Wednesday At 2010 The Players

A quiet and mostly uneventful day as the fifth-of-four is about to kick off. I spent the afternoon learning more about NBC's production efforts on 17 and later visiting with the agronomic staff about their preparation efforts. I'd share what I found, but then you wouldn't read my spellbinding post-tournament coverage for Golf World.

I can tell you that superintendent Tom Vlach--an absolutely first rate man who LOVES the way the course appeared in old photos--has the golf course in remarkable shape considering they had a miserable winter and an astounding 15 weeks of Bermuda grass dormancy (usually they have none). Amazingly, a few players are grumbling about some bare spots and a first rate patch job that will rule out Saturday's traditional upper-center hole location on 17.

The notion that some players have issues with the conditioning is rather astonishing and only further convinces me--along with the complete overplanting of frilly flowers--that to truly find its identity, the course needs to go further back to its roots as a rustic, raunchy wasteland where you half expect Johnny Depp to jump out of the woods and scream, arrrrr. Not only would a reduction in the amount of turf make a dramatic environmental statement, it would create a more dynamic test of shotmaking and recovery golf that Pete Dye originally created and which we see so little of here in America. Imagine Phil's shot off the pine needles on 13 at Augusta, times 100.

Okay, enough begging for a restoration to the original Dye design that won't happen anytime soon.

The TPC has drained well from two rains Tuesday and Wednesday, with the greens presenting a surprising amount of firmness. Who that favors, I have no idea.

Attendance seemed less robust than what I recall from last year on Wednesday, but undoubtedly the star of the tournament continues to be the Birdies For The Brave Outpost between the 16th and 18th fairways (see photos below). This tent is made available to active and retired vets and their families, with free food, much appreciated air-conditioning and military-themed appointments. All in all, a very impressive and classy touch that probably needs to expand in size to accommodate the demand.

As always, click on the images to enlarge.