Breaking News! Ogilvy Concerned About Direction of Game

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I know Australia is a bit disconnected from the world sometimes, but how do you explain The Age sending out a story on Geoff Ogilvy's comments about the state of the game as breaking news? The comments, reported by Golfobserver's John Huggan (which The Age obnoxiously did not cite), were made Friday or Saturday of the U.S. Open and reported in a June 20th column.

Well, no worries, because it is still a column worth reading. Unfortunately, you have to read a cached version because the original is not viewable as Golfobserver moves to a new host. 

Actually, forgive me, but this is my personal clipping archive and since I didn't copy the original comments over, here they are from The Age's uh, exclusive.

"Two important aspects of golf have gone in completely the wrong direction," said Ogilvy.

"Most things are fine. Greens are generally better, for example. But the whole point of golf has been lost.

"You don't measure a good drive by how far it goes; you analyse its quality by its position relative to the next target. That doesn't exist in golf any more.

"The biggest problem today is tournament organisers trying to create a winning score. When did low scores become bad? At what point did the quality of your course become dependent on its difficulty? That was when golf lost the plot. The winning score should be dictated by the weather.

"The other thing is course set up. Especially in America there is too much rough and greens are way too soft. Then, when low scores become commonplace, they think how to make courses harder. So they grow even more long grass.

"But that misses the point. There is no real defence against a soft green.

"If the first game of golf was played on some of the courses we play today, it wouldn't be a sport. It would never have been invented. People would play one round and ask themselves why they would ever play a second. It would be no fun."

Ogilvy was particularly critical of US Masters officials at Augusta National.

"With the greens they have there, you don't need rough. They are always going to be firm," said Ogilvy.

"Move the pin ten feet and the other side of the fairway becomes the place to be. That's the aspect that has been lost. And if Augusta misses the point, what hope has golf got?"

Ogilvy questioned the R & A's set-up of last year's British Open venue at the Home of Golf at St. Andrews and the infamous Road Hole.

"It's the most fearsome hole in golf and yet they had to grow all that silly rough up the right hand side," said Ogilvy.

The Australia also took aim at the USGA, organisers of June's US Open where Ogilvy became the first Australian in 11 years to win a Major.

Speaking of the 2005 US Open host venue of Pinehurst where Sydney-based Kiwi Michael Campbell won, Ogilvy remarked: "All of the bunkers were in the rough."

"And all the best angles were taken away by the USGA growing long grass in the spots where the best drives should have been allowed to finish. It was a mess."

Ogilvy's biggest fear is that the new direction of golf is filtering back to the weekend hackers and spoiling the game.

"I don't care, if people want to see us hacking out of long grass all the time, it's fine with me," he said.

"But the trouble is that everyone in golf follows us, the professionals. So it gets harder to find fun places to play.

"All of a sudden my dad is out there chopping around in six inch rough, losing his ball every time he misses the fairway and having no fun. Which makes no sense. We play a game that 99.9 per cent of golfers have no hope of duplicating."

Huggan: "unfair to portray Woods as the poster boy for the relative mindlessness of top-level golf"

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In December we had way too many Tiger at 30 columns. Now it's Tiger 10 years later, with John Huggan joining the chorus.

Which brings us to the thorny subject of distance. Although he is obviously well aware of the benefits that long driving brings in today's game, it is a fact that Woods had to be dragged screaming into the 21st century: his unwillingness to embrace modern technology was legendary.

Yes, because of the fact that he swings faster than almost anyone, he is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the supercharged clubs and balls that have so transformed the game at the highest level over the past decade or so. But the world's best golfer is also well aware that the yawning gap between him and the rest would be even larger if most tournaments did not reduce the game to a simple equation: blast away off the tee boys, then hit wedges on to almost every green.

So it is grossly unfair to portray Woods as the poster boy for the relative mindlessness of top-level golf in the early part of the 21st century. As he demonstrated when given the chance at Hoylake, the world's No.1 is the best shot-maker in the game by an enormous distance, if you will pardon the pun. No-one else is even close when it comes to imagination, flair and creativity, attributes that used to mean something when golf was inspired by the golfers rather than by the manufacturers of equipment.

Zinging Zinger

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Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel appears to have gotten Paul Azinger in trouble for his WD from Milwaukee to be with his ailing dad to play in the World Series of Poker.
The PGA Tour has a policy that requires a player who withdraws from a tournament after the commitment deadline to provide in writing the reason for the withdrawal. The reason has to be a good one or the player opens himself up to disciplinary action from the Tour.

"I'm not aware about the comment about his dad," said Henry Hughes, chief of operations of the PGA Tour, when he was contacted by a reporter Thursday. "I can certainly look into it. But what happens is at 5 p.m. Eastern time the preceding Friday of the tournament there is the deadline for commitment and withdrawal from a tournament. You are not able to commit after that. If you withdraw after that, it's considered something we look strongly at and we make sure it doesn't happen unless there is an explanation.

"It's subject to disciplinary action, an improper withdrawal. The local organizer is publicizing names and saying who is playing. People are basing their decision whether to come or not perhaps on certain players. We try and protect our tournaments that way. The players have two weeks to respond as to why they had an improper withdrawal or late withdrawal. We have not heard from Paul yet."

Withdrawing from a Tour event to play in a poker tournament would be viewed as improper, Hughes said.

"I did see the note that he was playing later in the week in a poker tournament," Hughes said. "What they do in their off-time is fine, but if he withdrew to play in the tournament, that would be an improper withdrawal."

Hughes said injury and sickness are reasons typically offered by players for late withdrawal.

The Associated Press story from the Buick Open said Azinger was asked Thursday if he would have withdrawn from that tournament had he been able to keep playing poker.

"Are you kidding?" Azinger said, laughing. "For a shot at $11.8 million? You're darn right I would have dropped out."
Considering PGATour.com ran a huge front page photo and story on Azinger's appearance, I think it's safe to say he'll soon be hearing from the VP for Fines and Other Brand Indiscretions.

Week In Review, July 30-August 5: Corey's Back?

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WeekInReview2.jpgAh, the Ryder Cup tension is already building, perhaps because the American squad drops off considerably after the first 6 spots. Before we get to those comments though, Corey Pavin's win in Milwaukee elicited some interesting comments about certain CBS commentators and their delicate dance around the technology issue (they aren't bought and paid for, no sirree!):

Josh Hoisington:  "Back to Feherty and McCord (and the other CBS people), they sure had a lot of nice things to say about Corey, and in many ways, I think it really made the center of discussion (other than Corey himself) turn to the negative side of technology development. I mean, every last announcer lamented how the technology took away some of the fun of watching Corey, didn't they?"

JPB: "when will the Tour and CBS figure out that ratings and therefore advertising dollars might go up if more people watched and more people might watch performances like Pavin's. Well, they probably won't. But yeah, to see more shotmaking and more shotmakers in contention would be nice."

Ryan: "I wondered where FEHERTY was going right after Corey holed his last putt. David mentioned the modern era equipment, then was interrupted by Corey's welcoming kiss from his wife. Just wished we could have heard where FEHERTY was going with that lead in."

The state of American golf is getting plenty of attention as the Ryder Cup race appears wide open and the final team likely to include some surprising upstarts.

Ryan again: "JJ Henry, Zach Johnson, Brett Wetterich and John Rollins, these guys right here might surprise everyone, who expects them to do anything? True underdogs with nothing to lose,.........if we trounce on Europe with this make-up.......then the stacked teams from the past are not the answer. Especially with Captains picking their friends (Watkins and Strange) and lets not forget what a strange ass beating we took on that roll of the dice."

NRH: "still cringing from Trump in the Opening Ceremonies at Oakland Hills. Hope that doesn't mean they'll throw Richard Branson or Michael Flatley at us for revenge. I'd settle for David Brent."

Bill: "The Nationwide Tour should be called the D-Tour, its not producing golfers, just bomb n gouge artists. As equipment has grown leaps n bounds over the past 10 years, Nationwide venues have not been required to keep up. There all like Hoylake now, iron chip and putts, or drivable par 4's, four at the Omaha event, Numbers 4, 5, 9, 14. So much for Finchem and his Bozos growing the game on the Nationwide Tour, its basically been abandoned of integrity for years."

JT: "If there was the depth of talent available it wouldn't matter what point system was used, you would end up with 10 very good players regardless. The European Team will have 10 strong players at 1-10. A ROW team would have the strongest 1-10 of all three teams Forget any point system at all, just go ahead and pick 12 US players and by the time you get to the spots 9-12, the pickings get slim. On the contrary, do the same for Europe and ROW and when you get to spots 9-12, picking gets tough as there are too many to choose from."

Matt: "Funny how it used to be Europe that was strong at the top with no depth at the end, now it will be the U.S. I don't think the "unknowns" like J.J. Henry or Rollins will come through in the clutch like no-name Euros like Philip Price, Howard Clark, Philip Walton, etc. They're too rich and unaccustomed to real pressure, playing for all that easy money on the PGA Tour."

And Lefty offered this alternative points system and list.

I brought up the subject of Tiger and his love of courses where everything is "right in front of you." You all had some interesting replies.

Matt: "I agree that Tiger probably uses that 'pat' answer to his advantage - he is obviously much brighter than the scribes he deals with - but there is something about a golf hole (or course) that shows you what you have to do and dares you to come do it...the twelfth at Quaker Ridge or the eighth at Oak Hill come immediately to mind. Not that holes like that don't have subtlety, but they beckon 'I am straight, long and fair - come get your birdie, if you dare'..."

Jeff Pollner: "It makes absolutely no sense to say the Old course is your favorite and then say you wished you played more courses like the Medinah setup. Tiger is the one guy with the pull to get some changes made - and it's not like he has to whine about it; all he could have to do is drop a few comments like, 'I would be willing to change my schedule around to play more quirkier, classic courses' and most tournament committees would meet that night to see what could be done."

And finally, ReverendTMac: 'right there in front of you' = 'one way to play the hole'. Not the most compelling formula for repeat business. I agree with Mike that there's nothing wrong with the occasional hole on a course being like that, but when it's the course itself...yawn."

Michaux On Ryder Cup Points Race

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The Augusta Chronicle's Scott Michaux with a different take on the Ryder Cup points standings as well as the likely Captain's picks:

For all of the criticism that has been levied against the revamped American Ryder Cup points system, it should be given credit for helping to uncover new blood that might never have been given the slightest consideration in the past. The Ryder Cup has been a closed shop for too long, and the Americans have been paying for it on the course against European squads that have been far more successful at finding fresh talent.

Consider this. There are only 28 active PGA Tour players under the age of 50 who have ever competed in a Ryder Cup. And that definition of "active" is very generous to include the likes of Ken Green, Steve Pate, Jim Gallagher Jr. and Hal Sutton.

Just how closed shop is it? Four-time PGA Tour winner Tim Herron (currently 16th in points) has never played in a Ryder or Presidents Cup. Neither has six-time winner and 1988 PGA Champion Jeff Sluman (23rd). Or double major winner John Daly.

The U.S. has a bad habit of putting too much stock in "experience." When most of that recent experience in Ryder Cups has been bad, maybe the old school thinking has to change.

Which is why the worst thing Lehman could do on the Monday after the PGA Championship is step up to the podium and introduce Davis Love III or Fred Couples as his captain's picks - leaning on their veteran leadership as the crutch for making a ridiculous decision that would in no way be in the best interests of American golf.

If that sounds too harsh, please check the 2006 records - which is what the new Ryder Cup points system is designed to accentuate. Other than fine performances (which ultimately displayed serious flaws) on his two favorite courses - Riviera and Augusta National Golf Course - Couples hasn't finished better than 24th in any event since October. And Love hasn't registered anything notable since his runner-up finish in the WGC Match Play in February.

Love and Couples, however, rank 14th and 15th on the current Ryder Cup points list, which masks their ineffectiveness this year and makes it tempting for a captain to play it safe with their 12 and nine prior at-bats in international team play.

Lehman, however, doesn't sound like a captain who will be prone to playing it safe.

"I think at the end of the day, I'm really looking for guys who are going the right direction with their game," Lehman said Tuesday. "If they were 25th three months ago, and they were 20th two months ago and now they are 15th or they end up 12th where they are improving and improving and getting better and better."

The only veterans with international team experience who fit that description are Jerry Kelly (12th), Stewart Cink (19th) and Scott Verplank (22nd). And if the team already includes five rookies, any of those three would be fine choices.

Wie's Latest Brush With The Rules

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This time she gets a two-stroke penalty:

The 16-year-old Wie made contact while hitting out of a greenside bunker at the 14th hole. The sand clearly moved, and the incident was picked up by TV cameras and tournament officials.

Wie didn't know about the penalty until she reached the recorders' office after her round at Royal Lytham. What she thought was an even-par round of 72 was switched to a 74, leaving her at 4-over for two rounds.
"There was a piece of moss right behind my ball," Wie said. "I knew I hit it but I didn't think it would result in a penalty of two strokes. I thought if you hit dirt it would be OK, but I guess I knew the rule wrong."

A statement by the Ladies Golf Union said Wie broke rule 13-4 of the Rules of Golf, which prohibits touching the ground in a bunker prior to making a stroke.
"A stroke is the forward movement of the club, a backswing is not part of the stroke, hence a 2-stroke penalty was incurred," the statement said.


 

Rolex Rankings Tweaked

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It looks like the Michelle Wie-ranked-second-without-a-win-farce is over.

From the LPGA:

Following is a media question and answer session with Chris Higgs, chairman of the Rolex Rankings Technical Committee regarding two modifications to the Rolex Rankings.

PAUL ROVNAK:  I would like to welcome Chris Higgs, chairman of the Rolex Rankings Technical Committee to the interview area.  Many of you were present when Chris announced two slight modifications to the way the
Rolex rankings are calculated.  For those of you who were not present, Chris, if you would briefly review the modifications and then we'll take questions.

CHRIS HIGGS:  Be happy to.  As you know when the rankings first came out with a minimum number of events required to be ranked in the rankings, that number was 15.  As a result of our biannual meeting of the Technical Committee and the Board of the World Rankings, we decided to make two modifications to the ranking system. The first is the elimination of a minimum number of events, and the second is the addition which is similar to men's golf, of a divisor.

The easier way to describe that is beginning with the conclusion that of this week's Weetabix Women's British Open, any player on any eligible tour who scores points will now be eligible to be ranked.

And getting to the point behind this...

Q.  So before this week where would Michelle Wie be ranked using the new
system?

CHRIS HIGGS:  If you were to use this week's current rankings, pre-British Open, and apply the new 35 divisor, I believe Michelle would now be ranked seventh.


More Brand Equity Leveraging...

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 I wonder what the point of this is other than to plug those superstores? It's not to give the USGA data to study, is it?

Short-game Guru Dave Pelz To Appear At 23rd Annual PGA Tour Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship

Pelz and PGA TOUR's ShotLink Team to Gather World Am Golfer Shot Data for Future Comparisons with PGA TOUR Golfers

August 1, 2006, Myrtle Beach, S.C. - Dave Pelz, golf's foremost authority on the short game and putting, will partner with the PGA TOUR's ShotLink team at the 23rd annual PGA TOUR Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship, August 28 - September 1 in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to gather golf-shot data on amateur participants for comparison to data regularly collected on the PGA TOUR.

The ShotLink system is the TOUR's data engine, developed in conjunction with IBM, that tracks every shot by every player in real-time. ShotLink integrates data sources to record and transmit information including shot number, drive length, ball location and score. This data is supplemented by the use of laser devices positioned throughout the course to record the exact position of every ball.

The PGA TOUR Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship, the world's largest single-site golf tournament, will serve as a beta test site as the ShotLink scoring system has never tracked amateur golfer data. During the World Am, the scores for scratch, 10, 20, and 30-handicap golfers will be recorded at four holes during all four rounds. All four flights will play the same courses and the Pelz/Shotlink team will track their statistics.

 

The Tiger Effect

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Golfweek's Gene Yasuda kicks off a "Special Report" on Tiger's impact 10 years after turning pro, with other contributions posted here. Meanwhile the Washington Times' Tim Lemke focuses on television ratings.

Over the years, tournaments with Woods in contention have 10 percent to 20 percent higher television ratings than those without. And the exposure for sponsors, particularly Nike, can be worth $10 million for a big tournament, according to one report.

But this year, Woods has played in only 10 events and just three since the Masters in April. Woods went nine weeks without entering a tournament as he dealt with his father's death. During his absence, several key tournaments Woods normally enters saw major ratings drops. Sunday ratings for the Wachovia Championship in May were down 32 percent, while the Memorial saw a 39 percent dip in viewers.

Overall, ratings for golf on CBS and ABC are down more than 10 percent from this point last year, and ratings on NBC are down 3 percent.

It hasn't helped that the non-Tiger events have been won by a host of relative newcomers with little following, including J.B. Holmes, Chris Couch, John Senden and Brett Wetterich. And in six of those nine events, the winner prevailed by five strokes or more.

But this year's ratings dip clearly has not scared broadcasters away from the sport. CBS will expand its coverage from 16 events to 19, and NBC will broadcast 10 events instead of five. Meanwhile, the Golf Network is locked in to a 15-year contract as the PGA Tour's exclusive cable provider, and ABC will show the British Open through 2009.

Golf Channel, Golf Network. Eh, what's the difference.

"There's no question that having Tiger on the leader board has an effect on the ratings," said Brian Walker, Sports spokesman for NBC Sports. "That being said, NBC is bullish on golf in general as evidenced by our recent extension agreements with the PGA Tour, USGA and PGA of America, which will more than double our golf coverage beginning next year."

Ponte Vedra Nights?

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In case you've missed Will Ferrell's efforts to plug his latest movie, Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, I've embedded a preview of the film below. I share this not because I'm rushing out to see the uh, film, but because this Jim Peltz L.A. Times story from last week noted how NASCAR has supported the film about the white trash driver and other bold tie-ins that have promoted their uh, gulp, "product."

Can you imagine the PGA Tour cooperating with Ferrell on a film that pokes fun at the players. Say, Ponte Vedra Nights: The Ballad of Tim Bland?

The Tour understandably works hard to protect the image of their players, perhaps too much so. If such an opportunity presented itself, even if it meant poking fun at themselves, would the Tour cooperate on such a film? Should they?

I say yes, simply because the humor of golf has long been an important element of the game that often seems absent today, especially when it comes to the PGA Tour. Thoughts?

"Right In Front Of You"

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tigerteeingoffnissan.jpgReader Sam wanted to know why I don't like it when Tiger Woods praises a course for being "right in front of you," (as he did again today with Warwick Hills and will inevitably do when he answers dumb questions lobbed his way by the inkslingers.) Oh, and check out the doozies he was asked today. No wonder he can't stand the media.

Anyway, the "right in front of you" thing is simple.

Woods, like Jones, Hogan and Nicklaus before him, thrives on strategic courses that reward local knowledge. These courses nearly always tend to contain mysterious design features. Even the ones that seem straightforward (Pebble Beach, Riviera), are loaded with subtlety and elusive qualities.

The elite players have always embraced this mystery and recognized that it separates them from the merely great player.

So for someone who adores the Old Course like Tiger does, it's hard to fathom why he also loves courses that are "right in front of you," when they have little to reveal after one or two rounds, and therefore, lack an intelligent purpose.

Then again, if Woods told the media that thoughts of Warwick Hills make for an ideal sleep aid, he'd be tarred and feathered as a negative, spoiled Tour pro. So he's probably wise to keep on repeating the same line.
 

Flogging: It Works For Tiger

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On Mike Vitti's PGATour.com ShotLink blog (scroll down to find the post), he breaks down an interesting new "percentage-of-distance-covered-by" stat that validates the flogging approach, at least for Tiger Woods.

So, for example, if a player hits a 300-yard drive on a hole measuring 450 yards the percentage of drive covered is 300 yards/450 yards or 66.7 percent. The 2006 TOUR average for this statistic is 61.7 percent for all driving holes. On par 4s the percentage rises to 65.6 percent, while on par 5s it drops to 52.1 percent.

He brings the stat up to look at Tiger possibly using driver less often: 

Judging by his results at Royal Liverpool, it appears that Woods should do whatever he can to find the fairway, and not worry about distance. However using the distance covered percentage on par 4s as the counter to this argument, accuracy in lieu of distance may not be Woods' best option. Consider the following from par-4 statistics by Tiger Woods:

2005-2006 Tiger Woods Par-4 Scoring
Drive Covers at least 67% of Hole Yardage   Drive Less than 67% of Yardage
Total Drives                 465                                                 341
Under Par                    130 (28.0%)                                     47 (13.8%)
Over Par                      45 (9.7%)                                        62 (18.2%)
In 2005-2006, Woods had 465 drives on par 4s where he covered at least 67 percent of the distance of the hole from off the tee. In these instances, he was able to make birdie or better 28 percent of the time. On the drives where Woods did not reach this mark, he only made birdie or better 18.2 percent of the time, and he also had a higher rate of over-par scores in these situations.

Then he looks at drives landing in fairway v. rough.

2005-2006 Tiger Woods Par-4 Scoring
Drive Covering at least 67%, Out of the Fairway  Drive Less than 67%, In Fairway
Total Drives                         211                                               193
Under Par                            41(19.4%)                                      36(18.7%)
Over Par                             30 (14.2%)                                     16 (8.3%)

2005-2006 Tiger Woods Par-4 Scoring
Drive Covering at least 67%, In the Fairway   Drive Less than 67%, Out of Fairway
Total Drives                           254                                               148
Under Par                              89 (35.0%)                                     11 (7.4%)
Over Par                                15 (5.9%)                                       46 (31.1%)

The conclusion:

Out of the rough on longer drives Woods has about as good a chance of making birdie as he does from the fairway on shorter ones, and more importantly, if he misses the fairway on a shorter drive he has a much greater chance of making bogey. If you are thinking that his accuracy with the shorter club should be greater than with the longer one, look at the numbers again. Woods' accuracy on drives that travel at least 67 percent of the fairway is around 55 percent while the accuracy rate for drives less than 67 percent is only around 43 percent. So why bring a greater risk of bogey into play if you can avoid it?

So Vitti concludes:

Back to the original argument, on whether Woods should change his strategy, I would say yes - every time he plays Royal Liverpool or a course that dictates that would be the best way to win. Otherwise, I think with 49 career victories, including 11 majors, Woods already knows what approach is best for him. 

"We're trying not to do perfect anymore"

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Thanks to reader Nick for this Seth Soffian story in the News Press, where Jack Nicklaus is teetering on the edge of Phil status:

"I watch Tiger a lot, obviously," Nicklaus said. "His golf swing that week was right on the plane it should have been. He gets himself off of plane very easily, particularly when his swing gets longer. Then he can hit it anywhere.

"He's such a great iron player because he's so much under control," said Nicklaus, beginning the demonstration of various club positions on the backswing.

"His swing is not very long with his irons. He keeps it pretty much in here. Once he gets the driver back in here, that's when he gets off plane, and then he can bring it under this way or around this way."

And...

"He was on plane the whole time with the driver," said Nicklaus, throwing one last variable into the mix to consider for the year's final major championship.

"Obviously, (Hank) Haney is doing something with him that (Tiger) feels confidence with, because he's getting great confidence with his other clubs," Nicklaus said of Woods' swing coach.

"It could be he's got a bad driver, too. I don't know. If you're hitting everything else good and you're hitting your driver bad, it may be your driver, not him. I don't know."

He also had this to say about his design work, which Nick was possibly a reflection on his collaboration with Tom Doak:

Q: We heard you said the course was "too perfect."

A: Sometimes, yeah. We're trying not to do perfect anymore. We used to work really hard to get everything absolutely dead perfect. I don't think nature's too perfect. We try to bust up a few things to make them look a little irregular at times. Perfect is a description I drove my guys crazy with for about 20 years.