In this week’s edition, we celebrate the return of Castle Pines to the PGA Tour landscape, Max Homa’s return to social media and a voice of reason to the player-of-the-year conversation.
Made Cut
Something new. To be accurate, Castle Pines was a staple on the PGA Tour from 1986 to 2006 as the host venue of The International, but for a generation of players and fans, this week’s BMW Championship is a mile-high gift.
At 8,130 yards, Castle Pines is the longest course to host a Tour event and the rolling layout just south of Denver is a magical mix of mountain views and monstrous drives.
The guilty pleasure that is golf at altitude produced a 395-yard drive at the first hole for Rory McIlroy on Day 1 — which wasn’t even close to the day’s longest at the par-4 opener (Taylor Pendrith’s 418-yard drive led the day) — and maddening “altitude” math that produced plenty of glorious player-caddie content.
Beyond the compelling mix of thin air and elite athletes, there’s also the benefit of a meaningful tournament being held in a major market with many of the game’s best players, something the current Tour schedule is largely lacking.
Transparency. While the golf media (including your scribe) has spent the last few weeks debating potential PGA Tour player of the year candidates, Xander Schauffele put a bow on the conversation in a very Xander-like way this week.
“I’ve won two times and [Scottie Scheffler has] won seven. We both have a lot of top-10s. That’s kind of how I’m drawing it up. I know that’s how you guys draw it up,” Schauffele said. “He’s been playing unbelievable golf. I feel like we’re all just chasing him. I’ve done probably the best job of getting the closest to him, but it’s still very far away.”
It was an extreme sports-radio way to frame the narrative and ignores how the membership, who vote on player of the year, might view Schauffele winning the FedExCup with a victory next week at East Lake.
But even that scenario likely wouldn’t change many minds when it comes to who deserves the Jack Nicklaus Award. It certainly doesn’t seem relevant to Schauffele.
Made Cut-Did Not Finish (MDF)
Contraction. Change driven by an irrational force seems inevitable with the Tour’s policy board set to review a plan that would significantly reduce the total number of exempt players.
The plan, which was presented to the circuit’s Player Advisory Council this week in Colorado and could be implemented as early as 2026, would reduce field sizes for full-field events to 120 players and, ultimately, cut the number of exempt players to the top 100 (down from the top 125) from the previous season’s FedExCup points list and the top 20 (down from the top 30) from the previous season’s Korn Ferry Tour points list.
Some players have argued that the proposed plan would, in theory, create a more competitive product but only if the signature events, which have been capped between 72 and 80 players, were expanded. Larger signature events would give the players off the Korn Ferry and DP World tours a better chance to compete against the game’s best, but according to one member of the PAC, the Tour isn’t likely to expand signature event field sizes as a tradeoff for smaller tee sheets at full-field events.
Of all the lessons learned over the last three years it is odd that the Tour continues to struggle with the notion that sometimes less isn’t always more.
Tweet (now X) of the week:
Hopped off Twitter a while back cuz I thought it might help my game. Boy was I wrong 😂 hoping tomorrow is the day it clicks. At the very least I’m finally going to grow an ass after walking Castle Pines this week
— max homa (@Maxhoma) August 22, 2024
We jumped back on social media this week and were welcomed by the “sovereign of social media’s” return to the platform he stepped away from in June.
It appears Homa was hoping his time away would help turn his game around but that wasn’t the case with his best finish a tie for 43rd at The Open. We’re not sure the toxic pool of social media is the answer to the six-time Tour winner’s woes but at least the rest of us will be entertained.
Missed Cut
Something new. New-ish venues, like this week’s playoff stop south of Denver, intensify fan interest and bring elite golf to a market that’s been without for nearly two decades.
It also focuses a spotlight on what’s missing from the postseason — variety. While East Lake and last week’s host, TPC Southwind, have proven to be solid venues with plenty of corporate and fan support, there’s no ignoring the fact the Tour has no regular stops in New York City, Boston or Chicago (three of the top 7 media markets in the United States, according to the 2023-24 Nielsen rankings).
The BMW Championship makes regular stops in the Chicago market and in 2027 the tournament is scheduled to be played at Liberty National in New Jersey, but the lack of variety is noteworthy for a circuit that’s become increasingly focused on a star-driven product.
Atlanta and Memphis are part of the Tour’s fabric, but as the sports world learned during last month’s Olympics in Paris, incorporating an iconic location into a high-level competition makes for a more compelling product.