Category: Opinion

PGA Tour “Elevated” Events

Elevated or Just Hot Air

Elevated or Good Old Hot Air? Photo courtesy of gigsalad.com

As we all know, the PGA Tour, and its commissioner, Jay Monahan, are trying everything they can do to diminish the impact LIV Golf has had in professional golf.

From using their cheerleaders at the Golf Channel, the lame golf media, and the United States court system, the PGA Tour wants to totally erase LIV Golf from the face of the earth. Of course, that is not going to happen.

As part of their strategy, and in order to bring the “best” players in the world together, one of the tools they implemented was the designation of “elevated” events in order to have the top players in the world on the field to battle it out.

It sounds great, but let us be honest, without the likes of Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, and Cameron Smith, a PGA Tour event does not have the “best” players in the world on the field. But that is a whole different conversation.

The following is the 2023 schedule of designated “elevated” events, in addition to the Major Championships, and the winners so far. (OWGR at the start of the tournament week.)

Jan. 5-8: Sentry Tournament of Champions $15,00,000  (Jon Rahm) OWGR Ranking: 5

Feb. 9-12: Waste Management Phoenix Open $20,00,000 (Scottie Scheffler) OWGR: 2

Feb. 16-19: The Genesis Invitational $20,00,000 (Jon Rahm) OWGR: 3

March 2-5: Arnold Palmer Invitational $20,00,000 (Kurt Kitiyama) OWGR: 46

March 9-12: The Players Championship $25,00,000

March 23-26: WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play $20,00,000

April 6-9: Masters Tournament $15,00,000

April 13-16: RBC Heritage $20,00,000

May 4-7: Wells Fargo Championship $20,00,000

May 19-22: PGA Championship $15,00,000

June 1-4: The Memorial Tournament $20,00,000

June 15-18: U.S. Open $17,50,000

June 22-25: Travelers Championship $20,00,000

July 20-23: The Open Championship $14,00,000

Aug. 10-13: FedEx St. Jude Championship $20,00,000

Aug. 17-20: BMW Championship $20,00,000

Aug. 24-27: Tour Championship $75,00,000(includes bonus)

In a nutshell, the top 20 players will have to play in all the 13 designated “elevated” events with the option of only being able to skip one during the season. For example, Rory McIlroy chose to skip the SENTRY Tournament of Champions; therefore, he has to play the remaining 12 events for the season.

But, hold on a minute, hypocrisy is fixing to kick-in. As reported this week at the Players Championship, moving forward into the 2024 season, the Tour Policy Board voted to make the designated “elevated” events, limited field events with “no cut” format.

This is highly hypocritical from a tour who has mocked LIV Golf for not having cuts as part of their tournament’s format and a limited field.  Now, it is all good because it is the PGA Tour doing it.

Even the biggest hypocrite, Rory McIlroy, stated this week “The emergence of LIV has benefited everyone who plays professional golf.” He went on to say, “this has caused a ton of innovation at the PGA Tour, and what was an antiquated system has been revamped to mirror where we’re in the world.”

Innovation, meaning they are going to steal LIV Golf ideas and make them their own. The PGA Tour is such a sad joke. An organization that lacks integrity and principles is not worth anybody’s time or effort.

As to McIlroy, I never thought he was the most intelligent person in the world, so to hear him say theses things after two years of criticizing LIV Golf, LIV Golf players, and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, it’s not only expected, but predictable.

In my opinion, McIlroy is a clown, and his flip-flopping regarding LIV Golf shows that he is not the best at handling a juggling act. He is the designated PGA Tour “useful idiot”, and he has done an excellent job at it, while Monahan sits and watches on the sidelines.

So far, the designated “elevated” events for the 2023 season have delivered some level of competition.

Having said that, I think in order for this to work, you cannot have the #46 ranked player in the world, whooping the top 20 ranked players in the world on these “elevated” events. If this were to become the norm, I do not think it would bode well for the tour or the sponsors.

With all due respect to Kurt Kitayama, but sponsors do not want the #46 ranked player in the world winning a tournament with the likes of Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy in them. Kitayama moved to #19 in the official world golf rankings after his victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

So, as The Players Championship is on its on its way, a little known PGA Tour player by the name of Chad Ramey who is ranked as the #225th player in the world by the official world golf rankings, is leading the way after shooting a 64.

Is that is going to be the “product” the PGA Tour is going to sell as “elevated”, they may have to come up with a better plan. Hot air is not going to sell.

As a side note, after shooting an opening round 76, I would suggest McIlroy concentrates on his game and leave the adults in the room and administrative types deal with the tour shenanigans.

The Feckless Republican Party

The Two Faces of the Republican Party Photo courtesy of genius.com

After a long wait, the Republicans in the House of Representatives finally got the majority, a razor thin, but still a majority.

It took days of dealing and whining for the Republicans to finally select the “heir apparent” to the Speakership, Kevin McCarthy. The House of Representatives made history by holding the most rounds of voting in 100 years.

This is probably the most amount of time I have dedicated to watch CSPAN in my entire life, but it was entertaining. Also, I have never seen members of Congress actually working for a change. This is probably the most they have worked since the Covid-19 shutdowns.

Let us fast forward a few weeks. Republicans in the House are preparing all kind of bills, going on Twitter and other social media platforms to brag about how much they are doing for the American people. They are also creating committees to investigate several things, from investigating the FBI, Covid-19, and the United States relationship with China.

I am sure people are cheering these investigations, but as every other investigation conducted by Republicans have shown, this will end up the same way, a lot of nothing and millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money wasted.

Who can forget when then congressman, Trey Gowdy, got humiliated on national television by Hillary Clinton while investigating the attack on the United States Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya. Several Americans were killed, including Ambassador John Christopher Stevens.

The reality is without the Senate, the Republicans have close to zero chance of passing any meaningful legislation without getting stomped by Senator Chuck Schumer the minute it hits his desk.

This is typical of the Republicans. I cannot remember the Republicans getting anything done since Speaker Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” and later on during the Trump presidency.

Republicans should be concentrating on things they can actually do. For example, there is plenty of evidence pointing to President Biden’s alleged corruption. There is also the failure of the Biden administration in protecting the Southern border from illegal aliens.

These two along are strong enough to begin impeachment proceedings against President Biden. Sure, they do not have the Senate, and the chances of obtaining a conviction are nonexistent, but one thing it will do is expose President Biden to the American people and the failure of his administration.

It may not sound like much, but it will show the Republicans are not afraid of holding a sitting president accountable.

When President Trump was elected in 2016, the Democrats in the House wasted no time working and putting together so-called evidence to draft articles of impeachment, and by 2019, he was impeached.

The Democrats were clear about what they were going to do to President Trump, and they did it, not once, but twice in his four-year presidency.

Have you heard the Republicans even bringing the subject up? No, they continue promoting pieces of legislation that will never become law and only gets them airtime on Fox News and Hannity.

The Republicans have a little under two years to get things done and to have any chance of holding the House in 2024.

Right now, all they are doing is being histrionic because they think we are that kind of stupid. They think we are not smart enough to understand how our system of government works and they are banking on that stupidity to just get by until the next election cycle.

When it comes to the fighting spirit, I wish the Republicans were like the Democrats. The Democrats know how to win, even when in the minority.

In the meantime, we can expect from the Republicans and their leadership more of the same, the “Potomac Two Step.”

Get Fit For A Good Swing Before Getting Fit For New Clubs

My Not So Fitting Experience

Photo courtesy of golfblogger.com

It was not a good one.

As consumers we get peppered with advertisement nonstop. Everything from banking to car purchases, businesses are trying to get our business.

That is how I came across Golf Champion. As an avid golfer, and a consumer of golf equipment, I get hundreds of golf offers a day, and golf club fitting was one of them.

Also, internet reviewers like GolfWRX and Plugged In Golf, they are always telling people to get fitted if they want to play better. Of course, these outfits are heavily sponsored by companies like Club Champion, so they are bound to sell you their product, even if is not for you.

Last year, I decided I wanted to go through the whole experience of a driver fitting with the intention of purchasing one. I made the appointment with my local Club Champion, and after a three month wait, I got in.

Mind you, this was during the Covid-19 lockdowns, and making an appointment was a nightmare.

I am not a scratch golfer, but I can hold my own with the swing I own. Going into the fitting my expectation was one of honesty, no matter how cruel the truth, I wanted my fitter to tell me if a fitting was going to be helpful or not. After all, I am trusting the expert to do just that.

We went through the whole thing, mixing and matching club heads and shafts, and my fitter settled with a TaylorMade SIM2 Max head and a Motore F1 shaft.  

I was not feeling it, I thought the shaft was too stiff, too light, and I was not feeling the head of the club. I shared these concerns with my fitter, but he told me it was the right combination.

He showed me a bunch of numbers that I did not understand, and he did not take the time to explained to me. But, as the expert, I trusted his judgment and went ahead and ordered the driver.

It took almost 4 months to get the driver and when I got it did not have the right grip. It was not a big deal, so I took the driver and went home.

Needless to say, the driver did not work for me on the golf course. It felt awkward, just like it felt during the fitting session, and I ended up going back to my PING G400 Max that I had been using.

I sent an email to the fitter explaining the situation, and he threw it back at me saying that it was my swing, and not the driver. We went back and forth about it and I ended up working with the store manager because the original fitter did not want to deal with the situation and was very unprofessional.

The store manager was a nice gentleman and tried to come up with a solution. According to Club Champion policy, they are allowed to do one change of equipment on them, and even then he had to get permission from headquarters to do it.

Once again, I put my trust on the fitter, and this time he fitted me with the same TaylorMade SIM2 Max head, but this time with an Accra Prototype shaft. After waiting another two weeks to get the shaft, and for him to do the adjustments, this whole process took almost 6 months.

At the end of the day, the driver never worked for me, and it was nothing else they would do for me. I have probably the most expensive driver I will ever own, and I cannot use it.

What is the real moral of this story? You cannot buy a game, companies like Club Champion are in the business of taking your money and they will not be honest with you.

I was expecting Club Champion to be honest and recommend me to hone my skills first, and then come back to take full advantage of a good, fitted club. But even then, I trusted the process and their alleged expertise.

Funny thing was when the original fitter told me the problem was with my swing and not the driver, I asked him why he did not said that during the fitting. I am still waiting for an answer, but of course we know the real answer.

They do not care. All they care about is taking your money.

Ironically, during the fitting process we tried several combinations and there were actually better combinations I felt good with.

Unfortunately, and I am sure by design, if you pick your own combination they will not honor their commitment to the fitting, and you are on your own. I had to go with their recommendation or else.

Would I recommend Club Champion to any of my friends? Not a chance.

Do I believe that club fitting can be beneficial? Absolutely, but only if you have a good, consistent swing, with good mechanics, and fundamentals. Getting fitted with a bad swing and bad fundamentals only enhances those flaws and it serves as a temporary band aid.

Do yourself a favor, do not listen to advertising or internet sites. They do not know your game and they are in the business of supporting their sponsors.

Instead take that money and invest in some good lessons, just as I did. It not only helped my game and allowed me to compete at the amateur senior level, but with a few adjustments to my current equipment I did not have to spend thousands of dollars chasing that next level.

Rory McIlroy Has It All Wrong

As He Flips and Flops The Adult In The Room Still Missing

Professional Golfer, Rory McIlroy Photo courtesy of getty images

I think Rory McIlroy is an amazing golfer, but that is the extent of my admiration or respect for the lad.

Since the LIV Golf vs. the PGA Tour saga began, McIlroy has flip-flopped on the issue like a Waffle House pancake.

He has taken the role, that in all honesty, PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan, should have taken, of making a case for the continued monopoly of professional golf by the PGA Tour.

The problem is that his case is mostly emotional and without much factual information as it the case with his latest flip flop.

In his press conference in Dubai, McIlroy called for the removal of LIV Golf CEO, Greg Norman.

“I think Greg [Norman] needs to go. I think he just needs to exit stage left,” McIlroy said. “He’s made his mark but I think now is the right time to sort of say, look, you’ve got this thing off the ground but no one is going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences.”

It is ironic that the one acting like a child is the one asking for an adult in the room.

Who Rory McIlroy thinks he is to be calling for anybody’s removal? Especially since Greg Norman is in charge of LIV Golf and not the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour.

He went on to say, “If those two things happen, then things can happen,” he said. “But right now, it’s a stalemate because there can’t be any other way.”

“Hopefully something can happen, who knows?” McIlroy echoed. “But right now, I think the separate entities the PGA Tour, European Tour and LIV are both going to be — one is a very different product to the other. It seems like it’s a bit of a stalemate.”

He goes from stalemate to hopefully something can happen, then he goes on to acknowledge that LIV Golf is just a “different product.”

The so-called stalemate was created by Jay Monahan who refused to meet with Norman at the beginning stages of LIV Golf.

At this point LIV Golf is a viable product that does no need McIlroy or the PGA Tour to survive. Sure, a television deal would make a big difference, but until that happens, LIV Golf is not going anywhere.

I watched every single LIV Golf Invitational broadcast and I was very pleased with the product. The commentary was minimal and golf related, a refreshing change from the “woke” commentary from the people at Golf Channel/NBC Sports.

The quality of players is much better than the quality of players playing this week at the RSM Classic, and more talented players will, without a doubt, join LIV Golf in the near future.

LIV Golf appeals to the new younger golfers for whom the PGA Tour has not created a path forward and with all the money LIV Golf has to offer; why not?

Instead of spending all that energy blasting Greg Norman and LIV Golf, perhaps McIlroy should let the adults in the room deal with the situation and concentrate in winning tournaments.

https://golf.com/news/rory-mcilroy-greg-norman-liv-golf-removal/

Elections Have Consequences

Look At Yourself In The Mirror And You Will Find The Answer

Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall……..Photo courtesy of bible-reflections.net

Now that the media driven big ‘Red Wave’, which I was guilty of buying into it, did not happen, we could probably learn a thing or two of the outcomes.

As I said back in 2020, politicians are not to blame for their successes or defeats at the ballot box. Politicians do what they do best, they lie, cheat, and steal in order to get elected, but it is up to you, to either believe them or reject them.

As the 2022 mid-term elections are ending, almost 7 days after the fact, the time to blame the politicians for the results is over. It is your responsibility to vote for your best interest and if you did not, shame on you.

In New York state, Governor Kathy Hochul got over 90% of the black vote, despite the fact lockdowns and crime has affected this community more so than any other in New Your City and throughout the state.

In Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, not only got reelected as governor of Michigan but she also got a Democratic Party House and Senate. This is the same woman who would not allow people to buy seed to plant while her husband was getting preferential treatment to use his boat.

In Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker got also reelected. This is the same Pritzker who while Illinois was on lockdown he took off with his family to Florida and was having a good time while people were suffering in his state.

These are a few examples on how people voted despite the facts hitting them square in the face. So how is Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, or even Donald Trump to blame for the Republican losses?

Donald Trump scuttled Dave McCormick’s chance in Pennsylvania while endorsing Dr. Oz for the U.S. Senate. Every serious political pundit knows, and agrees, McCormick had the best chances to defeat Lieutenant Governor Fetterman in the general election.

Needless to say, Dr. Oz got beaten and couldn’t even get the endorsement of the woman who made him a television star, Oprah Winfrey.

Yes, Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, did not do much for the Republicans candidates in Arizona and even funneled money to fight against another Republican candidate in Alaska in order to keep a RINO by his side.

At the end of the day, it was not McConnell, McCarthy, or Trump who got these candidates beaten, it was the voters who did not show up or clearly voted for the opposition candidate.

There is a lot of blame to go around this election cycle, but it was up to us to vote for the candidates we thought had the best ideas and plans for the country.

Until people stop blaming the establishment and start taking responsibility for whom they vote for, this will continue to happen election after election after election.

Our electoral system needs some serious reforms, but it starts with us, the voters.