A Few Ways To Make The Walker Cup Better Even After Another Sensational Match

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Golfweek’s Adam Schupak offers four suggestions to make the Walker Cup even better and I wholeheartedly endorse three of them, with one addition.

I’m on the fence about Schupak’s call to move the matches permanently to early May. This works around the NCAA Championships and ensuing June and July pro debut weeks for top college golfers. I get the concept, but a lot may change with amateurism in the coming years. This also feels like a nod to the PGA Tour’s untenable wraparound schedule and the pro tournament exemption game, two things that could easily change and which are way less important to golf than the Walker Cup.

Schupak also calls for expanding the rosters to 12 as they did this year due to COVID. That move saved the matches after a severe outbreak of an unexplained virus, allowing the governing bodies to take advantage of the extra bodies on hand. That kept the matches going and entertained those of us who watched some terrific golf given the weakened state of most players, the pressure of a team event and the challenges of Seminole. Challenges being a euphemism for borderline goofy.

Anyway, the alternate spots also gave some worthy young men a special experience they would not have gotten sitting at home.

Schupak’s most sensitive suggestion revolves around Team GB&I. He’d like it to be Team Europe.

While GB&I put up a noble fight, losing 14-12, the U.S. now holds a 38-9-1 all-time record in the competition. It isn’t quite the Harlem Globetrotters dominance of the Washington Generals, but it is lopsided enough to resemble Alabama over the rest of the SEC. Four years from now when GB&I returns to the U.S. for the matches at Cypress Point, it is likely that none of the competitors will have been born since GB&I last won on U.S. soil (in 2001). We’ll never know how much of a difference Spain’s Jon Rahm and Norway’s Viktor Hovland would have made, but I’d love to find out from the next generation of continental Europe stars and put to bed the nickname of “the Walk-over Cup.”

I was pondering a post about this very topic but when the matches got close and I chickened out. Before moving on I looked up the Official World Amateur ranking to see what kind of team would have been fielded.

This year’s GB&I team by the ranking:

1 of the top 20

4 of the top 30

6 of the top 50

The one top 20 player went 0-4 so the rankings only mean so much (but that was a terrific, hard fought 0-4 if such a thing is possible).

If the team had been expanded to Europe it would have looked like this on paper:

4 of the top 20

9 of the top 20

12 of the top 50

The likely adds to the roster assuming a European team of twelve and not too much politicking:

5. Ludvig Aberg (Sweden)

13. Vincent Norman (Sweden)

18 David Puig Currius (Spain)

23 Mattias Schmid (Germany)

30 Alvaro Mueller-Baumgart Lucena (Spain)

32 Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra Coto (Spain)

36 Jose Luis Ballester Barrio (Spain)

This would mark a huge change for the R&A to grapple with. I can’t fathom the first world ramifications Martin Slumbers and friends would have to deal with given the times (Brexit). The change would also be a tough sell given how valiantly this year’s team played and how close they came to winning.

As for the one non-Schupak suggestion that’s all mine: honorary Seminole memberships for all 24 players.

Why?

Besides putting on a great show, the simple act of not spilling their guts out on the course and revealing from where the “stomach bug” originated. Given that media outlets blamed The Breakers or worse, the players were saints for not saying more.

Memberships for everyone! Oh and not to worry about Nathaniel. He’s already got one.

A Real Gut Check! USA Holds Off GB&I For Dramatic 14-12 Win At Seminole

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2021 USA Walker Cup Team (USGA)

2021 USA Walker Cup Team (USGA)

It was a slimming week on top of a victorious one for Team USA. Both teams put on an incredible performance given the amount of time spent in uncomfortable situations fending off a mysterious “virus” that has not been explained. Mercifully, everyone was able to play and perform admirably on magnificent if overcooked Seminole.

GolfDigest.com’s Ryan Herrington summed up the moment this way:

When you look at the pictures of the celebration five or 10 years from now, you’ll have no idea from their expressions just how difficult it was for this group to take possession of the Walker Cup, what the means to this end truly involved. That, instead, will be something they can tell their friends and family over beers.

Actually, I’d save the 2021 Walker Cup stories until after dessert is consumed. Anyway…

Despite the “bug”, it was an incredibly close match not decided until the final moments. As Julie Williams notes for Golfweek, the GB&I squad pretty much blew a hole in the world amateur rankings.

Asked if talk of rankings discrepancies lit a fire under his team, GB&I captain Stuart Wilson said he was unaware of it.

“There were a lot of comments about us hanging in well and fighting really hard,” he said. “I was more of the opinion we were letting the Americans away with it. My mindset on the whole thing, the guys played well and played really well. I think on another day, the match would have been a totally different result.”

Greg Midland and Joey Geske with the USGA game story and USA Captain Nathaniel Crosby’s reaction.

The 10 afternoon singles matches would therefore decide the first Walker Cup Match played in Florida, and the final result was in doubt nearly to the end. The USA eked out a 5½-4½ advantage in those matches to retain the cup.

“It was such an evenly matched contest and our guys were really fired up,” said USA captain Nathaniel Crosby. “I've been blessed to be part of their lives here for a few years and it's been so great.”

Mike Trostel with the three big takeaways from the final day.

Chris Keane and Scott Halleran’s incredible image gallery from the day.

The Sunday results:

JUNO BEACH, Fla. – Results from Sunday’s foursomes and singles matches at the 48th Walker Cup Match at the 7,256-yard, par-72 Seminole Golf Club:

United States def. Great Britain and Ireland, 14-12

Morning Foursomes
Mark Power and John Murphy, GB&I def. Pierceson Coody and John Pak, USA, 1 up
Ricky Castillo and William Mouw, USA def. Alex Fitzpatrick and Barclay Brown, GB&I, 1 up
Angus Flanagan and Ben Schmidt, GB&I and Davis Thompson and Cole Hammer, USA, tied
Matty Lamb and Jack Dyer, GB&I def. Stewart Hagestad and Tyler Strafaci, USA, 6 and 5

Afternoon Singles
Austin Eckroat, USA def. Mark Power, GB&I, 7 and 6
Pierceson Coody, USA def. Alex Fitzpatrick, GB&I, 3 and 1
Joe Long, GB&I def. John Pak, USA, 1 up
Matty Lamb, GB&I def. Davis Thompson, USA, 2 up
Quade Cummins, USA and Barclay Brown, GB&I, tied
Angus Flanagan, GB&I def. William Mouw, USA, 1 up
Ricky Castillo, USA def. John Murphy, GB&I, 2 and 1
Jack Dyer, GB&I vs. Tyler Strafaci, USA, 1 up
Cole Hammer, USA def. Ben Schmidt, GB&I, 4 and 3
Stewart Hagestad, USA def. Ben Jones, GB&I, 4 and 2

Stewart Hagestad secured the win with this putt (though Cole Hammer secured a tie and Cup retention a bit prior):

Ricky Castillo joins an elite group of 4-0 Walker Cuppers:

Bryson's Team Expanding To A Robot

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Swing instructors now have to be around for four days folding their arms, looking like some mix of tense, bored, constipated, annoyed to be repeating the same things and wondering if they’re charging enough to babysit. But it sounds like Bryson DeChambeau might be making the first step toward a little R2D2 in his life (C3PO talks too much).

Q.  Rory was telling us earlier that he's trying to commit to playing one shape off the tee. As one who's really into the numbers, do you have one shot you try to play all the time or do you try to work it?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU:  I try to play a draw but it doesn't always work out. Sometimes I get the high right ball and then the snap left. I've got to work on keeping it consistent. We're doing some interesting research at high ball speeds. There's some stuff that's not lining up with what we know currently right now and it takes a robot to be able to see what's going on. So we're going to be doing research over the next few months to figure out how to get it to go straight at high ball speeds. It's just not known right now.

After returning from Dallas for the Wells Fargo Championship weekend after thinking he’d missed the cut, DeChambeau posted a final round 68 to finish T9.

Salmonella At Seminole: Walker Cup Set For Sunday Shootout

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The Walker Cup was expected to be a Team USA route given a much stronger roster on paper. But whether it’s the mystery and still unexplained virus plaguing both teams, Seminole’s intricacies, or the value of world rankings, but Team Great Britain and Ireland trails by just two points headed to Sunday’s final day.

Golfweek’s Julie Williams with the day one recap here for Golfweek

Adam Schupak on Pierceson Coody sitting in the morning and overcoming the mystery illness to win in front of grandfather Charles.

Tyler Strafaci tried to warm up but as Craig Dolch reports, bowed out of his Saturday singles match, replaced by William Mouw (who won 4&3).

Good news though: GolfDigest.com’s Ryan Herrington reports on Strafaci’s rough Saturday but says the U.S. Amateur champion is penciled in for 36 holes Sunday.

Mike Trostel with three things to know from the day.

And a super photo gallery with images from Chris Keane and Scott Halleran.

The broadcast was uneven, with some tech issues and little in-depth storytelling other than Steve Burkowski’s always-spot on factoids and backstories. Uninterrupted by commercials thanks to Rolex, John Pak’s 13th hole birdie putt to win the hole was interrupted to tell us about the uninterrupted coverage.

It’s hard to complain without ads and with memories of the last Walker Cup on Golf Channel airing late at night via one-hour highlight shows. And the show was solid on Saturday when matches reached the intricate and volatile finishing holes. When the finishing hole didn’t happen in the afternoon singles, a painful twenty minutes of filler meant the return of a past venues graphic we’d seen at least twice, plus Buddy Marucci’s insipid observations and an awkward attempt to preview Sunday’s possible 18th hole pin.

Actually, a forensic of the 17th green would have been better given that it seemed borderline unplayable. Heck, I’d watch ten minutes of Notah, Bones and Curt Byrum in a putting contest on 17 instead of telling us yet again that the Walker Cup goes to amazing courses.

As always, the aerial views were spectacular. When the late light set in and the impossibly beautiful blue Atlantic looked spectacular, you wished the drone crew looking for Quail Hollow beauty could be at Seminole instead.

Also, real reporting on the virus outbreak would have been nice. Are health officials in the area alarmed that 18 of 24 young men (and their captains) came to town, convened at both a luxury hotel and an ultra-private golf club, only to be met with brutal symptoms requiring trips to the hospital?

That’s potentially a national news story. While not much fun, should have been more thoroughly explained, if nothing else to reassure the USGA’s guests at The Breakers the breakfast buffet is safe.

Anyway, your highlights and celebrity sightings:

R&A Remembers Seve, New Book Celebrates His Life For A Good Cause

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The R&A celebrated the life of Seve Ballesteros on the 10th anniversary of his passing, announcing a new David Cannon book with some proceeds going to brain cancer research. The occasion also brought word of a new documentary in the works.

This unbylined story at the R&A’s site offered a nice summation of his life and chance for a new generation to see a few key moments in Seve’s career.

Bill Fields filed these memories of his and peers at his newsletter, The Albatross.

Details below:

10 YEARS ON: THE R&A CELEBRATES THE LIFE OF SEVE BALLESTEROS

5 May 2021, St Andrews, Scotland: The R&A will celebrate the life of the great Severiano Ballesteros with a trio of unique tributes to the three-time Champion Golfer on the 10-year anniversary of his passing.

Seve, one of the greatest sportsmen of his generation, passed away on 7 May 2011 aged just 54, following a battle with cancer having been diagnosed with a brain tumour two years earlier.

The tributes include the production of a feature-length documentary film, the publication of a stunning photobook by renowned sports photographer David Cannon and an 18-month exhibition at the British Golf Museum in St Andrews, the Home of Golf.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “Seve always was the supreme showman and he played a huge part in deepening my love of golf. I hope that fans will truly enjoy these wonderful tributes that tell the story of this charismatic, flamboyant and inspirational golfer who is without doubt one of the greatest of all time.

“As we approach a special milestone in the history of The Open and reflect back over its many unique moments, Seve’s iconic and joyful celebration after holing the putt on the 18th green at St Andrews in 1984 is one memory that always sticks out in my mind. Sadly, he was taken from us too young and we must settle for the memories. But what glorious memories they are.”

The R&A is working with ZigZag Productions, Egoli Media and North Ridge Films to create ‘Seve’, a documentary film which will premiere in autumn of this year.

It will profile Ballesteros’ remarkable life on and off the course, from its humble beginnings in Cantabria, Spain, where, as a young boy, he learned to play golf on its beaches, through to realising his dream and become one of the most decorated and celebrated golfers in the history of the sport.

The landmark documentary will feature contributions from his family, including his children Javier, Miguel and Carmen Ballesteros, and fellow sporting heroes, including close friend José María Olazábal, Sir Nick Faldo, Gary Player and Colin Montgomerie.

Javier Ballesteros, Seve’s son, said, “My dad considered his winning moment at St Andrews the crowning achievement of a very special sporting career filled with tour wins, Major Championship victories and Ryder Cup triumphs, which makes it very fitting that we have been able to work with The R&A on these special tributes.

“For me, Miguel and Carmen, he was an even better father than he was a golfer which tells you everything about him as a man. We would like to thank our dad’s fans for all the passionate and continuous support throughout the years. It means so much to all of us that his legend lives on.”

The R&A and the European Tour have also supported the publication of a stunning new book “Seve: His Life through the Lens” which has been compiled by renowned sports photographer David Cannon of Getty Images and published by Vision Sports Publishing.

As well as photographs from Cannon’s portfolio and the archives of Getty Images, the book features many of the finest action images and portraits captured by other prominent golf photographers. The book is now available to purchase at TheOpen.com/Shop.

An exhibition celebrating the life of Seve will launch when the British Golf Museum in St Andrews is re-opened after refurbishment later this year. It will run for 18 months and visitors to the Home of Golf will enjoy a unique collection dedicated to his greatest achievements in golf, including winning The Open on three occasions in 1979, 1984 and 1988.

A series of content dedicated to celebrating his life will also be published on RandA.org and TheOpen.com and The Open’s and R&A social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

A share of the proceeds from these tributes will be donated to the Seve Ballesteros Foundation to support the important work that it does to introduce young people to golf and encouraging their development and for vital scientific research that is used for the treatment of brain cancer.

Walker Cup TV Schedule: Get Ready To Flip But It Should Be Worth The Trouble

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Seminole (USGA)

Seminole (USGA)

One frustration of the cable/streaming universe will be on full display with Golf Channel’s coverage of the 2021 Walker Cup.

While this event has really gotten the short end of the TV window world (other than Fox in 2017), this year we will get more broadcast time than possibly ever before, including Friday’s opening ceremony.

But when the golf starts, the schedule is positively schizophrenic and it doesn’t have to be that way. I reached to ask Golf Channel reps for clarification but did not hear back.

In a nutshell, if you want to watch all of the matches, you’ll have to do a lot of switching between Peacock and Golf Channel. Or if you’ve cut the cable, Peacock and NBCSports.com. They are, in case you did not know, owned by the same company. So why the streaming coverage cannot be consolidated into one viewing experience is anyone’s guess.

Anyway, For Immediate Release:

GOLF CHANNEL AND PEACOCK PRESENT NBC SPORTS’ LIVE COVERAGE OF THE WALKER CUP THIS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

Seminole Golf Club to Host Storied Biannual Amateur Competition Between U.S. and Great Britain/Ireland

Flag-Raising Ceremony to be Presented Live on Television for First Time in 20 Years This Friday at 6 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel

Former President George W. Bush Narrates Opening Tease

Walker Cup Kicks Off NBC Sports’ 2021 Coverage of Nine USGA Events

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 5, 2021 – NBC Sports begins its first full season of USGA championships and events with live coverage of the Walker Cup this Saturday and Sunday from Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla., on GOLF Channel and Peacock.

The Walker Cup, which is being contested on U.S. soil for the first time in spring, is a biennial 10-man amateur team competition between the USA and a team composed of players from Great Britain and Ireland. Nathaniel Crosby returns to captain this year’s U.S. Walker Cup team after leading the 2019 U.S. Walker Cup team to victory. The team includes 2020 U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci as well as three players from the 2019 U.S. Walker Cup team: John Pak, Cole Hammer and Stewart Hagestad.

The event’s storied Flag-Raising Ceremony will be presented this Friday at 6 p.m. ET during a special edition of Golf Central on GOLF Channel, marking the first time that the procession will be televised live in 20 years. All 20 players, both captains, and former Walker Cup players and captains will be in attendance.

Walker Cup morning coverage will feature foursomes matches, followed by singles matches in the afternoon. Peacock will present two hours of free, exclusive coverage on both Saturday and Sunday. For more information about golf on Peacock, click here. 

Former President George W. Bush narrates the opening tease that will be featured throughout Walker Cup coverage. Click here to view the piece. Bush’s great-grandfather, George Herbert Walker, helped found the event while serving as USGA President in 1922. 

Famed amateur and Seminole Golf Club member Buddy Marucci will serve as a captain insider throughout the weekend. Marucci, a former Walker Cup player and captain, has participated in over 60 USGA championships and famously battled Tiger Woods to the final hole in match play at the 1995 U.S. Amateur. 

GOLF Channel/Peacock Broadcast Team 

  • Play by Play: Dan Hicks

  • Analyst: Paul Azinger

  • Tower: Steve Burkowski

  • On-Course: Notah Begay / Jim “Bones” Mackay / Curt Byrum

  • Interviews: Steve Sands

  • Captain Insider: Buddy Marucci

How To Watch – Saturday, May 8 – Sunday, May 9 (all times ET)

Date GOLF Channel Peacock

Saturday 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; 5:30-7:30 p.m. 10-11 a.m.; 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Sunday 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; 5:30-7:30 p.m. 10-11 a.m.; 4:30-5:30 p.m.

The Walker Cup tees off NBC Sports’ USGA championship coverage, throughout 2021, totaling nearly 150 hours across nine events. Upcoming marquee events include the U.S. Open from Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego (June 17-20) and the U.S. Women’s Open from The Olympic Club in San Francisco (June 3-6). 

In June 2020, NBCUniversal reacquired USGA championship media rights as part of a new partnership and aired all four of the USGA’s championships last year. 

All GOLF Channel coverage also streams on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

Again, we’re thrilled with all the coverage, but a streamer leaving NBCSports.com to go to Peacock should not have to do so when the same company owns both.

Haney Case Depositions Shed Light On Tour's Handling Of LPGA TV Deal, Lack Of Top Player Awareness

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The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan has obtained portions of Hank Haney lawsuit depositions in the case against the PGA Tour and the details do not paint a flattering portrayal of PGA Tour leadership. With just under two months left in office, outgoing LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan may need to address the situation.

To recap: Haney is suing the Tour after he was forced off SiriusXM’s PGA Tour Radio following a flippant comment about LPGA Tour favorites in the then-upcoming U.S. Women’s Open. But he is also alleging PGA Tour interference in several of his business interests beyond their pressure campaign alleged.

Unable to settle, the sides moved to a deposition phase and in the excerpts obtained by The Athletic, their story focus locked in on the LPGA’s percentage of the new PGA Tour TV deal. We don’t know enough about the structure to evaluate the percentages seized-on in the story to evaluate exactly what this means for LPGA revenues. But Monahan testified to the LPGA receiving “several million dollars of additional media rights revenue in 2020 than they did in 2019.”

Kaplan’s story also highlights deposition snippets that reveal stunning ignorance of women’s golf by PGA Tour brass.

Why is that important?

The perception alone is terrible given the particulars of the case (and Haney’s subsequent apology). From a business perspective, the ignorance suggests the LPGA might not have been a PGA Tour focus in the media negotiations or going forward.

This, despite the PGA Tour’s claims of a deep affinity for the women’s game. When denouncing Haney at the time, the Tour and Sirius professed their close working ties with the LPGA:

“The PGA TOUR is committed to and proud of the increasingly diverse makeup of our fan base, not to mention the power and accomplishments of the game’s world-class, global players -- both on the PGA TOUR and LPGA, whom we are working with more closely than ever before.

“SiriusXM proudly covers and supports both women’s and men’s golf and the athletes that make them great. At the PGA TOUR’s instruction Mr. Haney has been suspended from the SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio channel. SiriusXM is reviewing his status on SiriusXM going forward.”

There is one LPGA Tour show on the network.

The PGA Tour has been unable to create a mixed team event despite obvious fan interest. And as for the pride in the accomplishments of female golfers while working closer than ever before?

To hammer home the charge that the PGA Tour isn’t concerned about the LPGA, counsel for Haney quizzed Monahan on his knowledge of women’s golf. Monahan could not name the top golfers and said he had not attended an LPGA tournament as commissioner. (He had before his tenure.)

Maybe the Citation fleet only flies to PGA Tour cities?

“Can you give me the top five ranked players playing in that tournament this week?” Haney’s lawyer asked. (The LPGA played the U.S. Women’s Open in Houston that week.) “I can’t specifically give you the top five players ranked in that tournament,” Monahan replied. Haney’s lawyer then asked, “Who is the top-ranked woman playing in the tournament?”

Monahan: “I’m not sure what the latest iteration of the world ranking is.”

Psst, Jay, that’s the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

Haney’s lawyer: “Who are the top several players playing?”

Monahan: “I’m focused on the business of the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, Korn Ferry, PGA Tour Latino America,  PGA Tour China, PGA Tour Canada, our relationship with the European Tour and our industry relationships. The person who is in a position to tell you the top players in the world would be Mike Whan. He runs the LPGA Tour.”

I feel like the video version of that answer probably is not going end up in Jay’s career highlight reel.

The PGA Tour’s SVP of Communications, Laura Neal, had an embarrassing performance given that her past job at the LPGA Tour from 1997 to 2006 under then-Commissioner Ty Votaw. Kaplan writes:

His lawyer asked Neal, the PGA Tour’s senior vice president of communications, in a Dec. 15, 2020, deposition about her own knowledge of top women golfers. When she couldn’t name them, he asked her, “Do you think it’s disrespectful for a senior member of the PGA not to know who the leaders of the LPGA are?”

She replied, “No, I don’t think it’s disrespectful.”

Just ignorant and demonstrating a lack of deposition prep on a topic purportedly very dear to PGA Tour hearts.

Which brings us to the LPGA Tour’s outgoing commissioner.

Mike Whan handed the LPGA Tour’s media negotiations over to the PGA Tour and probably made the right move at the time given the options. But with Golf Channel’s dwindling reach (by cable home counts), even fuzzier future digital plans, lack of complimentary LPGA coverage (their website writer was cut), and slashed marketing budget, the LPGA has a low priority status on the channel.

At the very least, Whan should be displeased with PGA Tour leadership’s lack of preparation or knowledge. Will he say so publicly or dare discuss these performances with his players?

If he was moving to another sector, Whan might be able to skate by. But given his move to the USGA CEO job and the organization’s hosting of the U.S. Women’s Open, he probably needs to get out in front of this one.

Quadrilateral: Major(s) News & Notes: May 6th, 2021

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The Premier Golf League Still Exists Separate Of Golf Saudi's "Super League"

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Nice work by the Firepit Collective’s Alan Shipnuck to report on the difference between this week’s leaked Super Golf League concept, back by Golf Saudi, and the idea we’ve recently known as the Premier Golf League.

The reason for the confusion in early reports appears a simple one: Golf Saudi has taken the framework for the “PGL” and made it their own.

I can confirm from a well-placed source and separate of Shipnuck’s report: the PGL remains a separate entity with aspirations still tied to their initial plans first revealed here a year ago.

The confusion stems from Golf Saudi essentially lifting the format and concept. I know, you’re shocked.

Shipnuck writes:

After the idea for the PGL was born in 2019 there were advanced discussions with Golf Saudi to underwrite the all-star new tour. A deal was never consummated and now Saudi Arabia is making its own play with the Super Golf League. “They 100% stole our idea,” says the PGL investor, who hails from Europe.

There are substantial differences between the two would-be tours. The Super Golf League is conceived as 10-12 tournaments a year based in the Mid East and in particular Saudi Arabia, which has a stated goal of building dozens of new golf courses and introducing a million citizens to the game over the next decade. Golf Saudi’s motivation in creating the SGL is continued reputation-laundering for the brutal regime that supports it.

The Premier Golf League was backed by Raine Group for a time, but are no longer fronting the PGL concept after merger talks with the European Tour fell through. Shipnuck explains where the PGL stands:

Having parted ways with the Saudis, the PGL is now staked by three dozen investors described by the insider as “guys who own existing sports franchises, high net-worth individuals who love golf and multinational corporations.” It is a mix of mostly American and European interests. The schedule would be comprised of 18 tournaments running January-October. The Tour would begin in Florida, migrate to Australia and Asia before returning the Southeastern U.S. ahead of the Masters. Ensuing tournaments would be played Stateside through the U.S. Open, followed by a long swing through Europe and then a return to Asia, with the grand finale contested back in America. Each tournament would have 48 players vying for a purse of $20 million. (Winner’s checks would approach $4 million while last place would pay out $250K; there is no cut.) Each event would crown an individual stroke play champion but there would be a concurrent, season-long 4-man team competition that would be decided in the season finale.

That does leave behind specifics on a team element that was a huge part of the PGL concept (and which I think remains fascinating both for fans and perhaps changing the commercialization of pro events).

Shipnuck’s story goes on to detail the world of Saudi Arabia if you are interested.

Golf Digest Ranking Runs Incorrect Numbers After Touting Commitment To "Objective Data"

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The top 25 based on published data before the numbers were removed from GolfDigest.com

The top 25 based on published data before the numbers were removed from GolfDigest.com

With the release of their latest top 100 ranking Golf Digest featured the usual oddball emphasis on theatrics beyond golf architecture.

This prompted a plea from to pay attention to things that make a course fun and timeless, but the damage was already done.

There is also the matter than you can pay to join the panel here for $1300.

Not great.

But that’s their business.

For the sport of golf, the elements consistently rewarded by Golf Digest tend to lean expensive, unsatisfying to play and obnoxious for the planet. There’s a case to be made that the ranking has been one of the worst influences on course development since its 1966 inception. But they bill it as the “oldest and most respected list in golf.”

Thankfully, the golf world is trying to move away from the values endorsed by Golf Digest, with fun and low key atmosphere’s revered, but that doesn’t mean the 2021-22 ranking improprieties should be laughed off.

In the latest ranking rollout, Derek Duncan touts how Digest’s “commitment to emphasizing objective data in an inherently subjective endeavor has only intensified.” He lays out a system to get course votes more timely and to no longer count votes after for a course since modified significantly, plus other ways to keep the list relevant.

Then Duncan writes how close things get among the Top 100 courses.

The space between those fractions of a point might not seem like much, but they matter. Though acknowledging that it’s hard to do, we ask panelists to sweat the details and carry their 1 to 10 scores to two or even three decimal places. This is to delineate between contenders because the scores become increasingly compact the farther down the ranking one travels. What separates No. 114 (Mayacama in Santa Rosa, Calif.) and No. 115 (Stone Eagle in Palm Desert, Calif.) is miniscule: .0003. The difference between being comfortably inside the 100 Greatest (Pete Dye Golf Club in West Virginia, No. 87) and outside (Baltimore Country Club East, No. 102) is only five-tenths of a point. This means a club could elevate its numbers across each category by .07 and potentially improve position a dozen or more places.

That attention to math seems excessive at best and might explain why the panelists are focusing on analytics instead of artistry. But the number crunching looks downright absurd after a former panelist noticed the 2021-22 posted data was not matching up with its revamped category and scoring system.

Jason Jones initially posted on GolfClubAtlas.com about the discrepancy featuring No. 1 Pine Valley:

So, what is interesting about this list is that if you take the methodology described, and the data that is provided, their math is wrong.

For example, their described methodology is to take (2x Shot Options) plus (the other 6 categories). 

For Pine Valley, their published total score using this methodology is: 72.1554

However, if you take the published categories and enter them into their formula, Pine Valley's total score is: 71.8386.

Given that most of these scores are within tenths (or less) of each other, some rankings are different mathematically than their published ranking.

Jones later posted all of the numbers and highlighted the discrepancies in another post ranking the top 100 based on Golf Digest’s initially published numbers.

Those numbers were taken off the website and an updated version now appears.

It’s unclear if the published ranking was off the data since removed or an accurate counting of the numbers or some other combination. No editor’s note or asterisk was attached to the updated page, casting even more doubt about the legitimacy of the process.

On top of the compromised data, the magazine is also not taking criticism well from its own.

Pat Craig posted on GolfClubAtlas of his dismay at dreary Butler National landing above the magical Shoreacres, hardly a controversial sentiment. Craig also posted an emoji after writing simply: “Spring Hill at #100….sure………….”

Craig said he received a note from panel leaders Duncan and Stephen Hennessey with “a screenshot of my comment above which they understandably not happy with.”

Craig then posted he had resigned from the Golf Digest panel and questioned its direction after the installation of a $1300 entry fee that seems to allow anyone to join.

So they are attempting to squelch panelist opinions after publishing incorrect numbers, all while touting the data. What a mess. And even more reason to discount a profit-focused ranking that has rarely bettered the art of golf architecture.

Mickelson: Super League Good For Fans And Media, But Not So Schedule Friendly

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Phil Mickelson’s remarks to Bob Harig at ESPN.com suggest he continues to be intrigued by the Super/Premier/World Golf Series/Tourdeforce League concept:

"I think the fans would love it because they would see the best players play exponentially more times," Mickelson said after playing in the pro-am for the Wells Fargo Championship. "Instead of four or five times, it would be 20 times ... I don't know what the final number is.

"But that's a big deal to give up control of your schedule. I don't know if the players would be selfless enough to do that. But every other sport, the entity or teams or leagues control the schedule. The players kind of play where they are told to play. Whereas here, we're able to control it."

I’ve never heard the selfless angle, but given the apparent vaccine resistance on the Tour, he’s probably accurate.

McIlroy On Super League: "I don't see why anyone would be for it."

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Rory McIlroy has steadfastly disliked the various iterations of the Super Golf League and even sarcastically noted some of its past names before offering this prior to the Wells Fargo Championship.

I was surprised at the cash grab angle, but otherwise the remarks are consistent with his past disdain for the concept.

And then with the SGL, yeah, look, they first contacted me back in 2014, so this is seven years down the line and nothing has really changed. Maybe the source of the money's changed or the people that are in charge have changed, but nothing has happened. No sponsorship deals, no media deals, no players have signed up, no manufacturers have signed up.

Manufacturers? They don’t sponsor events and rarely get near grow the game initiatives so I’m not sure they will be joining the frey.

There's been so many iterations at this point. I think people ‑‑ you go back to what happened last week in Europe with the European Super League in football. People can see it for what it is, which is a money grab, which is fine if that's what you're playing golf for is to make as much money as possible. Totally fine, then go and do that if that's what makes you happy.

BTW, FYI…500 FedExCup points on the line this week!

But I think the top players in the game, I'm just speaking my own personal beliefs, like I'm playing this game to try to cement my place in history and my legacy and to win major championships and to win the biggest tournaments in the world. That's why I'm playing this game. Golf has been very good to me obviously over the years by playing in Europe starting off, coming over to the PGA Tour and playing here. I honestly don't think there's a better structure in place in golf, and I don't think there will be.

You have the strategic partnership as well between Europe and the PGA TOUR and that's only going to strengthen the structure of golf going forward as well in terms of scheduling and all sorts of other stuff and working together a little bit more.

Yeah, I mean, I don't think it was a coincidence that the news came out yesterday just as the PGA TOUR's having their annual player meeting and Jay's addressing the membership. Yeah, I think you all know my feelings on it and I'm very much against it. I don't see why anyone would be for it.

I could see someone finding 30 million reasons that still allows them to play the majors. And not have to sit in a policy board meeting talking slow play.

Saudi-Backed "Super League" In Offer Mode, PGA Tour Commish Vows Possible Expulsion

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Ewan Murray revealed the latest edition of a proposed upstart tour, this time fully backed by Golf Saudi proposing largely the same Premier Golf League proposal they invested in. This time the lucrative proposal comes minus the Raine Group, without much prospect of Tiger Woods able to play soon, and follow the Super League football debacle.

Oh, and Golf Saudi is backed by a Crown Prince who sports plenty of irredeemable qualities.

That said, the updated stories report on a rebuttal from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan vowing immediate suspension and possible expulsion.

A few things of note from Murray:

The PGA Tour, though, is unmoved. Monahan articulated to players that he will fiercely abide by regulations that protect the PGA Tour membership, which guard against those trying to cause fiscal or reputational harm to the organisation. Anyone signing up with the Saudis will straight away lose PGA Tour status.

Despite reports elsewhere, the Guardian understands players do not yet have contracts and offer letters signed by the Saudis. The brief delay to that scenario has been linked in part to the ESL debacle. When the paperwork does become formal, leading players will be offered equity in the new tour. In what has been likened by one individual with understanding of the negotiations to a football transfer, there will also be huge signing on fees as incentives.

Going through the contracts, crossing out “Premier” and “Super”?

The PGA Tour is well aware the Saudis have been on a Florida-based recruitment drive for a concerted period but has stressed to its own players the lack of solid proposals in relation to tournaments or media deals. There were no questions from the floor on the Saudi scheme, let alone any of the ructions speculated upon elsewhere, after Monahan’s wide-ranging speech.

No questions?

I remain intrigued by the team concept and other elements, but it’s hard not to wonder about this:

The two-times Open champion Greg Norman is believed to be among those advising the Saudis. Norman’s spokesperson offered no comment when approached.

The Telegraph’s James Corrigan broke a similar story not long after Murray’s and included several details worth filing away, including possible $30 million offers for Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose.

While the majority considered the Premier Golf League to be dead in the water after significant Tour efforts to kill the idea, Telegraph Sport can reveal that formal offers worth $30m to $50m up front are being mulled over by 11 players, including - alongside Johnson and Rose - Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler.

Phil Mickelson has purportedly been offered  $100m as the de facto head of the rebels.

Corrigan also says the Saudis want replies quickly with a September Ryder Cup looming. But if the PGA Tour and European Tour are serious about suspensions, Corrigan said word of participation might have consequences.

That means this affair could even affect the Ryder Cup in September and, if that was the case, the Kingdom, in its ever increasing mission to ‘sportswash' its reputation, could see the plan badly backfire.

“This will all kick off in the next few weeks, starting with this meeting tonight,” a source told Telegraph Sport. “It will be fascinating to hear how aggressive Monahan was with his language to the big names. The Saudis believe the Tour can’t expel members and it could end up in a big legal fight.”

Maybe that’s why he stuck to possible expulsion. Good call, legal team!

Rex Hoggard added this from the player’s mandatory meeting where Monahan spoke.

According to one player who attended the meeting, Monahan said he was not aware of any communication between officials with the Super Golf League and any of the major championships or various media companies that might be included in a new broadcast agreement.

Then again, technology allows for the easy launch of a streaming deal and those deals only come with enough recognizable names.

A Palate Cleanser: Golf Magazine's Top 100 You Can Play

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After Golf Digest unfurled another odd ranking living about three decadent decades ago, Golf came to the rescue with the Top 100 Courses You Can Play.

The list is put together by a small panel not squeezed for dues that appears to genuinely focus on golf architecture. The list has been expanded to include Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean. I’m not sure that was necessary nor am I buying that this helps you “find courses in prime condition at any time of year.”

But the bigger takeaway should be the focus on rewarding the elements that should be emphasized if you want to see courses rewarded for fun, nuance and day-to-day enjoyment.

Druid Hills U.S. Women's Open Qualifier Headed For Day Three After Flooding

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You have to admire the persistence to finish a U.S. Women’s Open sectional at Druid Hills, hit by relentless rains and extensive storm damage. After a brief restart Tuesday pay was postponed again to Wednesday—day three.

Beth Ann Nichols with the full story for Golfweek.

And for once you understand why 24 players have WD’d, but some sort of award may be needed to reward all of the troopers involved.