When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Looks like a mostly happy and dapper group of Americans at the Ryder Cup gala dinner last night.
The Palace of Versailles hosted the proceedings. Paulina is present too!
As Jason Crook notes, Dustin Johnson was relegated to Paulina photographer duties.
View this post on InstagramTraded in our golf clothes for an evening at the #RyderCup Gala
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View this post on InstagramTeam photos, Practice, Gala and more. Here's a look at Wednesday at the #RyderCup
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View this post on InstagramGala dinner at Versailles 🤵 #RyderCup #TeamEurope
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Good read here from Golf World’s Dave Shedloski on how David Duval is trading in his pancake for a cart this week at the Ryder Cup. Good news, his IFB will come in handy for the Vice Captain channel this week in France.
Duval’s late addition to the vast coaching squad stems from his on-air debate with Brandel Chamblee during the 2016 Ryder Cup. Chamblee questioned the effectiveness and play of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, and Captain Davis Love’s players took heart back at the team hotel.
“He comes in, tie untied, hanging around his neck, carrying his briefcase from the set,” Love said. “He launched into this very passionate speech, how playing in the Ryder Cup was one of the biggest accomplishments of his career. But it was more [about the fact that] the David Duval that they just saw defending them on TV had walked into the room and was still fired up. We asked him to come back and hang out with us every night.”
Also worth a chuckle is Shedloski’s review of Duval’s place in Ryder Cup history as one of the players wanting to see some form of compensation for players. He calls it an initiative now.
“I don’t know the exact numbers, but it’s probably over $20 million now going to designated charities. It’s made a difference,” Duval said by telephone from his home in Denver. “I’m happy to have been a part of that initiative. I don’t know if this is me coming full circle, if you will, but I can see how you might think that. There’s no doubt that there’s a different environment now, that players have a much greater role in the direction of the U.S. team.”
I noticed a few were surprised at Tiger putting himself on golf’s Mount Rushmore but with 14 majors and the all-time PGA Tour wins mark in sight, I’m confident he’s safe.
But Sam Snead over Palmer, Hogan and Hagen?
View this post on InstagramTiger Woods gives his ultimate Mount Rushmore of golf and it’s 🔥🔥🔥
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Bonjour from France as ShackHouse reviews Tiger’s 80th win, the world reaction to his comeback and then dives deep…deep into the 2018 Ryder Cup with some reflections on the venue, where the teams stand and a look at some fo the fun prop bets offered up.
As always, you can listen wherever podcasts are streamed or via your ShackHouse free subscription.
Or below:
The course setup for Le Golf National is distinctly retro.
As in, the loathsome injury-thick rough of the 70s, 80s and 90s that no one misses. Yes, the landing areas are generous enough at their widest spots—35 yards—but many of the holes feature water down one side, hack-out rough on the other side. The Forecaddie with details and photos.
Philosophically, I’m not sure how intentional the effect is to offset the Americans’ distance advantage off the tee, but like most, have my doubts. The strategy could backfire for Europe with players like Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy, who thrive off hitting driver.
As a spectacle, the rough off the fairways is trimmed enough that we should see some strategic dilemmas, but any more than 10 yards off the fairway will force automatic layups and take away some of risk-reward intrigue posed by Le Golf National’s plethora of water hazards.
Big numbers!
For Immediate Release:
TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL ROUND BECOMES HIGHEST-RATED FEDEXCUP
PLAYOFFS TELECAST EVER AS TIGER WOODS WINS FOR FIRST TIME IN FIVE YEARS
5.21 Overnight Rating Becomes Highest-Rated PGA TOUR Telecast of 2018
18.4 Million Minutes Streamed on Sunday (+561% YoY); Most-Streamed
NBC Sports Sunday Golf Round Ever (Excluding Majors)
ORLANDO, Fla., (Sept. 24, 2018) – NBC Sports Group’s final round coverage of the TOUR Championship on Sunday (3:00-6:15 p.m. ET) earned a 5.21 Overnight rating, as Tiger Woods claimed his 80th career victory, and his first in five years. The telecast is up 206% vs. 2017 (1.70). It also becomes the highest-rated telecast in the history of the FedExCup Playoffs (2007-’18) and the highest-rated PGA TOUR telecast in 2018 (excluding majors). Coverage peaked from 5:30-6p (7.19) as Woods finished his round and as Justin Rose was being crowned the FedExCup champion, only trailing the peaks for The Masters (11.03) and PGA Championship (8.28) in 2018. The extended coverage window (1:30-6:15 p.m. ET) posted at 4.35 Overnight rating, which is the highest-rated TOUR Championship telecast on record (2000-’18)
“Tiger Woods’ win at the TOUR Championship was an unforgettable event in golf,” said Mike McCarley, President, Golf, NBC Sports Group. “The massive gallery following Tiger up the 18th fairway was matched by record viewership across NBC Sports’ platforms. Golf is experiencing a surge in momentum with Tiger and the young stars of the Tiger-inspired generation atop leaderboards. We look forward to this momentum continuing this week at the Ryder Cup.”
Sunday’s Final Round saw 18.4 million minutes streamed across NBC Sports Digital platforms (+561% year-over-year), and becomes the most-streamed NBC Sports’ Sunday round (excluding majors) on record (2013-’18).
Sunday’s lead-in coverage on Golf Channel (Noon-1:30p) also earned a .74 Overnight rating to become the highest Sunday lead-in telecast of the TOUR Championship ever (2007-’18).
Golfweek asked me to look into what Team USA has planned to overcome a 25-year Ryder Cup winless drought in Europe.
Sending the strongest team top-to-bottom in a few decades is a good start. Yet as noted, home course advantage and local knowledge deficiencies have hurt the Americans, with another European Tour venue hosting this year.
So get ready stat geeks, the USA has even more analytics than last time! From Captain Furyk:
“We had an issue with winning there for a little while,” Furyk said. “We have got 2016 under our belt, but what we haven’t been able to do in ‘99, and then again in ‘08, was turn around and go in on European soil. I know Jason from Scouts has got a couple of ideas about that we’ve talked about. He’s sent me a couple e-mails regarding that and what he’s seen.”
That would be Jason Aquino, president of Scouts Consulting Group, who helped Davis Love prepare for the 2016 matches at Hazeltine and who Furyk said has helped the 2018 preparations go to “the next level.”
I can’t wait!
By most measures, Tiger’s comeback is one of the finest in sports history. In golf terms, there’s always Hogan and his six majors after getting hit by a bus, but nonetheless, second best in this category is just fine.
Either way, who cares where this comeback really ranks. We as sports fans get to ride along for a few more years of history.
Bob Harig opened his ESPN.com story, as did AP’s Paul Newberry in this piece, with the coronation scene at East Lake’s 18th.
Steve DiMeglio opens his USA Today story with Tiger’s confident arrival to the course. Lebron in a Tom Ford, it wasn’t. But as he notes, the old confidence is back.
View this post on InstagramNo sleeves. Sunday drip. 🔴⚫️ #LiveUnderPar
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Tiger was the biggest story in sports Sunday, as he should be, writes ESPN.com’s Ian O’Connor.
David Dusek with the emotions and the numbers behind Tiger’s over 1800 days outside a winner’s circle.
Rex Hoggard at GolfChannel.com says that as wonderful as Tiger’s return win seems, it may now just be one of many fine days in a career that once again has room to add incredible feats.
Cameron Morfit at PGATour.com sums up a great day and also features quotes from caddie Joe LaCava.
Tiger talked with Scott Van Pelt on Sportscenter and sounded pretty spent from the energy and emotions required to win again.
The final round highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment:
For over a decade we were annually told that what we saw before us was not as bad as most suspected: the FedExCup was wonderful and not the most poorly constructed competition in sports. It was even exciting—Bill Haas!—and beyond the massive bonus money, was so much better than merely ending the season with a fall Tour Championship.
Which was true, if you were a PGA Tour player or executive cashing a bonus check.
Mercifully, the final version of the points-reset, algorithm-decided iteration ended with Justin Rose’s clinching 73 Sunday at East Lake. Rose made just 18 starts in 2018, killing the notion that season-long play starts were rewarded.
Questions loom about the purity of the next format with $15 million now on the line, but Tiger Woods thankfully helped everyone forget about that issue until we get to next August. But in reading David Dusek’s Golfweek account of the 2018 conclusion, it’s pretty easy to envision a scenario where anything will be better than what we’ve long been told was so exciting and fun to follow.
I explain more in this column for Golfweek on the pros and cons of the new format, one that sadly keeps clinging to attempts at rewarding season-long play in an effort to get players to tee off more often.
Also, The Forecaddie chimed in on the math behind the new Wyndham Rewards program and figures most will have to play six weeks in a row to get stars to the Wyndham Championship. Good luck with that!
A couple of stories on Tiger’s three-stroke lead heading into the Tour Championship final round left me uneasy. After all, should he wake up not feeling it, shoot 72 to someone else’s great round, there will be declarations that he’s never going to be the same golfer we knew.
To be clear, he’s never going to be the same golfer we knew but he’s certainly been close enough of late to give us hope for a legitimate chase of the all-time majors record over the next five years.
But as Dan Kilbridge notes in this review of the comeback, it’s incredible how far Woods has come and also how much his putter—not the often scrutinized ballstriking—has made the difference this year. Or prevented victory.
There will, however, be pressure today given his status as the greatest frontrunner the sport has ever seen, as Bob Harig notes for ESPN.com:
Woods has been money with third-round leads, especially of 3 shots or more. He has never failed to deliver, 32 times going on to victory when holding this wide of a margin.
Woods' overall record of 53-4 on the PGA Tour with at least a tie for the lead is mind-blowing itself. Imagine getting to this position 57 times.
But Tiger has also seemingly peaked in the third rounds in 2018, opening up the possibility that he’s not as sharp today and gets passed. That would be a shame given how perfect of a final bow a win at East Lake would put on his steady 2018 comeback. But there also needs to be some perspective that he’s still coming back and has also far exceeded expectations given where his game was a few years ago.
The 2018 Ryder Cup is hardly a matchup of drama-prone captains, a compliment to Thomas Bjorn and Jim Furyk’s general steadiness.
Though if one lead cart driver is capable of saying something incendiary, it will be Bjorn. If you want to know more about Europe’s leader this week and his career, check out Andrew Cotter’s European Tour podcast with Bjorn.
More recently, The Guardian’s Ewan Murray sat down with Bjorn to discuss all things Ryder Cup and Bjorn did his best to try and rally his continent.
“I think sometimes what is forgotten, in the political discussion, is how great this continent is,” Bjørn says. “From all the way down in Greece, to Iceland, there are so many great countries and so much natural common ground. It is such a small continent compared to the others but together we have so much history and so many great things going for us. I think that is forgotten a little bit in the political picture.
“It means a lot more to us as golfers because we grow up with the European Tour. The backbone of that tour is still our European events. It is part of the life we live. It has a meaning.”
He also goes on to discuss several things of note, including his falling out with former Captain Ian Woosnam.
But his decision to lean toward veterans with his picks will get the most scrutiny and he’s already pushing back:
“I think you’d have found if it was old pals there would be one or two others playing,” Bjørn says. “Some of the guys left out are very close to me and I was never scared of making tough decisions. Now, if people think I made these decisions on the back of them being pals then they don’t know me very well and that’s OK. That mostly comes from people who have no idea who I am, what I think and what I believe in.”
After reading Golf.com’s Anonymous Tour Pro survey, Michael Bamberger came away disturbed by the suggestions of cheating or bending the rules on the PGA Tour. Bamberger was particularly annoyed with the assertion by one anonymously quoted player that officials are letting the players down.
But the job of enforcing the rules is fundamentally on the players. If the rules officials see a drop going awry, it is their job to step in and make sure it’s done correctly, and that is what they generally do. If one player says the ball crossed at point A and the other point B, the rules officials have to adjudicate, and they generally do. They are not the police. They’re not trying to catch players. Their first job is to help players turn in the most accurate scorecard they can. It is each individual player who serves as a police officer. He should be doing an ongoing and continuing and intense investigation of his own play and the play of the others in his group.
For those who love their lists and reading about good golf architecture, UK Golf Guy has posted the top ten favorite courses of Mike Clayton, Pat Goss, Alan Shipnuck, Darius Oliver and has more to come.
Yours truly turned in his ten and most are probably predictable, but given this is a pure favorites list I had to include a few where I’d just be happy playing. I did not include any course I had a design or renovation hand in.
Feel free to post yours below!
Golfweek’s David Dusek has the details of Tiger’s first round at East Lake in five years and it was a beauty.
“This was by far better than the 62 at Aronimink,” Woods said, referring to his opening round at the BMW Championship two weeks ago. “Conditions were soft there. It’s hard to get the ball close here. There’s so much chase in it. If you drive the ball in the rough, you know you can’t get the ball close.”
If this were 2019 and Tiger came into the Tour Championship/FedExCup finale 20th in the standings, things would have been different after round one given the new “strokes-based” handicap system announced this week. As Joel Beall notes for GolfDigest.com, “thank the golf gods the system doesn't come to fruition until next fall.”
Beall posts the full top 8 and Tiger would be five back of Justin Rose after one round.
Of more note for those wanting to consider how the system will work for the Cup leaders, there is Bryson DeChambeau—winner of two playoff events and the FedExCup leader—already three back following an opening 71.
Hey, I just copy and paste, remember that.
Alex Myers on Bryson DeChambeau revealing his big pre-Ryder Cup purchase for…team room table tennis.
"What I'm looking forward to most is the team atmosphere. I remember that at the Walker Cup, and that was like nothing else, and I know it'll live up to the same standard. Maybe even better, too. So a lot of ping-pong going on over there, I know that for me. I just actually bought a ping-pong paddle last night, another new one. I needed a new rubber, so..."
The only question: has he tested his new rubber on his launch monitors? With mist simulation?
For those not on The Twitter, DeChambeau was seen hitting shots with two launch monitors and some misting.
PGA Tour’s Sean Martin caught up with DeChambeau and Jonathan Wall talks to his team to understand what the FedExCup leader was doing.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
