Snedeker Sidelined By "Sore Ribs"

Now before you go wondering how someone can play like Brandt Snedeker has with "sore ribs" do remember that he has rib issues before, including playing with a cracked rib last year.

Rex Hoggard reports on Snedeker's WD from next week's WGC Match Play:

Snedeker’s Sea Island (Ga.)-based trainer Randy Myers told GolfChannel.com that he strained the rib during a practice round at the Humana Challenge and re-aggravated the injury on Thursday at Pebble Beach. Snedeker had an X-ray on Monday in California and is awaiting the results of that test. He plans to return to Nashville, Tenn., later this week to meet with his doctor, Dr. James Elrod.

“He felt like he was playing well enough after the Humana he wanted to keep playing,” Myers said. “His biggest concern is he worked so hard to become a No. 1 seed (for the Match Play) and he’s played well there, (but) this is just preventative.”

The reigning FedEx Cup champion could return in time for the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March.

Snedeker sustained a cracked rib at last year’s RBC Heritage and missed the better part of the next three months recovering.

USGA "Retiring" Public Links Championship, Adding Four-Ball

Note in the press release the part about recent winners of the PubLinks...

For Immediate Release:

USGA ANNOUNCES SERIES OF CHANGES TO FUTURE CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER

Introduces U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships in 2015, Marking First National Championships to Be Added to USGA Competition Roster in More Than 25 Years

Announces Plans to Retire U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships After 2014

Far Hills, N.J. (Feb. 11, 2013) – The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced the introduction of two new championships, the first national championships to be added to the USGA’s competition roster in more than 25 years. The addition of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship, which will be played annually between mid-March and late May with the inaugural events scheduled for 2015, reflects the Association’s continued commitment to supporting and growing amateur competition well into the future.

The last time the USGA added a national championship for individual golfers was in 1987 with the creation of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the creation of national four-ball championships, given the popularity and enjoyment of this competitive format at the amateur level,” said USGA Vice President and Championship Committee Chairman Thomas J. O’Toole Jr. “Because the four-ball format lends itself to spirited team competition and aggressive risk-reward shotmaking, we are confident these championships will deliver exciting amateur golf to the national stage for both players and spectators alike.”

Eligibility for both national four-ball championships will be limited to amateurs, with no age restrictions. Team partners will not be required to be from the same club, state or country, and substitution of partners will be permitted until the close of entries. Entry is limited to individuals with a USGA Handicap Index® not to exceed 5.4 for men and 14.4 for women.

The USGA’s national amateur four-ball championships will begin with sectional qualifying at dozens of sites across the nation. The U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball will consist of 128 and 64 two-player teams respectively, each playing their own ball throughout the round. Each team’s score will be determined using their better-ball score for each hole. After 36 holes of stroke-play competition, the field will be reduced to the low 32 teams for the match-play portion of the championship.

Four-ball has become a widely popular format for State and Regional Golf Associations across the United States. In 2012, more than 150 championships, either strictly four-ball or as part of a competition format, were conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

“We appreciate the support and energy that the USGA is bringing to these new four-ball national championships,” said Jim Demick, executive director of the Florida State Golf Association, who served on the advisory group of State and Regional Golf Association executives and tournament directors consulted by the USGA. “Along with my fellow associations around the country, we look forward to showcasing this unique brand of team competition through what promise to be first-class events.”

Host sites for the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship and U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship will be announced by the USGA at a later date.

In conjunction with the creation of two national four-ball championships, the USGA also announced the retirement of the U.S. Amateur Public Links (APL) and U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links (WAPL) championships, following the completion of the 2014 competitions. The decision follows an internal review which determined that the APL and WAPL championships no longer serve their original mission because of the widespread accessibility public-course golfers today enjoy in USGA championships.

The U.S. Amateur Public Links was first played in 1922, and is the fourth-oldest championship conducted by the USGA. The APL was established to provide public golfers with access to a national championship because, at that time, the U.S. Amateur Championship was restricted to players from USGA Member Clubs. The U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links was established in 1977, for the same reason as the APL. In 1979, however, the USGA modified the entry requirements for the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur championships to allow entry to public-course players.

“While our fondness for these championships made this decision a difficult one, we will continue to proudly celebrate the legacy and important role that the APL and WAPL have had on the game by forever honoring them in the USGA Museum, as well as in other appropriate ways,” said John Bodenhamer, senior managing director of Rules, Competitions & Equipment Standards for the USGA. “We also wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the champions, participants, host clubs, volunteers and benefactors who, over the years, helped build a strong legacy of public links competition.”

Over the course of their existence, the U.S. Amateur Public Links and U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links championships have assembled a rich history across the competitive golf landscape, and are part of the USGA’s long heritage of supporting public golf. The competitions boast an impressive lineup of champions including most recently: Billy Mayfair (1986); Tim Clark (1997); Trevor Immelman (1998); Ryan Moore (2002 and 2004); Brandt Snedeker (2003); Yani Tseng (2004); and T.J. Vogel and Kyung Kim (2012). These championships have also contributed to the USGA’s record books: Michelle Wie (2003) became the youngest champion in USGA history when she won the WAPL at age 13; Ryan Moore (2004) became the first golfer to win the APL and the U.S. Amateur in the same year, while Colt Knost matched the feat in 2007; and Pearl Sinn (1988) and Jennifer Song (2009) won both the WAPL and U.S. Women’s Amateur in the same year.

In addition to staging the U.S. Open Championship at public courses, the USGA continues to grow public golf, and support all golfers, through its various programs, including Rules of Golf education, Course Rating services and Turf Advisory Service visits. Through its partnership with national organizations such as The First Tee, LPGA-USGA Girls Golf, The PGA of America and the National Alliance for Accessible Golf, the USGA supports numerous programs that benefit junior golfers, beginning golfers and golfers with disabilities who play at America’s public golf courses. With the development of its new pace-of-play initiative, the USGA hopes to serve golfers by helping public courses identify ways to reduce the time it takes to play the game.

Update on 2013-02-11 16:29 by Geoff

**The format of the new event, from the USGA interview on Morning Drive today:

Q.  You'll have sectional sites and then you will have stroke play that will turn into match play for the final 32 teams, both the men's and the women's, correct?

JOHN BODENHAMER:  The specific format will be on the men's side, there will be a full field after qualifying, 256 players or 128 teams or sides that will ‑‑ again, the men's competition will play a 36‑hole stroke play qualifying, the low 32 teams will advance into match play, and that will culminate with an 18‑hole final match to identify our champion.  And on the women's side we'll start with 128 players, 64 teams or sides that will then qualify out of stroke play qualifying.  Again, the low 32 teams will play match play into an 18‑hole championship final to identify our women's champion.

Regarding the Masters spot traditionally given to the Pubic Links winner:

Q.  And finally on this, Augusta National Golf Club has always celebrated the amateur, and obviously by extending the invitation to the winner of the Pub Links.  Has there been any discussion with them?  Are they receptive to the idea that this is an invitation that they have honored so the idea that this is going away, that is a spot in the field which I know you hate to lose that because it's such a great link.  Have you had lengthy discussions with Augusta National and their what are their thoughts about this?

JOHN BODENHAMER:  Well, we've not had lengthy discussions with Augusta National, and frankly they've been most gracious over the years I think since 1988 in extending that wonderful exemption.  I think it would be ‑‑ I think the fairest way to answer that would be to allow Augusta National to answer that.  It's their exemption, and they would be apt to address it.

Update on 2013-02-11 21:27 by Geoff

**Keegan Bradley tweeted his response, which was skeptical.

Arron Oberholser was downright satirical.

Adam Schupak brought back an old David Fay quote suggesting the former Executive Director was leery of doing away with such an event.

Julie Williams talks to saddened women who played in the US Womens Amateur PubLinks.

Links Trust Finally Cracks Down On St. Andrews Meddlers!

...just not the ones screwing around with the most sacred ground in golf.

No, it seems the Links Trust of St. Andrews that is charged with caring for the seven courses and the same group that rolled over when R&A Chief Architect Peter Dawson decided he could improve golf's most sacred architecture, has decided to crack down on St. Andrews companies that have been using the St. Andrews name for just a mere 150 years. How dare they!

According to an unbylined Scotsman story, the Links Trust is fighting the club and bag makers after learning they were attempting to trademark some of their stuff.

Ewan Glen, chief executive of the St Andrews Golf Company, said: “What has happened is absolutely outrageous. The trust was set up to run the golf courses and it is dripping with money received from the public in green fees. Money and power seems to have gone to its head and [it is] now resorting to bullying and threatening businesses that have been in St Andrews for generations.

“I fully understand that the ‘St Andrews’ name needs to be protected from the threat of counterfeiting and copying but the trust is acting like a hard-nosed commercial company, rather than a not-for-profit trust. They [the trustees] are pretending to be the only legitimate custodians and seem to want to play God with the name of St Andrews.”

Glen added: “We have been told by the trust they will take us all the way legally even if it means going to judicial review and they have made it clear they will spend as much as it takes to knock our company out of this battle."

If only we could get them this worked up over changes to the trademark design features.

And as you can see from the St Andrews Golf Company website, they're not exactly using the town name in vain!

Snedeker: "The important thing now is to win majors."

Doug Ferguson tells us in his game story that Brandt Snedeker's five starts this year include a win, two second-place finishes and a third. Now Snedeker is off to Maui for a vacation.

More interesting was this tucked into the story later on:

Snedeker made five bogeys this week, and answered with a birdie four times.

The PGA Tour's "With This Win" list of impressive facts and figures surrounding Snedeker's win. This one especially:

Is 33/37 for subpar rounds in official TOUR events, dating to the start of the Wyndham Championship in August of last year. The week before the Wyndham Championship, missed the cut at the PGA Championship.

John Strege notes this:

Snedeker arrived in Pebble Beach sixth in the World Ranking and was expected to move to fourth with his victory. CBS' Jim Nantz noted that since the start of the 2011 season, Snedeker is tied with Woods in PGA Tour victories with four, second only to Rory McIlroy's five wins.

"To think what's happened the last four months has been pretty crazy," Snedeker said. "Finishing a tournament like this off with the lead gives me a ton of confidence going into the Masters, the U.S. Open, all the great venues we have. That's next on the list. I've won five times out here now. The important thing now is to win majors."

Golf.com pieces together Snedeker's retro bag which includes a THREE-year old driver. He's anti-capitalism! Mike Stachura explained the story behind that driver last fall.

Sean Martin includes five things from the week at Pebble, including a note on Patrick Cantlay's top 10 not getting him in the field at Riviera (but it doesn't matter...he was already in on an exemption).

'13 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Final Round Comment Thread

Can Brandt-Snedeker--the hottest golfer on the PGA Tour--get the win?

Will James Hahn break out in another dance?

Will a hologram of Phil Harris visit the booth on 18? Actually, a cardboard cut-out of Mr. Harris would still have more to say than Clint Eastwood did during his exhilarating Saturday visit.

These are more questions answered starting at 10 a.m. to 11:30 on Golf Channel, some time after 12 p.m. PT on CBS following the conclusion of Indiana-Ohio State. Hopefully it doesn't last as long as Notre Dame-Louisville yesterday.

Expect Vijay To Be Exondeerated By Late April, Early May

Alex Miceli lays out the timing and various avenues of the appeal process for Vijay Singh after he admitted to a doping policy violation in a Sports Illustrated story.

Shockingly, Singh has several ways out of this even though the ban on the substance in question was well publicized, regardless of whether it contains IGF-1 or not.

One of Singh's defenses might include an invocation of Commissioner Tim Finchem's words. I never quite imagined the Commish and his resistance to drug testing could be used against him this way...

5) Singh could use the commissioner's own words, that no drug benefits golfers. At a news conference on July 1, 2009, at the AT&T National, Finchem talked about potential drug use in golf.

"In some sports, cycling, clearly there are drugs that can help you win," Finchem said. "You can gain a real competitive advantage. I don't think that's true in golf, either, but it's not really relevant. What's relevant is, there's a rule, players play by the rules, they believe in that, and in a way it's helped us reaffirm that culture. So maybe that's good.”

Perhaps this (and other statements like it by Finchem until Tiger announced his desire to see testing) explains the tour's seemingly slow and nurturing response to Vijay's situation, words that would never be used to describe the Doug Barron situation. In a wide-ranging column on the topic, John Huggan quotes a European Tour source suggesting doping policy abuse on the European Tour, but more importantly he lays out this picture of the PGA Tour's handing of the Barron and Singh situations.

Back in June 2008, wee Timmy could hardly wait to punish journeyman Doug Barron, who tested positive for beta-blockers at the Memphis Classic. What wasn’t made clear at the time was that Barron had been prescribed said medication by his doctor as part of treatment for low testosterone and had duly informed the tour of that fact. Initially banned for a year, Barron was eventually cleared of wrongdoing, forcing the Tour into a humiliating climbdown.

Contrast that draconian and unfeeling attitude with the treatment of Singh. This past week the resident of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida – also the home to the PGA Tour – competed in the AT&A Pro-am, only days after openly admitting his prolonged use of a banned substance, one not prescribed by his doctor as treatment for any medical condition. Clearly, in Finchem’s world, there are rules for relative unknowns like Barron and rules for three-times major champions who are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. At the very least, Singh should have taken a leave of absence from competitive golf until this matter was sorted out.

15-Year-Old Lydia Ko Wins THIRD Pro Title

The amateur will be playing the Kraft Nabisco next month on a sponsor's invite, but in the meantime she's won her adopted homeland's national championship.

The 15-year-old Korean-born New Zealander approached the last hole in a tie for the lead at 10-under par with American Amelia Lewis. But Lewis, in the penultimate group, three-putted from 25 feet for bogey and Ko, playing in the last group, made par to complete a final round 68.