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Results for October 2011 Back to Local Knowledge Index

New venue for the Nationwide Tour Championship

Sunday, October 30, 2011 Comments
While it may no longer carry the name of "Nationwide," the year-end championship of the PGA Tour's minor league will be played next year at the TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, TX, in suburban Dallas. The formal announcement will come on Monday.

111030_jason_460.gifJason Kokrak has the final-round lead at the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island Club. (Photo by Getty Images)

After a three-year run on the Ralston Creek course at the Daniel Island Club outside Charleston, SC, the event will move to avoid next year's PGA Championship to be played on the other side of the city of Charleston at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course. Though no agreement has been reached, both Daniel Island and the PGA Tour are interested in resuming the relationship in 2013.

--Jim Moriarty

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Want to be published? Enter Golf World's Front 9 Contest

Friday, October 28, 2011 Comments

Are you a fan of Golf World's weekly magazine feature, "Front 9"? If so, you have a chance to help write it.

Inspired by The New Yorker's cartoon-caption writing contest, Golf World is now featuring the "Front 9 Punchline Contest" every week. Here's how it works. Every Sunday afternoon, Golf World's editors will post a Front 9 setup line to our magazine's Facebook page. Readers will have approximately 24 hours to enter their best punchlines to that set up.

(An example from a recent Front 9: Rory McIlroy finishes T-3 in Switzerland and pronounces injured right wrist fully healed. He took all the precautions. For instance, he used only his left hand when applauding for Caroline Wozniacki.)

Golf World editors will then select the winning entry, which will appear (along with the writer's name and hometown) in that week's issue of Golf World. In addition to having their entry published in the magazine, winners will receive an official Golf World logo hat.

Our last winner was Brian DiMaio of Jacksonville, Fla., whose winning entry appeared in the Oct. 24 issue of the magazine:

Set-up line: Deranged fan charges green at Frys.com Open, throws hot dog at Tiger Woods.

Winning punchline: "Yet another reason Woods doesn't "relish" interacting with fans."

-- Geoff Russell, Golf World Editor-In-Chief

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USGA, R&A announce more lenient revisions to Rules of Golf

Monday, October 24, 2011 Comments
Are the governing bodies of golf become kinder and gentler?

You could make that argument after looking at the changes the USGA and R&A announced today to the new edition of the Rules of Golf, effective Jan. 1, 2012, which generally offer golfers more leniency in certain instances on the course and, intriguingly for amateurs, off the course as well.

Most significant among the changes is a revision of Rule 18-2b that allows golfers not to be penalized if their ball moves after it has been addressed when it is "known or virtually certain" they did not cause the movement. The most common example would be when a gust of wind influences a ball on the green. Under the revised rule, if a player in no way caused the ball to move, there would be no penalty and the ball would be played from its new position.

The new rule would have benefitted Webb Simpson last May at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Simpson was on the 15th green during the final round and in contention for his first PGA Tour title when his ball, less than a foot from the hole, moved after he had put his putter down behind it. Simpson did not appear to cause the ball to move, but the rules required he be assessed a one-stroke penalty that eventually forced him into a playoff with Bubba Watson, one in which he lost. He subsequently went on to win two tour titles later in the year, but at the time the penalty was a hard one to accept.  Read more
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Chubby 'disappointed and a bit shocked' after split with Rory

Friday, October 21, 2011 Comments
The breakup came in a lounge at Kennedy Airport in New York, after Rory McIlroy and Andrew "Chubby" Chandler got off a plane from Bermuda and the PGA Grand Slam of Golf on Wednesday. Chandler, whose International Sports Management company had three clients, including McIlroy, win the first three majors this year, was headed for a vacation in Dubai. McIlroy was headed to London and connecting to Istanbul, where he would spend the rest of the week with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki, who was playing in the WTA Championships. After traveling the world together for four years, this is where the road would end, in a lounge before two separate trans-Atlantic flights.

Related: Chubby Chandler opens up in a Golf Digest "My Shot"

"He said I've decided to move on," Chandler said Friday, just hours after the news broke that the U.S. Open champion would follow in the footsteps of the previous U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, and join Horizon Sports, the management team run by Irishman Conor Ridge.

rory_chubby_470.jpgHappier times: Chandler was a constant presence alongside McIlroy in the player's first few years as a professional. Photo by Getty Images.

"Disappointed and a bit shocked," Chandler said. "I thought we had a better relationship than that, but he had his reasons. He said he wanted to freshen things up a bit. It's one of those things; he's a 22-year-old with a very strong head who wants to make his own decisions, and one of his decisions was he didn't want us to manage him any longer."

Related: Rory McIlroy's swing frame-by-frame

Chandler had the 12-hour flight and a full day to think about it, and is taking a philosophical approach. But this was the second high-profile departure from his camp in the last month, following Ernie Els leaving to join the start-up group of former U.S. Amateur champions Vinnie Giles and Buddy Marucci based near his home in Jupiter, Fl.

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Facelift at Muirfield Village underway

Tuesday, October 18, 2011 Comments

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DUBLIN, Ohio - Muirfield Village GC, annual site of the Memorial Tournament, is getting a long overdue facelift as Jack Nicklaus continues to make improvements in the run-up to the 2013 Presidents Cup.

The Golden Bear has routinely tinkered with his highly-ranked golf course since it opened in 1974; last year he introduced a redesigned par-3 16th hole. He now has turned his attention to the practice area.

"We had a modern driving range that now is not a modern driving range, so it's time to modernize it," Nicklaus said Monday after stopping in to assess progress of the renovation. "You look at what we had 37 years ago, we had absolutely the best driving range. But nowadays you see a practice area with greens and bunkers and color. You've got trees and fairway areas and all the things that come with designing modern golf courses. Well, why not the same for Muirfield Village?"

Muirfield Village GC is the first course in the world to host a Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup and Presidents Cup. But Nicklaus, a four-time U.S. Presidents Cup captain, said the project was about much more than the biennial matches. There was the member experience to consider. And there was a safety issue. At its longest point the practice area was 286 yards, and competitors in the Memorial Tournament could easily hit drivers beyond the club's south perimeter. By shifting the tee area and clearing woods on the west end, the range now measures up to 330 yards.

"Hopefully, that will hold up for 5 or 6 years," Nicklaus said jokingly.

In addition to making it longer, Nicklaus added mounding to the perimeter, had trees planted, had several target greens framed by bunkers installed, and added another chipping area. The new practice area also has two defined "fairways."

"The genesis of the idea was to fix the drainage situation on the driving range. It doesn't drain well, so what we have are thousands of golf balls buried out there every spring," Nicklaus added. "It's been on our list for several years and we just needed to get it done. And with the Presidents Cup coming up, that was just one more reason to do it now. We've modernized it in every way we could think of."

Nicklaus wondered aloud about the number of golf balls workers have dug up since construction began last month. There were thousands. But there was one among them that had historical significance. It was a logo ball from the 1987 Ryder Cup, the first Europe won on U.S. soil.

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-- Dave Shedloski

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Golf World Monday: Long putter demand is soaring

Monday, October 17, 2011 Comments
From the Oct. 17 issue of Golf World Monday:

Last week TaylorMade announced it was tripling its fourth-quarter forecast for long and belly putters to meet the increasing demand by consumers and, therefore, its retail partners.

Owing in large part to the success of belly and long putters on the PGA Tour -- most notably at the PGA Championship by Keegan Bradley -- the demand for these putters has reached levels usually reserved for hybrid cars during an energy crisis.

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Bradley's win in the PGA Championship was the first major win by a player using a long putter. Photo by Getty Images

In short, there is a feeding frenzy. TaylorMade says it will sell five times as many long/belly putters as it did last year while other manufacturers such as Cleveland and Odyssey also have significantly ramped up production as large retailers are now ordering bellies and broomsticks by the thousands instead of a few at a time. "It might be the hottest topic on our store's floor," said Leigh Bader, co-owner of Joe & Leigh's Discount Golf Pro Shop in South Easton, Mass.

"Manufacturers were caught short in supply, but who knew?" Bader said the trend shows strong signs of sustaining its momentum, aided greatly by the fact these putters are now seen as a legitimate means of improvement as opposed to an act of desperation. "Because of that it's verging, if not already registering, on the coolness scale," said Bader. Because of that, demand is far outpacing supply at the moment. In other words, if you're looking for one, good luck.

-- E. Michael Johnson
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Readers: Enter Golf World's "Front 9 Contest"

Friday, October 14, 2011 Comments

Are you a fan of Golf World's weekly magazine feature, "Front 9"? If so, you'll now have a chance to help write it.

Inspired by The New Yorker's cartoon-caption writing contest, Golf World is now featuring the "Front 9 Punchline Contest" every week. Here's how it works. Every Sunday afternoon, Golf World's editors will post a Front 9 setup line the our magazine's Facebook wall. Readers will have approximately 24 hours to enter their best punchlines to that set up.

(An example from a recent Front 9: Rory McIlroy finishes T-3 in Switzerland and pronounces injured right wrist fully healed. He took all the precautions. For instance, he used only his left hand when applauding for Caroline Wozniacki.)

Golf World editors will then select the winning entry, which will appear (along with the writer's name and hometown) in that week's issue of Golf World. In addition to having their entry published in the magazine, winners will receive an official Golf World logo hat.

The last winner was T. William Anderson, whose winning entry appeared in the Oct. 3 issue of the magazine:

John Daly drowns club, storms off at European Tour event in Austria, his 16th WD in four years.
Daly's golfing life is starting to read like my shampoo bottle: "Lather. Rinse. Repeat."

-- Geoff Russell, Golf World Editor-In-Chief

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Clinton to breathe new life into storied event

Thursday, October 13, 2011 Comments
NEW YORK -- In the darkest days of the recession, there was real reason to be concerned about of the future of one of the most-beloved fixtures on the PGA Tour, the stop in the California desert long associated with comedian Bob Hope. Now, through the collaborative efforts of former President Bill Clinton and the health benefits provider Humana, Inc., the event will not only survive but also has a chance to thrive as a truly unique event.

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Clinton, pictured here in a recent round with President Obama, has been trying to practice what he preaches by eating and living healthier. Photo by AP Images.

While much has been made of the format changes to the tournament -- four days instead of five, three courses instead of four and only one amateur per professional the first three days -- the real news is that the Humana Challenge, as it will now be called, will be a week-long educational effort to get people to live healthier lives. The Tuesday before next year's tournament -- Jan. 17 -- will feature a conference on health and well-being with Clinton delivering the keynote address.

Related: Ranking the golfing presidents
 
"I think everyone knew there had to be some sort of reorganization in order to save [the Bob Hope Classic]," Clinton said Thursday to a small group of reporters gathered at the offices of the William J. Clinton Foundation in Harlem. "We thought this would be an opportunity to focus on the health and wellness of children, and that's a big part of what my foundations does now." 

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Injured Stricker intends to play in Presidents Cup

Tuesday, October 11, 2011 Comments

Were it not for next month's Presidents Cup, Steve Stricker would not be hitting another golf ball until after Christmas.

As it is, Stricker, suffering from a herniated disk in his neck, will take the next two weeks off before gearing up to represent the United States in the biennial match against an International squad Nov. 17-20 at Royal Melbourne GC in Australia.

"I have every intention of playing in the Presidents Cup," Stricker, 44, said by phone from his home in Madison, Wis.

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Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Stricker is considered one of the key figures for the U.S., which has lost only once in the Presidents Cup, that in 1998 in Melbourne. It is expected that he again will be paired with Tiger Woods, a controversial wild-card pick by captain Fred Couples after an injury-plagued and sub-par season. Stricker and Woods went 4-0 in team matches two years ago at Harding Park, and they were 2-1 in last year's Ryder Cup.

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Video: The bizarre hot dog attack of Tiger Woods

Monday, October 10, 2011 Comments
Surely there will be jokes in the days and weeks to come about the odd incident Sunday at the Frys.com Open, where a fan hurled a hot dog at Tiger Woods. And yet don't let that obscure how unsettling a moment it actually was.

When Woods returned from his sex scandal in spring of 2010, this was the fear: the world's most famous athlete -- now also the most ridiculed -- vulnerable to verbal, physical (and apparently gastronomic) assault from the gallery around him.

Those fears had subsided the more Woods played and the more focus shifted from his moral failings to his inability to sink a six-foot putt. But as the episode illustrates, the people charged with protecting Woods can't afford to be lax.

"I guess he wanted to be in the news," Woods said. "And I'm sure he will be."

-- Sam Weinman 
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