"It has been quite a journey."

Steve Elling looks at the Nationwide success stories of Erik Compton, Billy Hurley and Ted Potter, including this new revelation from Compton about his heart:

For much of his life, the destination was hardly ordained. When Compton made it to PGA Tour Qualifying School finals last fall and struggled, guaranteeing him only limited status on the Nationwide in 2011, he not only wasn't sure where he would be playing, but how much he could play, period, because of his physical limitations.

He hit the wall after winning the Mexico Open last summer and his body began rejecting his heart. Doctors gave him doses of Prednisone, which sapped his strength for several weeks and left him so shaky he could not drive for parts of three weeks.

"My hands were too shaky," he said.

"This does open the door on putting huge amounts of pressure on our future stars of the game.”

Sean Martin talks to coaches and others in the golf world about the new amateur status rules. The takeaway: college coaches are dreading the issues that will come along with the new rules, while international coaches like Golf Australia's Brad James are concerned about added pressure from agents on young players.
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"Change 267 Years in Making: A Tweak in the Rules of Golf"

Great to see Adam Schupak's story on the latest rules tweaks and the evolution of golf's rules making it to A1 of the New York Times. 

Why so many rules for a game whose basic principle is to play the course as you find it and not touch the ball until you lift it from the hole?

“We could issue a more simple rule book, but I’m afraid it would fail the fairness test, and what good would that do?” Mr. Rickman said.