Golf in and around Los Angeles tends to be--like the rest of the landscape—unreal…part Royal and Ancient, part Disneyland. The Good Ship Lollipop with 4-irons. You expect a director to come walking out of the woods on 18 in puttees and with his cap on backward yelling, “Cut!” JIM MURRAY
Riviera and No. 10 circal 1929, soon after greenside bunkers were added on the famed short par-4 (click on image to enlarge)I know this week is blocked off on your calendars and your bingo boards are all ready to go, just waiting for Gary McCord to describe kikuyu with the word velcro or Jim Nantz to make his first Bel-Air Hotel reference so you can mark off the upper left corner while hoping they'll show a little tenth hole play before a witty segue into a CSI Los Angeles plug.
I'll do my best to highlight the best and worst of the event formerly known as the L.A. Open. Because it's one history-rich event played at a still-great course with a strong field this year. This cool PGA Tour Productions film gives just a flavor of the recent tournament fun, but they are just scratching the surface. The fun has been going on at Riviera and other L.A. area courses since 1926.
Johnny Miller has told Golf Magazine in a forthcoming interview that he now thinks Tiger will TIE Jack's mark of 18 majors. In May of last year, Tiger was going to struggle to tie Jack. And this May, well, I'm sure we'll find out Johnny's updated prognostication.
“Phil’s won almost 40 times with four majors—I think Tiger will win four more majors and 30 or 40 more tournaments, which is fantastic,” Miller continued. “But for him to win five and surpass Jack? There’s a great chance he’ll win four and tie with Jack, but I don’t think he’ll get the fifth.”
Down in Dallas, Lee Trevino is telling local radio that Tiger and Butch need to reunite. Richard Durrett reports:
"I would call a realtor in Henderson, Nevada, and I'd find out where Butch lived and I'd buy the house next door," said Trevino, appearing on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's Galloway & Company on Monday afternoon. "I'd go over and ring the doorbell and say, 'Hi, neighbor,' and get back with Butch. That's exactly what I would do."
And this is an understatement:
"I'm sure there's bad blood there, at least that's what I've heard," Trevino said. "I haven't talked to Butch in years, so I don't know how he feels with Tiger and I don't know if Tiger is too proud to ask for the help and if he asked for help if Butch would give it to him. But I think they speak to each other when they see each other at tournaments. If they do that, I don't see why two grown people can't sit down. He's all messed up right now."
He also resurrected an old complaint after Friday's soggy second round, when he referred to the greens as "a bit bumpy." And you can imagine just how frustrated Woods became when Sunday's round - in which Mickelson kicked his tail by 11 shots - stretched more than 5 1/2 hours, including a 15-minute wait while both players stood in the 6th fairway.
All week, there were rumblings that Woods returned (for the first time since 2002) merely to satisfy a one-time obligation in his old endorsement contract with AT&T. Two sources, including one player, said they wouldn't be surprised if Woods does not play in the tournament again.
CBS SPORTS’ FINAL-ROUND COVERAGE OF AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AM DELIVERS HIGHEST RATING IN 15 YEARS
Final Round Earns 96% Increase in Ratings in Metered Markets
CBS Sports’ final-round coverage of the AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AM on Sunday, Feb. 12 (3:15-6:30 PM, ET), which saw Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods paired together with Mickelson firing a 64 to win his fourth Pebble Beach title, delivered the highest rating for the final round at Pebble Beach in 15 years (5.8/13; Feb. 2, 1997) with an average overnight household rating/share of 5.1/10, up 96% from last year’s 2.6/6 in the metered markets.
Sunday’s final-round rating peaked at a 5.7/11 (5:30-6:00 PM, ET).
Nothing about that strong 20-minute lead-in from Michigan-Illinois?
Yes, I know, tired rant. But the context has changed a bit.
There's been a lot to be impressed by with the NBC/Golf Channel coupling, but it all starts with the efforts made to accommodate the viewer. Synergy benefits like live Presidents Cup coverage at the expense of network ratings and efforts to move between the networks for bonus coverage have been extraordinary.
And then there's CBS, which too often treats the sports fan like garbage.
I'm just glad the PGA Championship is in August. Otherwise we would miss 30 minutes of promos interrupted by the occasional golf shot.
Update on Monday, February 13, 2012 at 10:33 AM by
Geoff
**Martin Kaufman explains for those angry at Golf Channel for signing off when it did Sunday morning that they had no option to keep showing golf up to the start of the CBS telecast.
Golf Channel’s decision to switch to its studio show at 2:30 p.m. was standard procedure, which it follows on every weekend that it airs early coverage of the PGA Tour. But it got more attention this weekend because Woods and Mickelson were playing together, and it was at Pebble Beach.
Under its contract with the PGA Tour, Golf Channel has to go off the air 30 minutes before CBS’ coverage is scheduled to begin. Golf Channel spokesman Dan Higgins said this is done so that some changes can be made to the production and announcing crew and also the graphics.
Viewers’ patience was further tested when the Michigan-Illinois basketball game ran long, and CBS didn’t come on the air until 3:19 p.m. Golf Channel didn’t have the option of filling that 19-minute window. “We can’t go into CBS’ window, and contractually we have to be off at a certain time,” Higgins said.
Update on Monday, February 13, 2012 at 09:04 PM by
Geoff
**I'm not sure CBS's explanation is going to work for golf fans. John Strege reports:
"We have a two-hour window for the basketball game," she said. "We can't control the length of the basketball games. We still had over three hours of coverage of golf."
That stellar quote came from Mike Clayton during this week's belly putter-focused show.
You'll hear some sound clips from Tiger Woods and a few I picked up at the USGA Annual Meeting. Panelists Clayton and Huggan are joined by special guest and long putter exponent Craig Spence chat about what figures to be a huge issue over the coming year. Rod Morri hosts, and music is supplied by Lloyd Cole. Give it a listen.
Phil Mickelson went from a six-shot deficit to a two-shot lead in just six holes, closed with an 8-under 64 for a two-shot victory over Charlie Wi and gave Tiger Woods a thrashing at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Sunday not many saw coming.
That was fun, wasn't it? Maybe not for Tiger Woods. Well, absolutely not for Tiger, who couldn't get off the Monterey Peninsula fast enough and might not be back at Pebble Beach until the 2019 U.S. Open.
But big picture, the Tiger-Phil dynamic, is as good as any 17-Mile Drive vista. Phil Mickelson more than lived up to his end Sunday during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National, Woods did not.
Just having them in the same group -- even if the amateurs were an unsightly nuisance during the final round -- was a welcome occurrence, one not to be taken for granted.
After getting routinely drilled by Woods in their head-to-head pairings for over a decade, the sea change came in 2007 when Lefty's swing coach, Butch Harmon, who previously had tutored Woods for years, clued in Mickelson to some of the mental gymnastics Woods had been pulling on him over the years.
Ever since, Mickelson has rewritten the script entirely, amassing an 8-3-1 mark in terms of their lowest score in the past dozen times they have been paired. Mickelson actually smirked when asked if Harmon's psychological warfare counsel about Woods helped.
"Possibly," Mickelson said, coyly.
Being a complete adrenaline junkie, playing with Woods is like sticking his tongue in a light socket.
But Mickelson also buried Woods - and stayed ahead of the rest of the field - with par saving putts of 31 feet (on No. 12) and 38 feet (No. 15).
"I just feel like I'm putting like I did when I was a kid, without the thoughts and the mind clutter," Mickelson said. "I was trying to make, and believed I was going to make, those 30-and 40 footers."
This win was No. 40 of his PGA Tour career, breaking a tie with Tom Watson and Cary Middlecoff and vaulting Mickelson into sole possession of ninth place on the all-time list.
Or, in our little corner of the world, consider this: His haul in the Crosby-turned-AT&T puts him above any player not named Mark O'Meara, who won the tournament five times. Mickelson had been tied with Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller - they could play a little - with three wins each.
The heckler's voice somehow cut through the Sunday noise from the 25-deep gallery, the champagne-and-cheese crowd in the luxury suites and the folks seated in the grandstands that curl around the 18th green at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
"Hey, Tiger," said the man, leaning toward the railing of the reserved seats, "you'll never be as good as Phil!"
A smattering of boos silenced the heckler. Meanwhile, the stone-faced Woods didn't break stride as he walked toward the scorer's trailer to record a brutally disappointing 3-over-par, final-round 75 to finish tied for 15th in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. The only thing missing was yellow police tape around Woods' scorecard.
Pre-scandal, it would reflexively have been attributed to the rogue bad day in a sea of brilliant ones. But this was the second straight tournament that he was unable to conjure the Sunday magic that gave him an aura of invincibility. Two weeks earlier, at the HSBC Abu Dhabi Champions, Woods shared the 54-hole lead with Robert Rock, who beat him by two.
"He hasn't been stacking confidence on top of confidence," CBS Sports' Nick Faldo noted on Sunday.
Whether it was with his putting -- he missed seven putts from inside 10 feet, including three from inside 3 feet -- or his iron play -- he hit just nine greens in regulation, easily his fewest all week -- Woods never gave himself a chance.
"It was frustrating," said Woods, who began the tie in a tie for second and ended it tied for 15thafter a disastrous 75 that included three straight bogeys to close out the front nine. "I was looking for 2-3 under though the first six or seven holes, and Phil is the one who got off to that start.
"I thought I had a chance to get up there in the middle of the round and instead I went the other way."
And how.
It's not all bad for Tiger, as Steve DiMeglioreports in his game story that Phil sees hope for Tiger's game.
Woods, who last won on the Tour in 2009, was thoroughly beaten in the final round, but Mickelson sees better days ahead for the former No. 1.
"Watching him play today, it's going to change in one week," Mickelson said. "He used to hit a hook, you were waiting for it, and now he's just striping it right at his target with a tiny little fade just like he used to do. And his iron play looked extremely sharp. I know the score wasn't what he wanted and I know he didn't putt the way he wanted to, but you could tell that he's really close and all it takes is one week."
Here is what is missing with Tiger Woods: That sense of inevitability that was always there. You KNEW he would hit the hero shot when he needed to and you KNEW he would follow the hero shot by making the putt. It always happened. ALWAYS.
Now, the hero shot ends up dressed more like Robin than Batman. And the big putt -- those bombs that found the cup with astonishing regularity -- now curve just short and low. And those six-footers that ALWAYS went in are now power lip-outs, like that meaningless-except-for-pride birdie try on No. 18 Sunday.
Certainly, doubting Tiger has made many people look like fools. He has done the impossible enough times to make any sane person know that ability lurks not far below the surface. But what you achieve is limited in large part by what you believe you can achieve. Right now, you have to wonder what Tiger believes he can achieve.
An unbylined AP story on The Donald's shocking, I mean shocking turn against the same politicos who ramroded his Scottish golf project through despite objections. This time it's over the wind farm that'll spoil The Donald's views the days the water is not shrouded in fog.
Trump has launched a blistering attack on Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond over plans to build a "horrendous" wind farm off the coast of his luxury Scottish golf resort. In an open letter, Trump accuses Salmond of being "hell bent on destroying Scotland's coast line and therefore Scotland itself."
The bitter words are a far cry from the love-in the two men enjoyed four years ago when Salmond backed Trump's 750 million pound (US$1.2 billion) golf development 12 miles (16km) north of Aberdeen despite protests from environmentalists and locals about damage to rare sand dunes.
Back then, Trump invited Salmond to join him and actor Sean Connery to be the first to tee off on what the businessman described as "the world's greatest golf course." Trump also heaped praise on Salmond's government after it overruled local lawmakers who rejected the planned golf resort.
The Scottish leader backed the golf course by claiming it would create hundreds of tourism jobs around the Aberdeenshire area.
The Donald wrote a letter...and brought China and his mother into it.
"Jobs will not be created in Scotland because these ugly monstrosities known as turbines are manufactured in other countries such as China. These countries, who so benefit from your billions of pounds of payments, are laughing at you!" Trump said.
Trump concludes the attack by referring to his mother, who was raised in Scotland.
He adds: "I'm doing this to save Scotland and honor my mother..."
He ridicules the Scottish National Party's renewable energy policies, claiming the economic benefit is going to China and other countries, not Scotland.
Tiger and Phil chasing Charlie and Ken, as Ron Kroichick reports. Golf Channel kicks off at 10 PT and CBS comes on at 12 ET, college basketball permitting (so 12:15).
I think we need to count the number of shots we see from the final twosome versus the second-to-last pairing (not that anyone could blame CBS with the ratings golf's been registering lately).
Petr Korda was not there yesterday, at home in Florida attending to family matters after carrying the bag for his daughter in her difficult rookie season last year. But the family watched on television and they spoke on the phone immediately afterwards. ''He [Petr] said he was so proud of me and we'll talk about the three putts after!''
Mark Hayes on the wacky playoff and chances more experienced players had, including Brittany Lincicome's violently cruel horseshoe lipout that would have ended things early.
And then there were the Koreans, Hee Kyung Seo and So Yeon Ryu, who had played steady golf and appeared to have the trophy in their keeping when eventual champ Jessica Korda stumbled.
Everything looked business as usual even on the 18th green when, inexplicably, after making repeated short par saves all day, they both missed putts from inside 2m.
Brittany Lincicome must have thought all her birthdays had come at once when she had a 2m birdie putt on the first playoff hole.
But the world No.9's delight quickly turned to disbelief when her putt horseshoed out of the cup. That left her fellow American and world No.10 Stacy Lewis to have her shot at glory.
Stories will be told about this day for years to come, but one thing's for sure - only Korda will remember it as the one that didn't slip away.
As longtime readers know, my medical team has strictly forbidden me from watching the Saturday CBS telecast from the AT&T National Pro-Am for fear that I may break out in hives at the fifteenth blatant ass smooching of a CEO who also might buy ad time on the network (hello friend, Cindy Davis!). And especially when my beloved Shackleford is running at Gulfstream (sixth, after a layoff).
But based on a Tweets, I see the six-hour and twenty-minute round featured more than the usual sucking up to CEO's mixed with the not-so-hilarious antics of Ray Romano and Bill Murray.
Mercifully, there's a golf tournament shaping up for Sunday to help the victims of Saturday's carnage regain some faith in the game's ability to entertain.
The PGA Tour's highlights from Saturday include a pretty swell hole-out from Steven Bowditch, a remarkable achievement considering he had to carry Ray Romano for three days.
Mrs Gingrich also described her husband as an “enthusiastic and committed golfer" on Friday and appeared to draw a comparison between his sporting abilities and the volatile fortunes of his presidential campaign.
“Newt golfs the way that he does everything: with enthusiasm and determination,” she said. “He’s willing to learn and he never gives up.”
Until perhaps 25 years ago, golf more or less contentedly filled its niche. Those who aspired to become golfers basically knew what they were getting in for and accepted the game's demands. "When I was learning to love this game, it was never seen as too hard, or too time-consuming to play, or too expensive, or too frustrating," said Susie Meyers, 51, who later played on the LPGA Tour and now teaches golf in Arizona. The course she played on with her family and friends was short and simple, but in her memories it was heaven.
In the intervening years, the character and challenges of the game changed, Meyers said. "Whose idea was it to make courses so difficult it takes 5½ hours to play?" she asks. "Whose idea was it to say there's a perfect swing and if you come to me I'll show you what's wrong with it and fix it? Whose idea was it that you have to find the perfect club and the perfect ball and play on perfect grass?"
“I’m hitting good putts. I’m not displeased with my putting at all,” said Woods, who took 33 putts, four more than he did on Thursday. “I just didn’t hit the ball in the right spots to give myself the right looks. If we were putting smooth greens, it would be a totally different deal. Then I know I could pour those in all day. But when you’re getting on these, you have to put the ball below the hole so you can be aggressive and take out all the movement. I was hitting the ball in the wrong spots, (leaving) sliders or downhill putts.”
Meanwhile contrast that with Phil Mickelson raving about the course conditions. Bob Harig reports.
"It was an interesting day," said Mickelson, who is off to a poor start this season, having finished no better than 26th in his first three events. "We had perfect weather. Then the back nine when the weather came in, I don't know what happened, but I started to play a lot better and make some birdies.
"In the perfect conditions, I struggled. But to play these golf courses in such great condition either way has been a lot of fun."
Well, deep into this Friday while Tiger's out on the course at Pebble Beach and media around the rest of the world are not likely to be checking for breaking news, the press release went out announcing the first ever WGC that's not technically a WGC event.
There's nothing on PGATour.com, so here is the release...
International Federation of PGA Tours to sanction Sunshine Tour’s Tournament of Hope in South Africa
2013 event to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment
The International Federation of PGA Tours, an organization of the top professional golf tours in the world that sanctions the World Golf Championships and the World Cup, today announced that the Southern Africa PGA Tour (Sunshine Tour) will stage the Tournament of Hope as an International Federation of PGA Tours-sanctioned event beginning in 2013.
The Tournament of Hope will be the centerpiece of a worldwide awareness effort to be undertaken by the Sunshine Tour and partner promoter SAIL Rights Commercialisation (Pty) Ltd to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in Africa and globally. In addition to the Tournament of Hope, the promoters will organize other awareness functions in South Africa and around the world during the week of the tournament.
The Tournament of Hope will be staged in South Africa for the first time in 2013, the week of November 25 and culminating on December 1, which is World AIDS Day. The tournament will be staged on similar dates in future years.
The US$8.5-million Tournament of Hope will be a major international competition for the world’s best professional golfers with eligibility similar to that of the four World Golf Championships, based primarily on the Official World Golf Ranking and supplemented by the individual money lists and Orders of Merit of the various Tours that make up the International Federation of PGA Tours.
The European Tour, one of the founding members of the International Federation of PGA Tours, has already confirmed that prize money won at the Tournament of Hope will count towards The 2014 Race to Dubai, further consolidating an already strong partnership with the Sunshine Tour that stretches back to 1995 and which, in 2012, will see The European Tour co-sanction four tournaments in South Africa.
The Tournament of Hope will be the sixth worldwide event sanctioned by the International Federation of PGA Tours, joining the four World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship (Arizona, USA); Cadillac Championship (Florida, USA); Bridgestone Invitational (Ohio, USA); HSBC Champions (China) – and the World Cup (China).
Planning for the event and related activities is ongoing and further details concerning the Tournament of Hope, including specific player eligibility and venue for the event, will be announced at a later time.
;)
Riviera and No. 10 circal 1929, soon after greenside bunkers were added on the famed short par-4 (click on image to enlarge)I know this week is blocked off on your calendars and your bingo boards are all ready to go, just waiting for Gary McCord to describe kikuyu with the word velcro or Jim Nantz to make his first Bel-Air Hotel reference so you can mark off the upper left corner while hoping they'll show a little tenth hole play before a witty segue into a CSI Los Angeles plug.
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 10:50 PM
