Rory Unveils New Hospital-Friendly Nike's And Everyone Wants His Shoe Bag

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With a new season means awkward photos of players in their new gear, showing off new clubs and writers pretending to be surprised by announcements they were told about in September.

Rory McIlroy posted the new shoes in what appears to be a Seamus golf-made shoe bag and judging by the comments on his post, most just wanted the bag. The shoes, eh, not so much.

Others posted on the shoe design, or lack thereof, and the themes were predictably focused on the medicinal qualities—i.e. nurse’s shoes—, the lawn-bowling friendliness of the new line and a surprising number of Cousin Eddie references! You know, in the Christmas Vacation holiday spirit that we are all in, even the cynical millennials of Instagram!

Here is one of the posts followed by the best of the comments sections from various posts of the shoes (I see another was taken down…).

Some highlights from the comment sections…

thelext Shuffleboard shoes.

rtmartinaz Paging Nurse Ratched

303michael When you've got a tee time at 9 but you gotta go be a nurse at 2.

new84man @jeffcolburn4 better if they have Velcro.

5m_madden Does @rorymcilroy have bad circulation or diabetes? Those are absolutely terrible.

seth_thomas Where can we get the shoes bag?! Wow. Fire. 🔥

rlab77 Not even an endorsement contract like Rory's could get this pair on my feet. The bag looks top notch though

prettyzach @handcuff11 Nike making footjoys now?

ken212525 They handed those out at local bowling alley last night. Rolled a 98

therealroymcavoy Air Griswold’s? Modeled after the gift from cousin Eddie? #superdope

majortimmy01 Pee wee Herman Shoes!

I Guess We Now Know The Vijay Singh Settlement Included A Social Media Component

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Vijay pretending this medicine-ball-on-A-Stick is Tim Finchem

Vijay pretending this medicine-ball-on-A-Stick is Tim Finchem

It wasn’t enough that Vijay Singh emptied some PGA Tour offshore accounts with his pre-trial settlement over a deer antler spray violation gone public, but who saw an image rehab social rollout as the cherry on what was probably a multi-million dollar Sunday?

Here’s Vijay living under par in not one, but TWO almost random PGA Tour Champions Instagram posts to kick off the New Year.

There is no truth to rumors that negotiations broke down over Vijay’s insistence these propaganda pieces appear on the PGA Tour account. You know, the PGA Tour he plans to take up spots on this winter instead of sticking to the Geezers tour, where he has a chance to record top 10’s.

Anyway, GIF makers rejoice!

And this Awkward Family Photos nominee…

View this post on Instagram

Set your goals high like @vijaysinghgolf.

A post shared by PGA TOUR Champions (@pgatourchampions) on

Rory: "It's all about world ranking points" And European Tour A "Stepping Stone" To PGA Tour

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We’re off to quite a start! We’ve got players whining about the prospect of on-course interviews—as if they’re being asked to do their own laundry—and now Rory McIlroy goes all Bobby Joe Grooves on the European Tour while professing the vitality of world ranking points. These guys know how to pull at fan heartstrings!

From Dave Shedloski’s Golf World story at the Sentry Tournament of Champions:

“It’s so one-sided,” McIlroy pointed out. “Look, you can talk all you want about these bigger events in Europe, but you can go to America and play for more money and more ranking points. I think as well with the world ranking points, everyone out here, all of their contracts with sponsors, it's all about world ranking points. If players are getting paid more and earning more world ranking points, why would you play over there?”

It sounded harsh, but he was only speaking the truth, and he continued.

They might play there because they play the game for the love of it, with the riches coming from that passion? Oh there I go again!

And this won’t be in any European Tour slogans this year…

“The ultimate goal is here,” McIlroy added. “The European Tour is a stepping stone. That's the truth. The European Tour is a stepping stone. That's the way it is. It's tough. I still want to support the European Tour, and I talk about this loyalty thing with Europe. … [But] it's not as though I'm just starting out and jumping ship. I've done my time. I've done everything I feel like I need to do to say OK, I’m going to make my own decisions and do what I want.”

I’ve done my time.

Looking forward to what his cheering section in the UK has to say about this! Happy New Year!

PGA Tour Revisiting Mid-Round Interviews, Players Sound So Incredibly Not Enthused

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Given that most of the players have little of interest to say after a round or shy away from offering insights for fear of revealing their team’s vaunted trade secrets, I’m not sure this will go very far. Nonetheless, according to Doug Ferguson, the PGA Tour has begun asking players what they think and surprisingly it’s the younger generation sounding resistant.

Justin Thomas? Not so much.

Thomas talks plenty during his round, usually to himself or with caddie Jimmy Johnson. The idea of stopping for a quick interview was not appealing to him.

“I’ve just been asked about it,” he said. “I said, ‘No.’ It’s not me. I do a lot of self-talking. That’s mine and Jimmy’s time, whether we’re talking about whatever, or even the next shot. For me, there’s no benefit. It’s only going to make me look worse.”

I can see Thomas’s point on looking like a young Gregg Popovich since he’s someone who puts on a game face and turns a bit feisty inside the ropes over the course of five hours.

Rory’s view caught me by surprise, however:

“I’ve been approached in Europe because they’ve done it for a couple of years,” McIlroy said. “And I’ve said, ‘No,’ every single time.”

Well, ok then!

Done correctly, an on-course interview can be incredibly charming, especially on Thursdays and Fridays. If anyone has seen or heard one of Tim Barter’s for Sky Sports, you know what I mean.

A couple of samples:

First New Rule Teaching Moment: If You're Leaving The Flagstick In, Make That Vital Decision Before The Shot, K?

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With the New Year arrives a refreshed Rules of Golf and thanks to Bubba Watson our first teaching moment!

The Tweet:

Doug Ferguson got the answer from the USGA on whether a penalty is in order.

In this case, the answer would appear to be yes. The decision to remove (or tend) the flag stick, or leave it in, must be made before the stroke.

It’s an example of what awaits for 2019, at least the early part of the year after a five-year project to simplify the Rules of Golf.

So there you have it: leave the flagstick in or don’t. No mid-shop changing your mind!

Reminder...ESPN Debuting Tiger Woods: Return Of The Roar

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With a birthday debut and other airtimes (above), ESPN is wrapping up Tiger’s tremendous 2018 comeback season. The preview doesn’t show us much, but I wouldn’t read much into that…**

**I have since watched the show and while there were several fine moments featuring some of Tiger and Joe LaCava’s moments on course we otherwise would not have known about, the show exuded an infomercial vibe below ESPN’s standards. Not coincidentally, it was a PGA Tour Entertainment production.

Steiny: No Deal In Place For Another Match

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Agent Mark Steinberg is refuting a GolfDigest.com story suggesting there is a three-year deal for The Match and spinoffs, telling ESPN.com’s Bob Harig that discussions will soon take place. But nothing more.

“We -- and that's a very big we when I say the Woods camp, the Mickelson camp, the Turner camp -- have a lot to talk about,'' Steinberg said. "We don't have any specifics on what it might look like, whether it's Tiger-Phil, two others, four others.''

Oops!

This could be a negotiating ploy since his client was amazingly generous with the knee-knockers and is without question the primary attraction. But it sounds more like a traditional conservative approach by the Woods camp on high-profile deals and no rush to commit to something.

A couple of months removed from The Match, the question I keep coming back to relates to the paywall issues: who will try to pay for a sequel of some form after getting it for free?

That may be a question Tiger and Steinberg will be raising when discussions take place.

Note To Golf Clubs : Google Alerts Are Your Friends

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The news reported by Andy Johnson of Keith Foster’s ouster as consulting architect at Congressional and Olympia Fields following a guilty plea on charges of smuggling goods made from endangered species, is a dark chapter in what has been an excellent and widely-respected career of faithful restoration work.

Still, I couldn’t help but notice this line in Ryan Herrington’s Golf World report confirming the news based on a letter from Congressional president Bev Lane to the members claiming the club’s board was not aware of the case.

In the letter, first reported by the Fried Egg and a copy of which has been obtained by Golf Digest, Lane stated that the club had no prior knowledge of Foster’s legal issues. In addition to his work as an architect, Foster owned a family antiques business in Virginia that specialized in selling foreign-sourced merchandise, a portion of which included wildlife products made from endangered species such as crocodiles, sea turtles and sawfish.

A simple Google news alert would have turned up this report a year ago when the Foster’s shop was raided about 50 minutes away from Congressional.

As for Olympia Fields, Tim Cronin offers a few details on the club moving in a new direction following Foster’s guilty plea.

Four-Foot Gimme's Rejoice! Two More Editions Of "The Match" On Tap

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As we’ve had time to mull Thanksgiving 2018’s The Match with it’s pay wall gone bad and gimme’s from a stout range, organizers are still planning on going forward with two more editions, reports Golf World’s Dave Shedloski.

The good news? A partners match seems likely with Tiger and Phil either pairing up, or not. While that will prolong the day, hopefully an enticing match will be put together on a different golf course.

If you are prone to believe the numbers put out be unnamed sources, the financials were amazing:

…but knowledgeable sources told Golf World that the $9 million showdown between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson on Nov. 23 in Las Vegas drew nearly one million customers who paid the $19.95 fee.

So nearly 1 million paid but because of pay wall issues at match time, the wall was quickly dropped, exposing organizers to returns of nearly $20 million? Charitable.

State Of The Game 87: Golf On Instagram With Ru Macdonald

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Scottish Golf Podcast host and European Tour social media correspondent Ru Macdonald joins us to consider the impact Instagram is having on golf travel and architecture. If you’re not on Instagram we’ve got a few tips and accounts to follow, too.

I feel like we just touched the surface on how exactly Instagram is changing tastes and how people plan trips. But hopefully this chat with Ru, Rod Morri and Mike Clayton gets you thinking!

Rod has posted some of our suggested Instagram follows in the show notes here, though somehow he left out my suggestion of Walter GeoffreyThe Frenchie.

As always, you can listen below or via all of the usual podcast sources.

Golf Architect Keith Foster Facing Five Years In Prison After Guilty Plea For Smuggling Endangered Wildlife Goods

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A.W. Tillinghast got into the rare antique business late in life, so there was a nice parallel of sorts for Keith Foster in opening The Outpost, a Middleburg, Virginia store devoted to “authentic finds.”

Turns out, a little too authentic.

According to Len Shapiro writing for the Fauquier Times, the golf architect currently handling Congressional’s renovation and known for work at Colonial, Southern Hills and Eastward Ho! faces up to five years in prison for illegally transporting up to $500,000 worth of items made from endangered species.

With good behavior should be out in time for the Senior PGA Championship on the freshly renovated course!

According to court documents, to evade enforcement by Fish and Wildlife, Foster relied on a shipping company to falsify import records in order to hide wildlife items and avoid inspection by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other law enforcement officials.

Wonder if he ever ran into Big Leo?

Those documents indicated that starting in December 2016,  on numerous occasions Foster discussed with a customer, later revealed to be an undercover agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the unlawful nature of his conduct. He also told the undercover agent that it was illegal to import sawfish blades but that he intended to smuggle them, according to the Justice Department news release.

Foster told the agent, “Rest assured, I’m gonna bring more in ‘cause I’m the only fool in the States that probably wants to risk it,” the news release said.

Anything for his customers!

Rare Win For Property Owners: Court Orders Dye's Amelia Island Design Restored

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As many golf course real estate developments have seen courses closed and property values implode, it’s nice to see a circuit court judge recognizing the rogue work by the Omni resort to close a historic early Pete Dye design.

They have until October 31, 2019 to reopen the course in what will be a much costlier than had it been kept open. Garry Smits does a super job recounting the entire escapade for the Florida Times-Union.

This was particularly charming:

Omni Amelia closed Ocean Links one day after it was still booking local tee times. The club moved in bulldozers under police protection and began tearing down the greens on the three oceanside holes with the intention of converting the property into “green space,” for parks, bicycle trails and nature trails.

The resort did not notify property owners that it had begun the demolition until that day, in an email time-dated 5 p.m. By that time, the heavy construction equipment had already been at work a full day. The Equity Club filed for an emergency injunction halting the demolition, which was granted two days later.

Forbes: Tiger's Net Worth Up To $800 Million

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Tiger has giggled at the annual Forbes measurements of his wealth and in recent years it was very believable that he was no where near the figures.

But as Kurt Badenhausen writes, Tiger’s comeback along with his win at East Lake and new Discovery deal suggest he’s about to have a lucrative run to the tres-comma club. At least, as Forbes sees it.

Woods' current sponsors include Nike, TaylorMade, Bridgestone, Monster Energy, Hero MotoCorp and Kowa.

Kowa, of course. How could I have forgotten?

Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, has been inundated with sponsorship and business opportunities since Woods’ victory at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

The golfer signed a multi-year content deal this fall with Discovery’s new over-the-top (OTT) streaming service, GolfTV, which launches in January. Woods will do weekly golf instructional videos and give fans a look into his “life, mind and performance.” In a press release announcing the news, Woods said: “I want to talk to golf fans and golfers everywhere, directly, and straight from me.”

Translation: I’ve got equity, baby!

More Evidence That Par-5's Aren't What They Used To Be

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Christopher Powers compiles a list of the 14 “most telling” stats from 2018 and while they’re all worth your time, Tiger’s 4.57 scoring average on par-5s stands out.

Powers writes:

The number matches the worst mark in Woods' career; in 2013 he also had a 4.57 average. However that year it was good enough to tie him for fourth on tour. This year, that mark tied him for 24th, by far the worst standing of his career in the category. Prior to this season, Woods had never finished worse than T-6 for a season in par-5 scoring average.

While it may stand out to Tiger as something to consider, the notion that the same number this year was only good for 24th compared to 4th just five years ago is yet another remind kids to do your Wall Planks!

People Still Complain To The FCC About Overheard Golf Course &^$-Bombs

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Nice work by Golf.com’s Josh Berhow to obtain the uptick in FCC complaints over 2018 on-course obscenities. Instagram subscribers to Bob Menery, these are not.

Interestingly it was not Tiger or Justin Thomas but the gentle Xander Schauffele who earned the most complaints for his Open Championship swearing.

“On SUNDAY, my family was treated to a golfer saying the word ‘s—‘ during The Open on NBC Golf,” wrote the viewer from Paradise Valley, Ariz. “Don’t they have a delay to cut that sound out? Seriously, a Sunday morning shouldn’t have programming with indecent language.”