"We are pleased with the court's decision and have no further comment at this time"

Bob Harig on Doug Barron losing in court:

In his ruling, Pham wrote that Barron's participating in the qualifying round this week "could raise substantial public policy concerns regarding the enforcement of anti-doping policies in professional sports."

According to Barron's attorney and representative Art Thorne, Barron tested positive this summer for two banned substances -- testosterone and a beta-blocker -- both of which Barron said he has been taking for years as prescribed by a doctor.

Barron had sought a therapeutic use exemption for the drugs last year but was denied by the PGA Tour. His lawyers argued that he was not trying to gain an unfair advantage, that he took the drugs under a doctor's supervision and that he made no secret about it.

Barron, who played in just one PGA Tour event this year -- the Memphis St. Jude Classic where the random drug test was administered -- and four on the Nationwide Tour, was in Texas on Monday where he hoped to tee it up in the 72-hole qualifier which begins Wednesday at Deerwood Golf Club in McKinney.

Alex Miceli posts this very interesting timeline on Barron's career, with notes about how far back he has relied on beta-blockers.

Oct. 22, 2008 – Commissioner Tim Finchem denies appeal and instructs Barron to begin weaning himself off the drug.

2008 – Barron earns only $33,446 in 17 events on the Nationwide Tour.

Jan. 20 or 21*, 2009 – Tour denies the TUE for exogenous testosterone and instructs Barron to stop taking the drug. (* The Tour and Barron have different dates for the decision.)

Spring – Barron starts to take Lyrica as a substitute for Propranolol.

Early June – A doctor injects Barron with exogenous testosterone.

June 11 – Barron is drug-tested at the St. Jude Classic.

June 15 – Barron misses the cut at St. Jude.

2009 – Barron’s sample is found to contain Propranolol and testosterone.

July 23, Aug. 12 – Barron provides additional information to the Tour about his use of Propranolol and testosterone.

Oct. 20 – The Tour suspends Barron for one year (until Sept. 20, 2010) for violating the anti-doping ban on performance-enhancing drugs.

A cynic (which I certainly am not) might read that account and think the Commissioner didn't like Barron ignoring his recommendation to start weaning himself off of his prescribed drugs. Hard to imagine how Barron would not have faith in the Commissioner's medical expertise. Shocking, frankly.

"What happens in Mexico stays in Mexico."

Michelle Wie chatted with some writers about her win in Mexico. From Steve Elling's excellent career account, this makes the win all that more impressive:

Wie started the fall semester in college, had barely practiced or played, and hadn't entered an LPGA event in five weeks. Wie said she was so distracted by the ankle that it probably helped her from getting caught up in the pressure of the moment.

"Walking a golf course is a long walk," she said. "The people at the LPGA have been working on my ankle a lot, icing it, and maybe it's another reason why I was able to keep calm because all I was focusing on was finishing the round. I was just focusing on my steps and not hurting."
Baby steps, if you will.

And her sense of humor came through in this Q&A with Jason Sobel:

Q: After clinching the win, you had beer poured on you by the other players on the 18th green.

A: Yeah, they did.

Q: You're not 21 yet. Are you going to get in trouble with the LPGA?

A: No, what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico. It was just really cool. You see it on TV; whenever somebody wins, players pour beer all over them. It was one of those things where I always wanted that to happen.

USGA/R&A: You Can Keep Your Silly Little Distance Measuring Device

Though I'm not sure about this clarification on GPS-enabled phones/PDA's:

3.     Multi-functional devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, etc (i.e., devices that are primarily communication devices, but which may have other potential uses) may be used as follows:

·         The device may be used for any non-golfing purpose (e.g., as a communication tool to phone, text or email), subject to any club/course regulations and the rules on accessing advice-related matters – see Decision 14-3/16.

·         When the local rule is in effect, a distance-measuring application may be used, provided the specific application is restricted to “distance only” and the device does not have any other “non-conforming” features. This is the case even if these other features are not being used. As above, the rules on advice-related communications (including the use of the internet) still apply.

So this rules out the new iphone GPS app when the local rule is in effect?

Tiger Lexicon Grows...

...or is it jargon?

After his wild-off-the-tee third round:

"I was spinning the ball quite a bit with the driver today and I didn't quite have it right," he said.

Spinning=spraying, no?

And after winning, talking to Australian TV about what he did to get things squared away around round three and in preparation for the final round:

"I did some rehearsals last night and felt very comfortable with what I was going to do today."

Rehearsals=hitting balls?

Any others you've heard?

Bubble Bursts At Disney, PGATour.com Not There To Cover It?

There was much kvetching about the lack of Orlando Sentinel coverage for the Children's Miracle Network event at Disney World, but the real story was in PGATour.com's odd choice not to send someone to the final tour event of the year. Instead they posted AP game stories and a live blog, yet that wasn't enough when there are so many intriguing storylines like finalization of the top 125 and determination of tour cards for the following year.  Inevitably great storylines develop and the web becomes a prime source for family, friends, acquaintances and former pro-am partners to see how their horses are doing.

It's also disconcerting to see such coverage when the event is played in the same state as tour headquarters and where the sponsor is propping up a long time event popular with players.

Thankfully, we got compelling accounts of the final day's play and money list scenarios from Steve Elling (here), Bob Harig (here) and Sean Martin (here).

I know, those three probably did the job better than PGATour.com would when their writers file in fear of little men with a red pen scribbling away edgier details. But with media consolidation the tour's own site often becomes a primary source of news. How can they be trusted when they aren't even giving an important event serious coverage? (Not to mention the decision not to post a story about Doug Barron's lawsuit).

Most of all, what does the lack of coverage say about the home office's view of the Fall Finish and the event at Disney?

Michelle Wie Wins In Spite Of Venal, Haunted Little Men

Great to see Michelle Wie overcome all of the folks hoping to see her fail--if you read the Huffington Post--and win an LPGA Tour event.

Ron Sirak reflects on what a "long, strange trip" it's been for Wie.

And Wie saved her deepest thoughts for Twitter:

"It'll be a change, but it's not like you're going to watch something different next year."

Rex Hoggard is at the Disney event and does some research on the grooves issue. Early conclusion? Too early to tell for the most part since manufacturers have been slow to ship conforming clubs to players.

The new rule applies to all clubs, but most players already play conforming grooves in their irons. The only adjustment for the lion’s share of Tour players will be in their wedges and most agree the impact will be negligible.

From fairway lies, tests indicate a Tour player gets 3 to 4 percent less spin with the conforming grooves, which are smaller than the old grooves and not as sharp along the edges. “You really can’t tell the difference,” said Heath Slocum, who put the new wedges in play at the Frys.com Open. “Maybe a foot of extra roll on the greens. I couldn’t tell any difference.”

From the rough, however, there is a tendency for the ball to roll up the clubface, creating a shot with less spin that comes out higher than players are used to.

“You’re going to see players go to wedges with less loft,” said Todd Anderson, the swing coach for Charles Howell III and Charles Warren. “A guy will go from 60 (degrees) to 56 (degrees) to control shots better.”
Touch shots from the first cut of rough are also a concern for some players.

“From 80 yards out of the rough it’s going to be tough to control,” said Warren, who is 144th in earnings and did not switch to the new grooves at Disney as he attempts to break into the top 125 and secure his ’10 Tour card.

David Dusek offers this analogy from Davis Love:

But anyway, it'll be a change, but it's not like you're going to watch something different next year. It's like watching Talladega with a tiny bit smaller restrictor plate. To us fans it looked like the same race. It was just a little bit slower, but it looked like the same race. 
It's going to look like the same race next year. You just might see one ball roll a little bit farther on a chip and it'll just be because a guy played a different shot.