Scotland may be the “birthplace of golf", but you’d never know it looking at the world golf rankings. That is on the mind of Scotland’s highest profile golfer, Colin Montgomerie in Delhi at the Johnny Walker Classic this week, admitting that the country is a perpetual state of “transition” in developing its top talent. “We’ve been going through it for 30 years - like our rugby team. We never come out of it, really. Our transition with football is the same,” he lamented. While Montgomerie has had a stellar golf career, he has famously never won a major and is ...

Officials from the State Department of the United States say Fidel Castro’s passing of power to his brother Raul doesn’t represent much of a change in regime. They must not be golfers, because one thing has become abundantly clear: Golf has a much brighter future with Raul at the helm. When Fidel took power in 1960, like the Soviets in Europe, he viewed golf as a capitalist, elitist past time and most of the courses were closed on the island in favor or labor camps. According to recent reports, Raul believes golf can help spark economic development on the impoverished ...

The big buzz in the golf industry last week was the report recently released by the National Golf Foundation detailing that the number of golfers in America is dwindling. Everyone is pointing fingers as to why: golf takes too long, it’s too expensive, it’s too intimidating, etc. I think it’s Guitar Hero’s fault. If you’ve played Guitar Hero, you know that it takes very little actual musical ability to “rock out” with these faux guitars that substitutes six strings for five, color-coded buttons. Over Christmas, I watched my two ankle-biting cousins score near-perfect marks to a Black Sabbath tune on ...

The last time Aaron Baddeley squared off versus Tiger Woods it was in the final round of last year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont. Reporting from Oakmont and having spoken with Baddeley several times during the week, I predicted his cool, even-keeled mindset would bode well: “Tiger is the favorite of course, but don’t expect Baddeley to roll over tomorrow. The trophy may stay down under.” Prophetic, I know. Badds tripled the first hole and never looked comfortable on his way to an 80. He slid from first place at the beginning of Sunday to out of the top ten. Apparently there ...

John Daly shot a 69 in the opening round of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Thursday, tying him for 14th. But watching Daly’s sound bite tonight on the Golf Channel was quite sad. He blamed his poor recent play and loss of sponsors not on his drinking, gambling or personal life. Instead, he continues to point to the rib injury he suffered last year at the Honda Classic, when a woman snapped a camera in his backswing. He tried to halt his swing and pulled a muscle in the process. According to the Golf Channel package that was ...

It’s never too early to start talking Ryder Cup. Especially since the months prior are usually the best part for Americans: talking strategy, standings and captain’s picks leading up to the inevitable beat down from the Europeans. One thing is clear, the U.S. squad needs a shake up to end its embarrassing drought, and toss in some fresh names to the squad. I have a couple early picks. First, restore the Americans to former glory by bringing back the hero of the 1999 Brookline squad, Justin Leonard. His game has been solid since the Fall Series, playing his best golf ...

A Monday morning browse through WorldGolf.com’s reader exit polls is revealing one bitter Mann! Harry Mann, that is. He just left not one, but TWO scathing, 1/5-star reviews of golf courses near Houston. “The golf pro is a total idiot,” He exclaims of Pasadena Municipal Golf Course. “Any weekend duffer with a handicap of 18 or less could give HIM lessons. His name is ‘Cutshall’, what an appropriate name for a hacker!” Not only head pros but immigrants aren’t safe from Mann at Glenbrook Golf Course: “Bring a Spanish speaker with you, because this place is operated by a large Mexican ...