WSJ: " The Controversial Past of the Tycoon Behind the Astros" (And The Houston Open)

The Wall Street Journal’s Andrew Beaton and Jared Diamond look at the more sordid moments in Jim Crane’s business career and circumstances surrounding Major League Baseball’s vetting of his 2011 Astro’s purchase for $685 million.

The story implies Commissioner Bud Selig ordered more extensive vetting than normal given the cultural issues at Crane’s business, including allegations of discrimination against minorities and women, as well as a case of war profiteering.

As with the continuing Astros cheating saga, Crane was never proven with direct links to any of the questionable acts and eventually, baseball pushed the sale through.

The people say Crane had a couple important factors on his side that helped usher the deal through. For one, he was willing to move the Astros to the American League, a move others were unwilling to make. MLB was so keen on making this happen that Crane wound up receiving a roughly 10% discount on his purchase price.

“The negotiation of the Astros move to the American League was the driving factor in the length of the vetting process,” said Giles Kibbe, the Astros’ senior vice president and general counsel. “Switching from the National to American League required renegotiation of terms, which took months.”

Moreover, there was that price: Even with the discount, it was among the highest ever for a baseball franchise, and a rich sale has the effect of boosting club values for all owners across the league.

Crane was instrumental in saving the PGA Tour’s Houston Open, and also in pushing out its longtime operators at the Houston Golf Association.

The announcement also means the Houston Golf Association is no longer the host organization of the Houston Open after 72 years. The HGA already has been cutting its staff, though executive director Steve Timms said it will remain active in its successful junior golf programs -- which includes The First Tee -- amateur tournaments and a municipal golf project to restore city golf courses in Houston.

The 2020 playing is scheduled for November 9-15th at the freshly renovated Memorial Park.

Of Course Patrick Reed Wins After A Long Week, DeChambeau Congratulates His Fellow Bad Rap "Co-Worker"

Say what you want about Patrick Reed, but it was mighty impressive to go win over a quality field in the same week Brooks Koepka and Peter Kostis mentioned his cheating ways. Or, it speaks to an ability to compartmentalize worthy of deeper study on the outskirts of Vienna. Or wherever they psychoanalyze golfers.

Either way, in passing elite talents like Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau, Reed navigated the narrow and bumpy Club de Golf Chapultepec for his second win in this event.

GolfDigest.com’s Brian Wacker reminds us of the quaint old days in 2014 when Reed declared himself a top 5 player.

Even his victory on Sunday was a reminder of controversies past. In 2014, Reed won the same tournament when it was played at Trump Doral in Miami. That year, in a taped interview with NBC that aired during the final round, Reed declared himself a top-five player in the world, a remark that came off as cocky and was generally not well-received, considering Reed was just 23 at the time, hadn’t played in a major yet and had started the week ranked 44th in the world.

Since then, Reed has racked up several notable wins, including his 2018 Masters triumph, leaving that misstep a distant memory.

When this latest controversy will wash away, who knows. In the meantime, Reed is now up to No. 8 in the world after his latest victory over a world-class field.

“I think the biggest thing is I’ve grown as a player,” he said. “I’ve not allowed too many things to bother me, the highs and lows in golf, especially through a round of golf.”

While DeChambeau seemed to have the tournament in his grasp, a three-putt at the 71st hole and a hideous birdie attempt at the final hole left him in solo second. But feeling bonded with winner Reed, reports G.C. Digital at GolfChannel.com.

"[I congratulated him] because he's a great player," DeChambeau told Golf Channel's Todd Lewis. "There's been a lot of stuff said in the past years, I guess you could say, with him – and even with me – and I feel like unfortunately sometimes we get quite a bad rap. And yeah, there's things that we've done that hasn't been right, but we haven't got really got the best rap and we're still trying to provide great entertainment for everyone. You know what, he's a great player, and he'll be a great player for a long time, and yeah, I have respect for his game."

Lewis then followed up by saying, "It kind of sounds like you're brethren in this ..."

"We're co-workers, right?" DeChambeau interjected. "And we understand each other's pain sometimes."

Speaking of pain, the greens at Club de Golf Chapultepec took a beating Saturday from DeChambeau, and he subsequently took a beating on Twitter for his outburst, reports Nick Piastowski.

Round four highlights from Mexico City, courtesy of PGA Tour Entertainment:

Mexico City Madness: Rory's Stock Yardages This Week

The WGC Mexico City has become a fun opportunity to hear how players adapt to the altitude, while reminding us they can adapt to distance changes (eh em…).

Nice spot by Alex Myers to highlight this McIlroy Legion Tweet of Rory’s adjusted stock numbers, as presumably documented for reference by his bagman Harry Diamond. Also noteworthy: the size of gaps with mid and longer irons. Another reason to roll back the ball!

Rory’s yardages look fun 😳 pic.twitter.com/egH76lSKet

— The McIlroy Legion (@RoryLegion_GC) February 20, 2020

Reed Passes On Opportunity To Rebut Koepka And Kostis' Accusations Of Cheating

Following a strong start in the WGC Mexico City, Patrick Reed was asked by reporters about Tuesday’s accusations of on-course dishonesty from Brooks Koepka and Peter Kostis.

From Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com item:

“I mean, I said what I have to say about what happened in the Bahamas,” Reed said. “At the end of the day, all I'm trying to do is go out and play good golf and trying to win a golf championship and hopefully run Rory down.”

The comments from Reed came after an opening two-under 69 at Club de Golf Chapultepec, where he trails leader Rory McIlroy by four.

When a follow-up question was asked — if Reed was at all bothered that the topic of what happened in the Bahamas keeps coming up and following him — an official from the PGA Tour ended the interview, saying that Reed was only there to talk about golf.

Oh, knocking down stuff behind your ball is very much a golf topic!

How You Know The Ball Goes Too Far After Another Week At Riviera

You know how I know the ball goes too far and just makes a total mess of things?

—This driving range fence was just a normal chainlink fence in the mid-80s. Now they bring in a special extension tournament week and Bryson DeChambeau was still able to clear it last week…

Riviera’s range, with temporary extension installed during tournament week.

—Monday’s Celebrity Cup participants could drive the 10th green. They had to wait for the surface to clear to tee off. Oliver Hudson drove over the 10th green…

After a long wait for the green to clear, A-Rod tees off in the Celebrity Cup.

—They put a concession stand where players used to hit bad drives off the 434-yard third hole. Now they miss 40 yards farther down the hole. And in Phil Mickelson’s case (this is the long ball search for him), 40 yards right of the fairway edge…

That concession stand was once a popular spot for missed drives, now it’s a safe spot!

The 10th at Riviera is not a drivable par-4, it’s a 3-woodable long par-3 where the layup is at a disadvantage based on the birdies made. The 2020 ShotLink scatter chart:

A Few Things I Learned After A Better-Than-Most-Week At Riviera

Adam Scott en route to winning the 2020 Genesis Invitational

In no particular order…

—Green reading books are less of a thing. Adam Scott said he’s trying desperately not to look at the pages of arrows, and when he does it’s to recall contours as he approaches from the fairway. Rory McIlroy still regularly consulted his and Dustin Johnson appears more devoted than ever to his. Tiger Woods did not consult his at all (then again, after finishing last, maybe he should have). Either way, compared to a few years ago, the cheat sheets appear to be on the decline. Whether that’s because of changes in the rules, or grown men realizing that a page full of minuscule arrows is no way to read a putt, I do not know.

—Rough is only necessary to defend a dreary design. With only light afternoon breezes all week, sunny skies and very light rough, Riviera was able to give an incredible field a stern test. Maybe the final round hole locations were a tad relentless in difficulty, but green speed and firmness were more likely responsible for only one player finishing double-digits under par. Sunday’s 72.000 scoring average included 23 doubles and 9 others. Saturday’s third round yielded a 70.397 scoring average with 211 bogies and just nine doubles. All of it without the artificial intrusion of rough.

—Rough is not the answer to distance. With the recent distance study still fresh on minds, the most common golf pro answer involved advocacy for harvesting taller grass along sides of fairways. Riviera demonstrated again that architecture coupled with firmness is the answer. Of course, this was still after years of lengthening and other elements to keep the place relevant.

—A wedge approach to 18 just doesn’t seem right. Watching Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott hit wedges into the iconic 18th hole Saturday and Sunday—even after the hole had been lengthened years ago to 491 yards—reminds us they are essentially superhuman talents. Particularly given the 50-foot rise over the hill. But we’d still feel that way about them hitting 7 or 8-irons as approach clubs following a long drive.

—Never let your caddie place a Trackman on the roof of a car. Those soft cases just don’t stick like you’d hope.

—Printed pairing sheets are still necessary. In a sustainability effort, the Genesis no longer gives out printed pairing sheets. I could have sold my printed press center versions for good money, especially to Verizon customers who had no reception in the canyon. I get that it’s a Live Under Par way to be, but sometimes you just want to pull out a piece of paper and see who the players are before you.

—Short grass, even when it’s kikuyu, makes a great hazard. Something to remember when the anti-regulation folks want to grow rough: look at Rory McIlroy’s round-killing triple bogey Sunday when he was just a little too cute with his shot behind the fifth green. He was presented options to lob, run or pitch his shot. Had McIlroy only been given one way to play, who knows how things turn out.

—Just when putting with the flag in was no longer a thing, Adam Scott brings it back. Compared to a year ago when this new toy was employed by almost all players, flagsticks left in while putting are quickly becoming a thing of the past.

—Tradition still matters. Even with another new name and no open status, the L.A. Open and Genesis Invitational of the present succeeded this week on the back of ideal weather, an incredible field, a beautifully prepared golf course, and a tournament exuding a sense of permanence. A whopping 94 years of history and a design players love always helps. The week showed how dependent professional golf is on venues whether to lure a top field or put on a good show. The sport at its best returns to the places that matter. And it’s a shrinking list with every jump in distance gains.

"What have I got to lose" Adam Scott, Riviera Prevail At The Genesis

Just how we never would have drawn this one up.

Adam Scott posted a one-under-par 70 under sunny, one-club breezy conditions to slip away from early finishers Sung Kang, Scott Brown and fellow third round co-leader Matt Kuchar. The win is Scott’s second at Riviera, but first for the record books after his 2005 36-hole win in a playoff over Chad Campbell was not counted as an official win.

“It fells really good,” he said after the round, noting that it was cute and all to “poke fun” at his unofficial win.

“It's incredibly satisfying to win a tournament of this stature on a golf course of this stature. It was a wonderful week, it was incredibly enjoyable just being here with the weather like this, the course in perfect condition and a great field. Even better to come out on top and kind of have your game really tested today. It was not easy and that was most enjoyable to kind of see that my game is holding up to that.”

The start was Scott’s first of 2020 after winning the Australian PGA and competing at the Presidents Cup.

I have no idea where this moves him to in the FedExCup.

After a painful bogey-double bogey run at Riviera’s 4th and 5th holes, Scott made key birdies at the sixth and 13th holes, but it was salvaging bogey at the 15th where Scott went above and beyond the field.

His 173-yard second plugged in the greenside bunker, causing an overplayed recovery to trundle over the back left of the green, leaving a tough recovery pitch.

“The shot that stood out was deciding to flop the second chip on 15 after I was plugged into the bunker and I kind of knifed it across the green. It was in a horrible position then.

”I stood there and I wanted to maybe bump it into the fringe, but realistically it was going to be 45 feet past probably and I thought, well, you can maybe win the tournament if you hit a great flop shot here, so I thought I might as well just go for it.

”I had a little bit of that kind of mindset not just today but the whole week of not careless, but "what have I got to lose" kind of thing going, give myself a good chance to get back in the winner's circle on the PGA TOUR. So that shot stood out for me, the flop shot on 15.”

For Scott, that letting go is a product of experience and an effort to take his game to a different place.

“As I chat about my feelings when I play with my coach, we often talk about just letting go a little bit. I mean, at times I feel like I'm too loose on some shots, but then there are other moments where I play a little too conservative all the time. It's a fine balance playing down the stretch in contention and finding the right place. It was fairly clear to me at that moment, my first thought was bump it in, it's safe but I'll probably make a double. Then I thought I really want to win this and maybe this shot can do it, and I hit a really great shot. It was quite fun.”

And fun to watch.

A look at the ShotLink numbers suggest typically solid ballstriking from the 39-year-old, but it was the sometimes-balky putting that carried the day. Scott made 282’ 7” feet of putts while registering just 88 putts on the 52 greens he hit, leading the field.

Other numbers of note:

17th SG off the tee

23 of 56 fairways

8th in all drives distance, 294.8 yards

15th on the measuring holes, 288.7 yards

52 of 72 greens

3rd SG approach play, with a 38’ 5” proximity average

17th SG scrambling

The round four highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment:

Varner's Not-Intentional Lay-Up At 10: To Show Or Not To Show A Bad Shot?

Harold Varner (purple shirt) just off Riviera’s 10th tee short of the first fairway bunker.

Leading the Genesis Invitational at the time, Harold Varner hit an unfortunate 129-yard tee shot at Riviera’s 10th and ultimately made double bogey. Yet CBS did not show the shot for almost an hour. (Other issues with the broadcast were noted here by Joel Beall at GolfDigest.com.)

wait wait wait wait wait...

Did they just say the leader TOPPED a 3-wood on the iconic 10th hole rather than actually showing it!?!?!?!?!

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) February 16, 2020

129 yards!!

AT LEAST SHOW THE REPLAY!!!!! pic.twitter.com/BAkulY6lfB

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) February 16, 2020

Not until the 14th hole and after much social media griping did CBS show the shot as Varner was playing the 14th hole.

After the round, Varner explained what happened:

Q. Did your foot slip at all?

HAROLD VARNER III: I don't know, I just know I missed it, I missed the ball. I couldn't tell you what exactly happened. I just know that I hit the dirt before the ball. I've actually done it before, which is funny enough. I did it in Korea, same exact thing, same exact wind.

Q. Were you playing off the deck before then, too?
HAROLD VARNER III: No, I teed that up. Yeah, I wish I would have hit it off the deck.

Q. And then after that now you've got to regroup and try to approach the hole from a different way, right?

HAROLD VARNER III: Yeah, I was screwed pretty much. Yeah, it's not like you can just hit the next one on the green and be like, all right, salvage it. Yeah, it's just funny, I'm looking at the hole right now as we're talking about it. It is what it is. There's nothing I can really do about it. I just wish I would have rebounded a little bit better. That's what I kind of, you know, alluded to all week is just how you respond to it.

No one wants to pick on Varner or revel in his horrendous shot. But not showing it until after a social media storm suggests that it may have been intentionally kept off-air.

At last year’s Genesis, a final round 8 by Jordan Spieth at the same hole was also not shown.

Naturally, CBS has a truckload of promos to show and other obligations as the round proceeds, but one of the three leaders hitting a disastrous tee shot by PGA Tour standards, should have been a focal point of the broadcast.

And while social media can get carried away with telecast griping, the outrage likely stems in part from a sense that network broadcasts and announcers increasingly are feeling pressure to put players only in the best light.

Had Varner made a miraculous par, perhaps the tee shot might have been shown sooner than the 14th hole. Either way, the overall sense of a State television vibe will only make fans less interested in watching PGA Tour golf, even when the player does something all golfers can relate to.

**This just in to Newscenter 7 with the video:

The most sought after footage since the Zapruder film apparently. Here's the elusive Harold Varner topped 3 wood. No toptracer included. @NoLayingUp @BrendanPorath pic.twitter.com/cJF782CcZi

— Andrew Stephens (@AStephensPGA) February 17, 2020

CBS’s Frank Nobilo took to Twitter to defend the coverage.

People on social media are entitled to their opinions. But you are in the print business. You have ample time to fact check your article. I covered the 10th hole and @TrevorImmelman was with the group and detailed the tee shot. Will you treat your writer with the same contempt? https://t.co/ySatS9jYSH

— Frank Nobilo (@frank_nobilo) February 17, 2020

Genesis Roundup: Primed For A Stellar Final Round At Riviera With Scott, Kuchar, McIlroy Tied At The Top

Golf Gods, you’ve gotten us this far. Now don’t mess up the glorious 2020 Genesis we’ve got on our hands.

After three days of ideal weather and nine of the world’s top 10, it should come as little surprise to see a leaderboard topped by names like McIlroy, Kuchar and Scott, with lurkers like Johnson and writer’s dream story Harold Varner, the former Sifford Exemption recipient. Oh, and 16 within four of the lead.

Riviera’s greens are as fast and firm as I can recall and Tiger might agree after taking 33 putts, including four at 13 to shoot 76. It was his second 4-putt on the 13th in his career.

Following his round, Woods admitted to some overall body stiffness and feeling “run-down". Ryan Lavner reports.

More impressively, even with such a premium on speed and firmness, the field has managed to score well, taking advantage of relatively little wind and remarkable conditioning by Matt Morton’s crew. The field posted a 70.397 scoring average Saturday, with a low of 64 by Talor Gooch and a high of 81 from Ryan Palmer.

(Palmer took five to get out of the 14th hole’s greenside bunker.)

As for our leaders, a few post-round highlights, starting with Adam Scott, coming in hot after layoff and a former winner here, whose 2005 title does not count as an official win.

Q. Adam, jumping back to the one you won here in the one-hole playoff and it rained all week and finally on that Monday morning the sun came out, do you remember what happened and what was it like for the week and the playoff itself?

ADAM SCOTT: I remember spending the most amount of time ever in a locker room that week. It was at least two days of eight hours sitting in the locker room and just waiting around. Then Monday I think they were looking at trying to tee guys off for a round and at least have a third round, but maybe a group teed off and after a hole they just said -- it was still raining a bit and they said the course is so unplayable. The only hole really was the 18th way up positive.

I kind of -- I guess it was good that it was called off. And then you win and then you're told it's not a win, that was not so good. Even though I had the trophy, it's not official. Maybe at the time it would have been better to try to plug it out for an official win, but it was still fun, fun to take a trophy home and kind of be a champion here.

ADAM SCOTT: I think all of that is just a bit of motivation for me to win tomorrow here and have an official victory at Riviera and the Genesis Open and I think that would be extremely satisfying for me.

Kuchar, who has led at the end of each round, is in his best position ever at Riviera. He’s never had a top 5 here despite 11 starts.

MATT KUCHAR: I absolutely love the course. I think it gets rave reviews across the board by everybody. You see a great leaderboard up there, it's one that has truly withstood the test of time. It's fun to see it this way in firm and fast conditions. I think so many years we've been here we've seen it kind of wet and cold and greens being a little bit softer. Anytime you get greens firm, it is hard to get them close to the hole, a golf course just plays that much harder.

And this place, you kind of learn it well enough and have to manage where you miss, where you don't. Chipping out of this kikuyu is so difficult, particularly with the little bounce in the greens. I mean, there are good scores out there and there are really bad scores out there and I think that's the sign of a good golf course.

And McIlroy, looking for win No. 19, explains why Riviera has a permanent place on his schedule.

I typically didn't play the West Coast Swing earlier on in my career, especially when I got to this tournament and this golf course, I regretted that decision because, okay, sometimes it can get -- if it's soft the greens can get a little bumpy or whatever, but the course is phenomenal. The whole place. I mean, staying in Santa Monica and doing all that, it's a really nice week, but obviously topped off by the fact that we're playing one of the best courses that we play all year.

So the only year that I didn't play here was 2017 and that was because of injury, because I couldn't. I said it back then, it will be a regular stop on my schedule because I love the golf course.

A few more notes on the co-leaders from the PGA Tour:

Matt Kuchar (T1/-10)

• After being bogey-free on the back nine entering Saturday, made bogeys on Nos. 13, 15, 16 in the third round  

• Holds the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the 10th time on TOUR (most recent: 2019 RBC Canadian Open/T4); converted four of previous nine into victory

• In search of 10th career PGA TOUR victory to join 115 players with 10 or more wins in a PGA TOUR career; won twice in 2018-19 after going four seasons without a win

• Made 12 cuts in 13 previous appearances at The Genesis Invitational with T8 in 2016 his lone top-10

• The Genesis Invitational is one of three PGA TOUR events he has made 11 or more starts without a top-five finish (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am/14, The Genesis Invitational/13, Valspar Championship/11)

• Owns 106 career top-10s on PGA TOUR but seeking first of the season

• Won the SMBC Singapore Open in January

Rory McIlroy (T1/-10)

• Leads the field in par-5 performance for the week, being 8-under with two eagles and four birdies 

• Has been inside the top three on the leaderboard in nine of 15 rounds this season

• Has three top-threes in as many starts this season: ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP/T3, WGC-HSBC Champions/1st, Farmers Insurance Open/T3; is one of four players who have finished inside the top 10 in each start of the season (minimum two starts)

• Playing in his first start since reclaiming the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Rankings

• Making fourth start in the event; Finished T20 (2016, 2018) and T4 in 2019

• Seeks 19th win in his 172nd PGA TOUR start

Adam Scott (T1/-10)

• Through 54 holes, leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (10.382), having hit 40 of 54 greens

• Was declared winner of 2005 The Genesis Invitational which was shortened to 36 holes due to rain; the win is not recognized as an official victory

• Making fifth start of the 2019-20 PGA TOUR Season and first of the calendar year; Won the 2019 Australian PGA Championship in December, his most recent worldwide start

Coverage begins at 8:30 am PT on PGA Tour Live, with Golf Channel doing live at 9 am PT and CBS coming on a noon PT.

Condensed Schedule Blues: These Guys Are...Pacing Themselves

We’ve been spoiled by a sensational field this week at Riviera, perhaps adding to the attention given to next week’s WGC Mexico City Championship facing some noticeable absences.

It seems absurd to offer this reminder on the fan-unfriendly topic of scheduling dynamics: there are too many options over a season, too many obligations, and too many majors in a short time.

So when Tiger Woods hosting and at an age where majors and family take priority, why is anyone surprised he’s passing on playing back-to-back weeks?

While I agree with Bob Harig’s general point about Woods’ decision to pass up easy points and progress toward an Olympics berth, the four majors preceding Tokyo remain more important. So does enjoyment of the life he’s built for himself.

For World No. 2 Brooks Koepka, also passing on Mexico City, health and majors come first. Especially after admitting that his recently repaired knee is still giving him significant trouble, and the PGA Tour heading to his home state for five weeks, it’s irrational to think that free points and a guaranteed $50,000 would entice him to risk further injury.

There was also this, which Koepka shared with myself and two other writers this week:

“I like the tougher golf courses which I think goes into the whole major thing, that's kind of how I'm trying to build my schedule. Trying to change what courses I play, what tournaments I play based on looking at not just previous year’s scores but the golf courses that are tougher. I'm not going to compete very well if it's eighteen under every week.”

Increasingly, top players are making architecture and setup a priority.

All of this serves as a reminder that the world’s best center their careers around the four majors above all else. With a condensed and sometimes inconvenient schedule, something’s got to give a bit more often than in year’s past.

Of Course Tiger's First Hole Eagle Putt Was 24 Feet, 8 Inches

The stars keep aligning this week at the Genesis Invitational, as Tiger’s first hole eagle putt measured out at 24 feet, 8 inches according to ShotLink.

Just over two weeks since Kobe Bryant’s passing, the former No, 24 and No. 8 of the Los Angeles Lakers, here is Woods’ eagle putt en route to an opening 69.

What a start.@TigerWoods opens the week with an eagle at the first.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/upZSb5Vqo4

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 13, 2020

Tiger was asked about it after the round:

Q. Tiger, can you talk about the first hole and the eighth hole where you made the eagle putt from 24 feet eight inches, Kobe's numbers, and then you get to No. 8 that's dedicated to Kobe and you birdied that?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's ironic, isn't it? He was a -- it was a nice way to start. I didn't know about the putt being that long. As I said, ironic that having those two numbers. And then No. 8, happened to hit one in there close and had a nice little kick-in there for birdie.

You know, no matter what we do, I think for a while we're going to always remember Kobe and what he meant, and especially here in SoCal and the entire sports world. Like I said, very ironic that I happened to have those numbers on those holes and those exact measurements.

Genesis Invitational: Golf Gods, Please Give Us Follow The Sun Part 2!

We have nine of the top ten, a non-rainy forecast, and in a storyline only Hollywood could muster up, Tiger Woods on the cusp of his 83rd PGA Tour win to break Sam Snead’s record. The golf in this week’s Genesis Invitational is at Riviera Country Club where…

—Tiger Woods made his debut as a 16 year old in 1992 and is now the tournament host of the event formerly known as the LA Open

—When Sam Snead was the honoree as a former champion

—Where Ben Hogan returned after getting nearly fatally injured in an accident (oncoming bus, never good) and they later made a movie about the 1950 LA Open comeback…seventy years ago.

—Tiger Woods won the Masters last year after a comeback ranking close to the all-time greatest

—Tiger Woods has won 82 times but never his hometown event

Obviously, no screenwriter would dare do anything but muster up a Woods win in the end (though only after strong runs from young stars and his old/new buddy Phil Mickelson).

Maybe after an incredible Woods win and the all-time record establishment, they’d even call it Follow The Sun Part 2? Not that any of the players today would know about Follow The Sun.

Here was my question to Rory McIlroy, movie buff, about returning to LA where he loves seeing locations of films he adores. Seems we need to get him a copy of the Ben Hogan story, aka, Follow The Sun, even though it’s admittedly quite dreadful, other than some of the golf scenes:

Q. Well, on a lighter note, we've learned recently that you are quite a movie buff and seeing some locations of films filmed here in Los Angeles. Have you done any of that this week and have you watched any of the films that were actually filmed at Riviera on the grounds here?

RORY McILROY: No and I don't think so. So no, we got in Monday night and then the last couple days have just been at the course and sort of, yeah, getting ready to play the event. I don't know what movies have been shot here.

Q. Follow the Sun, the Ben Hogan Story, is a famous one.

RORY McILROY: Okay.

Q. Old.

RORY McILROY: More your ‑‑

Reports from the front of the room suggest he said something like, “More your era…old guy”:

Q. Yeah. Do you watch a lot of movies besides reading books? Is that something you do to kind of just get your mind off of golf?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I do, I do. I watched a good bit of the Oscars Sunday night and was pretty intrigued to see how that was going to unfold. I really liked Once Upon a Time in Hollywood last year, I enjoyed that movie. I love Tarantino movies, I always enjoy those. Honestly, anything to get my mind off this is a good thing.

There isn’t much on The You Tube, but this old scene from the Pebble portion of the movie is fun:

As always, your TV times from Riviera:

Thursday         Noon-2 p.m. / 6-8 p.m. (PGA TOUR LIVE “Look-in” – Live)

2-6 p.m. (Live) / 2-6 a.m. (Friday replay)   Golf Channel

Friday              2-6 p.m. (Live) / 7-10 p.m. (Replay) Golf Channel

Saturday          1-2:45 p.m. (Live) / 7-9 p.m. (Replay) Golf Channel

Saturday 3-6 pm ET (Live) CBS

Sunday            1-2:45 p.m. (Live) / 7:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (Replay)

Sunday 3-6:30 pm ET (Live) CBS

PGA TOUR LIVE on NBC Sports Gold (Eastern):                               

Thursday                     9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups)

• Patrick Cantlay/Dustin Johnson/Rory McIlroy (10:16 a.m. ET)

• Brooks Koepka/Phil Mickelson/Bubba Watson (10:27 a.m. ET) Friday 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups)

• Steve Stricker/Justin Thomas/Tiger Woods (10:16 a.m. ET)

• Second group to be voted on via “Fan Vote Friday” Twitter poll

Rory And Justin: Two Different Views On Riviera's Tenth

By now many are probably weary of hearing about Riviera’s wily 10th hole. Annual discussions of design dynamics that produce magical play and baffling decisions has been covered pretty extensively.

So here is more on George Thomas and Billy Bell’s 311-yard gem!

Two top-5 players, two views on how to play a hole where the lay-up decision is rarely a decision in the bomber’s world of 311-yard three-woods.

Here is Rory McIlroy from today’s Genesis Invitational press room asked about short par-4’s in general:

RORY McILROY:  The first hole I ever played as a professional golfer was a drivable par 4 was the 10th hole at The Belfry back in 2007.  I hit 6‑iron off the tee.  I mean, look, this is possibly the best drivable par 4 in the world here at Riviera, the 10th.  It's just so ‑‑ it's just as easy to make a six as it is to make a three, but all the statistics suggest that if you do go for the green, you're going to play the hole .3 of a shot lower than if you lay up.  All the statistics suggest that it's a hole to go for.

And then there was Justin Thomas who has played the hole every year since 2012 when he played the NCAA Championships at Riviera, asked about Rory’s use of stats to make his decision about to drive it or lay-up:

JUSTIN THOMAS:  I don't, personally I've always laid up on that hole.  I'll go for it to that front pin, but I've laid up ever since I've been on Tour.  I mean, the way I look at it is I try to make par on the hole and if I happen to make one birdie, then I beat the field for the week I would think.  It's a shot shape or the green shape is good for my wedge, my spin that I have on it with the left‑right spin.  I've had anything from 4‑iron to 6‑iron off the tee kind of up that left side of the fairway.  It's not a very hard wedge shot as long as you can just get your number right. 

So that's just how I've always look at it.  I've never looked at the numbers because my miss with a 3‑wood or sometimes driver is right and right's no good up there.  I'm just trying to make 4 and maybe sprinkle a 3 or two.

Tiger On The Premier Golf League: "We're looking into it."

Tiger Woods was asked for thoughts on the proposed Premier Golf League, calling the proposed circuit a natural evolution of the World Golf Championships. He also suggested ideas like this will continue and did not rule out the current proposal as an option:

Q. Tiger, have you personally been approached about the Premier Golf League concept and what do you think of the whole idea?

TIGER WOODS: Have I been personally approached? Yes, and my team's been aware of it and we've delved into the details of it and trying to figure it out just like everyone else. We've been down this road before with World Golf Championships and other events being started, or other tours want to evolve and started. There's a lot of information that we're still looking at and whether it's reality or not, but just like everybody else, we're looking into it.

And this follow-up suggesting such proposals will be a regular thing of the future.

Q. Why do you think something like that would even have a possibility? Is there something not right out here that you would like to see better?

TIGER WOODS: I think that just like all events, you're trying to get the top players to play more collectively. It's one of the reasons why we instituted the World Golf Championships, because we were only getting together five times a year, the four majors and THE PLAYERS, and we wanted to showcase the top players on more than just those occasions. We came up with the World Golf Championships and we're meeting more often. And so this is a natural evolution, whether or not things like this are going to happen, but ideas like this are going to happen going forward, whether it's now or any other time in the future.

"If you like vanilla, you’ll love CBS’ new lineup "

Hate to agree as we all want golf TV to be better, but John Hawkins pretty accurately sums up the rough start to 2020 CBS golf broadcasts here:

Dottie Pepper is excellent. Mark Immelman has a high ceiling and is fast becoming a source of pertinence and polish. Since David Feherty hopped to NBC in 2016, however, the Eye has gone blind to the value of building a team with people who played the game and are fully stocked with knowledge about every competitor, yet remain unfazed by the task of imparting pure objectivity when the situation demands it.

“Hopefully, that came out of the plug mark,” IBF offered after Matt Every dumped a pitch into a greenside bunker Sunday on Pebble Beach’s eighth hole.

“When things go wrong here, there’s no real way of taking the shortcuts,” Faldo added while Every cleaned up his triple bogey.

Pompoms and nonsense. They’re fine at a high school pep rally, but at a gathering of the world’s finest golfers vying for the largest share of a $7.8 million purse, a major network with more than 60 years in the business should know better than to shortchange its educated, dedicated viewership.

Early in 2020, it has been confounding as a viewer to hear announcers question strategic choices, or issue early critiques only to somehow always apologize in some way, or justify the play. Sometimes players just make a mistake or play a poor shot. As Hawkins notes, the viewers know and understand that such things happen in golf. Why pretend differently?