It’s back!
Twenty years later Tatra Press has kindly allowed me to bring back Grounds For Golf now that golf architecture is of more interest to the masses. A new Introduction looks at what’s driven the interest growth and two new chapters I had a blast adding (plus a few edits to keep things up-to-date).
The Amazon purchase page for the book arriving June 15, 2026.
The LA Times' Paul Lieberman pens a fascinating West Magazine account of David Dilworth's efforts to fight the proposed Pebble Beach Co. expansion, documented over several years of Lieberman's visits to play golf and Dilworth's multi-year effort to battle the creation of an 8th course on the peninsula.
The Telegraph's Andrew Both feature this on the Tiger Woods-Hank Haney break up rumors:
To suggest his coach, Hank Haney, is on the way out any time soon would be an exaggeration, but Woods increasingly is working on his own. Haney was not at the PGA and is not expected to be a regular presence at tournaments Woods plays in for the foreseeable future.
One man who has noticed the changes in Woods' swing is Ian Baker-Finch, the 1991 Open champion who is now a commentator with the American CBS network.
"Hank and Tiger are great friends. They continue to talk and Hank is still Tiger's coach in a way, but I think Tiger is using Hank more as a sounding board," Baker-Finch said.
"Tiger is doing a lot of stuff that he used to do and it was obvious the past two weeks that he has changed his swing. Hank's teaching methods certainly helped Tiger gain more power and the ability to shape the ball better, but at the Open he didn't seem to have a go-to shot under pressure.
"Tiger, under pressure, likes to trap the ball by standing closer and more over the ball, with his hands closer to his knees. That allows him to get the shaft on a more upright path and hit better controlled, low-flighted iron shots, and he certainly showed that the last couple of weeks."
Here I was going to begin the PGA Tour "Playoffs" with a special watch to see who would be the first to declare the FedEx Cup a "disaster."
Well shoot, they haven't even begun the darn playoffs and already SI's Jim Gorant uses Tiger's absence to pretty much say so, while Sportsline's Steve Elling is even tougher, declaring it the FraudEx Cup.
Gorant writes of Tiger's pass:
The aftermath is nothing short of a disaster. The Tour is attempting to change its entire business model, and this is the first tournament ever in the four-event playoff series. Tiger's decision to blow it off sends a message to everyone — other players, sponsors, fans — about how unimportant it really is. If he returns for the last three weeks and still wins the cup, a distinct possibility, it won't make everything all right. It would only reinforce the original message and exaggerate it. "Told ya it's no biggie to skip the Barclays."
Tiger has begged every columnist in the country to ask: In what other sport can you skip a quarter of the playoffs and still win? If the FedEx Cup survives, which is not a given, the Tour should reconfigure it so that no player can win if he skips a playoff tournament. Otherwise the entire thing stands to become a joke.
The killer is that part of the reason behind the remaking of the schedule was Woods's lobbying for a shorter, more compact season. He was consulted during the planning stages and gave the entire program his approval (although he was and still is unhappy about the $10 million first prize being a deferred payment). To turn his back on it now damages the entire undertaking.
Among Elling's finer points:
After more than a year of incessant self-promotion and endless hype, playing the opening round of the so-called playoffs minus the game's top star is a blow that no amount of creative slant can correct. But that didn't stop the tour from trying.
"We're disappointed that Tiger will not be playing The Barclays next week," said Ty Votaw, an executive vice president with the tour. "It's clear from Tiger's statement he remains focused on winning the FedEx Cup. Whether he can do it will be one of the many exciting things our fans will be following over the next four weeks."
Maybe he meant mini-exciting things.
Spin control? You bet. The first tee ball of the inaugural playoffs just sliced badly out of bounds, into your living room and through your plasma TV screen.
"Any good strategy involves all of the stakeholders buying in," said sports-marketing expert Paul Swangard of the University of Oregon. "Does one infer by his absence that not everybody bought into the idea?"
Seems that way, professor, though Woods indicated he sees value in the ballyhooed new plan and hopes to win the $10 million annuity awarded to the winner, the biggest bonus in pro sports.
And...
Because he's been seeded No. 1 in FedEx points, the first prize remains statistically within his reach, which upon closer examination, is a systemic flaw worth fixing going forward. The tour has been pimping the FedEx Cup for months, to the point where even the true-believers have been rolling their eyes at the overkill. Earlier this month, for example, tour official and cup architect Ric Clarson likened it to the precursor to the biggest sports event of the year.
"I wonder if the members of the Green Bay Packers, when they won the very first Super Bowl in 1967, which wasn't even called the Super Bowl then, realized their place in history," he said. "Thus, we embark on a new era in golf called the FedEx Cup."
More like the FraudEx Cup now that Woods has disembarked. Did Bart Starr skip the first AFC-NFC Championship Game?
Elling also looks at Tiger's tendency, well, regular habit of entering tournaments at the last second and the ramifications for the PGA Tour and reminds us that Tiger skipped the Nissan Open in part to film FedEx Cup promotional spots. What a high point for all involved.
This accompanies GolfDigest.com's plug for their Saturday rules show done in conjunction with CBS's Bill Macatee and Bobby Clampett. But the photo does not tell us what Macatee is saying...
I have decided not to play in The Barclays Classic next week at Westchester Country Club. As I have said all along, my intention was to compete in all four PGA Tour Playoff events, including the inaugural Barclays Classic. But the truth is, I'm just not ready.
Playing the last two weeks in the heat and humidity were mentally and physically draining. Although I managed to pull out victories in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship, my body is spent and I need a short break. Major championships are grueling experiences and usually necessitate recovery time.
Ever since turning professional in 1996, my goal has always been the same: To win every event I enter. I've done pretty well, winning 59 times on the PGA Tour. If I don't feel that way prior to a tournament, I won't commit.
This is in no way a knock on Barclays, their new event next week or the new FedEx Cup series, which I fully support. I just hope that this extra week of rest will rejuvenate me for the final three Playoff events and Presidents Cup. It is still my goal to win the FedExCup and I am hopeful this will give me the best opportunity to finish the year strong.
Tiger
In looking over Brett Avery's Golf World PGA Championship stat package, I loved the "Cool Stat":
Of the field Tiger Woods defeated to win his 13th major championship, 80 players went into the PGA Championship having competed in fewer than 13 majors. Only 50 players at Southern Hills had made the cut in at least 13 majors. And of those, only eight had placed in the top 10 at least 13 times.
If nothing else, check out the stats to see the side-by-side shots of Tiger circa 1998 and Tiger today.
Having toyed with the Stack and Tilt concept a bit more on the range, and having had the privilege of working with Mac O'Grady back when he was still mad at Deane Beman, I now regret my initial remark that this is Mac Made Easy. Several elements are quite different from Mac's teachings, particularly the takeway (was that P2 or P3!?) and some of their thoughts on the role of the right leg.
Anyway I haven't been able to follow the little community within a community that has developed on the original post here, which is up to 327 comments.
The latest Golf Digest installment's best component is the input from other jealous instructors trying to debunk the potential of Stack and Tilt.
The news that Tiger is skipping the Barclay's may not be all bad, as Jeff Rude notes somewhat intentionally.
Should Woods skip the first playoff event at Westchester (N.Y.) Country Club, it wouldn’t give the initial B-12 shot the Tour’s pet project was looking for and needed. After all, the Tour has used more than $40 million worth of advertising inventory this year to trumpet the new Cup series.
Good news for Woods and the Tour is this: He can still win the FedEx Cup if he misses Week 1. He’ll be the points leader at 100,000 after the reset on Sunday night. Based on Tour computer models, he’ll need to get to about 112,000 to win the Cup. That means he’d probably win the Cup with a victory, a fifth and a 10th in the playoffs. If he skips the opener, he’d just have three weeks to get those points instead of four.
That shouldn’t be too much of a hurdle for him considering the way he’s playing and the fact he has played well at the final three playoff courses. He won last year at the TPC Boston, site of the Week 2 Deutsche Bank Championship; he has won three times at Cog Hill, the BMW Championship venue in Week 3; and he has three seconds at East Lake in Atlanta, site of the Tour Championship grand finale.
Should Woods win the Deutsche Bank and BMW, he would be all but a mathematical lock to win the Cup. And the Tour Championship would become, to the Tour’s dismay, anticlimax.
So see, not playing Westchester is just one less Cup clinching win that would mess up this otherwise wonderfully concocted idea!
Ron Kroichick reports on the uh, dilemma that the current U.S. Amateur Public Links champion faces...
Knost, unlike so many ambitious young golfers, already has qualified for next year's Masters. He can drive down Magnolia Lane, stay in the Crow's Nest, stroll alongside the azaleas, walk across Hogan Bridge and try to keep his ball out of Rae's Creek.
And he's not sure he will.
Knost, 22, recently completed a standout college career at SMU. He's coming to San Francisco next week for the U.S. Amateur, which begins Monday at the Olympic Club, and soon thereafter, he will travel to Ireland to represent his country in the Walker Cup.
All the while, lingering in the back of Knost's mind - and sometimes in the front - will be Augusta National. He won the U.S. Amateur Public Links last month outside Chicago, landing him a berth in next year's Masters. His name is right there on the tournament's Web site listing 2008 invitees, wedged between Jerry Kelly and two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer.
Here's the caveat: The Public Links champion must remain an amateur to keep his spot in the Masters. All along, Knost planned to turn pro after the Walker Cup in September and pursue his PGA Tour card at qualifying school.
"Everyone who plays golf dreams of playing in the Masters, and now I have a chance," Knost said in a telephone interview. "And playing in the Masters as an amateur would be such a different experience - they treat amateurs extremely well.
"It definitely would be difficult to pass that up. You never know what could happen. I could never make it there again."
History tells Knost few players turn down a Masters invitation - Tom Scherrer, the 1992 U.S. Amateur runner-up, was the last to decline. Scherrer didn't make it to Augusta National until 2001 and he hasn't been back since then (Scherrer now plays on the Nationwide Tour).
Knost recently talked to Phil Mickelson, who praised his talents, encouraged him to turn pro and predicted Knost will qualify for the Masters several times in the future. But therein lies the risk: What if he doesn't make it back? What if his career sputters and skipping the '08 Masters becomes a lifelong regret?
Well, he'd really, really hate Phil Mickelson for starters.
Walker Cup captain Buddy Marucci bluntly told Knost he would be crazy to pass on a whirl around Amen Corner.
I think so too. You all?
Steve Elling takes his annual look at the players who made all four major cuts and breaks down the numbers.
For the second time in four years, Woods is the major-championship major domo, unseating Phil Mickelson, who won the honor in 2004 and 2006. Woods was the low man at the Slam events in 2005, but missed the cut at the U.S. Open in '06, his lone weekend off at a major in his 11-year pro career.
There were several statistical oddities this year.
Of the 10 players who made all four majors cuts in 2006, none did likewise this year. In fact, in an eye-popping turnaround of the wrong sort, Australia's Robert Allenby finished seventh among the players who completed all 16 rounds at the '06 majors at a collective 3 over. This year? He shot the highest score of any player who appeared in all four, missing the cut across the board and finishing a collective 45 over in eight rounds.
Because of difficult conditions at 2007's first two majors -- this year marked the third time in history that winning scores were above par at both the Masters and U.S. Open -- the cumulative numbers skewed inordinately high. Since we began tracking the cumulative Grand Slam winners four years ago, 2007 stands as the first time fewer than 10 players made the cut in all four events.
Check out the story for the list of the elite 10.
What do you think? Nice rebranding eh?
First Davis Love, now Boo, Bubba, K.J. and Chris DiMarco WD to rest up for four weeks (if they should be so lucky) of studying points permutations and figuring out how to pay their caddy 10% of deferred compensation. Joedy McCreary reports.
Add Grant Boone to the list of those not quite grasping Woody Austin's various rants from last week's PGA press center:
And Austin is accurate when he suggests that he and lots of his peers have a similar desire to succeed, even if they can't back it up on the course as often as Woods.
Austin backed it up all week. He was the only player to shoot par or better each day. And despite beginning the final round four back of Woods, he actually had a birdie putt at 15 that would've pulled him even. It was only after a hard-fought 67 left him two shots short that Austin finally began to crack. First, he interrupted a reporter's observation that he'd been hard on himself earlier in the week because of missed opportunities:
"I was right, wasn't I?"
Whoa, big fella. After the reporter finished his question, Austin responded specifically to shooting a 70 in the second round to Woods' 63:
"Well, like I said on Friday, you cannot give somebody seven shots, especially someone who happens to be the best player in the world. And I, like I said, I went over his round and over my round, and I outplayed him from tee-to-green."
It was right here that you were telepathically giving Austin the same advice Brian Fantana gave Champ. "Why don't you stop talking for awhile? Maybe sit the next couple of plays out." But Austin kept going:
"I don't think anybody plays any better than I do when I'm on; I know that's crazy, but I think I can hit any shot anybody in the world can hit."
I was with him right up to the point that he talked about being crazy. Woody wasn't done:
"You give anybody who is really good a four-shot lead over you -- I beat him today, but it doesn't matter because he had four shots on me. So, you know, I don't care -- he happens to be the best player in the world, but if you put any great player, any good player with a four-shot cushion, their odds are going to be pretty good. Especially when they happen to be the best."
Suddenly, he was Steve Martin giving a call to arms in "Three Amigos:" "The people of Santo Poco can conquer their own personal El Guapo, who also happens to be the actual El Guapo." And then came a little Yogi Berra from the AFLAC commercial:
"He always says -- what does he always say? He always says, 'I want to be in the last group on Sunday.' If he wants to be there, and I want to be, why do I not want to be there? Why would I want to be somewhere else?"
Beats me. And finally, like a punch-drunk fighter swinging wildly before the inevitable face plant into the canvas, Austin offered this:
"Well, you said in the media, especially on Friday, that he played just an unbelievable round of golf and that he was in total control and that he was just toying with the field. We can go through our rounds. I outplayed him on Friday, but he beat me by seven shots. So, does that mean he's that much better? I don't get it. It just happens that he scored better, and like I said on Friday, can you not throw away that many opportunities when you are trying to win a big golf tournament. He took advantage; I didn't. Does that mean he played better than me or he's better than me? I don't agree with that."
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
