Miguel Carballo…John Kimbell…Jay Williamson…Chris Riley…Daniel Summerhays…Tom Scherrer…Franklin Langham…Brad Adamonis If you can guess what these guys have in common, in addition to vowels, consonants, and good golf swings, then you are me. What they have in common are two things (minimum). The first is that they have all won tournaments on the Nationwide Tour this year. The second is that a victory is not enough to get them into the top 25, good for a PGA Tour card in 2008. To be fair, no one knows where Riley spends his weekends, while Summerhays’ victory money didn’t count, ... full post »

Aquaman has the perfect outerwear sponsor in Zero Restriction. The press release came through today, and you could see it coming from at least a mile. Woody Austin signed with Zero Restriction, the company that kept him dry during his cliff dive at the Presidents Cup last month. Here are a pair of quotes from the release: “The best outerwear on earth,” Austin says about ZERO RESTRICTION. “Swing freely, stay dry and never have to worry?what an advantage when you need it.” “I’m very happy to be a part of the ZERO RESTRICTION team,” says Austin, who finished 17th in points ... full post »

Two fantastic 63s took place on a Saturday around the world. Suzann Pettersen’s star is rising at an unbelievable rate, and the 9-birdie round she tossed at Laura Davies, Paula Creamer, and Annika Sorenstam goes a long way toward placing her as co-1 with Lorena Ochoa. Davies and Creamer tossed 66s, a score that used to mean something, and got dusted by three by the Norwegian. On the Nationwide tour, a young player with a classic name slapped nine birdies and a bogey on the board for his 63. Marc Turnessa opened up a five-stroke advantage ... full post »

All it took was one read of a Sarah Turcotte blog post to make me hurl. I’d just finished reading Dottie Pepper’s vicious missive to BJ and Bo Wie (and applauding old Dottie, mind you), when I stumbled onto this fodder from Turcotte. Here’s the tease for the series: Sarah Turcotte is an associate editor for ESPN the Magazine. This is her first foray into pro golf. Turcotte is working some sort of a day job with ESPN, preventing her from actually playing golf: I’m not going to lie. I love the driving range. I’ve always been a fantastic range player. ... full post »

There is an interesting blog entry on Geoff Shackelford’s site about Torrey Pines. Seems some feel that the Open Doctor, Rees Jones, committed malpractice on his re-do. To them I say, simply, shut up. When the Black course at Bethpage was toughend for the 2002 Open, the Right coast cheered and said, simply, bring it on. Left coast, toughen up. Embrace the impossibility of the challenge, and say, simply, I challenged the South, as we say, I challenged the Black. xoxoxoxo, RonMon full post »

A lovely Ph.D. has penned an article titled “Spelling out the steps Michelle Wie must take to succeed.” The nucleus of the article is a mneumonic device, in the form of the acronym FORWARD, and isn’t life just tidy! This sweet tidiness is what BJ and Mrs. BJ Wie have tried to make out of Michelle’s life, to no avail. Sad, isn’t it? Although some of Ph.D. Silby’s points are salient enough, stooping to the acronym leaves a bad aftertaste. The most appropriate point is WIN, no matter what level. Go to the Future’s ... full post »

You might be astonished to learn that no major publishing house has approached me on what I’m about to reveal. You might be chagrined to learn that I picked up the information on my own, with a wee bit of help from the players (girls and boys) that I coach in paradise (western New York.) I’ve put together a great succession of ball-striking rounds from Heaven, and deemed that the preparation and changes invested in my game have borne fruit. I therefore wish to share what I have learned over the past eight months with you. 1/ ... full post »

I know two things about the LPGA Tour in these here United States of America. The first is that a terrific relationship of symbiotic proportions is developing ‘twixt Lorena Ochoa and Suzann Pettersen. SP blasted a -8 today to close to a stroke off La Mexicana. Ochoa is -4 on the day, doing what great players do and preserving consistency (68, 67, and probable 68.) Sunday should offer a memorable battle between two players, with a trio of Korean stars prepared to capitalize from a pithy two strokes behind Ochoa. The second item that barks at ... full post »

Beloved by the masses in the player’s own country, a gifted ball striker with the ability to go very low, an unsettling penchant for blowing up on the final hole, the final nine, the final whatever! Arnold Palmer or Lorena Ochoa or both? Ochoa’s senior year in college was an undefeated one (she won every individual portion of every tournament) until the NCAA finals. A few years back, she had the US Women’s Open in her hip pocket until she smother-hooked a ball into the pond on the 18th at Cherry Hill and offered the event to then-amateur Morgan ... full post »

There are no ides of October; that was just a tease to draw in the Shakespearean crowd. If there were, they’d take place with greater proximity to the 15th of the month. As the PGA tours draw their legitimate seasons to a close, this week makes for great viewing. Here’s the smorgasboard: In Vegas, the Frys.Com Open leads the US PGA Tour, while the Champs hombres head to Texas for the Administaff Small Biz Classic. The Nationwide dudes are also in the Lone Star state for the WNB Classic, while the Ladies of the PGA ... full post »

The same week that the LPGA unveiled a sporty new logo, two fine players went into a sudden-death playoff at the Longs Drug Classic in lovely California. It was the fourth playoff of the week on the major tours, following sudden-death decisions on the European Challenge, PGA, and Nationwide tours. As I followed breathlessly the tense moments of these extra-time affairs, I was able to see stroke-by-stroke playoff results from Europe and Texas. To date, I have been saddened by the fact that the LPGA has not created a functionality to display playoff information. ... full post »

There he was, having birdied three in a row, about to reduce Nick Dougherty to a puddle of Faldo, and the wee mon, the little man on his shoulder, smacked Ernie upside the head. Triple-bogey, bogey, and two holes later, Ernie is done. Great article by Ernie this month in GD on how to drive the ball far. Surprisingly, we never seem to get any mental-game articles from the big easy. How far OB did that drive on 15 at St. Andrews’ Old Course go? I cannot imagine him making triple from IB (in bounds). Whooops…Justin Rose just ... full post »

If you’re a Bandon Dunes addict, as I am, you cannot get enough of the southern Oregon coastal enclave with the three (soon to be four) vibrant courses. This week, Trip Kuehne validated his championship performances in USGA team events in Ireland (Walker Cup)and Texas (State Team Championship) with a scalding march to the trophy at the men’s Mid-Amateur Championship. In his unbalanced, 9 & 7 victory over co-medalist Dan Whitaker of Washington state, Kuehne made five birdies and zero bogies over the 29 holes needed to resolve the match. Eerily similar to his long-ago championship loss ... full post »