Rees In Response To Player Apathy: "No Comment"

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Rex Hoggard tracked down Rees Jones to ask about the latest round of player apathy, this time directed at his Cog Hill renovation.

On Tuesday, GTC gave Jones – whose restoration handiwork includes this year’s PGA Championship venue (Atlanta Athletic Club) and East Lake, site of next week’s Tour Championship – a chance to fire back at the growing criticism of some of his projects but the “Open Doctor” declined to enter the fray.

“I’m not going to address that,” Jones told GTC. “No comment.”

Jemsek Defends Rees, Cog Hill Redo

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Ed Sherman says this may be the last BMW/Western Open at Cog Hill due to a variety of issues, including the players' dislike for the Rees-tored Dubsdread course. Frank Jemsek, the eminently likeable fellow who runs the place, says conditioning may have played a role in player negativity (likely) and that Rees simply is a step ahead of the modern game with his changes (not likely).

"What Rees is trying to do is keep up with the best players in the world," Mr. Jemsek said. "He's trying to figure out a way to get a step ahead. When somebody gets a step ahead of me, I know I don't like it.

"Rees tried to build three small greens within a large green (creating a variety of pin locations). If you don't hit it close to the pin, you're going to have to putt over a ridge. That's a putt they don't like. Rees put those ridges in there to make it difficult for them."

Despite the criticism, Mr. Jemsek said he has no regrets about Mr. Jones' redesign. "He did what we wanted him to do: make the course more challenging (for the pros)."

"The redo is not conducive to our tournament there."

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Len Ziehm, quoting Steve Stricker on the eve of what may be the final BMW/Western Open at Rees-tored Cog Hill.

“I’m excited to go back there,” said Stricker, a Western Open champion on Dubsdread in 1996.

“But I’m disappointed about what transpired there. The redo is not conducive to our tournament there. It was a little severe. It’s playable, but a little tricked up and goofy in spots. I feel real bad for the Jemsek family (owners of the course). They stuck a lot of money into (the renovation), and they’re great people. I liked it before, but the players just don’t like it (now). The redo isn’t good. It’s sad for the Jemsek family.”

When Does A Driveable Par 4 Become Just A Long Par 3?

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I love TPC Boston's short par-4 fourth because a Deutsche Bank spectator can still hang out there, see a variety of shots and every few groups witness something special. But with modern distances surging in the five years since Gil Hanse and Brad Faxon unveiled this replacement hole on the site of the old fourth hole, the character has changed due to forces out of the architect's control.
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PGA Tour Announces TV Deal Extension Through 2021

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Details will follow. My Twitter stream has the highlights from Tim Finchem's press conference in Boston.

"If you can't enjoy this job, you're in it for the wrong reasons."

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There aren't usually too many great playoff stories when you compare them to, say, the U.S. Open sectionals, but Doug Ferguson does a nice job telling the Cinderella story of 32-year-old William McGirt, who has improbably made it to round 2 in Boston with a refreshing attitude.

"If you can't enjoy this job, you're in it for the wrong reasons," McGirt said.

This is from a 32-year-old PGA Tour rookie who played more mini-tours than he cares to remember; who still thinks it's a privilege - not a right - to get a courtesy car; and who thought more than once about quitting, promising himself "one more year" until he finally reached the last stage of Q-school two years ago.
He has traveled so much in the minor leagues that he once saw his wife for only eight days during a four-month stretch.

"If something happens and we never get back out here, I wouldn't kick myself for stuff I could have done," McGirt said. "I would know we gave it our best, and we had a blast while we were doing it."

There have been plenty of thrills the last two weeks.

McGirt had missed the cut in 13 of the 25 tournaments he had played, but he had done just well enough in the others that he was on the cusp of getting the 125th and final spot in the playoffs. His car already was packed in Greensboro, N.C. McGirt either was going west toward Knoxville, Tenn., for a Nationwide Tour event, or north toward New Jersey for the $8 million playoff opener at The Barclays.

Long after McGirt had finished his final round, it came down to this: On the 18th hole, Justin Leonard just missed the fairway and wound up missing a 12-foot par putt, a sequence that moved McGirt to No. 125 and sent him to the richest event he had ever played.

Rocco: "A lot of guys are happy Tiger isn't playing well. I'm not."

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Ron Kroichick talks to Frys.com Open defending champ Rocco Mediate about Tiger's entry into the Fall Finish event. Rocco is "disgusted" with the direction of Tiger's game.

"I love the way he plays, but I'm disgusted with what's going on with him because it's sad for our game," Mediate said Tuesday from Pittsburgh, where he will play in this week's Nationwide Tour event. "A lot of guys are happy Tiger isn't playing well. I'm not. ...

"We need to have Tiger back at the top, because he's the draw. It's fantastic all these other kids are winning, but they're not Tiger Woods."

And he's not wild about the swing:

"The physical motion is wrong," Mediate said. "To get that stress off his body is a piece of cake - the guys working with him just don't know. Sean knows some stuff, but what's going on with Tiger is not correct. That's why he keeps breaking and that's why the ball keeps going sideways."

Mediate also took a none-too-subtle swipe at Hank Haney, Woods' previous coach.

"Starting with Haney until now, it was a complete and absolute destruction," he said. "If it was me (as Woods' instructor), I would say to Tiger, 'Look, dude, I'm not helping you. You're getting worse. You've broken down three times and you've had 57 knee surgeries. It's not happening.' "

I think I smell a V-Harness in Tiger's Frys.com Open locker!