Doug LaBelle | Wei Under Par

Jun

4

2013

Guthrie snags last spot to Merion in Columbus playoff, Hoffman medals

By Stephanie Wei under Behind the Scenes

Jason Kokrak, Luke Guthrie, Charlie Wi and Sang-Moon Bae loosen up for the playoff

With darkness closing in during the last minutes of daylight at the U.S. Open sectional qualifier in Columbus, PGA Tour rookie Luke Guthrie stood over a five-footer for birdie on the third playoff hole — more important, a putt to clinch his place in his first major next week at Merion. And, in it went.

In a playoff that started with eleven other Tour pros who shot eight-under gunning for the seven remaining spots, Guthrie secured the 15th and final one on the third extra hole, the par-4 10th at The Lakes Golf & Country Club.

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Jun

3

2013

U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying Open Thread

By Stephanie Wei under US Open

Brookside Country Club

Welcome to the “Golf’s Longest Day” — as it is marketed on Golf Channel — where nearly 1,000 players spread across 11 qualifying sites in the country are vying for coveted spots in next week’s U.S. Open at Merion. I’ll be bringing you updates from the 36-hole sectional qualifier in Columbus, which is held at Brookside CC and The Lakes G&CC (the “host” venue).

As longtime readers know, this is one of my favorite events to cover. I love watching PGA Tour pros biting their nails as they gather around the scoreboard at the end of the second round (which will be at The Lakes this year) and nervously watch the calligrapher handwrite the numbers. It’s a tense atmosphere, but the emotion is raw and real. It’s one of the few events left that have the old-school feeling to them, because realtime scoring is either nonexistent or delayed and big electronic leaderboards aren’t plastered around the course.

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May

30

2013

PGA Tour seems likely to follow USGA anchoring ban

By Stephanie Wei under Rules

The Masters champ has retained a lawyer but doesn’t plan to sue

The PGA Tour Player Advisory Council (PAC) gathered for an official meeting on Tuesday at Muirfield Village Golf Club to discuss the USGA and R&A’s announcement of their final decision to ban anchored putting under Rule 14-1b. Players, Commissioner Tim Finchem and other officials participated in the 90-minute meeting in person and by phone.

Finchem discussed the series of events that had happened regarding the anchoring issue since their last meeting and then players and officials also weighed in with their opinions on the imminent decree set forth by golf’s governing bodies that will be put in effect on January 1, 2016.

“Yesterday’s (meeting) was just hearing guys on the PAC’s opinion,” said Aaron Baddeley, a member of the PAC, on Wednesday. “(The PAC meeting) was more just to see what Commissioner Finchem was thinking, and what Slugger White and a couple of the other rules guys were thinking.”