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Burns, another guy who finished in the top ten in the FedEx Cup, while JT was watching on TV.

I am not giving the relationship the weight, the show did that. I mean, c'mon, they bunked together frequently on Tour. They were (are) tight.

IMO, the primary reason that JT was picked was because of his relationship to Zach, and I think that is unfair to other deserving players. We'll just have to agree to disagree. BTW, I have always been a JT fan, but I think that he has been an underachiever since he won the PGA.

I am rooting for Bhatia to win this week. Interesting character and I would like to see his game at Augusta.

He better stay out of diners.

He finished out of the top 70 on the Tour, so what did his shots gained do for him? IMO, he made the team because he is buddies with Zach. The show made that friendship very clear.

How did that work out? The Euro team chemistry is a natural thing. Always has been. You can't force that. And, from what I saw on the show, Zach was one of the boys, not a Captain. It was not a good look. JMO. All of those players qualified for the FedEx Cup and played in the Finals. Except Koepka, of course, but I am not suggesting Bradley supplant him. If a supposed top player can't get in the top 70, I would say that he had a lousy year. IMO, JT was not deserving.

Keegan won tournaments and JT didn't even qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs, while Bradley finished in the top 10. Strokes gained is a bogus scale for this, IMO. Just win, baby! Keegan did.

I played in 70 degree weather a week ago and today the wind chill is 28. C'mon spring!

Rahm: “I’m hoping that in the near future I can be back playing some of those events. I would certainly love to go back and play some of them. If there’s ever a way back and a way where we can play, even if it’s as an invite, I will take it. There’s certain events that are special to me that I would still love to support. For everybody who said this would be easy, some things have been, but not being able to defend some titles that mean a lot to me hasn't. I love Palm Springs. I've been able to win twice there. Riviera is about as charismatic of a golf course as we have. Not being there was difficult. I still watch golf because I love watching it, but it's hard. It was hard not to be at the Phoenix Open at the end of February, and it was hard not to be at Hawaii." It appears that there is some regret there. And also, an appeal to have his cake and eat it too. He is the one guy I miss but, too bad Jon.

As a knowledgeable golf fan, I liked it. But someone who is casual might find it confusing, as some of it is a year old. Maybe they should do it like Hard Knocks, with episodes DURING the season? There are multiple episodes on the Ryder Cup and I don't think I am giving anything away when I say that a few of the Captain Picks by Zach Johnson were controversial. I am not necessarily a fan of Keegan Bradley but, IMO, he was screwed by a good ol' boy network that exists on Tour. I will be interested in other takes of the situation.

I am going back to Ireland this summer (for the fourth time) and I did not put together the itinerary, as I would have done it differently. We are playing five courses and I have already played four of them. They are all great and fun courses and I will enjoy them immensely, but I am looking most forward to the one I haven't played.

Condition/pace/group. Golf is an expensive game, but I don't mind paying for it as long as those three things are in play. I do appreciate courses with classic architecture, and I have been lucky to play a lot of classic courses in the US and abroad, but I will play the local muni as long as it is good shape.

I had to change my eating habits and work on cardio a little harder. I cut out 90% of my fast food intake. That became a life change for the better. I do cheat with the occasional Whopper though. 😎

Watch your weight with the quitting smoking. Your metabolism will slow significantly. I am not a big man and I gained 30 lbs (over 2 years) when I quit smoking. Took another year to work it off. Good luck and good health.

Rory is sounding conciliatory and took some shots at the Tour. I don't know what that means going forward. I hope he doesn't join LIV. It is a flawed, unwatchable product.

Wasn't posting any scores this week.

I am old enough that I can say that I lived that. Wooden clubs with small heads, heavy steel shafts, irons that were basically blades with no forgiveness, balata balls that couldn't survive a well struck ball out of a sand trap . . . golf in the 70's was truly another era. Not to mention the grasses that couldn't survive the different climes in Northeast US. Turf maintenance was a lot of guesswork related to the weather that particular year. Will it rain or not? Plus, all sprinklers (if your course had them) were right down the center of the fairways, starving the rough. We always kept our fingers crossed about the turf conditions as summer rolled around. And this is at a place that had a regular PGA Tour stop. Public courses and clubs with less resources had it even worse.

Playing a difficult (for me) 432 yard, dogleg right par four. I hit a serviceable drive down the left side that gave me a rare look at the green. The green is smallish and narrow, with some tightly mown swales around it, and my second shot ended up in one of the swales, leaving me with not a lot of green to work with. To compound the problem, I couldn't putt it because of two sprinkler heads directly in my line (I wasn't close enough to them to be able to get relief). My only choice was a lofted club off of a very tight lie. I pulled it off, getting enough spin when it landed on the very firm green that it only went about five feet past, and I made it for a satisfying par.

Beautiful fall day in Philly yesterday. The course is playing hard and fast, and the greens are lightning fast, as they should be this time of year. Got off to a lazy start and then made a number of doubles in a row on the front, leading to a nasty 48. Got it together on the back for a solid 40, even with a double bogey mixed in there. 48-40-88

The problem I have been facing in the last couple of years as I get older is holding firm greens with mid to long irons. We have had a new green super the last couple of years and he has really firmed up the course, which is what we wanted. I don't have the greatest club head speed, so I have always wondered if the ball could make that much of a difference. I have used ProV's, ProV1x, Bridgestones and Callaways without showing any real difference. A couple of months ago a friend gave me a dozen Srixon Z-Star XV's as a thank you for an invite to my course. I thought, why not, how could it hurt? Turns out it has made a huge difference. My ball flight is higher and they have less spin off the tee. Straighter, longer drives and higher ball flight into greens with the irons, so they are holding the greens. I never really thought a ball would make that much difference, but I am sold on this Srixon Z-Star XV. My scores are the proof.

When I left to play a quick nine yesterday afternoon, it looked like it was going to be match play between Fitz and Scheffler. When I get home, Victor Hovland is hoisting the trophy. What a back nine!

Since the USGA will not budge, I would make it a PGA Tour local rule in tournaments that you can move the ball out of a divot in your fairway. Free drop. Your playing partner has to agree that it is a divot because, otherwise, they would have ball in hand at every opportunity.

I feel at home on links-style courses. The first time I played one was at Bandon and immediately took to it. I have been to Ireland and Scotland multiple times since and can't get enough of it. Played Royal Dornach a month ago and that may be THE classic links course on the planet. By the sea, nine out-nine back, firm turf, preferably with some wind. No earth moved to build it, just lay the course out on the dunes land that's there.

43-39-82 My 3 best scores of the season are in my last 4 rounds. Lowest index in over 2 years. Shouldn't that be going the other way when you turn 70? 😎