8: Days to the Walker Cup flag-raising ceremony
224: Days to The Masters Honorary Starters Ceremony
I can offer two solid reasons to watch this week’s Tour Championship.
A) To fill the gap in your undying thirst to witness meaningful competition after Tuesday’s crushing one-week postponement of Big Break x Good Good presented by Golf Galaxy, caused by the retailer backing out of its sponsorship.
B) To say you witnessed golf history by seeing how many times Wyndham Clark breaks the Rules of Golf and gets away with it.
If you listened to Commissioner Brian Rolapp’s Tuesday Tour Championship press conference, you’d also assume the Rules of Golf matter to Rolapp and the board.
“Rules only matter if they’re enforced,” he said at East Lake. “So accountability and discipline are essential to any organization, and certainly for the integrity of the Tour and for the game, especially in a game that prides itself on rules and integrity.”
Clark’s antics at this year’s U.S. Open included pressing behind his ball in dicey lies and automatically smoothing his line on the green whether damage was evident or not. Since he received no warning or penalty for those actions, no wonder he hasn’t changed since his dual-wielding wedge nonsense caused his ball to move en route to winning the 2023 U.S. Open.
Various social media accounts highlighted Clark’s 14th hole shenanigans during the BMW final round. He went on so long and mashed so blatantly that CBS broadcasters and Frank Nobilo and Trevor Immelman had to point out the absurdity of his actions.
“I didn’t really hear much about it,” Clark said when asked at the Tour Championship. “I know the shot that you’re talking about. I think any player, when they’re trying to judge a lie, takes out different clubs to see what it feels like.”
Not everyone, Wyndham. But go on…
“I never fully put the club down behind it. I don’t think anything of it. When the cameras are on you, they’re going to find anything. And I think you saw that in Bryson’s case. It happened to me at the U.S. Open, it happened to me at Bay Hill. It’s happened to a lot of guys where they can see stuff that maybe looks like something that maybe it’s not.”
Clark claims he was just “judging” the lie and that “by no means did I take a bad lie and make it really good.”
But if you made a bad lie slightly less terrible, that’s still a violation.
Two minutes elapsed from the time CBS first showed Clark at his ball doing math in his book to the point of impact. That is not a reasonable amount of time to play a shot from the rough unless you’re doing a lot of landscaping. If any Quadrilateraboatwrighters have two minutes to spare, then enjoy this epic moment in blatantly violating the rules on national television before cashing a massive first place check…
One last note: after waiting through this mishegas, Rory McIlroy took only 25 seconds to play his approach on the same hole. But he wasn’t in the rough. Or named Wyndham.
It’s easy to pick on Clark because this keeps happening, but he’s hardly alone in the mashing work around a ball or on the greens. Scottie Scheffler is largely responsible for most players now approaching the ball in any type of lie and repeatedly placing the club to test the lie. And when the lie is especially dicey, we now have multiple practitioners of the patent-pending, Jumbo Ozaki-approved, Dual-Wielding artistry. This is where the combatant alternates clubs to give the impression they are utterly flummoxed by the circumstances even after hitting nine million golf shots over their lifetimes. Therefore, they just have to see how a 7-iron sits behind the ball versus the 6-iron. And maybe repeat the test a few more times to be totally accountable to their Teams.
The bigger problem with this nonsense and something that you’d think the PGA Tour would have noticed by now: most golf viewer play the game. Or did at one time. They know exactly what the mashers are up to. Some even understand that the Rules are also clear about grounding the club and pressing behind the ball:
The line tapping stuff on the greens is a by-product of the 2019 Rules of Golf “modernization” mean to speed up play and entitle golfers to “a smooth surface for rolling the ball.” Several players like Clark instinctually press down on the green in their line, whether a mark exists or not.
The Rules say if a player “improves the putting green by taking actions that exceed what is reasonable to restore the putting green to its original condition (such as by creating a pathway to the hole or by using an object that is not allowed), the player gets the general penalty for breach of Rule 8.1a.”
Good luck reigning the practice in, you PGA Tour referees who work for the players!
But the Commish says he’s a rules guy. So maybe this will be the week they start cracking down on practices undercutting the Tour’s reputation as a place to find pure competition minus the background bass and Arlo’s windbaggery.
The Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship traditionally exempt the top 30 making it to East Lake. The PGA Championship uses a different metric that essentially covers most of the same players who had successful seasons the year prior.
Barring major falloffs in their world ranking very few players will be impacted by the exemption clause next year. Between the Official World Golf Ranking top 50 cut-off dates, a key tournament win (Ryan Fox, Aaron Rai, Bud Cauley), or top finishes in one of the majors earning a player a return invite (Kurt Kitayama, PGA), most have already booked spots into next year’s majors.
However, two names did stand out: current world No. 68 Alex Fitzpatrick and No. 51 Adam Scott.
Fitzpatrick’s late spring run and top 30 status mean he is headed down Magnolia Lane for the first time while also getting to plan trips to the other majors.
Scott is exempt to the Masters for life and a T9 at Royal Birkdale assured him a return at St Andrews next year. And with his return to East Lake, Scott is assured of extending his 101-straight majors-played streak through the end of next year.
“Being in the Signature Events and the majors is a real bonus because this year coming out it was certainly a bit of a burden on me trying to make sure I positioned myself for all the big events,” Scott said at East Lake. “But the schedule wasn't on my terms.”
It’s way too early to understand how the revamped PGA Tour schedule will play out beginning in February, 2028. But starting in 18 months seems problematic due to the Olympic Games and a later-than-usual Open Championship.
Assuming the Tour and its media partners want to avoid finishing on Labor Day weekend when Americans turn to college football, they will be asking top players to play an intense stretch of golf:
July 19-22, 2028: Los Angeles Summer Olympic Men’s Competition
July 23-24, 2028: Los Angeles Summer Olympic Mixed Competition
Open week July 27-30th (Scottish Open competes with Women’s Olympic golf?)
August 3-6, 2028: The Open Championship, Royal Lytham & St Annes
August 10-13, 2028: Final PGA Tour stroke play stop determining season champion?
August 17-20, 2028: First week of PGA Tour match play championship?
August 24-27, 2028: Conclusion of PGA Tour match play championship?
For a top player eligible for both Olympic competitions, the setup would mean 22 competition rounds in 39 days spread over Los Angeles, England and wherever the match play events go. (Update: Cypress, Seminole and Pine Valley are out, Sleepy Hollow, LACC, Interlachen, and Chicago Golf Club now top the wish list with an emphasis on…delusional dreaming wish.)
A Labor Day weekend conclusion option from August 31-September 3 seems inevitable for 2028 given the “ask” of top players to play so many meaningful events in a short span. Otherwise, the Tour risks having a few players pass entirely on the playoffs Championship Series Championship.
The R&A announced that tickets for the 51st Walker Cup at Lahinch have sold out in advance of the match between Great Britain and Ireland and the United States of America.
Attendance has been capped at 8,000 fans each day of matches. Over 1,700 young people will be attending through The R&A’s successful ‘Kids Go Free’ initiative (free entry for under-16s when accompanied by a paying adult).
This is the first time the match will be staged at Lahinch.
The R&A is advising fans without tickets not to travel to the venue. However, the Walker Cup Opening Ceremony will take place on the 1st tee at Lahinch at 5pm on Friday, September 4th and fans can attend free of charge.
The matches will be televised by Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland and Golf Channel in the US.
After this year’s tryout, 2027 Ryder Cup Captain Jim Furyk will be continuing as lead analyst for Versant portions of telecasts at men’s majors as well as PGA Tour “Signature” events on Golf Channel and USA Network.
The deal was dubbed “multi-year” deal and will also include time contributing to Live From The Masters studio coverage.
“I have really enjoyed my time in the booth and look forward to continuing to develop in the role, providing my expertise and analysis for golf fans, and working with everyone behind the scenes.”
Furyk has been a pleasant addition with his tone, knowledge, effort and preparation for this year’s shows. He balanced the delicate fine line between trying too hard to inform viewers and while delivering smart takes. However, he did struggle with a take on Bryson DeChambeau’s penalty at The Open. Given that Furyk seemed unafraid to share his views, his role as Ryder Cup captain may have prevented a more forthright take.
The move also makes a strong statement for Versant. With NBC desperately needing someone of Furyk’s gravitas and availability, the deal would appear to indicate that the network is sticking with the dreadful Kevin Kisner for its major championship coverage.
Rory McIlroy on why he’s now not as impatient about the need for new distance regulations. “I just think the manufacturers are so good that the governing bodies can put rules in place, but they’re going to find ways to get around them. I just think there needs to be more thought being put into it. I think what is a good thing is it seems like the governing bodies and the manufacturers and the PGA Tour are being a little bit more collaborative in terms of what they can do. Yes, it may take a couple extra years to figure out what the need is, but I think everyone agrees that the equipment needs to be regulated. It needs to be regulated. It just can’t keep carrying on at the rate it’s going. Not at the elite level.”
Scottie Scheffler on the PGA Tour announcing a match play event where there will be no winner, just 16 qualifiers. “It’s a little bit hard for me to kind of wrap my head around the group play. Like I said, when I show up at a tournament, I love to be able to compete and give myself a chance to win. To have a full week tournament where there’s not a winner, I think, is a bit unusual for me.”
Bryson DeChambeau on LIV. “I’m proud of the fact of what we’ve done, the good and some of the bad that we’ve unfortunately had, things that have occurred. I’m going to be real with it; not everything was perfect. But for the most part we’ve done a solid job. If there’s one thing that I could say, it’s we did something different in the game of golf, and I’m proud of that.”
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp to ESPN’s Pat McAfee, who claims he was denied the opportunity to do his show at The Masters this year: “Come down to the Players Championship, we’ll take care of you. You can put your set anywhere you want.”
🧐 Alan Shipnuck’s recap of LIV from the final event of 2026 or, ever.
☹️ James Corrigan on LIV laying off 90% of its staff.
🏴 Lorne Rubenstein on the joy of returning to Dornoch.
🤩 Adam Schupak on Notah Begay’s life in golf.
😡 Tim Gavrich on some public courses taking to social media to expose bad behavior by golfers.
🏈 Mark Whicker on the latest CTE study and why the NFL is not doing enough to protect players.
Enjoy the mashing away at East Lake,
Geoff
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