Posted: 18 Feb 2011 11:38 AM PST

LOS ANGELES – The Golf Chananel removed Jim Gray from its coverage of the Northern Trust Open on Friday for his handling of Dustin Johnson's penalty for nearly missing his tee time.

Johnson's caddie, Bobby Brown, had the wrong tee time for the opening round, leading to a two-stroke penalty.

Brown said Gray approached Johnson on his way to the 14th tee to ask him why he was late to the tee. As Johnson was signing his card, Brown told Gray that the middle of the round was not the time to be asking such a question.

"Our aim is to provide the best possible golf coverage for our viewers. Anything else is a disservice," Golf Channel spokesman Dan Higgins said in a statement. "In order not to provide further distraction, we've decided to remove Jim from this particular assignment.

The Golf Channel said Gray's future would be an internal matter that is discussed at an appropriate time.

It was the second time in the last six months that Gray has become the subject of controversy for The Golf Channel.

He got into a finger-pointing argument with Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin in the press room of the PGA Championship. Gray had reported that Pavin told him Tiger Woods was going to be a captain's pick, and Pavin denied saying it.

Pavin said Gray told him he was a "liar" during the argument. The Golf Channel said at the PGA that it stood 100 percent behind the accuracy of Gray's reporting.

Johnson nearly was disqualified Thursday. His caddie mixed up the starting time, thinking they teed off at 8:12 a.m. instead of 7:32 a.m., and they were on the practice range when they were announced on the tee. That's a two-shot penalty, and Johnson then had five minutes to get to the tee box to avoid disqualification. He made it by just under 10 seconds.

According to Brown and Steve Stricker, who was in Johnson's group, Gray was waiting on Johnson during the long walk from the 13th green to the 14th tee.

Gray later reported Johnson said he was misinformed on the tee time.

After the round, Brown took the blame for the mistake and then turned his frustration toward Gray while Johnson was signing his card for a 2-over 73. Gray walked up on the conversation and Brown said to him, "Dude, you can't come up like that in the middle of the round. It had taken us 13 holes to get over that, and then you bring it up again."

Gray was composed in debating the incident with Brown.

Johnson did not mention Gray during a brief interview with The Associated Press in the parking lot Thursday afternoon, but Stricker was visibly angry when discussing it after his round, and several other caddies were outraged when they heard about it.

The PGA Tour was not involved in the Golf Channel's decision to remove Gray, spokesman Ty Votaw said.

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Golf Channel pulls Jim Gray after Dustin Johnson flap

Posted: 18 Feb 2011 11:02 AM PST

Updated: February 18, 2011, 2:28 PM ET

LOS ANGELES -- Golf Channel reporter Jim Gray has been pulled from this weekend's assignment at the Northern Trust Open after an argument with Dustin Johnson's caddie following the first round Thursday at Riviera Country Club.

The network said in a statement that it was removing him from the coverage so as not to be a distraction.

Johnson's caddie, Bobby Brown, argued with Gray on Thursday in the scoring area, telling the veteran broadcaster that he should not have been discussing a rules incident with Johnson on the course during the round.

A four-time winner on the PGA Tour, Johnson was nearly disqualified and was assessed a two-stroke penalty because he was late for his first-round tee time. Gray spoke to Johnson about it later in the round, something that Brown and others in the group took issue with.

"Our aim is to provide the best possible golf coverage for our viewers," Golf Channel spokesman Dan Higgins said. "Anything else is a disservice. In order not to provide further distraction, we've decided to remove Jim from this particular assignment."

A similar move was made by Golf Channel last August at the PGA Championship, when Gray got into a heated argument with U.S. Ryder Cup team captain Corey Pavin.

Gray had reported that Pavin told him Tiger Woods was a lock to be picked for the team; Pavin denied doing so.

Gray, a freelancer reporter, was involved in ESPN's airing of LeBron James' publicly announced decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer to play for the Miami Heat. Gray interviewed James during that broadcast.

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com.

Report: Golf Channel removes Gray after run-in

Posted: 18 Feb 2011 10:39 AM PST

Spend 10 minutes at a Champions Tour event and you can learn more about Tiger Woods than you would during 10 weeks on the PGA Tour. That was the case yesterday at the senior circuit's ACE Group Classic in Naples, Fla., where Tiger whisperers John Cook and Mark O'Meara freely waxed about all things Woods. Greg Hardwig of the Naples News has the scoop, beginning with Cook's firsthand take on Tiger's swing changes:

"As of Monday [at Isleworth], it clicked, it finally clicked to him on what exactly, where the face of the club needs to be at certain points, which really sounded to me like kind of old school Butch, but with a better face angle on his backswing, which means, wow, that's something really good. He was really feeling something special on Tuesday, and it was really—just to stop and watch and see the excitement he had on his face, and the flight of the golf ball as to what he was explaining to me what was going on in San Diego and Dubai. He said this is—it's way better and way different. And this only happened on Monday, and Tuesday, he was just feeling it even more."

When Hank Haney, Tiger's former swing coach, heard this, he tweeted: "…John Cook said it all clicked for Tiger on Monday with his swing. I remember when that happened with me, he should win next week."

O'Meara, who played with Tiger in Dubai last week, was less giddy, but still optimistic:

"Do I think he's all the way back yet? No, nobody makes changes like that in their swing. Certainly, the off-course stuff. that takes a big toll on a human being, even as tough as Tiger Woods is. We've all been through tough, difficult times in our personal lives. Now that he's got that squared away, I think he just needs to go out and play. I reckon he'll have a good year this year. Will he win a zillion tournaments? No, but [he's making] little building blocks."

Cook added:

"He wants to play well so badly that he's become one of us. He never had to struggle like that. He's 35 or 36 now and things happen. He wants it so bad, now he needs to get it onto the golf course and trust it and relax and just go play, because what I saw on Tuesday was vintage. Vintage."

Question is, when will the rest of us see it?

Gray removed from Riviera
Golf Channel's Jim Gray has done it again, making news instead of reporting it. (Seriously, Jim? Again?) During Thursday's first round at Riviera, Gray hunted down Dustin Johnson—mid round—to find out how the golfer missed his tee time. Gray caught up with D.J. after the 13th hole, and ESPN's Bob Harig has the details from there:

Gray asked Johnson what happened and why he was late, drawing the ire of the caddies in the group, including [Bobby] Brown [Johnson's caddie], because the query came during the playing of a round. Brown later got into an argument with Gray outside the scoring area.

It was at Whistling Straits that Gray became embroiled in a highly publicized dust-up with U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin (who is two shots off the lead here) on the eve of the PGA—the one we'll never know whether Johnson would have won had he not suffered that penalty on the final hole.

In response to the conflict, the network announced in a statement today that it has removed Gray from covering the Northern Trust Open:

"Our aim is to provide the best possible golf coverage for our viewers. Anything else is a disservice. In order not to provide further distraction, we've decided to remove Jim from this particular assignment," Golf Channel spokesman Dan Higgins said.

Previously, Gray was involved in a verbal confrontation with Corey Pavin, in which he and the U.S. Ryder Cup captain argued about Gray's reporting that Tiger Woods would be a wild card selection.

According to Higgins, Gray's future with Golf Channel is an internal matter and will be addressed at the appropriate time.

Gray was unavailable for comment. Maybe he's preparing for next week's Golf Channel exclusive, "Gray on Gray: Jim Gray Interviews Himself."

G-Mac returns to alma mater, talks beer
If Graeme McDowell wasn't a big man on campus during his days at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, he is today. McDowell returned to his alma mater this week to reunite with his old coach and tee it up with some current UAB golfers, and it quickly became apparent to G-Mac that he's no longer just some college golfer with a funny accent, reports Steve Irvine of The Birmingham News:

"I can't come to my old college … without causing a little bit of a stir anymore," he said. "It's great to be back here but I definitely can't slip under the radar the way I used to."

McDowell told the players one of the perks of winning on Tour is getting to "have a cold beer and celebrate with my family or caddie or someone."

Then again, he quickly added, the post-tournament routine is not that much different when he doesn't win the event.

"I think, 'If I really blow this thing then I'll also have a cold beer,' " McDowell said with a laugh.

Sound advice, though it's a safe bet a bunch of college golfers had already figured that out on their own.

Tweet of the day, after a long night of Jagermeister and Red Bulls...

@McIlroyRory: Jägerbombs 1 Rory 0

Golf Zone

Friday, February 18, 2011

“Golf Channel removes broadcaster from LA tourney” plus 2 more

“Golf Channel removes broadcaster from LA tourney” plus 2 more

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