TopGolfGears Morning 9: Spieth & Kuchar: foosball showdown | PGA Tour schedule revealed | Bowdo finds a caddie on Twitter

By Top Golf Gears On Jul 13, 2018

Good morning, TopGolfGears members. As most of you are signed up for our newsletters, you likely already know that I’ve been sending this little Morning 9 roundup of nine items of note.

In case you’ve missed it, or you prefer to read on site rather than in your email, we’re including it here. Check out today’s Morning 9 below.

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GolfWRX Morning 9: Spieth & Kuchar: foosball showdown | PGA Tour schedule revealed | Bowdo finds a caddie on Twitter

1. Behind schedule reveal of PGA Tour schedule now scheduled

Has there ever been this much interest in/focus on the PGA Tour calendar? (Probably, yes, during early FedEx Cup days). With plenty changing, a philosophical shift, and 11th hour developments, the Tour had its work cut out for it.

The PGA Tour filled its DayTimer for 2018-2019 and revealed its plans to the world yesterday.

The FedEx Cup is now three events instead of four.

Two new tournaments: the Rocket Mortgage Classic June 24-30 in Detroit and the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Minneapolis.

The RBC Canadian Open moves from late July to June 3-9.

The Players Championship moves from May to March (11-17) and the PGA Championship moves from August to May (13-19).

The final World Golf Championships event of the season will now be held at TPC Southwind in Memphis as the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

The Houston Open and A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier move to the fall.

2. …Accordingly: Takes aplenty

Scribes scrambled to put together perspective pieces on the new schedule late yesterday morning–a task made easier by the fact that 80% of it and most major developments were already know.

, Rex Hoggard offered praise and approval but cautioned that there will be an adjustment period to the condensed schedule.

“Essentially, the Tour had to shed four weeks off the season to move out of football’s shadow. Losing the Boston playoff event and the post-season “bye” week was half the bill. The Houston Open was relocated to the fall portion of the schedule, and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational was replaced by an existing event in Memphis.

“If that all sounds clean and easy, consider that the run up to the post-season will now feature a major (The Open), a World Golf Championship (Memphis) and the Wyndham Championship. Including the three playoff stops, that’s five must-play events in a six-week window.

“How this congestion impacts events like Bay Hill or the AT&T Byron Nelson, which will now be played the week before the PGA Championship, remains to be seen, but there will be tough choices made.

“Consider the RBC Canadian Open, which has been mired in a post-Open Championship vortex, will now be played the week before the U.S. Open. Depending on where the American championship is played, the move could give the field in Canada a boost, but it’s hard to imagine how it’s going to lead to long-term improvements.”

praised moving the PGA Championship to May, however, he worries that given the host venues and time of year for that tournament, weather and conditioning could be problems. He praised wrapping the Playoffs before the NFL season begins, and also said, “golf-mad markets in Minneapolis and Detroit are rewarded with PGA Tour events, the Canadian Open moves off a tough date after The Open, the WGC event in Akron loses a sponsor in Bridgestone but picks up a big one in FedEx.”

Geoff Shackelford

3. Bowdo finds a new caddie via Twitter

The struggling, always entertaining, can’t-help-but-root-for Steven Bowditch put out a call for a caddie…on social media.

Desperate times call for…calling for caddie applications on Twitter. That’s right, Bowditch fired off this tweet.

“Any local kids/college players in the Quad cities area that are interested in caddying in the tournament this week, this thread is for you. The best response/reason gets the job. 2pm Tues start, finish Friday. 1% chance Sunday. Payment: all leftover gloves and balls are yours.”

Bowditch ended up hiring 16-year-old Elias Francque.

4. What the heck is John Peterson going to do now?

A few morsels from Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…

“Traveling and being away from his young family is the biggest reason why Peterson – 29 years old and in the prime of his career – is choosing to walk away from the PGA Tour, after he failed, in excruciating fashion, to earn the necessary FedExCup points to keep conditional status.”

Peterson’s early career laid the foundation for his retirement…”All year the 2011 NCAA champion had been torn between two career paths. Because of his status, he usually played only one tournament a month, leaving plenty of time for him to make inroads in his next career, in real estate and business development. Then, a week or two before his next scheduled start, he’d return to the range and try to sharpen his game, usually with uninspiring results.”

5. A secret rematch!

Apparently, Matt Kuchar and Jordan Spieth already had an Open Championship rematch…on the foosball table.

Dave Shedloski writes: They’ve already had their rematch. It occurred in upstate New York in front of only a handful of witnesses instead of a global audience. But no matter. Matt Kuchar wasn’t going to lose to again. He was determined. He knew he what he was doing and that he had a secret weapon. He would get his revenge.

“Less than six weeks after Spieth summoned a transcendent rally to stun Kuchar in last year’s , the two men had it out in a different venue. No major title was on the line, but each brought the same intensity reminiscent of their duel for the claret jug. Two of the nicest men in golf got nose to nose. Things got heated. Before anyone knew it, there ensued a lot of kicking and screaming.

“And then a lot of trash talking. And laughter. Lots of laughter. And, yes, the tables had turned. This time there would be no rally for the young Texan. Kuchar owned him. He was king of the foosball table.”

6. Bryson won’t back down

I mean, with respect to the compass, he will, because that’s now an illegal instrument that he needs to put back in his pencil box…but in general, BAD will continue to push the limit, Tim Rosaforte says.

“In the wake of the ruling, DeChambeau has gone silent. He plans on making a statement at a Wednesday news conference in Silvis, Ill., deflecting follow-up questions and moving on. With the Open Championship coming up and a genuine chance to make his first Ryder Cup team, DeChambeau is hoping to make his golf speak for him while he sorts out a new invention for his science of green reading.

‘”Maybe he outsmarts some of the other guys because he takes a different approach to the game,” said DeChambeau’s manager, Brett Falkoff. “He’s doing it different, his way.””

“He’s working on a couple different things that he can come up with,” said a source close to DeChambeau. “He’s always been an innovator in trying new things … so it’s not going to stop him.”

7. Dylan Meyer & chronic disease

The bespectacled Tour rookie has Crohn’s Disease. Mike McAllister does of good job of explaining exactly what that means for the 23-year-old.

“Every eight weeks — whether in his hometown of Evansville, Indiana, or on the road at a golf tournament — Dylan Meyer has an appointment at a nearby expanded care hospital. After signing in, he’s hooked to an IV containing Remicade, an anti-inflammatory drug that treats autoimmune diseases. For Meyer, the target is his large intestine.

“The infusion takes two hours and essentially shuts down his immune system, leaving him in a vulnerable state. If he breathes in the wrong germ or suffers an infection, the symptoms will be heightened, perhaps 10-fold worse than usual.

“I have to be very cautious of what I’m around and who I’m around,” Meyer said. Once the last drip of Remicade enters his vein, he then receives a hydration IV for an additional 20 minutes. Only then is he cleared to leave, allowed to resume his life and his new career as a pro golfer until his next appointment in eight weeks.

“Meyer has adhered to this schedule ever since he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis just over a year ago, and for the rest of his life, he must make every one of those appointments, even adjust his playing or practice routine or travel plans if necessary. Given that he’s just 23 years old – his birthday is today — he can look forward to a lot of Remicade IVs. He has no choice, though. If he doesn’t get the treatment, his health is jeopardized.”

8. “With a name like Duff, he should work in golf”

Such is the headline for John Clarke’s New York Times chat with Stewart Duff, 50, Gullane’s course manager, ahead of the Scottish Open.

Q: What added pressure comes with hosting the Scottish Open?

“I think it’s just the expectancy of everybody. I come from the small town, Gullane, of about 3,500 people. Most people play golf and are members of the golf club and play the courses around Gullane. The golf course is very much a part of the town. You want it in the best possible condition for them, yourself, the staff and members and the town as well. And of course the tour players. It’s a lot of pressure to please everybody, but it’s good to have pressure.”

Q: In June, a summer storm with winds reaching nearly 70 miles per hour blew apart a hospitality tent at the course. Are winds an issue at Gullane?

“We are a very exposed links course, but we generally don’t get winds like that. That was just one of those freak incidents. It was installed right, it just came down in the winds.”

9. TaylorMade “GAPR”?

Cool story because it’s an illustration of golf equipment released in the web 2.0 world and its associated ecosystem.

GolfWRX staff a photo of a TaylorMade “GAPR” driving iron in our GolfWRX Forums, and some more photos from around the Internet. One of the has emojis and text added to the photo, implying that – which is HaoTong Li’s Instagram handle – originally posted the photo.

There’s more to the story, including photos posted by TaylorMade rep, Chris Trott. So while TMag is mum, we’re starting to .