Issue No. 265 | October 25, 2025 | Read Online
Greetings!
I’m not sure anyone was asking for this, but we are always trying to build out our website to more fully represent who we are as a business and as individuals.
I have been wanting to write more of my own personal story of how I got into all of this — “this” being sending emails about reptile skulls and odes to cows.
My background and my story. Many of you have probably heard pieces of it, but I got steep on why I have such a love of creating and where that comes from as well as how I got into golf and stumbled into this ridiculous business in the first place.
Hope you enjoy.
Today’s five thoughts are sponsored by our friends at Turtlebox.
You know how you buy a new car, and you’re driving everywhere and it suddenly seems like two-thirds of your community owns various colors of the same car? That’s what Turtlebox feels like right now.
As of one year ago, I had either not heard or vaguely heard of them, and now I feel like they are everywhere (including in the home of one of the better golfers in Texas … but more on that later).
This doesn’t happen with products that are inferior. It only happens when the product is great and the story that it tells is even better. This is Turtlebox.
Incredible audio products like the Turtlebox Ranger and Turtlebox Original and a story that is both inspirational and aspirational.
When I got home yesterday evening after a long day of, uh, bouncing around on DataGolf.com, Mrs. Normal had both the Ranger and the Original in our backyard just streaming music and cooking out. Wonderful. Exactly how they’re meant to be used. A story worth telling. Check them out.
And while we can’t say that using the ridiculously strong Ranger magnet to find your tossed club in a pile of leaves is exactly how they were meant to be used, we wouldn’t advise you against it either.
OK, now onto the news.
1. Our “guess whose Data Golf profile this is” question from earlier this week was surprisingly fun and difficult. The responses were great, too.
Most common answer: Jason Day
Correct answer: Maverick McNealy
The thing that was throwing everyone off was the six wins in 2015 and four more in 2016. McNealy did win 10 times across those two years, but they were amateur wins (not professional ones). Day actually only won eight times on the PGA Tour (see below).
Congrats to David H. for winning an Outdoor Sport hat (which you can grab right here). We’ll definitely try to do more of these Data Golf questions for merch.
2. This conversation between Jack Altman and Thomas Laffont is ostensibly about investing, having billions under management, AI and a million other things.
But they briefly get into golf, and the way it is talked about is so lovely. Here’s a quote from Laffont.
The opportunity to spend four hours with either a close friend who’s having a difficult time or someone I just met and who I don’t know. And we’re not looking at our phones. We’re actually kind of in the open air, walking. It’s so rare in this world.
Thomas Laffont
When you say the word “golf” to a lot of people, the stereotype that it brings about is one of stodginess and wealth. And while that picture of golf can be true and the folks in this video are undoubtedly wealthy, the way it is described here is the way I prefer it to be described.
Golf is a 3- or 6-mile hike with a friend or friends. And along the way you’re swinging a stick at a ball. We have literally been doing this for millennia, even if we never called it golf.
It delights me when folks who are not sickos view it and present it that way because I think when it’s viewed that way, golf really can change your life. Not to mention, becoming a sicko who can name 230+ golfers off the top of your head like Illustrator Jason can really change your life.
3. I wrote about this in my about, but if you grew up in the 1990s like I did, you maybe read a lot of Matt Christopher books. These stories legitimately shaped my life and certainly my professional writing life.
Here’s a clip from a Joe Posnanski (!!) profile of Christopher from 1988 (!!).
Christopher gets between 30 and 40 letters a week from children and teachers and librarians thanking him and telling him how much they enjoy his books. Christopher says those letters give him a lift.
In children's books, the author must pour himself into the work. It will take Christopher three months to finish a book — a mix of fun and the hardest work.
"I think of times when I get emotional writing books," Christopher said. "Sometimes I write, and there are tears in my eyes. It's very important. I know when I feel like that, the reader will feel that way."
He smiles.
Joe Posnanski
This is so beautiful. I love it so much. It is also so aspirational to me. I talked about this a bit in the recent podcast Jason and I recorded, about making all of this more personal. It has not historically been done very often in the sportswriting world, which is understandable. But I think it’s how a lot of us most enjoy consuming. Here’s the clip where I talk about bringing your personal preferences into sports coverage.
This post will continue below for Normal Club members and includes Billy Ho’s Ryder Cup solution (and my thoughts) as well as a hilarious reader email about the “name 30 golfers” game (that may or may not be sweeping the nation).
Welcome to the members-only portion of today’s newsletter. I hope you find the parts about golf enjoyable and the parts about our business encouraging.
4. Billy Horschel recently proposed a more unified and streamlined Team USA for the Ryder Cup (and presumably all international competitions), which could be run by the PGA Tour.
I don’t know that I believe it should be the PGA Tour running the Team USA side, but I wholeheartedly agree with this idea, which I outlined right here (and which it seems like Horschel may have read!).
Here’s what I wrote.
Here’s a wild first attempt at creating a new hierarchy on the U.S. side.
Me | Normal Sport No. 260
I think you have to have a GM. Somebody who is tantamount to the captain but does everything behind the scenes. Europe has a version of this, though I don’t think they call him a GM. It’s a person who is thoroughly dedicated to helping Europe win the Ryder Cup, though, and is so meaningful to their operation.
…
…
…
This is a big investment. Several million dollars a year. But it’s worth it. It’s baseline stuff on the Euro side! The Ryder Cup is big business. It’s no longer Ben Hogan rolling out 10 dudes in ties and vests to whack a ball around and shake some hands. It is the most important international golf event in the world. It generates $200 million every time it’s played!
We either care about our performance in that, or we do not.
Me | Normal Sport No. 260
Doing this idea seems obvious, but because there is no clear ownership when it comes to Team USA (PGA Tour in President’s Cup years, PGA of America in Ryder Cup years, and the USGA running a U.S. national development program), I am sadly unconvinced it’s ever going to happen.
5. This “can you name 30 golfers” thing has been a gift during the off season. Countless conversations. Kids, spouses, friends. It’s all great.
I got a lot of emails about it, but this one stood out.
Afternoon sir — Just got back from camping this weekend with my 7 year old, so sleep deprivation me may have found this funnier than it actually is.
J.R. G.
But gracious, Thorjn Bjorgensen?! A mix between Thunder Bear and Mike from Stanford? Who could say, but it had me rolling. Couldn’t get to Rory, and all she had on Scottie was Arrested Guy. Even though she really likes him!
Wanted credit for MJ and CC, hard pass for me.
Warmed my heart that Jordy was 2nd and she got to Viktor!
Bummed she didn’t get to Tommy but beggars can’t be choosers. Writing Phil twice in three names and not realizing it until the end had me howling too. Didn’t spell Richard Flower correctly either (props to Mrs. Normal).
I have blocked out my morning tomorrow to try and break 200 myself, godspeed to your quest as well.
J.R. G.
So much to enjoy here, but Thorjn Bjorgensen is an all timer. Thorjn B., Bobby Jones and Tony Finau but no Scottie or Rory. Amazing stuff. Keep the emails coming!
If you ever want to support our business, you can buy some Norman merch here (at a discount!) or pass along our site to your golf group chat and get them involved in all this nonsense as well.
Issue No. 265 | October 25, 2025 | Read Online
Greetings!
I’m not sure anyone was asking for this, but we are always trying to build out our website to more fully represent who we are as a business and as individuals.
I have been wanting to write more of my own personal story of how I got into all of this — “this” being sending emails about reptile skulls and odes to cows.
My background and my story. Many of you have probably heard pieces of it, but I got steep on why I have such a love of creating and where that comes from as well as how I got into golf and stumbled into this ridiculous business in the first place.
Hope you enjoy.
Today’s five thoughts are sponsored by our friends at Turtlebox.
You know how you buy a new car, and you’re driving everywhere and it suddenly seems like two-thirds of your community owns various colors of the same car? That’s what Turtlebox feels like right now.
As of one year ago, I had either not heard or vaguely heard of them, and now I feel like they are everywhere (including in the home of one of the better golfers in Texas … but more on that later).
This doesn’t happen with products that are inferior. It only happens when the product is great and the story that it tells is even better. This is Turtlebox.
Incredible audio products like the Turtlebox Ranger and Turtlebox Original and a story that is both inspirational and aspirational.
When I got home yesterday evening after a long day of, uh, bouncing around on DataGolf.com, Mrs. Normal had both the Ranger and the Original in our backyard just streaming music and cooking out. Wonderful. Exactly how they’re meant to be used. A story worth telling. Check them out.
And while we can’t say that using the ridiculously strong Ranger magnet to find your tossed club in a pile of leaves is exactly how they were meant to be used, we wouldn’t advise you against it either.
OK, now onto the news.
1. Our “guess whose Data Golf profile this is” question from earlier this week was surprisingly fun and difficult. The responses were great, too.
Most common answer: Jason Day
Correct answer: Maverick McNealy
The thing that was throwing everyone off was the six wins in 2015 and four more in 2016. McNealy did win 10 times across those two years, but they were amateur wins (not professional ones). Day actually only won eight times on the PGA Tour (see below).
Congrats to David H. for winning an Outdoor Sport hat (which you can grab right here). We’ll definitely try to do more of these Data Golf questions for merch.
2. This conversation between Jack Altman and Thomas Laffont is ostensibly about investing, having billions under management, AI and a million other things.
But they briefly get into golf, and the way it is talked about is so lovely. Here’s a quote from Laffont.
The opportunity to spend four hours with either a close friend who’s having a difficult time or someone I just met and who I don’t know. And we’re not looking at our phones. We’re actually kind of in the open air, walking. It’s so rare in this world.
Thomas Laffont
When you say the word “golf” to a lot of people, the stereotype that it brings about is one of stodginess and wealth. And while that picture of golf can be true and the folks in this video are undoubtedly wealthy, the way it is described here is the way I prefer it to be described.
Golf is a 3- or 6-mile hike with a friend or friends. And along the way you’re swinging a stick at a ball. We have literally been doing this for millennia, even if we never called it golf.
It delights me when folks who are not sickos view it and present it that way because I think when it’s viewed that way, golf really can change your life. Not to mention, becoming a sicko who can name 230+ golfers off the top of your head like Illustrator Jason can really change your life.
3. I wrote about this in my about, but if you grew up in the 1990s like I did, you maybe read a lot of Matt Christopher books. These stories legitimately shaped my life and certainly my professional writing life.
Here’s a clip from a Joe Posnanski (!!) profile of Christopher from 1988 (!!).
Christopher gets between 30 and 40 letters a week from children and teachers and librarians thanking him and telling him how much they enjoy his books. Christopher says those letters give him a lift.
In children's books, the author must pour himself into the work. It will take Christopher three months to finish a book — a mix of fun and the hardest work.
"I think of times when I get emotional writing books," Christopher said. "Sometimes I write, and there are tears in my eyes. It's very important. I know when I feel like that, the reader will feel that way."
He smiles.
Joe Posnanski
This is so beautiful. I love it so much. It is also so aspirational to me. I talked about this a bit in the recent podcast Jason and I recorded, about making all of this more personal. It has not historically been done very often in the sportswriting world, which is understandable. But I think it’s how a lot of us most enjoy consuming. Here’s the clip where I talk about bringing your personal preferences into sports coverage.
This post will continue below for Normal Club members and includes Billy Ho’s Ryder Cup solution (and my thoughts) as well as a hilarious reader email about the “name 30 golfers” game (that may or may not be sweeping the nation).
Normal Sport is supported by exactly 1,012 crazed individuals. By becoming a member, you will receive the following …
• A vote for trusted, independent media.
• The delight of helping us establish Normal Sport.
• 15% off to our pro shop.
• Access to all of our content (like the rest of this post).
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