Green Posse

There was some unintended drama at the St. Jude Classic on Sunday that involved Tom Pernice Jr. As he stood over his putt on the 14th green, the ball moved ever-so-slightly off the putter-head before he made his putting stroke. The rules of golf are pretty clear in this situation, and once the putter has been grounded the ball is in play and can’t be moved, except to make the putting stroke. The instant replay clearly showed the ball moving forward, but when confronted by a rules official a few holes later, Pernice was completely unaware of …read more

1 Comment

There’s no doubt that Darren Clarke has been of the classier guys on the tour (though he primarily plays in Europe), but his decision this past weekend to not improve his lie after a weather delay during the Irish Open absolutely cemented his place in the sportsmanship hall of fame. On the 9th hole during Sunday’s round, Clarke pushed his drive into the rough, but before he could finish the hole, the horn sounded and he had to mark his ball and finish the round on Monday. When he returned to finish the hole, he discovered that the …read more

2 Comments

Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is only 4 months away so it’s not too early to start the water-jug discussions. So what are the odds this year that the Americans will finally win one? I’m not convinced that collectively they’re going to jell come September. Individually, and on paper, the Americans are better, but even that gap is closing as the European tour players are playing more in the United States and getting used to big-league golf.
However, I still think the intangible that separates this generation’s American golfers from previous generations, is that they are in fact indepedent …read more

No Comments

Calcuating the exact yardage to a location has been every hackers dream for years and GPS devices have been available to golfers for about a decade now. For professional tour players however, knowing exact yardages is a job requirement if they’re going to be competitive on the PGA tour. Long-time golf fans know that yardage books are the absolute bible for tour players and back in the 70s and 80s, touring professionals could actually buy yardage books from other caddies and suppliers. It wasn’t long before tour players started using full-time caddies and they were soon creating …read more

No Comments

Daly’s Drama
The buzz surrounding John Daly’s newly released autobiography has dulled somewhat, but it’s being reported here that some PGA tour players are skeptical of Daly’s self-proclaimed gambling debts of $50-60 million dollars. Daly already has a bigger-than-life personna so it doesn’t make sense for him to have to exagerate his debts, but you have to believe the publisher might have had just a little to do with it.
If you’ve ever watched Daly’s reality show on the Golf Channel, you know that he’s a regular Joe, which is his big attraction for his millions of fans. His priorities seem to …read more

No Comments

Reigning U.S. Open Champion Michael Campbell has been conspicuously absent from the PGA Tour this year. Unfortunately for him, the PGA Tour restricted the number of tournaments he could play because he did not compete in the minimum number of 15 tournaments in 2003. The PGA Tour requires all foreign-born players to play a minimum of 15 events or they are banned from joining the PGA for five years. On the surface this sounds a bit harsh, but the PGA does not want International players to only play a select number of events, then bolting back to Europe after they’ve …read more

No Comments

The Big Break V finals have been completed and as most predicted, Ashley Prange won the match play event 5 and 4 over Jeanne Cho.  It started out as a pretty good match with Jeanne and Ashley trading birdies and pars, but then it appeared Jeanne’s nerves started to get the best of her.  More than anything, she seemed to be tentative with her putts and never really got the rock rolling consistently.  As I’ve written earlier, Ashely has shown her mettle by already winning a Future’s Tour event this year so you have to believe winning the Big Break …read more

1 Comment

I had a chance to watch the final round of the Champions Tour event this weekend, and it was definitely a thriller with Brad Bryant hitting three consecutive long-iron shots over the closing three holes to win. It got me thinking that I wonder what the overall health is for the Champtions Tour. I used to watch it regularly on the weekends, especially when Hale Irwin was in the top 10 consistently. Then Peter Jacobsen came along and gave the tour a boost, but since he’s been hurt, I have to believe TV ratings have been down. I personally don’t …read more

2 Comments

After eight attempts, Michelle Wie finally made a cut at a men’s event. Granted, it was the SK Telecom Open in South Korea (where she’s a superstar), but nonetheless, it was a huge accomplishment. She’s also scheduled to try and qualify for the U.S. Open in Hawaii.
Now, I’m a huge fan of Wie’s, but I think it’s time to focus on winning on the LPGA tour. I followed her at last year’s Women’s U.S. Open in Denver and she does in fact play a different game, but she needs to hone her skills against the best Women players in the …read more

No Comments

Earl Woods
Earl Woods, Tiger’s father, passed away yesterday after battling prostate cancer. Our condolences go out to Tiger and his family and we wish them all best during this difficult time. It’s been said a thousand times that Earl influenced and shaped Tiger in ways the world has yet to see, but if it’s anything like his approach to golf, then Tiger’s legacy is just beginning.
The Big Break V
The Big Break is finally down to the championship match as Julie Wells was eliminated in the semi-finals. Ashley and Jeanie will go head-to-head in the finals next week, with Ashley as …read more

1 Comment