"They got it."

Doug Ferguson says there has been too much FedEx Cup complaining...from everyone, starting with the players,

Woods and Mickelson were the ones out front in asking for a shorter season. They got it. Players were invited to a half-dozen meetings to look at the new model and offer suggestions. Most of them didn’t bother to attend.

It must be hard for fans to stomach the thought of these guys playing for $63 million over four weeks, in tournaments that have produced some of the best golf of the year, yet going out of their way to nitpick every detail.

BMW Ratings...Solid?

Ed Sherman indicates that the BMW drew a strong audience, but it's hard to get excited about a 3.2 rating when you see that Bears number...

Still, Sunday's 3.2 rating was significantly higher than the 2.1 for the final round of the first playoff tournament, The Barclays, in which Mickelson was in contention with Woods sitting out.

For the final 30 minutes, the BMW did a 5.0 national rating, a decent number considering the competition.

Locally, the Bears obviously ruled, doing a 26.9 rating on WFLD-Ch. 32; one local ratings point is worth 34,550 households. But at the same time, golf ranked second in the market from 3-5 p.m. with a 4.2 rating. The tournament actually picked up viewers down stretch, peaking at a 6.9 rating in the final 15 minutes.

"On the record or off?"

Tim Rosaforte takes a tough look at the state of all things FedEx Cup, and suggests a few reasons for Phil's apathy and an exchange with Tiger Woods that will send shivers down Tim Finchem's spine.

Phil's not a big plan of the deferred payment plan. Read between the lines in his quote about wishing there were a big pile of money brought out on the 18th green like the World Series of Poker.

He's also the man who wanted a shorter season. Well, he got one: Shorter, but compressed into two grueling months of high stakes, high pressure and highly taxing tournament golf.

He's also about 0-for-20 in taking issues to the front office, and getting no satisfaction. Some would call this a pout, others a power play, but I can't imagine Lou Piniella saying he couldn't manage the Cubs this week because his kids were going back to school.

Ouch. A rare zinger from Mr. Rosaforte. Nice!

And...

I caught Tiger at his locker after Wednesday's news conference and asked -- after he discussed the problems with playing seven-of-eight after the majors and the deferred payment issue -- if this was fixable.

On.

Let's just say, Tim Finchem and his staff have some work to do.

"We didn't join the playoffs to lose money for our caddie scholarships"

Considering that the lone consolation prize in the Western Open's demise was a promised increase in Evans Scholar revenues, this came as a surprise in John Hawkins' Golf World game story:

Tournament director John Kaczkowski took a glass-half-full overview of the event, but WGA President/CEO Don Johnson said, despite a weekend rally at the box office, he expected his organization's bottom line for charity wouldn't equal that from the Western. "We didn't join the playoffs to lose money for our caddie scholarships," Johnson said. "But we had no choice." (Some WGA officials believe, conversely, that taking the tournament to new cities might actually increase contributions to the caddie scholarship fund.) If it hadn't acceded to tour demands and joined the FedEx Cup process, the Western would have been consigned a death slot, one week before or after the U.S. Open. That's because the Fourth of July slot for 2007 had been awarded to Jack Vickers and the International. Remember Jack Vickers and the International? Might not be only the commissioner and the players who are growing apart.

Phil Speaks!

...about his various neurotic club tinkering tendecies exclusively to Mark Lamport Stokes scores an exclusive with Phil to talk about his various neurotic club tinkering tendencies.

Castle Stuart Photos

Posting will be light the next few days while I'm traveling (I know, I know, who goes out of town during Super Bowl week!?). In the mean time... 

If you enjoyed the YouTube videos on the making of Scotland's Castle Stuart resort (here, here, here and here), below are some grow-in photos courtesy of Gil Hanse, who is co-designing the course with developer Mark Parsinen. You know the deal, just click on the photos to see them.

The 215-yard par-3 17th hole viewed from 16th green. Tee is to the right. 17th plays along clifftop into prevailing wind. Shots can be fed down from the left side while the direct line needs to carry bunkers. (click to enlarge image) 

Manmade sand and heather ridge separating 16h green from 17th tee. (click to enlarge image) 

View from left rough on 16th hole looking towards plateau green. 16th is a driveable 305 yard par 4. Hole plays downwind with slopes feeding balls from the right with a deep tightly mown hollow protecting the front left of the green. (click to enlarge image) 

Short par-3 11th viewed from above on the 18th fairway. Tee is out of view to the left. Hole plays 145 yards. (click to enlarge image) 

Par-5 6th hole, 580 yards, view of the approach taken from second shot area. Green is long and narrow and best approach from in front of or over the deep centerline fairway bunker. (click to enlarge image) 

The driveable par-4 3rd. Plays in the opposite direction as the 16th. Green is on a peninsula jutting into the estuary.  (click to enlarge image)
 

Clifftop par-4 7th hole, photo taken from leftside of the landing area.  (click to enlarge image)

View of the approach to the par-5 second hole with dune bunkering along the coastline. (click to enlarge image)

Proving He's No Monty, McEvoy Demonstrates Perspective, Wisdom

Lewine Mair reports on the mature insights and realistic perspective of the now former amateur golfer.

Peter McEvoy, the former Walker Cup captain, does not exonerate himself from blame when he accuses amateur officialdom in the UK of "negligence."

Though he believes that the golf on offer to the elite squads in GB and Ireland is nowadays on a par with that at an American university, he worries that there is no educational process going hand in hand with the sport. "Negligence," said McEvoy, "is not too strong a word in that we are requiring people to play full-time in the knowledge that there isn't room for them all to make a living. We're helping to eliminate everything else from their lives."

McEvoy points to how more and more youngsters are seeing the elite programmes as an option to university in that they can sign on for a single year. In contrast, someone like the 22-year-old Rhys Davies, who was playing in the Walker Cup at the weekend, will have spent four years at his American college.
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McEvoy feels duty-bound to remind these young men that they are taking a risk. "What," he asks, "will they do with themselves if they pick up an injury or lose interest?"

Let The Practice Begin!

Stan Awtrey says they're rolling back the tarps and letting the boys take a little BP. He also reviews other past tournaments that have had green health issues.

Glimpses of East Lake's Greens

Atlanta-based photographer and new blogger Rob Matre has posted 42 images of East Lake's greens. Frankly, I expected much worse. Yes, a few of the greens look horrific, but many others only appear to have minor issues on the out edges.

More offensive is that blinding bunker sand, but that's just me.

Poor Sergio...

After collecting win No. 60 on the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods:

Q. Stricks said he was pretty sure when you made your putt on 12 you looked back at them to make sure they were watching.

TIGER WOODS: No, I didn't do a Sergio (laughter).

"This way they can rub elbows with a lot of different players, hear them tell stories and get to see them under different circumstances."

Stan Awtrey says the Tour considered moving the Super Bowl to TPC Sugarloaf, but decided to stay at East Lake and it's dead greens.

Tour player Robert Allenby was not sympathetic to the club's troubles. "They've had all year to prepare and to say it's not ready is pretty disappointing, especially for a major event. We've come down to the final event and it's a non-event. It could be Mickey Mouse. Who knows what the greens are going to be like?"

Wow, can't imagine why his caddy quit on him.

And this from the Tour's Henry Hughes: 

With no competition permitted, the pro-am format has been altered. All 30 players — including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson — will be required to take part in at least one portion of what's being called an "Ultimate Tour Clinic."

"In a typical pro-am, you spend the day with one guy," Hughes said. "This way they can rub elbows with a lot of different players, hear them tell stories and get to see them under different circumstances."

Yes, circumstances where they are dreading the day even more than a typical pro-am. 

Tiger Is One Last Good Week From Adding More Deferred Compensation He Does Not Need

Bob Harig says it's good for the FedEx Cup that Tiger Woods is leading, and while I understand the logic ratings-wise, is anyone else finding it hard to get excited about the prospect of Tiger or Phil adding a droplet of cash to their swollen portfolios? At least with Steve Stricker you have someone who $10 million will mean something too.

To put it another way, would the FedEx Cup be more interesting if the format allowed more players, including some underdogs, to have a chance of winning it all this week? 

"I've never seen such naked courage on a golf course before."

Mike Aitken reports on the thrilling U.S. Walker Cup win at Royal County Down.

If GB&I couldn't, in the end, overcome the handicap of enduring a 4-0 whitewash in the morning foursomes, it hardly seemed fair to summarise their 5-2 fightback in the singles as heroic failure. The determined and sure-footed quality of the home side's golf at the end perhaps deserved better than losing 12-11. As Peter McEvoy, the former captain of GB&I, observed: "I've never seen such naked courage on a golf course before."

Oh I don't know, have you seen those streakers at the Open Championship?

There is also this Craig Smith story on the USGA's official site, these notes and John Mummert's images from the day.

Update on 2007-09-10 14:01 by Geoff

The Principal says Trip Kuehne and Lloyd Saltman represented America with class but that, not surprisingly, Colt Knost and Dustin Johnson put on a sportsmanship and spitting exhibition that did not exactly impress.

Reason No.37 That Your Personal Trainer Should Always Be Close By...

...or your Pilates instructor, or your HeartMath guide or your...no, the agent wouldn't pick up the bag.

Bob Harig explains how having his trainer watching came in handy for Robert Allenby after his caddy quit mid-round.

"One torture is substituted for another."

Reader Jack Sprat correctly notes that with the greens demise at East Lake comes the Tour's makeshift clinic/pro-am, where "one torture is substituted for another."

Sounds like a great chance for the boys to interract with MBA types...

Wednesday pro-am
Despite the cancellation, tournament officials have scheduled activities for Wednesday to bring a unique and worthwhile experience to pro-am participants.  All 30 players in THE TOUR Championship field will honor their commitment to the pro-am by participating in a Q&A session in the morning, followed by the “Ultimate TOUR Clinic,” in which amateurs will cycle through three stations with PGA TOUR professionals for tips and instruction in driving, chipping and putting.  The day will conclude for amateurs at a luncheon and additional Q&A session with the TOUR players.

And just in case you boys thought you might fly back to Atlanta on Wednesday...think again, that's a morning clinic!

On a serious note, if the concept of playoff pro-am's was in fact one of Phil's beefs, this will not exactly make him more agreeable, will it?

Wait, no, Phil loves corporate America and interacting with pro-am types. I don't know what got into me.