George White | |
Golf with George
May 7, 2007
George has been a journalist for close to 40 years. He wrote sports for the Houston Chronicle for 19 years and the Orlando Sentinel for 7 years. In 1994 he was one of the first people hired at the Golf Channel, were he started a career as an on-air talent, then moved over as one of the first writers of Golf Central and then their website. White retired from the Golf Channel after 12 years at the end of 2006. He will be writing a weekly column for GolfObserver.
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GolfObserver editors
A "major" change for the Players from March to May
Photo: © Caryn Levy/WireImage |
| The new clubhouse at TPC Sawgrass last week. |
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It's got the best field in golf. It's played on a course which ranks among the greatest in the country. It's got an elite group of winners, as good as any tournament - majors included - can put on its trophy. And year by year, its tradition, its legacy, has been growing.
And now, at long last, it has a date. The Players Championship has jumped to May, away from the Masters, away from the final days of college basketball's Sweet Sixteen, away from baseball's spring training. At last, The Players is in a time slot all its own. Can the label "major championship" really be far away?
"It's the strongest field in golf, period," said Jim Furyk. "I don't care if it's a major, I don't care if it is or it isn't. I've gotten so tired of that six, seven, eight years ago - 'Is this a major, is it not a major?' My answer was simply, 'Does it matter?'
Photo: © Stan Badz/WireImage |
| Jim Furyk on the 17th hole at Sawgrass. |
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"It's a good, strong field, and I would say it's, bar none, by far the strongest field in golf, year in and year out. I'm very excited about the May date, just from the fact that the golf course is going to be all Bermuda, it's going to be firm, it's going to be fast. And if it rains, it's going to drain better."
The difference in the end of March and the first week may not seem so far apart. But it is. The Players has forever been plagued with cold, drizzly weather. Its location at Ponte Vedra, just south of Jacksonville, on the Atlantic Ocean in the northern tip of Florida, has made for some pretty nasty weather. '
Because it's in the "Sunshine State," people assume it always has had bright, cheery weather. In reality, early mornings in the northeastern corner of Florida have perennially been unpredictably chilly - no, it's been downright cold in March. It may be located in the Sunshine State, but the Players should have had The Travelers Insurance Company's logo - a big umbrella.
Because of the constant rains and the chilly mornings, the TPC at Sawgrass has never played as it was designed. It was designed to play firm and fast - "with fire," as Nick Price used to say. Instead, the soggy conditions oftentimes left it soft and mushy. This year, say the course maintenance men, players will finally see the fairways and greens as architect Pete Dye meant for this course to be played.
"The weather is going to be so much better in May," said Furyk, who has a home in Ponte Vedra. "It's going to be warmer, it's not going to be nearly as windy, and the chance of rain goes down severely.
Photo: © Stan Badz/WireImage | | Tiger Woods playing on a very wet TPC Sawgrass course. |
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"And that being said, the golf course was never meant to be overseeded, it was never meant to have five-inch rough, it was never meant to be played anywhere near the way we played it in the past," said Furyk. "I think the golf course was ruined by the way we played it in the past in March. Now, not having to overseed the golf course, it'll be Bermuda year-round, I think it'll get back to the way it was supposed to be played and it's going to be a much better golf course."
Tiger Woods, for one, realizes how much more difficult this tournament is going to be.
"Mis-hit shots will get further off-line," said Tiger in explaining the increased difficulty. "You have to understand how to control your golf ball in the air with the correct spin. Here you have to shape the golf ball, and when you get fairways running this fast like they were say at Olympic like in '98, how many guys missed fairways with good shots because the fairways just kept running and running and running? Marginal shots are not going to end up in the fairway with fairways this fast."
When the Players was contested in March, the course always had to be overseeded - the weather was too cool to allow the summer grasses to take root.
"And when you overseed," said Furyk, "you have to wet it down to keep the overseed. We don't want to see a golf course wet.
"The golf course was never meant in its design to have rough that high around the greens. There were 'collection areas' that couldn't be used as collection areas. Just the way the golf course had to be kept, in overseed, it didn't match the design of the golf course if that makes sense. And in my opinion it ruined the style and the playability and the way that golf course should be played. It took a lot away from the golf course.
Photo: © Chris Condon/WireImage |
| The TPC Sawgrass was never meant to have high rough like what Sergio Garcia had to deal with. |
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"It's a much better golf course played firm and fast and with Bermuda grass."
And the players are delighted with the position on the schedule of the tournament. The Players Championship now has a spot that gives it its own identity.
"I think that's terrific," said Phil Mickelson. "We'll have the Masters in April, this tournament in May, U.S. Open in June, British in July and PGA in August. I love the way that those five months set up for our tour - because it puts more emphasis on the quality of this event."
And, the increased 'speed' of the Sawgrass will give the course an even more democratic flavor, said Furyk. It opens up the field even more to players of all skills - the power hitters as well as the finesse players.
"I think it favors no one in particular more now than it ever did," he said. "I disagree with the argument that it favored no one in the past, a little bit. But more so than ever now, I don't think it's really going to favor any style of player."
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