Two More Takes On Schedule Proposal

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Tim Cronin lays out a devastating case against moving the Western Open to September. Makes you wonder if anyone at Tour headquarters gave this much thought.

Mark Bradley in the Atlanta JC points out a key distinction between NASCAR and the Tour, and why this proves that the "FedEx Cup" probably won't work too well.  

The big golfers --- Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh --- pick and choose. A NASCAR driver runs every weekend. Jeff Gordon can't skip a race just because he feels a little peaked. He can't because the folks at DuPont, the company bankrolling his car, want their logo displayed before 100,000 spectators plus another hefty TV audience every time the green flag waves. Estimates put the cost for a primary sponsorship in a Nextel Cup team at upwards of $15 million. When you spend that kind of money, you expect the maximum return on your outlay.

The FedEx Cup is designed to make the Big Names play more, but will a series of end-of-season tournaments capped by a fabricated "championship" alter the schedules of guys who adjust their calendars to prepare for the four majors above all else? Consider: Ted Purdy has played in 34 Tour events this season; Woods and Mickelson have played in 21 apiece.

As has been noted, NASCAR is different from other sports. It has its Big Event --- the Daytona 500 --- at the start, and then everything else is geared toward the Chase. The Chase works because Gordon and Earnhardt wanted badly to be part of it but missed the cut, not because their attentions were elsewhere.

"Do I fully understand [the FedEx Cup]? No," Ben Crane said. "But the commissioner [Tim Finchem] has a history of doing great things for the Tour."

Still, Tim Finchem doesn't control golf. Tiger Woods does. And Woods, when asked Friday if he'd consider playing five or 10 more events a year to accommodate the FedEx Cup, looked at the questioner as if he were nuts. "I don't know if my body could hold up," Woods said. "I've never played in more than 21 events."

And there's your answer right there. Gentlemen of golf, find yourselves a different gimmick.

Fall Series Question

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During Tim Finchem's ABC visit, a graphic was posted explaining the parameters of the proposed 2007 schedule. Regarding the post-Tour Championship Fall Series, it said that such a swing would determine the "remainder of the 125 players who will be eligible for next year's FedEx Cup."

So if there was at FedEx Cup in 2004, would only the top 125 from the previous year have been eligible for the 2005 season? Where would that have left a 2004 Q-School grad like Sean O'Hair, or a Nationwide "Battlefield Promotion" like Jason Gore?

Eligible or not?

PS - I just looked at the 2004 money list and these players finished outside the top 125, yet each played in this year's Tour Championship: Olin Browne, Lucas Glover, and Billy Mayfair. 

Finchem On TC Telecast

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Commissioner Tim Finchem stopped by the ABC booth for his annual Tour Championship visit. He noted that the reaction from players to the proposed FedEx Cup has been "very positive" and the dreaded "impactful" was dropped again. Most importantly, the new, more impactful finish will allow the events "to raise more money for charity."

Mike Tirico asked why now, and Finchem launched into the usual lines about how the Tour has been growing and will "continue to grow," then offered this: "The competition in today's environment is strengthening. When you see what other sports are spending to create the theaters for their sport and the fan experience for their sport..." etc, etc...

So the message remains the same: continue to focus on the imagery and mythology, ignore issues with the way the sport is played and how it might be made more entertaining. It's worked so well for tennis and the NBA, why not golf?

The Huggy Awards

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John Huggan presents his awards for the best and worst of the year, along with grades for European Tour players. A must read. My favorites:

BIGGEST PIECE OF SELF DELUSION

Perennial contender Colin Montgomerie is up there again with his misguided, "I'm as good as I've ever been" mantra. The same is true of Peter Dawson, secretary of the R&A, whenever he opens his mouth to talk about how the modern golf ball doesn't go too far when struck by the modern professional. But this year's Huggy goes to Seve Ballesteros, who thinks he can still win on the European Tour. Stunning.

DISGRACE OF THE YEAR

The sight of long grass growing all over the Old Course last July was enough to make any self-respecting golfer puke. Because of their ineptness in the high-powered face of modern clubs and balls over the last decade and a bit, the R&A were forced to destroy the basic point of the game's most famous and revered venue in order to keep the scores within reason.

Most vomit inducing was the sneaky rough grown up the right side of the Road Hole. Without it - as the R&A knew full well - the world's best players would likely have been flipping half-wedge shots into the most feared green in golf. All of which would have represented nothing less than final confirmation that the game's administrators have lost the technological plot. Shame on them.

MOST BLATANT BIAS

In a repeat of the discriminatory selection policy he adopted for the 2003 President's Cup (when he shamelessly picked his compatriot Tim Clark), international team captain Gary Player gets a Huggy for nominating yet another undeserving South African, Trevor Immelman, for the '05 joust with the Americans. Immelman is a fine young player, but selecting him ahead of Australia's Geoff Ogilvy, a man who has beaten Immelman like a redheaded stepchild all year, was unjustifiable. One would like to think Player's actions had nothing to do with the fact that, as well as a spot on the team, Immelman received a two-year exemption onto the dollar-laden PGA Tour. One would like to think that, but one is not so sure.

Tiger On Sasquatch, Clubhead Speed

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Tiger on the new Nike driver he's not using in competition yet. Underlining added:

Q. Will you try the Sasquatch again?

TIGER WOODS: I'll continue experimenting with it because I certainly hit it the physics behind it, you're going to hit it a little straighter. I'm just having a hard time finding the right launch conditions. I hit it much further than I do now, which is kind of freaky, but the thing is it's getting the right flight consistently each and every time, and that's what I want to have. It's higher and it goes forever. I just need to get that ball down a little bit.

Q. When you're on the swing speed launch monitor machine stuff, what's your off the rack swing speed at impact with the driver right now?

TIGER WOODS: Swing speed or ball speed?

Q. Swing speed.

TIGER WOODS: Probably about 27, 28 26 to 28, somewhere in there.

Q. If you jump on it?

TIGER WOODS: 35.

 

Relatable?

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Email from reader Keith: 

I just finished reading The Future of Golf, and I'm thrilled that someone other than me is talking about something so obvious as that golf is NOT in good shape. The parallels to the Rise and Fall of the Tennis Empire are very real, but everytime I bring it up to someone in the golf industry they dispute it. We shall see! I also just visited your website for the first time and was glad to see you question the mighty Tim and his incredible use of the English language. It's amazing how long it takes him to say nothing of interest or value. The one factor Tim and the geniuses who run the PGA Tour seem to have forgotten is that NOBODY CARES ABOUT WHO WINS THE FEDEX CUP or any other tournament for that matter. I have yet to meet one person who gives a &%$# about who wins the Charles Schwab Cup, and at least 9 out of 10 people have no idea what I'm talking about when I ask them. Golf ratings are down because none of us can relate to anything we see on the TV. It is BORING to see nothing but drivers and wedges, and to hear about who hits the ball a mile when I (and most players) are happy to hit one 225 yards! Golf is in for a BIG fall as it moves in the current direction, and I think the new proposal is the roadmap to disaster. America cares about the NFL and NBA and MLB ONLY because of heated rivalries. When Tampa Bay plays the Saints - NOBODY outside of those areas cares. When Houston plays the WhiteSox - NOBODY cares - or tunes in. NASCAR is popular only because of rivalries and the fact that all of the top drivers and teams show up for virtually every race. Golf has part of the necessary equation right - cut back the schedule WAY back and tell every player on the tour they must show up for at least 75% of all events - or go and get another job next year.

Flashback: East Lake in '98

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From Sunday's post round press conference, after Hal Sutton beat Vijay Singh in a sudden death playoff at East Lake in 1998:

Q. You talked on TV about it's a high -- it calls for a high shot. You really can't get it that high.

HAL SUTTON: Well, I was a little worried. I needed the birdie at 15 really bad. I felt like, That's not a really good shot for me either. This golf course, as a whole - I should probably reflect back on this - I went to dinner with Tim Finchem Wednesday night. He said, "What do you think of the golf course?" I said, "It's a golf course, but it really favors a high ball hitter. I'm going to have to play pretty defensive. I'm not going to be able to attack the flag a lot. I'm going to have to try to be patient, 2-putt, make a putt wherever I can." He just kept reminding me of that all week long. I didn't really have a lot of close birdie putts. Probably the happiest that I am to report is that I had a lot of long putts all week long, and I only had one 3-put all week. That was the big difference right there. But the finishing holes - getting back to your question a little bit - when I didn't birdie 15, 16 was my last opportunity that I felt like a low shot could be okay, and I drove -- hit a good drive. It just trickled into the rough there. I was fortunate to get a good second shot into the green, but I still didn't have a good birdie putt. When we got to 17 and 18, I knew Vijay had the advantage because he could drive it up on top of the hill. That shot is a much different shot from on top of that hill than it is from 30 yards back there where you can't see the green. Then 18 does require a high shot. That's why I carry a 4-wood most all the time. When I saw that hole early in the week, I knew the 4-wood was in for sure.
Q. How far was 18 playing? Is that a perfect yardage for your 4-wood?

HAL SUTTON: It was playing 240. That's exact yardage that I try to hit it most of the time. Actually, I can fly it about 230 - between 230 and 235. That was just under the hill, so it could release up top.


Tiger On?

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Not sure what to make of this from Tiger's pre-tournament press conference:

Q. You mentioned that you feel a 300 yard drive that you didn't feel in your 20s. What are the things you see later in your career that you might change in your game? We know MJ went to the fade away later in his career. What are some of the things you may incorporate into your game later on?

TIGER WOODS: I don't know. Certainly that's dependent on equipment changes, whether or not we're going to make any equipment changes, whether I can roll the ball back or not, reduce the club face or whatever we're going to do. You're going to have to adjust. I think that's the great thing about this game. You have to keep it fluid. Things always have to adjust. I have plenty on my plate to work on, all the changes I'm trying to incorporate in my game. That will keep me busy for a long time.

East Lake Scoring

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TourChamplogo05.gifTiger wasn't happy with his 66 where he hit 6 of 14 fairways. 17 players were at par or better in round one. Remember when East Lake had teeth way back in 1998 when Hal Sutton's winning score was 274 (-6). It's 200 yards longer than it was in '98 and they torch the place. 

Time for another Rees-toration?  After all, this will be the host of the Super Bowl of golf...

Plays Often at MountainGate in L.A.

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First there was the ranking of best golfing Washington thie...politicians, now the ranking world does Hollywood golfers. Golf Digest offers up a list with comments next to each celeb. You get an insight from the people you've heard of, or a description of the names that draw a blank (plenty of those).

My favorite: Sly Stallone, a beloved Riviera member gets, "Plays often at MountainGate in L.A."

Now that's a line Sly might want on his tombstone!