One Of Palmer's Masters Trophies Goes For $444K

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Darren Rovell at ESPN.com provides a few details about the anonymous purchase via auction, as well as the backstory of how the Masters trophy initially ended up in private hands.

It's the second-highest price paid to Green Jacket Auctions for a piece of golf memorabilia and maybe to anyone, going for about $240,000 less than Horton Smith's 1936 Masters jacket. And who says the golf collectables market is dead? Though I'm not sure this will have the impact on attracting new collectors that some hope...

"Arnie did it again," said Ryan Carey, co-owner of Green Jacket Auctions. "We knew that this was a special piece, but even we were impressed by the level of interest from Arnold Palmer fans. Simply put, people love Arnold Palmer. There's a strong case to be made that Arnold Palmer is destined to become the face of the modern golf collecting hobby."

Chambers Bay Turns White Again...For A Few Hours

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Isn't this about how it looked during the 2015 U.S. Open?


Looking at this and thinking about what looms this coming June, we'll be longing to return there for another major...

Tiger Moves Bridgestone's Needle, Will It Continue?

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David Dusek looks at the attention Tiger Woods brought to the clubs he played in the Bahamas last week and in a strange twist, he might have brought more quality attention to those brands because he's not being paid by them. Will it continue when/if he signs with a company? After all, Nike probably couldn't sell a putter if they tried after Woods made clear he couldn't wait to put his old Scotty Cameron back in the bag.

From Dusek's Golfweek.com story, quoting Bridgestone's Corey Consuega:

Consuegra said that having staff Tour players such as Brandt Snedeker and Matt Kuchar is extremely valuable, but Woods’s use of a Bridgestone ball created an immediate impact. In fact, Consuegra said Bridgestone’s website received about the same amount of traffic last Monday through Friday that it did in the entire third quarter of this year (July-September), and most of those visitors were going to the Tour B330S page.

“It changes the way we can tell the consumers and the public how good we are in the golf ball category,” Consuegra said. “We get outspent by our biggest competitors, but (Woods is) one of the best players to ever play the game, period, and he could have selected any golf ball on the market today he wanted, and he chose to go with the B330S.”

Where DJ Went After The 2015 U.S. Open

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That 18th hole three-putt ultimately changed Dustin Johnson's career for the better, leading him to vindication at Oakmont in 2016 and earning him Golf's player of the year and an Alan Shipnuck profile.

There is a lot to take in--if you can pop some dramamine to deal with the jittery webpage--including where Johnson disappeared to instead of attending the trophy ceremony. He had to pack the family car for Gozzer!

That night, the family retreated to a rental home to gather their belongings; they'd be flying to Gozzer for a previously scheduled trip. Johnson insisted on carrying out all of their suitcases and loading them into SUVs. When Wayne expressed concern about Johnson's back, the golfer shot back, "After the way I played today, this is what I deserve."

The next morning, at 7 a.m., Wayne teed off at Gozzer with his cronies, a sprawling group that includes Mike Mattivi, a 16-handicapper who is also a part of the regular games at Sherwood. Johnson said he would join them on the first tee, but no one was surprised when he didn't show. They were in the second fairway when a ball whistled over their heads. "We all knew it was Dustin," Mattivi says. "He comes roaring up and says, "I told y'all to wait for me!" After what he had just been through at Chambers Bay, I was shocked. Most guys would spend a week in bed, hugging their pillow, but this kid loves the game so much he didn't want to miss out on the fun."

The second hole at Gozzer Ranch is a 589-yard par 5; Johnson smashed an 8-iron to four feet for an eagle try. "He's standing there waiting for us to give it to him," Mattivi says. "And one of our buddies goes, "Dustin, that would normally be good, but since you missed one about that length 12 hours ago, you're gonna have to putt it." Dustin laughed so damn hard. He knows we love him no matter how many 4-footers he might miss."

Bryson's New Stroke Day One: It's Hypnotic...

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Lexi is playing against the guys, tourney host Greg Norman should be making visit to his old Fox Sports team Saturday, and yet Bryson DeChambeau going side-saddle-face-on-Kuchar is simply hypnotic. And slightly uncomfortable to watch, until one goes in.

Sure, it's the Franklin Templeton Shootout at some silly-Greg-Norman-designed-Florida-course-with-huge-streaming-fountains, but come on, this is wild: 

Rory On Tiger: "He looked happy"

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Brian Keogh reports on the remarks of Rory McIlroy speaking at Monday's Excellence in Sport Awards in support of the Irish Youth Foundation in Dublin.

Say what you want about Tiger--and many have--but this comment from McIlroy is the most important big picture observation from last week's Hero World Challenge.

“Anytime we saw him on a golf course in the last couple of years he had the furrowed brow and he has been so concentrated.

“But  he looked happy so obviously that tells you he has been away and he has come back out happy and he is in a better place.”

Keogh's item also explores the prospects of which players might play in the Irish Open two weeks prior to The Open.

Local Rule! Intent! The R&A And USGA Wisely Relent On Accidental Ball Movement

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The governing bodies have long resisted introducing the question of intent to the Rules of Golf. They've also been loathe to introduce Local Rules because players have shown a tendency to not understand read them and not all courses get the message (but they do often lead to progressive Rules shifts).

But with one smart gesture preventing the game from three more years of silliness (until the next Rules of Golf update), they've introduced a local rule that eliminates a penalty for accidental ball movements. While it'll inevitably be dubbed the Dustin Johnson rule, there were many victims along the way.

Josh Sens at Golf.com scored an exclusive (well, embargoed) interview with the USGA's Thomas Pagel who wisely doesn't shy away from the motivation.

"Oakmont certainly did bring the matter to a lot of people's attention, and it did prompt us toward further conversation," Pagel said.

Phil Casey with this account of the change and quotes the R&A David Rickman:

"It was certainly a very difficult case but within the rules environment it was more the repetition of incidents rather than one or two which was of greater concern.

"We had one or two situations at the Open which happened the following month, a couple at the Olympics.

The full press release:

New Local Rule Eliminates Penalty for a Player Who Accidentally Causes a Ball to Move on the Putting Green

FAR HILLS, N.J. (Dec. 8, 2016) – The USGA and The R&A today announced the introduction of a new Local Rule that eliminates the penalty when a ball is accidentally moved on the putting green.

The Local Rule will be available for any committee in charge of a competition to use starting Jan. 1, 2017. It will be adopted by the USGA and The R&A in all of their championships, qualifying competitions and international matches.

“Eliminating this penalty responds to the concerns we have heard from both golfers and committees about the difficulties in applying the current Rules when a player accidentally causes a ball to move on the putting green,” said Thomas Pagel, USGA senior director, Rules of Golf and Amateur Status, said. “This change is a good example of the type of Rules Modernization changes we hope to implement after completing our fundamental review of all of the Rules. We are looking for ways to improve the Rules by making them easier to understand and apply.”

David Rickman, executive director - Governance at The R&A, said, “For the past several years, as part of The R&A and USGA’s Rules Modernization initiative, we have considered the penalty for a ball that is accidentally moved on the putting green. Both Rules Committees agreed that it needed to be changed and decided that in this particular case it was important to act now, through a Local Rule, rather than wait for the next overall set of revisions to the Rules of Golf.”

The Local Rule has been welcomed by all of the major tours worldwide, and the PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA, PGA of America and the Masters Tournament are among the golf organizations that will implement the Local Rule for all future events, beginning Jan.1, 2017.  

If a committee wishes to introduce this Local Rule, the following wording is recommended:

“Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1 are modified as follows:

When a player’s ball lies on the putting green, there is no penalty if the ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved by the player, his partner, his opponent, or any of their caddies or equipment.

The moved ball or ball-marker must be replaced as provided in Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1.

This Local Rule applies only when the player’s ball or ball-marker lies on the putting green and any movement is accidental.

Note: If it is determined that a player’s ball on the putting green was moved as a result of wind, water or some other natural cause such as the effects of gravity, the ball must be played as it lies from its new location. A ball-marker moved in such circumstances is replaced.”

For more information about the new Local Rule, including explanatory diagrams, videos and a detailed question-and-answer document, please visit www.usga.org/2017localrule.

Now we just have to get the word out to all golf courses, though this is really largely an issue where High Definition television and people who don't hit the ball any longer than they did five years ago converge with greens Stimping 14.

First Look At Pinehurst No. 4 Redesign Plans

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Architect Gil Hanse and Pinehurst's Tom Pashley were on Morning Drive today to discuss the exciting overhaul of Pinehurst No. 4. And while someone will surely be sad to see the eradication of Tom Fazio's pot bunker phase, the layout desperately deserves to look more like a Pinehurst course.

The Pinehurst page with today's Morning Drive chat and a few videos of proposed before/afters. Two of the holes here:

The Story Behind Bryson's Side Saddle Move

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Adam Schupak at PGATour.com has all of the thinking and specs behind Bryson DeChambeau's eye-opening putting switch.

Besides clarifying that he doesn't like the name side-saddle or "face-on" DeChambeau is very open about his putting struggles and the motive behind the switch.

DeChambeau practiced with it for at least 7 hours a day for the past two weeks. When he describes the benefits of looking at the hole with both eyes and swinging his right arm in a pendulum motion, he makes it sound simple."It's more bio-mechanically efficient," he said. "I take it back with a certain amount of energy with a certain acceleration profile that lets it go a certain distance."

Bjorn All Over The Map On Ryder Cup Qualifying

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The headlines were kind to new European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn, who will be tootling around Paris in 2018.

Let's hope he drives his cart in more orderly fashion than this quote, featured in Mark Tallentire's Guardian report:

“There’s a lot of nuances into this and they all need to be looked at,” Bjorn said. “Selection will be reviewed, and it should be, because the world and the game of golf is a moving thing. But we’re in no immediate rush and no panic to do it. We’ll look at it carefully. We might stay where we are but we might also come up with a few tweaks. Almost the biggest task at hand is not to get too panicked about not having the trophy on this side of the Atlantic at the moment. There’s so many aspects but I’m just trying to gather all the information to set out a plan.”

It doesn't sound like much will change in Europe. Given that the European Tour needs the Ryder Cup to ensure players remain members, look for defectors like Paul Casey and Russell Knox to continually be penalized for disloyalty. I get it from a business perspective, but as a fan I want the most competitive teams possible.

David Leadbetter Announces Split With Pupil Lydia Ko

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Teachers and pupils split all the time, though in golf it's a bit unusual to see the coach announce the parting of ways with an extensive statement.

Here is the statement "on behalf of" David Leadbetter regarding the end of his Lydia Ko partnership:

“These things happen in the world of coaching, whether it’s Jurgen Klinsmann with the US National Soccer Team or Novak Djokovic who just separated from his coach Boris Becker this week. This turnover is all part of the coaching business.

We as a team want to thank Lydia for the privilege of helping her develop her game over the past three years. During which time she has amassed close to $7.5 million in prize money, has won 12 LPGA titles including two Majors, twice won the CME Championship, youngest Rookie of the Year in 2014, youngest Rolex Player of the Year in 2015, won the silver medal at this year’s Olympic Games in Rio, and achieved a host of other records. At present Lydia is number one in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.  Our goal from our very first coaching session with Lydia in November of 2013 was to create a vision and blueprint for this extraordinary talent designed around improving her full swing shot-making abilities, power, and short game performance.  Lydia’s tournament results and statistics in each of the last three seasons clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of our plan.

Lydia is not only an exceptional player, but also an exceptional person. She is a perfect role model for any young golfer to follow on how to conduct oneself on the golf course, interact with the public, and give back to the game. Lydia has been an absolute pleasure to coach and she felt the staff at the Leadbetter Golf Academy Headquarters at Champions Gate has been like an extended family to her.

We, the Leadbetter Golf Academy team, have prided ourselves on working with great talent through the years. Our team, including Sean Hogan, Director of Instruction at The Leadbetter Academies, plus other members of Lydia’s support team who have helped guide her, will walk away knowing that we have helped a great talent reach the highest pinnacle. We are proud of the part we have played in supporting her success. She has created a record that will be incredibly hard to beat! We believe that her success reinforces our position as leaders in the development of champion golfers around the world.

We wish Lydia the very best for the future and know that, going forward, if she is able to withstand the many outside pressures associated with being number one in the world, and if her team keep their expectations realistic, then she can go on to even bigger and better things.”

Ok, we didn't need the hard sell!

Ko is developing quite the track record, having fired her first coach for Leadbetter just one week after signing with IMG. More recently, she fired another caddie and is believed to be leaving Callaway for PXG.

Report: USGA, R&A Proposing Club Shortening

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Mike Stachura reports on the October notice sent to manufacturers proposing the shortening of maximum club length to 46.5 inches to combat a distance explosion that isn't happening, but apparently would be the deal-killer should all elite players go to 48 inches.

Stachura writes:

The notice makes the case that a universal switch to the current limit of 48 inches by professional players would result in an increase in driving distance of “as much as six yards.” They did not note any potential change in accuracy. It is generally believed that longer golf clubs are less accurate, especially at driver length.

Once again, anything not to touch the ball.

As Stachura notes, less accuracy comes with longer clubs, so why restrict someone from a longer club? Particularly when the Joint Statement of Principles was once concerned with protecting accuracy?

It's similar to players choosing to go to 64 degree wedges, where the increased chance of missing offsets any distinct and consistent de-skilling of the game.

Closer Look: Return Of A Legend, Tiger's Scotty Cameron Putter

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As we discussed on this week's ShackHouse there will be renewed interest in Tiger's old Scotty Cameron putter. And I suspect even more what-could-have-been analysis given that he putts noticeably better with it and seemed to know that by changing back to the Newport 2 model when Nike left the equipment business.

David Dusek takes an interesting Golfweek.com look at what Cameron does for Woods in preparing putters and in particular this model.

The 34-inch putter is made from German stainless steel (GSS), an ultra-soft material Cameron uses for some putters made for Tour players. The heel-toe weighted blade does not have an alignment line, but Woods requested a single dot on the topline so he can confidently put the ideal hitting area of the face directly behind the ball at address.

Cameron said Woods always liked the feel of the grips on some Ping putters he played as a junior, so he had Ping PP58 grips installed on the Newport 2 GSS over the years. Cameron said his team would submerge the grips in acetone to dissolve the grip’s white paint. Woods has also, in some instances, used a “blackout” version of the Ping putter grip.