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Chamblee apologizes again to Tiger, but what is he apologizing for?

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How many times can you apologize without actually apologizing? For Brandel Chamblee, the number is now two.

The Golf Channel analyst appeared on Golf Central on Wednesday and spoke with Rich Lerner about a Golf.com article he penned that gave Woods, who won five time on the PGA Tour in 2013, an “F”  grade for the season because of his multiple rules infractions.

In the article, Chamblee wrote that Woods was “cavalier” with the rules, and then proceeded to compare Woods’ rules infractions to a test the analyst cheated on while in fourth grade.

“In comparing those incidents to my cheating episode in the fourth grade, I went too far,” Chamblee said in the interview. “Cheating involves intent. Now I, I know what my intent was on that fourth grade math test. But there’s no way that I could know with 100 percent certainty what Tiger’s intent was in any of those situations. That was my mistake.”

When asked if he had a vendetta against Woods, Chamblee said, “of course not.” But he admitted that he is sometimes forceful with his opinions on Woods, and that he caused a problem for Golf Channel by writing the column. What he could have done next was finally say on camera that he was sorry to Tiger Woods. That would have been enough. But Chamblee went a different route, declaring that he would not write for any media outlet outside of Golf Channel/NBC.

“Tiger and his camp, they’re upset at Golf Channel; they specifically called Golf Channel out,” Chamblee said. “And to me they’re barking up the wrong tree. This column appeared on Golf.com, nobody here at Golf Channel knew anything about it and my editor at Golf.com asked me to rewrite the ending when I sent it in to him. I wished I would have listened to him. But all of this has made me realize that there is a conflict and a confusion when you work for one company and write for another company. So going forward, I’m not going to be writing for Golf Magazine beginning next year. I’ll be writing exclusively for GolfChannel.com, (NBCSports.com). And you know, that way if Tiger and his camp have an issue with something I write, they will at least be yelling at the right people.”

What’s apparently lost on Chamblee is that at no point has he addressed the real issue. He never said that he was wrong; that Tiger Woods, the most-watched golfer in history, couldn’t possible be a cheater on the golf course. But he did say this:

“My job as an analyst at Golf Channel requires me to analyze golf and offer my opinions. I’d like to think I’m pretty good at it.”

Sounds apologetic, doesn’t it?

Not knowing “with 100 percent certainty” what Tiger’s intent was during his rules infractions is a far cry from an apology. That’s why if Chamblee isn’t prepared to say that Woods isn’t a cheater, he shouldn’t be apologizing. Because what then is he really apologizing for?

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120 Comments

120 Comments

  1. Sojourn

    Nov 20, 2013 at 1:37 pm

    The only opinions about Tiger that have ever mattered to me have come from Jack and Arnie. They both seem to like Tiger, and appreciate what he’s done for the game. Coming out and suggesting that anyone on the PGA or LPGA tour cheats is pretty low level. It reeks of someone seeking attention. And, in this case, I’m sure Mr. Palmer would agree, especially where Golf Channel commentators are concerned. I’m sure the kind of comments made by Chamblee are not in line with the philosophy Mr. Palmer had in mind when he helped create the network.

  2. Kirk

    Nov 20, 2013 at 1:18 pm

    Without Tiger Woods, there very likely would not be a “Golf Channel.”

  3. Ross

    Nov 18, 2013 at 3:44 pm

    Chamblee thinks he’s the smartest person on the planet. He thinks the world hangs on his every word. He was a D list golfer and he’s an even worse announcer.

  4. Joe

    Nov 14, 2013 at 2:20 pm

    Cheating is a strong word that I wouldn’t use. I think “embarrassing” is more appropriate. 3 rules infractions in one year is pretty awful.

    • Mike

      Nov 15, 2013 at 1:09 pm

      How long did Chamblee play on tour? He’s a golf analyst…big whoop. I was listening to him talk about what Sean Foley and Tiger Woods were working. Tiger’s the best thing to happen to golf in the last 50 years. I’ll take the time to listen to what some of the great players of the game have to say because they know what it’s like to be the best and to have so much attention focused on your golf game and whether or not you’re breaking any rules. (This is a pretty recent development in technology that Jack, Arny, Hogan, and Snead never had to deal with). They didn’t have people from all over the world watching them play golf and calling in rules infractions. Other than his mediocre work on the Golf Channel what will Chamblee be remembered for in 100 years? Nothing. Tiger Woods on the other hand….

    • Kirk

      Nov 20, 2013 at 11:38 am

      Embarrassing for whom? Tiger doesn’t have anything to be embarrassed about. What great athlete has never violated a rule within their chosen sport? Tiger’s not the first nor the last to make a mistake. Moreover, Tiger can’t adjust his package without someone calling into the station to report an infraction.

  5. joro

    Nov 12, 2013 at 9:32 am

    I don’t think the past times he is said to have “cheated” , aside from what he did to his family, is really a true cheat, but the fact he has felt he is entitled to do what he did. Brandel on the other hand has his opinion, and that is okay, he is entitled to that.

    Tiger has a ton of fans, both for and against him. The fans think Brandel should be banned for life from ever working again, the others cheer him for the article. That’s the way it is, and always will be. Me ? I think he feels he is entitled to do whatever he wishes and should not be called out at any time, but he did mess up badly with his family, and he really doesn’t seem to care, but that is him.

    In this instance however he was wrong, dead wrong. I do not believe it is possible for a Golfer of his caliber to NOT SEE the ball move. Any time I have had to move loose stuff I am intently watching the ball to see if it moves, and I think anyone who cares does the same. I can not and do not believe he thought the ball just oscillated and did not move, it was clear on the tape. Why I do not know, but he knew it moved and did nothing but play on. It was a downright lie.

    • Tadashi Davis

      Nov 13, 2013 at 3:05 pm

      First off anyone who throws jabs at a man personal life warrants no response, however I will respond. I am sick and tired of the idiots who put Tiger’s personal life with his golfing life. The two are totally different and should not be held in the same light or topic. That is pure buffoonery! Secondly, Tiger never said he did not see the ball move…so in your attempts to belittle goals most talented player playing today please come with facts. Referring to a mans private life when it has nothing to do with the sport of golf is a move!

      • RCM1301

        Nov 19, 2013 at 11:44 am

        Well, I am one of those idiots who do think your personal life and work life combined defined what you as person are and also thinks those who do not see it are idiots. So, we both are idiots, and the biggest is Tiger.

        • Kirk

          Nov 20, 2013 at 1:02 pm

          What do you really know about Tiger’s personal or prefessional life?

          We know he’s number one in the world, and has been for most of his adult life. He has a foundation that helps thousand of kids. He’s one of the most well known athletes in the world. We know he won five tournaments last year, more than any other player, but he committed three rules violations. In his 16 year career Tiger has single handedly changed the entire landscape of the sport, and has no notable prior history of violating rules.

          In his personal life, he was raised by two seemly loving parents, who he seems to love just as much. He was a great student, and earned a scholarship to Standard University. He married early and has two beautiful children who he seems to love and care for. He cheated on his wife on a number of occasions, but we don’t really know their marital relationship was going prior to the cheating. He’s since began dating arguably the greatest American female skier of all time.

          I don’t think a reasonable person would consider Tiger an idiot. I don’t know how a reasonable person would feel about you.

          • RCM1301

            Nov 20, 2013 at 2:09 pm

            Wow, and a bio like that give him the right to think rules does not apply to him 3 times! Nice!

        • Kirk

          Nov 21, 2013 at 2:25 am

          Unlike in your world, everything is not so black and white (If you get my meaning.).

    • Jamie58UK

      Nov 19, 2013 at 6:57 pm

      I do not, for the life of me know where the word ‘Cheater’ came from, maybe it’s just a word…..
      If your a cheat then you have lied to your fellow man, simple.
      Tiger Woods cheated, simple.

      • Kirk

        Nov 20, 2013 at 1:07 pm

        Apparently, you don’t trust the PGA to determine who’s cheated or not. What qualifications do you have that make you more knowledgeable on golf rules than the PGA?

        Also, it’s you’re, not your. I thought you English know how to speak “English.”

    • Fred Bluhm

      Nov 20, 2013 at 12:35 pm

      When you say Tiger doesn’t seem to care about how he messed up with his family, how do you know? Are you a Tiger confidant? Do you hang with him on a daily basis? And, when it comes to the ball moving (a 16th of an inch), you don’t know what Tiger saw. His view standing over the ball was totally different from that of the cameraman, who was shooting from ground level.

  6. Rob

    Nov 9, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    The common theme of all you brain surgeons who are calling others cheaters is “if you didn’t see what I think I saw or think what I think or interpret things the way I do you are a cheater”. A cheater is by definition someone who is trying to take an unfair advantage. Very doubtful TW standing over the ball saw what we saw after looking at the zoomed in HD video numerous times. And, there is simply no evidence he was trying to take unfair advantage. I wonder, if HD video was zoomed in 10K X ever time we ground our putter, would we see the ball move? if it did, does that make every golfer a cheater? Chamblee’s problem is he mistakes what he thinks he saw, his opinion, and his interpretation for the almighty truth and that is where he went wrong.

    • RCM1301

      Nov 11, 2013 at 12:30 pm

      Just because you didn’t see it move, while somebody else may have, makes you the judge to say you are correct and the others are wrong. Read your last sentence about Chamblee – you are falling into your own trap.

  7. RCM1301

    Nov 8, 2013 at 4:49 pm

    The reason why Tiger is rightly called a cheater, is that he has not accepted his 3 rules violations. In his eyes he was done injustice by being called out for rule violations and penalized, while other golfers will just accept the penalty (right or wrong) and move on. That is the difference.

    • Tadashi

      Nov 13, 2013 at 3:16 pm

      First off not accepting something you disagree with does not make you a “cheater”. Please note the definition of a cheater. For sake of argument if he got away with all three of those rule infractions, what possible advantage did he have over his competitors that he did not already have? Moreover I question the motives of all rules violations especially when it come to Tiger Woods. You mean to tell me NOBODY else on the Tour is guilty of a few rules violations? Come on now! There have been questionable rules violations on every top 10 one the tour. Never is it blown out of proportion like with Woods. I wonder why….

      • RCM1301

        Nov 15, 2013 at 3:02 pm

        because Tiger let it be blown out of proportion….. He has dozens of excuses and explanations which is fodder for the media. In each case he should have just said “sorry, I made mistake and accept penalty stroke” then the media would have no reason to make this an issue. But typical Tiger, he made it as if he was done an injustice and should not have been penalized.

        • Jose Nunya

          Nov 24, 2013 at 3:16 am

          I agree. After Tiger was shown the tape he should/could have said something like “Looking down on the ball it appeared to have oscillated but clearly I can see now it did not.” As for those that think personal and business lives are separate just don’t live in the business world. They are not separate nor should they be.

      • Sojourn

        Nov 20, 2013 at 12:41 pm

        Excellent response, Tadashi. Domo.

  8. edward davison jr

    Nov 6, 2013 at 8:15 pm

    NO APOLOGY REQUIRED TIGER CHEATED AND THAT STARTED EVERYTHING

    • ED

      Nov 7, 2013 at 1:13 pm

      In something of a bombshell at a recent court hearing, Vijay Singh’s lawyer accused the PGA Tour of repeatedly exempting players from testing and punishment under its anti-doping program. But no proof has yet to be made public.

    • ED

      Nov 7, 2013 at 1:23 pm

      BE REAL FELLOW GOLFERS, LIAR OBAMA LIES ABOUT OUR HEALTH CARE, BEING ABLE TO HAVE YOUR SAME POLICY AND THE SAME DOCTOR, and 40,000,000 DEMOCRATS SAY THATS NOT SO…AND YOU HAVE LIAR OBAMA DEAD TO THE ISSUE ON HD VIDEO TAPE

      SAME WITH TIGER, BRANDEL HAS THE CHEATING ON HD VIDEO TAPE….I saws the LOOSE IMPEDIMENT MOVED BY AN OUTSIDE AGENCY…NOTHING SAID…WRITE HIM A CHECK FOR SHOWING HOW TO CHEAT

      • Tadashi

        Nov 13, 2013 at 3:19 pm

        Hmmmm…your real colors show, which no makes the totally idiotic previous post, understandable, keep your politics and bigotry out of here and post them in the proper forum.

      • Sojourn

        Nov 20, 2013 at 12:46 pm

        Ed: take it to the FNC, not here. This is a golf site. Got it?

    • Tadashi

      Nov 13, 2013 at 3:34 pm

      Cheated? Define it….after you have the definition, please site in ANY of Tiger Woods rules violations in which an advantage was in Tiger’s favor left unchecked…..I will wait……

      • RCM1301

        Nov 19, 2013 at 11:47 am

        Tiger felt he should not have been penalized, therefor his score should have been 2 shots lower – that is advantage.

  9. Lateef

    Nov 5, 2013 at 3:45 pm

    All can say is this people make mistakes everyday no one is perfect. Tiger is not the only one on tour that cheated or had issues in his marriage. The guy that introduced him to his ex-wife used to live in the strip club. The King used to hang with the Rat Pack so you know he wasn’t perfect. Everybody learns from his mistakes. Tiger has to share his kids instead of having them around all the time. So enough said on that topic please. Tiger had some major golf violations and was penalized for it, so he was punished and didn’t get away with it. If I remember correctly its still up to the players discretion according to the rules then you turn it over to the officials and that’s what happen. Mr. Putter yips can say all he wants but we all know money and fame is made off of Tiger these days.

    • ED

      Nov 7, 2013 at 2:51 pm

      LATEEF, HE SIGNED AN INCORRECT SCORECARD…A RULE VIOLATIOn, BALL DROP A RULE VIOLATION, SIGNED HIS SCORECARD THE NEXTDAY AFTER THE HONORABLE MASTERS RULES COMITTEE, DETERMINED TIGER NOT TO BE DQed….SIGNED AN INACCURATE SCORECARD ONE DAY, THE NEXT DAY HE HAS A REVISED GOLF CARD AND SIGNS IT…THE PLAYERS WONT COMPLAIN AS THERE IN THE SAME UNION….EUROPEANS KNOW IT WAS A CHEAT…!

      • Tadashi

        Nov 13, 2013 at 3:31 pm

        Signing the wrong score card would NOT have given him an advantage…by the definition you are already wrong. Moreover he was penalized. Ball drop rule? That rule is violated by more tour pros and the only difference this time? It’s Tiger Woods. Delay signature too has happened before in a major mind you and no one has ever made a big deal of it. All of Woods violations were met with penalty. So there is no cheating…see how stupid your thought process is? The Rule book is sizable, and in any given moment if I were a PGA rules nazi, I could find violations on ANY player in ANY tournament/event. The only difference here is it is Tiger Woods. It seems nay sayers will do anything to try to prevent him from becoming the best of all time in The PGA. In due time, that will come to pass, no matter the silly attempts to discredit Woods or the dog whistles thrown at him…

        • Brandel

          Nov 14, 2013 at 1:56 am

          Signing the wrong score card did give him the advantage because it was a lower score than what it should have been.

          • Sojourn

            Nov 20, 2013 at 12:51 pm

            Yes, but when Tiger signed his card with the wrong score, did he know the score was wrong? No. And why – because the PGA didn’t tell him until after the fact. They were as much to blame as Tiger was. Makes you wonder if the rules officials on the course couldn’t be doing a better job.

  10. Jamie

    Nov 5, 2013 at 2:41 pm

    Chamblee should not apologize, nor should anyone else who points out the facts,
    Tiger woods has cheated on the golf course, that’s the facts, it may be hard for some to except but it’s true, if you can not own up to a infringement then you must expect to be slaughtered when your caught !!!
    Jack Nicklaus he will never be, but we are all expected to respect woods in the same way, the greats were just that for all the reasons woods is not,
    Hard to except for some, but true!

    • Tadashi

      Nov 13, 2013 at 3:36 pm

      Jaime, Please define “cheat”. Then after you comprehend its meaning please state where any unfair advantage Wood have favored Woods…I’ll wait…

      • RCM1301

        Nov 19, 2013 at 11:49 am

        if you do not call the penalty on yourself, your score is 2 shots lower – that is advantage.

    • Sojourn

      Nov 20, 2013 at 12:56 pm

      In the end, if you got many of the top players from the past and present, and allowed them to speak anonymously, I’ll bet you’d be surprised at the comments you’d hear from them about the conduct of PGA players during tournaments.

  11. BartB

    Nov 4, 2013 at 1:51 pm

    Chamblee wasn’t just giving an opinion, he was restating what we know…tiger cheats and he does that because he can. TGC will have excuses waiting for him and he will be welcomed with open arms. Why? He’s the cash cow and most people that follow tiger and like him, don’t even play. They just know him as the only golfer they know. AE is dropping his contract for video games…probably because they’re not sure how to program illegal ball drops and hitting out of turn. He’s the worst thing that ever happened to golf…just go to a muni course and watch the kids swear, spit, not clean up divots or ball marks and throw clubs. He was, is and always will be a lousy role model. Chamblee is only wrong in apologizing. Stick to your guns Brandel.

    • edward davison jr

      Nov 6, 2013 at 8:22 pm

      I AGREE BARTB, BRANDEL STICK TO YOUR OBSERVATIONS, IT REALLY IS JUST AN OPINION

      Many others saw tiger cheat, But for The Masters Honor Comittee, to rewrite Tigers score card in the Middle of the night, and allow him to continue is a FARCE…SIGNED A FALSE SCORECARD LEFT THE COURSE ????

    • ned

      Nov 10, 2013 at 4:13 pm

      perfect comments- all the hacks that watch and worship him (mostly pacific rim hacks) have no idea!
      his last year at sherwood, no more sponsors!
      he has single handedly ruined golf, with the exception of known admitted cheaters as (trundle) faldo and infamous slow players like jack and middlecoff! simply facts!
      true heroes in golf included snead, demarett, nelson, love III, crenshaw and miller! all w/integrity beyond reproach. look it up!

      • John Gates

        Nov 20, 2013 at 2:49 pm

        pretty interesting comments here, I don’t recall Jack being a super slow player for one. Not saying he wasn’t… I love the word integrity, that is definately what is missing in Woods. You hear about Bobby Jones calling a penalty on himself to lose the open by a stroke (or some other major), that is integrity! Would Woods do that? Not in a million years!
        I personally don’t care for Woods but he has grown golf by leaps and bounds there’s no denying that.

  12. Just sayin'

    Nov 3, 2013 at 11:31 pm

    I would prefer that Chamblee stayed at the Golf magazine and left Golf Central. I see where he thinks he is “pretty good” with his opinions but I don’t agree.

    • RMyers

      Nov 4, 2013 at 7:03 am

      Brandel Chamblee believes he is the greatest thing that ever existed on Earth when the reality is he has mental issues relating to his ego. Time for him to go. That kind of commentary has no place in the game of golf. Leaning on “this is my job” is a lame excuse for making those comments the way he did. I will never watch any segments he is on again. He is a non person as far as I’m concerned.

  13. R Darn

    Nov 1, 2013 at 11:16 pm

    Aw come on Tiger you pansy. Suck it up. UOU know you’re not Mr Goody Two Shoes.

  14. stephenf

    Oct 31, 2013 at 7:43 pm

    If the writer could step out of the shower with Tiger long enough to hear what’s actually going on, maybe he’d figure this out: Chamblee apologized for the part of his statement that connected Tiger’s “cavalier” treatment of the rules (very accurate, especially when it comes to the spirit of the rules) to the kind of intentional cheating that goes on in school. He is not apologizing for saying that Woods was “cavalier,” and he shouldn’t. That is not the same thing as saying Woods is a “cheater” in the sense that most people think of it. The fact that you or anybody else was expecting a further apology is somebody else’s problem, not Chamblee’s.

    The truth is, Woods has been violating both the spirit and the letter of the rules in various ways since practically the first week he came out on tour; it’s just that there were more particularized and publicized incidences of it this year.

    It’s not a matter of him “cheating” in the sense that most people understand that word, but rather his treating the whole question of the rules as if he were in some other pro sport, where it is the job of officials and rules committees to catch you at something and hey, if they don’t, you’re not helping them. And if they rule that you can play, you’re gonna play, even though the right thing to do would be to disqualify yourself because you can read the plain English of the rules yourself, and it’s your job, not somebody else’s, to be sure you’ve followed them in every way and down to the last detail, and if somebody is trying to give you a break because they need you around for the weekend so their ratings don’t crater, that’s nice of them, but it’s not golf.

    I don’t think Woods “cheats” in any way that _he_ thinks is unfair or that gives him an advantage, which is what most people think of as being a “cheater.” But he does not understand, or if he understands he does not practice, the actual spirit of the rules. He was raised to believe the world, particularly the golf world, revolves around him and him alone, and that it is his job to adjust to no one while everybody and everything — including the rules — adjust to him, and as far as he and Tigerphiles are concerned, the standards that apply to him are the ones found in the rest of the pro sports world. That is not how things are supposed to work in this game. The rules are meant to level everybody, and they don’t care whether you’re Tiger Woods, the President, or an 11-handicapper at the muni. But not in the world of professional golf, a world that has come to look increasingly indistinguishable from other pro sports, and not in the realm of obsessive and endlessly profitable Tiger-celebrity-centeredness, which should not be confused with the actual game of golf. Too often it seems that “golf journalists” can’t quite decide which of those worlds they’re covering.

    • KarlK

      Nov 4, 2013 at 10:28 pm

      Whoa Stephenf,
      Take it easy, you sound like an angry individual, golf has gotten way too popular for your liking. It sounds as though you yearn for the days when the face of the game had more of a country club atmosphere, limited to a select few “gentlemen” who considers themselves worthy of this great game that Bobby Jones and his cronies perfected.
      Well wake up and smell the roses my friend, look around and see that Tiger is one of the best thing that ever happened to this dying game, look and see it is no longer played by out of shape smokers and drunks.
      You have no business speaking on behalf of “tigerphiles” you should stick to your tiger hating comments and stay in the shower with that hack Brandel.

    • ned

      Nov 10, 2013 at 4:20 pm

      well written and accurate- additionally off topic, $12 Heineken’s at Riviera means that john q. public is donating 2 billion to charity- not the finchem crowd and his lowlife sycophants! look it up!

    • Tadashi

      Nov 13, 2013 at 3:44 pm

      As I said previously, If we we parse the rules there are violations by EVERY player on the tour. Not just Tiger. If you are referencing to the spirit of the rules of golf then if that we’re true Tiger would not be playing today so please use your words wisely….Moreover don’t give me that level playing field crap! If that we’re the case, Tiger Wood have bypassed Jack long ago, can you say Tiger-proof courses? Get outta here with the fairy tales!

      • Brandel

        Nov 14, 2013 at 2:03 am

        Rules need to be rewritten for the modern era and simplified.

  15. vince

    Oct 31, 2013 at 7:03 pm

    I guess both Tiger and Chamblee suck at apologies.

  16. Dennis Clark

    Oct 31, 2013 at 6:19 pm

    You’re spot on here Zack. This is NOT a Chamblee/Woods issue. It is a media bully pulpit issue. No one has the right to call another a cheater in our game unless they were in the event and witnessed it firsthand and were protecting the field. You do not make that call from the “booth”.

  17. Brett Lowry

    Oct 31, 2013 at 5:25 pm

    Chambels is a complete idiot. He had made many of the same poor choices Tiger has. The only thing different is he did/doesn’t have the game to go with these choices. Tiger is not going around saying how bad of a putter Brandel is nor is he saying how bad of a person Brandel is for his poor choices. Neither one has been right in their personal life and it’s not fair for Brandel to say wrong things regarding Tiger and cheating.

  18. yo!

    Oct 31, 2013 at 5:03 pm

    It sounds like an apology … just not a George Costanza deserved one. Also sounds like the parent (Golfchannel) got word and the child has been told to apologize.

  19. RCM1301

    Oct 31, 2013 at 4:01 pm

    When was the last time a PGA player had 3 rules issues in a year?
    When was the last time the no1 rank player in the world had 3 rules issues in a year?
    The problem lies with Tiger, not with Brandel!

    • Tbone

      Nov 1, 2013 at 12:12 am

      Let’s face it, no other player in the history of the game is on camera as much as Tiger is. Doesn’t matter if he is in first place or last during a tournament, he is going to get airtime. What other player can you say that about? How many other players would be in this situation if their play was on tv as much as Tiger’s? Every single one, I’m sure.

      • RCM1301

        Nov 1, 2013 at 8:31 am

        Correct, but then Tiger should do a better job of knowing the rules or ask his playing partner for help or ask for rules official.

        • Tbone

          Nov 1, 2013 at 12:55 pm

          That is a fair enough statement, but I think the real issue here is Brandel’s comments, implying intent to cheat. If you look at the three violations, was there intent to cheat by violating the rules? I seriously doubt it. The only one where you could even make that argument is the embedded ball in January. He gained absolutely NO advantage from violating the other two rules. The drop at the Masters? What advantage did he gain there by dropping two feet away from where he was supposed to? Same with the loose impediment. Rules violations happen to every player, Tiger gets busted more since he is always on video. To say he is intentionally cheating is asinine. Brandel was out of line, no two ways about it. I’m not even a Tiger fan since the ‘scandal,’ but he is being treated unfairly here.

        • Sojourn

          Nov 20, 2013 at 1:19 pm

          Obviously, the rules officials aren’t doing a very good job either.

  20. Mike

    Oct 31, 2013 at 3:33 pm

    I wish Golf channel would release this clown, he’s been trying to make a name for himself by bashing tiger basically his entire career. Wether Tiger is in the wrong or not, Brandel Chamblee has gone after tiger for everything from his marriage to his swing change to his lack of judgement on the course. I want to state Im not saying Tiger has done everything right but as analyst you are suppose to be objective and he is simply NOT when it comes to Tiger he praises everyone else. This is how he has decided to make a name for himself. I do bot enjoy his coverage or spots on golf channel. Thats just my personal opinion even before all this went down. Golf channel would better off without him and they really should consider parting ways with him.

    • RCM1301

      Oct 31, 2013 at 3:53 pm

      So, somebody is only objective if it lines up with your viewpoint? At least he provides something different.

    • Geoffrey

      Oct 31, 2013 at 10:11 pm

      You are completely wrong. Brandel has repeatedly called tiger the best, most enigmatic and compelling golfer of our time. He has repeatedly said no one inspires more than watching tiger play. He has also said his main issue with all the swing changes is that it robs the fans a chance at watching history while retooling. Never has his opinion always been completely negative.

  21. Kevco

    Oct 31, 2013 at 2:51 pm

    The basic problem is that that TW has proven that he lacks character and now people view everything he does with that knowledge in their heads. It’s not like his cheating was a simple matter of having an affair with a single individual. He was hitting everything that walked worldwide while pretending he was an f’n family man. Total lack of character. If he could do that to his family, then he could certainly knowingly improve his lie to try and win another major to shut everyone up who keeps talking about him and Nicklaus’ record. I don’t hate him but I don’t idolize him either. On a personal level, I have zero admiration for him. He’s a total ass that has ridiculous golf skillz.

    • Minh Nguyen

      Oct 31, 2013 at 4:17 pm

      Kevco, your argument is asinine. What Tiger did in his personal life has ZERO correlation with what he does on the golf course. IMO, your lack of “admiration” for him is clouding your judgement.

      Tiger Woods is unlike any other professional golfer in any era. He has cameras on him at all times and there is little to no room for “cheating” let alone getting away with it.

      I heard a good analogy on the radio today. In football, offensive linemen get called for holding all the time. Like Tiger, these offensive linemen broke a rule and were penalized for it. With that said, would you call all offensive linemen who are caught holding “cheaters”??? I don’t think so.

      • Kevco

        Nov 1, 2013 at 12:37 am

        My observation is that there is overwhelming evidence that he certainly cheated on his wife and family…actually, there should be a new word for it because cheating falls short in describing that circus. My point is that what he did is a reflection of who he is as a human being. It’s interesting that you would suggest that in your opinion, who he is as a human being has zero correlation to what he does on the golf course. There’s only one “he”, whether it be on or off the golf course. There is no doubt that he took an improper drop at the Masters. If he had integrity, he would have withdrawn as Palmer, Nicklaus or many current pros would have. The fact that he didn’t is telling. There is only one he. You are confusing his greatness as a golfer with greatness as a human being. He’s a great golfer but not a great human being and you are very naive to think that one has no bearing on the other. On a me and you personal level, my “argument” as you put it is not asinine. It is my opinion. I would never suggest that you are an ass because you disagree with me. What is obvious is that I have significantly more life experience than you and thankfully, it helps me develop more thoughtful opinions.

        • Minh Nguyen

          Nov 1, 2013 at 2:50 pm

          Kevco, you will never get any argument from me about Tiger being an unfaithful husband. What he did to his wife and children are inexcusable.

          I grew up watching Michael Jordan.IMO, he is the greatest basketball player of all time. However, like Tiger I would never model my personal life after them. With that said, I still disagree with your correlation of one’s professional and personal life.

          There are plenty of instances where people are “one way” in one part of their life and “another way” in the other part of their life. I am a different “he” as a father, as a husband, as an employee, and as a golfer.

          On a personal level there is nothing for you to be offended by. I disagreed with your opinion and stated it as such. I never called you an ass or personally attacked you the person.

          • Brandel

            Nov 14, 2013 at 2:15 am

            Basketball is a different sport. If you aren’t getting called for fouls or violations you aren’t playing hard or rough enough. I would do whatever it took to win a basketball game and if the ref didn’t call it, it never happened. Take it from a state champ. In golf you are supposed to have the honor to be the player and the ref at the same time. Michael Jordan would do whatever it took, he was mean and dirty when he needed to be. The problem is that people are realizing that Tiger is fallible and has a broken moral compass. Maybe it is unfair of golf fans to expect their superstars like Tiger to have the morality and ethics of Bobby Jones, Nicklaus, and Watson. But like it or not people will always hold the best to the highest standard because THE PEOPLE WANT TO SEE GREATNESS. THE PEOPLE WANT A DESERVING ATHLETE TO PASS JACK, NOT A AN ASTERISK LIKE BARRY BONDS.

        • Walt

          Nov 22, 2013 at 12:45 am

          Kevco………exactly what makes a “great” human being? Do you think Palmer, Nicholas and all the other professional golfers haven’t made poor decisions in their lifetimes? Unfortunately the media and the watching public have placed Tiger on such a high pedastal because of his extraordinary golfing skills, that his extramarital affairs have become what people judge him on. Do you know any persons who may have “cheated” on their significant others, or who have became addicted to substances or gambling or who have made any number of poor choices? I’m sure you are also not perfect, like the rest of us. The problem is we, the public place too much importance on athletes and then we are disappointed when they show us they are no different then we are…..they are HUMAN, and make the same mistakes humans make. Tiger’s personal life HAS NO PLACE in his professional life. He is one of the Greatest Golfers of all time, and may end up being The Greatest? But that will always be up for debate as it is with every Athlete in every sport. Whether or not he intentionally cheated or believed he was getting an unfair advantage Is known only to him. The violations he was called on did not give him an advantage at all, except maybe the embedded ball? However on that, you can see him conferring with his opponent and they both came to the conclusion he was entitled to a drop. The drop at the Masters did not give him an unfair advantage because he dropped FURTHER away by a couple of feet, he still had to make an incredible shot. He couldn’t place the ball as near to the place of the previous shot, he had to perform a legal drop, which he did. What the cameras doesn’t show is the slope of the fairway in which he was playing from. The ball moving when he attempted to remove a twig, actually made his shot harder, not easier because the ball settled straight down, it didn’t roll. I believe if it was you looking down from the top, you probably wouldn’t have seen the ball settle down either. The scrutiny he under is unfathomable. The MAJORITY of people watching golf is because of him, and his EVERY move is watched and analyzed by thousands and thousands of people. How would you enjoy living in that fish bowl? No, he isn’t perfect, but that doesn’t make him a cheater.

      • Geoffrey

        Nov 1, 2013 at 1:53 am

        Minh, you are arguing that how a person acts in their personal life has no bearing or can show no glimpse into how they might act in their professional life. The majority of the people in this world show a strong correlation between personal and professional personality traits. It is a proven fact. That being said, I am not judging what Tiger has done in either arena. None of us know what hew as thinking or why he makes the decisions he makes. I am certainly not in any position to judge. None of us are. But to say that how one acts in one arena doesn’t give some sort of evidence to how they will act in the other. Naive to think otherwise…

        Whether you or I agree with Kevco’s argument is less of concern to me than attacking his view as asinine. I try to believe the best in people, even those who go through public humiliations. But it is how they treat people on both sides of success that will shape my point of view.

        • Minh Nguyen

          Nov 1, 2013 at 3:09 pm

          Geoffrey, let’s flip the script. Before Tiger’s marital unfaithfulness was revealed, he was considered by many the best golfer in the world. His was on pace to tie/break Jack’s record of 18 majors. At that time, you could safely assume Tiger must work extremely hard at golf (i.e. practice, eat right, exercise, and practice some more).

          Now, if we use your opinion that the “majority of the people in this world show a strong correlation between personal and professional personality traits” we would have to also assume Tiger was a hard worker when it came to being a husband and father. Due to the unfortunate circumstances, we know he wasn’t working all that hard at being a “faithful” husband. We still don’t know how he is as a father.

          I hope that all makes sense. In regards to Kevco, I don’t see any issue with attacking his opinion. In my book that is called debating.

          • Geoffrey

            Nov 2, 2013 at 8:36 pm

            No issue, other than the term “asinine”. Otherwise all good. Now that you have flipped the script, I could also say he worked just as hard at filandering or covering it up as he did on his golf. Same logic, just change the thing in parallel.

  22. Danny

    Oct 31, 2013 at 2:09 pm

    Brandel doesn’t need to apologize. You can all attack him for being a nobody, but he is right, Tiger should have been DQed twice this year (Augusta & The Players.)

    He has a ton of fans that say otherwise, but Chamblee spoke the truth and the rest of the media is too far up Tiger’s a** to speak it too. Johnny Miller and Dan Hicks rolled over like dogs on the Players knowing that is they POed Tiger this would happen.

    The Augusta drop would have gotten the rest of the field DQed. Lets be honest

    • TWShoot67

      Oct 31, 2013 at 7:42 pm

      Danny,
      So your calling Casey Wittenberg a liar and a cheat, plus you know Tigers intent by watching a replay over and over in super slow mo with HD state of the art camera. All of this from the comfort of your home. So you were not there in person standing behind Tiger woods when he hit his wayward tee shot @ The Players but you know for a fact that Casey Lied tiger lied and so did the camera or no the camera is always 100% correct all the time. LOL Get real.

      • Geoffrey

        Oct 31, 2013 at 10:13 pm

        You are missing Danny’s point. It is that most aren’t willing to speak what they feel in regards to Tiger. The backlash is monumental, and that if miller and hicks were to be disagreeable, the backlash wouldn’t be worth it. That was his point.

        • edward davison jr

          Nov 6, 2013 at 8:31 pm

          I BELIEVE IN THE TRUTH AS THAT SEEMS A REASONABLE OUTCOME….THE SLOW MOVING HD MOVIES TELL IT ALL…AUGUSTA MASTERS OFFICIALS LIED…THEY CORRECTED HIS SCORECARD AFTER HE [TIGER] LEFT THE COURSE…AND TIGER NEVER SIGNED IT THAT NIGHT

  23. nb1062

    Oct 31, 2013 at 9:46 am

    How long are you (GOLFWRX) going to keep harping on this? It’s as though you want to fan the embers of a story until it turns into something more.

  24. TWShoot67

    Oct 31, 2013 at 9:31 am

    What I’d like to know is how many of us get graded at work for what we’ve done outside of work? Does your boss/job pay you less for treating your family indifferent? For all of you out there who have cheated on your wife /girlfriend, does anyone bring this up at your job 3-4 years later? Why is it that every time there’s any story about Tiger Woods the first line out of every haters mouth is well he cheated on his wife so that means he cheats at everything else he does in life! No one but Tiger knows what his INTENT was during these drops that were brought into question, but yet all the opposers sure think they know what Tiger was thinking. To give any player an “F” for a 5 win season on the PGA Tour is an absolute joke and should have never made the light of day. But what it did by being published was to serve two purposes promote Brandel Chamblee and Golf.com. Well it did served another purpose but that’s the most obvious of all, it gave the haters another forum to spew their hate of Tiger Woods.Bottom line Tiger didn’t CHEAT, if you feel his intent was to cheat then your saying Casey Wittenberg cheated as well and how come Chamblee isn’t writing about his cheating at golf since Chamblee cares so much about integrity? By calling out Tiger you also call out his playing partners, but yet they are never mentioned in any article by Chamblee. So in reality the article is not about the supposed cheating ( cheating would have meant he got away with it which Tiger never did) that bothers Chamblee, Cheating: It is generally used for the breaking of rules to gain unfair advantage in a competitive situation. Please tell me where Tiger gained an unfair advantage over anyone during these rule infractions. Tiger was assed the penalty so bottom line he did not cheat! How many times can we beat a dead horse.

    • edward davison jr

      Nov 7, 2013 at 7:50 pm

      TIGER IS THE CATAYST, HE IMPROPERLY DROPED THE BALL, HE SIGNED A FALSE SCORECARD, HE STOOD AND WATCHED AN OUTSIDE AGENCY MOVE A 500# impediment…so Tiger had a FULL SWING…No Penalty.

      THE HONORABLE MASTERS RULES COMITTEE, MET, at Midnight changed Tigers score card, and had him resign the NEW CARD…WHEN DOES TIGER APOLGIZE…IT SEEMS A BILLIONARE PROFESSIONAL GOLFER SHOULD BE ABLE TO DROP A BALL INACCORDANCE WITH THE RULES..TIGER SAID, HIS DROP WAS IN FACT A BETTER LIE THAN THE FIRST ONE…RULE STATES AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO THE ORIGINAL LIE

  25. Dave

    Oct 31, 2013 at 7:44 am

    The premise of this article, that Chamblee “apologized” twice, is dishonest. Chamblee talked about the article he wrote criticizing Tiger, but there was no “I am sorry Tiger feels that way” type of language.

    If the author wanted to write about Chamblee’s follow up comments, that is fine. But why the silly “Chamblee apologized but really didn’t” angle?

  26. Martin

    Oct 31, 2013 at 6:32 am

    Tiger is a bully, Chamblee was right on this stuff.

    I think he is making a jab at how stupid Tiger’s reaction including the “It’s in the golf channels court now” comment.

    It reminds me of the time when my Boss was giving me crap for something that really wasn’t my fault and he said “I’m not trying to be a jerk about this” and my response was ‘I know you’re not trying Harry”

    He missed the sarcasm.

    • Jack

      Oct 31, 2013 at 9:08 am

      You got the roles reversed there bud.

    • jonathan

      Oct 31, 2013 at 9:35 am

      I don’t see how tiger “cheated” on the rules. If we had to see video of the ball dropping a millimeter, from BEHIND tiger, how the hell can he see it drop, instead of oscillate like he thought it did, from above the ball?

      Also, was Dustin Johnson a cheater when he grounded his club in some sand and it cost him a win? If Tiger was cheating when he picked up the embedded ball, then DJ was cheating. That was lack of knowledge of a local rule.

      The only rule that he really got wrong was the drop at Augusta. Bunch of tiger haters everywhere.

      • Alex

        Nov 23, 2013 at 10:55 pm

        I thought Tiger stopped removing the debris as soon as he saw the ball move. Watch the video

    • ED

      Nov 7, 2013 at 1:50 pm

      MARTIN, CERTAINLY A GREAT OBSERVATION, anyone can see the USGA rules breaking on HD VIDEO

  27. Chris

    Oct 31, 2013 at 3:49 am

    Bumbelee isn’t very good but he was not far off in his assessment of Tiger. Unfortunately he did not stick to his guns and is in backpedal mode.

  28. tiger168

    Oct 31, 2013 at 12:52 am

    What apology, he is “accusing” Tiger’s people “barking on the wrong tree”.

    Are you kidding me?

    Why would anyone interpret this is an apology is beyond me.

    And he is saying the Golf.com EDITOR is to blame by printing his comments. WHAT??

    He is perfect, he cannot be wrong! He is God!

    Well he gets an “F” for being whatever he claims… And he is a “cheater” himself… wait, don’t defend him and accuse me, he “admitted” it…

    • Geoffrey

      Oct 31, 2013 at 10:18 pm

      He didn’t blame the editor. He said he should have listened to him. All this revisionist history around here is hysterical. Don’t mean to be disrespectful, I dint want to have to give an internet apology, but come on. I think if we step back and read things or listen to exactly what people say there would be less to bitch about. But agendas and personal preference get in the way. For those who think that Brandel is jealous, has a vendetta, is racist, is a bum…. Seriously? It’s one thing to disagree, but to do so with venom is deplorable.

  29. someguy

    Oct 31, 2013 at 12:50 am

    I know for 100% certainty this was staged by the Golf Channel. My wife works for a company that handles Brandel’s PR for his I Love Scottsdale campaign and she was eating breakfast with him yesterday morning when he was called and told he had to fly to Orlando and give an apology. He was not given any say in “apology,” and had to say whatever GC wanted him to say. The guy is a grade A jerk and is also dating a 26 yr old.

  30. ams165

    Oct 30, 2013 at 11:53 pm

    Chumplee is a clown. He hates Tiger is Jealous of Tiger and I bet he has a streak of Racism running down his back.

    Nobody else ware is as critical of tiger than Chumplee.

    Please leave the GC. The sport will be better off without you…

    • blanco

      Oct 30, 2013 at 11:59 pm

      wurd.

    • Geoffrey

      Oct 31, 2013 at 11:23 pm

      Sad, really sad that you have such a divisive opinion about this. Prove it!

  31. J

    Oct 30, 2013 at 11:41 pm

    Just another passive aggressive windbag who won’t stand beside what he said. Good for you Chamblee… Way to bow down again. Tiger Woods did have a rather ” liberal ” year so to speak. Screw all the off-course crap, for someone who wants to be known as the GOAT and for all his supporters who say he’s the GOAT….

    Go learn the F’Ing rules if you don’t want people calling you a cheater….

    And which of us didn’t know that ” oops ” drop at the Masters wasn’t the proper drop…

    For gods sake…. Get real.

    I hate Chamblee and root for Tiger just to be clear..

    But I’m not dumb and Tiger seems to think we all are… So F Him.

  32. Matthew

    Oct 30, 2013 at 11:06 pm

    I’m not sure how you give an “F” for a 5 win season on the PGA Tour regardless of the player. Tiger was penalized for his rules violations – as I would suspect many other tour players were throughout the season. So, I’m not seeing Mr. Chamblee’s rationale that being assessed penalty strokes equals a failed season. The players championship drop was confirmed by Tiger’s playing partner – yet Mr. Chamblee still questions it which means Tiger is not the only one he’s calling a cheater. The unfortunate thing, kind of like the guy that yells “mashed potatoes” to get on TV, Mr. Chamblee has successfully linked himself in some small way to the best player to ever play the game. I really liked Mr. Chamblee when he started out and still enjoy hearing his analysis – I just don’t know why he’s decided to go this route of seemingly making everything about him.

    • ED

      Nov 7, 2013 at 1:16 pm

      In something of a bombshell at a recent court hearing, Vijay Singh’s lawyer accused the PGA Tour of repeatedly exempting players from testing and punishment under its anti-doping program. But no proof has yet to be made public.

  33. Ryan

    Oct 30, 2013 at 10:58 pm

    I’m so sick and tired of people not standing beside what they say. Chamblee is paid to give his opinion; right, wrong, biased or indifferent and that’s exactly what he did. It all rings so hollow when people are forced to apologize when they obviously don’t mean it. You said it. Stand up, be a man and take the flak that comes from it. We really need to stop being so politically correct as a society.

    • Dave

      Oct 31, 2013 at 7:47 am

      Did you read this article? Chamblee did not apologize?

  34. David Stewart

    Oct 30, 2013 at 10:27 pm

    I have to side with Chamblee. Tiger has been playing golf all his life. He knows the rules as well as anyone. I think he feels he can get away with anything because he is Tiger Woods. He cheated on his wife, lied about what course officials said, and always wines when he doesn’t get his way. Is this really who we want to be the poster child of golf. Not me.

    • Brandon Ramos

      Oct 30, 2013 at 11:00 pm

      Yet another tiger hater. I guess you live in a world built with no mistakes or errors. I bet you knowingly break the speed limit everyday while driving seeing the posted speed limit and disregarding. But again you stand in judgement of a man whos intentions you will never know. When you reach perfection let us know.

      • Geoffrey

        Nov 1, 2013 at 1:57 am

        Reached it… Wait, no I didn’t. Just made another mistake.

    • Leroy

      Oct 30, 2013 at 11:31 pm

      I am so sick of people using “he cheated on his wife” as a cop out and a dig at him. There are many other pro athletes that do the same thing, they just aren’t Tiger Woods, and aren’t under a microscope. At the end of the day, him cheating on his wife has absolutely nothing to do with any conversation regarding his golf talent. For what it is worth, if you want to talk about his personal life affecting his golf, maybe he should start cheating again, he seemed to be playing pretty well until he got caught.

      • Marcus

        Oct 31, 2013 at 9:55 am

        Did Chamblee find his 26 year old girl friend BEFORE he divorced his wife or after? Just wondering how pure he is?

        Anyway…the posters above who state he did not apologize yesterday are correct, and in fact, he threw a few more insults Tiger’s way.

        Chamblee isn’t “100% sure” of his intent to cheat but that suggests a percentage greater than 0% doesn’t it? He also suggests that Tiger and his people don’t investigate and discuss problems, they “bark up the wrong tree and yell at the wrong people.”

        I was more disgusted with Chamblee after this continued attack than before. He should have kept his mouth shut of just simply said, “I’m sorry I said what I said…PERIOD” That would have been better than throwing more insults and defending himself as ‘doing my job’.

        Chamblee…F on your makeup exam!

    • tiger168

      Oct 31, 2013 at 12:58 am

      Opinion cannot be the base for personal or character attack… then he receives the same treatment from everyone, like now…

      Unfortunately…

  35. moses

    Oct 30, 2013 at 10:26 pm

    Brandel lost any credibility he had left with that stunt he pulled. It’s obvious he’s had it out for Tiger for quite some time. But what he did crossed the line.

    • Geoffrey

      Oct 31, 2013 at 10:23 pm

      What obvious facts are there he has it out for tiger?

      • ED

        Nov 7, 2013 at 1:47 pm

        GEOFFERY, CHECK THE HD VIDEOS…IT SHOWS BILLIONAIRE PRO GOLFER TIGER WOODS, TW, CHEATIN…TIGER NEEDS A RULE BOOK IN HIS GOLF BAG

        • Geoffrey Alter

          Nov 8, 2013 at 8:16 pm

          That wasn’t my question… My question was what obvious facts are there that Brandel has it out for Tiger. I agree with your summation… That wasn’t what I was responding to.

  36. Hunterdog

    Oct 30, 2013 at 10:25 pm

    This was so staged they should have simply televised the cue cards for the Q and A. But I guess a very nuanced practiced non apology is better than letting him answer real question

    • Elevatemel8r

      Oct 31, 2013 at 7:39 am

      Excatly, Btw why are we still talking about this? Don’t they both win because we are still talking about this?

  37. Jud

    Oct 30, 2013 at 10:11 pm

    Its simply self promotion and he knows it. You know if you give the pga tour player of the year an F on his season, its going to cause controversy. He thought it would gain him notoriety and all the Tiger haters would come to his side. Unfortunately for him Tigers camp got involved and made him look like an idiot, who simply had an agenda to smear Tigers five win season.

    • Brett

      Nov 1, 2013 at 2:09 am

      Well put Jud. Brandel is a loud mouth that needs to go. Maybe he can join the senior tour soon and get throttled there also.

  38. Kyle

    Oct 30, 2013 at 9:46 pm

    He’s a joke. Every time he talks I get more and more annoyed with him

  39. Joe

    Oct 30, 2013 at 9:42 pm

    He does seem hard on tiger more so than others, but also provides good insight sometime, even if controversial.

    • Geoffrey

      Oct 31, 2013 at 10:25 pm

      Keep in mind the GC spend the majority of their time discussing Tiger. Therefore any analyst will be spending their time giving opinions on Tiger. Brandel, Nobilo, Whomever is there is talking about Tiger. They all talk about Tiger. All of them, all day long. Before his scandal they had a Tiger week for f$&@ sake…

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open betting preview

Published

on

As the Florida swing comes to an end, the PGA Tour makes its way to Houston to play the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course.

This will be the fourth year that Memorial Park Golf Course will serve as the tournament host. The event did not take place in 2023, but the course hosted the event in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Memorial Park is a par-70 layout measuring 7,432 yards and features Bermudagrass greens. Historically, the main defense for the course has been thick rough along the fairways and tightly mown runoff areas around the greens. Memorial Park has a unique setup that features three Par 5’s and five Par 3’s.

The field will consist of 132 players, with the top 65 and ties making the cut. There are some big names making the trip to Houston, including Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala.

Past Winners at Memorial Park

  • 2022: Tony Finau (-16)
  • 2021: Jason Kokrak (-10)
  • 2020: Carlos Ortiz (-13)

In this article and going forward, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value). 

Key Stats For Memorial Park

Let’s take a look at several metrics for Memorial Park to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their last 24 rounds:

Strokes Gained: Approach

Memorial Park is a pretty tough golf course. Golfers are penalized for missing greens and face some difficult up and downs to save par. Approach will be key.

Total Strokes Gained: Approach per round in past 24 rounds:

  1. Tom Hoge (+1.30)
  2. Scottie Scheffler (+1.26)
  3. Keith Mitchell (+0.97) 
  4. Tony Finau (+0.92)
  5. Jake Knapp (+0.84)

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee

Memorial Park is a long golf course with rough that can be penal. Therefore, a combination of distance and accuracy is the best metric.

Total Strokes Gained: Off the Tee per round in past 24 rounds:

  1. Scottie Scheffler (+0.94)
  2. Kevin Dougherty (+0.93)
  3. Cameron Champ (+0.86)
  4. Rafael Campos (+0.84)
  5. Si Woo Kim (+0.70)

Strokes Gained Putting: Bermudagrass + Fast

The Bermudagrass greens played fairly fast the past few years in Houston. Jason Kokrak gained 8.7 strokes putting on his way to victory in 2021 and Tony Finau gained in 7.8 in 2022.

Total Strokes Gained Putting (Bermudagrass) per round past 24 rounds (min. 8 rounds):

  1. Adam Svensson (+1.27)
  2. Harry Hall (+1.01)
  3. Martin Trainer (+0.94)
  4. Taylor Montgomery (+0.88)
  5. S.H. Kim (+0.86)

Strokes Gained: Around the Green

With firm and undulating putting surfaces, holding the green on approach shots may prove to be a challenge. Memorial Park has many tightly mowed runoff areas, so golfers will have challenging up-and-down’s around the greens. Carlos Ortiz gained 5.7 strokes around the green on the way to victory in 2020.

Total Strokes Gained: Around the Green per round in past 24 rounds:

  1. Mackenzie Hughes (+0.76)
  2. S.H. Kim (+0.68)
  3. Scottie Scheffler (+0.64)
  4. Jorge Campillo (+0.62)
  5. Jason Day (+0.60)

Strokes Gained: Long and Difficult

Memorial Park is a long and difficult golf course. This statistic will incorporate players who’ve had success on these types of tracks in the past. 

Total Strokes Gained: Long and Difficult in past 24 rounds:

  1. Scottie Scheffler (+2.45)
  2. Ben Griffin (+1.75)
  3. Will Zalatoris (+1.73)
  4. Ben Taylor (+1.53)
  5. Tony Finau (+1.42)

Course History

Here are the players who have performed the most consistently at Memorial Park. 

Strokes Gained Total at Memorial Park past 12 rounds:

  1. Tyson Alexander (+3.65)
  2. Ben Taylor (+3.40)
  3. Tony Finau (+2.37)
  4. Joel Dahmen (+2.25)
  5. Patton Kizzire (+2.16)

Statistical Model

Below, I’ve reported overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed.

These rankings are comprised of SG: App (24%) SG: OTT (24%); SG: Putting Bermudagrass/Fast (13%); SG: Long and Difficult (13%); SG: ARG (13%) and Course History (13%)

  1. Scottie Scheffler
  2. Wyndham Clark
  3. Tony Finau
  4. Joel Dahmen
  5. Stephan Jaeger 
  6. Aaron Rai
  7. Sahith Theegala
  8. Keith Mitchell 
  9. Jhonnatan Vegas
  10. Jason Day
  11. Kurt Kitayama
  12. Alex Noren
  13. Will Zalatoris
  14. Si Woo Kim
  15. Adam Long

2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open Picks

Will Zalatoris +2000 (Caesars)

Scottie Scheffler will undoubtedly be difficult to beat this week, so I’m starting my card with someone who I believe has the talent to beat him if he doesn’t have his best stuff.

Will Zalatoris missed the cut at the PLAYERS, but still managed to gain strokes on approach while doing so. In an unpredictable event with extreme variance, I don’t believe it would be wise to discount Zalatoris based on that performance. Prior to The PLAYERS, the 27-year-old finished T13, T2 and T4 in his previous three starts.

Zalatoris plays his best golf on long and difficult golf courses. In his past 24 rounds, he ranks 3rd in the category, but the eye test also tells a similar story. He’s contended at major championships and elevated events in the best of fields with tough scoring conditions.  The Texas resident should be a perfect fit at Memorial Park Golf Club.

Alex Noren +4500 (FanDuel)

Alex Noren has been quietly playing some of his best golf of the last half decade this season. The 41-year-old is coming off back-to-back top-20 finishes in Florida including a T9 at The PLAYERS in his most recent start.

In his past 24 rounds, Noren ranks 21st in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 30th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, 25th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses and 21st in Strokes Gained: Putting on fast Bermudagrass greens.

In addition to his strong recent play, the Swede also has played well at Memorial Park. In 2022, Noren finished T4 at the event, gaining 2.2 strokes off the tee and 7.0 strokes on approach for the week. In his two starts at the course, he’s gained an average of .6 strokes per round on the field, indicating he is comfortable on these greens.

Noren has been due for a win for what feels like an eternity, but Memorial Park may be the course that suits him well enough for him to finally get his elusive first PGA Tour victory.

Mackenzie Hughes +8000 (FanDuel)

Mackenzie Hughes found himself deep into contention at last week’s Valspar Championship before faltering late and finishing in a tie for 3rd place. While he would have loved to win the event, it’s hard to see the performance as anything other than an overwhelming positive sign for the Canadian.

Hughes has played great golf at Memorial Park in the past. He finished T7 in 2020, T29 in 2021 and T16 in 2022. The course fit seems to be quite strong for Hughes. He’s added distance off the tee in the past year or and ranks 8th in the field for apex height, which will be a key factor when hitting into Memorial Park’s elevated greens with steep run-off areas.

In his past 24 rounds, Hughes is the best player in the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Greens. The ability to scramble at this course will be extremely important. I believe Hughes can build off of his strong finish last week and contend once again to cement himself as a President’s Cup consideration.

Akshay Bhatia +8000 (FanDuel)

Akshay Bhatia played well last week at the Valspar and seemed to be in total control of his golf ball. He finished in a tie for 17th and shot an impressive -3 on a difficult Sunday. After struggling Thursday, Akshay shot 68-70-68 in his next three rounds.

Thus far, Bhatia has played better at easier courses, but his success at Copperhead may be due to his game maturing. The 22-year-old has enormous potential and the raw talent to be one of the best players in the world when he figures it all out.

Bhatia is a high upside play with superstar qualities and may just take the leap forward to the next stage of his career in the coming months.

Cameron Champ +12000 (FanDuel)

Cameron Champ is a player I often target in the outright betting market due to his “boom-or-bust” nature. It’s hard to think of a player in recent history with three PGA Tour wins who’s been as inconsistent as Champ has over the course of his career.

Despite the erratic play, Cam Champ simply knows how to win. He’s won in 2018, 2019 and 2021, so I feel he’s due for a win at some point this season. The former Texas A&M product should be comfortable in Texas and last week he showed us that his game is in a pretty decent spot.

Over his past 24 rounds, Champ ranks 3rd in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and 30th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses. Given his ability to spike at any given time, Memorial Park is a good golf course to target Champ on at triple digit odds.

Robert MacIntyre +12000 (FanDuel)

The challenge this week is finding players who can possibly beat Scottie Scheffler while also not dumping an enormous amount of money into an event that has a player at the top that looks extremely dangerous. Enter McIntyre, who’s another boom-or-bust type player who has the ceiling to compete with anyone when his game is clicking on all cylinders.

In his past 24 rounds, MacIntyre ranks 16th in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 17th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green and 10th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses.

MacIntyre’s PGA Tour season has gotten off to a slow start, but he finished T6 in Mexico, which is a course where players will hit driver on the majority of their tee shots, which is what we will see at Memorial Park. Texas can also get quite windy, which should suit MacIntyre. Last July, the Scot went toe to toe with Rory McIlroy at the Scottish Open before a narrow defeat. It would take a similar heroic effort to compete with Scheffler this year in Houston.

Ryan Moore +15000 (FanDuel)

Ryan Moore’s iron play has been absolutely unconscious over his past few starts. At The PLAYERS Championship in a loaded field, he gained 6.1 strokes on approach and last week at Copperhead, he gained 9.0 strokes on approach.

It’s been a rough handful of years on Tour for the 41-year-old, but he is still a five-time winner on the PGA Tour who’s young enough for a career resurgence. Moore has chronic deterioration in a costovertebral joint that connects the rib to the spine, but has been getting more consistent of late, which is hopefully a sign that he is getting healthy.

Veterans have been contending in 2024 and I believe taking a flier on a proven Tour play who’s shown signs of life is a wise move at Memorial Park.

 

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Opinion & Analysis

Ryan: Why the race to get better at golf might be doing more harm than good

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B.F. Skinner was one of the most important psychologists of the 20th century, developing the foundation of the development of reinforcement, and in doing so, creating the concept of behaviorism. In simple terms, this means that we are conditioned by our habits. In practical terms, it explains the divide between the few and far between elite instructors and college coaches.

To understand the application, let’s quickly review one of B.F. Skinner’s most important experiments; superstitions in the formation of behavior by pigeons. In this experiment, food was dispensed to pigeons at random intervals. Soon, according to Skinner, the pigeons began to associate whatever action they were doing at the time of the food being dispensed. According to Skinner, this conditioned that response and soon, they simply haphazardly repeated the action, failing to distinguish between cause and correlation (and in the meantime, looking really funny!).

Now, this is simply the best way to describe the actions of most every women’s college golf coach and too many instructors in America. They see something work, get positive feedback and then become conditioned to give the feedback, more and more, regardless of if it works (this is also why tips from your buddies never work!).

Go to a college event, particularly a women’s one, and you will see coaches running all over the place. Like the pigeons in the experiment, they have been conditioned into a codependent relationship with their players in which they believe their words and actions, can transform a round of golf. It is simply hilarious while being equally perturbing

In junior golf, it’s everywhere. Junior golf academies make a living selling parents that a hysterical coach and over-coaching are essential ingredients in your child’s success.

Let’s be clear, no one of any intellect has any real interest in golf — because it’s not that interesting. The people left, including most coaches and instructors, carve out a small fiefdom, usually on the corner of the range, where they use the illusion of competency to pray on people. In simple terms, they baffle people with the bullshit of pseudo-science that they can make you better, after just one more lesson.

The reality is that life is an impromptu game. The world of golf, business, and school have a message that the goal is being right. This, of course, is bad advice, being right in your own mind is easy, trying to push your ideas on others is hard. As a result, it is not surprising that the divorce rate among golf professionals and their instructors is 100 percent. The transfer rate among college players continues to soar, and too many courses have a guy peddling nefarious science to good people. In fact, we do at my course!

The question is, what impact does all this have on college-age and younger kids? At this point, we honestly don’t know. However, I am going to go out on a limb and say it isn’t good.

Soren Kierkegaard once quipped “I saw it for what it is, and I laughed.” The actions of most coaches and instructors in America are laughable. The problem is that I am not laughing because they are doing damage to kids, as well as driving good people away from this game.

The fact is that golfers don’t need more tips, secrets, or lessons. They need to be presented with a better understanding of the key elements of golf. With this understanding, they can then start to frame which information makes sense and what doesn’t. This will emancipate them and allow them to take charge of their own development.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Valspar Championship betting preview: Elite ballstrikers to thrive at Copperhead

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The PGA TOUR will stay in Florida this week for the 2024 Valspar Championship.

The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort is a par 71 measuring 7,340 yards and features Bermudagrass greens overseeded with POA. Infamous for its difficulty, the track will be a tough test for golfers as trouble lurks all over the place. Holes 16, 17 and 18 — also known as the “Snake Pit” — make up one of the toughest three-hole stretches in golf and should lead to a captivating finish on Sunday.

The field is comprised of 156 golfers teeing it up. The field this week is solid and is a major improvement over last year’s field that felt the impact of players skipping due to a handful of “signature events” in a short span of time. 

Past Winners at Valspar Championship

  • 2023: Taylor Moore (-10)
  • 2022: Sam Burns (-17)
  • 2021: Sam Burns (-17)
  • 2019: Paul Casey (-8)
  • 2018: Paul Casey (-10)
  • 2017: Adam Hadwin (-14)
  • 2016: Charl Schwartzel (-7)
  • 2015: Jordan Spieth (-10)

In this article and going forward, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value). 

Key Stats For Copperhead

1. Strokes Gained: Approach

Strokes Gained: Approach grades out as the most important statistic once again this week. Copperhead really can’t be overpowered and is a second-shot golf course.

Total SG: Approach Over Past 24 Rounds (per round)

  1. Tony Finau (+.90)
  2. Nick Taylor (+.81)
  3. Justin Thomas (+.77)
  4. Greyson Sigg (+.69)
  5. Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+.67)

2. Good Drive %

The long hitters can be a bit limited here due to the tree-lined fairways and penal rough. Playing from the fairways will be important, but laying back too far will cause some difficult approaches with firm greens that may not hold shots from long irons.

Golfers who have a good balance of distance and accuracy have the best chance this week.

Good Drive % Over Past 24 Rounds

  1. Brice Garnett (+91.3%) 
  2. Zach Johnson (+91.1%)
  3. Sam Ryder (+90.5%)
  4. Ryan Moore (+90.4%)
  5. Aaron Rai (+89.7%)

3. Strokes Gained: Ball Striking

Adding ball-striking puts even more of a premium on tee-to-green prowess in the statistical model this week. Golfers who rank highly in ball-striking are in total control of the golf ball which is exceedingly important at Copperhead.

SG: Ball Striking Over Past 24 Rounds:

  1. Xander Schauffele (+1.32)
  2. Keith Mitchell (+1.29)
  3. Tony Finau (+1.24)
  4. Cameron Young (+1.17) 
  5. Doug Ghim (+.95)

4. Bogey Avoidance

With the conditions likely to be difficult, avoiding bogeys will be crucial this week. In a challenging event like the Valspar, oftentimes the golfer who is best at avoiding mistakes ends up on top.

Gritty golfers who can grind out difficult pars have a much better chance in an event like this than a low-scoring birdie-fest.

Bogey Avoidance Over Past 24 Rounds

  1. Brice Garnett (+9.0)
  2. Xander Schauffele (+9.3)
  3. Austin Cook (+9.7) 
  4. Chesson Hadley (+10.0)
  5. Greyson Sigg (+10.2)

5. Strokes Gained: Total in Difficult Conditions

Conditions will be tough this week at Copperhead. I am looking for golfers who can rise to the occasion if the course plays as difficult as it has in the past.

Strokes Gained: Total in Difficult Conditions Over Past 24 rounds

  1. Xander Schauffele (+1,71) 
  2. Min Woo Lee (+1.39)
  3. Cameron Young (+1.27)
  4. Jordan Spieth (+1.08)
  5. Justin Suh (+.94)

6. Course History

That statistic will tell us which players have played well at Copperhead in the past.

Course History Over Past 24 rounds

  1. Patrick Cantlay (+3.75) 
  2. Sam Burns (+2.49)
  3. Davis Riley (+2.33)
  4. Matt NeSmith (+2.22)
  5. Jordan Spieth (+2.04)

The Valspar Championship Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (27%), Good Drive % (15%), SG: BS (20%), Bogeys Avoided (13%), Course History (13%) Strokes Gained: Total in Difficult Conditions (12%).

  1. Xander Schauffele
  2. Doug Ghim
  3. Victor Perez
  4. Greyson Sigg
  5. Ryan Moore
  6. Tony Finau
  7. Justin Thomas
  8. Sam Ryder
  9. Sam Burns
  10. Lucas Glover

2024 Valspar Championship Picks

Justin Thomas +1400 (DraftKings)

Justin Thomas will be disappointed with his finish at last week’s PLAYERS Championship, as the past champion missed the cut despite being in some decent form heading into the event. Despite the missed cut, JT hit the ball really well. In his two rounds, the two-time major champion led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach per round.

Thomas has been up and down this season. He’s missed the cut in two “signature events” but also has finishes of T12 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, T12 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, T6 at the Pebble Beach AT&T Pro-Am and T3 at the American Express. In his past 24 rounds, he ranks 3rd in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and 6th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking in the field.

Thomas loves Copperhead. In his last three tries at the course, he’s finished T13, T3 and T10. Thomas would have loved to get a win at a big event early in the season, but avoidable mistakes and a balky putter have cost him dearly. I believe a trip to a course he loves in a field he should be able to capitalize on is the right recipe for JT to right the ship.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout +6000 (FanDuel)

Christiaan Bezuidenhout is playing spectacular golf in the 2024 season. He finished 2nd at the American Express, T20 at Pebble Beach and T24 at the Genesis Invitational before finishing T13 at last week’s PLAYERS Championship.

In his past 24 rounds, the South African ranks 3rd in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and 26th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking. Bezuidenhout managed to work his way around TPC Sawgrass last week with minimal damage. He only made five bogeys in the entire week, which is a great sign heading into a difficult Copperhead this week.

Bezuidenhout is winless in his PGA Tour career, but certainly has the talent to win on Tour. His recent iron play tells me that this week could be a breakthrough for the 35-year-old who has eyes on the President’s Cup.

Doug Ghim +8000 (FanDuel)

Doug Ghim has finished in the top-16 of his past five starts. Most recently, Ghim finished T16 at The PLAYERS Championship in a loaded field.

In his past 24 rounds, Ghim ranks 8th in Strokes Gained: Approach and 5th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking. In terms of his fit for Copperhead, the 27-year-old ranks 12th in Bogey Avoidance and 7th in Strokes Gained: Total in Difficult Conditions, making him a great fit for the course.

Ghim has yet to win on Tour, but at one point he was the top ranked Amateur golfer in the world and played in the 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup and 2017 Walker Cup. He then won the Ben Hogan award for the best male college golfer in 2018. He certainly has the talent, and there are signals aplenty that his talent in ready to take him to the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour.

Sepp Straka +8000 (BetRivers)

Sepp Straka is a player who’s shown he has the type of game that can translate to a difficult Florida golf course. The former Presidents Cup participant won the 2022 Honda Classic in tough conditions and should thrive with a similar test at Copperhead.

It’s been a slow 2024 for Straka, but his performance last week at the PLAYERS Championship surely provides some optimism. He gained 5.4 strokes on approach as well as 1.88 strokes off the tee. The tee-to-green game Straka showed on a course with plenty of danger demonstrates that he can stay in control of his golf ball this week.

It’s possible that the strong performance last week was an outlier, but I’m willing to bet on a proven winner in a weaker field at a great number.

Victor Perez +12000 (FanDuel)

Victor Perez is no stranger to success in professional golf. The Frenchman has three DP World Tour wins including a Rolex Series event. He won the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, as well as the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, which are some big events.

Perez earned his PGA Tour card this season and enters the week playing some fantastic golf. He finished in a tie for 16th in Florida at the Cognizant Classic and then tied for third in his most recent start at the Puerto Rico Open.

In his past 24 rounds in the field, Perez ranks 11th in Strokes Gained: Approach, 1oth in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking, 6th in Good Drive % and 15th in Bogey Avoidance.

Perez comes in as a perfect fit for Copperhead and offers serious value at triple-digit odds.

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