JOHNS CREEK, GA – The fat lady was wasn’t just warming up, she was right there on the side of the stage, waiting for her cue to swoop on stage like a galleon in full sail, sing us all to sleep, and bring a merciful end to what was until then a dreadfully dull 93rd PGA Championship. Then (thankfully!) first-time major competitor Keegan Bradley dropped a...
JOHNS CREEK, GA – Just how famous was Robert Trent Jones, Sr. for making Hell out of a professional golfer’s day? There’s a great story about old pro golfer Jimmy Demaret teasing Trent when he ran into him at a golf course. He put his arm around Trent’s shoulder and said, “Hey Trent! I saw a golf course you’d love. You stand on the...
JOHNS CREEK, GA – “When Tiger Woods wins at Bethpage, or Phil Mickelson wins at Baltusrol, that’s the result we’re trying to achieve. The best player should rise to the top.” So spoke the stentorian tones of Rees Jones in a June interview with golf writer John Garrity. Now Rees Jones, the self-described “Open Doctor,” is in...
JOHNS CREEK, GA – Wave that flag, wave it wide and high! Americans covered the leaderboard on day one of the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club with an avalanche of stars and stripes, including a record-tying performance PGA Tour uber-nice guy Steve Stricker. The affable Stricker, Wisconsin’s favorite son but loved by all the golf world scorched...
And here it is…
Phil had fun taking Rees Jones to task didn’t he?
NEWS, NOTES AND QUOTES The PGA Championship leads the majors in 63s with 11. There have only been two 63s at the Masters, four at the U.S. Open, and eight at the British Open. Two reasons include the PGA of America’s penchant for reasonably fair course set-ups and tournament venues more akin to what U.S. PGA Tour pros see on a week-to-week basis. PHILLIN’...
JOHNS FREAK, GA – Lunatics! Scoundrels and heathens! Upstarts, rogues, and charlatans! Drag them over carpet tacks and dip them in rubbing alcohol, the lot of ’em. May a pack of Tiger Woods’s prostitute harpies give them a disease featuring a particularly viscid eczema. Despite the best efforts of American Airlines, Delta, and two scurvy-ridden...
JOHNS CREEK, GA – Ron Whitten’s recent Golf Digest article on the new turfgrasses being tested this week at Atlanta Athletic Club’s PGA Championship is another excellent observation by one of the most intelligent voices in the game. His knowledge of architecture and travel is unparalleled. In his article he mentions a number of southern and western...
A few quick bits of news and notes: 1. Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post takes Tiger to task by analyzing his back-tracking quotes and disingenuous talking points in this article. From the piece: “The only thing more curious than Tiger Woods’ decision to have his alleged sex scandal accomplice buddy on his bag at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational this...
Well this is interesting. We usually interview the winning caddie, but not like this. Steve Williams (and that means Tiger Woods’s behavior) overshadowed the sparkling 17-under performance of Adam Scott, a flat out dismantling of Big Bad Firestone, including a jaw-dropping 66-65 finish. The things Williams said in his interview were thinly veiled venom against...
After sending a twisting, long-distance, double breaking putt towards the cup, the PGA of America left itself with just a tap-in, so allow me to do the honors: the PGA Championship is not “Glory’s Last Shot,” but “Glory’s Best Shot.” Make that small change and watch the slogan catch fire like a hit song by U2. Nobody gives a...
[***Editor’s Note*** For those of you who clicked here to read the rest of my British Open preview from the PGA.com website, please click here for the rest of that article.] Excellent news for fans of great golf course architecture comes out of Detroit today – Oakland Hills is discussing the possibility of hosting the 2020 U.S. Open with the U.S.G.A...
While I write my Travis Invitational preview this weekend and move the ball forward on my U.S. Open work, Tony Korologos will be handling Players Championship tournament coverage for all the Golf Space Team. Drop by and check up on everything from Tiger’s WD to a great interview with Y.E. Yang…in Korean:) Kinda reminds me of the time I tried to interview...
In 2018, the PGA of America will hold the 100th PGA Championship at Bellerive C.C. in St. Louis – home of Trinity Bantam Jay Williamson as well as several prominent Senior Tour members such as Jay Haas and Hale Irwin. It will be the third time the club will host the event; Gary Player won the 1965 PGA Championship, and Nick Price won his first PGA Championship...
2011 Atlanta Athletic Club, (Highlands Course), Johns Creek, GA 2012 Kiawah Island, (Ocean Course), Kiawah Island, SC 2013 Oak Hill Country Club, (East), Pittsford, NY (Rochester) 2014 Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, KY 2015 Whistling Straits, (Straits Course), Kohler, WI 2016 Baltusrol Golf Club, (Lower), Springfield, NJ 2017 Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, NC 2018...