"I think working the ball off the tee is an advantage here. I'm not really sure working the ball into the greens is an advantage."

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One of the more bizarre elements of TPC Sawgrass is its ability to produce such a variety of winners. John Strege gets into the specifics of that question and Jim Furyk offered the best insights I've seen yet from a player as to why it's so hard to predict a winner on Pete Dye's 1982 design.
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Orlando Sentinel: Keystone Kops Responded To Woods Residence Nov. 27th; Some Now Working For Tiger!

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You know when that Tiger Woods-hired and Augusta National Golf Club-approved security goon reportedly asked a Masters patron if she was "the stripper," few believed that any ex FBI or Secret Serviceman could be so stupid. Well, maybe the Tiger security detail isn't coming from such, uh, good stock if you read Henry Pierson Curtis and Susan Jacobson's lengthy Orlando Sentinel look at the vaunted Windermere PD, first responders (by choice!) to the Woods residence on November 27th.
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Tiger Irons On Ebay Not Part Of Broader Legal Defense Fundraising Strategy

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Just in case you were thinking the ebay irons Tiger purportedly used in the Tiger Slam were being sold to cover 13 hours of Jay Lavely's time, think again.

E. Michael Johnson notes that we learned some things about his specs at the time, and later reported the seller to be Steve Mata, the former director of tour operations for Titleist, and that "Mata, in his position with Titleist, worked closely with Woods on his equipment. At the time, Woods was using Titleist clubs."


"So please don't offer any lectures about how many times Woods has gone ballistic, especially when you have a clear financial stake in the spin-control rehab of his reputation."

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Steve Elling points out that the Commissioner's suggestion of "overblown" Tiger coverage and excessive focus on one club toss was, well, wrong.

Monday, in an interview in the Jacksonville paper as a lead-in to the Players Championship, Tim Finchem said: "In his early years, [Woods] had difficulty controlling his actions but he worked hard at it and got away from it. But he tossed a club in Australia and everyone was writing about Tiger tossing clubs. Well, he didn't toss clubs ... he tossed a club. It wasn't a habit." As a point of fact, writers from two major sports websites, including CBSSports.com, watched in shock as Woods tomahawked a driver into the ground with such ferocity last year in Boston that the club bounded into a dry water hazard next to the tee, where his caddie was forced to wade into waist-deep hay to retrieve it -- after he finally located it. It was an astounding display of temper worthy of Tommy Bolt. So please don't offer any lectures about how many times Woods has gone ballistic, especially when you have a clear financial stake in the spin-control rehab of his reputation. I have an entire DVD sent to me by a fan, filled with videotaped examples of Woods' tantrums and titanium tosses over the years. To assert otherwise is as unprofessional as it is transparently absurd.

Well, should be an interesting Commissioner's pig roast this Friday at TPC Sawgrass. What do you think Ty: yours truly, Elling and Huggan at the same table?

Which Was More Amazing, Ryo's 58 and Rory's 62? Or Their Combined Age Of 38?

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I know it's a pointless debate, but considering their age (Ryo 18, Rory 20), this weekend's play has to go down as one of the more amazing performances by young players in the game's history. Ryo's round as reported by AP:

The 18-year-old Ishikawa tapped in for par on the par-4 18th after his 15-foot birdie try slid inches by the cup. He had 12 birdies in his bogey-free round on the 6,545-yard Nagoya Golf Club course.

“I always dreamed of getting a score like this but didn’t think I would do it so fast,” Ishikawa said. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m sure it will after a few days.”

After opening with rounds of 68, 70 and 71 to fall six strokes behind third-round leader Shigeki Maruyama, Ishikawa birdied nine of the first 11 holes Sunday. He added birdies on Nos. 14-16 and closed with two pars to finish at 13-under 267, five strokes ahead of Hiroyuki Fujita and Australia’s Paul Sheehan.

“I got off to a good start for the first time in four rounds, so I told myself not to give up for the title until the end,” Ishikawa said. “To my surprise, I found myself making this many birdies. I was in a calm mental state for all 58 strokes.”

Doug Ferguson on Rory's win at Quail Hollow Sunday:

Explosive as ever, the 20-year-old from Northern Ireland was 5 under over the final five holes to set the course record at 10-under 62 and win by four shots over Masters champion Phil Mickelson.

McIlroy finished in style, rolling in a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole and thrusting his fist into the air.

“I suppose I got into the zone,” said McIlroy, who celebrates his 21st birthday on Tuesday. “I hadn’t realized I was going in 9, 10 under. I just know I got my nose in front and I was just trying to stay there.”