Roundup: The Best Major Moments Of 2017

So much of a major season's memories depends on how the venues draw out the players. In 2017, we weren't sure what we'd get with Erin Hills and Quail Hollow on the list. On cue, Royal Birkdale produced another keeper, The Masters was strong again, and the aforementioned provided enough to make this a pretty strong major year. Golf Channel's slideshow of men's and women's major moments sums that up nicely.

Doug Ferguson talked to the four major winners for a year-end AP story with the premise of what seemed like the best shot before getting the player opinions. I think you'll enjoy reliving the majors through their eyes.

Brooks Koepka offered this of his Erin Hills/U.S. Open win.

“The tee shot on the par 5, No. 14,” he said. “We could hit 3-wood and get to the bunker, but driver was no good because we couldn’t carry it or we had a 20-yard fairway. We actually had to cut this 3-wood up into the wind. We had to take a lot off it. It only wound up 4 yards short of the bunker. We were walking up and I said, ‘I think we can go for that par 5 in two.’”

He put it in the greenside bunker and got up-and-down for birdie.

“That’s probably a moment a normal person wouldn’t think anything of it,” he said.

Matt Adams and I debated this for Golf Central's Alternate Shot, with some footage included. While Adams took Sergio's second shot into Augusta National's 15th, I selected Jordan Spieth's wedge shot following the driving range recovery. Why? It was a tight lie over a pot bunker, his heart rate had to be off the charts from climbing dunes and taking drops, and it put a bow on the greatest bogey you'll ever see.

Of course, Spieth discussed his eagle putt at Birkdale's 15th and an interesting turning point during Friday play with Ferguson. I'm just grateful we have great moments like this to reflect upon at season's end.

Spieth: "I don’t know why I have a knack for the craziness, but it just seems to take shape."

Golf World's Dave Shedloski caught up with Jordan Spieth to discuss another unusual but successful season and the Champion Golfer Of The Year offered this, among other thoughts:

“Yeah, it’s been a really exciting career,” he conceded recently at the Hero World Challenge. “It’s been exciting in both ways, in the bad and in the good. I don’t know why I have a knack for the craziness, but it just seems to take shape. I’ve had boring wins, too. You could argue the Masters in ’15 was a boring win. This tournament was a boring win [in 2014, by 10 strokes]. But unless I’m really on, I struggle with the full commitment in my game that produces that three-, four-, five-shot win.”

Is The Tour Obligated To Work Harder To Save Historic Events?

In reading Joel Beall's Golf World look at a potential version of the PGA Tour's forthcoming 2019 schedule revamp, it's hard to look past the huge name, foundational events in danger. The likes of Colonial, Bay Hill and Houston, each important and steady presences on the PGA Tour schedule, all face uncertainty going forward.

Beall writes:

Meanwhile, some industry insiders wonder about the status of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. With its namesake gone, the tournament struggled somewhat to draw big names in 2017, and Bay Hill's layout is one that some tour pros aren’t fond of. The tour isn’t expected to pull the plug on the API, but the tournament needs to show signs of life this year to ensure its future.

Also in the spring fog: the Houston Open. Shell dropped out as sponsor, and the event, which has settled into a spot the week prior to the Masters, does not have a title holder for 2018. Redstone G.C., which sustained damage during Hurricane Harvey last summer but should be OK come spring, is a course that some players like because it is set-up to resemble the conditions they'll see at Augusta National. That said, if it returns in 2019, it looks likely to lose its pre-Augusta setting, with the Valero Texas Open moving to the first week in April.

Market forces certainly dictate the status of some of these events, but knowing that World Golf Championship events have taken sponsor possibilities away and weakened fields for non-WGC events, it's hard to pin any blame on these longtime PGA Tour stalwarts for struggling.

I have no doubt the PGA Tour brass is working to save all events. However, the potential demise of events that build the Tour could undermine any sense of connection to the distance or even recent past. You just can't put a dollar figure on those connections, but the legacy of the Finchem era is that no one's place in line matters. Whether that's the legacy of the Monahan era remains to be seen.

Today In Golf Course Closure News: Indianapolis' Wolf Run And The Place Ike Loved In Aurora

Lindsey Erdody and Anthony Schoettle of the Indianapolis Business Journal detail the long forecasted and now very-real plans of owner Stan Burton to develop the Steve Smyers-designed Wolf Run.

The course was once ranked as high as 20th in Golfweek's list of best Modern Courses and currently sits in Golf Digest's second Top 100, making it the most acclaimed course to close since the 2008 market crash and correction.

Mike David, director of the Indiana Section of the PGA, said Wolf Run Golf Club owners have been trying to find a buyer or potential developer for the land for several years.

“Nationwide, Wolf Run would be one of the highest-profile closures,” David said. “The closure of this course—if it happens—would be significant news locally and beyond.”

Wolf Run, which first opened in 1989, has on multiple occasions been rated as central Indiana’s most difficult golf course, according to U.S. Golf Association slope ratings.

That might have been part of Wolf Run’s problem.

“It is an absolutely beautiful course. But it is challenging. You have to be pretty good to enjoy that course. It might not be the place where you would take the family or your kids,” David said. “That course is simply too hard for a segment of the golf population.”

Meanwhile in Aurora, Colorado,  demand to play historic Fitzsimons Golf Course delayed it's very sad closing.

Melissa Garcia reports on the demise of a course once played many times by former President Dwight Eisenhower, complete with another Ike's Tree.

The very sad video report:

Old School! Taylor Funk Takes To Vlogging

In the era of players regularly posting Snapchat and Instagram stories that vanish in a day and lack much storytelling substance, Taylor Funk is going old school by producting, directing, starring in and editing his on video blog items. The aspiring PGA Tour pro and son of Fred Funk's efforts to post travelog style items was inspired by Casey Neistat and Jon Olsson, according to Golfweek's Brentley Romine, who profiled Funk's efforts.

Romine writes:

That led to the pro golfer editing his own photos and videos, even watching footage of instructions on how to edit on Adobe Premiere Pro. The cinematography process is something he realized he enjoyed. And then it hit him: He travels a lot and has picked up video-making skills, why not document his journey in golf?

“They have travel vlogs out there and I travel (a lot) anyway, so might as well just record it,” Funk said. “(I) thought there was a little niche for life to the PGA Tour and background behind that. I kind of thought of it a couple of months ago and decided to try it out, see if it catches on.”

Funk has already published three vlog posts (a second one from Jamaica and one from Disney World) that combine scenery shots, action footage and commentary into an edited product. He records the vlog entries via equipment that includes a point-and-shoot Sony camera, a GoPro and a drone.

Funk's already been told he's wasting his time but you have to admire the old school creativity and time put into telling the story of an aspiring pro.

The most recent video:

The Gifts You Wish You Got: Old Tom Marker From Seamus

It's that time of year again! You've been asked what you want and you just know it's not happening. Gift cards, cologne and the dreaded golf book you didn't want could be headed your way.

However, I bring good news. Some of our favorite golf retailers are done with pre-Christmas Day shipping and offering some nice discounts. Which is where this website's annual Christmas gift guide comes in.

I continue to love everything Seamus Golf is doing, including their foray into shoes this year. But great accessories remain the strength of their Oregon-based, all-made-in-the-USA operation. So if you're looking for something fun to round out your bag and up your golf karma tenfold, Seamus Golf's Old Tom Morris Hand-Forged Steel Ball Mark is the best $29 you'll spend.

Granted, these markers wouldn't be of use to PGA Tour players who no longer see fit to mark their balls when it could help a buddy, but for those who play within the spirit of the rules, no one makes a classier, cooler and well-designed ball marker than Seamus Golf.

Actually, with the 20% off delivery code SHIPINJANUARY it'll be less. Seamus Golf is also offering us free custom stamping on the back side. Your initials or Old Tom's favorite saying, "Far & Sure", fits within the 8 character max.

And don't hesitate to check out everything offered at the website where the code will apply.

PS - Seamus Golf now will make their ball marks with your logo if you're willing to do a minimum order of 100. Contact info@seamusgolf.com for more info.

2017: Golf's Most Underrated And Overrated Stories

I enjoyed the nominations by the SI/Golf.com gang in discussing the most underrated and overrated stories from the past year.

I'm not entirely sure verdict is in on Donald Trump's golf impact, as Bamberger notes in his most overrated category, but I certainly agree with his most underrated:

The most underrated story was Spieth's Open win. In a lifetime of watching golf, I never saw anything like it, and the aftermath — how he and Kuchar handled it — was every bit as good.

Sens: I don't know if it was overrated but it got more play than warranted. Four young Tour pros go on a spring break trip together and film themselves yucking it up in the tropics. Sorry, but I couldn't have been more bored. You could take your pick of underrated stories from the women's game, because the women's game rarely gets the attention it deserves. But the ups and downs of Lexi Thompson's season — her run-ins with the rules; her rise up the rankings — have been compelling theater.

Passov: I'll nominate Bernhard Langer's performance on the PGA Tour Champions circuit as the most underrated story of the year. He posted 16 top 10s in 22 events with seven wins and three majors — at age 60!

A more complicated case of overrated/underrated is raised by Joe Passov in suggesting the Erin Hills criticism was overrated. But I think we are talking about different things here (venue vs. scoring).

For overrated, I'll go with the incessant second-guessing and criticism about Erin Hills as a U.S. Open venue. So it played easy. That's what the weather dealt and how the USGA set it up. Honestly, it was a terrific, thought-provoking modern design, whether or not it played precisely like a links. There were no controversies with the greens, except perhaps the tiny, tilted putting surface at the short par-3 9th.

I'd agree the second guessing of the scoring is overrated given that in the long term, few will remember the final number posted by Brooks Koepka. Unless...the narrowing at Shinnecock Hills in 2018 was a response to Erin Hills and backfires.

Video: Jack [Nicklaus] Still Doesn't Miss On 18

There is something oddly reassuring in Jack Nicklaus still teeing it up at 77 and still exuding a little of the confidence that made him the greatest ever.

While he and grandson GT Nicklaus were not contending for the PNC Father-Son, you have to love seeing Jack determined to clutch up on the last hole. Still.



Gary Williams talked to GT and Jack after the round and it's an enjoyable chat.

"Year after unveiling, what’s latest on Tiger Woods’ Chicago golf project?"

Not much, appears to be the answer from Teddy Greenstein.

In this Chicago Tribune update, Greenstein speaks to developer Mike Keiser, a consultant and donor for the rebuilding of two rundown muni's into a Tiger Woods redesign complimenting the Obama Presidential Libary.

While Keiser blames bureacrats and red tape, the ambitious design sounds like the main culprit.

But as Keiser knows, building a golf course on the South Side is way more complicated than doing it in rural Wisconsin. Here’s why:

•This isn’t merely adding a course. Golfers loyal to the Jackson Park and South Shore courses fear something will be taken from them. Or made more expensive.

•The construction of an underpass at 67th Street to link the properties could cost around $25 million. Other expensive roadwork needs to be done so golfers no longer have to dodge cars between holes. And the shoreline might have to be fortified.

•Some residents are wary of traffic issues during construction and the relocation of a nature sanctuary.

Jack Won't Be Watching Tiger Or Any Golf Unless By Accident

I think it's fair to say Jack Nicklaus has watched enough golf in his life that he's earned the right. Still, as someone who has many business interests in the game and has lobbied for things that make golf a healthier sport, his comments prior to the PNC Father/Son/Stepson/Grandson/Step-Grandson Challenge did not exactly inspire confidence.

Golfweek's Kevin Casey with the Golden Bear's comments when asked if he's doing to be watching Tiger's comeback.

“I’m not interested at all,” Nicklaus said.

Tell us how you really feel, Jack.

OK, but don’t take that to mean the Golden Bear has suddenly grown callous here. Nicklaus is not indifferent to the success of Woods, who is still chasing the Golden Bear’s record of 18 majors. The 77-year-old clarified that he does hope the best for Woods: just don’t expect him to be a TV viewer … for any golf for that matter.

“Do I wish (Tiger) well? Yeah, but I’m not interested in watching him,” Nicklaus said. “I’ve watched him play golf for 20-something years, why would I want to go watch more? I don’t watch anybody play golf.”

Jack Nicklaus Sounds Like He's On Board With Governing Body "Variable Distance" Option

The A Position's Steve Pike was present when Jack Nicklaus christened The Legend Course today at The Club at Ibis in West Palm Beach, Fla., and the Golden Bear spoke about the distance issue.

While this is hardly news, Mr. Nicklaus did seem to be echoing the USGA's concept of a variable distance ball.

“We ought to rate golf courses,’’ Nicklaus said. “Rather than going back and spending millions of dollars changing golf courses, golf courses should be 100 percent, 90 percent, 80 percent or 70 percent.’’

If golf’s ruling bodies (primarily the U.S. Golf Association) don’t want to roll back the golf ball, he said,  “they need to go to all the golf associations and say ‘This is our criteria to rate your golf courses.’’’

A golf ball would be rated to fit the corresponding course and could be a way to save some older, shorter courses.

“Take an old course that 5,800 yards. That doesn’t challenge anybody. But if you made that a 70 percent golf course and have a 70 percent ball for it, it would play just difficult as (The Legend) from the back tees. “If you want to play an 80 or 100 percent ball, go play it.  All you’re doing is making the course play shorter and faster.’’

Video: 75-year-old claims more than 80 aces...

Dan Decando claims he's made 80 aces and the 75-year-old's claims were considered by Golf Channel.

Longtime Howard Stern contributor Artie Lang narrates this terrific 10-minute, Yaron Desalko-helmed piece from Kory Kozak's feature department, including the a look at the mathematical impossibility of Descando's achievement that is put at 1 out of 1 trillion, with a better chance of getting 20 straight royal flushes.

Here's the piece, carve out a few minutes for it. You'll be entertained: