It's Early But PGA Tour Driving Distances On Amazing Pace

As the stat gurus at FiveThirtyEight expose a juiced baseball, they also are examining distance in golf and some eye-opening 2018 numbers.

Josh Planos does note we've only seen 44 drives from leader Tony Finau, but the distance leader is at a 90.9% rate of eclipsing 300 yards.

But while he’s playing better everywhere on the course, Finau is putting on a show in the tee box. With 327 yards per drive, the 28-year-old is smashing the tour average by 32 yards.

It goes without saying that a lot has changed in terms of technology and training since Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer were marquee figures — or even since John Daly was pounding beers during rounds and wowing fans with his long drives. In 1980, the first year for which data is available, Dan Pohl led the tour with an average driving distance of 274.3 yards. In 1997, Daly became the first man on the PGA Tour to average at least 300 yards per drive; this season, 65 players are on pace to do so.

The graph accompanying the story also suggests why we may be hearing from the governing bodies soon related to the distance topic.

We're About To Find Out If Tiger Is Taking His Scheduling Cues From Hogan

In the years following the car crash, Ben Hogan played a limited schedule, most notably in 1953 when he entered just six official events in his three-major-win season. Tiger Woods has played three tour events this year and with the Arnold Palmer Invitational his likely next and last start before the Masters, many feel he needs to play more.

As the entry deadline looms, Bob Harig at ESPN.com makes the case for Woods to add the Valspar in Tampa next week.  

David Duval is also in that camp.

“I think it’s imperative that he should go play Valspar, (with the assumption that he’ll) more than likely play Bay Hill,” Duval said. “But I think he’ll play Valspar. It’s a good place to work on all parts of your game. And you don’t have to drive it a ton there. You’ve got to deal with swirling winds, elevation changes. So I think it would be a very good thing for him to go play Valspar. It looks like it’s about reps and about exposure, putting yourself under the gun and seeing how you perform and how your golf swing holds up. A couple more opportunities to do that would be very beneficial.”

Looking at the stats analyzed by Alex Myers now that Woods is officially eligible for PGA Tour rankings, he's clearly rusty, as evidenced by his par-5 play.

Woods ranks a dismal 208th in par-5 scoring, a stat he used to dominate, with a 4.87 average. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson leads that category at 4.33, meaning that if a course has four par 5s, he's picking up two shots per round on Woods on just those holes. Woods' inability to take advantage of these longer holes has kept him to making only 3.6 birdies per round, which ranks 97th, and he has yet to make an eagle.

Golf Channel Analysts On Rory: "As far as he’s ever been to being back to where he was"

The Golf Channel gang talked to media to kick off the run of NBC/Golf Channel telecasts leading up to the Masters and the talk inevitably turned to Rory McIlroy. For what it's worth, David Duval and Brandel Chamblee don't like what they see from their analyst chairs.

Duval said it's an "obvious" answer that Tiger Woods is closer to playing great golf right now than McIlroy. 

There was this succinct assessment from Brandel Chamblee:

“I think he’s probably as far as he’s ever been to being back to where he was,” Chamblee said.

Duval was pretty harsh on the topic of McIlroy's putting.

“I think Rory’s putting continues to put pressure on his iron game, and until he figures that out, he comes out a little bit better and more consistent on the greens, it could potentially be doing what he’s doing right now, (which is), what I believe, is ruining other parts of his game,” Duval said. “And I feel like he’s struggling, and you have to keep forcing it closer and closer to the hole. You are going to miss golf shots. You’re going to be in bad spots. And I think that’s part of what’s happening right now.”

It has been two years since McIlroy and Chamblee engaged in an all-out manspat over Rory's weightlifting. No one will be shocked if these comments reignite the spat.

Steph Curry's Indoor Golf Gone Bad

Steph Curry was apparently practicing his swing in the hotel and now moves into the hotel room accidental trashing HOF!

when you feel like you’re on the @pgatour so you gotta get some swings going in the hotel room 😂😂😂 #idiot

A post shared by Wardell Curry (@stephencurry30) on Mar 1, 2018 at 1:33pm PST

Head's Up For Par-3 Course Fans: The Cradle By The Numbers

Maybe your course, city or club is considering a par-3 course? Well, then say thanks the social media and golf professional team at Pinehurst for documenting early numbers on their new short course. 

Sounds like a lot of fun is taking place. If only golf had about 1000 more of these sprinkled across the land.

• More than 6,100 rounds were played on the new 9-hole, 789-yard short course.
• The busiest day had 174 golfers play, and the largest group was a 12-some.
• With a $50 greens fee that includes replay rounds that same day, the average time to play one round was just over an hour.
• In those first few weeks, more than 220 juniors under 17 played for free with a paid adult while Pinehurst Country Club members played 2,100 rounds and hosted 706 guests.
• Since opening, more than 30 holes-in-one have been recorded, with aces coming from players ages 8 to 84.
• In a unique event, Pinehurst teaching professional Kelly Mitchum played the short course from sunrise to sunset on the winter solstice – the shortest day of the year – and finished 26 complete rounds for a total of 234 holes. He shot 12 under par for the day.

FanBeat Challenge First Big Shot At Interactive Golf Watching

In the smart phone era, entrepreneurs have tried to develop apps and other ways to inject fun and prizes into golf viewing.  The PGA Tour seemed to shy away from interactivity in the early days of social media and mobile phones, but they obviously have given their blessing to FanBeat's attempt launching this week and co-sponsored by my partners at Golf Channel and Callaway.

Mixing general trivia questions with elements related to the WGC Mexico City Championship playing out before our sleepy eyes, the game marks the first legitimate attempt backed by legit prizes. In this scenario, I'm more attracted to the predictive questions, something many have wanted to develop with the tour for genuine fan interactivity. I don't believe Commissioner Moonbeam ever warmed to such ideas since interactivity leads to a form of handicapping and that could lead to watching for reasons other than his favorite moment of the PGA Tour day, hats off for handshakes.

You can sign up here, and you don't need an app (though it is said by FanBeat's Brandon Farley on the Callaway Ship Show to have a few more features). The general concept:

- Prior to the tournament coverage, two pre-round questions were available to answer anytime.

- Additional questions are posted during breaks in the action of each round of the following four upcoming tournaments: WGC-Mexico Championship, Valspar Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, and WGC-Match Play Championship. 

- Questions will be things like “Where did Phil Mickelson play his college golf?” or more predictive questions like “How many birdies will Sergio Garcia make on the back nine?”

- You earn points for each correct answer to move up the prize leaderboard during each round, and can earn chances to win additional “instant win” and tournament prizes

- Fans who ace all questions during any of the up to 19 tournament rounds in the FanBeat Challenge will have a chance to win $1 million.

- Additional prizes offered by Callaway include a full set of clubs with custom fittings at the Ely Callaway Performance Center in Carlsbad, Ca, a new Callaway Rogue Driver, Odyssey Toulon Design Putters, and much more.

More Snow Photos: Honourable Company Of Edinburgh Golfers Edition

Just amazing amounts of snowfall at Muirfield too. Click on the images to enlarge:

The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers pic.twitter.com/h4E0jdYfbS

— Cutmaker (@cutmaker) March 1, 2018

Take Note: Players Adjusting Accordingly (And With Trackman's Help) To 15-18% Distance Bump In Mexico City

USA Today's Steve DiMeglio talks to players and caddies about distance adjustments they're making for this week's WGC Mexico City and they've settled on a solid 15% or more bump in distance.

The story is of particular note given that we are not far from hearing pros howl about the awful adjustment period should the governing bodies ever roll out a distance rollback. But here they are all on the record about Trackman and the relatively easy process of adjusting thanks to launch monitors.

“I think this is going to be the best week for (Trackman’s) branding, for sure, versus any other week,” said Justin Thomas, who won his seventh title in his last 30 PGA Tour starts last week in the Honda Classic. “It's very, very dependent on the shot you're hitting and the club you're hitting, but when you hit those drivers up in the air, they go pretty far.”

And there was this...

Chez Reavie was in full mathematician mode Tuesday on the range in his first trip to the tournament. For 2 hours, 30 minutes, he and his caddie, Justin York, went to work with numbers spinning around in their heads.

“We jumped on the Trackman to get numbers,” Reavie said. “I hit 10 balls with every club to find a median number each ball was carrying. And we found about a 15-18% difference. We have all the clubs plotted now and from there we’ll rely on feel. But at least we have a ballpark figure now.”

That's all you need! Of course, players will tell us that a Masters ball would be impossible because of the long adjustment period. 

Probably Not: Will Date Change Boost The WGC Mexico City?

The WGC Mexico City arrives Thursday and once again interrupts the Florida swing. With 45 of the world's top 50 and a guaranteed $50k payment (plus charter flights), no one should feel sorry for this event.

So should anyone be excited with a no-cut points and cash grab on a tight, tired-looking venue by modern standards but with robust support from its creators? Probably not, even as it's a WGC venturing outside of the U.S. 

But a week after a lively Honda Classic that followed a strong West Coast swing, the event sits in a tough spot.

Rex Hoggard at GolfChannel.com makes a strong case that we should root for this event and with a likely spot between LA and Florida next year, theoretically it'll be a better fit. Theoretically...

The dramatic makeover of the Tour schedule beginning with the 2018-19 season will feature the WGC-Mexico Championship moving to the back end of the West Coast swing, but with fields in California and Arizona enjoying a renaissance in recent years, a post-Los Angeles date likely won't be a dramatic improvement over the event’s current date.

As the Tour schedule compacts to prepare for a pre-football season finale in 2019 and beyond, finding prime real-estate will be a challenge, but Mexico should be first in line for an upgrade, particularly with officials like Salinas talking in terms of a 20- or 30-year commitment.

The championship deserves better. Salinas deserves better. And the opportunity to truly grow the game on an international stage certainly deserves better.

Images: Incredible Snow At St. Andrews

The Beast From The East they are calling it, reports Brentley Romine. But look at the contours in snow! Arrow on the image right will take you through all of the shots posted by the Links Trust.

The Road Hole bunker has been filled... with #snow (swipe 👈). #beastfromtheeast #OldCourse #HomeofGolf #StAndrews

A post shared by St Andrews Links (@thehomeofgolf) on Feb 28, 2018 at 2:16am PST

Roundup: 2017 GWAA Writing Contest Results

There were 423 entries in the 2018 Golf Writers Association of America contest.  I've done my best to include links where I could find them. Jaime Diaz tied Dan Jenkins atop the all-time win list with his 10th winner.

Happy reading!

2018 GWAA WRITING CONTEST RESULTS
The following is a full list of the winners, including honorable mentions.

DAILY COLUMNS – 1, Max Adler, ‘The best part of Masters week could be the one thing that’s missing’, golfdigest.com 2,  Michael Bamberger, Rules changes disappoint, golf.com; 3, Jason Sobel, I want the U.S. Open back, ESPN.com.

Honorable mention - Ron Borges, Life handcuffs Woods, Boston Herald; Bob Oliver, Stop the insanity of rules call-ins, The Golf Insiders; Geoff Shackelford, Inside story of Spieth's bogey, golfweek.com 

DAILY FEATURES – 1, Michael Bamberger, ‘The Other Arnold: Palmer's daughter reflects on the chasm between the brand and the man’, si.com; 2, Randall Mell, Secret war, forbidden love, golfchannel.com; 3, Helen Ross, How Michael Jordan became a golfer, PGATour.com.

Honorable mention -- Rex Hoggard, Woodland's toughest year, golfchannel.com; Ian O'Connor, The improbable rise of DJ, ESPN.com; Garry Smits, Day rises to No. 1, Florida Times-Union; Jason Sobel, Tiger and his famous Scotty, ESPN.com

DAILY NEWS – 1, Beth Ann Nichols, ‘Stacy Lewis Earns Emotional Win for Houston’’, golfweek.com, https://tinyurl.com/dailynews18; 2, Jaime Diaz, Payne, a man with a plan, golfdigest.com; 3, Dave Kindred, Sergio had to do it the hard way, golfdigest.com.

Honorable mention -- Alan Bastable, US on cusp of President's Cup win, Golf.com; Rex Hoggard, Spieth silences doubters, golfchannel.com; Alan Shipnuck, They look like America, Golf.com; Jason Sobel, Leishman's harrowing journey, ESPN.com.

NON-DAILY COLUMNS – 1,Jerry Tarde, “Sandy Tatum: He never surrendered”, Golf Digest; 2, Michael Bamberger, Ernie and Sam, Golf Magazine; 3, Ken Van Vechten, So, are we better golfers?, FORE Magazine.

Honorable mention – 1, Tom Callahan, Confessions of an enabler, Golf Digest; Tom Coyne, The push and the pull, The Golfer's Journal; Jerry Tarde, Forgive us our press passes, Golf Digest.

NON-DAILY FEATURES – 1, Sean Zak, “We were watching greatness: An oral history of the 1997 Masters”, Sports Illustrated;  2, Gary Van Sickle, William McGirt isn't supposed to be here, Memorial Tournament Magazine; 3, Josh Sens, Collision course, Sports Illustrated.

Honorable mention -- Michael Bamberger, The last man who grew up at The National, Sports Illustrated; Jaime Diaz, The new Sergio, Golf Digest; Alan Shipnuck, Donald Trump, Golfer-in-Chief, Sports Illustrated; Guy Yocom, Hello Mickey Wright, Golf Digest.

NON-DAILY NEWS – 1, Jaime Diaz, “Fred Ridley takes the lead at Augusta”;  2, Alan Shipnuck, Viva Sergio!, Sports Illustrated; 3. Alan Shipnuck, Koepka outmuscles Erin Hills, Sports Illustrated.

Honorable mention -- Michael Bamberger, Trump, the new First Golfer, Sports Illustrated,;  Jaime Diaz, Players date may change, Golf Digest; Beth Ann Nichols, Lewis win, donation highlight 2017, Golfweek.

SPECIAL PROJECTS – 1, Gary D'Amato, “The Making of Erin Hills”, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; 2, Guy Cipriano, When the creek rises, Golf Course Industry; 3, Al Tays and Matt Adams, Best equipment innovations, golfchannel.com. 

Honorable mention -- Jaime Diaz, Ron Whitten, Guy Yocom, Ron Sirak, Jerry Tarde, Donald Trump, Golfer-in-Chief, Golf Digest; Mike McAllister, The man who inspired an army, PGATour.com;  Ryan Lavner, Rex Hoggard, Mercer Baggs, Will Gray, The class of 2011, golfchannel.com. 

The Golf Tournament Attendee’s Guide To Determining If You Have Loser Tendencies

I do take this issue seriously, as today's Alternate Shot discussion suggests. There will be moments when losers are wagering and decide to interfere with a golf tournament outcome and if not addressed with ejections, golf tournaments will only get more unruly and even unsafe. 

However, in the spirit of trying to help losers who need attention, I'm offering a simple guide to determining if you have the kind of loser tendencies that could lead you to act in unfortunate fashion while watching a golf tournament.

I’ve worked with players, caddies, officials and other observers to develop this list. Certainly I’ve missed other signs, but I think in the spirit of Justin Thomas walking back his frustration with hecklers in the face of new losers threatening to make his life miserable, this guide could be useful.

You may have serious loser tendencies if…

• You’ve had the urge to yell out Mashed Potatoes, Baba Booey, You Da Man or Fake News at a golf tournament during any point of your life. My Committee of experts says a mere urge is all you need to warrant certifiable, Grade A loser status.
   
• You’ve watched every SB2k16 and 17 on Snapchat and determined from having bonded with the boys that Justin Thomas is the frat brother you always wanted and would completely endorse you sending drunken slurs his way during the final round of a multi-million dollar tour event.
   
• You’d rather go to the Waste Management Open than The Masters and you share this pearl with anyone who will listen.
   
• You take to Twitter to tell golf pros how soft they are because they can’t take your heckling or taunts of their girlfriends or any other sound as they are preparing to play a shot. You're really a loser when you get mad that they do not reply to your taunts.
   
• You applaud when a streaker or any other heckler interrupts the tournament proceedings. You get extra points for admiring this year's Waste Management Open streaker
   
• You leave your cell phone’s ringer on and ignore requests to put the device on silent even after your “Livin On A Prayer” ring tone is heard by all.
   
• You believe in your heart that paying for a ticket entitles you to swear audibly around children, say terrible things to players, get drunk by noon and in general, act out all of your issues at a golf tournament.
   
• You are over 40 years old with a 40 inch waist wearing a white belt and flat-brim cap inspired by your love of Rickie Fowler, who'd you also like to annoy with a taunt at some point for being rich and popular.
   
• You go back home after the tournament and rewind the telecast to hear yourself taunt a player. Actually, that’s when you have bigger issues than mere loser status.

"Tiger Woods casting a shadow larger than ever"

The Honda Classic overnights have been finalized and the ratings were even higher, as The Forecaddie notes, with Golf Channel also scoring huge audience sizes for lead-in audiences compared to non-Tiger tour events. There were also some big wins for the golf against stiff competition. 

The early season boost delivered by Woods has prompted AP's Doug Ferguson to suggest, for now anyway, Tiger is actually bigger than ever.

Golf is in a different place than when Woods picked up his 79th victory on the PGA Tour in August 2013, his most recent victory. Thomas had just turned pro. Jordan Spieth had just earned a full PGA Tour card. Jon Rahm was going into his sophomore year at Arizona State. Since then, five players have taken turns at No. 1 in the world.

During his longest stretch out of golf with his bad back, the refrain was that golf needed Tiger Woods. When he was on the verge of returning at the end of 2016, the talk was that golf was in a good spot and Woods could only make it that much better.

For the first few tournaments of his return, it has become Woods and everyone else.

Two Thoughts On The USGA's New 2-Hole Playoffs

We've already had a lot of exciting playoff golf in 2018 and the sudden death format clearly works well for the PGA Tour.  In considering the new U.S. Open policy of 2-hole aggregate playoffs, there was prevailing desire to avoid sudden death playoffs at major championships stemmed in large part from years of being reminded by the USGA that an 18-holer was the only proper way to determine a national champion. When Far Hills reduced the U.S. Women's Open to three hole aggregate no one minded because of the success seen in other playoff formats of three or more holes. 

Landing on two holes, when the other majors and The Players play three, could damage the U.S. Open's already bruised stature.  Following the Chambers Bay and Erin Hills experiments, any differentiation in stature could further undercut the U.S. Open's identity.

On that front, he Players went to the 17th hole in sudden death and no one felt good about determining a winner that way.  It was one more reason The Players was not up to the level of a major. The PGA Tour changed the format to three holes and it produced one of the most thrilling playoffs in modern golf history when Rickie Fowler won in 2015. The tournament, as a result, has more stature because of its playoff format.

This brings me to a second point: the next two U.S. Open venues feature a par-3 17th hole. And there is something unsettling about starting a playoff with a one-shotter in the same way architects avoid opening a course with a par-3. Shinnecock and Pebble's 17th holes are great holes but tough places to start, especially if you've been sitting around a while.  

Satisfyingly, we'll be finishing U.S. Open Sunday's more often than not.  But will it be satisfying with just two holes? 

The counter argument to all of this says The Masters has done fine with sudden-death. I believe "fortunate" would be the more apt description. I won't be surprised if this news hastens a move to a two-hole format that is forced by their routing and lack of daylight. If this happens, then we'll know the USGA likely settled on the "two" route in coordination with The Masters. What they get back for their supportive and credibility-denting compromise? Only time will tell.

We kicked around the topic on Alternate Shot today:

William McGirt To USGA: "Let foul balls be foul balls"

As the distance discussion ramps up, many professionals are beginning to suggest they don't like seeing mediocre ball striking corrected by equipment. The de-skilling of the pro game is not a new topic to most of us, but I do think it's fascinating to see players slowly coming to that conclusion.

The Forecaddie quotes William McGirt on the constructive criticism he offered to the USGA and that he sees all of this as a health-of-the-game matter. 

“I told them, ‘Look, if you honestly believe that the ball doesn’t go any farther than it did 20 years ago, you’re in denial,’” McGirt told TMOF. “If that’s the case, why am I hitting my 7-iron 10 yards farther in the air today than when I was 23 years old? They finally admitted the ball goes farther. The big thing is, I just wish they’d make it curve again. Let foul balls be foul balls.”

McGirt is in the minority on many fronts, from being articulate on the matter to wanting to see skill preserved. Average golfers will no doubt hear this and assume that their game improvements clubs will be taken away from them--they won't. So calm down!

However, his point is worth considering and an articulate contrast with comments earlier this week.