One of these Ed, POW, right the Moon!
From Pebble Beach is changing eighth hole to keep Jordan Spieth copycats from trying risky cliff shot,
“[Spieth] planned to take an aborted pass at the ball.”
I have no idea what that means.
What is an aborted pass at a golf ball?
Lucky he was in California, where he will have a choice.
I’m thinking it is like an attempted shot but stopping just before hitting the ball. You know, pulling out… of the swing.
He wouldn’t be moving his center of gravity in such a way that he’d fall down the cliff with such a practice swing. Then, if he thinks he can swing all the way through without falling down the cliff, he’d take the shot.
You might have seen people do this with their tee shots, mainly to make sure the club face ends up hitting the ball squarely.
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That doesn’t seem all that dangerous. Your CoG doesn’t move forward. I was thinking more about some other shot, maybe last season(?), where the player was way below the green on a slope where his CoG would clearly drop him farther down the cliff. Not sure where or when, but it had to be in a Major, since I don’t normally watch golf.
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Golf is a cruel sport. Congrats to Justin Thomas for the comeback victory at the PGA.
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Regarding the “new tour”:
Kevin Na no longer wants to compete for his wages. Get the show on, get paid.
Retiring to live on blood money. Good for him.
This rift will be finalized when The Majors decide how to invite players. So, prior Major winners are invited for some period of time (or forever). The rest is pretty much decided by PGA money lists or World rankings based on PGA results (and qualifiers, which I guess these players can do). If The Open decides that the top players of the new tour are exempt from qualifying, that would probably seal its survival.
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Seems like a few more players are jumping ship from the PGA to the LIV.
So the LIV only has 48 golfers max in the tourney and no cuts and everyone gets a big paycheck? Wonder if they don’t get 48 players is the check bigger?
I’m wondering what he eligibility requirements are. Can ANYONE join this, like college players just turning pro?
They have 16 teams with stupid names, four to a team, with some assigned captains. Seems they NEED 48 players.
Might go one season, and the lack of professionalism among the organizers will cause this to fold. (Won’t be lack of money, like upstart Pro football leagues.)
Kegger league IMO. Players that don’t want their paychecks to suffer from the sometimes lack of quality. They want something more socialist in nature, from autocrats. Awaiting the Bananaball owner to take over, make the players dance before driving or some shit like that.
I prefer some kind of a pro/rel system. I mean, they have this for the majors and the WGC tourneys, that a small field of “best players” only, which differs from “group of elitists” that the LIV strives to be. Like The Masters in the 50’s.
I am not a golfer nor viewer of golf tournaments but find this interesting. I see the PGA has started blackballing LIV participants so that should escalate things.
Reminds me a bit of the WHA in the 1970’s where a lot of money was dangled in front of high profile NHL players (eg Bobby Hull) to get them to defect.
Could be that the Saudis just want to merge with The PGA? A lot of upstart leagues’ goal is just that. Some succeed (AAFC, ABA, WHL, AFL), most don’t.
The Saudis have deep pockets. Maybe they want to set themselves above the PGA rather than merge with them? More like the European Soccer Super Clubs League which has not gotten off the ground?
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I dont think they want merger. The stars want more guaranteed money and an easier schedule for doing it. They want a super league and to leave the regular pga tour as the AAA where everyone is fighting to make the next level.
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Cathal Kelly’s light-hearted take on LIV:
“To hear them tell it, the LIV Golf Series is all about innovation. This isn’t your dad’s golf.
Do you like loud, excited talking? Everyone at LIV Golf talks like they’re yelling at you from the other end of a train platform. If the Masters is golf with the volume on 2 and the Ryder Cup is an 8, then this is golf if they break off the volume knob.
Do you like screen-wipes, strobe effects and electro bagpipes? Maybe, if you’re hard of hearing and live in a Scottish nightclub.
But I’m not sure what golf really needed was to get edgier. If you’re into edgy, watching a bunch of middle-aged dads walk around a park for six hours on a Saturday probably wasn’t your thing to begin with.
Or how about LIV Golf’s most innovative new product of all – evil Phil Mickelson.
Old, PGA-Tour Phil Mickelson was a cherub of a man. He had one of those perma-smiles, mouth half open and expectant, like a human Golden retriever. Just adorable.
Evil Phil Mickelson is not adorable. He looks as though he’s either just come back from or is just heading out to dispose of a body. He’s got a new, evil-looking beard and a new, evil black-on-black-on-black wardrobe. His outfit carries only one prominent logo – a silhouette of himself – which is really evil.
As best we know, evil Phil is not actually evil. That would be a bit too on the nose. This evil Phil is more of a sporty Scaramanga.
The effect was nearly ruined on Day 1 when Mickelson was approached by a terrifyingly peppy on-course reporter before tee off.
Mickelson was trying very hard to look evil. Despite the fact that it was a grey day, he was wearing reflective shades.
“I’m really excited to watch you hit bombs …” the reporter squealed while Mickelson stared ahead blankly, “… maybe even see your calves this week. Ha ha!”
Everyone knows there are no rules in LIV Golf. What happens at LIV Golf stays at LIV Golf (mostly because so few people bothered showing up).
But it is not possible to be evil in shorts. So that’s out for Phil Mickelson. He’s a bad boy from the mean streets of some gated community in Florida and if you get in his way, he will not hesitate to call security.
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I have a suggestion for ESPN: Just stop covering LIV Golf. But, I’m guessing they’re afraid of getting kidnapped and chopped up.
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Right, like ESPN is going to stop covering anything for sports. It’s trying ever-so-hard to be the one-stop shop for all things sports; if there’s a chance to make a buck, they’ll be there to cover it.
They can give it less attention. “Retired golfer so-and-so won some event. Moving on to real golf…”
They could, but they’re not gonna.
Dude, the controversy is perfect for ESPNs “programming”.
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Yeah, the “E” in “ESPN.”
I also don’t know nor am I an expert at the etiquette of golf, but aren’t you supposed to replace your divots?
Why are there so many divots left on the fairway of the U.S. Open? It’s obviously affecting the play of players behind the players who leave them.
Is it simply that there’s not always enough “stuff” to replace your divot with?
Also, at what point is the grounds crew allowed to get involved? I imagine that during the day they do nothing…although, I do recall seeing “mowing of the green” during play. Are they able to make repairs between rounds? They, obviously, move the holes around, right? What else do they/are they allowed to do?