Tuesday Tidbits

While I've had the vast Unplayable Lies organization committed to bringing you wall-to-wall U.S. Open qualifying coverage, I've been at this long enough to know that other stories might need attention, and kept a few key reportorial resources available.  Here's a few items you might have missed while keeping your eyes trained on the shell with the marble.

Pinehurst No. 9 - "Not so fast," I hear you screaming, "famed Pinehurst Resort has only eight courses."  Not so fast, yourself, as we're now at nine and counting:

Pinehurst Resort has added a ninth course to its collection with the purchase of the National

Golf Club. 

The National, a Jack Nicklaus design, once was the setting for the first stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School. It opened in 1989 and is the only Nicklaus design in the Pinehurst area. 

“We’re very excited to add this ninth course to our offering and look forward to welcoming National’s members to the Pinehurst Resort & Country Club family,” Jay Biggs, a senior vice president of operations for Pinehurst, said in a statement. “The golf course presents a challenging test in a beautiful setting that complements our eight other courses.”

Shack helpfully links to this Golf Now page with reviews.

Phakakta Phil - Insider Trading Edition - The ebb and flow of this story has been quite interesting, with today's movement pointing towards a stalled SEC/FBI investigation. From Reuters:

Carl Icahn during a recent television appearance.

Even if Icahn did leak information about his plans regarding Clorox, he may not necessarily have violated the law. Prosecutors would have to show he had breached a fiduciary or confidentiality duty by disclosing material, nonpublic information that was later traded on. 

"A true quirk of insider trading rules is that the person who creates the information that's material and confidential has the freedom to use that for themselves and to authorize others to use it," said James Cox, a professor of securities law at Duke University. 

"That’s part of our capitalistic spirit, that people who create the ideas should be able to exploit them,” he said, noting that this could complicate a potential government case.

The regulations also raise the issue of who Icahn would have a duty to in his investing role, said Reed Brodsky, an expert in white-collar crime at Gibson Dunn.

Shackelford doesn't often link to the Zero Hedge guys, but the linked piece includes speculation that the leaked story will preclude wiretapping the suspects, often necessary to develop an insider trading case, especially one where none of the parties have clear fiduciary obligations to the company.

In a scathing New York Post editorial, Charles Gasparino had this to say:

More than five years after the financial crisis — a scandal that netted no major culprits but imposed vast hardship on the American people — here’s what our federal watchdogs think might be a crime: Three years ago, after investor Carl Icahn bought a stake in Clorox but before he announced he wanted to take the company over, investigators spotted some unusual buying activity. 

At issue is whether Icahn tipped a friend, well-known sports better Billy Walters, who may have tipped Mickelson. All three men have said they did nothing wrong.

More important: The facts as described appear perfectly legal, according to every securities attorney I spoke to. 

The insider-trading laws are mostly company-specific — they deal with “misappropriating” or stealing information from a public company or its shareholders and then trading on it.

I'm not blown away by the logic of the linkage to the 2008 financial crisis, but if they don't have a case then have two chisel-jawed mugs with earpieces meeting Phil at his office seems like a somewhat thuggish move.

There's one more theory floating around, that the investigation was political payback.  John Hinderaker at the conservative Powerline blog recounts some background:

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Icahn said that Obama “would be a terrible president,” because “I don’t think Obama really understands economics.” That turned out to be an understatement. While Icahn has expressed disenchantment with Republicans more recently, his contributions have historically tilted heavily toward Republicans. 

In 2013, Billy Walters contributed $100,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a GOP super pac. 

And in January 2013, Mickelson complained about high federal and state taxes, and suggested that he may need to move out of California because of high tax rates there. This was viewed as a public relations blunder, and the golfer later apologized. (For what? Beats me.) But he is nevertheless remembered by many as an outspoken critic of excessive taxation.

Hinderaker is not a conspiracy nut, but after watching this administration for six years it's not a stretch.  I would still consider it unlikely, just because it seems out of proportion to any potential benefit.  But I do think it's worth acknowledging as a possibility, but more importantly as a warning to Phil that any expectations he has of fair treatment would be very naive, as we live in a world where the process can become the punishment.

Lastly, the funniest line I've heard yet came from comedian Seth MacFarlane, overheard as I traversed our kitchen this morning to refill my coffee.  According to MacFarlane, the investigation of a professional golfer for insider trading in Clorox stock, has to be the whitest collar crime on record.

Phakakta Phil - Golf Edition - A few weeks ago we heard that Phil had wanted to play No. 2, but they simply were too busy.  That story was somewhat misunderstood, as it wasn't that they couldn't get him on the course, it was more that he couldn't spend 20 minutes on each green charting them with Bones, as the Resort's tee sheet was full.  Now that the course is closed to Resort and member play, Phil has had a chance to give it a look see, and here are his comments:

Anyone notice the portly guy in the wide-brim hat?  That would be short-game guru Dave Peltz.  A good call, as Phil's chipping and putting have been simply dreadful this year.

How bad could he be, I hear you asking... well he's ranked 106th in strokes gained putting and 49th in scrambling, which is basically the case for him in the Open.  Most staggering of all, his make percentage on putts of 3-5 feet is only 82%, good for 165th place on Tour.  Needless to say, he'll need to improve on those numbers to have a chance.

These Guys Are Good - Many of you might be surprised to hear that, despite the barrels of ink used in the coverage of Jordan Spieth's career, to date he has only one win.  That came at last year's John Deere Classic, and was facilitated by this holed bunker shot:

Per Luke Kerr-Dineen:

At the 2014 John Deere Classic media day on Monday, Spieth took to the same bunker to try and recreate the shot. The result was, well, as expected. He implies in the caption it was his first attempt. . .

Shack thinks that's CNN's Shane O'Donahue with the "game-show contestant" reaction, so by now this has undoubtedly gone viral.

Mike Davis, Unplugged - Sports Illustrated's Mike Bamberger has an interesting discussion with the USGA's Executive Director Mike Davis that can be watched here.  Davis is an interesting man, whose set-ups of the U.S. Open course have revitalized that championship.  He has many interesting things to say, and displays an authoritative knowledge of golf history.  I thought I had him once, but he quickly corrected a bad date (by all of one year) without prompting. 

He gives David Fay credit for originating the concept of back-to-back Opens at Pinehurst, but with an amusing irony alert.  The reason why Pinehurst was believed capable of hosting the event related to its Bermuda rough, but of course there is no longer a single square inch of that Bermuda rough.

Well worth your time, and I thought he handled the issue of the prize discrepancy between the men and women with great thoughtfulness.

Whither The Elk - Golf's very own Donald Sterling has been MIA for a while now, sure to turn up on milk cartons any day now.  There's an old saying (frequently cited on the golf course this past weekend) that one incident is an anecdote, two are data and there constitutes a trend.  So we need one more Elk citing for a trend, as first Eamon Lynch posts this at golf.com:

Where have you gone Steve Elkington? Twitter turns its lonely eyes to you. 

Any golf fan who has ever questioned the capacity of PGA Tour executives to effect change

should consider this fact: Steve Elkington, the 1995 PGA champion and frequent controversialist, has tweeted almost 16,000 times since joining Twitter, but virtually nothing since a widely-condemned homophobic comment about gay footballer Michael Sam more than three months ago.

Lynch continues:

Since Elkington wasn’t quieted by previous Twitter-inspired controversies—a slur about “Pakis” in England and a boneheaded joke about a fatal helicopter crash onto a Scottish bar that killed 10 people, to single out but two snowflakes in a blizzard—we can reasonably assume that he isn’t given to periods of hushed reflection when his views are criticized. 

Which raises the question of whether the PGA Tour has enjoined Elkington to silence on social media. Elkington told one writer that he was quickly instructed by the Tour to delete the offending tweet about Sam, in which he cracked that Sam was leading the “handbag throw” at the NFL combine. And when an absolute authority issues an order to hit ‘delete’—or even a friendly suggestion to pipe down—one would be best advised to consider it favorably, no?

Here we go again....what is the efficacy of PGA Tour disciplinary actions if they happen in the woods and no one is around to hear them.  If those tweets were racist (and how could they not be?) and worthy of suspension, doesn't the paying public have a right to know that?  And way more importantly, wouldn't the action provide more of a deterrance factor, which should after all be the point.

I could have saved my outrage, as Lynch and I are singing from the same hymnal:

Such sanctions are entirely within the remit of the Tour, and its members have gladly signed up for it. But if the executives in Ponte Vedra were appalled by Elkington’s widely publicized comment and believed his steady stream of ill-tempered Twitter rants were bringing the Tour into disrepute, wouldn’t a public rebuke have made more sense? It would have signaled that the Tour was prepared to act against inflammatory idiocy in its ranks. 

But that’s not how the Tour conducts its disciplinary affairs, which is why l’affair Elk leaves an uncomfortable aftertaste.

Good on Eamon for biting the hand that sort of feeds him, which many golf writers seem loathe to risk.  But Eamon and I are merely the set-up, for this truly disturbing bit of news from Luke Kerr-Dineen:

If Steve Elkington was keeping a low profile after his controversial Twitter feed got him in hot water earlier this year that appears as if it's going to change. The former PGA Championship winner is ready to resurface as he roles out a new gig: television host. 

Elkington's show will air on the Nebraska-based network RFD-TV starting in July,according to Golf World, and will focus on golf courses across North America. The show will also feature instruction from Elkington, Mike Maves and Jackie Burke. Maves and Burke co-founded with Elkington the website SecretInTheDirt.com.

First, a tip of the hat for the great url.  Wish I'd have thought to grab it.  Secondly, it might be OK if they stay strictly on topic, though I've never heard of Elk being one of those guys like Geoff Ogilvy with an interest in course design.   

Their mission sounds laudable, so we'll have to wish them well.  But I do strongly recommend a 30-second delay, as Mr. Elkington does not come equipped with a filter as original equipment.

Other Sectional Storylines

While our focus was on our friend Kent, great drama was unfolding at all ten of the USGA Sectional qualifying sites.  We'll let that Shackelford guy provide his tour guide services:

Springfield Country Club (Ohio) - Will Grimmer, all of 17 years old, was among three players to qualify for the U.S. Open.  You know my M.O. by now, so there's got to be a hook to this story, no?

Will Grimmer did not think any golf experience could top the 59 he shot last year during the

Will Grimmer is congratulated by a USGA official.

North & South Junior Amateur in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C. But the 17-year-old amateur from Cincinnati thought wrong. 

Grimmer carded rounds of 70 and 65 for a 5-under-par 135 to finish second in U.S. Open sectional qualifying at Springfield Country Club, earning one of three spots in the U.S. Open June 12-15 at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club’s Course No. 2.

It needs to be noted that he shot his 59 on No. 1, but he was also only 16!  Here's a nice video interview with the young man after he shot the 59, which will have you rooting for him in a couple of weeks.

Columbus, OH - As with most endeavors, picking one's qualifying site is it's own art form.  The opportunity is that there were 16 Open slots up for grabs at Brookside and Scioto, more than at any other site.  But that's areflection of the Tour being at Jack's event last weekend, and the field includes familiar names such as Singh, Love, Leonard, Weir, Casey, Immelman and so on...

In fact, I had a brief discussion with Nathan Smith on the bus back to the first tee about why, as a Pittsburgh native, he chose the Westchester site.  He told me that he views the qualifying as an opportunity to travel to different areas and play a wider range of clubs, but he also acknowledged that the field in Columbus was a factor.

Rex Hoggard filed this dispatch from Columbus:

Erik Compton

Democracy in action. 

That’s the lesson the U.S. Open teaches us each year and Monday’s sectional qualifier in Columbus for the national championship was as democratic as golf gets. 

With no special exemptions, no backdoors, no safety nets, a two-time heart transplant recipient, an aging veteran and an up-and-coming Korean highlighted the list of Pinehurst-bound participants.

Those references are to Erik Compton, Justin Leonard and Seung Yul Noh, respectively.  Compton's story continues to amaze, and lest you think he's past his problems there's this:

For the likes of Erik Compton Monday’s 36-hole marathon, which lapsed into a 38-hole day, is more than a test of golf. Following two heart transplant surgeries the physical toll is profound. 

“Long days for me you can feel it in my chest,” said Compton, who endured a five-for-three playoff to decide the last of 16 spots into the U.S. Open. “You can see me all day like that (holding his shaking hand out).” 

Because of Compton’s suppressed immune system he has struggled lately with allergies, weakness and last week at the Memorial Tournament he started losing his hearing in his left ear. 

So when he started his day 3 over through two holes things didn't look promising, but he rallied to shoot a 69 at Scioto Country Club, by far the more difficult of the two qualifying venues, and finished with a 71 to join the playoff at 2 under.

Two heart transplants will no doubt come with a healthy dosage of perspective, but one still is amazed by the perseverance.   Others with Pinehurst tee times from this stacked qualifier include Bo Van Pelt, Robert Allenby, Rod Pampling, Mark Wilson, Paul Casey, Luke Guthrie, Aaron Baddeley and Ken Duke.

One last story before leaving Columbus.  As I get older I seem to feel the cruelty of sports more deeply, so you'll understand why this Jeff Rude piece caught my attention:

Sometimes the leader isn't the story. Sometimes in U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying a qualifier

Danny Lee

isn't even the story. So it went Monday here with the sad tale of Danny Lee. 

The 23-year-old Korean was cruising along, tied for the lead in the Columbus sectional, looking like he would be among 16 golfers advancing to the June 12-15 U.S. Open at Pinehurst. The storyline was compelling because Lee won the 2008 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2. 

But then about everything that could go wrong did. Playing the more difficult Scioto Country Club course in the afternoon, the PGA Tour player double bogeyed No. 12, bogeyed 13-14 and double bogeyed 16. The bad run dropped him to a 75 after a morning 68 at Brookside Golf and Country Club. The 1-over-par total put him three strokes out of a five-for-three playoff.

Stick around and I've got one that's even more heartbreaking...

Roswell, GA -  This is the comic interlude portion of our programming, because one of two qualifiers from this site is an amateur with the amusing name of Smylie Kaufman, and a Shackelford reader happened to know that his caddy is named Luckie.  Good stuff, though this site also had it's cruelty:

One of the most surprising performances of the day was that of Oliver Schniederjans, of Powder Springs, Ga., the No. 4-ranked amateur in the world. The rising senior at Georgia Tech, who last week lost a playoff for medalist honors at the NCAA championships, carded rounds of 83 and 76 and finished 24th out of 31 competitors. Schniederjans, a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award and Jack Nicklaus Award, had a quadruple bogey in each round and incurred a penalty for playing the wrong ball. 

“I had great expectations to do well,” Schniederjans said. “I just didn’t have the grind in me today. I was mentally worn out and didn’t grind like I could. I was two over through four and I didn’t feel it. It was uphill all day.”

It's a lot of high pressure golf in a short time frame for the collegiate players, though they are still youngsters. But two quads and playing the wrong ball, I'm sure that hasn't happened to him since...ever.  As I said above, sports are cruel.

Vero Beach, FL - Our cruelest story of the day comes from Will Gray:

For about 15 minutes, it looked as if Landon Michelson might be heading to Pinehurst. 

The 22-year-old amateur picked an opportune time to string together 36 holes of stellar golf amid windy conditions Monday during the U.S. Open sectional qualifier at Quail Valley Golf Club. He’d broken par both rounds, and at worst looked to be facing a 2-for-1 playoff for a spot in his first U.S. Open. 

With the stroke of a pencil, though, it all ended in a disqualification. 

Michelson shot a 1-under 71 in both rounds, but in the midst of his euphoria signed for a 70 after his second round. A three-putt bogey on the 11th hole went unnoticed by his playing partner and was mistakenly recorded as a par.

“I’m pretty devastated,” Michelson said. “Just so frustrating.”

Shades of Roberto de Vincenzo... I don't even know the young man, but I need a drink after reading that. 

Scenes From The Sectionals

As planned, the Bride and I trundled over to Old Oaks Country Club yesterday to check in on Kent St. Charles' quest to qualify for the U.S. Open.  While we don't have a fairy-tale ending for the reader, it was golf in its purist form and our hero handled himself quite well.  Oh, and there's a bonus Maggot appearance...

Stanford's Cameron Wilson plays his second shot into No. 17.

We arrived a little after 2:00 and almost immediately ran into the marque pairing of Lee Jantzen and Cameron Wilson playing the 17th hole.  Wilson, you'll recall, is the Stanford southpaw that just last week won the NCAA Individual Title at Prairie Dunes.  

Jantzen is of course a two-time U.S. Open champion and, while I give him great props for battling to play in another Open, there's a darker side.  I've long heard tales, including from Baltusrol members (where he won his first Open), that's he's simply an unpleasant man.  

We're fortunate to play a game shared with many wonderful characters, but life will always provide

Jantzen glaring at his uncooperative ball on the 1st green.

exceptions.  Kyle Munoz, who was caddying for Kent, told me that Jantzen had earlier been barking at the small gallery following their group, and when I had the temerity to look at him later walking off the first green he gave me me a +5 handicap glare.  An "if looks could kill" kind of stare...So, I want to root for you Lee, but you're not making it easy...

Neither of those players ended up qualifying, though Wilson survived a playoff with Jamie Lovemark (who played his afternoon round at Century) to grab the first alternate slot.  

Kent (r) and Kyle (l) never stopped grinding.

We caught up to Kent and playing partner Nathan Smith on the Par-3 thirteenth hole, and walked the remainder of the round with them (they had started on No. 10).  I should note that Kent had, as my niece used to say as a little girl, a gosh darn awful morning round, punctuated by some bad luck (embedded balls in the lip above a bunker) but also, well, some gosh darn awful putting.  

But if character is what you do when you think no one is watching, in golf it's how you play when your score no longer matters.  And in this case Kent was a +5, grinding out a very respectable 72 at Old Oaks.  

As for Kent's playing partner Nathan Smith, I wrote here yesterday of his accomplishments in the game

Nathan Smith escaping from a bunker.

(though I think he's played in four Masters, not three).  Today I'l just note what a truly nice guy he is, I especially enjoyed his appreciation of Kent's efforts.  He had obviously had a front row seat for Kent's struggles in the morning, and was very complimentary of a couple of nice efforts from Kent ion the afternoon.  Just a great experience for  Kent in all respects, and one that will pay dividends down the road.

After the round I introduced myself to Nathan, and told him how excited I was for Kent to be paired with him.  Without skipping a beat, he told me that he was excited to be paired with Kent.  Now that's more of a "Playable Lie," (excuse the pun), but quite gracious all the same...

He was also quite gracious in accepting an Unplayable Lies business card from Theresa, who was vigilant in discharging her responsibilities as Unplayable Lies Employee No. 2.  I'll leave you with some final images from the day.  

Maggot with my bride, no doubt discussing their favorite golf blog. 

Voted the best halfway house in the Met Section, there's little need for a recount.

Kent and Nathan congratulate each other on surviving the long day.

One last note...for the first time ever, Kent turned me down for an early evening nine holes.  What's wrong with these kids today?

Monday Mishegoss

The Longest Day - Today is U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying, dubbed by Golf Channel as The Longest Day in Golf™.  The way-too-cynical-for-me Shackelford had this to say:

One of golf’s great days is here, aka Golf’s Longest Day when a network was crazy enough to televise it at a big loss under the belief that the non-profit USGA appreciated their partners for things other than cold, hard cash.

The Tides' Cory Whitsett will give it a go today.

That reference is to the awarding of the USGA television contract to Fox in recognition of their longstanding commitment to the game of golf  for the modern equivalent of thirty pieces of silver.   Like Shack I thought it was great of Golf Channel to televise the long day of qualifying, though mitigated by the fact that the budget didn't permit coverage of much of the actual golf.  One can only stare at scoreboards for so long, but even that may not last as GC will no longer be promoting an event carried by their sister station NBC.

As you may recall, frequent evening golf buddy Kent St. Charles (d/b/a Kunta Kente) qualified for the Sectionals, and will be playing today at Century and Old Oaks Country Club.  The bride and I are planning to head over in the afternoon to catch Kunta in his afternoon round and cheer the lad on.  There had been talk of my caddying for Kent, but fortunately his friend Kyle Munoz grabbed the bag, as lugging a bag for 36 holes is a young man's game.

As of now, the plan is that I caddy for Kunta in his N.Y. State Open qualifying round at Garrison on June 17th.  He's been forewarned that it's likely to look something like this

I'm thinking six clubs and maybe three balls... Don't sweat it Kent, you're a shotmaker.

The USGA has posted Sectional storylines here, and there are many.  Four groups in front of Kent are two-time U.S. Open Champion Lee Janzen and newly-crowned NCAA Individual Champion Cameron Wilson.  I've got to give Janzen a ton of credit for trying to play his way back in, which he seems to do every year, and per the USGA is the only former champion in the qualifying field.  

I stopped in our golf shop yesterday to give Kent my best wishes for the day, and happened to ask him who he was paired with.  He responded that it was an amateur named Nathan Smith....Ummm Kent, that may be an amateur but it ain't just any amateur:

Nathan Smith, 35, of Pittsburgh, Pa., is a four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion who holds the record for the most victories in the championship. He has played on three USA Walker Cup Teams and helped the Americans defeat Great Britain & Ireland last year.

Those Mid-Ams have also gotten him into three Masters.  What a great pairing for my friend, though we do need to broaden his exposure to the game a bit.  For instance, when you intend to make your living in golf and your knowledge of Old Tom Morris is limited to chirping "Go Play" in a faux-Scottish accent, that seems to warrant an intervention...

The Art of the Steal - We've noted Donald Trump's new project in the Bronx in passing a few times, including that it's been touted (likely by Trump himself) as a possible future U.S. Open venue.  The N. Y. Daily News commits an actual act of journalism and its article should be taught as the conservative manifesto on why government should limited to only those activities that the private sector is incapable of performing:

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg apparently wasn’t satisfied with simply handing Donald

Trump Ferry Point., with views of the Whitestone Bridge.

Trump control over one of the most expensive public golf courses ever built in this country – the new $236 million, 18-hole Parks Department course scheduled to open next spring at Ferry Point Park in the Bronx.

Before we get to the gist of the article, let that rattle around in your brain for a bit.  The City of New York spent $236 million building a golf course!  Because, you know, they're so proficient at filling potholes and collecting the garbage that they need to build golf courses.  But I digress...

Bloomberg’s aides quietly added a slew of financial giveaways in the 2012 deal with The Donald that no other city golf course concessionaire enjoys, a Daily News review of Parks Department golf contracts has found. 

Those giveaways include: no concession fees for four years; then decades of extraordinarily low revenue-sharing with the city; tens of millions of gallons of free water annually; even a five-year delay for Trump to build a $10 million clubhouse, his only major capital investment in the project.

Sigh.  At least I'm no longer a City taxpayer... Want some comps, as they say in the real estate biz?

At the Pelham Bay & Split Rock course in the Bronx, for example, the operator pays the Parks Department from 18% to 23% of greens-fee revenues, plus an additional $4 surcharge for every round of golf. 

At Clearview in Queens, it’s 27%. At Silver Lake in Staten Island, the city gets 25% to 27%. And at Marine Park Golf Course in Brooklyn, the city’s split is 20%. These also have a $4 per round surcharge. 

So what Trump will pay for his brand new course designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus at taxpayer expense? 

Would you believe 7% of greens fees? 

If you do the math, the older courses will produce more actual cash per person for the city than Trump’s.

Yup, seen this movie before...  It works out extremely well....for one person, that is.  Trump think of himself as a genius, but nothing could be further from the truth.  It's just that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

At our Metropolitan Golf Writers Association outing at Bethpage, there was a rumor that we were going to add an event at Ferry Point in the Fall.  A full report will follow, if and when...

Phil Phollow-Up - The New York Times follows up on the WSJ's report on the insider trading investigation into everybody's U.S. Open favorite.  After covering the familiar ground of the Clorox trades, they offer this:

And yet, nearly three years after the trades flashed some telltale signs of possible insider

Who says Phil takes the club back past horizontal?

trading, a case has yet to materialize.

The focus then turned to Mr. Mickelson, whom authorities hoped to scare into cooperating. As one of America’s most popular athletes, Mr. Mickelson had much to lose under the glare of the government’s spotlight. 

But when the F.B.I. approached Mr. Mickelson — first pulling him off a plane at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey last year, the people said, and then confronting him on Thursday at a golf tournament in Ohio — Mr. Mickelson had little to offer. In the airport discussion last year, which lasted no more than an hour, the people said, Mr. Mickelson pledged to cooperate but explained that he did not know Mr. Icahn and had no clue that the stock tips might have been improper. On Thursday, Mr. Mickelson said, he instructed F.B.I. agents to “speak to my lawyers.”

That's reasonably consistent with our insightful putting green speculation over the weekend, but Phil's prominence does leave him vulnerable.  And here Pravda reverts to form in attempting to link two of the biggest threats to humanity, golf and Wall Street:

The confluence of golf and an insider trading investigation is hardly new. The golf course has become something of an ideal scene for consummating many a big corporate deal. Wall Street investment banks often hold golf outings for investors, analysts and executives. 

In 2001, the S.E.C. and federal prosecutors charged a San Diego man with making $137,485 in illegal profits from a stock tip he got while golfing with the director of a company that was in the middle of merger negotiations. Last year, an executive at KPMG, one of the country’s largest accounting firms, was accused of leaking tips to a frequent golf partner. The San Diego man and the KPMG executive both pleaded guilty.

Really?  That's all you have?  I know print media is a dying industry, but I thought they still had editors at the Times.

Game Improvement, Circa 1977 - I had the bride give the Bridgestone E6 golf ball a try, and she liked very much.  So I ordered her a season's worth off of E-bay, but they won't arrive in time for her important match tomorrow morning.  Ever the devoted husband, I agreed to make a run to the NY Golf store in Port Chester to score an E6 fix for her.  I know, she's a lucky lady...

I should note that I'm not the biggest fan of golf retailers, and I particularly dislike this store.  It's quite dingy and one needs to be really careful with purchases as I've seen the same items on display there since the Carter Administration.  As I strolled the store, I was shocked by the volume of older golf clubs on display.  There were racks and racks of older drivers, most notably Lynx Boom Boom Drivers from early in Freddie's career, and which today could be mistaken for hybrids.

But my favorite was this so-called Cavity-Backed Driver:

Not sure what my point is, since the back of the club is, in fact, a cavity.  It must look awfully elegant hovering behind a Tour Balata 100.  You better hurry though, as supplies are limited.

Memorial Meltdowns

Well, that certainly got ugly down the stretch, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Travelin' Joe Passov was hospitalized with chest pains as a result.  We likely won't catch up with Joe and the Tour Confidential gang for a day or two, but the only time he doesn't consider Adam Scott the dominant player of this generation is when Bubba plays that role, and yesterday they both spit the bit.

ESPN's Bob Harig used this lede for his game story:

Kevin Na graciously congratulates the winner.

The look on Jack Nicklaus' face spoke volumes early Sunday evening at his pride-and-joy golf course and tournament. It suggested mild disgust, perhaps frustration, and maybe even, "Geez, I would have whipped these guys." 

Nicklaus, the 18-time major winner, watched helplessly as a couple of high-profile major champions squandered a chance to win his Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, followed by the sudden-death playoff participants making a mess of the 18th hole.

 John Strege captures the sense of unreality down the stretch:

Hard to believe this shot went awry with the Hoganesque finish.

The week, for the PGA Tour, took a turn south when the FBI arrived in search of the game’s leading man in the absence of Tiger Woods. 

It only got worse when resuscitation efforts by Bubba Watson and Adam Scott went awry, chaos ensued and the Memorial Tournament was won by a man who snapped his driver in anger on the 72nd hole on Sunday 

“What,” a perplexed Jim Nantz of CBS Sports asked at one point, “has happened in the last hour of this golf tournament?”

 Though this conclusion from Strege seems quite overwrought:

What was happening was affirmation that the LPGA Tour, for once, had a better week than the PGA Tour, Mike Whan, the prohibitive and perennial underdog, prevailing over PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem. 

Whan, the LPGA commissioner, began his week by announcing that the Wegman's LPGA Championship would become the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2015, played in the vicinity of New York City (Westchester Country Club) and for a significant boost in prize money. 

Then down in Atlantic City on Sunday, the LPGA hit the jackpot again, with another marquee winner, Stacy Lewis, in a year-long succession of them. To boot, Lewis’ second victory in a month carried her back to No. 1 in the Rolex Ranking.

I root for the LPGA as much as anyone, but c'mon John.   The LPGA was on Golf Channel opposite the Memorial and we have to assume, as per usual, that exactly no one was watching.  Yes it's another in a series of great performances by attractive players, and the deal with the PGA of America was a reflection of that.  I also very much like the move to Westchester Country Club, and not just because it's virtually next door to Unplayable Lies World HQ.  It's a storied venue that the PGA Tour has abandoned because one gut doesn't like it, but should suit the ladies just fine.  And it has the added benefit of being in a media market of some size...

But this game we play is awfully difficult, and closing out matches or tournaments can often be a difficult process, as Jack himself noted on the broadcast.  Golfers know way more failure than success in their careers, and it's not the worst thing for us to see the best in the world struggle.

In other wrap-up, here's the video of Scott Langley's putt hanging on the lip on No. 16 yesterday.  Alas, it's about the only thing that went right for the young man all day:

I've often rolled my eyes at the swing analysis on golf telecasts, but this one was really quite interesting.  The video will not embed, but do click through if you missed Peter Kostis comparing Bubba's swing to a certain tournament host's.

One last note about playoff loser Kevin Na, whose comments in the broadcast booth and after his disappointing loss were notably gracious.  We can all relate to the roller coaster of emotions, the long two-hour wait, the gradual realization that he had probably won and then the sudden jolt of Matsuyama's birdie on No. 18 to force the playoff.  Who amongst us could take those hits to our system and be ready for sudden death?  But fortunately there was a consolation prize, per Rex Hoggard:

As consolation prizes go,Kevin Na was more than happy to take the high road following his runner-up finish at the Memorial Tournament. 

Despite losing to Hideki Matsuyama on the first playoff hole Sunday at Muirfield Village, Na’s runner-up showing was worth 38.4 World Golf Ranking points which will be more than enough to vault him into the top 60 and qualify him for this month’s U.S. Open.

Avoiding today's 36-hole Sectional Qualifying is not nothing, and well deserved.

And let me add an Unplayable Lies Order of Merit to Na or his caddie for, you know, actually knowing the rules.  His drop on the other side of the lateral water hazard in the playoff is how one does it.  I'm speaking to you, Rory. 

Pinehurst Flyovers - Holes Nos. 7 - 9

Back to the sand hills of North Carolina as we close in on the back-to-back Opens at Famed No. 2.  Here's the USGA flyovers and brief discussion of Holes Nos. 7-9.

Hole No. 7 - Par 4 - 429 Yards:  After several very difficult holes favoring those that draw the ball, we have a bit of a breather here and throw a bone to the faders.  Here's Shackelford's thoughts on the hole:

The seventh hole will look entirely different than it has in previous U.S. Opens after receiving the most dramatic facelift of all. Mounds installed by various architects and owners were removed, the tee lowered, the fairway widened and most of all, the hazards restored.

This hard dogleg right could be a candidate for a tee movement up because as it has been driveable in the past and this figures to be one of the worst holes for divots. But it will generally play 424 yards for the men and 389 yards for the women, and will call on a left-to-right shot shape to a fairway that narrows the longer the drive is hit. The approach is one of the more beautiful second shots on the course to a slightly elevated green where judging distance is tricky.

We won't quibble over the five yards difference between our respective Yardage Guides, but doesn't it seem that the tees would have to be moved up quite a bit?

Here's the flyover:

Hole No. 8 - Par 4 - 490 Yards:  One of my favorite tee shots on the property, this is a very manageable Par-5 for resort guests.  Shack calls this the most visually appealing hole on the course, though that's a competitive category.  It will likely be a mid-iron in for the big boys, to a severely crowned green with a significant falloff in back, but with no greenside bunkers.

Hole No. 9 - Par 3 - 190 Yards:  The shortest hole on the property is often the player's favorite, or at least

that was my reaction.  Shackelford reminds us of a photo of Donald Ross playing the ninth hole that critics pointed to before the Coore-Crenshaw restoration.  And Shack also links back to his own post from the time the restoration project was announced.

The hole plays somewhat uphill to a green with two distinct segments.  I was able to two putt from the left side of the green down to a front-right pin, but that wasn't at U.S. Open green speeds

Sunday Catch-Up

Sorry if I disappointed anyone with a post-free Saturday, but with Spring having finally sprung I gave the entire Unplayable Lies staff the full weekend off.  I just stopped by the office as I watch the Memorial and Shop-Rite final rounds, and wanted to allay any concerns about my health.

NCAA Post-Mortem - I thought the NCAA tournament was one of the best events of the golf season, and

Trey Mullinax rolls the Tide to victory.

I'm hoping that many of you had a chance to tune in.  The schedule got quite messed up by the thunderstorms over last weekend, and I didn't catch much of the individual and team qualifying portion of the event.  But I loved everything about the event, the guys in shorts carrying their bags (or, if you play for Stanford, using pull-carts), the tending of pins for each other and the genuine respect the players had for each other.

And, memo to the International Olympic Committee, team match play is simply the most exciting format known to mankind.  So good that it begs an obvious question, what took so long to get this on Golf Channel?  It seems such an obvious fit, an event with minimal rights fees that can be held on Monday through Wednesday.  Such programming will cost us three nights of reruns of Big Break South Bronx, but that's a price I'm willing to pay.

Since You Brought It Up - Anyone wonder how the construction of the Olympic Golf Course is proceeding?  Alex Miceli with the update:

The Rio 2016 Olympic golf course may be put on hold again according to reports out of Brazil.

Rio organizers confirmed that a state prosecutor could halt work on the course unless the developer shows it is following environment regulations and other requirements under Brazilian law. 

Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada confirmed the inquiry on Saturday and said developers had been asked to provide documentation that would allow the work to continue. 

"The state prosecutor is asking for the papers to show the work is proceeding according to the law," Andrada told The Associated Press. "We believe all the rules are being followed." 

Gil Hanse, the 2016 Olympics golf course designer, says work is moving ahead, with the entire layout now shaped and getting ready for grassing. All 18 greens are cored out into the shells that will receive the sand-based growing medium used for the Sea dwarf Paspalum grass that is planned.

Admittedly this is a tertiary-level problem, after the endemic corruption, dreadful format and weak field.

Phil, Phil, Phil -  The players hate it when there's a Tour rules official waiting for them as the walk off the 18th green.  Thanks to our Phil, we now know of something even worse, two FBI agents waiting for you, presumably with the requisite earpieces.

Phil Mickelson, professional gambler William "Billy" Walters and legendary billionaire investor Carl Icahn are being investigated by the FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a "major insider-trading probe involving finance, gambling and sports," according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. 

The WSJ reports that Mickelson was approached by FBI agents after finishing his opening round yesterday at The Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio. Mickelson referred the agents to his attorney. Glenn Cohen, identified as a lawyer for Phil Mickelson, told the WSJ that "Phil is not the target of any investigation. Period." 

Mickelson, Walters and Icahn have not been charged with any wrongdoing. 

he FBI is also investigating Dean Foods trades made by Walters and Mickelson in 2012 prior to a quarterly earnings report, according to the New York Times. The trades are not connected to Icahn.

You don't need me to tell you how serious this can be, and the timing couldn't be worse for Phil with perhaps the most important tournament of his career in two weeks.  But, on the other hand, at times like this we can always count on the headline writers at the N.Y. Post:

Not quite up there with "Headless Man in a Topless Bar," but not bad.

This exposes the problems with Phil's renown gambling Jones, as it necessarily puts him in contact with unsavory elements, in this case Billy Walters.  For those not familiar with Walters, here's the 60 Minutes piece on him:

Memorial Musings - Finally we see the Memorial Tournament without horrible weather, and it's not half-bad.  Though the leaders threw up up all over their shoes, and Kevin Na, who finished around lunch time, started the playoff some two hours after finishing.  Hard to make that first swing a good one, and he didn't... and that was basically all she wrote.  Matsuyama is a huge talent, and that was a timely birdie on No. 18 in regulation and a world-class up-and-down on in the playoff.

Bubba and Adam Scott look like I did yesterday in President's Cup qualifying, and other weird stuff is happening as well.  Scott Langley waited about 25 seconds for a putt hanging on the lip to fall, after Bubba and he agreed that it was still moving.  And Hideki Matsuyama just broke his driver by slamming it into the ground, on a drive that ended up in the fairway.  It wasn't a vicious slam, and he had gone double bogey-bogey the two previous holes.  

I'll pat myself on the back about Rory, though even I didn't imagine he'd be 15 shots higher on Friday.  Luke Kerr-Dineen attributes it to a seemingly unrelated Twitter avatar change by a certain woman tennis player.  Her new avatar is below, which of course couldn't possibly have affected the lad, could it (I'm at a loss as to the protocol, but if you ditch your fiancee are you required to un-follow her on Twitter)?

The Ladies - Stacey Lewis is now The Man....errr, you know what I mean, on the LPGA Tour, with a resounding 6-shot victory at the ShopRite LPGA Classic today:

Stacy Lewis won the ShopRite LPGA Classic on Sunday to take the top spot in the world ranking from Inbee Park, finishing with a 4-under 67 for a six-stroke victory. 

No. 1 for four weeks early last year, Lewis ended Park's 59-week run in the top spot.

It was a Saturday 63 that made the difference for Lewis, and another in a series of appealing champions in LPGA events this year.  Christina Kim finished solo second, and it's good to see her back on her game, assuming, of course, that we can keep her away from the face paint.

Emily Littella Time - Rex Hoggard provides this update on the Web.com Tour:

The PGA Tour has approved more sweeping changes to the Web.com Tour Finals just one year after the most significant overhaul of the qualifying system. 

Beginning this season, the top 25 players from the regular season Web.com Tour money list will carry their money earned into the circuit’s four-event Finals, according to a memo sent to players on Thursday. 

During the inaugural qualifying last year, the top 25 players were assured Tour cards but their money from the regular season didn't carry over and their status the following season on the PGA Tour depended on how well they played in the Finals.

And there's this as well:

Under the new system, which was approved by the PGA Tour policy board in April, the 50 players who earn Tour cards at this year’s Finals will be ordered using a “zippered” method, with priority based on an alternating order between the top 25 regular-season money earners and the leading players form the Finals. 

For example, after the leading money winner off the combined regular season and Finals money list, the second card will go to the player with the most combined earnings from the regular season and Finals, followed by the player who earned the most only in the Finals, and so on.

I'll leave the reader to think through the ramifications of the "zippered method" in the privacy of their homes, and it's good to see the Tour responding to well-argued concerns on the part of the players.  But they're changing the format of competition in the middle of said competition, which seems a tad inappropriate to this blogger.