A month of Sundays

Happy (?) Monday, folks. We’re one month from the first scheduled PGA Tour event and just six days from the skins match at Seminole. We aren’t counting our chickens just yet, but those eggs are moving a bit, aren’t they?

News and updates

• Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard reported on Friday that the PGA Tour is still scheduled to return on June 11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Hoggard’s report includes a memo sent to PGA Tour players that lays out additional information for the Tour’s restart, including plans for centralized lodging and at-home testing kits. Full Story
• The Memorial Tournament is working out how to accommodate galleries this July. Jack’s event is scheduled to be the second week where fans are allowed on the grounds—the John Deere Classic will be the first. Proposals include limited ticket sales, RFID chips in tickets to monitor fan movements, and lots of masks. Watch the full report

Newsletter Notes

1993 All-PGA Tour Team

Today’s stop on the All-PGA Tour train is 1993, the year of the Bulls’ third championship. (Yep, still glued to The Last Dance.) It was also the year of Tiger’s third consecutive U.S. Junior Am title, but the kid wasn’t quite ready to make this list.

David Frost (two wins, nine top 10s) – ’93 was a means-to-an-end year for Frost. He got hot in September, winning back-to-back events and pocketing more than $1 million on the season. What did he do with his winnings? Well, having grown up on his father’s vineyard in South Africa, Frost had a passion for wine. So the following year, he purchased 300 acres in his home country and started his own label. David Frost Wines (creative!) is still in business today.

Lee Janzen (two wins, seven top 10s) – After missing the cut in his first three U.S. Opens, Lee Janzen won the championship in 1993 at Baltusrol. Facing pressure on the back nine from veteran Payne Stewart, Janzen birdied the 14, 16 (with a chip-in), and 18 to win by two. “Winning a major was not a goal this year,” he said afterwards. “I didn’t know if I had it in me to do it.” Janzen’s 272 tied the U.S. Open record set by Jack Nicklaus in 1980, also at Baltusrol.

Greg Norman (two wins, 12 top 10s) – It was a year of highs and lows for Norman. He won his second Open Championship in July with a final-round 64, trumping 54-hole leader Nick Faldo’s 67. A month later, going into the last round at the PGA Championship, Norman was in position to win his third career major. While he blew his three-shot lead on the front nine, he was still in good shape coming down the stretch. But Paul Azinger birdied four of his final seven holes to take Norman to a playoff. On the second playoff hole, Shark lipped out a five-footer and lost his chance at back-to-back majors.

Paul Azinger (three wins, 12 top 10s) – He won a major in 1993, but Azinger’s most dramatic moment of the season came at the Memorial Tournament. One shot behind Payne Stewart on the 72nd hole, Azinger dumped his approach into the greenside bunker. Stewart followed suit. After Stewart hit his bunker shot to eight feet, Azinger stepped up and holed his. Stunned, Stewart missed the eight-footer and the comebacker, dropping to third behind Corey Pavin. Azinger was emotional afterwards, saying “I can remember in ’86 when Bob [Tway] won the PGA, and he was crying, and I was saying, ‘What a baby, I’d never cry at a golf tournament.’ But it was such a shock for it to go in, and my best friend on Tour was out there and I did it to him. It was really hard.”

Nick Price, MVP (four wins, eight top 10s) – Price’s four wins included titles at the Players and Western Open, and he edged out Paul Azinger to win the ’93 money title. Just for kicks, he won the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge by a measly 12 shots in December. The previous year at the Nedbank, Price was tied for the lead after the third round when controversy erupted. His caddie had broken a local rule by moving an advertising board, and Price was informed that he would be assessed a two-stroke penalty. He refused to sign his card in protest and was disqualified. Sick.

The Latest from The Fried Egg

More than Migraines – For Mother’s Day, Will Knights recounts his mom’s bravery in the face of chronic migraines.

The Fried Egg Podcast: Seminole Golf Club with Bill Coore and Zac Blair

We’re less than a week away from the TaylorMade Driving Relief skins match at the legendary Seminole Golf Club. Architect Bill Coore and PGA Tour pro Zac Blair join Andy Johnson to give their takes on the course. Discussed: the less-than-stellar site, Donald Ross’s brilliant routing, the significant impact of the wind, and notable holes. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Shotgun Start: “Zatch & Beefy,” Medalist match reactions, Vijay vs. the KFT

This Monday episode starts with a focus on weather talk as the ultimate small-talk crutch, especially in our current quarantine moment. Tiger’s pet nicknames for ZJ and Bryson, unearthed in a video at the end of last week, are reviewed. Then Brendan and Andy react to the firmer details of The Match between Tiger and Phil at Medalist. They discuss the venue and atmosphere of the South Florida club, what Manning and Brady might bring to it, and the absurd betting lines for both that match and the one at Seminole. Andy gets so worked up about one line that he threatens to put a month’s mortgage on a team in one of these. The Vijay vs. KFT drama is also discussed in full after punting on it last week for the Crenshaw spotlight. The greatest hits on Mr. 300 and Keith Clearwater are re-visited, but a further lament is offered about the Tour’s lack of creativity to really use this unprecedented time to shake things up. They close with a quick hit news segment, including a discussion on plans for Memorial to monitor fans movements with chips in their badges and then tell them to separate. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify

Coffee Mondays

If the news has you down, get a caffeine boost courtesy of Andy, Brendan, and our friends at Bixby Coffee! Their delicious Shotgun Start blend is what’s keeping us going right now. Get yours today!