Tarps Come Out At The Evian

Some agronomists have always contemplated incorporating infield-style tarps to cover greens during a championship and as Randall Mell reports, it's finally happened.

Sort of.

More like selective tarping.

Video Roundup: Furyk's 59 (With A Bogey!)

And on a golf course with firm greens, some wind and plenty of trouble. A spectacular round from Jim Furyk in the BMW makes him the 6th to shoot 59 in a PGA Tour event.

The round highlights courtesy of PGA Tour Entertainment:



The clutch shot on 18:

Update on 2013-09-14 03:28 by Geoff

**From Bob Harig's account of the historic round:

Then you look at the numbers. Furyk made 11 birdies and an eagle. He overcame a bogey. He didn't miss a fairway and hit 17 greens in regulation. And he still had to hit a perfect drive, knock a wedge to 3 feet and convert the putt on his last hole at Conway Farms Golf Club to shoot 59 during the second round of the BMW Championship.

Mark Lamport Stokes quoting BMW leader Brandt Snedeker, who puts the round's brilliance into perspective:

"The greens were really firm, they were really fast and crusty," a wide-eyed Snedeker told reporters after finishing at 11-under 131. "The winds ... they were real inconsistent on direction. That's just an unbelievable round of golf."

Bill Fields broke down the round and noted this:

Furyk broke 60 despite a bogey on his 14th hole, becoming the first PGA Tour 59-shooter (Al Geiberger, Chip Beck, David Duval, Paul Goydos and Stuart Appleby are the others, while Annika Sorenstam did it on the LPGA Tour) to have a blemish on his scorecard. After the three-putt, though, he rebounded with an 11-foot putt two holes later to get back to 11 under for the day and bring 59 back into play.

Kennemer To Save The Day!

I turned on the European Tour Thursday to see a super looking golf course only to realize that those of us trying to come down off the Merion-Muirfield-Country Club-National high of the last few months still have a super H.S. Colt course to watch.

Ran Morrissett has a profile of the design with plenty of photos.

Jimenez opened with a 64, so there's that too.

Golf Channel has KLM Open coverage this weekend, all times ET:

Friday              12:30-2:30 p.m. (Tape Delay)
Sunday            2-6 a.m. (Tape Delay)
Monday           2:30-5 a.m. (Tape Delay)
 
Golf Channel Broadcast Team:
Steve Burkowski (Studio Host)
Warren Humphreys (Play by Play)
Julian Tutt (Analyst)
Jay Townsend (On Course)

Bethpage Press Conference Set For Tuesday

It looks like PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua has cleared space with the five family air traffic control and buttoned up the deal with Andrew Cuomo and we get a Bethpage-Black PGA/Ryder Cup for 2019/2024 announced this next week.

Mark Herrmann posted a tweet on new of the event.

PGA of America has scheduled a press conference for next Tuesday at Bethpage, presumably to announce PGA, Ryder Cup

— Mark Herrmann (@markpherrmann) September 12, 2013

I have a poll question for those who've been to Bethpage. As you may recall the finisher at the Black isn't very strong while the neighboring finisher on the Red is a beauty.

What hole would you rather see used as the finishing hole at Bethpage Black, 18 on the Black or 18 on the Red? (The 18th on Red is right next to the 18th on the Black and is a long, uphill par-4). Keep in mind historical context and the many dynamics involved with playing a different hole from a different course (mostly political). Would you do it?**

What hole would you like to see used as the finishing hole for a proposed Bethpage Black PGA Championship and Ryder Cup?
	18th on the Black
	18th on the Red
pollcode.com free polls

 

**Poll should now be working.

Update on 2013-09-13 15:11 by Geoff

**Thanks to Mike O'Malley for Tweeting Ron Whitten's story from four years ago on Bethpage's finishing hole issue.

For Some Reason, Darren Clarke To Play PGA Tour In '14

He hasn't been competitive on the European Tour since winning the Open Championship, but that's not stopping Darren Clarke from using his major-win exemption to play the PGA Tour in 2014. I wonder if he knows the season starts in a month?

From Sky Sports.

"I still feel I can be competitive at the highest level, I have always enjoyed America and the US Tour in the past and I am looking forward to playing there more often again."

Update on 2013-09-13 15:29 by Geoff

**Brian Keogh sheds a little more light on Clarke's thinking and links to Doug Ferguson's original report on Clarke and the other European Tour players joining the PGA Tour in '14.

Brandel: "I’m also critical, because I stood next to him and I watched the greatest golf swing the game has ever seen."

Ed Sherman interviewed Brandel Chamblee about a number of topics and naturally as these things are prone to do, the talk went back to Tiger criticism. He tells Sherman that Tiger would have 25 majors by now if he'd stuck with Butch Harmon.

I found this interesting:

Tiger always was going somewhere with his golf game. Now he’s going somewhere with his golf swing.

That’s where I’m critical of him. He was in the middle of this one, long flawless note and he stopped or he was interrupted, whichever one you want to choose. And he’s trying to recreate it again.

I’m also critical, because I stood next to him and I watched the greatest golf swing the game has ever seen.

The greatest stretch of golf the world has ever seen. And he willfully dismantled it. That’s the craziest thing in the history of sports. Not golf. All of sports. There’s no equivalent to it, but if you’re a sports fan, it’s literally the ’27 Yankees starting with a new roster in 1928.

The full interview.

A Few More Photos: National Golf Links Panoramas

Since it may be a while until we see a competition at The National Golf Links Of America again, I used the opportunity to take some panorama shots with the iPhone.

This is the Redan, No. 4 viewed from the side (tee to the left) to show the slope from front to back.

Click on the images to enlarge:

A match concluding on the 18th green (right, distance):

The Punchbowl, No. 16:

 The closing ceremony:

Back To Reality: Conway Farms Hole-By-Hole

Merion, Muirfield, National Golf Links...and Conway Farms.

Back to reality as Sean Martin at PGATour.com posts a hole-by-hole tour of this week's BMW Championship host site, the utterly vapid-looking Conway Farms which does hold the honor of having hosted Pepperdine's 1997 NCAA Championship win.

Therefore, it's a masterpiece.