It Seems Like The Post Round Interview Is Doomed

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A couple weekends ago I watched the end of two events: an Indy race on NBC and a competitive sailing competition on CBS.

At the Indy race, about ten drivers were interviewed to help fill time when the race ended early. This included a driver who crashed.

On the sailing, which was on tape, the American team’s jib broke, or someone’s Sperry’s slipped, I don’t know. But they were knocked out of the race and within seconds they went to the captain wearing a microphone to hear what went wrong. He answered while they were still reeling from what went wrong.

Both sports were also full of sound allowing us to eavesdrop on the proceedings. During the interviews, logos were visible, the drivers let you get to know them better and all that screen time pleased the people who write the checks.

Pro golf is going the opposite direction.

In-round interviews have died (again). Sound of conversations seems like it’s less prevalent. And now post-round interviews of anyone but the winner seem in danger.

Following Naomi Osaka’s French Open WD over post-round media stress , some golfers have opened up about how much pressure they feel from announcer criticisms or post round interviews. While these sessions generally don’t yield much, it’s still a shame that some feel questions starting with the world “how” or “talk about” can be seen as so stressful.

Of course writers and television will miss them and the shirt logo and watch deals might start to disappear, but mental health does take priority. And maybe if there is no danger of losing access, announcers can call the action more accurately.

Maybe these are isolated cases, but here’s a review of some recent comments on the topic, starting with Bubba Watson at the U.S. Open.

“The sad part for me is we celebrate every sport in the world. We celebrate accomplishments. We celebrate a guy scoring 50 points in the NBA. They are not saying quit shooting three-pointers. But we don't celebrate when a guy makes eight birdies or a guy bombs it 400 yards. I don't understand how we're not celebrating. We're trying to make golf courses bigger, harder, dumber, however you want to word it, but we're not celebrating our great players. I'm definitely not in that group of great players. I'm saying I want to see these guys hammering the ball. I want the next up-and-comer. I want a 6'8" guy not playing in the NBA, I want to see him on the PGA Tour bombing the ball. We're the only sport not celebrating accomplishments of being a guy working out in the gym that can hit the ball miles. We're mad at that guy. I don't know why, but we are. I'm not, but some people are -- golf course designers. The NBA, Tom Brady winning, throwing touchdowns, we celebrate that. ESPN talks about it nonstop. They don't ever talk about us chopping out of the -- hey, he laid up again. That's great. Anyway, that's my rant for the day.”

Given the influence his advice has had on Matthew Wolff, here is what Wolff had to say while dealing with undisclosed issues.

“I was talking to Bubba Watson earlier on the range this week and he told me he stopped watching golf, he only watches LPGA because they're so positive. He goes, LPGA is like the commentators, like everyone is just so positive, like every shot they hit is the best shot ever. And I think that -- and I'm not, I'm not like hating on the LPGA, I think it's awesome, because like these shots are hard out here and it's like, you know, sometimes they're describing a shot and they make it sound easy and it's not. And it's just, I'm only trying to have positive thoughts in my head and be positive. And I mean, kudos to pretty much every professional athlete out there, it's, I haven't been in this world for a long time, but it's fucking hard.”

And this in advance of the KPMG LPGA from Jessica Korda:

“You have fans coming to follow you, and if you're not playing your best, you obviously feel like you're disappointing everyone, and you get asked about it right after. It's never easy not playing well and then kind of answering the questions why because you're trying to figure it out yourself.”

This could just be a short term post-pandemic thing that will change when crowds come back and some normalcy returns. But this also could build momentum in the other direction and lead to more players saying no. I’m not sure that’s great for “growing the game,” but we’ll find out soon enough.

Rory On Arm-Lock Putting ("I would like to see addressed") And Green Reading Books ("It's made everyone lazier")

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Strong stuff from Rory McIlroy at the 2021 U.S. Open. As noted in today’s Quadrilateral, these comments and the apparent bifurcation of the rules attempt by PGA Tour players will have huge ramifications if true.

Two key exchanges:

Q. When you were answering the question about the greens book, you said that you thought maybe it would be better for golf if there wasn't a greens book. I think that's pretty much what you said. Can you talk about what other things you'd like to see changed that you think would better golf that currently are being implemented in the game right now? Like if it's anchoring putting, whatever it might be.

RORY MCILROY: I thought we got rid of anchoring putting three years ago.

Q. I don't know, did we?

RORY MCILROY: No, probably not (laughter). Yeah, that is certainly something that I would like to see addressed, as well, and I think there's a common consensus with the players on that one too. Look, the game of golf is in a great place. I think we always have these conversations of what we can do to make the game better or grow the game or expand the game.I think it's in a pretty good place. Yeah, there's a couple of little things that us golf nerds want changed, whether it be green reading books or arm-lock putting or whatever it is, but from a whole and looking at the game from an entirety of it, I think it's in a really good place.

Forget Brooks-Bryson, let’s get Rory paired with an arms-locker!

But let those words sink in. The Vice Commissioner and key vote has just kick-started what should be debated about the current anchoring rules. He’s also took down green books:

Q. Can you expand on just why the green books are such an advantage?

RORY MCILROY: It's not that it's an advantage really, it's just taking away a skill that takes time and practice to be mastered. I think reading greens is a real skill that some people are better at than others, and it just nullifies that. It nullifies that advantage that people have.Yeah, honestly, I think it's made everyone lazier. People don't put in the time to prepare the way they used to, and that's why you see so many more players at Augusta, for example, take their time around the greens, hit so many more putts, it's because they have to. It's because there is no greens book at Augusta. Look, it might take practice rounds, it might make practice rounds a little longer, and you might have to do a little bit more work, but I think, once we get to the tournament rounds, it will speed up play, and I think it will help the guys who really have done their homework, it will help them stand out a little bit more.

Report: PGA Tour's PAC Votes To Outlaw Green Reading Books By Season's End

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The players are bifurcating back to restore skill!?

No really. In a move no one saw coming and will have huge ramifications on multiple levels, the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council reportedly voted to get rid of green reading books by season’s end.

Eamon Lynch with the Golfweek exclusive that will be especially interesting given today’s USGA press conference.

The Tour’s Player Advisory Council voted to outlaw the books at a meeting two weeks ago. Support for the ban among the 16 players who comprise the Council was described by one person who was present as “overwhelming.”

“The books should be banned,” the player added. “Green reading is a skill to be learned.”

The skill word is huge here and will liven up other discussions about distance, grooves, rangefinders and any other number of things that have altered the sport.

Despite claims otherwise, the books slow the game down, provide an awful look for the “product” and have likely reduced time put into practice rounds in search of local knowledge. Oh, and the whole general skill of reading greens, imagination, etc. that was warned about when players fought to have the (expensive) cheat sheets.

The USGA and R&A attempted to reduce their influence—even while including them in official yardage books for their Opens—by changing rules on size of the information accessible during competition. The change has had the opposite effect, with players pulling the books closer to their face, appearing to work harder at reading smaller lines and only highlighting the absurdity of the books.

Lynch’s report says the vote would ban the books in Tour events by the end of the 2020-21 season in August.

The irony of players via their PAC in taking back an element of skill for the sport is beyond heartening. This move could also embolden the other organizations to expedite rule changes with skill in mind.

"We recognize the image-crafting guardrails that surround every sport, and we perk up when we see them falling."

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Writing for the New York Times Magazine, Elizabeth Nelson captures why so many are fascinated with the tension between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau. And it’s not the Player Impact Program points chase.

All this suggests the two sports are having difficulty understanding both their audiences and their athletes. They proceed from the premise that their tissue-thin veneer of high-minded sportsmanship and sometimes incomprehensible notions of etiquette are celebrated attributes, not turnoffs. But evidence suggests the opposite. Fans don’t want pageantry; they want intimacy. Increasingly, the stories that grab the public are those that break up the placid, corporatized surface of the game — a tennis star who chooses self-care over a major, or two large golfers who seem ready to fistfight. We recognize the image- crafting guardrails that surround every sport, and we perk up when we see them falling. Is this what happens when sports stop being polite and start getting real?

Brooks: "I just have a harder time focusing in regular PGA Tour events than I do majors"

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After missing the Palmetto Invitational cut, Brooks Koepka says he’s still having trouble focusing in non-majors. From Steve DiMeglio’s Golfweek report:

“I don’t try to miss a cut. I just have a harder time focusing in regular PGA Tour events than I do majors,” he said. “Majors, I know I’m locked in from the moment I hit the first tee shot. Even walking from the first tee shot to the ball, my head is still going on what I need to do. Out here I kind of lose focus for a little bit.

“I’ve got to figure it out. That’s why I struggle, I think, in regular events. It’s the focus and the energy, the excitement level just isn’t there when it would be in a major. It’s different. I thrive off that bigger stage, that big moment where there’s a bunch of fans and a tough golf course. I love it.”

Well I know he meant to say PGA Tour events, playoff events notwithstanding.

At least Koepka finished and stayed to chat.

There was a fairly pitiful leaderboard sight involving many added late to help keep the field at 156 and those playing opportunity incentives safe.

"I’m still trying to understand why bifurcation scares everybody as much as it does."

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There is plenty to chew on in Mike Whan’s conversation with Alan Shipnuck for GolfDigest.com. But mostly it’s nice to see the incoming CEO is trying to understand why rules bifurcation is the golf administrator version of gonorrhea.

The key exchange with Whan, who starts July 1st:

For the men’s professional game, do you need to limit the distance players are hitting it?

If we’re talking about the men’s professional game, I’d be surprised if people don’t believe that some degree of reining in wouldn’t be good for the game long-term. I haven’t had those conversations with everybody yet, but I will. I’ve read the Distance Insights study, but I don’t know if the need for change really trickles down to other levels of the game. I question if we need change for the average player. I’m still trying to understand why bifurcation scares everybody as much as it does. I’m not really sure why.

Welcome to the club!

As The PIP Race Turns: "Brooksy" Calls Lead To Ejections, Koepka Engages By Offering Michelob Ultra's

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An aborted Brooks Koepka interview with Golf Channel continues to spread in new and bizarre ways after Bryson DeChambeau was subjected to light Memorial Tournament heckling on Friday.

At least ten spectators were ejected for yelling “Brooksy” at DeChambeau over the course of his 33 holes. Some suggested DeChambeau pointed out his hecklers to police, though he said he did not care in post round remarks.

From ESPN.com’s Bob Harig:

"Oh, they weren't taunts at all, it was flattering,'' DeChambeau said after shooting 72 in the second round. "I think it's absolutely flattering what they're doing. They can keep calling me that all day if they want to, I've got no issue with it. When you look at it, to most people it's they think it's a distraction, but I grew up learning how to deal with that stuff and I honestly thought it was flattering.''

DeChambeau said he did not ask for anyone to be removed, that "the officers take care of that. I don't really care.''

This on-site accounting disagreed:

Looking to move up the formerly-secret Player Impact Program race exposed by Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch, Brooks Koepka wasted no time in scooping up valuable engagement, retweets, Google searches and Meltwater mentions. This, even though he’s not playing this week’s Memorial:

Pagunsan Qualifies For The Open Using 11 Clubs Prompting Yet More Calls To Just Try It One Lousy Week You Tour Dullards!

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Okay maybe I got a little carried away with that header.

But for those who’ve long wondered what it would be like to see today’s decathletes play a reduced set of clubs. Because there would be the ensuing shotmaking, plus lots of chatter about how the team at (fill in gratuitous manufacturer plug here) helped tweak the bag to cover the numbers.

So it’s with this in mind Alistair Tait celebrates Juvic Pagunsan needing just 11 clubs to win the Japan Tour’s Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open last weekend. With caddies forbidden due to Covid-19, Pagunsan lightened his bag of the 3, 4, 6 and 8 irons while adding a hybrid.

Tait suggests the overall max number should be lowered, but I’d take just a tournament here or there where it was the Local Rule. Anyway, Tait explains what Pagunsan was thinking:

Not only did he win to qualify for Royal St George’s, he did so by three shots with a 17-under 199 thanks to scores of 66, 65 and 68. So much for 14 clubs.

“What do I do when I need 6-iron? Well, I will just adjust it by using different club,” Pagunsan told the Japan Tour website.

“On 11th, wind was blowing at me and I had 160 yards to play, and I used my 5 Iron, what choice do I have?"

"Since I didn't have much choice of clubs, I didn't have to think too much to choose," he added.

Kevin Durant On Post-Pandemic Fandom

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Things got ugly when the Nets visited the Boston and in light of what has looked or sounded like an increased edge to some recent golf proceedings, I thought Kevin Durant’s comments were of note.

"Fans gotta grow up at some point," Nets forward Kevin Durant said Sunday. "I know that being in the house for a year and a half with the pandemic got a lot of people on edge, got a lot of people stressed out, but when you come to these games, you have to realize that these men are human. We are not animals, we are not in the circus.

"You coming to the game is not all about you as a fan. So, have some respect for the game. Have some respect for the human beings and have some respect for yourself. Your mother wouldn't be proud of you throwing water bottles or spitting on players or tossing popcorn. So, grow the *&^% up and enjoy the game. It's bigger than you.”

Golf Stocks Skyrocket Even Without A Major Technological Breakthrough!

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Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Remember when we used to hear how the game only can grow with club buying opportunities?

The wretched pandemic continues to make tee times hard to get. Meaning, voila, club and ball sales are through the proverbial roof.

You mean, just having more people play for some reason was the key all along? Not a big breakthrough overcoming regulatory hurdles?

Shocked I tell you.

Progolfweekly with this on Titleist and Footjoy parent Acushnet:

Titleist and FootJoy parent has adjusted upwards its outlook for the full year 2021. The company said it expects sales to be in the range of $1.79 billion to $1.87 billion – up approximately 14 percent at the midpoint compared to 2020.

Acushnet reported Q1 sales of $581 million and earnings of $85 million, each up significantly from Q1 of 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic was beginning to impact businesses across the country.

“Of course, these expectations assume no significant worsening of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic including additional significant incremental closures of global markets and additional supply chain disruptions,” said Tom Pacheco, Acushnet’s Chief Financial Officer.

“With a very strong first quarter and the second quarter, which we expect to be about 75 percent to 80 percent higher than 2020.

“We project very healthy first half sales gains as compared to both 2020 and 2019.”

Callaway is thriving on the back of club and ball sales along with a couple of shrewd acquisitions. From Mike Freeman in the San Diego Union Tribune:

The Carlsbad company relied heavily on its core club and ball business to drive financial results as the once stagnant game continues its renaissance. Rounds played surged 24 percent in the U.S. alone during the first quarter, according to industry research firm Golf Datatech.

More surprising was the solid performance in Callaway’s apparel arm. Its TravisMathew and Jack Wolfskin brands did well despite lingering COVID-19 restrictions in important markets. Emerging e-commerce sales led the way.

Callaway’s overall revenue rose 47.5 percent to $652 million compared with the same quarter last year. Adjusted net income reached $77 million, or 62 cents per share -- up from adjusted earnings of 31 cents per share a year ago.

Despite the uptick in profit, the company warned of likely cost increases in the coming year, Steve Pike notes.

The stocks are soaring:

Here's Hoping Golf Does Not Listen To Adam Silver's Advice To Embrace Slow Play

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As the gambling talk speeds up and rounds continue to bog down, golf’s slow play may be seen as a positive in some sectors.

Let’s hope they don’t read Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred’s advice from his NBA counterpart: “you gotta stop talking about the pace of game because your pace of game is going to be absolutely perfect for sports betting.”

Sigh.

The full quote and the interview excerpt is embedded below.

Manfred reminded everyone of this Monday speaking at a webinar hosted by Sportico. He recalled the story of a conversation he had a few years ago with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who told Manfred that MLB’s slower pace gives it an advantage when it comes to placing wagers:

“I’ll tell you a funny story; I don’t think he would mind. One night, I was coming back from an event and the phone rang; it was Adam Silver. He said: Rob, you gotta stop talking about the pace of game because your pace of game is going to be absolutely perfect for sports betting. And he’s right; he usually is. And he was right about that. So we see it as an opportunity to make everything we do… better for our fans. It’s an opportunity that our fans clearly want.”

Would golf embrace slow play to help people get their bets in?

Yes I went full rhetorical there.

Zurich Classic: Time For Four-Ball To Go?

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Four adults playing their ball and picking up when they’re out of the hole? That should (theoretically) go faster than four grown men playing pure stroke play.

Four-ball is a complete slog of a format with the best male golfers and needs to be eliminated where possible. But since the world’s best rarely are out of a hole and they’re slow as it is, the format produces a death march.

The Ryder Cup will not abandon four-ball matches even though they were not added until 1963. But the Zurich Classic is supposed to be entertaining. Its two best ball rounds drag on forever and produce so little tension.

But foursomes? Straight alternate shot certainly brings a different tension level. Maybe an excess of intensity given that foursomes is a match play format and was never envisioned as a form of stroke play.

As No Laying Up tweeted, four rounds of alternate shot might make the Zurich better. But four days of pure alternate shot would prove too fan-unfriendly over four days. I’d prefer to see the event go to Scotch foursomes (both players hit drives). Maybe play that version for three days and move to straight alternate shot for the final day?

Your thoughts?

State Of The Game 111: Hideki And The PIP

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Longtime looper and great guy Tom Watson joins us to discuss the perspective from Japan following Hideki Matsuyama’s Masters win.

Then Rod Morri, Mike Clayton, Watson and yours truly discuss the usual issues and one unusual one: the PGA Tour’s no-longer-secret Player Impact Program.

As always, subscribing is free on your favorite app and you can access below or at the State of the Game pag here.

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: