There’s some lad playing in this champions tournament in a tracksuit bottoms. They’ll have entrance music and a lairy crowd next.
There’s some lad playing in this champions tournament in a tracksuit bottoms. They’ll have entrance music and a lairy crowd next.
They already have that at the ryder Cup.
Not sure how much if at all this has bled through into wider sporting press, but the current machinations around the Saudi Golf League are incredible theatre. Basically, the Saudis want to sportswash in golf (as they do in many sports) and, having been rebuffed by the golfing establishment in US and Europe, have now resorted to attempting to launch something akin to the football Super League, i.e. trying to get the top players to break away from the main US Tour and have their own events with no cuts, no relegation and guaranteed money for certain players (mainstream golf is very performance-related in terms of payout, which frustrates some of the world's top 20 who believe they are entitled to a greater share of the pie just for showing up. Sound familiar?).
The Saudis signed up Greg Norman as their CEO and he's set about trying to get big name defectors. First in the queue for the breakaway is apparently Phil Mickelson, who despite career earnings of $100 million is reputedly strapped for cash. The tour's pantomime villain, Bryson DeChambeau, also wants in, and reports say that he has probably already played his last PGA Tour event before joining the breakaway, having been offered the eye-watering sum of $135 million to jump ship. Dustin Johnson and others (mostly over the hill players in their 40s) are also said to be keen to join the Saudi money grab.
However, a lot of the younger and biggest names, including McIlroy, Morikawa and Hovland, have stated their opposition to it, so it seems like there is about to be a massive schism of some kind. The Saudi product would be absolutely dogshit (who wants to watch a load of past it players compete for, I dunno, the Saudi Masters?), and yet mainstream golf would also lose if 20 or more of its top 100 players defected. Interesting to watch what unfolds, anyway.
Niemann & Young are going to take some catching.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/60457721Originally Posted by Jimmy Floyd
Bryson and DJ have gotten cold feet it seems.
Yes, it looks like big mouth Mickelson has managed to sink the entire thing with this truly legendary quote:
Amazing how he has managed to completely torch his own legend status in the space of about three weeks. Proper heads-have-gone stuff."They're scary motherfuckers to get involved with," Mickelson said, per Shipnuck. "We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.
Jesus.
He's signed up to it and then says that about them?
Stunning.
While it's funny I've no issue with that quote at all. Everything he's said is true and I'd much prefer that than the "I'm just concentrating on my performance" type shit that gets usually gets wheeled out.
A sign of the messed up times we live in where a quote like that is 'reputation ending' when Eddie Howe, Kieran Trippier etc. can take money from the Saudi establishment and no one really cares.
Apart from the fact he's pretty much said murdering dissidents and gays is palatable as long as it gives the PGA Tour the kick up the arse it needs.
Everybody who is taking or benefiting from Saudi/Russian/Chinese or whatever money is implying exactly the same thing, they just haven't got the balls to actually say it - and our sports and societies are rife with that money.
Honestly, the delusion over this stuff staggers me.
That's a mental effort from Mickelson. Why does he hate the PGA so? Presumably finance related.
It's not that quote alone which is reputation ending. He's spent two years building up to it with loads of guff about 'Growing the Game in the Kingdom' (his words, not mine) and purring over picturesque views of the Red Sea available from King Abdullah Economic City.
That quote is just an example of self-immolation after backing himself into a very questionable corner and trying to work the room and get other top players to jump - which, it must be said, some of them looked likely to until he blew it up with the negative publicity from that quote.
The bloke has apparently made $800m in his career and he's blown the vast majority of it. Which is the fault of the PGA Tour in his Aviators.
The general view is that he is desperate to get into the NFT game (probably due to his massive gambling debts) but the PGA Tour owns his image rights so he isn't able to do so.
Nobody wants to win the Honda here.
RIP Lowry, serves him right for being a dickhead about Saudi Arabia.
This is pretty lol, if entirely predictable.
Very windy at Bay Hill today, so makes for good viewing.
I still can't get my head around how Rory is such a bad player on par 5s. It's not even a wayward drive half the time, he'll always find a way to play a ridiculous shot between there and the hole.
How's Homa getting along? That hole in one looks to have kept him within the places.
T17, one under.
What are Sky playing at here? They've bumped the Valero for the Augusta Women's Amateur.
I'm on Kuch E/W @ 90 so keep it going old boy.
They've been at it all week.
They probably have to do it to butter up the green jackets.
Tiger looks in absolutely incredible shape. Not sure if he can manage four rounds or not, but my word what a specimen.
He'll win it, then die in a helicopter crash on the way home, then rise up from the sea, a girl on each arm, and win it again in '23. It's just how he rolls.
Selections?
Is that this week?
Some of the early odds this morning were mental. They've been backed in to their semi-rightful positions a bit now but I got on Henley @ 70 and Niemann @ 60 while I could at those prices. I reckon they should be around 50's tops.
Sungjae Im and Leishman both @ 70 are nice odds and suit the course well. I want to get on Scheffler and Hovland but they need to drift a bit; too short for me right now. Long shots of the weekend Hoge @ 175 and Palmer @ 200.
No long shots at this. Who was the last triple figures man to win, Mike Weir?
My pick to win is Cam Smith but he's too short to bet on, so I've got this for a four-man squad:
Deki (back to back, motherfuckers) 35/1 - outrageously long
Lowry 33/1
Fitzpatrick 40/1
Pieters 90/1
Death to America. The only one of the favourites I'd consider would be Scheffler. Others too short.
I've also had a long term fancy as a course fit for Garrick Higgo, but 200/1 on debut is surely too much to ask. If he wins then you can call me a genius, but I won't get rich on it.
Mike Weir probably wasn't even triple figures. He was in great form that year and went in with a couple of wins in the months previous.
I'm all in on Lowry.
A few I like the look of that haven't been covered. Spieth, Koepka, Finau & List.
Koepka I can sort of see, but it's such a joyless experience backing him. Spieth is for white knuckle riders only. Finau, lol.
Right, doing a proper post for the first time in ages. Not as proper as I did for the 2021 Masters, but life is different now unfortunately and I don't have the time or the drive.
This is with Sky Bet and the main picks are all e/w 11 places.
Main picks
Scottie Scheffler 14/1. I have come to the conclusion that the world number one, who has swept all before him in 2022 and has a properly rounded golf game, being longer than Justin Thomas and the same as DJ and Cam Smith, is a bit ridiculous. Feel free to call me boring but I've got half a ton here.
Shane Lowry 30/1. I have long believed there is a form link from Wentworth to Augusta - a lot of the same things are going on at the two venues, particularly when it comes to the importance of driver, some awkward short game requirements, and the large amount of racism on site. I have therefore been waiting a long time for Lowry, who is always brilliant at Wentworth, to pitch up and do well at Augusta. He has shown he has the mettle for the big events, too, and yet here he hasn't yet had a top 20. This time, I hope, the signs are better than ever: a solid 12 months of form, 2021 was his best Augusta effort, and he's been practising with Irish buddies McIlroy, Power and Harrington so hopefully in a good frame of mind too.
Hideki Matsuyama 35/1. I just don't understand why Deki is so lengthy. Yes, he can't putt - we know he can't putt. He has never holed a putt, and despite this, he won the Masters last year, holing putts. His ball-striking remains as utterly elite as ever. He served wagyu beef at the Champions Dinner and probably gave Sandy Lyle the shits with the 'mixed sashimi' starter as well. Deki is a don and if he went back to back it would be epic as fuck.
Matt Fitzpatrick 40/1. This is another one who is growing into the course, with experience. He's been up there in recent events in America, and nightmarish greens like these are usually where he comes to the fore. He's gaining half a stroke off the tee this year which is probably, without actually checking, his best ever. He putts like a don. My main concern with him is whether his arse sometimes goes a bit in contention, but I like him at 40/1 to get involved at least.
Harold Varner 125/1. I have decided to ditch Pieters as he has been heavily backed in to 70s, and in his place comes HV3. Now, Varner is a debutant and an extremely streaky player at times, but he arrives at the peak of his career to date, with a recent win in the oil death murder classic to his name, and if he happens to take to the course I think triple figures is generous. I can certainly see him Charley Hoffman-ing his way onto the Sunday leaderboard and then hopefully clinging on for a place.
Side action
Top lefty - Garrick Higgo 11/2
Higgo is a kid but he's already a multiple winner (once in the US, just a stone's throw from Augusta), is a lefty (they do notoriously well here), and he bombs the driver which will give him an advantage on the scoring holes. I fancy him to overcome volatile Bubba Watson, short-hitting Brian Harman, out of form Bob MacIntyre, and boring uncle Mike Weir to take this title.
Keita Nakajima top 40 finish 5/2
Being me, I actually watched the conclusion of the Asia-Pacific Amateur last year, in which this kid clutched the fuck out of the last hole, sinking a birdie putt to see off some dude from Hong Kong. I was going to have him for top amateur but that's probably not even a contest, so instead I'm backing Mr Nakajima to top 40. He joins Takumi Kanaya as a serious young Japanese talent, and what better week to come here than one in which he can be around Deki as he does all the defending champion shit.
Cam Smith, Dustin Johnson, or Scottie Scheffler to win 4/1 needs little explanation.
Last edited by Jimmy Floyd; 07-04-2022 at 01:24 PM.
Whoa when did Tommy Fleetwood get a glow up?
I'm a twit
A what?
There's some tragic odds amongst the favourites. I've bet on Scheffler against my better judgement (don't think the odds are quite good enough really but he's hard to look past).
The value looks to be in the "second tier" with Matsuyama and Burns; Lowry too but I'm not on him this week.
Gooch, Hoge and Homa are all in solid form this year and their triple figure odds seem to be solely down to a lack of play at Augusta, so they're worth a small punt. On Leishman too because it's mandatory at Augusta.
With Scheffler I just cannot fathom why he's so far outside Justin Thomas. It doesn't make any sense to me. My man Coley has put the farm on JT too but I just don't see it. Maybe I'm wrong and he'll win by seven, but I dunno.
Rahm I can understand as the guy is a freak.
To be fair to Coley, JT is top of most stats rankings so by those metrics he should be favourite. Indeed my own predictor has him top also, I'm just not betting on him because the odds aren't good enough. Scheffler is only just inside what I think he should be so he's worth it in this instance, even if my usual strategy is to go for *value* (eg. Matsuyama).
Mine has Rahm top by miles but it's had that at every event he's entered for about two years, and I haven't worked on it much since about October. The edge I had in 20/21, though, my word.
I've been tinkering with weightings (this season vs. previous seasons) and in the past month, as this season takes more weight, Rahm has dropped from 1st to 5th. Cameron Smith would be top if he played more.
Tiger Woods playing proper old man golf here. It's like watching a 46 year old Zidane or something, strolling around midfield at walking pace.
I’m loving he and Louis nudge it 270 off the tee and having to lay up. Proper throwback and now I’m rooting for them.
I normally get bored of Eldrick hype but this is mesmerising stuff, particularly alongside Niemann who is about the most athletic player on tour. It's like watching someone else's cool uncle get out of prison and pull at a bar.
How's Max Homa doing. He's a likeable guy from all his interviews I've heard.
The bogan is running riot.
You jinxed him on the 18th.
Haven't enjoyed a round of golf as much as that Woods round for ages. At least ten absolutely dogshit golf shots, maybe more, and he can clearly barely walk, but the man is mentally utterly indestructible and totally inspired. An amazing watch.
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