Poll: Should The Governing Bodies Drop The Anchoring Ban?

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Bernhard Langer's recent brush with anchoring at the U.S. Senior Open prompted a pre-round visit with rules officials from the USGA. There was also overwhelming outrage on social media and coverage from Fox Sports addressing concerns of a possible rules violation. The issue summed up here by Brandel Chamblee, who coverage this week may have prompted the latest response:


At the very least, Langer is taking things right up to the edge of the anchoring ban. At the worst, he's openly resisting the rule knowing that the genteel world of golf would never actually prosecute a player of his caliber.

This all prompted an unusual Friday news dump with statements from Langer, fellow Champions Tour long putter user Scott McCarron and the USGA. Here is what was said:

The "integrity" language here from the USGA would suggest that actually enforcing the rule is now almost impossible given the introduction of intent.  With this in mind and knowing there are seniors whose golfing lives were made miserable by not being able to anchor, perhaps it's time to drop a rule that will not be enforced?

The SI/Golf.com gang contemplated massaging or changing the rule in this week's discussion that included caddie John Wood.

Given the potential rules changes for 2019, should the governing bodies consider abandoning a rule that started in 2016 after much debate?

The poll and your votes please:

As part of the rules revisions, should the governing bodies drop the anchoring ban?
 
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Rematch? Rory, Elkington Twitter Manspat On Hold...For Now

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Sad news for those hoping to see major champions collide on social media as Rory McIlroy has instructed his wife to change his Twitter password, effectively ending any hopes of another spat with Steve Elkington.

Alistair Tait with the details for Golfweek.com.

“I must have wrote that tweet and deleted it about five times before I actually sent it,” McIlroy revealed. “I sort of regret sending it.”

Oh regrets nonsense!

His reasoning for getting annoyed with Elkington could be chalked up to an interclub dispute. The Major Winners Club.

“It’s not what was said,” McIlory explained. “It’s who said it. Anyone that’s been in that environment should realise how hard golf is at times. That’s the thing that got to me more than anything else.

“If it was written by a member of the media or something I could let it slide, because I can sort of says to myself ‘they don’t really know how it is and the don’t know what you have to deal with.’ But a former player that has won a major and been successful? That’s sort of why it got to me and why I sort of retaliated a little bit.”

Sigh: Lexi Declines To Talk To All Media Pre-KPMG

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With the KPMG Women's PGA at Olympia Fields, the women's second major would seemingly be a good spot for Lexi Thompson to return to some normalcy after her brutal penalty strokes at the last major.

Instead, Lisa Cornwell reports for Golf Central, Thompson is declining all media requests. This is especially a shame given Thompson's likability, star qualities and age. Hopefully it's a short term situation.




Family And Friends Rally Around "Leaky"

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Wonderful reporting here from Tim Rosaforte on family and friends supporting Bruce Lietzke as he battles cancer. One of the game's great natural talents whose ball flighting would be a ball-striking legend in the tracer era, Lietzke is currently on a break from chemo but still has hurdles to climb.

From Rosaforte's report:

Rose was scheduled for a trip to Pensacola, Fla., but Bruce said to her, “Maybe you need to stay here.” On April 12, two CAT scans at the emergency room in Tyler led them to a specialist in Dallas. Five days later, close friends Ben Crenshaw, Jerry Pate and Bill Rogers, along with their wives, spent four hours with Lietzke, telling old stories of their college days and tour life. According to Lietzke, the laughter they were creating in the reception area at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center was so loud, he thought they would be removed from the hospital.

“We just talked and talked and talked,” Lietzke remembers. “They hung around until I was going into ICU. I said good-bye on the way in. Four hours later they were still there after I came out.”

"As Phil and Bones part ways, an appreciation of what made them so good together"

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Alan Shipnuck's Golf.com mailbag covers many topics, but this on Phil and Bones was strong:

There may never be another player-caddie combo like it again, with such a pair of outsized personalities, both of whom were willing to take us inside the ropes with their insights about the game. Phil and Bones will both be all right going forward, but I'm definitely going to miss watching them do their thing.

And this from Michael Bamberger, also at Golf.com:

Bones's job was to get Mickelson in a place where he could play his best golf. That's why he is unlike any other caddie that came before him. It was a deeper role than any of us had seen before. But Mickelson was a prodigy even before the two had met, good enough to win the Tour's Tucson stop as an amateur, in 1991. In their quarter-century together, Mickelson has often needed to dance to songs he recorded himself and Bones never wavered in his support. So whether it was carrying two drivers or practicing away from the site of a major or playing catch as a warm-up exercise, Bones was all in. Phil needs somebody to look at him, and Bones did.

Forbes: Rory 7th Among Athletes, Ahead Of Phil, Tiger, Jordan

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As always take these numbers with a grain or two, but at least we see where golfers are lining up with the highest paid athletes.

Rory McIlroy landed T6th on the Forbes list at $50 million, tied with Andrew Luck and ahead of Steph Curry. The year comes on the heels of winning the FedExCup and finishing fifth in the Race To Dubai. His $16 million in on course earnings accounts for his 2016 PGA Tour play, FedExCup and European Tour play in the June 2016 to June 2017 window used by Forbes.

Phil Mickelson ranked 12th, with $43.5 million overall, of which $40 million was from off course endorsements. Tiger Woods at No. 17 is credited with $37.1 million of which $37 million was made off the course. And Jordan Spieth ranked 21st, making $34.5 million, with $29 million of that credited to endorsement income.

Scott First Of Many To Put USGA On Notice Over Setup, Rules

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Take your pick of issues--TV rulings, greens too fast for contours, tough setups, green reading books, purse value--pro golfers have the USGA on their radar. The next few weeks will provide an opportunity for both sides to jockey for their positions, starting with course setup.

With Chambers Bay driving much conjecture given Erin Hills' similar newness as a venue, Adam Scott's comments to Golfweek's Jeff Babineau probably mirror the views of many players fearing a repeat.

“Maybe it’s time to do away with the even-par target, just thinking about the bigger picture of the game of golf,” Scott said after finishing up at Memorial on Sunday, where he shot 74 to finish at 1-under 287.

“If their major pinnacle event for them requires courses to be the way they are, it doesn’t set a good example for every other bit of golf that they try to promote. Maybe we should get the numbers out of our heads and try a new strategy.”

Good news with Erin Hills: it's far more lush than Chambers Bay and the greens are a pure strain of bent, so almost all issues with balls moving on greens, balls bouncing on greens and balls bouncing over greens, seem unlikely to arise.

Scott's comments on the USGA, however, probably won't get him an invited to the Bobby Jones Award ceremony.

“Whether it’s rules changes or any other decisions they make, I think their process is out,” Scott said. “I just don’t see how they get to some of these decisions. . . . They’re hanging onto the Rules of Golf by a thread, really. That’s why they’re panicky and they’re trying to see what’s going on out here on Tour.”

Interestingly, this is the gripe of many everyday amateur golfers who also just want to play some relaxed, less complicated rules. Every time I get an email asking for the Relaxed Rules bag tag put out by Golf Channel's Morning Drive, it's hard not to wonder why we aren't bifurcating.

Whether all of this speaks to a failed or successful roll out of revised views depends on your point of view. I happen to think that the proposed rules revisions were successful because a mostly positive response suggested golfers wanted what was delivered, only more. So will these last few months and next few weeks help shape and even stronger push to make the rules simpler, cleaner and easier?

R.I.P. Roberto De Vicenzo

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The World Golf Hall of Famer, 1967 Open Champion at Royal Liverpool and runner-up in the 1968 Masters has passed away at 94.

The World Golf Hall of Fame posted this nice note on news of De Vicenzo's passing and also has this page devoted to his career.

Golf Channel broke the news first, with this noted by G.C. Digital:

De Vicenzo enjoyed a decorated playing career, one that included more than 230 worldwide victories across five decades. The pinnacle came in 1967, when he won The Open by two shots over Jack Nicklaus at Royal Liverpool. He also represented Argentina 17 times at the World Cup of Golf and captured the inaugural U.S. Senior Open in 1980 at age 57.

Richard Goldstein's NY Times obit naturally centers around the Masters miscue but also includes much else about De Vicenzo's career.

This was heartening:

De Vicenzo told Sports Illustrated in 2008 that he had earned lucrative appearance fees as a result of the mistake. “I’ve gotten more out of signing the card wrong than if I had signed it correctly,” he said.

“Every now and then,” he added, “I will drop a tear, but I’ve moved on. I got to see the world through golf. No one should feel sorry for me.”

A year ago, John Garrity filed this terrific Golf.com piece on the incident and De Vicenzo's often overlooked career outside of one week in April, 1968.

For a spectacular (and I mean spectacular) look at the 1967 Open won by De Vicenzo, check out this highlight film posted by GolfChannel.com. Yes, it's 53 minutes long, but you'll love having it on in the background while you work.

Vijay Loses TPC But Wins In Court Monday, Trial Coming Soon

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The beacon of misery and bitterness that is Vijay Singh faded from contention at The Players, but the 54-year-old won a key court decision Monday, reports Brian Wacker at Golf World.

On Monday, Judge Eileen Bransten issued a decision favorable to Singh on motions that had been pending since last fall, denying in part the tour’s motion for summary judgment.

“We can proceed to trial,” said Singh’s attorney Peter Ginsberg when contacted by Golf Digest.

The suit, which was filed a few days prior to the 2013 Players Championship, claims the tour was negligent in its handling of Singh’s anti-doping violation and breached its implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, which caused harm to the now 54-year-old Fijian’s reputation.

The tour had no comment.

Meanwhile, Singh's caddie at The Players announced he was moving on Sunday night. So it was a split decision week...

 

Steph On Tiger: "He made me want to watch every single shot of every single tournament he played."

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As Kyle Porter notes at CBSSports.com, the Players ratings news seemed conveniently timed with Steph Curry's comment to David Feherty that Tiger Woods inspired him not just as a golfer, but as an athlete.

"He was a ground-breaker obviously. For me when I was watching him, he made me want to watch every single shot of every single tournament he played."

And isn't this ultimately at the heart of why it's so hard to pinpoint the sagging numbers in pro golf?

There is no one like Tiger, except Phil at his best, who exudes a must-see quality due to their ability to surprise, excite and awe.

There are other factors to the recent ratings drop, from the presidential campaign, to the daily dramas in Washington, to cord cutting. The absense of mega-star power is one thing. But more than anything, the absense of players with an indefinable crossover intangible is dragging the numbers down. As the kids like to say, it is what it is.

The full clip:

Brandel Questions Poulter's Tactics Down Stretch

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Fast times at Ponte Vedra High!


Brandel After Kim's Victory: Distance Constrictions Make TPC Sawgrass Superstar Proof

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Following Si Woo Kim's Players win, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee made a provocative charge: TPC Sawgrass' driver constrictions produced a scrambling contest.

“This is from a statistical standpoint perhaps the greatest upset you’ll ever see. In terms of upsets, this is Great Britain voting to leave the EU. This is Trump winning the presidency. In an era of big data, when you look for data to give you some idea of who might have a chance to do what, where and when… You’re talking about a guy in the ‘All-Around’ statistic that measures pretty much everything that was dead-last on the PGA TOUR. He was basically near the bottom of every single statistical category. Yet, because of the distance constrictions of this golf course, the very best players cannot play their best game. It’s not Tiger proof, it’s superstar proof, it really is. And so it turns into a scrambling contest. And who won the scrambling contest? Si Woo Kim… [This course] puts everybody on edge, pretty much turns it into a scrambling contest, and he won it.”

Kim's stats:

39 of 56 fairways

45/72 greens

Kim led the field in scrambling (22 of 27)

I'll have a few more words on this in a post tomorrow assessing the golf course, but the number of times driver is not used continues to be a debate worthy topic. Does it change the energy of an event the more players can hit driver?

Translation Help: What Should Jason Day's Nike SB Really Stand For?

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I know Jason Day is trying to fulfill his lucrative contract, but would he really wear this "skateboarding" outfit to the airport? On a Chipotle run? Anywhere there is light?

Let's think up a better definition of SB, please. Keep it clean kids.