Tiger Woods and ‘scarcity.’ And the greatest awards speech ever? | Weekend 9

Welcome! Where are you, you ask. I call this Weekend 9. Think of it as a place to warm up for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We will have thoughts. We will have tips. We’ll have tweets. But only nine in all, though sometimes perhaps more and sometimes perhaps less. As for who I am? The paragraphs below tell part of the story. I can be reached at nick.piastowski@golf.com.

Speaking of scarcity, this week was not scarce.

On Tuesday, during the Hero World Challenge, Tiger Woods had thoughts about it. Scarcity, he said, was one of the pillars of the soon-to-be new PGA Tour. If there are potentially fewer tournaments, that could increase the importance of the remaining tournaments, the idea goes. Or you miss golf when there is no golf.

“The scarcity thing is something that I know scares a lot of people,” Woods said, “but I think if you have scarcity at some level, it will be better because it will attract more attention because there will be less time.”

That seems correct.

Right?

On Wednesday, about 10,000 miles away, at the Australian Open, Rory McIlroy opined. He noted that he and others played in Melbourne. And that there were 20 pros at the Hero. And that there was the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa. (And he didn’t mention that the 50-and-over gang is playing the Skechers World Champions Cup, and the LPGA is playing the final stages of Q-School, which might be the biggest event this week, if life-changing moments matter to you.)

“I think because there’s so much golf and so many tournaments, the eyes are divided,” McIlroy said. “And the interest in each of those tournaments this week is probably not as high as it should be. I think this tournament, especially because of the history, because of the tradition, deserves to be a standalone tournament, a week of its own.”

“Hopefully one day the powers that be can put together a schedule where the biggest and best tournaments in the world, the oldest and the ones with the most heritage, can be elevated and stand on their own.”

This seems more correct.

The reasoning behind shortening the PGA Tour schedule is sound. Tournaments after majors seem strange; after all, you don’t play a regular season game after the Super Bowl or the World Series. The plan of a tournament almost every week from January to November is also a lot.

But pro golf isn’t just the PGA Tour. And PGA Tour golfers play everywhere, too. At PGA Tour-affiliated events, like this week. On the DP World Tour, like this week. TGL. Hit-and-giggles, like the Skins Game on Black Friday and next week’s Golf Channel Games. Hurry, maybe one day there will even be an LIV Golf crossover. And what does the casual professional golf fan see? Golf, golf, golf. And that’s great for those who love golf on their screen, no matter the day, week or month.

But scarcity is just a word.

Will that change? You hear whispers. McIlroy often talks about a world tour, and he’s probably not talking just to get his voice heard; he is part of the conversation. Consider another theme of the PGA Tour’s redevelopment.

Simplicity.

“So not only can the players understand it,” Woods said, “but the fans can understand it as well, what’s happening every week, week to week, how they can follow it and how we can make it better.”

Let’s see if we can find eight more items for weekend 9.

One takeaway meal of the week

2. This conversation between Keegan Bradley and a reporter on Wednesday at the Hero World Challenge stopped me in my tracks. The reporter’s question is in italics.

If you could give yourself a grade for this season, what would you give yourself?

“Well, that’s a complicated question because I’m really proud of the way I played,” Bradley said. “I think in many ways this is the best year of my career. In my rookie year I won two majors, so that will be hard to beat. But with everything that happened, I’m very proud of the way I played.”

“But if you count the Ryder Cup loss, I mean it’s an ‘F.’ Without – you have to win that and this figure is different. It’s really hard to judge. I was talking to my coach. He said, ‘Don’t forget you won this year.’ I thought, ‘No, I don’t remember that at all.’

“It was a unique year. I don’t think any other player has ever experienced it. I’m certainly proud of the way I played, but the end of the year was difficult.”

We can debate Bradley’s performance as Ryder Cup captain (and there are decisions we should be critical of). But is there any other American currently more invested in the event?

Is there any way it can be absorbed?

One takeaway for the weekend

3. As mentioned above, the biggest event this week will be the LPGA Q-School. The 90-hole tournament runs from Friday to Tuesday and the rankings can be found here. (Thursday’s first round was postponed due to unplayable track conditions.)

The PGA Tour will hold its Q-School next week.

4. The best story at LPGA Q-School? It may be Kim Kaufman, who was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago. You can read more about her herethrough a story of Golf week Beth Ann Nichols.

An instructional story for your weekend

5. Robby Payne from Chrome out of the box tried to get Gemini 3 to become his son’s swing coach. Payne’s story can be read here.

A golf story that interests me

6. Min Woo Lee recently received the Greg Norman Medal from Sister Minjee – considered Australia’s highest individual golf award – and the acceptance speech may be one of the best things I’ve heard all year. You can check it out below.

Another golf story that interests me

7. Weekend 9 isn’t often about politics, but this was good.

Scott Morrison of the University of California-Berkley wrote in a story for phys.org here about a study that looked at whether the play of PGA Tour professionals was affected when they played with professionals with opposing political views.

Another golf story that interests me

8. This was good. Lydia Blackstone of wjcl.com wrote here about how a pair of golfers from Crescent Pointe Golf Club in Bluffton, SC, helped rescue a stranded manatee on the course’s 9th hole.

What wave is on TV this weekend?

9. Here’s a look at golf on TV this weekend:

– Friday

9:30 PM (Thursday) – 1:00 AM ET: Crown Australian Open Second Round, Golf Channel

4am – 9:30am ET: Nedbank Golf Challenge second round, Golf Channel

12pm – 4pm ET: World Champions Cup, ESPN

1:30 PM – 4:30 PM ET: Hero World Challenge Second Round, Golf Channel

– Saturday

9:30 PM (Friday) – 1:00 AM ET: Crown Australian Open Third Round, Golf Channel

4am – 9:30am ET: Nedbank Golf Challenge third round, Golf Channel

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET: Hero World Challenge Third Round, Golf Channel

2:30 PM – 5:00 PM ET: Hero World Challenge third round, NBC

– Sunday

9:30 PM (Saturday) – 1:00 AM ET: Crown Australian Open Final Round, Golf Channel

4am – 9:30am ET: Final Round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge, Golf Channel

11:30am – 1:30pm ET: Hero World Challenge third round, Golf Channel

1:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET: World Champions Cup, ABC

1:30 PM – 4:30 PM ET: Hero World Challenge Final Round, NBC

What you email me

10. Let’s do 10 items! This was in response to my story last week trying to figure out why the term “skin” is used in skins games:

Building on your research, it seems to me that if we go back further, people have been “risking their own skin” for a long time, with the skin being a synecdoche (I just wanted to use the word) for the whole person. That probably transitioned to having skin in the game, initially perhaps in gambling situations.

You suspect some competitive golfer didn’t like playing the course alone, or betting only on a two-dollar Nassau, but wanted each hole to be more interesting. He then encouraged his playing partners to get more involved on each hole. It is likely that the hunter’s boast about the number of pelts (skins) he bagged did not harm the statues.

11. Let’s do 11 items! This was in response to my story about the car accident I was in – and the emailer’s title was great (I’ve withheld the name).

Have fun reading your thoughts and stories! Glad you are doing well after the accident! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday). To quote a friend: ‘Keep breathing’

Fish Whisperer, Bourbon Taster & Storyteller

One non-golf/golf thing

12. So about that accident…

It had happened while I was traveling back home to help my cousin with a college visit. Actually a golf visit to the university. And on Thursday the young man shared the message below: