“It wasn’t a shining Friday for Fred Ridley and he has at his disposal the best rules officials in golf."

David Eger's comment in today's Charlotte Observer story by Ron Green Jr. about sums up the sentiment I've heard most from the rules community in the story that won't go away: Tiger's Friday Masters drop.

“It wasn’t a shining Friday for Fred Ridley and he has at his disposal the best rules officials in golf,” Eger said. “I’m sure he had more resources available to him than I had sitting at home with my digital recorder playing it back. For the head guy not to use all the resources available to him is disappointing.”

Meanwhile, thanks to reader Chris for tipping me to the Jerry Tarde's just-posted July Golf Digest column stirring up what seems like a non-issue to many at this point: Tiger's decision to keep playing the 2013 Masters. Tarde goes with the what if angle and it's certainly a provocative take.

The decision to, in effect, disqualify himself would go down as one of the legendary gestures of sportsmanship alongside Nicklaus conceding Tony Jacklin the two-foot putt that would tie the 1969 Ryder Cup and German long-jumper Luz Long advising Jesse Owens to start his long jump short of the foul line to ensure qualifying for the final after fouling in his first two attempts at the 1936 Summer Olympics. (Long would go on to get the silver to Owens' gold.) 

Taylor Made's First Quarter '13: Up 13%

Some rather huge numbers in a down golf economy.

For Immediate Release:

TAYLORMADE-ADIDAS GOLF REPORTS STRONG Q1 2013

Global Industry Dominance Continues with Strong Metalwood, Iron and Footwear Growth

CARLSBAD, CALIF. (May 3, 2013) – TaylorMade-adidas Golf (TMaG), the largest and most profitable golf equipment, apparel and footwear company in the world, today announced strong Q1 2013 results of $559 million (€423 million), representing  an increase of 13% on a currency-neutral basis. Additionally, TMaG recorded significant currency-neutral, year-over-year growth in nearly every category in Q1, including metalwoods (+8%), irons (+35%), balls (+21%), and footwear (+23%).  Regionally, the U.S., which accounts for approximately half of TMaG’s global sales, enjoyed the strongest market growth with sales up +21% year-over-year.

TMaG’s ongoing success is a direct product of the company’s expanding global dominance in the golf equipment, footwear and apparel industries, as evidenced by numerous recent achievements:
•       The R1 driver holds the No.1 position in U.S. sales.1
•       RocketBladez irons, launched to market last November, is far and away the top-selling iron in the U.S.2
•       RBZ and RBZ Stage 2 fairway woods and Rescue hybrids currently rank No. 1 and No. 2 in U.S. sales.3
•       TaylorMade is the No. 1 driver and fairway wood brand on the world’s six major professional golf tours: PGA, European, Champions, Japan, LPGA and Web.com.
•       adizero footwear, launched in January, is having remarkable success around the world, making it the best-selling golf shoe in company history.

Additionally, TMaG’s acquisition of Adams Golf last year offers a significant opportunity for future growth.  Adams has increased its presence on the PGA TOUR by adding Robert Garrigus and Jeff Overton to a Tour Staff that already includes Aaron Baddeley, Tom Watson, Bernhard Langer, Kenny Perry, Yani Tseng and Brittany Lincicome.  Adams is the No. 1 hybrid brand on the PGA, Champions, and Web.com Tours.
 
TMaG’s first quarter success is all the more impressive given that an unusually cold spring in the northern United States has delayed the start of the golf season for hundreds of thousands of golfers, stunting equipment sales significantly.
 
“Last year was our best ever in terms of sales, so to start this year with a 13% increase over last year’s first quarter is very satisfying,” said Mark King, CEO and President.

Bummer: Venturi Not Well Enough To Make HOF Induction

Ed Sherman talks to Jim Nantz, who will be inducting Ken Venturi into the World Golf Hall of Fame on Monday without his former sidekick able to make the journey due to health issues.

Nantz said the acceptance speech will be “very spare” in the hope that Venturi can return in 2014 and speak on his own behalf.

“We’re going to tell people that we want Ken to be making this talk,” Nantz said. “We were thinking if he didn’t make it to the Hall of Fame, it would crush him. He would have a hard time recovering. But once he hears he has a chance to come back in ’14 and give that speech, he’ll be OK. God willing, he’ll be there.”

Eger: Not Likely To Pick Up The Phone Again

In case you were still unclear on the completely harmless effort by David Eger to save Tiger from a 2013 Masters DQ for signing an incorrect card and the questionable response to Eger's call from Masters championship chair Fred Ridley in responding to assistance from an outside agency of Eger's stature, check out this Golf Central interview with Eger.

It won't be up long, but the key quotes are:

"I wouldn't have called if I wasn't 100 percent certain."

"First time I've ever called."

"With the outcome, I probably wouldn't call again."

Not From The Onion Files: "12-year-old Ye Wo-cheng fails to impress on debut"

Nice catch by PaddyPower to Tweet this ESPN UK headline on 12-year-old Ye Wo-cheng's 79 in the Volvo China Open:

Ryan Herrington wrote about Wo-cheng's debut as well as the entries of a 15 and 16-year-old in the same event.

Pac 12 Championship: Cal Men Win 10th Tournament!

Cal held off UCLA to win the 2013 Pac 12 Championship by nine strokes. The win unofficially ties them with the 1985-86 Oklahoma State squad for most victories in a season by a college golf team, with two events to go.

Cal Senior Max Homa's 9-under 271 held off teammate and U.S. Amateur runner-up Michael Weaver by five strokes. After the round, host club Los Angeles Country Club presented Homa with a framed lithograph that included a plaque commemorating his opening round and course record 61.

A few images from the day:

Players: Quail Hollow Greens Victim Of 24/7 Media

It's the media conjuring up a story, say a few players quoted by Jason Sobel on the eve of the Wells Fargo Championship opening round.

“You know, in the age that you guys [in the media] have to talk about something 24 hours a day,” Joe Ogilvie explained, “you’ve got to come up with something.”

“Once the tournament starts, I think all of that stuff will stop and it will be about the tournament, about the shots and the scoring,” said Mickelson. “We’ll see what’s made this tournament great in the past and it won’t be an issue. But I think leading up it will be the talk, because we haven’t had the actual action to discuss yet.”

“One thing I’ve realized is that there’s always a new story,” Trevor Immelman added. “There’s a new story every week. Just when you think you’re going to be able to latch onto something and wear it out for a few months, something else happens. It’s amazing to me. I think it’s just one of those things that we work through and next week there will be another story.”

We'll see what the boys say after they've posted their first round scores!

Juding by this image from Jeff Sisner of the Charlotte Observer from his pro-am slideshow, this is more than just a story whipped up by the 24/7 press.

UCLA Closing In On Cal As L.A. North Bites Back

Thanks to some stellar play under difficult conditions, the lucky few taking in round three of the Pac 12 Mens Golf Championships were treated to some fantastic golf. While the scores didn't quite match the incredible opening day scoring, the precision play inspired by U.S. Open greens (almost 14 on the Stimp, extremely firm) and George Thomas and Billy Bell's architecture revealed the level of talent in the Pac 12.

I'll leave the summary to the Pac 12's website where you can also see scores and a photo gallery. Also, Golfstat has the individual and team leaderboards.

Instead, a few random observations from L.A. North prior to final round play.

-- I spent most of the morning watching Stanford's Patrick Rodgers and the afternoon following Cal's Max Homa, UCLA's Jonathan Garrick and Washington's Chris Williams. All impressed with their swings, attitudes, precision and short game while playing the course intelligently...other than the painful sight of their repeated rangefinder use.

--Ahhh yes, the rangefinder. What a waste of information on a course with firm greens where yardages to the flagstick mean so little. Which is probably why players still check sprinklers, yardage books or simply walk the numbers off if they are within 80 yards of the green. Speed up play?  Rangefinders, they do not.

-- The aforementioned players and many others I saw from various Pac 12 schools are placing the ball in unfathomable locations off the tee. That would be my nice way of saying they hit the ball absurd distances. The next time I hear the governing bodies insist driving distances have peaked, I now have photographs of young lads in fairway landing areas so far beyond what hazards that even they might have a hard time justifying their decade long indifference to the obvious. Peter Dawson recently said on anchoring, better late than never!

--UCLA trails by two strokes. UCLA's Pontus Widegren was penalized two shots in a second round 75 for just barely missing his afternoon tee time after he was changing to the prescribed second round UCLA team shirt. Because the first round was running long, Widegren only had a few minutes to change.

I'm not sure how quickly I'll get to post round 4 observations and photos, so here's a big gallery from the first two days: