Jerry Pate won today. Not always the most humble guy, he was Payne Stewart before Payne was Payne, and long after Payne stopped being Payne (you follow me?) Old Jerry is one of the few old gassers to have his own website (make clicko here.) However, the win is still pretty cool, especially after last year, when he barfed away a Champs Tour win with a final-hole ball dunking. Michael Bamberger, part-time tour interventionist, seems to be quite elated for Pate. Bamberger praises Jerry’s diving style, even if Pate falls a bit short of Greg Louganis. ... full post »

Jerry Kelly looks like a young Jack Nicholson in his PGA tour dot com mugshot. That’s saying quite a lot about Nicholson’s age, as Kelly is 39 years young! However, this blog is not in praise of Jerry Kelly, but rather, to bury him. I don’t care if he wins this week or not, and he’s currently tied with another under-achieving w(h)iner (get it? w(h)iner!!), Duffy Waldorf. I used to like both these guys, but they just don’t seem to want to win enough for me. Scratch that. Rewrite. Duffy doesn’t want ... full post »

I can’t help but equate his scorecards to a horrific collision of vehicles. They changed his picture on PGAtour.com, but Bowditch’s scores are still as menacing as his former mug shot. Consider this: First Round at Tucson … four birdies, four bogeys, not so bad. The cut will be at -4, so a 68 will get you through to Saturday. Wait, add in a double, a triple and a quad. That’s right, 8 on the par four ninth, 7 on the par four sixteenth, and 6 on the par four 18th. What demons have bewitched ... full post »

Lee, Lee and Wie. Easier to pronounce, if less fun, than Nirapathpongporn or Wonglukiet. There she was, putting on a charge in the style of Joanne Carner or Arnold Palmer. Five under for her first twelve holes, near the lead, and Michelle Wie could not shake Meena Lee (Or Lee Meena, if you will.) Wie made a pivotal bogey on the par five thirteenth, where both Meena and Seon Hwa birdied (two-stroke swing). It’s hard to critique your one mistake for the round, but when Meena makes none (five birdies and a 9-Wood-hole-out for eagle ... full post »

Update # 4 … All is said and done. Geoff beat Davis and Zach beat Tom. The #1 who surprised me the most was Retief. I thought that he would be the first # 1 out, and he was the last one standing. Match play truly is a window into the soul (more on that in my next blog!) I thought this one was a great event, with lots of eagles on par 5s and 4s. Lots of birdie streaks (Tiger, DiMarco, et al.) Update # 3…The up-down match of the tournament is Weir vs. ... full post »

1. The comportment of the fans at Riviera was embarassing. Since when do golf fans root against someone? I know, I know. Monty and Mrs. Doubtfire, Sergio and the Counting Fans at Bethpage. That’s all well and good when it’s the Ryder Cup, but for heaven’s sake, don’t mock, jeer or insult a player trying to win an event. That’s like hockey parents trying to relive their failed careers through their kids, except the fans aren’t even related to the players. 2. Jeff Rude finally wrote the blog I’ve been dying to write. ... full post »

Over the last few years, I’ve become a fan of a healthy little golf mystery series. Dr. Roberta Isleib invented a terrific character named Cassie Burdette, a struggling young golf professional with a penchant for involvement in murder-related mysteries. I don’t wish to bore you with details nor give away plot structure, so I suggest you read the books yourself. Dr. Isleib, a clinical psychologist by trade, knows both the human mind and the golf game beyond well, and does the requisite research (to supplement her training) to flesh out the books. The latest tome arrived yesterday. It’s ... full post »

Not since the days of Greg Norman has Cobra had a winner on tour. Back in the late 1980s, the Shark purchased the company and set about driving it to the heavens of popularity. After its sale to American Brands, and later to Acushnet, Cobra was relegated to second-class status, andits recognition and stock fell to the basement. The great thing is, JB walks the walk on this one. He’s not just carrying the bag, wearing the hat, or playing different sticks while “waiting” for the company to develop a “signature” club for him. He had the ... full post »

I can’t even wait until Monday for this one. Playing on a past champion/current announcer/GaryMcCordLookAlike exemption, Roger Maltbie snuck his way into the ATT field this week and teed it up Thursday at Spyglass Hill. He played like Steven Bowditch’s mentor. Here’s the card: Six bogies Two doubles Five birdies Five pars Hold on a second … five birdies? Maltbie made five birdies and still shot five over? Wait, it gets better. Three of his bogies were on par five holes. Holes that even the most ancient of pros expect to birdie, and Roger Dodger played them like ... full post »

If you hang around golf enough, you’ll find enough stories to break your heart. Hanging around the European Tour site, I followed a link to the co-sanctioned (Tour de las Americas and Euro Challenge Tour) event in Costa Rica, the Kai Fieberg Costa Rican Open. The event would have eventually been named for Kai Fieberg in life, given all that he did to promote the championship. Tragically, the event will now bear his name forever, in homage to yet another man who died too young. For each Eli Callaway, who makes it to a ripe old age and passes on, ... full post »

Dave Vivolo is not a big name in the world of golf. He is the golf coach at Robert Louis Stevenson School, best know for giving us the Firestone guy on one of those Bachelor seasons, and head pro at Monterey Peninsula Country Club, the Cypress Point of the Monterery Peninsula (wait a second, let me think that one over.) He also has a mouth that runneth over. In an article of late, he is quoted as saying about Mina Harigae: “I think she could beat most women in the world right now, on any stage, ... full post »

Has anyone else noticed the softening of Tiger Woods’ intimidating red shirts on Sunday? Gone from Sunday at San Diego were the rubines and the deep maroons. Disappeared from Dubai were the carmines and crimsons that triumphed in major championships of yore. Maybe, just maybe, the softer reds (some call this one ’salmon’) are the influence of his lovely wife. Perhaps, just perhaps, he is so darned intimidating that he doesn’t need the powerful scarlets and falus that remind his opponents that he is out for blood. Just a thought on a boring Monday morning. full post »

Only three names drive the golf media triangle into hyperspace: Woods, Wie, and Daly. Wie’s failings on the men’s tours, coupled with Daly’s failings in life, attract vicarious attention like no other news items. To dispense with the vice, this blog is not about Wie or Daly. I’ve been watching the European Tour site for the last hour for any results in the Woods-Els playoff. Initially, Ernie’s name was on top, but now it looks like Tiger has seized the upper hand of victory. Yes, Tiger has won. The update just arrived. The news is so ... full post »

Shigeki Maruyama, John Senden, Brett Quigley, Bob Tway, Nicholas Thompson and Rod Pampling made the cut on the line Friday in Scottsdale. Ten other guys, including Pavin, Lehman, and Mayfair, missed the cut by a stroke. Six guys get to play for more cash this weekend, while ten others replay the last three holes, wondering what might have happened. Interesting Facts: –Campbell and Maruyama birdied the 36th hole to get into the low 72 and ties. If either one bogeys, 71 are at -1, and the other ten mentioned above play the weekend. –After three bogeys in 8 holes, Quigley ... full post »

Check out Tiger’s first 36 holes in Dubai. They are curious for the following reasons: –Tiger has made 12 birdies and 2 eagles, yet is “only” eleven under par. –Tiger is an aggregate +1 for the 18th hole. Nothing extraordinary if … it weren’t a par five! When is the purr-fect one EVER over par for a par five? –Tiger pitched a double bogey and two singles against his eight birdies and eagle in round two. You want roller-coaster excitement? Watch the last two rounds of the Dubai and see if Tiger can settle down and ... full post »

If you want to read the GQ article, I’ll give you a link at the end. In the meantime, Let’s remember who is calling whom what. Professional golfers are not noted for their selflessness. Nor for that matter are professional athletes. Gandhi wasn’t a pro, but he was a heck of a man … same goes for Mother Theresa, except she was a woman. People who dedicate themselves to singular pursuits are bound to anger many, especially those who have the same pursuits. I do love the nickname FIGJAM (read about it in the ... full post »

Mianne Bagger is in the hunt after one round of the ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia. I know that it’s only one round, and she is three strokes off the lead. The fact that she used to be a guy, however, mashes the Michelle Wie controversies (I won’t even link this one!) into small potatoes. What if Bagger wins? Certainly Baldwin will be tongue-tied (or is it keyboard-tied?) Tiger is near the top again in Dubai. Only trouble is, so are Jamie Donaldson, Richard Green, and Ross Bain. I just don’t know how ETW keeps ... full post »

Many have tried to define, nay, to explain the source of Tiger’s tiger. All have failed. Until now. I choose to reveal this history at the dawn of Tiger’s quest for greatness, the Grand Slam of 2006. When Tiger was but a cub, his mother dipped him in a Thai river called the xyts (pronounced ‘zits.’) She held him by his third toe on the left foot, so the only vulnerable part of his physique is … you guessed it, the middle toe. Another version of the story describes Tiger’s venture into a circular 99-hole golf maze. ... full post »

Bangkok Al is batting .500 this week, which will get him into the Major League Baseball hall of fame. He is on the mark with his assessment of Thongchai Jaidee, but DEAD WRONG on his vilification of The International, my favorite go-for-broke PGA Tour event on the schedule. In what other tournament can one swing on the seventeenth or eighteenth holes determine the outcome, as it can in The International? Remember how Rich Beem looked as Steve Lowery was sizing up a two-point birdie putt to overtake Beem? That was awesome emotion, Al! In the same way, match ... full post »