Good Thursday morning, golf fans. Mac Daddy Santa will be here in five short days.

• “Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) formally introduced legislation Wednesday that could pave the way for a federal framework to oversee sports betting, the legality of which has grown this year on a state-by-state basis following a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. The Tour has offered statements in support of legalized sports betting at previous junctures in the process, and that trend continued this week.”

• “The PGA Tour supports the efforts of Senators Schumer and Hatch to introduce sports betting legislation,” read a Tour statement. “We continue to believe that nationwide standards are the best method of protecting the integrity of our competitors and our fans. In particular, we would welcome the establishment of a national body to oversee the integrity of sports in the United States.”

• “Sports betting is currently legal in eight states across the nation, while residents of Washington, D.C., voted Tuesday to allow legalized betting in the nation’s capital pending Congressional approval.”

• “2018 wouldn’t get a dot. Its important moments weren’t sufficiently transformative, and its major champions weren’t quite special enough in terms of personage or performance.”

• “That might sound disrespectful of brilliant achievers.  Especially Brooks Koepka, who captured two of the year’s majors, in the process winning back-to back U.S. Opens and becoming the No. 1 player in the world. And Francesco Molinari, who exhibited ball control in winning The Open Championship at Carnoustie that channeled Ben Hogan of 1953, and then went 5-0 in the Ryder Cup.”

• “It’s just that a timeline’s purpose is pith, making the standard for when a year gets a dot of demarcation very high. The most important player of 2018 – Tiger Woods – is arguably the most prolific dot maker ever, but he didn’t win a major or break an important record. He had an incredible comeback season in which his victory at the Tour Championship put him within two of Sam Snead in all-time PGA Tour victories. And his serious contention deep into two majors has him on the verge of winning his first one in more than a decade. He’s proved he still has enough game when he’s rolling to beat today’s best young players, and more importantly, his return from the depths proves his legendary will hasn’t lost power. His next major will earn a dot. So will the win that passes Snead. But all that did not a dot make in 2018.”

• “They have until October 31, 2019 to reopen the course in what will be a much costlier than had it been kept open. Garry Smits does a super job recounting the entire escapade for the Florida Times-Union.”

• “Omni Amelia closed Ocean Links one day after it was still booking local tee times. The club moved in bulldozers under police protection and began tearing down the greens on the three oceanside holes with the intention of converting the property into “green space,” for parks, bicycle trails and nature trails.”

• “The resort did not notify property owners that it had begun the demolition until that day, in an email time-dated 5 p.m. By that time, the heavy construction equipment had already been at work a full day. The Equity Club filed for an emergency injunction halting the demolition, which was granted two days later.”

• “Rhein Gibson, Bahamas Great Abacao Classic…During the second event of the Web.com Tour season in January, Gibson got a one-stroke penalty when his caddie, Brandon Davis, picked up his ball from a hazard on the final hole of the tournament rather than Gibson. The extra stroke dropped a none-to-happy Gibson from T-2 to solo third and caused him to throw his putter cover at Davis in disgust. Davis wasn’t Gibson’s full-time caddie, but the 32-year-old Australian made sure he wasn’t his part-time one any more either, firing Davis for the blunder. That night, Davis took to social media to offer an explanation for his actions, taping an eight-minute video in which he cited Decision 26-1/9 to try to exonerate him.”

• “Phil Mickelson, U.S. Open…Did the chaos that was Saturday at Shinnecock cause Lefty to temporarily lose his mind, or did his shocking decision to hit a moving golf ball on the 13th green cause the rest of the third round to be played on tilt? Either way, what Mickelson did was pretty nutty.”

• “USGA officials seemed to have a handful of ways they could have adjudicated the matter, and for some, their choice was as disappointing as that day’s course set-up. Because Mickelson took a swing when he hit the ball, officials said he violated Rule 14-5 (playing a moving ball) rather than Rule 1-2 (purposely deflecting a ball). The former came with a two-stroke penalty-giving Mickelson a 10 on the hole-while the latter had the potential for a disqualification penalty that some clamored for. What about Rule 33-7, which gives the committee the ability to DQ a player for a serious breach of etiquette? It was what former USGA executive director David Fay recommended during the Fox broadcast. Officials, however, choice not to go to this extreme. Mickelson played the next day, finishing T-48, and his eventual apology for his momentary lapse of reason helped minimize permanent damage to his legacy.”

• “Jessica Korda won on the LPGA for the first time since jaw surgery in December 2017 by setting a tournament record (25 under par) at the LPGA Thailand.”

• “Michelle Wie holed a 36-foot putt from off the green on the final hole to win the Women’s World Championship by one stroke and capture her first LPGA tournament since the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open.”

• “Ariya Jutanugarn lost a seven-shot lead on the back nine before prevailing on the fourth hole of a playoff to win the U.S. Women’s Open for her second major championship.”

• On the state of the LPGA, LET Tours…”Well I think the LPGA is in a really healthy position. We’re playing all over the world. We’re playing in, you know, obviously Asia because the great influence of Asian players on the LPGA. The American tour is getting stronger and stronger. The American side of the tour is getting stronger. We play in Europe. And so I think the commissioner and all his team are doing a sensational job.”

• “Obviously the women players would like the prize money to be a bit more, but we do have some events with huge prize money…the US Open. I think that would be the only thing, is like getting the prize money up more. But by no means are any of the players complaining…You know, you got a lot of tournaments to play in and you’ve got great players from all over the world playing on the LPGA. And I think things are going really well.”

• “Now on this side of the Atlantic, we need some help. The LET, which is the Ladies European Tour, we’ve lost some tournaments because of the problems in Europe and the lack of money for sponsors of women’s sports. So we’re hoping over the next three or four years that it’ll pick up this side of the Atlantic because we deserve to have, the young girls of Europe deserve to have a good tour to play on, and at the moment it is not happening.”

• “The service will be available to Prime members for $9.99 per month or $64.99 per season. This news arrives after NBC Sports Gold was announced as the U.S. home for PGA Tour Live in 2019.”

• “Now, the service will be available on both of these platforms at the above prices.”

• “Colm was one of the great characters,” recalled Des Smyth of those more innocent days when Smith, a former interprovincial tennis player, was a regular on the golf circuit.

• “We spent a lot of time together over the years and he was a hell of a character and a great tennis player too.

• “When I played my first Ryder Cup in the Greenbrier in 1979, we were free on the Monday and I fancied myself as a bit of a tennis player.

• “Of course, I thought it would be no problem to take Colm out. But no, he beat the bejaysus out of me. He had me running around the court. He was great fun and I enjoyed his company for years.”

• “Eamonn Darcy, Paul McGinley and Pádraig Harrington all look back fondly on those days when ‘Smithy’ roamed the fairways from Rosses Point to Muirfield Village – a fellow sportsman and kindred spirit.”