Here’s a laugh for the day…I couldn’t remember which tournament was replaced by the PODS event. It was clear that Honda moved al otro lado de la calle to PGA National from Mirasol. I always liked the quirky bounces at Mirasol, so that’s a minus. The Copperhead course at Innisbrook, though, is a great addition to the Spring, so that brings us back to even. Bay Hill elicits ambivalence from me…the course is really an uninspired Palmer course…unlike Jack learning from Tom Doak, no one ever taught the King anything new about course design, so he ... full post »

In the most unfortunate of dualities, Tim Finchem’s Dad passed away last week, linking him with Tiger Woods in a bittersweet bond. Unlike the world-recognized passing of Earl Woods, Harold Finchem’s departure has elicited two and three-paragraph stories at most. Newly announced is the return to the nation’s capital of the PGA Tour. The Tiger Woods foundation will back a July tournament, with details to be announced March 7th. For all the public back-and-forth between T and T, there is a simbiotic relationship between the two that runs quite deep. Like dueling radio hosts, T and T ... full post »

If you’ve never been behind a booth at a golf show, you just might read on. If you’ve been behind a booth at a golf show, you just might commiserate. If you’ve never been to a golf show, you just might be enlightened. Let me tell you about Day One at the Buffalo-Niagara Golf Show, the second in the Upstate New York Golf Show series. The show ran from nine to seven in the Buffalo Convention Center, and included some 75 booths, which isn’t too bad for western New York in Winter. I was there ... full post »

In a release from no one in particular that has yet to be posted on Wikipedia, Fred Funk has retired from the Champions Tour. He will spend his days on the Mexican Riviera, where he currently leads the Mayakoba Golf Classic on the PGA Tour. Funk fired eight birdies and ten bogies on Thursday to open up a two-shot lead over four lesser-known Tour golfers (Beckman, Weekley, Mcneill and Merrick) Funk has joined a local apparel league, where he learned to sew new patterns with native fibers (see evidence below…) Fred has also been active in a local seniors’ dance ... full post »

The golf industry show is taking place as you read in Anaheim. Whether it’s sexy or not, I have no idea. I used the term as a loss leader, to get you in my store. Here is what I know about the show, courtesy of the PR people at Robert Trent Jones II (more on them later): ***They have a taped television highlight feed…click it here. ***This show involves all the behind-the-scenes people in golf… clubhouse builders, golf course architects, practice facility folks, pruners, real estate people, insurance types, and the list goes on. While the PGA show might be ... full post »

I have a buddy who runs a major championships pool. Four times a year we pick ten guys (only three of the big four allowed) and try to get seven to the weekend. My chum aligns everyone in teams of three, and pays out team and individual each day. For an extra in, you play the season-long overall championship. I’ve cleaned up and I’ve been cleaned out over the course of the past four seasons. From what they tell me, since the entire pot gets paid back, it’s perfectly legal (anyone care to comment?) The reason ... full post »

I’ve been mortifying to write this blog entry, since I take a different cue from what happened to Phlabby Phil on Sunday. The way I see it, the playoff win was much more important for C3PO than was the playoff loss for PM. Here’s my reasoning: CH3 has been on a crapper streak, beginning just after he was annointed to be a future partner for El Tigre in world team match competition (remember their pairing in the Copa El Presidente a few years back?) With this victory, Chuck Ho’s place on the 2007 PCup team is ... full post »

Another quickie for the cialis set…If you ever devalued the importance of wedges in golf, study up on Andy Bean’s final round at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am on the Champs Tour. It might have been two consecutive holes where the behemoth had, respectively, 69 and 85 yards in. In the first situation, he bombed it over the stick, had about 30 feet left, and two putted for par. For the second, he left it short, sucked it off the green, and barely made par. The coup de grace, however, took place on the next hole, where ... full post »

Here’s a quickie for all you Viagra fans…Watch Annika, Jeff or Bill to figure out how to swing a golf club. Each one of these three is so relaxed through the ball, the point at which we amateurs usually tense up and gag. Quinney had such great success real early because his swing was so fluid. He seems to be a proponent of the Annika theory of LET it all turn through, even the head. Murray just stuck a short iron on a windy par three to about eight feet with the same type of STAY ... full post »

If the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open is not my favorite golf tournament name, please tell me what is! All right, I’ll “Enjoy Jakarta,” but please tell me what the name of the Jetson’s Dog is doing in the title! No matter. Mikko Ilonen stole the title from Frankie Minoza with solid if unspectacular play. A hole-72 bogie made it closer than it appeared. Aussie rook Andrew Tampion was tied with Ilonen on the ultimate fairway, but made bogie with to fall into a two-place tie. Kind of like Morgan Pressel in Hawaii, Tampion will be ... full post »

Recently, the aged and daft Will Wolfrum insinuated that I rarely link to other pages, blogs, etc. I cannot deny nor confirm that allegation, so I will move on to the business at hand. Paula Creamer has returned to the winner’s circle on the LPGA Tour. The Pink Panther turned in a one-stroke victory over the hottest hispanic on tour, Julieta Granada of Paraguay. It seems that poor, land-locked Paraguay turns out one champion golfer a decade (Carlos Franco owned the 90s), and JG is it. Back to Creamer…after an expected fall-off during her sophomore season on ... full post »

I’ve noticed something lately on the Sports Illustrated website. Michael Bamberger, Alan Shipnuck, John Garrity, and others have supplied the Golf section with multiple articles. The regularity of their postings is cause for alarm only in a cynical world, much like the one I inhabit. Throughout most of 2006, the only reporter with regular postings was Gary Van Sickle, whose recent video appearances reveal that his on-site photo is at least ten years old. That has nothing to do with his writings, albeit a bit with his personal vanity. My conclusion: Sports Illustrated is wary. ... full post »

Al Shipnuck just cannot get off my radar, otherwise known as my s-list. Talk about dangling an unreachable carrot in front of a braying, drooling donkey! Here he is this week, writing about the Phoenix PGA Tour Stop’s collision next year with the NFL’s Super Bowl…"you owe it to yourself to go” is his message. Imagine trying to get a hotel room, a tee time, heck, even a dinner reservation, in any of the places that AS dangles in his article. Do you think, AS, that the visiting NFL folk will reserve the living bleep out of the ... full post »

I am astonished at how many grumpy pusses I see while watching PGATour.Com’s “Live At 7″ feature on the web. I’ve watched for two days, and can testify that very few amateurs leave that green with a smile. Let’s assess: you are playing in the best pro-am in the world, with the best players in the world, on the best course in the world. You are even live on camera. Who cares if you make four, five or six? If someone paid the freight for me, I guarantee that two or twelve, I’d be ... full post »

“4. The concept of “earning it” Michelle Wie was offered yet another special exemption, this time to the Dinah Shore. Wouldn’t it be nice if one of these days Wie actually played her way into the field of an important tournament?” Al Shipnuck, earth to Al Shipnuck…Imagine that the Nabisco is the LPGA Masters championship. Anyone finishing in the top (what is it, 16?) gets a gilded envelope for the next year’s event. Since Wie finished T3 last year at the Tournament Formerly Known As Dinah Shore, she deservedly received a return invite. NOTE TO READERS: I like ... full post »