Mid-week Musings

A late start to blogging today, an inevitable result of my zero dark thirty arrival home from Utah.  But we have much to discuss, so clear your calendar.

Allenby Goes Walkabout - John  Strege posts at The Loop on the status of the Allenby story, and the headline pretty much sums it up:

Robert Allenby: A meandering story leading...where?

Damned if I know... Here's John's review of the bidding:

Allenby, as the story first emerged from sketchy details, including his own, was with two

friends, one of them his caddie, at the Amuse Wine Bar in Honolulu Friday night after missing the cut in the Sony Open in Hawaii. He recalls paying the bill and then becoming separated from them. "And the next thing you know I'm being dumped in a park miles away," he told Australian Associated Press.

So I'll go with Charade in the Amuse Wine Bar presumably (based upon the facial injuries) with the candelabra.

The latest is that Allenby met on camera with Charade Keane, and here's the local news report:

To sum up, in 24 hours he's gone from accusing her of being paid off to....paying her off himself making a generous gift in recognition of her kind assistance.  We've all learned that eyewitness accounts can be suspect and the victim himself admits that there's 2 1/2 hours for which he can't account, but that six mile discrepancy remains puzzling.

While this attitude towards the woman seems more appropriate, there was this text as well:

In a text to Rosaforte, Allenby wrote, "Such a shame that people are focusing on whether this is the truth or not. All they need to know whether this is the truth is just to look at my face."

Again with the defensiveness...

The "D" in DJ is for Daddy - No doubt The Great One will be a great grandfather, with this news just in:

Not sure about the choice of photo to run with a birth announcement.

The Little Great One is finally here - Dustin Johnson and fiancé Paulina Gretzky have welcomed their first baby, a boy, according to a statement from Johnson released by his agent on Jan. 19. 

"Paulina and I are happy to announce the arrival of our baby boy, who was born in Los Angeles on Monday morning," the statement read. "Both Paulina and the baby are healthy, resting comfortably and in great spirits! 

"We sincerely appreciate the outpouring of love and support we have received and plan to release further details in the coming days!"

Now about DJ as a father, well he'll need to control the coke binge drinking habit... and on that latter unpleasant story, Bob Harig informs us that DJ's version of events has been met with a certain amount of skepticism:

OK, let's be clear: If you failed a drug test, and your employer -- or in this case, the

association of which you are a member and whose rules you must follow to take part -- doesn't make you disclose it or admit to it publicly, would you acknowledge it? 

And if you are concerned he may be lying, could it be that Johnson technically never failed a test? That perhaps he refused to take one, and thus was in violation of the tour's policy? 

The bigger question is: Why would Johnson have chosen to take his leave when he did? That is why this entire episode is met with so much skepticism. 

He was having a career year.

Wow, people can be so cynical....that's really a bit disillusioning.  I'll spare you the rant about the opacity of the Tour's disciplinary policies, which while designed to protect the Tour's reputation does nothing to encourage its members to come to grips with problems (I guess by sparing you I meant that I'll limit to a mini-rant).

But he's now a father and it's really time for him to grow up.  If he can do that, then I'm guessing that the golf will take care of itself, as you'd be hard-pressed to name a guy with more natural talent.

The Great Gets Greater - Imagine for a moment you own an abandoned phosphate mining facility in a remote location in central Florida.  Kill me now, I hear you saying, but perhaps there's something you can do to realize value....I know, how about building a world class golf resort?  Tap into that dying game....OK, I'll get to the point:

Streamsong Resort, home to two of Golfweek’s Best top courses, announced plans to build a third course. 

The proposed course, Streamsong Black, will be designed by Gil Hanse, who recently completed work on the Olympic course in Rio de Janeiro, site of golf’s return to the Summer Games in 2016 after an absence of more than 100 years. 

Streamsong Black would join the Red course, a Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw design that is ranked No. 29 on the Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses list, and the Blue course, a Tom Doak layoutthat is No. 43. Both opened in 2012 to widespread critical acclaim.

They're not just good, they're two of the Best top courses... Because, one never finds typos on Unplayable Lies, right?

That's quite the serious roster of great designers, and may result in a dilemma for your humble correspondent.  Friend of the blog (though not a reader, damn him) Yale Stogel holds a Fall Pro-Am in which I participated at Pinehurst in 2013.  The 2015 event is to be at Streamsong, though shouldn't I hold off on that until Gil finishes his work?  I know, #firstworldproblems.

A Match Made In... - Choosing a celebrity endorser for your enterprise is a tricky business, but I'm certain you'll see the....errr....logic in this announcement:

In a rather amusing twist, Brooke Pancake has announced Waffle House as her newest

sponsor. Pancake, a former All-American at Alabama, will visit Waffle House restaurants throughout the country while traveling on the LPGA and carry the restaurant chain's logo on her bag. 

“Growing up in Chattanooga, I’ve always been a Waffle House fan,” Pancake said in a release. “And to be quite honest, I prefer waffles over pancakes anyway.”

That's her story and she's sticking to it... I can only assume that they won this opportunity after a spirited bidding war with IHOP.  Bubba Watson could not be reached for comment.

This Week in Putt-Putt - We take pride in flooding the zone in our mini-golf coverage, and we've got two items for you today.  First, who says Bubba can't putt?

Note to Bubba, lose the Brandi Chastain homage.  Please!  If only for the children....

Secondly, per this Pravda item, a man operating under the nom de garbage of Tiger Hoods has created an interesting putt-putt course in Brooklyn:

Alfred G. Evans, 53, was playing a round on his little urban golf course, mostly made from the trash of residents from Vinegar Hill’s Farragut Houses, which lie across the street, where he lives with his mother. 

Mr. Evans is a street corner fixture, and his course is ever-evolving, a canvas for his creativity. He employs all manner of litter for his course’s obstacles: lampshades, mangled umbrellas, crushed bottles, traffic cones and steering wheels. A Pringles tube serving as a hole emits a satisfying pop when a ball enters; a tattered children’s basketball net decorates it. Another time, he installed a small stroller tire as a hole, and pushed a flashlight inside it for nighttime play.

How much do you wanna bet that Steiny has a Cease and Desist letter on the way?

Just Skull It - It's not even the silly season, but Shack can't give up on Tiger's skull-and-crossbones face mask. and riffs on the product line extension available to Nike:

The Nike Golf Reversible Knit Hat is made of ultra-soft reversible fabric, with a

Honolulu evening gray for those nighttimes when you don’t want homeless people to mug you and a softer, East Bay gray when you’re headed out to to watch a Raiders game in your favorite dad jeans. The “Just Skull It” slogan fronts this must-have piece of 21st century golf gear. Retail: $34.95 

To round out the package, Nike introduces its first cold weather Tiger Woods Limited Edition Skull Mask that can double as Halloween costume or just lend extra non-recognition for those late Sunday afternoons when you take your yacht around Hobe Sound. The revolutionary UltraDri-FORM Max Compression fabric breathes to help your mouth remain dry or to send extra oxygen to your new implants. An interior layer of UltraDri-FORM also absorbs foul language when you skull, chunk or otherwise flub a wedge shot around the greens. The human skull motif fronting the mask features a missing tooth for added intensity and fear factor for your Day of the Dead celebration, with full branding value delivered via the UBERDay-GLO Nike swoosh. Retail: $49.95

Sorry to rain on Shack's parade, but these days the Oakland Raiders fan demo is pretty much limited to my friend Glenn, and he's about 30 years too old to be a millennial.  

Happy Birthday to My Golf God - Can't wrap up this installment without noting that today is jack Nicklaus' 75th birthday.  It's always tough to watch your heroes get old, but it helps when the accomplish it so graciously.

No need for me to write anything about Jack, as this Jaime Diaz profile will update you on the state of the Bear and his sprawling family.  And for those of a more visual bent, golf.com posts this gallery of the 75 greatest photos of Jack.  There's no shortage of memorable photos, but I'll leave you with this one of Jack at the 1966 Masters with Bobby Jones, his hero.