Running 2021 Golf Thread

I always felt that Melnyk was highly underrated. And he had a knack for being on certain holes at certain times. When he was with CBS, he was sent out to No. 11 for the Norman-Mize playoff in the '87 Masters and did a nice job. He was also the walking analyst when Van de Velde melted down in the '99 British. Melnyk had a good golf announcer voice, had some insights because he was a helluva an amateur player (won the U.S. Am, British Am, Western Am and five college tournaments for Florida in 1969) and a solid pro who never won but made some money.

I also think the all-time golf TV crew in terms of drinking prowess, from some of the stories I've heard, had to be Summerall, Venturi, Ben Wright and McCord.

 

McCord would take your money on the course and then drink you under the table with the winnings. Or so I like to imagine.

 

One of the great gifts SiriusXM gave us during this last US Open was McCord back on the mic.

 

Now that Nelly Korda has won the women’s PGA she can support her boyfriend, Andreas Athanasiou, while he looks for a new team

 

Harris English wins the Travelers with a birdie on the eighth playoff hole
Only the sixth playoff to go so far
Record is 11

 

Not for nothing, but the fact that the PGA secured AAC as the venue for that championship was awesome. No Laying Up had a really strong podcast this week with Stacy Lewis talking about the differences between the men's and the women's majors and it was super enlightening. Especially her comments about the Evian, and how that just because you throw a bunch of money out there, it doesn't make it a major. Poor course, poor treatment of the players, etc.

 

Bubba sure spit the bit. 41 on the back, played the last five holes at 6-over and dropped from the lead after a par at No. 13 to a tie for 19th. To his credit, he did talk after the round.

Bubba Watson collapses on back nine in bid for fourth Travelers Championship title

 

Agent John Mascatello dies ...

Golf agent John Mascatello of Wasserman Golf Group dies

More known for being Daly's agent for much of his career -- and enabling him, for the most part. But he had a nice client list late, mostly Aussies (Day, Leishman, Cam Smith). Good relationship with the media, even if it was adversarial at times. But he never let it keep him from doing right by his clients in regards t0 the press. Wasn't like Mark "Dr. No" Steinberg.

 

Not to pick nits, but I believe it was Rosburg in that group.

 

I watched most of NBC's final-round coverage and a little bit on Saturday, and IMHO:

1. You can tell NBC sent its "B" team to cover the event. A couple graphics were wrong; at one point, a golfer chipped in for an eagle and they all thought it was her fourth shot. Several tricks such as "shot tracer" would be announced, then nothing happened.

2. The runner up, Lizette Salas, is admirable in many ways. She comes from a much humbler background than, say, country-club kids such as the Korda sisters. She can't bomb away off the tee, so she has to hit fairways, lay up on par 5s and rely on a stellar short game (I can relate to all of that, just can't execute it nearly as well).
All that being said ... that's boring golf to watch on TV.
Golfers like Nelly Korda, Patty Tavatanakit and Lexi Thompson have an array of shots that range from spectacular (Nelly's near double-eagle) to shockingly bad (her tee shot into the drink with four holes to play). That's much more entertaining.

3. Not sure what else the LPGA can do to boost interest if it's not there now. The Korda sisters are an interesting story, strong golfers and (being totally honest) attractive young women. And they're Americans. If you can't get people to watch them and other rising young stars, not sure if women's golf ever will be popular.