"Detroit Golf Club workers threaten strike before PGA Tour's Rocket Mortgage Classic"

Well here’s one you don’t hear every day: members of the Teamsters are threatening to walk off the job at Detroit Golf Club over stalled negotiations.

Greg Levinsky reports for the Detroit Free Press on what’s in dispute and how the action could impact the PGA Tour’s return to the area for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

“Come (Thursday) when this tournament starts,” said Kevin Moore, president of local union, Teamsters Local 299, and executive board member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, “we’re going to do what we have to do. Demonstrations, strikes, whatever is at our disposal.”

A seven-member group of mechanics and groundskeepers represented by Teamsters Local 299 saw their contract expire in 2018. The club had been asking for a contract that included a “3% pay raise, health care relief and job security language,” according to a news release on Monday..

Detroit Golf Club And How The Motor City Got The Tour Back

With the Rocket Mortgage Classic bringing PGA Tour golf back to greater Detroit area, there are a couple of stories worth noting if you’re interested in Detroit Golf Club’s big week.

Tony Paul looks at the impact expected by the event, the first in the area since 2009.

"It's so huge, because of this state's and the Metro Detroit area's golf roots, that extend all the way back to the 19th century," said Lynn Henning, a recently retired Detroit News sportswriter who was editor of PGA Magazine from 1989-94 and a senior writer and editor of Golfweek from 1996-98.

"To see that reclaimed and to see the appetite, the hunger for big-name pro golf in Michigan is not only refreshing, but it's deserved."

Carlos Monarrez files an excellent look at Detroit Golf Club’s pursuit of the tour before Dan Gilbert and Quicken Loans made it known they wanted to be back in the Motor City.

Sure, the club had lots of land, a location not far from downtown Detroit and two pedigreed Donald Ross courses that opened in 1916. But as the club’s leadership probed various sources, including the PGA Tour, it soon learned it mostly needed a sponsor and a date on the PGA Tour calendar.

“So during those years there were a couple attempts to find sponsorship that never came to fruition,” Glassberg said. “But meanwhile we had established a pretty good relationship with the PGA Tour. Keith was green chair, so we actually had people from the tour up here a number of times and evaluated what should the routing be, what’s the yardage, et cetera.”

WXYZ, The local ABC affiliate, provided thesis flyover tour. Very nicely done for a local station, even down to highlighting which hole from the club’s South Course is in use.

Average Age Update: Holding Steady For PGA Tour's 2018-19 Winners, A Touch Younger For FedExCup Top 20

With Chez Reavie’s dominating win at the Travelers Championship—and his reflections on the perseverance needed at times to sustain a career as detailed here by GolfDigest.com’s Brian Wacker—the 37-year-old helped maintained the trend of PGA Tour winners just on the coveted demo cusp.

Like Gary Woodland in the U.S. Open—another geezer at 35—each is the story of a player who had great potential and widely recognized talent, yet experienced more downs than ups before winning. Golf’s a weird, cruel game that way, which makes the suggestion of today’s youth being better prepared to win than ever more hype than fact.

Since the start of 2019, there have been nine winners in their 20s. Two won events opposite to more significant tournaments, one was a player who since turned 30 (Rory McIlroy) and another was Brooks Koepka, who is 29. At 25, Xander Schauffele is 2019’s younger winner on the PGA Tour and that was in January. Going back to the fall, Cameron Champ’s win at 23 makes him 2018-19’s youngest.

With Reavie’s victory at Travelers, the average age of 2018-19 PGA Tour winners holds steady at 33, while the top 20 in FedExCup points average 32.6.

There should be nothing wrong with golfers peaking in their 30s. Such a phenomenon, to the surprise of no one, would be something to celebrate as a reward for longevity and experience gained.

But as Eamon Lynch notes in this column juxtaposing the invasion of youth at the Travelers with one-time child phenom Michelle Wie’s suggestion she has little left in the tank, the youth (and the people pushing them to turn pro) can learn a thing or two about the big picture.

If we are seeing the truncating of Wie’s playing career, it is an aching loss for golf, and not just women’s golf. There is no more melancholy sight in sport than that of a sublime talent whose potential goes largely unrealized.

Wie is an exemplar of how the natural, joyous passion of a child can become the challenging, frustrating job of a professional. Yet by no measure have these been fruitless years. Whatever the capricious whims of golf inflicted, she is a winner, a Stanford graduate, a poised public figure even under intense scrutiny. That’s why, as Wie inches with characteristic grace toward the door marked ‘Exit’, young men like Hovland and Wolff who are entering the professional ranks would do well to learn from her example.

There will always be phenoms. But it’s still quite confounding to see the push to hype young players with so little appreciation for the long game in a sport that has generally seen few players peak young.

Koepka Admits He's Fried, Still Not Over Rush From PGA Win

Just as Tiger Woods took a while to recover from putting everything into winning the Masters, Brooks Koepka hit a wall Saturday after his PGA win and subsequent U.S. Open push to win a third in a row.

It’s one thing when 43-year-old Tiger is on fumes, but to hear Koepka say he’s “fried” suggests it might be tougher, not easier, to win a Grand Slam with the new schedule.

From Nick Menta’s GolfChannel.com story:

“I'm just pretty – I don't think I'm even over the PGA,” he said. “And then to exert all your energy there last week, just fried. I mean, I've caught myself yawning on the golf course. I don't think I've ever yawned on a golf course before.”

In fairness, Koepka has yawned before – in a way that was weirdly perfect – but it’s clear that last week’s run at a third consecutive U.S. Open title took a lot of him.

Asked why he made the cross-country trip here after Pebble, Koepka said he wanted to honor his commitment and that he couldn’t have known in advance he would be this drained. Considering the reason, he’s happy to feel fatigued.

“When you're planning your schedule, you're not thinking you're going to compete in all three majors and still be fried from it,” he said. “It's fine. I don't mind it.”

It’ll be interesting to see what the combination of The Open followed by a WGC, a week off and then the playoffs yields in the way of energetic play from the game’s stars. In the hottest month of the year.

Jason Day Is Officially In Stevie Williams Boot Camp

Veteran bagman Steve Williams is bringing some discipline and drive to Jason Day’s preparation as the former PGA Champion looks to save his season. And hey, why not?

Day, from Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com story:

“We've definitely been a lot more disciplined about going to the range and putting green, chipping green after the round and making sure we're staying on top of it, especially with our feels,” Day said, sounding an awful lot like Williams’ most successful employer with that word choice.

“I've got a lot of work [to do],” Day said. “[Steve] is very black and white.”

He followed it up with a 63. Stevie!

As David Dusek notes, the Stevie-takes-charge method started at Pebble Beach and has continued to Connecticut. There have also been attempts to refine his equipment.

Will Matthew Wolff's Game Prove Disruptive?

That’s certainly an underlying question as you read Sean Martin’s introductory piece for PGATour.com on Matthew Wolff, one of four college stars debuting this week who are getting the John, Paul, George and Ringo treatment, writes Ryan Herrington. All four—Viktor Hovland, Wolff, Colin Morikawa and Justin Suh are playing on sponsor’s invites.

The product of instructor George Gankas, Martin says Wolff’s distance and approach to golf courses is backed by the numbers, but his college coach says he’s ultimately more than just a long hitter.

Oklahoma State head coach Alan Bratton points to two shots from the NCAA Championship to illustrate Wolff’s shotmaking versatility. In the same round, Wolff used an 8-iron to hit approach shots from 150 and 208 yards.

“Everyone talks about his driver, but his biggest asset is his iron play and putting,” Bratton said.

Length has always been an asset. Mark Broadie’s Strokes Gained statistics helped quantify the advantage, though. Players can ride a hot putter to victory one week, but long hitters have an advantage week-in and week-out. The scoring advantage of having a 120-yard approach versus a 140-yarder may be small, but those incremental advantages add up over the course of weeks, months and years.

As for Hovland, coming off a record scoring performance by an amateur in the U.S. Open, he debuts having signed with Ping. David Dusek reports for Golfweek.

Brooks: I Care That People Said I Could Care Less

Having shown little interest in regular PGA Tour events, Brooks Koepka enters this week’s Travelers Championship with his major championship mindset.

But he’s also using the media as motivation, suggesting his comment about about not caring where he finished in Canada was run with by media and not to be believed.

Nick Menta at the Travelers writes for GolfChannel.com:

Speaking with the media ahead of the Travelers Championship, Koepka was asked about his level of focus this week. The preamble to that question included a reference to comments Koepka made two weeks ago, prior the RBC Canadian Open, when he said he “could care less what happens” in his tune-up start for the U.S. Open.

“Let me set the record straight,” Koepka said Wednesday at TPC River Highlands. “It's not that I don't care about the event. … Some people took that and ran with it. … Can't believe everything you read.”

Pssst…it’s on video too.

Now Brooks Koepka Feels Slighted By A FOX Promo Omission...

The Brooks Koepka-needs-motivation parade has moved to Pebble Beach where the two-time defending champion was understandably annoyed by a Fox omission of his likeness in a U.S. Open promo. Still, calling for a firing seems a bit much.

From Steve DiMeglio’s Golfweek report after Koepka’s pre-tournament press conference:

“There’s been a couple of times where it’s just mind boggling. It’s like, really? Like, how do you forget that?” Koepka said Tuesday at Pebble Beach. “Just kind of shocked. They’ve had over a year to kind of put it out. So I don’t know. Somebody probably got fired over it or should.”

The promo-make joins a graphics coordinator and Brandel Chamblee on the list of snubbers who also deserve credit for helping fuel Koepka’s four-major run.

But What About Those Wyndham Rewards Points, Brooks? Koepka Says Canadian Result Doesn't Matter

Well, doesn’t REALLY matter, if that makes the folks ponying up millions for the FedExCup and Wyndham Rewards chases. (I’d tell you the leaders, but I know you’ve been studying the races and it would be redundant).

Either, the point is, majors are really that all that matter to the stars. Good for the majors, good for the game, not so great for points chases. From Ryan Lavner’s GolfChannel.com story from the RBC Canadian where Brooks Koepka is tuning up for Pebble Beach’s U.S. Open.

“I could care less what happens,” he said. “I just want to feel good going into next week. As long as I can leave feeling confident, striking the ball very well, starting it where I want to, finishing where I want to, hitting some good putts ... it doesn’t matter if they do go in or not. I just want to feel confident leaving.”

Koepka has played the week before all four of his major victories, and he pointed to the fact that he’s won back-to-back U.S. Opens despite finishing 30th or worse in each of his tune-up starts at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

“The result doesn’t really matter this week,” he said. “It’s just how I feel I’ve played. Am I hitting enough good shots and really finding a rhythm?”

But think of the points Brooks! For the children. And the VP’s whose bonuses depend on them.

LaCava On Tiger's Memorial Prep: "An Absolute Clinic"

Tiger Woods appeared to calm those concerned after his PGA missed cut at Bethpage with birdies on 7 of the first 12 at Muirfield Village en route to a 2019 Memorial final round 67 and T9.

From Steve DiMeglio’s story for Golfweek and from Woods bagman Joe LaCava.

“First 12 holes were an absolute clinic,” said Joe LaCava, Woods’ caddie. He still hit some decent shots coming in. It wasn’t like he played poorly, he just didn’t get anything out of it the last five or six holes.

“He’s certainly going in the right direction with good momentum. I thought the iron play was top-notch today. Definitely some good momentum and positive vibes from both (weekend) days. The quality of shots on a scale of one to 10, I would say were a nine.”

Driving was a strength for the week, reports Bob Harig in his assessment for ESPN.com.

Woods hit 12 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens Sunday, needing just 26 putts. For the week, he ranked ninth in strokes gained, approach to the green and 10th in strokes gained tee to green. For the week, he hit 75 percent of the fairways.

Behaving Under Par: Nicklaus-Like Sportsmanship Values Fail To Show Up In Memorial Opening Round

Where to begin?

Phil Mickelson said the USGA only gets setup right when it rains at the U.S. Open.

Matt Kuchar tries to claim multiple things in hoping to get relief from an old fairway pitch mark, asks for a second and third ruling, and in general, reminds you why it took El Tucan to get paid what he deserved.

Bryson DeChambeau whines about being put on the clock and seems to believe you are entitled to more time when deciding to go for a green in two, or not.

Most fascinating of all: the bratty behavior took place at the prestigious Memorial tournament, hosted by Jack Nicklaus.

Funny how players refrain from the nonsense one week at year at the Masters—no whining about lies, no backstopping, no rudeness to the field—and used to take their behavior up a notch or two when Jack and Arnold were on the grounds.

Not any more.

In Kuchar’s case, he appeared to walk back the long effort to get relief from a pitch mark that was not his, reports Golf.com’s Dylan Dethier.

Kuchar’s behavior was seen by many and called out by just as many, including European Tour player Eddie Pepperell. Mercifully, officials Robby Ware and Stephen Cox handled themselves well and with quiet confidence and authority.

The PGA Tour took down a video it posted on Twitter of the exchange. #liveunderpar

Mickelson, who made a fool of himself during Saturday’s third round of the 2018 U.S. Open, is back on the offensive and not exactly buttoning down the karma heading to Pebble Beach in two weeks. Alex Myers with Mickelson’s remarks and some of the backstory, including this:

“I’ve played, what, 29 U.S. Opens,” Mickelson told reporters at Muirfield Village. “One hundred percent of the time they have messed it up if it doesn’t rain. Rain is the governor. That’s the only governor they have. If they don’t have a governor, they don’t know how to control themselves.”

Says the guy who couldn’t put a governor on his emotions last year. Got it.

Not that it excuses bad course setup or the mistakes made, but you’d think someone who loves to pass on questions would have passed on this one.

As for Bryson DeChambeau, GolfChannel.com’s Will Gray spoke to him about being put on the clock. His rationale to official Brad Fabel for taking his sweet time was fascinating.

“He came up to me and told me I had a bad time. And I was like, do you realize I was deciding between laying up and going for it?” DeChambeau said. “And we’ve had struggles the past three holes in a row, hazards and making bogeys and all that. Was that not factored in? ‘Well, it’s just 40 seconds, it is what it is.’ Well, I don’t agree with that.”

Remember: the players largely believe they should break from the governing bodies and make their own rules. It’s almost tempting to encourage such a scenario just to watch that boondoggle unfold!

Chuck May Want To Talk To Chuck After Somber Colonial Kickoff

All longtime golf fans are grateful to Charles Schwab for rescuing the Colonial, even if it meant wiping the club’s name off the iconic title in favor of the forgettable Charles Schwab Challenge. Then again, had they left Colonial in the title, we’d all still just call it the Colonial. And may still.

But the longtime supporter of golf might be scratching his head a bit after year one of a four year deal even after a perfectly normal PGA Tour event. A fascinating mix of leaders were extinguished by Kevin Na’s closing 66 only to have Na immediately give away quite possibly the most clever winner gift in some time: a restored Dodge Challenger. Mike McAllister reports for PGATour.com.

Granted, Na did pledge before the tournament started to gift the car to Harms, who deserves more than an iconic American sports car for carrying Na’s bag(gage):

A promise made is a promise kept. 🔑 pic.twitter.com/cC4kgiZWCB

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 27, 2019

But the keys handoff did lead to that gloriously awkward winner’s photo with the car, Harms, Schwab and Na, along with a tournament official in the back left expressing only minor agony.

Adding to the awkwardness of the day: a subdued CBS telecast marked by multiple shots from the clouds (aka blimp), the dreaded bereavement track, and tributes to legends lost like Dan Jenkins, Bart Starr, etc. Still, the general somberness became more apparent when Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo were shown at the 18th before a tribute to “retiring” CBS workers was shown.

The tribute was quite touching, with Nantz refusing to sugarcoat the situation while Faldo’s eyes watered and turned red as they discussed the role of the many talented craftspeople losing their jobs. Excuse me, retiring. In mass. All in the same week.

As they introduced the primary crew members and some of the great moments covered or lengthy tenures, it was obviously a huge blow to the CBS Sports team.

While words like retirement and voluntary were bandied about, we all know what this is about, as telegraphed a couple of months ago:

Cost cutting moves: CBS is looking for about $100 million in cost savings in the next three years from belt-tightening and restructuring in search of greater efficiencies. That process could lead to streamlining of redundant operations and voluntary employee buyouts. “We reorganizing and thinking about functions that go across multiple divisions,” Ianniello said.

If it were any other corporate leader than Schwab—who has seen just about everything in golf—I’m guessing phone calls would be made, inquiries made and questions asked about so many layoffs in the midst of the golf season—with a mid-telecast tribute—and at a time the CBS schedule is at full force.

So Chuck probably won’t have to talk to Chuck. But if he were miffed at how year one played out, no one would blame him.

Colonial--AKA Charles Schwab Challenge--Set Up For A Doozy Of A Finish

Kevin Na’s not walking putts in—at least intentionally so far this week Mike McAllister reports—but he did make a mess of a hole Saturday and Nick Menta reports that Na’s caddie Kenny Harms channeled full rage toward a Live Under Par Ambassador (aka fan with a cell phone). Charming.

The mess of a hole, minus the confrontation:

Kevin Na drops to -8 following a double bogey.@CTPanGolf now leads @CSChallengeFW at -9. pic.twitter.com/vhQrLgi11I

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 25, 2019

A ‘73 Dodge Challenger is on the line and maybe even the Colonial jacket, though the Colonial name and Ben Hogan have been scrubbed from the signage and messaging this week.

Mac Engel wrote earlier in the week that this may have been of Fort Worth’s effort to not become Houston.

Two back, Jordan Spieth could set a Shotlink era record for feet of putts made. He’s already had his best putting week through 54 in that respect and needs about 115 feet of putts to drop for the new high water mark.

Most Feet of Putts Made in a 4-round event (ShotLink era):

2015 @CSChallengeFW: @Ben_Martin87 (551 feet, 2 inches)
2017 @WellsFargoGolf: @Z_Blair (546 feet, 11 inches)
2017 @HouOpenGolf: @RussHenleyGolf (541 feet, 10 inches)
2014 @HouOpenGolf: Shawn Stefani (541 feet, 1 inch)

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 26, 2019

15/15 Inside 15: Jordan Spieth Has His Best (Strokes Gained) Putting Day

You can’t keep the great putters down for long and it’s fun to see Strokes Gained putting a figure on his Colonial, err…Charles Schwab round one performance. Spieth is one back of Tony Finau after the opening round. He must have dreams of that restored Dodge Challenger going to the winner. Really!

From PGATour.com’s Sean Martin:

This was the best Strokes Gained: Putting round of Jordan Spieth's career (+5.40). His previous best was +5.16, in the second round of this year's PLAYERS.

(Strokes Gained stats undergo a slight adjustment during the day, but this should hold up.)

— Sean Martin (@PGATOURSMartin) May 23, 2019

A PGA Tour round-up and highlight real from Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

The putter was on 🔥 today. #LiveUnderPar

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) on May 23, 2019 at 3:35pm PDT

AT&T At Trinity Forest Draws Decent Enough Field

The PGA Championship’s move to May and lush inland golf, when combined with Trinity Forest’s eccentric Coore and Crenshaw links-style design, would seem to make it an easy stop to pass up.

Bill Nichols reports that while the field is not at the level it was when last played in Irving, the field is better than last year (5 of world top 50), headlined by Brooks Koepka, who liked what he saw on television last year.

"He told me he really liked how the course played on TV," said Nelson tournament director Jon Drago. "He said it looked like a lot of fun."

Word of mouth and the PGA Tour's schedule change, with the Nelson immediately preceding the PGA Championship, has strengthened the field. An influx of Europeans created the largest spike.

The Nelson field will feature 14 of the top 50 players in the World Golf Ranking: No. 3 Koepka, No. 19 Patrick Reed, No. 22 Marc Leishman, No. 28 Hideki Matsuyama, No. 31 Rafa Cabrera Bello, No. 33 Alex Noren, No. 36 Jordan Spieth, No. 40 Henrik Stenson, No. 42 Kiradech Aphibarnrat, No. 43 Lucas Bjerregaard, No. 45 Justin Harding, No. 46 Branden Grace, No. 48 Charles Howell III, and No. 50 Thorbjorn Olesen.

The normally firm and fast course was slowed down last year to ensure players were not turned off by the bold design features. Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch wasn’t a fan of that move and pleads with the PGA Tour to not dumb down the setup. However, this spring the weather has made it nearly impossible to present such a course, with more potentially violent storms expected Wednesday.

The course, while maybe not television friendly, is sensational. If you didn’t see it, Geoff Ogilvy filed a fantastic video tour last year that should remind you of its merits.