We’re officially coming down the back stretch now and I’ve got one hand on the first place prize with a lead of over $896K in earnings. Just one problem, though. The team in second place has the potential to fly past me this week at the WGC-HSBC Champions event in China. Here’s the breakdown: Team Darth Vader (the second place guys) is comprised of Tiger Woods (1/2), Phil Mickelson (1/3), Lee Westwood and Paul Casey. Ouch! All four of them have played extremely well at this venue before. It could have been worse as they also have Angel Cabrera, but he ... full post »

To be honest, there’s not a lot of buzz surrounding the 2009 rendering of the Presidents Cup. The reason for the lack of pre-event excitement is because the American team appears to be a lead pipe cinch to win. I mean, seriously, is there anyone in the entire world who thinks this team competition will be close? But that does not mean that this will not be compelling television viewing. All those Tiger Woods fans who never watch golf if he is not playing will get a snoot full of the incomparable Mr. Woods. You just know that the television cameras ... full post »

Close your eyes and imagine that your boy Shanks here is Commissioner of the PGA Tour. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s a real stretch, but bear with me. I’d be going to those generous folks at FedEx with a better concept for their wildly lucrative FedEx Cup competition and here it is: operate it similarly to a longer version of the U.S. Amateur Championship. They would use their FedEx point system to determine the field over the season and also throughout the first three events (even though one event too many) but when it comes to the final Tour Championship event, ... full post »

“Let me get this straight. I just shot 65 on Sunday to win by three shots, while Tiger shot 69. But he gets $10 million and I get $1 million. No, he he he, I’m just joking.” That was Phil Mickelson’s response (paraphrased) to a post-round query of his thoughts on the FedEx Cup. Pretty funny, the way he pointed out the absurdity of the whole playoff system. I’m all for a playoff-style event but the only way the general public will consider this a true playoff is if two things happen: 1) Whoever is in first place has a chance ... full post »

There are two major problems with the FedEx Cup which all stem from this undeniable truth: it was contrived to bring about a finale to the season for a handful of star players who otherwise would have basically packed it in after the PGA Championship in August. The rank and file PGA Tour pros are patiently waiting for this to be over so they can get back to the business of either improving their standing on next years invitation lists, or just trying to secure their 2010 playing privileges. The first big problem with the FedEx Cup is that it’s one ... full post »

We should have seen this coming. Once again in a risk/reward scenario, Greg Norman has made a bold choice. To anyone familiar with his golfing career, this is what he does. There is one little problem with this philosophy. Greg Norman is no Arnold Palmer. Hell, he’s not even a Phil Mickelson. Those two guys could pull it off enough to justify taking the chance. Norman, well, he turned into the Loser of Destiny almost every time. When the Captain of the International Team in the upcoming Presidents Cup announced his first of two wild card selections – Japanese 17-year-old Ryo ... full post »

Ford’s Colony Rocky Mount is a very upscale, 1,000 lot housing development that, because of the economic climate, is basically on hold. That bit of bad news, however, provides a great chance for the general public to play a really good private golf course and at public prices to boot. For traveling golfers, the Ford’s Colony layout is a perfect place to take a break in your road trip as it is located just a few miles east of Interstate 95. I had the pleasure of playing this course cut out of rolling, forested land a few weeks ago. Having ... full post »

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Finally, someone has produced a very high quality golf vehicle that far exceeds the normal golf carts found at every golf course and those found in many private residences. Today at the PGA Fall Expo, which runs through Wednesday, September 2, 2009, the golfing world will discover that Garia is that someone. Gone are the days when the discriminating consumer will have to settle for those converted golf carts that cartoonishly resemble automobiles. I recently had the good fortune to preview and test drive the Garia Golf Car and could not have been any more impressed. Sleek, ... full post »

Sorry guys. I hate to be the one to pee in the pool but just a word of caution about all this fawning over Michelle Wie. Her Solheim Cup performance was magnificent, yes, but match play on home turf in front of friendly crowds is a different animal from tournament golf. Perhaps some of you can recall Peter Baker’s performance at The Belfry in the 1993 Ryder Cup Matches. He played like a lion. Baker qualified for that team by winning his 2nd and 3rd career Euro Tour wins and, following his awesome Ryder Cup play, never won another event. ... full post »

There has been relatively little buzz going into the 2009 Solheim Cup this week because everybody has been saying the Americans are heavily favored to win. Well, hold onto your hats because this may yet be a barnburner. Halfway through the opening round of matches the Europeans are ahead in 3 of the 4 matches. Conventional wisdom says the underdogs must be ahead going into singles matches on Sunday where depth usually prevails. So far the Euros should be encouraged. Personally, I am a huge fan of team competitions like this and will be watching the Solheim Cup rather than ... full post »

Just finished reading one of the dumbest articles I’ve ever seen. Following a link in the Golf For Beginners blog on this website, I was directed to an article by sportswriter Jay Mariotti that says Tiger Woods choked in the PGA Championship last weekend. For him to say that only confirms my lowly opinion of his sports acumen. Golf is not a game that merely by force of will can be mastered in any given round on any given day. Some days you just don’t have it. I don’t know if Woods inability to make putts on Sunday was the result ... full post »

Usually, the toughest part of the Captain’s job for any team event is selecting players to fill out the team who didn’t qualify automatically. This chore for the 2009 Presidents Cup in San Francisco, CA October 8-11 is no exception for US Captain Fred Couples. He must select two from this group of three: Lucas Glover, Brian Gay and Hunter Mahan. Glover is a slam dunk. No way is he left off this team after winning the US Open and strongly contending in the PGA. It’s the other pick that will cause the normally unflappable Couples to lose sleep. Red-hot ... full post »

On my recent vacation to Myrtle Beach (Garden City Beach, actually) I had the pleasure of playing at River Club in Pawleys Island. As I travel out of the Washington DC area, I have seldom ventured all the way to the southern end of the Myrtle Beach area to play golf. Certainly there are enough options in North and Central Myrtle. First and foremost, here’s the particulars on course set up. River Club has wonderful bent grass greens that were a medium fast speed. The length of the rough was perfect at approximately ball height. The terrain is not quite ... full post »

In a way, I feel sorry for Stewart Cink. It’s entirely likely that he’ll never get proper credit for winning The Open Championship at Turnberry. No, he’ll always be just the guy who was waiting when Old Tom Watson finally ran out of youth serum. And that’s a shame. We should remember that Cink birdied the the tough 18th hole on the final day of a very tough four day examination to post a good score for every player to try to better, but we won’t. Instead, we’ll curse the hard bounce that Tom Watson got on a beautifully struck 8 ... full post »

Tiger Woods is out, mercifully for many golf fans. Watching coverage on TNT today was reminiscent of a wake. So who’s left on top? A bunch of old guys and a links rookie in Steve Marino. Co-leader Marino figures not to hold up because he’s never won before on the PGA Tour, much less a major championship. Tom Watson figures to go away because he’s already used up his annual allotment of 50 foot putts. One shot back of those two is the aching, aging, overweight Mark Calcavecchia. It’s just hard to believe that his body will make it 36 more ... full post »