Did PGA Identity Crisis Spawn ‘Glory’s Last Shot’?

WHEN DID THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP become known as “Glory’s Last Shot”? Did someone in Palm Beach Gardens come up with that, or maybe an ad agency?

It’s a serious question. I’ve been watching all four majors for many years and I can’t recall when I started hearing the PGA slogan. Now I hear it all the time. Too much, really.

I took to Google to investigate, a cursory research effort, I’ll admit. I didn’t come up with much. Within the first two pages of search results there are references to “Glory’s Last Shot” dating back to at least 2006. That’s as far as I looked.

A 2008 Associated Press story titled “Disrespected PGA Remains ‘Glory’s Last Shot’” touches on the issue.

“Ever since scrapping match play as its format 50 years ago, the PGA Championship has suffered an identity crisis,” reads the opening sentence.

Ah, yes. If you were picking majors the way you choose teams on a school playground, the PGA would be standing self-consciously against the chain-link fence while the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship were fought over. Those three don’t have nicknames or mottos. They don’t need them.

The Masters is associated with Augusta National and Bobby Jones. The U.S. Open is often thought of as the game’s toughest challenge. The Open Championship is the world’s oldest major and the only one played on a links course.

“And what does that make the PGA Championship?” asked the AP story.

“The other one,” Geoff Ogilvy answered with a grin.

Ogilvy was quick to add that it’s still some pretty good competition, which is a bit of an understatement. The PGA Championship often has the best field in golf. And the players certainly want their name on the Wanamaker Trophy, engraved alongside Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Any major is a career-defining or career-enhancing victory, including the PGA Championship, which went from match play to stroke play in 1958. Dow Finsterwald won that year, his only major. Bob Rosburg won the next year, his only major. Jay Hebert and Jerry Barber won the following two PGAs, their only majors.

So, yes, it’s an important major, even if it does have an identity crisis and is propped up with a slogan. I liked the PGA Championship long before it was tagged with “Glory’s Last Shot,” a phrase that I expect to hear too often this week.

−The Armchair Golfer

North-South Amateurs Praise Pinehurst No. 2 Restoration

EARLIER THIS MONTH TOP AMATEURS teed it up in the 111th Men’s North & South Amateur Championship at Pinehurst, North Carolina. It was the most significant tournament at Pinehurst No. 2 since the storied golf course reopened in March following a full restoration by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. A few of the amateurs share their thoughts about No. 2 in the above video. For the North & South, Pinehurst No. 2 played at 7,346 yards and to a par of 71.

Restoration Elements

Beginning in 2008, the $2.5 million restoration was undertaken to elevate the experience for members and resort guests, Pinehurst Resort said in April. The USGA was consulted throughout the process since it will conduct the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open at No. 2 on consecutive weeks in 2014.

Following are specific elements of the restoration.

• The wall-to-wall grass look synonymous with the modern era has been eliminated, leaving just two lengths of grass: greens and everything else.

• All rough has been eliminated from the course.

• Approximately 32 acres of grass have been stripped, returning natural areas of hardpan, sand, pine straw and wiregrass that were part of the original topography. More than 100,000 wiregrass plants were added.

• Fairways have been widened by almost 50 percent on average, offering more strategic options. Fairways also will be kept firmer, benefiting good shots and penalizing stray shots that continue to bounce into distressed areas, pine straw and native grasses.

• Almost 700 sprinkler heads have been removed, leaving about 450 operating heads along the single, center water line. These irrigation lines will define fairways, but leave other areas to be defined by the weather and natural elements.

• The removal of sprinkler heads coupled with no winter overseeding and the focus on firmer conditions will reduce overall water usage by as much as 50 percent.

• Eight new tees have been added to the championship course, increasing the total championship yardage to 7,485 yards from 7,214.

• All greens have been sodded with A1/A4 bent grass.

• Bunkers have been restored, eliminated or reshaped based on aerial images of the course from the 1940s.

• While No. 2’s famous greens went largely untouched, minor modifications were made to the 15th and 17th greens in order to create additional pin placements.

“My mouth literally falls open when I see the incredible work that they’ve done,” said USGA Executive Director Mike Davis.

I hope to get to Pinehurst sometime soon and see for myself.

−The Armchair Golfer

Q&A: TNT’s Jim Huber on ‘FOUR DAYS IN JULY’ (Tom Watson at 2009 Open)

TNT REPORTER AND ESSAYIST Jim Huber has penned his first golf book, FOUR DAYS IN JULY: Tom Watson, the 2009 Open Championship, and a Tournament for the Ages. Huber was at the ‘09 Open reporting for TNT, which included conducting on-camera interviews with Tom Watson as the 59-year-old golf legend came off the course. His first-person narrative of Watson’s age-defying romp at Turnberry is a delight.

I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Jim a month ago at the U.S. Open. He has won the Edward R. Murrow Award for his sports writing and four Emmys for his sports reporting on Turner Sports and CNN. He recently answered my questions about FOUR DAYS IN JULY.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: You had the opportunity to cover this amazing story twice, first as it transpired in your broadcast role for TNT and then much later in book form. What were those two experiences like for you? How were they different?

JIM HUBER: The difference between covering the 2009 Open and then writing about it months later was enormous. Being there and part of it on a daily basis was its usual thrill but the impact of what was happening tended to get lost in the forest of immediacy. I was inundated by constant drama and so what Tom was doing was left for the late-evening suppers when we all gathered over fish and chips and put the pieces together. To spend the next year writing about it was a completely different exercise. I knew the outcome, knew the importance of what was happening, and so my job was to try and create a bit of theatrics, to give the story edges and corners and the chance for the reader to go “Oh, I had completely forgotten about that!” or “Geez, I didn’t know that!”

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Given the huge disappointment for the masses rooting for Tom Watson, it seemed like there couldn’t be a nicer “bad guy” than Stewart Cink. What struck you about Cink’s role in this tragedy and how Cink handled it?

JIM HUBER: Cink’s role was a curious one. He was the villain to the fans, for sure, and even to some of the writers and broadcasters who had not-so-silently cried out for the chance to document history. He handled it remarkably well, much better than most, I figure. He realized he was not going to be the lead in this drama and accepted that along with the Claret Jug with grace and a very genuine smile.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Through writing the book, what did you learn about Watson and Cink that you didn’t already know? Any surprises?

JIM HUBER: My history with Tom Watson was not a good one, quite frankly. We were never adversaries; he was simply always very cool toward me, eager to stare me down and silently admonish me for any questions he deemed silly or unworthy of him. I discovered, in writing the book, that there was a warmth there I had never seen or felt. It was mixed with equal parts pride and I just had never allowed myself—or he had never allowed me—to find that side. Cink, on the other hand, had always been warm and hospitable, generous with his time and thoughts, even when he knew the book would center around Tom and not him.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: The book does a great job of covering Watson’s longevity and ability to be competitive at nearly 60. Of all the factors, did anything stand out for you?

JIM HUBER: One of the qualities about Tom Watson—indeed about any competitor that age—was the ability to handle the enormous pressure, to simply put it aside and concentrate on the job at hand. He told me later that it wasn’t the physical ailments over the years that took the greatest toll but instead the fire inside. I had never given that much thought. He told me he wasn’t tired outside but surely was inside. Somehow, though, he overcame that until, perhaps, the putt on the 72nd hole at Turnberry when a tired Tom Watson lost a bit of focus for the first time all week and allowed that shove to return to his putting stroke.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I really enjoyed the observations and perspective of Watson’s caddie, Neil Oxman. Did you know Oxman before the book, and how did his input help you shape the story?

JIM HUBER: I didn’t know Neil Oxman before I began writing the book. I was told he was a great guy, advised to take advantage of his intelligence and bravado. I had no idea, however, what an enormous role he would play in the compilation of the scenario. He took great delight, it seemed, in re-creation, to the point of even sending me his precious Turnberry yardage book. I had to immediately call him for a translation, for it was impossible for the average man to read or figure out, but he seemed to invest a lot of himself in the book and when I sent him a copy, he said he cried—and then ordered 40 for his clients from the political consultancy.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Do you think we’ll see something like this again, whether from Watson or someone else?

JIM HUBER: I don’t know that we will ever see a tournament quite like this one again, with all of its inherent drama and excitement. I do think, however, someone of Watson’s age might come along and make the same kind of incredible statement—that age really doesn’t play that much of a role, especially along those grounds and in that particular tournament. We had Greg Norman in ’08 and then Watson a year later. I wouldn’t put it past a guy like Tom Lehman or Nick Price to make that kind of magic in the next few years. Guys are staying in better shape, both physically and mentally, and the Open Championship offers a vastly different avenue for those willing to invest themselves in it.

−The Armchair Golfer

Rory McIlroy Goes Back to School

WITH THE BLESSING OF his headmaster, U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy left school at the age of 15 to pursue his career in golf. Recently, McIlroy, toting a large silver trophy, returned to Sullivan Upper in his hometown of Holywood, Northern Ireland. Headmaster John Stevenson must be proud.

The BBC’s Mark Simpson, also a former Sullivan Upper pupil, sat down with RMac for some light-hearted banter about school days and more.

First shocker: young Rory’s favorite subject was P.E. (Ha ha.) His least favorite subject was English Literature.

“All I wanted to do was play golf,” he said.

Lunches?

“A panini every day. That was me.”

The hair used to be shorter, he admitted, when mum and dad had their say.

And his favorite teacher?

“They were all great,” Rory said.

Of course they were. The charmer. The media are putty in his hands.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Titleist.com)

Move Over, Rory; Here Comes Yani

RORY MCILROY IS THE record-smashing U.S. Open champion and perhaps the next Tiger Woods. Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington tagged his fellow Irishman as the player to challenge the majors record of Jack Nicklaus. Rory mania pretty much sucked all of the oxygen out of the golf world last week.

But it’s a new week, so here’s a new fact: McIlroy is only the second-best 22-year-old golfer in the world. Yani Tseng is the best. It ain’t even close.

Tseng collected her fourth major title at the Wegmans LPGA Championship on Sunday, a crushing 10-stroke victory that must be disturbing to the women who compete against her. The women’s top-ranked player, Tseng has racked up four majors faster than anyone in golf history, male or female. The Taiwanese superstar now has won three of the last six majors and a total of eight LPGA events since joining the tour in 2008.

In a wire-to-wire win, Tseng kept her foot on the accelerator, firing 67 and 66 on the weekend and missing the tournament record by a shot. Hitting 57 of 72 greens in regulation, she carded 27 birdies against six bogeys and one double. She averages 270 yards off the tee and can putt the eyes out of a chipmunk.

Oh my gosh. How in the world will the women slow this talent down?

“We knew she was going to be good,” said Cristie Kerr, last year’s LPGA Championship winner. “I didn’t know she would be this good. She is pretty dang good.”

I’ll say.

“Now I’m thinking about a grand slam,” Tseng mentioned.

Uh-oh.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Umbrella Man Returns to Caddie at Travelers Championship

(Plucked and updated from the ARMCHAIR GOLF archives.)

HE’S BACK. UMBRELLA MAN has a new bag this week at the 2011 Travelers Championship. It’s his second caddie appearance at TPC River Highlands.

“What have you been doing?”

Anyone who watched golf telecasts in 2009 probably heard Umbrella Man ask that question to the kiddos in Travelers’ TV spot. The friendly man wearing a gray three-piece suit and sporting a snappy bowler helped stranded circus performers cross a lake and offered two kids a ride on his umbrella when their bike broke down.

The whimsical commercial gave one PGA Tour player an idea as he waited out long weather delays at the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage.

“I could use a cheerful man like that on my bag,” he told ARMCHAIR GOLF. “I like the part when he and the kids fly away on his umbrella. That’s so cool.”

The player asked not to be named in case the new arrangement didn’t work out, although he admitted it would be hard to miss the pair on the course.

“He’s still learning how to read a yardage book and rake a bunker,” the player said. “But if we have buckets of rain, my little gray-suited friend has me covered in a big way.”

At the time, some readers expressed concern.

“I’ve always been a little afraid of Umbrella Man,” commented Bob. “There, I said it.”

“He seems like a nice man,” said Mike, “but I’ve always lived by the credo that I shouldn’t trust a well-dressed person with a massively huge umbrella.”

Perhaps Mike was right because the first caddie assignment didn’t end well. During the second round, Umbrella Man lost his grip on his giant red umbrella on the 7th tee. The falling umbrella knocked a player to the ground in the middle of his backswing. Sustaining a mild concussion, the player was unable to finish his round and withdrew from the tournament.

That was the first and last time Umbrella Man caddied—until this week. Things are going well thus far at this year’s championship, especially during Thursday’s six-hour rain delay. Umbrella Man has never been more popular.

−The Armchair Golfer

(This is an ARMCHAIR GOLF spoof.)

Golf Cracks TIME Magazine’s Evil Sports List

GOLF IS GETTING A LOT attention this week. Rory McIlroy is on the cover of the June 27th issue of Sports Illustrated, which will be on newsstands tomorrow with the cover message, “Golf’s New Era.”

But that’s not all. TIME has placed the game of golf on its “Top 10 Evil Sports List.” Golf is ranked No. 6.

“The aftermath of the U.S. Open may be all rosy sweet, what with Rory McIlroy’s sensational victory, but don’t get too caught up,” writes Ishaan Tharoor. “Apart from being the sport of choice for scheming politicians and fat-cat businessmen, golf is quite frankly a waste of space. It devours the public commons, swallows up water—the preponderance of golf courses in arid places like the Arabian peninsula borders on the obscene—and indulges middle-class ennui the world over.”

OK, a couple of things. First, I’m guessing Tharoor doesn’t play golf and perhaps has never set foot on a golf course. That said, there can be a dark side to this game. As it’s written, “What good is it for a man to become a scratch golfer, yet forfeit his soul?”

Tharoor and TIME have me considering a new evil sport. Below golf on the list are poker, the hunt, American football and wife-carrying races (who knew?). But I’d probably want to take up something more evil than golf just to be daring. Here’s the top five: 1) Soccer, 2) Female Gymnastics, 3) Camel Racing, 4) Boxing, and 5) Bull Fighting.

Soccer involves too much running. Female gymnastics won’t work for obvious reasons. Boxing has too much punching. Bull fighting has too much blood. I guess that leaves camel racing.

Anybody have a camel I can borrow?

−The Armchair Golfer

U.S. Open: ‘The Mechanic’ to Tee Off With Spanish Comrades

THE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY groupings for next week’s U.S. Open are out. Miguel Angel Jimenez, nicknamed “The Mechanic” because of his interest in tinkering with sports cars (notably his red Ferrari), will tour Congressional Country Club with fellow Spanish pros Sergio Garcia and Alvaro Quiros. The trio representing golf in Spain will go off at 1:24 p.m. on Thursday and 7:44 a.m. on Friday.

(Note: There’s also an all-Italian grouping of Francesco Molinari, Matteo Manassero, and Edoardo Molinari that follows directly after the Spaniards. Two of them, of course, are brothers.)

Jimenez, an 18-time winner on the European Tour, including 11 titles since the age of 40, has had spotty results in nine U.S. Open appearances. His best finish was a tie for second in 2000 at Pebble Beach where Tiger Woods dominated the field. That was followed by a dry spell until 2008 at Torrey Pines when The Mechanic finished in a sixth-place tie. The last two years he missed the cut.

Jimenez resides in Malaga, a large coastal city on the Mediterranean Sea about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of the Strait of Gibraltar. This glimmering stretch of coastline has become known as a golf resort destination. Golf Costa Del Sol stretches from Jimenez’s native Malaga to Sotogrande, and includes a number of top championship golf courses and resorts.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Brought to you by YourGolfTravel.com, the online destination for golf breaks uk.)

(Photo credit: Richard Carter, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Hale Irwin Wins 2036 MasterCard Championship

Editor’s note: In honor of 65-year-old Hale Irwin being in contention at the Senior PGA Championship, this is a look back at a post inspired by his 2007 win at the the MasterCard Championship. It was his 45th Champions Tour title. Irwin was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992. I’m pretty certain he is going to play golf forever.

ON SUNDAY HALE IRWIN FIRED a final-round 68 to capture the 2036 MasterCard Championship by two strokes. It was a Champions Tour-record 73rd title for the ageless Irwin, and his first win since turning 90, making him the oldest competitor to win a golf tournament. (Or just about anything, for that matter.)

“I’ve lost about 10 yards off the tee,” Irwin said. “But my iron game is solid and the putts were dropping from everywhere this week.”

Irwin is also the oldest player to win the U.S. Open. He won his third national title in 1990 at 45, or half his current age. The tour veteran sank a 45-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole that tied him with journeyman Mike Donald. He beat Donald the following day in a playoff that went 19 holes at Medinah Country Club in the Chicago suburbs.

After sinking his final putt to clinch the MasterCard Championship in Hawaii, the jubilant Irwin ran along the ropes (actually he walked-jogged) slapping hands with the appreciative gallery.

“Winning never gets old,” he said.

−The Armchair Golfer

(This is an ARMCHAIR GOLF spoof.)

A Comfortable Conversation with Davis Love III

LAST WEEK I HAD THE opportunity to interview Davis Love III as part of the Dove® Men + Care™ media outreach. Called “Journey to Comfort,” the ad campaign features Love, Stewart Cink and other athletes such as Magic Johnson and Bobby Hurley. We discussed the campaign, his mom, his golf game, the U.S. Open and his 2012 Ryder Cup captaincy.

Love has 20 PGA Tour titles, including one major, the 1997 PGA Championship. He also has played on six U.S. Ryder Cup teams and was an assistant captain for Corey Pavin’s 2010 squad.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I heard you had the stomach flu. How are you feeling?

DAVIS LOVE: I’m feeling better, practicing every day, getting ready for a big stretch—Charlotte, Players, Fort Worth, Memorial, all those good ones. I’m excited for the rest of the year.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Yeah, a bunch of good tournaments coming up. I’m going to get to your playing, but I wanted to ask about this campaign you’re working on. I’m old enough to remember the Dove soap ads growing up. You’ve had a lot of golf-related sponsors, but I’ll bet you could never have anticipated having someone like Dove as a sponsor. What has it been like for you?

DAVIS LOVE: It’s been great to be in national ads for a national brand that, as you said, we both grew up with. To be in a campaign like this that has other athletes … Joe Girardi and Bobby Hurley and Magic Johnson and Davis Love and Stewart Cink, it’s pretty amazing. The response has been incredible. So many people come up to me and say, “I’m comfortable in my own skin, too.” People are asking me which soap I like best. They’re saying I sure like that one [TV spot] about your mom. Not only is it brand building, it’s also telling my story. People know that my dad was a pro, that I got lessons from my dad. But my mom was such a big part of my golf life. It’s great to give her some credit and tell that story. It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve been good friends with the Cinks for a long time. It’s been fun to partner with them on this.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I think my favorite one [commercial] was with your mom. Of course, I knew about your father. A lot of people have heard about him. But you say that you got your talent from your mom. Obviously, she was a pretty good golfer herself. How would you say that she helped you in the game?

DAVIS LOVE: In reality, she was the one who taught us to compete, because she was the one who took us out on the course. My mom was a single-digit handicap for 50 years. She didn’t start playing golf until she was in her early 20s. She just picked up the clubs and immediately started playing well. She was very competitive. Not in a U.S. Amateur or tour pro sense, but just competitive with herself. She just wanted to play her best every single day. My dad was a great player and a great teacher, but we didn’t get to play nearly as much with our dad as we did with our mom. My dad was working at the shop, or practicing, or playing. When we were 10 years old, it was a fantasy to try to beat your mom. Not worried about beating your dad. Got to beat your mom first. She didn’t want to get beat by her kids or the ladies she played with. She drove us all over the Southeast to play in tournaments. She was the one to make it happen, for sure. Nice for her to get the credit she certainly deserves.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: It’s a nice story, especially with Mother’s Day coming up. I saw a couple of weeks ago you were concerned about your chipping. How’s your game right now, and what are you working on?

DAVIS LOVE: Right now I am working on chipping. I was chipping yesterday and my son walked up and said, “So how are you chipping?” I said, “That’s the problem. I’m thinking about my chipping, I’m talking about my chipping [chuckling], everybody’s concerned about my chipping.” Yes, I need to work on my short game. As Bob Rotella says, the scoring clubs is what I need to be working on. I can hit the ball plenty far, hit plenty of good shots. I know how to play. I just got to work on the scoring clubs, and that’s as much mental as it is physical. So it’s pre-shot routine, playing games, hitting bunker shots. Not just hitting 50 bunker shots. Trying to hole one to each hole, trying to chip some chips in, play some putting games. With my son or Brad Faxon, I just love to play this back and forth putting game. Practice is more practicing shots and playing games. Hitting high cuts instead of just standing there and smacking 7-irons.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Is all that work still fun for you?

DAVIS LOVE: It’s a lot of fun. I find myself lost in the practice, just like when I was a kid. Yesterday when I was on the range, the high school team was practicing, a little clinic of 10-year-olds, and the 47-year-old tour player that’s been doing it forever. I still love doing it, I still love the challenge, I still love competing. If you don’t go out and practice your chipping, you’re not going to be competitive. As I said, I’m looking forward to this next big stretch of tournaments. I’m excited about the year. I still have goals in my career that I haven’t reached. I’m not going to sit back and relax. I don’t like missing cuts. I don’t like not winning. The tough thing is to try not to work so hard that you’re trying too hard. Get the work done, be consistent with your work, be prepared when you get to the tournament, and then go play. That’s what’s been disappointing since the Florida Swing started. I just don’t feel like I’ve gotten to a tournament 100 percent prepared. So that’s my goal for Charlotte, Players, right on through the summer, getting ready for the U.S. Open. Just be prepared and go out and play and get your confidence back.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I was looking ahead to the U.S. Open. You had a nice finish there last year. You tied for sixth. I looked at 1997 to see how you did, and you had a top-20 finish at Congressional. How do you like Congressional, and how does it set up for your game?

DAVIS LOVE: I think it really sets up well. It’s a big, long, hard course. It looks like a major championship, whether you’re playing Tiger’s AT&T tournament or a major. I’ve always liked it. I’ve played there all the way back to ’86. Pebble has always set up well for me, and I played well there. I felt like at the Players and at the Open last year at Pebble I was right there, like Dustin Johnson and so many other guys. A double here, a double there—I could have won the tournament. I’m excited about Congressional. I’ve always enjoyed playing there and I feel like it suits my game. In the U.S. Open, it comes down to hitting fairways and making putts. That comes with confidence. I think I have the experience. Once I get near the lead, I do pretty good. I just got to get a little more consistent on the Thursday, Friday.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I have to ask you one Ryder Cup question. You’ve been a part of a lot of Ryder Cups and now you’re captain. What does the Ryder Cup mean to you, and what does it mean that it’s your turn to be at the helm?

DAVIS LOVE: It means a lot to me. It means a lot that six captains that I’ve played for, and then Corey that I was assistant for, have put so much into making those seven weeks of my golf career so incredible. I want to give these next 12 guys—who hopefully six or seven of them have played before—I want to give that back to them. I want it to be … an incredible week for the players. Of course, we want to win. But I think, whether win or lose the Ryder Cup or the President’s Cup, it’s still an incredible week for the players. I want to do everything I can to give that back to the game and to the Ryder Cup and to the players what was given to me by the Kites and the Crenshaws and Watsons, Curtis Strange.

I want the guys to feel like they’re a little bit more prepared for Friday this time than they were last time. It’s not a normal week. It’s a Super Bowl week. I want our Super Bowl week to at least have enough normalcy that we can feel like when we go to the first tee on Friday that we’re ready to play. I know what it feels like not to be prepared. I want these guys to feel like we’ve done everything we can to prepare. Let’s just go have fun and play and win this thing. Take a little pressure off of them. Let them just go have fun. I think we’ll do well.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I wish you all the best, Davis, with that, and also with this next stretch of golf. Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it.

DAVIS LOVE: Thank you very much.

−The Armchair Golfer

Coming soon: Stewart Cink

8,300 Golfers from 67 Countries Enter 2011 U.S. Open

THE USGA REPORTED TODAY that 8,300 golfers have submitted entries for the 2011 U.S. Open Championship, which is returning to Congressional Country Club near Washington, D.C., where Ernie Els won the second of his two U.S. Open titles in 1997. The year’s second major will be played June 16-19.

All entrants are professionals or amateurs with a USGA Handicap Index no higher than 1.4. Sixty-five are fully exempt, including nine past champions: Graeme McDowell (2010), Angel Cabrera (2007), Michael Campbell (2005), Ernie Els (1994, 1997), Jim Furyk (2003), Lucas Glover (2009), Retief Goosen (2001, 2004), Geoff Ogilvy (2006) and Tiger Woods (2000, 2002, 2008).

Entries poured in from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 66 other countries. More than 700 applicants listed foreign addresses. The USGA accepted online entries for the first time. Amateur Herbie Aikens submitted the first entry on March 2. Hawaiian Kevin Hayashi barely beat the 5 p.m. EDT deadline, transmitting his entry with only 15 seconds to spare.

An 18-hole local qualifier will take place at 111 sites on May 6-19. A 36-hole sectional qualifier will follow at two international sites (May 23 in Japan and May 30 in England) and 11 U.S. sites on June 6.

The number of exemptions has increased. It includes the top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking, the top 10 money leaders on the 2011 PGA Tour and the top five money leaders on the 2011 European PGA Tour. (The cutoff date is May 23.) Other exemptions include the winner of the 2011 Players Championship and any multiple winner of official PGA Tour co-sponsored events between June 20, 2010, and June 12, 2011.

There will only be one winner. Any early predictions?

More info about the 2011 U.S. Open

−The Armchair Golfer

Ray Ainsley’s Historic 19 at Cherry Hills

WHEN I HEARD ABOUT Kevin Na’s 16 in the first round of the Valero Texas Open two weeks ago, I thought of Ray Ainsley. Ainsley holds the record for the highest single-hole score in the history of the U.S. Open: 19.

It occurred in 1938 at Cherry Hills Country Club outside of Denver, the first National Open played west of the Mississippi River. Ralph Guldahl was in the midst of a four-year tear during which he won three consecutive Western Opens, two consecutive U.S. Opens and a Masters. Guldahl was cruising to a six-stroke victory as the field played the customary 36 holes on the final day.

The lanky Texan strolled along the par-71 layout without a hair out of place. Guldahl, you see, was a compulsive hair comber. It was his way of easing tension. “On an important shot,” he said, “I try to steady my nerves. That comb has saved me many a stabbed putt.”

(Photo: Ralph Guldahl. While Guldahl won the Open, Ray Ainsley won notoriety.)

Yet it was Ainsley, a club pro from Ojai, California, who may be best remembered from that first U.S. Open played in the West—and for all the wrong reasons. He dunked his approach shot into a creek that bordered the green on the par-4 16th. You can probably see what’s coming. The club pro was determined to hit out of the creek. There was a problem. The ball was completely submerged in water.

According to a Cherry Hills historical account, Ainsley attacked the ball like a “wild man.” This went on for 30 minutes. That’s right, half an hour.

You might be asking yourself, “Why didn’t the goofball simply take a drop?” Because he forgot that he could take relief from a water hazard. “I thought I had to play the ball as it lay all the time,” Ainsley later told a rules official.

Bud McKinney, Ainsley’s playing partner, said that once during the tragic ordeal scorekeeper Red Anderson laughed so hard he fell to the ground. At that point, Ainsley had taken nine swings at the waterlogged ball. On a few occasions, the ball made it to the bank, only to roll back in the water. Spectators screamed, “There it is! There it is!” when the ball crawled upon dry land. But it wouldn’t stay.

The water was flowing, too, so by the time Ainsley finally hit the ball out of the creek on his 17th stroke he had lost 75 yards in distance. He pitched onto the green and one-putted for a 19, although some thought he took a 21 or a 23. Ainsley finished his round with a 96.

It has been nearly 75 years since Ray Ainsley splashed down in that creek on the 16th at Cherry Hills. He still desperately needs someone to make a 20. But I don’t think it’s going to happen any time soon.

−The Armchair Golfer

My Happy Ignorance of Delayed Honda Coverage

ON SUNDAY AT 4 P.M. Eastern Time I tuned in to final-round coverage of the Honda Classic. This is pretty typical for me. I’m a lot like the guy who tunes in to the final quarter of an NBA game. I’m most interested in the back nine on Sunday, especially from 14 or so to the clubhouse. Besides, most weekends I’m just not able to invest long hours in front of the tube (unless it’s the Masters or U.S. Open or British Open or Ryder Cup). If I could devote that much time to golf viewing, then my daughters would already be at college and I’d be pondering my Medicare prescription plan.

I read this morning that some people were miffed about the tape-delayed coverage of the final round. As Mostly Harmless pointed out, this has been the case for most of the last decade at Palm Beach Gardens. The sun sets at around 6:30 p.m. in early March in Florida. Tournament organizers want to make sure the event concludes on Sunday. NBC has other obligations and wants to stick to the normal 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. time slot.

It had no impact on this armchair golfer. I wasn’t online so I didn’t know ahead of time that Rory Sabbatini held off Y.E. Yang to win his sixth PGA Tour title. I try to unplug on Sunday, a digital day of rest.

I was totally ignorant as the gentler, kinder “Sabo” survived the Bear Trap and his orange friend, Yang, to claim a one-stroke victory. I thought I was watching live television when Rory tearfully told Dottie Pepper how much he looked forward to Maui in January. (I, too, would shed crocodile tears if I could go to Hawaii in the dead of winter.)

I watched the Jackfest (Jack Nicklaus in the booth with Johnny Miller and Dan Hicks). That was nothing new. Johnny and Jack are like my golf uncles. I feel like I’ve heard every one of their stories many times. (Which must mean I’m really old.) It’s like a golf family reunion with Uncle Johnny and Uncle Jack.

Those shirts threw me, though. Johnny and Dan were wearing polo shirts adorned with Golf Channel logos. I know about the new partnership between NBC and Golf Channel. And I’ve seen the “Golf Channel on NBC” tagline. But I guess I still don’t get it. Not entirely. I certainly didn’t expect to see Johnny Miller and Dan Hicks wearing blue Golf Channel shirts.

Maybe I need to re-read that Golf Channel press release.

−The Armchair Golfer

George S. May, Hero of American Golf (Conclusion)

Between 1941 and 1958, some of the greatest golf tournaments in America were staged just west of Chicago at Tam O’Shanter Country Club in Niles, Illinois. The man behind them was the country club owner and tournament organizer, George S. May. Golf Magazine would name May one of the “100 Heroes of American Golf.” And Senior Golfer magazine said of May, he “singlehandedly lifted golf to prominence.”

Following is the conclusion of a two-part story on May. You can read Part 1 here.

By John Coyne
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

GEORGE MAY’S GREATEST MOMENT in golf came in July 1953 when The Tam O’Shanter World Championship became the first golf tournament to be nationally televised. By now, the winner’s share of the tournament had grown to $25,000, an amount higher than the total purse of every other professional tournament.

Fledgling network ABC became interested in the event because of the large prize and offered to do a one-hour broadcast of the final round if May paid $32,000. May understood the publicity value of televising the tournament, both in terms of the people watching and the print coverage of the broadcast.

(Photo: John Coyne)

It is said that an estimated one million people watched as a single camera located above the grandstand on the 18th green followed the conclusion of the tournament. There were only ten minutes left in the broadcast when golfer Lew Worsham, trailing by one shot, made a 115-yard eagle to win the tournament and the $25,000. It was great television and immediately showed the potential for golf on the medium. Not to be upstaged, May stepped onto the green to announce that the first-place prize for the 1954 tournament would be doubled to $50,000, plus the winner would also have the opportunity to play 50 exhibitions to promote his consulting company at $1,000 each.

Following in May’s footsteps, the U.S. Open was nationally televised for the first time in 1954 and the Masters in 1956.

The end of professional golf’s association with May would come a few years later, in 1958, when he refused to meet the PGA’s demands for even more money. So furious was he at professional golfers, he put a sign outside the club’s main entrance banning any PGA pros from coming on the grounds.

May continued to operate Tam O’Shanter Country Club until his death in 1962. His widow eventually sold the property to a developer in the late 1960s. Today, a few of the old holes are still part of the public course run by the town of Niles, and George May lives on in the memory of those who were lucky enough to be around when he turned golf into a television sport.

John Coyne is the author of The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan and The Caddie Who Played with Hickory. His next book, coming this spring, is The Caddie Who Won the Masters. Learn more at John Coyne Books.

Will Tiger Regain His Dominant Form?

WILL TIGER WOODS EVER BE the same? That’s a burning question as Tiger begins his 16th season on the PGA Tour this week at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. It has been nearly 500 days since Tiger last won on the PGA Tour. It has been two and a half years since he won his 14th major at the same course where he begins his 2011 campaign.

The boys are not afraid of Tiger. They give him respect, as they should, but they believe he is beatable. The boys are very good. And there are more of them. This will make Tiger’s latest comeback harder.

I expect Tiger to groove his new Sean Foley swing, especially with the irons. I’m in the wait-and-see camp when it comes to his driver. Even when Tiger’s swing was at its best through the years, he hit far too many crazy-wild drives. They appeared out of nowhere. I think he’s a head case when it comes to the driver. Foley can’t solve that.

My hunch is that Tiger will not reach the same dizzying heights in golf. He’ll still win, but not as much.

Will he catch and pass the majors record of Jack Nicklaus?

I’d put that at even money. I won’t be shocked either way. I’m leaning toward no. I just don’t see Tiger being as dominant. That’s not a knock, especially when you consider the run he’s had.

One of Tiger’s short-term problems is regaining his confidence. Winning breeds winning. Not winning breeds frustration and despair. Whatever you point to as the reasons—and there are plenty—Tiger hasn’t won in a long while. It has eroded his confidence. He is human, after all.

Finally, I’ve noticed for nearly three years that Tiger doesn’t have the same magic on the greens. I’m speaking primarily of the majors. I think I first detected it at the 2008 Masters. Except for his epic playoff victory at the U.S. Open that same year, Tiger’s putter has been suspect at recent majors.

Last year, I was aghast when Tiger complained about the greens at Pebble Beach. Can you imagine the 2000 Tiger griping? That kid rolled in everything on Pebble’s crusty putting surfaces.

Indeed, the putter may be Tiger’s biggest long-term problem. He wouldn’t be alone. All the greats eventually lost their mastery of the greens, except for the man Tiger is chasing. Nicklaus putted exceptionally well throughout his long career. Tiger will need to regain his clutch putting touch if he hopes to overtake Jack.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Name the 3 in Step Players

“NAME THE PLAYER” IS BACK with a three-player edition. Who are these three in-step players? Do they look familiar? I expect at least one or two do.

The photo was snapped at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. I confess that I can only identify two of them, so I need your help. Good luck.

−The Armchair Golfer

Other “Name the Players”:
Name the Player at the AT&T National
Name the Player in Silhouette
Name the Player at the PGA Championship
Name the Old-Time Players
Name the Player Practicing in the Bunker
Name the Player Along on the Range
Name the Player at the LPGA Championship
Name the Player Signing the Deal in 1971
Name the Player at TPC Sawgrass
Name the Player Based on the Shoes and Footwork

(Photo credit: cf, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Rocco Is Loving Life and First Tattoo

OF THE 34 WINNERS set to tee off Thursday at the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Rocco Mediate may be the most grateful. The Roc Man’s PGA Tour status was in serious doubt until he pulled off a surprising Fall Series win at the Frys.com Open, his sixth career victory and first title in eight long years.

Now he’s in Kapalua with a new attitude and new tattoo, his first, an “R,” “N” and “M” on his right bicep. The letters are the initials of his three sons, Rocco, Nikko and Marco. A photograph of his tattoo will appear in the March issue of Golf Digest.

“I’m 48 and got cooler,” Mediate told the magazine’s Dave Shedloski.

It wasn’t impulsive. Rocco had been thinking about it for a while. He wanted the tattoo to mean something. So now he has his boys on his arm.

Being able to play in a winners-only event means something, too. Mediate is the oldest player in the field. During the slump and injuries that followed his epic playoff duel with Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open, Rocco must have wondered if he would have any more big moments on the PGA Tour. Then along came that special week in San Jose.

“Everything is getting better,” he said, including his troublesome back. “… And it’s pretty cool. I still think I can compete out here.”

−The Armchair Golfer

Visor tip to Dave Shedloski at Local Knowledge

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

‘The Three Tenors’ of Graeme McDowell

THOSE THREE PUTTS THAT Graeme McDowell dropped at 17, 18 and 18 to beat Tiger Woods yesterday at the Chevron World Challenge were virtuosity, sort of like (sorry in advance) The Three Tenors.

By some odd coincidence, I tuned in to the final round of the Chevron World Challenge as Woods and McDowell reached the 14th hole. I wasn’t planning on watching golf, but my daughters had relinquished the TV in the living room and I took control of the remote.

Tiger had coughed up his four-shot lead and the pesky Irishman was not backing off an inch. This was kind of interesting, even if it was a silly season event. The more I watched, the more I realized there was nothing silly about the late-afternoon drama at Sherwood Country Club. Progress is progress, but, let’s face it, Tiger needed this win. He had a four-stroke lead heading into the final round. Four strokes. He’s Tiger Woods. It’s part of the brand. No choking on Sunday. I don’t care if it’s an 18-player event in December, it’s on NBC. People are watching. He needed to get it done. Instead, Tiger looked like he had been through the pressure cooker—and was cooked.

McDowell yanked his 8-iron on the par-3 17th and had such awful options that he deliberated forever. I grew impatient. C’mon, Graeme, make up your mind. I couldn’t believe he was considering dropping his ball on the 18th tee for a blind 40-yard pitch. Then he knocked the darn thing on 10 feet away. Tiger missed his birdie, and McDowell grinded over his bogey putt and sank it. I’ll call that one the “Jose Carreras.”

Tied, Tiger stuffed his approach shot on the 18th while McDowell pulled his iron and rolled to a stop 20 feet away. It’s over. Everybody knows it. We’ve seen this before. Stevie removed his caddie bib. But McDowell stalked the putt like his life depended on it. Then the ol’ boy rolled it in the heart, a “Placido Domingo.”

Hello! What’s this? Wow!

Tiger nudged in his three-footer and they headed back to the 18th tee. Up to this point, I could accept what happened. McDowell is tough. The man can make an important putt. As impressive as it was, it’s not inconceivable that he could hole a clutch putt on the final green, even against Tiger Woods.

But McDowell’s third putt, the “Luciano Pavarotti,” about put me over the edge. Three holes, three putts of 10, 20 and 25 feet to beat Tiger in a playoff. I admit it wasn’t the U.S. Open, nor was it the Ryder Cup, but those were still three of the best putts I’ve seen anyone drop in a long, long while. The look on Tiger’s face said it all.

−The Armchair Golfer

An Outdated Glimpse of Kyle Stanley

KYLE STANLEY, AN ALL-AMERICAN at Clemson and Nationwide Tour player, leads the final stage of the PGA Tour Q-school after a first-round 65 at the Orange County Golf Center in Orlando, Florida. Stanley finished 35th on the Nationwide Tour money list and won the 2009 Ben Hogan Award, the most prestigious award in men’s college golf.

Every once in a while I get a call from my brother-in-law. “Hey, did you hear about Kyle Stanley?” He made the cut at the U.S. Open. He’s near the lead in Boise. Or something else.

It’s a topic because we used to watch Kyle run around on the lawn with his sister at Glendale Country Club in Bellevue, Washington. He might have been 10 years old. Kyle’s dad, Matt, was a friend of my father-in-law. There was a group of us that would gather for Memorial Day and Labor Day barbecues at the club. I wasn’t a member. I was strictly a guest eater and pretend son of Mel in the father-son tournament. It was an opportunity to pig out and make small talk with people I saw twice a year.

There was Kyle throwing ball out on the grass with his older sister. Every once in a while he’d make a breathless pit stop at our table to check in with mom and dad. That kid out on the lawn turned out to be a phenomenal golfer.

I saw Kyle at the 2009 Wyndham Championship in Greensboro pounding balls on a sweltering August afternoon. I had a fleeting thought of saying something to him but quickly reconsidered. He wouldn’t know me. What would I say? I used to eat ribs and corn on the cob with your dad on Memorial Day weekend ...

Funny, I got one of those “Kyle” messages exactly a month ago from another person who sat with us and the Stanleys in the Glendale dining room.

“Ever thought about looking into Kyle Stanley who is now on the Nationwide Tour?” Karen wrote in an email. “He is not winning but I see on Sunday reports that he hangs around the 10-30 spot. Big Ed loved Kyle.”

(Big Ed was my father-in-law. He died in 2006.)

I think Kyle Stanley is going to make it to the big show, the PGA Tour. I’m sure I’ll be hearing more about him. The kid can flat play.

−The Armchair Golfer

The Genius of Johnny Miller

HATE HIM OR LOVE HIM, Johnny Miller is a lightening rod in the television tower and was an immensely talented player who could match shots with the best players of his generation, including Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino.

In The Genius of Johnny, Jaime Diaz profiles Miller for Golf Digest (December issue). Here’s an interesting tidbit that I didn’t know (or had forgotten). John Miller was told by his agent, Ed Barner, to go by “Johnny” to promote his image. But he grew up being called “John” and signs his name without adding the “ny.”

I remember Johnny as a player who literally knocked down the flagsticks in the mid 1970s at PGA Tour stops such as Tucson, Phoenix and Palm Springs. Sometimes faulty, my memory served me well. Diaz reports that Johnny “… did crazy-good things, like hitting the flag 10 times with iron shots while winning at Tucson.”

My favorite player was Jack Nicklaus, but Johnny Miller was the best iron player I ever saw. From January 1974 to January 1975, Miller won 10 times in a career that produced 25 PGA Tour victories, two of them majors, the 1973 U.S. Open and 1976 British Open. Johnny slumped after the mid 1970s blitz and has said he lost his desire to excel on tour as he and wife Linda raised six children.

Here’s what a couple of Johnny’s peers told Diaz.

Lanny Wadkins: “Johnny was the best I ever saw at hitting pure golf shots. I was very fortunate to play with a lot of the true greats: Jack and Trevino and Tiger, sure, but also Snead, Hogan and Nelson, who might have been past it, but not so you couldn’t see what they could do. But I can’t imagine that anyone in history has ever consistently hit the ball as solid and as close to the pin as Johnny did.”

Lee Trevino: “Johnny’s advantage was damn-near perfect mechanics. He had that extremely weak grip like Hogan, and he would set it going back and then just release it as hard as he could with total confidence. He didn’t have to re-route it or hold onto it or practice like hell, like most of the rest of us. Maybe because he grooved it so young, he was basically on automatic, where hitting the ball hard and straight and solid was actually easy. He got to a very rare place.”

Among others things, Johnny says one of his regrets is not winning the Masters, where he finished second three times. Wherever you stand on Johnny, Diaz’s profile is a worthwhile read. You’ll probably learn something you didn’t know about him.

−The Armchair Golfer