Agent Quits To Spend Less Time With Wie Family

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Greg Nared makes it number two to bid farwell.

 

"Nice event, good fun, but no integrity," was the widely held view.

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John Huggan says Ernie Els' resounding win combined with the lack of IMG star power actually may do wonders for the World Match Play and certainly felt more worldly than the PGA Tour's WGC events:
Over the 43 years of its existence and through as many as half a dozen disparate title sponsors from Piccadilly to Colgate to Suntory to Toyota to Cisco to HSBC -- with another on the way -- the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth has been accused of many things, most of them relating to the tournament founder, the late Mark McCormack, packing the field with his own IMG clients.

In truth, Mr. Ten Percent was an easy target, as was his Cleveland-based company's acronym. "IM Greedy" was a popular alternative, as was "International Money Grabbers," with neither barb, of course, by extension doing anything for the World Match Play's standing in the game. "Nice event, good fun, but no integrity," was the widely held view.

But that was then. With a quantifiable and public qualifying system in place nowadays, this long-standing autumnal event has grown in both stature and credibility. Take this year. Of the four semifinalists, only one, Hunter Mahan, pays a percentage of his earnings to IMG, a point worth making in an event offering golf's biggest first prize, a cool £1 million. And even better, eliminating any hint of blatant bias seems to have brought with it a greater diversity, too. Not only were the final four all from different countries, each hailed from a different continent: Ernie Els from Africa, Angel Cabrera from South America, Mahan from North America and Henrik Stenson from Europe.

Such a cosmopolitan lineup has to be commended in a so-called "world" event, even if, with only 16 starters, there remains an air of exhibitionism about the proceedings. And let's not get into the fact that with the arrival of the WGC-Accenture World Match Play Championship that features the planet's best 64 players, the global claim of this event's title is, if one is honest, more than a little dubious.

The Northern Trust Open It Is

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Golfweek's Scott Hamilton confirms with added details what was revealed here earlier this week: the L.A. Open is now the Northern Trust Open.

The headline writers might like it, but it's still the L.A. Open for me.

"During one day of play, every player fixed at least one ball mark within 10 feet of the fourth hole -- but only three players actually struck the green within 10 feet of the hole."

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PT-AG644A_Golf2_20071012135814.jpgThe Wall Street Journal's Timothy Carroll looks at the latest divot tools that aim to improve conditions, and offers this fun little anecdote:

But is the design of the tool really the only reason so many greens are full of ball marks? Let's talk about the laziness of the "toolee." Etiquette calls for golfers to fix their ball marks, but every time I play, it's obvious that people fail to do so. Mr. Carroll says he's noticed that some people at high-end clubs believe that for their six-figure initiation fees, someone else should repair the marks for them.

Ball marks, one of the few things that golfers are allowed to fix on the green, can be controversial for other reasons, too. A senior USGA rules official recently told me a story from the Masters a few years ago. During one day of play, every player fixed at least one ball mark within 10 feet of the fourth hole -- but only three players actually struck the green within 10 feet of the hole. Were they all fixing old ball marks, or were they trying to correct other blemishes that they're not supposed to be messing with, like scuff marks from a shoe or indentations left by a player leaning on his putter? "Who knows?" he says.

 

One Amazing Lede

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First he was burying the Faldo-Monty lede, but I think John Hopkins may have produced the single worst lede I've read in a major newspaper.

Tell me there was a copy editor strike that had something to do with this:

The West course, damp underfoot, cloudy overhead, was no place for faint hearts or short-hitters in the last eight of the HSBC World Match Play Championship and the men who compete today for a place in tomorrow’s final are big-hitters, really big-hitters, who come from four continents. Truly the use of the word World in the title of this event is not over-egging it.

 

Daly Fires 63...Presumably With His Own Balls

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daly101207-200x155.jpgHis second round 63 must have the Taylor Made folks squirming after this Ed Graney column revealed that Long John thinks he's been getting the wrong product..

Daly's erratic round left him 12 shots off Bob May's lead and probably with a better chance of landing the cover of Men's Health than making the cut here. He and playing partner Charles Howell III (2 over par) each began the day driving into rocks, and neither really recovered enough to be concerned with a leaderboard.

"I'm sick of it," Daly said. "I've got the best ball in (the Maxfli Fire) I've ever played with, but I don't know where the hell they are. God bless (Taylor Made). It's not really their fault. It's the plant in (Greenville) South Carolina. I've never swung a club better in my life than I am right now. I'm not going to blame myself anymore. I'm a better player than this.

"They can do whatever the hell they want to me, but they're sending me a harder ball. It's good for a guy who spins the living crap out of it, but I don't and it's killing me. I've told them every week, and they still keep getting me the wrong balls."

Taylor Made officials in California couldn't be reached for comment, although that might be attributed to faulty cell phone reception. There's a good chance the only words they heard on a message left late Thursday afternoon were "John Daly's balls," which they would probably assume had nothing to do with golf and instead just another off-course incident with their imperfect and yet likeable client.

Torrance Joins Euro Ryder Cup Drama

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Lawrence Donegan reports on the latest in the Faldo-Monty brouhaha:
Joining Gallacher in the Montgomerie camp was Sam Torrance, a contemporary of Faldo and, like many who played alongside the Englishman when he was at his peak, not a huge fan of his interpersonal skills. "To even remotely suggest that Colin is not a team man is outrageous. I played in five Ryder Cups with Colin, a couple of World Cups and numerous Dunhill Cups and one thing he is for certain is a team man," Torrance said.

"I don't think you can criticise your players in public. It is not something I would have done and it's not something I've seen any other captain do. You've got to keep nice decorum in the team-room and keep them all happy. I'm sure Nick will learn from this, he will have seen the error of his ways in criticising Colin like that."

Gary Player Clarifies Burma Ties; Refuses To Apologize For His Design Atrocities

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PlayerMandelaSit2002bg.jpgWell, sort of.
Gary Player, whose involvement in the Nelson Mandela Invitational annual charity event has been called into question over a course he designed in strife-torn Burma, has hit back fiercely at those who wish the event to distance itself from the man who has been the driving force behind it.

In a statement placed on the official Nelson Mandela Invitational website on Friday, nine-time major winner Player had this to say:

"I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that my company’s involvement in the design of a golf course in Burma has been taken entirely out of context.

"We did business there when the world’s relations towards the regime there had thawed. We believed that the talks in which the regime was engaged with the democratic opposition would lead to free and fair elections and that, like South Africa, Burma would embrace the chance to free their people and live harmoniously as an example within Asia.

"With that in mind, we completed the design of a golf course in 2002 – an effort for which we were paid expenses only. At the time we were appointed, Dawn Aung San Suu Kyi had been released and it seemed as though real political change was in the air.

"Sadly, since that time it has proven to be a false dawn.

"I therefore, once again, want to make it abundantly clear that I decry in the strongest possible terms the recent events in Burma and wholeheartedly support Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu in his efforts to bring peace and transition to that country, including his call for sanctions.

"The Nelson Mandela Invitational charity golf tournament has been, and still is, my way of thanking and paying homage to our truly remarkable former President, whom we all love and respect."

“Monty’s a tough one. He was the only one whose emotions I had to deal with.

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The all time worst buried lede award may go to John Hopkins for sticking this quote from Nick Faldo at the end of a boring piece on Faldo's "Captain's log."

“Monty’s a tough one,” Faldo said. “He was the only one whose emotions I had to deal with. He only came to two of the five team meetings, so that was disappointing. Then he had to be teased out on to the 18th green to support his team. The bottom line was that he hadn’t won a point. That’s why I sent him out first in the singles. That’s the place to get a point. And he did.”

 

Masters Can't Compete With Law And Order Reruns?

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From Ron Sirak's blog post on the Masters moving to ESPN:

The move also makes sense for USA Network, which at one time had Thursday-Friday coverage of the PGA Tour but is now out of golf, except for the Masters. In 2007, USA Network was live from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, with replays from 8-11 both days. CBS did the live weekend coverage from 3:30-7 on Saturday and 2:30-7 on Sunday. One source said the prime-time replays on USA Network hurt its evening ratings and that while the Masters is a prestigious event, it was not worth the price tag needed to secure it.

 

Stevie The "Sportsman" Makes Massive Donation

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You know when a caddie is making $1 million donations and establishing his own foundation, that his loop is just really, really good. Especially since the looper in question has about as much personality as...oh how dare I? He loves children:

Williams announced the donation to hospital staff, patients and their families during a holiday in New Zealand.

"My wife Kirsty and I decided we wanted the foundation to support another area that was in real need, where we could make a big difference," Williams said.

"We talked to the Starship Foundation and were immediately sold on the Starship cancer ward.
This left me confused:
Williams has been caddie to Woods, the world golf No.1, since 1999, and is one of the highest-earning New Zealand sportsmen.

Sportsmen? Did he win the World Camera Tossing contest? When did caddying become a sport? 

He is also a New Zealand speedway motor racing champion.

Oh, sorry. 

Local Hero?

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Shocking as it may seem, but yes, The Donald is running into all sorts of trouble in Scotland. Shocking because, how on earth could anyone not want luxury homes, lots of gold crests everywhere, a massive hotel and two courses on environmentally sensitive dunesland? What is wrong with these people?

Thanks to reader Larry for this David Lister authored story on a fisherman who is standing in the way of The Donald.

To say that Mr Forbes, 55, is a thorn in Mr Trump’s side is an understatement. His 23 acres of land sit directly between the tycoon’s two proposed 18-hole golf courses and a planned 450-bedroom five-star hotel. A golf academy and driving range would be next door. Just a few hundred feet away would be the majestic sweep of Trump Boulevard, the main access road to the £1 billion resort.

“I’m right in the middle, you see,” Mr Forbes said yesterday. “I wasn’t against the golf course from the start, but then they just went mental because I wouldn’t sell. They said they’d make my life a misery and they are.”

Mr Forbes’s land, where a saltire hangs in one corner and a barn emblazoned with the words “No Golf Course” greets visitors as they arrive along the single-track unmade road, has become an embarrassing symbol of defiance to Mr Trump.

“All my family came from around here. My grandfather fished down here and all my uncles as well. I’m the last in line and I’ll see it out.”

Although the billionaire has insisted that he will build around Mr Forbes’s property, his irritation burst into the open this week when he launched an extraordinary attack on his neighbour.

Describing the land as “in total disrepair”, Mr Trump said: “Take a look and see how badly maintained that piece of property is. It’s disgusting. There are rusty tractors, rusty oil cans. I actually asked him, ‘Are you doing this on purpose to try and make me look bad, so I have to pay some more money?’”
It's always all about your Donald! And he took the words right out of my mouth...
The dispute has all the hallmarks of the plot of Local Hero, the 1983 cult film in which an American tycoon seeks to buy a tiny Scottish village, though on this occasion the dispute is about golf, not oil. Mr Trump has submitted plans to turn a 1,400-acre site at Balmedie, 13 miles north of Aberdeen, into “the world’s greatest golf course”, with two championship links courses, a five-star hotel, a golf academy, almost 1,000 holiday homes and about 500 private houses.
This AP story also looks at some of the issues facing the project:
The billionaire property developer aims to turn sand dunes at the Menie Estate, 15 miles north of Aberdeen, into a $2 billion golf resort with a pair of 18-hole courses, a luxurious 450-bedroom hotel, 950 vacation homes, 36 golf villas and 500 upscale homes.

Standing in his way are the feathered residents of the beach and rolling dunes -- seven species of endangered rare birds including Skylarks and breeding waders, particularly Lapwings and Redshank.

Local residents in the quiet nearby village of Balmedie are also up in arms at the proposed resort, branding it a "gated community" with too many houses which would spoil the bucolic atmosphere of the area.

Concerned that his investment is about to be pitched into the rough, Trump flew into Scotland this week to set out his plans ahead of a crunch meeting later this month by local council members. He warned he would drop the project if the houses were rejected and claimed the course would improve the local environment.

"Each and every golf course I have built has got awards for environmental protection, and I do not think anyone has got as many awards as we have." Trump told reporters at a press conference on the estate. "I believe environmentally, when we are finished, the course will be better environmentally than before we started.

"It's possible I could lose a great deal of money. It would cost a lot less money if we did not care about the environment."

Local protesters claimed the visit was designed to put the heat on members of Aberdeenshire Council, who are expected to make a decision on Oct. 29. If approved, it would then go to the Scottish government for final approval later in the year.

Local opinion is divided. The planning application lodged at Aberdeenshire Council in June has attracted more than three times as many letters of support as it has of objection -- 327 to 105. There is also a petition objecting to the proposal with 28 signatures.

In July, planning officials recommended approval for the project, which would create more than 800 jobs during peak season. But the plan is so controversial that councilors deferred their decision and are refusing to comment until after a consultation process is completed.

 

Trouble At St. Andrews Beach

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...in Australia. Martin Blake reports the unfortunate news that the course closed temporarily because it's not paying its bills. You have to love Clayton's quote:

One source said the course's co-designer, US golf course architect Tom Doak, was owed at least $250,000.

Mike Clayton, Melbourne golf professional, course architect and Age columnist, was the other designer. Mr Clayton said he was disappointed to see the concept struggling. "It's clearly one of the best courses in the country and it needs to work," he said. "We can't afford to lose great courses. We've got too many bad courses around without losing something like this."