Charlie Woods Is Really Amazing And So Is Some Of The Excessive Social Media Coverage From His Grand Debut

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Eleven years old, the son of a legend and upstaging dad while he still can play?

The entire spectacle of Charlie Woods’s PNC Challenge was incredible. From the matching body language we know so well to the epic mini-Rory swing to the composure to deliver incredible shots proved to be spectacular December viewing.

The shot that will live in golf infamy for all of the reasons cited above:

Bob Harig at ESPN.com took the best angle possible on the story, wondering if young Charlie might give Tiger the extra spark he missed in 2020.

Elsewhere, the coverage veered into excess and the kind of drivel you’d expect from social media accounts run by folks aiming to “skew young”, most notably the PGA Tour and Golf.com. Stuff like this dominated their weekend flood of Charlie posts:


Lee Westwood, recent Race to Dubai winner, called out the PGA Tour’s account Saturday night after the Tweeting onslaught:

NBC rode the lad harder than George Wolff on Seabiscuit in the Big Cap, but the coverage was largely tasteful. Mildly distasteful was NBC sticking Charlie and Tiger’s first tee shot behind the Peacock Premium paywall to pimp their latest streaming venture, but that’s ultimately a minor offense compared to what was witnessed on social media.

GolfWRX breathlessly started trying to figure out what was in Charlie’s bag—noted early on they could confirm 14 clubs, eventually posting his specs and brand of choice. I will not be providing that link.

I get that there is enthusiasm for the lad’s game. There is a shared communal excitement at the sight of a young golfer so impressively talented and already better than most of us. But coupled with the modern day need to express excessive enthusiasm like pre-teens squealing at a K-pop concert, it’s embarrassing. With ads being sold, clicks counted and “activation” points with senior leadership as contracts are up for renewal, it’s understandable why restraint goes out the window. But not forgiveable.

A random sampling of adults:

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And just look at the absurdity of Golf.com’s stream at a couple of different points—including as I type this post late Sunday night—with a continuing stream of automated posts and other shameless profiteering in one last bid to prop up the 2020 numbers. This is from earlier in the way with a nice pause in the squeezing Charlie stream to hawk merch:


Adam Schupak was on site for Golfweek and while he filed plenty of Tweets about the Woods’, he also heard about or saw the “crazy talk”, writing:

The Twitter-verse was abuzz at the sight of Charlie’s swing and warm-up session on the range Thursday next to Tiger before their pro-am round as if they’d seen the second coming. Cue the crazy talk that Charlie was going to revolutionize the game while breaking all of his dad’s records.

Simmer down, people. Charlie’s action shows raw promise and it’s evident that he not only has his famous father’s golf genes but his ‘feels,’ and perhaps most importantly, a love for the game. But let’s cool our heels. Let’s allow this weekend to be about a father and son bonding on the golf course.

The reaction across the Atlantic to the exploitative ways was noticed, generally found to be shocking in its exploitative ways, and debated on Twitter extensively.

Michael McEwan crystalized his thoughts at Bunkered, writing:

It troubles me that this needs to be pointed out but devoting so much attention to a pre-pubescent, primary school-age child is not normal behaviour. Unhealthy? Yes. Unnerving? Oh, yeah. Irresponsible? Uncomfortable? Creepy, even? No doubt. But not normal.

Some will say it goes with the territory, that boundless intrusion is the price to pay for being Tiger Woods’ son. Certainly, and as he will soon discover, Woods Jnr’s parentage is both a blessing and a burden. It will provide him with opportunities beyond the wildest dreams of most children. It will also deny him – if only to some extent – basic privileges, such as privacy and anonymity.

This is key: where does the Charlie Woods coverage go from here? It’s hard to imagine he’ll be given space to be a kid given what we saw this weekend. About as likely as Tiger turning up in a blue shirt on Sundays.

And in the best summation of the weekend antics, there is now a Charlie Woods Tracker, called out by a writer who was one of Golf.com’s staffers oversaturating Twitter with “content” and called out for calling out the tracker:

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Video: Morning Drive's Send Off Segment And A Tribute To The Hard Working Staff

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Thanks to producer Jon Burket for posting the final segments of Morning Drive as the show wrapped up operations and Comcast/NBC continues it’s diligent search for new ways to save pennies while abandoning the sport they pay handsome rights fees to show.

On a personal note, it was an incredible pleasure to have worked with all of the folks tagged in the posts below and the many more who got Morning Drive on the air seven days a week. I can’t emphasize enough how much effort and passion for golf so many brought to the show (or developed as they came to know it better). To all of the folks behind the cameras over the years who got up at those dreadful hours, told the stories, took out the corporate partnership trash, waited on answers while the execs were grinding hard at the country club, and then did it all with a smile: please sleep in. You earned it.

"As legal betting booms, journalists jump from sports page to sportsbook"

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With professional golf diving head first into sports betting and the media profession shedding jobs, this Ben Strauss Washington Post story asks a fascinating question: how will athletes feel about questions coming mostly from writers filing for oddsmakers or bettors?

The story quotes Teddy Greenstein, recently of the Chicago Tribune and longtime sturdy member of the golf beat who has made the leap from traditional journalism to PointsBet. The entire piece is worth your time, but this bit on the shift in locker room dynamics is especially fun.

Because who and why some will be asking post round questions is of particular note given that pro golfers increasingly take offense at fairly inane questions. Things like, can you tell us if you’ve decided to play Honda since today is Thursday and it starts next week?

So imagine when they are asked if they plan to lay-up on 15 Sunday with a three shot lead or why they were in a screaming match with their caddie.

With that in mind, imagine golf in this scenario painted by Strauss:

But what if they’re not in the locker room? A reporter who specializes in breaking national transaction and injury news — an Adam Schefter in football or Adrian Wojnarowski in basketball — could offer up-to-the-minute information for one book’s customers. Wojnarowski or Schefter could break news not on ESPN or Twitter but in a gambling app.

Chad Millman, a former editor in chief of ESPN the Magazine who is now head of media at the Action Network, a gambling-focused media company, thought those kinds of scoops wouldn’t be that valuable to a sportsbook because so many outlets confirm or aggregate breaking news nearly in real time. But, he said, adding a personality with the huge Twitter following of one of those star reporters could be worthwhile as part of a company’s quest for visibility. It also could be a better investment than paying to slap a company’s name on a team’s stadium or website.

In a sport where the slightest off-course dramas, injuries or other factors could impact a golfer’s ability to perform, the trend toward betting correspondents replacing traditional media is worth monitoring.

Tune In: One Last Morning Drive At 7 AM ET

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Having been part of the show every Monday for three years, it’ll be a sad day Sunday when Golf Channel bids farewell to the only morning show ever devoted to the sport.

Tim Schmitt previews and highlights some of the farewells already posted from contributors.

Let’s hope the network gives the show a solid send off in between the inevitable shots of Charlie Woods eating breakfast, arriving at the course, changing his shoes and bantering before his PNC Challenge warm up.

PGA Tour Commissioner: COVID-19 Vaccine A "Choice" With "Pros And Cons Associated With It"

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Note to self: put a hold on those posts about how the PGA Tour could play a vital role in marketing the merits of getting the COVID-19 vaccine, or how they could first welcome back fans and health care workers who have been vaccinated as a way to boldly, proudly and wisely reintroduce eventual normalcy to PGA Tour events.

Only select media get the conference call invites these days—let’s call it a bespoke approach—so I’m not privy to the transcript or tone of PGA Tour Jay Monahan’s COVID-19 vaccine remarks and how he says this scientific marvel’s possible impact on the business of pro golf.

Bob Harig’s ESPN.com account of Monahan’s remarks did not exactly give the vaccine an enthusiastic endorsement even as health care workers and medical professionals ecstatically take the Pfizer product in hopes of reducing spread and saving lives.

His comments came just hours before Moderna’s vaccine received a 20-0 approval vote, seemingly more positive news given another influx of vaccine supply into the marketplace.

"I think vaccination is a choice, and I would apply the same logic and the same amount of care to that subject as we have to every other subject, and that is to try and do our best to educate our members on vaccination and the pros and cons associated with it,'' Monahan said during a conference call with reporters. "But ultimately it's an individual decision.''

I could think of 15 things an $8 million-a-year executive, who is eager to get his business back to normal, might have said instead. But hey, he speaks for his players and we have to assume this is the pulse of the PGA Tour.

And for those wondering, Harig most certainly was not cherry picking as the “choice” remarks were led with in several other stories by other writers. (Here, here, and here.)

Besides Thursday’s exciting and expected Moderna approval news, the Monahan remarks came the same day that vaccinations will be taken by Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and next week, President-elect Joe Biden.

Monahan was also quoted sounding skeptical. While he was not mirroring the sad-but-inevitable beginning of Fox News conspiratorial takes on the vaccines and anti-vaccine information laundering campaigns, he clearly has no intention of mandating vaccines or using the PGA Tour to advocate for them:

"As exciting as it is, I think there's still an awful lot that we need to learn and we need to know. But I would say at this point we're not going to be in a position where we're mandating vaccination, and that's the way we're looking at it at this point in time.

Again, it’s suprirsing to read that a collection of pro golfers are essentially casting doubt on the work of scientists, doctors, major pharmaceuticals and the FDA.

Or was he?

One story by Rex Hoggard struck a different chord, with Monahan quoted in a tone I would have expected of someone hoping to see PGA Tour golf return to a form of normalcy:

“It really is hard to predict at this point what that will be. We're very encouraged by the news around the vaccine and vaccine distribution and paying very close attention to what that can mean as we go into calendar year 2021,” Monahan said. “I think you'll just see a slow and steady increase in the number of fans that we have on-site, but again, we won't be the sole arbiter in that. Any steps that we take we'll be doing in concert with our partners in the local communities where we play.”

Obviously a vast majority of the world could care less what the PGA Tour decides to do with the vaccine matter given far more important matters in front of us. But given that they view the vaccine as a “choice” with cons, I do wonder if the Tour realizes many may simply “choose” not to support or attend events if the stance is one of vaccine skepticism?

There are many more layers to this story and it is certainly a complicated decision for many to take any kind of vaccine, but we also require them in plenty of circumstances. I can’t entirely gauge Monahan’s tone here either. But given the opportunity to show a leadership role for something so vital to public safety and being taken by some of the nation’s leaders, the initial notes of skepticism came off as peculiar when juxtaposed against the day’s largely positive vaccine news.

Workday Moves (To Yet Another) Sponsorship, This Time The Memorial And Likely Dooming Steph Curry's SF Event

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The almost schizophrenic movement of Workday around various golf tournament sponsorships is too bizarre to try and recap and not particularly interesting unless corporate ADD is your thing.

So just when you thought the company had found a superb sweet spot in sponsoring and hosted by Steph Curry at TPC Harding Park, they are replacing Nationwide as presenter of The Memorial. (Here is the full release detailing the 10-year deal with the quotes they might live to regret given Workday’s attention span.)

Either way, The Memorial will always be fine. And while the most important part remains—proceeds benefitting the amazing Nationwide Children’s Hospital—the loss of the Columbus-based blue-chip sponsor in Nationwide is not ideal.

With the Tour’s 2021-22 schedule far from finished, we don’t know the status as of yet for the Curry event slated to debut in the fall, but as Ron Kroichick notes for the Chronicle, today’s news and the inclusion of Curry’s Play. as a Memorial beneficiary, it doesn’t look good.

The Chronicle reported last week that the Curry event probably would not take place in 2021, but now its long-term future appears all but dead.

Workday, the finance and human-resources software company based in Pleasanton, previously was in line to become title sponsor of Curry’s event. But the company grew worried about making a heavy financial commitment to a new tournament in San Francisco, sources told The Chronicle last week, given lingering uncertainty about coronavirus restrictions.

If you are thinking Harding Park’s sudden double whammy abandonment looks odd given the success of 2020’s PGA Championship, you are not wrong. The course lost the 2026 Presidents Cup in lieu of the Curry event and now appears to be a free agent despite producing an compelling finish and most important above all else, major championship conditions.

"So much for France’s Ryder Cup legacy."

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With the European Tour’s 2021 schedule announced this week noticeably missing the French Open, Alistair Tait reminds us of the many perks the 2018 Ryder Cup would bring to French golf.

It was a tremendous event and Le Golf National will host Olympic golf’s far-less captivating 72-hole stroke play events in 2024, but Tait highlights the ostentatious claims made by organizers in bidding for the Cup. Besides the securing a prime date and purse for the French Open, there were grow-the game numbers that seemed outlandish at the time. Because they were.

And don’t forget the very noble dreams of 100 par-3 courses that hasn’t happened.

Still, it’s a bit surprising given the huge economic impact of the Cup and European Tour win suggests it was a one-off. Just a year after the Cup, the French Open was downgraded by the European Tour and as Tait points out, the game is not declining in France, but the one million golfer number dreamed up as a result of the French Open-Ryder Cup combo is not happening.

According to KPMG’s Golf Participation Report, there were 410,377 registered golfers (golf club members) in 2010. One year before the match, the same Participation Report showed a slightly lower figure of 410,171. Last year, KPMG reported a French participation figure of 412,726, a 0.62% growth year on year.

It might be a wee while before Levet realises his one million golfers dream.

There was talk of a plethora of new courses opening thanks to the successful Ryder Cup bid. Latest figures show there are 607 courses in France. There were 574 in 2010. An increase, but hardly a golf course construction boom.

What does this have to do with the French Open? Good question, but I would have thought Ryder Cup success would have had companies queueing up to sponsor the French Open. The tournament, one of the oldest on the European Tour calendar, wasn’t played this year for obvious reasons. Perhaps it’s not surprising it isn’t on the 2021 schedule considering its fall down the European pecking order last year.

After two years as a $7 million Rolex Series tournament, it came with a $1.78 million prize fund last year. The 2018 French Open featured Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Graeme McDowell, Tommy Fleetwood, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Matt Wallace, Lee Westwood and winner Alex Noren. It had a strength of field rating of 288, fifth strongest European event outside the majors and WGCs. Last year that rating fell to 51, joint sixth lowest on the schedule, as Nicolas Colsaerts won in a field short name players.

With the constant uncertainty of the Italian Open and 2022 (now 2023) Ryder Cup in Italy, it is hard not to wonder if the pandemic will bring an end to how Europe packages its Cups from a highest-bid approach to going with the best courses and letting the economics fall into place? I know, absurd.

"From Earl to Tiger to Charlie, how golf is passed down from Woods to Woods"

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As this weekend’s PNC Challenge nears and Tiger Woods tees up with his 11-year-old son Charlie, Bob Harig at ESPN.com reminds of the parenting and golf mentoring approach of Earl Woods vs what we know so far from Tiger.

Sure, Tiger could turn into one of those parents but it’s hard to see this happening…

As far as we know, Charlie has no "team'' around him at this point other than his dad. But early on, Earl developed the concept of Team Tiger, and it included his first coach, Rudy Duran, and Jay Brunza, a Navy captain and clinical psychologist who often caddied for Tiger but also helped him with the mental side of the game.

One other fun component to the weekend parent/grandparent-child-stepchild-third cousin gathering of top players: Joe LaCava Jr. will be on the bag for young Charlie, reports GolfDigest.com’s Daniel Rapaport.

Ringer: "What Happened to Tiger Tracker, Golf’s Most Beloved Twitter Account?"

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There should be so many painful elements in reading John Gonzalez’s Ringer account of Golf Channel’s Tiger Tracker and the accounts’ demise.

While it’s obviously a first world account of a silly-fun social media account, it’s also the story of a the brutal implosion of a Golf Channel staple that no beancounter could fully appreciate. After all, the GCTigerTracker did not generate revenue but in the world of “content” it did connect fans to the channel in ways no accountant or, as the story notes, even executives could grasp.

So while this is a look at TT’s demise, it’s also a devastating look into the point-missing that is quickly taking a once wildly successful 25-year-old start-up into no man’s land. Some of the details here should raise alarm bells with Golf Channel and NBC’s partners, particularly because the writer in question admittedly knows little about golf or the account, yet with some digging, was able to grasp the insanity of destroying the kind of authentic, slightly crazy and sometimes captivating connection the account made with “consumers.”

Please read the entire piece, but this from Gonzalez is particularly brutal regarding TT’s resurfacing at the 2020 Masters.

According to Tracker, executives at the company didn’t understand why, in the wake of layoffs that gutted the Golf Channel staff, TT didn’t have the manpower to cover the Zozo Championship just as it always had. In fact, the bosses didn’t know the most basic details, like how to log into the account. They didn’t even have the password. Ultimately, Tracker skipped the October event, the first tournament TT missed that Woods played in since the handle launched eight years earlier. Fans noticed.

“I sat and watched people lose their freaking minds when Zozo was going on,” Tracker said.

The discontent over the discontinued account finally registered with the brass, who realized that they ought to get the handle tweeting again for the Masters, considering Woods was the defending champion. But here again, there was a disconnect about what that required. Tracker says Geoff Russell, a senior vice president and executive editor for Golf Channel, wondered if maybe TT’s Masters responsibilities could be outsourced to a freelance golf writer who had never worked on the account before and didn’t know its voice, which confirmed what Tracker thought—that the bosses “didn’t understand.” (Russell did not respond to several requests for comment.)

Castle Stuart Gets The Cookie Jar Golf Treatment

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I’ve recently posted short films Cookie Jar Golf’s wonderful storytelling on Scottish golf, including their important work to help save Cleeve Hill and on historic Brora’s fight for survival this year.

This week they launched a new piece on the magnificent Castle Stuart by Hanse Design and the late Mark Parsinen. It was great to see the former Scottish Open host and think of better days when folks can return to the incredible golf destination of greater Inverness:

In the early 2000s the American visionary, Mark Parsinen, began planning the design of a golf course on the Moray Firth. Parsinen had been closely involved w...

European Tour Rolls "Expansive" Schedule With 42 Events But Major Reduction In Premier

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The obvious positives? The 2021 European Tour is going to play 42 times, with 18 events lost to the misery that is 2020 returning. Scheduling is designed to reduce travel and the European Tour sounds like it continues to take COVID very seriously.

The but?

Just four Rolex Series events featuring the PGA Tour-level purses attracting top players, down three from last year’s plan. Low purses dominate and sadly, several events are TBD on the payout front but the tour is touting “increased prize funds” given the slight bumps from 2020.

For Immediate Release:

The European Tour today announces its 2021 schedule which will feature a minimum of 42 tournaments in 24 countries, as golf’s global Tour resumes a full international programme.

Running from January to November, the schedule also features 18 returning tournaments which were either postponed or cancelled in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The 2021 season is headlined by a refined Rolex Series which now features the European Tour’s four premium events spread across key points in the global golfing calendar, each one enhanced by a prize fund increase, elevated Race to Dubai points and enriched media, content and broadcast coverage.

Launched in 2017, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Rolex’s enduring partnership with the European Tour, the Rolex Series highlights the Swiss watch manufacturer’s ongoing commitment to the sport at the highest level. 

The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (January 21-24), the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open (July 8-11) and the BMW PGA Championship (September 9-12) will each now have a prize fund of US$8million – an increase of $1million. They will also all have 8,000 Race to Dubai points available, the same as on offer at the four World Golf Championship events.

There will also be new opportunities for all players to qualify for both the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship with three places now available from respective mini orders of merit based on a series of European Tour events leading up to them. Full details of these will be announced in due course.

The prize fund for the fourth and final Rolex Series event of the season – the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai – also increases by US$1 million to US$9 million. The European Tour season-ending finale will also continue to feature the largest winner’s cheque in the world of golf - US$3million – with, additionally, 12,000 Race to Dubai points available, some 2,000 points above those on offer at the four Major Championships.  

While not in a position to announce the prize funds for all 2021 tournaments at this stage, some key points are:

  • Prize funds for all four UK Swing events in July / August will be increased

  • The second event of the UK Swing (July 29-Aug 1) – whose details will be announced early next year – will be co-sanctioned with the LET/LPGA

  • The UK Swing will have a Bonus Pool for the players in addition to a charity element

  • Prize funds for the new tournaments in Tenerife and Gran Canaria in April will each be €1.5million. The Portugal Masters, which follows these two events, will also increase to €1.5million

  • Prize fund for the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett will rise to €2million from €1.25million

  • Prize funds for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the Italian Open will each rise to €3million, from €1.25million and €1million respectively

In addition to increased prize fund levels, the 2021 European Tour season also offers considerable playing opportunities across the 11 months with a schedule intended to reduce travelling wherever possible. 

Illustrating that point, in addition to the traditional group of tournaments in the Middle East at the start of the year, the schedule also includes the return of the Iberian Swing in April and the UK Swing in July and August, which follows on from the run of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and The Open Championship. Also next to each other on the schedule are the Open de España and the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters in Spain in the first two weeks of October followed by the Trophée Hassan II in Morocco the following week.

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “I am incredibly proud to announce our 2021 global schedule today, one that once again sees us journey through continents and across the world.

“With the pursuit of Ryder Cup points beginning again in January for our European members; qualification spots now available for our Rolex Series events; a sustained pursuit of innovation and a continued celebration of our wonderful heritage, it is understandable that our overarching narrative for this season is that: ‘Every Week Counts.’

“There is no question that the challenge of reshaping our 2020 season in many ways informed our approach to 2021. One of the key learnings was to group events together in terms of their geographical location to create a more travel friendly season for our members. That is reflected in numerous concentrations of event locations. 

“Another was to continue to enhance our Rolex Series events at strategic points in the global golfing calendar when the European Tour will be the focal point of golf on the world stage. This is one of the many aspects we will continue to develop in our Strategic Alliance discussions with the PGA Tour, following our historic partnership announcement last month. 

“Our events in the initial part of the 2021 season will continue to operate under the guidelines of our world-class Health Strategy, which will evolve aligned to the latest medical advice.

“However, with the incredible progress that has been made in recent months in terms of a vaccine, we look forward to hopefully welcoming the gradual return of the fans we’ve so dearly missed, whilst at the same time continuing to entertain viewers at home through our unrivalled World Feed TV output and across our award-winning digital platforms.”                                                                

Ratings: Women's U.S. Open Was Not Worth Watching To Much Of An Audience

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The rescheduled U.S. Women’s Open ratings reality was obvious to everyone but, apparently, those behind last week’s ill-timed “Women Worth Watching” campaign.

2020 has taught us that sports fans just aren’t into championship golf outside of their normal playing windows. So even though we’ve seen declines for all of the rescheduled majors—with the Masters and U.S. Open taking the biggest plunges—it did not take a doctorate to know that 2020 U.S. Women’s Open ratings would set record lows due to the timing, competition and overall trends.

Not the year to tell everyone Women are worth watching when nothing could reverse the trend. Which made the suffocating rollout of a “brand campaign” perplexing, particularly knowing how many meetings and dollars are spent to orchestrate the pretend-to-be-natural “content” (aka paid filler). The relentless hashtags, paid influencer endorsements, and force integration of the campaign even by media covering the event was all a really cool new thing back in 2018. But in 2020? It came off as desperate and ill-timed. At best. With 3000 Americans dying a day from COVID-19 last week, this would have been a good year for the USGA to remain quiet in the branding onslaught department.

Throw in Golf Channel sticking with the QBE Shootout’s live window when the Friday play was expedited due to forecasted weather, and the women were not even deemed worth watching live by the decision makers who were peddling the inopportune campaign.

Showbuzzdaily reports some of the numbers from A Lim Kim’s stunning win and they are dismal for a major. I’m still searching for Saturday’s third round on NBC and Monday’s rain-delayed finale** on Golf Channel. Sunday’s rainout consisted of a third round replay not noted in the Showbuzzdaily roundup.

**The final round on Golf Channel did not make the top 150 cable shows for Monday, December 14th. A .03 rating was needed to crack the lineup. The previous all-time low final round rating (.5) on Fox occurred last year according to Sports Media Watch.

Shows that beat the rain-delayed final round of the U.S. Women’s Open:

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Morning Drive R.I.P.; Shane Bacon Joins "Golf Today"

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As a contributor to Morning Drive over the years, seeing the news made officially near the end of this release announcing Shane Bacon’s hiring by Golf Channel was bittersweet. In its near-decade the show once was an important part of the daily lineup and a place where so many announcements, initiatives and other news was broken. But, as with so much related to the Golf Channel these days, the future is focused on showing tournaments, rebroadcasts of the same rounds and very little programming as Comcast shifts to a streaming focus.

As longtime viewers of the show will know, someone I respect tremendously and who brought enormous golf knowledge and insight, is not included in today’s news release:

GOLF TODAY – NEW DAILY GOLF CHANNEL PROGRAM – DEBUTS MONDAY, JAN. 4, 2021

Shane Bacon Joins GOLF Channel and NBC; Serves as Golf Today Co-Host Along With Damon Hack, Anna Whiteley and Jimmy Roberts

Golf Today to Lead Daily Conversation Across the Golf World, Drawing Upon GOLF Channel’s Roots and Representing Evolution of Morning Drive

STAMFORD, Conn. – December 15, 2020 – Golf Today – a new, live daily program that will lead and shape the daily conversation throughout the golf world – will debut Monday, January 4, 2021 on GOLF Channel, representing both a nod to GOLF Channel’s roots and the latest evolution of daily golf coverage on the network.

Shane Bacon will join GOLF Channel and NBC Sports beginning in 2021 and will serve as a co-host for Golf Today along with fellow hosts Damon Hack, Anna Whiteley and Jimmy Roberts. Bacon will also be a part of Golf Central Live From coverage and will provide play-by-play commentary and reports during GOLF Channel live tournament coverage.

“Golf Today represents a natural progression in our daily studio programming. At midday, we can lead the daily golf conversation with access to newsmakers in all time zones, Tour players on the range preparing for upcoming tournaments and live press conferences.” said Molly Solomon, executive producer, GOLF Channel. “We’re also thrilled to welcome Shane Bacon as a co-host of Golf Today. Shane has developed an avid fan base with his fresh and insightful approach across his work on golf broadcasts, social media and podcasts, and he’ll be a great fit with the Golf Today, Live From and tournament teams.”

“I’m excited to be joining the GOLF Channel and NBC family – it’s where golf happens, and I’m a golfer,” said Bacon. “The fact that I get to work with the top of the top in terms of analysts, play-by-play voices, and behind-the-scenes folks is a dream come true. I’ve known Damon for a long time and he’s the cream of the crop when it comes to golf journalism. Being a part of a new show will allow us to be creative and collaborative, lean on those ideas that we like, and build a great team together.”

Golf Today harkens back to GOLF Channel’s inaugural year of 1995, when the program of the same name served as the network’s original live tournament pre-game show. Golf Today also represents the evolution of Morning Drive, which winds down this week after kicking off weekdays on GOLF Channel for the better part of a decade. Golf Central will continue to air in its customary evening and pre- and post-event windows, with episodes re-airing on weekday mornings.

According to Golf Channel spokesperson, Morning Drive’s longest running fixture, Gary Williams, “will not be making the transition to Stamford and we wish him well in the future.”

Roundup: A Lim Kim Birdies Last Three To Win U.S. Women's Open And Hits A Trifecta Of Incredible “Firsts”

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As always hit the links for some great reads on a captivating finish to an otherwise dreary last couple of days in soggy Houston where A Lim Kim improbably captured the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open.

From Beth Ann Nichols’ Golfweek lede:

A Lim Kim’s first professional title fittingly came at the 2018 Se Ri Pak Invitational. It might have been Pak’s 1998 U.S. Women’s Open victory that ignited a golf surge throughout South Korea and an eventual dominance of America’s national championship, but it’s another golf icon – Annika Sorenstam – who stole Kim’s heart .

After little-known Kim aced the U.S. Women’s Open in her first attempt, becoming only the fifth player in championship history to do so, the USGA set up a video call with Sorenstam.

“Thank you so much! I love you!” a giddy Kim exclaimed.

Reporting from Houston, there was this from Doug Ferguson’s game story on the improbability of Kim’s win:

A two-time winner on the Korean LPGA, Kim got into the U.S. Women's Open off the world ranking when the pandemic kept the USGA from conducting open qualifying. She had slipped to No. 94, the lowest-ranked player to win the Open since the women's world ranking began in 2006.

She is the second non-LPGA member to win a major this year, joining Sophia Popov at the Women's British Open. She also is the third South Korean to win a major.

More firsts from Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com story, also filed from Houston:

Kim held on to win by one stroke over World No. 1 Jin Young Ko (68) and Amy Olson (72), giving her the title in her first career start in a major and her first tournament played in the United States. She also tied the record for the largest comeback in tournament history.

And the mask. Kim would seem to be the first major winner wearing a mask due to the pandemic. (I am going to check and see if this happened in 1918 though…).

Tod Leonard with this item on Kim’s explanation for staying covered during play.

“Every time I practice, I usually wear a mask, so I’m kind of used to it,” Kim said through an interpreter during her champion’s press conference. “I’m OK to get positive tests for COVID-19, but I don’t want to affect other people, players, a caddie that’s playing within the group, so that’s the reason I wear the mask throughout the round.”

Which reminds, if she can birdie the last three holes to win the U.S. Open wearing a mask, in her first U.S. Open, her first start in America and oh yeah, her first major, you can wear one to driving range tough guys!

I don’t often note the winning sticks, but a woman playing Mizuno’s is always nice to see given September’s controversy when there were questions about the company interest in supporting elite female golfers.

Mike Johnson with her specs and mixed iron set over at GolfDigest.com.

Justin Ray penned 10 things to note from the final round worth checking out, including this:

3. Kim improved her precision iron play every day on the Cypress Creek Course. In Round 2, she had an average approach shot proximity of 44 feet, 8 inches. Saturday, that number improved to 40 feet, 11 inches. The final round was another level altogether, though, as her average proximity was at about 31 feet. On a day where the field averaged fewer than 10 greens in regulation, Kim hit 14.

A few more items from the USGA staff notes:

  • Kim’s strokes gained of 7.43 was the second-best in a final round by a U.S. Women’s Open champion. Meg Mallon, who shot a 65 to win the 2004 title, owns the best mark of 7.88.

  • A closing birdie gave University of Texas All-American Kaitlyn Papp low-amateur honors by two strokes over 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Gabriela Ruffels and Maja Stark, of Sweden. Papp started the day tied for fifth, four strokes off the lead. She closed with a 3-over 74 to finish tied for ninth and an exemption into the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club next June.

A few social highlights, starting with that finishing birdie stretch and followed by a call from Annika.

ESPN+ To Start PGA Tour Featured Group Coverage A Year Early, Holes TBA Each Day

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PGA Tour Live pre-broadcast coverage moves from the glitchy NBC Sports platform to ESPN+ in 2022 and I’m fairly certainly the immediate technological wonders and affordable bundle will be a hit.

Even better, we now learn that current subscribers will get to stream featured-hole coverage from 23 PGA Tour events in 2021, a huge perk and yet another mysterious waiving of the white flag by current streaming partner NBC.

For Immediate Release:

ESPN+ and the PGA TOUR have reached an agreement for ESPN+ to stream live, featured-hole coverage from 23 PGA TOUR events in 2021, starting with the Farmers Insurance Open in January and continuing through the FedExCup Playoffs and the TOUR Championship in September. The new agreement follows a similar pact that covered 12 events in 2020 and comes ahead of the launch of PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+, as part of the nine-year U.S. rights agreement announced in March, which begins in 2022.

 In 2021, ESPN+ will stream coverage of two featured holes on Saturday and Sunday of each event (selected each day of competition by the PGA TOUR), concurrent with the full telecast on CBS or NBC. 

This is an intriguing twist, which, in theory will allow the coverage to take advantage of a possible twist in course setup or based on early round play. Or, Saturday’s hole turns out to be uneventful and they pivot to another. Love it.

The schedule for 2021 weekend featured hole coverage on ESPN+

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