Coming This Week: Live From The PLAYERS
/You know I'm worried about my well being when passing up not only the traditional Fifth of Four Majors jab,
Read MoreIn golf construction art and utility meet; both are absolutely vital; one is utterly ruined without the other. GEORGE THOMAS
It’s back!
Twenty years later Tatra Press has kindly allowed me to bring back Grounds For Golf now that golf architecture is of more interest to the masses. A new Introduction looks at what’s driven the interest growth and two new chapters I had a blast adding (plus a few edits to keep things up-to-date).
The Amazon purchase page for the book arriving June 15, 2026.
IM'ing With The Commissioners, PLAYERS Edition
/My friends at the NSA didn't waste much time passing along the latest chat between PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and LPGA Commish Carolyn Bivens on the eve of the Players Championship.
Click on the image to enlarge:
"The message I've passed along to our staff and committee is that if you want to go to Cog Hill for an Open, it is easily good enough as a test of golf"
/A couple of interesting Cog Hill related stories have been posted on the eve of its reopening post-Reestoration (and boy does it look like a restored Dick Wilson Rees Jones course now.)
Read More"In America it is the other way round, they don't care how it plays as long as it looks good. As a country, we need to get back to playing golf the way it is supposed to be played."
/Two must reads on the eve of The Players: Paul Goydos, who nearly held off Sergio Garcia in the 2008 edition, is profiles
Read MoreThank God Brokaw's Not Announcing: Digest/NBC Selects Larry Giebelhausen
/The police officer won the contest to be named the whitest man in America the final contestant in the break 100 confab.
Phil Keeps White Belt Streak Going
/With a third round 75 at Quail Hollow he keeps his lousy white belt streak going and certainly padding that +1.8 white belt index.
Read MoreLehman Defends Really White Chest Bump Gone Awry
/Finally, some much needed Champions Tour controversy as Tom Lehman defends last weekend's chest-bump-gone-awry with Bernhard Langer,
Read MoreNo Truth To Rumor That Bob Hope Classic Talking To George Lopez About Sponsorship Bailout
/After all, he's in better financial shape than Chrysler.
Looks like they aren't touching the C-word after yesterday's news. For immediate release:
The Sixth Major Really, Really Wants To Move Up Two Slots
/For all of the joking about Quail Hollow's sixth major status, it sure sounds like the player raves for those Mercedes courtesy cars the wonderfully narrow course,
Read More"We’re letting them get excited about birdies instead of just watching people make a bunch of pars.”
/I didn't get to see any of the Quail Hollow Championship's opening round, but looking at the leaderboard and reading a couple of accounts about the course setup,
Read MoreOlympic Golf Movement Scores Best Endorsement Yet: Bruce Jenner Thinks It's A Bad Idea
/John Strege reports that the former Olympic great turned-Botox-gone-bad-reality-show-star says golf
Read More"There's definitely a different setup."
/Neat to see the tour setting up the sixth major at Quail Hollow in a way that helps prepare the players for next week's fifth major. Or maybe it's just part of the plan to mix things up and more importantly, play a better form of golf where accuracy is rewarded with firm greens instead of chip-out rough? Either way works.
From Jim Furyk's press session Wednesday:
We've come here a lot of times where the rough has been very deep, thick. It's been a huge premium on accuracy, and the rough is very low this year, as low as I've ever seen it and probably as low as I've seen it in almost any TOUR event I've ever played, outside of Harbour Town. It's obviously a different style.
I assume the greens are going to get very firm and quick, and it's a good golf course. I think that it'll play well in both styles. I'm anxious to see how it pans out through the week.
Q. Are you surprised to see it that way?
JIM FURYK: Well, I'm not, because we got a little heads-up in our green sheet or information sheet that the rough was going to be cut at two inches, and that kind of -- and the green speeds were targeted a little quicker than they were in the past. They were talking about possibly 13, which they're not right now, but if they get these greens firm and fast I don't think it matters if there's rough out there or not, it's going to be really difficult. But it's definitely a lot different setup than we've seen in the past.
