Woody Austin stands out in this field

How can you not love Woody Austin?
I mean, we’ve learned more about him in the past month than we ever imagined.
We know he’s not afraid of Tiger Woods, even if he can’t beat him.
We know he loves playing on this Presidents Cup team, maybe as much as anyone ever has.
And we know he doesn’t embarrass easily.
When Austin went into the pond (picture inset) at Royal Montreal Friday afternoon, it could’ve ruined some guys. It’s one thing to fall in playing with your buds, but to do it with the golf world watching is another thing.
That’s as bad as when I met the parents of one of my first girlfriends and immediately threw up at her dad’s feet. (That’s a true story but as Forrest Gump likes to say, that’s all I have to say about that.)
But Woody rolled with the drenching, toweled himself off then birdied the last three holes to show more guts than anyone thought possible.
Through two days of this Presidents Cup, Austin hasn’t won a match but he’s tied two and provided the kind of fire you knew he would.
He’s not the most talented guy on the American team. In fact, he may come in last in that department. But he plays tough and he cares.
Wet or dry.

Presidents Cup no pressure

So why don’t our Yankee Doodle Dandies play in the Ryder Cup like they did Thursday in the Presidents Cup?

Let’s ask David Toms.

"(The Ryder Cup) gets to be more than golf," Toms said standing beside the 18th green early Thursday evening. "Everybody puts too much pressure on themselves. Then you get to the point where you wonder why you can’t do better and that just adds more pressure. "In this, we free-wheel it a little more."

Then Toms said something most professional athletes wouldn’t say – that some of the pressure comes from reading newspapers and golf magazines. It’s almost part of the professional athlete’s code to say they don’t read what’s written about them but, amazingly, they always seem to know when something negative is written about them. Not that they’re reading.

"A lot of it comes from you guys and the things you write about this event," Toms told a couple of us, alluding to the pounding the Americans get about their Ryder Cup failures.

"We’re like everyone else. We get up in the morning and read the sports page."

Toms also pointed out the European media beats the Ryder Cup drum constantly, adding to the pressure.

And there’s a huge difference in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. One is grim, the other is fun.

The Americans like the Presidents Cup because captain Jack Nicklaus makes it fun for them. And it shows.

Presidents Cup, Canadian style

We're not in Prince William County, Virginia anymore.

That's where the Presidents Cup seems always to have been played -- and there's nothing wrong with that if you want it to be an eternal home game for the Red, White and Blue.

But this Presidents Cup, which begins at the very reasonable hour of 1:15 p.m. Thursday for those of us who are morning-challenged, is being played at Royal Montreal Golf Club, which is about 20 minutes from downtown as the maple leaf flies.

Because it's in Canada, it means it's different from other Presidents Cup matches in several ways.

It means Mike Weir is bigger than Hannah Montana (and if you don't know who she is, you haven't been around anyone between the ages of 6 and 16 recently).

It means the leaves are changing up here and the talk, except for this weekend, has turned to hockey. The shuttle driver who dropped me at the golf course Wednesday felt obliged to mention that the Canadiens were charging $8.50 for a beer at two exhibition games recently. Since the Canadian dollar and the American dollar are now worth about the same price, that's not a very good deal by anyone's measure unless your name is Molson or LaBatt.

It means only George Bush 41 made the trip north for the opening ceremonies. Two years ago, his buddy Bill Clinton was on the scene but he's not here this time. No votes for Hillary to pick up on this side of the border, I suppose.

It's already been amusing. Vijay Singh cracked wise about Phil Mickelson, saying, "Phil who?" when he was asked about their relationship, which is as warm as a Montreal winter.

Gary Player went on and on about any number of subjects and it wouldn't have surprised a soul had he dropped and given us all 50 on the stage Wednesday afternoon.

Give this thing some time and it just might catch on.

Charlotte 49ers invited to prestigious tournament

One of the tangible benefits of the Charlotte 49ers’ third-place finish in the NCAA men’s golf championship last spring comes this weekend when the team will play in the Ping/Golfweek Preview tournament in West Lafayette, Ind.

It’s like qualifying for the Masters for college teams because only the top teams from the previous season are invited. It’s played each fall at the site of the upcoming NCAA championship, which is why the 49ers will be playing at Purdue University.

"It’s one of the perks from playing well last season," coach Jamie Green said.

The 49ers, who look to have locked themselves into a spot among the top programs in the country, won their first start of the fall season last weekend at the Scenic City Invitational in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Sophomore Corey Nagy also picked up the first victory of his career in the process as the 49ers hung in rainy weather over the final nine holes.

Green is giving his team room to make some of its own rules, at least as it comes to conditioning.

When he noticed some of the players in a pick-up basketball game recently, Green decided to set some ground rules. Conditioning has become a significant part of college golf and, after a while, running stadium stairs and working in the weight room can get old.

After the players told Green they liked basketball – which has been known to produce jammed fingers and twisted ankles – he agreed they could play but only under his rules and his supervision.

"I call every foul," Green said. "I don’t care about the score or the competitive standpoint. If you foul anybody or go too hard, you run suicides. We goof around and try to have some fun."

It seems to be working.

Tiger numbers to remember: 18, 82, 100

The number that has been most commonly associated with Tiger Woods’ rocket ride into history is 18, the number of major championships won by Jack Nicklaus.

Barring injury or something else unfortunate, that number will fall in the coming years and Tiger’s major championship total will probably go somewhere over 20.

Two other numbers are beginning to come into focus now – 82 and 100.

Sam Snead won 82 PGA Tour events, the gold standard in terms of trophy collecting. With his victory at the Tour Championship Sunday, Woods now has 61 victories, one shy of tying Arnold Palmer for fourth on the all-time list.

It’s hardly to stretch to think Woods will take down Snead’s record in the next three to four years, if he continues winning as regularly as he does now. Woods won seven times in 16 events this year, a pretty good batting average by any measure.

If he wins five times a year, Woods will pull even with Snead when he’s 36 and he’ll still have a huge chunk of his career in front of him.

That’s where 100 comes in. It seems like a nice round number for Woods to chase. He’s almost two-thirds of the way there already.

Bobby Jones celebrated at East Lake

The spirit of Bobby Jones may live at Augusta National but his life is celebrated at East Lake Golf Club.

Take a walk through the big Tudor-style clubhouse where the season-ending Tour Championship is being played and it’s like a museum to Jones, who called East Lake his home course.

The highlight may be two lighted glass cases in the front room, each of which houses replica trophies from two of the four major championships he won when he completed the 1930 Grand Slam.

There are other glassed in displays from Jones’ career including one that includes a pair of the shoes he wore and Bobby Jones’ golf clubs, still in the boxes they were sold in.

In a hallway, some of the irons Jones used are mounted. Alongside the main staircase to the second floor are framed photos and newspaper clippings recounting memorable moments in Jones’ career.

Near the golf shop, there are 20 photographs of Jones, showing him through his life, from when he was a young man until his final years.

As if to prove the club doesn’t live entirely in the past, there is also a display featuring football helmets from both Georgia and Georgia Tech.

Jones, it should be noted, was a Tech man.

Mickelson designing N.C. course, too

Not only is Tiger Woods designing a golf course in the North Carolina mountains, so is Phil Mickelson.

If you’ve ever played golf in the North Carolina mountains, you understand the attraction.

For Mickelson, the course is named River Rock and will be located in Cashiers, the wealthy mountain enclave in the far western part of the state. Ground has not actually been broken on the course but Mickelson’s new company - Phil Mickelson Design - has already plotted the layout.

In fitting with Mickelson’s style, it will be dramatic and daring.

How long and how daring?

How about:

• A 305-yard par-3. That’s right, par-3. The good news, at least according to topography maps and press releases, it will play 65 feet downhill to a green with a 180-degree view of the mountains. I’m not much with calculus but 305 yards, no matter how far downhill it is, seems a little extreme for a par-3.

• The third hole will be a 343-yard driveable par-4. Yes, the release, says, it’s driveable - and not just for Phil. The fairway drops 104 feet from the tee. Imagine the cart ride from the tee to the fairway.

• The fourth and 15th fairways will criss cross, a rare feature for the professionals but not terribly uncommon for the average hack who often plays from one fairway to another.

The course is near the top of a mountain but will have only a handful of uphill holes. However, it isn’t scheduled to open until 2010.

Mickelson is also helping design the residential master plan around the private River Rock course.

Quail Hollow deal means dream can build

The news this week at the Wachovia Championship will be extended through 2014 - the official papers should be signed in the relatively near future - was another example of why and how the five-year old tournament has been able to establish itself as one of the PGA Tour’s premier events.

The current contract has another three years remaining but organizers - that means tournament staff, Wachovia officials and Quail Hollow president Johnny Harris - chose the aggressive route and it has paid off again.

Many tournament contracts expire after 2010 and the network television deals will be redone after the 2012 season. By working to secure the Wachovia Championship’s place on future tour schedules, the event will continue to operate from a position of strength.

It has the best of all worlds with its venue, its early May date and the embrace of the community. By locking down its place on future tour schedules - you can believe keeping the early May date was critical in negotiations - the Wachovia Championship should continue to be one of the most significant events on the tour schedule.

Had the decision been made to wait until later to work on an extension, there was a risk of losing some leverage if the tour wanted to tinker with the date. That would not have been good news on the local front.

The extension also eases any worries about the future of the event after 2010. It’s no secret that some Quail Hollow members have been frustrated by the time and money invested in getting the course and club just right for the pros.

The transition from rye grass - kept alive for optimum tournament conditions - to bermuda has made conditions at Quail spotty in some summers. This past year, however, the transition went much better and the frustration level has simmered down.

Some members will still be frustrated. Find a club where that isn’t true, even if it doesn’t host anything but its own club championship. Some members are just cranky.

But by keeping the Wachovia Championship at Quail Hollow for at least seven more years, everyone wins.

When the tournament was created, organizers had grand dreams. Those dreams have been met and surpassed.

And they keep building on the dream.

Fed Ex Cup has trouble delivering stars

Phil Mickelson is conflicted.

He was one of the guys who pushed PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem to change the schedule so it would, among other things, make it easier for him to check out when school starts and not get any grief for putting an early end to his golf schedule.

Phil and Tiger and everyone else got the new, shorter, richer schedule this year and now, two tournaments and one victory into the four-event FedEx Cup playoffs, Mickelson may skip the BMW Championship this week in Chicago even though he’s leading the super-hyped points race.

Tiger did it last week. Phil may do it this week.

Something tells me the FedEx Cup is not the greatest thing since the Pro V1 in the eyes of the guys that matter the most.

Mickelson wants to be home with his family in San Diego when the kids start school this week. If that’s what he wants to do, he should do it. It wouldn’t be disingenuous of Mickelson, whose devotion is well known, though he’ll take a gentle public flogging for not being the good corporate soldier.

Mickelson, as we all know, has stayed home from the Tour Championship to go trick or treating with his kids.

If Phil skips Chicago – he’ll be there Tuesday for a previously scheduled outing but sounded Monday night like a man who’ll be sleeping in his own bed this week – it’s another needle in the FedEx balloon.

Mickelson essentially promised to show up in Atlanta next week for the Tour Championship where he could still duel Tiger or someone else for the big $10-million annuity and distinction of the being the first winner of the FedEx Cup (snicker, snicker).

It was great for Mickelson to finally take down Tiger in a showdown for a couple of reasons. It brought him back to where he was when he won The Players Championship and before he hurt his wrist prepping for “dangerous” Oakmont. It also re-energized the Phil-Tiger dynamic.

What was interesting, too, was how Mickelson talked after his win about how excited he is – for the majors next year.

Somewhere Tim Finchem probably asked for a Rolaids.

Club championship weekend upon us

To many golfers, especially around here, Labor Day weekend means club championship weekend.

Many private clubs devote the three-day weekend to determining the best player in the club and, in the process, reinforcing what most members already know – which members have the most ridiculous handicaps.

Beyond the free beer that’s usually included, club championships can be great fun if you like playing competitive golf where there’s no such thing as a gimme. Putt ‘em out, boys and girls.

That means, sooner or later over the course of 54 holes, you’re going to miss at least one that makes you blush. Maybe two. Maybe more if the inside of your brain starts sounding like a Metallica concert.

If you’ve ever played tournament golf, you know it’s a different game than the one you play most days. It’s not for everyone. Tournament golf will expose you quicker than ’60 Minutes.’

Make a couple of bad swings and suddenly things start to go bump in your backswing. Pitch shots over bunkers look like something from Indiana Jones’ nightmares. Fairways look as thin as Charles Howell III’s calves.

But there are days – so I’ve been told – when it all comes together and when it happens in the club championship, you have a fleeting sense of how Tiger must feel at Firestone.

OK, that may be an exaggeration. The closest you get to feeling like Tiger is pulling on a red Nike shirt on Sunday. Your private jet is actually a 2001 Camry with an ‘I’d rather be driving a Titleist’ bumper sticker on the back.

Golf is the ultimate tease, as anyone who’s ever chopped it around for 17 holes then holed the 35-footer on the 18th green already knows.

But once the game gets its hooks in you – symptoms include checking out your takeaway in the reflection of a window and being able to recognize Briny Baird from 200 yards away – it never lets go.

The weird thing is, no matter how many hosel rockets you’ve hit, you still believe the next shot, the next round, the next tournament is going to be a good one.

That’s why club championships are so much fun.

Until the guy with an 11-handicap shoots 74 and ruins it for everyone.

Did Tiger help PGA by not playing?

The success or failure of the FedEx Cup playoffs - forget for a moment they’re not actually playoffs - can’t be judged on one week, but if Steve Stricker’s victory in The Barclays Sunday was any indication, the concept has potential.

The best part of the first playoff event was Stricker’s victory. He’s one of the nicest men in professional golf and for him to finally win again after six years warmed many hearts.

It wasn’t long ago that Stricker seriously considered abandoning the game. It had torn him apart and he had lost his playing privileges. But Stricker hung in there and has played his way back among the top-ranked players in the world.

If you want to be a fan of someone, Stricker’s your guy.

Perhaps Tiger Woods’ absence helped, in a backhanded way, the first playoff event. With Stricker, K.J. Choi and Rory Sabbatini playing well, they leap-frogged Tiger in the standings.
It doesn’t mean Tiger won’t win the FedEx Cup but it means it won’t be automatic.

Wouldn’t it be fun if Phil Mickelson won this week and got in the middle of it?

Give CBS credit for using graphics to show how players were moving up and down the standings during the final round. It gave viewers a sense of the dynamic at work. It may be more interesting this weekend when only the top 70 will advance.

Then again, Tiger’s back this week. We may know by Sunday how it all ends.

Want the right club fit? Try Z Golf

Okay, so you know a little bit about club fitting in golf.

You know you need your clubs to be two degrees upright, standard length and have stiff shafts. You know the 10-degree driver works for you but you’re not sure why.

It’s amazing how much the guys who run Z Golf’s custom fitting operation can tell you about your golf swing, the clubs you’re using and the clubs that can honestly – and they’ll give you the statistical evidence to prove it – help you hit it 10 yards longer.

The third branch of Z Golf – the first two are in Memphis and Chattanooga – recently opened at the Ballantyne Golf Resort, bringing the latest in high-tech club fitting to Charlotte.

Club fitting came into vogue a few years ago and, like computers, it keeps evolving. If you’re thinking of buying new clubs, you’d be making a mistake if you didn’t get properly fitted first.

"You don’t wear a pair of shoes that’s too small for you," Dana Rader, a member of Golf Digest’s top 50 teachers, said. "You get a pair that fits.
"It’s the same with golf. You don’t have to get the top of the line stuff. It’s more about the fit. You need the right fit."

That’s what Z Golf gives you.

Utilizing the latest technology – a device called TrackMan – and enough club options to fill a superstore, Rick Spangler of Z Golf can break down the flight of every shot you hit with every different club into enough numbers to dazzle a NASA scientist. The good thing is Spangler will decipher the numbers, tell you what they mean and help you pick your equipment accordingly.

You can probably even forecast the weather while using TrackMan since it incorporates Doppler radar technology that provides 18 measuring points on each shot. It’s not just launch angle, clubhead speed and spin rate, it measures the angle of the clubface at impact, the angle of descent on shots falling out of the sky and other elements.

Because Z Golf’s program isn’t tied to any club manufacturer, it allows golfers to test almost everything – Titleist, TaylorMade, Callaway, Adams, Nike, whatever. It has more combinations than Starbucks and, should a player find a club or clubs he wants to purchase, they don’t cost anymore than at most retail shops.

"We have no brand identity so we’re not focused on touting specific clubs," Spangler said. "This is all about finding the right club."

It’s available for players of all skills levels. Beginners may not need the latest and greatest equipment but they need clubs that fit them properly.
Having analyzed hundreds of swings and players, Spangler has discovered a couple of things most players have in common.

First, many who come in determined to buy a specific brand of driver are surprised to find they often hit and like something else better;
And, almost no one hits it as far as they think they do.

"No one hits it 300 yards," Spangler said. "I tell them PGA Tour players fly it an average of 260 yards with their drivers."

Okay, sometimes the truth hurts.

For more information, visit www.ballantyneresort.com/golf.

FedEx Cup starts with no Tiger and lots of questions

The PGA Tour's super-hyped, vaguely understood FedEx Cup playoffs begin this week with No. 1 seed and - even if he doesn't make another cut this year - player of the year Tiger Woods deciding to give himself a first-round bye.

That's called starting with a whimper more than a bang.

No wonder PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem opted not to visit the media center in Greensboro Sunday afternoon while he was at Forest Oaks Country Club, where you'd have thought he might want to pump up the volume on golf's so-called playoffs.

No one, players included, is quite sure what to make of this new four-event format that is intended to give the PGA Tour a finish with the unrelenting action of "The Bourne Ultimatum."

It's a worthwhile experiment. Pro golf gets lost in football season and trying to bring it all together for a big finish before everyone gets settled into their Barcalounger is a good idea.

I remember standing behind the 18th green in Greensboro a couple of years ago on an October Saturday afternoon watching the final groups finish. Players in three consecutive groups walked off the last green and immediately asked about college football scores.

At the Presidents Cup two years ago, U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus finished his Saturday afternoon press conference that included unveiling the Sunday singles pairings then, as he was walking out, had a writer call up the day's college scores on a computer so the Golden Bear could check on his beloved Ohio State Buckeyes and the other games.

Regardless of who wins the FedEx Cup - my guess is Tiger followed by Vijay Singh with Brandt Snedeker as the darkhorse - we already know Woods is the player of the year. That's not going to change.

But it's hard to get hyped up about the money they're playing for because A) they already play for so much and, B) it's s not like they get the money now.

The winner will have to wait until he's 45 to access the $10 million annuity. It's nice to know that it's coming down the road, but wouldn't it be more fun if FedEx rolled out one of its big trucks to the 18th green at East Lake and stacked the money around the champion?

There are interesting questions as the FedEx Cup begins:

- Will Phil Mickelson really play all four events as he says he intends to do and, if he does, will he be a factor? Lefty usually shuts it down this time of year, but because he was one of the guys asking for the shorter season, he needs to play. Plus, is his second-half slump entirely attributable to his wrist injury? If Phil can get it going, the FedEx Cup will get some extra juice.

-How much will the attention focus on the "cut" after the second week when only the top 70 in points advance? My guess is it won't attract much attention.

-Is this tailor-made for Jim Furyk, who is seemingly always in contention?

-What if Tiger and Vijay are battling for the FedEx championship on Sunday at the Tour Championship but neither is in contention to win the tournament? Does the tournament winner get overshadowed like happens when the Nextel Cup champion is determined?

-Will the format be the same next year?

-It's time to start getting some answers.

-Ron Green Jr.

What will Tiger's course look like?

The secret was out before the official word Tuesday afternoon that Tiger Woods’ first golf course design in the United States will be at The Cliffs at High Carolina, located about 15 minutes east of Asheville.

"I guess we all know why we’re here," Woods said upon his introduction at a standing-room-only press conference inside the clubhouse at The Cliffs Valley course just north of Greenville, S.C.

Everyone already knew.

What’s still to be learned is what kind of course designer Tiger Woods will be.

High Carolina will be only his second design, following the course he’s still completing in Dubai. He admits to learning on the job but Woods has such a great eye for detail and an appreciation of the game’s classic elements that he figures to be an outstanding designer.

Here are a few of his thoughts about course design and his new project he shared during his media conference:

On his interest in course design: "It’s a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to do it. As a kid playing the game of golf, you always wanted to create something that people would love, that would last and (people) would find challenging but enjoyable as well…

"Take a look at this piece of property, it’s absolutely amazing. You really can’t mess this up, okay? Even an idiot can’t mess this up…I think I’m a little bit above that."

Why he chose The Cliffs opportunity: "You have to experience the property. Once you get up there and experience how peaceful this is, how tranquil and (serene) it is, it’s just a no-brainer. You want to be part of this…

"With our southern view, it’s absolutely breathtaking. You see for, I think about seven mountain ranges...so it’s pretty remarkable."

What courses or designers influence him: "I love what Perry’s (Maxwell) done or what (Alistair) McKenzie’s done. I just enjoy the older-style golf courses. I enjoy golf courses that are right in front of you. I thoroughly enjoy playing links golf courses where you utilize the ground. I enjoy playing the Aussie sandbelt courses…I thoroughly enjoy what we play most of our U.S. Opens and PGA Championships on."

On what he’s learned about design work in his first project: "Well, everything. How extensive it is to design a golf course. You just go play golf and you say, okay, they put a lake here, they put a bunker here, trees there. Why would they do that?

"As I’ve gotten into it, I’ve started to understand why and how. When I play golf courses now, I look at them differently."

Will he be like Tom Fazio and Jack Nicklaus, who tend to move large amounts of dirt in their designs, or take a more minimalist approach?: "I’m more of a minimalist."

Will he have a design trademark?: "If it had to be one specific thing, probably bunkering. I just enjoy playing a golf course that has fantastic bunkering."

Where does this project stand on his list of business priorities? "Very high. Extremely high. One of the reasons I’m moving to this is that (it’s) different, challenging. I figure I’ve done enough commercials and stuff like that. That part was fun for a while. Now I want to try something else, something that’s stimulating.

"As I’ve gotten into it, I have been stimulated more than I ever thought I would and I actually love that."

Tiger's path to 19, major-by-major

Now that Tiger Woods has won his 13th major championship - so much for the notion that Southern Hills with all its dogleg par-4s doesn’t fit Tiger’s game - he’s one step closer to breaking Jack Nicklaus’s all-time record of 18 professional major trophies.

Five more to tie.

Six to break the record.

Probably 10 more majors by the time Tiger calls it a career.

So where might Tiger make history?

Let’s look at it year by year and it may come clear to us.

2008: Tiger hasn’t won the Masters since 2005 (gee, two whole years) but he’ll get No. 5 next April. That gets him to 14 majors. The U.S. Open goes to Torrey Pines near San Diego so Tiger gets No. 15 there. He wins the Buick tournament there every year and it’s like a homecourse advantage to Tiger. The British is at Royal Birkdale and, since he can’t win every major every year, let’s say this one goes to someone else as does the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.

2009: Let’s figure Tiger wins the Masters every other year for a while so he doesn’t win at Augusta in ’09. The U.S. Open returns to Bethpage where he won the first time it was played there. Tiger likes to collect things so he collects another Bethpage victory, No. 16. The British Open goes back to Turnberry, one of the great links in the world, and Tiger loves links golf. He hasn’t won at Turnberry, where the great Nicklaus-Tom Watson duel was waged. He gets No. 17 within sight of the Ailsa Craig, letting someone else win the PGA at Hazeltine.

2010: Tiger’s been keeping track of Jack’s major championship record since he was big enough to swing a 9-iron and he has a knack for the big stage. Tiger ties Jack’s record of 18 majors with a victory at the Masters, which would also tie Jack’s record of six wins at Augusta. It’s the perfect scenario. And No. 19 comes two months later at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the spot where Nicklaus said if he had one round to play, he would play it there. It’s also the place where Nicklaus waved goodbye to the U.S. Open.

And the rest is more history.

Catching up with Mark Love, Davis' brother

Thursday afternoon while his brother, Davis, was playing his first round in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in sweaty Tulsa, OK., Mark Love – who has caddied for his brother off and on through the years – was in a golf cart taking another look at the redesign work they’ve done at the soon-to-open The Club at Irish Creek in Kannapolis.

There was a time when Mark, who followed Davis to the University of North Carolina, would have been marching through the Oklahoma heat with his brother’s golf bag slung across his shoulder, relishing the possibility of being in contention on the weekend.

But Mark Love was where he wanted to be Thursday, riding in the North Carolina heat, looking at what he, his brother and their design company are creating at what used to be Kannapolis Country Club.

"I don’t miss caddying," said Love, who became a familiar sight beside his brother. "When I do an occasional week with Davis now, I enjoy seeing my friends and the tournament rounds, but that job is so much about sitting and waiting."

These days, Mark is president of Love Golf Design, a company with an increasingly impressive reputation. The Love Course at Barefoot Resort in Myrtle Beach has earned national praise, as have several others among the 20 or so projects the Love group has handled.

When Irish Creek opens to members this fall, word will spread fast about the dynamic redesign Mark, Davis and their group – including Bob Spence and John McKenzie – have produced.

They have taken the best parts of the existing layout, created new routing and new holes in places and fully utilized the lake, transforming the course into a more dramatic and appealing golf course. It’s a place people will want to go play – often.

"We think traditional-style golf is more fun," Love said, riding the course Thursday afternoon. "When we’ve been at majors, Davis has always said, ‘Why can’t we build courses like this anymore?’ "

That doesn’t mean difficult enough to torment touring pros. It means incorporating classic design styles such as grass-faced bunkers, generous fairways and subtly contoured greens into natural settings. It means utilizing the land rather than creating something artificial.

"The creative part of it is my forte," Love said, looking across a lakeside where the fifth, seventh and eighth greens sit.

At the par-3 eighth, Love explains how two bunkers had been built on the right side of the green but, with the green guarded on the left by the lake, the decision was made to go with just one bunker, leaving the front right side clear for sliced tee shots.

"We’ve given a nice big target now for the average guy, but with the green we’ve designed the good players will have a lot of different type shots they can hit," Love said.

A few minutes later, standing on the 18th tee, Love looked around at the course coming to life.

He liked what he saw.

And he liked where he was.

Ron Green Jr.

Lots of questions as PGA Championship gets under way

The primary order of business at the PGA Championship this week at Southern Hills Country Club, aka the world's largest outdoor grill, is determining who will be handed the Wannamaker Trophy Sunday afternoon when the sweating finally subsides.

That, of course, presupposes that enough guys will put up with the heat long enough to play 72 holes in the Oklahoma sizzle.

Who wins - and don't we all think it's going to be Tiger? - could give some needed definition to this PGA Tour season.

Normally at this point in the season, Tiger has already locked down player of the year and master of the universe awards again. But not this year, not yet anyway.


All the important awards - including the perpetually hyped FedEx Cup points race - are still undecided.

Rory Sabbatini has secured the most amusing character award and The Golf Channel is a lock for most improved, but everything else is, like John Daly, fuzzy around the edges.

Some people are still making the case for Zach Johnson as player of the year, though it's Tiger's again if he wins the PGA.

Maybe Padraig Harrington doubles up with a win at the PGA. Maybe Phil Mickelson suddenly returns to form and makes a dynamic run down the stretch.

Maybe Sergio Garcia finally bags the big one despite playing against luck, fate and everything else he believes works against him.

Maybe Ernie Els is rediscovered.


It's time for some answers.

Ron Green Jr.

Big thanks to Rory Sabbatini

We all owe Rory Sabbatini a big thank you for tugging on Superman’s cape again and giving us back the Tiger Woods we’re accustomed to being dazzled by.

The Mouth That Rory-ed popped off again last weekend about Tiger’s supposed vulnerability, drawing the featured Sunday pairing with Tiger at the World Golf Championship/Bridgestone/Woods Family Annuity Classic at Firestone.

Of course, Woods won by such a wide margin that he could have played two extra holes and still been the winner over Sabbatini, who probably wanted to hide behind his giant belt buckle the way he played on Sunday.

Sabbatini has made a habit this year of saying Woods is “as beatable as ever” and he’s been right. Woods is as beatable as ever, which means just about never when he has a scent of the lead on the weekend.

You knew Saturday night that Woods was going to have ‘the look’ on Sunday, knowing he had Sabbatini in his pairing. My guess is Woods is amused by Sabbatini’s chatter, knowing that Sabbatini is a brash guy and knowing that he’s going beat Rory almost every time they play.

Give Sabbatini credit for making things interesting. His remarks at the Wachovia Championship here started the storyline and it’s been fun to watch it stay alive through the summer.

Some had suggested prior to Firestone that Woods’ focus and game had dulled. He hadn’t won in five starts - and that tells you how ridiculously over the top our expectations of Woods have become - and he remains winless in majors this year.

Tiger reminded us at Firestone that his game is just fine. He missed by a whisker of winning the Masters and U.S. Open but the focus was on why he hadn’t won.

My guess is he won’t win the PGA Championship at Southern Hills this week. It’s not a course that seemed to suit him when he’s played there previously but he’ll keep himself in contention.

Then again, if Sabbatini gets in the chase at Southern Hills, count on Tiger shadowing him. And we know how that story will end.

Long, short of winning a major

Sergio Garcia could have done more than just win the British Open Sunday had his eight-foot putt on the 72nd hole at Carnoustie tumbled into the cup.

He would have become the first player to win a major championship using a belly putter or a long putter.

Instead, those forced to desperate measures with a putter are still winless in golf’s most important events.

Vijay Singh, who goes back and forth with his putters, had gone back to a conventional-length putter when he won the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits three years ago.

Putting, as anyone who has ever tried it knows, is a hateful thing. It has ruined more men than wine and women.

That’s why players try all the things they do in an effort to roll the ball into that little hole. If a snow shovel worked, golfers would use it.

But there’s something about the long putter, or the shorter belly putter that you anchor to that spare tire around your waist, that runs contrary to the spirit of golf’s rules.

There may come a day when I’m forced to use the long putter, at which point my opinion will change 180 degrees but, for the time being, I’m glad no one has won a major using a long or belly putter.

Sadly, a bitter ending for Sergio

Late Sunday evening, the sound of Irishmen singing – someone suggested they’d had a few pints – could still be heard at the Carnoustie Golf Links after Padraig Harrington won a British Open that had been a long time coming.

It was worth singing about.

Let’s take a moment here to appreciate Harrington. He’s an exceptional player who’s not spectacular at anything other than getting the ball in the hole. That’s a nice skill to have when you’re in the business of major championship golf.

He’s a tireless worker who’s come close enough times in majors to know how wickedly difficult it is to win one of these things.

Harrington is also immensely popular with players on both the PGA and European Tours because he’s a good guy who works hard, tells you what he’s thinking and goes about it the right way.

Even Sergio Garcia had to be happy Harrington won.

At least you hope so.

Garcia is a strange case. He’s a terrific player who has seemingly everything going for him except for a putter, that occasionally sticks needles in his eyes, and an attitude that works against him.

After his playoff loss to Harrington Sunday, Garcia played the woe is me card, citing all the ways the world is out to get him.

When he hits the flagstick, like he did on the second playoff hole, his ball always bounces away from the hole instead of landing beside the cup. He never gets any good breaks. The guy raking the bunkers at No. 18 took too long. Blah, blah, blah.

Come on, Sergio.

It’s easy to understand his frustration and that’s great. If he didn’t care he wouldn’t be where he is. Sergio’s passion is who he is.

He played terrific golf for three days and when he got wobbly, Sergio pulled it together in the pressure of Sunday afternoon and made you admire his toughness getting to a playoff.

When he lost, though, he started blaming fate. But fate didn’t shoot 38 on the front nine or plug his approach shot in the bunker on the first playoff hole.

It was a bitter way to go, for sure, after such a good week.

Maybe Garcia didn’t hear the Irishmen singing Sunday evening. He wouldn’t have liked the tune.