SB Nation User Blog: courtgolf

McCabe confirms our opinion of the media

courtgolf — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:51:19 -0000

McCabe confirms our opinion of the media

Just finished reading Jim McCabe's article this week - making fun of the idea that the media will NOT ask about the Bivens situation during the US Open because it is disrespectful to the USGA and the US Open.

What he REALLY does is confirm for us all that the media has no self-control and no respect for anything other than their own bylines.

The request to not address the Bivens situation is a reasonable one because this is not an LPGA event and the tournament deserves more respect - BUT - you can bet that every interview with an LPGA player will have some sort of question on the subject. I hope the players walk out of the media tent as soon as the subject comes up in a question. "Thank you - but since you cannot respect the SIMPLE request to stay off of this subject this particular week, I will no longer continue this interview."

On the positive side - McCabe points out several well known men who didn't make it into the US Open because...drumroll please...they didn't play well enough in qualifying.

PGA Tour Players to Pay Tribute to Michael Jackson

courtgolf — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:15:56 -0000

Author and friend Bob Smiley has news of a pending tribute to Michael Jackson at this week's John Deere Classic:

In a touching nod to the King of Pop, nearly all the PGA Tour pros at this week's John Deere Classic plan to sport gloves on just one hand. Tour commissioner Tim Finchem would not comment on the matter.

I think this will be a real heart wrenching tribute. No one else has gone to this extent around the world.

(Who said golfers aren't hip enough to fit into pop culture?)

Has Morgan Pressel Found Her Fire & Her Game?

courtgolf — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:45:25 -0000

Is it possible that all the whining Morgan Pressel did last week after getting her hair wet actually did her some good? Has she finally found the fire that made her such a stud amateur ? The nuttie she threw in the 18th fairway at the US Open when Birdie Kim made her miracle bunker shot was almost worthy of Sergio, but she showed that she was a competitor who doesn't like losing.

Of her two wins, the one at Kapalua was more impressive to me than the major she backed into because she actually beat the field. Then she decided to make some swing changes to try to add some length and spent the '08 season giving up 30 yards off the tee from years before.

But her final round today at the Jamie Farr really impressed me. She looked relaxed and confident all day, even when she dropped a couple of bogies on her card back to back. There was no quit in her today, and it got her a miracle eagle pitch to tie for the lead and get into a playoff.

She came up short in the playoff, but I think she has made a few of the other ladies on the tour sit up and take notice. No more Miss Nice Girl. No more pouty little golf brat, either. She seems to be figuring the pro game out the same way she figured out the amateurs.

I like this Morgan Pressel - a lot ! I want to see it more often!

This is why people get tired of Tiger Woods

courtgolf — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:15:08 -0000

Reading the front page of PGATour.com this afternoon, the headline was TIGER LOOKS SOLID IN ROUND ONE, followed by a little "oh by the way" mention that Anthony Kim set the course record with an inconsequential 62.

Now, watching the replay on xxx Golf Channel, these brain dead professional voices have already handed Woods the trophy in a runaway. Nevermind the fact that at this point in the broadcast he is four shots behind Kim at -4. (He finishes the first round at -6, but they didn't know it after 13 holes)

If I was a Tour player, I would be furious with these people. They whine and complain that nobody challenges Woods - but when he is challenged, they ignore the other players around him. This isn't shaping up to be an exciting tournament with a lot of great play - it's not even a playoff with a bunch of guys around him at -6, much less that Kim guy in front of him.

Yes - he is the best. Yes - he is the most dominant player on tour. But come on people - let's have a little less hero worship...or is it just plain worship (aka sucking up) from the booth. The media isn't supposed to cheer on the job, but that doesn't stop the golf media.

I honestly believe that if the broadcasters would call the live action honestly, there would be a lot fewer people who get tired of hearing the name Tiger Woods, and a lot more appreciation of what is going on with the rest of the field.

There is no reason to pull against the man, much less "hate" him. (a word that is thrown around much too easily) I can understand pulling for another golfer who is a personal favorite, but there is no reason to despise Woods...except that we get tired of hearing his name attached to so much constant adoration and hyperbole.

Call the action honestly and fairly, and people will not only enjoy the broadcast more, they will appreciate Woods and the rest of the golfers in the field more.

Just to show the reliability of Twitter...how could we ever doubt it ?

courtgolf — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:55:52 -0000

Just to show the reliability of Twitter...how could we ever doubt it ?

Yes - it's terribly sad - Twitterers from around the world mourned the death of Jeff Goldblum last week not long after the Michael Jackson tragedy.

Even Stephen Colbert reports on the story...

Ken Green Has Had His Lower Leg Amputated

courtgolf — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:49:09 -0000

JACKSON, Mississippi (AFP) — Ken Green, a five-time US PGA Tour winner who has played the past two seasons on the Champions Tour, had his lower right leg amputated Monday due to injuries suffered in a car crash.

Green was resting and in good condition following the surgery, according to agent Kevin Richardson, who said that Green will work through rehabilitation, be fitted for a prosthetic leg and hopes to return to golf and competition.

Make your tee times now - tragedy's a comin' ! :-)

courtgolf — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:30:10 -0000

Saw this today - figured you all would like to know - time's getting close !! :-)

Planet Could Hit Earth in Distant Future

By Jeanna Bryner, Space.com

(June 10) - Our solar system has a potentially violent future. New computer simulations reveal a slight chance that a disruption of planetary orbits could lead to a collision of Earth with Mercury, Mars or Venus in the next few billion years.

Despite its diminutive size, Mercury poses the greatest risk to the solar system's order. Results of the computer model show a roughly 1 percent chance that the elongation of Mercury's orbit will increase to the point where the planet's path around the sun crosses that of Venus. That's when planetary pandemonium would ensue, the researchers find, and Mercury could be ejected from the solar system, or collide with the sun or a neighboring planet, such as Earth.

Computer simulations show that a close approach or collision could occur between either Mercury, Mars or Venus and the Earth in the next few billion years, although the odds are small. Here, an artist's rendering shows the Earth being hit by a planet.

The potential smash-ups, however remote, are detailed in the June 11 issue of the journal Nature.

"I see the results as a case of the glass being 99 percent full and 1 percent empty," said Gregory Laughlin of the University of California, Santa Cruz. "While it's possible that a collision could occur billions of years from now, it's actually very unlikely." Laughlin was not involved in the current study but wrote an accompanying analysis of the research in Nature.

Solar system bang-ups

The researchers, Jacques Laskar and Mickael Gastineau of the Paris Observatory, ran computer simulations involving 2,501 scenarios with different planetary orbits.

While most of the outcomes don't involve any crashes, about 25 led to a large disruption of Mercury's orbit. If the increase in elongation of Mercury's orbit results in its collision with the sun or with Venus, the simulations showed the rest of the solar system wouldn't be affected much.

Scientists announced Tuesday that a massive star called Betelgeuse has gotten smaller in the last 15 years. The news is surprising considering red supergiants typically swell in size as they near the end of their lives. Here, a graphic shows the star and its location at the top left of the Orion constellation.

But in some less likely scenarios, the change to Mercury's orbit leads to a total destabilization of the inner solar system (the terrestrial planets) in about 3.3 billion years, possibly triggering collisions of Mercury, Mars or Venus with Earth.

"The most surprising outcome is the destabilization of the orbit of Earth and Venus," Laskar said during a telephone interview.

The result is a Venus-Earth bang-up.

"You first need Mercury to be destabilized by gravitational interaction with Jupiter," Laskar said. "Then this may destabilize Mars, which then can come very close to the Earth. Only then can you have destabilization of Venus' orbit and a collision with the Earth."

When the researchers looked at different cases involving this close approach of Mars and Earth, they found that five set-ups would lead to Mars being flung out of the solar system. And in nearly 200 of the cases, two celestial bodies will collide — 48 of which involve Earth.

Close encounters

While planet orbits might seem stable today, they aren't. And over billions of years, they are less so. Basically, the planets can perturb one another through gravitational interactions. Astronomers say that in the distant past, some of the planets of our solar system could have been on significantly different orbits and migrated to their present locations.

And as the sun ages, it is expected to swell and lose mass; previous studies have shown that could have significant effects on the planets in the next 7 billion years or so. Earth might be vaporized when this happens, or it might — with a gravitational assist from a passing star — be booted right out of the solar system. A study in 2001 by Laughlin, then at NASA, and Fred Adams of the University of Michigan put the odds of the Earth being ejected at one-in-100,000.

Meanwhile, as planets move around, close encounters (especially with larger worlds like Jupiter) could fling them on wildly new trajectories.

Evidence for such melees has been found in exoplanetary systems, including one in which the object 2M1207B may have formed from the collision and merger of two planets. Our own moon was created when a Mars-sized object hit Earth about 4 billion years ago, theorists figure.

Strongest evidence

The new model results provide the strongest evidence to date of the solar system's future in this regard. "These are the first calculations that really answer the question of the long-term stability of the solar system in a truly definitive way," Laughlin told SPACE.com.

That's because Laskar and Gastineau's model relies on non-averaged equations and accounts for general relativity.

Previous models were based on averaged equations for planetary motion and didn't include the effects of general relativity. When considering planets that are about to collide, such equations don't work well to make accurate predictions. And it turns out general relativity, or the effect of gravity on time and space, does play a role in the crash scenarios.

Here's how: "Mercury's orbit is a slightly elongated ellipse. The sun lies at one of the foci of the ellipse, not at the center," Laughlin said. "Over long periods of time (of the order 100,000 years), the orientation of Mercury's orbit rotates like a clock hand. General Relativity acts to speed up this clock-hand-like rotation, and this decreases the odds that Jupiter can drive large changes in Mercury's orbit."

Statement from Ken Green

courtgolf — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:07:50 -0000

This was posted on PGATour.com earlier today...

Ken Green, who was injured Tuesday in an RV accident that killed his girlfriend Jeannie, brother Billy and dog Nip, released a statement Thursday. Green is in intensive care and is expected to remain hospitalized in Mississippi for several more days.

"I want thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and support that have come my way these past few days. The golf community is like one big family, and it means so much to me to have all of you wonderful people by my side.

The pain and emptiness of losing my brother Billy, my girlfriend Jeannie and my dog Nip are enormous. They were always supportive and loving and stuck by me during my struggles. Not having them around is a tremendous loss and leaves a void that will never be filled.

I don't know if I will ever play on the Tour again. But I do know this: I am so proud to have been a professional golfer for 30 years. I am proud of my five Tour wins and to have represented my country in the 1989 Ryder Cup. That will never be taken away from me.

You can't always choose what happens to you in life; but you can choose how you deal with these setbacks. I'm not giving up."

Thank you,
Ken Green

If you would like to send a get-well message to Ken Green, you can do so through his good friend and manager Kevin Richardson, at the address below.

Ken Green c/o Kevin Richardson
1551 Forum Place, Suite 300F
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

Ken Green in Tragic Accident in Mississippi

courtgolf — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:43:54 -0000

Ken Green in Tragic Accident in Mississippi

In his prime, Ken Green was one of my favorites. Knew about his demons and pulled for him to beat them. Now this accident that killed his brother, girlfriend, and dog, and mangled his own body.

Pre-Dawn Photo of Tiger Before His US Open Practice Round

courtgolf — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:02:42 -0000

Pre-Dawn Photo of Tiger Before His US Open Practice Round

I don't know how Bob Smiley does it - but he found a picture of Tiger before his practice round at Bethpage Black this week.