Pardon me for being a little excited this week, but did anyone else notice? For the first time in 2018, the European Tour happens to be hosting a tournament in . . .

 In a time zone that isn’t abhorrent for those of us on the east coast of the United States! Let’s all take a moment to do a little happy dance.

This week, we venture to the beautiful city of Madrid for the National Open of Spain. The Open de España returns to the European Tour schedule after a one-year hiatus in 2017. Although the field is somewhat depleted, with several Euro stalwarts either playing the RBC Heritage or taking a week off, the very fact that seven of the next nine tournaments are in Europe is reason enough for me to get pumped for the first of them. Not to mention, Spain is one of the most underrated golfing nations both historically and presently. This current crop of Spanish golfers is deep, stylish, and full of staying power. The people of Spain deserve to have their National Open be a celebration of native sons.

After round one, it’s no surprise that 

 is already in the mix. Rahm played very well at Augusta, finishing solo fourth at -11, but oddly never 

 seemed to be a factor late on Sunday. Nonetheless, Rahm has established time and again in his short career that he will compete for hardware virtually every time he tees it up, anywhere in the world. It seems fitting that this would translate to his native Spain, too.

Rahm finds himself in a massive log jam at -5 after a first round 67, along with 10 others. He’s only one stroke off the early six-under pace set by 

 (who is definitely becoming a menace in his own right) and 

 on a very gettable golf course, and while it may be a 

 early to start engraving the trophy, the rest of the field is definitely under an early Rahmthreat warning. Also, there’s this:

This is the 3rd time since the beginning of 2017 than 

 opened with a score of -5 or better worldwide. He won the previous 2 instances (Irish Open, CareerBuilder).



— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) 

Aside from Rahm, however, there are a number of other Spanish players bucking their heads out of the gates, but it’s not necessarily the names you might expect. The duo of Alvaro Quiros and Jorge Campillo (both sitting at -2) are off to a solid start. On the other hand, the Notorious R-C-B and fellow tour-visor aficionado Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño both appeared a little sluggish, with (+1) 73s, finding themselves tied for 114th with plenty of ground to make up on Friday just to see the weekend.

But without a doubt, the biggest round one surprise was 24 year old Spanish amateur, 

. Pastor fired a first round 67 that included five birdies and an eagle, with only two blemishes. Candidly, I’m not very familiar with Señor Pastor. He is currently the 11th ranked amateur in Europe, but his results have definitely been a mixed-bag (even round-to-round within events). Among the highs: a fourth-place finish at the 2017 European Amateur at the venerable Walton Heath (rounds of 71-64-73-66), and a runner up finish at the Copa Andalucia 2018 in January (66-75-75-67). Among the lows: 80-76 at the 2018 Spanish Amateur in February, and a final round 80 to drift from solidly in contention to barely a top-25 at the Italian International Amateur in March. Hopefully, Pastor is able to keep the good vibes rolling from round one and avoid the blow-up score that has plagued him. It is always fun to see amateurs go deep in professional events, and although he’ll have his work cut out for him, it would be quite the storyline for Pastor to find himself in the mix on Sunday.

The 2016 Open de España saw Andrew “Beef” Johnston achieve his maiden European Tour victory–a 1-shot triumph over Uncle Joost, with a (+1) 285 total at the tough Valderrama Golf Club. Beef had been knocking on the door for quite some time, with a solid made-cut percentage and a few top-10s in the lead-up to his breakthrough win. After the final round, he gave this answer to the interviewer’s question of how he planned to celebrate:

Best winner's interview ever ?



This week's defending champion 





— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) 

Crack on, Beef. The interview got some viral traction online, and combined with his trademark beard, accent, affable personality, 8th place finish at The Open 2016 and lucrative (and obviously sensible) Arby’s endorsement deal that included a number of commercials (which were not horrible!), Beef became a household name for golf fans around the world.

Currently 30th in the Race to Dubai and 130th in the OWGR, Johnston could use some magic this week to get his 2018 campaign jump started. Johnston’s belated title defense is off to a good start, with an opening 68–two shots off the lead.

, is a public course set in the hills northwest of Madrid. The course also serves as the home of Real Federación de Española de Golf (the Royal Spanish Golf Federation, the sport’s governing body in Spain). Centro Nacional emphasizes public access to the game, with affordable rates for the everyday golfer and very discounted greens fees for junior golfers, along with a pitch-and-putt, golf school, and other amenities.

A wee bit narrow in the fairway department. Photo cred: Centro Nacional de Golf

Given the turbulent economic times in Spain, it is refreshing and important to make the game accessible, so I’ll give the course itself–which is…um…kinda uninspiring?–a pass. At the very least, it could provide some excitement in the form of low scores, as the course only clocks in at just under 7,100 yards and plays much shorter than that. Given the first round numbers, the winner of the event is probably going to be in the -18 to -20 range, so maybe we’ll be treated to a crowded leaderboard and a shootout on Sunday.

Golf Channel will be showing live coverage from 6:00 am to 8:00 am, and 10:00 am to 1:00 pm on Friday, April 13. On Saturday and Sunday, Golf Channel will air the weekend coverage from 8:00 am to noon both days.

It’s never too early for sangria, right?

The Eurozone: #8 (Tenemos la carne)

As is tradition, the tour decamps from the pressurized cauldron of Augusta to the laid back detoxifying environs of Hilton Head. I look forward to this event every year for a variety of reasons: the course is an interesting change of pace, it’s a short drive, the field is always eclectic, and the setup on-site is always conducive to watching a lot of golf (which isn’t always the case at tour events). Beyond all of that, the tournament engenders some nostalgia and harkens back to how I imagine the tour was back before it became big business. Low-key atmosphere without the typical security and seriousness, a cozy course, most of the field standing a chance to actually win, and a polite conviviality among both fans and players. More on this from the

As noted in the memories below, the Heritage has played an outsized role in the development of No Laying Up, which is somewhat ironic considering that it’s a safe haven for #LPCP tacticians. Randy’s attended the tournament the most, having been a near-annual participant since his formative years. I started going in 2006 and have been attending off and on ever since. Neil and Soly both made an appearance in 2014, when we recorded the first NLU podcast on Saturday night while I munched on chips and shat all over Kuchar, who proceeded to shoot 64 the next day to win.

We’ve been through lean years: 2009 when Brian Gay prevailed by ten strokes (!!!) over Luke Donald and Briny Baird; 2012 saw #HotCarl Pettersson win by five over Zach Johnson. We’ve seen fascinating triumph: Graeme McDowell’s win in 2013 in some of the windiest conditions springs immediately to mind. And we’ve endured heartbreaking defeat: the 2010 Woody Austin catastrophe is detailed in the “Memories” section below. Through it all, there’s been one constant Luke Donald playing well no matter what. LD never misses the cut, usually finishes second (five times a bridesmaid), and lately has relied upon Harbour Town to lock up his card for the following season.

This was the first golf tournament I really ‘attended,’ and by that I mean following a group for 18 holes (in this case PXG Staff Sergeant Major Billy Horschel and the ghost of Trevor Immelman) on a Friday while they grinded for a cut. It was eye opening to see these guys play when very little attention was coming there way, and it was an eye opening experience taking a 4+ hour walk with a group that you could feel wondering why are these guys following us right now, we are playing shitty. I really enjoyed the experience and Harbor Town has so many tricky iron shots from both the tees and fairways that it was a very interesting day. Harbour Town is also the site of the first NLU podcast…that’s wild man!

Lots of fond memories of Harbour Town! Remember way back when it was still the MCI, and I was a young buck, I loved going up to Harbour Town and playing around amongst the fan experience area. More recently I appreciate it for being a great walk, a laid back atmosphere, and a course which forces interesting play. I love cruising my bike to various side streets around Sea Pines and taking advantage of numerous entry points (which may or may not even require a badge). The whole thing is a big Clemson/USC reunion weekend on the Island, so there’s a party vibe about it, but it’s also a tournament you can easily follow just about any group you wish and get really close to some cool Pete Dye routing and features. And of course, the best tradition Tron and I have now whenever we make it is to hit the hibachi grill in the evening after play. A cherry on top of wonderful days of golf.

I had watched the Hilton Head event on TV for years before it really clicked how much I enjoyed it. Players and media trip over themselves to talk about how great the golf course is and, as a telecast viewer, that doesn’t always shine through. I don’t think it was until I experienced the event as a fan – walking the course, seeing how different shots are demanded at different times throughout the round, soaking up the criminally chill vibe that surrounds the event, drinking cactus lime Mick Ultra’s – that it really made sense to me. It’s so different than what we see week-to-week on Tour and feels like a real throwback to what the Tour used to be like. The galleries are a little smaller and more intimate. The style of play seems more creative and you see a much different group of guys who can compete. If you ever get the chance to attend in person, make sure to do it, because on TV many of the holes can just run together.

I recall the 2010 Verizon Heritage like it was yesterday. Woody Austin started the day in third place, and was right in the mix as he made the turn at -10, four strokes back of Jim Furyk. Being huge fans of Woody and his everyman persona we took it upon ourselves to follow his group for the entirety of the back nine to try to bring some good energy. He proceeded to finish in a tie for 22nd place after shooting five over par on the back, including a quad on the 72nd hole. The two of us stood beside the walkway from the 18th green to the clubhouse drunken and devastated while Furyk battled the erstwhile Englishman Brian Davis in a sudden-death playoff. Minutes later, Furyk appeared wearing the tartan jacket bestowed upon the winner, at which point Randy and I sternly (but politely!) informed him that jacket belonged to Woody and he should think long and hard about what he’d done. Fury, went on to win the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup later that season, aided in part by Woody’s collapse.

Unrelated, but I can’t reference Woody at Harbour Town without including this goodie:

Much is made of the course, and for good reason. While I tend to favor the back nine, the last two holes on the front typify the course: the hazard-laden long par-4 8th poses a ballstriking challenge, while the short par-4 9th (

which Zac Blair detailed last year for the tour website

) offers up more of a cerebral challenge and is among the most interesting on the entire tour schedule. I typically stand on the 9th tee box for hours on end watching group after group play the hole in a wide variety of ways. The view from behind the 9th tee is shown at the top of the article. Last year Charles Howell III apologized after the round for hitting a 7-iron off the tee (his apology was not accepted).

Moving to the back nine, 12, 13 and 16 are exceptional par-4’s that demand precision and decisiveness into uniquely shaped greens. If the wind is up 14 is among the hardest par-3’s on the entire tour, with water fronting the green short and right and OB/death long and left. The 18th, while distinctive, is a strange signature hole in that it doesn’t really match the rest of the course stylistically with it’s wide open fairway along the Calibogue Sound.

– Last year I got a little fired up because of the “invitational” category of this event, meaning that a few worthy players with status from last year’s Web.com Tour season don’t get in due to the smaller field (144 players). The same is true this year, with several guys with “full status” not making it in (Duncan, Lovelady, Uihlein, Lindheim, etc.) However the bigger story is that three guys who sit well within the top 100 in the world – Paul Dunne, Julian Suri and the aforementioned Uihlein – are all on the outside looking in. While Dunne is in this week’s Open de Espana, and Uihlein seems increasingly focused on playing a more US-focused schedule, it is surprising to see Suri sitting out.

– There’s a distinctly international flavor with European Tour regulars An, Fisher, Fitzpatrick, Frittelli, Hatton, Kaymer and Kodaira all playing. 2016 champion Branden Grace is skipping due to the birth of his first child.

I am sad to announce that I will not be playing 

 this week to make sure I am present for the birth of my first child. I wish you all the best on this 50th anniversary and I can't wait to make it back in 2019 for the 51st. 

– Anthony Kim finished runner-up in 2008 to Boo Weekley, who won his second event in a row. I bring this up because 1) I don’t remember it 2) it makes me happy to know that AK’s game was versatile to play on a wide variety of courses.

– Among this week’s groupings, three stuck out: the Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman group should be top shelf. Cam Smith, Schauffele, Snedeker also a premium selection, with Smith a popular pick to win this week. He should make the leap here soon. Lastly, Maggert, Lahiri, Fitzpatrick group is an interesting concoction for a variety of reasons. If you listened to the 

 from January you’ll recall his stated affinity for this venue. He’ll look to get his season back on track with a good finish. Maggert opting to skip the Champions Tour event in Atlanta for a crack at Harbour Town.

– Any event DJ tees it up in he’s worth watching, but particularly so at this event. He returns to his native South Carolina thanks to his recent endorsement deal with RBC. While many peg him a bomber, he’s so long and accurate with his long irons that I think this course suits him quite well. He has two missed cuts to his discredit in this event, but throw those out as they’re from a decade ago. I expect him to contend this week and surprise some people.

– In a similar vein, I’m going to continue banging the drum for Tiger to play here. Much like his appearances a few years ago at Greenbrier and Wyndham, the Cat should consider adding Heritage, Colonial and Travelers to the schedule. These would fit in with his goodwill tour and suit his game much more than they would’ve ten years ago. Stingers for days.

– Lastly, some words about whether or not you should #LiveUnderPar. I’m personally struggling with it a little bit on multiple levels. Assuming this campaign is targeted at people who aren’t currently golf fans (I imagine the current demographics they’re getting from the market research folks don’t look great) it seems odd that they’d go with something that means something totally different in the literal sense. If I’m not a golfer and I hear that I’m thinking “damn, why would I want to live in subpar conditions?” Digging deeper, #LiveUnderPar suggests the tour is too focused on buzzwords, focus groups, and bait-and-switching people into liking golf in spite of golf, and not focused enough on the product outside of the handful of big ticket events on the slate. The apparent lack of thought or care given to existing/core fans is also concerning, whether it be through this tagline or the insipidness of the @pgatour social accounts. NLU is all for getting more people in the tent – golf is a beautiful game that consumes our lives! We just disagree on the means being used to do so. If you’re so inclined, Geoff Shackelford offered up some thoughtful words on the 

 ? Clearly they don’t know that being under par in the UK means you feel like crap!!! Someone’s been paid to come up with that!!



— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) 

encourage you to navigate to the Tour’s

for a concerning deeper look at some of the rather vacuous content supporting the new campaign. In any case we’ll continue to have some fun with it, keep it lighthearted, and maintain some perspective since it’s 

 a tagline. And hey, at least Johnson Wagner and Kevin Streelman got some love!

Huge morning – great workout, breakfast at WaHo, then a productive stint at the coffee shop. Was staring 33 or 34 right in the face until I realized I forgot my computer charger and closed out the front nine with a disastrous triple bogey. Shitty course management. 

Enjoy the week – I’ll be on site on Saturday as a fan and then back to Jax on Sunday morning to prep for Sunday evening’s 

Weekly Briefing: Heritage

Big Randy and Tron here with a a few final thoughts about The Masters, as well as some riffs on Heritage on tap this week:

Jordan Spieth seems like he might be well-suited for the Masters. This year was his fifth career start at Augusta. Here’s how he compares to Tiger through five starts:

: TIGER WOODS JORDAN SPIETH 1997 270 (1st) 2014 283 (2nd) 1998 285 (8th) 2015 270 (1st) 1999 289 (18th) 2016 286 (2nd) 2000 284 (5th) 2017 287 (11th) 2001 272 (1st) 2018 275 (3rd) Scoring Average 70.00 70.05 Average Finish 6.6 3.8

Tiger would win two more times in his next five starts, posting a scoring average of 70.8 with an average finish of 8.4. It’ll be fascinating to see what happens across Spieth’s next several starts. Can he keep pace, or even outpace the Cat?

At the risk of belaboring the Rickie stuff, which I tried to lay out on the Masters recap podcast, I thought it’d be sort of interesting to compare the Ricktator’s resume, admittedly at a macro level, against three other anonymous Americans, plus a top International player (who’s quickly becoming the forgotten man). Scroll all the way to the bottom to see who’s who.

4 wins (2 Euro wins), 0 majors (3 runner-ups), 3 Ryder Cup/2 Presidents Cup appearances, 29 years old

4 wins (0 Euro wins), 1 major (0 runner-ups), 2 Ryder Cup/2 Presidents Cup appearances, 32 years old

3 wins (0 Euro wins), 1 major (0 runner-ups), 2 Ryder Cup/1 Presidents Cup appearances, 31 years old

6 wins (1 Euro win), 1 major (1 runner-up), 2 Ryder Cup/2 Presidents Cup appearances, 27 years old

11 wins (3 Euro wins), 1 major (4 runner-ups), 4 Presidents Cup appearances, 30 years old

Another Masters missed cut for El Pato this year. Second year in a row that’s happened. He hasn’t broken 75 in two years and has only broken par one round since his runner-up finish in 2013. That little five-year heater Cabrera went on between 2009 and 2013 at Augusta was thoroughly enjoyable for me but I’m afraid the magic may have run out. Angel is currently ranked 1,128th in the world. Yikes. His magic anywhere may be out. I hope not.

Random tidbits from the final leaderboard: Jon Rahm shot fourteen under par for rounds two, three and four and at no point did it truly feel like he was in a flow or acting like he was pleased with his play…Another exceptional performance from Cam Smith, who shot 30 on the final nine. The 24 year old is trending toward heavyweight status with his results over the past 18 months and should be considered a bona fide dark horse for Shinnecock…Disappointing Masters debut for Patrick Cantlay, who shot 75-76.

Here are all the career Masters scores of somebody competing this year:

Believe it or not there’s a Green Jacket in there, belongs to Danny Willett. Incredible!

Little bit of uniqueness from the final leaderboard. Martin Kaymer was the only guy to both make the cut and not shoot par (or better) in any round. He finished solo 48th after firing 74-73-74-73.

The contrast between course conditions Thu/Fri and Sat/Sun was stark and showed how much more interesting golf can be when it’s firm and fast. And while much is made of Augusta’s sub-air systems, it seemed that the course was set up for chasers on Sunday and the greens didn’t play near as firm as it could have. In a similar vein, several caddies and players mentioned that 10th and 12th greens were clearly tweaked over the past year but nobody wanted to acknowledge it publicly.

Quick note on the PGA Tour website as I spent quite a bit of time recently having a look around there for different players’ statistics across different years and within different tournaments. It’s not good. Not very user-friendly. Feel like it’s cumbersome and choppy to navigate between player results, and you can’t isolate individual tournaments for a player’s career. Maybe the (un)functionality is by design, I don’t know, but it’d be super awesome if the site were more intuitive while offering better statistical information. And don’t get me started on that bottom banner ad–that thing is a disgrace.

Dustin Johnson is playing the Heritage this week, his first start in Hilton Head since 2009. He’s yet to break par on the iconic Pete Dye design, going 79-79 in 2008 and 71-76 in 2009 while MCing the proceedings. I’m keen to see how he manages this year. Always a fascinating dichotomy when a bomber like DJ takes on Harbour Town Golf Links. Other surprising names in the field this week include Tyrell Hatton, Satoshi Kodaira, Doc Redman, and Steve Scott. And some guys DEEP in the world top 100 that are alternates this week: Peter Uihlein, Paul Dunne and Julian Suri.

Disappointing to see Big Cat continuing to skip Heritage, a tournament and venue that would be perfect for his game. Hit stingers all over the place, flight some irons and feed on the low-key atmosphere of the place. Cat made sure to mention that he’s headed to the gym this week to get reps and keep bulking up.

Monday (Post-Masters) Leftovers

Happy Friday to everyone. Pleased to report that I’m back bouncing around after dealing with a bout of low T yesterday on the heels of our Sweetens Cove extravaganza and then a quick visit to Augusta. I hadn’t been to ANGC in a couple years and viewed it through a different (i.e. 

 more critical) lens this time versus past visits. Frankly I’m having trouble discerning if I’m just off the deep end of negativity/jadedness or if these are legitimate gripes. Like anything, probably somewhere in the middle.

Golf course architecture is something that I’ve only gotten deep into over the past 24 months and have learned a lot from a variety of sources like Geoff Shackelford, Michael Clayton, Zac Blair, Geoff Ogilvy, Andy Johnson, and others. Like any niche subject matter the deeper you get the more you develop your own opinions. The guys listed above continue to impart foundational wisdom about the tenets of golden age architecture, and more and more I feel my comfortable and strident in developing my own opinions and fleshing out my observations.

Obviously nitpicking here but there are glaring details all over the course that make me irrationally upset, some are well documented, some not: the bunkers are straight-up bland Faz (especially after seeing the MacKenzie bunkering up close down in Melbourne last year); the bunker down the right side of 2 seems out of place; the ponds on 11 and 16 are out of place and a relic of RTJ’s penal golf course philosophy; the current state of 7 is outright gross; the fairway should continue around the left side of the fairway bunkers on 3; the unnecessary trees on a dozen different holes; a narrow strip of unnecessary “second cut” bisects many green runoffs and tee boxes, needlessly separating them and chopping up the aesthetic; the level of overseed/lack of dormant bermuda is staggering; etc. Again, some of these are small details, but we’re talking about a consensus top five course in the world here: the standards are sky-high and having the blueprint for what the place once was (and could be again) makes the microscope even finer. It should be held to the highest possible standard, and they’re whiffing on details here.

The constant nods to history are the most off-kilter part of ANGC and Masters week at large, as if they’re willfully ignoring MacKenzie’s contributions/philosophy and yielding to some internal Cliff Roberts voice that values superficiality. This all wouldn’t be so frustrating except for the fact that American golf at large looks to Augusta as its ideal. Tom Fazio is the consulting architect for godsake!

And while the fan experience is second to none, one can’t help but think that’s reaching a tipping point. On Wednesday I picked up an egg salad sandwich in the concession stand to the right of the tenth hole and was positively blown up by a volunteer who basically yelled in my face that those are a Masters tradition. I’m from the south so I want to be careful not to conflate genuine hospitality with an over-the-top act, but with each passing year I feel like the tournament becomes more of the latter – performance art where we’re treated to an impersonation of The Masters. The cheese is amped up one more level every year. Even the ice cream sandwich just seemed a little too cute (sugar cookie with peach ice cream in the middle – eyeroll. Just give me a chocolate chip ice cookie ice cream sando and call it a day.) /end rant

– Can’t help but marvel at Jordan Spieth. His putting stroke’s been derided all season (not unfairly) and we haven’t seen anything even remotely resembling his ceiling since last year. His ballstriking showed signs of life last week and then it’s like the light just went off yesterday and his entire game came together, right on schedule. The scary part is that this seems like (i.e. me reading the tea leaves and projecting my take) it was the plan all along and that he’s been holed up in the lab with Cam McCormick working on things, being incredibly patient with the process, and conserving competitive energy. Remarkable discipline and commitment to be able to do that while the entire golf world is simultaneously asking “what’s wrong with Jordan Spieth?”

Digging deeper into that commitment and discipline, JS seems content to focus on majors and treat most of the tour schedule as secondary in his quest. Many guys talk about doing that but it’s exceedingly rare to see total commitment to it beyond Big Cat. Lastly, watching Spieth plot his way around Augusta is akin to watching the world’s most competent actuary deducing risks and elements that others don’t even recognize. I imagine that last year’s debacle on 12 only furthered that philosophy for him. He’s not even tempted by the fruits of low-percentage plays. Obviously I’m reading too deep into one round and he’s throwing up all over himself today, but those are action errors. Guy simply doesn’t make decision errors in these parts. Porter said it best:

They should replace Spieth's locker at Augusta National with a wardrobe. Augusta is his Narnia.



— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) 

– The leaderboard is so good that I’m having trouble staying in the moment and enjoying the process. Instead I’m looking ahead to Saturday and Sunday NARBing. Spieth, McIlroy, DJ, Mickelson, Flower, Oosty, Stenson, Reed, Leish, Kuch, Fleetwood, and Rose all firmly in the mix and Cat lurking after a remarkable Thursday grindhouse special. This weekend might be way too good.

– Want to give a shoutout to the Big Hunani, aka Haotong Li, who seems to be playing Wolf Hammer out there:

 Haotong with the Saddam!



— James Montessi ⛳️ (@Montessi) 

– Caught some of Joaquin Niemann’s warmup session yesterday – he puts a cool move on the ball and possesses serious hip action.

– Obligatory Sergio take: I love Sergio but thoroughly enjoyed the performance on 15. My only gripe is that he should’ve leaned in and played it up, especially after he one-putted. He’s a competitor and wants to defend his title, but when an ejection that fiery occurs on a Thursday there’s nothing you can do but laugh and accept it. I was also secretly rooting for him to run out of balls just because I’ve never seen that happen before. Anyway, head up Sergio!

– Pretty disappointed in Aphibarnrat after a first round 79. Expected to see a good showing this week from him and Cam Smith. Cam is holding up his end of the bargain after Thursday.

– Wind is supposed to stay up for the late afternoon today, resulting in vastly different conditions than those encountered by Spieth and the Thursday PM wave. The Thursday PM/Friday AM wave looks to have a distinct advantage – will see if that materializes. Round 1 hole locations are typically toughest, keep that in mind.

– Keep an eye out for the front hole location on 13 today. A frequent criticism of the course setup is the encroachment of the gallery along the right side of 13. For anyone forced to lay up the ideal play to both Thursday and Friday’s pins is to blow it 75 yards right, basically onto the member’s tee on 14. But moving the galleries is arduous and time consuming, so very rarely will anyone actually go that route. Perfect example of Augusta disrespecting the cult of width and angles.

– Big spot for Adam Hadwin today starting the day at -3. Each time he’s shown on the broadcast I keep thinking he’s the love child of Mike Weir and Cam Tringale.

– Early coverage yesterday was good on Masters.com with Leish/Cat/Fleetwood. The Casey/Matsuyama/Kizzire group lacked some pop and was a little painful to watch on the back. DL3 provided some solid insights on the featured group coverage, and Billy Ray Brown continues to be one of the best in the business. Things lost steam once ESPN came on (with CBS production, I’ll add), the action slowed down (nothing you can do there) and gave too much of a cursory role to SVP and Curtis Strange, both of whom should be leading the telecast on Thu/Fri. Again today it seems like some flexibility would help matters re: the featured groups, as JWall pointed out:

Really wish the powers that be could flex McIlroy coverage right about now. Li-Couples-Niemann ain’t cutting it.



— Jonathan Wall (@jonathanrwall) 

Enjoy the coverage today and we’ll see you for the live show this evening!

Friday Feels: Augusta

 reached out and offered up some goodies regarding the setup of ANGC this week. In the same vein as having caddies Jim “Bones” McKay and Matty Kelly on the pod, we thought it valuable to shed some light onto the course conditions from an expert in that field. Moving forward we will try to lean on him for his expertise for big events as the de facto in-house NLU agronomist. Enjoy! – Tron

*figures listed are according to News Bulletin No. 1

Everything at Augusta National is secretive, even their heights of cut. The figures above are the heights of cut posted in a recent Masters News Bulletin. In my professional opinion, there is no way to get greens to run out as fast as they do at ANGC at 1/8”. Your local private club is probably running between 11’ and 12’ on the Stimp, mowing their greens at 1/10” with a single roll on a daily basis depending on environmental and growing conditions. Keep in mind anything is possible when ANGC is mowing and rolling greens at least twice a day.

Fairways are all mowed from green to tee. This promotes turf that grows against the direction of play and into the impact of a golf swing. The overseeded ryegrass does not actually create grain unless you have an uphill lie, and the upright orientation of the leafblades help to create an ideal lie for a ball sitting in the fairway. Short shots that require more finesse and feel around the greens may be a little “sticky” from this mowing practice, which is why you see stubbed and flubbed chip shots that end up back at the players feet.

Greens are mowed in a pattern referred to as the “double freakie,” which is the four-way double cut diagrammed below. One pass with a greens mower is made in one direction, then the mower is turned around and goes over the exact same line in the opposite direction. Another greens mower starts the process at a 90 degree angle. The greens are also brushed before they are mowed. This promotes an upright leafblade orientation that ensures a uniform cut throughout the green. These practices eliminate any grain on the greens, when you hear Faldo talk about grain on the greens you can feel free to call BS.

The collars and fringes are mowed at different heights using the same machine in a single pass. The machine is called a “wacky head mower” and was invented by the maintenance team at Augusta National. Half of the mower reel sits on the collar of the green, the other half sits on the fringe cut. If you look close enough during the broadcast, you will see the distinct heights of cut running off the green into the surrounds and approaches.

The slopes and contours on the greens at Augusta National are dramatic to say the least, some more than others. Each green at ANGC receives personalized treatment and conditioning that best reflect its slope, pin location, and shot-making values. Greens speed, firmness, and moisture ratings vary from hole to hole depending on the character of each green. During the Masters Tournament, each green receives its personalized treatment from a dedicated crew whose sole focus is to create the best playing conditions possible for their particular green. The reason ANGC does not publicize their greens speed or firmness rating is because they are inconsistent, and they have to be. A uniform speed and firmness from green to green would simply not be fair due to the dramatic slopes found at ANGC. The golf course has never been officially rated by the USGA, however an ‘unofficial rating’ was conducted during tournament practice rounds in 2010. The unofficial rating of the golf course was determined to be 78.1 with an average greens speed of 12’, peaking at 15’. The large variance in greens speed is to protect the golfers from the dramatic slopes and contours. If the 12th green was rolling north of 13’ on the Stimpmeter, the green would essentially be unplayable with its back-to-front slope pushing shots into Rae’s Creek.

It should also be noted that the conditioning of the greens at ANGC can be regulated through state of the art sub-surface drainage systems and heating/cooling systems. The greens through Amen Corner can sit as much as 170 feet of elevation below the Clubhouse. Due to this change in elevation and topography, temperatures and environmental conditions can be quite different depending on your location on the golf course. On cooler, brisk mornings, the climate control systems can help to regulate the greens temperature to promote turf health and growth conditions. Conversely, on warm, muggy days, the temperature and moisture levels can be controlled as well. Most golf courses in the Southeastern part of the country use warm-season turf to grass their greens, like bermuda or zoysia grasses because of their drought and heat tolerant characteristics. Augusta National grasses their greens with bentgrass, which is classified as a cool-season turfgrass. Bentgrass does not do well under hot and wet conditions; turf loss and disease are major concerns under these stressors. The bentgrass greens at ANGC are strong and healthy year after year, largely in part to the sub-surface drainage and climate-control systems, coupled with a seemingly bottomless maintenance budget and the Agronomy Team’s impeccable attention to detail.

The Agronomy Team during the Masters Tournament is not the everyday maintenance staff at ANGC. It is an all-star roster of the greatest minds and up-and-comers in the turfgrass industry. The guys and gals you see on mowers throughout the week likely run their own golf course maintenance operation somewhere else across the country, probably with superb conditions as well.

Weather permitting, Augusta National is able to create the playing environment they want to see on a daily basis with this cutting edge technology and endless agronomic resources. If they want the greens to play firm and fast, they crank up the SubAir and dry out the greens. If they want to see soft shots where players have to control spin, they can irrigate and regulate their desired firmness and moisture content to do so. At your home club, a soil moisture rating of 15% – 19% would be considered relatively dry. At ANGC, I would imagine this range would be considered ideal for the shots the committee wants to see played into their greens. Many players have said that the golf course they see on Thursday is drastically different from the golf course they played their practice rounds on. Monday through Wednesday players are attacking flags and getting the ball to stop on a dime. Then it seems as though someone flipped a switch Thursday morning and wanted to see carnage, and that is exactly what happened.

Augusta National’s primary turfgrass is bermuda. During the hot and humid Georgia summer, bermudagrass covers the landscape because of its heat tolerance characteristics (amongst other reasons). In the Fall as the nights become cooler, the bermudagrass goes dormant, stops growing, and turns brown. Once the weather patterns are desirable to grow cool season grasses, the bermudagrass is scalped down from tee to green to almost nothing. The scalping process can be quite aggressive depending on the bermuda’s health. It is very labor intensive and requires an incredible amount of resource inputs. Once the bermuda has been scalped, perennial ryegrass seed is laid out from wall-to-wall using calibrated spreaders that ensure all areas receive enough ryegrass seed to promote a dense and uniform turf canopy. In my personal experience in overseeding, we have used more than a million gallons of water per day to establish germination, matched with a fertilization program that can cost up to $10,000 per application in product alone (both statistics I have a hard time advocating, rationalizing, and standing behind). From the time the ryegrass seed is spread to the time you can re-open the golf course to play may be from 4-6 weeks depending on environmental and growth conditions. We will never see it in our lifetime, but I would love to see how ANGC looks after a partial overseed – leaving the rough as dormant bermuda and growing perennial ryegrass on the tees and fairways – see TPC Scottsdale or PGA West.

The Masters: Agronomic Summary

Here’s a take: #17 at Augusta National (Nandina) stinks.

Before the congregation comes at me for blasphemous statements against the hallowed sanctuary that is Augusta National Golf Club, I'll say that on most other courses, it would be a solid golf hole. But its current circumstances don’t allow for the benefit of the doubt. Please think about Nandina and answer two questions:

RIP Ike, his tree, and the excitement of #17. Long live the left to right ball flight.

The first question is the most difficult to answer based on what I see via the telecast and have learned over the years from Ian Baker Finch, who covers the hole for CBS. The hole clearly plays as one of the harder on the back nine with a 4.19 historical scoring average, but unlike 11 with the intimidating second shot and obvious trouble left, 17 possesses no real hazards. 14 has carved out its role as a unique test with one of the crazier greens on the course, a bunker-less breath between the excitement of gettable par 5s. Augusta already has the onerous par 4 with a deep front bunker and segmented green in number 18, a classic uphill finisher making 17 a bit redundant in its current form.

With the loss of the Eisenhower tree in 2014, CBS lost its narrative for Nandina. That tree was the hole’s identity and an easy anchor for what made #17 unique. When the final groups walked up the back hill from #16 green, Nantz just had to play the hits: mention Ike, play up the tradition and lore of Augusta, and let IBF take over. Nandina was a potent elixir of patriotism and nostalgia, but without that tree, it’s now just a long par 4 they’ve had to make longer due to modern technology. On top of that, the CBS cameras are poorly positioned and don’t give us a feel for the blind second shot into what’s one of the hardest greens on the course. How about giving us a topographical map or view of where the green breaks instead of the watered down fly over of a bland hole that hardly mentions the difficult green complex? But hey, I should cut CBS some slack…

On both my visits to Augusta I’ve found myself crisscrossing the 17th fairway repeatedly on my way more interesting holes. During those traverses, I’ve watched a number of approaches into 17 before the marshals open up the walkway at the crest of the fairway, and each time I’ve found the shot leaving much to be desired. The bombers get up on top of the hill for an easier 8 or 9 iron in while the Kuch’s and ZJ’s have a much tougher blind mid-iron into a rock hard green. Yes, I do respect the degree of difficulty watching pros sling darts into a difficult pin, but I’d love to hear someone tell me that a drive or approach on 17 was a shot that stuck with them. Shit, other than Jack’s putt in ’86, I’d love to hear any other iconic shots anyone can list from anywhere on the current 17th, pictured right. This is pretty remarkable for the penultimate hole at The Masters Tournament. The back nine on Saturday and Sunday is a rolling crescendo of energy through the 16th. Once the action reaches 17 it feels akin to one of those generic IBM commercials – a vague placeholder that’s just there because it’s always been that way. The hole sets that a par-par finish for the leader will be good enough. It doesn’t 

Fear not, there’s a better way forward: take the spirit and concept of the 3rd hole (Flowering Peach), which is the most interesting par 4 on the course, and apply it to the land which currently constitutes 17. According to the 

“believed the third hole to be nearly perfect in design. Thus, this hole has been changed less than any other on the course.” 

Year after year, I listen to Peter Kostis rave about the risk reward elements of the tee shot, and how even the longest hitters don’t gain much of an advantage going for it off the tee due to the delicate touch required around the table top green.

Using the 3rd hole (pictured left) as a template for improving 17 is the perfect antidote to a barrage of tweaks and lengthening over the past two decades that’s denuded the course of personality and creativity. Picture an uphill 310-325 par 4 with that same rock-hard green and a bit more penal collection area off the back. I’ll let the real architects do what they do and handle the details and execution; I’m an “idea guy!” But the

 might be too good: guys chasing the leader, fresh off the cauldron of 16 with adrenaline pumping, knowing they need birdie and grabbing driver instead of the sensible iron.

Augusta National is one of the most altered courses in the history of the game, a fact which should provide a license to make an improvement that would add variety to the course and elicit drama beyond the usual suspects down along Big Play Rae’s Creek (and its tributaries). A wise man down in Australia once told me that a golf course is a living organism that ebbs and flows with the tides of time and can always be improved. ANGC obviously subscribes to that philosophy given the myriad changes from Mackenzie to Maxwell to Jones Sr. to Fazio (and everyone in between), but often misses the boat on what those changes 

 be. With Eisenhower’s Tree long gone, a reimagining of 17 would be a great start to unlocking some of the unrealized potential of ANGC, which is surprisingly plentiful.

Stinky Nandina

(Photos courtesy of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort)

I tend to gravitate toward hipster things. Hipster music, hipster movies. Give me all of it. I just want to say that up front because I want us to all be on the same page here regarding my biases.

“My favorite Bandon course is Trails” can often sound like the “that single is the worst song on the album” of golf takes. In my experience, it’s typically uttered by 19th hole contrarians looking for an argument and an excuse to grab one more cocktail before calling it a night.

But now, as I’m sitting on the flight home, my feet sore from logging north of 150 holes in four days, I’m trying to silence the contrarian part of my brain. It’s attempting to surface some wild ideas about my experience on the central coast of Oregon and wreaking havoc on my personal course rankings.

Here’s where I’ve landed: Bandon Trails 

 the best golf course at Bandon Dunes. (Don’t stop reading; I’m going to bring this home.) It’s the best golf course, but it’s not my favorite course on the property. It can’t be. That would be ridiculous. Right? Shit, I don’t know.

I’m not sure about their cinematic and musical tastes, but Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw are hipsters, too. You can tell from the feeling you get while you’re playing their courses. Hipsters care about the really little things – especially the really little things that take time to discover and are easy to miss. That’s what I always seem to take away from playing C&C courses. They are so subtly brilliant that it’s really easy for the beginner and average player or architecture fan to miss the simplistic beauty of what they’re looking at. On the first trip I took to Bandon 3 or 4 years ago, Trails was far and away my least favorite course because I just didn’t get it. I couldn’t process what I was looking at. I hated that my ball kept getting ejected like a cursing baseball manager and I definitely couldn’t comprehend why the hell I flew to the middle of nowhere to 

 be looking at the ocean. This time I’m leaving the resort wearing a Bandon Trails sweatshirt. People change.

This time around, feeling a little more seasoned and well-read – as always, shout out to The Fried Egg – the loop felt as serene and gratifying as any round in recent memory. It was an 18-hole nature walk that was as challenging as you wanted to make it on yourself. In relation to the resort’s other courses, where vast, wide-open seaside scale is on display, Trails plays through intimate corridors of tall, rail-thin pines that kept making Neil shout lines from 

. (“GET THE PELTS!”) But despite the hallways you’re playing through, you have as much width as you need, while still being challenged constantly by strategic ridges and centerline bunkers.

The greens are by far the calmest on the property and rely more on pin placements to change strategy than the dramatic contouring you’ll see on the other courses. The subtlety throughout the course makes for a weird conundrum – the first time you play it will probably be your least favorite. But the second and the third and the fourth times around, more and more of those little things start to come into focus. C&C are masters at this. It’s the way they use one seemingly random, seemingly irrelevant bump in the landscape to change the entire strategy of a hole (see: Streamsong Red No. 7). Or it’s the way they trick your eye with deception bunkers or ridges that appear closer to the green than they really are. It sounds like a cliché, but if the average player truly plays the course within themselves, playing to the fat parts of fairways and greens, they can easily put up a score they’ll be happy with. But C&C know that people don’t think that way and they make the hero shot look so appetizing that you can’t resist. They give you just enough rope to hang yourself. (Doak also does a great job of this at Pacific Dunes.)

The reason that I say that Trails is the best course at Bandon, but not my favorite course at Bandon is admittedly very stupid. It’s a victim of circumstance. Without an ocean there are no shots on Trails that make you feel the way you feel standing on the fourth holes of Pacific or Bandon Dunes, which is a sensation you just can’t replicate, no matter how great the architecture is. This is, again, an unfair and dumb way to rank things, but I suspect many people feel the same way. It reminds me of an exchange I have almost monthly with one of my friends:

“Pebble Beach is overrated and wouldn’t be nearly as good if it didn’t have the ocean.”

Trails is fantastic in every way, just like it would be if it was in North Carolina or Texas or New Jersey. If you were ranking golf holes on a scale from 1-10, I’m not sure Trails has many 10’s – the big, bold, dramatic holes that get painted and hung in gray-haired people’s tasteful dens. But the difference is that it is almost entirely 7’s, 8’s and 9’s. It doesn’t let up.

The thing that Trails has working against it – the lack of any seaside holes – also makes it stand out amongst its neighbors. Since getting to Bandon is such a pilgrimage, people tend to play all four courses on their visits. Spending four hours walking through the woods not only gives you a chance to play an excellent golf course, it also just reinforces how spectacular the other three happen to be.

– Don’t let the opening hole scare you. It was my least favorite opening hole on the property and feels like a connector from the dunes and the clubhouse (which is shared with the par 3 course, The Preserve) to the dramatic wooded parts of the property, which make up the vast majority of the course.

– No. 2 sets the tone for a great set of par 3’s. You’re playing downhill into a green that’s sandwiched between the forest you’re about to enter and the massive ocean dunes you’re about to leave. The entire shot is a trick of the eye – the scale of the dune, the height of the trees, the deceptive native grasses short of the green – it all makes you feel claustrophobic and tight. But when you get to the bottom, you’ll see that you have plenty of room to miss short and left. Like always, C&C are there to catch you if you fall, provided that you fall in the correct spot.

– No. 3 was among my favorite par 5’s I’ve ever played. The tee shot is the first real play into the tree-lined corridors you’ll see for the rest of the day and a smattering of land mine bunkers throughout the fairway keep you thinking on every shot.

– The hog’s back ridge on No. 4 was a perfect example of creating strategy with land forms. Play as safe as you want up the weak right side and leave yourself a longer, blind shot into the green. Or swing away to clear the ridge and leave a flip wedge, but take on the pot bunkers you can’t see on the other side.

– No. 5 was just a fantastic short par 3. When the pin is in the front, you are convinced you’re going to make a one. When it’s tucked in the back, you’re holding on for 3.

– No. 8 is tremendous drivable par 4 that is too tempting to waste time hitting iron off the tee. The green, especially the front portion, swings wildly from right to left, making the laid-up approach shot all the more dicey.

The driveable eighth hole at Bandon Trails.

– No. 9 is reminiscent of No. 3; it’s just a classy, handsome af par 5 packed with strategy on every shot.

– Eleven was among a favorite of our group. The tee shot feels bombs-away; wide open and down a slingshot slope (stay left). The approach shot sets up as an inverse of No. 11 at Augusta National and the view of the greenside pond catches you completely off-guard in a fun way as a stark contrast to everything else you’ll see on property.

– The 12th hole was another fantastic (and totally different) par 3. It’s long and the tee shot almost feels like a really short 4 – players have the whole world right to miss and set up an easy four at worst. But the way the mounding fronting the green sets up, it just tempts players to take on the flag, usually missing left. Long story short, it’s a really fun bogey to make.

– No. 13 was another serene par 4 – Trails might be the best collection of medium-length, interesting par 4’s I’ve seen. There is plenty of room to hit your tee shot and plenty of room to miss left of the green, but again, as soon as you get cheeky, you’re bringing a DAF bunker (Deep as F***) into play that is so severe it kind of makes you want to drop a ball in to see if you can get it out.

– No. 14 is the most talked about hole at Bandon Trails and not necessarily for good reason. It’s a driveable (for long players) par 4 with a green so severe that they’ve already had to re-do it multiple times. I’m of two minds on this hole: Yes, it would be great to see them flatten more of a shelf on the left side of the fairway to give players short of the green an actual chance to hit the green. But also, it’s just really hard and semi-unfair and in a weird way, it’s absolutely fun to try to conquer it and watch yourself get ejected. It gives you something to talk about that night. (For what it’s worth, Soly and Randy both birdied the first time around, so it’s not impossible.)

– Fifteen has a really cool diagonal cross bunker that makes you really think about angles and WHO CARES I HOLED OUT FROM THE FAIRWAY FOR EAGLE THIS IS THE BEST HOLE EVERRRRRRRRR

– No. 17 was another dynamite par 3, especially if you’re willing to move around tees if you’re able to play it more than once. The whole aesthetic of this hole feels like the Sand Belt in the foreground, but from the top tee, you can still see past it to the ocean. It’s so uniquely cool.

– The finishing hole was just OK; like the first, it feels like a connector from the Trails clubhouse to the land that makes up the bulk of the course.

: There’s a trail behind the 14th tee that leads to a clearing and a bench. That spot, with its expansive view of the woods, the dunes and the ocean was apparently the Eureka! moment for owner and developer Mike Keiser, convincing him the project would be successful.

WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE PLAYING THIS COURSE?

 to hear where he came from, his approach to strategy and much more.

: Our favorite clubhouse of the bunch, with the simplicity and aesthetic you’d find in a Japanese lodge. The only thing more on point than the feng shui was the lunch menu, which featured subtle Asian takes on traditional staples (see: the scrumptious spicy caesar), along with a few wholly-Asian flourishes (Tron ordered the noodle bowl and was blown away!) Never has a clubhouse so perfectly matched it’s course.

The Bandon Experience: Bandon Trails

This isn’t a Masters preview. Instead, the Masters is a great excuse to analyze the most compelling guys there—Tiger and Phil. Specifically, this is a look at Mickelson’s career through the lens of Tiger.

The genesis of this piece was back in February at, ironically, the Genesis Open. I was parked on the couch watching golf and scrolling through twitter when a specific tweet (which I cannot find) caught my eye. It essentially posed a question to the effect of “wouldn’t it be just like Phil to win while Tiger is making this amazing comeback?” My immediate reaction was of course, but it made me want to dig in and look closely at Mickelson’s numbers during different points of Tiger’s career.

– All stats are compiled using numbers off PGATour.com

– Calculating average finish, missed cuts are assigned a 120th place finish and w/d’s were removed altogether (neither guy had enough to materially impact things)

THE PRE-TIGER YEARS (July 1992 to August 1996)

“When I came out on tour, in 1992, or when I won the Tucson Open [as an amateur] the purse — the entire purse — and the winner’s cheque was $180,000. I remember thinking in the mid-90s, ‘I wonder if someday we’ll play for a million dollar first-place check. I don’t know, probably not in my lifetime, but I hope we do.’”

to David Feherty, on Golf Channel’s “Feherty”

Mickelson’s first pro start was in the spring of 1992 at Pebble Beach in the U.S. Open. He missed the cut going 68-81 in the first two rounds, an apt microcosm of his tortured relationship with the event. For all intents and purposes, these were halcyon days out on Tour. Annual money leaders were pocketing somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.5 million, the OWGR was an eclectic mixture of body types, swing types, and personalities, and the equipment was relatively antiquated, at least by today’s NASA-lite standards.

Much was expected of Mickelson after a storied amateur career, and he settled into a good amount of professional success. Along with eight wins in four years, he had dope sponsorships, exquisite hair game, and scored a cameo in 

Below are Phil’s key performance metrics from this specific time period:

 Starts 95 Made Cut % 73.7% Avg. Finish 48.5 Wins 8 Win % 8.42% Majors 0 for 13 Avg. Finish 40.5

His talent was indisputable, his game was good and it was a foregone conclusion he’d nab a major sooner rather than later. But Tiger was coming, and I’m not sure anybody outside Eldrick’s inner circle understood what that would mean for both professional golf and Phil Mickelson.

HELLO WORLD (September 1996 to November 1998)

“…And now we do every week, and that’s because of Tiger.” 

to David Feherty, on Golf Channel’s “Feherty” (March 2017)

Tiger’s first start was Milwaukee at the beginning of September 1996 but the first time he and Mickelson crossed paths as professionals was October of that year at the Las Vegas Invitational. There Mickelson played good golf finishing T8 but Tiger proved better capturing his first tour win. This little connection between the two pops up again and again throughout their careers, to the point it’s hard to believe it can all be coincidence.

Tiger announced his arrival to the world at Augusta in 1997 and nothing was the same in pro golf. To put the changing economics in context consider this—in the five seasons between 1992 and 1996 there were twelve total instances of a player finishing a season with more than $1.5 million in earnings on the PGA Tour. In 1999, the season immediately following Tiger’s ‘Hello World’ period, TWENTY-FOUR different guys earned over $1.5 million for the year (including Ted Tryba!!!).

How did Mickelson’s game shift during this period? As you see below, somewhat surprisingly, he was remarkably similar to the player he had been before Tiger arrived. A bit more consistent week to week but otherwise not much change, and of course, no majors yet.

 Starts 95 48 Made Cut % 73.7% 85.4% Avg. Finish 48.5 34.7 Wins 8 4 Win % 8.42% 8.33% Majors 0 for 13 0 for 8 Avg. Finish 40.5 43.9

Tiger then ramped up his game to peak levels. I was very curious to see what Mickelson did in response.

I encourage everybody to click the link above to watch the clip from the 2002 Tour Championship. It’s such an innocuous, legitimately funny quip, yet conveys so much about where each player found themselves at the time. Tiger was the unquestioned, absolute King, and it had to be eating Phil up inside.

Before we look at Mickelson’s performance during Tiger’s run, here is a quick rundown of some of my favorite Tiger numbers during this five-year stretch:

– didn’t miss a single cut. Not one ‘off’ week in over 5 years.

– won 7 major titles, including the ‘Tiger Slam’

 finish in twenty majors was 10.7. His average finish across all PGA Tour starts was 8.96. Basically lived in the top-10 for five years. Again, staggering.

Tiger was at the height of his craft. Before I ran the numbers I would have guessed Mickelson’s game took a step back during this time. I think that’s because his reputation as the loveable loser, guy who couldn’t get over the hump in majors was firmly taking root in the public’s mind at this time.

 Starts 95 48 126 Made Cut % 73.7% 85.4% 88.9% Avg. Finish 48.5 34.7 29.2 Wins 8 4 9 Win % 8.42% 8.33% 7.14% Majors 0 for 13 0 for 8 0 for 20 Avg. Finish 40.5 43.9 25.8

Phil’s performance really ticked up! He was making more and more cuts (leading to a higher average finish), his win rate held impressively steady, especially given Tiger’s deal, and his major finishes improved 

. It’s easy to remember this period as one of near-misses and ‘what-ifs’ for Phil, but in hindsight, that’s not nearly the whole story. It’s eye-opening to see the degree to which he stepped his game up, in direct response to Tiger. Now he just needed to break through at a major…

“I would not have played as well as I have throughout my career had it not been for him…he’s the one that got me started working out back in 2003…”

on the Dan Patrick Radio Show (March 8, 2018)

Pun intended. Mickelson of course broke through at the 2004 Masters. His celebratory leap as the winning putt dropped marked a huge jump in his game. I submit that people don’t appreciate how good Phil was during this period. Here are the stats:

 Starts 95 48 126 48 Made Cut % 73.7% 85.4% 88.9% 93.8% Avg. Finish 48.5 34.7 29.2 23.7 Wins 8 4 9 7 Win % 8.42% 8.33% 7.14% 14.58% Majors 0 for 13 0 for 8 0 for 20 3 for 10 Avg. Finish 40.5 43.9 25.8 11.9

Continued uptick in cuts, average finish dropping, and look at that win rate! Nearly 15% in the age of Tiger. And the majors, there were three of them, with several other good looks. For comparison’s sake, Tiger won 8 times in this stretch, including 2 majors and an average major finish of 20.3 (note: includes a missed cut at the 2006 US Open; not counting that he was at 9.2). Bottom line, while Tiger was off his ridiculous peak, Phil was truly standing in the middle of the ring trading punches with Tiger as a legitimate rival.

“I still am in shock that I did that. I just can’t believe that I did that. I am such an idiot.”

as quoted by Alan Shipnuck for Sports Illustrated

Phil Mickelson stood on the tee of the 72nd hole of the 2006 U.S. Open needing to make par to win. Besides his first U.S. Open, a win would make Mickelson the fourth player in the modern era to hold three major championships at the same time (along with Tiger, Jack and Hogan). 

, summed up best what was really on the line in his SI cover story:

“A win at Winged Foot would propel Mickelson to next month’s British Open with a chance to do the unthinkable: match Woods’s greatest feat, the Tiger Slam, which is to hold the titles of all four major championships spread across two seasons. More immediate, a victory at the Open would leave no doubt that Phil had surpassed Tiger as the game’s dominant player.”

We were all cheated having not gotten to experience what that British Open would have been like as Mickelson went for a ‘Phil Slam.’ A crescendo of hype, publicity and hoopla. Team Tiger riding hard vs. Team Phil. An awesome setting for two of the game’s greats. But alas.

Do you remember who won the British and PGA immediately following Winged Foot? Tiger. I absolutely believe he gained strength from Mickelson’s pain and disappointment. It’s also another little instance of that thread which again and again binds these two.

The numbers for Mickelson in this period are as follows:

 Starts 95 48 126 48 66 Made Cut % 73.7% 85.4% 88.9% 93.8% 86.4% Avg. Finish 48.5 34.7 29.2 23.7 35.4 Wins 8 4 9 7 9 Win % 8.42% 8.33% 7.14% 14.58% 13.64% Majors 0 for 13 0 for 8 0 for 20 3 for 10 0 for 13 Avg. Finish 40.5 43.9 25.8 11.9 35.6

No Laying Up

Writing

The Eurozone: #8 (Tenemos la carne)

Weekly Briefing: Heritage

Monday (Post-Masters) Leftovers

Friday Feels: Augusta

The Masters: Agronomic Summary

Stinky Nandina

The Bandon Experience: Bandon Trails

A Phil vs. Tiger Masters (non) Preview

The Bandon Experience: Old Macdonald

The Bandon Experience: Pacific Dunes

The Bandon Experience: The Punchbowl

The Bandon Experience: Bandon Dunes

European Tour Value-Buys for Augusta

The Bandon Experience: Bandon Preserve

Whistling Rock

Digging into The Golfer's Journal No. 3

Weekly Briefing: Dell Match Play

The Eurozone: #7 (Ryder Cup Watch: The Locks)