"Bookies hope to shoot down Tiger"

A couple of stories detail the latest bets that can be placed on the Open Championship. Bob Fenton writes:

For those who think Tiger Woods might be blown away in the first two days, can have 9-1 that he does not start the third round for golfing reasons.

Now, I hate to be cynical, but I so rarely am. Therefore, I'm entitled. But, headlines and stories like the above which have been fairly common. The theme of these stories is that a Tiger win would be disastrous for the bookies. For some reason it makes me envision some naked bookie with an arrow pointed toward his rear end running out to distract Tiger as he attempts a birdie putt on 18 to win it all. Or to encourage some nut to tackle and injure him en route to his third round tee time.

 
My point: I'm glad betting on sports is illegal in America (outside of Las Vegas and Atlantic City). We have too many nutjobs who might read articles like this, place a bet and try to influence the outcome. In Great Britain, they just have stupid old racists who drink too much.

Anyway, I'm curious if anyone else gets the same vibe reading such stories.

On a lighter subject, Paul Lawrie and Monty are definitely going in different directions when it comes to the pre-tournament action:

Aberdonian Lawrie is back at Carnoustie - where he famously won the Claret Jug in 1999 - for The Open which starts on Thursday morning.

Lawrie is priced at 200-1 by bookmakers William Hill, and the biggest bet on him is only £25 each-way to be placed.

However bookmakers say a Montgomerie win at 25-1 would cost more than £1m.

William Hill spokesman Graham Sharp said: "Despite his failure to make the cut in the Scottish Open last week, Monty is the man the punters want to back for The Open and his have odds tumbled to 25-1 from 80-1.

"Every other bet seems to have his name on at the moment, and we will certainly be handing over a hefty seven-figure sum to punters should Monty manage to win.

"The biggest bet is £300 each-way at 80-1, but it's the volume of smaller bets. Monty is to The Open what Frankie Dettori is to the Derby."

"He is certainly not a racist, as an individual,"

Steve Elling reports that the R&A's Graham Brown was determined to put a stop to the Euro's-winless-in-majors stories and the various Paul Lawrie-Jean Van De Velde recaps by telling several off-color jokes at a writer's banquet!

Our governing bodies are in such fine shape! 

Proving that the elitist golf establishment in America hardly owns a monopoly on bad taste, pious attitudes and overtly racist behavior, a member of the storied Royal & Ancient Golf Club on Tuesday night told a series of off-color jokes at a journalists' banquet in Carnoustie that left those in attendance shaking their heads in disgust.

Graham Brown, a member of the R&A rules of golf committee, was invited to speak at the annual banquet of the Association of Golf Writers, an organization with 70 years of history. Those who attended said Brown started his remarks with a well-received impression of Spanish golf legend Seve Ballesteros, then reeled off a series of mostly failed jokes that included derogatory characterizations of Southern blacks and Asians.

One punchline about Asian golfers included the pejorative term "nip," which caused a large groan from the audience, attendees reported.

But thankfully, the R&A's crack spin control team chimed in to...make matters worse.

Adding fuel to the fire, after learning of the remarks the following day, the R&A declined to demand Brown’s resignation. As for its considerable constituency, the R&A is golf’s governing body everywhere outside North America, including Asia. The organization annually stages the British Open, which begins Thursday at Carnoustie Golf Links.
 
“The situation is, we’ve got two things here,” said Martin Kippax, chairman of the R&A’s championship committee, when asked why Brown had not been forced out. “Graeme Brown is a good golfer and he’s a very knowledgeable individual with regards to the rules of golf. And he’s a very useful member of our rules committee.
 
“What happened last night is something that is quite independent.”

Would that be Martin "Let's play those holes over again" Kippax chiming in? Yes he's a good golfer and knows the rules, so he can do as he pleases!  Ahh...somewhere Walter Driver is trying to smile, even though he's physically incapable.

Well, except that he's a member of the R&A brass, a group that apparently make the folks at historically exclusionary American clubs look like social progressives. Speaking of which, one of Brown's jokes included a mocking imitation of a black caddie at Augusta National, guests said.

The R&A has approximately 1,800 members around the world, but no women. Though the journalists' group was in no way responsible for Brown's incendiary remarks, the U.K.-based writers' association on Wednesday issued a written statement in which its members apologized "unreservedly" for the content of the commentary.

Peter Dawson, the executive director of the R&A, did little to improve the situation Thursday when he failed spectacularly to distance the organization from the remarks. Dawson said that because Brown was a guest invited "in a private capacity" by the writers, he was not representing the R&A, per se.

"We all know Graham Brown very well and I can say absolutely that he is certainly not a racist, as an individual," Dawson said.

Now, as for his other personalities, that's another story.

No, he just comes across as a member of a xenophobic fraternity -– as a group. His address also included sexually related comments that many judged to be inappropriate. One attendee said that Brown offended everybody but homosexuals, who somehow escaped his attention.

Well, you can't use all of your best material on lowly golf writers.

Dawson and Kippax said they had spoken with Brown on Thursday and that he was "horrified at learning the effects or the impact of some of his remarks," as Dawson put it.

Pointedly asked why he had refused to denounce or censure Brown, Dawson said evenly, "I didn't realize I was refusing to condemn it. But the R&A would not with [SP] to be associated with that kind of thing."

Other than having the offending party as an influential member. Because, after all, he's a good player and he knows the rules of golf, and that might come in handy come tournament time.

Wonder why golf's governance has a reputation for being whiter than the ball itself, and just as inflexible?

The banquet audience included dozens of golf writers from around the world, plus a smattering of broadcasters, agents and notable Ryder Cup players such as Ian Poulter, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington and Henrik Stenson.

"No, not surprise me because I know - I know for a fact - that there are golfers...that some golfers are doing it."

Sheesh, they invite Gary Player into the interview room for one of those sweet little gabfests with a former champion, just so the scribblers who can't bear to write a Euros majorless drought story have something to fall back on. And what does Player do? Why he makes news. Take that Peter Thomson!

Asked if he would be surprised by any positive findings the 71-year-old commented: "No, not surprise me because I know - I know for a fact - that there are golfers, whether it's HGH (human growth hormone), creatine or steroids, that some golfers are doing it.

"And the greatest thing that the R&A (Royal and Ancient Club, organisers of the Open and golf's ruling body outside of America and Mexico), the USGA (United States Golf Association) and the PGA (Professional Golfers' Association) can do is have tests at random.

"It's absolutely essential that we do that. We're dreaming if we think it's not going to come into golf.

"You look at these rugby teams today - and I followed rugby all my life - it's so obvious it's happening.

"It would be interesting what percentage of athletes, men and women, in the world are using one of those three enhancements. I think 40%.

"I've changed my mind overnight. I think it's almost 50 to 60%. I'm not saying golfers, I'm saying just across the board with all sports."

Asked what he thought the number was in golf, Player replied: "Well, I'd be guessing, I'd be guessing. You want me to take a guess?

"I would say of golfers around the world playing on tour I would say there's 10 guys taking something. I might be way out - definitely not going to be lower, but might be a hell of a lot more.

"And I'm delighted to see that they're going to start having tests at random, if that's what they officially have decided."

Questioned on how he knew "for a fact" that there are drug cheats in golf the three-time Open champion said: "Because one guy told me.

"One guy told me and I took an oath prior to him telling me and he told me and I won't tell you where, but he told me what he did and I could see this massive change in him.

"And then somebody else told me something that I also promised I wouldn't tell that verified others had done it."

Players Excited About Not Having To Be Annoyed By Cell Phone Cameras

Monty was even funny when talking about it.

Amazingly, the R&A still seems to be pandering to fans by begging for understanding, even after last year's debacle.

Those travelling to The Open this week are asked to leave their mobile phones at home. Searches will be conducted at the gates, and free storage for mobiles will be provided on site. The decision was made after concerns were raised by many top golfers and an R&A spokesman has said "we are confident as we can be that spectators will not be inconvenienced too much." 

Wednesday's Open Championship Clippings

It's Wednesday so that must mean recycled stories day in the press tent! Today's special that you can fall asleep to here, here and here? Yes, the European's major drought. Fresh, cutting edge stuff! And in our global golf world where European's play half their golf in America, the majorless drought means so, so, so uh, little.

Judging by the photos on golf.com (with a couple posted on this site too), it looks like it was a nice day Tuesday.

Doug Ferguson reports on all the suckers taking Monty at 25-to-1.

William Hill has lowered his odds to 25-to-1, but the number of bets placed on Montgomerie to win has been so large that bookmakers say the betting turnover would be more than $50 million.

“Despite his failure to make the cut in the Scottish Open last week, Monty is the man the punters want to back for the Open,” Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said. “Every other bet seems to have his name on at the moment, and we will certainly be handing over a hefty, seven-figure sum to punters should Monty manage to win.”

Paul Mahoney highlights Tiger's interesting links golf comments that I'm too lazy to go and read in the transcript tonight. Love the Ryder Cup jab:

"It allows you to be creative," he said. "Augusta used to be like that. The U.S. Open is obviously not. And the PGA is similar to a U.S. Open setup. We play so much in the States where everything is up in the air. Over here, you get to use the ground as an ally and hit different shots. It is neat to hit bump and runs, and to putt from 50 yards off the green, and to hit 5-irons from 135 yards and run the ball in.

"I wish we played more courses like this. It would be nice to see a Ryder Cup played on a real links course. The courses on the PGA Tour are virtually the same apart from the length of the rough. I think the players enjoy going back to the old-style courses like Oakmont and Congressional because we don't get a chance to play venues like that much any more."

What makes Woods so unusual is his ability to conjure up shots that his rivals (if he has any) simply don't have in their arsenals. And experimenting with his game has always been part of his makeup.

"Coming over here just enhanced that," he continued. "A lot of guys just get into a mode where they hit one normal shot all the time. If you are limited by that, when that one shot goes awry, you have no shots to go back on."

Steve Elling on the six guys with lost luggage.

Ed Sherman reports that Tiger supports a 2-year ban for those testing positive for banned substances...assuming they ever figure out what is banned. He sure is adamant about this. It's almost like he knows of someone he really dislikes using stuff! Can't imagine who that could be.

Jose Maria Olazabal is out with an unspecified injury so I think it would be a mistake to bet on him. Then again, people are throwing money away on Monty...

And finally, Martin Greig looks at Zach Johnson's faith and gets a little MBASpeak thrown in too...

"I don't know if He has anything to do with golf," Johnson said yesterday. "Golf is my job. My faith is very important to me. I'm not one that's going to flaunt it, but it's my foundation. It's what's inside of me. That's the way I feel my life should be lived.

"Now, at the same time, when it comes to golf I don't really think God cares what I do. It's just a matter of how I conduct myself and why I play. It's my job, it's the way I support my family and it's my platform. That's the way I go about it."

Johnson does not look like a major champion. He looks an insurance salesman, but he has a green jacket hanging in his closet.

Woods Agrees That Lawrie's Fluke Win Needs To Be Celebrated More

Douglas Lowe files this:

Paul Lawrie said yesterday that he did not get the credit he deserved for winning here in 1999, and no less a figure than Tiger Woods backed him up.

Lawrie came from 10 strokes behind on the final day to capitalise on Jean Van de Velde's infamous errors and make the play-off, and then hit a dream four-iron on to the final green to set up his Championship putt.

Lawrie acknowledges that Van de Velde's cock-up warranted the headlines, but argued yesterday that his subplot was underplayed. "I would have liked to have seen a little bit more of, 'Jean Van de Velde blew the Open, but, by God, Paul Lawrie shot 67 to win the tournament by two shots by hitting the best shot anyone has ever seen down the last hole'," he said.

Kind of reminds you of Monty in the humility department, eh?

 
I don't remember the best shot anyone has ever seen, do you?

"But that didn't happen very often. That's out of my hands. What can I do? There was a lot written about what Jean did. And rightly so. But I didn't read a lot about how well I did the last day."

And not a whole lot since.

Trump National Fresno...Done Deal!!

Only the Donald would be nuts enough of a visionary to see the potential for a golf and housing development in Fresno and better yet, plunk down $30 million for the privilege. Oh, and that's right, it's possibly his way onto the PGA Tour. Next stop, the U.S. Open!

"Your Previous Dedication To Golf"

It seems that if you are no longer a USGA member, you are no longer devoted to the game. At least, according to Arnold Palmer in this e-letter to reader Mark.

(click to enlarge) 

Tuesday Open Championship Clippings

Knowing the scribblers don't like to leave the press tent to chase down a story in even the best of conditions, the R&A chased down poor Jean Van De Velde in between cancer tests do a conference call to relive the 99 Open. The USA Today's Christine Brennan has a decent summary of the call.

Doug Ferguson did venture out in Monday's hideous weather (hopefully in more than his usual attire) to take in Tiger's 6 a.m. practice round.

No one bothered practicing putts or chips around the greens because the green was too soft, and some of them had puddles on the edges. Woods was duly impressed when Pampling hit driver off the deck for his second shot (on a par 4), and doubled over in laughter when Pampling hit a 2-iron to the 176-yard 13th hole that didn’t clear a bunker 150 yards in front of them.

But the joke was on Woods at the 14th, a par 5 at 514 yards known for the Spectacle bunkers some 65 yards in front of the greens that players usually can carry easily. But not on this day.

Woods hit driver in the fairway and hit 2-iron short of the Spectacles, just left in a sparse patch of rough. He swung hard and watched his third shot over the bunkers, and stopped in his tracks when he arrived at the green and found his ball a few yards from the green.

“I didn’t get there,” Woods said incredulously. “With a 4-iron!”

Even more stunning was the yardage he had with that 4-iron – 112 yards to the front, 128 yards to the hole.

The link to that James Corrigan piece I tried to post yesterday did finally start working, and it included this nice bit of from the R&A's Peter Dawson, who seems to be working off the talking points memo that says "blame the warm summer for '99, not the 9-yard wide fairways."

"This is the longest and hardest course the Open is played on," said Dawson, before explaining why it played so much longer and harder the last time. "In 1999 we had horrendous rough, but every course down the east coast of Scotland had horrendous rough that year. There was a freak weather pattern that caused it and sometimes people forgot that when pointing the finger. And, contrary to opinion, there was supposed to be interim rough and the balls weren't supposed to go straight from fairway to the thick stuff. It was just that the interim rough all burnt away."

I think that's a new one actually...the interim rough burnt away!

Ron Whitten's Golf Digest preview is up, complete with John Philp's revisionist take on '99.

Steve Elling considers this year's difficult major setups and shares this from Nick Faldo:

 "I think sometimes it's stretching it when over par is the winning score," he said. "If you are missing fairways and laying up, wedging it around, it can get demoralizing. You don't get tested and it cuts off your flair and ability to pull something off. You have no option to do that. For me personally, that's what used to get me down."

Damon Hack tackled a similar subject in the New York Times (thanks to reader Jim for this), and it includes this interesting bit:

More and more, professional golfers are battling lengthened courses and thickened rough, knowing that they may spend hours — and sometimes days — between birdies.

Jesper Parnevik, a five-time PGA Tour winner, said that people would look back on this era and think players were not so good.

“Everybody went from winning majors at 10 and 12 under to winning majors at 5 and 10 over,” he said. “It’s not fair, really. You have golf courses where guys were shooting 20 under 50 years ago and we can’t break par today.”

Greg Owen said, “So many of these golf courses are tricked up every week.”

The Telegraph posts Thursday's tee times.

Finally, Mark Garrod features Jose Maria Olazabal's remembrances of his mentor Seve, who retired Monday.  Lawrence Donegan weighs in with an obituary of sorts too.

Bandon Charades...

...errr...I mean, Charette. That's what Dr. Klein is calling the design orgy taking place at Bandon to create the "Old Macdonald" course.

Here's his first report on the festivities.

Open Championship Photo Caption Fun, Vol. 1

Why, who is that sitting in the dogh...err, really ugly building? From golf.com:

 

TNT Confirms Our Worst Fears: Clampett Is Back As Lead Analyst

Scroll down a bit for details of the pga.com online coverage, the alternative to TNT's "extensive linear coverage":

TNT to Present More Than 50 Hours of Combined Televised and Online Coverage of the 136^th British Open Championship from Legendary Carnoustie Golf Links

Network’s digital plans to include live coverage of Tiger Woods’ first round on PGA.com

Turner Network Television (TNT) heads overseas this July to present more than 50 hours of combined televised and online coverage of the 136^th British Open Championship from Carnoustie in Angus, Scotland . Taking place July 19-22, the historic major tournament will showcase some of the biggest names in professional golf, including back-to-back defending champion Tiger Woods , 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson, 2007 US Open Champion Angel Cabrera and FedEx Cup contenders Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson .

TNT’s televised coverage begins on Thursday, July 19 at 6:30 a.m. ET/PT with a preview show, followed by exclusive coverage of the first round. The network’s fantastic four days of coverage will also include exciting new technical features enhancing the telecast and stories celebrating the course and tournament, such as:

• Total Vision : Super-slow-motion gives our expert analysts the opportunity to break down every detail of the PGA’s top players’ swings.
• Golf Trak : Cutting edge virtual technology allows viewers to follow the flight of the ball.
• Carnoustie: Then and Now : A look at the challenging golf course and how the conditions have changed from 1999, best remembered for Jean Van de Velde’s infamous mishandling of the 18^th hole.
• Only at the Open : Weather reports from Carnoustie’s weather reporter, Patrick Healy ; and fascinating stories and folklore about the remarkable Scottish course.

“We’re extremely proud to continue TNT’s coverage of the British Open Championship as we provide our viewers with innovative features such as Total Vision and Golf Trak while paying tribute to the grandeur of Carnoustie,” said Jeff Behnke , Turner Sports executive producer. “The drama of Tiger Woods’ potential three-peat, combined with the challenging Carnoustie course, will certainly make this year’s British Open a thrilling event.”

2007 British Open Championship on TNT Programming Schedule

DAY/DATE TIME EVENT

Thurs., July 19 6:30 a.m. ET/PT Preview Show

7 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET/PT First Round Coverage

Fri., July 20 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET/PT Second Round Coverage

Sat., July 21 7 – 9 a.m. ET / 4 – 6 p.m. PT Third Round Coverage

Sun., July 22 6 – 8 a.m. ET / 3 – 5 a.m. PT Final Round Coverage

This year's announcers includes Ernie Johnson who returns to TNT’s golf coverage this season, Bobby Clampett (analyst), Billy Kratzert (reporter) and Jim Huber (reporter/essayist). ABC’s Terry Gannon (play-by-play), Peter Alliss (analyst), Paul Azinger (analyst) and Judy Rankin (reporter) will contribute to TNT's four days of coverage as well.

TNT will once again partner with ABC to share coverage of the tournament. TNT will televise daylong exclusive coverage of the first and second rounds and early coverage of the third and final rounds during the weekend. ABC will air the duration of the third and final rounds.

TNT holds the top spot in airing more hours of major championship golf than any other television network. In addition to the British Open Championship, TNT’s stable of 2007 golf programming also includes the Senior British Open (July 26-27), RICOH Women’s British Open (Aug. 2-3), 89^th PGA Championship (Aug. 9 – 12), President’s Cup (Sept. 27 – 30) and the PGA Grand Slam Golf (Oct. 16 – 17).

TNT earned an Emmy® in the Outstanding Live Sports Special category for its coverage of the 2005 British Open. 2007 marks the fifth consecutive year TNT will televise the tournament, and the first time since 1999 that the event will return to Carnoustie.

Turner Sports New Media PGA.com Coverage

In addition to extensive linear coverage, Turner Sports will also provide innovative digital coverage, as it launches Open Championship Live which utilizes CNN’s patented Pipeline technology to simulcast multiple video streams and bring golf fans inside the ropes and closer to the action online. The online streaming of live and taped action from the legendary major will be available on PGA.com, which is operated by Turner Sports . Open Championship Live will feature three pipes that will stream content from Carnoustie, with Pipe #3 featuring Tiger Woods’ first round and other select groups of golfers from 4 a.m. – 7 a.m. ET on Thurs., July 19 . Pipe #1 will stream live action from holes 16, 17 and 18 from 4 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET on Thurs., July 19 and Fri., July 20. Pipe #2 will offer video content including highlights, flyovers, features, behind the scenes coverage, footage from press conferences, an Open Championship spotlight of past winners and events, as well as PGA Golf Instruction from PGA of America professionals. In addition, midday and end of day reports on the status of the players in the field.

Open Championship Live builds on the success of PGA.com's online four-camera feed of last year's PGA Championship which registered nearly one million video streams and was a key driver to setting a single-day traffic record on the site with over 16 million page views and a significant 18% boost in total page views.

“We're excited to complement our television coverage of the British Open on TNT with innovative online coverage to give fans an exciting multi-platform experience to enjoy one of golf's most popular and revered tournaments,” said Lenny Daniels, senior vice president of production and new media, Turner Sports. “ Open Championship Live will help take fans inside the ropes and closer to the action, providing them both a unique showcase of the competitive play of the tournament, as well as up-to-the-minute reports and highlights that they can't find anywhere else."

"What they see on television is what they want."

Vartan Kupelian looks at the extreme setups of recent major championship courses, and becomes yet another writer to openly draw the conclusion that par is being protected for no good reason. Actually, Kupelian is one of the rare ones who takes it a step further and sees a negative impact on the everyday game:

Why? Why not leave the great courses alone? Why turn them into bumper-car rides with crashes at every turn?

It's done to protect par in the face of the onslaught of the world's best golfers, armed with equipment technology and an evolution of their own abilities.

But in defending par, a dangerous precedent is being set. Daunting course setups with undulating greens rolling at breakneck speeds, ankle-deep rough and narrowing fairways are beginning to change the game at the recreational level.

It's a contradiction for organizations like the United States Golf Association, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, and course operators world-wide who are fighting the battle of flat participation numbers. That makes retention a key factor and it's hard to keep golfers when the game is less fun, more expensive and takes more time.

What the severe setup of courses on the major championship rotation -- Shinnecock, Winged Foot, Oakmont, Carnoustie and even Augusta National, where the opening rounds this year resembled a U.S. Open, not the Masters -- have resulted in is a skewed view of what a golf course needs to be.

Too many recreational golfers don't bother to discern between the lethal major championship set-ups and what they play. What they see on television is what they want. It's no different than seeing the pristine emerald at Augusta National on television and transferring those images to the home courses. It's impractical, of course, but it happens every year.

It's a common refrain among course operators that their golfers too often don't play the proper tee, that they choose markers too intense for their ability. By today's standards, golf courses that don't stretch to 7,400 yards are viewed as deficient. It's an unwarranted view but increasingly prevalent in course design.

Allure Of Champions Tour Not Enough To Keep Seve From Retiring

Well, he played one more regular Champions stop than Greg Norman, so he's got that going for him. Still, Seve Ballesteros made his retirement official at Carnoustie Monday.

"If we can have something in clothing, something in wine, and one or two other areas, such as golf-course design, it could be interesting."

Paul Forsyth talks to Ian Poulter about how important winning the Open Championship would be in...uh, extending his brand's range of services.

He does not need telling that lifting the Claret Jug is more important than wearing it, as he has been reduced to in recent years, but success at Carnoustie would bring priceless exposure to his new clothing company, the first collection of which is to be launched in the days ahead. “I would love to win it,” he says. “For me, there is more to golf than just hitting balls at the minute. I’m seeing it from all angles. We want to try and grow the business, and winning a major would help that. It wouldn’t just be a two-minute fly-by.”

Whatever happened to the good old days when winning a major was just fun because it was, you know, a major?

The 31-year-old has invested a sizeable chunk of his not inconsiderable earnings in Ian Poulter Design. While an account with 60 professionals’ shops represents a cautious start, the grand plan is to be more than just a retired golfer when he grows old. “Who knows what the next 20 years will hold? The aim is to grow the other side of Ian Poulter, the business side. If we can have something in clothing, something in wine, and one or two other areas, such as golf-course design, it could be interesting. The business side fascinates me. Successful business-men fascinate me.”

You know I love how the golf course design part could be just one little subsegment of the brand extension.

Isn't it touching how today's touring professionals take the plowing and plundering so lightly?