"We don't seem to be headed the way of men's tennis, as an example, or perhaps the LPGA Tour where, on the leader boards, you are sometimes lacking in American presence."

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John Paul Newport landed a lengthy sit down with Commissioner Tim Finchem and lived to write about it. Considering it was the WSJ, I figured we'd get at least one nice bit of jargon, but instead we just got a nice jab at the LPGA. Or at least, a jab in Finchemspeak, which is merely a long, tortured sentence.
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Someone Get Padraig A European Tour Pocket Schedule, Please

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Even though he's only played twice in European Tour sanctioned non-majors this year, and even though he won three majors before deciding his swing needed changing for the worse, Padraig Harrington was selected for the Ryder Cup team over Justin Rose and Paul Casey in part for his devotion to European golf. You can sense it in this quote, after a missed cut at the Deutsche Bank.
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“Let’s be honest about this, it’s not like he was flushing it with Hank."

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Robert Lusetich talks to Sean Foley who is less than bashful in sharing his views about Tiger's swing. Sit back and prepare for an entertaining read! My highlights:

“This is nothing against Butch (Harmon, who was Woods’ coach at the time) but trying to go back to that would be a huge mistake,” Foley said.

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“Any discussion about cheating in the situation that arose last week with players Shi Hyun Ahn and Il Mi Chung is irresponsible."

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Beth Ann Baldry follows up with Shi Hyun Ahn's agent and gets a strong statement from the LPGA Tour on accusations of cheating by Ahn and Il Mi Chung. Of course, the identity of Ahn's caddie, who started the speculation, remains a mystery. Which really doesn't help clear this up entirely.

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.