PGA Tour's New 9&9 Pro-Am Already A Hit

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The Forecaddie reported last week that Tiger Woods practically moon-walked at Torrey Pines last week upon hearing that PGA Tour events could mimic the LPGA's longtime policy of nine hole pro-am rounds for players.

As Brentley Romine reports for Golfweek, everyone at the Waste Management Open was praising the first official day of 9&9, including Jordan Spieth:

“I’m a fan as long as the sponsors are enjoying it, too,” Spieth said. “They’re the reason we are here. A lot of times we get caught up in what the players want and we forget about why we actually have this. … I thought it was a good idea when it was proposed last year, just within the PAC because I thought the sponsors might actually enjoy it more. The opportunity to have somebody very engaged for nine holes and you get another guy fully engaged for nine holes versus sometimes it just gets long and for us players, it’s fantastic because I’ve got the rest of the day now that I can go out there and get work done."

 

 

We've Seen This Movie Before: CareerBuilder Challenge Finale Tries To Compete With NFL Playoffs

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With the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Championship game, even PGA Tour VP's who've jumped on the Jags bandwagon could not possibly have been watching the CareerBuilder Challenge final round. Not even with a young star and now World No. 2 in Jon Rahm atop the leaderboard.

And yet here we were again, with PGA Tour golf on the west coast, in front of light crowds, somehow trying to go up against America's beloved playoff football.

In a world when we know the time NFL playoff game dates and times for months, and we know that their audiences will be massive, golf still thinks it can put up a fight. We're that dumb Chihuahua barking at a head-tilting Rottweiler, only we're not nearly as loud, entertaining or effective.

No sports fan in their right mind watched the CareerBuilder Challenge live when Tom Brady and the Patriots were taking on the entertaining upstart Jaguars. That is not the fault of any player involved. This is a scheduling snafu repeated for the umpteenth year-in-a-row.

So to recap: the PGA Tour returned from Hawaii and had the boys tee up Thursday in La Quinta instead of waiting a day, starting on Friday and finishing on Monday in east coast prime time. Remember, the CareerBuilder is a Golf Channel hosted event, meaning there is programming flexibility.

Also recall that the CareerBuilder is played in a retirement community, with a pro-am format that would actually welcome taking up both weekend days for the pro-am players instead of another weekday.

Last point before I stop beating this too hard: the next PGA Tour stop is in San Diego, less than three hours by car and an easy turnaround for players who make the cut. Yes, they'd only have two days to regroup for the Farmers Insurance Open but bruised linebackers, these are not. They are pro golfers whose sponsors deserve to have their sponsorship positioned in the best way possible. That is currently not the case with the CareerBuilder Challenge.

Unless...the Goo Goo Dolls are playing the 18th hole...

Well since last night was so much fun, let's do it again! @googoodollsofficial take the stage within the hour! #CBChallenge

93 Likes, 1 Comments - CareerBuilder Challenge (@careerbuilderchallenge) on Instagram: "Well since last night was so much fun, let's do it again! @googoodollsofficial take the stage..."

American Airlines, Other Companies Stepping Up To Save Colonial

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Nice reporting work by the Star-Telegram's Sandra Baker,who has obtained a series of communications between community leaders working to save Fort Worth's iconic PGA Tour stop.

American Airlines is the primary savior, though other companies may help fill the void expected to be created by Dean & Deluca. These are of note:

Likewise, XTO Energy spokesman Jeremy Eikenberry said: “We continue to have discussions with organizers of the tournament about a potential co-sponsorship.”

And, AT&T is considering being a co-sponsor. In a Nov. 28 email to councilman Brian Byrd, Fred Maldonado, an AT&T regional vice president of external and legislative affairs, said AT&T Chairman Randall Stephenson was reviewing a $2 million sponsorship request.

Longtime Dallas golf writer Bill Nichols noted this on learning the news:

It’s also gratifying to see that officials were able to get it done when the PGA Tour essentially drop-kicked them to the curb.

 

Roundup: Tiger's Back! Looks Sharp In Hero Opening 69

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The reviews were understandably positive as Tiger opened with a 69 in his Hero World Challenge comeback from a fusion surgery some believed was career-ending.

A few shaky wedge shots that looked more rusty than yippy to me dropped the performance from an A to maybe an A-, but Woods otherwise looked like his persistent old self. The coverage noted the grinding and driving distance, regularly at 320 yards with the big stick.

Steve DiMeglio for USA Today:

On the fourth hole of his latest comeback, the Tiger Woods of old showed up when he chunked a short chip shot.

Moments later, the Tiger of old showed up again when he buried a 20-footer for par on the same hole and uncorked the first fist pump of his comeback.

While Woods called his ballyhooed return “up and down,” he produced far more roars than groans in Thursday’s first round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course. In his first start in 10 months and just his fourth in two years, the former world No. 1 didn’t have any issues with his surgically repaired back and was a physical, powerful brute with driver in hand — regularly exceeding 320 yards off the tee.

Doug Ferguson for the AP:

Unlike a year ago, when Woods ended a 15-month hiatus from his ailing back, he didn’t show any fatigue at the end of his round or make any big numbers. His only regret was playing the par 5s at Albany Golf Club in 1-over par with two bogeys that stalled his momentum.

Coming off a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 eighth, Woods hit a 3-wood that rolled up on the green and then down a slope about 30 feet from the pin. It took him four shots from there, starting with a chip that didn’t reach the green and his first expletive loud enough for television to pick up.

After his best shot of the day — a pitching wedge he hit low from 95 yards that settled a foot behind the hole for birdie on No. 14 — he sent a drive well to the right into the native dunes. Woods had to take a penalty drop to get back in play and wound up making bogey.

But it was solid enough that Woods was far more interested in the leaderboard than the fact he felt strong physically.

Bob Harig for ESPN.com:

The spinal fusion surgery meant Woods had to wait six months to take full swings, and did not get back to hitting balls in earnest until mid-October, just six weeks ago.

So hitting 7 out of 13 fairways, 12 out of 18 greens and needing 28 putts was a solid performance, even on a relatively benign Albany Golf Club course that saw 15 of the 18 players break par.

The urgency and grinding-like-few-others energy that Woods brought was evident on TV, and in person, as Jeff Babineau noted in his Golfweek lede:

Tiger Woods stood over an 8-footer to save par on his final hole in his long-awaited comeback round on Thursday at the Hero World Challenge, and he never did see the majestic double rainbow that seemed to stretch across the entire island behind him.

Typical Tiger. Some parts of his game may be rusty. His penchant for grinding is not among them.

And there was the overall gratitude of Woods to be playing again, an admission made with a candor and consideration that is boosting his karma score.

From Brian Wacker's Golf World piece:

The emotion Woods felt Thursday when he woke up for the opening round of the Hero World Challenge?

“I was very thankful this morning,” he said. “I was in my head thanking all the people who have helped me in giving me a chance to come back and play this round again.

“There were a lot of people that were instrumental in my life; friends, outside people I’ve never met before, obviously my surgeon.”

Tiger’s Masters odds fell, from 66-1 to 33-1.

 

Tiger's extended first round highlights by PGA Tour Entertainment:

Video: The Stymie Is Almost Back! Berger & Reed Ready!

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I really haven't a clue what Daniel Berger was thinking not asking Patrick Reed to mark before this eagle putt, but it's great practice for when the stymie returns! Who says these guys can't handle it? #backstoppinggoneawry

 

@db_straitvibin from the other side of the island.

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) on Nov 30, 2017 at 10:13am PST

 

Colonial Facing December 1 Deadline Over Its Future?

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Updating the situation in Forth Worth, the Star-Telegram's Mac Engel suggests the PGA Tour is not doing enough to help the historic Colonial National Invitational find a new sponsor as Dean & DeLuca looks to get out.

Originally facing a Nov. 1 deadline to resolve the sponsorship situation, Engel says the club has until December 1st.

According to multiple sources, the PGA is not doing much to help. That the PGA is sitting on its hands is only slightly ironic because it was the PGA that put Colonial in this situation.

It was the PGA that lined up Colonial with D&D. Now the PGA is looking at the Fort Worth country club to fix this problem.

Which is a plausible scenario after 2018.

The PGA is not talking about this, which leads fans, club members and media to draw their own conclusions.

It's not implausible to think the PGA Tour will let the event die given the need to consolidate in 2019 when the PGA Championship moves to May. However, this is one thing when the consolidation might impact relatively new tournaments. But saying goodbye to an event dating to 1946 will be a tougher sales job.

Henrik: Stop Blaming HSBC For My Mangled Ribs!

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Everyone in the pro games loves the money HSBC pours into golf and appreciates their efforts to convene industry folks to discuss business of the sport issues.

Which may explain why Henrik Stenson is trying to absolve them of blame for his rib injury sustained at the WGC HSBC Champions. After blaming the stunt for causing sore ribs and his need to take a break, Stenson took to Instagram asking for forgiveness of the global bank.

My comment about not being Superman was a sarcastic way of saying that I am susceptible to injury like any other athlete and sometimes these things happen when you least expect them. I was pleased to help promote the HSBC Champions and to continue my string of success at the event and I was never forced to do anything. HSBC is a great sponsor to golf worldwide and I am not happy to see them being made responsible for my withdrawal. The plan as of now will be to participate in the DP World Championship if my body is back to 100%.

He's not happy seeing them made responsible, but Stenson also does not cite any other way he might have gotten hurt. Oh to have seen the communications that led to this plea! 

I’m disappointed to have to pre-emptively withdraw from the Nedbank Golf Challenge Hosted by Gary Player, I was looking forward to this important year-end event on the European Tour. At this point I am back home in Orlando waiting to do a scan on my ribs and get the necessary rest. I am still hoping for a quick recovery and have not ruled out playing in Dubai next week at this point. My comment about not being Superman was a sarcastic way of saying that I am susceptible to injury like any other athlete and sometimes these things happen when you least expect them. I was pleased to help promote the HSBC Champions and to continue my string of success at the event and I was never forced to do anything. HSBC is a great sponsor to golf worldwide and I am not happy to see them being made responsible for my withdrawal. The plan as of now will be to participate in the DP World Championship if my body is back to 100%. H

A post shared by Henrik Stenson (@henrikstenson) on Nov 7, 2017 at 11:05am PST

Behind the scenes @hsbc_sport #HSBCChampions

A post shared by Henrik Stenson (@henrikstenson) on Oct 24, 2017 at 9:09am PDT

Back Sufferers Rejoice: Patrick Cantlay Gets First Win

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Bad backs are deadly in golf, so it's especially gratifying see young sufferer Patrick Cantlay return from the depths of physical and mental struggles to get his first PGA Tour win.

Dave Shedloski filed a nice read from Las Vegas where the 25-year-old won the Shriners Hospitals Open For Children in a playoff over Alex Cjeka and Whee Kim. The former college player of the year and longtime top-ranked amateur who lost in the U.S. Amateur final turned pro in promising fashion.

Meticulous, stoic, and adroit, Cantlay heralded his potential a year earlier in the same event when he fired a second-round 60 at TPC River Highlands, the lowest score ever recorded by an amateur in a PGA Tour event, in grabbing the 36-hole lead. That came after finishing T-21 at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional.

The kid had the skills and the head for the game. Just not the back.

Cantlay first was sidelined after withdrawing from the 2013 Colonial with a back injury that turned out to be a stress fracture in his L5 vertebrae. Somehow, he came back in the fall for one start in the Web.com Tour Finals, finishing second in the Hotel Fitness Championship to retain his PGA Tour card.

In the next three years he would make just six starts.

The PGA Tour's highlights:

Old Guys Backstop Too! Will Henrik Do This In A Ryder Cup Match?

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There is a much undermining interest in Shanghai's WGC event. The limited field, slow play, mediocre architecture and even $43,000 in purse pay for guys who get DQ'd. The cherry on the Sunday sundae came with some veteran backstopping, that confirmed this PGA Tour "product" was more exhibition than a serious event.

And while I don't want to pick on Stenson for slow play given the overall pace of the rounds, he did take a robust minute and 48 seconds in the ninth fairway Sunday. This happened after waiting on the group in front of himself, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson.  (The fast-playing DJ leaned hard on his club the entire time).

The pacing was interesting given Stenson's views earlier in the week suggesting the Shot Clock Masters won't have much impact due to pro golfers playing ready golf.

But it was Stenson's generous move to leave a wedge shot by the hole as a backstop, even though both Johnson and Koepka faced plugged bunker lies (and boy do they sure play fast when given a backstop!).

Even though the two players were two strokes ahead of Stenson on the leaderboard, Stenson did not feel obliged to protect the field or his own welfare, prompting a fun set of comments from Golf Channel's Phil Blackmar about how the game has changed. The backstopping:

 

 

Thought: there is a better than decent chance Johnson and Koepka could play Stenson and eventual HSBC Champions winner Justin Rose in next year's Ryder Cup. I wonder if Stenson would leave his ball down as a backstop then? If so, then the game really has changed!

What Could Go Wrong Files: HSBC's Latest Photo Stunt Kicks Off WGC In Bizarro Fashion

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Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson and Hao Tong Li spooked Hideki Matsuyama on the eve of the 2017 WGC-HSBC Champions tournament. The bizarro rollout continues a long HSBC tradition of making golfers look sill all in the name of tournament promotion. 

It worked!

GolfChannel.com has a nice slideshow of previous oddball tournament kickoffs, and you'll notice most are for HSBC events.

 

Korean Press Greets Commissioner With Some Tough Questions

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With the inaugural CJ Cup at Nine Bridges over and another nine playings on the docket, Commissioner Jay Monahan and tour EVP of Global Business Affairs Ty Votaw traveled to Korea. They kindly sat down with the assembled media before Sunday's final round and took some interesting questions.

Q: It’s great that we have got another event in Asia. From the next season, 2018-2019 season, you are going to make some big changes with possibly the playoffs coming soon  and the PGA Championship moving. It looks to me as though you are going to free up more dates in the fall, in the post-labor day area. Are you planning more tournaments in Asia? Japan or China?

Jay Monahan: I would answer that by confirming that we have what you just mentioned, which is we have the commitment to move the Players to March and PGA Championship to May. You were right in that it does freeze some time in the fall. The next step we are going to take in order affect change is to essentially complete other parts of our schedule the tournaments that exist in that pre-labor day window in the U.S.

But we are a global game. If you follow the logic trail of being here, you look at the fact that you’ve got 3.5 million participants and 36 million rounds of golf played, we love what we are seeing in terms of emergency screening technology, the fact that we’ve got such a rich number of players.

Wait what? Uh, I'm chalking "emergency screening technology" up to a translation gaffe. Go on...

As you look out into the future, the reason that we are putting so much resource into key international markets is so that we are prepared when an opportunity presents itself to expand to be in the right position. But to say something is imminent would be a miscalculation and a mistake at this point.

We'll put them down for no further Asian expansion at this time.

Q: Are you surprised to see only a few foreign press covering the event, given that this event is quite significant? Why do you think that there aren’t many global press covering this event here?
Ty Votaw: There is no question that we are very excited about the opportunity to be here, first time being an official event. The media landscape in all countries is changing and as you know, the golf media in the US is also changing with decreased budgets and decreased stabilities to cover even some domestic events in the US. We now have opportunities with other platforms and other areas.
Opportunities!
I know that our own platforms are here covering extensively for the US and for other countries around the world. I will say that, much like the reactions of our players, when they go home and talk to other players about their experience here, I think you will see over the next 10 years when we are coming to South Korea and to Jeju for this event that a broader swath of media coverage will follow.
Actually, probably not.
Q: The Korean fans are grateful that Sang-moon Bae and Seung-yul Noh were given exemptions, given their situation with the national service, and that PGA has shown a lot of respect for the Korean golf. However, given that is a Tier 1 tournament with a decent sum of prize money, don’t you think that we are missing a lot of the top-class players? For example, Hideki Matsuyama and Ernie Els pulling out and not many players from the top 20?
Ty Votaw:As I mentioned earlier, I think that the experiences of the players who are here this week, when they take those stories and those experiences back with them to the PGA tour it’s going to be very positive story that they are going to be telling. As any PGA tour event on our schedule, our players choose their schedules according to what fits their specific need and their specific goals and desires. Certainly, we have added a third event in Asia this year and there has been a significant support of all three events by the top players but, perhaps not all three events by the top players.
Uh, no way.
I think what you are going to see is, the ability for players to evaluate what their experience was this week and last week in CIMB and in HSBC, and they will set their schedules accordingly. I think we are very pleased with the feel that we have this week, as commissioner mentioned earlier, our ability to have our Fedex Cup champion, our rookie of the year, former number ones Jason Day and Adam Scott plus all the other great players who are on the field this week. It’s a great start to a long term commitment by CJ and I think we will continue to do everything we can to make sure that our players support these important sponsorships.
All fair points, but it's hard to read this and wonder about the impact on up to four sponsor-less U.S. stops and many other domestic events get poor fields because players may now skip those for $9.2 million purses in Asia.
Q: I think there are a few things that can be improved in the future. The tournament is over at 3pm and it seems to feel a bit loose and it’s difficult for the gallery. Would it be possible to increase the field?
Monahan: This is just the first of our ten-plus years here. One of the things we knew going into this week was that we're going to do our very best to execute a world-class THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, but when we left at Sunday night there’ll be a number of things we could learn from over the course of the week, and our constant pursuit to improve and get better and do the best we can in South Korea.
That’s exactly what will happen. We’ll look at every facet of the tournament. We'll make significant improvements in any facet of this event. We're not done yet. This tournament will be finalized in the next several hours but I would say that at this point on Sunday, what has happened on the grounds here, the response that we received, the things we learned from the fans here, we’re really pleased with where we are.
First on tap, ordering extra satellite time!

JT Wins The First CJ Cup In Playoff Interrupted By Expired Feed

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First, the good news. Justin Thomas won the inaugural CJ Cup in a playoff over Marc Leishman to cap off a breakthrough season (Will Gray's report here). Wait, no, to kick off the new season. Either way, he's very pleased to be shutting down for a while to enjoy a well-earned vacation.

Also, wasn't it great to see CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-Hyun on the 18th tee to help with the playoff draw? Still fresh off a pardon and a little time in the slammer, the Chairman seems to have recovered from a kidney transplant.

The highlights:

 

On the not so positive front, there was the collapse of Golf Channel's feed as players were headed to the second playoff hole and the announce team was reiterating the "big feel" of the event. Unfortunately, someone at the event forgot to extend the satellite window.

A statement from Golf Channel:

The satellite path of the television feed provided by tournament organizers stopped feeding at 2:30 a.m. ET. Golf Channel personnel immediately alerted the tournament production group to the problem. We apologize to our loyal viewers who stayed up late to watch coverage live. The CJ Cup at Nine Bridges playoff will be available shortly in its entirety via Golf Channel Digital and will be replayed on Golf Channel today from 6-10 p.m. ET.

Video: Thomas Shows How Today's Pros Can Handle Stymies

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Every time we talk stymies in a pro match play so many of you are concerned about the agronomic impact, but as Justin Thomas demonstrated at the inaugural CJ Cup in Korea, a dreadful skeech mark was no obstacle!

@justinthomas34 can do it all.

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Colonial Likely Searching For A Sponsor Again...

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Mac Engel reports for the Star-Telegram on a likely early departure for Dean & DeLuca after two years sponsoring the historic Colonial. The food company has four years left on its contract.

Engel obtained a letter to members signed by club president Rob Doby.

“While certainly disappointing, it is not a situation that we as a Membership and Staff are unfamiliar with,” Doby wrote.

The board is scheduled to meet with Dean & DeLuca representatives as early as Thursday about potentially renegotiating the terms of the contract, but at this point the club is preparing to look elsewhere for a title sponsor.

A PGA Tour statement said the Dean & DeLuca is still the sponsor as far as they are concerned but that they are in conversations.

Engel shares several other interesting details, including this:

The PGA wants a little more than $11 million per year from a sponsor for this event, which, per multiple sources, effectively eliminates several companies from landing Colonial. The price tag is roughly $3 million too rich for many companies.

Losing a sponsorship here leaves two Texas stops searching for a sponsor as the 2017-18 schedule is already underway. The Houston Open has yet to secure a sponsor after Shell ended their long run.