"It's not even close. It's this one.''

From Doug Ferguson's lengthier follow up on Tiger's practice rounds at Oakmont:

He also had heard the debate whether Oakmont or Winged Foot was the toughest championship course on any given Sunday morning for the members. "Of all the tournaments I've ever played, no golf course was harder than Winged Foot,'' Woods said late last year.

He was reminded of that comment when he walked off the 18th green Sunday morning after his first trip around at Oakmont.

"It's not even close,'' Woods said. "It's this one.''

And that was with the green bumping along at about 10 1/2 on the Stimpmeter (the course was under snow a week ago). It usually runs in the neighborhood of 13 for some of the members' tournaments.

"Every green is pitched one way or another,'' Woods said. "If you do miss on the high side, it's impossible.''

"We looked at John Daly as someone who lights up a room, not someone with a troubled past."

In Richard Sandomir's story detailing CBS's decision to pull the John Daly-Maxfli ad, it's great fun to read the rationale

“Any implication that participants are drinking in excess or performing an activity that requires a level of alertness while drinking does not meet network standards,” said Leslie Anne Wade, a CBS Sports spokeswoman.

It's a good thing network standards don't allow for shows about people getting killed!

The Daly ad has already run about 10 times on the Golf Channel, which last year ran his reality series, “The Daly Planet.” Dan Higgins, a spokesman, said that while the ad met network standards, “we’re sensitive to the issues at hand and are looking at other viable options to running the commercial,” like restricting its airing to later hours or running an edited version.

Hey, I know. Just air it during the Greg Goose 19th Hole since the set is stocked with booze. Then it won't look so bad! 

Meanwhile, in Larry Stewart's LA Times piece, he quotes the Maxfli dude:

"We went into this with the idea that John Daly is fun, exciting and approachable," said Bob Maggiore, senior director of marketing for TaylorMade-Adidas of Carlsbad, Calif. "In hindsight, maybe we should have seen the risk. But we looked at John Daly as someone who lights up a room, not someone with a troubled past."

Well, at least he's honest. 

“I’m not Rick Smith. I’m not going to spend 24/7 time with Phil."

Brian Hewitt talking to Butch Harmon about his new marriage:

Where, Harmon was asked Tuesday, will Mickelson’s place be on that totem pole?
 
“I have already called Fred Couples, Adam Scott and Stewart Cink and assured them this won’t change my relationship with them,” Harmon said. “I’m not Rick Smith. I’m not going to spend 24/7 time with Phil. When he needs help I’ll be there with him. ...But if you’re asking me who’s at the top of the totem pole, Adam Scott is my main client. And I’ve explained that to Phil.”

Here we'd gone a full two days without an insult flying! Let the instructor spat begin!

"The field was so weak that more world ranking points were awarded to the winner of the BMW Asian Open."

Doug Ferguson in his weekly notes column, writing about the Viking Classic's (don't ask) disappointment at not getting their winner in the 2008 Masters:

Even so, fall tournaments must have been wondering about Nick Watney's victory in New Orleans last week. That was a full FedEx Cup event, but the field was so weak that more world ranking points were awarded to the winner of the BMW Asian Open. Watney earned 28 points, only four more points than the winner of Mississippi tournament last year.

"From the moment Woods stepped onto the first tee..."

Mike Dudurich filed this Pittsburgh Tribune Review story on Tiger's day at Oakmont:

From the moment Woods stepped onto the first tee and pulled the Sasquatch Sumo Squared driver from his bag and launched his Nike One ball approximately 330 yards to the middle of the fairway...

Now I know it's not for me to offer writing suggestions, but I really think the future of journalism will be more informative for us consumers.  Dudurich could have filed something like this:

From the moment Woods woke up in his NikeFitTherma jammies, slipped on his Seamless S/S Colorplay Mock, adorned his SP-8 TW Tour shoes in the hot new black and Del Monte white (available May 3rd), slipped on his Custom Crested Tech Xtreme Glove, Nike's brand focus stepped onto the first tee and pulled the Sasquatch Sumo Squared driver from his bag and launched his Nike One ball approximately 330 yards to the middle of the fairway...

"It's very open. You can see all the holes from the clubhouse."

Gerry Dulac filed a few more anecdotes and quotes from Tiger's Oakmont round. He managed to focus on--perish the thought--the golf, instead of plugging the "surprise" clinic for some rich AmEx customers.

The greens were running at 10.5 on the Stimpmeter the past two days, not nearly as fast as they will be for the Open. And they were not as smooth as usual because they had recently been aerified.

"They said they're extremely smooth," Woods said. "Granted, they do have a lot of movement to them, a lot of pitch to them, but people seem to hole a lot of putts here. After playing it, it was hard for me to see that because I was seeing balls bouncing all over the place."

Woods did not play in the 1994 U.S. Open at Oakmont because he failed to qualify as amateur. And he had never even been to the course until Sunday -- a strange fact given Woods' love for the game and the way he embraces the history and tradition of the sport. Nonetheless, Woods said he really enjoyed his first visit to Oakmont, though he admitted it was different than what he envisioned.

"I just remember seeing all these trees everywhere and you get down here and all of sudden there's nothing there," he said. "It's very open. You can see all the holes from the clubhouse. It's very different than what I envisioned."

I guess he hasn't been reading the tree removal stories! 

"So we feel that there is good opportunity for us, not only with our wine, but also obviously the golf"

I really want to root for Ernie Els, but it's hard to feel like he's committed to winning majors at this point when you read this...

New Delhi: The past couple of years haven't been great for World No. 5 Ernie Els, but he has, for sure, kept himself in contention in most of the tournaments. CNN-IBN caught up with him recently while he was on a short visit to India.

When he's playing well, Ernie Els is a joy to watch. What's more, he's one of the nicest people you will ever find. But these days, playing golf is not the only thing that keeps him busy. He has his own wine label and is ensuring it is noticed everywhere.

"We are looking around a little bit to look at golf course design opportunities, some developments around the region, I think the interest in golf is really growing in the region. So we feel that there is good opportunity for us, not only with our wine, but also obviously the golf," Ernie Els says.

"Uniquely suited for the advanced player"

Debra Gruszecki in the Desert Sun reports on the latest links course to open in the Palm Springs area. Thanks to reader Todd for torturing me--and therefore you all--with this story.

But first, the caption for the story's accompanying photo on the left: "Golf course architect Clive Clark designed the course, which resembles links in the rolling hills of Scotland."

That backdrop looks so linksy doesn't it? And when did links start appear in the rolling hills of Scotland.

I know, so picky.

Anyway, the piece:

The Eagle has landed for the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians.

The Cabazon celebrated their "soft opening" Friday for Eagle Falls Golf Course, a new amenity linked to its $200 million Fantasy Springs Resort Casino and Special Events Center.

The 18-hole, par-72 championship course designed by noted golf course architect Clive Clark is "uniquely suited for the advanced player,'' said Willie Maples, Eagle Falls' director of golf operations.

"It offers a challenging and friendly golfing experience for the average player,'' Maples said.

Ah yes, bet that was heavy on the accent! 

John James, tribal chairman, said the golf course is a great addition to Fantasy Springs.

"It's one thing they don't have in the east end of the valley, a golf course - and it's a classic course," he added.

And a links to boot!

"It's very impressive that the Cabazons have taken a good portion of their land, and connected the golf course to it to make it more of a resort destination,'' Maples said.

Such philanthropists.

Robb Mihelic, head golf professional, said Eagle Falls is creating a buzz in the Coachella Valley.

"We've probably had close to 1,000 rounds already,'' he said of the course that replicates the links, stone walls and bunkers one sees on the rolling hills of Scotland.

"We've had a lot of locals," so far, he said, but that is expected to change soon.

Play-and-stay packages are being formulated by Fantasy Springs. Golf pros also envision a "comp" program for high-rollers down the road, along with golf incentives for local residents.'

What about panelists?

Skipping The Nelson

Ron Sirak vents a bit about the number of no-shows at the Byron Nelson in the year they will be honoring the great man.

I'm finally glad someone made this point, though I think Sirak could have been even more blunt:

Why the are players staying away?

The easy answer is the scheduling-conflict excuse. But the irony there is that in an era when all of the top players travel by private jet they are finding it more difficult to get to tournaments than the guys back in the days when Byron and the boys drove four to a car from tournament to tournament.

Irony, hypocrisy, it's a fine line! 

The more complicated answer -- and probably the correct one -- is that very few of today's millionaires appreciate the fact that it was guys like Nelson who struggled to make ends meet that made today's PGA Tour possible.

There is a sense of entitlement among contemporary players that is totally out of proportion with both their achievement and their sacrifice. That sense of entitlement tends to view the world through me-colored lenses. Just as last year the one PGA Tour event all players should have been tripping over each to enter was in New Orleans, the one must-make tournament this year should have been the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. And it had nothing to do with prize money or scheduling. It had everything to do with what was right.

There will be a golf tournament this week at Las Colinas and Cottonwood Valley. There will be a party at the TPC Four Seasons Resort. And there will be tributes to the life and career of Byron Nelson at the tournament that bears his name. And knowing the first-class way the Salesmanship Club does things, it will be a celebration that will not only be worth remembering, it will be so compelling there will be no choice but to remember it.

One of the things that keeps the LPGA an organization that respects its past is that it has help remembering that past because a half-dozen of its founders are still alive to remind the young players that it was not always as nice and easy as it now is. The PGA Tour, being about 20 years older than the LPGA, has lost most of its direct connection to its roots. In Byron Nelson, it lost one of the most important.

Nelson was not the kind of guy who would grab a player and say, "Hey, don't ever lose appreciation for what you have." Or, "Don't ever forget that the game made you, you didn't make the game." Byron didn't have to use words like that. His actions said it much more eloquently. It seems, however, that not all the players were listening.

TPC Las Colinas Greens

Jimmy Burch explains why they might not look so hot this week. Assuming you watch.

Golfchick Interview Part 2

Kristen Williams (aka The Golfchick) posts part two of our Q&A on her blog.

"I can't recall many golf courses where you don't see the fairway and green on the same hole."

Wow, imagine the coincidence of Tiger Woods practicing at Oakmont and just spontaneously deciding to give a clinic to American Express suckers guests on U.S. Open Preview Day. And lo and behold the AP writer is there to cover it.

Praise the Lord!

Woods spent the last two days at Oakmont, the premiere championship golf course in America that had been somewhat of a mystery to him. He didn't qualify for his first U.S. Open until the year after Ernie Els won at Oakmont in 1994, so this had been a course Woods only knew from newspaper clippings and television highlights.

"I like it," he said. "I can't recall many golf courses where you don't see the fairway and green on the same hole. Maybe at St. Andrews, but that's about it."

I guess that's a nice way of saying "it's all NOT right in front of you."

Monday also turned into quite a mystery for the 82 people who didn't know they would get to tag along.

They were American Express card members who paid $900 for an event called "2007 U.S. Open Preview Day," not realizing that it would include more than a round of golf and free lunch until Woods entered the room from a back door to stunned silence, followed by high-fives and then a standing ovation.

They were told they would get a seminar on how to prepare for a U.S. Open.

They had no idea their instructor would be the world's No. 1 player, with ABC Sports anchor Mike Tirico as the emcee.

"I hope you guys didn't get slaughtered out there," Woods told them before inviting them along for his third and final practice round.

Par-3 Shootout Takes A One-Year Break To Give Rick Smith More Time In The Grieving Process

Well, and to find a new sponsor.

Oh and here's the Mickelson-Harmon-Smith break up/marriage press release where everyone makes it official that they love and admire each other as the great humanitarians that they are. 

A Potpourri of Putting Greens

My March Golfdom column has been posted.

"We don’t reach everyone. Just the people with all the money"

The New York Times's Michel Marriott files a piece on the PGA Tour's cool-looking new scoreboards which unfortunately provides a chance for one of the Vice Presidents to say something obnoxious. This time it's Tom Wade:

Although much of the PGA Tour’s fan base remains mature and affluent, Wade said, significant numbers in that group are “heavy technology adaptors.”

“As we say: We don’t reach everyone. Just the people with all the money,” Wade said.

Ugh.