“The longer we hit the ball, the better we are, and we have to get away from that."

Monty, I now apologize for ever making fun of your car washing fetish. Loved your comments from Dubai:

Speaking at GolfEx Dubai, Montgomerie himself raised a few eyebrows by insisting that suppliers make slower balls and modified clubs to boost competitiveness at professional level.

Monty believes that balls should be made with ten to fifteen per cent less velocity and wedges cut back from 60 to 56 degrees to restore the skill factor, while the perennial debate over big-hitting clubs and lengthening courses still needs to be addressed, believes the eight European Tour Order of Merit winner.

“The longer we hit the ball, the better we are, and we have to get away from that,” he said. “The Masters has lost some of its charm. I used to shoot 66 on a round but I can’t see that happening now. St Andrews has six new tees and when changes are being made there, you know we have a problem.”

"The first Tiger Woods course cannot be a course Tiger likes to play on."

Blasphemy! We're talking about a man who loves Firestone, so I'm sure he can find Al Jumbalya to his liking. Ron Fream does not agree.

Fream told The New Paper: 'Tiger Woods' first golf course will be the product of the ability and talent, knowledge and experience of those who surround him.

'Tiger learned nothing of golf course architecture at Stanford University.

'His ability to focus is so intense that when he walks a golf course, he does not see the course or the surroundings.

'He only sees his ball, his target and then the next target.

'The first Tiger Woods course cannot be a course Tiger likes to play on.

'His design will most likely accommodate many expected tourist visitors and average players and, maybe one day, play host to a championship.

'Tiger knows nothing of land use master planning and, therefore, cannot contribute significantly to the interface of golf and adjacent housing development, which will be a source of revenue to pay off his huge design fee.

'Tiger knows nothing of golf course construction methods. He knows nothing of technical turf-grass maintenance.

'Building a golf course in Dubai, where temperatures often exceed 45 degrees Celsius, gets special expectations for construction and maintenance.'

So how will his course look like?

He said: 'The Tiger Woods course will have dramatic terrain changes as the site is flat now.

'It will use a lot of water for lakes and maybe streams.

'A large number of date palm trees will surround the golf holes.

'Greens cannot be overly contoured. Sand bunkering will be a major attraction.'

Greetings From L.A., Final Edition

After meeting Golf Digest fashion guru Marty Hackel, I now realize I have way too much khaki in my life. I need serious help. A khaki intervention perhaps?

Of course I'm not going to go all green pants and pink shirt like the sometimes Golf Channel fashion critic sported Saturday, nor will I dare to try the fire engine red slacks he sported Sunday, yet I am re-evaluating my love of beige trousers. (But it's so easy to coordinate in the dark!).

Oh, the Nissan Open at Riviera. Right. Well, the PGA Tour's setup of the course was a tad uninspired this year. Recent years have seen a nice variety of hole locations and alternate tee locations. But three straight days of a front right hole on 15 and another three straight back left on 6 did not exactly take advantage of possibilities with incredibly fast and firm greens. Then again, there were no major glitches and the players were allowed to display their talent, so all in all, a good week for the PGA Tour's Mark Russell and his hard working crew.

As in other recent years, I come away even more impressed by Captain Thomas's design despite all of the poor changes and grateful that the players love it, even if they have no idea why beyond the usual "it's right in front of you" line.

I'm not surprised by how little the major changes (length, shifted bunkers) increase scoring. Perhaps because each time the Fazio gang tends to chip away at the little subtle features and deceptive touches that make the course difficult, all in the name of visibility or framing. 

Take for instance the two par-5s on the back nine, where they brought in fairway bunkering to close off the approaches for those attempting to get home on these once-long holes. Both holes saw bunker shifting that much better defines where the green begins, which actually making it easier to pick out the target for a good player, especially for those who lay up on these holes. Both used to pose difficult third shots because of they were so undefined, but not anymore.

New look No. 11 (Click to enlarge)In the case of the 11th, the shaping eliminated an old bank which kicked balls down into the right bunker or rough. The  top edge of the bunker extension is now slightly angled to kick a ball toward the green instead of away from it. The difference is slight, but in no way is the hole more difficult for a good player. (The scoring average went down to 4.596 from 4.647 last year, even though the greens were much firmer this year and the hole had been given new "strength." The 17th also played easier this year statistically.)

As for the great tenth, I'll get to that tomorrow with some photos and ShotLink stuff. I know you can't wait.

"Golf Happens"

The L.A. Times sent out their former hockey columnist for some rivetting insights into Sunday's Nissan Open finale. Check out this killer lede:

Phil Mickelson's opportunities to win the Nissan Open were strewn around Riviera Country Club with the leaves that reclaimed the greens and cart paths after he lost to Charles Howell III on the third hole of a playoff.

The leaves that reclaimed the greens and cart paths? Wow. I need a moment to soak that poetry up.

And how about this Jim Murray-eat-your-heart-out moment:

Sunday was Howell's day to shine, to be known not as "Charlie three sticks" for the suffix attached to his last name, but as a winner.

Golf happens. Mickelson has a great short game, but he couldn't explain why he missed an apparently good putt on 13 and another on 16. Even Tiger Woods loses once in a while — though not in his last seven PGA Tour events and not here this year, since he chose to take a week off before this week's Accenture Match Play Championship at Marana, Ariz.

Mickelson, a two-time Masters champion, has lost tournaments before. And he will lose tournaments again.

Chills down the spine here in Santa Monica. 

Greetings From L.A., Volume 6

I don't have a whole lot to say yet about the final round because I want to ponder the events of Sunday and in particular, the 10th hole play. Oh, and, I want to go to bed.

In the meantime, I can report that this remark earned an audible groan from the assembled inkslingers who gathered for Charles Howell's post-Nissan Open victory interview room: 

JOAN vT ALEXANDER:   More important, you are on top of the FedExCup once again after another great week.  Congratulations.

CHARLES HOWELL III:  Thank you.  Obviously, the one time I really want to be on top of the FedExCup is a few months from now.  But I will definitely take this, and any time I can be leading a FedExCup list with the players in the world today, the players here at this field, is extremely special. 
Charles Howell (click to enlarge)

Phil on 18 Sunday (click to enlarge)Another point on Phil, before the game stories start appearing: it was a remarkable effort to shoot a final round 68 while his partners Padraig Harrington and Rich Beem stunk up the joint.

He spent an excessive amount of time waiting on them throughout the day, which may explain why they both so kindly offered to play out before Mickelson attempted his par putt in regulation.

Feherty v. Kostis

So why does Feherty get his own guy holding the monitor while Kostis has to have that harnessed thing? A perk in Feherty's new contract?

 

"You don't want the members to have to play U.S. Open fairway widths for six years"

From Joe Logan, writing about Merion's 2013 U.S. Open preparation:

Two tees will be moved. At No. 2, a 535-yard uphill par 5, the tee will be moved up 20 to 25 yards. The move is mainly to create space between the current tee at No. 2 and the nearby 10th green, but it is also to make an unreachable par 5 reachable in 2.

The tee at the 14th hole, a 408-yard par 4, will be moved back 20 to 30 yards, making the hole tougher but, more importantly, creating badly needed space around the adjacent 18th green, where grandstands must go. (The practice putting green behind the current 14th tee will also be moved back.)

Several fairways will also be narrowed slightly, or recontoured, mostly to undo what Davis called a "serpentine" effect.

"The USGA is not keen on pinched fairways at, say, 240 yards or 280 yards, to penalize short hitters or long hitters," Davis said.

For Merion members, who have called in respected architect Tom Fazio to handle the work, the question is one of timing. Davis recently told the club that it would be nice if the changes were made by 2009, providing a sort of test run when Merion hosts the Walker Cup. But the USGA is not adamant about that timetable.

"You don't want the members to have to play U.S. Open fairway widths for six years," Davis said. "Why should they be subjected to that?"

Nissan Open Photo Caption Help, Vol. 5

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.