pga tour golf shootout cheats

PGA TOUR Golf Shootout

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PGA TOUR Golf Shootout is a free-to-play arcade-style mobile golf game for iOS and Android devices. The game is an officially licensed product of the PGA TOUR and is developed by Concrete Software in association with GameMill Entertainment . After a brief soft launch period on Google Play, the game was initially released on both its platforms on April 17, 2019.

The current release of PGA TOUR Golf Shootout is version 2.2.0 , released to players on June 21, 2020. This update includes new tournament types, improvements to Clubhouse Challenge progress, and improvements to inventory and bag management.

The latest version of the game can always be found on the App Store or Google Play .

• 1.1 Choosing Clubs
• 1.2 Hitting the Ball
• 1.3 Hole Performance
• 1.4 Match Types
• 3 Screenshots
• 5 External Links

Gameplay [ ]

PGA TOUR Golf Shootout is an arcade-style golf game. It features a degree of real-world accuracy but does not intend to be a simulator. The gameplay and on-course physics lean towards an easy learning curve for new players and quick matches.

Choosing Clubs [ ]

Before a match, players choose up to five of 51 collectible clubs of different types and fictional brands to put into a bag . These clubs have stats that determine their performance on the course, as well as special abilities . Players use these bags to play rounds of golf on holes based on real-world Tournament Players Club courses .

Players take a single bag onto a hole, leaving them with a choice of one of their five clubs for every shot on the hole. Clubs cannot be switched out while in a match.

Hitting the Ball [ ]

To hit the golf ball, players touch and drag on the screen to determine the power of their shot, or the distance it will travel. Each club in the game has an optimal range for its given power stat, but players can choose to "overpower" their shot for more distance at the expense of accuracy by dragging further on the screen.

While "holding" the ball to determine shot power, the player can aim where the ball will go on the hole by dragging around. The player sees a shot preview arc in the sky showing the intended path of the the ball flight and a circular accuracy indicator on the ground, showing roughly where the ball will land if hit accurately.

During aiming, a swing meter appears on the screen with a sweeping arrow moving back and forth. When the player lets go of the screen, the ball will be launched according to the intended power with an accuracy determined by how close the swing meter is to the center. The swing meter moves slower and more steadily the higher a club's control stat is, making it much easier to hit the center for a perfect shot.

Hole Performance [ ]

As in real-world golf, players are judged based on their performance based on how many strokes they take on a hole. Each hole has a par, or number of strokes allotted to getting the ball in the hole from the tee. Holes may be a par 3, par 4, or par 5.

In the main Play mode of the game, players receive rewards or penalties depending on their final hole performance. Winning against another player grants FedExCup rank points, coins (the game's basic currency), and a card pack if the player has an open slot available. A tie grants coins and a tie token, increasing the chances of getting a free upgrade to a better pack. Losing earns no currency and causes a player to lose FedExCup rank points.

Beating par on a hole by getting a birdie, eagle, albatross, or hole in one grants additional rewards beyond the regular rewards for winning.

Match Types [ ]

Players can play solo or compete against other players in a variety of match types that follow a similar rule set. These match types include:

• Solo challenges where the player attempts to complete a hole or series of holes with certain special conditions for winning, such as high wind, low gravity, using only a particular subset of clubs, or getting a target score.
• Free play modes for each of the four TPC courses are unlocked as players complete the list of in-game solo challenges. This allows players to play any hole they want with no special conditions or restrictions, for practice or just for fun.
• Play mode is the primary gameplay type. This matches a player asynchronously against a prerecorded previous hole performance of another player. The player's performance in this match may be recorded and go into the pool of matches available for other players to play against. Play mode is the only match type that affects a players FedExCup rank.
• Daily challenges are similar to solo challenges, but refresh randomly each day and never run out. A player competes on their own to finish a hole with a certain criteria, such as score or hitting targets, and receives a random card pack as a reward.
• Tournaments are structured events that pit up to 100 players against each other based on their performance on a predetermined series of holes that may or may not have special conditions present. A player plays through the series of holes on their own, and their final accumulated performance across all the holes is measured by both score and time taken against all the other players on the leaderboard. Tournaments are active for a predetermined length of time, and after they are over, players are rewarded based on their final leaderboard position.
• Players may issue challenges directly to another member of their Clubhouse. By issuing a challenge, a player records a performance on a hole and the challenged player is notified. The other player may then choose to accept the challenge and records their performance on the same hole with the same conditions. Then, both players are notified of the final match result and coins are awarded to the winning player. No rewards are given to either player in the case of a tie.

Economy [ ]

PGA TOUR Golf Shootout is highly focused on collecting new clubs and upgrading those clubs to perform better on courses, allowing players to move up the FedExCup ranks and win in-game tournaments easier and more reliably. Nearly every aspect of the in-game economy and progression revolves around clubs, the cards players earn to upgrade them, and the packs those cards come in.

Card packs are earned through a variety of means, including winning games in Play mode, completing solo and daily challenges, and buying them outright from the Pro Shop, the in-game store. Packs come in different qualities that determine how much currency and how many club cards they contain, as well as the rarity distribution of those cards.

As with many free-to-play titles, the game has multiple currencies: the "basic" currency of coins, and the "premium" currency of gold.

Coins are used to upgrade clubs and purchase rotating lots of cards from the Pro Shop. Coins are earned as rewards for winning in Play mode, found in packs, and given as rewards for other in-game activities such as winning tournaments or completing a hole under par. Packs of coins can also be purchased from the Pro Shop.

Gold is also earned from packs, but in a much lower quantity than coins. Gold can be earned as prizes for placing highly in a tournament, as a reward for weekly Clubhouse challenges, or for getting an albatross or hole in one in a match. Gold can also be purchased with real money from the Pro Shop.

Other in-app purchases include bundles in the Pro Shop that can contain a variety of items, including predetermined club cards, packs of coins or gold, or player avatars. There are many bundles available in the game, but not all are available for purchase at all times. These bundles have a chance to rotate into the Pro Shop on a daily basis.

Screenshots [ ]

The gallery below contains a sampling of screenshots from the game. Click or tap on an image thumbnail to see it full size.

Click or tap the video below to watch gameplay capture of a full match in Play mode.

External Links [ ]

• Official game website
• Concrete Software (developer) official website
• GameMill Entertainment (developer) official website
• Game announcement press release
• PGA TOUR official website
• PGA TOUR Golf Shootout on the App Store
• PGA TOUR Golf Shootout on Google Play
• Official subreddit
• Unofficial Facebook Group
• 2 PGA TOUR Golf Shootout
• 3 Legendary

• WALKTHROUGHS

PGA TOUR Golf Shootout Cheats and Tips

PGA TOUR Golf Shootout

Welcome to our game help site for PGA TOUR Golf Shootout. A place to find cheats and tips, get redeem codes, ask questions, check guides or find friends. Check below for our current content.

We have Questions from other AppGamers that maybe you can help answer, or you can ask your own to get any help you need with PGA TOUR Golf Shootout. And of course you can leave a review for the game to let other players know how good it is to play.

PGA TOUR Golf Shootout FAQs

We have 18 questions and 0 answers for PGA TOUR Golf Shootout. View Them

I would like to leave my clubhouse (I’m the captain) and join a new one. How do I do this?

When does the wood “the Rocket” become available?

Whats the best bag setup for Southwind15?

What does the arrow and number mean in the clubhouse area (beside your name) when you check to see if you have your 50 wins?

Just became level 2 club how done get more members to the clubhouse?

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PGA TOUR Golf Shootout Reviews

Latest Review:

Interactions with clubhouse mates is a strength

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PGA TOUR Golf Shootout

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PGA TOUR® GOLF SHOOTOUT

• Release Date: April 17, 2019
• Category: Sport

Sink birdies and ace the greens in PGA TOUR® GOLF SHOOTOUT! Tee up to collect and upgrade golf clubs, experience stunning real-life TPC golf courses from the PGA TOUR®, and participate in daily challenges and golf tournaments for exciting rewards!

KEY FEATURES:

• Play against real opponents around the world
• Progress through challenging PGA TOUR® TPC courses in single player
• Daily challenges and rewards
• Unlock and upgrade golf clubs
• Beautiful 3D graphics
• Join clubhouses and compete against friends in Duels!

GOLFING FOR EVERYONE! Smooth, simple controls for easy-to-learn gameplay

COLLECTABLE CLUBS! Discover and upgrade over 50 golf clubs with unique stats and abilities

SWING WITH THE BEST! Compete with opponents around the world or advance through single player

GORGEOUS GRAPHICS! Level up and tee off on 72 holes across four real-world locations: TPC Sawgrass, TPC Scottsdale, TPC Deere Run, and TPC Southwind!

Screenshots

Download Now

• Download PGA TOUR® GOLF SHOOTOUT for appStore Now
• Download PGA TOUR® GOLF SHOOTOUT for googlePlay Now

PGA Tour Golf Shootout Cheats for Android

• Developer: Concrete Software
• Publisher: Concrete Software
• Genre: Sports
• Release: Apr 16, 2019
• Platform: Android
• ESRB: Not Set

If you know cheat codes, secrets, hints, glitches or other level guides for this game that can help others leveling up, then please Submit your Cheats and share your insights and experience with other gamers.

Stuck in this game? Ask a question below and let other gamers answer your question or view answers to previously asked questions. If you think you are an expert then please try to help others with their questions.

PGA Golf Tour Shootout review - "Walks the fine line between sim and arcade"

As I understand it, golf in the real world is a nice walk through some well cut grass, and mainly involves vaguely pompous dudes smashing a small white ball around and thinking that makes them special. It's possible I'm a heartless cynic though. Digital golfing, however, is so much my bag that it almost doesn't make sense how much apathy I have for the real thing.

PGA Golf Tour Shootout is a particularly fine example of why I love golf games. It's simple in all the right ways, and, to all intents and purposes, is a bit like a giant 3D version of Yahoo Pool. Choose your club, choose your angle, choose your power, hope for the best.

• Rush Rally 3 review - "Probably the best rally experience for mobile right now"

Sometimes you need to get the ball in the hole in a set number of shots - whether that's above or below par depends on the challenge. Others are more complex - one involves landing your ball in a sand trap and still managing to get it into the hole under par. There's no penalty for failing a challenge, and completing them unlocks more. There are shades of a less zany Virtua Tennis here, and that's alright by me.

Then there's the multiplayer. Here you're taking on other players in single hole tournaments. It adds a real frisson of excitement to proceedings knowing you're thwacking balls against another human being - the challenges are great, don't get me wrong, but the meat of the game is in competition.

The deeper you get into the game, the more multiplayer options open up. It's a nice touch, and it means that even when you're doing really well, you know there are tougher challenges waiting on the horizon. It's a bit like if Clash Royale was a golf game - win, get card packs, toughen up, try and win again.

The presentation here is especially good. Aside from the solid graphics, the menus you're swiping around are slick and clear - there's none of the obfuscation that you'll sometimes find in free to play games, and there's an intuitive swipe system that makes the whole game just feel like an extension of your phone.

• Pigeon Wings Strike review - "An endless runner to coo over"

There might not be the depth of a real PGA game here, or the wackyness of the other end of the golf game spectrum, but as a mobile dive-in-and-out experience it's pretty much spot on. Pick it up and you'll see what I mean.

PGA Tour Golf Cheats

This page contains a list of cheats, codes, Easter eggs, tips, and other secrets for PGA Tour Golf for PC . If you've discovered a cheat you'd like to add to the page, or have a correction, please click EDIT and add it .

CPU makes bad shots

Press [F7] + [F8] while computer players are making their shots.

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PGA TOUR Golf Shootout Guide: Tips, Cheats & Tricks to Level Up Fast

Home » Cheats » EA Sports PGA Tour Cheats

EA Sports PGA Tour Cheats

Looking for EA Sports PGA Tour cheats on PS5, Xbox Series X & PC? Here we’ll list EA Sports PGA Tour cheat codes and unlockables with tips for EA Tiburon’s new golf sports sim game that plays like the good Tiger Woods games of last decade.

Here we will show you how to unlock all EA Sports PGA Tour codes with a cheats list that’s valid for the PC, PS5 & Xbox Series X versions (where available).

Take a look at the cheats below for EA Sports PGA Tour: Road to the Masters…

Table of contents

Ea sports pga tour unlockable dlc items, ea sports pga tour tips and tricks, ea sports pga tour cheats list, ea sports pga tour pre-order bonus.

Pre-order Bonus Free Items for All Editions:

• The Players Gear: Make a splash with official Players Championship gear.
• The Grand Slam Gear Bundle: Gear items celebrating The Majors: The Masters, PGA Championship, US Open & The Open.
• Scotty Cameron Putter: Including Headcover.

EA Sports PGA Tour Special Edition Differences & Extras

Deluxe Edition Bonus Items:

• The Masters Gear: Featuring The Masters Bag & Headcover Set.
• PGA Tour XP Bundle: Jump start your PGA Tour Career.
• 1,500 Premium PGA Tour Points: Choose unique pro shop items with this in-game currency.
• Early Access to Augusta National: Featuring limited-time online tournament & Augusta National Amen Corner Gear.
• 3-day Early Access: Get in the game early!

EA Play April 2023 Bonus Items:

• EA-logo Golf Hat

What impacts your shot?

There’s a reason players and caddies talk before their shot to best achieve success on the course so you’ll experience this in the pre-shot decisions you’ll have to make for a great shot. The challenge of your shot appears in a split between pre-shot decisions like club and shot types, with swing execution and placement based on course dynamics. This way you’ll be thinking more “golf” and less “golf swing” only.

A variety of factors like club and shot type all impact your shot but most of all, course dynamics and ball behavior like wind, altitude, terrain reactions, ball dribbling, and more will impact your shot. The full list of aspects that impact your shot are listed below

• Slope of the terrain*
• Velocity & spin reduction from adverse terrain (like rough)
• Golfer, club, and ball attributes
• Power boost
• Swing execution
• In-flight Spin Control
• Ball Reactions depending on terrain type and course Conditions
• Ball dribbling

* Is there weather available in-game?

There are a variety of factors that impact gameplay on the course including altitude and wind. Courses in traditionally cloudy areas like The Old Course at St. Andrews will appear cloudy while sunny courses like The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island will appear bright. Other weather conditions will not affect gameplay or appear in-game.

Will there be a 3-click swing option in-game?

EA have said that they know that the 3-click swing is important to the community and as a result of early community feedback they are planning to include this swing in an early title update after launch.

How can I customize gameplay to my personal preferences?

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR features a variety of gameplay styles from arcade settings that assist you with a putting grid, power boost, and spin control to simulation settings that remove all assistance for a true-to-life gameplay experience.

What golf courses are in the game?

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR will have 28 real-life and 2 fantasy courses for a total of 30 beautiful golf courses at launch. And on each of these courses comes a variety of gameplay and visual features that result in 30 unique experiences to play. Check out the Course Deep Dive below and read on to learn more.

State-of-the-art Technology Supports Course Mapping for Accurate Course Visuals

Each course is designed in stunning quality with Frostbite, so you can immerse yourself in golf’s finer details more than ever before. And to achieve the most true to life course visuals we meticulously mapped Augusta National, the home of the Masters, and other courses, with state-of-the-art technologies like photogrammetry scanning, drone technology, and survey-grade GPS. 

We also led custom LiDAR helicopter flights over each course in the game, scanning at lower altitude with slower speeds to achieve more data-point-density and a higher level of realism than scans from publicly available sources. Using these technologies, which are actually designed to discover underground gold mines and oil reserves, we achieved pin-point accuracy down to the blade of grass for many courses in-game. Each course’s scan has been transferred into EA SPORTS PGA TOUR to be developed and tuned for the most accurate depiction of them possible.

And we didn’t just scan the greens, the terrain map also created precise renderings of clubhouses, vegetation, bridges, tee markers, rock formations, water, and more on-course elements.

To achieve the highest granularity possible, we also took the time to visit these prestigious courses ourselves to fully understand how the course plays in real life. From walking the holes to surveying course superintendents, the unique conditions at each golf course were mapped and recorded in these in-person visits over the years. 

We were able to even record the distinct cuts of grass and how the ball behaves on them along with upcoming changes they’re making for future seasons to capture a full picture of these courses and how each of them play now and in the future.

So whether it’s The Old Course at St. Andrews Links or The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, you’ll be able to see and feel the distinct differences of playing on these courses just like you would if you were there in real life.

Course Visuals Enhanced by Time of Day Features

Inspired by classic American landscape artists, we set out to create the most beautiful courses in-game with lighting that changes the look of a course based on the time of day. The goal was to create discreet times of day that showed off each course or hole in its absolute best light.

 In game, we represent those as 3 different “tee” times, morning, mid day and late afternoon, across 4 unique “Biomes”. Each of the 4 biomes , Humid subtropical, Mediterranean, Oceanic and Desert, have varying lighting conditions, levels of contrast, clouds and atmospheric haze etc, to give each course a unique look based on its location and the time of day that you are playing.

Course Dynamics Support True-To-Life Ball Dribbling and Behavior

But stunning visuals are only one part of making a course feel like it does in real life. To make each course not only appear but feel accurate to real life, Pure Strike gameplay’s Course Dynamics impact the way the ball behaves on every green in the game.

Each course is tuned to behave just the way it does in real life which impacts the height of a ball’s bounce, the speed of its roll, the impact on ball spin, and the launch of the ball which vary from course to course.

Each course has its own subtleties including everything from the speed and firmness of the fairway to the firmness and length of the first cut. The ball reacts to these subtleties to result in a variety of ball behaviors that change on each course. So you’ll see the ball roll differently on the firm and fast fairways at The Old Course at St Andrews Links in comparison to those of Harbour Town. 

The ball will behave differently across different terrains like pine straw, firm fairway, soft fairways and more. So you can expect to see the ball bounce differently on softer terrains in comparison to hard ones, just like you’d see in real life.

But you’ll also be able to feel how your ball behaves differently in the air as well since ball behavior and course dynamics are also impacted by altitude so courses above sea-level will see balls go further than those on the coast.

The Tee is Yours on 30 Prestigious Courses

From ball behavior on each course to life-like visuals, the Tee is Yours at these 30 prestigious courses listed below.

• Augusta National
• The Old Course at St Andrews Links
• Pebble Beach
• The Country Club
• Southern Hills
• TPC Sawgrass
• Wilmington Country Club
• TPC Southwind
• TPC Scottsdale
• Whistling Straits
• Quail Hollow
• Torrey Pines
• The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort
• Chambers Bay
• Banff Springs
• Liberty National
• Harbour Town
• The Riviera Country Club
• Top of the Rock
• Bandon Dunes
• Evian Resort
• Teeth of the Dog
• Wetlands (fantasy course)
• Lighthouse Pointe (fantasy course)

And there are more courses waiting for you after launch with the 2023 major courses including Oak Hill, The Los Angeles Country Club, Royal Liverpool as well as Olympia Fields as a part of the FedExCup series and Marco Simone for the Ryder Cup releasing in the future.

What pro golfers will be available to play against or as in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

• Scottie Scheffler 
• Cameron Champ 
• Xander Schauffele 
• Im Sung-jae
• Nelly Korda 
• Lexi Thompson 
• Jordan Spieth 
• Hideki Matsuyama

For more, check back through the spring for additional content releases.

What courses will be available to play in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

When EA SPORTS PGA TOUR launches, fans will have the opportunity to play at 30 courses including 28 of the world’s most prestigious tracks, and two fantasy courses.

• Kiawah Island Ocean Course
• Riviera Country Club

Get some official Tips & Tricks:

Learn more about the most iconic golf course in the world. Use Xander Schauffele’s tips to take on The Masters only in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR. Play with Xander in-game now!

[Work-In-Progress]

Disclaimer: These are all EA Sports PGA Tour cheats on Xbox Series X, PS5 & PC found so far. Sadly in modern games cheat codes are often replaced with DLC codes, in which case the best we can do is provide secret unlockables, as well as the handy EA Sports PGA Tour guides listed above to help you with tips and tricks for the game!

Credits: EA

Do you know of any EA Sports PGA Tour cheats or unlockables? Let us know in the comments, you’ll get credit for finding out. – Thanks for visiting!

Valspar Championship

Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Course)

MOMENTS THAT DEFINED WOMEN'S GOLF

Best of Golf Digest

Cheaters on tour: ‘We know who they are’

From the archive (August 1996)

Editor’s note: In celebration of Golf Digest's 70th anniversary, we’re revisiting the best literature and journalism we’ve ever published. Catch up on earlier installments.

Among golfers, the worst thing you can say about a person is that he’s a cheater. We don’t mean unknowingly violating the Rules of Golf; we’re talking full-on, premeditated, reprehensible, first-degree cheating. Fortunately, it is rare.

The highest honor bestowed upon a golfer is not a green coat or a claret jug, it’s the Bob Jones Award for sportsmanship—the subtext for winning the award is a life of scrupulously playing by the rules. The most famous parable about Jones has nothing to do with his Grand Slam of championships won in 1930; it was in the 1925 U.S. Open he lost after calling a penalty on himself for causing his ball to inadvertently move when no one else saw it. Hailed for his honesty, Jones shook it off and said: “You might as well praise me for not robbing a bank.”

Tom Watson won the Bob Jones Award in 1987. Ben Crenshaw won it in 1991. Nick Price won it in 2005. Remember those names.

Rich or poor, low- or high-handicapper, the often-repeated consensus is that people who cheat in life don’t necessarily cheat at golf, but people who cheat at golf invariably cheat in life. The longtime Golf Digest columnist Tom Callahan considers this subject with the delicate touch of a surgeon. His scalpel’s cut is precise but leaves no blood on the table. —Jerry Tarde

Nothing has been said this year in golf or in sports that rings with a sharper truth than the five words: “We know who they are.”

To a leading question in a dinner setting, Tom Watson acknowledged in late winter that there were cheaters on the PGA Tour. “The game is a game of integrity,” he told an Australian interviewer in Melbourne, “but you are talking about money and you’re talking about livelihoods.”

Invited to name names, Watson said icily, “We know who they are.”

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As if candor were calumny, Tom was slammed in the U.S. for once again sticking his blue nose where it wasn’t wanted. But the slammers lost momentum when Nick Price told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, “There are two [players] I know of for sure on tour who cheat and many others who I have come across in my travels. But once you do it, the guys all know who you are. Forever.”

While PGA patriots were extolling Jeff Sluman’s honesty at Bay Hill, Ben Crenshaw, of all gentle people, was saying, “Cheating is the absolute worst thing on tour, period. It’s like the people who play golf are one big family, and once you get cast out of the family, there’s no way to get back in.”

If that were literally so, Watson and Gary Player, Greg Norman and Mark McCumber, Nick Faldo and Sandy Lyle, Seve Ballesteros and Paul Azinger—and all the other jousters who have tilted bloodily over honor—would never know peace in each other’s company. (A few never will.) But time is a funny thing.

Many U.S. Opens ago, a large Californian named Lon Hinkle seemed to hang over young Ballesteros like a gargoyle at every green. Asked about it afterward, Hinkle said in a measured tone: “He is a great young player, but he is going to have to learn to mark his ball like a professional.” Evidently, he did.

There’s an American star on tour who, long ago, in the crucible of the Q school, left a birdie putt on the lip and angrily whiffed the tap-in. With a face whiter than Gold Medal flour, he proceeded to the next tee and drove off as if it were still his honor.

His two playing partners were so stunned that they said nothing. He won his card by more than a shot; all three qualified. But, late that night, the other two got to talking, and drinking, and one went to the telephone. “I just want you to know,” he said in the alcoholic mist, “that I saw what happened out there today, and you’ll have to live with it the rest of your life.” Only one word came back in rebuttal, softly: “OK.”

Maybe a higher sense of obligation, some extra quality of effort, comes out of such a lonely start. Because, through the years, the player in question has gained the respect of the industry. But there are still whispers. Perhaps that’s what Watson, Price and Crenshaw mean.

On the amateur level, the club level, the muny level, “We know who they are” is the truest fact of golf, and maybe the only conforming law.

An old Kentucky newsman, Mike Barry, used to announce on the first tee, “You fellows go ahead and play whatever game you want. I’ll be playing golf.” In other words, he wouldn’t be hitting a mulligan at No. 1, bumping his ball in the fairway or moving his coin to avoid an abrasion (“teeing it up on the green,” as Jim Colbert calls that popular practice).

By the average hacker’s code, none of these qualify as cheating, but they set a tone. Barry, who almost never broke 100, had a theory about amateur cheaters that is passed along here not for moralizing purposes but as a practical advice.

Mike was convinced the cheaters weren’t after his $2; they just wanted to shoot 88 instead of 93. But their machinations actually cost them strokes, and not just because teeing up a ball to miss a 3-wood is a ridiculous alternative to an honest 8-iron.

Besides defaulting on their own confidence, they were throwing away golf’s most mysterious benefit, the springboard disguised as setback.

Jack Nicklaus will testify that he might never have won the 1986 Masters without a spike mark that popped up in his path at 12. That bogey meant more than any par to his round. It was what propelled him on.

Barry lived a rich life and died well, surrounded by family. In a bonus of timing, he narrowly outlived his archrival, the well-known governor, baseball commissioner and scoundrel, Happy Chandler.

When someone at Barry’s bedside recalled Ol’ Hap had “lied in state” at the Capitol, Mike came to for just an instant to say, “He lied in every state he ever went into.” Then he settled back to sleep the blissful sleep of those who always played the ball down.

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