Roundup: Rahm's (Seemingly Special) Farmers Win

Maybe it's that we've been hearing what a supreme talent he is, or perhaps it's just how impressive Jon Rahm was in his post-round press conference. Either way, his back nine 30 over a host of players who vied for the 2017 Farmers title moves him to the seemingly endless list of emerging talents.

Now at world No. 46 after joining 91 spots (according to GolfChannel.com's Will Gray) and, reports CBSSports.com's Kyle Porter, Rahm is the fastest to make $2 million in PGA Tour history (passing Spieth who passed Woods)

He also charmed everyone with his infectious blend of class and enthusiam over winning at Torrey Pines, as noted in Teryn Schaefer's PGATour.com roundup that includes some fun behind-the-scenes footage of his trophy ceremony and celebration.

Doug Ferguson does a nice job telling Rahm's story in this AP look at Sunday's winner.

Golfweek's Jeff Babineau wrote this of Rahm:

Sunday evening, Rahm made for a pretty proud picture sitting next to that beautiful copper trophy of a Torrey Pine that he’d just earned. He loved the golf course before he ever saw it in person, reciting various Torrey Pines’ South highlights (such as John Daly’s bunker shot) he has viewed through the years. It’s an iconic place, and to him, winning here was extra special.

Mark Whicker had some fun anecdotes in this OC Register column, including this from caddy Adam Hayes:

“The college game is so good now,” Hayes said. “If you win there, you can win here, as long as you don’t change anything.’

The most fascinating anecdote may have been Rahm's belief that his excellent English was best shaped by listening to hip-hop. Steve DiMeglio reports this aspect of the Rahm story for USAToday:

The cadence of rap appealed to the latest winner on the PGA Tour as he memorized tracks, especially two of his favorite songs — Eminem’s Love the Way You Lie, and Lamar’s Swimming Pools.

“Memorizing rap songs in English … helped me out a lot to pronounce and actually understand what was going on and keeping up with people in conversation,” Rahm said following his breakthrough win Sunday in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. “You can look (those songs) up. They're good.”

For a deeper dive on Rahm, GolfChannel.com's Ryan Lavner chronicled Rahm's ASU career in 2015.

ShackHouse 25: Jon Rahm and the Rise of the Young Guns

On this week's show we kick around Jon Rahm’s impressive Farmers Insurance Open victory, one that may end up being a bigger deal than many casual observers might have guessed. We also evaluate Tiger’s performance, golf-related Super Bowl prop bets and the value of rivalries in golf. We wrap up by making some picks for the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

As always, you can subscribe on iTunes and or just refresh your device subscription page.

Here is The Ringer's show page.

Same deal with Soundcloud for the show, and Episode 25 is here to listen to right now!

Here is the Rahm press conference I mentioned in the show.

As always, ShackHouse is brought to you by The Ringer and kindly sponsored by Callaway, who have unveiled the new Great Big Bertha Epic driver, Microhinge Technology-fueled Odyssey putters and the lively Callaway Community.

Bring your love for golf talk online to the Callaway Community where likeminded golf nuts are:

--testing and review products before they are in stores
--getting custom fitting advice
--and…mixing it up with the ShackHouse hosts. This year we’ll be doing giveaways, answering questions and more at CallawayGolf.com/Community. It's free!

Farmers: A Golf Tournament With Not A Single Grandstand!

As was noted earlier in the week, the Farmers Insurance Open has made strides since nearly becoming extinct. But the operation, at least for the average paying customer, leaves much to be desired.

With a daily ticket price of $50 ($35 for senior), the event does not offer a single grandstand for general admission fans to sit on a green and watching play. Even worse, there is only a small 50-yard long area right of the 18th green for standing to watch action, leaving play to conclude, at a public golf facility, to finish in front of only corporate customers.

Compounding the problem: many of the corporate guests came dressed as empty seats, even on a gloroius Sunday with a stacked leaderboard. It was that way all week, but here's how it looked when the third to last group was approaching, not long after Jon Rahm's stunning eagle:

This might be moot if Torrey Pines had stadium mounding or even a green complex or two that were not raised surfaces. They do not and with all of the closing holes off limits to fans, this leaves surprisingly few places to comfortably watch action.

At the $50 general admission ticket price, the Farmers could be the worst tournament experience in golf. Growing the game, it will not.

The event obviously needs to generate revenue to pay off debts and surrounding holes 14 through 18 with corporate tents helps sell premium tickets and expensive packages. But at a public facility that the people of San Diego sacrifice for a few weeks, the anti-grandstand gesture seems in poor taste. And given the game's need to add new fans and keep old ones coming around, is it too much to give people a place to sit down once in a while?

The 16th green is off general admission limits to fans as well.

Some Saturday Farmers Open Storylines To Watch...

The pairing taylor made for excitement fizzled: Tiger, world No. 1 Jason Day and Dustin Johnson are gone after an uninspired two days. However, the Farmers Insurance Open from sunny Torrey Pines still offers some intrigue and the chance for some young talents to have a breakthrough weekend.

As for Tiger, the performance paled compared to past play here, yet as Jeff Babineau notes for Golfweek.com, it was one stretch that ultimately prevented a chance to play on the weekend.

Woods will have the weekend off in SoCal due to a sloppy four-hole stretch on the South Course on Thursday that he played in 5 over par. He went from 1 under through 11 holes to 4 over through 15, and on a course that yields very little in return, barring a low round in tough conditions Friday, he basically was done.

Jason Sobel at ESPN.com considers whether Woods can take a page from his geezer peers Brady, Williams, Williams, Nadal and Federer.

It was Woods' 16th missed cut as a pro. That and other "By The Numbers" from GolfChannel.com are here.

I wrote for Golfweek about Ollie Schniederjans clicking with his ultra low ball flight. The ex-Georgia Tech star is two back of leader Justin Rose and one behind the red hot Adam Hadwin and defending champion Brandt Snedeker.

Bryson DeChambeau is one player not staying around long this week after coming from the PGA Show and getting in very little practice. Throw in squabbling with the USGA over his putter and all sorts of other fun insights, and, well, he's not dull. Ryan Lavner reports for GolfChannel.com:

Golf Channel goes live at 10 am PT and CBS takes over around noon ET with the traditional half hour graphics changeover.

PGA In May Could Come Down To Data Points

Rex Hoggard considers the pros and cons of schedule changes that would annually send The Players to March in exchange for a May PGA and a pre-labor day FedExCup. That deal is on the table from PGA Tour Coommissioner Jay Monahan, but whether the PGA of America pulls the trigger will come down to golf courses and "data points."

Hoggard points out the big agronomic issues with northern courses that host four of the next seven PGA Championships.

“When you run a major championship it starts and ends with the quality of the golf course, it starts and ends with the quality of the competition,” Bevacqua said.

But for every Hazeltine, Whistling Straits and Oak Hill, there will be southern courses that could replace them in May. So won't this, like most things, come down to the numbers?

Bevacqua explained it’s not a single factor that could see the PGA move to a new spot on the calendar, but instead a collection of data points – from golf course availability to how a May vs. August date could impact TV viewing.

“What would it mean to the quality of the broadcast, what would be a more powerful timeframe to broadcast the PGA?” Bevacqua asked hypothetically.

Since the PGA is now usually the second highest-rated major, August would seem more logical. But clearly there is a piece in this puzzle luring the PGA to consider a move to May and Mothers Day weekend. Only time will tell what that piece is.

Tiger's First Official Round Back: Fades To 76

The crisp ball-striking evident in Tiger's pro-am round did not show up Thursday. The follow-throughs looked a bit less natural compared to the back nine pro-am shots I saw Wednesday. Even the club slam on five looked ragged (reps!). It all suggests what few want to accept: an athlete who has been through too many back surgeries will have days that are better than others as he mounts his most daunting career comeback yet.

Given that Torrey Pines is wet, the weather cool and the pace slow, it was easy to see how he never gained much momentum during a Farmers Insurance Open first round 76.

Yes, a round ten shots worse than Adam Hadwin's South Course low 66 may look dreadful for a legend who has dominated at Torrey South, but Tiger's first official round back produced enough highlights and crowd buzz to hopefully buy some patience for the 41-year-old.

Tiger, however, was positive after the round, sensing he fought, notes John Strege at GolfDigest.com:

“I fought my tail off out there,” he said. “I fought hard. It was nice to put together a round when I wasn’t hitting it that great early."

The South Course can’t be played effectively from the rough in the aftermath of a series of storms and an unusually wet winter that have left it gnarly. Woods, who hit only four of 14 fairways, demonstrably proved that. He hit only nine of 18 greens in regulation.

Torrey South was a step up in offering a challenge, notes Bob Harig at ESPN.com.

His eight victories here came with him in top form. At 7,600 yards and playing longer due to wet conditions, it is a stern test for those in good form. It was also cool, causing Woods to go from a sweater vest to a sweater as the round progressed.

It didn't help that the round took 5 hours and 20 minutes; No. 1-ranked Jason Day shot 73 and No. 3 Dustin Johnson had 72 playing with Woods.

Tiger Tracker, an emerging GolfChannel.com talent, felt the round could have been worse if not for Tiger's excellent front nine scrambling. And his random observations from the round are quite fun.

Tiger drilled a fan off the 13th tee. Like, smoked him. Left a mark on the kid’s neck. Surprised I couldn’t see the Bridgestone logo. The kid stood behind the ropes, greedily rubbing his hands together, expecting a signed goodie. Only problem: He never spoke up. Tiger didn’t know. At least he got to take an illegal photograph of Tiger hitting his second shot.

Ryan Lavner for GolfChannel.com:

And, no, not entirely unexpected. Woods has played only four competitive rounds in the past 522 days. Torrey’s South Course was the second-hardest on Tour last year. Should we have anticipated anything different?

“Joey [LaCava] kept telling me all day today, ‘Just be patient with it,’” Woods said of his caddie. “I didn’t quite smile at him a few of those times he said that. But I was fighting out there trying to get my ball around the golf course and score.”

Jeff Babineau summed the round up this way for Golfweek.com:

On a long and difficult course, Tiger Woods simply got the icy reminder that golf doles to so many of us. This can be a cold, difficult and maddening game. He beat only 19 players in the field.
He’ll be back for more tomorrow, and from here, it will only get better.

Tiger finished things off with a birdie, at least:

His post round interview courtesy of GolfChannel.com.

Woods, Jason Day and Dustin Johnson tee off Friday at 9:30 am PT on Torrey Pines North's 10th tee.