Cut Line: Pepperell finds humor, Mickelson finds frustration

ORLANDO, Fla. – In this week’s edition, Eddie Pepperell makes his Cut Line debut thanks to his sharp play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and even sharper wit, while Phil Mickelson once again proves himself adept at making headlines both on and off the golf course.

Made Cut

Pep-perell in his step. Eddie Pepperell may not be a household name in the United States just yet, but that seems certain to change thanks to a unique combination of personality and performance.

On Friday at Bay Hill he proved the latter with a 4-under 68 that moved him into a tie for seventh place and five strokes off the lead. But it was after the round that the former shined.

Pepperell explained that he reunited with his old swing coach, Mike Walker, this week. When asked about the duo’s relationship the Englishman explained: “It’s the fourth time I’ve gone back to him, so he asked me to describe it, I said, it’s like a crack addiction. The highs are very high, but there’s some tough lows in there as well,” he laughed.

Pepperell also explained the experience of playing the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the first time when he began practicing on the putting green earlier this week.

“I had [putting coach] Phil Kenyon come up to me and say, Eddie, that’s Arnie’s flag, that has to stay in every year in his memory,” he said. “I had to ask Charles Howell, I said, ‘Charles, can you just tell me something, should that flag be in? Is it in memory of Arnie?’ And he said, ‘No, no, he’s messing with you.’”

Introducing the always-entertaining Eddie Pepperell.

Tweet of the week:

Ode to the Ancient Twitterer. Dan Jenkins covered the Masters when the press was huddled in the old quonset hut, and was there when the club opened the new state-of-the-art press building in 2017.

He reported on Ben Hogan’s last major victory and Tiger Woods’ first Grand Slam triumph. The long-time sports writer and acclaimed novelist bridged the generational gap like no one else with a keen wit and an unrivaled understanding of the game.

Jenkins died on Thursday in his hometown of Fort Worth. He was 89.

Some of Jenkins’ greatest lines can’t be used in this space because, well, sensitivity wasn’t really his thing. But for those who grew up wanting to have a fraction of his talent (we don’t), he was sports journalism’s Jack Nicklaus.

Jenkins weaved insight, humor and brevity together brilliantly. “Oakland Hills looked more like a penitentiary than a golf course,’” he wrote of the 1951 U.S. Open which Hogan won.

Jenkins will be missed but his absence will be particularly notable next month when the golf world returns to that new press building at Augusta National.

Full-field scores from the Arnold Palmer Inviational

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Articles, photos and videos

Made Cut-Did Not Finish (MDF)

A typical Phil week. Life is never dull with Phil Mickelson and this week at Bay Hill certainly proved the point.

Lefty did his Lefty thing on Thursday after fanning his drive well left of the 10^th fairway and just along the out-of-bounds line under a temporary boundary fence. Playing right-handed, Mickelson attempted to advance his golf ball only to have it get caught in the fence and roll out of bounds.

After the round Mickelson kept things interesting when he was asked his plans for next week’s Players Championship, and he explained he will make the trip up to TPC Sawgrass and see how things look.

Mickelson has made it clear in recent weeks he’s not a fan of thick rough and tight fairways, like what players expect to find next week on the Stadium Course. He also recently said there is no such thing as a “must-play” event.

Lefty is currently committed to playing the Tour’s flagship event and all of this appears to be nothing more than saber-rattling. You know, typical Phil stuff.

Calmer heads. Following a week of increasing tensions between the USGA and a growing number of PGA Tour players the circuit stepped in this week with a simple message – keep calm, play on.

In a memo sent to Tour players from commissioner Jay Monahan on Monday, he explained that this year’s rules makeover, which has caused a healthy amount of complaining, was a collaborative process that included the Tour.

“[The Tour] put forward a lengthy list of recommendations to improve the rules in many ways, including the removal of numerous penalties, and virtually all our suggestions were incorporated,” the memo read. “We also had the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed rules prior to implementation, which resulted in modifications for the final version.”

The memo was intended to bring down the temperature in a room that had become far too hot for everyone involved, and the message seems to have sunk in.

“It’s everyone’s favorite pastime in golf to bash the USGA right now. They are an easy target,” Rory McIlroy told Cut Line this week. “It’s never going to be perfect, especially when you’re trying to implement change. For the most part, people are resistant to change.”

It’s not often in our game that golf’s leading voices need to call for a collective time out, but sending everyone to their corners to take a breath was a good start.

Missed Cut

Playing the odds. The Tour reversed course on gambling last week turning the game’s dusty little secret into an opportunity.

The circuit’s new endorsement policy now allows players to have sponsorship deals with the likes of DraftKings, which, by Tour definition, is a “gambling company” but not a company “whose primary purpose is sports betting.”

Clear as mud, right?

The move was inevitable following last year’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a federal act prohibiting gambling in most states. Sports gambling is going to happen whether the Tour likes the idea or not, and it also creates a potentially lucrative revenue source via the suggested “integrity fees” and is seen as a unique way to engage new fans.

But history has shown how gambling and even the slightest hint of corruption can be devastating to a sport.

“They are opening themselves up and I’m a little fearful of it,” Els warned. “Guys are going to have to be careful because things are going to start coming out of the woodwork.”

The Tour has taken great steps to make sure that doesn’t happen. Let’s hope it’s enough.