Week In Review, July 1-8: This and That

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WeekInReview2.jpgA little bit of everything this week as the Women's Open wrapped up Monday, the Senior Open is being played at wonderful Prairie Dunes and the British Open looms.

Playing out somewhat under the radar is the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup announcement, which surprisingly has been met with only a few negative reviews. Considering that it has been billed as an exciting new concept, I'm surprised we haven't seen more stories questioning the many bizarre aspects of the Tour's new "playoffs." (Then again, few questioned the sanity of rewarding a Commissioner with a $27 million contract for signing a 15-year deal with The Golf Channel, so why should we expect anything else!)

Thankfully, you all had plenty to say about the Tour' s announcement this week.

JPB: "The Tour appears to be making a lot of decisions that will benefit top players, top purses, and top sponsors at the expense of everybody else. There is a place to treat stars better. There is a place for some events to be bigger and better than others. However, to throw away tournaments, fans, and entire markets for the alleged improvements is risky. And then to get meaningless MBA speak about having too much water in the glass... Perhaps the better water analogy is throwing the baby out with the bathwater."

Andreas Håkansson: "Personally, living in Sweden and watching PGA Tour telecasts past bedtime, I do not think that the demise of these tournaments is a bad thing. Uninteresting courses and unattractive fields leave them inferior to most European Tour stops during summer and fall. For me as a European, American golf ends, and has always ended, after the NEC (the old World Series). I reckon that Finchem feels the same way."

Regarding the shabby treatment of Washington D.C., reader TC writes: "Blame money hungry Commissioner Tim Finchem for this travesty. And for handling the situation like a fourth grader. He waited unitl it was too late for Booz Allen to react before telling them he had moved their event to the worst possible weekend on the tour. Then he refused to take phone calls from the Washington press yesterday."

With Annika and Pat Hurst deciding the U.S. Women's Open on Monday, the subject of 18-hole playoffs came up.

Smolmania: "When I start playing 3 or 4 hole rounds of golf, or 3 or 4 hole matches, I will agree that 3 or 4 hole playoffs are the way to go. Why does everything in life have to be based upon expedience? Golf is one game that isn't, at least it shouldn't. Besides, the USGA has much more important things to be worrying about than how many extra holes to play. It used to be a big deal when the guys on the PGA Tour could "hit the barn" at the back of the range at Cog Hill. . . yesterday 80% of the guys I saw were doing it. Fix the ball, then you can worry about the silly little details like how long the playoffs should be in the ultimate championship."

AP Maran on criticism of 18-hole playoffs: "It's the time we live in that is the problem, better be quick than dead, next town next competition, never rest, up up go go. I can see the logistical problems with burning a day, tents to move, cargos to ship. But as golf continue to be the semislow game in sports, let us hail the honour to be slow and enjoy the extra round of playoff, but at the same time don't be silly as in cricket and take tea for two hours before next batting, 18 holes is perfect."

NRH: "The USGA has it right on this one. Monday might be inconvenient for some, but not to those who are playing. There's something to be said for the mental endurance of an additional 18 and sleeping on it. Like the rough and winning scores over par, it is once a year. Deal with it Doug. Besides, there's no way the USGA would leave enough light to get in 3 or 4 holes on Sunday."

Kevin: "What does an 18 hole playoff offer that a 4 or 5 hole playoff doesn't? The ability to come back after one or two bad holes? That's a weak reason when you are talking about the a championship of golf...the stakes should be high for each hole in the playoff, whether it is sudden death or a subset of holes.

Scotty: "I've been to all four major championships at least once and attended every Masters and U.S. Open since 1997, and the USGA puts on the worst show annually -- by far. It's tedious. Every bit of it. And on the off chance that one of its events happens to get exciting enough to reach playoff potential, the USGA goes ahead and makes the whole thing more tedious by dragging it out another day. I'm all for tradition, and if that's your reasoning for sticking with 18 holes, fine. But if you can honestly tell me that any part of Sunday's final round at Winged Foot, for instance, was remotely close to the drama that unfolded in the last four holes, you're making about as much sense as the people defending oil company profits."

Gus: "They might not have needed a playoff if it were possible in a USGA set up to make a birdie. The only movement in these things is backwards to the field. The concept of an extra 18 would be fine if we were talking about exciting/ interesting golf- but we're not. The prospect of extending everyone's misery for another day is too much too bear. Somebody pull the plug! Please!

I brought up the subject of Phil Mickelson's scouting of courses and knowing what he'll hit in advance. Personally, I think it says something very bad about modern day course setup and architecture that spontaneity has been stripped from the tournament equation. But as expected, a Phil debate broke out! That's okay, the comments were still interesting.

JPB: "Golf should be something more vague than a game broken down by the stats wizards and game theory geniuses. I hope so, since I am neither of those, my brain can barely handle adding the score up."

Charlie Bell: I agree that the USGA shouldn't determine or announce tee/pin positions in advance. For me it's not a matter of challenging the players to think "on the fly" so much as ensuring that they're forced to think a lot, period. Because a course changes daily with wind, turf, and green conditions, there's no sense in setting it up until the last possible moment. The challenge shouldn't lie in the difficulty of the shots per se but rather in the variety of shots required from hole to hole and round to round, and you can't maximize this until you know the day's conditions.

On the latest and most misleading Golf Digest Bomb and Gouge blog entry yet, JM writes:  Of course, the First Corollary to this observation is Paul Fussell's Law of the Ball (as outlined in his book, Class): the smaller the ball, the higher the class. Here's a catchy new title for their blog, then: Spares and Strikes Forever."

NRH used the topic to write, "Billy Payne, take the first step and make your own Masters ball. Since Augusta always does things the classy way, only use your logo on them and do not reveal the manufacturer. Let each player choose the compression (is there even a choice anymore?), give them 4 dozen in advance of the tournament week so they can get used to them and another 4 dozen when they arrive with their initials embossed and send them to the tee."

Golf On Steroids

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Eric Rozenman in the Chicago Tribune says golf has its own steroid issue to deal with.
Chicago-area golf fans can witness routine drives at this weekend's Western Open at Cog Hill that would have been impossible barely a decade ago. That's because golf's on steroids. Not the players, the equipment.
We'll let this next reference to Augusta National Country Club slide because it's leading to a slick analogy.
Monster drives have changed the game so much that long par fours that used to call for a mid-iron second shot to the green now take a mere pitch. Four years ago, William "Hootie" Johnson, then chairman of Augusta National Country Club, which hosts the Masters, mused out loud about requiring a low-octane ball. Honorary club members Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer applauded, but Johnson backed off, lengthening the course instead.

That, of course, is the opposite of the Indianapolis 500 model. As engine technology advanced, race officials imposed power restrictions rather than change the event to the "Indy 600."
And...
The royal and ancient game of golf is undergoing the same extreme makeover suffered by auto racing when dragsters displaced sports cars: bigger, louder, but less sporting.
And...
Golf needs to end the distortion caused by ever more juiced equipment. The game must re-emphasize skill over technology. Today's "live" balls are live enough--and metal woods, like metal bats, belong in the minor leagues.

The Last Western

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Ed Sherman lists all of the things disappearing with the demise of the Western. In all of the talk of FedEx Cup nonsense, I forgot that the "Open" aspect will disappear, meaning no more qualifying and no more spots for the Western Am winner.

It will be the last time it can be considered an open tournament. The stories about qualifiers always have been among the neat things about the Western.

It will be the last time Chicago can call itself the permanent home of the Western. The tournament has been here since 1962.

And last but not least, this week will be the last time anyone calls the tournament "the Western." That's been its name since 1899.

This week will mean farewell to the Western Open as we know it. After 107 years, one of the game's greatest traditions will be gone.

Catching Up With Mac

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Jim Achenbach catches up with Mac O'Grady, who qualified for this week's U.S. Senior Open at Prairie Dunes:

His long-awaited instruction book, however, has taken a back seat to the completion of his fictional and fanciful account of life on the PGA Tour, called Seve The Commissioner in honor of his friend Ballesteros.

"There is much truth in this story," O'Grady said of the book, which has yet to be published.

"People wait for great art, and they will have to wait for this book," he said. "There is no ego involved here. I am in no hurry."

The book crusades against technological advances in golf such as metalwoods and the 60-degree wedge.

Ironically, O'Grady's bag at the Senior Open contained a Ping G5 titanium driver and a Ping 60-degree wedge. His irons were Ben Hogan blades.

"What can you do?" he asked. "These guys still outhit me. The steroids in golf are not in the golfers; the steroids are in the balls and clubs."

Tarde: Wishes Distance Regulation Had Happened

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In his August, 2006 editor's column, Golf Digest editor Jerry Tarde lists his "Top 5 Wished They'd Happened" moments in golf. Number 5:

The USGA holding the line on distance in 1976, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2006. 

This, combined with his June Top 5 that included 4 ways to deal with distance (only one suggestion to do nothing), requires that I add Tarde to The List. I'm sure this will make his month.

For The Good Of The Game...Vol. 3,028

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John Strege and Ryan Herrington report on the USGA's latest embarrassment:
Mackinzie Kline's congenital heart defect hasn't kept her from becoming an accomplished junior golfer but it does create obstacles, including bureaucratic ones. Last week, the USGA denied the 14-year-old's petition to use a cart in the upcoming U.S. Girls' Junior, against her doctor's wishes.

The Encinitas, Calif., native was born with a single ventricle and required two open-heart surgeries before age 2. Recently she began feeling listless and disoriented when walking a course. Doctors at Children's Hospital in San Diego discovered her blood wasn't receiving enough oxygen, and exploratory surgery has been scheduled.

In the meantime, it was recommended if she kept playing golf, she use a cart and have oxygen available. However, her petition for a cart at Carmel CC in Charlotte in two weeks was denied on a technicality. USGA rules stipulate players must request a cart when they apply to the event. When Kline submitted her entry, she wasn't aware she would need a cart.

"Obviously you feel for her," said Marty Parkes, USGA senior director of media relations and communications, "but with those entry deadlines, we feel to be fair with everybody you have to hold to those."
She's going to play anyway. And you have to love Casey Martin's honesty:
Earlier in the week, Kline contacted Casey Martin, who was given the right to use a cart by a 2001 Supreme Court decision. Informed of the USGA's decision, Martin was livid. "I can't believe after what I've gone through ... that they would do this on a technicality, shooting down this precious little girl who just wants to play golf," he said. "This is absolutely shocking."

Pucker Up and Shill

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That line about the smaller the ball, the better the sports writing? (Wind, Plimpton, Jenkins...one of 'em said it first.)

Well GolfDigest.com's "Bomb and Gouge" blog is going to do everything in its power to prove that it's not true.

This latest puckering up to a certain advertiser based in the lone state where Bruce and Steven can get married:

Gouge:  It is hard for me to say this, but if a professional golfer can average 207 yards off the tee and make the cut at the most prestigious tournament of the year, then maybe we don't need to worry so much about a rollback of any kind. 207? It is true. Rosie Jones did that this week. In fact, only the teenage wondergirl hit it farther than 280 on some of her measured drives. Hardly anyone else even came close to that. OK, so Rosie was barely in the tournament and retired from competitive golf after putting out on the 18th on Sunday. But still the average drive at the U.S. Women's Open was just 228.7, and that's hardly a threat to any golf course.

That's right, they are gauging distance by using a tournament that had standing water in its bunkers and a tournament where they couldn't even let spectators on the course on practice round Monday. Either they are intentionally misreading readers, or they didn't actually watch the event. Either way, not good. Oh but it gets better.

You want to know what's the real problem? People who complain that the golf ball is going too far may be short-sighted. The problem is that at the elite level (men) it's not the ball, it's the golf course. If men are driving it 28 percent farther than women, then why (at least in the case of the U.S. Open) are the men playing a championship course that is only about 10 percent longer? Shouldn't the U.S. Open and all significant men's championships be played at courses that are about 8,000 yards long, or at least 7,500 yards long? Well, I guess they're not because there's no room to make Winged Foot, Oakland Hills, Oak Hill, Southern Hills and Merion that long. That infatuation with the past is what Emerson called a foolish consistency. 

Whoa, we're quoting Emerson now! Deep stuff. (Note to really cool classic courses out there that are sick of spending money updating their courses so people like Bomb and Gouge can play the latest equipment they get for free: it's Mike Stachura and E. Michael Johnson, feel free to charge them double.)

BOMB: But finally, FINALLY you might be coming to your senses. The ball is not the problem. The courses are not the problem. Drivers are not the problem. Know why? They’re ain’t no stinkin’ problem! And we don’t need to go to 7,500 or 8,000 yards, either, to keep it that way.

Opponents of distance regulation have long said “grow some rough.” Worked pretty well at Winged Foot, don’t ya think?

Uh let's see. Tiger said watching the weekend was his "punishment" and according to one publication, the ratings tanked.

Worked great. 

Oh but here's the best part.

Throwing out the Match Play where they don’t keep the stats, there have been 26 events so far on the PGA Tour this year. In nine of them—more than a third—the winner has ranked 34th or higher in driving distance for the week. That’s out of about 70 players or so that make the cut. In six of those events the winner ranked 58th or higher. That’s right, 58TH—a lot closer to last than first. The winner has been in the top 10 exactly 10 times. That means sometimes distance wins and sometimes it doesn’t. And when distance is the difference-maker I’m all for it. Golf is a sport. An athletic endeavor where physical superiority should be rewarded. But unlike weight-lifting, it’s not the sole determinant of success. Tiger, Phil and Vijay may blast the cover off the ball, but I don’t think they’d be choppers if they didn’t. Holmes and John Daly and the like will wow us every so often with a week where they whack the ball a mile and hole an equally-lengthy amount of putts. But Fred Funk will win a Players and Jim Furyk a U.S. Open playing small ball.

So yes, distance only matters sometimes. That's why Bomb and Gouge continue to fight for every golfers right to buy things that let them hit the ball longer, free of USGA regulation.

If distance doesn't matter that much, then why do they so shill so hard to keep it from being regulated? 

More Bad FedEx Cup Reviews

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fedexcuplogo.jpgBob Verdi analyzes the FedEx Cup announcement in this week's Golf World, and like everyone else, he can only find one positive: the increase in donations to the Evans Scholarship fund.

Even worse news for the Tour though is that in the same issue, Tim Rosaforte uses his notes column to say nothing nice about the concept (not posted online yet). 

This not only confirms that the weekly infomercial known as PGA Tour Sunday is dead, but also indicates just how disastrously awful the FedEx Cup setup really is. After all, if the PGA Tour's biggest cheerleader is issuing a lousy review...