PGATour Running Commentary January 2022

First topic message reminder :

incontinentia wrote:

super_realist wrote:Anyone want to hazard a guess when "Three Round Rory" will have his customary blow up?

Today probably, he's already +2 early doors.

Back to +1 for the day through 13. Given the scoring today, that's not bad going. He's had a couple of good putts role very close too. Similar to yesterday. It feels like he's putting himself in a position where he could suddenly go low if his putter heats up.

Schauffele has had a mini charge but it's tough going out there. Bryson has yo-yoed up and down to be level for the round. Tommy is having a bit of a mare, sadly.

I think they've got the conditions about spot on so far to be fair. It's right on that precipice where it's insanely tough, hence entertaining, but it hasn't crossed over into crazy golf territory where you might has well chuck a windmill and laughing clown on the green. Great watching thus far.

It's going to be really interesting to see how Cantlay and Ludvig fare later.

Duty281 wrote:Another PGA triumph for Scheffler.

Sixth win in his last ten starts, this time after a playoff.

His dominance is probably the worst thing to happen to golf in a long time. At least the LIV thing had the drama to keep in interesting.

Is anyone watching the PGAT anymore?

Probably all I've watched in over a year is switching over to watch Fat Bob's back nine.

McLaren wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Another PGA triumph for Scheffler.

Sixth win in his last ten starts, this time after a playoff.

His dominance is probably the worst thing to happen to golf in a long time. At least the LIV thing had the drama to keep in interesting.

Is anyone watching the PGAT anymore?

Probably all I've watched in over a year is switching over to watch Fat Bob's back nine.

...but you didn't mind when it was Woods?

It depends who is executing the dominance and what the wider story is.

For a 5 to 10 year period watching Tiger (and I say watching Tiger rather than golf) was like engaging in the sort of wider cultural phenomenon you would do when watching Jordan, Federer, Messi, Schumacher or Williams.

McLaren wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Another PGA triumph for Scheffler.

Sixth win in his last ten starts, this time after a playoff.

His dominance is probably the worst thing to happen to golf in a long time. At least the LIV thing had the drama to keep in interesting.

Is anyone watching the PGAT anymore?

Probably all I've watched in over a year is switching over to watch Fat Bob's back nine.

Bit of a body shaming weightest comment for you Mac?? Yes I know Fat Bob’s a character in Oor Wullie, no excuse for falling off your moral high horse (or bus upper deck). The professionally offended will be writing letters ;-p

Duty281 wrote:Another PGA triumph for Scheffler.

Sixth win in his last ten starts, this time after a playoff.

Impressive, but boring.
You can be a sporting great, and not engage the public, and I think American Dad falls into that bracket.
He's  golfs Pete Sampras, Steve Davis or Nigel Mansell

JAS wrote:

Bit of a body shaming weightest comment for you Mac?? Yes I know Fat Bob’s a character in Oor Wullie, no excuse for falling off your moral high horse (or bus upper deck). The professionally offended will be writing letters ;-p

He's fat, I didn't say it was a negative.

McLaren wrote:

JAS wrote:

Bit of a body shaming weightest comment for you Mac?? Yes I know Fat Bob’s a character in Oor Wullie, no excuse for falling off your moral high horse (or bus upper deck). The professionally offended will be writing letters ;-p

He's fat, I didn't say it was a negative.

Fair point!

Another quality win by Scheffler. Really an amazing run. My observation is the very thing that makes him comparatively boring to watch (shows little emotion, subdued body language, etc.) is probably what keeps him so consistent with his play.

Although I would like to see Rory bounce back and win the Open, I wouldn't mind seeing Scheffler cap off the year with another major win.

Shotrock wrote:Another quality win by Scheffler. Really an amazing run. My observation is the very thing that makes him comparatively boring to watch (shows little emotion, subdued body language, etc.) is probably what keeps him so consistent with his play.

Although I would like to see Rory bounce back and win the Open, I wouldn't mind seeing Scheffler cap off the year with another major win.

I can't deny he's a supreme golfer, but it's like watching an F1 race with no overtaking. Boring anyway, but boring without any incident, I'd say he was more of a turn off for viewers rather than anyone desperately tuning in to see Scheffler. He's basically Shooter McGavin
Much as I despise De Chambeau, it might make the PGA a bit more interesting if him, Rahm, Koepka and a couple of others were still around.

Hmm. The John Deere - 28 under?? Really? I know these guys are good, but that's a lot that's wrong w/ the PGAT right there.

Always a crap event that one.

navyblueshorts wrote:Hmm. The John Deere - 28 under?? Really? I know these guys are good, but that's a lot that's wrong w/ the PGAT right there.

Why is it wrong? What is the problem with having a number of tournaments that where it is hard to shoot par - e.g. the Majors and a few others; and tournaments where the tees are up, the flags are accessible etc?

The scoring in any tournament is only relative from one player to another. It's not defining the best score of that course. Sport is supposed to be entertaining, people like to see lots of birdies and eagles.
I'm sure they could have made the course a lot more difficult if they wanted to.

I'm never wrong wrote:

navyblueshorts wrote:Hmm. The John Deere - 28 under?? Really? I know these guys are good, but that's a lot that's wrong w/ the PGAT right there.

Why is it wrong? What is the problem with having a number of tournaments that where it is hard to shoot par - e.g. the Majors and a few others; and tournaments where the tees are up, the flags are accessible etc?

The scoring in any tournament is only relative from one player to another. It's not defining the best score of that course. Sport is supposed to be entertaining, people like to see lots of birdies and eagles.
I'm sure they could have made the course a lot more difficult if they wanted to.  

I agree it's about a score relative to the rest of the field, so conditions etc are broadly the same for all in a field. I should probably have caveated my earlier comment with the fact that I find that sort of play/scoring mind numbingly boring. I want to see their skills in, say, hitting long irons into a green for a change. Or perhaps requiring more strategy off the tees. Etc. Give me the recent US Open and Pinehurst #2 rather than the JD borefest, anyday. Too many of the pros would probably complain about it if they had to work that hard, too often, I would guess - they certainly won't hear of appearance fees being dropped for larger prize funds, for example.

It's assumed that people like to see lots of birdies/eagles. Eagles are rare enough that I'll grant you that. Birdies, when they're two-a-penny, aren't anything remotely special. Give me a stellar recovery for par, or just making a par on a tough hole, over routine birdies anyday. I'm far more interested in how a good tour pro thinks through, and escapes from, a tough position and walks off with a par (or even a bogey when more than that was on the cards) than another drive-wedge to soft green-putt birdie.

navyblueshorts wrote: I should probably have caveated my earlier comment with the fact that I find that sort of play/scoring mind numbingly boring. I want to see their skills in, say, hitting long irons into a green for a change. Or perhaps requiring more strategy off the tees. Etc. Give me the recent US Open and Pinehurst #2 rather than the JD borefest, anyday.

I actually agree with you Navy, I was just pointing out the counter argument. Coming from the perspective of a golf- slightly better than a hacker - player, I like to see the pro golfers have a testing time, just like me on the golf course. Although me and them are about as far as possible apart as regards skill levels. Non golfers might have a different perspective on what they want to see.

One for Super_Realist here. Today from about 4pm Atlanta time, 16 people will play a 9 hole competition called the PGA Tour Creator Classic on the back 9 of East Lake. They are all "social media influencers" and the PGA Tour is using them to try and "spread the game". More details can be found HERE. Peter Finch from England is playing.

https://golf.com/instruction/how-does-ball-position-affect-swing-play-smart/

Good article Jas.

The Tour Championship is sh!te and its format sucks. Discuss.

Had the misfortune to catch some of this and, apart from Scheffler's shank from that bunker (), it had all the excitement of watching grass grow...

Not a dig at McIlroy, but he's planning to cut back to 18-20 events per season, from ~27 this year.

Now, is it me, or is 27 events not that hard work for the money? As for 18-20 a season....

There's too much money at the top of the game, and I don't think it's a good look.

navyblueshorts wrote:The Tour Championship is sh!te and its format sucks. Discuss.

Had the misfortune to catch some of this and, apart from Scheffler's shank from that bunker (), it had all the excitement of watching grass grow...

The format is s***e. Such low scores I also find largely tedious to watch regardless of format though. Even removing the 'starting scores', Scottie was 20 under for the week. Morikawa 22 under. Sahith 21 under. It's the scoring you want at a charity Pro-Am, not PGA events.

Don't like the format ... let the top guy finish top 10 or whatever and win and still have an event winner. Goofy, contrived drama for a year-long competition.

No problem with professionals going low, but no need to stay at the same course for this event year after year, IMO.

LIV golf TV ratings in the states are just awful. And the broadcast format is not easy to follow.

Merger to come soon?

Was there anything wrong with the money list system back in the day?

Not sure if this is just me, but I haven't watched much golf outside the Majors or Olympics for about 3/4 seasons now. For me a PGAT event just holds no interest anymore.

I think I might even pine for the WGC's.

McLaren wrote:Was there anything wrong with the money list system back in the day?

Not sure if this is just me, but I haven't watched much golf outside the Majors or Olympics for about 3/4 seasons now. For me a PGAT event just holds no interest anymore.

I find the typical type of track that PGAT events are held at, unbelievably monotonous. The same water, the same rough, the same bunkers etc etc. I actually really enjoyed this year's US Open and Pinehurst #2, at least in part because of the look of the course and the different challenges the players faced. I don't buy that it would be too much if they had to face that sort of challenge more often, the poor darlings.

navyblueshorts wrote:

McLaren wrote:Was there anything wrong with the money list system back in the day?

Not sure if this is just me, but I haven't watched much golf outside the Majors or Olympics for about 3/4 seasons now. For me a PGAT event just holds no interest anymore.

I find the typical type of track that PGAT events are held at, unbelievably monotonous. The same water, the same rough, the same bunkers etc etc. I actually really enjoyed this year's US Open and Pinehurst #2, at least in part because of the look of the course and the different challenges the players faced. I don't buy that it would be too much if they had to face that sort of challenge more often, the poor darlings.

Don't expect much change soon chaps! The great leader and visionary Jay Monahan says the 2025 schedule (much the same as 2024, in events and venues)...is "the blueprint" for what they want to do for 2026 and 2027 also...

And Jay doesn't exactly seem to be in a rush to sort out this merger/deal either. Only the professional week to week golf world burning down around you fella, no need to stick to timelines or get something done, just drag it on and on, and on. Fans are enjoying it...

There is just too much sport in general now. You would think having more of what you love to watch to watch would be great but all it does is cheapen the product. F1, Football, Golf and whatever else you watch is probably over saturated at this point.

I hope that week to week professional golf does burn down. Whatever the product would be that would rise from those ashes, it couldn't be any worse than what we already have. Golf has two players that turn the fans on, Rory and Tiger. One is old, broken and burnt out and the other is quickly heading in the same direction. It's unlucky for golf that their current generational talent is Scheffler because he will have more people turning off than on.

McLaren wrote:There is just too much sport in general now. You would think having more of what you love to watch to watch would be great but all it does is cheapen the product. F1, Football, Golf and whatever else you watch is probably over saturated at this point.

I hope that week to week professional golf does burn down. Whatever the product would be that would rise from those ashes, it couldn't be any worse than what we already have. Golf has two players that turn the fans on, Rory and Tiger. One is old, broken and burnt out and the other is quickly heading in the same direction. It's unlucky for golf that their current generational talent is Scheffler because he will have more people turning off than on.

I think there might be something in the saturation idea but, even so, that doesn't excuse the poor product. There are a myriad of courses in the U.S. that could be used, and that are far more interesting than the current dross.

I want to see good golf, ideally on challenging courses as they're paid so much. I'm not interested that much in 'characters', unless that comes in addition to the excellent golf as an add-on. A 'character' walking away with an event isn't that interesting either. If Scheffler and Schauffele duked day four out at some event with the best golf they're capable of, that would be great in itself. I wouldn't describe either as a 'character', though.

McLaren wrote:There is just too much sport in general now. You would think having more of what you love to watch to watch would be great but all it does is cheapen the product. F1, Football, Golf and whatever else you watch is probably over saturated at this point.

I hope that week to week professional golf does burn down. Whatever the product would be that would rise from those ashes, it couldn't be any worse than what we already have. Golf has two players that turn the fans on, Rory and Tiger. One is old, broken and burnt out and the other is quickly heading in the same direction. It's unlucky for golf that their current generational talent is Scheffler because he will have more people turning off than on.

Probably agree with you Mac for once. For example would the loss of a League Cup in England or Scotland even be noticed? I doubt it. Virtually no one cares about it as far as I can see, but perhaps if Scotland/England combined at QF or SF stage it might make it more interesting.

Champions League is getting ridiculous, International football tournament qualifying is almost irrelevant as so many teams qualify.

There seems to be an obsession with saturating sport at the expense of quality, there are hardly any events which have any of the real allure or anticipation levels they used to have.

Always thought that the spectating of sport, rather than participation in it was no better than being a trainspotter, although I probably have more respect for a trainspotter as it's not the end of the world for them if the 15:48 from Peterborough gets cancelled whereas a football fan is inconsolable if his team of idiots loses.

McLaren wrote:Was there anything wrong with the money list system back in the day?

Not sure if this is just me, but I haven't watched much golf outside the Majors or Olympics for about 3/4 seasons now. For me a PGAT event just holds no interest anymore.

Doesn't help that PGA commentary, coverage, editing, ad breaks etc is absolutely insufferable.