Match Play First Round

The WGC first round match pairings have been finalized.

PGA Tour Driving Distance Watch, Vol. 7

The cold and kikuyu at Riviera kept the PGA Tour driving distance average nearly the same at 286.1 yards. 

ShotLink at the Nissan also says that the Tour driving distance average for all drives is 285.6 yards (it was 279.8 at the Nissan).

And 5 drives were added to the 350 and longer club, bringing the season total to 493.

Rory and Paul

Catching up on the ABC telecast at the Nissan, I listened to the Paul Azinger-Nick Faldo summary of Rory Sabbatini's slow play incident with Ben Crane last year. Azinger reported that he and Rory had kissed and made up, even played a practice round together.

But unless there is someone else who blasted Rory on the air, everyone in the press tent assumed these post-final round comments were referring to Azinger. 

Q.  Was there a part of that you was worried about blowing this thing, especially as you come off 15?

RORY SABBATINI:  Well, obviously, you always hear the stories, you always hear the things after, everyone is a great commentator on golf on Mondays, oh, he blew it. This happened, that happened.  You know, I didn't want to give them anything more to fire at me.  I feel like there are a few people out there that have taken a lot of pot shots at me and, you know, it's one of those things that I didn't want to give them any more ammunition.

Q.  You said you didn't want to give people more ammunition, what basically?  I mean was it the incident with Ben last year, or was it just a lot of things? Without getting too personal, can you go into that?

RORY SABBATINI:  Well, actually I choose not to get into that.  There are a few people that seem to have their opinions.  You know, it's pretty sad.

10th at Riviera and Nissan Notes

10th at Riviera (click on image to enlarge)Now posted is my latest Golfobserver.com column looking at the brilliance of Riviera's 10th, along with other assorted Nissan notes.

Greetings From LA, Vol. 7

An uneventful week at Riviera turned interesting Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure how it translated on television, but the back nine was pretty exciting thanks in large part to the crowd's love for Fred Couples.
Couples on 4 (click on image to enlarge)

I'm also not sure how the wind appeared on television, but it was downright nasty at times. Adam Scott's final round 64 was remarkable considering the combination of wind, cool temperatures, soft fairways and a tough setup.

Though the final setup was extremely difficult, the Tour officials did inject some variety, using the lower tee on the par-4 5th twice just to keep the boys honest. On Sunday there were reasonable birdie opportunities on 1, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14 and 17. The rest ranged from tough to extremely difficult hole locations.
No. 4 Sunday (click image to enlarge)

No. 6 Sunday (click on image)The par-3 sixth was played from the far back tee (originally built for the "permanent temporary" green). With a back left hole location, this meant a 200-yard+ shot to a tiny quadrant. Silly, but not the first time this setup has been used.

Before the round I mentioned to ABC's Ian Baker Finch that Rory Sabbatini had suggested he would be changing irons for the final round. I later mentioned it to Nick Faldo, who stood near the cameraman's gathering area on the third tee, signing autographs and watching the play. Both were shocked to hear that Sabbatini would even contemplate such a move.

I'm not sure if they mentioned it on the air, but it turned out that Sabbatini's wife talked him out of this nutty scheme (more on this in my Nissan Notes column at Golfobserver.com).

Rory on 12 (click on image to enlarge)
Rory at 12 green (click on image)Sabbatini finished his range ball session 50 minutes before his tee time. That seems like a long time between shots in any weather, but especially strange in today's cold temperatures. In general he's one odd dude, often yammering away at his caddie between holes. They had a nasty exchange from 11 to 12 tee where his looper seemed to be taking receiving the blame for a misread. But Sabbatini played with confidence and poise despite a pro-Fred gallery, only snapping once when an obnoxious fan uttered something, well, obnoxious.

RORY SABBATINI:  There were a lot of very snide remarks out there.  12, I hit a great bunker shot and I walked out of bunker and someone said something.  It's sad when, you know, you have that situation.  Obviously, Freddie is the great player, they can support him.  I have no problem in the world with that.  I'm an ever believer in the fact that, if someone hits a good shot applaud it.  Don't make snide remarks.  Just appreciate the game, appreciate the shots. 

Rory's Super Belt Buckle (click on image)Sabbatini was sporting an old car hood interesting belt buckle during the final round.  The Superman logo appealed to him because "S" is his initial.

Q.  We were all admiring the belt buckle out there, what's the story behind it?

Admiring? Well, that's not what the scribblers were saying.

RORY SABBATINI:  I don't know I just  this was this week walking through the mall, there was a vendor with a bunch of belt buckles.  I like wearing belt buckles and I found one that I liked.  It happened to be Superman logo and happened to be my initials, so I figured hey, why not.

I saw Golf Digest fashion editor Marty Hackel hanging out in the press tent before round and would loved to have heard his thoughts on Rory's taste. But fashion guy was long gone by the time I returned for the press room lunch.

Speaking of food, in an effort to inspire cranky final day game stories they served a mystery beef later described to me as Santa Monica Canyon Tree Squirrel sauteed on a bed of carrots and kikuyu clippings. I passed and went with the fried rice and fresh fruit.

Couples Plays Into No. 9 (click on image)The course played as firm as kikuyu could play (well, early in the week) and maintained enough firmness today despite an early Sunday morning downpour. As usual, the maintenance team did an amazing job. Now if we could just get them to understand that they have no business tinkering with the design...

After collecting the ShotLink stats and saying goodbye to the fine folks running the press room, I strolled out to the 10th for a final look in the glorious evening light. Knowing that the course is about to undergo a major meddling, I thought about George Thomas and Billy Bell, wondering if they could have ever imagined an event like today's being played on their design. 
No. 10, after the fans have gone home (click to enlarge)

Architects can never envision how all of the parts of their design will work, but there are so many elements of Riviera that work so beautifully because Thomas and Bell clearly thought out each design element. They cared so much about the detail work that astounds me every time I see Riviera.

And now it faces more change. What for?

That's the question everyone in the press room asked me all week: what about Riviera needs "fixing?"

I wish I knew.

Plenty of Big Names

Tom Hanson upset some of the Champions Tour players with a column he wrote, and he offers an entertaining follow up.

OK, I'll concede that there are plenty of big names — Eichelberger (11 letters) Summerhays (10), San Filippo (10), Karbowski (9) — out on the Champions Tour.

Unfortunately those names don't get me fired up as much as the players are about their tour.

Clayton On State of Big Time Aussie Golf

Mike Clayton looks at the state of major Australian golf events. His comments and concerns sound familiar to those wondering about the state of U.S. tournament golf. Thanks to reader Graeme for the heads up on this.

Greetings From LA, Vol. 6

It was an intensely boring but glorious weather day at Riviera. The crowd woke up with Fred Couples' charge, setting the stage for a retro final day with Couples seeking his third L.A. Open title at Riviera. 
Riviera rainbow (click image to enlarge)

Adding to the final day intrigue is leader Rory Sabbatini's surprising revelation that even after putting a new set of irons in the bag in Hawaii, he's taking them out after 7 straight weeks (see post below). In their place will be his old set, apparently stored in his motor home.

There's no truth to the rumor that Phil Mickelson consulted on this decision. 

Well so much for the Woods-Holmes shootout, with Tiger WD'ing because of the flu.

Holmes on 13 (click image to enlarge)J.B. and Geoff Ogilvy still put on a good show, with Ogilvy carding a 66 and Holmes unleashing his power on his last few holes.

Nothing about Holmes' game is "fundamentally sound," and yet that's what makes him so promising. He clearly has a feel for the game, which is saying alot with today's equipment divorcing so many players from any kind of feel shots.

JB's approach to No. 8 (click on image to enlarge)Check out where I saw Holmes hitting from on the non-alternate-alternate fairway 8th, where a record number of players have used the left fairway this week (at least 20!).  
Shotlink shows Holmes's huge drive (click on image to enlarge)

Holmes had a nice angle to the hole and made birdie (see ShotLink photo to the right). Oh, and for the second time this week, I saw Holmes taking a ball out of play, and instead of stuffing it in his bag, Holmes went out of his way to find a young boy. And again, another priceless smile by the surprised kid and lifetime fan for Holmes. He's the only player I've seen do this all week. A wily veteran at 23.

ShotLink tracks Holmes on 7 (click on image to enlarge)Back to his long hitting antics. Check out what ShotLink says about his drive on the par-4 7th (left), which I unfortunately missed.  Who knew the sand short of the green would become a fairway bunker?

Elsewhere, well, it was pretty dull at "The Riv," as the hot-selling pro shop hat says. (Okay, on three everyone...1-2-3...oy vey!).

A few other notes going into Sunday...

The day-to-day setup has been excellent.  A nice mix of hole locations, with not too many tucked ridiculously and the tee placements varied.
No. 6 Saturday (click on image to enlarge)

Let's hope tomorrow is not another final day U.S. Open wannabe thing like we saw at Pebble Beach. But based on early season trends, I'm expecting a par-fest.

My favorite hole location was the front-middle spot on 6, set just below the gentle tier. Players could feed the ball down to the hole, allowing the crowd to cheer their ball down. But if they missed a bit too far left, the players faced a difficult two-putt.

Couples on 16 (click on image to enlarge)No. 16 featured the classic sucker-right location, but that didn't stop Fred Couples from going right at it. He missed an 8-footer for birdie.

And finally, a shot of the rollers they are using on the greens this week... 
Riviera rollers (click on image to enlarge)

Rory Going Bode Miller On Us?

Sabbatini on 15 (click on image to see full view)A boring day at the Nissan ended on this very interesting note.

Meeting with the germinalists after his third round 67, Nissan Open leader Rory Sabbatini was asked about his dominating performance and revealed a stunner right up there with skier Bode Miller's decision to try out some new ski's for the men's downhill:

Q: Rory, when is the last time that you felt you had this much command of your game.

RORY SABBATINI:  You know, actually, the funny thing is I don't feel like I'm hitting the ball very well right now.  I'm probably going to switch my irons back out tomorrow, back to my old set because I don't feel like I'm hitting my irons very well.  I'm driving the ball well, I'm putting well, I'm chipping well.  I just found right now I feel like my irons aren't feeling as confident as I should be.  So I think I'm probably going to go back to my old set of irons tomorrow.

Q.  What would those be?

RORY SABBATINI:  The Pro Combos.

Q.  What are you hitting now?

RORY SABBATINI:  I'm hitting the NDS Nikes.

Q.  Have you ever switched irons in the middle of a tournament?  Have you ever switched irons with a 4shot lead?

RORY SABBATINI:  No, I haven't had too many 4shot leads.  No, it doesn't make any difference to me.  For me, it's just a situation of being able to feel like I can really control my irons, control the shaping of them and things like that. Right now I'm just kind of struggling with mine and I'm going to go back to my old ones.  If I get out on the range tomorrow morning, and they feel OK, they'll be in the bag.

Q.  Rory, two things, on the iron thing: how long have you had these irons in your bag now, how long have you had them in the bag?  And do you usually travel around with two sets of irons?

RORY SABBATINI:  They have been in my bag since Tuesday of Sony.  They have been in the bag the whole year for all of my tournaments so far.  I just decided to try them at Sony.  They worked.  It's not that there is any difference in the irons, that I don't feel they are good irons.  Right now, my confidence level isn't in them because I don't feel like I'm controlling the ball as well as I need to.

Q.  Do you always carry two sets with you?

RORY SABBATINI:  No. Well, since having the bus now I can, yes.  I normally have about 30 clubs under the bus.

Torrey Pine$

Tod Leonard reports on the looming fight over a huge green fee increase at Torrey Pines.

At the top of his list of concerns are the increase in green fees and the funding for a new clubhouse. City Golf Manager Mark Woodward is proposing hiking green fees for residents as much as 57 percent on the North Course by 2011 and 75 percent on the South. Woodward has said the increases will pay for the maintenance of the golf courses, while higher out-of-town rates will fund the new clubhouse. In the proposed budget, $1.2 million per year from the golf enterprise fund would go to paying off the new clubhouse complex.

“The only justification (in the report) for raising green fees is that they are benchmarking against other courses,” Zucchet said. “But let's be honest and say you want to fund a new clubhouse and make other capital improvements. We can disagree that that's a good thing or not, but that's why they're doing it. They want to be able to service a debt they intend to saddle the golf enterprise fund with.”

Zucchet said he is opposed to public funding of the clubhouse, citing the mostly private funding of the renovation of the clubhouse at Bethpage State Park in New York, which hosted the 2002 U.S. Open. He said he also doesn't see enough financial detail in the proposal that justifies that kind of expenditure.

“I'm not aware of any daily users clamoring for a new clubhouse,” Zucchet said. “It's sort of like the Chargers stadium. I would support them having a new stadium if they were paying for it. The people with the special interests at Torrey Pines should pay for the new clubhouse.” 

TCC in 2013?

Don't write The Country Club off yet for the 2013 U.S. Open. The club remains interested...but is the USGA?

Ernie's Site Time

From Friday's sit down with the assembled inkslingers at Riviera:

Q.  Most people have a 100-mile drive to La Costa, your’s is going to be like 5,000?

ERNIE ELS:  Yes, I'm doing (designing) a golf course in Hawaii, in Honolulu.  Fly out Sunday night and I will be back Monday night in San Diego.

Q.  A little spot inspection thing?

ERNIE ELS:  Just an in-and-out thing. You get there Sunday night – sleep. Probably get up at 6 in the morning, I want to be in the plane 3 o'clock coming back.  That will get me back about 11 o'clock or so.

You know, how do I say this nicely. Wasn't he going to be taking it a little easier this year on the travel front? 

Greetings From LA, Vol. 5

Well the forensic people found signs of a Christian Lacoix shoe on my lowly Rockport, so it's a match. Elin got me. Ebay here we come!

Wasn't it a cold but lovely day? That is, until the rain decided to make a mess of things. Even though the heavy stuff was in the forecast, several players were caught off guard and did not have umbrellas or Gore-tex. Including Tiger.

Uh, isn't this the point of having a tour bag?

I spent the morning walking with Jason Gore. He's struggling a bit with the putter, but otherwise playing fine. He hits the ball, uh, quite long. Particularly when he's pissed.

At various times I made stops by the short par-4 10th to watch just how poorly players manage the hole. With a back (Sunday!) hole location, it was remarkable to see how many people tried to drive the green even though that play brings 5 into the equation.

Els on 10 (click on image)Early in the day, Ernie Els drove the 10th, the very same play that began his demise in the 1995 PGA final round. But hey, that was then, this is now, when he's battling to...make the cut.

Naturally, he made birdie from the 11th tee, so I'm sure he'll continue to swing away at No. 10.

And that's the very beauty of it: the 10th remains as tempting as ever, even the face of all this athleticism.

I'm not sure if Hank Kuehne is tempted easily or just not a very smart player, but a day after driving it in the bunker backing the 10th hole alternate green (40 yards offline), he took another crack at it and made a mess of things. These pictures give you a nice idea how he was lucky to make 5.

Kuehne Hits Into 10 (click on image)
Kuehne from the bunkerI decided to follow Kuehne to see how he recovered, and to also watch Joe Ogilvie, Tour policy board and good natured sport about the columns I write using him as the lead character. Kuehne nearly blew it O.B. on #11, attempting to scale the 80 foot tall range fence. Somehow he stayed in bounds and made par. Then on No. 12 he nearly visited the 11th fairway.
Kuehne approaches 12

The 13th got even uglier with a visit to the left trees, followed by a lay up in the barranca, a swipe from there and finally one more for a miracle bogey. I couldn't take it anymore, nor could I stand staring at the outfit (which would go over wonderfully in certain parts of this town). 
Kuehne on 13

Since it was getting dark and cold (Junior Chamber of Commerce weather!), I ventured toward the press center. Even though the tent is located 350 yards off the 2nd tee, it's now in play baby!

At least 10 players made visits to the press room without actually entering. But the scene was welcomed by the scribblers who don't like to leave the premises for fear of missing first lunch menu crack, even though the fare has been uninspired even by the Junior Chamber's normally low standards.

View from the media centerBefore arriving back, I took in the Holmes-Faxon pairing along with the Ogilvy-Browne-Johnson group. Thankfully, Saturday will feature a Tiger-J.B.-Geoff Ogilvy pairing. Yes, the three players I want to watch most will all be together. Unfortunately, about 5,000 other people are thinking the same thing. 
Ogilvy on 9

Finally, a few more fun photos from the day, including Geoff Ogilvy on No. 9, J.B. Holmes on No. 11 and a distinguished spectator on No. 12.

J.B. Holmes Saturday (click to enlarge)
A fan... (click to enlarge) 

Simers v. Faxon

Apparently no one told Brad Faxon about T.J. Simers, the L.A. Times columnist who needles pro athletes.  

Sounding Off

Peter Yoon and Thomas Bonk have a note on the airhorn sound that kept interrupting Thursday play at the Nissan. And this money quote that probably explains why the neighbor isn't too pleased:

Michael Yamaki, the general manager at Riviera, said the situation should be corrected.

"Eventually we'll have to deal with her," he said. "She can't intentionally do stuff like that. It's too bad. You don't want to have bad relationships with neighbors."

Then maybe you should deal with her.