I'm a bit delayed getting to my keyboard today, but it shouldn't take but a moment to make some new enemies...
Long Live the King - Our long-serving King has some new equipment, though to the best of my knowledge Callaway was not involved:
Arnold Palmer has had a pacemaker implanted to correct an abnormal heartbeat.
According to his website, Palmer had successful surgery Monday at the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. The 84-year-old Palmer was to remain in the hospital overnight for observation. He is expected to be released on Tuesday.
I'm only surprised in that a heart that survived Olympic Club in 1966 you'd expect to be indestructible.
Tipping 101 - You'll want to read this Luke Kerr-Dineen Golf Digest story on tipping on Tour. The headline that will have folks talking (including our friend Shackelford) is this bit:
The PGA Tour is structured similarly to its developmental tour, albeit with the formality kicked up a few notches.
Like the Web.com Tour, players are briefed at the start of the season about what's expected in the tipping department--mainly, in the words of Andy Pazder, the executive vice president and chief of operations, "to conduct themselves in a professional manner that's come to be expected of professional golfers."
At the start of each week, tournament officials give locker-room attendants a list of every player in the field. The tour's official tournament regulations stipulate that players are required to tip locker-room attendants a minimum of $50 for the week. In a 156-player field, that comes to at least $7,800 divided among the handful of attendants clubs usually employ.
Shack was surprised by the specificity of the instructions, whereas I'm shocked that the number is so low. But I assume these instructions are intended for the newbies, for whom $50 for the week might not be such a meager sum. But for a full field that $7,800 has to be way low.
There' lots of good stories in there, but you'll especially want to see how our man Phil spreads it around. He comes off as amazingly thoughtful and generous, especially as the most detailed vignette takes place after his most crushing loss.
There's only one story touching on Tiger's legendary frugality, though it takes place in his first days on Tour and is therefore understandable.
Hazard Pay - Ted Scott is Bubba Watson's caddie, and there's good and bad aspects to that gig. On the one hand, you've got two flags from the 18th green at Augusta National and you've had a front row seat for some of the longest drives and most artistic shot-making to be found. On the flip side, have you caught a whiff of Bubba's petulance since that last Masters win? It seems there's only one venue appropriate for this diva, and asking him to hit driver on a driver hole offends his sensibilities.
But Mr. Scott seems to be well compensated for his troubles, as per this tweet:
I know, caddies tweeting.... That sound you hear is Ben Hogan spinning in his grave. Shack feels compelled to remind us that, in addition to putting up with his bosses daily histrionics, Bubba also made Scott tee up his ball at the PGA:
That seems to me less offensive than stupid, as the objective of the caddie standing over the player I always thought was to keep the ball dry. But I'm just a humble blogger, whereas Bubba is an artiste.
A Bad 59 - Alex Myers thinks Kevin Sutherland got as little out of his 59 as possible:
How do you shoot 59 with a bogey on the last hole? How do you shoot 59 and not win a three-round tournament? These are questions Sutherland has to be asking himself after going 71-59-74 to pick up one of the oddest T-7s you'll ever see at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open. Perhaps the better question is how was this the first 59 in Champions Tour history? In any matter, Bernhard Langer wound up winning. Stop us if you've heard that before.
All good questions, and that 71-59-74 line is pretty odd-looking.
BFF's For Now - Tiger and Rory seem to be inseparable these days, which is slightly surprising since only one of them has a tee time on Thursday. Their joint Tonight Show appearance can be viewed here.
They also took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge together:
Guys, get a room!
I Forgot To Duck - After being shot in an assassination attempt, Ronald Reagan famously told his wife Nancy, "Honey, I forgot to duck." So did this guy, a golfer in Sweden who was in the wrong place at the wrong time:
But, sometimes, you just can't get out of the way in time. This man learned that the hard way,
but thankfully, he looks OK (all things considering). According to golf.se, Joakim Boden was playing with a few friends when a golf ball came hurdling towards him and hit him directly on his head. "It sounded like a gun shot," he said.Boden's friends rushed him back to the clubhouse, where he sat with ice on his head until he was given the OK to drive home by a local health clinic, according to the article. He didn't escape fully unscathed, though. Just look at the size of the welt on the poor man's forehead.
Can you imagine what it would have looked like without the application of ice? Folks, when you here "Fore" screamed, turn AWAY from the direction of the screams.
I Wouldn't Count On It - James Corrigan, writing in the Telegraph, identifies hopeful comparisons between 2008 and 2014:
In 2008, the United States were seemingly in a state of disarray before the match in Kentucky.Tiger Woods was injured and for Europe and yes, for Ireland, Padraig Harrington had completed the Open-US PGA double. Ring any bells? For Paul McGinley, the captain of the European team, it should ring those of the alarm variety.Sir Nick Faldo was far too complacent as the visiting captain in 2008 and his nonchalance manifested itself in pinning his faith in the blue and gold heavyweights to apply the knockout blow. But Paul Azinger was everything Faldo was not and developed a game plan which invested the responsibility in his men as a team, or, as it was, a collection of teams.And guess what? The team of underdogs prevailed and Faldo was leashed by his lethargy. That remains the only time the US have won this century. So beware Europe — do not dare be too big for your spikes.
Corrigan hits all the right notes. McGinley is a scrapper and has nothing but this Ryder Cup on his plate, and Rory is just hitting on all cylinders. And one difference Corrigan omits is that it's a home game for the Euros. Azinger and his merry band of strays had the benefit of of that wind at his back. I'm not particularly optimistic this go-round, as I like the Euro roster better from No.1 through nine, and their captain's picks will only widen the gap.
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