For those of us from another generation, the disruption of the golf world that we knew well is both exciting and unsettling. The two most potent disruptors are rival golf leagues, not unlike the turmoil seen in the NCAA, and the Anchorman-style gangs of golf reporters. Reconciled to a past era are the dominance of the U.S. PGA Tour and the monthly golf magazines. One element that will not change, at any time in the foreseeable future, however, is the sanctity of the grand slam and golf’s four male major championships. While the LPGA and the PGA Tour Champions have seen a light and added fifth and sixth power titles, the men’s game remains staunchly in the 20th century.
This last topic surges in pertinence each March, just before the playing of The Players Championship. Two camps stake tents and run banners up the poll. One cries out for elevation of the PC to major status, while the other digs a trench around its impregnable quadrilateral. My personal take is this: Every four years since 2016, golf is played at the Olympics. Is Olympic Gold the equivalent of a major title? Yes, it is. It comes around every 1,500 days and brings elite golfers together in competition at the most important athletic event and venue. In my mind, Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele earned major titles in Brazil and Japan, as did Inbee Park and Nelly Korda. As for the Players Championship, why not? The field is stronger by ranking than any major event, and the golf course demands every shot that golfers can create.
The Players Championship is so important to the U.S. PGA Tour that all other tours under its umbrella take the week off. No Korn Ferry, no Tour Champions. The LPGA and the DP World Tour follow suit, which shrinks the amount of watchable golf to two events. On that sour note, let’s run down this week’s play, beginning with the Players Championship and ending with the Asian Tour in Macau.
PGA Tour @ Players Championship: matching luggage for Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler is making a bid to be the player of his generation. From the previous one, a fair number have taken leave from traditional competition. The Johnsons, Koepkas, and Reeds from the 1980s no longer play the events that stand the test of time. The born-in-the-90s generation had its first great champion in Jordan Spieth until he took leave of the senses that brought him to golf’s pinnacle. Spieth’s descent ran opposite Scheffler’s rise.
Scottie Scheffler had won nothing on the PGA Tour until February 13th of 2022. He won on that day in Phoenix, then won three more times by the middle of April. One of those wins was the API at Bay Hill. Last week, Scheffler won for a second time at the Orlando course. Last March, Scheffler won his first Players Championship, by five shots over Tyrrell Hatton. On Sunday, Scheffler dived headfirst into a cauldron of fierce competition. Facing challenges from Olympic champion Schauffele, Open champion Brian Harmon, and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, Scheffler breathed. As the only man to reach 20 under par, he earned a second consecutive title at Sawgrass and reminded us that it has been two years since he won the Masters and that he is on a tear.
It all began at the fourth on Sunday for Scheffler. After pars at the opening three holes, Scheffler’s driving wedge from 92 yards landed 20 feet shy of the hole, took one large bounce, then spun left, trickling into the hole for eagle. He followed that incantation with another birdie, then two pars. The stretch from 8 to 12 was where the champion made a statement. His quartet of birdies over that run, brought him to 19-under par and let the pursuing pack know that even lower than the winning 17 under in 2023 would be necessary.
And the trio was game. Harman and Clark both dipped below 70, to reach 19 under at the final pole. Schauffele could not find a similar gear and closed with 70 — 69 would have earned him a playoff with Scheffler. It was the extra gear, the ability to go low when all things mattered, that eleveated the now two-time champion to the top of the podium. In five of his eight tour wins, Scheffler has posted a sub-70 round on day four, and four of those have been 67 or lower.
With elegant precision, Scheffler applied the final thrust at the par-5 16th. He played safely away from Pete’s Pond on the right, into the left greenside bunker at the back of the putting surface. His bunker shot was thing of exquisite accuracy, trickling to a planned stop about 20 inches from the hole. The birdie concluded matters and rang the sort of bell that Dye courses tend to display.
Asian Tour @ International Series Macau: Catlin earns playoff victory
There are two sorts of golfers that compete on the Asian Tour, which makes no secret of its alliance with the LIV. The first are the AT stalwarts, the ones who play as golfers have always played, with little guarantee and much pride. The others are the ones who compete on the LIV, eschewing both risk and pride for the guaranteed payday. Their deal costs them world ranking points, so they play in AT events, hoping to qualify for golf’s major events.
This week in Macau, one of those LIV golfers shot 60 on Sunday and did not win the tournament. Hard to believe, you say? Aye, but when another golfer shoots 59 in the third round, follows it up with a 65 on day four, then makes overtime birdie twice at the par-five closer, the razor’s edge of great golf is sharpened. Thus did it happen with American John Catlin and Spaniard David Puig.
It was Catlin who signed for 59, and it took a twisting, eagle putt at the last to enshrine the first-ever, sub-60 on the Asian Tour. It was Puig who closed the gap on Sunday with a 60 of his own, which featured a bogey at the lengthy fifth hole, but was followed by seven birdies and an eagle over the next 13 holes. Catlin had a six-feet putt for the regulation win, but missed. In extra time, Puig nearly holed for eagle at 18, then tapped in for birdie. Catlin’s second danced along the OOB perimeter, before ending on an access road. His drop and pitch left him another six feet to remain alive, and this time, he converted.
At the second go-round of the par-5 finisher, Puig found the green in two, but took three putts from nearly 50 feet. Catlin confronted another challenging pitch for his third, and once again, his wedge game won the day. He tapped in for birdie and the win.
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Dave
Dec 20, 2018 at 8:38 pm
She’s calling for much more than openness in golf. She wants other countries/cultures to change. That’s a tall order. She should be able to be who she is where the tour takes her. And, I don’t blame her. Women are very nice…
Ted
Dec 17, 2018 at 3:15 pm
I just want to see great golf. Swing how you like.
A. Commoner
Dec 15, 2018 at 8:38 pm
Same old claptrap over and over. Today it seems as though ‘self disclosure’ is regarded as a great virtue by those doing the yapping. The motivation/causation behind this public ‘revealing behavior’ is not something one is encouraged to discuss. Suffice it to say many people are tired of it.
CaoNiMa
Dec 13, 2018 at 2:15 am
Phew I thought this was going to be about equality of Tour purses, and I’m glad it’s not, because I was going to say that she is totally deluded if that’s what she wants, when hardly anybody shows up to the LPGA events, how does she expect any purses to go up when the admission receipts at the ladies events can’t even make up for the cost of putting up the events at many of them. the sponsors aren’t going to shell out more for the poor return
Dave
Dec 20, 2018 at 8:31 pm
Uh…well, it wasn’t about that, so…(?)
Bert Gwaltney
Dec 12, 2018 at 7:51 pm
It’s OK, it’s her choice, not sure of her reasoning, but I do have a question. Will she play in events that are held in these countries? Even take her girlfriend to dinner there? I hope not.
Of course Rory had no problems in supporting tournaments in Dubai, will the European Tour continue to hold events in countries that are so discriminatory? Yes, of course they will, follow the money.
Speedy
Dec 12, 2018 at 5:41 pm
Good on Mel. Maybe more active players in all professional sports will feel secure enough to follow her lead.
DB
Dec 12, 2018 at 1:30 pm
LOL at “I protected my sexuality for a long time because I thought I had to in order to help my career and to get more sponsors.”
Does she live in the modern world? Has she ever seen commercials before? Major corporations are fully on board with the poz and they will happily plaster her all over commercials to signal just how woke and virtuous they are.
Jamie
Dec 12, 2018 at 11:24 am
The British multitiered system of libtardation enabling false paradigms. Screw the “fight for equality” myth. This has nothing to do with equality. This is a publicity stunt. In September 2015, Reid told ESPN that her life “was a mess … I wasn’t coping, I was rebelling. I was spending time with people who partied. I was hitting the self-destruct button. I was with a lot of people, but I was lonely”. So glad to be an American where we have equal protection under the law and freedom of association.
Scheiss
Dec 12, 2018 at 11:10 am
Well this was no surprise.
Johnny Penso
Dec 12, 2018 at 10:28 am
In the west nobody really cares. The Middle East is stuck in the dark ages, well the Arab countries at least, Israel is no problem.
Gun Violent
Dec 12, 2018 at 11:02 am
Racist.
https://www.reddit.com/r/badhistory/comments/1apq4m/the_hole_left_by_the_christian_dark_ages_graph/
Gunter Eisenberg
Dec 12, 2018 at 9:47 am
You know when society has accepted equality and rights for gay people when nobody cares when they come out of the closet.
Jamie
Dec 12, 2018 at 11:34 am
Screw special rights for anyone. In America we have equal protection laws and freedom of association. Now in dark ages places like England with dark ages institutions like royalty, I have no idea and don’t really care.