PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem announced today a new strategic partnership with Sony that commits the PGA Tour to broadcasting its events on television with 3D technology by 2011.  The announcement was made at a press conference this morning to go over a slew of topics.

The work on making this come to fruition will begin at the 2010 Sony Open in a few weeks' time.  Sony will shoot the event in 3D for analysis and study.

"We believe that 3D has the potential to put the fan right in the center of the action and make our telecasts even more exciting and engaging," Finchem said.

The drive to adopt high definition technology and programming was largely driven by sports viewer.  Golf and hockey in particular were sports the benefited tremendously from the upgrade in picture quality and viewer experience.  Would seem to stand that 3D would be no different.

 A variety of TV sets are also being sold that are deemed 3D-ready, which will allow consumers to upgrade their TVs to 3D broadcasting with separate equipment.  Yes, you will need to wear 3D glasses, but who cares?

Some of the first 3D televisions that do not require any kind of glasses are hitting the market now, including this 42" model from Philips that retails for about $9000 currently.  This video gives a bit of a demo.  Wow.

So today's new Tiger mistress rumor comes courtesy of Star Magazine.  Their cover says something about Tiger liking what he saw of Jessica at the AT&T National, asking for her number, and such and such.  Simpson vehemently denied the report on Twitter - the medium of choice for dispelling rumors rapidly.

Even so, at least this rumor is an upgrade of sorts for Woods, whose rumor mill was starting to include Perkins waitresses and porno stars.  C'mon, this is Tiger Woods, not Ron Jeremy.

We know that Tiger and Dallas Cowboys' part-time QB great Tony Romo are buddies.  They hung out at the AT&T National this year in the pro-am and opening ceremonies. 

Jessica Simpson was there, too, with her former beau.  She pitched in by butchering the National Anthem.

Before we go any further here, the rest of this article is intended to be funny with some truth laced into it.  All of this stuff is reported by celebrity magazines that apparently just make up direct quotes and don't byline their stories.  Now, proceed.

Star Magazine is saying that Tiger came onto Jessica and she flirted back:

"Tiger liked what he saw and let her know it," a source tells Star.

“Jessica said that she felt like Tony wasn’t paying attention to her, so she was like, ‘What the heck!’ ” says the source. “She decided to have fun with Tiger whether it bothered Tony or not.”

Well, maybe, since Romo and Simpson split the week after the AT&T National.  But here's the thing.  The AT&T National wasn't the first time that they met.  A couple of months prior, Simpson was said to have expressed a desire to take up the game to be around Romo more.  (I'm sure Romo was screaming: "NO! NO!")  And in her desire to take up the sport, Simpson even contacted Tiger Woods about getting some pointers - according to InTouch Magazine.

A source tells In Touch Weekly: “Jessica is taking it seriously. She even asked if Tiger Woods would give her some pointers, but he’s been busy with his new baby.”

Given what we know now, Shane Bacon was unwittingly on the right track with this when he reported it in May.

The real reason is [Tiger declined to help teach Jessica] probably has one or two more important things to do than to sit behind some model kid with zero brains and try to instruct her like he's Kevin Costner and she's Reno Russo.

Or about fourteen, depending on whose count you believe.

Yesterday, I took a trip to Nike Golf's the Oven facility in Ft. Worth, Texas, to get fitted for a full set of Nike golf equipment. I'll tell you a little bit more about the whole experience tomorrow, but wanted to give you a quick video peek around the place.

I spent a lot of time inside of the testing/fitting garage at the Oven, so I wanted to give you a quick panorama of the building.

Tiger Woods has not been seen and photographed in public since his appearance at the Stanford-California football game on November 21.  Since he life has come under intense scrutiny following his single-car accident in the wee hours of Friday after Thanksgiving, no photos have surfaced of him, or him with his wife Elin.

There has been speculation that Woods is living in another home in Orlando, the guest home of his property in Orlando, and on his yacht Privacy.  With the Associated Press reporting that a first photo of Woods after the accident potentially yielding nearly half a million dollars, there is quite a global hunt going on to track down the secluded golf superstar.  It may be time to consider that Woods is in Dubai.

Dubai satellite view [Google Maps]

Continue reading this post »

In light of the recent stories concerning Tiger Woods' doctor and the physician's link to performance enhancing drugs, I have been getting a number of questions about the PGA Tour's anti-doping program because of my research on it for the Doug Barron story.  Below is my piece looking into the Tour's policy and its loopholes.

For as much as has been written in the last 36 hours since the PGA Tour revealed Doug Barron as the first player to be suspended under its anti-doping policy, there has been nothing written about the specifics of the plan.  Curious to learn more about the policy, I obtained a copy of the PGA Tour Anti-Doping Policy Program Manual for 2009.  Reading it helped me to better understand how the program is administered and how results are handled.

The policy covers any player that competes in a PGA Tour or Nationwide Tour-sanctioned event.  An opt-out is not allowed.  The policy excludes players that compete on the Champions Tour, but former and retired players can be sanctioned for actions violating the policy during their playing days.

For those not aware, the tests are administered by the National Center for Drug Free Sport, or Drug Free Sport for short.  They handle testing for every other major sporting league in the country except the NHL.

Testing occurs without notice and can occur during and outside of tournament competition.  They can roll up to your house and ask for your sample.  The process for collection and analysis is standardized across drug testing policies in sport.  Players can ask for and be granted a Therapeutic Use Exemption for banned substances that they are taking that are prescribed specifically for purposes that don't enhance performance and where there is no alternative allowed substance.

If it turns out that a player has tested positively for a banned substance in their A sample and B sample, then the Tour can take sanctions against that player.  But, the Tour can also take sanctions against players for a variety of behavior related to drug activity including "possession, use or attempted use of a prohibited substance or method; refusing or failing to be tested; tampering with a sample; trafficking in or administering any prohibited substance; or admitting to any conduct that violates the Program."

Once Program Administrator Allison Keller determines that a violation has occurred, the player has seven days to provide a written explanation/excuse for the positive test.  Then, if a sanction is still imposed, that will take effect after seven days of being issued.  A player can appeal to the Commissioner and a hearing must be heard within 45 days of that appeal.

In other words, at most nearly sixty days can pass between a positive test and a player sanction.

So, what are the sanctions?  They can range wildly.  It can be disqualification.  It can be a ban of one year for a first time offense, five years for a second time, and a lifetime ban for a third positive test.  Players may be fined or forced into counseling in addition to or in lieu of sanctions. 

But, the Tour also "reserves the right to not impose any sanction if that sanction would benefit a player’s standing in any manner."  Moreover, "the Commissioner may depart from the sanction guidance in the International Anti-Doping Standards as he deems appropriate in a particular case. " In other words, the Tour can choose not to punish a player for a positive test.  

There are also clear rules to determine what the public will learn of the violations.  The Tour will "at a minimum, publish the name of the player, the fact that the player committed an anti-doping rule violation, and the sanction imposed."  But, that will only occur in cases in which sanctions of ineligibility (i.e., suspension) or disqualification are levied.  Also, in the case of Drugs of Abuse - e.g., cocaine and marijuana - the Tour may not publish any information.  Depending on the sanction levied, the Tour may not be required to notify the public of the incident.

The Tour is also under no obligation to disclose the actual offending substance.  In fact, under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, there are legal questions about the Tour's capacity to release those details.

For anyone that is cynical about the Tour's transparency, they have a right to be cynical.  There is a major loophole that the Tour can use to sweep a positive test under the proverbial rug. 

The criteria for determining if a sanction would benefit a player's standing is not absolutely clear.  A player's world ranking could benefit by having the results of a tournament wiped while played under the influence of PEDs.  Also, the Tour can saction a player in such a way that it does not have to notify the public of what happened.

Obviously, there has been no evidence of warping this part of the policy to keep positive results quiet.  But, this positive test from Doug Barron does create a call to take a more stringent look at the administration of the PGA Tour's drug testing policy.

The European Tour's 2010 season is officially underway with a swing of events being played in South Africa to kick off their year.  Among the winners, Pablo Martin won last weekend at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.  According to the folks at Nike Golf, Martin played with a set of irons that are compliant with the 2010 groove standard set to be enforced in a few weeks.

But, Martin may very well have been playing against competition that was still using irons with soon-to-be-illegal U grooves.  Effectively, the Tour will be playing its first few events of its 2010 season under one set of equipment rules and the remainder of the season under another.

The European Tour is the only of the major tours whose season still straddles two calendar years.  After this year, the Tour is looking to stop that practice.

Last week, we talked about the PGA Tour's announcement of a co-sanctioned tournament in Malaysia to be played next October sometime.  We speculated why the Tour wasn't receiving the same kind of flack that the LPGA got and gets when it does the same thing, though on a larger scale.

Further, I speculated that the PGA Tour may take an interest in sweeping up more events outside of the US during the FedExCup off-season.

Don't be surprised to see the European Tour try to hold an event in Canada or Mexico just to return the favor.  It would not be all that shocking for the PGA Tour to try to court Ben Sellenger and his Australasian PGA Tour or his OneAsia concept.  Those events would be an asset for the Nationwide or PGA Tours.

Well, that may turn out to be more prophetic than I thought.  Golfweek has a report quoting PGA Tour player Joe Ogilvie (remember, he likes to complain a lot) that this Malaysia thing is just the beginning.

"The Fall (events) will eventually all be Asia, maybe the Frys.com Open (which moves to California next year) will survive. But otherwise, it will be all Asia," said Ogilvie, emphasizing that this was only his opinion and not fact obtained through his role on the Tour’s Player Advisory Council.

Ogilvie envisions "an Australian sanctioned event next, then one with Japan, maybe something in Hong Kong and Korea. That’s where the growth is and from a television-rights standpoint that’s where all the money is going to be. Asia, Asia, Asia."

For the record, Adam Schupak was the first guy to publish the theory on November 5, though I didn't know it.

I'll be finding out more about the possibilities in Asia with the PGA Tour's Ty Votaw when we talk tomorrow about global golf and the Olympics.

We found out last week that Accenture would be dropping Tiger Woods as its pitchman in light of his admitted infidelity and its lack of alignment with their brand.  Well, the advertising featuring Woods may be gone from the Accenture website, but it is not gone from airports across the country.

As I was walking to my gate for a flight home to Baltimore from Dallas-Ft. Worth and the Nike Golf facility, I saw this ad in the terminal.

Of course, it'll take some time for these ads to be removed, but goes to show that there are still remnants of this relationship out there.

In what may win the Waggle Roomie for Least Surprising Headline of the Year, People Magazine is reporting that Elin Nordegren is planning to separate from Tiger Woods and pursue divorce.  Courtney Hazlett is also reporting that the announcement will be made after the holidays - in line with what British tabloids have claimed.

Then again, another "source" in the article talks about how Woods has a long way to go in order to earn Elin's forgiveness.  If she's leaving him, does it really much matter?  At that point, the courts will decide how forgiving she has to be regarding their two children.

Take this report for what you will, but expect to see a slew of stories like this as we enter Christmas.

Fa-la-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.