all you want; fans have paid the price while tons of players have gotten exponentially richer at the fans and the product’s expense. That day, by the way, seems further and further away.
- Smylie Kaufman and Kevin Kisner on the 16th hole on Saturday on NBC’s coverage was very effective. They are irreverent and the environment was suited for their levity. I think there are additional places to station them together on Saturdays coming up, including 17 at the Players and 17 at the PGA National, formerly the Honda and now the Cognizant Classic. Chemistry is so critical to large chunks of live TV and those two have it, I expect NBC to utilize it.
- Jordan Spieth is showing real signs and building toward winning, but the short putts is something. He’s 145th on tour from 3 feet and last year he was 172nd. It feels flinchy and his process seems more deliberate from that distance. He looked at the hole early in his career for a reason and in the cumulative its costing him better results and may cost him a win in a crucial moment.
- You had to know that Brooks Koepka trading for a veteran presence in Graeme McDowell for the Smash lineup was all they needed to start winning. I’ve always said depth is the most important thing about winning in professional golf.
- Will this be the week that the commissioner of the PGA Tour makes himself visible? It’s the middle of February and the leader of the tour has been a ghost and that includes not being visible at Pebble in a year they receive “Signature” status. If you do not co-op the space with Tiger, when is it ever going to be safe to come out?
- Joel Dahmen said it best about his college teammate Nick Taylor a couple years ago when he said Taylor was built to handle the deep end of the pool. Dialing the area code 3-3-3 on the 18th hole on Sunday was absurdly good. He adds this dramatic come from behind win to the Canadian playoff masterpiece last summer. Taylor is becoming a real dude.
- Scottie Scheffler is a beast. He relentlessly contends, rarely retreats and hits more great shots than anyone in golf BUT his putter is skittish at times and winning is the only measuring stick for him as much as the top 10’s can get him shine. He is approaching a year without a win and that makes no sense with stats that blow your mind. Charley Hoffman executed every shot late on Sunday and Scheffler three-putted 13, made a super soft bogey on 14, and made a weak par 5 on 15. It’s a vortex he must break back through and close losses can work the opposite on his mind.
by Gary Williams | Feb 5, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Tom Brady’s stone-cold top of his tee shot at Pebble Beach is so comprehensive in its relatability and impact on him and everyone else. Brady grew up in Northern California and dreamed of playing Pebble Beach when golf became more than a curiosity. He started playing in the pro-am when he rose to stardom over 20 years ago. He hates being bad at anything and his competitiveness is legendary, and he can be a poor sport. The tee shot on the first at Pebble Beach will eat at him like a virus. It can happen and has happened to everyone, but not him until now. Brady loves the action, and he is a shit talker when competing at everything and now every single person he plays golf with has the “TOP” in their arsenal of abuse. Even the GOAT can be undressed by the game.
- Josh Allen has a likability that jumps through the screen wherever the venue. His love for golf was already known since he attended three of the majors last year as a fan. To see Allen with his dad caddying for him this past week was even more endearing. He proudly wore his new gear from Cypress Point during his Friday round at Pebble Beach and conducted interviews on Golf Channel with a full understanding of who Todd Lewis and Rich Lerner are. Allen loving golf is a good thing.
- LIV golf’s roster gets stronger and stronger, but I am curious to see where the traction is in local markets and across their growing reach digitally especially outside the United States. Mayakoba was always a modest crowd when it hosted a tour event but I’m hearing from a very good source in Las Vegas that the appetite for tickets for next week’s event, during Super Bowl is sparse, to put it kindly. The strategy to be in market for the first Super Bowl has some cache but watching golf off the strip while the world congregates for the first time in Sin City is not selling. If they can get some exposure for players from networks covering the game that’s a benefit but a no fans presentation contrasted against “golfapalooza” at the Waste Management is not a win.
- This past week was another example of Rory McIlroy displaying a willingness to express an opinion that is very different from a previous position. Rory was hyper critical of golf being a part of the Olympic program and used the stage of the Open Championship in 2016 to dismiss the competition in Rio. Part of that was rooted in him being used as a political football by government officials. His position changed completely and his participation in Tokyo was full circle. Similarly, Rory has expressed out and out hatred for LIV and the source of the money, but that position has evolved from resignation to acceptance. This past week he declared that LIV players should be welcomed back post haste without any penalty. A position not universally shared by his peers on the PGA Tour. His subsequent conversation with Jordan Spieth who suggested the PIF investment may or may not be needed after the SSG commitment would indicate McIlroy thinks the tour desperately needs the Saudi’s money knowing without it they will continue to strip away the tours best players.
- The USGA released their handicap rewind to all GHIN members this past week. It’s a clever review of all the scoring data for rounds in 2023. It was also a greenlight for countless people to share that information on social media. It would have been a good time for the USGA to also remind everyone that NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU SHOT, or when and how often.
- Bernard Langer was scheduled to compete in his final Masters this April and now that will have to wait a year after he tore his Achilles tendon training this past Thursday. At 66 his ability to win number 47 and beyond on PGA Tour champions was already going to be hard enough and now you must wonder if his final win to pass Hale Irwin is the end of the winningest career in tour history. I think he will get off the mat to win again.
- Every pundit, player and fan suggesting the private equity group, SSG, that just put 1.5 billion into the PGA Tour with the possibility of matching it to 3 billion is doing all of this for the good of men’s professional golf doesn’t know the first tenet of private equity. How do we make money off this investment? If a byproduct of the changes and advancements they make to the PGA Tour to make it more appealing to the consumer, and by a modest degree make the game better, great… but that is not their mission. It’s also not a criticism it’s just the plain truth.
- The Saudis are accustomed to getting what they want because they can buy anything and everything they want. In the same week of the SSG/PGA Tour deal, PIF invested in four premier rugby league teams. Their money, as I’ve said previously, is headed into other American sporting enterprises. It may be disgruntled by the tour’s new position, and they may not, but they could also turn their attention to purchasing the DP World Tour. Partnering is not their history but they may see the long-range value of a tour partnership. But one thing will not change about the Saudis, they play by their rules with the balance sheet being their continual tie breaker.
- Wyndham Clark’s round of 60 was terrific, and yes, it’s the lowest competitive round in Pebble beach history but it comes with the caveat. Lift, clean and place is a condition that alters the texture of the accomplishment. It doesn’t extinguish it, but it must be pointed out. It’s called an asterisk.
- Men’s elite professional golf is played in pants, not shorts. Jon Rahm trying to win a golf tournament in shorts makes the event feel unserious. Not diminishing anyone who wins a LIV event wearing shorts it just feels unserious.
- LIV golf had a moment with Pebble being pushed to Monday. Rahm in the mix and Sergio and Joaquin Niemann taking their playoff into the darkness. Niemann is a wonderful player but when his first reaction is that he’s not in the majors you lose the moment. The aggrieved act is not only not accurate since he is in the Open and likely in the PGA, but it rings hollow since every player who took the money knew the circumstances, and if they didn’t shame on them and or their agents for not knowing the possible major roulette they were playing.
- LIV shows golf shots and always has. It does not get bogged down in elements that are either sold or frivolous. The production is first rate, and they are required to sell the team concept because it is part of the competition but if you are not interested in the team concept the sales job gets redundant and stale, very quickly.
- Wyndham Clark joins a strong list of 54-hole winners at Pebble Beach including Johnny Miller, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, John Cook and Payne Stewart. Weird irony that in a week where LIV got some real run with the golf gasbags that a SIGNATURE series event on the PGA tour with a short field, a 20-million-dollar purse was reduced to 54 holes.
- Justin Thomas had one bogey free round in 72 rounds played last year on tour. He has three bogey free rounds in seven rounds played in 2024. A warm putter is all that stands between him and a huge break back to where he’s always been…at the top of the food chain.
- Dylan Frittelli strongly considered doing something else when his game left him, and he found himself examining what would be next. Instead, he dug in and Sunday he won the Bahrain Championship on the DP World Tour. His first win on that tour since 2017. Just another story of someone staring into the abyss and batting it away to find success again.
- Caleb Surratt made the choice to leave the University of Tennessee and take the LIV money and join Jon Rahm’s new team. Sunday, he birdied his last five holes and cashed a check for $350,000 and also shares in the split of $3 million for the team win. Whenever the dust settles, Surratt will have to satisfy some likely qualifying process since he never had status on the PGA Tour. Talent doesn’t hide, whatever he will need to do he will do it swiftly, he’s a dude.
- Mark Hubbard finishes in a tie for 4th at Pebble beach and rakes a big check and huge points. His engagement off the 18th green in 2015 at Pebble will always be his greatest memory there but this past week was huge for his ability to land starts in the best events after ending last year 64th in the FedEx Cup fall.
- Waste Management Phoenix Open week is here. Having seen all the debauchery, imbibing and the sheer scale of the whole thing for many years I always found it thoroughly entertaining. The enormity of the build out, the grandiosity of the footprint and the singular experience make it truly different. In a current landscape of way too much sameness, WM has something most of the others just say they have, a brand.
by Gary Williams | Jan 29, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Arnaud Massy, the 1907 Open Championship winner, getting major run on a Saturday night on CBS from Jim Nantz was all we ever needed. Massy was a Frenchman like Matthieu Pavon, the winner of the Farmers Insurance Open. Martin Trainer was born in France but when he won the Puerto Rico Open in 2019, he was representing the United States, but he changed his sporting nationality to French in October of 2022. This of course set off a social media shit storm as Pavon was being declared the first French champion since WWII on the PGA Tour. I just want to know who was the courtesy car sponsor for the Open Championship in 1907 when Massy won? Also, the ability of a faction of the golf media to choke the charm out of all things including bickering about who was born where and which country they represent is unrelenting.
- Pavon’s closing hole birdie was wildly impressive considering he was in a mini meltdown. He pulled his second shot on 17 which left him a lengthy birdie putt. The resulting pulled 4-footer for par gave him a one-shot lead on 18 and after a poor drive, a below average fairway bunker shot that nestled in the long rough he was staring at 155 yards over water to a front pin. His 3rd shot and the downhill make for his first win was accentuated by the great work of the CBS golf team and was excellent television.
- Nicolai Hojgaard is up to 30th in the Official World Golf Rankings and if you include the Data Golf Rankings, he’s even higher. He’s that guy. Equipped technically, emotionally, and psychologically to swim in the deep end of the pool. 2024 will continue his ascent and the likelihood of his first PGA Tour win is strong and a major weekend that he should be in the throes of it all.
- There are people I respect and trust for their sensible viewpoints on the men’s professional game who expressed real concern about the future of Will Zalatoris since his return at the Hero World Challenge. The surgery was a very big deal and the switch to the long putter always causes pause but his week at Torrey should hopefully stop some of the hysteria. Too good and too committed to not find the rare air again.
- I asked Frank Nobilo late last fall about the chemistry of CBS’ golf broadcast team, and it was not an easy explanation, but what he said is that viewers can just hear it and feel it and the CBS team just has it. They also have something else, the support of the golf social media intelligentsia. Those things foster confidence, and you couple that with the willingness of the network to spend on technology and you have a house in order.
- Kazuma Kobori won the New Zealand PGA as an amateur. He turned 22 last fall and just picked up his 3rd win on the Australian PGA. Kobori was born in Japan and moved to New Zealand when he was six years old. He’s coming to America, how soon we will share see, but he’s got the goods.
- Aldrich Potgieter became the youngest winner in Korn Ferry Tour history in winning last week in the Bahamas. Potgieter, 19 years old from South Africa, won the Amateur Championship at 17 and destroyed the field at last year’s junior invitational at Sage Valley. It’s not beyond the realm that Mike Weir will give him a hard look for the Presidents Cup team if he can make his way to the PGA Tour by the summer. It means he needs more Korn Ferry Tour wins, but he is a freak show of talent.
- That gets me to Nick Dunlap, who starts the professional meter this week at Pebble Beach. He will immediately get the advocacy of top players starting with Justin Thomas for the next U.S. international team at the Presidents Cup. Not unlike Jordan Spieth in 2013, the first impressions he will give to the established USA guard will give captain Jim Furyk ample evidence that he’s ready now for the cauldron. The bold type he has on his resume already is historic.
- The Crosby clambake was gone a long time ago, but a reasonable facsimile has been in place for decades with the ATT Pebble Beach pro-am. Long gone were the deep fields, replaced by what almost felt like an alternate event. This week, the marathon rounds, and excruciating depth chart of celebrities is being replaced by a short field with the best players on the PGA Tour. A forecast of cold and windy wet weather coupled with the possibility of an attractive leaderboard give the PGA Tour a chance, without football being played next Sunday, for something they haven’t had in a while…a good TV number.
- Attending the PGA merchandise show in Orlando for the first time since 2020 gave me a sense of a few things. One, there is still a belief among the entrepreneurs and dreamers that they have something that the industry of golf needs. From gadgets to gear new products were everywhere. Secondly, technology as it pertains to remote instruction has taken off. The days of needing an hour with your local pro are not gone because the local clubs have never been in greater demand but sophistication of getting a fix from someone is on fire as a facet of the industry.
- Seeing established brands like Tumi make a real plunge into golf is just another indicator that the GAME is riding a wave that is showing real sustainability. Companies like Vessel expanding deep into the shoe game off their high-end golf bag offerings and full-scale proliferation of the launch monitor category amplifies the big money being spent by the golf consumer.
- The newest incarnation of “The Match” featuring Rory McIlroy, Max Homa, Rose Zhang and Lexi Thompson has a chance to resuscitate a stalled franchise. The date, venue, and players are what the made for TV event desperately needed. Professional athletes playing golf on TV can be entertaining and the right ones paired with great golfers can work, but players hitting uncommon shots with a good dose of personality is the recipe. The Park will sizzle under the lights.
- Thorbjorn Olesen won for the eighth time on the DP World Tour with his win at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship. A rising star 10 years ago, Olesen has found his footing again in all phases and is another example of the sneaky depth from Europe coupled with rise of young talent in Ludvig Aberg, and the Hojgaard brothers. Bethpage is way out on the horizon, but Europe and Luke Donald transitioned in warp speed.
- If you want to hear some fantastic stories from life on tour, carve out the time for Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz’ conversation with Steve Marino on the SubPar podcast. Colt and Drew excel in getting guys to share memories and rarely heard tales and Marino gives the details on his infamous flight with Ernie Els and a weekend pairing at the Open with Tom Watson just to name a few.
- I ran into Keith Rhebb at the PGA show, the primary shaper for Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, and the co-creator of the Winter Park 9 with Riley Johns. Keith and Riley have their own projects, but Keith told me that the Coore/Crenshaw project in Montana, Crazy Mountain Ranch is a showstopper. Incredible land and huge scale to the site. Sounds like an America’s Guest episode in 2026.
- The report this week from Dylan Dethier that Anthony Kim is strongly pondering a comeback to professional golf is fascinating and will create a fair amount of buzz. I walked with Anthony in his singles match in 2008 vs. Sergio Garcia at Valhalla as well as his win at Quail Hollow. He was dynamic and interesting and I loved interviewing him. The notion that he will come back, and win is beyond remote. He was never the hardest worker, best player or most focused guy. Now, a lifetime removed from the arena he’s going to come back and be relevant? Not happening. He’s mythical to many who now cover the game which makes his narrative pseudo fiction among younger fans who never really saw him play. Its far more of a young man’s game than when Anthony left the stage as a young man. Fun for us all but him winning again won’t be part of the next chapter.
- The culmination of the LPGA’s Drive on Championship coincided with the 4th quarter of the AFC championship game which was not ideal. What they got in the last hour was a dream scenario for the tour. Arguably the two biggest stars battling in the playoff when it looked like both were going to win at different points of the day. The Nelly 3-3 finish after the Lydia eagle on 17 was all you can ask for as a golf TV show. Nelly’s 9th win deprived Lydia of auto entry into the LPGA Hall of Fame. A glorious start to the season for a tour ascending.
- My conversation with Sony Open winner Grayson Murray is now available on all of our 5 Clubs platforms including our YouTube channel. We all have things to atone for and I am not telling anyone to forget his mistakes, because he certainly hasn’t. I know from where he’s been when alcohol takes control of your life. Hope is lost, confidence is gone and the belief that life is possible without alcohol is almost extinguished. I believe you’ll hear someone you are likely unfamiliar with if you’ve followed his career. I appreciate his vulnerability and his truth. My own journey of recovery is helped hearing from others walking a similar path.
by Gary Williams | Jan 22, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Rory’s 34th worldwide win in Dubai is additive on his resume but can be part of something much bigger when we look back on the year. He will turn 35 at the beginning of May and his greatest season was ten years ago with his summer blitz of two majors and a WGC. A career year of wins punctuated by a major win in 2024 is how historic players pass others at the top of the all-time food chain. A win in January is a nice start.
- Rory’s win was the largest 36-hole deficit, 10 shots, that he’s overcome to win on any tour but it was not without some scruffy moments. Standing on the 13th tee with a two shot lead he proceeded to hit three of his next four tee shots left and caused himself real stress. Additionally, he played the par 5’s on Sunday in one over, like the final day at the U.S. Open. He closed but in the micro analysis of the victory he knows he has things to cleanup.
- Cameron Young racked a nice check by playing in Dubai as opposed to the American Express and he now has another Sunday with a lead that he did not close. He is capable of blowing fields away but so many wins are simply about efficiency and being tidy around the greens. His failure to birdie the drivable par 4 17th was his last true chance. Cam winning is inevitable, but this is another missed opportunity.
- Rasmus Hojgaard was getting more attention than brother Nicolai heading into last year and Nicolai burst in front of him punctuated by his Ryder Cup selection. Both brothers had a good week in Dubai finishing within a shot of each other and I expect Rasmus to have a big 2024 and set up a compelling brother act and inevitable Ryder Cup partnership starting in 2025.
- Min Woo Lee shared this past week that Adam Scott has offered him rides on his plane that he said is curated with some items from Augusta National Golf Club. Scott will be a member of the Hall of Fame and although their styles were different, the best comp I can come up with for Adam is Raymond Floyd. They both enjoyed their single days, and they liked the finer things in life. Can Adam remain competitive well into his 40’s like Raymond did into his 50’s?
- I received and just read an advanced copy of Hughes Norton’s forthcoming book, “Rainmaker”. Norton was golf’s top super-agent culminating with him being Tiger’s first agent. The book is full of great nuggets, a fascinating perspective on Mark McCormick who built the monolith known as IMG in addition to a ton of self-examination from the author. I look forward to my conversation with Norton on 5 Clubs soon and I expect this book to do very well. The Tiger chapters alone will drive sales.
- Steven Alker made $841,849 in his career on the PGA Tour in 87 starts periodically for 25 years. In 53 starts since turning 50 and earning membership on PGA Tour Champions he has won seven times in 53 starts and earned just under $7.5 million. Somehow, he kept the lights on and dream alive and his success against a plethora of hall of famers and major champions is as good a story as men’s professional golf can provide.
- The reversible 9-hole “Crossroads” at Palmetto Bluff from King/Collins opened this past week. Looking forward to playing it in February and is the latest example of their creative vision and willingness to build way outside the box. The duo has a flare and a daring that is earning top commissions.
- Jack Nicklaus turned 84 on Sunday and he’s been awfully good to me through the years. His reflex was to act ambivalent about many of the interviews I’ve done with him through the years, but his nature never allowed him to deliver ordinary responses. His competitiveness always prevailed to produce the most thorough answers and most comprehensive examination of each subject.
- Of all the records Nicklaus accumulated that produces jaw dropping responses from daily’s best players is not a scoring record or results record. For me, Jack starting every major from 1962 until the 1998 U.S. Open is so preposterous it’s hard to comprehend. It’s a combination of great luck health-wise and a reliability that will never be duplicated.
- Images and renderings of Tiger Woods’ reported new apparel collaboration with TaylorMade were seen this week. The Tiger silhouette makes sense since the TW mark is not an option. As I’ve stated before the apparel plays by Nike for the last 25 years with Tiger never really exploded, the commercials did, so this is a GOLDEN opportunity to achieve something between the parties that is not a follow to something truly great.
- Brandel Chamblee sat in the lead analyst chair this past week and he was good. Brandel is a lethal weapon as an opinion maker and one of the essential voices covering all aspects of the game. I don’t think this is the best role for him. He needs room and time to pontificate and be the provocateur that he is. “Live From” is a great sports property, not just golf property, and that’s his home. I would infuse a dose of Brandel into the biggest events on NBC from the “Live From” perch on big decisions and getting his reaction to big moments.
- Lydia Ko earned her 20th win at the age of 26 in winning the first event of the LPGA season at their Tournament of Champions. Ko will one day be enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame. If you consider she was the youngest rookie of the year all-time and youngest player of the year all-time. She’s re-invented herself several times and made tons of changes with her “team”, but she has always been a sheer delight in any setting. A truly historic player.
- Jackie Burke Jr.’s passing this past week truly marked the end of a very different era for golf. He started the Champions Golf Club with Jimmy Demaret. He won the Masters and the PGA Championship 68 years ago this spring and summer. 68 years! He was shepherded by Claude Harmon at Winged Foot, who won the Masters in 1948. I was lucky enough to spend time with him a little over a year ago at his club. Engaged, grateful and full of grace and to the end the touchstone of the club and culture he created at Champions. An amazing journey.
- The LPGA smartly created a season opening event that brings together its best players with former athletes and other celebs. More of that at the right venues is an effective way to cross pollenate the professional game with cultural relevant individuals. I’ll be in Canton Ohio on Tuesday to be a part of the announcement of a new Champions Tour event in Florida that will engage the biggest brand in American sports, the NFL. Hall of Fame football players and golf legends was once achieved at an event in North Jersey and the newest incarnation is coming soon.
- 22-year-old Santiago de la Fuente shot a final round 64 to win the Latin America amateur championship and earn invites to the Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship, plus the U.S. Amateur and Amateur Championship. A truly embarrassment of lifetime opportunities for the University of Houston junior. After finishing a shot back last year Santiago completed the task and earns a trip down Magnolia Lane and hopefully, he takes advantage and spends at least one night in the Crow’s Nest.
- Justin Thomas is going to have a big year. Every historically great player had a year that was outside their career curve. He’s too good and too driven and this year will return him to the top 5 in the world.
- Nick Dunlap IS the story of the week. His win and the way he won is hard to fathom. He didn’t come from way off the pace and post a low score without getting any attention for the previous days. To do something on the PGA Tour that has not been done in 33 years and to set a scoring record is absurd. The PGA Tour gets a massive story in January from an amateur and expected soon to be professional and member. I wrote it three months ago after the Walker Cup that the victorious U.S. Team had a chance to be a historically great team. One box checked.
by Gary Williams | Jan 15, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Tommy Fleetwood is now a seven-time winner on the DP World Tour after his win Sunday at the Dubai Invitational. Add his runner-ups at two majors and Ryder Cup moments and he is unequivocally the most accomplished player yet to win on the PGA Tour. You’d expect him to pick one off this year but if he doesn’t, the hole in the resume will be morphing into a personal rubicon.
- Any second place in a tournament field of very good players is a solid result. However, the context under which Rory McIlroy finished second in Dubai to Fleetwood produces anguish for his legion of fans and some media members. A 3-putt from 2-ft and rinsing his tee shot on the final hole is the narrative in a small chapter of the book of Rory. Soaring to uncommon heights, hitting jaw dropping shots, boat racing fields and producing the occasional head scratching final round with a blunder or simply not firing at all. Yes, its golf and it happens but it seems to happen with him more than it should.
- Thriston Lawrence missed out on a PGA Tour card by a shot at the final event last year on the DP World Tour. It’s a matter of time before the 27-year-old South African gets to the PGA Tour on a more full-time basis and his tie for 2nd in Dubai continues a great stretch of golf. If you’re looking for a Presidents Cup dark horse for the International side, he’s the guy. Mike Weir wants to see him in the States more and don’t be surprised if he gets some invites for that reason. He’s ascending big time.
- This week the LPGA is in Orlando at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. With the continued infusion of money into major purses and beyond the tour is in a good place. Couple things that will be a huge boost for the tour in 2024, Nelly Korda and Rose Zhang having big years and the Olympics. The global footprint of the LPGA tour schedule and membership gives the women’s golf competition a head start, coupled with the Paris venue, this will be massive for women’s golf in 2024.
- Taiga Semikawa had a great week at the Sony Open. He is 23 years old, reached number one in the world amateur rankings and already has five professional wins globally. He was named after Tiger Woods which continues the amplify the Tiger effect to even younger generations and we should have never looked at Tiger’s impact myopically. It was never about how many minorities would get to the tour; it was always about how many people would make golf a part of their lives.
- The report this past week alleging that Jay Monahan had his first conversation since June with Yasir Al-Rumayyan is confounding. What? It is unimaginable that both parties would not speak for the balance of the year after dropping the news of the framework agreement on June 6th. Look forward to confirmation or refuting of that report. Confounding if true.
- Keith Pelley leaving the DP World Tour, knowing he’s leaving for a good job back in his home country running a professional sports organization should come as no surprise. When the Saudis wanted in and took the Premier Golf League model, the DP World Tour was in a gun fight with a sand wedge. Creating a bridge for more players to the PGA Tour got Pelley bashed by European fans and media. Truth is all great Europeans eventually have come to the PGA Tour, so I never saw that as a massive blunder under the circumstances. Secondly, getting the PGA Tour to subsidize their television product was akin to a ventilator because without it they may have expired.
- Martin Slumbers announcing his departure this year as CEO of the R&A is of zero surprise. Martin had a rich life before accepting the job and considering the rollback resolution for 2028 and 2030 being executed and his vibrant age it’s a great time to enjoy life. The CEO post remains a critical seat in the game and despite all the turbulence Slumbers always displayed calm and control. From significant rules changes in 2016 to the advancement of the championship calendar, including the Women’s Open, its rota and the doubling down on Portrush for the men, Slumbers never appeared above it all and never emoted a stench of stuffiness.
- Without knowing anything I would venture a comfortable guess that the next big chair at the table to turn over will be at the PGA of America. Seth Waugh is a youthful 66 and didn’t need the job when he took it in 2017. With the Frisco headquarters now up and running I would expect Seth to pass the baton in the next year.
- There are several good social media follows in golf but if I was to have to actually rely on one for information and a sense of learning something Justin Ray is the follow. His twitter account is @justinraygolf. Having worked with him at Golf Channel I thought he was the best hire the company made in my ten years there. He’s a machine of data, information and anecdotes and he’s also a true lover of what he does.
- In 2021 Daniel Berger made his first Ryder Cup team and as a contemporary to Spieth, Schauffele, and Thomas was part of a high school class (2011) that was doing special things. His last start was the 2022 U.S. Open after disclosing his back injuries and ailments. He’s now 634 in the OWGR but he returns this week at the Amex. He’s exempt this year because of prior accomplishment but he’s not exempt into majors and signature events. With the great unknown beyond this year playing his way back to being a top 50 player has added pressure knowing the two-tier system we are likely headed for in 2025.
- Gil Hanse’s Ladera Golf Club in the California desert received the best new private club award from Golf Digest this past week. 2024 for Hanse, Jim Wagner and the Cavemen will bring the opening of their course at the Apogee Club north of Jupiter, Florida, Kinsale Club in Naples, and the renovation/restoration at Colonial Country Club. Plus, what is getting ready to happen at Yale Golf Course and Spanish Bay, Hanse is flying in a rare altitude. Considered the new “Open” doctor, Oakmont will be the next U.S. Open venue that underwent a Hanse touch up, plus his original projects, he simply is getting the majority of the truly special commissions from all categories.
- With the postponement of the Bills/Steelers on Sunday because of a white out in western New York it had me thinking about the worst weather I’ve ever played golf in. Lahinch and Waterville on two separate trips to the southwest coast of Ireland. Lahinch was my first ever round in Ireland and it was howling, and rain was coming down in sheets and only because it was our first round did we even finish. Waterville, years later half of the flagsticks were blown out of the holes, and it was legit blowing 50 mph. I hit driver from 205 yards on the Mass hole, the par three and was 20 yards short. Love a brutal weather day, once a decade.
- Gary Woodland played this week at the Sony Open and missed the cut. Doesn’t matter. His thoughts and disclosures about his battle with a lesion on his brain in the last year and his reflections on the week Friday night were powerful and poignant. Having truly spent time with Gary, he’s just a great dude and his candor was admirable. Already well liked, Gary is going to get enormous support this year from fans at every event.
- Diverse leaderboard and holes with nuance and influenced by persistent and shifty winds, Waialae Country Club is a gem and a fantastic tournament venue.
- Grayson Murray is now 30. His 20’s were turbulent like many lives can be at that age or any age. I appreciate him talking about his sobriety and he sounds like there is a peace of mind that those who can’t think like an alcoholic, thank God you can’t, would not understand. He’s always had elite talent. The way he won the Sony Open was unlikely but not nearly as unlikely as him even making a living playing golf if he continued down the path he was on. Inspiring as hell.
- The first two winners of the 2024 season have stared into the abyss in life and found hope and purpose. Holy shit, this could be a year.
- America’s Guest featuring CapRock Ranch is now available on all of our platforms at 5Clubs. We hope you enjoy and share with other golf enthusiasts.
