Shag Bag

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Count Lanny Wadkins among players who believe the upcoming change in the grooves’ rules will only make Tiger Woods tougher to beat.

New rules that take effect Jan. 1 are meant to limit the effectiveness of grooves on shots from the rough to V-groove design. That will substantially reduce spin that's been created from modern U-groove or square-groove design.

“Guess who's been playing V grooves all along? Tiger Woods,” Wadkins said during a news conference Monday before his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame. “All he's got to change are two clubs in his bag. He's got to change his 56 [degree wedge] and his 60 [degree wedge]. He doesn't have to change balls, driver, nothing.  Let's just give Tiger a bigger advantage. Just what he needs, right?"

Wadkins said adapting to the new rules shouldn’t be a hardship for today's players, and he would like to see more severe restrictions.

“I like the idea of trying to get back to V grooves,” Wadkins said. “I just wish they had gone to a straight, old, traditional V groove because what they're doing ... is basically going to shallower U grooves. The manufacturers are going to figure out a way around it. They're going to figure out a way to keep as much spin as possible in the ball. I would love to see it back to the V grooves we played in the early '70s.  

“My generation has changed all the way along the line. We've changed from shafts that weren't frequency matched, then we went to frequency-matched shafts. Then we went to wooden clubs that were heavy, 14 1/2 ounces for a driver, a shaft that weighed 135 grams, which is probably what mine weiged early '70s, mid '80s. We've changed to small-headed metal clubs to big-headed metal to U grooves to balls that don't spin. My generation has changed all the way up. This generation, like where my boys are, my boys have always played the same stuff. They've never hit a wooden club. They're 21 and 17, all they've known is big-headed metal stuff. I think it's about time. This generation has to change something.  Let's see if they've got some imagination."

It’s down to one final tournament, one final spot.

With the washout of last week’s Viking Classic, young phenoms Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark earned a spot at the Tour’s finale next week at Disney via their top-10 finishes at the Frys.com Open. Now comes the real pressure, at least for CMN Classic officials left with one remaining sponsor exemption.

With plenty of interest for the spot from a host of players currently outside the top 125 in earnings, tournament director Kevin Weickel said the announcement will likely come Tuesday afternoon.

Among the contenders for the final spot is Erik Compton, the double heart transplant recipient who made the most of a similar exemption last year when he made the cut at Disney.

Compton won his first-stage Q-School event by three strokes last month and has been keeping his game sharp by giving his friends as many strokes as possible and working his ball around Deering Bay, a tony south Florida layout with tight fairways and relentless winds.

“My body is stronger now and it shows, I have a chance of succeeding on the golf course,” Compton said. “I feel like I’m swinging better now than ever before. I don’t have the same (swing) speed, but that helps that I’m not trying to kill the ball.”

As for Disney’s final spot, Compton said he was waiting to hear from officials and was cautiously optimistic.

“The fact I haven’t heard is a good thing,” he said.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – When it comes to playing golf while in the Oval Office, President Obama has his work cut out for him.

According to the artifacts on display for Dwight D. Eisenhower at the World Golf Hall of Fame, Eisenhower visited Augusta National 29 times and played 210 rounds of golf there during his two terms as president (1953-61). Eisenhower is being inducted posthumously tonight with Lanny Wadkins, Jose Maria Olazabal and Christy O’Connor in the Hall of Fame Class of 2009.

The Augusta National green jacket Eisenhower owned as a member of the club is among artifacts on display at the Hall of Fame. So is the Spalding Dot golf ball he used to make the only hole-in-one of his life. He holed a 7-iron from 104 yards at Seven Lakes Country Club in Palm Springs, Calif., in 1968.

Han Chang-won completed the Korean championship trifecta at Mission Hills Golf Club in China Sunday, cruising to a five-stroke victory at the inaugural Asian Amateur Championship and earning the most-coveted invitation in all of golf – a spot in next year’s Masters Tournament.

Han, 17, will join fellow Koreans Y.E. Yang, this year’s PGA champion, and Byeong-Hun An, the winner of this year’s U.S. Amateur, next April at Augusta National.

“When I started playing golf I dreamed of going to the Masters Tournament,” said Han, who began the final round with a two-stroke lead and padded has advantage with a closing 70. “I feel this has come a little earlier than I expected, but I am so grateful for the opportunity to come over and play this tournament.”

Fellow Korean Eric Chun finished alone in second place at 7 under while Meen-Whee Kim (Korea), Peter Spearman-Burn (Australia) and Jordan Sherratt (Australia) tied for third.

The victory also earns Han an exemption into International Final Qualifying for next year’s British Open, but it was a potential ride down Magnolia Lane that made the teenager nervous coming down the stretch.

“We are excited that the Asian Amateur Championship has met its stated goal of establishing golfing heroes and will be a portion of the long-term solution for growing the game of golf in this region of the world,” Billy Payne, the chairman of Augusta National and the Masters, said in a statement.

After a historic year, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of Korean golf heroes.

Results [Top 10]:

1	HAN, Chang-Won	South Korea	66	69	71	70	F	276	-12
2	CHUN, Eric	South Korea	74	68	66	73	F	281	-7
T3	KIM, Meen-Whee	South Korea	75	68	68	71	F	282	-6
T3	SPEARMAN-BURN, Peter	New Zealand	69	68	73	72	F	282	-6
T3	SHERRATT, Jordan	Australia	68	67	74	73	F	282	-6
6	GILES, Matthew	Australia	71	71	73	68	F	283	-5
7	ISMAIL, Mohd Iszaimi	Malaysia	70	72	71	71	F	284	-4
T8	WOO, Jonathan	Singapore	70	74	70	71	F	285	-3
T8	TOKUNAGA, Tomoya	Japan	74	72	68	71	F	285	-3
10	EUSTAQUIO, Judson	Philippines	68	76	70	72	F	286	-2

Children's Miracle Network Classic officials aren't prepared to say who's best positioned to win the prized final sponsor's exemption into the final PGA Tour event of the year, but it's a smart play if they're holding off to see how the Viking Classic turns out.

If the Viking Classic in Mississippi is canceled because of bad weather this weekend, Rickie Fowler won’t need a sponsor’s exemption to the Nov. 12-15 Disney event. Fowler’s top-10 finish at the Frys.com Open, which got him into the Viking Classic, will carry over to Disney, provided the Viking Classic is a complete washout, according to PGA Tour officials. Jamie Lovemark’s top-10 last week also would get him into Disney, even though Lovemark didn’t use his top-10 to commit to the Viking Classic. Lovemark passed on the Viking Classic to play a PGA Tour first-stage Q-School qualifier this week.

Though Fowler has won temporary Tour membership with his prize winnings this fall, the special category won't get him into the Disney event. He needs to use the top-10 finish category or the sponsor's exemption to play.

The Disney event has already awarded three of its four sponsor exemptions to Rich Beem, Lee Janzen and Haymes Snedeker of Big Break fame (brother to PGA Tour pro Brandt Snedeker). Fowler and Miami’s Erik Compton are high-profile players awaiting word on the final sponsor’s exemption, though a number of players fighting to finish among the top 125 in money also are hopeful of winning the invite.

Rickie Fowler or Erik Compton?
 
Giving out sponsor exemptions can be brutally difficult work. Just ask the folks at the Children's Miracle Network.
 
Fowler and Compton both are hopeful they will get the last sponsor’s exemption for the season’s final PGA Tour event, the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Disney World Nov. 12-15. They are terrific possibilities who would be great fits and bring great stories, but the tournament only has one more exemption to offer.
 
Fowler is a hot commodity coming off his near victory in the Frys.com playoff last week and his tie for seventh at Justin Timberlake’s event the week before. He earned temporary Tour membership with his finishes, but it won't get him into Disney. He needs a sponsor's invite. He's the best story of the fall season, a player whose soaring popularity is sure to help the tournament.
 
Compton is one of the most inspiring stories in the history of golf, a player whose tale resonates powerfully with the nature of the Disney event. The Children’s Miracle Network’s mission is “creating miracles by raising funds for children’s hospitals.” Compton was the youngest recipient of a heart transplant in Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital history when he received his first transplant at age 12. He received a second heart transplant 18 months ago and is bidding to win a PGA Tour card and play the Tour next year. Compton earned a sponsor’s exemption last year.
 
Fowler and Compton aren’t alone wanting an exemption to the Disney event. Somebody else might end up with the spot.There are other players fighting for PGA Tour cards who would love the invite.
 
Who would you invite?