Video: Guan Picks Up The Pace, Almost Makes An Ace

Ryan Lavner on 14-year-old amateur Tianlang Guan's opening 72 which included a hybrid on 17 that finished a foot from the hole.

There was also noticeably faster pace of play.

And clearly, Guan has made a concerted effort to pick up the pace, perhaps stung by the criticism.

On Thursday, he was almost always the first to walk off the tee box or approach the green.

When he used the restroom between Nos. 5 and 6, he jogged back to the tee so as not to give the appearance that he was lagging behind. Never mind that the group ahead was still in the fairway. His threesome played in 5 hours, 10 minutes.

“He’s not fast, but it was not an issue at all,” said Henrik Norlander, the third player in Guan’s group. “We couldn’t go anywhere. We waited most of the day. I’m sure he learned something at the Masters to speed up a little bit. But it’s tough for him too, because he’s hitting first into every green.”

His round highlights on YouTube.

Turns Out Al Geiberger's 59 Was Caught On Tape

In case there were any 59 Truthers out there, it seems In Play with Jimmy Roberts located unseen footage of the last few holes of Al Geiberger's historic 59 in Memphis and showed it to him for the first time in this week's episode.

Adam Schupak with the details:

“A 22-year-old rookie announcer – I’m sorry, but I don’t remember his name now – was sent to the tournament with a cameraman. He was ready to leave the course. He got Gary Player and whoever was there. It was hotter than hell. Well the guy had moved 12 times since then. The last time his wife said, ‘Get rid of those boxes in the attic.’ So he went through them and found one that said ‘Geiberger’ on it. Well, he was a real golf enthusiast. He said, ‘Oh, my goodness. It’s the tape.’ He thought it could be dust by now. He took it to the studio and had it put on a disc.”

The In Play trailer followed by the footage...

And the footage, including the putt for 59.

John Strege reports that Geiberger is auctioning the clubs from his 59 via Green Jacket Auctions.

AJGA Taking A Stand At 4:19

Great stuff from the AJGA magazine on their quest to make time par 4:19 this year and quotes from some of their players and official Benny Kuroshima explaining how it'll be done and what the kids will do with the extra hour should time par be met.

There is also this YouTube video of AJGA grads like Jordan Spieth talking about how slow things got after they left the junior tour.

Trevino After Switching To Belly Putter: “Now I see why they want to make this one illegal”

Adam Schupak, with several interesting notes related to the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, talked to Lee Trevino about getting the yips and switching to a belly putter for round two with partner Mike Hill:

“I had the yips so badly with that little putter yesterday that I thought I had bleeding ulcers,” he said. “My belly was burning up so much that I thought I had eaten some jalapeno peppers.”

Still feeling the competitive tug of golf, Trevino put a TaylorMade Ghost belly putter in the bag for the final round and afterwards stressed that his putting was vastly improved.

“Now I see why they want to make this one illegal,” Trevino said. “It’s like cheating. I swear to God. This is the easiest thing I’ve ever seen to putt with, is that belly putter.”

And this about leading Champions Tour player Bernhard Langer:

“There’s no question he wouldn’t be playing like he is if it wasn’t for the long putter,” Trevino said. “It takes all the pressure out.”

Calamity Jane, Dwight Eisenhower And Alister MacKenzie Walk Into A Restaurant...

...and each find something named after them!

According to this Gary Van Sickle report quoting SI's anonymous witness "Bob" to Berckman's Place at the Masters, the new $6000 per-ticket "ultimate VIP" option features food areas named after iconic figures in Bobby Jones and Augusta lore.

The facility features three main restaurants -- Calamity Jane’s, Ike’s place and Mackenzie’s. Bob estimates that each room can seat up to 400, plus another hundred or two on their outdoor patios.

Bob, who got his BP badge from a well-connected friend, says he was attending his 12th consecutive Masters, and his favorite part is to walk the course and watch golf.

“I had no intention of staying there more than 10 minutes,” Bob says. “I got there at 8:30 and stayed through lunch. I had to walk through it again on my way out, just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.”

Each restaurant has a bar area big enough to seat at least 50, Bob estimates. He dived in at Calamity Jane’s oyster bar. Mackenzie’s, in honor of its Scottish namesake and Augusta National course designer Alistair Mackenzie, has 25 types of single-malt Scotch whiskey.

Rory: You're Playing For Ireland Whether You Like It Or Not!

Derek Lawrenson on the obscure IOC regulation that will absolve Rory McIlroy of the tricky decision of which country to play for in the Rio 2016 Olympics, assuming he qualifies.

R&A Chief Peter Dawson revealed the option...or lack of option Tuesday:

‘It’s quite ambiguous but there is a rule that says where a player has represented a nation at world championship level, it carries with them,’ he said. McIlroy played for Ireland at the World Cup, a world golf championship event. ‘We would very much like to take this burden of choice away from him if we can, because it is not fair on him,’ added Dawson.

Tiger Skipping Quail Hollow & Its Troubled Greens

Doug Ferguson surmises that Tiger's decision not to play the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow is a product of its week-closer-to-Augusta date.

However, photos making the rounds show troubled putting surfaces on a few holes recently rebuilt (again) by the Fazio family re-doing their previous work. And knowing Tiger's history of avoiding potentially suspect greens out of fear of messing up his stroke, it's not a surprise he is passing.

Alex Miceli has the lowdown on the Quail Hollow greens situation, which includes Tour player and member Johnson Wagner blaming the PGA Tour's agronomy staff of making things worse.

Wagner played at Quail Hollow two weeks ago during the Masters and putted on temporary greens at Nos. 8 and 10. Upon seeing the greens Monday, he said it was clear that the putting surfaces would be bumpier then usual, but the eighth and 10th greens were in trouble.

Wagner blamed the problems at No. 10 on extensive top-dressing by the Tour's agronomy staff, which oversees conditions at host courses in advance of tournaments. “It went from a perfectly sodded green three weeks ago, which I thought was unbelievable, to being dead,” Wagner said.

Pazder vehemently disagreed as to why the 10th green needed to be re-sodded. “There were a number of factors involved which contributed to the decline in the conditions of the 10th green,” said Pazder, without elaborating, "but over-top-dressing was not one of them.”