Wimsett: I would like to welcome you, on behalf of the Sports Agent Blog, and thanks for taking time from your busy publicity tour to speak with me about your new book, Blood in the Cage. Let’s start with the obvious question – how’d you transition from writing about women’s tennis, basketball, and billiards to tackling a book about the history and the possible future of MMA?

Wertheim: My day job is with Sports Illustrated.  A few years back, I wrote a story about the UFC, [SI featured Roger Heurta on the cover].  I finished the story and it was just one of these things where I came away thinking there was so much more to write about.  I knew I could turn it into something bigger and I became seduced by the sport.  Are you a fan?

Wimsett: Absolutely.  I was lured in by the Ultimate Fighter programming.  It was interesting to read in your book that TUF arguably saved the UFC.  But I’m a relative newcomer.

Wertheim: I’ve been pretty open about this – two years ago, before I wrote the story for SI, I knew very little about the sport.  I immersed myself in it.  Now, I watch MMA just as much as I watch other sports, if not more.  That’s what the MMA does, it lures you in and then you’re hooked.

Wimsett: As a newcomer to the sport, was it difficult to get the fighters to open up?  Did they lock down?  Did you find your experience level to be an obstacle?

Wertheim: Perhaps in some ways.  But more often than not, most of the guys were so cool.  Many of the fighters were happy I was taking an interest in the sport.  They sensed I was there to learn the sport and to really try to understand where they were coming from.  One of the things so compelling about this sport is that these guys are so accessible and open.  It was a pleasure dealing with them and their families.  I was treated great.  I’d be talking to Jens [Pulver] and he’d say “Hey, I’m hungry.  Let’s continue this.  I’ll make some dinner and we’ll keep talking.”  That doesn’t happen when you cover LeBron James or Peyton Manning.  Sure, sometimes they looked at me like I was crazy when I asked basic questions.  But I can’t complain at all but how I was treated.

Wimsett: That really describes my experience.  I’ve been approaching it from a lawyer’s perspective, and an agent’s perspective.  And I’ve found the fighters are really interested in talking about the sport.  For the most part, they’re excited to talk about the sport with anyone who will listen.  The access has been pretty incredible.

Wertheim: These guys get it.  If this sport were only open to the people that were into in 1999, they wouldn’t be doing half a million pay per view buys.  It’s sort of like a band… It’s sort of like a band that was playing in college bars.  And sure, they appreciate the original fan base but now, they’re play bigger shows, they realize that people were late to the party but they’re not going to freeze them out.

Wimsett: One of the things I hear from the guys is that they still aren’t getting the kind of coverage in the mainstream media they think they deserve.  When will this change?  Will SI start spilling more ink on MMA coverage?

Wertheim: I think it’s going to.  Down the road.  Listen, some of the writers still haven’t been able to draw the distinction in their minds between the UFC and the lower quality stuff that’s out there.  It’s still very new to them.  They hear “cage fighting” and they think Kimbo Slice is doing the same thing Randy Couture is.  But I think it’s going to change in part because it’s just an economics thing.  It will reach a critical mass where you have to acknowledge it – that’s how it works in this business.  Any business, really.  People are going to realize this isn’t about some tough guys fighting in a local armory – this is the real deal.  I still have to explain that to people.  Once it’s demystified, the floodgates will open.  You know, I’m not sure the New York Times is going to have a full time MMA writer anytime soon but I think it’s getting pretty close to the point where you can’t ignore it anymore.

Wimsett: I’m paraphrasing but you suggest in your book that, in many ways, popular culture and MMA are colliding at just the right time.  Explain what you mean?

Wertheim: Combat, fighting – these things are more acceptable in our culture and it’s because of a lot of things.  A lot of it, I think, is a reaction to the political correctness culture we’re rebelling against.  The “precautionary society”.  Sure, the sport is getting safer, more regulated.  It doesn’t look like it did, you know, in 1993 with UFC 1.  But I think a lot if it has to do with the culture.  People don’t have backyard diving boards anymore; you can’t ride a bike without a helmet.  Well, guess what?  MMA turns all of that on its ear.  It’s raw and it’s out there and people are responding to that.  You have schools where they don’t want you to play dodge ball.  People are saying enough is enough and MMA is taking off.

Wimsett: What does the sport need to do to keep these new eyeballs?

Wertheim: Well, people sort of rolled their eyes when they saw Brock Lesnar, the WWE champion, suddenly fighting for an MMA title.  But then they looked at his actual pedigree.  You look at the fact he was an NCAA champion wrestler and, you know, almost made an NFL team.  But then you also just sort of look at what he’s able to do when he got in there.  MMA, the UFC, they know they need to maintain credibility.  That’s critical.

Wimsett: Let’s talk about the UFC a little bit.  5 years from now, is the UFC the only game in town?

Wertheim: That’s a good question.  I think a lot of the future of the sport depends on the answer to that.  You know, we see these other leagues come and they sort of talk a good game.  They’re all going to challenge the UFC and they’re all going to make life easier for fighters.  And, you know, here we are, in 2009, and the UFC monopoly is probably as dominating as ever.  You know, it’s going to take a lot of money.  It’s going to take a smart business plan, not… you know, let’s put Kimbo in there and go get CBS.  I think the UFC… for a number of reasons, I mean, obviously sort of the competitive advantage but just kind of the marketing and the whole pay-per-view thing, I think UFC is at the top of the mountain right now and it’ll be hard to knock them off.

Wimsett: You’ve heard the complaints and read the same message boards.  The UFC has its detractors.

Wertheim: Yeah… this is the drawback to no competition.  It’s great for the UFC that it’s the only game in town and they can say, “Hey, BJ…” you know, “Hey BJ, get in there with Georges St. Pierre” and there’s no haggling.  But the flipside is what causes some of the backlash.  There’s no other option there so the UFC can have things their way.  They are calling the shots, it’s that simple.  They have a stack of resumes of fighters who can step up.

Wimsett: It’s interesting down here in Florida.  We’ve got the XFC.  And they’re sort of running a different business model that’s been interesting to watch, and they really try to promote the sport more than the personalities per se.  I like what John Prisco is doing.  He’s got a smart team.  They’re doing it in a different way.

Wertheim: Someone will have to come at it a different way.  A twist.  Some promotions have tried the league concept.  You know, people are out there trying new things.  That’s what it’ll take.  And a television deal.  That’s what it’ll come down to.

Wimsett: Get the TV deals and the landscape changes?

Wertheim: You have to have exposure.  These fighters know the drill, too.  They’re competitors and they want to fight in the best league with the best exposure.  Right now, that’s the UFC.

Wimsett: I want to switch gears a little bit and focus on the fighters.  Particularly the guys nobody knows yet.  Like the college wrestlers.  Did you get a sense that these athletes are taking real notice of MMA’s rise?  Do you see the day when college wrestlers are going to be recruited like football players and baseball players?

Wertheim: College wrestlers are definitely in tune with MMA.  Yeah, I think that’s happening.  And this is great for MMA.  It’s not just popular as a spectator sport but great athletes want to step into the cage and try this stuff.  I was up in Minnesota recently and there are guys on the team that train MMA during downtime.  Every neighborhood dojo is advertising its MMA training.  But with the college wrestlers – they can make the weight…they know how to train.  It helps legitimize the sport.

Wimsett: Pat Miletich is one of my heroes.  Tell me about Pat.

Wertheim: You can’t say enough good things about Pat.  Pat’s consolation is that he comes away as a guy who built the sport.  He has an untouchable reputation.  He did things honorably and honestly.  Here’s a 5 time champion who just sort of came on too early.  Some of these young guys will score a fight of the night bonus and eclipse Pat’s career winnings and that’s tough to stomach but it happens in sports.

Wimsett: What’s your take on Dana White?

Wertheim: My take on Dana White is that same as yours and the same as anyone who’s ever seen him on TV or on the Internet.  The guy is who he is – he wears it all on his sleeve.  And sure, there’s good and bad.  But, you have to hand it to him.  He’s a straight shooter and he’s a businessman.  To his credit, the UFC would not be in the dominant position it’s in today without a “Dana White.”  If you’d run this [the UFC] the way Roger Goodell runs the NFL or David Stern run the NBA, you’d be in trouble.  This sport needs Dana White right now.  People have their opinions about Dana.  I know this – the UFC wasn’t a thriving enterprise before he got there.

Wimsett: With the PPV buys going up, do you get a sense the purses will start to keep pace?

Wertheim: Not right away.  They don’t need to raise the purses.  UFC fighters are making more than they could make in any other promotion.  It’s supply and demand.  The UFC can put cards together and they’ll continue to do that.  Lots of guys want to fight.  Somehow, the math has to turn around.  You and I could fight on a UFC card and they’re still going to get the buys.  The fighters will have to prove they’re the draw.

Wimsett: Performance enhancing drugs, you talked a little bit about this in your book.  How much drug use is their in the sport at the higher levels?

Wertheim: That’s an interesting question.  Some fighters are using and some aren’t.  That’s about all we know.  We’ve seen some test results – results that have been made public.  So, it’s pretty clear that at some level, anyway, it’s going on.  The UFC is in a little bit of a tight spot, to their credit, just because you need commission approval and commissions do the drug testing.  So, the UFC is following the rules.  Should the rules be tougher?  The right people will have to talk about that – I don’t know the answer.

Wimsett: Sports agents, good for the sport, bad for the sport?  I talked to Sam Sheridan a little [author of A Fighter's Heart]… and he’s very pro agent.  And obviously, Dana White is on record as being less inclined to work with agents.

Wertheim: That’s a really good question.  And I think that we haven’t heard the last of it.  A lot of issues are bubbling and it could be a good time for agents to get into the market in a bigger way.  It’ll be tough though.  The UFC set-up will make it hard for agents to make it worth their time.  Maybe in a perfect world, lawyers and agents push to get these guys in a union with certain working conditions and health benefits, that kind of thing, you know, it probably would make sense.  I think it’s going to be very hard.  And, I think, if the UFC decides to ignore all the guys who Gary Wimsett represents, you’re out.  The UFC is still going to be able to hold cards just fine.

Wimsett: As an agent, too, I’m looking at sponsors.  When will a Nike or an Adidas jump into the sport.

Wertheim: It’ll be gradual.  More sponsors are coming – just look at some of the old cards and you’ll now see more sponsors – Burger King’s on the mat.  The problem is that you still have a blood-stained mat and a cage.  It’ll be a while before you see the Nike Swoosh on the floor.

Wimsett: All the fighters I speak with want me to ask you what UFC looks for in fighters when they’re looking outside of their stable of fighters?  Do you have any sense of what they do in terms of looking what’s going on and some of these other leagues?  Or how they find talent across the country, in the world for that matter?

Wertheim: That’s a question for Joe Silva – if you could ever get him to answer.  But basically, I think, you have to have a couple of things going on.  You have to be a great fighter.  But, you also have to bring something else to the card.  That’s just business.

Wimsett: Have you watched any boxing since writing this book?

Wertheim: That’s funny.  Yeah, I mean, I used to be a big boxing guy.  And we cover it from time to time for Sports Illustrated.  I go to the fights in New York.  I went to a show here in New York a couple of weeks ago, it’s… I mean, it’s hard to watch now.  It really is… You know, guy hits another guy and you’re ready for him to, like, take him down.  To me it was like watching a black and white movie or something.  MMA has really sapped my passion for boxing.

Wimsett: Jon, it’s been a real pleasure speaking with you and I wish your book a lot of success.  Please come back and talk to us after you finish the next one.

Wertheim: Deal.

• Want to enter the legal profession but have a desire to focus on sports? [Sports and the Law: The Summer Associate Experience].
• Jason Giambi wears a gold lamé, tiger-stripe thong to break hitting slumps [Bronx Cheer].
• For the first time ever, the top 200 MLB draft prospects will undergo drug testing prior to the draft [MLB Tests Draft Prospects].
• $8.75 guaranteed and the potential to reach $32.75 million…for a closer…not bad! [Royals Sign Closer Joakim Soria To Six-Year Extension].
• Early list of the top 100 prospects for next year’s NFL Draft [Top 100 Prospects for the 2009 NFL Draft].
• Let’s see if these guys step up their games even more this season [An Early Look At 2009 Free Agents].
• Steve Smith is looking to diversify his future [Smith scores gig as finances intern].
• Kobe Bryant may have bought his teammates watches for helping him win the MVP this year. Tom Brady thanks his fellow Patriots with a slightly nicer present [Dreamboat Bought Cars For His Linemen].
• The NBPA estimates that next year’s salary cap is will be $58.5 million, the luxury tax threshold will be $ 71 million, and the Mid-Level Exception – $5.55 million [Word on the Street: Rounding Up].
• Another media entity picks up on a story that we covered a long time ago. Ira Newble is a very thoughtful man [Lakers' Newble opens NBA eyes to Darfur].
• Never discount the value of a high quality maple bat [Independent team deals pitcher for 10 maple bats].

No more updated featured posts on the right sidebar. You shall see why once the new layout is unveiled.

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Congratulations to Anthony Kim (pictured), the 22 year old phenom who finally may be the next big thing everyone has been searching for to challenge Woods. At the very least, he’s one of the best young players to come out of the U.S. collegiate system, and should help out the Ryder Cup team for decades to come (and we all know how much help that squad desperately needs). Last anyone heard, Kim was represented by long time player manager Rocky Hambric and Hambric Sports Management out of Dallas, although rumors were swirling months ago that said relationship was on the rocks. Nothing heals tension like a win, especially one at the somewhat prestigious Wachovia Championship, whose finishing holes rival any in the world. Rex Hoggard’s column tells you all you need to know about Kim and his rocky past, both with his father, and at the University of Oklahoma. But the past is the last thing on Kim’s mind. He’s now 4th in the FedEx standings, with his eye on a certain someone at the top.

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John Daly’s not only lost his PGA Tour card, but it seems that he’s literally lost the shirt off his back.

Remember the old Ford commercials, back from when the carmaker still sponsored the world’s number two? What will Phil do next? Forget that. The real question is, what will John Daly do next? The latest in ‘the week that was’ for J.D. included an unfortunate shirtless exposition (click here for the video, if you dare/must) during a promotional outing at the even more unfortunately named and recently opened “John Daly’s Murder Rock & Country Club” outside of Branson, MO. As one blogger noted before the club’s opening last summer: “Daly and Branson – that seems like a great pair. ‘John Daly’s’ and ‘Murder Rock’? Not so much. Given Daly’s history – drinking problems, gambling problems, marital problems that recently produced accusations (later withdrawn) of a knife attack and a sexual assault – the name of the club seems a little, shall we say, ill-advised.”

Perhaps even more troubling, however, are the revelations that Daly contacted former swing coach Butch Harmon and practically begged him to recind his latest comments about Daly, citing a complete loss of his (once vast) array of endorsements. Throw in some news relating to Roger Clemens’ alleged affair with one of his ex-wives, and also yet another Daly-induced lawsuit (this time against the Hippo Golf company), and it’s no wonder that Daly’s mind was somewhere other than his wardrobe. Yet another question: even if J.D. has indeed lost all of his endorsements, doesn’t he still have his own apparel line?

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While the PGA and European tours are expected to start drug testing this July (both Tours are now engaged in player education programs), Royal & Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson announced this past Tuesday that the British Open would not be ready to begin the testing program because of the tournament’s international qualifying system. He expects anti-doping controls will be in place for the 2009 championship at Turnberry. “The fact [that] drug testing is a 52 week a year occupation, not one week a year, [and] the fact the Open has already started this year with three qualifying events, means that we have decided drug testing will not take place this year,” Dawson told reporters.

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Golf may be “ripe for Olympic involvement,” with more quality players now from more countries than ever before. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem endorsed the idea this past week, and the prevailing feeling is that golf now has its strongest chance at being included in the Olympics since it was dropped from the program more than 100 years ago. Because the International Olympic Committee requires seven years for a sport to be added, the earliest golf could be part of the Olympics is 2016. The IOC will meet next year to vote on a host for the 2016 Games and decide whether to include additional sports. And an official bid would have to come through the International Golf Federation, which the IOC recognizes as golf’s ruling body for the Olympics (and which is jointly run by USGA executive director David Fay and the above-mentioned Dawson).

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Immelman’s win at Augusta was somewhat overshadowed two days later when runner-up Tiger Woods had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee for the second time in five years. The surgery was performed in Park City, Utah, by Thomas Rosenberg, who also operated on Woods’ left knee in December 2002. Woods also had surgery in 1994 on his left knee to remove a benign tumor.

The question now is, when will Tiger return to action? Mark Solatu reported that this past Wednesday Woods had his two-week checkup, which he said “went great. Everything is right on schedule.”

He was obviously unable to defend his title this past weekend at the Wachovia Championship, and there was never any doubt that he would miss this week’s Players Championship (one of only three non-majors that he has never missed since turning pro). Woods allegedly hopes to return at the Memorial on May 29, but if he were to miss that weekend, his next scheduled event would be the U.S. Open on June 12 at Torrey Pines, where he has won six times in the Buick Invitational.

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Europe announced its 2008 Palmer Cup team that will face the United States, June 26-27 in Glasgow, Scotland. The team features Jonas Blixt (Florida State), Scott Borrowman (Stirling), Johnnie Caldwell (South Alabama), Jorge Campillo (Indiana), Jonas Enander Hedin (Charlotte), Charlie Ford (Tennessee), Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) and Tim Sluiter (Southern California). The European team will be coached by Marten Olander of Sweden. On the U.S. side, coach Conrad Ray’s team will include Oklahoma State’s Rickie Fowler, Florida’s Billy Horschel, UCLA’s Kevin Chappell, Louisville’s Derek Fathauer, San Diego State’s Aaron Goldberg, Georgia Tech’s Chesson Hadley, Georgia’s Adam Mitchell and Alabama’s Michael Thompson.

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LPGA player and women’s world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa joined an acclaimed list of individuals honored in this year’s TIME 100.

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The China Golf Association, Grand China Air, LPGA and IMG announced that the LPGA’s first-ever event in China, the Grand China Air LPGA, is set for Oct. 24-26 at the Haikou West Golf Club. Sixty-three players will compete for a purse of $1.8 million.

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Nice piece by Jim McCabe, who warns us not to doubt Adam Scott.

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World renowned swing teacher David Leadbetter signed a multi-year agreement with Wilhelmina Artist Management, which will represent Leadbetter as his exclusive worldwide agent relative to all appearances, endorsements and licensing businesses.

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Back to college golf, Alabama remained the top team in the fourth Golf World/Nike Golf Division I Coaches’ Poll of the spring season after winning its first SEC Championship title in 29 years. The Crimson Tide earned 18 of the 23 first-place votes and secured the SEC title with an eight stroke victory over South Carolina. It was Alabama’s sixth victory of the season. Michael Thompson’s final-round 65 pushed him to the individual title, his first victory in his two years in Tuscaloosa. “It feels fantastic,” said Alabama coach Jay Seawell shortly after the win. “It feels just like I thought it would. Unbelievable. I’m really proud of the guys. It was a tight day. The last four holes—we’ve talked about it—last year our last four holes were kind of our demise here. And this year the four holes were the difference. I am proud of them for how they played. Nobody hands you an SEC Championship. You’ve got to win it and the guys won it today. I’m really proud of them.”

Testing for anabolic steroids was introduced in the 1970s, and some commentators remark that more stringent tests theoretically have lead, or ultimately will lead to, less “cheating”. But other, more cynical observers, argue just the opposite. Users become more savvy, the drugs become less detectable, and the overall problem proliferates, they maintain. As if the issue wasn’t thorny enough for athletes, professional leagues and drug testing organizations alike, a recent study just published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism by Jenny Jakobsson Schulze and her colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, suggests that “an individual’s genetic make-up could confound them in two different ways. One genotype, to use the jargon, may allow athletes who use anabolic steroids to escape detection altogether. Another may actually be convicting the innocent.” A recent Economist article (subscription required) summarizes the study’s findings, the conclusions of which should be duly noted by athletes and agents alike. Per the piece:

“The test usually employed for testosterone abuse relies on measuring the ratio of two chemicals found in the urine: testosterone glucuronide (TG) and epitestosterone glucuronide (EG). The former is produced when testosterone is broken down, while the latter is unrelated to testosterone metabolism, and can thus serve as a reference point for the test. Any ratio above four of the former to one of the latter is, according to official Olympic policy, considered suspicious and leads to more tests. However, the production of TG is controlled by an enzyme that is, in turn, encoded by a gene called UGT2B17. This gene comes in two varieties, one of which has a part missing and therefore does not work properly. A person may thus have none, one or two working copies of UGT2B17, since he inherits one copy from each parent. Dr Schulze guessed that different numbers of working copies would produce different test results. She therefore gave healthy male volunteers whose genes had been examined a single 360mg shot of testosterone (the standard dose for legitimate medical use) and checked their urine to see whether the shot could be detected. The result was remarkable. Nearly half of the men who carried no functional copies of UGT2B17 would have gone undetected in the standard doping test. By contrast, 14% of those with two functional copies of the gene were over the detection threshold before they had even received an injection. The researchers estimate this would give a false-positive testing rate of 9% in a random population of young men. Dr. Schulze also says there is substantial ethnic variation in UGT2B17 genotypes. Two-thirds of Asians have no functional copies of the gene (which means they have a naturally low ratio of TG to EG), compared with under a tenth of Caucasians—something the anti-doping bodies may wish to take into account.”

The study should serve to remind the general public that just because someone is accused of using performance enhancing drugs–be it by a Senator’s report, an ex-player’s book, or even the lab results of a respected professional’s scientific testing methods–it doesn’t necessarily mean a viable explanation or defense doesn’t exist. But it makes for good headlines.

ESPN (sans Chris Berman, by design?) provides this year’s coverage of the first two days of action per its deal with the tournament (Augusta is hoping ESPN can help its ‘international reach’) which wrestled rights away from the USA network, and weekend play will be televised as usual by the Gary McCord-less CBS crew (but will feature David “training wheels” Feherty, who thankfully is said to be recovering nicely from his attempt to take on a semi truck with only a bicycle). But you can supplement your highly-censored Masters coverage (announcers live in fear of a verbal faux-pas, and thus for instance must awkwardly refer to the “fans” in attendance as “patrons,” per the club’s commandments) with a slew of Masters blogs, the best of which include Geoff Shackelford; Jason Sobel; and the various Golf Digest wonks.

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Speaking of making a recovery, Sterling Sports Management announced that the 21 year old, Aree Song will play a very limited schedule in 2008 as she tries to focus on her health. Song was diagnosed in late-2007 with severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome and adrenal insufficiency, and doctors recommended a prolonged break from competition and extended travel in order to monitor her treatment. Song’s agent, J.S. Kang, stated that as Song begins to regain her strength, she will consider playing in some LPGA Tour events later this year.

Song turned professional in August 2003 at the age of 17 and 3 months. She was granted an exemption from the LPGA’s minimum age rule to allow her to enter the 2003 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, and she came fifth in it to earn exemption for the LPGA Tour in 2004. In her rookie season she finished second at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and ended the year 28th on the money list. But Song has struggled since, and is currently ranked 164th in the world according to the latest Rolex World Rankings. But it’s nice to see her management team at Sterling sticking by her through these tough times. Kang, for instance, remarked that “watching Aree go through this has made us admire her that much more. She stays so positive even though we know that inside she is incredibly frustrated that her body won’t let her play the game she loves. It doesn’t seem right that someone who does all the right things – eats right, exercises diligently and practices hard – and lives her life in such an exemplary way, should have to go through this.”

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Phil Mickelson has never been one to shy away from breaking in relatively new equipment for a momentous occasion. Remember when he debuted new Callaway irons (instead of his then-normal Titleist clubs) at the 2004 Ryder Cup? Now, in his attempt to add a third green jacket to his collection, Phil is using Callaway Golf’s new I-MIX interchangeable driver system, which he tinkered with in practice rounds last week at the Shell Houston Open (and was said to be very pleased with the results). According to the Carlsbad-based equipment manufacturer, the new I-MIX Technology “pairs interchangeable heads and shafts to provide professional and every day golfers the ultimate in driver customization and personalization. The new technology, which capitalizes on the U.S. Golf Association and Royal & Ancient’s rule change on club adjustability, allows golfers to reconfigure drivers to face the unique challenges and conditions of their scheduled rounds.”

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Speaking of Mickelson, take the following linked anecdote relating his supposed recent run-in with Augusta members with a healthy dose of skepticism (Golfweek distanced themselves from the story, which first appeared on the GolfWRX.com forums only to be pulled days later by the site’s administrators, in the meantime receiving a flurry of attention as it spread across the internet). That said, consider that’s it far from the first time that Lefty has been linked to on or even off-the-course betting. Mickelson’s “camp” (by which I’m guessing his team of managers and agents at Gaylord Sports Management) call the story “baseless” and “erroneous.” That said, it arguably seems too oddly detailed of an account to have just maliciously surfaced out of nowhere. Stay tuned?

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Apparently, if you need a kick in the pants, then Butch Harmon (and not the more laid-back David Leadbetter) is your man. At this point, it seems Ernie Els will try anything to regain his mojo. He’s already switched clubs. Now swing teachers. Should agent Andrew “Chubby” Chandler over at ISM be worried too?

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What was your favorite “Comprehensive Drug Testing” memory? The company won a bidding process last October to be the LPGA’s drug testing agency, but quickly ran into problems while collecting samples at the Fields Open in February and has been dismissed by the Tour. The National Center for Drug Free Sport, which helped the Tour develop its program in the first place, will administer tests through the end of 2009 according to Jill Pilgrim, LPGA general counsel and drug-testing program administrator. The Tour received some pretty embarrassing press when players had to wait nearly three hours to be tested at the Fields because only one collector was on hand at the start of testing. According to Golfweek, “the LPGA announced after the tournament that it was a trial run, leading some players to speculate that something else had gone awry in the process.”

All I can say is, thank you Gary Player.

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Another deal in the bag for Mark Steinberg at IMG. Doug Ferguson reports that Tiger Woods “landed a new title sponsor (replacing Target) for his holiday tournament in southern California, signing a five-year deal Thursday with Chevron with designs of raising money and developing programs to support Woods’ education-based foundation. The Chevron World Challenge will be held Dec. 18-21 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif., featuring 16 players competing for a $5.75 million purse, the largest of the ’silly season’. The San Ramon-based energy company also will become one of five founding partners of the AT&T National, a regular-season PGA Tour event that Woods started last year at Congressional Country Club outside Washington.” The deal, writes Ferguson, “comes at a time when the economy is struggling and the PGA Tour is searching for title sponsors for regular-season events in Tampa, Fla., and Atlanta. Given the size of the purse, Chevron’s investment is believed to be similar to what companies pay to be a title sponsor of a regular PGA Tour event.”

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Despite an advertising budget that is one-fortieth of Nike Inc.’s $2 billion, Under Armour dominates the overall sports performance apparel category with a nearly 75 percent share, according to Morningstar’s analysts. Now, the sportswear company is set on becoming “the number one performance apparel in golf,” and has already expanded into stores such as Golf Galaxy and Golfsmith.

Scott Hamilton’s piece also mentions that: “although Under Armour has ‘no specific golf marketing initiatives in the works,’ the company states that ‘any effort [to do so] is expected to fall in line with its ‘umbrella strategy,’ which deifies a breed of athletes the company calls the ‘new prototype’ – those willing to work harder than the rest to be the very best. That means keeping the same edgy ads such as the commercial that aired during Super Bowl XLII in February. The spot – which featured nearly 30 Under Armour endorsers, including PGA Tour golfer Hunter Mahan, NFL’s Ray Lewis and Nascar driver Carl Edwards – showed an Under Armour-clad man rallying ‘prototype’ athletes, fiercely yelling their mantra ‘the future is ours.’”

With regards to the “new” type of PGA pro, the company’s edgy mantra may actually translate quite well to golf. Once dominated by middle-aged men in gaudy pants, the PGA Tour is now chalked full of young pros who resemble chiseled rock stars, and advertisers continue to yearn to capture some trickle down market share from the extra attention of even the most casual of observers whom Tiger has brought to the game.

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Sticking with clothing, nice article by Adam Schupak about Bubba Watson and his ‘Bubbagolf’ line of apparel manufactured by Steve & Barry’s, a privately owned entity, “one of the fastest-growing retail businesses in the U.S. which made headlines for selling $14.98 sneakers endorsed by NBA player Stephon Marbury, and now set on using its low-cost appeal to make inroads in golf apparel, another category that’s known for eye-popping prices.”

But, um, don’t expect Steve Elkington to try one on.