Turns Out Rory Might Add Pre-Masters Event...

...this ought to get Las Vegas stirring, altering Rory McIlroy's current 9/1 Masters futures odds (thanks Steve Elling for Tweeting that).

From Doug Ferguson's WGC Cadillac Championship game story:

McIlroy said he won't add a tournament the next two weeks, returning at the Houston Open before going to the Masters. He is signed up for the member-guest a week from Monday at The Medalist Club, presumably as the guest of former NBA great Michael Jordan.

"He's asked me, so depending on what my schedule is and where I have to be ... we'll see," he said.

I smell live shot-by-shot Tweets from Rosie!

Golf Channel Sets Some Ratings Records At Doral

Big preliminary numbers from Friday's telecast of the 2013 WGC Cadillac:

· Round Two PRELIM: 1.5 HHs, 1,471,000 viewers.  A 24 percent increase over same round in 2012 and a 45 percent increase from Thursday’s round one on Golf Channel.

· Highest rated / most watched early round since cable ratings started to be reported for this tournament (1995-2013).

· Highest rated / most watched early round since Friday’s second round at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola (Sept. 21, 2012, 1.6 HHs / 1,559,000 viewers)

2013 WGC Cadillac Final Round Open Comment Thread

A stellar leaderboard is pursuing Tiger Woods who, according to Dave Shedloski, "has never lost a 54-hole lead when ahead by at least three strokes, and he's won 50 of 54 times when owning at least a share of the lead."

This will be the final time we see this iteration of Doral, as it's slated to undergo a makeover soon after the final putt drops today. Try not to get emotional.

Coverage starts at 1 pm ET on Golf Channel, and 3 pm ET on NBC with bonus coverage of holes 15, 16 and 18 on Golf Channel at 3 pm ET.

Weird: Cards Reliever Injured Playing Golf

Derrick Goold reports on Cardinals reliever Marc Rzepczynski injuring himself during a spring training golf outing Friday

"It's a freak, freak, freak thing," Rzepczynski said.

On his second shot on the first hole of a round of golf, Rzepczynski attempted to punch shot around a tree. He made the shot and collapsed, his eye struck and bruised by something. The golf ball traveled far enough that he is unsure how it could ricochet off the tree and his eye and still carry into the fairway. He is unsure if something else was hit by the club and damaged his eye.

"SI is a dead magazine walking."

Clay Travis analyzes the news of Time Warner spinning off magazines like Sports Illustrated and concludes that it's only a matter of time before print is gone and SI becomes another online Grantland.

I wouldn't agree, and certainly hope he's dead wrong. But then again this is shocking...

SI's descent has been a slow slide, preciptated by difficulty leaving behind print dollars to chase Internet dimes.

As recently as last year do you know what the posted rate was for a full-page ad in Sports Illustrated?

$392,800.

$392,800!

When you were making that kind of money, it was hard to get very excited about the opportunity of the Internet. You want to know who the companies were that got very excited about the opportunity of the Internet? The ones that didn't have the ability to sell full page magazine ads for $392,800.

In the halcyon days of print, the magazine business was amazing. Hell, all of print was. You might read the articles, but the magazine or newspaper existed for one reason -- as a mobile ad device to deliver advertisements to your doorstep. Yep, the first mobile ads were in print media.

"Golf can get terribly po-faced at times."

Thanks to reader Ryan for sending in Tom English's Scotsman commentary on Rory McIlroy's apology/rationale for withdrawing, and as usual English has a thought provoking take that rises high above what we were subjected to earlier in the week.

Though I must admit, I didn't anticipate where he was going with this in bringing up past high profile WD's by Ian Poulter and Sandy Lyle, along with how "golf can get overly pious about these things." And his conclusion makes for a fascinating statement about the culture of golf.

That is the way of it. Tell a porky and save yourself some hassle. Everybody will turn a blind eye and we’ll all carry on as before, pretending that there is no chicanery in golf. No doping, no cheating, no gamesmanship and, in this instance, nobody who just has one of those lousy days when all they want to do was get out of there. Nobody is allowed to just quit. It has to be an injury. Or an “injury”.

Dave Shedloski says the same issues plagued McIlroy's game when opening with a 73 at Doral on a day the Blue Monster was defenseless. But I still like his chances of making it to the weekend!

"Anchoring will be done and gone. And we will move on, as we always do."

Longtime USGA observer Jim Achenbach explains how the anchoring ban comment period has gone for the governing bodies.

Then he lays out how he thinks the proposed rule and political infighting will play out from here.

The USGA and R&A once again will thank everyone who submitted comments. They will talk about the family of golf. They will make it clear we’re all in this together. Then they will discuss the sanctity of the rules – history has shown us that the rules are the foundation of the game; we cannot disturb that bedrock without shaking and agitating the game itself.

Then it will be over. Except for the details and the method of implementation, anchoring will be done and gone. And we will move on, as we always do.

Video: Phil Explains How You Too Can Recover From Cart Paths

Steve DiMeglio on how Phil Mickelson hit a 450-yard drive on the 419-yard 17th hole, finished on a cart path and then made birdie en route to an opening 67 in the WGC Cadillac at Doral.

The video:



Even better, Phil's got a few minutes of footage "in the can" for his next short game DVD upon giving Steve Sands an impromptu live clinic on the Art Of The Cart Path Recovery: