Match Play and Other Mishegoss

I warned you that there would be blood...I just didn't realize it would be my own.  It felt like every high seeded player (or perhaps just the ones I had picked to prevail) were going down, but those with microphones kept insisting that the highest percentage of higher-seeded player were victorious.  Whatever....

• Bracket Forecast - Mostly Red -  The Golfweek bracket contest has some notable shortfalls.  For instance, as of the moment, they tell me I have 0 points and am tied for first.  If only... at one point most of the way through the proceedings, I was in 1,630th place, though a late rally moved me up to 1,068th place.  If Zach keeps playing well, the sky's the limit.  What?  Oh, then good thing I leave for Utah this afternoon.

Best moment had to be this:

Rory's reaction shot is just priceless.  

• Best matches today:
• Rickie v. Jimmy Walker - After missing his last 3 cuts, who guessed that Rickie was on form.  I suspect Butch is a good move for the long-term, but perhaps not against the hottest golfer on the planet.
• Jason Day v. Billy Horschel -  Lots of firepower on display here.  
• Jordan Spieth v. Thomas Bjorn - Beware those old crafty guys...
• Bubba v. Jonas Blixt - Guys like Blixt that can roll it are really dangerous in this format on this kind of golf course.

Like yesterday, there's no shortage of good match-ups, though they don't always turn into good matches.

•  Most Surprising Result - You mean besides Richard Sterne's dismemberment of Zach?  Manassero's ritual sacrifice of Luke Donald was pretty surprising as well.

• Latest Rumors - Apparently there are active discussions of Harding Park as the home for this event.  Shack pleads no in this post, though he may be the only person on the planet less likely to be invited to a dinner party at the Ratcheds Lepetomanes Finchems.  I agree it's not a great match play venue, but unless there's a date change tied to it that's a serious unforced error.  At least a couple of scribes have thrown out Castle Pines as an option, which I like but it again involves a move to the summer.  

• The Glories of Match Play - When you lie with dogs, you end up with fleas... somehow match play has been sullied by its relationship with the PGA Tour.  Shackelford links to and excerpts from this wonderful Bill Fields Golf World piece reminding us of its history and importance in the growth of the game, dubbing it, "Hunting-and-gathering golf."

Here's a smidgen of the historical context:

It has been nearly 290 years since a newspaper -- the Caledonian Mercury, on April 6, 1724 -- first reported the results of one golfer squaring off against another. In this case, it was the Honorable Alexander Elphinstone against Captain John Porteous at Leith Links in Edinburgh in "a solemn match at golf." Elphinstone won the match and the 20-guinea bet. The stakes were higher for the winner five years later at Leith, where he won a duel contested with implements more dangerous than a ball of leather stuffed with goose feathers.

Shack also includes this long excerpt, which I can't resist replicating:

That wasn't the case in the late fall of 1875 at St. Andrews, where four-time British Open champion Young Tom Morris was lured into a six-day, 12-round match for 50 pounds against wealthy 18-year-old English amateur Arthur Molesworth, who was getting three strokes a side.

The cold weather deteriorated from bothersome to brutal as the marathon went on, the links a frozen, snowy mess the morning of the final day when balls painted red had to be used. "Even with [Old Tom Morris'] workmen shoveling and sweeping, greens were unputtable," Kevin Cook writes in Tommy's Honor. "The players chipped on and then chipped their 'putts,' trying to flip their gutties into the hole as if they were stymied." 

Not until the 206th hole did Morris close out his foe, the long, tiring, frosty encounter finally ending when the 24-year-old phenom sank a putt for a 2 on the now-thawed grass at No. 8. Morris would be dead within a month, the victim of an embolism on Christmas Day perhaps hastened by the strain of the match. The stymie left golf for good in 1952, and the PGA Championship became a stroke-play event in 1958. 

These days, 200-hole tussles can only be found in the past. For the very best, match play is a sword fight in a drone world. But thank goodness one-on-one at least occasionally offers a glint of what was.

Ah, the stymie.  Brings a tear to the eye, doesn't it?

• Maximal Cheesecake:  Continuing our long-established policy of providing All the Golf Cheesecake that Fits, submitted for your approval is Kate Aiken:

Better known as Mrs. Thomas Aiken, she pitched in to caddy for her man, who then  proceeded to win the Africa Open.  Let's hope he has some U.S. events on his calendar.

• Rejoicing in the Land -  Via Shackelford and The Irish Golf Desk comes great news, that the 2015 Irish Open is headed to Royal County Down.  Set your DVR's now, just to be safe.  And if we're really lucky, perhaps Thomas Aiken will be in the field.

Stuff

A few minor items to tide everyone over until Golf Channel comes on the air at Noon.

• More Weather News:  Happy to provide my second weather report of the day, though I'm not liking this one much.  Golf.com helpfully provides us with a weather report for Masters' week, and the practice rounds might be a problem.  On the other hand, given that I don't believe the weather forecast for this afternoon, a wait-and-see attitude seems appropriate.

• Living La Vijay Loca:  Probably should have saved that wordplay gem for a future post title, but as expected, Judge Bransten ruled that part of Vijay's suit against the Ponte Vedra suits can go forward (see there, I did it again):  

"According [the Plaintiff's allegations] the benefit of every possible favorable inference, the Court finds that [Singh] has sufficiently pled a cause of action for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing,” wrote Justice Eileen Bransten in her Feb. 13 decision.

Since the claims weren't dismissed, Veej can now proceed with discovery of that which Commissioner Ratched and his merry band don't want discovered.  This would be a logical time for the Tour to see what it would take to make Veej go away.  This is also the time for me to remind Vijay that this has never been about money, and that he should keep the pedal to the metal on the discovery front.

• Macdonald: Neil Sagebiel, author of The Longest Shot and proprietor of The Armchair Golfer blog, posts John Coyne's second installment of a brief bio of C. B. Macdonald.  If you want to start at the start, you can do so here.  Coyne is an accomplished author and covers the basic Macdonald bio in reasonable fashion, though I've a couple of quibbles.  He notes that Macdonald won the first U.S. Amateur, but fails to add that he only did so after stomping his feet and holding his breath after losing in his first two attempts.  Somehow he convinced the fledgling USGA to grant him a mulligan until he won the event, and that side of his personality should be disclosed along with his substantial contributions.

Secondly, he expresses regret that Macdonald was not somehow recognized at the 2012 Ryder Cup in Chicago, given his link to the city through Chicago Golf Club, the first 18-hole golf course in the U.S.  Unfortunately Coyne demonstrates his naiveté with this comment, as those deciding that Medinah is a suitable Ryder Cup venue are by definition those immune to the charms of a C.B. Macdonald design.  Those that appreciate such things, such as certain folks at the USGA who took the 2005 Walker Cup to Chicago Golf Club, wouldn't sell the premiere match play event in the world to the highest bidder (though they certainly did so with their TV rights). 

There Will be Blood

I was going to call this Wednesday, Bloody Wednesday but had already used that pun for a stats post.  But it's Match Play Wednesday, which means one or two high seeds will be involuntarily spending more time with the family this weekend.  One wag (sorry, can't remember who) observed that it's an upside down tournament that peaks today, and gets less interesting as we progress through the week.  

Yes, it's a dreadful golf course, but in the immortal worlds of Richard Nixon, we won't have Dove Mountain to kick around anymore.  So let's wax nostalgic and remember all the good times... I'll have to get back to you on those.

• The Weather:  The first order of business is, of course, the weather.  Daytime highs for Marana, AZ are projected to be between 75 and 81 degrees, with nary a drop of precipitation.  It appears that we shall escape any snow this week, and I fear that we shan't see a single ski hat.  

• The Matches:  No need to dwell on those that have chosen to deny us their presence, but we have 32 matches to enjoy.  Here are my picks for the best of these match-ups:

• Jason Day v. Thornbjorn Olesen - A reasonably tough opponent for one of last year's semi-finalists.  Olesen has been quiet lately, but he can roll his rock, always dangerous in a match play crapshoot.
• Graham DeLaet v. Patrick Reed - The luck of the draw matches two of the hotter players on the planet.  
• Rory McIlroy v. Boo Weekly - I just like the worlds colliding aspect of this match-up.  Rory had best be on his game, though, as Boo hasn't missed the sweet spot on his irons since the Carter administration.  Will either understand a word that the other says?
• Lee Westwood v. Harris English - Westwood is the No. 29 seed, no wonder he fired Foley, and runs into a reasonably hot player.
• Charl Schwartzel v. Kevin Stadler - Schwartzel played well at Riviera, and one would guess that Stad's putter isn't quite up to snuff.  Which means it'll be the spawn of Walrus 9 & 7.
• Ian Poulter v. Rickie Fowler - Rickie is going seriously in the wrong direction, and draws Superman.  
• Luke Donald v. Matteo Manassero - I like this one, because they play the same game.  Short and way too crooked off the tee, but two of the best short games on Tour.

To be honest, I could have listed 5-6 other matches.  

• Bracketology:   I filled out a bracket at Golfweek, though it was a bit of a rush job.  I'll post it if I can get it all in a screen capture, but I went with Zach to win it all.  I'm sure that pick will end up in the ash heap of history, with a place of honor next to the five Open Championships I predicted that Sergio would have by now.  And don't even bring up my Riviera thoughts from last week.   

• The Future:  Shackelford posts at Golf Digest his suggestions for saving the event in slideshow form, including:

• Keep the Event on the West Coast:  Agreed, as the first round sets up especially well for late afternoon/early evening viewing back East.
• Sherwood? - Interesting thought and much more logical after Tiger's event announced it's moving to Orlando.  Might also help buttress the field at Riviera.
• PGA West? - Shack makes the point that Dye's over-the-top Stadium Course could be an interesting venue for a major match play event.  Their 17th hole island green, a much longer shot than the better known version at Sawgrass, would certainly be a pivotal hole.  Only problem for the powers that be is that Tiger hates Sawgrass, so can't imagine he'd like this one any better.
• One and done? - Shack addresses the problem that I noted here, but proposes a different format.  Use 36 holes of stroke play to weed the field to 16 players.  That raises a couple of questions regarding venue (there goes PGA West) and timing, as that adds up to six days.
• Round Robin Play - Shack envisions four-player pools playing nine-hole matches, thereby increasing urgency.  I like him thinking out-of-the-box, but can't see the top players liking this much.
• Selection Committee - Shack has never liked the World Rankings and cites some very logical seeding injustices (Hunter Mahan, Jordan Spieth and Jimmy Walker are all lower than you would guess), but I'm not sure this really accomplishes anything.  If you accept the premise that an 18-hole match is a crapshoot, does it help to make it a fairer crapshoot?

• Golf Channel polls their columnists as part of their Punch Shot feature on the date and venue issues, and gets answers all over the place.  Harding Park gets another mention (from Ryan Lavner), but he's astute enough to note that February is not the month to be playing a logistically challenging tournament in San Francisco.  Rex Hoggard suggests Innisbrook in Tampa, which already has its own sponsorship issues.  But I think Shack is right to focus on the West Coast swing, and use it to lure the Euros to Riviera and Pebble.  Best line was from Jason Sobel, "Anywhere but Dove Mountain."  Such a good line he used it twice...

Our Weekly Q&A

Last week's silly questions appear to have failed to kill the beast, so you're stuck with this feature for the foreseeable future.  Let's see if the Sports Illustrated gang actually discusses any golf this week...

1. After finishing second in Phoenix, Bubba Watson broke through at the Northern Trust Open for his first win since the 2012 Masters. Is Bubba back? If so, where did he go?

The Scribes Respond:  It's a mostly pro-Bubba crowd, though most realize that Bubba is inherently jittery and inconsistent.  Bonus Mark Fidrych mention for those that read the whole thing.

Best Line:  From Gary Van Sickle, "When Bubba is on, he is something to see. It's just what this golf season needed since we couldn't expect Jimmy Walker to carry the PGA Tour on his back for the whole year."

My Take:  I was harsh regarding that final putt at Phoenix, so give the man his due.  And 64-64 on the weekend at Riviera is just sick.  Hogan must be spinning in his grave...

2. The Winter Olympics are in full swing in Sochi, and in two years we’ll have golf in the Summer Olympics. What will golf bring to the Olympics, and what will the Olympics bring to golf?

The Scribes Respond:  This split as widely as any prior question.  From "The exposure will be huge for the sport" and "We’re underestimating how exciting this tournament will be. It’s going to be like having a fifth major in 2016" to "Has tennis done anything for the Olympics and has the Olympics helped tennis?" and "I'd be willing to bet that in 2020, we'll be doing Google searches to find out who won in Rio."

Best Line:  From Josh Sens, "Golf in the Olympics is sure to send the same ripples of excitement through the sport as those generated by the Sunday skins matches I play with friends."

My Take:  You likely already know my thinking on this, but it's gonna be a farm fresh, cage free jumbo egg.  Van Sickle points out that of the 60-player field, about half should not be in the field.  So it's a 30-player field and will generate the excitement of Tiger's December event.  And Mr. Walker, we already have a fifth major in 2016.  It's called the Ryder Cup.

3. Fred Couples was named an ambassador for the Northern Trust Open. Will Couples be able to convince Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott to commit to playing Riviera in the future?

The Scribes Respond:  No, no and no.  More substantively, some note that it's now a bad date on the calendar, though they don't lay that on the doorstep of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Best Line:  From Eamon Lynch "I think there's a better chance of Cheyenne Woods playing Riviera than of her uncle returning."

My Take:  No, next question.

4. Speaking of absences, what does it say about the status of this week's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship when Woods, Mickelson and Scott are missing from the event?

The Scribes Respond:  Venue, snow, and last-place money.

Best Line:  From Mike Bamberger, "It says that they cannot stand the course and that last-place money means nothing to them and, in the case of Woods and Mickelson, just a tiny little way of thumbing their noses at the commissioner."

My Take:  This is a shame, but Commissioner Ratched has made quite the mess of this WGC monstrosity. It's a damn shame, but the best players (I'm speaking to you, Tiger) just hate match play for its unpredictability.  And can you blame them for avoiding a Wednesday trunk-slammer?  But it's great for the fans to see them playing how we play in our weekend games, and it would be nice for someone to figure out how to make it work.  Maybe double-elimination would help, combined with a 32-player field.

I know that late in his career Bobby Jones avoided 18 holes matches like the plague.  He felt that over 36 holes talent was likely to prevail, but that 18 holes is just a crapshoot.   

5. Which format is better at identifying the best golfer, match play or stroke play?

The Scribes Respond:  Stroke play to determine the best golfer, match play to determine the better competitor.

Best Line:  From Josh Sens, "Stroke play. If match play were anywhere as good a barometer, this forum would be debating where Ian Poulter ranks among the all-time greats."

My Take:  I differ slightly from the esteemed panel, in that I think they're both great tests of golf, though different tests.  The problem with match play is that the length of match necessary to let the cream rise quickly exceeds the days available for an event with a field of more than 8 or 16.  But that doesn't mean we can't have one match play event on the calendar, just to mix it up a bit.

6. Our colleague Michael Bamberger wrote this week about playing a round at the storied Los Angeles muni Rancho Park. What’s your favorite muni or sleeper course?

The Scribes Respond:  Pacific Grove Links gets three votes, topping our list.  Two panelists mention the Old Course, which should get them ejected from next week's panel.  And believe or not, Van Cortland Park gets a shout-out.

Best Line:  From Mike Walker, "The nine-hole course at Highland Links in Truro on Cape Cod has some of the best ocean views in golf, and at $35 to walk, you've got money left over for oysters and beer at the Wellfleet Beachcomber.

My Take:  For the first time since we've been doing this, I have to acknowledge that that's a good question, and you should by all means read their suggestions.  I've heard wonderful things about the Truro course, a genuine links in the opinion of many.  I'd add Northeast Harbor Golf Club near Bar Harbor, Maine.  It's a charming old Donald Ross of a certain New England style, if that makes any sense.  I also remember getting lost in the woods between the 17th green and 18th tee... it's not so easy dragging a trolley through the woods, but Theresa and I were smiling all day.

Flotsam and Jetsam™

A very slow day in the golf blogosphere, as the world (excluding, alas, the guys we most want to see) heads the hills of Tucson.  No snow reports form there yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.  Just a few tidbits for this morning, so let's get this show on the road.

• Riv Reflections:  Quite the win for Forest Bubba on Sunday, considering a couple of factoids:

• Watson started his tourney on the back nine of Thursday by going double bogey, birdie, double bogey, so was +3 after three holes.  Since we pride ourselves on our math capabilities, that means he played the last 69 holes in -18.

• Watson was still so far out of it after 36 holes that he started his third round on the back nine.  I'll confess that after his Phoenix Phollies, I was quite the skeptic when he took the lead.  But despite the physical manifestations of twitchiness, the swing and especially the putting stroke held up just fine.  

• I gather that the Poobahs in Ponte Vedra have read my Moneyball post, and have revamped the pgatour.com website and now include an "Inside the Numbers" feature.  This week they provide these data points:

0 Number of bogeys Watson made on the weekend at the Northern Trust. ... Watson was the only player in the field to go bogey-free in the final two rounds (64-64) and is the first winner since 1983 to go bogey-free at the Northern Trust Open in Rounds 3 and 4. Watson also became the second player at the event to accomplish this feat dating back to Ben Crenshaw at the 1987 Northern Trust Open.

.841 Strokes gained-putting at Riviera for Watson, which ranked 21st in the field. … That’s the second-best SGP mark for Watson this year and the 15th best of his career. Not too shabby.

2nd Number of times in Watson’s career where he’s led the field in driving distance and ranked inside the top 10 in driving accuracy, which includes the Northern Trust. … Watson has led the field in driving distance 66 times in his career. He led in DD and was in the T1 in driving accuracy at the 2012 Northern Trust when he placed T13.

4.40 Strokes gained-putting for Watson in the final two rounds. … Watson outperformed the field average by nearly 4 ½ shots on the weekend, which included going a perfect 22 of 22 on putts from inside 5 feet. This season, Watson is 147 of 150 from inside 5 feet to rank 13th on TOUR, a big improvement from 2013 when he was 828 of 857 (62nd on TOUR).

• Lots of additional performance stats are available to sort through.  FWIW, Jordan Spieth led the field this week in proximity, despite his Sunday fade, which our stats Yoda Mark Broadie tells us is the most reliable marker of golf talent. 

More stellar golf photography, such as this one of the future Gretzky son-in-law from Riviera, is also appreciated at the revamped pgatour.com.

• Jason Allred's T3 was his first Top 10 on Tour.  Ever.  Shack had a nice feature on him on Monday, including this from his presser:

I did, naturally I'm a competitor, I guess everyone competes in their own way, but I wanted to hit a great shot and it felt so good to hit probably my best drive of the day, my best iron shot of the day. I wanted to make that putt but in the midst of that, I realized, this is a special moment. To get to be alongside Bubba today, we were good friends growing up, we played a lot of junior golf and college golf, and he played an amazing round of golf today. It was fun to even enjoy watching him play.

But just that moment, that scene out there, I can't imagine a more beautiful place and to get to be a part of it was really special.

Good on him for enjoying the moment and coming up big, and he seems like the kind of guy for whom you want to root.  But about that broomstick?

• Can we Regift This One?  I've admitted to being a Charles Blair Macdonald fanboy, and he famously called golf Scotland's Gift to the World.  It turns out that they've given us a second gift, the "sport" of curling, and Golfblogger has the details.  

Curling has its origins in medieval Scotland. A stone inscribed with the date 1511 was uncovered when a pond was drained in Dunblane, Scotland, and the first written reference dates to 1541. Kilsyth Curling Club was formed in 1716, and is still in existence today.

Some wise person once said that just because something is old doesn't make it a classic.  In this case just because they've been sweeping the ice for centuries doesn't make it any less curious.

And as long as we're talking about old stuff, I spent part of yesterday with my 93 year old father at a former business partner's funeral.  One of the deceased's contemporaries explained to us the four stages of human life:

• Childhood
• Mid-life
• Old Age, and finally
• You're Looking Good.

• Treegate:  Lots of discussion of the loss in the family, the most famous tree in the golf world since they cut down the Lon Hinckle Tree.  Shack posts this from Scott Michaux in the Augusta Chronicle:

Sources have claimed for years that Augusta National already has a reserve loblolly pine picked out and awaiting the call at an undisclosed location in Georgia. But whether the backup tree survived the ice storm intact is unknown, as are the club’s plans for the 17th hole.

Wouldn't surprise me a bit, as they have more money than God.   But I'm quite sure that disclosing that the undisclosed location is in Georgia will warrant a visit from men with earpieces.

John Boyette has a second piece in the Chronicle about the dear departed, and fills in some background about Ike and the tree.  Apparently when he suggested at a meeting that the tree be removed, Clifford Roberts ruled him out of order and adjourned the meeting.  I can only hope that Ike saluted the officer of higher rank.  More significantly, Boyette can only remember two instances in which the tree came into play, including when Tiger hurt his achilles hitting off the pinestraw under the tree.

Tiger playing from under the canopy of the Ike Tree in 2011.  He injured his Achilles tendon for the umpteenth time on this effort.

Jack would beg to differ, as per this:

“Over the years, it’s come into play many, many times on the 17th hole. When I stood on the 17th tee, my first thought, always, was to stay away from Ike’s Tree. Period

“I hit it so many times over the years that I don’t care to comment on the names I called myself and the names I might have called the tree. ‘Ike’s Tree’ was a kind choice.

It makes perfect sense that a man known for his left-to-right ball flight would find a tree on the left edge of the fairway to be a nuisance, but Jack is far too polite to speak ill of the deceased.

In 2001 Golf Digest unveiled a way cool interactive feature that allowed you to see the changes to all 18 holes at Augusta from 1934 to the current date.  A Luke Kerr-Dineen post at Local Knowledge included the graphic of the 17th hole, documenting the growth of a tree that is barely visible in the aerial depiction from 1934.

The hole seems like a narrow chute even without the landmark tree, but my vote would be to replace it.  After all, Faldo needs something to prattle on senselessly about...

•  Augusta on My Mind:  David Owen has a wonderful post up at his blog about the 10th hole at ANGC, in which I learned that most of what I thought I knew about the club and the Masters is wrong.  I was aware that at the first Masters the nines were reversed, but then changed to the current routing for second editions of what was the Augusta National Invitational.

Alister MacKenzie's original routing for the golf course.  I of course fixated on his use of the term "Links" above.  The good Doctor knew better.

 David corrects me as follows::

In Alister MacKenzie’s original conception of the golf course at Augusta National (shown above), the holes were numbered as they are today. MacKenzie’s thinking changed in 1931, before construction began, and he switched the nines, so that the current first hole became the tenth. Several writers have attributed the change to Bobby Jones, who contributed to the design, but contemporary documents make it clear that the idea was MacKenzie’s. His intention was probably to provide a better view of the finishing green to members who might be lounging near the big picture windows in the locker room of the planned new clubhouse, which Jones and Clifford Roberts, the club’s co-founders, intended to build as soon as they’d raised enough money to tear down the old plantation house. (Luckily, they never did. I’ll tell that story soon.)

David's caption:  Early Augusta members playing the tenth. In MacKenzie’s first drawing of the hole, there was a big fairway bunker not too far from the foreground of this photo. (See the plan at the top of this post.) When this hole became the opening hole, though, he removed the bunker, because he didn’t think a golfer should have to clear a large hazard with his first shot of the day. But when the ordering of the holes changed again the fairway bunker wasn’t put back.

The original tenth green.

Let David finish:

Moving the green was the idea of Perry Maxwell, who one year later also redesigned the seventh hole. Maxwell pointed out that moving the tenth green to higher ground would not only solve a drainage problem but also markedly strengthen the hole. The change turned a breathtaking but mediocre short hole into one of the greatest par 4s in the world.

Don't think I ever knew that Perry Maxwell was involved.  I'm getting the sense that blogging about all the things I don't know will be a full-time job.

Best part of this is that David makes clear that he's got more to share with us between now and April 10th.

• Careful What You Wish For:  Writing at GD's Local Knowledge blog, John Strege discusses the predicament of Tucson, which has had a PGA presence since 1945.  However, this strong golf community thought it had secured a permanent fixture when it landed the WGC Accenture Match Play event in 2006, and even had a new golf course built for this specific event.  It looks like this year's event will be the last, certainly in Tucson, for an event without a sponsor, venue and commitment from the game's top players.

Tucson has a storied past in PGA lore.  It's winners include the Millers, Trevinos, Watsons and Mickelsons.  It's where Johnny became the Desert Fox and where Phil won as an amateur, surviving a snowman on the back nine on Sunday.  Ironically, snowmen are still part its lore, just in a more literal manner.

Add this to counts in my indictment of Commissioner Ratched Finchem, the absence of any loyalty to sponsors and communities that have supported the Tour for decades.  Tucson belongs on the Tour calendar, and at some point the sponsors are going to rebel.  

• Olympic Fairy Tales:   As long as we're reclassifying the horrors of Communism as a "Pivotal Experiment," how about an up close and personal, soft lens profile of the di Silvestris, the heart and soul of the Dominica Olympic Team.

I'm having trouble controlling my crocodile tears for this down to earth couple, who essentially bought themselves their slots in the Olympics

Here's some background: Gary di Silvestri is a New York native who became very, very rich as a hedge-fund and asset manager. He met Angelica, who is from Italy, while studying there. They were rich enough to once own a 30,000-square-foot estate on a private island in Turks and Caicos. So they were also rich enough to essentially buy their way into the Winter Olympics.

The Caribbean island of Dominica (with a population of about 70,000) granted them citizenship, according toU-T San Diego, after they were involved in humanitarian projects there. The di Silvestris wouldn't reveal specific details about their work in Dominica. When Dominica wanted to send its first ever delegation to the Winter Olympics, they called on their fabulous pair of honorary citizens.

The Olympic movement has become depraved on a level competitive with the United Nations.  hence the awarding of the current Winter Games to the despotic Vladimir Putin, and at a summer resort no less.  What could go wrong?

The heroes of our story.  World class athletes to be sure, but they don't look Dominican to this eye.

 The rant is therapeutic in and of itself, but let's remember that our beloved game is putting its "grow the game" efforts in that hands of the same International Olympic Committee that sees fit to do business with Putin and the di Silvestris.  

 To go further, one big issue with Olympic golf is who gets to play.  Here's an explanation of the current proposed qualification:

A field of 60 players for each of the men's and women's competitions, utilizing the Official World Golf Rankings as a method of determining eligibility. The top 15 world-ranked players would be eligible, regardless of the number of players from a given country. Beyond the top 15, players would be eligible based on world ranking, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15.

Per the updated rankings, Bubba would have been on the outside if not for Sunday's win, and there's currently no room at the inn for guys such as The Duf, Snedeker, Simpson (the other one), Walker and Bradley.  If Dominica can field a ski team, then surely Kamchatka should be able to field its best golfers.

Morning Mishegoss

There's much to discuss and little time in which to do it.  A former business partner of my family sadly passed away over the weekend, so I'm off to pick up my father to take to the funeral in the City.  Thus the truncated format....

• Riv Rap -  Ultimately my projections for the last round did not come to fruition, but I did get several important things correct.  First, it was Sunday and they did play the final round and crown a champion.  How many of you got all those things correct as I did?

So, where did it all go pear-shaped?  I believe there were six players sitting above the gaggle of stars at -8 when the day dawned.  I figured one of those six would surely shoot a 68 or 69.  I was wrong as could be....TWO of them shot 68, specifically Jason Allred and Brian Harman.

But I didn't see too many 65 or 66's out there.  Correct again, but with the benefit of hindsight there were exactly two 64's out there, and Bubba got 'em on Saturday and Sunday.  Shackelford has some great screen grabs from ShotLink of how Bubba overpowered the course.   Not sure which is more amazing, clearing the bunker at 325 yards off the 17th tee or hitting wedge into No. 18.  Must be all that time Bubba spends in the gym...

• It IS Presidents' Day, After All -  The most famous tree in golf has sustained substantial damage from recent storms.

The Eisenhower Tree, which used to guard the 17th fairway at Augusta National.

The club's press release makes clear that the damage is irreparable and no decision has been made as to how to address the loss.  That sound you hear is Clifford Roberts spinning in his grave.

• Your Weekly Dose of Schadenfreude - Via Shack, who seems to own the green energy beat these days, this item from STV:

The application, by Clare Coastal Wind Power Ltd, states: "For grant of a ten year planning permission for development at a site in the townlands of Carrowmore South, Einagh and Shragh, approximately 2 km south of the village of Doonbeg.

"The development will comprise nine electricity generating wind turbines with a hub height of up to 85 metres and a rotor diameter of up to 82 metres giving an overall height of up to 126m, hardstandings, a control building, an electrical compound, a permanent meteorological mast, associated site roads, drainage and site works."The planning application is accompanied by an Environmental Impact Statement ( EIS ) and a Natura Impact Statement ( NIS )."

Hmmm...Doonbeg?   Hasn't that been in the news lately?  I remember it went into receivership, but whose misfortune is it to own it now?  Oh yeah, it's this guy... he went about it so quietly I almost forgot:

Nine turbines?  I'll huff and I'll puff....

I do hope they're not visible from up the road at Lahinch. That would just be wrong...

• That's a Wide 3-Point Arc:  Neglected to put this one in yesterday's compilation post. 

Frankly, I'm not sure what the big deal is.  It's a hardwood floor, so it's a simple, straight putt.

'Dis and 'Dat

A few items have piled up in the last few days, so let's get to them before the golf comes on.

• Signs of the Apocalypse:  I've passed on most of the weather stories from the South, though I did post a couple of the photos of Augusta National under snow.  In addition to ANGC, Pinehurst posted this cute video:

Now comes this Cassie Stein Golfweek item: 

A 4.1 magnitude earthquake hit Augusta, Ga., at 10:23 p.m. Friday, which originated in Edgefield, S.C.

According to WRDW News 12 Augusta, the impact of the earthquake may have caused damage to a water tower located near Augusta National Golf Club. There is water coming out of the overflow valve.

Cassie reminds us it's only 53 days until the Masters, more than enough time for pestilence and the slaying of the first born. 

• He's Ben on My Mind:  Golf.com posts this great gallery of photos of Ben Hogan.  I've come to a greater appreciation of Hogan in recent years.  It started with reading The Match, but in conjunction with the venues of the last two U.S. Opens I've read The Longest Shot and Miracle at Merion.  

Hogan with Jack Fleck after losing the playoff for the 1955 U.S. Open.

There was much to appreciate about the man in those books, but the best parts were the least known. I'll throw you one little factoid from the 1955 Open at Olympic in San Francisco. If you know the arc of his career, he wasn't playing much and it's quite amazing that he could trudge 

Hogan, with (clockwise) Bobby Jones, Jimmy Demaret and Byron Nelson at the 1946 Masters.

36 holes over that hilly course. He had by then just started his golf equipment company, and there were only two players in the field playing Ben Hogan clubs. Hogan himself, of course, but the second was Jack Fleck.

In those days, the leaders were spread throughout the field, and when Hogan finished he thought he had won his 5th Open.  He tossed the ball he used to a USGA official saying, "That's for Golf House," the USGA museum.  Later in the locker room, he heard the cheers when Fleck made his tying birdie on No. 18, meaning his damaged legs would have to last another 18 long holes the next day.  Below is the surviving video footage courtesy of the USGA.

And, while someone needs to write a full-length book on the 1960 U.S. Open, we at least have this John Garrity remembrance of the day the greatest golfers of three generations found themselves battling for a U.S. Open.  

Hogan and Nelson reunited for a photo shoot at Colonial.  Nelson maintained this was the only photo of the two old friends together since the 1940's.

• Inspector Gadget, I Presume:  The biggest buzz from the recent PGA Merchandise Show was for Game Golf, a system that utilizes a range of technologies to track every shot you hit on a golf course.  The system includes a series of tags that affix to the top of each club's grip, and a device that attaches to your belt.  Simply tap the club tag against the device on your belt, and an instant record of each shot is created, viewable after the round on your iPad, iPhone or computer.

The devices in a screen capture from Engadget.  The middle item is the device that attaches to the belt, and the club tags are on the right.  The system costs $249, but the iPhone is not included.

If you forget to tag a shot, the system allows you to edit it in later.  This system looks way cool, though they should of course provide one free to golf bloggers and they need to put a little more effort into the website.  Gary Van Sickle is, per this, taking one out for a test drive, so we'll look to him for feedback on whether it's worth the price of admission.

• A Golf Course of One's Owen:  I've linked to some wild trips, in the metaphorical sense, from David Owen, who writes The Muny Life column for Golf Digest.  In this blog post David introduces us to Winter Springs (Oxymoron Alert) Golf Club, a central Florida track that can best be described as.....abandoned.  Haunting photos are the order of the day, and you know that David more than most feels for the former regulars of WSGC.  But then David's mind starts to wandering, and before we're done we see the effects of the recent winter storms on David's Connecticut-based lawn furniture and for some reason we end up playing simulator golf.  Just give it a read...