Olympic Format Claims Another Victim

Bernie McGuire gets confirmation from Mission Hills' Ken Chu that the two-man World Cup will go to 72-holes of stroke play and world ranking points starting in 2013.

"The World Cup will change format, and it will begin enjoying world rankings points, and it will still be held biennially and at around this time of year," he told Reuters.

"But with golf to be in the 2016 Olympics the equation in golf changes, and these changes to the World Cup will be having the Olympics in mind."

Chu, along with his younger brother Tenniel, Mission Hills vice chairman, held meetings earlier this week at Haikou with the Federation of Golf Tours heads, including PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and his European Tour counterpart, George O'Grady.

Chu indicated the Federation would release a joint statement shortly confirming the changes.

Ah no need now!

Great Time To Buy Tiger!

The NY Times's Ken Belson talks to merchandising and packaging experts who say Tiger's a good buy right now. Naturally, I just enjoy reading quotes about a product that doubles as a person.

“He was brought down, but he’s rebuilding again and rebuilding a different way,” said Ira Mayer, the publisher of the Licensing Letter, a newsletter than tracks merchandising deals. “At this point, he’s the underdog, and that’s a strategy, too. Bill Clinton survived worse, and Tiger is not a head of state.”

This year, Woods has won $660,000 on the PGA Tour, a far cry from the $10.5 million he earned in 2009.

But whatever his troubles, he remains the highest-paid athlete in the world. Last year, he earned more than $62 million from prize money and endorsements, 51 percent less than in 2008, according to the annual study by Sports Illustrated. In the wake of his personal and professional difficulties, Nike, EA Sports and other sponsors did not walk away.

Rolex partnered with Woods until 2002, when he switched to another watchmaker, Tag Heuer. When that deal ended this summer, Rolex re-signed him. Rolex was motivated to work with Woods not just because it competes with Tag Heuer, but also because he remains a popular figure overseas, particularly with wealthy consumers, branding executives said.

“Internationally, he’s been forgiven more quickly,” said Bob Dorfman, who writes the Sports Marketers’ Scouting Report. “It’s a good time to buy Tiger in that sense.”

The story goes on to quote Tiger talking about the Fuse product and how he had scientists independently verify the validity of the product claims. Let's just hope he doesn't get accused of cheating with another power drink like he did during the Gatorade days.

Daly Adds A No-Show To Latest Run, Has His Banishment Begun?

An AP report quotes organizers of the South African Open saying John Daly did not "snub" their event, believed to be his final appearance anywhere for a while after intentionally dumping balls in the lake at The Lakes.

Promoter Mbali Ngqula dismissed reports that Daly had refused to play the European Tour event after his fiery exit from the recent Australian Open, where he hit a string of shots into a lake and then quit saying he had run out of balls. Ngqula said on Thursday "it is wrong to suggest that John snubbed our invitation, he did no such thing." Ngqula said Daly was "very willing" to play the South African Open but had been unable to make it in time.

"In short, we still don't know if Tiger will really be back. But Australia gave us some strong evidence that he is finally feeling accepted."

I rarely disagree with my colleague Jaime Diaz, but in the case of his Golf World column on what Royal Melbourne proved about Woods game, I don't agree.

The Royal Melbourne Composite course may have been a beast, but it played to Woods' strength. For all the hosannas raised to the Alister Mackenzie masterpiece, at less than 7,000 yards, to hold up, it had to be tricked up. Only carefully crafted and supremely struck iron shots were well received by the rock-hard and crazy-fast greens, and Woods can still hit more of those than anyone. What the layout didn't require was the driver, and that's the club that will tell where Woods really is with his swing. Finally, Woods got a relatively easy singles draw against Aaron Baddeley, who was shaky after his Calcavecchian miss off the 18th tee on the opening day set a negative tone for his team.

In short, we still don't know if Tiger will really be back. But Australia gave us some strong evidence that he is finally feeling accepted.

Other than some silly rough, I don't think Royal Melbourne was tricked up. As I noted in my story for the same issue of Golf World (not posted), the PGA Tour staff did a super job backing off the pedal to ensure that the course was not tricked up during Friday's potentially Shinnecockian day.

Furthermore, the conditions were major-championship-like in terms of crowd presence and speed of the golf course, making the kind of golf Woods and several others displayed pretty telling about the level of one's game.

Now, as for the driver issue, it is true that Woods didn't have to hit a lot of drivers. But a quick look at the 2012 major schedule will show that the driver will not be an important club at two and perhaps three of the venues. Stingers will be a golfer's friend in 2012, which bodes well for Tiger.

Hackel Speaks On Prez Cup Fashion; Spares Wives

I was a little disappointed that Marty Hackel opted not to highlight the International team decision to have player wives wear their last names on the back of certain clothing items or to display caddie names on bags, but even more alarming is the U.S. team photo that includes embedded journalist Bob Verdi!

Five Really Minor Royal Melbourne Quibbles

As I continue on in the land where Internet access went to die, a few final reflections from Tasmania on the Presidents Cup week at glorious Royal Melbourne. The week wasn't without a few minor hiccups worth noting for the next time championship golf returns there.

• The horrifying, absurd and totally unnecessary rough in several places that could be replaced by firm, sandy scrub, maintaining the challenge while returning the beauty. Golfers might also be able to see the sixth hole (West) fairway bunkers again. (Example of sandy look, left photo.)

• The dreadful landscaping effort down the 15th fairway (17 East). New mounds and out-of-place landscaping need to be replaced by the new consulting architect who presumably replaces the person that came up with this.

• Using the first and second holes of the West Course as the Presidents Cup finishing holes. Even though they were not reached a lot, I still wonder if they should have been the openers and the 18th on the East the finisher (instead of playing as the 16th on the Composite). The course might have had a slightly kinder opening flow, and a stronger finish.

• That the bunkers being so groomed during the Presidents Cup. Instead, go for the look seen at the rest of the sandbelt and rake 'em just a couple of times a week, leaving the floors nice and firm.

• That we won't be returning to this magnificent, endlessly fascinating and ideal venue for championship golf anytime soon, or for a major championship. But the women will be there in February and we'll get another fix of this amazing place.

10 Great Things About Royal Melbourne

With the holiday week and my need to inspect Tasmania's finest golf, not to mention a 15 hour plane ride home, posting will be light. Still, I just can't let go of Royal Melbourne yet, so there's my Golf World Monday item with a few player quotes and here, in a stunning world exclusive, a few more thoughts on the course.

Frankly, it's morbidly depressing to think we won't see a tournament golf course this fascinating for a while. I could have filed a book on what I saw out at Royal Melbourne this week, but I'll only bore you with a few observations.

• The course gets more interesting, more fascinating and more beguiling each day you study it. I watched five days of golf there and feel like I hardly know it.

• The greens are complex, yet the key features are easy to remember. This is vital in attracting the affection of players who want to shape shots off of the contours (and therefore, makes the strategy so much more interesting.)
• The conditioning. So firm, so fast and so pure, yet not too green or unnatural in appearance.

• The bunker faces are firm with little-to-no sand on them while the floors are raked. There is simply no excuse for not doing this in the United States and elsewhere.

• The club has the best members-only logo in golf. I'd post it, but what's the point. We aren't members.

• Not all of the best holes on the property are on the Composite course, meaning the tired suggestion that it's not great because it requires a Composite 18 is, well, tired.
• The par-3s. Tiger said it after the round, and it was echoed by several players: par-3s do not need to be 250 yards to be interesting. They can be 150 yards and still all the best players can handle...assuming the architect did his job. And to think they left out several others on the property that would have been just as fascinating to watch.

• Every Presidents Cup match played the most interesting holes on the course. Yes, many of RM's standout holes came early in the round, but every match passed through the first through sixth holes, and for that matter, the seventh through thirteenth. It was considered an unusual flow, but it worked well.

• They open their doors to professional golf. The Presidents Cup this week, the LPGA in February.

• The Composite course features three of the best short par-4s in the world. As in, top 10 on my or most sane individuals' list of favorite short par-4s: 1, 6, 10 on this year's Composite, better known as 3 West, 10 West and 1 East.

R.I.P. Ted Forstmann

IMG's chairman and CEO passes.

"MOST WATCHED DAY TWO IN PRESIDENTS CUP HISTORY"

For Immediate Release, as some of you watch Day 4...

Tops Day One to Become Most-Watched Day of Presidents Cup Ever on Cable;
Both Days on Golf Channel Surpass Any Previous Cable Coverage
 
ORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 20, 2011)– Golf Channel’s coverage of The Presidents Cup broke another record, with Day Two viewership topping Day One – the previous best day – to become the most-watched day on cable in the history of the biennial tournament, according to preliminary national ratings released today by Nielsen. This milestone is especially significant given the 16-hour time difference between the U.S. Eastern time zone and Australia.
 
Golf Channel's Day One and Day Two coverage from Melbourne both surpass all previous days on cable TV in the history of the event, which includes four days on ESPN, eight days on TNT and two days on Golf Channel.

Data showed average viewers for Day Two coverage was 1,508,000.  Average viewers for Day One and Day Two combined was up 123 percent from comparable days when the event was last played overseas (South Africa, 2003). Viewership for Day Three and the Final Day of The Presidents Cup will be available when national ratings are released by Nielsen.

The Presidents Cup Day Two coverage anchored Golf Channel’s Thursday primetime schedule, which replaced Wednesday as the most-watched and highest-rated night in primetime ever on the network.

Sharp Park Update, Bill Fields' Images

With the Presidents Cup past I finally got to savor Bill Fields' gallery of black and white images from a recent visit to the embattled Alister MacKenzie public course outside San Francisco. It's well worth a look and a reminder of just the kind of place golf needs more of, and yet, the effort to save the place has not been joined by any of the game's national organizations.

I also forgot that the Save Sharp Park folks got their day in court with the Wild Equity zealots on November 18. Fields filed this update on what went on.