This week we leave the AARP behind for the Lone Star State, Army Town USA (San Antonio – I swear that really is its nickname), and the Valero Texas Open, one of the PGA Tour’s oldest events, dating back to 1922. With so much history, we decided to look to the past to inform this week’s hot takes. Last year, Young Neil chatted with 2003 Texas Open winner conquering hero, Tommy Armour III, who was nice enough to share his thoughts on this tournament, which we’ve sprinkled throughout the preview. To preface TA3’s thoughts, it’s important to keep in mind it was at the Texas Open in 2003 that he set the current PGA record for lowest four round scoring total at 254 (-26). This event used to be a birdie bonanza before it abandoned La Cantera and set up shop at TPC San Antonio (more on that tragedy later), but TA3’s performance was obviously next level. We asked him what he attributed this record setting performance to, and he said,

Well, I had a lot of good friends with me down there that week and we were eating dinner every night, just hanging out, and I had just started going out with this girl for about five, six months, that was some of it…and there was this masseuse giving me some great rubs that week and working my vibe well, and I had a great caddie that week in Stevie Duplantis, who’s no longer with us. It was just a nice little perfect storm.”

Loose relaxed vibe off the course? Check. Loose body in and out of the bedroom? Check. Phenomenal caddie (one of the best ever) on the course? Check. Tommy Armour IV, who attended the Texas Open in 2003 and also caddied for his Dad later in his career, also shared with us that TA3 had recently started working with the “Putting Arc” and honing his version of the “Stack and Tilt” golf swing mechanics. Somebody call Clooney and Marky Mark, we’ve got the script for a sequel to 

! Per usual, we digress. Let’s get to the preview!

For years this event was played at the aforementioned La Cantera where players were treated to sweeping views of South Texas and a HUGE roller coaster named ‘The Rattler,’ the crown jewel of “Six Flags Fiesta Texas.” This picture over to the right kind of reminds of the gorgeous views of the Pacific at Pebble, and the scene feels a lot like what we’ll experience at Augusta in a few weeks, right? For 15 years it played host to this event until it was simply outgrown. At less than 6,900 yards, it would be one of the shortest courses on tour today, and unless they wanted to have that coaster running through one of the fairways and have a windmill up on the green, it was just too easy.

 Naturally, organizers decided to pack up shop and head over to a club with nary an ounce of character or charm. The TPC San Antonio features two courses, the AT&T Canyons Course (home to a Champions Tour event) and this week’s AT&T Oaks Course. Seriously, AT&T bought the naming rights to both courses, so you know you’re going to be provided with shitty service before you even get to the first tee. And true to form, the Oaks course is widely regarded as an unfortunate choice of venue (

third worst on tour in this player survey

). The Greg Norman design (with an assist from Sergio, who actually collaborated on the design…presumably this coincided with El Nino dating the Shark’s daughter) is described as “a complete disaster”, and that “pride and ego got in the Shark’s way.” It’s too long, and it was suggested that the greens should be “blown up.” But hey, let’s get pumped for the 2015 Valero Texas Open everyone!

It’s South Texas, the land of black gold and Shiner Bock. There’s fierce hometown pride in San Antonio, and a plethora of local good ole boys. I’d expect a crowd of bountiful blondes and laid back bros with fat ‘lippers’ especially visible with a quality HDTV. Sprinkle in some Valero Oil BSD’s and savvy independent wildcatters enjoying the local cuisine of queso-smothered TexMex, and you’ve got the classic San Antonio social scene of young and old co-mingling outdoors. The only thing bigger than the guns may be the belt buckles: Don’t mess with Texas, y’all.

This event was demoted to a slot DEEP in the Silly Season in 2007 and 2008, opposite the Ryder and President’s Cups, before regaining a coveted spring slot back when the Tour euthanized the Bell South Classic in Atlanta (partially in response to Mickelson razing the place in 2006). The Texas events have some of the best history of any on tour (for instance, this one dates to 1922) and yet they get jacked around and disrespected. Ideally the four Texas events would be an actual “Texas Swing” – a monthlong foray into a celebration of golf in a state that loves the sport. There’s some work to be done, however, as three of the four tournaments held in the state are on godawful tracks, between this hot mess, Houston (Redstone/GC of Houston/Whatever They’re Calling it) and Dallas (TPC Four Seasons). Colonial’s carrying the torch for the entire state!

We ushered in the Steven Bowditch era last year, as he triumphantly marched to a final round 76 to win the title over two of our picks that week (Mackenzie and Summerhays both).

For a tournament that is lacking storylines, the field is actually sneaky good. However, with the Masters coming up in two weeks, and the expectation that you won’t be leaving your couch for the duration, we suggest you get out and play some golf if you can. If not, may not be a bad weekend to buy some goodwill with the family/slaypiece/wife, and cash that in when the azaleas are in full bloom in two weeks. You’ll thank us later.

 – A true horse for course. Since the event moved there in 2010, he’s finished, T13, T2, T13, T3, and T11.

 – T13 last week at Bay Hill. T2 two starts ago at the Honda. The guy is close.

 – It’s in the NLU bylaws that I must bet one of Koepka or Thomas every week.

 – (half unit) Striking it really well. Final round 74 at Bay Hill dropped him way down the leaderboard, but I still believe in him.

 – (half unit) Quietly finished T7 and T17 the last two weeks.

Spieth, DJ, Furyk, Walker, Kuchar, Kaymer, and Phil headline the field.

(Tracker: +13 units in 2015. Last week: -5. Funds are continuing to hemorrhage. At this pace, I’ll be right at even before Patrick Reed wins the Masters and wins me $2K.)

Just to give you feel for how legendary TA3’s win was in ’03, let us share how he celebrates: He and his posse peeled out of the La Cantera parking lot right after the win, and drove the four and a half hours home to Dallas so they could party at 

 (no word on how this is pronounced – I vote for “Titay”). At the end of the morning night, TA3 forgot the Texas Open Trophy. Had to go retrieve it the next morning after they opened up.

I hope they show it during coverage this week–there’s a really nice reflection pool and memorial off the 9th tee at TPC San Antonio, scene of Kevin Na’s 16 in 2011. #NeverForget

A couple of editorial notes on these previews: A lot of the stuff that applies to multiple years carries over (course, vibe, etc.) – obviously some of it is straight repeat, but for the most part we’re trying to build on the stuff that was well-received and keep the good vibes rolling, and then obviously build the picks section from scratch every week. As we always say, we’re not journalists. We’re just dudes bullshitting about golf, interspersing random observations with creative writing, and telling it to you reals – and if we ever get to the point where it’s not about that, please let us know. Seriously.

 for cheeky commentary before, during, and after the broadcast. Cheers.

2015 Valero Texas Open Preview

Amid Rickie Fowler’s torrid summer last year – which included top five finishes in each major championship – the collective golf media was focused on Fowler’s need to win tournaments to validate his status as one of the big stars on Tour. Bring up Rickie’s name among golf fans now, and the question immediately turns to why he doesn’t win more often. These sorts of questions are nothing new. Phil Mickelson was hounded about his inability to win a major for years before he broke through at the Masters. Up to a week before McIlroy’s Open Championship win last summer there were questions about his ability to close out tournaments when he jumped into the lead. And just last week, Jordan Spieth captured his second PGA Tour win – hopefully distracting the critics who think 

 needs to win more often for a few months.

Winning is why the elite players are out there. Rickie Fowler has said as much in interviews, and he’s certainly frustrated after watching Rory McIlroy best him twice in a month to win majors last summer. But when the story line around a guy who just finished top five in every major is that he needs to win more, it’s pretty obvious we need to give Rickie Fowler a break.

What’s very interesting when you dig into Rickie Fowler’s stats and results is that there are several important reasons why he has won only once on Tour. It’s not because he hasn’t played well (he has), it’s not because he hasn’t had some fantastic tournaments (he has), and it’s not because he hasn’t played well when it counts (he has). It turns out that Rickie Fowler 1) Has played his best golf in the biggest events (majors, WGCs, the Players, and the strongest regular Tour events) and 2) Hasn’t racked up the wins in weaker fielded events that some of his similarly talented peers have.

Below is a chart of how often golfers have won on the PGA Tour since 2010 (Fowler’s rookie year on Tour) in the form of wins per event played. I’ve included everyone with at least 50 PGA Tour events, whether or not they’ve actually won an event. On the x-axis is each player’s scoring average over those 5+ seasons. Obviously the better players win more often, with Tiger and Rory winning about once every eight events entered and someone of Bubba Watson or Dustin Johnson’s performance winning about once every fifteen events entered. When top players only enter around 20 events per season, it’s pretty obvious that no one but guys of Rory and Tiger’s ability should be expected to win more than once or twice a season.

Rickie Fowler has been around the 25th best golfer in the world over this span in terms of his pure performance. He’s won once in 128 events – a winning percentage of less than 1% – about the level achieved by Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia, but lower than almost everyone who has played as well as he has since 2010.

Let’s look deeper at what it takes to win on Tour.

For pretty much every top level tour pro, winning each week is the goal, as unrealistic as that is. However, the probability of winning fluctuates each week due to a number of factors unique to each tournament – course set-up, weather, but most importantly, the quality of other golfers in the field. This is intuitive; we shouldn’t expect a player to have the same probability of winning the US Open as the following week at the Travelers – mostly because the US Open field includes every other top level player while the Travelers field might only include a 15-20 of the top 50 players in the world.

To illustrate the differences, I’ve included a chart of the 2nd place performance in PGA Tour events since 2010 broken down by the type of field. The winners of each event had to beat that particular score to win. Collectively, the stronger fielded events – the majors, the World Golf Championship events, the Playoff events, and the Players Championship – required the winners to play at a higher level than the regular fielded events – despite many of them having smaller fields. There was also a substantial difference in difficulty between normal events, with the fall events being significantly easier to win than the early or mid-season events.

Pretty much everything I’ve said so far is uncontroversial. I think everyone understands that winning the majors/WGCs requires a performance that goes beyond that required to win a normal PGA Tour event. When you get the best in the world together in one event, the chances of someone producing four great rounds in row is much higher than for a weaker field. What I’m interested in is: what is the probability of winning an average PGA Tour tournament given a certain level of performance in terms of strokes/round better than the field. That is, if a golfer plays 3.5 strokes/round better than the field, what is the chance that performance is good enough to win an average event? Using this information I can then put a number on how many wins a golfer deserved based on their performances in a season.

What I like about this expected wins number is that it ignores the quality of the field and it ignores outlier performances (like Martin Kaymer or Rory McIlroy’s US Open wins where they absolutely blitzed the field). It’s tough to fault a golfer who is consistently finishing near the top of very strong events or who plays very well in an event but loses to one of those rare times a guy just goes off and destroys everyone. What this method rewards is guys who deliver elite level tournament performances, no matter whether they win or finish 4th in a very strong field.

To answer this question, I collected all tournament performances on the PGA Tour for the past seven seasons (2008-2014). I then ran a logistic regression with the dependent variable as tournament wins and the independent variable as strokes/round better or worse than the field. For those who are unfamiliar with a logistic regression, it attempts to find the relationship between some data (strokes/round vs. field) and a binomial outcome (whether a player wins or does not win a tournament). In other words, given a certain level of performance, what’s the probability of that performance earning a win? I’ve included a graph of the results below.

Interpret this as when a Tour pro plays three strokes/round better than the field, they normally win less than 10% of the time. That performance is rarely enough, but against certain weaker fields occasionally earns the player a win. If a pro plays four strokes/round better than the field, they normally win around 50% of the time. Four strokes/round is usually enough to win most regular Tour events. Playing over five strokes/round better than the field – approximately what Martin Kaymer did at last year’s US Open – is almost certain to produce a victory (95%+).

Applying the Results to Rickie Fowler’s Career

Using the expected wins formula introduced above I can find the probability that Rickie Fowler deserved to win an average PGA Tour event, based on his performance in each week of his career. This exercise assumes that he’s playing an average Tour event each week – something like the Houston Open or Torrey Pines. The chart below is every tournament where my numbers gave Fowler at least a 10% chance of deserving to win an average tournament.

Fowler has played well enough to win plenty of events during his five seasons on Tour, but he has had a curious tendency to play his best tournaments in the strongest fielded events. We’re all familiar with his top five finishes in every major last season – he had a 74% chance of earning a win based on his Open Championship play and 42% chance of earning a win based on his play at Valhalla in the PGA Championship – but my numbers also indicate he was very deserving of a win at the 2011 WGC-Bridgestone (62%) and 2010 Memorial (65%) – both of which have very strong fields. His victory at the Wells Fargo event in 2012 was actually only his fifth best tournament of his career (and also against a strong field).

If Rickie Fowler had played as well in some events with weaker fields – the St. Jude Classic or Humana Challenge for example – as he did in those events above he would likely have 2-3 more PGA Tour wins. In fact, you can see the difference easily when I compare his results to Ryan Moore’s results. Ryan Moore has been pretty similar in performance to Fowler in the past five seasons, but looking at the chart below Moore has played his best tournaments in weaker events – Las Vegas, CIMB in Malaysia, Travelers, etc. This has earned him four wins in his career despite not playing any better than Fowler overall.

For everyone wondering why Rickie Fowler hasn’t won more often on Tour, it’s actually a pretty easy answer. He’s played really good golf overall, but most of his great tournament performances have been in the strongest events – events where there are other great golfers turning in great performances. In his five best tournaments where he didn’t earn the victory, he lost to Rory McIlroy (twice), Matt Kuchar, Justin Rose, and Adam Scott. In short, Rickie is doing exactly what golf fans want the best players to do: play well in the best events and duel with the best players. If Rickie keeps up the kind of golf he played last year I think he’ll come out on top of more of those duels in the coming years.

(Editor’s note, for more analysis like this, 

Why Rickie Fowler Doesn't Win More

The Florida Swing takes a quick jaunt on I-4 over to Orlando’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge for the Arnold Palmer Invitational to wrap up the 2015 Florida Swing. This event is usually the toast of the tour of the Sunshine State (where dat bomb ass hemp be), but good luck trying to match the Spieth-Reed dual we were privileged to last week at Innisbrook (at this point, I’m ready to actually argue that Sean O’Hair wasn’t even actually there in the playoff. Nothing against O’Hair, it’s just that while I was watching him on my screen, I was wondering if NBC was going to give him the “dropped from coverage” treatment, simply because Reed/Spieth was everything we’ve been waiting for.)

This week is essentially a celebration of The King’s ever flowing swag, and stands as one of only five tournaments on the circuit that are true invitationals (others being Colonial, Heritage, Quicken Loans National, and Memorial). This means the riff-raff is trimmed by about 20-30 players, no Monday qualifier, and no “What Hole Will John Daly Light Himself On Fire” game. Florida’s golf epicenter has moved 2.5 hours southeast in the past few years, but Bay Hill typically features a slightly smaller field full of top-notch talent, many of whom are playing a home game.

This is the last event worth really caring about before The Masters (sorry, Texas), so let’s get to it.

After Honda, Cadillac, and Valspar, these guys are ready to start decimating the Florida avian population with a birdie bonanza, but PETA The King still has something to say about it. If you take Big Cat out of the equation, the winning score hovers around 8 deep on a year-to-year basis. so this falls on the other end of the spectrum from the John Deere free for alls.

It’s not a brutal track, but there’s trouble lurking at every turn and slippery greens can compound mistakes in a hurry. Bay Hill features a strong set of par-5’s, including the 6th hole, which is one of the most unique holes in golf. The tee shot is your annual physical appointment, where Dr. Palmer tests how big your stones are (Spieth has tested out of this exam), as you can try to bite off as much as you can chewover the lake. However, there’s nothing to give you any idea of depth perception or sight lines, other than the Luke Donald bail out area to the right (brought to you by TARP). This hole 

was the scene for Bubba’s 11 (!) in 2014

, and subsequent drowning of Ted Scott before quitting because of his allergies (apparently this was the first ever golf tournament played outdoors). You have to admire Bubba’s courage to get all the way through round one though. This was basically golf’s equivalent to the Michael Jordan flu game.

The finish is similar to TPC Sawgrass up the road with a short, risk-reward par 5 16th with water (where 

Rickie Fowler’s ship sank in 2013 on Sunday with two water balls

Fowler’s Sinking Orange Boat from the 2013 Monday Finish

It’s followed by a challenging par 3 17th over water, and a stern par 4 finish to a green framed by water. It’s a solid blend of chances to gain some strokes, with plenty of opportunity to get capsized.

Overall, it’s a solid track that seems to be well respected by the players, so we are a bit curious as to why the field seems to be a bit on the weak side this year (and in years prior). There’s no doubt in my mind that Arnie compares his event to Jack’s in the same way that he compares their playing careers, and we can’t help but note that his track and his event seems to play second fiddle to Muirfield Village and the Memorial when it comes to the invitationals. However, when it comes to the…

The suburban Orlando cluster castles vibe is predominate. But Arnold Palmer holding court adds an air of regality to the proceedings. Casting aside his legendary record breaking majors, it is Mr. Palmer’s on-course persona and off-course legend that is inspirational. He’s the embodiment of cool. Jack may have won more, but who cares? If given the choice to switch lives with either of them I’d choose Arnie ten out of ten times. This week is essentially a celebration of Arnie. Can you find anyone that has a bad thing to say about him? The dude just has swag. Loved this story from last year:

When Arnie was on his way to lunch, he asked a random tournament security guard if he wanted to join. (That's why he's The King.)



— Chad Coleman (@HashtagChad) 

When Arnie is in the booth this weekend, take notice in how different it is to when Jack basically takes over play-by-play from Jim Nantz during the Memorial. A Nicklaus drinking game would only be legal if you drank every time Jack 

 talk about himself. Arnie slaps his name on the tournament, then acts more like a tour guide that takes great pride in his guest’s experience instead of boring you with some random story about himself from the past. He’s a legend in every sense of the word.

Matt Every shocked us all, as Adam Scott collapsed, and his caddie 

cursed up a storm coming down the final stretch

. We haven’t heard much from Every since, as he’s only landed two top 25’s since then (Derek Ernst has you in his sights, Matthew).

, kick back, and relax. You’re on golf-watching auto-pilot this time of the year. No need to go too hard.

 – He’s been crazy close, he dominates par 5’s, and he finished T10 here a year ago. He’s also quietly moved all the way up to 20th in the OWGR. This could be the week he pieces it all together and doesn’t melt on Sunday.

 – Loves this place, and he’s coming off sneaky back to back top 10’s.

 – Things are going a little bit too well this year, aren’t they? If Poulter is going to try to ruin that, I want to at least make some money off of it. He always plays well here, and he’s been playing well lately. Listen, money talks. If Poulter is going to win this thing and be able to buy four more Ferrari full body suits, then I want to at least be able to buy enough bourbon to numb the pain.

 – He’s not been on his game lately, but he bombs it, and I like him on a par 72 with four par-5’s. He’s finished in the top 27 here the last two years.

 – MC at the Valspar, but top 25 in the previous four and in five of the previous six. If he had won in the playoff at the Honda, would he be 110/1 right now? These odds confuse me. This guy is a stud.

Rory. Stenson. Bubba. J-Day. Scott. Brooks. Lot of A-listers to choose from this week.

(Tracker: +18 units in 2015. Last week: -6. Funds are continuing to hemorrhage. At this pace, I’ll be right at even before Patrick Reed wins the Masters and wins me $2K.)

 – On the subject of The King and his resume of commercial endorsements, I really admire the way this guy has stuck to his blue collar roots en route to making stupid amounts of money off the course. I highly recommend reading Tom Callahan’s phenomenal Golf Digest piece from 2009 – 

This piece was exactly what I needed to truly understand Arnie’s impact on the game, and on sports in general. In my younger years I only knew him as that old guy with white hair in a sweater who would be +18 on Friday at Augusta. Then at a certain point I’d seen enough of him in those tire commercials that were a staple of my middle school years, that I started to dig a little deeper. I’ve had a man crush on him ever since. Tires, The Golf Channel, air travel, cigarettes, the state of Pennsylvania, iced tea and lemonade, IMG. These are all things that Arnold Palmer espoused. All masculine, American stuff.

The European Tour (Madeira Islands Open) event this week is an absolute joke. S.S.P. Chawrasia is the highest ranked player in the field, coming in at 173. He’s the only player in the top 250 in the world playing, and there’s only one other player inside the top 350 in the world. The shame in this is you get more OWGR points (18) for winning the Madeira Islands Open than Henrik Stenson got for finishing one shot out of the Valspar Championship playoff (15.6). This is why I’m forced to roll my eyes when people cite European Tour victory totals when hyping a surging Euro’s resume.

 is that a person or a battleship?



— Big Randy (@BigRandyNLU) 

It’s about damn time Rory showed up for this thing. He could use the reps after (by his standards) a disappointing start to the PGA Tour season, and this seems like a course that should suit him well. I have a weird and unsubstantiated theory in my head that Rory should be dominating courses that Tiger has historically dominated in the past, and Bay Hill should be no exception. Courses that are open to hitting a lot of drivers, that typically play soft, and have an abundance of par-5 oil should suit his bomber style greatly. And look at Rory’s last three PGA Tour wins: Hoylake, Firestone, and Valhalla. I mean, this theory is helped by the fact that Tiger has won basically everywhere he has gone, so don’t take this bonfire take too seriously. But I could easily picture him winning this week, then going to Muirfield Village in May and lapping the field.

Speaking of the Big Cat – were people honestly surprised that he’s skipping this year? I mean, you guys saw what I saw in San Diego and Phoenix right? I was shocked to see that he didn’t have the skull mask on in 

I’m keeping a close eye on the dudes that have switched from the long or belly putters to the short putters. My stance has always been that these guys anchor for a reason. The exception to that is Adam Scott, who was actually never even that great with the broom putter. With a hat tip to 

, I’d like to note the following for Adam Scott: In strokes gained putting, he was +0.25 in 2004-2006 (short), -0.45 in 2007-2010 (short), and -0.05 in 2011-14 (long). So the idea that he can’t putt with a short putter is ridiculous. And the idea that the broom transformed his career is pretty far from true as well. But two guys I’m keeping an eye are Keegan and Webb. I found this Steve Flesch tweet very interesting:

Webb is 92nd thus far in putting in '15. Finished 34 and 40 last 2 yrs. Keegan is 148th now. 47th and 49th previous 2 yrs. Anchoring matters



— InTheFlesch (@Steve_Flesch) 

Shoutout to Barry O’Hanrahan from the “

” podcast, who showed me and 20 of my friends around Dublin, Ireland this past weekend. Jameson, Guiness, rugby, and debauchery made for a fantastic St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Their podcast is worth listening to for the accents alone.

2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational Preview

I’ve been hesitant to weigh in on this with a full post, mainly because 

 has knocked the entire thing out of the park. I’m assuming if you’re reading this that you know the background of this story, but here’s a summary if you don’t.

Slaying the Tiger: A Year Inside the Ropes on the New PGA Tour

” that details Patrick Reed’s tumultuous college career, and alleges that Reed was accused by former teammates of stealing from the team locker room, as well as cheating in qualifying matches. 

Rich Lerner handed the mic to Todd Lewis, who handed it to Patrick Reed on national television

, which Patrick used to claim that he had affidavits that support his denial of all accusations from Shane Ryan.

Here’s where my issue with the story begins. What work did the Golf Channel, a journalistic organization, do on this story before Todd Lewis interviewed Reed? I know that Lewis is considered more of an “interviewer” than a “reporter” at the Golf Channel, so I’m putting the onus on the management group at the Golf Channel. If you’re going to report on a story, wouldn’t you at least fact check what is being said by the subject you’re interviewing? What is unclear is if someone from the Golf Channel saw the affidavits. If they did not, shouldn’t they have disclosed that? If the Golf Channel is going to put their own graphic on the television screen, shouldn’t they validate that this is true?

“Well when Patrick Reed read those excerpts, he was obviously upset, and he decided to defend himself by obtaining sworn statements from the coaches that he played for in college, Chris Haack at the University of Georgia, and Josh Gregory at Augusta State. In those statements, the coaches say that Patrick Reed did not cheat while playing in college, nor did he steal from his teammates.”

Notice that Lewis is not quoting Reed during any of this. These are Lewis’ own words, which (in my opinion) gives the viewer the impression that their organization has actually done the research and that this is an actual Golf Channel report. Again, I’m assuming that this information has been vetted by Golf Channel management, and is not necessarily reflective of Lewis’ reporting. However, 

Stephanie Wei had this to say about the sworn statements on Tuesday

“Well, the ‘affidavit’ from Coach Haack has been obtained under the Georgia Open Records Act, which was made possible because Haack used university counsel. Note that when the document was sent, the Georgia legal affairs representative wrote, “Please note that this is 

Here is the “affidavit”, again courtesy of Wei:

So not only is it not an affidavit, it does not say what the Golf Channel reported that it says. 

 It says “While Patrick Reed was at UGA, I was not aware of any allegations of cheating….”. This statement is so carefully crafted by lawyers and filled with negative assurance that it resembles nothing close to a statement that supports Reed’s outright denial.

Wei reported this on Tuesday, and it’s now Friday, and there does not appear to be a follow up report from the Golf Channel. This is the same organization that reported on a near hourly basis on the Robert Allenby saga in Hawaii for weeks after it happened. Rex Hoggard worked so many days in the Aloha State that he’s going to have to file taxes there this year. (For now, I’m going to ignore the fact that the Allenby story was butchered, and that Golf Channel 

Golf Channel’s only follow-up to the initial interview with Reed is 

this discussion between Gary Williams and Todd Lewis on Morning Drive

. Again, Lewis says that Reed has sworn statements from both coaches saying that Reed did not cheat, and he did not steal. Again, this is not Lewis quoting Reed. He is telling us that Reed has these statements. However, as Wei reported, Reed does not have these statements that say these things. In this segment, after the Reed cutaway, Lewis jumps at the opportunity to point out that “all options are on the table” for Reed if they don’t get a retraction from Ryan. Lewis then even feels the need to add in:

“I think he has the respect from players, and I think that players like him.”

At this point, I’m surprised he’s not wearing a Reed/Lewis ’16 campaign button on his lapel. It’s clear what angle the Golf Channel has decided to take on this issue, and it’s not surprising that they’re backing a player with such a high world ranking.

Was there ANY investigation into this story before this interview? Or since the interview?

From where I’m sitting, the answer is no, because Wei followed up on her own report on Thursday, 

. A former teammate of Reed’s came forward and issued a 

 detailed account of Reed’s alleged cheating transgressions at Augusta State. Now 

 is what a report looks like. Rex Hoggard’s post was updated for 

 (after fixing a typo that inadvertently said that Ryan WAS backing down from his reporting), but not for any of Wei’s reports? Why is she the only one currently reporting on this story (Update: 

has weighed in)? The Golf Channel (again, an established journalistic enterprise) has all the firepower in the world to follow up on this. So why are they only reporting one side of the story? I think that this is more than a fair question to ask at this point.

Golf Channel Coverage of Patrick Reed vs. Shane Ryan

Last year in this space we were a little hard on Tampa. Neil led us off with an utterly depressing commentary that captured Tampa in all it’s glory, and then discussed the golf tournament within that context. Here’s a sampling:

The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America

, Tampa is used as the prime example of a city representing the decay of the greatest generation, the causes of the ’08 housing bubble, and what’s happened to the American Dream. Basically, everyone lives in suburbs that are half-full of over-leveraged families or half-developed with abandoned cluster castles. In this largely unplanned sprawl exists a public transit void, leading to a population addicted to finite/foreign oil, and the city itself is void of pedestrians and diversity (which leads to a lack of new ideas brought about by interaction and innovation in diverse urban areas). All in all, a pretty uplifting read, though I digress…The gist is that Tampa, with two and a half professional sports teams (the Bucs were relegated to fractional status thanks to the efforts of Greg Schiano), millions of rust belt transplants, a significant metropolitan area (2.9 million in 2011), and site of the most recent 2012 Republican National Convention, is a hot bed for three things: golf, lots of extremely old people, and a variety of strip clubs (more on those later). So you have a warm weather locale, with tons of old, conservative, white males who have the resources (over-leveraged or not) and time to play golf.

However, since the event really isn’t IN Tampa proper, I figured that was a bit harsh. Attempting a more upbeat theme this year. Here goes…

The Florida Swing is, in my inconsequential estimation, the most overrated stretch of the Tour schedule. The Honda doesn’t do it for me:

Palm Beach oozes a generic geriatric vibe that pollutes the proceedings, and the course isn’t all that notable other than being really freaking difficult;

Doral is an exhibition of blunt force/hypefest for a has-been resort that gets jet fuel dumped on it all day every day;

Bay Hill is a celebration of all things Arnie (whom I adore) but I just don’t love the course and I openly loathe Orlando (sorry Golf Channel brethren, it ain’t personal).

However, I truly enjoy the Valspar, the gem of the Florida Swing and the 

 area. Put plainly, the Valspar is the manifestation of substance over hype and grit over style (seriously, if one more tweet pops up on my feed regarding Trump presenting Rory’s 3-iron to him I’m going postal) – it’s one of the few tournaments a year that I can tune in and count on the telecast to be centered on golf, and said golf being covered in such a way that the rising stars are actually shown live (see: Jordan Spieth backing up his performance in Puerto Rico the following week in 2013; Gary Woodland’s first win in ’11; Streelman and Senden getting it done; DeLaet playing well every year; an annual WillyMac sighting; Scott Langley announcing himself last year, etc.).

The course certainly has something to do with it – a classic, fair layout with clean lines, great foliage, and a premium on ballstriking – how is that not the norm on Tour? However, beyond the venue, the general anonymity of the event surely feeds into what I like about it. In the eyes of the casual observer I’d imagine this week certainly doesn’t command much attention beyond tuning in for the back nine on Sunday. There’s nothing remarkable or spectacular, it’s just solid. Solid field. Solid venue. Solid coverage (since there’s not a whole lot NBC can really do to gin it up – more on this further on down the page). And in the words of Marshawn Lynch it just don’t get no better than solid.

Located in the relatively random Innisbrook Resort (a Florida resort near the beach without beach access? Hilarious), the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort is like the grown-up ballstriker’s version of Chuck E. Cheese. O.G. ballstrikers of Jim Furyk, Justin Rose, Kenny Perry, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood’s ilk don’t just show up at any random event for shits and gigs.

, Copperhead seems out of place in central Florida. Framed by trees, old school “lines,” smallish greens, and some subtle elevation changes that catch you off guard, this course demands accuracy and precision. At 7,300 yards it’s definitely not short, but I wouldn’t say anyone in the field is precluded from contending here, unlike last week. The formula seems to be fairways, greens, avoiding big numbers (the poop brown color will be out in full force on PGATour.com this week – there’s an inordinate amount of big numbers here) and keeping it between the proverbial mayonnaise and the mustard. It’s not really a birdie fest; it’s a tactician’s track (more Stanley Goodspeed than Kyle Stanley).

That thing is legitimately scarier than a hat-less Jim Furyk The big feature is the closing stretch of holes 16, 17 & 18, which is glossed “The Snake Pit.” A long-ass par-3 stuck in between two man-sized par-4’s, this stretch regularly ranks amongst the toughest on Tour. No word on how long it’s been named this: we like to pretend it was dubbed the (Trouser) Snake Pit after the ’11 event in honor of Woodland’s tour de force. The only thing holding this stretch of holes back is the mandatory and cringe-worthy nickname.

There really isn’t a vibe, as this event’s been wronged by Corporate America in a variety of different ways. Consider the following: It started as The Tampa Bay Championship, an almost-silly season event in 2000 opposite the President’s Cup in the fall, was cancelled in ’01 due to 9/11 (it was to be played opposite the WGC American Express Championship), and returned in ’02 as the Tampa Bay Championship presented by Buick when Buick execs decided they weren’t sponsoring enough golf events (and probably because the demo’s for old people with disposable income for a new LaSalle in the region made them swoon). From ’03 to ’06 the event doubled down on being an almost unrecognizable car event as the Chrysler Championship (amongst other Chrysler events in Greensboro, Palm Springs, and Tuscon), playing in a vacuum the week before The Tour Championship (Florida, middle of football season – people probably didn’t even know this thing existed).

In ’07 Finchy finally saw the light and moved the event to the middle of the Florida Swing and Kirk Triplett brought his PODS swag to town in the the form of a two-year stint as the Portable On Demand Storage Championship (no word on whether spectators received free bucket lids). ’09 brought with it the advent of the Transitions Championship, which was essentially a week long celebration of Trevor Immelman and Kenny Perry. Transitions lasted four years, bailing out really hard in ’12. EverBank, a regional bank out of Jacksonville, magnanimously stepped in as a stopgap and essentially saved the tournament. Valspar came to the rescue last year, and we the fans get to learn about paint products in a city where huffing paint is probably pretty popular. And yet, somehow in the midst all of this title sponsor tomfoolery this tournament has always managed to pay a substantial purse. Much respect to the tournament committee – you’ve built the Valspar Championship into something enduring and worthwhile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgf9cCnK_iE

One remembers a few firsts in life – first beer, first illicit sexual encounter in someone’s basement, first time stepping foot at Augusta National, first time experiencing “Spotlight Coverage” on Golf Channel.

That last one happened for me during this event last year. Swantek, Immelman, Byrum, BillyRay, et al. bombarded my television with trackman stats, fresh camera angles, strong takes geared toward serious golf fans, and the perspective inherent when you take a diverse cross section of talent and show dozens of guys play the same few shots. It was an eye-opening telecast that got me hooked.

The actual tournament was a see-saw battle all day Sunday, with almost a dozen guys jockeying for position, including some fascinating personalities in Na (watching him battle his demons is riveting), WillyMac and Garrigus, interspersed with some young talent, and topped off with Rose, Sendo, DeLaet, Woodland, and DubP (prior to ejecting on Saturday) all flashing ballstriking bonafides.

It’s Tampa. May I recommend the following…

In honor of the inestimable, esteemed @PFTCommenter

There’s not a ton I like out there this week, so the bets are smaller. The field is pretty strong, but top heavy. Keep in mind some of the extreme value fliers in DraftKings/FanDuel type stuff.

 – Showing flashes of late and track record at Copperhead commands respect.

 – Just going to keep betting him before he gets in the 30/1 range every week, which will happen.

 – Dirt McGirt is a thoroughbred and he’s going to win soon. He keeps knocking on the door and he plays tough, old school courses well. Form is outstanding.

 – Solid history at this event, having a solid year, plays well in events that aren’t birdie binges.

 – Split a unit between Tron’s two favorite rookies. Curran lost the PR Open in a playoff last week, which speaks volumes about his talent and makeup, but you have to worry about fatigue. However, this course should suit Curran and Ortiz very nicely.

 – Half unit. Finished 3rd here last year. Team NLU.

 – Half unit. Nominal play here. Wholly unspectacular this year but I expect him to break out soon and this is the type of layout I expect it on. These odds are dumb. They’re paying you to take him.

A smattering of heavyweights in the field this week – good time to lay the lumber with guys like Scott, Spieth, Stenson, and Rose. Tron also likes Francesco Molinari at 100/1, and Robert Allenby at 600/1, but I can’t quite get on board.

(Tracker: +24 units in 2015. Last week: -6. Funds are hemorrhaging. Way too cocky plugging this tracker into the preview.)

Our guys over at the college football superblog Everyday Should Be Saturday basically make a big part of their living off of hating on Tampa. Here are two of our favorites: The first one 

ideates on how Tampa won the 2017 National Championship Game

 (although it somehow skips over this event).

Can someone put out an APB for BVP? Bo Van Pelt’s game vanished at the beginning of this year – he used to be my go-to in fantasy and now I’m a rudderless ship. Hope he’s on his grind and close to finding the special sauce!

Any other week I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch on the EuroTour but Soly’s been deep in the jingoistic anti-OWGR game since the conclusion of last week’s WGC, and rightly so as I’m pretty sure every store-brand foreign guy got EJECTED. Also, it’s the Tshwane Open this week, which can be summed up with the same contention I use for Matt Kuchar – nice guy, lacks pop, not a killer, can’t play on my team.

In researching this event, I noticed that John Huston won the inaugural iteration back in 2000. That’s a hell of a good way to kick things off. I put Huston up on a pedestal a long time ago for the following reasons: He plays stupid-fast. He made the cut at The Masters eleven times in a twelve year stretch. He shot 61 at Muirfield Village. He refused to win tournaments that weren’t in tropical locales. And most importantly, John Huston might be the streakiest player to ever play the game outside of Argentinian Mamba, Andres Romero.

When I was a little kid they didn’t sell gum in the Tampa Airport because the place had wall to wall carpeting, like hundreds of acres of carpet. Year after year we used to vacation outside of Tampa, in Siesta Key, and I loathed flying in and out of there. The policy was borderline Soviet. Hopefully since then the military junta running TPA softened its stance on gum and quit terrorizing little kids.

Much like my man Adam, if you float in certain circles you’re probably pretty familiar with the reputation of the scrip club scene in Tampa. It also featured prominently in Alan Shipnuck’s book detailing Rich Beem’s ascent to the Tour in the late nineties, as Beem’s then caddie the late Steve Duplantis was a resident of Tampa and a strip club aficionado. Those two details dovetail nicely, as the Mons Venus is the most legendary strip club in a city legendary for it’s strip clubs (just behind 1990’s 

). This place has quite the reputation. Also if you haven’t read Shipnuck’s 

 do so ASAP. (Coincidentally it also features Westward Ho Golf Club up in the Dakota’s rather prominently, which was designed by one, Larry Packard).

Lately, I’ve also pondered why Curt Schilling isn’t the honorary starter at a tournament sponsored by a paint company (

 – for the record I’ve got nothing against Curt, phenomenal career, great dad, only slightly tarnished by the fact that he painted his sock and his crappy business acumen).

A couple of editorial notes on these previews: A lot of the stuff that applies to multiple years carries over (course, vibe, etc.) – obviously some of it is straight repeat, but for the most part we’re trying to build on the stuff that was well-received and keep the good vibes rolling, and then obviously build the picks section from scratch every week. Each week Soly poses the question, “Is this poor journalism?” and rhetorically answers “Absolutely.” But I respectfully disagree with that question in the first place, because it’s not journalism, at least in my estimation. Instead it’s just dudes bullshitting about golf, interspersing random observations with creative writing, and telling it to you reals – and if we ever get to the point where it’s not about that, please let us know. Seriously.

In that same vein, I want to say thank you to Soly for pretty much singlehandedly growing NLU from the off-brand “small-shop” with a couple thousand followers last year into the full-fledged multinational strong-takes conglomerate that it is today. There are technically four of us who started this thing and nursed it through it’s infancy in last year’s maiden voyage, but really since September Soly’s been doing the work about four times the work of the rest of us combined, kept the site going, and took the twitter-vibe to a whole new level, all while moving to Europe, not getting fired from his day job, and keeping his swing on plane. I’m in awe of his energy level and passion for NLU.

2015 Valspar Championship Preview

I’m way late posting this, considering this it is now March, but let’s do this anyways….

 Farmer's coverage was awful. How should they make golf coverage less horrible?



— Sarah Endacott (@sendacott) 

This is the million dollar question, Sarah. And I really don’t think it’s all that hard. I’m obviously not a TV exec, but I don’t think any of these things are that difficult, expensive, or impossible. I’ve never worked in television, and it is easy to sit back and pick people apart that undoubtedly work very hard at their craft. Putting on a golf tournament has to be one of the most difficult sports to show live, if not the most difficult, considering the vast amount of landscape that has to be covered, and the amount of action going on all at the same time. I also have no idea what rates well (maybe people love seeing Gary Mule Deer’s swing?), so I’m saying this from a golf fan’s perspective.

With the current social media dynamic, we’re living in an unprecedented era of instantaneous feedback. Whoever has been monitoring CBS’ Eye on Golf twitter feed lately HAS to be reporting the cursing that has been thrown in their direction, right? Was there ANYONE on social media that like the coverage of the Farmers or the AT&T? If Jordan Spieth would have birdied the 18th hole at Riviera instead of bogeying it, he would have won the Northern Trust. And he didn’t have one single shot aired until the 17th hole! And we’re talking about one of the biggest superstars in American golf! The faster execs realize how much online chatter matters, the faster they can evolve to producing a quality broadcast.

More ProTracer – How hard is this? Does ANYONE dislike ProTracer? I don’t care if you’re protracing a caddie stepping off a yardage. Put some more red lines on my screen!

When you can’t get the protracer in there, how about the low to the ground shot, where the ball stays in the frame for a decently long time? Like 

? Anything but the view where it looks like a Webb Simpson shank off to the right of my screen. Give the viewers something to watch when the players are swinging.

More shots – Not every shot or story needs a Jim Nantz diatribe before it. Just set the scene, and show the action. I don’t need to see Jim Furyk’s exhausting routine before a short putt. I don’t need to see JB Holmes stalking a putt from every angle as if he’s inspecting a crime scene. You’ve got camera men out there working their ass off to get in position for these shots, and you’re not showing them on TV. I’ve always loved how ESPN does their US Open coverage (ignore the Berman part), where they seemingly just cram as many shots into their window as possible. It’s also ok to show guys that aren’t in contention that didn’t hit a horrifically awful or spectacular shot. Here in Europe, when the US feed goes to commercial, I get switched over to an “international feed”, where it’s just pure golf. It’s usually guys way off the pace that are grinding for a few extra bucks, or fighting their swings. But that kind of golf gives you a lot better perspective on what actual PGA Tour golf is like.

Take some notes from the guys that do PGA Tour Live @ online. I can sit and listen to those guys talk golf all day. They have the luxury of knowing that they’re only appealing to the biggest golf fans (Casual Joe is not going online for his golf coverage), but they don’t do the Gary McCord singing gimmicks, nor feel the pressure to try to entertain you. They just talk golf, and they somehow do it for like 8 straight hours either watching the same group, or watching the same hole. It’s not easy to talk about anything for that long, John Swantek, Mark Immelman, Craig Perks, and the rest of their group do an excellent job.

https://twitter.com/huwilliams/status/565533102848503809

Some buddies and I (including a fluctuating group of NLU guys) do a trip every year in Northern Michigan called the Boyne Cup, and it is one of the highlights of the year. We play six rounds in four days, with some not exactly street legal night golf mixed in as well. The shit talking literally lasts the entire year. This is the key to the entire trip. You need to divide into two teams, and there needs to be some kind of a true rivalry between them. The guy who leads our trip (

) is the biggest shit talker on the planet (f you click on his feed right now, you’ll see he’s literally tweeting out random stats from the history of the Boyne Cup). This will make the golf that much more competitive once you’re in the matches, yet still remaining fun.

Perhaps the most shocking thing about one of the best traditions from this trip is that it has not yet got us kicked off a course yet. This group of guys is filled with guys of all skill levels, with most of them being…. not excellent. So birdies are not that common of an occurrence, but when they do happen, they are met with a boisterous “BOOOOOYNE BIRDIEEEEEE” cheer that can be heard no matter what hole you’re on.

If you’re only playing three rounds, I would play team games the first two days (handicapped obviously). Then on the final day, two nine hole matches per person, so the same amount of points are available on the final day as there were on the first two. Live updates from the other groups are a necessity, and you need to keep the beer flowing. I don’t have a specific rule for the drinking, but make sure the whole group is keeping pace, and no one is taking the match so seriously that they aren’t having a good time.

For the prize, you HAVE to have a trophy, and preferably one you can drink from:

 will Tiger break even Snead's record?



— Kyle Nathan (@DrawsNFades) 

If you would have asked this three months ago, I would have laughed you off as a troll. After seeing whatever the hell is going on with his chipping, I don’t think we can say with any certainty that he’s going to win four more PGA Tour events. For the last year plus, I’ve been telling myself that he won five times in 2013, and that he’ll be back. Right? I mean, it’s Tiger.

We’ve seen him play poorly in the recent past, but I’ve never seen anything like these chip yips. I’ve never seen a two handicap look this bad around the greens, nevermind the best player to ever walk the Earth (it’s true). If this happened to one of my 5-handicap buddies, I would be floored. THIS IS TIGER F’N WOODS! I often ridicule how much attention he gets for everything he does, but I actually don’t think this chipping thing is getting enough attention. This is truly one of the most remarkable developments I’ve ever seen in golf.

I still say he gets there, just because I refuse to believe that he could just completely forget how to play golf. However, the chipping disaster covers up the fact that he also hit it like shit in the two weeks that he played, so it’s not like that part of his game is close either.

 Here's a question and we blogged about it | 





— Troy Klongerbo Golf (@troy_usgolftv) 

For those too lazy to click the link, the question is basically about comparing Masters Sunday to Super Bowl Sunday. For me, Masters Sunday blows Super Bowl Sunday out of the water. I actually cared more about the Waste Management on that Sunday than I did the actual Super Bowl, but that may have been slightly influenced by the Koepka man-obsession-crush.

A few years ago, I didn’t go home for Easter, and Masters Sunday fell on Easter Sunday. My friend invited me to his parents house for dinner. He said we could hang out, watch the Masters, have some nice dinner, etc. The mistake I made was assuming that dinner would be served AFTER the Masters was over. What I soon realized was that the tournament was an after thought for them. So literally as the leaders make their way through Amen Corner on Sunday, a beautiful Easter dinner is being served up. What do you do?

We paused it, but their DVR only let you pause for like 30 minutes before it just started running again. So we’re eating, and we can hear the roars. My phone is melting. The meal is done and they are still sitting around talking. I was boiling over. This was a great meal! It was me, my buddy, and his parents. Just the four of us. I felt horribly rude walking out. But I had to.

“I’m really sorry. Like…. I’m really sorry, but this is my Super Bowl.”

They were really understanding, but I still think about how rude that was of me to this day. But hey, it was Masters Sunday.

February Mailbag, Part II

I’m still trying to catch my breath from the Poulter scare last week. When your life flashes before your eyes like that, it makes you really look around and be thankful for the things you love. Hug someone close to you today. You never know when it could all come crashing down.

The Blue Monster course at what is now known as Trump National Doral has played host to this event since 2007 (before that it was home to some form of the Doral Open). Gil Hanse has made some significant adjustments to the track under the watchful eye of the Donald, which we saw for the first time last year. Specifically, the greens have been rebuilt and the bunkers moved all over the place to the point where its been said to be almost a brand new golf course. You can read more about the course changes 

here in Ryan Herrington’s piece for Golf Digest

here in Randall Mell’s piece for Golf Channel

One quick note about Gil Hanse–he’s one of the hottest names in the game of golf course redesign, just don’t ask Luke Donald about it, he’s NOT a fan. Here was what he had to say of Hanse’s redesigned 18th green at TPC Boston:

The Blue Monster had become anything but that, with the winning scores coming in at -16 or better for the last six years before the redesign. Last year, the wind blew, and it played absolutely brutal, and there were some complaints registered. I expect it to be slightly toned down, but the winner will likely be under -10.

The WGC events lack any discernible vibe. They’re essentially glorified trips to the ATM (last place got $45,000 in 2014) for the wealthiest players in the world, and when you throw in the Donald’s presence and Cadillac’s title sponsorship, the result is officially the most corporate, lily-white event on the calendar (and that’s saying something!). This event is so white, it just asked me to go to brunch on Sunday. It’s always strange to me to see all of these elite players in one place, yet have the event lack any aura or serious drama. There’s something missing from these WGC events, and for once, I don’t have a half baked idea on how to fix it (however, Tron does…. see the Fringe below).

Patrick Reed went full Patrick Reed for the first time on a public stage.

Worth mentioning, and definitely worth tracking this weekend, is the race for DFL. Our boy Kiradech Aphibarnrat clipped a couple guys at the line last year to claim the honor with a total score of +26, 314. And lest you get the wrong idea here, please note, we’re saying this with complete reverence. All of these WGC events are the absolute best opportunities to see who can maximize their apathy and get ridiculously far out of contention on the weekend. Nothing but total respect (the Tour Championship is probably the best example of one of a no-cut apathy-fest for the back half of the field).

The redesign of the course is mentioned (finish your beer if the Olympic Course is mentioned)

Drink when Donald Trump is mentioned, and finish your beer when he inevitably ends up in the booth.

Finish your beer when they show Craig Parry’s hole out to win in a playoff at Doral in 2004.

Finish your beer when they show the highlight of Gary Koch winning here, and the entire broadcast team ribs him for it.

 – The odds are a sign of respect (hell, he was 20/1 to win the 34 person Hyundai to start the year), but it’s impossible not to like him this week. Coming off a strong showing that fizzled out on Monday at the Honda Classic (it’s hard to not seriously blame the pace of play at least partially), at a course he won at a year before.

 – Showed signs of life at the Honda, but the opening round 78 held him way back. I like him to at least top 10 this week, and I think he’s got a better than 35/1 chance to win.

Writing

2015 Valero Texas Open Preview

Why Rickie Fowler Doesn't Win More

2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational Preview

Golf Channel Coverage of Patrick Reed vs. Shane Ryan

2015 Valspar Championship Preview

February Mailbag, Part II

2015 WGC Cadillac Championship Preview

Who Are The Two People Tiger Follows On Instagram?

2015 Honda Classic Preview

2015 Northern Trust Open Preview

NLU February Mailbag, Part I

2015 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am Preview

2015 Farmers Insurance Open Preview

Patrick Reed: Golf's Greatest Villain

January Golf Tweets of the Month

2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open Preview

2015 Humana Challenge Preview

NLU January Mailbag