Quail Hollow Under The Knife Again

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Ron Green Jr. with the list of changes, many of which are in response to player criticism or with the 2017 PGA in mind.

The move allows the club to expand its practice tees and create a new short-game area with three greens. The existing short-game area, located to the right of the practice range, will be converted into a tournament parking area.

Among the features of the new short game area will be a sod-faced bunker, reminiscent of those on the famous links courses in Scotland and Ireland.

The short par-4 eighth hole is also being revamped with a new green being built to the left of the existing green, which was among the most controversial on the course. The tees will be shifted slightly and the hole will play between 325 and 340 yards with an opening at the front of the green to allow long hitters to attempt to fit their tee shots between two bunkers.

PGA Tour Video Onslaught: Tiger Was Great, Is Great And Will Be Great, But Never As Great As He Was

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You see a lot of things in the blogging business that make you scratch your head, but I have to say the onslaught of videos posted on YouTube today by the PGA Tour celebrating Tiger's place in the game, made me double check to see if he had announced his retirement. The videos speak of him as if he's left the game, or, God Forbid, left the planet.

Not once, not twice, not three times, but four different videos are dedicated to the same basic theme: Tiger was great, is great, may never be great again because the competition is tougher, and has been a great player in the game. It's revelatory stuff.

Almost like Commissioner Sure, Use-Our-Clubhouse-But-Bring-Your-Own-Blue-Drapes randomly called down to PGA Tour Productions and said, "order me up some the nostalgia, heavy on the Tiger."

Woods did appear in the AT&T National press center (transcript here, Golf Channel video below) for a Q&A and admitted his short game has been lacking. Steve DiMeglio reports:

"I finally have a swing that doesn't hurt, and I am still generating power, but it doesn't hurt anymore," said Woods, who overhauled his swing previously with Butch Harmon and Hank Haney and is now working with Sean Foley. "I would say certainly my short game has been something that has taken a hit, and it did the same thing when I was working with Butch and the same thing when I was working with Hank.

"During that period of time, my short game went down, and it's because I was working on my full game. Eventually I get to a point where the full game becomes very natural and I can repeat it day after day, and I can dedicate most of my time to my short game again."

More interesting, Woods endorsed the notion put forward by some that younger players will be turning pro earlier than they might have in the past

Ryan Ballengee covers that part of the presser:

Woods, whose agent Mark Steinberg also represents Cantlay, endorsed the approach of the 2011 U.S. Amateur runner-up.

"I think that gives you the best chance," he said. "You play the Masters. You get the U.S. Open. You get a couple majors under your belt. You get to play with your team in college, play your entire collegiate schedule. And now you've got a lot of tournaments under your belt, and then go ahead and turn pro and try and get your card."

You can watch the entire press conference here:

The Bear's Club Homeowners Has Standards...Sort Of

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Thanks to reader Larry for Paul Barrett's Businessweek profile of online .xxx domain tycoon Stuart Lawley, who has an office on PGA Boulevard and who tried to buy a $3.8 million home at the Bear's Club, but was briefly rebuffed this month by the homeowner's association over his profession. The story closes by reveal that Lawley eventually was approved.

Hopefully they don't put Lee Westwood through as much grief.

Duval And Stricker Added To Hall Of Fame Ballot?

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Here's a PGATour.com report on the latest World Golf Hall of Fame ballot including David Duval and Steve Stricker joining the list. Really.

Garry Smits breaks down the ballot and reveals who he voted for in the regular and International categories of the World Golf Hall Of Fame. Let's hope that Retief Goosen induction speech doesn't happen for a few years.

David Graham Wants Equipment Rules Revisited...

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...but not a word about distance issues from the former U.S. Open champion and member of the Masters Cup and Tee Marker Placement Committee.

Jim Achenbach says Graham believes amateurs should be able to carry as many clubs as they want, with as much loft as they'd like to allow them to hit flops like Tiger and Phil (even though that takes special skill) and he's for the long putter too.

“If we examine long putters, it’s easy to see they have allowed a lot of people across the board to get more enjoyment from the game,” Graham says. “Absolutely the long putter has helped the game. It’s a good thing.

“Besides, even with a certain amount of opposition to the long putter, it may be too late to change it. Many golfers thoroughly depend on these putters. With this kind of passion, I think the game itself becomes the benefactor.”

As for the real issue at hand? Mum's the word!

TPC Sawgrass' 17th Is Barely An Island Green Today

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Tony Agolini Tweeted this post-tropical storm Debby image of the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, date and time unknown.

The TPC Sawgrass maintenance blog has video of the scene Monday after over six inches of rain. Good luck to superintendent Tom Vlach and team with the damage assessment and cleanup.

Andy Zhang Resurfaces; Wishes He Would Have Cut Off The Media Questions Sooner

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Stephen Fastenau talks to the 14-year-old U.S. Open contestant about his appearance at Olympic Club as Andy Zhang prepares for the AJGA event at Hilton Head Plantation.

The 14-year-old landed in the U.S. Open field after Paul Casey withdrew with an injury. He played a Tuesday practice round with Masters champion Watson, and after walking off the 18th green was surrounded by media members who didn't stop asking questions.

"It's my first time doing all this stuff," Zhang said. "I should have said 'Stop,' when I wanted to stop. I didn't know what to do. I kept going and answering questions. I didn't want to keep up the group behind us."

Ah the young lad, who was better than most twice his age at answering questions, just needs to understand that we didn't want to talk to the geezers behind him.