Green Reading

Johnson tied for lead after 65

CHARLOTTE, N.C. | Dustin Johnson shot a 7-under-par 65 Friday in the second round of the $6.5 million Quail Hollow Championship, and as of 3 p.m. he was in a six-way tie for the lead at 6-under 138.


Johnson’s 65 is one shot off the tournament record. He began the second round tied for 67^th after a 73 in the opening round.
“I felt like the last two hours of my round today I really found my swing and started hitting some really good iron shots,” Johnson said.
Johnson made an eagle, eight birdies, including on each of his final two holes, and three bogeys. It was one of those rounds you never want to end.
“I probably wouldn’t have minded playing a few more holes,” said Johnson, who has won in each of his first three years on the PGA Tour, including at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February.

Read Saturday's The Sun News for more information.

Mickelson talks Masters highlights

 

Phil Mickelson shed some light this week on a couple things related to his Masters victory three weeks ago: his shot from the pine straw on the 13^th hole while holding a one-shot lead, and a picture that surfaced of him cruising through the Krispy Kreme drive-through while wearing his green jacket.

Regarding the 6-iron from about 205 yards that went through a small gap in a pair of trees in front of him, crossed Rae’s creek in front of the green and came to rest 5 feet from the pin to set up an eagle putt.: “I guess if you're on the outside looking in and you see this guy in the pine needles and the trees and stuff trying to hit a shot through the trees and around the trunks and over the water, I could see somebody questioning that. But when you're in it, when you're out there in it and you see the lie and you see the shot and you see the target, it doesn't seem as daunting. But as I kind of looked back and saw some of the pictures, I was like, what was I doing? But it worked out.”
Regarding driving through Krispy Kreme with his green jacket: “Well, throughout the week I don't eat a lot of sugar or carbs or what have you, and my kids wanted doughnuts, and I said Monday morning we'll go to Krispy Kreme and grab some. We used to do that San Diego on football Sunday; we'd go grab some doughnuts Sunday before the games. But Krispy Kreme went out of business in San Diego. We don't have them over there anymore. That was their big thing. They wanted to go Monday morning, so I promised them Monday morning we would. It was a little chilly, so I threw on a jacket.”

Nature calls at opportune time

Funny story about how I got the scoop on Phil Mickelson withdrawing from the Quail Hollow Championship pro-am on Wednesday and heading to the hospital for IVs and other medical treatment. I was walking back to the media tent from the course and needed to use the restroom, so I headed to the clubhouse and the players' locker room. While I was there, someone entered the stall next to me in obvious distress. When he responded to someone asking how he was doing, he went on to explain he spent the previous night vomiting and shaking and sweating, and that he thought he'd overcome it but he apparently did not. And it sure sounded like Phil Mickelson. Upon exiting the bathroom, I asked a locker room attendant who the player was and it was Mickelson, who was heading to the hospital. I found his caddie, Bones, and asked about his condition and the likelihood of him playing in Thursday's first round.
You never know when or where a story presents itself.

Woods tours course site en route to Charlotte

Before arriving at Quail Hollow Club for the Quail Hollow Championship, his second tournament in nearly six months, Tiger Woods toured the site Tuesday of his first golf course design in the U.S.
Woods is building a course that will be part of the Cliffs communities, called the Cliffs at High Carolina in the mountain town of Fairview, N.C., near the South Carolina border.
"I took a look at my course and did some work up there,"  Woods said. “Everything is progressing there. We just had a few environmental issues we needed to get through, some impacts, but that's all been passed, and now we've ready to go. We'll start moving dirt here pretty soon. We've got the clearance, but now we can start moving and creating a golf course.”
Woods said his design business if receiving offers all over the world, he’s just not sure how much time he’ll have to pursue designing new layouts.
Woods has apparently built a strong relationship with Jim Anthony, the founder and president of The Cliffs, who hired Woods to build the course. Anthony was reportedly one of the people in the room when Woods first emerged from seclusion following his car accident and read a statement.

Mickelson ill at Quail Hollow, headed to hospital

Phil Mickelson, in his first event since winning his third green jacket at the Masters three weeks ago,  had to withdraw from the Quail Hollow Championship pro-am Wednesday afternoon due to an illness.
Mickelson had an apparent virus and withdrew after playing six holes. He received treatment for dehydration at an on-course medical center was headed to a hospital to receive intravenous fluids and any other medical treatment necessary.
Mickelson spent much of Tuesday night vomiting, sweating and shaking but thought he had overcome whatever illness had struck him. But he started to feel ill again shortly after teeing off in the pro-am at 1 p.m., and left Quail Hollow Club to head to a hospital around 2:30 p.m.
"I don't know if it's the flu or food poisoning or what," said Mickelson's long-time caddie, Jim "Bones" Mackay.
T.R. Reinman of Mickelson's management company, Gaylord Sports, said in a statement that Mickelson intends to play in Thursday's opening round. Asked if Mickelson would be able to make his 12:50 p.m. tee time, Mackay said, "I don't know. He's a tough guy so if he can possibly play he will."

Tiger, Johnson learn tee times in Charlotte

Reigning British Open champion Stewart Cink and 2009 Masters champion Angel Cabrera will have the pleasure of playing with Tiger Woods in the first two rounds Thursday and Friday of the eighth annual $6.5 million Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, N.C.
Woods is playing for just the second time since revelations about his extramarital sexual escapades surfaced in November, and it is his first appearance in a regular PGA Tour event. He played in the Masters three weeks ago and tied for fourth. Woods, a winner of 71 PGA Tour events, including the 2007 Quail Hollow event, is scheduled to tee off with his playing partners at 7:40 a.m. Thursday off the 10th tee, and 12:50 p.m. Friday off the first tee.
Myrtle Beach resident Dustin Johnson, who missed the cut at Quail Hollow as a rookie in 2008 and skipped the event last year, is playing with Matt Kuchar and Kenny Perry. They are scheduled to go off the 10th tee at 12:50 p.m. Thursday and the first tee at 7:40 a.m. Friday.
The threesome that enters Charlotte with the most success of late is the grouping of Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Rory Sabbatini. Mickelson is playing for the first time since winning his third green jacket at the Masters, and Furyk has won twice in the past five weeks, including two weeks ago in the Verizon Heritage in Hilton Head Island. They go off the first tee at 12:50 p.m. Thursday and the 10th tee at 7:40 a.m. Friday.

U.S. Open in prime time good for many, bad for a few

The U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links will be broadcast in prime time on NBC and ESPN to the Eastern and Central time zones as part of more than 30 hours of live television coverage between June 17-20. That's good news for golf and its fans, bad news for golf journalists from outlets on the East Coast.

ESPN will begin coverage on the first two days of play on June 17-18 with air times of 1-3 p.m. EDT each day. NBC Sports’ coverage of the first two rounds will air from 3-5 p.m. EDT, followed by coverage from 5-10 p.m. EDT on ESPN. NBC will broadcast the third round on June 19 from 4:30-11 p.m. EDT and the fourth round on June 20 from 3-9 p.m. EDT. The end of third-round coverage at 11 p.m. comes after The Sun News' deadline. It doesn't leave much room for creativity, and possibly for full results, other than later that night on the Web. So the watching and drama will likely be good in prime time on the East Coast, as it was in 2008 when the U.S. Open was at Torrey Pines and Tiger Woods won on one good leg. Journalists will be scrambling to do it justice in coverage, however.
If there’s a Monday playoff ESPN will begin coverage at noon and NBC will pick up coverage at 2 p.m. Now that's definitely a manageable time for adequate coverage of an event like the U.S. Open.

Woods speaks before his return Wednesday

Tiger Woods is certainly attempting to make a connection with golf fans. In a blog item on his Web site that was fairly long and rather conversational, Woods addressed a number of issues including his decision to play in the Quail Hollow Championship. He is expected to arrive at the course either late Tuesday afternoon or Tuesday night -- he's reportedly visiting the site of the golf course he's designing on the SC/NC border -- and has a media conference scheduled for sometime shortly after noon Wednesday following his participation in a pro-am.
Wrote Woods about playing this week in Charlotte: "Quail Hollow Club is one of my favorite courses on tour. It's traditional, right in front of you, difficult, and you have to shape shots both ways. I managed to win there in 2007 and look forward to going back."
Woods backed off the defiance and smugness he exibited in an interview with Peter Kostis immediately following his final round of the Masters regarding his fourth-place finish. At the time, when asked about contending for a major in his first competitive event in five months, he retorted something to the effect of, "I didn't win, and I came here to win." On his blog he wrote: "To actually contend in a major on the back nine Sunday and tie for fourth with very little preparation, with all that has transpired in my life, was pretty cool. It also felt great to be in the hunt again, but unfortunately, I didn't have my game."
Woods congratulated Phil Mickelson on his Masters win and profusely thanked his fans. “They definitely helped me mentally to be more comfortable out there. I was hoping for the best. To get that type of warmth is something I did not expect and will never forget.” Woods said he tried to interact with as many fans as he could and said he was touched by a letter given to him by a little girl.
Regarding his poor language on the course, he wrote: “I received some criticism for bad language, which I apologized for immediately after Saturday's round. It's tough when you're in a competitive environment and in the flow of a tournament. I'm not perfect. All I can say is I'm trying to do everything I can without losing my fire and competitive spirit.”
Woods said he is committing to tournaments earlier to accommodate a PGA Tour request in order to plan ahead for security.
He's at least making some attempt to be a kinder, gentler, easier to like Tiger these days. It will be interesting to see how long it continues.

MB National trying to acquire Pawleys Plantation

Myrtle Beach National Co., the largest golf course ownership and management company on the Grand Strand, has signed a contract to purchase Pawleys Plantation from owner Les Morris.

If the purchase is completed, Myrtle Beach National will manage 14 courses on the Strand, including 10 that it will own.

“We have signed [a contract] and we are in kind of the due diligence period as well as cleaning up some loose items, and there is always the matter of finding the money,” Myrtle Beach National president and chief executive officer Matthew Brittain said. “We’re in negotiations with the bank. It’s a funny time in banking right now. I think we’re strong and I think everything is looking good. The banking industry is in a little bit of uncertainty and things aren’t as straightforward or easy as they used to be. But we’ll work our way through it.”

The Jack Nicklaus-designed Pawleys Plantation opened in 1988 and is on the high end of greens fees among Strand courses. The 18-hole Pawleys Island course features several holes winding through tidal marsh and live oaks, and is rated among the top 25 courses in South Carolina by both Golf World and Golf Magazine.

 

Read more in Friday's edition of The Sun News.

CPGA pro accused of stealing from PGA Tour pros

I got a tip Monday on a crazy story from last weekend's Verizon Heritage in Hilton Head Island, and darn if it wasn't true. Scott Medlin, the club pro who won the Carolinas PGA qualifier for one spot in the Heritage, was cited by police for stealing from the players' lockerroom. This is the story by Lance Hanlin from the Beaufort Gazette:

A club professional competing in last week¹s Verizon Heritage is accused of stealing golf shoes from a fellow competitor.

Scott Medlin, 43, of Hamlet, N.C., was cited for petit larceny after he was seen Friday afternoon at Harbour Town Golf Links "removing property from the lockers of various professional golfers," stuffing the items into his own golf bag and carrying them away from the locker room, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff¹s Office incident report.

The victim in the report is listed as Matthew Laird but the agent representing professional golfer Martin Laird confirmed his client was actually the victim.

"He said it was a pair of shoes and that was about it," said Blake Smith of Hambric Sports Management. "He said it didn¹t ruin what was a great week." The Sheriff¹s Office would not provide the entire incident report because the investigation is ongoing but did list that $200 worth of golf shoes were recovered from Medlin¹s golf bag.

Messages and e-mails to Medlin were not returned on Wednesday.

Medlin was added to the tournament field after winning a qualifying tournament for Carolinas PGA Section members in March. He missed the cut at the Heritage after shooting 76 in Thursday¹s first round and 78 in Friday¹s second round.

Medlin is a member of the PGA of America, an organization made up of more than 28,000 golf professional members. He is not currently affiliated with a PGA facility and is considered unattached, according to PGA Carolinas Section assistant executive director Chris Mezenski.

The PGA does have a code of ethics in its constitution, which prohibits "conduct unbecoming a professional." "We¹ve been advised not to comment at this point through legal council," Mezenski said. "We won¹t do anything until the courts do their thing." Medlin is a Greenville native according to the PGA Tour website. The site also says he played collegiate golf at the University of Miami and turned professional in 1990. He played other PGA Tour events in 2006, earning $32,923. He is a three-time winner of the Carolinas Open and also has won several tournaments on developmental tours.

The PGA Tour does not comment on crimes or disciplinary action of its players. Even though Medlin is not a member of the tour, PGA Tour spokesman Joel Schuchmann said his organization is following those same guidelines in the case.

"We¹re aware of the situation, but we¹re not able to comment further on it," Schuchmann said.

Tournament officials didn¹t have much to add, either. "I don¹t have all of the facts because I wasn¹t involved," Verizon Heritage tournament director Steve Wilmot said. "It¹s an embarrassing situation." A court date has been set for 9 a.m. May 28 at the Municipal Court on Hilton Head Island.