Steph: Legend-In-The-Making To Talk Golf On Morning Drive

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In case you haven't been paying attention, there is something magical taking place with the Golden State Warriors run through the 2015-16 season, highlighted by Saturday night's epic overtime win against the Oklahoma City Thunder that left even the most jaded fans speechless. (The almost-half-court game winning jump shot is worth your time.)

Even more satisfying about the run is how likable the team is, with diverse interests and easy going demeanors coming through in various appearances as they peel off wins.

Just a few examples include Andrew Bogut joining Bill Simmons' podcast last week and Klay Thompson stopping by Morning Drive on Friday. And in a two-part interview, Steph Curry and teammate Andre Iguodala meet Gary Williams for a chat recorded Friday, so expect talk of their round at Augusta National and Curry's love for golf.
 
Here's a preview:

Rickie & Rory To Be Joined By Marky & JT?

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Brad Galli of WXYZ Detroit says the Rickie Fowler vs. Rory McIlroy (under the lights) exhibition will be rounded out by A-listers Mark Wahlberg and Justin Timberlake.

Doug Ferguson first reported the made-for-TV event that is expected the week prior to this summer's U.S. Open.

Of course unbeknownst to fans at this week's Northern Trust Open, Wahlberg played the Wednesday pro-am today. I only found out because a friend of Wahlberg's mentioned it. Because, you know, people in LA wouldn't want that promoted. The NoTrust Twitter account shared the news when it was a little too late for Wahlberg's fans to make it out.

 

21st Century Plus-Fours Or Trying Too Hard?

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I'm all for exposing the athleticism of today's players and seeing where designers golf fashion to new places if it'll help non-golfers better appreciate our athletes. Or make us more comfortable when we swing a club.

But tights?

Nike's making the push with "tights", as Jessica Marksbury notes for Golf.com. I'll be on the lookout in round one of the NoTrust Open but something tells me these are still in the developmental stages. Assuming they aren't just considered shorts over your Sunday best yoga pants.

A lad with a tour card named Scott Pinckney was kind enough to be the guinea pig, though 20 years from now he could also really regret this page when it appears in the slideshow, "So, Looks That Almost Like, Really Killed."

"I love how they're raising the athletic bar in the sport of golf," Pinckney said. "I think everyone in the [NBA] All-Star game wore tights, besides maybe two or three different players. And there's a reason why they wear them. I love the look, but I mostly love the feel when I'm playing in them. And I feel refreshed when I'm done."

Tony Finau, another Nike pro, is also a believer in the tights.

"I've already practiced in them, and I feel amazing, not only during, but after [play]," Finau said. "There's just something about having [that compression] on a part of your body that you're using that helps you recover and gives you energy. People will be surprised. Even if they don't like the look, they're going to feel great wearing them. I can see myself wearing them [in tournaments]."

Why see when you can do?

Nike's Golfers Are Best Prepared For On-Stage Flooding

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I know I should know who all five of these Nike golfers are, but I’ve only got Lovemark (far left), and Rodgers/Finau on the right.

Apparently this was a gathering for non-Rory tour players to discuss how cool they are. Because nothing is more cool than declaring your coolness. And, rolling up your pants to prepare for a tsunami. 

Flashback: Scalia's Dissenting Opinion In PGA Tour v. Martin

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The late Supreme Court Justice, who died in his sleep while on a Texas hunting trip, dissented along with Clarence Thomas against Casey Martin in his battle with the PGA Tour over cart usage. The rest of the court voted for Martin.

That's right millennials, the PGA Tour sued a handicapped-at-birth guy to stop him from taking a cart, even though he could barely walk. Charity is not always at the heart of Tim Finchem.

Anyway, Justice Antonin Scalia's dissent was an entertaingly crafted piece of writing, even if it was the questionable view at the time or in hindsight:

Having concluded that dispensing with the walking rule would not violate federal-Platonic "golf" (and, implicitly, that it is federal-Platonic golf, and no other, that the PGA TOUR can insist upon) the Court moves on to the second part of its test: the competitive effects of waiving this nonessential rule. In this part of its analysis, the Court first finds that the effects of the change are "mitigated" by the fact that in the game of golf weather, a "lucky bounce," and "pure chance" provide different conditions for each competitor and individual ability may not "be the sole determinant of the outcome." Ante, at 25. I guess that is why those who follow professional golfing consider Jack Nicklaus the luckiest golfer of all time, only to be challenged of late by the phenomenal luck of Tiger Woods. The Court's empiricism is unpersuasive. "Pure chance" is randomly distributed among the players, but allowing respondent to use a cart gives him a "lucky" break every time he plays. Pure chance also only matters at the margin--a stroke here or there; the cart substantially improves this respondent's competitive prospects beyond a couple of strokes. But even granting that there are significant nonhuman variables affecting competition, that fact does not justify adding another variable that always favors one player.

Putting Looks As Hard As Ever, As Pros Proved This Week

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Today's players are fitter, faster, smarter, prettier, sexier, leaner, etc., etc. But as with their predecessors, they still can look human on the greens.

To review...

Lexi Thompson is putting with her eyes closed.

Ernie Els struggled but was less yippy in Dubai, though he admitted the yips he's been dealing with the last few months amounted to "end of career" issues on the greens.

Bernhard Langer is carrying two putters in the bag according to Golf Channel's announce team. And he was seen warming up before his opening Allianz round trying two styles of putting.

Ian Poulter, one of the world's best putters over the last decade, started putting with one hand in Phoenix.

Easy game!

Any others I missed?

Poll: Where Are You With Bubba Watson?

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We've gone through the traditional Bubba Watson controversy (again) this week. As with past brouhahas, they play out with amazing consistentcy:

--He speaks honestly in shocking, out-of-the-blue fashion

--He gets ripped by the (social and mainstream) media he hates, but never reads yet knows will only take the negative angle

--He spent a day or two with the much-wiser and grounded wife bending his ear, gets booed at the 16th hole.

--He apologizes just as he has done before (video version), appreciating the accountability of it all

We will go through this many more times with him and unless he starts picking on innocent kids or other less fortunately souls, I really don't see the big deal. He's different, odd, knows he has ADD issues at the very least and maybe is a little bit of a mad genius. We don't want him to be like everyone else, do we?

I'm also sympathetic because when he's on, he's such a joy to watch play golf. The TPC Scottsdale should be a showcase for his talent, but I sense much of his meltdown this week was prompted by disdain for the place, only heightened by Tom Weiskopf's anti-long driving changes to the course. Several players last week were dreading the event for the first time because of the course, not the noise or the party scene or whatever else might be a deterrent. And you can read between the lines of player comments, like Mickelson's remarks, including that TPC Scottsdale shifted from an offensive to a defensive course. Bubba just happened to be more blunt in sharing his views.

I could go on about the aesthetic nightmare it has become, with more overseeded rye grass and blinding bunkers viewable from outer space, but it won't do any good. The old lunar landscape is gone.

But back to Bubba...where does his latest controversy leave you with one of golf's most fascinating stars?

Where do you stand with Bubba?
 
pollcode.com free polls

Video: 7 Y.O. Godiva Kim's Golf Swing

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I don't want to make you feel bad about the progress you've made with your swing, but I kind of do in posting this latest compilation spotted on her Instagram account.

It's Godiva Kim, now a year older than when Terry Wilcox profiled the next great Aussie-born golfer. But her swing remains pretty much perfect.

Storms on the way..#juniorgolf #girlsgolf #lpga #ladiesgolf #골스타글램 #주니어골프

A video posted by godiva golf (@godi_kim) on

Bubba Only Playing TPC Scottsdale (T2, T2) For His Sponsors

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There are a few ways to look at Bubba Watson's pre-tournament comments about the TPC Scottsdale and Waste Management Open.

First, the comments. From Ryan Reiterman's GolfChannel.com report:

"I don't like it. I'm not going to PC it. I don't like it at all. I just mentioned why I'm here. I've got three beautiful sponsors that love it here."

Ping, Stance Socks and Oakley are all sponsors of Watson.

Watson said he was unhappy with the changes made to toughen up the course last year by Tom Weiskopf. Several fairway bunkers were moved to challenge even the longest hitters, like Watson, and as Phil Mickelson noted, a hole like the par-4 14th went from "a driver and a wedge birdie hole to driver, 4-, 5-iron and a very difficult par."

Sure, it's kind of unusual for someone to finish T2 the last two years and lament having to be there. But it's Bubba. This is a man who hated going to Paris. France.

But I welcome the brutal honesty and scratch my head at his disdain for a course he's played well at. But chatting with a few players last week at Torrey Pines, Watson is not alone in lamenting the direction TPC Scottsdale has taken in trying to limit long driving. Watson's "goofier and tougher" line was similar to what a few players said.

The stats back up the idea that Weiskopf's hope for limiting longer driving, even though the 2015 leaderboard was full of long drivers.

From Rob Bolton's always excellent PGA Tour Power Rankings:

• Weiskopf surmised that the thinking off the tee would evolve as a result of new, strategic bunkering. Indeed, the field of 132 was a quick study as its 61.38-percent clip for fairways hit was in line with history. However, it came at a cost since the average distance of all drives of 285.4 yards was down 10-15 yards from each of the previous four years, and this despite a layout stretched 114 yards to its highest-ever measurement of 7,266 yards. Still, it mattered little in determining the final leaderboard. Koepka ranked T47 for the week in fairways hit and still played his last 47 holes in bogey-free 14-under.

All of Bubba's comments from Golf Central:

Ruffled! Phil Won't Be Teeing It Up With Ryan Anytime Soon

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Well, unless the Australian lad making his pro debut at Torrey Pines Thursday is primed for a less-than-friendly game with Phil Mickelson. The same Mickelson who tried to recruit him to his alma mater and teed up at Torrey Pines last month in a friendly game.

Ruffels, you may recall if you followed this obscure little story, claimed to have birdied six of seven holes to take $5000 off of Mickelson, who gave the 17-year-old 2-1 odds. He shared the story, then had to downplay it. But that wasn't enough to appease Phil who spoke to the media on the North Course's 9th green following his pro-am round.

From Ryan Lavner's item at GolfChannel.com: 

“He’s young,” Mickelson said, “and he’s got some things to learn.

“One of them is you don’t discuss certain things. You don’t discuss specifics of what you play for. And you certainly don’t embellish and create a false amount just for your own benefit. So those things right there are – that’s high school stuff, and he’s going to have to stop doing that now that he’s out on the PGA Tour.”

Parents, let this be a learning lesson on the perils of golf course wagering!

Pieters: PGA Tour Provides (Photoshop) Grooming Services

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Jason Crook reports on Thomas Pieters going to Facebook to show how the PGA Tour altered his stock photo. Pieters, who finshed second to Rickie Fowler in last week's HSBC in Abu Dhabi, appears to have run into Commissioner Kiehl's and his army of Photoshopping barbers.

Look out Boo Weekley!

Generation Z Video: PGA Demo Day Stars

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Nice post by Stephen Hennessey to note these two stars from Tuesday's PGA Demo Day at Orange County National outside Orlando, including one-handed golfer Tommy Morrissey.

At the Golphin junior golf-club pavilion, sampling the company's new clubs for children. Look at the clubhead speed from these young 'ems:

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