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
Well that's a stretch, but there aren't many courses under construction but it's great to see nice guy Bruce Hepner get the gig to design the second course at Ballyneal, where he worked on the original layout's design with Tom Doak and Jim Urbina. Ron Whitten with the details.This one appears only interesting to a few bigwigs until you start to read about the ramifications and the hilarious backdown of a PGA Tour that for once, was outleveraged.
Here goes...
The European Tour schedules the 2011 South African Open the week of the Presidents Cup, even though the Cup's date had been set for some time. Ernie Els, not exactly a favorite of his teammates, balks and suggests he might play the South African Open instead.
Fast forward to the Masters and the all mighty Big Oak negotiating sessions where the PGA Tour, European Tour, Sunshine Tour and a certain heavyset player agent ironed out a deal that, according to Steve Elling who first broke the news on CBSSports.com, has this year's South African Open swap dates with the Dunhill Cup in South Africa, allowing the South Africans to play in the Presidents Cup and their home Open.
The real stunner in Elling's report, which was confirmed today by AP's Gerald Imray: South Africa gets a WGC event at least this year, and perhaps for the next five. Even more amazing, it'll have a $10 million purse, the richest on the PGA Tour.
The tour had no choice but to back down, notes Elling.
Five of the top six players on the Presidents Cup's current International Team points list are native South Africans who would have faced the decision of whether to play their national Open or the team event held in years when the Ryder Cup isn’t contested.
The source said that Australian players might have backed the boycott, too.
So combine the South Africans with the Aussies and well, you have no Presidents Cup team. Which would explain how, even with the date set long before the others, the PGA Tour had to cave even though we know Tim Finchem would rather talk about his old speeding ticket problem than play a World Golf Championship event outside the United States.
Even more amusing, Tiger's Chevron tournament has now been drawn into the equation. Sunshine Commissioner Gareth Tindall, quoted in the AP story:
A date and venue hasn't been decided but Tindall says organizers will look at the first weekend of December, clashing with Tiger Woods' Chevron Challenge and South Africa's own Nedbank Challenge at Sun City.
On Woods' event, Tindall says, "they will have to move it."
And you thought the Presidents Cup was meaningless...
You know it's a dark day when David Feherty is using MBA jargon...or whoever wrote the quote for him in this announcement that he's joining the Lifestyle Asset Group as an advisor.
"My wife, Anita, and I have known Rich Keith and his group for years," Feherty explained. "We've had the privilege of vacationing at two of the properties that are currently in the Lifestyle Asset Group portfolio -- Deer Valley, Utah and Casa Luz in Los Cabos -- and they are two of our favorite vacation homes that we've ever stayed in. With many resorts with golf in their plans, and many of their customers passionate about the game, I hope to bring a lot of value to the brand with my insights and contacts."
It's a totally pointless exercise to try ranking the best modern Masters, especially the day after the most thrilling one since 1986. In fact, I can't really think of one that comes close in the '86 discussion, even though I know the roars had been declared as "back" several times since Hootie and Tom Fazio laid their big renovation egg.
David Feherty appeared on the Dan Patrick Show Monday to talk about the 2011 Masters. Thanks to all the readers who caught it and recommended tracking down the audio.I can see by the lack of passion in the posts about Tiger's uninspired post-round interview that it's really not a hot-button issue, so let's move on to Monday's range of stories about the 14-time major winner.
Bill Simmons' son sat with him and was excited by Tiger's 8th hole eagle and reaction, and therefore all is right with the world.
Thanks to reader Alex for Teddy Greenstein's item on Denver's Cherry Hills becoming the new host of the BMW Championship formerly known as the Western Open starting in 2014, with club member John Elway involved in Tuesday's announcement.
I'm assuming this will mean the end of the WGA as host of the event and another remarkable chapter in the PGA Tour's efforts to get out of that horrible, golf-unfriendly Chicago market!
For Immediate Release...
CBS SPORTS’ 2011 MASTERS FINAL-ROUND COVERAGE EARNS SECOND HIGHEST RATING IN 10 YEARS
CBS Sports’ coverage of the 2011 Masters on Sunday, April 10, which saw South African Charl Schwartzel win the coveted Green Jacket by birdying the final four holes in a dramatic final round, scored the second-highest rating for the final round of the Masters in the metered markets in 10 years.
Yesterday’s final-round coverage earned an average overnight household rating/share of 10.4/22, second only to last year’s 12.0/25. This year’s 10.4/22 for the final round was up 18% from 2009 (8.8/21), up 17% from 2008 (8.9/18), as well as being up 1% from 2005 (10.3/21) when Tiger Woods won his fourth green jacket. The final round in 2001 earned a 12.9/27 (Woods’ second Masters win).
This year’s final-round rating peaked with a 12.6/24 from 6:30-7:00 PM, ET.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
