"Slow play is a legitimate issue, but not to the point where I think we need to do something like that."

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Another head-scratcher from Commissioner Tim Finchem, this time in John Feinstein's Golf World column on slow play:

Of course, it has been 18 years since a PGA Tour player received a stroke penalty for slow play -- and Finchem doesn't sound as though he wants to see it happen again anytime soon.

"Slow play is a legitimate issue," he said, "but not to the point where I think we need to do something like that. The real problem isn't how long it takes to play a round but when one player makes it uncomfortable for the other player or players because of his pace. That's just bad etiquette. And it's true, we do have some players who are in denial about being slow."

So is the Commissioner sending out word, or has sent out word that he does not want a stroke penalty assessed? We know he's not a fan of controversy, so it wouldn't be a stretch to think he's sent word that penalty shots are brand-averse.

Gary Van Sickle also tackled slow play this week for SI and did it in very entertaining fashion. Naturally, he picked the one week they actually played faster at The Players, but he still offers several insights into the problem and a glossary of slow play handbook.

Clockblocked - Forget Greenwich Mean Time. On the PGA Tour, Time Par (no relation to Old Man Par) is what matters. Time Par is the time it should take to play each hole, as determined by the rules crew after careful study. At the Players, for instance, Time Par was two hours, 14 minutes for the front nine and 2:15 for the back, plus five minutes to make the turn. Time Par for the entire round by a threesome was 4:34, 3:58 for a twosome.

The 40 Time - How cool would it be if golf, like basketball, had a shot clock? It would be handy too, because once a group has been alerted that it's on the clock, a player has 40 seconds to hit his shot once it's his turn. The first to play the tee shot on a par-3, a second shot on a par-4 or par-5, a third shot on a par-5 or a stroke near or on the green, gets an additional 20 seconds. If a player exceeds his allotted time, he receives a bad timing.

“I love it. It’s a good layout. But I think some of the greens are a little severe for the shots we’re hitting.”

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Kevin Robbins' blog post on the early concerns about the difficulty of Greg Norman and Sergio Garcia's (LOL) co-design of the new tour stop at TPC San Antonio should make Thursday's first round worth watching.

What I did gather is this: The 7,435-yard course is too hemmed by native areas to play at its full length. In a torrid wind (see: today), holes such as the 213-yard No. 3 (all carry over water), the narrow 481-yard No. 4, the 447-yard No. 10 (to a plateau green) and the 241-yard (enough said) No. 13 are just too much. And the greens? I spent a good hour with a caddie I’ve known for a while. He played Division I college golf. He’s played the mini tours. He was not impressed with Greg Norman’s multi-level, elevated greens at TPC San Antonio, which are running about 10 on the Stimp because anything faster would eliminate too many positions. “Stupid,” the caddie called them.

Now let’s be fair. Omar Uresti, the Austin resident and former Longhorn, had lots of praise for the Oaks, which he’s played three times.

“It’s hard,” Uresti said. “I love it. It’s a good layout. But I think some of the greens are a little severe for the shots we’re hitting.”

Now, we hear this quite often at courses the players haven't seen, especially at majors. It'll be the hardest course we've ever seen, etc... and the first round lead is 65.

But Norman does have the distinction of building a course that was too difficult and never opened, so it is possible that he's built something the players will be justified in hating.

"Scene Setter"

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The last thing the world needed was another 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass story, and I, never one to insist on originality, filed this profile for Golf World.

But before you hesitate to hit the link out of 17th hole fatigue, a couple of things.

Longtime readers will recall that I visited The Players last year for the first time and was pretty much awestruck by the amazing scene at No. 17, in part thanks to the hole but even more than that, the impressive engagement of fans who chose to contain their view to the island green.

And for viewers at home, NBC goes all out to cover the hole in ways that blew my mind. So that said, my story is not a rehash of Pete Dye or Deane Beman stories but instead a look at the elements and people who help make it such a premier viewing experience. And as part of the story, Sam Weinman produced this short video. It includes me hitting a nice skull over the 17th Hole Challenge green. So it's got that going for it.

News Of The Weird: Slow Play Protest Edition

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Thanks to reader Mel for this story on Japanese golfer Yuko Mitsuka banning herself from a total of 11 women's tournaments after being fined for storming off the course over a two-stroke penalty.

The 25-year-old downed clubs and quit midway through her first round at last week's World Ladies Championship in protest at being penalised for slow play. Mitsuka was fined a record ¥2m (£14,400) but voluntarily withdrew from eight domestic and three overseas events as a sign of contrition.

"This is the biggest fine in Japanese LPGA history and reflects the seriousness of what took place," said the tour's Hideaki Otani. "The player offered to withdraw from those tournaments and the tour accepted that as the right punishment."

Tiger-Hank Breakup Clippings, Vol. 1

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Mike Walker reveals the method Hank Haney used to quit on Tiger Woods...

"I texted him last night [that I was leaving], and he texted me back," Haney told the station. "We went back and forth for a while, but he had his kids last night and couldn't talk. We are going to talk later today."

In a text message to GOLF.com, Haney stressed that he was not fired.

"This was my decision, and he [Woods] won't spin it any other way," Haney said. "There comes a time and a place for everything to move on. Now was the time for me to step aside. Simple as that.

"There is nothing to be sorry about."

Bob Harig offers this from Haney who is not letting his statement speak for itself.

"I've dealt with that for six years," Haney said Tuesday during a telephone interview. "That wasn't something that all of a sudden got to me. It's part of the job. If you have no critics, you have no successes. I've had plenty of success in my career, and I'm going to have some critics."

Doug Ferguson says "stepping aside was a gracious move by Haney." Who knew quitting could ever be confused with grace?

While the timing looks bad - Woods is at his lowest personally and professionally - Haney did not walk out on him. What he did was spare Woods from having to spin tales about their relationship for the next however many months. He also spared the media and the public from having to listen to it and speculate about it.

He spared him from having to lie. There's also that other option Tiger could try: telling the truth!

Steve Elling praises the decision, but for different reasons.

Given that nobody at the moment is pulling punches as it relates to expressing harsh opinions about anything relating to Woods' personal or professional life, it quite possibly was only going to get worse for the Texas-based coach. A gamble or not, Haney made the right decision.

Brandel Chamblee says Tiger should hire a Harmon to replace Haney, nominating brother Billy for the thankless job.

GolfDigest.com features a writer roundtable analyzing where Tiger goes from here with this swing, starting with this from Jaime Diaz:

I think the big change in the shape of Tiger's swing under Hank is that it emphasizes the arms staying more in front of the body on the downswing. The result is a slightly steeper angle into the ball, which has helped Tiger become a much better iron player, probably the best in the game. On the other hand, Tiger has for the most part lost the wider, sweeping action that characterized his swing pre-Hank. In those days, Tiger was a longer and overall better driver of the ball relative to his peers. Ultimately, I think Tiger's frustration with not being a better driver after several years of very hard work started to erode his relationship with Hank.

Peter Morrice, senior editor of instruction, Golf Digest: It seems unfair to judge Hank's contributions based on this year. Since they started working together, no doubt Tiger's learned to control the ball better on iron shots, and has added many more shots to his bag. But his driving is certainly not at the same level. And if you look back through history, you'll find great drivers and great iron players, but rarely a player who is both. Maybe the work he's done recently has focused too much on becoming a great iron player and not enough on hitting the driver in play.

Tour Offers Nuanced, Long-Winded Reaction To Players Ratings Drop

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Garry Smits writes:

The Tour, with 77 international players representing 21 countries, embraces the diversity of winners. However, overnight TV ratings indicate that American viewers want Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson in the mix, which didn't happen Sunday. The final round on NBC had a 3.3 overnight rating, down 20 percent from 2009 when Woods was in the final twosome. The overnight ratings for the third round Saturday were 2.5, down from 2.8 the year before.

However, the overall ratings for four Players Championships in May for NBC remain up slightly than the last four years in March. Also, overseas ratings, with Clark, Allenby and Westwood playing throughout the weekend, are likely to be up.

When asked if he had any reaction to the lower ratings, PGA Tour executive vice president for communications Ty Votaw replied, "No."