Greetings From L.A., Volume 5

A hot and sunny Saturday at Riviera where the course seemed vulnerable, producing a bunch of 68s and 69s but no killer low round (well except Rich Beem's hole-in-one aided 65).

Phil Mickelson summed it up in his post round gathering with the scribblers (where I'm typing this literature): "it's hard to make a lot of birdies and hard to make a lot of bogies."

His sitdown included a beautiful rally killler:

Q.    I'm running a story about your old college roommate PerUlrik Johansson, he has lost all of his playing rights here in the States, and in Europe, can you give me a comment about that?

It's rather startling to see Padraig Harrington at 12 under considering how often he's short-siding himself, and also how many times he tried to play a pitch and run through the kikuyu. The most starting show, however, came at the 6th where he missed left of the green but had a nice bank behind the hole to throw his chip and have it go up a slope, then roll back down within five feet. He instead tried a spinning shot close to the hole that had no chance, and naturally he faced an 15-footer for par.

Here's what he said after.

6, I hit a 4- or 5iron left of the green.  And then chipped it by  it was short.  I chipped it well by the hole and missed the putt.  Seemingly I could have chipped it up the side of the green and it would have come back down.   I didn't happen to notice that.  My playing partner told me that as I was going up the next hole. 

Q.    Are you saying that was Phil that showed that to you and not Charles?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON:  Yes.  

Nice of Phil to give him some help!

Media center affairs were rather dull other than the brief power outage and Marty Hackel's green-pant-pink-shirt-yellow belt ensemble. He declined to be photographed. I will try again tomorrow though, so look out Marty!

Nissan Open Photo Caption Help, Vol. 4

Calling In The Shinto Priest

Illustration and insight from John Strege's Local Knowledge in the latest Golf World:

Those participating in this week's Nissan Open might notice that two stately redwood trees on the bank left of the 18th fairway at the Riviera CC are no longer there. They weren't removed without considerable consternation, either. In Japanese culture trees are thought to have souls, and to ensure the redwoods were dealt with properly, Riviera owner Noboru Watanabe summoned a Shinto priest to perform the ritual ceremony. A small temporary shrine was erected in front of the green. The ceremony included traditional chants on behalf of the souls embedded in the trees. The proceedings also reportedly included an O Harahi purification ceremony to cleanse the souls of those wielding the chainsaws that brought down the two trees, which were part of Riviera's landscape for about 50 years. The trees were removed in conjunction with the installation of a new irrigation system. The trees rarely came into play, and their removal is not thought to have altered the character of the course in any fashion.

Saturday Scene

One of the great scenes in golf, Phil Mickelson plays to the 18th Saturday at Riviera.

 

Nissan Open Photo Caption Help, Vol. 3

Anthony Kim, making a fashion statement?

 

Letter To The Editor

An interesting letter to the editor in Saturday's L.A. Times:

After suffering through last weekend's Pebble Beach Pro-Am, I think it's about time they put this little clambake to rest.

Years ago, when actual celebrities showed up, it was novel, and fun. Now with the B-list celebrities and six-hour rounds of hacking, it's like going to the dentist, with the pompous Nick Faldo along as commentator.

The reason I stopped playing golf was because of slow play and too many people on the course with absolutely no idea of how to play the game. Why would anybody want to watch it on TV?

D.S. ADAM
Newhall

Why Phil Is Popular

After the post 2nd round media scrum in the ladies locker room...eh, that didn't sound right.

Anyway, after meeting with TV and print folks who burned off their chicken and potato media room lunch by coming up the hill to Riviera's clubhouse, Phil Mickelson easily could have taken a right turn down a hallway and headed toward the locker room.

Instead, he announced his intention to sign autographs for 15-20 minutes, where around 50 people (mostly very young boys) were waiting in near darkness to get various items signed. Pretty classy.

 

Anthony Kim First Player In History of Game To Not Have Phone Call Returned By Tournament Director

I found out this week that Anthony Kim is about as popular in the press tent as a Monday finish, so it's nice to see him getting to display his inner self for all to read. Courtesy of Peter Yoon, L.A. Times:

"I thought I was going to have an opportunity to get my card through sponsor exemptions, but obviously I feel like I got snubbed there," said Kim, who earned his card through qualifying school.

"I was 165th on the money list in two tournaments that other people are playing 30 events in. Not to get an opportunity when people said they were going to give me an opportunity is a slap in the face."

Here's the best part:

Kim, who is playing this week on a sponsor's exemption because his Q-school status wasn't enough to get into the popular event, said he applied for several sponsor exemptions, but his calls went unreturned.

"Having the chance to get my card or at least bypassing two stages of Q-school would have been nice," he said. "But to not have that opportunity was pretty tough to swallow."

Kim had to play all three stages of qualifying school, a grueling five-week stretch that he blames for his slow start this season. He missed three cuts in four tournaments this year before shooting 72-69 at Riviera to make the cut in the Nissan Open.

Now that he has his card, Kim said he won't hold a grudge against those tournaments that ignored him last year — maybe.

"Obviously, I'm here now and they're going to be asking me to play in their tournament," he said. "We'll just play it by ear right now and we'll see what happens. I'm definitely going to remember what happened. "

I'm sure tournament directors around the world will now have many sleepless nights. 

Greetings From LA, Vol. 4

Ah how I love the smell of cigar smoke in the morning.

How is it that the one smell I attribute to the Nissan Open at Riviera is not the scent of freshly cut grass or the distinctive eucalyptus, but the horrid scent of those little burning coyote turds.

That's not to say Friday's was a bore. Far from it. The old Friday afternoon buzz was back, with a nice sized crowd that ought to come within 15,000 of the actual tally posted in the press room. The epic weather (75, clear, crisp, no wind) and the afternoon pairing of Els-Mickelson-Taylor gave the proceedings made it a wonderful-to-be-alive day.

Several things are remarkable about Phil Mickelson at the moment. Namely, his autograph signing for kids after the round (even as his jet waits at Santa Monica Airport) and his incredible on-course focus. Not only is he in "the zone," but he's playing so quickly and efficiently (1 bogey through the first 36 on firm, fast greens!?).

His bomb drive and 287 yard second to the 17th led to the loudest Riviera ovation since members heard a rumor that the club had been sold.

Other than that, a fairly uneventful day. Oh, me and 15 other scribblers had breakfast with Arnold Palmer and Jim Nantz to introduce the 1960 Masters rebroadcast. And it could be one of the coolest golf telecasts you will ever see, but more on that later.  

Dwyre On Murray

Bill Dwyre remembers Jim Murray in his Friday column:

When it was time to get to know a new young sports editor in 1981, Murray set up a golf game at Riviera. The new kid didn't play much then and was fairly overwhelmed just standing on the first tee at Riviera. Soon, on the par-five first hole, the group found itself on the green with everybody else putting for five or six and Murray somehow lying three.

His birdie putt was about 50 feet, with one of those Riviera double breaks to start and then a break to the left before flattening out at the hole. Murray, in his late 50s then, but always a bit feeble after battles with eye problems and a malfunctioning heart valve, hunched over his putt, stroked it and watched as it went left, then right, then left again before straightening into the cup. Slowly, he walked to the hole and picked the ball out, then stood silently as the others focused on staying out of double figures.

When all had putted out, he quietly walked to the cart, sat down and waited for his guest to join him. The drive to the second tree was short, but by then, Murray could stand it no longer.

"Sometimes, I miss those left," he said. His huge grin foreshadowed what was to come. He shot 112.

More Changes to Riviera's 10th?

Riviera's 10th, circa 1930 (Click to enlarge image)Recently profiled in Links and pretty much declared the best short par-4 in golf by, among others, architect Tom Doak, what better license for the Tom Fazio gang to start changing the hole!

From Thomas Bonk in today's L.A. Times: 

Phil Mickelson has played the Nissan Open only seven times, but he knows the strategy at the 315-yard 10th. He hit his drive at the par four 307 yards, into the back bunker, but he got up and down for a birdie. Mickelson said he's always going to try to drive the green, and over the green isn't bad.

Told that an alteration is in store for the back of the 10th green, where a dirt road may be restored to the barranca that used to be in that location, Mickelson had a quick reply.

"Well, it looks like this one won't be back on the rotation," said Mickelson, who shot a 66.

He said he was joking.

If anyone can spot this barranca that needs to be "restored" in the old photo above, please point it out!

2012 Curtis Cup To Nairn

With all of the great old courses getting passed by the ball better athleticism in the men's game, women's golf keeps picking up classic venues. With the R&A announcement of the 2012 Curtis Cup site, check out the next three fun, quirky, cool courses they get to play:

2008 The Old Course, St Andrews , 30 May-1 June

2010 Essex County Club, Manchester-by-the-Sea , Massachusetts , 11-13 June

2012 The Nairn Golf Club, 8 – 10 June

Greetings From LA, Vol. 3

Another lovely day at Riviera with flawless weather and light crowds making an already perfect spectator course that much more convenient. Number 10 was its usual delight to watch, though players are finding it almost too easy to drive now. So some of the most interesting decision making is beginning to disappear. But with U-grooves going to V-grooves, that should change everything!

It's also startling to see so many world class players with no one watching.  Friday afternoon's tend to draw decent crowds though. But the weather has been so poor for so many years, that I wonder if the traditional Friday types remember what a festive day it once was.

Or perhaps the crowds were light because of the abysmally slow pace of play and the funeral atmosphere resulting from this death march. Two groups did not finish due to darkness and another three or four groups played in near darkness. It's just not enjoyable to watch with everyone standing around and taking five hours to play in perfect weather with no rough.

Slow play, more than the ball or course setup or drone-like personalities, is killing the pro game as a spectator sport. And the lack of buzz on site translates to television. (Hint to ad people: the 18-34 year olds aren't into watching funerals.)

So here's what I propose. We take away the player bathrooms on the course, allow them to wear those Lisa Nowak astronaut diapers and start dishing out 2-shot penalities to each player in a group that doesn't finish in 4 hours and 30 minutes. And don't give me the nonsense about how it's just a few bad apples. They're all slow because you have to be slow, otherwise a fast player would lose his mind out here.

“For a 4-iron, you’d put it five, six or seven paces from the edge.”

Damon Hack goes inside the ropes (and gets out to Riviera early) to file a New York Times piece on PGA Tour course setup.

This caught my attention:

With so many technological advances in golf in the last 20 years, placing a pin near a bunker or by a tier on a green is one way to combat golfers’ hitting tee shots that travel 300 yards. But Mutch said the officials try to balance their pin locations. On Riviera’s back nine, he chose four on the left side of the green, four on the right, and one near the center. Not every pin can be in a treacherous, devilish position.

“For wedges, you’d put it three or four paces from the edge of the green,” said Mickey Bradley, a PGA Tour rules official. “For a 4-iron, you’d put it five, six or seven paces from the edge.”

A bit formulaic, no?

"Gameday Light"

That's how a Golf Channel staffer said the ad folks described the Golf Channel's inside-the-cables, interactive fan area behind the Golf Central/Post Game set.

Looks like a party to me! Where's Lee Corso when you need him?