TOPGOLFGEARS Morning 9: Pete B to NBC | Open ratings soar | Molinari’s magic wand

By Top Golf Gears On Jul 31, 2018

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GolfWRX Morning 9: Pete B to NBC | Open ratings soar | Molinari’s magic wand

1. Pete B to NBC

The PGA of America chief is the incoming president of NBC Sports Group.

AP Report…”Pete Bevacqua, who was behind the move of the PGA Championship to May and who oversaw a restructure of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, is leaving after six years to become president of NBC Sports Group.”

“NBC announced Tuesday that Bevacqua has been hired for a new role. He will oversee areas such as programming, marketing, digital properties, regional networks and all the golf business under the NBC umbrella, which includes Golf Channel.”

“Bevacqua plans to leave the PGA of America on Aug. 13, a day after the PGA Championship at Bellerive in St. Louis. In a letter to the PGA’s 29,000 members, President Paul Levy said John Easterbrook would serve as interim CEO. Easterbrook is the chief membership officer for the PGA of America.”

Certainly the most interesting question…What will this mean for Golf Channel and NBC’s golf coverage?

2. Molinari’s magic wand

E. Michael Johnson has the details on Molinari’s Bettinardi

“How Molinari came to use the blade putter, however, is an interesting story. Molinari first tried a production-model BB39 mid mallet then, wanting a higher moment of inertia, switched to a production-model BB56 mallet. He liked that putter so much he even posted on his Instagram account about it.”

“Then, with feedback from his putting coach, Phil Kenyon, Bettinardi’s tour department as well as company owner Bob Bettinardi, he switched into his current putter, which had a heavier swingweight as well as a single sight dot alignment aid. To get to the proper swingweight, Bob had to mill the head to precisely 372 grams, which he did.”

3. Open ratings are in

NBC Sports and Golf Channel announced that the 2018 British Open earned a 5.0 overnight rating.

Who knew the Italian had so many fans? Of course, Tiger Woods being in contention could have had something to do with that figure, too. The last time The Open earned a 5.0 rating was 2006: the last time Tiger won the tournament.

The Open hasn’t surpassed a 5.0 rating since 2000, the year Woods won at St Andrews.

1-1:30 p.m. ET was the highest-rated stretch (6.74). Not surprisingly, that was the time period during which Woods seized the lead.

4. Shack’s 5 things

Geoff Shackelford rounds up 5 key takeaways from Carnoustie.

Tiger Woods is rounding into his old self

Europe is/was thrilled with the Molinari W

11 years is too long to wait to return to Carnoustie

Major season is changing

The PGA Championship has a tough act to follow

5. Ranting about the Tiger

Randall Mell in his “Randall’s Rant” states, essentially,Tiger needs to remember he’s Tiger.

“Here’s hoping Woods relearns….Yes, as a journalist, you aren’t supposed to root for players, but you know how we root for stories. And I’m not alone rooting for Woods to deliver one of the best stories in the history of all sport, to play his way through McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm and others to make a run at catching Jack Nicklaus and the Golden Bear’s 18 majors.”

“Hey, whether Woods actually catches and passes Nicklaus to complete the story, that’s up to Woods and the golf gods in charge of lucky bounces, but I’m craving the chance to see Woods make a run at Nicklaus.”

“It seems as if it’s all about how much Woods remembers now, or how much he has forgotten.”

Check out .

6. Toe hang 101

A critical and oft-overlooked element of putter fitting. Peter Schmitt does a deep dive.

“We have to assume the putter’s length, lie angle, loft, offset, static weight, swing weight, grip size, grip shape, etc. are already suited to the golfer. We also have to assume the putter fits the golfer’s eye, feels right, and inspires confidence. Assuming those have all been configured correctly, let’s address what toe hang can do for a golfer.”

“Let’s go back to our previous discussion about more toe hang encouraging more torqueing of the putter face. Ultimately, you need to ask yourself what you want to feel when swinging the putter, as toe hang will contribute a lot to how the golfer feels where the face of the putter is. A golfer who prefers a lot of toe hang will complain that he or she has no idea where the face is when swinging a face balanced putter. On the contrary, a golfer who prefers a face balanced putter will feel like he or she has to fight with the putter in order to square the face of a heel-shafted blade.”

“As a general rule, more toe hang will either encourage or better suit a stronger arc in the putting stroke. One of the more classic examples of this arrangement would be Ben Crenshaw’s fluid, swinging-a-door putting stroke matched to the iconic heel-shafted blade putter he so famously wielded over the years.”

7. Team Trump resort upgrades

The Trump Organization plans to spend nearly $200 million on of one its golf resorts in Scotland.

Bill Speros writes…”The money will be used to build homes, hotel suits and various sporting and commercial facilities at the Trump resort in Balmedie, near Aberdeen.”

‘”Initial interest to our plans have been incredible and, subject to detailed planning approval, we are aiming to break ground next year,” said Eric Trump, who is running the Trump Organization during Donald Trump’s presidency. The “timing was right,” he added.”

“Local officials Tuesday received a formal application to build 500 homes, 50 hotel cottages, sports, leisure and equestrian facilities, along with retail and commercial space. An initial application for a new development was previously approved.”

8. DeLaet back on the shelf

Unfortunate stuff for the oft-bearded Canadian.

Golfweek’s Kevin Casey writes…”Graham DeLaet hasn’t competed in a PGA Tour event since October. And the wait for his return will now be quite a bit longer.”

“The Canadian used the beginning of Canadian Open week to announce he’ll continue to be out of commission for quite some time.”

“DeLaet revealed Tuesday on Twitter that stem cell injection treatment from late last year has not aided his recovery from back issues and he will thus undergo back surgery, which will put him out 6-12 months.”

9. Place your bets

RBC Canadian Open odds, c/o Bovada

Dustin Johnson +650
Brooks Koepka +1100
Tommy Fleetwood +1600
Tony Finau +1600
Bubba Watson +2000
Charley Hoffman +2500
Matt Kuchar +2500
Sergio Garcia +2500
Joaquin Niemann +2800
Billy Horschel +3300
Brandt Snedeker +3300
Kevin Kisner +3300