Vijay Survives Last Friday's Idea News Dump; More Fridays Loom

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A cynical friend pointed out--because I know nothing about cynicism--that last Friday was the ideal opportunity for a PGA Tour news dump on expected (or is it anticipated?) disciplinary action in the Vijay Singh deer antler case. What with the post Masters buzz, bombing coverage and other distractions, what better time to bury news of a Hall of Famer's situation?

Well there's always this Friday, as Jason Sobel asked PGA Tour SVP Ty Votaw for the latest news on Singh's case.

When asked Monday about whether a decision has been reached regarding Singh’s situation, Tour executive vice president of communications Ty Votaw simply said, “No.” When asked if there was a timeframe for such a decision, he similarly responded in the negative.

Should We Be Rushing 14-Year-Old's To The Big Stage?

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At the suggestion it was a bit much to be putting a 14-year-old on a stage like the Masters, yours truly has been met with shock for not being on board with golf joining the youth obsession that has never served anyone well, particularly athletes.

Thankfully, in this weekend's WSJ column, John Paul Newport looks at Tianlang Guan (playing this week in New Orleans) and quietly suggests that success at 14 is not a guarantee of success.

The road from success at 14 years old to adult stardom is long and disjointed. "Golf is so different from other sports because careers are so long," said Pia Nilsson, who has coached Annika Sorenstam, Suzann Pettersen and Ai Miyazato, among others. "Very often the boys and girls who are good at an early age are not the ones who are good later on."

In sports like gymnastics, diving and ice skating, motivated youngsters with an extensive coaching and support system peak in their teens. Then they're done. But before golf prodigies reach their prime, at the earliest in their 20s and more often in their 30s, a lot of life intervenes.

"Of course, you can learn to get very good at a young age. We see that more and more, especially in Asia, where very young boys and girls are practicing harder and harder," Nilsson said. "But being the best golfer you can possibly be requires long-term thinking and an understanding that we are human beings and we have to grow up."

Zach & Dustin WD From Korea Event Due To "Perceived Unrest"

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I suspect Zach Johnson and Dustin Johnson have read a few too many New York Times stories and decided the perceived unrest was too much, even with an appearance fee at stake for this week's lightly anticipated Ballantine's Championship in South Korea.

A statement from Ballantine's confirmed the WD's and the unusual reason given:

Ballantine’s is disappointed to announce that Dustin Johnson and Zach Johnson have informed us they will no longer be attending the Ballantine’s Championship. They have reached this decision following perceived unrest on the Korean Peninsula and can no longer assure their commitment to this year’s event.

Ballantine’s can, however, confirm a list of world-class players attending the Ballantine’s Championship, including Louis Oosthuizen, YE Yang, Bae Sang Moon, Paul Lawrie, Thomas Björn, Thongchai Jaidee, Marcus Fraser and Paul Casey.

Ballantine’s and event organisers, The European Tour, would like to reiterate that the tournament is going ahead as planned with a full field of European, Asian and Korean PGA Tour members. Ballantine’s has been kept fully up to date on relevant issues and The European Tour has also been liaising with key decision makers, including the Foreign Office, who have not warned of any increased risk to those travelling to or within the country.

We are looking forward to hosting a number of the world’s leading players and some of Korea’s best golfing talent at the Ballantine’s Championship later this week.

Planning Going As Expected For Pinehurst Opens

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AP's Joedy McCreary reports from Thursday's press conference at Pinehurst to promote next year's U.S. Open/U.S. Women's Open combo platter.

It seems green speeds will be the same for both men and women...

The course will be slightly longer for the men and the greens will be a touch softer a week later for the women.

Davis says No. 2 will play at roughly 7,500 yards for the men’s event and approximately 6,800 yards for the women. Par will be 70 for both. He says the greens will be roughly 11½ to 12 on the stimpmeter.

“Our goal really is to have the women hitting roughly the same kind of shot into the greens and roughly the same kind of shot off the tees,” Davis said.

Also interesting is the lack of consideration (for now) given to a joint Opens sequel.

"There has not been discussion in-house about, 'Let's name another back-to-back Open site,'" Davis said. "I really do think we want to see how this goes and take it from there. It could be a giant hit and we say, 'This is great for the game.'

"There's things that can go wrong on this, too," he added. "I do think we're very bullish on this. There's a lot more upside to this than downside, but there certainly are risks and we knew going into it."

John Dell also covered the day and focused on what will be one of the first Opens with hardly any rough as we've come to know it at the U.S. Open.

Geoff Ogilvy On Adam: "He's so balanced he's never sweated the small stuff."

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Jaime Diaz talked to Geoff Ogilvy about his friend's Masters win.

You may recall it was Scott who returned from the airport to Winged Foot when Ogilvy won the 2006 U.S. Open.

That road led to a monumental Sunday in Augusta, and if Ogilvy's projections are right, more majors. But probably none will be as meaningful as last Sunday's.

"This is a big day for Greg [Norman], especially," said Ogilvy. "It's very appropriate that of all the Australians, it was Adam who did it, because he is the closest of all of us to Greg. 

Right now, I know Greg is 100 percent joyous."

Has Hot Seat Finally Shifted From Tiger To Ridley?

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Kevin Ferrie takes the analysis of the Tiger drop incident at Augusta a bit far in quoting Neil Hampton, GM of Royal Dornoch, who says...

"We are trying to encourage more juniors to play our game and one of the most important things we address is the ethics involved: how to treat your fellow man, and doing so with integrity. We're looking to put great people out into the world through golf, so this is sending the wrong message to the youngsters," he said.

"We are trying to get them to police themselves but now they can look at that and say, 'if Tiger can do it, so can I'.

"He has been given a chance to stay in the tournament by people who have selfish reasons for wanting him to stay in: because it is good for their viewing figures or whatever. However, having realised that he made a mistake, Tiger should have withdrawn from the tournament."

This was my initial reaction, but as we've learned what happened, it's clear the committee made the right move and set a bold precedent in an effort to remedy its mistake. Fred Ridley was not acting out of concern for the tournament so much as for his job as competitions chair (and a possible future club chairmanship).

Considering how badly Ridley missed the opportunity to take the viewer's call seriously enough to call Tiger in for a pre-scorecard signing, the 33-7 remedy was a pretty good save. Yet it's clear as time passes that Ridley's competence will continue to be questioned because of this incident.

Based on your reading of the situation and talking to other golfers, is it fair to say the ire/blame/annoyance at the entire episode has shifted from Tiger to Ridley?