Blackberrying From Lausanne

We learned last week that Tim Finchem let USGA-Executive-Director-in-hiding David Fay and LPGA Commish Carolyn Bivens inside his PGA Tour jet for the low cost, minimal upside trip to Europe to pitch the IOC on the ridiculous notion of golf in the Olympics. I'm sure the PGA Tour's rank and file would be thrilled to see the price tag for this pricey little excursion. 

The jet took on extra weight with PGA Tour's Ed Moorhouse and after a stop in London, Euro Tour headman George O'Grady, who joined the braintrust for the final leg to Lausanne, Switzerland. 

My NSA sources were able to intercept Blackberry messages sent by three of the passengers after stepping down in Lausanne, starting with Bivens writing to top lieutenant Jane Geddes.

Jane,

Greetings from Lausanne by way of London by way of Daytona and Teeterboro!!! We just touched down in the tour jet. What a cool ride. Thankfully we had George O'Grady to liven things up on the flight from London to Lausanne. It was just Tim, Fay and Ed Moorhouse on the first leg of the journey. Tim and Ed pretended to fall asleep about an hour into the flight, but I know they were awake because Ed kept kicking Tim's seat every time Fay mentioned the Yankees. Which reminds me, could you look up who this Joba guy is that Fay kept talking about needing to come off the DL? Is this a Star Wars reference I didn't understand?

CB

PS - how did Corning go, are they going to bump up their purse or are we going to have find another sponsor willing to pay full market value? 

PGA Tour Commish Finchem wrote to VP of International Affairs, Ty Votaw.

Ty,
Be grateful you didn't make this trip, even though the bottle of PGA TOUR cab we opened is just stunning. Nice sunny, smoky flavor, probably from the California wildfires? And please thank Chef for the cheese production, very appropriate selection with the cab. Hope the Corning HOF induction ceremony went well. Ed and I got some much needed rest on the flight over. Not much in the way of coterminous interfacing with our guests. Bivens and Fay looked lost when I suggested ways of monetizing and value modulating the Olympic movement. I finally had to take a nap when Fay kept reminding me that he'd love to run the Olympic golf federation if we are successful. I explained that we need to get golf in the games first, then we would codify the resource structuring.
Ed sends his best,
TF

And David Fay wrote to USGA CBO Pete Bevacqua, who apparently has created some fascinating new rules for staff.

Pete,

Just arrived in Lausanne. Even though this wasn't an official USGA function, I only had two drinks on the flight over from Teeterboro per the new company policy. That okay? Or does the two drink max not apply to me and the XC? Either way it was fine, Tim opened a bottle of the PGA Tour's new cab and it tasted like the fire hydrant runoff from a building fire on the upper eastside. I had to talk to Bivens most of the way. She tried to convince me we needed to hire her branding firm for this Olympic golf movement. She talks about branding more than you do. As I explained to you, President Rogge would not be interested in that at his point. Let's hope she doesn't bring it up at the meeting. Well, that's my update, I look forward to your response in less than two hours, again, per your new policy.

DBF

“It’s a goofy system – we all know that. But it’s the system we have"

Doug Ferguson reports on the finalization of U.S. Open exemptions, now at 72 as sectional qualifying beckons. He focuses on the unfortunate case of Arron Oberholser who was bumped out of the Open by .004 world ranking points.

Oberholser was losing a spot or two each week in the world ranking while recovering from injuries to his left hand, falling to No. 45. But he dropped six spots to No. 51 at the worst time – the cutoff for the top 50 being exempt to the U.S. Open.

He wound up .004 points behind Soren Hansen, who already was eligible.

“It’s a goofy system – we all know that. But it’s the system we have,” Oberholser said while waiting on lunch at Muirfield Village. “I probably deserve it. I haven’t played but five events because of my hand. And when I have played, I haven’t played well.”

"It's just such a neat little town, and the community's so close"

Pete Dougherty reports that it's not looking good for the LPGA's Corning Classic, a 30-year staple on the schedule.

The contract for this $1.5 million tour stop expires in 2009, and unofficial word is that an event that embraces the community as much as the community embraces it won't be renewed.

"I've had a feeling this was going to be coming soon," Sherri Turner, the 1988 Corning champion, said Tuesday as she choked back tears. "We all know things don't come easy here. You have to work for it, and I hate knowing that (the end) could happen."

And...

The players who traditionally spend the week leading into Memorial Day at Corning Country Club are older ones who savor what the city did during the LPGA's lean years.

"It's just such a neat little town, and the community's so close," said 1987 winner Cindy Rarick, now 48, who has played here 23 times in her 24 years on tour. "It's just a lot of fun to go around and see things. ... It's kind of a peaceful place. You know the airport's small. There's not a lot of traffic. It's more quiet, a relaxing atmosphere, and it's more fun."

Fun doesn't seem to rank high on golf's list of priorities these days. It's business. Big business. On the men's side, Tiger Woods is a corporation unto himself. The LPGA has no one of that stature, but Ochoa and Sorenstam, who plans to retire at season's end, are marketable.

"The players today are in it for the money for the most part," Turner said. "There's some that are in it for the love of the game, but they're going to go where the money is. I hate seeing that happen because I know why this event is probably not going to continue."

Turner, merely speculating but carrying the wisdom of a 25-year tour veteran, believes the LPGA soon will elevate its minimum purse to $2 million. That's too deep for the pockets of this community, even with the backing of its loyal corporate sponsor, Corning Glass Works.

The LPGA adopted a rule in 2002 -- intended to help smaller tour stops such as Corning and Toledo -- requiring its players to appear in each stop at least once in a four-year period. That led to Sorenstam competing, and winning, in 2004.

'09 NCAA Format Switch Not Going Over Well

On the eve of the NCAA Men's Championships at Purdue, Mike Carmin talks to coaches about the final NCAA to be played as a 72-hole stroke play event and explains the new format that will debut next year (and which most seem to not care for). I love the new format's attempt to get teams and match play involved, but I'm afraid shortening the individual competition to 54 holes will make it hard for the folks at Augusta National to give a spot to the NCAA champ.

"That's what number twos in the world do"

If you didn't see Phil Mickelson's dramatic birdie to win at Colonial, well, there's good news CBS has posted it online you need to wait until someone posts it on YouTube because the CBS Sports recap mysteriously does not show it. Instead, there's 2 minutes of Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo talking about how miraculous it was. Oh joy! (And they won't let anyone embed the video on blogs...good call suits, you're so savvy!).

But you can see this stellar shot (left) of his birdie putt by Marc Feldman courtesy of golf.com.

Mark Lamport-Stokes wrote about the final day heroics for Reuters. 

Clark, seeking his first PGA Tour title, birdied two of the last three holes to secure his sixth runner-up spot on the world's most lucrative circuit.

"I'm as surprised as anybody I was able to make a three from over there," Mickelson, 37, told reporters of his remarkable shot through and over trees at the last. "I was just lucky.

"It wasn't like it was an easy shot, but it just came off perfectly. It was one of my more memorable ones."

Known for his creative and often bold on-course strategy, Mickelson ranked his wedge approach as "probably top five" among the best shots of his career.

There was this interesting quote from the runner-up, Rod Pampling:

"That's what number twos in the world do," Pampling said. "Those guys make those kinds of shots. I thought I was in great position. I am obviously disheartened."

Mickelson joins Hogan and Snead as the only winners at Colonial and Riviera in the same year (the telecast mentioned Billy Casper but he won at Brookside GC, not Riviera). 

"If it is not all perfect now they all complain."

Seems Peter Alliss upset the Euro Tour boys with his on-air criticism this week, Lawrence Donegan reports.

There was much grumbling in the locker room at Wentworth during the week over comments made by the BBC commentator to the effect that the golf on display was of a poor standard. A neutral could argue such criticism was slightly unfair given the course had been exceptionally difficult until yesterday morning's heavy rainfall produced conditions more conducive to good scoring. Nick Dougherty, on the other hand, was inclined to a harsher assessment.

"I thought it was very sad. In fact, I thought it was disgusting," the Englishman said of Alliss' criticisms. "He was talking about us being bad putters. I don't know whether it's because he has been out of the game for so long but I didn't think it was right and he ought to show us more respect. I wish we could take him out there and show him how difficult it was."

Needless to say Alliss did not take kindly to being upbraided by a young upstart, albeit one with a reputation for being amiable, and his response will have done little to repair relationships or diminish the broadcaster's image as a 19th hole curmudgeon, forever wailing that it was better in the old days.

"I am not here to do anything but say what is going on and they didn't play well," he said. "I know it [the game] is hard. I won 21 tournaments, played in eight Ryder Cups. If it is not all perfect now they all complain.

"There is too much sand in the bunkers, there is not enough sand in the bunkers, the greens. The courses weren't manicured years ago and you had to make the most of it. Bobby Locke won at Oakdale years ago when the greens were like bloody concrete. He won by 10 shots because he knew how to do things. They are so thin-skinned nowadays. It is quite extraordinary. They all say they can take criticism and they don't mind constructive criticism but they do."

"When we come back Monday morning, there are several hundred questions in there.”

Bill Pennington files a nice profile on the USGA Rules Department and the unsung work they do.

Monday through Friday, 40 hours a week, it is their full-time job to answer the phone calls, e-mail messages and mailings of everyday golfers who are perplexed or confounded by some element in the 181 pages of the Rules of Golf. How perplexed or confounded?

The U.S.G.A. fields and answers about 20,000 rule queries every year.

“They come in year-round but we are busiest from late May to September,” Fahleson said. “When we leave on a Friday, it’s not unusual for the rules e-mail in-box to be empty. When we come back Monday morning, there are several hundred questions in there.”

 In most other sports, be it beer-league softball or youth soccer, there is an umpire, referee or official presiding over the action to make decisions and enforce rulings. In golf, 99 percent of the time, the players are on their own trying to figure out what the appropriate ruling should be. And let’s face it, people don’t understand the rules as well as they think. And the rules can be unduly complicated.

“We do try to make the rules as simple as possible, but we’re dealing with a game played across thousands of acres, with so many outside factors like weather and wildlife,” said Bernie Loehr, U.S.G.A. manager for the Rules of Golf. “There are a lot of situations that can happen and so many possibilities to consider.”

"Most players aren't complaining. I'm complaining, and maybe some of the fans roaming the property are, too."

Sal Maiorana nails it with this column on the over-the-top, one-dimensional setup at Oak Hill, though this won't win him any friends at the club or PGA of America.

There is no border. The line has been crossed.

It's too tough, and my fervent wish — wishful thinking is all it is, though — would be that the PGA of America trim the jungle-like rough this morning and give these players a chance to give the large galleries something to cheer about.

Sure, this has been a glorious week for Rochesterians as the hometown hero, Jeff Sluman, has been in contention since the opening bell Thursday and has a very real chance of pulling off a victory for the ages today.

However, let's be perfectly honest. Outside of rooting for Sluman and watching the Great White Shark, Greg Norman, make one of his rare tournament appearances with fiancée Chris Evert in tow, there hasn't been a whole lot of excitement at Oak Hill.

The answer to me is as clear as the rough is deep:

The rough is too deep.

When a ball ends up in the tall, thick, gnarly stuff, there really is no other choice but to hack it back into play somewhere in the fairway — if possible — and then try to save par, or more likely, make bogey.

It was the same thing back in 2003. Miss a fairway, forget birdie and thank your lucky stars if you can make par.

Most players aren't complaining. I'm complaining, and maybe some of the fans roaming the property are, too.

The players understand the course is brutally difficult, they aren't whining that the rough is too long and lush and they are more than willing to swallow their medicine when they drive their ball astray.

They don't have to grind like this every week, especially on the Champions Tour, and believe it not, on the whole they seem to be enjoying the challenge that has been put forth.

That's great. I'm all for challenging the best players and making them work hard to earn this prestigious championship. I'm just not enamored with watching player after player gouge out of the rough after missing the fairway and then wedging onto green after green in search of a par.

It would be nice if, once in a while, someone had the option of making the bold play and trying to hit a risk-reward type of shot out of semi-playable rough in search of a birdie.

It was this kind of golf that I felt plagued the 2003 PGA Championship and turned that tournament into a snooze until Shaun Micheel hit his remarkable game-clinching 7-iron to within two inches at 18.

"Phil made new friends that night, East Coast guys who were never around him before, who just read and heard about this Left Coast character and never knew what to think."

Tim Rosaforte fawns over Phil Mickelson's appearance at a Boys and Girls Club tournament and calls him the "unofficial host pro" when the U.S. Open arrives at Torrey Pines. But more importantly, we learn that Phil is just a regular guy, carrying his own Callaway double strap bag (and here I figured Phil would have picked up a Sun Mountain on ebay).

Mickelson's buddy Gregg Tryhus, the Scottsdale developer (Grayhawk and Whisper Rock), walked every step with them, but Phil never let him take the bag.

Uh, you don't usually hand your bag off to a developer who overpays you to design a course for him.

Seeing Mickelson in shorts, carrying his own sticks, is nothing new around Torrey Pines. Lefty has been doing that since he was playing junior golf. He was out with brother Tim before the Players in the same gear and came back with a scouting report and take on the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge. Tim, the coach at the University of San Diego, is actually longer than Phil, who drove one 357 yards on Thursday at Colonial during an opening round 65.

"Phil has enjoyed carrying his own bag since his junior golf days," Coe said. "He just feels more connected to the course and it allows him to play at his own pace. I feel if the USGA would let him, he would pack his own bag for the Open and probably imagine he was playing in another Junior World."

And if his sponsors let him, he's play barefoot with a shred of hay tucked between in his cheek.

Now about this Boys and Girls club dinner...

Hosting the dinner was New York Times best-selling author Jim Nantz, who said during the introductions he had a vision of a Mickelson victory.

Okay I know I keep interrupting here, but New York Times best-selling author Jim Nantz? Continue...

Afterward, they sat on a stage and conducted a question and answer session that lasted almost an hour. Phil was open, self-deprecating, teasing, funny. At one point, radio host Rush Limbaugh stood up and asked an impassioned question about Tiger Woods, but Phil gave it the full dodge, as any good politician would.

Phil made new friends that night, East Coast guys who were never around him before, who just read and heard about this Left Coast character and never knew what to think.

I'm sorry, did I miss the part where this article started with "For Immediate Release?"

And talk about your buried lede. The last sentence:

Phil forgot to mention what he told the guys gathered around him on the putting green Tuesday morning at Torrey. Even at 7,607, he'll only have to hit driver four times.

"The scouting report on Oak Hill might have been a deterrent, too."

In a pair of blog posts (here and here), John Strege tries to figure out why so many geezers passed on the first of five senior majors at Oak Hill. Looking at the scores and word that the setup is entirely over the top, I think I know why.

Unfortunately, this somber tree-lined mess of rough and bad Fazio redesign work hosts the 2013 PGA. If this week is a preview, it's safe to say they haven't learned from the antics last time they hosted and will inevitably spawn another freak show finish.

"He can still be an awkward devil though"

A pair of good reads on Nick Faldo's reign as Ryder Cup captain, starting with Mark Reason who focuses on the apparent inability to find an assistant captain.

In an extraordinary press conference on Tuesday, Faldo became increasingly evasive and hostile when questioned on the subject. By the end the room was fairly crackling with animosity. When Faldo tried out a joke to alleviate the atmosphere it quickly lost altitude and crashed through the floor of the tent.

A couple of weeks ago Faldo was seen chatting to Bernhard Langer in a car park in Florida. Did he ask the German, who was such a successful captain in America in 2004, if he would consider the post of vice-captain? We may never know.

When I asked Langer what he and Faldo had been talking about he said: "I don't have to tell you. That's between him and me." Faldo would only say: "I had a couple of little questions to ask him."

John Huggan looks back at some of Faldo's early career moments and notes that he reverted to his old self during a Wentworth press conference.

He can still be an awkward devil though, as he proved the other day during an excruciating press conference at Wentworth. Seated next to an uncomfortable looking George O'Grady, executive director of the European Tour, Faldo was back to his worst in dealing with the media. Question after question went half answered as the six-time major champion reverted to previous type. He was, not to put too fine a point on it, a pain in the you-know-where.

Later, ensconced in a more intimate meeting with half a dozen Sunday newspaper journalists, Faldo was more forthcoming, although not much. Just about his only moment of real animation came in his explanation of just how his more senior players could help out any Ryder Cup rookies. Which is perhaps not surprising. One of the greater ironies about Faldo is the close relationship he seems to enjoy with many of the younger lads vying for spots on his team.

Tiger Skipping Memorial: A Break For The USGA?

With four straight Buick Invitational wins at Torrey Pines and six overall, Tiger Woods is even more of a U.S. Open favorite than normal. Mike Davis, the USGA's Director of Rules and Competitions, has joked that if Tiger does not win the Open at Torrey, the USGA would be blamed.

But with it now official that he will play no warm up event, has Tiger taken some pressure off of the USGA setup to produce him as a winner? Or is this simply the most inane question ever posed on this blog? 

Hey, it's Friday and I have to get back to the Laker game. 

Tiger Not On Memorial Field List

Somehow I don't think that's an oversight.

"Wipe the smile off your face for a start, there is nothing funny"

Tony Jimenez reports that Monty is taking his missed cut in stride.

Eight times European number one Colin Montgomerie was in a prickly mood on Friday after missing the cut at the PGA Championship for the first time in 19 years.

"Wipe the smile off your face for a start, there is nothing funny," the 44-year-old Briton told a reporter after a three-over-par 75 gave him a four-over total of 148.

Gee, I wonder who was smiling!?

Montgomerie, who won the European Tour's flagship event in 1998, 1999 and 2000, was level-par for the front nine before slumping to a three-over 40 coming home that included two sixes.

The out-of-form Scot has tumbled to 90th in the world but Europe's Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo said on Tuesday he thought the team's emotional figurehead was still capable of rallying to qualify for the September 19-21 match against the United States.

Asked on Friday if he was encouraged by Faldo's remarks, Montgomerie replied: "That's the furthest thing from my mind.

"I just didn't play well enough. It's one of those things, you get what you deserve in this game.

"End of story. I was not encouraged by anything today."

Some Good News For The Golf Industry?

Dan Piller of the Des Moines Register talks to Todd Gray, SVP of Wells Fargo's financial leasing business who says "golf, as an industry, is healthy. It's just become more competitive."

"Golf is a lagging economic indicator," he said. "Whatever the economy is doing, golf will feel it the next year. If people feel less economically secure, they'll be less likely to put out money for a club membership or want to play at more expensive daily fee courses. If they're feeling flush, golf will benefit."

Gray's perspective comes from calling on more than 4,000 golf courses across the nation, selling and managing Wells Fargo's leasing credit business under which courses lease their fleets of mowers and turf equipment, as well as golf carts.

His frequent and lengthy trips around the country are hard on his own 12-handicap game, but give him a perspective on the health of the business, he said. Gray recently completed a five-week stint for the U.S. Golf Association helping members become more business savvy.