This just in: The European Solheim Cup Team has just announced that they will not acknowledge the U.S. victory until a key player—unbeaten rookie from Hawai’i Michelle Wie—can produce a long-form birth certificate. Laura Davies was the first Euro to raise the issue. “Is Hawai’i even in the U.S.?” she asked. “I’ve been watching FOX News a bit—which we all know is fair and balanced—and they seem to believe that it is not.” Suzann Pettersen, a native of Norway, also raised the issue, when she noted, “In Norway, we used to etch birth records into the shells of hollowed eggs. Can Michelle ... full post »

This is a tough call, and it’s going to make some folks angry, but I think Christina Kim is the Solheim Cup MVP – that is, if the matches keep going the way they are right now, and she wins her match to secure the critical 14th point. Kim just birdied the par-3 16th with a superb downhill six-footer. She and Tania Elosegui are now dormie. Kim’s tee shot hit a foot or so from the pin, and if it had gone in, I believe her head would have exploded. Not sure what the rules say about that sort of thing. Now, Michelle ... full post »

After coming close to pulling off a great veteran win, Julie Inkster found herself in a whole heap of trouble on 18. As her par pitch from the front of the green came up two feet short, she tumbled to the ground in some good-natured theater. When she picked herself up, she conceded the hole and halved the match with Gwladys Nocera. Class, from beginning to end. And, according to Inkster herself, this is her last Solheim Cup. “I’m not pulling a Brett Favre,” she quipped. Well…her last Solheim Cup as a player, that is. Inkster will be a great Captain someday. full post »

It’s still too close to call it at the 2009 Solheim Cup. Just take a look at the scoreboard in the media center… The U.S opened with two strong performances from Paula Creamer and Angela Stanford, and Michelle Wie is 1-up with one hole to go against Helen Alfredsson. Can Wie close it out?? full post »

When it comes to match play, gamesmanship is a critical weapon to have in your arsenal. Intimidation is the 15th club in the bag of many a great match play golfer. How does one go about intimidating without sacrificing sportsmanship? Well, one way is to knock approaches absolutely stiff. On the par-5 2nd hole at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois, Helen Alfredsson hit an excellent second shot to about four feet. Then Michelle Wie stepped up to her ball and fired a laser to three feet. Alfredsson missed her eagle putt by inches. Wie didn’t miss hers. Lose a ... full post »

Wandering through the crowds and players on the first few holes of the Solheim Cup at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois, I take no notebook with me, nor do I have any pre-set strategy. I’m simply soaking in the atmosphere like my liver soaking in vodka. One thing that strikes me about the fans is how well-coordinated the chants are, and how pep-rally-like the rally of “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” There are even leaders for all of these, some of whom are peppily spelling out the letters with their arms. The scattered European fans are understandably less numerous and more sedate, but ... full post »

I just arrived at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois, and am struck immediately by the throngs of fans and the pristine course. From what I saw of the layout in my long trudge from the wrong lot to the media center, it’s a bit of a curious design: random trees jutting up from carnival-ride fairways, amorphous greens that look almost specially designed for sucker-pin placement, and a pair of white swans in one of the water hazards that looked fake at first. As I trudged, I also eavesdropped on the fans streaming in. Over a half-dozen times I heard ... full post »

Round 3 of the Solheim Cup is in the books, and the Europeans have closed the gap. The teams are now tied at 6. The U.S. would be behind, in fact, if not for the only point won this morning: Michelle Wie and Christina Kim closed out Helen Alfredsson and Tania Elosegui 5 and 4. Just to be clear: Wie and Kim closed out the Euros in the opening match. They crushed them, and without that match, the U.S. would be down 7 to 5. OK. Can we now focus on the team and move past the tendency to shine spotlights on ... full post »

Well, the PGA Championship is half-over, and summer is all but done as well, what with kids heading back to school in a week or so and football season just a touch-pass away. Sigh… It makes one sit and ponder the inevitable march of time, the inexorable pull of the bracing current that carries us all, eventually, over the falls. And it makes me thirsty. What better way to rage, rage against the dying of summer’s light than by mixing up a few quintessential seasonal cocktails? The best summery drink I know of is the mojito, but these have recently become almost passé in ... full post »

My golf game is finally coming around a bit, but I’m still not where I’d like to be this late in the season. Fortunately, some great shirts from House of Carrington and Antigua keep me styling on the links. After all, it’s about how trim and chic the golfer looks, not about the beer gut forming on his handicap. The fine folks at Nivea caught wind of my swing troubles (and perhaps of something else) and kindly sent me a bottle of their new NIVEA For MEN Active 3 ($6 for 16.9 fl.oz.). This all-in-one wonder-scrub is a body wash, shampoo, ... full post »

Minnesota boasts more golfers per capita than any other state, and it is the only state to have hosted all 13 USGA championships. And during the precious six to seven months of the golf season, Minnesotans take every opportunity to hit the links, so the level of enthusiasm for the game is tough to top elsewhere in the country. So yesterday morning at 6:00 a.m., when Tiger Woods sauntered onto the practice range at 6:00 a.m., he shouldn’t have been surprised to be greeted by thousands of fans. And they were stacked up Sunday-deep at the first tee when Tiger teed ... full post »

I recently reviewed the Dynacraft Avatar XMOI driver by Hireko Golf, remarking in particular on the 48-inch Aldila NV shaft that came in the club they sent me. At the time of testing, my on-course game resembled the Hindenburg’s first and only flight to the U.S. So while I found the club to be massively long on the range, I didn’t have the confidence to unleash potentially wild tee shots on the heads of helpless, unsuspecting bystanders within a two-block radius of the course. And because I almost always test clubs both off and on the course, I felt guilty. Then I ... full post »

With my credit rating, I can’t get a Dollar Store credit card, much less an American Express Card. But golf fans fortunate enough to hold one of those magical plastic keys to the kingdom should consider heading out to the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National in Minnesota next weekend. The folks at AmEx just sent the following announcement my way: “[The] American Express Cardmember Club [will be] on-site right behind the 12th green. Cardmembers can enjoy great food, watch live TV coverage of the championship and book tee times through [an] on-site concierge. They’ll also have the chance to win ... full post »

One of my favorite semi-old Saturday Night Live characters was Billy Crystal’s Fernando, who hosted “Fernando’s Hideaway.” In it, he interviewed celebs, both real and impersonated, plying them with his smarmy over-the-top Latin charm. The catch phrase for the bit was, “You look mahvelous!” Crystal even put out a song by that title, which contained the line, “It’s better to look good than to feel good.” This summer, as I have struggled to find playing time and struggled even harder to find a consistent swing, I have not felt terribly good on the course. But thanks to some outstanding sartorial samples that have ... full post »

You know the feeling you get when you are watching a horror movie, and you just know that something bad is going to happen to the nice, cute, clueless girl as soon as she wanders away from the group? Well, as I was reading the opening chapters of “The Sure Thing” (ESPN/Ballentine, $25), that was the feeling that settled like an expanding ball of unbaked dough in the pit of my empathetic gut. Adelson was the first national reporter to write about Wie, and traces the arc of her early career with a keenly observant eye. Camp Wie is not exactly the ... full post »