How Notre Dame's Warren Course Landed The U.S. Senior Open

John Fineran does a nice job summing up how Notre Dame’s Warren Course by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw made the right moves in earning it’s way onto the national stage this week with the U.S. Senior Open. The course struggled in its early years with maintenance issues but eventually got those right and now is the first university course to host a senior major.

That’s one of the reasons the United States Golf Association — after seeing Warren play host to the 2010 Women’s Amateur Public Links, several NCAA men’s and women’s regionals and several USGA qualifying events — announced in 2016 that Warren would be the first university golf course to host the event.

“The USGA was on board from the start,” Cielen said. “They said, ‘Look, we don’t have to change anything significant here.’ In fact, they paid us the ultimate compliment, ‘We can tee it up just the way it is.’”

Ben Kimball, the USGA’s senior director of championships, confirmed that in May.

“We’re here first and foremost for the golf course,” he said. “This is a fabulous Coore and Crenshaw venue. It’s going to be intimidating. Let’s face it, when you play in a USGA national championship, (the golf course) should be a little intimidating. Fair, yet intimidating. This is the biggest championship in all of senior golf. We want (players) to have butterflies in their stomach.”

The story also includes a sidebar explaining this week’s re-routing.

This 7-year-old video offers some insights and visuals as well:

Matt Wallace Berates Caddy, Does Not Earn Plaudits For His Performance

Actually, the rising star from Europe’s on-course temper and behavior has quietly been a thing that surfaced in new ways at the BMW International last weekend.

Whether this is a trend or just the product of better on-course sound, I’m not sure.

Dylan Dethier does a nice job compiling comments and Tweets from this and Matt Wallace’s erratic actions at Pebble Beach.

There was this:

The behavior was the second time in as many weeks that Wallace has run hot on the golf course. Despite a strong T12 finish at last week’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Wallace was captured in several moments of frustration, tossing a putter on one occasion, turning his hat backwards on another. The behavior drew pointed criticism from SkySports analyst Rich Beem. “I’m sorry but I just don’t enjoy watching that,” he said. “I know you’re intense, but get over yourself.”

The Munich moment:

I watched him play the 18th and this is the only dialogue with the caddie on my DVR pic.twitter.com/tbPXZReTmS

— Matt Sylla (@mattsylla) June 24, 2019

PVB VP's Wonder What Will Become Of Their BWM Leases: BMW Wrapping Up PGA Tour Playoff Sponsorship

Teddy Greenstein says BMW is shifting its U.S. golf spending from the PGA Tour’s old Western Open to the 2020 Ryder Cup, undoubtedly at a much lower cost than they’ve paid as sponsor of the FedExCup’s second playoff event.

From Greenstein’s story quoting several saying they were very confident a replacement will be found, But at this price, the list of options has to be getting short:

“Golf remains an important global platform for BMW,” said Tim Rittenhouse, experiential marketing manager of BMW of North America.

Industry sources put the annual cost of title sponsorship of a FedEx Cup playoff event at $16 million to $18 million, and a new partner — or partners — could be announced soon.

“We are in active discussions with several companies,” said Vince Pellegrino, senior vice president of the WGA, “and are very confident we’ll have a long-term agreement in place starting in 2020.”

This year’s event will be played at Medinah, while next year’s edition heads to Olympia Fields.

And don’t forget the event will now be played two weeks after the Wyndham Rewards has been decided, so fans may yet be over that excitement.

"Detroit Golf Club workers threaten strike before PGA Tour's Rocket Mortgage Classic"

Well here’s one you don’t hear every day: members of the Teamsters are threatening to walk off the job at Detroit Golf Club over stalled negotiations.

Greg Levinsky reports for the Detroit Free Press on what’s in dispute and how the action could impact the PGA Tour’s return to the area for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

“Come (Thursday) when this tournament starts,” said Kevin Moore, president of local union, Teamsters Local 299, and executive board member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, “we’re going to do what we have to do. Demonstrations, strikes, whatever is at our disposal.”

A seven-member group of mechanics and groundskeepers represented by Teamsters Local 299 saw their contract expire in 2018. The club had been asking for a contract that included a “3% pay raise, health care relief and job security language,” according to a news release on Monday..

Tiger Dropped From Woods Restaurant Suit After Lack Of Ownership Stake Confirmed

The wrongful death lawsuit dropped on Tiger’s plate at the PGA Championship will move forward but without Woods as a defendant, reports ESPN.com’s Bob Harig.

The reason is fairly simple: Tiger is not an owner of Woods Jupiter where the young man who bartended there ultimately lost his life in a car accident.

According to Woods' attorney, Barry Postman, Woods invests in but does not own the restaurant.

"The decision was clearly appropriate and reflected the fact that Mr. Woods should not have been included in the lawsuit in the first place because he had nothing to do with Mr. Immesberger's death,'' Postman said in a statement. "While the situation was tragic, the facts will ultimately show that the cause of Mr. Immesberger's car accident were the many decisions made by Mr. Immesberger on the night of his passing.'“

Why The World Golf Hall Of Fame's Street Cred Is Suffering, Files: Hannah Green Declared One Major From HOF Eligibility

A big congratulations to LPGA rookie Hannah Green on her first win and first major win in the KPMG LPGA Championship, nearly doubling her career earnings and already bringing her within one major win of World Golf Hall of Fame eligibility.

As the World Golf Hall’s Twitter account reminded us:

Of course we all know Hall eligibility does not ensure induction. Shoot, non-eligibility but amazing lives in the game are not even ensured a place in the Hall.

Steph Curry, Under Armour Getting Into The Golf Fashion Business

You know I’m just going to leave it to the commenters, but there was confusion over the insignia on Steph Curry’s hat as he unveiled a perfectly classy looking collection of golf clothes with partner Under Armour. (Upside down would be a big problem, in case you want the short version on the golf logo matter.)

The Range Unlimited Collection is detailed here.

The launch at Mission Hills…

🏀 @StephenCurry30 is ready to make a bold statement out on the golf course.

He's in Shenzhen, China this week promoting his upcoming golf clothing line for @UnderArmour. pic.twitter.com/pqvREc4Jn9

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 24, 2019

Detroit Golf Club And How The Motor City Got The Tour Back

With the Rocket Mortgage Classic bringing PGA Tour golf back to greater Detroit area, there are a couple of stories worth noting if you’re interested in Detroit Golf Club’s big week.

Tony Paul looks at the impact expected by the event, the first in the area since 2009.

"It's so huge, because of this state's and the Metro Detroit area's golf roots, that extend all the way back to the 19th century," said Lynn Henning, a recently retired Detroit News sportswriter who was editor of PGA Magazine from 1989-94 and a senior writer and editor of Golfweek from 1996-98.

"To see that reclaimed and to see the appetite, the hunger for big-name pro golf in Michigan is not only refreshing, but it's deserved."

Carlos Monarrez files an excellent look at Detroit Golf Club’s pursuit of the tour before Dan Gilbert and Quicken Loans made it known they wanted to be back in the Motor City.

Sure, the club had lots of land, a location not far from downtown Detroit and two pedigreed Donald Ross courses that opened in 1916. But as the club’s leadership probed various sources, including the PGA Tour, it soon learned it mostly needed a sponsor and a date on the PGA Tour calendar.

“So during those years there were a couple attempts to find sponsorship that never came to fruition,” Glassberg said. “But meanwhile we had established a pretty good relationship with the PGA Tour. Keith was green chair, so we actually had people from the tour up here a number of times and evaluated what should the routing be, what’s the yardage, et cetera.”

WXYZ, The local ABC affiliate, provided thesis flyover tour. Very nicely done for a local station, even down to highlighting which hole from the club’s South Course is in use.

Average Age Update: Holding Steady For PGA Tour's 2018-19 Winners, A Touch Younger For FedExCup Top 20

With Chez Reavie’s dominating win at the Travelers Championship—and his reflections on the perseverance needed at times to sustain a career as detailed here by GolfDigest.com’s Brian Wacker—the 37-year-old helped maintained the trend of PGA Tour winners just on the coveted demo cusp.

Like Gary Woodland in the U.S. Open—another geezer at 35—each is the story of a player who had great potential and widely recognized talent, yet experienced more downs than ups before winning. Golf’s a weird, cruel game that way, which makes the suggestion of today’s youth being better prepared to win than ever more hype than fact.

Since the start of 2019, there have been nine winners in their 20s. Two won events opposite to more significant tournaments, one was a player who since turned 30 (Rory McIlroy) and another was Brooks Koepka, who is 29. At 25, Xander Schauffele is 2019’s younger winner on the PGA Tour and that was in January. Going back to the fall, Cameron Champ’s win at 23 makes him 2018-19’s youngest.

With Reavie’s victory at Travelers, the average age of 2018-19 PGA Tour winners holds steady at 33, while the top 20 in FedExCup points average 32.6.

There should be nothing wrong with golfers peaking in their 30s. Such a phenomenon, to the surprise of no one, would be something to celebrate as a reward for longevity and experience gained.

But as Eamon Lynch notes in this column juxtaposing the invasion of youth at the Travelers with one-time child phenom Michelle Wie’s suggestion she has little left in the tank, the youth (and the people pushing them to turn pro) can learn a thing or two about the big picture.

If we are seeing the truncating of Wie’s playing career, it is an aching loss for golf, and not just women’s golf. There is no more melancholy sight in sport than that of a sublime talent whose potential goes largely unrealized.

Wie is an exemplar of how the natural, joyous passion of a child can become the challenging, frustrating job of a professional. Yet by no measure have these been fruitless years. Whatever the capricious whims of golf inflicted, she is a winner, a Stanford graduate, a poised public figure even under intense scrutiny. That’s why, as Wie inches with characteristic grace toward the door marked ‘Exit’, young men like Hovland and Wolff who are entering the professional ranks would do well to learn from her example.

There will always be phenoms. But it’s still quite confounding to see the push to hype young players with so little appreciation for the long game in a sport that has generally seen few players peak young.

LPGA's Whan Still Yearning To Get His Tour More Broadcast Network Airtime

Intriguing stance by Commish Mike Whan’s in believing network television is still the place to get more notoriety and purse growth for the LPGA Tour. From Beth Ann Nichols’ Golfweek story posted after Whan discussed the close on a two-year Golf Channel extension and the PGA Tour’s involvement in handling negotiations:

Whan points to current No. 1 Jin Young Ko as a prime example.

“If you gave me 39 weekends a year, I promise you I could make you love Jin Young Ko,” said Whan. “You’re going to get to know her story and swing. You see her five times a year, she’s just a name I can’t pronounce. That’s a shame. If you give me 39 weeks there’s a lot of guys on the PGA Tour I wouldn’t care about.… When they become people you know, you want to watch them.”

However, as the Nichols story points out, the U.S. Women’s Open on Fox was outdrawn by NBC network broadcasts of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the Diamond Resorts TOC, with strong Golf Channel and promotional tie-ins on other NBC outlets, suggesting that a mere broadcast network presence isn’t enough.

It’s also hard to see a broadcast network taking on the LPGA Tour at the PGA Tour’s negotiating insistence when even PGA Tour events do not all get broadcast network coverage. Seems obvious who will get priority in negotiations, but stranger things have happened.

Koepka Admits He's Fried, Still Not Over Rush From PGA Win

Just as Tiger Woods took a while to recover from putting everything into winning the Masters, Brooks Koepka hit a wall Saturday after his PGA win and subsequent U.S. Open push to win a third in a row.

It’s one thing when 43-year-old Tiger is on fumes, but to hear Koepka say he’s “fried” suggests it might be tougher, not easier, to win a Grand Slam with the new schedule.

From Nick Menta’s GolfChannel.com story:

“I'm just pretty – I don't think I'm even over the PGA,” he said. “And then to exert all your energy there last week, just fried. I mean, I've caught myself yawning on the golf course. I don't think I've ever yawned on a golf course before.”

In fairness, Koepka has yawned before – in a way that was weirdly perfect – but it’s clear that last week’s run at a third consecutive U.S. Open title took a lot of him.

Asked why he made the cross-country trip here after Pebble, Koepka said he wanted to honor his commitment and that he couldn’t have known in advance he would be this drained. Considering the reason, he’s happy to feel fatigued.

“When you're planning your schedule, you're not thinking you're going to compete in all three majors and still be fried from it,” he said. “It's fine. I don't mind it.”

It’ll be interesting to see what the combination of The Open followed by a WGC, a week off and then the playoffs yields in the way of energetic play from the game’s stars. In the hottest month of the year.

Jason Day Is Officially In Stevie Williams Boot Camp

Veteran bagman Steve Williams is bringing some discipline and drive to Jason Day’s preparation as the former PGA Champion looks to save his season. And hey, why not?

Day, from Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com story:

“We've definitely been a lot more disciplined about going to the range and putting green, chipping green after the round and making sure we're staying on top of it, especially with our feels,” Day said, sounding an awful lot like Williams’ most successful employer with that word choice.

“I've got a lot of work [to do],” Day said. “[Steve] is very black and white.”

He followed it up with a 63. Stevie!

As David Dusek notes, the Stevie-takes-charge method started at Pebble Beach and has continued to Connecticut. There have also been attempts to refine his equipment.

LPGA, Golf Channel Near Two-Year Extension, What Does It Mean?

Randall Mell says the “finishing touches” are in the works for an LPGA Tour television extension with Golf Channel that would extend the current deal.

“We're in the final stages of completing a two-year extension, pretty much as is,” LPGA commissioner Mike Whan told reporters Friday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

A Golf Channel spokesman confirmed Whan’s announcement.

Whan confirmed that the PGA Tour has led the LPGA’s TV negotiations, as part of a strategic alliance agreement struck between the tours in 2016.

This sets the LPGA up to be part of the PGA Tour’s next television contract negotiations, likely benefiting from the ability to be included as part of the bidding. Though to what extent the PGA Tour will prioritize the LPGA in packaging, scheduling and inclusion in deals remains to be seen. Whichever networks interested in taking on PGA Tour coverage will almost surely have to take on other (less or not profitable) tours as well.

Current PGA Tour contracts with CBS, NBC and Golf Channel expire at the end of 2021. This sets in motion the likelihood of negotiations beginning in earnest with prospective bidders.

Wie: "I’m not entirely sure how much more I have left in me"

Attempting to play on a bum wrist, things did not go well for Michelle Wie in the KPMG LPGA Championship first round (84) and after she suggested her career may have hit a wall.

From Beth Ann Nichols’ Golfweek story on Wie’s comments and player reaction to the possible career ending appearance:

“It’s just one of those situations where I’m not, you know, I’m not entirely sure how much more I have left in me,” said Wie, “so even on the bad days I’m just like trying to take time to enjoy it. But it’s tough.”

Like many I was surprised to see her turn up at Hazeltine after she signaled likely taking the summer off, so kudos to Wie for trying to play.

Classic Sports TV's Count Of 2019 U.S. Open Shots Shown By Fox

As he always does, Jeff Haggar at Classic TV Sports tracked all of the shots shown by Fox during the 2019 U.S. Open final round coverage.

He started about 30 minutes before the leaders teed off to maintain some consistency with other major telecasts. Fox showed 1.17 shots per minute, down a touch from the 1.24 shown at Shinnecock Hills. But Fox appeared to do the leaders justice and also show a good number of players contending.

He also tracked holes shown the most. Check it out here.

For comparison to prior majors, see this table with links to all of Haggar’s charts since 2014.