Issue No. 133 | November 22, 2024

We will get to Rory and some TGL thoughts in a minute, but off the top I want to point you to one of the better deals you’re going to see ahead of the holidays and a great way to support one of Normal Sport’s primary partners for 2024-25, Meridian Putters.

Meridian just launched their blind draw collection, which is where they sell their slightly used putters for $100 off ($100 off!).

We’re not talking “Denny McCarthy used this putter for a season and a half on the PGA Tour” used. More like, “these putters were for promos or demos and are barely worn” used. You can get involved right here.

I’m currently gaming the Charleston, which I love and I’m told will go quickly. The sale is active while supplies last or through Sunday, Nov. 24 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.

[Illustrator note] So you’re telling me the assignment wasn’t for me to blind draw Meridian?

One other programming note … this is our first members-only newsletter so bear with us on any kinks that need to be worked out. All subscribers — all 15,000 of you — will see the first part of it, but the second half is members only.

Please send any feedback you have right here. I actually love getting it because I think feedback —> iteration —> implementation is the only path toward improvement.

OK, onto the news.

9 Golf-Adjacent Thoughts This Week

1. Oh you thought you were getting away with a tiny mention in Tuesday’s newsletter of Rory getting choked up multiple times after tying Seve with a sixth Euro Tour title?

That’s on you, my friend!

There are two terrific moments in the interview.

The first is at 0:15 because he doesn’t see it coming.

Say whatever you want about Rory. It’s all out there already anyway. Say he has bad takes (fair). Say he’s a flip flopper (I get it). Say he’s unsure of what he wants and uneven in his leadership (some truth in there!). All of it is worthy of consideration.

But the thing I keep going back to is that underneath all of that, there is a sense of care and also a sense of genuineness that is difficult — and maybe impossible — to fake.

He goes into this interview thinking he’s just going to answer the questions in a straightforward way. Happy to have won a sixth Euro title. Love tying Seve. Hit some good shots out there. And then boom, five words in he just loses it.

It happens again at 2:08 when he starts talking about Seve.

Why that emotion there? Why is he so choked up? Were Rory and Seve close? What is it about this moment that affects him?

I do not know if Rory and Seve were close. Seve died three days after Rory turned 22. I doubt they were that close if they were close at all.

The emotion?

It’s from this sliver of Rory — maybe the most interesting sliver of them all — that is genuinely in disbelief that this is how his life and his career turned out.

When he touts the gratitude he has for how all of it has gone, that is not an act, not a show. There is a curious humility there, even off the record, when the cameras are put away. Like, Why me? How did all of this happen?

I find this to be so different than almost anyone else I have experienced in sports (at least at that level). I think it is natural to drift toward pride and ego as we age. That Rory is able to preserve an almost childlike wonder of the world and all the gratitude that goes with that seems to be the outlier.

I get all the other stuff. Rory is not perfect. He is a human. He deserves criticism like any human does. He does and says stupid things, just like everyone else.

But the worldview is not only unusual, I think it’s aspirational. And yes, the deserved response is, Yeah, I would act that way too, if I had his life!

But the truth is that you wouldn’t and neither would I. That is the human condition. Given a long enough timeline, all standard deviation lives become normal to all people who live them.

And plus, so many of us already live a version of that life that is worthy of more gratitude than we give. That is, if you are reading a newsletter about golf on a Friday afternoon because you are bored at work then you are living a more privileged life than almost any human that has ever lived!

Sometimes — most of the time — it is easy to forget that [raises hand]. Rory is compelling because sometimes he reminds you that he hasn’t forgotten it.

2. Here’s a question that I have been thinking about: Why does winning the European Tour yearlong race seem to mean more than winning the PGA Tour yearlong race? There has been so much Monty-Seve-Rory talk in the last few weeks, but can you name the top three winners of the season-long PGA Tour race?

(Btw, it’s Rory: 3, Tiger: 2, everybody else: 1).

Is that simply a history thing? The European Tour has it, and the PGA Tour does not? It might be. I’m mildly unconvinced of that.

Is it a money thing? The PGA Tour’s season-long race is so focused on the financial outcome and the TV ratings whereas Europe’s seems to be more rooted in legacy (shoutout to legacy, not leverage) and doesn’t seem to be about much else at all (I have no idea what the prize for winning the Euro Tour season-long race is!).

It’s all a little confounding to me, though it does give me some hope (though little optimism) that if there ever is an eventual world order in golf, the winner of that season-long race might actually be a real thing to aspire for and not just some front to launder money to the best players.

3. Jason Page — whose illustrations you see in this newsletter every single week — recently went on the Bag Drop with Kevin Moore, who is extremely thoughtful with his questions and podcast.

I think I learned things about Normal Sport from listening to Jason.

It gets the highest recommendation from me, and I wrote down one of the better exchanges for you guys.

Yes!

A thousand times yes.

I don’t want to speak for Jason, but I know part of my delight in all of this is trying to write things that will make him (and the rest of our team) laugh. I know if I’ve done that then maybe some of the rest of you will find it amusing as well. That’s fun to have in a colleague and a friend.

4. Here’s another reason I love partnering with Jason …

Pledge your fealty to read this post

Normal Sport is supported by hundreds of sickos who can’t get enough of this ridiculous game. By becoming a member — for the price of a LIV franchise nice round of golf — you will receive the following benefits (among many others!)

• The satisfaction of helping get Normal Sport off the ground.
• Daily updates during major championship weeks.
• Early access to limited edition merch drops.
• Discounts on products from our partners.

By clicking below to become a member here at Normal Sport, you can, like patrons at Augusta speedwalking to their seats, gain front-row access to an amusing, wonderful little world that we are working to build.

1. His illustration to lead off this newsletter is maybe the deepest cut IYKYK image we have ever had on here. Jason rarely writes but he is perhaps better than me, the actual writer, at conveying thoughts or ideas that he wants to convey. One of our sayings around here is easter eggs everywhere, and nobody is better at it than Jason.

2. Speaking of easter eggs everywhere, I discovered today that Jason built this page as part of a pitch deck to potential partners. He took our “more than just golf” mantra and customized it for potential partners (see the bottom right below).

That’s a level of detail — a level of care — that makes him better at his job than anyone else I know.

5. I have been writing about Rory possibly becoming the best European golfer ever for nearly a decade now. What’s strange is that I’m not sure he’s any closer now than he was nearly a decade ago.

That’s probably not technically true but it feels directionally true.

That is, the thing that would have gotten him over the line way back then — a green jacket — is the same thing that would get him over the line now.

I think what’s interesting is whether he can become the best Euro ever even if he doesn’t win a Masters.

The current list has been some version of …

1. Seve

2. Rory

3. Faldo

… for the last 10 years. You can argue the order, but I don’t know how anyone could argue that anyone else should be in that top three.

You can throw Langer, Monty and even Sergio at the wall to see if they stick, but they don’t even have as many majors combined as the player on that list with the fewest (Rory).

Here are Rory’s current ranks among European golfers.

Majors: 3rd
Ryder Cup points: 8th
PGA Tour wins: 1st
European Tour wins: T10
European Tour season-long titles: T2

It’s not unreasonable to think he could end like this …

Majors: T2
Ryder Cup points: 3rd
PGA Tour wins: 1st
European Tour wins: 7th
European Tour season-long titles: 2nd

Is that enough?

I think I’m still in the same position I’ve been in for a while now! If that fifth major (if it happens) is a Masters, then yes, it’s enough.

If not … I think — depending on how it all goes — you might still have to say Seve.

6. I played golf with Joseph LaMagna and some other friends this week. Here was a question we discussed over beers afterward. The table was split pretty evenly between two of these three. Would love to see how this vote goes among our readers.

7. I received the following email from a reader after I announced on Tuesday that I would be doing some work for TGL.

I was really excited for you to take the next step in your career after buying NS 1, 2 and 3 and reading your work over the years at CBS. 

I’m a sicko.

I’m a paying supporter of NLU/TFE/Quadrilateral. Reading your reflections in NS3 about wanting to start and build your own thing like they have really resonated as I am also in the process of building my own business.

When you announced last week that you had soft launched the paid platform I was disappointed that I had to wait until Monday to sign up.

Having said that, I was disappointed to hear today that you’ll be providing content for TGL. I’m not naïve to the realities of journalism and online content and the need to pay the bills and feed your family. With that being said, integrating Titleist or [Holderness and Bourne] logos/product into content is entirely different from reporting on the PGA Tour while also being paid by them.

ed. note: The PGA Tour owns part of TGL.

Even playing in a pro-am as guests of your sponsor feels fundamentally different than cashing a check from the league you pontificate on. Perhaps it’s the optics attached to launching a paid subscriber model on Monday with a [thank you note] that pledges this …

… and on Tuesday announcing that you are also going to be providing state sponsored content that I’m having a hard time squaring.

If you addressed this on Twitter, I apologize as I #loggedoff for any number of reasons (gesticulates wildly at unfettered hate speech, pornbots, inability to see content from those you actually follow, etc. etc.).

It just stuck with me and figured I’d share. Notwithstanding all of the above, still excited for you and the launch of NS and to see where this all will go.

First of all, tremendous email. The range of fitting in Titleist, pornbots and the Quadrilateral — which you should subscribe to — into one email is outstanding.

Second, this was my response to this member.

[Redacted], this was thoughtful and measured. I appreciate it. I have not addressed it publicly and probably won't as to not make it a bigger deal than it needs to be.

ed. note I suppose this response is public, but not super public as you have to pay to see it.

But what I can say is that TGL was a tough choice for me and that I was fairly torn on it. It's a nice safety net for my family in the short term, which is mostly how I've been thinking about it. It's a four-month contract -- runs through the end of the season. My plan and desire in the longer term is still for NS to thrive and be my only job.

I hear you, though. I think what you're saying makes sense. And while I don't know that I will be my full, unfettered self at TGL -- I don't think that's what they're even wanting -- I don't envision it affecting what I do, write or say on the Normal Sport newsletter.

Regardless, thank you for the feedback.

It's appreciated, coming from someone who is in so deep. Also, congrats on starting your own business. That's a thrill and worthy of celebration!

Perhaps you, Normal Sporter, have had similar thoughts. I would certainly understand if you did. I’m grateful that TGL asked me to help them, but TGL is not the dream. I think there are some cool aspects to it and that it could be a big hit if they lean into some specific areas (give me as much golf talk and as little trash talk as possible!).

But even if it hits, that is not the long term plan for me.

I do other contract work behind the scenes that is not as public as TGL is to make all of this work personally and for my fam in the short term. That is just part of the deal. Part of the hustle of trying to get Normal Sport off the ground.

Hopefully not forever but certainly for the next several months.

But I do appreciate the pushback from somebody who 1. Cares and 2. Is invested in all of this. I will never not be open to receiving that from you guys.

8. This feature of Emma Chamberlain is very good. She has such easy and obvious talent. However, I found this part of the profile to be extremely sad.

Vol. 3,844 in the “fame and money can’t solve the human condition” files.

Although I’m not sure I would make this argument, I think there is an argument to be made that contentment is the most fleeting and valuable feeling in the world. Not happiness, nor thrill. Those you can manufacture in different ways.

Contentment, though? In our work, our lives and our days? Elusive. The whole world promises a version of it, but almost nothing — almost nothing — can cash that check.

9. I’ll leave you with this incredible email I received that doubles as maybe the best description for the current version of my career that I have ever heard.

Leaving Chez Reavie’s bag for Luke Clanton’s. World class comp. World class readers.

Grateful for you all.