1 – Baby, it’s cold outside

LPGA’s season-opener is reduced to 54 holes, citing “extreme” cold weather Sunday in Orlando, Fla. Morning temperatures were in the 30s, but would get into the 40s in the afternoon. Officials, however, said the weather wouldn’t allow for an “optimal competitive environment.” Whatever that means.

2 – Stay away from my itinerary

Note to self: Don’t invite these LPGA officials on a golf trip with you to Ireland, Scotland, or Bandon Dunes.

3 – Rory and mates are cooking

If you think you’ve been hearing the engines of Duck Boats revving up, you’re right. But it’s not about the Patriots; it’s about the 2-0 start for the Boston Common Golf juggernaut in TGL.

4 – Never been a fan

Torrey Pines’ South Course is so utterly boring. Does any course with such a superior setting disappoint as much as this layout?

GOLF COURSE PHOTO -- A steady parade of readers have agreed with me, that golf courses are a rich source of clever and whimsical signs that tickle our fancies. One such reader, Don Weber, was kind of enough to send this gem from Juliette Falls GC in Florida. Quite good. If you come across a sign that catches your interest, feel free to send it to jim@powerfades.com.

5 – It’s LIV, so he’d have a point

I’m willing to bet that when he heard that Patrick Reed had left his LIV Golf team, captain Dustin Johnson said, “yeah, well, Three Aces is still a pretty good hand.”

6 – Happenstance is sweet

Watching your tee ball veer right into a tree, then bounce back into the fairway is akin to that joy you feel when you dig into a bag of pistachios that yields a loose nut so you don’t have to battle with the shell. Pure bliss.

7 – Give me 15 and 17

It’s another Waste Management Phoenix Open and center stage will be dominated by the par-3 16th stadium hole. I get it. I also know that the par-5 15th and par-4 17th are way better holes.

8 – It’s a game of ups and downs, remember?

Beautiful game, this pro golf. Justin Rose, who’ll turn 46 in a few months, crushes the field at the Farmers, roars to No. 3 in the world and plaudits are coming his way from every corner. The praise is deserved, but goodness, folks, deep breaths, and try to remember . . . Just one year ago this week Rose was No. 55 in the world, having struggled through a ’24 campaign in which he missed cuts in these biggies – the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Players Championship, the Masters, the Memorial, the U.S. Open, and the Genesis Scottish Open.

9 – Poor babies

Does Saudi Arabia have an AFL-CIO or Department of Labor to protest working conditions? Being forced to play 72 holes? Preposterous. Bryson DeChambeau and others are irate.