Bubba Only Playing TPC Scottsdale (T2, T2) For His Sponsors

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There are a few ways to look at Bubba Watson's pre-tournament comments about the TPC Scottsdale and Waste Management Open.

First, the comments. From Ryan Reiterman's GolfChannel.com report:

"I don't like it. I'm not going to PC it. I don't like it at all. I just mentioned why I'm here. I've got three beautiful sponsors that love it here."

Ping, Stance Socks and Oakley are all sponsors of Watson.

Watson said he was unhappy with the changes made to toughen up the course last year by Tom Weiskopf. Several fairway bunkers were moved to challenge even the longest hitters, like Watson, and as Phil Mickelson noted, a hole like the par-4 14th went from "a driver and a wedge birdie hole to driver, 4-, 5-iron and a very difficult par."

Sure, it's kind of unusual for someone to finish T2 the last two years and lament having to be there. But it's Bubba. This is a man who hated going to Paris. France.

But I welcome the brutal honesty and scratch my head at his disdain for a course he's played well at. But chatting with a few players last week at Torrey Pines, Watson is not alone in lamenting the direction TPC Scottsdale has taken in trying to limit long driving. Watson's "goofier and tougher" line was similar to what a few players said.

The stats back up the idea that Weiskopf's hope for limiting longer driving, even though the 2015 leaderboard was full of long drivers.

From Rob Bolton's always excellent PGA Tour Power Rankings:

• Weiskopf surmised that the thinking off the tee would evolve as a result of new, strategic bunkering. Indeed, the field of 132 was a quick study as its 61.38-percent clip for fairways hit was in line with history. However, it came at a cost since the average distance of all drives of 285.4 yards was down 10-15 yards from each of the previous four years, and this despite a layout stretched 114 yards to its highest-ever measurement of 7,266 yards. Still, it mattered little in determining the final leaderboard. Koepka ranked T47 for the week in fairways hit and still played his last 47 holes in bogey-free 14-under.

All of Bubba's comments from Golf Central:

Today In Millennialism: PGA Tour "To GoPro The Game Of Golf"

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I'm really looking forward to the onslaught of SkratchTV's GoPro's inside the PGA Tour ropes to capture the game for the only people who matter.

Judging by the efforts from the Waste Management pro-am, there will be moments but mostly reminders that golf is not snowboarding. Well, unless you include getting to watch a caddie rake a bunker from the rake's perspective (1:43 point if you are looking for what excites the only people who matter).

Daniel Roberts reports for Yahoo on the GoPro-SkratchTV-PGA Tour partnership that'll have hipsters taking their wide angle cameras inside the ropes during competition. Just not too close, hopefully.

Translation: Golf is going extreme. The sport sees potential to woo millennials with GoPro's dizzying, high-octane P.O.V. shots that the camera maker has traditionally brought to more extreme sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, BMX, and mountain biking. "We're intrigued," said Rick Anderson, the PGA Tour's executive vice president of media, in a press release, "to GoPro the game of golf."


What does that mean? For starters, expect to see the GoPro HERO cameras show up on the course—in as unobtrusive a way as possible. "We're not up to using drones yet, although there is a lot of discussion of that," says the Tour's senior vice president, Norb Gambuzza, in an interview with Yahoo Finance. "But there will be guys shooting with GoPros and doing things with camera placement and positioning that we have not done before. I think fans will look at it and say, 'Hmmm, what's going on over there?' We are always looking to push the envelope in how we shoot and distribute our content."

Here's that envelope-pushing moment from Wednesday:

Lexi Using The Force On The Greens

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Well, not exactly The Force, but Lexi Thompson is taking a time-tested practice drill onto the course in a quest to improve her putting.

Beth Ann Nichols of Golfweek.com on why Lexi is putting with her eyes closed. In tournament play. Which kind of makes Jordan Spieth's occasional flirtations with looking at the hole look like child's play.

“It feels like I’m burning a hole through the golf ball with my eyes (open),” said Thompson, who always has been more of a feel player.

Thompson said she putted with her eyes open once last week on a long putt at the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic and knocked it 10 feet past the hole. She then closed her eyes and drained the come-backer.

Mrs. Forman’s Demolition Request Is Withdrawn; A House Conversion Next?!

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The plans to demolish golf's original snack bar and one of its original 19th Hole's have at least been dropped.

But that doesn't change the sad possibility of Mrs. Forman's never returning as an eatery and pub serving the golfers of historic Musselburgh.

The Scotsman's Chris Hall on the withdrawal and plans to forge ahead in turning the nearly 200-year-old eatery off of Musselburgh's 4th green into a home.

Help! Golf's First Snack Bar And 19th Hole Facing Demolition

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Not to mention that Mrs. Forman's was home to the original and still greatest beverage cart girl.

It's with complete shock and sadness that I read this Golf Business News story (thanks Peter Flinn) on the October closing of Mrs. Forman's restaurant. Even worse than this lovely eatery closing (one that had been reimagined into a modern pub which also paid tribute to the buildings' incredible past), is the plan by a developer to level the 1822 structure behind Musselburgh's 4th green.

Originally helmed by Mrs. Marion Forman for nearly 20 years, this matronly saint of golf dining served golfers food and drink through the back window, or after their rounds. Many of the game's greats have dined and two of the very greatest even feuded there. While a few Bruntsfield establishments might be able to say they were older, Mrs. Forman's was certainly the first mid-round snack bar and it has been a bit of a miracle that this sweet spot had been reinvented to serve locals and honor the past. Scottish Golf History sums up this and many other moments from Mrs. Forman's past.

Longtime readers will know it was on my must stop list in my Golf Digest story and site video about an East Lothian pilgrimage. How I regret not having stopped in from the Scottish Open to The Open.

Another East Lothian Journal story by Sam Berkeley suggests that the building might be saved, perhaps based on some early feedback to a developer's plans for a car garage on this sacred site for golf.

A rethink is now on the cards, with the company considering retaining the pub building, which had been a local landmark next to Musselburgh Racecourse and Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club for many years.

Well, 194 years to be exact.

My YouTube video on the 4th green and Mrs. Forman's.

My collection of Musselburgh images in one video from a few years ago:

I will put together more images from Musselburgh that include Mrs. Forman's as I'll remember it. Because with a heavy heart, I'm afraid this golfing institution has served it's last meal. Hopefully something can at least be done to keep the structure intact as it's very much in play on the 4th hole of the links.

No Sugar Coates: Pettersen And Lee Paired Together

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The last time they played together the day ended in tears and controversy. So it's just a miraculous bit of algorithm writing which has led to the happy Solheim Cup reunion when first round play starts Wednesday in the Coates Golf Championship (remember, early start to avoid the Super Bowl Sunday window.)

Beth Ann Nichols reports for Golfweek.com.

“That computer, it’s amazing how it spits things out,” U.S. captain Juli Inkster said facetiously.

Pettersen and Lee were embroiled in controversy last September at the Solheim Cup in Germany when the Americans’ Lee scooped up her ball on the 17th green at St. Leon-Rot Golf Club. The Europeans’ Pettersen immediately told a rules official that the 18-inch par putt had not been conceded. Lee insisted that she heard otherwise.

Trick Shot Roundup: Dropped From A Paraglider, Over The Head And Kids Living In Trick Shot Harmony

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Loving the winter time blues inspiring all sorts of creativity, not that our desert dwelling friends are experiencing tough weather.

First, in the Don't Try This At Home Division, Russell Grove has his ball teed up by a paragliderer.


Trick shot veteran Mathias Scholberg and the strongest hands in golf are at it again:

👌

A video posted by Mathias Schjoelberg (@mathiasschjoelberg) on Oct 26, 2015 at 3:14pm PDT

International recording raconteur Matty has paired with up-and-coming artist Joris, who both got our attention with their shots hit just about anywhere in the world. Let's hear it for Generation Z!

No Green Room Syndrome For Golf's Youth Movement, Yet

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Two listens are worth your time if you love basketball and golf. Both have helped me better realize why golf's recent explosion of young talent is so impressive: Charles Barkley discusses the demise of fundamentally sound players driving down the quality of NBA basketball (with Bill Simmons), and Roy Williams venting about ESPN deeming "Green Room" caliber players and further damaging the already beleaguered college basketball.

As you know from reading here or hearing us talk on Morning Drive, the age minimum for males winning a significant pro golf tournament has seemingly dropped from late 20s to early 20's. A number of players have been able to seal the deal at an age that was almost an unthinkable winning age in pro golf not long ago.

No one knows the exact cause of this youth onslaught, but some mix of technology, coaching, physical fitness, junior golf, college golf, social media, worldliness and access to equipment has played a role. While this could be a phase and some of the hype is driven by marketers hoping to appeal to ad buyers desiring millennial-friendly enterprises, there does appear to be a paradigm shift. (Though I will always insist golf is at its best when players of varied ages populate a leaderboard.)

Contrast the state of golf with college basketball, where leading voices continue to lament the skill decline of young players.

Charles Barkley discusses this with Bill Simmons on last week's podcast. As with all things Barkley, it's a fantastic listen if you love college hoops or the NBA.

And then there was legendary coach Roy Williams, wheeling out countless golf analogies in his weekly North Carolina press conference before shifting to a rant about ESPN and their use of the "Green Room" label to discuss certain NBA Lottery-caliber players. Williams makes pretty clear that his sport is damaged by its television partner viewing their game merely as a stepping stone to the NBA.

Here is the short version related to the Green Room rant from The Big Lead, though some of you will enjoy (and question) his golf analogies in the full press conference.

I highlight this contrast between basketball and golf because,

(A) it should make you feel better about golf's youth movement if you were understandably uneasy about the rush to anoint young people the next great things, and

(B) it's a cautionary tale for golf if there becomes an insistence on pushing young players too far with silly Green Room-like labels instead of allowing the players to evolve naturally or accepting that not everyone matures quickly, and

(C) both listens are about a sport viewed as in great shape, yet here are two of the most respect minds in that sport openly lamenting the quality of play just as we've seen in golf. The difference is, golf's youth rush has been more organic and the star status earned by the players thanks to their playing prowess.

The Golf Gods Stick Up For Brandt Snedeker's Epic 69

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As the 2016 season progresses, Brandt Snedeker's final round 69 at Torrey Pines may be the barometer for great rounds going forward, particularly given how well he scored in brutal conditions.

It seemed like the overnight delay might allow Monday's finishers to have better conditions to hold off Snedeker's clubhouse score, but as John Strege notes, that didn't happen:

“At 10 o'clock, I think [the wind] almost hit on the nose and started blowing about 15 to 20 miles an hour,” Snedeker said. “And it blew a complete different direction than yesterday and made those last five holes play absolutely brutal.”

Walker bogeyed four of his final eight holes to drop out and K.J. Choi missed a long birdie effort at 18 to tie. The final-round scoring average was 77.9, nearly eight strokes worse than Snedeker’s score. Twenty-three of 71 players failed to break 80.

“I feel bad for them,” he said. “They got the raw end of the stick this morning. But that’s just the way golf goes.”

Some fun stats from the crack ShotLink gang putting Snedeker's comeback into perspective:

The highlights lack shots from the winner or of a crowd. Strange day indeed.

Forward Press: The Wasted, Dubai And Coates

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I'm not sure what which event will give traditionalists a bigger headache: the annual party that is the Waste Management Open or the Omega Dubai Desert Classic celebrating the 2-year anniversary of...you know...the commercial.

In this week's Forward Press I talked to Tommy Roy about NBC's plan for the TPC Scottsdale and Feherty's debut. Oh, and while elements of the old Phoenix Open give us all reason to cringe, I ask whether it's time for golf to just let it go?

Also, just in case the dreaded Omega ad does not resurface during the Dubai telecast, a handy link sits below in case you missed hearing will.I.am or want to sort out this week's complicated but fun TV golf viewing schedule.

Here it is.