When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Lawrence Donegan notes that the world's No. 75 player will now have more time to prepare for this April 17th wedding.
No matter what you think of Woody Austin, you have to love his honest take on Sunday's final hole meltdown in New Orleans where Andres Romero took the title. Photo courtesy of golf.com.
His post round comments:
Q. Woody, tough day out there today. It's tough to say, but you admitted it, you said you choked it coming in the last nine holes.
WOODY AUSTIN: Oh, I puked my guts out, no doubt about it. I didn't have control of my golf swing and I put two hands on the steering wheel and was trying to steer it around, and it caught me at the end.
Q. Talk me through 18 because we got you on our sound talking to Brent about that second shot. You wanted to go for it, and it sounded like he wanted you to lay up.
WOODY AUSTIN: Well, I mean, he was just asking if he thought I could get it out, and I could have got it out. The only reason why I topped it or whatever is because I didn't go down in and get it. Again, I flinched, like I said, and it really -- it really wasn't that hard a shot as I made it out to be. But again, like I said, I'm not afraid to admit, when I choke, I choke, and I choked.
GolfDigest.com has posted the final five candidates for the amateur golfer spot in the pre-U.S. Open reality show.
I would vote, but I'm not really interested in sharing that much information, all so that I can cast a ballot for someone I don't know.
That said, I'm officially endorsing Santa Monica policeman Matt Rice, who gets my thumb's up despite listing Lost Canyons as his home course instead of Rustic Canyon (which, I might note Officer, is much more affordable on a cop salary). Naturally, I want to be on the record endorsing him should I ever be pulled over by Officer Rice here in my hometown.
Mr. Thomas, who in 1984 revised and strengthened a regulation specifically banning spring-like effect, believes the USGA should have stopped the new clubs with spring-like effect as soon as they were discovered, because they only created potential expense and problems for the game (such as the need for longer courses) and violated tradition. "The first paragraph of the first equipment regulation published by the USGA in 1909 prohibited clubs that 'contain any mechanical contrivance, such as a spring,' " Mr. Thomas noted. But instead, over his objections, the organization in 1998 merely set a limit on spring-like effect a little above the then-current levels. That decision, he believes, was primarily motivated by fear of lawsuits from clubmakers who were already marketing the clubs.
Combined with simultaneous advances in ball technology, swing-motion analysis, player training and agronomy, spring-like effect boosted the average drive on the PGA Tour an alarming 24 yards from 1995 to 2003. But in the last five years the distance creep has slowed (the average is actually down a bit so far this year) and Mr. Thomas is convinced current regulations will keep it capped.
I'll get back to posting about golf tomorrow. However I thought the baseball fans out there might enjoy a couple images from Saturday's Dodgers-Red Sox game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers' move to L.A. from Brooklyn.
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John Huggan talks to Geoff Ogilvy about his win at Doral on the eve of the Masters.
Rain delays during both the third and fourth rounds forced the event into a fifth day, a state of affairs that inevitably weighs heaviest on the man with most to lose, the tournament leader.
"The last thing I wanted was more time to think about what was going on," admits Ogilvy. "Everyone who plays golf knows that the more you think about something the worse it generally gets. So sitting around wasn't great. I just had to sit around and wait because we never knew exactly what was going to happen. My wife and kids came over for a bit.
"But I mostly sat around talking to the guys about stuff guys talk about in locker rooms. Sex and sports basically!
"Having said that, I enjoyed playing in the last group on Saturday, even with the delays. For me, it was an ideal pairing. I play with Adam (Scott] all the time and who doesn't want to play with Tiger in the last group? So that was perfect."
Connell Barrett talks to David Feherty about his bike accident. While Feherty is in top form comically, this caught my eye:
I was writhing around, unable to breathe. I said to myself, 'If I pass out, am I coming back?' I remember feeling that if this is it for me, I'm not unhappy. I've done all right. I was ready to go, if it was going to happen. I wasn't afraid. I also remember a woman stopping. She came over and held my hand, asking, "Can you hear me?" She stayed with me until the paramedics came. I couldn't talk, but I could listen, and I remember her voice. I haven't been able to find out who she is yet. If you're out there, call me. I'd love to say thank you.
Here's a better version of the Bubba moment at New Orleans. I do believe that's an accurate quote, but I'm open to other interpretations. It's a classic.
The Advocate called, they want their travel story back!
Yes, as strange as it was to read a review of a flaming red Mercedes coupe in the April Golf Digest, that oddity was supplanted by Matt Ginella's wince-worthy piece on "Ponces" (groups of straight men going on buddy trips that would set off Dr. Freud's radar). But the whole thing gets even more entertaining with an online video of the not particularly compelling "ambush" of this fabulous, fabulous extravaganza.
Come on, hit the link, you know you like the torture.
I'll see if I can get a less Shell's Wonderful World of Golf circa-1962 quality version of this on the rebroadcast, but the audio comes in just fine. Sit back and enjoy the tension, courtesy of reader Chuck! (From round 2 of the Zurich Classic, probably picked up by the same sound instruments detailed earlier this week.)
Well there's more here we don't know because Bubba apologized after his round according to PGATour.com.
Bubba Watson moved quickly to diffuse a tense situation that developed between he and playing partners Steve Elkington and Shigeki Maruyama during the second round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.Steve Elkington was not asked about the incident in his post round interview. Guess they had the volume turned down in the press center!
After he finished his round, Watson apologized for any misunderstanding that might have happened among the threesome. Watson apparently heard some movement while he was playing a shot and lashed out at Elkington and Maruyama.
"Who knows what (the movement) was,'' he said. "I was already mad for the day and I just took it out on them and I shouldn't have. I want to apologize to everyone in the tournament, whoever heard it, whoever saw it and especially to Steve and Shigeki and their caddies."
Tournament director Arvin Ginn spoke to the three players in the scorer's tent following the round. He said they were "very gentlemanly about the whole thing. They shook hands and there's no incident here.''
Jeff Rude files this frightening item for the Golfweek tour blog:
Dean Wilson, Zurich Classic first-round leader, grew up in Hawaii. Wilson now knows Barack Obama, presidential candidate, also grew up in Hawaii. More to the point, Wilson now knows who Obama is.Focused?
That wasn't the case in December 2006 when the PGA Tour player was taping a television segment at a daily-fee course on Oahu. Obama also happened to be there that day, playing golf with childhood friends while on vacation.
Someone mentioned to Wilson that that guy over there might be the next president.
"President of what?" the golfer said. "President of the golf club?"
Admitted Wilson later, "I had never heard of him."
And who says professional golfers aren't focused?
Larry Dorman scores the exclusive for the New York Times.
Looks like I may have to cut down on my Today Show viewing if past NBC synergistic plugfests are any indication.
Oh and Joe Dey is officially spinning in his grave. Just wish he was there on the first tee to greet JT. And no, I'm not talking about Sweet Baby James. That's right, Mr. Wardrobe Malfunction. Maybe he'll pull Mike Davis's earpiece out?
There wasn't much new ground to cover, even for a pro like Gary D'Amato who filed a Golf World profile of Erin Hills. I believe it's the 400th piece recounting the history of the public gem outside Milwaukee designed by Hurdzan-Fry-Whitten. Except this:
The USGA has made no secret it is trying to identify a Midwest course for the U.S. Open, and Erin Hills meets all the criteria. There is plenty of land for infrastructure; it's a public course (green fees are $160); the sandy sub-soil encourages a firm, fast turf; and it can be stretched to a titanium-testing 8,266 yards. (Indeed, multiple sources tell Golf World there have been preliminary discussions about Erin Hills hosting the event in 2017.)
I find it a bit hard to believe they would go there so soon after Chambers Bay, especially since the course needs some pretty significant changes, according to my sources.
Thanks to reader Matthew for Sue Zesiger Callaway's review of the Segway X2 Golf. If the mere sight or thought of it doesn't horrify you, this should:Worst of all, if you're playing by the book you'll have to don a helmet, which adds to the already high dork quotient of golf. But considering I have been nicked by an errant ball once before, I suppose it's a style glitch I can live with.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
