Issue No. 114 | September 25, 2024

Hey,

Big news dropping next week regarding this newsletter. 👀 👀 👀 

I’ve spent all week trying to prep for that news, which is why you’re getting a late, truncated version of the newsletter. Sorry (not sorry) for that, but I think it’s going to be worth it starting next week.

Onto the (current) news, which is brought to you this week by Holderness and Bourne.

One Thing I Loved

If you haven’t seen this answer from Sahith about how he’s reflected on his family’s life and journey as he tees it up for the United States for the first time, you should watch it.

It’s awesome.

In a year three-year stretch where it seems like the only thing that has been talked about is wealth and power — admittedly two interesting, but also tiring, topics — it is rejuvenating to hear someone talk about playing golf for … literally any other reason .. but especially the reasons Sahith gives.

We always get this in team events — playing for my bros!, for the stars and stripes! etc. — but Sahith’s story is particularly endearing.

Sahith’s life is the American dream personified. It is beautiful, and it reminds me of something Sam Snead said in an interview of his I linked below.

I don’t think Sahith’s family ever experienced anything like that, but you could replace the phrasing by saying, “Starting at zero will make you respect … everything.”

Gratitude is not usually high on the list of characteristics pro athletes are known for embodying. But it might top Sahith’s. He’s electricity on the course, gracious off of it and quite possibly the easiest guy in the world to root for right now.

Normal Sport

1. I am at a loss with this photo. It feels like I’m staring at the sun.

2. What’s more preposterous: The sunglasses … or the fact that this man has won a major championship more recently than Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Dustin Johnson and an entire fleet of guys like Hovland, Cantlay and Sam Burns who have never won one at all?

3. As was pointed out to me, this happens in other sports like baseball and tennis. Sure, but show me the put-back-together wooden bat or graphite racket that Manny Machado or Daniil Medvedev is swinging the next day, and I’ll show you a normal sport.

4. Speaking of things that would have been difficult to explain three years ago.

Quote of the Week

Golf writer Ron Green Sr. passed away recently at the age of 95, and this quote he once gave on the Masters was shared this week.

“I liked going out in the morning on tournament days, just the way it felt. And looking at all the beauty and letting it all sort of wash over me, kind of gathering you up and sending you out to work.

“I was in love with it. I look back now, and I was silly in love with it. Like a guy in love with a girl. But I’m glad I was. I think it showed through in what I wrote.”

That sounds like … a preposterous thing to say and maybe even stranger when it’s written down. But I know that feeling. I have felt it at times. About ANGC, sure, but about other things in golf, too.

The reason, I believe, is because nature — the way the physical world is structured — does something to us that man-made structures like courts and stadiums cannot. I don’t even know what that thing is, but I know that I have sensed it, and if you are reading this and are in love with the game as well, I’m guessing you have, too.

That is unique to golf and a part of it that I am so grateful for. Nobody would ever look at it from the outside and guess that this is one of the best things about it, but once you have seen it, lived it and been on the inside, it becomes so easy to continue chasing that almost spiritual sentiment at every turn, even (maybe especially) as you get older.

Stat of the Week

I keep seeing a lot of “well, golf is just tennis now without Tiger.”

While I agree that everyone underestimated the slack in the line in a post-Tiger world in almost every way — but especially from a viewership standpoint — I would push back on the idea that golf is just tennis now.

I recently stumbled into this excellent synopsis of U.S. Open tennis viewership for every men’s finals match since 2015.

So I went and comped those numbers to U.S. Open golf viewership for every final round since 2015. Here’s what the numbers (in millions) looked like.

The U.S. Opens highlighted in green are west coast U.S. Opens. It’s easy to see why the USGA is adamant about returning often.

And while I think Matthew’s assessment of tennis below is certainly a warning for golf, the numbers above are an encouragement. Like Matthew said, no sport should aspire to be this niche, and — at least for now — golf is not there.

All of this does make me wonder if golf would look more like tennis — again, not aspirational! — if a global tour was formed. Asked another way, I wonder if tennis’ numbers would look more like golf’s if the best tennis tour mostly played in the U.S.

That has been my biggest struggle in terms of being pro-global tour in golf. I think it would be devastating for golf’s U.S. television market, which makes up so much of its current revenue. Although, maybe you could make all of that up in global TV markets. I don’t know. Another thought for a different day.

Quote of the Week II

This from Rory on golf is exactly how I feel about covering golf on a daily basis.

It’s also why the unique once-a-year or once-every-four-years events like the Masters or Olympics are so weighty and meaningful.

Take of the Week

Watch this from Rory. It’s a good summation of why no deal has been signed yet.

It’s also saying the quiet part out loud. I feel like I’m banging this drum every week, but at least some (if not a majority) of the decision makers in this deal — at least on the PGA Tour side — are not entirely incentivized to get the deal done in the short term.

Think about it from, say, Adam Scott’s perspective. Scott seems like a neutral enough figure, who serves as a player director. He also had an amazing summer, with top 20s in five of his last six events leading into the President’s Cup.

You know who does not benefit if Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Joaquin Niemann return to the PGA Tour? A 44-year-old Adam Scott. That means he gets less money and has less of a chance to win events. He is broadly incentivized — at least in that way — to not do the deal. I should note that this is not the only incentive. There are many others, but most of them represent short term gain at the expense of long term benefit.

I happen to believe that Scott specifically is wise enough to operate outside of these particular incentives and is a good long-term voice in general. But the point is that it is so so so difficult to go against our human nature, or against the direction in which we are incentivized. And most people — perhaps even Adam Scott! — will struggle to go against these incentives, even if they don’t consciously realize they are doing so.

The Charlie Munger quote, “Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome,” comes to mind.

Which is why it remains crazy that so many of the people who are incentivized the most in the short term are so heavily involved in the long-term outcome. Misaligned incentives is something that usually does not end well, and I can’t help but think that’s going to be the case here, too.

Corrupt Golf Media

👉️ It’s wild that there’s no footage of the best shot Ted Scott has ever seen (it’s not the shot you think, either).

👉️ Dan Rapaport headed to Pro Shop. That will be a good fit. Kind of a mixture of Digest and Barstool. I think he will thrive there.

👉️ One thing I want to build into this newsletter is better Q&As. The ones that come to mind are the old My Shot ones from Digest. They’re so good. I read this old one with Sam Snead this week, and it’s wild. So many great quotes and thoughts from a titan. Stuff like Snead saying he would have lit up the Cat in his prime.

Regardless, there needs to be more of that in the future of Normal Sport. The plan now is to bring you more of those on Fridays. Next up on that front is Kevin Clark, who many are saying is the Sam Snead of professional football analysis.

👉️ This profile of Peyton and Eli doing a MNF game is awesome. The Athletic does such great profile work.

👉️ This on Alabama’s old strength and conditioning coach and his addiction is so good and so sad.

👉️ Great thread here on adult male weight loss and fitness. That sounds like I’m shilling some product. I’m not, and the thread is not hokey or gimmicky, just genuine and honest for where a lot of us are at. It’s excellent.

How is This App Free?

• This got me pretty good.

• I … I agree.

• I will double whatever Shane pays.

Love Your Work

I was reading this Stephen Colbert profile the other day, and he was talking about how he has struggled with anxiety and panic at times throughout his life.

I found this part — which he seemed to find liberating! — to actually be quite sad.

I understand the direction he’s coming from, if not specifically what he’s talking about. However, the idea of performing or creating being the only thing to bring about peace in his life is such a weight, such a tiring thing to even consider.

It made me wonder how many folks in that position — not his position, but the position of performance — are carrying around the same weight, the one where they have to keep running because stopping would be far more devastating than the alternative.

Thanks for reading until the end.

You’re a sicko, and I’m grateful for it.

This time next week, I’ll be doing this full time. 👀 

Don’t tell anybody yet.

But please do send this to one friend who you think will understand any of it.

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