Loose Threads

Some doings amongst the ruins you might have missed...

Our Favorite Gretzky In-Law - Being DJ doesn't suck, even on forced hiatus.  We've seen him deal with his setbacks by playing golf in desirable locales, announce impending fatherhood and set the course record at his father-in-law-to-be's place.  Now comes more news from my old buddy Tim Rosaforte:

Dustin Johnson's "personal challenges," now involve how many miles he is going to

cycle, how many balls he's going to hit, what it's going to be like as a father, and how many days before his return to professional golf. 

The date he's talking about for his "leave of absence" to end is Feb. 5-8 for the Farmers Insurance Open. That would coincide not only with the birth of his child to be delivered by fiancee Paulina Gretzky, but also a six-month suspension reported by Golf.com that Johnson was serving for failing a drug test.

Now, Tim, you're wise in the ways of this journalism thing... The PGA Tour denied that DJ was "on suspension," so that couldn't possibly be true...  And then, this has me slapping my forehead over the missed opportunity:

The LA Times reported Johnson sold his Jupiter, Fla., mansion for $5.2 million in an off-market deal. The 7,860-square foot Mediterranean-styled home was built in 2007 and was bought by Johnson in 2011 for $3.7 million.

Of course...they're a growing family and the shack was barely over 7,000 square feet.  But you know what's missing from all these Dustin rehab stories?  Yeah, that "R-word" hasn't made an appearance in any of them...

Our Favorite Litigant -  We've been focused like a laser on Rory's legal to-do to the detriment of our old friend Vijay.  A bit of news in that case, as the Tour is seeking (and apparently Vijay's team has not opposed) documents from management company IMG:

In an unopposed discovery motion filed before the New York Supreme Court on Nov.

12, the Tour asserts that IMG, which represents Singh, "possesses documents and information relevant to this action, including documents and communications related to IMG’s discussions with potential sponsors on behalf of Mr. Singh." 

Marc Edelman, an associate professor of law at the City University of New York who specializes in sports law and business, says the burden is on Singh to show how much money he lost, so the Tour hopes these documents will show that Singh's marketability was on the decline before the suspension took place. At 51, Singh is in the twilight of his career. The three-time major winner and former World No. 1 hasn't won a Tour event since 2008. 

"Any document from IMG that shows it would be difficult for Singh to renew current sponsorships or suggests sponsors were losing interest in him anyway may show that it was not primarily based on his suspension that sponsors decided to drop him, or at least that the value would have been lower even without the suspension from the Tour," said Edelman.

No question that Dear-Antler-Spray-Gate hit as the Veej's career was in it's inevitable decline phase, though even the casual reader will notice that Singh was treated quite differently than, oh say, Dustin Johnson.  The Tour appears to have gone to great lengths to protect DJ's reputation, especially since cocaine ruins lives whereas Dear Antler Spray provides comic material fro bloggers.

Our Favorite Thin-Skinned Golfer - I'm kind of hoping that, Alex Miceli notwithstanding, that the Jenkins story has run its course, but Tiger made news yesterday by announcing Chris Como as his new swing coach:

Tiger Woods leaned on one of his oldest friends,Notah Begay III, to find his newest

Are we sure he's not there to consult in the Jenkins matter?

swing coach, Chris Como. 

Though to be honest, Woods on his Twitter account didn’t call the 37-year-old Texan his “swing coach.” Instead, Woods announced that he was “happy to have Chris Como consulting and working with me on my swing.” 

Como is based out of Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, Texas, and has worked with Aaron Baddeley, Trevor Immelman and Jamie Lovemark. He also is working on a masters degree in biomechanics. He replaces Sean Foley, who coached Woods for four years before the two split in August. Woods also has worked with Butch Harmon (1997-2003) and Hank Haney (2004-10). 

According to a statement by Woods, he has been working with Como for about a month.

Shack's on the case as relates to the most pressing issue:

Anyone want to speculate on Como's inevitable Tiger knickname? Comosy? Comesy? Chrissy? Eh...need to keep thinking about this one.

Neither Jenko or Steiny could be reached for comment.

Our Favorite Affirmative Action Hire -  Suzy Whaley apparently summoned her strength sufficiently to leave her fainting couch:

This has a creepy feel to it, no?

The PGA of America has elected its first female officer in the organization's history. Suzy Whaley, a former LPGA golfer, will likely become the first female president of the PGA in 2018. 

The PGA elected Whaley during the PGA's annual meeting in Indianapolis. Whaley received 52.63 percent of the vote, Russ Libby got 33.33 percent and Michael Haywood 14.04 percent in the secretary's race. 

"It's an incredibly special day for me, my family, the Connecticut section and our members," Whaley said. "Our association has a long-term strategic plan and I'm excited to part of implementing that plan. We have so many opportunities to bring diverse groups into the game, that's what I'm excited about."

For any new readers, the snark above relates to Whaley's overwrought comments in reaction to Ted Bishop's ill-considered tweet.  She simply couldn't bring herself to live in a world where men call each other little girls, because, you know, sexism...  But she has certainly parlayed Bishopsgate into an opportunity for personal advancement, so all's well that ends well...

Our Favorite Golf Course Construction Project - When last we checked in on Rio Loco Golf Club,  a local judge gave the developers an ultimatum, the legal justification of which seemed vague.  Per the Shackmeister, here's that background:

You may recall that 23 days ago the Associated Press in Rio reported that developers of the Olympic Golf Course had five days to comply with a judge's order to move three holes of the 2016 course. This was news to the parties building the course and remains so (full disclosure, as you know I've worked with architect Gil Hanse who has had to sadly watch this war on Rio golf).

Not surprisingly, the five days passed and the judge's order never was actually published, an event that went unnoticed by reporters in Rio

Now comes this from the PGA of America's website:

Construction work on the golf course for the 2016 Olympics could be halted under a

filing made by state prosecutors suing the city of Rio de Janeiro and the developer over environmental rules.

In a 27-page legal brief made public late Wednesday, prosecutors termed "laughable" proposals by the city and the course developer to modify the layout to reduce environmental impact.

A Rio judge began hearing the lawsuit two months ago. It was still not clear when he might make his decision.

Dogs, fleas.  This might be a good time to remind the reader that in Rio raw sewage is dumped into the Atlantic Ocean, but rather than go find that link I'm going to go tee it up.