"They're clearly concerned by the episodes."

From Thomas Bonk's L.A. Times golf column today: 

This just in from the USGA: The rough at Oakmont Country Club is too high. Now that's an upset. In fact, the rough is actually getting mowed, as the U.S. Open arrives next week.

Mike Davis, the U.S. Golf Assn.'s senior director of rules and competitions and the man responsible for the setup at Oakmont, said the growing conditions have been so favorable that the rough simply was "too much" and too thick.

The first cut of rough was supposed to be four inches high and the other rough from six to 6 1/2 inches, but now it has been scaled back to four inches high and to 2 3/4 to five inches.

"The whole concept is we're not looking for pitch-out rough," Davis said. "We want guys in there to have a shot at the green, at least in the first cut. That doesn't necessarily mean everyone will do it, but we want to give them the opportunity."

Davis said the first cut covers about seven paces from the fairway.

Now, in Golf World's Local Knowledge this week, John Strege reports the same thing, but adds this caveat:

Even though the maintenance plan is unchanged from the past three years, the rough has come in much denser this spring. The same thing happened last year at Winged Foot. USGA officials chose their words carefully when discussing the developments but they're clearly concerned by the episodes. 

Well, and we all know all about that middle of the night stuff too! 

"It may be that we allocate fewer spots [to England]"

You think?

Jim McCabe reports on the European U.S. Open qualifier, which it turns out, sort of repeated last year's fiasco with a twist: filling the spots with American alternates! But this is also interesting:

"It's a bummer," said [Brad] Faxon, who was like many others -- perplexed by the way the USGA allocated the berths at the 15 sectionals. For instance, at Walton Heath in Surrey, England, there were a whopping nine spots available for a field of 53, meaning one in six players would succeed. At Woodmont, the odds were 1 in 3.4, with 67 competing for five. At Purchase, N.Y., where Marshfield's Geoff Sisk shot 73-67 to get through, the odds were even worse, 1 in every 19.3 (58 for 3).

Even Memphis, where PGA Tour names were at every turn of the head, the odds were slightly higher (one spot for every 6.5 players).

"I don't understand it," said Faxon, and while he wasn't going to dwell on the subject, it appears the USGA grossly overestimated how strong the Surrey site would be.

Expecting a lot of European PGA Tour players, they instead got a rash of withdrawals, a situation reminiscent to 2005 when American players withdrew by the truckload at a British Open final qualifier at Congressional CC in Washington.

"It really comes down to strength of field, but it's not an exact science," said Marty Parkes, the senior director of communications for the USGA.

The process gets reviewed annually and Parkes seemed to indicate that the Surrey numbers were more favorable than they should have been. They were, after all, almost identical to the numbers in Columbus, Ohio, (one spot for every 5.3 players) and that was a site so jammed-packed with talent it was virtually a 36-hole PGA Tour stop.

"It may be that we allocate fewer spots [to England]," he said.

Just to refresh memories, last year there were supposed to be 71 players for 8 spots and they ended up with 47 for 8 spots.

Maybe it's time we drop the European qualifier?

Something Strange...

Did you know Oakmont is open for member play until Saturday at noon? 

Kind of odd, don't you think?

Nonconforming Driver: No More Bill Campbell?

In the Millard Golf World piece on Walter Driver and the USGA, I had to read this twice to make sure it said what I think it said. 

In 2004 an amendment was adopted that gave a reduced role to elder past presidents, who played a leadership role in the executive committee nomination process. Their voting power was cut from five votes to two. That has left a bitter aftertaste and, as a result, some of the game's most respected elder statesmen have been alienated.  Bill Campbell, a legendary amateur and USGA president from 1982-83, has taken a self-imposed sabbatical from any business with the USGA. Asked by Golf World for comment, Campbell politely declined. "I don't want to get in the way," he says.

Bill Campbell is to the USGA what Ronald Reagan is to the Republican party. He's their hero, the ideal amateur and the first man cited when a USGAer wants to think of a role model. And Bill Campbell has taken a "self-imposed sabbatical" from USGA business?

It looks like Ron Sirak was right in this 2004 piece when he said that the power of the more vocal past presidents would be reduced. 

Golfdom U.S. Open Podcast

My chat about Oakmont with Golfdom Editor-in-Chief Larry Aylward...just hit the play buttom...

Butch: Phil Can Be Better Than Tiger

Jeese, and here I was starting to think Tiger wouldn't win next week. Nothing like good bulletin board material. Eric Francis reports:

"Tiger's got a big lead as No. 1 in the world so it'll take a couple of years but I think he can and I think he will, actually," said Harmon, 63, who will be in Calgary Saturday for a golf symposium open to the public.

"He's going to have to really work hard and change a lot more things but he's willing to do that and wants to do it. He has the desire to try and rival Tiger."

This has to comfort Adam Scott:

"I would say they're very similar to be honest with you," said Harmon, who works with a stable of top touring pros at his Las Vegas golf school, including Adam Scott, Stewart Cink and Fred Couples.

"Both have a tremendous amount of natural talent. They both have unbelievable short games. I think Tiger may be a little better putter under pressure but I think Phil's short game around the green is a little bit better than Tiger's. In general, they're similar."

And here's where the ego gets the best of him...

Harmon said he's "halfway through" revamping Mickelson's swing, which is now more compact at the top and balanced at the finish.

"I think we've still got a pretty good ways to go but he's adapted very well in a pretty short period of time and we're both very encouraged," said Harmon, who anticipates next week's U.S. Open will provide the biggest test for Mickelson's new swing if his injured wrist is ready for action as anticipated.

And on Butch and Tiger:

"We're not going to dinner together because we don't live in the same town but we get along fine," he said. "We have fun and good banter back and forth between the two of us. At the Players Championship, he was teasing me pretty hard about teaching Phil. We've had a lot of fun with it."

Just warms the heart. 

Nonconforming Driver Reaction: A Business?

There is a lot to consider in Chris Millard's Golf World cover story on the USGA and Walter Driver, and over the next few days I'm going to try and flesh out a few of the points. The one missing component of the piece (and not Millard's job in my view), is an explanation of what all of the various shenanigans have to do with the governance and betterment of the game.

I think some of the early comments from readers fairly question whether the story was a little too focused on Driver and not hard enough on the Executive Committee as a group.

However, I would counter that it's the Driver's of the world who, along with the Reg Murphy's of the world, have taken the USGA down a path that has it running away from its core mission ("For the good of the game") while becoming obsessed with the bottom line, corporate shilling and self-aggrandizement.

The groupthink mentality that started at the top with the likes of Fred Ridley, has continued under Driver's reign and has crept into the thinking of past presidents, is captured nicely in this early passage.

Proponents of Driver say he has single-handedly shaken the USGA out of a slumber induced by the influx of cash the USGA fell into when it reconfigured its television rights contracts in 1994. They say he has tried to inject into a bloated USGA some badly needed business principles (the title of Driver's speech at the USGA's annual meeting in San Francisco last February was "The USGA As An Organization And A Business"). Detractors, many of whom see the USGA as a charitable organization first, say Driver has imposed his will on its culture and that his administration has disenfranchised everyone from Golf House staffers (those who work at USGA headquarters in Far Hills, N.J.) to equipment manufacturers to the organization's once-revered past presidents.

"I would say his effort to instill a new level of business-like procedure at the USGA has been important," says Reg Murphy, USGA president in 1994-95 and the man who authored the association's lucrative TV move from long-time partner ABC to NBC in 1994. "He's tried to create a more business-like organization. There are people who resist that idea, by the way, that the USGA ought to operate like a business."

Asked if some of those steps have rattled the culture, Murphy replies, "There's not any question about that."

Okay, so let's say the business side of the organization was not well run and needed tidying up? (Because Lord knows, the course setups were so good over the last decade.)

Then how does this explain the news first revealed on this site by Frank Hannigan, and later confirmed in the USGA Annual Report, that for the first time that anyone can recall, the USGA lost a lot of money. That's $6.1 million in this new, leaner, meaner Driver led operation.

Well you say, there were buyouts of bloated contracts and unnecessary staff, right?

Uh no.

So it seems that the only thing "business-like" about the USGA is that the leadership takes on unnecessary perks, they cut staff benefits and in general, leaves messes behind for the next regime to solve.

"Clearly, something is seriously amiss inside her head."

John Huggan takes foooorrrreeevvvvveeeeer to make his point (and he says I bury the lede!), but it's a good one and hopefully one that the onslaught of Michelle Wie posts here have been hinting out: this young lady needs help.

No no, not a trip to Vienna with men named Hans in white robes and clipboards asking strange questions. Just a friendly therapist who can help her feel better about missing graduation, maybe offer a few tips about dealing with all of the vultures around her and who can get her through the senstive post-injury comeback ups and downs.

Huggan:

All of which only brings me to the most serious aspect of this tacky little affair, namely the obviously fragile state of mind of what is, let's not forget, an impressionable teenage girl going through one of life's more traumatic phases. Apparently less than jovial during her abbreviated appearance last week - "I kinda felt bad for her," said playing partner, Alena Sharpe. "She didn't seem happy." - Wie appeared even more lethargic and depressed in the aforementioned pro-am. Indeed, so disinterested was she that even the mere thought of putting out on two of the last three greens was something she couldn't countenance.

Clearly, something is seriously amiss inside her head. Wie's agent, the LPGA and, most of all, her parents have a responsibility to step up before this outwardly delightful youngster's health begins to suffer more than it has already. That, it should go without saying, is far more important than any amount of money and, it seemingly needs to be said, is actually worth writing a column or ten about.

Update on 2007-06-07 03:49 by Geoff

* USA Today's Christine Brennan brings up the dreaded Jennifer Capriati example as a hint of where this could lead.

More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About Trump, Vol. 1

SI's Michael Bamberger had the uneviable task of playing each of Donald Trump'sDavid Fay bloated golf courses and filed a lengthy essay on his good times. Well, at least the online version seems a lot longer than the print version, or maybe I just missed a page? Anyway, a few nuggets, including this on the USGA and Executive Director David Fay.

In the men's locker room, on darkly stained doors with gold hinges, there were lockers bearing the names of several USGA executives. Working at the USGA is about like working in a university, in terms of salary and benefits, and the initiation fee at Bedminster is $350,000, with annual dues of around $18,000. The club's not meant for those living in the genteel poverty of golf administration.

"Do you have corporate memberships here?" I asked Trump.

"No," he quickly answered.

"What about for the USGA guys?" I asked.

"For them I do." It meant this: The top USGA executives were welcome at the club as honorary members. Certain USGA executives have enjoyed such privileges at various nearby oldline clubs, clubs owned by their memberships. But Trump's a new kind of personality for the USGA, and his course is a new kind of course.

Which is exactly why they should decline!

Hmm...fast forward to this long overdue clarification.

On Jan. 21 USA Today published a front-page story that outlined Trump's golfing ambitions, most particularly his desire to have a U.S. Open at Bedminster, his New Jerseycourse. But there was one paragraph in the story that caused problems. In the story Trump describes David Fay, the executive director of the USGA, as a member of the club who plays the course frequently and has a locker near Trump's.

Fay read the story, seething. He told me later that he was only an honorary member and that he had played the course as an honorary member exactly once, and that if he had a locker there, he knew nothing about it.

Whoa there. So he did accept an honorary membership from a guy who you know badly wants a U.S. Open? And you thought the Donald wouldn't take advantage in his own special way? Okay! 

“That’s just ridiculous.”

Golfweek's Beth Ann Baldry on Wie's press conference:

When asked if the tour’s ‘88 rule’ was a factor in her decision to withdraw, Wie said “that’s just ridiculous.”

It was clear that Wie and her handlers had rehearsed this part of the interview. But when it came to questions about a conversation Tuesday with LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens, Camp Wie looked like a deer in headlights.

Fun Times at Bulle Rock

Ron Sirak reports on several more Michelle Wie related incidents, this being the most interesting sign the LPGA Tour is finally getting the message:

There was also another incident Tuesday in which head LPGA rules official Doug Brecht ordered Wie's mother and father, Bo and B.J., and her physiotherapist off the practice range, citing the LPGA rule that only coaches and caddies are allowed on the range with players. Even though Wie is not a member of the LPGA she signs a form at each event she plays saying she will abide by tour rules, according to a tour official. That discussion also went less than smoothly, sources said.

Nonconforming Driver

Chris Millard's Golf World piece on Walter Driver and the state of the USGA has been posted. I see I was quoted accurately throughout. So much for claiming I was misquoted!

**Just finished reading it. Driver's answers to tough questions are priceless non-answers.  

"You're better off on the fairway 230 yards out than you are in the rough 120 yards out."

Gerry Dulac cornered some of the players who tested out Oakmont on Monday and offered these insights from Geoff Ogilvy and Ian Poulter.

"This was harder than the Monday 10 days before that tournament," Ogilvy said. "The first-cut stuff last year was playable. ... This is playable-ish, and in a week it can grow. You're better off on the fairway 230 yards out than you are in the rough 120 yards out."

Newsflash: Cialis sales just plummetted in the greater Far Hills region. 

"This is a lot tougher," Poulter said of the Oakmont rough. "You're not hitting greens from that rough. It's as thick as I've seen it."

You know, Frank Hannigan and others tell me I'm nuts to say an injury to a player will be caused by this rough-on-steroids we're seeing so often at these majors. And yet, I didn't realize this, but it's already happening. From Thomas Bonk's L.A. Times note today on Phil Mickelson's MRI and decision to skip Memphis this week to help his ailing wrist:

 Mickelson injured his wrist chipping balls out of the rough during a practice session May 28 at Oakmont.

Let The Oakmont Previews Begin...

I rolled my eyes through E.M. Swift's excellent Golf Digest piece on the Oakmont members and their obsession with humiliating guests via greens stimping at 15 and other nonsense.  There really is more to the game than inflicting misery, isn't there?

Meanwhile Gerry Dulac looks at the club's tree removal for Golf World, building on his original Post-Gazette piece, and offering some fresh insights into the politics:

The decision to get rid of all the trees created one of the most contentious periods in club history, pitting members who liked shaded, tree-lined fairways against those who sought to restore Oakmont to its original design (and, by doing so, improve turf conditions). It didn't help that some of the trees were secretly removed without the consent of the membership. But with the U.S. Open returning for the first time in 13 years, most of the members have apparently embraced the new look, even if some are reluctant to say so publicly. Trees have been replaced with high fescue grass that sways in the wind, creating the Scottish look Fownes desired.

"If [the support is] not 100 percent, I don't know who is on the other side," says Ford, Oakmont's pro since 1979. "There is no grumbling at all. Everybody is very upbeat about it."

To be sure, the new-look Oakmont has received rave reviews from just about everyone in golf. What's more, the restoration, which began shortly after the club hosted the 1992 U.S. Women's Open, has helped restore some luster to the Oakmont tradition. Because of the changes, Oakmont has moved up to No. 5 on Golf Digest's America's 100 Greatest Courses, behind only Pine Valley, Shinnecock Hills, Augusta National and Cypress Point. Even the USGA is pleased with the new look, advising other clubs seeking to undergo similar restoration to form a committee and visit Oakmont.

Fast forward... 

Oakmont's decision to remove trees was not widely embraced, even outside the membership. Environmentalists wrote letters and e-mails, protesting the wide-ranging elimination and citing the ecological problems created by their loss. A local church even offered prayers, asking for the trees' survival. Internally, some club members threatened lawsuits, claiming trees were removed without their knowledge.

Players React To Wie

The reactions are fairly consistent on Michelle Wie's WD, starting with tough remarks from Paula Creamer and Annika.

From Ron Sirak's piece:

Creamer, whose autograph was one of the most sought after last week, was one of those ill at ease about the Wie withdrawal. "I don't think the LPGA should ever get involved in something like that," Creamer said. "I think it's sad we have to do that. The LPGA shouldn't get involved with players on the golf course unless it is a ruling or something like that."

Annika, quoted by Chris Baldwin who is at Bulle Rock for this week's McDonald's LPGA:

"I just feel there's a little bit of lack of respect and class to just leave a tournament like that," Sorenstam said, pulling no punches in a half filled interview room. "Especially being the hostess, it just seems really weird."

Baldwin also talks to Laura Davies, who has a slightly different take.

"She obviously wasn't injured to the point where she couldn't keep playing," Davies told WorldGolf.com in an exclusive interview after her pro-am round at the McDonald's LPGA Championship Tuesday.

"She withdrew because she was getting close to not being allowed to play the rest of the year as I understand it. I think that decision was a good one too."

Yes, Davies - a 20-time LPGA Tour winner and 45-time international event winner - is convinced that Wie withdrew to skirt Rule 88, the provision that a non-LPGA member is bared from competing in another Tour event for a year if she cards an 88 or higher. But Davies is all right with that. In fact, if LPGA officials alerted Team Wie to that right before she walked off - as it appeared, Davies is completely onboard.

"As long as the LPGA Tour's all right with it and the Tour seems more than all right with it, as far as I'm concerned that's all that matters," Davies said.