Tom Kite In The Forecaddie, Debut of The List

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Courtesy of reader Stan, who kindly typed this from the current Golfweek (since I'm still waiting on an issue with a March dateline to reach the apparently hard-to-reach home of the homeless):

Hall of Famer Tom Kite never won a Masters, but he had a splendid record there, racking up 11 top-6 finishes, including three seconds. He knows a thing or two about what it takes to excel at Augusta National. When the Man Out Front asked Kite whether a medium-length hitter could contend routinely as he did given the course changes, the topic stirred some passion.

"I can understand making the golf course stand up to technology," Kite said. "Unfortunately they're responding to what's happening with just a top few players. From what I've heard has been done, I don't know if Arnold (Palmer) could've won there. (He won there four times) He made such good recovery shots, but if you hit a 3-iron, you're not going to hit the green. It takes that ability away."

Palmer and Jack Nicklaus got Kite's attention when they expressed concern over the latest National changes. Kite says he understands why courses have to be lengthened. And he gets fired up talking about it.

"If the manufacturers continue to run the game, I think the game is in for a long, tough road," he said. "The rule-making body (USGA) is not making rules for the game. The manufacturers are, and their No. 1 goal is to sell product. The game has changed so dramatically in the last six, eight years. What's happened is a joke. It's mind-boggling, compared to how much change there was over the last 100 years. Everything is based on speed. It's not based on ball-striking. If you want a good game, you can go buy it."

And with these comments, I guess it's time to debut a still-very-much-under-construction page on this site, called simply "The List."

The List features comments and links from just a few noted names in the golf world who have expressed concern about the distance issue, and their suggested remedies.

I have yet to go back into my archives of stories to post pre-2005 statements, but for now, The List should give you an idea where just some of golf's bigger names stand on the distance issue. Naturally, I welcome reader submissions to help make the list more definitive.

With This Win...

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...Stephen Ames  loses the crown of best player never to have won a major championship     joins Craig Perks and Fred Funk as best players to win a fifth major without winning a Grand Slam event     reminds us that an anti-birdie, anti-distance rough harvest usually produces fluke winners     that The Players Championship will always be the fifth of four majors     joins Tiger Woods as a winner of the fifth major (The Players) and a former major (the Western Open).

Seriously, thanks Stephen for making it a runaway so we didn't have to turn away from the George Mason-UConn game.  I wanted to soak up some mighty Big East basketball before the Final Four is contested with all of those teams from conferences having down years!

And special thanks to the PGA Tour for a positively abysmal course setup that took a great design and rendered it's character virtually meaningless with excessive green speeds, lousy fairway contouring and excessive rough. 

Fifth Major Watch, Final 2

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Thanks to reader Steven T. for noticing this subtle, affirmative (or tongue in cheek?) "fifth major" reference in Doug Ferguson's third round game story.

Scott, the 2004 winner of golf's fifth major, shot 45 on the front nine and wound up with an 82.

Meanwhile Scott Michaux takes on the fifth major question:

It's the best tournament never to be a major.

Period.

The Players Championship has a serious inferiority complex which it needn't have. It's a great event on a thrilling golf course with a terrific field. Why that can't be good enough for the folks at the PGA Tour is pitiable story of jealousy and ego.

"We already think it's No. 1," said tour commissioner Tim Finchem, the primary "fifth major" lobbyist.

It's even tried to push-promote the notion of five majors as being a natural number by declaring a full handful on its senior circuit.

And...

It kills Finchem that he can't just declare his Players to be a major and make it stick. While the designation of major status might have been a fluid concept at one point, the television era and universal acceptance made the current four events established precedent long before the Sawgrass Stadium Course was ever built.

Finchem has finally pushed his Masters envy to the extreme starting in 2007. He's given the tournament its own spring month, reduced commercial interruption on television to four minutes per hour, spread the coverage into China, approved plans for a more traditional clubhouse and trimmed the official name to a brand-hammering title - The Players.

If that's not enough, Finchem made sure he mentioned the TPC's "champions dinner" on Tuesday and has proved even more adept than Augusta National Golf Club at creating a vocabulary all its own. (See "limited commercial inventory presentation.")

Rory and Nick, Follow Up

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Iain Carter in The Guardian has even more fun details on the story that NBC and various American press outlets either won't touch or completely missed.

If you missed it, here's the original story on the Faldo-Sabbatini spat, complete with a photo of Amy Sabbatini in her "Keep Up" t-shirt. Carter fills us in on the comments that Faldo made at the Booz Allen last year that were clearly on Sabbatini's mind when their pairing was announced this week, and when they were put on the clock.

'When people say that if they were paired with you they would "slow play" you, that leaves a lot of questions about their morals and professionalism,' said Sabbatini, who is aware of Faldo's observations from the commentators' booth.

In response to Amy Sabbatini's decision to plaster her 'keep up' message across her chest, Faldo, who has always taken a painstaking approach to his golf, quipped: 'I think it's very embarrassing for them to bring their sexual problems to the golf course. Poor fellow. I thought he had enough problems as it is without her announcing them to the world.'

Referring to the first-round incident when Sabbatini became enraged because the stopwatches of officialdom were deemed necessary, Faldo said: 'He completely lost his head with the official, so I don't know what his problem was. Camilo lost his ball on the 10th and that's why we were put on the clock, but we were back in place within one hole, so it was no big deal.'

Sabbatini refused to blame the six-time major winner Faldo, but he made his feelings clear when asked if he had any complaints against his playing partners. 'You know, Camilo played great, he did his part and kept playing as well as he could. He was a true gentleman out there and showed good professionalism. I'll leave it at that,' he said.

In truth, Sabbatini's biggest argument is with the way that new slow play rules were ignored in this incident. Regulations permit referees to warn and time individuals rather than the entire group and he believes that this is what should have happened. 'If players create policy then why not use it,' he said. 'I would say there was a situation that occurred that should have resulted in me not necessarily being put on the clock.'

A PGA Tour spokesman said: 'Our pace of play policy does allow individuals rather than the group to be put on the clock if we are able to determine that one player is responsible for the group being behind. In my opinion our officials do a good job on pace of play and apply it consistently.'

It Must Be a Major...

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playerschamp.gif...because the course is playing the players, instead of the players playing the course. (Thank you Walter Hagen.)

Great stuff there at the Players today. Love the 8-inch ryem, and so did Ian Poulter.

Today's intensely dull 3rd round did set the stage for a major power nap that I welcomed before the big Bruin victory.

I know you traditionalists hate this trainwreck setup style that's really all about the people doing the setup and their lousy sense of self, but if I keep getting such great naps out of it, I may have to re-think it.

Thankfully, Tiger and Vijay got in a few subtle jabs about the absurdity of 6-8 inch rough on a course designed with wind in mind:

Q. Is it a PLAYERS Championship without this kind of wind?

TIGER WOODS: Probably not, probably not. This golf course was built here for conditions like this, but the only problem is now they've got six or eight inch rough. That's a little different than how the golf course is meant to be played.

It's a little different out there. If you miss fairways you're probably going to make bogeys. It's six or eight inches in spots. It's brutal. You've got to drive the ball in the fairway and then from there you've got to really understand what you're going to try to do on the greens, whether you line them up in the low spot or a high spot.

And Vijay, explaining in his own way how the rough is designed for one thing, and one thing only: take driver out of the player's hands because someone didn't regulate equipment:

Q. How many 3 woods do you hit on par 4s and 5s or drivers?

VIJAY SINGH: Drivers, I tried to hit driver on 1. I tried to hit driver on the 6th, but I really didn't need to, and on 11 and that was it. Well, I think one more, 14.

Q. So much for this course taking the strength of your game?

VIJAY SINGH: It's not a long golf course. It's one of the shortest golf courses we play on Tour. With the conditions right now getting more and more firm, you probably don't need a driver here at all. But the penalties are the small greens and angular tee shots that we have to hit. It's always at an angle. The fairways pinch in where we hit our landing areas. So it's a very tricky golf course, you might say.

Tricky? That used to be code for goofy.

Think they fine the players for criticizing their own course and their own tournament?

Fifth Major Watch, Final (Until Next Year)

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Alan Shipnuck should not be surprised if his 2007 PGA Tour media credential gets lost in the mail after this column debunking the fifth major hype.

-You know you're desperate when you're stealing ideas from the Champions tour, which has five majors (though the only one most of us can name is the Senior Open).

-"Impregnable pentrilateral" just doesn't have the same ring.

-It's already too much work having to explain the difference between Bobby Jones' Grand Slam, the modern Slam and the Tiger Slam. Who wants to have to add the TPC Slam to the conversation?

-And the No. 1 reason the Players Championship will never be considered a major: because Tiger Woods doesn't think it should be.

Week In Review, March 19-25: Fifth of Four Majors Week

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WeekInReview2.jpgSomehow I can't picture Bernard Darwin filing a "fifth major" column if he were (God forbid) forced to cover the Players Championship. Which I guess is my not so subtle way of noting how sad it is that the second annual "fifth major" story watch led to posts here, here, here and here. And just think, next year when they move the Players to May, the inane speculation will start all over again!

Reader Brett asked, "What real "Major" hands out 20 sponsor exemptions? And who do all the sponsor exemptions go to?"

Other Sawgrass talk centered around the impending course overhaul, and thankfully, the installation of so much U.S. Open rough on the course.

Bill Fields in Golf World contrasted the evolution of Sawgrass with Augusta, and became yet another prominent writer to risk a not so friendly Augusta press room greeting.

A flashback of sorts took place, with a look at Ron Whitten's surprising change in stance on the Augusta changes.

John Hawkins blogged about the need to make TPC Sawgrass' 17th hole tougher, prompting me to ask why golf is looking to always make things tougher, while other sports are looking for ways to make their sport better.

Reader Tom Gov set me straight:  "In other sports no one likes to see a one sided blow out. But most spectators like to see two great opponents battling it out on the field. In golf, the only real opponent we have is the course. So as players get better, (whatever the reason) as a spectator, I want to see tougher opponents (in this case the golf course). In basketball the basket wasn't raised and in baseball the bases weren't lengthened. Both opponents just got better and most of the traditions were held in place. In golf, our traditions are being severely challenged by only one of the opponents getting much better."

Reader Josh Hoisington added, "Does anybody remember or more importantly care what Tiger's score was at Augusta 2005? I don't. I do care that I had a great time watching Chris and Tiger battle it out over the back nine, and into the playoff. Heck, I barely even remember the contempt I felt at the changes to the course."

MacDuff kindly shared his latest FedEx Cup points list, and whether you care or not about the Tour's new playoff concept, it raises questions about whether the Tour will install a system that "incentivizes" players to play more often, or one that rewards star power.

Tim Finchem convened the press for a gathering, and I suggested and solicited questions here.  Reader J.P. wanted to ask, "Do you personally own stock in Comcast?"

I dissected the Commissioner's press conference, where many subjects came up, including questions about steroids. Pete the Luddite was surprised by the Tour's weak stance on matter: "Wait until there's a definite problem, the genie's out of the bottle, the integrity of the game is (further) marginalized, the media jumps on the sport as ignoring a problem for too long, and THEN, and only then, maybe possible consider a retrofitted "solution". Apparently, The Commish hasn't watched anything going on with the erosion of baseball's integrity in recent times."

The same Pete shared some fascinating graphs on distance, accuracy and ball striking, and Sean Murphy noted that "the overall driver (thats accuracy and distance combined) the last three years on the PGA Tour did not keep his card."

We looked at SI's recent teachers poll, where teacher Jim Suttie said that the Ohio Golf Association would take individualism out of the game by forcing contestants in an invitational event to try a competition ball.

Smolmania noted that in the limited flight ball event, "The guys who can't bomb it because they aren't capable of swinging the club at 120 mph will have a chance. Yes, they'll still be 40 or 50 yards behind the bombers, but not 100. The bombers will have to hit 5 or 6 irons into par 4s, and might even have to lay up on an occasional long par 5. Oh the horrors."

Don't miss the latest episode in the Sabbatini saga and Nick Faldo's brilliant, early candidate for quote fo the year.

And finally, don't miss Fred Funk's rant on the power game in golf, and how the "little guy" is literally going to be driven out of the game as the shift to certain technologies unfairly rewards taller, stronger players.

Hannigan On NBC

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Frank Hannigan's latest Golfobserver column looks at the work of Tommy Roy and NBC. A few highlights...

It's a primary reason why, for me, NBC is the toughest listen in golf. I'm not sure producer Tommy Roy knows better. He allows Miller to get away with murder, with an open mike at all times, allowed to say whatever he feels like saying, at any time.

Roy is a very good producer in the sense that his images of golf are terrific and it is, after all, television. Producers matter in golf more than in other sports because they have so many choices. You don't just follow the bouncing ball.

Roy told the writer John Feinstein that if he hadn't gone into TV sports production he would likely have become a tour player. Except that he had never won anything.

Indeed. And if I hadn't drifted into the management of golf I would likely have become Marcel Proust.

And...

TV producers have to suck up to people, but putting PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem on camera at the top of shows, as if it's The Masters and we should be thankful we are allowed to watch, is over the top. I can only imagine what NBC will have to do for the USGA when the US Open rolls around, especially since the USGA has a new president, one Driver, who excels in self-celebration.

Up Keep

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Giving new meaning to high maintenance and class, I present, the Sabbatinis...

The wife of controversial South African golfer Rory Sabbatini drew attention to herself once more on Friday - this time by wearing a T-shirt with "Keep Up" on it. 53298.jpg

Sabbatini, the leading money-winner in America this season, was paired with Nick Faldo and Colombian Camilo Villegas again and it was thought his wife was making a statement about slow play.

Two years ago Amy Sabbatini had a T-shirt displaying the words "Stoopid Amerikan" at the World Cup in Spain after Paul Casey's anti-American comments following the Ryder Cup.

Good job by ESPN/NBC not to have anything on this today!

Oh, and I got to experience Amy's antics first hand earlier this year at the Nissan Open. You can relive the stirring details here.

Whitten: Augusta 2006 v. 2001-2002

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Golf Digest's Ron Whitten criticized recent changes to Augusta National in the same story featuring the comments of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. His criticism is not that astonishing to most given that the same remarks have been uttered by big mouths like me since 1998.

However, when you see where Whitten stands now compared to where he stood just four years ago, the contrast is pretty amazing.

Here's what he wrote this year: 

But sheer yardage is not what has gotten Jack, Arnie and others of the Old Guard riled up. They're mostly upset about the tightening of many holes, through the use of expanded bunkering, transplanted trees and the introduction of rough, what Augusta National calls, in delusional parlance, "a second cut of fairway."

This is where Jack and Arnie are absolutely right. Far from maintaining the integrity of the design that Jones and Mackenzie envisioned, the changes undertaken since 1998 have abandoned their philosophy of multiple options and different lines of attack.

And...

Gone are Augusta's wide corridors that allowed every competitor to play his own game off the tee, to pick the spot he thought provided the best angle of approach for his trajectory and shot shape. Squeezed-in fairways now dictate the manner of play on every hole. It's as if the Masters Committee thinks it's now running the U.S. Open.

Which makes one wonder just how much research Augusta National has really done regarding the original Mackenzie-Jones design. Mackenzie believed that if a good player hitting good shots couldn't post a good score on one of his courses, then there was something wrong with his design. Jones once wrote that he never intended Augusta National to be a punishing golf course.

Jones and Mackenzie believed in rewarding risk on the golf course. Most of that is gone now.

And...

The best course designs challenge different golfers on different holes. Augusta National used to do that. It no longer does.

The club planted many mature loblolly pines along the left of No. 7, too, just because it can, I guess.

The irony, of course, is that Augusta National used to be the trendsetter in matters of course design. But now it's well behind the curve.

The older pines at Augusta traditionally had a bed of pine needles beneath them, which allowed players to attempt all sorts of recovery shots. The newer pines have rough underneath, deeper than the "second cut," and are planted so close together that the only recovery available is usually a pitch out. It's one more example of how Augusta has stifled some playing options.

Now, here's Whitten in a 2001 Golf Digest preview:

The new look of Augusta National--the one with a buzz-cut of rough around each fairway and most greens--was first introduced in 1999, but few noticed a big difference. Last year, however, it had players playing defensively, pundits writing offensively and TV viewers adjusting their contrast. Few cared for it, and many blamed it for the lack of drama.

Wrong. Cold weather and high winds were responsible for the conservative play in 2000. Augusta National's grooming is just another attempt to Tigerproof the course, although club officials will never admit it. They won't even call it rough, preferring to label it a "second cut" of fairway.

Rarely has so much fuss been made about so little. The rough is just 1 3/8 inches deep, not the sort that causes anyone to pitch out sideways. Sure, it's enough to cause a knuckleball that has no chance of stopping on a rock-hards green. But Masters competitors are smart, talented and well equipped. They can pick a ball cleanly out oflight rough, use the grooves on their irons--or avoid the rough in the first place.

What Augusta's rough has done is make the Masters more of a test of drives and second shots, and less of a putting contest. Last year's winner, Vijay Singh, had three three-putts, more than the combined total of the previous seven Masters champions. But he lead the field in greens in regulation, and won by three shots. For the 2001 Masters, the strategy will be the same: fairways and greens.

And in the 2002 preview story for Golf Digest he wrote about the sweeping changes being made, including the tree planting and narrowing that he's currently criticizing...

What impressed me was the thought process that came up with new strategies for the course, a thought process that started right after Tiger Woods' record-setting first Masters victory back in 1997. Since then, Augusta National officials, working with consulting architect Tom Fazio and his team of associates, have tracked shots on selected holes during every Masters. The resulting data convinced them that they shouldn't simply push tees back to gain length, they should also move tees left or right to force players to hit certain shots on certain holes.

So last summer, using four separate construction crews, the club added nine new back tees. They also regraded some fairways into new sweet spots. They pushed some fairway bunkers farther out, so they can't easily be carried.

Augusta National will be much more of a shotmaker's golf course from now on. It won't automatically favor the long hook as it did in the past. The first, eighth, 11th and 18th holes now require fades off the tee, then draws into the greens. The ninth, 10th, 13th and 14th still reward draws from the tee, but on 13 and 14, fades are the preferred approach shots (though it's hard to hit a fade on 13, because the fairway provides mostly hook lies).

And...

I was pleased to see the 18th has been stretched to 465 yards, adding 60 yards to the uphill finishing hole. As a major-championship finish, it finally measures up.

Have all these changes "Tigerproofed" Augusta National? Not at all. But they may have Hal Sutton-proofed the course. Long hitters will continue to have the advantage on holes like nine, 10 and 14, where, even with new back tees, big bombers will still be hitting no more than 9-iron approach shots into greens where Arnie and Jack used to routinely hit 6-irons.

Long hitters at Augusta will work harder to hit fairways from now on, especially on the tight, tree-lined seventh and ninth, where, as one Augusta National employee put it, "It's like trying to hit through the neck of a Coke bottle."

What club officials wanted to do at the seventh, now 45 yards longer, was take the 3-wood out of players' hands and force them to hit a driver down the narrowest fairway. (It's just 35 yards wide from tree line to tree line, with the fairway a scant 28 yards wide.) The club also leveled the fairway to eliminate a slingshot effect offered by old ripples in the center, and added a few more pines left of the fairway.

It's not likely many players will take the bait. Most will continue to thread the needle with something less than driver and hit an 8- or 9-iron (instead of sand wedge) onto the perched green.

The real additions to the ninth are newly transplanted pines to the right and a mat of fluffy pine needles beneath them. A loose lie in pine needles may be the worst lie you can find at Augusta National. There's already a lot of that "pine straw" to the right of the 14th hole, where the fairway slopes from left to right. I was told that for this year's Masters, there won't be any cut of rough along that right side of either nine or 14. They don't want anything saving errant drives from rolling into pines and needles.

Mark it down. Augusta National is no longer just a hooker's paradise, or a second-shot course or a putting contest. It's now a complete test of golf, from tee to green. It's now a shotmaker's course.
It is great to see someone like Whitten change his mind and use his position in Golf Digest to voice those views. It's just unfortunate that he did not recognize the damage when it was first inflicted on Jones and MacKenzie's national treasure.

Build A J.W. Marriott, And They Will Come

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Richard Elliott analyzes the Tour's relationship with San Antonio, including prospects of the Texas Open moving to the spring when the 36-hole TPC facility is complete. As always, the Tour's priorities have little to do with the quality of the courses...

In January, when he announced the makeover of the tour landscape, Finchem assured officials with the historic tournament and its sponsor that the completion of the TPC at San Antonio would be the catalyst for a likely move from the tour's lesser-regarded Fall Series to a prime position in the spring launch of the annual FedEx Cup.

Even this week, PGA officials have spoken with confidence of the bright future of San Antonio, thanks to a Tournament Players Club that, unlike models opened in recent years near Dallas and New Orleans, is projected to become a focal point for the tour activity west of the Mississippi.

The tour views the San Antonio project as similar to those in Scottsdale and Sawgrass, built for championship golf but complemented by luxury hotel accommodations.

"Most other courses," one tour official said Thursday, "don't have a J.W. Marriott sitting next to them."


If The Course Weren't So Darned Long...

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I finally got through all of Guy Yocom's excellent oral history of the 1986 Masters, and was fascinated by this comment from Jack II, buried near the end:

Jack Nicklaus II: Last fall we were up at Muirfield Village. It was a cold day, and we were hitting drivers on the range. Dad sidled over to watch me. I'm not super long, but after a few shots he said in a quiet voice, "If I could hit my driver like that, I could still win the Masters."

It's true. His distance control with his irons is terrific. He chips extremely well, and he has zero nerves in his putting. If the course weren't so darned long, he could win the Masters.

Of course he could win. We're talking about my dad.

 

Augusta v. Sawgrass Renovations

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Golf World's Bill Fields looks at the complaints surrounding Augusta's latest renovation and seems prepared to join the critics questioning the rationale and execution of the changes.

At what point does an icon, instead of aging gracefully and naturally, get his face stretched so taut that he becomes a parody of his former self?

Ouch. After citing Mike Weir's reasoned critique as reported last week by Ken Fidlin, Fields has this interesting quote from Mark O'Meara:

To add intrigue, 1998 Masters champion Mark O'Meara is against a reflex to add yardage. "The most talked about holes in golf in the last two years," O'Meara says, "are the shortest holes in golf. They create the most havoc with the best players. Sixteen at Doral, 10 at Riviera, 12 at Augusta. It's the short holes that make a player have to think. If you want to mess with the pros, make them have to make a decision."

Regarding Sawgrass, he picks up on a subject discussed here earlier this week:

In addition to the better turf that will come with Sawgrass' renovation, Woods, for one, would like to see the course much like it was when it first opened. "I've talked to a lot of guys about this," Woods said a year ago at the Players, "and we've all come to the same conclusion: It would be a lot better if there was no rough at all, like how it used to be played … but they've kind of changed that and gone to a U.S. Open-type setup."

And he sums it in a way that gives the impression he's not too optimistic about the chances of Augusta removing its second cut:

With so many young players, who because of their tools, technique and temperament are swatting the ball one way -- hard -- there is all the more reason to offer variety in the courses they encounter. An Augusta National -- without rough, with options -- was the beau ideal. New applicants are now welcome.