When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Nice to see Michelle Wie-West’s pushing back after the segment airing last week in which Rudy Giuliani told a creepy and sexist story about leering at her while playing golf with Rush Limbaugh.
— Michelle Wie (@MichelleWieWest) February 20, 2021
Also of note: the major golf news outlets are only recognizing this story after Wie-West’s response, but ignored the Giuliani remarks until essentially forced to highlight it by her Twitter response.
Justin Thomas mentioned the (billions!) R&D outlay by manufacturers as reason enough to not do anything. He walked that back to millions but ultimately landed at the same spot mentioning “hard work” of manufacturers as cause for rulemakers to stand down.
So, profit over the good of the game. He’s hardly the first and as Titleist’s top player naturally taking the company line.
Rory McIlroy was widely lauded for his comments blasting the USGA’s waste of money studying the distance issue. This, even as he reiterated his support for some kind of skill-protecting bifurcation. His latter point did not jibe with Taylormade’s position on the possibility of tighter regulation.
The Fried Egg’s Will Knights has looked at the claims and it turns out the USGA has spent about $1 million on their portion of the distance study while the manufacturers have spent far more in annual R&D with positive tax implications for doing so. As always I urge you to read the full piece as it’s loaded with fascinating information.
As for Thomas’s claim of R&D spending, Knight found it may be a smaller number than expected and a nice tax credit awaits if desired.
From 2017 to 2019, Acushnet, Titleist’s holding company, spent between $47 and $52 million on R&D. That amounted to about 3% of the company’s net sales. Over the same period, Callaway spent between $36 and $51 million, between 3 and 4% of its net sales. These expenses cannot be attributed solely to golf ball and club development, as both companies manufacture clothing, shoes, and other kinds of products. However, for both Acushnet and Callaway, golf equipment is a major priority, so it’s safe to assume that their R&D spends would be largely allocated to balls and clubs. (Callaway does note that a significant portion of its R&D increase between 2018 and 2019 was due to its acquisition of Jack Wolfskin, an outdoor apparel company.)
The key is this: U.S. companies can take a tax credit for a portion of their R&D spending from their taxable income. This is a complex calculation and we do not have full details on how golf OEMs perform it, but the documents reveal that Callaway has carried forward $18.8 million in federal R&D tax credits, which will expire in the 2030s. These tax credits account for about 3.5% of Callaway’s 2019 taxable income and 4.4% of its 2018 taxable income.
Then there is McIlroy’s claim of wasteful spending. The USGA’s Janeen Driscoll responded to that notion when queried by Knights.
“The USGA invested $1 million total in Distance Insights from 2017 to 2020—the majority of which was dedicated to third-party research,” Driscoll told The Fried Egg in an email. “A lot of this research was dedicated to better understanding and quantifying the recreational game, as we had more than enough data from professional tours and golf at the elite competitive level.”
Driscoll went on to compare that multi-year $1 million investment to the USGA’s spending on other initiatives. In 2020 alone, the organization dedicated $1.3 million to junior programs, $1.9 million to turfgrass research grants, more than $1 million to the PJ Boatwright Internship program, and another $3 million to golf history research and preservation. The USGA also typically sets aside about $10 million per year to conduct amateur championships around the country.
There is more, including the USGA’s Green Section work and other programs that give back to the game.
These two stars are very good at golf and that’s their expertise. Most golf publications will never do anything but praise the players no matter how silly their claims, all in hopes of scratching up a few ad dollars from the manufacturers. But this is a reminder that the topic is multi-layered and such remarks deserve more investigation as the debate progresses.
A tradition unlike any other, west coast style, is Jim Nantz’s backyard 7th hole and hole-in-one rock of fame.
Kevin Hall, playing on a sponsor’s invite to the AT&T National Pro-Am, joins elite company with Nantz on the call (and steady camerawork!).
An ace for @KevinMHallOSU in Jim Nantz's backyard!
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 14, 2021
A highlight moment from a memorable week @ATTProAm. pic.twitter.com/LHbEUQRdv2 https://t.co/rDierEJxMC
Seeing that Golf Channel is using Shrek’s nemesis for studio analysis this week, you might wonder what’s up with David Duval. The former World No. 1 plans to work about a half-dozen golf tournaments this year according to Michael Bamberger, who catches up with Duval in this Golf.com piece.
He also makes the case for Duval in the Hall of Fame.
He hasn’t won on Tour since his win at Lytham. (The Open counts as a PGA Tour event; the Dunlop Phoenix Open in Japan, which Duval won four months after his Lytham win, does not.) Still, with the Open win, plus a Players title, a dozen other wins and Ryder Cups and World Cups and a Tour round of 59, he deserves a locker at the World Golf Hall of Fame.
That’s what you get upon election, or you used to. The whole thing is being reconsidered. Anyway, if Fred Couples and Tim Finchem are Hall of Famers, then Duval is a Hall of Famer, too.
As Bamberger goes on to note several others have been bypassed, with Tom Weiskopf the obvious candidate for years (but only now picking up steam after his cancer diagnosis). But the Hall remains a popularity contest and players like Duval and Weiskopf were not Commissioner favorites.
Anyway hit the link as Duval also updates on his bedside reading stack and it’s a typically enjoyable Bamberger read.
LET player Meghan Maclaren added some much needed perspective with her latest blog post by addressing what USGA/R&A equipment standards changes might mean for elite players.
Add her perspective with Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy (both pro-skill) and note how little pushback there has been since last week’s announcement (other than from the Titleist toadies and Dustin Johnson) perhaps most good players get it: the rules need to protect skill and highlight the immense talent pool in the game.
Maclaren points out that this might even make the pro game more interesting. Please check out the full piece but is her summation:
And there’s currently 291 players ranked ahead of me in the women’s professional rankings. Not to mention your pick of every player shown on tv every week. Professional golfers will always be able to enthrall, because that is their job. They work every day to be able to do things you cannot. And you can still make the game as hard or as easy as you want, depending on the course you choose to play, the tees you choose to play from, the time you put into practice. None of that will change, even if Bryson or Anne van Dam max out at 25 yards less than they currently do. It might even make the game better.
Dustin Johnson, chiming in on the USGA and R&A’s proposed equipment standards changes, is towing the Taylormade line. But having just broken or tied nine scoring records at the fall Masters, this was a curious claim:
“I don't think so,” responded the 36-year-old, when asked if golf needs to have something in place to control distance. “I mean, if you look at the scores over the last 15 years, scores aren't really any different, and I don't feel like the game is too easy by any means.”
He also gives an endorsement of sorts and states the most important point: players will adjust.
“It's all conditions I think. But I don't think that we're hitting it too far or our scores are too good. So, if they want to do something, that's fine, but obviously we'll all adjust to it and go from there. But as of right now, I don't think there's anything they need to do.”
Too bad more players are not this grounded when it comes to the distance and skill discussion.
Of course this was said in Saudi Arabia where Bryson DeChambeau is headlining the European Tour’s stop there, but we’ll set that aside for now:
Q. I don't know if you had a chance to see the fact that the USGA and the R&A -- you have, good. You seem to be the only one that's literate coming into this thing. Anyways, what's your thoughts on it, and do you think that distance is an issue?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, look, I had a great conversation with John Bodenheimer and Jason Gore yesterday when it came out, pretty much right when it came out. That was my doing. I wanted to talk to them and get their piece on it. I totally understand what they are about. They are trying not to take the human element out of it, which I think is the most important factor in this whole conversation.
When it comes to the equipment aspect, they are trying to make it more of a -- I guess you could say same or fair playing field where you can't just put a 48-inch driver and it works for this person, you could gain six, seven miles an hour where somebody couldn't because the driver just doesn't work for them or whatever.
I think the most important factor in this whole discussion is that they are focused on keeping the integrity of the game and trying to make it more of a fair playing field while not taking out the human element.
I’m just stopping here to let you go back and read that last graph again. This is Bryson DeChambeau. Yeah he’s definitely cut back on the bacon.
From my perspective, I think it suits me really well because as of right now, I'm still playing the 45-and-a-half-inch driver, and it's suiting me perfectly well, and I'm not going to the 48. So if someone was trying to go to the 48 for them they could gain six, seven miles an hour pretty quickly and now it's not a possibility. And I think it's going to be more difficult for people to gain speed easily. They are going to have to work really hard, just like I have.
For me right now, I feel like it's a pretty good advantage from the way I look at it.
Q. Did you initiate the conversation?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I did.
Q. All that being said, would you not have a problem if they decided not to make adjustments into the rules?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No, I welcome it as long as they don't change the human element. Again, I'm going to play with whatever they gave me. I'm not worried about it. I'm going to do what that they say is legal and I'll just go from there and find the best way to play for me under The Rules of Golf.
There's no issues -- it's funny, I'm sure there's a lot of excitement about me having a potentially controversial thought on it but I don't. I think it's a really cool thought process. It's a little flattering in a sense, because I did talk about that 48-inch driver for so long, and it just didn't work for me the way I wanted it to.
As it's played out, I think it's really cool to see that there's some change off of the conversations that I've had, and it's just pretty interesting to me.
Human element. I’m borrowing that. So should the USGA and R&A.
Some genuine beauties here.
Not that it’s a surprise, but the first two submissions to this week’s edition of Tour Pros Say The Funniest Things happen to wear Titleist hats. Not sure if you know, but the Tour editions come with industry-leading moisture and common sense wicking. I cannot confirm, however that the lids contain a small frontal lobe zapper every time a player wonders if there might be something to this whole distance thing.
Webb Simpson, defending Waste Management Open champion with that amazing dry wit.
Wait you said there is video evidence? Oh.
Brace for Onionesque tree planting ideas…
Q. Today the USGA and R&A released some proposals regarding distance down the road, maybe limiting driver shaft lengths, maybe some ball testing things. Just wondering where you stand on the whole distance debate, and also how big a player should the PGA TOUR be in this whole discussion?
WEBB SIMPSON: Yeah, it's a great question. My first problem I have with the driver length is if a 6'10" really good golfer comes out, like are we really going to tell him he can't use anything longer than 46? So that's my only problem with the length of the driver.
Somewhere a seven-footer is thanking you for saving him from a career in basketball.
But I've been kind of saying for the last few years, I don't think equipment is the problem. I do think -- Jack Nicklaus hit it a lot further than Bobby Jones, and then the guys after Jack are going to hit it further than Jack. Distance was never really that big of an issue when Jack was playing and hitting it 300 yards.
I just think the issue comes down to golf course architecture. We need more doglegs. We need tighter fairways. We need longer rough. We need smaller greens. We need more firm greens. All those things I just named save money, saves water, saves land that you have to build a golf course.
To my superintendent readers, I’m sorry I didn’t give you a warning that you’d be subjected to first-year green committee-level ignorance. I’ll do better.
We know that 8,000-yard golf courses are not the answer. Books Koepka shot 16-under at Erin Hills. I believe that's what he shot. Lengthening courses is not the issue. Bunker placements, dog begs, tree placements. I even think at Augusta on 13 we don't need that tee 40 yards back. What they need is a mid-sized tree 20 yards in front of the tee box and five feet left of the tee box because the issue right now is guys can tee it up on the right and they can even cut it, some of these guys, over the tree. Well, if you put a tree there guys can't do that.
See, this is where Clifford Roberts would actually follow that advice and put a $200,000 bill in Webb’s locker this year. Kind of miss those dictators on days like this.
It's just like the 4th hole this year at Winged Foot; it's a dogleg left par-4 but there's a tree there with branches so the bombers can't hit their cut over that bunker, so a lot of the bombers just hit 3-wood.
Now, attaching branches, trickier task. Great golf architectural ploy though. Yikes.
So I really think the attention does not need to be on equipment or the golf ball. Billy Horschel had a great comment a couple years ago.
There’s something you almost never hear.
He said the golf ball is not an issue; I hit a 7-iron in college 180 yards and now I hit it 180 yards, so it can't really be the golf ball is the problem.
Can’t be the golf ball, says another Titleist guy!
Now, the driver, the face is a lot thinner. They're bigger. I understand that. But I don't think an equipment rollback does anybody any good when we can change the way golf courses are designed and it's better for amateurs, it's better for pros, and there are plenty of golf courses on the PGA TOUR that have stood the test of time because of the way they're designed.
Yeah amateurs love rough, trees and tiny greens that are bumpy because they can’t handle the traffic.
Equipment advances don't really pay off or pay a dividend on those courses, and I just feel like these tweaks we could make are really not that hard and they're cost effective.
He’s run the numbers has he?
Your last point about the PGA TOUR, I think their voice should be very loud. I respect the USGA and R&A a great deal, and I know that their intentions are great, but I don't think an equipment rollback is what we need. I think we need different -- I think we need to tweak our golf courses.
And you have, and other than the TPC’s, you send the bill to others. Such consideration!
Justin Thomas returned from a few weeks off to gather his thoughts after microphones caught him uttering a homophobic slur and not to worry Wally, he appreciated the Acushnet support through trying times and stuck to the party line.
Q. I'm sure you've probably heard the USGA and the R&A today announced some proposals regarding distance, things like possibility of limited driver lengths or maybe regulations on the ball. Just curious your kind of overall thoughts on distance and the whole distance debate and maybe where you stand there.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I didn't know that. I mean, I think that they -- I think distance is what it is right now because of us, and I think because of a lot of the players are taking the training and becoming more athletes and becoming stronger and more optimal in their distance. It is what it is.
It sure is.
I mean, if you give us different stuff we're still going to try to find a way to hit it as far as we possibly can. I don't think there's any reason or it's not necessary at all to change the golf ball.
Why of course not!
I am fine with them maybe not going any farther with it, but I think Tiger said it a while ago that they missed that opportunity probably 20 or so years ago.
Yes back when Uncle Wally and friends were totally open to the idea! Damn, those missed openings.
Strap in, it’s about to get silly.
Companies have put billions of dollars I would say -- I mean, I don't know that, so I'll say millions of dollars into the construction of golf balls and equipment, and to be perfectly honest, I think it would be extremely selfish of the USGA and the R&A to do that because of all the hard work that they've put in to make their equipment and golf balls as great as they possibly can and maybe just take a step back and realize that we're doing some pretty awesome things with the golf ball and the golf clubs, and also look at your everyday golfer and go up to him and tell him that you want him to hit it shorter because just the top .001 percent of all golfers are hitting it too far, if you will.
So much in one sentence but we’ll just go with “extremely selfish” for non-profit organizations to make people obey their totally voluntary rules.
I think it's not a very good decision, but you know, I'm not sitting in the boardrooms and making those decisions. But hopefully the right thing will be done.
Agreed. Roll it back!
Kind of all makes this Tweet from Wesley Bryan look dignified if it too wasn’t so 1998.
More sustainable...help mitigate....interesting word choices. Sounds like a bunch of conservative, traditional, average golfers, with average skill sets, hitting it average lengths off the tee all got in a room together trying to figure out a way to make golf less fun https://t.co/TD7bphcMoU
— Wesley Bryan (@wesleybryangolf) February 2, 2021
It was the final line in Xander Schauffele’s post-round 2021 Farmer’s Insurance Open press conference but it should also set off alarm bells in the Global Home.
Q. Did you have a chance to see what happened with Patrick Reed yesterday?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Not ‑‑ I didn't search for the videos, I just have heard talk amongst the boys out here.
Q. Have you ever ran into a situation like that on the golf course?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I would not put myself and create a situation like that. That's kind of ‑‑ I wouldn't. If my ball's embedded, I usually will wait and call someone and kind of wait until everyone's on the same page, wait to look at video. So I try to avoid situations like that just for that reason.
Q. Just to be clear, you wouldn't have picked the ball up?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No. I would wait for an official. You can put a tee in the ground and check your ball. I mean, he did everything by the book according to the official and everyone stood by there. Obviously the talk amongst the boys isn't great, I guess, but he's protected by the Tour and that's all that matters, I guess.
Oh boy.
Protected by the Tour is not a good perception to have players sense about a player, particularly one with a less than stellar body of work.
Well Xander, say hi to Ross Berlin for all of us. Loves the ponies and has great stories to tell along with taking excellent notes for the folks back at the Global Home.
Over two weeks ago Justin Thomas let out a homophobic slur that cost him a marketing partnership with Ralph Lauren at 7 pm on a Friday night and has him headed to a “training program”.
Having detected which way the winds were blowing or believing Citi needed to justify paying Thomas to wear their logo, they are now speaking out. Because, you know, there isn’t much of significance taking place in the world these days.
But if you miss agonizing visits to the dentist’s office, here is the full post by Carla Hassan who is looking out for the brand and fending off internal forces that appeared to ask a silly question like, “we pay him how much to wear a logo, do one outing a year and say stuff like that?”.
Hassan writes:
We considered terminating our relationship with him. It would send a clear and important message, but we decided to use this moment to work with Justin to try to create change. While we have engaged with many in the LGBTQ+ community who agree with our decision, there are some – including some of my Citi colleagues – who believe that anything less than termination undermines our firm’s commitment to the LGBTQ+ community. We strongly considered that perspective and have great respect for it, and balanced it against the opportunity this situation provides to drive a more sustainable effort to shift minds and behavior.
You noble pioneers!
We want to do more than make it clear that it is wrong to use this word.
Now there’s a newsflash from the city.
Instead, we hope our efforts can lead more people to make an affirmative choice not to use this word or others like it – and to speak up when others do – because they understand the impact it can have, including on a friend, colleague or teammate who may be struggling with the decision to disclose their sexual orientation.
But good news, they will work with Justin so the ending is a happy one resulting in paychecks still clearing, charitable write-offs, and the brand remaining that of a soulless financial services company that loves the free market until it needs a bailout. Whew! Close call.
To that end, Citi will work with Justin to use his platform to play an active role in accelerating support for the LGBTQ+ community and to increase awareness of the discrimination this community continues to face. In addition, he will donate a meaningful portion of his Citi 2021 sponsorship fee to mutually agreed upon LGBTQ+ organizations. We will work with Justin, our internal Pride networks and LGBTQ+ organizations to develop an action plan to quickly move this effort forward.
Meaningful portions! An action plan! It’s also so darned progressive.
The strong feelings this situation has evoked among many, including some of my colleagues, weighs very heavily on me. While not everyone will agree with the approach we are taking, I can give you my strongest assurances that this course of action is based on our allyship for the LGBTQ+ community and is backed by my personal commitment to lead the effort necessary to create something positive out of this. We hope that even those who would have preferred a different course of action will work with us to make this effort as impactful as possible, inside and outside of Citi.
So essentially they heard from some internally but a higher up decided they just had to keep that logo on Thomas’s shirt and Hassan was tasked with justifying the decision.
At least they didn’t news dump this at 7 pm on a Friday.
While I’m fairly certainly Harvey Penick never gave Ben or Tom an overcompensatory bro shake and partial chest bump, the Brooks Koepka-Claude Harmon III partnership did see the pupil win four majors.
But with Harmon’s other prized pupil winning the 2020 Masters and Koepka’s game slipping due to injury following his incredible 2017-2018 run, something apparently had to give. Eamon Lynch confirms the news and that these two are forever friends. They just not an official thing any longer.
Harmon began working with Koepka in 2013 when the Floridian was playing on the European Challenge Tour. According to Matthew Rudy of GolfDigest.com, Harmon is devastated.
"Brooks is an unbelievable player and great champion, and extremely talented," says Harmon, who helped Dustin Johnson to the 2020 Masters title and watched student Si Woo Kim win The American Express on Sunday. "As devastating as it is to have it happen, I'm so grateful for what he did for me and my family. Me, [caddie] Ricky Elliott, [physical therapist] Marc Wahl, the whole crew, it was like we were a band of brothers. That's hard to not be a part of. He has to do what's best for his career, and I know he'll be fine."
Let’s table the whole PGA West Stadium Course-has-turned-into-Indian-Wells discussion for another day and instead congratulate Si Woo Kim on his final round 64 to win the American Express Championship. Also, a special salute to the PGA Tour staffer who computed that it’s been 1,352 since Kim’s Players Championship win. Seems it was only 2,352 days ago.
Even with some pesky breezes Sunday, the Stadium is no longer the course-too-hard-to-host-the-Hope afterr widespread adoption of Keto diets and analytics.
This does not in any way diminish runner-up Patrick Cantlay’s stunning weekend as reported on here by Adam Schupak at Golfweek.
Thanks to the PGA Tour communications team for sending out these incredible feats by the former UCLA Bruin and world No. 10:
He bested the course-record by two with a bogey-free 11-under 61, replacing a 9-under 63 set by Charlie Reiter in 2019
Cantlay was 18-under in his final 36 holes, tying the best score in relation to par in the final two rounds of a 72-hole event on Tour (Rocco Mediate/2003 Sentry TOC); eclipsed his previous best mark of 14-under in the final two rounds (2018 Shriners Hospitals/2nd)
Cantlay made 20 birdies in the final two rounds, the most in a 72-hole non-major event on the PGA TOUR (19/Kevin Chappell/2013 The American Express)
He made 11 birdies in the final round
Cantlay made 151 feet, 10 inches of putts in the Final Round, his most feet of putts made in a round of his Tour career
Sat T56 and seven strokes back after 36 holes before carding weekend rounds of 65-61
Jeremy Schilling also highlighted this about Cantlay’s weekend bogey:
For those just getting caught up: Cantlay wound up 1 shot short of a playoff, 2 of a win. H/t to @brianros1 for remembering, while playing par-5 8th on Sat (his 17th) Cantlay went OB on 2nd shot into someone's back porch. Made bogey. Shows you how crazy good rest of wknd was. https://t.co/WZ92zdtUCd
— Jeremy Schilling (@jschil) January 25, 2021
Thanks to appearance fees and Bryson DeChambeau’s individuality, he kicked off the early season press conference world by reflecting on last year, his gut (health) and oh so much more.
The full transcript is here and good fun if you have the time.
In the latest Quadrilateral, I focus in on the major-championship related comments and in particular, revelations about what went wrong in Augusta.
Much has been made of Justin Thomas regrettably invoking a homophobic slur at the 2021 Sentry TOC. Even more was made—almost embarrassingly so given world events—of Thomas’s plight after Ralph Lauren suspended their relationship with the star golfer late Friday.
“RLX” is the golf clothing component among Ralph Lauren’s family of brands. They have created a faux lifestyle via shrewd marketing. The private company pay models and even golfers to conjure up a perception and ideal life. Their goal is to move merchandise to a large audience. They have every right to end a deal if someone they pay puts them in a bad light.
Fans will decide what they think of him and cynics will question the passion of RLX in dropping him at 7 pm ET on a Friday night, the dumpiest of news dump hours. Given RLX’s advertising in the major golf publications, you won’t hear much criticism of their timid timing or wishy-washy language.
For his part, Thomas apologized and has likely wiped the term from his repertoire. There are plenty of other companies—Citi, Titleist, Footjoy, Netjets, Woodford Reserve, etc…—willing to stand by the world No. 3. He’s also assuredly paid a handsome PGA Tour fine for his language and will find a new clothier for this week’s European Tour stop in Abu Dhabi and beyond. He will make his next mortgage payment.
A far more complicated case golf and negative attention surrounds Annika Sorenstam.
The all-time golf great and ambassador of the women’s game recently was elected president of the International Golf Federation and is also one of four deciding votes for entry into the World Golf Hall of Fame (alongside Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Nancy Lopez).
The IGF is an amalgamated organization fronting all of golf’s major families—the R&A, USGA, Augusta National Golf Club, PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA Tour—to represent golf on the world stage and grow the game.
Just hours after January 6th’s insurrection and riots at the Capitol resulting in five deaths, Sorenstam went ahead with an appearance at the White House to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from outgoing President Donald Trump. She is an admirer, golf partner and longtime supporter of Trump but was apparently unmoved to cancel on the 7th, unlike New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick a few days later. There has been widespread condemnation of Sorenstam and Player for accepting the medal.
Trump will award Presidential Medals of Freedom to golfers Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player today -- after Trump inspired a mob to ransack the capitol, leaving four dead. Principled Trump staffers resigning. Annika, Gary, what are you doing?
— Thomas L. Friedman (@tomfriedman) January 7, 2021
There are many more opinion pieces out there but I found this from Swedish writer Martin Hardenberger to be a powerful summation of Sorenstam’s decision making and responsibility to the game. The English translation:
And here, by distancing himself and the entire Gulf from Trump and what he stands for, they could also have struck a blow for democracy and everyone's equal rights.
But they did not.
Of course, Annika and Gary had nothing to do with Wednesday's invasion of Congress, but when the rest of the United States was in mourning, they had Thursday coffee with the man and instead linked up with Trump and one of the biggest shame spots in the country's history.
For a person who not only dominated competitive golf but also crowned a senseless career by playing against the men, reducing gender gaps and working for golf as a more inclusive sport, it is nothing short of remarkable.
When we did not even talk about Trump being accused of sexual harassment by no less than 26 different women.
After the medal ceremony, I was commissioned to call for reactions. Among other things, I got hold of Helen Alfredsson.
“When you have a voice, it is important to stand up for things that are more important than yourself, such as democracy. Many young people look up to sports stars. If a sports star stands for something positive, it is easier for that young person to be influenced in the right direction.”
With the events of January 6th aging ever more poorly as more evidence surfaces and major corporations flee from anyone supporting the insurrection, Sorenstam has been silent. Active on social media until recently, she has shared nothing about receiving the medal or explained her view of Trump’s role inciting the riot. As a longtime follower, I can see that Sorenstam appears has deleted numerous re-Tweets demonstrating her support of Trump leading up to and after the election.
Her husband, Mike McGee, deleted his Twitter account entirely after the January 7th visit to Washington. It would have taken days to scrub @JMikeMcGee of the various conspiracy nonsense and hydroxychloroquine peddling. Given the role Sorenstam plays as IGF President, it was the only move for McGee to make.
Sorenstam appears to be hoping the entire thing will go away even as she is leading golf’s top organizations? Even though the mission of the IGF is to improve the game’s image with the world and the job is of some importance given the planned Tokyo Olympics this summer.
Sorenstam is scheduled to play this week as a celebrity in the LPGA Tour’s 2021 Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in an event featuring celebrities, athletes and LPGA winners from 2018-2020. She is an ambassador of the event and will hopefully address her positions. This Mike Bianchi profile in the January 16th Orlando Sentinel quotes Sorenstam on a few topics and mentions the medal ceremon, but does not appear to address the topic with her.
I reached out to the IGF about Sorenstam receiving the medal on January 7th. This statement from a spokesperson was already posted on the blog in coverage of the Player/Sorenstam medal ceremony (an that remains hidden from public reporting with no official photographs or releases documenting what happened at the White House).
Here is the initial IGF statement:
The International Golf Federation is extremely proud that Annika Sorenstam has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom along with Gary Player and the late Babe Zaharias, each of whom not only excelled at golf but transcended our sport as role models, mentors and philanthropists.
As noted when she was named as the IGF’s new President in December, Annika is universally respected as a generational talent in women’s golf who, since retiring from competition, has dedicated herself to promoting women’s golf at all levels through her foundation. We are extremely proud of Annika and all that she has accomplished.
Following the groundswell of outrage over the rights and subsequent impeachment of President Trump, I asked the IGF for comment. I received this statement on January 15th:
As an International Federation, the IGF recognises the importance of the autonomy of sport from politics and that the IGF must always remain politically neutral. That said, the IGF does not condone any forms of violence or illegal acts, including those committed by individuals that were viewed by the world during the breaching of the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021.
The spokesperson was also asked about the Twitter account scrubbing. It was made clear the IGF “absolutely did not urge Annika to delete any Twitter posts.”
I also reached out to the World Golf Hall of Fame spokesperson on January 7th and Callaway, longtime sponsor of Sorenstam, and have not heard back.
In scrubbing Tweets and hunkering out of the limelight, Sorenstam may have recognized the error of her ways in accepting the medal only hours after the attempted insurrection. As an American citizen now, Sorenstam is more than entitled to her views under the First Amendment. But if she is to continue on voting for Hall of Fame members and representing golf to the world as IGF President, Sorenstam needs to clarify where she stands on the events of January 6th. Otherwise, it is hard to imagine how she can adequately represent golf and its leading organizations on an international stage.
According to multiple sources WGC Mexico is relocating to FL (likely Naples) for 2021, and then likely internationally in ‘22 and ‘23 as part of Euro Tour strategic alliance. 3 year deal w/ new sponsor.
— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) January 8, 2021
Announcement likely this wknd. T’s and P’s up for Grupo Salinas & Geronimo.
Tron Carter at NLU had the details first and while the WGC Mexico City is headed to Bradenton’s The Concession due to COVID-19 related “logistical challenges”, the PGA Tour’s press release would suggest the relationship with Grupo Salinas is both continuing and, probably over.
For Immediate Reading Between The Lines:
Due to logistical challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship will not be played in Mexico this year, the PGA TOUR announced in a memo released to players. This year’s event will be conducted Feb. 25-28 at The Concession Golf Club in the Bradenton-Sarasota area in Southwest Florida. There will be no change to the tournament’s eligibility requirements.
The tournament will now kick off a four-week Florida Swing that also features the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, THE PLAYERS Championship and The Honda Classic.
“The PGA TOUR is grateful for its continued partnership with Grupo Salinas as we navigate the unique challenges created by the pandemic,” said Ty Votaw, PGA TOUR Executive Vice President, International. “While we work toward returning to Mexico in 2022, we are appreciative of the collective effort to bring this event to a worthy venue in The Concession Golf Club, which is renowned as one of the top courses in the state of Florida.”
Returning to Mexico in 2022, so, why all the past tense usage…
For the past four years, the PGA TOUR and Grupo Salinas have fulfilled their commitment to grow golf in Mexico and Latin America, introducing the sport to thousands of new fans. In only four years, The First Tee Mexico, a non-profit organization for children and youth development, now has nine chapters throughout the country and will continue to provide educational programs and support based on key societal values such as honesty, integrity and teamwork.
With two sold-out editions, the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship has shown to be a world-class event featuring the best players from across the globe.
This is the part where they are supposed to mention looking forward to welcoming back the world’s best in 2022.
By bringing and hosting the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, Grupo Salinas has reaffirmed its solid commitment to promote Mexico’s compelling attributes and image before the world, reaching nearly one billion households within over 200 countries and territories. Given the one-year relocation from Mexico City, the TOUR is working to secure a title sponsor for the 2021 event.
They fulfilled their mission and they won’t sponsor in 2021. We’ll see if 2022 happens there, or as Carter noted in his original Tweet, this WGC travels to another part of the world as part of the European Tour strategic alliance.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
