Video: The Mood For Merion, 1st Hole Flyover

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To kick off the countdown to Merion and the 2013 U.S. Open, I'll be posting one flyover a day of the holes and offering some analysis right up to the Sunday prior to tournament week.

The 350-yard par-4 first features the unusual look of a sizeable swath of rough between fairway edge and fairway bunkers, which hasn't been necessary to this extent in previous U.S. Opens at Merion. The contours all hug the bunkers nicely on the last 80 or so yards of this legendary opener that has often listed as one of the game's great opening holes. However, I wonder if that has to do more with the setting, where it'll be as much fun watching to see if anyone pulls out driver as it will be looking to see who gets the coveted patio seats closely abutting the first tee.

In the June, 2013 Golf Digest, Lee Trevino's My Shot features extensive discussion of the infamous first tee snake moment from the 1971 U.S. Open. And thanks to YouTube, we can watch it:

"The only thing the Spaniard has achieved in the last 24 hours was to make a sympathetic character out of Woods"

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Tom English with a super assessment of the Sergio Garcia mea culpa.

By the time he had finished his mea culpa you almost started to feel some pity for him. Woods is not only trouncing him on the golf course but he’s also trouncing him off it. Woods has the career that Garcia always wanted. At one time, many years ago now, these two looked like they were going to form the rivalry of 
the age but Garcia has been a profound disappointment on that score.

The only thing the Spaniard has achieved in the last 24 hours was to make a sympathetic character out of Woods – a hell of a feat beyond the ken of so many who are paid to do it, but now achieved, ironically, by the man who dislikes him more than most.

John Huggan reminds us that there are others who have made mistaken comments who still populate the airwaves.

An off-the-cuff comment regarding fried chicken -- while brainless almost beyond belief -- wasn't as damaging or hurtful as Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman saying Woods' nearest pursuers should "lynch him in a back alley." And, last time I looked, Ms. Tilghman was still on the air.

While Garcia is clearly guilty of crass stupidity, to condemn and categorize him solely on the basis of a single phrase uttered during an adrenaline-charged interview alongside his 2012 Ryder Cup teammates would be wrong. Just as no sensible assessment of a golfer's worth can be made after only one shot or one round or one tournament, the same criteria must surely apply to any assessment of a man's character.

And the Daily Mail's Derek Lawrenson suggests that Sergio's £5 million-a-year deal with
TaylorMade may be in jeopardy.  Even better is the photo that ran with it of Tim Finchem doing his best somber executive look.

Belmont Goes Bushwood: Tale Of An Overbudget Clubhouse Redo

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Thanks to reader Bud for this Callum Borchers story of a Belmont Country Club's members feuding over an $18 million clubhouse redo swelling to over $30 million.

Add this one to the files of, why do people spend millions on a place where they will spend 15 minutes and skimp on the golf course they'll spend 5 hours on, and think it'll turn out well?

Backslapping has been replaced by back stabbing, and successful business people are doing “things that we would never do in our professional lives,” according to one message from the clubhouse building committee.

“Welcome to Belmonts very own - ‘Big Apple Circus’!!!,” Robert A. Schlager, president of Bulfinch Cos., wrote in an e-mail­ to club leaders last year.

Schlager had been asked by a friend on the building committee to offer advice on utility work and concluded that the club had a “team of misfits” handling the project.

Tiger Responds: "It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate..."

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Steve DiMeglio with Tiger's Twitter rebuttal to Sergio's fried chicken remark. There's a sentence circa 2005 that would have gotten me sent to the funny farm.

The Tweets:

 


 

Sergio's impromptu press conference, aired on Golf Channel and courtesy of them. Love that he was caught off guard by the question from Steve Sands.

And Taylor Made has distanced itself from Sergio.

“Sergio Garcia’s recent comment was offensive and in no way aligns with TaylorMade-adidas Golf’s values and corporate culture,” the company said in a statement. “We have spoken with Sergio directly and he clearly has regret for his statement and we believe he is sincere. We discussed with Sergio that his comments are clearly out of bounds and we are continuing to review the matter.”

Instant Poll: Do You View The USGA and R&A More Or Less Favorably After The Anchoring Ban?

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A simple question, but an important one since opinions have varied so much about their intent in the anchoring ban discussion.

You can only vote once, just in case area residents of surrounding Far Hills townships and greater St. Andrews were contemplating a constant refresh of the site.

Do you view the USGA and R&A more or less favorably after the anchoring ban?
  
pollcode.com free polls 

Tim Clark: "We’re not going to just roll over and accept this.”

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Jim McCabe talks to anchorer Tim Clark and he's issued fighting words in response to the announced anchoring ban.

And remember, he did win a Players, which has a first place prize of $8.9 million I think. So he can afford the attorney.

“If there really was a ‘comment period,’ we all know it was all smoke and mirrors," said Clark, standing on the putting green at Colonial Country Club, site of this week's Crowne Plaza Invitational. "Their minds were made up.”

Clark confirmed news that probably won’t come as a surprise to officials at the PGA Tour, U.S. Golf Association and R&A.

“We do have legal counsel,” he said. “We’re going to explore our options. We’re not going to just roll over and accept this.”

Video: Rickie Does Dallas

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Under dark and blustery Dallas skies Rickie Fowler and Colt Knost plugged sponsor Red Bull and launched Crowne Plaza Invitational week while attempting to make a hole in one to a Texas-shaped green.

Take that...guys over playing the Open Championship qualifier.

The name of the game was to see who could hit it closest to the pin, while egged on by special guests and former Dallas Stars hockey player Marty Turco and Kip Brennan.  The two contestants strolled out to the sidewalk and warmed up with an 80-yard lob wedge, followed by 115-yard gap wedge from across the street and onto the AT&T Plaza green. Fowler started off slowly in these practice rounds, while Knost consistently landed on the green.

Then the two players jumped into a golf cart and drove around the block to an adjacent 3rd floor parking structure for the main round.  From there, they attempted blind shots from 140+ yards that to had fly over a 6-story building or be sliced left-to-right to land softly on the Victory Plaza green.  With golf balls flying over the heads of hundreds of spectators, Fowler first jumped on the MIC to let the fans know they “should probably duck.”

The video.

Officials Will Be Staying On The Course For Now

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Doug Ferguson talks to the PGA Tour's Tyler Dennis who says it's still more productive for the PGA Tour to have one more official on the course instead of in the booth.

Of course, if the tour wasn't being so stingy with what is obviously such an important role (no contract for rules officials since January 1!), they could just hire another official to be in the booth or in a Ponte Vedra TV room and not take one of the officials off the course.