Golf Digest Search Results

New Initiative: Time For Nine

Bob Carney — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Golf Digest, the USGA and the PGA of America team up on a crusade that says a little golf is better than none at all.

The Grind: Tiger tames TPC Sawgrass, Island fever spreads & "Nelsoning"?

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:08:00 GMT

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we've got island fever and the only prescription is... more islands! Island fairways? Fun! Island tee boxes? Pretty! Island drop areas? Cruel and fun! Imagine making a player who has already dunked a ball in the drink get into a boat and row his own way out to a solitary spot to his his next shot? Johnny Miller would have a field day! Alas, for now we'll have to settle for the excitement TPC Sawgrass' 17th hole provides us on a yearly basis. And that's not such a bad thing.

WE'RE BUYING

Tiger Woods. Now he's winning on courses where he's never been comfortable? The rest of the tour is really in trouble. Woods' latest win was his biggest since his return from his 2009 scandal. It also gave him four wins in a season at the earliest point of any season in his career. Of course, Woods himself has said he only characterizes a season as great if he wins a major, but he still has three more chances to make that happen in 2013. Would you bet against him?

One word, two syllables: Swagger.

TPC Sawgrass. It may not host a major, but it always seems to provide major drama. No. 17 gets most of the attention from fans, but there are plenty of other spots on the course that get the attention of the players. How exciting is the Pete Dye track? Sunday proved that even a Tiger Woods three-shot lead on its back nine isn't safe.

David Lingmerth. Where did this guy come from?! Even as he entered the final round tied for the lead, the Swedish rookie remained an afterthought to most prognosticators. Yet it was Lingmerth who remained the last man standing in the latest Tiger vs. the field competition. If he can hang in like that under those circumstances, it would probably be wise for golf analysts to start practicing pronouncing his name correctly (Hat tip to Swedish colleague, Stina Sternberg). Johnny, like in your name, the "H" is silent.

WE'RE SELLING

Sergio Garcia. This could have been a week where the Spaniard punctuated his return as one of the game's elite players. Instead, he further solidified his reputation for both whining and coming up short in the big spot. After his controversial comments towards Woods on Saturday, Garcia had a stunning meltdown over the final two holes. We feel a little bad for him, but we feel a lot worse for his caddie, whose big payday sunk with those three water balls at the end.

People complaining about TPC Sawgrass. There was a lot of talk about how there weren't a lot of drivers hit there, especially over the weekend. While that's true, guess what? It's 2013 and players can now hit 3-woods farther than they used to hit the Big Stick. Hey, no one is stopping these guys from pulling out the driver. Also, doesn't this somewhat contradict the complaints that these guys are hitting it too far off the tee?

Vijay Singh. Here are the bullet points: Singh admits to using a banned substance, the PGA Tour comes under fire for not acting quickly, Singh is eventually cleared of a doping violation on a technicality, then sues the tour for damaging his reputation. Say what? Sorry, Vijay, but A) This doesn't seem to make much sense (Or does it?) and B) What reputation?

Male Hall of Famers. None of them showed up to this year's Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which takes place a short drive from TPC Sawgrass. None. Not even for Mr. Cool, Freddie Couples? Weak effort.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to Dallas for the HP Byron Nelson Championship. Last year Jason Dufner won. Of course, he became much more famous when he returned last month for media day and by accident started a craze that became known as "Dufnering."

Random tournament fact: The late, great Byron Nelson tried to start a fad called "Nelsoning"* in which he would show up to parties randomly posing like he'd just struck a perfect golf shot. Sadly, it never caught on since none of his fellow pros at the time could tweet about it.

*Not true. But maybe we could start that. . .

WEEKLY YAHOO! FANTASY LINEUP

It's great to see our jinxing power is in full effect. First, Tiger Woods made it four-for-four in 2013 when we don't pick him. Second, unbeknownst to Sergio Garcia, we picked him to win at TPC Sawgrass, just adding to the list of things working against him. In other words, he had NO chance when he stood on that 17th tee tied for the lead.

Starters -- (A-List): Jason Dufner. The defending champ also finished T-8 in 2011.

(B-List): Keegan Bradley. Coming off a disappointing week, it'll be nice for him to return to the site of his first PGA Tour title.

(B-List): Marc Leishman. The Australian has contended at the two biggest events of 2013. It's time to take notice, especially at a course where he has three top 12s in four appearances.

(C-List): Jason Day. Has finished in the top 10 all three times he's teed it up at the TPC Four Seasons, including earning his lone PGA Tour title in 2010.

Bench -- Padraig Harrington, Jimmy Walker, Matt Kuchar, and Jordan Spieth.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

We enjoyed this clip of journeyman PGA Tour pro Todd Fischer having fun with the fans at No. 17 during a practice round. Fisher purposely shanked multiple balls into the pond, while a stunned crowd probably wondered how the heck this guy ever got into the field. Our favorite part is when someone else on the tee says, "Give him a bad [ball]." Fischer also wins our award for "Well-Orchestrated Ruse of the Week."

THIS WEEK IN DUSTIN JOHNSON-PAULINA GRETZKY DISPLAYS OF PUBLIC AFFECTION

A sore subject this week. I was hoping to see the two in person, but after missing them on Day 1, what did DJ do? He withdrew for a second straight week (this time for his back, last week it was his wrist) and took off before I had a chance to stalk..um, make that follow them.

THIS WEEK IN TIGER WOODS-LINDSEY VONN DISPLAYS OF PUBLIC AFFECTION

That didn't look awkward or anything. . . Hey, don't feel bad, Lindsey. Tiger's post-victory celebration with caddie Joe LaCava wasn't very smooth, either.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

-- Sergio Garcia will ever willingly watch a replay of Sunday's finish: Million-to-1 odds

-- Official odds Tiger Woods will win the U.S. Open: 3.5-1

-- Unofficial odds everyone is giving Woods to win at Merion: LOCK

THIS AND THAT

For a second straight tournament, Tiger Woods is having a drop he took questioned. Weird. Controversy never seems to follow this guy. . . . Billy Horschel's PGA-Tour best cut streak of 23 came to an end when he didn't make it to the weekend at the Players. However, I ran one of the great (disturbing?) streaks in the world to 15. I ate at the same Chili's all FIVE nights for a THIRD year in a row during my stay in Ponte Vedra Beach. Top that, Cal Ripken! Pictured are the tasty "Wings over Buffalo," which only have 68 grams of fat.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Why isn't there a Chili's within an hour of me?

Why aren't there more island greens?

Where can I place a bet on Tiger?

-- Alex Myers is an Associate Editor for GolfDigest.com. Feel free to email him and please follow him on Twitter since he has self-esteem issues.

The book on Pete Dye

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:45:00 GMT

By Brendan Mohler

Island dreams: Pete Dye at TPC Sawgrass during construction. Photo courtesy Ken. E. May

Famous course architect and World Golf Hall of Fame member Pete Dye has released a new edition of his autobiography, Bury Me In A Pot Bunker. Written with Mark Shaw, it depicts the creation of 25 classic Dye designs, including TPC Sawgrass Stadium, Harbour Town, Whistling Straits and The Ocean Course at Kiawah.

Available on Amazon.com in paperback ($17) or for the Kindle ($9), the book is rich with insight on course design and, with stunning photography, includes a collection of humorous phrases -- or "Dye-isms" -- often spoken by the legendary architect. Although low scores on Dye's layouts are notoriously elusive, Dye isn't shy about sharing his secrets. "If players pay attention," he says, "they can outthink me or any designer who's trying to hoodwink them into attempting the difficult, gambling shot."

Follow @BrendanMohlerGW

If McIlroy has learned how to play the Stadium Course, then watch out

Thu, 09 May 2013 18:54:00 GMT

By Ron Sirak

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- This much we know about Rory McIlroy: When he has his A-game everyone else in the field becomes a B-list celebrity. Winning the 2011 U.S. Open and last year's PGA Championship by eight strokes each proves that.

What the 24-year-old lad from Northern Ireland has yet to demonstrate is whether or not he has the resolve to win when he is not playing his best. And the way he's started this Players, we may not find out this week.

McIlroy watches his second shot on the 14th hole during the first round of The Players Championship. Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

McIlroy appears to be on his game. He also seems to have figured out how to play the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, so he's got that going for him.

"I don't hit any drivers on the front nine," McIlroy said after opening with a bogey-free six-under-par 66. "I mean, I hit driver on 11 and 16 on the back nine, and one more, 14, so I only hit three drivers around this place. Now I see why I don't. . . . There is no point hitting driver off either (par 5) for me, because I'm still going to reach the green with a 3â¿¿wood off the tee, if I want to."

Remarkably, it took Rory McIlroy seven trips around the Stadium Course before he was able to break par. Now, he pretty much just needs not to lose a sleeve of golf balls in Friday's second round to make it to the weekend for the first time in four tries.

Before posting his 66 on Thursday in what may become the Vijay Singh Invitational if the 50-year-old Fijian wins his lawsuit against the PGA Tour, McIlroy's scores at Sawgrass resembled the summertime highs in San Diego -- 74, 77, 73, 72, 72 and 76.

His ball-striking was so precise on this day -- especially his iron play -- that the length of his six made birdie putts combined barely added up to one reasonable putt: 29 feet total as he turned in 31, playing the back nine first.

That was followed by a cruise-control 35 on the front side, finishing off his best career round here by six strokes in the tour's flagship event.

"It's just these [Pete Dye-designed] courses and this especially is just about getting your ball in play," McIlroy said. "Once you do that, you can . . . the way I feel like I'm hitting my irons, I can take advantage of that."

There is an axiom about the Stadium Course that long hitters don't fare well here. That's mostly true, except when a bomber is hitting a lot of fairways. Rory seems to have found a middle ground -- forget about the driver. While he missed a few fairways, he never missed badly and his iron play had the kind of precision Dye had in mind when he designed this course more than 30 years ago.

McIlroy, who came into the year as the No. 1 player in the world but started the season slowly and lost the top spot to Tiger Woods when Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, appears to be reclaiming his form.

So far, his best effort of the year was a second-place finish at the Valero Texas Open when he closed with a 66 only to be bested by two strokes when Martin Laird closed with a 63.

The year started miserably for him when he missed the cut in Abu Dhabi, was knocked out in the first round of the Accenture Match Play and when walked of the course at the Honda Classic while in the process of shooting a million.

"I'm definitely a lot more relaxed coming in here this year," McIlroy says about flying somewhat under a radar screen jammed with Tiger and the Vijay lawsuit. " I guess in a way whatever I do this week is what I felt coming in, I'll do better than I ever have before, because I've played well and I am playing well. I feel like I've got the game to contend. I came in here with not much pressure, and just wanted to go out and play well, and that's what I've done so far."

There have been just enough hiccups in McIlroy's career to give you pause -- five lackluster major championship performances after he won the 2011 U.S. Open and three consecutive years with one nine in the 40s at the Masters -- but the obvious talent makes you think the hiccups will be cured.

And then there is this: On a week when a World Golf Hall of Fame member who has won $67.5 million on the PGA Tour and likely has more than $20 million coming in his deferred income plan sues the tour, the apparent niceness of McIlroy shines even brighter.

There is something about McIlroy that makes you feel as if the kid who cuts your grass on Saturday afternoon went out and won the U.S. Open or the PGA Championship on Sunday.

And for the first time at the Players, it appears as if Rory will survive to see Sunday. The young man appears to have reclaimed his A-game from the pawnshop and he's learned that out-thinking a golf course can be as dominating as overpowering it. It will be fun to watch him put that skill and knowledge to use the rest of the week.

Follow @RonSirak

Architect Art: The Sketches Architect Art: Golf's Grand Design

Bob Cupp and Ron Whitten — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Excepted from "Golf's Grand Design: The Evolution of Golf Architecture in America," written by Golf Digest's architecture editor Ron Whitten and golf architect Bob Cupp. View rare sketches and diagrams of golf holes--some never before published--by past and present golf architects.

Editor's Letter

Jerry Tarde — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

The case for builders in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses: By Architect

GolfDigest.com — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 05:00:00 GMT

We rank the designers with the most golf courses on our list of the Country's best.

An indignant Norman cuts ties with course he founded

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 00:04:00 GMT

By Tim Rosaforte

HOBE SOUND, Fla. -- The Medalist GC has always been Greg Norman's GC, but no more.

The Shark has demanded his name and that of co-designer Pete Dye be taken off the course he founded and wants his memorabilia returned, including the signature shark above the bar in the men's locker room.

Norman's issue is the club's hiring of former Dye disciple Bobby Weed to do a restoration of the original Norman-Dye design that opened in 1995.

Related: Greg Norman's My Shot

In a letter sent to Medalist President De Mudd following a board meeting in early December, Norman demanded that the club stop using his name and Dye's in reference to the design of the course. Saturday morning he called the club to arrange an evening to pick up his belongings. His name will remain on the locker room wall as winner of both the gross and net divisions of the club's member-guest.

"It's really a slap in the face at the end of the day," Norman said via email. "It's the end of a legacy by the board doing what the board is doing now. It hurts a lot to tell the truth. It's a shame."

Weed already began work on some of Medalist's bunkers this summer and was under contract when Norman offered his design company's services for free in May. Norman, who resigned as club president in 2008, points out in the letter to Mudd, "The design integrity of the original designed course has been compromised by your alterations without consultation or discussion with neither Pete Dye nor me."

Related: Greg Norman takes jab at Tiger Woods

Mudd took over in 2010 and is past president at Conway Farms in suburban Chicago. He adopted a dues-only program to tour pros living in the area that has attracted Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler. As for the situation with Norman, Mudd said based on club policy he was not allowed to discuss member issues.

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Media: The best way to get Tiger's autograph?

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 22:55:00 GMT

(Getty Images)

By John Strege

Follow @JohnStrege

One of the few highlights of Saturday's washed-out telecast of the third round of the PGA Championship was CBS' David Feherty's response to Tiger Two Gloves.

Twice on the par-4 fourth hole on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, Woods hit spectators with shots (the photo above shows him after one of those shots) and gave each of his victims a signed glove. When he nearly hit a third person at the seventh hole, Feherty said this:

"He's signing more autographs on the course than he does off," Feherty said.

Tiger no doubt would not have appreciated the remark, but surely viewers did.

McIlroy treed

Another high spot was coverage of the search party looking for Rory McIlroy's ball on the third hole. CBS eventually put a slow-motion replay of the ball in flight.

"It hit the tree, that little dead limb," CBS' Gary McCord said, referring to a dead tree in the middle of the third fairway. "Where'd it go after that?"

"That tree's so rotten it may have embedded," Feherty said.

They finally were able to ascertain that it stuck in a hollow atop a branch of the tree, about eight feet off the ground.

"Somebody tell them," McCord said.

Someone eventually did and McIlroy reached up and retrieved it.

"I've never seen that," Feherty said.

"I haven't," McCord said.

They have now.

How to weather the storm

If you're a viewer, you reach for the remote. Here's how CBS filled the time:

-- A recap of the day's play

-- An interview with Kerry Haigh, managing director of tournaments for the PGA of America.

-- A Tiger swing analysis from Peter Kostis, using the Konica Minolta Bizhub Swing Vision Camera.

-- PGA Championship anniversaries.

-- Final-round coverage of the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine (Y.E. Yang beating Woods).

Where's the video?

Jim Nantz told this story at the top of the telecast on Saturday: "I'll tell you how intimidating this course is. We had these microphones that are on the tee areas. This morning on the 17th tee, an alligator popped out of the marsh and ate the microphone."

On Twitter

Luke Donald, after rounds of 74, 76 and 74: "Pete Dye 3, Luke Donald 0"

Quotable

"We're going to hunker down here in the 18th tower. It is grounded. They say it is. We're going to find out." -- Nantz when the weather delay that was to include lightning began

Paspalum grass will be a new challenge for many players at PGA

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:37:00 GMT

By Sam Weinman
Follow @samweinman

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. -- OK class, the vocabulary word of the day is "paspalum". In case you were wondering, Rory McIlroy can spell it correctly.

"P-A-S-P-A-L-U-M," McIlroy said. "The Bear's Club (McIlroy's home course in Jupiter, Fla.) actually has paspalum. We practice on paspalum all the time -- me, Luke (Donald), Keegan (Bradley), Dustin (Johnson). It's something we are quite used to and something I was talking to Luke about yesterday, something that the guys that are members of the Bear's Club might have an advantage because we are used to how it reacts."

The shots around the Ocean Course's elevated greens are going to play a large role in the outcome of the PGA Championship. Photo by Getty Images

With rain hitting the Ocean Course on Wednesday -- and more expected -- the one certainty heading into the first round is that the Pete Dye layout will play softer than officials and players had hoped. It means the comparisons of Kiawah to true British links courses don't really work -- especially with the paspalum grass on and around the greens that players say grab at the ball more than usual.

"Now you're going to have to throw the ball up or play some kind of one-hop-and-stop spinner in there," Tiger Woods said. "There will be very few bump-and-run shots. You just won't see it that often because now it's going to be too soft for that play to work. This paspalum is very sticky."

In other words, don't neglect your wedge game. When a golf course is ridiculously long (7,676 long) and invites plenty of wind, players are going to miss more than their share of greens. How they recover will be the question, especially when it involves negotiating a foreign surface.

"Paspalum is a grass that I'm not sure we've ever played a Tour event on before," world No. 1 Luke Donald said. "Around the greens it's tricky. I think anyone who has good fundamentals that can use the bounce of their lob wedge, have some creativity, is going to fare a lot better than someone that has poor technique."