Some of our favorite subjects have conveniently donned their "Kick Me" signs, so having no detectable self control I can only dive in and hope you'll enjoy the ride as much as I will.
Misunderstood - I'm feeling bad for The Donald this morning, as nobody seems to understand the complexity of his worldview (bonus points for anyone who can cite the literary reference). Fiachra Ó Cionnaith (say it three times quickly) brings us up to date on the scrum status:
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| Storm damage at Doonbeg. |
Documents posted on their website by environmental lobby group Friends of the Irish Environment show tensions between lawyers for the US investment mogul and the council after Mr Trump brought “rock armour” on site to strengthen the defences of the Doonbeg golf course against coastal erosion.
I wasn't familiar with that term, though it's rather self explanatory. But isn't this why we have Wikipedia?
Riprap, also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour or rubble, is rock or other material used to armor shorelines, streambeds, bridge abutments, pilings and other shoreline structures against scour, water or ice erosion.
It is made from a variety of rock types, commonly granite or limestone, and occasionally concrete rubble from building and paving demolition. It can be used on any waterway or water containment where there is potential for water erosion.
Let's stick with riprap, shall we? As you'll recall, the heavy winter storms on Ireland's Atlantic coast cause substantial damage to several noted links, including Doonbeg. The current imbroglio evidences the standard Trump Art of War playbook of bluster and retreat, rinse and repeat as needed:
After initially suggesting the course may close “with the loss of 350 jobs” if the defences
The Donald, showing us how big it is. continued to be blocked, Mr Trump’s solicitors agreed to meet all planning conditions.However, they added: “Please be advised that, given the emergency nature of the situation facing the owner, any obstruction of these efforts — which are vital to the survival of the business — will force our client to hold you responsible for any resulting damages or lost income, business and the livelihoods of our many great employees.”
Those of you less skilled in the martial arts might ask about the logic of opening this front, when there's still old business to deal with:
Last month, he clashed with environmentalists over the presence of a microscopic snail on the dunes of the golf course.
A court case in 2000 saw the rare narrow-mouthed whorl snail, known as Vertigo angustior, receive protection from the State due to its endangered status.
This “letter of comfort” status means the owner of the site must pay for an extensive annual report by a qualified scientist to provide updates on the snail at Doonbeg.
Next up, wind turbines. Really, for a blogger he's the gift that keeps on giving...
Department of Clarification - Shackelford shares my love of silly language, from the Commish's business babble to the just plain senselessly contradictory. He's all over a delightfully silly version of the latter from Tiger-flak Mark Steinberg:
"He's doing a little bit more and more each day," Steinberg told ESPN.com. "He's getting to the point of light chipping and putting and the doctors and trainers seem to be pleased with where he is. He is on schedule but we don't know what that schedule means. I don't know when he intends to be playing competitively.
Got it. If there were a schedule he'd be on schedule, but since it would be sharing way too much to acknowledge a schedule we'll just say that he's on schedule.
Making Dukakis Look Presidential - The Orange One is in the news this morning, and not just as relates to the prior Portrush post. Alex Myers touts Rickie Fowler as a fantasy pick this week:
Rickie has been solid in his three starts at TPC Louisiana, highlighted by a T-10 in 2012. More importantly, he's finished sixth (Houston) and T-5 (Masters) his last two tournaments.
I agree that Rickie has shown progress recently, and I put him on my fantasy roster for the week as well. Of course, last week I finished 1,401st out of 1,507 entries, so I've got that going for me.
But most of the pixels are being allocated to Rickie's Red Bull test drive:
This video was also released:
I know all things Rickie are supposed to be cool, but it only serves to remind me of this great moment:
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| Whew! That was close. |
A Wie Bit of Flattery - Janie McCauley's dispatch from the LPGA's Swinging Skirts event in the Bay Area starts with this little gem:
A beaming Michelle Wie explained her oversized visor as a necessary new addition after recently discovering wrinkles at age 24, then good-naturedly defended her unique, hunched-over putting stroke because Jack Nicklaus uses it.
Wie comparing herself to Jack? Not nearly as off the wall as you'd logically conclude:
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| I'm guessing that's Jack on the right (from the 1962 Open Championship). |
First, we need to pause a second to stop laughing, as in selecting a picture from the Fat-Jack era, we couldn't be comparing two more different body types.
Wie's attribution is worth a moment:
Her putting style was not inspired by Jack Nicklaus, who in his prime bent over his putts to see the line, Wie said.
“I practice at the Bear's Club and there are pictures of Jack everywhere.,” Wie said. “I saw a picture of him like putting and I was like, Oh, he is actually pretty low as well. I don't feel that bad anymore."
I'm far from an expert, but I see quite a bit of difference between the two. Both the flex in his knees and the rounding of the back look as though they put less pressure on the lower back, whereas Michelle's back could double as a side table. I don't see that back holding up over the long-term, but more importantly needs to be getting the ball to the hole with some consistency.
RIP Beverly Hanson - Beverly Hanson was early member of the LPGA and winner of three majors. She died on April 12th and Shackelford links to this Doug Ferguson remembrance:
It didn't take Beverly Hanson long to realize that playing golf was more rewarding than writing about it.
The pay was better, too.
Equipped with a journalism degree from North Dakota, she went to work at The Fargo Forum for 50 cents an hour and was assigned to cover a men's golf tournament. Her first byline was under the name "Ben Hanson" because the editor assumed the writer made a typo.
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| Hanson is in the back row, second from right of this 1959 photo, along with Patty Berg, Mickey Wright, Louise Suggs and other LPGA stalwarts. |
Hanson was not amongst the thirteen founders, but came shortly thereafter:
Hanson was a key link to the formative years of the LPGA Tour, even though she was not among its 13 founding members.
The year the LPGA was formed in 1950, Hanson won the U.S. Women's Amateur at East Lake — Bobby Jones presented her the trophy — went 3-0 in the Curtis Cup and finished the year by beating Patty Berg in the Texas Women's Open as an amateur.
She won her first event after turning pro in 1951 by beating Babe Zaharias in the Eastern Open.
There wasn't much money in the game back then, but playing against Mickey Wright and Babe Zaharias had its compensations.
The Opposite of Handicap Would be... Golf.com has a cute slideshow of PGA Tour players' handicaps. Who knew any of them actually posted. Masters winner Bubba Watson maintains the highest listed, +7.7 at Isleworth.
Most notable is the prevalence of pros playing out of Whisper Rock in Scottsdale, where our club champion, Bruce Berman, is now a member. Obviously they like their money games there, as members include Phil (+4.6), Lumpy (+4.7), Paul Casey (+5.4), Aaron Baddeley (+4.6), Geoff Ogilvy (+4.8) and Martin Kaymer (+5.0). The indexes certainly don't correlate to recent tour success or world rankinsg.
In other meaningless data, Phil's twenty most recent scores posted include a low of 65 and a high of 79. Yup, that's our Phil.
The Norman Conquests - Shackelford listened to the Fox Sports conference call confirming the selection of Joe Buck and Greg Norman to their golf coverage team. Thanks for taking one for the team, Shack. His takeaways include:
Greg Norman on his broadcast style – “My objective is not to be criticizing golfers. My objective is to be fair and balanced. If I see something that I feel is very pertinent to the situation, I will explain that view to the audience, and I want it to be very fan-friendly and informative. Being informative is not sugar-coating the situation and not addressing some serious issues that could arise in the game of golf, which we have seen in the past. It’s incumbent upon myself and Joe and every other member of our team who has a microphone in their hand to have the confidence and the willingness to express themselves.”
Hmmm...fair and balanced? Haven't I heard that somewhere before? But wait, there's more...
Joe Buck on why FOX Sports and the USGA make a good partnership – “I think I’ve been here long enough to know that today is a big day for FOX Sports. It says a lot about the USGA that they are willing to take this leap with us. Like I told [USGA President] Tom O’Toole, who I’ve known pretty much my whole life, he is going to be blown away, as will the golf world, with the effort and the ability that we’re going to throw at this. We’ll push golf coverage like FOX Sports pushed NFL coverage, MLB coverage and NASCAR coverage. It’s a good partnership both ways.”
NASCAR, Joe? That sound you hear is the gnashing of teeth in Far Hills, NJ. By far the best part of this was Buck's admission that he and Norman have never, you know, actually met. And, as Buck mentioned, their first game is the Super Bowl Daytona 500. What could go wrong?
Alex Myers takes a different tack, providing a comparison of Norman to Johnny Miller which is most interesting for the similarity of clothing choices:
Seems to me that Miller gets the nod here, as in his case it actually was the 70's.
Top Five Update - I noted this too-good-to-fact-check item from Harbor Town earlier in week, but glad to see it was captured for posterity:
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| One only hopes this ends up on his wall at home. |
Some folks have way too much time on their hands (I know, I'm one to talk).
Getting A Little Old For Me - Happy Birthday to the most recent object of my affection, Lydia Ko. Now that she's 17 I assumed it was pretty much over for her, but then I read this:
In its annual list of the world's Top 100 Most Influential People, released Thursday, Lydia Ko featured as one of just five athletes -- and the only professional golfer -- on the list. Jason Collins, Richard Sherman, Serena Williams and Cristiano Ronaldo were the other athletes honored. Ko now joins a short but prestigious group of LPGA golfers to make the list, which includes the likes of Michelle Wie, Yani Tseng, Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam.This isn't a joke?
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