Puttering Around: WGC Workday

 “If Giannis Develops A Jump Shot” Award: Collin Morikawa

So far, the 2021 PGA Tour has been an array of tight finishes. After Patrick Reed ran away with the Farmers Insurance Open, Brooks Koepka and Daniel “Ice” Berger (I’m gonna make that nickname HAPPEN) needed late eagles to put away their victories, with a 1 stroke win for Brooks, and 2 for Ice Berger, at the Waste Management Open and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, sans “Ams”/amateurs. Then, last weekend, Max Homa and Tony Finau went to a playoff at Riviera, with the former hoisting the Genesis Invitational trophy.

Collin Morikawa had no interest in such theatrics. When the 50-1 underdog drained his final putt on Hole #18, the reigning PGA Championship Champion led Brooks Koepka, Viktor Hovland, and Billy Horschel by 3 strokes. Side Note: PGA needs to work on their naming terminology - PGA Championship Champion sounds more redundant than “True fact,” but I can’t say he is the “PGA Champion,” with Dustin Johnson holding the FedEx Cup and #1 World Ranking. 

These tournaments are populated with sudden comebacks. While Morikawa may have gone to sleep in Bradenton, Florida (that sounds extremely creepy now that I type it) down a stroke to Koepka on Friday night, he seemed to control the weekend, shooting -5 on the first half of Day 3, and never looking back.

Some golfers win tournaments by excelling at some parts of the game, but just doing OK. For example, in their recent wins in Phoenix and Pebble Beach, Florida State teammates Koepka and Ice Berger were lukewarm in accuracy putting and driving, but more than made up for it with strong shots off the tee and on the approach to give themselves some leeway on the green. This was not the way the PGA Championship Champion (I might just permanently call Morikawa/ the most recent PGA Championship winner that) played. 

Morikawa wins events on his approach, ranking first in the PGA in strokes gained on approach shots, displaying it at The Concession, where he placed second in Greens In Regulation %, making it onto the green at least 2 strokes before par on 77.8% of his holes. That wasn’t all. He won the WGC Workday Championship on the green, ranking second in the event with an average of 1.554 putts. Off the tee, he made up for his lack of strength (bottom 12 in driving distance) by ranking 5th in fairways hit. Morikawa did it all, playing Taysom Hill injected with Barry Bonds’ amounts of steroids.

Reporter of the Week: CBS Sports’ Kyle Porter

You didn’t think you were gonna get out of this article without me reminding you that Collin Morikawa is a Cal alumnus, did you? Morikawa and Homa, the two most recent victors on the tour, agreed that Cal golf was a powerhouse. The WGC Workday account even concurred, so to all the haters out there, it’s tough to argue with the cold hard facts of a golf event becoming a person, (or y’know just having a social media manager, but I like my definition more) to say that UC Berkeley golf is a powerhouse. 

Many journalists vied for the prestigious Casey At Da Bat reporter of the week. Porter won out thanks to his piece investigating the PGA Championship Champion’s statistical dominance, in which his second sentence reads, “The former Cal Bear is a skilled winner, which is a meaningful trait in professional golf.” While the second half of the phrase sounds like a Magic Johnson Tweet, he takes the award thanks to the first half, in which he uses “Cal Bear” and “Winner” without a “not” in between.

Salivating Announcers Award: The Concession

Golf fans are used to the same courses. Year after year, the tour stops at TPC Scottsdale, Harbour Town, and a wealth of other breathtaking sets of 18 holes. The tradition of those locations is fun. Mixing it up with other courses, like the PGA Championship did by going to Harding Park in San Francisco, is a nice change of pace as well.

This weekend’s World Golf Championship, at The Concession in Bradenton, Florida, belonged to the “sprucing it up” department. Designed by Jack Nicklaus, it honored a moment of sportsmanship in the passages of golf history, when The Golden Bear conceded a short putt to Tony Jacklin in the ‘69 Ryder Cup.

There are 4 problems with this. 

A. Was it really that great an act of sportsmanship? Yay, Jacklin doesn’t have to attempt a 2 foot putt! I can’t golf for my life, and I’d bet on me putting that ball in the bottom of the cup. It would be like offering to pay for $0.05 of a fellow supermarket shopper’s order, out of the kindness of your heart

B. Did it really do anything? Even if Jacklin would’ve missed the putt, it wouldn’t mean much. If the putt went in, they would tie, and the USA would retain the Ryder Cup and their dominance over Europe. If the putt missed, Nicklaus and his American counterparts would win, and the USA would retain the Ryder Cup and their dominance over Europe. It would be like having the generosity to offer to help out with the “Thank You” slide of a history slide deck, when your classmates already ensured you would get an A on the project, with your contribution of a dancing banana only adding an extra sticker to your sheet with a red 96% on it.

C. Was it bad for national pride? Jack Nicklaus is American. Tony Jacklin is English. In a battle of USA vs Europe, conceding to a Brit, even if they are now our allies, seems like conceding our national pride. It would be like if the Founding Fathers allowed King George III to ink their signature on the Constitution. Coincidentally/not so coincidentally, Watergate occurred shortly thereafter. Was Richard Nixon motivated by a lack of nationalism?

D. If you created 18 holes to pay homage to sportsmanship, why did you invite Patrick Reed?

The course led announcers to “ooh” and “aah” over the scenic site, surrounded by trees, water, and anything else you can imagine that would evoke the word “tranquility.” The NBC broadcasters had their enjoyment of The Concession. For his health, I’m just glad Jim Nantz wasn’t in attendance. He might’ve had a stroke just intaking that beauty, with his love for Augusta, Pebble Beach, among other picturesque links. CBS dodged a bullet there: Tony Romo had his heart attack in the AFC Divisional Round after Andy Reid elected to go for it on 4th down. This would’ve put their entire #1 NFL team out of commission.

The course delivered every ounce of its hype. Topsy-turvy play was the name of the game here, with many eagles (3 holes saw a total 25 eagles!) and a lot of major bogeys. Matthew Wolff (Wolff dropped out after a Day 1 83 and I can’t say I blame him. With the WGC being a no cut event, it would purely be frustrating to do that for three more days, when down big, and you just don’t have it) and Viktor Hovland, 2 of the best young stars in all of golf, both quadruple bogeyed on the first 2 days. (Wild what-if there: if you change Hovland’s 4 over par shot to a simple par, he wins the tournament) World #1 Dustin Johnson finished +5, just one of many wild results. Many golfers expressed their enjoyment of The Concession, causing many to wonder if it will return to television screens on the PGA Tour soon.

OOSTHUIZEN Award: Louis Oosthuizen

OOSTHUIZEN is back. In his first event with me publicly backing him, the South African came through, tying for 6th with “World Wide” Webb (There’s no way that nickname doesn’t catch on) Simpson and Rory “ Clever Nickname Pending” McIlroy. Pretty sure his newfound glory derived from my support. It’s not like he won the British Open by 7 strokes, made a playoff in two other majors, and additionally placed second in the US Open and PGA Championship without my loyal fandom.

Oosthuizen took home a Top 10 finish not with volatility, as many other players did, with the unfamiliar course leading to many a double bogey, but with consistency. Oosthuizen logged as many combined eagles and double bogeys as instances of someone saying, “Gee. I really haven’t watched enough Keeping Up With The Kardashians” - zero. 

Jordan Peele Award: Bryson DeChambeau

Jordan Peele was a top comedian, the Peele in notable sketch comedy show Key & Peele. Suddenly, he pivoted like Donovan Mitchell to directing films like Get Out and Us, an ingenious fusion of social commentary and horror. 

Bryson DeChambeau carved out a lane for himself on the PGA Tour as the dude who can WHACK a golf ball off a tee. His weight room performance was unparalleled, but many questioned his ability to use clubs well on fairways and greens. His performance at WGC Workday was nothing to sneeze at, shooting 6 under par at the end of 4 days in Bradenton. Nevertheless, that kind of finish, tying for 22nd, won’t make back page news (or are the middle pages the least valuable?) for a man who won the US Open at Winged Foot by 6 strokes, and sits at #11 in the World Golf Rankings.

Something doesn’t show up in that simple figure of -6: how he got there. In spite of reportedly slimming down, Bryson still abuses the tee like it’s some random cameraman, averaging over 308 yards per drive. This week, whether by tangible improvements or a lucky string of swings, DeChamBro’s (still workshopping a few nicknames here) putts reliably were met by the soothing “click” of the bottom of a cup, averaging 1.581 putts per green in regulation, or fourth in the entire WGC Workday Championship. Unfortunately, whether by bad luck or a few poor showings, just a few holes dragged the heavy hitter down, with 3 key double bogeys and a triple. 

Driving Coaches of the Week: Australians

Kangarooos. Sydney Opera House. Excellent driving coaches. All things that come to mind when you hear “The Land Down Under.” 

This was a solid tournament for the Aussies, with the streaky Cameron Smith watching the sun set in Florida on Friday night only a stroke away from the lead, but a Saturday 77 sank his hopes of winning, but a strong Sunday recovery tied him for 11th at -10 with Kevin Na and Matthew Fitzpatrick. A grand total of 5 Australians shot even or better.

The drive was the Australians’ best friend, with Min Woo Lee eating his Sunday morning Vegemite leading the WGC Workday in driving distance (2 other Down Underers also averaged over 300 yards a drive), and Brad Kennedy air guitaring to some AC/DC after hitting 91% of his fairways, a tournament best. Kennedy did not Shoot To Thrill - his +8 was rather lackluster.

This leads me to ask the critical question somewhere between 1-7 billion golf fans are wondering: Who are these Australian swing coaches, and why are they so great? Did the Aussies swing backwards like their toilets? (I’ve watched plenty of golf, and didn’t see them do that, but who knows?) Are their clubs made of coral from the Great Barrier Reef? Do they take driving practice off Uluru? Did they take advantage of their earlier time zone, giving them a few more hours to train in 2021? Find out next week.

Fascinating Hole Of The Week: Hole #6

This par 3 hole caught my eye throughout the week. First of all, it yielded the only ace of the week, with Trevor Simsby pocketing the hole-in-one. If the most stimulating play in golf wasn’t compelling enough for you, Hole #6 can one up it even better with every golf fan’s favorite aspect of the game: an abnormal data trend. Strangely, the EXACT average for the sixth pin was 3. No decimals, no nothing. The precise mean for the 285 attempts made resulted in an exact par.

So whether you like wonky (or extremely normal if you think about it. Props to Nickalus and Co. for nailing the design of that Par 3) averages or stirring, invigorating highlight aces, Hole 6 has it.

Branden Grace’s Best Friend Award: Viktor Hovland (broke Puerto Rico Open curse)

Winning a PGA Tournament is one of the best things than can happen to someone’s bank account over 4 days. Collin Morikawa won nearly $2 million during this business trip to Florida. Dustin Johnson won a green jacket and over 2 million green bills (assuming he’s an eccentric dude who wants all his money in George Washingtons) in his November visit to Augusta. Up until a year ago, in spite of a payout for the winner worth more than some private islands, there was one spot that many pros had a slight fear of: the Puerto Rico Open.

The Coco Beach course allowed for plenty of high quality golf, with 6 winners attaining a score of -19 or better since 2010. The catch? The panoramic Caribbean course acted like a haunted house in a horror blockbuster, where the main character can enter, but never leave. Since the event’s debut on the tour in ‘04 as an alternate event to one of the four annual World Golf Championship competitions, winners have never gone on to win another tournament. 

After winning the 2009 edition of the Rio Grande competition, Michael Bradley repeated the feat in 2011. However, he, along with every other golfer to hoist the esteemed Puerto Rico Open trophy (no clue if that’s a thing; nod along), never won a DIFFERENT tourney. Viktor Hovland, after winning the Mayakoba Classic in Cancun near the end of 2020, broke this curse, notching his second PGA victory after a February Puerto Rico win. This should relieve this year’s champ, Brendan Grace. Given my expert insider knowledge, I’m willing to bet he would like to win another PGA Tour contest, putting a third victory in the PGA trophy case after a win in Hilton Head five years ago. Another guy who might’ve appreciated Hovland’s kind deed of winning almost $1.3 million? Tony Finau, whose lack of victories may have aroused from the Curse At Coco Beach (Gonna need to run down to the trademark store and copyright that screenplay name).

Aside from making a new best buddy, awesome week for Hovland, as I went over earlier with his stellar -15 to tie for second at The Concession. The Norwegian continues to play good golf - he’s settled in the Top 15 in 5 of his 6 past events. The lone exception? The Sentry Tournament of Champions, which, contrary to the name, is a relaxed season-opener featuring players who won the previous year, so you can’t blame him for tying for 31st, especially with Hovland’s score of -11. They even pulled an NFL and realized they had to station it in Maui to attract top guys like Rahm and Dustin. All I ask, is if you’re gonna name an event Tournament Of Champions, can you make it a high quality one? Hovland also executed the play of the WGC Workday, managing to go for birdie on a hole in which he had no business making par.

Another incredible thing for the Puerto Rico Open? You might hear the lack of success of winners and assume it’s caused by the fact that the top players are off at the WGC. While this is true, the list of runner-ups piles up future stars. Since 2009, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, and Bryson DeChambeau received first loser honors at Coco Beach, and went on to win 5 majors, 2 #1 rankings, a Player’s Championship (#5thMajor), and a FedExCup. Retief Goosen (second place to OOSTHUIZEN for best name in South Africa) also took home second in 2018, years after winning 2 US Opens and a Tour Championship.

Moment of the Tournament: The Tiger Tributes

Tiger Woods’ tragic car crash, shattering parts of his lower body, caused ripples across the golf world, if not the entire world world. So many were shocked by it, with many at The Concession viewing him as their hero, while others thought of Woods as a friend.

Collin Morikawa’s win was very notable. However, it was just another sublime performance for one of the best golfers in the world. The tributes to Tiger MEANT SOMETHING. 

Rory McIlroy honoring Tiger meant something. Scottie Scheffler wearing ridiculously large clothing to pay his respects to arguably the greatest to ever putt a ball meant something. The golf community sharing their love for Tiger Woods meant something.