It's Alive! The Dreaded Fifth Major Debate Briefly Resurfaces...

Poking around Google News, I found one story from the last four years wondering about possible major status for The Players Championship. Or, as we knew it many years ago before seemingly disappearing from all known radar screens: the fifth major debate. 

Today's resurfacing was the first I've seen or heard outside of Monday's Live From segment devoted to whether golf's Grand Slam should expand by one. Both Brandel Chamblee and David Duval declared the event a major (already), while Frank Nobilo was the dissenting vote over the course of nine minutes. 

This debate seemingly died several years ago from fatigue and almost no demand for major status. The tournament has never actively campaigned for the status and in recent years, millions have been poured into improving the fan experience and course.

Furthermore, when The Players moved to May it gained an enhanced, stand-alone identity that will carry over to a new, one-week earlier March date.

Perks were added for the winner, including a huge purse.

The World Golf Hall of Fame now gives Players wins special recognition. It is one of the most prestigious titles in golf. And as the LPGA's Evian event has learned the hard way, forcing major status can actually do damage. 

Which is why I argued on today's Morning Drive with Damon Hack and Eamon Lynch, that even suggesting this is a major undermines the case that could be made some day for a major new place in the record books.

National Teacher Day Lets Famous Golf Instructors Say What They Really Think

The Forecaddie on two of golf's very best saying more than normal about their pupils. Nice work by Morning Drive's Damon Hack pulling these nuggets from today's guests.

Pete Cowen on Henrik Stenson's focus levels (hint, he's not jazzed).  Here's the clip from GolfChannel.com.

Butch Harmon on wanting to see Dustin Johnson work harder. 

And the Harmon clip.

Quail Hollow Draws Best Rating Since '15, Second Best Sports Event Sunday

Another positive ratings story for the PGA Tour, as CBS's final round broadcast of the Wells Fargo Championship drew a 2.2 overnight rating for Jason Day's win over Aaron Wise, reports SBD's Austin Karp. That's up from a 1.6 last year when Brian Harman outlasted Dustin Johnson and Roberto Castro.

The rating put PGA Tour golf behind only the NBA Western Conference Semifinals game four between the Warriors and Pelicans (4.1).

Saturday's Kentucky Derby on NBC won the weekend with a 9.1 overnight rating.

Jason Day By The Numbers: 2 Wins In 7 2018 Starts, 231-Yard 7-Iron

Reading over John Turner's Golfweek account of the Wells Fargo Championship, it's hard not to be struck by a second win on a very limited schedule for Jason Day, and that shot of the day at 17.

No typos here...

The most stunning shot of the tournament came at its toughest (playing more than half a stroke above par Sunday): the par-3 17th. Following his birdie at 16 to pull one ahead of Wise, Day opted for 7-iron staring down at a green he said looks “real tiny” from 231 yards away with water short, left and long. The plan was to fly the ball into an upslope on the green, killing the momentum and letting it settle near the pin.

In Day’s words, here’s what happened next:

“When I hit it, it was on a cracking line, it was beautiful,” he said. “And then it just had this massive bounce, hit on the downslope and fortunately hit the pin, which was nice, and went to about two or three feet. Things like that are what you need to win golf tournaments.”

RIGHT on the number! 🎯 @jasondayofficial has his eyes on the prize @wellsfargogolf.

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) on May 6, 2018 at 2:38pm PDT

The final round highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment:

Tiger Can't Figure Out Quail Hollow's Greens, Heads To Players For Marquee Pairing With Phil, Rickie

From Bob Harig's ESPN.com account of Tiger's mediocre Wells Fargo Championship appearance in advance of his return to the TPC Sawgrass, where Woods has a two wins, a runner-up and a U.S. Amateur win.

For the fourth straight day, Woods needed more than 30 putts in his round, taking 126 for the week. And after hitting 15 greens in regulation on Saturday, he managed just 10 on Sunday and hit only four fairways. He hit just 25 of 56 for the week.

As well as Woods is hitting the ball off the tee -- he averaged 313 yards from the tee -- he's not been accurate enough to give himself chances to hit it close. And when you're putting poorly, even hitting it close is no guarantee.

Statistically, it was Tiger's best ballstriking week in his return, writes Golfweek's Dan Kilbridge.

He was inside the top 20 in stokes gained: putting at Torrey Pines, PGA National and Bay Hill. He was 39th while playing Innisbrook for the first time as a professional at the Valspar Championship, but he pulled off a runner-up finish due to his superior iron play.

Woods set season highs in strokes gained: off-the-tee (2.997) and strokes gained: approach-the-green (4.530) at the Wells Fargo, which illustrates just how uncomfortable he was around the greens while finishing T-55.

Tiger Tracker's round-up of notes features a fairly blunt assessment: great distance off the tee, too many wayward drives and way too many birdies, an inability to adapt to the green speed, but great spirits after the round. 

Now The Players awaits, where Tiger is excited to be playing with Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, writes GolfChannel.com's Nick Menta and Rex Hoggard. 

As for his light birdie week, including Sunday's shutout, master statistician Justin Ray offered this:

Tiger had 2 rounds this week with 1 or fewer birdies made. Woods went the entire 2000 and 2009 PGA Tour seasons without a single round making fewer than 2 birdies.

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) May 6, 2018

More Changes To Quail Hollow, With A Lemonade Twist

Preparing to host the Wells Fargo Championship, last year's PGA Championship host underwent yet more design modifications on top of modifications made to the previous modifications. 

The good news: Quail Hollow's green speeds and rough are more subdued this week thanks to a ryegrass overseed and elimination of some teeing grounds from consideration.

The one tee someone said was better suited to a lemonade stand is not available according to club chairman/host/lead tinkerer/comedian Johnny Harris. From Rex Hoggard's GolfChannel.com report:

“I had a number of my friends who were playing in the tournament tell me that tee was better suited as a lemonade stand,” Harris joked in the video of the new tee box on the fourth hole. “I doubt we’ll ever see that tee used again in competition.”

True to his word, on Tuesday as players made their way around the course to prepare for this week’s event, there was an actual lemonade stand perched on the back of the fourth tee box.

George Savaricas reports for Golf Central on player reaction.

Walk-up Music: It's Not Just A Way To Play...It's A Way To Be...Lame

My phone was ringing off the hook with non-golfers totally engaged by this weekend's walk up music, so I saw little of the Zurich Classic.

Actually that's not true. The only people who saw wealthy golfers take practice swings to music were in person or watching on Golf Channel. And they all really like golf already. 

Nonetheless, the poorly executed "walk up" music that played between first tee announcement and tee shot was "awkward" at best, as Ryan Lavner noted, or a symptom of something far more peculiar. I'll take the latter and call it good old-fashioned desperation coupled with poor execution. 

But the Commissioner Jay Monahan, on hand to witness this historic moment at least tells us who thought of something he claims brought in new fans: Daniel Berger.

From Ryan Lavner's report at the Zurich:

“I think we need walk-up music on the PGA Tour,” he said. “Every other sport does it, and it creates a really good energy. I’d like to see that happen one day.”

Less than three years later, the Zurich Classic became the first Tour event to use walk-up music on the first tee – even if Berger wasn’t around to experience it, after missing the 36-hole cut here with Gary Woodland.

“That was the authorship right then and there,” Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Sunday at TPC Louisiana. “It made sense when he said it, and it’s proven to be right.”

Mercifully, the tour social accounts posted only one walk-up moment from Sunday's play. Now that's living under par.

Zurich 2018: How Will An Alternate Shot Final Round Play Out?

Given that alternate shot is better suited for match play, two rounds at the Zurich Classic is a tall order. Installing the pressure-packed format will test the bond between players Sunday. That's why the bond between last year's runner-ups Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown may play a bigger role than normal with Sunday's revamped format.

As Dan Kilbridge notes though, it may not matter to sponsor Zurich, which has seen solid momentum and bigger Saturday crowds in 2018 following the two-man format's debut in 2017, despite most of the big names faltering.

The walk-up music experiment Saturday was a bit strange given that music was not played when players were walking up to the tee.

This is very awkward and needs work:

Nice Song Choice by @bubbawatson and Matt Kuchar ⚜️🏈 #WhoDat @Saints pic.twitter.com/UjBGpPt9Jw

— Zurich Classic (@Zurich_Classic) April 28, 2018

There was at least Charley Hoffman, walking up and hitting his ball as the walk-up music played:

@charleyhoffman knows how to party (swinging on beat too!) #LiveUnderPar

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) on Apr 28, 2018 at 12:40pm PDT

Duval: "This was about being with a friend, reuniting, having our wives together for a few days"

Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk and former world No. 1 David Duval cobbled together a fancy 7-under-par 65 Thursday in the Zurich Classic.

Now a full-time Golf Channel contributor, the 46-year-old spoke to Ryan Lavner about what exactly he's trying to do at the Zurich, making a run at the title all that much more fun if he and Furyk can keep it going, plus other stuff.

One highlight:

And that could have been the extent of his season (save for his annual appearance at The Open), but he was drawn to the idea of the team format at the Zurich, to the idea of playing with Jim Furyk, with whom he’s been friends for the past 32 years, dating to their days in junior golf. So Duval reached out, asking the U.S. Ryder Cup captain if he wanted to team up, for old times’ sake.

“This was about being with a friend, reuniting, having our wives together for a few days,” said Duval, who estimated that he’s played more than 100 practice rounds with Furyk over the years. “Expectation-wise, I don’t know what they are for me. I don’t get to participate out here and compete.”

Zurich Walk-Up Warning: Metallica Leader In Clubhouse, But Varner/Garrigus Lead In Most Clever Division

Kevin Casey with the list--as of now--for the weekend's Zurich Classic walk-up music. 

I'm fairly certain we're all rooting for Harold Varner and Robert Garrigus to make the cut. I just forgot how spectacularly bad this music video was.

Experts are warning, however, that youngsters Cody Gribble and John Peterson could make a charge with their gloriously cheesy selection, as could wily vets Rose and Stenson.

There's Some Fine Print For You: Zurich Flips Alternate Shot To Second And Last Day

Ryan Lavner reports on a big change to the Zurich Classic's two-man team format this week: alternate shot will be used on Friday and Sunday this year, best ball on Thursday and Saturday.

That means fewer birdies and roars, but the Tour is hoping that the move will create more strategy and volatility – leaders likely won’t be able to run away from the pack, while the contenders have more of a chance with a good round.

I love foursomes/alternate shot for match play, but wonder if it's needed for two rounds in this event. Putting it on Sunday certainly heightens the pressure on teams, but also deprives fans of some golf on Sunday, as Lavner notes:

The Zurich has its best field in tournament history, with 10 of the top 14 players in the world, and those stars will only hit half the shots on Sunday. That’s not ideal for either the fans at TPC Louisiana or those watching at home.

“That’s sort of a bummer,” Billy Horschel said. “They had success last year, but they’re trying to make a little tweak and see if it’s any better. If not, they can go back to the old way.”

Horschel Wants More "Great-Designed Courses" Like Harbour Town

Titleist ambassador and former FedExCup champion Billy Horschel repeatedly takes the company talking points on the distance issue, so it was no surprise to see him call on architects to do more "great-designed" work instead of changing equipment to breathe new (old) life into architecture.

From this week's After Further Review from Rex Hoggard, which is incidentally followed by an item on how fun it is to watch Brooke Henderson drive the ball despite her small frame. 

First, in Horschel's world, he's hoping we get driver-killing "great-designed" courses so the golf ball is not restricted, ensuring on-going payments to his and other golf pro accounts:

"I think the architects in today's game should come here and understand what this course is and why it's still challenging,” Billy Horschel said. “ Too much nowadays we're playing big, wide-open courses that really aren't great designed golf courses.”

If architects could import massive overhanging trees that restrict ball flight they might, but it's kind of hard to do that these days. Nor advisable on a number of levels, most notably because there is a desire by many to see the driver remain an important weapon. And even better, to see width presented to provide options off the tee.

All of this makes the second After Further Review item by Ryan Lavner more fun. He writes about the joys of LPGA winner Brooke Henderson and the skill on display as she uses a 48-inch driver.

Or perhaps it’s because she uses a 48-inch driver, drawing every little bit of distance out of her 5-foot-4 frame. She swings freely and aggressively, aims at flags even when she’s nursing a narrow lead and rolls in enough putts to contend in all of the big events.

The 20-year-old Canadian smashes every conceivable stereotype about the LPGA – in no ways a dink-and-dunker who relies on a hot putter. There’s no one in the women’s game I’d rather watch play. 

Sadly, the folks who want to combat distance through Harbour Town-style architecture do not appreciate how the ability to use driver in separating fields has been a cornerstone of the sport for a few centuries now.

Harbour Town is swell and all once a year, but narrow plod-fests that minimize the driver are not the model for the game. Particularly when the message is driven by corporate talking points from folks who've already made millions. "Great-designed" courses are not narrow, tree-lined and light on strategic decisions.  

PETA Tells Kelly Kraft To Play Better

It's all in good fun because the bird apparently survived the collision with Kelly Kraft's ball, but the Friday strike at Harbour Town likely cost Kraft a weekend spot in the RBC Heritage.

Dang bird 🐦, shouldn’t of been flying there! 🤷‍♂️ Only on freaky Friday the 13th I suppose. Oh well, onto the next. See y’all @Zurich_Classic! #teamgainz https://t.co/4XkGSZivxD

— Kelly Kraft (@kkraft11) April 13, 2018

USA Today's Josh Peter reports on PETA hearing about the contact and Kraft's blame, and issued a little pushback and a public service reminder for any animals injured in the course of (golf) battle.

“PETA is glad the bird is OK and sorry Kelly Kraft didn't advance, but that's not the bird's fault,’’ PETA senior vice president Lisa Lange said in a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports Saturday. “Of course, he would have advanced if he'd played better on other holes — so practice, practice, practice.

"To tournament holders: If animals are ever injured, they must be taken to a veterinarian right away."

Back To The Desperation Days Of Golf: Walk-Up Music Coming To The PGA Tour's Zurich Classic

We've all enjoyed those really deep dreams where all is right with the world, Jordan and Rickie are making birdies, Tiger's finishing off the week with an eagle and all sorts of crazy things are happening with birdie runs on the Masters back nine. Then Patrick Reed starts throwing on the green jacket, and you're awakened by a 5 am alarm clock.

Welcome to April 9, 2018!

The PGA Tour announced the day after the Masters--a Monday news dump!--the Zurich Classic as the first tournament where it will feature walk-up music. Ryan Lavner writes for GolfChannel.com:

Each two-man team that makes the cut at TPC Louisiana can pick a walkup song to be played on the first tee before each of their weekend rounds. The New Orleans-area tournament, scheduled for April 26-29, is the only team event on the Tour schedule.

“This innovation will try to further and enhance the concept and the team atmosphere,” said tournament director Steve Worthy.  

First, it's not an innovation if you are copying the European Tour. 

Second, the mental image of players and walk-up music is mildly awkward, but two man teams? Will they be joined arm-in-arm?

Finally, coming off of a successful Masters with none of the desperation ploys and massive ratings, I welcome you back to the world of golf's continued, ongoing and relentlessly exhausting efforts to appeal to the kids! 

Poulter Has Shot At Incredible (Practically) Last-To-First Houston Open Win

Ian Poulter's Masters hopes depend on a win at Houston this week and after an opening 73, his chances seemed bleak. But a pair of 65s has him tied for the lead going into Sunday's finale. With nearly all of the top 10 having not earned an invitation and several who have never won a PGA Tour event, the Masters field is looking likely to expand by one Sunday. (Oh and valuable FedExCup points will be earned!)

From Jonathan Wall's PGATour.com report on where Poulter's turnaround ranks historically should he win.

Should he go on to win, he would become the first player in the last 35 years to win a TOUR event after being tied for 123rd or worse after the first round.

There's also a TOUR title and a Masters invite on the line. But Poulter isn't worried about any of that — at least not yet.

"I'm in a funny position, right? I said to you guys I've got no expectations going out on the golf course," Poulter said. "I didn't have any expectations, I just went out to play golf. I'm going to do exactly the same tomorrow regardless."

The round highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment:

SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh In the third round of the 2018 Houston Open, Ian Poulter climbed up the leaderboard in his bogey-free round, but Beau Hossler maintained composure heading into the final round. The Houston Open is contested at the Golf Club of Houston, near Humble, Texas.