Wednesday At The 2022 U.S. Open
Final reads and links, wrapping the State of the USGA press conference, Merch review and a few more LIV Reads.
It’s a nuts and bolts edition for what should be a sensational four days in Brookline.
Cody Williams on Jordan Spieth leaving early Wednesday with an unspecified illness and uncertain status. Spieth has a 7:29 a.m. tee time with Adam Scott and Max Homa.
Ryan Herrington with some fun anecdotes on each of the 15 amateurs.
Kevin Prise on Fran Quinn, 57, planning to show what kind of game he still has.
Ryan French on Luke Gannon getting in a practice round with Phil Mickelson.
Derek Lawrenson on Matt Fitzpatrick’s strong chances (and my pick).
Expert picks: Golf.com, GolfDigest.com, and Oddschecker’s roundup of UK betting houses shows Rory McIlroy as the final pre-tournament favorite over Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm.
Thursday and Friday weather:
State Of The USGA Press Conference
The USGA’s leadership convened under the interview canopy for an update on various initiatives. Highlights with CEO Mike Whan’s key quotes:
A new plan to increase investment into turfgrass research with future water shortages in mind. “In the next 15 years what if we committed $30 million to reduce how much water a golf course needs by 45%. If we set out to have that kind of big, bold leadership initiative -- one staff member said to me, Mike, what if we can't get to 45? I said, I'd be happy to sit up here and apologize if we only reduce water needs by 30% in the next 15 years. But if we don't do that, who is? If we don't do that, what's golf going to look like west of the Mississippi long-term?”
They confirmed Whan’s desire to get into the player development pipeline business for boys and girls ages 12-17. “And if you can't afford to raise a professional golfer, then we're going to step in and help you raise that professional golfer. If that golfer just makes it to college or just plays high school golf, that's fine because they'll be people like us that really thought we had a career in this game and then turned out to be the career in this game was different.”
Attempted unsuccessfully to clarify the USGA version of a rota. “Anchor sites are about making investments long-term into making greater championships and knowing that those will be the place.”
Announced the latest purse upgrade: “And this week we will play for $17.5 million with the winner walking away with $3.15 million in a winner's check.”
On Official World Golf Ranking business—Whan as USGA CEO has a board seat—and how it relates to LIV Golf: “I'm probably a couple thousand emails behind over the last three weeks of championships, but I don't think we are sitting on a submission. That's really what you do with a World Ranking is you review a submission, if a tour were to enter a submission. So I don't believe we're sitting on one.”
On early feedback about joint distance proposals: “I think one question that PGA Tour guys had is we're working pretty hard to create swing speed, to have more flexibility, and are you going to take that away from us, and we realized it's the same test, just updated with modern -- the reason you can feel comfortable that length is still going to be length, it's the same approach, and guys have outgrown the current and they'll outgrow this one. We don't want to take athleticism away from the game. We don't want length to not be an advantage. The goal is not to find a ball that flies 302 and falls out of the air. I think for them it was really educational.”
If a two-hole aggregate playoff is necessary, The Country Club’s 1st and 18th holes will be used.
A few reactions to the session…
While an unnecessarily long session as Whan was on a peak Coke Zero rush and John Bodenhamer reviewed The Country Club’s history, there was also substantive energy in ways that prior USGA regimes have been reluctant to provide. Whan gave the impression of little to hide or gave the impression of elitist pomposity. That will do wonders for the USGA’s credibility.
President Stu Francis noted multiple ways life has changed dramatically and for the better at the USGA in Whan’s short tenure. A ringing endorsement of the Mike Davis years, it was not.
All seem passionate about the player development program to be launched for young American golfers. They drove home the importance on finding aspiring players who might have otherwise fallen through the cracks. While it’s a massive departure for the by-the-book USGA—the R&A has been very involved in a variety of player development initiatives like the Faldo Series—the overall inspiration is noble. However, the USGA has also loosened rules on amateur status, free equipment and other expense related elements that makes the program potentially unnecessary.
On the current LIV Golf situation, the USGA stuck to their stance on players who go that route and just how far the organization is willing to go to save their PGA Tour partners. For now.
On distance, Whan’s characterization of talks with players and their concern for protecting pro-am partners sounded wonderful. But not believable given the narcissistic ways of today’s top golfers at a time self-interests have never been more forwardly placed.
Whan made a point to clarify what anchor site suggesting a lot of people have asked why the USGA is locking in venues so far down the line. His answer did not clarify or rationalize the vision deemed as “irresponsible” by PGA CEO Seth Waugh.
Other reviews: Rex Hoggard on the USGA’s right to reserve revisit LIV participant status…Eamon Lynch branded Whan’s comments as artful evasion and says the USGA’s refusal to take a stand may be deadly for the pro game…Joel Beall on Whan’s dim view of the Saudi disrupter movement…Ryan Barath on the USGA teasing a possible easing of testing restrictions for the average golfer…David Dusek with five takeways from the session.
Merch!
As with the recent PGA Championship, supply chain issues may have cut into an ability for companies to deliver. Still, a noticeably smaller “tent” here leaned heavily on the club’s squirrel insignia (even though our furry friends seem to be in hibernation here). Even better, the USGA is not sticking its logo on every item as they have in recent years under the hard branding push
A few favorites:
Martin Miller’s image of the 10th hole. A stunning shot of a spectacular par-4 that will play like a par-5 this week.
Celtics themed T, $32. When in Boston…
Ahead attempts to break free of predictable logoed caps, $29.
Lee Wybranski. The U.S. Open’s artist took the rich palette and crafted one of his finest commemorative pieces yet. Available in two sizes.
Kate Murphy’s note cards. Crafted for the sophisticated thank you note writer enjoying a blend of modern graphics and classic sentiments. A set of five, $24.
Horseshoe bottle opener from Seamus Golf, $95. Company founder Akbar Christi holds the photo inspiring for this special bottle opener with the famous horseshoe seen in this photo after Francis Ouimet’s victory.
LIV Reads
Jay Rigdon wonders how the battle could crater the PGA Tour’s TV deal.
Sally Jenkins channels His Ownself writing about Phil Mickelson and the LIV boys.
Back tomorrow after what should be an all-golf, no Saudi stink opening day from The Country Club! Just a reminder, this is the weekly free edition so if you’re enjoying The Quad, join the club by subscribing. And for Apple device readers, the Substack app is free and a better reading experience.
Geoff
Thanks, as always, Geoff, for a typically rich Wednesday night offering prior to a leg of the Impregnable Quadrilateral.
the amount of links/reads you provide is unbelievable- nice work!