“We feel we are democratising golf"

And how are we doing this? By "bringing online gamblers back in play" with online golf gaming!

Chris Nuttall of the Financial Times delivers the breathtakingly good news.

American executives frustrated by online poker bans have been taking to the virtual golf course, where they can work on lowering their handicaps and make money at the same time.

Utour Golf and World Golf Tour are two sites exploiting a developing demographic of casual gamers: males over 30 looking to compete with one another online.

Utour has staged more than 500,000 games on four different online courses during its beta testing phase and allows wagers of up to $100 on a single hole. There is stroke play or match play for pairs and tournaments where thousands of dollars can be at stake.

Groove Games, the company behind Utour, says the golf prizes are not classified as gambling as golf is a skill-based game rather than one of chance.

Riiiiigggggghhhhhhttttt!

“We’re just like real golf leagues funded by player-entry fees and the PGA’s prize pools subsidised by advertising,” says Jon Walsh, chief executive. Groove takes a 15 per cent cut of every dollar staked and sells advertisements placed around its golf courses. It says the average player is a 34-year-old male.

World Golf Tour will go fully live this summer with its Kiawah Island’s Ocean course in South Carolina. The company took the unusual step of taking high-resolution pictures of every inch of the course with helicopters and radio-controlled drones to create the imagery, rather than use artists to render the landscape.

The photos were then matched up pixel-by-pixel with the 3D topology of the course and rendered in high quality within a browser window. Over half a million people have already played the beta, spending at least 20 minutes per session.

“They are very affluent, college-educated, mostly male, average age 35 and average income of $110,000 – not your typical gaming demographic, but middle-aged professionals are great for advertisers,” said YuChiang Cheng, chief executive.

Strong demo! Not long before the PGA Tour wants a piece of that.

World Golf Tour’s business model is based on in-game advertising, sponsorship and sales of virtual items such as new clothing and clubs. It encourages foursomes among friends and will introduce social networking elements.

“We feel we are democratising golf,” says Mr Cheng. “For those who think it’s too expensive and takes too much time, this is free and you can just play from your desk.”

God Must Really Hate The Tavistock Cup...

...what with this silly rain delay forcing the boys to come back at 8:30 a.m. to finish up the WGC at Doral. Larry Dorman reports that Geoff Ogilvy was about the only player who would spend a few minutes with the scribblers, while Jeremy Fowler tells us far more than we ever wanted to know about how the Tavistock Cup and how the demonstration of conspicuous consumption will go on.

Mike Bianchi Makes It Official: He's Run Out Of Column Ideas

The Orlando Sentinel columnist writes: "Why there has not been more of an outcry about the Tour's tacit approval of smoking is harder to figure out than the World Golf Rankings."

Eh, eh before you think this is an April 1 beauty, check your calendars, we're still a week away. Hit the link if you don't believe me. Or read this, where even Tim Finchem offers his own version of "have you absolutely no other ideas for a column?"

Congress has made a major issue about pro sports sending the wrong message when it comes to steroids, but what about pro golf sending the wrong message when it comes to lung cancer? Scientific fact: A relative handful of deaths have resulted from steroid abuse; hundreds of thousands die every year because of nicotine abuse.

"I don't think we have a problem with smokers," PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said at last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational. "We have some. We don't have many. . . . I don't think it's worth spending any energy on."

A few years ago, Finchem was similarly nonchalant when it came to mandatory drug-testing of golfers, but finally capitulated amid public pressure. Why there has not been more of an outcry about the Tour's tacit approval of smoking is harder to figure out than the World Golf Rankings.

The Future of Majors

There's another Golf World/ESPN poll worth checking out in the righthand column of the ESPN.com golf page:

Should majors be given to new courses such as Chambers Bay and, potentially, Erin Hills before hosting high-level tournaments.

You can comment here to get your remarks in Golf World. 

"Stage a tournament for marquee instructors."

I'm a little behind in my reading, so I just got to Bill Fields' column from the March 14 Golf World where he suggests his platform if he were President of Golf.

While I loved all of his ideas, I particualrly loved the thought of this one.

• Stage a tournament for marquee instructors. How fun would it be to see Hank Haney, Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter and other teachers to the stars practice what they preach? The odds against that happening, though, might be greater than getting Tiger back to play in Milwaukee.

Newton: "You keep hearing comments about how they don't think there's any shame in coming second to Tiger. You would never have heard that from a Raymond Floyd."

Thanks to reader Mark for this Will Swanton piece from The Age quoting Jack Newton:

"Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Raymond Floyd, Lee Trevino, who I still think is the best player I ever played with, were tough and uncompromising men who would have stood up and fought him," Newton said.

"They were great players in their own right, but hard as nails to go with it. They would have eaten their own grandmothers on the course if they had to. I'm not sure you could say that about any of the guys out there trying to beat Tiger now.

"I'm not exactly saying they're soft. Tiger could well be the greatest player of all time. But I don't see many of them aiming up or getting in his face. I get the feeling they're just playing for the money. They make their millions every year and that's enough for them.

"You keep hearing comments about how they don't think there's any shame in coming second to Tiger. You would never have heard that from a Raymond Floyd."

"A combination of European Tour (petty) politics, his age and the drum beating that has already been set in motion by the well-connected Colin Montgomerie's various media mates..."

John Huggan offers this on the 2010 Ryder Cup Captaincy and Sandy Lyle's chances:

Not for the first time, Sandy Lyle this past week expressed an interest in assuming the role of European Ryder Cup captain when the matches make their first visit to Wales in 2010. This is entirely appropriate. Not only does the former Open, Masters and Players champion command universal respect for the undoubted quality of his playing career – for a brief period in the late 1980s the Shropshire-born Scot was the best player on the planet – he is also one of the nicest people in the game, a man who would easily unite any dressing room.

Sadly, however, the odds are that the likeable Lyle will go down as the only member of European golf's "Big Five" not to fill the role of skipper in the biennial contest with the United States. A combination of European Tour (petty) politics, his age and the drum beating that has already been set in motion by the well-connected Colin Montgomerie's various media mates, will probably see Lyle, who recently turned 50 and embarked on a new career on America's Champions Tour, passed over. Which is a shame, even if – whisper it – the best and most qualified man for the job is actually two-time Masters winner Jose Maria Olazabal.

Monty over Olazabal or Lyle?

Wow, Monty really is well connected!  

"What sponsor would walk away from a tournament that has produced champions like Annika Sorenstam, Cristie Kerr and Ochoa in the past four years, all the while attracting record crowds?"

In noting the sponsor loss at the seemingly healthy Safeway LPGA event in Phoenix, Bill Huffman says it's time to get "a little bit scared" if you're, say, The Brand Lady.

Four tournaments into the 2008 season and already two of those four events are on the endangered list and need sponsors if they are to return in 2009.

For those keeping track, the Fields Open in Hawaii — the second tournament of the season won by Paula Creamer — reportedly is not only searching for a new title sponsor, it also needs a new course to host the tournament.

Closer to home, the Safeway International announced last week that its title sponsor — America’s third-largest grocery store chain — is bagging it after next week’s tournament at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club, which is willing to hang around if a new sponsor can be secured.

The Safeway International had made record-breaking crowds on the LPGA its calling card, much like its big brother, the FBR Open, does on the PGA Tour. Granted, the numbers were dramatically smaller, but 151,000 fans came out last year to watch Lorena Ochoa win the tournament, and that’s about double the average galleries on the LPGA.

What sponsor would walk away from a tournament that has produced champions like Annika Sorenstam, Cristie Kerr and Ochoa in the past four years, all the while attracting record crowds? And what about Superstition Mountain, voted as the “best-conditioned course on the LPGA’’ the past three years by the players?

Speaking of the Safeway, reader Phil noted that the reason for Michelle Wie's latest WD is going to prompt more questions. 

Wie's agent, Jill Smoller of the William Morris Agency, said the Stanford freshman reinjured her left wrist when she accidentally hit a ball that was embedded in thick rough on the driving range at Stanford on March 13. 

Thick rough on the range? 

Robert Hunter On Book TV

CSPAN Book TV Programming note for fans of Robert Hunter, co-architect of Cypress Point and Valley Club and author of The Links:

Speaking Out for America's Poor: A Millionaire Socialist in the Progressive Era
      
Author: Edward Allan Brawley
Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, March 22, at 3:00 PM
Sunday, March 23, at 4:45 AM

"The best golfer of all time and the best gallery-puller of all time."

Geoff Ogilvy's post round press conference at Doral is worth a read.

Steve Elling condenses the best lines in this blog post.

"The imagined sounds of Berman on the telecasts - 'K.J. Choi To The World, for par' - have made people tense as a mousetrap."

Phil Mushnick appears to be the first media critic to note that ESPN is not letting Chris Berman get anywhere near Augusta National. I know, I know. What took so long to celebrate?

But wouldn't you love to see something like this in Butler Cabin?

"Are you by any chance a member of the media?"

Got to give Bob Carney credit for posting an entertaining but not particularly flattering letter from a Golf Digest reader.

Palmer To Host 50th Hope Classic; Will Finally Get To See The Classic Club In Person

Oh I'm sure he's been there many times. Probably slaved over the details of each hole. Anyway, the news that will not improve the field unless The King trades Bay Hill exemptions for appearances at the Hope, but which will ensure several hours of bantering with Kelly Tilghman and Nick Faldo: 

ARNOLD PALMER NAMED HOST OF 2009 BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC
 
The man who won the event five times will host its 50th anniversary next year
 
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Golf and Palm Springs icon Arnold Palmer will host the 50th anniversary of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, to be played Jan. 19-25, 2009.
 
Palmer has not only played the tournament 42 of its 50 years, he also won five of his 62 PGA TOUR titles there, including his last, and he’s as much a staple of the Coachella Valley as the tournament itself.
 
“We can’t think of a more appropriate person to help us celebrate our 50th year of this wonderful event,” said Bob Hope Chrysler Classic President Dave Erwin. “In addition to his success as a player here, Arnold’s classic style and unmatched connection to his adoring fans helped us reach such an honorable milestone. We feel privileged to have him as our host for this special year and know that Bob would agree.”
 
“It was very special to me when I was asked to serve as the host of next year’s 50th anniversary Bob Hope Chrysler Classic,” said Palmer, who won the inaugural event in 1960. “I enjoyed some of my greatest success in the Hope in the early years and have loved the Palm Springs area ever since I first went there. I consider it a great honor to follow in the footsteps of Bob Hope as host of this wonderful tournament, which has been a mainstay on the PGA Tour for so many years. I thought the world of Bob Hope and spent many priceless hours with him on and off the golf course.”
 
Palmer’s 62 career wins – seven majors – rank him fifth on the all-time wins list, but it was his go-for-broke style and approachable, charismatic personality that made him a fan favorite.

"The Tour, however, has set a normal level at 250."

Rex Hoggard offers an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at Shaun Micheel's issues with drug testing and changes he is making to accomodate the tour's mandated "normal" testosterone level.

When Micheel was originally diagnosed, his testosterone levels were 279. A recent test recorded his testosterone levels at 537, which his doctor, Tour-approved endocrinologist Dr. Adrian Dobs, said was perfect.

According to Dobs, normal testosterone levels range from 300 to 800. The Tour, however, has set a normal level at 250.

“If people are sick, they deserve to get the medications they need,” said Richard Young, the Colorado-based lawyer who helped create the Tour’s anti-doping program. “You don’t get in the door unless you need something. But if a doctor says this is good for you, you don’t necessarily get a (therapeutic-use exemption).”

The first drug testing isn’t scheduled until early July. But make no mistake, the policy’s first exam is already under way.

“Just a habit"

Doug Ferguson answers a question some readers had about Steve Williams's typical move of discarding his caddie bib before the final putt dropped. In the case of Bay Hill, was it because he knew Tiger was going to make the putt, or because Stevie was just being Stevie the hall of fame luggage toter that he is.

According to his caddie, Tiger Woods had about a 1-in-15 chance of making that downhill, 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win at Bay Hill last week.

But upon further review, Steve Williams must have been confident it was going in.

Look at a replay of Woods standing over the putt, and Williams is in the background with his caddie bib already removed. If Woods had missed, there would have been a playoff with Bart Bryant.

This was brought to Williams’ attention Thursday. He thought about it, then smiled.

“Just a habit,” he said.

One can only assume the “habit” was taking off his bib on the 18th green. It had been seven years since Woods was in the final group and made a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win.