2023 CME Group Tour Championship (Nov 16 - 19)

[third-times-a-charm]

Congrats to Amy. She has been working very hard and played well in several events this year.

 

She is ALWAYS at the range working on her game. Well deserved after all the hard work. 

[Lobby]

1 hour ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

Que linda!

 

[OBbogey5]

I am convinced the LPGA has no idea how to present the product on television. Where are they getting this money to give to the winners? 
 

They show about six players during the entire weekend coverage. Minjee Lee, a solid 5th place most of the way as a pleasure to watch tee to green, was shown once(?) on Sunday. 
 

On top of that, there were maybe three fans at this tournament.

 

i cannot believe this was a Tour Championship, with a $2mil fist place check, and it looked like a covid tournament in June of 2020. Underwhelming is an understatement. 
 

The good news is we got to watch Any Yang play all weekend. 

[JungleJimbo]

Just catching up, as didn't watch the Livestream

...So it was closer than the 3-shot win final result suggests?
 

 

[iBanesto]

That tempo...

 

[Jonnyuk74]

1 hour ago, OBbogey5 said:

I am convinced the LPGA has no idea how to present the product on television. Where are they getting this money to give to the winners? 
 

They show about six players during the entire weekend coverage. Minjee Lee, a solid 5th place most of the way as a pleasure to watch tee to green, was shown once(?) on Sunday. 
 

On top of that, there were maybe three fans at this tournament.

 

i cannot believe this was a Tour Championship, with a $2mil fist place check, and it looked like a covid tournament in June of 2020. Underwhelming is an understatement. 
 

The good news is we got to watch Any Yang play all weekend. 

Have to agree re spectators.... Seemed very poorly attended form the TV coverage. Any reason why? Location? I mean the leaderboard wasn't the worse selection to be fighting it out.

[mstuewe]

I took my daughter on Saturday and Sunday.  I was surprised how few fans there were.  However, you could tell the ropes were setup to support the small number of fans.  We were basically limited to walking on the cart paths, and there were small grandstands on 1 tee box, 8 green, 17 green, and of course 18 (not sure what was between 10-16).  So the tour handled parking, grandstand setup, course design, and the fanzone area well.

 

With that said, we still had a blast.  She got autographs from Brooke, Gaby, and Danielle.  They all signed her got, gave her a ball, and got a photo.  

[JungleJimbo]

6 minutes ago, mstuewe said:

I took my daughter on Saturday and Sunday.  I was surprised how few fans there were.  However, you could tell the ropes were setup to support the small number of fans.  We were basically limited to walking on the cart paths, and there were small grandstands on 1 tee box, 8 green, 17 green, and of course 18 (not sure what was between 10-16).  So the tour handled parking, grandstand setup, course design, and the fanzone area well.

 

With that said, we still had a blast.  She got autographs from Brooke, Gaby, and Danielle.  They all signed her got, gave her a ball, and got a photo.  

 

Did you at least enjoy the free ice cream samples? Beth Ann Nichols mentioned they're irresistible? Why did she mention "Bacon" in the preceding sentence ... Could you perhaps choose to have Bacon and Mrs Butterworths blended into your ice cream?

 

(i blame @Argonne69 for inserting "Mrs Butterworths" into my brain,

i.e. he mentioned that Amy Yang's golf swing is as smooth as Mrs Butterworths?) 

 

 

[Argonne69]

20 minutes ago, mstuewe said:

I took my daughter on Saturday and Sunday.  I was surprised how few fans there were.  However, you could tell the ropes were setup to support the small number of fans.  We were basically limited to walking on the cart paths, and there were small grandstands on 1 tee box, 8 green, 17 green, and of course 18 (not sure what was between 10-16).  So the tour handled parking, grandstand setup, course design, and the fanzone area well.

 

With that said, we still had a blast.  She got autographs from Brooke, Gaby, and Danielle.  They all signed her got, gave her a ball, and got a photo.  

 

I don't think there's a lot of open space on the course for facilities. The fairways run into waste areas, and then quickly turn into jungle. The course was never designed for large tournaments.

 

Not sure why there aren't a lot of fans, though. Is parking a hassle? Hardcore fans don't mind a short shuttle ride, but I've been to a couple of events where you spend 30 minutes in the bus, nevermind the long wait to get on the bus.

 

[mstuewe]

15 minutes ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

Did you at least enjoy the free ice cream samples? Beth Ann Nichols mentioned they're irresistible? Why did she mention "Bacon" in the preceding sentence ... Could you perhaps choose to have Bacon and Mrs Butterworths blended into your ice cream?

 

(i blame @Argonne69 for inserting "Mrs Butterworths" into my brain,

i.e. he mentioned that Amy Yang's golf swing is as smooth as Mrs Butterworths?) 

 

 

 

Crushed more ice cream than I care to admit.  Dropped my daughter at the Jr Golf Clinic hosted by Girls Golf (which was excellent btw) and grabbed some ice cream.  Told them to surprise me so they handed me 2.  I was worried TV was gonna spot me sitting on 18 green looking like George Costanza.

 

 

[mstuewe]

8 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

I don't think there's a lot of open space on the course for facilities. The fairways run into waste areas, and then quickly turn into jungle. The course was never designed for large tournaments.

 

Not sure why there aren't a lot of fans, though. Is parking a hassle? Hardcore fans don't mind a short shuttle ride, but I've been to a couple of events where you spend 30 minutes in the bus, nevermind the long wait to get on the bus.

 

5 minute bus ride.  Couldn’t have been easier.  Parking was in a field at an Italian American center.  Not sure what that is, think of a church with a large field where we parked, just a couple blocks from the course.  

 

Trying to think of other nice things people did.  Jessica Korda said hi to my daughter when she sat next to her on hole 2 Saturday.  Some Marshall’s gave us free drinks from the practice putting green cooler.  The Girls Golf event was a blast, Alexa Pano came to speak to the girls, which was trippy since we just watched the short game a couple years ago.  

 

Don’t get me wrong, the pga tour does a lot of great stuff for fans at events too.  But the LPGA did just as much for a fraction of the fans. 

Edited November 20, 2023 by mstuewe

[18majors]

12 hours ago, ChronicSlicer said:

It's baffling how after years of you hyping up Nelly and Rose, you seem to have almost lost faith in them 🤔

 

 

Nelly will never be as good a putter as Lilia, but historically (not this year) she's a much better ball striker.  Her putting has steadily improved recently; so she still has a shot at greatness the next 3-4 years.  I always consider Rose to be a genrically good player, but without any astonishing weapons.  She should be happy if she's a career akin to Brooke Henderson!

 

Linn Grant came out with a bang!  But after colse observation, she's a bit like Sei Young Kim; still need more time to determine.

 

What must be killing @Rapidcat about Leona Maguire this year must be her uncharacteristic fianl day at KPMG.  Otherwise, Leona would've Lilia's 2023 record and we wouldn't know who Lilia is.

[elwhippy]

Some great play but surely the LPGA can find a more demanding course? No real pressure off the tee and the greens are immense. 

[8602081]

20 minutes ago, elwhippy said:

Some great play but surely the LPGA can find a more demanding course? No real pressure off the tee and the greens are immense. 

 

 

Didn't they get lot of rain past week?  I think, you can make any course tough, if they wanted to..  

Make the green super fast..  Don't cut the rough..  extend the length..  etc..

 

 

[Argonne69]

55 minutes ago, 8602081 said:

 

Didn't they get lot of rain past week?  I think, you can make any course tough, if they wanted to..  

Make the green super fast..  Don't cut the rough..  extend the length..  etc..

 

 

There is no rough at Tiburon. That's part of the problem. The players are just too accurate for this resort course. The bunkering is very good, but again, unless they're up against the steep face they have no issues. Green speeds could be increased, but after a brief adjustment period I think they'd do just fine. 

 

The only thing they could do here is simply move the tees back. However, they'd probably still eat it up. The 18th plays long, but I remember Lydia stuffing her hybrid close during a playoff. 

 

[Lobby]

I’m one of the weird one, I guess. I loved this tournament. 
 

I don’t have anything to complain about. On the contrary, this tournament reinforced why I watch the lpga:  it’s kinder and gentler than the boorish pga. 
 

 

[Jonnyuk74]

6 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

 

Nelly will never be as good a putter as Lilia, but historically (not this year) she's a much better ball striker.  Her putting has steadily improved recently; so she still has a shot at greatness the next 3-4 years.  I always consider Rose to be a genrically good player, but without any astonishing weapons.  She should be happy if she's a career akin to Brooke Henderson!

 

Linn Grant came out with a bang!  But after colse observation, she's a bit like Sei Young Kim; still need more time to determine.

 

What must be killing @Rapidcat about Leona Maguire this year must be her uncharacteristic fianl day at KPMG.  Otherwise, Leona would've Lilia's 2023 record and we wouldn't know who Lilia is.

Next year is the one for LG. Time to settle in states, seen some of the courses etc etc.  has to happen. 🙏😛

[mstuewe]

5 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

There is no rough at Tiburon. That's part of the problem. The players are just too accurate for this resort course. The bunkering is very good, but again, unless they're up against the steep face they have no issues. Green speeds could be increased, but after a brief adjustment period I think they'd do just fine. 

 

The only thing they could do here is simply move the tees back. However, they'd probably still eat it up. The 18th plays long, but I remember Lydia stuffing her hybrid close during a playoff. 

 

They could’ve also not played lift clean and place on the weekend.  It wasn’t wet.  

[woahnelly]

5 hours ago, Jonnyuk74 said:

Next year is the one for LG. Time to settle in states, seen some of the courses etc etc.  has to happen. 🙏😛

 

Next year I see LG finishing top 5/10, this was her first time playing a lot of these courses. Tho i'm still mad she dusted Annie at the Dana in the 3R!

 

 

 

[MagicClassic407]

Reflections:  Kind of a weird year working this tournament. My husband was scheduled to be marshal hole captain on #8 as usual. Thursday morning when we arrived, he was pulled aside and asked to switch to Walking Scorer immediately. The story he got was that the guy assigned was yanked off his duties as an LPGA player (don't know who) filed a complaint against him having to do with a picture/pictures he took (don't know when). But he is apparently banned from LPGA events AND that includes Solheim Cup where he allegedly handled walking scorer assignments. Prior to this brouhaha, my husband gave him his contact info because he wants to score at the Solheim next year. WHAT??? I really would like more to this story. THEN as I'm scoring on Sunday, someone made a general announcement on our radios stating the walking scorers and standard bearers were not allowed to take pictures during the tournament. In all my years of volunteeering for the PGA and LPGA (40ish), I have never heard such an announcement. Seems crazy since there are at least 10,000 other cameras very nearby TAKING PICS. My standard bearer was taking pics and videos on her walk down 18. 

 

Having Anna on Thursday was crazy/sad to hear what she's experiencing right now.

 

Also, this big $$ tournament discontinued lunch catering in the Volunteer Tent this year. ☹️We still had access to a box lunch OR a ticket for food at a snack tent. 

 

My group on Sunday (Jasmine, Grace Kim, C Hull) had a rough front nine. Grace actually apologized for 'the golf' after the round. I said at least she was best dressed at the Thursday night gala. 🤗I, too, was disappointed with the preferred lies again.

 

Congrats to Amy Yang! Love it when the older gals (and the mamas) win!

 

[Seamus_McDuff]

1 hour ago, MagicClassic407 said:

Reflections:  Kind of a weird year working this tournament. My husband was scheduled to be marshal hole captain on #8 as usual. Thursday morning when we arrived, he was pulled aside and asked to switch to Walking Scorer immediately. The story he got was that the guy assigned was yanked off his duties as an LPGA player (don't know who) filed a complaint against him having to do with a picture/pictures he took (don't know when). But he is apparently banned from LPGA events AND that includes Solheim Cup where he allegedly handled walking scorer assignments. Prior to this brouhaha, my husband gave him his contact info because he wants to score at the Solheim next year. WHAT??? I really would like more to this story. THEN as I'm scoring on Sunday, someone made a general announcement on our radios stating the walking scorers and standard bearers were not allowed to take pictures during the tournament. In all my years of volunteeering for the PGA and LPGA (40ish), I have never heard such an announcement. Seems crazy since there are at least 10,000 other cameras very nearby TAKING PICS. My standard bearer was taking pics and videos on her walk down 18. 

 

Having Anna on Thursday was crazy/sad to hear what she's experiencing right now.

 

Also, this big $$ tournament discontinued lunch catering in the Volunteer Tent this year. ☹️We still had access to a box lunch OR a ticket for food at a snack tent. 

 

My group on Sunday (Jasmine, Grace Kim, C Hull) had a rough front nine. Grace actually apologized for 'the golf' after the round. I said at least she was best dressed at the Thursday night gala. 🤗I, too, was disappointed with the preferred lies again.

 

Congrats to Amy Yang! Love it when the older gals (and the mamas) win!

 

 

So was the player turnout at the gala better this year?

[jimecherry]

4 hours ago, mstuewe said:

They could’ve also not played lift clean and place on the weekend.  It wasn’t wet.  

they were afraid not all the players would get the memo and the last thing they wanted was someone getting 12+ penalty strokes due to a lack of signage ;}

[iBanesto]

[Rapidcat]

23 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

 

Nelly will never be as good a putter as Lilia, but historically (not this year) she's a much better ball striker.  Her putting has steadily improved recently; so she still has a shot at greatness the next 3-4 years.  I always consider Rose to be a genrically good player, but without any astonishing weapons.  She should be happy if she's a career akin to Brooke Henderson!

 

Linn Grant came out with a bang!  But after colse observation, she's a bit like Sei Young Kim; still need more time to determine.

 

What must be killing @Rapidcat about Leona Maguire this year must be her uncharacteristic fianl day at KPMG.  Otherwise, Leona would've Lilia's 2023 record and we wouldn't know who Lilia is.

 

Yes @18majors, it can be profound how a season can rise or fall on just one performance.

 

I was quietly confident that Leona would get the job done in that final round at the KPMG - she was in the last trio with her good friend Steph Meadow (they play a lot of golf together) and she is usually solid under pressure, but she just couldn't get it done. It was noted that this trio didn't have a good vibe and couldn't get anything going, they fizzled out.

 

Whilst she put on a brave face to the press and made the usual 'I'll learn from this' comment, Tom Abbott (who's quite friendly with her) said she was distraught in the carpark after the round.

 

Until then she was in good form having won, but it dropped off somewhat except for a Solheim rally (not unexpected). Her putting has been inconsistent after the KPMG (but still better than most) and she appears to have made a change in her driving MO after the KPMG, sacrificing distance (ave distance 2 seasons ago was 255y, now it is 248y) for accuracy (77.6% 2 seasons ago =#31, now 81% =#16). She was hitting some wildish sling hooks searching for distance, incl in that final round. Will that accuracy focus pay off next season if she keeps it - I have my doubts.

 

In all though still a very good season for her with a win and $1.195m in official prizemoney to reach $4m in 4 seasons. She's not quite in Jeeno's money-making class but she makes consistent $, averaging $52k each time she tees it up on the LPGAT.

 

As always she'll do her game analysis, make adjustments and come out with her plan for next season, there'll be a few tidbits in the Irish press over the next 2 months.

[golfortennis]

13 hours ago, MagicClassic407 said:

Reflections:  Kind of a weird year working this tournament. My husband was scheduled to be marshal hole captain on #8 as usual. Thursday morning when we arrived, he was pulled aside and asked to switch to Walking Scorer immediately. The story he got was that the guy assigned was yanked off his duties as an LPGA player (don't know who) filed a complaint against him having to do with a picture/pictures he took (don't know when). But he is apparently banned from LPGA events AND that includes Solheim Cup where he allegedly handled walking scorer assignments. Prior to this brouhaha, my husband gave him his contact info because he wants to score at the Solheim next year. WHAT??? I really would like more to this story. THEN as I'm scoring on Sunday, someone made a general announcement on our radios stating the walking scorers and standard bearers were not allowed to take pictures during the tournament. In all my years of volunteeering for the PGA and LPGA (40ish), I have never heard such an announcement. Seems crazy since there are at least 10,000 other cameras very nearby TAKING PICS. My standard bearer was taking pics and videos on her walk down 18. 

 

Having Anna on Thursday was crazy/sad to hear what she's experiencing right now.

 

Also, this big $$ tournament discontinued lunch catering in the Volunteer Tent this year. ☹️We still had access to a box lunch OR a ticket for food at a snack tent. 

 

My group on Sunday (Jasmine, Grace Kim, C Hull) had a rough front nine. Grace actually apologized for 'the golf' after the round. I said at least she was best dressed at the Thursday night gala. 🤗I, too, was disappointed with the preferred lies again.

 

Congrats to Amy Yang! Love it when the older gals (and the mamas) win!

 

 

Pardon my ignorance, but what are you referring to?

[Jonnyuk74]

15 hours ago, woahnelly said:

 

Next year I see LG finishing top 5/10, this was her first time playing a lot of these courses. Tho i'm still mad she dusted Annie at the Dana in the 3R!

 

 

 

Yeah I agree, just needs to be more consistent, always makes alot of birdies it seems but been chucking in wayyyy to many DBs the last few weeks that's really held her back.  On another note and it really struck me watching the first round of the annika where she was paired with Nelly and JYK is how much work she must do in the gym now, and maybe she has over done it a little. She seem so much stronger and athletic than most on the LPGA but does that really equate into success? Interesting to see how she gets on, but a major next year should be well on her radar all things considered. 🤔

[18majors]

 

This is such great news, I'm surprised that it hasn't been more widely known.  Like last week, we'll see so much more golf in 2024 from Angel Yin, Danielle Kang, Charley Hull, Rose Zhang, Nelly Korda, Yuka Saso, Anna Nordqvist, Cheyenne Knight and etc.  This is the first TV contract that LPGA signed on its own, not as a subset of PGA's deal.  It could be paveing the way for LPGA's own TV package in the future:

ESPN Signs Two-Year Rights Deal With LPGA

 

"ESPN signed a two-year agreement with LPGA to stream Featured Group coverage at eight Ladies Pro Golf Association events live on EPSN+ through 2025, giving golf fans more ways to watch women’s golf."

Edited November 21, 2023 by 18majors

[jimecherry]

2 hours ago, golfortennis said:

 

Pardon my ignorance, but what are you referring to?

Anna nords' estranged husband passed away recently

[jimecherry]

29 minutes ago, 18majors said:

 

This is such great news, I'm surprised that it hasn't been more widely known.  Like last week, we'll see so much more golf in 2024 from Angel Yin, Danielle Kang, Charley Hull, Rose Zhang, Nelly Korda, Yuka Saso, Anna Nordqvist, Cheyenne Knight and etc.  This is the first TV contract that LPGA signed on its own, not as a subset of PGA's deal.  It could be paveing the way for LPGA's own TV package in the future:

ESPN Signs Two-Year Rights Deal With LPGA

 

"ESPN signed a two-year agreement with LPGA to stream Featured Group coverage at eight Ladies Pro Golf Association events live on EPSN+ through 2025, giving golf fans more ways to watch women’s golf."

can it be considered a tv contract if most of the viewers will be on phones and tablets ;}

[MJ2712]

34 minutes ago, 18majors said:

 

This is such great news, I'm surprised that it hasn't been more widely known.  Like last week, we'll see so much more golf in 2024 from Angel Yin, Danielle Kang, Charley Hull, Rose Zhang, Nelly Korda, Yuka Saso, Anna Nordqvist, Cheyenne Knight and etc.  This is the first TV contract that LPGA signed on its own, not as a subset of PGA's deal.  It could be paveing the way for LPGA's own TV package in the future:

ESPN Signs Two-Year Rights Deal With LPGA

 

"ESPN signed a two-year agreement with LPGA to stream Featured Group coverage at eight Ladies Pro Golf Association events live on EPSN+ through 2025, giving golf fans more ways to watch women’s golf."

8 tournaments in 2 years is not a lot  but better than what we have had I guess.

Edited November 21, 2023 by MJ2712