"We certainly hope he's okay. Let's go to 13, where Tiger Woods is on the tee."
/Deadspin has the
Read MoreWhen 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
Bubba: "Not missing golf at all."
/Ryan Ballengee,
Read MoreA Word About The TPC Sawgrass' Perfectly Imperfect Greens
/It's a bit depressing how many comments have been directed at the imperfect and off-color look of TPC Sawgrass' bermudagrass greens, even though we've been through this the last few years at The Players.
Read MoreBrandel: "Right now watching Tiger Woods play golf is pretty painful."
/Brandel Chamblee on CNBC's Squawk Box Friday morning continued to speak highly of Tiger's game and Sean Foley's swing work. Thanks to rea
Read MoreBeckett's "Golf Business" Leads To Trade Talk!
/Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett played golf with Clay Buchholz on his day off after skipping a start because of a sore shoulder and the wonderfully patient, forgiving Red Sox Nation is outraged.
Looks to me like Beckett missed an opportunity to weigh in on the state of the golf business when he was questioned. From Gordon Edes' column:
Thursday night was the first opportunity for Beckett to explain himself. But that was beneath him. He made it clear it was an affront to his right to privacy for anyone to even question why he would play golf the day after Sox fans were told he was physically unable to perform. Or for anyone to ask him, in light of how badly the Sox are playing, if he even thought of how it might look from the outside.
No, this is what Josh Beckett chose to do instead, on a night he was savagely booed as he left the mound having given up one run for every out he recorded (7 runs, 7 outs) before departing.
Question (paraphrased): Did the golf business have any impact on how you pitched?
Answer: None. None.
Question: Anything to say about the golf business?
Answer: No. I spend my off days the way I want to spend them.
Question: Any regrets?
Answer: My off day is my off day.
Question: Given that you were skipped a start with what was described as a tight lat muscle, do people have the right to question why you were golfing?
Answer: Not on my off day.
Question: Do you understand the perception that leaves when the team is playing as poorly as it is?
Answer: We get 18 off days a year. I think we deserve a little time to ourselves.
That's Beckett. Defiant to a hurtling-off-the-cliff fault.
Buster Olney reports on the possibility of trading Beckett over his round of golf.
There is a disconnect between the Red Sox fans and Beckett, reflected in the boos he heard as he came off the mound -- and even in the Boston front office, the question of whether he has irreconcilable differences with the team for which he pitches should probably be asked. The Red Sox should probably begin exploring trade avenues. Moving him might not be easy, short of giving him away, and even if a trade partner could be found, Beckett maintains 10-and-5 rights, and thus the ability to veto any deal.
Josh, I have two clubs ready to take your money: Riviera, Bel-Air. Come west young man!
Update on 2012-05-11 15:03 by Geoff
The Boston Herald has the tape of the press conference embedded in John Tomase's column about the "golf business."
What Other Rules Might The Commissioner Deem Unworthy Of Enforcement?
/The rules were decidedly mixed for Tim Finchem's
Read More“Let me make sure I understand this, he rode a jet to Augusta to collect dirt?”
/
Steve Crawford follows up on the story of Clayton Price Baker, who attempted to fill a cup with bunker sand Sunday of this year's Masters, only to be arrested and charged. His case was dismissed but not before some incredible details were revealed and confirmed by his attorney.
Claridge said the incident had caused his client a great deal of embarrassment and money. In addition to losing his Masters badges, the meter was running on a private jet he had booked to fly him home while he sat in the Richmond County jail, Claridge said.
“Let me make sure I understand this, he rode a jet to Augusta to collect dirt?” asked Judge William D. Jennings III.
Claridge clarified that his client had come to see the Masters Tournament.
“So he came here to collect special dirt,” Jennings said. “Had he been successful in his attempt, what, pray tell, would he have done with it?”
Claridge explained that his client tries to collect dirt from ballparks and other sports venues he attends as sort of a hobby.
He's not alone in the sample collecting world, as reader Emile forwards this ebay link to a sale of the "actual" pine straw divot of Bubba Watson. From the seller's all-caps entry, always the sign of a healthy mind.
WE JAMMED OUR WAY INTO THE CROWD OF PEOPLE TO WATCH BUBBAS MIRACULOUS SHOT. AS SOON AS HE HIT IT, EVERYBODY STARTING CLAMORING OFF TOWARDS THE GREEN, BUT WE ALREADY KNEW THAT WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GET ANYWHERE CLOSE TO THE GREEN, SO WE DECIDED TO JUST STAY PUT AND JUST WATCH WHAT WE COULD AND LISTEN FOR THE CROWDS REACTION. AS SOON AS THE CROWD HAD LEFT, MY FRIEND WENT OVER TO WHERE BUBBA HAD JUST HIT HIS SHOT. MY FRIEND HAD A PIMENTO CHEESE SANDWICH BAG AND WENT OVER AND COLLECTED ALL THE PINE STRAW FROM AROUND THE DIVOT, AS WELL AS THE SMALL AMOUNT LEFT IN THE DIVOT, AND PUSHED TOGETHER THE LOOSE PINE STRAW IN FRONT OF THE DIVOT (MOST OF THE PINE STRAW FROM THE DIVOT FLEW FORWARD). HE PUT IT ALL IN THE PIMIENTO CHEESE SANDWICH BAG AND BROUGHT IT BACK TO MACON, GA WITH HIM. HE WAS PLANNING ON GETTING IT FRAMED WITH A PICTURE OF BUBBA, BUT JUST DECIDED HE WOULD JUST LIKE TO SELL IT, IF ANYBODY WANTED IT. SO HERE IT IS. 100% AUTHENTIC AND WEIGHS A LITTLE UNDER 2 OUNCES. I TRIED TO GIVE AS MUCH INFO AS POSSIBLE, BUT IF ANYBODY HAS ANY QUESTIONS, JUST LET ME KNOW. THANKS FOR LOOKING.
How did I miss this on my daily ebay search for Bubba Watson's pine straw divot!?
Tiger On Camera Phone Fans: "It can cost guys tournaments because a shot on Thursday is the same as a shot on Sunday."
/The policy of allowing phones at PGA Tour events has largely been a non-story this year, even though players and caddies have to tell way too many folks to put their cameras down. But not until Tiger spoke out on behalf of his playing partners F
Read MoreDramatically Downscaled Pebble Beach Plan Approved
/WSJ's Jim Carlton on the Pebble Beach Company
Read MoreThe Commissioner In Forty Years
/Bob Smiley's little send-up of
Read More"By my math par-3s require about one quarter of the time of a regulation course with 90% or more of the fun."
/Nice to see Bill Coore promoting the Bandon Preserve course and the greatness
Read MoreJ.J. Henry On Looper Mark Brooks: “He’s got the jockey whip and is laying it on these couple of days. I’ve got my leather underwear on.”
/That image is probably a little more than you wanted to know, but
Read MoreReminder: Players TV Times, Live @ 17
/
NBC/Golf Channel goes all out for this one and with the previously mentioned innovative efforts (plus one other surprise I learned of yesterday) and the limited commercial interruption, these are always some of the season's best telecasts.
The ET schedule for broadcasts and the online coverage accessible at PGATour.com:
Thursday, May 10, 1-7 p.m. - Golf Channel
Friday, May 11, 1-7 p.m. - Golf Channel
Saturday, May 12, 12-2 p.m. - Golf Channel
2-7 p.m. - NBC
Sunday, May 13, 12-2 p.m. - Golf Channel
2-7 p.m. - NBC
LIVE VIDEO SCHEDULE
• Thur-Fri 9:00a - 7:00 p
• Sat-Sun 12:00p - 7:00 p
Finchem On Augusta: Too Important To Be Consistent With Our Anti-Discrimination Policies
/Oh the comedy of listening to Tim Finchem answer questions about the PGA Tour's double standard on for-profit country club discrimination. Namely, Augusta National's refusal to admit women is okay because they are too important, but those other measely tour events at courses that discriminated against African Americans? Eh...
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said Wednesday the Masters is "too important" for the tour to take it off its official schedule, even though Augusta National has never had a female member in its 80-year history.
"We have concluded a number of times now — and we have certainly not moved off of this — that we are not going to give up the Masters as a tournament on our tour," Finchem said. "It's too important. And so at the end of the day, the membership of that club have to determine their membership. They are not doing anything illegal."
Finchem spoke at a news conference that featured The First Tee announcing a new corporate partner. The First Tee tries to attract kids of diverse backgrounds to golf.
Steve Elling summed up the irony/hypocrisy/absurdity of Finchem's stance Wednesday.
“We concluded -- we have concluded a number of times now and we have certainly not moved off of this -- that we are not going to give up the Masters as a tournament on our tour,” Finchem said Wednesday. “It's too important.”
Speaking at his annual press confab at the Players Championship, Finchem moments later welcomed two men of African-American descent to the dais to discuss the national First Tee program, which was founded in 1997 to bolster -- get this -- the number of minorities in the game.
Oh, the levels of irony, huh?
I'm pretty sure any dreams the Commish had of a cabinet appointment in the next administration (Obama or Romney!) went out the window with today's comments. Well, there's always PV for you, Commish!
Here is the full question and answer from the transcript:
Q. With Augusta National's all‑male membership again an issue at this year's Masters, how does the PGA TOUR view its discriminatory policy?
COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: Well, I think the position of the PGA TOUR hasn't changed. We have a policy that says that when we go out and do a co‑sanctioned event, we are going to play it at a club that is as open to women members, open to minority members, etc., and we follow that policy carefully.
In the case of the Masters, we concluded‑‑ we have concluded a number of times now, and we have certainly not moved off of this; that we are not going to give up the Masters as a tournament on our tour. It's too important. And so at the end of the day, the membership of that club have to determine their membership. They are not doing anything illegal.
But we just elect to continue to recognize them as an official money event on the PGA TOUR because we think it's that important to golf, so we don't get to determining whether their policies are right or wrong, because we don't have to, because we made the conclusion that regardless of those policies, we are going to continue to play and recognize them as part of the PGA TOUR.
I know some people don't like that position, and I appreciate that and I understand their reasoning, but that's the decision we've made.
Update on 2012-05-10 13:14 by Geoff
**Golf Digest's Stina Sternberg says "The commissioner's response defied second-grade logic" when he reiterated the tour policy to not visit clubs who discriminate and then suggested there was one prominent exception.
That's right, Mr. Finchem, Augusta National is not doing anything illegal. Indeed, we live in a free country. But Augusta is going directly against the anti-discrimination policy you follow so "carefully," yet you choose to look the other way because the tournament is "too important"? That reaches a level of hypocrisy that has rarely been delivered with a straight face by anyone in your position.
"I would love to have played TPC Sawgrass just after it opened in 1980."
/That Geoff Ogilvy statement will have the howling players of the early 80s questioning his sanity, yet it's hard not to look at the old photos as Ogilvy has done and wonder if, other than some extreme and immature greens, maybe the lambasted version was ahead of its time?
Either way, we'll never know as Pete Dye hasn't stood up to Commissioner Monk's neat and tidy sterilization of the place and therefore we get a TPC Sawgrass which doesn't quite get the juices flowing like it could. Ogilvy explains in Golf World:
The fairways were beautifully maintained, but outside those playing areas there was an unkempt, Pine Valley-type feel to the place.
Not that I've ever seen any of that at Sawgrass. In my time on the PGA Tour, it has always been strictly maintained and manicured. Which is a pity. I'd like to see the course allowed to be a little more "wild." It's a bit too neat. It would be nicer to look at if it wasn't so nice to look at, if you know what I mean.
It could be done too. The green complexes are sufficiently challenging. You could get rid of the rough and create some interesting angles for the approach shots. Right now, scoring isn't easy even from the middle of every fairway, because that isn't necessarily the best place to be on any given hole. It isn't playing from the rough that makes the course so difficult, it is missing such undulating greens in the wrong spots.
