Tiger's Indefinite Leave Clippings, Christmas Edition
/Why do I fear there will be a New Year's Eve edition? Oh right, because Tiger's handlers have decided to ride this one out. Looks like a stellar strategy...
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.
Yet Another Tiger Question: What's Santa Telling The Kids?
/There were a few articles today but none that will change anyone's life by reading (really, Helen Alfredsson heard the rumors this summer and that's news!?).
Read MoreGolfDigest.com Groove Discussion
/Interesting how most of the guys think the groove rule change is a positive for the game, even as they don't see too much of an impact. Nice group assembled by Digest, hope we get to hear more of the discussion.
Read More"It's all about value"
/My November Golfdom column is up and I'd love your thoughts on it as well as the Texterity feature Golfdom now uses for the online edition of the magazine.
Read MoreTiger's Indefinite Leave Clippings, Vol. 11
/Don Ohlmeyer has signed on to serve as an ombudsman for ESPN and he analyzes all elements of Tiger coverage blasted by concerned ESPN.com readers.
Read More"Get out now, sponsors. The golf brand has been wrecked."
/Not to sound like Tim Finchem...but there are so many more elements to golf tournament sponsorship than just Tiger Woods. The LA Times' Dan Neil--an incredible auto reviewer and Pulitzer winner--reinforces the that lack of sponsorship understanding in a point-misser piece suggesting Tiger's phony image means all of pro golf is a charade unworthy of corporate support.
Without Woods, the game trails off and rolls back into the weeds of cultural irrelevance, long weekend tourneys among more or less evenly matched men in more or less equally ugly clothes slapping balls around while the real players get loaded in corporate hospitality tents. There is no heroism in golf without Tiger -- at least the Tiger we thought we knew -- no drama, and scant male pulchritude besides. Unless your business is actual golf balls or clubs (Titleist or Ping or whatever), I'd say your marketing dollars could be best spent elsewhere.And, of course, as a practical matter, there will be far fewer eyeballs watching golf on TV. Various estimates have the viewing audience sans Tiger dropping by 50%. Who knows if they'll ever come back.
The illusion that professional golf was somehow a sport with a higher calling, a game of honor and ethics played by fundamentally decent men, has been shattered. This isn't about counting strokes you took while nobody's watching. Tiger's trollop-taking is precisely the sort of thing we've come to expect from pro basketball and football players -- and, shamefully, our indifference implies consent. For the most dominant golfer of all time to be so caddish seems to be a signal that lesser golfers transgress in lesser degrees. In any event, the safe harbor of golf's presumed decency has been drained. Meanwhile, now that the tabloid press has had a taste for golfer flesh, I wouldn't be surprised if we have to live through a season of golf-related exposes. All the more reason for marketers to pull up stakes.
Apparently Tag Heuer didn't get the message. Their homepage today:
"I always have to answer all the questions"
/I was a bit surprised by the reaction to Jaime Diaz's Tiger profile in the February Golf Digest, particularly that it was in some way soft or not particularly revealing. After a second scan, I remain surprised at the amount Diaz revealed to the likely detriment of his relationship with Tiger.
Read MoreTiger's Indefinite Leave Clippings, Vol. 10
/The media coverage debates are heating up and Rich Lerner admits to reading all of the tabloid coverage before fending off critics of the golf world's effort over the years:
Were there times when our reporting bordered on fawning? Yes. Did we miss or dismiss other worthwhile stories because we were focused on Tiger? Yes. But no one that I know called him a God. Great golfer, yes. God, no. Were we surprised to learn of the extent of his affairs? Of course. Tiger ran in a circle that didn’t include any journalists that I know of.
"It is also possible that on a deep level, Woods simply wanted out of an unsustainable life."
/Many have wondered where Golf Digest/Golf World's Jaime Diaz has been during the Tiger crisis. After all, no writer more than Diaz knows Tiger better.
There's a lot to consider in his February, 2010 Golf Digest piece,
Tiger's Indefinite Leave Clippings, Vol. 9
/I made another cameo with the SI/golf.com roundtable and the Woods saga was kicked around. Here's a fun exchange about future media coverage:
Dick Friedman, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: Yes, this changes everything. Maybe not among the longtime golf media, but suddenly the nongolf media will be out in force, as it is in other sports.
"Will Finchem, co-chief operating officers Charlie Zink and Ed Moorhouse and executive vice presidents David Pillsbury, Tom Wade and Ron Price take a cut in pay?"
/One lingering question from the Tiger saga involves media coverage and whether having been bamboozled would lead to tougher golf media coverage. I don't know about you, but I'd say this Alex Miceli Golfweek.com piece looks like the first sign of a more, uh, discerning golf media.
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