"We will have a statement after the tournament."

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Jeff Shain looks at the likelihood of Doral losing CA as its sponsor and the Tour having to find someone willing to put up the, gulp, $12 million or so necessary to sponsor a WGC event.

Without someone to pony up the approximately $12 million price tag each year, Doral could get stripped of its WGC status. One pessimistic view suggests the Blue Monster could fall off the schedule altogether. PGA Tour brass, however, rejects that scenario.

"I'm confident there will be a PGA Tour event here," tournament boss Eddie Carbone said at last month's CA media day.

Ty Votaw, the tour's executive vice president, was quick to stress that CA can't be counted out yet. He said the two sides will sit down after the event to discuss an extension to their four-year deal.

However, CA communications chief Bill Hughes didn't leave much room for optimism. "We will have a statement after the tournament," he said.

Well at least he didn't say they were looking to spend more time with the families.

"Employees don't get to rat out employers as a general rule, with all due respect to our shamefully toothless whistle-blower laws, and especially not in a one-on-one relationship like that of golfer-caddie."

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You know I've been watching the Stevie Williams interview over and over again trying to figure out what's so comical about it and Ray Ratto makes a great point about it which I was unable to see: if Stevie is all hot and bothered with Tiger, and is claiming he would blown the whistle on Tiger's off course activity, how does Stevie keep his job? Oh that's right, he's full of it too and Tiger knows that. Shoot, maybe even likes that about him.
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"If the numbers are correct, how could the average Chinese person go out and spend $2,000 on a new set of Nike clubs, then spend $80+ for every 18 hole round?"

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With this Reuters report making the rounds suggesting only one in 20 golf courses in Beijing having been developed legally, what better time than to debate China's horrible human rights track record the idea of exporting the failed American model for golf.
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"If Woods is considering entering the Arnold Palmer Invitational before its deadline on Friday week then he should also be considering the flak he would receive. And he would be wise to line up a few more apologies."

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James Corrigan is the first to take a hard look at the question of how the Tiger Woods of a couple weeks ago could go from say he just didn't know when he'd return to golf and not ruling out this year, to being on the cusp of a return at Tavistock or Bay Hill or both.
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Y.E. Yang And TPC Scottsdale's 17th

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In this week's Golf World I penned a story (not posted online) about the strategic joys of the 17th hole at TPC Scottsdale. While I spent much of the week out on the tee or green, the beauty of the architecture and pressure of a final round tour event all came into focus when Y.E. Yang arrived at the tee with a two shot lead. The following sequence, as seen from behind the tee, pretty much tells the rest of the story...

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Captain Pavin Taking His Time Getting Around To Talking Ryder Cup Strategy With Captain Azinger

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I went down to Newport Beach for the Toshiba Classic Pro-Am day to interview some geezers outside the coveted demos. Lunching with Ben Crenshaw, we were joined by Paul Azinger and Ron Braund. You may recall it was Braund who helped Azinger develop the pod system that was so influential in the underdog American's triumphant 2008 Ryder Cup win at Valhalla. Azinger and Braund have a book coming out in May that promises to offer some pretty shocking revelations about the system and in particular, how Azinger made his Captain's picks.
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Hopes Dim For Daly Suspension After Golf Writers Request PGA Tour To Intervene

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The Commish and Drones 1-6 were reportedly in an intense meeting discussing the length of John Daly's next suspension after his posting of writer Garry Smits' phone number on Twitter when a low level VP interrupted with the GWAA's letter requesting a suspension.

GWAA president Vartan Kupelian told PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem in a letter on Wednesday that Daly should be suspended given the vindictive nature of his actions, adding Smits was reporting on a matter that was public record. The golf writers organization also wants the PGA Tour to make public any suspension since the Tour’s policy is not to disclose player discipline.

Sources say the meeting was immediately adjourned, the whiteboards scrubbed clean of Daly's name and by the dinner hour, several VP's were reportedly mentioning a possible award for Daly. Just kidding.