NY Times: Trump Instructed U.S. Ambassador To U.K. To Bring The Open To Turnberry

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The New York Times’ Mark Lander, Lara Jakes and Maggie Haberman report that President Donald Trump asked his appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom to help steer The Open Championship back to Trump Turnberry Resort.

The course last hosted The Open in 2009 as Turnberry resort, and was purchased in 2014 by Trump, subsequently renovated, impressively upgraded (my review here for GolfDigest.com), and has since not returned to The Open rota.

According to the reporting, American ambassador and New York Jets owner Robert Wood Johnson IV, was advised against any attempt at intervening by his deputy, Lewis Lukens, who later was removed from his position.

Whether the idea ever got to the R&A, hosts of The Open, is unclear. However, according to the report…

But Mr. Johnson apparently felt pressured to try. A few weeks later, he raised the idea of Turnberry playing host to the Open with the secretary of state for Scotland, David Mundell.

In a brief interview last week, Mr. Mundell said it was “inappropriate” for him to discuss his dealings with Mr. Johnson and referred to a British government statement that said Mr. Johnson “made no request of Mr. Mundell regarding the British Open or any other sporting event.”

The White House has declined to comment on President Trump’s instructions to Johnson.

The Times story probes whether the request would have been a violation of the “emoluments” clause and the importance of securing professional tournaments at Trump properties to the bottom line.

As recently as February, R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said Turnberry remained in the rota even as courses in the vicinity (aka Troon) will have hosted two Opens since Turnberry last did. Slumbers cited something about crowd size. No one is really buying it.

Just over a week ago, Scotland on Sunday’s Martyn McLaughlin reported that the Trump organization is working on plans to significantly develop acreage adjacent to Turnberry.

Ratings: 2020 Memorial Tops "Return To Golf" Events, Golf Wins The Weekend

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A few things stand out with the 2020 Memorial final round ratings: it scored an increase in viewership in July over the normal May dates. Generally fewer people are watching television this time of year.

Also, the final round 2.09 was registered going up against NASCAR. Furthermore, Tiger Woods was only briefly part of the rain-delay interrupted CBS window.

Golf Channel also did well with Tiger in the early weekend coverage provided by the CBS crew that has pulled off the return under complicated working conditions:

According to ShowBuzzDaily.com, golf won the weekend too. While the competition is lighter than it will be in the coming weeks, there were more sports viewing options than a few weeks ago.

Commissioner For A Day: The Email That Should Be Sent To Players, Jon Rahm Penalty Edition

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Sunday, Jon Rahm won the Memorial Tournament despite a 71st hole penalty assessed for causing his ball to move.

If I were PGA Tour Commissioner this is the email I’d send to PGA Tour players regarding the increasingly problematic tendency to excessively ground the club behind the ball in any kind of lie.

Dear Greatest Athletes In All Of Sport,

It’s been an incredible run since the Return To Golf (© pending) started and I want to thank you for your continued use of a mask when getting Chipotle take-out. Amazing first step. Don’t hesitate to extend that face covering stuff in hotel lobbies or if you have not taken up the special NetJets offer we’ve highlighted (CODE: FLYINGCOMMERCIALSUCKS).

Meanwhile, our positivity rates are as low as the scores you’ve been shooting. Yes, that’s an unfortunate segue to the point of this email you will not read.

This is about the mashing. The pulping, the grinding, the grating, the smashing, the crushing, the squashing, the scrunching and the general pulverizing of grass behind your ball. As you may know by now, last week’s amazing Memorial Presented By Nationwide champion Jon Rahm (500 more FedExCup points) placed his club behind his ball and it moved ever so slightly. He meant nothing by it. However, under a very strict application of the rules, our staff assessed Jon a two-stroke penalty.

I highlight this because Jon is not alone in this habit of getting in there and really testing out that grass behind the ball. While I certainly understand the desire to get your money’s worth, I’d like to tell you a story. See, way back in 1744, guys not nearly as athletic as you, played a lot of golf at this trench-filled place call Leith Links. It was no TPC. The course was in Edinburgh, which you probably drove by when flying in for the The Open. Anyway, those rulemaking mid-18th century non-jocks came up with the original rules of golf. There was a line about playing the ball “where it lies.” Long, boring story short (for the agents possibly still reading this), that language evolved quickly into kind of this, like, big, big rule of golf that shaped all others. Miraculously, the whole play it as it lies creed was a thing for a solid 250 years, with hiccups along the way.

Anything you can do to not test the ground, press down, shard, grind, levigate, triturate or in general, look like you are improving your lie, would be appreciated. Especially when you’re in a featured group on PGA Tour Live or on one of our network partner broadcasts.

I would also point out that we’ll have a lot of rough at upcoming events, particularly with a PGA Championship and U.S. Open on the schedule. And of course The Playoffs© highlighting the season of championships. So talk to your teams about how to test out the ground and improve your feel for a shot by setting the club down NEXT to your ball instead of behind it where you might be seen improving your lie. Or in Jon’s causing the ball to move. Besides saving you penalty strokes and FedExCup points, this will make my next USGA/R&A rules meeting much more enjoyable.

Yours in the Return To Golf,

The Commissioner

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Feinstein: PGA Tour Picking Up Full Purses Right Now, Charities Getting Their Normal Donations

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Quite the rosy picture of PGA Tour finances in a time of pandemic from John Feinstein at GolfDigest.com:

Other sponsors are accepting their fate of fanless events in the near term for several reasons: They know that the tour’s carefulness is understandable, the tour has picked up the entire tab for purses since play started again, and the tour is apparently in a position to cover full purses at least until the end of the calendar year, if need be. Normally the tour pays for half of each week’s purse.

“You have to understand, they went 10 weeks without paying out purses, so they’re a little more flush than usual,” one source said. “Plus, they have an emergency fund that they can use, and their new TV deal [starting in 2022] will give them a 70 percent boost overall. You add that all up, and they’re in pretty good shape, even if this lasts a while longer.”

Equally important to the local tournament organizations, the tour has also pitched in to make sure the charities that normally receive money from the events are still getting their normal donations, or close to those numbers.

Eruopean Tour Salutes Jon Rahm's Asscension To No. 1

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Below are a two super posts from the European Tour featuring archival shots celebrating Jon Rahm’s rise to the No. 1 world ranking, starting with the tweet and retweet from Henrik Stenson:

And this Instagram post of where he started the game:

Rahm After Memorial Win, "The ball did move"

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A weird final day at the 2020 Memorial will be remembered as the day Jon Rahm became the —- player to be the world’s No. 1 golfer, and his 16 hole hole chip in. Followed by a post-round two-stroke penalty for causing the ball to move (but before he signed his scorecard).

Mike McAllister at PGATour.com with the definitive account of what happened once Tour rules officials started looking at the video and before Rahm signed his winning card.

The shot in question was his second from the rough just off the green at the par-3 16th. As Rahm was at address, the ball moved slightly. Rahm then holed the shot, but slow-motion replays showed the label on the ball moving slightly.

“I didn’t see it,” Rahm said. “You know, I promised open honestly and I’m a loyal person and I don’t want to win by cheating. … The ball did move. It’s as simple as that.”

Rahm was first asked about the potential of a penalty during his post-round interview with CBS prior to reaching the scoring area. Slugger White, PGA TOUR Vice President of Rules & Competition, then showed the replay to Rahm and the penalty was assessed prior to signing his scorecard.

The chip-in becomes a bogey and a 9-under-par winning score over Ryan Palmer, who badly missed the previous week’s cut over the same golf course.

After, Slugger White made clear quite assertively that this was a 9.4 violation and HD had nothing to do with the call.

“The rule is 9.4,” White said. “It was a ball at rest by the player, moved, and since he didn't put it back, he was assessed a general penalty, which is two strokes. That's pretty much the bottom line. …

“When he put the club down behind the ball, it moved ever so slightly to the left, so it changed positions. He accepted it like a gentleman and the man that he is, and we just went on with it.”

Views were split, though Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee feels a poor precedent has been set.

Here is shot and a closer look at the ball move. As I discuss on this week’s Shack Show, the practice of so aggressively grounding the club was apparently all week at Muirfield Village and it nearly cost the winner the outright victory he’s enjoying.

Nicklaus Wins The Open After Woods Bogies Road Hole, Or So The Fantasists Say

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The Open for the Ages is over and I’ll be honest, it was on too early in the morning for me to watch but I do look forward to watching even knowing the outcome.

From, Henry Dobereiner-Darwin-Longhurst or whoever crunched the numbers and divided it by the fan vote to produce an excuse to watch golf at St. Andrews and watch some links golf.

Nicklaus, the Champion over the Old Course in 1970 and 1978, trailed Woods by a single stroke with three holes remaining, but a birdie on the 16th lifted the Golden Bear back into a share of the lead.

Why, of course it did. And then Tiger three-putted the Road hole green…

Woods then bogeyed the 17th after missing the green to the left with his approach, meaning two closing pars were enough for Nicklaus to prevail with a final-day 68 and an aggregate score of 16 under.

Don’t spoil it for me by saying Jack threw his putter in the air. Judging by the choice to use 1978 Jack, I’m betting everyone is ok.

Anyway, the highlights, followed by the full broadcast:

Phil Being Phil Files: Laying Up On Muirfield Village's Par-3 16th

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Since the designed hole debuted in 2012, Phil Mickelson has never been a fan of Muirfield Village’s 16th. I’m not sure anyone is.

Two years ago in the Memorial final round, only nine players hit the green in regulation.

It’s time for a change.

Turns out, that time started Sunday as crews were shown digging up greens at Muifield Village while the final round of the Memorial played out.

Jack Nicklaus Reveals March Positive Test For COVID-19

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As far as weather delay reveals go, Jack Nicklaus definitely dropped the most shocking of all during round four of the 2020 Memorial. Thankfully, he and wife Barbara (who also tested positive but did not experience symptoms, are both ok and grateful.

From Doug Ferguson’s AP story:

Nicklaus said his wife had no symptoms, while he had a sore throat and a cough. Nicklaus said they were home in North Palm Beach, Florida, from March 13 "until we were done with it" on about April 20.

"It didn't last very long, and we were very, very fortunate, very lucky," Nicklaus said. "Barbara and I are both of the age, both of us 80 years old, that is an at-risk age. Our hearts go out to the people who did lose their lives and their families. We were just a couple of the lucky ones."

Ferguson also notes this:

Nicklaus said that by having the antibodies, "theoretically we can't get it and can't give it. That's a nice position to be in.''

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a June 30 update, said it does not know if people who recover from COVID-19 can be infected again. It also said that even with a positive test for antibodies, "you still should take preventive measures to protect yourself and others."

The news capped a week started by Nicklaus insisting he could not pass the virus onto the Memorial winner during the traditional 18th green greeting. Now we know why he felt that way.

The full conversation with Jim Nantz:

Should DeChambeau And Caddie Get Some Time Off For Friday's Conduct Unbecoming Antics?

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During Friday’s Memorial, Bryson DeChambeau made a mess of the 15th hole. While his 10 is not available to be watched on the PGA Tour app (brand protected!), most of the conduct unbecoming was captured nicely here in this roundup by Jay Rigdon at Awful Announcing.

Three elements were particularly troubling, starting with Dechambeau’s patting down of rough before and after taking a drop. While this dreadful practice continues to be commonplace way too often, this is just not a good look:

Then there was his subsequent treatment of the PGA Tour rules staff members who were called out to issue a (correct) ruling. (Golf.com’s Dylan Dethier went through the shots here.)

This is DeChambeau’s conversation with the first official:

While the second conversation with Ken Tackett would never match an Earl Weaver meltdown, DeChambeau’s disrespect and disdain for the official was evident (video on the Rigdon link). Tackett is a pretty stellar official and individual, as profiled here by Karen Crouse.

Then, after teeing off at the 16th, DeChambeau caddie Tim Tucker went out of his way to block a CBS cameraman from recording images of his player as they walked off the tee. (Rigdon has the video here.)

We all get that golf is infuriating and leads people to do strange things. And the pro sport needs drama at times. DeChambeau is a character and brings much-needed intrigue. But there is one huge problem that has come with his body transformation: he’s openly rude on national television to people who are just doing their job. And in the case of reduced television crews who are working long days in hot weather and in a pandemic, players should be thanking them, not encouraging their caddies to approach them in hostile fashion.

The Friday incidents came just two weeks after DeChambeau’s ridiculous berating of a CBS cameraman at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. And remember, he subsequently asserted that his brand was not protected.

Now with a second episode under his belt in only two weeks, Team DeChambeau is not doing the PGA Tour any favors. (His increasingly angry ways have, however, done wonders for those campaigning to roll back distance, so there’s that!)

Fines will not do the trick if a player and caddie so openly feel free to berate or threaten television crews. Time off to think about who pays for the this playing-golf-for-money business might do wonders.

Tiger, Jack Tied For The Open (For The Ages) Lead At St Andrews

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Seve and Nick Faldo are just a stroke back! Louis Oosthuizen is just two back with a tight grip on low nightmare. This board is stacked! Golf Channel has the broadcast from 6-9 am ET Sunday, with TheOpen.com and YouTube also options.

The game story writer is already prepping us to not expect a Tiger-Jack runaway.

While much attention will focus on Sunday’s final pairing, a host of star names remain firmly in contention just behind Woods and Nicklaus.

The penultimate group will feature Seve Ballesteros and Sir Nick Faldo, the Champions at St Andrews in 1984 and 1990 respectively. Ballesteros and Faldo are only a shot off the pace after round three, along with five-time Champion Golfer Tom Watson, who is out in the third-last group with Louis Oosthuizen.

The Champion Golfer of the Year at the Old Course in 2010, Oosthuizen is two behind the leaders with 18 holes to play. John Daly and Jordan Spieth will also start the final round on 10 under and play together in another intriguing match-up.

Rory McIlroy and Ernie Els are the other feature pairing, although both sit nine shots adrift of Woods and Nicklaus.

The third round highlights:

Tiger Then And Now: Memorial First Round Most Watched Since 1997

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Tiger’s back, again! And I believe we know who was responsible for the 1997 ratings too.

For Immediate Release from Golf Channel:

MOST-WATCHED FIRST ROUND AT THE MEMORIAL SINCE 1997                                                            

DUBLIN, Ohio (July 17, 2020) – GOLF Channel’s first round coverage of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide (2:30-6:30 p.m. ET) saw 1.08 million average viewers, +152% year-over-year. Thursday’s telecast became the most-watched opening round at the Memorial since 1997 (1.18M average viewers, ESPN), and the most-watched weekday PGA TOUR telecast on GOLF Channel since the opening round of the 2018 TOUR Championship (1.25M average viewers).

Additional highlights:

  • Coverage peaked from 5:15-5:30 p.m. (1.25M average viewers).

  • GOLF Channel was the No. 1 cable sports network (2:30-6:30 p.m.) by 355%, and No. 4 of 114 Nielsen-rated cable networks.

  • Thursday evening’s encore telecast (7:30-11:30 p.m.) earned 337k average viewers, becoming the most-watched PGA TOUR replay telecast on GOLF Channel in more than five years (2015 PLAYERS Championship RD2, 364k average viewers).

  • Thursday became GOLF Channel’s most-watched day in 2020, and most-watched Thursday since The 2019 Open.

"When this becomes common place, what then?"

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Brian Goff at Forbes touched on something important in trying to explain why the extreme distance pursuit is debated in golf.

The trouble is, that sooner or later, when this becomes common place, what then? When the most challenging courses and tournaments begin to look like a January romp through a Palm Springs desert course and not much more than a putting contest, will that be so attractive? A version of this occurred with the steroid-enhanced explosion of home runs in Major League Baseball in the late 1990s and early 2000s attracted fans. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chasing Roger Maris’ record was exciting. Then, when Barry Bonds blew it away and seemingly half the guys in the league became a threat to hit 50 homers, it began to seem a lot less appealing (at least, to me). In fact, MLB has found itself back in this spot, not because of steroids but because of ball characteristics coupled with swing mechanics.

Everyone wants to see genuine power rewarded and part of the game. But when everyone does it, and the courses can’t put up any kind of defense for most of the field, even a casual fan may detect something off.

Memorial Weekend: Will Finau's "Inspired By Bryson" Approach Work?

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Daniel Rapaport at GolfDigest.com explains how Tony Finau and coach Boyd Summerhays decided to borrow from Bryson DeChambeau’s ball speed approach, leading to the 36-hole Memorial lead.

“Kind of in the middle of last week, my coach Boyd Summerhays and I decided to crank some up a little bit after being inspired by Bryson,” he said. “Seeing how straight he was hitting it and how hard, and so I decided to crank it up and work on hitting a really hard fade.

“I’ve let a few go so far this week, and it’s been pretty fun for me to kind of reach back more so than I have in the past.”

The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn also looked at Finau’s decision to unleash more speed and notes this in the numbers (again, through 36 but still):

For the year, Finau ranks 26th on tour in driving distance (305.9) and 40th in strokes gained off the tee (.331). This week, he ranks second in driving distance (321.0) and fifth in strokes gained off the tee (1.360).

“I’ve let a few go so far this week, and it’s been pretty fun for me to kind of reach back more so than I have in the past and kind of open up and hit some,” Finau said.

For Strokes Gained fans, the difference compared to his season rank is already noticeable:

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Here’s where this weekend’s clash gets interesting: Muirfield Village is exuding a major championship look. Will the approach hold up on a course with greens browning/yellowing/purpling? (They get ripped up next week so no need to worry about the superintendent.) Throw in running fairways, tough hole locations healthy rough and this is our best chance yet since the restart to see if Bryson Ball will work on an extreme setup designed to reward precision.