Vijay Singh also thought of a way to wear a green jacket

Welcome! Where are you, he asks. I call this the 9th weekend. Think of it as a place to warm you up on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We will have thoughts. We will have some tips. We will have tweets. But only nine in all, though sometimes perhaps more and sometimes perhaps less. Who am I? The sections below tell some of the story. I can be reached at nick.piastowski@golf.com.

On Friday morning, Vijay Singh’s Instagram account posted a hype video.

It had all the trimmings, too. Song (“Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater.). A specific action. (Singh was shown ‘swinging’ a medicine ball.) A few encouraging messages. (Spread on the video, another read: “New year’s reminder … Choose the process over the outcome.” And in the caption of the post, there was this: “Your habits will trump your resolutions.”)

He looked fine. Shoot, I felt good after watching it.

You can expect to be Singh. As first reported by the Associated Press’s Doug Ferguson here (and reviewed by GOLF’s Alan Bastable here), Singh is using the PGA Tour to release money from this year’s work, which means he can play events, a lot — into his early 60s. (He’s 62 now and turns 63 next month.) Why does he do it? Maybe we’ll learn that, maybe we won’t; Singh is yet to comment on the move. But he thinks he believes he will be competitive. While there are countless examples of athletes pushing themselves to the next level and eclipsing their past prowess in the process, Singh is, by most accounts, a proud man. In short, he probably wouldn’t do this willingly.

Should you be doing it? There are sides, of course. Regardless of where you stand on eligibility, Singh simply uses what he’s given, and the rules are the rules. But that doesn’t mean you have to follow them, and back and forth we go. For this space, however, I will leave that discussion there and note that others have commented on the matter. Just type ‘Vijay Singh’ with X and watch.

There is something good. But apparently more angst (which is, yes, and it says something both about the platform and the desire to complain rather than celebrate).

But what if, say, Fred Couples did this?

That question was posted on our GOLF Slack channel this week, and the reason for the question is an idea that I’ve been interested in for a while — and that’s to create likability in athletes by how they connect with others. Married? He seems approachable – and almost universally likable. And Singh? With that in mind, here’s a paragraph from a few years back that was written by well-known journalist Alan Shipnuck and published on this website:

Vijay is actually a tricky interview, on rare occasions when you can catch him in the right mood. His high-pitched giggle is one of the low-key joys of golf’s rhythm. Alas, his entire career has been marked by a complicated/controversial relationship with the media, stemming from an infamous cheating incident that preceded him on the PGA Tour. (The last word in this story will always be John Garrity classic when he went to Fiji.) Let’s face it, Vijay has never exuded warmth or charm between the lines. Since he did not allow journalists to get to know him and tell his story, it was difficult for fans to contribute to his success, or for companies to invest in him with advertising campaigns that could sway public opinion. Vijay is one of the greatest golfers of all time. His early runs were epic. He may have earned our respect, but it is mostly his fault that he never found love.

So is there anything else perhaps at play with the release usage issues? It is possible. Am I digging this too deep? Possibly. I’ll stick to the idea of ​​being interested then. Fan favorites occasionally get a pass. Others are less scrutinized. Nothing new.

It’s still interesting.

Besides, most of the time spent thinking about it takes away from CCR and the gym.

Let’s see if we can find eight more items for the 9th weekend.

One weekend takeaway

2. Let’s go back to the court of public opinion.

This weekend, we were supposed to get the opening rounds of the PGA Tour until the Tour announced in September that it was canceling the Sentry event in Hawaii due to drought conditions – and now there are whispers that the Tour may not return to the island at all from next year. While this space won’t go into detail – this story here, by GOLF’s Dylan Dethier, is perfect for that – what I’ve found is the love of this tournament. Put another way, I’ve never seen or heard much that could be celebrated.

Me? I’ve always liked the idea that delaying a golf pro’s schedule creates anticipation, and thus adds interest. Hawaii has a special shout out, though.

And it’s early days.

One takeaway from the previous week

3. Thoughts on the LPGA signing up for its own TGL and Chevron Tournament that is hosting the first women’s major at Memorial Park in Houston?

I’m sorry to say this.

I hate myself for writing it.

But hey, that’s Growing Up the Game!

Seriously, though, getting the product on TV screens is great. Playing in the sun is good. New commissioner Craig Kessler said he will work to find a connection between the players and fans of the tour, and here is what is happening.

Tip of the weekend instructions (for LeBron James)

4. I thought the video below was great. The PGA Tour had several experts analyze LeBron James’ transition.

Said Gary Neville, another broadcaster and football star: “Can’t you keep the green jacket?”

Said McIlroy: “No, it lives in the clubhouse. So it lives in your locker.”

Said Jill Scott, another broadcaster and soccer star: “You should have worn it today.”

Said McIlroy: “You know, I played in India a few weeks ago and it was the first time the green jacket was in India.. I brought it down to Australia. I brought it all over the world. And I wore it for Halloween. My daughter wanted to be Galinda ‘The Bad.’ So I was like, I’m going to be the Wizard of Oz. “

Said Wright: “Are there certain things that you can do—that people can’t touch, that no one else can do?”

Said McIlroy: “Yes, there are a few. Yes, you have to sign a disclaimer to get it out of the club. And there are dos and don’ts with it. You have to wear a certain shirt and you have to wear a club tie and only dress shoes; you can’t wear trainers. It’s great…”

Said Carragher, to laughter: “You just throw it away. Go get a bevy.”

Said Neville: “They don’t play at Augusta, do they, by the rules?

Said McIlroy: “No, they are – but that’s what makes it such a great place. It’s like they know who they are and they stick to it. And that’s one of the reasons they have one of the best brands in the sport. It’s because they’re very careful and they do everything in a way that, yes.”

McIlroy’s appearance on the show can be found below.

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A picture that interests me

6. I thought the image contained in the link here was beautiful – and festive. The item in the photo was created by Sydney Swanson of Wisconsin, and the photo was shared by ironmountaindailynews.com.

Instagram posts I enjoyed

7. I thought the Instagram post below was great. They were written by Jon Rahm and shared on X by GOLF’s Subpar podcast after Rahm appeared on the show.

One thing!

10. Hello! If you’ve made it this far, thank you – and I want to ask you a question, loyal reader:

What would you like to see in this space going forward? Or come out of this space, about a great story you want to be told? My email address is nick.piastowski@golf.com Please get in touch!

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