Tiger's Baaack - Press Conference Edition

It's not exactly breaking news that Tiger will make his return to competitive golf tomorrow at The Quicken Loans National his tournament and, presumably with a gun to his head, sat with the press corp to discuss his return.

Farrell Evans of ESPN apparently stayed awake the whole time, so that bloggers such as yours truly can cherry pick the good bits...

Evans placed this surprising disclosure early in his piece, as would I:

"If this wasn't the foundation and our impact that we can have with kids, I probably would not

have played," Woods said. "Our goal was the British Open."

Hmmm....how should we interpret that?  Certainly he wants to support the tournament that benefits his foundation, but is he really pegging three weeks earlier than he would have otherwise?

As to the timing, Tiger gave us this:

"I healed extremely fast, thanks to my physios, and all my nutrition and all the different things that we did and the protocols and the MRIs, and all the different steps that we have done along the way have allowed me to get to this point," he said. 

Woods said the risk of re-injuring his back is minimal. 

"Obviously, I'm going to get stronger as time goes on," he said. "Just like it is with every round we play, we can hit behind a tree root and damage something, awkward lies, the little knickknack things that have happened to us that have played at this level. I'm no different in that regard."

Not to mention deep, vicious rough, with which the Northeast U.S. is plentiful this summer.   David Dusek also popped some greenies to maintain eyelid separation, and had this about Tiger's physical condition:

"Pre-procedure, before I went in, as I explained to you guys, I wasn't able to function," Woods said. "I couldn't get out of bed. I just couldn't do any normal activities. When I blew out my knee (in 2008) and had my Achilles (tendon) problems, I could still do things and I could still function. This was different. Anyone who has had any kind of nerve impingement knows that it's no joke. That part was relieved as soon as I got out of the surgery."

I can imagine the pain, and hopefully we shan't be seeing photos like the one above any more.  As a preview of the state of his game, there was this:

Woods said his explosiveness has yet to return, but he expects it to be back in time. He said his putting is sharp, but he did not have a chance while home in Florida to hit shots from the type of thick Bermuda rough that he will encounter at Congressional. He and swing coach Sean Foley have worked on refining his swing, but the changes are subtle, not major. He expects to be rusty from a competitive standpoint but is not afraid of re-injuring himself.

I don't think anybody is expecting too much, it's really about being ready for Hoylake. Steve DiMeglio caught this about his rehab:

"When you get treatment all the time, it's amazing what you can do. And also, nutritionally, making sure I eat perfect. Anti-inflammatory meals, all the different things I needed to do to get back. People take -- it's a normality in other sports. If you play football or hockey or any other sport, this is just common. But I think in the golfing world, looking at most of the physiques, it's not really that common. But having friends who are in other sports, it does help what they went through and what they have done and what their protocols are for their teams. You know, here we are."

So I guess it's all about the protocols... Glad to know that his surgery hasn't cost him the ability to speak at length and say nothing.

Apparently he also admitted to watching more World Cup than golf in recent weeks (can't find the link to that one), which doesn't surprise many of us.  But it's obviously good to have him back, if only to stop the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over the state of the game.  

The Week That Was

Confidential sources have advised me that the Sports Illustrated writers are now using my criticisms as part of their Wednesday night film sessions.  Good on them for their diligence, and let's not disappoint the lads:

1. Tiger Woods returns to the PGA Tour next week for his own event at Congressional. What are your expectations for him? Is he your pick to win the British Open?

Gary Van Sickle: I expect Tiger to have flashes of brilliance and flashes of rust. Unless he wins next week,

Will we see him in red on Sunday?

he is not my pick to win the British.

Josh Sens: The only thing I can guarantee we'll get from Tiger is a volley of press conference platitudes. Last we saw him, Tiger had swing issues as well as back issues.  Henrik Stenson is my pick in the Open this year.

Michael Bamberger: One of Tiger's things used to be ‘Only play in a tournament thinking you can win,’ but here I think here he's primarily looking to play four rounds of golf on a good golf course. To pick him to win just seems…sentimental.

Jessica Marksbury: I am totally surprised that Tiger is already returning to competitive golf only three months removed from back surgery. Does anyone else think that could spell disaster?

Joe Passov: My expectations are that he'll make the cut, and move the TV ratings needle well to the right.  He's not my pick at the British Open, but after next week, he sure could be.

Jeff Ritter: Tiger's return is surprising, since we only recently learned that he's hitting full shots. This week I expect him to play 36-72 holes without wincing from back pain -- anything more than that feels like a bonus. He's not in my top 5 for Hoylake yet, but I reserve the right to revisit that once we get a look at him at Congressional.

Eamon Lynch: It's the start that matters, not his finish. His return ignites a season that has thus far been a snooze. No matter how he plays at Congressional, he's always a threat to win the Open, especially on a course where he doesn't need to hit driver.

My Take: Quite the dis to the ladies that this is the lead query, as it seems they had a reasonably important event last week.  I thought he'd get more of a nod in the Open Championship than he did, but he wasn't playing well before the back went South and hasn't won a major since the Carter Administration.  

It's a sad commentary that we're more focused on the risk of re-injury than on his game.

2. U.S. Women's Open champion Michelle Wie has gone from child star to fading star to superstar. With her first major victory under her belt, is Wie the new face of women's golf?

MARKSBURY: No question that the answer is yes. Wie has always been the face of women's golf. We've been scrutinizing her every move for over a decade.  Must be incredible to finally have the major monkey off her back.

LYNCH: Every sports update I heard on my car radio today covered Wie's quest for a major, which is hardly standard practice for a Women's Open. She never really stopped being the face of women's golf, even as she struggled throughout her career.

BAMBERGER: Michelle Wie has not won enough to be regarded a superstar.  In terms of stature in the game, she's way ahead of Rickie Fowler, but miles behind, say, Inbee Park.

VAN SICKLE: Wie has been the biggest name in women's golf for quite some time, she just hasn't had the wins to go with it.

PASSOV: The only woman that truly moves the needle is Wie, and her win is great for women's golf -- and great for golf, period. She's never NOT been the face of women's golf for the past 10 years, but it hasn't been a happy face. 

RITTER: Wie's been the face of women's golf, for better or for worse, for about eight years -- ever since she burst onto the scene at a teenage prodigy. And at last, she's delivering on the hype, which is extremely cool to see. Stories of redemption are sweet, and in this case it's obviously fantastic for women's golf. Is the LPGA having a great season or what?

SENS: You mean, it isn't Paulina Gretzky?

My Take:  Props to Travelin' Joe, as he pithily nails this one.  From her prepubescent entry onto the world stage, she's been an oddly compelling, if tragic, figure.  Because of her prodigious physical talents we can't avert our gaze, and the odd career choices just fanned the flames.

Both the men's and women's games are littered with the corpses of can't-miss prodigies... have they melted down Bobby Clampett's Hall of Fame bust yet?  But we love redemption stories, and this is a darned good one, especially with all the heat she's taken over the putting stance.

3. 11-year-old Lucy Li was the story of the U.S. Women's Open for the first two rounds, but even as she charmed the media and played respectably with 78-78, her appearance renewed discussion of an age limit at the U.S. Open. Should there be an age limit? If so, what should it be?

VAN SICKLE: Any age limit would be discriminatory. If you can shoot the scores to qualify, you should be allowed to play. 

Is that a Trekkie salute?

SENS: She played respectably and seemed roughly as mature as Bubba Watson. Setting an age limit strikes me as arbitrary and unnecessary.

RITTER: Nothing about last week makes me think there should be an age limit on open qualifying. Li was awesome. Age should only matter when buying a beer in the clubhouse.

MARKSBURY: I count myself as a reformed skeptic. The idea of an 11-year-old competing against adults was initially very troubling to me, but Lucy Li showed incredible poise. Plus, she earned her place in the field as the medalist of her qualifier in California.

PASSOV: I seem to be in the minority on this one, but there should be an age limit at the U.S. Open. Lucy Li was utterly charming. Her swing was gorgeous, her results admirable, her personality mature and adorable at the same time. Yet, she's not even old enough to be eligible to play in American Junior Golf Association sanctioned events.

LYNCH: Had the USGA had randomly handed her a questionable exemption then the age question has merit. But it didn't. She qualified, playing her way in.

BAMBERGER: There should an age limit to join the LPGA, as there is. But for U.S. Open –open -- qualifying, I don't think there should be. It is really, really hard to say if it makes sense for an 11-year-old to be competing in the U.S. Open. It depends on the kid, and on the parents.

My Take:  Boy do people confuse issues on this one.  As Bamberger hints at, there is no common ground between the discussion of LPGA membership and playing in an Open, though people continue to blur the distinctions (there was more in the writers' comments that I excised).  An LPGA membership would require a youngster to live on the road, clearly a different kettle of fish than playing in one event, no matter how serious.

In these kinds of issues, you just need to trust the parents.  Like any fallible human beings they might not get it right, but to think that we ink-stained wretches have a clue is simply naive.

4. Were the back-to-back National Opens at Pinehurst a successful experiment?

LYNCH: These two weeks arguably identified the two best players in the men's and women's games right now, so yes, it was hugely successful. But so much could have gone wrong -- weather playing havoc with the schedule, rules controversies in the waste areas, the women's leader landing in a divot left by the men -- that I think the USGA will be breathe a sigh of relief that it's consigned to the record books. I'm not sure we'll see another double bill like this anytime soon, but here's hoping the setup and course conditioning are regular features going forward.

BAMBERGER: It was great, having the two events back-to-back. I don't believe the unique conditions of Pinehurst was the thing that made it possible, either. The USGA says rough can't be cut quickly enough to go from a men's event to a women's event.

SENS: Yes. Great fun to watch the women and men take on the same track back to back, and a good way to shine a brighter light on the women's game.

VAN SICKLE: The Pinehurst Opens were successful in re-establishing Pinehurst as a golfing destination and a desirable must-play site for avid golfers. The overly severe greens, the shots to ten feet that rolled off greens, didn't inspire me to think Pinehurst should host more Opens, however.

MARKSBURY: Absolutely. All the naysayers were proven wrong. The golf course held up incredibly well, the greens were perfect for two weeks straight.

PASSOV: Totally successful, except for the Kaymer runaway. The women received more attention than ever, and proved they could play a slightly softer version of Pinehurst No. 2 on par with the men. 

My Take:  I thought it was great, with the primary beneficiaries being, as intended, the ladies.  I particularly enjoyed some of the small moments, the ladies in the galleries on Fathers Day, the guys and gals hitting next to each other on the range, as well as the Fluff and yardage book stories.

I also think we need to applaud the USGA for taking the risk and recognizing the need to increase the visibility of the women.  It happened to occur in a year in which the LPGA is producing a bumper-crop of attractive winners, but there was no way of knowing this when it was planned.

I do think Bams is incorrect, though, in his agronomic comments.  You could cut Bermuda rough as needed to hold the back-to-backs, but I believe you'd destroy bent grass in doing the same.  And you could only consider this in a location with exceptional drainage, for which the sand hills of North Carolina are renown.

5. Kevin Streelman birdied seven straight on the back nine to at TPC River Highlands to win the Travelers Championship. What's the best back-nine performance you've ever seen?

SENS: Tiger's Sunday on a broken leg at Torrey ranks high up there, as does Phil's close last year at

Muirfield.

VAN SICKLE: There are plenty of nominees, but an obvious one was Jack Nicklaus shooting 30 on the back nine at Augusta in 1986.

MARKSBURY: That's pretty much as good as it gets. The only way to top that is to move the achievement into the final round at a major championship!

BAMBERGER: Does my 38 on the back nine of the Old Course count? No question: Big Jack, Sunday at the '86 Masters, when he shot 30. But nicely done, Kevin Streelman.

PASSOV: Jack Nicklaus, final round, 1986 Masters. Shot 30 with a bogey at 12 for a 65, which turned out to be good enough to win. I only saw it on TV, but it remains the most electric, emotional nine holes I've experienced.

LYNCH: I once played the hilly Straits course at Whistling Straits with Travelin' Joe Passov on an 85-degree day with not a breath of wind. That Joe made it to the 18th green under his own power -- albeit about 20 minutes after me -- was perhaps the most determined back nine rally I've ever witnessed. After that, Jack at Augusta in '86.

My Take:  Jack in '86 would win in a landslide, but I'll add two to the mix.  Phil and Ernie lit it up on the back side in 2004, resulting in Phil's first major.  Phil gets additional kudos because he had made a complete mess of the front side.

I'd also add the back nine from 1975, when you had the three biggest names in the sport (Jack, Johnny and Tom) showing us their best stuff.

6. Royal Portrush formally returned to the Open rota this week. What other terrific links course would you like to see host an Open? What course would you like to see bounced from the lineup?

SENS: As long as we're up in that direction, how about Royal County Down? While we're at it, we could put the screws to Royal St. George's and say no Open until women are admitted.

VAN SICKLE: Kingsbarns outside St. Andrews would be interesting. Few players would be sorry to Royal St. George's go.

LYNCH: Let's pretend length isn't an option, in which case I pick Royal Dornoch, one of the most beautiful and intriguing links courses I've ever seen. For pure entertainment, it would be North Berwick, which stands alone as the most wildly fun course in the world. For a world-class course that can handle the modern game, I nominate Kingsbarns. Of the 10 courses now on the Open rota, I've played all but Royal St. George's, which is often derided as the worst. Based on my experience, I'd retire Hoylake. It's a nice club but a bland layout lacking in variety, and where the regular internal O.B. hazards are too prevalent to be chalked up as a charming links quirk.

BAMBERGER: Ballybunion, Dornoch, Gullane No. 2, Western Gailes. Prestwick! Royal Lytham does not make the heart race, but it is sound and has a great history. I couldn't bounce any of them.

PASSOV: Royal County Down, the world's sixth-ranked course and Portrush's leading rival for Northern Ireland golf supremacy, would be a thrilling venue. Scotland's Royal Dornoch is pretty remote, but playing the Open at Donald' Ross' old stomping grounds would be the links equivalent of Pinehurst No. 2. I'd also be very curious to see how the big boys fare with Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen. If the wind blew over its 7,400 yards and fescue-cloaked sand dunes, I wonder if it would be tougher than Carnoustie. I'm a history geek, so I'd keep all the courses on the rota intact. Save us, though, from the knuckleheads who want St. Andrews to be the permanent host.

My Take:  This one's right up my alley, and it'd be easy to add an all-of-the above to the scribe's responses.  Alas, reality intrudes, and and mention of Dornoch and North Berwick in conjunction with an Open Championship is like mentioning Maggot and Kate Upton in the same sentence.  It's a nice dream, but can't survive contact with reality...  As just one example, there are exactly two hotels in the town of Dornoch, and I'd be surprised if they have more than 100 beds combined.  See the problem?

In fact, my work-mate Mark W. and I once discussed where they could take a Scottish Open (excluding Open Championship venues), and that list is alarmingly short.  There are simply precious few links with the requisite challenge and logistical capabilities to handle the demands of a modern Open.  

And not to be a complete downer, but the venue most likely to be dropped from the rota is, as I've discussed previously, Turnberry.  It comes with major logistical issues and the R&A takes a financial hit every time they go there.... and they need the revenue particularly badly right now as they need to add facilities for the ladies to their clubhouse.  It would be an interesting wager as to where Trump gets his first Open, Turnberry or Aberdeenshire, though with construction of the hotel on hold that's probably off the table.

County Down is an intriguing option, though we'll need to see how well they manage their forthcoming Irish Open.  

Tuesday Tidbits - The Sequel

It's come to my attention that a few worthy items were left on the cutting room floor, and that just won't stand...

Spieth, By the Numbers - I've previously noted for folks that Mark Broadie, the Columbia University professor who created the strokes-gained putting and other statistical measures of golf performance, now has a monthly column in Golf Magazine.  His most recent column on Jordan Spieth has now been made available at Golf.com, and can be found here.

Per the Maestro:

When you look at Spieth's traditional stats, nothing stands out as spectacular. Yet his

performance in the four main Strokes Gained categories in his singular rookie season reveals how he did it.

His success was achieved because he gained at least 0.2 strokes per round against the field in each of the four main parts of the game: driving (tee shots on par 4s and par 5s), approach shots (starting outside 100 yards from the hole, excluding drives), shot-game shots (starting inside 100 yards from the hole, excluding putts), and putting (shots on the green, not including from the fringe).

So, doing everything above average is a way to success...duly noted.  Lots of helpful pointers on how to allocate practice time and the like, and Broadie's column is a welcome addition to the magazine.  And, as I've noted previously, Golf Magazine is more likely to retain my readership than their primary competitor, Golf Digest, that would rather teach me how to pimp out a golf cart.

Planet Rory, Legal Edition -  We've tended to focus on the young man's golf, and the possible effects thereon from a certain Danish tennis player's Tritter picture.  But young Rory also plays a mean legal game, and seems to be spending far too much quality time with his barristers.

My new favorite writer (really just a favorite name) Sccoby Axson fills us in on his ongoing lawsuit against former manager Conor Ridge:

Rory with Conor Ridge at a less awkward moment.

Lawyers appearing before an Irish commercial court on behalf of Rory McIlroy on Monday argued that McIlroy was on "markedly inferior" commercial terms compared to Graeme McDowell under their respective representation agreements with Horizon Sports Management, reports the Independent. 

McIlroy, 25, is suing his former agent Conor Ridge of Horizon Sports Management over commissions tied to his off-the-course income, most notably his Nike endorsement deal, reportedly worth anywhere from $200-$250 million. According to Forbes, the agreement entitles Horizon to a 20 percent fee on all of McIlroy's off-the-course income, a figure which McIlroy called "unconscionable." McIlroy claims that Ridge led him to believe that he would be on the same commercial terms as McDowell; Horizon disputes that claim. 

According to Bloomberg, McIlroy told the Dublin High Court last year that he was too young and lacked legal advice and business experience when he signed the deal with Horizon "in circumstances of great informality" at Horizon's Christmas party in 2011.

You really shouldn't need to be a graybeard to know that Christmas parties are for putting lampshades on your head, as opposed to, you know, signing binding legal agreements.  On the other hand, this doesn't seem to be a brilliant move on Ridge';s part for recruiting new players, and wouldn't one do anything possible to keep a client as lucrative as McIlroy happy?

Other Legal Notes - Old friend Vijay Singh appears to have received something of a setback in his fishing expedition focused litigation against the PGA Tour, per Alex Miceli:

Vijay Singh's attempt to look behind the curtain of the PGA Tour's drug policy will be limited,

according to a recent court ruling. 

In Singh's lawsuit against the Tour, Judge Eileen Bransten of New York's Supreme Court granted part of a motion to compel documents and answers from the Tour but denied other parts of the motion, notably regarding specific questions about the Anti-Doping Program. 

The 10-page ruling, dated June 12, limits the scope of the discovery only to documents of prior violations that were linked to the use of deer-antler spray or products that contained insulin-like growth factor 1, known as IGF-1.

This grave injustice will not stand...oh, never mind.  For new readers, my interest here is less in the Veej than in the Tour's refusal to make public its disciplinary actions.  As such, my hope is for the widest discovery possible, and of course that the case doesn't settle.  I suspect that at then end of this saga I'll be sorely disappointed, but such is the lonely life of a blogger.

Tell Us How You Really Feel -  We here at Unplayable Lies have a special regard for those in our little fish bowl that speak plainly, though we have precious few opportunities to applaud such folks.  In the last couple of weeks we've noted the gracious farewells of the NBC and ESPN teams as they completed coverage of their last U.S. Opens.  ESPN's Scott Van Pelt, however, felt differently and said so to Bob Gillespie:

What riles ESPN’s Van Pelt, though – who, unlike Berman’s mixed reviews, has a reputation as one of the best young golf announcers around – is the backhanded slap administered by the USGA on its way into Fox’s arms. In a statement, the association said that “the game is evolving and requires bold and unique approaches on many levels, and Fox shares our vision to seek fresh thinking and innovative ideas to deliver championship golf.” 

“That was incredibly offensive,” Van Pelt said. “We’ve done plenty to innovate and change how golf is covered, and (ESPN producer) Mike McQuade should be praised for that. 

“What they should just say is that (Fox) wrote us the biggest check, and that’s fine.”

But it was a big honkin' check, Scott, with lots of zeros.  But if it makes you feel any better, it's not like they fooled anybody.

Phil's Phlops - No, we're not going to rehash the Phlopster's U.S. Open performance, but there's a new clarification to the insider trading probe.  According to Shackelford, the Feds actually first approached Phil earlier than has been previously reported:

Mr. Mickelson has said he was willing to cooperate with the FBI. He was first approached by agents in September 2013, at an airport in Bedford, Mass., after playing in the Deutsche Bank Championship golf tournament. The Wall Street Journal reported that he was approached again by a pair of agents after finishing a round at an Ohio golf tournament on May 29, the day before news of the investigation became public. He referred them to his lawyer.

There's also been a report that he was approached at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, but the case appears to be weaker by the hour.   Unless information surfaces to the contrary, we're left to assume that they're strong-arming Phil to get to either Billy Walters or Carl Icahn.  Unfortunately for the G-Men, Phil undoubtedly has competent counsel.

On the subject of Phil, Alex Myer's has the details on the "Win Phil's Paycheck Callaway promotion:

Speaking of having money to spend, Callaway Golf announced that Art Mark was the winner of its "Big Bertha Payday" contest -- the one in which the winner takes home a check equal to Phil Mickelson's U.S. Open prize money. I'm sure he's not complaining about winning $59,588, but he's really wishing Mickelson hadn't missed a few of those short putts at Pinehurst.

Viral Stuff - Lots of photos and videos making the rounds.  Alex Myers provides these photos of Paula Creamer visiting the troops at Fort Bragg:

And the requisite Lucy Li ice cream photo:

And of course, video of our champion twerking:

I'm no expert on this twerking craze, but how exactly is twerking different than her putting stance?

Tuesday Tidbits

After a late evening at the 63rd Annual Metropolitan Golf Writers Association Awards Dinner, Unplayable Lies gave it's entire staff some flex time off this morning.  But we're now open for business, and business is good...

Actual Eyeballs - We've noted the many ratings tumbles in the men's golf world this year, attributed to blowout wins, the absence of Tiger or the unusual level of sunspot activity.  So it's nice to have some actual good news to report, especially about the ladies.  From Shackelford (though his link takes one to an ESPN page related to a previously-unknown sporting event called the World Cup):

From NBC/Golf Channel:

- NBC's coverage of the final round of the U.S. Women's Open drew a 1.67 overnight rating in metered markets, up 92% from a year ago (3-6P; 0.87). This was the highest final round overnight at this event since 2007 (3-6:15P; 1.9).

Small numbers compared to other sports, but at least bigger small numbers. 

Torrey On His Mind - Having declared the experiment a success, Shack posts in the Loop to advocate going back-to-back with these back-to-back Opens, as follows:

The only beef with Pinehurst was the locale. While the Sandhills are wonderful and the heart of America's golfing core last century and this, inhabited by all sorts of nice folks with great spots to dine, two straight weeks was a lot on the people of Southern Pines and the Village of Pinehurst. It's not that they can't do it again, but if the USGA is to replicate this in the future, a larger region with more options for lodging and off-course activities needs to be part of the decision-making process.

Add up all of these elements and there is one no-brainer for another back-to-back: Torrey Pines.

The men are slated to go there for the 2021 U.S. Open. Adding a U.S. Women's Open to the week before that men's event should be a USGA priority. 

It's well worth a read to review his logic, and he doesn't even touch on the true selling point to the USGA and Fox, which is prime time telecasts.  I think there's a far broader message here, which is to finds ways to showcase the Women's Open, and you'll be rewarded with ratings and buzz.  My only hesitation with Shack's suggestion to go B-to-B there is, as he notes, that's it's quite the dreadfully boring golf course.  But he's spot on that this is one of the few venues where it's logistically doable, though I don't see any scenario in which the men go second and Keegan uses Michelle's yardage book.

I Thought These Guys Were Good - We take time out from our regularly scheduled blogging about the stellar play of Tour professionals, to make everyone feel better about their own games.  Alex Myers trolls the bottom of the PGA Tour statistics pages and comes up with this:

OK, so when we say "ALL TIME" we really mean since 2004 when the PGA Tour started

keeping track of strokes/gained putting. Nevertheless, Kyle Stanley's performance on the greens this season has been remarkably bad.

Stanley currently ranks last on the PGA Tour in strokes gained/putting at -1.607. That's last out of 191 qualified players.

Yes, someone always has to be ranked last, but never before has the gap between the last guy and the next-to-last guy been so pronounced. Lucas Glover is second worst in the category at -1.196. That's more than a 34 percent difference between the two!

That's an enormous amount of strokes to be ceding to the field, and as Myers notes, it comes at a bad time as Stanley's two-year exemption for winning in Phoenix has lapsed.  He's a good ball-striker, but he'd need to be Justin Rose-good just to break even and get back to average.

Living The Dream - The Back9 Network, a fledgling "Golf Lifestyle" Channel, announced that it has signed a deal to be carried on DirectTV, and has hired forty people after signing the contract.  Peter Finch interviews network president Carlos Silver here, but the far juicier take on this comes via Dan Haar in Hartford Courant, including linkage to the debate over the pending Comcast-TimeWarner Cable merger:

Living large on the taxpayers' dime.

Bosworth, known as Jamie, told the Senate Judiciary Committee about his efforts to gain a place on one of the nation's four large outlets for pay TV. Without that, Back9Network's $7.5 million buildout of a studio on Constitution Plaza could sit underused. The company's $30 million in investors' money, including $5 million from Connecticut taxpayers, could look like a bad bet.

So we have Comcast's high-paid lobbyists rolling Back9's influential ties to the Connecticut political elite...is this a great country or what?  Most folks would wait to build the $7.5 million studio until they had, you know, a business, but standards tend to be a bit lower when it's someone else's money.  As for the taxpayers of the state of Connecticut, nothing to see here...

The only thing missing from this story is an ugly divorce.....Oops, gotcha covered:

The preening Bosworths have parted. The former Jennifer Lahmers is suing James Bosworth

Preening in happier times.

for divorce, according to Connecticut court records. The two were married in Carmel, California on July 2, 2011. 

They have maintained a high public profile in Hartford since launching the Back9Network a struggling louche online and cable venture much favored by the Malloy administration. Taxpayers have poured more than $5 million into the startup that has attracted much criticism for its misogynist underscoring. The company raised eyebrows when it hired a former postman, the spouse of Malloy’s chief of staff, after receiving millions in taxpayer funds. 

Jennifer Bosworth was a frequent face of the operation. She is seeking temporary alimony as the case proceeds.

If they had burned the $30 million, at least they'd have gotten some heat...

Rabbits Live Well - Hunter Mahan has had a decent career, winning a few events and there was also the Golf Boys gig... But lately his game as been such that you're more likely to see him on a milk carton than a leaderboard.  But the thing is, between Ping commercials and appearance fees, no need to organize a rent party:

For those lacking sufficient motivation to get to the driving range, we point you to Hunter Mahan's lavish Dallas-area mansion, which he and wife Kandi have put on the market for $9.5 million.

 Now, you get quite a bit for $9.5 million, and that's just an opening offer, they'd no doubt take $9 million even.  And it's got a pool:

Or perhaps you're a hoops fan:

I guess Kandi and Hunter would be the target demo for the Back9 Network.

What Would it Take to Put You In a Ryder Cup Today - One of the recurring outrages in our game is that the powers-that-be continue to take the Ryder Cup, the best event in golf, to dreadfully boring venues.

Both sides are guilty, though the PGA of America has marginally redeemed itself with its choice of Bethpage Black, where the crowds will be a bit loud.  The Euro's have actually put their bidding specs in writing and, well, Shackelfrod is only human:

From the official Ryder Cup site, notes on the "Bidding Process."

It is expected that bids will be submitted from a wide range of countries whose players are eligible for selection to The European Team and who are sure to benefit in a similar manner to previous host countries from the unique sporting eminence of The Ryder Cup.

That would seem to rule out Dubai, mercifully.

KEY BID CRITERIA FOR THE 2022 RYDER CUP

1.       Demonstrable Government, Political, Institutional and Golfing Community support

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

2.       Commitment to the development of a world-class golf facility (new or existing) to host The 2022 Ryder Cup

God forbid we'd use one that's proven itself worthy, like The Old Course.

3.       Provision of ancillary facilities, suitable access and infrastructure commensurate with the staging of an international sporting event, including proximity to a major international city

4.       Commercial opportunities available to The Ryder Cup

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

5.       Contribution of the Bid Country to the development of golf, for example:
Ø  Legacy
Ø  Contribution to the professional game
Ø  Integration of golf within tourism and business communities
Ø  Development of levels of golf participation
Ø  Professional tournament golf at all levels
Ø  Contribution to The Ryder Cup: eg Player eligibility and participation

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Hard to miss their primary objective, isn't it?  We'll all see what this begets in September, when the world gets it's first look at the dreadful Nicklaus Centennial Course at Gleneagles.  It'll have us pining for the Belfry...

Other Stuff

While all eyes were justifiably on The Big Wiesy, the world surprisingly continued to turn on its axis.  Who knew?

Seven Straight - When you look up Tour Rabbit in the dictionary, you know doubt see a picture of Kevin Streelman.  That probably sounds harsh, but it is what it is...

But yesterday he did something that's never been done before on Tour:

Streelman birdied the last seven holes to win the Travelers Championship by a stroke, shooting

The Man of Streel.

his second straight 6-under 64 to finish at 15-under 265. 

"It's probably my favorite nine holes on the PGA Tour," Streelman said. "But you can't plan for something like that to happen. It just kind of falls into place."

Probably?  I of course saw none of the seven, but back-to-back 64's anywhere is pretty darn special.

Funny thing is that over the weekend I saw a Wilson golf commercial featuring Streelman, and my immediate reaction was to wonder whether anyone but me knew who he was?  I guess today there'd be a few more...

Not Quite Up To Elk's Standards - I'm not now nor have I ever been on Twitter, but I can see it's uses as a social medium.  I'm also aware that it provides a way for prominent people to bypass the media in communicating with the outside world and/or to share their experiences (see my prior post and the Michelle Wie pictures for a real-world example).

But, and it's a big but, there seems to be a class of people who don't get that that which they put up on Twitter to be read, will be read.  So, as a handy rule of thumb, if you wouldn't say it to their face, you probably don't want to be tweeting it.

The latest poster child is Web.com player Tom Gillis, who at age 45 really is old enough to know better.  Here are the offending tweets:

When u play the http://web.com tour u get to warm up with the lady members.

Never been to a course with a higher opinion of themselves. crestview c.c.

Now, who is it that sounds like they have an inflated opinion of themselves?  This is admittedly not as offensive as Elk's Michael Sam handbag toss, but it might be even stupider given that he had to play the next few days at said Crestview CC.  You can read the full back and forth here, if you're so inclined.

That Pioneer Spirit - John Paul Newport devotes his weekly Wall Street Journal golf column to a profile of one of the true pioneers of the women's game, Peggy Kirk Bell.  Bell and her husband purchased the Pine Needles resort for $50,000 in 1953, and have hosted three Women's Opens as well.  I'll give you a little tease, but you'll really want to read the entire piece:

On Tuesday about a dozen former Women's Open champions played a round at Pine Needles,

Bell, on the left, with good friend Babe in 1953.

with Bell viewing some of the action from her cart. The previous week Lucy Li, the pig-tailed 11-year-old charmer from Northern California who is the youngest ever to qualify for a U.S. Open, practiced at Pine Needles and had lunch with Bell several times. 

"She's phenomenal. She didn't miss a shot," Bell said. "I told her she had the skill to win here this week." That is not going to happen but the generation-spanning marvel of their friendship is a pleasure to ponder: A woman who took lessons from Tommy Armour, the 1927 U.S. Open champ and an influential early instructor, encouraging a girl who, when she is 24, might well be a contender for the 2027 Women's Open.

The Irish Open -  Mikko Ilonen, who should be a forward for the Black hawks but is instead a professional golfer, won the Irish Open on Sunday by one shot over Eduoardo Molinari.  It's the fourth Euro

Mikko Ilonen

Tour win for the 34-year old Finn, not that anyone really cares.

Earlier in the week Former World No. 1 Rory McIlroy announced his decision to play for Ireland in the 2016 Olympics, then proceeded to stink up the joint and speculate as to whether he'll qualify in 2016.  This is of course only of interest because it continues the streak of no-good, horrible results for Rory since THAT picture went up on a certain Danish tennis player's Twitter account.  You know the one:

Back To Tiger - We noted the return to competitive golf of Tiger in this post, in which your humble blogger speculated about whether he might be jumping the gun.  John Strege had similar thoughts here, and also used a much more appropriate picture than I did:

"Listening to John Feinstein talk about the condition of the golf course [Congressional Country Club] — he lives there and is a member there — it’s going to have four-inch thick rough,” Chamblee said on the network’s Golf Central Pregame show. “And then listening to Dr. [Ara] Suppiah talk about the risk of re-injury, every single time Tiger Woods hits it in the rough next week is going to be a hold-your-breath moment.”

Suppiah, a sports medicine consultant for Golf Channel, said he was surprised to learn that Woods was coming back so soon. “To me that’s not enough time to hit a driver full swing,” he said. “That’s really the benchmark of how well he’s doing, whether he trusts to hit the driver as aggressively as he used to.”

Obviously none of us knows for sure, including Tiger, and we're all anxious to have him back in the mix.  But, it does seem awfully quick...

In a follow up post, Strege also checks in with the British bookies:

Earlier this week, Sam Weinman, editor of GolfDigest.com, noted that should Tiger Woods

return at the British Open, “Oddsmakers will insult players who have played well all season by giving Woods a better chance of winning.” 

It has already happened, even before we know whether Woods will returns or not. A mere hint that Tiger might be ready to play the British Open caused Jeff Sherman, the assistant sports book manager at the Las Vegas Hotel, to move odds on him from 20/1 to 15/1, he said.

 Can you short Tiger with the bookies?  

Nobody Doesn't Like Lucy Li - Yes, she got way too much attention at the Women's Open, but I'm guessing the other women didn't mind too much.  Michael Bamberger was certainly charmed, and in this piece he's exactly right when he says that she exuded joy.  And we can all use more of that...  

And then it looked like the wheels could come off. Then it looked like she might go for a number. Worse than that, then it looked like the drain of playing world-class competition on a world-class course with cameras might suck the life right out of her. And you wondered right then and there: was Stacy Lewis right? 

She was not. 

Lucy Li played the last five holes in even par, for another 78. She walked across that 18th green with her shoulders forward, using her putter as a walking stick. She exuded joy.

Stacey was being protective of the young girl, and her concerns shouldn't be minimized as we've seen plenty of teen prodigies suffer from their early exposure to the cold, cruel world.  I just hope that Lucy came away from Pinehurst with great memories and Michelle Wie's cell phone number, as Wie is uniquely positioned to help Lucy deal with her career.

Potty Humor - We try to take the high road here at Unplayable Lies, unles sof course it means passing up a cheap laugh.  We're all familiar with the mind-numbing ubiquity of the FedEx Cup standings, but Shackelford informs us that they're even more widely available than imaginable, specifically in the men's room at TPC River Highlands:

Now Shack has been calling it the Reset Cup for years, and I was accordingly surprised that there wasn't an off-color reference to flushing the point standings before each playoff event.  But perhaps that's why he's a highly-compensated Golf Digest scribe and I'm just a lowly unpaid blogger.

Streel, Redux - Brian Wacker has a nice feature on Streelman at PGATour.com that's worth a read, as wife Courtney and he have certainly been through the ringer.  It's a brutal game we play with far more anguish than joy, so it's good to see those that persevere be rewarded...eventually.

But I was most taken by his description of his state of mind during the birdie binge:

“When you're in the zone like that, when athletes talk about being in the zone, everything is really slow, and it's really clear and concise, and it's very vivid,” said Streelman, who began the day four strokes back and was 2 over through his first seven holes Sunday. “The lines are easy to see. The hole seems to appear bigger. It's almost to a point it doesn't matter how you read the putts because you just know they're going in before you hit them.”

That hit home because I had a similar binge on Sunday, making a personal-record six birdies in the round (I'd never had more than four previously).  It was an eerily calm and serene feeling, but as I stood over putts on our 8th and 9th greens (we had started on the back nine) I just knew the line and that they would somehow drop.  Caddy Nick, a reader of the blog, deserves credit especially for the last putt, which was to a cup cut way toe high into the slope, which assured me a twenty-footer for par had I missed.  But I didn't miss and, as Streelman relates, I somehow knew I wouldn't miss.

Next time, of course, that feeling will be gone and I'll have been forcibly regressed to my mean.  That's why we have to enjoy it when it happens.

Wiesy Does It

It took a decade longer than we all expected, but the prodigious talent that is Michelle Wie finally delivered yesterday.  From the AP game story:

The road Michelle Wie took to a U.S. Women's Open title was unlike any other, and suddenly

insignificant. Whether this was a long time coming was the least of her cares. 

The biggest star in women's golf had her name on the biggest trophy. 

She never looked happier. 

"Oh my God, I can't even think straight," Wie said Sunday after a two-shot victory over Stacy Lewis to claim her first major.

While most have focused on the awkward (and that's being charitable) putting stance, Karen Crouse focuses on the notable change in Wie's attitude:

Michelle Wie's strategy for the 69th United States Women’s Open was to laugh in the face of disaster. She made it her mantra. When bad shots happen, smile and move on. 

Much has gone wrong on the golf course for Wie since she made the cut at the 2003 United States Women’s Open as a 13-year-old. Eleven years later, she came to Pinehurst No. 2 still in search of her first major title.

She had such an opportunity to laugh at a woman-made disaster on the 16th hole, one that would have been truly a disaster had she not calmly drilled in that 5-footer for double.  Folks will naturally focus on the bounce back birdie on No. 17, but to me it was the come-backer on No. 16 that showed she was still all there.  But I was glad for that last birdie, as it gave her the chance to enjoy the stroll up No. 18.

Gary Smits provides a look-back at Michelle's unique career arc:

Michelle Wie has at long last won an LPGA major, the U.S. Women's Open. 

It took a bit longer than anyone who saw her play in Flagler County in the summer of 2003 might have thought. 

Wie's most significant amateur victory came at the Ocean Hammock Golf Club in Palm Coast when she captured the U.S. Women's Public Links Championship. Wie qualified for match play with an even-par 144, then got to the final 36-hole match and edged Virada Nirapathpongporn 1-up. 

At the age of 13.

Wie took justifiable heat for some of her (and her team's) decisions, especially the playing against the men thing, when she hadn't you know, won anything against the girls.  I was OK with some of it, specifically the Sony Open home games.  But when she entered the John Deere, a long course on which she had zero chance, you wanted to scream "Enough already."

And it had the unfortunate effect of obscuring her truly amazing achievements, like making the cut at a Women's Open at age 13.  Not to mention missing the cut at the Sony by a single stroke, and playing in the final group at the Women's Opens in '05 and '06 (my math says she was 15 and 16 for those).

Smits has this interesting story which somewhat belies the reputation of her parents:

I remember distinctly the pre-tournament media session before the Public Links began. It was in the lobby of the resort hotel. There were two sportswriters, myself and Ken Willis of the Daytona News Journal. 

We waited with USGA media official Rhonda Glenn for a few minutes until Wie came in the lobby with her parents, Bo and B.J. They left her with us and said, "we'll be in the room when you get done." 

I wish I could tell you that Wie had some fascinating observations about golf and life but she was 13 and it was exactly like having a conversation with any 13-year-old girl: a lot of giggles and one-word answers. 

I was more amazed at how her parents simply dropped her off and left her to talk to us alone. After she won and became even more famous, Bo and B.J. didn't just turn into helicopter parents -- they became Apache Longbows.

Jason Sobel catches up with Keegan Bradley, whose yardage book Michelle used:

“She was texting me earlier in the week, asking me if she could have my [yardage]

book,”Keegan Bradley recalled after his final round at the Travelers Championship. “I said of course.” 

He not only handed it over after he finished last Sunday, he made sure it was fully helpful. 

“Before I gave it to her,” he explained, “I put a little extra in there, just to make sure she could use it.”

Anybody besides me wondering what those extras were?  I've long thought that Tour yardage books are works of art that should be in a museum somewhere, logically in Far Hills, NJ.

E. Michael Johnson has an interesting piece on Michelle talking about her equipment, specifically the adjustment to her putter:

I understand you made an adjustment to your putter this week. What was it?

I did. I flattened the lie angle 4.5 degrees on my Nike Method 006. David Leadbetter suggested the change about three weeks ago, but it usually takes about a month for me to listen to him. The Nike guys were here this week, and since I had a backup with me it was a good time to make the change. I really wasn't planning to put it in play, but it felt so good I put it in the bag.

That putter adjustment seems  quite interesting because of the magnitude of the change and I wish they'd gone deeper into the logic of it, i.e. whether it was related to the unique turf conditions or not.  But she played 72 holes of U.S. Open golf without a 3-jack (though she did need 34 putts on Saturday), so no second-guessing here.

There's lots of other good stuff out there for those interested.  Keely Levins has this post on comments from other LPGA players, and John Strege revisits some ancient history, including when Michelle was cannon fodder for The Onion.  This photo gallery is worth a scan, and while I'd like to revisit the putting stance, I'll defer that for a later time.

I'll just close with a couple of cute twitter pics:

Safety first, of which her sponsor Kia would no doubt approve.

I'm not a fan of the selfie art form, but can you blame a girl?

He's Baaack

I have to admit, I didn't see this coming:

Tiger Woods’ comeback from back surgery will begin next week at the Quicken Loans

National that he is hosting at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

Woods, who has not played since the WGC-Cadillac Championship in early March, made the announcement on his Facebook page.

As I recall, he had surgery on March 31st, so this is definitely at the quick end of the speculations.  And what did Tiger himself have to say?

“After a lot of therapy I have recovered well and will be supporting my foundation next week at the Quicken Loans National,” he wrote. “I've just started to hit full shots but it's time to take the next step. I will be a bit rusty but I want to play myself back into competitive shape. Excited for the challenge ahead.”

That's relatively consistent with what I had heard, as rumors started circulating about 48 hours prior to the announcement that he was making full swings.   It's understandable that he wants to support his own event and Washington, D.C. should be suitably warm and sticky for a guy with a back to protect, but I can't help a nagging suspicion that he's pushing the envelope.  Of course my only frame of reference is Graham DeLaet's experience, where it took him most of a full year to make it fully back.

Jeff Rude is on the same wavelength, considering it a surprise as follows:

One, he only recently started making full swings. Two, people in his camp on Wednesday seemed to be leveling when they said they were uncertain when he would come back from March 31 microdiscectomy surgery. One figured the odds of his playing the July 17-20 Open at 50-50. 

Three, in making the announcement via Facebook, Woods said he will be a “bit rusty,” but wants to play his way back into “competitive shape.” That’s a departure from the modus operandi of the majority of his career, when he wouldn't show up unless he was totally prepared and felt he could win.

His last point is a tad silly, as the history Jeff is citing relates to early season events.  Yes, we've seen him show up at Torrey coming of an injury and dust the field.  The issue here is that he wants to deal with that rust before Hoylake in mid-July.  His only other viable option to tee it up at the Greenbrier 4th of July weekend, as Tiger doesn't do Quad Cities.

And that leads us to speculate as to whether he'll be risking further injury or setback from coming back too soon.  The fact that he took his own people by surprise means our concerns are not frivolous, but there's only one guy that knows how it feels.  And even he can't know for sure whether he might be pushing too hard... but it at least gives us a reason to tune in.