July 20, 2008
Can he do it?
I don't think so, but I sure will be pulling for him. We mid-50 year olds have to stick together.
If Norman can pull it off, his victory should put to rest one of the cruelest golf jokes of recent lore:
Q: What is the English pronunciation of Jean Van de Velde, the Frenchman who blew the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie by taking a triple-bogey 7 on the final hole and then losing in a playoff?
A: Greg Norman
Daniel Wexler passes along the following analysis of Norman's remarkable career from The Book of Golfers:
Among the most striking and exciting golfers ever to play the game, Queensland’s Gregory John Norman (b.Mt Isa 2/10/1955) may not rank as highly as Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros or Nick Faldo on most all-time lists, yet he was arguably golf’s most captivating figure between the reigns of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. A typically sports-oriented Australian youth, Norman only took up golf after caddying for his low-handicap mother at age 16, then worked his way down to scratch within two years. Pondering a career in the Australian air force, Norman instead turned professional after winning the Queensland Junior title, working briefly in Sydney, then for a longer stint at the Royal Queensland GC where he apprenticed for the man who would be his primary teacher, the well-known Charlie Earp.
By 1976 Norman was ready to compete around Australia – so ready, in fact, that he won his fourth start, Adelaide’s West Lakes Classic, over a strong professional field. Like many an ambitious Aussie before him, Norman spent the next three years playing largely abroad, taking five titles in Europe and Asia as well as four more in his homeland. By 1979 he was beginning to approach the game’s highest levels when a missed putt of 4’ at the 72nd cost him the Australian Open. But with a work ethic to match his raw talent, Norman continued his steady improvement and took the national title for the first time the following year, by one over Brian Jones at The Lakes GC in Sydney. The victory led to an invitation to the Masters and it was at Augusta in 1981 that America got its first look at a player whose attacking style, charisma and white-blond hair made for ideal golf television. Norman would finish fourth in this Masters debut, entertaining the media with tales of shark hunting which, inevitably, spawned his famous “Great White Shark” nickname. Three months later he added joint fourth at the PGA Championship in Atlanta, and a new international star was born.
Generally considered the longest straight driver in history, Norman soon began playing regularly in America where his aggressiveness and larger-than-life personality ticketed him as the logical heir apparent to Palmer, Nicklaus and Watson. Frequently he seemed capable of living up to the hype, such as the summer of 1984 when, within a five-week span, he won twice (at the Kemper and Canadian Opens), lost to Tom Watson in a playoff for the Western Open, then endured an 18-hole playoff loss to Fuzzy Zoeller in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. This, of course, was one of the modern era’s most memorable Opens with Norman blowing his approach to the 72nd into a grandstand before ultimately holing a 50’ putt for par. Back in the fairway, thinking that Norman had made birdie, Zoeller waved the white towel of surrender – but on Monday it would be Norman who yielded when Fuzzy took the playoff with a sparking 67.
The loss at Winged Foot led to some talk – at that time largely misplaced – of Norman as a choker, and his unique “Saturday Slam” of 1986 hardly helped. For in that remarkable season, Norman indeed led all four Majors after 54 holes, yet won only the Open Championship, his most crushing defeat coming at the PGA where Bob Tway holed a famous bunker shot at 72nd for victory. Such a loss can only happen once a lifetime, one might assume, but at the 1987 Masters Norman endured another notorious lightning bolt when Larry Mize drained a 45-yard pitch to snatch victory on the second hole of sudden death. Three years later David Frost would hole a bunker shot at the last to edge Norman in New Orleans, and then, barely a month later, Robert Gamez would beat him at Bay Hill by actually holing a full 176-yard 7 iron at the last!
The gods, then, were not always with him, but Norman often generated his own misery, including a badly blocked 4 iron at the 72nd which cost him a playoff with Nicklaus at the 1986 Masters, a disappointing 76 in a much-anticipated third-round duel with Nick Faldo at the 1990 Open Championship and the saddest of them all, the final-round 78 that eviscerated a seemingly insurmountable six-shot lead, allowing Faldo to win the 1996 Masters with a closing 67.
But if Norman is to be vilified for these losses, he must also be credited with some of modern golf’s greatest work. In 1990, for example, he closed the Doral Open with a scorching 62, then won in a playoff by eagling the first extra hole – a 12-under-par total for 19 holes. Even more impressive, however, were rounds played during his two Major titles, the 1986 and ’93 Open Championships. In 1986, after opening with a weather-induced 74, Norman uncorked an almost unbelievable second-round 63 in dismal conditions, a round which stood only three putts at both the 17th and 18th away from perhaps being the greatest ever played. Then in 1993, he stormed home at Royal St George’s with a near-perfect closing 64 to beat Nick Faldo by two, a round described by Gene Sarazen as “the most awesome display of golf I have ever seen.”
A fitness devotee, Norman retained his world-class skills well into his 40s, winning twice in 1997 at age 42, then taking his own homeland event, the Greg Norman Holden Invitational, a year later. Today he rides herd over Great White Shark Enterprises, a highly successful international business conglomerate, while receding slowly from the competitive scene. But whatever critics may say regarding his career, two Open Championships, more than 80 wins worldwide, 29 top-10 finishes in Major championships and a record 331 total weeks ranked as the number one player in the world adds up to a large and impressive legacy, particularly when judged against the field as opposed to a generalized sense of expectations. Further, no player between Nicklaus and Woods has loomed larger over the game, or brought more excitement – and epic struggle – to its playing fields.
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July 2, 2008
Tiger's tournament enters the Tiger Chasm
The Tiger Chasm -- the widening netherworld of golf tournaments that don't attract much attention because Tiger Woods doesn't play in them -- has now swallowed even Tiger's own tournament, this weekend's AT&T National at Congressional Country Club in Washington, D.C.
Last year, most of the best PGA Tour players -- including Woods, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Geoff Ogilvy, and Justin Rose -- played in the AT&T National. With Tiger resting after recent knee surgery, none of those players are competing this year and only two top-10 player in the World Rankings -- Steve Stricker and K.J. Choi -- are bothering to show up, and only Jim Furyk (13), Trevor Immelman (14), Anthony Kim (20), Aaron Baddeley(22) and Andres Romero (24) among the top 25 are in the field.
To make matters worse, tournament title sponsor AT&T cannot be particularly happy about forking over the big bucks only to have USA Today run the headline above in its article on the tournament. (H/T Geoff Shackelford).
Welcome to the Tiger Chasm.
By the way, this Bloomberg.com article analyzes the probable technique used to repair Woods' ACL during the surgery. Definitely worth a read.
7/08/08 Update: Thomas Bonk of the LA Times reports that the ratings for the Tiger-less AT&T National confirmed its entry into the Tiger Chasm:
In a word: bad. The overnight ratings for Sunday's fourth round of the AT&T National on CBS were down 48%, from a 2.9 to a 1.5. The third-round overnight ratings were down 35%, from a 2.0 to a 1.3.
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June 29, 2008
On the driving range in The Woodlands
Several years ago, during the early part of the final round of the U.S. Women's Open, I was hitting balls at the driving range of the Player Course here in The Woodlands. I figured that I would hit balls for awhile and then catch the final part of the Women's Open on television.
It was quite hot that day and so the only other person hitting balls that day on the range was a young woman and her father. In between hitting balls, I watched the young woman hit some shots. Her swing was impeccable and frankly much better than most of the professional golfers who I had seen during the earlier rounds of the Women's Open. As I left the range that day, I complimented the young woman on her swing and observed that, with that swing, she really ought to be playing that afternoon in the final round of the U.S. Women's Open. The young woman and her father thanked me graciously for my compliment.
Well, what do you know. That young woman -- Stacy Lewis -- is now playing in her first tournament as a professional and leads the 2008 U.S. Women's Open going into the final round. Read about Stacy's remarkable story here.
Update: Lewis faded to a 78 in the final round and finished third behind Inbee Park.
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June 19, 2008
Tiger's bittersweet victory
Just off one of the most remarkable performances of his amazing career, Tiger Woods is going on the shelf for the rest of this golf season and probably for a good chunk of next season rehabilitating from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. This will be Woods' second surgery on his left knee in two months and his fourth since 1994.
But first, a few comments on last week's U.S. Open. Frankly, it's been difficult this close to the thrilling tournament to provide any decent perspective of the event. Unquestionably, the tournament will go down as one of the most entertaining U.S. Opens of the modern era. Torrey Pines is a great muny golf course, but it's not considered an architectural gem on the level of many other U.S. Open venues, so there really was not much anticipation going into the tournament that the course would produce a particularly memorable event. Nevertheless, to the surprise of most golf fans, the USGA wisely moved away from its draconian past course set-ups and arranged Torrey Pines in a first-class manner that facilitated the competition rather than restricting it.
That set the stage for 45-year-old journeyman Rocco Mediate -- ranked 158th in the World Rankings coming into the tournament and without a win on the Tour since 2002 -- to somehow find a rhythm over the week that allowed him to take the best player in the history of the game to the brink of a crushing loss on two different occasions. One of the friendliest players on the Tour, Mediate looked all weekend as if he was just as surprised as everyone else that he was battling Woods toe-to-toe. Amazingly, had he been able to hit a decent wedge shot on either Sunday or Monday to set up a birdie on the relatively easy par-5 18th hole, Rocco Mediate -- not Tiger Woods -- would be the 2008 U.S. Open champion.
Meanwhile, playing on what we now know is a torn ACL a couple of stress fractures in his left tibia (an injury apparently suffered during rehab from his recent knee surgery), Woods was certainly not at his best during the tournament, perhaps best reflected by the fact that he double-bogeyed the par-4 first hole three times in the first four rounds. But those missteps were offset by Woods' extraordinary play at other times, such as his three eagles on the par-5's and holing more clutch putts than any player in the field. Stated simply, Woods and Mediate put on a great show that will rank as one of the best U.S. Opens ever.
Sadly, however, Woods' once-in-a-lifetime talent will not be on display for a good while now. And, as noted here a couple of months ago, what is perhaps most baffling about Woods' injury is that it is largely self-inflicted. He has unwisely for years included a frequent long-distance running regimen in his intense exercise protocol, which has at least contributed to the injury in his left knee. Woods' running program reflects a common and destructive misconception within America society that "more is better" when it comes to exercise. In fact, allowing the body to recover adequately after intensive periods of exercise is at least as important to good health as the exercise itself. Although we will almost certainly read stories over the coming days on how Woods will come back even stronger and better after the surgery, my sense is that he is facing almost certain chronic arthritis in his left knee and total knee replacement surgery within 10 years or so. I sincerely hope that Woods' stubborn adherence to a physically-damaging exercise regimen does not end up taking from us the enjoyment of watching one of the most gifted athletes of our time compete at the highest level of his ability.
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June 11, 2008
Gearing up for the U.S. Open
Golf course author and blogger Geoff Shackelford is blogging the U.S. Open this week at Torrey Pines in San Diego in the same manner as he blogged The Masters earlier this year, and he kicks off the U.S. Open week with this email interview of the best golf writer of the past generation, Dan Jenkins. As usual, Jenkins is in mid-season form:
GS: Are you excited about visiting California, where we treat smokers like lepers?
DJ: I would be more excited about going to California if I was 20 years younger and sitting in the Polo Lounge.
Read the entire interview here. Also, check out this interesting map of Torrey Pines and the slick USGA course overview while perusing Jay Flemma's and Daniel Wexler's reviews of the course.
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May 21, 2008
Overrated
While this Golf.com article surveys the most overrated professional golfers, this Dave Berri post analyzes the most overpaid NBA players.
Guess who made the latter list?
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May 15, 2008
Houston's best 19th hole
Although Jack Burke's venerable Champions Cypress Creek Golf Course may arguably be a bit overrated, this Ron Kapriske/Golf Digest article rates the Champions Men's Locker Room Bar as one of the 50 best 19th holes in the country:
Sit back and listen to Jackie Burke tell stories, especially the one about Jimmy Demaret at the bar in his birthday suit; the bar inside the locker room is three-sided to allow for "cross-counter shouting matches"; wood paneling is a "throwback to the country-club days of the 1960s."
I can attest that having the opportunity to listen to a couple of Burke stories is certainly worth a trip to the Champions Men's Locker Room. A close second to the Champions Men's Locker Room Bar among the best of Houston's 19th holes -- Lochinvar Golf Club's Clubhouse.
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May 12, 2008
The Players trumps the Masters
Well, he didn't do it with a belly putter, but Sergio Garcia fulfilled my prediction after last year's British Open that it was just a matter of time before he won a big-time tournament.
On Sunday afternoon, the 28 year-old Garcia won The Players in a one-hole playoff against journeyman Paul Goydos (169th in the World Golf Rankings) as he shook off -- for the most part, at least -- the putting woes that have bedeviled the former prodigy over the past several years. The victory is Garcia’s first on the PGA Tour since 2005 and easily the most important championship in his career to date, reflected by the fact that his World Golf Ranking went from 18th to 10th with the win. For the record, Garcia burst on the scene as a 19 year-old when he went toe-to-toe with Tiger Woods before taking second place at the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah. Few who saw him play in that tournament would have predicted at the time that it would take him nine years to win a tournament of the The Players' stature.
By the way, fourth-place finisher Briny Baird summed up as well as anybody the final day of The Players, which saw contenders such as Phil Mickelson (78) and Kenny Perry (81) flame out: "I don't care who wins the tournament," Baird said. "The wind won. It kicked everybody's butts."
Although Garcia's unexpected victory and Goydos' stirring play were compelling story lines, the big winner this week was the tournament itself, which provided a much more entertaining product than the Masters for the second straight year. Dean Barnett notes the main reason why:
Particularly when paired against the Masters, The Players shows some strength. The field of competitors is stronger at The Players; indeed, it’s the strongest field in golf on an annual basis.
The Masters’ history also has to give The Players some encouragement. The Masters is a relatively new tournament, ostentatiously and boldly designed to achieve major status some 70 years ago. And the plan worked. The Players has the same sort of dynamic, plus the additional benefit that the venue and the tournament belong to the PGA Tour. In other words, The Players truly is the players' tournament. In a manner of speaking, they own it.
Where The Players actually belongs to the players, the Masters and Augusta National belong to a bunch of weird guys who are prone to despotism. Additionally, the Masters has looked a bit long in the tooth in recent years. In a misguided effort to modernize the course, Augusta National unleashed a supremely mediocre architect to modify one of the best and most original golf designs ever.
The changes to the course have been horrendous on a number of levels. The most damaging has been the fact that the changes sucked the drama out of the tournament in the name of “defending par.” Augusta is now so long and difficult, there are few birdie opportunities and the players take over five hours to make their way around the course in twosomes. If the lords of Augusta National were capable of embarrassment (which they almost surely are not), this last fact would shame them no end. The course is now harder (and more boring), but is it a better and fairer test of golf? Does it effectively identify the world’s best golfers? Leader boards the last couple of years populated almost exclusively by no-names and an angry Tiger Woods suggest otherwise.
Meanwhile, The Players takes place at the Tournament Players Club (TPC), a course that is also very difficult, but still manages to identify the best golfers and be fun. The trademark short 17th hole with its island green is pure fun and excitement. (Journalistic integrity compels me to confess to playing the Tournament Players Club this winter and effortlessly parring the 17th by hitting a nice easy nine iron to the center to the green. I’m not sure why the pros have so much trouble with the hole. Maybe it has something to do with having hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line.)
Although a beautiful venue, Augusta National is currently so long and difficult that it provides a disincentive for the players to take risks, similar to the type of golf that has long been played in the usually boring U.S. Open. The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, on the other hand, is much shorter than Augusta National and most U.S. Open venues, and the course continues to encourage creative risk-taking. A course that encourages risk-taking will usually produce a more entertaining tournament than one that does not.
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May 8, 2008
My favorite tournament
It's not one of the four majors (despite the PGA Tour's constant drumbeat to make it the fifth), but The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach just south of Jacksonville, Florida is my favorite golf tournament of the year. This year's edition starts today.
This is the 35th Players Championship, which bounced around for its first eight years before settling at Pete Dye’s legendary Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in 1982. Not only is the Stadium Course a great modern layout (Jay Flemma's excellent review is here), the Tour has continually renovated and improved the course over the years so that it has matured into one of the best courses that the Tour plays each year. Adding to the fun is the fact that The Players usually has the best field of any tournament of the golf season and this year is no exception -- every one of the top 25 in the World Golf Rankings is playing with the exception of the Tiger Woods, who is convalescing from recent knee surgery. Not surprisingly, from the standpoint of most players, winning The Players is at least as prestigious as winning the PGA Championship, though still not as important as winning the other three majors.
So, a great field competing over one of modern golf design’s most interesting courses almost assures good entertainment -- that's why this is my favorite tournament. Add in that the 17th hole island par-3 is arguably the most creative (and highly controversial) hole in the backstretch of any Tour event is a virtual guarantee for high drama come Sunday afternoon. TV times for Thursday and Friday are noon-6 p.m. (CDT) on the Golf Channel, and 1-6 p.m. (CDT) Saturday and Sunday on NBC.
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April 17, 2008
What is Tiger thinking and has The Masters become a bore?
So, Tiger Woods is being forced to take a month off from the PGA Tour as he rehabs from knee surgery. I know that Woods' workout routine is considered cutting edge, particularly for a professional golfer, but what on earth is he running seven miles per workout with a bad knee? Don't his trainers know that long-distance running is not a particularly healthy form of exercise?
Long-distance running is a fine form of recreation for folks who enjoy it. But as a method of exercise, I am hard-pressed to think of one that is more physically damaging. Woods would be smart to re-think his workout to delete long-distance running and concentrate on short sprints for the aerobic part of his workout.
The knee operation will prevent Woods from defending his title at the Wachovia Championship in two weeks or competing in The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass a week after that.
By the way, Geoff Shackelford (see this Daniel Wexler post, too) is leading a discussion over at his blog on whether the design changes at Augusta National -- which have clearly prompted players to play more defensively and less aggressively during the Masters Tournament -- have undermined the excitement of the tournament for spectators. Geoff passes along the following interesting stat from Brett Avery's Golf World stat package:
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April 14, 2008
Another one-planer wins The Masters
Last year it was Zach Johnson (see also here). This year, it's Trevor Immelman. What's the deal with all these one-plane swingers dominating the Masters Tournament? Could it have something to do with the fact that neither Johnson last year nor Immelman this year ever seemed to miss a fairway? Immelman hit 48 out of 56 fairways on Augusta's 4's and 5's during the tournament; Johnson hit 45 last year.
By the way, Immelman tuned up for his Masters victory by shooting 73-72 and missing the cut last week at the Shell Houston Open.
Geoff Shackelford's collection of links on the final day of the Masters is here and the link to his previous daily reports from the week is here.
Finally, Tiger Woods finished second for the second straight year after a relatively poor week of putting on Augusta National's slick greens (interestingly, the dominant Woods has won only one of the last six Masters Tournaments). I know Tiger is popular and all, but the following excerpt from this Martin Johnson/Daily Telegraph article reflects that some Tiger admirers have gone completely over the top:
The Woods mystique is such that he can even cause a riot, or close to it, by eating a banana. When Woods peeled one on Saturday and threw away the skin, there was a mad stampede to grab it as a souvenir.
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April 12, 2008
America's slipping grip on golf
First, PGA Tour events had to worry about the Tiger Chasm. Now, this W$J article reports that they also need to worry about competition from tournaments in foreign venues:
The U.S. has, for decades, held sway over the international golf calendar. Three of the four most-prestigious tournaments happen in the U.S. (in tennis, no nation has more than one of the four Grand Slams). The PGA Tour also has long been the world's most-lucrative circuit, with an estimated $278 million in prize money this year.
As golf explodes in popularity throughout the world, especially in developing nations, an increasing number of tournaments are popping up in places such as Dubai, Qatar, Shanghai and Singapore. On the subcontinent, the Masters and the Johnnie Walker Classic -- two recent events sanctioned by the European Tour -- attracted several top stars, including South African Ernie Els, Fijian Vijay Singh and Australian Adam Scott.
As these events draw richer and more-aggressive backers, they have been offering more prize money. In November 2009, Dubai will host the Dubai World Championship, which will feature a prize purse of $10 million, making it the most-lucrative golf tournament ever for players.
Meanwhile, the declining dollar has lowered the relative value of purses at U.S. tournaments, making these Asian, Middle Eastern and European gigs harder for players to ignore. When asked during his stay in New Delhi whether he expected more top players to play outside the U.S., Mr. Els quipped, "The way the dollar is going, I'm sure."
On top of that, many newer Asian and European tournaments are paying large appearance fees to some top pros to guarantee that the field will be competitive (such fees are banned in the U.S.). That means marquee names can make big sums even when they blow their chances of winning -- as Mr. Els did at the Indian Masters with a nine on the final hole of the first round. Tiger Woods reportedly received $3 million to play in the Dubai Desert Classic in February. (Mr. Woods's agent declined to comment.)
The top flight of golfers is itself becoming more international. In 1999, 33 of the top 50 players in the world came from the U.S. Today 34 of the top 50 players come from outside America. The Qatar Masters, a European Tour event in January, attracted nine of the world's top 25, the same number that the U.S. tour's Buick Invitational in San Diego drew the same week. Spain's Sergio Garcia, America's Scott Verplank and Mr. Scott, the world's No. 5 player, all chose Qatar over California.
"I think the majority of players look on the world as a global competition," said South African golfer Gary Player. Within five years, Mr. Player predicted, international events will be just as important as the PGA Tour.
With such heightened foreign competition, the Shell Houston Open's decision to accept being scheduled the week before The Masters looks like a stroke of genius. Few of the best players who like to prepare for The Masters by playing in a tournament the week before will want to play in a tournament overseas because of the long travel that would be required immediately before playing in The Masters.
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April 10, 2008
It's time for The Masters
It's the week of The Masters golf tournament, so I'm passing along a copy of the Augusta National scorecard that my late father used when he shot a cool 99 at the course back in the mid-1970's. The weather forecast for the tournament is looking a bit dicey on Saturday and Sunday.
Golf course design consultant and golf blogger extraordinaire Geoff Shackelford is doing an outstanding job at GolfWorld of organizing the media pieces and blog posts about the tournament -- here are his Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and the weekend reports. And he is even finding time to blog a bit as this post decries what has become of the Masters par-3 tournament. Check back each day of the week as Geoff will provide the most comprehensive launching pad of links relating to the tournament. The Wall Street Journal's very good golf writer, John Paul Newport, is also blogging the tournament here.
Meanwhile, golf author and blogger Daniel Wexler provides this entertaining post on the ten best golfers who never won the Masters and this interesting hole-by-hole analysis of how the changes to Augusta National's back nine have altered 
the shot-making options that course architects Bobby Jones and Alister McKenzie emphasized in designing the venerable layout. He concludes:
So in the end, is this present incarnation a better nine than existed in the beginning? From the perspective of keeping modern golfers from going low, absolutely – plus the 11th, 12th, 13th and 15th remain, altered or not, among the most exciting holes in the history of the game. The problem is that the addition of rough and trees does not add (or even complement existing) strategy; it simply makes it harder for the golfer to post a good score. This may salve the egos of present-day club leaders, but re-reading this column’s opening quote, and considering that it was final-nine drama – the rapid-fire eagles, bogeys and “others” – that used to make the Masters so utterly unique, I keep finding myself wondering:
What’s wrong with great scores?
Finally, the Masters has been a frequent topic on this blog, so the following are a few Masters-related posts from over the years:
Ken Venturi and Arnold Palmer's little snit over that embedded ball at the 1958 Masters.
Phil Mickelson wins his first Masters in 2004 and Masters' expert Dan Jenkins puts it all in perspective.
Read about some of Dan Jenkins' favorite Masters moments and how he "birdied his bypass." Also, don't miss this post in which Jenkins describes Chris DiMarco's putting grip and what Mickelson and Tiger Woods were saying to each other as Mickelson helped Woods into his fourth green jacket during the 2005 awards ceremony.
Culture shock -- John Daly on the Augusta National driving range.
A golfing Zimbabwe (see also here) and a salute to the King.
A fellow Iowa native makes good at The Masters.
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April 6, 2008
A brief encounter at the SHO driving range
After spending a delightful Friday morning watching Phil Mickelson navigate the back nine during the second round of the Shell Houston Open, my entourage and I grabbed a quick lunch and then headed out to the Redstone Golf Club driving range to watch the players with afternoon tee times prepare for their rounds.
A few minutes after we arrived, 2007 PGA Teacher of the Year and Houston resident Jim Hardy appeared on the range to watch his longtime student, Scott McCarron, warm up for his round. Hardy helped McCarron revive his professional golf career in the mid-1990's after he had completely lost confidence in his swing. Hardy has helped resurrect the careers of several other PGA Tour pros in a similar manner.
Meanwhile, a few spots down the range from Hardy and McCarron, the mercurial John Daly -- who was playing the SHO on a sponsor's exemption because he has become a shadow (see also here) of the world class golfer that he used to be -- began warming up for his round. In between drags on an ever-present cigarette as well as friendly chatter with caddies and other practicing players, Daly somewhat listlessly hit a few wedges and then a few long irons before wailing away with his driver. The man can still hit the ball out of sight.
As Daly began hitting his driver, McCarron finished his practice session and Hardy had a few final words with him. McCarron then left for his tee time and Hardy strolled down the range, stopping 20 yards or so behind Daly. With arms folded, Hardy silently stood watching Daly hit practice drives. I'm not sure that Daly even noticed Hardy watching.
A few minutes later, Daly tossed his driver to his caddy and trudged toward the golf cart that would take him to the 10th tee for his tee time. Hardy walked to the putting green and began working with another player on his putting.
After seven holes of his round, Daly withdrew from the tournament with a balky back that I'm sure wasn't helped by the chilly rain and 20 degree temperature drop that occurred Friday afternoon. However, in nine tournaments this season, Daly has now missed four cuts, pulled out of another tournament with a rib injury and was disqualified from the Arnold Palmer Invitational because he blew his pro-am tee time. This on top of Daly's unofficial PGA Tour record of six withdrawals in 2007 and his 581st World Golf ranking coming into the SHO.
The sad reality is that probably even Jim Hardy can't help John Daly now.
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April 2, 2008
It's 2008 Shell Houston Open Week
Following on this post from a couple of weeks ago, this week's Shell Houston Open at Redstone Golf Club has its best field in years (previous posts here), which includes the following top 25 players in the World Golf Rankings: Phil Mickelson (2), Steve Stricker (4), defending champion Adam Scott (5), The Woodlands' K.J. Choi (7), Geoff Ogilvy (11), Padraig Harrington (12), Angel Cabrera (17), Aaron Baddeley (18), Trevor Immelman (25). Other popular notables in the field include 2003 champ Fred Couples, Houston's Steve Elkington, Texans Chad Campbell and Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, Jose Maria Olazabal, The Woodlands' Jeff Maggert and Argentinean hot-shot Andres Romero. For a non-major and non-Tiger event, 10 of the top 25 in the World Golf Rankings and three of the top five provides a very sporty field.
Started in 1922, the Houston Open is tied with the Texas Open as the third oldest non-major championship on the PGA Tour behind only only the Western Open (1899) and the Canadian Open (1904). This is the third Houston Open to be played on the Tournament Course at Redstone Golf Club and the sixth event overall at Redstone, which hosted its first three Houston Opens on the club's Jacobson-Hardy Course while the Tournament Course was being built. This is the SHO's second year of being played the week before The Masters and, despite the tradition of some of golf's all-time greats not to play the week before major championships, the strong SHO field this year is an encouraging boost for a tournament that has struggled generating quality fields ever since leaving The Woodlands' TPC Course after the 2002 tournament. Although the Houston Golf Association promotes the tournament with players by grooming Redstone's Tournament Course in a manner similar to Augusta National, the Tournament Course is actually a flat-land course that bears little resemblance to the hilly venues of Augusta.
The following are several posts from over the years that will give you a flavor for the SHO:
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My round at the Tournament Players Course (with pictures); and
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The story of how the SHO left its successful home in The Woodlands for Redstone.
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March 21, 2008
Is this the key year for the SHO?
The Shell Houston Open has been a frequent topic on this blog, particularly the tournament's troubled recent history (see here, here and here). This year's tournament is coming up during the week of March 31-April 6 and, for the first time in years, the SHO's projected field contains several top 10 players in the World Golf Rankings. In fact, the SHO's field looks as if it will be about as good as any of the PGA Tour's tournaments that currently exist in the Tiger Chasm:
Steve Stricker, No. 4 in the world golf rankings, is the latest PGA TOUR player among the Top 10 to commit to tee it up in the Shell Houston Open the week of March 31-April 6 at Redstone Golf Club – Tournament Course.
Stricker joins No. 2 Phil Mickelson, No. 3 Ernie Els, No. 5 Adam Scott (defending champion) and No. 6 K.J. Choi in the field. No. 11-ranked Padraig Harrington of Ireland, the current British Open champion, and No. 16-ranked Angel Cabrera of Argentina, the current U.S. Open champion, are also in the fold.
Of the above-described players, only Scott has been a regular participant in the SHO. Thus, this is a key year for the tournament. If the top players give the Tournament Course at Redstone (see also here) good reviews, then that will bode well for the SHO going forward, particularly if the tournament can maintain its warm-up date the week immediately before The Masters. On the other hand, if the key players pan the new course, then the SHO will probably fall further into the Tiger Chasm and have a very difficult time climbing out.
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February 24, 2008
"The sand trap from hell"
Don't miss this entertaining José de Córdoba/W$J article on the dour legacy of golf in Communist Cuba and the attempt to revive the game to attract more tourism. Turns out that the game flagged in Cuba after Che' Guevara kicked Fidel Castro's ass in a big golf game shortly after Castro seized power:
In 1962, Mr. Castro lost a round of golf to Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who had been a caddy in his Argentine hometown before he became a guerrilla icon. Mr. Castro's defeat may have had disastrous consequences for the sport. He had one Havana golf course turned into a military school, another into an art school. A journalist who wrote about the defeat of Cuba's Maximum Leader, who was a notoriously bad loser, was fired the next day. [. . .]
The famous game between Messrs. Castro and Guevara took place shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis, according to José Lorenzo Fuentes, Mr. Castro's former personal scribe, who covered the game. Mr. Lorenzo Fuentes says the match was supposed to send a friendly signal to President Kennedy. "Castro told me that the headline of the story the next day would be 'President Castro challenges President Kennedy to a friendly game of golf,'" he says.
But the game became a competitive affair between two men who did not like to lose, says Mr. Lorenzo Fuentes, who recalls that Mr. Guevara "played with a lot of passion." Mr. Lorenzo Fuentes says he felt he couldn't lie about the game's outcome, so he wrote a newspaper story saying Fidel had lost. Mr. Lorenzo Fuentes says he lost his job the next day, eventually fell afoul of the regime and now lives in Miami.
At any rate, Raul Castro has jumped started efforts to rebuild Cuba's golf infrastructure for tourism purposes. But it's not going to be easy. First, there is that whole "private property is a bad thing" problem:
To make golf tourism work, Cuba, which does not recognize the right to buy and sell property, will have to permit leases of as long as 75 years for foreigners, to entice them to invest in the villas and condos on which modern golf development depends. Some believe those leases are the tip of the spear that will, over time, reinstate full property rights. [. . .]
If history is any guide, bringing back golf won't be easy. "Cuba is the sand trap from hell," says John Kavulich, senior policy adviser at the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, who has followed the travails of entrepreneurs trying to develop golf projects in Cuba.
On the other hand, given how the U.S. golf industry is going, maybe investing in the sand trap from hell is not looking all that bad.
Speaking of Cuba, don't miss this Michael Stasny post (with pictures) on his recent trip to Cuba. He notes at the end of the post:
Cubans don't have access to "world news" (no foreign newspapers, no internet, no satellite dishes), so the people I talked with were actually quite happy with their situation ("We don't earn much, but as opposed to other countries education and health care is for free!" (translation mine)) and couldn't see that people in developed countries who are considered as dirt poor have a way higher living standard (I didn't have the impression that they were afraid to speak openly).
The rest of the trip I stayed on the beach in Varadero, a tourist zone that is closed for Cubans (only those who work there can enter). The hotel was really nice (Iberostar Varadero) and the service was excellent. In case you like being on the beach and food and a fast and cheap internet connection isn't your highest priority, it's the place to be.
Posted by Tom at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
February 22, 2008
The oversupply of golf
The numbers of Americans playing tennis regularly has dwindled dramatically over the past two decades. Now, golf is showing signs of suffering a similar fate:
Over the past decade, the leisure activity most closely associated with corporate success in America has been in a kind of recession.The total number of people who play has declined or remained flat each year since 2000, dropping to about 26 million from 30 million, according to the National Golf Foundation and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.
More troubling to golf boosters, the number of people who play 25 times a year or more fell to 4.6 million in 2005 from 6.9 million in 2000, a loss of about a third.
The industry now counts its core players as those who golf eight or more times a year. That number, too, has fallen, but more slowly: to 15 million in 2006 from 17.7 million in 2000, according to the National Golf Foundation. [. . .]
Between 1990 and 2003, developers built more than 3,000 new golf courses in the United States, bringing the total to about 16,000. Several hundred have closed in the last few years, most of them in Arizona, Florida, Michigan and South Carolina, according to the foundation.
Over the past 20 years or so, many residential real estate developers have used golf courses as magnets to attract home buyers to their developments. The developer is willing to operate the golf club at a loss while developing the subdivision because the increased profit from lot sales easily compensates for the golf club operating loss. The problem develops when the developer finishes selling lots and is ready to turnover the club either to a professional golf club management company or the residents themselves. Without a legacy of profitable operations absent the developer's subsidy, the golf clubs often struggle financially. It's not an easy syndrome to break.
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February 14, 2008
The charming Bobby Knight
And Larry the Cable Guy's crack on Coach Knight is pretty good, too.
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February 11, 2008
Comparing Tiger's swing with Hogan's
In comparing the swing of Tiger Woods with that of Ben Hogan in this Links Magazine article, long-time golf teacher Bob Toski makes the following observation about how changes in the nature of golf have prompted swing changes:
One year at the Masters, Hogan drove the ball over a hill to a small flat spot tucked in the corner of the fairway, not visible from the tee but providing a perfect angle to the green. Hogan placed his drive in that tiny area all four days. Most tour pros today would have trouble hitting that spot four days in a row with a wedge.
Toski concludes that Hogan's swing is superior to Woods, but that Woods is such a good athlete that he doesn't need a Hogan-pure swing to dominate the PGA Tour. Check it the entire article.
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February 6, 2008
A nice reward
So, what's the reward for inducing Microsoft to overpay for Yahoo!?
Answer: Playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (scroll down to the bottom of the list).
Perhaps Bear Stearns' board should have thought of such a reward? ;^)
By the way, Yang will be able to compare notes during the tournament with Houston's Jim Crane, who can tell him a thing or two about a takeover battle.
Update: The Epicurean Dealmaker provides this alternately witty and elegant analysis of the Microsoft bid for Yahoo!
Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
January 30, 2008
NASCAR golf?
This earlier post suggested a creative approach to generate interest for a PGA Tour golf tournament caught in the Tiger Chasm -- i.e., the neverland of golf tournaments that draw nowhere near the interest or publicity as the 15-18 golf tournaments that Tiger Woods plays in each year.
Along the same lines, Angry Golfer John Hawkins points out that chronic party-boy John Daly is creating a similar type of niche for tournaments that are willing to grant him an exemption to play. Daly has made the cut in just 18 of his last 67 PGA Tour events, is currently tied for 156th place on the money list and is 531st in the World Golf Rankings and, in three tournaments this year, has earned a total of $9,805:
I called several tournament heads last week to get a read on whether Daly's ability to sell tickets is worth the headache he has become. [Honda tournament director] Kennerly didn't return my phone call, but others were quick to reply, and there remains little doubt that Long John Seismograph moves the needle more than a hundred John Sendens. "It's a pretty easy decision for us," says Clair Peterson, who runs the John Deere Classic and already has extended Daly an offer to join the field in July."He's like Randy Moss," says another. "He's a freak, he can be a huge burden, but in terms of what he brings you, it's a very unique dynamic. The NASCAR crowd, whatever you want to call it, is why 80 to 90 percent of the events will give him an exemption if he's anywhere near the top 100."
Or 531st, which is where Daly currently resides in the World Ranking, as if the NASCAR gang really gives a Hooters how well their man has been playing or whether he'll ever contend again on the weekend. The recent face-saving contest between PGA Tour brass and Westchester CC reminds us that every sputtering, non-Tiger event is a possible endangered species. Perhaps 15 to 18 tournaments are in excellent health; the rest lack significance or sound economics.
Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
January 22, 2008
Recommendation of the Day
I'm not sure exactly what it means, but it cannot be a good thing for the PGA Tour that the biggest news so far in the pre-Tiger Woods part of the season is the controversy over Golf Channel host Kelly Tilghman's poor attempt at humor a couple of weeks ago.
It's fair to say that Tilghman's comments were blown completely out of proportion. Tilghman by all accounts is a charming person and a good reporter, but she is placed in a position by the Golf Channel where she has to fill up hours of time over many weekends by making idle banter with her co-host, Nick Faldo. Few people this side of Letterman or Leno have the ability to make witty comments over such prolonged periods. If you don't believe it, then just listen to your local news anchor's banter with the weatherperson and sports anchor on the evening news. Consequently, it's hardly surprising that Tilghman made a mistake in judgment under the circumstances.
At any rate, the completely humiliated Tilghman apologized quickly and earnestly to Woods, who graciously accepted her apology and tried to play down the whole matter. Meanwhile, under pressure from the Al Sharpton's of the world, the Golf Channel probably overreacted a bit by suspending Tilghman from her Golf Channel duties for two weeks. But at least that seemed to be the end of the entire affair.
But not so fast. In a truly remarkable display of bad judgment, GolfWeek magazine ran a cover story about the Tilghman affair in last week's issue that contained a cover photograph of a hangman's noose. Amidst an immediate public outcry, the PGA Tour and several advertisers threatened to pull their accounts with Golfweek, prompting the magazine to fire its longtime editor and vice president, Dave Seanor. Ay, yi yi, yi, yi!
So, as all that dust settled, longtime PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour member Jim Thorpe cut Tilghman some slack, but blasted Golfweek over this past weekend:
"We know there was no racist intent. It was just a bad choice of words,'' he said [with regard to Tilghman]. "But the guy from Golfweek? Let him get barbecued. That's just a major mistake on his part.''
Which leads us to the recommendation of the day from golf writer and blogger, Geoff Shackelford:
"Just a suggestion to the Golfweek staff: I would not put an image of Jim Thorpe barbecuing Dave Seanor on this week's cover."
Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
January 16, 2008
Texas' best golfer of the moment
There are only four PGA Tour players who have won a tournament in each of the past four seasons. Three of those four are easy picks -- Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh. Who is the fourth?
None other than K.J. Choi of The Woodlands (previous post here), who just won his seventh PGA Tour event in the past eight seasons over the weekend. Choi now has over $17 million in career earnings.
Stu Mulligan over at Waggle Room makes the case that Choi has quietly become one of the elite PGA Tour players even though there is not any area of his game that stands out statistically in comparison to other Tour players. The tortoise still does beat the hare sometimes.
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January 11, 2008
But how do you really feel, Pete?
Geoff Shackelford interviews legendary golf course designer Pete Dye, who is not exactly a fan of the United States Golf Association:
"God bless the United States Golf Association. They have escalated the cost of maintenance, they have slowed down play, and they have completely lost control of the equipment. Outside of that, they have done a pretty good job."
Interestingly, Dye is also not a supporter of the trend toward ever-faster putting surfaces:
"The other cost escalation the USGA has encouraged is with speed of greens. When Ben Hogan won the U.S. Open at Oakmont [in 1953], then considered the fastest greens in the history of the world, the Stimpmeter was maybe six or seven. One of the things I’m doing in renovating my courses is reducing contour and slope to match today’s speeds. . ."
Read the entire interview. Dye is a true original.
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January 10, 2008
A cheap sucker punch
During the entire 35 years that I've lived in Houston, the head basketball coaching position at Rice University has been a thankless job. Attempting to recruit good basketball players to Rice is hard enough, given the academic requirements and the greater university support for both the football and baseball programs. But attempting to recruit good basketball players to play at Rice's home of Autry Court -- which is a dump and not nearly as good a facility as most suburban high school gyms in the Houston area -- is nearly an impossible task.
Nevertheless, for the past 16 years, Willis Wilson has toiled gamely as Rice's head basketball coach. Although rarely have his teams been blessed with much talent, they have always competed hard and played to the best of their ability. Against overwhelming odds, Wilson has produced five Rice teams that have won at least 18 wins in a season and three of his Rice teams earned postseason NIT appearances. And through it all, Wilson has represented his institution as an articulate and professional gentleman.
Accordingly, most folks in the Houston community who have followed local college athletics for awhile like me were particularly pleased for Wilson last year when Rice undertook a long-overdue $23 million renovation of Autry Court that supposedly will bring the facility up to reasonably modern standards. During the renovation, which is not scheduled to be completed until until January of next year, the Owls are being forced to play their home games in several locations around town, including one high school facility that is 35 miles from the Rice campus. But as usual, the classy Wilson hasn't complained a lick and is probably simply thrilled with being able to show off the plans of the renovated Autry to his players and recruits.
So, imagine my surprise when I picked the paper yesterday and saw this article from the Chronicle's Rice athletics beat writer:
Perhaps it is cruelly ironic that after spending more than a dozen years spearheading the effort to renovate Autry Court, Rice men's basketball coach Willis Wilson is facing a groundswell of criticism that might influence whether he coaches in the new facility.In the midst of his 16th season at the helm of the Rice program, Wilson is enduring vitriol that is difficult to dismiss. [. . .]
The current state of affairs combined with past failures, real and perceived, have legitimized the question of whether Wilson, the most accomplished coach in the program's history, will occupy the bench next season when refurbished Autry Court will be unveiled. [. . .]
And what's even more galling is that the comments in the article from Rice Athletic Director Chris Del Conte make it clear that he certainly didn't want to dispel the rumors that Wilson's tenure at Rice may be over after this season:
"Those are always looming concerns," Rice athletic director Chris Del Conte said of the Owls' recent lack of success. "They're looming concerns because of the importance we're placing on men's basketball at Rice."We should be in a situation where we have a viably sustainable athletic program. A lot of private institutions understand the value that is placed on men's basketball in terms of a key financial component of an overall athletic program. And I'll take all those things into consideration as we move forward."
If Rice allows Del Conte to can Willis Wilson after 16 faithful years and before he has had an opportunity to recruit players to -- and have his teams compete in -- a reasonably modern facility, then Rice will make the hypocrisy of Todd Graham look benign in comparison.
And with that kind of hyprocrisy wafting from South Main, just wait until the Marching Owl Band has an opportunity to comment.
Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
January 9, 2008
Retro golf
Golfweek's Brad Klein enjoyed that outdoor "Winter Classic" National Hockey League game in Buffalo that drew over 70,000 spectators on New Year's Day so much that he is proposing the professional golf equivalent -- a tournament where all the Tour players would be required to play old-style persimmon woods, forged irons and balata balls:
So if hockey can pull this off, why not golf? What better game for evoking youthful memories and feelings – of school-house swings, piecemealed equipment, and of a dreamy, pastoral playing field.How about the PGA Tour putting together a “Summer Classic” tournament?
Players use older, wooden-headed drivers and “woods,” plus forged, not cast, irons and wound, balata golf balls – the kind that anyone who is 30-plus years old today grew up learning the game with. Forget caddies. Players carry their own golf bags. No yardage books or pin sheets. Golfers eyeball everything and improvise their shots. Leave the bunkers rakes in the maintenance shed. Mow the greens so they actually putt at different speeds.
How much fun would that be to watch? And to play?
The NHL’s “Winter Classic” was a success in every possible regard. And no surprise, despite (or was it because of?) the rough conditions, the game’s premier player, the Penguins’ Sid Crosby, not only displayed his amazing puck handling skills but also scored the winning goal. To their credit, the NHL’s administration even bent the rules slightly in the name of equity by stopping play midway through the third period and overtime to allow the teams to switch sides, lest either one gain an undue advantage from the elements.
That, to me, showed a lot of imagination. Don’t let rules nerds ruin the game in the name of some abstract lawyerly adherence when what counts is the spirit of the sport. With a little imagination and guts, golf, too, can go back to its traditions. It might be the best way of showcasing itself.
Not a bad idea for one of the many PGA Tour events that have fallen into the Tiger Chasm.
On the other hand, Geoff Shackelford already knows who the probable winner would be.
Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
January 4, 2008
Interesting golf stat of the week
The first edition of Golf World magazine each year is my favorite of the year. It's a stathead's dream as GW previews the upcoming PGA Tour season by providing extensive individual statistics of each Tour player from the previous season. It's always interesting to compare each player's financial performance on the Tour for the previous season with the statistical analysis of what he was doing well and not so well.
One particularly interesting GW comment involved Jeff Maggert, the longtime Tour player from The Woodlands. Maggert made over $845,000 in prize money during the 2007 season, but that was only good enough for 123rd on the Tour money list and a 255 ranking in the World Golf Rankings. GW's comment on Maggert highlights one of the dramatic changes in Tour golf over the past 14 years:
"Maggert's driving distance average (284.2 yards) ranked tied for 142nd on the Tour, but it would have led the Tour in that category as recently as 1994."
And this Ron Sirak article over at Golf Digest provides even more perspective on the dominance of Tiger Woods:
"There have been 44 majors played since Tiger turned pro. Besides Woods, five players have won multiple times: Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh, both with three; and Ernie Els, Mark O'Meara, and Retief Goosen, two apiece. Add their totals and it comes to a dozen--one fewer than Woods."
Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
December 28, 2007
Review of The Player Course at The Woodlands
It's been awhile since I've posted a review of one of Houston's largely underappreciated large number of fine golf courses (previous ones are here, here and here). So, I'm going to pass along a couple more during this holiday season, the first of which is The Player Course here in my hometown of The Woodlands, Texas.
The Player Course is one of the newest of the seven golf courses that wind through The Woodlands, the bustling planned community/golf haven of about 85,000 people located 30 miles north of downtown Houston. The Player Course is named after PGA Tour great Gary Player, who designed the course as a part of The Woodlands' effort to have one local golf course designed by each of the former Big Three of the PGA Tour -- Player, Arnold Palmer (The Palmer Course at The Woodlands, opened in 1991) and Jack Nicklaus (The Nicklaus Course at Carlton Woods, opened in 2001). When Player completed the Player Course in 2002, The Woodlands was the only community in the U.S. that had a golf course designed by each of the Big Three. It may still be the only one.
Player was the third of the Big Three to design a course in The Woodlands and his legendary competitive nature drove him to produce a real gem. Located in the western part of The Woodlands, the terrain produced a golf course with gently rolling, tree-lined fairways, numerous lakes and wetland areas, natural grass backdrops and deep bunkers. As with the other courses in The Woodlands, The Player Course is quite enjoyable to walk while playing.
The course is not easy. It can be stretched to over 7,200 yards from the tips, but Player also installed a variety of tees that allow for less lengthy alternatives all the way down to 6,200 yards. The Slope rating from the back tees is 151, which is one of the highest in the Houston area and in the state. By way of comparison, the Slope rating from the back tees of the Tournament Course at Redstone -- where the Shell Houston Open PGA Tour event is played -- is 138. As a result, The Player Course has already hosted several U.S. Open qualifiers and top amateur tournaments during its 4 1/2 year existence. Although still quite young, The Player Course is clearly one of the top 15 courses in the Houston area.
The pictures below are from a round that my brother Bud and I played at the Player Course this past September. We played from the green tees, which were at about 6,700 yards that day (140 Slope rating). Take a moment and enjoy a quick trip through The Player Course at The Woodlands.