Issue No. 155 | February 11, 2025

Welcome to the insane series of events that have led to this series of online memes somehow making complete and total sense in my professional life.

Onto the news.

But First!

Today’s newsletter is presented by Seed Golf, who is the official golf ball partner of Normal Sport and has recently been expanding its presence all over the world.

Here’s Seed founder, Dean Klatt, an Australian who grew up playing all the great courses in the sandbelt but then eventually moved to Ireland to start Seed out of a university (very normal stuff).

One of the things we say around here is that we partner with businesses that make good products and have great stories. Seed epitomizes this. Go check them out!

OK, now onto the news.

One Thing I Found Fascinating

I was reading Geoff Shackelford’s excellent newsletter last week, and he made a reference to Tiger Woods’ Bob Jones Award speech last year in which Cat spoke at length about his mom.

Here’s the quote Shack referenced.

“She allowed me to do these things, chase my dreams, and the support and love – I didn’t do this alone. I had the greatest rock that any child could possibly have: my mom. Thank you, Mommy.”

I stared at the quote for a second, thinking, … Mommy? Wait, Shack must have mis-transcribed that. So I went and watched the clip, and it’s true. Tiger calls his mom, Kultida, who sadly passed away last week, “Mommy,” no less than three times in the speech.

Not to go full armchair psychologist, but this absolutely gives you a window into who he is and what he’s about.

Tiger has achieved so much and has been so great, but in a number of different ways, he was never allowed to become a man, to evolve. For myriad reasons — not the least of which is because he was never told “no” from about age 17 onward — he remained a boy for such a long time and even carries some of that with him today.

That is not meant to be derogatory. It is something I have at times noticed about myself and those around me. The older I get, the more I realize how much we are — for better or worse — shaped by our childhoods and our relational interactions with our parents.

Tiger has obviously matured, becoming a parent will do that to you. But he has lived the weirdest life, and I feel a sense of sadness for him that he never truly experienced what it means to grow up. Everyone was always so desperate to maintain that idea of boy wonder, all for the sake of the myth. For the sake of themselves.

We rarely get glimpses at Real Tiger. I think “Mommy” is one of them.

Two other amazing mini stories about Tiger’s mom.

1. From John Strege, who covered the Cat extensively when he was young.

2. From Armen Keteyian and Jeff Benedict’s excellent biography of Tiger.

Normal Sport

1. This activation is so good and so on point that it almost feels like … ahem … a plant.

2. The response here got me so good. If you haven’t been following the thread, it’s a reference to the fact that we didn’t get to see the leaders play the iconic 7th hole at Pebble a few weeks ago.

3. This screenshot is somehow not from a LIV event!

4. [Illustrator Jason here] This is my official request to bring Brussels’ Manneken Pis (little peeing man) to the 2026 WM Phoenix Open in honor of Thomas Detry’s win.

5. [Jason still here] And while I’m on half-baked idiotic proposals, I’d like to throw this snail hat into the ring of slow play solutions. Awarded to the day’s slowest player. Like how Tour de France stage jerseys would work if nobody wanted to win them.

Media Corner

This post from Jon Youshaei on how the NFL is embracing creators is really interesting.

Would I watch the NLU boys break down a 30-minute highlight reel of the 2001 Players with footage provided by the PGA Tour?

There’s more.

​The Tour is moving in this direction with its Creator Classic — which is smart — but you know who was at the forefront of this in golf?

ANGC of course. Remember when they allowed Dude Perfect to make a video with Bryson ahead of the Masters two years ago? That felt wild at the time, but it was prescient.

Gone are the days of getting your product in front of the masses by letting Frank Gifford walk around explaining the hole names in reverential tones. Enter: A far more complex media landscape where embracing “competitors” like Dude Perfect will ensure the perpetuation of your product.

That’s counterintuitive and smart. It’s smart because it’s counterintuitive.

Corrupt Golf Media

👉️ I was honored to join the Hole Story podcast last week and tell the Normal Sport story. I also shared some moments from my 2017 round at Augusta and future plans we have re: this business.

👉️ This on Josh Allen’s golf game makes him seem even more like the everyman he appears to be and will have you, golf sicko, rooting for him.

👉️ Is the NBA facing its LIV moment? After reading the article, this feels both a lot more sustainable and a lot less organized than what happened with LIV. Chamath also weighed in after selling his stake in the Warriors with something that looks a lot like LIV’s plan.

👉️ Brandel said he played golf with Trump last year and that Trump turned him, specifically on the benefit of Yasir being involved in the game.

Wait, what?!

Brandel is definitely trying to thread the needle here by remaining extremely anti-LIV but also now quite pro-Yasir, but I get it. I think everyone in golf is kinda looking around in a post-Tiger world like, Huh, wonder how this is going to go? And having a Saudi sugar daddy like Yasir who is infirmary-adjacent enough to fund the future feels a little better than betting on Pat Cantlay and Collin Morikawa being charismatic enough to drive the Tiger-like audiences that drive Brandel’s salary (and all of ours, tbh).

👉️ My friend, Kyle Worley, released his first book today. It’s wonderful, and I’m giving five of them away to the first five people who fill out this form.

Stat of the Week

Sebastian Gros, who plays on the HotelPlanner Tour — formerly known as the Challenge Tour (normal sport) — shot the dumbest 72-hole score I’ve ever seen.

Officially, he …

• Made 20 birdies
• Made 16 bogeys
• Made three doubles
• Finished 2 over
• Did not shoot a round between 61-74

This feels almost impossible. How many times has a golfer — in a tournament with an actual cut — not shot a round between 61-74 and still played all four rounds? How many times has a player made 20 birdies in an event and finished over par?! In some ways, that feels even more impossible.

Neither of these must have happened very many times! And that 42-28 on the front over the first two rounds is aspirational.

Also, shout out to mom. Here’s a clip from her Q&A a few weeks ago.

Let’s Check on Spieth

If you, like me, are so steep on Spieth that you will blow any positive sign completely out of proportion, then last week in Phoenix was a true extravaganza for you.

Things that happened …

• Jordy’s first top five since … Kapalua 2024.
• A 1.86 SG approach number that was his best since Phoenix last year.
• A Spieth par for the ages (even for him) on Sunday.

Here’s the 1.86 approach number compared to his starts for the last year.

He said last year that the underlying issue of his bad wrist interacting with the turf was possibly prohibiting him from really hitting the shots he wanted to. If you're like us and need to hear Jordan go into minute detail about all of this, go watch NLU's newest interview with him starting here.

Was that fixed? Maybe. It’s worth noting that he has thrived with his iron play at Phoenix in three of the last five years now so it might just be a golf course thing. Will monitor closely throughout the next few weeks.

This screenshot may be the best sign that he’s back, by the way. After a 311-yard drive, he made four from right here, 158 out.

His putter touched the ball twice on the hole.

I see no issues.

How Is This App Free?

 • 100 percent accurate.

• Also 100 percent accurate.

• This is why Twitter exists.

It’s also unfortunately a bit on the nose if you’re looking for Rickie metaphors.

Thank you for reading until the end.

You’re a sicko for reading a golf newsletter that is 1,719 words long.

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