Thursday At The Players

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Take the kids and military guests away and boy did the vibe change Thursday. It didn't help that the players were slogging through a 5:30 minute round, but I couldn't get over the difference between the two days. Personally, if I were a corporate sponsor of a tour event, I'd support more days that encourage family and military guests if it builds that kind of vibe. (Or how about lower prices? There I go again!)

But with more folks and more passion, the corporate hospitality areas become that much more coveted.  Take away the buzz, the place grows quiet and there isn't as much cache in spending on a "chalet."

Now that we have that important statement on corporate hospitality addressed, what about the golf?The scene at 17 Thursday morning (click to enlarge)

I hate to judge the course setup and architecture after just a day of tournament viewing, but it's painfully clear that the situation with rough still has not been properly addressed. You may recall there have been many debates over the years about Pete Dye's intentions and trying to bring the pine scrub and other hazards more into play by having less rough. We've been told that post-move to May, this has been addressed. I'm not feeling it.

Jeff Klauk, son of longtime and now retired TPC super Fred Klauk, tees off on 17 in his first Players (click to enlarge)Though the grass is kept at a lower height than the March Players days, it's still a penal 2-3 inches and fairway cuts appear surprisingly narrow.

Judging by Thursday's excellent scoring, it's not having much effect. Instead, the course still overemphasizes putting and downplays any kind of strategic placement. Not to take away from first round leader Ben Crane's round in any way, but he did have 14 one-putts. And as firm as it was despite a Wednesday night spritzing that eliminated some of previous afternoon's shine, the rough is still stopping balls from reaching trouble. It's most noticeable around some greens where apparently someone on Golf Channel suggested they are growing it at 3 inches, compared to 2 off the fairways. I hope to find out if that's true (doubtful).Trees down the right of No. 6 fairway

I'll try and get a few photographs to illustrate where short grass would make the course more interesting and more difficult (in a good way). But the image to the right shows that it's not just Augusta National resorting to small pines to penalize slightly off-line shots.

Tiger's 7-iron approach to 16 was a highlight (click to enlarge)I followed Tiger in the morning and saw his 7-iron approach that set up his 16th hole eagle. That prompted this stat from the ShotLink crew, working their tales off this week:

With his eagle on the par 5 16th hole, Tiger Woods has now played the hole in 38-under par for his career at THE PLAYERS. His next-best hole is the par 5 second, which he has played at 22-under in 45 rounds. Below is a chart showing how Tiger has played the different holes at TPC Sawgrass.

Par 3s: +25
Par 4s: +40
Par 5s: -88
Front 9: -3
Back 9: -20

As for No. 17, I'll get into the specifics later this week, but the atmosphere and videoboards make it an incredible place to hang out. And for all of the talk about how unfair the hole is, the ShotLink team shares this:

A total of 14 balls were hit in the water off of the tee on the famed 17th hole on Thursday. Interestingly enough, there were 18 balls hit in the water on the par 3 13th hole on Thursday.

More tomorrow on No. 17 and Friday night's media bash, the Commissioner's "Southern Style Pig Roast."

"It's just been fun getting out the phone and typing in a little piece of B.S. or whatever"

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Jason Sobel talks to Stewart Cink about his newfound stardom as a Twitter user, and while he may be jokingly calling some of his posts "B.S." (okay, I didn't need to hear that some Georgia Tech guy was drafted in the sixth round), he's definitely posted more than his share of insights.

Q: Other than that, what have been some of the advantages of being able to interact with fans?

A: Well, I think the biggest advantage is that I can get my personality out there, because it's not always easy if you're not Tiger Woods or Anthony Kim or Phil Mickelson to get a personality to show through the camera lens and into living rooms. That's difficult, because in golf -- depending on the kind of person you are -- most of the time it's better to remain kind of even-keeled and not let your emotions come out. You just want to stay focused and you've got to bear down. It's so different from other sports.

So the best thing for me is that now I've got 100,000-plus people who are getting a glimpse of Stewart Cink the person and not just what they see on television. I think it's been great for me to build a little bit of a fan base out there among the group that may not be into golf too much.

"Damn, I found Anthony Kim obnoxious."

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Jack McCallum, bought-out SI NBA beat legend, novelist and occasional golf scribe fresh off covering the Barkley-Haney show, joins this week's SI/AOL/Golf.com/ page-turner to kick around the state of golf. There's an interesting discussion about Rory McIlroy's decision to pass on a PGA Tour hall pass and comments about slow USGA sales in New York at the end, but McCallum's take on Anthony Kim didn't come as a total shock.

Jack McCallum: I hate to swing at the first pitch in such an august group of golf scribes, but since you asked ... Damn, I found Anthony Kim obnoxious. He came out to one of the Barkley-Hank Haney sessions I was covering for the SI story a few weeks back and acted like a 13-year-old. Then again, Charles acts like a 17-year-old, so it was kind of a draw.