Rory’s new doc, Tour tweaks, election distractions

Welcome to the Monday Finish, where every state is a swing state if you play enough golf [audience groans]. To the news…

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GOLF STUFF I LIKE

An optimistic docuseries.

I have to admit something: I cannot stop thinking about the upcoming TGL docuseries following the league’s Boston Common squad, which consists of Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott.

Word of the show had already trickled out, but this week more details emerged. Here’s what led last Friday’s press release:

‘unCOMMON: Building A Boston Sports Team,’ is a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Creation of Boston Common Golf, the Tech-Forward Team Representing Boston and New England in TGL presented by SoFi.’

The series is five episodes; it kicks off the day after Christmas and runs once a week until Boston Common plays its first TGL match on Jan. 27th.

I am generally neutral, unopposed to and even intrigued by the creation of the TGL. Its offerings aren’t necessarily what I know and love about professional golf but it is, to use one increasingly common bit of industry jargon, additive. It’s different. It’s not another iteration of weekend stroke-play golf. It’s non-threatening. And it could be fun! And while I’m turned off by three separate phrases in that first sentence of press release — the capitalization of unCOMMON feels gratuitous, any reference to “Tech-Forward” does nothing for me and “TGL presented by SoFi” makes me think this entire thing is purely a vehicle for endorsement dollars; imagine the name of America’s football league being “NFL presented by Verizon” — I’m still moderately excited to see it all go down come January.

But I spend most (“all” if my bosses read this) of my working hours (and plenty off the clock) thinking about golf. How many are like me? My estimation would be “not enough to make this league work” but then, I wouldn’t have greenlit Holey Moley, either, and that draws more viewers than most PGA Tour events.

The point here is that the entire existence of the TGL is optimistic. The fact that league organizers think people will watch a new form of arena golf is optimistic. That they think people will buy into teams with geographical names but no other concrete ties to those places is optimistic. The expectation they’ll watch more golf when the zone already feels flooded is optimistic. And then, on top of it all, the expectation that they’ll watch a five-part docuseries on the creation of a league that doesn’t yet exist? If “optimistic” is halfway between “prophetic” and “delusional,” well, we may be teetering slightly towards the latter. Five episodes. That’s the same number as epic miniseries Chernobyl.

All of this adds up to the feeling that, ironically or not, I cannot wait to watch this series. The press release includes a team photo from Boston that includes Tyrrell Hatton, who left for LIV (and thus left TGL) nearly a year ago. Will they dive into the Hatton stuff or sidestep it? Will they address the destruction of the initial TGL stadium? An increasingly complex relationship between co-founders McIlroy and Tiger Woods? Will Hideki, who is notably absent from the trailer, make any sort of appearance? What does it mean that McIlroy says he’s “decided to go all in” on growing the game of golf?

I don’t know. One thing I do know is that I promise to offer a series review when it comes out; I’ll be glued to the screen. For the first episode, at least. Going all in on an idea that could be good or a complete flop? Sure, that’s golf stuff I like.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Nelly Korda won the LPGA’s Player of the Year award, clinching the points-based title despite making just 14 starts in a remarkably up-and-down year. Mostly up, though; six wins in seven starts is silly stuff.

Rio Takeda of Japan won the LPGA’s Toto Japan Classic in a tournament that was first shortened (Saturday was a rainout) and then lengthened (Takeda needed six playoff holes to take down Marina Alex). Takeda can cancel her Q-School plans; she’ll earn her LPGA Tour card with the victory.

Charley Hull won for the first time in two years in a Ladies European Tour event in Saudi Arabia. “Finally the bride and not the bridesmaid,” she wrote on Instagram. Her win came thanks to a final-round 66 at Riyadh Golf Club, which will serve as host to LIV’s Q-School next month as well as LIV’s opening event in 2025.

While the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Champions and LIV were all off, the top men’s golf was played on the Asian Tour and the Challenge Tour.

Canadian Richard T. Lee won the Indonesian Masters by four, moving him into second place in the International Series rankings behind John Catlin; the winner there will earn a LIV berth for 2025.

And Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan won the Challenge Tour’s finale, punching his ticket back to the DP World Tour for the first time since he turned pro in 2018. He’s also now the third-ranked Norwegian in the OWGR, though at No. 442 he still has a ways to go to catch former amateur competitor Viktor Hovland (No. 8).

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NOT-WINNERS

A few guys who didn’t win.

Reitan’s win we just mentioned? It came thanks to a missed putt from Danish pro Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, who missed this horrifying shortie at No. 18 to hand the Norwegian the victory. RNP is, remarkably, up to No. 87 in the world despite playing the Challenge Tour this season; his three wins and continued excellence moved him up to the big circuit before season’s end. Still, this must have hurt…

That’s a useful reminder: It’s possible to be too calm over a shot.

ONE BIG QUESTION

Will the PGA Tour’s changes help?

Last week the PGA Tour informed its players about a slate of proposed changes to the Tour and its membership, including a reduction of guaranteed cards from 125 to 100, a reduction in field sizes, a scaling-back of Monday qualifiers and more. You can read a breakdown we did here but the big question: will they help?

I’d say that yes, the changes will help where they’re intended to. The general downsizing is meant to streamline the product and avoid increasingly awkward situations like players with status not getting into events or rounds not finishing due to darkness. While it hurts to think that fewer players will tee it up in Tour events, there are still plenty of opportunities to prove your worth; the sport will be, if anything, more fair.

So yeah, it’ll help. Will it help heal the divide between the PGA Tour and LIV? Probably not. That seems like a separate issue entirely, tabled for now to tabloid speculation, Department of Justice deliberation and ongoing, mysterious negotiation. But in time, maybe…

ONE THING TO WATCH

Sean Connery on why we play.

The man who played James Bond in arguably golf’s most iconic cinematic moment (in Goldfinger) had a few things to say about golf in this clip unearthed by Jamie Kennedy, in which he describes the game as immersive, addicting, revealing, endless. (More on that here.)

“As Jack Nicklaus says, it’s an unfair game and you have to accept that. It’s like life in that way,” Connery says. “It’s also a game that you can cheat at. It’s the easiest game in the world to cheat at. And the only one that suffers is you. Because you know. And you can’t unknow.”