“He and his caddie didn’t think he’d addressed his ball, but they didn’t know the definition of the rule.”

Rex Hoggard gives us a little more detail on the Joost Luiten DQ:

"He took his stance which means you’ve addressed the ball and then the ball moved which is a penalty,” said PGA Tour rules official Jon Brendle who was involved in a lengthy conversation with Luiten adjacent Muirfield Village’s chipping green after the ruling. “He and his caddie didn’t think he’d addressed his ball, but they didn’t know the definition of the rule.”

Luiten violated Rule 18-2b and failed to add two strokes to his score on the hole. Because he had already signed his scorecard he was disqualified.

Rickie: “That will be where it really hits me."

Rex Hoggard on Rickie Fowler playing with a heavy heart at the Memorial after the passing of his only instructor, Barry McDonnell.

“I was probably with him two hours right before San Diego at the start of my year. We had a good session,” Fowler said. “It wasn’t like I’d go work with him for a day. We’d hang out, hit some balls for maybe an hour or two and take off. Like a little check up.”

On Thursday at the Memorial the news of McDonnell’s passing still seemed to be sinking in for Fowler. McDonnell had been struggling with skin cancer and suffered what Fowler called a major “heart attack” on May 20. But in recent days he’d appeared to stabilize.

“He was doing alright, but I guess they had some complications that Tuesday night,” Fowler said of McDonnell who died last Tuesday.

The 22-year-old conceded that he had not yet completely digested the news. That moment won’t likely arrive until next Thursday when he attends a memorial service for McDonnell at Murrieta (Calif.) Valley Golf Range where the two spent countless hours simplifying Fowler’s whiplash action.

“That will be where it really hits me,” Fowler reasoned.

Rory Shoots 66; Embarks On First UNICEF Trip Next Week

Steve Elling on Rory McIlroy's impressive pre-U.S. Open schedule that includes a trip to Haiti next week.

"You want to associate yourself with a charity that you feel close to, and UNICEF works mainly as a children's charity, and I feel like I'm the sort of age that I can relate to the younger people," he said. "I just don't want to really put my name to it, I wanted to do something, and they were very keen for me to go and see somewhere where they're hands on and they're working, and it sort of just fit in quite well that I could go to Haiti for a couple of days and see what they do."

"Some snob bloggers annoy me with their contempt for the work of certain architects when we all know that the worst design is still a beautiful place to play."

Several have emailed or even brought the June Golf Digest to my face to point to the above words and ask if Golf Digest editor Jerry Tarde was calling me out in his Golf Snob Index column.

I can confirm that Jerry admitted that he was targeting just one blogger, yours truly.

And he's correct that there is no such thing as a bad course when every links provides enjoyment, employment, a place for wildlife and a much better alternative to a parking lot.

However, there is a difference in my criticism, and before we head to Congressional and you feel the need to complain about my highlighting of the mediocre renovation work there, this is a good time to clarify.

When I'm critical of certain architects who like to bend Jerry's ear about criticism directed their way, it's certainly not personal but driven by the constant labels of "greatness" bequeathed to them. With lavish budgets and the "genius" word thrown about, I naturally take a closer look at their work and when I see tell-tale signs of mediocrity--rushed construction, strategy-free holes, more attention paid to cart path placement than bunker locations, excessive use of catch basins to substitute for creative drainage, etc.--I'm going to point it out. Is that elitist? I don't believe so when the topic is the work of "genius" and the label of "greatness" is thrown about.

Jerry said it best himself in the column:

"A bit of elitism is not necessarily a bad thing. After all, Pebble Beach is better than Dyker Beach. Elitism is about high standards, but the application gets us in trouble."

Here's a screen capture of the column if you are interested in computing your Golf Snob Index.

Phil On New Muirfield 16th: "It's certainly more difficult."

Phil Mickelson didn't sound particularly excited about Jack's redesigned 16th at Muirfield Village.

Q. The new 16th out there, what was your experience like on that?

PHIL MICKELSON: It's certainly more difficult. You know, you're hitting over the water. I thought that you were going to hit more up the green, kind of like 16 at Augusta, but really, you're coming at it from a whole different angle where you're having to fly over the water. I had to change the way I look at that hole.
I thought if we shot up the green I might think about 2 a few times, but really, I'll just try to make it 3 there.

Meanwhile, Dave Shedloski explains Phil's enthusiasm for a 2-iron that is part of his tee shot package heading into Congressional. It is NOT a supplement for his driver. At least for now.