Edition No. 47 | January 16, 2024

One note before we get started.

1. This month’s newsletter sponsor is TRUE and they’re giving away four pairs of TRUE Lux Hybrid golf shoes (photo below) to Normal Sport readers (one every week this month).

What do you have to do to win the shoes? Simply be subscribed to the newsletter (which you already are). The second winner has been contacted but did not disclose his name to include on this email.

Two more to go!

For now, a note from the TRUE founders.

TRUE linkswear is a company rooted in the game of golf. Brothers Ryan and Jason Moore grew up playing and working on the family driving range. Ryan grew into a 5-time PGA Tour winner and Ryder Cupper while Jason caddied early in his career.

No matter how big of an event the duo was part of, one thing never changed — they couldn’t find a golf shoe they enjoyed wearing, a problem they vowed to correct. Out of that pursuit arose TRUE linkswear, one of golf’s fastest rising footwear and lifestyle brands.

Mission No. 1 was creating a modern, comfortable golf shoe that looks (and feels) like your favorite running shoe. In 2023, TRUE launched the LUX Hybrid which emerged as the go-to footwear for players on nearly every major tour, led by the likes of Moore, Joel Dahmen and Christina Kim.

There is much more to golf than professional events. There is a lifestyle that surrounds the game that TRUE has embraced, creating footwear and apparel that is equally appealing in any setting.

Gray Area

Redemption stories are normally easier than this.

When Chris Kirk won at Kapalua to start 2024, there was a sense of celebration. This man who is great at golf has also battled alcoholism and depression and many things normal people struggle with. There is hope for me! That’s a good takeaway for fans of the game and something sport can uniquely provide.

Murray, who has also said he’s an alcoholic, committed sins that are less relatable and not as easy to understand. They seem to be more irrational.

The club throwing and popping off are one thing — I think a lot of us can at least understand those — but the Tour probation for “an incident in Hawaii,” his endless feuds with other Tour players and of course the infamous tweet to a high school girl are another.

He has been the Tour’s bad boy for years and among the easiest professional athletes in the world to dislike.

But on Saturday before winning the Sony and Sunday after winning the Sony, he seemed contrite. He seemed humble. He seemed … maybe different.

I don’t get real caught up in cancel culture. Mostly, it has become a shield folks hide beyond when the “well well well if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions” meme is probably more appropriate. A buzzword used by people who don’t know what it actually means.

However, the insidiousness of actual cancel culture is that it eschews forgiveness and presumes the impossibility of transformation. We often hold people to a standard online that we don’t even hold ourselves to in real life.

Grayson has for sure been canceled by most golf fans (myself included), at least most of the ones I talk to and run with. Written off. Moved on from. This obviously seemed rational because, again, who would want to be associated with or root for somebody that brazen and erratic?

I was reading the Webb Simpson Q&A about the PGA Tour and PIF and the new landscape — which had absolutely nothing to do with Grayson Murray — and I thought what he said about broken trust and forgiveness is a good way to think about things. He was speaking about how players view Tour management.

“I’m hearing a lot of ‘You broke my trust once, I’ll never trust you again.’ I don’t live like that. Somebody breaks my trust and they want to make it right and apologize, I want to forgive them and move on.”

Is Grayson Murray changed? Transformed? A good dude now? I have no idea. I am always wary of public figures purporting themselves to be “not who they used to be” in times of tremendous triumph for it is in the depths of despair where the true testing of transformation can be found.

I am open, though. His story of quitting alcohol is compelling. He says a lot of the right things. He is certainly talking the talk.

“My story is not finished,” he said on Sunday. “I think it's just beginning.”

That’s … meaningful.

None of this is to say that what Murray has done in the past is acceptable or that it should be overlooked. That is not what I’m saying. What I am saying is that we so often use a hierarchy to rank the misgivings of others. As long as you don’t cross a certain threshold of wrongdoing then your redemption story is acceptable.

What I’m saying is that humans are human, and that transformation is possible and is certainly worthy of celebration. Not a blind Great, all is well, I want my kids to emulate this guy now! kind of celebration. Perhaps more of a wary hopefulness.

It’s a story, too, that is an encouragement for all of us. That who we once were doesn’t have to be the person we will someday be.

Mea Culpa of the Week

In last week’s newsletter, I referenced “a snooker analyst,” which, it turns out, is selling Ronnie O’Sullivan a bit short.

O’Sullivan is a seven-time world champion, and I’m told, arguably the Tiger equivalent for snooker (with a bit of Phil thrown in). I don’t understand snooker at all, but I still loved his quote about boring snooker players from last week’s newsletter.

I also loved this video (along with the commentary below it).

He truly seems like a king.

Normal Sport 3

A quick (and appreciated!) endorsement.

Normal Sport 3 is still for sale right here. Unfortunately, shipping on our hard copies has been delayed until (hopefully) the end of this week, but you should pick one up while we still have copies.

Stat of the Week

After Rory and Fleetwood battled down the stretch in Dubai, I thought it would be interesting to look at what I call their contention and conversion rates. This is highly unscientific but fairly interesting given how much has been said and written about both golfers.

My sources here are the crooked OWGR and possibly crooked Data Golf. I looked at starts, how many times both entered the final round inside the top three on the leaderboard and then total wins (obviously not all those wins came when entering the final round in the top three on the leaderboard, some were from further back).

Fleetwood: 367 events | in top three after R3 27 times | 8 wins
McIlroy: 394 events | in top three after R3 79 (!) times | 33 wins

What does this tell me? To win consistently, you either have to increase your contention rate (defined here as how often you’re in the top three after three rounds but can be defined a number of different ways) or your conversion rate (closing when you’re in contention).

Rory is better but not that much better than Tommy when he’s in the top three after three rounds — both play slightly worse than expected in the final round in this scenario, according to Data Golf — but his contention rate (getting into that top three to begin with) is extraordinary, almost three times what Tommy’s is.

Contention rate and conversion rate.

You can define them a number of different ways, but they’re the two levers you have to pull when we talk about great winners over a long period. Rory pulls one of the two as well as almost anyone ever has and the other one well enough to make it matter. Tommy pulls one of the two decently but the other one he barely touches at all. They both matter as it relates to the arc of a career.

Normal Sport

We had some real contenders this week.

1. Who among us has not been here? Albeit, fortunately, with no cameras around. I believe this is your answer to the Jeopardy question above.

2. This next one was on the Carl Yuan ruling from last weekend. If you missed it, Yuan hit a ball that looked as if it cleared the hospitality tent on No. 18 but got a free drop near the green even though the ball was never found because officials were “virtually certain” the ball was somewhere in the hospitality.

Most normal sport thing imaginable.

I spoke with someone who offered some clarification on the ruling, which I agree looked egregious. Apparently there was more hospitality beyond what was shown on No. 18 on TV and it was in bounds, which is why officials were virtually certain.

Howevah …

I’m not sure how you can be virtually certain of anything in this specific scenario because it could have easily caromed off the tent and gone out of bounds. As was pointed out to me by my friend Greg DuCharme, that rule is meant more for when a ball goes into the stands and somebody pockets it.

I originally thought I had a bigger problem with the rule itself, but I actually think it’s with the interpretation of the ruling in this instance. I can’t tell my wife, “I’m … pretty sure I put the leftovers in the fridge” before bed and then hope I’m right! I have to be a lot more sure than that!

3. Fleetwood took down Grove club pro Ken Weyand by 72 in Dubai. Imagine a 54-year-old college basketball player who is now a sales rep at Under Armour for the southwest region of the United States randomly getting invited to play in a January game between the Clippers and the Spurs and getting dunked on five times by Victor Wembanyama.

That’s what this was.

Meme of the Week

This is me literally every time I play golf and it’s under 50 degrees.

I’m as soft as it gets when it comes to cold temperatures and playing sports. If I was on the Dolphins, I would have probably retired before playing in a game with a -27 degree wind chill.

Crooked Golf Media

👉️ This Q&A with Webb Simpson on the state of the PGA Tour, its deal with SSG and the PIF is excellent. Webb is reasonable, thoughtful and optimistic throughout. Terrific read, and I especially enjoyed this part.

I believe money can’t make you happy long-term. It’ll make you happy in the short-term, but the long-term — I love the King of Israel from the Song of Solomon. He had everything and he said, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money.” So, I’m trying to get the message out.  

I think most guys would agree, now some guys, sure, they want the money, but most of us want – our ultimate goal on the PGA Tour and the ultimate satisfaction of a PGA Tour player is to be in contention, being able to hit shots and make putts. That feels better than any check we’ve ever gotten. 

👉️ This from James Corrigan is a good report on the state of the PGA Tour and the PIF. Apparently Jay Monahan and Yasir had not talked since June 6? Also, this was an interesting quote from Thomas Bjorn.

I am with Rory, the Dane said. The time is now and only now and I hope the guys who are making decisions are listening because this is an unbelievable opportunity for our sport.  With the money that’s in the game at the moment, they can create something that’s best for the players, best for the fans, best for the media. They just have to be brave and do it right now.

👉️ This on ESPN’s year from hell by my guy Bryan Curtis is terrific.

👉️ I finished Shipnuck’s LIV book. It’s quite good, and there are some juicy anonymous quotes, this one being probably the juiciest.

Overheard on Twitter

I woke up and my son said to me “Hey Dad can we go play golf today?” So yes. I am a billionaire. -Dave Gerhardt

How is this app free?

One of my goals this year is to be on Twitter less than in past years so this section might be a bit soft until we hit the major weeks. Still, a great week.

Tron on the Saban news.

As one of my CBS editors put it, Phil’s McAfee appearance came on the same day he announced that Aaron Rodgers would not be on his show for the remainder of the regular season: "Alright, everyone, we are done talking to this eccentric man who spews some of the wildest theories you have ever heard. Now, please welcome my next guest, Phil Mickelson."

This one got me good. If Justin Ray doesn’t understand your statistical system, might be time for a new statistical system.

If Taylor Swift ever dates a golfer, it’s over. Claire will have 50 million followers in 6 months.

This was also great.

Spencer got me with this one.