Video: The Mood For Merion, 3rd Hole Flyover

After a pretty easy pair to start, Merion kicks into high gear with the difficult 256-yard par-3 third that will alternate as a 219-yarder. There's zero room for error but it's a beatiful hole that sits in the landscape quite nicely.

This should also be the first real bottleneck considering the third's difficulty and the reachable nature of the second hole.

Video: NMA Tackles Anchoring Ban, Fried Chicken

As always, the wild and wacky folks at NMA TV have managed to conjure up some images that will give you nightmares.

In this week's issue they cover both the news on anchored putters and Sergio Garcia's fried chicken remark.

Poll Results: Distance It Is!

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?

ESPN Layoffs, U.S. Open Rights

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.

Steiny Gives Garcia Clearance To Move Forward With His Life

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."

Video: The Mood For Merion, 1st Hole Flyover

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: