by Gary Williams | Aug 28, 2023 | The Card
18 thoughts, observations and predictions…
- Viktor Hovland has turned his biggest weakness into an asset and that’s why he’s going to get to #1 in the world.
- Jordan’s Spieth’s missed birdie putt on 17 at the Valspar proved to be the theme of his season. Just when you think he’s going to be him, he just wasn’t.
- The POY race stalled the first week of April and never reignited unless Hovland just stole it, which he won’t. Rahm in a close vote.
- Vijay Singh won on Sunday which was a reminder that no one will ever win as much as he did in his 40’s ever again. Money and physical toll will be the main reasons.
- CBS’ golf team had their best year as a team in many years and you’d expect they will only get better with Nantz as QB for another decade.
- The Walker Cup at St. Andrews will happen this week and should happen every ten years. Match play on that course with the future of the pro game on display is must-watch.
- Massive elevating year for Adam Schenk. So close and secured status in majors and signature events in 2024. Expect his ascension to continue.
- Played Cypress Point on Friday, (full share on the experience @5clubsgolf.com) and its sensory overload. Could not be built today in America.
- Played San Francisco Golf Club last Wednesday and it reaffirmed that it’s a top 5 golf club in America and its history on the second floor of the clubhouse should be a full afternoon exercise.
- Spent four days at Lake Merced for the Curry Cup on the Underrated Tour. The work of Gil Hanse/Jim Wagner and the cavemen is so good, and the membership is first class in how they view giving back to the community of golf.
- Colin Morikawa not winning for two seasons is as much about how many guys are capable of winning as it is about him not closing an event.
- Luke Donald’s lineup gets more capable it feels like with each passing week. I repeat, Europe is not an underdog.
- The FedEx Cup playoffs are in need of a reboot, starting with venues and format. Thankfully East Lake will be better and more interesting post Andrew Green renovation. The numbers are right though, 70, 50 and 30.
- We will look back on this U.S. Walker Cup team as one of the best in the last 30 years in less than 10 years.
- I am playing one of the best courses in the state I grew up, Somerset Hills, for the very first time this coming week. Thoughts coming on The Card next week.
- Jay Monahan getting booed on the 18th green after the Tour Championship proves that it’s not just the money players are making that are indicators that the PGA Tour is more like the other major sports.
- Nick Taylor’s putt to win the Canadian Open was the scene of the year on the PGA Tour.
- The six names Zach Johnson will add to the Ryder Cup team on Tuesday will be Spieth, Morikawa, Fowler, Koepka, Thomas and Glover.
by Gary Williams | Aug 21, 2023 | The Card
18 thoughts, observations and predictions…
- Victor Hovland is that dude. He is most certainly now the best and most capable player without a major and has the goods to be #1.
- Scottie Scheffler’s ball striking season is mind blowing and his putter has kept him from a 5-win season.
- Europe is not an underdog. Let me repeat, Europe is not an underdog.
- No Cameron Young in the Tour Championship leave’s a crack for a few guys but I think the crack is very small for Sam Burns and Lucas Glover.
- Justin Thomas is not going to Napa for the grapes or the points, he’s going to get a start before Rome and the Captain has been consulted.
- Rory has 11 top 7 finishes this year. He rarely flakes out and habitually contends but he simply leaves some feeling like he should win every week.
- Cherry Hills built new tees that crossed other tees, the greens were super firm and fast, the rough was the world’s largest shag carpet for the U.S. Amateur. All in efforts to combat DISTANCE.
- The best players in the U.S. Am are the prototypes for what the governing bodies are trying to manage. Maximized technology, elite athleticism, lethal speed and absence of fear. This group is taking distance to another level.
- Nick Dunlap did something only Tiger has done. U.S. Junior and U.S. Am winners. Add his Northeast Am and North/South wins and the summer of Nick was sick.
- John Wood is a fantastic on course voice of knowledge, perspective, set up and scenarios and his voice tells you he loves what he does.
- Dan Hicks is single handedly bringing the three-piece suit out of hibernation.
- Spent time with Steph Curry Saturday at Lake Merced discussing his Underrated Tour for junior golfers. What’s next is next level, stay tuned.
- The proximity of Cal Club, Olympic, Harding Park, Lake Merced, and San Francisco Golf Club make it one of the top 5 neighborhoods for golf in the country.
- The USGA needs to examine adding continental Europe to the Walker Cup equation. The event and the game would win.
- Jeff Overton top 25’d on the Korn Ferry tour this past week. He was undoubtedly at one time the best player who hadn’t won on the PGA Tour.
- My hour-long conversation with Tom Watson, that you can now watch and listen to on 5 Clubs, only re-affirmed what I’ve always thought about the guy. He’s a righteous dude.
- Lydia Ko spent two hours talking individually with every participant at the Curry Cup at Lake Merced on Sunday. Not a paid gig, just a favor for a friend in Steph Curry.
- How many days out do you look at the forecast when you’re playing a special place? I started looking at the 10-day forecast for Cypress Point 30 days ago. Full report on The Card next week.
by Gary Williams | Aug 14, 2023 | The Card
18 thoughts, observations and predictions…
- Lilia Vu book-ended major wins in 2023 and won the Women’s Open by 6 and in the process ascended to number 1 in the Rolex rankings. Players may win more and earn more, but MOST would want her year.
- TPC Southwind is a dreadful golf course and its only hosting a playoff event because of the sponsor but the 18th has always been a compelling closing hole and with guys trying to advance to the BMW the hole was very good theatre.
- Walton Heath and Bel Air may be too short for the top professional men’s events, but what they may lack in length they make up for in thought, intrigue, and superior design elements.
- Charley Hull has always been twitchy on the golf course, but it’s gone to another level, yet she has a flair and aggressive style that makes her one of the most entertaining players in golf.
- Having a new set of irons delivered to your house is the greatest grown up present ever conceived.
- Rich Lerner anchored the coverage of the U.S. Women’s Amateur for Golf Channel/NBC. He’s the heartbeat of the GC shop. Superior essayist, consummate studio host and passionate pursuer of the stories you’ll be thrilled to learn.
- After spending four days at Chambers Bay setting up the course for elite juniors it is a rightful host of championship amateur golf despite having a few awful holes.
- The excerpt from Billy Walters’ new book “Gambler” that alleges Phil Mickelson wanted to wager on U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2012, raises many questions for him to answer, and also all the leading organizations in golf.
- Rachel Heck is as delightful a young player with game, personality and ambition that make her wildly appealing.
- Nelly Korda rarely looks happy playing golf in 2023.
- Eric Cole going from where he’s played professionally before 2023 to being exempt into the tour’s signature series in 2024 is a sneaky great story of keeping the dream alive.
- The only reason the future of the Tour Championship at East Lake is appealing is because Andrew Green is going to do a complete renovation of the golf course.
- Cherry Hills underwent a significant golf course and clubhouse renovation, and it will look sensational this week for the U.S. Amateur. The wonderful stream system has been reclaimed and the routing of the course is outstanding.
- The forecasted U.S. Ryder Cup team is murkier now than it was a week ago. The last three spots are a grab bag of at least five players.
- Lucas Glover is the best late season story since the 2007 New York Giants.
- Scottie Scheffler is having the greatest ball striking and worst putting season combined in tour history.
- Memphis hot is worse than Vegas hot, Scottsdale hot, and Dallas hot. Its Malaysia-like wet heat.
- Lucas Glover is currently a more reliable putter than half of the projected U.S. Ryder Cup team, actually, more than half.
by Gary Williams | Aug 7, 2023 | The Card
- 125 should have never been the number for the FedEx Cup playoffs. 125 was always associated with employment and 70 felt like it had edge. 70 is too small for Signature events but the right number for the tour’s “postseason”.
- The Tour and FedEx need to change the name. Playoffs is clumsy and is not a golf term. Make it the FedEx Cup Final Series.
- Lucas Glover was 185th in the FedEx Cup after a MC at Memorial and subsequently missed a two-footer in a U.S. Open sectional qualifier playoff days later. Three top 6 finishes and then a win at Wyndham later is ballsy.
- 58 is 58. DeChambeau shooting 119 on the weekend at the Greenbrier is absurd but he’s not getting on the Ryder Cup team. It’s not about whether he should be considered it’s that he won’t be.
- Last week I thought Justin Thomas was not on the team in Zach’s mind, this week I think he is. He’s picking his team not celebrating the 12 best individual seasons.
- Celine Boutier backed a major win in her home country with a win in Scotland. That is massively impressive follow up to the best week of her career.
- The playoff rota needs a major overhaul and that’s with me being a fan of Olympia Fields.
- Korn Ferry experimented with Barstool Sports doing the broadcast last week. More is coming in the near future.
- I returned to Chambers Bay this week for an Underrated Golf Tour event. The U.S. Open is not coming back here and that’s okay but the USGA will keep returning. It’s not a spectator friendly site and the west coast is now covered.
- I saw way too many pictures of friends playing golf in Ireland and Scotland in the last week. Thrilled for them and now determined to get to Royal Dornoch for the first time in fall of ‘24.
- The last two spots on the U.S. Ryder Cup team could be filled by players getting little mention right now. Any playoff win will thrust someone to the front of the line who is outside the top 15 in standings.
- Luke Donald is likely feeling better and better about his team.
- Interviewed Andy Johnson of the Fried Egg last week and I’m thoroughly impressed with what they do and how much they do of it.
- The PGA Tour doesn’t need another corporate leader who invests his or her company’s money in the tour to fill the vacated board seat, they need someone who is in the sports industry who knows the global sports landscape.
- Jon Rahm will win the POY award unless Scottie Scheffler wins the FedEx Cup.
- I have a feeling Tiger will do a lengthy interview before the end of the year on state of the tour.
- Rory will win his 4th FedEx Cup title over the next three weeks.
- The U.S. Women’s Am at Bel Air CC is the best site for an event next to the Walker Cup at the Old Course in 2023.
by Gary Williams | Jul 31, 2023 | The Card
- Celine Boutier joins Nick Taylor with the best home wins of the year.
- Biblical conditions at any “Open” like they got on Sunday at Royal Porthcawl make golf on television a tragic comedy.
- Justin Thomas is finally off the Ryder Cup team in my mind as I try to read Zach Johnson’s mind.
- Tony Finau is a multi-time winner this season and he’s as malleable a piece for Zach Johnson as he could have. He’s never not been on the team.
- Greensboro is a modest market with immense PGA Tour history and Sedgefield has hosted Hogan, Palmer, Nicklaus and Woods so it’s right that it has the spot it has on the schedule.
- 7 under was the cutline on the Korn Ferry Tour this week. They are coming from everywhere with zero fear at a time that fields may be shrinking for the best events on the PGA Tour.
- Rose Zhang has a win and three top 10’s in majors since turning pro 10 minutes ago. She’s on the Solheim Cup team.
- Minnesota golf fans reflect the joy, passion and enthusiasm of a group who know ice station zebra and frozen lakes will be here in no time.
- Lee Hodges’ golf swing is ridiculously good.
- Bryan Kim won the U.S. Junior on a golf course that was set up a notch above 7,350 yards. Expand your view of the distance issues beyond the PGA Tour. What will the U.S. Junior need in 25 years?
- Jay Monahan took the positions he needed to with his players in his memo to the membership but anyone thinking the tour is driven by what’s best for the “game” is beyond naïve.
- Cashmere Keith Mitchell has taken the mantle with best swag/mojo on tour but if he really wants to go full “That 70’s show” he will take off the visor and let the lettuce flow.
- Colin Montgomerie shot Michael Irvin on Sunday. If you have a better athlete associated with #88 I’m here for the debate.
- The last time Zac Blair played on Sunday before yesterday was at the Travelers when he shot 62 and jumped to T2. 64 on Sunday at the 3M cashed him another good check which means he’s got money to play with when his fantastic new Tree Farm opens this fall.
- My old Morning Drive teammate Lauren Thompson celebrated a birthday this past weekend. LT is the greatest teammate ALL of us have ever had.
- J.T. Poston is climbing tiers on the PGA Tour and a win next week at his home game in Greensboro seems about right.
- Somehow I’m going to get to Royal Dornoch in 2024. I just made that declaration.
- Chris Gotterup is going to be a guy that others have to deal with in the next two years.
by Gary Williams | Jul 24, 2023 | The Card
- Brian Harman did to an Open Championship field what other Americans like Jones, Hagen, Palmer and Woods did before him, win by six or more.
- Scottie Scheffler is having one of the great statistical ball-striking seasons of all time but being shut out in the majors and his last win being in March leaves his season feeling unfilled, to this point.
- The Player of the Year race has fallen flat.
- Royal Liverpool’s new 17th hole didn’t hit the mark. It reduced the whole field to hit a wedge to the middle of the green and have the same length putt.
- Jason Day and Rickie Fowler are having a great ‘Comeback Player of the Year” race, if one actually still existed.
- First tee shot in the air and last putt holed every day is now the standard broadcast model for three majors. With the much smaller field and a superior digital product, The Masters continues to be the standard.
- Nick Faldo’s retirement from broadcasting has allowed him much more free time for broadcasting.
- Sepp Straka will be the most southern member of the European Ryder Cup team of all time.
- The U.S. Ryder Cup team is much less of a favorite in Rome than anyone thought they would be eight months ago.
- The Wyndham Championship is gonna be tremendous.
- A dose of Jaime Diaz on the “Live From” set each night is good for everyone.
- Rory McIlroy goes into his 10th year in pursuit of his 5th major title. The average time it has taken for the other eighteen men who have won 5 majors or more to get major win number 5, less than two and half years.
- Who is the most accomplished player yet to truly contend to win a major? Patrick Cantlay. One top 5 and it was a distant third at the 2019 PGA.
- First seven names on the Open leaderboard were from different nations. In the absence of a dominant one, and more global depth, we are looking at a decade like the 90’s where there were 28 different major champions.
- The Open was the worst performing major by LIV players and it wasn’t even close with only one top 20 finish by Henrik Stenson who finished T13.
- This will be the week that Jay Monahan will begin his in-person relationship rehabilitation with Tour members, if it’s possible.
- Matthew Jordan top 10’ing at his home club after hitting the opening tee shot was Michael Block lite, minus the “Raising Canes” sponsorship.
- Tiger Woods will play in the next major.
