I had heard of and knew Buster Douglas before his fight with Tyson. Had even seen a few of his fights. I didn’t know who Scheffler was before last Friday when I disturbingly heard that someone I had never heard of was the #1 golfer in the world. It must be a Mike thing.
Another quick thought — the early coverage on CBS Sunday was horrendous.
I don’t think they showed more than 10-15 golf shots by anyone not named Tiger Woods in the first hour. I understand people love Tiger and want to see him, but he was 20 shots out of the lead. If you want to show all of his shots, fine, but there were tons of other guys on the course having very good front nines that were completely ignored in favor of showing Tiger walk down a fairway and talk to his caddy for 2-3 minutes at a time. I wanted to watch the Masters, not just Tiger Woods.
Thankfully the Masters has the amazing website/app that let me watch coverage of other holes but the CBS coverage was shockingly bad.
I think pro golf if in similar trouble as baseball is. So many people have soured on the game of baseball and what it has evolved to. It is discussed on this blog frequently, with all sorts of suggestions about how to fix the game. In golf, it’s like there is Tiger Woods and then every other golfer in the world. If Tiger is on the scene, so many get into a lather. A past ESPN headline 2-3 years ago was about how Tiger finished a good third- while ignoring who actually won the tournament. I had to search for the winner’s name later on in the article.
Without Tiger, apparently golf means very little. If and when he ever goes to the senior tour, the interest in that will surge past the regular tour.
I don’t follow golf very closely- I mean I know who wins some of the tournaments but I don’t watch any golf, and care very little who wins.
I’m guessing when Tiger is off the scene that will be a lot more common.
Tiger Woods finished 23 shots behind the leader and the crowds are adoring and saying Tiger was a winner because he played. Give me a break.
Hi Joe, apologies for the fact check, but Scheffler beat Kevin Kisner (who non-golf fans almost certainly would not have heard of) to win the Match Play, not Ian Poulter.
Joe, I'll say up front that commenting in this fashion is not my thing. I'm a subscriber and I've given away gift subscriptions. I became a reader with "The Machine" and have read and bought everything since. I loved everything about Sunday's final round, and it sounds like I had many of the same gripes as others. However, I didn't post to comment on Sheffler or the Masters, but on you, your writing, and this Blog. I realize that you have this platform to do what you love and that it's a platform that creates conversations. However, I never come here for that. I come here because what you do inspires me! This quote today: "The only pressure that exists, you see, is the pressure you allow yourself to feel." just fired me up! Let's not get all existential and see if we can find an area of life or some circumstance where the quote wouldn't hold true. Let me just appreciate the fact that one simple thought has me all stirred up! I've long searched to find an email address or a private message way of doing this, but after reading today's Blog I could no longer wait. So, thank you for all you do and write! For me it makes a huge difference in my day. chrisblock4256@gmail.com
The thing I didn't hear anyone talk about is that how, for 3 straight days, the announcers talked about how relaxed & casual Cameron Smith was. He was lauded for his relaxed attitude that will surely keep him in competition until the very end. One announcer on Golf Channel even said that Scheffler needed to shoot 68 or 69 because Cameron Smith was likely to shoot 65 or 66 because he's such a cool customer & the pressure won't get to him. And then.... really it started after a couple of bad tee shots & a couple of bogies early on, Smith started cursing and slamming his club in the ground. He continued to do that, even throwing a club later on. And then absolutely nobody said anything about it. Nobody said "he needs to get a grip". Or, "he's coming emotionally unraveled." I have no idea whether Smith could have won if he'd have kept it together emotionally. Probably not. But he should have, at least, been a solid second. But there's no way he would win coming unglued like he did. The kicker was when Smith was asked what he learned during this round (there's always a learning when things go wrong), He answered that he pretty much didn't learn anything. He just "made a few bad shots". Hopefully he has somebody in his camp that will tell him the truth & help him adjust & prepare for the next time.
I have to disagree with Joe on this one. I don't think Scottie Shuffler is one of those guys that shows no emotion and nothing bothers him. That's Dustin Johnson. Scottie Sheffler has a great time on the golf course. In round 3 when his closest pursuer (Charles Schwarzl sp?) holed out from the fairway for eagle, Shuffler was laughing and congratulating him. When he'd make a ridiculously long putt (or chip), he'd laugh cause he knew it was partly luck that the ball went in the hole. I think Scottie has been so good at golf for his whole life he just expects good things to happen, so of course golf is a hoot.
Also Rory’s round has basically become his MO in majors now. He’s had multiple top 10 finishes in majors in the past few years where he was never really in contention — it’s like once he knows he can’t win he frees up and plays well.
I thought Scheffler might have started feeling the heat after he bogeyed on 10 and then Cameron Smith birdied on 11. That made it a 3 shot lead with 7 holes to play. That's a pretty big lead of course, but not exactly comfortable, especially with Smith as your playing partner.
Of course Smith triple bogeyed the next hole which ended that particular threat.
I was also bothered by the free drop because of the scoreboard. I understand the rules, but I think they should be adjusted — you shouldn’t get free relief for hitting it off the course. Jordan Spieth got something similar in the Open a few years ago where he was essentially rewarded for hitting it so far offline.
Regardless, Scheffler played great. But I’m ready for a Masters with several guys fighting for the lead on the back 9 again.
Disagree strongly. Golf has enough stupid rules that anger all but the 10% fanatics. Pretty much to argue that a grandstand is something that a golfer should just deal with, when no course in its natural state has a grandstand, is a golf fanatic comment. Those of us that are more casual fans, who have a normal sense of fair play, would cause us to pull out our hair if it ended up effecting a tournament.
I also disagree strongly. For the Masters they put up portable bathrooms and trash receptacles. Should the player be penalized for ending up behind one of these? All the temporary scoreboards are similar. The temporary immovable instruction rule has been in place forever, one of rules that makes absolute sense (lots of old rules don't make much sense at all.) And I don't think this is a view for fanatics or purists. My guess is that most golfers would agree. .
The scoreboards are very different. They’re huge and everyone knows they’re there, and again, they are out of the field of play. They should not be considered a temporary obstruction the way something like smaller like a trash can is.
You’re acting like it’s an unlucky break to end up behind one. It’s not — if anything, it’s a lucky break because of the free relief. No one is intentionally hitting it there; it requires a terrible shot.
It’s funny that you say that because fair play is exactly why I have a problem with it! It seems incredibly unfair to bail them out of a terrible shot. It would come into play on less than 1% of shots in a tournament because pros don’t generally hit it that badly, and if they knew they weren’t getting free relief they’d have more reason to avoid it the same as a water hazard or a bunch of trees.
It seems like a simple thing to make things fair for the field and punish the really bad shots. Who knows how different Sunday would have been if Scheffler had to scramble from behind the scoreboard instead of having an opportunity to chip in for birdie? Just doesn’t seem fair that he was able to avoid the consequences of his terrible shot.
I agree. In many tournaments the pros will default to hitting it long on #18 because there are always grandstands behind the green and they get a free drop 10 feet behind the green. These are pros. Make the grandstands and scoreboards "permanent" structures. You hit behind one, tough luck - that's not where you're supposed to hit the ball.
Or just build the grandstands far enough back that the free drop doesn’t help that much — that’s something they do well at Augusta. The only place you can hit long into a grandstand behind a green is still in a bad position after a drop so no one would do it on purpose.
as the stoics said (roughly), to become calm, one must take on the appearance of calm.
I had heard of and knew Buster Douglas before his fight with Tyson. Had even seen a few of his fights. I didn’t know who Scheffler was before last Friday when I disturbingly heard that someone I had never heard of was the #1 golfer in the world. It must be a Mike thing.
Somehow, Scheffler’s win and Tiger’s return lost the slightest bit of savor for me because Norm MacDonald wasn’t live-tweeting the whole thing.
Another quick thought — the early coverage on CBS Sunday was horrendous.
I don’t think they showed more than 10-15 golf shots by anyone not named Tiger Woods in the first hour. I understand people love Tiger and want to see him, but he was 20 shots out of the lead. If you want to show all of his shots, fine, but there were tons of other guys on the course having very good front nines that were completely ignored in favor of showing Tiger walk down a fairway and talk to his caddy for 2-3 minutes at a time. I wanted to watch the Masters, not just Tiger Woods.
Thankfully the Masters has the amazing website/app that let me watch coverage of other holes but the CBS coverage was shockingly bad.
I think pro golf if in similar trouble as baseball is. So many people have soured on the game of baseball and what it has evolved to. It is discussed on this blog frequently, with all sorts of suggestions about how to fix the game. In golf, it’s like there is Tiger Woods and then every other golfer in the world. If Tiger is on the scene, so many get into a lather. A past ESPN headline 2-3 years ago was about how Tiger finished a good third- while ignoring who actually won the tournament. I had to search for the winner’s name later on in the article.
Without Tiger, apparently golf means very little. If and when he ever goes to the senior tour, the interest in that will surge past the regular tour.
I don’t follow golf very closely- I mean I know who wins some of the tournaments but I don’t watch any golf, and care very little who wins.
I’m guessing when Tiger is off the scene that will be a lot more common.
Tiger Woods finished 23 shots behind the leader and the crowds are adoring and saying Tiger was a winner because he played. Give me a break.
Hi Joe, apologies for the fact check, but Scheffler beat Kevin Kisner (who non-golf fans almost certainly would not have heard of) to win the Match Play, not Ian Poulter.
Joe, I'll say up front that commenting in this fashion is not my thing. I'm a subscriber and I've given away gift subscriptions. I became a reader with "The Machine" and have read and bought everything since. I loved everything about Sunday's final round, and it sounds like I had many of the same gripes as others. However, I didn't post to comment on Sheffler or the Masters, but on you, your writing, and this Blog. I realize that you have this platform to do what you love and that it's a platform that creates conversations. However, I never come here for that. I come here because what you do inspires me! This quote today: "The only pressure that exists, you see, is the pressure you allow yourself to feel." just fired me up! Let's not get all existential and see if we can find an area of life or some circumstance where the quote wouldn't hold true. Let me just appreciate the fact that one simple thought has me all stirred up! I've long searched to find an email address or a private message way of doing this, but after reading today's Blog I could no longer wait. So, thank you for all you do and write! For me it makes a huge difference in my day. chrisblock4256@gmail.com
The thing I didn't hear anyone talk about is that how, for 3 straight days, the announcers talked about how relaxed & casual Cameron Smith was. He was lauded for his relaxed attitude that will surely keep him in competition until the very end. One announcer on Golf Channel even said that Scheffler needed to shoot 68 or 69 because Cameron Smith was likely to shoot 65 or 66 because he's such a cool customer & the pressure won't get to him. And then.... really it started after a couple of bad tee shots & a couple of bogies early on, Smith started cursing and slamming his club in the ground. He continued to do that, even throwing a club later on. And then absolutely nobody said anything about it. Nobody said "he needs to get a grip". Or, "he's coming emotionally unraveled." I have no idea whether Smith could have won if he'd have kept it together emotionally. Probably not. But he should have, at least, been a solid second. But there's no way he would win coming unglued like he did. The kicker was when Smith was asked what he learned during this round (there's always a learning when things go wrong), He answered that he pretty much didn't learn anything. He just "made a few bad shots". Hopefully he has somebody in his camp that will tell him the truth & help him adjust & prepare for the next time.
I have to disagree with Joe on this one. I don't think Scottie Shuffler is one of those guys that shows no emotion and nothing bothers him. That's Dustin Johnson. Scottie Sheffler has a great time on the golf course. In round 3 when his closest pursuer (Charles Schwarzl sp?) holed out from the fairway for eagle, Shuffler was laughing and congratulating him. When he'd make a ridiculously long putt (or chip), he'd laugh cause he knew it was partly luck that the ball went in the hole. I think Scottie has been so good at golf for his whole life he just expects good things to happen, so of course golf is a hoot.
It’s “faze”.
Soundtrack to this post: https://youtu.be/6W2bJz-oKMI
Also Rory’s round has basically become his MO in majors now. He’s had multiple top 10 finishes in majors in the past few years where he was never really in contention — it’s like once he knows he can’t win he frees up and plays well.
I thought Scheffler might have started feeling the heat after he bogeyed on 10 and then Cameron Smith birdied on 11. That made it a 3 shot lead with 7 holes to play. That's a pretty big lead of course, but not exactly comfortable, especially with Smith as your playing partner.
Of course Smith triple bogeyed the next hole which ended that particular threat.
I was also bothered by the free drop because of the scoreboard. I understand the rules, but I think they should be adjusted — you shouldn’t get free relief for hitting it off the course. Jordan Spieth got something similar in the Open a few years ago where he was essentially rewarded for hitting it so far offline.
Regardless, Scheffler played great. But I’m ready for a Masters with several guys fighting for the lead on the back 9 again.
Disagree strongly. Golf has enough stupid rules that anger all but the 10% fanatics. Pretty much to argue that a grandstand is something that a golfer should just deal with, when no course in its natural state has a grandstand, is a golf fanatic comment. Those of us that are more casual fans, who have a normal sense of fair play, would cause us to pull out our hair if it ended up effecting a tournament.
I also disagree strongly. For the Masters they put up portable bathrooms and trash receptacles. Should the player be penalized for ending up behind one of these? All the temporary scoreboards are similar. The temporary immovable instruction rule has been in place forever, one of rules that makes absolute sense (lots of old rules don't make much sense at all.) And I don't think this is a view for fanatics or purists. My guess is that most golfers would agree. .
The scoreboards are very different. They’re huge and everyone knows they’re there, and again, they are out of the field of play. They should not be considered a temporary obstruction the way something like smaller like a trash can is.
You’re acting like it’s an unlucky break to end up behind one. It’s not — if anything, it’s a lucky break because of the free relief. No one is intentionally hitting it there; it requires a terrible shot.
It’s funny that you say that because fair play is exactly why I have a problem with it! It seems incredibly unfair to bail them out of a terrible shot. It would come into play on less than 1% of shots in a tournament because pros don’t generally hit it that badly, and if they knew they weren’t getting free relief they’d have more reason to avoid it the same as a water hazard or a bunch of trees.
It seems like a simple thing to make things fair for the field and punish the really bad shots. Who knows how different Sunday would have been if Scheffler had to scramble from behind the scoreboard instead of having an opportunity to chip in for birdie? Just doesn’t seem fair that he was able to avoid the consequences of his terrible shot.
I agree. In many tournaments the pros will default to hitting it long on #18 because there are always grandstands behind the green and they get a free drop 10 feet behind the green. These are pros. Make the grandstands and scoreboards "permanent" structures. You hit behind one, tough luck - that's not where you're supposed to hit the ball.
Or just build the grandstands far enough back that the free drop doesn’t help that much — that’s something they do well at Augusta. The only place you can hit long into a grandstand behind a green is still in a bad position after a drop so no one would do it on purpose.