When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Today's pro-am at the Deutsche Bank Championship, playing the back nine behind good buddy Vijay Singh, who has long been using a similar looking long thingy. Hope they can share notes!
It was one of those moments you watch and think, why am I watching the Golf Channel tag along with Barclays CEO Bob Diamond and Five Guys franchisee Phil Mickelson as they bumped fists with the Charlie Foxes of the world staring at their stock monitors and in general, sell you on the wonders of this week's sponsor. So much for a gentleman's game! Rees Jones, better known now as "the guy who did this one," has fired back at Phil Mickelson's criticism of Atlanta Athletic Club as an example of lousy modern design.
"Phil's just trying to round up some course-design work for himself," Jones, above, said in an interview. Mickelson had complained about Jones's course revisions at Mickelson's hometown Torrey Pines, and the Atlanta Athletic Club, site of this week's PGA Championship. He griped that the penal style at Atlanta "doesn't let the average guy play."
And Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman Tweeted this yesterday:
Featured on Golf Channel's excellent PGA Pre-game show: Stevie (You like, you really, really like me) Williams yammering away to Phil Mickelson, who was merely trying to get in a little pre-PGA practice and to ponder the suggestions of his new mental coach (Tim Rosaforte reports), only to have the mad Kiwi bagman blabbering on about Lord knows what.It's about 20 minutes long and you've heard some of the answers, but there was also some fresh stuff. Plus...
A) You get to see Phil dressed like a Nucky Thompson
B) Hear Charlie interrupt Phil just like he interrupts everyone else
C) Get to hear Charlie and Phil open up with some major name dropping (Aspen, Ari Emanuel, zzzz...)
D) Phil start every answer with "So," his equivalent to Tiger's "It is what it is" and "It's a process"
E) Hear Charlie use multiple tennis analogies because he really doesn't know anything about golf
F) Phil say that no one has benefited more from Tiger's success than Phil
Lawrence Donegan previews the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart and says the players are already raving about the course and the return of links style golf the week prior to the Open Championship.Linked with Derek Lawrenson's golf column this week is an uncredited photo of Phil Mickelson launching this week's Barclays Scottish Open for sponsor Barclays by sitting on one of those bikes you can rent in London. Anyone know what the point of this is, besides awkward and unsafe?
Because I gotta say, this is just wrong on too many levels. Unless of course there is a charitable link, in which case I say it's a wonderful image, highly appropriate and frankly, a moving gesture.
Almost a hole in one twice, first on the landing, then on the spin back. Saturday at the 2011 Players:
Good news Rees, Phil's over you now that he's seen Pete's 13th green in a new light. Dave Shedloski explains what happened Thursday at The Players and shares this quote from Mickelson after a double bogey derailed a good round.
"I don't know what to say. I don't know if it's the set-up or the design, but I just don't agree with that," Mickelson said after a one-under 71 left him seven behind leader Nick Watney after the first round. "I thought the question was would it stay up on top and be by the hole or was it going to roll down in the low area? I didn't know it could possibly go in the water. I think when I design golf courses, I try not to screw the player like that. I try to keep it a little bit fair. I don't know what I could have done differently."
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
