By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.
For comments: [email protected]
Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we look back at the Masters while looking ahead to this week’s RBC Heritage. |
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1. Shane Ryan: Appreciate Scottie’s greatness
Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan…”This is what’s called generational talent, and we haven’t seen it in almost 20 years. Steve Stricker read the tea leaves when he picked Scheffler for the 2021 Ryder Cup—a decision that was richly rewarded—and starting in 2022, he was off to the races. The only hiccup was a few putting woes last year, but even that only served to highlight how remarkable his ball-striking had become—instead of winning, he was finishing third. When he fixed the putting, with help from a new coach and a bit of equipment advice from Rory McIlroy, he soared yet again to the top of the game, but this time he seemed more indomitable, more inevitable, more brilliant.”
- “The sustained success of the last three years has officially made him the best professional golfer since Tiger Woods, a conclusion supported by analytics, the eye test, and every other metric you could dream up. With fewer majors, he has nevertheless leaped past Spieth, McIlroy, and Koepka in terms of pure ability. He doesn’t have their legacy, yet, but if we’re talking about peak performance, he’s already surpassed them.”
- “He’s so much better than everyone else, which is a sentiment that is both commonplace—I saw it on Twitter over and over again—and revelatory. It’s the thing you say because there is nothing else to say. You’re left with the wild truth, which words can describe but never capture.”
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2. Aberg: I want to be No. 1
The AFP’s Simon Evans…”The 24-year-old finished second, four strokes behind winner Scottie Scheffler, after carding a final round 69 but he certainly won many admirers among the patrons at Augusta National and beyond.”
- “And his performance has filled Aberg with self-belief.”
- “Everyone in my position, they are going to want to be major champions. They are going to want to be world number one, and it’s the same for me, that’s nothing different,” he said.
- “It has been that way ever since I picked up a golf club, and that hasn’t changed. So I think this week solidifies a lot of those things are there, and we just need to keep doing those things and put ourselves in positions to win tournaments, ” he said.
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3. Homa’s honest answer on double bogey
Golf Channel staff report…”But Homa’s tee shot at No. 12 bounded off the putting surface and into a bush. After a healthy search, Homa found his ball and had to take an unplayable lie. He made double bogey, effectively ending his bid at a maiden major title.”
- “Homa tied for third, seven shots back of Scheffler. Asked about what happened on the fateful 9-iron, Homa offered two replies.”
- “The honest answer is, it didn’t feel fair. I hit a really good golf shot, and it didn’t feel fair. I’ve seen far worse just roll back down the hill,” he said.
- “The professional answer is, these things happen.”
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4. Harbour Town ahead
RBC Heritage field notes, via Adam Stanley of PGATour.com…”Scottie Scheffler is, for now, set to tee it up at the RBC Heritage. He was clear to say that if his wife, Meredith, would go into labor during the Masters, he would head home to be with her, so it’s safe to assume that same rule will stand at Harbour Town. Scheffler has not shot an over-par round all season and has three victories (and one runner-up). He made his debut at Harbour Town last year and finished T11… Matt Fitzpatrick looks to become the first golfer to go back-to-back at the RBC Heritage since Boo Weekley in 2007-08. Fitzpatrick, a playoff victor last year, has two top-10 finishes this season. He has just one missed cut at Harbour Town over the last six years and he finished fourth in 2021 to go along with two more top-15 results in a three-year span (T14 in 2018 and 2020)…”
- “Jordan Spieth is hoping to continue his run of fine play at Harbour Town after a playoff loss last season and a playoff win the season prior. Spieth has five top-25 finishes at the RBC Heritage in seven starts… Justin Thomas earned a spot in the field after remaining in the top 30 (he’s No. 30) in the Official World Golf Ranking despite a missed cut at the Masters. Thomas, who finished T25 last season at Harbour Town, has two top 10s on the season… Ludvig Åberg, who is tops in the Aon Next 10, will head to Hilton Head for the first time. Åberg has had a fabulous 2024 campaign thus far with four top 10s (including two runner-up results) and is knocking on the door for a victory… Hideki Matsuyama was the only eligible player who did not commit to the RBC Heritage, while Viktor Hovland – after a missed cut at the Masters – withdrew from the field on Saturday.”
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5. Reed’s caddie’s needle
Our Matt Vincenzi…”After a particularly bad drive during his third round on Saturday, Reed’s caddie, Kessler Karain, also his brother-in-law, made a snide but factual comment to Patrick.”
- “Your driving has cost us a lot this week,” Karain remarked.
- “Reed didn’t disagree and told reporters after the round that there was nothing good about his round…
- “A reporter then asked: “It’s a good thing he’s a family member, right?”
- “Yeah, exactly. I’d probably be dragging him up that last hole,” Reed said. “I swear.Just what you want to hear as you’re looking at the ball in the tree, and he goes, ‘You need to drive it better.’ Thanks, Kessler. I appreciate it. Great words of wisdom. Drive it better.”
- “This may be the last major for Reed for a while, as the 33-year-old has not been invited nor qualified for next month’s PGA Championship.”
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6. LIV wants Hovland next?
Ewan Murray for the Guardian…”Rising speculation that Viktor Hovland will be the next high-profile golfer to be coaxed to the LIV tour will increase the need for Ryder Cup Europe to apply a simple qualification process for golfers on the Saudi Arabian-backed circuit.”
- “LIV is forging ahead with plans for 2025, which include new events and the recruitment of more players from the PGA and DP World Tours. The rate of turnover is likely to be increased by the number of golfers who had three-year contracts when joining LIV, which will expire at the end of 2024.”
- “Chatter on the range at the LIV event in Miami this month and again at the Masters largely surrounded Hovland, the world No 6 who starred for Europe in the defeat of the United States in Rome last year. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, who also played in that team, have subsequently joined LIV. Hovland missed the cut at the Masters and promptly withdrew from the PGA Tour’s $20m stop in Hilton Head this week.”
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7. Rory’s management: LIV reports are ‘fake news’
Brian Keogh for the Irish Independent…”A report that Rory McIlroy was on the verge of an $850million move to LIV Golf has been slammed as “fake news” by his management.
“Fake news. Zero truth,” McIlroy’s manager Sean O’Flaherty said in an email.
London financial paper “City AM” reported today that sources have told them that McIlroy “could” join LIV Golf
The paper reported that “two separate sources have told City AM that they believe a deal is close. It is claimed that LIV Golf chiefs have offered world No2 McIlroy an eye-watering $850m to join, plus around two per cent equity in the competition.” |
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Justin
Oct 16, 2018 at 7:16 pm
You could also start to make the fairways VERY narrow around the 300 yard mark. This would make the players decide whether to hit it 280 yards into a 40 yard fairway or 320 yards into a 20 yard fairway. This would a create a larger risk/reward scenario instead of letting them smash it 350 with no serious penalty for being in the rough or trees. This is only 1 solution out of many.
Nathan
Oct 15, 2018 at 1:50 pm
I’d love to see tighter fairways, longer rough, more dangerously sloped (if not faster) greens. Long can be good, but I want to see the pros drive it dead straight (or shaped) every time. I want to watch purity not power.
McFadden
Oct 13, 2018 at 8:41 pm
I agree with Day and the other comments on here. Start putting fairway bunkers 300 yards out from the tee too.Also nothing more boring than a flat and straight 200 yard par 3. Id rather see more par 3s like the Postage Stamp and #12 (Golden Bell) at Augusta. Like Day said we like to see risk/reward situations and put a premium on accuracy. It wont totally eliminate the guys from bombing it and would make it more exciting when the do decide to go NLU style!
Kevin
Oct 13, 2018 at 7:49 pm
Day is absolutely right that architects making longer courses is making the problem worse. On a shorter more imaginatively designed course that goads you into hitting shots that are actually riskier than they look (Tobacco Road, Sanford, NC a Mike Strantz masterpiece is a wonderful example of this) you actually level the playing field more. Tobacco Road maxes out at 6800 yards, but big hitters, short hitters can all play to their strengths in highly entertaining ways. A shorter golf course also lets you see the real gap between the best players and the posers….
thánh
Oct 14, 2018 at 11:11 am
Great article for the beginners like us . I am a new in this game and enjoying the adventure.
BL
Oct 13, 2018 at 8:11 am
Anyone else notice Jason Day has a new Accra shaft in that driver?
BD57
Oct 12, 2018 at 10:00 pm
Harbor Town holds up well, year after year, and it is not “monster long.”
Grow the rough, narrow the fairways, make accuracy mean something.
Scheiss
Oct 12, 2018 at 5:24 pm
Jason, it’s not the architects’ fault.
It’s your PGA Tour, its set ups that are at fault.
There is not a course out there that couldn’t grow the grass taller. Including the fairway, that could be softened up – a lot.
The fairways need to be softer and narrower.
The rough needs two more inches – at every course.
That’ll solve everything.
Brian McGranahan
Oct 12, 2018 at 5:23 pm
Look what they did to the guys in France. Just make more courses like that. Every PGA event needs knee high rough pinched in at 300yds. That will solve everything.
Justin
Oct 12, 2018 at 3:06 pm
The winning score at the 2013 US Open at Merion was +1 and the course played a mere 6900 yards each round. The cut after the second round was +8 and a there were only a handful of rounds under par in the entire tournament. This is definitive evidence that course design and setup has a much larger effect on scores than does course length. It is obvious that championship golf can easily be played on these historic golf courses and that great designs will always challenge the best players in the game regardless of driving distance. Trying to put limits on the golf ball seems to misunderstand the problem entirely.
Travis
Oct 12, 2018 at 1:58 pm
I agree, a course doesn’t have to be longer to be more challenging or to accommodate longer hitters.