Wayne Player Speaks: I'm Still A Tool!

Just over a year since he flashed a sleeve of golf balls over Lee Elder’s shoulder and got deservedly banished from The Masters, Gary Player’s son Wayne speaks.

GolfDigest.com’s Joel Beall tracked Wayne down and learned this.

“I don’t mind letting people know,” Player says. “To be completely transparent I think it is a cool story because you know, the National never really came out formally and said, ‘Oh, we're, you know, not allowing Wayne Player to come back to the Masters.’ They never ever said that to the media. That's just the way they do it. They don't say much.”

Better than having you sleep with the fishes.

And of course Wayne has thoughts on dad’s endorsement of Saudi Arabia this year.

“We can judge, you know, the Arab nation for traditions that they have. I mean, where women are not allowed to walk around like we know women can walk around, they've gotta have a cloak over their head. I mean, I don't know, it's not for me to criticize them, you know?” Player says. “I mean, look, they're very tough on law and order, you know, and they do all the stuff that would be considered barbaric there, right. That's what [Phil Mickelson] basically said.”

Yes and you’ll all be lining up to take their money. How charming.

The Best Players In 2021's Majors By Score And World Ranking Points

Thanks to Collin MacGillivray for reminding me of the Royal Selangor Trophy he conceived up and which is given to the player who performed best in the majors.

Jon Rahm held off Louis Oosthuizen, Jordan Spieth and Colin Morikawa with a winning score of -24 to Oosthuizen’s -19, Spieth’s -16 and Morikawa’s -15.

Other players who made all four cuts but did not threaten for the grand prize:

Xander Schauffele
Paul Casey
Scottie Scheffler
Harris English
Robert MacIntyre
Ian Poulter
Stewart Cink
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Joaquin Niemann
Bryson DeChambeau
Shane Lowry
Matt Fitzpatrick

There is also the world ranking points approach that loops in players who missed the cut:

They're Just Doing All Sorts Of Things Down At Augusta National, Big Changes Coming To 11 And 15?

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Eureka Earth has posted new images of work taking place that could have a huge impact on future Masters.

First off, it would appear the long-term thoughts of a back tee on 13 remain alive and well, as some tree planting work appears to be going on with the long term in mind:

But the big ticket item: what appears to be a new back tee on the 15th hole based on the long platform extending into the 11th. Plus lots of sandcapping work elsewhere in the vicinity, including possibly around the 14th green.

The 11th tee shot will be impacted by this new tee, but barring new plantings or old ones coming back—it’s Augusta National after all—it looks like there is a dwindling tree population down the right side compared to the 2019 view below. I can’t quite figure out the carry number to get past the clump of pines remaining, but it would appear drives of a certain distance will be met with a much wider landing area.

I’m trying to contain my excitement until we know more but this is…exciting, unless trees are sitting in boxes just out of view.

2019 Google Earth view of the same area:

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State Of The Game 111: Hideki And The PIP

Longtime looper and great guy Tom Watson joins us to discuss the perspective from Japan following Hideki Matsuyama’s Masters win.

Then Rod Morri, Mike Clayton, Watson and yours truly discuss the usual issues and one unusual one: the PGA Tour’s no-longer-secret Player Impact Program.

As always, subscribing is free on your favorite app and you can access below or at the State of the Game pag here.

Quadrilateral: Major(s) News And Notes, April 22, 2021

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Subscribers already have today’s edition in their inbox covering a nice mix this week involving three majors and the Ryder Cup. Though a couple of stories aren’t so nice. Edgy, we’ll call them.

The weekly edition is free but commenting and other exclusive editions are for subscribers. All of that is explained here at The Quadrilateral.golf.

Kiawah is going to provide some good preview content in the coming weeks so join the Quad for the ride.

First Look At The Matsuyama Effect On Golf In Japan

An unbylined AFP story looks at Hideki Matsuyama’s possible impact on Japan’s golfdom.

Matsuyama’s victory was watched by a rapt TV audience in his home country, where around seven million people play golf.

It prompted blanket media coverage as newspapers rushed to publish special online editions.

At a large driving range in Tokyo on Monday, amateur players were savouring Matsuyama’s victory as they hit balls off the tees.

“When I saw that Matsuyama, who is usually very stoic, had tears in his eyes, and when I heard the emotion in the commentator’s voice, I couldn’t hold back my own tears,” said restaurant owner Teruyuki Onogi.

This sounds familiar…

At the driving range on Monday, restaurant owner Onogi agreed that Matsuyama’s win could help revamp golf’s image in Japan.

“As the news spreads, people might stop considering golf to be a sport played by old men, and take an interest in it,” he said.

“If we can create a more inclusive environment that allows people to take up golf more easily, I think Japanese will become better at it.”

Horschel Apologies To Augusta Members For "The Fire Inside Me" Running Hot

Being blocked by Billy Ho has it’s benefits. So I didn’t see this Sunday apology to the members of Augusta National from the AJGA National Chairman following his amped up and often embarrassing Masters antics.

To be fair, Horschel was in a featured group window both weekend days and there was more opportunity to see the club slamming, tossing and “Oh Billy” self talk. Undoubtedly, some of the uncontrollable rage Sunday might have come from Scott Van Pelt leading off the previous night’s Sportscenter with Horschel’s slide down the tributary of Rae’s Creek.

My favorite mix of replies to the Tweet:

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2021 Masters Ratings: 5.52, 9.45 Million Average Audience For CBS

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There’ll be quite a bit of alarm over the Masters all-time low ratings but I’d argue we are just seeing the effect of a star power void and increased streaming.

Yes, the ratings are the lowest for a springtime playing since Nielsen has been tracking, but still hit an average audience of 9.4 million/5.52 rating with a peak of 12.89 million as Hideki Matsuyama and Xander Schauffele got to the finishing holes. That would make it the most watched golf tournament since the 2019 Masters.

Let’s throw out 2020 (November) and 2019 (Tiger/early start to beat storms) for comparison purposes:

  • 2018: 13.027 million average on a 7.9 rating for Patrick Reed’s win.

  • 2017: 11.05 million average on a 6.8 rating for Sergio Garcia’s win.

A drop but CBS believes when all the numbers are in that this will the second-most streamed Masters other than 2019’s Woods win. With more cordcutting and three working options for viewing online or via apps, a nice chunk of the slide can be attributed to the better-than-most streaming options.

Also not helping: the languid pace of play (4:20 rounds) and the lack of any serious charges at Matsuyama until late. With many parts of the country reopening I’m sure CBS lost viewers to people happy to be out and about.

That said, this is a fine opportunity for all involved to also acknowledge golf’s “product” and star power issues in the post-Tiger era. Addressing this is no easy task and the PGA Tour is showing no signs of trying, believing if you just repeat the word “athletes” enough it’ll all work out in the end.

So it’ll be on the governing bodies to tighten up some equipment rules that might reward the most skilled, keep stars in the limelight just a bit more and shorten the length of rounds. One thing clear from the week: the ratings cannot be blamed on a lack of viewing options or production values.

On the Golf Channel front, going back to a comparable schedule in 2018 you can see the impact of multiple forces on the “Live From” show: increased ESPN presence, a larger streaming viewership and no real reason to watch with better alternatives. Weekend shows in 2018 prior to CBS live coverage hovered around 1.5 million viewers. This year, well less than half that many tuned in for a couple of shows earlier in the day before tuning out, focusing on streaming or going out for some golf.

2018’s ratings:

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Golf Channel sent out an odd April Fools-tinged press release to tout their Live From ratings as the most-watched Masters daily preview show.

There are only two and one spends more time cover other sports than the golf.

The release also compared numbers to the totally incomparable fall 2020 Masters.*

GOLF CHANNEL’S LIVE FROM THE MASTERS COVERAGE WAS MOST-WATCHED DAILY PREVIEW SHOW ON ANY NETWORK DURING MASTERS WEEK

Live From… Viewership for Full Masters Week UP 46% from 2020 and On Par with 2019, Which Featured Tiger Woods’ Historic Victory

Live From… Shows Ahead of Thursday’s Opening Round and Sunday’s Final Round Rank as GOLF Channel’s Most Watched on Respective Days Since 2018

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 13, 2021 – NBC Sports’ Live From the Masters coverage on GOLF Channel was the most-watched daily Masters preview programming on any network from Monday, April 5 through Sunday, April 11, according to official national data provided by Nielsen.

Live From the Masters daily preview coverage averaged 437,000 viewers for the full Masters week from Monday through Sunday*. For Thursday through Sunday coverage before each Masters round, Live From averaged 633,000 viewers, outperforming the closest competition by 67%.

Live From’s full-week average of 437,000 viewers topped by 46% the show’s average during November’s 2020 Masters (299,000) and was on par with the 2019 Masters (442,000), when Tiger Woods won his fifth green jacket and first major in more than a decade.

Additional viewership highlights from GOLF Channel’s Masters week coverage:

  • GOLF Channel’s average viewership for Masters week programming from Monday-Sunday (6 a.m.-3 a.m. ET) was up 50% vs. November 2020.

    1. Extended Live From the Masters coverage on Thursday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. ET averaged 463,000 viewers – marking the largest audience for the show ahead of a Masters opening round since 2018.

    2. Live From the Masters on Sunday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. ET delivered an average of 697,000 viewers – ranking as the best figure ahead of a Masters final round since 2018.

In total, NBC Sports presented more than 55 hours of Live From the Masters coverage from Augusta National Golf Club last week as Hideki Matsuyama finished 10-under to secure his first Masters championship, marking his first major title and becoming the first Japanese man to win a major championship.

*Based upon regularly scheduled Live From… windows (Monday, 2-5 p.m. ET, Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. ET, Saturday 9 a.m.-3 p.m. ET, Sunday 9 a.m.-2 p.m. ET)

*Asterisks in a press release…never good.

Matsuyama's Grace Salvages A Bizarre Back Nine And The 2021 Masters

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Because my subscribers wouldn’t want you to miss a Masters Monday recap, here is The Quadrilateral’s Sunday wrap of Hideki Matsuyama’s win.

A few key highlight videos that did not make the newsletter and which are also free:

And results of The Quadrilateral’s league at Masters.com. Well done! Hope you don’t unsubscribe because the host finished 50th.

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Video: Health Care Heroes Describe Their Masters Experience

Let me tell you, these are heroes and I’m glad Augusta National had them as guests. Particularly because they are part of the community and had not been on the grounds for the Masters. Sad it takes a pandemic for things like this to happen or to appreciate these people, but I’m just glad the club followed through this way: