Chambers Bay and Erin Hills have something of a natural rivalry - even though they are more than 1,700 miles apart. They are the United States Golf Association’s beloved babies, two public courses that burst onto the scene in the last few years, deemed to be championship material even before Average Joe Public ever hit a tee shot on either. Chambers Bay already has been awarded the 2015 U.S. Open and Erin Hills is considered such a lock to get the 2017 U.S. Open that you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in even Vegas who would provide odds against that. ... full post »

You can’t say enough things about Paul Newman, a great actor who judging by his charity work seemed to be just as good a guy. Newman was one of those real men who people think that America used to produce a lot more of (but in truth, are rare in any generation, including Newman’s.) So all the tributes for the deceased Newman are wonderful to see. Except when Jennie Garth gets involved. But there was Garth featured discussing Newman’s career in one of those entertainment shows (I stumbled across it clicking). Now, Garth used to be a pretty hot blonde during her ... full post »

This should have been the summer when Sergio Garcia established himself as a dominant star who deserved to be talked about as the next best player in the Tiger Woods’ era. Instead, it turned into the time when Garcia’s rep was forever cemented as being one of the worst gag artists in all of sports. First, Garcia blew a PGA Championship he should have won by somehow finding the water on the 70th hole at Oakland Hills. Then, he coughed up the first FedEx Cup tournament by going into near spastic premature celebration in New Jersey, giving himself no chance in ... full post »

Paul Azinger didn’t win back the Ryder Cup for America. Azinger wasn’t the one out there making those putts - and it’s about time he remembers that. Coaches get way too much credit in all sports (except Mike Martz, that guy is a real offensive genius - just see the Detroit Lions without him). It’s part of the deal, with most sportswriters being unduly obsessed and impressed with coaches. The problem comes in when a coach tries to give himself even more credit. And that’s what U.S. captain Paul Azinger seemed to do after the Ryder Cup. “I poured my heart and soul ... full post »

Even as he won two tournaments this summer, you could count me among the Anthony Kim doubters. Everyone was so eager, desperate almost, to make Kim the next IT golfer. It didn’t help that Kim’s ridiculous belt buckles made it hard to take him seriously. After seeing Kim’s Vincent Chase Entourage act up close at the PGA Championship, I became more of a convert. The guy’s damn entertaining just rolling around a tournament’s grounds with his posse. But then, Kim didn’t do enough in the FedEx Cup to come close to saving us from Vijay Singh’s charm and Sergio Garcia’s premature celebration ... full post »

These are tough times for the elitist liberals who pat themselves on the back for every bottle water they throw into their recycling bins while driving the overscheduled kids they force to wear those hideous Crocs to every activity within a 500-mile radius. People like Huffington Post blogger Diane Tucker (she of the University of Michigan e-mail address - big shocker there, a zany crazy with Ann Arbor ties!) just don’t know what to do anymore … what with Barack Obama managing to blow almost every bit of that big lead he once held over John McCain in the polls ... full post »

In a celebrity golf architect world where two brothers wage a childish feud (hello Jones boys!) and Tom Fazio sometimes doesn’t even show up to his own course openings, sending a video of him talking about the new place instead, Arthur Hills is the rare golf architect of note whose ego wouldn’t qualify as five pieces of extra large carry-on baggage. You can hear this in host Dave Berner’s excellent interview with Arthur Hills in the latest TravelGolf.com This Week Podcast. A lot of people assume (and write) that Hills still living in Toledo, Ohio shows how he isn’t caught up ... full post »

This is about the time that golfers first start thinking of their warm weather winter golf escape. With the daylight hours evaporating like interest in the FedEx Cup, it’s easy to see why. Vancouver Island is one spot where the golf in Canada is anything but close to coming to an end for the season though. Instead, Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa just opened up nine holes on its new Valley Course, giving everyone a chance to get a taste of what promises to be one of the more high-profile course openings of 2009 (the full 18 is scheduled to ... full post »

Is Ohio State’s 35-3 loss to USC made any better because it was so predictable? No. But the classless fans who root for the Script Ohio because they were unfortunate enough to be born in the state that’s biggest industry is handing out speeding tickets managed to make a 32-point beatdown even more embarrassing. Buckeye backers did this by coming up with excuse after excuse long before tonight’s opening kickoff. The saddest thing about that 35-3 is that by about Tuesday of this week no one who rooted for Ohio State thought they had a chance either. So they whined about missing ... full post »

If you’ve never actually been to Chambers Bay, the Robert Trent Jones II design in University Place, Washington (near Tacoma), it’s easy to assume that it must be overhyped. It’s hard to imagine that a course that had been open for less than a year was really worthy of being awarded the 2015 U.S. Open. Now, Golf Magazine debuted Chambers at No. 8 on its list of the Top 100 Courses You Can Play - and well if you haven’t been there, you’ll probably assume that’s ridiculous too. Only, if you have seen Chambers Bay, you know that No. 8 actually ... full post »

That wrap Vijay Singh wears on his left arm isn’t for show. The 45-year-old Fijian is battling tendinitis even as he racks up wins - three in five weeks now after he blew away the rest of the field in the Deutsche Bank this holiday weekend. The ailment’s actually made Singh cut back on his usual endless hours on the practice range. It turns out the forced break is very good for Singh’s game and bank account - he’s all but clinched the second FedEx Cup and the $9 million in cash that goes with it this year (someone else would have ... full post »

Nick Faldo clearly doesn’t want anyone on the European Ryder Cup team who reminds anyone that Faldo’s getting old himself. Faldo is a very hip 50 after all. So, thanks but no thanks Darren Clarke, the Rod Stewart look will not be needed. Still, Faldo made a big blunder in searching for young players that almost everyone hates, guys in his own playing days’ image. Sure, Faldo found two in Ian Poulter and Paul “I properly hate” Casey, but he also picked up the European version of a whiny, wimpy American. In fact, Poulter does this song and whine even better ... full post »

Just when you didn’t think the LPGA could make any news (except for killing off long-time tournaments), the worst-run organization in professional sports is at it again, making speaking English a requirement for holding a Tour card starting next season. The LPGA apparently feels too many South Koreans are winning - clearly targeting them with a rule that makes absolutely no sense for a Tour that has long claimed it’s building its brand globally (or at least used that as the excuse for all its problems stateside) under Carolyn Bivens. Is this the Ladies Professional Golf Association or Paranoid Americans Are Us? The ... full post »

PARAMUS, N.J. - When Sergio Garcia slammed his putter down in the sand trap at the 18th green like Kobe Bryant pulling out his jersey and pointing it at the crowd, you didn’t know it was going to end badly for him. After all, how can you expect Vijay Singh - whose putting has dogged him throughout his career - to drop in a 26-foot birdie putt on the top of Garcia’s 27-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole at The Barclays? But even before Singh struck back, you knew Garcia had gone over the top. Pointing up to European Ryder ... full post »

PARAMUS, N.J. - Sergio Garcia finds himself holding the lead in another golf tournament coming down the back nine. If Garcia pulls out the win in the first event of the second FedEx Cup many will say and write that this has to make Garcia feel better about the PGA Championship. If you really think about it though, it might make the PGA sting even worse. For it’s obvious this week at The Barclays that no one’s playing more consistent good golf this late season than Sergio. Padraig Harrington’s back-to-back majors hangover had him missing the cut completely. Phil Mickelson is still ... full post »