There Was One Tavistock Cup Highlight!
/And to think I don't have this on my DVR to relive over and over again. What a mistake. Thankfully, Sportspost has this shining moment in Tavistock Cup history and Jay Busbee noticed.
When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Poulter Wigs Out Over TCup Criticism; Wheels Out Charity In Its Defense
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Steve Elling examines the growing hostility toward the Conspicuous Consumption Cup which is has been a generator of massive charity dollars and massively unfair criticism, says Ian Poulter who was touchier than normal on Twitter today about the "T-Cup," citing a range of charitable contributions ("Over six" million in one Tweet, $8 million in another.)Red Flag Special: Euro Tour Institutes New Gambling Policies
/Doug Ferguson reports on new European Tour policies about gambling on the "product," but can't seem to get any answers as to why now.
Read MoreFoley: Sometimes the high school cafeteria just carries on into the rest of life. It's gotten a little silly."
/Bob Harig talks to Sean Foley about last week's verbal feud with Hank Haney and the instructor has reassessed some of his comments.
Read More"New Front in War Between Companies and Hedge Funds"
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Steven Davidoff reports that it'll be too late for Fortune Brands/Acushnet/Titleist, but a war is brewing to prevent activist hedge funds from "surreptitiously building large positions." A law firm is pressuring the SEC to change certain rules to prevent a repeat of the situation that has one of golf's most storied brands in a firesale so that one hedge funder can cash in."Sources within TV say they are chomping at the bit to get new, creative formats that shake up the sameness of 72-hole stroke-play events week after week."
/Ron Sirak is hearing from TV types that a PGA Tour and LPGA partnership would be a good thing from their perspective.
Read MoreNew Masters Journal/Mystery Image
/The new Masters Journal is out and and usual it's an impressive publication, but this year it's a must-have for MacKenziephiles due to the inclusion of the original hole diagrams and green complex watercolors that appeared in the hard-to-find original program.
But I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure out this unlabeled page 101 image. Anyone care to guess what old hole we are looking at? I'm pretty sure it's Augusta based on the trees, bumps and the whacky shape of the green, which screams MacKenzie.
Update on 2011-03-16 15:03 by Geoff
**You can by the Masters program through the official website.
"GOLF CHANNEL SETS VIEWERSHIP RECORD FOR WGC-CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP"
/Technically it was the first ever WGC Cadillac Championship, but alright, have your fun...
Golf Channel’s 1st Round Coverage on Thursday is Best in 23-Year TV History of Doral Event
Two-Day Average Viewership on Golf Channel Best in Nearly a Decade“Golf Channel on NBC” Final Round Viewership Up 16%
I say that last one is caused by the massive Golf Channel audience tuning in network coverage they never would have watched before cross-prioritization!
NEW YORK – March 15, 2011 – NBC Sports Group set viewership records for its coverage of the WGC-Cadillac Championship, with Thursday’s coverage on Golf Channel the most-watched first-round in the history of the Doral event and the two-day (Thursday-Friday) average viewership the best since 2002. Additionally, the final-round viewership on Sunday for “Golf Channel on NBC” rose 16 percent from last year, according to official national data released by The Nielsen Company.
Golf Channel drew 1.14 million viewers for Thursday’ first round, the most in Doral’s 23-year television history (2007-2011 on Golf Channel, 1989-2006 on USA). This also marked a 115-percent jump from last year’s first round and an increase of 25 percent over 2009.
Thank you Phil and Tiger pairing!
Golf Channel averaged 1.07 million viewers for Thursday and Friday combined marking the best two-day viewership average for the Doral event since 2002 on USA (1.09 million).
36 FOR 36: The WGC-Cadillac Championship continued Golf Channel’s streak of delivering higher ratings for every PGA TOUR round this year (36 for 36) versus comparable rounds in 2010.
It must be the all the promos they run on Hoop Dreams or Pipe Dreams or Dreaming Of A Pipe or whatever it's called.
“GOLF CHANNEL ON NBC” VIEWERSHIP: The final-round coverage on NBC (3:09-7 p.m. Sunday), which has been rebranded as “Golf Channel on NBC,” averaged 3.32 million viewers, a gain of 14 percent from last year’s 2.86 million viewers.
"It's a lot easier to shoot now. And we spend more time at a computer, which is ironic as most of us got into this career so we wouldn't be sitting at a desk."
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Tony Dear puts together a very enjoyable roundtable chat with some of golf's best photographers. From the introduction:“Working with the USGA can be a challenge – some of their ideas don’t exactly dovetail with ours, particularly from a financial standpoint"
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Accepting the 2011 Mustang Scholars Foundation Man of the Year award, Merion president Rick Ill, talked about working with the USGA on the 2013 U.S. Open.
“Working with the USGA can be a challenge – some of their ideas don’t exactly dovetail with ours, particularly from a financial standpoint, because we have to careful how much it costs us [at Merion],” said Ill. “They have certain financial desires, and so do we. But I think the membership of Merion is very supportive of having USGA events here.
I thought the USGA was going to accept that 2013 would be a loser financially, but I guess they are trying to minimize the damage? Sounds fun!
Do We Need Larger Cups Or Slower Greens?
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The first reports are in on Golf Digest's W-I-D-E Open at Pine Needles. Scores were low, play was fast and a good time was had by all. But reading the account of Pete Finch and the tough feedback from the peanut gallery on the comments page has me wondering if we need to use this is an example of what fast green speeds have done to slow down and frustrate golfers.Golf Channel Powering NBC's Early Coverage
/John Strege says Golf Channel's early coverage stayed on the air last weekend while NBC's hockey game ran long.
Read MoreMachrie Open With One Man Maintenance Crew!
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Good news...the remote and otherworldly The Machrie is open for play while they look for a buyer, reports Anthony Pioppi.Separation Anxiety Setting In As TWoods Plays First TCup Not As Member Of IWorth Team
/Beth Kassab in the Orlando Sentinel as Tiger played for "Albany" instead of Isleworth this year in the Excess Classic.
"We held him in really high regard," said Vic Miesel, who specializes in luxury home sales in the Windermere area at Maingate Real Estate. "The luster of his fame has definitely worn off on a lot of people."
Woods didn't say just how quickly he'll leave the luxury lakefront subdivision just outside of Windermere, but the soon-to-be distance will be underscored today when Woods will play for an "away" team on what has long been his home turf.
Woods will represent Albany, a lavish golf and yacht club set to open later this year in the Bahamas, at the Tavistock Cup, which kicks off today at Isleworth. The Tavistock Group's latest development, in which Woods is an investor, is a new addition to the annual golf exhibition.
Fortune CEO Bullish On Acushnet Takeover
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"There are really four groups of people that we believe will be part of the process -- we think it will be a robust process," Fortune Brands Chief Executive Officer Bruce Carbonari said on Monday at the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit in Chicago.
He expects interest from multinational companies, which could include rivals such as Nike Inc (NKE.N) or Adidas (ADSGn.DE), private equity firms, Asian or Middle Eastern sovereign investors and high net-worth individuals.
"This is a very unusual asset. There's people out there who have a real passion for the game," Carbonari said. He declined to say whether the company had received actual bids from these players.
You have to assume though that a "high net-worth individual" has submitted a bid since round 1 ended Friday. Who could it be?
