Golf News

As I’ve tried to watch the last tournament in the FedEx Cup Playoffs on TV this weekend, I was confused, at times, by what The Golf Channel was showing and what I was able to”see” was actually happening live thru the internet coverage.

As I read the NYTimes (online version) this morning, I finally found my answer.

The Golf Channel was delaying their broadcast and was choosing to show Tiger, not the action, not the entire 30 man field, not much of anything except Tiger.

Here’s the link to the NYTimes version of this story. You have to be a registered member to read the content, but it’s a free membership. I’ve had mine for years and it hasn’t hurt me yet, so don’t be afraid of them. They love you. They want to feed you content and info. Really.

The gist of it, in case you’re too paranoid too go thru that one little step is:

” If a logical reason exists for The Golf Channel spending the day in taped coverage when live action was available, it is this: for five hours, it had Woods full-time. It’s not a good reason to look foolish and shameless, but it’s a reason. “

That’s not what I expect or want from the network covering golf for me. I want to watch the event, as it unfolds and with whomever is playing or leading to be shown.

Just like ABC, The Golf Channel is all-Tiger, all the time. Numbers over common sense is par for their course.

Over in the left-hand sidebar is a blog syndicator from BlogRush.

If you’re a golf blogger you may want to click my link and read about what BlogRush can potentially do to bring you more traffic.

I’m testing it out and will report back about what does or doesn’t happen for me, but you can click thru and watch a video and the sign-up is at no cost, so it’s basically a no-lose situation that only takes a couple of minutes to set it up.

There’ll be 5 blog posts in the Sports category shown on the widget. A click will open a new window, so you won’t lose the reader.

For every page view you serve back to them, you get your posts shown on another widget somewhere in the system.

Potentially, you could really see some staggering numbers, if your headlines are attractive to readers and if the widgets are easily seen on the other blogs in your category.

We’ll see if it does me any good.

For now, free and easy is the right cost at the right time, so go signup and try it out.

I just read that Tiger’s skipping the PGA Grand Slam of Golf event in Bermuda to be with his baby daughter.

Let me say, I have no problem with his decision. I have 3 daughters and wish I’d been able to take 2 1/2 months off to be with them.

Of course, it would be nice if they weren’t babies and might have remembered or done more than eat, sleep and soil their diapers, which is about all young Sam can do right now. After all, she couldn’t make the trip to Bermuda, could she ? Maybe he can’t afford to take her.

He’s never skipped this event before, when he’s been eligible, so it’s a new twist from golf’s #1 player. But, and here’s the bad rub here for me, I’ll bet he doesn’t skip any corporate outings during that 2 1/2 months off, just PGA Tour events.

After the Tour Championship, Tiger will have worked 7 of 11 weeks. I personally will have worked 11 of the last 11 weeks, 7 days a week most of those and he should thank his gene pool for a job like he’s got.

I’d be playing all 11 weeks and kickin’ his butt except for L.O.F.T.

What’s L.O.F.T ? Lack of freakin’ talent !

Why are those corporations paying him all that money ? Because of his success on the PGA Tour.

Who gets the short end of that success ? The PGA Tour and their sponsors.

His personal sponsors don’t get skipped, because he can still do corporate outings while not playing that week, just like Phil did before the FedEx Cup event he skipped, so Tiger’s not the only one who does this.

Tour Pro’s should try to remember that if there wasn’t a Tour, they wouldn’t have those endorsement contracts. I can vouch for this, because I kick guys asses all the time at the local level and Phil Knight hasn’t sent me a damn dime !

C’mon guys. Quit welchin’ on the Tour and start skippin’ the corporate outings every now and then.

My friend Terry Koehler, The Wedge Guy, has a post up about Growing The Game.

There’s a survey that you need to take and let your voice be heard.

Leave a comment and let him know what you think.

Thanks.

Well, well, well. Steve “Striking Distance” Stricker’s sitting in a good spot.

Phil may or may not be there to try and hold his lead at Cog Hill.

Tiger may be due, and he may be historically great there, but you never know.

Vijay, Ernie and Jim Furyk are persona non grata on top of the leaderboards, which must make Timmy F. squirm a bit.

Wouldn’t it just blow Timmy F.’s mind if the Steve in the winner’s circle, holding the $10 million check, was named Stricker and not Williams, Tiger’s caddy/buddy/camera smasher ?

Would that make these playoff’s a joke or would it make them more interesting ?

Personally, I would really, really love to see him win this thing.

Ummm, because he’s a better putter ? Or at least he was on Monday.

I captured that graphic while I watched the coverage of the 16th hole on PGATour.com, which is the only way I could see any of Monday’s round.

BUT, and this is a big but, Tiger’s gonna be hard to handle at Cog Hill.

In Illinois, in big events, he’s REALLY, REALLY hard to beat.

Look it up.

Write it down.

Count on it.

I’m not going to complain about the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon, but I hope the PGA Tour finds another way to televise the Monday round of The Deutsche Bank Championship next year.

My local NBC affiliate, which I receive thru my Dish Network package, chose to show the telethon. In light of all that it does, versus golf, which is, after all, a game, I can’t complain.

What I can complain about is that the PGA Tour chose to have a Monday, Labor Day, finish, knowing full well that NBC’s been showing that telethon on Labor Day since time began.

This FedEx Cup thing is one snafu, one glitch, one more negative comment after another.

Even the current leader, Phil “I just beat Tiger while in the same twosome” Mickelson said he may not play next week and he’s the freakin’ points leader. He asked Timmy F. for some considerations, got none and now has to make a decision to be with his kids as they start school and soccer or play this silly game for money…which he already has in beaucoups.

I did get to watch several groups play the 16th hole, a par 3, as that was the only coverage that PGATour.com gave me. That’s where I captured the photo’s above.

Even worse, it’s on XM satellite radio and I have Sirius.

No wonder the Tour players aren’t excited about this mess. It’ll need some tweakin’ before next year’s playoffs.

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In the last couple of weeks, I’ve thought about selling this blog.

Want a golf blog ? Email me or leave a comment and we can talk.

I’ve also thought about adding to the type of content we create around here.

Is there something golf related that you’d like to read more about, but can’t find ?

If you like to “listen” to your content, what would you like to hear. Doing a podcast or series of audios would be pretty easy to facilitate.

Remember, if you don’t help plan, you can’t complain and get away with it.

If Tiger’s such a great physical specimen, how in the hell do you get “mentally and physically drained” from playing golf 4 days a week ?

Most of us work like sled dogs for 5-6 days a week and then play golf all weekend and we’re not supposed great physical specimens, like he’s supposed to be.

We have construction workers, in my industry, who work 6 days a week for 8 to 12 hours a day, in the same heat and they don’t get the option to take a week to rejuvenate and make the push to work hard the following week.

I thought this was supposed to be the playoffs ? In all the playoffs I’ve ever seen, if you don’t win every week, you get eliminated. I think the PGA Tour should make it mandatory to play every week of the playoffs or you’re out.

Afterall, he’s in great shape isn’t he ? Can he not work 4 days for 4 hours a day ?

Maybe this was a setup all along. Just maybe Timmy F. set it up that the Barclay’s, which is at a venue that El Tigre sucks at, was the first leg of the playoff.

That way, Tiger gets a week off, to rest up from his working 4 days playing golf for 2 weeks in a row, and dodges this venue and doesn’t have it as the last leg of the playoffs, which would almost guarantee he wouldn’t win.

Smells kind of fishy doesn’t it ? Tigergate ! That’s what this is.

If there’s justice in the Universe, Tiger won’t win the FedEx Cup and Timmy F. will cry his wittle eyes out.

Oh, by the way, this was just written for entertainment purposes and as link bait. Don’t get all psycho and start cryin’ and whinin’ in the comments section. I know Tiger deserves a week off and yes, he’ll win the FedEx Cup because he’s the best golfer in the world, right now.

EDIT - I’m not the only one who’s disappointed with Tiger’s no-show -

http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/blogs/localknowledge/2007/08/let-the-fedex-c.html

EDIT #2 - Looks like Tiger felt pretty spry after all -

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08292007/sports/tiger_pitch_ad_nauseam.htm