Whew!? There Won't Be Any 59s At Torrey Pines

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We've been enjoying much-needed rains here in Southern California, much to the chagrin of media members hoping to get a crack at Riviera Monday. Tiger Woods will be there to kick of his foundation's operation of the Genesis Open and hoped-for rejuvenation of a historic PGA Tour stop.

Woods then heads to San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open where rough has been high in recent years, and, according to this John Strege item at GolfDigest.com, is on steroids again. Mowers hit the thick stuff last Thursday but almost surely haven't been able to hit the overseeded ryegrass.

While I'm no fan of rough like that and fear it'll send some of the starpower home early, the tall thick stuff may arrive at a good time. Though I sit back with popcorn and a Coke watching the lamenting of 59s due to unregulated equipment, the conversation invariably misses some key points in the distance debate. Which is why this week's Torrey Pines reset, normally something to lament on Rees Jones' lamentable anti-strategic golf renovation, may land at the right time.

Not that I ever discourage questioning how the USGA and R&A have let this happen, but for this to be constructive to all, we have to offer solutions instead of bemoaning displays of skill.

We know this:

--Instruction and Trackman have made players better at repeating swings, repairing flaws and fitting equipment.

--Conditioning of courses has never been better, impacting scoring (though the suggestion that tighter mowing heights leads to more roll was nicely debunked).

--Equipment has never been better made or more effective for all skill levels, giving the players instruments to attack courses like never before.

--Course setup has become more fluid, democratic and interesting in recent years, leading to some thrilling moments and less par-protection.

--Players and caddies have rangefinders and other tools to better understand courses.

A 59 is still a magical score, especially on a par-72 course (13 birdies by Hadwin!). Lamenting these rounds hurts the cause of those pushing for a competition ball since a 59 is an incredible athletic achievement aided by human progress on many fronts.

Loyal longtime readers who know how long I've been venting about this know that the only genuine solution is a ball that better fits select courses. Because the governing bodies are not going to tell manufacturers to stop innovating and even when they do, the companies are too good at what they do. Players are not going to get less skilled and superintendents, caddies and instructors are not going to be getting worse at their jobs.

A ball that simply allows course architecture to ask a few more questions of players--in the form of longer approach shots to greens and more drivers off the tees--would do wonders for the pro game. Furthermore, I suspect elite players would actually enjoy employing such a ball at select classics--assuming they are real competitors and not placing themselves above the game. Such an introduction should also usher in a larger ball that goes longer and helps beginning and senior players enjoy the game more.

I point this out because harvesting rough, while helping to tamp down the current infighting and grousing over great achievements, does little to advance the best long term cause. Keep that in mind this week!

Video: Amateur Makes Careerbuilder Hole-In-One

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Mercifully for David Colby, the NBC/Golf Channel crew was recording so he could see his ball go in the hole after not watching. He's playing No. 17 at the PGA West Stadium course in the Careerbuilder Challenge final round:

Hadwin (59): “I was thinking about it. I knew exactly where I was."

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Golfweek's Dan Kilbridge with some of the fun comments from Adam Hadwin following his 59 at La Quinta Country Club. Hadwin takes a one stroke leading over Dominic Bozzelli into Sunday's Careerbuilder Challenge final round.

Hadwin's 13-birdie, no bogey round was played in a zone of sorts, but Hadwin knew what he was doing. His quote is fun:

“Everybody talks about kind of they were in a zone and I think that’s what happened out there,” Hadwin said. “I was thinking about it. I knew exactly where I was. I knew exactly what I needed to do. It just didn’t seem to matter.”

The 29-year-old Canadian knew he had a decent chance after a birdie on No. 11, which began a streak of five straight birdies on the back nine and followed a stretch of six straight on the front.

“After hole 11, I said to my caddie (Joe Cruz), ‘We need four more,” Hadwin said. “I’m not sure he knew what to respond to me at that point, because he knew I was playing well and he knew that clearly I was thinking about it. But we just went about our business and kept making putts.”

Kevin Casey with other notes from the day and another great quote from Hadwin about shaking over the final putt.

Mike Johnson with the clubs Hadwin used to shoot the 9th sub-60 score in PGA Tour history.

The final up and down for 59:

IOC Expresses Concern Over 2020 Olympic Golf Venue

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The Guardian's Justin McCurry reports that while the IOC has "reportedly expressed concern" and has contacted the International Golf Federation over Kasumigaseki's male-only and no-Sunday play membership policy.

The club's GM told McCurry that they are prepared to review their policies if asked by the IOC. However, a non-profit launched last year to "modernize" the game in Japan is calling for the event to move.

The Japan Golf Council, a non-profit organisation launched last year with the aim of modernising the game, is lobbying to have the tournament moved from Kasumigaseki to Wakasu Golf Links, a public course near Tokyo Bay. Wakasu was initially proposed as the 2020 golf venue, but was replaced by Kasumigaseki in early 2013, several months before Tokyo was chosen to host the Games.

The council’s vice chair, Yutaka Morohoshi, said staging the golf competition at Kasumigaseki made no sense given its distance from Tokyo, and the availability of an alternative course that could be used by members of the public after the Olympics had ended.

“The Olympics is all about legacy, but we won’t have that if the golf tournament is played at a private club,” Morohoshi told the Guardian. “The ban on women at Kasumigaseki is certainly a problem. It runs contrary to what the IOC stands for in spirit.”

Established in 1990, Wakasu was designed by Ayako Okamoto and is 6881 yards with a tiny 20-stall, 200-yard deep driving range. Judging by the aerial, it's a fantastic location severely landlocked and design deficient to handle the competition.

Whicker On Scoring, Distance And A Changing Game

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Mark Whicker talked to players at the Careerbuilder Challenge about Justin Thomas' record scoring in Hawaii and what the increase in 59s all means for the game.

Many things stood out, so I'm just clipping the most intriguing. The entire piece is worth your time.

From Jason Dufner:

“Larry Nelson won the U.S. Open at Oakmont (in 1993),” Dufner said. “He told me that on the first hole, he’d hit four-iron into the green. Last year I hit pitching wedge three days, sand wedge the other day.”

William McGirt has many great insights about distance and Trackman.

In 1998, John Daly led the tour by averaging 298 yards. Last year, there were 27 pros who topped 300. This year, Smylie Kaufman leads with an impossible average drive of 322.

Any course with mundane par-5s is helpless. Luke List is already 50-under-par on the long holes this season.

“People will say the golf ball doesn’t go any farther, but they’re wrong,” McGirt said. “The drivers can’t get hotter. The ball is the only common denominator with all the shots.

“They’ve basically taken an old two-piece, hard-brick ball and made it spin. That benefits the bombers. They can get to the core and compress it better than anyone. I can’t do that, but I have a ball I know I can control.”

Oh boy, blaming the ball. That'll get you sleeping with Luca Brazi and the fishes!

But as I noted this week on Golf Central (below), Trackman is now an underrated element in the overall improvement of player skill and distance.

“It detects a flaw before it gets out of control,” McGirt said. “If your swing is a degree and a half steeper than it should be, you can fix it before it becomes four degrees. You look at it and scratch your head and say it looks the same, but it’s not. Video doesn’t pick everything up.

“Because of this, I don’t have to have my teacher (John Tillery) with me all the time. I can hit 40 shots and e-mail them, and he can pull the numbers and say, here’s what the problem is. But some guys get caught up in it. They might start playing numbers instead of playing golf.”

John Feinstein and I discussed this very topic on Golf Central, including the Trackman component in today's improved scoring.

NYT: Sam Saunders Reflects On His Grandfather

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The New York Times' Karen Crouse catches up with Sam Saunders, who had a dreadful fall when he lost both of his grandfathers while also having to withdraw from the Web.com Tour Playoffs to care for his ill child, Ace.

But Saunders is back playing the Web.com Tour and able to reflect with great strength about what must be such a tough topic: his unexpected last call with grandfather Arnold Palmer.

The entire story is excellent and worth your time, but this stood out:

He was caring for Ace on Sept. 25 when Kelly reminded him to check in with Palmer, who was in a hospital in Pittsburgh preparing for surgery.

Saunders knew his grandfather would appreciate hearing from him. Since the death in 2003 of Mark McCormack — Palmer’s friend and business manager, who slipped into a coma after going into cardiac arrest while having minor surgery at a dermatologist’s office — Palmer had stubbornly resisted any medical procedure that required anesthesia, including hip replacement.

“For a guy who seemed so tough, he was scared of that,” Saunders said.

Palmer answered on the first ring, and their brief conversation sounded no alarms with Saunders, who said he was caught completely off guard when his father called a few hours later to relay the news that Palmer, 87, had died.

Palmer's "Sweetest Win Ever" Came At The Hope

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Really fun deep dive read here from Jim McCabe, in a special to PGATour.com, writing about Arnold Palmer's final PGA Tour win.

It came at a special Bob Hope Classic that brought Jack Nicklaus to the desert and one that Palmer would call "the sweetest ever."

A teaser:

Palmer and Nicklaus were together on the tournament’s eve to break ground on a golf course project they were co-designing (now Ironwood Country Club), but they were miles apart in Round 1 at Indian Wells.

In the Los Angeles Times, the great Jim Murray called Palmer and Nicklaus “the prime minister and emperor of golf,” but it didn’t appear as if they were competitors any more, at least not until Palmer outscored Nicklaus, 66-70, in the second round at Tamarisk Country Club.   
     
That left Nicklaus at 134, three ahead of Palmer and a Monday qualifier named Allen Miller. Joked Miller: “What are all those unknowns doing up there with me?”   
     
“The Hope” was competing for space in the L.A. Times with the legendary Steve Prefontaine, who beat Marty Liquori in the mile at the Times Indoor Games.

50 Years Ago This Week A Club Pro Won On The PGA Tour

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Granted, he was the legendary Tom Nieporte of Winged Foot, but as Tom Cunneff writes for Golf.com, he is believed to be the last legitimate sweater-folder to beat the flatbellies.

Cunneff writes of the 1967 Bob Hope Classic:

After all, Nieporte wasn’t even a tour pro when he won the Hope at age 37. He was the head pro at Piping Rock Golf Club on Long Island when he outplayed the likes of Palmer, Nicklaus, and Floyd at La Quinta Country Club. After opening with a 76 that left him 10 shots off the lead, Nieporte carded three 68s to trail defending champ Doug Sanders by one shot heading into the fifth and final round. With an estimated 30,000 spectators on hand enjoying a perfect day in the desert, Sanders was still a stroke ahead after nine, but Nieporte’s 25-foot birdie putt on 11 pulled him even. Another birdie on 18 from 12 feet gave him a one-shot lead at 11 under par. Playing a hole behind Nieporte, Sanders had a chance to tie him on 18 and force a playoff, but his long birdie attempt just missed.

Twitter...Give And Take Files: Rory And Brandel At It Again

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They last manspatted almost a year ago over the purpose of Rory's conditioning work and given the recent injury news, it's a tad surprising McIlroy is pushing back at Chamblee's assertion that the best players hit down on the ball.

Maybe Chamblee's Twitter reminder upon this week's injury news started the latest squabble?

Anyway, McIlroy counters that they hit up on the ball and given what Trackman tells us, and the way Rory drives the ball, his pushback Tweets made sense.

Of course, this is reminscent of the days when Jack Nicklaus used to feud with Jim Flick over backswing footwork, or when Lee Trevino once nearly came to blows with Harvey Penick over the true meaning of Take Dead Aim. Just kidding!

For The Win's Luke Kerr-Dineen on the latest flare up.

Rory's measured reply to the photo analyzed by Chamblee:

McIlroy's young online army declared an 8&7 win and came through with some fun GIFs. This took the prize: