Tiger Woods has become the modern day E.F. Hutton, i.e., "When Tiger talks people listen". A week before the PGA Championship, successfully hosted by Jeff Corcoran and the folks in Western NY, Woods commented offensively on the quality of the putting surfaces.

"They don't have much thatch to them, so it'll be interesting to see what they do for the tournament and how much they're able to speed them up with kind of a lack of grass," Woods explained in his "expert" agronomic prose. Corcoran get's the mike stuck in his face and explains without being defensive about defensive agronomic management, "When he was here [Tuesday], we were playing defense. We didn't mow that day, didn't roll [the greens] that day. We've had an extremely tough summer."

Jeff managed to take an offensive comment and avoid sounding defensive. We could all stop and learn a little about defense in a day and age when everything seems offensive. From football's emphasis on passing, to athlete's whose sense of reality-A-Rod and Tiger- is based on what time their private jet leaves.

There was plenty of time to be offensive as the week of the event arrived. Yes the rain did soften the course and allow for low scoring, but the putting surfaces seemed as slick and true as any high speed camera has ever seen.

Again, we all have these situations when an event is upon us and decisions to "go for the long pass" and try and push for speed or "stick to the ground game" and wait for your moment. Eventually a decision is made that will have consequences, so we must be able to explain ourselves with "the mike stuck in our face".

Jeff represents a world, our world of turf management, that does not live by the 24 hour news cycle. Excessive rains through June and heat in July challenges a turf root system that is needed for effective drying in August, i.e., a three-month cycle. So, the next time a tree falls on your Maserati (damaged greens), streams flood your landing strips (flooded fairways) and the white-hot spotlight is turned on (member guests or club championships) let's all hope our responses are as measured and direct with respect and confidence as Jeff Corcoran's explanation of turf defense.