Stuff

A few minor items to tide everyone over until Golf Channel comes on the air at Noon.

• More Weather News:  Happy to provide my second weather report of the day, though I'm not liking this one much.  Golf.com helpfully provides us with a weather report for Masters' week, and the practice rounds might be a problem.  On the other hand, given that I don't believe the weather forecast for this afternoon, a wait-and-see attitude seems appropriate.

• Living La Vijay Loca:  Probably should have saved that wordplay gem for a future post title, but as expected, Judge Bransten ruled that part of Vijay's suit against the Ponte Vedra suits can go forward (see there, I did it again):  

"According [the Plaintiff's allegations] the benefit of every possible favorable inference, the Court finds that [Singh] has sufficiently pled a cause of action for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing,” wrote Justice Eileen Bransten in her Feb. 13 decision.

Since the claims weren't dismissed, Veej can now proceed with discovery of that which Commissioner Ratched and his merry band don't want discovered.  This would be a logical time for the Tour to see what it would take to make Veej go away.  This is also the time for me to remind Vijay that this has never been about money, and that he should keep the pedal to the metal on the discovery front.

• Macdonald: Neil Sagebiel, author of The Longest Shot and proprietor of The Armchair Golfer blog, posts John Coyne's second installment of a brief bio of C. B. Macdonald.  If you want to start at the start, you can do so here.  Coyne is an accomplished author and covers the basic Macdonald bio in reasonable fashion, though I've a couple of quibbles.  He notes that Macdonald won the first U.S. Amateur, but fails to add that he only did so after stomping his feet and holding his breath after losing in his first two attempts.  Somehow he convinced the fledgling USGA to grant him a mulligan until he won the event, and that side of his personality should be disclosed along with his substantial contributions.

Secondly, he expresses regret that Macdonald was not somehow recognized at the 2012 Ryder Cup in Chicago, given his link to the city through Chicago Golf Club, the first 18-hole golf course in the U.S.  Unfortunately Coyne demonstrates his naiveté with this comment, as those deciding that Medinah is a suitable Ryder Cup venue are by definition those immune to the charms of a C.B. Macdonald design.  Those that appreciate such things, such as certain folks at the USGA who took the 2005 Walker Cup to Chicago Golf Club, wouldn't sell the premiere match play event in the world to the highest bidder (though they certainly did so with their TV rights).