2024 PGA Tour
- Thread starter cshea
- Start date
As noted, it sounds like this is really more about squeezing in too many rounds in available daylight.
However, I'm not sure I agree with the premise that less elite young / college players pursuing golf will actually lead to a worse product. The quality of play on tour in recent years is probably the best (and at least deepest) ever but I don't think the product is particularly good. The players are just too good at golf. Not just distance, all facets of the game.
I agree. I have a handful of kids under 16 at my club that are + handicaps. When I was in high school if you could break 40 for 9 holes you were good.
These kids are getting tons of instruction, trackman, better equipment. It's insane.
They all look like robots out there though.
Which is actually great for the game. It means you have really have to have something extra elite to make it to the TOUR level. I'm not sure how they can be too good to make things exciting. Every week there are shots and performances that are just mind-blowing. They have be insanely good in between those amazing shots, but it's really, really hard to back your way into a win these days.
The Showdown thing is tonight. 6:00pm EDT on TNT. It's the newest iteration of The Match. Rory/Scottie vs. Bryson/Brooks at Shadow Creek. Apparently a $10 million crypto purse.
They are doing 18 holes this time, some of the recent ones were only 12. Holes 1-6 are four ball, 7-12 are alt shot, 13-18 are singles. Not sure how the singles will work.
Bryson will be cringe. Rory and Brooks will probably be OK. Scottie is an unknown, he hasn't been involved in anything like this before.
They are doing 18 holes this time, some of the recent ones were only 12. Holes 1-6 are four ball, 7-12 are alt shot, 13-18 are singles. Not sure how the singles will work.
Bryson will be cringe. Rory and Brooks will probably be OK. Scottie is an unknown, he hasn't been involved in anything like this before.
Bryson may be cringe, but with this foursome I think they can use his personality which he has farmed for his YouTube channel. YMMV but I have found him a bit less of a hardo then during the peak of the Brooks spat on the PGA, maybe he just hides it better. Maybe Scottie will show a LITTLE color on the course. The personalities are not as important when zooming back and forth between a full field, but when following one group for a 4+ hour round the chirping, side bets, etc. can add to the experience.
Bryson mellowed a lot over the last few years. When he burst onto the scene he was a bit of an oddball but he was also only in the early / mid 20s. I don't think it was helpful that the PGA Tour announcers and golf media decided to treat him like a sideshow instead of trying to market him in a more favorable way. He actually had some personality unlike the vast majority of guys out there week to week. Now he's one of the few high tier pros out there who seems capable of producing non-tournament content that people watch.
He totally did it to himself, come on. Trying to get relief for the dangerous ants? Yelling at cameramen because he walked into a rope. Claiming Augusta was a par 67. Talking about hitting just outside of the dimple on the ball. And so on, and so on. Patrick Reed had some personality too.
How much of that is because he's not producing much in-tournament content that people watch? Everything you see from him now is curated by his media team.
The ant thing is hilarious. Rules official: "Do you... feel like you're in danger?" C'mon, that's great.
Bryson leaving putts 15 feet short and then staring vacantly in disbelief is some great entertainment.
Oh man that guy really kissed the lip with that putt, so close to a big golf getaway. And threw his caddie Rory under the bus like a true pro.
It looked to me that Brooks tolerates Bryson now but definitely would not choose to ride in a cart with him without the paycheck. Between that and being cold and playing bad and having no personality to begin with he gave off the vibe that he couldn't get out of there fast enough.
Brooks and Bryson needed to bring their A game to have any chance, and they didn't. And the personalities couldn't carry a bad match so it ended up being pretty boring.
Brooks and Bryson needed to bring their A game to have any chance, and they didn't. And the personalities couldn't carry a bad match so it ended up being pretty boring.
That was a freaking boring match, the networks have taken no cues from the moments that make people tune in to the events. If they had any players with charisma, just put mics out on the course with one course commentator and sparingly go to a booth with one or two people. But TNT is paying Chuck a fortune so they are squeezing him in to take all the air out of the room. To be fair, without Chuck and Feherty the broadcast may have had the vibes of a Thursday at the Odor Eaters Open. The golf stars are really trying to out-bore much of the other major sports stars who are retreating and don't want to say ANYTHING accidentally out of line.
These nighttime events are absolute losers too; by all means let's hide the aesthetics of a golf course under some flood lights.
These nighttime events are absolute losers too; by all means let's hide the aesthetics of a golf course under some flood lights.
I only watched half of it but I too thought it was fairly boring.
I like Chuck and think he's a highlight even if the repeated fat/gambling/bad at golf jokes get stale. He actually asked a decent question to Brooks and Bryson when they switched to alt shot about playing with another players ball but Brooks and Bryson didn't really answer beyond "bro, we're good" and then "haha you said balls." Immelman is very good in his role at CBS, my favorie lead analyst, but I don't think he works as well in this type of non-serious setting. Feherty is whatever, I forgot he even existed. Honestly the perfect booth guy for this (and really, any golf) is Mickelson but I don't think that will ever happen.
Bubba was horrendous. It sounded like he was tryinig to read everything off a scrip, very deliberate delivery. No insight whatsoever. I think Colt Knost is kinda the guy for that role. He's experienced as an on-course reporter so he can handle setting up each shot but he's also got a relationship with the players and can bring out their personality when interacting with them.
I think in general it's just hard to make real golf exciting with 4 guys on the course. There's a ton of downtime and air to fill and you can't force good play.
I like Chuck and think he's a highlight even if the repeated fat/gambling/bad at golf jokes get stale. He actually asked a decent question to Brooks and Bryson when they switched to alt shot about playing with another players ball but Brooks and Bryson didn't really answer beyond "bro, we're good" and then "haha you said balls." Immelman is very good in his role at CBS, my favorie lead analyst, but I don't think he works as well in this type of non-serious setting. Feherty is whatever, I forgot he even existed. Honestly the perfect booth guy for this (and really, any golf) is Mickelson but I don't think that will ever happen.
Bubba was horrendous. It sounded like he was tryinig to read everything off a scrip, very deliberate delivery. No insight whatsoever. I think Colt Knost is kinda the guy for that role. He's experienced as an on-course reporter so he can handle setting up each shot but he's also got a relationship with the players and can bring out their personality when interacting with them.
I think in general it's just hard to make real golf exciting with 4 guys on the course. There's a ton of downtime and air to fill and you can't force good play.
