Ugh: Time Inc. Layoffs Hit SI, golf.com

It pains me to see comrades at Sports Illustrated/golf.com losing their jobs as part of Time Inc's 6% global work force reduction. Some very talented people were let go today, and while this Keith Kelly story doesn't name names, it won't get them their jobs back to point out who is suffering today.

This IBTimes.com story cites the layoff numbers, advertising issues and quotes the new CEO, Laura Lang, in a memo to staff:

In a memo obtained by Bloomberg News Wednesday, Laura Lang, the company’s CEO, spoke of a new normal in which magazine companies have to learn how to do more with less. “With the significant and ongoing changes in our industry, we must continue to transform our company into one that is leaner, more nimble and more innately multi-platform,” Lang wrote.

Innately multi-platform. As opposed to multi-platform.

“To make this change, we need to operate as smartly and efficiently as possible to create room for critical investments and new initiatives. These reductions are part of this important transformation process.”

Pulitzer Committee Alert: NY Times Follows Up On Beljan Front Pager With Harrowing Stories Of Severe Acid Reflux

Some poor lad named Nate Schweber got the call from a golf savvy NY Times editor: justify our superfluous A1 story on Charlie Beljan's "panic attack" by finding more golfers suffering from an untold epidemic that has been quietly dooming the game.

So Schweber headed to Van Cortlandt Park where, of course, no one had read the story in spite of its A1 placement.

Mateo’s tale of an anxiety attack on the golf course was one of several that were heard during a random stop at the course in Van Cortlandt Park. None of the golfers interviewed had read about the PGA Tour player Charlie Beljan, who had had a panic attack last week, only to forge ahead to his first career victory.

But the golfers in the Bronx did not need much prompting. Told the details of Beljan’s harrowing experience, they shook their heads in recognition.

What the NY Times actually uncovered were stories of folks needing my drug of choice, Prilosec.

William Larkin, 44, the general manager of the golf course in Van Cortlandt Park, said he had an anxiety attack trying to qualify for a golf tournament in Westchester County about 15 years ago and had to be taken to a hospital.

“I was getting winded going up small hills, my mouth was dry, my left arm got stiff,” he said. “I started thinking I was having a heart attack, which made everything worse.”

He said he spent two days in the hospital having tests. His symptoms had been found to be psychosomatic except for one. His worry had caused his stomach to produce higher-than-normal quantities of acids, which rose up and caused his left arm to stiffen.

“I’ll never forget that day,” he said.

Golf Illustrated UK Now On The iPad

The fourth edition of Golf Illustrated is out and while the print edition is another beautiful journal full of wonderful photography that makes a great gift, there is a solution for non-UK buyers who were scared by the high price: an iPad edition for $13.99. The app is free and a one-year subscription is $49.99.

Included in the latest issue are profiles of David McLay Kidd, Archie Baird and Lee Trevino interview. Features include a look at Royal St. George's, a story on five club secretaries and a fantastic Dale Concannon story about the first Ryder Cup.

Sign The Kumbaya Cup Is Putting A Heavy Strain On Media: Scribe Questions Whether U.S. Playing Too Much Ping Pong!

This Tweet by Brian Hewitt, retweeted by the Global Golf Post digital publication he also edits, would suggest a form of media credulity brought on by too many days of pre-Ryder Cup hype and not enough genuine controversy. P.S., it's table tennis.

Ping Pong is all quick twitch muscles & jerky. Putting is all slow rhythm & steadiness Why is U.S. playing so much Ping Pong in team room?

— Brian Hewitt (@HewittAtThePost) September 26, 2012

"He had the knack for saying a lot with just a few words."

Here's a nice Ed Sherman interview of Ted Geltner, author of a new Jim Murray biography, Last King Of The Sports Page.

Geltner is also on Twitter and posting a daily Murray quote.

Rory Romps Roundup: 2012 PGA Clippings

First, the game stories after a stunning weekend performance by Rory McIlroy in winning the 2012 PGA Championship.

LEDES

Doug Ferguson, AP:

  Rory McIlroy dressed the part as golf's next star and played like it, too.

Steve DiMeglio for USA Today, working in a little love for the logistics:

 Much like the daily slog to and from this barrier island, Rory McIlroy's road back to major championship glory was chock-full of congestion.

James Corrigan plays off the Olympics for his Telegraph lede:

This was Rory McIlroy’s own closing ceremony, a procession lit up with fireworks and sheer brilliance.

Derek Lawrenson for the Daily Mail:

Turn up in a shirt of Tiger red on the final day of a major, and you better be able to walk the walk. Fortunately, Rory McIlroy was more than up to the task on Sunday, marching proudly to his second major victory with a flawless performance at the USPGA Championship.   

Ewan Murray for The Guardian:

There can be few things in sport more delightful than emulating the performance of your boyhood idol. Rory McIlroy, throughout his youth, was in awe of Tiger Woods. Here the Northern Irishman claimed the 94th US PGA Championship, the second major of his career, with the kind of Sunday front-running which was once the forte of Woods.

Paul Mahoney gets right to the point for The Independent:

Rory McIlroy wore red yesterday and channelled Tiger Woods circa 2000 to win the 94th US PGA Championship by eight shots with a score of 13 under par.

Bill Pennington takes us back to Augusta for his New York Times lede:

The birth of a champion, and maybe golf’s next dominant player, was dispiriting, humiliating defeat. Put Rory McIlroy back in the woods of the 10th hole at the 2011 Masters as he whacked his ball from tree to tree, a boy lost in the forest on his way to a mortifying fall from the summit of the leader board.

Simon Evans for Reuters:

Rory McIlroy brushed aside any lingering doubts over his ability to be a dominant force in golf by storming to a second major title with a stunning eight-shot victory at the PGA Championship on Sunday.

STUFF

Golf Channel's highlight package.

The Champion's post round interview transcript.

The final scores and purse disbursal.

All of the final round player interview transcripts at PGA.com.

SI/golf.com's post round Confidential.

RORY ANALYSIS

Dave Kindred says Rory announced his greatness with his drives.

A rocket. Rising toward the clouds. A draw to a fairway turning left. In the air forever, then running out down a slope. It was as if God Herself had said, "Let there be Rory and let him move men, women, and children to stand in awe of his work." Let's say the shot covered 340 yards. What happened next was nice -- up and down from a wasteland for birdie -- but it was that divinely beautiful drive that reminded us all we had been witness to McIlroy's arrival at greatness.

Gene Wojciechowski on the win and also the whole red shirt thing.

He wore a red shirt, just like Woods does on Sundays. He embraced his father, just like Woods used to do with his dad Earl. He had a flair for the dramatic, sinking a 20-foot birdie putt on his final hole, just the sort of thing Woods would do when winning a major.

Full disclosure: McIlroy said he wouldn't have worn the Tiger Red had he been paired with Woods.

"Might have to do it from now on," McIlroy said. "No wonder he wins so much."

Jason Sobel says comparisons to Tiger are unfair for reasons he mentions. He also quotes some of Rory's peers.

Even the way McIlroy’s peers discussed the performance in wide-eyed awe and effusive praise was reminiscent of how Woods’ fellow competitors have often discussed his achievements after a major win.

Ian Poulter: “Everybody should take note. The guy's pretty good.”

Carl Pettersson: “He was just better than everybody -- and it was clear to everybody, I think.”

Graeme McDowell: “His score speaks for itself. He's a hell of a talented player.”

Padraig Harrington was even more blunt, reports Brian Keogh.

“Rory is showing that with his A Game, everybody else is going to struggle to compete with him, and Tiger needs his A Game to come up against Rory. He’s not going to beat him unless he has a big weekend.  

Keogh on Tiger's admission that Rory's pretty good.

"He’s very good,” he said. “We all know the talent he has. He went through a little spell this year, and I think that was good for him. We all go through those spells in our careers, and you know, he’s got all the talent in the world to do what he’s doing. And this is the way that Rory can play. When he gets it going, it’s pretty impressive to watch.”

Keeping it going is McIlroy’s next task. Like the loyal Nike man he is, Woods revealed how it works.

“You just do it.”

Randall Mell on how Rory credited short game coach Dave Stockton.

Golfweek's Sean Martin with more on the Stockton advice.

His mid-summer slump also had impacted his demeanor, so much so that putting instructor Dave Stockton told McIlroy to play with a smile this week, a tip it seemed McIlroy would never need. There was plenty for him to enjoy about an Ocean Course that so suited his strengths.

Elevated greens forced players to hoist the ball skyward on approach shots, even when the Ocean Course’s strong winds would usually call for a lower trajectory. No one hits it high, especially with the long clubs, better than McIlroy. It’s no coincidence he’s dominated two majors at softer-than-standard layouts. Soft conditions allowed him to be aggressive with every club in his bag.

Gary Van Sickle on what the win means.

McIlroy is now ahead of the major pace of Woods. McIlroy turned 23 three months ago; Woods won his second major, the 1999 PGA at Medinah, when he was 23 years, 7 months old.

Ahead of Tiger's pace, behind Tiger's pace -- it doesn't really matter. Tiger's run, which led to 14 majors, was so remarkable that it's amazing to even be on a similar trajectory. This is the dawn of a great opportunity for McIlroy, and he will fuel our golf conversations until we return to Augusta National next April.

A European Tour story talks to a few writers about where Rory's second major win fits with other great triumphs and legends.

THE RUNNER-UP

An unbylined AP story on runner-up David Lynn.

An unbylined Sky Sports story on Lynn, who is in next year's Masters now.

"It's a little bit surreal right now," said Lynn, whose only win came in the 2004 Dutch Open. "I've never been exempt to play in anything in America, so that's the reason why I've never been over here. This is a good start.

"To come and perform the way I have this week in a major is very special and a great achievement. It has not sunk in properly yet to be honest.

"The Masters is just a dream come true, obviously - amazing. Seeing Augusta as many times as I have, it's like I know the place and I've never even been there.

COURSE

Rex Hoggard says the setup was weak.

Not once during the 94^th PGA Championship did officials move to the forward tees on the par-4 12^th or 13^th holes. Both holes were pegged as potential risk/reward holes but played well over 400 yards every day.

Nor did the PGA of America show much variety at the par-3 17^th hole, which played 229, 217, 219 and 233 yards for Rounds 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. In fact, the total yardage for the Ocean Course, at 7,668 yards the longest in major championship history, varied just 200 yards throughout the week.

IMAGES

GolfChannel.com's image gallery kicks off with a classic Rickie impersonator.

Golfweek.com's image gallery.

golf.com's gallery is nice and big and features the work of SI's crew.

TELEVISION

Martin Kaufman sticks to mostly compliments for the hard-working technical team that caught some key sights and sounds in between the commercial breaks. 

TWEETS

Rory's thank-you Tweet.

David Feherty is still on the high that he exuded during the telecast, and is also happy about the end of the Olympics.

Luke Donald is happy to be off Kiawah Island, agent Chubby Chandler wants more restaurants before they host another major (oh the problems!), Luke would just like another road.

Webb Simpson said the Pettersson penalty was another example of a golf rule that doesn't make sense.

And the final word goes to the Ancient Twitterer.