Gary Smits of the Florida Times Union has an interesting story on active, pro golfers who played competitively with both Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. John Cook told Smits that both Nicklaus and Woods are sensitive to other players, who are sometimes rattled by the commotion caused by the big galleries both players draw. “Jack would actually offer to let you putt out, even if you were away and in his through line,” Cook said. “But, he would suggest it in a way that was not disrespectful of the other player. It was his way of being courteous, because he knew ... full post »

If you asked me, “Master, where should I go, Cuscowilla or the Reynolds Plantation?” I would answer you thusly. Depends on what you want. They’re both in the Georgia lake country and they both use the state’s second-largest lake, Lake Oconee, in a big way. The Reynolds Plantation is one of my all-time favorite golf conglomerates. They have five courses there, though one is private, and they’re all excellent courses. Not a dud among them. Cuscowilla, on the other hand, is smaller, more laid-back and with a typically brilliant golf course designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. When I told the man at ... full post »

Michelle Wie needs to hang around more chefs. World-renowned chef Paul Prudhomme was shot with a 22 calibre bullet while he was cooking at a tent near the PGA Tour event. He thought it was a bee sting at first, according to the Associated Press, but discovered the bullet after shaking his sleeve. Authorities suspect the bullet came from a gun fired within a mile and a half radius of the event. Sort of makes Wie’s mysterious wrist injuries pale by comparison. full post »

It’s not that I’m jealous of pampered millionaires, it’s more that I despise them and would like to steal their money, wives and inflict a savage beating on them if I could get away with it. Why is the Golf Channel televising this? It’s a clubby, little in-house tournament that emphasizes what average Americans hate about golf – its exclusivity. The Tavistock Group, founded by Joe Lewis, owns both Isleworth and Lake Nona, the two competing clubs made up of guys who will never worry about how much gas costs per gallon, so what’s the big deal? They make the spectators wear either ... full post »

Most golfers have heard of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. So have the wanna-bes, spawning a bunch of copycats, some good, some awful. I wonder why more people aren’t copying what Georgia and other states came up with – a great state park golf system. Georgia golf courses show up in eight state parks, from north Georgia to the South. I went on a tour of them a couple of years ago and played them all; that trip remains one of my favorites of all the places I’ve been around the world. I played another state park course for the second time ... full post »

Gatorade is coming out with a new product called Gatorade Tiger, “formulated for Tiger Woods in great tasting flavors he selected,” according to the company. How did they come up with this? They tested his sweat. According to Gatorade, Woods met with the “Gatorade Sports Science Institute.” There, they conducted a “sweat analysis” of Woods. How’d you like to have that job? After testing his sweat, which they found contained a small concentrate of kryptonite, they developed a “specialized hydration and nutrition strategy.” Available in three “new and refreshing flavors.” “Now that Gatorade Tiger is hitting store shelves, I am excited for everyone to try ... full post »

There is absolutely no one at the moment who has either the game or the guts to stand up to Tiger Woods. If Woods happens to lose a tournament, it’s only because he had an off-week, and that won’t last long. I really think only Ernie Els has what it takes to challenge Woods in the next year or two. That being said, here are my top-10 picks as those most likely to challenge El Tigre’s unchallenged supremacy: 1-Ernie Els: If he ever gets back to form, he can do it. 2-Jim Furyk: Probably too light of a hitter. 3-Vijay Singh: He’s done it before, ... full post »

Is John Daly Osama bin Laden or just a golfer with a drinking problem? The big guy is getting bashed so much by golf writers, you’d think he was a child-molesting terrorist sleeping with their wives. Tod Leonard of the San Diego Union-Tribune calls him “ridiculously out of shape and grossly overweight” and a “big, fat snowball.” Rick Morrissey of Chicago Sports.com calls him a “mess,” “disaster in progress” “out of control rocket tumbling toward earth” and a “goofy, boozing, chain-smoking wild child.” Tom Kott of the Washington Post calls Daly a “buffoon” and “bloated and old.” I’m getting a little tired of these sanctimonious ... full post »

Chris DiMarco said his renewed golf swing is all in the butt. As in, sticking it out. “My wife said, ‘you used to stick your butt out like you were wearing a dress,’” DiMarco told the media after he fired a 68 in the first round at the Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea. “It’s amazing, the simplicity of it. Sure enough, that just kind of kicked everything right into gear and I have hit so many sold shots all week. “I just kind of stuck my butt out a little bit to get my back straighter and my hips square,” DiMarco is ... full post »

More woes for John Daly. First, Butch Harmon dumps him, and now he gets disqualified from the Arnold Palmer Invitational because he didn’t show up for Wednesday’s pro-am. Under PGA Tour rules, he’s automatically out. What makes it worse is that Daly had been given a sponsors exemption for the tournament. Daly is a two-time major winner, but currently without a tour card. No word from Palmer yet, but you can bet he’s disappointed Daly, still a fan favorite, skipped the show. I’ve been a fan of Daly’s for a while, but this shows a lack of class. You can drink like a fish and ... full post »

Most people who follow golf around Florida know that Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge has been having problems with roundworms in preparation for this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. Now Tiger Woods has experienced it first-hand. He isn’t happy. “They are not very good,” Woods told the media after the tournament’s pro-am on Wednesday. “It’s going to be an interesting week on them. You’re going to see a lot of guys hit good putts and they’re going to go weird ways, unfortunately. ” But, in typical Woods fashion, he isn’t planning on using the nematode-infected greens as an excuse as he goes ... full post »

Stewart Cink is such a nice guy, he doesn’t earn the criticism of other infamous, choke-prone golfers do, like Greg Norman used to. Yet, there he was, choking yet again Sunday at the PODS Championship, blowing yet another third-round lead. Cink is now one for nine after either having the outright lead or sharing it after 54 holes. “That’s not a coincidence,” he told the media afterward. It’s tough to watch a guy self-destruct like that. At first. But then, the more he chokes, the more mesmerizing it is to watch. It probably has something to do with us amateurs seeing that it can ... full post »

I’ve often said that part of the problem of slow play is amateurs trying to copy the pros. I see it all the time. Guy putting for triple bogey circles his putt three times, studying it from every angle, then missing it by 10 feet. Then does the same thing, and misses it coming back. John Huggan, a columnist for Scotsman.com sees the same thing, singling out Jim Furyk and Mike Weir. “And have you watched almost any of the Swedes on the European Tour lately?” Huggan writes. “If they speeded up, they just might quality as slow.” It’s excruciating, watching a 20-handicapper going ... full post »

I knew this might be a different sort of Presidents Cup than some of the boring ones in the past, when Fred Couples and Greg Norman were named captains. Couples told the media he might name Michael Jordan and Robin Williams as additional staff members for the American side. He also mentioned his buddy Wayne Gretzky. Love to, said the Great one. One problem: I’m Canadian. Norman, for his part, said he might lean heavily on fiancé Chris Evert as a sort of unofficial co-captain. I hope he doesn’t lean too heavily on her. Could get the fellas thinking the wrong kind of ... full post »

Lorena Ochoa is showing all the signs of grabbing the LPGA by the throat in the same way – well, almost – that Tiger Woods is crushing PGA Tour fields. Ochoa finished 20-under at the HSBC Women’s Champion’s tournament in Singapore Sunday, beating Annika Sorenstam by a whopping 11 strokes. “I took my game to a new level, so I’m going to try to keep repeating myself,” she told the press after her season debut. Sorenstam, a year after battling injuries, has now finished in the top four in every tournament this season, but her steady play may be irrelevant if Ochoa keeps ... full post »