Rules Of Golf Outrage Going Viral

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I'm not sure if this speaks to a general disdain for the rules or maybe just the power of ESPN.com, but as happened during the last freakish golf story (Tiger and his women), an item about the Dustin Johnson violation has landed in my email box in three different chain email forwards in the last two days. The text does not include a byline, but unlike in the Tiger case, this one is real and it can't be spoofed because we know the incident was already teetering on the edge of farcical.
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Talking (2010 Majors) With Rod Morri

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Talkingolf.com's Rod Morri interviewed me this week about the 2010 majors and in particular, the architecture and setups we saw. It's a long one...you were warned. But Rod knows his stuff and asks some great questions.

There is also a version with media player embedded on the News And Reviews page.

Rod has also interviewed Tom Doak and Bill Coore.

Feedback From USGA's Prototype Ball Testing Event

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Lost in the PGA Championship hoopla was Monday's USGA-hosted competition for select Canadian Tour invitees to play modified balls as part of the organization's ongoing ball testing.

Prior to the competition, played August 16th at Greystone Golf Club in Milton, Ontario, the event was comprised of a small field organized by tour deputy Dan Halldorson, who you may recall, refused comment a few weeks back when it was revealed the USGA might be conducting tests in Ontario. The field of luck rollback-ball testers played 18-holes with a small competition and purse featuring something in the neighborhood of $1500 for first place (reportedly it was a 67), coupled with an appearance fee in the $200-300 range.
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Woods Commits To Barclays!

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Heartwarming to see Tiger entering the event he's typically skipped (except to play lovely Liberty National) from the admittedly clogged portion of the schedule.
After The Barclays, only the top 100 are eligible for the second round, the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston, which ends on Labor Day. That will be the final event before U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin announces his four wild-card picks.

"DJ took about four minutes from the time he arrived to the scene to the second he made contact with it."

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Stephanie Wei interviews photographer Allan Henry, who could be seen in several images directly behind Dustin Johnson when he violated the rules in the 18th hole bunker. Henry says Johnson never grounded his club on his practice swings and also notes this, which might be of interest to those who think Johnson rushed the shot.

According to the time stamp on Allan’s pictures, DJ took about four minutes from the time he arrived to the scene to the second he made contact with it. In those few minutes, he had the marshals move the crowd, take a few practice swings, make a few jokes with the gallery and then hit it.

Another PGA Question: Who Wants To Return To Whistling Straits?

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Definitely not the media!

And the player comments haven't exactly been glowing. Not that this means anything. After all, we know that complaints about a course can often be a compliment to the architecture. But after another four rounds at WS, I'm not sensing it really is worthy of a return visit. Yet a 2015 return date looms and a few days removed from the PGA, I've had the pleasure of listening to several phone rants from folks who found the entire week to be one they'd like to forget.

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