Another Fall Finish Fan

Steve Elling expands on the Fall Finish field issue and makes a compelling case for the winners of these events to earn Masters exemptions as well as other perks that go along with winning.

 According to the numbers crunched this week by statistical guru Jeff Sagarin, who does rankings for Golfweek magazine, all seven Fall Series events had better fields than the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., and the John Deere Classic, both regular-season tournaments.

It's interesting to note that, in a move that was widely applauded, Masters chairman Billy Payne last spring reinstated the rule in which all PGA Tour winners will be offered automatic exemptions to Augusta National.

That is, everybody but the seven Fall Series winners and those who won events staged opposite the three remaining majors or World Golf Championship tournaments.

Sounds like the Augusta brass should revisit their plan, especially since two of the seven Fall Series winners, Stephen Ames and Mike Weir, had already qualified for the Masters via other means. Thus, had the fall winners been included in Payne's plan, it would have meant adding a maximum of five more players to Augusta National's limited invitational field in 2008.

Moreover, the Fall Series had a list of winners that was more familiar to fans than many of the names who won in the regular season. Included were Justin Leonard, Chad Campbell and Steve Flesch, who all have multiple tour victories. The seven winners have combined for 29 career victories, two majors and two Players Championship wins.

Hardly a bunch of complete stiffs, in other words.

"I have no desire to watch golf on TV and I don't read about it that much"

Craig Dolch catches up with Greg Norman who offered this:

"I have no desire to watch golf on TV and I don't read about it that much," he said. "But now that I'm chairman of the board of MacGregor, I'm going to have to keep my finger on the pulse of the sport to know what's going on with my business."

Uh, yes that would be a good idea. 

Snap Code

My Shot: The USGA and Jim Vernon**

SI Golf Plus runs a My Shot by yours truly this week on Jim Vernon's relatively unnoticed nomination as the next USGA President.

**Oops, here's the link to the story. 

HSBC Champions Photo Caption Fun

From the GolfChannel.com, a Ross Kinnaird image taken at "preview day" of the H$BC Champions Trophy meet and greet. What's Phil hearing?

 

Fall Finish Fields Far From Flat

How about that alliteration?

Doug Ferguson's weekly notes featured this item, which hopefully will have Billy Payne reconsidering Augusta National's stance on the Tour's Fall Finish:

Four tournaments during the Fall Series had a stronger field than the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, which counts as a FedEx Cup event and whose winner (Brandt Snedeker) got an automatic invitation to the Masters.

In The Bunker With Stan

Nice spot by Bob Carney at the Golf Digest editor's blog: the esteemed Michael Lewis has obtained ousted Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O'Neal's scorecards, including notes to himself.

Good irreverent fun if you enjoy humor at the expense of a golden parachute recipient.  

"The fact is, I don't have anything else to do."

Lee Trevino, on golf.com, and brutally honest about his brief retirement:

That's why I'll be back for the 2008 season, my 43rd year in the game. I'll probably play about a dozen events, starting in Florida next winter. I really love seeing the guys, but the fact is, I don't have anything else to do. There's nothing wrong with wanting to retire. I wouldn't miss competing. I don't do that very well these days anyway. But I don't have anything else to fill my time. If I owned a golf course or a driving range in my hometown of Dallas, and I could get up, drop my kid at school and then spend five or six hours a day at work, that would be fine, but I don't have anything like that in my life.

Points Tweaks To Encourage Volatility**

According to Doug Ferguson, who reviews the 2007 PGA Tour season:

Tour officials are busy running hundreds of models to tweak the [FedEx Cup] points system, putting particular emphasis on players’ concerns the four playoff events were not volatile enough. In other words, they want more guys to have a chance, but it’s a tough balancing act keeping the regular season meaningful.

Any volatility would help quite a bit, much more so than reducing the field sizes. 

Update on 2007-11-06 16:14 by Geoff

Golf World's Jim Moriarty quotes Joe Durant, who seems less than thrilled with the progress on a FedEx Cup "tweak."

"I will say this. After the FedEx Cup was over this year, they were open to ­pretty much any and all suggestions," he said. "They want to make it better going forward, as we all do. The flip side of that, we sat in Scottsdale last week [to] talk about changing the point structure and [said] we'd like to see some models, but there were no models presented to us to show us how it would change. I think guys were frustrated with that because we want to see what's on the table. What can we do to change it? Now, we're going to have another PAC [Players Advisory Council] meeting by phone after next week and then we have the policy-board meeting after that. We've got to make some ­pretty quick decisions. The point structure doesn't necessarily have to be changed until the playoffs, but guys just want to have it put to bed."

And...

"I think more than anything, guys want to see a little more volatility at the end of the year, especially in the playoff tournaments. When you only have one or two or three guys moving in and out of tournaments, that's not enough movement, I don't think. Most guys felt the same way."

Requiem for a Country Club

Thanks to reader Steven T. for catching Rich Lerner's memories of Berkleigh Country Club, which recently closed and auctioned off plenty of memories.

I thought this was particularly interesting since I've recently heard of a number of clubs having serious trouble attracting new members.

Berkleigh was 81 years old. People die at 81, not lush golf courses with rich history. At 81 they get curvier and prettier. So many clubs, though, struggle now, desperate for members and families. Who has time, what with kids and jobs and the Internet and TIVO and 300 channels? Who goes to dinner dances anymore? Dressing up these days means Lucky Brand jeans with a Banana Republic t-shirt.

My generation had kids later in life. And either because we really wanted to be better dads or were driven through societal pressure, we went to Little League baseball games and soccer matches on Saturday mornings, joining the fitness craze and the $70-a-month gyms instead of country clubs.
 
Today, I travel more than 20 weeks a year and because of my job get more than enough invites to quality clubs to keep me satisfied. Most guys I know play a couple of times a month, maybe at a high-end daily fee or as a guest at a nice club. Many of us know at least a few of the generous and fortunate who belong to great places, those with gilded reputations that put them beyond the reach of economic downturns.

Striking Writers Take Comfort In Jack Wagner Heading Golf Digest's List Of Actors With Too Much Time On Their Hands

I know you are just dying to know how many shots it's going to take for Lucas Black to catch Jack Wagner, so here's the link.

Oh and please don't ask about the accompanying photo. Beats me what they were going for.

Mickelson Family Safari Makes Up For Otherwise Miserable Week In Singapore

Grant Clark reports that Phil Mickelson had his highest round in 3 years and is on antibiotics after inhaling California's ashen air.

But at least the kids had fun on the Singapore safari.

Snap

I just installed a new little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

Final Money Lists

The final PGA Tour money list where the top 125 are fully exempt next year and the top 30 gets you in the Masters.

And the final Nationwide Tour money list reveals some familiar and new names in the top 25 earning a PGA Tour card.

Gulbis Seeks To Shed Image As Hot, Athletic Babe

Thanks to reader Jeff for this Jeffrey Kelley story on the planned "rebranding" of Natalie Gulbis.

I know I say this a lot, but really, you couldn't make this up...

Natalie Gulbis, the 24-year-old golfer best known -- at least until recently -- for her good looks, will be rebranded by Circle S Studios.

A 2008 calendar and day planner designed by the marketing shop in Old Manchester follows Gulbis' first LPGA Tour title at the Evian Masters in France in June.

The blonde Gulbis has done calendars since 2004. Pictures in her 2005 calendar -- in swimsuits or dresses -- were deemed provocative by the U.S. Golf Association. Though it was criticized for overreacting, the USGA banned the calendar's sale at the U.S. Women's Open.

The 2008 calendar, by contrast, is all golf and pushes Gulbis' game face.

"With the original stuff, she was in a beautiful bathing suit, tights and things and that certainly got the attention of a lot of people," said Circle S President and Managing Partner Susan Hogg. "But we're trying to scoot it more to who she is and where she wants to take [her career and name] . . . and being a role model, specifically to young girls and women in general. That's the brand we're trying to portray."

What a great idea. This is beautiful:

Hogg described the company's work as "a refinement of a truer image of who she is. Sometimes the media can start to control your brand, and we're trying to take control of the brand."

Just put some glasses on her, feature calendar photos of her signing her scorecard or taking a lesson from Butch, and I guarantee you'll have control of the brand as it heads right down the toilet. 

Still, it's not as though the tall, blue-green-eyed Gulbis will leave the minds of the males who know her. "They're still beauty shots. She's an attractive, wonderful athlete," Hogg said.

Whew, I was worried.

Ah, more #@&%!#$:

"The calendar is just one element of how you get perceived in the marketplace, so we tried to step back and look holistically in terms of how is she being positioned" in public, Hogg said.

That's why they get the big bucks. Helps pay for the therapy when they decide to look back at their life accomplishments and see quotes printed like that.

The firm, which occupies a converted box warehouse, is putting together "a series of recommendations, a strategic marketing plan" to Gulbis' sports-marketing firm, Octagon, Hogg said. Circle S is considering new merchandise and interactive features on the Web to help cater to the female teenage demographic -- conveying an all-American girl who eats well, exercises and works hard. "That's how you rise to the top, instead of the sex symbol, which is how it started out," Hogg said.

And it isn't doing so bad is she?