"To have someone like Steinberg in the room when decisions were being made...Can you put a price on that?"

Thanks to readers Scott and Noonan for this Robert Bell story exposing the interesting relationship between IMG's Mark Steinberg and PGA Tour brass in delivering an improved 2007 date to Greensboro despite having no sponsor on board.

In May of last year, Brazil suggested to Long and other foundation board members that he contact Steinberg about lobbying on behalf of Greensboro.

Brazil knew the tournament, which had struggled in recent years under the Greensboro Jaycees' direction, was turning the corner. The Jaycees were about to relinquish control of the event to a board of directors made up of some of the Triad's most influential business leaders -- a move that would give the tournament much-needed credibility with the tour.

The problem, Brazil said, was getting the tour to recognize this. Like other tournament directors across the country, Brazil couldn't get an audience with PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, who was counseled in the restructuring by two trusted advisers.

One was Ed Moorhouse, the tour's executive vice president.

The other was Steinberg.

This is fun... 

Finchem and Moorhouse did not return phone calls, but Henry Hughes, chief of operations for the tour, said Greensboro did not receive consideration over other tournaments because of Steinberg.

"But certainly when Mark comes to us with an idea, the tour is going to listen," Hughes said. "That's what we did in this case. He's very knowledgeable on this business. It would have been foolish not to consider his expertise."

Long said Greensboro had little choice but to hire Steinberg. Since he sold his insurance company three years ago for $403 million, Long has been inundated with business and charitable requests. One of his financial advisers is charged with screening who gets an audience with Long and, more importantly, who doesn't.

"There's a big difference between sending a letter to an executive and knowing someone who can get you an audience," Long said. "A letter might sit on the executive's desk for weeks -- if it even gets to him. To have someone like Steinberg in the room when decisions were being made ... Can you put a price on that?"

Of course, now that we know this final event before the FedEx Cup finale amounts to a shootout between spots 140-150 for those final places in the playoffs, and that it's before a stretch of four straight weeks of golf, is it really that great of a date?

Why would Tiger, Phil or Vijay or any other stars play Greensboro after playing the PGA/WGC Firestone and before the four-week stretch?

Tiger, Do You Like Golf?

Okay, so none of the stenographers asked anything that silly, but check out these beauties following Tiger's win at the Buick.

For fun, I've supplemented Tiger's answers with my own versions of what he might really like to say. You can go to ASAP to read his actual answers to these thoughtful questions.

Oh, and note that not ONE "reporter" asks about the apple that rolled by his first putt on 17, or how it is that he didn't flinch when it happened!

Q. Your relationship with Buick, what does it mean to win the 50th tournament here, the birthplace of Buick?

A. Actually, it really tops everything I've ever done. The Masters, The Open Championships, the Foundation, the four majors in a row. I'd trade them all in for more wins in Buick events.

Q. We're used to seeing you wear red on Sunday and used to seeing you win. How far back does that good where you've worn red? Have you done that since your rookie year and what's the story behind that?

A. Wow, it's funny, but no one has ever asked me about that or ever written about that. Your name again?

Q. You have 50 wins now. Do you see yourself getting to 83?

A. No, no, winning this Buick is it for me on the PGA Tour. The rest will be majors, no more Tour event victories. So 83 is likely out of the equation.

Q. When is the last time you felt like you were playing this well going into a major?

A. Hmmm, well let's see. I just won a major and I played well the tournament beforehand, so I'm going to have to say the Western Open.

[This is why Tiger gets the big bucks. His actual one word answer: "Western."]

Q. You win the British, you win here, what does that do for your confidence level coming into the PGA?

A. It's tough, you know. I'm battling a lot of demons right now. Since I three putted the 18th at Hoylake and almost three putted 17 today. I'm only 42-under in my last two events, so I'm searching. But I'll regain the confidence soon. I'm sure of it.

Q. We watched you cross drivers and have good approaches and putts and also get in and out of trouble, and one fan in the gallery said you were only in trouble if you were in the water. Looking back, are they both as enjoyable when you look back at a tournament and seeing how you scrambled for par on 2 or had a spectacular hole? How does the enjoyment compare for you?

A. Great question. Lucid, succinct, really on point. But uh, just for clarification, when you say cross drivers, is that like on Entourage when Drama and Turtle crossed swords?

As for the rest of the question, it just doesn't make any sense and wow, look at the time! I really need to get to the airport as Citation X's aren't allowed by Federal Law to sit idling on Michigan runways for more than 30 minutes. Hey, it's been great.

Peter and Tiger XOXOXOXO...Next Up, Middle East Peace?

With a major at Medinah looming, I'm under doctor's orders to limit this month's viewing of pro golf on back-and-forth, soulless designs. So I did skip most of Tiger's 50th (!) win at the Buick, though I did listen to portions of the telecast at the beach, and by golly, Bobby Clampett's bored tone did help induce my afternoon nap.

But more importantly, I understand from those who insisted on watching that Tiger Woods allowed himself to be interviewed by his favorite on-course reporter and swing commentator, Peter Kostis.

Whoever engineered this short-but-sweet reunion really should be included in any upcoming Middle East peace negotiations. If these two egos adversaries can patch things up for an exchange of inane post round comments, surely this middleman could help Condi and Koffi out too?

PGA Tour Driving Distance Watch, Week 31

The PGA Tour driving distance average plummetted to 289.0 yards following the Buick in Michigan, down from 289.1 yards after Milwaukee. Next stop, Castle Pines!

According to PGATour.com, winner Tiger Woods led the field in driving distance (316.0 yards), the highest average by a winner this season.

Just imagine if the course wasn't drenched! After all, it is the "agronomics" driving this distance madness.

Monty Does It Again!

Lawrence Donegan reports on Colin Montgomerie's latest architectural triumph.

Colin Montgomerie, who blew his chance of winning his first major championship when he double-bogeyed the 18th hole on the last day of the US Open this summer, has come up with a solution for golfers who have trouble coping with the pressure of playing the last: a course with an extra hole.

And...

Normally they would play the 1st or 18th again to reach a result. At Rowallan they will be able to play what the Scot calls the "money hole".

Key word there: Scots.

And now for the uh, money quote... 

"We just thought, why not? The 19th is the stuff of golfing legend," he said. "It was time to make it a reality. When players finish their round they will be able to come in, have a drink and check their scores. And if there's anything still to settle they can go back out and play the money hole."

These player architects are so innovative! Always on the cutting edge. 

Ryder Cup Points Watch, Vol. 2

No offense to Henry, Wetterich and Rollins, all fine players, wonderful Americans, fine philanthropists, etc... BUT, Tom Lehman must be pleased to see the emerging Vaughn Taylor vaulting into the top 10 while Scott Verplank's strong play at the Buick moves him to within striking distance in the final two weeks.

^{1    1    Tiger Woods      36    4,150.000
2    2    Phil Mickelson     42    2,474.375
3    3    Jim Furyk     51    2,076.000
4    4    Chad Campbell     51    1,129.602
5    5    David Toms     48    1,072.250
6    6    Chris DiMarco     49    830.000
7    11    Vaughn Taylor     60    780.833
8    7    J.J. Henry     61    778.750
9    8    Zach Johnson     58    756.477
10    9    Brett Wetterich       46    746.000
11    10    John Rollins     57    685.000
12    12    Jerry Kelly     62    653.750
13    13    Lucas Glover     60    641.376
14    14    Davis Love III     47    631.875
15    15    Fred Couples     38    627.727
16    16    Tim Herron     54    621.667
17    17    Tom Pernice, Jr.     63    615.000
18    22    Scott Verplank     49    595.667
19    18    Arron Oberholser     44    557.500
20    19    Stewart Cink     51    556.894}

Meanwhile in Europe, nothing has changed. (Those with hyphens by their names would be in if the points race ended today).

<sup>World Points List
-1     David HOWELL     207.27
-2     Colin MONTGOMERIE     205.90
-3     José Maria OLAZÁBAL     202.09
-4     Henrik STENSON     201.76
-5     Luke DONALD     192.25
6     Sergio GARCIA     187.96
7     Paul CASEY     165.33
8     Padraig HARRINGTON     154.46
9     Carl PETTERSSON     154.12
10     Robert KARLSSON     137.06

European Points List
1     Colin MONTGOMERIE     2413016.11
2     David HOWELL     2274635.98
-3     Robert KARLSSON     1870581.77
4     Henrik STENSON     1782888.71
-5     Paul CASEY     1721833.85
-6     Sergio GARCIA     1634091.27
-7     Padraig HARRINGTON     1514027.44
-8     Paul MCGINLEY     1455992.24
9     José Maria OLAZÁBAL     1381698.05
10     Paul BROADHURST     1336905.57</sup>

Logan On Inniscrone

Joe Logan returns to Inniscrone and warms to (most of) Gil Hanse's design now that it is an upscale daily fee.

Wie On The Rules of Golf: "It's Not A Great Read"

You have to love her honesty. And while they'll never be confused with Grisham, she probably should brush up on them a bit.

The Independent's Andy Farrell reporting from Royal Lytham:

And this is the basis of the problem with Michelle, which is ours as much as hers. Wie has done has great things, getting into contention in the majors, almost winning last week at the Evian Masters, and through to final qualifying for the men's US Open.

But she is not the finished article, and at 16 why should she be? She is still learning her trade and is still not a full-time golfer. This is her summer holiday, and yet already her every score, every shot, every action, every word is scrutinised.

Last autumn she turned professional, earning millions in the process, but in many ways she remains a talented amateur, albeit one with great potential. While she remains in mainstream education, she will not be able to complete her golfing apprenticeship.

It's the little things. She cheerfully admitted to not being quite ready for her early tee-time on Thursday and promptly bogeyed the first three holes. It's also the not so little things, like not being aware of the rule about sweeping away a loose impediment on the backswing in a bunker.

A two-shot penalty resulted when she did just this on Friday. "It's not a great read," she said sweetly when asked if she would be examining the Rules of Golf more closely. But an important read, and the fact that a shocking number of players have a limited knowledge of the rules is no excuse for a professional.

Breaking News! Ogilvy Concerned About Direction of Game

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"

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

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?

Ah, 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

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.

First Call For Bivens Departure

Travelgolf's Tim McDonald says Carolyn Bivens is the worst thing that has ever happened to the LPGA Tour.

Wie's Latest Brush With The Rules

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.