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Nelson course looks pristine

Remember those spotty, brown-tinged greens that ruined the look of the 2007 EDS Byron Nelson Championship?

They're only a memory these days at the Four Seasons Resort in Irving. And a distant memory, at that.

They've been replaced by acres of fresh fairways and smooth, new greens as part of a $10 million overhaul of the TPC Las Colinas course. D.A. Weibring, the architect who oversaw the redesign project, unveiled his handiwork today for public consumption.

Tournament officials offered across-the-board kudos for Weibring's efforts. So did J.J. Henry, a PGA Tour participant from Fort Worth who attended the news conference. The compliments are deserved, especially when you consider that Weibring achieved his grand makeover in just 10 months, despite some weather-related complications along the way.

How different is the refurbished TPC? Every hole was impacted, and some changes are dramatic -- notably the four-lake, cascading water feature at No. 18. But the course primarily has a fresher, cleaner look and feel to it. Square tees. More defined bunkers, strategically placed and filled with white sand. Some softening of spectator mounds. Smaller greens, many of them re-contoured to make them more challenging for the touring pros.

The bottom line, said 2008 Nelson tournament chairman John Nolan, is that Weibring's efforts "exceeded everything we thought would happen."

Henry predicted peers would be "blown away" when they arrive for the April 24-27 event and see how much has changed since last year.

During the project, a total of 165 trees were moved to other locations to help frame target areas or landing areas. Several new bunker complexes have been added.

Ideally, Nelson officials hope the redesigned layout will cause more elite players to return to their event. They acknowledge that is unlikely to happen this year, in part because of a difficult date (two weeks after the Masters, two weeks before The Players Championship) that falls within a span when most elite players take time off to recharge their mental batteries.

Nolan calls this "a building block year" for the Nelson, one in which tournament officials hope to bridge the gap to bigger things in 2009, when the PGA Tour's projected calendar has D-FW's tour events -- the Nelson (May 21-24, 2009) and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (May 28-31, 2009) -- slated to fall in back-to-back weeks. Those dates are not final, however, and could change in the months ahead.

The bottom line, at this stage, is making efforts toward restoring the luster of Byron Nelson's namesake event after a dismal experience in 2007. Consider the first step in that direction taken Tuesday.

Because of his long relationship with Nelson, who died in 2006, Weibring said this project has been more "personal" than most. Henry, one of two player consultants involved with the project, suggested that Lord Byron would approve of Weibring's handiwork.

"I think he's up there (in heaven), smiling down on us now for what we've accomplished," Henry said.

_ Jimmy Burch

Woods' pursuit of perfection ends

Tiger Woods' pursuit of the perfect golf season ended today in Miami, Fla.

Woods finished two strokes behind winner Geoff Ogilvy at the WGC-CA Championship, snapping Tiger's streak of five consecutive victories at PGA Tour events and giving him his first loss in the five events he has entered in 2008 (four on the PGA Tour, one on the European Tour).

Finally, the silly speculation about whether Woods could win every event he entered in the 2008 calendar year -- a feat no professional golfer has ever accomplished, and an achievement no one who competes regularly should ever consider a reasonable goal -- is behind us. Woods is human, just like the rest of us. Deal with it, dreamers.

He's not going to challenge, much less break, Byron Nelson's streak of 11 consecutive PGA Tour victories -- set in 1945 -- and he's not going to run the table in every tournament he enters in 2008. Even Nelson didn't come close to winning every event he entered when he won a tour-record 18 tournaments in 1945. There's too many capable competitors on the PGA Tour, and golf is way too fickle of a game, for anyone to consider a perfect season possible if he's going to enter 10 or more events. And that includes Woods.

What remains possible, however, is Tiger's real goal for 2008: a Grand Slam. Woods would love to become the first professional golfer to sweep all four majors in the same season. And, after posting 15-under at the Doral Resort in Miami, it is clear that Woods remains on top of his game. Ogilvy just played better, limiting himself to a lone bogey to go with his 18 birdies over 72 holes.

Woods, on the other hand, had four three-putts and some self-inflicted wounds that he hopes to avoid when he makes his next start at the Masters (April 10-13), in the season's first major. In golf, there's a razor-thin line between hoisting the trophy and posting a near-miss, as Woods discussed in a news conference after Monday's round. Some of it involves the L-word (luck), which Woods did not use but alluded to in his comments.

"People don't really understand you need to have something happen, a positive thing happen to you out there in order to win tournaments," Woods said. "I heard Geoff bladed one in the hole for par. That's what you need to have happen. Those are the things that have happend to me, and things weren't going that way this week."

Translation: Woods did not get the lucky bounce he needed at the right time to offset the mistakes he made on the course. But he's hopeful he can rectify that in Augusta, Ga.

Asked his early thoughts about the Masters, Woods said: "I think it's a great sign, what happened this week, to make that many mistakes and only be two back ... I didn't hit a bad shot all day (Monday), which was nice."

Translation II: Woods likes his chances in Augusta, regardless of Monday's finish in Miami.

Frankly, I do, too.

To be honest, it probably benefits Woods that he no longer has to deal with the foolish media hype about the possibility of a perfect season in 2008. The only taste of perfection that truly interests Woods is a 4-for-4 conversion rate in this year's majors.

And that goal remains on the table. Unlike the pipedream about a perfect season, the potential for a Grand Slam is very real. Just check back during Masters week for further proof.

_ Jimmy Burch

Romo to play in Colonial pro-am

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has agreed to play in the May 21 pro-am at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, tournament director Peter Ripa said today.

Ripa said comedian George Lopez also will compete in the same pro-am, scheduled Wednesday of tournament week.

In addition, Colonial officials have scheduled teen singer Jordan Pruitt for a May 19 concert following the tournament's Monday youth clinic. Pruitt is best known for her appearance in the Disney Channel movie "Jump In."

_ Jimmy Burch

Move over, Ben

Tiger Woods joined Ben Hogan, the late golf legend from Fort Worth, on the PGA Tour's career victory list (64) by winning Sunday's Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla. Woods can move ahead of Hogan, into solo possession of third place on the tour's all-time win list, with another triumph at this weeks' WGC-CA Championship at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami.

Anyone who watched the emotion Woods displayed after burying a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole to secure a one-stroke victory over Bart Bryant at Palmer's event had to realize that Tiger's current five-event winning streak at PGA Tour events is something near and dear to Woods' heart. The same can be said for his public acknowledgements that he considers it possible to win every event he enters during the 2008 season.

What does this mean, from a Hogan perspective? I'd expect Woods, 32, to have Hogan in his rearview mirror on the PGA Tour's career victory list by the time the final putt drops Sunday in Miami.

If not there, then certainly on April 13 at the Masters, which figures to be Woods' next appearance after the Miami event. Woods clearly is on top of his game. All of his eye-popping season statistics -- available at pgatour.com -- speak to that.

What jumps out as me is that I've rarely, if ever, seen Woods show as much emotion after winning a non-major than he showed Sunday in Orlando. After dropping the 25-footer that closed out Bryant, Woods slammed his black golf cap into the ground like a wide receiver spiking a football after scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl. He fist-pumped. He bellowed with excitement.

If Woods continues bringing that kind of fire and emotion to the table during crunch time in the non-majors, as well as the majors, he figures to turn in the most memorable season of his incredible career in 2008. He'll break the deadlock with Hogan at 64 career victories in short order. He's got an excellent chance to win the first two majors of the season (Masters and U.S. Open), especially with the Open being played at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, Calif., where Woods has won the last four titles at the Buick Invitational, played annually at Torrey Pines.

But, a perfect season? That's not happening. This is golf and every golfer, including Tiger, is human and susceptible to the fickle nature of the game. Some days, you simply don't have it and there's no explanation other than, "that's golf."

Even Byron Nelson wasn't perfect in 1945, when he set PGA Tour records with 11 consecutive victories and 18 tournament triumphs in one season.

Woods, 32, figures to fall somewhere before he wins 11 in a row. And he won't threaten Nelson's record of 18 tour victories in a season because he won't play that many. Woods played only 16 tour events last season, and 15 in 2006. At present, he's certainly not on a pace to play more tour events in 2008 than in either of the past two seasons.

But he could threaten to win, or even pull off, a 2008 Grand Slam. That seems to be Woods' primary goal for 2008. And it's not far-fetched.

In terms of how high he can climb on golf's all-time victory list in 2008, it's hard to see how Woods can do much better than a solo third by the end of this season. Woods is at 64 victories. Jack Nicklaus, the No. 2 man on the list, won 73 titles. Sam Snead, the record-holder, won 82.

Expect Woods to be closing in on Nicklaus at this time next year. But you can expect him to put Ben Hogan safely in his rearview mirror very soon. Perhaps by Sunday in Miami.

_ Jimmy Burch 

Daly dose of craziness

It's been a tough week for John Daly, a two-time major champion and fan favorite who has accepted sponsor's exemptions to compete in both D-FW tour stops this season.

First, there were reports of boorish behavior by Daly after Saturday's round at the PODS Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla. (heavy drinking in public, an obscene gesture). That triggered a Tuesday breakup between Daly and his swing coach, Butch Harmon, who agreed to tutor Daly only if the former PGA champ (1991) and British Open champ (1995) curtailed his penchant for off-course incidents. On Wednesday, Daly missed the tee time for his pro-am round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla. and was disqualified from the tournament.

Daly had been given a sponsor's exemption into Palmer's event, just as he has received sponsor's exemptions to compete at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship (April 24-27) and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (May 22-25).

After his Wednesday disqualification, Daly discussed his recent travails with a reporter from the Golf Channel. Here are some highlights from that session:

On his disqualification: "I was (at the course) when (tour official) Mark Russell said I missed my tee time. I said, 'No, I was supposed to go off at 9:47 (a.m.).' He said, 'No, you were at 8:40 (a.m.).' I said, 'That is kind of weird because we called the tournament yesterday ... and (9:47 a.m.) was the time the lady gave us.' ... So we didn't even think about calling back. So that's cool. No big deal. It is just unfortunate that stuff like this (miscommunication) happens. I feel bad for Arnold because he gave me the spot. (It's the) first time in 17 or 18 years that I have ever missed a tee time. I feel responsible for it but I just feel bad this had to happen with all of the other crap going on in my life ... I've got to take the responsibility. I should have checked my time again."

On reports of his breakup with Harmon, which Harmon has confirmed: "I haven't seen the articles. I didn't watch the Golf Channel (on Tuesday, when the report surfaced). But Butch didn't call to let me know. I just texted Butch to say, 'I just wish you would have called me,' that's all. I said, 'I love you like a brother. Youre the greatest golf coach, anywhere ...' This is unfortunate. I just wish he would've called me."

On Saturday's events at the PODS Championship: "The tournament director says, 'Do you want to go to the Owl's Nest (a party tent sponsored by Hooters)?' I said, 'Yeah, I am already going because Hooters wants me to be there.' ... This thing about flipping a camera guy off. Well, we may have done it in fun. Half the time I take pictures with guys and they want me to flip the picture off because that is what they want. We were having a good time. Nobody was loud. I thought it was good for the tournament. Hooters loved it. I sat there and ate, had a few beers ... wasn't drunk or anything. I was there for four hours, signing things. It was a good thing. But now it seems like this (reporter) who wrote this article about me flipping off the camera guy, I guess he just doesn't like me. But it wasn't mean or anything. It was fun ... You think you are doing somebody a good thing and somebody just wants to bring it all down. If that is how they want to live, then so be it. I can't live that way."

_ Jimmy Burch 

Nelson field update

There is a good reason why officials at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship were quick to trumpet the addition of Trevor Immelman to the field for their April 24-27 tournament in Irving when the South African made plans to compete on Wednesday.

Immelman, the No. 23 player in this week's world golf rankings, is the highest-ranked golfer who has gone public with plans to play at the Four Seasons Resort, where the TPC Las Colinas course is undergoing major renovations. He joins defending champ Scott Verplank (No. 24), Ian Poulter (No. 25), Aaron Oberholser (No. 31) and Dallas resident Justin Leonard (No. 32) as the five highest-ranked golfers in the Nelson field with just over five weeks remaing before the April 18 commitment deadline.

Nelson officials anticipated a potential dropoff in star power for the tournament, which landed two of the world's top 10 golfers last season, because of the fresh course tweaks. But a potential top-10 shutout? Let's just say things have changed a lot in Irving since the tournament's namesake is no longer available for post-round handshakes.

In fairness, Fort Worth resident Rory Sabbatini, the No. 9 player in the world rankings, made it clear during a recent interview that he plans to play at the Nelson although he has yet to make an official commitment. But it looms as a strong possibility that Sabbatini, the defending Colonial champ, could emerge as the lone top-10 player in Irving.

Perhaps things will pick up when Nelson officials receive formal approval to play all 72 holes at the refurbished TPC course from PGA Tour officials. The final tour inspection of the redesigned layout has been done and approval is anticipated in the near future, from all indications. Once given, that could cause some high-profile players who were waffling about playing in the Nelson to come into the fold.

But, typically, the first season on a new or redesigned course does not produce a star-studded field. Nelson officials appear headed in that direction in 2008.

_ Jimmy Burch   

Going green at Colonial

Officials at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial have adopted a new, "green gate" charitable program that will benefit Streams & Valleys, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the recreational use of the Trinity River.

The idea is to encourage fans to leave their cars behind and bicycle, walk, ride the bus or ride the train to Colonial during tournament week (May 22-25). Because the Colonial property runs along the Trinity Trail, tournament officials are encouraging fans to go "green" and find an alternate mode of transportation to get to the course during weekend rounds (May 24-25). A "green gate" will be set up near Colonial's fourth hole, along Rogers Road, with secured racks for bicycles or kayaks.

For each fan that uses the Trinity Trail to attend weekend rounds, tournament officials will donate $10 to Streams & Valleys. Fans can trigger the donation by checking in at the "green gate," where there will be a Streams & Valleys tent, and receiving a rubber wristband with the message "See You On the River."

In addition, Fort Worth's mass-transit service, The T, will provide special non-stop bus service to Colonial from the T&P Station in downtown Fort Worth. The T&P station is a hub for the TRE commuter rail, which runs from Fort Worth to Dallas.

TRE train riders will pay $5 from Dallas County or $3 from Tarrant County, which includes the round-trip bus ride to the tournament.  Fans who opt to drive and park at the T&P Station can ride the Colonial express bus for $3.

_ Jimmy Burch

Els raises Masters stakes

Ernie Els did more than break a four-year winless streak at PGA Tour events with Sunday's victory at The Honda Classic. He brought another challenge into the mix at the 2008 Masters, where Tiger Woods is hoping to take the first of four major steps toward winning the 2008 Grand Slam.

Woods, who is unbeaten in three events this season (two on the PGA Tour, one in Europe), is playing the best golf of his career and has made noises about the possibility of completing a "perfect season" in which he wins every event he enters. That seems too far-fetched of a goal, even for Tiger. But a Grand Slam -- in which Woods sweeps all four of the 2008 major championships -- is worth discussing.

Woods already has held all four major titles concurrently by winning the final three majors of 2000 and the 2001 Masters. He'd love to become the first professional golfer to sweep all four in the same calendar year. And that is where Els' resurgence enters the picture as a potential stumbling block.

Els, 38, has rarely been a force in PGA Tour events, or at major championships, since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery in July, 2005. It is no coincidence that his last PGA Tour victory in the U.S. before Sunday occurred in 2004 -- several months before his career-threatening surgery.

For Els to regain his winning touch in the U.S., especially by doing so while posting a closing 67, will serve as a huge confidence booster for a golfer in dire need of one. Els alluded to that in Sunday's news conference, saying his Honda triumph ended "quite a ride" for him over the last four seasons.

"I've won tournaments around the world, scarce tournaments ... but, obviously, to win over here, it's been really my goal," Els said. "We play out here to win. I guess we get addicted to that feeling (of winning) ... and when you don't get your rush, so to speak, you miss it. I definitely missed winning over here."

Els also has missed being in the Sunday hunt at golf's major championships since his knee injury. But his victory at Honda, combined with some positive vibes from last summer, could make him a candidate to end Woods' bid for a Grand Slam before it really starts in Augusta, Ga.

Although he didn't generate a lot of headlines, Els finished a quiet T-4 at the 2007 British Open. He was two strokes out of a playoff. At the 2007 PGA, Els finished third, three strokes behind Woods. Those finishes marked Els' first back-to-back Top 10 efforts in majors since the 2004 season.

With his power off the tee and deft short-game skills, Els has long been considered an ideal fit to claim a Masters green jacket -- some day. He posted five consecutive Top 10 efforts at the Masters from 2000-2004, with runner-up finishes in 2000 and 2004. Although he hasn't been a factor at the Masters since returning from knee surgery, you'd have to think that could change when he returns to Augusta National Golf Club for the season's first major, April 10-13.

Before the Honda event, Els said his confidence level had dipped to seven on a 1-10 scale and he wanted to raise it to at least a nine by the time he completes a stretch of three consecutive appearances at Florida-based tour events on March 16. Consider his Honda victory a huge step in the right direction.

It might be the emotional jump-start Els needs to join Phil Mickelson -- and a handful of others -- on the short list of viable challengers to Woods at the 2008 Masters.

_ Jimmy Burch

 

North Texas Golf Expo hits D-FW

The largest golf show in Texas is headed to D-FW this weekend.

The North Texas Golf Expo, which will showcase the latest advances in training procedures and equipment technology, will be held Friday (March 7) through Sunday (March 9) at Dallas' Market Hall. Several golf professionals, manufacturers, retailers and exhibitors will have displays.

Included will be event headliner Sean "The Beast" Fister, a three-time winner of the world long driving championship. Fister, who will autograph copies of his new book at the Expo, won the RE/MAX Long Drive competition in 1995, 2001 and 2005. His longest measured drive is 515 yards.

The daily hours of operation for the North Texas Golf Expo will be: Friday (4 p.m. to 9 p.m.), Saturday (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

_ Jimmy Burch