When 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
I know, it's hard to believe with a presentation as enticing to watch as Sunday's latest commercial and promo-laden PGA Championship telecast, that ratings would be down. But that's what Thomas Bonk says on his blog, reporting a drop from 4.3 last year to 3.9 this year. In the PGA's defense, it was up against Olympic coverage on NBC. However, it did feature a more star-studded leaderboard this year compared to last.
Besides Jeff Sluman, the former Presidents Cup assistant captain to Jack Nicklaus, Davis Love has tabbed a rookie to be behind the wheel of those snazzy two-row EZ-GO's Club Cars: Scott Verplank.
The Captain's picks that matter will be on September 4.
First, the game stories after a stunning weekend performance by Rory McIlroy in winning the 2012 PGA Championship.
LEDES
Rory McIlroy dressed the part as golf's next star and played like it, too.
Steve DiMeglio for USA Today, working in a little love for the logistics:
Much like the daily slog to and from this barrier island, Rory McIlroy's road back to major championship glory was chock-full of congestion.
This was Rory McIlroy’s own closing ceremony, a procession lit up with fireworks and sheer brilliance.
Derek Lawrenson for the Daily Mail:
Turn up in a shirt of Tiger red on the final day of a major, and you better be able to walk the walk. Fortunately, Rory McIlroy was more than up to the task on Sunday, marching proudly to his second major victory with a flawless performance at the USPGA Championship.
There can be few things in sport more delightful than emulating the performance of your boyhood idol. Rory McIlroy, throughout his youth, was in awe of Tiger Woods. Here the Northern Irishman claimed the 94th US PGA Championship, the second major of his career, with the kind of Sunday front-running which was once the forte of Woods.
Paul Mahoney gets right to the point for The Independent:
Rory McIlroy wore red yesterday and channelled Tiger Woods circa 2000 to win the 94th US PGA Championship by eight shots with a score of 13 under par.
Bill Pennington takes us back to Augusta for his New York Times lede:
The birth of a champion, and maybe golf’s next dominant player, was dispiriting, humiliating defeat. Put Rory McIlroy back in the woods of the 10th hole at the 2011 Masters as he whacked his ball from tree to tree, a boy lost in the forest on his way to a mortifying fall from the summit of the leader board.
Rory McIlroy brushed aside any lingering doubts over his ability to be a dominant force in golf by storming to a second major title with a stunning eight-shot victory at the PGA Championship on Sunday.
Golf Channel's highlight package.
The Champion's post round interview transcript.
The final scores and purse disbursal.
All of the final round player interview transcripts at PGA.com.
SI/golf.com's post round Confidential.
RORY ANALYSIS
Dave Kindred says Rory announced his greatness with his drives.
A rocket. Rising toward the clouds. A draw to a fairway turning left. In the air forever, then running out down a slope. It was as if God Herself had said, "Let there be Rory and let him move men, women, and children to stand in awe of his work." Let's say the shot covered 340 yards. What happened next was nice -- up and down from a wasteland for birdie -- but it was that divinely beautiful drive that reminded us all we had been witness to McIlroy's arrival at greatness.
Gene Wojciechowski on the win and also the whole red shirt thing.
He wore a red shirt, just like Woods does on Sundays. He embraced his father, just like Woods used to do with his dad Earl. He had a flair for the dramatic, sinking a 20-foot birdie putt on his final hole, just the sort of thing Woods would do when winning a major.
Full disclosure: McIlroy said he wouldn't have worn the Tiger Red had he been paired with Woods.
"Might have to do it from now on," McIlroy said. "No wonder he wins so much."
Jason Sobel says comparisons to Tiger are unfair for reasons he mentions. He also quotes some of Rory's peers.
Even the way McIlroy’s peers discussed the performance in wide-eyed awe and effusive praise was reminiscent of how Woods’ fellow competitors have often discussed his achievements after a major win.
Ian Poulter: “Everybody should take note. The guy's pretty good.”
Carl Pettersson: “He was just better than everybody -- and it was clear to everybody, I think.”
Graeme McDowell: “His score speaks for itself. He's a hell of a talented player.”
“Rory is showing that with his A Game, everybody else is going to struggle to compete with him, and Tiger needs his A Game to come up against Rory. He’s not going to beat him unless he has a big weekend.
Keogh on Tiger's admission that Rory's pretty good.
"He’s very good,” he said. “We all know the talent he has. He went through a little spell this year, and I think that was good for him. We all go through those spells in our careers, and you know, he’s got all the talent in the world to do what he’s doing. And this is the way that Rory can play. When he gets it going, it’s pretty impressive to watch.”
Keeping it going is McIlroy’s next task. Like the loyal Nike man he is, Woods revealed how it works.
“You just do it.”
Randall Mell on how Rory credited short game coach Dave Stockton.
Golfweek's Sean Martin with more on the Stockton advice.
His mid-summer slump also had impacted his demeanor, so much so that putting instructor Dave Stockton told McIlroy to play with a smile this week, a tip it seemed McIlroy would never need. There was plenty for him to enjoy about an Ocean Course that so suited his strengths.
Elevated greens forced players to hoist the ball skyward on approach shots, even when the Ocean Course’s strong winds would usually call for a lower trajectory. No one hits it high, especially with the long clubs, better than McIlroy. It’s no coincidence he’s dominated two majors at softer-than-standard layouts. Soft conditions allowed him to be aggressive with every club in his bag.
Gary Van Sickle on what the win means.
McIlroy is now ahead of the major pace of Woods. McIlroy turned 23 three months ago; Woods won his second major, the 1999 PGA at Medinah, when he was 23 years, 7 months old.
Ahead of Tiger's pace, behind Tiger's pace -- it doesn't really matter. Tiger's run, which led to 14 majors, was so remarkable that it's amazing to even be on a similar trajectory. This is the dawn of a great opportunity for McIlroy, and he will fuel our golf conversations until we return to Augusta National next April.
A European Tour story talks to a few writers about where Rory's second major win fits with other great triumphs and legends.
THE RUNNER-UP
An unbylined AP story on runner-up David Lynn.
An unbylined Sky Sports story on Lynn, who is in next year's Masters now.
"It's a little bit surreal right now," said Lynn, whose only win came in the 2004 Dutch Open. "I've never been exempt to play in anything in America, so that's the reason why I've never been over here. This is a good start.
"To come and perform the way I have this week in a major is very special and a great achievement. It has not sunk in properly yet to be honest.
"The Masters is just a dream come true, obviously - amazing. Seeing Augusta as many times as I have, it's like I know the place and I've never even been there.
COURSE
Rex Hoggard says the setup was weak.
Not once during the 94th PGA Championship did officials move to the forward tees on the par-4 12th or 13th holes. Both holes were pegged as potential risk/reward holes but played well over 400 yards every day.
Nor did the PGA of America show much variety at the par-3 17th hole, which played 229, 217, 219 and 233 yards for Rounds 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. In fact, the total yardage for the Ocean Course, at 7,668 yards the longest in major championship history, varied just 200 yards throughout the week.
IMAGES
GolfChannel.com's image gallery kicks off with a classic Rickie impersonator.
golf.com's gallery is nice and big and features the work of SI's crew.
TELEVISION
Martin Kaufman sticks to mostly compliments for the hard-working technical team that caught some key sights and sounds in between the commercial breaks.
TWEETS
David Feherty is still on the high that he exuded during the telecast, and is also happy about the end of the Olympics.
Luke Donald is happy to be off Kiawah Island, agent Chubby Chandler wants more restaurants before they host another major (oh the problems!), Luke would just like another road.
Webb Simpson said the Pettersson penalty was another example of a golf rule that doesn't make sense.
And the final word goes to the Ancient Twitterer.
Matthew Rudy on the Carl Pettersson violation Sunday at the PGA which led to a two-shot penalty. Here is the PGA of America's statement.
Pettersson was not pleased after the round:
"I double checked with the official to make sure I could brush the grass as long as I didn't put any weight on the ground with the clubhead, and he said sure," said Pettersson about his shot on the first hole. "I wish he would have mentioned the leaves, too. I was just trying to hit the ball. I didn't even think twice about it."
After getting the notification from Davis, Pettersson was visibly annoyed. "I've got to take it on the chin, obviously. I broke the rule there," said Petterson. "I don't think it effected the outcome of the shot. It's just one of those things. We have a lot of stupid rules in golf."
Rex Hoggard included this from Feherty:
Golf Channel’s David Feherty, who was the walking analyst with the group on Sunday, was more pointed in his assessment of the rule.
“Why don’t professional golfers make rules for professional golfers?” Feherty asked. “We’re the only sport that allows amateurs (to make rules). It’s not working for me if a guy is trying to make a living. A major championship may have hung in the balance.
“That (rule) is designed so an amateur doesn’t drag his club back and make a channel for themselves. What do you think would happen if a pro did that out there? I think we can account for that. How are you supposed to make a backswing? Use the club like a spear?”
Still no video of it on YouTube or PGA.com's PGA Championship site. If anyone sees an online version of the violation, please post a link.
Beth Ann Baldry on Lydia Ko, 15 years old, winning the U.S. Women's Amateur.
Not so fast, Ko said. The 112th U.S. Women’s Amateur champion wants to go to college. Her “role models” are Michelle Wie and Lexi Thompson (a subtle reminder that she’s 15), but she doesn’t want to follow their career paths. Ko wants to play college golf.
“There are so many people in New Zealand that go to college overseas,” Ko said, “and I think that kind of inspired me.”
Last year Ko visited Stanford, but the academic regimen might prove too touch. She’s rethinking her options. Ko misses so much school in New Zealand that even when she’s in class the teacher sometimes marks her absent out of habit.
Rory McIlroy salvaged an otherwise forgettable week with an awesome display of power and short game brilliance. As with his Congressional performance, the combination of distance and accuracy with the driver on Sunday along with 24 putts, was something to behold.
It was an abysmal logistical week for the PGA of America and for telecast partner CBS, but they've been doing this with the telecast for a decade and there is no reason to think they will put substance over promotion anytime soon. It's a shame they took away from the grandeur or Rory's performance.
Your kneejerk reactions as the happy scribblers prepare to wow us with insights into Rory's domination, David Lynn's bio, Carl Pettersson's penalty and Tiger's peculiar weekend?
Still waiting for video to appear on YouTube. Here's the PGA of America explanation:
Carl Pettersson was assessed a two-stroke penalty on the first hole of the final round of the 94th PGA Championship for a breach of Rule 13-4c when he moved a loose impediment lying in a lateral water hazard, while his ball was lying in the same hazard.
Pettersson hit his tee shot into the lateral water hazard to the right of the fairway. Before making the stroke, he asked the walking official, Brad Gregory, if he was allowed to touch grass, in the hazard, with his club, prior to the stroke.
Pettersson was correctly informed that he could do so, provided that he did not ground the club in the hazard. In making his backswing, Pettersson’s club brushed the grass behind the ball (not a breach) and at the same time moved a leaf (loose impediment), in breach of the Rule.
Pettersson was immediately notified by Gregory that there may have been a breach of Rule 13-4c, and that he (Gregory) wanted the stroke to be reviewed on video for confirmation.
PGA Rules Chairman, David Price, reviewed the stroke on video and confirmed that a loose impediment was moved during Pettersson’s backswing.
Pettersson was notified of the penalty as he left the fourth tee. His score for the par-4 first hole was a 6.
PGA of America Rules Committee.
The inaugural Kiawah Classic hasn't been without flaws, as...oh what?
Sorry, this is the final round of a major, Glory's Last Hoorah Before Everyone Forgets For Another Year That Our Fourth Major Does Not Measure Up To The Rest.
Here's the leaderboard after third round play was completed, followed by the tee times:
12:50 pm Geoff Ogilvy Keegan Bradley Marcel Siem
1:01 pm Graeme McDowell Jamie Donaldson Ian Poulter
1:12 pm Jimmy Walker David Lynn Padraig Harrington
1:23 pm Peter Hanson Vijay Singh Tiger Woods
1:34 pm Trevor Immelman Adam Scott Steve Stricker
1:45 pm Rory McIlroy Carl Pettersson Bo Van Pelt
7:45 a.m. restart, 4:45 a.m. in the time zone where it doesn't rain in August. TNT will be airing the completion of round three starting at 8 a.m.
We'll start a new thread for the afternoon threesomes when CBS reminds us of all the swell new shows they'll be airing this fall.
And because, according to PGA.com, "Sunday is shaping up as one of the biggest days in major championship history." (Screen shot, right, courtesy of reader Lloyd.)
For Immediate Release...
ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 11, 2012) – Recently crowned the most decorated Olympian in history with an astonishing 22 career Olympic medals, U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has plans for the next stage of his career: to play the world’s greatest golf courses and improve his golf game under the watchful eye of Golf Channel’s Hank Haney. The Haney Project will chronicle Phelps’ attempts to improve his game from tee-to-green with the guidance of Tiger Woods’ former swing coach when the hit original series returns for a fifth season on Golf Channel – television’s fastest-growing network among those servicing more than 80 million homes – in February 2013. The announcement was made today by Phelps and Mike McCarley, President, Golf Channel.
"I have traveled the world through swimming, but really haven’t had an opportunity to experience the world through my travels," said Phelps. "As I enter this next chapter of my life, I think I will be able to shift my competitiveness to anything I put my mind to and golf is one of the things I want to focus on. If I have a goal of dropping a certain amount of shots, or working on my short game or putting, those things are going to keep me motivated and fire me up and keep me excited. I want to play all the world's great golf courses, but I'd like to play them well. I'm excited about this project with Golf Channel and I’m looking forward to working with Hank and see what we can do together on the golf course."
"We look forward to chronicling Michael's transition from the most-decorated Olympian in history to a frustrated golfer trying to enjoy playing the world’s greatest golf courses,” McCarley said. “Golfers everywhere will be able to relate to his quest to improve his game.”
Production for fifth season of The Haney Project will begin in September.
Phelps, who received a pegboard featuring the world’s greatest golf courses as a Christmas gift last year, will follow other celebrity students who have starred on The Haney Project, including NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley, Emmy Award-winner Ray Romano and Grammy Award-winning Maroon 5 front man and mentor on NBC’s “The Voice” Adam Levine. Host of the annual Michael Phelps Foundation Golf Classic, Phelps will begin filling the pegboard when production begins in September.
Each episode of The Haney Project will follow Phelps on his quest to play better golf, whether it’s one-on-one instruction on the golf course with Haney or developing lessons he will be able to practice on his own. The series also will showcase Phelps in his own environment with cameos by famous friends and other experts who check in on him during his journey, including his mother, Debbie Phelps, and Bowman. Subway, which has a long-standing partnership with Phelps as one of its “Famous Fans,” will be joining as one of the charter sponsors of The Haney Project’s fifth season.
The first season of The Haney Project, which starred Charles Barkley in 2009, marked the highest-rated launch of an original series at that time. Earlier this year, the series joined Feherty to create a new Golf Channel primetime Monday lineup, which boosted viewership by more than 20 percent over the same time period in 2011 and more than 60 percent over 2010.
It's back, annually the worst golf telecast of the year, CBS and the PGA of America joining forces to show you as little golf as possible and as many plugs, promos, paybacks and other nonsense.
Big questions for Saturday: will Jim Nantz be able to muster the necessary enthusiam for the first How I Met Your Mother promo?
Will the 3 p.m. start time for the leaders, when mixed with the weather forecast, cause problems?
TNT starts at 11 ET, CBS starts showing something resembling a golf telecast at 2 ET, but if you have a DVR, you can start watching at 3:30 ET by and be caught up with the actual golf by 4 ET.
With Michael Hoey having the first mishap related to the different rules this week for the sand areas, reader Jerry wondered how many times Rule 13-2 has been or will be violated by players treating bunkers as they normally would by digging in and building a stance.
Since any sandy area is treated as through the green, doing so would be a violation as outlined in 13-2:
13-2. Improving Lie, Area of Intended Stance or Swing, or Line of Play
A player must not improve or allow to be improved:• the position or lie of his ball,
• the area of his intended stance or swing,
• his line of play or a reasonable extension of that line beyond the hole, or
• the area in which he is to drop or place a ball, by any of the following actions:
• pressing a club on the ground,
• moving, bending or breaking anything growing or fixed (including immovable obstructions and objects defining out of bounds),
• creating or eliminating irregularities of surface,
• removing or pressing down sand, loose soil, replaced divots or other cut turf placed in position, or
• removing dew, frost or water.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
