5. Whan on ANWA
The LPGA commish had this to say, per John Strege at Golf Digest…
- ‘”I would anticipate us being here in the same week next year,” he said. “Today, if we move back two weeks, there’s only three windows for us to have this kind of TV coverage. There’s Founders [Cup] week. That’s really difficult on the club and for all kinds of reasons that seems too difficult for us to pull that off. Or two weeks later, which is a week after the Masters, 10 days from Coachella.”‘
- “He was referring to the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, a highly popular event held nearby, putting a strain on getting hotel rooms. “And a lot of these volunteers get out of their houses and rent them during Coachella,” Whan said. “We’re concerned about volunteers. We’re concerned about heat and just course conditions.”
…”Maybe this can be the celebration of women’s golf it really could be.”
6. Alex Trevino
The PGA Tour’s Doug Milne composed an excellent piece on Alex Trevino, a teenager battling cancer who spent some time with Jordan Spieth ahead of the Valero Texas Open.
- This portion on Trevino’s diagnosis…”We went to his pediatrician, we went to emergency rooms, and we got all kinds of tests done,” said Alex’s father, Alex. “The last thing we imagined is that it was cancer.”
- “Barely a teenager, Alex was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. The hardest thing to imagine had become a stark, glaring reality.”
- ‘”At the beginning, they thought it was a fracture or something,” said Alex’s mother, Madai. “But, it was one of the rarest forms of cancer, especially in kids. And, because it was in the C-2 vertebrae, the doctors didn’t think it was going to be a tumor.”‘
- Doctors, sadly, were wrong. But, in May, after starting treatment shortly after the diagnosis, Alex’s cancer went into remission. He and his family clung to hope.
- As fate would have it, in November of 2018, Alex was again diagnosed wih Ewing sarcoma. This time, though, it had metastasized into his lungs.”
7. Spieth: I didn’t choke at Augusta in 2016
Golf Channel’s Will Gray pulled this anecdote from the No Laying Up podcast…
- “It wasn’t like I got here and the moment got the best of me. It was like, no, I just legitimately had this thing wrong with my swing,” Spieth said. “When the pressure was on that day, I was hitting the ball horribly. … But it wasn’t because it was Sunday at Augusta. No, it was like I was just hitting it that bad. And unfortunately, that’s not the way it can be or would be looked at, no matter what I say or who I say it to.”
- “Spieth bounced back to win at Colonial the next month, and in 2017 he won his third major at The Open. But he hasn’t slipped into another green jacket since putting one on Willett three years ago, and he realizes the drama of his closing stretch that year remains a frequent talking point with fans and media alike.”
- “Some guys, they get under pressure and they play worse and it’s because of the pressure. And that’s actually everybody to start out, until you learn to cope with it,” Spieth said. “For me, it wasn’t that at all. It really wasn’t. I remember the way I felt. I just simply ran into a few holes where you can’t miss it right in a row, after nine holes in a row where you can, and it just got the best of me.”
8. Tiger Woods, Gil Hanse to design courses at same resort in Hawaii
Will Gray again…”Woods’ TGR Design company has been named lead architect for the North Course at the new Makaha Valley Resort, while Hanse will be in charge of the South Course. Both announcements were made by Pacific Links International, which has commissioned the project for the 644-acre property.”
- “According to a media release, Woods’ North Course will be nestled “in the shadows of the Waianae mountain range” and will include views of both the Pacific Ocean and Mt. Ka’ala, an ancient volcano and the highest peak on Oahu. No timetable has been set for the completion of either course.”
9. Masters prep with Frogger
Golf Digest’s Coleman Bentley…”When it comes to the Masters, players are willing do to just about anything to get a leg up on the competition (and the course itself, of course). But in the pursuit of his first green jacket, Justin Thomas isn’t hitting the gym, or the range, or making Patrick Reed voodoo dolls. Instead he’s turned to the ultimate test of hand-eye coordination, one that has foiled 80s college students and George Costanza alike down the decades. That hallowed crucible of reflexes we speak of? A little game called Frogger.”
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P P
Apr 4, 2019 at 11:23 pm
Spieth said. “When the pressure was on that day, I was hitting the ball horribly.”
Not sure what his understanding of choke is but where i come from that is the exact definition of the word.
Jon
Apr 4, 2019 at 1:41 pm
Spieth says he didn’t choke? Okay, we’ll just call it a gag reflex.