Feherty: Monty Has Filed An Injunction To Keep "Story out of the newspapers"

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Josh Hart reports the remarks made by CBS golf announcer David Feherty on Dan Patrick's radio show. You can listen the interview here.

Feherty, a golf commentator for CBS Sports added: "Apparently there's been an injunction filed to keep this story out of the newspapers."  

Host Dan Patrick, who seemed to know more, but wanted to say less, did add: "There are pictures..." and then began to talk about Monty's earlier divorce.

Brooks has more, saying that it involves photos and would explain a curious recent question from the Daily Mail about Monty quitting as captain.

That court fight allegedly involves embarrassing photos of Montgomerie obtained by the U.K. tabloid. In order to block the supposed photos from being published by NOTW, Montgomerie has allegedly obtained an injunction from London’s high court.

Is Whistling Straits Great?**

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On Peter Kessler's show today, the host asked if I thought Whistling Straits is a great course. I responded that while I love watching it and admire many elements of the design, I wouldn't want to play it nor do I think most golfers can get around, which DQ's it from the greatness category for me. (By comparison, Pebble Beach and the Old Course can be played by just about anyone.)
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Free Admission To A Major!

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Granted, it's one of the fourteen senior majors, but I like the creative use of different sponsors each day to supplement the revenue lost. If carried out properly, it would seem to be an innovative way to bring recognition to secondary event sponsors instead of the tacked-on feel of a "presenting sponsor" in addition to the main sponsor of an event, no?
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Tiger Still Impacts Ratings?

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The WGC Bridgestone drew a 2.3 overnight rating on Sunday, off 51% from last year when he won and the same as 2008 when he didn't play. 

But hey, it was the highest rating any non-major PGA telecast since the final round of The Memorial in June (3.2).

So at least Tiger still can say he delivers a television audience. Or so it appears.

Tiger Working With...Stevie!? Definitely Not With Marty Hackel!

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Golfweek posts some Getty images of Tiger's early morning practice at Whistling Straits. They reveal Stevie working harder than ever on Tiger's swing.

I know he's just holding a club on his head, but it really is a pathetic sight. Get this man a swing coach!

Meanwhile Robert Lusetich analyzes all things Tiger and brings his always fresh take to the table. And while you might laugh at the "Where's Marty Hackel When You Need Him?" portion of the piece, he does bring up a fair point about Tiger's goatee.

In retrospect, I should’ve known something was awry when Woods played the opening round with a goatee. I’ve seen him sporting facial hair many times when he arrives at tournaments, but by Thursday, he’s always clean shaven. Not this week.

I even asked him whether the goatee might face the razor after an opening 4-over 74, which was his worst-ever score at Firestone (Sunday‘s 77 has since replaced it in the record books).

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “We’ll see.”

Though it's not as awful looking as Jon Stewart's goatee, it's not exactly going to have the Accenture's knocking on his door. Or perhaps that's the point, he has accepted that things will never be the same. Particularly on the corporate endorsement front.

"does #1 really mean anything in golf?"

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Because I'm under doctor's orders to only watch 15 minutes from every hour of televised golf at courses with bunkers surrounded by rough and/or back-and-forth tree-lined routings featuring indecipherable holes, my exposure to this weekend's No. 1 world ranking talk was limited. However, I noticed quite a bit of tweeting about Phil Mickelson "choking" at the chance to pass Tiger Woods in the world rankings.

I'd sum up my feelings on this vital chase for No. 1 in the world, but reader Mr. BoJangles did the heavy typing for me:

a little off topic, but does #1 really mean anything in golf? Seriously. Why is it even discussed? It doesn't help you win majors. The only thing I can think of is the Match Play pairings, you get a one-seed. Being Ranked #1 is meaningless in every sport except college football. What was Shrek ranked? Or Graham?

Someone told me Greg Norman was ranked No. 1 for a lot weeks back in his prime. And I was like, who cares? He won 2 majors.

If Phil takes No. 1 over Tiger, what does that mean, really? Tiger's won 14 majors, Phil's won [four]. Who's going to have the better golf career when they're both retired? Anyway, that's just my rant on the golf rankings and every other ranking for that matter. I think rankings are retarded and while I'm at it, college football needs a playoff system. That will never happen.

"Golfers themselves deserve part of the blame for insisting that putting surfaces be mown short and fast even in weather conditions in which such practices are almost certain to ruin them."

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John Paul Newport does a nice job explaining why super low mowing heights are not a good thing, especially in the extreme conditions that much of the United States has experienced this summer. Considering it's the Wall Street Journal, hopefully this reached a few influential types who've been after their superintendent for more speed.

Grass does have a mechanism to cool itself. It's called evapotranspiration and is analogous to perspiration. The roots draw up water from the soil and it evaporates through the plant's leaves, dissipating heat. But when greens are scalped to a quarter-inch, an eighth of an inch and even shorter, the leaf surface available for transpiration declines.

Prolonged heat causes other problems. One is that root systems shrink, sometimes to within a half-inch of the surface, reducing the amount of water drawn up to the top. Humidity and heavy rain make things even worse. Humidity retards evaporation, while soggy soil stays hot longer than dry soil does. Puddles and saturated soil also create barriers that prevent needed oxygen from getting to the roots.