I won’t jinx King Louis, as the Sunshine Tour headline reads, by making any predictions nor proclamations. I will ask you, though, to consider these staggering numbers from a few days at Johannesburg Country Club: 28 strokes below par on rounds of 66-63-66-65 14-stroke margin of victory beyond Hennie Otto’s second place number. 4 bogeys 1 eagle 30 birdies 37 pars King Louis made 10 birdies in his 63 against 1 bogey, saving his eagle for the final hole of round 3. Do you remember Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez placing second to Tiger Woods in the 2000 U.S. Open? Ernie and Miguel ... full post »

Boo Weekley Stewart Cink Woody Austin Jonathan Byrd Three of the four played for the Prez Cup team last Fall in Montreal. J-Byrd is lightning in a bottle…hasn’t seen the fifteenth tee in two days. Ignore Howell III and Toms…Worst early match…Mahan-Stricker. These two Prez cup stalwarts deserved at least a quarter-final showdown. ********************************************************************** Don’t Forget to purchase Bob Labbance’s new book, The Life and Work of Wayne Stiles by going here. ********************************************************************** Let’s see, Philly Mick is out, as is Adam Scott. The purge continues. Two #1 seeds left (Tigger and Strick), no #2s left, calling #3s?!?!?! Only two of those (Veej and ... full post »

In the least surprising upset of all time, Jonathan Byrd won three holes WITH PAR to defeat Ernie {{The Eagle}} Els, 6 and 5. Although a #16 seed has never defeated a #1 in the men’s NCAA hoops tournament, Byrd had the key against Els. We might have two, if J.B. Holmes holds on against Tiger Woods. That would pave the road for Philly Mick. Stay tuned. ************************************************************************* Don’t forget to purchase Bob Labbance new book, The Life and Work of Wayne Stiles. All proceeds go to a college fund for Bob’s children. Bob was recently ... full post »

If Wayne Stiles were a drugged-out, Hollywood star, a book on his exploits might put Bob Labbance’s kids through college. If Wayne Stiles were a highly-inked professional athlete with anger management issues and a record of crime, a tome on his transgressions might put Bob Labbance’s offspring through college. Wayne Stiles is neither of those; he’s a long-gone architect who gave us Taconic Golf Club at Williams College, among many other, golden-age courses. Bob Labbance has given us some 15 books on golf and golf course architecture, among them The Old Man, on the golfing life of ... full post »

Sitting around as the world melts down around me, I ponder warmer climes. A rare, unique thought occurs to me: what if Mike Strantz had been selected by Mike Kaiser to work on the first or second courses at Bandon Dunes. What glacial layout, what burning bunkers, what exploding mounds would we have discussed for the past six to nine years? On record as having been thrilled beyond consciousness with Kidd and Doak (and Coore/Crenshaw, for that matter) at Bandon, I still wonder what craziness Mike Strantz might have derived from the lands of the Coos tribe. ... full post »

One of the perquisites that comes with bumping out a weekly e-newsletter is the need to follow all the golf tours of the world. The Sunshine Tour is a tour seldom viewed by the USA golfing public (and who knows, perhaps by Europe and Asia as well?) It is producing not only some terrific, early-season golf, but a fresh look at web coverage as well. Today, for example, Adilson da Silva of Brasil led the Vodacom Championship by one stroke with three holes to play. Three holes later, da Silva had parred in … and lost by two. ... full post »

I like Jeff Quinney. His preshot routine looks like a bird with a broken wing going back, and looks nothing like his actual stroke. It reminds me of Billy Mayfair a few years back with that traditional putting rehearsal, then BAM, the outside-in stroke. With Quinney, though, it goes from bad to good, whereas with Billy, it was 180 degrees the other way (shockingly, no YouTube video on Billy.) Quinney aced the 6th (the donut green at Riviera) yesterday, picking up a stroke on Mickelson, who birdied. Q. is one back going into Sunday, and merits a ... full post »

In a banal article devoid of intentional hilarity, GolfWeek’s Adam Schupak inadvertently gave me a chuckle for the 24 with the following elaboration: In 2002, the Carlsbad, Calif.-based equipment maker acquired Maxfli and its patent portfolio (for urethane balls). TaylorMade, however, struggled to rejuvenate the venerable, but tired brand. To make matters worse, the inexpensive Maxfli Noodle ball – while commercially successful – cheapened Maxfli’s once-premium reputation. Maxfli’s once-premium reputation? Step off! Not since the 1960s, lad. I was born in the 1960s, so most of those who remember Maxfli’s once-premium reputation are checking out babes and studs in ... full post »

That headline WILL NOT garner any google recognition, so I’ll probably get a nasty email from my superiors…so be it. How do you fluff that one? I was splashing around GolfWeek.Com today and finally recognized an aversion to “Hate To Be Rude,” Jeff Rude’s column. I don’t dislike the material, just the title. I didn’t like “Riffs With Reilly,” either, when he was at SI. He doesn’t riff; riffing is for musicians. I don’t like cheap alliteration nor whoring for metaphoring. Don’t play little games with titles and nicknames, just to be cute. In ... full post »

Poor Alistair Tait. Poor pampered European tour professional golfers. By the look of things, they’ve just come to realize that poverty exists in the world. I’ve yet to figure out if Tait writes with naivete or with cynicism in his recent GW article titled “Point Of No Return: Lasting Images of first India aren’t good.” Tait calls the Euro tour administration on the carpet for exposing touring professionals to the first-rate poverty of a developing country. India might have nuclear weapons and most of the USA’s help-call business, but it clearly has way too much underpriviledge ... full post »

I WANT TO SEE THIS MATCH! I was OK with Pat Perez v. Tiger Woods, but I am so down with Kim V. Woods that I implore/beg all other entrants to stay freaking healthy (although I know it won’t happen.) I cannot imagine a more enjoyable match with potential for an upset. Kim can bang out birdies, but he must keep his mouth shut in the lead-in interim. If he sleeps through the first fourteen and makes 11 birdies, he might have the lead. With all the press on Jason Day this year, people are ... full post »

Thanks be to Vijay, who confirmed that no one wants the title of #2 anymore (just ask Barack or Hillary…) Vijay resurrected then returned to the dead with a playoff loss to Steve Lowery on Sunday. In the last eight days, Ernie gave away a title to Tiger, Phil gave away a playoff to J.B. Holmes, and Vijay pitched one to the less-than-threatening, no-I-cannot-hit-a-draw-to-save-my-life Steve Lowery. I like Lowery; he’s a cross between Lumpy and Charlie…sort of a pudgy surfer dude, although not carved like Kelly Slater, for sure. Hits that cut shot like he’s breathing ... full post »

Remember how difficult (ultimately impossible) it was for Mike Weir to win the Canadian Open a few years back? He received a bear hug from an over-zealous, over-drunk fan that ultimately proved injurious, then lost to Vijay Singh in a playoff. The Indian Masters of 2008 began in similar fashion, as Jyoti Randhawa exploded out of the tee blocks with minus-seven effort of 65 for a two-stroke lead. Randhawa went the way of many with a nation’s (or perhaps a self-imposed) burden and never again visited the 60s. He finished in a tie for 22nd place. ... full post »

Both number two candidates of the week botched chances to make a statement. Phil Mickelson overtook J.B. Holmes, then lost to J.B. in a playoff at the Loud Open in Phoenix. Ernie Els failed to make birdies and received tread marks on his back, courtesy of the putter formerly known as Eldrick. Since no one takes Ian Poulter seriously, including Ian Poulter, we can now eliminate three candidates from the mix for the present. Any fresh meat for the slaughter? full post »