Monday Qualifying Matters, Files: Michael Visacki Edition

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This week’s Valspar Championship adds Michael Visacki to the field on the back of his first-ever Monday qualifying. Remember those? They still have them some weeks and dreams do still come true?

Great stuff from the journeyman and his playing partners:

Couples: "The only tweets I’ve ever heard make you money are birdie tweet tweets!"

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The PIP mocking can’t be going over well down in Ponte Vedra Beach where they kept this secret until Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch exposed this bizarre bonus pool

And especially when it comes from a former Presidents Cup captain and World Golf Hall of Fame member.

For those wondering where things stand on social media, even GOLFTV got into the PIP tracking.

The Golf.com Monday morning roundtable also chimed in with plenty of fodder. Just some of the points delivered:

Sens: What do I make of them? They are the inevitable result of a media culture that has turned everything in life into a high school cool-kid contest. It’s depressing, but I get it. I’m not a boomer, after all. Almost, but not quite. And I suppose it could be interesting to see what crazy lengths some players go to get a higher “impact score.”

Bamberger: That’s perfect, Josh. But that doesn’t mean we have to sit here and take it. I think it demeans the PGA Tour.

Dethier: Players were already being rewarded for their popularity and “impact” through ad deals, sponsorships, appearance fees and more. I’ve always seen the PGA Tour’s job as putting on tournaments and paying the winners. It seems off to me, then, for the Tour to pay its most popular players — but I guess the simplest way to think about it is that they’re advertising for themselves and they’re investing where they’ll get the highest return. It can make sense but I don’t have to particularly like it.

Bamberger: I agree with that, too. But do we really need ‘particularly’ in that last sentence? I don’t have to like it and I don’t.

2021 Zurich Classic Offers A Grim Window Into A Baba Booey Future

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With decent-sized galleries and apparently no mask mandate enforcement, the Zurich Classic’s compelling final round duel was occasionally interrupted by various drunken dopes and other dough brains screaming something to get attention.

Sigh.

One of the few upsides to the otherwise grim pandemic now appears destined to return or worse, become more prevalent due to pent-up obnoxiousness.

Otherwise, it was a nice performance for several teams, notably the playoff-winning duo of Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith who edged Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel.

After Smith drove into the water at the short par-4 16th, Leishman chipped in for a key birdie (below). And in other important news, Smith’s mullet may not be going even after he committed to its demise upon winning again (also below).

Wolff's Struggles Continue

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Pro golf’s desperation to lower its viewing demo means some young talents are going to be pushed to grow up fast and come under excessive scrutiny before they might be ready.

No case should be seen as more acute or troubling as Matthew Wolff’s 2021 struggles so soon after near-wins in 2020 majors.

The people who’ve steered him to live in new places and sign up for the stock Tour life should be questioning their judgement. Particularly given that Wolff is a good-natured chap increasingly showing outward signs of general misery.

This time it was the Zurich Classic alongside partner Collin Morikawa. GolfDigest.com’s Brian Wacker documents the latest rough week in a season that’s seen the former NCAA champion battle injury, post two WD’s, a missed cut and a Masters DQ for signing an incorrect card.

There’s also the element adjusting to a lonely life in the lonely world of professional golf. In college, there are myriad support systems for a player. On tour, it’s ultimately every man for himself, no matter the friendships. Some struggle with that transition more than others.

“It’s a different world to travel on your own,” Morikawa said. “Yeah, you have an agent, but you’re out there by yourself in a hotel room. You can’t prep for that. There’s a certain age where some people are more mature than others. I wouldn’t blame it on young age—he’s won and proven he can do it—but he just has to find that little thing in his swing and get over that hurdle.”

Spin Is In On Meltwater: $40 Million Is A Bargain! Independent Contractors Are So Yesterday! Tiger Needed Our Thanks!

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The socially distanced chatter around the Global Home’s pizza maker must have been lively today.

Yet despite pretty tepid reactions to having $40 million extra to give to stars based on some kooky algorithm (plus the cost to employ all of the metric services), some fascinating reactions were peddled 24 hours later. And knowing the Tour’s expectations of its media partners or wannabe partners, it sure seemed like folks felt extra compelled to spin and amplify odd details in Eamon Lynch’s reveal of a secret bonus pool for the game’s most engaging players.

(Players who, oddly, generally leave their social media to someone else.)

The most aggressive rebuttal to Lynch’s story was penned by…Eamon Lynch! Some could say it’s odd to write such a strong defense of a secret slush pool less than 24 hours after revealing the scheme with an undercurrent of skepticism. Not all, but some.

Anyway, maybe he revealed the secret fund’s existence because the golf fan will want to root their favorite star home to a secret bonus as determined by a special algorithm of several other algorithms. Lynch defends this as just a fancy way to find out who the cool kids are everyone wants to hang with. His words not mine:

For all its charitable endeavors, the PGA Tour is a business and businesses everywhere incentivize those individuals deemed to deliver value. That value isn’t always easy to define and often harder to quantify. Much of the head-scratching about the Impact Fund centers on the metrics used to determine a player’s impact, a waggish assortment of measurements that achieve what any child in a schoolyard can do with the point of a finger: identify the cool kids people want to hang with.

Given the scale of the Tour’s new TV rights deal, $40 million is a small sum. There is ample left to boost purses in the minor leagues, underwrite the European Tour and otherwise gild the lily.

Wow, that’s a lot of money to tell us the list most of us could guess! And oddly, the Tour had to lay off 50 low-paid employees of a particular vintage just over seven months ago while rolling this out. That was a really small sum if $40 million is couch change to these folks.

Anyway, this from Lynch is fun:

Whatever criticisms are aimed at the Player Impact Program, it incentivizes players to engage more with fans, media and sponsors. That might be an awkward exercise for those ill-equipped for socialization, but it’s a worthy goal.

The 2019 players who would have received bonuses according to Lynch’s original reporting: Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas.

Let’s just say as a nice way of not suggesting someone else runs their accounts, a lot of people have their passwords. Several of them have publicly made clear they have no use for the same engagement stuff the pool supposedly rewards. We’ve even had high profile resignations from social media in this group when the engagement grew to be too much.

Those are your clubhouse leaders!

At least we have Billy Horschel to tell us all of the above is just nonsense and this was a way to pay Tiger some more money. From Rex Hoggard at GolfChannel.com:

“If we look at over a few years the guys who really drive the Tour, the guys who bring in the money to the PGA Tour, in my opinion, I think we should thank them,” Horschel said. “I look at as we’re thanking them, we’re thanking one guy [Woods] and now multiple guys because of what they’re going to do in the future. We have an amazing TV contract now that is going to be beneficial for all Tour players. If Tour players actually look at this, they’re going to be rewarded in a lot of different ways.”

We’re thanking and placing future bets? And giving TV deal bonus money? Is he saying they’re a non-profit organization is so flush with cash that they have to lose the money somewhere? Huh!

The whole layoff thing kind of messes up the financial fairy tale.

Kyle Porter at CBSSports.com offered seven thoughts defending this as a common sense investment.

The Tour has been (probably unintentionally) taking advantage of the fact that its "franchises" are just individuals who maybe did not think of themselves as revenue-generating entities. However, the power in golf rests not with the PGA Tour but with the Jordan Spieths and Justin Thomases of the world just as it rests with the Lakers, Knicks and Heat in the NBA. The PGL shined a light on that, and now there's a $40 million purse to prove it.

The PGL concept had people praising the Tour’s independent contractor ideal. Yet this no-longer-secret pool will pay people for being famous, with a few conflicts on the side. But that’s the Tour and players business to deal with. The fan should be more saddened by what both the program and the spin job means: the Tour’s vision for growing their product involves marketing morons manufacturing a mirage of meaningless media under the guise of player accounts.

That’s not a worthy goal.

Meanwhile, a man who insists he’s never going to be pool eligible—dream big Billy Horschel!—the hissy-fit thrower himself posted this today:

The “engagement” after the Tweet is superb.

I wonder if the Meltwater Method knows the Jonah Hill throat slash GIF is a negative reply?

Moving along, it seems the big secret reveal did not stop MVPIndex from some Twitter humblebragging: “Our partners, @PGATOUR, are revolutionizing their sport and player compensation based on fan and sponsor engagement. We're excited to announce that MVP's performance ratings will be the social measurement tool for this new Player Impact Program!”

New AND one they didn’t tell the public about.

The company also Tweeted this, captured since the Tour or Golf Channel should issue a take-down notice for lifting copyright video. Heck, it should be deleted merely for “quantifies intangible metrics.”

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Lesser known players who are actually the Tour’s authentic social media stars did their thing in reaction to the news, as Coleman Bentley notes here with Twitter evidence.

Gents, good luck getting your intangible humor noticed by the quantifiers.

Finally, Mark Calcaveccia was the rare player willing to go on the record with his views:

"The pep talk Stewart Cink gives himself over short putts is a mantra to live by"

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Michael Bamberger explores Stewart Cink’s approach to short putting after years of fits with the short stick.

While the unusual pump-fake got attention at the RBC Heritage rounds—particularly since they seemed to pick up as the round progressed—Cink’s calming efforts were of interest as well.

From Bamberger’s piece:

“You probably have heard me or see me mouth the words, ‘Mountaintop of trust.’ Or, ‘Mountaintop of peace.’ You know, little phrases like that. I’m really just saying it so I can hear myself and remind myself.

“It’s a path to success. Obviously, I want to make the putts. I don’t want to miss putts. But I believe that the way to keep myself the calmest and the way to keep my stroke doing what it’s supposed to do is through the process and staying calm and focusing on something I can control, as opposed to something you can’t control. If you depend on something you can’t control, you’re just going to end up frustrated, and I don’t want to be frustrated.”

Meltwater: Biggest Losers After PGA Tour’s Secret Bonus Pool Is Revealed

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Politics had Watergate and Whitewater. Now golf has Meltwater. You know, for that marketing metric you’d never heard of until now and still can’t believe a brand tracker put melt in the title.

It’s hard to know how to start unpacking the bombshell dropped by Golfweek and Golf Channel contributor Eamon Lynch. He revealed a Player Impact Program funneling $40 million in bonus money to stars based on a bunch of doubtable, crackable and corruptable marketing metrics. Lynch’s reporting may end up permanently branding the Monahan era as nothing more than a marketing operation offended it has to be associated with golf.

Now, I realize the post title said “Losers”. But longtime readers know of my faith and devotion to the power of positive thinking. So some the Winners first.

Winners

—FedExCup/WhateverTheyCallTheWyndhamRewards Now. You both look so cool now as almost-legitimate points races requiring players to play golf and perform for cash. It’s all so sportsy and above-board compared to the “PIP”. Still, not interesting at all, but definitely merit-based.

—The Premier Golf League. You sought to make the rich richer AND make pro golf more interesting to watch. Nice contrast to relying on Meltwater Mentions and a company founded by el padre de Jordan Spieth. Plus, nothing you did failed as miserably as the Super League.

—Bots. Think of the prices they can charge players in pursuit of PIP Top 10 money? “So if you finish 8th it’s a $3 million bonus? Okay, at that price we can do 800k searches that’ll set off alarm bells at The Google. Spell your last name again? Is it R-E-E-D like the things in the swamp, or R-E-A-D like a book?”

—PGA Tour Coffers. A new $65 million Global Home. Kicking in millions in purse money each week during the pandemic as revenues decline? Then spending more than all of that combined on the new TPC Sawgrass entrance drive? I guess what’s another $40 million for ten special franchise-worthy guys who never cause any headaches? Take that rainy day fund, fellow non-profits!

—The One VP Muttering To Himself. “I told them the social media mavericks would mock the Meltwater Method!”

Losers

—Fans. This is what the PGA Tour brass came up with as a response to the PGL’s existential threat? This is what they’ve been spending time on to make players likable and get them to play more? Oh, and betting.

—Jay Monahan. This is what you came up with as a response to the PGL’s existential threat?

—FedExCup. You were included in the initial draft obtained by Golfweek, but a correction later in the day revealed you were dropped as the PIP success barometer came into focus. So all that money you pay and still not good enough for the Player Impact Program?

—Sponsors. The PGA Tour creates a bonus pool to reward stars but the reporting suggests sponsor-relations took a back seat to metrics. Players get points for Meltwater Mentions but not for showing up at the Pro-Am party and remembering the CEO’s name?

—Media Partners. A bonus pool without a single mention of outreach to big rights-paying TV partners or something rewarding a star for playing more often? This is how they use your rights money? To pay for Phil’s Jupiter home theater system and backyard coffee bar?

—Rory McIlroy. So that new Policy Board seat, does that earn you PIP Rewards? Because we know you’ll surely abstain from any votes on its future status or the bonuses of folks who devised a way to pay you for that shiny Q rating.

—Jordan Spieth. I’m sure Tour peers have no opinions about your vote on this matter and the invocation of your sire’s “MVPIndex”.

—Almost stars. Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay barely know about the program, suggesting the pool was directed at a very select group. Sounds like the PIP futures are bleak for these ones. That’s okay, we writers like you both for being good quotes and different dudes.

—Agents. I don’t know how the ten-percenters structure their deals these days, but I can’t imagine many had a clause for something as bizarre as the Player Impact Program. But if the client would like the office interns to spend all day Google searching “Billy Horschel Players Championship Food Drive”, the client will need to pay the appropriate commission.

—The 50 PGA Tour Employees Laid Off During The Pandemic. If you accounted for $5 million in salary I’d be surprised. That’s like third place money in this pool no one was supposed to know about. Those lame pandemic layoffs get even lamer.

—The PGL. They see you as a threat and can’t even rip-off one of your many smart ideas.

—Athleticism. Not one metric rewards players for bicep size, how fast they run the 40, their bench press max, or even ESPN Body Issue appearances. Sad.

COVID-19 Vaccine: PGA Tour Assures Players They Won't Get Microchipped

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This Frenchie has Been microchipped but for different reasons

This Frenchie has Been microchipped but for different reasons

Hey it’s still April. Just not the 1st.

But it seems the PGA Tour’s finest are more vaccine resistant than we could have imagined. Bob Harig reports for ESPN.com story on the PGA Tour wrapping up its incredibly successful on-site COVID-19 testing this June. Parts of a memo to players reveal that those choosing not to be vaccinated will be responsible for the cost and burden of getting tested if they want to chase points.

• "The COVID 19 vaccine has been administered to over 700 million people worldwide. There have been very few significant side effects reported. Once a vaccine is authorized for use, monitoring continues with systems in place to track problems or side effects that were not detected in clinical trials.''


Apparently enough have shared crackpot theories to the Global Home that the brass addressed them. In writing.

• "There are common misconceptions and concerns about infertility, altering DNA, microchipping, becoming infected with COVID as a result of the COVID 19 vaccine. These misconceptions and concerns are false.''


The microchip conspiracy theory. Common? Only in some circles. At one time 28% of Americans thought the vaccine would come (free of charge!) with the Bill Gates microchip. The origins of the theory—brace for shocking plot twist—appear to be Russian.

Besides highlighting the conspiratorial tendencies of the PGA Tour membership, let’s not underestimate the role of staggering ignorance. Harig quotes an anonymous player who probably isn’t reading much:

"I've had 60-plus tests, all negative,'' said one veteran PGA Tour player who wished not to be identified. "My caddie and I have been through every airport, public transportation, you name it, without getting COVID. But the tour is going to make it a pain for us if we don't take it. They are not forcing you, but it will be a pain if you don't.''

Also, it would be a pain to finally get the virus after all that time and give it to someone you love. Or anyone.

The player said he would be more receptive to getting a shot if it is the Johnson & Johnson version, which has been put on hold by the Centers for Disease Control. The vaccine requires just one shot, and some players are leery of potential side effects associated with two doses and how that might impact their playing schedule.

Now that’s devotion to one’s self on a spectacular level. But FedExCup points will do funny things to people.

Si Woo's Penalty And Signs That Slow Play Might Be Wearing Thin With Officials

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Now that a twosome of American pro golf takes north of four hours to get around any course—even short and well-synced Harbour Town—there are signs the PGA Tour might be recognizing the absurdity of it all.

Since the Florida swing when the Tour has played twosomes on weekends (unless forced by weather to go out in three), their network partners at NBC and CBS have routinely missed their scheduled sign-off on time. This means the rules staff projects a pace hoping to have the round finish just before the network sign-off time. Yet fields are still missing the time par.

Besides being tedious to watch, the extra 45-60 minutes costs “partners” money. And every sport is trying to prevent bloat in fear of the coveted demo going back to their Playstations (if they ever left them to watch golf).

I realize we’ve known this is a problem for a decade or more going back to the Finchem era when the idea of handing out penalties was physically repulsive to Commish Moonbeam. But there were signs last weekend that the act has grown old. CBS noted when Stewart Cink or the group in front of him was put on the clock and without any defense of the slowpokes. The announcers repeatedly questioned the amount of information discussed with caddie/son Reagan. Hint, hint: there was not a lot of admiration for the extent of chit-chat. (Though I’d argue the banter and “process” has helped Cink re-focus to pull off an incredible resurgence.)

Since pace rules have not been enforced with penalties the Cink’s and other slower players have no incentive to change. Throw in green books, all par-5’s within reach in two, a drivable par-4 wait, and it’s hard to break four hours.

The weekend also produced Si Woo Kim’s one-stroke penalty for exceeding the ten-second rule. Noteworthy here is not the enforcement of the rule, but the Tour posting so much controversy on their Twitter feed and the wild sight of Matt Kuchar coming to Kim’s defense. This, as official Stephen Cox calmly explains the rule without highlighting that no ball, dangling on the edge, can move for a minute and not fall in the cup!

Predictably, Tour players whined about this travesty, as Nick Piatkowski documented. (You’ll be shocked to learn Grade A whiner Charley Hoffman once again blames the USGA.)

The sad reality? The entitlement factor is strong in these ones.

Without any enforcement of rules, players have come to believe they should be able to do as they see fit as long as it’s cool with their bros on Tour. You look the other way when I take 3 minutes to hit a shot and I’ll be real slow to mark my ball behind the cup. You know, to speed up play.

No entertainment vehicle today can afford to take its sweet time or to not enforce its rules. With betting getting a hard push from the Tour, slow play penalties or backscratching behavior will only scare off wagerers. So even if the stars believe in talking out every element of a shot on Thursday, or believe it’s their right to watch a ball hanging on the edge for a minute, the business of golf cannot support the pace.

But I leave you with good news!

Over in Hawaii the leaders whizzed around the LPGA Tour’s Lotte Championship final round in just over 3:30, as Twitter noticed in celebrating Lydia Ko’s first win in three years. And check out the speed of that Golf Channel cameraman running to get to the notoriously speedy Nelly Korda in time. We need more of this…

Cink Continues Amazing Late Career Run After Caddie Change, Distance Gain

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It wasn’t exciting and the pace was so slow the leaders couldn’t finish before CBS’s scheduled sign-off times. And Stewart Cink won’t care.

From Dylan Dethier’s story at Golf.com on the Cink’s backstory and the amazing game turnaround since sacking looper Kip Henley:

In Reagan’s first start of the year, Stewart shocked the golf world. The 47-year-old shot 65-65 on the weekend in Napa to edge out his Safeway Open competition; for the first time in 11 years, he was in the winner’s circle.

“I can’t really overstate how important Reagan’s been as a caddie, too,” Cink said after the win. “He understands golf to the very, very highest level. It was really a great experience.”

Father and son got to enjoy the walk up 18:

And it wasn’t like Cink lucked into this one, as Doug Ferguson noted in sharing the scoring records Cink broke:

Cink put on show for the ages — shattering the lowest 36-hole score at Harbour Town of 13-under 129 shared by Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson. Cink also broke the 54-hole scoring mark of 16-under 197 that Justin Leonard had in his 2002 win.

Cink averaged 306 off the tee, the same as his 2021 season average and continues his amazing distance carry surge detailed by Cameron Morfit in January after committing to a massive weightlifting and cardio prog…wait, oh, it was thanks to Trackman. Sorry.

Anyway, the win came in Cink’s 600th career start, a feat commemorated earlier in the week:

Ball Goes Too Far, Files: The Story Behind Harbour Town's Bryson Range Extension

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GolfDigest.com’s Shane Ryan documents the silly saga at Harbour Town where they had to combat long drives by erecting a temporary fence contraption to protect fans, workers and anyone near the 8th green.

It would have been $100,000 if they could even do an unsightly permanent extension and a temporary solution as Riviera must undertake annually for the Genesis.

Ryan talked to superintendent Jonathan Wright about the headache and costs of concocting a solution for the 400-yard club, only to have Bryson DeChambeau WD from the RBC Heritage.

"It was the most stressful part of our week," Wright said. "It was a bit of a process, man."

He and Morgan Hyde, the vice president of operations at the tournament, estimate that the total cost of the net and the lifts and the various smaller equipment needs ran to about $20,000, and that's not counting the roughly 30 hours of man hours it took to get it fully operational.

If you're a fan of futility or the universe laughing at your plans, you'll love this next detail: According to reports from the ground, players are still hitting balls over the net.

Which is why, when Wright heard that DeChambeau had withdrawn from the tournament, he didn't know quite how to take the news. Should he be disappointed or relieved?

"I would have liked the guy to be here because he's one of the top players in the world, so it hurt my feelings a little bit," Wright said. "But at least we knew we were a little bit more secure with spectators, you know?"

Let’s hope the CBS drones don’t get caught up in this fakakta mess:

PGA Tour: No More Bubble Testing For Those Fully Vaccinated

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GolfDigest.com’s Daniel Rapaport has bad news for the anti-vax set: the PGA Tour will let players and others in the “bubble” to get out of COVID testing 14 days after getting their second COVID-19 vaccine.

From an email obtained by Golf Digest and sent from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan to players:

“As the COVID-19 vaccine is becoming more readily available, more individuals are being vaccinated,” the email reads. “PGA Tour Health and Safety protocol requires individuals to continue testing onsite until 14 full days have passed since their second dose (Moderna & Pfizer) or 14 full days since their single dose (Johnson & Johnson). Once 14 days have passed, individuals are no longer required to take a COVID-19 test when considered ‘inside the bubble’ at PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions or Korn Ferry Tour events.”

Monahan had previously said the vaccine was a choice. But the policy certainly provides a nice perk to those players and their “team members” who do get it.

There is no data on how many players have received a dose or two, or how many might be refusing to be vaccinated.

Spieth Returns To The Winner's Circle On Masters Eve

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You might not have known the Masters was just 96 hours away watching the final round of the Valero Texas Open. Only a few dared to mention Charley Hoffman was not in the field next week and the storyline of him trying to earn a trip back to Augusta was largely avoided. No one wanted the red phone ringing with the dreaded 904 area code. What a world!

Hoffman put up a valiant effort but came up short, sending Jordan Spieth to The Masters with his first win in 1351 days (The 2017 Open Championship).

Notes from the Tour Communications team on site:

  • Five players in the last 40 years have reached 12 wins before turning 28: Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Spieth

  • Spieth becomes the 92nd player in PGA TOUR history to reach 12 wins and moves into a tie for 82nd on the all-time wins list

  • Spieth improves to 10-for-19 in his PGA TOUR career with the 54-hole lead/co-lead

  • Charley Hoffman finishes solo-second for the second consecutive time at the Valero Texas Open; finished runner-up to Corey Conners in 2019

  • Since 2006, Hoffman leads all players at the Valero Texas Open in top-fives (5), top-10s (7), top-25s (12), cuts made (15) and score to par (-105)

Spieth called it a monumental win for himself, as noted in this Valero wrap-up by Brentley Romine:

Quote of the day: "Man, it’s been a long road. There were a lot of times I wasn’t sure if I’d be here talking to you [Golf Channel's Todd Lewis] about this right now. I never really doubted in myself to be able to get back to where I wanted to go, but when you lose confidence a lot of times it’s hard to see the positive going forward. ... This is a monumental win for me. It’s one that I’ve certainly thought about for a long time." – Spieth

About that golf tournament and Spieth’s move up the odds board, I am not afraid to call it by its name in Monday’s Quadrilateral news and notes roundup.

Fourth round highlights:

"How to cure the bane of slow play in golf"

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Daniel Zeqiri pens a lovely slow play analysis for The Telegraph based on the continued heat after Sunday’s slow match play finale and the ongoing realization that, as a player-run organization, the PGA Tour is unlikely to do anything. Even when they cost their network partners money running consistently long, as they have the last several weeks with twosomes taking well over four hours to play.

Plus, Zeqiri is talks banning green reading books and rolling back the ball so he gets it.

He writes:

As ever, there are those who would like to see Tour officials reach for punitive measures more readily. ShotLink data also means they can be forensic and indiscriminate in their application of the rules, just as technology has enabled in other sports. No more complaining about a capricious rules official: if the clock says you were too slow, then there's no debate to be had. 

In 2019, there was a change in the rules to prevent caddies from lining their player up on the greens. The reasoning was that alignment - a player's ability to align his body and feet with the target - was a fundamental golfing skill. Quite right too, although even this straightforward change brought teething problems with Haotong Li issued a harsh two-stroke penalty in Dubai when his caddie appeared to walk away before he took his stance. 

There is an argument that reading greens is also an integral part of the game and a skill in itself. While players will occasionally 'call in' their caddie to help them read the break of a putt, they will pride themselves on their ability to read greens. It is part of what separates great putters from the merely good. Any player who backed themselves to be an above average green-reader would welcome the guides being outlawed. 

The counter-argument is that these books are for players to consult on their walk to the green after their approach shot. As Phil Mickelson tweeted in 2019: "The greens book allows me to do 80% of my read before I even get to the green. For anyone to say they slow up play is flat out idiotic."

Actually, they slow up play.

Anyway there is more to read in the piece and I’m sure Zeqiri has been added to the Fairhaven war room bulletin board.

Oh and this was fun from Monty:

2021 Dell Match Play Ratings Fail To Drop As Much As They Should Have

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Slow, uneven golf featuring only-a-mother-could-love finalists who often clashed with aggressively placed corporate tents, somehow failed to deter an average of 2.6 million people from tuning into the 2021 WGC Dell Match Play, reports ShowBuzzDaily in its weekly sports ratings wrap.

Taking over four gruesome hours and apparently as much time as they wanted to get around 17 holes, the Billy Horschel v. Scottie Scheffler final drew a 1.6 final round rating on NBC, down from a 2.18 in 2019 (the 2020 event was cancelled). The match took place against the NCAA basketball tournament games involving Gonzaga and Michigan.

The 2019 comparison ratings where Saturday’s coverage ranked highest thanks to Tiger Woods:

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