News Of The Weird Dept: Euro Tour Caddie Caught Discarding 15th Club In Bush

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An unbylined Sky Sports report on an unnamed caddie for Jose Manuel Lara attempting to conceal an extra club and getting noticed by playing partners. Lara shot 69 but was DQ'd.  The Euro Tour's John Paramor explains:

"He was seen entering the bush with the bag of clubs by his playing partners (Ireland's Damien McGrane and Swede Peter Hedblom), who thought it was a little bit suspicious.

"They went and asked the chap 'What are you doing?' and he sort of fumbled out an answer saying 'I've got this wrong - I've done something bad. I wish it hadn't happened, etc etc'.

"It was clear the club was out of the bag and in the bush at the time. He admitted it straight away and regretted his action.

"A ruling was sought over what was the penalty for carrying an extra club and he was given two shots for the first hole and two for the second."

There is video of John Paramor talking about the incident here.

Looking Ahead To Merion

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Mark Wogenrich of The Morning Call has an update on the efforts to prepare for the U.S. Open at Merion next year and it sounds, well, complicated. But hey, the corporate hospitality will be close to the course while the players and media are a mile away. Hope everyone soaked up the ease of Olympic Club!

To address capacity problems, the USGA has capped attendance at 25,000 spectators daily. It also will build grandstands to accommodate 17,000 of those fans across the property, hoping people fill those seats to alleviate course crowding.

In addition, the East Course's focus will be almost exclusively on golf. Merchandise, concessions and restrooms will be located on the course's perimeter. Players' locker rooms and practice facilities will be located on the West Course, with shuttles running the mile in between.

"Normally, we try to put facilities in locations where we expect spectators to be," Jones said. "At Merion, it's going to be the opposite. We're putting spectator services on the edges, where we can."

Corporate hospitality, which is being operated by the Bethlehem-based MSG Promotions, will be located at Haverford College and on Golf House Road, which runs along the East Course's back nine. Bridges will be constructed from Haverford to the championship site, and corporate tents will take over some grounds of the posh neighborhood.

The Much Vaunted World Record For A Golf Ball Landing In Speeding Car While Cameras Look On, Has Been Broken

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Or is it paid for and then established?

Anyway, if you have five minutes of your life to give away for a clever Mercedes Benz ad, check out Formula 1's David Coulthard and pro-golfer Jake Shepherd trying to hit and land a golf ball in a AMG Roadster travelling at 178 mph. Thanks to reader Greg for this.

Plodders Rejoice...A Review Of The 2012 U.S. Open Setup

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The digital edition of Golf World has been emailed to subscribers and those of you mysteriously not subscribing should be able to read my story analyzing last week's setup of Olympic Club.

In my story I only included a few holes as examples, but here's the entire comparison of the non-one-shot holes and the "Fairways Hit" stats in 1998 compared to this year. You'll see that other than a few exceptions, the players hit far fewer fairways despite being armed with better equipment than in 1998.

Hole   '98% '12%
1         55    63
2         67    54
4         47    33
5         42    34
6         59    52
7         59    21    
9         45    34
10       63    52
11       57    55
12       55    44
14       69    51
16       69    51
17       62    40
18       64    61

Total    58.5    46

Green in regulation percentage for the field was virtually identical in 1998, 52.5% compared to 52% in 2012.

Open Championship Not Expected To Have Significantly Different 2016 Date

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Nick Rodger talks to R&A head honcho Peter Dawson about the 2016 Open Championship announcement involving Troon, and gets some clarification on the likely date during the Olympic year.

"The condition was pledged that no major golf event – men's or women's – would clash with the Olympic Games in 2016," explained Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the Royal & Ancient. "That will be the case. Just exactly how the schedule will pan out to make that happen is still under discussion. The Open will definitely take place before the Olympics, as it normally would be.

"The question is, with the juggling that has to go on in August to keep the pledge, does that have a knock-on effect? We're still in discussion. It will definitely be in July but it might be a week earlier."

Punters Beware: Early Open Championship Line

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One of the things I love about the Open Championship: wagering! I hope there's a parlor somewhere between Lytham and the swank Premier Inn media hotel, because from what I hear of Lytham and its anti-driver, lush rough setup, I smell some value selections in these odds.

Some names I'll be throwing money away on if they stay at these prices:

RICKIE FOWLER 30/1
GRAEME McDOWELL 30/1
PADRAIG HARRINGTON 30/1
ERNIE ELS 40/1
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN 40/1
NICOLAS COLSAERTS 60/1
PAUL LAWRIE 60/1
FRANCESCO MOLINARI 80/1
HENRIK STENSON 80/1
BRANDEN GRACE 100/1
FIELD (all others) 8/1

No Cabrera-Bello!?

"The Burger Dogs were so good (and the golf so irredeemable) that our group went back after the 14th hole as well for seconds."

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Steve DiMeglio (here) and Scott Michaux (here) filed entertaining accounts of their Monday rounds at Olympic and I was pleased to see Michaux came away a tad critical of the fairway widths that I noted left something to be desired in my Golf World story.

But even better was Michaux's defense of the Bill Burger that validated which I love and which came under intense scrutiny and criticism in the media center when overcooked impostors were served up to the dastardly ditchdiggers each afternoon.

Olympic’s famous Bill’s Burger Dogs are the greatest thing ever served at a halfway house. GREATEST THING EVER!

I’m not talking about the version of the curious hamburger shaped to fit on a hot dog bun that was served to folks who attended the U.S. Open. That was like eating imitation crab meat. Not the real thing.

“Terrible ... inedible,” is how Patricia, the woman who was cooking them up fresh in the halfway house near the 10th green, described the mass-produced facsimiles during the Open. She explained how the California Board of Health came in and mandated that each burger be eviscerated to 160 degrees until they were leathery slabs of meat that would eventually reach the person eating it about two hours after coming off the grill.

The version Patricia cooked fresh to request for everyone (the preferred color was just a little pink unless you really wanted it cooked more) and put on a toasted bun was sublime. It is the perfect mid-round snack/lunch that is easy to grab and go without making the mess that a normal burger would.

Open Championship Returns To Royal Troon in 2016

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For Immediate Release, timing just a wee bit inexplicable:

ROYAL TROON TO HOST THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2016

20 June 2012, Troon, Scotland: The Open will return to the Ayrshire coast in 2016 when the 145th Championship is played at Royal Troon.

It will be the ninth time that the Championship has been held over the famous links, most recently in 2004 when veteran American Todd Hamilton held off three-time major champion Ernie Els in a play-off.

Announcing the 2016 Open venue as the world’s best amateur golfers face the challenge of Royal Troon in the final stages of The Amateur Championship, Jim McArthur, Chairman of The R&A Championship Committee, said: “We are delighted to announce that The Open will be returning to Royal Troon in 2016.

“Royal Troon is an excellent venue which has consistently challenged the best golfers in the world. I am sure that Ayrshire, with its historic connection to The Open, will once again provide a superb setting for the game’s oldest major championship.”

Welcoming the news, South Ayrshire Council Leader Councillor Bill McIntosh, said: “This is great news – not just for Troon, but for the whole of Ayrshire. As well as giving us a chance to showcase the fantastic golf in this area, our stunning scenery, culture and heritage, The Open will also bring a terrific economic boost with a £100 million benefit to its host economy.

“This is vital investment for our area that will help create a lasting and positive legacy for generations to come.

“We look forward to working with The R&A and Royal Troon to provide a memorable welcome in 2016 for an estimated 180,000 visitors to the county where The Open Championship began.”

Hamilton’s victory eight years ago saw him join past winners including Justin Leonard (1997), Mark Calcavecchia (1989), Tom Watson (1982), Tom Weiskopf (1973), Arnold Palmer (1962), Bobby Locke (1950) and Arthur Havers (1923).

Memorable moments at Troon include the first four-hole play-off in Open history when Calcavecchia defeated Australians Wayne Grady and Greg Norman.

An independent study commissioned by The R&A, found that The Open Championship at St Andrews in 2010 delivered a total economic benefit of £100 million to the town and surrounding area.