During the 2008 Sybase Classic, Annika Sorenstam mentioned that she would be “stepping away” from competitive golf, careful not to use the “r” word. Carolyn Bivens, worried that fans might lose interest in the LPGA, also made it perfectly clear that Annika did not say the word “retirement” but confirmed that “She plans to end her competitive career". One translation? Annika slipped into second place in the money rankings just below Ochoa and could not seem to climb back into contention. Not to take anything away from a golfer who had seventy-two career wins but Sorenstam was busy building outside interests ...

Click here to listen. Soon after Tiger Woods sat in on a news conference to promote his third year as host of the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club, he shuttled off to the White House to take a tour hosted by President Barack Obama. Light witticisms were bandied about at Congressional with Tiger answering questions about his knowledge of the Swedish language which all boiled down to sayings every man should know like, “clean the house” and “wash dishes": every man that is, except for the billion-dollar variety like Woods! But what could the President want to know from Tiger ...

Click here to listen. For the average golfer who dreams of one day getting a big break and playing on tour, consider the “fantasy tour” instead unless you come equipped with a low handicap, solid-looking swing and a glowing camera presence. The golfers from season-one of the Big Break (2003) were chosen by open audition with the main prerequisities being “scratch” handicap and demonstrative proficiency with various types of shots. Personality, of course, also had to be “engaging” to the viewer as Jay Kossoff, Senior Producer of the Golf Channel, once said, “positively or negatively". Eleven seasons later, the Big Break: Prince ...

Click here to listen. “You’ve got to focus through the ficus” and “concentrate on being great!” Although these “Woods of Wisdom” are rhythmically repeated during the new Tiger Gatorade Focus commercial, it didn’t seem as if TW took the advice as he could barely control his “band-aid swing” for much of the Sunday Masters rally against Phil Mickelson. Still, the finale averaged a 6.9 rating/12 share with CBS thanking it’s lucky stars that Phil and Tiger tied in the third round and that Masters officials were smart enough to realize that the pairing would exude fireworks. Eight years later and ...

Click here to listen. Will Tiger Woods have any identifiable adversaries at this years Masters Tournament? Gazing into the PGA Tour crystal ball and deciding which golfers could make a move against Woods lead one to believe that Tiger is on par to win his fifth green jacket at Augusta! In all fairness, any one golfer could disrupt Tiger’s equilibrium long enough to gain ground. In 2007 relative unknown Zach Johnson “just tried to maintain my focus, maintain my game plan” in order to effectively tame Tiger at the Masters. Trevor Immelman emerged victorious in 2008, leaving Tiger in a second place ...

One possible way for Phil Mickelson to become the number one PGA Tour golfer in the world, toppling Tiger Woods, is closely tied in to his finish at this weekend’s Shell Houston Open. In order to turn his dreams into reality, Mickelson is going to have to sharpen his putting skills. According to his website, Mickelson has improved in all areas of his game except in putts per round. Out of six events, Phil now has two 2009 victories so it appears that the only way Mickelson can lose is if his mental game shatters, which it has been prone to ...