As an aside, I'd like to share a story of why I might be a bit cynical about Tour players as designers, which has absolutely nothing to do with Zac Blair.
When I worked for Mr. Dye, in 1984, he had me come out for a walk-through of the new TPC at Connecticut, which he was rebuilding from an existing course. Pete knew I'd grown up in Connecticut, and he knew that Commissioner Beman was another of the people who had recommended me for my scholarship to Scotland, so it was thoughtful of him to include me to write up a report on the day, and do any follow-up drawings if necessary. And it was a very nice day, walking the course with Pete and the Commissioner and David Postlethwait [Pete's construction foreman] and Vernon Kelly, the g.m. of the Tour, and listening to their discussions, and occasionally being asked my opinion.
At the end of the walk-through, on the heels of a long discussion about the location of the cart path on the 18th, the Commissioner asked Vernon Kelly to see if Howard Twitty could come up and walk through our recommendations. He did that, because those are the politics of the Tour ... Howard Twitty was on the Tour Policy Board, and the Commissioner had to be seen as engaging the players in the design of TPC courses, even though it was abundantly clear that all the decisions had already been made.
Even at 23, it struck me as pretty silly that the joint decisions of Mr. Dye and Commissioner Beman and David Postlethwait had to be rubber stamped by Howard Twitty. In hindsight, I think most people would agree. But that's how the Tour works, and that's why I take their p.r. with a grain of salt.
Meanwhile, I will attempt to contact Zac Blair to apologize if he's been offended by anything I've said here. It hasn't been personal, however you guys have tried to make it out to be. If anyone has an email for him, please send it to me.