Tour Players Love The Courses Favoring Their Games...Still

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Not much has changed since Golf World published its poll/ranking of PGA Tour courses by players. They just love their "traditional" courses like Colonial and Harbour Town and Innisbrook, and have less affinity than you'd think for layouts that make them think like Augusta National and Doral. But mostly, they like the designs that fit their eye, not so much the ones they can separate their all important "I" from.

Rex Hoggard surveyed players for GolfChannel.com in the wake of all their Doral moaning. Making their complaining all the more troubling is how few book stops at their favorites.

Despite an impressive bump in field quality for this year’s event – five of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are playing the Valspar Championship – the event traditionally struggles to attract top players. Still, it was included on every player’s “dream” list.

PGA's Grand Slam Moving To Trump National L.A.

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With a major international airport just twenty-minutes away maybe the PGA of America's Grand Slam of Golf stands a better chance of luring the major winners to the toughest ticket to punch in golf. Most exciting of all is the showcasing of the PGA Junior League Championship on the same course the weekend prior.

Golf Channel replaces TNT a year before the contract expired, offering some hope that the annual telecast of the PGA Championship might get moved away from Turner's properties sooner than later.

For Immediate Release:

33rd PGA Grand Slam of Golf to be hosted by Trump National Golf Club – Los Angeles

Showcase of Major Champions Week to also feature PGA Junior League Golf Championship

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (March 10, 2015) – Trump National Golf Club – Los Angeles, one of the most spectacular golf courses in the country, will host the 33rd PGA Grand Slam of Golf, Oct. 19-21, 2015. The showcase of major champions is part of a multi-year agreement between the PGA of America and the Trump Organization.

It marks the event’s first return to the U.S. mainland since 1993. Golf Channel will televise the event beginning this year.

In addition, PGA Grand Slam week at Trump National Golf Club – Los Angeles will feature the 2015 PGA Junior League Golf Championship, Oct. 17-19.

“The  PGA of America begins a new chapter in celebrating the winners of the Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship through an exciting partnership with The Trump Organization, the owner and operator of a large portfolio of exceptional golf properties,” said PGA of America President Derek Sprague. “The PGA Grand Slam of Golf has always been a showcase for the best in our game. We are pleased that Trump National Golf Club – Los Angeles will provide a great challenge to the game’s finest players.” 

The PGA Grand Slam of Golf features the most difficult qualification requirement in the game – a major championship.

“We are thrilled to welcome the PGA to Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles--- the perfect location for the PGA Grand Slam of Golf,” said Donald Trump, Chairman and President of the Trump Organization. “It’s an incredible course situated on dramatic bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean and will be a challenging and exciting test for the best players in the world. The combination of the course itself and stunning location will no doubt be a major draw for spectators and television viewers alike.”

Golf Channel’s coverage of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf will air live on Tuesday, Oct. 20 and Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 3:00 – 8:00 p.m. ET and include primetime replays. Golf Channel’s coverage will be led by 29-time Emmy Award-winning producer Tommy Roy. Additionally, Golf Channel will cover Monday’s Pro-Am, as well as live news coverage on Morning Drive and Golf Central for both the PGA Grand Slam of Golf and PGA Junior League Golf Championships.

I'll be reporting both developments on Golf Channel's Golf Central at 6 pm ET.

Anchoring Overrated? Adam Scott's Putting At Doral

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During the debate over anchored putters, many wondered how the final year would play out: should players transition after milking their long putter, or should they throw in the towel and make the transition ASAP.

The number of odd-ball grips turning up at PGA Tour events suggests most are laying down and giving in to the forthcoming ban. No players in the WGC at Doral employed the long blade, according to a report by James Corrigan and Cam Cole.

While it's only one week, Alex Myers reports on Adam Scott's strong start with a standard-length Odyssey.

Over 72 holes at Doral, Scott only three-putted once, and he made 87 percent of his putts from inside 10 feet. That included a perfect 52 of 52 from five feet and in -- a range where anchoring, in theory, helps a golfer. But Scott was good from any range as evidenced by his daily average of holing more than 84 feet worth of putts, which put him 15th in the field.

Nike May Own Tiger's Name & Other Greater Jupiter Dining Notes

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Michael Bamberger, filing for golf.com, tracks Tiger's movements around the greater Palm Beach area and suggests that the world's most famous golfer is pretty into the creation of his new restaurant.

So much so, he brought a special guest by to scout the locale...

“Tiger was behind the wheel,” a reporter told Mastroianni on Thursday. The surname is pronounced MAS-tree-on-eee. “Who do you think was riding shotgun?”

“Lindsey?” the developer said, referencing the skier Lindsey Vonn.

“Michael Jordan,” he was told.

“Yeah,” Mastroianni said, registering no surprise. He’s a mid-80s shooter at Old Palm and Trump Jupiter, two South Florida courses known to Jordan. “They’re friends.”

And they're probably hitting each other up to support restaurants and new golf courses. There's a duel to protect the wallet no one should interfere with.

Mastroianni said he has worked directly with Woods, with the CFO of ETW, Chris Hubman, and not at all with Mark Steinberg, Woods’s agent.

Poor guy! Who is going to lie to him?

He said Woods is spending $1,000 per square foot in the construction of the restaurant, about 30 percent more than most upscale restaurant owners spend. “He’s got marble from Italy, granite from another country,” he said. Mastroianni said he expected cocktails to cost about $15 each.

If I were your accountant I'd have to strongly advise against it. If I were your accountant.

He’s been impressed by Woods’s business acumen. “He’s very diligent,” Mastroianni said. “Everything he says, he thinks about it first.”

The developer was asked about the cumbersome name, The Woods Jupiter: Sports and Dining Club. He referred to it as Woods Jupiter and expects that’s what most people will call it. Mastroianni said he was told that Nike “has the rights to the name Tiger Woods,” which prevented Woods using his first and last name in the restaurant name. (Nike and Greenspan, Woods's spokesman, did not immediately respond to inquiries about the rights to use Woods's name in commercial ventures.)

They own his name?!

Golf Gods Alive & Well Files: DJ Wins WGC At Doral

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I believe I mentioned that J.B. Holmes ripping the course he was leading on is just the kind of thing our friends upstairs notice (a.k.a. the Golf Gods). And Bubba Watson griping about how he can't play a course after a 69? Noted upstairs.

Oh sure, Dustin Johnson didn't three putt all week (!!!) on frighteningly fast greens and you say that's why he won. But we know better. The Golf Gods have always been architecture buffs. When players complain about the course they are shooting low scores on, they place a few calls!

Doug Ferguson on Dustin Johnson's first win after his six month vacation from golf to regroup.

Bob Harig of ESPN.com on how this sets up Johnson as one of the Masters favorites. Until the questions turn to DJ's leave.

"I would drink and drink to access,'' Johnson said in the ESPN interview. "The change I made is I just don't do that anymore. I definitely have given up hard liquor 'cause that was the thing that I went to ... it's been a big change.''

On Sunday, Johnson was asked point blank if ever flunked a tour drug test. "No. Thanks,'' he said.

Another question he dealt with why he hasn't been more forthcoming about his issues.

"It's personal and frankly ... it's not really anybody's business.''

Fair? Maybe. But still curious, especially when a top talent is gone for so long. If he entered some sort of rehab program, it wouldn't seem to have been for very long.

It would be easy to say Holmes and Watson handed this one to Johnson, but as Jim McCabe notes, DJ on this with his play.

Especially if you could play your weekend 36 in 69-69, hitting 26 greens and offsetting just three bogeys with a hole-in-one and seven birdies – which is exactly what Johnson did.

Linda Robertson of the Miami Herald says whatever criticisms that the fans-dressed-as-empty-seats vibe all changed with Sunday's finish. I'm not sure my remote would agree, since it was switching over to the more interesting Spotlight coverage on Golf Channel or spring training, but at least she gives the Commish reason to remember he's not a star in everyone's eyes.

A climax packed with high-stakes golf shots on every hole injected intensity into the atmosphere at Trump National Doral. The vibe had been a little too mellow over the first three days, maybe because too many fans were chilling inside the various cocktail lounges and corporate suites arrayed around the grounds, or maybe because Holmes built a cushy lead, starting with his incredible opening-round 62, which prompted Donald Trump to ask for tougher pin placements on his revamped course.

Even PGA Tour commissioner Tom Finchem acknowledged he’d heard the tournament described as “flat” and lacking “buzz.”

He heard it, but I'm sure it didn't sink in for Tom.

The highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment: