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Okay, here we go. The @RotoWire Monday golf thread.
1) There's a lot of unpack this week, with Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth, and even Xander Schauffele.
1) There's a lot of unpack this week, with Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth, and even Xander Schauffele.
2) Fans wanted golf’s golden boy to win so badly. Instead, a pretty amazing alternate ending unfolded when one of the sport’s villains was the last man standing after an absolutely riveting weekend of golf at the Phoenix Open.
3) Koepka roared back from 5 strokes down at the start of Sunday while 54-hole leaders Spieth and Schauffele faltered to win for the first time in a year and a half. The dagger was a nearly 100-foot chip-in for eagle on 17.
4) Not to take anything away from Koepka, but he needed A LOT of help to win. There were a lot of guys in front of him, and they all had to falter.
Still, Koepka is now "back." But is Spieth? There are some similarities but some big differences.
Still, Koepka is now "back." But is Spieth? There are some similarities but some big differences.
5) Looking at Koepka/Spieth: Koepka hadn’t won in 18 months; Spieth is going on 4 yrs. Koepka had fallen to 13th in the world rankings; Spieth had plummeted to 91st; Koepka had had three top-10s in the past 6 months, including the Masters; Spieth hadn’t had one in 8 months.
6) And most importantly, Koepka’s problems were largely physical injuries, while Spieth’s were and are mental, mechanical and who knows what else.
7) Throughout 2020, Koepka was far from the player who had won 4 majors in short order. He had a knee injury that just wouldn’t get better and then a hip problem. He was playing badly. But really - and this is a critical point - badly only for him, not the average Tour golfer.
8) He had some good tournaments, some very good rounds. He appeared to be healthy some weeks, hampered by the injuries in others. True, he (and we) didn’t know when he would be better, but at least they were *just* physical injuries.
9) In Aug., he was 2nd at the WGC-FedEx, then in Nov., 5th at Houston, 7th at the Masters. He was, on occasion, able to compete. He was hard to roster because he was inconsistent - lots of bad weeks. In fact, he had just missed 3 cuts in a row for the first time leading to WMPO.
10) “I loved the way I was playing even though I was missing cuts,” he said on NBC right after winning.
11) Looking at Koepka’s stats right now, they aren’t terrible; they are just terrible for him. He’s top-50 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, Approach and Around-the-Green, top-25 in Putting and Tee-to-Green. They aren’t elite. But most guys would kill for those numbers.
12) At TPC Scottsdale, he ranked 11th in SG: Off-the-Tee, second in Approach, first in greens in regulation and 18th in SG: Putting. Now that’s fully Koepka-like, and over a four-day span. (But again, he still needed A LOT of help to win this tournament.)
13) So what now? Koepka revealed that he didn’t know whether he’d ever get healthy enough to be his former self. He now believes he can be. Now it appears that he is, in fact, "back."
The questions are, back enough to be No. 1 again, back enough for more majors? Yes, it seems.
The questions are, back enough to be No. 1 again, back enough for more majors? Yes, it seems.
14) As desperately as golf fans want that for Spieth, Koepka sure seems a whole lot closer.
Spieth finished two shots behind Koepka in a tie for fourth. So was he two shots from being "back," instead of Koepka?
Spieth finished two shots behind Koepka in a tie for fourth. So was he two shots from being "back," instead of Koepka?
15) As mentioned, Koepka’s stats/results were bad -- for Koepka. Spieth’s numbers were and still are bad -- period. Dismal, in fact, most notably outside the top-200 in driving accuracy and greens in regulation. He is 80th in SG: Putting, which is mediocre.
16) At WMPO, Spieth was 18th GIR, 13th Putting. Obviously, far better. But Sunday, 61st Putting, losing almost 2 shots to the field.
To think 3-plus years of bad play could be solved in 1 week, when there were really no indications of improvement in recent weeks, was improbable.
To think 3-plus years of bad play could be solved in 1 week, when there were really no indications of improvement in recent weeks, was improbable.
17) After all, he didn't even have a top-25 SINCE JULY.
Still, he did move from 91st OWGR to 69th; he even has time to crack the top-50 to qualify for the WGC later this month.
Still, he did move from 91st OWGR to 69th; he even has time to crack the top-50 to qualify for the WGC later this month.
18) He’ll have a good opportunity starting this week at Pebble, where he has won and where the field will be historically weak. In some ways, this week will be more important for Spieth than last week was, even though last week was enormously important to his game, and his psyche
19) If he reverts this week, in a terrible field and at a course where he has excelled, was Phoenix for naught?
Tough question to answer.
Tough question to answer.
20) Now Schauffele. He is ranked fourth in the world, which means there are only three guys in the world better than him (math!). So he’s obviously doing a lot right. But he’s now gone 2-plus years without winning, which is as curious as it is concerning.
21) He now has a whopping 10 runners-up since 2017-18, the most in golf, three of them this season alone. This was only the fourth time he has ever lost a 54-hole lead, so it’s not as if he's been blowing tournaments left and right.
22) But he clearly also has trouble winning, and finding the water on 17 on Sunday was a monumental implosion.
Koepka hit the amazing shot on 17, which was so on brand, and Schauffele did completely the opposite.
Koepka hit the amazing shot on 17, which was so on brand, and Schauffele did completely the opposite.
23) For the week, Schauffele ranked second in the field in SG: Off-the-Tee and fourth in Putting, and you figure he could win with such a combination. That tee ball on 17 aside, his irons/wedges clearly were the problem.
24) Lastly, don’t equate Schauffele’s winless streak with Tony Finau’s, as some have done. Schauffele has won four times, three of them big events, while Finau has long been stuck on one win, and it came in horrible field in an opposite-field event. Zero comparison.
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