Video & Roundup: Lyle's Emotional Return

From Martin Blake's account of Jarrod Lyle's return to golf:

And tear up he did. "It was nice to get out there and see everybody that I love standing around the tee, and even people that I've never met before,'' he said later. "The crowd at the first tee was something that I wasn't expecting. To hear Lusi (his infant daughter) call out 'Daddy' ... I turned around and thought 'I'd better give her one last cuddle'. That was the end of me once that happened. I was an absolute mess. I hit that first tee shot with tears through my eyes. Normally I would've backed off but I thought 'I just want to get it over with'.''

Bruce Matthews in the Herald Sun includes many photos and video.

Brent Read in The Australian documents Lyle's return and reports the first tee moment proved emotional for his playing partners.

Even his playing partners were battling to contain their emotions.

"It hit me harder than I thought it might," said Geoff Ogilvy.

"I felt myself wanting to look away. I didn't really know how it was going to be. Two years ago the Presidents Cup first tee, the atmosphere was incredible.

"This was more moving. Everyone feels like they're part of the whole story."

The story only got better from there. Lyle walked off the first with par and then lashed another drive down the fairway at the 2nd. Among the gallery was jockey Glen Boss, who has become friends with Lyle during his fight with cancer. Lyle made a beeline for the hoop to shake hands.

And Matt Murnane in the Sydney Morning Herald:

On the second hole, a former world No.1 and three-time major winner was getting set to drive and the layout of this course means he have right of way.

There were 28 people in the gallery following the legendary Vijay Singh.

Why so many? Oh sorry, go on...

Too many to count had their eyes fixed on Lyle.

The Victorian two-putted for a par, picked up his ball and raised it to his supporters.
As he headed to the second, a fan with impeccable timing summed it up nicely: "Welcome back, Jarrod."

Welcome back indeed.

Golf Channel, which resumes coverage tonight at 9 pm ET, has posted the entire video of Lyle's first tee shot and it's definitely worth a couple of minutes of your time:

Update on 2013-11-14 17:36 by Geoff

**Lyle's post-round interview:

Rejoice! Champions Tour Class Of '14 Includes Ames, Durant!

Jeff Rude was actually serious in expressing his excitement over the Champions Tour's class of 2014.

I do believe this was said without a trace of irony...

I mean, Davis Love III, Scott Verplank, Billy Andrade and Lee Janzen turn 50 next year, and I’m fairly certain I remember watching them before they could shave.

The new crop also includes Woody Austin, Jeff Maggert, Joe Durant, Stephen Ames, Paul Goydos, Kevin Sutherland and Skip Kendall.

Oh yeah, the Champions is set for the next decade!

Golf Channel's Baldesarra Heads To CNN...

Merrill Knox reports on Golf Channel's Lara Baldesarra heading to CNN International after working at Golf Channel.

Baldesarra had worked on shows like the Grey Goose 19th Hole and Golf Central.

CNN announced today that Lara Baldesarra is joining the network’s sports unit in Atlanta. Starting in December, she will anchor World Sport, the flagship sports news program on CNN International, and contribute to sports-related event coverage across all CNN platforms.

“We’re thrilled with Lara’s addition to CNN’s global sports operation,” said Bill Galvin, senior vice president of sports programming and development for CNN. “Her expertise as a leading voice in the sports world aligns perfectly with CNN’s commitment to providing a thoughtful perspective across a broad range of news and events.”

World Match Play Returning To England?

Once a staple of the European Tour schedule, the Volvo World Match Play may be coming back as a fall event, reports Derek Lawrenson in the Daily Mail.

As for venue and location, IMG's Guy Kinnings suggests an English venue would be preferred.

‘We’re excited to be returning to the October date and our hope is that this will mean a return to the UK,’ said Guy Kinnings, global head of IMG Golf, who promote the event.

Kinnings is a passionate advocate for another tour event in England, so fingers crossed.

Sergio Believes The Days Of Fried Chicken Jokes Are Behind Him

Shane O'Donoghue got Sergio for a one-on-one to talk about the state of all things Garcia and to find out what exactly he learned from uttering a racially insensitive joke at Wentworth last May, which subsequently led to embarrassing remarks from European Tour Commish George O'Grady.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way. When I was driving back to the hotel, I started thinking about it," Garcia told Shane O'Donoghue.

Nice to know the dead silence in the room took that long to sink in! Oh, and it's still Steve Sands' fault.

"Obviously, I didn't expect that question at all and you try to be funny and it comes out the wrong way I guess," he added.

And Mr. Contrite:

"It was horrible, but what's done is done. Everybody knows how I feel about it, so I think they should be fine with it and if not, it's kind of their problem," he said.

"The most important thing is learning from all those things.

"I'm making sure that all those experiences make you stronger, a better person and things like that. I think that I've learned from those things and I just need to keep getting better at it, and hopefully keep making people happy."

If you have sixty seconds or so of your life to never to enjoy again:

Beman: "Why is it now so important to eliminate bifurcation?"

I finally got a few minutes to take in the entire Deane Beman address (text version) from last week's USGA Pace of Play event, and besides enjoying the image of folks squirming as he talked bifurcation of the rules where the rulemakers reside (and steadfastly oppose bifurcation), you have to admire the dry wit.

Beman, most certainly never considered for a sidekick role on The Tonight Show, turned the tide on the bifurcation discussion by accepting that we already have it, and why are we the big, bad governing bodies trying to get rid of bifurcated rules?

The former PGA Tour Commish lays out the ways we are bifurcated now (grooves, one-ball rule) and writes:

Why is it now so important to eliminate bifurcation?  There is no evidence that bifurcation has hurt the popularity of our game -- just the opposite can be creditably advanced.  Golf’s popularity was surging in the 1950’s and 60’s when two different size golf balls were played around the world.  Don’t let the stance on bifurcation stand in the way of addressing some of golf’s problems.

He ties it into the slow play discussion and makes this point about longer, narrower courses in championship play making their way into the everyday game:

The problem of slow play, as well as the decline in the growth and financial viability of golf in the U.S., has some of its seeds from the well-intended notion that in order to identify “a worthy champion” in major championships, it was necessary to alter the playing field to accomplish that objective.

The Red Sox won the World Series and they are the undisputed world champions of baseball.  Baseball did not feel the need to add another 10 feet to get to first base, grow longer grass in the infield or move the home run fence farther out.  They also have bifurcated rules that allow a designated hitter in one league versus the other and were able to make a mutual accommodation for the World Series for the good and harmony of the game.  None of these actions would lessen the crown that Boston wears or harm baseball as a popular sport.