Tiger vs. Rory vs. Phil

4. Things have been so bleak at LIV this week. Somehow even more so than usual. I discussed all of it with Gabby on this podcast, but there are a few things I wanted to note here as well.

The first is that Bryson is clearly rattled, and when Bryson gets rattled, he immediately goes into High King of Content mode. And almost inevitably when that happens, the quotes are extraordinary.

“I'd love to do a bunch of dubbing in different languages, giving the world more reason to watch YouTube,” he told ESPN. “And then I'd love to play tournaments that want me.”

Getting “Breaking 50 with Christ Pratt” into Indonesian and Japanese one week and then straight into practice rounds at Pebble for the U.S. Open the next week.

It doesn’t end there!

“The team franchises, there's enough making profit now to where we could sell them for close to $200 million, and that's not talking about my team either,” he said to ESPN.

I have to say, if the Cleeks and Magic Sticks are valued at $200 million, the Dallas Cowboys are going to sell for $55 billion.

And lastly.

💉💉💉💉💉💉

5. Bryson is a professional sports unicorn in that he is …

• An elite talent
• Also primarily (!) a showman and …
• Willing to say almost anything

This trio is the holy grail when it comes to sports entertainment, especially in individual sports. The PGA Tour would be foolish not to welcome him back as quickly as possible.

And in fact that looks to be what they are doing, or at least signaling that they will do. It is not — it cannot be — a coincidence that two days after Bryson is yelling about YouTube restrictions (normal sport), the Tour loosened their own parameters around what players can and cannot do.

The showman, but where will the show go on?

Who cares about the specific language in what the Tour loosened (it’s not a ton), this is clearly an overture to the HKOC that they do in fact want him back and will clear the path for that to happen.

Again, they would be out of their minds to not do this, and I think Rolapp knows this. The question will not be whether the Tour welcomes Bryson back but rather whether he wants to jump back into that arena at all. 

Bryson is wired a bit differently than most, and even though he has indicated that he would willingly return, I’m not sure Rory’s quote about the Tour being for guys who care about competing will resonate as much with Bryson as it likely will with others.

6. The contrast this week between the following three players was stark.

Bryson: I may just play the Masters and matches against Grant Horvat.
Rahm: I am being held hostage.
Rory: I can become one of the all time greats.

Twitter tweet

Greatness always has a cost, and while I don’t think it should be everyone’s aim, I do respect the singular focus of people who have been given all the gifts.

Rory hasn’t always had this singular focus (see: this time last year and many times over the last 15 years). But he certainly does right now as his golf legacy starts to come into focus. Rahm seems like he’s inadvertently kicking it away. Bryson as noted above … may not even care?

Again, there is more to life than winning 10 majors. In the grand scheme, it doesn’t matter all that much. But in a world where it is easy to lose focus often — [raises hand as high as possible] — it did catch my attention that while Rahm and Bryson are wandering about, Rory seems to be in “I want it all” mode going into the last three majors of this year and the last however many years of his prime.

Here for it and absolutely cannot wait to watch it.

7. Every time I turn around, I feel like Rahm is answering a question while looking like this.

I don’t want to spend too much time on him — I’ve already written about how he’s debasing himself on a weekly basis — but this quote was dire.

Me looking at that.

The sowing-reaping meme is the first thing that comes to mind.

Also this.

 

Tough to watch from someone who — I will continue beating this drum — is generationally good at golf.

8. One thing I feel fairly certain of is that LIV will be in existence this time next year and this time the year after that.

If you read this interview with Scott O’Neil, there is — as there is with any executive — probably a lot of BS. But there is also a sense to me of “this is for sure going to continue on in some capacity” in what he’s saying. Does that mean Bryson and Rahm are around for it? Probably not. But LIV isn’t going anywhere, which is going to be …

1. Painful to endure all the “this was the plan all along” from LIV bots.

2. Interesting to see what becomes of it and who invests (especially given that the PIF still owns it), and …

3. Probably another move toward private equity, which I’m not sure is in the best interest of golf fans, just as I’m not sure the Tour’s SSG money is in the best interest of any of us either.

Example: Does private equity move toward or away from this idea?

A question worth considering as a lot of pro sports move in the private equity direction.

9. This video of The Mink by Fried Egg is terrific. I watched it and took notes earlier this week and feel more prepared for the tournament than if I’d walked the golf course five times by myself. That’s the value of good commentary and a host who both knows what he’s doing and understands how to communicate it.

Takeaways include …

• No. 7 looks awesome. That’s going to be such a fun hole to watch.

• No. 13 — a sometimes drivable par 4 with OB just off the green to the left — is going to be delicious. Cannot wait to see players rage over some bad hops there.

• Gil Hanse was effusive in his take that nothing really matters in terms of challenging players other than firm greens (and I would add, wind … though the two are related).

• Lag putting, lag putting, lag putting.

• I think the 2018 leaderboard gets at something Andy referenced, which is that you can hit a good shot and have a dangerous two-putt. Great second shots, however, are rewarded. Look at this board from the 2018 BMW at Aronimink. Literally everyone on here is a great to elite iron player, and almost all of them finished in the top 15-20 in approach play that week.

10. They must just make more putts!

Thank you for reading our algorithm-free golf newsletter that is sometimes even about golf. We enjoy drawing and writing it every single week and we take a lot of pride in the craftsmanship that goes into it, even though it’s just a digital product (for now). We hope you enjoy reading and consuming it half as much as we enjoy making it and would love it if you would pass it along to a friend or colleague.