Ouch: Flyers' Giroux Shatters Club, Splinters Finger

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The unbylined AP story says it's unknown what caused Philadelphia Flyers Captain Claude Giroux's golf club to shatter and splinter his finger, but considering he just signed an 8-year extension for $64 million, I'm sure someone will get sued even if Giroux was doing his best Tommy Bolt imitation.

Speaking of that, it's been too long since we studied the portfolio of that modern club tosser master Garcia here, and here.

Looking Good: The Country Club Is Back!

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Watching the Round of 32 U.S. Amateur coverage on Golf Channel I'm impressed how much better The Country Club is looking since we last saw at the Ryder Cup. Credit architect Gil Hanse and superintendent Bill Spence for bringing the New England back into the course.

Ran Morrissett has updated his profile for The Country Club with photos taken just a few weeks ago.

Coverage continues Friday on GC with tape delayed coverage from 9-11 pm ET, followed by NBC Saturday and Sunday at 4 pm ET.

And there should be a super-fun awkward tension when USGA President Glen "I like that the Fox Sports guys don't know anything about golf" Nager visits the booth for the annual contractually obligated visit.

Tiger's Event Lands Title Sponsor

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Granted, it's a one-year deal, but a bit overdue as the annual World Challenge at Sherwood is a sweet deal for a sponsor: nice ratings, nice field, well-attended, great pro-am and for much less than a regular tour event.

It's also $4 million Tiger won't be spending this year.

For Immediate Release:

NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL ASSUMES ROLE OF TITLE SPONSOR OF THE 15TH ANNUAL WORLD CHALLENGE  DEC. 2-8 AT SHERWOOD COUNTRY CLUB
 
Tickets for the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge are now on sale at www.worldchallengegolf.com
 
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (August 14, 2013) – The Tiger Woods Foundation welcomes Northwestern Mutual, a leading financial security company, as the title sponsor of the 15th annual World Challenge. The Northwestern Mutual World Challenge, held Dec. 2 – 8, 2013 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif., will again welcome host Tiger Woods along with 17 of the TOUR’s best players to compete for the $1 million top prize. The tournament, co-sponsored by the PGA TOUR, benefits the college-access programs of the Tiger Woods Foundation.
 
“Northwestern Mutual has been an excellent partner over the years, and we are excited they will be the title sponsor of the World Challenge,” Woods said. “I’m really looking forward to competing this year. This event welcomes a fantastic field, and it’s always fun to come home and play in front of the Southern California fans.”

Video: Dufner Waggle Supercut & A Past Story

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Thanks to reader Charlie for nice retro link on PGA Champion Jason Dufner from Jim McCabe.

The story first appeared on Golfweek.com in April, 2012, and documents Dufner's rise from obscurity to burgeoning talent on the PGA Tour following his playoff loss at Atlanta Athletic Club.

How Dufner even got his foot into the PGA Tour door speaks volumes for the man’s commitment to his craft. No hand-outs, no slew of tournament exemptions, just an old-fashioned determination.

Having graduated in the spring of 2000, Dufner played the Golden Bear Tour that summer and fall and was going to do likewise in 2001 when he decided to do a Monday qualifier for a Nationwide Tournament in Hershey, Penn.

He finished T-12, which got him into the next week’s tournament in Wichita and when Dufner edged out David Gossett, Todd Rose, and Jeff Gove for that victory, he was at least in the PGA Tour family. For the rest of ‘01 and all of the next two years, Dufner toiled in the minors, then he had a forgettable 2004 season on the PGA Tour. Back on the Nationwide Tour for two seasons, Dufner continued to improve and when he finished eight on the money list in 2006, he earned a return to the PGA Tour.

He’s never looked back, but mostly because that’s his nature. He prefers to keep the focus on now and how that can take him forward.

Michael David Murphy pieces another super cut together, this time of Dufner's waggles. And while that may seem silly, it's fun to see how he varies them in his routine, each time only pulling the trigger until he's settled in as opposed to having a rigid pre-shot routine.


The video:

Cabot Links Secures Government Financing For Second Course

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Thanks to reader DGS for Erin Pottie's great news of Cape Breton's Cabot Links securing an $8.25-million loan that should kickstart construction of a second Coore-Crenshaw course and inn expansion at the burgeoning resort developed by Ben Cowan-Dewar, Mike Keiser and many others.

The first course, a Rod Whitman design, just cracked Golf Magazine's top 100 in the world list.

"The general feel in the town is that traffic is increased and there's more attention being put on Inverness, and more visitors," said Merv Tingley, owner of the Dancing Goat Café and Bakery, which recently opened in Inverness. "It's definitely very exciting news. The town itself is really going to see a lot of rejuvenation. "

A main reason for the buzz has been the golf club's international recognition.

Finchem Shoots Down Euro Tour Takeover Story

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Doug Ferguson talks to PGA Tour Commish Tim Finchem about two British newspaper reports of a bid to take over the European Tour and the richest redhead in golf says, not true. Well, not entirely.

Finchem said three years ago that men's professional golf might one day have a world tour, though he did not say how that would take shape or when. He says the International Federation of PGA Tours has worked together to create the World Golf Championships and to help get golf back into the Olympics.

He says the tours continue to explore "collaborative efforts."

Van Cynical: Fox Needs The Fresh Approach Of Golf Channel!

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I must say that Gary Van Sickle has filed quite possibly the strangest column of the year, taking the angle that everyone needs to pipe down on this USGA-Fox deal because it's time for a fresh take on televising golf. "We need a whole new approach to attract new viewers, maybe even to keep the old viewers," he writes.  And the people at Fox are just the ones to do it. Especially if they would just watch the Golf Channel.

Yes, he cites all the ways golf broadcasting could be better, noting the many things Golf Channel has done to make major championship coverage better.

Psst...Gary...Golf Channel is part of NBC and they were the ones who lost to Fox! Uh Dwayne, I gotta go, I'm due back on the planet Earth...

Watching players warming up on the range seems mundane and yet at majors, I find myself slightly mesmerized. It puts you, the viewer, on site at the major. I hated it when Golf Channel first started doing this. Now I think it’s smart. Watching Phil Mickelson sign autographs for 20 minutes after a PGA Championship practice round might have been a bit much but still, the scene puts you there.

Televised golf is ripe for change. Any change. Greg Norman is supposedly the big name Fox Sports is trying to land as its analyst. With this much money at stake, Fox needs to make as big a splash as possible. Norman is a big splash, bigger than, say, Paul Azinger, Brandel Chamblee or Colin Montgomerie.

It’s time to quit putting golf viewers to sleep and give us something more. You know what I really like? The nightly wrap-up shows Golf Channel does live on-site from the major championships. You see highlights, clips of interviews, a little reporting and insight from a panel of glib experts like Chamblee, Monty and Frank Nobilo. It’s fast-paced, edited and filled with golf nuggets. I’d almost rather watch the recap show than the live golf. I can get the feel of the whole day in two hours instead of six hours. Perfect.

 Hey, maybe Fox can take that to the bank! Why didn't I think of that?

Meanwhile, John Ourand reports that on the eve of Saturday's Fox Sports 1 launch, three of the four big cable providers have not come to terms with Fox Sports, which promised 90 million homes on launch day.