Alistair Tait, reporting from the Irish Open at Royal Portrush where the Open Championship has not been played since 1951, says the players are giving the course rave reviews despite facing an unusually soft links due to heavy rains.
“It would be great for an Open Championship,” two time Open champion Padraig Harrington said. “It’s awesome. It is a joy to play this golf course. It’s got a lot of testing golf shots on it but it also gives you something when you hit a good shot.”
Anyone who questioned whether or not the Northern Irish would support big time golf only had to turn up at Portrush to find the answer. It is a resounding yes. But that’s always been the case. They turned up in thousands when the 2007 Walker Cup was played at Royal County Down. And that was before the economic downturn.
“For the crowds to turn out in the middle of a recession, pay big money like they are paying makes me proud to be Irish,” Paul McGinley said. “We go to a lot of countries around the world, a lot wealthier than Ireland and not going through the economic downturn that we are in, and yet we have record sell outs here.”
Tait also says the R&A has been present, scouting out the logistics. Let's hope the low scoring is not a deterrent.
Scott Michaux makes a strong case for the PGA Tour's new calendar year schedule putting the folks at Augusta National in an awkward position, reminding us how much Chairman Billy Payne appreciates the win-and-you're-in status of PGA Tour events. They have time to decide whether to invite all PGA Tour event winners into the Masters, but it's hard to see the Masters going to split tees to accommodate the new-look schedule.
Playing with friends on his birthday last Thursday, Scheffler shot 10-under 61 at Northwood, breaking the course record held by Hunter Mahan. This came exactly one week after Northwood celebrated the 60th anniversary of hosting the 1952 U.S. Open.
At least Scheffler paid homage, sort of, to Open champ Julius Boros by taking only eight putts on the back nine. In 1952 Boros had 11 putts on the back nine in the morning round then one-putted seven of the final nine greens in the afternoon.
Nichols goes on to detail the course record-tying round at Northwood and talks to instructor Randy Smith about his student.
Bob Diamond, Barclays CEO, is under increasing heat a day after his British bank agreed to pay more than $450 million to settle accusations that it attempted to manipulate interest rates.
The good news? This year's Scottish Open is no longer a Barclays-sponsored event. Barclays remains sponsor of a PGA Tour playoff and Phil Mickelson.
Thanks to Paul Mahoney for Tweeting this YouTube clip of Rory McIlory, off to a nice start at Royal Portrush in the 2012 Irish Open, talking about his course record 61 there.
As much as I'm already enjoying the scenes from Royal Portrush and the Irish Open, reader Kevin points out that we have a unique opportunity to see Seth Raynor's restored Fox Chapel, host of the Constellation Energy Senior Players.
At least the Commish was honest about the reason for the convoluted, as-yet-determined PGA Tour playoff system that will replace Q-School in 2013. It was a business decision. I would have been worried if he thought this was a better way to graduate players or to sift through the 126-and-beyond players to form the strongest possible tour each year.
The transcript of Wednesday's Web.com announcement is here, if you have a few hours to read through the introductory remarks of Brown and Finchem. The central question was asked about the new PGA Tour qualifying process, and out of it we learn that it sounds like Web.com came along only recently. And more impressively, the honest answer that this new fall finish/playoff for livelihoods was driven by the sponsors and is not necessarily what is best for feeding players to the PGA Tour. At least the Commish admitted the sponsors drove him to this.
TIM FINCHEM: I agree. I don't have much to add to that. We were way down the road before these discussions began. I think because of the things that David said, though, that going forward the way the structure will be starting next year is more of an integration with the PGA TOUR, which is kind of what prior sponsors of this TOUR have always talked about. They'd like to see a closer relationship. David saw that given the restructure, and it's something that'll be part of where this TOUR is now.
But these negotiations had little to do with the direction of the restructure. This has been going on for 16 months.
In one model, the top 15 players from the Web.com Tour would start the three-tournament series with whatever money they earned that year. It would be enough money to guarantee their cards. Everyone else would start from scratch, meaning 35 cards would be up for grabs.
Make $800k on the PGA Tour playing against Tiger and Rory, and start from scratch against guys who were playing against weaker fields. Yes, that makes sense.
In the second model, the top 25 players from the Web.com Tour would be guaranteed their cards. They would join the others in the three-tournament series, with everyone starting from scratch, so only 25 cards would be at stake. The only thing the top 25 players from the Web.com Tour could lose, even if they missed every cut, would be their priority ranking for getting into tournaments.
Oh fans can really wrap their arms around that one!
Let's face it, we'll never figure this one out. And that's just the way the algorithm writers like it. Unfortunately, sports fans don't like their competitions decided by beancounters.
"But we believe that mass adoption of the internet by small businesses is happening now, so now we think it's time to strike. We looked through all the different opportunities, and we felt that the PGA Tour was the best opportunity not only to create a voice in the marketplace but to create a positive voice. That professionalism, that integrity, that dedication that is associated with PGA Tour, that's what we are, as well. And we want that to rub off on us as we build our brand in the marketplace."
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.
I'm shocked no readers of this site follow Justin Bieber on Twitter and spotted the teen idol's Tweet about paparazzi bothering him during a recent round
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning Drive, is co-host of The Ringer's ShackHouse is the author of eleven books.
Alistair Tait, reporting from the Irish Open at Royal Portrush where the Open Championship has not been played since 1951, says the players are giving the course rave reviews despite facing an unusually soft links due to heavy rains.
