A BOLD Rory McIlroy prediction, and who requires AimPoint

Welcome! Where are you, you ask. I’m calling this the Weekend 9. Think of it as a spot to warm you up for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We’ll have thoughts. We’ll have tips. We’ll have tweets. But just nine in all, though sometimes maybe more and sometimes maybe less. As for who I am? The paragraphs below tell some of the story. I can be reached at nick.piastowski@golf.com

Rory McIlroy is going to win the Maste … 

Stop right there, you say. You’ve heard this one before. You’ve been down this (Washington) road before. Hope springs eternal. But doing the same things over and over and over again and expecting a different result is what folks call insanity. Thing is, though, McIlroy is changing things up. Poppy dad’s got a brand new bag. He’s been open about embracing Scottie Scheffler Ball, the approach that’s unlocked a pair of Masters crowns for its owner. In SSB, you don’t turn the ball over for four days, then you turn your shoulders on Sunday evening as someone slips a Green Jacket on them. 

Mark Immelman’s sold. He’s willing to finish the sentence above. As part of a project I’m hopeful to present later this year, I called the longtime instructor and CBS analyst, then asked for his thoughts on some of the early year storylines. And one in April. We’ll start our back-and-forth there. My questions are in italics. 

The Masters winner is? 

“Rory McIlroy,” said Immelman, also the brother of Trevor Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion. “I’ve had him in my group, in contention, and I’ve watched him play the discipline game he’s preaching. And I talked to him about it and asked him about the fact that he’s not going full bore with the irons. He’s crafting shots. He’s flatting the ball a whole lot more. And he said to me, he goes, yes, it’s difficult, but I’m committing to it. And if he plays a more disciplined game, he knows with his length, he’s going to make at least three or four birdies a round. And if you avoid mistakes, that’s adding up to 16-under over four days. So I feel like he’s aware of where the shortcomings are, and he’s being disciplined enough to remain true to that and not sort of gravitating back to what he calls his natural impulse. 

TGL is?

“TGL is promising. I think they got a little something that they can build on there. Naturally, there are some improvements that can be made, and I feel they’re open to that. The fact that they adjusted that hammer rule in the middle of the season speaks to how they are listening to input and stuff like that. So I feel like there’s promise. I feel there’s some room they can go with it. But you got to keep it interesting if you really want to attract people because otherwise it’s almost kind of sterile because you’re hitting a ball off a mat, there’s no uneven lies, into a big screen, there’s no crosswinds and stuff. So I feel like for it to really engage the viewer, then you got to put some more variables into the golf, just like you would have on a golf course, and not just hitting it at funky-looking targets.” 

Slow play is solved by?

“Smaller fields. I’ll tell you this. Smaller fields, definitely. Because when you have big fields on the West Coast with shorter, less daylight, you’re always going to run into issues, especially with three balls and two tee starts. So smaller fields will do it. 

“But we saw at Pebble Beach, where you had a very difficult day on Saturday, and they played in about 20 minutes faster than the forecast time because the greens were a little slower. But there’s a conundrum in itself because everyone wants to see firm and fast. You know, all of the Twitterati. But if you slow down greens, you make some of the hole locations easier [and] you’ll see less time taken on the second and hopefully not the third putt. You know, when guys are marking from four feet all the time, that’s slowing down play.”

This golfer is not getting enough attention, and he should be? 

“I have two. Sam Stevens and Daniel Berger. Berger because of just who he has been and how he’s coming back from that after injury, and he’s showing glimpses of the Berger that played on U.S. teams and won big events. And he’s playing with a lot of confidence. He’s healthy, he’s strong, and people sort of talk about it, but he’s flying under the radar some. And then Sam Stevens. The boy’s legit. I mean, he’s long. He’s pretty present. The thing that struck me at the Farmers Insurance Open, how after he had posted, after making a soft mistake on the last, he just seemed so relaxed. You know, anyone else who hadn’t won in his position as they’re waiting, preparing for a playoff, would have kind of been, you know, tight-lipped, curt. He was out there having fun, chatting with his caddie, hitting a few looseners. He seems to have it. He hits the ball well. He putts nicely, but he seems to have it mentally and emotionally.” 

AimPoint is?

“I’m for AimPoint because if you don’t read greens well, you’re not going to make putts and then obviously you won’t play well. So it is necessary for people that don’t see the break as well, and this is the teacher in me talking. But here’s the thing: AimPoint is not slowing down play. What AimPoint is doing is causing a whole lot of traffic around the holes and stuff, so you see people spending more time tapping down marks and repairing greens and things like that. So for me, AimPoint is necessary. You know, if you don’t read greens, you got to do it. But I’ll point out some AimPointers like Ludvig Aberg, who goes very quickly, and then I’ll point out some that go very slowly. So, not that I’m sort of taking the high road on this, but if you don’t read greens, you got to do well. You just got to do it faster and perhaps a little less traffic around the hole.” 

Ideally, you’d like to see this in golf in five years? 

“This may be controversial, but I don’t see all the problems that people are seeing from the outside. I think golf is in a healthy place. I feel like we’ve got players coming in from all over. The talent pool is rife, and there’s more coming out of college. So right now, it’s just really, really exciting. If I did want to see stuff, you know, I’m not averse to seeing the stories like a Rafa Campos at Bermuda last year, where it’s one of the great stories that I saw all year. So, yeah, having the blue-chip guys there playing every week, that’s nice, it’s fun, there’s a different vibe, the TV numbers are higher. But, you know, stories like last week when Brian Campbell knocks off a future superstar in Aldrich Potgieter, those are cool stories, too. So if I had my druthers, I’d like to see a David versus Goliath story every week where you have, like, a Scottie versus somebody else. I love those stories, and I love it for all the young dreamers out there who want to play at the highest level to prove to them that you can do that sort of stuff. You can pull off what seems like impossible because every one of these stars, they had to have their first win somewhere. And it’s nice to watch these guys go through the journey as they compete against the best.” 

In terms of being more entertaining, golfers should do this more?

“I think it’s the pre- and the post-round stuff. I love some of the pre-round interviews they’re doing right now. Let us in a little bit. And if the interviewer pitches you a question, please don’t give talking points. You know, it’s like I’ve done pre-round interviews before where you toss softballs at them, like, how did you sleep, where did you go for dinner, are you having a good time? Let us know if you’re nervous. Be authentic, be real. I know that these guys are human; a lot of the fans don’t. And if there can be a young man who’s about to go on the first tee that says, look, I’m nervous as a cat right now, but I’m so excited. So the authenticity, I feel like, of the pre- and post-round stuff really can improve across the board. Because, you know, the best interview is Rory McIlroy because he’s candid, he’s going to tell you what he thinks. And that sometimes trips him up, but that’s what people like to see. So I feel like the pre- and post-round stuff, more of it, more authenticity.” 

In your time around the game, do you have a Tida Woods story? 

“You know what, I’ve never had any personal encounters with Tida. I’ve just watched her from afar. And as a parent, I’ve quietly admired her because I’m a golfing parent, and I know what I feel like inside. And she never ever, whenever I saw her, ever looked flustered or nervous or anything like that while her son was doing stuff. So I have the utmost admiration that she could just be so present, so calm, just so under control no matter what Tiger was doing out there.”

That’s all the questions. 

“I hope I pass.”

Let’s see if we can find eight more items for the Weekend 9. 

One takeaway from the week — and the weeks ahead 

2. What do we think of TGL? While we’ve asked that question often in the simulator-based league’s debut year — some of us even asked our teenage nephews — its regular season ends Tuesday night, so now we can start to assess a more complete body of work. 

To start our answer, let’s hear what Arthur Blank thinks. He’s the owner of the Atlanta Drive, one of TGL’s teams, and he’s also the owner of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and the co-founder of Home Depot. 

“It’s really unlimited,” Blank said Monday on ESPN while watching his team. “I know that’s a very big word. The reality is that the league will continue to expand, there will be other teams added to it over time, there will probably be other formats. Potentially, there will be gals involved, which will be great for the game as female golfers are playing more and more on-course and off-course.

“To me, it’s really, really unlimited.”

So, more seems to be coming. Another takeaway for me has been the number of investors. A lot of ‘names’ have bought in.

But will you? Is there reason to care, after the initial interest of what hitting into a screen looks like? Do you care that the Drive or Boston Common or Jupiter Links win? Do you care about the golf holes? For those who don’t — loyalty takes time to earn, after all — do you care enough to watch golf on Monday and Tuesday nights just for the sake of having golf on Monday and Tuesday nights?

At the least, if you listen to Blank, we’ll discover some of those answers in what sounds like the years (plural) ahead. 

An instruction tip for your weekend 

3. A thought from pro Austin Eckroat caught my eye. He was asked about his memories of his win last year at the Cognizant Classic when he offered this:

“I’ve been lucky enough, I got some good advice when I was a kid, or in college, that if there’s a shot that you really liked or make the putt to win, never watch it. You only want to see it from your eye, not from the TV’s perspective, because once you watch it you’ll forget what you saw. I’ve done a pretty good job of that this year. I didn’t watch the final round or anything.

“Like I said, I have it from my point of view, and I’m really happy about that.”

Of course, what if you have no shots you like? Let’s continue.

A non-GOLF.com read for your weekend 

4. What am I reading (besides the thoughtful prose of my colleagues)? 

Here, Lewis Fraser of Bunkered wrote about how PGA Tour pros are holing less putts, on average, from every measured distance — outside of three-foot putts — than they were in 2004, and he examined the reasons why. 

Best Michael Bamberger read for your weekend 

5. I pause whatever I’m working on whenever a Michael Bamberger story drops in our Slack channel, and this week, he gave his thoughts on a subject talked about in this space last week. The story was headlined “When Tiger Woods drops his guard, those are moments to cherish,” and you can read it in full by clicking here. 

A golf story that may interest only me

6. Thursday, Jake Knapp shot a 59 during the Cognizant Classic’s first round, and afterward, he was asked what he hit on each hole — which he did in 2 minutes. 

I’ve seen pros do this before, and I’m impressed every time. 

Another golf story that may interest only me

7. Tuesday, “Full Swing’s” third season launched, and you can see me at the 8:59 mark in episode three. 

Again, a golf story that may interest ONLY me. 

A third golf story that may interest only me

8. I’ll just leave this one here. 

A fourth (!) golf story that may interest only me 

9. Here’s Immelman again, with the proper tweet to a course’s revealing feature that was making the rounds this week.  

What live golf is on TV this weekend?

10. Let’s do 10 items! Here’s a rundown of live golf on TV this weekend:

— Saturday

9:30 p.m. (Friday)-2:30 a.m. ET: HSBC Women’s World Championship third round, Golf Channel 

5:30 a.m.-10 a.m. ET: Investec South African Open Championship third round, Golf Channel 

1 p.m.-3 p.m. ET: Cognizant Classic third round, Golf Channel 

3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET: Cognizant Classic third round, NBC  

— Sunday

9:30 p.m. (Saturday)-2:30 a.m. ET: HSBC Women’s World Championship final round, Golf Channel 

4:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m. ET: Investec South African Open Championship final round, Golf Channel 

1 p.m.-3 p.m. ET: Cognizant Classic final round, Golf Channel 

3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET: Cognizant Classic final round, NBC  

One non-golf thought for your weekend 

11. Let’s do 11 items! I’ve now seen eight of the 10 nominees in the Academy Awards’ Best Picture category — and will hopefully watch “Emilia Perez” and “The Brutalist” by Sunday’s Oscars ceremony — and here’s my ranking, with some quick thoughts:

– “I’m Still Here” (Told well, shot well)  

– “Conclave” (Big fan of Ralph Fiennes) 

– “Dune: Part Two” (Visually amazing) 

– “A Complete Unknown” (Timothee Chalamet is outstanding.)

– “Wicked” (Fantastic production) 

– “Arora” (I don’t get the hype, but it’s fun.) 

– “Substance” (The ending is … something.)

– “Nickel Boys” (Great story, but I didn’t like the first-person perspective.)  

One more non-golf thought for your weekend 

Let’s do a dozen items! 

12. Next week, my wife and I will be at baseball spring training in Florida, so no Weekend 9. I’ll be back for Players week, full of hot dogs and beer.

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