Issue No. 100 (!!!) | August 7, 2024

Hey,

Thank you to all of you who have filled out our survey so far. It has been overwhelming to see so many responses, and I haven’t even read them yet.

We’re up to around 1,100 right now, and we’ll keep it going until this Friday. If you haven’t had time yet, you can fill it out right here. It’s so helpful to us and something we don’t take for granted!

Onto the news.

But first.

A shout out to Holderness and Bourne for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.

This will make more sense after you read the below section on Scheffler and Caeleb Dressel, but I’m grateful that this newsletter is sponsored by a company of people who care. They care about their product, their name and their business. It’s not presumed, and it’s not even necessary for a company to have success. But it is appreciated. It is meaningful. And it is a signal for businesses who will have long-term success. That’s H&B.

You can check them out here.

One Thing I Loved

Earlier this week, one of our readers brought up a take that had been percolating in my own mind as I watched the Olympics.

It had to do with Scottie Scheffler and Caeleb Dressel.

If you’re reading this newsletter, you almost certainly saw Scottie break down on the podium after shooting a back nine 29 at Le Golf to win gold. It capped an historic year for him — Players, Masters, seven wins, $30M, new kid, jail and gold! — and we haven’t even gotten to Money Making SZN feat. FedEx.

I wrote about why Scottie cried after winning and why, 26 kilometers northwest of where Scottie received his gold, Carlos Alcaraz wept in defeat. I threw in Rahm, who said he let down his entire country, and Djokovic — who may have cried more than Alcaraz — as well. It is a take that is not all that dissimilar from my post-2021 Ryder Cup take.

Anyway, this reader pointed out that while NBC was broadly criticized for keeping its cameras on Dressel after he failed to qualify for the 100 butterfly final and wept just outside the pool, it was not criticized (obviously) for keeping the camera on a weepy Scheffler in victory.

If you do a quick Twitter search, the general take is that that was a private moment that should have been taken backstage. I could not disagree more.

I loved seeing Dressel like that.

Because here’s the truth: His tears and Scheffler’s tears represented the exact same thing.

They care.

Winning and losing meant something because they care. Playing for their country meant something because they care. And while what elicited the tears was different — 62 and a gold for Scottie, a devastating semifinal defeat for Dressel — the root of those tears? Very much the same.

Chris Clarey is a writer that I look up to, and I found his piece on Djokovic beating Alcaraz for the only title that has eluded him quite compelling.

Especially this part.

He is not afraid to show just how much his goals matter. He does not protect himself, does not provide wiggle room to minimize defeat.

Whew.

Those are the people I’m drawn to. Not just in the Olympics. Not just in athletics. But in life. The people who are not afraid to show just how much their goals matter.

We all self-protect. All of us.

We don’t want things to hurt so we tell ourselves stories and we even tell other people stories to make them hurt less. We pretend like our kid not making the team is not a big deal. We provide excuses for why we weren’t able to finish the half marathon in the time we wanted. We usually use humor to self protect and pretend like it’s humility. It’s not, though. It’s a defense mechanism.

I appreciated what Billy Horschel said after the Open.

“I'm disappointed. I should feel disappointed. I had a chance to win a major. I was in a really good position. I just didn't play -- I just made a few too many mistakes today when I didn't need to.”

I’m disappointed. I should feel disappointed.

He could have added: It is normal and human and appropriate to feel disappointed.

Scheffler compels me. So does Dressel. They are obviously tremendously skilled and total dogs in the arena. They want the ball.

But I’m not sure that’s what compels me.

I believe I’m more compelled by the reality that getting the ball matters to them. They take pride in being great, and when they achieve greatness — or especially when they don’t — they disclose their humanity because they care, because it meant something. They don’t minimize defeat.

What they show in both instances, the wins and the losses, is that they are people and not robots. Which somehow makes what they do with the stage set and the lights on that much more impressive.

Normal Sport

Again, we could probably do an entire newsletter focused solely on all the insane normal sport stuff from the Olympics (this photo alone is worth a few thousand words.

But here are the handful of normal moments I either stumbled upon or found myself thinking about this week.

1. (non-Olympics edition) It’s crazy to me that Keegan Bradley is kind of a coach now. He’s the No. 21 player in the world! Players from other sports ranked No. 21 in the world based on either win shares or WAR: Kevin Durant, Justin Herbert, Jose Ramirez. Can you imagine if we went to Durant for the Olympics and were like, Listen dude, I know you’re averaging 26 a game, but we just need you to coach these guys. As long as you don’t make a series of illogical and borderline sociopathic decisions, we will win. Got it. Thanks. Insane stuff!

2. Here’s a real Xander quote from Le Golf National: “Dangerous to some. I didn't feel too threatened by the ants. I don't think they have fire ants. I'm not too sure to be completely honest.

“I called for a second official because I asked the lady if I can use my club to scrape the sand since it's loose, and she's like, ‘Yes.’ My gut was like, ‘Oh, boy, am I really going to use my club, have it on film, and then talk to you guys after?’ I got a second opinion, and the guys said I could not move the grass but use my tee to move the ants.

The guys said I could not move the grass but use my tee to move the ants. What a sport. And somehow not the most famous ants reference by a two-time major winner in the last few years.

3. Speaking of Xander, he and the rest of the fellas looked like they were ready to play two against the Mets on Saturday.

4. Also, what are we doing here? Somebody please intervene. This has gone too far. Red for bogeys? Green for birdies. Blue for pars. Between this and televised scorecard fiasco at the Open, we need somebody to issue a ruling. We need a global currency.

Like, we can’t be doing both of these things.

5. Haha, this makes golf look actually normal. They spun a wheel to determine which weight class would go! A wheel! Like it was the Price is Right or Wheel of Fortune!

Data Golf Corner

I thought it would be interesting to look up the January 1-December 31 strokes gained leader each year. Some notes and thoughts below.

2024: Scottie Scheffler (3.30 …)
2023: Scottie Scheffler (3.06)
2022: Rory McIlroy (2.71)
2021: Jon Rahm (2.38)
2020: Dustin Johnson (2.45)
2019: Rory McIlroy (2.66)
2018: Dustin Johnson (2.60)
2017: Jordan Spieth (2.49)
2016: Henrik Stenson (2.48)
2015: Jordan Spieth (2.57)
2014: Rory McIlroy (2.51)
2013: Tiger Woods (2.68)
2012: Tiger Woods (2.68)
2011: Luke Donald (2.36)
2010: Lee Westwood (2.30)

• It’s even crazier to look at Scottie in context with everyone else this year.

• I would have bet a lot of money that JT had the top SG season from 2017, but he wasn’t even second because Rickie Fowler (!!) was. Rickie won once that year, JT won five times. Draw your own conclusions.

• Scottie is having his second consecutive “best year of the last 15 years” year. The only player to crack 3.0, 2.9 or 2.8 for a season.

And he’s done it twice in a row.

• Not sure what to make of Tiger having as many SG titles as Rory or what to make of Tiger putting up the exact same number two years in a row.

• Another interesting one: Rory only has two SG titles, but he’s second overall in SG since 2010 at 2.09 (Rahm is first at 2.15, Scottie is third at 1.68).

• Remember when Spieth was good?

• Rory and Rahm live in the 2.0-2.3 range. Both are underrated but especially Rahm, who is fourth in SG this year (and people are acting like he should retire!).

There’s this LIV narrative around him that I both understand and have perpetuated, but he’s generational. You don’t live at 2.15 SG for 700 rounds and then suddenly become a different golfer. He’s had bad major years before (look at 2022 below), but if somebody is offering me the dip on Rahm, I’m a full [Jim Cramer voice] buy buy buy!

Circles and Squares

I wrote briefly about my own game last week, partly because a friend suggested it could be interesting and partly because I think it might be some form of therapy for me.

Anyway, I got some feedback on going from a ~13 index to a ~5 index from a reader named Ryan D. that I found to be extremely helpful and wanted to pass along to anyone else who’s working on their own game and might benefit from it.

His commentary is in the boxes, and mine comes after them.

Hunting from 165 like Hovland made me chuckle.

I actually put away driver for all of 2023, which was not helpful. I think blending the two methods — hitting driver most of the time but not being afraid to hit my 4-wood or driving iron — is the right way to view it.

I’m glad nobody can see what’s going on inside my head when I’m over a shot between 15-30 yards. It would make you question not only whether you should be reading anything I write but whether I should be allowed to be a father and possibly even a free member of society. I definitely need to adopt the “just get it on the green” method.

I loved this. Just hit the best shot I can and live with the results. Really simplified and helpful. Tons of takeaways there that I’m going to try and implement in my own game.

Also, I saw this and it made me laugh.

The Infirmary

We have a couple of submissions this week.

The first is, again, from me. I was watching the swimming, and NBC cut to Phelps reacting to King Leon in the pool, and all I could think about was whether the gentleman next to him was wearing a Kiawah shirt.

A buddy sent this text to me … probably needs no explanation.

Lastly, imagine trying to figure out where to start with explaining the following sentence to a normal human. (also, if you are a normal human: here’s the reference)

Take(s) of the Week

There were so many this week that I don’t even know where to begin.

I guess with the most provocative one.

• Joel Beall suggested that the majors should offer $0 purses. He was riffing on this Rory quote after the Olympics.

A $0 purse is for sure insane, but I think I might be into it.

I’m sure there would be a lot of different unintended consequences that I’m not thinking of. And I would need some sort of agreement that each of the major organizations would distribute a (large) percentage of revenue to a non-profit associated with their organization. But if you replaced purses with podiums at the four big ones, I’d sign up and see what happens.

There was a great quote from somebody during the Open that I went back and tried (but failed) to find about qualifying for majors. The gist of it was something like, Just getting into the majors is a major for most players. That stuck with me. We focus on the Rorys and the JTs and the Rahms. But for most pro golfers ever, having a tee time at a major championship is a massive thing.

But it’s not a massive thing because of the money. It’s massive thing because it’s a major championship. Here’s the thing, though: At the top end, the money at those tournaments is already meaningless. It means nothing or close to nothing. Is it additive to take away money at the bottom? Perhaps, and I think the novelty of it would actually be attractive for sports fans who aren’t golf sickos.

• The other take is from Sean Zak about how the French Open at Le Golf should be on the global schedule every year. I have no idea if a global schedule would work. Part of me thinks it would be a monstrous flop. The other part of me thinks it would crush. But I do know that I want whoever is running golf to try it. Australian Open, French Open, Scottish Open and on and on. Block off five or 10 spots for local qualifiers. Every stop is an extravaganza.

Just take my money and my time.

• Lastly, this had me rolling.

I just kept staring back and forth between these two things.

First thing …

Second thing …

First thing …

Second thing …

Quote of the Week

Xander Schauffele on Rory saying the best events aren’t for money: “He kind of bounces around with his opinion, you know.”

👀

👀👀

👀👀👀 

“He's reverted on that topic. But yeah, I mean, there's something to be said about it. There's a lot of heart and patriotism. You're proud of what you're doing and the colors you're wearing. That's probably what he's reverting to.

“It is a different feeling, and this year was incredible. You know, if you were in Tokyo, it's cool, and this year is very different with the fans and the people and being able to see other games. It was much closer to what is a real Olympics experience.”

I don’t really care about the rest of it. Just that first sentence. He kind of bounces around with his opinion. Not sure pre-two majors Xander says that.

I also found it humorous that the implication was, Listen, he’s the one embarrassing himself here, I’ve always wanted to get paid at these non-paying events and I’m never going to waver on that.

😂😂😂 

Meme of the Week

This one was everywhere, and it’s amazing. Both of these examples were darts.

Corrupt Golf Media

👉️ I don’t know why this on Spieth’s ability to keep score made me laugh.

👉️ Might be paywalled for you, but Tom Coyne on how we’ll always have tomorrow as golfers is excellent.

👉️ Do golf fans underrate Justin Rose’s career? Yes.

👉️ This story about someone turning a political newsletter into a $1M business has me juiced. Here’s a corresponding pod that pairs well with it. Pretty inside baseball, but I couldn’t get enough.

👉️ AI thoughts by and for a layperson. I am broadly anti-AI to the point that I just try and ignore it, but it will not be ignored. That link includes some good takes from a seemingly normal human.

👉️ This is wild to me.

How is This App Free?

• It’s honestly difficult to count here, but I think I see 22 different logos, not including the Adidas on Rory’s arm.

• The backstory here is that a video of a French man screaming “let him cook” at Min Woo on a par 3 at Le Golf National emerged last week. It got taken down because …. sure … but this response got me good.

“Le Tim Cook” is exactly what the French guy sounded like.

• Audible lol here.

• Another audible lol here.

• Also perfect, but semi deep cut (or not a deep cut but have to be following what’s going on in culture somewhat closely.

Thanks for reading until the end.

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