When 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
Even faced with juicy options like simplifying the rule book or ending the absurdity of caddies lining up players
and overwhelming 49% of you chose distance rollback as the next USGA/R&A project of choice.
And who says golfers are scared to give up a little distance for the good of the game?
Tony Manfred looks at ESPN's layoffs and the likelihood that overpaying rights fees may portend strength from its competitors, though as the first link notes, it's also about bringing in younger, cheapter labor.
Still, if Manfred's case is to be believed, this is of note considering that NBC's USGA contract expires in 2014 and the two networks are expected to bid on the next contract.
In the last 24 months, ESPN has agreed to huge rights deals with a bunch of leagues and events. Some of the highlights:
• $15.2 billion over 10 years for Monday Night football (73% higher annually than the previous deal).
• $7.3 billion over 12 years for the new college football playoff (480% higher annually than what it was previously paying for BCS bowls).
• $5.6 billion over 8 years for MLB (100% higher annually than the previous deal).
• $825 million over 11 years US Open tennis (400% higher annually than the previous deal).
That doesn't include smaller deals with specific college sports conferences, golf tournaments, and NASCAR.
From Ewan Murray's Guardian game story at the BMW PGA.
Sergio talking after his round about his call with Tiger ten-percenter Mark Steinberg:
"I talked to [Woods's agent] Mark Steinberg and he said to move forward," Garcia said. "But hopefully I will get the chance to talk to Tiger in person and, if not, I hope to see him at the US Open and we can talk face to face there."
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:
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.
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.
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:
The comment that was made wasn’t silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate...
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) May 22, 2013
The Players ended nearly two weeks ago and it’s long past time to move on and talk about golf.
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) May 22, 2013
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.”
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.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
