Fay: Expects Anchoring Ban With "No Edits"
/Mike Stachura sums up the
Read MoreWhen you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Getting In The Mood: Joe Daley Makes Players Debut At 52
/Super story from last week by Doug Ferguson on Players Championship rookie Joe Daley.
As winner of the Senior TPC, Daley earned a spot in this week's Players.
Daley only had two full years on the PGA Tour. He spent 10 full years in the minors, long enough to play under three umbrella sponsors - Nike Tour, Buy.com Tour and Nationwide Tour. When he turned 50, he had to Monday qualify for Champions Tour events. He finally got his big break with a 66-64 weekend in the Senior PGA Championship to tie for fourth, which make him eligible for the Senior Players.
And here he is.
"It's a lot of years of hard work, man," he said. "It's pretty cool."
To put some of that into perspective, the winner of The Players Championship gets $1.71 million. That's nearly as much as Daley's earnings ($1.96 million) in two decades playing the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour and what is now called the Web.com Tour.
World Golf Hall Of Fame Up For Sweeping Review
/I was listening in on Tim Finchem's press conference and was shocked when he didn't resist suggestions from questioners suggesting various elements of the World Golf Hall of Fame may be in need of review (age limit, international ballot, timing).
In fact, Finchem suggested that pretty much everything is under review.
(I'm saddened by the possibility that the Players Championship Monday ceremony may not be continuing, but the pathetic lack of turnout by current PGA Tour players and male Hall members suggests the effort, though well-intentioned, has not worked. And let's face it, their presence adds immensely to the cache of the Hall and would make it the celebration of the sport that the WGHOF should be.)
Garry Smits files an excellent summation of all the potential changes revealed in the Finchem press conference, including the potential demise of the dreaded International ballot.
Finchem said the idea of having two voting ballots, one for PGA Tour players and one for international players, might be out-dated.
“At the top of the competitive chart ... the vast majority of those players are now members of the PGA Tour,” he said. “That wasn’t the case 18 or 20 years ago when we had players coming up. Colin Montgomerie was a good example. He played an entire career and did not play much here [in the U.S.]. That really doesn’t happen much anymore. So it does raise a question about the ballot structure.”
The other bone of contention this year is that Couples and Montgomerie received 51 percent of the vote on their respective ballots, the lowest on either in the history of the current format of selecting players to the Hall of Fame. They fell under the loophole that if no one gets 65 percent of the vote, the player leading the ballot gets into the Hall of Fame as long as he gets 50 or more percent.”
Finchem said that almost everything about the Hall of Fame, its selection process and induction ceremony was on the table for change.
“We’re going to look at everything and have more to say about it probably later this year,” he said.
Romo To Spend More Time Not Golfing Publicly This Off-Season
/Fresh off signing a $108 million extension, Dallas Cowboy quarterback and excellent golfer Tony Romo is giving up some tournament appearances and attempts to qualify in the name of being like Peyton. Or at least, letting Jerry Jones think he's getting his money's worth.
Calvin Watkins reports that Romo won't be trying U.S. Open or Byron Nelson qualifiers:
Romo isn't interested in those things now, but it was nice following him around in Houston a few years ago when he tried to qualify for the U.S. Open.
The public perception was that Romo cared more about golf than football. I've always thought this theory from some fans and media members was silly. Romo always cared about football.
State Of The Game Podcast 21: Tony Johnstone
/I've been saving this one for a travel day, but I hear rumors that this week's stories are quite fine, with Rod Morri hosting, Mike Clayton present and six time European Tour winner and television commentator Tony Johnstone the featured guest.
As always, you can listen on iTunes or in the player below.
"If golf were invented today, it would be a nine-hole game."
/
Bill Pennington does a nice job in this New York Times piece explaining the nine-hole initiative launched by Golf Digest with today's release of the June issue and supported by the USGA and PGA of America.
There is no doubt that the push to promote nine-hole rounds reflects a reality that most of us now work longer hours and have more demands on our weekend recreational time. As Tarde said: “Every other recreation, it seems, takes more or less two hours: movies, dinner, cocktail parties, tennis, bowling, going to the gym. If golf were invented today, it would be a nine-hole game.”
Study: California Golf A $13 Billion Industry
/The SRI International prepared 52-page California Golf Economy: Economic & Environmental Impact Report, commissioned by Golf 20/20 for the California Alliance for Golf has issued its findings.
The report says golf in the Golden State provides "$13.1 billion of overall economic activity that supports more than 128,000 jobs, $4.1 billion of wage income, and more than $346.6 million in charitable giving on an annual basis."
With 921 separate golf facilities, golf in California is an industry that generates more direct economic activity than movie theaters, fitness/recreational sports, greenhouse/nursery crops, and amusement/theme parks. It brings visitors to the state, spurs new residential construction, generates retail sales, and creates demand for a myriad of goods and services ancillary to the industry. Almost unique among participatory sports, golf gives back through direct charitable activities and support of non-profit organizations dedicated to youth and education. Contrary to the perceptions of some, golf consumes less than 1.2% of the total water used to irrigate crops, accounts for less than 1% of the total fresh water consumed in the state, and generates significantly higher economic returns per acre-foot of water than most other water-intensive industries.
Senator Makes An Ace Playing With The President
/An unbylined AP report details Senator Saxby Chambliss' 11th hole ace while playing with President Barack Obama Monday.
Chambliss told reporters upon his triumphant return to Capitol Hill that "everyone went crazy" when he made the shot and there were high-fives all around. The president retrieved the Chambliss' ball from the hole, while Corker took a picture.
"I told him since I made the hole-in-one, he ought to give us everything we want on entitlement reform," Chambliss said with a smile. That's Washington speak for legislation to change benefits like Social Security and Medicare.
A Reuters report by Robert Rampton noted the President's "respectable 17 handicap"--apparently without a trace of irony--but did not mention the ace. She did clarify this for readers, which might explain why she thinks a 17 is respectable!
Golf handicaps are a measure of ability and a lower handicap signifies a better player.
There's a newsflash from the city!
NCAA Regionals Set; Cal Headed to Pullman
/Normally the NCAA regionals aren't a must note, but with Cal going for its 11th win in its 13th start, the May 16-18 regionals could be historic. 
Ryan Herrington has the breakdown of teams in each region and the individuals who got invites.
Notably Absent From The Latest Trump Announcement...
/...is mention of a golf course architect for his newly announced project in Dubai.
Of course, what took so long to get The Donald to the Middle East is the only true mystery in this.
Golf Greats Agree: Monty & Couples, Now? Really?
/In previewing today's World Golf Hall of Fame ceremony (10 pm ET Golf Channel), Garry Smits talks to some Hall of Famers who aren't afraid to question the inductions of Colin Montgomerie and Fred Couples over others.
Ray Floyd already opened the floodgates, and Tony Jacklin concurred:
“It’s hard to disagree with Raymond,” said Tony Jacklin, a native of England who won two majors and 23 worldwide tournaments. “I vote on the basis of who’s worthy and there’s always majors in it for me.”
“I thought a major should be behind your name to be even considered,” said Sandy Lyle of England, who won two majors and 24 total tournaments. “Quite a lot of players have won majors and not even been considered [for the Hall of Fame].”
The story goes on to quote Bernhard Langer making a case for Mark O'Meara. And Monty, declined the interview requests of Smits.
Through the World Golf Hall of Fame communications department, Montgomerie declined interview requests with the Times-Union.
Meanwhile John Huggan makes a case for the three Scots going into the Hall tonight: Monty, Ken Schofield and Willie Park Jr.
R&A Warns Of Open Championship Slow Play Crackdown
/Martin Dempster covers an array of topics in a story about the
Read MoreLepp's "Saucer Shot" Will Not Be Growing The Game
/Thanks to reader Ian for Brad Ziemer's story on James Lepp of Big Break fame (I wouldn't know, under doctor's order not to watch) learning from Golf Canada's Dale Jackson that the saucer shot he featured on the show (still don't know, still under doctor's order) has been ruled illegal by the USGA/R&A joint rules committee.
“The rule that would be breached is Rule 14-1 that says in part the club can’t be pushed, spooned and scraped,” Jackson said. “Pushed and spooned don’t apply here, but scraped here basically means you are intentionally dragging or pulling the club along the ground before it hits the ball, which is what he does.”
Lepp’s saucer shot is a hybrid of sorts, part hockey snap shot and part golf chip shot. Lepp, a former NCAA champion and multiple B.C. Amateur and Canadian Tour winner, came up with the shot to combat the occasional yips he was suffering when chipping off tight lies near the green.
He used it with considerable success on last fall’s Big Break series on Golf Channel and Lepp has videos of the shot posted on his website for Kikkor Golf, the shoe and apparel company he owns and operates.
Can't wait for the first cries that this, too, will be stifling massive growth of the game after Commissioner Finchem reveals that nearly 20% of golfers use the saucer to combat yips.
Ernst And Starting A Telecast While We're Young
/Steve DiMeglio reports on 22-year-old fourth alternate Derek Ernst winning a Wells Fargo Championship playoff over Englishman David Lynn in just the UNLV rookie's eighth PGA Tour start.
The round started as early as any final round Sunday in recent memory to help get the round in before storms rendered the already dreadful greens even less playable. This put CBS in the unenviable position of showing tape-delayed golf that was widely reported on if you follow Twitter or log onto PGATour.com.
And in an era with a channel devoted to golf (showing early round coverage) and live digital streaming, John Strege took issue with CBS's choice to stick with a tape delayed telecast.
The tournament, as a result, ended more than an hour before the delayed telecast began on CBS.
We reached out to a CBS representative for an explanation. "We have the rights to the final round," she wrote in an email. "Our broadcast window is from 3:00-6:00 pm ET. Due to affiliate and/or other programming commitments, we can not move the broadcast window when tee times are moved up."
What then would compel anyone to watch had they already known that an obscure tour rookie, Derek Ernst, had won in his ninth career start? They might logically conclude that they hadn't missed anything.
