First Look At Hanse's Doral Plan

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Pete Finch in Golf World Monday talks to The Donald about his plans for Doral and more interesting, we get to see what the first Gil Hanse plan looks like.

Changes to the final redesign will surely take place based on all of the cooks in the kitchen offering their herbs and spices, but the real eye-opener comes at 15 and 16 where new water is being added. The 16th, which became a more interesting driveable par-4 thanks to the regulatory malfeasance of the governing bodies, appears to be solidified as a driveable par-4 with distinct options.

"A great deal of the PGA Tour ongoing relevance in Korea owes itself to the Qualifying School."

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Ben Sellenger makes a strong case that top Asian players interested in playing around the world will choose the European Tour now that Q-School sends them to the Nationwide Tour. Besides a Jeremy Lin reference and reminding us that K.J. Choi came to the PGA Tour through Q-School, he writes (thanks reader Josh):
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Brandel Likely To Get A Visit From Camp Ponte Vedra Police

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There were new set pieces (more cactus!) and a little more spunk in this year's State of the Pro Game discussion from Tucson. The first by-product of last year's marriage between NBC and Golf Channel managed to address the everyday game in a rushed final segment last year and though they didn't get that far this year, once they got past the tedious Tiger talk the discussion must have had the monitors in Ponte Vedra picking up the red phone.
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PGA Tour Offering Schwab Cups And Tourney To-Be-Named-Later To Remedy Ironclad Contract Nuisance

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Ron Kroichick reports that the pesky "ironclad" PGA Tour contract with the City of San Francisco for a 2013 or '14 penultimate playoff event at Harding Park is leading to a new offer so that Conway Farms can host the BMW Championship in 2013.

"We've told all the parties the same thing throughout this dialogue: Look, we have a contract with the city of San Francisco to bring the penultimate playoff event there in 2013 or '14," tour executive David Pillsbury said Wednesday. "Until we are able to secure approval from the city to do otherwise, we plan on honoring our contractual agreement.

"We're hopeful, but it's not done until it's done. ... I think ultimately (the revised agreement) is good for the game of golf, for San Francisco and for Harding Park."

Rec and Park general manager Phil Ginsburg plans to soon bring the proposal, which includes another marquee PGA Tour event in 2017, '18 or '19, to the commission.

"We are in the process of finalizing an amendment that would move a tour playoff event to 2016 but also add two Schwab Cups," Ginsburg said.

Commish Reality Distortion Field: "A lot of support for" Schedule, Q-School Changes.

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Someone actually asked Tim Finchem during a Waste Management Open stop-in if the 18th at Torrey Pines was unfair Sunday because a guy using poor judgement and juicy grooves spun a ball back into the lake. The Commish handled the question well before moving on to lots of euphemisms (schedule flow!) to discuss the controversial plan to change Q-School and turn the tour schedule into a year-round.
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