Why Nelly Korda’s ‘unbelievable miss’ concept is important

Welcome! Where are you, he asks. I call this the 9th weekend. Think of it as a warm-up for 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.

Nelly Korda speaks.

And I can’t help but think that’s going to be one of the seasons of the LPGA.

Korda’s thought came to the story this week carefully Golfweek author Beth Ann Nichols, and you can read the entire story here. Earlier this month, a women’s indoor modeling league – WTGL – was announced, which will be played like TGL, the men’s modeling league that started last year. And the people were happy. There will be golf. There will be exposure. All good things.

But Korda, speaking to Nichols this week, was upset.

The women, he said, must be playing with the men.

“I have mixed feelings about it, to be quite honest,” Korda said, “and I’m surprised that none of the other girls had it, or nobody really talked about it.

“I think it’s a big miss and it’s unbelievable that we don’t play next to men. There’s no other way to grow this game, and it would be revolutionary. It would be the first time, I think, that men and women are in the same playing field, playing for the same money.

“But I also think it’s great that we’re getting this opportunity, so I have mixed feelings.”

Fair enough, I agree, and I had thought there should be a mixed Ryder Cup style event. But for now, let’s put aside our opinions about his opinion.

Because it’s the thought that counts.

Honest thought. And expressing it.

That’s not from me, though. That’s from LPGA Commish Craig Kessler. It was a few months ago, at the LPGA’s end-of-season event, that, amid a series of questions about the LPGA’s growth, star formation and attention creation, he said this:

“We’re competing in the attention economy. It’s not just against other sports. It’s: Should I put on Netflix, should I go out to dinner, should I hang out with friends, should I play in the backyard, should I go golfing?

“Anything that might grab the fan’s attention, we compete with that, so it’s our job to be different, interesting, and grab the fan’s attention in every way we can.”

Now, should Korda and the other pros go all Talking Head or have their Friday opinions on a golf website? No, not really (although I would happily take a week off). And there is a chance that Kessler and his team will meet all the needs of all LPGA professionals. But maybe not.

Think about the experts who allowed you to think the way Korda did. You are aware. You saw the title of Nichols’ story and clicked. (A friendly reminder to do so, if you haven’t already.) And you’re looking for more. Maybe you’re clingy. Maybe while you’re there, you find something interesting.

And, all of a sudden, people are talking about the LPGA like they do, say, the WNBA.

None of this hurts that much, either.

The truth doesn’t hurt, right?

“Again, there are no silver bullets in creating stars, and that’s where it takes an ecosystem,” Kessler said last November. “Yesterday we had a meeting with our colleagues, and at the end they kindly asked, what can we do to help.” We said two things: Raise your hand if you have ideas or a megaphone that you are willing to share with others, and, two, make presentations to those who can lean on and help.

“There are many examples we can point to, whether it’s what Nelly did by going to the Met Gala or Sports Illustrated or Charley. [Hull] attending a state banquet in the UK or some of his latest public affairs. I can take it to the variety of players and the things they have done to show the culture, not just inside the ropes. Those things make a difference.

“We’ve done a lot of work for our fans. What do the fans like and what do the fans want to see more of. And one of the responses we’re getting is that they want to see our LPGA athletes and stars come out of the ropes.”

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

2. The video below was great, too.

One takeaway from the previous week

3. Brooks Koepka returned to the PGA Tour this week, and on Tuesday we heard from him publicly for the first time since the four-time major winner and LIV parted ways – and I thought what he had to say about the breakup and coming back was interesting, as well as what he had to say.

His family played a big role, he said. Now he will be able to play more events closer to home as the Tour plays almost all of its schedule in the US

Koepka also said he has no regrets.

“I don’t regret anything I do. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve always enjoyed riding wherever I’ve been. I think that’s one thing – you learn from anything, whatever you do, so I don’t regret it.”

And he kept things friendly when talking about LIV. Is that surprising? Maybe a little bit. Divorce can be bad, and the golfing civil war was bad. But the parties involved play nice, at least publicly.

“Brooks and I — I talked to Brooks on Friday to put things in perspective,” LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said earlier this month. “There’s no holy war, at least from our side. It’s like, we’re about LIV Golf and growing the game around the world. I actually like Brooks. I’m rooting for Brooks. I hope the best for him and his family.

“If that’s what he wants, there won’t be a better cheerleader than me. I’ll tell you what, it’s good for him if he gets what he wants and we get what we want. I’m right – I couldn’t be happier for him and us.”

One weekend takeaway

4. Speaking of LIV, the circuit starts its schedule next week.

And the deadline for Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith to rejoin the PGA Tour under the plan Koepka used is Monday.

Good reading for your weekend

5. This story here was good. Written by Hugo Lindgren of New York Times Magazineexplains Max Greyserman – and how he applies the lessons of his father’s time on Wall Street.

I enjoyed this part:

That’s why the Graysermans framed their presentation in the language of ethics, listing the biases that interfere with good decision-making. Because bogeys are more damaging than birdies, you get scared of the green and leave your putts short. That’s the aversion to losing. If a good shot sends your confidence soaring, that’s a recency bias. Or if you convince yourself that the series of bad pictures will end next, that’s the gambler’s delusion at work.

Merely learning words is not the solution to anything. Behavioral economics is, at least, a science of educated guesses; at worst, it is academic fraud. In real life, cognitive biases distort our thinking as we randomly assemble narratives. Reducing your cognitive biases means digging deep, changing the way your mind works.

A tip for instructions for your weekend

6. This story here was good. Written by the University of Kansas, it states that athletes with better jumping ability have faster clubhead speed.

Another tutorial tip for your weekend

7. Below is 40-plus minutes of GOLF’s Dylan Dethier talking about the golf swing with Jordan Spieth. Enjoy.

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It’s a subject that interests me

8. This story here was good. Written by Barron’s, says a British travel agency is holding an event this year – in North Korea.

9. The question is, have any GOLF writers ever played in this tournament?

Yes, Josh Sens has, and that story can be read here. Here’s a preview of what he wrote:

In 2011, the year I was there, I gained entry into North Korea by providing facts on my visa application. (I said I was a golf instructor.) I flew to Beijing, hopped a train to eastern China, then flew into Pyongyang in a groaning plane built in the Soviet Union that I felt was going to crash. I was met at the airport by a North Korean government aide, who stayed with me throughout my week-plus trip. He was part sidekick, part enforcer – Stevie Williams in disguise.

A video that interests me

10. Let’s do 10 things! The video below was, well, interesting.