Cantlay Voted By Peers As Player Of The Year Despite Struggles In Majors

I reviewed the PGA Tour Player of the Year vote in the latest Quadrilateral and rounded up the Tweets puncturing the case for Patrick Cantlay deserving the award over Jon Rahm.

Nothing against Cantlay’s season, but for players to so openly ignore major success, prompted the question and attempted answer: do they put cash ahead of majors?

Anyway, for posterity and some laughs from the case for Cantlay (seven top tens when Rahm had 15 in 22 starts), here is the full Player Of The Year press release:

FedExCup Champion Patrick Cantlay voted 2021 PGA TOUR Player of the Year

California native earns Jack Nicklaus Award after four-win season 

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – The PGA TOUR announced today that FedExCup Champion Patrick Cantlay has been named the 2021 PGA TOUR Player of the Year as voted by the TOUR’s membership for the 2020-21 season. Cantlay won four times on the season including back-to-back victories in the FedExCup Playoffs. 

Cantlay, who will receive the Jack Nicklaus Award for winning PGA TOUR Player of the Year, was selected for the honor over (alphabetically) Bryson DeChambeau, Harris English, Collin Morikawa and Jon Rahm.

“On behalf of the PGA TOUR, I would like to congratulate Patrick Cantlay on being honored as the 2021 PGA TOUR Player of the Year,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Receiving this award through a member vote reflects the respect his peers have for Patrick. His play throughout 2020-21 was phenomenal, and in stepping up to win consecutive FedExCup Playoffs events and the FedExCup, Patrick was at his best when it mattered most in our season.”

With wins at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, BMW Championship and TOUR Championship, Cantlay (4) was the only player with more than two during the 2020-21 season. The last player with four or more victories in a single season on the PGA TOUR was Justin Thomas in 2016-17.

Cantlay shot a final-round 65 to win the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP by one stroke over Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas, with his second win of the season coming via a playoff against Collin Morikawa at the Memorial Tournament. At the BMW Championship, Cantlay set the record for most Strokes Gained: Putting during the ShotLink era (14.577) en route to defeating Bryson DeChambeau in a six-hole playoff. He beat Rahm by one stroke at the TOUR Championship the following week. Every player that finished runner-up to Cantlay in his four wins either won a major championship or THE PLAYERS at another point in the season (DeChambeau, Morikawa, Rahm, Thomas).

In all, Cantlay made 24 starts and recorded seven top-10s, with top-five finishes at The American Express (2nd) and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (T3) complementing his four titles. He was the only player to finish in the top 30 in the four major Strokes Gained categories (Off the Tee, Approach the Green, Around the Green, Putting).

Cantlay joined the PGA TOUR as a member for the first time in the 2013-14 season but made just six starts over the next three seasons as he recovered from a back injury. In 2016-17, Cantlay qualified for the TOUR Championship despite making only 13 starts and finished 29th in the FedExCup standings. He won twice on the PGA TOUR before the start of this season (2017 Shriners Children’s Open, 2019 the Memorial Tournament) and has now qualified for the TOUR Championship in four of the last five seasons.

PGA TOUR members who played at least 15 official FedExCup events during the 2020-21 season were eligible to vote.

Gary Williams In Coversation With Phil Mickelson On The Ryder Cup, Course Setup, Future Golf Leagues

Longtime Golf Channel host Gary Williams has launched a new chat pod/YouTube show with a strong “get” in Phil Mickelson. The pod can be obtained through your favorite podcast app.

There’s lots of great stuff here on course setup, the Ryder Cup, his career, upstart leagues and more. I’ll dig in later on a few of Phil’s remarks but wanted to share this and wish Gary the best with his new venture!

Quadrilateral Ryder Field Trip Attendance Report And Uniforms First Look

Steve Stricker had his second small ding in as many days. First it was Billy Horschel not being on his radar and now it’s the “entire team” practice session lacking three key players.

As I note in this Quadrilateral for paying subscribers, there is a legit excuse for two but Koepka’s no-show has to be causing concern about his ability to play. Particularly given the violent nature of his wrist collision with an East Lake tree root.

I also cover the uniform unveiling for Europe on Monday and they appear both strange and embarrassingly expensive.

Video: The Average Golfer Goes To Shiskine And Machrihanish Dunes

Needing a little therapeutic viewing? To a remote Scottish locale where the ground is incredibly firm and fast?

The Average Golfer has posted two lovely trips around Shishkine and Machrihanish Dunes. Enjoy!

Quadrilateral: Harrington Picks Experience

Today’s edition looks at Sergio Garcia, Shane Lowry and Ian Poulter rounding out Europe's totally worthless, wildly-undermanned, statistically hapless Ryder Cup team.

The slow build of that silly narrative is explored in this edition for all. Plus, USA is established as the betting favorite and BMW PGA winner Billy Horschel takes inspiration in Stricker's non-phone call. Not even a courtesy call Strick? Hmmm…

Quadrilateral: Major(s) News & Notes, September 10, 2021

This week’s News and Notes went out to paid subscribers only after I sent a few free ones early this week reviewing the Solheim Cup and Steve Stricker’s picks. My apologies in advance, but there is always the option to subscribe for the price of one Starbucks latte a month.

Today I look at the unreal bit of “Like” punching by the Reed Twitter account, some grand Whistling Straits preview coverage, more on 2023 Ryder Cup host Marco Simone and a note on Royal Portrush getting the 2025 Open.

2021 Tour Championship Ratings Down A Tick And Generally Stink For a $46 Million Investment

I realize that a variety of metrics are used to justify a $46 million payout and the many millions FedEx pays to sponsor the season-long chase. Still, when you look at the 2021 Tour Championship ratings and the zilch-buzz factor in the golf community last weekend, they’ve got to handle a lot of packages to justify the tab.

Amazingly the payout will go up next year. At least the ratings stand a chance of inching up a shade when they aren’t going against Alabama football, as they did this year and prompting Saturday’s meager 1.14/1.85 million viewers.

According to Showbuzzdaily.com, the 2021 final round drew a 2.30/3.97 million for part of the telecast which, for the second year in a year, was broken up in the ratings listing. Presumably the average audience size for the 1:30-6 pm window would drop below a 2 if they tallied the numbers in more traditional fashion. And I’m going to guess that a rating below 2 causes the purple and orange phone to ring in Jay Monahan’s office.

Sunday’s first ninety minutes drew a 1.36 with only U.S. Open tennis and the Solheim Cup as early sports viewing competition.

The 2020 Tour Championship finished on Labor Day Monday and drew a 2.42/4.00 million. That telecast’s ratings were also broken up into two numbers to goose the average. The early window drew a 1.51.

As for the far more satisfying Solheim Cup, Saturday’s NBC window drew a .41 and Sunday’s garnered a .59, with an average viewership of 878,000 on NBC. The four-hour Saturday afternoon coverage on Golf Channel drew a .28 and a 432,000 average viewers.

Monday’s singles spread out over a six-hour window on Golf Channel averaged 588,000 viewers.

**Paulsen at Sports Media Watch broke down both the Tour Championship and Solheim Cup ratings and noted this about the PGA Tour’s numbers:

Dating back to the start of July, 16 of 18 PGA Tour windows on broadcast television declined from the last comparable year.

Stricker Picks: Put Me In Coach I'm Ready To Not Be Patrick Reed!

USA's Ryder Cup Captain makes clear distance that a "put me in coach" attitude is key to his six Ryder Cup selections.

I break down Wednesday’s press conference and selections, plus, an early “pod” preview along with an amateur Room Rater roundup. All in this free Quadrilateral in lieu of the weekly news and notes edition.

The Open Returns To Royal Portrush In 2025

After all those years we heard it couldn’t be done, Royal Portrush will host its third Open Championship—and second in six years—with today’s announcement. The course and region were huge hits so it’s a fitting statement to make the unusually quick return.

For Immediate Release:

THE OPEN SET FOR TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO ROYAL PORTRUSH AND NORTHERN IRELAND IN 2025

8 September 2021, Portrush, Northern Ireland: The Open is set to make a triumphant return to Royal Portrush in 2025, marking an exciting new chapter in the history of golf’s original championship and providing another outstanding showcase for golf in Northern Ireland.

Following the success of The 148th Open at Royal Portrush in 2019, the First Minister for Northern Ireland Paul Givan MLA, Junior Minister Declan Kearney and Economy Minister Gordon Lyons joined Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, and Dr Ian Kerr, Captain of Royal Portrush Golf Club, at the renowned links on the Antrim coast today to announce that the Championship will be played there from 13 – 20 July 2025.

The Open generated more than £100 million for the economy of Northern Ireland two years ago, attracting a record attendance for the Championship outside of St Andrews of 237,750 fans throughout the week. More than 5,400 hours of television coverage were broadcast to hundreds of millions of viewers globally as Irishman Shane Lowry performed superbly to become Champion Golfer of the Year and lift the famous Claret Jug.

The return of the Championship to Royal Portrush for only the third time in 74 years has been wholeheartedly supported by the Northern Ireland Executive and Tourism Northern Ireland as well as the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.

Martin Slumbers said, “We could not be more thrilled to be bringing The Open back to Royal Portrush in 2025. There will be huge excitement among golf fans around the world to see the best men’s players facing the challenge of this magnificent links once again.

“The Open in 2019 was a massive success and showed just how much collective enthusiasm, passion and commitment there is to make Royal Portrush one of the leading venues for the Championship and to build a distinctive golf tourism brand for Northern Ireland. We greatly appreciate the support we have received from the Northern Ireland Executive, our partner agencies and, of course, from the Club and its members. We look forward to working with them to deliver another fantastic celebration of golf in four years’ time.”

First Minister Givan said, “Following the outstanding success of The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019 I am thrilled to welcome the return of the championship in 2025. It has been a key aim of the Executive to bring The Open back to Northern Ireland quickly and as we start our preparations to host the championship again I am certain that it will provide a platform on which to build a global golfing destination brand for Portrush and Northern Ireland to complement that of St Andrews and Scotland, in partnership with The R&A, as well as an opportunity to stimulate additional private sector investment in the COVID-19 recovery era.”

Attending the event on behalf of Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill, Junior Minister Declan Kearney said, “I wholeheartedly welcome the return of The Open in 2025 along with the anticipated business and jobs that it will bring to these shores. We are an island with a wonderful golf product and in a normal year we welcome hundreds of thousands of golf visitors. 2019 was an exceptional year for golf here when we staged The 148th Open at Royal Portrush and attracted almost 240,000 spectators over the course of the week. Following a tumultuous period that has greatly affected travel, tourism and events I now look to the future with greater optimism as well as look forward to welcoming our international visitors back to the north coast to explore the very best of what we have to offer.”

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons said, “As the home of some of the world's best golfers and the location for some of the finest golf courses that can be found anywhere in the world, I am determined that Northern Ireland should make the most of its golfing assets and achieve strong economic benefits from them. The benefits to Northern Ireland in excess of £100 million from The Open in 2019 demonstrate the sheer scale of our success and are a reflection of what can be achieved through collaborative working across public and private sectors, focusing on a shared and common goal.”

Dr Ian Kerr, Captain of Royal Portrush, said, “We are delighted to see the return of The Open to Royal Portrush Golf Club. This is one of the biggest sporting events in the world and to see it return to Northern Ireland and Royal Portrush so soon, is a recognition of the excellent work done by all involved in 2019. The Open in 2019 created a positive festival atmosphere in the area and we look forward to hosting this wonderful event once again.”

Mayor Councillor Richard Holmes of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, added, “The Open will be etched in the memories of those people who either live, work or were fortunate to be visiting the borough between the 14th to the 21st July 2019, so I am delighted to learn that we will again be hosting and enabling the largest sporting event on the island of Ireland.

“Based upon the way the whole of Northern Ireland embraced The 148th Open, I have no doubt that in collaboration with The R&A, Royal Portrush Golf Club and the other delivery partners, we will honour this incredible event and build upon the achievements of 2019.”

An independent report produced by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University found that The 148th Open delivered a direct economic impact of £45 million to the Northern Irish economy. An additional £37.3m of Advertising Equivalent Value (AEV) was generated by global television coverage and Tourism Northern Ireland assessed £23.7m AEV in other media coverage.

Royal Portrush joins a formidable line-up of venues for The Open in the coming years with The 150thOpen being played at St Andrews in 2022 and then Royal Liverpool and Royal Troon hosting the Championship in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

Q&A With CPG, Author Of Club Pro Guy's Other Black Book

Club Pro Guy recently surprised the golf world with the publication announcement for his new book, Club Pro Guy’s Other Black Book.

Authored with Paul Koehorst, CPG’s already placing it in the pantheon of American golf literature with Scotland’s Gift-Golf and Hogan’s Five Fundamentals.

A Mexican Mini-Tour “legend” who is believed to have made 17 cuts, CPG is a former Lynx Ambassador and founder of the 7-4-7 Swing Thought System®. Despite an ugly losing streak in the Thursday Afternoon Men’s League and what appear to be labor shortage issues while building Three Jack National, CPG carved out a few minutes from his busy schedule to answer my questions. (Full disclosure: I bought a Yucatan National membership and am sorry to report they are not currently available.)

GS: The book cover looks suspiciously like Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book. Do you share any similarities with Mr. Penick in your life or teaching philosophies?

CPG: Mr. Penick was faithfully married to the same woman for 74 years and abstained from alcohol. I’ve been thrice divorced and can’t start my Miata without blowing into a court mandated breathalyzer, so our life philosophies couldn’t be more divergent. From a teaching perspective, I feel like Harvey was very one dimensional. Was he a great teacher? Yes. But he never played the game at an elite level and I think that limited his ability to get the most out of his students. It’s also probably the reason Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw only won 3 majors between them. As for me, I’m a classic dual-threat. Meaning I can teach the game at a high level as well as play the game at a high level. Which is extremely rare. Not only can I give players the knowledge to be great, but I can also tell them what to expect when they become great.

GS: What are some of the “Other Black Book” topics we can expect and are there any chapters that you’re particularly proud of?

CPG: The topics are all over the board and I think that’s what makes this book so unique and so valuable. In one chapter you might learn how to develop a rock solid pre-shot routine, and in the next you're getting valuable tips on how to avoid shitting your pants on the course. Instruction, travel, dating, technology, you name it. It’s all in there. The chapter I’m most proud of is probably the one where I list my complete cache of private swing thoughts.

GS: What topics ended up getting cut?

CPG: I had a 68-page chapter devoted exclusively to the Medicus Golf Club that my editor convinced me to scrub. It started out as an instructional piece, then it meandered into a product review of sorts and by the time the chapter ended, I had somehow delved deep into Mark O’Meara’s personal life. It got pretty dark.

There was also a "travel and destinations" chapter that focused on the Sioux City, IA that didn’t make the book, as well as a chapter detailing the 79 I fired in the 2nd round of the 1993 Yucatan Masters where I attempted to walk the reader through my round, shot by shot.

GS: Where do you actually do your writing and what kind of environment do you like to create when doing so and do you have any advice to aspiring writers?

CPG: Most of my writing is conducted on the back of cocktail napkins during shift changes at Bottoms Up. One of my big pet peeves about strip clubs is when random dancers just come and sit by me, totally uninvited. Don’t get me wrong, I understand they have a job to do and I appreciate the hustle, but I have a special type. I like brunettes with some meat on their bones. So when a super skinny blonde starts walking toward my table I have to look preoccupied and uninterested. That’s when I start jotting down random golf thoughts on a cocktail napkin. Not only does it help me finish such an ambitious project like this one, but it also keeps girls with tons of tats away from me. Did I mention I hate tattoos?


GS: Yes, thanks. Good to know. Now, I see you have a co-author, can you give us a sense of your writing process?

CPG: That's a perfect follow up to your last question. The ideas I jot down on cocktail napkins are sent to my co-author and he brings them to life. Sometimes it’s detailed notes, sometimes it’s unintelligible gibberish because the DJ (Alan) talked me into doing a line of coke, and sometimes it’s a graph or a formula with little to no meaning. I’ll never forget one night I drew a stick figure holding a golf club and wrote the words “custom shaft” under it. My co-author took that and turned it into a complete chapter on how big of a rip off Club Champion is.


GS: You are the publisher of The Other Black Book, why did you choose to go this route instead of going with a big New York house?

CPG: I tried, but I couldn’t get a meeting with anyone. I’m actually glad. Publishers like Simon & Schuster are dinosaurs anyway. Everything is digital nowadays. When is the last time you thumbed through a porno magazine? It’s been over a year for me. Truth be told, I would have put my book out as a Kindle version only if I hadn't known how good of a coffee table book it was gonna be.


GS: Do you have any favorite bookstores? Any plans to do a signing at one?

CPG: I’m not a huge reader, but if I had to pick a favorite bookstore it’s probably The "Lions Den”, which is a little place off I-70 just east of Kansas City. I used to stop by there a lot on my way to St. Louis to visit one of my step-dads. Last I heard the adult arcade is open but the video booths are still closed due to Covid. They have a huge truck driver clientele so I’m not sure an in-person signing for a book about golf would move a lot of units.

GS: Any other promotional plans? Mike Stone took out ads on Golf Channel for his latest album. Could that be an option?

CPG: Why did you have to mention Mike Stone! Now I’ll never get the tune “One Week in April” out of my head! It’s interesting, after the debut of Shotmakers I thought it would have been impossible for the Golf Channel to embarrass themselves further, but the emergence of Mike Stone proved me wrong. He kinda reminds me of a poor man's “My Pillow Guy”. I actually feel sorry for the people who work at that network.

My promotional plan for the book is two-pronged. The first is to tweet about it so much that I either sell 100,000 books or lose 100,000 followers, and the second is to pay Instagram models to post about the book as it rests on their tits.

GS: Sounds smart. If this is successful, might you consider publishing the other Black Book? And what’s in that book?

CPG: I won’t rule out anything, but my original Black Book probably wouldn’t be appropriate for public consumption. It’s a book I used to carry around Mexico in my Nickent Staff Bag that was filled with beeper numbers, course yardages and old soccer lines. At its apex my original black book coulda got you laid or high from Albuquerque to Zihuatanejo but sadly most of the numbers don’t work anymore or have blocked me.

GS: How many people did you approach about writing the Foreword before you landed on Scott McCarron?

CPG: I can honestly say zero. Scott McCarron was my first and only choice because he has been the only player on tour to fully embrace my teaching methods, he’s also one of those rare guys who truly understands what it means to “Live Under Net Par”. He’s got a hot wife, he loves to party, and no matter how many snarky comments you guys in the media make about it…..he DGAF that you think he’s anchoring.

Here is The Other Black Book’s ordering information and embedded below is CPG’s Tweet announcing this unique buying opportunity. Apologies to my pal John Feinstein:

Honored and #humbled to announce that my new #book is now available for #PreOrder. Click here to order -> https://t.co/GWCLodnFkO pic.twitter.com/l1QP2BwWok

— Club Pro Guy (@ClubProGuy) September 7, 2021

Royal Melbourne To Institute "No Jab, No Play" Policy

The Age’s Noel Towell and Samantha Hutchinson report on Royal Melbourne’s first-in-Australia (and anywhere I know of) with a “no jab, no play” policy.

Club captain Andrew Kirby alerted the membership in an email obtained by The Age and he did not soft-pedal the renowned club’s stance on receiving at least one dose of the vaccine.

“We got incredibly strong support from the members, an amazing number of notes and passionate support from staff and from other clubs,” Mr Kirby said.

“We’ve got lots of rules in golf and here’s another one. If you want to play, you’ll have to be vaccinated. At least one jab, then two and of course there’ll be a system of registration.”

Kirby, whose day job is commercial litigation barrister, says Royal Melbourne expects most if not all clubs in the state to introduce no-jab no play mandates as the sport continues its efforts to convince Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and Premier Daniel Andrews that courses can re-open safely.

Rahm Sweeps PGA of America POY, Vardon Trophy Awards

Prepare for the usual PGA Tour efforts to campaign for FedExCup winner Patrick Cantlay as player of the year, and while he had a fine year, one of his wins in 2021 was thanks to Jon Rahm’s COVID-positive WD from the Memorial. Plus, there is the whole secret vote of agents…I mean, players, matter.

The PGA of America uses a points system and while Rahm only had one victory, he might have had the Memorial on top of his incredible consistency. His 2021 majors: T5-T8-1-T3.

For Immediate Release:

Jon Rahm Sweeps PGA of America Player of the Year and Vardon Trophy Awards

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (Sept. 7, 2021) – Jon Rahm of Spain captured his first PGA of America Player of the Year Award, presented by the PGA of America for excellence by a PGA TOUR professional. Rahm capped the sweep of season-ending PGA of America awards by also claiming the Vardon Trophy, presented annually since 1937 to the touring professional with the lowest adjusted scoring average.

In a unique season that featured six major championships, Rahm tallied a career-best 75 overall Player of the Year points, five more than Bryson DeChambeau. A year ago, Rahm finished second to 2020 PGA of America Player of the Year Justin Thomas by 10 points.  

Rahm won just once in 2020-21, but made it count, winning the U.S. Open (and its 30 victory points) in June at Torrey Pines in San Diego. He also split 10 victory points with Kevin Na at the just-completed Tour Championship, as they tied for the lowest score (266) under PGA of America rules that reward the low scorer to determine the PGA Player of the Year.

DeChambeau finished with 70 points for his highest-ever PGA Player of the Year performance, while Patrick Cantlay (60) was third and Collin Morikawa (54) fourth. 

Rahm, 26, garnered 20 points apiece for winning the season’s money title, based upon events prior to the 30-player FedEx Cup finale, and the adjusted scoring average.

In the Vardon Trophy race, Rahm finished with a 69.300 adjusted scoring average based upon 86 complete rounds. Dustin Johnson was runner-up at 69.619, followed by Louis Oosthuizen (690.714), DeChambeau (69.728) and Cantlay (69.736).

The Vardon Trophy, named by the PGA of America in honor of legendary British golfer Harry Vardon, requires a minimum of 60 rounds, with no incomplete rounds, in events co-sponsored or designated by the PGA Tour. The adjusted score was computed from the average score of the field at each event.

Since 1948, the PGA of America has honored the game’s best players with the PGA Player of the Year Award. It is presented to the top TOUR professional based on a point system for tournament wins, official money standings and scoring averages. Points for the 2020-21 season began with the A Military Tribute at the Safeway Open on Sept. 10, 2020, and concluded Sunday, Sept. 5, at the TOUR Championship.

The PGA TOUR also recognizes its annual Player of the Year, with the winner announced in September, determined by a vote of the membership.

Girl On Fire: Leona Maguire

You know she’s big when Leona Maguire gets a song, Sam Harrop’s twist on Alicia Keys’ Girl On Fire. And from the sound of things in Beth Ann Nichols’ roundup of Solheim Cup notes and other loose ends, she was genuinely fired-up for Sunday’s singles match against Jennifer Kupcho.

In fact, Solheim rookie Leona Maguire was the undisputed Woman of the Match, earning 4 ½ points, including an absolute beatdown against Jennifer Kupcho, 5 and 4, to score Europe’s first singles point. She was the only player in the event to play all five matches.

“I heard that Kupcho made some comments last night in the team room and that fueled a little bit of fire,” said Maguire, who wouldn’t divulge what she’d heard.

The 26-year-old Duke graduate spent 135 weeks as the top amateur in the world and was a stalwart in every kind of amateur team competition imaginable. Now the whole of golf knows of her gutsy talent.

“She’s the one we’re going to have to fear,” said Hurst, “for a long time.”

Harrop’s latest…

"The neatest moments in golf are when you’re not thinking about money at all, and for both fan and player the world becomes ball, hole, club in hand."

Strong stuff from Golf.com’s Michael Bamberger on the flat Tour Championship vs. the Solheim Cup:

You can’t have professional golf without prize money. Golf without prize money is amateur golf. But the neatest moments in golf are when you’re not thinking about money at all, and for both fan and player the world becomes ball, hole, club in hand.

That’s why, in no particular order, the four men’s Grand Slam events are so enduring, as are the four women’s majors (sorry, Evian), the three senior majors for men, plus the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup and (some years more than others) the Presidents Cup. In Toledo on Sunday, the earth was shaking when Jennifer Kupcho do her thing and then Mel Reid did hers. As pure sport-as-theater, it was hard — you could say impossible — not to be more drawn to that.

Shock Finding: You're Only As Athletic As The Driver You're Playing

Golf.com’s Andrew Tursky “wanted to see how much driver technology has actually increased distance over the years” and conducted a test to find out.

He took five Taylormade drivers from different years over to True Spec Golf—company man!—and used a Foresight launch monitor to gather his data.

While you should hit the link to understand his approach and results, the biggest takeaway involved the leap from the 2004 R7’s Quad carry distance, which jumped 22.1 yards from 264.2 to 2021’s SIM2’s 286.3. The overall distance jump of 25.4 yards from 285.4 to 310.8 Tursky found would suggest:

(A) it’s not all the ball

(B) His athleticism really fluctuates as he changes clubs, not coincidentally

(C) The helping agronomy also was totally inconsistent between shots

Anyway, nice research on how different drivers react.