On Thursday, Liu informed Parks that the audit “will determine whether the Parks Department carried out or implemented recommendations” from that prior audit.
The recommendations included tracking progress of the project against its start and completion dates, preparing an “itemized breakdown of all required activities” at the project and carefully monitoring all “invoices, canceled checks and other related documentation.”
Parks spokeswoman Vickie Carr did not respond to requests for comment about whether the agency had implemented the 2007 recommendations.
The Parks Department says the project is expected to cost the taxpayers $97 million, although The News found contracts assigned to the Ferry Point golf course totaling $120 million.
As a result, commentaries (here and here) are questioning the wisdom of spending so much while other city services are falling apart.
In a speech last week endorsing Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Nicklaus bemoaned the number of Americans on government funded food stamps and lamented excessive government spending.
Now, the match was decided by a point. The U.S. played particularly well in the foursomes and four-balls where they historically haven't been as strong.
The only impact I saw was in the way the setup tactics possibly inspired the Europeans to overcome a perceived obstacle. There may have been many other instances we'll learn about in time from players about little things that were done to aid the Americans. Otherwise, Curtis Tyrrell and team's beautifully conditioned Medinah seemed to reward shots from both sides and allowed skill to dictate the outcome instead of rough or the actions of PGA setup man Kerry Haigh.
But an opportunity was missed for the European team to have a double victory at Medinah. If the final match was allowed to end with a halve on 18 for a Woods victory and 14-14 tie, it would have demonstrated that Ryder's code of fairness has stayed foremost among the minds of players and captains. The Europeans would have demonstrated a respect for the effort and huge advantage the Americans had made to go into Sunday with a 10-6 lead. A tie would have given the home crowd and madly supportive Chicago-area crowd a kiss on the cheek for how much they made the event a success with their financial backing. It would have been a "thank you" to the state trooper who made sure time-zone confused Rory McIlroy didn't miss his tee time.
And the tie would have followed some notable gestures of its kind, such as Jack Nicklaus' famous concession in 1969 with Tony Jacklin, which ensured an overall tie, and, quite interestingly, something that occurred in 1999, the year a team -- the Americans -- first came back from a 10-6 deficit to win.
Brad Kleinwasn't too keen on NBC and the PGA of America'scommercial-heavy Ryder Cup broadcast, though he noted the nice "last three-quarters of an hour went without an ad or a break," but by then the damage had been done for most viewers.
And Klein documents the damage, totaling up how many times certain ads ran. The top eight:
NBC Network Programming: 31 Omega Watches: 16 Get Golf Ready/Tee It Forward/Play Golf America: 13 Cadillac: 10 Mercedes: 10 National Car Rental: 10 Samsung Galaxy: 9 Royal Bank of Canada: 8
I'm not sure why there was so much outrage over Gene Wojciechowski's column suggesting the Euros had no chance Sunday since it would take a comeback of Brookline proportions to win. A view many of us shared.
But the BBC 5 Live's Colin Murray hunted down the not-evil ESPN.com scribe to wring out an on air concession for the United Kingdom listening audience, allowing Geno to take higher ground over Captain Don't Halve in the class department. And Geno, wisely hoping to show his face in Europe sometime soon, said he was sorry.
I know, I know, so much brilliant golf to discuss and we'll review some of the highlights and lowlights. But one of the first thoughts I've had about the 2012Ryder Cup relates to 2014.
ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” will examine yesterday’s Ryder Cup finale at 2:30 p.m. ET today on ESPN2.
And yesterday’s finale has been deemed an “Instant Classic” and will air on ESPN Classic tonight at 8 p.m. ET for those of you who just can't wait for Tuesday's Golf Channel re-airing.
Just the beginning of what figures to be extensive coverage of a comeback for the ages. Still, we already gleaned some interesting stuff about Sunday's Team Europe play at Medinah.
This was the kind of day Seve Ballesteros lived for. It was a day when something gets done that no one thought could be done. To win the Ryder Cup, the Europeans needed an historic, unprecedented comeback.
He raised his arms high, pumped his fists and then ran into the fairway and jumped into the arms of Europe captain Jose Maria Olazabal.
"It's a feeling I never had before," said Kaymer, a former world number one and major winner, who later gave special thanks to compatriot Bernhard Langer.
Kaymer had been out of form before his final day win over Stricker and had sought some advice from Langer, who missed a deciding six-foot putt at the Ryder Cup 21 years ago at Kiawah Island.
"On Friday I sat down with Bernhard and talked to him a little bit about the Ryder Cup because my attitude wasn't the right one," Kaymer said.
But Luke Donald simply froze him out to win 2&1. European blue on the leaderboard. First point claimed. Momentum.
Donald could do no more to affect the result but he had done his job. Mind you, the Ice Man almost melted. He was coasting at four up through 13 holes until Watson rattled off three birdies in a row before running out of holes.
"I don't know what I would have done going down 18," Donald said. "The nerves were starting to build and Bubba was putting some serious pressure on me. What a relief. I had a lot of responsibility going out number one. Ollie [Europe captain Jose María Olazabal] had enough trust in me to go out first and get that first point. It's a great honour."
In Olympic and Paralympic year the Sports Personality gong is probably beyond him. Therefore I propose a category all on its own to be awarded to the sportsman or woman who demonstrates a degree of passion, skill and commitment that against all odds threatens to alter the course of events, change a game, stand an hour on its head. The winner in this, the inaugural year, is Ian Poulter for his astonishing display at the Ryder Cup in Medinah on Saturday. I further propose that henceforth the trophy carry his name. Thus have we created the Ian Poulter Passion Award.
Poulter, or 'Poults’, who started as an assistant pro and golf shop manager at Chesfield Downs Golf Club, has moved to the highest echelon of Ryder Cup gladiators.
This event stirs his natural tenacity, gives him something to fight against. It is the perfect outlet for his pride.
In the annals of a competition whose history stretches back to 1927, the 39th edition will occupy a special place for its drama and its wonderful setting. Nothing could have more fittingly honoured the memory of Seve Ballesteros, who died in May of last year, than the fighting spirit shown by players whose white shirtsleeves on Sunday were adorned by the image of his distinctive silhouette.
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.
The New York Daily News's Greg Smith reports that Ferry Point, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course to be managed by Donald Trump, has been put on notice by New York city controller John Liu due to staggering cost overruns.
