An unbylined AP story quotes Herb Kohler talking about Asian golfers knowing the meaning of work and that the "Americans have now seen what the Asians can do, and they’re starting to work.”
But this gave me a bigger laugh:
Kohler said his company has 11 manufacturing plants in China, which produce products mainly for sale to Chinese customers.
“We’re very successful in China because of the attitude of those people toward work,” Kohler said. “They love to work, they know how to work and they do what it takes. And they love to win.”
I'm sure they love making toilets at those lavish wages!
According to a source close to Justice, Tiger Woods was paid — indirectly, so as not to contravene PGA Tour rules that prohibit appearance fees — $1.8 million to sprinkle star dust on the Old White course this week.
For the second straight year, Justice indirectly paid Phil Mickelson $1 million and, for the second straight year, the Californian left the stately Greenbrier resort early after laying an egg.
A few of you emailed to ask if Greenbrier founder Jim Justice gets a break on the purported appearance fees he paid to lure Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to the West Virginia resort (which looked incredible in the late evening light during Golf Channel's rain delaybonus coverage).
Mickelson several times this year has admitted to being unable to shake himself from a lethargic state on the course, which certainly seems to be reflected in his play. He was looking for answers Friday, too. For the second year in a row. “I don't get it,” Mickelson said. “I certainly struggled a little bit on the greens both years, but nothing that should have led to these scores.”
Mickelson three-putted his first hole from 15 feet, missed another short one later in his front nine, and never really recovered. He also absorbed a one-shot penalty early when he dropped his ball on his marker, dislodging the coin.
"It doesn't feel like the parts are that far off," he said, "but I'm not putting them together."
It didn't help that Mickelson had a one-shot penalty for a fluke incident where he dropped his marker and it hit his ball. Jonathan Wall with the details.
Despite a shaky start, Tiger got it going over his final nine holes, but missed birdie putts at Nos. 13 and 15 proved costly as he fired a 1-under 69 to miss the cut at the Greenbrier Classic by a single shot.
"I didn't quite have it," Woods said. "I drove it really good today and I just did not have the feel for the distances. The ball was just going forever. I know we're at altitude, but I just couldn't get the ball hit pin high no matter what I did, and subsequently, I made some bogeys."
Mark Magnier of the Los Angeles Times files a wonderful A1 story on golf instructor Indrajit Bhalotia's efforts to improve fortunes for select youth in India, with an assist from local benefactors along with members of the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. I'm not sure if this one is behind the Times paywall, because it's a pretty special story and a nice reminder that there are people doing great stuff without teaching the ten core values.
Magnier opens and closes with the story of fourteen-year-old Mohan Sardar who lives with his sister and parents in a one-room shanty but is an emerging talent who got into golf via caddying.
One day Mohan befriended a golfer, asking whether he needed a caddy. He earned $1.50 the first day, gave most of it to his mother, and they ate fish that night. "It was brilliant," he said.
The golfer's coach started giving Mohan pointers and he was soon playing the occasional round of a sport that enjoys a particularly elite status in India, especially among nouveau riche Indians clamoring to mark their arrival.
Today, Mohan, a lanky boy with short hair and deep-set eyes, has a golf handicap of three and is among India's top five junior players.
For Immediate Release, but no word on possible enticements offered to the winner of golf's most cerebral television show after reports surfaced Thursday that the Greenbrier is offering appearance fees to star players:
Winner to Receive Exemption to 2013 Greenbrier Classic on the PGA TOUR Big Break Greenbrier to Premiere Oct. 2
ORLANDO, Fla. (July 5, 2012) –Golf Channel’s popular Big Break reality competition series returns for its 18th season this fall at The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia – the historic retreat known as “America’s Resort” – providing the opportunity for the winner to compete alongside the PGA TOUR’s best at The Greenbrier Classic in July 2013. Big Break Greenbrier, produced at The Greenbrier in June and scheduled to premiere Oct. 2, will feature a cast of 12 male professional golfers competing against each other in an attempt to make their lifelong dreams of playing alongside the world’s top golfers a reality. The ultimate winner will receive an exemption to The Greenbrier Classic in July 2013, cash and other prizes.
Big Break Greenbrier will unfold on the resort’s four golf courses: The Old White TPC Course – home to The Greenbrier Classic; The Greenbrier Course – a Jack Nicklaus design and home to the 1979 Ryder Cup and the 1994 Solheim Cup; The Meadows Course – a Dick Wilson and Bob Cupp design that is often referred to as the most scenic of The Greenbrier courses; and The Snead Course – the private residents’ course and a Tom Fazio design that showcases a remarkable test of strategic tee shots, precision approaches and undulating fast greens.
During the series, the competitors will reside in two deluxe, 3,000-square-foot timber-framed homes in The Greenbrier Sporting Club luxury residential community, located 3,300 feet atop Greenbrier Mountain. “We are excited about hosting our newest Big Break season at The Greenbrier and offering the winner the opportunity to compete in the 2013 Greenbrier Classic,” said Tom Knapp, Golf Channel senior vice president of programming. “Big Break is one of the longest-running series on television and one of our most important original series franchises, and we strive to give our competitors tough tests on the golf course while showcasing a picturesque location. We accomplished both with Big Break Greenbrier.”
From an AP story, based on a statement posted on her website. She's playing two fall events, one in France and the other of which is her Invitational in Guadalajara.
He gets several tournament directors and agents to talk, and they are not pleased to see what's going on.
The tour uses a very narrow, if not convenient, definition of "appearance fee." If a player has deeper business dealings with a corporate entity beyond taking cash to play, then he's generally free to ink a personal-services deal for whatever dollar figure he can command. If this sounds mostly like semantics, well, the line forms here.
As one very high-profile international player put it on Tuesday, "This week marks a change. Appearance money [is being paid in the] U.S. but not in Europe."
After arriving Tuesday, Woods was not specifically asked if he was being compensated by Justice this week, though a local reporter did ask if Justice resorted to “pulling his arm” to get him there.
"What sold it to me was watching it on TV and seeing how players enjoyed it," Woods said unblinkingly.
Um, did he say "sold?"
Mickelson played at Greenbrier last year -- for two days. He missed the cut.
"I know for a fact that Phil got $1 million last year," one top-tier agent insisted, citing a figure that was echoed by two other tour-related sources.
Following the news conference, Mickelson told one Golf Channel insider that he felt Diamond was being made a “scapegoat” for the Libor scandal that surfaced four years ago. He did not disclose whether he has been in touch with Diamond since his resignation.
“Personally I’m crushed because I have really enjoyed my time with Bob,” Mickelson continued in the news conference. “I think the world of him as a person, as a CEO, and I think that these last 5-6 years that I’ve been associated with the bank, the time I’ve spent with him, I’ve really enjoyed and I’ve cherished and it’s been one of the most interesting parts of my career.”
Beth Ann Baldry on Melissa Reid'schances this week at the U.S. Women's Open, just weeks after her amazing comeback win. But more importantly, Baldry shares this on Joy Reid as her daughter understandably continues
"I have to deal with it in every single press conference," he said. "I have to answer it in post-round interviews—whether it's with your guys or in a live shot [on TV]. You do that for a couple of years, sometimes you guys can be a little annoying."
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.
