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
The Augusta Chronicle says the now-annual Masters.com application process is alive and well. Chances are slim but hey, the demographics in golf are changing and it's free to try to get a chance at buying into the best-run event in sports.
What's going to happen when little Caleb is actually aware he has a father?
Will Bubba ever play again?
From Twitter today:
**The tour is treading carefully on this one, even though it's hard to imagine they are pleased.
"We respect Bubba’s decision in light of the unique and life-changing circumstances of the past month,” said Ty Votaw, Executive Vice President of Communications and International Affairs for the PGA TOUR. “His focus on his family is admirable, as was his decision to honor his commitment to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans as defending champion. We look forward to having him back on the TOUR soon."
When did you come to that determination to retire? How did you figure out that you had had enough?
I’ll tell you what brings you to that decision. It’s real easy. It’s when you can’t wait to get to a tournament, and then when you drive in you say ‘What am I doing here?’ And then you can’t wait to get out of there. In other words, I don’t care about competing any more. I came to grasp with everything when I realized I couldn’t compete any more, If you’ve won as many tournaments as I’ve won and competed the many years that I competed, you understand that you’re not gonna go play just to be playing. When you drive into that golf course, you want to have a chance of winning, and if there’s any doubt inside of you that you can’t win, it’s time to hang it up.
When you go back to your heyday, there were players like yourself, Arnold Palmer and others who were characters of the game. One of the biggest criticisms of the PGA Tour today is it doesn’t have the personalities like it did in your prime.
If you’ll look back at the old days, most golfers when we came to the course we had a sport coat on, and we hung it up in the locker. Today, these kids come to the course in shorts and a pair of tennis shoes on, and a T-shirt, and then they dress while they’re there. And then they leave the same way. It’s almost like the rock band Kiss. Once they take the makeup off, nobody recognizes them. It was different back then and we were more personable I think back then, and the reason for it is simply because we didn’t play for a lot of money. We were hoping somebody would invite us into the clubhouse and buy us dinner. That’s why we had the coat there.
**Link working now.
Players have long hated a back tee added by the course renovator-to-the-stars and like so many of his modifications to tournament courses over the last decade, the back tee on Quail Hollow's par-3 17th will be retired to the delight of players.
"I think it's a great decision just because of the way the green is designed," said Phil Mickelson, who was one of those who pushed for the modification.
"It's designed to receive the shot from over there," he added. "When the green gets firm like it will be this week it's a much better hole from over there. There is more decision-making and more risk-reward as opposed to 100 percent defense. I think it's a great hole from over there."
**Ron Green Jr. has the full story behind the tee change including a priceless quote from Tiger and some insight into the thinking of architect Fazio and Johnny Harris, Mr. Quail Hollow.
First, Tiger on seeing the left tees in use.
Pleased with what he saw, Woods told a hole marshal, “We used to play this as a short par-4.”
And...
“Clearly Tom Fazio and I didn’t get the message like everyone else did,” Quail Hollow president Johnny Harris said.
“We finally decided to listen to the pros. We can make the course unplayable if we wanted to but that’s not our intention. We have nine years of data from the right side. Now we can get it from the left side.”
Previewing the U.S. Open at Olympic where he played as an amateur and will manage to work himself into the conversation at least 4391 times during the telecasts this year, Johnny Miller tells Golf Magazine he likes Phil Mickelson's chances this year.
Of course, it's because of a tip Johnny gave Phil.
PHIL MICKELSON: This might be Phil's last chance to win a U.S. Open. He's won more in California than maybe anyone, even me. He wants that first U.S. Open so much, and you know he'll be prepared. And who knows -- after I gave him my tip about the "reverse-bank" theory, maybe that'll put him over the top!
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
