Latest On Wie

Doug Ferguson says not so fast...the deals haven't been signed yet according to B.J. Wie. But they're almost done.  Lawrence Donegan provides a UK perspective on Wie's career move.

Presidents Cup Eve

Yes it starts on Thursday, part of the Tour's quest to not be like the Ryder Cup (well, and get another TV day). As for previews, Steve Keating of Reuters has the pairings. The Mickelson-DiMarco v. O'Hern-Clark match looks like it could be good one, though everyone will be watching Woods-Couples v. Scott-Goosen.  Meanwhile, Golf World's Brett Avery previews the teams.  And Doug Ferguson offers notes following Wednesday's practice round and press conference.

As for the to-autograph-or-not-to-autograph spat, no one asked the Captains to clarify as far as I can tell. Instead lots of dreary questions asking for comparisons between the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup and other boring stuff. By having the players do joint press conferences, it turns into one big rally killer session.

Callahan On Els

Golf Digest's Tom Callahan profiles the rehabing Ernie Els.

The Onion Fun

From The Onion.

Speaking of Bickering...

Jim Achenbach reports on Mitch Voges and his shady behavior at the U.S. Senior Amateur yesterday.

I rank the 36 holes I played with Voges in the 1991 U.S. Amateur qualifier at Calabasas as one of the slowest and days of golf I ever played. Not only because I played decently and didn't qualify, but because Voges and his son/caddy gave new meaning to slow and annoying golf course gamesmanship antics. Voges went on to win the Amateur that year.

Another reminder that the USGA should have banned the long putter.

The General Membership Meeting

Fun at the expense of clubs who panicked after the recent Golf Digest rankings.

Let The Bickering Begin

Hey, this Presidents Cup match may get interesting after all. Captain Jack and Captain Gary are already bickering like a couple of old ladies.

Nicklaus, the captain of the United States team, confronted Player, the International team captain, and accused him of breaking an agreement forbidding players to sign autographs at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

Members of the International team were seen signing autographs throughout the day, and some United States team members also signed.

After talking with Player, Nicklaus told fans - as he was signing autographs - that some of his players thought the International team had made them look like "jerks."

RTJ Golf Club Map

Golf World has another excellent course map, this time of Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. (It would be even better if they used that rubbery glue stuff instead of the staples that force you to tear it up. Not that this helps you online map viewers.)

Surrounding bestapproach.com's rendering are anecdotes provided by Brett Avery:

The course, which Jones called "my masterpiece," originally played to 7,238 yards. In subsequent years the layout has become a veritable laboratory for the tour's course design and construction division, with 13 holes changed in various redesign projects.

Ouch. Trent Jones being remodeled by PGA Tour Design Services. There's a recipe for blandness.

Avery provides the lowdown on the new look, corporate hospitality friendly Presidents Cup routing:

When is an 18th hole not an 18th? When the PGA Tour bows to corporate hospitality skyboxes and begins matches at the club's third tee. Of the 96 matches played here since the 1994 inaugural, only 30 have reached the home hole (and seven in 2000). That meant anyone there hoofed it to the action or watched TV and listened for distant gallery roars. When the club shifted its practice area from uneven terrain near the clubhouse to the other side of several "cottages," event officials moved to No. 3. That means any match going 17 holes--and 56 have in three playings here--will parade before the skyboxes. It also means crucial points could be decided at the club's opening two holes, decidedly weaker challenges than its closing two.

The back nine at RTJ's masterpiece is checking in this week at 3,895 yards, thank you very much.

Doak's My Shot

From Tom Doak's "My Shot" interview in the October Golf Digest:

People say that Dr. Mackenzie would roll over in his grave if he saw Augusta National today, but I'm not so sure. Given the advances in equipment, he certainly would have designed something different from the Augusta of the early 1930s. He had tremendous imagination, great mental flexibility. He very well might design something very close to what Augusta National is now. Who can say?

Come on Tom! The seventh stretched to 460 yards, with trees planted down the sides like rows of soldiers? Surely you don't think the Dr. would compromise his masterpiece and his elaborately stated philosophy in The Spirit of St. Andrews, all because a few USGAers and R&Aers have no golfing soul?

Olazabal Interview

Thanks to reader Phillip for the heads up on this Donald McRae interview with Jose Maria Olazabal, who talks about the state of the game, his health problems (and comeback) and about Seve.

I shared rooms with older Spanish players like [José María] Cañizares, [José] Rivero and [Manuel] Piñero. They were like gods to me and I tried to soak up all their knowledge. None of this would happen today. There were no sponsors for young players then, no courtesy cars or practice balls. That's why we shared rooms and cars and developed this great camaraderie. Our minds were a lot more open than the average professional today. We were a lot poorer but our lives were much richer.

But these are also sentimental memories. You know how it is - the first cars or planes look fantastic but they are no longer practical. The world moves on and some of these 22-year-olds don't even know we played with wooden drivers. I'm not saying golf was a better game 20 years ago, just very different. But I would love to see two or three events a year, when the season's over, played with the old equipment and the original golf ball. You wonder how some of these young guys would cope.

We didn't have that cockiness you see in Sergio García. There is a generation between us. I was more interested in golfing tradition while he does things his way. But maybe he's maturing and becoming closer to people. That will help him - not just as a golfer but as a person.

With that lovely short game and his great length off the tee, [García] has the best chance of all the Europeans to win a major. But there are not too many more lonely places than walking those last nine holes on a Sunday afternoon when you're trying to win the Masters. You are surrounded by people but, deep inside, you are in a very isolated place. I still think some of the young guys, like Sergio, need to understand that.

Tour Driving Distance Watch Vol. 2

Thanks to reader Steve for reminding me to check the updated PGA Tour driving distance stats. On August 29, this site speculated that we might see 25 players finish the season averaging over 300 yards this year despite the first half of the season having been played under water.

Well, that was August 29 and there were 17 over the 300 mark. On September 5 it climbed to 20 over 300 yards.

After the 84 Lumber Classic, the drive to 300 continued with 24 players reaching the 300 plateau. Will Mackenzie and Jason Allred are closing in on 300, and if Dennis Paulson, Tag Ridings, J.J. Henry and Geoff Ogilvy would just hit the gym a little harder ;), we could see 30 players over 300 for 2005.

I point this out to remind you that we've heard how laws of physics and the "S Curves of invention application" would take hold and that we would no longer see significant jumps in driving distance.

Ah but you say, what's a few more yards? 3, 4, yards, that's not significant! Perhaps at this poing with things so far gone. But just remember, in 2004, 14 players averaged over 300 yards. 9 players averaged over 300 yards in 2003. Optimization works!

John Daly was the only player averaging over 300 yards for the 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons.

Oh and one more bit of perspective: Dan Pohl led the Tour in 1980 at 274.3 yards. In 1995, Pohl's total would have landed him 16th in overall distance average. In 2000 Pohl's 274.3 would have been 84th on the list. And his 274.3 would put him 195th on this year's list, ahead of only nine others.

Wie'$ Take

Golf World's John Hawkins is the first to report just how much Michelle Wie is going to make when she turns pro.

According to sources involved in the negotiations who requested anonymity, Wie will sign endorsement deals with three companies (one believed to be Nike) worth an estimated $8 million. Adding in tournament appearance fees and other endorsements, the Hawaiian teen's compensation for her first year as a pro is expected to reach $10 million -- not counting what she wins on the course. She also will enlist the services of the William Morris Agency to secure further commercial endorsements and guide her pro career, shunning traditional golf-management companies and suggesting her long-term aspirations may involve transcending the game as much as dominating it.  

This passage is interesting:

Wie's alignment with William Morris formalizes a relationship that began seven or eight years ago, according to an insider, although the agency has no prior experience in representing pro golfers and has struggled in previous partnerships with athletes. 

Seven or eight years ago?  Boy, IMG is really losing its touch! 

Presidential Critics

Not every golf writer has whipped out their pom-poms for the Presidents Cup. Steve Campbell says the Presidents Cup is "a meaningless exhibition disguised as a legitimate sporting event." He recounts the 2003 Cup debacle.

Gary Van Sickle feels the same way and skewers Mike Lupica's recent Travel and Leisure column, which on a second read, is even more ridiculous.

Wie Turning Pro Soon?

The Golf Channel's Brian Hewitt has an update on the status of Michelle Wie's career.

Whitten on RTJ Sr.

Ron Whitten pens an exclusive for GolfDigest.com. He remembers Robert Trent Jones Sr. fondly and shares several career anecdotes. This one caught my eye because it was a reminder how quickly Trent's portfolio is starting to wear thing with the Digest panel.

In the 35-year history of Golf Digest's rankings of America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses, 44 different Trent Jones layouts have been listed, the most of any architect. The 1999 list contains 14 of his most recognizable names, like Spyglass Hill, Congressional, Mauna Kea, Bellerive and Point O'Woods. 

He has zero in the current top 50 and only five overall.

If there had been no Trent Jones, there would have been no Pete Dye. Without Dye, there would be no Nicklaus, at least not in the field of golf design.

And without Nicklaus, there would be no Fazio, at least not Fazio-sized budgets. In a sense, Robert Trent Jones started it all, the modern business of golf architect-as-celebrity producing real life calendar art. Everyone in the business, and everyone who enjoys modern architecture, ought to remember that every time the sun rises.

 Yes I will! I'll remember how he really made a mess of things.