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
I know, I know you haven't heard of them but two of the leaders have been adored by scribblers for months and now they are under the microscope Sunday at the PGA. With a wide open leaderboard, they could be gone by the time CBS goes to its first commercial break, but they are still worth getting to know. Dave Kindred offers this crash course.I thought I was prepared for CBS and the PGA of America's idea of a proper sporting event presentation after sitting through last year's promo and commercial-laden mess, but for some reason Saturday's boondoggle seemed far worse. At least I had Twitter to converse with like-minded folks who found the seemingly unending commercial and promo reel offensive.
I can't imagine what Golfweek's Martin Kaufman thought, since he blamed lackluster early round coverage on TNT, and absolved CBS of blame for the relentlessness of the breaks. (Of further note is the scaled back production for all rounds that includes no quality blimp camera coverage and a noticeable cutback in spotters to provide yardages.)
The real problem here is the PGA of America, which allows their championship to be ruined by an unwatchable live telecast and despite complaints the last few years, appears to have done nothing to re-work its deal with CBS. Throw in their circa-2000 website and for fans not in attendance, it looks like they could care less about what any fan thinks of them. I can't even imagine what a casual fan thinks of the game if they tried to watch any of this.
Sadly, the PGA ratings will tumble Sunday and it'll be blamed on unknown leaders, not on the product put out (sparingly) on the airwaves. Thankfully, there is the DVR.
For the first time in as long as I can remember, I will be fast-forwarding through this one entirely on "tape." Sorry sponsors, but the PGA of America gives me (and many others) no choice but to fast forward. Consider it the television version of Tee it Forward.
Pete McDaniel reviews some of the more intriguing moments on the shortened par-4 13th Saturday, which along with a few other touches, appeared to breath a little life into the tournament by introducing strategy.
You have to do some reading between the lines in Alex Miceli's item on Phil Mickelson getting accosted by a fan Saturday, but in case you were wondering if it had to do with his course comments, think again.
Let's see if the BellSouth Classic turns back into a major on moving day.
The leaderboard, when it works, can be viewed here.
The over-under on the first Hawaii Five-O promo? 2:55 ET.
****For those having trouble posting comments, I'm told a simple clearing of your browser cache will do the trick. Here's how to do it without clearing passwords, cookies and other fun stuff.
So much for a gentleman's game! Rees Jones, better known now as "the guy who did this one," has fired back at Phil Mickelson's criticism of Atlanta Athletic Club as an example of lousy modern design.
"Phil's just trying to round up some course-design work for himself," Jones, above, said in an interview. Mickelson had complained about Jones's course revisions at Mickelson's hometown Torrey Pines, and the Atlanta Athletic Club, site of this week's PGA Championship. He griped that the penal style at Atlanta "doesn't let the average guy play."
And Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman Tweeted this yesterday:
Tim Finchem and the networks now have a good idea where they stand with Tiger, so let the big ne-gosh begin.
Meanwhile, it was an ugly PGA for Tiger Woods and for one last time (until November), the scribes write up his saga.
I just wish I could be there the first time Sir Nick Faldo tries to talk strategy with an associate of Tom Fazio (Lord knows the great man wouldn't leave the country!) and he gets a bunch of nonsense about framing. But alas, the chances of Nick Faldo-Tom Fazio (or 18 major champions and Tom Fazio, with egos coordinated by the ego himself) doesn't stand much chance.
Seems the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre wants to ruin the views at The Donald's new Scottland course with a £150m project off the coast, which he's slating for a July 2012 opening.
In a statement, Trump said: "I am very disappointed that Scotland may allow the development of a wind-power plant directly off Aberdeen's beautiful coastline.
"When I first became involved with our billion-pound development – golf course construction is weeks away from completion with a planned opening before 1 July 2012 – I was repeatedly promised, as an incentive for us to go forward and proceed with this project, that wind turbines would not be destroying and distorting the magnificent coastline.
Unlike my white-with-gold-trim hotel design beamed in from Dubai.
"Unfortunately, despite these prior assurances that the wind project would not proceed, I am now learning that this issue has again raised its ugly head.
"Scotland is one of the most beautiful countries on earth, with its greatest asset being its magnificent coastline, a coastline known for its great beauty throughout the entire world."
The Donald, waxing on about preserving natural beauty. What a world!
Like the PGA of America needs more encouragement to take their tournament to the kinds of modern designs that Phil loves in Africa-hot climates, Ron Whitten offers up his nominees for courses worth a look now that Champion bermuda exists. Hard to argue with any of these…especially since none have a chance.An Around The Rings report checks in with the IGF's Ty Votaw who confirms that the timing is getting tight for selecting an architect and building a course in time for a 2015 test run prior to the '16 games. Votaw told Around The Rings, “We'll have an architect selected by the end of the year barring any unforeseen circumstances.”
And in response to Greg Norman's criticism that the Olympic course is cutting the timing a little too close for comfort:
Votaw added that the process is “probably taking a little longer than we anticipated. I would agree with Greg's assessment in terms of the time frame, and we conveyed that same information to him, which is why we agree with him.”
Brian Wacker, with many quotes from agent Chubby Chandler on Rory McIlroy's decision to play through the pain because he can't do anymore damage to his wrist.
“Guy’s like Rory and Tiger, they play on their limit, don’t they?” Chandler said. “He’s taking a shot 90 percent of the field wouldn’t take.”
And while the result of that shot proved damaging, there was little indication that McIlroy wouldn’t try to play on Friday.
“He said something there, that the next major is not until April,” Chandler said. “That’s how he thinks. That’s how he’s thought for 18 months. You don’t get too many people who think like that, not really think like that.
“He’s a different person at a major than any other week. There’s a 24 tournament schedule and there’s 20 that don’t matter. I don’t mean to say they don’t matter, but they’re a means to an end. There’s a spark when he comes to a major. There’s a different look in his face.”
****Steve Elling with this and more from Chandler:
Even J.P. Fitzgerald came under fire for not calling McIlroy off the shot, a criticism that drew laughter from Chandler. He called the caddie criticism, "bullsh*t."
"He doesn’t listen to anybody," Chandler said.
Frank Nobilo visits the scene of the crime for Golf Channel.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
