Couples On Premier League: "You want to win one of these things or you want to win the L.A. Open?"

Greg Hardwig of the Naples News talked to Champions playing this week’s Chubb Classic and asked Fred Couples, Tom Lehman, Bernhard Langer and Jack Nicklaus about the proposed Premier Golf League.

Two-time Genesis Invitational winner—yeah I went there—Fred Couples thinks the PGA Tour essentially has a prestige component that a new tour just does not have. Except that the prestige event he mentions does not exist as he refers to it…

"I saw Jay Monahan's quote. That's how long I follow it," Couples said Thursday, where the two-time Chubb Classic champion was practicing for this week at The Classics at Lely Resort.

"You play there, you don't play on the Tour," he summarized Monahan. "Your choice. You want to win one of these things or you want to win the L.A. Open?

Bernhard Langer said he talked to the World Golf Group or representatives of the tour about the concept and raised the very persistent question: how do players come and go, how does young talent emerge and what happens when great players become a little less great?

"I was talking to them," Langer said Tuesday. "Again, it's in competition with the existing tour. Those guys, so if you take top 50 in the world or whatever, 10 might fall out because they want to have the young talent come up. So where do those 10 go? You're not exempt anywhere, so where do you go? You're done. The tours didn't like it basically, I think. You're dealing in direct competition unless they're involved."

And the Golden Bear just shot it down as only he can.

"I just don't think it's viable," said Jack Nicklaus, whom Jastrow contacted back in 2002. "I just don't think financially they can make it. I don't think they'll ever get the golf courses. I don't think the tour would ever let it happen. I don't think the guys would leave. There's just so many things that have to happen, I just don't think it's possible."

Besides what happens to players on the bubble, Nicklaus hits on what I think is ultimately the proposed tour’s biggest issue: where will they play?

With today’s players cutting out alcohol, deadlifting more weight than any athletes in the history of sports and generally carrying superhuman status, their 340-yard drives severely limit options. The PGA Tour has several of the clear-cut best courses in major markets, while the others possibly able to host something likely have little interest.

Now, with smaller fields and if the ball didn’t fly so far, you might be able to drum up support for some more remote destinations or classics left behind by the modern game.

Finally Golf Makes The News For The Right Reasons: Researchers Say It's A Recipe For Longevity

Researchers followed nearly 5,900 adults 65 and up over a decade and are prepared to say at least once-a-month golfers are going to live longer (well, 8% chance). Finally, golf makes national headlines for a good reason!

From a WebMD story:

The study will be presented later this month at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles.

Golf is an option for older adults who want to be physically active, according to researchers from the Zeenat Qureshi Stroke Institute.

"The intensity level of the activity is such that it can be maintained for a longer period of time, and it's something that maintains the interest of the individuals so people can continue it on a regular basis," study author Dr. Adnan Qureshi, a neurology professor at the University of Missouri, told CNN.

Of Course Tiger's First Hole Eagle Putt Was 24 Feet, 8 Inches

The stars keep aligning this week at the Genesis Invitational, as Tiger’s first hole eagle putt measured out at 24 feet, 8 inches according to ShotLink.

Just over two weeks since Kobe Bryant’s passing, the former No, 24 and No. 8 of the Los Angeles Lakers, here is Woods’ eagle putt en route to an opening 69.

What a start.@TigerWoods opens the week with an eagle at the first.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/upZSb5Vqo4

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 13, 2020

Tiger was asked about it after the round:

Q. Tiger, can you talk about the first hole and the eighth hole where you made the eagle putt from 24 feet eight inches, Kobe's numbers, and then you get to No. 8 that's dedicated to Kobe and you birdied that?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's ironic, isn't it? He was a -- it was a nice way to start. I didn't know about the putt being that long. As I said, ironic that having those two numbers. And then No. 8, happened to hit one in there close and had a nice little kick-in there for birdie.

You know, no matter what we do, I think for a while we're going to always remember Kobe and what he meant, and especially here in SoCal and the entire sports world. Like I said, very ironic that I happened to have those numbers on those holes and those exact measurements.

Rory: "If they want to try to contain what we do as touring professionals, I'm all for that."

It’s rare in golf history to have an active player call for sensible regulation or a splitting off of the pros from amateurs, but Rory McIlroy did it yesterday at Riviera.

Speaking in advance of the Genesis Invitational, answering a question from the LA Times’ Mike James who filed this piece on the distance debate:

Q. Rory, where do you see the discussion after the distance insight survey evolving and where would you like to see it end up?

RORY McILROY: How long have you got?

Q. I have lots of time.

RORY McILROY: You know, I think the biggest thing that came out of the report for me, a lot of the stuff about the ball going too far and technology, it really pertains to 0.1 percent of golfers out there. So look, if they want to try to contain what we do as touring professionals, I'm all for that.

Selfishly, I think that that's only a good thing for the better players, but for the game in general, I think one of the best things that came out of it was the sustainability aspect and the fact that architects building these golf courses, and not even architects to a degree, but also the people that are giving the architects the money to build these golf courses with this grand ambition of maybe having a Tour event one day. Building these golf courses on these massive pieces of land, having to use so much water, so much fertilizer, pesticides, all the stuff that we really shouldn't be doing nowadays especially in the climate we live in and everything that's happening in our world. You look at what happened in Australia, you look at what happens in this state every August, September, October time with fires and global warming.

I think golf has a responsibility to minimize its footprint as much as it possibly can. For me, I think the sustainability aspect of what they're trying to do is very important and that's the one thing I would definitely stand behind.

Genesis Invitational: Golf Gods, Please Give Us Follow The Sun Part 2!

We have nine of the top ten, a non-rainy forecast, and in a storyline only Hollywood could muster up, Tiger Woods on the cusp of his 83rd PGA Tour win to break Sam Snead’s record. The golf in this week’s Genesis Invitational is at Riviera Country Club where…

—Tiger Woods made his debut as a 16 year old in 1992 and is now the tournament host of the event formerly known as the LA Open

—When Sam Snead was the honoree as a former champion

—Where Ben Hogan returned after getting nearly fatally injured in an accident (oncoming bus, never good) and they later made a movie about the 1950 LA Open comeback…seventy years ago.

—Tiger Woods won the Masters last year after a comeback ranking close to the all-time greatest

—Tiger Woods has won 82 times but never his hometown event

Obviously, no screenwriter would dare do anything but muster up a Woods win in the end (though only after strong runs from young stars and his old/new buddy Phil Mickelson).

Maybe after an incredible Woods win and the all-time record establishment, they’d even call it Follow The Sun Part 2? Not that any of the players today would know about Follow The Sun.

Here was my question to Rory McIlroy, movie buff, about returning to LA where he loves seeing locations of films he adores. Seems we need to get him a copy of the Ben Hogan story, aka, Follow The Sun, even though it’s admittedly quite dreadful, other than some of the golf scenes:

Q. Well, on a lighter note, we've learned recently that you are quite a movie buff and seeing some locations of films filmed here in Los Angeles. Have you done any of that this week and have you watched any of the films that were actually filmed at Riviera on the grounds here?

RORY McILROY: No and I don't think so. So no, we got in Monday night and then the last couple days have just been at the course and sort of, yeah, getting ready to play the event. I don't know what movies have been shot here.

Q. Follow the Sun, the Ben Hogan Story, is a famous one.

RORY McILROY: Okay.

Q. Old.

RORY McILROY: More your ‑‑

Reports from the front of the room suggest he said something like, “More your era…old guy”:

Q. Yeah. Do you watch a lot of movies besides reading books? Is that something you do to kind of just get your mind off of golf?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I do, I do. I watched a good bit of the Oscars Sunday night and was pretty intrigued to see how that was going to unfold. I really liked Once Upon a Time in Hollywood last year, I enjoyed that movie. I love Tarantino movies, I always enjoy those. Honestly, anything to get my mind off this is a good thing.

There isn’t much on The You Tube, but this old scene from the Pebble portion of the movie is fun:

As always, your TV times from Riviera:

Thursday         Noon-2 p.m. / 6-8 p.m. (PGA TOUR LIVE “Look-in” – Live)

2-6 p.m. (Live) / 2-6 a.m. (Friday replay)   Golf Channel

Friday              2-6 p.m. (Live) / 7-10 p.m. (Replay) Golf Channel

Saturday          1-2:45 p.m. (Live) / 7-9 p.m. (Replay) Golf Channel

Saturday 3-6 pm ET (Live) CBS

Sunday            1-2:45 p.m. (Live) / 7:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (Replay)

Sunday 3-6:30 pm ET (Live) CBS

PGA TOUR LIVE on NBC Sports Gold (Eastern):                               

Thursday                     9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups)

• Patrick Cantlay/Dustin Johnson/Rory McIlroy (10:16 a.m. ET)

• Brooks Koepka/Phil Mickelson/Bubba Watson (10:27 a.m. ET) Friday 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups)

• Steve Stricker/Justin Thomas/Tiger Woods (10:16 a.m. ET)

• Second group to be voted on via “Fan Vote Friday” Twitter poll

Rory And Justin: Two Different Views On Riviera's Tenth

By now many are probably weary of hearing about Riviera’s wily 10th hole. Annual discussions of design dynamics that produce magical play and baffling decisions has been covered pretty extensively.

So here is more on George Thomas and Billy Bell’s 311-yard gem!

Two top-5 players, two views on how to play a hole where the lay-up decision is rarely a decision in the bomber’s world of 311-yard three-woods.

Here is Rory McIlroy from today’s Genesis Invitational press room asked about short par-4’s in general:

RORY McILROY:  The first hole I ever played as a professional golfer was a drivable par 4 was the 10th hole at The Belfry back in 2007.  I hit 6‑iron off the tee.  I mean, look, this is possibly the best drivable par 4 in the world here at Riviera, the 10th.  It's just so ‑‑ it's just as easy to make a six as it is to make a three, but all the statistics suggest that if you do go for the green, you're going to play the hole .3 of a shot lower than if you lay up.  All the statistics suggest that it's a hole to go for.

And then there was Justin Thomas who has played the hole every year since 2012 when he played the NCAA Championships at Riviera, asked about Rory’s use of stats to make his decision about to drive it or lay-up:

JUSTIN THOMAS:  I don't, personally I've always laid up on that hole.  I'll go for it to that front pin, but I've laid up ever since I've been on Tour.  I mean, the way I look at it is I try to make par on the hole and if I happen to make one birdie, then I beat the field for the week I would think.  It's a shot shape or the green shape is good for my wedge, my spin that I have on it with the left‑right spin.  I've had anything from 4‑iron to 6‑iron off the tee kind of up that left side of the fairway.  It's not a very hard wedge shot as long as you can just get your number right. 

So that's just how I've always look at it.  I've never looked at the numbers because my miss with a 3‑wood or sometimes driver is right and right's no good up there.  I'm just trying to make 4 and maybe sprinkle a 3 or two.

In Next Media Deal, PGA Tour Expected To Take On Most Broadcast Production

Multiple well-placed sources confirmed to GeoffShackelford.com a major change in the next PGA Tour media rights deal.

Modeled in some ways after the Olympic Broadcast System, production will be handled by a primary PGA Tour operation providing a world feed to likely broadcast partners CBS, NBC, Golf Channel, ESPN+ and GolfTV. The networks will retain production independence with the final product, along with familiar voices by producing announcers, graphics, replay and other extras beyond the “world feed”.

The move allows the PGA Tour to more cohesively produce coverage and improve PGA Tour Live streaming presentation that has often looked under-produced.

The change to a more connected production operation will allow for expanded streaming feed options on likely digital rightsholder ESPN+, including an expected instruction channel, a Red Zone style option for highlights, more Featured Groups and a Live Under Par-infused feed aimed at younger audiences.

When contacted, the PGA Tour, NBC/Golf Channel and CBS, each declined comment, citing the ongoing negotiations. The current media rights deal expires after the 2021 PGA Tour season.

Westlake Golf Course's Remarkable Place In The Game

Sean Martin of PGATour.com returns to the course where he was introduced to the game that has produced a fascinating array of players and coaches despite having a short course and artificial turf driving range mats. Not only is it a fantastic look at how Westlake Golf Course succeeds without luxurious facilities, but how a place with an important part in the community can still also produce elite players (current headliners are Matthew Wolff and Danielle Kang).

From Martin’s piece, with images by Keyur Khamar:

I returned recently, as well, to tell the story of the course where I was introduced to the game. You may have caught glimpses of Westlake on Como’s show or in the pages of Golf Digest or on the Instagram feed of swing instructor George Gankas. The success of Gankas and his star student, Matthew Wolff, has brought attention to this tiny public course in Southern California.

There are other affordable and accessible courses in the country, but Westlake provides a unique case study. What it lacks in length, it makes up for with a communal atmosphere that nurtures players’, especially juniors’, passion for the game.

Westlake is a small course with a large footprint. Yard for yard, I don’t think another course has had a larger impact on today’s game. It may seem an audacious claim, but consider the evidence. Two of the game’s most influential instructors and several successful pros have called it home.

Tiger Sounding Unlikely For 2021 Presidents Cup Captaincy, And That's A Good Sign

Tiger’s comments at the Genesis Invitational suggest he will follow Ernie Els in not returning to captain the 2021 Presidents Cup squad.

From Ryan Lavner’s GolfChannel.com report:

“I’m struggling with the same issues,” Woods said Tuesday. “As an American, we have two Cups that we’re involved in, not just every other year, where the Internationals are the European team. So the responsibilities on an American are a little bit more.”

Left unsaid: Woods was uncertain about his playing future when he committed to Captaining in 2019. Now that he appears healthy and likely to have a few more good years of competitive golf, his next Captaincy seems 6-8 years away and will likely be a Ryder Cup.

He also doesn’t have to spend the next two years saying how much he looks forward to returning to Quail Hollow, so there’s that too.

Woods also made a fun remark related to his 2019 pairings with Justin Thomas.

Tiger On The Premier Golf League: "We're looking into it."

Tiger Woods was asked for thoughts on the proposed Premier Golf League, calling the proposed circuit a natural evolution of the World Golf Championships. He also suggested ideas like this will continue and did not rule out the current proposal as an option:

Q. Tiger, have you personally been approached about the Premier Golf League concept and what do you think of the whole idea?

TIGER WOODS: Have I been personally approached? Yes, and my team's been aware of it and we've delved into the details of it and trying to figure it out just like everyone else. We've been down this road before with World Golf Championships and other events being started, or other tours want to evolve and started. There's a lot of information that we're still looking at and whether it's reality or not, but just like everybody else, we're looking into it.

And this follow-up suggesting such proposals will be a regular thing of the future.

Q. Why do you think something like that would even have a possibility? Is there something not right out here that you would like to see better?

TIGER WOODS: I think that just like all events, you're trying to get the top players to play more collectively. It's one of the reasons why we instituted the World Golf Championships, because we were only getting together five times a year, the four majors and THE PLAYERS, and we wanted to showcase the top players on more than just those occasions. We came up with the World Golf Championships and we're meeting more often. And so this is a natural evolution, whether or not things like this are going to happen, but ideas like this are going to happen going forward, whether it's now or any other time in the future.

Tiger On Distance Insights: "It's going to be probably...well after my career and my playing days that we will figure that out."

Tiger Woods was asked at today’s Genesis Invitational about the Distance Insights Report and remained consistent with past views, but did reiterate how the sport has run out of room to grow courses.

Q. Tiger, how do you see the discussion around the distance insights study evolving and how would you like to see that discussion resolved?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I've always said that the game of golf, it's fluid, it's moving. The golf ball is certainly going a lot further than the balata days. We've changed it from using a tree to using high-tech metal. We've come a long way in this game. What's been crazy, I've been a part of all that. My career when I first started, I beat Davis Love in a playoff and he was using a persimmon driver. To see the technology advance as fast as it has, the average distance was, from when I first came out on here, if you carry it 270, it took a lot of trouble out of play. Now guys are hitting their hybrids and 5-woods 270 in the air. So the game has evolved and it's changed. We're running out of property to try and design golf courses that are from the back 7,800 to 8,000yards, it's difficult.But on top of that, we want to keep the game so enjoyable and we've trying to get more participation, and having the larger heads, more forgiving clubs, it adds to the enjoyment of the game. So there's a very delicate balancing act where we're trying to keep the game at, but also as we've all recognized, the players have changed over the years, too. When I first came out it was just Vijay and myself in the gyms and now seems like everyone has their own trainer and physios and guys got bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic like all sports.

He seems resigned to not seeing any kind of rule change for the remainder of his playing days:

Q. Just to follow up on that, can we put you down for bifurcation or do you still want to read the report and kind of think that through?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think that is certainly on discussion, it's on the table whether we bifurcate or not. It's only one percent of the guys or women that are going to be using that type of equipment, but we want to keep the game enjoyable, we want to keep having more kids want to come play it. It's so difficult now, I mean, with everyone walking around with their head down because they can't get away from their mobile device to come out here and play a game that's hopefully more on the slow side, we want to have that type of enjoyment. Part of the discussion going forward is do we bifurcate or not. That's, you know, it's going to be probably even well after my career and my playing days that we will figure that out.

And this on Riviera and classic courses:

Q. Tiger, one more thing on the distance. Riviera seems maybe as well as any other course to have withstood the test of time and the changes, I mean, without having to add five, six, seven hundred yards. What is it about this place that's allowed it do that?

TIGER WOODS: You know, it has and it hasn't. We've lengthened 12, redone 8, they've moved a few tees back. Yes, the alleyways are still the same, but when they moved No.12 back, what, 70yards, it used to be just a 1-iron and a wedge and now you're hitting driver and 4-iron. Yeah, there have been some holes that they're able to extend, but for the most part the confines are what they are here. So where they've tried to add distance, they have, but there's really nowhere to go.

PGL: What Could A World Tour Schedule Look Like?

Short of the PGA Tour and European Tour merging their lucrative World Golf Championships and Rolex Series events, and shedding ten events each to free up more money, the two major tours will continue to face wild swings in field quality. That’s because a year-round structure forces players to decide when to take breaks and when to use the Tour’s as springboards.

As Rory McIlroy alluded to down at Torrey Pines, the World Golf Group has seized on many vulnerabilities in the current models. One of those weaknesses: bloated schedules and excessive TV money distribution for lesser events.

While any schedule is fluid, scheduling has been one significant appeal of the Premier Golf League. Granted, putting something down on paper is one thing, actually lining things up in the way of quality venues and good fits with major sites, is an entirely different beast.

Here, as of a year ago according to my sources, was a proposed Premier schedule working around what they called the “sanctity” of the men’s major championships.

Again, as I originally reported, the dreams of an 18-event slate out of the chute seems less likely than ten events. But for the sake of pondering how this proposed Tour could succeed or force the current tours to rethink things, this is probably how most would draw up a world tour schedule.

"If you like vanilla, you’ll love CBS’ new lineup "

Hate to agree as we all want golf TV to be better, but John Hawkins pretty accurately sums up the rough start to 2020 CBS golf broadcasts here:

Dottie Pepper is excellent. Mark Immelman has a high ceiling and is fast becoming a source of pertinence and polish. Since David Feherty hopped to NBC in 2016, however, the Eye has gone blind to the value of building a team with people who played the game and are fully stocked with knowledge about every competitor, yet remain unfazed by the task of imparting pure objectivity when the situation demands it.

“Hopefully, that came out of the plug mark,” IBF offered after Matt Every dumped a pitch into a greenside bunker Sunday on Pebble Beach’s eighth hole.

“When things go wrong here, there’s no real way of taking the shortcuts,” Faldo added while Every cleaned up his triple bogey.

Pompoms and nonsense. They’re fine at a high school pep rally, but at a gathering of the world’s finest golfers vying for the largest share of a $7.8 million purse, a major network with more than 60 years in the business should know better than to shortchange its educated, dedicated viewership.

Early in 2020, it has been confounding as a viewer to hear announcers question strategic choices, or issue early critiques only to somehow always apologize in some way, or justify the play. Sometimes players just make a mistake or play a poor shot. As Hawkins notes, the viewers know and understand that such things happen in golf. Why pretend differently?

Rory McIlroy Reveals Shocking (For A Golf Pro) Propensity To Read And Enjoy Books

I have no idea what they are doing right at the Independent, but nice to see them essentially posting transcripts of Paul Kimmage’s chats with Rory McIlroy.

This from Part 2 on reading may cause some of his PGA Tour peers leery reading to wonder what the lad is doing. And nice work Kyle Porter…

PK: You're also reading a lot. At the Masters, you had just started a Steve Jobs biography and a book called Digital Minimalism?

RM: Yeah, Cal Newport. He's got Digital Minimalism and another one called Deep Work, about the capability of the human brain, but Digital Minimalism was massive. Kyle Porter from CBS had mentioned it in an article he wrote about Augusta and how it was great that people weren't staring at screens (the no phones policy at the Masters) but were talking and experiencing things.

Digital maximalism is also known as Living Under Par. Just saying…

PK: So you went looking for the book?

Like, in a bookstore? Dangerous!

RM: Yeah, and it made me more . . . aware, I guess. 'Why am I taking my phone out? Is it to learn something? Look at a message? Send an email?' Because when it becomes this (flicks a finger across the palm of his hand) . . .

PK: Sure.

RM: So I get these recommendations from people - Donal (Casey, the CEO of his management team) is a voracious reader - and I'll check them out. There have definitely been books that have resonated with me and authors I've really liked that have helped on, and off, the golf course and yeah, you could call it self-help. There's been a lot of self-help in there.

PK: Let's talk about a few more: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown.
RM: Essentialism was one of the first I read.

PK: What's the nub of that?

RM: Saying no.

Malnati: "I would love to see where a drive of 300 yards is absolutely bombed."

Dave Shedloski quotes several players for GolfDigest.com on the distance topic, and besides the usual nonsense where the decathletes in the game today believe they would be harmed by 15 fewer dimples on their golf balls (or some other needed remedy), there was at least Peter Malnati.

A member of the Players Advisory Council, he offered this sinister technophobic threat to capitalism as we know it:

“As the ball has gotten longer, it has become disproportionately longer for the biggest hitters,” said Peter Malnati, who advocates for a 10-percent rollback that would impact all players. “Selfishly, I wouldn’t mind seeing them make a ball that affects only the top guys. That’s being selfish. I would love to see where a drive of 300 yards is absolutely bombed. That’s the limit. It’s clear that the path golf is on is not sustainable in regards to courses that we’re building that all are approaching 8,000 yards. That seems crazy.”