"It's a great warm up for Doral, frankly. It's like Westchester was prior to the U.S. Open."

Jim Moriarty on the Golf Digest's Local Knowledge blog quotes the Honda Classic tournament director on their new date in '09:

"Looking at the big picture it's going to help us," says Ken Kennerly, the Honda event's executive director. "Wedged between the two World Golf Championships with Match Play being the event before us I think will help. Half the field is eliminated by Wednesday and then another 16 by Thursday. If it was a full field event prior to us and a full field event after us, that's a lot of big golf right in a row and I think that would be a little bit more concerning. But, I think with Match Play before us a lot of the international players are going to stay in America because they're going to want to play at Doral.

"We've really upgraded [the Honda Classic] substantially. It's a very similar golf course to Doral, in terms of condition. Bermuda greens, Bermuda grasses. It's a great warm up for Doral, frankly. It's like Westchester was prior to the U.S. Open."

Honda is to Doral as Westchester is the U.S. Open. I smell an SAT question.

Attention Lawyers: What Do You Think?

I've received a fun email from staffers of a certain organization in golf that would make for amusing blog fodder, but the email in question contains this disclaimer: 

The information in this email and any attachments may contain legally privileged, proprietary and confidential information that is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, retention or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. When addressed to our clients or vendors, any information contained in this e-mail or any attachments is subject to the terms and conditions in any governing contract. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately contact the sender and delete the e-mail.

Now lawyers, since I'm a journalist who has obtained something revealing and worthy of public consumption, just how seriously should I take this?

"Does the TV lifestyle make you soft? Apparently!"

From Alan Shipnuck and his golf.com Hot List: 

5. Rick Reilly. My esteemed former colleague and soon-to-be ESPN star was visiting NorCal and asked me to arrange a round for us at Pebble Beach, which I happily did. (And it was comped, too.) On the appointed day, a refreshing light mist was falling, so Reilly begged off, saying he doesn't like to play in bad weather. Does the TV lifestyle make you soft? Apparently!

Now, NOBODY gets comped at Pebble Beach. So to turn that down you really have to be special...in your own mind.

Walters Cleared; AT&T Invite Will Not Be Lost In Mail Until 2010

Brian Hewitt reports that America's most famous sandbagger has been cleared to defend his title next year and quotes a USGA official who suggests that the pro handicaps are "the real handicap crooks."

"He started the round by playing a lunch ball off of the 1st tee"

John Hussar of PRNewsWorks submitted this item to the Desert Sun:

Playing at Eldorado Country Club in January, Baker-Finch shot the 61 (32-29) from the tips - two shots better than the new Fazio-course record of 63. Without hitting any practice balls at Eldorado, he started the round by playing a lunch ball off of the 1st tee which officially kept him from claiming the course record.

Okay, I give up. What's a lunch ball? 

"The typical worker has five years experience and makes about $250 a month -- a better wage than at a legitimate foundry."

I first read E. Michael Johnson's excellent Golf World story on club counterfeiting with great interest and even sympathy for the buyers who were duped. But upon further reflection and a closer reading of a few key graphs, I decided to sit down with this tragic tale, dimming the lights, burning candles and setting up an continuous Itunes loop featuring Roberta Flack's Killing Me Softly With His Song.

Why? Well, apparently now that the big four have outsourced all manufacturing to China and sold out the club pro first to non-green grass accounts and now the Internet, guess what? There are big consequences. And naturally, it's all someone else's fault.

Check out this:

At a typical counterfeit operation in China, it is not unusual to see young women sifting through castings while other individuals constantly work on grinding wheels, moving through the heads at a rapid rate. Another floor might contain those doing the cosmetic work, including paint filling, shaft painting and packaging. According to Golf Digest, the typical worker has five years experience and makes about $250 a month -- a better wage than at a legitimate foundry.

Yes, that's right. The counterfeiters pay better than the legit operations. And the counterfeiters are charging a lot less than the brand names.

Oh there's more:

The owners of such shops, some a front for organized crime, others no more than a mom-and-pop operation, can make upwards of $750 a week selling the counterfeits -- a much better life than grinding the toe and heel of the latest batch of 100-to-a-tray sand wedges for 10 hours a day. Although it would be easy to label China as an ever-expanding pit of deceit where no good brand is safe, the sad fact is counterfeiting offers a better way of life for those involved -- especially when the threat of being caught or prosecuted is minimal.

Again, isn't this the price of doing business in China?

This bit warmed my heart:

In an effort to stem the supply of phony golf products, the Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group -- consisting of Acushnet, Callaway, Cleveland, Nike, Ping and TaylorMade -- was established in 2004. That golf's largest companies and fiercest competitors would come together speaks to the industry-wide dilemma. According to Rob Duncanson, moderator for the coalition, the group was formed to petition governmental authorities in the U.S., China and other countries jointly to enforce laws against counterfeiting of golf products.

 Because they surely have nothing better to do!

Some headway has been made, including several raids and criminal prosecutions, but it is a case of winning some battles while the war still is being lost.

I have an idea. Don't outsource and maybe this stuff won't happen?

Oh I forgot...those precious margins...

LPGA Drug Testing Matches Tour's On-Course Pacing

Beth Ann Baldry reports on Golfweek.com that they LPGA testing is off and, about two holes behind for some players.

For Wright, the process of giving a sample with someone in the room was more worrisome than the results. But she got in and out in 35 minutes. For Maria Hjorth, it was only 20 minutes. Natalie Gulbis, however, waited for at least 2 hours before someone was available to administer her test.

“I think they have some kinks they definitely need to work out,” said Gulbis, who noted that more administrators were added as the day went along. “But everything was handled very professionally.”

And...

Kelli Kuehne opened with a 5-under 67 but never made it to the media room to talk about her round. She went in for testing immediately after turning in her scorecard and sat in a holding room for 2 hours, 45 minutes. By the time she’d finished, Kuehne didn’t even feel like practicing.

“I was one of the guinea pigs,” she said. “I’m hoping it’s something they will fine-tune.”

The Boo Files: "I didn't know after Houston was Augusta."

Where to start? How about this: Boo Weekley should be required to come into the press room every week. Who else is this entertaining?

Here are a few of the highlights from his pre-Honda Classic press conference, though I can recommend reading the entire transcript. It beat most other online reading.

On fame and the dreaded hollering out of his name:

BOO WEEKLEY: It gets kind of aggravating but it's still fun. All them people that you talk to outside the ropes, and they wish they could be here. They wish they could be the one walking inside them ropes and talking to all them people and just being in my footsteps. It's kind of an honor to say that, hey, I'm inside the ropes and this is what I do for a living.
It does getting aggravating to where sometimes, you know, people are hollering your name. It's like, all right, look, guys, I've heard enough of my name; I know who I am. But it's fun. It's always fun. That's the way I like to keep it, and I'm still going to be the same person whether I'm on this tour, the Nationwide Tour or mini-tours

On his preparing for his first Masters...starting by knowing when it starts. 

BOO WEEKLEY: No. My first trip going to Augusta, I didn't even know when it was. I was going to play all the way through to Houston, you know, and then take the week off. I didn't know after Houston was Augusta.

Q. So what are you going to do?

BOO WEEKLEY: Oh, I'm going to take two weeks off now before to get ready. But I reckon I can get ready. I reckon I just go home and do some turkey hunting, that's how I prepare.

 Q. Did you watch many Masters going up? Do you have memories of a great Masters?

BOO WEEKLEY: The one that Tiger when he chipped it in the ball, on whatever hole that was.

Q. Do you watch golf on TVs?

BOO WEEKLEY: I'm not a big golf watcher. I know I'm supposed to be representing the TOUR, but I'd much rather be watching NASCAR.

On PGA National and the "Bear Trap" stretch of 15-17:

Q. What do you think of the Bear Trap holes, 15, the par 3, 16, the par 4, and then 17, the par 3?

BOO WEEKLEY: You know, I just found out that was called a Bear Trap earlier today. I didn't even know it was called a Bear Trap. It's pretty good.

Q. Do you see why they have a name for it?

BOO WEEKLEY: No. I don't know, I just go and play golf, dude.

 And this was actually a fascinating insight...

If it looks like a tough hole and I hit it in the fairway, I'll turn around from the fairway and look back at the tee box and try to pick a line, you know, and say, okay, if I can start it on this line, and whichever way the wind is blowing, it should be good, it should be in the middle of the fairway if I can start it on that line. I look at the golf course backwards in a lot of ways and a lot of players do.

Great Minds Think Alike: Diaz and Bamberger Pen Dueling Tiger-Paves-Way-For-Obama Columns

Kinda wild really that Michael Bamberger in SI Golf Plus and Jaime Diaz in Golf World this week pen columns asserting that Tiger has paved the way for America to be more tolerant and perhaps even consider someone like Barack Obama for President.

What do you make of their point? 

Golfweek Swears It Had Nothing To Do With Latest Controversial Cover

But maybe we know where Dave Seanor has landed after his noose cover...?

Courtesy of reader LPGA Fan, here's the story from Denver's Channel 7 News:

An illustration that accompanied an article celebrating the success of Mexican golf star Lorena Ochoa is stirring some heated feelings.

The image in the current edition of Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine features the Our Lady of Guadalupe image with Ochoa's face in place of the Virgin Mary's.

"It’s very offensive," said Ricardo Bracho, who subscribes to the magazine.

In a statement, the editor for the magazine said the intent was to promote an accomplished golfer, not to offend anyone.

The Patron Saint of Mexico is deeply important and respected by many Mexicans and Catholics. The Our Lady of Guadalupe image is held as a sacred, religious symbol.

Obviously Mr. Bracho does understand how popular Lorena is these days. S

Bracho believes the artist and editor for the article entitled "Our Lady of Guadalajara" stepped over a sensitive line.

"I don't want anyone fired," Bracho said, adding he is a big fan of golf and Ochoa's. "People need to be aware and some things are just off limits."

Father Jorge De los Santos of the Archdiocese of Denver agreed.

"I was so hurt when I saw that image," De los Santos told 7NEWS Monday.

Hurt?

"I think the freedom (of the press) has a limit. You should respect others and respect beliefs," said De los Santos, who is Vicar for Hispanic Ministry.

Editor Jon Rizzi e-mailed this statement to 7NEWS:

"Colorado AvidGolfer deeply regrets offending anyone with the illustration that accompanied our feature on Lorena Ochoa. Because the piece was so overwhelmingly positive, praising Ms. Ochoa's accomplishments and painting a glowing portrait of her as both a golfer and an inspiring humanitarian, we created a clearly iconic image for our illustration. We respect the opinions of those who objected to the image and apologize if it offended them, but we certainly did not intend to show disrespect to anyone."

A public relations representative told 7NEWS Monday Ochoa had not seen the image or article and could not comment.

I don't think she wants to see it either, unless she wants to see what she'll look like 40 years and 40 pounds later. 

FedEx Cup Points Tweaks Receive...Reviews

I've searched but could only find two stories detailing the FedEx Cup point system changes announced Tuesday. Stan Awtrey talks to Tour Championship director Todd Rhinehart and writes in the AJC:

The two changes should make it easier for players to move up in the playoff standings and increase the number of players with a chance to win the FedEx Cup. Had the alterations been in place in 2007, The Tour Championship would have started with 12 players having a chance to win it all, twice the actual number. And six players would have had a realistic chance to win.

"This is what we wanted," Rhinehart said. "If you can win it when everything is on the line, you deserve it. It makes it more exciting."

So in other words, that wasn't possible last year! We were duped!

Somehow I don't think it's going to get any more playoff-like under the new points system.

Steve Elling offers this: 
Had the tweaks been on the books last year, the number of players who had a mathematic chance of winning the $10 million bonus at the series-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta would have increased from six to 12.

"It's the Rich Beem story," Finchem said, citing a player who was so far back in the regular-season points, he had little chance of advancing despite some solid postseason play. "Players felt you ought to be able to move more aggressively. And when we get to Atlanta, we should have more players in the hunt, which is what players and fans were interested in.

"It does shift the balance a touch, but it was really done to get that guy who was hot to get further through the playoffs."

But he still has no chance of winning the whole thing at East Lake, and therein will always lie the problem.  

Atonement 2: Greg and Tim

When they say these international golf team competitions bring the world together, they aren't kidding. Just look what happened Tuesday in Palm Beach. Steve Elling analyzes the Finchem-Norman fence mending...

For the first time in years, their situation was mutually beneficial. Norman, who rarely plays in tournaments anymore, has transitioned nicely into the corporate game. He's the head of equipment maker MacGregor, has established a reputation as a course architect and forged his own line of clothing and table wine. By merely writing the aforementioned sentence, we have helped ensure that Norman will profit by virtue of the exposure the cup captaincy will serve to increase.

As a captain of industry already, he said he has come to appreciate the dissenting viewpoint.

"I think it's healthy in a lot of ways," the Shark said. "I don't want everybody to be a yes man or a bobblehead. You've got to be able to sit there and express your differences."

Ah, Jack Welch would be proud of that answer. 

Well, they got the "sitting there" part accomplished Tuesday, though neither looked particularly comfy. You can bet the world tour was not broached.

Finchem insisted that the tour has dealt with Norman for years on a variety of issues, always on a professional basis. If there's a rift, it's nothing that has permanently stained the relationship.

"Here's the reality," Finchem said. "They don't see that Greg designed three different golf courses we're playing tournaments on, he chairs the environmental institute that we're very supportive of, that he's one of our host (staging) organizations on the tour -- people don't see all that.

No, not when you two get in yelling matches and Greg seems to keep missing Champions Tour events. 

"The fact that, as he said, he's been critical a few times in the past, and I don't have a problem with that. Some of the criticism is justified. I think it's all overblown."

Perhaps so, but partly because whenever the world tour issue is broached, Norman radiates heat like Skylab, right before it crashed into Australia.

"I have also complimented Tim over the years for what he has done for the game of golf, the stimulus he has done with prize money," Norman said. "It's not like I am anti-everything he has done. It's just that there have been things I have been very vocal about."

Not anti-everything! Just some of his most important initiatives.

Freddie Serves Up Jordan As Possible Assistant; Norman Returns With Chrissy?

Gosh this is going to be so much more fun that Jack and Gary. From the 2009 Presidents Cup introductory news conference:

Q. For both captains, have you given any thought to who your assistants will be, and what would you be looking for from those guys?

CAPTAIN GREG NORMAN: I'll answer --

CAPTAIN FRED COUPLES: I'll --

CAPTAIN GREG NORMAN: Go ahead, Freddie.

CAPTAIN FRED COUPLES: No, Greg, you first. (Laughter)

CAPTAIN GREG NORMAN: I have put a lot of thought to it and I haven't come up with a decision yet. It's a lot more of an interesting task for me because of the base that I've got to go through, whether it's Australia or whether it's South Africa or whether it's from Japan and other countries that have participated to some degree in The Presidents Cup. So my task is going to be a tough one. I've got a lot of friends out there on an international basis who have played the game of golf, and spend a lot of time with me personally. So it's an interesting choice for me. I haven't made mine yet.

CAPTAIN FRED COUPLES: Well, for me, I'm sure I've talked to a few writers and given them some names before, and I do have a player in mind, a great, great friend, and I just haven't talked to him about it much.

But you know, I've mentioned Michael Jordan as an assistant, assistant, assistant. Lately I've mentioned Robin Williams and the reason I say that is as Greg mentioned earlier, we're not on any teams when you're in the locker room. And you have people come in when you're in the team room, I think, first of all, I love Michael Jordan, I've been around him. He does some things in Santa Barbara. A lot of our players know him. He's at these events. So that's why I bring his name up because as a team player, there's no one any better. And I think that's what's the fun part.

Now the challenging part is when you're sitting around and you've got nothing but time, I would like a guy like Robin Williams there to keep us loose, and that's why I say that. Whether they are there or not, I don't know, but I do have a great friend in mine mind to play as my teammate and hopefully pick some good guys and get some good pairings. (Laughter).

CAPTAIN GREG NORMAN: Boy, Freddie, you just threw it wide open for me right there. I've got the whole world to go to. You've just got the United States.

I listened to the exchange and it was at that point that Norman mentioned his bride, Chrissy. Or am I hearing things?

Presidents Cup Photo Caption Help

What are those lovebirds Tim and Greg thinking? Courtesy of AFP:

 

The Demise Of The Florida Swing?

It's about to come out of the words of some writer any day now, because Lord knows they won't want to give the West Coast any credit.

Bob Harig got close in this story revealing a switch of dates again in 2009, with Bay Hill set to get the last spot for reasons unknown.

Florida has seen some dramatic change in recent years. From 1987 through 2006, the order of the four tournaments was exactly the same: The Doral event in Miami, followed by the Honda Classic in the Fort Lauderdale area, Bay Hill and then the Players Championship at PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach.

For years, the Florida Swing was viewed by many as the unofficial start to the season. Many of the international players skipped the West Coast events and began their seasons at Doral, which gave them a month of warm-weather events to get ready for the Masters.

But the advent of the World Golf Championship events -- specifically the Match Play Championship -- a decade ago began a change in player habits. And when the tour revamped its entire schedule in 2007, moving the Players Championship from March to May, it created an opening in Florida and shuffling of tournaments.

Then again Alan Shipnuck, in reviewing the West Coast swing, says Tiger only making two appearances is devaluing its place.

True, but what would you rather watch or play (block out The Classic Club for a moment): Kapalua, TPC Scottsdale, Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach and Riviera, or PGA National, Innisbrook, Bay Hill and Doral?

In case you forgot how dreadful PGA National is, Daniel Wexler posts his weekly preview and aerial photo link.