2017: Golf's Most Underrated And Overrated Stories

I enjoyed the nominations by the SI/Golf.com gang in discussing the most underrated and overrated stories from the past year.

I'm not entirely sure verdict is in on Donald Trump's golf impact, as Bamberger notes in his most overrated category, but I certainly agree with his most underrated:

The most underrated story was Spieth's Open win. In a lifetime of watching golf, I never saw anything like it, and the aftermath — how he and Kuchar handled it — was every bit as good.

Sens: I don't know if it was overrated but it got more play than warranted. Four young Tour pros go on a spring break trip together and film themselves yucking it up in the tropics. Sorry, but I couldn't have been more bored. You could take your pick of underrated stories from the women's game, because the women's game rarely gets the attention it deserves. But the ups and downs of Lexi Thompson's season — her run-ins with the rules; her rise up the rankings — have been compelling theater.

Passov: I'll nominate Bernhard Langer's performance on the PGA Tour Champions circuit as the most underrated story of the year. He posted 16 top 10s in 22 events with seven wins and three majors — at age 60!

A more complicated case of overrated/underrated is raised by Joe Passov in suggesting the Erin Hills criticism was overrated. But I think we are talking about different things here (venue vs. scoring).

For overrated, I'll go with the incessant second-guessing and criticism about Erin Hills as a U.S. Open venue. So it played easy. That's what the weather dealt and how the USGA set it up. Honestly, it was a terrific, thought-provoking modern design, whether or not it played precisely like a links. There were no controversies with the greens, except perhaps the tiny, tilted putting surface at the short par-3 9th.

I'd agree the second guessing of the scoring is overrated given that in the long term, few will remember the final number posted by Brooks Koepka. Unless...the narrowing at Shinnecock Hills in 2018 was a response to Erin Hills and backfires.

"Year after unveiling, what’s latest on Tiger Woods’ Chicago golf project?"

Not much, appears to be the answer from Teddy Greenstein.

In this Chicago Tribune update, Greenstein speaks to developer Mike Keiser, a consultant and donor for the rebuilding of two rundown muni's into a Tiger Woods redesign complimenting the Obama Presidential Libary.

While Keiser blames bureacrats and red tape, the ambitious design sounds like the main culprit.

But as Keiser knows, building a golf course on the South Side is way more complicated than doing it in rural Wisconsin. Here’s why:

•This isn’t merely adding a course. Golfers loyal to the Jackson Park and South Shore courses fear something will be taken from them. Or made more expensive.

•The construction of an underpass at 67th Street to link the properties could cost around $25 million. Other expensive roadwork needs to be done so golfers no longer have to dodge cars between holes. And the shoreline might have to be fortified.

•Some residents are wary of traffic issues during construction and the relocation of a nature sanctuary.

Jack Won't Be Watching Tiger Or Any Golf Unless By Accident

I think it's fair to say Jack Nicklaus has watched enough golf in his life that he's earned the right. Still, as someone who has many business interests in the game and has lobbied for things that make golf a healthier sport, his comments prior to the PNC Father/Son/Stepson/Grandson/Step-Grandson Challenge did not exactly inspire confidence.

Golfweek's Kevin Casey with the Golden Bear's comments when asked if he's doing to be watching Tiger's comeback.

“I’m not interested at all,” Nicklaus said.

Tell us how you really feel, Jack.

OK, but don’t take that to mean the Golden Bear has suddenly grown callous here. Nicklaus is not indifferent to the success of Woods, who is still chasing the Golden Bear’s record of 18 majors. The 77-year-old clarified that he does hope the best for Woods: just don’t expect him to be a TV viewer … for any golf for that matter.

“Do I wish (Tiger) well? Yeah, but I’m not interested in watching him,” Nicklaus said. “I’ve watched him play golf for 20-something years, why would I want to go watch more? I don’t watch anybody play golf.”

Video: Jack [Nicklaus] Still Doesn't Miss On 18

There is something oddly reassuring in Jack Nicklaus still teeing it up at 77 and still exuding a little of the confidence that made him the greatest ever.

While he and grandson GT Nicklaus were not contending for the PNC Father-Son, you have to love seeing Jack determined to clutch up on the last hole. Still.

Gary Williams talked to GT and Jack after the round and it's an enjoyable chat.

Jack Nicklaus Sounds Like He's On Board With Governing Body "Variable Distance" Option

The A Position's Steve Pike was present when Jack Nicklaus christened The Legend Course today at The Club at Ibis in West Palm Beach, Fla., and the Golden Bear spoke about the distance issue.

While this is hardly news, Mr. Nicklaus did seem to be echoing the USGA's concept of a variable distance ball.

“We ought to rate golf courses,’’ Nicklaus said. “Rather than going back and spending millions of dollars changing golf courses, golf courses should be 100 percent, 90 percent, 80 percent or 70 percent.’’

If golf’s ruling bodies (primarily the U.S. Golf Association) don’t want to roll back the golf ball, he said,  “they need to go to all the golf associations and say ‘This is our criteria to rate your golf courses.’’’

A golf ball would be rated to fit the corresponding course and could be a way to save some older, shorter courses.

“Take an old course that 5,800 yards. That doesn’t challenge anybody. But if you made that a 70 percent golf course and have a 70 percent ball for it, it would play just difficult as (The Legend) from the back tees. “If you want to play an 80 or 100 percent ball, go play it.  All you’re doing is making the course play shorter and faster.’’

Video: 75-year-old claims more than 80 aces...

Dan Decando claims he's made 80 aces and the 75-year-old's claims were considered by Golf Channel.

Longtime Howard Stern contributor Artie Lang narrates this terrific 10-minute, Yaron Desalko-helmed piece from Kory Kozak's feature department, including the a look at the mathematical impossibility of Descando's achievement that is put at 1 out of 1 trillion, with a better chance of getting 20 straight royal flushes.

Here's the piece, carve out a few minutes for it. You'll be entertained:

LPGA In 2018: 34 Events In 14 Countries...

And back again in LA and San Francisco with $68.75 million in purses, adding big markets and better flow on the travel front, notes Golfweek's Beth Ann Nichols.

She writes:

Two events are gone from the ’17 – Lorena Ochoa’s event in Mexico City and the Manulife in Canada – but stops in Shanghai, Los Angeles and San Francisco have been added.

“Perhaps the most important aspect of our schedule is the consistency – continuing to deliver strong playing opportunities both in North America and around the world, while growing overall purse levels every year,” said LPGA commissioner Mike Whan.

Twenty-three new title sponsors have been added to the LPGA portfolio in the last six years, including South Korean skincare company L&P Cosmetic, which will sponsor the new event at Lake Merced outside San Francisco. Swinging Skirts hosted an event at Lake Merced from 2014 to ’16 but now sponsors the LPGA’s event in Taipei.

The return of San Francisco to the schedule helps build a strong West Coast Swing. Following a week off after the ANA Inspiration, the tour returns to Oahu for the LOTTE Championship April 11-14 before heading to the greater Los Angeles area for the inaugural HUGEL-JTBC Championship. The host club will be announced in 2018.

I don't know the proposed LA venue but let us all pray that the former Industry Hills, now Pacific Palms, will not be visited for a third time. No one deserves that. No one.

LPGA Commish Mike Whan explained the schedule thinking to Golf Central's Ryan Burr here.

And ratings are in for 2017, For Immediate Release:

NEARLY 22 MILLION VIEWERS TUNED IN TO NBC SPORTS’ COVERAGE OF THE LPGA TOUR IN 2017, MOST-VIEWED SEASON EVER FOR NBC SPORTS

NBC Sports’ LPGA Tour Coverage Ties 2013 for Most-Watched Year Since 2011

NBC and Golf Channel Boast Top-6 Most-Watched Women’s Golf Telecasts in 2017

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 13, 2017 – Beginning with the dramatic playoff finish at the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic in January and concluding with Lexi Thompson winning the $1 million Race to the CME Globe, nearly 22 million viewers tuned in to LPGA Tour coverage across Golf Channel and NBC in 2017. This makes 2017 the most-viewed LPGA Tour season across NBC Sports since Golf Channel joined the NBC Sports Group in 2011. Additionally, 2017 tied 2013 as the LPGA Tour’s most-watched year across NBC Sports since 2011. Coverage drew an average of 221,000 viewers per telecast in 2017 (+24% vs. 2016), according to data released by The Nielsen Company.

NBC SPORTS GROUP CLAIMS TOP-6 MOST-WATCHED WOMEN’S GOLF TELECASTS IN ‘17

For the first time ever in televised women’s golf, Sunday’s final round of the RICOH Women’s British Open (Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017, 1.1 million viewers) delivered the most-watched and highest-rated women’s golf telecast of the year. NBC’s Saturday (Day 2) coverage of the Solheim Cup in August placed second with 968,000 viewers, followed by Sunday’s Solheim Cup coverage on NBC with 946,000 viewers. Golf Channel’s live coverage of Sunday’s final day of the Solheim Cup drew 795,000 viewers, the most-watched women’s golf event on cable in eight years.

Rank

Network

Event

Day

Avg. Viewers P2+

1

NBC

RICOH WOMEN'S BRITISH OPEN

Sunday

1,100,526

2

NBC

SOLHEIM CUP

Saturday

968,202

3

NBC

SOLHEIM CUP

Sunday

946,387

4

NBC

KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Sunday

839,983

5

NBC

RICOH WOMEN'S BRITISH OPEN

Saturday

808,578

6

GOLF

SOLHEIM CUP

Sunday

795,000

Rules Simplification: Be Careful What You Wish For, Pros

As we near the USGA and R&A rolling out their extensive, exciting and bold simplification of the 2019 Rules of Golf, Ryan Herrington at Golf World makes a shrewd point worth checking out: be careful what you wish for elite players.

After all, simpler rules mean you better know them!

With so many sections and subsections and sub-subsections, if you broke a Rule because you didn’t know it was a Rule to begin with, you often were forgiven for making an honest mistake. With a modernized Rules book, that defense becomes far more flimsy.

Indeed, if the Rules are going to be easier to understand, then golfers are going to be expected to genuinely understand them. In particular, golfers who make a living playing the game.

In that respect, the modernized Rules may well present a new set of challenges when they finally go online on New Year’s Day 2019.

American Airlines, Other Companies Stepping Up To Save Colonial

Nice reporting work by the Star-Telegram's Sandra Baker,who has obtained a series of communications between community leaders working to save Fort Worth's iconic PGA Tour stop.

American Airlines is the primary savior, though other companies may help fill the void expected to be created by Dean & Deluca. These are of note:

Likewise, XTO Energy spokesman Jeremy Eikenberry said: “We continue to have discussions with organizers of the tournament about a potential co-sponsorship.”

And, AT&T is considering being a co-sponsor. In a Nov. 28 email to councilman Brian Byrd, Fred Maldonado, an AT&T regional vice president of external and legislative affairs, said AT&T Chairman Randall Stephenson was reviewing a $2 million sponsorship request.

Longtime Dallas golf writer Bill Nichols noted this on learning the news:

It’s also gratifying to see that officials were able to get it done when the PGA Tour essentially drop-kicked them to the curb.

R.I.P. Ed Lee, Golf-Loving SF Mayor

What a shame to lose the gregarious sports (and golf) loving San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee to a heart attack. The man loved his golf, was instrumental in numerous events coming to the Bay Area and was looking forward to more. I'll never forget chatting with him during the 2012 U.S. Open as he walked inside the ropes, watching the golf as an avid fan.

The SF Chronicle's Ron Kroichick remembers the Mayor in two pieces, including one on Lee's love of sport, and this one on his love of golf.

Lee’s death early Tuesday morning stunned the Bay Area golf community. Lee, an avid player, was instrumental in bringing the 2015 Match Play Championship and 2020 PGA Championship to Harding Park.

“It’s a huge loss for golf in San Francisco, no question,” Dillon said. “We wouldn’t have the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park without him. He was a big supporter of the First Tee and a big supporter of women’s golf. … I’m just in shock.”

Lee also worked on the Presidents Cup, held at Harding in October 2009. Lee was city administrator at the time, and he met Presidents Cup Executive Director Tom Clark for breakfast nearly every Friday in the 18 months preceding the event.

The Mayor was a strong supporter of saving Alister MacKenzie's embattled Sharp Park design as well.

San Francisco Public Golf lost a great friend.

Rest in Peace Mayor Ed Lee, and thank you for all you did. #SaveSharpPark pic.twitter.com/cF2OYAQIUu

— SF Public Golf (@SFPublicGolf) December 12, 2017

Nathaniel Crosby Is The Next Walker Cup Captain

Here's one I bet you didn't see coming...but congrats to the former U.S. Amateur Champion on his role at Royal Liverpool in 2019 and, most likely, his home course Seminole in 2021.

John Strege at GolfDigest.com had the news first, and the call apparently nearly killed Crosby!

"I haven't had a great moment in 35 years, haven't won a tournament in 35 years," Crosby said. "So when Diana Murphy [the USGA president] called me, I was extremely surprised. For someone that has something to say about everything, I was taken aback. I had a serious loss of breath when she told me I would be the next Walker Cup captain."

From Golfweek's Brentley Romine:

Crosby, 56, is a Jupiter, Fla., resident who was born in Hillsborough, Calif. He is the son of the late Bing Crosby, a legendary American singer and entertainer, and the godson of World Golf Hall of Famer Jack Burke Jr.

In addition to winning the U.S. Amateur in 1981, Crosby also played on two winning U.S. national teams, at the 1982 World Amateur Team Championship and the 1983 Walker Cup.

“I am thrilled and overwhelmed to be chosen captain of the next USA Walker Cup Team,” Crosby said. “It will again be a privilege to be a part of the Walker Cup competition that I was so fortunate to be a part of back in 1983. My experiences with the USGA, the Walker Cup match and the World Amateur Team Championship have proved to be the most memorable weeks of my life, as I am sure it will be for the members of the 2019 team. Many of my closest friends are former captains who will hopefully take the time to share their approaches in an effort to help me with my new responsibilities.”

Will Golf Be Worse Off By Rules Taking Onus Off The Player?

That's the pointed question Michael Bamberger poses for Golf.com after the USGA and R&A announced the end to viewer call-ins, penalties for scorecard signing issues caused by retroactive penalties and the creation of dedicated replay watchers.

Bamberger sees the change as "soft" and his view was echoed by some rules experts I heard from in response to the rule:

How about the responsibility to know the rules and to play by them? How about doing it correctly the first time? The whole ball-dropping issue with Tiger Woods at 15 in the Saturday round of the 2013 Masters was that he dropped incorrectly. The whole ball-marking issue with Thompson at the ANA Inspiration was that she marked incorrectly. Neither player ever stood up and said, "I take responsibility for this whole mess."

Golf, by tradition, is severe, austere, Calvinistic. Every aspect of it. That's why the spectators are quiet. That's why one player does nothing to interfere with another. That's why Joe Dey, the first PGA Tour commissioner, late of the USGA, carried a bible in one pocket and a rule book in the other when he officiated.  

I certainly agree that there is a softening effect worth considering, particularly if the softening actually leads to something worse than mere player ignorance of the rules. If there is an opening created here, as Bamberger contends, does it lead to players bending the rules out of ignorance or entitlement? A case could be made that we already see that with backstopping or the current ball mark fixing of non-ball marks on greens.

“I can see where some “softening” is acceptable. ”

However, from the player perspective the rules have become cumbersome and with an audience looking to catch you doing something wrong and needing HD to do it, I can see where some "softening" is acceptable. Crossing the line into rule bending or breaking is where things get scary for the game's integrity.

2017 In Review Through Every Club In The Bag

Doug Ferguson of the AP again takes on the challenging task of picking the year's best shots by each club in the bag.

My two favorites both in quality and underrated-ness...

6-IRON: The two memorable shots from Jordan Spieth's victory in the British Open were the shot from the driving range and the 50-foot eagle putt. The most important shot was the 6-iron he nearly holed on the par-3 14th. Trailing for the first time in the final round after his adventurous bogey on the previous hole at Royal Birkdale, Spieth's tee shot plopped down in front of the hole and stopped 4 feet away. The birdie tied the lead, and Spieth was on his way.

7-IRON: Justin Thomas took control in the final round of the PGA Championship with a par putt on the 16th. He sealed it with a 7-iron as good as any shot he ever hit. The pin was in the front on the par-3 17th at Quail Hollow, and Thomas had 221 yards over the water to the hole. It was so good that he let the club twirl through his hands as he watched it land on the front of the green to 15 feet. He made birdie for a three-shot lead and a most enjoyable walk to the final hole.

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

Why Could Replay Reviews Still Occur After A Card Is Signed?

This remains the one question I have from Monday's announcement of an end to viewer call-in tips and penalties for signing cards that were thought to have been signed correctly at the time.

As explained by theUSGA's Thomas Pagel and R&A's David Rickman, a review could still take place on, say, Friday, after something occurred on Thursday. Only now, the player will not be penalized for signing an incorrect card should a penalty be assessed by the review.

As we noted onMorning Drive, this leaves open the question of how such a delayed review would take place if the tour's had an official watching the live telecasts. Any review over a few minutes past the round's conclusion would only occur because the official missed it the first time. In this case, the official would only be working off of some sort of outside tip to review a possible infraction.

Ron Sirak, appearing a few minutes before me on Morning Drive, raised the suggestion of reviews no longer happening once the card is signed.I would agree.

I'm sure the tours and governing bodies have considered scenarios and have their reasons. Then again, we thought going from DQ to penalty strokes would solve things and as Ryan Herrington notes at Golf World, that wasn't so.

Interestingly, the two-stroke penalty only went into effect in 2016 when USGA and R&A implemented the most recent changes to the Rules of Golf. Prior to that, players would be disqualified if they had signed their scorecards and were later found to have committed a penalty that they had not accounted. In changing the rule to be more lenient, officials acknowledged a DQ was a punishment that didn’t fit the crime.

Lexi Thompson, the cause for this emergency local rule, praised the organizations.

Golfweek's roundup of player reactions is here. Lexi's post:

I was informed of the two rule changes this morning from my management team at Blue Giraffe Sports. I applaud the USGA and the R & A for their willingness to revise the Rules of Golf to to address certain unfortunate situations that have arisen several times in the game of golf. In my case, I am thankful that no one else will have to deal with an outcome such as mine in the future. I just finished an amazing week at the QBE Shark Shooutout in Naples, and I am excited to begin my offseason. I will have no further comment on these changes as I look forward to now spending time with my family and friends. I hope everyone has an awesome Holiday season, and I wish everyone a healthy and happy 2018! 🎁

A post shared by Lexi Thompson (@lexi) on Dec 11, 2017 at 5:32am PST