"From a ball-striking standpoint, it's probably a perfect warmup."

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Steve Campbell writes about the Houston Open's attempts to set up Redstone like Augusta National.

"We want to make it as Augusta-friendly for the pros as we can," Goettsch said. "We want to make it the best possible venue prior to the Masters that we can make. That's our goal: Get the golf course to that kind of condition and standard. We've tried to give them the type of shots they'll have at Augusta."

One of Goettsch's marching orders was to get the green speeds to at least 12 on the Stimpmeter. Another mandate was to shave the banks alongside the greens and water hazards, thus raising the cost of a slightly mis-struck shot. Closely mowed chipping areas are another ode to Augusta, which places a premium on creativity with the short game.

The rough of the 7,457-yard Redstone layout will be cut to an Augusta-esque 1 1/2 inches, which figures to bring the art of the recovery shot into play. That should come as welcome news to all the players who grouse about the mindless, hack-and-gouge play that tends to result from 4- and 5-inch rough.

"I think it's going to be a pretty darn good test," said Joe Ogilvie, who is the player director on the PGA Tour policy board. "(Virtually) every hole is a hook. At Augusta, (virtually) every hole is a hook. From a ball-striking standpoint, it's probably a perfect warmup."

And and there's a catch. Because as blogger Tom Kirkendall points out, there's one major difference between the two courses: the greens.

Mickelson -- who has not played in the SHO in years -- replied that he is not playing this week because the Tournament Course at Redstone is nothing like Augusta National and Redstone's bermuda greens will do nothing to prepare him for Augusta's bentgrass greens. Mickelson's comments were a clear shot at the SHO and the PGA Tour's decision to move the tournament to a date the week before The Masters.

So much for that "resemble Augusta" approach to reinventing the SHO.

IM'ing With The Commissioner, Sergio Edition

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As promised during his spellbinding sitdown with Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller, Commissioner Tim Finchem has contacted Sergio Garcia about his spitting-in-the-cup incident Saturday at Doral. And because they were done with their setup at Alberto Gonzalez's house (now that he's a goner), my NSA sources were able to obtain the instant message exchange between the Commissioner and Garcia. 

twfPGATOUR©: Sergio?

SharketteHunter: Timmy?

twfPGATOUR©: Do you have a minute?

SharketteHunter: Anything for my favorite Commissioner.

twfPGATOUR©: About that distractive behavior Saturday at the CA Championship.

SharketteHunter: The thing with the marshall?

twfPGATOUR©: No.

SharketteHunter: Oh the courtesy car?

twfPGATOUR©: No.

SharketteHunter: Wait, the guy I flipped off down at South Beach?

twfPGATOUR©: No. I am referring to the oral secretion that you discharged into one of Doral's cups.

SharketteHunter: Oh that. Well it was a clean hit. I just nailed the little opening where the flagstick goes.
SharketteHunter: You know, like when Luke Skywalker dropped that hit into the Death Star in Star Wars. Clean shot all the way.

twfPGATOUR©: I'm sure it was, but that's not the issue. This was behavior distractive to the PGA Tour, our brands, consumers, our good friends and corporate partners at CA, and not to mention, to your brand.

SharketteHunter: Distractive?

twfPGATOUR©: It's the adjective form of distracting.

SharketteHunter: So why don't you just say distracting?

twfPGATOUR©: There are many dynamics at play that make it a less appealing choice of words. Just review my interview with Dan Hicks today and I think you'll see that of all the possible permutations, it really was the best choice.

twfPGATOUR©: I should note that we ran several metrics and it tested best.

SharketteHunter: Well what do you want to know, Tim? I dropped a big loogey in the cup. Take the fine out of my account like you always do.

twfPGATOUR©: And as always, charity will be the real winner.

SharketteHunter: Whatever you say. Anything else?

twfPGATOUR©: I was thinking that we might be able cut into what I believe will be a record compulsory contribution to charity.

SharketteHunter: Tim, I'm not doing any FedEx Cup ads. That Shackspear thing is the dumbest ad I've ever seen.

twfPGATOUR©: Shakespeare.

SharketteHunter: Whatever. What do you want?

twfPGATOUR©: You are currently proactively engaged in pre-marital interfacing with Greg Norman's daughter, is that correct?

SharketteHunter: We're dating, if that's what you mean.

twfPGATOUR©: Do you ever ask Greg if he gets the urge to compete, say, on the Champions Tour?

SharketteHunter: Tim, it's not going to happen.

twfPGATOUR©: I know, I know. But, if it ever comes up and you feel that you can influence his platform agenda, that would be great. I'll make it up to you. I'll guarantee you will not be paired with Ben Crane at the Players.

SharketteHunter: Wow, great.

twfPGATOUR©: Thanks, I would really appreciate it. Also, have you tried Greg's 2004 Cab?

SharketteHunter: Yeah it tastes like it's been stored in a cab. I'm a Michelob man, remember?

twfPGATOUR©: Oh right. Well good to know. We've got a really nice plum bite to our '04 Cab, I'll have our people send you a case. We're very excited about it.

SharketteHunter: Excellent. I'm starting my own label, did you know?

twfPGATOUR©:  Really?

SharketteHunter: Yeah, Greg saw that Luke Donald was starting one and thought that the day had arrived when it was not necessary to have a major on your resume to start one's own label.

twfPGATOUR©:  Well you're in good hands there with Greg's advice.

SharketteHunter: I'll tell you him you said that.

twfPGATOUR©: That's not necessary.

SharketteHunter: Yes it is! :-)

twfPGATOUR©:  And please Sergio, let's try to not have any more oral secretions on the golf course?

SharketteHunter: I'll do my best Tim.

twfPGATOUR©:  For the brand's sake, if nothing else.

SharketteHunter: Right Tim.

twfPGATOUR©:  Give my best to...

SharketteHunter: She says hi back!

twfPGATOUR©:  Goodnight.

SharketteHunter: Adios amigo.

Sergio's Latest Brand Building Moment

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Paul Forsyth reports from Doral, where the highlight of the day was Sergio Garcia spitting in a cup while cameras were rolling.

If any under the age of 35 were actually watching the telecast, we would already be reliving this great moment in etiquette history on YouTube.

His defense is priceless:

"But it (the spit) did go in the middle (of the hole) and wasn't going to affect anyone else. If it did, I would have wiped it off."

Ah right laddie. You would have been down on hands and knees with a towel mopping up the cup. Right! 

"It's just a shame that it's come to that."

/

This really just sums it all up so beautifully.

Paul Azinger, as quoted by Tim Rosaforte in this week's Golf World (no link): 

"I don't have a problem with [converting the holes], but it's more of a Band-Aid, really," said Paul Azinger. "The manufacturers have outsmarted the rules of the game and we don't have a commissioner in place who plays golf, so he has not clue what to do. It's just a shame that it's come to that."

I'll be setting up a Paypal option for those of you who'd like to help Paul pay the inevitable fine for this brilliance. 

News of the Weird, Vijay Edition: Vol. 91

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From Craig Dolch, who outlined Vijay's problems with the media before sharing these antics from Bay Hill:

Another tale, albeit a minor one, occurred last weekend at Bay Hill. For some reason, Singh kept parking his car in a media parking spot instead of where the players park. Why? Who knows? A parking attendant told me Saturday morning how he and several of his fellow volunteers had gotten into a heated argument with Singh because after he was told he couldn’t park his car there, but he did so, anyway.

Singh did the same thing Sunday, even though a media official told the lady in his car it needed to be removed. She refused, saying they needed to speak to Singh, who at the time was starting his 67 that won Arnold’s tournament by two shots. Of course, this is a minor incident, but it says plenty about Singh. He never adheres to the philosophy that you should treat people the way you want to be treated.

There's a lede buried in this buried lede, but since this is a family values website, I ain't touching it!

"I'm having a tough time getting started on that one."

/
Brad Faxon, talking to Doug Ferguson about his post Bay Hill activities:
Brad Faxon was busy Monday morning, but he wasn't working on his swing.

"I'm writing notes to my pro-am partners," Faxon said. "And then I'm going to write Arnold and thank him for the invitation and tell him how much I liked the course. Although I'm having a tough time getting started on that one."

Limiited Fields, Limited Opportunities

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The limited field issue appears to not be going away as Doug Ferguson tackles the issue of veterans not getting in Doral for that one last crack at Augusta. He also declares the WGC events a giant mistake.

The World Golf Championships have lost some zip the last few years, even when Tiger Woods wins them, which is often. They were designed to bring together the best players in the world. Now, the WGCs are best identified by players hardly anyone knows.

And a popular PGA Tour destination is worse off because of it.

The WGCs were a good idea when they were formed in 1999, but that was when the world's best players rarely got together outside the major championships. In this global environment of golf, the WGCs have quietly gone away — except they took Doral with them.

The Accenture Match Play Championship really is the only one left, and probably will stick around because of the format. The Bridgestone Invitational remains at Firestone, but look what it replaced in '99 — the World Series of Golf, which already was a WGC without the fancy title.

The other was the American Express Championship — now CA Championship with a new title sponsor — that alternated venues between the United States and Europe. Now it has been folded into Doral.

Instead of 144 players trying to keep it out of the white sand and blue water, there will be a 74-man field playing for free money. And there will be 70 other guys — more, really, considering the many non-PGA Tour members at Doral — who are home this week.

Worse yet, this is the last week to qualify for the Masters.

Golf.com's Cameron Morfit offers a different angle by making a case for the injustice of Ryan Moore struggling to find a place to play.

The problem is, thanks to limited fields, Palmer's Bay Hill party is a tough invite, just as Jack's is and the majors are, just as the WGC events are, just as the four FedEx Cup playoff events will be.

Rather than apply for a medical waiver last year, Moore played through the pain and found that by pointing the club directly out from his belt buckle at address, as if it were a fishing pole, he could minimize discomfort. He finished T2 at the Buick Championship and T9 at the PGA, his first major as a pro, and ended the year 81st on the money list.

It was reminiscent of 2005, when Moore, after making the cut in the U.S. Open, turned pro and made enough money in eight starts to earn his PGA Tour card without having to go to the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. He was the first person since Woods in 1996 to advance directly to The Show without enduring golf's dreaded bar exam.

Moore has his foibles. He doesn't use a yardage book and only recently decided to use a professional caddie instead of his brother. But Tom Lehman was speaking for many when he said recently that Moore could start winning in bunches any day. Ping prominently features Moore, a UNLV product, in its TV advertisements, waiting for him to blow up.

He blames himself, not his injury or Tour policy, for failing to qualify for this week's WGC-CA Championship, or the Masters. But when one of America's top prospects says he's finally healthy again and nabs a top-10 to prove it, and when that player is then snubbed from the following week's invitational in favor of players like Rummings and Stanley and sponsor's invite Mike Hulbert (MC), something is out of whack.

"With the amount of tournaments we have that are invitationals, it doesn't make sense to do more."

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Doug Ferguson reports on the inevitable player complaints about adding another invitational, you know, to speed up play in that hot D.C. July weather (because it's the only place it gets hot!).
"It's the most totally wrong thing I've heard of in a long time that's sticking it to the players," [Rich] Beem said March 8.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has said that the AT&T National, to be played July 5-8 in Washington with Woods as the host, likely would be considered along the lines of tournaments run by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer that have limited fields.

The Memorial Tournament has a minimum of 105 players, while the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill has a minimum of 120 players, although 133 eligible players already have committed to play next week in Orlando.
And...
"I was shocked when I heard that," Brad Faxon said. "We've got players looking for spots, and we're replacing a tournament that had a full field. With the amount of tournaments we have that are invitationals, it doesn't make sense to do more."
And...
"We're trying to get back more spots throughout the year, and all of a sudden we're going to have a limited-field tournament? That goes against everything the players voted on with the playoff system," Beem said. "If that stays the way it is, I promise you there will be some action taken."

He said players can override the board if it gets support of 66 percent of the voting membership.

IM'ing With The Commissioner...Tiger Edition, Vol. 2

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Hard to believe my NSA sources had time to pick up this Tiger Woods-Tim Finchem instant message exchange, what with all the time they put in on the Libby jury deliberations. Anyway...

twfPGATOUR©: Tiger, are you there?

TWPrivacy:  Hey Timbo. Sup?

twfPGATOUR©: I just wanted to thank you for today, I felt like it went very well. So great to have a monopolistically coterminous brand like AT&T on board isn't it?

TWPrivacy: Yep, very exciting stuff.

twfPGATOUR©: And of course it's just great to be back in the Washington market, where we always wanted to be. Well, without Ralph Shrader involved.

TWPrivacy:  The Booz Allen dude?

twfPGATOUR©: Yes.

twfPGATOUR©: More importantly, the military serviceman and women component of this D.C. re-branding really is playing nicely in the early pushback.

TWPrivacy:  Yep, and maybe we can even do a little for Walter Reed too?

twfPGATOUR©: Is he the VP of Platform Protocol at Schwab?

TWPrivacy: No, that's the hospital with the mice and mold.

twfPGATOUR©: Of course.

TWPrivacy: So what can I do for you Tim? We're third in line here at Dulles and I might lose you.

twfPGATOUR©: Oh great, we're 7th up here, taxing in the Falcon.

twfPGATOUR©:  Well I just wanted to thank you for wearing the FedEx themed tie and shirt today.

twfPGATOUR©: I'd do one of those smiley icons after that, but we have them shut down in the company instant messaging. Security issues.

TWPrivacy: Uh, okay. Not sure what you mean, it was just a suit and shirt and tie.

twfPGATOUR©: Say Tom Wade is here, our EVP and CMO. He says thanks for wearing the FedEx Purple with the FedEx Light Platinum suit.

TWPrivacy: Well actually, it wasn't intentional.

twfPGATOUR©: Tom says that in the future if you are interested, you can read all about their brand color regulations here: http://www.fedexidentity.com/guidelines/FedEx_Guidelines.pdf

twfPGATOUR©: One thing, Tom was hoping you'd note that the purple you wore today was a little different than the PANTONE 2685 that defines the FedEx brand.

twfPGATOUR©: And not to be too picky, but the grey suit was a little off from the PANTONE Cool Gray 6 that Tom says brings the entire FedEx brand come together.

TWPrivacy: Thanks Tim, I'l make sure to get this off to my Nike people. Anything else?

twfPGATOUR©: No that about does it, just wanted to thank you again for you help and support here.

twfPGATOUR©: Oh and one other thing. Uh, the limited field concept, how did my explanation of the hot weather and slow play go over you think?

TWPrivacy: I saw one of the writers shake his head in a positive way.

twfPGATOUR©: Excellent. It's just, you see, I'm going to have a little trouble with the Board on this, since we're not really adding a playing opportunity for a portion of the membership.

TWPrivacy: Well, that's why you have the 5 directors that you appoint, and 4 player directors.

twfPGATOUR©: Good point. Well thanks again Tiger for this very special day. Oh one other thing, could you ask Mark Steinberg to give me a call tomorrow?

TWPrivacy: Actually Tim, this is Mark. Tiger had to step away.

twfPGATOUR©: Oh...

TWPrivacy: It was me all along. Say, I'll be in after 8, and you have the cell.

twfPGATOUR©:  Right. Safe travels.

TWPrivacy: You too Tim.


Question About Size of Field

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About the only highlight from the Finchem-Woods press conference to launch the new Washington D.C. tour stop:

 Q. (Operator interruption. Question about size of field.)

COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: I've had some preliminary conversations with our board and I have to believe that we will work with Tiger and the Foundation to fine-tune it, but my guess is that at the end of the day, the field size will be commensurate with what you generally see in Invitationals which is a somewhat limited field.
Now there's a couple of reasons for that. One is prestige of the event. The other is, even though it's snowing today, it's quite warm here -- I used to live here for ten years, July 4th, and pace of play -- we want the pace of play and the experience for the players to be positive as well. So you put those two things together, and it argues for a somewhat shorter field and I think that's where we'll be.

So the experience for the players needs to be positive, therefore limit the field size so that pace of play has a chance of breaking 5 hours?

In other words, slow play is in the best interests of the world's top players?

The slower they get, the smaller the fields become?

Anyway, thanks to reader Steve for this link to Len Shapiro's online chat spelling out the key event details.  

Jobe's Return

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Doug Ferguson has the surprising story of Brandt Jobe, who is making his season debut after slicing off the tips of his fingers in a freak accident. And after this remark, he also should expect to see a case of PGA Tour wine on his doorstep:
"It wouldn't be that big of a deal if this were a normal year,'' Jobe said. "But with the FedEx Cup and everything, you probably have to be 80th to have any chance of winning it. I'm already two months behind.''