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by Jeff Skinner

I’m one of a dying breed.  I still like to read magazines and newspapers.  You remember them.  They were big before this internet thing took off like it has.  On Sunday there is nothing better than spending a few hours with the Sunday paper.  I still have subscriptions to a few monthly golf magazines and I look forward to them each month.  Thumbing through each and every page is a simple pleasure I relish.  One of my favorite columnists is David Feherty.  On the CBS telecasts he is funny and always offers an unusual perspective on what can sometimes be a dull telecast.  In his column he takes it to another level.  He’ll lay into anyone or anything he dislikes.  He bows to “she who must be obeyed” as he calls his wife.  He plays the self deprecating jester well and can be counted on to be as irreverent and juvenile as anyone could ever imagine.  He’s funny, there’s no other way to put it.

However in this month’s Golf Magazine Feherty misses his mark when he chastises the media, tabloids and mainstream, for their feeding frenzy on Tiger Woods.  For years I have listened to Feherty cover Tiger and watched him interview Woods.  It’s easy to see that Feherty thinks Tiger can makes shots that no one even thinks about.  It’s obvious that he thinks Woods is the best ever and that’s fine.  But whenever Feherty talks Tiger he takes the position that most journalist have.  His lips are firmly planted on Mr. Woods butt.  That’s all right with me, I understand it.  Tiger is the reason plenty of people in the golf industry are employed and he is the reason purses, and television ratings and the entire revenue of the golf industry are what they are.  But then Feherty says this in his column:  “Some of this may have been my own fault, as over the last few years I might have given the impression I was in some way closer to Tiger’s personal self than other journalists. If this is the case, I apologize. The truth is, I was as blindsided by this fiasco as the next guy.”

Please David, give me a break.  For anyone that watched the CBS telecasts it was hard not to believe that you had a close relationship.  It appeared in your conversations with Woods that there was more than just a journalist/player relationship.  I can’t help but think that maybe Feherty played up his relationship with Tiger on camera to look like he was pals with the world number one.  I know I’m not the only one that got the impression that Woods and Feherty had a deeper relationship.  I think Feherty used that to his advantage.  Who wouldn’t want to hang with Tiger, pre-Tiger Gate Tiger, anyway?  I don’t care if you are actually friends with Tiger or not, but don’t apologize for the “impression” that you cultivated over the years.

Then Feherty goes on in his column to quote Nietzsche and reference Greek Mythology and its flawed King Zeus to make his case that Tiger is only human, a flawed human.  If Tiger has done anything in the past three months it’s prove that he is human.  Although I bet that some would say the way he treated his wife was less than human.  David Feherty isn’t one of them.

Feherty’s Golf Magazine Column

Shane Bacon’s take on Feherty

by Jeff Skinner

With many in the golf world still on Tiger Watch there is speculation that Tiger may return at The Masters, Bay Hill or even the made for television money grab, The Tavistock Cup.  Regardless of when Woods decides to tee it up one fact is clear: only Tiger will decide when he comes back.  That has been the way Tiger lives his life, he does what he wants, whenever he wants and doesn’t care about anything other than what he wants.  John Feinstein has given his assessment of how and why Woods has found himself in this situation.  Feinstein accurately points out that Tiger has been a control freak from day one and he intimidates or removes anyone who tries to prevent him from getting his way.

Woods and his team were able to build a wall around Tiger, a very solid wall.  Feinstein points out that at least one of Tiger’s affairs was going on for over 31 months.  How can something like that have been kept secret when he is the most famous athlete alive? “It may have almost leaked, there might have been some whispers in the locker room – and that’s all they ever were because almost everyone in golf lives in fear of The Wrath of Tiger – but it stayed secret.”

Tiger has been the 600 pound gorilla for years.  The PGA Tour caters to his wishes.  The corporate world threw gazillions of dollars at him.  The mainstream media handles him with kid gloves, always careful not to cross Tiger for fear of losing their biggest headline and prime meal ticket.  Feinstein couldn’t have said it better when he says,“All of which leads to the most oft-asked question in this entire tangled web: how could one of the great control freaks of history allow himself to completely lose control of his life this way? Anyone who claims it was an unhappy marriage or an over-developed sex drive entirely misses the point. Tiger Woods went on these binges for one simple reason: hubris.”

Hubris is defined as excessive pride or arrogance. Is there anyone who portrays those traits more than Woods?   I can’t think of anyone. “He did it because he believed he could do it and no one would catch him and, if someone did somehow catch him, they wouldn’t dare out him.”

When the scandal first broke it seemed so unbelievable that Woods could be involved in something as base and deviant as this.  It ran contrary to the image that was so delicately crafted by Woods and his team.  Now, with his “family man” image shattered beyond repair he is left with the task of restoring his image.

It will be impossible for Tiger to ever regain the status that he once held. He’ll probably come back to golf and win enough majors to pass Jack Nicklaus.  But, he’ll never be the man that his old image had purported him to be.  As long as he can play golf and make some more money off his image he’ll be content.  As far as everything else, he just won’t care.  After all he’s Tiger Woods, to him that’s all that matters.

John Feinstein in The Guardian

by Jeff Skinner

Get ready to see a little bit of the 1980’s on the golf course this season.  No, it’s not plaid, polyester Sans-a-Belt slacks.  It’s colored golf balls.  In a move that says “everything old is new again” Srixon is bringing back the colored ball.

In the early eighties Wilson’s ProStaff balls took off after Jerry Pate and Wayne Levi won on The PGA Tour using orange colored balls.  You remember Pate winning The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass and throwing Commissioner Dean Beman and Pete Dye in the lake and then diving in after them. Pate used an orange Wilson ProStaff to win and sales of them peaked in the following years.  Their popularity died off soon after but Srixon thinks the time is right for their return.

The older colored balls lost their appeal over the years and were thought of as less then top flight equipment.  That’s not the case with these Srixons.  These are the top of the line ball produced by Srixon: The Z-Star and Z-Star X.  Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh play the original white ball.

Srixon claims that greenish yellow balls are more visible and promote calm.  ”Science has proven that yellow is the most visible color in the visual spectrum and psychology has correlated green with calming and stress relief; therefore Srixon® has combined the two colors based on these findings to tap into the player’s mind and expand the benefits of playing a better ball. A ball that relieves stress, I’ll take a lifetime supply please.

by Jeff Skinner

The European Tour is off to a great start this year.  The tournaments have been exciting and have showcased some of its best players.  One of the most unique characters on The European Tour took home one of the most unique trophies this week.  At The Dubai Desert Classic, Miguel Angel Jimenez out lasted European Tour number one, Lee Westwood in a three hole playoff to show that some things get better with age.  “Like a good wine, with age, I get better and better” he said after his win.

Jimenez is forty six years old and shows no signs of fading away.  This win is his first since he won twice in 2008 and continues to prove that an older player with years of experience can use guile and craftiness to still compete with the young guns on tour.  Miguel first appeared on tour in 1988 and his contemporaries included Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam and Bernhard Langer, who are long gone from the tour.  To illustrate Miguel’s staying power you need not look past his first round pairing.  He played the first two rounds with twenty year old Rory McIlroy and twenty three year old Pablo Martin. “Guys like Rory McIlroy and Alvaro Quiros hit the ball so long; it’s difficult for guys like me. But here I am.” McIlroy finished in sixth place and Martin tied for forty fourth.  Miguel needs to find space for his sixteenth European Tour Trophy.

Jimenez has always appreciated the finer things in life and is known to enjoy wine more than most fellows on tour.  He has also is smart enough to realize that he needs to keep himself in good physical condition to stay on tour.  Don’t let that gut fool you; Jimenez spends enough time in the gym to keep himself in shape as he proves with him still being a factor on tour.  He has rededicated himself to a new fitness program and it looks to have paid off early this year.

Jimenez’s attitude on tour may be as big a factor in his success as his skills and experience.  He is as determined a competitor as there is out there, but rarely lets a poor shot or a bad round stick with him or affect his play.  That’s not to say he doesn’t show emotion.  He’ll smash the turf or flip the putter with the best of them but he loses the frustration long before his next shot.

With Tom Watson’s near miss at The Open Championship last year proving that “the old dudes” can still get it done, wouldn’t it be sweet if Watson and Miguel could be paired together at The Masters.  That’s a pairing with plenty of class and experience and the two of them could show what a little experience can do.  Jimenez has three top tens at Augusta and he’ll be forty six.  Maybe lighting could strike twice for another forty six year old as it did for Jack Nicklaus back in 1986.

by Jeff Skinner

It was perfect timing for the PGA Tour and a great day for Steve Stricker yesterday.  The Northern Trust Open finished up a little yearly, just in time for all of us to switch to The Super Bowl and Steve Stricker finished what he had come so close to doing last year: winning at Riviera Country Club.  Stricker fell one shot short of tying Phil Mickelson last year but there was no doubt this year.  Luke Donald made a valiant effort shooting five under and finished two back of Stricker.  Stricker started the final round with a six shot lead and while his one under par 70 wasn’t spectacular it was enough to give him the win.

Stricker earns his money with straight drives and as the saying goes he”…putts for dough.”   He led the field in putts per round and was third in putts per greens in regulation.  His driver isn’t long but it is accurate, he was tied for tenth in driving accuracy.  A good big stick and a hot flat stick: it is the perfect combination.

Steve Stricker is one of the truly nice, sincere and unassuming gentlemen on The PGA Tour.  He also is now number two in the World Golf Rankings.  Nice guys don’t finish last.

Today is the perfect day to utilize the multiple television strategy to make sure you won’t miss any golf or The Super Bowl pre-game.  The Northern Trust Open should finish before kickoff but if you do not want to miss any of the hype just drag another TV out and you’ll be able to watch some fine golf and all the blowhards that monopolize the screens before the game starts.

Sunday looks to have some exciting possibilities.  In Dubai, four golfers share the final round lead.  World number four, Lee Westwood, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Alvaro Quiros and Thongchai Jaidee all sit at 11 under par as the fourth round begins.  The four played superb golf down the stretch as there was but one bogey among the four on the back nine and only three all day for all the golfers.  Check out the fantastic finish on The Golf Channel at 8:30am EST.

In rainy California, Steve Stricker used four birdies over fourteen holes of the Riviera Country Club course to pull away from the field.  Luke Donald, J.B. Holmes and Andres Romero are five back of Stricker.  As usual Stricker had the putter working and if he has it working on Sunday everyone else is playing for second place.

After the golf, settle in and enjoy the game, Colts 34-24.

Sometimes playing golf in the rain can be a drag.  Sometimes it can be a lot of fun.  I think Dustin Johnson had some fun yesterday.  Watch as he aces the sixth hole at Riviera Country Club.  He shares the lead with Steve Sticker at -10.

In Dubai on The European Tour, Thongchai Jaidee from Thailand has a one stroke lead over Miguel Angel Jimenez (The Coolest Guy in Golf), Stephen Dodd and Lee Westwood.  Tom Watson is seven strokes back and T26.

by Jeff Skinner

From the Mags…

For years Michelle Wie was as difficult interview to land as anyone.  She lived a very public life but a very insulated one.  He team limited her time with any media but in the March issue of Golf Magazine, Wie is given an opportunity to speak her mind.  To some extent she does but you can still see that “Team Wie Media Training” coming through.  Connell Barrett does an admirable job in trying to draw Michelle out and at times she does share much of herself but for the most part she keeps he guard up.

Listening to Wie it sounds like she is a young woman that has started to find herself. It seems she has been around forever, but she is just a twenty year old college student.  She is very determined to do well at Stanford and realizes she had a gifted life early on.

“I appreciate the ups more now. I was fortunate early on in my career. I had it easy. It was a dreamland. Everything turned out fine. Then it all came crashing down. The work to get back was not easy. It definitely makes me appreciate things more. Because I went through so much, it’s hard to get me down. I’m a lot stronger.”

Her dad, B.J. had ruled Michelle’s career with a tight fist and limited her exposure to the media.  Michelle now feels more comfortable with her life but still chooses to avoid some of her more difficult memories.  She says she really can’t remember much of 2007 when she had her toughest year.  She broke her wrist and withdrew from tournaments for various reasons.

“There were times when it would have been fine if I didn’t play again. It hurt so much. [The wrist injury] was dragging on forever. I felt like I would never get better. I would feel that way, and the next day I would want to go at it again. There was no way I was ever going to give it up. I didn’t want to go down this way. It was not the way I wanted this to end. I had goals. I’m not a person who gives up. So I fought through it. The low points were low. My wrist was broken, but I was determined not to let it break me.”

Surprisingly she says her relationship with her parents is normal.  They drive her up the wall and that sounds pretty normal to me, but she isn’t ready to go on tour alone yet.

“We’re very close, and I love having them around. They’re so supportive. My dad and I bicker. We’re too similar. We clash. Obviously, they drive me up the wall, like any parents would. There will come a day when it’s just me, my manager, and my caddie. But it’s not time for me right now to go out on my own. It’s a brutal, tough world, and I feel fortunate that I have two people who will love me no matter what. So I’ll keep them around for a while.”

Michelle Wie has come a long way, not only as a player but as a person.  Her performance at the Solheim Cup acted as her true coming out party.  She led the team and her teammates raved about her as a person.  When she won in Mexico at the Loreno Ochoa, her first win anywhere since she was 13, Michelle described the feeling as “pure happiness.”  It was a long time coming but it’s really just the beginning.

Golf Magazine Interview with Michelle Wie

Chip Shots

Tim Finchem tells the PGA Tour players they have options concerning the groove situation and one of them was to work out an agreement with John Solheim of Ping. Didn’t you already work that out in 1993?  Solheim takes issue with Finchem’s declaration that The PGA Tour could implement a special rule banning the Ping Eye 2’s. Solheim‘s statement:

“PGA Tour Commissioner Finchem and I had a brief discussion this afternoon and he shared his belief that the 1993 settlement agreement allowed his organization to utilize the protocol to consider a special rule that would ban Ping Eye2 irons and wedges. While we strongly disagree with their interpretation of the agreement, we agreed further dialogue on the topic was healthy. We hope to speak again in the next week or so. I’ve also been in contact with the USGA and expect to meet with them as well.’’

It doesn’t sound like John thinks that rule is an option.  Solheim holds all the cards here and the fact that Finchem thinks he can renegotiate the 1993 agreement is comical.  Solheim’s company has been a leader in golf technology for fifty years and to think Solheim will sign up for anything that limits his technological advancements, past or present, is hard to believe.

Phil Mickelson has taken off the black hat and put his white hat back on again.  He has forsaken his role as the bad boy rebel of the PGA Tour and retreated back into is familiar role of perennial good guy.  Phil has taken the Weapon of Mass Confusion out of his bag for this week.  He is still frustrated by the situation but says he has too much respect for his fellow PGA Tour pros:

“In regards to the groove and playing the club and whatnot, I have been very upset over the way the entire groove rule has come about and its total lack of transparency. I’m very upset with the way the rule came about, the way one man essentially can approve or not approve a golf club based on his own personal decision regardless of what the rule says. This has got to change. To come out and change a rule like this that has a loophole has got to change. It’s ridiculous. It hurts the game, and you cannot put the players in a position to interpret what the rule has meant. That’s why we have a decisions book, to decide this stuff.

I respect these players out here. I like and respect these players. And last year when my wife and I were at one of our low points, these players came together and did one of the nicest things that could have ever been done to show support, and it meant tons for me. And out of respect for them, I do not want to have an advantage over anybody, whether it’s perceived or actual.”

I am disappointed that Phil has yanked the Ping from his bag.  I was hoping he would keep putting it to the Tour and the USGA.  I liked the Phil with the attitude and the axe to grind.  You think there’s any chance that Tim Finchem played the “for the good of the Tour “ card or maybe he just got down on his knees and begged Phil for mercy: “ Please, please, please Phil…I’m dying here!”  I bet Phil got a little heat from the commish but Phil made his point.  He made it big time.

by Jeff Skinner

When Scott McCarron started this PGA Tour season he wasn’t planning to be in the middle of a firestorm of controversy.  McCarron has displayed a quality that is rarely seen on The PGA Tour.  He has strong opinions and he voices them.  He is not bashful about letting his fellow players know what he thinks.  That is his job.  McCarron is a member of the Players Advisory Council and he is charged with the duty of assisting the tour and making it better for the players.  He is the type of man you would want on the Council, one that looks out for the interests of the players and has the well being of the Tour in mind.

When McCarron took Anthony Kim to task for not playing in the Bob Hope Classic and instead playing in The European Tour’s Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, he had the best interests of the PGA Tour in mind.  His logic was not flawed.  Kim is a young, charismatic star of the Tour who graduated from La Quinta High School which is where The Hope was held.  It is understandable that some tour players might expect a player with local ties to participate in a tournament held in that community and that was McCarron’s position.  However, Kim was well within his right to play in a non PGA Tour event even during a time when The Hope is in trouble and The Tour is in desperate need of its popular stars being visible.

This past week when McCarron mentioned “cheating” and “Phil Mickelson” in the same sentence he may have crossed a line.  Cheating is probably the most hated word in golf.  Adding one of today’s most loved players into the “cheating” discussion as he did with Mickelson brought more criticism and focus on McCarron then he could imagine.

On Tuesday McCarron apologized to Mickelson: “I’m certainly sorry for it,” McCarron said. “I’d like to apologize to Phil Mickelson for what I said. We both realize we’re on the same page on this issue.”  Yes, they both are on the same page: they both realize the Tour is struggling to cope with the groove issue effectively.

McCarron should have known the controversy he would start when connecting Phil with “cheating.”  Maybe that was his plan along, after all there wasn’t much screaming when the Pings were in the bags of Dean Wilson and John Daly the weeks before Torrey Pines when Phil made his debut.  If he singles out Daly or Wilson, no one really cares and it’s not front page news.  You call out Phil Mickelson and you get attention and McCarron did just that.

McCarron is not the only one here with an agenda.  Phil Mickelson has been fighting the groove change from day one.  He is perturbed with the USGA for two reasons.  He has submitted a set of Callaway clubs to the USGA with a new groove pattern (MAW grooves) that meets the USGA’s specifications but was not approved for play.  He is also upset with the fact that there are two lists that the USGA is keeping:  an “approved for play” list and a “meets requirements” list.  The Ping Eye 2’s don’t meet the new requirements but are on the approved for play list.

Maybe both players were trying to light a fire under the PGA Tour to correct this situation which gets more confusing and embarrassing each day.  If that was their plan then it’s mission accomplished.  They certainly got the entire golf world focused on their issue.  We’ll have to wait and see what the tour does now.