News and Notes

I spent more than an hour on the range yesterday, and it was beyond glorious.  Just nice to feel forward progress, and while today's heavy rains might set us back, we're at least heading towards actual golf.

Here's a few items to get you through your morning, as I'm off to the gym to channel my inner Rory.

Dinah Doings - Good luck finding out what's going on in the ladies' first major of the season, as this is all anyone wants to discuss:

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) -- Lydia Ko was in trouble Thursday in the ANA

Inspiration. Trying to tie Annika Sorenstam's LPGA Tour record for consecutive rounds under par, the 17-year-old New Zealander was even par with three holes left and stuck behind five large trees to the left of the seventh fairway. 

"It was a pretty nasty place to be," Ko said. 

To escape, she needed to a hit a sweeping, low hook. 

She did, with the ball scampering onto the green and stopping pin-high 25 feet to the right. 

"I said, `I'm going to try to hit the biggest hook,'" Ko said. "It would have probably looked really bad, that swing on camera, but it ended up being OK. ... I had to hit it low enough and had to hit a slinging hook, so I didn't end up in the bunker." 

She two-putted for par, then hit a 6-iron to 18 inches on the 158-yard eighth to set up the birdie she needed to get under par. She closed with a par on the par-5 ninth for a 1-under 71 to match Sorenstam's record of 29 straight rounds under par.

Yesterday was the perfect embodiment of why such a record isn't of interest to me, as a very nasty, 45-minute windstorm came up as Lydia was on the most difficult part of the golf course.  A quick scan of the this leaderboard will show that the preponderance of the leaders have early tee times today, meaning that Lydia caught the wrong side of the draw.

She was fortunate to have made a couple of birdies before the wind hit, limited the damage in a couple of instances, and most notably calmly drained a 20-footer for bogey after making a hash of the 18th.  Forget this silly record, posting 71 when it should have been a 74, that is what wins golf tournaments.  

Oh, and from the lucky afternoon wave Morgan Pressel leads with a 67...  But it's early...Stacey (72) and Inbee (74) were in the afternoon wave, but squandered that advantage.

Predicting Friday News Dumps - Late Friday news dumps are a venerable Washington tradition, and this year presents a rare Friday-on-steroids combining Good Friday and Passover if you have such a need.  Shack smells one in the offing:

It's one of those stars-aligning types of Friday news dumps, with Good Friday meaning many are not in front of computers or scanning Twitter. And a perfect time for Tiger Woods to issue his long-awaited 2015 Masters decision. 

Waiting until the weekend to announce his intentions means overshadowing Sunday's Drive, Chip and Putt or the two significant professional events being played in Houston and Rancho Mirage.

 OK, that's a good one Geoff, because Tiger has a longstanding reputation for not caring a wit for "stepping on other stories", as anyone that sat through that painful 2010 event at Sawgrass on the first day of the Match Play will readily recall.  But the implication is that it's bad news, and here's why:

We have read reports about a “worst-ball” 66 that Tiger Woods recently shot at his home 

course, Medalist Golf Club, and now there are whispers about how he played Tuesday at Augusta National Golf Club. 

A source told Golfweek that there was good news and bad news for Woods in what many are interpreting as a Masters tuneup. Playing with two members, Woods did make five birdies, but there had to be plenty of lowlights because the source said Woods shot 2-over 74 and that he did hit several indifferent chips, including one that went through the green and into a bunker.

But I'm sure it's not the yips...he's just between patterns and needs his reps to get back his golf feels....or something.

Hail Keiser -  John Gunther spent some time with Mike Keiser to promote the USGA's new fourball event to be held in May on the spectacular Pacific Dunes course.  Keiser is always interesting, and the event is a perfect fit for Mike in the philosophical sense:

“It's what almost all retail golfers play, day after day, two against two,” Keiser said. 

The format is one of the styles of play used during the international competitions — the Ryder, Solheim, Walker and Curtis cups.

“We think the USGA starting the four-ball championships will be looked back on as a brilliant move,” said Josh Lesnik, the original general manager of Bandon Dunes and now president of Kemper Sports, which manages the resort. “It's a game we all cherish.”

Mike is not a big fan of stroke play or posting a score, which he thinks just slows things down.   My only quibble with the fourball event is that I hated to see the Publinx sacrificed for it.... And while you question Keiser at your peril, I have to think he's smoked a little wacky-tobacco with this:

“We'd love to host the U.S. Amateur and we keep talking with them about that,” Keiser said. “That's the pinnacle of amateur golf.”

The great thing about Keiser is that he has a very specific vision for the game, as well as the cujones to bet large sums of money on his instincts.  The beauty of Bandon is that he has specifically resisted the temptation to build golf courses capable of hosting professional golf events, but alas that's what's required for an Am these days.

But let's just enjoy this event, shall we, and here's the answer to my most pressing question:

There will be no charge for fans to attend the tournament in May. A portion of the final two days will be televised live by Fox Sports 1.

That gives me a date certain by which I have to find out where Fox Sports 1 is on my cable system.  A televised event from Pacific Dunes, if you folks don't watch or DVR it, you're no longer welcome here.