Trav

I was one of those who thought his time had gone. Glad to see it looks like I may be wrong, although I would like to see a few more event results before accepting that this wasn't a one-time thing and the Tour Through Golf Hell has really, finally, ended. He has something a lot of younger players don't when it comes to being able to handle pressure.

That is a good line.... I tried a 5H when I was in the throes of hybrid love. Like all early romances after longer and somewhat stale relationships, it was nice at first, then I learned more about her personality. She handled great off the deck and on those quickie par 3s. But she can't handle the rough spots very well and I began to remember how versatile my 5I was. With just a little practice and counselling, I was able to regain the old touch my 5I craved and she rewarded me in kind. Now my 5H sits alone. Hopefully she will let bygones be bygones when my 5I finds I can no longer perform to her expectations, but with all the new technology that may be a while. My 4H is getting a little nervous, too.

The favored team in the basketball event, too.

There are local non-disturbance ordinances that would prevent me from wearing these pants, not to mention my wife would refuse to be seen in the same foursome. But seriously, while I have criticized John for wasting his enormous talent, and maybe it's just a matter of time before he falls off the wagon again, I'm not going to fault his clothing judgments when he has shown his willingness to stand behind people regarding the really important stuff (Amy Mickelson) when he didn't have to say or do anything. Means much more to me than listening to Kenny Perry complain about others should be playing more tour events.

Only on the water holes.

But Nike wants to sell new clubs, not have players hang onto their old ones (or buy them from someone else on ebay). Fewer new club sales > less money for endorsements contracts. Not that the pros would care about taking smaller endorsement $$, of course.

I agree he is probably finished, but winning 13 PGA titles in 4 years, including a major, and hitting No. 1 in the world, is not, in my book, a "flash."

I'm not disagreeing with you - but asking - why is he so popular in NY? He's a native Califiornian. Is there some NY connection?

The WSJ author said because his ball was shorter, moderately offline shots did not travel far enough to get into trouble as often. The Campbell results were the subject of a weekly local radio show on golf by a well-known knowledgeable store owner. He said (loosely remembered) that balata balls begin to lose some of their distance after a year or so in storage as the rubber inside the ball begins to lose its elasticity much the same way that stretched rubber bands lose their stretch over time, and thus that it is very hard to accurately measure/compare balata (which is not being made anymore) with new balls.

Recent article about results of Chad Campbell using older equipment, including chart: http://www.golfdigest.com/golfworld/...tance_stachura Note the increase in swing speed, partly (mostly?) attributable to use of lighter equipment.

My impression of Stricker is - good skills, nice guy but probably too nice. He has never shown the toughness to stand up to game's heavyweights in a fight to the finish. If he could develop a true competitive streak, I think he could be really good, but I think odds are against it happening at this stage. I like Clark, one of the most unathletic looking good players out there. Very surprised he missed that winning putt on 18. Hitting the pin on 17 - remarkable bad luck. I don't know how much of the pink shirts was due to PGA pressure or genuinely felt by the players, but it was a nice touch and made me think these guys are pretty decent people.

Yes, but I don't know why I bother. I never listen.

After only 7 holes of Round 2, I'm afraid the question has almost certainly been answered, as he now stands 4 over (and 4 over the current cut line - which will probably even lower), ahead of 6 players. Maybe he can join the tower this weekend, he could add a lot about how certain holes are playing.

Right after fans moved the large rock sitting in front of his ball ....... Just kidding, mostly - I also don't see Tiger doing what Perry did.

I agree the primary burden is with players to enforce the rules on themselves and when they call an official over, the official is assisting them in applying the rules. However, officials can act as referees in some ways. Perhaps you are referring to the duties of a specific sub-category of officials such as those on the course during play, but if "rules officials" (speaking generally here, as I don't know all the distinctions of officials' categories and their roles) are not supposed to do enforce the rules when a player ignores/breaks them, there would have been no inquiries after the fact of any incident, such as about McElory's swings in the sand or when somebody watching TV calls in to claim they saw a violation.

I actually remember watching this at the time it happened and wondered why it was not a penalty. I know I would have been called on it at my club championship. I notice the TGC talking heads last night said it was inconclusive. How much of this was because they really thought it was inconclusive, and how much was because no one wanted to open a headline against a nice guy well after the fact, who knows. Surprised no one has followed up on Charley Hoffman's comment that everyone does it. I know he was trying to calm things down and take heat off Perry, but if this is what the pros do, then the rule should be re-written so we amateurs can have the same leeway. And think about the dubious value of a rule if there is an even split over whether it has been broken afte watching a fairly reasonable (i.e., close-up) replay. If players like JP Hayes are going to be penalized/disqualified for (apparently inadvertently) changing balls during a round - with the result he loses his tour card - then I have a hard time seeing why Perry should not have been penalized.

This has been my experience, too. I have bought a lot of clubs on eBay - in fact, I rarely buy new at stores, usually very slightly used clubs which can be had at greatly reduced prices on eBay, to the point my wife laughs about it - and if they are fake, they play as well (or I still play as badly) as with the genuine article. I would guess most of the time individual sellers selling their personal clubs are not selling fakes. I have not generally used the eBay Stores because the prices are higher, and unless you are really impatient you can almost always get a better price for a club in great condition through the normal auction process. I do read feedback carefully, but having seen several threads now about fakes on eBay I suppose I should be more careful about asking questions of the seller beforehand.

Feherty at times has sophomoric humor, or non-funny humor, or over the top humor, or loses sight of proper context (such as Don Imus at quasi-public functions), but that's true of all professional humorists. When he errs, he is still willing to laugh at himself (example - calling Tiger a loser - was that racist, or just a chuckle event where he was willing to make himself the butt of the joke he messed up?) They have to shoot a lot of shots to hit a few targets. (Is that an offensive metaphor?) I do not believe for one second that you have never told, or enjoyed listening to, a political joke, especially on the golf course. If this had been an Al Franken riff on Bush, I doubt you would have complained (and we all might laugh at it). I'm guessing you have never heard of the Washington Correspondent's dinner (occurred last weekend), or the Alfalfa Club Dinner, which are annual events in Washington where insiders make far worse jokes about the political process, including the president who is usually a guest at such proceedings, and everyone else. Or you could just watch late night TV. Some people only like to joke about the politicians they oppose, but most people are equal-opportunity jokesters. Perhaps you should drop the partisan outrage and laugh a bit yourself.

I heard it, couldn't quite believe it. I think she lacks complete familiarity with the subject.....

Good question, was thinking the same thing yesterday. I think 3 things: 1) Effect of the wind is hard to gauge - speed and direction all over the place. 2) Green is slicker for such events than for normal play and you have little room for error if the ball doesn't stop - if it keeps rolling you have only a small tuft of collar to hold it. 3) These guys are really good but we tend to overlook how often their great short/around green game bails them out of less-than-perfect T shots, and on this hole there is no short game.

Betting against Tiger is not a way to accumulate wealth. However, accuracy at Sawgrass is important, and last week Tiger hit only 45% of fairways. Phil was 41%. If you are going to pick someone other than these two, now's the time to do it.

Hindsight is always better/easier - but I would have: 1) Said something to him at the time, not yelling at him but calling him on his behavior and asking him if he was interested in playing a considerate round - esp. since there were 3 of you and 1 of him - usually being called out, politely, is enough to shame most people, and most of the time I have found people will respond to a polite but firm message. 2) If he continued acting like a jerk, I would have driven him back to the clubhouse as you suggested and either dropped him off or demanded a refund, or called from the course. Life is too short to put up with such behavior. I know it's hard to do, but this sounds a lot worse than just the annoying playing partner you are willing to put up with. 3) I would have called the pro shop and reported it afterwards - most courses don't want to get a negative rep, esp. in these times when many courses are struggling. If they defended him, then you know this is not a course worth patronizing and you can post feedback on the many course review sites, which will get their attention. But if you don't report him, the problem will continue and the next poor guy who gets tied in with him will wish the previous partners had done something. Amazing how some people just can't accept the game is supposed to be fun for everyone.

You can call it an eagle if you wore a skirt and used the women's scorecard for the entire round. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I think this is a good point. The more I see of Chamblee, the more I think he is the future chief talking head of golf. I don't know what he is like in real life, but on the tube he is knowledgable and personable. I foresee a short career on TGC in favor of a network role, if he wants it.

If that's true - I should be Tour-ready any day now....