U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy may have deemed Firestone Country Club’s South Course among his three favorites, but Akron’s legendary layout ranked 12th in a GolfWorld survey of PGA Tour players.
In its Jan. 16 issue, the magazine asked players to rate 52 venues hosting events in the last three years on a 1 to 10 scale (with 10 being the highest), in regards only to architecture. Most of the 81 who responded did not fill out the 10-page ballot, but were interviewed at a course, a process that took between 15 and 50 minutes.
While Firestone ranked relatively high, the magazine reported a “tidal wave of negativity” in regards to the layout one player called “very setup dependent.”
Firestone will host the $8.5 million World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational Aug. 2-5.
One player told GolfWorld, “Every change they’ve made has made it worse,” while another called Firestone “the most overrated course in the history of golf” that “needs to lose trees and do an Oakmont.”
Oakmont removed about 5,000 trees before hosting the 2007 U.S. Open. While the Pennsylvania club has hosted more combined USGA and PGA championships than any other course in the nation, it was not eligible for the GolfWorld survey because the ’07 Open was its last PGA Tour event.
One Firestone detractor complained about sidehill lies and said, “You need one leg shorter than the other,” while another straight-hitter said, “There are three fairways I just can’t hit. Setup problem, not architecture.”
GolfWorld said most favored the 7,360-yard South course when it was wet and the fairways were soft. One player called it a “solid test,” but “one I’m not sure I’d want to play every day.”
Don Padgett III, executive director of the Bridgestone Invitational, had not seen the GolfWorld issue, but said Tuesday that most of the changes to the South Course came in 2003, when it was lengthened.
“We haven’t done anything in the last five years,” Padgett said.
He said the feedback he receives from players has been very positive.
“Over the years everyone seems to like the golf course,” said Padgett, whose took over five years ago. “Each player has his own take and you have to respect that. We like all the top players to come here. They’re not going to come here if they don’t like the golf course.”
Last year 49 of the top 50 players in the world participated in the Bridgestone Invitational and the only one missing, Tim Clark, was sidelined by injury. Australian Adam Scott captured the title.
“Tournament directors always talk about their fields,” Padgett said. “With the field we’ve got, it can’t be all that bad.”
Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, home of the Memorial Tournament hosted and founded by Jack Nicklaus, ranked No. 6 in the magazine’s survey. One player said of Muirfield, “When you are playing well (there is) no more fun course to play. … I think that’s the ultimate compliment.” Another said the course has been “at the forefront of encouraging more courses to get better in all respects.”
But Muirfield also drew some negative remarks, mainly about Nicklaus’ tweaking of the course, like deepening the bunkers.
One player told GolfWorld, “(Jack) needs to calm down,” and another said, “Too much ego. See changes to 17 and 18.”
Augusta National, site of the Masters, ranked No. 1, followed by Harbour Town Golf Links, Riviera Country Club, Pebble Beach Golf Club, Colonial Country Club, Muirfield Village, Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club (Vancouver), Aronimink Golf Club, Innisbrook Resort-Copperhead and Congressional Country Club.
All three of McIlroy’s favorites were relatively high on the magazine’s list. Along with Firestone and Muirfield, McIlroy picked Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, which ranked No. 14.

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Ohio State director of athletics Gene Smith said in a statement that the school was “surprised and disappointed with the NCAA’s decision” on sanctions levied Tuesday in the memorabilia-for-money-and-tattoos scandal that came to light a year ago and the subsequent discovery of illegal payments from a long-time booster.

My initial reaction was what part of ‘failure to monitor’ did Ohio State not understand?

Had the NCAA merely been acting on Tattoogate, the Buckeyes’ self-imposed penalties might have been enough. They had reduced scholarships by five, vacated all victories from the 2010 season and paid back money earned from the Sugar Bowl. They’d forced football coach Jim Tressel to resign on May 30.

The NCAA came back with a nine-scholarship penalty, three each during the next three years, a three-year probation and a post-season ban in 2012.

The probation, to run through Dec. 19, 2014, and loss of scholarships seemed like a glorified slap on the wrist.

But Smith had probably assured new football coach Urban Meyer that there would be no bowl ban. That was a gross miscalculation on Smith’s part, born out of arrogance and ignorance, even as Smith insisted that the university had
researched past cases and the sanctions imposed. Even if Smith was confident about that, he should have imposed one after this 6-6 season to show the NCAA that OSU was willing to go above and beyond in its self-punishment. Evidently even the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. has too many riches to ignore.

Until he saw the NCAA ruling, Smith had ignored the fact that OSU was a repeat offender in the eyes of the NCAA, mainly for violations in the 2006 basketball program under former coach Jim O’Brien. But there were also the transgressions of running back Maurice Clarett and quarterback Troy Smith. Piled onto that was the ‘failure to monitor’ charge levied by the NCAA on Nov. 3 regarding the activities of booster Bobby DiGeronimo and Tressel’s cover-up of the memorabilia for money and tattoos scandal. Those three factors will make Meyer’s 2012 Buckeyes pay for the sins of the past.

DiGeronimo, the owner of Independence Excavating who had been involved in the program going back to at least the John Cooper era, gave money to players at a 2011 charity event and overpaid others for working at his company, according to the NCAA and OSU. According to the NCAA report, the DiGeronimo violations first came to
light during a review of quarterback Terrelle Pryor’s bank records. That revealed a check of $200 made out to Pryor from one of DiGeronimo’s businesses dated Feb. 19, 2010. The report said shortly thereafter “Player 5” declared for the NFL supplemental draft. Pryor was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the third round. The NCAA found no evidence that OSU monitored DiGeronimo’s activities with players after 2006.

The NCAA ruled that OSU must also disassociate itself with DiGeronimo for 10 years and with Pryor for five years.

Along with the penalties came a five-year show-cause penalty for Tressel for unethical conduct that will likely force him into the NFL. Any university that wants to hire him must make him sit out the first five games of his first season and any post-season games. The school could also appeal.

Tressel is currently serving as a replay official with the Indianapolis Colts. He visited four NFL teams, including the Browns and Bengals, during training camp looking for employment. With several more coaching changes expected during the off-season, Tressel could pitch himself as a candidate for offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach.

The question that remained unanswered Tuesday was whether the sanctions blindsided Meyer. A statement from him released by the university referred to the NCAA penalties, saying they “will serve as a reminder that the college experience does not include the behavior that led to these penalties.”

The bowl ban should lessen the pressure on Meyer in his first season, especially from OSU fans who expect him to quickly deliver a BCS title after winning two national championships at Florida. It will be a blow for the Big Ten, which needs Ohio State in its new championship game to sell tickets.

Smith could be the next casualty for the stumbling, bumbling handling of Tattoogate and all the warts it exposed. At that first press conference, Smith joked that the university should hire its own tattoo artist. If only it had been that simple.

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Browns coach Pat Shurmur wouldn’t name a starting quarterback for Saturday’s game at Baltimore, hedging until Colt McCoy has been cleared from the concussion he suffered Dec. 8 at Pittsburgh.

Backup Seneca Wallace filled in for McCoy in Sunday’s 20-17 overtime loss at Arizona and completed 18 of 31 passes for 226 yards and a TD (for a 91.6 rating).

Shurmur said McCoy was “day to day and improving,” but would not say he had been medically cleared.

“He was in today,” Shurmur said of McCoy. “He’s going along the same process to recovery that he was last week. He’s better. He’s improving.

“It’s still too early to tell. I’ll have more information on all the players tomorrow.”

In his 16 minutes at the podium, Shurmur was pressed on whether there was any need to see more from McCoy, especially facing the Ravens and Steelers in the final two weeks. But Shurmur hedged and wouldn’t say anything definitive. Browns players were off Monday, but will be back to work Tuesday with the schedule compressed on a short week.

Shurmur sounded pleased with the performance of Wallace, who was making his first start since Oct. 10, 2010 against Atlanta.

“I thought for the most part, especially early in the game, Seneca executed well and got us in the end zone twice,” Shurmur said. “The first drive was really good, we found a way to mix it up with the run and pass. We had some possession throws and then a deep ball and we had some explosive runs. That’s what you want it to look like the whole game.

“Throughout the game for the most part Seneca did a lot of good things.”

Other injury updates from Shurmur:

• Linebacker Titus Brown has a “significant knee injury” and could be placed on injured reserve. “Looks like car 59 is done for the year,” Brown said on his Twitter page. Shurmur said some roster moves would be made this week, with linebacker depth a top priority.
•  Linebacker Ben Jacobs (concussion) was “better this morning.”
• Tight end Alex Smith has a “significant shoulder sprain.”

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Urban Meyer’s wife Shelley was extremely friendly in the five minutes she spoke to the media Monday evening before heading to the airport to return to Gainesville, Fla. But she also showed she knows how to handle an interview, alerting the group with a “One more and I’ve got to go,” as she prepared to depart.

Other thoughts on Urban Meyer’s first press conference as Ohio State football coach:

• Meyer said he didn’t like the state of college football when he stepped aside after the 2010 season. But how can he look at the Penn State scandal and think it’s in better shape now? Perhaps he’s merely accepted the game’s seedy side and will leave it to NCAA officials to improve it.
• Meyer’s explanation of 31 arrests involving 25 players at Florida was weak. “Sometimes you’re in a college town where things get — anything — all of a sudden it’s on the front page of the paper,” he said. “I see the number of arrests and the numbers I see are exaggerated. I know what we’ve had to deal with. If we’ve had one, that’s too many. Our job as a coaching staff is to mentor, to discipline and to educate young people. And we’ve had a pretty good track record. We ran into some bumps in the road at the University of Florida. Does that mean we had bad kids? I’ll fight that forever. No, absolutely not. Did they make stupid mistakes? Yeah. I’ve made a few stupid mistakes. We’re going to try to recruit really good people to represent Ohio State. That doesn’t mean we’re going to give up on kids.” His statement seemed to downplay the fact that 12 of the arrests were for felonies or violent misdeameanors. He said his core values were honesty and respect, along with “no drugs, no stealing, no weapons. You’re either dismissed or you miss a good bunch of playing time.”
• Director of athletics Gene Smith seems confident that Ohio State will not receive a bowl ban, citing extensive study of comparable cases. The NCAA’s “failure to monitor” charge involving booster Bobby DeGeronimo, announced on Nov. 10, evidently sounds worse to me than it does to Smith.
• Freshman quarterback Braxton Miller has to be feeling on top of the world today. Meyer called Miller a “ridiculous athlete” and said meeting him was the highlight of his day. “To tell you I’m excited to coach him, I’m not using the correct adjectives because there’s mixed company around,” Meyer said. “I like the way he throws. I like his delivery. I think he could be special,” Meyer said. Having that kind of talent with the experience Miller gained this season sounded like a big plus in Meyer taking the job.
• Meyer fawned over his memories of Ohio State, including his day as a youngster when he was shopping at Thanksgiving with his mother in Ashtabula and the Ohio State-Michigan game between coaches Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler was playing over the loudspeakers. ”The whole city shut down,” Meyer said. He has a portrait of Hayes at his house and still regrets not introducing Shelley to a wheelchair-bound Hayes at a recruiting dinner at the OSU golf course. He said when he was a graduate assistant in the 1980s under Earle Bruce, he’d sneak out of the home locker room at 12:15 to watch the OSU band come out. Meyer doesn’t seem like the sentimental type, but it sounds like he is when it comes to OSU history and tradition.
• I’m somewhat surprised at Meyer’s retention of interim coach Luke Fickell, especially when Meyer wants to build the strongest staff in the nation. Fickell and his wife Amy, both Columbus natives, don’t seem to want to leave the city, even though he’d seem to have a good shot at becoming Akron’s next coach. It’s a good public relations move for OSU in keeping him and should help in the transition. Meyer said Fickell would be given a “significant title,” but that doesn’t necessary mean defensive coordinator.
• Shelley Meyer said her husband thinks he found an assistant he can delegate important matters to in Fickell. “He got dropped right into it, without warning he got dropped into this position and had to do that to pull this staff together and this team together and did a great job,” she said. “He’s a very mature coach. He just did a
  great job. We watched Ohio State, we watched him. We’re very, very excited he’s going to stay with us. I feel very, very good about him helping Urban with all this.”
• The sign on the wall in the Fawcett Center ballroom said “Maximum capacity 175 persons” and it was still so crowded that a woman working a camera for the Big Ten Network fainted midway through the press conference. The irony of someone having a health issue when a coach with health issues was being introduced will not be forgotten.
• Getting back to the BCS championship game won’t be as easy for Meyer at Ohio State as it was for coach Jim Tressel. I still believe the Big Ten championship game will be a roadblock on what used to be a relatively easy road for OSU. Especially with Michigan State, Wisconsin and Michigan having coaches who appear entrenched for the long haul.

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In a column on NFL.com, former Browns player personnel director Mike Lombardi shares an anecdote about the anemic Browns offense.

Here’s what Lombardi, now with the NFL Network, has to say:

3. Writing about the Browns offense leads me to a game I play every week at NFL Films. I sit in my office in Mt Laurel, N.J., put the Browns offense on my screen and call a friend who was a coach in the league, but is now in between successes. I tell my friend the personnel group, the formation, where the ball is located on the field and what hash mark and describe the motion — if there is any — and ask him to tell me the exact play that will be run. He is correct about 95 percent of the time. No lie. The Browns are so integrated into the West Coast system that their predictability is becoming legendary around the league.

Here’s the link to Lombardi’s article: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d823c4fab/article/week-9-lookahead-good-teams-need-to-separate-from-bad-ones

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On “The NFL Today” show on CBS Sunday morning, former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher discussed the growing speculation that he’s headed to Miami.

“I’ve not been contacted directly or indirectly by anyfootball team or any organization,” Cowher said, according to a release from CBS. “It’s all speculation, and it’s unfortunate because it affects the lives of many people that are in the profession. I am here to say to you today, I do not plan on coaching next year. I love where I work, and more importantly I enjoy the people that I work with up here. So I can put all the speculation to rest. And if I have to repeat this in December again, I will. It’s a tough profession, I know there is speculation out there. I’m flattered by it to be honest with you. But at the same time it affects too many
people’s lives. I like what I’m doing right here, and I plan on being back in the same seat next year.”

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Forner Browns director of football operations Mike Lombardi endorsed team president Mike Holmgren’s handling of the Peyton Hillis contract negotiations Sunday on the NFL Network’s “NFL GameDay Morning.”

Lombardi said there’s no need for the Browns to rush to wrap up a new deal for Hillis, who is sitting out his third game of the season today at San Francisco with a hamstring injury. The Madden 12 cover boy has totalled for 211 yards (3.5 average) on the ground after amassing 1,177 last season.

“What Mike Holmgren has done; he’s backed away, not because Peyton Hillis has fired all his agents, but because you need consistency before you get rewarded with a contract,” Lombardi said. “Matt Forte wants a new contract, he’s playing lights out. Hillis wants a new contract, he’s got strep throat, he’s got a hamstring problem, he’s got one year of on-the-field production. Holmgren is doing the right thing in my mind; back off, let this thing play out. Let Hillis focus on being a productive player before we reward him with a huge contract just because he was on Madden 2012.”

On the same show, the NFL Network’s Jason LaCanfora said the possible hiring of Bill Cowher as the next coach of the Miami Dolphins could weaken the Pittsburgh Steelers front office. LaCanfora said Cowher could take the Steelers’ Omar Kahn, the director of business and administration, with him to south Florida.

“Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has not directly called Bill Cowher or his agents, but associates of Ross have contacted Cowher’s agents to begin a little preliminary gauging of interest,” LaCanfora said. “There is mutual interest between both parties and I do believe ultimately Cowher will end up being the next head coach of the Miami Dolphins, particularly with Jon Gruden staying in the broadcast booth, but there will be some potential hurdles.

“Carl Peterson, longtime associate of Ross, former president of the Kansas City Chiefs, what’s his role in all this, if any? Can Cowher bring in all the people with him that he’d like to bring? And there is always money, although I do expect Ross to spend big. Omar Khan of the Pittsburgh Steelers is very likely to end up wherever Cowher is to help run that front office. Tom Moore, another name to keep an eye on, could be a part of Cowher’s offensive staff; we know how long he was with Peyton Manning in Indianapolis.”

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During Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll found plenty of reasons to get frustrated. Especially when three calls didn’t
go the Seahawks’ way in the second quarter.

Carroll challenged quarterback Charlie Whitehurst’s fumble
after a sack by safety T.J. Ward, which was recovered by linebacker D’Qwell
Jackson. But the review showed that Whitehurst was already losing the ball
before Ward’s hit.

Carroll was livid and ran onto the field when strong safety Kam Chancellor was called for unnecessary roughness on a sack of Colt McCoy, but referee Mike Carey said Chancellor lead with his helmet as he hit McCoy in the back.

“They said he led with his head and you can’t do that,” Carroll said. “It looked like Kam Chancellor tried not to do that and get his head to the side and then actually wrapped
him up and threw him down. You guys had a better look at that than I had, so I don’t know what to tell you.”

Before the quarter ended, linebacker Malcolm Smith was flagged for a neutral zone infraction on a Browns’ punt, which kept alive a Browns’ 18-yard field goal drive.

Seattle also had an 81-yard Leon Washington punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter called back for an illegal block in the back on Kennard Cox (against James Dockery). That would have given Seattle a 7-3 lead.

“The punt return, that’s a touchdown play way after the fact, here it comes. They saw something and whether it was legit, I don’t know,” Carroll said. “In this game, those calls were magnified and they play a big role in the football game. I kind of hope they were right. I hope they made the right choices on those things because it’s pretty hard to live with
otherwise.”

Carroll refused to say the officials cost the Seahawks the game.

“I don’t look at it that way,” Carroll said. “In this game there are factors, there are always factors. We didn’t take care of business.”

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Thoughts on Browns-Raiders, Harbaugh-Schwartz and today’s
trade deadline.

I’ll be stunned if Browns’ running back Peyton Hillis is
playing for someone else tonight. No. 1, because he’s got a hamstring injury.
Since he’s in a contract year, I don’t know who would give up a
draft choice for a player who might be with them for half the season or less.

Two, Montario Hardesty has issues with pass protection and
catching the ball, two areas where Hillis excels. Hardesty has done nothing to
show he’s ready to take over as the feature back.

Three, cold weather is approaching and if the Browns can
ever get an early lead, they’re going to have to adopt a run-first mentality, or at least a Hillis-first mentality. Yes, I know this is a passing league and they’re running the West Coast
offense, but that’s still what they do best.

Other tidbits from the Browns’ loss at Oakland:

• What struck me most was the speed factor. The Raiders have
  it everywhere (i.e. Jacoby Ford, Darren McFadden) and if the Browns have any,
  it’s sitting on the bench or playing special teams. McFadden (especially in the
  first half) looked lights years faster than anyone wearing a Browns jersey.
• Browns special teamers and the coaching staff should be
  totally embarrassed for allowing two touchdowns. And after bringing one back
  101 yards in the second quarter, Ford returned another kickoff 37 yards in the
  fourth quarter. And why the Browns would go all out to block Sebastian
  Janikowski’s 53-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter is beyond me.
  Janikowski is deadly from 60-plus and the Raiders were just looking for the perfect
  time to use the fake.
• I thought accuracy was Colt McCoy’s strength, but he
  completed 21 of 45 against the Raiders. The throw that bothers me most is the
  one to tight end Ben Watson on the Browns’ next-to-last play. McCoy put the
  ball behind Watson and on his hip on third and 3 from the Oakland 42. McCoy is
  averaging just 5.5 yards per attempt.
• The Browns have only eight plays of 20 or more yards in five
  games. It’s no wonder they’re averaging only 3.3 yards per carry. Players need
  to make more plays and coach Pat Shurmur needs to call more passes of more than
  15 yards to open things up for the running game.
• Linebacker Chris Gocong has 11 tackles in five games. You
  can see why Hillis believes he deserves a contract extension.

On Hillis’ hamstring injury:

I blame the Browns and CBS for the Internet frenzy over the
running back’s inactivity in the third quarter Sunday. If Hillis suffered a
hamstring injury in the first half, the Browns should have made that
announcement at the start of the third quarter, not in the final minute of the
third quarter. (I marked on my notes that the announcement came two plays after the fake
field goal, which happened with 1:23 left.) When Hillis was standing on the sideline without a
helmet, reporters asked the Browns’ public relations department what was wrong
with him and the answer was that Hillis wasn’t injured. That’s where the
“coach’s decision” part came from. Either you’re hurt or you’re not playing
because of the coach’s decision. The Browns’ press box telephone (presumably
linked to the CBS booth) didn’t start ringing until late in the third quarter,
so Marv Albert and Rich Gannon apparently began
speculating without adequate information.

Considering this, most of the drama surrounding Hillis has been the Browns’ fault. It was president Mike Holmgren who went on ESPN’s “Mike and Mike in the Morning” radio show and talked about a contract extension for Hillis and how impressed he was with the running back’s abilities. Shurmur contributed to Strep Throat Sunday by not being emphatic enough about Hillis’ illness that kept him out against Miami on Sept. 25.

About the Jim Harbaugh-Jim Schwartz incident:

I’m shocked the NFL didn’t fine the coaches for their lack
of professionalism. It looks like a double standard for coaches and players,
who can be fined for wearing their socks at the wrong height.

But I don’t agree with those who said the post-game dustup
gave the league a black eye. Yes, it took away from Sunday’s best game. But I
can’t wait for San Francisco and Detroit to meet again. What if it happens in
the playoffs, with Detroit getting in as the NFC wild card? It will be more highly
anticipated than Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini after Spygate.

Also, if I’m playing for the 49ers or Lions, I love it that
my coach is that passionate after a game.

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