Weekly Q&A

Our weekly round table with the Sports Illustrated gang is upon once again.  No special guests this week, but  a reminder is in order that their discussion took place before news of Tiger's surgery came up,

1. We’re less than two weeks away from the start of the Masters and Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are both sidelined with injuries. If neither Tiger nor Mickelson answers the bell to play in the Masters, how much does that influence your interest in the event?

The Pros:  Some, but not a whole lot for real golf fans

Best Line:  From Jeff Ritter, "It's the more casual viewers who would turn their attention elsewhere. If Tiger and Phil miss the Masters, this could be the biggest season ever for "Dancing With The Stars." I will now smack myself in the head with a bunker rake."

My Take:  It does affect the intensity level of the countdown to the Masters a bit.  But if you can't trust this event to produce great golf and Sunday drama, perhaps, as Gary Van Sickle suggests, you should go back to reading Bowling Digest.

2. The R&A Golf Club urged its members to accept women members this week following the controversy of holding the Open Championship at all-male Muirfield last summer. Do you have a problem with majors being held at clubs that don’t allow women?

The Pros:  As the old beer ads said, they feel strongly both ways.  They defend the rights of private clubs, but also acknowledge that when such clubs hold major championships the optics are pretty bad.  

Best Line:  From Van Cynical, "The UK is 20 years behind us in a few areas, and this is one of them. This is a chance to play catch-up. I think a more interesting question is, will the R&A members vote to accept women? Can you imagine if they vote ‘no’? It'll be a crapstorm."

My Take:  I've written extensively on this, and expect that I'll continue to do so.  I'll also admit that I feel strongly both ways.  Golf has a very unfortunate history of being exclusionary, and you can't simultaneously work to grow the game while excluding half the human race.  On the other hand, I also think that the issue is somewhat frivolous in that solving the problem at Augusta National resulted in two very wealthy, connected women who could play there anytime they wanted became members.  We're not talking about a major civil rights issue here, so perhaps the volume could be turned down a notch.

3. Slow play appears to be reaching a tipping point on the PGA Tour in 2014. Last week, Kevin Na was heckled at Bay Hill. This week, Johnny Miller said he’d quit announcing if everyone played like Andrew Loupe and the final group Sunday took three hours to play the front nine. Do you sense that the Tour might take some action to address slow play? Why or why not?

The Pros:  No optimism that the Tour will address the issue.

Best Line:  from Josh Sens, "I'd like to give you an answer, but I need to consult my caddy first, then consider the question from six different angles, then toss some grass up to see which way the political winds are blowing before summoning an official for a ruling. Please cut to one of other panelists in the meantime."

My Take:  Take a gander at this:

Commissioner Ratched is on record as saying that the problem is not severe enough to warrant action.  The players are fluent in English and have drawn the obvious conclusion.

4. The TPC San Antonio's AT&T Oaks course, the Greg Norman-designed venue for this week's Valero Texas Open, features a large bunker in the middle of the green at the par-3 16th. Is this the kind of fun design feature that lends spice and variety to PGA Tour setups, or is it a silly gimmick that should be shelved?

The Pros:  As you'd expect, they're all over the lot, with many considering it a poor relative of the 6th at Riviera.

Best Line:  From Eamon Lynch, "Singling out one hole for special criticism on a Greg Norman design is like picking out one pimple in a mass of acne as being particularly unappealing.

My Take:  Eamon, that's gonna leave a mark.  I don't know the hole well enough to jjudge, but the 6th at Riviera works because it creates several smaller greens.  In that sense it's a variant of C.B. Macdonald's Short Hole template, a short, often downhill Par 3 with a large green divided by ridges into several smaller targets.  Easy to hit the green, much harder to land the ball on the correct tier or segment.

5. Graeme McDowell backtracked on some seemingly obvious remarks about how Tiger Woods’ aura has been diminished in recent years after McDowell was criticized on Twitter. Has social media made players more or less candid in sharing their opinions?

The Pros:  Most think that, Poulter and Elkington aside, the players have become much more guarded in their use of social media.  

Best Line:  from the soon-to-be-retired Travelin' Joe, "It's a lousy Catch-22. Fans and media love the spontaneous, honest tweets from those we follow, yet we condemn the sender when the comments burn too hot. G-Mac just won the Golf Writers of America's award for media friendliness. Tweet away, G-Mac. We love what you do, even when we don't agree."

My Take:  I hated the inevitable walkback.  A few days ago I linked to Shackelford's State of the Game podcast with Gil Capps, and they discussed this at some length.  Capps recited many of the brazen comments of Nicklaus, Miller, etc. in the day, and you just imagine the....what's the word Van Sicle used, crapstorm, that would ensue today.  

6. Bill Murray wore PBR-print pants and a Dalai Lama T-shirt at a charity golf event earlier this week, so we know who the best-dressed amateur golfer is. Who’s the best-dressed player on the PGA Tour? What about all-time?

The Pros:  Hogan gets the most mentions for the all-time list, and I regret to note one tongue-in-cheek reference of Daly in the modern category.

Best Line:  Van Sickle again, "Today's players are dressed largely by the same half-dozen clothing-makers. How do you single anyone out? All-time, Gene Sarazen stood out for wearing knickers and ties back in the day when that was normal attire. I don't know what makes you best-dressed these days, but anyone who says ‘John Daly’ is banned from Tour Confidential forever."

My Take:  Another good finishing question, though it's not a subject that I have any particular expertise on.  For old-timers I'd go with Bobby Jones for making it work without microfibers with an honorable mention to Payne Stewart for inventing the half-sleeve rainshirt at Pinehurst.  For modern players I might take the Tiger of the late aughts, as his current threads have gotten a bit too techy for my eye.