Trump National Engineers!?

Great scoop by Evan Rothman on the members of Engineers getting the chance to vote on becoming part of the Trump National family. Naturally it's tragic news for anyone hoping to see this once epic architectural masterpiece properly restored some day, but given the way the membership has viewed their historic design in the last decade, a match with The Donald seems fitting.

If you are looking for an architecture fix and a fun read, check out Rothman's profile of Devereux Emmet in the Met Golfer. It's also a nice reminder of the Met Golfer's quality and of one of Engineers' architects.

"There's one guy in his 20's who has the physical strength, the putting, the monster ball flight to dominate and win six, seven, eight majors in the next 10-12 years."

I think this was the most intriguing statement from Brandel Chamblee in his Golf Magazine interview, conducted by Connell Barrett. The topic? The Ryo, Rory, Rickie talk and their future in majors.

Who steps up? One of the three R's?

Maybe. But they all lack one thing: size. I like the bigger guys who don't have to swing at 100 percent. Big guys tend to have what I call "big game" — the sky-high ball flight that wins majors. Bigger guys can do that while swinging at 80 percent. Think Tiger, Vijay, Phil. Ryo, Rory and those guys swing full throttle all the time. But there's one guy in his 20's who has the physical strength, the putting, the monster ball flight to dominate and win six, seven, eight majors in the next 10-12 years. And that's Dustin Johnson. Dustin has everything. He has some weaknesses around the greens, but so did Jack. If he doesn't win a Masters or two, I would be shocked.

Monty's Bedroom Secret Revealed!

The Ryder Cup Captain explains a key move he made to take Celtic Manor's 5-foot (!?) long beds with 6-footers. Take that, you tall Americans!

'I looked at the rooms and thought they weren't big enough, so we all got connecting rooms. Then on the Saturday morning we got a removal company in and they brought six-foot beds and took the five-foot beds out.

'We were on the ninth floor and the Americans were on the eighth floor, but they didn't know about it.'
Corey Pavin and his side arrived two days later.

'We also had six physio beds put up on that floor and there were tailors up there as well to make sure all the outfits fitted. It was all laid on.

'You have one hit at this and I wanted to get it right.'

"The Tour should use golf’s global success to help itself and its events, not stifle growth."

Dottie Pepper says that the PGA Tour needs to rethink their restrictions on foreign players to help struggling events as the television negotiations near.

America’s superstars, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, seem unwilling to add events. Why not make it easier to put on the best show possible? McIlroy, Westwood and Martin Kaymer are eligible for the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions but won’t play. I have seen e-mails indicating that Westwood planned to play the season opener but changed his mind because he felt he needed to save starts for later in the year. A new sponsor on Maui is trying to revive a key event, but it’s handcuffed by an outdated rule. And it’s not just the season opener. Other Tour mainstays are in the same spot: Los Angeles, New Orleans, Phoenix, Greensboro and Tampa will also suffer.  

"Caddies Of Scotland"

There's an interesting looking new film with a few teasers online worth checking out.

After establishing the origin and subsequent history of Caddies of Scotland, the film then takes a spirited romp through the Highlands and Lowlands stopping at many golfing meccas to hear the wit, reverence and irreverence of Scottish Caddies.



Callaway, Ball Speed And A Lamborghini

You know what a sucker I am for entertaining viral product placement videos and this one featuring Stuart Appleby and a Lamborghini is pretty impressive. Of course, I'm more impressed with the car than the golf club, but the branding geniuses don't care about that.

Thanks to reader Kevin who found this over at oobgolf.com.

"I have not given interviews because I've tried to respect the family and their loss."

An unbylined golf.com story reveals many of the more provocative details forthcoming in Alan Shipnuck's story on the untimely passing of Erica Blasberg and the role Dr. Thomas Hess played in her death. 

An aside: it appears the story will not posted online based on the newsstand and iTunes plugs trailing the summary.

**Here is the online link.

The Ramifications of Sunday's Impressive Chevron Rating

The most impressive thing about the Chevron final round 2.7 rating, a smidgen higher than this year's Open Championship: the event was up against the NFL.

The most unfortunate ramification: it underscores the power of Tiger, likely inspiring the PGA Tour to lean on his star power, without digging a little deeper to improve the "product" for the long term benefit of the tour and the game.