And so, beer replaces coffee as the beverage of choice. A hearty congratulations to Wendy, Easing, and any and all other European wagglers. A great tournament, and a great win for the Euros - Monty, in particular.

The one statement I will make here about the play itself is that McDowell's putt on 16 was one of the greatest putts under pressure I've ever seen. Maybe the greatest.

I raise a bottle/glass to my friends across the Pond. Oggie oggie oggie! Oi! Oi! Oi!

The current local time is 3:32 AM.

I was asleep last evening by 8:00 PM (20:00), so as to wake at 2:30 AM.

And watch golf on television.

Coffee comes from God.

And this is the Ryder Cup.

Good morning, everyone.

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Prior to my father and I trekking across the pond - and to The Open - I distinctly recall having said something approximating the following:

You know, dad - I kind of want it to be a little windy and rainy when we go to St. Andrews. It is an Open, after all.

Having now returned this Wednesday evening to the lovely (and warm and dry) Birnam Hotel  (great accommodations, incredible staff), I thought I'd offer a few random reflections on my first ever visit to St. Andrews.

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Situation: Three hour layover.

Place: International terminal, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta.

Objective: Find a television somewhere in terminal tuned in to AT&T National.

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First things first, a couple of confessions.

One: I do not like to fly. I'll do it, but I don't like it. If I had my druthers, I'd take a car or a train everywhere. But some destinations make flying  the only reasonable option. And tomorrow, I must board an airplane. Two, actually.

Two: I'm 35, but I've only been a golfer (and, as such, a golf fan) for a few years. I would assume that like many others I was unable to truly enjoy watching hours of golf coverage on television until I took up the game myself and came to realize just how excruciatingly difficult it is.  Anyway, though, I must confess to having never attended a professional golf tournament. I live in North Alabama, and the nearest PGA Tour stops are several hours away. And, historically, if I'm going to drive four or five hours to attend a sporting event, I'm going to Louisville or Lexington - to Churchill Downs or Keeneland. Those venues at least offer me a reasonable shot at returning home with more money than I left with.

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Of course, in this instance, virtually all of the words would be profane.

My lie yesterday in a greenside bunker:

Closer inspection inspired laughter and a trip to the cart to fetch a camera. A lie this lousy demands to be photographed.

Before you ask, suffice it to say, no, I did not get up and down. My first swipe dislodged the ball from its hiding place; its short jaunt ended immediately adjacent to my footprint.  I then freed the ball (and myself) from the bunker, but was left with 15 feet for bogey. Two putts, double bogey, and a couple of photos I can laugh about. 

I can't complain. Beats the hell out of being indoors.

I'm assuming I'm not the only one watching Round 2 from Quail Hollow...

It's almost as if the chain reaction that began in the life of Tiger Woods last Thanksgiving finally reached his reactor core this afternoon.

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Alright, let's say you're an anchor on a cable news channel, and you're asked to offer analysis on a particular current event. It is, after all, your job.

But why analyze when you can evangelize?

From Fox News Sunday:

Brit Hume: The Tiger Woods that emerges, once the news value dies out of this scandal, the extent to which he can recover, it seems to me, rests on his faith. He's said to be a Buddhist.I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, "Tiger, turn your faith, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."

For the record - but not that it matters - I am a practicing Christian. And may I just say:

Sweet. Fancy. Moses.

Now, leaving aside any and all theological questions - this is, after all, a golf blog, and I am hardly a theologian - is this what the so-called media has come to where the Tiger story is concerned? It's now up to a member of the media to convert Tiger?

I don't make a habit of concerning myself with the faith - or lack thereof - of famous athletes (or most anyone else for that matter). Woods' infidelity to his wife is none of my business. Whether and what he chooses to believe regarding a higher power is most certainly none of my business.

And it's none of Brit Hume's business, either. 

Brit: you work for what is ostensibly a news network. If you want to evangelize, you should see about getting a job with Pat Robertson's outfit.

Oh, and Rupe (Murdoch): one of your biggest names just sought to diminish the faith that, if not practiced by Tiger himself, is certainly practiced by his mother. Good luck on any News Corp. network or publication scoring an interview with Tiger when he returns - or ever again for that matter. He's known to have a long memory.

(Again for the record: I pretty much gave up on network and cable news quite some time ago, because I have zero interest in the lives of Jon and Kate or the octomom or the balloon boy or the ballon boy's idiot father, etc. I'll get my news - and by news, I mean...you know...information about stuff that's actually important - from The Christian Science Monitor and The Economist. And I'll be fine.)

From his website, tigerwoods.com:

After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person.

I can't really add much to this, but I thought it appropriate to post it here.  Major media on it as well.

One would expect him to be back in time for the Masters, but there's no way of knowing.

With so much of the discussion here (and in the golf world in general) currently dominated (and somewhat understandably so) by issues having little to do with the game itself, I thought it might be nice to have a thread free of such distractions. There are other things going on, both in the wider golf world and my personal golf world (a world characterized by excruciating mediocrity).

I'll kick this thread off with a tale from each.

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In the last decade, there was a brilliant (and all too short-lived) television show that aired on Nickelodeon called The Adventures of Pete & Pete. It was a live-action show, and concerned the lives of two brothers named Pete, their friends, their own personal superhero, and a rotating cast of bizarre characters that moved through their neighborhood.

The second-to-last episode of the first season of Pete & Pete was titled "What We Did on Our Summer Vacation." Central to this episode was the ice cream truck man, Mr. Tastee, who appeared every year at the beginning of summer, and of course disappeared as summer ended. Mr. Tastee wore a giant plastic ice cream cone head, so no one knew what he looked like. Indeed, no one knew who he was, where he came from, or where he went when the summer was over.

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Hola, Wagglers.

As I believe I've mentioned in the pages before, I am a rank novice where this game is concerned. But I've recently begun to take things a little more seriously. As such, I've started mildly upgrading my clubs from the super-econo sticks the have occupied my bag for the past several seasons. (Picked up an old demo 975J that looked to have been hit maybe 20 times off eBay for $40 including shipping - Score!)

As part of this process, I've learned a few things that are critical when seeking out equipment that I had somehow never learned before - like the difference between forged and cast irons. And thus my dilemma.

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Some things in this world seem certain. Death. Taxes. The sun rising in the east, and later setting in the west.

But now?

It's entirely possible that the world is coming to an end. Indeed, the end-timers may be correct. As I sit and gaze out my kitchen window, I half expect gravity to suddenly cease operations. Conversely, were gravity to intensify and cause the moon to fall from the sky, I would not be shocked. Nothing makes sense anymore.

I'm trying to decide how to spend my week. Right around the time Tiger and Yang were walking up the 16th fairway, I told my dad I might start robbing banks. Perhaps I'll start drinking a lot and sleeping around even more. Drugs? Not really before, but hell - why not, now?

Friends, the apocalypse may indeed be nigh.

So, anyway...do what you gotta do. Repent. Pray. Hug your kids.

Hell...smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Quite some time ago - maybe a year or more - i managed somehow to lose my 9-iron. After searching through the lost club bins at the courses i had recently played, I gave up and set about to find a replacement. 

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Alright, Wagglers: Here's your chance to help a brother out in his time of need.

I am in the middle of altering my grip. When I began playing several years ago, I was first taught an interlocking grip. Please bear in mind that it was no professional who taught me this - it was my dad, who (bless his heart) is not the most technically skilled golfer around. 

Anyway, the grip worked alright for awhile, and I attibuted my all-to-frequent shanks to the fact that I'd just not very good. Recently, though, I've had a little more time to think about my swing, and I realized that my grip on the club was very loose at the top of my backswing. This was of course requiring me to essentially re-grip the club as I began my downswing. Timing, I figured out, was everything. 

That will not do.

So I picked up Hogan's book and discovered that I had the club improperly positioned in my left hand, with the shaft running pretty much straight across my palm as opposed to diagonally. I'm working on making this correction, and it has indeed provided for a more secure union of hands and club on the backswing.[I haven't gone full-Vardon; I've kept the interlock (it just feels better), but I'm not altogether opposed to going to a full overlap.]

However.

Since making these changes, I've developed a slice of epic proportions. Seriously - this ball is so far out to the right that it would require a meeting of the John Birch Society to locate it.

Any idea as to what might be causing this new-found slice? I assume it has to be grip related, as that's the only change I've instituted. 

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

 

By now, I'm sure everyone is aware of Sergio Garcia's comments regarding Augusta National yesterday on the Golf Channel, uttered after having limped to a T-38 finish in the Masters:

“I don’t like it to tell you the truth,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fair. It’s too tricky. Even when it’s dry you still get mud balls in the middle of the fairway. It’s too much of a guessing game.
 
“They can do whatever they want. It’s not my problem. I just come here and play and then go home. That’s about it.”

According to TGC's Shag Bag, Garcia has since issued an apology via his management company. (Read: damage control.) But let's face it: Serg will undoubtedly get two ears' full at Bethpage in June.

Garcia's bellyaching is becoming tiresome, to say the least. And it's beginning to remind me of Colin Montgomerie's legendary grousing that led to his frosty relationship with American fans. Montgomerie and the public managed to get over it and nowadays he seems to be generally respected by folks on this side of the pond, and perhaps even liked. 

I suppose it remains to be seen whether the same will happen with Sergio. Surely his relationship with American fans has yet to sink to Montomgerie-like levels, but it's quickly headed in that direction. One wonders what happened to the imminently likable El Nino of a decade ago. I don't know - what's the Spanish phrase for "overgrown brat"?

It also remains to be seen whether Garcia will follow Montgomerie's path to golf's most unfortunate distinction, that of an incredibly talented player who fails to bring home one of his sport's most cherished prizes.

Good morning, y'all.

I am a weekend duffer. I've never seen fit to actually compute my handicap, but I generally shoot in the mid-90s. Because of my generally lousy play, I've spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time searching for errant tee shots in the woods and weeds; as such, I've had an opportunity to try out quite a few "found' balls over the years.

Anyway, I'm looking for a new ball. I was a fan of Maxfli's original Noodle, but the new Noodle is somewhat displeasing to me.

I tend to dislike so-called "distance" balls - feels like hitting a rock.

Costco (of all places) currently has a two-dozen pack of the Titleist Tour Prestige on sale for about $30. Has anyone had any experience with this ball? I was under the impression (from having read some old product reviews) that this ball had been discontinued. Anyone know if it's the same Prestige hey were making a few years ago?

Anyway, my ball criteria is generally determined by a) affordability; b) durability; and c) feel.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

 

 

Well, this is no good:

An arrest warrant has been issued for former New York Giants star Mark Ingram after he failed to report to federal prison to begin serving nearly eight years for bank fraud and money laundering.

It's also, unfortunately, not at all unexpected, as Mr. Ingram has tried all sorts of things to avoid prison time, firing a litany of court-appointed attorneys at one point even filing a motion claiming that he was immune from prosecution due to his being a foreign head-of-state - despite his having been born in Rockford, Illinois.

I really don't much care what happens with respect to the elder Mr. Ingram, but I am concerned about the effect all this could be having on his son, our own Mark Ingram. I would imagine that this is all very difficult for him, especially as he deals with finals and preparations for a BCS bowl game. 

Several articles earlier this fall indicated that the elder Ingram was "trying to keep his son from making the same mistakes...".

Let's keep the young Mark in our thoughts and prayers, and hope that the elder Mark gets his act together and does the right thing, ASAP.

 

Had anyone asked me on August 29 of this year (and I suppose several people did) what I would have anticipated Alabama's final regular season record to be, I'd have likely said (which is to say, I'm sure I did say) that I would expect 8-4, would be pleased with 9-3, and positively thrilled with 10-2.

And who wouldn't have been? It'd have been wholly unreasonable to expect more. And while reason is not necessarily a quality often ascribed to the more rabid among our number, I'd imagine one would be hard-pressed to find any Bama fan who could honestly say they expected anything approximating what we've seen.

As difficult as it may be to recall the rather dark days we all experienced as last autumn drew to a close, I think it important that we all do so, if only to be able to fully appreciate what has been accomplished in a dizzyingly brief amount of time.

A perfect regular season is a special thing. A perfect regular season in the SEC is an incredibly special thing. And a perfect regular season in the SEC following a 6-6 season? Well, that just doesn't happen in the real world. Not in 2008.

But it has. And no matter what happens come Saturday in Atlanta and in January, what Coach Saban and his staff and, most importantly, this group of young men has accomplished these past several months should be appreciated, applauded, and revered. By any standards, this is one hell of a football team.

That said, I will employ the same state-of-mind that I had as the Tide approached a neutral-site non-conference season-opener against the then 9th ranked team in the country: one of cautious optimism.

Twelve down. Two to go.

Roll Tide.

USA Today has released their pre-season coaches poll, and - not surprisingly - Georgia is ranked #1.

And deservedly so. With the way UGA finished the 2007 season - eight straight wins and an absolute pummeling of Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl - the case was made (once again) for (at minimum) a +1 National Championship scenario.

I'm a little surprised to see  the Tide atop the "others receiving votes" pile. While I was certain we'd show up in that classification, I rather expected us to be mid-pack. As it stands, we're 8 points behind #25 Fresno State.

Clemson, it should be noted, is ranked 9th. A win in Atlanta would do a hell of a lot to set the tone for the season, instilling much-needed confidence in the slew of young players we'll be fielding as the year progresses.

The team representing that cow college on the other side of the state comes in at #11, and our neighbors to the north appear in the #18 slot.

All in all, the SEC places five teams in the top 25, and a total of nine in the top 55 (including the "others").

Roll Tide.

 

 

(MADRID) - Sergio Garcia's 51st place finish in this years' Open Championship would, under normal circumstances, be disappointing. But given the athletic performances of several of his countrymen in recent weeks, it may actually be dangerous.

Two weeks ago today, Rafael Nadal won the men's singles final at Wimbledon, defeating world number one Roger Federer in what is already being described as the greatest match ever played. One week prior, Spain's National Football (soccer) Team captured the Euro Cup (2008 UEFA European Football Championship), defeating Germany in the final. 

Garcia was among the favorites coming in to this weeks Open at Royal Birkdale, having lost the Claret Jug last year in a playoff to Irishman Padraig Harrington. Harrington defended his title today.

Garcia's performance at this years' Open is not sitting well in Madrid, where fans were hoping to keep their nation's winning streak alive.

Nadal, speaking on behalf of himself and La Selección, as Spain's national team is commonly known, minced no words when describing what awaits Garcia back home.

"We're going to kick his ass" Nadal said via an interpreter, as he carefully balanced two beautiful women on each arm. "His performance is unacceptable."

"The Inquisition? That was nothing." Nadal concluded.

According to a spokesperson, Garcia was halfway through a case of Michelob Ultra, and as such was unavailable for comment.

(Bumped up from diaries, for obvious reasons. And it's official.)

The Associated Press is reporting that Annika Sorenstam will retire from competitive play on the LPGA Tour at the conclusion of this season.

http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1739723,00.html

"Annika Sorenstam will retire after the season, ending an LPGA Tour career in which she has won 72 tournaments to date and delivered a defining moment when she teed it up against the men on the PGA Tour.

She was to announce her decision at a news conference Tuesday at the Sybase Classic in Clifton, N.J., a person familiar with her plans told The Associated Press.

The 37-year-old Sorenstam has hinted at retirement the past several seasons, saying she wanted to devote more time to her growing business and to start a family. She is engaged to Mike McGee, son of former PGA Tour player Jerry McGee."

It's difficult to imagine a more impressive career for any athlete in any sport. Five consecutive LPGA Player of the Year awards just about says it all.

Godspeed, Annika.

Today's Augusta, Georgia forecast, courtesy of wunderground.com:

Mostly sunny and breezy. Highs in the upper 60s. West winds 20 to 25 mph with gusts around 30 mph.

The likelihood of anyone going particularly low today is, I would think, slim to none. I can scarcely imagine Augusta National yielding more than a handful of scores under par, and the 68s and 69s of the past few days have probably been blown clear across South Carolina and out into the Atlantic.

Poll

Who wins this thing?

0%

Stewart Cink

0 votes

0%

Other

0 votes

0%

Augusta National

0 votes

25%

Mother Nature

1 votes

25%

Trevor Immelman

1 votes

25%

Paul Casey

1 votes

25%

Brandt Snedeker

1 votes

0%

Tiger Woods

0 votes

0%

Phil Mickelson

0 votes

0%

Steve Flesch

0 votes

4 votes | Poll has closed

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[editor's note, by Todd]
Bumped from the diaries.

Alabama senior Michael Thompson is currently the low amateur at The Masters, and is one stroke over the projected cut line. I will update this post after his round today is complete. Hopefully, he can get a stroke back and get to play the weekend.

(He is, by the way, wearing a white-with-red-script "A" cap.)

What moved me to post this though was his action on the Par 5 15th hole. As his set-up over his birdie putt - a putt that would have put him at least one stroke under the likely cut line, his ball moved ever so slightly - no more that a 1/4". He did not touch the ball, but the rules state that once a player addresses his putt, if the ball moves, it's a one stroke penalty.

Thompson was the only person on the course who could have possible seen so minute a movement. Still, he immediately stepped away from the ball, beckoned to a rules official, and called the penalty on himself.

The following par putt didn't fall, and he wound up with a bogey six. But the character he displayed in calling the penalty on himself is really the point here. There are, of course, echoes of Bobby Jones in his having done so.

It's all about character.

UPDATE: Thompson went on to Bogey 16, par 17 and 18, and as such will not make the cut. He also missed being the low amateur by - get this - one stroke.

The par at 18 was something else, though: his second shot finished on the green, but was well above the hole, necessitating a putt of approximately 50 feet with a break of (I'm not making this up) about 110 degrees. He lagged the ball to within two feet and finished with a par.

According to the Golf Pregame show on TGC, Stewart Cink has been disqualified from the final round of the Zurich Classic after a series of events that can best be considered ... well ... bizarre.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=GOL&id=126&line=4634&spln=1

It seems that Cink and Zach Johnson were discussing over breakfast this morning some of the more arcane rules of golf. Johnson brought up an odd one, indeed, and Cink thought..."Hmm...I wonder if I've ever done that? Wait...I think I did that yesterday!".

Yesterday on 15, Cink's tee shot came to rest adjacent to a fairway bunker, necessitating that Cink stand in the bunker to play his second shot, which came to rest in a greenside bunker. He then proceeded to rake the fairway bunker in which he had been standing.

This is, according to the rules, a no-no: "Testing the surface of a hazard", it results in a two stroke penalty.

Unfortunately, no one caught the violation at the time, and as such Cink finished his round and signed his card w/o a penalty. So, when he called a rule official this morning to self-report the apparent rules violation, he was disqualified for having signed an incorrect scorecard.

Now, can someone remind me why we like this crazy-ass game so much?