TGC Adds Faldo, Will He Have To Fly Coach Too?
/The Golf Channel makes it official, Nick Faldo is on board as the lead analyst for their PGA Tour four-round coverage events. Will he have to fly coach like the rest of the Golf Channel talent?
In golf construction art and utility meet; both are absolutely vital; one is utterly ruined without the other. GEORGE THOMAS
It’s back!
Twenty years later Tatra Press has kindly allowed me to bring back Grounds For Golf now that golf architecture is of more interest to the masses. A new Introduction looks at what’s driven the interest growth and two new chapters I had a blast adding (plus a few edits to keep things up-to-date).
The Amazon purchase page for the book arriving June 15, 2026.
Ferguson: Blame Tiger and Phil
/AP's Doug Ferguson says that Tim Finchem is not entirely to blame for the changes in Chicago and Washington D.C.
Finchem was a convenient target, the czar behind these changes aimed at making the golf season shorter and more interesting.
But it's not all his fault.
If anyone has complaints, look no further than Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. They were the catalysts who first started barking about the PGA Tour season being too long. All the commissioner did was respond to his two biggest stars.
Hawkins: Minus Criticism, FedEx Cup Gets No Ink
/John Hawkins on his GolfDigest.com blog:
If not for a smattering of scathing criticism, last month’s “official” unveiling of the FedEx Cup format wouldn’t have gotten any attention whatsoever.He goes on to write about Ed Sherman's recent blog post on markets the Tour is visiting and drops this Western Open stunner:
My sources tell me that Cialis, which picked up title sponsorship of the Western in 2004 after the tournament had struggled to find a successor to Advil, was eager to renew its commitment with the tour, even if it meant spending almost twice as much ($14 million) to subsidize a playoff event. Camp Ponte Vedra, however, was never crazy about aligning itself with a company that makes erectile-dysfunction pills. The tour basically told Cialis to take a hike, then courted BMW throughout the second half of 2005.
How can you turn away a major sponsor when so many other events are in need of them? Something just doesn't add up here.
“I think they were probably bombarded"
/Tod Leonard reports that the USGA has reversed it's decision on MacKinzie Kline, the 14-year-old whose doctors want her riding a cart in the U.S. Junior Girl's and U.S. Women's Amateur because of a heart condition.
USGA spokesman Marty Parkes said yesterday the ruling was made by the organization's three-person medical panel after receiving more documentation from the Klines last week.
“The more we looked into it, it was clear that because of her condition she needed a cart,” Parkes said.
“They stepped up and did the right thing,” said John Kline, MacKinzie's father. “They did more investigating rather than falling back just on what the rules were. They made the right decision.”
John Kline said he was deluged with e-mails and phone calls last week from supporters, many of them strangers, who vowed to contact the USGA to voice their displeasure.
“I think they were probably bombarded,” Kline said.
Of course, one wonders why they would have to be bombarded with emails and calls to figure this one out? And one wonders why one wonders about any bad USGA decision at this point?
Catching Up With The Morrises
/Thanks to reader Chris for this Craig Howie piece on Old and Young Tom, which ought to help you get in the mood for the Open Championship.
Bivens: "I do speak in complete sentences"
/John Branch of the New York Times weighs in on the struggles of Carolyn Bivens. Nothing new here except for brilliance from the commissioner:
“I really don’t have three heads, I don’t have an eye in the middle of my forehead, and I do speak in complete sentences,” Bivens, the L.P.G.A. commissioner, said in a telephone interview Friday from the organization’s headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Branch drops this mini-bombshell, but leaves it up to someone else to explore what the Brand Lady has in mind.
Even re-evaluating the majors is on her mind.
“If a fairy godmother dropped down tomorrow, what would be the criteria for a major?” Bivens said.
Thanks to readers Noonan and John for sending the link to this.
Spontaneity
/After Phil Mickelson's comments last week about knowing in advance what clubs he would be using off of tees, I tried to raise the question of whether this is a sign of the times, or a statement about course setup and design.
And as interesting as it was to read the Phil-hitting-driver-on-18-debate, I'm still curious what you think of the notion of "spontaneity" in course setup.
Is it a better test of a player's skill if they are forced to adapt to either via (A) weather conditions or (B) radical day-to-day changes in tee/hole location placement?
Obviously, by the leading nature of that question, I think we see true skill when players are asked to adapt and execute shots "on the spot."
When a player is made uncomfortable by an unexpected decision (as opposed to a 25-yard sliver of fairway), and overcomes that doubt to pull off a shot, again I think we find out who the better all-around player is.
So if they are asked to hit 3-iron on a hole for two days before surprisingly finding a tee up with a 7-iron the shot to a difficult hole location, it would seem that such a departure genuinely would tell us who can "hit all of the clubs in the bag."
Do you agree that spontaneity in course setup is a good thing, or would you view it as a form of trickery trying too hard to match the unpredictability of links golf (and that can only be created without a backlash by Mother Nature)?
IM'ing With The Commissioners II
/Well my NSA sources have scored with another IM chat between Tim Finchem and Carolyn Bivens. As with the first of these IM exchanges obtained, the more recent chat provides a wonderful opportunity to better understand two of golf's most powerful leaders.
DaBrandLady: tim are you there?
twfPGATour©: Yes Carolyn. Hello.
DaBrandLady: how things?
twfPGATour©: Fine, though we hit a bit of a rough patch with some of the media reports lately on the 2007 platform shifts.
DaBrandLady: yeah i saw some of the brand hits you’ve taken. does the market research indicate any concerns?
twfPGATour©: No, all good there. Everyone is very pleased about our new alignment with BMW, the fans in particular are excited to interact with such a positive brand.
twfPGATour©: And all of my Vice Presidents are excited that they might get employee pricing on the new 7 series.
DaBrandLady: that’s wonderful. it's such a great brand.
DaBrandLady: and what about Washington D.C., we’re doing some benchmarking on a possible event there…
twfPGATour©: Solid demos, tricky permitting issues when you are trying to rebrand a golf course. Thomas Boswell is a bit of a pain, too.
DaBrandLady: speaking of rebranding, as part of the many exciting initiatives we are embarking on, i think we have something you will love
twfPGATour©: Oh?
DaBrandLady: i been reading that you love cooking
twfPGATour©: Oh don’t believe everything Greg Norman and Sean Murphy say
DaBrandLady: not that kind of cooking silly! i meant food cooking, you know like on The Food Channel
twfPGATour©: Oh right, of course.
DaBrandLady: I was hoping you would buy some copies our new LPGA and Canyon Ranch branded cookbook
DaBrandLady: we’re leveraging the equity of both brands for charity!!!!!
twfPGATour©: That’s great Carolyn. Good for you. You know giving back is the heart of the PGA TOUR(C)
twfPGATour©: Just send a couple dozen copies over and I’ll give them out to policy boards for Christmas
DaBrandLady: oh, that's such an old demo, can’t you skew a little younger?
twfPGATour©: You know I’m always trying.
DaBrandLady: the pga tour should consider its own book cooking
DaBrandLady: I mean, book on cooking
twfPGATour©: You mean harnessing some of our young, athletic and young players?
DaBrandLady: like villegas! if i were you’d, I get him to the oscars after parties next year
twfPGATour©: Huh?
DaBrandLady: didn’t you hear about our oscars night branding?
twfPGATour©: Oh yes, yes, great idea, I’ll note that. Uh Carolyn, while I have you here...
DaBrandLady: Yes Tim?
twfPGATour©: These points standings and playoffs you have…
DaBrandLady: yes?
twfPGATour©: It’s connecting with the fans, right?
DaBrandLady: oh absolutely, you should see the hits we are getting on the desktop wallpaper download
twfPGATour©: Wallpaper?
DaBrandLady: yes, check it out: LPGA Desktop Wallpaper
DaBrandLady: the 12-24 year olds love it. i use karrie webb in her nabisco robe for my computer desktop.
twfPGATour©: Oh I’ll check it out. Is there one for Brittany Lincicome?
DaBrandLady: oh tim, you identify with her can-do attitude, don’t you?
twfPGATour©: Yep, she’s a fighter. And I think I’m going to have to be one of this points thing doesn’t work out.
DaBrandLady: it’ll work out great tim, I know it. trust me, I have good instincts on these things
twfPGATour©: Thanks Carolyn, it’s reassuring to hear that from you.
DaBrandLady: anytime tim.
twfPGATour©: Well, goodnight Carolyn, give my best to…to...
DaBrandLady: he says hi back too! night!
Say Goodbye To Hamilton Farm...
/...say hello to The Donald? Thanks to reader Tom for this Kevin Manahan story in the Star Ledger about the possible move of the recently concluded LPGA match play event (I don't the name and I'm too lazy to look it up).
"This is a great course. I love this place," runner-up Juli Inkster said yesterday. "But it's probably not the best place for a match-play tournament. I'll be disappointed. It's a great golf course, and the people here have been wonderful, but it's probably not the perfect setting for an event like this."
Brittany Lincicome, the 39th seed, upset Inkster in the title match, 3&2. But the 20-year-old also ousted Michelle Wie, the 16-year-old phenom, and Lorena Ochoa, the LPGA Tour's leading money-winner this season. Inkster said people should have seen it coming. Lincicome is one of the longest hitters on the women's tour, and Hamilton Farm, with its wide-open fairways, lets the bombers swing fearlessly on the tee boxes.
"I didn't hit my driver well this week, and I think I missed one fairway," Inkster said. "If there are courses for horses, this place was made for Brittany. She has a tendency to get wayward with her driver on other courses, but here she could just bang away.
"For match play, you need a course that gives you more risk-reward situations. Give the long hitters a chance to go for the par 5s in two, but make them pay a price if they miss the shot. I love this place, but it's not the best place for match play."
With the two-year contract expired and a new deal unlikely, the tournament will have to find a new home. Marc Webster, the tournament director, had no comment yesterday on the future, but there is speculation the event could move to Trump National Bedminster, which is less than 10 miles away.
Trump officials have denied interest in the event, but that might have changed. Carolyn Kepcher, managing partner of Trump Golf Management and the chief operating officer of Trump National courses in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., and Bedminster, was spotted at the pro-am on Wednesday, and people connected with the event said she was at the course "more than once."
LPGA Cookbook To Feature Bivens Recipe For Benchmarking
/I'm teeing this one up for you, feel free to submit your recipe suggestions under "Comments."
GOOD LPGA EATS: LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens and current and former players have combined with Canyon Ranch integrative wellness resorts on a 60-page cookbook: The LPGA Cooks with Canyon Ranch. Proceeds from the $10 US book will benefit Shape Up America!, a not for profit organization for raising awareness of obesity as a health issue.
Bivens submitted a recipe for beef lasagna.
Other recipes included Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez's turkey chili; Natalie Gulbis' healthy beef stew, Beth Daniels' Dijon chicken, Karrie Webb's avocado, mango and walnut salad, Ai Miyazato's Edamame rice balls and Morgan Pressel's championship bundt cake. Paula Creamer has recipes for raisin scones and chicken salad. Canyon Ranch chefs also provide new recipes.
MacDuff's Post Western FedEx Cup Points Standings
/
As it stands now, the wonderful David Duval would get in the FedEx Cup playoffs if MacDuff's points system was used, but the future Ryder Cup captain (you can always dream David!) doesn't qualify using the Tour's system. I know you can hardly contain your shock over this development.
On a serious note. Really. I know "strength of field" is being taken into account in the Tour's version by giving extra points to the majors, THE PLAYERS and the WGC's. But that would seem to just increase the likelihood of big name players who are prone to play a light schedule, continuing to not play often enough.
While under MacDuff's system' each event would have more sway. Oh wait, this is all assuming that the playoffs are actually hard to get into. My bad!
1 Mickelson 22546.5 15
2 Singh 21859.37 16
3 Furyk 21312.5 14
4 Gf. Ogilvy 18487.5 12
5 Pettersson 18383.33 16
6 Glover 17241.66 13
7 Cink 17146.33 14
8 Immelman 17112.5 12
9 Weir 16659.37 14
10 Appleby 16437.5 13
11 Donald 16339.37 11
12 Toms 16196.87 11
13 Van Pelt 15940 17
14 A.Scott 15725 11
15 C.Campbell 15587.5 13
16 Pampling 15535 14
17 Pernice 15525 12
18 Z.Johnson 15362.5 13
19 B. Quigley 15075 12
20 Oberholser 14637.5 13
21 Bohn 14238.33 14
22 Verplank 14087.5 12
23 Gay 14037.5 14
24 Funk 14025 15
25 T.Clark 14010 13
26 Olazabal 13862.5 10
27 Sabbatini 13754.16 12
28 Mayfair 13679.16 15
29 Vn Taylor 13162.5 12
30 Choi 13125 13
31 Goosen 12937.5 10
32 Jerry Kelly 12600 11
33 T.Woods 12584.37 7
34 Senden 12562.5 12
35 Harrington 12450 10
36 Purdy 12375 12
37 Hoffman 12137.5 13
38 Love III 12050 12
39 Ames 12012.5 9
40 Imada 11667.5 13
41 JJ Henry 11662.5 10
42 Crane 11585 12
43 Watney 11535.71 13
44 Chopra 11479.5 13
45 Villegas 11475 12
46 J.Ogilvie 11468.21 12
47 Allenby 11262.5 10
48 Herron 11247.5 12
49 N.Green 11177.5 13
50 Flesch 11143.21 16
51 Els 11140 11
52 D.Wilson 11112.5 12
53 Lehman 11075 11
54 Warren 11075 12
55 Leonard 10820.83 12
56 Parnevik 10767.5 12
57 Sluman 10762.5 14
58 S. Maruyama 10550 11
59 Wetterich 10425 9
60 Stricker 10362.5 8
61 Rose 10329.16 12
62 RS Johnson 10305 10
63 Bryant 10257 10
64 Slocum 10187.5 12
65 Austin 10150 14
66 Poulter 10062.5 10
67 Curtis 9762.5 12
68 F.Jacobson 9675 10
69 Branshaw 9662.5 10
70 D. Howell 9587.5 8
71 Palmer 9466.66 11
72 Bertsch 9431.25 13
73 Jobe 9392.5 11
74 Kenny Perry 9375 11
75 Br.Davis 9342.5 11
76 Beem 9318.75 11
77 Lonard 9298.21 12
78 Howell III 9187.5 14
79 Hart 9167.5 10
80 Garcia 9112.5 8
81 Waldorf 9087.5 11
82 Micheel 9075 10
83 Lowery 9062.5 11
84 JB Holmes 8945.83 9
85 Estes 8925 10
86 Sean O'Hair 8824.5 11
87 Maggert 8812.5 9
88 G. Owen 8662.5 9
89 Barlow 8612.5 11
90 Goggin 8600.25 7
91 Azinger 8562.5 11
92 Rollins 8537.5 9
93 Andrade 8482.5 10
94 Couples 8437.5 10
95 Baird 8242.5 8
96 Pavin 8200 8
97 Mahan 8187.5 12
98 Gove 8175 8
99 Franco 8112.5 9
100 Sutherland 8075 11
101 DiMarco 7959.37 9
102 Gronberg 7937.5 9
103 Kaye 7900 11
104 Olin Browne 7812.5 13
105 J.Smith 7800 10
106 Sindelar 7787.5 12
107 Cook 7700 8
108 Calcavecchia 7617.5 14
109 Geiberger 7481.25 11
110 Leaney 7437.5 8
T111 Dickerson 7325 10
T111 Fischer 7325 10
113 Triplett 7175 8
114 Faxon 7125 10
115 O'Hern 7100 5
116 Langer 7079.16 9
117 Gore 7050 7
118 Lickliter II 7050 9
119 Bjornstad 7030 10
120 Baddeley 6962.5 8
121 B. Haas 6962.5 9
122 JL Lewis 6937.5 11
123 M.Wilson 6902.5 8
124 J.Byrd 6862.5 5
125 Bub Watson 6850 7
126 Barron 6606.25 9
127 Armour III 6425 8
128 Pat Perez 6350 8
129 Durant 6281.25 13
130 Cabrera 6162.5 6
131 Allen 6050 9
132 Gamez 5962.5 10
133 Overton 5887.5 11
134 Ridings 5737.5 10
135 D.Maruyama 5687.5 9
136 Atwal 5650 6
137 David Duval 5525 7
138 Garrigus 5505 9
139 Ws Short Jr 5462.5 11
140 Frazar 5375 8
141 D.Clarke 5275 5
142 Matteson 5225 9
143 Westwood 5187.5 5
144 Petrovic 5187.5 8
Questioning Finchem
/Ed Sherman on his Chicago Tribune golf blog:
...to hear people talk, rotating the tournament to other Midwest cities also was part of the price. No way. The Evans Scholars would make just as much money if the tournament stayed at Cog Hill.
We spent the entire week in the press room trying to figure out why PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem made this decision. There has to be something we're missing, perhaps some grand marketing scheme that is way over our feeble brains.
I don't think so. There can't be a reasonable explanation why the PGA Tour would leave the nation's third largest market to go to much smaller towns in the Midwest.
Even worse, do you realize in 2008 the Tour won't be in cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.? When I asked Jim Furyk about that situation last week, he tried to be diplomatic, but you could see he was troubled by the Tour's lack of presence in the major markets.
Perhaps, the Tour wants to go small-time. That has to be it, because its thinking certainly is small time.
They Understand The FedEx Cup In Chicago (Well, not really)
/In a Q&A with Mike Spellman dubbed, "Let's wait, see about BMW Championship," Western Golf Association's Don Johnson demonstrates little idea of the FedEx Cup is going to work, and little enthusiasm for the scheduling change. Welcome to the club Don!
Q. When you first heard the idea of this playoff system, what were your thoughts?
A. I was confused.
Q. How long did it take to get unconfused?
A. Well, I’m not sure that I am. The point system and everything … I think anybody in the golf business who’s forthright about it is going to tell you we have to wait and see how this thing is going to work. The PGA Tour thinks it’s going to be wonderful, and I hope they’re right.
Q. It’s kind of a roll of the dice, isn’t it?
A. Yeah. And they may have to tweak it a little bit after the first year when they see how it actually works in fact as opposed to in theory. It’s certainly going to be a great thing for us being the final tournament before the Tour Championship.
Q. Why is the move from the Fourth of July to Labor Day a good thing?
A. The jury is still out on that, to be honest about it. I don’t know what happens to the interest in golf in Chicago after Labor Day. I’m hoping this event will be so spectacular that they’ll turn out, but we have to wait and see. It’s a work in progress.
Q. Your main worry about the September date?
A. You’ve got your Labor Day drop-off in golf, and then you’ve got Big Ten football, Notre Dame football; you’ve got baseball heading toward the playoffs … but we won’t have Taste of Chicago. There will be some competition we don’t have now. We’ll have to wait and see.
Q. Do the smaller crowds this year give you cause for concern next year?
A. Yes. The answer to that is yes. I worry that this week with the field we’ve had and the weather, that we have less people here than we had last year. (On Saturday) we had 7,000 less. That’s a lot. I don’t get it.
To Play The Scottish Open?
/John Huggan wonders if it's a good idea to play the Scottish Open on mushy Loch Lomond before turning to links golf at the Open Championship.
Famously, Tiger Woods has never felt inclined to make his way to the bonnie banks, preferring instead to warm up for the game's oldest and most important event on the links of Ireland with various friends and assorted millionaire bookmakers. And many have followed suit, or are going to. Take Michael Campbell.
"For about the past five to six years, I have been playing the Scottish Open the week before the British Open, but not this year," said the 2005 US Open champion only the other day. "Unfortunately, Loch Lomond is not the ideal course to hone your game in readiness for a British Open.And...
"It is just common sense to warm up by either practising on a British Open host venue or on a similar links-type course. Phil Mickelson has already been over to Hoylake getting used to the course and that's what I will be doing."
...it is the softness and invariable wetness of the beautiful Tom Weiskopf-designed layout that is keeping them away. Four days of hit-and-stick golf is hardly the best preparation for the fast-running links that is Hoylake. Think chalk and cheese.
Add in the fact that top-level golf is these days hardly ever played by the seaside and the case for absenting oneself from the undoubted charms of Loch Lomond is a tough one to answer. Like it or not, the game's best players are increasingly a one-dimensional bunch. It isn't that they are not capable of playing the wide variety of shots called for on a humpy-bumpy links; they are. It is more that, on circuits and courses that more and more offer the exact same challenges and shot-values week after tedious week, they are simply not called upon to do so. With neglect comes less competence.
Morrissey: Another Finchem Fan
/The PGA Tour's Bob Combs is going to have a busy Monday! After he places a call to the Augusta Chronicle to stick up for his boss, he'll have to call Rick Morrissey, who writes about the Western's demise:
Thanks to Finchem's oddly wired brain, Chicago soon will have a golf tournament every other year instead of yearly. This is the same Chicago that has embraced golf forever and with a fervor not seen in many other towns. But never mind that.You know, it would be fun to hear the Commissioner explaining how the 12th, 48th and 50th place "markets" will give the playoffs a big boost. Oh, right, it's about the golf courses. Bellerive and Hazeltine. Doesn't get any more scintillating than that.
Finchem wants Chicago to share what will now be called the BMW Championship with St. Louis, Indianapolis and Minneapolis. If your city's name ends in "is," Finchem apparently wants you (hello, Illiopolis). That's about the only logical explanation. Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States. Indianapolis ranks 12th, Minneapolis is 48th and St. Louis 50th.
It's not just grumpy sports columnists who believe this is a major show of disrespect to the city. The commissioner might have wanted to check with Woods about the plan to leave Chicago for dead every other year.
"It's unfortunate because it's been such a great event, an historical event on our tour," Woods said after finishing in a tie for second Sunday. " . . . Look at the list of champions. It's a pretty impressive list.
"Unfortunately, we're not going to have a tournament anymore, but I think it's more unfortunate that we're not going to come here to the Chicago area each and every year. This is one of the biggest markets in the United States, and we're coming in every other year."
