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
2011 Memorial Final Round Open Thread
/Federer and Nadal will be tough to overcome, but Jack's place usually serves up a fun finish, especially now that Jack has beamed in a par-3 from Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. Feel free to chime in on the LPGA, Champions and NCAA Men's final too.
Saltman Makes Second Ace Of Week; Witnesses Abound
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"I'm just overwhelmed with it - amazing," said Saltman, playing just his fifth event since returning from his suspension.
"I hit a great seven-iron, it bounced once and in she pops. I'm so excited."
The only disappointing part was that a Saab car was on offer at the 13th, not the 17th.
Saltman had to settle for two magnums of champagne and a night in the resort's presidential suite worth £1,500.
"The coolest new wrinkle in the private-access game might be the Outpost Club."
/John Paul Newport looks at the many ways you can get on private clubs through the array of group membership concepts, including a nice shout-out for the architecture-driven Outpost Club.
Read More“To beat the best team in the nation on their home course in front of about 5,000 people wearing orange was just remarkable."
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When you read the accounts of the NCAA Men's Golf, played at 5-man match play after cutting the field to eight teams, it's just unfathomable that the event isn't televised (yet I saw the elimination game of the NCAA Women's Softball on ESPN this morning)"A fairway to go: some some radical changes to help make what's good into something great."
/After the latest quibbling over Wentworth continued the bickering over a seemingly endless string of questionable championship setups and redesigns, John Huggan looked at some of the more offensive tweakings and offers a few thoughts on how to get the holes in question back to some semblance of respectability.
Read More“It’s a par 4!”
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Steve Stricker's lead dwindled on Murifield Village's closing stretch, including a bogey at the new 16th, Jack's homage to Robert Trent Jones attempt to inject some drama into the finishing holes.TGC Rebroadcast Of Questionable Schwartzel Drop: 9:10 ET
/I believe it all starts 40 minutes into the broadcast, which re-airs at 8:30 ET, 5:30 PT, and carries on for several moments where Brendle says he's "not really entitled to relief."
Read MoreObama-Boehner Golf Summit To Occur On U.S. Open Saturday!
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So while those two lovebirds are swatting it around Andrews or some other DC course, the world's best will be at nearby Congressional. Politco's Glenn Thrush reports (thanks reader Tim for the link). Tiger, Steiney "Reported" Earnings Not Adding Up
/We learned this week from IMG sources quoted in two stories that Mark Steinberg was too expensive to keep at $3 million a year in part because Tiger only generated $1.1 million in commission pay in his last year. However, as Ryan Ballengee notes, Forbes has Tiger atop their athlete list for earnings ending May 2011 at $75 million and well, the math on someone's end is not adding up.
Read More“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.
"The Golf Channel has brought golf to the forefront more than any single thing in the history of the game."
/Fifteen years after its birth, Todd Jones looks at the rise of the Golf Channel and secures this rather audacious statement from Arnold Palmer. But if anyone can say it and get away with this, it's The King!
Read MoreRickie: “That will be where it really hits me."
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“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.
