Best Read Of The Week...

Don't get me wrong, we loved reading about the course changes and all of the wonderfully complimentary things that the players had to say.  But it has not been the most memorable week for fresh, inside-the-ropes reporting.

Doug Ferguson changes that with a must read about the caddies and players waiting out the rain delay. That's right, he made a great column out of a seemingly mundane topic.

Besides a classic Ben Crenshaw-Clifford Roberts story, I loved this:

Rich Beem stuck his head out the clubhouse door, spotted a reporter and waved him over.

"Have you seen this book?" Beem said.

Sitting in the lounge, he picked up a copy of "The Wit & Wisdom of Bobby Jones," a collection of sayings from the man behind Augusta National Golf Club and a tournament now called the Masters.

Beem pointed out one passage that appeared to go against lengthening the golf course, which club chairman Hootie Johnson has done twice in the last five years. The course now is 7,445 yards, the second-longest in major championship history.

"There was good reason to expect that improvements in the manufacture and the introduction of new methods and materials might make even our long courses look silly and make jokes of our championships," the passage said. "It was not practical to think of buying more and more expensive ground to keep increasing the length of holes to make them fit for championship play as the ball became more and more powerful, particularly when this increase in power carried no actual advantage to the game in any conceivable form."

Beem turned the page to show another passage.

"American architecture allows practically no option as to where the drive shall go," it said.

"What about No. 11? And (No.) 7?" Beem said.

He was referring to two holes that have been lengthened to 505 yards and 450 yards, respectively, both lined by trees that allow for a tight driving area and really no other option.

"Good stuff, huh?" Beem said, then went back inside.