17-Year-Old Wins LAAC To Earn Masters, Open Championship Invites

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The emergence of several Latin America Amateur contestants in the professional ranks added a little more prestigious to this year’s edition, but the real boost was the addition this week of an Open Championship exemption. That goes with the much coveted Masters invite, while the USGA still just brings a Sectional Qualifying invite.

The 2020 edition was taken by Abel Gallegos, the first Argentinian to win the event. From an unbylined story on the official website:

Gallegos, who hails from the small town of 25 de Mayo, about two hours outside of Buenos Aires, learned the game on a modest nine-hole course named Las Mulitas, or Little Mules, but will be the 14th Argentine and just the third amateur from Argentina to compete in the Masters Tournament.

Angel Cabrera, the Argentine legend who won the 2009 Masters, sent a message to Gallegos after the final round in which he offered his congratulations and added, “I will be waiting for you at the Masters so you can enjoy that great tournament.”

Gallegos smiled when told of Cabrera’s sentiment, saying, “He is a hero back home. To have him congratulate me, it is everything.”

Gallegos edged a 26-year-old Trackman salesman headed to this week’s PGA Show. Brentley Romine with the story of Jose Vega, Columbia native and former Nebraska golfer.

The highlights, narrated in Spanish…

Sigh...Keven Na Roots For His Backstopping Ball To Help Another Player

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Just when we thought the whole backstopping thing was over, along comes Kevin Na adding a new layer.

To be clear, no violation of the rules took place. But the spirit of the rules? That’s another story.

Russell Knox was in golf’s deepest bunker and later took to Twitter clarifying he had Na idea what was going on 25 feet above him. But as we see in video posted by the PGA Tour Twitter account, Na has hit his approach, left it, is standing just a few feet off the green and can be heard rooting for Knox’s shot to hit his ball (“hit my ball”). Thanks to reader Gray for noting this shot, only seen while Playing Through during second round American Express action:

You know the drill by now. Backstopping is the scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours weirdness that has been endorsed by those yearning for some sort of club membership in the world of professional golf.

The practice seemingly subsided since last February’s embarrassing episode featuring Amy Olson and Ariya Jutanugarn. But as fans have come to understand the strange little practice, they don’t like it.

Just check out the overwhelming number of to a magnificent bunker instead focusing on Na’s actions. A sampling screen capture:

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In a week where cheating in sports has been dominating news and social media as the Patrick Reed situation lingers, logic dictates that players and officials are on heightened alert for anything that could be misconstrued. Nope.

Now imagine in the near future when sports gambling is legal and Na is heard rooting for another player’s ball to hit the one he purposely left near the hole. Given the reactions to this shot to the PGA Tour’s Tweet there will be an outcry or worse, gamblers wanting inquiries and refunds.

All of this would be a non-issue if Na merely walked the six or seven paces to slap a coin down behind his ball. But pretty soon, if not already given what’s going on in sports, this bizarre cultural practice will be put in a different spotlight. And not one with soft lighting or minor consequences.

Did The Brooks V. Bryson Ab Spat Awaken Shirtless Shark To Resurface?

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IWhy anyone gets in a spat with Brooks Koepka and thinks they’ll win, I have no idea.

But here are details of Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau’s escalating ab spat, well documented here by the Golf.com Fortnight/DeChambeau monitoring squad. For those over 40, just go with it.

And if you really don’t care, everything you need to know about Bryson and Brooks’s second public spat, is summed up here:

All of this talk of golfers and their abs appears to have awoken the Shark to return to his past—ok, it’s been three months since his last shirtless shot.

View this post on Instagram

Haven’t done this in awhile.

A post shared by Greg Norman (@shark_gregnorman) on

Indonesian Genocide Leader Is Back In The American Express Pro-Am

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Nothing warms the heart like father and son getting in some pro-am golf at The American Express. Except in one case.

Yapto Soerjosoemarno teed off in previous years but it was 2019 when his hideous history of masterminding the deaths of possibly hundreds of thousands (and not really ashamed of it) was reported on by Deadspin (RIP).

The former military leader was featured in a gruesome Netflix documentary titled The Art of Killing.

Soerjosoemarno is back playing in the Pro-Am in 2020 and opened with a net 75 after his pro, Brice Garnett shot 77. H

Son Yedidiah opened with net 62 on the back of Andrew Landry’s 66.

It is beyond comprehension why Soerjosoemarno is allowed to play in the first place.

Cam Smith Facing Fine Threat For Ever Calling Out Patrick Reed Again?

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The PGA Tour does not comment on any fine situations as we all know, and Cameron Smith might get fined for commenting on whether he was fined or threatened to be fined for calling out Patrick Reed’s Hero World Challenge lie improvement fiasco.

So the recent Sony Open winner wisely took a rain check when Golf Digest’s Brian Wacker checked in post-Sony and asked if he had been threatened with future fines for discussing Reed’s antics.

The comments caused a stir, on social media and beyond. According to a source, an official from the PGA Tour spoke to Smith about the remarks, essentially issuing a warning that he would be fined in the future if he made similar statements. The tour, through a spokesperson, said it does not comment about disciplinary matters, though the player handbook does include a section with language that states a player can face sanctions for public attacks on fellow players. Smith, for his part, would not comment on the Reed matter, preferring to move on and put it behind him.

You know what they about the cover-ups and crimes…

At least Smith was not fined since it appears he was merely issued a warning. A fine for him, but not for Reed, would be scandalous.

Here is the PGA Tour policy courtesy of Robopz:

Jupiter Here He Comes: Mickelson Announces Florida Move As He Takes Over Coachella Valley Hosting Role

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I’m not sure American Express expected their host whose foundation is now the centerpiece of a a revamped desert stop to announce he’s moving in a few years, but it’s Phil Mickelson’s world and they’re just living in it.

Rex Hoggard at GolfChannel.com reports on San Diego native Mickelson’s surprise announcement at the American Express press conference, his first as host and foundation beneficiary.

Mickelson, who is the host of this week’s event, said the family’s current plan is to move to Florida after his youngest child, Evan, graduates from high school in a year and a half.

Lefty would join a growing list of Tour players who call South Florida home including Tiger Woods, world No. 1 Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson.

Although Mickelson didn’t offer a reason for his potential move, in 2013 he suggested he might move out of California because of his federal and state tax bill, which he estimated had pushed his tax rate above 60 percent.

Mickelson also made clear he’s not moving there to be closer to the Champions Tour’s Chubb Classic. As long as his speed is up, Mickelson plans to keep playing the PGA Tour:

It's Back! Ayodhya Links Resurfaces On Golf Digest's World Ranking

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While Golf Digest’s non-U.S. ranking of courses has always featured odd inclusions, the latest edition posted online features more eye-openers than normal. While some might find it jarring to see The Bluffs at Ho Tram Strip ahead of Royal Cinque Ports, I’m just thrilled to see RCP/aka Deal on the list.

While edged out by the vaunted Ba Na Hills, the real stunner involves the resurfacing of Ayodhya Links. You may recall it was the inclusion of this extraordinarily ordinary Perrett and Lobb masterwork near Bangkok landed on Golf Magazine’s World Ranking a few years back. That instigated a domino effect resulting in a massive overhaul of the ranking, with a new panel head and many panelists shed from the process. Questions remain unanswered to this day about what exactly led to the ultra-private Ayodhya earning prestigious world status and whether undue influence led to its place.

And yet, here it appears again. Ron Whitten’s pained description is hard to read.

The site of Ayodhya Links didn’t look promising to Australian architects Ross Perrett and Tim Lobb at first. It was a flat, treeless marsh near Bangkok. To build a championship-caliber golf course on such property, the architects had to drain the swamp. They did so by excavating canals and ponds.

Oh did they now?

This generated fill for tees, fairways and greens, which they shaped into endless humps and rolls. So, arguably, it’s links-like, although manmade and far from an ocean.

Just missed out on the links-like category. Sounded close though!

Today, Ayodhya has water in play on every hole, lagoons throughout the front and back nines, with the ninth and 18th along the shoreline of a large lake. Across the same lake is the island green of the par-3 12th. An estimated 10,000 trees were planted to add beauty and while the turf conditions at this exclusive private club are considered opulent, the course boasts membership in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program, so it must be growing turf with sustainable methods and fewer chemicals.

And that’s good enough to make it a world top 100. Again.

Happy Ending: Two Gloves Tommy Gainey Back In The Winner's Circle

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The 44-year-old one-time PGA Tour winner best known for wearing two gloves and last month’s solicitation arrest during the Korn Ferry Tour qualifying tournament, has won that tour’s season opener. It was his first top 10 since 2015. The last time Gainey played in the Greater Xuma Classic, he shot 87-84.

From Joel Beall’s GolfDigest.com report on Tommy Gainey’s improbable return to a major tour winner’s circle:

Gainey played that week at the final stage of the Korn Ferry qualifying tournament. Though he was among the Round 1 leaders, a 74 and 71 on the weekend ultimately dropped him to T-75.

On the 72nd hole at Emerald Bay, Gainey dedicated the victory to his family.

"My wife, I love her to death," Gainey said. "Her and the boys mean everything."

The Golf Channel did not mention the December arrest through the final two days of the broadcast, and Gainey only alluded to "getting his life back on track" in a post-round interview, which could have been a reference to his health. The Korn Ferry Tour told Golf Digest that Gainey was not available for additional questions, and Gainey's team has not responded to a Golf Digest interview request.

He has a team? Sorry.

Hey, it’s not Hogan coming back from the bus accident but on the list of improbable wins, this is first team all-conference stuff.

Pursuing Speed Files: Bryson, Phil And Matthew Wolff Edition

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Someday when the PGA Tour is just a traveling long drive exhibition with launch monitors on tee boxes and players earning FedEx points only for drives, historians will look back at these posts embedded below. They’ll ask why the USGA and R&A didn’t just reduce the driver head size a bit or take away a few dimples on the ball to retain some semblance of the sport that somehow grew and attracted millions for a few hundred years. One that called on a variety of attributes to score.

Chiropractors and surgeons, these are for you, starting with Bryson DeChambeau’s explanation for his new build, followed by Phil Mickelson showing how he’s addressed his huge strokes gained drop to outside the top 100 putters and approach artists, and ended by Matthew Wolff giving a long drive show for members at the Vintage Club.


Going Against The NFL Playoffs, 2020 Sony Open Rates About How You'd Expect

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We’ll just move on past how the weather and freak show that was the 2020 Sony Open may go down as one of the worst PGA Tour events ever played. It ended on Sunday, and that’s all that mattered.

Then again, as considered in this post and poll last weekend, you as golf fans agree that trying to compete against the NFL makes little sense. Yes, a Monday Sony Open finish would have meant finishing against the start of college football’s national championship game. Then again it probably could not rate any worse than the weekend rounds of the 2020 Sony.

According to ShowbuzzDaily.com, Saturday’s overnight was a .03, averaging 215,000 in the 18-49 yo demographic, making it the 142nd ranked cable show that day while going against two NFL Divisional games.

Sunday’s Sony final round against the Seahawks and Packers on Fox drew a .03, with 282,000 avg viewers, making it the 137th ranked cable show. Good news though, it just beat out Secrets of the Zoo: Tampa on National Geographic. Though they drew more 18-49 year olds with a 309,000 average.

It’s supposed to be a great zoo!

Patrick Reed And The Astros: Smoltz On The Parallels And Differences Between The Cheaters

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Is this a bad time to remind everyone of the PGA Tour’s Houston Open brought to you by the Astros Foundation? Eh, it’s in the fall. We’ll deal with the cheating Asterisks then. Hopefully Patrick Reed is not their headliner. Oh right, Brooks Koepka has to play.

Anyway…

The LPGA kicks off its 2020 season with the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions where a celebrity tournament within the tournament draws many of Major League Baseball’s recent greats. Former Brave and current Fox broadcaster John Smoltz was asked about the breaking Astros scandal and Patrick Reed’s recent brush with integrity.

Randall Mell with the full story for GolfChannel.com and Smoltz’s view that both golf and baseball are struggling to manage technology. But this was a nice quote:

“What makes golf unique is that it's up to the integrity of each person to determine whether they want to apply the rules as they're meant, and that's why golf has always been known as the gentleman's game. But it's frowned upon, and we all know enough people, and play with enough people at our clubs, that just can't help themselves by getting an advantage and an edge, because they want to compete, and they want to be successful. That bothers me, but it's not immune from anywhere.”

While the Reed fallout continues because fans do not feel he got the punishment deserved for so blatantly bending the rules last December, Major League Baseball may face a similar issue if fans and players feel the Astros punishment did not fit the crimes committed.

PGA Tour's New Slow Play Policy Leans On Jargon To Coddle The Turtles

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Joel Beall’s “here’s what you need to know” item on the new PGA Tour slow play policy can be whittled down to telling what you jargon you need to be warned about.

Because as with so many rules shaped by the players, heavy petting is involved. Beall explains the core components, both supported by a jargony name and a long list of ways to help a slow poke get multiple opportunities to take his time before experiencing a penalty.

After setting up the backstory of how the Tour got to this point, Beall writes of the “observation list”:

An "Observation List" will be created, one that will be kept private from the public and PGA Tour membership as a whole.

And right there the policy already became less effective than it could have been.

How will a player make the list? The parameters are as follows:

—Each stroke throughout the round must be played in under 60 seconds in absence of a valid reason. If observed by an official to exceed this time, that player will be timed on an individual basis as soon as he can be notified. If the player does not have a bad time (same bad time rules as with out of position) within two holes, timing will cease.

At multi-course PGA Tour events, there is now just one rules official per nine holes. Kind of tough to be a roving rules official and be timing the slow pokes, it would seem. But, should they be able to find the time to pull out the stop clock…

—If any player is observed to take more than 120 seconds on a shot in the absence of a valid reason, he will be given an "Excessive Shot Time" and observed throughout the round by an official.

—The list will be updated on a weekly basis. Any player with an overall average of 45 seconds or more per stroke based on a 10 tournament rolling period will be on the list, along with anyone who receives two "Excessive Shot Times" in a tournament will be played on the list in subsequent tournament rounds.

Scary!

Oh but there’s the enforcement. At least the bank accounts are getting hit harder, but will we ever get to this stage?

A player will receive a warning for their first bad time. On the second, he will receive a one-stroke penalty. For each additional bad time, another one-stroke penalty will be given.

There will also be fines. Excessive Shot Times will receive $10,000 and $20,000 punishments for second and additional offenses (with the first offense receiving a warning). Though the first bad time also gets a warning, a second offense comes with a $50,000 penalty, with a $20,000 penalty attached to further offenses.

"We are not looking to hand out these penalties," Dennis said. "But players have to know they are there."

Players may know, but if players, fans and media knew they’d made the list, might that be just as effective as strokes and fines?

The Lucky Ones Giving Up Valuable Life Minutes: PGA Tour's 2020 Player Advisory Council Announced

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While GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard notes the inability of Bryson DeChambeau to have convinced caucus goers he was worthy of adding context to the council’s prime area of concern—slow play—I’m struck by the departure of Matt Kuchar.

The veteran, who takes his bronze medal around the world in a sock, was said to have added many wonderful thoughts and concerns for the less-privileged on Tour. He was beloved by his Council peers and will be missed. Or not.

For Immediate Release, the 2020 Slow Play Policy Advisory Council and players who have shown an ability to use their brain for other thoughts besides those revolving around golf, I mean PAC:

PGA TOUR announces 2020 Player Advisory Council

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA TOUR today announced the 16-member Player Advisory Council (PAC) for 2020. The PAC advises and consults with the PGA TOUR Policy Board (Board of Directors) and Commissioner Jay Monahan on issues affecting the TOUR.

2020 Player Advisory Council

Ryan Armour
Paul Casey
David Hearn
Harry Higgs
Charley Hoffman
Billy Horschel
Zach Johnson
Russell Knox
Anirban Lahiri
Peter Malnati
Rory McIlroy
Ryan Palmer
Jon Rahm
Kevin Streelman 
Justin Thomas
Harold Varner III

Charley Hoffman, Peter Malnati and Justin Thomas have been selected by the Player Directors to run for PAC Chairman via election which ends February 7. The leading vote-getter will replace Johnson Wagner as a Player Director on the PGA TOUR Policy Board, serving a three-year term (2021-23).

When In Far Hills..."The Art Of The Golf Course" Exhibit Opens

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For those in the greater Far Hills, or now, Liberty Corner region—aka USGA headquarters—a new Golf House exhibit focusing on golf architecture as art has opened.

The description:

The USGA Golf Museum’s exhibition, “The Art of the Golf Course,” encourages viewers to consider golf course architecture as an art form, as an analog to landscape architecture, in which design choices are made for aesthetic reasons as well as functional purposes. The exhibition is an examination of art, through art, challenging viewers to expand their perspective on golf as linear journey from tee to green.

The full slide show teasing what to expect.

Old Course Is The Centerpiece Of Climate Change Study

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This unbylined Sky Sports story looks at St Andrews university Professor Bill Austin's planned three-year study of coastal erosion and the impact on golf. An R&A grand as part of its Golf Course 2030 initiative.

"This research will allow us to consider all climate-related factors that will have an ever-lasting effect on the home of golf."

The Coastal Change Action Plan is a key component of the R&A's Golf Course 2030.
It was established in 2018 as an industry initiative to consider the impact of the changing climate, resource constraints and regulation on golf course condition and playability.

Researchers estimate almost £400m worth of property and infrastructure around Scotland's coastline is at risk due to erosion.