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Morning 9: Scribes’ takes on Tiger’s presser | New putter? | HV3 | Lanto’s story

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4 years ago

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1. The scribes pull-outs from Tiger’s presser…
Always interesting to see what different outlets do with the range of Woods’ remarks.
  • Here’s Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…“The high temperature isn’t expected to creep above 70 degrees this week at the PGA Championship, and Tiger Woods knows that isn’t ideal weather for his surgically repaired back.”
  • “The cooler, damp conditions mean longer warmups, shorter drives – and more layers.”
  • “When it’s cooler like this, I just make sure that my core stays warm, layering up properly,” said Woods, dressed Tuesday in a gray sweater. “I know I won’t have the same range of motion as I would back home in Florida where it’s 95 every day. That’s just the way it is.”
  • “Woods has been bothered by back issues in each of his past two starts. At the Genesis Invitational in February, he complained of back tightness while finishing last among those who made the cut, then skipped three scheduled starts because he wasn’t physically ready. Though he said he would have been fit enough for his Masters defense in April, Woods didn’t play again until last month’s Memorial Tournament. With a quick turnaround between the first two rounds, Woods once again felt stiff in the second round, shot 76 and barely made the cut, ultimately tying for 40th.”
…not worried about lack of competitive action…writes PGATour.com’s Ben Everill…
  • “The veteran has four wins and three runner-ups previously at the PGA Championship and knows TPC Harding Park well from due to his amateur and college career. He’s long had great success in Northern California including winning a World Golf Championships event there in 2005 and being part of the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup team in 2009.”
  • “I feel good. Obviously I haven’t played much competitively, but I’ve been playing a lot at home. So I’ve been getting plenty of reps that way … the results that I’ve seen at home, very enthusiastic about some of the changes I’ve made and so that’s been positive,” Woods added without giving up the changes he referenced.”
  • “Just trying to get my way back into this part of the season. This is what I’ve been gearing up for. We’ve got a lot of big events starting from here, so looking forward to it. This is going to be a fun test for all of us. The rough is up. Fairways are much narrower than they were here in 2009.”
2. What he’s been gearing up for
ESPN’s Bob Harig…”…he made it clear that the majors have been his focus.”
  • “This is what I’ve been gearing up for,” said Woods, a 15-time major championship winner. “We’ve got a lot of big events starting from here, so looking forward to it. This is going to be a fun test for all of us. The rough is up. The fairways are much more narrow.”
  • “The PGA is the first major championship of 2020, rescheduled from May because of the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Open is scheduled for Sept. 17-20 and the Masters for Nov. 12-15; the Open has been canceled.”
  • “I’ve been trying to prepare for the three,” he said. “Trying to figure out my schedule and training programs and playing prep and the things I need to work on for each major venue. It’s just a different calendar order and different time of year.
3. A blunt assessment of Tiger’s chances
Plenty of truth in the NY Post’s Mark Cannizzaro…“there are a lot of factors conspiring to make this a potentially-difficult week for Woods to succeed – whether success is measured by winning the tournament, contending or merely making the cut.”
  • “Let’s start with the fact that by the time he tees off his opening round alongside Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas on Thursday, Woods will have played four tournament rounds of golf in the past 170 days. He’s played in only three tournaments in 2020.”
  • “Add into that equation the weather this week in San Francisco is expected to be cool (60s) and damp (fog, mist marine layer), particularly in the mornings. And Woods’ 44-year-old surgically-repaired body prefers the searing heat and suffocating humidity he plays in at home in South Florida.”
  • “Add to that the fact that there are a dozen younger, better-fit star players who are entering this week in top form…”
4. Reminder: BK is going for the three-peat
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach…”After winning at Bellerive in 2018 and Bethpage Black in 2019, Koepka will try to become only the seventh player in the 160-year history of the major championships — and only the fourth since the start of the 20th century and the first in 64 years — to win a single major three straight times. Walter Hagen was the only player to do it at the PGA Championship from 1924-27, when he won four straight when it was still a match-play event.”
  • …”It would be incredible,” Koepka said at a PGA Championship news conference in February. “Obviously, Walter Hagen is a name everybody knows, every golf fan knows. To even have a chance to put my name with his would be incredible and it would be super special.”
  • “That’s the burden and history-making opportunity Koepka will carry with him this week.”
  • “I just want to play good golf, man,” Koepka said. “It’s simple. You start thinking about all the things that could happen, that’s when, you know, I guess nerve, everything else kind of creeps in. Just stay in the moment and keep plugging along.”
5. The math teacher in the PGA Championship field
Great stuff from Golfweek’s JuliaKate Williams…“It’s no secret 2020 has been a dumpster fire of a year, but Alex Knoll found a glimmer of hope amid the flames.”
  • “After years of working to qualify for the PGA Championship, the Palmerton High School golf coach and math teacher from Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, finally did it.”
  • Largely thanks to the coronavirus, that is.
  • “That’s the only silver lining for COVID in this entire world is I got into this tournament,” Knoll joked.”
  • “Knoll, an assistant teaching pro at Glenbrook Golf Club in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, attempted to qualify for the PGA Championship three times prior to this year. The 35-year-old planned to make his play for a spot in the major tournament during the 2020 PGA Professional Championship at Omni Barton Creek Resort and Spa in Austin, Texas.”
6. HV3’s GD cover story
One of the many excellent questions Mark Whitaker asked Harold Varner III in the for his Golf Digest cover story interview…
  • “After the death of George Floyd, you issued a statement describing it as a “senseless killing” and an act of “evil incarnate.” But you also argued that there are many more good cops than bad and that “burning businesses and police stations is wrong.” Why and how did you decide to take that public stance?”
  • “I didn’t want to say anything, but the way that society is, if you’re Black, you had to say something. Especially if you have any type of platform. Let’s not play dumb and pretend that police brutality has just started happening. We knew it was happening. Now it’s just being brought to light through cellphone video and social media. There has been evil since the beginning of time-I’m a Christian; I believe that. But I also think there is still more good than evil in the world. If you sit and watch a lot of TV right now, you’re not going to hear anything good. You know, it’s why people are talking to me. If it wasn’t about race, I don’t think people would be talking to me right now. But I am accepting that role to be a leader in this situation, to make things better for the next generation.”
  • “So what do think the solution is?”
  • “At the end of the day, I think there needs to be way more accountability. There’s got to be some way to hold the bad people accountable. Just getting everyone on the same page about what’s appropriate and not appropriate.”
7. Lanto’s Players Tribune piece focuses on his formative years in golf
Griffin writes…”And if you want to know who I am, you need to know what The Hill is.”
  • “The local municipality course in Blacksburg is known as The Hill. It’s a short, nine-hole course that you could play all day for nine bucks. It’s got all the little quirks that make up so many of the great muni courses around the country. There’s a pro shop that can’t be much bigger than 1,000 square feet, and it’s got the clubs and the shoes on the wall that you can buy right there. There’s a little patio to soak up some sun after the round. There’s a putting green that sits right beside the clubhouse at the top of the property with an incredible view of Blacksburg. You can see Merrimac and Ellett Valley to the south. To the west, there’s the Virginia Tech Campus and Lane Stadium, where the Hokies play.”
  • “It’s really a beautiful spot for a course. The holes themselves aren’t that much to write home about, but it’s just got that character to it, you know? I’ve brought some friends there from out of a town a few times, even in the last couple of years, and they all feel right at home when they step on the first tee. It’s a great place.”
  • “For a long time in my mind, golf and The Hill were synonymous.”
8. Adam Scott’s perspective
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”For Scott, who returned home to Australia when the PGA Tour halted its schedule in March, it wasn’t whether he wanted to play again this season, he did, it was a question of whether he would be able to return home.”
  • “Traveling internationally at the moment and leaving the family somewhere with uncertainty about rules and regulations changing all the time, for example, with quarantine and self-isolations and all this kind of stuff just made it difficult to really feel confident that I’d leave and be able to go back,” Scott said Tuesday at the PGA Championship, his first start since the Tour’s shut down.
9. Tiger testing a new flatstick
Woods’ vaunted Newport 2 is on the bench…as of Tuesday, and he’s practicing with a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Timeless Prototype at TPC Harding Park.
This putter was a prototype for the 2020 Special Select line. It has tungsten weighs in the sole to hit the desired swing weight and feel.
Loft: 3.75 degrees
Length: 35.25 (finished with grip)
Lie: 70 degrees
Head weight: TBD (presumably heavier than his 327-gram gamer)
Grip: Ping PP58 Blackout
Woods practiced with a similar-looking putter ahead of the 2019 Open Championship…a Golf Channel report suggests Woods has decided to put the putter in play.

 
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5 Things We Learned: Saturday at the Masters

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23 hours ago

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Apr 13, 2024

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Just as the honorary starters broke our hearts with the reality of ageing, so too, did Saturday, with the revelation that third-round Tiger Woods is not yet (if ever) what he once was. The great champion struggled mightily to an 82, tied with three others for high round of the day. Among the top ten, the worst score posted was DeChambeau’s 75, but the large Californian remains in the hunt. Day four will see 2022 champion Scottie Scheffler pair with Collin Morikawa in the final game. In front of them will be Max Homa and Ludwig Åberg. The antipenultimate pairing will feature DeChambeau and Xander Schauffele.

If you look at the one-off major winners, most took advantage of their only chance at grand slam glory. For golfers like Homa, Schauffele, and others, Sunday the 14th might represent their best and only chance at claiming a major title. For Scheffler, Morikawa, and DeChambeau, the ability to join the two-time and three-time, major winners club holds great appeal. Finally, a young’un like Åberg seeks to jump-start a more-than-tour-winner career with a major title. Many of the greats won them early, and the Swede from Texas Tech would love nothing more than a chance to join that company.

Sunday at Augusta, as always, will be riveting. It will provide hope throughout the first nine holes, then gut many a competitor’s heart coming home, rewarding just one with a new item for the wardrobe. Plan your menu and choose your outfit. Masters 2024 is about to conclude. Until then, let’s reveal five things that we learned on day three of the year’s first men’s major.

1. The three most critical holes on the first nine are …

numbers four through six. You might make some birdies at the first and last trios of holes, but the middle triumvirate of fairways and greens determines your day. Play them even par or better, and you’ll lose zero shots to the field. Get on a downward spiral of slightly-wayward shots, and recovery will be nigh impossible. Anyone who makes three at the fifth, as Tiger Woods did on Saturday, will get giddy.

2. The three most important holes on the second nine are …

ten through twelve. We realize that we commit heresy by omitting one of Herbert Warren Wind’s Amen Corner traces, but par or better is critical at 10. Dry landings at 11 and 12 set the competitor up for two par fives in three holes, sandwiched around a straightforward, par-four hole. Remember when Ben Crenshaw began his march to glory in 1995? It all started with birdie at the 10th.

3. The most interesting and efficient round of day three came from …

Collin Morikawa. Birdies at the first three holes, followed by bogey-birdie at six and eight, then ten consecutive pars to finish off the second-low round of the day. Morikawa has improved each day, from 71 to 70 to 69. He has won majors in England and California. He has the temperment for this sort of day, but will certainly be in the hottest of all cauldrons around 3 pm on Sunday.

4. The guy who lost the most ground on day three was …

Nikolai Hojgaard. The dude failed to make par from the seventh green to the 16th. After three consecutive birdies around the turn (8 through 10), the Great Dane tumbled to earth with five consecutive bogeys. 11 and 12, we understand, but 13 and 15 are par-five holes, for goodness sake! No matter where he finds himself on day four’s back nine, it will be hard to put that stretch of golf out of his mind.

5. Our pick for the green jacket is …

impossible to nail. We suspect that certain players should and could perform on Sunday. We remember when Retief Goosen, a great US Open winner until round four of 2005, lost his mojo. We recall days when Rich Beam and Y.E. Yang pulled major titles away from Tiger Woods. Things go wrong on Sunday, and they go wrong super-quick at Augusta.

We’ve decided to ascend Mount Olympus for our Sunday selection. Who better than the 2021 Olympic champion to add a long-awaited, first major title. It’s Professor X for us: Xander Schauffele.

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5 Things We Learned: Friday at the Masters

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1 day ago

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Apr 13, 2024

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You don’t see leaves on the ground at Augusta National. The grounds crew and superintendent’s staff take care of those sorts of things, so that both course appearance and consistency of play are preserved at the top tier. We saw leaves on the ground today and, given the force and perseverance of the wind, we’re lucky that we didn’t see tree trunks along the fairways. We did see higher scores than secured in round one, and some of the three- and four-hole stretches were downright inconceivable. The cut after 36 holes came at six over par, and five dozen golfers reached the weekend of play. Numbers always define the story of a tournament, and we’ll let them define the five things we learned on day two of the 2024 Masters tournament.

One: 60 + 10

Sixty golfers posted scores of 148 or better through 36 holes, to reach weekend play. Ten more golfers posted 149 and missed the cut by a single stroke. The ones who missed the cut by a stroke included former champions Mike Weir, Zach Johnson, and Sergio Garcia. Also among the brood were current US Open champion Wyndham Clark, and Nick Dunlap, who won on the PGA Tour as an amateur in January, and subsequently turned professional. Of the ones who survived by the slimmest of margins, surviving to the weekend were former champions Jose Maria Olazabal, Hideki Matsuyama, and Adam Scott, along with Rickie Fowler and Tom Kim. Golf’s cut is a cruel and unconcerned blade, and each Masters tournament reminds us of this fact.

Two: One

The number of amateurs to make the cut in the 2024 Masters is solitary. His name is Neil Shipley, and most folks love him. He wears his hair to the shoulder, and appears to have the proper balance of intensity and chill. Shipley opened with 71, then held on for 76 on day two. He made the cut by three shots, and will collect his share of hardware on Sunday. It’s safe to say that Shipley will turn his attention to learning the course, as well as his own self under pressure.

Three: 23

For most sorts fans, 23 recalls the greatest NBA player of all time, Michael Jordan. For Justin Thomas, it’s a number that will haunt him for a long time. Thomas reached tee number fifteen on Friday at even par. The two-time PGA Champion played the subsequent, four-hole stretch in 23 shots, missing the cut by a shot. On fifteen, he went for the green in two, in some sort of halfhearted manner. He got wet with shot number two, went long with his pitch, and three-putted from the fringe. On sixteen, he played away from safety and found elevated sand. His blast went down the hill, and he missed his approach putt in the wrong place. On seventeen, he missed his drive right and his approach long, and lost another shot to par. The coup de grace took place on the home hole: drive so horribly left that he had to pitch out to the fairway and hit three metal into the green. His third double bogey in four holes dropped him all the way to 151 and plus seven. Among the many questions, the foremost one was why he dropped his longtime caddy on the eve of a major championship. Surely Bones would have saved him one of those shots, and perhaps more.

Four: Forty-Nine divided by five or six

Tiger Woods cannot possibly win title number six at Augusta in his 49th year, can he? Not on this broken body, and not from seven strokes behind, right? Not with so few competitive rounds over the most recent months, and not one year removed from a third-round withdrawal from this very tournament. Well, if he cannnot possibly win, allow us to dream and hope a bit, and hold on to a fantasy.

Five: 3 that we like

We like Scottie Scheffler, of course. He seems to have a sense of Augusta National, and he was able to hold on in 2023 for the championship. We like Nikolai Hojgaard, because he might have just the proper combination of naivete and experience for a first-time winner. Finally, we like Collin Morikawa, a winner of two separate major titles. Winning at Augusta National requires a certain amount of length, unless you putt lights out. Morikawa might be embedded in one of those putting weeks.

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5 things we learned: Thursday at the Masters

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3 days ago

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Apr 11, 2024

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The rains came early at Augusta, just as they did in Buffalo. The distinguishing factor was, they had a tournament to start in Augusta. Folks in Buffalo simply went to work, and paid attention to the clouds in north Georgia. By ten o’clock, the skies had cleared enough to begin play. Honorary tee shots were hit, and competitive play began. The delay assured that some of the afternoon groups would not sign scorecards on Thursday evening. Instead, they would rise early for completion of play, then turn right back around and go out for round two.

Round one was filled with the usual characteristics of major championship golf. A pair of golfers shot low rounds, with no guarantee that either would be able to preserve the blistering pace. Others gave shots inexplicably away, on the most confounding of holes, to push themselves away from the dream of the green jacket. Others played solid if unspectacular golf, to maintain the top of the board in sight. Finally, some held to a preserver for dear life, finding a way to stay within shouting distance of the leaders.

With that little bit of tease to lead us in, let’s get straight to the five things that we learned on Thursday at the Masters.

One: Can a horse be a horse for a course, for more than one round?

Both Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler have plenty of successful memories ’round the Augusta National course. Scheffle owns the ultimate prize, the 2022 green jacket, while DeChambeau was low amateur in 2016. That’s where the similarities end, however. DeChambeau has never finished higher than that low-am T21, while Scheffler has never finished outside the top 20 in four starts. DeChambeau has had fits of brilliance over the MacKenzie hills, but Scheffler is the one with four-round history.

While it seems unlikely the DeChambeau will miss the cut for a third consecutive time, the question of his ability to put rounds together remains. On Thursday, DeChambeau notched eight birdies on the day, and stumbled for bogey just once, at the ninth hole. For much of the day, he held a multi-shot lead over former champion Danny Willett, until Scheffler finished fast, with birdies at 12, 13, 15, and 16. His 66 brought him within one shot of the leader. Scheffler went without a bogey on the day, and ensured that DeChambeau would have much to consider over the night’s sleep.

Two: Find a way to hang around

Rory McIlroy never looked like he had his best stuff on Thursday. Three bogeys on the day, including one at the gettable second hole, had him steaming. Unlike prior years, when his not-best stuff led to mid-70s numbers, Roars was able to four birdies along the way. His 71 won’t win any crystal, but it will keep him in the tournament. Does he need a 67 on Friday? Absolutely.

Will Zalatoris plays Augusta National as well as anyone. Eagles and birdies are always on the table for the young Texan. He reached four-under par at the 15th, but closed with two bogies for 70. Without the shot that you see below, he may never have found the mojo needed to reach minus-four. Moral of the story: find a way to get in the house with a number.

Three: When you do things like this, find a way to keep it together!

The leaders’ board was filled with golfers like Ryan Fox (five-under through 12, inexplicable bogey at 13, finished minus-three), Erik Van Rooyen (minus-four through 13, only to close with three bogeys to finish one deep) Viktor Hovland (four below through nine, double at ten, one below at day’s end) and Matt Fitzpatrick (four deep through 13, three bogeys coming home.) What keeps these golfers from going deeper under par, or at least preserving their successful stature? It’s usually greed or the razor’s edge. There are too-safe places on the greens of Augusta, but there are always properly-safe areas, from where a two-putt is a probablility. In the case of most of these golfers, they either went at flags and short-sided themselves (leading to bogey) or tried to preserve their position, and landed in the three-putt zone.

Four: How could you do this?

Rickie Fowler  at 76, alongside Hideki Matsuyama. Guys, there were plenty of birdies out there! How could you manage to avoid them, and instead, stockpile the bogeys? Well, at least Hideki has a green jacket already, and at least Rickie has some crystal from Wednesday. Odds are that one of them will post 68 on Friday and make the cut.

Five: Which golfers do we hope to see finish strong?

With plenty of round-one action left for Friday morning, we’ve scanned the board and determined that Nicolai Højgaard looks pretty good at five-under through fifteen. We’ll take three pars. We expect one birdie. We’d love to see two or three birdies coming home. Yup, we’re greedy!

Max Homa bounced back from bogey at 12 with birdie at 13, to get back to four under par. We have the same expectations for the California kid: lots of birdies coming home. We have our eyes on a couple of guys at minus-one, and then there’s Tyrrell Hatton at three-deep, along with Ludvig Åberg at minus-two. Plenty of golf left for first-round positioning. Set your alarm for early and don’t miss a single shot!

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