Last Pairing Dominance

Wonder why the most exciting thing about a PGA Tour final round telecast is the latest Villages ad? (By the way, where would the PGA Tour be without their most consistent advertiser!?).

Anyway, reader Josh picked this up on ESPN.com, where Jason Sobel writes:

Most unbelievable fact on the PGA Tour so far this season? It has nothing to do with Watson's driving prowess or the multiple-victory seasons of Woods, Mickelson and Appleby. Instead, it's this: Through 20 stroke-play events, the eventual winner has come from the final grouping of the tournament in all but one. What does that tell us? That today's players, many of whom are putting increasing emphasis on the mental side of the game and remaining calm in high-pressure situations, are learning to become winners, with fewer final-round leaders choking away the lead coming down the stretch. Oh, and that one champion who did not come from the last grouping? If you guessed Kirk Triplett at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson, give yourself a pat on the back.

Okay, the bit about learning to become winners does sound like Golf Channel punditry gone bad.

Naturally, I'd blame the lack of come-from-behind finishes on the anti-birdie, pre-vent anyone-from-noticing-the-distance-issue-course setup mentality. Is that enough dashes for you in one sentence?

Sure it's early, but the 2006 final round scoring average is 72.0. It was 71.5 in 2005, 71.1 in 2000, 71.3 in 1995.

Now, we've been told the players and fields are better than ever, that courses are better conditioned than at any point in the history of the game and the equipment better than ever. Oh, and their mental calm is better than ever from all of that Adderall great mental preparation.

And yet the final round scoring average going up? 

"We've been promised some good dates thanks to our friends at FedEx"

Phil Stukenborg in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal (beat the Light and Shopper) writes about the St. Jude event and its excitement over a new June date in the 07 FedEx Cup schedule. Tournament director Phil Cannon is also excited for these reasons:

--The tournament, which will be known in 2007 as the Stanford St. Jude Championship, will be played June 7-10, or in the enviable spot one week before the U.S. Open.

--The FedEx Cup points competition, similar to the Nextel Cup on the NASCAR Circuit, is expected to increase player participation.

--And several more weeks to grow the rough should have the course in ideal condition.

That rough harvesting is tricky business!

Here's the line that will irk some tournament directors:

''There are about three primo dates on the PGA Tour in the summertime and we are going to have one of them next year,'' Cannon said. ''It hasn't been finalized yet, but the Tour has said we'll like our 2008 through 2012 dates just as much. We've been promised some good dates thanks to our friends at FedEx.''

And Cannon is excited about the FedEx Cup...

''The whole FedEx Cup points competition is going to change the structure of our sport tremendously,'' Cannon said. ''It's going to reward players for their performances and participation on a year-long basis, much like you see in NASCAR with the Nextel Cup. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt are in every race all year long. Thirty-eight races.

''I don't think you'll see pro golfers in 95 percent of their events, but I think you'll see them increase their starts and vary their schedules. From talking to players and agents, they all say this is going to revolutionize scheduling.''

Still Slow After All These Months...

Sure sounds to me like Ben Crane's final round 64 would have been a much nicer 66 to the guys stuck behind him...

It's not always nice, though, to be summoned in public view by a PGA Tour rules official to be warned for the umpteenth time about lollygagging on the course.

For nearly 10 minutes against the brick wall of Colonial's clubhouse, Crane and the official each made their case.

"He said he wanted us to stay in front of the group behind us," Crane said. "He said, 'Look, if the group behind you waits, we'll fine you.' I said there was a discrepancy of whether they were waiting or not."

Crane's playing partner, Shigeki Maruyama, privately told Japanese television network NHK that he grew weary of Crane's pace. Publicly, Maruyama was his usual all smiles and had nothing negative to say.

Tour officials have yet to assess Crane a penalty stroke. Frustrated with Crane's pace at last year's Booz Allen Classic, Rory Sabbatini putted out of turn once, and left Crane in the fairway on another hole.

Fire and Nice!?

Charles Polansky reports on the Amy Sabbatini's latest t-shirt...not nearly as fun as her last.

There is a definite give-and-take, yin and yang, in Rory Sabbatini's life - on and off the golf course.

Take the T-shirts that his wife Amy has designed for his large gallery of friends and family planning to be at this week's Bank of America Colonial. They are appropriately appropriate.

Emblazoned on the front is a phrase that suits Sabbatini perfectly _"Fire and Nice."

Everybody who follows golf knows all about Sabbatini's fire.

Amy or Rory? Or sorry...

At last summer's Booz Allen Classic, Sabbatini infamously played out of turn on the 17th hole after growing frustrated with the slow pace of playing partner Ben Crane.

He finished the hole before Crane and walked ahead to the 18th tee, drawing boos from the gallery at Congressional Country Club as well as the ire of ABC golf analyst Paul Azinger, who skewered Sabbatini on the telecast.

"The first four weeks after were horrific," said Amy, who tries to walk as many rounds with her husband as possible. "It got to where I was putting on headphones to block everything out."

But there's another side to Sabbatini, a blossoming PGA Tour star from South Africa, that many haven't seen. Last year, he wore camouflage pants in the first round of events and donated $250 for every birdie and $1,000 for every eagle that he made to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

"His heart's bigger than his chest," Amy said during Sabbatini's second round at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship.

Whoa Bubba! Vol. 2

Even floggers the blues...Bubba Watson's round 2 totals in the second column...

DRIVING DISTANCE        355.5        320.5            338.0        1
PUTTS PER ROUND        25                34                29.5           T80
PUTTS PER GIR                1.417           2.091           1.739        41
GREENS IN REG                   67             61                63.9          T67
SAND SAVES                        100            33             60.0           T42

Whoa Bubba!

Key Stats for Bubba Watson  after round 1 at Colonial:

Driving Distance    355.8
Driving Accuracy    71.4%
GIR    66.7%
        
Putts Per GIR    1.417
Avg. Proximity to Pin    25' 4"
Scrambling    66.7%

Update on 2006-05-19 05:13 by Geoff

Bill Nichols writes:

Can't hit a driver at Colonial? Watson used his nine times. On the par-5 No. 1, his drive traveled 391 yards, setting up a birdie. He almost drove the green with his 342-yard shot on the par-4 2nd. He landed just in front of the green with his 355-yard drive on 6, which he birdied, and he went 337 yards on No. 7.

 "It worked to my advantage that I hit it somewhat straight," Watson said. "It could work wonders for me this week. A lot of guys are hitting different clubs. But if you can hit if far enough, some of the holes open up, even though you are hitting out of the rough."

PGA Tour Tournament Central

Check out PGATour.com's new "Tournament Central" page where you can see where every group is on the course and where they are standing. You can also monitor how holes are playing.

But best of all, now we can see who is really slow.

Colonial Times

Gil LeBreton in the Star Telegram writes about Colonial's struggle to lure long hitters, how the once feared course is too short and reveals plans to make changes. Gee, all so that...eh.

But, as even Gentle Ben observed, "I don't think there is any question today that, with the distances that people can hit the ball, [Colonial] may be not quite what it used to be."

Earlier this month, architect Keith Foster of St. Louis presented Colonial members with his latest plans to redesign the old course.

Don't reach for your heart medicine. It's a subtle redesign, not a makeover.

The course needs its bunkers redone to aid their drainage. And, while Foster was going to be digging up the course, club officials asked him to draw up a proposal for how he would "improve" the late Marvin Leonard's riverside pasture land.

No big deal, according to Leonard's daughter, club vice president Marty Leonard.

"There will be some minimal yardage added in some areas," she said. "It's more about reshaping things. Maybe lowering some tees that have been built up that are not the Maxwell style."

Crenshaw On Hogan, Colonial

Ben Crenshaw talks to Doug Smith of his hometown paper about playing Colonial one more time and about his memories of five time Colonial Invitational champion Ben Hogan.

"The Nelson Puddle"

Gary Van Sickle on the new lake decorating the 18th at TPC Las Colinas: "it resembles a swoopy Las Vegas hotel pool with a fountain in the middle. Plus, not many water hazards naturally occur halfway up a hillside."

Oberholser Flirts With 59

Arron Oberholser came to 18 at Cottonwood Valley knowing that he needed birdie to shoot 59. His entertaining post round remarks:

TODD BUDNICK: Let's walk back to No. 18, and at that point did you know you had a chance when you got to the tee at 18

ARRON OBERHOLSER: Absolutely. From the tee shot all the way into the putt I knew I had a chance for 59 and it made me smile. It's a great feeling.

TODD BUDNICK: Walk us through that hole.

ARRON OBERHOLSER: Well, the tee shot I wasn't really nervous on the tee shot, although I didn't hit you couldn't tell by the way I hit it. But I absolutely hit the worst chunk pop up 3 wood of my life, not that I hit a lot of those, but that one was bad. And it left me 236 yards to the hole on 18 with a perfect lie in the middle of the fairway.

But a cart kind of disturbed me coming up the path to the right and I was set in my routine and I was focused, and I look up there and in my vision I see this cart coming and they weren't stopping. So I backed off. I was fine with it. I just told my caddie, I said I'm just going to let him come all the way through. So he saw we were on the tee and stopped. But I still didn't feel quite right. Got up there, didn't make a very good swing, popped it up, more of a nervous swing than I had anticipated.

And then I got to the shot in the fairway, and I was still very calm, felt great, just cherishing the fact that I had a shot at 59. It's really cool to have a shot at 59.

Woosley, my caddie, Dave Woosley, my caddie, he kind of maybe could sense that I was getting a little bit uptight, so he asked me about my girlfriend and how is she doing, and I said, she's doing fine, and we started talking about that. So that kind of took my mind off of it. It freed me up to make a good golf swing, and I hit a 3 iron from like 236 to like 15 feet right of the hole.

And then walking to the green, man, I had a smile from ear to ear. It's just so cool. I mean, it's the best nervous you can be because it's exciting. It's the same you're just soaking it in. Like a putt to win a golf tournament. Sure, when you get there, you want to be focused and ready to hit the putt. But up to that, man, you don't have a lot of opportunities out here like that, soak it up, enjoy the moment. It was really cool. I highly recommend it to everybody.

Scott: "They've got to build courses and set them up to how the equipment is"

Adam Scott, after round one of the Byron Nelson:

Q. Some of the clubs you hit in are staggering from the clubs of a few years ago people hit in here. Lob wedge at No. 8, which is 457; 5 wood, sand wedge at 9. There was another staggering 7 iron at 16; pitching wedge at 18

ADAM SCOTT: Well, it was windy today, too. I mean, they were probably the downwind holes. It was windy, but yeah, the ball is going a long way and the courses are getting short. Like 450 is no big deal for a par 4 at all; even if it's not windy you're going to hit a short iron in. That's just the way the game is. You've got to take advantage of it if you can hit it out there.

Q. How do you feel about 450 yard holes now being sand wedge holes?

ADAM SCOTT: Well, I mean, that's how long they've got to be for us to have them a little tricky. It's tough, they've got to build courses and set them up to how the equipment is. For the Tour, anyway, they need to because that's I think the pros get the real advantage out of the equipment. We find 20 yards somehow, every year it seems.

SilverRock Not Up To Standards (But The Classic Club Is!?)

Larry Bohannan reports that the city of La Quinta's $58 million and counting SilverRock project, expected to host the Bob Hope starting this year, has been passed over for 2007 too.

La Quinta city officials expected their SilverRock Resort golf course to be approved for the 2007 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, but a PGA Tour official said Friday the course simply isn't ready for a tour event.

"There has been some progress (at SilverRock), but it hasn't been enough," said Tim Crosby, director of tournament business affairs for the tour. "We told the Hope committee we would not approve the course as a Hope venue for 2007."

The PGA Tour informed the Hope board April 27 that the Arnold Palmer Course at SilverRock Resort was not approved for 2007. The tournament board told the city this week in a three-sentence letter that the course won't be included among the four to be played in January's Classic, and that the sides should sit down to discuss the coming years.

City and course officials say they still haven't been told the exact problems the tour has with the course and have not seen the letter from the PGA Tour detailing the specific concerns. Tom Genovese, the city manager for La Quinta, said he talked with Classic executive board member John Foster on Thursday, and the two sides are trying to arrange a meeting.

"Everything right in front of you"

Add Billy Andrade to the list of those noting Quail Hollow's "everything right in front of you" genius. He's forgiven because he earns himself a fine for ripping TPC's and he's a friend of Brad Faxon, so he must be a nice guy. But Billy, on this everything in front of you stuff, as a guy who likes books, would you want to know how they end before you crack 'em open? Or get the character of a song after one listen, the nuances of a film the first time through, the...okay, I'll stop now...

Q. Do you think you guys play enough courses like this?

BILLY ANDRADE: No, we don't. We play more cooky cutter TPCs are more cooky cutter type golf courses. We don't play old style. The problem is that it's hard to give up golf courses. Their memberships don't want to give up classics. It's hard to come into places look at Westchester. That course there is the best. If we ever left that, that would really hurt that tournament. But I would love to see us play more classic golf courses that you see in the majors, but on a regular Tour event, it's tough to play these type of places.

But it's just such a this reminds me a lot of home, a lot of old style New England, old golf courses that are just everything is right in front of you. It's easy to see, it's easy to figure it out, and a lot of the courses we do play are built for spectators, and a lot of dirt is moved and more manufactured. It's different.

I don't think you get too many players out here that are going to complain about this place. I think all it is is praise when the golf course is this good.

Love Those Pro-Ams

From Davis Love's first round Wachovia press conference:

Q. I'm doing a story on Pro Ams, and obviously you play in a million of them. Do you have any kind of favorite quotes or stories of guys driving to out drive you or looking for that magic tip?

DAVIS LOVE III: No, there's always the guys trying to play really good. Somebody asked me that the other day and I couldn't come up with one but then I came up with one later, which always happens.

My brother was caddying for me at La Costa back when it had a Pro Am, and I guess it was a guy topped it and it was wet and went in front of him and then it spun back and went behind him. We said, now we've seen it all. We've seen every shot that can be hit. I've never seen one go spinning backwards.

He hit it again and hit it in the rough and then he hit it down there and he was in the first cut of the fairway, and he hit it and he topped it again, and it went straight down and he lost it. It was in the dirt. It went in the dirt so far down that we couldn't find it. We would have had to have a shovel to dig it up. It was like six or eight inches down in the mud.

Q. What's the USGA rule on that?

DAVIS LOVE III: I told him just to pick up. That's when we said maybe we haven't seen it all and we've got to keep on our toes.