[adsexpist]

Oh, excellent. He cracks me up. I'll think about it and get back to you. In the meantime, *bump.*

[Caluabdum]

Ask him if I can make next weeks picks and win a Callaway driver

[FallJimerks]

Nothing huh guys?

[Sydneyfonzi]

What does Alex see as being the 'next big thing' for golf in the internet world?

[adsexpist]

Position on grove rule? What about driver modifications? What about ink lines on the golf ball (cf. Sir Nick's comments during the PGA Champ broadcast)? What about the recent Callaway club debacle (in which the USGA apparently didn't like the fact that Callaway was able to meet their criteria while still creating a club that could generate higher spin than the USGA would prefer)?

Any thoughts on John Daly, his return to the PGA, and his recent high rounds and WD?

Thoughts about remaking the LPGA -- i.e., changing the schedule to not overlap with PGA events; how to address the problem that successful S.Korean players are an undiferentiated mass in the mind of the general TV-golf-watching audience; what they need to do to get back to a full schedule of tournies; etc.

Why the bow tie?

The Big Break -- since Andrew Magee has hosted it with Stina, any chance Alex may take a stab as well some day?

[FallJimerks]

Great stuff WSE. Thank you.

[GaxyGroordrep]

I haven't watched the show (or much else on TGN) so no idea what to even ask.

[FallJimerks]

We are hoping this takes place today or tomorrow. Thank you to those that submitted questions.

[adsexpist]

Another thought, since you mention his internet savyness:

Twittering athletes -- a good or bad development? On the one hand, you have people like Christina Kim, whose running online commentary seems to endear her to more and more potential viewers; on the other, you have Jane Park, whose brutally honest and somewhat lowbrow "tweets" were amusing, no doubt, but most would agree not nearly PC enough for a general audience (and some might say invited the nasty comments she received from the peanut gallery that ultimately led her to abandon the twittersphere for good).


And more importantly, since I submitted the most questions, can I be the next guest picker on The 19th Hole?

P.s. I still think the Paddy-clocking is worthy of discussion. I'd be interested in what he thinks about the complaints I've heard from some that the particular Euro Tour official who made the ruling is problematic and has engendered significant controversy from taking aggressive positions before. Also wonder if he thinks Tiger should have been fined for his comments about the ruling, even though Tiger claims it did not happen.

P.p.s. Sorry, this is the first thing I thought of, and then I completely forgot about it once I sat down at my computer to write. IMG represents numerous professional golfers, and now hosts a tournament on the LPGA. Does that represent a dangerous precedent in your mind? Does it create a conflict, or at least an appearance issue? I honestly do not know enough about the ways tournament sponsorship can be used to influence other things, so perhaps there is nothing here; or maybe there is. What do you think?

[FallJimerks]

We just got off the phone with Alex Miceli and I have to say out of every person we have spoken to, this was a blast and a breath of fresh air. He has thoughts and opinions and was a great guy to speak with.

Tomorrow on the main site we will have our interview up for everybody to read and it was a lot of fun. 18 holes with Alex Miceli and we covered both serious and fun questions.

[FallJimerks]

Here is a sneak preview of our article tomorrow 18 Holes with Alex Miceli.



Hole #5 – What are your thoughts on the groove rule?

AM – I think that you can’t legislate technology. I think it is a mistake. I think that you have to learn how to design courses, not just lengthen them, in a way that technology does not overtake them. If technology can find a way to deal with golf courses, I think golf courses can find a way to deal with technology. I think the new groove rule is horrible, not because it’s a way to set the better players apart, but its terrible because its trying to change every aspect of the game and the cost peramiters involved are so heavy that I just think it does not make any sense. Our game is so hard to begin with, that the thought of making it harder just because we want to, try and increase the expense of playing just because we need to are just bad for the game. The USGA is doing a horrible job at what they are doing right now.

Hole #6 – What are your thoughts on adjustable drivers?

AM – I think some are good and some are bad. First off, I think adjustability is good, because golfers tinker all the time. The problem is that we don’t have a universal thing going with the tips. I don’t know why the manufacturers do this. Think about this, if I want to buy a shaft and stick it in whatever head I want to whether it be a Cobra head, a Taylormade head, a Tour Edge head, or anything else, I can’t. At the same time, now what it is, is I can’t even buy a shaft from some manufacturers with the tip in it, because I have to buy the club head. Adjustability does not work as well as it should. I’m lucky because I can go to the different trailers on tour and they can do that, and that is what it should be, but most consumers can’t. The manufacturers won’t do that. People should be able to go to any store and say I want this shaft with this head and they can’t.

Hole #7 – If you could be LPGA commissioner for a day what three things would you do?

AM – Wow. I would probably start by getting rid of the entire organization that is there now. The operational staff almost to a person and the board to a person is part of the problem and not part of the solution. So that would be the first thing I do. The second change I would make is to bring in all the best players and sit down with them and kind of map out a goal of what we are trying to do. I don’t think they have a goal. I think the board has always thrown different things at the commissioner and said go after it. Then when they go after it, the board says no, that is not exactly what we are looking for. The players are the ones that got rid of the last commissioner, the players are going to be the ones that live and die by the new commissioner, so I think the players need to sit down and we all need to come up with a plan and execute the plan. I do not really think they have ever done that. The third thing I would do is sit down with TV people. That means ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, The Golf Channel, and try to figure out exactly where my predacessors screwed up and how I could get it fixed. At the end of the day, the only way I am going to survive is with television. If they cannot do that, there probably won’t be a
tour in the future.

[mXr8icOB]

I can't wait to read the inerview. I still get stage fright when doing interviews but at the same time they are my favorite.

[FallJimerks]

I have a lot of fun with them too. This one was a blast. Alex is honest and fun and full of information.

[LindaSmithIV]

I like his answer to #7. Just like buying a failing business, get rid of senior, and middle management......

[FallJimerks]

Provisional, you will like the entire interview. He was great.

[adsexpist]

I enjoyed the interview quite a bit. He seems like a very forthright, funy guy.

[FallJimerks]

Next week THP has the privilege to interview Alex Miceli. Most know him from his TGC show "The Approach". But many do not know that he is a true pioneer in the world of golf on the internet.

We would like to hear from our readers about what they want us to ask him.

[FallJimerks]

Nobody has any questions huh?