I’m embarking on a trip to the Dark Continent tomorrow, where I will mainly write about golf in South Africa. All I know about South Africa are the names Ernie Els, Nelson Mandela and JM Coetzee, one of my favorite writers. All I know about the golf is that the country has plenty of courses, many of them allegedly world-class. I have no idea what to expect. This is similar to the time before I moved to Alaska, where I expected to find people living in igloos and polar bears wandering the streets. I found Anchorage has malls, McDonalds and some of ... full post »

I don’t know about you, but I’m really tuned in to the Sony Open for Paul Casey’s 2005 debut on the PGA Tour. Casey, of course, is the Brit who called Americans “stupid” and “annoying” after the Ryder Cup. As if beating the U.S. wasn’t enough. I don’t usually pay much attention to these things – pro athletes are always shooting their mouths off and it’s usually fairly adolescent stuff – but this one sticks in my craw for some reason. For the record, I’d like for Americans to show Casey how they feel about his attitude toward America – where he ... full post »