It’s hard to believe, but the Big Break is back, and it’s number 7?! Seems like only yesterday when Big Break I premiered and the guys were stuck in “resort cabins” in Michigan during the monsoon season. It’s come a long way, at least from a facilities perspective, and now they’ve brought back previous participants (and one winner) to battle each in a “Reunion” theme.

The premiere episode was entertaining for sure and it was interesting to see how quickly everyone jelled and you can definitely tell the presence of tv cameras doesn’t bother them. The choices of who to bring back was interesting, but if I was calling the shots I would have brought back Albert from the last Big Break, and Danielle from the BB III. Albert because of his intensity, and Danielle because of the karma between her and Pam.

I was definitely surprised at Don Donatello’s laid-back attitude (at least so far) and he’s even having a good time smiling and acting somewhat humble. The pairings were obviously put together for their entertainment value (which is okay), but I think a Don/Bri pairing would have been great golf. And why were the Seniors paired together? Obviously they’re going to have a hard time making it past the first or second episode, and if that’s the case, why even include them?

Okay, it’s time to review the World Rankings and see how things are shaping up. Granted, it’s early in the season but there are already some surprises. Remember the “Big 5″ from a couple of years ago when it was Woods, Els, Goosen, Singh, and Mickelson? They were supposed to be the world-beaters and dominate the game for years to come. Evidently, some of the younger players didn’t get the memo.

Now the top 5 consists of Woods, Furyk, Mickelson, Scott, and Henrikson. This is the top 5 in the world folks, a very heady list to be included on at any point in your career, so it’s no small feat that Henrikson is now part of this club. So at first glance, the U.S. dominates the list, taking 3 of the top 5 spots. However, look a little further at the top 10. The next 5 positions belong to Els, Ogilvy, Goosen, Singh, and Donald. Translated, that means Americans comprise 30% of the top 10.

But it gets more interesting. The next 5 positions are taken by Harrington, Immelman, Garcia, Casey, and Howell III. Notice a trend here? The U.S. players comprise 20% of the top 15 positions in the world rankings. The point of this is to point out that professional golf is about world players now and not just Americans, and we have to stop being surprised that international players are dominating the world rankings. And we wonder the U.S. keeps getting spanked in the Ryder Cup?

Fred Funk kept the magic alive for the 50-and-over crowd by winning the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico this past weekend. Note that this tournament was not a Champions Tour event, but a regular PGA Tour event, and he beat all the flat-bellies again. Now granted, this was a watered-down field and didn’t have some of the top players on the regular tour, but you still have a 50-year-old beating up on the kids.

This is the reason Funk wants to continue to play the regular tour. He feels that he can be very competitive on certain tracks and this bears it out. I remember when Jack Nicklaus won the Masters in 1986; he was 46 and you”d-a-thought he had one foot in the grave back then. There was such a huge deal made about his age, but now it almost (but not quite) seems to lost a little significance simply because it’s not that difficult to play very good golf at 46. And Fred Funk won the Players Championship at 49.

I do think someone will in fact win a major at 50 because today’s tecnology will allow that to happen. And if it’s not an over-powering course, then it it won’t be that unusual.

In one of the most exciting match play events I’ve seen in a while, Henrik Stenson beat Geoff Ogilvy 2 and 1 at the Accenture Match Play Championship today. There was a real ebb and flow to the match with Ogilvy leading after 18 then Stenson taking control when Ogilvy hit a couple of loose shots on the incoming nine of the afternoon match.

As I’ve said before, there’s absolutely no quit in the International players. These guys play each hole and each shot as if it’s their last one, and the outcome (both good and bad) leads to great golf. I really thought Ogilvy had the match in hand in the afternoon, but when he it some questionable shots, Stenson took advantage and hit some incredible shots of his own.

If there was one difference between watching these guys compared to the American players, it appears (and I could be wrong) that they’re not afraid of making an agressive putting stroke, and then deal with the consequences after the fact. I wouldn’t say they were fearless putters, but they’re also not afraid of making a committed stroke either. Stenson, on more than one occasion, started walking towards the hole before the ball was halfway there, knowing full well he made the putt. It wasn’t a cocky or arrogant gesture, just one of extreme confidence.

And it also appears we will be seeing more of Henrik Stenson as he’s committed to playing at least 15 PGA tournaments this year, and that can only mean good things for the PGA Tour.

It’s not a surprise to me (except for the fact that Tiger’s out), but the European/International players have dominated this year’s Accenture Match Play Championship in Tuscon. Chad Campbell was the lone American left in the semi-finals but he choked his way out of the tourament and lost to defending U.S. Open Champion Geoff Ogilvy. In the other semi-final, Henrik Stenson buried Trevor Immelman 3 & 2, but the match wasn’t really that close.

This could have been the Ryder Cup matches because the International players seem to just pull out all the stops when it comes to match play, and they leave nothing in the bag. It’s not that the American players aren’t trying, or don’t care, they just don’t pull off that clutch putt or chip when they really need it. Stenson made a couple of bombs today and while the odds were against him making them, it just wasn’t all that surprising that he did. Chad Campbell actually had the tournament in his grasp at one point, but Ogilvy is like a bulldog and just keeps coming and doesn’t get all out of sorts when he’s behind.

It’s pretty much anyone’s match tomorrow and I have no idea who the favorite might be. Both Stenson and Ogilvy are putting extremely well and you need to do that in match play. I’d probably give the edge to Ogilvy simply because he’s the defending champion.

Okay, we can put the Tiger Woods streak to bed now. Woods lost to Nick O’Hern today in overtime no less at the Accenture Match Play tournament in Tuscon. Woods made some horrendous swings today and ended up putting himself in dire situtations that even he couldn’t get himself out of. However, I think this will bode well for Tiger simply because he can concentrate on winning majors again and not worry about all the hoopla surrounding the “streak”. I’m still picking Phil to win the Masters, but this loss might light a major fire in Tiger’s belly and motivate him even more to win at Augusta.

The LPGA continues its stay in Hawaii and after the second round, Stacy Prammanasudh leads the Fields Open in Oahu. Morgan Pressel is only two back after a great round of 65. Pressel is playing more consistently this year and is showing up on or near the leaderboard more often than last. If she can get her emotions in check, then she’ll definitely be a force on the LPGA tour.

Also, is it just me, or does it seem that when the Golf Channel is broadcasting LPGA tournaments, all it takes is for Prammanasudh to sniff the leaderboard, and she gets tons of tv time. I started noticing this last year and towards the end of the year, it seemed that the Golf Channel was almost seeking her out when she wasn’t in contention. Maybe her father sits on the board of the directors of the Golf Channel?

When I first saw this headline today on numerous websites, I thought it was a parody or joke of some kind. As it turns out, a lawsuit has been filed on Zoeller’s behalf, but it’s complicated. Allegedly, someone posted defamatory information about Zoeller on the communal encyclopedia, Wikipedia. In a nutshell, Wikipedia is an online encylopedia by everyone and for everyone. Literally. Virtually anyone can edit a definition on the site to enhance or clarify something that’s already been written. Great in concept, but has it’s drawbacks.

As you can tell from Zoeller’s Wikipedia entry, it provides lots of detail about Zoeller and his career that appears to be accurate at first glance (though I haven’t verified any of the information). But without any sort of validation or editing for legal liabilities, I’m surprised this kind of thing hasn’t happened more often. I’ve used Wikipedia in the past, but mainly for topics related to music, but even at that I take some of what I’ve read with a grain of salt, simply because of its free-for-all type of contributions.

In any case, Zoeller’s lawsuit isn’t being filed against Wikipedia, but rather against the company who owns the I.P. address of the computer that was used to post the defamatory content. Because it’s fairly easy to spoof an I.P. address, all it takes is a lawyer that understands how today’s technology works, and it’s possible this could get thrown out of court. But it does beg the question: should the owners of an I.P. range be held liable and accountable for content that is posted to the Internet? I think we’re just scratching the surface on these type of legal issues as they pertain to online content.

[Note: the picture is from Fuzzy and Tiger's happier times. ]

Anything can and does happen during match play, it’s still surprising to see Ernie Els on the way out of the Accenture Match Play Championship already. Bradley Dredge (Euro Tour) ousted Els 4 and 2 and it wasn’t as close as the score indicates. Give credit to Dredge (who’s an excellent golfer) because he just kept the pressure on and when Els’ putter failed him, it was Dredge’s match to take.

Tiger won his match against J.J. Henry, but it really could have gone either way. Woods sprayed the ball a couple of times but ended up with pretty good lies in the desert and allowed him to hit decent approach shots. I think Henry choked on a couple of putts that would have won holes and possibly put more pressure on Tiger, but J.J. couldn’t find consistency with the flat stick.

And Stephen Ames was on the opposite side of a lopsided match this year. Last year Woods trampled Ames 9 and 8 because of some ill-advised comments he made about Tiger, but this year Ames ran all over Robert Karlsson 8 and 7. It’s good to see Ames play well here because last years thrashing could have left scars.

There’s lots of golf left and it’s still too early to make a prediction.

Okay, I’ll say up front, before the WGC Match Play event this week that Tiger’s streak is null and void, regardless of the outcome of this tournament. There are so many debates on his streak and now it’s getting nauseous just reading all the variations and hype surrounding his streak. Some say that the streak is null and void because it crossed calendar years, unlike Byron Nelson’s, the measuring stick for all winning streaks.

Tiger is actually trying to win his 8th straight PGA Tour event. Now, one could get picky and say that while the WGC Event this week is a PGA Tour event, it shouldn’t count because it’s not medal play. However, my take is that the streak ended when he lost in the first round of the World Match Play event in England last fall. And Woods then finished second in China, second in Japan, and a tie for 3rd in Dubai. All great finishes for Woods, but he didn’t win.

Assume for a minute that Major Leage Baseball was worldwide back when Joe DiMaggio had his hitting streak, and that part of that streak occured in say Japan or Puerto Rico, and let’s say he went hitless in one of those countries. Would that have mattered? I think so, because it was Major League Baseball and the rules are the same no matter where you play.

The same principle applies to Woods’ situtation. I’m as big a fan of Tiger’s as their is, but let’s put this streak to rest and just enjoy the golf he’s playing right now.

You’da thunk Phil lost the U.S. Open again, at least based on the beating he’s taking today on various golf sites. I watched the same golf tournament as everyone else, but I didn’t see the total meltdown that everyone is seeing. Yes, Phil hit a couple of loose shots coming in, and yes that stubbed chip shot on the green was way out of the ordinary, but give Charles Howell III some credit as well. Howell III shot a 65 on a tough golf course, while paired with Phil Mickelson! Howell III put himself in position to win, which is all you can ask of yourself, come Sunday afternoon, only this time he closed the deal. And the stats for Mickelson are a little suprising when you really break them down.

Mickelson is driving the ball more accurate this year (63% vs. 58%), and he’s 8th in overall putting. Actually, that putting stat surprises me because he looks like a train wreck sometimes over anything less than 5 feet. And even more suprising, he’s ranked 127th when scrambling from the rough, and 152nd when scrambling from over 30 yards. Scrambling used to be his bread-and-butter shot and save for Tiger, no one was better than Phil when it came to getting up and down.

However, a real glaring red flag is that Mickelson is ranked 145th when playing the par 3s this year. Ouch. To put that in perspective, he’s a collective 9 over par on par 3s, a collective 3-under on par 4s, and a collective 51-under on par 5s. With Augusta looming on the horizon, he’ll definitely need to fix his par 3 issues or the 12th and 16th holes will eat him up on Sunday at the Masters.