GMac: Castle Stuart Too Easy, Too One-Dimensional

Shocking statements from the normally learned Graeme McDowell in justifying why he's skipping the prestigious Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart for the second year in a row.

Jim Black reports:

McDowell, speaking on the eve of the Irish Open at Carton House near Dublin, said: “The Scottish Open has lost its identity and its prestige. Castle Stuart probably has not been a strong enough golf course.

“Let’s see them get the Scottish Open on a phenomenal links golf course with a great purse and get a world-class field back.

“We need to be capitalising a little harder on the week before and after the Open.

“I feel bad singling out the Scottish Open, because I used to love it at Loch Lomond. It was a phenomenal tournament. Taking it to Castle Stuart was designed to get it on a links course the week before The Open and it’s a beautiful venue — but it is probably a little too wide open off the tee and a little one-dimensional.

“But Royal Aberdeen next year is a venue which attracts me. I’ve heard great things about it and it could re-light the event.”

McDowell finished T42 in his lone appearance at the too easy Castle Stuart, the year freak rains softened the course and reduced the tournament to 54-holes.

Phil Mickelson is returning for a third year to the Scottish Open and NBC is providing network coverage in the United States, a first for a European Tour event.

And needless to say, I didn't find the course one-dimensional last year when watching some of the best shotmaking and most interesting play I'd seen in a long time. Some photos from Saturday and Sunday.

Unfortunately, Royal Aberdeen is excessively narrow to offset modern distance and will be a bit too one-dimensional if not widened out. Oh wait, wide is bad GMac! I forgot.

More Frank Stranahan Remembrances

The late golfing great passed away on June 23rd and we're now seeing some reports on his remarkable life in the game.

From an unbylined AP story: 

''He was my old buddy,'' Palmer said Tuesday from his office in Latrobe, Pa. ''We were pretty close for a lot of years. He always thought I would be one of his guys and do the muscle thing and all that. And of course, we played against each other a lot. He was a great guy, a good friend. He played some very good golf.''

And John Boyette takes the Augusta angle to Stranahan's life, which included a near Masters win and a brouhaha with Clifford Roberts. 

At the 1947 Masters, Stranahan closed with 68 to finish two shots behind winner Jimmy Demaret. No amateur has ever won the Masters, although Charlie Coe, Ken Venturi and Billy Joe Patton all had close calls.

The following year, Stranahan crossed paths with Roberts, Augusta National Golf Club’s stern chairman. The dustup involved a rule about playing a second ball to greens during practice rounds.

While he was still playing the second nine, Stranahan was asked to leave the course and that his invitation had been withdrawn.

Stranahan’s protests fell on deaf ears, and Roberts’ decision was final.

“So I bought a ticket, and I stayed there,” Stranahan said in a 1998 interview with Sports Illustrated.

Break Out The Bronzer: Player To Appear Nude In ESPN The Mag

Alex Myers with the details...

Video: Bubba To Caddie: "There's just no reason for me to show up."

Thanks to Doc from golfcentraldaily.com for this mini-meltdown by Bubba Watson directed at caddie Ted Scott during the Travelers Championship final round.

Ken Duke beat Chris Stroud on the second hole of sudden death to win.

Meanwhile out on the Champions Tour, the caddies have been told not to enter a certain restroom. Rough times for loopers!

**Corrected the headline to note he said "me" and not you.

Update on 2013-06-24 14:47 by Geoff

*Bubba talked about 16 after the round.

Brian Wacker's post round account, which was misreported in another publication as a confrontation but which another witness tells me was severely taken out of context.

Wacker quotes caddie Ted Scott:

"I 100 percent take responsibility for it. It's totally my fault. I got in the way of the painter on that one."

For his part, Watson defended Scott and said of the exchange they were simply trying to figure out what went wrong.

  "Did we do the yardage wrong, was it a gust of wind? We were just trying to figure out what was going on," Watson said.

"We planned to do one thing and it didn't do it. We mis-clubbed is all."

Watson went on to shoot his second straight 70 and finished in fourth alone. It was his second top 10 in a stroke play event on the PGA TOUR this season.

We also post typos on this blog from time to time, FYI.

Steiny Scores! Adds Justin Rose To The Stable

Tim Rosaforte with the news that apparently won't come as a shocker to anyone who saw the U.S. Open champion and the agent for Tiger Woods speaking at the Memorial a few weeks ago.

Actually, it's still shocking.

Rose had been represented by Marcus Day of 4Sports & Entertainment. Industry sources knew Rose was talking to Steinberg three weeks ago at the Memorial. They had a private discussion on the putting green prior to the opening round.

Steinberg also just signed University of Washington's Chris Williams, one of the top prospects leaving the college ranks.

R.I.P. Miller Barber

Richard Goldstein with the NY Times remembrance of a fantastic player and character.

Barber didn’t seem a prime candidate for pro golf success. He was pudgy, he had hay fever, and his form was ungainly at best.

His right elbow flew outward on his backswing as he raised the club to the outside, bringing it high over his head, the shaft almost perpendicular to the ground. (In a classic backswing, the right elbow remains close to the body and the shaft ends up almost parallel to the ground.) After that he looped the club head inside and produced an orthodox downswing.

Fellow players likened Barber’s contortions to an octopus falling from a tree or a man trying to open an umbrella on a windy day. But he usually got the club face square to the ball, producing long drives and superb iron shots.

A PGA Tour video celebrating Barber.



Instructor Carl Welty captured this video of Barber at La Costa.

Punters Primer: Matteo, Rory and Graeme

Heading into the U.S. Open at Merion, punters and pool participants will be looking for any hint about how three very prominent Europeans will play Merion.

For those wondering about 20-year-old BMW PGA winner Matteo Manassero's chances of contending for the first time in a U.S. major, Ewan Murray profiles him for The Observer.

Remember, he's modest, so don't read this as a lack of confidence:

"I will try to stay around the top of the leaderboard. That is the idea but it is a major championship; all the top players are there, it will be tough. It is not easy to be at your best in just four tournaments. It is very difficult, but that is why they are majors.

"I have never been to Merion before but I know there is an opening stretch of five or six holes that you just have to get through before some chances arrive. There will be extreme conditions – the US Open course always plays very difficult."

Matteo may be at a disadvantage when it comes to Merion local knowledge, as these USGA videos show both Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell getting in practice rounds and talking about their impressions.

First, Rory:

And my pick for the week, McDowell who sounds confident and like he's a fan of the course:

Remembering The Life & Times Of Ken Venturi

Ron Kroichick's obituary for Ken Venturi's hometown San Francisco Chronicle.

Doug Ferguson with the Associated Press obituary.

John Strege for GolfDigest.com.

Adam Schupak for Golfweek.com.

Bob Harig for ESPN.com.

Richard Goldstein files the New York Times obituary.

Jaime Diaz's column on Venturi's golfing genius prior to the Venturi WGHOF induction.

His Golf Digest My Shot.

From reader Gene, Michael Bamberger's SI story on Venturi's farewell to broadcasting.

Venturi's World Golf Hall of Fame page.

A PGA Tour video with Venturi's induction video from the WGHOF ceremony.

A USGA film of Venturi returning to Congressional to discuss his U.S. Open win.



Venturi on Feherty, the entire episode:

Update on 2013-05-19 18:18 by Geoff

**Golf Channel calls an audible and will re-broadcast Feherty's episode with Venturi on Monday, May 20th.

ORLANDO, Fla., May 19, 2013 – Monday at 10 p.m. ET, Golf Channel will air a special encore presentation of FEHERTY with Ken Venturi, the 2013 World Golf Hall-of-Fame Inductee who passed away Friday at the age of 82.  Monday’s episode (which premiered in April, 2012) features Feherty traveling to Los Angeles for a stroll down memory lane with Venturi.  Their engaging conversation covers the gamut of Venturi’s seven decades in golf that began in 1941, including friendships with golf legends Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan, becoming America’s finest amateur in the mid-1950s, freak injuries that led to his retirement; and how, despite dealing with an incurable stutter, destiny led him to be a commentator and analyst for CBS Sports.
 
Programming Note: Monday’s originally scheduled new episode of FEHERTY with LPGA professional Stacy Lewis will now premiere July 1 at 10 p.m. ET.

John Daly To Vijay: "Don't do this"..."Not worth it"

John Daly took to Twitter to offer Vijay Singh some advice: don't take on the PGA Tour.

VJ don't do this horrible advice you got off take it from me not worth it #friendlyadvice

— John Daly (@PGA_JohnDaly) May 8, 2013

Good Luck: Garrigus Intends To Try A First Tee Joke On Vijay

Stephanie Wei quotes the likes of Matt Every, Jason Day, Justin Rose, David Lynn and Robert Garrigus on Vijay's situation and lawsuit and they aren't overly supportive of Singh.

Including first and second round Singh playing partner Garrigus kind of supported Singh by saying that the PGA Tour has"created a situation where one guy gets busted for recreational drugs and then one guy doesn’t get busted  for performance-enhancing drugs, which is messed up."

That probably won't make Vijay laugh--what does--but Garrigus is still going to try to deliver some humor to Thursday's 2 pm ET proceedings.

He’s focused on trying to win a golf tournament, but Garrigus, who is friendly and gregarious, said he’ll probably make a joke out of it with Singh on the first tee on Thursday to keep things light.

“I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of security guards with our group (the next two days),” he said.