2017 U.S. Open Prognosticating Gets A Little Easier After Wentworth, Colonial

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Whew!

If we went another week without some names showing signs of life headed to Erin Hills, the hardest prognostication U.S. Open was not going to get any easier. But, after some pre and post Masters lulls, we can see glimmers of great hope in Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Alex Noren, Henrik Stenson and yes, Kevin Kisner's game. The Memorial this week should also give us insights into the likes of Day, Johnson, Matsuyama and Mickelson. But first, in Europe...

Noren, four-time winner last year on the European Tour, notched his biggest win yet at the BMW PGA, reports Golfweek.com's Alistair Tait. His stunning final round 62 capped off a nice start to the Pelley/Wentworth era that saw smooth greens and some weird leaderboard twists ultimately crystalize with some of the field's biggest names contending.

Noren's epic 18th hole shot:

A post shared by European Tour (@europeantour) on May 28, 2017 at 7:14am PDT


 And the scorecard for what he says is the best round of his life:

Course record ✍🏼 #BMWPGA #RolexSeries

A post shared by European Tour (@europeantour) on May 28, 2017 at 7:20am PDT

At Colonial, Kevin Kisner held off a fun array of players (Spieth, Rahm, Simpson) and styles to win the a very entertaining Dean and Deluca. Not only did the historic venue and leaderboard help, but CBS seemed especially on its game with production values and announcing. 

Dan Kilbridge at Golfweek.com with a quick roundup here of the finale that gives Kisner a second tour win just weeks after a near-miss at the Zurich Classic.

Kyle Porter grades the contenders for CBSSports.com, especially helpful if you're starting to narrow down your U.S. Open selections.

The final round highlights:

 

Alice Dye Slams New TPC Sawgrass 12th: "It doesn’t fit the course."

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I've been mulling the new 12th at TPC Sawgrass in the aftermath of this year's Players and in thinking back to the golf I watched out there, my admiration for its intricacies has grown.

Did it achieve perfection on the first attempt? No. But few of the great short par-4s were perfect from the get-go. Shoot, Riviera's 10th only ascended to its current place atop most lists when technology (and all of that core work) allowed more players to go for the green.

Did the new 12th achieve the goal of adding intrigue to the early back nine holes and some much needed nuance at what was previously not a good hole?

Definitely.

Did it take one of the most one-dimensional, unimaginative and strange short par-4s on a great course and improve it?

Absolutely.

The Dyes, apparently, do not agree. Tom Weiskopf also chimed in from afar with some astute and bizarre remarks. I believe had they watched some of the golf in person and witnessed the strategy sessions at the tee box, or have seen some of the player shotmaking that the hole elicited, they might judge the new 12th less harshly. 

Matt Ginella writing for GolfAdvisor.com quotes Alice, who watched much of the coverage and came away unimpressed.

"It’s an awkward hole," says Alice Dye. "It doesn’t fit the course. He OK’d it, but it’s not a Pete Dye design."

But many would counter that as much as we love a good Pete Dye design, interesting short par-4s are not of interest to him. Even Alice confirmed this.

"Pete has never believed in drivable par 4s," says Alice. "If a player is supposed to reach the green from the tee and you’re always allowed two putts, well, that’s a par 3."

Alice, who watched the tournament with Pete all week, on a course that is one of the most iconic of the Dye’s 100-course portfolio, was not impressed with the new 12th.

"Even for the players who laid up, they were left with an awkward shot to a target that was angled across their body, the pins were hidden and weren’t accessible and the green sloped away from them, towards the water. The players who laid up weren’t able to be on the offensive. Either TV didn’t do a good job of presenting it or the hole didn’t create the excitement or the drama they were hoping for."

Actually, the visibility issues were for those who played back in the fairway. Those who sneaked their lay-ups closer to the green got better views, a great nuance to the hole that developed as players got to know the features better.

As for any issues, I think there are two small tweaks that would encourage more aggressiveness without turning it into the automatic-driving situation that Alice laments: keep the lake bank at a higher cut and flip the tee over to the left so that the angle better fits the right-hander's draw-show eye. Currently the players are hitting across themselves a bit. The angle probably accentuates the narrowness of the hole opening and the lefthand lake bank that was declared too severe by many.

A move of the tee so that the hole to set it up more like a long Redan could mean more enticement to attack.

But to suggest the hole was a failure is to look past the intrigue, interest, variety and skill sets the new 12th hole introduced.

Phil Commits To Colonial, Columnist Welcomes Him Back With Tough Love

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I don't think Star-Telegram columnist Mac Engel will be getting many warm and fuzzy vibes next week from Phil Mickelson at the 2017 Dean and Deluca Invitational.

Even though Mickelson has committed for the first time since 2010 to set off a potential three week run into the U.S. Open (he's also committed to the Memorial), Engel welcomes Lefty back to Fort Worth with multiple jabs.

“With the (course) redesign, I’m afraid I won’t be playing it (Colonial) anymore,” Phil said in 2011. “It doesn’t give me a power advantage. I know all the shotmakers will be there every year. But I don’t see any of the long hitters playing there anymore. There’s no decision making now. It’s all irons, irons, irons.”

It was a tee-shot blast at course designer Keith Foster, and a tone-deaf comment about his own game. Phil sounded like a coward.

Most (all?) of the tournament directors and club members were furious and insulted. Phil wanted to play tournaments where he could birdie a Par 5. Colonial wanted PGAers who at least expressed some degree of gratitude for their hospitality, which in Phil’s case was generously extensive.

By 2011, the happily married couple only shared mutual middle fingers.

Welcome back!

Ratings: Players Down, Second Best Overnight Of 2017

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The leaderboard's lack of star power was expected to hurt ratings and it delivered!

Paulsen at SportsMediaWatch.com points out the good news first: Si Woo Kim's 2017 Players win was the second best PGA Tour overnight rating of the year. Unfortunately it's a year that has seen a ratings decline, with this year's Players the lowest (2.6) since a rain delayed 2005.

Final round coverage of the PGA Tour Players Championship earned a 2.6 overnight rating on NBC Sunday afternoon, down 16% from last year (3.1), down a third from 2015 (3.9), and tied as the tournament’s lowest Sunday overnight since at least 1998.

And if you're hunting for the positive...

It ranked second for the weekend among sporting events behind Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals on ABC (5.6).

 

 

Distance Constrictions And Compelling Tournament Golf

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Because Brandel Chamblee can be a divisive figure, discussion based off of his post-2017 Players commentary seems like a kneejerk reaction to the person making the remarks instead of the substance of his point.

There is also the precariousness of making your case off the back of someone like Si Woo Kim who won the tournament fair and square, with clutch scrambling and little choking. But Brandel's "distance constrictions" commentary should not be thrown out simply because you don't care for Brandel's style or views on other topics.

I happen to agree with him that the TPC Sawgrass still needs to encourage the use of the big stick more to be a more complete modern test. A great deal of money and effort has been put into improving the course as the ultimate tournament venue. That effort this year was mostly a huge success, but it was disappointing that in moving the course forward, a decision was made to not go back with new tees at holes like 1, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 14. (The 7th and 15th had new tees this year.)

Golf can point to a long list of famous tournaments where driver and aggressive play at select times gets taken out of player hands. More often than not, those events have produced awkward finishes with the best scrambler winning. While scrambling is an art that has been mastered by some of the greats, the best courses and setups do the least amount of discriminating against playing styles.

Throughout much of the game's tournament history, the ability to use driver to great effect has differentiated the elite players (stars) from the merely great. Tournaments where players can attack at key moments deliver a different energy. But when there is the sense that constrictions are in place--either accidentally or intentionally--the audience and the actors sense something is amiss.

Before the 2017 Players, I wrote about the sense that less severe rough, more short grass around the greens and the inclusion of a new drivable 12th would reduce some of the course's tendency to constrict and stifle talent. But the brutal, varied winds conspired with the firm, fast and immaculate conditions to present the fastest TPC Sawgrass imaginable. With that speed, the corridors played narrower and the distance advantage was lost. Without the option to extend some holes, the constrictions played more of a role than is ideal.

Again, this does not take away from Si Woo Kim's win. He posted the lowest score and perhaps played TPC Sawgrass more fearlessly because he wasn't saddled by baggage that those with longer histories there cope with. But given that this is one of golf's most significant championships with significant investments made in making it the best venue possible, a little lengthening would go a long way towards ensuring that The Players is constriction-free.

Brandel Questions Poulter's Tactics Down Stretch

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Fast times at Ponte Vedra High!


Brandel After Kim's Victory: Distance Constrictions Make TPC Sawgrass Superstar Proof

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Following Si Woo Kim's Players win, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee made a provocative charge: TPC Sawgrass' driver constrictions produced a scrambling contest.

“This is from a statistical standpoint perhaps the greatest upset you’ll ever see. In terms of upsets, this is Great Britain voting to leave the EU. This is Trump winning the presidency. In an era of big data, when you look for data to give you some idea of who might have a chance to do what, where and when… You’re talking about a guy in the ‘All-Around’ statistic that measures pretty much everything that was dead-last on the PGA TOUR. He was basically near the bottom of every single statistical category. Yet, because of the distance constrictions of this golf course, the very best players cannot play their best game. It’s not Tiger proof, it’s superstar proof, it really is. And so it turns into a scrambling contest. And who won the scrambling contest? Si Woo Kim… [This course] puts everybody on edge, pretty much turns it into a scrambling contest, and he won it.”

Kim's stats:

39 of 56 fairways

45/72 greens

Kim led the field in scrambling (22 of 27)

I'll have a few more words on this in a post tomorrow assessing the golf course, but the number of times driver is not used continues to be a debate worthy topic. Does it change the energy of an event the more players can hit driver?

Translation Help: What Should Jason Day's Nike SB Really Stand For?

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I know Jason Day is trying to fulfill his lucrative contract, but would he really wear this "skateboarding" outfit to the airport? On a Chipotle run? Anywhere there is light?

Let's think up a better definition of SB, please. Keep it clean kids.

 

 

Quick Players Wrap: Kim Wins, Poulter Shanks To Second, Cabrera-Bello Records Albatross

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They don't get much more uneventful than this one, but tip of the cap to Si Woo Kim for a steady performance and fine display of recovery play. The wrap here at Golfweek.com.

Ian Poulter tried to give away second place and finished tied with Louis Oosthuizen. He confirmed that he did, indeed, shank his second shot at 18 to set up an epic recovery.

As good as this week was, I'm still going to try and dissect it and work on certain things that need working on, the dreaded shank.

Q. So you're calling it a shank?

IAN POULTER: Oh, it was a full one. Yeah, it was a lovely one. Make no -- it was a shank. You'd like me to spell it for you?

The shank:

The shot of the day is Rafa Cabrera Bello's albatross on 16, which we detailed here at Golfweek.com, including the club...8-iron from 181.

The video posted by the PGA Tour Twitter account:

Players Final Round '17: A Few Sunday Reads & Preview

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If you were to dream up a leaderboard...this isn't the one. Never helps when one of the leaders gets you so excited about how life changing a Players win could be, even though it would be a career defining win for J.B. Holmes.

Q. Could you just talk to what winning a tournament of this magnitude would mean to you?

JB HOLMES: It would be great. You know, it's a golf tournament. It's a huge event, don't get me wrong, but in the end, it's just golf, and hopefully I can go out there and play well and win tomorrow, and if I do, my life is not really going to change. I'm going to load the car up and go to next week and play next week, and we'll live in the same house and I'm going to drive the same car. Don't get me wrong, I would love to win, and it would be awesome. Such a cool tournament, and to be able to lift that trophy would be amazing, but I'm not going to dwell on everything.

Well on that note...

It was a brutal Saturday for the stars. At Golfweek.com, I highlight some of the big numbers on a windy, nasty day for scoring.

Trying to figure out a winner is a tough task, notes Bob Harig in sharing player comments.

Sergio is lurking after a tough start and as Kyle Porter writes, the dramatics if he comes to 17 with a shot should make for fun viewing.

Pat Perez was a quote machine as usual, and Jeff Babineau profiled someone who is five back.

This is the 35th anniversary of the first Players at TPC Sawgrass, and Sean Martin has some fantastic memories from those who were there, including, Dodger fans, Vin Scully.

Ian Poulter is in a far different position than he was a few weeks ago, and as I write at Golfweek.com, at three back he has a chance to reposition his career. And buy more gifts for Brian Gay.

The Spanish language broadcast of Sergio's hole in one was fun, notes Alex Myers at The Loop with video.

Golfweek Staff explains the MDF's you saw on the leaderboard for the first time at the Players (Saturday cut).

Si Woo Kim with the shot of the day and maybe of his life. Wow:

PGA Tour Said To Be Mulling Flag-Lowering Options Should Vijay Singh Or That UPS Guy Win The Players

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Ok it was just a rumor. And I should say it was mentioned at The Players media party as too-talented-for-this-group guitarist and singer dedicated Tears in Heaven to the group in anticipation of a Vijay Singh victory.

Through 36 holes of the 2017 Players, however, Defcon settings are ready to change inside Tour headquarters Saturday should the 54-year-old miser hang around the leaderboard first page. Singh, who is suing the tour and could at best be described as someone who has hung on way too long while suing his tour (and therefore fellow players).

Brian Wacker with that charming backstory. Oh, and a fans Noonan-ed Vijay yesterday, prompting Billy Horschel to come to his defense, reports the Florida Times-Union notes team.

But as we learn in Garry Smits' Florida Times-Union game story, there is more irony on this board. Or something.

Take Louis Oosthuizen, sporting his UPS logoed collection in the week we found out FedEx renewed only after throwing in a silly last-minute exclusionary provision for players sponsored by competing logistics and shipping companies.

Then there is Kevin Tway. No, Patrick Rodgers. Wait, no that's Kyle Stanley, the other Nike guy with a beard tied for the lead.

Did I mention Jordan Spieth is headed home and Phil Mickelson struggled down the stretch after inspired play early in his second round? Jeff Babineau with the gory details.

Oh, and your first group out on Saturday? The slowest player in the history of golf, Ben Crane, and recent Twitter retiree Grayson Murray.

I could focus on some exciting young players lurking not too far off the lead as well as some big name stars who could post something in the sixties and be near the top by day's end.

Or that Zak Blair handled his 9 beautifully, as John Turner reported for Golfweek.

But these are scary times in Ponte Vedra!

Video: Sergio Garcia Aces TPC Sawgrass' 17th

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I was lucky enough to witness a pretty stellar hole-in-one by Sergio Garcia at 17 to salvage an open 73.

Here are a few notes from Dan Kilbridge and I at Golfweek.com on the shot, plus quotes from Garcia.

The video and images:



Better Than Most! The 2017 Players Is Here

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I genuinely believe we're going to see a little more aggression, a little more creativity and more Players Championship energy thanks to some fun course setup and design tweaks. All without disrupting the fundamental character of TPC Sawgrass.

We'll know early on with PGA Tour Live coverage beginning at 7:30 am ET and going until, gulp 7 p.m. PGA Tour Live Coverage of the 12th and 17th holes begins at 9 am.

Golf Channel Times for Thursday, May 11

Morning Drive  7-9 a.m.
Live From THE PLAYERS  9 a.m.-1 p.m.
THE PLAYERS Championship (Round 1)  1-7 p.m.
Golf Central Live From THE PLAYERS      7-9 p.m.

As for The Players...

Sergio Garcia was in fine spirits as he looks to win a second Players, writes Jeff Babineau. And as Ryan Lavner notes for GolfChannel.com, Garcia has a different caddie for a few weeks and he's a former European Tour winner. Oh, and he and Padraig are still fine.

Jason Day fans will want to read John Turner's Golfweek investigation of why there have been no back-to-back winners here.

Video: Hahn's Caddy Hits 17th Green...With A Ball Throw

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The unofficial estimate is about 102-104 yards for this golf ball toss on to No. 17. Caddies traditionally hit a shot to raise some funds for the Bruce Edwards Foundation.

James Hahn's caddie, Mark Urbanek, instead threw a golf ball across the lake and onto the island green. I'm not sure how many would understand how impressive this feat is, but my rotator cuff hurts just watching:

@looper62 hand cannon to like 20ft on #17. 💪🏼🏝🔫

A post shared by Justin Ragognetti (@jragognetti) on May 10, 2017 at 10:36am PDT

 

Closer Look At TPC and Players Championship Changes

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I believe the overall effect of changes at TPC Sawgrass--both manmade and Hurricane induced--will make for a livelier, better golf tournament, as I detailed here for Golfweek.com.

While No. 12 is getting all of the attention--players are saying it's too much risk and not enough reward reports Golfweek's Jeff Babineau--it's the short grass around greens and lighter rough that should induce a little more aggression and creativity.

Here's a prime example at No. 11 where one pot bunker remains, but the area is otherwise all tight turf. It's tad over-shaped in my view, but instead of thick-rough-covered mounds that had as much as 3 inches in recent years, the player may now be more enticed to go at the green because of the tight turf.

The recovery shots should also add viewing interest:


Now on to the 12th, where the Groupthink mentality of players and caddies has declared this an automatic lay-up hole. I'm pretty certain by Sunday that this will not have been an automatic layup hole and in fact, a pretty interesting risk-reward hole.

A few things to look for, starting with the view just above the tee (a prime spectator spot btw). The layup area is pretty distinct and notice the lower elevation of that area, which sets up an obstructed view approach shot.


The view from the layup shows how much the TPC Sawgrass mounding impairs the view.


Here's the reward for those who carry the fairway bunker about 270 off the tee.


The TV tower rear view shows off the tight mow that leads to the lake. Lots of griping about the slope so far, but I think we need to wait and see.

The photo here doesn't show it, but there are two rear and right upslope bumps reminiscent of old Donald Ross greens (nice touch!).

The slope and hazard: