Hartford Attendance

Jeff Jacobs in the Harford Courant:

This used to be the annual state fair, and it can be again.

There were an estimated 305,000 for four days as late as 2002. In 1994, there were 322,000, and the following year 300,000. It always was more than 200,000.

In 2004, it had dropped to a four-day total of 150,000. Last year, it was 80,000.

Tournament officials don't release attendance figures until the end of the event these days, but before the numbers come out, here's the unofficial first-round count for Thursday.

Dismal.

The attendance was much better on Saturday, definite sparks of glory, a harbinger of good things, but still not like in past years. We've seen 80,000, 90,000, 100,000 for a single weekend round. They couldn't have all been freebies. Those are mind-boggling numbers matched only by the tournament in Phoenix, which, incidentally, is the only place where Henry previously has played in the final group on a Sunday.

Latest On B.C. Open

Thanks to reader John for the latest on the B.C. Open, which may be exploring a move to another course for its final year.

Final B.C. Open In Jeopardy

Thanks to reader JB for the unfortunate news that En Joie is under water, with Tour officials on the way for an inspection.

Finchem On Washington

Boy, after reading the recent stuff from Carolyn Bivens, Tim Finchem's press conferences are so boring!

Still, it was a combative teleconference with the Washington scribblers on demise of the Booze Allen and the reconstruction of TPC Avenel:

With respect to how we got to the scheduling decision, as I indicated at the end of our television negotiations, when we released our schedule earlier in the year, we felt like it was important to give as many weeks to possible consistent dates. We could have gone to a continuation of a situation where some years we play earlier in the summer in Washington, like we played last year, and other years we could play later in the summer. The feeling was that we would continue to have an inconsistent execution of our product, probably the fallout of that being a lack of continuity with the title sponsor, which has certainly been the case there since Kemper left. We just didn't want to go down that road. We wanted to try something we felt like had a better chance of continual year in, year out success.

I've always said, that if you can't have consistent product execution, it's just not worth it. 

Q. Big picture question. How did the tournament in DC, one of the biggest markets in the nation, nation's capital, wind up on the outside looking in as far as the good dates go, and some tournaments in smaller markets, like the 84 Lumber in Greensboro, not nearly as well supported by the public as this one, how did they end up with the good dates and this tournament was on the out?

COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: First of all, it's kind of hard to answer that question in the way you phrase it because you're assuming certain things about a "good date." We have dates on our schedule from the first week in January right through now the fall series to November. What's a good date for one market is not a good date for another market. What's a good date for a particular sponsor is not a good date for another sponsor in the same market. There are a lot of variables in terms of what goes into a date.

I think that the reaction to the date change in Washington has really been focused on one thing, and that is being in the FedEx Cup season, early summer, is preferable to anything else. I certainly wouldn't argue the point that being in the FedEx Cup season is an advantage. But I think the reaction perhaps has been a little bit overdone in terms of the negativity of the fall, as I said earlier.

The bottom line is that we were not comfortable, and frankly neither was Booz Allen, in continuing a date structure that has historically led to an event that would not be the kind of event on a number of levels that we'd like to see over the long term in the nation's capital. We wanted an opportunity to do something better. We thought consistent dates was part of that, but there are other factors.

This is a little weird....

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you very much for your time today, Commissioner.

COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: Thank you, Todd.

Ladies and Gentlemen, if you need additional information, we're available to you. I know a couple of you have called in the last couple of weeks. I've deferred those conversations until I had an opportunity to make comments generally today. In the aftermath of this week's tournament, I'd be happy to make myself available or other people on our team. We'll have more to say about Avenel here very shortly after the public hearing.

In the meantime, I would encourage you to cover this week's tournament. We have a lot of great players there, good golf course, we're looking forward to a good competition. Thank you.

I would encourage you to cover this week's tournament? What else would they cover? 

"We don't want it to be a lay-down course"

Gary Baines looks at the technology debate and talks to the tournament director at The International, who has some interesting things to say.

Winged Foot, a course dating back to 1923, proved anything but obsolete. It played plenty long (7,264 yards for a par-70 layout), but it was obvious that wasn't the main reason that the Open produced its highest score relative to par (5 over) since 1974.

Instead, the key to protecting par was narrowing the fairways and growing the rough so that the long bombers on tour have to think twice before ripping a driver as hard as possible on every hole over 300 yards. Winged Foot did that with many fairways 25-28 yards wide and rough as deep as 51/2 inches.

Oh yes, you can see where this is going.

Larry Thiel, executive director for the International tournament in Castle Rock, was at Winged Foot during U.S. Open week and liked what he saw in the way of a course set-up for the Open.

"I thought the set-up was fair," Thiel said. "You don't have to have 7,800-yard golf courses. The rough is supposed to be penal, and I don't think it was overly penal. If you can't drive the ball straight into a 30-35-yard-wide opening, you ought to do something to your game, downsizing your club until you can."

Of course that was the U.S. Open, a once a year event designed to be a unique test. The International, with its Stableford scoring meant to elicit heroic play, would never look to Winged Foot for inspiration, would it?

They don't want to see the players always swing as hard as they can from tees on par-4s and par-5s because the reward is so great and there isn't a big downside.

That's why even at Castle Pines the fairways have been narrowed over the years. That's undoubtedly part of the reason the winning scores at the International have come down in the last couple of years. After cumulative winning totals of at least 44 points in every year but one from 1997 through 2003, the winning numbers have been 31 and 32 the last two summers. Other things that have factored in are additional water hazards and the lengthening of the par-5 eighth hole.

As Thiel said several years ago, "We don't want it to be a lay-down course."

No, because God know, the ratings aren't low enough yet. We've got to get them into the NHL's league before we can rest  assured.

On many courses on the PGA Tour, players "can stand on the tee and whale on it," Thiel said this week. "We're guilty of it too. The players aren't penalized for errant shots. What you think is a monstrous hole is far from a monstrous hole for these guys."

Thiel estimates the fairways at Castle Pines are mostly 30-50 yards wide, which is generous but not as wide as they used to be.

"We've gradually worked them in," Thiel said.

Oh good! 

"We're always thinking about what makes the course more competitive and fair. We're trying to neutralize guys just stepping back and going at it as hard as they can without any fear."

Because the game is just so easy for those flat belly Tour boys! And then Thiel offers this from William Flynn:

"He believed a good shot should be rewarded and a bad shot penalized," Thiel said. "It's a pretty simple formula."

You know...eh forget it. 

Is The Villages...

...keeping the PGA Tour in business!?

How much money have they spent on PGA Tour advertising this year?

Update on 2006-06-12 04:06 by Geoff

For those of you who don't read the comments, Steven T. posted this must read story on The Villages.

Hawkins On Furyk Injury

John Hawkins has more on Jim Furyk's tooth brushing injury, which turns out was more of a gargling mouthwash injury.

An Observation From Muirfield Village

A reader who was at the Memorial wanted to note that another element adding a bit of curiosity to the whole furrowing madness: fairway bunkers were cared for by the grounds crew while greenside bunkers were handled by the caddies. (This would explain why we saw "Bones" walk away from the 6th hole fairway bunker with Mickelson after that miraculous shot Sunday.)

The reader also notes that with the caddies handling the greenside bunkers, players were at the mercy of the players in the groups ahead of them as much as they were at the mercy of furrows. 

In other words, as much fun as it was to see danger returned to the hazards, they needed to think this one through a bit better.

"If the Tour decides to implement furrowing as part of a larger strategy to counteract technology..."

Ryan Ballangee writes about the bunker furrowing at Muirfield Village:

...the question is this - if the Tour decides to implement this strategy in the long haul, is this a good move by the Tour? The answer, like most things, is "it depends."

If you are a purist like I am, then the answer may very well be that it is good. Since there is no action on equipment restrictions, the Tour can add this into its arsenal of setup changes it can make in an effort to discourage bombing and increase the penalty for inaccuracy. The problem, though, is that many Tour stops do not have very significant bunkering. This means that furrowed raking would only be prominent at a percentage of Tour stops. In essence, it's a six shooter with two bullets.

If you are a Tour marketer, then this is a terrible idea. There are only four weeks of the year that fans look forward to the best players in the world being made to look like fools - the major championships. In particular, the number one week for that is the US Open. The rest of the year, the fans are looking for interesting setups that reward accuracy, are not too gimmicky, and attract good fields. If the Tour decides to implement furrowing as part of a larger strategy to counteract technology, then they may actually upset some of the top players in the process. This could prove to hurt the potential of the FedEx Cup (not that it has any right now) and fly in the face of its goals.

Oh but the irony is so sweet!

Sand Saves At Memorial

Ken Gordon reports in the Columbus Dispatch:

The first-round sand-save percentage (36.0) was the lowest of the Memorial Tournament. Cumulatively, it ended at 43.8 percent, still lower than the PGA Tour average coming in (49.1) and the 2005 Memorial (47.1), but certainly not a catastrophe.

And this...

"It was more of a game strategy than it was bunker play," Stewart Cink said, "because there’s no way to hit out a good shot out of these terrible lies."

Furrowing A Failure Or Success?

Despite the negative player comments and the heated debate that CBS did their best to pretend wasn't happening by actually showing player interviews (imagine a NASCAR or NFL telecast running so timidly from an interesting controversy), it seems that the bunker furrowing at Muirfield Village brought attention to the question of whether a bunker should be a hazard.

It would also seem that most everyone who didn't vote on a rake spec while serving on the Tour policy board believes bunkers are too good and that this was a great start to restoring the hazard element.

It would also seem that furrowing wasn't the perfect way to go about it,  since it appeared fairway bunkers were treated different than greenside bunkers and there was a debate about which direction to rake in, the depth, the motivation, etc...

And there are also questions about how this little experiment will influence Green Committees across the land.

Finally, the excessive rough that has overtaken the sport would seem to make the concept seem more "unfair" than it really is.

My verdict: it was delightful to see bunkers mean something again. It was even more fun hear select players who have pushed a $elfish agenda on the distance issue--the primary culprit behind all of this setup madness--whine over something that appeared in part because of deregulation.

Your verdict?

Azinger Furrows Brow At Furrows*

From the Dayton Daily News, Bucky Albers reporting:

"It's a joke, really," Azinger said after turning in a 71 Friday that left him at even par after 36 holes. "Peter Lonard is one of the best fairway bunker players I've ever seen. We were the same. He couldn't hit it out, and neither could I.

"It neutralizes everybody who is a good bunker player. The best players in the world are trying to separate themselves from the next guy down. It just makes it harder. Jack (Nicklaus) separated himself his whole career."

Someone mentioned that bunker shots weren't Nicklaus' strong suit. "He was not a great bunker player, but he was never in them," Azinger said.

Azinger said the players have no say-so about playing conditions, and he doesn't think they should have any input because each would prefer conditions that favor his skills.

Update on 2006-06-05 02:16 by Geoff

After his final round, Azinger had this to say:

"I think that they probably avoided the bunkers this week. I didn't hit too many bunkers, and it cost me big time. I didn't hit it very good, so it's supposed to cost me. I don't have a problem with the concept that a bunker should be difficult, but I do have a problem with a bunker being prepared in a way that makes somebody who's phenomenal the same as somebody who's terrible, does that make sense?"

And I'm not sure about this logic...

"If you hate the bunkers being easier, just take them out. Make the whole place grass, if the bunkers are that easy, make the whole place grass. They're not that easy."

How about hard bunkers and less tall grass? 

Hawkins: It's All About Jack

Golf World's John Hawkins misses the point behind the Memorial bunker furrowing, chalking it up to appeasing Jack Nicklaus. He obviously didn't get the message that people find it ridiculous when players would rather their ball up in sand than rough.

The lead reminds you that Darwin, he ain't.

Fortify a PGA Tour venue with four inches of lush rough? Bravo! Gooseneck the fairways, hide the pins, triple-cut the greens? You betcha. Create furrows in the bunker sand? Are you freakin’ nuts?

And the real reason behind this furrowing madness...

As for the notion that tournament officials ignored standard procedure as determined by the tour’s own policy board, one can only chuckle. The players themselves are all too aware of how little influence they have in Camp Ponte Vedra’s version of democracy, particularly when it involves Nicklaus. Jack wanted grooves in the sand so the boys would have harder time short-siding an approach, splashing out to two feet and moving on. The tour wasn’t about to object to the wishes of the man they just named 2007 Presidents Cup captain, a man who almost always gets what he wants and is usually right.

“Why does everybody want a free ride?” Jack pondered during the Friday telecast. “You don’t hear much [complaining] from the good players. The tour said it wants to keep doing this—we’ll find out whether [it has] any guts or not. It will be interesting to see what [happens] next week.”

Next week? You can bet the tour will follow the path of least resistance at Westchester and beyond. The bunkers will return to their pristine state, the moaning will cease, and it will be business as usual. Nicklaus has always cast the Memorial as something of a Masters knockoff, complete with its own little set of rules (caddies wear white jumpsuits, no reporters on the practice range), many of which have been abandoned over the years. It’s Jack’s way of reminding us who he is, a right to which he is perfectly entitled, and Camp Ponte Vedra isn’t about to play the role of heavy one week each year.

Somehow, I think there is a whole lot more to this than coddling Jack Nicklaus's ego.

More Muirfield Moaning

As much as I'd like to side with the players, their cause is hurt by a consistent inability to articulate why bunker furrowing is a bad idea and by their reluctance to address the distance issue that has led to situations like this. 

Ken Gordon had these comments in the Dispatch:

"They’re not very good, that’s about all you can say," Jeff Maggert said. "We don’t play any other tournament like this. I think you’ll see players looking to pop this event off (their schedule) if they keep doing it."

And..

The idea was to make the course more old-school. But Mark Brooks thought the change actually hurt shortgame artists more than the bombers.

"If a guy’s got a good short game, he can play more aggressively if he’s got reasonable opportunities to recover," Brooks said.

"It’s about (losing) the art of the recovery shot. (Ben) Crenshaw, (Seve) Ballesteros, those guys didn’t drive the ball great but won tons of tournaments from hitting it all over the place because they were great at recovery shots."

One of the biggest issues was the element of surprise. Players said they did not know about the change until they showed up this week.

"It’s something that I think kind of shocked us this week," Steve Flesch said. "Some of the players are like, Wait, wait.’ We’re used to hopping in there with a perfect lie and knocking it on the green."

Joe Ogilvie is one of four players on the PGA Tour policy board.

"It’s a communication issue," the Lancaster native said. "I don’t think there would be nearly be the controversy here if the PGA Tour and the Memorial Tournament had communicated to the players. We’ve got terrible communication on the tour, period."

Later, that was the major concession made by PGA onsite tournament director Slugger White.

"We’ve taken some criticism and we’ll just look forward," White said. "It’s change, and everyone is a little bit stubborn when it comes to change. We all are.

"Looking back, probably we should have prepped these guys (players) a little earlier, and I’ll take the blame for that."

Not everyone was hot and bothered. Sergio Garcia said it made players think a little more, changing clubs to avoid hitting bunkers, "so it’s good."

And Dave Hackenberg in the Toledo Blade:

Pro golfers don't react well to change, and the reaction to the bunkers was overwhelmingly negative.

Davis Love III was so angry - despite a 3-under 69 - that he blew past media members after making a double bogey out of the fairway bunker at No. 18 and declined comment.

Shaun Micheel spoke for Love, who is one of four players on the PGA Tour Policy Board.

"I had breakfast with Davis this morning, and he told me that the policy board had approved a standardized rake used for all tournaments," Micheel said.

The columns, they just keep on a coming! Actual, a breakfast of complaining and Tour policy board political chat between Micheel and Love is just too easy, even for me.

"Are we not supposed to make anything?" [Micheel] said. "Hey, fill 'em with water and paint hazard lines around them. There's a lot of frustration. [The players] had no warning. We showed up Monday, and they were furrowed and raked sideways. Today, every trap is raked parallel to the fairway. So they changed the conditions.

"They used to have the most beautiful sand here. What's wrong with guys shooting good scores?"

I'm with him on the last point. That would be a good question for the Commissioner. 

From Thursday's Memorial Telecast...More Furrowing Talk

KARL RAVECH: Baseball is a statistic driven sport and you get bunkers like this and the numbers are going to go down. Are the players concerned about those things?

JACK NICKLAUS: I never was, but maybe some of these guys are, I have no idea. But I don't see why they would be. A good bunker player is going to have a good sand save record. But I think the guy who can putt those four, five, six footers is the guy who is good at sand saves. It's not necessarily about how good of a bunker player you are.

IAN BAKER FINCH: The best bunker players on Tour are around 60 %, up and downs, and the average is just under 50%, so a little less than half is the up and down percentage.

JACK NICKLAUS: Well, if the Tour continues to do what we're doing here, which I think they will, they say they are going to, ah, then obviously the sand save percentage will go down.

PETER OOSTERHUIS: The average today is just over 34% from sand.

IAN BAKER FINCH: That's just today.

PETER OOSTERHUIS: Yes, 34.2%.

JACK NICKLAUS: I'll tell you what else will happen too, is that your driving accuracy will improve greatly on the Tour with bunkers like this in the fairway.

IAN BAKER FINCH: Because they'll have to take a club to avoid the bunkers and think a bit more about it.

JACK NICKLAUS: Yes, they're going to have to put the ball in play and I think it's going to bring the game back to level of...just a very simple thing, just a rake, brings the game back to where it's a little more controllable for the course and the guys putting on a tournament.

KARL RAVECH: What else? I mean, could you make rough longer during non-major events, what else can you do?

JACK NICKLAUS: Well, you know, Karl what I've always felt is that the recovery shot is one of the most beautiful shots in the game of golf and the norm has been now to make the rough higher, the fairways narrower and to me that makes the game more boring. Because all you do is hit it in the rough and chop it out. And the guys with the golf equipment today drive the ball must straighter so they can have narrower fairways. But when they miss they don't mind missing in the bunkers. But now if we make the bunkers such that you don't want to put it in the bunker, then you're going to start thinking, do we take teh driver out of your hand or do we leave in your hand to do what we're going to do. So I think it's only a plus for the game of golf. Equipment has made game much easier game, particularly for the pros. And I think there are ways to combat that and we haven't combatted that up until this time. Hopefully this will be used effectively in the future.

And this was a little later on...

JACK NICKLAUS: I want to try and equalize the game from power. I think that the game has gotten...it was about 80% shotmaking and 20% power when I played, power has always been an advantage and always will be. But I don't like to see it be 80% power and about 20% shotmaking. I think it's gotten too much where power takes over and you'd like to be able to get it a little more in balance. It takes guys that don't hit the ball nine miles a better opportunity to play the golf tournament and to be on par the guy who's a Tiger Woods...