The waiting game...

Slow play has been an epidemic on the PGA Tour since as long as anyone can remember. Every year it’s the same ol’ story — fans/media/players complain and it’s always brought up at least once in the annual Players Meeting, but the pace of play on Tour hasn’t improved. It’s become one of those things that’s almost become part of the game. At least on Tour, but Kevin Na’s waggles and whiffs put a massive spotlight on the slow play issue, which was already a point of contention heading into the week.

Interesting enough, this week’s event marks the 20th anniversary of the last time a player — Dilliard Pruitt, who is now, coincidentally, a Tour rules official — was stroked a one-shot penalty for slow play at the ’92 Byron Nelson Classic.

The Tour’s pace of play policy references Rule 6-7 in the USGA’s Rules of Golf and it also defines “Out of Position,” stating:

The first group to start will be considered out of position if, at any time during the round, they exceed the time allowed to play, as detailed on applicable course’s Pace of Play Chart. Any subsequent group will be considered out of position if, at any time during the round, they (a) exceed the allotted time to play and (b) reach a par-3 hole that is open and free of play or reach a par-4 or par-5 hole and have not played a stroke from the teeing ground before the hole is open and free of play.

In regard to “Timing,” the rules officials determine a group is out of position, then all the players will be timed and informed they’re on the clock. The time limit or “shot clock” is 40 seconds with an extra 20 seconds given several exceptions (not all shots take the same amount of time to play). First time you receive a bad time, you get a warning, and then if you get another, it’s a stroke penalty. That’s what the rules read, but the Tour doesn’t apply it.

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Last Wednesday in a pre-tournament press conference, Commissioner Tim Finchem was asked to comment on the Tour complying with the USGA standards and stroking players.

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

Really? Well, if you haven’t done it in 20 years, how would you know if it’d work?

After his final round at the players, Tiger Woods didn’t mince words (for Tiger) on the topic. In 2008 he went out of his way to bring up the slow play problem. Has anything changed in four years?

“Worse,” said Tiger. “Last week (at Quail Hollow), we were playing in 4:40 and there’s no wind.  That’s hard to believe.

“We have gotten slower on Tour.  College has gotten just incredibly slow.  It’s so bad that now we are giving the guys the ability to use lasers to try to speed up play, and they are still in, you know, 5:45, 6:00 plus.”

Yep, it’s been like that for over a decade. It’s painful.

The easy solution?

“I think very simple, if you get a warning, you get a penalty,” said Woods.  “I think that would speed it up.”

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More waiting

In an informal poll I did last week among at The Players, all but one said the only solution to fixing slow play would be to dole out strokes.

When I asked Henrik Stenson for his response to Finchem’s comment, the Swedish golfer said, “They don’t give strokes here?” He seemed surprised. Stenson is a member of both the European and PGA Tours. He was aware that the slow pokes receive fines.

“Giving strokes would speed things up if you’re stricter with the rules,” he told me on Saturday after the third round of The Players Championship. “People already get pretty heavy fines. Over here, you can get fined $20,000 if you’re on the clock more than 10 times in one season.

“When I won here in ’09, I was given a letter after the tournament that I’d been on the clock 3 times. I’m not going to mention any names, but I was playing with certain players who are not known to be the quickest and then I got a warning letter. I consider myself to be in the middle (speed-wise).”

The fines clearly aren’t enough to motivate a player to speed up, and why would they? (Aside from the most basic: common courtesy.) The crime is worth the punishment.

“What’s the difference between first and second right now?  How much is it? he asked. Reporters replied that it was about $800,000.

“So I would take the five grand and over the 800K,” said Tiger. “But that’s one shot, and that’s the difference.  That’s what people don’t realize is that one shot is so valuable out here.”

Brian Davis, who is one of the quicker players, also doesn’t think purely fines is enough incentive.

“I think we should just play for a million bucks every week and everyone would just run,” said Davis on Sunday, with a wry smile. “There are six million (or more) reasons why to slow down.

“Some guys are slow and they want us to police ourselves, but obviously we can’t. The men upstairs usually get it right. I’d be scared if they said, you get bad times, it’s a shot. If they just say, we’re timing you, you have a bad time, you’re penalized a shot. I’d panic. I’d run.”

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See ya later, suckers.

On Friday the threesome of Matt Every, Colt Knost and Harris English arrived on the 18th tee and took a seat in chairs alongside the tee. They had a good five minutes or more.

Colt called to me from across the tee box and said frustratedly, “Hey, Stephanie, I have a story you need to write–how effing slow these guys in front of us are playing. It’s ridiculous. Five hours and 20 minutes.”

I told him that he didn’t need to worry about that — we were all over it already.

He was also very vocal throughout the week via Twitter:

“Love it when it take 5.5 hours to play a round of golf. So ridiculous!!!”

Rickie Fowler replied:

@ColtKnost beat ya…5 hours 20 mins…morning wave…boom!! #waitedeveryshot

On Sunday, Knost missed the cut, but watched the final-round coverage and said:

Final group at the players is over a hole behind!! Pace of play is no issue!! FALSE

World No. 2 Luke Donald, watching from his TV at home, tweeted at the season opener in Hawaii:

“Slow play is killing our sport.”

After the third round at The Players, Donald raved about his playing partner:

“My new favourite golfer to play with is Bill Haas, top bloke and always ready when it’s his turn, one waggle and he’s off #refreshing“

You know there’s a problem when “slow play” is basically trending on Twitter and overshadowing the fifth major. In fact, he nearly stole the show, thanks to Kevin Na. However, perhaps it had to take something this extreme for Na to really address his waggle and trigger-pulling issue, and for the PGA Tour to finally start enforcing the rule and pace of play policy more stringently.

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Tick-tock, tick-tock!

Apparently, the European Tour, who has the same policy, takes slow play much more stringently and it’s not rare a player receives a penalty stroke.

“The rules officials are more people’s tails in Europe on speed of play, for sure,” said Stenson.

Added Davis, jokingly: “The officials are brutal in Europe. They jump out of the trees and say, ‘Gotcha!’”

Stenson and Davis both pointed out a gray area that could cause problems when it comes to give out penalty strokes for slow play.

“If you take a guy a stroke, it might not be only necessarily a check but the tournament and that’s a lot of cash,” said Davis. “I think penalties would make a difference, but problem is there’s a fine line between when do they start the clock and when does he officially start.

“They want us to police ourselves, but obviously we can’t do it.”

Some shots also take longer to play than others, which was Stenson’s concern.

“If you’re usually a quick player, but you hit a bad shot and you’re on the clock because someone in your group is slow,” he said, “You’re going to miss a green and end up with a tough shot somewhere and you’re not going to feel like you have that minute to go up and look (at the green) because all of a sudden you get a bad time. The other players is really the slow one, but I’m going to get the bad time.”

What about imposing a total time limit allowed for all shots you play? Well, it’d be difficult to monitor that and a pain to have someone time every single player (though it has been done by the intrepid team of Golf Mag staffers last year at Bay Hill). Hypothetically, it’s a logical and fair concept.

This is what another player suggested: Let’s say a player has 46 minutes — that’s a totally arbitrary number — of shot time for the round. When I tee off, a person is timing you, but total amount of time to play all your golf shots. Some shots take more quickly to play them, so when you have a shot that requires more time, more than 40 seconds of attention, you can use that time. If it takes someone a long time on every shot and exceed 46 minutes, maybe they should be penalized.

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I feel like with all the critique and negative attention the Tour has received over slow play, they have to do something to improve it, and the only solution that will motivate a player to hurry up is to give penalty strokes. Yes, you know, like I said earlier, what a novel idea to enforce the rule!

Given this week is the 20th year anniversary, I can’t think of a better time. My only concern is some poor unknown player is going to get Doug Barron’d.

A one-shot penalty is worth more than winning a tournament. Every player knows how costly one shot can be. One shot can decide your schedule because each shot counts throughout the year. Just ask Spencer Levin, who finished 31st on the 2011 PGA Tour money list.

Last season he had to call a stroke on himself when an outside agent caused his ball to move on the putting green. Turned out the disparity in prize money due to that one-shot penalty was worth the difference in finishing 31st and 30th on the money list. The top 30 receives huge perks, like being automatically exempt to the next season’s majors, most of the WGCs (no-cut, so free money), and all the invitationals, etc.

That all said, happy 20th anniversary of the last time a player was stroked for slow play! Bet Pruitt can still tell you exactly how much money in official money that cost him.

By the way, I’m a little tired of hearing about people compare their Saturday game with their buddies at their club to a PGA Tour event. I know it’s the only barometer we know how to measure, but this would fall under the bifurcation category.

(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Pretty in pink at The Players

There are always a bunch of leftover tidbits from talking with players about whatever topic or observing something interesting/weird/funny/sad that I wish I could have shared, but for one reason or another, I didn’t have time to post or write it, or it just didn’t fit anywhere else. Maybe I’m an ultra geek and no one else cares, but that’s too bad. I’m not forcing you to read on…

*I have an opus on the slow play problem on the PGA Tour, which is a post on its own.

*Speaking of which, Kevin Na hit an incredible 5-wood off the concrete cart path on the 18th hole and hit it to about 25-30 feet. From where he was and the water menacing all the way down the left side of the hole, that was very impressive. Na tweeted a YouTube clip of it — if you just want to see the shot and skip his pre-shot routine, fast-forward to the 1:05 mark.

I swear Roger Maltbie let a “sh*t” slip out in reaction to how good Na’s shot was. Oh, there was hardly a scratch on the 5-wood, which means he had to have struck it pretty much perfectly. That’s more than enough for me.

*Rookie Harris English was paired in the second-to-last group on Saturday with Matt Kuchar. Surely already nervous, English hit a drive that hooked and landed splat on top of a man’s hand, knocking him down and causing a visible wound (and blood). Ouch. Well, that kind of shook up Harris and he never quite recovered. Not exactly the start he wanted to make. Add that with rookie nerves and there’s your explanation for the 79 he shot in the third round. Chalk it up to another one of those valuable learning experiences.

*Remember what happened on Thursday morning with the whole crazy incident, where D.A. Points withdrew and officials weren’t alerted until a Shot Link employee noticed there were only two balls in the fairway, and then the chaos ensued because they couldn’t gather the first alternate, Brian Harman, in time — technically DQ’ing him for not being at the tee, but he did everything that was required of him as an alternate and notified the lady he was on-site and ready to play, where he could be found, etc. The PGA Tour officials eventually decided to let Harman in the field and he teed off at 12:20, five minutes before the first threesome in the afternoon wave was scheduled to start.

The only thing left unclear to me about the situation was what Points did on the first tee, what he said to his playing partners, etc., and what transpired from there to the time when Harman was finally fetched…too late.

Well, Robert Garrigus helped clear that up. He told reporters his side of the story after the first round at TPC Sawgrass.

“When we got up to the tee box, D.A. was about to hit, I was third in the group, and D.A. is like, hey, man, I can’t go.  I’m like, well, I tee off and we’ll wait for Brian because I saw him on the driving range.  We didn’t understand what was going on.  We thought Brian was going to come play with us.

“We hit our second shots.  We’re like, okay, what’s going on.  As soon as we finished the hole, we knew Brian was done.  So once he was done, we’re like, well, they just DQ’d all the alternates because he didn’t get to play. So as soon as we finished the hole, we’re like, well, that’s that.

“But the PGA Tour officials should have stepped in and said, hey, wait to finish the hole or we have to do something, and they did something and he’s able to play, which is good, because he should have because he was here, and he notified them where he was. There was no way he should have been disqualified, and they made the right call in my opinion by letting him play this afternoon first off in a single.

“They asked him if he wanted a marker, he said no, so he’s just playing as a single and then first off tomorrow morning, which is the right call because he was here.  He wasn’t on the tee box, and D.A., I think, should have said something, hey, my back is hurt, call the first alternate.  That’s my opinion.”

What happened on the tee:

“I saw (D.A) trying to swing a golf club.  I’m like, how is he going to do this today.  It didn’t look like he was going to be able to swing a club, let alone play golf.  He said it was hard for him to stand up, but he could bend over and pick up a tee, but he couldn’t straighten his back.  So I mean, he had muscle spasms.

“I heard 25 minutes before we teed off that D.A. hurt his back, so there was time for all this to get set up but it never did.  Either he ran to the physio, had someone take him to the physio, or whatever.  Something should have been said or something should have got done before then so Brian would have been able to tee off when we had him there.”

Ridiculous, but Harman made the cut and ended up placing a respectable tie for 51st and earning $22,496.00, which could turn out to be quite valuable at the end of the year or not at all, but there’s always that possibility. Not everyone gets the fair or right call, but good to know it does happen.

Man, it hasn’t been the best few weeks for PGA Tour officials, huh? Mark Russell has probably lost his voice from giving so many press conferences and statements.

*The beloved 2012 Masters champ Bubba Watson took a self-imposed “maternity leave.” Well, I found it interesting to hear Simon Dyson (nice chap, by the way) had just returned the week before after a two-month non-completely-voluntary one:

My wife just had a baby two months ago.  She wanted me at home a lot during her pregnancy, and then she wanted me at home straight after, and it’s tough.  And I’ve missed a lot of good tournaments.  I missed Honda, I missed Bay Hill, tournaments like that, whereas I could have got on a good run.  I’ve been playing one tournament, having a week off, playing another tournament, having two weeks off, and I just haven’t been able to get into a run of tournaments.

I mentioned Bubba’s decision to take a month off, which wasn’t the case for Dyson.

No, he didn’t have to.  My wife just wanted me to, and I wanted to be there, as well.  I would have hated to have missed any part of it because it’s an unbelievable experience.  I’m pleased I did it.  But my golf is suffering a little bit.  Just got to get back in the swing of things.

Unfortunately, Dyson tweaked his back the week prior in Spain and was forced to withdraw after the first round due to the back injury. Good, friendly guy. Hope he feels better soon.

*Vijay Singh’s absurdly amazing drill that I see him do at the range all the time and I find it fascinating that he doesn’t hit either the shaft or the umbrella.

*Robert Garrigus threw in a 60″ TV to the winner of the caddies closest to the pin contest on No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass on the spot, because, well he’s Garrigus. Best coincidence? His caddie Brent Henley was the winner, knocking his shot to 3’7″.

*Curtis Dvorak has served as the Jacksonville Jaguars mascot, “Jaxson De Ville,” since 1996. According to Golf World’s Mike Johnson, Andres Romeros’ caddie Adrian Monteros challenged Jaxson to hit a shot on 17. In full costome, Dvorak grabbed an eight-iron, saying he’d have to club down because of the suit. Brandt Snedeker chimed in and didn’t think he’d make the green. Mike “Fluff” Cowan, Jim Furyk, shot back, “I’ll take the cat for $20.” Sneds left the 17th tee with $20 less in his wallet. I happened to also be on the tee when this happened, but Jaxson hit more than one impressive shot. He was putting on quite the performance. (I’m joking when I say he’s showing off…)

That’s all, folks!

(Getty Images/David Cannon)

Tiger gets trigger happy with tourney commitments

Tiger Woods is keeping his word and adding a new tournament to his schedule for the second time this year, The Greenbrier Classic in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, from July 5-8.

The local paper scooped TigerWoods.com, confirming the news with the event’s chairman Jim Justice on Monday: 

“We’ve worked really hard for over two years to try and bring Tiger Woods here and he has now agreed,” Justice told The Register-Herald this morning. “I’m really happy and I know all of the fans will be really happy to get a chance to watch Tiger play.”

Similar to the Honda Classic in early March, Woods, who finished T40 at The Players, has never played the tournament at The Greenbrier Resort’s Great White course.

According to TigerWoods.com, the 14-time major champion is also playing in the Memorial Tournament, May 31-June 3, at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio; the U.S. Open, June 14-17, at the Olympic Club in San Francisco; the AT&T National, June 28-July 1, at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.; The Open Championship, July 19-22, at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire, England; and the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Aug. 2-5, at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.

I’m assuming he’ll also enter the final major of the year, the PGA Championship, Aug. 9-12, at Kiawah Island Resort (Ocean), at Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

With the extra week in the tournament schedule between the U.S. Open and the Open, Tiger will make two starts in between the two major championships, including the AT&T National, which benefits his foundation. The Greenbrier is the week after and only in its third year, with Stuart Appleby firing a rare 59 in the final round to win in the inaugural event in 2010 and Scott Stallings persevering in a playoff as a PGA Tour rookie in 2011.

Phil Mickelson, who played at The Greenbrier last year, has also committed to this summer’s field.

How is this somewhat random tournament in the middle of nowhere West Virginia (though I’m told it’s quite fun since the resort has a casino) attracting such marquee players? Well, there’s been chatter that the event pays guys like Tiger and Phil appearance fees, which has not been denied or confirmed, but is implied in CBSSports.com’s Steve Elling’s report.

Hey, fellow scribes, you know what this means — we all have an extra tournament added to our schedules, too. I’ve never been to West Virginia, but I hear it’s quite nice in mid-July.

 (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Speedy? Na. Classy? Ya.

Kevin Na bared his soul to the media and the world after Saturday’s third round of The Players Championship, candidly speaking about the demons he’s been battling for quite a long time.

As the 54-hole leader at the PGA Tour’s marquee event, Na received more television time than perhaps ever before, putting a massive spotlight on his bizarre pre-shot routine, which includes multiple waggles (he has to do everything in pairs) and whiffs (he’s not stroked because he doesn’t intend to hit the ball). He also backs-offs after setting up countless times. It’s painful and grueling. For him, too.

He knows he’s slow. He knows it’s wearisome to watch. Believe it or not — it’s even more agonizing for him than it is for his playing partners, fans and viewers. Imagine thousands of people ogling at you like a freak show, while you’re playing what’s a very difficult game at the highest level for millions of bucks under more pressure than the average person has ever experienced. It’s not easy.

On Sunday in the final round, Na made a concerted effort to play as fast as possible, out of courtesy for his fellow competitor and eventual champion Matt Kuchar. Beginning with the opening tee shot, Na looked almost rushed and nervous — with his eyes practically bulging out of his head. Though he backed off and waggled six to — I don’t know, I lost track — however many times, he tried to make up for the time by practically running in between shots.

Na struggled from the get-go, probably because he was more focused on trying to keep up the pace of play and perhaps a little self-conscious due to the peanut gallery than he was at closing out to win the tournament.

“Honestly, my main thought was trying to play fast,” Na told reporters after carding a disappointing final-round 76 to place T7.  “I know the whole world is watching.  I’m trying to play as fast as I could.  I was 40 yards ahead of Matt basically trying to sprint out to my ball so I can get extra time.

“It wasn’t until the back nine that Matt and I slowed down and started talking because we got behind and I just started letting my caddie run up and get the yardage and started walking slow, and I started talking to Matt, and Matt goes, ‘Yeah, I haven’t been able to talk to you.’”

Na told Matt he was trying to help him out by playing as fast as possible and running up to his ball. Kuchar was aware and said he told his caddie Lance Bennett that he appreciated Na’s effort to help his fellow competitor and not slow him down.

“That was a nice thing for Matt to say to me,” said Na, looking genuinely appreciative.

However, some fans in the gallery weren’t quite as understanding or sympathetic. He could hear mumblings and heckles from the crowd.

“I don’t want to say upset, but that was a little disappointed at the crowd,” said Na, who looked like he was holding back emotions. “Like I said, most of the people were great, but there’s always some hecklers out there, like I was getting ready to get over the ball and you can just hear them saying, hit it, and I just got over the ball.

“And I backed off and they’re booing me.  I said, look, guys I backed off because of you guys.  It’s not like I backed off because I couldn’t pull the trigger.”

This was the first time Na had experienced this kind of heckling. The saddest part was he thought it was warranted.

“Honestly part of it, I deserve it,” he said. “I mean, I’m being honest. But is it fair? No. You put an average guy in between those ropes, trust me, they won’t even pull it back.”

Fair enough, but shame on the hecklers. At the same time, there were more supporters than haters and Na appreciated hearing their support.

This week might have been the wake-up call Na needed to finally make a serious concerted effort to revamp his routine and play faster.

“I’m going to try to take out the whole waggle, no waggle,” said Na, with conviction. “I’m going to try to do a little up‑and‑down behind the ball, but it’s going to take time, practice and tournaments, and I’m going to try to take out the whole waggle.

“Honestly, it’s going to be a battle.”

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

One for the family!

Matt Kuchar never seems to stop smiling. It’s nearly impossible to tell if he’s just made bogey or birdie because he has a perma-grin that kind of reminds me of the Joker. Don’t let the “aw, shucks” persona fool you, though. He clearly has the killer instinct to take down his opponents — not just on the golf course, but also on the ping pong table and tennis court — and win the biggest title of his career, The Players Championship, the PGA Tour’s flagship event, often dubbed as the “fifth major.”

The victory also propelled him to a career-best No. 5 in the world golf rankings.

“He’s always smiling,” said Zach Johnson, a good friend and a fellow St. Simons Island resident.  “I think that’s the beauty of Matt. I don’t think he ever takes himself too seriously…however he is as gritty a competitor and as fierce a competitor as I’ve ever been associated with.”

Kuchar, known for his consistency, stayed steady and pulled through to outlast the quartet of players at 11-under, Martin Laird, Zach Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Ben Curtis. He only needed a bogey on No. 18 to close the deal. He made things easy and posted a par to shoot two-under 70, 13-under total.

Fowler put up a fantastic effort and birdied two of the last three. He dropped a 21-footer on the par-3 No. 17 for 2. Kuchar, who had a clear view of the 17th from the 16th green, had Rickie in the corner of his eye and saw him make the putt. Kuchar said it motivated him to roll in his 15-footer for birdie on No. 16, which he did.

“I was pretty excited to stick it right back to Rickie,” he said. “That was pretty awesome.

“I knew it got him to within two shots and he could birdie 18 to bring it within one.  That could have changed the whole scenario of how I would have approached and played 18.  So I was really excited to drop that birdie on 16.  That was big.”

Meanwhile, Zach was playing two groups ahead of Kuchar. After he signed his scorecard for a four-under 68, Johnson did a few TV and radio interviews, before he politely excused himself.

“I’ve got to get to 18 to watch Kooch,” he said.

Unlike perhaps some of his fellow players, Kuchar didn’t let Kevin Na’s bizarre pre-shot routine and wearing waggles and whiffs disrupt his game.

“I feel like my mental game is one of my stronger suits,” he said. “I feel like not a whole lot gets under my skin.  I’m good about letting things just roll off and not affect me.”

Kuchar is sneakily always in the mix. I nearly forgot he finished tied for third at the Masters last month. In 2010 he had 11 top-ten finishes and in 2011 he notched 9 and 19 top 25s. This season he already has five top-tens, including his win today, his fourth PGA Tour victory.

While he’s a bastion for consistency, he’s been criticized for not winning as much considering how often he’s in contention. When a scribe brought that up (it was some inside joke) during his post-victory press conference, Kuchar interrupted, raised his voice for effect, and said, jokingly, “Yeah, you can suck it, big guy.”

The room erupted with laughter.

Added Kuchar: “I’m really happy with the way my golf career has gone.  I’ve played some great golf, some consistent golf.  I never wanted to be the guy that won once a year and missed 10 cuts a year.  I just didn’t think ‑‑ there are a lot of people that play good golf for a week and then miss a couple cuts.  I wanted to be the guy ‑‑ and back when I was thinking about this, Tiger Woods was either winning or finishing second or third every week, and I wanted to figure out how do I get to be like that, how do I play good golf?

“Lately,  Steve Stricker was that guy.  It seemed like Steve Stricker was a guy that I could be more like than I could be like Tiger Woods.  I can’t hit the shots Tiger Woods can.  Steve and I play a similar game, just a consistent game, and that was a guy that I said, I’d like to play like him.”

Which is not the worst thing in the world. Prior to this week, Stricker had the longest active streak of consecutive cuts made with 49, which ended when he got the weekend off after shooting 76-74 at TPC Sawgrass. Kuchar now has that honor with 17 made cuts in a row.

“Very nice,” said Kuchar, in a “Borat” voice, when informed he had the longest cut streak.

(Getty Images/Mike Ehrmann)

Rickie? Nope.

Wow, has Rickie Fowler shrunk? Nope, it’s not him — it’s one of many fans dressed in Fowler’s traditional Sunday all-orange. The above picture is Ryder Sutcliffe, 12, of Jupiter, Florida, waiting on the second fairway during the final round of the Players Championship.

Things to note:

*Can Kevin Na finish in time to determine the winner of the 5th major? He sure hopes so. In his first three holes, he’s playing surprisingly fast. Like he said, bear with him — it’s more painful for him than it is for us, not to mention embarrassing. Imagine baring your soul to the world about your quirks and problems, and basically, admitting you’re crazy (or you have a slight OCD problem). Not easy. Kudos to Na. Let’s show him some support as he tries to battle his demons, which many of us can relate to — the difference is, we don’t have to do it on national TV.

What’s most amazing is he still manages to stripe the ball after yelling at himself for backing off five times and/or whiffing!

*Here’s a clip of one of Na’s whiffs (which doesn’t count as a stroke because he’s not intending to hit the ball), courtesy of Geoff Shackelford:

*For all the talk about Na’s slow play, he and Johnson got around the course in 4 hours, 5 minutes, according to Ryan Ballengee. Previously, the fastest final twosome he timed was Matt Every and Jeff Maggert, who played in 3 hours, 45 minutes, at the Sony Open.

*Still, there’s a slow play problem that needs to be addressed. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said they’re thinking about actually enforcing a rule for the first time in 21+ years!

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

I beg to differ. It certainly would make them play faster when every player knows each stroke adds up to a boatload of money.

*A sight you don’t see every day: Rickie wandering into the media center looking for a restroom. It’s “GO TIME,” as he’d say.

*Speaking of Rickie, can he come from behind to become the first player to win back-to-back weeks since Tiger Woods won the Buick Open and the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone invitational in 2009? Well, he was off to a great start, draining a 20-footer for birdie on No. 4, but followed it with a double-bogey on No. 5. His approach shot found the greenside bunker, where he had a horrible lie.

*Tiger shot an ugly 40 on the front nine, but rallied on the back to post three birdies, including on the 16th and 17th, to go out with a three-under 33 and card 73. Not bad considering his start.

*Matt Kuchar trails Na by two shots and looks like he’s in some trouble on No. 5.

*Other players within striking distance: Zach Johnson is nine-under, along with Fowler. World No. 2 Luke Donald has found his stride on the back nine, draining three birdies in a row on Nos. 15-17. He still has to par No. 18, but he’s currently nine-under and at the rate things are going, the field just might come back to him. I think he’ll probably stick around for at least a little bit…

*Then there’s the guy who has gone completely under the radar even though he’s probably the hottest player at the moment: Ben Curtis. Last three starts? Win (San Antonio), T13 (New Orleans), and Charlotte (T5). He’s playing in the second to last group with Fowler.

*So, who you got to win?

(AP Photo/David Goldman)

Na says he can't hit a putt outside 2 feet if he doesn't line it up...

It’s no secret Kevin Na, the 54-hole leader at The Players Championship, is one of the slowest players on the PGA Tour — if not the slowest — but he is well aware of his problem and the criticisms.

He’s been under even more scrutiny than usual this week given his position on the leaderboard, but he’s handled it with candor, bearing his demons to the media (and the world) and throwing in some self-deprecating humor. That makes it hard not to sympathize with the difficult he has “pulling the trigger,” which causes him to back off the ball and go through his pre-shot routine more than once countless times throughout a round.

From Na’s detailed description of his thought process, it sounds like he has OCD, which is a common disorder amongst golfers and even caddies out here (we’re all crazy!).

Na, who had a major attitude adjustment at the end of 2010 when his dad was diagnosed with leukemia, is painful to watch, but believe it or not, he’s a likeable guy. I used to be one of his biggest critics, but since I’ve gotten to know him a bit, I’m now one of his biggest apologists (and I really, really hate slow play). Then again, I also want to yell, JUST HIT THE BALL.

Despite running his way around TPC Sawgrass to make up for his bizarre pre-shot routine, which includes waggles that have to come in pairs, Na managed to shoot a bogey-free four-under 68 in windy, difficult conditions to take the outright lead heading into Sunday.

“I changed my setup starting at the Masters last year,” said Na in his post-round presser. “I was trying to get more forward, trying to get the back swing more up. And because my balance at the setup is totally different, I don’t feel comfortable.

“I’m trying to get comfortable with my waggles. It’s usually a little waggle, half waggle, little waggle, half waggle, and boom, supposed to pull the trigger. But if it doesn’t work, I’ve got to go in pairs. So it’ll go four; and if it doesn’t work, it’ll go six; and after that, just ‑‑ there’s a lot going on in my head.

“And I’m not being nice to myself, trust me. I’m ripping myself.”

If you watched his press conference, then you might even find yourself rooting for him. Well, that’s assuming Na, who is in the final twosome with Matt Kuchar, will be able to finish before dark on Sunday.

“Honestly, I’m trying, and it’s hard for me, too,” he said. “But just bear with me, and hopefully we get that round in tomorrow.”

***

Here are some excerpts of Na’s presser:

*On how he was able to play so well despite the added pressure of being on the clock: I want to thank God for that one (looking up, trying not to laugh, laced with sarcasm). It’s tough, especially when you’re on the clock and you have to hit within a certain ‑‑ 40 seconds ‑‑ first it’s a minute. So there’s more added pressure. And only the whole world is watching, so there’s a lot more pressure there, too. It’s hard, but you know, I’m swinging it well, so if I trust it and pull the trigger, my ball is kind of going where I’m looking, which is great, and also I’m rolling the ball great.

*On fighting himself and critics: “It’s pretty high stress. I mean, after I get done, I’m pretty tired because there’s ‑‑ not only am I grinding for the golf tournament, but I’m fighting within myself in my mind and trying to play a round of golf without backing off, without all this extra thing going on.And trust me, you know, I get ripped, a lot. I know TV, Twitters and fans are tired of me backing off. I understand people being frustrated with me backing off, but all I can tell you guys is I’m trying.”

*On how his fellow players treat him: “Yeah, I whiff it in practice rounds, I back off. It’s the same thing; I do it on the range, too. Guys that play with me, they’ll see me go right over the top of it. Guys that play with me, they kind of laugh, and the guys that haven’t played with me, their eyes get about this big.”

*On not being able to hit a putt outside two feet without lining it up (and that’s the strength of his game): “I’m going to be real honest with you. I cannot hit a putt outside two and a half feet or two feet without a line. I don’t know where I’m going, I swear to God. Even in practice rounds at home, anything outside two feet, I have to put a line down. And I’ve been doing it as a kid, and I’ve tried not ‑‑ I have played a tournament without putting a line down to speed up play, just to speed up play. I can’t touch the hole from ten feet and in.”

*On concern for his playing partners who have to put up with his bizarre routine and slow play: “I told Zach (Johnson) on like No. 6, I think I got over it and I couldn’t pull the trigger, and I took like six waggles and I backed off, and I’m like, look, Zach, I’m trying. He goes, ‘Just do what you need to do, you’re playing well and keep it up.’ I’m good friends with Zach, and Zach understands. I think the only guy that would really understand is Sergio if I played with him because he’s gone through it (laughter).”

(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Erik Kuselias will no longer sour your daily dose of Morning Drive

Ever wonder what happens when you’re under contract, but you don’t know enough about golf? You get “reassigned” to one of NBC Sports’ sister channels. Yep, I’m referring to “Morning Drive” co-host Erik Kuselias, a member of Mensa International (a society for people with extraordinarily high IQs).

Since the debut of the daily morning weekday talk show on Golf Channel, a network of the NBC Sports Group, in January 2011, Kuselias has been a co-host, but starting on Monday, May 14th, he will no longer occupy the seat next to Gary Williams.

A reader sent me an email with a link to GolfChannel.com’s live chat, hosted by John Hawkins, at the time, and asked, “Did Kuselias get fired?” See the screenshot below to see the part of the conversation that caught the attention of the quick-witted tipster:

Here’s the text version:

Commenter “Dave” said: “Don’t get me started with Morning Drive. We ended up screaming at the TV. My wife wants to reach through the TV and grab Kuselias by the throat.”

Hawkins: “OK, I won’t get you started. Seriously, do you watch things to get pissed off? Besides, you won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore…”

“Dick Nixon” is, of course, Kuselias, who isn’t exactly the most “likeable” person in the world, according to, well, everyone, including an NBC Sports higher-up. Credit the Hawk for cleverly implying that Kuselias has been “impeached.” (High-five!)

To be clear, Kuselias, a former ESPN personality whose contract wasn’t renewed in 2009, was not fired, according to Golf Channel spokesperson Dan Higgins.

“Erik has been working with the NBC Sports Network and been on assignment with ‘NBC Sports Talk,’ where he’s done a great job, so his focus is being shifted to that, instead of Morning Drive,” said Higgins via phone.

Kuselias, a former ESPN personality who was the first name revealed when Deadspin’s former editor-in-chief A.J. Daulerio declared war on Bristol and unleashed the “ESPN Horndog Dossier.”

He also made friends at Golf Channel, namely co-hostess Holly Sonders. The couple moved in together last December.

This begs an important question: Since the “NBC Sports Talk” studio is in Connecticut and Kuselias will probably be relocating back to the northeast, will Erik and Holly stay engaged together? Or will she move to be with him? (*UPDATE: Yes, it’s been confirmed Erik and Holly are indeed engaged. GC sources say EK’s face time in his new role will be, uh, limited, so he’ll stay based in Orlando.)

According to Higgins, Golf Channel has not found a permanent replacement for Kuselias on MD and said they have yet to discuss potential candidates. Meanwhile, at TPC Sawgrass, there have been mumblings that Jimmy Roberts and Jerry Foltz are among the frontrunners or names in the mix.

Best of luck to Kuselias, whose last show as the official co-host of MD will be tomorrow (Sunday).

*Update–Monday, May 14, 1AM:

In the fantasy EK is living, “reassignment” really means “promotion.” He announced his “move up” into a basement at an NBC Sports studio via Twitter on Sunday morning.

He also thanks his followers for their congratulatory replies. Here’s a sampling:

Well, alrighty then! — bet the boys up in Bristol are just super stoked!

It’s unclear what type of visibility (or lack thereof) he’ll have at “NBC Sports Talk.” We’ll just have to wait and see. Oh, by the way, when is his contract up for renewal? Just curious.

This all sounds so oddly familiar. That’s right, I remember reading this on Deadspin in December 2010:

If anything, it shows that ESPN is doing its best to live up to George Bodenheimer’s please-stop-being-so-handsy-at-work memo and is ridding itself of people who might be a little too brazen in defying company policy. You know, like our old friend Erik Kuselias, whose contract was not renewed and who moved on to the Golf Channel. Not many people in Bristol were sad to see him leave.

I smell a pattern.

Matt Kuchar co-leading the Sea Island crew at Sawgrass

The crew of golfers that reside just about 80 miles up the eastern seaboard on Sea Island in St. Simons Island appear to have conspired a takeover of The Players Championship at the halfway mark. Neighbors Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar, along with “outsider” Kevin Na, shot a 36-hole total of eight-under for a three way share of the lead.

Just behind them, rookie Harris English, another Sea Islander (or to be more specific, St. Simons Islander — still not exactly sure), trails by a stroke, after a birdie-birdie finish to get him to seven-under for solo fourth in his first start at the Tour’s flagship event. Jonathan Byrd is also lurking at six-under to complete the coastal Georgian occupation of four of the top nine names on the leaderboard going into the weekend.

“It’s pretty impressive,” said Kuchar, who is paired with English on Saturday in the penultimate group. “We have got a great crew of guys up in Sea Island.  All of us hang out at Frederica Golf Club.  I played last week, played some golf with Zach Johnson before he went off to Charlotte.  I did not go to the Charlotte tournament last week.  We got a round of golf at home last week, and looking forward to getting a round of golf in tomorrow with him.”

As Kuchar mentions, all the PGA Tour players are members at Frederica Golf Club on Sea Island St. Simons Island. What is this? The Frederica member-member? What’s in the water over there that makes these guys thrive at TPC Sawgrass. It may just be a coincidence since pros have started to flock to the area.

If you’ve been there, you know it’s not very big, to say the least. It’s island living, where everyone knows everyone, and you never know when you might run into your neighborly Tour player at the grocery store.

“I don’t live too far away from them,” said English in his Friday post-round presser, referring to Johnson, Byrd and Kuchar.  “The island is not big at all.  I am probably within two miles of those guys…it’s good to play with them.

“A lot of good guys there on the island to bounce stuff off of, and it’s good to have some of those veterans to lean on in practice rounds when you’ve never seen the golf course, and they’ll kind you help you along the way.”

English, who tied for eighth at the RBC Heritage, played with J-Byrd for the first time in a Tuesday practice round.

“We had a pretty good match going,” said the former University of Georgia golfer who won a Nationwide Tour event last year as an amateur.  “It was fun.”

How much money did he take off Byrd?

“We’re going to keep that on the down-low,” said Harris, smiling.

English also played in the first twosome of the day in the final round at the Wells Fargo Championship. Zach may or may not have come from behind coming down the stretch, including a birdie on No. 18 at Quail Hollow, while Harris bogeyed, to take that match.

Harris lives with UGA teammate and good friend Hudson Swafford, who won the Nationwide Tour last week at their UGA home course in Athens, and Gator Todd, who played at University of Alabama. The three happen to rent Chris Kirk’s condo. Kirk bought a house last year just down the road.

Then there’s another rookie Sea Islander, Brian Harman, who was first alternate and nearly missed his chance to take D.A. Points’ spot due to a bizarre situation. On Thursday Points withdrew at the very last second — one of his playing partners had already teed off — and by the time officials figured it out and went to find Harman, it was too late. Tour officials reviewed the unique incident and eventually decided to let Harman play. After all, he had done everything by the book.

Harman, who had a hectic morning, shot a one-over 73 in the first round, but rallied on Friday, firing five-under on his second nine, to shoot 68 and make the cut.

“I got some fans yesterday,” he said on Friday. “I saw on Twitter there was a ‘free Brian Harman’ movement.  That was awesome.  I thought that was hilarious.”

He hit a hero shot from a bad lie through an opening between the trees and holed out for birdie on No. 8.

“My caddie said a guy was behind him and threw his beer up in the air and spilled all over him,” said Harman, who was T17 through 36 holes. “That’s why you play the game.  That’s why we’re out here; and to have that kind of support, and to have those guys freaking out, it was awesome.  It was awesome.  I’ll go right back over and buy them another beer.”

The leaders are just about to tee off in the third round at TPC Sawgrass. The odds look good for a Sea Island resident, but it’s only Saturday. Who’s your best bet?

(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Tiger looks pissed, but he's really exhaling...maybe...

Tiger Woods rallied after flirting briefly with missing his second consecutive for the first time in his career at The Players Championship, posting a four-under 68 to make the weekend with two shots to spare. He broke 70 for the first time since the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, where he captured his first official PGA Tour victory in two-and-one-half years in March, ending a nine-round drought of sub-70 scores.

High-fives all-around!

After an eyelet broke on Tiger’s right shoe on the 5th hole, someone was sent to retrieve the backup pair — well, just the right one — from his locker. Woods had a ho-hum start, with a birdie followed by a bogey through five holes. Then, he changed his shoe on the 6th tee, which must have spurred his streak of four consecutive birdies starting on No. 8. He made some clutch seven-footers, but he also missed a few, too.

I was trying to shoot my number today (66), and I thought that would put me four or five back, and it would have put me four,” said Woods after his round when asked if he felt pressure from the possibility of not missing two cuts in a row. “66 was my number today. I figured that would have been a good way to go into the weekend, being probably four or five back. It would have put me four back. But I’m still with a good chance.”

Woods trails leaders Zach Johnson, Kevin Na and Matt Kuchar, who are tied at eight-under through the halfway mark, by six strokes.

“I probably could have gotten one or two more out of it,” said Tiger. “But I really played well today. I was just very consistent, and nothing spectacular, just real solid golf.”

Asked what part of his game he was most pleased with, Tiger said, “the whole thing.”

He elaborated: “I hit the ball well all day and really putted well today. I had good speed on the greens, and finally what I was seeing and what I was feeling were matching up on speeds, which was good. I misread a few putts out there, which the greens were a little bit grainy this afternoon. So I didn’t give it enough credit on a couple of those putts, but other than that, it was good.”

Despite Tiger’s his positive assessment, he wasn’t exactly a bastion of serenity on the course. He was irked by the number of fans with camera phones, particularly after one clicked in the middle of his backswing during a chip shot on No. 3 in the first round. (I didn’t know camera phones still made clicky sounds. iPhones certainly don’t, or maybe I just have my settings on silent.)

On Friday Woods backed off his tee shot on No. 14 several times due to more run-ins with phones in the gallery. Honestly, I’m not sure what he’s talking about with all these camera phone incidents. There are obviously a lot of fans with phones since they’re allowed now, but of the 15 or 16 tournaments I’ve been to this year, including six out of Tiger’s seven starts, I haven’t heard any. Then again,  I don’t have rabbit ears.

“I backed off a couple times,” said Tiger. “I didn’t quite feel committed to my line; and then I got committed and then the guy took a picture with his camera phone, and I backed off again. It’s kind of the theme the last couple days for all of us in our group, a lot of phones going off. Used to it, and we backed off. I got reset. I was trying to hit just a hard swinging drawdown there, and I just hung it a little bit.”

Apparently, Tiger says it’s the worst it’s ever been, but there have been fans taking out their phones at EVERY event this year, including last week, despite the efforts of the mobile phone task force and volunteers to police it.

More stats: This was only Tiger’s fourth round in the 60s in the last 21 starts at TPC Sawgrass. His ballstriking was the biggest difference. He hit 14 of 18 greens on Friday (compared to 9 of 18 on Thursday) and 10 of 14 fairways (7 of 14 on Thursday). He even putted decently, needing only 28 putts — and he was three-putt free.

Well, glad Tiger will be here for the weekend. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy missed his third cut in his third start here, so instead of grinding it out on the golf course, he’s going to Rome.

*Update: My bad, the camera clicks were actually a distraction out there. I just have awful hearing, like I said, I don’t have rabbit ears! Apologies calling it an “excuse.” Well, here’s the issue — maybe if the marshals (who are volunteers so cant really blame them) paid more attention to monitoring the phone situation, instead of…eh, never mind. They’re volunteers. At Pebble earlier this year, there was a super intense mobile phone task force.

At the end of the day, if you allow fans to bring in phones, you can’t stop every single person from using it. You can’t control or monitor thousands of people at a golf tournament. Banning phones again would be just about the worst idea/outcome. It’s 2012. The Tour finally realized it’s the 21st century. Look, stupid fans with camera phones that click (when you take a picture), and that’s ruining it for everyone. So it’s pretty simple: Always keep your phone on silent or vibrate. That’s what I do. It’s always on vibrate, aide from thing like, needed to take an important phone call and you don’t want to make sure you don’t miss it. The ringer is a back-up.

There’s a learning curve with fans and knowing that it’s not smart to click in Tiger’s back swing, but the people in the galleries need to be more informed and aware of the rules. There are signs and stuff, but I’m sure people don’t pay them any attention. Fans are also used to taking pictures/videos at all the other sporting events they attend…

(AP Photo/John Raoux)