Bill Haas Returns To Tour Golf With Heavy Heart

Doug Ferguson talks to Bill Haas about the tragic events of his Los Angeles stay last month that ended abruptly after a car crash. The accident claimed the life of Haas's Genesis Open host for the week and the car's driver, retired businessman and golfer Mark Gibello.

Haas returns to this week's Valspar Championship with a heavy heart.

Along with leaning on his wife and his family, he has spent time with a therapist to cope with the wide range of emotions and the lingering questions.

"I don't know that I won't have recurring images and thoughts and feelings about that night," he said. "Why was he taken and I wasn't? I ask, `Why?' all the time. From the people who have reached out to me and the advice I've been given, you can't ask, `Why?' in life. Life happens in ways you can't explain. There's no point in asking. It won't solve anything, and it only brings more questions."

Take Note: Players Adjusting Accordingly (And With Trackman's Help) To 15-18% Distance Bump In Mexico City

USA Today's Steve DiMeglio talks to players and caddies about distance adjustments they're making for this week's WGC Mexico City and they've settled on a solid 15% or more bump in distance.

The story is of particular note given that we are not far from hearing pros howl about the awful adjustment period should the governing bodies ever roll out a distance rollback. But here they are all on the record about Trackman and the relatively easy process of adjusting thanks to launch monitors.

“I think this is going to be the best week for (Trackman’s) branding, for sure, versus any other week,” said Justin Thomas, who won his seventh title in his last 30 PGA Tour starts last week in the Honda Classic. “It's very, very dependent on the shot you're hitting and the club you're hitting, but when you hit those drivers up in the air, they go pretty far.”

And there was this...

Chez Reavie was in full mathematician mode Tuesday on the range in his first trip to the tournament. For 2 hours, 30 minutes, he and his caddie, Justin York, went to work with numbers spinning around in their heads.

“We jumped on the Trackman to get numbers,” Reavie said. “I hit 10 balls with every club to find a median number each ball was carrying. And we found about a 15-18% difference. We have all the clubs plotted now and from there we’ll rely on feel. But at least we have a ballpark figure now.”

That's all you need! Of course, players will tell us that a Masters ball would be impossible because of the long adjustment period. 

William McGirt To USGA: "Let foul balls be foul balls"

As the distance discussion ramps up, many professionals are beginning to suggest they don't like seeing mediocre ball striking corrected by equipment. The de-skilling of the pro game is not a new topic to most of us, but I do think it's fascinating to see players slowly coming to that conclusion.

The Forecaddie quotes William McGirt on the constructive criticism he offered to the USGA and that he sees all of this as a health-of-the-game matter. 

“I told them, ‘Look, if you honestly believe that the ball doesn’t go any farther than it did 20 years ago, you’re in denial,’” McGirt told TMOF. “If that’s the case, why am I hitting my 7-iron 10 yards farther in the air today than when I was 23 years old? They finally admitted the ball goes farther. The big thing is, I just wish they’d make it curve again. Let foul balls be foul balls.”

McGirt is in the minority on many fronts, from being articulate on the matter to wanting to see skill preserved. Average golfers will no doubt hear this and assume that their game improvements clubs will be taken away from them--they won't. So calm down!

However, his point is worth considering and an articulate contrast with comments earlier this week.

Must Read: Kimmage Chats With Harrington, McIlroy

Carve out a few minutes or Instapaper this Sunday Independent conversation moderated by Paul Kimmage and featuring Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy chatting.

This is a nice teaser:

Harrington says: "We would like to spend more time with Rory in the evenings. But we have a very different way of preparing for tournaments. He likes to play early, I like to play late. I’m not prepared to do his thing, he’s not prepared to do mine. And that’s fine because when I was his age I would do nothing for nobody in terms of (making compromises). Everything was: ‘What was the best thing for me?’. . . I’m prepared to compromise now.”

And Harrington says that he prefers the version of McIlroy that he occasionally comes across in private to the public face.

"I wonder sometimes about how you present yourself to the world,” he says. “It always seems much colder than who you really are. I don’t think I’ve ever been in your company where I haven’t walked away thinking you’re a nicer guy than I thought beforehand. And yet, media-wise, you can sound quite cold and clinical at times and I think: ‘He’s trying to be Tiger Woods.’ Because you present this . . . wall."

Another Pro Golfer Bites The Twitter Dust: Lee McCoy Complains About Children, South America

I can't put a finger on what might have gone wrong for Lee McCoy--wait I can, he has proven to not know what he doesn't know and is a defender of backstopping. The Bobby Jones Award is not in his immediate future.

Seems the Web.com Tour player took to Twitter to complain about South American children wanting some more than a free autograph for coming out to watch the developmental tour play in their country and also insulted the country.

As Joel Beall reports for GolfDigest.com, the offending McCoy Tweets now sleep with the fishes and McCoy has taken the Grayson Murray path of suspending his account. And we know that how well that turned out for Murray.

McCoy tells Beall he has learned his lesson.

"To say I learned a valuable lesson would be an understatement," McCoy said. "More importantly I want people to know that I am, and always have been, a strong supporter of growing the game and doing everything I can to give back to the community."

Grow that game!

A New Year Means Lydia Ko's Been Firing People!

Lydia Ko may be 20 but she's now projected to surpass caddie and coach firing totals of every legendary golfer--combined.

Golfweek's Beth Ann Nichols reports on the latest changes that saw Gary Gilchrist replaced as her instructor by Ted Oh and Jonny Scott taking over the bag.

And it's all just normal...

Ko’s management team said “it’s just a normal transition and exploration that everyone does in their offseason. They’ve only been working together for one to two months. She is hoping to make a great result with them.”

PGA Tour Addresses Bunker Liner Abuse With Local Rule

As the world's best superintendents and their teams converge on San Antonio for this week's Golf Industry Show, one product many are told they need: bunker lining.

These expensive products, which follow the unsuccessful effort of previous products to prevent sand contamination, are sadly expected now for courses that absolutely should be spending on other products or personnel. A hazard is a hazard!

In 2017, two high profile incidents involving Branden Grace and Charley Hoffman involved the players struggling to take a stance, they claimed because of the liners. Both, coincidentally, faced "fried egg" lies. Both were granted relief to the consternation of millions.

The Forecaddie obtained the PGA Tour's "hard card" for local rules and other rules-related information available to players each week and reports on the new language preventing relief from the liners.

"Golf has a new place in Ben Curtis' life"

Golf World's Dave Shedloski catches up with Ben Curtis and the former Open Champion isn't exactly leaving the game, but he's also not going to be playing any more PGA Tour golf.

Like Charlie Wi, the 2003 Open winner is going to use his wisdom and experience to help aspiring players.

This spring, Curtis plans to unveil the Ben Curtis Golf Academy at Country Club of Hudson, a private club about 15 miles from his home. His goal is to not merely teach the golf swing, but impart knowledge on the whole game to youngsters interested in high school or college golf or who have aspirations of a pro career.

“I want to talk to young players about the whole aspect of being a golfer at a certain level,” he explained.

“Practical things like drills and practice but also physical training, nutrition, what tournaments to play in. How do you prepare for college? How do you get your name out there? And it’s working with parents as well, so they know what to do and how to support their kids.”

Old School! Taylor Funk Takes To Vlogging

In the era of players regularly posting Snapchat and Instagram stories that vanish in a day and lack much storytelling substance, Taylor Funk is going old school by producting, directing, starring in and editing his on video blog items. The aspiring PGA Tour pro and son of Fred Funk's efforts to post travelog style items was inspired by Casey Neistat and Jon Olsson, according to Golfweek's Brentley Romine, who profiled Funk's efforts.

Romine writes:

That led to the pro golfer editing his own photos and videos, even watching footage of instructions on how to edit on Adobe Premiere Pro. The cinematography process is something he realized he enjoyed. And then it hit him: He travels a lot and has picked up video-making skills, why not document his journey in golf?

“They have travel vlogs out there and I travel (a lot) anyway, so might as well just record it,” Funk said. “(I) thought there was a little niche for life to the PGA Tour and background behind that. I kind of thought of it a couple of months ago and decided to try it out, see if it catches on.”

Funk has already published three vlog posts (a second one from Jamaica and one from Disney World) that combine scenery shots, action footage and commentary into an edited product. He records the vlog entries via equipment that includes a point-and-shoot Sony camera, a GoPro and a drone.

Funk's already been told he's wasting his time but you have to admire the old school creativity and time put into telling the story of an aspiring pro.

The most recent video:

Hensby's Year Suspension Is Over A Refusal To Submit Sample

The rule is simple and the PGA Tour has done its part to uphold the sanctity of their drug testing process, but after seeing Mark Hensby's comments and the summary of his post-round frustration, I think we all understand. A little bit.

First, Hensby's defense, posted byBrian Wacker:

Statement from @HensbyMark on being suspended 1 year by @PGATOUR for violating anti-doping policy ... pic.twitter.com/4eF742KViv

— Brian Wacker (@brianwacker1) December 12, 2017

As Joel Beallnotes for GolfDigest.com, the defense is curious but 

Unfortunately for Hensby, the tour didn't buy his explanation, and was informed of the forthcoming suspension.

Hensby waited for his ruling to go public for about a month, and admittedly is somewhat shocked at how much attention it's received. He also doesn't blame the tour for its verdict.

“Don’t get me wrong, a year is a long time, but they have rules," he said

Video: Morgan Hoffmann On Morning Drive

Really powerful stuff, but what a credit to golf having someone this impressive sharing the story behind his unfortunate diagnosis and how he plans to battle it.

From today's edition of Morning Drive:

Perspective: Morgan Hoffmann On His Muscular Dystrophy Diagnosis

A powerful, emotional and inspiring read from PGA Tour player Morgan Hoffmann, who writes about learning of his diagnosis, his research into cures and the inspiration he's drawn from his efforts on behalf of childhood charity work.

You can read it here. (*Hoffmann will discuss his story on Morning Drive Tuesday in the 8:30 am ET portion of the show)

Even though the type of muscular dystrophy that I have doesn’t pose an immediate threat to my life, there is a good chance that it will shorten it. I don’t know when that will happen, because there’s no way to gauge the speed at which the disease will spread.

But please know this: This disease won’t keep me from achieving my dream of winning on the PGA Tour — and it shouldn’t keep anyone else from chasing their dreams either.

Inspired By Langer And McCarron, Scott Goes Long Again

Jimmy Emanuel reports that former Masters champion Adam Scott will be wielding the long putter, minus the now-banned practice of anchoring, as he tees it up in the Australian PGA (Golf Channel coverage starts Wednesday at 8 pm ET).

Scott says he was inspired to try after seeing the incredible results of seniors Bernhard Langer and Scott McCarron on the PGA Tour Champions. 

“… it was actually pointed out to me that this year they (Langer and McCarron) both recorded the best ever putting stats since stats have been kept. Both of them beat the old best. You know, I don't know if it's just a coincidence or if they had just a really good year, but maybe they've found the best way to putt,” Scott said.

Shark Talks Weakness Of Today's Players Inside 150, Why The Masters Can Make Players Use Anything They'd Like

We forget that when Greg Norman is not hawking golf carts and posting shirtless Instagram images, he can be a keen observer of the game.

In an interview with an unbylined Gant News writer filing for the CNN affiliate, Norman touches on Patrick Reed knowing so little about his clubs, LPGA players being more accurate with their drivers and many other topics.

But the two getting my attention involved what he sees as a big change in the prowess of today's players with a wedge approach (inside, gulp, 150 yards).

“If you look at today’s top players, their distance control inside 150 yards with a wedge is quite amazingly poor,” he said.

“These guys are 20ft short, 30ft left, 20ft long, their distance control is not consistent. It could just be the way they play — when it works, it works and when it doesn’t, it doesn’t.

“In our era, every time you’d put a pitching wedge in your hand, if you didn’t think you’d get the ball inside 10ft every time, or seven out of 10 times, you weren’t having any control over your golf game.”

I do see this in watching many of today's players compared to Norman's era and wonder what the exact cause is that makes Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson such standouts in this distance.

On the topic of distance, Norman agrees with others that this is about sustainability and Augusta National could be the solution.

“I remember the eighth hole at Augusta was nearly impossible to reach in two and now these guys are hitting irons in there,” said Norman who finished second three times at The Masters, perhaps most notably in 1996 when he blew a six-shot lead and Nick Faldo took the green jacket.

“Augusta can’t lengthen itself anymore but the tech is going to allow these players to keep hitting it longer year after year.

“If they sent out an invitation to the players and said ‘you’re going to use a gutter percha ball and a hickory shafted golf club, go get them worked out, practice before you get there, the best player will still win that week.

“The best players have that ability to make that adjustment no matter what they’re using.”