Aug 19, 2021 4 min read Email

THE STARTER SHACK

We gotta be honest, the news was bleak the last couple of days. So much so we're talking about Green Goats and Xander Shauffele's dad.

💰 $3 million dollar US Open scandal...WE LOVE SCANDALS!

🐐 There's a new goat in town...and it's Green Goat

🍺 Phil is a professional trash talker

⛳️ Xander Schauffele's dad is wearing tiny shorts

PGA TOUR

Main Event Showdown!

Playoffs? Playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? Even Jim Mora can get behind this event.

Unlike the sandpaper underwear chafing from the rounds and rounds of the NBA, MLB, and NHL playoffs, the PGA Tour crowns their season-long champion over three events.

A quick history of the FedEx Cup:

Started in 2007, originally four events to wrap the season
Went from four events down to three in 2019, still wraps with the Tour Championship
Until 2019, the FedEx Cup champ didn’t need to win the Tour Championship
Lucrative wrap to the season that pays the winner $15M, up from the original $10M payout
Winner of the FedEx Cup receives a 5-year exemption

The points allocation and march from the first event to East Lake has undergone more changes than Tiger’s knees and back. Switch this, cut that, move those around...you know, the overall identity of this has really, really been altered.

In addition to crowning the PGA Tour’s season-long champion, we have been witness to some pretty spectacular shots. There’s been many holes-outs, aces, and general artistry over the years. The list is too long to list, but surely we can all reminisce about:

Bill Haas’ unreal up and down from a lake in 2011
Rory holing out for eagle on #16 during his last round charge in 2016
Jon Rahm outdoing DJ’s crazy 45 footer (with 20 feet of break) in last year’s BMW event

There has also been some pretty cool moments that go beyond shots that have been unearthed during the FedEx Cup:

Heath Slocum winning in 2009 as the #124 player (one guy away from DFL in the field)
Jim Furyk shooting 59 in 2013 at Conway Farms
Tiger ends a 5-year drought in 2018 with fans engulfing him on East Lake’s 18th fairway
Dustin Johnston on “57 watch” in 2020 (he went 1st, 2nd, 1st in the 3 playoff events)

While the FedEx Cup has always tried to steer clear of its manufactured drama, there is no doubt that this three-event boat race to the finish line does a solid job of identifying golf’s best.

GIMME

Man embezzles $3 million from USGA: he apparently was selling unauthorized US Open tickets to Merion in 2013. Since the course only holds 5 and a half spectators it was a dead giveaway when 23,000 tickets were sold. He could face up to 300 years in prison. Or they could make him play a round with Bryson, Glen Day, and J.B. Holmes...and that would feel like 300 years.
Tough decisions for mediocre tour pros: for those who did not make the playoffs now need to make an ego-wrenching decision...to play in the Korn Ferry Finals or not. This is an option for those that finished 126-200 giving the top 25 finishers in the KFT Finals series race full status for next season. Reminds us of that time we crapped the bed in the Club Champ C Flight and were asked if we wanted to play in the D Flight. Uh, yeah we do.
Mickelson turns pro: as a professional trash-talker. His epic match with Harry Higgs is what we had hoped the Match would be like with Tiger. Some of the quips they quipped at each other.
Speith knows when to hold'em: he's partnered with sports gaming company FanDuel. Unfortunately, his contract doesn't require him to wear a white tuxedo or keep a floppy white mop atop his head while crooning Islands in the Stream on live TV. Damn. We'd sign up to FanDuel tomorrow for that.
An oldie but a goodie: Brandel Chamblee compares Tiger and Jack's first 22 Majors. Tiger was 81 under compared to Jack's 40 over. Sorry, we feel like we typed "81 under" up there.

PIC OF THE DAY

Xander Schauffele's dad is a beast...and those are tiny shorts. Can we please get the club captain to measure those before he tees off, thank you.

WITB

And suddenly we're feeling pretty good about ourselves and current yardages.

INSIDE THE ROPES

Being a golf pro is hard. You have to put a little white ball in a hole a long ways away, buuuuut you also have to deal with online twats, like the here where a "fan" of Ian Poulters wants him to do better at carbon offsetting.

GOLF GEAR

Cool New Gear from the Las Vegas PGA Show.

Belts, hats, shirts, sunscreen. All new innovative stuff. Except for the belts, hats, shirts, and sunscreen. Although there is a company called Green Goat that stands out. Because its name is... Green Goat.

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