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.

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.”

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.

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 Iím doing in renovating my courses is reducing contour and slope to match todayís speeds. . .”

Read the entire interview. Dye is a true original.

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 ñ of school-house swings, piecemealed equipment, and of a dreamy, pastoral playing field.
How about the PGA Tour putting together a ìSummer Classicî tournament?
Players use older, wooden-headed drivers and ìwoods,î plus forged, not cast, irons and wound, balata golf balls ñ 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 NHLís ìWinter Classicî was a success in every possible regard. And no surprise, despite (or was it because of?) the rough conditions, the gameís premier player, the Penguinsí Sid Crosby, not only displayed his amazing puck handling skills but also scored the winning goal. To their credit, the NHLís 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. Donít 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.

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.”

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a review of one of Houston’s largely underappreciated large number of fine golf courses. 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. Although a very good course overall, I think that Player went overboard on about five green complexes that ratchet up the difficulty of the course unnecessarily. The course 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 Golf Club of Houston course — 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.

I’m as much of a stathead as the next fellow, but the Tour Blog‘s Jeff Babineau reminds us of the limitations of statistical analysis:

OK, Stat Geeks, here’s one to ponder:
Tiger Woods led the PGA Tour in greens in regulation, hitting 71.02 of his greens in 2007. He played 16 events and earned $10,867,052. Nice chunk of change.
Brock Mackenzie led the Nationwide Tour in greens in regulation, hitting 77.55 percent of his greens in 2007. He played 27 events, earned $118,247 and finished 53rd in Nationwide earnings.
Go figure.

I think this is dispositive proof of the adage “you drive for show, but you putt for dough.”