USGA Assures Dateline Rerun A Strong Lead-In Audience
/Doug Ferguson reports that the USGA will be finishing late at Pebble Beach this year. Bad for the British press, great for ratings and eastern standard time fans.
Read MoreWhen you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
"When I see the course, I have memories of him working against all odds."
/As they wrap up play today on Mike Strantz's remodeled Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula, Jerry Stewart catches up with Heidi Strantz about watching the event from afar.
“Oh, hey Alex. I just want to remind you, you are on the PGA Tour, you know.”
/
Nice job by Stephanie Wei to track down Alex Prugh--the West Coast Swing's surprise player who is in the top 10 again this week--for a Q&A that helps us get to know him better.
Oddly, She Didn't Tweet About This
/John Daly's current girlfriend Tweeted about his Friday round at Pebble Beach, but she left out this fine moment in the annals of Daly. Can't wait until his Golf Channel reality show tackles this.
Read More"Match Play field does not include Woods"
/Bob Harig reports on the match play field, officially minus Tiger Woods. I'm not sure about the ESPN story headline that appears in my browser header: "Tiger Woods Misses Deadline For Entering Match Play Championships."
"No two holes are the same, and it's a great mixture of short holes and long holes. It just has a good flow."
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MPCC's Par-3 9th (click to enlarge)Ron Kroichick reports on day one of Mike Strantz's Monterey Peninsula Shore Course debuting as part of the AT&T Pro-Am:
Phil Mickelson (2-under) called it a "terrific track" and instantly elevated it among his favorites on the PGA Tour. Jason Gore (1-under) described the Shore Course as one of his top 10 layouts anywhere, though he acknowledged it wouldn't make his top three on the Monterey Peninsula (spots reserved for Pebble, Spyglass and Cypress).
But all the twisting fairways and stirring aesthetics couldn't stop players from wading in red numbers. Thirty-three of the 52 pros who played the Shore Course on Thursday eclipsed par.
"This course is all based on wind - if you get wind coming off that water, it's going to be brutal," Gore said. "The course has a great feeling to it. No two holes are the same, and it's a great mixture of short holes and long holes. It just has a good flow."
Said Maggert, who hit 12 of 13 fairways while coasting to a bogey-free 65: "I think the biggest thing is the fairways are pretty wide. When they're soft, it's pretty easy to drive the ball in the fairway - so if you can hit your irons close to the hole, you've got an opportunity to make some putts."
I wonder how long before the fun police start demanding changes at MPCC Shore? Well if they do, they'll have to lump Pebble Beach in their remarks as well:
This week, tour officials converted two par-5s (Nos. 1 and 16) into par-4s, turning the Shore Course into a par-70. (Pebble and Spyglass are par-72 for the AT&T). Pebble played the easiest in relation to par Thursday, at 70.89, with the Shore Course at 68.98 and Spyglass at 71.52
"Prepping For Pebble"
/Jim Moriarty narrates this video talking about the setup nuances at Pebble Beach that will impact this week's play as well as this summer's U.S. Open. Interesting to hear how positive players are about the conditioning this week. Obviously this was recorded before the amateur slugs dig their mud-covered Softspikes ino the poa greens.
Read MoreAT&T National Pro-Am Field
/There are some major league b-listers and has beens in the field this week. And then there's the amateur side...
Read More"Wouldn't it be nice if we could add Tiger to the list?"
/Greg Hansen shares this jinx quote from Wade Dunagan, executive director of the WGC Match Play, commenting on the possibility of a Tiger Woods return at the Accenture event.
Read MoreThe PGA Tour/USGA v. Solheim
/Has such a retro vibe to it, no? Deane Beman must be so nostalgic. Or fired up. Or not answering his phone!
Read More"It seems like a heavy burden of proof for the Tour to satisfy."
/Alex Miceli does some bang-up reporting, confirming that the Tour and PING's John Solheim have talked and that it a local rule requires the formation of a committee to push through, and even then it's a reach that the tour can work around the USGA-PING settlement.
Read More"It will be remembered as a preventable breach, briefly incendiary, with a short shelf life."
/Larry Dorman offers his take on the Scott McCarron apology before delving in the incredibly rare accusations of cheating in golf and the even rarer uses of the C-word.
Read MoreNo Local Rule!**
/Tim Finchem cancelled his Tuesday press conference in favor of briefing the players in a "highly encouraged" 4 p.m. meeting before Wednesday's scribe gathering. The question was, would he invoke a local rule banning PING non-conforming/conforming wedges or to backpeddle out of the tour's initial position.
Read More"It does seem like we should have been prepared for this."
/Padraig Harrington's entire press conference is worth a read. But a few highlights on the groove topic:
Read MoreThe Next Phase Of The Groove Debate...
/...means hearing about the massive financial hardship this has caused for the manufacturers to retool their assembly lines. Joe Ogilvie on Twitter today:
Of course, if they didn't lobby the USGA for the right to give free equipment who can break 75, they'd be able to recoup the cost of the new grooves by selling the top amateurs the new, conforming wedges.
Now Ogilvie's first point is a great question. Don't most players want to be known for their skill instead of their ability to obtain a PING wedge?
