Tiger: "I've heard people question whether Fred would be a good Ryder Cup captain, and I just don't get it."

/

Strong endorsement from Tiger for Fred Couples as a Ryder Cup captain in a lengthy diary post at TigerWoods.com:

I've heard people question whether Fred would be a good Ryder Cup captain, and I just don't get it. I think that Fred is a great captain. Whether it's The Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup, it doesn't matter.

The way he keeps us loose and how much fun we have -- it's just great to play for him. He's a lot more competitive than people realize. He just doesn't show it. He shows it with us around, but the public doesn't see it.

"Every move takes Rory McIlroy away from the 'normal guy' persona that is central to his appeal"

/

Richard Gillis talks to the branding folks and seems to be suggesting that Rory McIlroy is showing signs of losing the "normal guy" persona that makes him so appealing.

There’s a conundrum at the heart of Brand Rory. We warm to him because he’s talented and normal. His values seem to be those we share ourselves. In short, we like him.

The problem is that famous people, even the nice ones, are not normal. It’s just not possible to earn tens of millions, be known around the world and live like the rest of us. We, the general public, won’t allow it.
Already, McIlroy has moved from his home in Holywood, Co Down, because the attention he was getting was too much. He split up with his childhood sweetheart and is going out with Caroline Wozniacki, the world’s number one tennis player. Every move takes him away from the “normal guy” persona that is central to his appeal.

The 24/7 news media has begun to look for any signs of petulance and will be quick to write stories when they perceive McIlroy is exhibiting brat-like tendencies. Note the reporting of his post-Open interview when he complained about the rain. Or his “Twitter spat” with commentator Jay Townsend.

I once asked Chubby Chandler about this potential conflict, and he said: “If we do it well, he’ll end up being Rory McIlroy – not a marketing property.”

It’s a job he didn’t get to finish.

Sandy Lyle And Peter Alliss Join 2012 Hall Class

/

With Dan Jenkins also in, we are assured of at least two really good speeches and I'm going out on a limb now and thinking Phil Mickelson will pull out all the stops for his.

Overdue recognitiion for these two:

World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum completes Class of 2012 with Sandy Lyle and Peter Alliss
Duo will join Mickelson, Stacy and Jenkins for Induction Ceremony in May 2012

 London (Dec. 15, 2011) – The World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum will enshrine Sandy Lyle and Peter Alliss as the final members of the Class of 2012. Lyle was elected through the International Ballot, while Alliss was selected via the Lifetime Achievement Category.

Lyle and Alliss will be honored along with fellow 2012 inductees Phil Mickelson, Hollis Stacy and Dan Jenkins at the Hall of Fame’s Induction Ceremony on May 7, 2012 at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla. The Ceremony is held on the Monday of THE PLAYERS Championship week.

Both Lyle and Alliss were on hand when the official announcement was made by European Tour Chief Executive and World Golf Foundation Chairman George O’Grady and World Golf Hall of Fame Chief Operating Officer Jack Peter at The European Tour’s Race to Dubai Golfer of the Year luncheon in London.

“This is a special day for The European Tour. Peter Alliss and Sandy Lyle are both very worthy candidates for the World Golf Hall of Fame,” said O’Grady. “Peter followed a highly acclaimed playing career by becoming a hugely admired and wonderfully entertaining commentator. Sandy played a pivotal role in raising the image and popularity of British and European golf with his exceptional winning performances in the 1985 Open Championship, the 1987 PLAYERS Championship and the 1988 Masters Tournament.“

“Congratulations to Sandy and Peter on this well-earned honor,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “Both have had tremendous global impacts on the game. Peter was an accomplished player and millions of fans have come to look forward to his signature broadcasting style. Sandy has an exceptional resume. He is an Open champion, the first British player to win the Masters and the first player from outside the United States to win THE PLAYERS Championship.”

In all, Lyle has won 29 tournaments worldwide, including 18 on The European Tour and three other PGA TOUR titles. His victory at the 1985 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s made him the first British winner since Tony Jacklin in 1969. He broke new ground at the 1987 PLAYERS, defeating Jeff Sluman in a playoff to become its first international champion. Lyle made history again at the 1988 Masters, making birdie on the 18th hole to become Augusta National’s first British winner. In 1987, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

“I am not only delighted, but also very excited to be honored by the World Golf Hall of Fame,” Lyle said. “I would like to thank all who voted for me – to be placed in the company of the greatest names in our game is very special and I am looking forward so much to the Induction Ceremony next May.”

Alliss began his commentating career with the BBC in 1961 at The Open Championship won by Arnold Palmer at Royal Birkdale. Alliss, son of Percy Alliss, one of the finest players of his generation, turned professional when still only 15. He won 23 tournaments worldwide during the 1950s and 1960s, including three British PGA Championships, and captured the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Opens in three consecutive weeks. Twice a winner of the Vardon Trophy, he was selected for every GB & Ireland Ryder Cup team except one from 1953 to 1969 and played 10 times for England in the World Cup. Twice captain of the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland, the first President of the European Women’s PGA and a Past President of the British Greenkeepers’ Association, Alliss has also been associated with the design of more than 50 courses and is a respected author of more than 20 golf books.

“This is all very unexpected,” Alliss said. “I am delighted, surprised, humbled and honored to be thought of in this way and to be given a place in the World Golf Hall of Fame particularly as it is chosen by people all around the world.”

With the full class announced, the Hall of Fame will begin preparations for the Induction Ceremony.

“Sandy Lyle and Peter Alliss are terrific additions to the Hall of Fame,” Peter said. “Along with Phil Mickelson, Hollis Stacy and Dan Jenkins, the Class of 2012 is international, diverse and rich with history. We are thrilled to honor all five inductees this May.”

"When you rattled off that list of credits, you left out my cure for polio, but I'll excuse you for that."

/

Long overdue, much deserved and well received by his peers, Dan Jenkins becomes the sixth media member to join the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Bill Fields' Golf World bunker item that broke the news.

Doug Ferguson with the numbers and retrospective.

Jenkins, 82, will be only the sixth media member in the hall when he is inducted May 7 at the World Golf Village along with Phil Mickelson, Hollis Stacy and two other inductees who are to be announced Thursday in London.

His career goes from Ben Hogan to Tiger Woods, from the manual typewriter to Twitter, and Jenkins is still going. He previously worked for the Fort Worth Press, the Dallas Times Herald and Sports Illustrated, and he has been writing for Golf Digest since 1985. Jenkins also has written 20 books, including "Dead Solid Perfect."

"Being from Fort Worth, I would follow Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson anywhere," Jenkins said Wednesday on a conference call to announce that he was selected through the Lifetime Achievement category. "Since they're in there, I'm happy to be the third guy from Fort Worth so included.

"I'm delighted to be in such good company with the people who are already in there, especially the players."

The other five media members in the Hall of Fame are writers Herbert Warren Wind, Bob Harlow, Herb Graffis, Bernard Darwin and television producer Frank Chirkinian. They were inducted posthumously.

For some fun reads from the archives, SI goes into the vault for some best of Dan, Guy Yocom's interview is a must as is Jaime Diaz's 2005 tribute.

And some highlights from the transcript, starting with a elated and overjoyed Tim Finchem who surely wanted Dan in for years and just couldn't convince his fellow committee members of the health benefits derived from biennial readings of You Gotta Play Hurt.

TIM FINCHEM:  Thank you, Jack.  I was excited to have the opportunity to announce Phil Mickelson when we were in Singapore a few weeks ago and talk a little bit about his great career.  I know that the recipient from the international ballot will be announced tomorrow in London by George O'Grady along with another announcement.

Today I'm very pleased to do something really fun, which is to recognize a unique individual for the lifetime achievement category, an individual who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this May and rightfully so.  That is Dan Jenkins.  A legendary, how shall I put this ‑ writer, humorist, commentator, critic from time to time, a great part of what sports in the United States is all about and has been all about for many, many, many years.

Dan has had a spectacular career, and I think I should note that over the years the World Golf Hall of Fame has been very sparse in their recognition of people from Dan's craft, only recognizing the very, very best. 

And now for Dan...

DAN JENKINS:  Tim, thank you very much.  When you rattled off that list of credits, you left out my cure for polio, but I'll excuse you for that.  You got all those other things in there.

I'm delighted and flattered and overwhelmed to take a spot in there with my old friends, Herbert Warren Wind and Herb Graffis and people like that who actually covered the sport.  I wish I had known Bernard Darwin, but I came along too late for him.

And we have a comedian on the line asking about memorabilia Dan might donate.

Q.  Any Western Union clips?

DAN JENKINS:  Right, yeah.  I do go back that far, actually.  I missed Postal Telegraph, but I was around for Western Union.  They used to garble your stories pretty bad.  Somebody told me one time they only improved them, really.  That may or may not be true.  But I do go back that far.

I went through the age of faxing, and now I'm in the computer age, and now I'm in the tweeting age.  So I've covered a broad spectrum of ways to transmit thoughts and people want to hear or are outraged to hear at some times.  Even though I was making a stab at humor, I don't think I ever wrote a line I didn't believe.

On where his sense of humor came from...

DAN JENKINS:  Well, when you grow up in Texas and you don't like sports, they drown you, that's number one.  If you've ever gambled at golf, which all of us did as kids and college and all of that, your sense of humor has to go with it because you get beat so often.  It just came natural.

I understand golf is a religion to a lot of people.  Never really a religion to me, but a great sports event.  Any great sports event required a sense of humor.  It just came natural.  I don't try to be funny, but sometimes I think that way.

I've always told young people who asked me about sports writing and golf writing and stuff, when something great happens, like when an Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods or Ben Hogan happens, you don't have to be funny, you just have to be accurate.

When you have to be funny is when you're on deadline, and somebody like Jack creeps up on you.  That's when you have to tap dance because it doesn't make any sense.  We have more and more of that these days, don't we?

Sadly, so true.

And the conclusion...

DAN JENKINS:  Thank you very much.  And thank you, again, Tim, and thanks to all of those people that called in with having nothing better to do.  I can't wait until May 7th when you put some (Indiscernible) on my shoulder and give me a saber.

TIM FINCHEM:  Thank you, Dan.  We look forward to seeing you here in Florida in a few months.