Friday Frisson

Yesterday's freakishly warm temps allowed for some actual golf to be played, so let's catch up on some stories you might have missed.

'Tis the Season - Wednesday we had the utterly wholesome Halloween pairing of Jordan Spieth and Michael Greller, so today we note that ExtraSpin is running one from the opposite end of the spectrum that we had for you last year:

 

The photo credit goes to barstool_sports, and you know that I couldn't make that up...

Jumping on the barstool bandwagon, The Loop runs this slideshow of the pro golf's best Halloween costumes.  In it's own bizarre fashion, this might be my favorite photo of the Watson family:

Who knew that Oakley made mouse ears?

And we'll throw in this one of the future Mrs. Dustin Johnson, yanno, just to make sure that Maggot keeps reading the blog on the left bank:

In another paen to the season, The Loop also runs this slideshow of the thirteen most terrifying, frightening, fear-inducing holes in golf.... I know, that's a bit of over-kill for a gallery that's mostly the usual suspects, think Road Hole, Sawgrass No. 17 and the like...

But in honor of next year's U.S. Open venue, I'll excerpt this one:

Hitting off the first tee is hard enough. When the opening hole is a 482-yard par 4 with eight bunkers off the fairway and two more by the green? It can be a downright dream-killer.

That it is, just ask Aaron Baddeley...

And this last one technically has nothing to do with Halloween, it's a promo for the Turkish Airlines Open, you'll agree that Iron Chef makes a perfectly fine Halloween theme:

That's Rory and Charl Schwarzel in case you were in doubt...

It's Baaack - Having proven itself an uninspiring and completely forgettable venue, this was inevitable:

SCOTLAND has won the right to host the Solheim Cup in 2019, when Gleneagles will become the third venue in the home of golf to stage the biennial event. 

In what was a straight fight, Scotland was given the nod ahead of Sweden after the two countries were short-listed from an initial 10 countries from all over Europe.

“I want to congratulate the Scotland bid team for their work,” said Ivan Khodabakhsh, chief executive of Ladies European Tour.

Let me translate the technojargon for you, winning a straight fight means they offered to write the larger check.  As for the representative of the LET, there's got to be an interesting backstory as to how a guy with a name that would inspire Vanna to give away vowels got into golf...

I'd caution our Shack to not drive himself crazy with the what-ifs, noting that Catriona Matthew would make a fine Captainess for a Scottish-based Solheim Cup in that time frame, and from there it's only a hop, skip and jump to imagining the event taking place on her home links at North Berwick.  Careful Geoff, that path leads to insanity,  I mean thinking that these folks care about the quality of their venues....  I see padded walls in your future.

The Shark, Self-Absorbed as Ever - I'm pleased to report that The Great White Shark remains the apple of his eye....really, he simply can't take his eye off the mirror.  You know the drill, from the wide range of shirtless photos to the bronze bust, he's an Adonis for the Cialis set.

But we have a new entry, this time a bearded Shark:

If it's your thing, go here for the Instagram call and answer over whether to keep the beard.  But who are these people following him?  They need to get out more...

Lost Links - Losing a golf course is very much a dog-bites-man story, but losing this one will get your attention:

One of the most important golf courses in Canada may someday cease to exist. Glen Abbey's parent company recently filed a proposal to redevelop the golf course's 230 acres into a residential and shopping area. The golf course has hosted the Canadian Open many times, and has been in operation for 40 years. It is an important part of the community in southern Ontario and the history of golf in Canada. 

Canada's Globe and Mail reports that the parent company, ClubLink Corp., was not motivated by flagging profits in the golf industry or the lure of property developers' money. "This is just a very preliminary thing," CEO Rai Sahi told the paper. However, Glen Abbey occupies a very valuable slice of real estate, and another ClubLink course that closed last year may also be turned into an upscale neighborhood.

It's hosted the Canadian Open some 27 times, and will always be linked with this shot:

Alex Myers had this witty take on it: 

It was also where Mark Calcavecchia made a PGA Tour record nine consecutive birdies in 2009. Unfortunately, it sounds like the next time someone tears up this course, it could be for real.

That's a good one....

Finally Frank -  After seemingly being airbrushed out of far too many May Day parade photos, Mike O'Malley notes that the late Frank Hannigan has at long last been recognized:

You could do worse than be commemorated with your beloved pet at a place that reveres 

history and the people who have had a hand in making it. So it was that family, friends and associates of Frank Hannigan gathered to honor the late USGA executive director Wednesday night with the unveiling of his portrait at the USGA Museum’s Ben Hogan Room. 

“Unique,” said the USGA’s Mike Butz. An iconoclast, said Jerry Tarde of Golf Digest, where Hannigan’s biting opinions spared no one, and his observations were prescient. Hannigan’s wife of 50 years, Dr. Janet Carter, cited one of his Golf Digest stories from a decade ago: “More and more, the future of golf is looking like Donald Trump." Added longtime ABC colleague Peter Alliss, via video: “He was naughty, cheeky, and sometimes he could be a bloody nuisance … but I loved him.”

It's hard to understand how these things play out, but given that Frank served as Executive Director through 1989, couldn't this have been accomplished in a time frame that would have allowed Frank to be there?

As Shack notes here, Hannigan has incurred the wrath of the USGA for telling the truth as he saw it, but it's hardly his fault that the organization seemingly goes out of its way to prove him right.

Feherty, Unplugged - If Marika Washchyshyn married Ivan Khodabakhsh, I think my head might  explode trying to type her hyphenated name, so let's just note that she scored an interview with David Feherty about his move from CBS to NBC.  This will no doubt get most of the attention:

It was a combination of things. Money was always an issue, of course. I have been doing this for about 19 years, it was time to make that change. But the other aspect was that I’m going to be doing basically the same thing at NBC/Golf Channel. I’m going to be working more four-day events there than I was at CBS. Because I’m working all four days, whereas I was only working five four-day events at CBS, I’m going to work less events overall but more of the four day ones [by extension, more time in the booth]. The first few days, I’ll be in the tower like I was at CBS, but look, I’m an outside pet. Someone has got to be out there stirring things up on the course.

As for future guests on his eponymous talker, I don't think you'll be shocked by this list of usual suspects:

There are a number who are on my bucket list, some of whom haven’t been able to come on because of scheduling, like Freddy [Couples], Ernie Els, Phil, Tiger. But really, I’d say Tiger. I want to show the side of Tiger that I know, the side the media doesn’t show. Part of the reason he hasn’t been on is that he’s not ready - he gets defensive, because we in the media have given him such a hard time.

Feherty acknowledges being a first-class Tiger suck-up, but where's the ROI?  In any event, I'm guessing that show would be far more boring than anyone realizes...

Memory Lane - Golfweek is running some of their old stories from the last forty years, and you might enjoy scrolling through these on Ben Hogan.  They manage to capture many of the kindnesses of Hogan that he kept well hidden behind his gruff exterior, such as this:

A few years later, when Frost asked him to watch, Hogan said, “I don’t give lessons.”

Before Hogan walked away, Frost asked a backswing question. “Son,” he said, “you don’t hit the ball with your backswing.” 

Occasionally, Frost visited Hogan at the factory. Once a house guest of Frost’s from South Africa tagged along. However, a secretary informed Frost, “Mr. Hogan will see you but not your guest.” And so a young Ernie Els had to wait in the lobby.

Remember that at the 1955 U.S. Open only two contestants played Ben Hogan branded clubs, Hogan and the man that beat him.....

 I hope that's enough to get you all through the weekend.  Between golf and house guests, you'll not likely hear back from me until Monday.

All Hail Keiser

No clever preambles, we'll just dive in as we've got exciting news from the home of golf...

Ruairidh Macdonald is living proof that our game isn't only for the Cialis-set....  Best know for his Scottish Golf Travel Podcast, he's also a blogger and general man about town in Aberdeenshire.  Shame on me for missing Ru breaking actual news about a week ago:

At the same time Mike Keiser was losing patience with the Oregon State for a planned

sixth course at Bandon Dunes he was hatching plans for his first course in Scotland in one of golf’s famous towns. 

The Embo site earmarked for development sits on the edge of the famous golfing town of Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands, the birthplace of Donald Ross no less and home to one of Scotland’s great links courses Royal Dornoch which will celebrate 400 years of golf next year. 

In an interview with Golf.com’s Alan Shipnuck Keiser admits the project remains very much in the feasibility stage of development with several environmental factors to overcome. In the candid interview it was clear that Scotland has made a big impression on Keiser who recalls spending countless summers enjoying the delights of the Scottish links.

OK, let's pass over his by now moot mischaracterization of the abandoned Bandon project, and simply savor the rather amazing fact that the words Mike Keiser and Dornoch appear in the same sentence.

 And a week later Ru had this further development:

Serendipity is a wonderful thing. As I walked Coul Links for the first time yesterday, a week on from exclusively revealing it as the site earmarked for Mike Keiser’s first development in Scotland, who should I bump into but the man himself Mike Keiser and investor and right-hand man to this project Todd Warnock. 

With the site being so vast there was nothing serendipitous as our paths crossed in one of the many hundred dune slacks on the Embo Estate, two miles north of Dornoch. Both gentlemen were rightly inquisitive at first as I traipsed over the dunes at last light on a cooling autumn afternoon in the Scottish Highalnds. Once acquainted Keiser and Warnock were more than happy to share further their plans for the site back at Links House, a boutique luxury hotel which overlooks the first tee at Royal Dornoch and owned by Todd Warnock, a self made Chicago entrepreneur.

Do tell:

What was clear from the outset is their intention to make this development as transparent as possible with every effort to work with local governing bodies and businesses in the area. While only at the very early stages of a feasibility study the pair are already in strong dialogue with Royal Dornoch Golf Club, Highlands & Islands Council and the Scottish Government environment agency Scottish Natural Heritage. No Local Hero script here. 

Then of course there is the site itself. Growing up with linksland on the northeast coast of Scotland I was fully expecting what I found. What I wasn’t ready for was the scale of the site. Measuring over 600 yards in width, twice that of Royal Dornoch’s Championship Course. The enormity of the property is incredible as it races parallel to the Dornoch Firth before meandering inland to the confinement of Loch Fleet. Keiser explained that the site was certainly large enough for 36 holes however with the environmental constraints that will most likely ensue a routing of a world class 18 hole course will suffice.

OK, a couple of thoughts from your humble blogger...

There's nobody better at assuaging the concerns of local government authorities than Mike Keiser.  If you can build in the People's Republic of Oregon, you can probably build anywhere.  He's the anti-Trump as it were...

That said, the reference to environmental concerns is the only downer in the news, as such "concerns" ultimately created modern monstrosities with more recent projects such as Machrihanish Dunes and Doonbeg.  The issue is whether a logical routing can be found within that larger property, but Mike certainly knows his way around such issues.

So, what does the site offer?  Back to Ru:

Walking the site I started to question what Scottish links can this compare to? The dune formations remind me most of Fraserburgh while the main dune ridge resembles that of Royal Aberdeen. Then it dawned on me that perhaps the links of Embo Estate isn’t comparable in it’s entirety. The uneducated will inevitably want to enter a petty arms race over whose dunes are ‘biggest’. On the main dune ridge of the property dunes surpass 60 feet in height before dropping off to provide intricate dune slacks and the humps and bumps synonymous with our traditional links courses in Scotland. The beauty of this development however is having the luxury of limited disturbance to the land as the dunes sway in the wind just waiting to be cut. On this occasion size doesn’t matter.

Now I wish I had headed North to Fraserburgh on that August Sunday in Aberdeenshire instead of South to Trump's new property, but that just means we need to get back.  I'd suggest that a 60 foot high dune line works best as a backdrop to a golf hole, think of the 13th at Pacific Dunes, as opposed to routing traffic through or over.  No need to "cut it", which will make the environmentalists happy.

But, while it would no doubt be a better world if I had Mike's ear, you'll be disappointed to hear that I'm not involved in the design of the course.  

Then the question all golfers want to know, who’s building it? Subject to the project’s approval architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw of Coore & Crenshaw will be asked to work alongside the local council and environment agencies in routing a truly world class 18 hole, sustainable and authentic links golf course. This decision is hardly surprising after the success of Keiser’s recent development at Cabot Cliffs and philosophy of minimal moving of materials. Warnock explained that Bill Coore has already visited the site twice.

OK, but if it doesn't work out, you can contact me through this blog...  I've kind of glossed over the location, as Ru had this graphic in his first post:

Both Ru and Shackelford picked up on this most surprising bit:

Perhaps most revealing from the chance meeting yesterday were plans around further development of the site or should I say lack of. Warnock & Keiser have no intention of building anything but a world class golf course and basic starter shack on site. No real estate, no lodgings, no 100 bedroom hotel. The initial plans would would see golfers shuttled by bus between Royal Dornoch and the Coul Links with reservations made via Royal Dornoch Golf Club. 

In the same way the old Scottish links were created, it’s all about the golf.

With all due respect, this will have exactly nothing to do with how the old Scottish links were created...  for instance, Fraserburgh, to pick a name since it was noted above, wasn't built by a rich guy from Chicago and didn't have to jump through environmental hoops.  The clubs of Scotland are largely creations of their towns, built and maintained for the benefit of their citizens.  This will obviously be a different animal completely, not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that.

And this is very much of Keiser's M.O., as Bandon Dune itself was originally conceived as just about the golf.  But if you happen to build it and they come, they need a roof over their heads...

And Dornoch is notorious among the traveling class for its dramatic shortage of such roofs.... There are essentially two small hotels in town, the Dornoch Castle and the aforementioned Links House, which I assume is the old Golf Hotel that was shuttered for a few years.  This is wildly exciting for a links nerd such as your humble blogger, but if you add a world-class links to the area, someone will need to build some hotel rooms.

Midweek Missegoss

Sorry for the delayed onset of blogging, but muscles were stressed at the gym and business was transacted... but now you have my full attention.

Forward Press - Shack uses his weekly feature to note the world tours heading to places they're not especially welcome:

In a nutshell: PGA Tour golfers going to Malaysia have been warned to not drink the water and or breathe too deep. European Tour players in the Turkish Airlines Open are in the same country raising the ire of a U.S-led coalition battling radicals in Syria, adding more tension to what was already the nerve center of world strife. And for good measure, the LPGA’s finest may have it best in China, where the Communist Party banned golf memberships last week and pretty much implies it’s a crime to play.

It's certainly a crime the way some people play, but that of course is not applicable to my readers...  This would have been enough for me to take the week off:

The PGA Tour issued a warning to its players heading to the co-sanctioned CIMB Classic, advising those with pulmonary or cardiac issues and an aversion to typhoid that it may be a long week at the 78-player event. Only bottled or boiled water and while you’re at it, just cooked food. 

The health concerns are not stopping Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson and Adam Scott from headlining a field also featuring a resurgent Patrick Reed and Kevin Na, runner-up the last two weeks on tour. The event is played on Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club’s West Course, which dates to 1991 but was “completely redesigned by renowned international golf course architects E&G Parslow" in 2008.

Well, you can mark me down as being consistently anti-typhoid.  Click through for Geopff's comments on the other two venues... And for that one low subscription fee, Geoff also keeps us currnet on the Golf Channel air times for Tin Cup reruns... I hope they pay him well...

'Tis the Season - I know that if I were in the target demo, I'd be going as Michael Greller for Halloween:

C'mon, you telling me that Greller's parents wouldn't pop for the beard?

Euro-Trash Update - Keith Pelley, who recently took over the top job on the Euro Tour hasn't had much of a honeymoon in his new gig:

The Canadian, who made his name as president of a huge media corporation back home, 

Who knew that Elton John played golf?

made the contentious call to allow Rory McIlroy to participate in the Race to Dubai, despite not fulfilling the minimum number of events.

He has seen Paul Casey basically rule himself out of playing in the 2016 Ryder Cup — unless he does a U-turn and rejoins the tour — while Ian Poulter had to rely on the generosity of American Rich Beem in giving up an invitation to play in Hong Kong last week to preserve his eligibility. 

Only last week Wentworth, where the tour is based, declared its intention to become a haven for the extremely wealthy, thereby creating a potentially difficult PR situation for a tour charged with growing the game. 

All this while overseeing the schedule for next year and now the Final Series, the lucrative quartet of events to close the season, will begin in Turkey against the backdrop of the turmoil taking place in that part of the world.

We'll skip the crocodile tears here at Unplayable Lies, as none of the above seem to be above his pay grade.  I was not a fan of the McIlroy decision, as I operate under a quaint, though admittedly antiquated, ethos that the rules should be enforced as written.

But we've previously noted that this was likely:

A good time, then, to get Pelley’s thoughts, with perhaps his most eye-catching remark being an admission that he is looking into the possibility of reducing the minimum number of 13 events to become a member.

This would go down well with American-based players such as McIlroy, Poulter, and Justin Rose, could see other high-profile stars like Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler join and persuade Casey to return. But it would prove a hard sell to many tour loyalists.

Whoa, cowboy, don't get ahead of yourself, as we don't know what his deals with sponsors will allow.  And there's no real benefit to top American players taking Euro tour membership,  as Commissioner Ratched has covered the calendar.

But for the Euro players making their home in the U.S., he'll have their attention.  I've previously predicted that there would be some kind of accommodation granted for 2016, given the insanely compressed schedule.  And of course those players mentioned, with the obvious exception of Poults about whom we have more, will be headed to Rio in August.

Now here's one guy he's apparently lost:

Brooks Koepka isn’t defending his title this week at the Turkish Airlines Open and has decided to focus next year on the PGA Tour. 

Koepka was the 2014 European Tour Rookie of the Year and played 11 events this season, two fewer than the tour minimum. He told tour officials Monday that he has relinquished his membership.

There's just no reason for Koepka to complicate his life to hold onto Euro Tour membership after his win in Phoenix earlier this year.  But he made Ben Evans' year...who's Ben Evans?  Exactly:

Koepka’s decision had a significant impact on Ben Evans of England, who was No. 111 in the Race to Dubai standings, one spot from keeping his card for next season.

 As for the aforementioned Poulter, he might have to actually earn his way back onto the gravy train:

ANTALYA, Turkey – Ian Poulter has not been outside of the Official World Golf

Ranking's top 50 for a long time. 

The last time the 39-year-old Englishman finished the year outside the top 50 was in 2005, when he was ranked 59th. 

Since then, Poulter has found a way to make keeping PGA Tour and European Tour memberships much more manageable, with four World Golf Championships and four major appearances guaranteed because of his high ranking. That leaves him just a handful of European Tour appearances to get to the minimum 13 and keep his card and remain eligible for the European Ryder Cup team.

The surprise to me is that he was ever in the Top 50, the playing of the golf seemingly a secondary skill for him.  But it's the scheduling that's interesting, as those four WGC moneygrabs become key because they're co-sanctioned by the Euro Tour.  Lose your tee time in those, and thirteen events is a bridge too far...

But our Poultergesit has a strategy, he's going to take the game less seriously and hope that works out for him....No, seriously.

Amateur Governance - The USGA has long had difficulty dealing with issues surrounding the concept of an amateur.  In its history it has revoked the amateur status of Frances Ouimet and Harvie Ward, just to name the most prominent examples, and maintains rules that are unnecessarily strict.

For instance, for decades the lucky winner of a car or Rolex for a Member-Guest hole-in-one would be precluded from the President's Cup C-Flight for the next two years as punishment.  That one has been mercifully changed, but last I looked, anyone playing Mini-Golf for prize money was deemed a golf professional.  Because, you know, the games are so similar...or at least they share a word.

So any progress on this front is to be applauded:

Charities will have Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama to thank if they receive future donations thanks to the exploits of amateur golfers. 

Beginning Jan. 1, the R&A and USGA have amended the rules of amateur status to allow amateurs to accept cash prizes from professional tournaments if such prize money is to be donated to charity. Currently amateurs cannot accept any prize money from professional events. 

“New Rule 3-1b enables an amateur golfer to participate in an event where prize money or its equivalent is donated to a recognized charity, provided the approval of the governing body is first obtained in advance by the organizer,” according to a joint R&A/USGA release.

You're no doubt wondering why Hideki gets the credit, so here's that back story:

David Rickman, the R&A’s executive director of rules and equipment standards, said the change was proposed four years ago. 

“That particular idea really dates back to 2011 when after the disastrous tsunami in Japan, Hideki Matsuyama was invited to take part in an event and for his prize money to be donated to that very worthy disaster-relief fund," Rickman said. "At the time we were not able to accommodate that request, but that prompted our review.”

Yeah, so it took four years to realize you were horses arses?  I coulda helped you out there and saved us all some time.

Shhhh...Don't Jinx It -  Alex Perry catches up with Rory and discusses his goals for the coming year....it's nothing we haven't heard before, notably the familiar bit about writing his goals down on his boarding pass as he flies to Dubai, crdeible only if you're the kind of guy that thinks he still flies commercial.

But this is the best part, teasing us with an image of an epic confrontation on hallowed ground:

With fans across the world licking their lips at the prospect of golf's new so-called "Big

3" going shot-for-shot at next year's biggest tournaments, McIlroy -- currently ranked third behind No.1 Spieth, the Masters and U.S. Open champion, and No.2 Day, who succeeded McIlroy in lifting the Wanamaker Trophy -- admits the prospect is whetting his appetite too. 

"I'd really enjoy the challenge of us all being there on the Sunday at Augusta, or any tournament for that matter," he says. "Jordan and Jason are both extremely strong mentally, so it would be difficult to separate them.

Yanno, unless I had to wash my hair or something, I'd probably tune in for that.

Carne, Ready For It's Close-Up - Golf.com posts a delightful John Garrity video about Carne Golf Links, which can be found at the end of the rainbow.  You'll have to exercise your second amendment rights and click through to see it, as it's not in a format your humble technologist knows how to embed.

Like John, we know of County Mayo, as it's where Employee No. 2's mother grew up.  In fact, when the map is shown in the video, you'll notice the town of Castlebar southeast of Belmullet, from whence she came to America.  She actually lived in a townland called Errew out side of Castlebar, which in the ancient Gaellic probably means, "Don't even think about indoor plumbing."

John doesn't mention that Mayo is the poorest county in Ireland, where you'll no doubt understand that that's an extremely competitive category.  In fact, the bride and her mother can't say the words "County Mayo" without instinctively adding, "God bless us all."  So the development of such a golf club there is quite the thing, though it's off the beaten track for the typical golf tourist.

I'll also confess that I didn't love the golf course to the extent that John does, though I was there before the third nine was built.  The dunes are spectacular for sure, but big dunes creates issues in routing a golf course, and the original back nine was quite penal as a result.  But I understand that the new nine is quite good, and it wouldn't take more than a modest nip and tuck to make that orignal incoming nine play a bit softer for the masses.

Do give the video a look, as it's quite the beautiful spot.... but again, Thersa and her Mom would instinctively add that you can't eat the scenery.

Loose Ends

Sorry if you got bogged down in the previous rules post, but it's not often that they change.  But this post might be more to your liking...

Shriner's Hangover - I remain perplexed by the extent to which Commissioner Ratched seems content to tarnish his valuable brand, to wit the unwatchable Shriners Childrens Hospital event last weekend.  Let's kick-off with Shack's take:

Ed Graney says the event is stronger for shedding its ties to Justin Timberlake,

but judging by the ratings, the Web.com Tour-buzz and galleries, the Las Vegas stop may be the least cool, least showy, least captivating event on the PGA Tour each year. That's okay, but it just seems so strange for the PGA Tour to have a Vegas stop that feels so dated.

Doesn't that depend on the date?  If they somehow captured a Rat Pack Vegas vibe, that could work, especially among the Cialis-swilllig golf demographic.   And Geoff doesn't even touch on the dreadful golf course played, which isn't like him at all...

The aforementioned Ed Graney writes for the local paper and paints an upbeat assessment of the event:

You never forget the football player who broke his neck, the infant born with deformities, the child who was trapped in a burning car. 

Eight years can't erase the story of the 8-year-old boy who went for a bike ride and was hit by an 18-wheel semitruck with such force that part of his head became detached and his spinal cord exploded and his lungs collapsed and his ribs shattered and his kidney was lacerated and his liver was severely damaged. 

That's where Shriners Hospitals for Children get you.

Silly, correction, rhombus-shaped, tasseled red hats aside, let's stipulate that the event has a worthy beneficiary that makes a great contribution to the community.  Still, don't we need an event worthy of an audience to keep those contributions coming?  That was the intent in involving Justin Timberlake, an avid golfer and legitimate pop culture icon, in the event.  But that didn't work out per this:

The message got somewhat lost when pop/movie star Justin Timberlake acted as the tournament's official host from 2008 to 2012. Timberlake was a columnist's dream in that he was never on time for scheduled events and arrived with an overly pushy and deranged entourage (is there another kind?), and the fact when cameras were turned off, he disappeared quicker than Tiger Woods when it comes time to leave a tip. 

Timberlake's name and star power never drew the level of players tournament officials had hoped, and he reportedly never became as personally involved with the hospitals or their patients as those from the Shriners desired. 

It just wasn't a good fit. 

It's better now, more centralized to the overall mission, a tournament hosted by the corporation that provides all that incredible medical attention for free.

That'll be 15 yards for the late hit on Tiger.... But even if we acknowledge that Timberlake under-performed in terms of drawing attention, what is there to draw it now?  It's a glorified Web.com or LPGA event, not that there's anything wrong with that....

In fact, if Butch Harmon didn't happen to be based in Las Vegas, I'm guessing that you wouldn't even have had Fowler and Walker to create one marquee group.

One last note from the event, did you happen to catch the winner's driver? I didn't either...

Kaufman got that victory in large part because of his driving. He averaged 327.7 yards per tee shot, putting him fifth in the field in Driving Distance, and hit 62.29 percent of his fairways, tying him for seventh in Fairways in Regulation. Put those two together, and he led the field in Total Driving.

Kaufman games a Cleveland Classic 290 driver, which gets its name from its weight – 290 grams. The club boasts one of the most distinctive looks in all of golf, with a pear-shaped head and a sole design and color scheme that give it the look of an old persimmon driver. Its large, deep clubface makes it easy to generate solid contact, while the variable thickness of its face helps improve off-center strikes. It is also Cleveland's first adjustable driver, with 12 different settings.

I always thought that was a cool-looking club, but who goes to Cleveland these days for anything but wedges?  But I didn't realize that they were adjustable...

 I Saw It On TV - We'll piggyback on two items linked by Shack related to televised golf.  The second is the more provocative, as it seeks to explain announced layoffs in the Bristol, CT metropolitan area:

Many past and present employees place most of the blame for the layoffs on the

company’s huge NFL, MLB and NBA rights deals. The most frequent criticism heard last week dealt with the NFL contract, which is worth a whopping $1.9 billion per year — $800 million more than the NFL’s next biggest deal. Second-guessers believe ESPN had the leverage to cut a better deal and question whether another media company was within $500 million of ESPN’s offer. There aren’t many other networks that could afford to pay close to $2 billion per year for the NFL’s least competitive package. 

“It’s been a total mismanagement of rights fees, starting with the NFL renewal,” said one former employee. “We overpaid significantly when it did not need to be that way, and it set the template to overpay for MLB and the NBA.” 

ESPN doubled its annual payment for MLB to an average $700 million per year — a deal that gives ESPN just one playoff game per year. And next year, ESPN’s NBA deal takes effect. That’s the one that will see its average annual payout triple in cost to an average of $1.4 billion per year.

Now in our little world ESPN offloaded the last year of its Open Championship coverage to NBC, but those are some big numbers cited.  I don't have the expertise to know the extent to which they over-paid, but as the linked SBJ piece notes, it was a sellers' market given the new entrants desperately in need of content.  And it seems to me that these rights fee contracts are always a hope and a prayer, affordable only to the extent that viewership and advertising revenues continue to grow as in the recent past.  And part of that gamble rests on the decline of other television programming, whereby sports is one of few markets (OK, presidential debates with Trump is temporarily another) where people will actually watch live and sit through commercials.

Shack also links to this Ron Sirak piece that is worth a read, though it's in a format from which I can't excerpt.  Ron covers the crowded golf calendar aspect well, including Golf Channel's 25 consecutive days of live golf (including the clever scheduling of events lie the NCAA's in the early part of the week).

He also covers some f the personnel changes, and riddle me this, Batman?  He says that Dottie Pepper will do 35 days of golf for ESPN next year (plus twenty tourneys for CBS), and I don't know where that comes from?  To the best of my knowledge, ESPN at this point has the first two days of the Masters and parent ABC is broadcasting the final round of the Ladies' PGA from Sahallee.  What other golf does ESPN have under contract?  Anyone know?  Bueller?

Hickory News - We've a new king of the hickories, per this:

Sandy Lyle’s title as World Hickory Open champion has been claimed by Englishman Andrew Marshall, but organisers believe the Scot, absent on this occasion due to upcoming Champions Tour commitments, will be back in the future to try and reclaim the crown.

After finishing as runner-up to Lyle 12 months ago, Marshall, who is attached to Dereham in Norfolk, went one better as he followed an opening 67 on the Buddon course at Carnoustie with a 76 on the Championship layout in the Angus town.

Was  that really a year ago?  It was way cool that Sandy played last year, and I do hope he can play in the future.  Next year's event is at Panmure, a links near Carnoustie best known as the place Hogan went to acclimate to links golf before winning his only time playing in the Open Championship.

Common Ground - I don't agree with him on much, but we can all agree on how dreadful that golf course was:

At a rally held at Trump’s Doral golf resort on Oct. 23, Trump said that fixing America’s problems would be an easier task than rehabilitating the golf course was. “In its own way, doing it for the United States might be easier than what we had to do here, as crazy as it sounds,” he said. 

The presidential candidate cited an anonymous supporter who told him, “If you could do the same for the United States as you did here, it would be unbelievable.”

Hey, Obama thought he was qualified to run the country because he, you know, ran his campaign.  No less ridiculous, though you might have noticed that it didn't turn out as promised.

Predictions Are Hard, Especially About the Future - Yet we all fall into the trap... John Huggan spoke with Hank Haney on the subject of our cluster at the top, and reminds us in his lede of the historical precedents:

A Fascinating aspect of golf throughout history has always been the various rivalries at the sharp end of the game. Oddly, those battles for supremacy have often enough come along not as mere head-to-heads but between groups of three. Over a century ago the “Great Triumvirate” of Harry Vardon, JH Taylor and James Braid ruled. The American trio of Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson – all born in 1912 – dominated the 1940s and 50s. And, more recently, the so-called “Big Three” of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer amassed an amazing 34 Grand Slam titles.

Great Triumvirates, past and future...Here's the Hankster's take:

“I think Jordan will wind up with the best record of the three,” says the Chicago native. “He has that internal motivation that is second to none right now. He has had no issues with his body. And he is best in putting, the part of the game that is hardest to improve. When you get to your 30s, you don’t normally become a great putter. So I have to go with him. His only downside is that he isn’t all-of-a-sudden going to get long off the tee. He is running as fast as he can run in that department.”

Picking the best putter of the three isn't, you know, crazy, though that Day kid seems to roll his rock pretty well.   And I always have qualms about picking the shorter hitter over time, because they have less margin for error.

But I'll go way out on a limb and say that time will tell...

The Tour Confidentialistas pose the same question about the distaff game, but this is one firght the ref should stop immediately:

5. Lexi Thompson won on the LPGA Tour last week and Lydia Ko won this week and regained her No. 1 spot. Out of those two young stars, who do you think will have the best career?

Is that a serious question?  I don't even need to post the responses because it was predictably unanimous...  and if you think I'm being inconsistent here, it's because the short-hitter might well grow out of it.  Lexi is a monster talent, but like many before her, the ultimate limiting factor, her putting and short-game, have been long recognized.

  1. Tiger Woods said last week that, despite his injuries and struggles, he’s still chasing Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles. Do you think he has any chance, and can he even win four more times to break Sam Snead’s PGA Tour wins record?

Now that's  a far more interesting question, because as recently as the end of the 2013 season that would have been considered a mortal lock.  Obviously it's dependent on Tiger getting himself healthy and his game in form.  Now, given the amazing influx of young talent, you could stipulate to his health and form and he still might not win.  

A Final Story - In the above-linked Tour Confidential, the gang was asked for their favorite Payne Stewart memory in view of the 16th anniversary of his death.  Gary Van Sickle had this that tickled my funny bone:

VAN SICKLE: Before Payne's pressroom interview started at the '96 Memorial, some

other media told him that I was playing in the U.S. Open 36-hole qualifier on Monday after the tournament. Surprised and probably skeptical, he asked me how I was playing. I said, Well, I was building a $3 million house in Orlando and the construction was proving to be a big distraction to my game. It was an excuse he'd used more than once that year. The writers roared and Stewart shook his head with that chagrined look that he owned, knowing he'd fallen into a trap. I may have wounded him but he laughed it off like a good sport. And I just missed making the U.S. Open by a mere 17 strokes.

On that note I'll bed you adieu.... 

Rules Refresh

The two major governing bodies have tweaked the rules of our grand game, so grab some pine and let's see what we think of their efforts.  Here's Rex Hoggard's lede:

The R&A and USGA released the 2016 edition to the Rules of Golf on Monday with four significant changes. 

While most of the attention during the current four-year update cycle has been focused on the impending ban on anchoring during a stroke (Rule 14-1b), which was announced in May 2013, the overall theme of the most recent edition is simplicity.

I'm not so sure that simplicity is the actual result, but I used that excerpt to make a point about the anchoring ban.  Golf.com posted one of their ubiquitous slideshows, this one under the especially unpromising title of Great Moments in Anchored Putting History.  I know, you're not the only one to spit out their coffee, but it's actually quite interesting.... No not the Keegan-Adam stuff, but to remind us that anchored putting has been around for longer than anyone realizes.

This is their first slide, a photo that Keegan Bradley tweeted back during the comment period:

1900s: Just how far back does anchored putting go? This photo, famously tweeted by Keegan Bradley from Riviera this year, shows an early 1900s golfer using a putting stroke that looks very much like Bradley’s.

By the way, whatever became of Keegan?  Is he a teaching pro somewhere?  OK, I guess that's not important now...

The horse is no longer even in sight of the paddock, but it's worth noting how slow to move the governing bodies can be, and how averse to conflict as well.  I remain fully supportive of the anchoring ban, but I strongly wish they had taken the action ten years earlier, if not back in the 1900's.

So here's Ryan Herrington's take on the other rules changes:

Withdrawl of Rule on Ball Moving After Address (Rule 18-2b)

Golfers will now be considered innocent until proven guilty—novel concept for sure—when it comes to being penalized for their ball moving after address. Rather than automatically being deemed to have caused the ball to move—and thus subject to a one-stroke penalty—starting in January only when the facts show that the player actually caused the ball to move (or more likely than not caused the ball to move) will he or she be subject to the penalty. This adds some subjectivity to the situation, but also allows some much-appreciated leniency.

I am great relieved to finally see this profound injustice addressed, but that's the primary source of my quibble with Rex above.  Even from the simple explanation above it's unclear how players will adjudicate this issue, but that's where the networks' dramaticly improved audio capture technology may provide some fun.

The simple fact is that this is not really a factor in our weekend fourballs, because our greens are not such that balls want to wander.  Here's Shack's concise take on it:

Also significant is the leniency built into the new Rules of Golf for balls that move on greens mown too tight because the R&A and USGA don't want to do anything about the ball going too far.

I haven't seen anyone address this but I'm assuming this is through the green?  Anyone know the answer there?

Limited Exception to Disqualification Penalty for Submission of Incorrect Score Card (Rule 6-6d)

Thomas Pagel, senior director of rules and amateur status with the USGA, says this is not the “Tiger Woods Rule” as born out when Woods was allowed to play on at the 2013 Masters despite failing to access a two-stroke penalty after an improper drop during his second round and not be DQ’d for signing for a score that was too low. The way the change in the rule is written, however, it will allow players (like Woods) who are unaware before they sign their cards that the card is incorrect because the score doesn’t include penalty strokes the players did not know happened not to be kicked out of an event. Instead they will be allowed to continue to compete after adding the penalty strokes to their score (any strokes for the unknown penalties plus two more strokes for signing the incorrect score card).

You seem a little defensive there, Tom....and there's really little need to be.  Lawyers are wont to say that bad cases make bad law, and that certainly applies to the Tiger situation, but I'm sure we all can agree that players that sign their cards in good faith don't deserve to be DQ'd.  And I'm note sure how I feel about the two-shot penalty for signing the incorrect card, because adding four shots to a Tour player's score is the moral equivalent of a DQ...

Obviously the Tiger drop at the Masters is exactly the situation envisioned by this rule change.  But the reason that Tiger was allowed to continue in the tourney is that the rules officials, specifically Fred Ridley, effed up.  He had received a telephone heads up from David Eger that the drop might have been illegal, but discounted it based upon his relationship with Eger.  When Tiger inadvertently confirmed the illegality in his post-round interview, Ridley was left with Eger all over his face.

But here's where things get a bit muddled on this one:

In all other cases in which a player returns a score for any hole lower than actually taken, the penalty remains immediate disqualification. "This is not going to cover simple math errors," says Pagel, who noted the discussion on this point has gone for years. "If you had a 5 and wrote down a 4, you will still be disqualified. This is only if you forgot to include a one- or two-stroke penalty that you did not know occurred. Whether it was ignorance of the rules or applying one stroke rather than two."

I get that the wrong score will still get you DQ'd, and it probably should, but let's remember that it's more likely the marker that writes down the wrong score.  But the player has to keep his own card as well, just to confirm before signing.  But it's always been my understanding that the player andf markers' responsibility ends with the entry of each indvidual hole score, i.e., there's no match involved?  So what is Pagel saying here?

Modification of Penalty for Single Impermissible use of Artificial Devices or Equipment (Rule 14-3)

Again, here’s an instance where players had previously been penalized regardless of intent and are now going to be treated more leniently. If you had a device, such as a range finder, that has prohibited features under the rules, such as a wind gauge or slope monitor, it was presumed you were using those features and you were disqualified from a competition for using the device. The change to this rule allows for loss of hole in match play and a two-stroke penalty for a first offense in using the non-conforming device. Subsequent breaches of Rule 14-3, though, would result in DQ.

Ah yes, the Schrager rule.  This is perfect, as the retroactive change will piss him off all the more....

Most commentary on this change has focused on this instance:

A beneficiary of this rule would have been D.A. Points, who at the 2014 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was disqualified for using a foam ball under his arm while taking a practice swing during a wait in his round. Did the punishment really fit the crime? The USGA and R&A weren't quite so sure, and thus will cut golfers some slack.

OK, didn't Juli Inkster get nailed on this as well?  But rangefinders are the crux of this issue, and I find this somewhat unclear if the impermissible device is discovered after multiple uses?  Is it two shots per use, or is it a DQ?

My quibbles aside, I do think these changes are for the better, though they do raise the ambiguity bar as a result.  But, in terms of providing inevitable grist for the mill that is golf blogging, it's Win-Win, baby!

Weekend Wrap

Considering that we're deep into the Silly Season, it was actually quite a weekend in the golf world:

Emoji Wins PGA Tour Event - We're on a roll as far as fun names are concerned, and we can add this one to our list:

So much for the adage that you need to walk before you run – especially on the PGA 

You'd be Smylie too if you'd just won your first PGA tourney.

Tour. Today, these young players get a card and want to contend – and win – instantly. 

For the second consecutive week, a 23-year-old proved fearless enough to pull it off. 

The latest twentysomething to haul off with a trophy? The aptly named Smylie Kaufman, a strapping LSU alum who fired a sizzling, 10-under 61 to win the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in only his fifth start on the PGA Tour. The difference-maker was a downhill 20-footer for birdie at the final hole that eased from left to right and tumbled into the hole for his back-nine 29.

I've found that 29's rarely hurt you in this game....as you can imagine, this was one of those where he posted his number and hat to wait 2 1/2 hours while the rest of the guys took their best shot, with a gaggle coming up one short.

One of the commentators noted that Smylie's brother is named Lucky (or perhaps it's Luckie) and lives in Las Vegas.  Thing is, I have no idea whether that was intended as a joke...  As they say, some stories are too good to fact check...

Kevin Na has continued to play the role of Susan Lucci, coming up one short yet again.  This time he was done in by a stubbed chip on the 17th hole that led to a birdie.  Here's how Na explained it:

Na, coming off playoff loss last week to Emiliano Grillo in the season-opening event in Napa, California, made a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-5 16th to tie for the lead, but bogeyed the par-3 17th after flubbing a chip, and missed a 15-foot birdie try on 18. 

''The lie was actually sitting up too high, like it was on a tee, and I just went under it,'' Na said about the chip. ''And with the Bermuda into the grain, I don't know what happened.''

If anything it looked like a tight lie, but a delicate chip on the 17th hole tied for the lead for a guy that desperately needs a win, the mind is gonna run amok, isn't it?  There was also a moment when Na double-clutched on a tee shot that had the Golf Channel announcers cuing up the Wabac machine for that notorious 2011 Players Championship highlight reel.  Praise the Lord it was just a one-off...

We also learned another curious name, that of Patton Kizzire, another Alabama boy (as is Smylie), who shot 63 yesterday to cash a big check.  But those Golf Channel guys picked a fight with Kizzie over this:

Kizzre, who parred the 18th hole when he needed a birdie to tie clubhouse leader Smylie Kaufman, said he “wasn’t watching the leaderboard. I was just trying to keep my head down and make birdies, ‘cause I knew there were going to be other guys making birdies out there and I was just trying to make more than anybody else.”

Here's what the experts had to say when they got Patton to the woodshed:

Gary Koch and Frank Nobilo of the Golf Channel then went off on this concept of players avoiding leaderboards. 

“I have a real issue with it,” Koch said. “There’s not another sport that you play where you don’t know how you stand with those you’re competing against. 

“I understand what some of these young guys are being taught by these sports psychologists, but I for the life of me can’t understand how you wouldn’t want to know how you stand playing the final hole of a golf tournament.” 

Nobilo noted that “great athletes want two things. They want the moment and they also want the ball.” 

Replied Koch, “I’d go as far as saying if you can’t handle the heat of knowing how you stand maybe you ought to be doing something else.”

And they get paid for this nonsense?   I agree that if you're in the final group you need to know where you stand, because the greatest sin would be to play aggressively when pars suffice.  But in this case Kizzire was out ahead of the leaders and couldn't know what he might need to win.  So he put it into Sport Mode, fired at pins and went as low as he could....  And that's wrong why?

Ko, Baby - I booked early passage on the Lydia Ko Bandwagon, though I was careful to reserve in the reasonable expectation car.  I do think she's a monster talent and quite the lovely young lady, I just realized that her length limitations would make it difficult for her to compete on the most difficult of courses.  

But how about this performance in Taiwan?

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) Lydia Ko ran away with the LPGA Taiwan Championship on

Sunday to regain the No. 1 spot in the world ranking. 

The 18-year-old New Zealander holed a 30-yard pitch for eagle on the par-5 12th and finished with a 7-under 65 in sunny, breezy conditions at Miramar for a nine-stroke victory. 

Ko took the top spot in the world from South Korea's Inbee Park with her fifth LPGA Tour victory of the season and the 10th of her career. Park skipped her title defense at Miramar to play in a Korea LPGA event, where she tied for second Sunday.

Wowser, nine shots!  And it certainly didn't take her long to get to double-digit wins, though it helps to start early.  And it turns out that she had more on her mind than just the usual business:

Ko dedicated the win to former New Zealand Golf President Patsy Hankins who passed away earlier this week and someone Ko considers a mentor in her junior days. 

“And I think I was really playing for Patsy this week,” said Ko. “I think just hearing that on Friday morning broke my heart. She was such a huge factor into my life in my junior golf. To hear that she had passed away was very hard to hear that before you’re entering a round. But kind of just played for her the last three days, and I’m so happy that I can bring this win to her and her family.”

 Shack has Lydia's tribute to Hankins, one of the R&A's first female members, here.

I did catch a funny, typically-Lydia moment from her presser that I'll share.  I'll be paraphrasing, but she must have been asked about her chip on the final hole, where her ball was buried so deep in the rough that she had to bend over to see it, and wa splaying to a very tight pin:

LYDIA: That was a difficult shot but fortunately I knew I had a couple of shots to play with. 

STERN LOOKING WOMAN SITTING NEXT TO LYDIA:  Ummm, Lydia, you were leading by nine. 

LYDIA (smile widening imperceptibly): Yes, that was nice.

The ladies have four remaining events and if Lydia is gonna start running away from field, well this could be fun.

Rose Arisen - Justin Rose won something or other on the Euro Tour, notable mostly for the name of the runner-up:

In what could be called a winless slump considering his exploits in recent years, Justin Rose had not won since April coming into this week. That streak is no more. 

The Englishman got an intense battle from Lucas Bjerregaard on Sunday at the UBS Hong Kong Open, but ultimately Rose prevailed. A final-round 68 pushed Rose to 17 under and one past the Dane for his eighth European Tour title.

Well, that and the ill-considered facial hair.  

Jason's Addiction -  RBC (a sponsor of Day)posts this long video on Jason Day's back story, well worth a viewing if you have time.

Most of us are familiar with the story by now, but it's done well.  The line that will jump out at you is "I'm addicted to the process of getting better", reason number 153 for eagerly anticipating the next few years of professional golf.  Unless, of course, you happen to be Tiger or Phil...

On Trump's Payroll - It turns out that if you're on The Donald's payroll you're contractually required to bluster like the boss, as per Martin Dempster:

The new ninth, a spectacular par-3 across a bay with the lighthouse as its backdrop, is 

Ebert with Darren Clarke at Turnberry.

one of the holes that has already been laid out along with the fourth and 11th. 

“I think the work at Turnberry so far has surpassed expectations,” said Ebert as he delivered an update on the project as another of the courses he is working on, Royal Portrush on the Antrim coast in Northern Ireland, was confirmed as the venue for the 2019 Open Championship. “They were high expectations anyway, but when you see it, it’s remarkable. 

“The aim is to get all the greens finished by the end of the year and, though there is still a fair bit of other work to be done, with an Open at Troon next summer, they are desperate for the course to be open on 1 June. We should be fine with that.”

I hear talk that it's the greatest golf course in the world, or perhaps second only to that new track in Aberdeenshire.  It's so hard to keep track...

It would be nice if we could wait until the golf course is, you know, open to opine on it, but apparently not under Trump rules.  It's interesting that they're pushing to get the powers-that-be on it next summer, as if they're not completely comfortable that the r&a IS COMING BACK.

Shack had this little note on the timing:

Dempster says the earliest Open date available for Turnberry is 2020, about the time President Trump's first term in office is wrapping up.

That's Gotta Hurt - Regular readers understand that a man of my advanced years will inevitably be burdened by significant technical limitations.  While I continue to search for the lucky teenager that will become the Unplayable Lies unpaid intern, I remain incapable of embedding Instagram video into the blog, which in the current instance may not be such a bad thing:

Admittedly not his best side.

The next time you shank a ball into the water or lip out for double bogey, just think back to this video and remember: It could be worse. 

Meet Jacques Kruyswijk, who was playing in the Vodacom Origins of Golf on the Sunshine Tour this week. 

His ball was up against a tree, and he took a big hack to get it out. However, the ball bounced off the trunk – hard – and came up to hit him in the … well, you know where. He immediately hits the ground, and you can’t help but feel for the poor guy. You can watch the video below, courtesy of the Sunshine Tour’s twitter account.

You can see the video by clicking through above, and it's kind of a funny delayed reaction...but still, it's gonna be a while before I uncross my legs.

Rahmbo, Thinking Big -  Jon Rahm plays for Arizona State and acquitted himself quite well at last year's Tour stop in Phoenix.  It turns out that Rahm has high expectations for his golf career:

Jon Rahm has simple aspirations. 

"My goal is to turn pro, win 19 majors and be considered the best golfer in history," the affable Sun Devils senior said. 

If you're going to dream, Sun Devils coach Tim Mickelson figures you might as well dream big.

Only nineteen?  Selfish guy can't spare a few moments to cure cancer....