ShackHouse 35: Tommy Roy And The Players

Live on tape from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida arrives our pre-Players Championship preview.

Plus, special guest Tommy Roy of NBC Sports discusses his incredible career, golf on television and golf in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Then Travis Fulton of Golf Channel Academy joins us to talk junior golf, PVB and the Players.

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 35 is here to listen to right now!

As always, ShackHouse is brought to you by Callaway, makers of the Epic Driver that is now part of Callaway's very groovy Customs program along with Mac Daddy's and Chrome Softs. Check it out.

Ten Things We Know Following The FedExCup's Renewal

FedEx is back through 2027! Algorithms rejoice!

Announced on CNBC's Squawk Box by Commissioner Jay Monahan--because where else does one announce such things--he proclaimed the biggest deal in golf history as the shipping company will continue to sponsor the FedExCup through 2027.

Steve DiMeglio reports for USA Today:

Financial terms of the deal, which was set to expire at the end of this year, were not revealed, but PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said “as we go forward, we expect the Cup and the payout to increase significantly.”

“For now we're just announcing the extension through 2027,” said Monahan, who took over his post Jan. 1. “As we went through this process, we've identified a number of ways for us to continue to enhance the magnitude and consequence of the FedExCup, and that's complicated.

#pgachampionshipmoving

"There's still some other moving parts that we need to get to before we'll be able to announce any additional changes.

“I’m really comfortable with where the Cup is and excited about the flexibility that this gives us on a long‑term basis.”

#pgachampionshipmoving

With various parts to be determined, we can still conclude a few things about today's news that figures to pad player pockets and ensure purse growth executive bonuses are on their way for years to come!

So here is what we know with FedEx renewing very, very late in the game (their current deal was expiring in September):

1. The PGA Championship is moving to May.

2. PGA Tour VP's can notify Marsh Landing that they'll be leaving at year's end to donate their bonus checks to a Pablo Creek membership.

3. The PGA Tour calendar will be contracting by a few events, including, most likely, one playoff event to get the entire thing finished by Labor Day. Sorry Boston, even if you put on a great event every year.

4. The Florida Swing will still be a giant mess thanks to Tim Finchem wanting to get away from Doral's owner and insisting Cadillac pay WGC prices and...

5. No-cut, limited field WGC events will remain while some regular stops seem almost certain to go.

6. PGA Tour employees still only get 5% off their FedEx/Kinko's orders despite mentioning to the clerk that they work for FedEx's biggest charitable recipient.

7. FedExCup points standing lists are with us for another decade.

8. Your FedEx delivery person, likely to not get a raise because of this massive expenditure, is more likelier than ever to toss your package at the doorstep.

9. If it took this long to get the deal done, hopefully FedEx asked for concessions such as a more interesting, sensible format that is a true PLAY-OFF.

10. The PGA Championship is moving to May.

GolfSixes Wrap: Shot Clock, Yes; Television Coverage, No

Saturday's coverage was all I could see of European Tour's Chief Executive Keith Pelley's bold, perhaps too-ambitious GolfSixes (won by Team Denmark). While I heard from several of you rightly offended by the excess of elements wheeled out--Pelley's effort to fund the event and the strong response of players to all of it, but in particular, the shot clock, will be the ultimate legacies.

With Sky Sports doing the TV coverage those of us watching in the States were able to see what a fine job the European Tour's IMG Media-produced coverage does on the announcing, storytelling and production fronts. On Saturday's telecast, I saw mostly putts for par while announcers worked relentlessly to somehow bring everything back to themselves. The combination made the telecast almost unbearable.

Iain Carter noted the announcing in his BBC take on the event.

For spectators, there was plenty to watch and hear. Some of the stuff pumped through the microphones and speakers missed the mark but an engaging atmosphere was generated.

To make it work better they should employ announcers who know their subject and are capable of identifying all of the players and match situations.

The Telegraph's James Corrigan says the reaction has been strong from a sponsorship point of view.

"It is understood that a number of potential investors have been in touch and the long-term view is to set up a series of GolfSixes events, which will run within the traditional schedule.

"[European Tour Chief Executive Keith] Pelley admitted beforehand that it was a gamble going into the £1  million event without a title sponsor and so having to dip into the Tour’s carefully protected coffers. But this is an experiment the Canadian believes will pay off. 'There’s no doubt this will be back,' Pelley said. 'We’re going to take what we’ve learnt and build on this. The key is to get the mix right, making it entertaining and preserving the integrity of the game.'”

Players raved, in part because of the better pace. Andy Sullivan said the shot clock worked, reports Alistair Tait for Golfweek.

“Personally, I just think they need to be stricter with it on the Tour,” Sullivan said. “This week, everyone was quicker because they knew as soon as it (the shot clock) went to zero, they were getting a shot penalty. Whereas in a normal event, you’ve got that little bit of leniency.”

Players who participated even took to Twitter to defend the event:

I understand Golf 6s has doubters, however read this articulate, strong and passionate response to doubter from @NickDougherty5 please RT pic.twitter.com/AK2bamLZpW

— Richie Ramsay (@RamsayGolf) May 7, 2017

Grayson Murray Is Back: Fires Veteran Caddie Mid-Round

Thanks to reader JD for Aaron Schoonmaker's Wells Fargo Championship report on the latest dust-up for PGA Tour rookie Grayson Murray. A Grade 1, All-Conference Twitter point-misser, Murray apparently got into an "altercation" with veteran caddie Mike Hicks, formerly of Payne Stewart fame.

Worse, Hicks has been on the bag for Murray at Q-School and Web.com Tour play. Not anymore.

Murray, and his caddie Mike Hicks, got into an altercation on the ninth hole Sunday in the final round at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington. Hicks then dropped the bag and handed his smock to a replacement caddie selected by Murray from outside the ropes.

According to sources, the replacement caddie was a friend of Murray named Alex.

The altercation came following a bogey on No. 8 that sent Murray to 1-over for the tournament. Murray then bogeyed Nos. 11, 15 and 18 to finish the event at plus-4.

Murray is scheduled to be part of Wednesday's first-time participants press gathering at The Players.

PGA Tour Doing "Comprehensive" Slow Play Review

Bob Harig kicks off Players week with an extensive ESPN.com profile of new Commissioner Jay Monahan.

Much of what Monahan says mirrors comments he made on ShackHouse (message discipline students take notice!), but one area we did not cover on the show stood out in Harig's piece. Monahan, to date, has brushed aside most pace of play talk. But this sounds like he's taking a harder look at the matter.

"As it relates to slow play, a lot has happened behind the scenes in the last 12 to 18 months. We've developed a Shotlink dashboard for our rules officials where you can at any point in time see where a player is relative to time-par, see where a player is relative to their own historical averages. And we disclose all that information to the players, and so the players are well aware. (Players are only given information about themselves, not other players.) They have access now.

"And we're in the midst of a comprehensive review on pace of play. It's not something that we just say it's our policy and that's how it's always going to be. We recognize that with technology, we can be far more intelligent about what's happening. Now what do you do with it? I would venture to say at this point we are taking a good hard look at it.''

Eric Trump: "We own our courses free and clear"

Mark Moore and Chris Perez report for the New York Post on Eric Trump's response to golf journalist James Dodson's story about the way Trump Golf finances projects.

From the Post report:

“We own our courses free and clear,” Eric said, insisting that the report was “categorically untrue” and “complete garbage.”

“We have zero ties to Russian investors,” he added.

Must Read: "Threat of stalkers, trolls makes social media complicated for LPGA players"

Beth Ann Nichols files a Golfweek.com eye-opener on the social media ramifications for LPGA Tour players.

From the security issues to sponsorship opportunities won and lost, it's a fascinating look into the risks players take in sharing more about their lives.

Just one of the many revealing bits from LPGA Tour Security Director Joe Funk, who says he spends about 60 percent of his time tackling social media related issues for players.

Funk also warns against players posting too much private information about their schedules. Geotags, for example, make public the real-time GPS location of a player’s whereabouts.

Though in the case of four-time winner Wie, something as innocuous as a Tweet about a sunrise practice session at the LPGA stop in Portland, Ore., a few years back turned alarmingly bizarre.

It didn’t take long for security to notice the man in the powder blue suit and floppy hat at 6 a.m. Turns out he took a bus from Iowa to Portland to propose to Wie.

“We took him to the hotel and put him on a bus back to Iowa,” Funk said. The man showed up once more in Rochester, N.Y., but hasn’t been heard from since.

Rory Teases New Driver On Verge Of Announcing Mega TaylorMade Deal

Golfweek's Forecaddie reported it and I can confirm: Rory McIlroy is becoming a member of Team TaylorMade this week. He'll be signing a huge money deal to play a full bag of their equipment. While adding another huge contract to the Taylor Made payroll will get plenty of attention, the signing is also a reminder that parent company Adidas is still attempting to sell the brand. Will signing Rory excite excite a buyer?

Rory's post...

Back on the range and ready for next week's @theplayerschamp 🏌️⛳️

A post shared by Rory McIlroy (@rorymcilroy) on May 7, 2017 at 12:00pm PDT

NY Times: "Chicago’s South Side Golf Courses in Line for a Tiger Woods Upgrade"

Julie Bosman of the New York Times went to Chicago to check out the proposed public-private partnership with the Chicago Park District that would see Jackson Park Golf Course and South Shore merged into a Tiger Woods redesign capable of hosting the BMW Championship. The alliance headed by Mark Rolfing needs to raise around $30 million to fund the Woods redo and operation once completed.

As usual and as should be expected (and understandable), the debaters seem pro-redevelopment, but not at the cost to affordability for those currently enjoying the facilities now.

On a recent morning at the 18-hole Jackson Park Golf Course, two employees lingered in the building near the first tee, where golfers could buy a $1 cup of coffee and a $6 Polish sausage at the snack bar.

Keith McGrue, 60, a South Side resident, said he had heard chatter from regulars who wonder what a Tiger Woods-designed course could bring.

“A lot of people have been playing here for 25, 30 years,” Mr. McGrue said. “The question becomes, Who benefits from the change? Who loses out and who wins? Most people that play here, especially the black folks, live in the neighborhood. This is our golf course.”

Alan Brothers, 71, who was playing at the South Shore course, said that he was hoping for the sort of growth that a new facility could bring to the South Side.

“This neighborhood has been in need of economic development for a very long time,” he said, pointing to the south, where several blocks away, four people were shot dead in a restaurant in March in an apparent act of gang retribution.

"Caddies aren't just for private clubs anymore."

Jason Scott Deegan at GolfAdvisor.com posts a pair of stories on signs of caddie programs popping up at more than just country clubs. While it's too early to say there is a renaissance taking place, the likely inclusion of caddies at Bandon Dunes as well as new caddie businesses like CaddieMaster, Looper and Premier Caddie, may keep the "upswing" going.

A couple of Deegan's numbers stood out:

•    Nearly 100 public/resort facilities and/or private clubs with some public access offer caddies in America. Since many of the 97 facilities I found feature multiple courses, that adds up to slightly more than 150 courses around the country where public golfers can hire caddies.
   
    •    21 states don't offer caddies at any public-accessible facility: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia.
  
    •    17 states offer caddies at more than one public-accessible facility: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin       

He also files a companion piece on the ten best destinations for caddies worth checking out.

Author James Dodson Claims Trump Family Acknowledged That Russians Financed Recent Golf Projects

The Guardian's Martin Pengally reports on the comments of Arnold Palmer biographer and longtime golf writer James Dodson, who told WBUR-FM during an interview that both President Donald Trump and son Eric explained their golf course financing source.

The conversation, which Dodson recounted as he considers himself someone who enjoyed his time playing golf with Donald Trump, took place three years ago.

“Trump was strutting up and down, talking to his new members about how they were part of the greatest club in North Carolina,” Dodson said. “And when I first met him, I asked him … you know, this is the journalist in me … I said, ‘What are you using to pay for these courses?’ And he just sort of tossed off that he had access to $100m.”

Eric Trump, the president’s younger son who is now executive vice-president of the Trump Organization, was also present.

Dodson continued: "So when I got in the cart with Eric, as we were setting off [to play], I said, ‘Eric, who’s funding? I know no banks – because of the recession, the great recession – have touched a golf course. You know, no one’s funding any kind of golf construction. It’s dead in the water the last four or five years.’

"And this is what he said. He said, ‘Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.’ I said, ‘Really?’ And he said, ‘Oh, yeah. We’ve got some guys that really, really love golf, and they’re really invested in our programs. We just go there all the time.'

Dodson also told a story about the late Arnold Palmer and his view of Donald Trump.

Make sure to check out the backstory of how Dodson got to hang out with the Trumps from the original interview with Bill Littlefield.

"I knew Trump was very interested in golf," Dodson says. "I knew he was buying up golf courses. His M.O. was to find a financially distressed property, buy it, keep it in bankruptcy, do a half-a-million-dollar renovation, fire the entire staff and hire a third back."

So James Dodson, who grew up a Republican but currently describes his political stance as "radical centrist," knew that. And maybe he thought that’s all there was to know about Donald Trump. But that was before they’d met. Which, as I’ve suggested, wasn’t Dodson’s idea.

"Can Sand Valley Make Wisconsin the Next Golfing Destination?"

The New York Times' Tom Redburn visited Sand Valley last fall and just when it sounded like he had visited too early, he makes clear he was taken with Mike Keiser's latest vision. To avid followers of the Keiser project, there won't be much new here. However, it's refreshing to read old style travel writing that takes you to a special place, gives you an idea what to expect, but doesn't give all of the surprises away.

He also gives this preview of what to expect from the resort going forward:

After the resort’s opening, the Coore/Crenshaw layout will be the only course fully available for play. But a second design, by David McLay Kidd, who created the first links at Bandon Dunes, is already well underway. A six-hole loop named Mammoth Dunes is expected to open for preview play this summer, and the full 18 holes might be ready as early as September.

Lisa and I walked the first hole and a couple others as the sun was setting, and the course looks like it will be as beautiful, and even more wide open, than Sand Valley. Mr. Coore and Mr. Crenshaw are also designing a short par-3 course, which should be ready in 2018.

“There’s already great golf in Wisconsin,” said Josh Lesnik, an executive at KemperSports, which will manage Sand Valley for the Keisers. “But soon golfers will look to Wisconsin as a place like Scotland or western Ireland, where they can go for a week and, within a short drive, play someplace special every day.”

Reed Goes Minimalist On The Greens, Leads Wells Fargo By One

Like Luke Skywalker turning off his targeting computer to destroy the Death Star--okay maybe that's a bit strong--Patrick Reed has set aside his green reading guide and is using the Force to putt his way into the Wells Fargo Championship lead.

Leading by one as Teryn Schaefer notes here in the PGATour.com Takeaway, Reed credits the switch to shelving overanalysis, reports GolfChannel.com's Rex Hoggard.

“I've done that pretty well all week,” he said. “I have my green-reading book with me just to kind of confirm, not really to go off of it, just to make sure I'm seeing what the book is saying and just kind of going from there.”

Reed's comments come at an interesting time given this week's discussion of possible governing body action against the green reading books and in particular the Strackaline approach that Josh Berhow explains here for Golf.com.

Jim Stracka sees the issue as a slow play issue more than anything else.

"Some of the older guys think, 'We already understand these greens. We don't need greens guides,' and all they see is people using books and it's a perception that they are actually playing slower," Stracka said. He believes golf should have a shot clock and allow players to do whatever they want before they play their ball, as long as it's done inside the time allotted. "My opinion on slow play is slow players are slow and fast players are fast. It doesn't really matter what type of technology they have."

PGA CEO Hopes President Trump Gets More Public Courses Funded

Kevin Casey sums up Ahiza Garcia's CNN Money interview with PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua who makes the case that President Donald Trump, who has said he sees golf as aspirational, will go all FDR on us and include WPA-style golf construction projects as part of future infrastructure rebuilding efforts.

“That’s a powerful story because those golf courses are open to everybody, they’re very affordable, and now we’re bringing golf’s best and one of golf’s major championships to those public venues year after year,” Bevacqua said. “We think that’s a powerful signal for the game.”