Oscillategate Moves To The Forensic Analysis Stage

Before we get to the photos of Tiger's BMW ball move sent in by a reader, we have more analysis from a variety of corners.

Ewan Murray in The Guardian:

There are those who remain quick to denigrate both the game of golf and Woods himself at any available opportunity. Golf is treated as a chummy closed shop by its' critics and Woods's public profile will never recover from the misdemeanours which wrecked both his marriage and place in American sporting hearts. Yet even through that, his integrity when at his place of work was never subject to question.

Woods famously insisted he didn't "get to play by different rules" in 2010 in relation to his personal life. In the context of his golfing life, it is safe to say 2013 has now been overshadowed by a clutch of instances in which the finest player of a golfing generation should have known better.

Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker were more sympathetic, reports Ryan Lavner who quotes Furyk as saying he "didn’t realize that ball moved" and this from Stricker:

“The rules are tough,” Steve Stricker said, “and there’s always a fine line between oscillating and moving. A player can see it as one thing and the camera is going to obviously pick it up differently. … It’s unfortunate that he’s been at the center of this about three times this year. I don’t know why, if it’s just because all the TV is on him or what.”

And while many of us struggled to see the move in the first version, the zoom-in by Golf Channel was more clear and this screen grab by a reader who asked to remain anonymous does show the ball moving, not oscillating. The reader writes:

Even in this pixillated version from the original video you posted the ball clearly settled relative to the stick in front of it from this perspective, by at least one dimple in both the full-screen and blow-ups after Tiger moved piece of leaf litter or whatever he touched..  That is well within the visual resolution of any golfer and is why Tiger stopped.  He had to see it.  Had the ball oscillated, the left and center pieces of mud on the ball would have moved or rocked back up.  They didn’t.

Click on the image to enlarge:

Update on 2013-09-17 06:20 by Geoff

**The Art Department offers an even better version and it shows the ball moving, but every so slightly.

“We would not have finished today had we not covered the greens with tarps."

Granted, the Evian situation was unique because the greens were so new but it is cause for concern that the success of tarping the greens overnight could influence this practice more in the future.

Randall Mell on how tarping saved the 54-hole Evian Championship from further misery.

A half-inch of rain fell over Evian Resort Golf Club through late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Thursday’s first round was washed out by a third of an inch of rain. That came on top of all the rain that saturated the course earlier in the week.

“We weren’t sure, honestly, how it would turn out, and if it would help because we had never done it before,” Daly-Donofrio said. “And the grounds crew had never done it before.”

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.