Firefighting Mid-Am Champ's Masters Dream: A Practice Round With Tiger Woods

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Not that Tiger ever sets goals for injury return on such things, but the older, maybe more sentimental and "making progress" Woods might just relish the chance to fulfill the dream of U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion Matt Parziale. After all, it would mean Woods was even well enough to play The Masters.

From Doug Ferguson's story on the Massachusetts firefighter who won the U.S. Mid-Amateur last week, earning him berths into the Masters and U.S. Open:

Parziale was 9 when he watched the Masters for the first time and saw Woods break 20 records on his way to a 12-shot victory. He was 16 when Woods won a World Golf Championship at Capital City Club, the very place where Parziale realized so many of his golf dreams.

So when asked if he could play a practice round at the Masters with one person, Parziale didn’t hesitate.

“Tiger, and there’s not even a close second,” he said. “I play golf because of Tiger Woods. I was the perfect age to see him.”

Hank Likes What He Sees In Tiger's Swing

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Tiger shares a swing video featuring driver and his old instructor, Hank Haney, chimed in with a positive review.

That’s a swing he could win with, it’s not across the line and stuck inside coming down, a little stiff looking but it’s good enough

The Tweet in case you don't believe me:


Even better, the cautious approach from agent Mark Steinberg sounds like Team Tiger has learned from past mistakes, offering just enough reason to be optimistic but not committing to a comeback timetable.

From Bob Harig's ESPN.com exclusive on Tiger getting the go-ahead to be a full time golfer again.

"He got a nice report and is allowed to proceed," Steinberg said. "He can do as much as he needs to do. Tiger is going to take this very, very slowly. This is good, but he plans to do it the right way."

We discussed on Morning Drive that the signs point to all positives, but I understand, we've seen this movie before. However, the rhythm and audacity to post clips suggests this is a different.

Flashback, Tiger On Distance: "There's different ways you can get around it so that we're all playing under certain speed limits."

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In Sunday's Irish Independent, Dermot Gilleece took an entertaining look at the golf ball, considering its role in the game as a precious piece of equipment compared to other sports.

He was inspired by comments from Rory McIlroy during last week's Alfred Dunhill Championship at St. Andrews to revisit the idea of a tournament ball and recounted this exchange with Tiger Woods.

The comments were from the 2004 American Express Championship at Mount Juliet.

DG: "Would you be prepared to play with an official tournament ball designated for each event?"

TW: "What do you mean by 'tournament ball'? Do you mean with the same spin rate, same launch angle, hover, same speed of core?"

DG: "I mean a uniform golf ball that would be the same for everybody."

TW: "So everybody plays with the same spinning golf ball?"

DG: "Same golf ball."

TW: "I don't think that would be right because there's too many guys have different games and different types of swing. But I think you should put a limit on the speed of a golf ball, the spin-rate of a golf ball. You can increase the spin of the golf ball and make it so that we don't hit the ball as far. You can decrease the speed of the core. There's different ways you can get around it so that we're all playing under certain speed limits. Hopefully that will be the answer to a lot of the problems that we're having with golf course design around the world."

That was 2004!

As an aside to the speed limit comment, check out the shift in LPGA Tour leading driving distances from 2002 to 2017. While about a 10 yard limit, there is nothing going on like we're seeing in the men's game where optimization of launch conditions suggests gains are being made by top men that are out of proportion with gains the rest of the sport has enjoyed:

2002:

2017:

Bridgestone CEO: Tiger More Valuable As An Endorser Than He Is As A Player

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Catherine Campo at CNBC summarizes Bridgestone CEO Angel Ilagan's assertion that Tiger "on board" is spurring growth for the game and Bridgestone.

More fascinating is Ilagan's assertion that Tiger is better endorsing than playing.

"He actually has more power as an endorser than he does as a player," the CEO said.

He added that Woods is "the Michael Jordan of golf" and "the single golfer who's had the greatest impact of bringing consumers into [the game]."

Ilagan's suggested that as long as Woods is around (on or off the green), the golf industry is safe.

"I think the industry is in a little bit of panic, although it really need not be," he added.

All of the delusional talk can be viewed here...

Bridgestone bets on Tiger from CNBC.

 

Task For Bros: Tiger And Phil Show They're Friends, But Will They Hang Around When The Other Wins (Again)?

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Of course not, but it's still nice to see these two rivals and Task Force partners sharing in the celebratory mood and no doubt thanking their bud Tom Watson for helping bring everyone closer together. Next thing you know they'll be hanging out by the 18th green the next time one of them wins a golf tournament.

This big hug followed Team USA's 2017 Presidents Cup win.

After play, the two insisted it's the media's fault for not seeing what friends they are, reports Will Gray for GolfChannel.com. Tiger:

“I think the press has made it out to be more than what it has been. We’ve been friends for a very long time,” Woods said. “We’ve had some tough moments where we’ve lost some cups, and also the flip side is we’ve had some great success. Hopefully, going forward, we can continue doing it.”

Tiger's Looking Forward To A (Golf Course) Proactive Chairmanship From Fred Ridley

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Tiger Warren Wind's 1500 word blog post yielded the predictable glee over news of putting contests at the house with Rickie and Justin, but there were a few more intriguing references for the seasoned Woods observer.

Given his recent book and the extensive chapter on technology taking away much of the Augusta National he knew, this Woods line regarding new Chairman Fred Ridley suggests he's looking for changes.

All of the players are looking forward to becoming better acquainted with his successor, Fred Ridley. He’s an accomplished player and I look for him to be more instrumental on the golf course side of things and how it plays.

No more mowing fairways toward tees, maybe?

A firmer, tighter and faster Augusta National would show how ridiculously dated the course has become despite governing body claims of a distance flatlining over the last decade.

Either way, a throwaway line from Woods is a reminder that with the change in Chairmanships, something of note is around the corner.

"Michael Phelps: A Golden Shoulder to Lean On"

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The headline-grabbing comments from Michael Phelps broke last week, but it wasn't until Sunday's hard copy edition of the New York Times did I get to read the entire (excellent) Karen Crouse story.

It's a fascinating look at the work Phelps is doing to talk about depression and substance abuse. Crouse detailed in this separate Times Insider item how she got the greatest Olympian to talk and about the location (Scottsdale National Golf Club).

Here is one of the excepts related to Woods:

Phelps contacted Woods through a mutual friend, the Golf Channel analyst Notah Begay III, who was Woods’s teammate at Stanford. A recovering alcoholic, Begay had reached out to Phelps around the time he sought help at the Meadows. Their first phone conversation lasted two hours.

Begay said Phelps was almost uniquely qualified to support Woods.

“Michael can provide honest and direct feedback, and that’s what athletes of their caliber need the most,” Begay said. “Athletes at their level of accomplishment, they have 100 people lined up around the corner trying to sell something to them or do something for them, and it’s hard to filter out, to decide, who is looking out for their best interests.”

Tiger's People: "Tiger is not in partnership with Mr. Trump or his organization and stating otherwise is absolutely wrong."

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As reported by Alan Shipnuck in a lengthy Sports Illustrated look at President Donald Trump's connections to golf, a purported comment to Bedminster members--"The White House is a real dump"--has been picked up by AP and many other news agencies.

More interesting of the many anecdotes and backstories is the distance Tiger's camp wants to have from the President. Damac Properties has commissioned Woods' design operation to do a course at Trump Dubai. 

Shipnuck writes:

The biggest name in golf is now linked to the President through the Trump World Golf Club Dubai, which is slated to open in 2018. "My father and Tiger have been friends for a long time," Eric Trump told Golf.com in a '16 interview. "They've been very, very close. When you combine Trump and Tiger, it's a match made in heaven." But in a statement to Golf.com, Woods's spokesman Glenn Greenspan wrote: "Tiger is not in partnership with Mr. Trump or his organization and stating otherwise is absolutely wrong. Tiger Woods Design's contract and obligation is to the developer, Damac Properties. Our association ends there. I can't put it any clearer than Tiger Woods Design does not have an agreement with Mr. Trump."

Deep breaths Glenn, he is, after all, President of the United States. Tiger played golf with him just last December!

And of course there are press releases.

Is Tiger's Quicken Loans National Doomed In Schedule Revamp?

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Sure sounds like it if you read from DMV insiders John Feinstein and Ryan Ballengee who each lay out the relatively short history and future of the PGA Tour stop that was started by Tiger Woods.

With the PGA Tour needing to contract to make a Labor Day conclusion work and Quicken Loans having not renewed sponsorship of the stop, the signs are not encouraging. Throw in multiple other anecdotal elements--including the Woods Foundation's involvement in the Los Angeles stop--and we could be watching the last or second-to-last playing of the tour's (mostly) D.C. stop.

All of this is set against a backdrop of a PGA Tour looking to shed a few stops to make the math work on a schedule overhaul moving the Players to March, the PGA Championship to May and a conclusion by early September.

Feinstein reports for Golf World that Congressional will not host the "National" again after contractually obligated playings in 2018 and 2020, all in hopes of luring a USGA event again.

While the members agreed to the deal, it was only to host in alternating years — 2016, 2018 and 2020. And once that contract is up, the tournament won’t return to Congressional. The board is now pursuing a U.S. Open, with USGA executive director Mike Davis telling it flatly that the association won’t even consider the course unless the tour event goes away.

But the event requires a sponsor and Feinstein says it won't be Quicken Loans.

With the contract up after this week’s event, there has been no sign from Quicken Loans officials that it plans to renew. There also has been talk that company CEO Dan Gilbert wants to take his money to Michigan, where he lives, to bring the tour back to his home state, which hasn’t had a tour event since the Buick Open outside Flint went away in 2009.

Ballengee's GolfNewsNet.com report pieces together the other anecdotal signs of an impending demise for the Quicken Loans National. With rumblings out of Minnesota about a likely new tour stop there, perhaps sponsored by a current sponsor, Ballengee writes:

At first glance, the only events on the schedule that appear vulnerable are the Quicken Loans National, with an expiring deal, and The Greenbrier Classic, which is locked up through 2021.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods' TGR Live now runs the Genesis Open at Riviera near Los Angeles, a tournament with an established, legendary pedigree of winners and located in Woods' home state. The field is also imminently better than the National each year.

Quicken Loans, if they choose to remain a title sponsor, could latch on to the as-of-now sponsor-less Houston Open or taking over the Tournament of Champions from SBS (which sublet their deal to Hyundai before this year), both with better schedule slots and fields.

This year's even features one of the weaker fields in modern memory, with just four major winners and one top ten player. Tiger has stepped away for his back and addiction rehab as well.

Phil Knight: Nike Lost Money For 20 Years On Golf Equipment

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Talking to Bloomberg Television's David Rubinstein, the Nike founder declares that in spite of Tiger Woods, the company could never be profitable on equipment sales.

After mentioning their recruitment of Woods had started three years prior to Tiger turning pro, Phil Knight says the math was simple.

“It’s a fairly simple equation, that we lost money for 20 years on equipment and balls,” Knight told interviewer David Rubenstein, host of “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations.” “We realized next year wasn’t going to be any different.”

The Bloomberg TV interview airs Wednesday at 9 pm ET.

Tiger & Obama's Jackson Park Plan Unveiling Met With Questions

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Take your politics and stick 'em in a drawer, as the plan unveiling for a Tiger Woods design at President Barack Obama's presidential library complex has been met with the kind of architectural scrutiny and perspective you'd hope for in a public project. The effort is of note given the role of the Olmsted Brothers in this area and their influence on Woods' lead designer, Beau Welling.

Ed Sherman sets up the TGR Design from the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance perspective this way:

The Chicago Parks Golf Alliance and TGR Design representatives unveiled the proposed layout Wednesday night during a public meeting at the South Shore Cultural Center.

Let’s just say 2020, the year of the targeted debut for the course, can’t come soon enough after seeing TGR’s plans. A golfer’s imagination truly is in overdrive in trying to envision the final result.

The Chicago Tribune's Blair Kamin looks at the proposal from a landscape architecture perspective and questions elements of the merging of two courses. He isn't thrilled from the Olmsted perspective in part because Tiger architect Welling has not yet been in communication with the folks developing the park aspect.

But the planning process for that park, which took on new layers of complexity Wednesday with the unveiling of a design for a $30 million Tiger Woods golf course in the park's southern end, almost surely would have given Olmsted pause.

He believed that all elements of a park should be subordinated to a greater whole. That's what the designers in charge of a Chicago Park District push to draft a new plan for Jackson Park said at a public meeting Wednesday.

Yet such an all-encompassing vision is not yet evident. Latent conflicts between different priorities for the park have not been brought to the surface and thrashed out. The designers of the golf course have yet to talk to the designer of the landscape that will surround the planned Obama Presidential Center. The lack of coordination threatens the promise that the center and golf course will endow Chicago's south lakefront with a park equivalent in quality to Millennium Park or Lincoln Park.

For decades, the south shoreline trailed its North Side counterpart in everything from acreage to amenities, a result of racially discriminatory under-investment by the Park District. A 1999 plan for the south lakefront has helped alter that separate-but-unequal reality. In recent years, the city has poured millions of dollars into Burnham Park south of McCormick Place, including a new harbor and playground at 31st Street as well as a new pedestrian bridge at 35th Street.

From a golf point of view, Teddy Greenstein outlines the positives he sees (10!) and sees plenty to like.

• Holes 12-14 will have the million-dollar views, with No. 13 sandwiched by two par-3s. The 13th will play 362 yards for mortals, but if the course gets a BMW Championship (aiming for 2021) or Presidents Cup, players would hit their tee shots over the public beach, stretching the hole to 543 yards.

"We asked ourselves: How can we maximize the experience on the lake?" Welling said. "The holes are going to be absolutely spectacular. (No.) 12 will have a peninsula green, water right, left and long, with a marquee snapshot of downtown Chicago. And it could be windy."

• Lake Michigan should be in view from a half-dozen holes, and others will play along the Jackson Park Harbor. A recontoured lake will swallow balls short of the par-3 eighth green.

Forbes: Rory 7th Among Athletes, Ahead Of Phil, Tiger, Jordan

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As always take these numbers with a grain or two, but at least we see where golfers are lining up with the highest paid athletes.

Rory McIlroy landed T6th on the Forbes list at $50 million, tied with Andrew Luck and ahead of Steph Curry. The year comes on the heels of winning the FedExCup and finishing fifth in the Race To Dubai. His $16 million in on course earnings accounts for his 2016 PGA Tour play, FedExCup and European Tour play in the June 2016 to June 2017 window used by Forbes.

Phil Mickelson ranked 12th, with $43.5 million overall, of which $40 million was from off course endorsements. Tiger Woods at No. 17 is credited with $37.1 million of which $37 million was made off the course. And Jordan Spieth ranked 21st, making $34.5 million, with $29 million of that credited to endorsement income.