19th Hole

A hacker plays the big ones: Pt. 2

Published

4 years ago

Aug 22, 2020

“A Hacker Plays The Big Ones” is a short story authored by Steven R. Roberts. The short story, written two months following the trip, tells the tale of Roberts and his friend, Bob Blackman’s, golf odyssey around Scotland in the 1970s where the two played four of most historic courses in the game: St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Muirfield and Gleneagles.

We have broken the short story into a four-parter and will publish Part 3. of the story in the coming days.

Read Part 1 here.

The next day we played 36 holes on the Gleneagles King’s and Queen’s courses. I’m writing this in my hotel room while Bob takes a bath. It would certainly be too bad if he drowned, but I don’t want to come across as a bitter loser. It’s just that he had a brilliant 74 at the difficult King’s course this morning followed by a steady 78 at the Queen’s this afternoon.

It’s a bit hard to appreciate the beauty of this place with tears in your eyes, but I must say it is spectacular. The two courses are set in the rolling Scottish hills, and the clubhouse inside and out is impressive.

Toward the end of the second round, I must admit I was knackered from climbing the hills and extricating my ball and myself from the deep traps. We’re both suddenly glad we didn’t wait 20 more years to make this trip. The names of the holes give an extra touch to the place. Wee Bogle, Canty Lye, Devil’s Creel, Waup’s Nest and Blink Bonnie are indications of the dangers of the King’s course.

The turf and overall course manicure at Gleneagles was a pleasant surprise in that the conditions were similar to the finest U.S. courses. This contrasts with yesterday’s seaside links course of Carnoustie, with its relatively flat fairways and hard greens. On the other hand, I didn’t come all this way to play a U.S. course. Not to worry, because both courses have a very different growth called “heather” in their roughs. If you are lucky enough to find your ball in this wiry stuff, we found that you needed to blast out sideways to recover. It was like trying to hit a shot out of barbed wire.

One of the other distinguishing characteristics of UK golf is the speed of play. They play a get-up-and-hit style that I found exhausting at first when we moved to England but by this time I had found it refreshing. Bob and I played Carnoustie in three hours yesterday and, excluding a one-hour break for lunch, we played 36 holes in six hours today. To add to the physical challenges of the game, these three-hour rounds are done walking and carrying our bags. There were no golf carts on the island and very few caddies.

I already mentioned Bob’s two scores for the day, and purposely didn’t mention mine. Bob is left-handed, and he has a wooden-shafted putter. If that isn’t bad enough, he knocked in everything in sight for his 74 while I three-putted three times for an 80 on the King’s and 79 on the afternoon round on the Queen’s course.

I’m now 8 shots back of Bob, who’s 20 shots behind Tom Watson’s winning pace. The good news is that I didn’t jump off the Perth Queen’s bridge as we strolled over the Tay River for dinner. What am I saying? I’m having the time of my life and tomorrow we play St. Andrews. I just need rest. I briefly considered a plan to break Bob’s wooden-shafted putter over his sandy-haired head the next day.

That night I couldn’t sleep. Finally, I got up and walked across the room to Bob’s bag, which was propped in the corner next to his bed. I carefully removed the wooden-shafted devil and took it out into the hall. I laid down a glass from the bathroom and stroked a few putts.

The putter was left-handed, so I had to stroke the putts from the wrong side. I put the first three balls in the glass and backed up so that I was putting from the door of the room next to ours to our room door. The carpet had a slight break left to right, but I made two out of three 12-footers. This really feels good in my hands. No wonder Bob is beating me.

I backed up to another doorway and made two out of three 25-footers. Now the carpet was breaking just over a foot. Backing up again, this will be the ultimate test as to whether this thing is illegal and I should confiscate it.

I’m stroking the first 50-footer when an older lady in her white nightgown comes out of one of the rooms along the putting path. I’ve got my head down, concentrating on making a smooth stroke; I got a chill up my neck realizing the ball was on pace and line perfectly toward the hole. I looked up to see the lady rubbing her eyes as she stepped on the ball and sprawled out across the hallway. Her nightgown billowed like a small parachute as she screamed and fell to the slightly-slanted hallway carpeting.

“Oh, ma’am, I’m so sorry,” I said, hurrying to her side.

“I heard a scream and opened my door to find this man standing over this poor woman,” the man from the other side of the hall said to the constable. “He was standing there with a red face in his whitey tidy undershorts and a club in his hand. My friend next door and I blocked his attempts to get to his room until you got here, constable.”

Bob had heard the commotion in the hall, and he’d brought my trousers out to me, but it was too late.

So, that’s how the day I had looked forward to for so long. The day I was scheduled to play St. Andrews started out with breakfast in the Perth city jail.

“How you doing?” Bob asked, coming to the visitor’s room about 8:30 that morning.

“Oh, God, Bob, it’s lucky we got a later tee time,” I said. “Can you get me out in time?”

“I’ll see. I suppose you have some explanation as to what you were doing walking the halls in your skivvies with my putter at 3:20 in the morning?” Bob asked.

“Never mind that right now,” I said. “We can talk about it on the long drive home in a couple of days.”

“Well, I don’t know what happened with that woman or my putter, but I’ve called St. Andrews and changed our reservation for tonight to separate bedrooms.”

“You didn’t.”

“Yes. Besides, you snore.”

“Whatever. Just get me out of here in time to hit a few practice balls, and I’ll be okay.”

“I’m meeting with the constable in 10 minutes,” Bob said. “Let’s hope I can convince him you were doing something rational out there in that hallway. Do you have any words to help me make him understand?”

“No.”

Two hours later, Bob was driving as we turned off the main street in St. Andrews onto narrow Links Avenue. I put on my golf shoes as Bob drove past the Old Niblick Restaurant and pulled into the small parking lot 12 minutes before our tee time of 1:33 pm.

Coming soon: A Hacker Plays The Big Ones Pt. 3

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Wells Fargo Championship betting preview: Tommy Fleetwood ready to finally land maiden PGA Tour title

Published

9 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

The PGA Tour season ramps back up this week for another “signature event,” as golf fans look forward to the year’s second major championship next week.

After two weaker-field events in the Zurich Classic and the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, most of the best players in the world will head to historic Quail Hollow for one of the best non-major tournaments of the year.

Last season, Wyndham Clark won the event by four shots.

Quail Hollow is a par-71 measuring 7,521 yards that features Bermudagrass greens. The tree-lined, parkland style course can play quite difficult and features one of the most difficult three-hole stretches in golf known as “The Green Mile,” which makes up holes 16-18: two mammoth par 4s and a 221-yard par 3. All three holes have an average score over par, and water is in play in each of the last five holes on the course.

The field is excellent this week with 68 golfers teeing it up without a cut. All of the golfers who’ve qualified are set to tee it up, with the exception of Scottie Scheffler, who is expecting the birth of his first child.

Past Winners at Quail Hollow

2023: Wyndham Clark (-19)
2022: Max Homa (-8)
2021: Rory McIlroy (-10)
2019: Max Homa (-15)
2018: Jason Day (-12)
2017: Justin Thomas (-8) (PGA Championship)
2016: James Hahn (-9)
2015: Rory McIlroy (-21)

Key Stats For Quail Hollow

Strokes Gained: Approach

Strokes gained: Approach will be extremely important this week as second shots at Quail Hollow can be very difficult.

Total SG: Approach Over Past 24 Rounds

Akshay Bhatia (+1.16)
Tom Hoge (+1.12)
Corey Conners (+1.01)
Shane Lowry (+0.93)
Austin Eckroat (+0.82)

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee

Quail Hollow is a long course on which it is important to play from the fairway. Both distance and accuracy are important, as shorter tee shots will result in approach shots from 200 or more yards. With most of the holes heavily tree lined, errant drives will create some real trouble for the players.

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee Past 24 Rounds:

Ludvig Aberg (+0.73)
Rory McIlroy (+0.69)
Xander Schauffele (+0.62)
Viktor Hovland (+0.58)
Chris Kirk (+0.52)

Proximity: 175-200

The 175-200 range is key at Quail Hollow. Players who can hit their long irons well will rise to the top of the leaderboard.

Proximity: 175-200+ over past 24 rounds:

Cameron Young (28’2″)
Akshay Bhatia (29’6″)
Ludvig Aberg (+30’6″)
Sam Burns (+30’6″)
Collin Morikawa (+30’9″)

SG: Total on Tom Fazio Designs

Players who thrive on Tom Fazio designs get a bump for me at Quail Hollow this week.

SG: Total on Tom Fazio Designs over past 36 rounds:

Patrick Cantlay (+2.10)
Rory McIlroy (+1.95)
Tommy Fleetwood (+1.68)
Austin Eckroat (+1.60)
Will Zalatoris (+1.57)

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermudagrass)

Strokes Gained: Putting has historically graded out as the most important statistic at Quail Hollow. While it isn’t always predictable, I do want to have it in the model to bump up golfers who prefer to putt on Bermudagrass.

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermudagrass) Over Past 24 Rounds:

Taylor Moore (+0.82)
Nick Dunlap (+.76)
Wyndham Clark (+.69)
Emiliano Grillo (+.64)
Cam Davis (+.61)

Course History

This stat will incorporate players that have played well in the past at Quail Hollow.

Course History over past 36 rounds (per round):

Rory McIlroy (+2.50)
Justin Thomas (+1.96)
Jason Day (+1.92)
Rickie Fowler (+1.83)
Viktor Hovland (+1.78)

Wells Fargo Championship Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (27%), SG: Off the Tee (23%), SG: Total on Fazio designs (12%), Proximity: 175-200 (12%), SG: Putting Bermuda grass (12%), and Course History (14%).

Wyndham Clark
Rory McIlroy
Xander Schauffele
Shane Lowry
Hideki Matsuyama
Viktor Hovland
Cameron Young
Austin Eckroat
Byeong Hun An
Justin Thomas

2024 Wells Fargo Championship Picks

Tommy Fleetwood +2500 (DraftKings)

I know many out there have Tommy fatigue when it comes to betting, which is completely understandable given his lack of ability to win on the PGA Tour thus far in his career. However, history has shown us that players with Fleetwood’s talent eventually break though, and I believe for Tommy, it’s just a matter of time.

Fleetwood has been excellent on Tom Fazio designs. Over his past 36 rounds, he ranks 3rd in the field in Strokes Gained: Total on Fazio tracks. He’s also been incredibly reliable off the tee this season. He’s gained strokes in the category in eight of his past nine starts, including at The Masters, the PLAYERS and the three “signature events” of the season. Tommy is a golfer built for tougher courses and can grind it out in difficult conditions.

Last year, Fleetwood was the first-round leader at this event, firing a Thursday 65. He finished the event in a tie for 5th place.

For those worried about Fleetwood’s disappointing start his last time out at Harbour Town, he’s bounced back nicely after plenty of poor outings this season. His T7 at the Valero Texas Open was after a MC and T35 in his prior two starts and his win at the Dubai Invitational came after a T47 at the Sentry.

I expect Tommy to bounce back this week and contend at Quail Hollow.

Justin Thomas +3000 (DraftKings)

It’s been a rough couple of years for Justin Thomas, but I don’t believe things are quite as bad as they seem for JT. He got caught in the bad side of the draw at Augusta for last month’s Masters and has gained strokes on approach in seven of his nine starts in 2024.

Thomas may have found something in his most recent start at the RBC Heritage. He finished T5 at a course that he isn’t the best fit for on paper. He also finally got the putter working and ranked 15th in Strokes Gained: Putting for the week.

The two-time PGA champion captured the first of his two major championships at Quail Hollow back in 2017, and some good vibes from the course may be enough to get JT out of his slump.

Thomas hasn’t won an event in just about two years. However, I still believe that will change soon as he’s been one of the most prolific winners throughout his PGA Tour career. Since 2015, he has 15 PGA Tour wins.

Course history is pretty sticky at Quail Hollow, with players who like the course playing well there on a regular basis. In addition to JT’s PGA Championship win in 2017, he went 4-1 at the 2022 Presidents Cup and finished T14 at the event last year despite being in poor form. Thomas can return as one of the top players on the PGA Tour with a win at a “signature event” this week.

Cameron Young +3500 (DraftKings)

For many golf bettors, it’s been frustrating backing Cam Young this season. His talent is undeniable, and one of the best and most consistent performers on the PGA Tour. He just hasn’t broken through with a victory yet. Quail Hollow has been a great place for elite players to get their first victory. Rory McIlroy, Anthony Kim, Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark all notched their first PGA Tour win at Quail.

Throughout Cam Young’s career, he has thrived at tougher courses with strong fields. This season, he finished T16 at Riviera and T9 at Augusta National, demonstrating his preference of a tough test. His ability to hit the ball long and straight off the tee make him an ideal fit for Quail Hollow, despite playing pretty poorly his first time out in 2023 (T59). Young should be comfortable playing in the region as he played his college golf at Wake Forest, which is about an hour’s drive from Quail Hollow.

The 26-year-old has played well at Tom Fazio designs in the past and ranks 8th in the field in Strokes Gained: Total on those courses in his last 36 rounds. Perhaps most importantly, this season, Young is the best player on the PGA Tour in terms of proximity from 175-200 in the fairway, which is where a plurality and many crucial shots will come from this week.

Young is an elite talent and Quail Hollow has been kind to players of his ilk who’ve yet to win on Tour.

Byeong Hun An +5000 (FanDuel)

Byeong Hun An missed some opportunities last weekend at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. He finished T4 and played some outstanding golf, but a couple of missed short putts prevented him from getting to the winning score of -23. Despite not getting the win, it’s hard to view An’s performance as anything other than an overwhelming success. It was An’s fourth top-ten finish of the season.

Last week, An gained 6.5 strokes ball striking, which was 7th in the field. He also ranked 12th for Strokes Gained: Approach and 13th for Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. The South Korean has been hitting the ball so well from tee to green all season long and he now heads to a golf course that should reward his precision.

An’s driver and long irons are absolute weapons. At Quail Hollow, players will see plenty of approach shots from the 175-200 range as well as some from 200+. In his past 24 rounds, Ben ranks 3rd in the field in proximity from 175-200 and 12th in proximity from 200+. Playing in an event that will not end up being a “birdie” fest should help An, who can separate from the field with his strong tee to green play. The putter may not always cooperate but getting to -15 is much easier than getting to -23 for elite ball strikers who tend to struggle on the greens.

Winning a “signature event” feels like a tall task for An this week with so many elite players in the field. However, he’s finished T16 at the Genesis Invitational, T16 at The Masters and T8 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The 32-year-old’s game has improved drastically this season and I believe he’s ready to get the biggest win of his career.

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19th Hole

DP World Tour pro has score improved after round following bizarre rules situation

Published

13 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

As originally reported by Ryan French of Monday Q Info, a DP World Tour player was impacted over the weekend by a peculiar rules situation.

Ivan Cantero was playing the Volvo China Open when he hit an errant tee shot on the 13th hole. Cantero was unsure if the ball was in play or not, as it went towards a jungle area, so he played a provisional.

French confirmed with a rules official that the provisional was legal due to the fact that the player didn’t know whether the ball was in play or not.

Cantero’s original ball was found in the penalty area, which should have rendered his provisional irrelevant.

A rules official then told Cantero he could no longer play his original ball because he hit a provisional.

French shares that Cantero asked for a second opinion and was given the same (incorrect) answer. He went on to play his provisional and made a long par putt on the par 5.

After the round, the rules officials realized their mistake and decided to take a stroke away from the player, changing the par to a birdie.

The report cites rule 20.2 in the Rules of Golf.

“If a ruling by a referee or the Committee is later found wrong, the ruling can be corrected if possible under the Rules. If it is too late to do so, the ruling stands.”

The score change resulted in Cantero making the cut on the number and he then rallied on Saturday to finish in 23rd place after a weather-shortened event.

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19th Hole

‘F*** around and find out’ – Phil Mickelson fires warning shot over LIV’s access to majors in since-deleted tweet

Published

18 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

On Sunday, the social media account “Flushing It” made a post about the importance of LIV Golf ensuring that their players have major championship eligibility going forward.

Never has there been a more obvious example of the immediate issue LIV faces than today. The Volvo China Open was played for a $2.25 million purse and several players qualified for the PGA Championship at Valhalla. LIV Golf Singapore played for a purse more than 10 times that…

— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) May 5, 2024

“LIV can have the grandest of plans for their future but getting players access to major championships should be their number 1 priority. Especially with the major exemptions running out fast and nearly all player contracts up for renewal this year and next.”

Phil Mickelson then responded to the post, warning the golf world that excluding LIV players from majors will have unintended consequences, saying “FAAFO” which means “f*** around and find out”.

“Maybe some LIV players won’t be missed. But what if NONE of the LIV players played? Would they be missed? What about next year when more great players join? Or the following year? At some point they will care and will have to answer to sponsors and television. FAAFO”

His post has since been deleted, but there are plenty of screenshots out there.

??????? #FAAFO — LIV Golf star Phil Mickelson has sent a clear message to the powers that be, when it comes to LIV players and their access into majors: “F—k around and find out.”@flushingitgolf | @PhilMickelson pic.twitter.com/kVEL7VR6UN

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 5, 2024

It will be easier said than done, but it does appear that some sort of agreement between LIV and the majors could be coming in the future if the PGA Tour and LIV aren’t able to mend fences.