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Issue No. 170 | March 15, 2025
Like Colin Morikawa, we don’t regret anything we said or illustrated.
Onto some thoughts on Day 2 of the Players.
Today’s newsletter is presented by Holderness and Bourne, which, like the Players Championship, puts out a world class product that we cannot get enough of.
We are currently working on putting Norman (our little side-eye sheep) on various pieces of H&B apparel, and the optionality is a bit overwhelming.
Their gear is so good that we want to put him … everywhere.
The shirt I can’t get enough of right now is the Springer in pretty much every color. The combinations, the fit, the way all of it works together. Just like Spieth going left handed not even halfway into his round on Friday … it’s … perfect.
OK, onto the Round 2 thoughts.
1. One thing I have realized this week: Big events are way more fun to cover when you have total autonomy over how you choose to cover them. I loved my job at CBS Sports, truly, but it was definitely tiring at times to have to write every Rory round or every time Tiger hiccuped. It made me feel like less of a fan.
I have felt so reenergized this week by the ability to write what I want, and maybe even more so by the ability to ignore what I want as well.
Examples: 1. I’m probably not mentioning J.J. Spaun’s putt (see below) at all for CBS and 2. I probably wouldn’t have been able to do a ton with the Morikawa comments (also see below), but now I can go any direction I want with them.
It feels like I keep saying this to anyone who will listen, but I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun watching golf. I feel so much less like a Media Person and more like a fan again.
Our goal is to be as free as Wayne Riley commentating on Lucas Glover.
2. Rob Manfred wheels out the World Series trophy to the on deck circle, and players have to look at 99 from Gerrit Cole with one eye and what they’re playing for with the other. Strange, strange sport.
3. I honestly believe this might be the worst putt I’ve ever seen.
Not by a pro. Just … ever.
I got this text from a friend: I think I watched it 10 times. It keeps getting worse.
4. I saw Minny Woo wearing a watch on Friday and started making the list of pros who wear watches. Phil is the other obvious one. Bubba, too. Several people pointed out Sergio and Nelly.
Shane Bacon noted Fleetwood, who he said was in a Garmin-looking device earlier in the week (I recommend the Approach S70). This made me laugh.
Yeah, Tommy, great round out there today. I was wondering how you feel about your move at the ball when you’re trying to hit that drawing, high one off the 7th also did you hit your steps goal for the day?
This post will continue for Normal Sport members below, and includes …
Thoughts on JT’s wild 62.
What’s up with Morikawa’s emotional soliloquy.
The best “Rory taking that guy’s phone” take.
If you aren’t yet a Normal Sport member — we’re nearing six hundy! — you can sign up at the link below. If you are, keep reading!
Welcome to the members-only portion of today’s newsletter. I hope you both enjoy it and find it to be valuable to your golf and/or personal life.
5. Data Golf has JT’s 62 at 10 strokes gained (adjusted for field strength), which is so many. The best rounds in any given year are right around 10 so it’s likely that JT’s 62 will end up as one of the best rounds of 2025.
Think about this, though. If he makes par at 18, then he’s at 11 SG, which would have been the 15th best round since 1983 (incredibly, Ken Duke’s 65 at TPC Sawgrass was still better).
And while the numbers are amazing, I care less about them than about how that 62 made me feel.
There are many things you can say about JT. I see them all in my group chats and on Twitter. But if the goal is to come up with an electricity power rankings (amazing name, tbh), he has to be near the top, right?
The entire round was extraordinary, yes, but that putt on 17 was a real capital-M Moment, and there are few better at stepping into real moments and delivering than he is.
Here’s a quote I think about often.
It’s from the Founders Podcast on how Red Bull started, but it’s not about Red Bull.
Edwin Land, Founder of Polaroid, Steve Jobs' hero and a patron saint of Founders Podcast. He said something that was fascinating. And he says that the test of invention is the power of an inventor to push your invention through not in the face of staunch opposition, which most people think, right, but staunch indifference. Edwin Land like [Dietrich] Mateschitz would tell you that indifference is your enemy.
Founders Podcast No. 333
Nobody feels indifference toward JT. Nobody says “Oh I just nothing JT, I’m indifferent, I have total ambivalence.”
No. Everybody who follows golf has a take on who he is, what he’s about. That might be tiring if you’re JT, but if you’re somebody who covers, thinks about and writes about JT, it is invaluable. Not all 62s are created equal. If it’s by most of the other 143 guys in the field, it’s a very cool day. By JT, though? It’s one that will be difficult to forget.
Eleven Birds
6. Morikawa, let’s talk about it.
The backstory: Last week, after he lost Bay Hill to Russ Henley, Morikawa dipped out on talking to the media. Unsurprisingly, media people were critical.
Morikawa responded on Tuesday by saying (among other things), “I don't owe anyone anything.” Brandel and McGinley unsurprisingly piled on during Live From.
And on Friday, in a premeditated soliloquy, Morikawa kinda lost it.
The transcript is one thing …
… To the Brandel Chamblees, to the Paul McGinleys, to the Rocco Mediates of the world, I don't regret anything I said. You know, it might have been a little bit harsh that I don't owe anyone … but I don't owe anyone.
I respect the fans. I'm very thankful for them. I'm grateful. It makes me emotional … it hurts to hear people say this, and especially you guys, because I finished the round and I went to go sign for 10 minutes, 15 minutes for all the people after.
Not a single person from media went to go follow me because … I don't know. But that's me.
So for people to be calling me out is … interesting. I mean, look, I get what you guys are saying. But I was there. I was signing for every single person right after the round, whether they wanted it or not. I finished second. They could care less. But yeah, I'm going to leave it at that, all right? So thank you guys.
Collin Morikawa, 2025 Players
The video is entirely another. Morikawa has shake voice and is wrapping himself up with his hands and arms the entire time. He’s clearly worked up and continues to work himself up throughout.
Here’s my take: I definitely gain respect for guys who talk after big losses (Tiger comes to mind), but I don’t think I really lose respect for them if they don’t … unless it becomes a pattern. I have no formal journalism background and I feel like I can do my thing without talking about what a guy was thinking about over that bunker shot on 11.
There is, broadly, a responsibility to talk, especially as a top player. But again, is this a pattern with Morikawa? Doesn’t seem to be. If it becomes one, then we can have a conversation.
On the flip side, I think all great young players go through their own version of “Wait, you guys don’t worship me anymore?” and Morikawa seems a little ill-equipped to deal with this. He admitted on Tuesday that he reads a lot of online commentary.
Why would someone do this? Well, there are a handful of reasons, but I think the primary one is that you want to be adored, you want to see that people love you. This is a very human thing, something you and I would do as well.
And so when you realize that maybe that’s not a universal sentiment, it can be jarring. It is jarring, as we saw from him on Friday.
Because when you are praised early in your career for something (in this case, winning two majors), it can feel like people are praising you, the person. But the truth is that most media folks don’t really know you. They just think it’s sick that you won two majors at age 25. They are praising you, the player.
The opposite is true. Criticism like this can feel so personal. And the conflation of the two things in a player’s head (especially a star) can lead to a lot of confusion and frustration later on down the line.
“I was signing for every single person right after the round, whether they wanted it or not.”
7. I for one am shocked that Spieth couldn’t keep holing out long pitch shots at TPC Sawgrass to keep pace with Rory, Morikawa, Minny Dub and Tommy. Also, he remains a total lunatic. Our lunatic, but a lunatic nonetheless.
This video is the perfect encapsulation. Pumps a driver and starts twisting himself in knots, trying to look at something in the sky. No dull moments.
8. This from KVV was a really good take on the Rory-Luke Potter thing.
The most interesting part of this well-written story, at least for me, isn't about whether Rory is soft or fans are unruly. It's about where we are as a culture that you'd rather publicly shit on someone in your profession than observe them at their craft. College kids do stupid shit. Lord knows I did stupid shit.
This kid was smart to apologize. I suspect Rory will accept it. I still can't grasp, say, standing a few feet from one of my heroes (someone I'd love to get five mins with) and essentially saying: LOL, you suck.
That's where the internet has poisoned us. A normal drunk fan heckling Rory? Whatever, not my jam, but an inevitable part of sports. But an aspiring pro? I can't think of anything as mortifying as heckling a great in my profession and having them walk over to say "Excuse me?"
KVV
No notes. Just total agreement. Also, can’t wait to taunt KVV from one row back as he’s trying to write his Masters gamer.
9. [Jason here] I’ve been thinking about the collar on No. 17. What if they cut down different parts of it (but not all of it)? There’s got to be something to this if Jamie Kennedy is thinking about it too.
Golf’s too easy, so you might as well make it harder. - Collin Morikawa
10. Guys …
Scottie: “It will be very challenging. The wind moves around a good amount out here. If you go to like a course like where The Open Championships usually are, you could play the ball on the ground. Around this place you can't really.”
Rory: “I'm looking forward to it. I think it's going to be really important to try to flight your ball and keep it under the tree line. … This course is challenging enough, but with a wind like that, yeah, I'm excited for that challenge [because I’ll be] trying to control my ball flight, trying to hit different shots. Trying to play with some creativity is something that I think I've gotten a lot better at over the last few years.”
Let’s have a weekend.
Thank you for reading until the end.
You’re a complete and total sicko for reading a golf newsletter that is 2,124 words long. May the wind get to 30 or higher!
Issue No. 170 | March 15, 2025
Like Colin Morikawa, we don’t regret anything we said or illustrated.
Onto some thoughts on Day 2 of the Players.
Today’s newsletter is presented by Holderness and Bourne, which, like the Players Championship, puts out a world class product that we cannot get enough of.
We are currently working on putting Norman (our little side-eye sheep) on various pieces of H&B apparel, and the optionality is a bit overwhelming.
Their gear is so good that we want to put him … everywhere.
The shirt I can’t get enough of right now is the Springer in pretty much every color. The combinations, the fit, the way all of it works together. Just like Spieth going left handed not even halfway into his round on Friday … it’s … perfect.
OK, onto the Round 2 thoughts.
1. One thing I have realized this week: Big events are way more fun to cover when you have total autonomy over how you choose to cover them. I loved my job at CBS Sports, truly, but it was definitely tiring at times to have to write every Rory round or every time Tiger hiccuped. It made me feel like less of a fan.
I have felt so reenergized this week by the ability to write what I want, and maybe even more so by the ability to ignore what I want as well.
Examples: 1. I’m probably not mentioning J.J. Spaun’s putt (see below) at all for CBS and 2. I probably wouldn’t have been able to do a ton with the Morikawa comments (also see below), but now I can go any direction I want with them.
It feels like I keep saying this to anyone who will listen, but I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun watching golf. I feel so much less like a Media Person and more like a fan again.
Our goal is to be as free as Wayne Riley commentating on Lucas Glover.
2. Rob Manfred wheels out the World Series trophy to the on deck circle, and players have to look at 99 from Gerrit Cole with one eye and what they’re playing for with the other. Strange, strange sport.
3. I honestly believe this might be the worst putt I’ve ever seen.
Not by a pro. Just … ever.
I got this text from a friend: I think I watched it 10 times. It keeps getting worse.
4. I saw Minny Woo wearing a watch on Friday and started making the list of pros who wear watches. Phil is the other obvious one. Bubba, too. Several people pointed out Sergio and Nelly.
Shane Bacon noted Fleetwood, who he said was in a Garmin-looking device earlier in the week (I recommend the Approach S70). This made me laugh.
Yeah, Tommy, great round out there today. I was wondering how you feel about your move at the ball when you’re trying to hit that drawing, high one off the 7th also did you hit your steps goal for the day?
This post will continue for Normal Sport members below, and includes …
Thoughts on JT’s wild 62.
What’s up with Morikawa’s emotional soliloquy.
The best “Rory taking that guy’s phone” take.
If you aren’t yet a Normal Sport member — we’re nearing six hundy! — you can sign up at the link below. If you are, keep reading!
Normal Sport is supported by nearly 600 sickos. By becoming a member, you will receive the following.
• The satisfaction of helping us establish our business.
• The entirety of our behind-the-paywall major (and PLAYERS) coverage.
• First look at future merch drops.
By clicking below to join the Normie Club, you will have a front row seat to what we’re building. Like Spieth, it won’t always be pretty, but it’s likely always going to be a ride.
