Tour Confidential: Would you prefer fan-less majors in 2020 or no majors at all? - Golf.com

3. The Official World Golf Ranking and the Rolex Rankings have halted amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The OWGR, which shapes the Olympic rankings and, eventually, the roster, runs on a two-year cycle with older results diminishing in value as the calendar moves along. This news means golf’s lineups for the 2020 Tokyo Games, if they still happen, is getting closer to being finalized (qualifying ends in June). Which players are the winners and losers due to the rankings pause?

Zak: Well, the qualifying is tightest between Americans Nos. 3, 4 and 5. That’s Patrick Reed, Patrick Cantlay and Webb Simpson. I don’t really pity any of them in their Olympic hopes. Rather I pity the next rung of guys, maybe Nos. 20-30 in the OWGR, whose opportunities were just cut in half. Of course, the IOC might just make this all moot with a postponement of the Games.

Sens: With the Olympics in jeopardy, my sympathy goes out more to players from other countries who aren’t earning a living on any major tours and might become one of those Cinderella stories that make the Games so great.

Kerr-Dineen: World No. 21 Tyrrell Hatton is a perfect example of this. Hatton was putting together a career year before the season paused. He could make a serious case that he was trending to overtake World No. 14 Justin Rose to represent Great Britain at the Olympics. But now, because of circumstances so unusual and outside of everybody’s control, he almost certainly won’t. If the Olympics still goes ahead, the selection process will end up being unfair on some. There’s no way around it, and it’s terribly unfortunate. But we’re just all going to have to be OK with it.

Shipnuck: It’s hard to imagine the Games won’t be postponed. The most important development there is it gives Tiger time to get his body and game right so he can make a big push to Tokyo. His presence can be a game-changer for Olympic golf and I’m rooting hard for him to make it.

Bamberger: I agree with Alan. I know the logistics are incredibly complex, but I can see the Summer Games in the summer of 2021, but not 2020.

Dethier: If, say, our next event is the Olympics, there’s no question Hatton would be the biggest loser. One spot outside the top 20, which would guarantee him passage?! Brutal. Biggest winner would be Cantlay, who is clinging to a .02 (read: small) lead over Webb Simpson for the final American spot. The least affected player would be Dustin Johnson.

4. Courses around the U.S. — at least those that are still open — have been practicing new and hygienic ways for golfers to play the sport they love while also being conscious of the coronavirus. What’s the smartest idea you’ve seen, and have you deemed any of these ideas worth keeping around long-term?

Zak: The smartest (and most reasonable) seems to be inserting some kind of cylinder into the cup to keep players from needing to grab the flag repeatedly, or dig down into the hole. I think it’d also be reasonable to just remove the flags altogether. Personally, I’d be open to bunker rakes being removed from the game entirely. This isn’t a necessary move but the lucky few who get to play Pine Valley understand that any bunker or waste area can be cured by the bottom of your shoes and some wind.

Sens: On the health front, I dig the pushed-up cup, which the USGA is allowing as a local rule during the current crisis. But in the long term, I like the idea of every player putting out to completion in turn. Good for keeping social distance, but also for keeping up the pace of play.

Kerr-Dineen: I’m with Sens. The pushed-up cup — or sometimes outright inverted cup — is a simple, cost-free and genius solution to the problem. Expect hole-in-one claims to spike over the next few weeks, though…

Shipnuck: All of the above are good. And eliminating carts! For overall health reasons it’s hard to beat walking 5-7 miles with 25 pounds on your back.

Bamberger: All well said. And if you really can cut back on cart golf, the people will want shorter courses and carry fewer clubs.

Dethier: I love the cash box — those should stay. Too many courses won’t let you go off once the shop closes. Off hours? Slip a tenner in the box and go play, guilt-free.

5. Our Dylan Dethier cured his golf bug by building his own backyard golf hole. What indoor or backyard tip or game can you offer our readers that will help keep their game sharp?

Zak: Plunge some wooden sticks into the ground throughout your backyard. Chip to them with the goal of your ball connecting with said wood. Create a routing, with everything as a par-2. Challenge whoever is in the house with you. Enjoy the fresh air. My apartment is getting really old and I’m jealous.

Sens: Get yourself an Orange Whip or a Speed Stik. If you’ve got high enough ceilings, you can even swing them inside to keep yourself limber and your world-beating fundamentals in tune.

Kerr-Dineen: This is the perfect at-home drill and helps solve a problem that plagues countless desk-dwelling golfers: Get into golf posture with your butt up against the back of a chair, and practice making swings, never allowing yourself to lift off the chair.

Shipnuck: Trying to flop balls off my carpet onto my bed is really helping my chipping game.

Bamberger: This is a creative staff! I find if I have my feet in the driveway but make the swings over grass I can really feel my footwork, which I am trying to improve, along with my grip and my takeaway. There’s a lot to be said for practicing without a ball.

Dethier: Hitting chip shots off any type of carpet should improve your feel and contact — I noticed this after a few weeks of chipping on our firm office floors. When I finally got out to real grass, there was much more margin for error! Might not want to use real balls in the house, though.

6. If you are looking for some of the best golf movies you can stream at home, our recent list has you covered. In your mind, what’s the best golf movie ever made? And what’s the most overrated?

Zak: Tin Cup is the best because it’s the most realistic. It really seems to understand the game in a serious way, while most of the others that are beloved are most strictly comedies. As for overrated, I guess Happy Gilmore is probably atop that list. I love the movie for its frivolity, but it’s so damn unrealistic that it’s probably a bit overrated as a golf product.

Sens: Sorry, but golf movies stink. [Ducks and braces for social media blowback.] At least, I’ve never seen a very good one. Tin Cup is bearable, if you’re stuck on an airplane or in virus quarantine. Happy Gilmore has about one Saturday Night Live skit’s worth of humor. There are some glacially paced golf movies set in gauzy Robert Redford-esque lighting that will put you to sleep in about 10 minutes, or make you queasy from the schmaltz (see: The Legend of Bagger Vance). And a few old-timey ones, like Pat and Mike, that are watchable if you’re into Hollywood nostalgia. Caddyshack is the best of the bunch, but it’s not really a golf movie. It’s a movie about social class (and getting stoned and struck by lightning). As grandma used to say, “Do yourself a favor and read a book.”

Kerr-Dineen: Caddyshack is so iconic, and Rodney Dangerfield is such a legend. Tin Cup is brilliant, too, regardless of what Sens says. Honorable mention for Legend of Bagger Vance, because it’s filled with so much soul. But what am I re-watching now that I have the chance? The R&A’s Chronicles of an Open Champion series.

Shipnuck: Tin Cup is better than that, Sens. The writing is really sharp and the Tour player cameos are a hoot. If no one thinks the others are any good can they really be overrated?

Sens: Like I said, good for quarantine, or the economy cabin.

Bamberger: I am not devoted to Caddyshack as others are, but its staying power proves that it must have some deep mysterious thing going on. A hundred million Rodney fans can’t be wrong.

Dethier: Caddyshack is pretty funny! And Tin Cup is way more subtle than it gets credit for. But if you’re looking for a trip to an on-screen country club, check out Red Oaks on Amazon Prime. There’s not that much golf, but it takes the spirit of an 80s comedy and infuses some earnestness, and the combo is really fun. Red Oaks gets into all kinds of clever interpersonal and class dynamics with which all golfers are familiar. You could waste your time in many worse ways.

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2020-03-23 00:22:30Z
https://www.golf.com/news/2020/03/23/tour-confidential-prefer-fanless-majors-2020-none/