Driven to a Billion

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drive to a billion logo.jpgThe Tour will reached $1 billion in charitable donations thanks to the Charles Schwab Cup (Champions Tour event played this week in case you were wondering what that was).

This ought to silence all you cynics out there who thought it would magically happen at the Tour Championship.

Nope, it happened the Sunday night before...so they can milk it all week. Why didn't I think of that!

"It's pretty special," Tim Finchem said. "It's nice to celebrate a milestone like this. If more people and more companies really understand what's happening, that can help you grow. This is part of our mission. It's part of our culture."

Part of our culture? 

PGA Tour Driving Distance Watch Vol. 5

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PGA Tour logo.jpgI was away and forgot to check the numbers. Those soggy fairways at Disney really took a toll on the Drive to 30 Over 300. The number of players averaging over 300 yards dropped from 26 to 25, yet another reminder how it's all about roll and has nothing to do with equipment.

30 averaging over 300 yards is going to be tough with only the Chrysler and Tour Championships left. These guys need to hit the weight room if we're going to do it: Charles Warren, Nick Watney, Dennis Paulson, Geoff Ogilvy, Robert Allenby and Michael Long. Come on guys!

Of course, after 18 weather delayed events, doubling the number over 300 this year isn't bad, especially since the line was drawn on this distance increase stuff in 2002.

Just our (third to last) friendly reminder: in 2004, 14 players averaged over 300 yards. 9 players averaged over 300 yards in 2003.  John Daly was the only player averaging over 300 yards for the 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons.

Getting Down To (Tour) Business

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SI's John Garrity profiles future PGA Tour policy board member Joe Ogilvie, who has established himself as an independent thinker (wait until he downs some of that special Ponte Punch  they serve up at Tour policy board meetings! He'll sound like Rick Fehr in no time.)

Ogilvie also pronounced the Tour "guilty" of bad communication and failure to stamp out rumors about its '07 schedule. "At the beginning of the year they handled it very poorly," Ogilvie said. "They talked to Tiger, Phil and Vijay," but not to the rank-and-file players, who were "pretty much spectators."

Showing a willingness to step on even the most talented toes, Ogilvie later addressed the rumor du jour on Tour -- that third-term Policy Board member Love will be awarded the contract to rework the TPC of Avenel in Potomac, Md., if tournament sponsor Booz Allen decides to return to the unpopular venue. "There's clearly a conflict of interest," Ogilvie said. "Davis probably wants the business, which is fair enough, but there's been a lot of discussion about it, and I think ultimately the Tour will give somebody else that contract." A Tour spokesman told SI that no contract has been awarded, and before one is, the matter will be the subject of full Policy Board discussion.

Golfweek's Forecaddie recently reported that the Avenel redo is pegged at $24 million. Amazing they know that without hiring an architect. And what a bargain!

Questions for the Commish

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SI's Farrell Evans presents nine questions for Commissioner Tim Finchem going into his annual Tour Championship press conference (early over-under on Finchem's MBAspeak: brand, 12 mentions, platform, 6 mentions, brand platform: 2).

It would be a miracle if the assembled scribblers ask just one of the questions suggested by Evans.

Oh, and someone get him few dozen free balls, because this question just can't be allowed:

Will you do something with the golf ball and driver technology and the golf courses to encourage shot-making and less muscle-packed golf? 

 

Beem Unplugged

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Rich Beem, after round 1 of the Funai Classic talking about the rules and the Wie incident before a rally killer stepped in:

Q. Throughout history golfers have been penalized, DQ'd for signing incorrect scorecards. I'm just wondering in the Internet age, do you think that rule is a little archaic now?

RICH BEEM: Actually there's a guy I played golf with on Monday. I played with a guy who's a member of the R & A on Monday. Everybody knows what we shot, on the Internet, TV, everybody. But the rules of the game are you've got to sign your scorecard, and it's not that difficult. I mean, to be honest with you, I think the instance where it happened at the British Open a couple years ago, I don't think that's fair. I think you ought to be given your opponent's scorecard, not your own, but that's how they do it over there, it's a little bit different. You're in charge of your own scorecard and it's not that difficult to write down 18 numbers in a row about what you shot and then sign your scorecard, double check it, end of story. There's been some tragic instances in the past, but I don't think it's archaic. I think it's part of the game, and you ought to be able to do that.

Q. What about some of the other rules like the direction you take a drop?

RICH BEEM: There's so many rules, we can sit here and talk about rules but we're not going to because it's silly and I'm going to go eat here soon.

There are some rules out there the funny thing is that the rules are made by guys, the governing body, USGA, and I'll say it out loud, a lot of these guys can't break an egg, they're not players. They don't understand the rules they have in place, or some of them are outdated and some of them don't make common sense. Like the rule that happened to me at the PGA where I swept debris on the green but I was only this far off, but yet if you're on the green you couldn't do it. So they changed that rule, so that's my rule, I'll take credit for that.

There's a lot of rules that don't make sense. But that's what they like to do. They like to sit around and drink scotch and come up with new rules or old rules and don't want to change them, I don't know. It's their prerogative, man.

Q. You talked about the whole new approach with the putting. Is that because of the change in putters, or were there other changes you made or adjustments putting wise?

More On Magnolia Lengthening

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Doug Ferguson looks at the Disney-Magnolia course lengthening:

The Magnolia Course has been stretched to 7,516 yards, the latest tournament that figures the most viable way to challenge the best players is by making a course longer.

"They just don't get it," Frank Lickliter said Wednesday. "Grow the rough. Tighten the fairways."

 Soggy fairways have made the course play even longer — and perhaps tougher.

I think they ought to just continue the player walkways from the tee right to the green.That'll put a premium on accuracy!

Ferguson noted that Tiger has put his new Nike driver in the bag, which early buzz says will make him even longer off the tee. If that's possible. Tiger had this to say about the course:

"More than the length, it's the fact that every ball is backing up," Woods said. "Every ball picked up mud. That's the hardest thing in the world. You can have length, and you can have longer shots to the green, but if you don't have a clean ball, it makes for a very difficult golf shot." 

I haven't been paying attention, but are they even going to be playing this weekend with a hurricane moving in? 

PGA Tour Driving Distance Watch Vol. 4

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PGA_TourLogo.gifBack to 26 players averaging over 300 yards after dropping to 24. 30 over 300 yards is still very much within reach.

The PGA Tour topped 289 yards for the first time, with the tour average at 289.1 yards.

Just a friendly reminder (again): in 2004, 14 players averaged over 300 yards. 9 players averaged over 300 yards in 2003.  John Daly was the only player averaging over 300 yards for the 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons.