Doral's Attendance Woes...

Jeff Rude writes about the leaders even noticing the small crowds at Doral and asks...

Why the small crowd on such a perfect day? Well, part of the answer was in the question;

it was a perfect day in Miami, and there’s an ocean a few miles away. It’s a big weekend for NCAA basketball conference tournaments. Woods isn’t in contention.

Might ticket prices be a reason? Yes, tickets cost $50 at the gate Saturday. But daily tickets bought before March 1 were as low as $20 daily and $90 for the week.

$50 is of course ridiculous for a walk-up price in a town where there is plenty to do. That price point backfired dreadfully last year in Los Angeles, another town where there are plenty of cheaper alternatives.

"So many people called in, the officials in the rules trailer unplugged the phone. They ignored it."

Thanks to reader Stuart for catching this from SI's all-player confidential. The topic was "rules warriors."

Van Sickle: This has been a year of weird rules violations. How do you feel about TV viewers reporting potential mistakes?

Henry: I'm not a proponent of fans calling in. Unlike other sports, we don't have an official watching every shot by every player. And not every shot is seen on TV, so some players are under more scrutiny than others. That isn't equal. We need to come up with a solution where a guy isn't disqualified for something he did wrong two days earlier.

Crane: Right. When a guy commits a penalty and doesn't know it, it should be a two-shot penalty, not a disqualification for signing a wrong score. All it's going to take is to DQ a leader everybody wants to see win.

Purdy: I wouldn't mind if the Tour had an 800 number. I wish they'd had that for the Heritage Classic, where Stewart Cink beat me after he moved sand from behind his ball. You can't do that except on a green. So many people called in, the officials in the rules trailer unplugged the phone. They ignored it.

Oops!

Ben Crane Offers Best Incentive Yet To Issue Two-Shot Slow Play Penalties

Rich Lerner interviews Ben Crane about his workout videos and debuts an agonizing new one, this time spoofing his addiction to rudeness, a.k.a. as his slow play addiction. Crane chalks up his inability to be considerate of his fellow golfers to "overtrying, just trying too hard" and because "I care too much."  He also says this "isn't who I am" and, "yes I play slow golf."

So why not make fun of my inconsiderate and entitled ways?

The Commissioner has made clear he does not believe two-stroke penalties are appropriate, but when a player is openly mocking the notion of slow play even as it's become a bigger issue than ever, could this be the time that we start enforcing the 45-second rule?

Heritage Classic Status Moves To DEFCON Three

Is this any way to treat an old, loyal friend?

PGA Tour vice president Ty Votaw says it is “imperative” for the tournament to secure a replacement sponsor to keep the tournament at Harbour Town Golf Links for 2012 and beyond.

"The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship is leaving Tucson. What do the French say? Fait accompli? Yes, in any language, it is terminal here."

That's the Arizona Daily Star's Greg Hansen on the prospects of the match play's return to Tucson after next year's event.

Wade Dunagan, the executive director of the last three Match Play events, will be the first to go. The PGA will appoint new leadership soon, and the tournament itself will follow, probably after the last putt drops in February 2012.

If it doesn't make it for another year, it will be a surprise, but pro golf is full of surprises. Who could have ever predicted that Tiger Woods would be eliminated at Dove Mountain by the likes of Thomas Bjorn, Nick O'Hern and Tim Clark?

At this stage, it's fluid. Anything goes.

This would be a good place to insert some perspective, some damage control, from Finchem and the tour, but he was not made available for comment in the days he spent at the Ritz-Carlton. You pick the appropriate term: This type of treatment for a city that has played host to the PGA Tour since 1945 is (a) insulting, (b) arrogant or (c) bad business.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Hansen was kind to not point out that Dove Mountain was a Finchem/Nicklaus vision that was doomed from the start because of its location and the always fatal awarding of a tournament to a course that hasn't been played yet.

"At this stage - without a contract for 2012, without a word from PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem or the Accenture high command - paranoia creeps in."

Greg Hansen notes the uncertainty surrounding the Accenture Match Play's future at Dove Mountain.

When the Tucson Conquistadores aggressively chased the Match Play event, then located in Carlsbad, Calif., it wasn't much of a secret. Conquistadore Russ Perlich, who was also a PGA Tour board member, estimated he flew to the tour's Florida headquarters "umpteen times" over several years to broker the deal.

About 18 months before leaving golf-saturated Southern California, the Match Play people scouted potential sites in Las Vegas, the greater Phoenix area and in Santa Barbara, Calif. It settled on Tucson for five reasons: climate; the Conquistadores; a 60-year history of community support for the Tucson Open; the promise of a new golf course, designed by Jack Nicklaus; and an on-site hotel built by Ritz-Carlton.

It seemed to be enough to please the golf people for at least 10 years, but business is business, right?

"From The First Tee To The First Family"

Almost straight from The Onion.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Thanks to rare access to one of America's most prominent families, From The First Tee to the First Family presented by The Dow Chemical Company, a half-hour NBC Sports special airing at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 27, takes a closer look at the Bush family's connection to The First Tee.

Wait, the first family is sponsored by the Dow Chemical Company?

Former President George H.W. Bush has served as honorary chair of The First Tee since its inception. On February 18, it was announced that George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States, will succeed his father and become the new honorary chair. President George H. W. will become honorary chair emeritus.

Since 1997, The First Tee has impacted more than 4.7 million young people at 750 golf courses, in 4,000 elementary schools and on 120 military installations. As The First Tee moves forward, continuing to use the game of golf as the platform, the goal is to see that as many youth as possible are exposed to character education and life skills lessons, giving them the opportunity to grow individually and to become productive members of their communities.

Who aren't playing golf.

From The First Tee to the First Family presented by The Dow Chemical Company showcases personal, uplifting stories of young people who have had life-changing experiences thanks to The First Tee. Viewers will get a closer look at the history of The First Tee, its incredible growth around the world and the personal involvement of President George H.W. Bush in the program over the past 14 years. In addition, this special examines the future of The First Tee with a specific focus on the next decade with George W. Bush's involvement.

Does he have any thoughts on maybe growing the game?

The special was produced by PGA TOUR Entertainment. As "The Official Chemistry Company" of the PGA TOUR, Dow provides significant philanthropic support to The First Tee. Together, Dow and The First Tee are furthering education and building career paths and opportunities for deserving and talented young people of all backgrounds across the nation.

Break out the fog filters, blur those edges, cue the schmaltz and write things like this: "rising together theirs is a song for all to sing, an unfinished symphony, different notes creating perhaps the game's greatest masterpiece."



"I can easily picture a teenager in 2050 measuring greatness both in terms of majors won and FedExCup titles."

Whoa Nellie, the FedEx negotiations must have hit a snag!

According to Yahoo's Jay Busbee, PGA Tour VP Ty Votaw felt compelled to rebut a Michael Arkush column blasting the ridiculous early season FedExCup shilling. And Arkush didn't even mention the offensive electronic scoreboard posting of standings that makes catching a leaderboard about as common as a rare white elk sighting!

Ty writes:

Let me say this loud and clear: I LOVE THE FEDEXCUP.

Caps, but no copyright symbol?

There, I've said it. And the PGA TOUR's "partners" (the television networks) updating us more on the standings this early in the season is no different than NFL announcers talking about whether the Pittsburgh Steelers can still make the playoffs after starting 2-4. Doesn't that provide relevance to the Steelers' season and what they have to do to get to the playoffs?  Same goes for the FedExCup.

There is a difference. People actually care about the NFL playoffs. Millions of people, actually.

At this time last year, I don't know if many people were predicting that Jim Furyk would win the FedExCup.

He's right few were predicting it because no one cares enough to get into the FedExCup predicting business.

But two wins in the spring (Transitions and Heritage) positioned him quite nicely when The TOUR Championship came around.

Was that after the first or second point re-shuffle?

I have no problem with the TOUR trying to promote the FedExCup.

You're paid several hundred thousand dollars to think that, it should be noted.

I know how overwhelming it is to have great fields play four weeks in a row. Five years into this experiment, the FedExCup means more to me now than it did when it first started.

See last snarky cut-in.

Seriously. There is no doubt that greatness in golf, and this is part of the sport's beauty, is measured by how players perform in the major championships. That's why great players and FedExCup winners like Tiger Woods (14 majors, 2 FedExCups), Vijay Singh (3 majors, 1 FedExCup) and Jim Furyk (1 major, 1 FedExCup) have made the season-long competition so compelling. Time will tell, but I can easily picture a teenager in 2050 measuring greatness both in terms of majors won and FedExCup titles.

Your imagination is richer than I thought!

My dream is for Michael Arkush to see that the FedExCup was never intended to be more important than the major championships, but rather be an additional achievement in measuring greatness. Maybe after he reads this column, my dream can come true.

Keep dreaming the dream, Ty!