Who cares.

Let me just get this out of the way early – only Rickie knows what was the right call there and I’m sure he feels he made it.  Good enough for me.

What intrigues me though is the level of disdain for golf commentators, bloggers and fans who have questioned the decision.

You can see some of it here and here, and in comments for these posts as well.  I read both of those blogs regularly and think their writing is quite good.  Ryan at WaggleRoom is even a full on member of the GWAA ya’ll.

What bothers me about the sentiment shared in the above posts, and elsewhere, is the idea that professional broadcasters and fans (or even know-it-all bloggers) should give Rickie a pass because he’s 21.  Why does that matter?

Is this just a subconscious (or maybe conscious) reaction by golf society to try and rally around the person already being considered as a possible Tiger successor?  Or at least the ‘please deliver us from this immediate Tiger mess’ savior?  It arguably embodies a stereotypical criticism of golf, the golf media and golfing community overall - it seeks to protect its own, at all costs.

In what other sport do you find star athletes that are immune to harsh criticism?  Ask Jimmy Clausen at Notre Dame if he gets some kid glove treatment from press or fans?  Ummm…not so much. 

Kids who are younger than Rickie, and don’t get paid (i.e. NCAA Division I athletes), often have as big a spotlight on them and have to sometimes deal with brutal criticism. 

Why should a 21 year old up and coming golf star, that has Puma from head to toe, be any different?  Is he mentally fragile?  Is he incapable of dealing with the spotlight?  I doubt it.  In fact, recently after seeing one of Fowler’s bot-like tweets I said this to him.  I’m not proud. 

It was knee-jerk and in reaction to his publicist driven tweets - but it was also how I felt at the time.  What ensued was some back and forth with Rickie that made me rethink (in part) my hasty judgment, and in the end I gained respect for him.   Superstar prodigy challenged…he responds…blogger gains respect for prodigy…life resumes.  Ahhh, happy endings.

Right call or wrong call at the Waste Management (snicker) Open?  Irrelevant.  Criticism of it?  That’s just sports. 

The kid will be allright, without the kid glove treatment.

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Regardless of whether you think Tiger did a great job, was sincere, insincere or other, one thing is for sure – giving bad news can be tough.

Which is why we want to share a secret to sharing bad news that could not only benefit Tiger in the future – but anyone with an uncomfortable update to deliver.

The secret?  Baby animals.  A few examples:

Guilt tearing at you over a secret you need to share with a pal in your foursome?  No problem.

Oh sure, he’ll be pissed.  But how can it not elicit a few ‘awww’ reactions too.  That’ll soften any blow.

Or what if there’s an after effect from said relationship?

Painful?  Of course.  But the awkward quotient is severely lessened.  I mean, c’mon it’s a baby duck for God’s sake!

It’s not just for bad news.  It can be for that extremely difficult question you need to ask, but aren’t quite sure how to phrase:

OMG. Kittens.  It can’t get more precious you say.  Wanna bet? Feast your eyes below.

For the love of…puppies.  No one could be too hot under the collar if asked this question with those soft brown eyes.  “Why no, I am just fat, thank you.”

Many thanks to the publishers and writers of this book for the sickening cuteness.

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It’s vintage Tiger – line ‘em up.  Tell ‘em when to be here, what they can and can’t do, say or ask and let the good times roll.

It even began with the carefully crafted photo op that shows Tiger in his ‘I’m-fit-and-ready-to-kick-all-your-asses’ form. 

The only possible wrinkle in the perfectly crafted plan of Tiger & Co. is if an Alex Miceli-like individual skips past the velvet rope of this so-called press conference and asks a tough question.  Can you say not likely?

That said, be sure to give the previous link a look – it’s awesome and surprisingly candid given it’s on The Golf Channel.

Until Friday though, here’s a preview of how you can expect Tiger & Co. to address the media, his fans and anyone else that dare challenge him, care of R. Lee Emery’s brilliant performance in Full Metal Jacket.

h/t’s to Wei & Waggle

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Well, the banned ads anyway.  One of course makes the obligatory white-dudes-that-play-golf-have-their-head’s-up-their-rears reference. 

According to a post at mediabistro, KGB didn’t create the ad expecting it to be booted.  What do you think?  Offensive?  Funny?  Both?

As a side, is the blonde in the video Heather from Real Women Golf or just her doppelganger?

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The USGA, founded in 1894, also celebrates the history of the game and is bound by tradition. This is a blue-blazer-and-bowtie crowd. Think saddle shoes. Like totally old school. For real.

The organization has taken a hardline stance against certain technological innovations to theoretically protect the heritage and retain the inherent challenge of the game. Great, if you’re into that sort of thing.

But then the USGA did something seemingly out of character. They embraced technology in recent years, particularly innovations in communications, the Internet and digital media. They improved their web site, posting new videos online. They revised their conservative logo, making it sleeker. They even allowed the use of laser range finders and GPS-based distance measuring devices. Impressive.

Last year I was prepared to applaud the organization for these exciting changes and the somewhat surprising introduction of an iPhone application for the U.S. Open, the USGA’s grandest tournament. The app offered a live leaderboard, real-time statistics and streaming footage of the golf broadcast coverage. Way to go, guys! (And, I do mean guys, if you know what I mean.)

Digitizing the rules of golf

Then, recently the USGA released an iPhone app for the Rules of Golf, a complex book of regulations about how to play the game and keep score. On one hand the new app – available for iPhone, iPod Touch and coming soon to BlackBerry and Android devices – is a great opportunity to reach a younger demographic, something golf sorely needs. The app should be heralded as a breakthrough for a stodgy, conservative organization reinventing itself as technology leader. Only the USGA blew it.

Now, the new app is an example of the USGA ambitiously trying but not quite understanding what the next generation wants in terms of digital experiences. A for effort, F for execution.

For one, the USGA failed to capitalize on the capabilities of the medium. Like newspapers in the 1990s, the USGA just dumped the text of the Rules of Golf book in a digital format. It’s a book, only it’s electronic. Where are the colorful icons and interactive features? Instead you have a black-and-white table of contents. What about animations, graphics or videos explaining the various interpretations of the rules? Egregiously absent.

The app is searchable and does have a jump dial for scrolling quickly to a specific rule, only they are categorized by number. Rule 1, 2, 3. Show me some common scenarios instead. Few average weekend golfers, who hardly follow the rules as it is, know that Rule 26-1(c) addresses options for gaining relief for a ball in a water hazard. Nerd alert!

$4?  I’ll just buy a latte, thanks

Finally, the USGA’s biggest miss of all is the $3.99 price tag. Many apps are free, and most consumers balk at apps costing more than 99 cents – the standard price for most apps. The USGA would likely argue that $4 is a relative value for the Rules of Golf, the Decisions on the Rules of Golf and the Rules of Amateur Status, publications that combined would cost consumers about $25 if printed and shipped.

However, the USGA Rules of Golf app should be free. Period.

If the organization truly wants to grow the game and encourage everyone to play by a common set of rules, it should want to make understanding the rules as easy and accessible as possible. Of course there are software development costs, and the USGA is on a budget. These are lean economic times and it is tempting to try to generate revenue from the new rules app. But it’s the wrong thing to do.

In an effort to monetize the Rules of Golf app the USGA could have taken the same strategic approach many other companies have attempted. Offer a free Rules of Golf Lite version with limited functionality, and a $4 premium version with clear visuals, easy-to-access icons and animations showing how to properly play by the rules.

Try, try again

Look, I appreciate the USGA. No, really. I’m currently a member with a bag tag and everything. But, at least in this case, the USGA needs some unsolicited input about its digital media efforts.

Keep embracing new technologies, USGA. Your willingness to evolve is good. But, don’t try to keep people out. That’s what’s wrong with golf. Let them in and make it affordable. It’s only $4, but it’s significantly more than most apps, you’re sending the wrong message and there are larger goals at stake.

You must change the old thinking that has made golf an exclusive, elitist sport that turns off the masses. Don’t take the same protectionist mindset – a viewpoint that you can just keep clinging to your traditional targets without courting a new, broader audience – that has befallen the major metro newspapers, what’s left of them. Find another way to subsidize your $4 app (some modest advertisements?) and do the right thing on the web by encouraging golfers to learn and use the rules for free. This was an opportunity to change perceptions.

Short-sighted vision shows up in the golf industry in large and small ways every day. The industry, like the USGA, is trying to be more open and embracing for the future, only it continues to act in outdated ways that fail to encourage growth – and, now there’s an app for that.

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CK: Myself with @waggleroomgolf. We go waaaaay back to my rookie year, such an awesome guy! SQUEEZE!

Yep that’s blogger extraordinaire Ryan Ballengee of WaggleRoom getting some hang time with Kim during the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando last week. 

Take a look at the pic though and see if you have a similar reaction as I did upon first glance…

Holy schnikes! 

I think CK can give Gene Simmons a run for longest tongue, don’t you?  We’re just totally jealous that we weren’t able to make it to the show this year.  Looks as though a lot of people in the golf blogging community had a great deal of fun. 

But I digress.  The point of this post was…damn…it sort of slipped my mind. 

Until I figure it out, here’s a topic: Long tongues…female golfers.  Please, discuss amongst yourselves.

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In a rapid fire series of tweets about his decision to (apparently) quit further attempts to gain some long-term status on the PGA tour, Daly indicated…and then didn’t…and then sort of did, but didn’t…that he was done.

At the very least, Daly has shown a mastery in getting the mainstream media as well as social media all a twitter (oh, see that?  ‘a twitter’ hee hee) about him.

We were among the first blogs to get an interview with JD when he began his return to the golfing world in 2009.  We still think Daly could be great for golf and is indisputably a beloved character.

But we’re also critics of how honest he is with the public and himself.  Even this current outburst has been met with understandable skepticism of the motives.  Daly’s new ‘reality’ TV show, Being John Daly,  premieres on The Golf Channel soon.  A fortunate coincidence for driving viewership?  Yeah right.

Repeatedly Daly will say one thing, and do another.  He’s arguably always struggled with accountability.  An injury.  A bad choice. An indiscretion. A miscommunication. Something, someone, but rarely himself to blame. 

Even that character flaw was often offset by the painful reality of his humanity.

So is Daly done with golf?  Unlikely, but he may be done with touring for a while. 

Daly is clearly beyond being able to make a living on the PGA tour, but he can pull in some cash from the various pro-ams and benefit events he so religiously attends.  All of which carry a healthy little appearance fee with them.

It’s a hard thing seeing someone you like struggle.  And there are few, if any, fans of golf that don’t like John Daly.  At the same time, it’s hard for a fan of Daly to not feel like you’re being played like a sucker time and time again.

So to Daly we simply say — Good luck.  Godspeed and maybe goodbye from us too JD. 

Like you we probably need some time to decide if we too can heal and still be fans, or are just tired of it all.

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h/t Mike Arauz

Jay-Z – 99 Problems (explicit version)

PS – I don’t care if you’ve seen it already.  Mwah!

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That said, sometimes there are things we see that we want to try and help get more visibility for (you know with our millions of readers) and the boys at Triple Bogey are often a great source for this type of info.

I could be inspired to rip off riff on a number of their posts in any given week, but one they put up on gloves caught my eye.  Golf gloves?  Pleeease.  How is THAT interesting?  What we didn’t have some new golf tees to blog about?

Well feast your eyes on Asher golf gloves and we think you’ll agree…they’re not the typical golf glove.  Thank God.

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But sometimes a little gem comes out and it’s hard to ignore.  Enter John Mayer.

Oh sure, he can maybe be a self-important jackass.  And his music is arguably comparable to theatre majors doing karaoke after three bottles of red wine.

But, we have to say in the latest issue of Rolling Stone, (courtesy of The Superficial thank-you-very-much) he sorta nails what every red blooded American boy has probably thought at one point or another during the entire Tiger scandal. 

“If Tiger Woods only knew when to jack off. It has a true market value, like gold bullion. I have masturbated myself out of serious problems in my life.”

Um yeah so well, there’s that. 

However, there is always the risk that Tiger would develop an overly strong grip that caused him to hook his driver and he’d end up in all sorts of hazards and…oh wait, yeah…sooo nevermind.

At the end of the day, Tiger will just need to decide whether he really needs advice from this guy:

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