"The speed and distance craze? Atop the women’s game, there are few signs of it"

Plenty of perspectives from Michael Bamberger at the KPMG Women’s PGA where he chats with a nice range of players about chasing distance.

Check it out here at Golf.com. And this:

The rejuvenated Lydia Ko is No. 54 on the LPGA driving distance list, with a 256-yard average. She’s 5-5 in extra-long spikes. She shot a first-round 68 here in this grand women’s major, run by the PGA of America.      

This has been said 999,999 times and here comes the millionth: women’s professional golf is, by far, a better example for nearly any of us — man, woman or child; 105-shooter or 68-shooter — who are looking for swing models. Lewis noted on Thursday that she plays in pro-ams every week with men who it the same distance that she does, yet she’s a plus-five and her gentlemen playing partners will typically break 90 only when Jupiter aligns with Mars.   

“All of a sudden I was one of those parents at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.”

Adam Schupak’s exclusive chat with Camilo Villegas is both incredible and incredibly tough to read. But kudos to Schupak for so beautifully telling the story of Mia Villegas, and for dad Camilo sharing so much in what can only be called unimaginable heartbreak of losing his child to cancer.

Please carve out a few minutes and hit the link here, but a sampling:

So, he and Maria slept at the hospital the night before the scan. Hours of waiting felt like days. It reminded him of visiting St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He made it a habit of going to see the kids there every year during the PGA Tour’s annual stop.

So, he and Maria slept at the hospital the night before the scan. Hours of waiting felt like days. It reminded him of visiting St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He made it a habit of going to see the kids there every year during the PGA Tour’s annual stop.

“I remember walking in the lobby and seeing all the parents there. That to me was the really hard part,” he said. “All of a sudden I was one of those parents at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.”

When a knock on the door broke the silence, Villegas was greeted by an army of faces and he instantly knew the verdict was grim.

“You don’t need 10 doctors to tell you the good news,” he said.

So, he cried. Fresh tears.

For three days.

Bryson Scraps It Around Vegas In 62, A Day After Pro-Am 59

The Bryson DeChambeau show carried on in Las Vegas with a 62, a day after having a putt for 58 on his own pro-am ball.

At least in this case, as Steve DiMeglio’s Onionesque account of the Shriner’s Hospital For Children score shredding, DeChambeau was joined by four players posting 63 and five shooting 64.

[Pausing here for a response from those who say scoring hasn’t changed due to the de-skilling of the pro game.]

Still, good laughs should be had at the absurd state of the skill/distance balance, a real tribute to the total loss of control by the authorities going on two decades.

It wasn’t a fair fight on a windless, sun-drenched day as DeChambeau, who won the U.S. Open at rugged Winged Foot in his last start, hit nine tee shots past the 300-yard barrier, including a 365-yard blast that reached the green on the par-4 7th. He is the first player in the ShotLink Era that began in 2003 to drive the green.

The No. 6 player in the world also drove the 315-yard par-4 15th – with a 3-wood. The longest iron he used for an approach was a 6-iron – and that was for his second shot on the 583-yard par-5 13th. Seven of his nine birdies came from within six feet and he was equally satisfied with two 10-foot putts he made for par.

All you can do is tip a cap to DeChambeau and friends. They’ve outworked, outsmarted and outmaneuvered the rulemakers. Even if their efforts makes a mockery of the game and render the meaning of a birdie or eagle fairly mundane, there is something to respect in the dominating performances.

Oh and there was this from DeChambeau after scrapping it around on a day the ballstriking wasn’t there (62):

“It’s amazing to see the power that’s out here now,” DeChambeau said. “I think that’s a testament to the new generation that’s coming up and what it’s going to be like in the future.”

"After a Cinderella British Open Win, a New Star Adjusts to Golf’s Majors"

With this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Sophia Popov returns to a major from her non-LPGA membership exile and Bill Fields files a New York Times profile of the surprise Women’s Open champion.

A teaser:

Six months ago, Popov, was competing on the Cactus Tour, an Arizona-based circuit for fledgling women’s golf pros. Prior, she had competed on the Symetra Tour, the developmental arm, after having lost exempt status on the LPGA Tour, but it and most of the world’s other major golf tours were on hiatus because of Covid-19. Employing safeguards like cup liners and individual riding carts, the Cactus Tour played on.

Beyond getting in reps, Popov rediscovered her winning touch, claiming her first professional trophy at a tournament in mid-April and then taking two of the tour’s next five events. “It was important because I hadn’t won in six years, since I was a senior in college,” said Popov, who played at Southern California. By the time the larger tours resumed this summer, Popov had a dozen Cactus Tour events under her belt and renewed confidence.

“There is a craft to playing and winning no matter the stage,” said Rashell, who has worked with Popov since the spring of 2019. “You have to beat the players that are around you down the stretch. You have to get used to how that feels. There is pressure regardless of where you’re playing.”

For the first two rounds at Royal Troon, the field battled severe weather conditions — the wind was so strong Popov had to use a 4-iron from 126 yards on her approach to No. 1 the first day — that tested strategy and resolve.

She goes on to also discuss, among other things, the sight of her $650,000 winners check in her bank account.

BMW PGA: Wentworth Makes A 2020-Only Fall Return, Recalling Old Match Play Days

Thanks to reader John for Simon Cambers’s New York Times look at historic Wentworth as the rescheduled BMW PGA Championship begins.

Wentworth held the Ryder Cup in 1953, but to many golf fans the club will always be remembered for hosting the World Match Play Championship, which it held from 1964 to 2007.

Staged each October, shown live on the BBC and often played in challenging autumnal conditions, each match was played over 36 holes, a test of stamina as much as skill. Though it later expanded to 16 players, it began as an eight-man knockout event, with Palmer the first champion, beating Neil Coles of England in the final.

Ernie Els, who won the event seven times and later helped to redesign the West Course, loved Wentworth long before he got to see it himself.

“The history speaks for itself, especially the World Match Play,” Els said in an interview. “All the great players played there. Growing up in South Africa, we’d read all about Gary and Jack and Arnold winning there. Then watching Greg, Seve, Faldo, [Sandy] Lyle and Woosie [Ian Woosnam] in the 1980s. It was an iconic tournament and venue.”

Bryson Show Arrives In Vegas Talking Happy Gilmore, Drivable Fours And 48-Inch Drivers For Augusta

Another range parking lot was inundated by Bryson DeChambeau drives before he was asked to move back, begging two questions: why does the ball need to go so far and who keeps putting parking near a range.

Anyway, check out Steve DiMeglio’s entertaining compendium of clips from Bryson’s pre-Shriner’s Hospital For Children press conference, as the U.S. Open champion returns to PGA Tour action for the first time since Winged Foot.

Four par-4’s figure to get a crack, and the iron distances are befitting the desert air and elevation. And the incredible distances DeChambeau hits the ball.

“There will be holes where I’m going to try and drive them, get it up as close to the green as possible,” DeChambeau said. “It’s just fun having a 7-iron go 220. That’s unique. And 4-iron, 265. There will be holes where I had to hit 3-wood and now I’m hitting 4-iron off the tees.”

I believe this was said in a serious tone:

“I watched ‘Happy Gilmore’ a little while ago and just re-inspired me to try and hit it as far as possible,” DeChambeau said.

Bryson also provided an update on 48-inch driver testing for Augusta National and the Masters.

“I’m looking forward to trying to put in a 48-inch driver and see what that can do to the golf course and what opportunities it will present for me,” he said. “It’s going well. I think there is a lot of, I don’t know, I guess you could say advantages to having a 48-inch driver and being able to put it in play and keep it in play.

“Still need to get some things worked out, but so far it’s been pretty amazing.”

It is amazing.

Daylight And TV Windows: KPMG Women's PGA Leaders Won't Go Last

A few folks old enough might remember that majors and Tour events did not always put leaders together or out last, so the rescheduled Women’s PGA Championship plan should not be a big deal. Nonetheless it will be odd to see leaders sandwiched in certain tee time slots Sunday to accommodate TV, which has NASCAR to get to.

From Beth Ann Nichols’ Golfweek story quoting Kerry Haigh:

NBC will air the championship on Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. ET and on Sunday from Noon to 2 p.m., ahead of NASCAR. To make that work, the leaders won’t be teeing off last on Sunday. And if play from Friday pushes to Saturday morning, the same will hold true for the third round as well.

“We feel it’s important that everyone watching the telecast will see the leaders,” said Haigh, “see the leaders play all 18 holes, and we think that is important. And although it’s a little different and out of the box, we as partners with the LPGA and KPMG are prepared to make those changes for what we think will be a greater and a better championship for everyone to observe.”

With even less daylight this November and a thrilling NFL match-up to get to, I wonder if the Lords of Augusta might consider something similar to help ensure proper morning golf course preparation? Or split tees? To be continued.

Francesco Molinari To (Finally) Resurface In Vegas

Derek Lawrenson explains how new LA resident—don’t get used to this blissful traffic Franky—Francesco Molinari is finally resurfacing this week.

The 2017 Open Champion is the last recent major winner to dust off the clubs and return during the COVID-19 era, teeing up at the Shriner’s over the European Tour’s BMW PGA. He hasn’t reached Anthony Kim levels of intrigue given the sheer absurdity of 2020, but it’s still remarkable how long Molinari has sat out. He has failed to register a top ten since the 2019 Masters.

Players To Get Boost Of Ahleticism As New Pro V’s Turn Up In Vegas (Again)

Because they aren’t hitting it long enough and the air isn’t thin enough to make 400 yards an expected thing, new Titleist’s are turning up at their favorite testing grounds: TPC Summerlin.

Twenty years after the first Pro V’s showed up in Vegas and instantly turned most Titleist staffers into decathletes, it’s that time of year. Sources close to absolutely no one predict the new new Pro V1’s and Pro V1x’s will be longer and, wait for it, I swear, really, like, really straighter.

Golfweek’s David Dusek reviews and previews the Pro V’s history at the Shriner’s and what can be expected as the conforming ball is put into play.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the first Titleist Pro V1 at the 2000 Invensys Classic. That week, 47 players in the field switched into the new multi-layer, urethane-covered ball, including Billy Andrade, who went on to win.

Historically, Titleist brings prototypes of the three-piece Pro V1 and the four-piece Pro V1x balls to Las Vegas to get feedback from players, then makes the balls available to consumers in late January of the following year.

The company is not providing any details regarding modifications it has made to the balls at this time, but it is likely that the balls are receiving refinements instead of significant overhauls. Why? According to Titleist, about 73 percent of all the players on the PGA Tour last season used either a Pro V1 or a Pro V1x. That number jumps to 75 percent on the European Tour and 83 percent on the LPGA Tour.

Which means, when we take 12 dimples off it and make it a few millimeters larger, it’ll still be the most popular! Right Wally?

COVID-19: Finau Is Only The PGA Tour's Third Positive Test In Seven Weeks

Given the continued onslaught of daily positive COVID-19’s reported in the United States, including a shocking White House outbreak, it’s a bit of a miracle that Tony Finau is the only PGA Tour player known to have tested positive since two cases at the U.S. Open. Before that, the Tour had enjoyed a six-week run of virus-free events.

Finau’s announced the bad news taking him out of this week’s Shriner’s Hospital Classic In Las Vegas:

Earlier today, I received a positive result for Covid-19 under PGA TOUR on-site testing protocols and have begun a period of self-quarantine to protect others around me. I am feeling well, and am otherwise in good spirits.

— Tony Finau Golf (@tonyfinaugolf) October 6, 2020

From Bob Harig’s ESPN.com story on Finau becoming one of the highest profile players to test positive.

Finau is just the 14th player to test positive for the coronavirus since the PGA Tour's return from a 13-week break at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in May. Two players tested positive at the U.S. Open, but prior to that, the tour was on a six-week run of no positive cases.

While his pre-Masters plans have changed a bit, assuming a full recovering the 16th ranked player stands to contend given his consistent play and power game.

As Ryan Lavner notes for GolfChannel.com, “Finau had finished inside the top 15 in four of his past five starts, including a tie for eighth at the U.S. Open.”

Eric Trump Predicts Family Properties Will "Do A Million Tournaments" When His Dad "Gets Out Of Politics"

In a MorningRead.com exclusive, Bradley Klein catches up with Eric Trump, overseer of Trump Golf properties, who says the “golf business has never been better” for the company and predicts their best year ever. Though it may not look that way on tax returns that reportedly show huge losses.

“The portfolio isn’t losing money,” said Trump, referring to the firm’s golf holdings. “You can make an operating profit, and that’s not the same as a tax loss based on depreciation, on legitimate write-offs on a schedule. That’s how real estate works.”

Klein focuses on the loss of tournaments from Trump branded properties, with only the 2022 PGA currently scheduled at Trump Bedminster. This, after Trump properties hosted 30 significant events across multiple tours from 2001 to 2017.

In typically upbeat tones, Eric Trump said he anticipates getting back to holding major events beyond the 2022 PGA, though he did not assign a time frame to the goal.

“When he gets out of politics,” Trump said of his father, “we’ll do a million tournaments.”

Masters, R&A, USGA Cancel 2021 Latin America Amateur Due To COVID-19

Noteworthy and unfortunately for multiple reasons, including—I believe—as the first significant 2021 tournament cancelled due to the pandemic. (Here is a list of 2020 events cancelled courtesy of GolfDigest.com’s Ryan Herrington.)

The organization’s previously cancelled the Asia Pacific Amateur scheduled for this fall.

For Immediate Release:

2021 LATIN AMERICA AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Future championship plans to be announced at a later date

LIMA, Peru – The 2021 Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC) has been canceled due
to complications presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The LAAC, conducted by the USGA, The R&A and the Masters Tournament, was scheduled to
be played January 14-17, 2021, at Lima Golf Club in Lima, Peru. Future championship plans will
be announced at a later date.

Founded in 2014 by the Masters Tournament, The R&A and the USGA, the LAAC was established to further develop amateur golf in South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. The event annually moves to top courses throughout Latin America and showcases the sport’s rising talent in the region.

Notable alumni of the championship include 2018 LAAC champion Joaquin Niemann of Chile,
Sebastian Munoz of Colombia and 2019 champion Alvaro Ortiz of Mexico.

Niemann competed on the 2019 Presidents Cup International team and became the first Chilean to win a PGA Tour event with his victory at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier in September 2019. After winning the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship in 2019, Munoz finished in a tie for eighth in the 2020 PGA Tour playoffs. Last year, Ortiz became the first player from Mexico to compete in the Masters since 1979, finishing as the Low Amateur Runner-Up.

The champion of the LAAC receives an invitation to compete in the Masters Tournament, The
Open, The Amateur Championship, the U.S. Amateur Championship and any other USGA
amateur championship for which he is eligible. The champion and runner(s)-up also receive an
exemption into final qualifying for the U.S. Open.

Today In Swell Ideas: Bryson-Proofing With Progressively Scaled Rough Density

Since we apparently can’t roll back athleticism or change equipment rules to maintain the relevancy of tournament courses, cockamamie ideas surface from time to time in the name of protecting imaginary bottom lines.

Though I have to say, in twenty years of hearing what efforts golf courses must go to not to act, this falls into the extra-kooky category. Not reptiles-in-the-rough-crazy, but close.

From Rex Hoggard, reporting on a Golf Central podcast conversation with Mike Schy, Bryson DeChambeau’s longtime swing-coach, when asked how you Bryson-proof a course.

“I’ve thought through this and I think I have the answer,” Schy explained on this week’s Golf Central Podcast. “I believe the rough should be scaled so that the closer you get to the green the thicker the rough becomes. Let’s say 60 yards out the rough is 7 inches deep and as you go back [toward the tee] the rough is scaled [shorter].

So, an inch lower every 20 yards? Do you paint a line at each stage, maybe go all grid-like?

Rossie, did he just find six inch or is he still in the five inch patch? That could be huge for his chances to his this lob wedge close!

Sorry, continue…

“You could actually narrow the fairway just a little bit, scale the rough and that brings back all the old golf courses. The courses that are potentially becoming obsolete [to Tour players], like Pebble Beach.”

Takers? Anyone? Just send the bill for new mowers, fertilizer and manpower to the USGA or R&A, attention Distance Impact Fund.

Only In 2020: Push Cart Manufacturers Cautiously Optimistic About Ending Shortage

Picture a shady character opening up a trunk to reveal the loot. “I’ve got Sun Mountain, I’ve got Tour Trek, and I know a guy with some Stewart X9’s at cost.”

Yes, there is a lively second-hand market for push carts. Hello 2020!

Jonathan Wall at Golf.com reports on the end in sight for manufacturers who’ve been unable to meet the push cart demand that has led to sell-outs, silly second-hand prices and supply shortages:

Dynamic Brands, along with Hansen’s ProActive Sports Groups, the distributor of Clicgear and Rovic brands for USA and Mexico, have been in the same boat as nearly every other manufacturer in the golf equipment industry. Business has been good — really good. But a double-edged sword exists.

At the end of August, Golf Datatech, an independent market research firm, reported a record-breaking month for U.S. golf equipment sales in July, as total sales (on and off the course) soared to $388.6 million. It was the highest total since the company started tracking data in 1997.

Clicgear was already forecasting an increase in sales with the release of its Model 4.0 push-cart — its first new model in several years. What the company didn’t expect was how the pandemic would shape their business. With more golfers requesting push carts than ever before, Clicgear blew through its current supply of Model 4.0’s, along with the rest of its stock. They’ve been playing catch-up ever since with a deep backlog of orders.

Golf Channel Headquarters Closed For "Investigation" Out Of "An Abundance Of Caution"

A class action lawsuit joined last week by eleven Golf Channel employees has prompted the closing of the network’s Orlando headquarters. The campus is slated for permanent demise this December, with a small number of jobs moving to Stamford, Connecticut where NBC Sports is currently located.

In a late Friday email to staff shared by multiple sources, Golf Channel president Mike McCarley cited the lawsuit in announcing the need to investigate.

“In light of the allegations, we are thoroughly investigating the matter to ensure that our campus environment is safe,” McCarley wrote. “While we do so, out of an abundance of caution, we ask that you continue to work remotely as has been the case during the pandemic. Over the next few days, we will communicate with the limited number of employees currently allowed on-site to further limit access, involving moving our production off-site beginning Monday.”

Another sources says a traditional Monday email to staff offered no follow-up news but did highlight National Cyber Security Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and a reminder for staff to get flu shots.

The channel faces at least two known lawsuits but none directly related to the Lockheed Martin class-action suit announced last week and reported on by the Orlando Sentinel.

A request for comment has not been answered but will be added should I hear back from NBC and Golf Channel spokespersons.

Some have already taken to social media wondering if they have set foot in the building for the final time:

Our beautiful studio...hoping & praying this wasn't the last time we will walk through this door, and work in this space together. Just a farewell...for now. #MakeupDept #MastersArtistry #Makeupteam #NBC #GolfChannel #Studio #justdimmingthelights