Bamberger On Pernice

The second major profile analyzing Tom Pernice's opinionated nature actually yields examples of his thoughts. However I'm not sure that's always a good thing. This time it's Michael Bamberger doing the interviewing for SI:

Pernice, a former member of the Tour's policy board, regularly criticizes Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour commissioner, for being "afraid of conflict" and for "surrounding himself with people who aren't willing to challenge him, which I consider a sign of weakness."

He believes that some of the architects the Tour has hired for its TPC courses (he names Tom Fazio and Ed Seay) have built "bad courses because not one of them can play worth a lick, can't even break 85."

So much for the positive, uplifting stuff.

Writing about one of his wins and he and his daughter's love for Rush Limbaugh:

Not because of what he did on the course, but because of what happened afterward. His two daughters came running out: Kristen, who was seven at the time, and Brooke, the blind daughter, who was six. Brooke ran her fingers over her father's face, felt his smile and finally had confirmation that he had won. She immediately made the sign of the cross on his face. She is as devout as her father and mother, who was born a Methodist but converted to Catholicism.

(Says Brooke, "It doesn't matter what kind of Christian you are, as long as you're Christian.")

Uh Brooke, FYI, some people, like even the person writing this profile of daddy, are actually not Christian. Just an FYI!

And here's dad whipping out a circa 2004 talking point:

The mainstream media, with their supposed liberal bias: Don't even get him started on that. Ordinary Americans have no idea what's really going on in Iraq "because every day the media (are) reporting the number of people who die" instead of the progress being made.

Hey, I have an idea. Maybe Tom and Brook take an Iraq vacation and report back on the progress?

Ah back to the comfort food:

The Tour fined Pernice earlier this year for his pointed criticism regarding the changes to Torrey Pines, a penalty "which I think is a crock," he says. And then he goes off again, explaining how the renovations done by Rees Jones have stripped the course of its "traditional look."

Pernice used to consider Torrey Pines South a 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10; now, stretched out to 7,568 yards, Torrey rates a 4.

"But Tiger likes it," he says.