Compiled by PHILIP REID

Rules of golf: swinging in the bunker

QUESTION: In a four-ball match, A and B are partners. A plays a stroke in a bunker and fails to get the ball out of the bunker. He then swings his club into the sand in the bunker, but this action does not affect his new lie in the bunker:

(a) What is the ruling if B’s ball lies in the same bunker when A swings his club into the sand?

(b) What is the ruling if B’s ball lies elsewhere?

ANSWER: In either case, A is disqualified for the hole (Rule 13-4 and Decision 13-4/35) for hitting sand in the bunker after failing to extricate the ball. The penalty doesn’t apply to B unless A’s action accosted B’s play or adversely affected an opponent’s play.

Stats entertainment

NEVER are stats devoured so much as in the week of a Major and, certainly, the PGA Tour’s number-crunching provides some interesting morsels for golfing taste buds heading into the US Open.

On a course where accuracy is so important it’s worth noting that none other than Lee Westwood – at 73.84 per cent – tops the driving accuracy stat on the US Tour this season.

More food for thought? Graeme McDowell (inset) heads the greens hit in regulation, with 72.96 per cent.

And Australian Aaron Baddeley is number one in putting.

Olympic Club jinx: US Open venue has been cruel to some of the game’s all-time greats

THE FOG, as it apparently does most mornings, wrapped its spongy presence around the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday. You could just about make out the impressive structure from the Olympic Club here in San Francisco, a course which this week plays host to the US Open and a course that, down the years, has proven a graveyard for favourites.

Indeed, the fates that befell two of the game’s greatest players can forewarn the Tigers and Rorys of this world about carrying the tag of favouritism into this Major: Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer each had a hand on the famed old trophy, only for it to be wrested away.

When the 1955 US Open was held here, Hogan – golf’s fundamentalist – sat in the locker room accepting congratulations all around him in the belief he’d won a fifth title. The American broadcaster NBC even went off the air, announcing Hogan as the winner. And Hogan himself even gave his golf ball to a USGA official for it to be housed in the association’s museum.

Except, such celebrations and gestures were premature. Out on the course, a journeyman professional called Jack Fleck – ironically using a set of clubs designed by Hogan – was having his time in the sun. Fleck birdied the 15th and parred the 16th and 17th holes to move to the finishing hole, by which time television transmission had ended, trailing Hogan by a shot. There, he followed a drive with a seven-iron approach to seven feet and sank the birdie putt to tie Hogan.

The next day, in the 18-hole play-off, Fleck shot 69 to Hogan’s 72 and claimed his one and only Major.

Then, in 1966, it happened all over again. This time, the principal protagonists were Arnold Palmer and Billy Casper. Palmer, at the time, was the king of golf. He still is to many, but in that US Open the jinx of favouritism again reared its head.

Palmer never got to sit in the clubhouse accepting the congratulations of his fellow players as Hogan did. Neither did the television station prematurely cut its coverage. Still, in that final round, it seemed Palmer was set to stroll to another title as he reached the turn with a seven-shot lead over Casper.

The wheels fell off Arnie’s wagon coming in. He bogeyed the 10th, birdied the 12th (as did Casper) and he lost another shot to his rival on the 13th. There were two shot swings at the 15th and 16th and, when Palmer bogeyed the 17th, they were level. In the end, Palmer needed to hole a four-footer for par on the 18th to force a play-off. Just as in 1955, the underdog won the 18-hole play-off on the Monday.

If it seemed lightning had struck twice in each of the first two US Opens at Olympic, it happened again in 1987 when Tom Watson arrived at the club as the overwhelming favourite. He was an adopted son of the city, having attended nearby Stanford University. But Scott Simpson, two behind coming down the stretch, had other ideas and stole in with a hat-trick of birdies from the 14th to win.

As if the Olympic club hadn’t witnessed enough heartache for its favoured sons, there was a sense of déjà vu in 1998 when Payne Stewart carried a four-stroke lead into the final round. It was a day when Stewart couldn’t get any rub of the green, with his ball even prone to finishing up in sand-filled divots on the middle of the fairway. He shot a final round 74 whilst Lee Janzen closed out with a 68 to win by a stroke.

So, maybe it’s a good thing NOT to be installed as a favourite this week. Tiger? Rory? Be warned.

Add Adams: Adidas invest

ADIDAS – who already include TaylorMade and Ashworth in their portfolio – have strengthened their position in the golf market by acquiring club manufacturer Adams Golf for €56 million.

The takeover was first proposed in March and represents a premium of approximately 71 per cent to Adams’ share price prior to the January announcement they were examining strategic alternatives. Adidas said in a statement the acquisition adds another strong golf brand to their portfolio.

“We’ve long admired Adams Golf’s enthusiasm for incorporating performance technologies into its equipment, just as TaylorMade-Adidas Golf does,” said Mark King, president and CEO of TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Company, adding the acquisition will help them “develop even better equipment for the target consumers of both brands.”

TaylorMade plans to use its worldwide distribution channels to expand Adams as a global brand.

Last month, TaylorMade-Adidas Golf announced record sales of €406 million in the first quarter of 2012, a 32 per cent increase over the previous year, and fuelled by high demand for the new line of RocketBallz and R11S metal woods. Irons sales increased by 63 per cent.

LEE WESTWOOD

Nordea Masters

Ball – Titleist ProV1x.

Shoe – FootJoy

Driver – Ping G10 (9 degree)

Fairway Woods – Ping Rapture V2 5-wood; Ping I15 3-wood (15.5 degree)

Irons – 3 to PW: Ping I20s

Sand Wedge – Ping Tour W Wedge (54 degree)

Lob Wedge – Ping Tour W Wedge (58 degree)

Putter – Ping NOME (35-inches)