"Our main focus is to immediately begin, and aggressively begin, to explore our options"

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Lawrence Donegan noted Saturday that Setanta's demise could cost the PGA Tour upwards of $60 million in UK rights fee money. Now Steve Elling notes in an item buried in his Up and Down column that the tour has in fact acknowledged the checks won't be coming and that they are looking for a UK broadcaster.

"Our main focus is to immediately begin, and aggressively begin, to explore our options," tour VP Ty Votaw said Tuesday. The phones will be ringing at Sky Sports, Eurovision and ESPN, if they aren't already. As it stands, this week's Travelers Championship will not be broadcast in the U.K. -- nor any PGA Tour action outside of the majors and WGC events going forward -- unless a new deal is struck.

"I didn't even know that Congressional held the Open."

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Continuing to ensure his likeness will have a spot in the next Dan Jenkins novel, Anthony Kim gave another impressive press conference last week at the U.S. Open. I did not attend but heard about it and saved the printed version and finally read it today while going through my stuff.

He has no recollection of watching the 2002 Open at Bethpage. Fine. He caddied for Justin Timberlake in the Golf Digest break 100 deal, having never seen the course and prepared by practicing at Trump National Bedminster. Kim eventually played each nine once before the event. Bet you'd like to have known that before picking him in your pool!

But I loved this most.

Q. You won at Congressional last year; hosted an Open. The setup is so different, that there's no confidence built because you know you've won on a track that can host this kind of tournament?

ANTHONY KIM: I didn't even know that Congressional held the Open. But --

Q. It will again.

ANTHONY KIM: Now it gives me a little bit more confidence going into the week. So thank you. But I'm excited to hear that, because the course set up well for my eye.

Johnny: BYU Better Prepares You For The PGA Tour!

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Richard Sandomir reports:

And NBC would have most preferred a Tiger Woods victory, but he wasn’t up to it, not even on two good legs. I fear that in Woods’s inconsistency throughout the tournament, Miller lumped him in this critical catchall.

“If these guys were really smart,” he said after some putts that didn’t meet his standard of preparedness, they’d have gotten a tape of the 2002 Open at Bethpage Black, “to study the breaks” of the greens.

Hicks replied to Miller, “A few do.”

“I’ll bet there aren’t two guys who do it,” Miller said.

“I’ll bet Tiger Woods did,” Koch said.

After Hicks subsequently named Mike Weir as one of those on the course who asked for a tape, Miller attributed Weir’s foresight to his attending Brigham Young University, where Miller was an all-American.

Anyone watching and heard this care to report whether Johnny had tongue planted in cheek? I know sarcasm isn't his thing, so I'm going to guess this wasn't a joke.

"In many ways, the story of Ponkapoag is the story of lost opportunity"

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Catching up on a few items lost in last week's Open and starting with this Peter Schworm piece on Ponkapoag still representing a lost opportunity as another Bethpage in the eyes of many. But $35 million to restore? Wow.

In many ways, the story of Ponkapoag is the story of lost opportunity, like a potentially winning putt that lips out on the 18th hole of a major championship. As the people of New York celebrate their rehabilitated course and the lucrative championship it hosts, the people at Ponkapoag, amid a downturn in golf, a suffering economy, and a chronic inferiority complex, are left to wonder what might have been.

2009 U.S. Open Clippings, First Final Edition

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Sure looks to me like there were a lot of scribblers happy they didn't have to stay for a playoff based on the spirited reporting. Here goes, starting with Doug Ferguson's game story.

Lucas Glover steadied his hands for a 3-foot par putt on the 18th hole, an anticlimatic finish to five dreary days at a U.S. Open filled with more delays than drama.

The unlikely champion turned to soak up a beautiful sight beneath gathering clouds Monday at Bethpage Black.

“I just looked at the scoreboard to make sure this was really happening,” Glover said.

Larry Dorman in the New York Times:

The United States Open concluded its rainy, muddy and chaotic five-day run at Bethpage Black on Monday, and it turned out to be more about grit than glamour, more grinding than grinning.

Cameron Morfit on Glover walking away from golf last fall and how that may have resurrected his career.

Steve Elling on Glover and how memories of Dick Harmon choked up the champion up after the round.

Sean Martin talks to caddy Don Cooper about the misunderstood Glover and their strategic approach to No. 18.

Golfweek posts video of this exclusive post round chat and this video of Alex Miceli's reaction along with more on Glover.

Here's his post-round interview in the press center.

The SI group kicks around this week's event and focuses mostly on Glover, with some chatter at the end about Bethpage's prospects.

Bill Pennington is with Phil Mickelson after the round and takes us inside the locker room to give some insight into how he's handling his 5th U.S. Open runner-up finish.

Gene Wojciechowski says Phil didn't blow this one and he won't dwell on it long.

Thomas Bonk on the men who almost won the Open and the wide array of reactions to losing.

Gary Van Sickle on Tiger's quick exit and his issues with slow poa greens.

Brad Klein goes inside NBC's broadcast center to explain how the final round telecast was produced.

John Strege on a call David Duval made to his sports psychologist last week that probably helped his cause.

Strege also posts some miscellaneous notes.

An AP story on Hunter Mahan's horrible break at No. 16.

Ryan Ballengee wonders if New York is on the verge of becoming majorless for a while.

Tom Dunne with some miscellaneous thoughts about the week.

Mark Soltau puts together the best quotes of the day.

Michael Bamberger dissects face gestures and player jargon.

Dave Kindred on some of Lucas Glover's fans. Bob Harig talks to the same guys, who sported special shirts and oh yeah, they're related.

Golf.com offers a 3-d photo gallery.

And finally, I didn't see much on the decision to move the 18th tee up, but there have already been plenty of comments about how the decision was somehow a mistake in setup tactics because Lucas Glover hit 6 iron off the tee. I can see the hole location being debated, but let's not forget, it's just a really bad hole.

2009 U.S. Open Clippings, Monday Final Round Edition

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Doug Ferguson's game story and his lede:

Halfway through his third round, Ricky Barnes had a six-shot lead and a smile to match in the U.S. Open. Ten holes later, with darkness gathering, he couldn't get off Bethpage Black fast enough.

Larry Dorman's NY Times story includes a revealing image of Ricky Barnes after his first hole bogey (before halting of play) and this lede:

The 15 hours of daylight during the year’s longest day was not enough to illuminate a finish to the soggy United States Open at Bethpage Black on Sunday. But just before it died, it lighted the corners and cracks of the games of the co-leaders Ricky Barnes and Lucas Glover and gave some insight into what may happen on Monday when final round continues at 9 a.m.

Thomas Bonk on Phil Mickelson's state of mind. Sean Martin also weighs in on Phil. As does Bill Pennington.

Bob Harig on the final pairing. You'll love finding out who Barnes is sandwiched between on the world ranking.

John Strege tells us things we might not know about Ricky Barnes. I definitely forgot about his interesting path to the final pairing of the US Open.

Ian Poulter Tweets from the course (between rounds) to show us mud on his ball. The heartbreaking image is here.

SI digs up a 2003 profile of Barnes.

Gary Van Sickle makes final round picks.

Bill Fields reminds us of some other strange majors while Steve Elling says this one is pretty much the worst, not that it's anyone's fault.

Mark Soltau compiles the best quotes of the day.

TV Times are here.

And mopping a few items missed yesterday:

Michael Buteau talks to Pete Bevacqua of the USGA about the importance of Tiger Woods to golf: “He’s our own TARP money." And shares this:

Because organizers sold less than 50 hospitality tents, which range in price from $32,500 for a table of 12 inside a course-side pavilion to $230,000 for a 40-foot-by-40-foot shelter, the association was left with about 1,500 additional daily and weekly ticket packages to sell to the public.

The tents that were sold remain shrouded in anonymity. There are no visible marquees because the occupants do not want to be known.

“Everybody is afraid of being seen out here,” Bevacqua said. “Until people understand how effective a tool this is, corporations will still use this as a tool, but they don’t want to draw attention or exposure to themselves.”

Newsday notes on Tiger's hecklers Saturday.

"We're on Long Island, baby, where men are men!" one fan yelled. "Put that umbrella down!" The taunts were mixed with cheers from the majority of the crowd. Woods did not respond to the people who were heckling him but tried to quiet the crowd with a "sshh" hand gesture, putting his finger to his lips, as golfers prepared to tee off on the adjacent 12th tee. "Suck it up, you've got your own video game!" someone shouted at Woods.

The best sports fans in the world.

2009 U.S. Open, Hopefully The Final Day

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Can you recall a day where so much could happen? I suppose it'd be more exciting if the rain would stop and the people could just enjoy a great day of golf.

Comment away! Johnny, Dan, Tiger, Ricky, Phil, Tilly...whatever crosses your mind. Predictions welcome too.

NBC comes on at 11 a.m. EST. Here's my Twitter feed:

2009 U.S. Open Clippings, Sunday Edition

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If they can start at 7:30, there's a chance the round is finished reports Doug Ferguson. Amazing. A re-pair will not happen if the weather is holding things up again.

Bob Harig talks to players about the difficulty of playing with so many stops and starts.

Adam Schupak on Ricky Barnes and his rebirth, looking to become the first man to win a major wearing a painters cap.

Here I was listening to Lucas Glover talk after his round and found myself nodding off. After Cameron Morfit's profile, I'm reminded why he's a guy to root for.

Mark Soltau with the days best quotes. Love Ogilvy's, really bored with Tiger's poa-green complaints.

Speaking of Tiger, Gary Van Sickle has a full report on the world No. 1's day.

Sam Weinman kicks off the discussion about luck in majors and just how much was involved with this year's draw. This year's Open definitely surpasses the worst draw contrast in recent memory: the 2008 Northern Trust Open.

Jeff Babineau makes the case that the Open is more than just Tiger and Phil.

Trevor Murphy, the shock TV star of Saturday's round, filed this diary entry for GolfDigest.com.

Golfweek's coverage is here, including a couple of player blogs from Rickie Fowler and Matt Nagy.

Tim Rosaforte explains David Duval's New York connection, if you are so inclined to root for him.

And finally, Jaime Diaz interviews Dan Jenkins about Ben Hogan. And if you haven't been following Dan on Twitter, you're missing out.

"We have excellent relations with Setanta"

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Lawrence Donegan reports that the demise of sports network Setanta means that the UK rights holder to PGA Tour coverage may be leave the Tour as "the hardest hit sports league."

Where will the PGA tour go now? Sky, which used to hold the rights and bid around £5m-a-year when they came up for auction in 2006, may be interested. But it will not be interested at a price anywhere near that paid by Setanta - especially as it was miffed to lose the contract in the first place.

And this...

It is hard to know for certain because we don't know how the deal with Setanta was structured. But let's say the $103 million was spread evenly over the reported five years; that's $20.6 million a year. Two years have already elapsed, which leaves three years at $20.6 million - a total of $61.8 million. Ouch!