Ziehm Talks To Jones

Len Ziehm talks to Rees Jones about Medinah.

In general, what had to be done to Medinah in comparison with what you did at other major championship courses.

I liken this redesign project to what we did at The Country Club at Brookline [Mass.], where we took a very old, storied layout that had a lot of history. I liken it to the Sacred Ground of Golf. Medinah was already ahead of the curve. It had the length, it had the green contours, it had great holes. We didn't have to add that much length, but we did take out about 300 trees.

Trees are organic, and they tend to grow in where the sunlight is, so that was another restoration project, to bring the golf course back to the way it had been in the past. The players will notice a different course from '99 to 2006.

What will they see that will be different?

They'll see a course that has more definition because we took some of the blindness out on No. 1 and No. 8. We took out the bunker on No. 16. We brought the 17th green down to the water, and we took the tee back. Then on 18, we made a major change. We elevated the green and took the tee back. It'll probably be a short iron [approach] with the way these guys are hitting it, but it's going to be a much more precise shot.

The par-3 17th hole has become controversial because it has been changed so much. It has been a completely different hole for each of the last four majors played at Medinah. What went into the design of the current hole?

We put [the green] back on the hazard. We only have three holes that bring the water into play. We were able to bring the green back down to the water, regrade the hill [where the tee complex is located] and make the hole as long as it was [with a new tee]. We accomplished both goals -- we got the water into play, the ultimate hazard, as well as maintained the yardage.

GS.com Birthday On Squarespace

A year ago today I officially switched this site over to Squarespace with a post about some silly press conference question asked of Phil Mickelson. (Some things never change.)

Squarespace is a service specializing in blog-friendly hosting that I highly recommend if you are looking to blog or need basic web services. 

1,000,000 hits later, multiple changes in the design, and plenty of rants (and hopefully laughs) later, here we are.

Thanks for continuing to check in and for your comments.

Jackie Burke Unplugged

There's a killer book excerpt in the new Golf Digest featuring Jackie Burke's thoughts on the Ryder Cup, but since it's not linked, here's Burke talking to Jim McCabe about his PGA Championship win and other topics.

He has been around the game for nearly all 83 years of his life, which is why when he speaks, people listen. Burke has a passion for the game, particularly for great amateur play, but he cares little for some aspects that shape the landscape. He's fearful that a player on a practice range somewhere is going to get seriously hurt by a teaching device what with all the ropes and metal, and he feels pity for what they've done to the club professional's job description.

``He's got to worry about carts and shirts and the hypotenuse of a triangle," said Burke.

As for the phenomenon called Tiger Woods, Burke said it isn't a mystery.

``He's the only one who understands how to play the game, how to make shots," said Burke. ``The other guys? They're all out there plumb-bobbing the world, worrying about their launch angle and their ball speed. But Woods is like the great pool player -- he doesn't see the cue, doesn't see the ball, he just sees the whole game."

"Almost unbecoming of a professional"

Erik Leijon in the Montreal Mirror interviews John Daly about his new wine label and his book. This is beautiful:

M: When your book came out, the PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem talked to you. What did he say?

JD: Well, it was just one of those things that went back and forth. HarperCollins wanted everything [about Daly’s drinking, gambling etc.], in which the facts are right, and the PGA tour didn’t, so it went back and forth eight or nine times. Tim Finchem said, “This is almost unbecoming of a professional.” I said, “My life is unbecoming of a professional, Tim.” And he said, “Well it wasn’t like the Tour was going to sell it,” but next thing you know it’s in the display of every PGA Tour store, so he must be okay with it.

PGA Lines

Gary Van Sickle assigns odds (with comments) on the entire PGA Championship field, while you can check out what one of the casinos says here.  You know, for your rotisserie and church league pools, of course.

Pre-Medinah Podcast

Golfdom's Larry Aylward interviews yours truly about Medinah and the PGA.

Gabcast! PGA Championship Preview #1

"Champions 08222306"

E. Michael Johnson and Mike Stachura reveal a few new specifics about the Ohio Golf Association Champions Tournament ball, which will be used Aug. 22-23 at Windy Knoll.

According to Alan Fadel, a member of the OGA's board of governors, the ball was submitted for USGA approval earlier this year. "We were told it was on the [conforming] list in June," he said. "In fact, I believe it may have been used on [a pro tour] this year."

Still, some of the ball's particulars -- including who makes it -- remain a mystery. The ball, which sports "OGA" as its logo and has "CHAMPIONS 08222306" (the tournament and its dates) as its sidestamp, is not listed as such, meaning it is on the conforming list under a manufacturer's brand name.

Fadel would not reveal the manufacturer, but said the ball is "a three-piece, very high-spin, very low-compression" model. And although the OGA has been consistent in saying it is a "uniform" ball as opposed to a "short" ball, Fadel confirmed the OGA ball is six to seven yards shorter off the driver, five yards shorter off the irons and some 20 yards shorter on drives into the wind for players with swing speeds in the 100-110 miles-per-hour range, where most of the event's participants fall.

This is funny... 

The move to a uniform ball may raise eyebrows,

only if you are looking at a 207 drive at waterlogged Newport as a barometer for distance's impact on the game...

but that the OGA is taking this step isn't surprising. The association has a decided maverick streak, having declared a local rule in the early 1980s allowing players to tap down spike marks, leading to a falling out with the USGA. The OGA also was the first U.S. association to ban metal spikes.

"This is not the OGA trying to act contentiously," Wall said. "[But] if it becomes a discussion point for all of golf, then so be it."

As much as I'd like to know what kind of ball it is, the OGA has wisely decided to keep it secret.

They have nothing to gain by revealing the manufacturer and instead make it clear that they are more concerned with the results of their studies, instead of introducing a new ball to golf.

Still, it would be nice to know in case others wanted to, you know, try out the ball.

Reader Blue Blazer awakened from a long slumber to wonder if the balls pictured above came from an overseas company residing in a country where they have no room to keep lengthening courses. He also thought the dimple pattern resembled something from the old Slazenger or Maxfli lines.

Anyone recognize the dimples by looking at the photos?

Either way, we should know soon, since it's inevitable that a tournament contestant or media member will send off a sample to a manufacturer that can do a quick ID autopsy.

Chicago Dream 18

SI has posted the text to the Chicago Dream 18 that I compiled with the help of a great panel. It's only available to subscribers and Gil Hanse's map is not up, but I'll get it scanned in the next few days and post it.

But you can check out the results of an informal survey filled out by the panel on the best of Chicago golf. It's a web-exclusive deal.

Tiger's Brands

Gene Yasuda and Kevin Dwire look at at all of Tiger's sponsors and what he brings to the table. Lots of references to what he brings to the brands. Obviously it's a slow week.

"Wanted: caddie. Pay: great. Thick skin a must. Eventual termination: certain."

SI's E.M. Swift files a web-exclusive on the Michelle Wie caddie cavalcade, starting off with this from Juli Inkster (who used to employ pro jock Greg Johnston):

 "It would have been nice to get a phone call from the [Wie] family, saying this is what we're thinking of doing," Inkster told me after she took the first-round lead at the Women's British Open last week with a 66. "I'd had Greg for 11 years. It's not like I was some rookie.

"But that's not the way they [the Wies] do things. Instead they gave him a take-it-or-leave-it in the middle of my season, right before the Solheim Cup. I don't blame him. He's got kids to think about. But that didn't sit well."

Johnston was looking after his future, and there wasn't a caddie on the LPGA tour who wouldn't have done exactly the same thing. This despite the fact that the Wies had already gone through nine caddies between 2003 and '05, when Michelle was an amateur, and that "every time she misses a green, it's the caddie's fault -- except when Dad's on the bag," as one experienced caddie told me at last year's Women's British.

Wow, nine caddies, plus Johnson makes 10. Only two more to catch Spinal Tap's rumored dozen!

Here's the part about where Johnston lost his gig.

I was outside the scorer's trailer at Royal Lytham and St. Anne's last week when Wie got word that she'd been penalized two strokes for grounding her club in a sand trap during the second round. She had accidentally brushed away a clump of moss that was resting behind her ball during her backswing, a transgression that TV cameras clearly showed.

Johnston had told her she couldn't move the impediment, but Wie's parents, father B.J. and mother Bo, were visibly angry as they pulled their 16-year-old daughter aside to get her version of what had happened.

It was a tense scene. Wie's two bodyguards, dressed in Nike golf shirts, were rude and aggressive while keeping photographers and TV cameramen from filming the meeting -- never mind that it was taking place in a mixed zone where interviews routinely were conducted. Michelle was near tears. She hadn't known the rule. She thought if she just continued her swing, there was no violation.

Johnston should have known then and there that his days were numbered.

Detroit Tiger?

Vartan Kupelian spent a few too many days in the hot Flint sun last week, because he's proposing that Detroit find a way to build the first ever Tiger Woods design to replace the "too easy" Warwick Hills. Oh and he wants to pair Tiger up with Tom Doak.

Apparently Vartan is trying to make enemies in IMG Design Services, Inc. 

Wie Cans Another Looper

According to Doug Ferguson, she's fired Greg Johnston, making it number four (not including B.J.). She's almost gone through as many drummers as Spinal Tap. Of course, the fictional band had their drummer blow up and disappear. Johnston will resurface.

Love the quote from the PR guy at, no joke, the "Ken Sunshine" agency:

"Greg Johnston's hard work and dedication made him a great partner for Michelle, as he would be for any other golfer," Wie's spokesperson Jesse Derris of the Ken Sunshine agency said in a statement released on Tuesday. "His departure comes as part of Michelle's maturation as a golfer, part of which is learning from many different bright golf minds. We wish Greg the best, and are sure he will have a long and successful career."

Mickelson's "Exhaustive" Medinah Search

Ed Sherman reports on Phil Mickelson's quest to find some semblance of design character at Medinah. Accompanying Phil were his caddy, dad and of course, senior advisor to The People's Champion, Dave Pelz.

"They broke down every green complex," [Medinah Head Pro Mike] Scully said. "They looked at every possible putt, and every possible chip or bunker shot. Then he practiced those shots. He studies it hard. It was very impressive."

SI "First Person" : Natalie Cooks In a Prom Dress

SI.com features this tough give-and-take session with Natalie Gulbis and supplements this historic coverage with a photo gallery of Gulbis posing in a mobile home kitchen. Not exactly Walter Iooss Jr. Best of the Swimsuit Issue here.

In other words, no bathing suit shots (in case you were on the fence about hitting the link.)

Thanks to Pete the Luddite for this.

Norman Itching To Play Champions Tour, To Make Return At The International

Actually, he just likes the milkshakes and I'm sure he'll be teeing it up in his first non-senior major at the Jeld-Wen in a few weeks. Oh wait, that's a major! Hard to keep track.

Speaking of the Champions Tour, check out John Hawkins' take on the ratings deprived Tour that once used to be popular when it didn't care about catering to 18-34 year olds and was called the Senior Tour.