Golf 20/20 Hopes To Grow Number Of American Golfers To 30 Million

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For stakeholders and those with an interest in various golf initiatives, check out Adam Schupak's lively give and take with Golf 20/20 honcho Steve Mona who reports a goal of increasing participation from 25.7 million to 30 million by the end of 2017.

They'll be doing it by backing just five initiatives, all no doubt with some glossy ad campaigns...

Q: One could argue it’s a mistake to only support industry-led initiatives. Aren’t these the same organizations that failed to grow the game since Golf 20/20 was created in 2000?

It doesn’t mean the other initiatives going on aren’t worthy initiatives. I can name a whole bunch, and they still will be supported. You look at a program like The First Tee that went from zero in 1997 to today more than 200 chapters and reached somewhere in the order of 6 million young people. We have a goal to reach an additional 10 million in the next five years. I would say that program has been successful from the standpoint of reaching young people, as an example. Get Golf Ready in 2012 reached 76,000 students, 80 percent of which have stayed in the game, spending incrementally another $1,000 in the game so I wouldn’t say that’s been unsuccessful.

Q: Yet the number of youth golfers (based on NGF data) has declined. The First Tee may have touched a lot of kids, but the NGF numbers don’t match up, do they?

Yes, the youth category has declined, but I think you have to look at broader, more societal issues rather than just say that youth golf is smaller today than it was five years ago it was The First Tee’s fault.

But one of the issues to that point, one of the problems we see with our sport is it doesn’t lend itself to a team sport environment. That’s why we’re getting behind PGA Junior League Golf. It creates that kind of team environment.

Another Tiger Drop Debate; Grassy Knoll In Play

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Jay Busbee breaks down the latest Tiger Woods ball drop controversy, the third this year (as Bob Harig noted in his story about the situation at 14 tee Sunday at The Players). The Big Lead has about two minutes of the telecast posted.

After watching the recording multiple times, reading the description of the shot and hearing NBC's Mark Rolfing describe it, that at best, playing partner Casey Wittenberg's assertion appears to be a stretch when suggesting where the ball crossed the hazard. As quoted in an unbylined AP notes story:

"He asked me exactly where it crossed," Wittenberg said. "I told him I thought it crossed on the corner of the bunker, right where he took his drop. And it's all good."

I'm guessing Sergio Garcia wouldn't have seen it this way based on the commenters here who could smell trouble right from the get go and also had some wise follow-up observations.

At least based on the blimp shots and the obvious skepticism from Peter Jacobsen and Johnny Miller, the ball would have had to have flown very straight, then hooked hard at the end. It does not take a genius to see by Tiger's reaction and the video, that the hook was immediate, not late as Wittenburg's drop point would require.

As noted in Harig's story, the PGA Tour's position was clear: this was the call of Woods and his playing partner Casey Wittenberg with help from Mark Rolfing of NBC. Since Woods took his eye off the ball by the time it made the purpoted late hook, he could not speak with certainty about where the ball crossed the hazard. The call is Wittenerg's then.

The PGA Tour's Mark Russell, as quoted by Harig:

"They both saw it," Russell said of Woods and Wittenberg. "They're back there with a television commentator [NBC's Mark Rolfing], who basically agreed with them. He said he hit a high hook. The problem is on television, that area looked the same, and they thought he dropped up there where it splashed. He dropped it 60 yards back of that. The players had the view of it."

What caused the doubt for me was this statement by Rolfing speaking of hazard stakes by tees on the fairway side of the lake, no where near where the ball crossed:

"It looked like it was over water at this point, if not before."

"Before" seems to be what the video and screen captures suggest.

Here is the overview photo of the hole as taken from the blimp, which did not appear to move much and had what seems like a very good angle to capture the tee shot's general flight.

Below is the "at this point" Rolfing refers to, which appears to be well right (from the player perspective on the tee) of the entry point detailed in the third photo.


Thanks to all the readers who sent in this YouTube analysis by filmmaker John Ziegler dissecting Tiger's 14th hole tee shot, questionable drop and NBC coverage of the situation.  Now, it should be prefaced by saying this video was put together by a  filmmaker who is devoted to clearing Joe Paterno's name in the Sandusky affair, not exactly a cause for the ages. Still, Ziegler makes some strong points and calls out Rolfing's shift from his original call to supporting the drop location even as Johnny and Peter Jacobsen are so clearly not buying the assertion.

Tiger Prevents Players Championship Death Knell: A Streelman, Lingmerth, Maggert Playoff

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What almost assuredly would have forced Tim Finchem to end the Players after a wildly successful 40th anniversary--a sudden death playoff between runners-up Kevin Streelman, David Lingmerth and Jeff Maggert--it never materialized thanks to Tiger Woods' PGA Tour victory 78 and his second overall fifth-of fourth major. Or as Tiger called it, the next in line should a major find itself forced to resign.
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Video Tiger Will Never Tire Of: Sergio's 17th Hole Water Balls

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Oddly, the editors of this package deprive us of one of Sergio Garcia's balls going into the TPC Sawgrass's 17th hole lake, but nemesis Tiger Woods will no doubt savor seeing Garcia's Players Championship hopes unravel.

From PGA Tour Entertainment.

Sergio-on-17 highlights from the NBC gang:

Johnny Miller, on Sergio Garcia’s first tee shot into the water – “It was almost too much for him.  The minute he hit that, he knew it was right.”
 
Gary Koch, on David Lingmerth’s tee shot on 17 – “That is the first tee shot I have seen end up right of the flag.”
 
Gary Koch, on Sergio Garcia’s second tee shot on 17 that hit the water – “Absolutely amazing he would come up short.”
 
Johnny Miller, on Sergio Garcia’s struggles on 17 – “Tough to watch.”
 
Dan Hicks, on Sergio Garcia’s struggles on 17 – “You just never want to be one of those guys at 17.  One of those guys in contention who feels all alone when things just start going the other way.”

And while we're piling on, golf.com's Ryan Reiterman posts a nice compilation of Sergio's greatest meltdowns.

DVR Alert: Rocco On Feherty

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I ran into David Feherty strolling his second home--the DFW airport--and asked him how the Rocco show Monday was and he reported that Mediate was in great spirits. Hardly surprising that those two could yammer up storm about the '08 US Open, Arnold Palmer, the long putter and other stuff, as evidenced by the preview clip.

The show first airs Monday, May 13 at 10 pm ET.

Big Break Ponte Vedra: Tiger & Sergio In Raucous Row!

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Ron Sirak breaks down in entertaining fashion what he claims could have been a "Big Break" episode between Tiger and Sergio (I, in year six of my strict doctor-ordered Big Break diet, cannot say for sure if this is an appropriate metaphor).

The Showdown At Sawgrass went something like this: Sergio is going for the par-5 second green, Tiger pulls his club on a par-5 as Sergio is hitting but he can't see Sergio hitting. Sergio, as he's known to do, heard the crowd reaction to Tiger pulling driver and well, we have ourselves an episode!

"It was my shot to hit," Garcia said on NBC during the weather delay that halted play with the two on the seventh hole. "He moved all the crowd that he needed to move, and I waited for that. I want to say that he didn't see that I was ready. But you do have a feel when the other guy is going to hit. Right as I was on top of the backswing . . . everybody started screaming, so that didn't help very much. It was unfortunate."

And Tiger showed that if the golf thing doesn't work out, he can always star in a reality show.

"Well, the marshals, they told me he already hit, so I pulled a club and was getting ready to play my shot, and then I hear his comments afterwards and [it's] not real surprising that he's complaining about something," Woods said. Asked if they discussed the matter, Woods said: "We didn't do a lot of talking."

On Twitter, former Tiger instructor Butch Harmon just found the whole thing so unfortunate. Right Butch, right.


The eleven minutes of Golf Channel's Live At roundup include a split screen that backs up Sergio's version of events along with some strong reactions from Lerner, Nobilo and Chamblee apparently broadcasting from an executive VP's office at tour headquarters.

Frank Nobilo – “The word respect.  Tiger Woods respects Sergio Garcia and his ability to play this game.  Sergio Garcia respects and admires Tiger Woods’ ability to play this game and his resume.  Like?  No. Respect? Yes.
 
Brandel Chamblee – “It certainly makes for the next three holes these guys play in what is the third round, far more interesting.  And should they get paired together?  Well, we might have those fireworks.”
 
Rich Lerner (@RichLernerGC) – “Where is Vince McMahon when you need him.”

 

Golf Channel will pick up the conclusion of round 3 live Sunday at 7 am ET.

'13 World Cup Headed To Royal Melbourne

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We first learned of the possibility last month from Mark Hayes and now it's official: Royal Melbourne will be hosting the 2013 WGC World Cup a week after hosting the Australian Masters.

Bruce Young is understandably excited:

The likely scenario of the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast, the Australian Masters and the World Cup of Golf back to back at Royal Melbourne and the Australian Open at Royal Sydney all being held in the month of November could mean Australian golf has a summer along the lines we saw here two years ago when the Australian Open and PGA Championship benefited from the Presidents Cup ’being in town.’

Players Round 3: The Sergio And Tiger Backstory

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With Sergio Garcia a stroke ahead of Tiger Woods heading into a Saturday's 2:40 p.m. tee time at The Players, Ron Sirak tells us a bit about the past for these two lovebirds.

It dates to the Battle At Bighorn and Sergio's exuberance.

After a flight from Ohio to California, Woods arrived at Bighorn the next day with a touch of the flu and was lethargic in his round, clearly both sick and tired.

Garcia, meanwhile, got more animated as the round went on and when he closed out Woods on the last hole acted as if he had just won a major championship.

If there is such a thing as X-rated body language, that's what Tiger was speaking as Sergio cavorted. Lost on Garcia in the celebration, apparently, was the fact Woods had just won four of the five previous majors.

The second round highlights from the PGA Tour:

Even Slugger White Anchors His Putter...

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And Ken Willis found out after a recent round of golf with one of the PGA Tour's two Vice Presidents of Rules and Competitions that Slugger White would give up the game if a universal anchoring ban is enacted.

Slugger says he’d have to quit golf if a universal ban on anchoring comes down. He claims that if forced to use a conventional putter, his hands spasm and, in certain terms, begin to shake like a dog trying to pass a razor blade.