Tag: Adam Schupak

Schupak: USGA needs an alternate way to determine its U.S. Open alternates

Should it be changed?

PINEHURST, N.C. — You may have heard that Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia got into the 124th U.S. Open on Monday as well as a few others such as newly-minted pro Maxwell Moldovan. Meanwhile, Keith Mitchell, first alternate from the Canada Final Qualifying site, sits back home and wonders, what about me?

And here’s the rub: Mitchell and others on the “re-allotment list” have no idea where they stand because there isn’t a physical list ranking the alternates to consult. You know it’s a problem when agents of players are asking writers if they have any idea what their player’s chances of getting in might be. As one agent said summing up the alternate process: “Clear as mud.”

But it shouldn’t be that way. There’s no reason for the mystery. It’s time for the USGA to get with the times and exhibit some transparency. Ron Read, who spent more than three decades with the USGA as the western regional director and served as the first tee starter for years, said, “I worked 33 U.S. Opens and I never saw an order. It was always like in a dark room some place that somebody determined that this guy got in.”

There’s no good reason for it to be top secret, but here’s the USGA’s explanation of how the system works: “There are two ways an alternate can earn a place in the field. When a qualifier withdraws, the spot is filled by the first alternate from that qualifying site. When an exempt player withdraws, or an exemption category is not fully utilized, we use the reallotment list. The reallotment list comprises alternates from all qualifying sites, and the order is determined by the size and strength of the qualifying field.”

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The USGA held six spots in the field for those players who could potentially become exempt. Robert MacIntyre and Scott were the only players to earn an exemption for being in the top 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking as of Sunday. Scott, in fact, was No. 61 but took the spot of Grayson Murray, who died recently but technically remains in the top 60. Scott’s exemption also bumped Moldovan from second alternate in the Springfield, Ohio qualifying site to first alternate. Moldovan, who got in off the alternate list for the second straight year, Garcia, who is making his 25th straight appearance in the U.S. Open, Otto Black and amateur Brendan Valdes joined the field.

Still, the current system is archaic and leads to criticism of a lack of consistency and a whiff of politics being involved when there’s no rhyme or reason to the selection. Recognizing the flaws in the system, Read stepped up and proposed being transparent and putting the entire systems of alternates into an order and publish it. His suggestion? “Merge the two systems into one. Draw them out of a hat, that’s the order, and publish the damn thing. Democracy! No more politics,” Read said.

They might as well use NBA lottery ping-pong balls. In this era where everything is about clicks, it would make a for good TV segment or social media post. Read offered a real-world example of why a change would do the USGA good. At the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock, a Japanese player wasn’t accounted for on the 10th tee, leading to a mad scramble to find the next alternate to fill his spot.

“We sent Alex Prugh, the only alternate standing by to the 10th tee. The Japanese player did show up with seconds to go. My point is in this emergency situation, you don’t know which list you’re working from, you don’t know where the guy is and there’s chance for screw ups. It could happen,” he said. “My system was an attempt at being clear cut, straight forward and it would solve a number of things.”

Read argued that his solution also would give the dreamers a better chance and isn’t that part of what makes the U.S. Open so special?

“Do we have to favor the PGA Tour again? There are 23-odd ways to get in all of which favor the Tour pro. It’s the U.S. Open. What’s the better story for you – the 29-year-old science teacher or pick a name out of the Tour?” Read asked rhetorically.

In Read’s day, alternates had no status; they couldn’t play the course or even hit balls on the range. The USGA at least has bent on that. So, whatever happened to Read’s proposal?

“I could never sell it,” he lamented.

Alternates deserve to know their odds. Time for the days of somebody in a smoke-filled room making these decisions to go up in smoke.

Schupak: Smells like teen spirit, but are today’s golf prodigies really that special?

Miles Russell, Kris Kim, Blades Brown — at this pace, the Tour’s going to need to expand its daycare.

These kids are good.

The PGA Tour shouldn’t bother with reviving its old marketing slogan these guys are good because pretty soon none of them will be old enough to celebrate their successes with an alcoholic beverage.

First, it was 15-year-old Miles Russell, the youngest AJGA Player of the Year (displacing Tiger Woods), making the cut at a Korn Ferry Tour event (he finished T-20 in the LECOM Suncoast Classic) and nearly doing it again the following week. The high school freshman already has secured a sponsor exemption to the PGA Tour’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship in November, and the invites should be rolling in.

Last week, Kris Kim, 16, did one better, receiving a sponsor exemption into the PGA Tour’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson and shooting a first-round 64. He became the fifth-youngest player in the history of the PGA Tour to make the cut and the youngest in tournament history. Younger, in fact, than the Golden Child, Jordan Spieth. (Kim finished 65th.) Asked what he is most excited about when he gets back home, Kim responded with this classic answer: “I’ve got my driving license this year, so I think that’s going to be pretty cool.”

This week, it smells like teen spirit in the play-for-pay ranks in the form of young Blades Brown. Having already become the youngest stroke play medalist in U.S. Amateur history in 2023 (he was co-medalist) and breaking a record set by Bobby Jones 103 years ago, the 16-year-old Brown teed it up on Thursday at the Tour’s Myrtle Beach Classic and opened with 1-over 72.

At this pace, the Tour’s going to need to expand its daycare with all these youngsters proving they have game.

And it’s not just the men – 15-year-old Asterisk Talley of Northern California just qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open later this month and another 15-year-old, Ashley Shaw, earned a two-stroke victory at the John Shippen Cognizant Cup on Monday to earn a spot in this week’s LPGA field in New Jersey.

Impressive accomplishments, for sure, but when young golfers are doing seemingly remarkable things with such regularity it does take some of the wow factor away from the feat. These stories begin to feel more dog bites man than man bites dog. This latest kiddie corps, after all, isn’t that far removed from the age of Rose Zhang, who won in her LPGA debut last year, or Nick Dunlap, who won the American Express on the PGA Tour in January as an amateur and subsequently turned pro. Before celebrating his 21st birthday, Tom Kim won twice on the Tour and earned additional victories in India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and Singapore.

It wasn’t that long ago when Adam Scott and Dustin Johnson were the only players with multiple victories on the PGA Tour among players in their 20s. But Tiger Woods, besides winning eight to 10 times a year and preventing a generation from winning enough for World Golf Hall of Fame consideration, also gave rise to an influx of young, athletic talent. Talk to a PGA Tour Champions pro and he’ll tell you that in his day, he had to learn to shape shots and to flight the ball at different trajectories.

“You were almost serving an apprenticeship,” Woody Austin said. “You had to cut your teeth and get experience on Tour before you were ready to go win, and if you were any good, you’d do so in your 30s. Now, they come out of the box and they’re ready to go.”

Austin went on a lengthy rant about equipment, and he’s not wrong. The biggest factor, he said, is that the golf ball doesn’t curve anymore, and the penalty for hitting it crooked is less severe. So, newly minted pros and those still seeking their driver’s license don’t have to learn to work the ball both ways; just grip it and rip it. Another factor is that the equipment is so much easier to match. It used to take months of trial and error to find the right shaft and driver. If it used to take a player three months to determine that his driver is spinning the ball too much, it is now revealed in three shots. Now a player sets up his TrackMan or FlightScope, it spews out numbers and the whole bag can be reconfigured in an afternoon. Game-changer. Not to mention that there are data analytics experts to tell a player how to play a course and a green book that tells a player the break and read of the green. Experience is overrated.

The reason “these guys are good” is less of a secret. Players are being groomed like future pros well before they arrive at college. And when they turn pro, they travel with an entourage of swing, fitness and mental coaches. That these youngsters have the ability and the mental fortitude to compete with golfers more than twice their age and old enough to be their parent is still is impressive but it’s no longer something to marvel about. It’s a new day and age and one in which youth is not wasted on the young.

Forward Press podcast: Rehashing the FedEx Cup Playoffs, looking ahead to Winged Foot

Golfweek’s David Dusek chats with Adam Schupak about the end of the 2019-20 PGA Tour season, the FedEx Cup Playoff format and more.

Welcome to episode 61 of Forward Press, a weekly podcast from Golfweek.

In this edition of Forward Press, Golfweek’s David Dusek chats with Adam Schupak about the ending of the 2019 – 2020 PGA Tour season, what they like (and dislike) about the FedEx Cup Playoff format, if Bryson DeChambeau can overpower Winged Foot at the U.S. Open, and much more.

You can download the podcast and listen on all of your favorite platforms, including: iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Castbox and Radio Public.



Catch up on previous episodes of Forward Press here.

Forward Press podcast: Golf’s relief efforts and questionable aces amid the coronavirus

David Dusek chats with senior writer Adam Schupak about the upcoming TaylorMade Driving Relief and legitimacy of today’s coronavirus aces.

Welcome to episode 46 of Forward Press, a weekly Golfweek podcast.

Host David Dusek chats with fellow senior writer Adam Schupak this week about the upcoming TaylorMade Driving Relief, the legitimacy of today’s aces amidst COVID-19, the all-time alpha dog of golf and much more.

In each episode of Forward Press, you’ll get insight and commentary on all that is golf from David Dusek, Steve DiMeglio, Beth Ann Nichols, Eamon Lynch and Adam Schupak, as well as special guests throughout the industry.

You can download and listen on all of your favorite platforms, including: iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Castbox and Radio Public.

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