U.S. Open Reads: Late Wednesday Edition

Mike Dougherty writes at length about the rough, with player views and he even pulls a comment out of agronomist Tim Moraghan (no references to hand mowing the rough!)

And James Corrigan finds the new Tiger Woods ad to be a shameless effort by Nike to exploit Earl Woods's passing.

Tiger Indeed, never have the RRPs seemed to have been merged with the RIPs so shamelessly. Even in America this transparent piece of marketing has provoked a wince. When questioned about it, Dean Stoyer, a spokesman for Nike, said: "We would never have released this ad without the full blessing and support of Tiger and his family."

Meanwhile, Adam Roth, the firm's advertising director was more forthright. "We see a major as a brand moment." Obviously, Tiger sees this US Open as a life-changing moment, even if his claim that he thought twice about missing a major and so handing Mickelson an open fairway to three in a row must be taken with a bucket of salt.