Nothing A Full Field Can't Fix

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SI.com's golf.com's Gary Van Sickle is the latest to weigh in on the sad state of the World Golf Championship events. As it relates to the recent debate over the AT&T National, Van Sickle notes that the WGC's have often been plagued by run-away wins, something easily curable by larger fields:
In a full field, half a dozen players shoot lights-out every day. In a half-field, only two or three do. Golf leaderboards are exciting because they're bunched, and that's a function of the numbers. With a full field, it's going to be more like the Tour de France — no one usually breaks away from the pack without taking a half-dozen pursuers with him. In a half field, well, Tiger or Darren Clarke or someone else can break away from the field and win in a runaway.

"The future of the tournament, and the way a new generation is introduced to the game...rests in Payne's hands."

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masters_payne_299x377.jpgMichael Bamberger on new Masters chairman Billy Payne:
It's a tricky thing, what Payne wants to pull off. Frank Chirkinian, the famously innovative former producer of the Masters telecast for CBS, has described the tournament as great theater on the world's most beautiful stage, with amazing characters and an unknown outcome. For years it has been delicious. Too many lay-up shots out of the rough could kill the delicate balance of brawn and touch that made the thing so special in the first place. Too much exposure could too. The Internet is many things, but grand it's not. The future of the tournament, and the way a new generation is introduced to the game, to some significant degree rests in Payne's hands. He says that making good decisions is all about having a vision, listening well and "surrounding yourself with a good team." Clifford Roberts would never have said it that way, but he would have thought it. The new guy has the same mandate that Roberts did. Billy Payne's not trying to sell a thing-except a great game, a spring golf tournament and the club that hosts it.

Mickelson Reaffirms Support For Rick Smith By Working With Butch Harmon

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From Tod Leonard in today's San Diego Union Tribune:

Mickelson reportedly played 27 holes at Augusta one day last week, shooting 65 for 18 holes and 31 for his other nine.

The San Diegan caused another minor stir Sunday when he briefly worked with instructor Butch Harmon before his final round of 69 in the CA Championship. The two were seen working together at the Accenture Match Play, but Mickelson downplayed it then, and he insists Smith remains his foremost swing instructor.

"From a ball-striking standpoint, it's probably a perfect warmup."

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Steve Campbell writes about the Houston Open's attempts to set up Redstone like Augusta National.

"We want to make it as Augusta-friendly for the pros as we can," Goettsch said. "We want to make it the best possible venue prior to the Masters that we can make. That's our goal: Get the golf course to that kind of condition and standard. We've tried to give them the type of shots they'll have at Augusta."

One of Goettsch's marching orders was to get the green speeds to at least 12 on the Stimpmeter. Another mandate was to shave the banks alongside the greens and water hazards, thus raising the cost of a slightly mis-struck shot. Closely mowed chipping areas are another ode to Augusta, which places a premium on creativity with the short game.

The rough of the 7,457-yard Redstone layout will be cut to an Augusta-esque 1 1/2 inches, which figures to bring the art of the recovery shot into play. That should come as welcome news to all the players who grouse about the mindless, hack-and-gouge play that tends to result from 4- and 5-inch rough.

"I think it's going to be a pretty darn good test," said Joe Ogilvie, who is the player director on the PGA Tour policy board. "(Virtually) every hole is a hook. At Augusta, (virtually) every hole is a hook. From a ball-striking standpoint, it's probably a perfect warmup."

And and there's a catch. Because as blogger Tom Kirkendall points out, there's one major difference between the two courses: the greens.

Mickelson -- who has not played in the SHO in years -- replied that he is not playing this week because the Tournament Course at Redstone is nothing like Augusta National and Redstone's bermuda greens will do nothing to prepare him for Augusta's bentgrass greens. Mickelson's comments were a clear shot at the SHO and the PGA Tour's decision to move the tournament to a date the week before The Masters.

So much for that "resemble Augusta" approach to reinventing the SHO.

IM'ing With The Commissioner, Sergio Edition

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As promised during his spellbinding sitdown with Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller, Commissioner Tim Finchem has contacted Sergio Garcia about his spitting-in-the-cup incident Saturday at Doral. And because they were done with their setup at Alberto Gonzalez's house (now that he's a goner), my NSA sources were able to obtain the instant message exchange between the Commissioner and Garcia. 

twfPGATOUR©: Sergio?

SharketteHunter: Timmy?

twfPGATOUR©: Do you have a minute?

SharketteHunter: Anything for my favorite Commissioner.

twfPGATOUR©: About that distractive behavior Saturday at the CA Championship.

SharketteHunter: The thing with the marshall?

twfPGATOUR©: No.

SharketteHunter: Oh the courtesy car?

twfPGATOUR©: No.

SharketteHunter: Wait, the guy I flipped off down at South Beach?

twfPGATOUR©: No. I am referring to the oral secretion that you discharged into one of Doral's cups.

SharketteHunter: Oh that. Well it was a clean hit. I just nailed the little opening where the flagstick goes.
SharketteHunter: You know, like when Luke Skywalker dropped that hit into the Death Star in Star Wars. Clean shot all the way.

twfPGATOUR©: I'm sure it was, but that's not the issue. This was behavior distractive to the PGA Tour, our brands, consumers, our good friends and corporate partners at CA, and not to mention, to your brand.

SharketteHunter: Distractive?

twfPGATOUR©: It's the adjective form of distracting.

SharketteHunter: So why don't you just say distracting?

twfPGATOUR©: There are many dynamics at play that make it a less appealing choice of words. Just review my interview with Dan Hicks today and I think you'll see that of all the possible permutations, it really was the best choice.

twfPGATOUR©: I should note that we ran several metrics and it tested best.

SharketteHunter: Well what do you want to know, Tim? I dropped a big loogey in the cup. Take the fine out of my account like you always do.

twfPGATOUR©: And as always, charity will be the real winner.

SharketteHunter: Whatever you say. Anything else?

twfPGATOUR©: I was thinking that we might be able cut into what I believe will be a record compulsory contribution to charity.

SharketteHunter: Tim, I'm not doing any FedEx Cup ads. That Shackspear thing is the dumbest ad I've ever seen.

twfPGATOUR©: Shakespeare.

SharketteHunter: Whatever. What do you want?

twfPGATOUR©: You are currently proactively engaged in pre-marital interfacing with Greg Norman's daughter, is that correct?

SharketteHunter: We're dating, if that's what you mean.

twfPGATOUR©: Do you ever ask Greg if he gets the urge to compete, say, on the Champions Tour?

SharketteHunter: Tim, it's not going to happen.

twfPGATOUR©: I know, I know. But, if it ever comes up and you feel that you can influence his platform agenda, that would be great. I'll make it up to you. I'll guarantee you will not be paired with Ben Crane at the Players.

SharketteHunter: Wow, great.

twfPGATOUR©: Thanks, I would really appreciate it. Also, have you tried Greg's 2004 Cab?

SharketteHunter: Yeah it tastes like it's been stored in a cab. I'm a Michelob man, remember?

twfPGATOUR©: Oh right. Well good to know. We've got a really nice plum bite to our '04 Cab, I'll have our people send you a case. We're very excited about it.

SharketteHunter: Excellent. I'm starting my own label, did you know?

twfPGATOUR©:  Really?

SharketteHunter: Yeah, Greg saw that Luke Donald was starting one and thought that the day had arrived when it was not necessary to have a major on your resume to start one's own label.

twfPGATOUR©:  Well you're in good hands there with Greg's advice.

SharketteHunter: I'll tell you him you said that.

twfPGATOUR©: That's not necessary.

SharketteHunter: Yes it is! :-)

twfPGATOUR©:  And please Sergio, let's try to not have any more oral secretions on the golf course?

SharketteHunter: I'll do my best Tim.

twfPGATOUR©:  For the brand's sake, if nothing else.

SharketteHunter: Right Tim.

twfPGATOUR©:  Give my best to...

SharketteHunter: She says hi back!

twfPGATOUR©:  Goodnight.

SharketteHunter: Adios amigo.

Sergio's Latest Brand Building Moment

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Paul Forsyth reports from Doral, where the highlight of the day was Sergio Garcia spitting in a cup while cameras were rolling.

If any under the age of 35 were actually watching the telecast, we would already be reliving this great moment in etiquette history on YouTube.

His defense is priceless:

"But it (the spit) did go in the middle (of the hole) and wasn't going to affect anyone else. If it did, I would have wiped it off."

Ah right laddie. You would have been down on hands and knees with a towel mopping up the cup. Right! 

"It's just a shame that it's come to that."

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This really just sums it all up so beautifully.

Paul Azinger, as quoted by Tim Rosaforte in this week's Golf World (no link): 

"I don't have a problem with [converting the holes], but it's more of a Band-Aid, really," said Paul Azinger. "The manufacturers have outsmarted the rules of the game and we don't have a commissioner in place who plays golf, so he has not clue what to do. It's just a shame that it's come to that."

I'll be setting up a Paypal option for those of you who'd like to help Paul pay the inevitable fine for this brilliance. 

News of the Weird, Vijay Edition: Vol. 91

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From Craig Dolch, who outlined Vijay's problems with the media before sharing these antics from Bay Hill:

Another tale, albeit a minor one, occurred last weekend at Bay Hill. For some reason, Singh kept parking his car in a media parking spot instead of where the players park. Why? Who knows? A parking attendant told me Saturday morning how he and several of his fellow volunteers had gotten into a heated argument with Singh because after he was told he couldn’t park his car there, but he did so, anyway.

Singh did the same thing Sunday, even though a media official told the lady in his car it needed to be removed. She refused, saying they needed to speak to Singh, who at the time was starting his 67 that won Arnold’s tournament by two shots. Of course, this is a minor incident, but it says plenty about Singh. He never adheres to the philosophy that you should treat people the way you want to be treated.

There's a lede buried in this buried lede, but since this is a family values website, I ain't touching it!

"I'm having a tough time getting started on that one."

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Brad Faxon, talking to Doug Ferguson about his post Bay Hill activities:
Brad Faxon was busy Monday morning, but he wasn't working on his swing.

"I'm writing notes to my pro-am partners," Faxon said. "And then I'm going to write Arnold and thank him for the invitation and tell him how much I liked the course. Although I'm having a tough time getting started on that one."

Limiited Fields, Limited Opportunities

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The limited field issue appears to not be going away as Doug Ferguson tackles the issue of veterans not getting in Doral for that one last crack at Augusta. He also declares the WGC events a giant mistake.

The World Golf Championships have lost some zip the last few years, even when Tiger Woods wins them, which is often. They were designed to bring together the best players in the world. Now, the WGCs are best identified by players hardly anyone knows.

And a popular PGA Tour destination is worse off because of it.

The WGCs were a good idea when they were formed in 1999, but that was when the world's best players rarely got together outside the major championships. In this global environment of golf, the WGCs have quietly gone away — except they took Doral with them.

The Accenture Match Play Championship really is the only one left, and probably will stick around because of the format. The Bridgestone Invitational remains at Firestone, but look what it replaced in '99 — the World Series of Golf, which already was a WGC without the fancy title.

The other was the American Express Championship — now CA Championship with a new title sponsor — that alternated venues between the United States and Europe. Now it has been folded into Doral.

Instead of 144 players trying to keep it out of the white sand and blue water, there will be a 74-man field playing for free money. And there will be 70 other guys — more, really, considering the many non-PGA Tour members at Doral — who are home this week.

Worse yet, this is the last week to qualify for the Masters.

Golf.com's Cameron Morfit offers a different angle by making a case for the injustice of Ryan Moore struggling to find a place to play.

The problem is, thanks to limited fields, Palmer's Bay Hill party is a tough invite, just as Jack's is and the majors are, just as the WGC events are, just as the four FedEx Cup playoff events will be.

Rather than apply for a medical waiver last year, Moore played through the pain and found that by pointing the club directly out from his belt buckle at address, as if it were a fishing pole, he could minimize discomfort. He finished T2 at the Buick Championship and T9 at the PGA, his first major as a pro, and ended the year 81st on the money list.

It was reminiscent of 2005, when Moore, after making the cut in the U.S. Open, turned pro and made enough money in eight starts to earn his PGA Tour card without having to go to the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. He was the first person since Woods in 1996 to advance directly to The Show without enduring golf's dreaded bar exam.

Moore has his foibles. He doesn't use a yardage book and only recently decided to use a professional caddie instead of his brother. But Tom Lehman was speaking for many when he said recently that Moore could start winning in bunches any day. Ping prominently features Moore, a UNLV product, in its TV advertisements, waiting for him to blow up.

He blames himself, not his injury or Tour policy, for failing to qualify for this week's WGC-CA Championship, or the Masters. But when one of America's top prospects says he's finally healthy again and nabs a top-10 to prove it, and when that player is then snubbed from the following week's invitational in favor of players like Rummings and Stanley and sponsor's invite Mike Hulbert (MC), something is out of whack.