When 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
Q. Are you ever in your comfort zone out there at all?
ERNIE ELS: No. I mean, I love links golf. And I'm trying to be as positive as I can. But as I say, I'm just -- for some reason, I guess I got all my breaks last year, I'm not getting anything. And it's very frustrating, trying to get myself back in the tournament. And it's just not going my way. Hopefully I'll make my cut. You're never out of a Major playing on the weekend.
Q. You said the greens are unplayable?
ERNIE ELS: I never said that. Where did I say it was unplayable?
Q. 15 and 14.
ERNIE ELS: I said it's borderline. Please. I never used the word "unplayable."
Q. I apologize. Can the organization do anything to make them better?
ERNIE ELS: Yes. Yes, they can.
Q. What would you like to see them do?
ERNIE ELS: Water. And you don't have to cut 14 and 15. Thank you.
I see from yesterday's remarks that ESPN's telecast needed to be watched on a delay to work through the advertisements, and Martin Kaufman noted this was the first time he recalled this being an issue. But ESPN's previous Open coverage has suffered the same issue, to the point many here had to turn to the international feeds to see golf.
As I post there is almost no breeze, meaning the late/early players are getting the better end of the draw. I'm off to go see how much water was put on the course last night and to see if Tiger will be the leader by the end of round two.
The Independents Andrew Grice reports that Prime Minister David Cameron has joined the anti-all-male membership debate.
Oddly, the focus continues to be on Muirfield and not on the similarly all-male and far more powerful Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, a key distinction that seems lost.
The Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, who is also the Equalities Minister, is boycotting the Open golf championship at Muirfield in Scotland because the club refuses to admit women members. Downing Street backed her stance, saying Mr Cameron believed that all-male clubs “look much more to the past than the future.”
But to the irritation of Cameron aides, that provoked a flurry of questions about his membership of the hell-raising Bullingdon Club while he was at Oxford University, and his decision to join the exclusive all-male White’s club, where his late father was once chairman. His official spokesman said the Prime Minister Prime Minister resigned from White’s in 2008, two and half years after becoming Tory leader.
Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, described Muirfield’s policy as “old fashioned” and “anachronistic.” Andrew Lansley, the Tory Leader of the Commons, called it “entirely reprehensible.”
The story goes on to detail how Labour party members want legislation banning all-male clubs (but not all female clubs).
Meanwhile, Jane Bradley reports that Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who is sitting out his first Open in decades, clarified his stance on all-male clubs because it was realized that he is a member of an all-male club. Albeit it one with a sister club.
“[The] key point he has repeatedly made regarding the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers at Muirfield is that it does not allow membership for women on an equal basis to that of men,” said a spokesman for the First Minister.
“If Muirfield were to establish a similar female equivalent to the Honourable Company, such as the St Rules’ and St Regulas Ladies clubs at St Andrews, this would represent a form of equality and an important step in the right direction.”
Brian Keogh with R&A Ambassador Padraig Harrington's defense of the dodgy Muirfield setup.
“At the end of the day, the forecast is good and the R&A got the scoring they want and the pins they want. That’s exactly what they would have looked for.
“When were those guys out? Early in the day? Hahaha. You’d want to see it now!”
Harrington did admit that it was a tough test, but it wasn’t a surprise to him.
He said: “It was tough. The greens got really quick. Really, really quick.
“I think I used my putter 37 times. And I putted well! I putted really well to use my putter 37 times. I would consider I putted awesome.
You know the ground is hard when a club throw breaks it in two.
Then again, Charl's angle was a tad steep.
**Martyn Herman talked to Schwartzel about the club slam.
Schwartzel's first-round show of temper was still doing the rounds online on Friday and the 28-year-old admitted it was not one of his proudest moments.
"It was just an instant thing. I didn't think what I was doing. I'm not really proud of it," he said.
"When you're playing under so much pressure, and you're expecting so much of yourself, it's a reaction that just comes. I've done it a few times in my career but never, ever broken a club that way."It just shows you how hard the ground is."
Refreshingly honest even after a brutal opening round at Muirfield, Rory McIlroy still faced the press and gave an honest assessment of his game.
Phil Casey reports:
"But sometimes I feel like I'm walking around out there and I'm unconscious. I just need to try to think more. I'm trying to focus and trying to concentrate. But I can't really fathom it at the minute and it's hard to stand up here and tell you guys what's really wrong."
The Open at Muirfield has arrived and early Thursday is surprisingly breezy out of the west, meaning the first hole is directly into the wind. Combine that with the firmness, the narrowness, the severity of the rough, and it will be long tough day. And as I note in Golf World Daily, the driver will be seldom used all week.
That said, Miguel Angel Jimenez is 4-under through 5!
Your starting times here.
Scoring here.
For Americans, the ESPN broadcast schedule is here.
As for my viewing, I'll likely take in an oddball group for some fun, the McIlroy-Mickelson-Matsuyama 9:44 grouping and then it'll be time for afternoon tea. Cheers!
The reactions to the R&A press conference varied from "still the same stance" to writers seizing on Peter Dawson's suggestion that they will be taking a look at the policies of clubs. Or their own Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (remember, a separate entity from the "R&A").
Dawson did try to open the door, but by blaming the media only ensured that the issue will not go away. So a split decision on his performance.
Moira Gordon in The Scotsman says the R&A "would consider its position on men-only golf clubs as the issue threatened to overshadow the start of the Open Championship at Muirfield."
John Huggan for GolfDigest.com:
Disappointingly but predictably, Dawson then had nothing new to offer in this ongoing debate. Resorting to the arguments he has repeatedly used since he assumed his present job in 2000, the former executive for Grove Manufacturing, a company involved in the manufacturing of hydraulic cranes trotted out the same old defense of the indefensible.
Mark Tallentire of The Guardian says Dawson "broke new ground over the vexed issue of the Open being hosted by single-gender clubs on Wednesday and suggested that the issue would be addressed after the tournament at Muirfield."
Oliver Brown and the Telegraph noted Dawson's mention of a "hard push" to change the policy on all male clubs, but also noted Dawson's irritability on one topic. Well two.
Under prolonged and uncomfortable cross-examination, Dawson was disdainful of the suggestion by one reporter that an all-male policy could be likened to an all-white one, describing it as a “ridiculous question”.
He said: “There are sectors of society that are downtrodden and treated very badly indeed, and to compare this with a men’s golf club is frankly absurd. There is no comparison whatsoever.”
He also expressed his irritation that “the media are, with boundless energy, giving out the message that such clubs should be condemned to extinction”.
Emily Dugan, The Independent's "Social Affairs" correspondent, seized on the "increasingly bizarre press conference" and reported that Dawson defended the policy.
The Herald's Hugh Macdonald went the "bowing to pressure" route, saying the R&A is "reconsidering its stance on single-sex clubs."
Jonathan McEvoy of the Daily Mail also went with a "Men-only clubs may be kicked into long grass" theme. The story also includes a photo of Lindsey Vonn Dufferning with Dufner!
Golf Channel's "Live From" delivered a refreshingly deliberate and comprehensive 9-minute package on the press conference, with surprising comments from Shona Malcomb of the Lades Golf Union as well as an interview with Alex Salmond.
Many of Dawson's remarks are shown too:
Or at the very least, based on this AP photo from Wednesday's R&A Press Conference at the Open Championship, a bit role in a Monty Python film. 
The photo accompanies Golfweek's Alex Miceli's account of R&A Chief Inspector Executive Peter Dawson's blame-the-media press conference addressing the Muirfield and R&A membership issues.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
