The 26th-ranked American’s journey from Miami to Madrid ahead of the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain was interrupted on Monday when his plane was forced to land after a passenger suffered a heart attack.

Paul Lawrie becomes the 22nd player to make 500 or more starts on the European Tour this week. The record is 706 starts by Sam Torrance.

When he eventually arrived in Malaga on a connecting flight, he discovered his clubs and suitcase had been lost along the way, forcing him to use a makeshift set for Wednesday’s pro-am.

”It’s been weird,” Snedeker said. ”It’s been a long couple of days, but it’s worth it to get here.”

Snedeker — the only American in the tournament’s 24-man field — is hoping to have his clubs delivered in time for the first of his two matches in the round-robin stage, against Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn on Thursday. A good night’s sleep will come in handy as he starts his bid to become the first U.S. player to win the event since Mark O’Meara in 1998.

”We had to make the emergency landing in the middle of the ocean out in the Azores and spent three or four hours on the runway dealing with that situation,” said Snedeker, who missed the cut at The Players Championship last week. ”So I’m a bit tired. I’m trying my best not to nap before tonight, that will be the main thing.”

Snedeker’s other opponent in the group stage is South African rookie Branden Grace, who has already won three events on the European Tour this year.

Snedeker took advantage of Kyle Stanley’s final-round meltdown to win the Farmers Insurance Open in a playoff in January, but his only top-10 finish since came at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February.

That bodes well for Snedeker in the $3.5 million showdown. A successful few days by Snedeker could give U.S. Captain Davis Love III a nudge ahead of the Ryder Cup against Europe in September.

”I love match play,” said Snedeker, of Nashville, Tenn. ”The one-on-one situations, when you can dictate the match by how you play, there is a lot of strategy involved.

”I love having one man to beat instead of 130-140 other guys. There’s a lot more pressure on every putt, which I kind of like.”

Snedeker missed out on selection for the 2010 Ryder Cup and is currently just outside the top eight on the U.S points list that will guarantee qualification for the match at Medinah.

He believes he’s in good shape to make the team for the first time.

”There’s a long way to go before that, but that’s a main goal of mine this year,” he said. ”There’s a lot of golf left, but winning this week would be a step in the right direction.

”I’m trying to get back into form after missing the cut at the Players last week, but I’m not too far off. I have been playing some good golf and my short game’s in good shape.”

The laid-back Snedeker should feel right at home in the sun and relaxed environment of the southern Spanish coast.

”I love coming over to Europe, the culture and the lifestyle. It really is my cup of tea here. I just always play bad, for some reason,” said Snedeker, who has missed the cut in all three of his appearances at the British Open. ”I’m going to really need those clubs to arrive.”

Article source: http://www.pga.com/news/european-tour/brandt-snedeker-trip-volvo-world-match-play-interrupted-midflight-drama

”I don’t know where they are with their decision-making … but I think match play would suit the Olympics better than a stroke-play event,” the Englishman said Wednesday.

Paul Lawrie becomes the 22nd player to make 500 or more starts on the European Tour this week. The record is 706 starts by Sam Torrance.

The proposed Olympic competition for men and women is a 72-hole individual stroke-play tournament, but Poulter surely would be installed among the favorites if there was a late change.

One of the grittiest players on the circuit, Poulter looks to be the man to beat when he defends his title at this week’s Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain.

”He seems to make the clutch putts,” said Justin Rose, one of Poulter’s rivals this week. ”He’s just one of those competitive guys, eye-to-eye, hates to lose.”

Poulter, the only player to win the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in the United States and the Volvo version on the European Tour, ground out a 4 and 2 victory over Luke Donald – then the world’s top player – in last year’s final.

Twelve months later, he has an even bigger incentive to win in southern Spain – it’s the year of the Ryder Cup, an event close to Poulter’s heart.

”I love match play. I love the buzz of it. I like looking straight at the guys you are playing. It puts you under pressure and it’s a great format we don’t play enough of,” Poulter said. ”Especially being a Ryder Cup year, it would be important for me to have a big week this week.”

With the biennial match with the United States a little more than four months away, Europe’s entrants couldn’t pick a better tournament to impress team Captain Jose Maria Olazabal than this.

The world’s top three players – Europeans Rory McIlroy, Donald and Lee Westwood – have decided to skip the event. But No. 9 Martin Kaymer, No. 12 Rose and 2010 Ryder Cup star Graeme McDowell are among the field.

Brandt Snedeker, who is vying for a spot on the U.S. team for the match in Medinah near Chicago from Sept. 28-30, is the only American in the 24-man field at the Finca Cortesin course near Malaga.

Snedeker hopes his clubs arrive for the event. On Monday, his plane made an emergency landing en route to Spain after a passenger suffered a heart attack. His suitcase and clubs were lost, forcing him to use a makeshift set for Wednesday’s pro-am.

Snedeker was drawn in a group alongside veteran Dane Thomas Bjorn and South Africa’s Branden Grace. There are eight groups of three players in the round-robin format, with the top two in each advancing to the last 16.

Grace is looking to become the first player to win four European Tour events in his first season after graduation from qualifying school. The omens are good for the 23-year-old South African. He won his last match-play event in his native country six years ago.

”It’s come all at once, it’s a bit of a shock,” Grace said of his current form after winning the Volvo China Open, Volvo Golf Champions and the Joburg Open. ”I couldn’t ask for a better spot. I think at this time, I’m just running with the emotion and the positives.”

Sergio Garcia and fellow Spaniard Alvaro Quiros are in the same group along with Japan’s Tetsuji Hiratsuka, while Rose, British Open champion Darren Clarke and Robert Rock will clash in an all-British group. Clarke hasn’t made a halfway cut all season and is without a top-10 finish since his victory at Royal St. George’s last July.

”My pride has been hurt,” Clarke said. ”I’ve been so frustrated with the whole thing because I’ve been trying so hard, too hard probably. Not to justify the Open win, but to back it up.”

Scotland’s Paul Lawrie is one of five other major winners in the field and likely to make Europe’s Ryder Cup lineup, having already won the Qatar Masters this season. This will be the 1999 British Open winner’s 500th European Tour event, making him only the 22nd player to achieve that feat.

Poulter is grouped with John Senden of Australia and Tom Lewis of England.

Finca Cortesin is hosting the tournament for the third straight year following the switch from its longstanding venue of Wentworth in England. Organizers said Tuesday that the event will be moved next year, possibly outside Europe for the first time in its illustrious 47-year history.

Article source: http://www.pga.com/news/european-tour/ian-poulter-defending-champ-and-match-play-specialist-man-beat-in-spain

The two veterans are ranked in the world’s top five. And they are in the mid-teens in earnings. Yet they’re both doing something neither expected in May — looking for their first win of the year.

Pettersen and Kerr will try to break into the win column this week when 64 of the tour’s top players gather at Hamilton Farm Golf Club for a four-day grind and a $375,000 top prize. The tournament favorite has to be Yani Tseng, the No.1-ranked player who has already won three times this year.

Pettersen, who won twice last year, hasn’t finished better than sixth in eight events. It hasn’t been all bad. The Norwegian, after all, hasn’t finished worse than a tie for 26th in any event, but it’s been one off round that has often kept her from challenging for a title this year.

The 31-year-old, who is ranked No. 3, admits she’s off to a slow start, but she feels her game is falling into place. She hopes this tournament gives her a kick start.

“I know where my game is at. I feel like I’ve been in this situation before,” Pettersen said. “You get the questions, `When are you going to win, when are you going to kind of be there on a Sunday?’ It’s just a matter of time. The day it all clicks, it will be exciting again. And if we keep working hard and putting in the hard effort, I think the results will show.”

Kerr, who is ranked No. 5 in the world, might be a little more desperate. It’s been almost two years since she won the LPGA Championship for her 14th career victory. The 34-year-old Kerr has two top-10 finishes this year, but like Pettersen, it’s been one bad round that has prevented her from contending more.

Kerr not only wants to win for herself, but she feels that if Americans can win on tour, it will help the LPGA Tour grow.

“We are trying, we are trying our hardest, I can promise you that,” Kerr said. “We’re working hard and we definitely need to win.”

Winning this event won’t be easy. The eventual champion will have to capture six matches and sometimes, it’s just a matter of luck. You play well, and someone plays better and you’re still out.

Stacy Lewis, who won the LPGA’s last official event in Mobile, Ala., feels this might be the toughest event to win, especially with double rounds scheduled on the weekend.

“If you catch somebody when they get hot, you never know,” she said. “It’s definitely the hardest tournament to win. You’re going to have a bad day, you’re going to have a bad round, and if you can find a way to grind that match out in the second or third round, a lot of times that will win you the tournament.”

Pettersen said both she and Kerr limped to the finish line in the final match last year.

“I think we were just trying to survive to stand up at the end there,” Pettersen said. “It was a long week. I was sick as a dog that week. You know what they say, `look out for the sick golfer.’”

Despite the fatigue, Kerr felt both played well.

“We were definitely tired coming to the back nine on the last match, and that’s also this tournament,” she said. “It’s a test of endurance and a test of who’s the last person standing. I think that when you’re in the final match and you’re playing against one of your friends, of course you still want to win, but you want to have a good match.

“And we did.”

Pettersen will face Jodi Ewart in her first-round match Thursday. Kerr is paired against Belen Mozo of Spain, Tseng drew Jeong Jang of South Korea, while Lewis will play fellow American Pat Hurst.

Article source: http://www.pga.com/news/lpga-tour/suzann-pettersen-set-defend-sybase-match-play-title-seeking-first-win-season

Somerset County prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano says police responded to the building in Bernards Township after a burglar alarm was activated there around 2:40 a.m. Wednesday.

Officers found several trophy cases had been extensively damaged with an ax and noticed some trophies and other items were missing.

Museum officials say among the items taken were the U.S. Amateur trophy that was created in 1926, and a replica of the late Ben Hogan’s Hickok Belt, which he won for being the nation’s top professional athlete in 1953.

Soriano says security video shows the burglary apparently was carried out by one person.

Article source: http://www.pga.com/news/industry-news/us-amateur-trophy-among-artifacts-stolen-in-burglary-usga-museum

“It seems so bizarre that the Wanamaker Trophy, it’s in my room,” Bradley said. “Definitely, sometimes I have to ask myself, `Is this really real?’ … It’s cool to be living with it.”

The legendary Byron Nelson’s 100th birthday was Feb. 4, and the tournament is marking the milestone all this year.

One thing that helped set up Bradley to win that major in a three-hole playoff last August came nearly three months before that, when he got his first professional victory in a playoff at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

“I went from an unknown rookie trying to keep his card to winning a PGA Tour event and locking up my future a little bit,” he said. “I was able to draw on my experience here, especially at the PGA playoff, and this tournament will always be special to me. … This tournament might have set up my whole career.”

Things certainly have changed the past year for the nephew of LPGA great Pat Bradley.

Keegan Bradley is back at the Nelson to play as a defending champion for the first time. The opening round is Thursday at TPC Four Seasons with a field that includes Matt Kuchar the week after he won The Players Championship.

At the Nelson last May, Bradley didn’t even stay in the resort hotel adjacent to the No. 1 tee near Lord Byron’s statue. He went basically unrecognized on the course and wasn’t asked to sign many autographs. He was even overshadowed during the final round by the local teenage amateur who was his playing partner.

Bradley initially wasn’t even planning to play at the Nelson last year.

His initial plan last year was to play at Colonial instead of the following week at the Nelson. The Texas two-step was in a rare reversed order, but this year is back to the more traditional schedule with the Nelson preceding Colonial.

Bradley is sure glad he took caddie Steve Hale’s advice.

“I was done, I had made my decision and Pepsi, my caddie, said, `Look, I think you should play (Nelson)’ — he’s never said anything like that in my career,” Bradley said. “He said Nelson fits your game better, and sure enough, we came here and won. Pepsi knew something I didn’t.”

Kuchar, No. 5 in the World Golf Ranking, and 10th-ranked Phil Mickelson are the only top-10 players from that list at the Nelson. Mickelson, a two-time Nelson champion back for the first time in five years, is No. 4 in the FedExCup standings, the highest from that ranking. Kuchar is sixth.

Winning a tournament the magnitude of The Players Championship was about the only scenario Kuchar could have imagined that “could throw a little bit of a wrench” on his plans to be at the Nelson. Still, there was never really any thought of not playing again this week after his fifth top-10 finish in his last seven tournaments.

“My caddie is from the Dallas area, my instructor is from the Dallas area,” Kuchar said. “Staying at the Four Seasons is special, it’s beautiful, where you don’t have to get in your car. There’s a lot of great things about coming to Dallas for me.”

Beside the extra time with his instructor a month before the U.S. Open, Kuchar’s kids that were celebrating with him after he won The Players Championship last weekend like putting on their cowboy boots in Texas.

Kuchar tied for sixth at last year’s Nelson at even par, three strokes behind the winning score of 277.

Bradley is 21st in the FedExCup standings and has made 11 of 13 cuts with three top-10s this season. His two missed cuts came in the two weeks before finishing 35th at The Players.

Nancy Lopez, the LPGA Hall of Fame member and 48-time winner who this week received the Byron Nelson Prize, said she likes to watch older PGA players like Fred Couples and Ernie Els. But one of the youngsters she pays attention to is Bradley, largely because of her connection with Pat Bradley.

“When I met Keegan, he was a little bitty guy, and I didn’t know that he played golf at the time. I don’t think Pat ever said that she had a nephew playing or was going to go on the PGA Tour,” Lopez said. “When I saw him I said, `That’s Pat Bradley’s nephew. It has to be.’ He looks just like her, or her brothers. … He’s fun to watch.”

Pat Bradley won 31 times, including six majors.

Before winning at the Nelson last year, Keegan Bradley regularly spoke with his aunt through text messages and phone calls about playing and what it was like at the end of tournaments.

Their conversations have changed a lot since then.

“We talk about off-the-course stuff, business kind of stuff, media … talking about winning major championships, how she won her first when she was about my age,” said Keegan, who turns 26 next month. “It’s more of how to win tournaments now and how to be in contention and handle it as opposed to just feeling comfortable at a golf tournament on the PGA Tour. So it’s cool how it’s evolved.”

Article source: http://www.pga.com/news/pga-tour/keegan-bradley-returns-hp-byron-nelson-championship-where-win-last-year-led-major

Tournament organizers said that Woods had committed to play July 5-8 in the event, which began only two years ago. It is played on The Old White TPC Course, where two years ago Stuart Appleby closed with a 59 to win.

It will be the third time in the last nine months that Woods plays a tournament for the first time as a pro. He played the Frys.com Open in October in San Martin, Calif., and the Honda Classic in March. Woods last played the Honda Classic as a teenager.

Phil Mickelson already has said he is returning to The Greenbrier, giving the 3-year-old event two of the biggest names in golf.

Woods also said he will return to the Memorial Tournament later this month.

Woods has accepted an invitation to play in the tournament founded by Jack Nicklaus. So have Jason Day, Bill Haas and Sunday’s winner of the Players Championship, Matt Kuchar.

The 37th Memorial will be played May 31-June 3 at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

Woods won the Memorial in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2009. He missed last year’s tournament while he recovered from knee and Achilles injuries.

Woods has 10 top-10 finishes at the Memorial and has never missed the cut. He has the lowest scoring average in the tournament (minimum of 10 rounds) at 69.62 and has earned more than $3.9 million at it.

Article source: http://www.pga.com/news/pga-tour/tiger-woods-adds-greenbrier-classic-schedule-also-will-return-memorial

The world’s top three – Europeans Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood – have all chosen to skip one of only two match-play events on the calendar, but No. 9 Martin Kaymer, No. 12 Justin Rose, 2010 Ryder Cup star Graeme McDowell and defending champion Ian Poulter are among the big names present.

Poulter ground out a victory over Donald – then the world’s in-form player – in last year’s final, proving again that he is one of the grittiest performers in a format that doesn’t always reward the lowest scorer.

”I love the cut and thrust of match play and find it a refreshing change from the usual stroke-play format we play week in, week out,” said Poulter, who is coming off a 25th-place finish at the Players Championship.

”With the fact it’s Ryder Cup year, I think it will be even more exciting.”

Brandt Snedeker, who is battling to be part of the United States team for the match in Medinah near Chicago from Sept. 28-30, is the only American in the 24-man field at the Finca Cortesin course near Malaga.

There are eight groups of three players in the round-robin format, with the top two from each going through to the last 16.

Snedeker was drawn in a group alongside veteran Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and South Africa’s Branden Grace, who has taken the European Tour by storm this year and is looking to become the first player to win four events in his first season after graduation from qualifying school.

The omens are good for the 23-year-old South African, too – he won his last match-play event back in his native country six years ago.

”It’s come all at once, it’s a bit of a shock,” Grace said of his recent form, which has seen him capture the Volvo China Open, Volvo Golf Champions and the Joburg Open.

”I couldn’t ask for a better spot. I think at this time, I’m just running with the emotion and the positives.”

Sergio Garcia and fellow Spaniard Alvaro Quiros were selected in the same group, while Rose, British Open champion Darren Clarke and Robert Rock will clash in an all-British group.

Scotland’s Paul Lawrie is one of five other major winners in the field and is in line to make Europe’s Ryder Cup lineup, having already won the Qatar Masters this season. This will be the 1999 British Open winner’s 500th European Tour event, making him only the 22nd player to achieve that feat.

Finca Cortesin is staging the tournament for the third straight year following the switch from its long-standing venue of Wentworth in England. Organizers said Tuesday, however, that the event will be moved next year, possibly outside Europe for the first time in its 47-year history.

Article source: http://www.pga.com/news/european-tour/ryder-cups-shadow-looms-large-over-volvo-world-match-play-showdown

Johnson aggravated a back injury while lifting a jet ski from the water the weekend before the Masters, and he has not played since then. He has slipped to No. 67 in the FedExCup standings, and No. 21 in the Ryder Cup standings.

”Obviously, I can’t wait to get back out and compete,” Johnson said in a statement from his management company. ”I came into this year with some big goals, including making our Ryder Cup team, so I’ve got some serious ground to make up this summer.”

Johnson had planned to play at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but decided to wait two more weeks. He did not say how much he plans to play in the summer, but indicated that another two weeks off wasn’t going to hurt him.

”It will be great to get back out there, and I can assure you I’ll be plenty motivated,” he said.

WHAT’S IN A NAME: Sunghoon Kang, who made an 8-foot birdie putt on the last hole of the last tournament to keep his PGA Tour card last year, quietly altered his name the last two weeks without much notice.

He now is Sung Kang.

What happened to the last part of his first name?

”It’s hard for you guys to say it,” he told a group of reporters at Sawgrass. ”You guys didn’t even try to say it right, so I changed it for you guys.”

He could have used initials like K.J. Choi or S.Y. Noh, or even K.T. Kim. Kang, however, thought that might be a problem.

”Then you guys would say, ‘Shhhhh,”’ he said with a laugh.

Despite not going to college, Kang has become proficient in English. He said he used to come to the United States as a teenager to train for a few weeks in the winter and summer. Most of his time was spent in Dallas with the Hank Haney group.

Asked if he ever bought cowboy boots, Kang must have misunderstood.

”No,” he said. ”I’m a Lakers fan.”

IMG CHANGES: About the only disruption for Luke Donald this year is off the course.

His agent, Jon Wagner, was among three employees who left IMG two weeks ago. Golfweek magazine reports this week that two of his clients, Trevor Immelman and Sean O’Hair, also have left IMG. Donald remains with IMG, as his contract does not expire until the end of 2013. His business affairs will be managed by Jon Heaton, whose clients include Steve Stricker.

Meanwhile, Golfweek reported that IMG Worldwide was granted a temporary restraining order to keep Wagner from recruiting IMG employees, clients or prospects. A hearing is scheduled this week to decide if it should be permanent.

A year ago, Mark Steinberg left IMG as head of the golf division when he could not reach agreement on a new contract. He took Tiger Woods with him to Excel Sports Management, though Stricker and Annika Sorenstam stayed put.

The magazine cited sources in reporting that IMG’s staff of player reps has dwindled from 40 employees to 13 in the last 12 years.

CVS CHARITY CLASSIC: Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa return to competition next month for the CVS Caremark Charity Classic, the two-day event hosted by Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade that has raised more than $15 million for New England charities.

The two retired stars will have some LPGA company June 17-19 at Rhode Island Country Club. They will be joined by Yani Tseng, the five-time major champion and No. 1 in women’s golf, and Lexi Thompson. Organizers say Juli Inkster, out all year recovering from elbow surgery, also plans to play.

Among the male players are Mark Calcavecchia, Corey Pavin and Peter Jacobsen.

DIVOTS: Paul Lawrie is making his 500th career start on the European Tour when he plays in the Volvo World Match Play Championship this week in Spain. He is the 22nd member to join the ”500 Club,” and for his efforts, he received an engraved ice bucket from the tour. The record for most starts is Sam Torrance at 706. … Angel Cabrera had a good week — the son of the two-time major champion, anyway. Angel Cabrera Jr. was among 67 players who earned cards on the Canadian Tour at qualifying school. … Now that he is in the World Golf Hall of Fame, Sandy Lyle can play in full-field tournaments on the Champions Tour. He previously had limited status. … Pierre Bechmann of France will be captain of The Royal Ancient Golf Club starting in September. He is the first captain from continental Europe.

STAT OF THE WEEK: Ben Curtis has earned $2,096,730 in his last four tournaments. That’s more than the $2,035,126 he made from 2009-2011 combined.

TWEET OF THE WEEK: ”Between Na’s routine, Barkley’s swing and my speech. We would make one hell of a threesome.” — Sophie Gustafson, LPGA Tour player with a severe stutter.

FINAL WORD: ”If there had never been a Tiger Woods, there’s no telling how many tournaments Phil Mickelson or Ernie Els would have won. But there is a Tiger Woods.” — Butch Harmon, who has worked with all three of them.

Article source: http://www.pga.com/news/pga-tour/notebook-dustin-johnson-plans-return-memorial-after-three-months-shelf

”Before I go, I would like to talk about slow play,” Woods wrote. ”It’s been an ongoing problem on the PGA Tour for a long time.”

That was in 2008.

When he finished The Players Championship on Sunday, Woods measured progress with one word.

”Worse,” he said.

The focus last week at the TPC Sawgrass eventually returned to the guy holding the trophy, as it should. The PGA Tour had reason to celebrate for a couple of reasons. It had a worthy champion in Matt Kuchar, who won the money title two years ago and has an infectious smile that makes him a fan favorite. Also, the tournament finished on Sunday.

Kevin Na was only joking – we think – when he spoke about his battle to pull the trigger and his bizarre habit of purposely whiffing on a swing so he could start over. ”But just bear with me, and hopefully we get that (Sunday) round in,” Na said.

In fact, the topic came up on the eve of The Players Championship when commissioner Tim Finchem was asked if the PGA Tour felt a sense of urgency to play faster and an obligation to set an example for golfers everywhere. His answer included this nugget that made little sense.

”I actually think we might want to experiment with penalty shots,” Finchem said. ”But I don’t think penalty shots make a difference, to be honest with you.”

How would he know?

This week at the HP Byron Nelson Championship marks the 20-year anniversary of the last time a PGA Tour was assessed a one-shot penalty for taking too much time. That was Dillard Pruitt, now a rules official who carries a stopwatch. That one stroke wound up costing him $9,600 – when $9,600 actually meant something. He was fined $1,000, and he was relegated to play in the last group for the next two weeks.

Stewart Cink was asked about progress with the pace of play. A few years ago, he was fined $20,000 for getting put on the clock 10 times in a season, and he has worked to improve.

”Is it because of the leader?” Cink replied on Sunday as Na was headed to the practice range.

Sure, it’s easy to pick on Na. He is changing his swing and fighting some demons to get comfortable over the ball. He became a sympathetic figure to some in the media for his honesty and his pledge to try harder, though it should be pointed out that Na has been slow ever since he joined the PGA Tour. Not so sympathetic were some in the gallery who shouted out, ”Pull the trigger!” and ”Hit it!” to reverse effect. He had to back off shots and wound up taking even longer.

Slow play has been part of the conversation all season. If golf were a presidential campaign, slow play would be the equivalent of the economy.

Luke Donald was on holiday in Barbados when he was watching the final round of the season-opener in Hawaii, which featured Na, Jonathan Byrd, Ben Crane and Webb Simpson in the last four groups. He took to Twitter and ended one plea by saying, ”Slow play is killing our sport.”

Finchem addressed the broader problem, which represents somewhat of a Catch-22.

Ask just about any rules official and they would say the size of fields make it nearly impossible to get around in a reasonable time. Can anyone remember the last time the cut was made on a Friday at Riviera? That’s why the Masters gets nervous when its field size approaches 100 players.

But to reduce the field is to take away playing opportunities, the very thing Finchem is determined to provide. It’s not a simple solution.

”We elect not to do that,” Finchem said. ”Because as much as we like to see a stronger pace of play, the playing opportunities for the number of players we have had are more important. We’ll generate the playing opportunities first, and take our lumps second. It’s as simple as that.”

Solutions are not that easy to find or this would have been fixed years ago. And it’s not fair to compare the pace on tour with how long it takes to play golf at your local club. In recreational golf, the pins aren’t four paces from the edge of the green, tucked behind bunkers. The greens aren’t as firm as a hardwood floor. A putt isn’t worth $399,000, which is what it cost Rickie Fowler when he missed that 8-footer on his last hole.

The problem on the PGA Tour might be attitude.

Donald said what annoys him most is when a player does not starting thinking about his next shot until it’s his turn. The way it has gone for the last 20 years, why hurry when on one else does?

”We know when they drive up and tell us to hurry up, it means nothing,” Geoff Ogilvy said. ”When I first came out and someone told me to hurry up, I got all flustered and was rushing. Now, it’s a laugh. Yeah, we’ll try. But some guys don’t even try because they don’t do anything.

”I bet if you polled the tour, half the fast players would say, ‘Give me penalties,’ just to scare everyone.”

Or maybe the tour could try a perk instead of a punishment.

”You want to help slow play?” said Roger Maltbie, the NBC Sports analyst and former PGA Tour winner. ”Hand them their cards on the first tee and say, ‘If you bring this back to us in less than four hours, you can take a stroke off your score.’ Let’s see how that works.”

It couldn’t hurt.

Article source: http://www.pga.com/news/pga-tour/slow-play-still-big-problem-pga-tour-two-decades-after-last-penalty

The Broward County Ohio State Alumni Golf Tournament will be at Oriole Golf Club Saturday June 23, 2012.   The annual scramble tournament will be a 1:30 PM shotgun start followed by  Oriole’s fabulous prime rib dinner. 

Contact Jack Korthals 954-783-2999 for all the tournament information. 

Go Bucks!