Harding Park is the star of PGA Championship

The best part, for me anyway, was seeing that course designers didn’t have to trick up courses to make a dramatic tournament. Pin placement is probably more important that the height of the rough and that was on display at Harding. Even CBS announcers Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo said the placement of holes made it that much more difficult to nestle approach shots up close. So while guys were launching massive drives and 150-yard sand wedges, the placement of pins meant not many got super close to the pin – that’s why there were birdie putts of 15 to 20 feet all weekend long.

But when it mattered the most, Morikawa delivered some of the best shots of the weekend. The best being driving the green to inside 10 feet on the par-4 16th, sinking his putt for an eagle for a two-shot lead and all but winning the tournament right then and there.

While Morikawa finished at 13-under and a slew of other players were within three shots just goes to show the PGA Tour that not every tournament has to be the Honda Open to have low scores and that risk-reward challenges can bring a lot of excitement to the game.

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Despite no fans being allowed on the grounds of Harding Park, there certainly were enough people around to make it sound like a crowd.

Which added to the charm of Harding Park.

Unlike most country clubs, which feature long driveways and gates designed to keep regular folks out, Harding is smack dab in the middle of San Francisco’s Lake Merced area, just behind San Francisco State and across the street from Lowell High School. While fans weren’t allowed inside the grounds of the course, there was nothing stopping people from gathering along the fence line and watching.

Many times coming down the stretch, you actually saw players acknowledging the cheers from the fans outside the fence. When Morikawa hit his incredible drive on 16, there was whooping and hollering going on that could be heard through the TV feed.

But it also seemed like more and more staff — along with VIPs, including Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry — gathered around the greens as well and while the group of people will never be mistaken for a “crowd,” their cheering did help elevate the drama over the final holes of the tournament.

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When Gabe Kapler was introduced as the San Francisco Giants new manager, I was willing to give him a chance. He spoke well and seemed genuine.

But I’ve come to the conclusion that the “book” by which Kapler abides — a book of crunched numbers that tells him when to make moves, regardless of what is actually happening on the field — is simply wrong. Taking Kevin Gausman out of Sunday’s games against the Dodgers after holding them to two hits into the seventh inning while throwing in the mid to high 90s may go by the book, but it certainly did not reflect how dominant Gausman was.

So after lifting a pitcher whose last pitch was 99 mph, Kapler turned to the gimmicky Tyler Rogers. He had struggled in July, allowing 10 runs on nine hits, but was showing to be more effective since the calendar turned to August.

Sunday, however, he reverted back to July’s form as he allowed a single, got a strikeout and then gave-up a three-run homer as his ERA ballooned to over 11.

Again, Kapler’s book said Rogers was the move — even though that move has backfired a number of times already this season.

There is no doubt that advanced metrics and the whole math-based approach to the game is here to stay and that’s exactly how Kapler plays it — by the book. It’s OK to use the numbers as a guide, but there is still a lot to be said about a baseball manager trusting his eyes and his gut sometimes. Kapler needs to put his book down more often and — to quote Obi Wan (Ben) Kenobi from “Star Wars: A new beginning” — act on instinct.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117.