Monday Mishegoss

The Bridgestone required its own post, but there's always more going on to cover... though first some follow ups on that earlier post.

Mouth, Soap - The best efforts of Tour suits notwithstanding, Mike Walker has the video of Tiger dropping the F-bomb on the cameraman here.  Walker does think the camera gets too close, but that obviously doesn't let him off the hook, there being children and all...  There's little doubt that being Tiger Woods has its challenges and frustrations, but he chose this career and he might exert a little self-control and avoid about a half-dozen words, no?

These Guys Are Really Good - I'm sure most caught news of Sergio's second-round 61 on Friday, including his seven straight birdies and Mini-golf back nine score of 27.  But in case you have a life or some such other excuse, Alex Myers tells us that was only the third lowest round of the day:

Sergio Garcia's Friday performance at Firestone was incredible. Garcia tied a course record 

Brady Schnell, but you knew that.

with his 61, which included a back-nine 27 and 11 straight one-putts to close his round.

But even more incredible? It wasn't the lowest round shot on a North American professional golf tour that day. In fact, it wasn't even the second lowest. 

On the Web.com Tour, Fabian Gomez fired a 60 in the second round of the Stonebrae Classic. On the final hole, he had a 25-foot birdie putt for a 59, but left it short. That hurts. 

And on the PGA Tour Canada, Brady Schnell didn't even need a putt to shoot golf's magic number. Instead, Schnell holed a wedge from 122 yards on his finishing hole for an eagle and a 59 at the ATB Financial Classic.

Wow, a hole-out eagle for 59, that's pretty sick.   As the marketing slogan says, these guys are good!  Even, it seems, the ones not good enough to play on Tour.

Barracuda Bits - Off-field events, those played the same week as limited-field invitational, get almost no press and meager television ratings.  They're widely considered a small step up from Web.com events, but they play an important roles for those struggling to gain or retain playing privileges.

In an event, last weekend was the sixteenth edition of The Event Formerly Known as the Reno-Tahoe Open, now re-branded as The Barracuda Championship.  The event now utilizes a modified Stableford scoring system, a smart move in my book just to mix things up a bit.  The Tour suffers from a mind-numbing sameness from week to week, and this is one way to make an event stand out.

The reason I bring it up is that one of the genuinely good guys in our game, a man for whom the game has been a struggle recently, won the event:

Geoff Ogilvy won the Barracuda Championship on Sunday after nearly skipping the event following another disappointing finish last week in the Canadian Open. 

"I was 50-50 on coming here this week," Ogilvy said. "On Monday night, I had like a really long trip back from Canada and I was tired and over it and frustrated. Everyone talked to me into it. Said, `Come to Reno. You'll like Reno. You're playing well.'" 

Ogilvy won his eighth PGA Tour title and first since 2010 at Kapalua, scoring five points with a 25-foot eagle putt on the par-5 13th and pulling away for a five-point victory in the modified Stableford event.

Ogilvy is one of the players for whom I can't help but root.  He has a great interest in and knowledge of the history of the game and golf course architecture.  It's no surprise that he's joined forces with the highly-regarded Mike Clayton in a golf design firm, but it's a pleasure to hear him speak on the subject.  You'll never hear the words "It's all right in front of you" pass his lips, and for that he has my thanks.  

Ogily made these comments after the win, summing up his long period of frustration:

“People watch the TV and see all the fun and happiness of the PGA Tour, but it can be pretty

desperately depressing as well, spending time away from home, beating your head against the wall and just getting frustrated. Depressing is a bit strong a word, but really frustrating. It doesn’t feel like a first win, but it’s a very satisfying win. Maybe one of the most important wins ever. Hopefully I can build on it.”

I'll bet it can, and it's a side of the game that people should see more of.  There's far more failure than success in our game, and it does make the successes that much more poignant.

So Much For Two Weeks Notice - The relationship between a player and his or her caddie is endlessly fascinating, from the obviously synergistic relation ship between Phil and Bones to the War of the Roses divorce of Tiger and Stevie.  Only rarely does the bad marriage aspect spill out in public, but we're all guilty of loving a bad train wreck a little too much to be healthy.

It happened on Saturday at the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship (formerly known as the Reno-Tahoe Open), when Michael Lawson, who has caddied for Brian Stuard for three years, “dropped the bag and walked off the course,” the Reno Gazette-Journal’s Dan Hinxman reported.

Lawson and Stuard apparently were arguing for several holes before Lawson suddenly quit on the 12th hole. A woman in the gallery, Christy Atencio, wearing a dress and flip-flops, stepped up to carry Stuard’s bag for the final six holes. Chad Munoz, an assistant pro at Montreux Golf and Country Club, caddied for Stuard on Sunday. 

Earlier this year, Stuard told Jackson Citizen Patriot writer Josh Olson that “he knows my game really well, and we have a nice working relationship. He knows what to say and what not to say. It’s been really good, and I enjoy having him on my bag.”

It's like a scene out of Tin Cup, but sometimes a divorce is better for all.

Gotta Hurt His Lifestyle, No? - We've previously touched on the tortured path of the BackNine Network, a golf lifestyle channel that has sucked $5 million from the taxpayers in Connecticut.  Now this from the Hartford Business Journal:

James L. Bosworth has resigned as CEO and chairman of the golf-lifestyle media company

Back9Network just over a month after the fledgling network inked its first television deal, the company confirmed to The Hartford Business Journal. 

The company is expected to officially announce this afternoon that Bosworth, who co-founded Back9Network in 2010 after running his own sports marketing and branding firm in Simsbury, resigned to pursue other career opportunities. No further details were provided as to why Bosworth is leaving the company.

Here's more background on the con network: 

Under Bosworth, Back9Nework raised about $30 million in startup funding and nabbed a $5 million incentive package from the state to add jobs and help build out its production studio in Constitution Plaza. 

In June, Back9Network said it signed its first TV deal with DirecTV, a multi-year agreement that will allow the company to distribute 1,100 hours of original programming in its first year. The network's downtown Hartford TV and digital studios will be fully operational in September.

Sigh.  Private investors can do as they please, but the state has no business being a venture capitalist with the taxpayers' money.