Donegan on Van de Velde

Lawrence Donegan has some fun with the Van de Velde story.

PGA Tour Driving Distance Watch Vol. 5

I was away and forgot to check the numbers. Those soggy fairways at Disney really took a toll on the Drive to 30 Over 300. The number of players averaging over 300 yards dropped from 26 to 25, yet another reminder how it's all about roll and has nothing to do with equipment.

30 averaging over 300 yards is going to be tough with only the Chrysler and Tour Championships left. These guys need to hit the weight room if we're going to do it: Charles Warren, Nick Watney, Dennis Paulson, Geoff Ogilvy, Robert Allenby and Michael Long. Come on guys!

Of course, after 18 weather delayed events, doubling the number over 300 this year isn't bad, especially since the line was drawn on this distance increase stuff in 2002.

Just our (third to last) friendly reminder: in 2004, 14 players averaged over 300 yards. 9 players averaged over 300 yards in 2003.  John Daly was the only player averaging over 300 yards for the 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons.

Sherman on Western Open Move

Ed Sherman in the Chicago Tribune joins the Tour schedule frey but raising the question everyone is already starting to ask.

...will fans be interested in seeing a multimillionaire pocket another $10 million? The tour will have to embark on a massive campaign to make this proposal fly. Indeed, the Western could be a big winner. However, if the tournament isn't played at Cog Hill every year, Chicago fans will be the losers.

And I think it's safe to say Ed Sherman is not a big fan of the Western Open's rumored move to September and a downright nutty idea to return the event to its rotating roots.

Moving the Western to September is radical in itself. But the biggest and most troubling change is a proposal that has the tournament site rotating out of the Chicago area every other year. In addition to Cog Hill in Lemont, the PGA Tour likes the idea of taking the Western to Crooked Stick in Indianapolis and Hazeltine in Minneapolis.The Western, which dates back to 1899, used to move throughout the Midwest. However, it has been anchored in the Chicago area since 1962.

"Nothing has been completed," Kaczkowski said. "The Western Golf Association is working with the PGA Tour to explore all options to make the Western stronger and more prestigious. We want to maximize the charitable dollars we raise for the Evans Scholars."

"The Tour wants to do it," Jemsek said. "The Tour has all the power."

Moving the tournament would be a huge blow to Chicago-area golf fans. The tournament draws nearly 200,000 spectators per year.

The players love coming to Chicago, and Cog Hill has been a popular venue among the players ever since the Western moved there in 1991. Also, Jemsek is on the verge of signing noted architect Rees Jones to do major revisions to further enhance the course.

There also is a risk in moving the Western from its July date. The Western has been a summer tradition, and placement on the calendar midway between the U.S. and British Opens helped attract solid fields. Of course, all that any tournament needs these days to be a success is one certain player. Luckily for the Western, Tiger Woods has been a regular at Cog Hill.

Said one local golf official: "If they think they can draw people in September for golf, they're nuts."
 

Getting Down To (Tour) Business

SI's John Garrity profiles future PGA Tour policy board member Joe Ogilvie, who has established himself as an independent thinker (wait until he downs some of that special Ponte Punch  they serve up at Tour policy board meetings! He'll sound like Rick Fehr in no time.)

Ogilvie also pronounced the Tour "guilty" of bad communication and failure to stamp out rumors about its '07 schedule. "At the beginning of the year they handled it very poorly," Ogilvie said. "They talked to Tiger, Phil and Vijay," but not to the rank-and-file players, who were "pretty much spectators."

Showing a willingness to step on even the most talented toes, Ogilvie later addressed the rumor du jour on Tour -- that third-term Policy Board member Love will be awarded the contract to rework the TPC of Avenel in Potomac, Md., if tournament sponsor Booz Allen decides to return to the unpopular venue. "There's clearly a conflict of interest," Ogilvie said. "Davis probably wants the business, which is fair enough, but there's been a lot of discussion about it, and I think ultimately the Tour will give somebody else that contract." A Tour spokesman told SI that no contract has been awarded, and before one is, the matter will be the subject of full Policy Board discussion.

Golfweek's Forecaddie recently reported that the Avenel redo is pegged at $24 million. Amazing they know that without hiring an architect. And what a bargain!

Questions for the Commish

SI's Farrell Evans presents nine questions for Commissioner Tim Finchem going into his annual Tour Championship press conference (early over-under on Finchem's MBAspeak: brand, 12 mentions, platform, 6 mentions, brand platform: 2).

It would be a miracle if the assembled scribblers ask just one of the questions suggested by Evans.

Oh, and someone get him few dozen free balls, because this question just can't be allowed:

Will you do something with the golf ball and driver technology and the golf courses to encourage shot-making and less muscle-packed golf? 

He'll Even Wear a Kilt and Shave His Legs

Jean Van de Velde is going to try to enter the Women's British Open.

"I'll even wear a kilt and shave my legs," he said Thursday after shooting a 7-over-par 78 in the first round of the Volvo Masters.

Van de Velde became infamous in the 1999 British Open when he led by three strokes going to the 72nd hole, then wound up losing the tournament in a playoff.

The 39-year-old Frenchman is upset with a recent policy set by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club to allow women to qualify for next year's British Open.

"My whole point is where do we draw the line?" Van de Velde asked, and called the rule change a farce.

"If we accept that women can enter our tournaments, then it applies that men can play with women," he said.

The Frenchman said he would get an application and attempt to qualify.

Next year's women's British Open is set for Aug. 3-6 at Royal Lytham. The event is run by the Ladies' Golf Union, which established a gender policy this year.

The policy says: "It shall be a condition of any competition organized by the Ladies' Golf Union that players must be of the female gender."

WSJ Story

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette picks up the Wall Street Journal story on Sean Murphy. Registration not required.

New PGA CEO

Joe Steranka replaces Jim Awtrey.

I know you were anxiously awaiting that news.

Ask the Secretary

The Guardian offered readers a chance to email questions to R&A Secretary Peter Dawson. As you can imagine, the answers are spellbinding. Dawson is getting better at answering the technology questions. Like his counterpart in the States, he can rationalize with the best. But sorry, no baseball analogies.

Should something be done to prevent technology's influence on the game? - Neal Walker Coventry

Modern equipment has certainly helped golfers of all abilities to improve their performance and this is generally to be welcomed. At top level, skill remains the dominant factor in achieving success, as evidenced by the fact that the same players - Tiger, Vijay, Ernie, etc - consistently head the rankings. If technology had taken over, then this would not be happening. Clearly, there could come a point where technology renders courses too easy and the challenge of the game is diminished. It is the responsibility of the R&A and the United States Golf Association to ensure that this does not occur by setting the equipment rules to limit the impact of technology. Course set-up, of course, has a part to play as well.

So like, if Ernie and Tiger and Vijay start to not consistently "head the rankings" (and what great rankings they are), then that could be a possible reason to consider that technology has overtaken skill?

You have tolove the stuff where Dawson and his U.S. counterpart talk about how technology has made the game easier and that's a good thing. But that they are prepared to step in when it becomes too easy and they are monitoring that closely. But how will they gauge that?

Someday they'll understand that it's not about hard or easy, but instead, how the game is played and what elements of skill somehow got the sport to this point (and why some of those elements were worth protecting). But they would have to understand what those elements were, wouldn't they?  

Elling On Points Race Idea

Steve Elling writes what figures to be a recurring theme: this PGA Tour NASCAR points idea stinks:

Rather than maintain the status quo, a formula that has worked in tour circles for, oh, about eight decades, Finchem is photocopying NASCAR, which unveiled its critically mixed and unproven points chase all of two years ago.

Mind you, this year, mega-stars Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon didn't qualify for the 10-event points playoff race, which is like Woods and Vijay Singh missing the cut last week at Disney, times 10. What if they held a points race and nobody cared?

The tour points chase is expected to look something like this: After the season's final major, the PGA Championship, a series of three events will award points to players based on their finish or other performance-based criteria. The three events are believed to be the Barclays Classic, Deutsche Bank Championship and Western Open. Not coincidentally, those events are located in New York, Boston and Chicago, where the marketing impact is hoped to be as big as the number being floated as the points-race bonus -- a cool $10 million to the winner.

The Deutsche Bank event is a whopping 3 years old and contested on a course that frequently has been criticized by players, so its inclusion is mostly attributable to one thing -- the proceeds from the tournament benefit Woods' charitable foundation. It's no surprise that Woods, who has had several private conversations with Finchem on the forthcoming changes, is on board with the points format and says he definitely would play five times in a six-week span, or whatever is required, to lend credibility to the plan.

"We kind of have to," Woods said, "if you want to have a chance in the playoff system, especially at the end of the year with the playoff system being four in a row like that."

But it's not the end of the year, really. And fans thought a viable points system already was in place: It's called the money list, right?

"They are trying to have the perception not be about money," Woods said. "You don't have any idea how much money the guys in NASCAR or Formula 1 are making."

Uh...it's not about the money, but it really is all about money. And it Tiger or Vijay or Phil cashes a $10 million bonus at the end of the  year, who will care about the rich getting just a little bit richer?

Tour Pension Questions

From Wednesday's Wall Street Journal (subscription req.):

Now Sean Murphy, a 40-year-old player who is taking a break from golf while recovering from surgery, is fighting an uphill battle to change the system.

For the past 18 months, Mr. Murphy has waged an impassioned campaign to get the Tour to offer pension benefits to every player on its three main circuits: the famous PGA Tour, the second-string Nationwide Tour and the Champions Tour for seniors 50 years of age and older. He has debated the issue with Tour officials, argued his case at a players' meeting in Erie, Pa., and has been pressing his cause in Congress.

Mr. Murphy, who has played on both the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour, will be eligible to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in pension money when he retires. Still, he calls the system discriminatory and says it goes against the Tour's stated mission "to substantially increase player financial benefits." He also asserts that it violates IRS rules for nonprofits by offering pensions to some independent contractors but not to others.

Daly's Latest Signature Design

Highlights from a press release on John Daly's latest:

Daly's first PGA TOUR win took place at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. "Beginning with John's victory at Crooked Stick, he has thrilled golf crowds worldwide with his prodigious drives and daring style of play," added Mayor Claar. John Daly's first signature course, Wicked Stick, is located in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The new Bolingbrook layout has been tentatively named Big Stick in recognition of Daly's first TOUR victory and first course design.

Big Stick will stretch more than 8,200 yards from the tips, bringing John's "grip-it-and-rip-it" style of golf to Illinois. The par-5 holes will exceed 600 yards, the par 4s will measure more than 450 yards, and each par 3 will feature a tee that makes that particular hole difficult and memorable. Daly's vision for the links-style course also encompasses long, open fairways with a challenging approach and undulating greens. His spirit and enthusiasm for the game will positively complement the vision of golf course architect John Robinson who will collaborate with him on the project.

"I have a passion for building golf courses and look forward to making Big Stick one of the longest tracks in the country with a number of tee boxes to allow for maximum playability," said Daly. 

Okay, who read that without laughing? 

Players Speaking Up

Bob Harig talks to players about possible changes in the 2007 PGA Tour schedule, and they are starting to say some interesting things. 

[The PGA Tour's] theory is that a condensed schedule will bring the top players together more often, because they will have fewer events from which to choose.

"Tiger and Phil talk about a long schedule; I don't know what they would know about that," said Hunter Mahan, who plays his 33rd event this week. "They play very few events because they need to be ready for the majors. To play a lot would not benefit them. They're trying to win majors, obviously they're trying to win tournaments, too, but majors are their main concern. That's why they don't play as much. (If they change the schedule) I don't see him (Woods) playing 25 events. He has his schedule."

 "I feel bad for any tournament that might not get in those top-tier tournaments and getting - I don't want to say second-hand guys - but you're not getting the top players playing them," Chris DiMarco said. "And I don't think that's fair to the tournaments that have been around forever."

Wie and Sony

Michelle Wie is playing the Sony Open (shocker, I know).

You have to love how these appearance fees work on the PGA Tour. At least with Tiger and Buick, he waits until the last minute and doesn't play every one of their events.

Maxwell Gem Uncovered?

Ron Whitten on a rediscovered Maxwell course in Kansas. Or maybe it's not.

One of the major Maxwell finds occurred a dozen years ago, at Hillcrest Golf Course in Coffeyville, hard against the Oklahoma border in the southeast corner of Kansas. It pains me to say that I had a hand in delaying its discovery, and it pains me even more to now report that it's not quite the major find that many think it is.