What Happened At The Honda?

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I was out of town and mercifully didn't see any of the Honda, but judging by the winning scores, the tightly bunched leaderboard and a one-hole playoff not finishing before dark, it sounds like things got a little goofy? No?

For some unknown reason I ventured to PGATour.com to find out how the best players in the world couldn't finish on time, but no luck in their game story. A check of other game stories said nothing.

Was the pace of play that bad? How about the setup?

Rack Up A Perfect Club Rerun...

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...because another hour of the Honda isn't worth it?

This is an odd one, reported by Craig Dolch in the Palm Beach Post:

TV air times returned to three hours: A week after saying it would cuts its Thursday and Friday telecasts of Honda by an hour, Golf Channel officials announced Wednesday it has returned its air times to 3-6 p.m.

Last week, the network announced the air times had been changed to 4-6 p.m. in the first two rounds, without giving a reason. The Palm Beach Post reported the reason for the change was Golf Channel was trying to persuade American Honda to buy more advertising, but the car company balked.

A source Wednesday said the Golf Channel made its change after receiving a phone call from PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, who didn't want to lose two hours of golf coverage.

 

Golf's Best Interview

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Jaime Diaz in this week's Golf World says Geoff Ogilvy is the best interview in golf:
Ogilvy's figuratively old head, perhaps made wiser by growing up next to Royal Melbourne, startled me the first time I asked him a question. "Golf was better before," he said in October 2005. "There was more art. It doesn't create a really rounded golfer." At a time when the shortcomings of the emerging twentysomethings were still well below the radar, Ogilvy captured the issue in three quick sentences.

"The complicated thing is making it simple, if that makes any sense," he said, offering as good a definition of a first-class mind as any. Indeed, in quotes over the last year including an upcoming interview with John Huggan in Golf Digest, Ogilvy produces one pearl after another.

Of Woods: "I mean, Tiger is the angriest player on tour. He's also the best at controlling it."

Of Sergio Garcia: "When he starts making putts again -- which he is going to do -- he's going to win 10 times in a year. He is the best ball-striker in the world, probably. … But he is so analytical about his putting and not about anything else. … He's like Seve, only in reverse."

On golf architecture: "I like there to be a relationship between the quality of your drive and ease of your second shot."

"When Tiger's foundation is involved, he has a pretty good track record of playing in the event"

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Len Shapiro on the new Washington D.C. stop benefitting Tiger's foundation:
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem announced yesterday that the tour had reached a long-term agreement with the Tiger Woods Foundation, the educational charity established by Woods and his father in 1996, to be the host organization and beneficiary of a tournament in the Washington area July 5-8. The site of the event is undetermined, but the tour is in negotiations with Congressional Country Club, site of the 2011 U.S. Open, to host the event in 2007 and 2008.

Woods is expected to be a regular presence at the tournament, though his participation this year might be affected by the birth of his first child. Woods and his wife, Elin Nordegren, have not announced a due date, but he has said he might not play in the British Open July 19-22 because the baby is due around that time.

"When Tiger's foundation is involved, he has a pretty good track record of playing in the event," his longtime agent, Mark Steinberg, said yesterday. "This year, it may be something of a wild card because his wife is expecting at around that time, so everything is pretty much up in the air. But I can tell you he's very excited about the Washington event."

Tour and Tiger Return To D.C.

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 Does this mean Tiger really hates Denver's altitude that much?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2007
PGA TOUR, TIGER WOODS FOUNDATION ANNOUNCE
NEW TOURNAMENT IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
Finchem, Woods to Announce Event Details at March 7 Press Conference

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL - The PGA TOUR, in conjunction with the Tiger Woods Foundation, announced today that the TOUR will return to Washington, D.C. as a result of the two organizations reaching a long-term agreement to create a new PGA TOUR event in the nation’s capital, beginning in July, 2007.

The new tournament will be held the week of July 2-8 with the Tiger Woods Foundation serving as the event's host organization and primary charitable beneficiary. A press conference is scheduled for March 7 in Washington, D.C. where PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem and Tiger Woods will announce further details of the tournament, including the title sponsor, total purse, and the charitable vision for the event.

"After an extensive search, we are very excited about our partnership with the Tiger Woods Foundation to bring a PGA TOUR event back to our nation’s capital over the 4th of July holiday celebration," Finchem said. "We are delighted to be able to work with Tiger and his Foundation, and I look forward to joining him on March 7 to announce a very strong title sponsor and additional details of the tournament."

"This is a wonderful opportunity to expand awareness and interest in the work we're doing for millions of kids across the country," said Woods, founder of the Tiger Woods Foundation. "I'm grateful the PGA TOUR selected us as partners and am very excited my Foundation will host another amazing event, this time in our nation’s capital. I'm delighted to think of all the young people this will help us reach."

Additional information on the time and location of the March 7 press conference will be released later this week.


Invite The Women

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Cameron Morfit says the match play is in need of a lift, so he recommends inviting the LPGA Tour to contest their own match play at the same time.

The Accenture is golf’s version of a tennis tournament: single-elimination, with most everything resting on the quality of the semifinal and final. One of the things tennis has going for it is that men and women play concurrently at the same venue. Right away you double your chances of having at least one star in a final, and of getting at least one compelling match in the prime viewing hours Saturday and Sunday.
Now I don't know about this next point, since I don't believe it's accurate. 
The LPGA, in fact, bettered the PGA Tour with its most recent match play event, the season-ending ADT Championship, won by Paraguayan pixie Julieta Granada, who pocketed $1 million, the largest purse in women’s golf, and promptly bought herself a new Range Rover. (A million bucks still means something on the LPGA.)

It was stroke play wasn't it?

Anyhow, the concept seems interesting since even with a great final match, the WGC Match Play is a dud on television. As much as I love match play, if it's going to be played only at real estate developments willing to pay for the privilege, then they need more, uh, "product" to distract us.

"That's exciting (laughter)."

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We've got a new FedEx Cup streak going. For the second straight week Joan Alexander has noted a player's FedEx Cup point pickup, and once again it led to a brand-tarnishing reaction.

From Geoff Ogilvy's post WGC final press conference:

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Geoff, thank you for joining us in the media center for a few minutes at the Accenture Match Play Championship. I know you're disappointed right now, but you've got to be really proud of yourself for the way you've played in this tournament and as far as you've come.
Along with your second place finish today, you earn 2,835 FedExCup points.

GEOFF OGILVY: That's exciting (laughter).

Shapiro On Washington's Prospects...

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...and it doesn't sound too promising, at least for a PGA Tour event returning anytime soon.

Ralph Shrader, chairman of Booz Allen, which sponsored Washington's tour event the last three years, said in a telephone interview that no one from the tour has approached him about sponsoring the 2007 event. The date opened up two weeks ago when the International in Castle Rock, Colo., opted out of this year's schedule because a title sponsor could not be found.

"Given the tour's decision to pull the Presidents Cup out of Washington, I don't even know if we're even on their radar screen," Shrader said. "They haven't talked to me at all, and no one has offered encouragement that they're even anxious to talk to us."
And this may be even more surprising from a fellow at Congressional, one of the only viable sites in the area... 

"I think their first step is to talk to a potential sponsor, and if any of those stepped up to the plate, that's the city where the tournament would go," Brundred said. "But we haven't heard word one from anyone, and I guess that's a little surprising."

“For a 4-iron, you’d put it five, six or seven paces from the edge.”

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Damon Hack goes inside the ropes (and gets out to Riviera early) to file a New York Times piece on PGA Tour course setup.

This caught my attention:
With so many technological advances in golf in the last 20 years, placing a pin near a bunker or by a tier on a green is one way to combat golfers’ hitting tee shots that travel 300 yards. But Mutch said the officials try to balance their pin locations. On Riviera’s back nine, he chose four on the left side of the green, four on the right, and one near the center. Not every pin can be in a treacherous, devilish position.

“For wedges, you’d put it three or four paces from the edge of the green,” said Mickey Bradley, a PGA Tour rules official. “For a 4-iron, you’d put it five, six or seven paces from the edge.”
A bit formulaic, no?

"Courting the coveted, new FedExCup trophy with lines delivered in the spirit of Shakespeare."

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No chance you read this without an eye roll...

The PGA TOUR celebrates Valentine’s Day this week with the launch of “First Kiss,” a new commercial in its year-long campaign to promote the inaugural season-long FedExCup points competition. It debuts during this week's telecast of the Nissan Open on GOLF CHANNEL and CBS.

“First Kiss” features players Adam Scott, Camilo Villegas, Sean O’Hair, Zach Johnson, Dean Wilson, J.J. Henry, Lucas Glover and Aaron Baddeley courting the coveted, new FedExCup trophy with lines delivered in the spirit of Shakespeare. About the new prize, O’Hair exclaims, “Other men have seen angels, but I have seen thee. Thou art enough,” while Scott pledges, “I will be the first to kiss her.”

The FedExCup trophy and a $10 million prize will be awarded for the first time following the four week PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup in September.

To preview the spot, click here.