Uh Oh! Tiger "Understands" Calls For Ball Rollback

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Steve Elling reports on today's comments in Boston:

On Thursday, Woods was asked at the Deutsche Bank Championship about his view on the issue, which is being studied by the USGA. The organization has yet to release any findings from its various studies.

“It's just something, the guys are hitting it a long way,” Woods said. “For instance, last week, No. 8 is a par3 down the hill, playing 207 the last day, and I hit 7iron. I don't ever hit 7iron that far. Then I watched Dustin Johnson hit 9iron.

“It's just, I can understand them wanting to obviously pull the game back a little bit, because the guys are just becoming more athletic. Here I am 6 foot and I'm considered short. Most of the guys now are 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Just like every other sport, it's evolved, become more athletic.

“The guys have speed, and now we're getting some great athletes playing the game.”

Tiger is in a no-win position if he takes a hard stance on the modern distance chase. Though he has made several statements about not minding a change, he has to be careful not to upset Nike and also to appear to be favoring a possible rule change that benefits his ability, which many believe a "spinnier" ball would.

Now factor in that his distance advantage has been passed by, and he has to be even more careful. Still, I like the comments today.

Arnie: "That should be one of the major things on our agenda, to slow the golf ball down so that we don't tilt the scale."

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Mark Lamport-Stokes quotes Arnold Palmer talking about today's players and it seems The King slipped this in about the ball:

Palmer, who was a member of the so-called Big Three with fellow golfing greats Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, had no doubt about the one thing he would like to change most in the modern game.

"Because of technology, the players of today hit it too far," Palmer said. "That should be one of the major things on our agenda, to slow the golf ball down so that we don't tilt the scale.

"We have so many great golf courses but, as the players start hitting it so far, they are outdating our golf courses. We need to see if we can't just keep it in the range that we have known it for so many years."

Don't be so logical Arnie! Sheesh.

Now why is this interesting since he's mentioned the ball before? Well you might recall back in April we learned that the USGA's Dick Rugge said the groove rule change was motivated by Arnold Palmer telling that the USGA had blown it on grooves.

And as reader Andrew asked back when that item was posted, "I wonder what would have happened had Palmer said the biggest mistake they made was letting the ball go so far?"

Good question.

"The omission of Paul Casey is, in strictly golfing terms, indefensible."

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Lawrence Donegan takes a more diplomatic approach than Oliver Brown did yesterday, but the message is the same: Paul Casey was not selected because of perceived personality issues. He's too American, he didn't play in Europe enough (but more than Donald and Harrington). He's just not well liked by the other saints on the team and Captain Marvelous.
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“Everything -- Adidas, Puma, Nike, except the Tiger brand.”

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The most fascinating thing in Alex Sherman's story about the decline in sales of Tiger apparel is not that people have stopped by the ugly stuff Nike has been designing for him, but the news that so many other lines are up in this economy. I'm not sure what it means, but it does seem interesting. Or not.
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"It's one of the interesting paradoxes of our times that someone can be referred to in all apparent earnestness as 'fiercely private' while also publicizing her private pain in a mass-circulation periodical."

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Slate's Laura Kipnis notes that about Elin's People Magazine exclusive (confession: I felt like Michael Keaton buying tampons in Mr. Mom, but yes I bought the issue...and learned nothing, though I did enjoy the less than subtle jab sent the way of Steiny.)
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Phil "Opts Out" Of Pro-Am; Has To Sit Through Corporate Drone Dinner Instead

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Thanks to reader Mel for Rex Hoggard's post on Phil Mickelson's withdrawal from Thursday's Deutsche Bank Pro-Am.

Unlike Furyk, however, Mickelson’s withdrawal will not cost him a spot at the second playoff event because Lefty used a special option that allows top players to miss a pro-am. Instead the player must participate in an “alternative sponsor function.”

Translation: long dinner pretending to be interested.

Players who finished in the top 20 on the previous year’s money or FedEx Cup lists have two pro-am opt outs that are contingent on sponsor approval. Mickelson used his first opt out earlier this year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and instead had dinner with a handful of corporate clients.

According to Andy Pazder, the Tour’s senior vice president of tournament administration, this is the first year of the opt out provision and only about “a half dozen” players have used it.

“In a pro-am three or four amateurs are going to get five hours with Phil on the golf course, which is great, but maybe it’s better if you have a dinner with 20 executives and clients for two or three hours,” Pazder said. “Maybe that’s a better use of a player’s time.”

Why Does Attending A Major Need To Be Life Threatening?

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The confirmation of Quail Hollow--home to the PGA Tour's seventh major--as 2017 PGA Championship host came today with no mention of the potential for the kind of hot and humid weather that scorched the club's greens this summer and will likely lead to a green resurfacing project.

Next summer the PGA visits Atlanta in August, about the last place any sane individual wants to be and where they are also having issues with new greens. This, just after leaving Whistling Straits where the media opted not to take a harder look at the number of injuries once again caused by the Strait's steep faux dunes.

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Golf Takes The Blame For Everything Files: Brush Fire Edition

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I can see it now, Rustic Canyon shut down in any Santa Ana wind for fear of someone's precious 4-iron skimming a rock and ingniting a spark.

Thanks to Brooks for catching Erika Ritchie and Peter Schelden's story on a brush fire breaking out next to Shady Canyon, home course to Tiger Woods and Mark McGwire when they are in the OC.