FG Man

Out With Eldrick the Tiger, In With Cap'n Crush Couples?

2011-10-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

Boy, you look away for a few minutes and 11 months blaze by. That's how long I've left FGMan, the blog, in the bushes, along with the five million or so golf balls I've sprayed over my 40-year hacking career. So, it's high time I started hunting for some words beyond my regular gig as publisher of Fairways + Greens Magazine (but read it too, please, daily if you can).

And what better place, or person, to start with than
my old friend Greg Norman, who I've met exactly twice — once at the PGA Merchandise Show four or five years ago as he helped shill MacGregor golf clubs (not one of his more astute business partnerships), and once during the Senior Skins competition at Royal Ka'anapali on Maui, where he was grabbing some early-morning Joe for then-bride Chris Evert (not one of his more astute matrimonial partnerships).

So, here's the deal: There's been a bit of a dustup regarding the Shark's comments that, from where he sits as captain of the President's Cup International squad, American counterpart Fred Couples had no business giving Tiger Woods a spot on his team, pointing to PGA Champ Keegan Bradley as more deserving of a captain's pick (FedEx Cup winner Bill Haas, son of co-captain Jay, got the other slot).

Some pundits say Tiger is still pure ratings gold, therefore deserving by default; others go with Greg, saying there are actually several current American players whom Couples should have given more than a cursory glance when nailing down his final lineup.I see both sides, and I waffle on this by the minute. Two years ago at Harding Park I watched Tiger and Prez Cup pal Steve Stricker (who, ironically, might miss this year's edition at Royal Melbourne thanks to a nagging neck issue, which would make way for Bradley) tear up every International team they faced, while Tiger himself put on a clinic. Of course, that was before the Kryptonite Krash heard 'round the world, and Tiger hasn't been the same since. Not even close. Two-year-win-drought-not-even-close. And no, his sizzling front nine at this year's Masters doesn't make up for his otherwise dismal competitive showing overall; for his lousy sense of decorum in the caddy handling and media massaging departments; and the complete obliteration of any edge, psychological or otherwise, that he maintained over his fellow Tour players since 1996.

But he could catch fire down Melbourne way (excuse the metaphor, I realize that that part of the world has seen enough wildfire to hold it for a century or two), and suddenly Couples would appear a brilliant strategist. This is Tiger Woods, for God's sake, not Mike Donald (who?) or even Luke Donald, the world's current No. 1 player. Fourteen major wins is a major statement, even for a 35-year-old prodigy with baggage. Especially for him. That guy is still in there somewhere.

Or is he? Norman — whose anti-Obama comments a couple weeks back, while not unexpected from a multigazillionaire or pretty much any PGA Tour player on the planet, got him on my bad side — might have it right this time. Tiger is wobbly at best, with a balky putter and a swing that, according to Norman, doesn't look free and loose, like Tiger Circa 2000's did. He's pressing, he's searching, sometimes he looks downright confused, on the same level as any of us weekend hackers. And he's President's Cup material? Hmm. Maybe not.

Now let's take a look at Captain Couples, who blew out the field at last week's AT&T Championship by seven shots, and plays with the same super-cool, let-it-fly bravado that endeared him to us more than two decades ago. He can still bring it, which begs the question: Why can't he bring it as a player-captain?Because unlike the Ryder Cup, the President's Cup rules won't allow such double duty. I haven't taken the time to research just why the PGA Tour and international body movers and shakers decided to assume that stance, but it doesn't fit. One of golf's enduring charms is that a guy in his 50s with a dodgy lower back can still pound it 350 yards, make the occasional putt (even if it is with an abominable belly or long wand), and rack up scads of cash, right alongside dudes in their 20s and 30s. And Fred is that guy.Yeah, I know the Champions Tour is a much different, more user-friendly animal than the Big Show. But it ain't exactly hit-and-giggle, either. Those ol' boys can play. So why can't Couples strap it on right alongside his charges, and maybe show them a thing or two?

And why can't Tiger take notes from the sidelines, then earn his way on the next time?

Popular Golf Podcaster Hosts V-Day Vacation

2010-11-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

While I understand the basic tenets of marketing, I'm one of those people who can't stand walking into Wal-Mart the day after Halloween only to be greeted by a sense-slamming array of what I call "KK" — Kristmas Krap. That said, I also understand that planning a good golf vacation takes some serious lead time, which is why, before we've even thrown the Thanksgiving bird into the oven, I'm giving ya'll a heads-up about a cool Valentine's Getaway hosted by longtime Fairways + Greens friend Fred Greene.

Slated for Feb. 9-13, The Golf Smarter Scottsdale Adventure, says Greene, “is going to be a great weekend of golf, sun, fun and surprises.” Open to Golf Smarter members and anyone dying to get in some top-drawer winter golf, the package includes four nights at Xona Resorts (I’ve stayed there, and can report that it’s as comfy and convenient as any digs in the Valley of the Sun) and rounds at four nearby, award-winning golf courses, starting with the Raptor course at Grayhawk Resort, followed by 18 of the 27 holes at Westin Kierland Resort, Pinnacle at Troon North and finally the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale — home of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, which will conclude just days before you step on the tee. Chances are you'll still hear the echose from its loud, raucous 16th hole.

Combining the amenities of a vacation condominium with all the services of a resort hotel, XONA Resort Suites has large comfortable beds and big rooms with free Wi-Fi and HD TVs. Each four-bedroom suite provides the comfort of your own private bedroom and bathroom with a common living room, dining room and fully furnished kitchen. Bring your spouse, partner, buddies, or come alone. Bring a foursome and have a full suite to yourselves. And this time no one has to sleep on the floor or couch, always a good thing.

Recent Golf Smarter guest, Jeff Ritter, hailed for his unique approach to coaching, will join the group for dinner and a podcast recording session.

Other after-golf events include a field trip, group dinners, and hanging out at the pool, along with a full menu of available activities for non-golfers, including a day of total indulgence at the Willow Stream Spa at the AAA Five-Diamond Fairmont Scottsdale Princess.

Deadline to RSVP is January 7. Fred and his lieutenants will arrange the tee-times, meals and accommodations; all you have to do is show up. Visit here to get the complete Golf Smarter lovin' feelin'.

Time for a World-Class Club Fitting Part 2

2010-11-17T12:37:00.000-08:00

Now that my spanking-new, two-degree-flat TaylorMade Burner 2.0 irons are on their way to my doorstep (I just couldn't resist), I'm zeroing in on my big stick … uh, I mean the new Williams F32 driver that showed up a couple weeks ago (you can read about in the January-February edition of Fairways + Greens magazine).

The 9-degree stick was built to my specs, but not in person as with the irons, which I tested at Haggin Oaks' Performance Studio under the expert eye of crack clubfitter Shaun Barnes. Instead, I e-mailed the Britain-based Williams Golf rep my stats based on previous fitting I'd had via a certified KZG fitter near my home in Reno, Nev.

So, there it was, another 450cc beauty fresh out of the box, all shiny and sleek with its unique aerodynamic fins and channels along the head's lower-rear portion, loaded with a top-line Fujikura S-flex shaft.

I took it out in my front yard and gave it a few cursory swings. Felt good, felt right. But how would it perform when I actually took it to the range and on the course?

Damn well, turns out. After beating a few balls at Haggin Oaks with my previous driver (which I love, by the way), Barnes gave me the Trackman treatment, recording all the numbers that brought such stark clarity to my iron needs. Right away, the state-of-the-art machine pinpointed the ingrained bugaboos that have plagued my driving game for centuries. Or so it seems.

"You're hitting down on the ball, which is what causes that high ballflight," Barnes said. "The goal with the driver is to hit it with a slightly upward blow." I was also coming slightly over the top, another less-than-tour pro-level move. "Your sidespin rate is way too high."

The brutal proof was spelled out in my average flight distance — well under the 250 yards I had imagined. Not even close, in fact. Bummer.

So, out came the new Williams driver. Right away I, and Trackman, saw marked improvement — less of a fade, far better trajectory, a drop-off in sidespin. The only fly in the ointment was the same 10-yard yank that showed up with my existing irons. That said, this club felt really, really good at impact, with a solid "crack" sound as space age metal met range-ball rubber, nothing metallic or hollow. In a modern world crammed with perfectly rendered, computer-tested hackin' weaponry, this Williams thunderstick — no relation, by the way — has distinguished itself as worthy of its five-Benjy retail price tag.

"The club fits you better, for sure," Barnes said. "As for the little pull, just tee it up on the left side and aim down the right side of the fairway."

In other words, play the game with smarts befitting my advanced station in the game's historical arc — some 40 years of swaying between middling competence and flat-out "what the hell am I doing here?" cluelessness. For the moment, I'm clued in.

That's another by-product of the clubfitting process: Not only are you more aware of just how your body and swing connect to your equipment, you're more tuned in to actually playing the game. Self-knowledge begets course awareness. I like it. I like getting fitted, no matter what club I'm trying to figure out.

Barnes ended up putting a couple other drivers in my hands — new Ping and Nike models — and the Nike came closest to the Williams. But I'm not buying it. I'm sticking with this newfangled namesake boomer, and thanking my lucky stars that guys like Barnes are out there, ready to prove that I'm not just fooling myself: I can be better.

Visit Barnes and Haggin Oaks here.

Q Schoolers Go to Battle at Bayonet

2010-11-15T08:14:00.000-08:00

Just five miles or so from Pebble Beach as the crow flies, Bayonet Golf Course more than matches up to that five time U.S. Open venue in difficulty and strategic heft. It even has the Pacific views — the entire breadth of Monterey Bay seen from several holes through the apt filter of cypress pines. And after architect Gene Bates completed his incredible multimillion-dollar overhaul a couple years ago — together with its completely reworked companion course Black Horse — Bayonet is definitely good enough to host an Open itself. Probably won't happen, but it's worth noting, and discovering why for yourself. Operated by the city of Seaside, it's now one of the best municipal courses in California, if not the nation.

This week, a full field of tour hopefuls will find out just what a complete challenge this former military track is. Bayonet is again one of five sites nationwide to host Stage II of PGA TOUR Qualifying School, which culminates in the pro game's most intense crucible — the Q School Finals — Dec. 1-16 at Orange County National in Orlando, Fla. No matter what the weather, young studs and fortysomething glory-chasers alike will get a full examination in every department. Narrow driving corridors between vaunted stands of old-growth trees that aren't as thick as in the old days, but still penal. Deep, gnarly rough. Speedy bentgrass greens (no more poa annua). Nasty sheer-faced bunkers. And, if organizers push the tees all the way back, 7,100 yards of sea level fun.

In other words, U.S. Open conditions. That's why in both its former and new configurations, Bayonet has hosted several Open qualifiers and is a regular on the Q School docket. It's also the way it should be if these guys expect to make a living playing golf. Get over the hump here and they'll find the final two stages a relative breeze if they keep their heads, which is no certainty. And that'll mean getting by a handful of holes in par over the qualifier's four days of competion — the par 5 opener, 476-yard par-4 ninth (easily the "new" course's best hole) and revamped "combat corner" holes of 11 through 13 and the big, sweeping finisher. To be honest, there's not a weak hole out there. From the tips, only one of four 3-pars clocks in at under 200 yards (No. 14, at 192), while Bates toughened the shortish par 4s (3 and 15) with wicked green complexes.

Bayonet, which opened in 1954, is steeped in golf and military history. Created on the site of the former Fort Ord by General Robert B. McClure, it was christened in honor of the 7th Infantry Light Fighter Division (nicknamed the “Bayonet Division”). Word is the general was a lefty with a nasty slice, hence its collection of tough dogleg-left holes. Bates managed to maintain some of that unique flavor while modernizing the overall layout to 21st century standards. The bunkering, for instance, is so much better both visually and strategically — a goal extended to even greater effect on Black Horse — that Bayonet now brings to mind some of the nation's favorite major venues, Augusta National included. And the greens, while smaller than Black Horse's, are rife with tricky, subtle slopes and big-boy pin positions.

So, after the Q Schoolers steel themselves to Bayonet's battle-hardened challenges, make that tee time, move up a set or two and take it on with relaxed confidence while taking in the views with appreciation for that certain Monterey magic. And don't miss the more open, rambling Black Horse either; Bates' changes there are even more profound, and just as pleasing.

Want more reason to make the trip? See FG Magazine's 2009 reviews of Bayonet and Blackhorse.

Go here for a list of entrants, including several former PGA Tour winners.

Time for a World-Class Golf Club Fitting, Part 1

2010-11-12T08:48:00.000-08:00

Shaun Barnes wasted little time digging right in to my golf swing and coming up with the dirt.

"Grab a 6-iron," said the soft-spoken PGA pro who heads up the impressive and popular Player Performance Studio at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in his native Sacramento, Calif. So I did, and started beating balls from a huge basket at a target flag about 150 yards away with my five-year-old TaylorMade r7XD mid-stick. My swing felt OK after a snowy, 120-mile drive from Reno, and I was making fair contact, though with a persistent 15-yard yank — a shot with which I'm sadly familiar.

After a dozen shots on the tricked-up, state-of-the-art Trackman system, which records every element of a golf swing and ballflight in three dimensions, Barnes (shown in the photo above) directed me to a big monitor and rolled through several screens revealing a dizzying grid of numbers: Golden oldies like club speed, ball speed, face angle and launch angle plus a wealth of what were, to me, more esoteric figures like attack angle, dynamic loft, spin axis, smash factor and maximum height. Barnes zeroed in on the truly salient figures for my situation — ball speed (marginally slow off the face), launch angle (downward blow, that's good), launch spin (I was coming a few degrees over top, not all that unusual for iron play) and smash factor (I was making contact near the center of the face, though toward the toe, time after time). And my ball flight was a little high.

Not a lot of surprises there. I'm still a steep hitter, even after working assiduously to flatten out my swing. I tend to come out of my posture to make solid contact, hence the toe-hooks. And I put too much spin on the pill, costing me distance. At least my smash factor was pretty good.

But, for most hackers like me, the truth hurts, and Trackman doesn't lie. Its brand of techno-honesty has pretty much revolutionized the entire golf club industry, making world-class operators like Ken Morton Sr. and Jr. — easily the most respected golf course-based retailers in America — very happy indeed.

Says Ken Sr., "Over the past five years, it hasn't been that the technology of making clubs has changed too much, but the clubfitting process. Back in the old days, a pro would watch a guy's swing and, just through experience, figure out what he needed to do with his equipment. Now, with the Trackman, there's no guesswork. It's truly amazing."

And in the hands of an award-winning fitting master like Barnes, it's indispensable. After I hit a few more 6-irons adorned with face tape showing my toe bias, he grabbed the head of a new Burner 2.0 6-iron, screwed it onto a lightweight steel shaft resembling those in my sticks, and had me hit eight balls without telling me its lie angle.

The improvement was immediate and downright pleasing to ear, eye and heart. The ball jumped off the clubface with a solid click, flew out of the Performance Studio's covered bay at a slightly more penetrating angle and — miracle of miracles — headed toward the target pin with impunity. And that was just tweaking the club's lie, with no other adjustments.

Back at the Trackman screen, the numbers told a much happier tale: Not only was I hitting the ball straighter, I was gaining about 7 yards with the same club. And nailing it square every time.

"It's two degrees flat," Barnes finally told me. "I didn't want to say before, because it would cause you to change your swing."

That's the whole point of clubfitting: To strip away swing-to-swing vagaries and fashion a set of sticks that fit whatever move each individual player — from tour pro to 20-handicapper — tends to produce through the bag. A dozen years ago, when I was a lot more pliant, my swing was far more upright. Now it's shorter, rounder and slower, though still on the quick side. And I was fitted for a set of Ping ISIs that were two degrees upright!

That's a four-degree swing in 12 years, and I get why. I'd been working hard to go flat (which, in reality, ain't all that flat at all), and it was working. Trackman had just backed up my efforts, telling Barnes exactly what he needed to know to get me producing far more efficient strikes. I see a new set of Burner 2.0s in my future.

Then it was onto the driver, with which I've had a love-hate relationship for years. I go through bombers like most people go through burgers — with reckless, hungry abandon. If I could just find one to love for the long haul, I'd be ecstatic.

Next time, I'll reveal just how close I came to the promised land, again with Barnes' help.

In the meantime, visit Haggin Oaks' Player Performance Studio yourself.

Harding's New TPC Affiliation is a Good Thing

2010-11-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

I sense a regular PGA Tour event coming to the west side of San Francisco. Or, at the very least, a more frequent visit from the folks from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Just before Wednesday's Charles Schwab Cup pro-am, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and several San Francisco officials announced that historic Harding Park has become part of the TPC Network and will be operated by PGA Tour Golf Course Properties for no management fee.

It's a big deal, and it makes perfect sense.

Through terms of the 9½-year agreement, the facility will be known as TPC Harding Park. The championship course — which hosted the 2009 Presidents Cup and 2005 World Golf Championships-American Express Championship (remember the Tiger-Daly playoff?) will maintain its iconic cypress tree as part of a revised logo, and a new logo has been created for the facility’s Fleming 9 course, as well.

While not specifically included in the deal, the PGA Tour pledged to donate any incentive bonuses received for successfully operating the historic course to The First Tee of San Francisco, a chapter of The First Tee that is based at the Fleming 9 course, as well as to other local charities. The First Tee is a non-profit initiative of the World Golf Foundation dedicated to impacting the lives of young people by providing learning facilities and educational programs that promote character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf. The TPC partnership should be a huge boost for San Francisco's First Tee chapter, putting it on a par with very successful programs in Sacramento and Northern Nevada.

Joining Finchem in making the announcement were Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department; defending Schwab Cup Championship winner John Cook and David Pillsbury, president of PGA Tour Golf Course Properties and executive vice president for the tour's Championship Management division.

San Francisco resident Sandy Tatum, who spearheaded the renaissance of Harding Park eight years ago and was instrumental in the creation of The First Tee of San Francisco, for which he serves as Board of Directors chairman, was also honored for his leadership with proclamations from the city and the PGA Tour Policy Board.

“Harding Park has a storied history and is a longstanding source of pride for San Francisco,” said Sean Elsbernd, San Francisco District 7 Supervisor. “We wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the incredible dedication and perseverance of Sandy Tatum, who helped bring the facility back to life. And now, today’s announcement begins an exciting new chapter for Harding Park and guarantees its long-term quality as a world-class venue and provides the opportunity to host more PGA TOUR events here.”

The agreement expands the PGA TOUR’s presence in the San Francisco Bay Area, which includes the operation of TPC Stonebrae in Hayward and several tournaments in addition to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship – the Nationwide Tour’s Fresh Express Classic, held April 15-18 at TPC Stonebrae; the Frys.com Open, held Oct. 14-17 at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin; and last year’s Presidents Cup, which took place at TPC Harding Park.

“The PGA TOUR is pleased and proud to further expand our involvement with Harding Park, as well as our presence in the San Francisco area with this new agreement,” Finchem said. “Harding Park truly is one of the country’s great municipal golf facilities and has been a terrific host site for the American Express Championship, last year’s Presidents Cup and now the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. We look forward to a wonderful long-term partnership with the City of San Francisco at TPC Harding Park.”

Ginsburg agreed. “The TPC designation elevates Harding Park to one of the premier public courses in the country,” he said. “The accolades the course has received in recent years are a direct reflection of the hard work our partners and our staff have put into realizing its potential.”

The original Sam Whiting and Willie Watson-designed championship course at Harding Park opened in 1925 and began hosting amateur tournaments soon after — most prominently the San Francisco City Championship and the United States Golf Association’s National Public Links Championships in 1937 and 1956. Harding Park’s legacy for hosting professional tournaments began with the 1944 Victory Open and won by the likes of Byron Nelson and Jimmy Demaret. Professional golf continued with the Lucky International Open in the 1960s, an event whose champions included World Golf Hall of Fame members Gary Player, Gene Littler, Jackie Burke, Jr., Chi Chi Rodriguez, and San Francisco’s own Ken Venturi.

Having fallen into disrepair, Harding Park underwent a monumental restoration in 2002-2003 that was spearheaded by Tatum, a respected lawyer, accomplished golfer (having won the 1942 NCAA Championship while at Stanford) and former United States Golf Association President. Under Tatum’s stewardship, in partnership with the City of San Francisco, the course was restored to its original glory through a re-design by former PGA TOUR architect Chris Gray, with consultation from Venturi. The result is a highly acclaimed championship course that maintains the character and integrity of the original layout, but incorporates design elements and infrastructure to accommodate today’s players. Harding Park is now a deserving (and the only public-access) third leg of San Francisco's must-play triumvirate, along with San Francisco Golf Club and the Olympic Club, both within a 10-minute drive — except you'll have to know a member to get on the other two.

“We are excited to provide local residents, tournament fans and the community with an outstanding PGA Tour experience, while preserving and perpetuating the rich history and traditions of this treasured City of San Francisco landmark,” Pillsbury said. “It’s important to note that this is a true non-profit arrangement that will benefit The First Tee of San Francisco and the city. We look forward to impacting lives and enhancing communities through our support of local grass roots charitable organizations and causes throughout the Bay Area.”

The Charles Schwab Cup Championship has raised more than $2.4 million for local charities since its arrival in Northern California in 2003; it was previously played at Sonoma National 40 minutes north of the city. The First Tee of San Francisco serves as the primary beneficiary of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Hundreds of other local non-profit organizations will benefit from the tournament through the tour's unique Tickets Fore Charity fundraising initiative.

For tee time reservations or more information visit www.tpc.com, and see Fairways + Greens' recommendations on where else to play in the Bay Area during your Harding Park visit.

Half Moon Bay 'Seals' the Deal

2010-10-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

Anyone with the slimmest knowledge of military matters knows the Navy SEALs comprise some of the toughest, strongest and most well-trained soldiers in the world. They perform special operations with a high level of risk, making them indispensable to American security. That fact isn't lost on Kenmark Golf Management honcho Mark Kendall, who this year decided to put one his company's greatest golf venues — Half Moon Bay Golf Links and Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, located along a scenic stretch of California coast a half hour south of San Francisco — to great work this fall.

Under Kendall's leadership, The Naval Special Warfare Foundation and Half Moon Bay raised over $500,000 for the families of U.S. Navy SEALs and their support personnel at the inaugural “SEAL Tribute Celebration and Golf Tournament” on Oct. 4.

Featured guests included Medal of Honor recipient Lieutenant (SEAL) Michael E. Thornton (ret.), Vice Admiral (SEAL) Albert M. Calland, III (ret.), and Rear Admiral (SEAL) Thomas R. Richards (ret.). The exclusive golf tournament took place on Half Moon Bay Golf Links’ Ocean and Old Courses, with sponsors playing and interacting with members of the SEAL community.

The day concluded with over 200 participants attending a Gala Dinner in the ballroom at The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, with addresses by Lieutenant Thornton, Admiral Richards, and Ms. Krissy Rankin, whose fiancé was a Navy SEAL and died in the line of duty.

“We did not have the support of a foundation helping us back in my day,” says Lieutenant Thornton. “The Navy SEALs are making great sacrifices to protect our freedom and our country. As Americans, we need to provide the same for their families and the Naval Special Warfare Foundation offers this assistance.”

“It was invigorating and inspiring to watch Americans rally on behalf of the Naval Special Warfare Foundation, the SEALs and their loved ones,” added Kendall. “Despite the economy and downturn in large events and outings, golf is still a unifying game that brings people together over a shared cause.”

“Half Moon Bay Golf Links has been an incredible partner," says Kristi Cummings, director, Naval Special Warfare Foundation. "They understand the many sacrifices made not only by these amazing warriors, but by their families as well, and they have certainly created a wonderful venue for people to come out to show their appreciation.”

No doubt about that. Set against the dramatic cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Half Moon Bay Golf Links features thirty-six holes of championship golf; a clubhouse with a full-service pro shop offering the latest equipment and fashionable apparel; and the popular ocean-view restaurant, Mullins Bar & Grill, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in a casual fireside dining setting. Right next door, the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay is one of the finest hotels on the California coast, with five-star accommodations, incredible restaurants and great views of both golf courses.

Opening ceremonies for the SEALs fundraising event began Monday with the U.S. Navy color guard and a Half Moon Bay High School trio singing the national anthem. A brief presentation followed with the retirement of an American flag recently flown in Afghanistan by a U.S. Navy SEAL team.

The SEAL – Naval Special Warfare Foundation was founded in 2000, and while they were not established because of the war, their mission in serving the U.S. Navy SEALs and their families has been made more important and more difficult as a result of it. As the frequent deployments continue and the injuries mount, the programs and services of the SEAL – Naval Special Warfare Foundation are more critical than ever. The Foundation provides support for the U.S. Navy SEALs, the Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen, and families of Naval Special Warfare through Health and Welfare programs, Education and Motivation and History and Heritage.

Next year’s event will be held on September 30 and October 1.

PGA Tour Puts a Damper on the Ryder Cup

2010-10-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

There seemed little to add after the Euros squeaked by the Americans in the 38th Ryder Cup Matches at Celtic Manor in Wales. It was the first Monday finish in history after a weekend of horrid weather. The 12-man victorious team and their squad of captains gave the crowd a champagne shower from the balcony at the Twenty Ten course's clubhouse, where I myself stood some six months ago, trying to imagine what that lovely valley would look like loaded with hospitality tents and rivers of humanity.

On TV, it looked pretty damned fine, whether the sun came out or not. Mostly not, until Monday. Which seems fitting now.

After his now-infamous chunked chip on the 17th hole, Hunter Mahan was speechless with disappointment and "weight-of-the-world" guilt (though he didn't deserve to feel that way). Colin Montgomerie did everything he could to skew the Twenty Ten toward his team, though in reality it played just like an American U.S. Open course, complete with six-inch rough (sans the speedy greens, however). Graeme McDowell is a stud. So is Rickie Fowler. Phil stepped up in the end, but it wasn't nearly enough. Tiger rolled and quietly roared, for the most part. And Corey Pavin managed to muster surprising emotion and caring among his team, almost in the Ben Crenshaw mold, but not quite. Crenshaw's bunch won, Pavin's didn't, though they did engineer a sizzling comeback not once, but twice.

Looking back, it was a success in golf terms, if you edit out all the monster waits. There were some downright amazing shots executed out there in the muck and murk, and the outcome was just: The Euros won by a point simply through home-field advantage. I don't think they were the better team overall; in fact, this may have been the most evenly matched Ryder Cup of all time, at least the ones I can remember.

But still, there was all that rain, the potential bane of any golf event played in the green, green United Kingdom. I've played October golf in England, and it either rained or threatened rain every day. We played anyway, and loved it.

But this was the Ryder Cup, and I'm in agreement with this Global Golf Post columnist when he contends that the wicked weather could have been avoided had the competition took place during its original dates in mid-September — the traditional window for this event going back decades. But along came a little newfangled event back in the states called the FedEx Cup playoffs, a five-week-long event with a $10 million purse for the winner in addition to $1.2 million or more for the winner of each individual event. Them's big bucks, which PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem (who's just doing his job, of course), used as leverage to get the European Tour to move the Cup back two weeks. It worked out OK for American team member Jim Furyk, who cashed a cool $11.5 million by winning the FedEx Cup, though I get the feeling he'd rather have the other one — the one Monty held up on Monday. "This is my favorite event," Furyk said of the biannual juggernaut. "We win it or lose it as a team."

Though I still think the wonderful Welsh did an incredible job pulling off a successful Ryder Cup under tough circumstances, they were the losers as far as TV coverage during singles, which was moved to the USA Network and therefore enjoyed a small fraction of the viewership it would have attracted on Sunday. But if Celtic Manor gets the Ryder Cup again one day, a September date would serve it well. Same with the other British Isles venues. There's a big difference between late summer and early fall, especially that far north. Every other year, when the event goes stateside, it's not that big a meteorological deal. The weather is still fine in places like Chicago, where the 38th matches will be played at Medinah. And it's incredible out West, where the Ryder Cup has never ventured (hint, hint).

But why not avoid this talk altogether by moving the FedEx Cup playoffs to dates after the Ryder Cup? Sure, some of its events might need to scoot a little further south, or maybe not; even Boston is still gorgeous in late September — that might be its best time of year, as a matter of fact. And the PGA Tour's regular schedule can be tweaked to make this happen with little trouble; it might even result in new digs for several tournaments — two or three that now constitute part of the "Fall Series," for instance.

This is the Ryder Cup, for God's sake. The biggest of big. No need to play Russian Roulette with the calendar. The Welsh deserve better. So do we.

Rain, Dark are America's Best Friends

2010-10-02T16:54:00.001-07:00

By now it's clear that the opening day of the Ryder Cup brought more than a deluge, seven-hour delay and organizational scramble to the proceedings at Celtic Manor. It also allowed a reeling United States team back into the game, evidenced by their one-point lead after the opening four-ball matches finally wound down on Saturday morning — which they later built into a 6-4 lead going into the compacted schedule's third session.

It's also blindingly clear that as darkness fell over Wales on Saturday night, America most certainly avoided a wipeout in the second wave of four-ball matches, not to mention the first two alternate shot matches. Now staring at an across-the-board deficit in the matches currently underway through four to nine holes — including the potential shellacking of the heretofore unbeatable Tiger Woods-Steve Stricker team — the Yanks got a reprieve courtesy of Mother Nature, and the autumn calendar. As the Euros steamrolled through every match with buried pitch shots and slam-dunked putts (how about Luke Donald's iron play, mate?), only the inexorable hand of time seemed to stand in the way of a clean sweep and a commanding 10-6 lead going into tomorrow's singles matches.

Hurry sundown, indeed.

Even Tiger and the Strick have to feel they're still in their foursomes match with Donald and Lee Westwood. Four down with nine to play is not insurmountable if Tiger can figure out his putting alignment and start hitting crisper irons, and if Stricker finds his green form again. Beyond them, every match is very much up for grabs. Except, perhaps, Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler's two-down deficit after four holes to Ian Poulter (shown above with American Bubba Watson in the background) and Martin Kaymer. Phil's well on his way to becoming one of the least productive Ryder Cuppers ever, with a short putting stroke that looks downright horrible and a persistent head-shaking attitude that tells me he'd rather be back home in sunny San Diego County than out there in the Welsh elements.

Then there are the Molinari brothers, who could do for Italian Ryder Cup golf what Sergio and Seve did for the Spaniards — make it an intrinsic part of the Euro competitive makeup for years to come. Those boys can play, and they're fiery in all the right ways. They obviously love it out there, and I think they'll win their current match before being split up for singles.

This is getting tasty, and could turn out to be one of the all-time great Ryder Cup finishes if the rain holds.

Hurry sunrise, indeed.

Ryder Cup: Few Surprises in Opening Matches

2010-09-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

As I write this on America's West Coast, the first tee shot in the 38th Ryder Cup Matches at Celtic Manor in Newport, Wales is almost exactly 12 hours away. And who will send that opening salvo down the par-4 No. 1 hole on the Twenty Ten Course? Either Phil Mickelson or Dustin Johnson, Captain Corey Pavin's leadoff pairing in the four Friday morning four-ball matches (we Americans call it two-man better ball). It's tradition for the visiting team to tee off first, which means Euro Captain Colin Montgomerie's opening pair, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, will know right away if either or both Phil and Dustin are in a fairway-finding mood.

It's a good, solid, rational opening matchup. Each pair brings one veteran and one rookie to the table, with the first-timers coming into these matches with a head of competitive steam and a slightly tasty personal storyline. Kaymer, of course, snatched the Wanamaker Trophy from Johnson's hands at the PGA Championship as a result of bunkergate. Didn't seem to faze the tall, drive-busting South Carolinian, though; he was in the hunt during the just-completed FedEx Cup playoffs and seems able to shrug off just about any setback, even at a major. Of course, the Ryder Cup is a different animal altogether, and if there are any chinks in Johnson's armor, this event will most certainly expose them. Same for Kaymer. The PGA win capped a great season on the European Tour, and he's got the same steady German countenance that has served countryman Bernhard Langer so well over the years as a Ryder Cup player and captain, that epic missed putt at Kiawah Island so many years ago notwithstanding.

And the two vets, Mickelson and Westwood? We all know about Phil's wobbly record in Ryder Cups, and after notching his third Masters win in April he hasn't won a tournament on the PGA Tour, or anywhere else. And while Westwood is pretty much the de facto leader of this year's Euro squad, he's also its biggest question mark thanks to a calf injury that has sidelined him for nearly two months. That said, I think it's a shrewd move on Monty's part to send Westwood out first; if he and Kaymer take the match, he'll look like a genius and give the Euros a huge boost (as if they need one on their home turf).

I'm calling this one a draw, though if Phil and Dustin are pounding it in the right places, they'll give the U.S. an early point.

As for the other three Friday four-ball matches, let's dive right in.

Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar vs. Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell: Kuchar remains my personal pick for the PGA Tour's Player of the Year though he can't win it. His new, flatter swing led him to a slew of Top 10s and a FedEx Cup playoff win, and I think it'll hold up well here if he doesn't let rookie nerves take over. Cink is as stalwart and well-liked a veteran as you can get, which probably figured in to Pavin giving him a captain's choice. But I think the Yanks are underdogs here. In the young, fearless McIlroy and steady U.S. Open champ McDowell, Monty has a Northern Irish juggernaut. McIlroy might own the game's best swing, plus he has a great putting stroke and the knowledge he can win anywhere. Look for his aggressive play to balance well with McDowell's straight-shooting game. The Euros take it.

Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods vs. Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher: Though it was more than a month before all hell broke looks in Tiger's personal life, his partnership with Stricker at last year's Presidents Cup was a thing to behold. I was there at Harding Park, and they absolutely dominated their matches. No doubt things have changed since then. Tiger is now single, still trying to find his bearings as the world's still-No. 1 and working on yet another rejiggered swing, while the usually rock-steady Stricker, who's No. 3 in the world, watched his putting game leave him in Atlanta at last week's FedEx Cup finale. No matter on either front. I see both these guys finding that old magic with no problem, while Fisher, a Cup rookie who hasn't played quite as well this year as he did in 2009, and the up-and-down Poulter will have a rough go at it for starters. America racks up a point.

Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton vs. Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington: While Harrington has struggled mightily to find his game this year, Donald is playing as well as anyone of late, which will continue on a course that's essentially American in form and fit (see my Fairways + Greens review here). I have a feeling that Monty — who teamed up with Harrington to wipe the floor with Tiger and Phil at Oakland Hills in 2004 — hopes that Donald will spur Paddy to take his game up a notch, in a match play setting the Irishman obviously loves. By putting two rookies out there to face them, Pavin shows his gambling side. Overton definitely belongs here, he made the team on his own, while the free-swinging lefty Watson finally broke into the PGA Tour winner's circle this year. But I can't fathom Pavin leaving Jim Furyk on the sidelines with that big FedEx Cup haul still jangling in his pockets. The Euros win another one.

My final tally for the opening matches: 2-1-1 for the Europeans.

Golf Host Kessler Goes Direct to the Dish

2010-09-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

A lot of old-timer Golf Channel viewers still mourn the departure of Peter Kessler from that network several years ago, for good reason. No breathing soul knows more golf history or has a better pulse on the game from day to day. Not that the Florida resident has been laying low of late; his daily program on XM Sirius satellite radio's PGA Tour Radio Network is popular among golf news junkies, and I've had the pleasure of guesting on it several times over the past few years.

But now Kessler's deep, authoritative voice will be heard on TV on a regular basis as part of DIRECTV's regular lineup. The world’s most popular video service, along with 4Ball Productions, will premier Golf Stories on The 101 Network on Sept. 28 at 9 p.m. on DIRECTV’s The 101 Network. Kessler hosts a series of hour-long specials throughout the year, providing viewers with an insider’s look at the world of golf, profiles of the world’s greatest resorts and top courses, interviews with the greats of the game, the history of the game, behind the scenes looks at life on tour, instructions on how to improve their game and much, much more.

“DIRECTV is already the leader in the clubhouse with golf fans who have enjoyed an unprecedented level of golf programming that has included exclusive, interactive coverage of all four major grand slam tournaments,” said Chris Long, senior vice president, Entertainment and Production for DIRECTV. “Golf Stories on The 101 Network perfectly complements our existing programming by offering golf fans and enthusiasts access to the best courses, tours, instruction and players that cannot be found anywhere else.”

The premiere of Golf Stories on The 101 Network is co-hosted by Stina Sternberg and features an interview with Jack Nicklaus, golf’s “Golden Bear.” Nicklaus sits down with Kessler and opens up about life, family and golf. The episode also includes a behind-the-scenes look at how Golf Digest shoots its year-long instructionals with Butch Harmon, the game’s most influential teacher; a visit with Marius Filmalter, the new TOUR putting guru whose first client was Tiger Woods; a look at The Spirit, one of golf's premier amateur events; and an emotional one-on-one with the father of modern golf instruction, Bob Toski. Here's a sneak preview:

Known as the “Voice of Golf,” Peter Kessler was also the voice of HBO Sports and has narrated Emmy award-winning documentaries. As the primary talent at The Golf Channel for eight years, he wrote, hosted and produced over 1,300 hours of live television, interviewing every great player and teacher of the 20th century. Peter also wrote highly acclaimed long-form interviews for GOLF Magazine and founded the first company to market hybrid golf clubs.

Dustin Gets It Done to Get in POY Mix

2010-09-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

I'm man enough to admit when I've jumped the gun, even when I'm not 100 percent sure I've jumped all the way.

Two weeks ago, in my Aug. 30 entry, I all but handed the PGA Tour's Player of the Year trophy to Mr. Consistency Matt Kuchar, who had just won the Barclays. And he's still my guy, though it's no longer a done deal in my mind. With his third-place tie at Cog Hill, he maintained a precarious though much-deserved top spot in the FedEx Cup rankings, a scant 636 points ahead of Dustin Johnson, the only player to honestly figure into as many water cooler conversation over the course of the nearly completed PGA Tour campaign as Tiger Woods.

First, in February he won his second straight AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He played pretty well through the spring, notching a T3 in L.A. and a T7 at the Byron Nelson, and came back to Pebble in June as a minor U.S. Open favorite. Then he damn near won the thing save for a final-round 82 that, in fairness, could have turn out much differently had the ball bounced a different direction on No. 2, and had someone spotted his errant tee shot diving into the hazard on No. 3, thereby costing him a mere one-shot penalty rather than the stroke-and-distance fate of a lost ball.

Then came the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, 72nd hole, second shot. Bunkergate. A grounded club in a sea of humanity without a rake in the vicinity. Two-stroke penalty. No playoff for Dustin. Another bad beat for the tall, free-swinging soon-to-be-superstar.

Johnson, a cool South Carolinian who's part super-chilled surfer dude, part 330-yard-driving assassin, took it all in stride as well as any sentient being can be expected to, which is why he needs to be part of the POY conversation. Near-missed major don't normally set a guy up for end-of-the-season kudos, but with his win this past weekend near Chicago, at the BMW Championship — a performance capped by his electrifying tee shot on No. 17, which left him with a flip wedge to birdieland — Johnson showed the world he had shrugged off the summer's setbacks, that he can play with anybody in a style that foments deep admiration among the nation's short-hitting masses, that he truly is the real thing. So is fellow Southerner Kuchar, but in a different, more circuitous way. Whereas he has taken his time to reach the game's pinnacle of success, Johnson has pretty much shot up the charts in a couple of years. And he shows no signs of falling off a cliff into the great middle ground of professional golf. He has legs, and a refreshing attitude toward the game. Not aloof, not uncaring, not dull. Just different, somehow.

And now he just might be a worthy Player of the Year. At least one well-known fellow golf scribe, PGATour.com reporter Melanie Hauser, agrees with me. And if he takes down his 30 fellow competitors at the Atlanta Athletic Club next week, we'll have a lot of company.

Corey's Curious (and Solid) Choices

2010-09-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

So, we've now got the full picture of this year's American Ryder Cup team. Corey Pavin announced his quartet of captain's picks at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday (I'll withhold comment on why the venue choice leads me to whisper, "typical of the PGA of America"), and there really weren't any surprises … until I get to Stewart Cink and Rickie Fowler.

No way Pavin would leave Tiger Woods on the sidelines. That was, to me, a given, especially since Tiger has shown signs of life in recent weeks. At one point during the Deutsche Bank Championship's final round on Labor Day, he downed seven straight one-putts. His iron play is better than Ryder Cup qualifier Phil Mickelson's right now, and he's starting to find more fairways. It's too late to translate a suddenly gelling game into a major win or even a FedEx Cup title this year, but should Tiger keep it going on a very American-styled Twenty Ten Course at Celtic Manor and contribute several points to the Americans' Cup-retaining cause, he'll have salvaged an otherwise substandard year — by his standards.

Taking part by phone at Tuesday's press conference along with his fellow three captain's picks, Tiger said it makes no difference to him whether he made the team as a qualifier or one of Pavin's picks. Nor did he accept one reporter's claim that he has expressed "indifference" toward the event.

"It's the same. I've always loved playing The Ryder Cup. I've always enjoyed being a part of the team. I don't know where the perception of indifference is, because I've always loved it. The team bonding that occurs, getting to know the guys and everyone there that's associated with our team are experiences that you'll never forget and I've created some great friendships because of it."

This attitude, coupled with his revived game, bodes well for the newly goateed Tiger when he joins 11 fellow American in South Wales Oct. 1-3. As is true with most big golf events, the flatstick wins Ryder Cups. Ballstriking is down the list behind confidence and team chemistry, and despite the fact that Pavin will field seven rookies this year, he believes it's every bit the match of the favored European squad.

"I think we have a very good blend," he said. "I was very pleased with the eight that I was given after the PGA Championship, and I think adding these four is a very good blend, as well. I like the overall blend of the team. There's a lot of options. It gives me a lot of flexibility with the four players I picked today. There's many combinations up there that will work."

Though he didn't make the team on his own, Tiger will be one of the team's leaders. He's got six Ryder Cups under his belt, and he gets along with his teammates. He plays well with guys like fellow veteran Jim Furyk, but I suspect that Pavin might match him up with one of this year's five rookies. Maybe even Fowler, who finished 20th in the Ryder Cup standings and therefore must be considered a surprise.

"I think he's a very mature young man," Pavin said of the 21-year-old. "He's had experience in international play [including a 7-1 record in two Walker Cups], very solid player, and he's got a very steady head on his shoulders."

Fowler himself is already spouting the team-first party line, right alongside Woods. "Being able to be with a lot of the guys that are already on the team it's going to be a lot of fun, and like Tiger was saying, we are going over there for one reason, and the four picks, picking the four of us and the eight there are already on the team, for us to blend and go over there and work well together, and like he said, to bring back the trophy."

Fowler definitely doesn't lack for confidence on the course, and while his singular orange-hued sartorial style will take a hiatus as he dons whatever "uniforms" the Americans don each day, I look for him to fit right in and perhaps light some fireworks. He'll go for the high-drama, low-percentage move in competition whenever possible. He'll attack the Twenty Ten's ready-made gambler's holes, such as No. 15, with abandon and live or die by the results, in the Anthony Kim vein. Having such a youthful force alongside more conservative fellow rooks like Matt Kuchar or Jeff Overton, or calculating vets like Zach Johnson, could pay huge dividends in each of the Cup's three formats — foursomes (alternate shot), four-ball (better ball) and singles.

So, I'm good with Rickie. Stewart Cink, God love him, is another story.

By his own admission, the 2009 Open Champion has had an off year. He hasn't sniffed a win on Tour since his Open triumph over Tom Watson 14 months ago, though he has logged three top 10 finishes — and four missed cuts — in 21 starts. His best finish was a tie for fifth in the Accenture Match Play Championships back in February, a stat that no doubt figured into Pavin's thinking … along with the fact that Cink is one of the Tour's most well-liked and approachable guys, and did finish 14th in the standings on the leftover strength of his big major-winning year. He has an affinity for the Ryder Cup, but I question him getting the nod at this point in his career. Why not go with a gun like Nick Watney (No. 17), Sean O'Hair (No. 18) or J.B. Holmes (No. 19)? They've all played very well of late. They're battled-tested, and still relatively hungry. They could have shined on the Twenty Ten's verdant, well-bunkered fairways.

I hope Cink gets fired up enough to prove me wrong. And I've got three weeks to warm up to the idea of him being on the team. But I don't think I will.

As the Ryder Cup approaches and based on my visit to Celtic Manor earlier this year, I'll give my thoughts on how the Twenty Ten Course will fare as a world-class competitive venue — and how specific holes will play into each team's strategies and individual players' strengths and weaknesses.

Oh yeah, I might chime in on the rest of the FedEx Cup playoffs, too.

Kuchar Locks Up Player of the Year … Right?

2010-08-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

Is there any doubt left that Matt Kuchard should be the PGA Tour's Player of the Year for 2010? Not in my book.

Kuchar's stellar, seeing-eye 7-iron on the first playoff hole of The Barclays yesterday (check out the PGA Tour's video below) led to a win over Martin Laird — his third tour victory overall — and 2,500 FedEx Cup playoff points. It also has him in position to take the $10 million prize on his semi-home course in Atlanta at the Tour Championship, and puts an exclamation point on what, by any measure, has been a career year for the former Georgia Tech standout.

The smiling, lanky, flat-swinging "Kooch" — I love his simple, easy-to-repeat move, by the way — logged more Top 10 finishes than anyone this year. He also led the tour in all-around stats and scoring average and leads the money list. If his name was Tiger, he'd be a lock for Player of the Year. And so he should be under any name, in a year that produced four different major winners (four of them first-timers) and no clear dominant force … except when you step back and take Kuchar's season-long performance in with a longer lens. The man is 54 under par in eight starts since June. He's set up to be a leader for the American crew at the Ryder Cup in Wales Oct. 1-3, alongside first-timers like Dustin Johnson. He's got a monster "Q" factor among hardcore and casual golf fans alike, and he's squeaky clean as a human being by all accounts.

In other words, he's an apt and deserving standard-bearer for a tour that's taken its P.R. lumps this year. And does anyone now doubt that Kuchar is one of the world's best sticks at this moment?

Let's just hand him the POY hardware right now and watch him nail down the FedEx Cup as well. It's a no-brainer. Nobody else comes close.

Single and Searching: Where Tiger Goes From Here

2010-08-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

As the headline flashed across my screen that a court in Bay County, Florida today granted Eldrick Tont Woods and Elin Maria Pernilla Woods their long-anticipated divorce, I felt several pangs at once — relief, acceptance and, yes, a bit of sadness.

After nine months of scandal, recrimination, apology, rebuilding and a less-than-brilliant return to PGA Tour competition, Tiger is again a single man, an absentee (but by all accounts, loving) father and an inarguably diminished superstar. He's no doubt feeling some relief as well right now, laced with straight shots of remorse. He's left behind a broken marriage, which can't render him anything but broken as well. He won't be whole overnight. He and I have at least that in common; I certainly wasn't anything close to whole in the aftermath of my own divorce nearly two decades ago, which also involved two kids, a son and daughter who, by the grace of God, have remained close to me all these years, even more so after I remarried and had two more children.

Healing takes time, whether you're a simple golf writer or a gazillionaire golf god. We're human, and humans hurt, often longer than they think, even when the pain moves through numbness and finally to feeling and hope again. Tiger isn't immune to that, and his pain has showed in blinding flashes of ordinary play on the golf course as today's decree approached. Divorce is one of life's great levelers, and in that respect he and I are on equal ground, along with millions of other guys. I can only hope his life turns out as beautifully, blessedly renovated and rejuvenated as mine has. There's nothing like a second chance, in love, golf or anything else I can think of.

Tiger's chance at a big reboot will have nothing to do with how many majors he ends up winning, how he spends his private time or how the public and press treat him from now on. It'll have to do with whether he can really, truly forgive himself. That took me a good long while, too. It also took plenty of faith.

Will he look or act any differently when he shows up at The Barclays this week, winless in nine starts this year, way down in the FedEx Cup rankings and awaiting a Ryder Cup paptain's pick from Corey Pavin? Perhaps in the sense that he'll no doubt be braced for a rash of "D" word questions from the prying press, but otherwise, no. He'll put on the somewhat softened, smiling game face he's employed all year, head for the first tee with a slew of swing issues and a proud champion's hope that it'll all fall into place this week, right now, and go out there expecting to win, along with every other guy in the field.

So will he win? No. He's not ready yet, perhaps doesn't even believe he can do it yet, no matter what he says in the press tent. And I'm sure a lot of fans don't believe he deserves to win now, or ever. But to me, leaving a marriage behind, no matter how misbegotten or mishandled or "irrevocably broken" it was, is punishment enough.

But that second chance will come, if he wants it. Take it from a guy who wanted it, got it and thanks God for it every day.

Two Guys, a Plane, and a Pretty Cool Golf Job

2010-07-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

Some guys will do anything for a job, especially these days. They'll even wear a Korean female caddy's outfit, spin themselves silly around a putter until they're in puking range before attempting a dizzy four-footer, and whack trick golf balls into a pond in perfect synchronization — which, I guess, speaks to their obvious golf prowess, but also to their innate "buddy timing" after several weeks on the road together.

"They" are Chris Dukeminier and Steve Olsen, the peripatetic leads in TaylorMade/adidas' new web promo dubbed "Wear in the World," an globetrotting adventure that, right now, finds the duo in South Korea after stops in Germany, Norway, Scotland, Dubai and Thailand. Next they'll head Japan before winding up at Chateau Whistler and Tobiano in British Columbia, and finally Bandon Dunes for their finale. Through their ongoing course-by-course competition — they're playing two tracks per country — and the general public's online voting, they'll find out who nails down a gig as TmaG's "social media catalyst" which, I assume, means the dude who does his darndest to drive golfers to the company's Facebook and Twitter sites and get involved at a true cutting-edge level — not just as consumers, but as contributors. As of their Korea stop — before which they'd lost some luggage from Bangkok, prompting their impromptu donning of baby blue caddy togs and sharing a set of TaylorMade sticks during filming of their latest video — the were dead even in points scored. And, of course, miles traveled, which by now must number in the tens of thousands.

It's a cool idea, it's clever marketing, and it's a great way for golf nuts — especially traveling golf nuts like me — to follow their progress and wish they were along for the ride. And if we hang around and keep voting, we'll increase our chances of joining them at the Bandon finale Aug. 10-14, and playing a round of golf at the West's hottest (in popularity, not climate) destination.

Of course, the whole idea is to showcase TaylorMade/adidas' products. Chris and Steve aren't shy in the shilling department, nor are they slouches on the links; Chris, who hails from Oregon, plays off a 1 handicap, while Wisconsin native Steve plays off a 6. They clearly know their way around the game and all the stuff that comes with it — including a 50-day journey into the heart of online media expedience, courtesy of TmaG's considerable marketing muscle.

What the hell, I'm hooked. I've got to admire the boys for their mettle and the company behind them for their savvy.

Here's the video, just in case you're interested:

Bags are Lost from adidas Golf on Vimeo.

Go here to meet the duo and find out what Wear in the World is all about.

A Golf Nerd in a Reno-Tahoe Whirlwind

2010-07-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

Though Nevada is one of America's smallest states population-wise, it acts like a much bigger spot on the golf map, especially this week. Take it from me. I live in Reno and since I follow and write about golf for a living, I find myself in the middle of a raging storm of options. Here's my schedule for today and tomorrow, for instance:

6 a.m. PST: Opened my eyes, grabbed the remote and turned on ESPN's Open Championship coverage just in time to see Tiger's post-67 interview. John Daly shot 66! And Rory McIlroy buried St. Andrews in the breezeless morning with an amazing 63. At this moment, I'm still watching. The wind is starting to blow. Phil can't make a move, stands at even par at the turn. Go figure.

9:30 a.m. PST: Jump in the car and drive an hour south to Edgewood Tahoe to get my first American Century Celebrity Golf Championship fix. Today's target: Ray Romano, if he's indeed decided to show up for the Celeb-Am. He's on the next cover of Fairways + Greens magazine, and I need some color from this Man of a Certain Age. Of course, I'll catch some glimpses of the Jordans, Barkleys, Romos and whoever else crosses my path. Just being on Tahoe's shore in mid-July is reason enough to get up there, see some semi-good golf and celebrate summer.

4-4:30 p.m. PST: Head back down the hill and, if time permits, stop by Montrêux Golf & Country Club to check the leader board for the Reno-Tahoe Open, played in July for the first time after 11 years as an August PGA Tour event. Defending champ John Rollins is back, as are a half-dozen other past champs. And Aussie favorite Stuart Appleby tees it up in the shadow of the Sierra for the first time. Always an underappreciated tournament, perhaps this year will bring some much-needed notoriety even as the Open dominates the headlines.

FRIDAY
6 a.m. Up early. British Open. Enough said.
10 a.m.-Noon: Cable guy swings by (hopefully) with a fresh new DVR so I can record the Open over the weekend.
Noon-6 p.m.: Out to Montrêux to follow the pros through the second round.
7 p.m.: Dinner with family to discuss the RTO's developments.

My weekend's schedule is still murky, but trust me, it'll involve big gulps of golf, both in Reno and at Tahoe. What a place to be in the sizzling heart of summer.

U.S. Open Wrap: Pebble Puts 'Em In Their Place

2010-06-25T05:18:00.000-07:00

The tone and timbre of Pebble Beach's fifth defense of Old Man Par, otherwise known as the U.S. Open, was heard loud and clear by the world's best golfers last Sunday afternoon. I heard it, too, strolling the cliffs with 35,000 friends while all-out war was waged inside the ropes.

Turns out it was a war of attrition, as so many Opens are. Contenders started dropping like Wednesday afternoon hit-and-sip hackers from the get-go.

I'm still washing the blood off my eyeballs, most of it courtesy of Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson, who I followed from the eighth hole on.

We all witnessed the carnage, didn't we?

Dustin Johnson, he of two straight AT&T triumphs and 335-yard drives, was spectacular in his fall. A clumsy triple at 2 followed by a gut-punch double at 3 evaporated his three-shot lead over playing partner Graeme McDowell, a personable 30-year-old from Northern Ireland who did his best not to catch whatever foul virus had befallen Johnson. It worked through the front nine but McDowell got wobbly with bogeys at 9 and 10, the tail end of the hardest three-hole par-4 stretch in golf, especially this year with the USGA shifting and shaving fairways right down to the Pacific precipice. By then Johnson was a vapor, on his way to an 82 that puts him in the ignominious position of tying Gil Morgan for the highest final-round score in a U.S.Open (also accomplished at a windy, equally heartless Pebble in 1992). McDowell bogeyed 14 and 17 but still came to the 18th one shot clear of Frenchman Gregory Havret, who had just missed a birdie putt to tie — which would have most likely led to the most unexpected Monday playoff in U.S. Open history, and no doubt a ratings nightmare for ABC.

In other words, no Tiger in sight. No glorious replay of the Torrey temblor of two years ago.

Instead, Tiger looked on as Havret finished off what was probably his only shot at the Open trophy. Woods will have many more such shots, of course. At least we expect him to be there until he decides to go do something else. But in this purgatory of a comeback year, he was beaten again after a dismal 75 that left him in a tie for fourth with a guy named Phil.

Oh, how the mighty fell on the edge of the continent. How they strived and swerved and ultimately failed while the unsung McDowell managed to keep the blade of his own hara-kiri sword from finding lethal purchase. How? By doing what we all do at Pebble: Just letting the place's beauty wash over him.

"Any time I felt nervous or felt myself getting ahead of myself, I just took a look around, took in the scenery and used that to bring me back into the present. It's just a special place to play golf."

He's got that right. Special anytime and for anybody, but even more so with a first major and one-point-three-five million dollars on the line. Looking back, I realize that McDowell deserved this win just as much as Tiger or Phil or Ernie (the guy I thought was in the best position to take it halfway through his round, until he suddenly donned a duffer's cap on No. 10, hitting two shots into the hazard for a rally-killing double bogey) would have. He played Open golf over those last 18 holes — bending but not breaking, staying calm, trudging and tripping and pulling off enough shots to leave him at level par.

I could hear Mike Davis and the USGAers cheering with glee. Par was the winner, and Pebble did its job perfectly and prettily, with a knife in its pearly whites.

Not that the final round itself was anything resembling beautiful. To be honest, it was as ugly as they come. Only early-runners Brandt Snedeker, Ben Curtis, Bo Van Pelt and Jim Herman managed 68s on Sunday. Davis Love III had it going for a while, even coming within four shots of the lead, before his nerves got him down the stretch. Tom Watson made a brief surge toward another miraculous finish, as well, before the tears and memories got him. A precious few others looked like they might give McDowell a run.

The 110th U.S. Open's personality was crystallized most succinctly on the brutal 14th all week long. Not many love the hole, and on this week, many hated it. On Sunday both Phil and Ernie laid up there as prescribed — well, not so much for Phil, who hooked his second shot under a pine but still had a clear shot out of the rough — then botched their third shots too far right of the week's most accessible pin, their hopes for Open glory tumbling down the false front into bogeyland. Behind them, Tiger pounded his drive over the right-side bunkers and had only a mid-iron home but could only manage par. Not enough.

And then the final four holes played out as anticlimax for the most part, especially once Havret — ranked 391st in the world coming in — bogeyed No. 17. That set McDowell up for a ho-hum bogey of his own at the same hole, followed by a textbook lay-up and two-putt par from 30 feet on 18. Then relief, and a hug from his dad on Father's Day, and immortality.

"I'd take a U.S. Open championship anywhere on the planet, but to win it at Pebble is a special feeling," he said. "It was a lot of fun."

I've got to say I agree with him. It was fun, if painful at times, for everyone involved. And now that the USGA announced that we only have to wait nine years for the Open to return to Pebble — in honor of the course's 100th anniversary — we can look back on this one fondly even as we finger the scars.

Suddenly I wish Pebble was the Open's permanent home. Now and forever, it's the perfect place for exquisite pain, no matter who wins the prize.

U.S.Open Day 4: Same As It Ever Was

2010-06-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

Tiger Lightning, Dustin Thunder

This year’s U.S. Open is the fourth I’ve covered in person overall, and the third in a row. There’s more than a decent chance that come Sunday night, Tiger Woods will have won three of them.

That potential .750 batting average didn’t seem possible at about 2 p.m. Saturday, after professional golf’s prodigal prodigy bogeyed two of his first three holes, leaving him at six over par, nine shots behind halfway leader and still-in-the-game Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland.

For a lot of guys, a start like that means it’s turn out the lights time, especially in a U.S. Open. But for the Tiger of old (as in a couple of years ago), that’s just a same ol’, same ol’ wakeup call.

Well, the Tiger of old is new again, making an army of pundit-doubters eat their words (“Will he ever be the same?” “Is he done?”), and a generation of ready-to-forgive fans jump for joy. And his resurgence in this Open is a great development for lovers of weekend drama, delivered with the swift blade of bundled birdies and the type of head-spinning nine-hole streaks only a choice few greats can conjure. Phil can do it, and did on the final nine of this year’s Masters. Arnie used to do it. Jack did it at August in 1986, and a couple other times there, too. Seve could do it in his prime.

But this guy, this fallen Tiger, is the king of the lightning-bolt move up the leader board, and apparently he can still make it happen when conditions allow or the moment is right or when he decides that enough is enough and it’s time to kick the tabloid gremlins out the door and get back to playing golf again. To competing. And perhaps, to winning.

Saturday afternoon, Pebble provided just such a moment, or rather a series of them, as Torrey Pines did two years ago at the same point in the proceedings (remember the eagles at 13 and 18 and the pitch-in for bird at 17?). Here it was feverish final stretch — birdie-birdie-birdie to finish, sandwiched around a slicing, green-seeking 3-metal on 18 that immediately joins the Tiger All-Time Highlight reel — that resulted in a back nine 31, leaving him five shots behind Dustin Johnson and feeling, at long last, like he’s got his 15th major right there in his grasp. And he won’t lie: He’s hungry for it.

“It would feel good,” he said to the press after his 66, which matched Mickelson’s effort from Friday, only to be matched by the leader’s equally impressive 66 a couple hours later. “I’ve won U.S. Opens before and it certainly didn’t feel bad. But I have 18 more holes and you’ve got to be ready to play.”

It’ll be no walkover. Though Tiger showed flashes of his dominant “old” self as he knocked down birdie putts and chased that 3-metal to the final green on Saturday, he’s lost the intimidating edge that helped push him across the finish line for so many years, and mostly likely lost it forever. Guys will stand up to him now. Y.E. Yang made it happen last August, and now it’s Johnson’s turn, or maybe Ernie Els, or Mickelson, neither of whom is out of this thing at six and seven shots back respectfully. And we can’t forget about McDowell, who played near-flawless golf before wobbling through bogeys at 16 and 17, and finishing where he started, at three under par. He won’t back down, either.

But to me, this comes down to Tiger and Johnson. The leader heads into the final round with an unmistakable look of resolute calm — the very countenance that Tiger mastered as a young man and has turned into an art form since. To listen to Johnson talk, he deserves to be in this spot. He belongs. He has one hand on the trophy and doesn’t care who’s gunning to wrest it away.

“I put myself in a great position for tomorrow,” said the big, strong, lanky and loose South Carolinian. “It’s going to be very hard out there. I am going to have to stay patient and keep playing like I’m playing, and I’m going to be tough to beat. I can’t control what [Tiger] does. I can only control what I do.”

Sound familiar, confident, Tiger-like? Sound like a Sunday to remember?

Isn’t that the Open way? And aren’t all of us, deep down, happy that Tiger is back in the picture? Can this get any better?

We shall see soon enough.

U.S. Open Day 3: Getting Our Phil

2010-06-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

The golf bodysnatchers must have scored a couple tickets to this year’s U.S. Open on Friday, because it wasn’t the same Phil Mickelson who teed off on No. 1 about 1:30 p.m., an hour after Tiger Woods sputtered to a 1-over 72 that has him on the outside looking in, four over par.

Phil’s amazing reversal was evident after his first six shots, the last of which settled three feet from the pin on No. 2 for the first of five birdies in Phil’s opening eight holes, followed by another one at 11. After a Thursday round in which he putted like most of the human race and started to get the hangdog “WTF” look we’ve seen at so many majors — at least those he found a way to lose before his Masters breakthrough in 2004 — he was bodysnatched, transformed and otherwise one-eighty’d to within a couple shots of the lead held by 30-year-old Brit Graeme McDowell, who fired 68 to post a halfway mark of three under par.

Suddenly Mickelson was firing at flags and making many of the putts he stood over; even after cooling off a bit down the stretch, he deepened his groove and turned yet another U.S. Open into what could be first as champion, and his second major in a row, leaving him at the turn toward a possible Mickelslam. It all depends on which guy shows up starting Saturday.

It won’t be easy, not by any stretch. There is Tiger, of course, by no means out of it at seven shots behind, as he proved last year at Bethpage Black, when he made a furious final round charge only to falter late and finish a handful of shots back. That was pre-scandal Tiger, however, and he doesn’t appear to have the same mojo to push everyone else out of his way, though he isn’t discounting his chances.

“I just need to keep progressing and keep moving my way up the board,” he said in characteristic Tiger-speak. “It's a long haul. The U.S. Open is not going to get easier as the week goes on. Especially on the weekend. And from what I hear it's supposed to be overcast, so I'm sure there will be a few more birdies than we normally would see.”

And the other guys have been making them.

Others?

There is Ernie Els, who with a nicely crafted 68 of his own finds himself two shots out and in great shape to score his third Open win and first in 13 years.

There is Dustin Johnson, who has won the last two AT&Ts and obviously has a thing for Pebble Beach.

There is K.J. Choi, as tough a bulldog as there is out there. There is Ian Poulter, he of the plaid slacks and confident air. There is fellow Englishman Paul Casey, who knows how to win on both sides of the Atlantic now.

In reality, anyone within six or seven shots of the lead has a fighting chance to pull this thing out. If the wind settles Saturday and the marine layer stays over the Monterey Peninsula like a birdie-incubating blanket, anyone could go on a Phil-like runner and notch a 66 or even 65. It’ll take laser approaches and steely nerves over the putter, but as we saw Friday with Mickelson, it’s doable.

“Well, it's been such a long time since I won one of these,” said the Big Easy. But we've got a long way to go. Obviously, I needed a round like today to get me back in the tournament, which is nice. We've just got to look at conditions. I feel comfortable with my game, you know. I worked really hard coming in here. So I feel my game's there, which is nice, because you need your game around a U.S. Open venue.”

One thing that won’t happen: A runaway on the level of Tiger’s in 2000. Even the frontrunner doesn’t expect to put any distance between himself and the impressive bunch at his heels, though that doesn’t mean he won’t give it his all.

“Winning major championships is what I've dreamed of all my life and what I've practiced for,” he said after his solid, if unspectacular round. “Over the seven or eight years I've been playing in them there's no doubt I've been learning more and more about myself and what it takes to win a major.

“I feel — like I say, I feel I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be. That doesn't mean my name's on the trophy this Sunday afternoon. There's a hell of a lot of work to do. This course is ready to bite you any second. I'm going to be relaxed and disciplined and try to keep control of my emotions and see where that leaves me Sunday afternoon.”

Whether it’s McDowell or Phil or somebody else hoisting the hardware, we all know where we’ll be when it happens, don’t we?

OUTSIDE THE ROPES
WONDER BUSES: In comparison to the 2000 Open, this one is running like clockwork despite an infrastructure that’s almost beyond comprehension — just the wires running alongside most fairways make my head spin — and operational details that take years of planning. At the media and spectator level, the whole thing would fall apart without a solid transportation system, and this time they’ve nailed it. Despite occasional traffic jams and other hiccups, the buses keep running on time and everybody gets to where they need to be.

“Somebody should be writing about that,” said one media bus driver Friday. “We’re doing such a great job, the event’s organizers are leaving us alone. They know we know what we’re doing.”

Well, my friend, I can’t promise you the newspaper headline you wanted, but I hope this helps let people know that you rock.

QUAIL HOOKY: I couldn’t resist: A good friend of mine invited me to get in a round of golf at Quail Lodge, which is an easy 15-minute drive from Pebble, in Carmel Valley. So while Tiger grinded in round two, Frank and I enjoyed a bucolic, relaxing, cool and utterly satisfying circuit around Quail’s short but by no means easy 18 holes. Conditions are perfect from tee to green, and the surfaces are rolling as smoothly as can be expected after an overly cool spring. Played on mostly flat terrain with just enough elevation change and design surprises to keep you engaged, Quail dishes up a more than worthwhile resort round. One of these days I’ll have to actually stay in one of its villas and take a cruise around the putting course that winds between the rooms. www.quaillodge.com

FANTASTIC FOOD: Back near downtown Monterey, along motel-heavy Fremont Avenue, is the Monterey Cookhouse, whose open kitchen produces as versatile and satisfying a menu of comfort food as any eatery I’ve sampled in this part of the world. Owner Linda Cantrell, who took over for the previous proprietors in August 2008, has transformed the former Monterey Joe’s into a hopping, hip meeting spot for locals and an ever-growing tourist clientele who take the time to break away from the Fisherman’s Wharf/Pacific Grove area. We’ve dined there two nights in a row, and both times I was blown away — the brisket is outstanding, the macaroni and cheese has that homemade touch (as does everything here) and a special off-the-menu item, pulled pork pizza, is downright sublime, served atop a perfectly made thin crust and topped with scallions. Cocktails? There’s only real choice for insiders: The organic margarita, which is stripped down to its essence with tequila, lime juice and agave, and served like a martini. Don’t miss it. www.montereycookhouse.com

U.S. Open Day 2: Par Is King

2010-06-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

Phil Falters, Tiger Gets the Love

Forget the fat that they finished the day out of the lead. Both Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are very much still in this thing, thanks to USGA’s masterful setup of Pebble Beach — love those shaved surfaces! — all the right tweaks by the course’s decision makers (read my previous post), fortuitous Open-caliber weather (I could see the fairways and greens change color as the day wore on) and the sheer weight of numbers.

Nobody managed a breakaway day in round one, though a few guys made moves at various points within the morning and afternoon brackets. Tour vets had their moments. So did a few amateurs. No one had posted anything better than one under par as of 5 p.m. PST, and four under remained untouched all day.

Phil? Try four OVER, including a nasty bogey-bogey-bogey finish to his front nine, on holes 16 through 18. Despite a strong bolt out of the gate over the first five holes — all pars, all fairways, a couple of very makeable birdie putts — he just lost his way in the heart of the round, and by the last few holes had obviously lost all confidence in the wand. A badly missed three-footer for birdie at six was the last straw, and it revealed something that’s gone awry in Mickelson’s stroke going into this week. It also led him to a characteristic jolt of optimism in his post-round interview.

“I didn't putt great in the practice rounds, but I putted great last week with Stockton and just thought I was ready. I'm rolling the ball well, but there's something off. The ball is not starting on my line, so there's something a little off. I'll have to work on it. Fortunately I have a lot of time to do that.”

Yes, but these greens aren’t going to get any simpler to figure out. Not without a freak rainstorm that has no chance of showing up on the horizon. And while there were some flashes of short-game brilliance out there — great putting put Paul Casey in the lead late Friday before some wobbly ballstriking put him back with half the known world at 1 under par — most guys just tiptoed their way around Pebble’s tiny, treacherous surfaces. Edges were burned. Heads were scratched. And par remained a worthy goal, which gives even Mickelson hope.

“We have three rounds left. I know if I shoot under par tomorrow I'll be right there. There's no way under par is going to win here, I don't believe. I think over par will win. Because of that I'm right there.”

So is John Rollins, his real only claim to fame on the big tour a win in Reno last year. So is 2003 PGA Champion Shaun Micheel, who’s been MIA for quite a while. So are tour journeymen like South African Brendan DeJonge (who dunked his third shot for eagle on the brutal 14th, which is really like double eagle). So are brits Casey and Ian Poulter, Korean K.J. Choi and a slew of other “great players never to have won a major.” This is standard operating procedure for most tournaments, the U.S. Open included. Pretenders aplenty in the early going, with the cream rising as the weekend bears down.

And Tiger? Judging from the crowd sizes and immediate ramp-up in security detail as his all-star group approached each hole, he’s still The Man in most golf fans’ minds. I got the distinct vibe that people want him to Do Well, and if he wins, he’ll be absolved of many recent sins, whether he deserves to be or not. That has always been his job out there, to win, and this Pebble Open Number Four was long expected to be another inevitable step toward eclipsing the Nicklaus Record.

And make no mistake, he can still get it done, but he’ll have to start finding fairways, converting the birdie opportunities he’s beginning to give himself and just playing with that mix of otherworldly focus and eerie calm that marked his epic 2000 win. I don’t think he’s anywhere near that level right now, but given the fact that no one else is either — and that Pebble hasn’t even shown its nasty, windblown side yet — he very well could be the last man standing come Sunday.

But this time, he’d be winning a war of attrition, not of dominance. And there are too many twists to be negotiated for even that to happen, which gives this Open the look of a barn burner, down to the last putt.

U.S. Open Day 1: Pebble's New Do

2010-06-17T16:43:00.000-07:00

The Grand Old Gal Gets Quite the Makeover

It borders on cliché to say that in a U.S. Open so rife with possible dramatic scenarios on the competitive side — Phil vs. Tiger, young studs vs. wily oldsters, Sergio vs. himself, Tom Watson vs. Father Time — the true star of this particular show remains Pebble Beach itself. But it’s absolutely true.

It could be, in one scribe’s words, “the ultimate Open venue.”

After covering Tiger’s mauling of the golf course in 2000 as well as the 2008 and 2009 Opens at Torrey Pines and Bethpage Black, I can wholeheartedly get behind those words. This is, until further notice, the best place on the planet to stage the national championship. No other course in the ever-expanding Open rota can match it for views (duh), historical heft (sorry, Merion and Oakmont), public recognition or glamour. Just being out there, strolling the links and soaking in what I now recognize as design genius from stem to stern — not just from holes 4 through 10 and 17 and 18, but the whole damned 18 — can veer tantalizingly close to transcendant if you allow to yourself get “into it.” And who doesn’t, if they really care about golf at all?

During Wednesday’s practice round, I was more into it than usual, simply because I’d heard and read so much about the changes made by the surprisingly adaptive folks at the Pebble Beach Company, with the USGA’s blessing, to give their baby some teeth in the face of ever-longer shots wielded by ever-stronger players who, to a man, have made sure that Tiger’s dominant performance of a decade ago won’t be repeated at least on this slice of heavenly terra firma.

They are very, very good changes. Amazingly, Pebble Beach as a whole is better than it was before. More beautiful, more menacing when the fairways narrow and the rough deepens, more strategically and thematically whole. To prepare for Pebble’s fourth Open (the USGA announced that its fifth will take place in 2019, and God bless them by cutting our waiting period by a full year), the powers that be left very few holes untouched. My favorite tweaks after four hours in the bright sun, spying every nip and tuck I could discern:

No. 3: New fairway bunkering up the left side of this sharp dogleg left turns a pedestrian mid-length par 4 into a great one. There was no sand out there before, just a broad bank of rough. Now the tee shot is framed by a series of bright white hazards and players must decide whether to let out the dog and chance running through the fairway and into one of these bad boys, or turning over a fairway metal and leaving a tougher angle into the heavily canted green.

No. 6: If Tiger blasts his drive to the right rough and hopes to recover with an epic, blind 6-iron up the hill of this fascinating par 5, he’d better think twice. There is no rough up the right side. It’s now shaved fairway, right up to the red stakes, with the cliff, beach and cove beyond. And a gaggle of new fairway bunkers now make bailing left a non-starter. What was always a visually stunning hole is now flat-out gorgeous, and though some guys will just play it safe with iron off the tee and a longer club approach, I think it’s now twice the strategic proposition.

No. 8: They’ve done it — the Pebble decision makers have managed to improve on the world’s greatest par 4 by simply shifting its fairway well to the right, toward the ocean, and narrowing it considerably. It’s still blind from the tee, the old “aiming rock” is gone, and players must hit it dead straight across a sliver of cliff to find the short grass. From there the all-world second shot across the chasm to an impossibly small green must be negotiated from an even more brutal angle.

No. 9 and 10: Ditto — fairways shifted toward the Big Water, bunkers perfectly placed up the left side, tee shots placed with considerable pucker factor-duress. At least they would be for me; from what I witnessed during the practice round, most guys just step up there and wail away, unfazed. And the new tee box on 9 stretches it to 505 harrowing yards. Have fun, boys, if the wind is up at all.

No. 11: A new tee box pushed to the absolute southern limit of the Pebble property turns a fair uphill inland par 4 into a fun, potentially crucial hole.

No. 14: As if the elevated, mostly-hidden putting surface wasn’t hard enough to find in even three shots on this 580-yard, uphill beast, it’s now doubly dastardly thanks to a new greenside bunker on the right side. And God love them, the USGA has ordered the steep bank behind the green to be shaved down to within an inch of its life, making those high-side pin placements accessible only with divine intervention.

No. 15: What was previously my least favorite hole on the course — a straight, ho-hum two-shotter with zero personality — comes out swinging with a string of yawning, bearded bunkers up the left side and a perfectly placed, mega-deep pot bunker right in the middle of the fairway, about 120 yards out. And there’s no tall-grass buffer between fairway and that little round beauty’s nether regions. Get in there and it’s bogey, minimum.

Even No. 18 — perhaps Pebble’s most messed-with hole overall, thanks mostly to coastal erosion, storm damage and diseased trees — sports some new features, including a pair of taller trees in the middle of the fairway (about where the old, taller and thinner ones used to be), and a shorter companion to the right of the iconic big tree near the green, a curious little pine with double-right-angled trunk. A cosmetic change, to be sure, unless you push your lay-up right, leaving a wicked third shot to a green that ranks among the course’s largest, though that’s not saying much. Pebble’s greens remain incredibly small by tour standards.

What does all this mean? That we’re in store for an incredible four days of golf, purveyed by a group of guys who have the goods to subdue just about any collection of holes. I can’t wait to see how they handle the “new” Pebble Beach, and more importantly, how it handles them.

The U.S. Open Watch: Opening Round Fireworks

2010-06-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

It's the same deal with every major these days: Everybody wants Tiger and Phil going millionaire mano-a-mano at Pebble Beach come Sunday afternoon (big thanks to my buddy Calder Chism, who provided the artwork for this blog courtesy of www.secretinthedirt.com). That's the definition of drama for anyone following the game today, and who knows, it could happen. But there's a lot of ground to cover and plenty of contenders to check out in the early running. And that's what Thursday and Friday pairings are all about.

The way he sees it, Lee Westwood is right where he wants to be come Thursday afternoon: Teeing up at Pebble Beach with two multipile U.S Open winners, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, at 1:36 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

"I've always enjoyed that, playing with Tiger," Westwood said Tuesday morning, fresh off a playoff win in Memphis that just added momentum to his quest for his first major win this week. "You expect him to be there or thereabouts at the end of the week on the leaderboard. So to play with him the first two days you get to keep a closer eye on him and if he plays well sometimes that momentum could pull you through along with him if you are playing well. There's always a great gallery."

Els, who's no slouch with two PGA Tour wins this year, gets Westwood's attention, too. This is a threesome that will undoubtedly attract the biggest hordes over the first two days.

"Obviously playing with Ernie as well there will be quite a crowd there. As it was last year at the U.S. Open with Ryo [Ishikawa] as well and Tiger. And it creates a good atmosphere out there. I think it's the kind of group that you want to play in if you're having any aspirations of winning a championship like this."

Westwood not only aspires, he aches. But for a missed putt on the 72nd hole at Torrey Pines two years ago, he would have joined Tiger and Rocco Mediate in their epic playoff the next day. And we all remember how he was sitting pretty at this year's Masters before being blindsided by a surging, heroic Phil Mickelson. He's without a doubt Europe's best player at the moment, and could be the guy dragging around the "Best Player Without a Major" millstone as well. In teaming him with Tiger and Ernie, the USGA hit the jackpot. They're good at it.

The Big Easy, who finished 15 shots behind Tiger at Pebble in 2000 for a distant second place, is just happy to be a part of the party. "It will be interesting," he said after his practice round today. "It's a big pairing, obviously, a lot of attention will be on the pairing and especially with Lee winning last week, and really one of the hottest players in the world the last two years, he's won everywhere. Obviously Tiger coming back, ten years after that unbelievable win. So we'll have a lot of people watching us and a lot of attention."

Next in line for marquee value is the group featuring Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Y.E. Yang, who start on 10 at 8:06 a.m. Thursday. That's a given, and that's where I'll be, truth to tell. If there was ever an Open for Phil to finally break through and win. This is it. I've got a feeling.

Not to downplay the many other great threesomes going at it out of the gate. Following are my Top 3 after the two groups already mentioned.

Tim Clark, K.J. Choi and Mike Weir, 7:44 a.m Thursday, No. 1 tee: Clark won the Players Championship, Weir is a major winner and Choi damn near became one at Augusta. All are in their prime and should hang in the Top 20 here.

Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk and Angel Cabrera, 7:44 am. Thursday, No. 10 tee: Three different kinds of players, all boasting some of the best pure talent the game has seen in a while. Goosen has struggled lately but tends to get up for the Open. Furyk owns one and is seeking a second; and Cabrera can't be counted out if his driver is working.

Sergio Garcia, Steve Stricker and Paul Casey, 1:14 p.m. Thursday, No. 1 tee: Stricker has been conspicuous by his absence but he's healed from some injuries and looks to be back in form. Pebble sets up well for him; his iron game is stellar. Casey is another guy who could very well have a major under his belt by now. Same for Sergio, who just hasn't been there mentally at all this year. If he can't get fired up and dialed in for his one, he might be done.

Honorable mention: Ryo Ishikawa, Roroy McIlroy and Tom Watson, 1:47 p.m. Thursday, No. 10 tee: Two rising young stars and the never-say-die old-timer, looking to show the whippersnappers how it's done at the scene of his most dramatic major win, nearly 20 years ago. Great stuff.

Next up: My first look at a toughened-up Pebble, and further first round predictions.

Rocco's Luck Fills Out a Slam-Bang Open Field

2010-06-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

It seems poetic justice that Rocco Mediate got a spot at Pebble Beach at literally the last possible moment. When Robert Garrigus gagged in Memphis and ended up handing the St. Jude Classic title to best-Brit-at-the-moment Lee Westwood (with Robert Karlsson as an onlooker in the three-way playoff), Rocco scored a tee time because Westwood was already in the field. The USGA had held a place for any player who won multiple PGA Tour co-sponsored events between June 21, 2009 and June 13, 2010, and since Westwood didn't need to take advantage of that rule, Mediate — who shot 67-70 in a sectional qualifier in Columbus, Ohio on June 7 to finish as first alternate — gets the nod.

Next question: Can Rocco catch lightning in a bottle twice in three years and find himself in a Monday playoff for the Open title, as he did two years ago at Torrey Pines? It's a billion to one shot by my reckoning, but hey, this is the Open. As we seem to find out every year, anything is possible.

Even Tiger winning after three lackluster (for him) outings so far in 2010 is definitely doable, and all you've got to do is turn back the calendar 10 years for proof. Back then, he cruised to a never-to-be-matched 15-shot win at Pebble for his first, and perhaps greatest, Open triumph — dominating from start to finish, where even an errant triple bogey in the second round didn't trip him him up. He made every putt he saw and turned the Peninsula into his own personal playground, prompting Ernie Els (who finished in second place at three-over par) to label Tiger a "freak." In a good way, of course.

But he's a different player now, coachless for the moment and sometimes looking downright clueless off the tee and on the greens. That ain't gonna cut it in the USGA's eyes, and a firmed-up, toughed-up Pebble will expose him quickly if he doesn't have his act together, just as it will anyone else. And that includes Westwood, Phil Mickelson or anyone else in the world top 30, which leads some onlookers to conclude that some new blood will get into the championship mix and perhaps provide a surprise.

One of them is NBA player Shane Battier, who took part in conference call promoting next month's American Century Celebrity Championship at Edgewood Tahoe. I asked him and fellow tall dude Jason Kidd who he liked this week.

"I'm going with the young guns," he said. "I like Hunter Mahan. If he can make some putts, he definitely has the game to do it. And look out for Rory McIlroy. He's played well so far this year and he also has what it takes to contend."

Mahan is a solid pick. At last year's Open at Bethpage Black I watched him stay in the hunt until the 16th hole during Monday's crazy final round, when his approach hit the flagstick and, in a bolt of bad luck, shot all the way off the green, some 50 feet away. He ended up making bogey. As for McIlroy, the 22-year-old mop-topped Northern Irish phenom, his approach into the 15th hole at Quail Hollow, which led to birdie and his first PGA Tour win, was the finest single golf swing in tour this year. He'll need a lot of them to become the first European player since Tony Jacklin in 1970 to win America's Open, but if he stays loose, I'm with Battier: Look out.

And Rocco Mediate? Two years ago he was just happy to be there, also as a last-minute qualifier. We can't count him out at this point. It would be foolish to count anybody out who's been in the Open crucible before.

Tomorrow, I'll take a look at the best groups to watch on Thursday and Friday. The Bluecoats have put together some doozies.

The U.S. Open Watch: One Week Out

2010-06-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

Yeah, there's one PGA event to get through before the most-anticipated U.S. Open in years returns to Pebble Beach for the first time in a decade. While the B team slogs through the drenching heat of Memphis, the top-liners are making their way to the hallowed ground the get a feel for what the USGA has in store.

Frontrunner Phil Mickelson — the best player in the world at the moment and a multi-winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am — will take a peek this week. Tiger Woods, still somewhat wobbly in competition though he's getting ever closer to his old competitive self, says he'll hole up on the range in Isleworth, Hank-less (or anyone else-less), hoping to dig his 2000 magic out of the dirt. Ernie Els is probably in Florida as well, looking for the groove that brought him two wins earlier this year. Steve Stricker, absent and ailing much of this year, is getting back into battle shape, and Vijay Singh, heading to Pebble on an exemption, is grinding as hard as ever, with a revival on his mind.

Meanwhile, the cadre of young guns who have turned the first half of the PGA Tour into a colorful, fearless, barely-old-enough-to-shave playground exercise — kids like Rickie Fowler (who, but for late double bogey, would have won at Jack's bash last week) — and Northern Irish phenom Rory McIlroy are feeling their oats, with the Open trophy in their sights. And then there are veterans like last week's winner at the Memorial, 29-year-old Justin Rose, whose swing and attitude are as solid as they've ever been. I've got him on my short list to be the first Brit to take America's trophy in, well, forever.

And finally we have this week's qualifiers, among them Rich Barcelo, who played his college golf in Reno, won a Nationwide event not long ago and has contended in several Big Tour events including the Reno-Tahoe Open and, yes, the AT&T. He just fired 66-66 to tie for first in today's regional qualifier in Tennessee, automatically punching his ticket to the Open along with guys like Brandt Snedeker, Paul Goydos and JJ Henry. Last year a grinder named David Duval got in as a qualifier, and damn near won the thing at Bethpage Black; in 2008, Rocco Mediate won a date with Torrey Pines, and we all know what happened there.

That's the thing about the U.S. Open. As much as the USGA painstakingly fashions it as the ultimate test of one's game, the one failsafe identifier of contenders and pretenders, it always manages to throw a surprise at us once in a while. Phil, Tiger and their ilk will get all the air and ink, but for the Rich Barcelos of the world, it's lightning time. They're looking to strike, and score one for the underdog. No better place to do it than Pebble Beach. And no better reason to get fired up, right now, no matter whether you're rooting for a favorite or a faceless upstart.

And I'll be there with you every step of the way, onsite beginning Wednesday, June 16. Follow me here, on Twitter, Facebook and, of course, at www.fgmagazine.com

A Ful-Philling Masters, A Tiger Tamed … and Shamed

2010-04-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes things go according to a grand master plan of goodness. Sometimes the good guys win in real life. And sometimes, maybe more than we realize, the forces of nature conspire to show us what's important, what lasts and where, or to whom, we should direct our attention.

Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are both forces of nature, but those forces seem to emanate from opposite sides of a well-circulated coin: The currency of human behavior. And to my mind, the better nature won out in this year's Masters. I've taken an extra day to let Sunday's extraordinary round sink in, but one thing is glaringly obvious: The world's two best players (I know Steve Stricker is numerically No. 2 right now, but that will change) are as different from each other in style, temperament and philosophy as they are similar in preternatural golf talent. And one of them goes about his business in a way we can all aspire to. The other? Not so much, even after a monthlong series of mea culpas and "I've changed" pronouncements.

There is some overlap, of course.

Each guy is analytical in his own way. Phil is a poker player constantly sizing up his fellow players, reading tells, gauging the strength of his hole cards — always with the goal of going all-in. He simply can't approach golf any other way, and it often bites him in the hip pocket. For proof all you need to do is look back at the first dozen or so majors he didn't win but should have, and to the most glaring go-for-it faux pas of his career, his horrible tee shot at the 72nd hole of the 2006 U.S. Open. But this freewheeling Phil-osophy works perfectly at Augusta, with its nonexistent rough and electrifying run of back-nine gambler's special holes. And so, he now owns three green jackets.

Ironically, Mickelson's performance last week was the most Tiger-like of his Masters triumphs. He picked his all-in spots beautifully, and the right cards turned over for him. No bogeys in his final round 67; that's unprecedented in his winning career at Augusta. He was steady, calculating, brilliant in his execution and cool as the shadows were long when he birdied the final hole for a gorgeous 16-under-par cumulative score, only two off of Tiger's record of 1997 — which, incidentally, was set before the Green Jackets toughened up their baby.

Tiger owns four titles and wanted a fifth badly right here, figuring it would quash all the tawdry crosstalk and win a measure of forgiveness from the universe, but his Terminator style of play — pure calculation, gambling only when it's a sure thing, psychological warfare with anyone in his path, didn't cut it this time (certainly not with K.J. Choi, his four-day playing partner, who approaches the game with a genuine Zen calm to which Tiger can only pay lip service). In fact, it betrayed him, and his frustration leaked through in the form of sprayed tee shots (at times he looked as befuddled with his swing as any of us), and rushed putts. His fourth place finish was, in truth, phenomenal given the circumstances, but he couldn't hold it together for the big prize.

But what really clued us in to the fact that Tiger has a long, long way to go in his journey to rehabilitation — whatever that means in his world — were his profane outbursts, especially during Saturday's round. Most of us are guilty of such blue streaks — I'm the poster child for ugly self-talk, and it's gotten me in more trouble with friends and even my own kids than I care to admit — but we're not a fallen and supposedly repentant icon. We're nobody. Tiger is Somebody, which led to the following statement by the usually low-key Jim Nantz during an interview on WFAN radio in New York:

"He used the Lord's name in vain . . . If I said what he said on the air, I would be fired. Okay? It's interesting. I read in USA TODAY and it was called 'mild language.' Someone on my broadcast dismissed it as nothing other than the fact he had a camera in his face. Well, guess what? Phil Mickelson had a camera in his face all week and did you ever hear him even come close to saying something like that?"

No, we didn't. And we never have. Phil respects the game more than Tiger ever will, because he understands it's just a game, it's not a belief system or some sort of cosmic portal to a pseudo-religious plane, the kind of mythical throne Earl Woods was trying to build for his son, and peddling to the press and public with impunity. It doesn't exist for Tiger or anyone else. It's really just the ball, the pin and the brain. It's not the alpha and omega of anyone's existence, even Tiger's. It's just golf, and Phil loves it, pure and simple. It sometimes doesn't love him back, and he's OK with that. Tiger, on the other hand, obviously doesn't love golf. For him it's a means to an unreachable end and, clearly, an entrée to the type of behavior that I doubt we'll ever associate with Phil.

In the end, these two superstars' divergent paths led to a Masters that will forever rank as one of the best, full of intrigue and anguish, grace and menace, fulfillment and comeuppance. It led to a beaten Tiger leaving Augusta alone, his estranged wife and two kids nowhere to be found. And it led, thankfully, to a joyous Mickelson who, as he hugged Amy behind the 18th green, let an uncharacteristic tear roll down his cheek.

In the post-round press conference, Phil was even more open and forthright than usual, showing humor and wisdom and, most of all, gratitude. Still, he was quick to put his victory over Tiger, Lee, K.J., Freddie and everyone else — accomplished on his favorite stage in all of golf — in proper perspective. Family first, golf somewhere down the line.

"I didn't know if [Amy] would be there, but I'm thankful she was. To have her here and share the joy of the moment on 18, to share it with the kids, is something we'll keep with us for the rest of our lives. I don't normally shed tears over wins, but when Amy and I hugged on 18, that was an emotional moment for us."

And for all of us, Lefty. Well done.

Is the Greatest Masters Ever Unfolding?

2010-04-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

Even the most battle-hardened, seen-it-all-in-majors-competition cynic had to love the first day of the 2010 Masters. Even without an amazingly on-point Tiger Woods firing his best opening round ever — a solid 68 that could easily have been a 65 — and sitting pretty two shots behind leader (ahem!) Fred Couples, the leader board after a sometimes blustery Thursday is the finest in recent memory.

Here we have a sockless, 50-year-old Couples, fresh off a smokin' Champions Tour run, asserting his loosey-goosey demeanor but sneaky-tough will on his favorite golf course in creation, burying belly putts with impunity and firing at pins like the 32-year-old dude who won this thing way back in 1992 and, to be honest, should have won a couple more between then and now. Maybe this is his time to show that Fred is far from dead on the big boy tour.

Here we have ageless Tom Watson, a decade Couples' senior and miles shorter off the tee, but seemingly immune to the nervous afflictions that lay much younger guys low once Augusta National gets serious (even the usually unflappable Jim Furyk crashed and burned today). Watson's should-have-been run at the Open Championship last July was good. Should lightning strike again this weekend and he sticks around for the the back nine on Sunday, I mean REALLY sticks around all the way through the final putt, well, even Jim Nantz would pull up mute.

Here we have Phil Mickelson suddenly finding his putting stroke at the absolute best time after three pretty damn ugly months on the greens, and even finding a fairway on occasion, thankfully on a course that allows players to get away with sideways tee shots more than most major venues. Nobody has negotiated Augusta with more success over the past decade — Phil has owned the Top 10 here — and notching his Masters trifecta this week would not only revive his fan base's faith, but serve Tiger a delicious brand of not-so-fast notice.

Here we have Lee Westwood, who should have a couple big trophies on his mantel by now if not for Tiger's (and, yes, Rocco's) heroics at Torrey Pines two years ago, and his own strange stretch of dropping off the planet in the mid-oughts. If England is going to get back into the Masters winner's circle since the days of Faldo the Great, it's between Westwood and Ian Poulter, who's right there in the hunt, as well. I give Lee a solid shot at taking it all.

Here we have the two top Asian players in the world today, PGA Champ-slash-Tiger slayer Y.E. Yang and fellow Korean K.J. Choi, another guy with the chops to take a couple majors and the demeanor to do so while riding shotgun on the Tiger train. One of them winning here, in the Deep South, would as much for golf as a global product as Tiger's epochal win in ’97 did for, well, every type of golf product.

And here we have insurgent underachievers like Ricky Barnes (who damn near won last year's U.S. Open) and fearless winners like Anthony Kim, who at this moment stand tied with Tiger and can stay in the hunt without the distractions (even the Green Coats can't keep all of the hecklers at bay, especially when they're 2,000 feet above the ground in the form of pesky fly-by banners). They just add to the intrigue of this most hyped of Masters, as do oldsters like Sandy Lyle and previously MIA contenders like David Toms and Adam Scott. The question is, who has what it takes to steal Tiger's headlines? Or will his rust show through now that the novelty of his return is pretty much killed off, by his own hand?

Then again, it appears that for all of his missteps and silence over the past five months, nothing seems to faze The Man once the starting gun sounds. He's in his element, in the hunt and most definitely in top form. The fact that there are so many great players with their game faces on, at the perfect time, puts this Masters on a plane of its own.

Suddenly we have the most exciting Masters Friday in history on our doorsteps. Might as well declare it a three-day weekend right now.

Is Freddie In a Masters-Winning Groove?

2010-04-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Augusta Zoo.

The moment Tiger Woods stepped onto the first tee for a Sunday practice round with Mark O'Meara — to marked silence from the crowd according to Nick Faldo, who was on the scene with his son — the golf world stopped on its axis. Nobody else, it seems, is playing in the year's first major. Nobody worth covering, anyway. It's wall to wall Tiger right now, and if he wins it'll be, as Jim Nantz said in Monday's CBS conference call, "a titanic achievement."

A lot of scribes and other golf pundits are all but handing another green jacket to Tiger, despite the fact he hasn't played a competitive round in six months; that he now faces a much different media mindset as well as a fan base gorged on tabloid fodder; and that even in the carefully sealed Augusta National bubble, he's facing a brand of distraction that would faze even the most devout Buddhist monk.

Judging from his 35-minute press conference on Monday, Tiger seems ready to go to battle inside the ropes. He told a packed media room that after his years of lying to his family and himself, the game "is fun again" and that "nothing has changed — I'm going to see if I can win this thing."

I, for one, don't think it will happen. Tiger will make the cut, he might sniff the leader board, but he won't be able to lord his long-time dominance over the field, psychologically other otherwise, as he has in the past. Remember, he hasn't won the Masters since 2005, when he beat Chris DiMarco in a playoff after notching perhaps the most famous shot in modern Masters history, his magical chip on No. 16. Augusta chairman Billy Payne and company have Tiger-proofed their beloved course somewhat since then, opening up the field to all kinds of players — from position hitters like Trevor Immelman and Zach Johnson to short game savants like Phil Mickelson and bomb-and-gougers like Angel Cabrera. Even old guys like Kenny Perry, who had his first major in the bag last year before choking down the stretch, can exact some low-scoring blood from the National's pristine grounds.

Speaking of old guys, how about 1992 champion Fred Couples? At 50 he's run roughshod over the Champions Tour this year, winning three of the four events he's entered. He loves Augusta and has contended there in the very recent past — 2006, to be exact, when he played with Mickelson in the final group and finished T3 — and he still has the length to beat it around the hallowed grounds. As with any Masters contender, his chances will come down to how well his belly putter behaves. He certainly seems comfortable with the media hoopla surrounding Tiger's return, and in fact welcomed Woods back with open arms by joining him for a practice round on Monday. He's my dark horse pick and one of many guys who could step up and steal Tiger's thunder come this weekend.

I'm not alone in that assessment. Before Tiger faced the press, CBS held its annual pre-tournament conference call with Nantz, Faldo, producer Sean McManus and others, and as they fielded one question after another about you-know-who, I threw them a curveball of sorts: Who else could sneak in under the radar and take the prize?

"I just think there are so many possibilities," Nantz said. "When we get into the weekend, there will be people surfacing. Could be Marty Kaymer, Ernie has already won twice, Freddie has won three times on the Champions Tour. There are going to be a lot of good stories to tell."

Faldo agreed with his cohort. "I think this year, we have a very exciting cast. You take the obvious guys who have already won this year, but there are plenty of guys who are considered dark horses. Retief Goosen is playing extremely well. Robert Allenby is playing well. Lee Westwood is playing well. I personally think we're going to get a dozen guys who will be very much in contention."

Sure, I've gotta put Tiger in that group, but first things first: The next couple days of practice and reconnecting with his fellow players and more importantly, his fans. "Today was something that touched my heart pretty good," he said at the press conference. "The people couldn't have been nicer. A lot has happened in my life over the last five months. I'm looking forward to being here. I know all the guys have been bombarded with questions about me [over the past few months] and I apologize for that. I can't tell you how many hugs I've gotten fro the guys, and it's only Monday. It was great playing with Freddy and Jim, two of my best friends out here. I'll play with Mark (O'Meara) and Steve Stricker tomorrow."

I'd bet that come Wednesday, Tiger will sneak out for an early nine holes, skip the par 3 tournament (his usual M.O.), and lay low before playing for keeps on Thursday. Of course I'll be riveted to what he's doing, like everyone else. But I'm not forgetting Freddie.

From Gridiron to Green: Rice Goes Deep for Tour Bid

2010-03-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a decade since Jerry Rice put the finishing touches on perhaps the greatest receiving career in NFL history — as a member of the Oakland Raiders, not the San Francisco 49ers, with whom he set a slew of records — but he still enjoys superstar status around the Bay Area and beyond. The man commands attention. Like his former quarterback connection, Joe Montana, he's attained legend status, and this summer will follow Montana to Canton, Ohio, as a first-ballot NFL Hall of Famer. He could just kick back and enjoy his fame and station, showing up to take a few swings in the odd celebrity golf tournament now and again.

He could just cruise.

But anybody who knows Rice realizes he's not the type to fade away quietly. A quarter-century after he started burning cornerbacks and turning heads in the NFL, at age 46, he looks like he could strap it on and start for the Niners tomorrow, but he's on to a new obsession: Earning his keep on the PGA's Nationwide Tour by playing on a sponsor's exemption at the Fresh Express Classic April 15-18 at TPC Stonebrae in the hills above Hayward, right across the bay from Candlestick Park.

Sounds pretty serious, even for a guy renowned for outworking everyone throughout his NFL career. Even for a guy who took up golf just a few years ago but has played his way down to scratch.

What's that all about?

"The same thing that possessed me to go for it in football, that drive and determination," Rice told me at the Fresh Express Classic media day on March 16. "I respect the game, the professionals, the guys on the Nationwide Tour aspiring to get to the PGA Tour. If I'm going to play on an exemption, I want to look good, have a good performance. It's the same way in football. I've been working hard. Golf is one of those games you can't master. As Bill Walsh used to say about football, 'it's all about ebb and flow.'"

Though he can "flow low" on occasion, especially at his home course, Sharon Heights just south of San Francisco, he's got some tuning up ahead of him if he hopes to make the cut at Stonebrae next month. After he and up-and-coming Nationwide star James Hahn, who hails from Alameda, Calif., joined representatives from the Tour and Fresh Express to play up the event, they went out and tackled Stonebrae, a three-year-old David McLay Kidd ball-buster with shaggy bunkers, giant greens and nary a level lie. Rice reportedly struggled on the greens en route to a respectable but not Tour-level 78. Still, I expect him to keep it close to par when he goes for a chunk of the tourney's $600,000 purse against he likes of Hahn, two-time PGA TOUR winner Len Mattiace and young South African Tyrone Van Aswegen — 156 players in all. The 36-hole cut will be to the low 60 and ties, and the Golf Channel will cover the event live.

"You're going to have highs and lows," Rice says. This is the type of course that will challenge you. You've got to know when to be aggressive, when to back off, and it's all about getting yourself in position to make putts, and the greens are very challenging. Most putts break toward the bay but about 15 percent of them go against that."

Rice is also the host for the event and will bring in a bunch of fellow retired NFL stars and other athletes for his Wednesday pro-am fundraiser — 49ers all-time greats including Ronnie Lott, Dwight Clark, Frank Nunley and Eric Wright, as well as singer-actor brothers Nick and Drew Lachey and poker legend Phil Hellmuth.

"We're hoping to raise $500,000 for local charities. The Nationwide Tour is the perfect partner; they do a lot for the community, and they're giving me a chance to compete."

The pro-am features two waves of play, with the first starting at 7:30 a.m. and the second at 1 p.m. Each wave will be well-represented by East Bay sports legends, including former Raiders Tim Brown, Fred Biletnikoff, Art Thoms and Rod Sherman, as well as Cal alum Sherman White.

"I still run into all those guys," Rice said. "Ronnie Lott is a funny. He plays a lot of golf, but I've never seen anything like it — he was so focused and confident in football, but he's totally different in golf. He's like, 'I suck!'"

Nobody would ever tag Rice with that description in anything he does, and he's now out to prove the naysayers wrong with his home-built swing and killer instinct. "I'm about a plus-one right now, but it's a tough, tough game," he hedges. "I just want to continue to progress and get better, and if I have a good showing here, hopefully I get invited to other tournaments, and let these guys know that I'm serious. I really admire what they're doing, how hard they have to work to be the best they can be."

Rice will also look once again to break into the top five at the American Century Celebrity Championship in July, but for now he's looking to emulate some of his favorite Tour players, from Tiger to Ernie to Lee, all the way back to Ben Hogan. "I've tried to pattern my swing after him," he says. "Hogan was my guy. "I'm really working on my short game. If you have a good short game, you'll start making birdies. I'm taking baby steps, but I'm learning."

Rice's involvement is a boon for the East Bay's only PGA Tour-sanctioned event, which brings Fresh Express in as title sponsor for the first time. Ticket sales had already last year’s total as of March 24, and with more than 100 non-profit groups throughout the Bay Area participating in the TICKETS Fore CHARITY program — organizations receiving 100 percent of proceeds — there's bound to be big crowds when Rice and his newfound teammates tee it up.

Daily admission is $10 during tournament week, with an all-week pass $25 at the gate. Admission is free for Family Day, on Tuesday April 13, when the tournament will host more than 700 children from area schools. Active military are admitted free all week.

Click here for more information on the Fresh Express Classic.

The Passion-less PGA Tour

2010-03-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

Good on our old buddy Ernie Els for notching his first PGA Tour win as a fortysomething elder statesman. His four-shot victory over fellow South African Charl Schwartzel showed the Big Easy at his laid-back best — digging a crucial par out of a potentially card-wrecking situation on No. 14 on Sunday, retooling his putting stroke at just the right time to make his final round a near-cakewalk and serving notice to Phil, Camilo and, perhaps, Tiger that he still very much has the Green Jacket in his sights. I, for one, hope he wins it. The guy has always been one of my favorite players, not only for his like-buttah swing but for his class and caring with the press and, more importantly, as a husband and father. He's one of the good guys, even if he doesn't show a helluva lot of emotion on the course. I know that's the way it's supposed to be, and though Ernie came quite close to shedding a tear of relief and joy after that last putt dropped at Doral, he managed to hold it together.

To paraphrase Tom Hanks in "A League of Their Own," "There's no crying in golf!" (Tiger's breakdowns after his first Masters win and his latest British Open win at Hoylake notwithstanding). Even Phil's semi-lame spreadeagled leap after winning at Augusta barely regitered on the lose-it-for-a-moment scale, momentous as it was for his career and golf in general.

I'm here to say that maybe there should be more emotion on the Big Stage, across the board. Sure, we have the mercurial types going way back, heart-on-sleevers like Seve Ballesteros and Ben Crenshaw, but most fans seem to expect their favorite sticks to hew to the Ben Hogan school of competitive deportment — stoic, eagle-eyed, unflappable.

Boring.

Who knows how a chastened Tiger will behave when he returns, but I don't think he'll turn into a robot. That's just not who he is; clearly he operates on passion for whatever he's doing, for better or worse. But guys like, say, Australian Robert Allenby — well, to me he represents what's wrong with the emotionless side of high-level golf.

Case in point: Allenby's reaction to his hole-in-one during Friday's round at Doral. He dunked a 230-yard hybrid and all he could manage was a near-flatlined reponse — a stare forward at the green, a whisper of a shrug and, finally, a baby grin to acknowledge his latest ho-hum feat.

C'mon, man, you can do better than that, even though you've probably made 20 or 30 of those suckers. Me, I have yet to taste an ace in nearly 40 years of playing the game, and if it happens, you'll hear the holler all the way to Brisbane. 'Cause as friends of mine know, I can get emotional on the links, sometimes in a good way, sometimes not. And I've played with plenty of guys in Allenby's less-than-excitable league. Perhaps that's a box they need to stay in to play their best, perhaps that's just the way they are. But it makes for lousy TV and shows the game in the poorest possible light for folks looking for some flash of genuine emotion in golf.

Hey, I've got nothing against Allenby. He's a solid player, potentially a major winner though his putting stroke is suspect from short range, and he can get a nasty case of the yanks on occasion. Maybe he'd move to the next level if he lightened up a bit, and the same goes for a lot of his peers, including today's hottest player, Camilo Villegas.

Suddenly I'm thinking that Tiger can't return fast enough, baggage and all. At least he's got some fire.

Just sayin'.

Tiger's Repentance Takes a Lenten Turn

2010-02-19T08:44:00.000-08:00

"I will continue to receive help … because that's how people really do change."

We all know that change is constant, the one thing we can count on in life. Things change, circumstances change, but do we, do people, really change? At our cores? In our essence?

Tiger Woods seems to think so, and that's why he's heading back to sex addiction therapy right away on the heels of today's "press conference" at PGA Headquarters. That announcement came after what appeared to be a heartfelt mea culpa in which he took full blame for his actions; praised his wife, Elin, for her strength over the past three months; acknowledged his fall, perhaps forever, as a worthy role model for kids; and begged the media to leave his family alone while he worked with them to forge a healthier future together, if indeed, that's what fate has in store. Most of his 10-minute-plus speech was in the form of prepared remarks, but when he went off-script and looked at the camera — into the world's curious eyes — he showed what I thought was pure, raw, vulnerable humanity. That's not to dismiss his silence or arrogance of the past several weeks, but it did show a humbled man trying to make the first tentative steps toward making amends with the public (though there was no olive branch extended to the press; he remains defiant to their prying and no doubt exposed to their wrath).

That said, Golf Channel commentator Brandel Chamblee, whose views I respect, called the one-way address (sans any questions from the funereal onlookers that included Tim Finchem, Notah Begay and Tiger's mom, Kultida) a "home run." Perhaps. Others cynically called it too scripted and packaged. Both are true, and either way, the guy definitely appeared truly sorry and sincere. He has had time to look in the mirror and, perhaps for the first time in many years, see himself as someone other than an untouchable superstar, "entitled" to the "temptations" all around him, the same ones that tempt most of us every day. He gave in, and now it's time to repent.

Though Tiger made it a point to state his Buddhist beliefs and declare that he had set that philosophy's teachings aside to indulge in earthly pleasures, I find it fascinating that he scheduled his first live, in-the-flesh public appearance just as the Christian Lenten season gets underway, two days after Ash Wednesday — when followers of Christ acknowledge their sin and pray for the strength to repent, which means, literally, to "turn around" toward God. Lent takes believers through 40 days of inward searching, of giving up self-indulgences, of walking toward the cross willingly — a ritual that ends with the new beginning of Easter.

Tiger is not Christian, but much of our nation is, and who knows, his attempt to "come clean" may resonate with folks going through their own self-searching process these days. For him, that means laying his soul bare in therapy, asking for private forgiveness from his family and friends and public forgiveness as the world's best golfer and, now, a broken man with the capacity to change. And I think we can all appreciate his apparent dedication toward making that change permanent.

Before one final plea for forgiveness, Tiger confirmed that he will return to golf. "I won't rule out that it will be this year," he said, giving hope to the PGA Tour and millions of folks that he will indeed get back out there and do what he does best, though with a much different aura about him. Hopefully, a more human one.

I look for him to return for the Masters, which takes place, perhaps not so ironically, the week after Easter. The resurrection of Tiger Woods, golfer, will have just begun. But Tiger Woods, sinner, will always be there, right alongside the rest of us.

Double D Helps Finish a Stirring Pebble Pro-Am

2010-02-13T16:16:00.000-08:00

When David Duval finally wins this year, and he will, it will complete one of the best and most satisfying comeback stories of the past decade. His near-miss at this week's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where he finished a shot behind repeat winner Dustin Johnson alongside J.B. Holmes, showed a former world No. 1-ranked player in command of all his golf faculties. He finished at 15 under par with 22 birdies and 44 pars for the week, against only seven bogeys. Most years, that's a one-way ticket to the winner's circle. Only a slight slip-up at No. 14 — which, come this June, will prove one of the most brutal holes in U.S. Open history — kept him from posting his first victory since the 2001 Open Championship.

By and large it was the same ol' Duval we remember from his halcyon years of 1998-2001, when he became somewhat of a foil to Tiger Woods and racked up impressive wins in every corner of the country. He added his name to the short list of guys to fire a 59 in PGA Tour competition, at the 1999 Hope, and the only one do accomplish the feat in the final round. By the time he won the British he was a physical specimen, perhaps over-lean, while his demeanor went from subdued to downright flatlined. He was intense but withdrawn, driven but perhaps not quite driven enough. Eventually his swing was hampered by lower back problems, and his chiseled form broke down. He dropped from the leader board, then into oblivion. By 2005 he'd show up at second-tier events like the Reno-Tahoe Open sporting a wicked hook off the tee and a wobbly short game. Missed cuts ensued and he decided, probably wisely, to concentrate on his new wife and young family.

That experience of falling from the limelight and settling into domestic bliss in his adopted state of Colorado finally brought him the peace he needed to pursue golf greatness again. The game came around, and though his near-miss at last year's U.S. Open at Bethpage Black — he was in the hunt until the 71st hole of the oft-delayed, rain-drenched death march — was a shock to most, it wasn't a complete surprise. The guy has always had the talent and temperament. He just needed to dig deep to find a fire and love the game again. And now, at Pebble, we see a paunchier, happier Duval flashing a smile now and again and even joking around a bit on the famed 18th tee. We also see an example of what professional golf needs in this scary post-Tiger-as-God era: A true redemption tale.

I was rooting hard for Duval to take the trophy, if only because it would have gotten him a ticket to Augusta. But he still has a couple months to make it happen, and when he does — perhaps even with Tiger back in the field — it'll be this year's feel-good story. In fact, it already is.

FG Takes Five ING Awards at PGA Show

2010-01-30T07:34:00.000-08:00

Another PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, another very good day for Fairways + Greens at the annual International Network of Golf Media Awards. ING, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, gave awards in 11 categories.

Once again, FG led all publications in first-place awards in several categories, tying New York-based Met Golfer magazine with two — in travel writing for Darin Bunch’s December 2008 piece on “Magical Moorea,” and in equipment writing for his spring 2009 story, “Handmade Tradition,” a fascinating profile of Alabama-based custom putter maker T.P. Mills. Photographer Joann Dost also won for her stirring silhouette of the bagpiper at Spanish Bay, featured in the Winter 2008-09 issue.

Yours truly took Outstanding Achievement awards for “West Side Glory,” a travel story on Ka’anapali Beach in Maui, and for my spring 2009 profile of Casey Martin. FG contributors Tony Dear and Bob Seligman also nabbed Outstanding Achievement Awards.

Meanwhile, down on the show floor, thousands of PGA pros, buyers, sellers and reporters got their fill (or maybe not — biggies like TaylorMade and Nike were conspicuous by their absence) of the latest golf technology, presented at the end of a shaft, encased in a portable plastic case, on a digital screen or on the sole of a spiked shoe. The show, which concludes Saturday, doesn’t occupy to the monstrous space it did a decade ago. But it’s still the place to be for folks looking to find just the right mix of products and services to improve their pro shop business or attract new people to today’s Tiger-less game. There are hundreds of booths of every size and sensory overload lurks like a bogey at every turn. So you’ve got to seek out a few favorites and stick with them. Our favorite goodies from Day One:

Accusport’s new VectorX launch monitor is a self-contained system that will record and display a student’s swing information within seconds. www.accusport.com

Thumb Caddy may be the simplest, cheapest and most portable way to get control of what ball-flight ailment haunts you. It’s all in the thumbs. www.thumbcaddy.net

Ever slip on those favorite flip-flops for a steamy summer afternoon round? Golf Gators let you stay loose and cool and still get a grip. www.golfgators.com

If you’d rather keep the dogs in a more traditional golf shoe but want to lose the sweat, Geox’s amazing new Net system perfects outsole breathability without sacrificing gorgeous styling. www.geox.com

Think there’s nothing new possible in the grip department? Think again: Pure Grips not only keep the hands connected to the stick, they install with a simple burst of air. No solvent, no waste, quick interchangeability — now that’s game-changing for clubfitters. www.puregrips.com

But our favorite product of the day is a totally virtual, totally brilliant no-brainer for golf groups of eight to 24 players. Powering the brand-new GolfTripGenius.com website is first-of-its kind software that enables the design and administration of a variety of single and multi-day trip competitions for golf travelers. Its scheduler examines millions of possible player combinations in seconds, and then automatically computes optimized “pairings” by assigning golfers to foursomes or threesomes in every round based on tournament-driven or user-specified rules. From there groups can add specific games, meals, individual travel plans — whatever trip elements they can think of — and hit the road with a fully realized, easy-to-follow yet malleable master plan. It’s about crunching numbers, and it’s about time. www.golftripgenius.com

And these from FG friend and roving reporter David Wood:

Scratch Golf
The founders of Scratch Golf simply wanted to make a better wedge when they got together in an 2003 with a few raw club heads and a grinding wheel in their Oregon garage. Those humble beginnings led to a diverse, high-performance club line that’s won a slew of awards and played a part in several Tour victories. Carried in competition by stars like Ryan Moore, the company’s Tour Custom Clubs (MSPR: $350 per wedge/$2500 for eight-piece set) are hand-crafted to the exact specs a player desires. Not to be outdone, Scratch Golf’s 8620 wedge (MSRP: $100) was a 2010 Golf Digest “Hot List” award winner. Casting these clubs from 8620 steel, the softest known, creates the ultimate feel where a golfer needs it most – from 100 yards and in. www.scratchgolf.com.

Boccieri Golf
It might seem like a bit of a contradiction, but Boccieri Golf’s popular Heavy Putter line is now available in three weights – Lite, MID and Heavy – each featuring the company’s proprietary design which includes counterbalanced weight in the grip end of the shaft. The unique system forces the body to use its core muscles for a smoother, more consistent stroke. New models consist of traditional and cutting-edge blades and mallets; most available in a black PVD or silver satin finish. The new Lite, MID and Heavy models weigh 600, 750 and 900 grams respectively, compared to conventional putters which are approximately 500 grams. There's even a blade fashioned after the classic Bullseye putter that rolls like a dream. The brand-new Heavy Wedge “Control Series” boasts heavier weight in the grip end of the shaft for enhanced control on full swings and greenside shots. The classically designed, satin-chrome blade wedge is available in three lofts – 52, 56, and 60 – and various bounce options. www.heavyputter.com

KENTWOOL TOUR Golf Sock
A one-of-a-kind product highly engineered for peak performance, the new KENTWOOL TOUR Golf Sock is already making major waves among the world’s best golfers. Providing maximum support and superior comfort, this innovative design is infused with a proprietary blend of super fine merino wool yarn which is WINDspun by KENTWOOL and combined with other premium natural and high-tech fibers. The integrated foot technology system includes a micro-climate feature to reduce abrasion and muscle fatigue. MSRP: $19.95-$24.95. www.kentwooltour.com

Dunning Sportswear
Drawing from a unique heritage that includes two decades on the leading-edge of technical apparel design combined with a family tradition of classic British tailoring, Dunning’s authentic, premium-quality clothing includes shirts, pants, shorts, sweaters, outerwear, thermal and compression pieces. Worn in competition by scores of international Tour stars, including Zach Johnson and John Rollins, Dunning offers pieces in two distinct fabric stories – performance blends and traditional materials such as luxurious cotton and wool. New for Fall 2010 are a variety of classic prep tops and bottoms in both traditional and athletic fits that are ideal for ideal for golf, business, casual and leisure outings. www.dunningsportswear.com

More discoveries to come. Stay tuned.

Of Tour Winners and Double-Doubles

2010-01-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

As he battled Aussie Robert Allenby down the stretch at the Sony Open yesterday, Ryan Palmer was earning my allegiance. By the time he damn near jarred a chip for eagle on the 18th hole and closed Allenby out with a tap-in birdie to notch his third PGA Tour win, I was firmly in his corner, animal-style.

Let me explain. Three years ago during the Reno-Tahoe Open — now in its 11th year despite being on life support, off and on, for ages — a few family members and I swung by one of the Biggest Little City's two In-N-Out Burger outlets to feed our double-double addiction. We spotted Palmer and his caddie at one of the mega-popular burger chain's red-and-white tables, wolfing down their own dripping delicacies. At that event's halfway point, if I recall, Palmer was within five or six shots of the lead. He wouldn't win, but he was there along with 131 other "second tier" players either looking to nail down their first big show victory or recapture past glory, and at least he was having a good time. He was a human being, pounding down fast food with the rest of us. Not that that is so rare among guys of his ilk, all the way up the rarefied Top 10 level of a, say, Phil Mickelson. As it does among the general public, In-N-Out enjoys fervent cult status on tour. Davis Love III loves his Double-Doubles. So do a bunch of guys from back east and down south who won't find those telltale yellow-arrowed signs in the home states, and can't wait for the West Coast swing, where they're grilled (pardon the pun) by Golf Channel talking heads on when they expect to make their next drive-through run. Some guys have 'em scoped out from San Diego to Monterey

Some guys are more addicted than others. Word is Philly Mick, who as a SoCal native has no doubt pounded down In-N-Outs since he was yea-high to a nine-iron, wanted to buy a franchise near his home in Rancho Santa Fe, only to discover that the chain remains privately owned by the Snyder family. Maybe Palmer, a hungry Texan now armed with a slew of fresh cash, will look to make the same deal, only to be turned away. Good thing he's got golf to fall back on.

And now the inevitable Tiger tie-in: Though is also a SoCal native, I can't imagine him inhabiting an In-N-Out anytime soon, even after his reported sex-addiction rehabbing at a Mississippi clinic (I guess the Twittersphere's earlier accounts that he was taking the cure in Arizona were unfounded; for all I know he's been out on Privacy, his yacht, the past month). Maybe he'll send one of his close buddies/protectors out for a box of burgers, but we can be assured that if and when he does return — my bet is Arnie's tourney at Bay Hill just before the Masters, where he'll be welcomed with open octogenarian King's arms — he's still be far from a regular guy. That part of his soul was drummed out by the sound of pounding golf balls, thousands of them, in his formative years. Blame Earl, blame him, blame the promise of big bucks. For Tiger the person, becoming the best in the world, and probably the best ever, meant crossing the Rubicon from approachable dude to aloof, close-to-the-vest automaton whose only down and dirty "human" outlet was, well, down and dirty.

I must admit I remain a big Tiger fan. Of his golf game, that is. But whether he returns or not, I'll be rooting for the Ryan Palmers of the world. Guys who are still able, and aren't afraid, to rub elbows with the rest of us while they're jaw-deep in hamburger juice and thousand island dressing.

(Photo courtesy of PGA Tour/Stan Badz)

The Solution for Leno-Conangate

2010-01-12T15:02:00.000-08:00

I have the perfect quick-start, cheap-to-produce solution to NBC's lame attempt to do something with its 10 o'clock weeknight spot, soon to be abandoned by Jay Leno to make room for the network's Winter Olympic coverage, after which he's gonna boot Conan from his rightful 11:30 p.m. perch (yeah, I know it's convoluted, but work with me). Ready? Here it is, coming to you in living color/HD/3D (someday):

"Tiger Bimbos of Beverly Hills."

It makes perfect sense. Some producer can certainly go out and round up the dozen-plus girlfriends of the World's Greatest Fallen Golfer, offer them a few bucks to populate a mansion in the Hollywood Hills (or, better yet, Vegas) and start in on the Man We Once Respected with both silicone barrels. Surely they've blown the hush money El Tigre threw their way until his luck ran out and Elin caught wind of his not-so-well-constructed ruse, then blew it down like a house of cards (or leveled it with a 9-iron, take your pick). They can use the bucks, build on their 15 minutes of fame (do we hear a 13 epi run?) and go into the enterprise with the thinnest of scripts and even skimpier wardrobe requirements. They can pull each others' hair, spew half-truths and generally lay their former Swooshed stud muffin even lower than he's laid himself (pardon the pun). It'll be a ratings winner, guaranteed.

I have a list of potential sponsors for this JUG-gernaut, too, most of which you'll find in the punchlines of many a first tee joke. I can't believe more than one forward-thinking golf company won't jump on this opportunity. How about True Temper snap-on shafts? Or Alec Baldwin hawking a real-life version of Schwetty Balls?

Hey, "Bimbos" can't do worse than Jay's attempt at prime time comedy, which petered out like a porn star on take 20. Can it?

Hell, no. Bring 'em on. I'll watch the first 10 minutes or so, and if it's at all entertaining, I might hang around for a couple of weeks (DVR, get ready to record "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives"). If it's not, no harm no foul. Jay/Conan/Jimmy/Whoever Ends Up at 11:30 can bring them out one by one for an in-depth interview.

As for the Tiger Who Still Isn't There, I doubt he'll have much to say about it, given his recent track record.

2009-12-02T14:47:00.001-08:00

I couldn't resist. I bit the bullet, jumped online and listened to a recording, released by US Weekly, of a purported Tiger Woods begging his purported mistress, L.A. cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs, to take her name off her caller ID. Didn't do much for me other than show a previously-perceived-as-indestructible superstar as the scared kid hiding within every married philanderer, male or female. I can't say for sure whether it really is Tiger, but having heard his voice, oh, a couple thousand times over the years, it sure sounds like him — sans his usual, carefully calculated confidence, of course.

If it is Tiger — and the window of doubt gets smaller by the second — my only thought is to paraphrase Dr. Phil: "Buddy, what were you thinkin'?"

Surely he was thinking that he'd never get caught. It's a mindset common to all straying souls but manifests itself most powerfully in the rich, famous and preternaturally talented: It's not enough to have a mega-hot Swedish wife, two perfect kids, more money than Dubai, untold millions of admirers and, oh yeah, a golf game any sentient hacker would kill for. Apparently, Tiger needed a 31-month affair with a golddigging bimbo to complete him as a man. It rarely if ever works out that way, at least in western culture; affairs have a nasty way of breaking people, and their marriages, in half. Especially when either or both perpetrators don't bother to erase their text messages or voicemail records.

So, it looks like he got caught red-willied, and once his wife, Elin, caught wind of the affair, things conceivably got out of hand. She very well could have "courageously" confronted him with a 9-iron and chased him out the door to what he thought was the safety of his SUV. Doesn't matter now — there will be no domestic violence investigation, we're on to bigger and juicier things, and after five days' worth of PR missteps (in my humble opinion), Tiger was forced to fess up through his website, issuing a carefully worded mea culpa that attempts to place equal blame on a prying media. Such a strategy reveals a certain amount of naivete on his part. He's the most famous and perhaps most revered athlete in the world. Is the pervasive media machine, hungry for headlines in a 24-hour news cycle, on the hook for going too far? Not by today's standards. Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Elliott Spitzer, Mark Sanford and countless other politicians feel Tiger's pain, as they should — out in the open, where they're held to a higher standard than us "normal" private citizens. Back in philandering-but-revered JFK's day, the media seemed to look the other way. Could be it was the same for that era's top golfers, too. Tiger might think it should still be that way. He's the most private of top-tier athletic performers, and I respect his right to work out any marital issues with his wife, kids and no one else, but first he's got to walk the double-edged blade of all famous people and give his pound of flesh to the very industry that helps sustain his stardom.

If he was completely clean, it's a different story, but he said himself he'd committed "transgressions." Clearly he would have preferred to keep them under his Nike cap for eternity, and had he not wrapped his Caddy (as in Cadillac Escalade, not his on-course sidekick Steve Williams) around a tree in the wee hours of a Central Florida morning, he most likely would still be above reproach, as perfect as a person can possibly be, in our eyes.

In the comment strings I've read so far online, most fans are willing to accept his apology and his plea for privacy. A few self-righteously said they'd no longer follow his exploits on the golf course, and that's a shame. To me, based on his professional accomplishments inside and outside the ropes, he's still the stick that stirs the game's drink, and will be until the game no longer holds the magic for him. Am I disappointed in the guy? Hell, yes. Surprised? Not really. Ready to DQ him altogether? Not yet.

We Americans are a forgiving lot, overall. We'll look at Tiger Woods just a bit differently when he steps up on the next tee in January or whenever he decides it's safe to seek the sunlight of worldwide adoration again. Winning back our unconditional respect will be tougher. He'll look a bit more human, perhaps — full of faults and hoping to fight off the demons of self-doubt or emptiness that, it appears, got the best of him this time around, and get to all of us eventually, at some level.

Here's hoping he fights even harder, makes his amends with those closest to him, counts his blessings and moves on. In the end, that's the most we can expect from anyone, including ourselves.

Sevillano Strikes Again With New Tournament

2009-09-09T11:06:00.001-07:00

Sevillano Links in Corning, Calif. — quick 90-minute drive up I-5 from Sacramento — continues to impress not only as a killer golf course co-designed by none other than John Daly, but as the site for some exciting new tournament events. They're always pushing the envelope up there in olive country, and the inaugural Olive City Open Championship, slated for Septe. 17-18, is no exception. This stroke play championship will attract seasoned players both amateurs and professionals.

The Olive City Open is hosted by Sevillano Links at Rolling Hills Casino, a premier gaming establishment located next to the well-manicured Sevillano Links, which has no trees, plenty of bunkers, well-placed natural water hazards (it abuts a popular fishing area) and some memorable touches, including a collection of epic par 5s. I love it, and this tournament is a great opportunity for Northern Cal golfers to fall in love, too.

Need more of a push? Sevillano Links is adding $5,000 to the purse and 1st prize will be $5,000 (with a minimum of 40 players). The total estimated purse is $17,000.

The tournament is open to players 18 years of age and older. The entry fee for an amateur player is $225 and $380 for pros. Tee times start at 9 a.m. both days. Practice rounds are available Wednesday, Sept. 16 after noon.

Registration for the Inaugural Olive City Open Championship is available until 3 p.m. Sept. 16. For an official entry form call the golf shop at (530) 528-4600 or just visit Sevillano's website.

On to SF: The Presidents Cup lineup is set

2009-09-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

There's been some talk today regarding U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Fred Couples' choice of Hunter Mahan and Lucas Glover to fill out his team of 12, who will face Greg Norman's International team at Harding Park in San Francisco Oct. 6-11. Some folks thought match play stalwart Scott Verplank — who's had some experience in previous Ryder Cups — should have gotten Freddie's nod. Perhaps another wild card like Kevin Na could have snuck in there. But step back and it's obvious Couples made the right choice. Glover outlasted the game's greaetest stars, from Tiger to Phil to a rejuvenated David Duval — and, yes, Mahan, too — to take the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. He's a steady stick who won't let this event's pomp and circumstance get to him, and I especially like him to do well in the alternate-shot foursomes, where his versatility will come in handy against the likes of Goeff Ogilvy, Tim Clark, Vijay Singh and other Internationals who have long match play resumes. As for Mahan, he was part of the most recent victorious Ryder Cup team, so he has the chops to score some points, and he's a California kid, which has to count for something.

As for the Shark's choice of fellow Aussie Adam Scott and Japan's Ryo Ishikawa, I actually have a bigger problem with Scott, who must be considered one of golf's biggest disappointments over the past three seasons. Here's a guy blessed with a swing that's the mechanical match of anybody's on earth, including Tiger, but a maddening dearth of killer instinct especially around and on the greens. I watched him four-putt on 18 at Torrey South in the second round of the 2008 Open — playing alongside Tiger and Phil — and he hasn't been the same since. I realize this was probably an Aussie home job, but in the heat of battle, watch Norman bench his down-under buddy at least once in the Friday and Saturday matches, perhaps twice. Ishikawa, who was 20th in the Presidents Cup rankings coming in, is a true surprise, but possibly a smart one. He'll appeal to the Bay Area's large Asian population and has the game to surprise.

I'll be there for every shot in October. Follow my daily blogs at www.fgmagazine.com and my Tweets at www.twitter.com/fgeditor.

Solheim Cup Trumps PGA Tour

2009-08-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

No offense to bearded Ryan Moore, who went overtime to notch his first PGA Tour win over Jason Bohn and Kevin Stadler in steamy, soggy North Carolina at the Wyndham Championship, but the real action was on the distaff side of the ledger this week, in the cornfields of a Chicago suburb. I got hooked on the 11th Solheim Cup during Saturday's afternoon foursome matches and never looked back. Nor did the American team, led by captain Beth Daniel, who went into the Sunday singles even-up with a feisty European team and steamrolled down the stretch to win their third straight Solheim Cup and eighth overall. The golf was incredible, the crowds revved up, the Midwestern setting beautiful, and the women's brand of smiling, fist-pumping camaraderie blasted through my 50-inch plasma with such genuine feeling and force that all thoughts of watching the guys' tour event were wiped out.

This is the way golf is supposed to be, and the way I hope it'll be when the guys gather for their Presidents Cup at Harding Park in San Francisco Oct. 6-11. Sure, the nationalistic overtones were in full evidence, from the red, white and blue hair ribbons to Christina Kim's effervescent crowd-cajoling with every dialed iron and buried putt. But unlike the Ryder Cup, which has long since abandoned its original intent as a "friendly competition" between American and European golfers to become an overblown media event and coffer-choking financial boon to the PGA of America — though, it must be said, one I still love and look forward to every other year, and was lucky enough to cover in 2004 when the U.S. team got a good whipping — the Solheim Cup excels on every level that match play golf should. There's steely eyed competitive spirit tempered by hugs all around one a match is settled. There's so much fun being had on both sides, unencumbered by ego or overstretched expectations, that it's impossible for any true fan to get fully invested on an emotional level, not in a shallow or jingoistic way, but with a sense of pure joy. In fact, the gals carry that same brand of love for the game through every event on the LPGA calendar; if only that recently beleaguered circuit was more appreciated on the big network level. The ladies deserve broader viewership and sponsor support, now more than ever.

Why? Well, for one thing, consider Michelle Wie. A year ago she was all but left for dead commercially, but she proved this weekend that she belongs on the top echelon of female players. She went undefeated and fought back in singles to notch a one-up win over always-game Helen Alfredsson. She's no choker. At the ripe old age of 20, she has finally arrived, and I'm looking for her to rack up a couple majors next year. Mix in the likes of Paula Creamer — potentially the Solheim's de facto replaement for all-time points leader Juli Inkster, who will hang up her spikes to become the next captain (you heard it hear first) — along with fellow young phenoms like Morgan Pressel, Brittany Lang and Angela Stanford, and you've got the recipe for a full cup of exciting women's golf for the foreseeable future.

If you didn't catch any of the Solheim Cup this year, all I can say is, don't let it happen again.

Site for Sore Eyes

2009-07-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

Finally, a Golf Community that Makes Sense

Thus far down the still-infant digital road, the relationship between golf and Web 2.0's emphasis on social networking has been tenuous at best. Getting even a small sliver of the nation's 20 million-odd avid golfers — to say nothing of the millions more overseas — to check out every well-meaning golf-centric networking site (there are many of them out there) is worse than herding cats. And they're notoriously inconsistent in checking in online, hanging around a site once they found one they halfway enjoy, and generally giving their passion the voice and attention it deserves in the company of equally smitten hackers. Yakking about one's round in the 19th hole? No problem. Going stroke for stroke in the blogosphere? Not so easy.

Good thing top golfer-turned-online poker star Dusty "Leatherass" Schmidt, his biz partner Casey Martin and some well-placed friends, including PGA Tour pro Kevin Na, are out to change that with their amazingly versatile, fun and informative site www.10thgreen.com. After knocking around its well-laid-out real estate and exploring its amazing features, we feel it deserves to catch on as the go-to portal for the serious player and average weekender alike.

Martin — former Tiger teammate at Stanford and recent FG cover subject — considers 10thgreen.com a learning/sharing site above all. He and a stable of teachers will analyze your swing on video for nine bucks and give a full lesson for three bucks more, but their expertise on every side of the game (mental, full swing, short game, you name it) is there for the taking. Rank-and-file players can also chime in with their own tips and opinions as they use the site's robust game tracking tools to stay on the road to improvement — which, as we all know, never ends and is riddled with potholes and potential detours. It's free to set up a basic account, which allows access to exclusive instruction video by Martin and others and empowers you to blog about your progress, compete with guys like Na (who grew up playing golf with Schmidt at SoCal's Western Hills Country Club) and gradually make your way up the leader board. Players can create their own "Golf Book"; visit a "Golf Doctor" specializing in, say, putting alignment; find tee times at participating West Coast courses in the "Pro Shop"; link to a local ESPN affiliate golf talk show; and contribute to lively forums (one recent string explores the similarities between poker and golf, for instance, and another deals with the latest GPS gear). Members can also get their kids involved through special sections for junior boys and girls. In all it's a well-thought-out community master-planned for players of every level, and as it moves beyond its first-year growing pains, it'll only get more powerful.

By giving golfers a simple, straightforward interface for inputting their scores, tracking their progress in every element of the game and soliciting and offering help from and to fellow members on any subject imaginable, 10thgreen.com is much more than a way to blow even more time on the Internet. In fact, for those who put in the time and make it part of their general golf preparation/follow-up routine, it's a true game-changer.
— From the Summer 2009 edition of Fairways + Greens magazine

Torrey Pines Lives on at Bethpage Black

2009-06-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

A strange thing happened as I stepped foot on Bethpage Black for the first time yesterday. I got a whiff of déja vu. With no ocean in sight (the Atlantic is a good three or four miles south) and many, many more deciduous trees lining the fairways at this public course than there are at Torrey Pines a continent away, there was no mistaking one championship track for the other. But I somehow felt a connection beyond the presence of Tiger (conspicuous by his absence on this final practice-round day), Phil (who did get in 18 holes, amping up the already vocal New Yawk crowd all the way) or the other usual contending suspects, some of whom I'll get to in a minute.

Then it struck me: The weather was nearly a carbon copy of last June's mild, partly sunny days on the cliffs of La Jolla. Even cooler, in fact. Having found New York at the height of its sticky, sweaty summer swelter in several previous June visits, I packed a bunch of shorts, and wore a pair Wednesday — along with a cozy vest that fended off chilly afternoon breezes as yet another cold front in a spring full of them made its way onto Long Island.

And it doesn't look like there's a heat wave in the works during this Open week, either. On the contrary, it's a probably rainout for Thursday and threatening rain the rest of the weekend. Does that mean we're looking at a shortened 109th version of America's golf championship? No way, folks. This is the USGA. They'll find a way to get 'er done during the year's longest days. And when it's finally in the books, a familiar face — with two healthy knees below it — will hoist the trophy on the Black's uphill, straightaway final hole. That's right, you heard it here first. I'm going out on a limb and predicting Tiger will win the U.S. Open. Call me crazy.

First things first, however, and that means Tiger Woods tees it up for the first two rounds with the other two most recent major winners, Angel Cabrera and Padraig Harrington, on No. 1. Phil Mickelson plays with Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. That makes for a groaning feast of 26 majors cooked up among those six marquee players — 14 of them prepared Tiger-style, of course (unless you go by Dan Jenkins' count, which gives him 17 including his three straight U.S. Amateurs).

That's some serious hackin' horsepower, and any of these guys could step up and grab the hardware this year. But it's Tiger's title to defend, and win, and he's in perfect shape to do it. He said it himself in Tuesday's press conference. "You have to have every facet of your game going. You have to drive the ball well. You have to hit your irons well and, at most Opens, you know speed on the greens is usually an issue. Not this year, obviously, it being so wet and soft."

You mean Tiger can be aggressive on every part of what stacks up as the hardest layout I've seen in person (though Torrey comes close)? Not good news for everyone else, and if Tiger gets it going early, then hangs on through the middle rounds and steps on the gas on Sunday, he'll win by 10 shots.

Then again, Mickelson not only has the New York crowd behind him — they embraced him at Bethpage in 2002 and again as he flamed out at Winged Foot in 2006 — he has the added impetus of a spousal request, and this time Amy is more serious than ever. "She would like to have a silver trophy in her hospital room," he said today, "so I'm going to try to accommodate that."

So I'm going way out on a limb and calling this Open much as 2002's turned out: Tiger winning, Phil runner-up. But a few other guys could sneak in there. Here's my sixsome of secondary favorites:

Ernie Els: He joked and smiled while beating baby draws on the range today, and his move looks great. It'll come down to the putter, and if he's hot, can you say "comeback?"

Padraig Harrington: He's played lousy of late after tweaking his swing, but now it's a major, and he's proved over the past two summers that he can turn it up when it really counts.

Paul Casey: He hits the ball straight, can putt on occasion, has that first stateside win under his belt and is suddenly No. 3 in the world. He's got game enough to beat Bethpage, but all cylinders need to be kickin'.

Anthony Kim: The third leg of the California-bred contender contingent, he's been MIA on leaderboards lately and zeroed in why yesterday. "I just haven't been as patient as I need to be on the golf course, and if there's anywhere that's going to test it, it's Bethpage. I'm looking forward to getting back on track, and there's no reason why I can't start that this week.

Henrik Stenson: He played flawless golf at the Players, and has the type of focus and control to double up this week.

Jim Furyk: Again, control is key here, and Furyk is showing the same hints of extreme clubface control he displayed at Olympia Fields in 2003 and as runner-up to Tiger at the Memorial two weeks ago. Plus, he's as tough as the blue-collar loudmouths lining Bethpage's fairways this week. And at the Open, toughness — Tiger-forged or otherwise, under rainy skies or bone-dry sunshine — is what works.

Sports Stars Tee It Up for Disabled Athletes in Truckee

2009-06-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hot on the heels (spikes) of Sevillano Links' big event described in my previous post is the "Big Wheels Little Balls" Annual Golf Tournament at Old Greenwood in Truckee, Calif. Join Lonie Paxton and friends from the NFL, NBA, and stars like Daron Rahlves from action sports and many more. AFF is bringing together some of pro-sports finest athletes for a weekend of fun to raise awareness of adaptive sports and AFF's mission to assist disabled athletes to maintain an active lifestyle.

This weekend of golf, mountain bike camps and competitions will take place, Friday, June 26, with a Golf Tournament and silent auction at Old Greenwood, followed by dinner at Baxter’s Bistro & Lounge in The Village at Northstar. Stay for the weekend to enjoy world-class mountain biking on lift-accessible terrain at Northstar-at-Tahoe. There is a limited amount of golf foursomes and sponsorships available, so register as soon as possible by visiting www.acteva.com/go/chopper. Contact Paul Crandell for sponsorships and gift donations at paul@qsportarchitects.com, or call 775-848-1334.

The Active Force Foundation offers the opportunity for physically challenged individuals to explore, experience and participate in a more active lifestyle. AFF specializes in adaptive sports and strives to promote the design and engineering of high-quality sports equipment. Brook Duquesnel, Lonie’s best friend, was injured 10 years ago in a snowboarding accident. Since then, Duquesnel, John Davis (two- time Olympic gold medalist) and a team of engineers have set out to revolutionize adaptive sports. For more information, visit www.activeforcefoundation.org.
Cost to enter the event is $1,000 per foursome, and sponsorships from $2,500 to $15,000 are available. All sponsors and foursomes will play with an athlete.

Lodging information and images: www.northstarattahoe.com/accommodations.asp. Use the discount reference code: AC0626 (Active Force)

I'll have a follow up story including spot interviews in the August-September issue of FG Magazine and at www.fgmagazine.com.

Sevillano Links Event Is a Winner for Women

2009-06-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

'Tis fundraiser tournament season in Northern California, and I've got two big, worthwhile events to report.

First up is the 2nd Annual Girls Club: Golf Fore a Cause event at Sevillano Links in Corning, Calif., on Saturday, June 20 from 8:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Women will gather at the resort (located at I-5 near Chico) for a fun-packed event which includes a golf clinic and a variety of activities surrounding a theme of sisterhood. The event benefits Girls Inc. of Northern Sacramento Valley, a non-profit organization that prepares and empowers girls to lead. Held in conjunction with Play Golf America and Women’s Golf Month, the half-day event is designed for women 18 and older who want to learn more about golf. In addition to first-time golfers, former players interested in returning to the sport are encouraged to attend. The clinic will take place at Sevillano Links’ meticulously-maintained practice center, where PGA and LPGA teaching professionals will provide instruction on all aspects of the game—long and short game, chipping and putting.

“This is an excellent opportunity for women to get a jump-start on golf,” states Brian Dahmer, PGA General Manager. “Last year nearly 100 women participated in the clinic, and several of them are now teeing it up on a regular basis at Sevillano Links.” Besides instruction, each participant will receive tips on course etiquette and a ball mark repair tool courtesy of the NorCal Chapter of the GCSAA.

Attendees will network at a morning “Tee” Party (kick-off at 8:30 a.m. in the event center at Rolling Hills Casino) while also enjoying on-site boutique shopping. Suzanne Woo, author and founder of BizGolf Dynamics, will share her wisdom and passion for the game as she preps attendees for the 11 a.m. clinic.

The day caps off with a scrumptious “fairway to food” luncheon and fashion show featuring the latest in golf active wear, accessories and equipment. Each attendee will receive a pair of sunglasses from the Sundog Paula Creamer Collection. “Our goal is to provide an unforgettable experience for each participant and resort guest,” states Kate Grissom, Director of Marketing for the Rolling Hills Resort. “Whether outside at our state-of-the-art practice center or inside enjoying pre-and-post clinic activities, the day is guaranteed to be fun and festive. Best part of all, it benefits Girls Inc., an organization that’s committed to helping girls lead independent and fulfilling lives.”

Cost to attend is $45 per person, which includes golf instruction, lunch, fashion show, a goodie bag plus a pair of designer sunglasses. How can you beat that? Register here. Proceeds benefit Girls Inc. of Northern Sacramento Valley. For more info call Rolling Hills Casino at (530) 528-3500. This event has the endorsement of St. Elizabeth Community Hospital, Enjoy Magazine-Northern California Living and The National Council for Better Health Through Golf.
Sevillano Links and the Rolling Hills Casino are owned and operated by the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians. The course is co-designed by John Daly and is one of FG Magazine's top tracks for 2008. Make a tee time here, and check out the June-July issue of FG magazine for my latest review of this wide-open, fun-to-play gem.

Next post: A celeb-studded fundraiser at Old Greenwood in Truckee, Calif.

Is the Players Championship a Major?

2009-05-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

Now that we're a week removed from the 2009 Players Championship (congrats to Zach Johnson on his playoff win in Texas over hard-closing James Driscoll), it's time to install the third and final piece of my Players puzzle, one that seems to take as slightly different shape for every hardcore golf fan: Does it deserve the mantle of "major championship," alongside the Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA?

Before I level my verdict, an quick and exclusive weigh-in from the guy who literally helped build the Players out of a swamp. His name is Pete Dye, and some consider him America's greatest living golf course architect. Back in the 1970s he designed TPC Sawgrass as a stadium course specifically for this annual get-together of the world's top male golf talent, and now it boasts the world's most famous par 3, the diabolical, pitch-shot-over-gator-water 17th (though from personal experience, I can tell you the 18th is a far tougher hole, as are many others leading up to it). At this week's International Network of Golf Spring Conference in French Lick, Ind., Dye made an appearance to help introduce his new course there. Before Dye's formal speech to the assembled media and golf biz types, FG co-publisher Darin Bunch cornered him with "the" question in play here. Here was the 80-something architect's answer:

"I don't have anything to do with it, but I'd like to see it [The Players become a major]. It certainly has the strongest field, which means more players down the line have a chance to win. The others, like The Masters and the U.S. Open, are wonderful tournaments with a great deal of history, but they are limited in their fields and who they let play — some have qualifiers or allow amateurs. The Masters only has 70 or 80 invited players and we call it a major, so I think a tournament with the 150 best players in the world certainly deserves consideration."

OK, Pete, well taken. I still disagree, and here's why: The Players was created out of whole cloth (or previously useless swampland) by the PGA Tour itself, while the "real" majors are all run by separate bodies — Augusta National, the USGA, the Royal and Ancient and the PGA of America (a very different entity than the Tour itself). The qualifiers and sometimes strange entry rules and parameters that characterize those events are what set them apart as majors, and besides, they've all been around at least 75 years, while the Players has been around for fewer than 40. I think of the Players as golf's version of the major team sports' All-Star Games, where the best are showcased in a glorified exhibition that has no bearing on the sport as a whole. Not the the Players doesn't pack the biggest purse on tour or carry some tasty exemption perks for its winner, and yeah, the competition displayed down the stretch at Sawgrass every spring is often the equal of that at the majors, but there's just something, I don't know, inbred about it. It's the PGA Tour wanting desperately an invitation to the major dance, almost as if it's trying to buy its way in. It's a worthy showcase of the Tour's dominance on the professional competition stage, but, for me, it falls short in that certain something, that almost wildcard cachet, that depth of character and historical heft, of the majors.

Maybe someday it gets onto the dance floor. Just not yet.

Players Play-Out Part 2

2009-05-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

2. Foreign Attraction
Last year it was Sergio Garcia. Three years ago, Steven Ames. Five years ago, Adam Scott. Seven years ago, Craig Perks (who?). This year, the tall strippin' Swede Henrik Stenson. Look back on the recent history of the Players' Championship and you'll see a trend: Non-Americans excel in this event, on the perhaps the most "American" styled of all top-tier championship courses. About every other year since the late '80s, or so it seems, a guy not born in the U.S. sweeps in and takes the booty in what's become the PGA Tour's richest single event, right in the tour's backyard.

What's the deal?

To me, the chief reason the modern foreign contingent kicks so much butt at the Players is simply there are so many great players out there from other countries, and that's not gonna change anytime soon. For every semi-robotic Leadbetter-trained American wunderkind-to-be, there's a couple feisty Euros or Australians who didn't cruise on a college scholarship and excelled at the game through hard knocks and with well-honed homemade swings. Yeah, you could say that the stoic Stenson falls into the robot category, but I see his steady on-course demeanor disguising a raw fire that finally put him in the winner's circle on this side of the pond. To a man, the Europeans, and many players from South American and Australia (like double major winner Angel Cabrera), play with more of a freewheeling style that serves them well in the big events. Phil Mickelson has more in common with these guys than he does with the grinders who share his birthland, and while he and they sometimes flame out spectacularly, they also have the well-rounded chops to soar when it all comes together.

Take the short game, for instance. Foreign players are simply better and the up-and-down game than Americans, and on a course like Sawgrass, with its punishing bunkers and whoop-de-do green complexes, that scrappy talent comes in handy. When the putter gets hot as Stenson's did on Sunday — he didn't sniff bogey — it's lights out. Just ask Padraig Harrington, or four of the last five Ryder Cup teams.

Of course Tiger Woods stands alone as the world's greatest golfer, but even he's feeling the foreign heat a bit these days. Thanks to a crooked driver and uncharacteristically balky stroke at Sawgrass, he couldn't make a final round run. Not that Stenson, just a couple groups ahead of Tiger and Alex Cejka, appeared to care what The Man was doing. He was locked, loaded and in full sprint to the megabucks finish.

Get used to that scenario, folks. While the world seems to shrink politically, socially and technologically, the gap between American golfers and everyone else is pretty much down to nothin'. And that's a good thing.

Next post: Is the Players major material?

Players Play-Out Part 1

2009-05-12T22:21:00.001-07:00

Two days removed from a fascinating Players Championship, I'm struck by three thoughts I'm sure are far from original. I'll deal with them over three posts.

1. Tiger has not yet tamed his new, post knee-surgery move. He works harder than anyone on Tour, but could it be he's worked too hard? After another scrapbook finish at Bay Hill, he couldn't come from behind in his last three outings, including the Masters (where he and Phil Mickelson burned each other out over the last two holes, a strange foreshadowing of Kenny Perry's eventual collapse), and the Players, where he simply never looked in sync even though he was sitting pretty in the final group over a sure-to-fade Alex Cejka (who didn't disappoint). While it's true that Sawgrass has never quite fit Tiger's eye or his approach to the game — Peye Dye's angular fairways and brutal bunkering have kept his overpowering-plus-short game wizardry approach at bay — he has won it once, in 2001, and will no doubt win it again. But now pundits are questioning whether he'll ever regain his dominance at age 33, with two kids, a gorgeous wife, all the riches one man could ever need and the power to forge cultural change far beyond the fairways. It's a matter of balance, and Tiger needs to find where his passion for the game, his indomitable spirit for winning, fits into the mix now. I say he's not yet hit his prime; ask Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh or the ghost of Ben Hogan: The late 30s are a golfer's wheelhouse for true excellence, and Tiger will prove that fact again, beginning with the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, where he won in 2002. I'll be there all week with blogs right here and on-course tweets at www.twitter.com/fgeditor.

That'll give Tiger 15 professional majors. Three to go to catch Jack. Any bets that he'll get it done at Pebble Beach in June 2010?

Next time: Why the Euros have the Players' number.

A Tiger-Sized Sigh of Relief

2009-02-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

So, we can all take a breath now. Those of us who consider Tiger Woods the linchpin of golf's future, short- and long-term, that is.
The news came via ESPN earlier today: After eight long months on the sidelines following his unforgettable U.S. Open triumph, father-of-two and new-knee'd Tiger will throw his Nike cap in the ring at next week's Accenture Match Play Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain near Tucson, Ariz., the first World Golf Championship event on this year's calendar. To me and just about everyone else, it's a surprise; most pundits expected him back in time for the second WGC event at Doral, the CA Championship. Even his caddie, Steve Williams — who's been pretty quiet of late following his rip at Phil Mickelson last November — alluded to that time frame earlier in the day. But now that I think about it, this is the perfect time for the world's most popular athlete to jump back in the game. It's match play, which he loves (he's won the Accenture several times, including last year). It's a WGC deal, which, apparently, he considers just a notch short of his beloved majors. And there's a monster pot up for grabs. So why not go after the planet's best sticks in an elite, short field right away, and send notice to the Tour's placeholders (yes, that means you, too, Phil), that while he's been gone, they'd better not have forgotten him. And not one of us has, of course. The pro game has seemed a trifle empty in his absence, and truth to tell, a lot of us are still talking about the Open as if it was a touchstone event in our fragmented lives. Which it was. I was there. I wrote about it in depth right here. And it was easily the greatest, gutsiest performance I've ever seen in person, and that includes Tiger's monster win at Pebble in 2000.
So, what will happen? Tiger's still the top seed by several miles, and according to reports from Peter Kessler — Tiger's neighbor in central Florida, who watched him hit three-quarter 3-woods on the practice range last week — he looks better than ever. Scary. I predict he'll skate through the first and perhaps the second round, showing some rust along the way (I won't dare say fatigue, he's too much of a gym rat), then bring out the best in his opponents in the later rounds. Can he win it all and semi-shock us all, but not really? Sure. He's Tiger. He's not like everybody else.
But first, we have Phil, waking up this week at Riviera. Personally I'm rooting or Scott McCarron (and to a lesser extend Geoff Ogilvy, the lead guy in my fantasy league team), but should Lefty go wire-to-wire and head for the desert with a head of steam, what a delicious scenario that presents.
Welcome back, Tiger. Lord knows how we missed ye.

Hey, Mr. Stricker, I Can Relate

2009-01-25T16:05:00.000-08:00

Watching Steve Stricker's uncharacteristic meltdown in the desert at this week's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic reminds me of my own woes at the course right next door, PGA West's Nicklaus Private, just three weeks ago as I visited the golf-rich Coachella Valley for a future story on the Residences at PGA West (one of the finest fractional ownership projects I've ever seen, with decked-out luxury villas twice the size of my own home and located right smack in the middle of the PGA West/La Quinta complex). The pros also played there this week, and grandstands were going up as I teed off and negotiated my way around the hilly, Pete Dye-ish layout. Playing quickly as winter darkness quickly descended on the gorgeous hills to the west, I sprayed the ball all over one of Jack's more quirky creations, including No. 2, where a big boulder blocks clear entry to the green, and No. 10, a split-fairway beauty that would have proved a tasty Ryder Cup hole had the event actually gone there instead of Kiawah Island back in the early 1990s, as originally planned. And I loved every minute of it. The weather was chilly but cloudless and calm. I hit a few keepers, enough to keep make me realize there could be far worse things consuming my midwinter time than a three-day soiree through one of the West's top golf destinations. Of course, I also chopped my way to more than a few laughers (including a bout of bunker hocky on No. 11, a sand-surrounded par 3), some rinsed approaches and ugly spaz-jack putts. So in a strange way, I share Stricker's pain. Nobody wants to sully a stroll on a world-class course, under the bright winter sun, with a bad round. But I got over it — quickly, recovering with solid rounds the next two days at the PGA West Norman Course and an always-fantastic Desert Willow Firecliff course (not to mention a killer self-prepared steak and shrimp dinner in my temporary palatial estate). Steve will recover, too. And let's hear it for Pat Perez, a long-suffering semi-hothead who finally broke through for the big prize. God bless him, and early season golf in the desert.

Barack Carries the Prez's Golfing Torch

2008-12-31T11:52:00.000-08:00

I knew it was true: Barack Obama includes golf in his down-time pursuits. Telling the media that without a little R&R everybody makes mistakes, he then headed out to the Mid-Ocean golf course on Oahu earlier this week to work the kinks out of his pretty decent move as part of a 13-day holiday jaunt to his old stomping grounds. Photos showed the lefty warming up on the range, giving a practice putt some "get in the hole" English and obviously having a good time with buddies on the course itself. A crowd followed as he made the circuit in a plain white golf shirt and khaki shorts, imploring the gallery to be quite while a partner took aim and laughing almost mid-swing. This warms my heart — I mean, I've never disguised my respect and support for our President-elect, but as a golfer I'm happy to see the game returning to the White House as the happy diversion-slash-obsession it should be, a la Ike and Gerald Ford and even Bill Clinton. Obama is showing that though George W. Bush swore off golf a couple years ago as a misguided and cynical attempt to show that he, too, can make wartime sacrifices (Keith Olbermann ate him alive over that one), it's a pastime that rates Presidential attention yet rises above political maneuvering. Baskeball will always be Barack's first love, but by taking to the links, he's finding a place for we hackers at his inclusive table — and paying tribute to his departed grandpa, as well, who kept a regular group during his Hawaii years. No one knows how much time he'll be able to carve out for a round here and there once he takes office three weeks from now. His job is more daunting than that of any new president in recent memory. But if, like Clinton, he calls on the golf gods for escape and perspective once in a while, we'll all be better off, and on the road to recovery as a nation.

Stevie on the Skids?

2008-12-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

So a "famous" caddie (oxymoron?) gets catty and the news-starved golf world is all over him. First of all, since when does a guy who lugs a 50-pound bag, even if it's Tiger's (idle) bag, make headlines? And so what if he's stupid or drunk or thoughtless enough to mention in public that he thinks Phil Mickelson is a "prick." Why should we care? I suppose because in uttering those words at a fundraising event in New Zealand, Steve Williams picked at the longtime, unhealing, mostly media-inflicted scab that seems to exist where we think a Tiger-Phil relationship should be. They're rivals, they have big egos, they're loaded with talent, they have a six-pack of majors between them over the past four years — but what they don't have, at least from where I sit, is the makings of a true enmity-fueled war. They're gazillionaire golfers, for God's sake, not Shia and Sunni. There's no blood vengeance there, just clashing personalities and wildly differing approaches to what is on a universal scale a meaningless pursuit.

I'm sure plenty of folks, especially fellow PGA Tour pros, might have the "P" word bouncing around their skulls when they think of Lefty, whether it's warranted or not. I've watched him in person in action many, many times, from Pebble Beach to the Byron Nelson to the U.S. Open, and have never seen him exhibit anything but respect for his fellow players, the game and especially the fans. He signs autographs to a fault, even after puking up a rare 75. He continues to smile and nod in that admittedly saccharine, some would say cloying way that I happen to think is genuine Phil. I watched he and Tiger closely at the 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills, followed them for the entire first day, and yeah, they didn't talk much. They seemed out of sorts, but I think that's because they just don't mesh on strategy. Phil imagines, fires and either suffers or triumphs in the result. Tiger plods, analyzes, gives Stevie a cursory look (that's usually about it), and then goes all in, usually with a spectacular result. Sometimes I think Tiger thinks Phil doesn't work hard enough and therefore wastes his obvious talent. And that attitude rubs off on Williams, who finally let his lip slip, drawing boilerplate comments like "I'm sorry it happened" and "It's unfortunate" from the likes of Peter Jacobsen and Fluff Cowan, who, of course, found out what happens when Tiger's bagger gets too big for his bib.

So, is Stevie a goner? I think not. He's been there for 13 of Tiger's 14 majors, which says a lot. Otherwise, he should just shut up and let his man's game do the talkin' for the next 11 majors he'll win before he turns 40.

Tiger Stays Silent … Not

2008-11-12T09:34:00.001-08:00

As I was preparing to put up the blog below, written Nov. 7, I saw this missive from The Golf Channel. Seems Tiger has some thoughts about Barack Obama's election after all. Cable network CNBC got him to open up … just a bit.

"Tiger Woods, who is normally reserved when it comes to any topic not related to golf, weighed in on Barack Obama's election as the first African American president in United States history.

'I think it's absolutely incredible,' Woods told CNBC. 'He represents America. He's multiracial. I was hoping it would happen in my lifetime. My father was hoping it would happen in his lifetime, but he didn't get to see it. I'm lucky enough to have seen a person of color in the White House.'

Obama was elected last Tuesday as the 44th President of the United States. When asked by the cable news outlet how his father Earl would have reacted, Woods said: 'He would have cried. Absolutely. No doubt about it.'"

Way to go, Tiger. It's been a remarkable week and the next four years promise to be much, much more remarkable. I for one am happy to hear you chime in. Now for the previously scheduled blog:

I just finished reading Tiger's latest e-mail newsletter, which dropped in my box Nov. 5 — the day after Barack Obama went all Woods on John McCain, racking up an electoral landslide (sorry, Repubs, but it's the truth). Not that I expected the Golfer of the Millennium to give a shout out to Obama, but a simple congrats would have been nice, no matter who Tiger actually voted for. Nov. 4 was an historic night by anyone's measure. Hell, even Oprah joined 150,000 fellow Chicagoans to whoop it up as their guy blasted past 270 votes the way Tiger blows by the competition on the back nine of a major. This was a time for everyone to show their spirit, famous and faceless folks alike. But Tiger wouldnt' go there. Instead he rattled on about his new golf course project in Mexico, his ongoing knee rehab, his fundraiser at Pelican Hill with Fred Couples (which raised about $700K, one millionth the size of the recent congressional bailout), spending Halloween with the family and his first visit back to Torrey Pines since the U.S. Open. All good stuff, but I wanted more. I wanted a crack in the door to his political psyche, but it remains locked. And he ain't whipping out the key anytime soon.

Of course that's as it should be given Tiger's unique position as an Obama-like "rock star." And I know he knows that's as it should be since he doesn't want to alienate half the population, and therefore send the PGA Tour into a Wall Street-caliber tailspin. But at some point it wouldn't hurt, I think, to see him come out with a stand on the state of the world today, and give his thoughts on how a guy like Obama could truly, fundamentally effect momentous change on that world. I've speculated that Tiger might have actually leaned Obama's way during the bloated and grueling election season since they have so much in common — multi-ethnicity, a bumper crop of confidence, innate intelligence and passion for their respective professions, undeniable charisma and talent and a stunning ability to bring people of all social strata together. But no. Even the rehabbing Tiger remains a careful and calculated objective observer of all things political, social, racial. He's a golfer, and that's enough. He chooses to be defined by his performance on the golf course, is intensely private, keeps counsel with a close coterie of friends and family. And we're cool with it; he gives us enough of himself in so many ways, right? Does he have to be a political being, too? Can't he just be neutral, even racially neutral? Of course he can. The question is, should he be, as America turns an important corner?

Tiger has alluded to his race in the past, usually in response to a knucklehead like Fuzzy Zoeller, and obviously lives a life that is in many ways defined by his "cablinasian" makeup. But it's also true that he transcended race a long time ago. Now Obama has done the same, in a much more important and far-reaching way. These two are linked now. They wield power and bear a standard for their segment of humanity. I simply sometimes wish the world's favorite golfer would acknowledge what's going on outside of his sport, and rightfully take some credit for perhaps helping set the table for Obama's amazing ascension. I know I'd love to hear his thoughts. And I know he has them.

Say It Ain't So, Arnie

2008-11-06T14:53:00.001-08:00

That's Schwarzenegger, not Palmer. California's governator released his proposed budget today, and buried in its more than $4 billion in tax hikes is a shakedown aimed at the state's three million golfers through broadening the sales tax base. (Hmm...wasn't this the guy who stood with John McCain a week ago railing against Barack Obama's proposed rich-dude tax increases? Just wondering.)
This revelation came at me through a press release from the Pebble Beach-based California Alliance for Golf, a "trade association of course owners, managers, superintendents, club pros, equipment makers and golf associations." Which translates into the folks who keep the Golden State's already economically battered golf biz, well, in biz. Them, and you and me, that is — the people who show up with money in hand to grab a tee time, perhaps a burger at the turn and a beer or two at the 19th hole. And now Arnie, who I doubt has ever picked up a club and couldn't make a full turn anyway thanks to five decades of pumping iron, is putting our favorite sports in his fiscal sights. Hasn't the golf business suffered enough? Haven't enough courses closed? Doesn't an industry that pumps billions into the state's economy deserve a break?
No, I haven't read the budget, I'm taking this organization's word for it, but at a time when our Prez-Elect is rightfully asking America's super well-heeled to chip in for the greater good and wrongly getting castigated for it by certain parts of the population, shouldn't we golfers call Arnie to the carpet for this shakedown? He's asking the beleaguered golf industry to dig deeper to take on what is described by CAFG exec director Bob Bouchier as a "disproportionate" share of the revenue needed to close the state's massive budget deficit. To me, that's OB, and double-bogey on the scorecard of California golf's uphill climb to financial viability.

More Tiger Than Phil

2008-10-17T11:19:00.001-07:00

I needn't have worried. Barack Obama didn't just avoid a Phil Mickelson-like collapse, he blew by John McCain's somewhat scattered, unfocused debate performance on Wednesday night. And he did it Tiger's way. Forget Obama's obvious comparison to the world's greatest golfer on the basis of skin color alone. These two African-Americans share the same instincts for coolness under pressure, unshakable reliance on facts and proven strategy over emotion, and pure preparation over the sort of swing-from-the-heels approach McCain seems to favor. Tiger is the ultimate grinder, which is how he's won 13 majors to date and will win 25 before he's done. Obama is a grinder, too; just take a moment to think back over the past 20 months, how he's survived and thrived under the withering primary process, and how, with 18 days to go, he appears more energized and focused and determined than ever to win this thing. Tiger never lets up until the trophy is his, or on rare occasion, isn't. Obama isn't letting up, either. There are signs that McCain is, that he's worn out, that all he's left with are the shaky shortcuts of a guy who thinks he deserves the prize, but really doesn't. His supporters will fall back on the fact that he was left for dead nine months ago, out of luck and money and mojo, but somehow came back to win his party's nomination. True to a point, but look at the field he went up against. And look at the fact that he's veered wildly from his self-stated "maverick" stance to embrace the far right, thereby wiping out any self-respect or sense of honor he may have hoped to preserve. And look at the "caddie" McCain chose. Not only can't she lug the bag through the minefield of big-time politics, she's completely unprepared to read yardages and help set a winning course for her "boss." As for Obama's cohort, Joe Biden — he's definitely got the Steve Williams-like goods when it will come to keeping Obama's eye on the ball and the target in clear view, whether it's on middle-class economic issues or setting a much-needed new course in foreign policy. Obama's on the verge of taking the ultimate "major," and he's proven he's got the goods to handle the hardware, Tiger-style.

Obama's "Phil" Factor

2008-10-15T15:46:00.001-07:00

As I prepare to clench my jaw John McCain-style and plant myself with my family in front of the ol' plasma to watch the third and final presidential debate of this mercifully-almost-complete campaign season, a though occurs to me: I'm feeling the same roiling in my gut routinely felt whenever Phil Mickelson enjoys a three-shot lead during the final round of a major, which has happened a few times. Will I witness a horrible crash, or will he pull through and win the damn thing?

As an unabashed Barack Obama supporter (if you see me on your doorstep over the next two weeks, "lit" in hand and early-voting exhortations at the ready, treat me kindly), I pray that his vaunted coolness under pressure will see the Illinois senator through this debate. It's his race to lose now, and since we're in full-on-sprint mode to Nov. 4, McCain has said publicly that he'll "kick Obama's you-know-what" tonight. He has to say that, he has no choice. And it'll only happen if Obama veers from his heretofore perfectly pitched riff on the economy and lets McCain dictate a decidedly agressive tone. In other words, if he takes the more-often-than-not Mickelson route, tells himself, "I didn't come this far to lay up," and goes for a tucked pin, over 200 yards of agua, with a 3-wood. Don't do it, dude. Lay up with that seven-iron of cool and collected calm, stick to the matters on which his opponent has clearly stumbled over the past couple of weeks, and make birdie the easy way — a wedge of sensibility to three feet, a tap-in of clear-minded policy dead into the cup … followed by a confident stride to the next tee with an even bigger lead.

Phil himself is probably rooting for McCain, which says a lot about both guys: Gamble now for all the glory or continued goat-hood. That's cool. I'm still a Mickelson man.

Economic Meltdown ... When Is My Tee Time?

2008-09-25T08:15:00.001-07:00

In less than three hours — probably about the same time Congress, including Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain, dig deep into the current economic crisis with hopes of steering America away from the financial abyss — I will tee off with 99 other lucky souls at The Links at Bodega Harbour, a lovely Robert Trent Jones Jr. course about an hour north of San Francisco. It's a gorgeous fall day; the placid Pacific glistens beyond the sliding glass door in my suite at the Lodge at Bodega Harbour, oblivious to the churning political seas that cause more than a few of us to feel seasick on a daily basis, if not just plain sick. As a small business owner (Fairways + Greens, the next edition of which goes to press, very late, next week), I'm right in the middle of this money mess. Yesterday I was dead set against any thought of a taxpayer bailout, but it's clear something must be done or, says CNBC's Jim Kramer, by Monday we'll be in a second Great Depression. He was serious. THIS is serious. But I'm showing up at the Links anyway because 1) I'm here; 2) the weather's perfect; 3) Golf is a viable business,too, and my only means of support, so it deserves my support; and 4) What the hell can I do about it at the moment?

So, my advice to you, dear golfing friends, is to suspend your own campaign for financial survival, pull a few bucks out of the ATM while it still works, grab a friend or better yet, a son or daughter, and get out there on your favorite track. Golf has a magical way of diverting one's worries into the great quest for par. It's an achievable goal we can all see, right there, flapping in the autumn breeze. It's back to work tomorrow, assuming there's work to be done. And there always is, one way or the other, whether you get paid for it or not.

Let's take dead aim, together, and hope the deal coming out of Capitol Hill isn't a double-bogey for you, me and our neighbors.

Why the NFL Will Always Drain the FedEx Cup

2008-09-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

The moment I watched Brett Favre toss his first long-bomb touchdown as a New York Jet, I joined millions of Americans in reviving an annual couch-hugging habit against which PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem is ultimately powerless. The NFL rules America. It dominates the major TV networks while much of the Tour’s overhyped “playoff” series is relegated to the Golf Channel. In terms of TV viewership and media cachet, The FedEx Cup runneth empty.

What’s worse, I believe that Tiger Woods — the one man Finchem truly answers to, besides the Tour’s major sponsors — is tuning in the NFL this Sunday morning, too, while he recuperates from knee surgery at his mega-mansion in Jupiter Beach, Fla. Maybe he’ll catch a few moments of the Cup’s third-round proceedings from Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, but only between plays on his wall-to-wall satellite NFL coverage. And the breaks are precious view when you’ve got hi-def access to umpteen games at the same time. (It’s all just a warm-up for Tiger’s Monday night plans; as a devout member of Raider Nation, he won’t be available for phone interviews come game time on ESPN.)

No, folks, the Tour’s season unofficially ended when Padraig Harrington hoisted his second straight major trophy at the PGA last month. All apologies to Vijay Singh, who all but has the second FedEx Cup packed and ready to ship to his mantle after two weeks of en fuego golf, but nobody really cares at this point. Even a golf addict like me has trouble tuning in to watch a bunch of millionaires go for the bloated $10 million prize. I’d rather watch another bunch of millionaires strap it on and go to war in the blood-and-guts, truly telegenic world of the NFL, where the American male’s dream of tough, testosterone-driven triumph is brought closest to reality, and definitely abides closest to our sports-hungry hearts, week after week until early February.

The Ryder Cup? Now that’s a different story. It’s a team sport, the closest golf comes to football in hype and chest-puffing attitude. And even that ain’t very close, especially with Tiger out of the picture.

Yeah, I’ll watch it. The question is, will you? Let me know here at vwilliams@fgmagazine.com.

Would Tiger Back Barack?

2008-09-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

Like Michael Jordan before him, Tiger Woods won't come out and support either presidential candidate. Using Jordan's logic and assuming our favorite MIA golfer might at least take a passing look at Barack Obama, "Republicans vote, too." Hence, no political hand-tipping either way. There are too many shoes, balls and clubs to sell. No sense alienating half of the potential customer base (more than half, most likely, operating under the assumption that golfers skew conservative). Nobody even knows whether Woods occasionally tunes into one of the cable news networks, just for a taste of what's going on in the political orbit. But I'd like to take this opportunity to let Tiger know that, yes, Barack Obama is a golfer. Not a very active or very skilled one, by all accounts, but he has played with his buddies, and reportedly took lessons a few years ago in a concerted effort to get better and be able to compete. He didn't like being lousy. That's one trait America's two most prominent African-Americans share: They're deeply competitive. John McCain doesn't play golf; due to injuries sustained in his plane crash in Hanoi all those years ago, he can't lift his arms past shoulder height. Not that golf acumen or lack thereof should elicit an endorsement either way, but for Tiger, Obama's at least flirting with the game must count for something.

Well En-DOW-ed

2007-10-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

So the Dow busts 14K and all is well with the American economy, at least if you're a multinational corporation. Yeah, I hold some stocks, including Apple, of which I've been a customer for more than 20 years. But still my small biz struggles as so many others do, virtually everyone I know is playing the financial game close and carefully. Even our church fundraiser last night didn't yield the generosity it usually does. Does anyone else sense we're in for a crash? Does anyone care? Should we just let Wal-Mart run the show. Are the Dems or Repubs listening, or are they far too busy turning over constituency rocks for campaign cash to care? Are you better off than the day Bush took office? How do you define better off? Is it an attitude thing or a big-ticket buying power thing? Do they relate? Hell, yeah, they do, and America's attitude is darkening. War, the immigration upheaval, rising oceans, the Administration's moral collapse, Congress's seeming impotence in the face of it all -- it's a tough time for optimism.

Just don't tell the Dow.

iPhone=tTimes

2007-09-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

A few years back, FG's writers were dead set against the use of cell phones on golf courses. Truth to tell, we're still conflicted about it. After all a tool like the iPhone, which both FG principals are now packin', can be easily abused during a round. That said, its powers are undeniably great when you're feeling guilty about sneaking out for a few holes, or even playing in a legit "biz related" tournament. Check those e-mails, surf for some background info, visually check your voicemails, all between tee shots and 7-irons to an elevated green over water -- now that's living in the 21st century. And the iPhone makes that kind of digital living more accessible for golfers, and everyone, than ever. All apologies to the "Berries" of the world, but this product, with its big screen that's quite readable even in bright sunlight, rocks.

In the end, being this productive, this quickly and transparently, can only mean one thing for golf addicts: More opportunity to combine play with work. What the hell's wrong with that, as long as you're staying one step ahead of the marshal and it's not increasing your shank quotient? Nothing, from my point of view. But use discretion. Loosen up the fingers, get in, get out, stay up to speed and keep moving.

By the way, I do own a few shares of Apple. But I'd buy the iPhone anyway, and never be without it on the links.

The FedEx Cup Runneth Dry?

2007-09-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

Hardly. The PGA Tour's much-ballyhooed, megabucks playoff system has taken its shots lately, but it's still got potential to be a top-tier must-watch for golf fans.

That won't happen without a fight, though, and at this moment the game's biggest players have Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem on the ropes. The most recent body blow came courtesy of Phil Mickelson, who's skipping this week's BMW Championship at Cog Hill near Chicago. Mickelson hinted at his plans after beating Tiger Woods in a thrilling Deutsche Bank showdown on Sunday. "I've got an event in Chicago planned for tomorrow," he said Monday moments after walking off the 18th green, "I'll be there, but my kids are starting school this week …." So went a common refrain among family oriented Tour players who, unlike participants on other major American sports, are purely independent contractors and don't like playing four weeks in a row, especially at this time of year.

Mickelson decided to head home and cruise through the week on his No. 1 seed position. In a sense it's a smart move since only four guys can usurp his throne this week — Tiger, resurgent Steve Stricker, K.J. Choi (who pulled out last week due to a back injury) and the mouthy-but-game Rory Sabbatini. If somebody further down the rankings catches fire, Mickelson will most likely stay atop the points standings, setting up a killer showdown with Woods in Atlanta for next week's Tour Championship. Only 30 guys will make it that far, so either way Phil's sitting pretty.

The call here? Tiger blows away the 70-player field at Cog Hill, where's he's won four times, and lays in wait for Mickelson's return. Then we'll see if the FedEx Cup fulfills Tour honcho Tim Finchem's dreams of becoming something akin to the four majors. Last week's final round came close from this fan's point of view, but from the players' angle, there's some scheduling changes to be made for future playoffs. Otherwise, we may see the makings of a mini-players' union led by its top 10 sticks — and then the PGA Tour's wink-and-nod foundation may show a few more cracks. Right now some heavy hitters feel left out of the process, and that's not good.

More on this next week, before Atlanta's finale.

Welcome to My World

2007-09-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

In preparation for the launch of of fgmagazine.com -- a website, debuting Sept. 15, that will expand the universe of my 10-year-old Reno, Nev.-based print magazine, Fairways + Greens -- I've thrown my hat in the digital ring to give myself an outlet not only for random posts on the game of golf and all its permutations (players, destinations, equipment, opinion, etc.), but anything else that rattles through my skull in various realms from pop culture to politics, mainstream sports to local events, literature to throwaway media, social problems to family issues. I'll do my best to post a couple times a week, and look forward to attracting readers beyond my immediate sphere of influence (which, to be honest, is about the size of a golf ball). As I gain some steam, I'd appreciate the feedback and am always game for a good argument.

Cheers and we'll talk soon.