A few months ago, I was in Montreal, covering the Presidents Cup. During one of the press conferences - if memory serves, it was to the end of the event - Gary Player launched on a mini-tirade about the need to bring golf to more countries. He said, using the Presidents Cup as an example, that such an event should start being held in eastern Europe. He singled out the former Eastern bloc countries as one of the regions into which golf desperately needed to make inroads. Hey, he’s got a supporter in me. As I’ve written elsewhere, golf has been ...

Go on, admit it, I know you’ve been wondering where former U.S. Open Champ Michael Campbell has been up to all these years after his victory in 2005. Well, he hasn’t been doing much, but it seems that he’s still the marquee draw for the The Michael Hill New Zealand Golf Open, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this week. The European PGA Tour is reporting that the Kiwi will become the “official Ambassador to the New Zealand Open” this week. He’s won the event once before. He’s pledged to donate his winnings - NZD 1.5 million - to the New Zealand ...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Golf is a relatively straight forward game, not difficult to comprehend even at its most arcane. And even the best golf courses in the world have more in common with the rank-and-file than not. Fundamentally, if you’ve been on one golf course, you’ve been on them all.(I’m talking fundamentally, folks.) So I wonder why all these starters around Myrtle Beach feel the need to preface your round of golf with a 10-minute rundown of “rules” and “instructions"? On a recent trip, it started as an oddity, morphed a bit into an impertinence and finally settled firmly ...

I’ll say this at the outset: I often agree with much that TravelGolf.com’s Chris Baldwin has to say. Not everything, but a lot. More often than not, Baldwin is spot on with his takes on the game, and I usually admire his willingness to take unpopular positions and hang his opinions out there. That bit of throat-clearing now over, I did a double-take at Baldwin’s most recent blog entry: Impossible to overestimate the impact of Justin Timberlake as new host of Las Vegas’ PGA tournament. Yes, it seems that Baldwin thinks that boy-toy Timberlake is really going to have them lining up ...

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Should an 18th hole be hard or easy? Should it let you down softly into the clubhouse and give you a jolt of confidence (all the more important after a tough round)? Or should it make you work to get home. A hammock hole (just lay back and relax), or a hole that brings things to a dramatic and challenging finish? I think most of us would agree that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. No one wants to get a beat down on the home hole, especially if the round has not been going, ...

Justin Rose was recently crowned the European PGA Tour’s Player of the Year, winning the coveted Order of Merit and simultaneously snapping most of our attention away from what were other, more marquee Euro tour golfers that seemed to be having a hell of a 2007. There was Angel Cabrera winning the U.S. Open. There was Padraig Harrington winning the British Open. Euro Tour veteran Ernie Els seemed to wake up during the second half of the year and contend in nearly every event the was playing in. But there was Rose hoisting the storied Harry Vardon Trophy. I thought: Rose? He ...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Here’s a question: Can anyone working in America today besides a weatherman be so consistently wrong and still keep his job? Think about it. How often has your local “meteorologist” been wrong, and I mean dead wrong , on his “forecasts"? And how often have you feared that a bad call at work might lead to some, I don’t know, trouble with the higher ups? Trust me, whatever you do out there, if you were wrong as often as weathermen, you’d be out of a job. Yet night after night they keep coming back. OK, they’ve got a ...

DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. - In a little more than a year from now, America’s eyes, if not the world’s, will be focused on this little hamlet in the mountains of New Hampshire’s North Woods - if only for about 30 minutes. Every presidential election, Dixville Notch, population 18-20 (depending on who you ask), casts the nation’s first votes, at 12:00 a.m. on the first Tuesday of November. New Hampshire law says that once every registered voter has had his say in a particular town, voting stations there can close and votes can be tallied. In Dixville Notch, the whole process takes around ...

NEWRY, Maine - I’m sitting on the slopes of Sunday River Ski Mountain, at the Sunday River Brewing Co., drinking the Sunday River Summer. Yeah, it’s Fall, I know, but this brew is seriously quaffable. Which got me thinking about some of the secondary benefits of golfing in Maine. Pretty much everywhere you’ll end up will have a microbrewery nearby. This state is replete with really solid local brews - in Carabassett Valley, in Farmington, in nearby Bethel. Check out the Granary Brewpub in Farmington, the Sugarloaf Brewing Co. in Carabassett Valley, or stuff from the Casco Bay Brewing Co. ...

CARABASSETT VALLEY, Maine – If you play Sugarloaf Golf Club here, then you’ll quickly learn all about Robert Trent Jones Jr.’s ‘String of Pearls’. Jones designed the course about 20 years ago. The string consists of Nos. 10-15 that wind along the southern branch of the Carabassett River (some say ‘pearls’ come from all the boulders that are strewn along the riverbed and take up position along side, or in the middle of, the holes. It’s as impressive a series of holes as you’ll find anywhere. No. 10 is an easy par 4 with breathtaking views (and a tee shot to a ...

BELGRADE LAKES, Maine - New Englanders consider Fall their birthright, the best time of year. On about this time of year, especially up here, summer is a distant memory (it probably only lasted two months or so anyway). The days grow increasingly short, and there is a bite to the air, a suggestion of something not that far off, maybe only a week or two away: the first frost. From there, well, it’s a ski ramp down into winter. But that’s in a little bit. Now there’s only the crispness leading the way. Oh, did I mention the leaves? Yellows, crimsons, scarlets ...

MONTREAL - Mike Weir did today what few have done: Survive a Tiger Woods comeback. Trailing by one stroke with two holes to play, Weir held on to beat Woods 1-up in what was today’s most highly anticipated match-up. Woods was down by as many as three points, but went on a torrid run on the back nine, winning four or five holes. But Woods could not close the deal on the 17, barely missing his birdie putt. Weir stepped up and made birdie. On 18, the first time Woods had played the hole this week, his drive found the tall grass ...

MONTREAL - The United States has won the 2007 Presidents Cup today, after Stewart Cink clinched it by beating Nick O’Hern 6 and 4. It is the first time the Americans have won the Presidents Cup outside the U.S. Earlier, Phil Mickelson bested Vijay Singh 5 and 4, and Scott Verplank beat Rory Sabbatini 2 and 1. Tiger Woods and Mike Weir are all square heading into 18.

MONTREAL - Phil Mickelson has put the first point on the board today for the American side at the Presidents Cup with a romp over Vijay Singh, 5 and 4. This could have been a real battle. Instead, Vijay left his game at home. Lefty had his way with the Fijian, making birdies at Nos. 2, 10 and 12. Singh did his part to help, making bogey on Nos. 3 and 6. The points now stand 15.5 to 7.5 in favor of the Americans. The Internationals are leading in only three matches, the Americans in six and three matches are all square.

MONTREAL - Driving into the Presidents Cup today, I saw a sign outside a cheap hotel that read, simply, ‘Go Mike’. There’s probably scores of those signs all over the place here today, because the biggest story in Canada is Mike Weir’s match-up against World No. 1 Tiger Woods. There’s no denying the draw in this singles pairing, and given the fact that the Presidents Cup itself could well be won after the first three matches (the United States only needs three points to win), the Weir-Woods head-to-head will still give us a reason to stay tuned (there’s no way ...

MONTREAL - Day No. 3 at the Presidents Cup was like someone with split personality disorder. The morning foresomes saw an American romp, as Capt. Jack’s boys took all five matches against the sons of Player. A lot of those matches weren’t even close, and only one made it to the 18th hole. “It was an amazing morning,” Nicklaus said. But in the afternoon, the Internationals stormed back, taking two of four four-ball matches and halving another. Still, heading in to tomorrow’s singles, the U.S. has a commanding lead: 14.5 to 7.5. Here are the results: Morning foursomes Steve Stricker/Hunter Mahan (U.S.) def. Trevel Immelman/Rory ...

MONTREAL - The captains of the two Presidents Cup teams took the easy way out today and chose local favorite Mike Weir to go against Tiger Woods in tomorrow’s singles match-ups. It’s been the match everyone’s been talking about all week, the two biggest gallery draws in the competition facing off in a final day in which the International Team has to win 10 out of 12 matches to take home the Presidents Cup. As unlikely as that is now, it was the perfect time for Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player to throw together some really interesting match-ups - though they did ...

MONTREAL - Ernie Els hasn’t done anything this week for the International Team at the Presidents Cup. This was pointed out to International Captain Gary Player on Friday. Player laughed and said, “Well, I don’t know. I think he hit some wonderful shots today.” It wasn’t that surprising that Player would spin it that way, especially on a day when his International Team dominated the Americans. It will be harder for Player to spin Saturday’s morning foursomes, however. The American Team trounced the International Team this morning, winning all five matches to now lead the Presidents Cup 12 points to 5. Unless the International ...

MONTREAL - Woody Austin’s little swim in the lateral water hazard on No. 14 Friday was the talk of the Presidents Cup. It did make for hilarious viewing, on a day when there was little to smile about if you were an American golf fan. But to me, it smacked a little too much like unneeded showmanship. Austin played it off as an example of his dedication. “There’s no one out here who wants to be here as badly as me,” he told the media later that afternoon. Fine. But. “They idea was to get it to the bank. if I could get it ...

MONTREAL Dear Gary, As your fellow countryman (I was born in Durban, South Africa), I feel I can reach out to you and and make a small request. I know the legions of Canadians here at the Presidents Cup are talking about a Mike Weir/Tiger Woods match-up in Sunday’s singles matches, a chance for the local hero, such that he is, to cap off a week in the spotlight. I won’t deny the sentimental attraction to such a match-up. But there would be a better pairing, and it would have interest beyond this week’s competition. It’s time, once and for all, to put ...

MONTREAL - A bunker shot Friday shifted the momentum of the 2007 Presidents Cup, and when the day was finished, Jack Nicklaus’ American Team seemed battered and bruised, even as it clung to a two point lead over the International Team. Vijay Singh holed out from a bunker on the 444-yard par-4 first to give himself and teammate Stuart Appleby an early lead in their four-ball match against Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk. That kick-started a round that saw Singh and Appleby record seven birdies, two eagles and get to 11-under-par through through 14 holes, when they dismissed Woods and Furyk ...

The Americans have drawn first blood in the Presidents Cup in Montreal. The duo of Steve Stricker and Hunter Mahan beat Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy 3 and 2 in today’s opening foursomes, with Stricker holing out the winning putt from 10 feet on No. 16. “It was important for us to get off to a good start,” he said after the round. Thirty minutes later, Phil Mickelson, teamed with Woody Austin, stared down and sank a 12-footer to square their match against Vijay Singh and hometown favorite Mike Weir. Overall, the Americas are all square in three ongoing matches. David Toms and ...

Am I the only person close to appalled to learn that the winner of the PGA Tour’s much-hyped FedEx Cup playoffs won’t get to pocket the $10 million winner’s check when he walks off the green at the World Golf Championships next month? The money, instead, will go into a “retirement fund” which the golfer can’t touch until between the ages of 45 and 60, depending on how many tournaments they play during this time. Huh? I learned this little detail from WorldGolf.com’s Chris Baldwin, who reports it today in his first dispatch from the Westchester Country Club, host of ...

It’s always nice when a “local boy” wins his local home tournament. That’s not quite what happened in Stokholm, Sweden this weekend, but it was close enough. Finland’s Mikko Ilonen won the European PGA Tour’s 2007 Scandinavian Masters on Sunday, finishing 6-under for the tournament, two strokes ahead of France’s Christian Cevaer. In many ways, Ilonen’s win came down to the wire. He carded six birdies on the day, but they were slightly offset by two bogeys and a near-disasterous double-bogey on the par-3 16th. Ilonen reached the 18th tee at 5-under-par, one shot back of German Martin Kaymer, who was playing a group behind ...

SEMLIN AM SEE, GERMANY - It’s a fair question to put to a golf club manager, asking whether or not people prefer to walk or ride during their round at the course. “We have five golf carts,” Janine Lauersdorf, manager at Golf Resort Semlin am See, told me. “We’re hoping to get five more by the end of the year.” Five golf carts at a 27-hole golf course? Yeah, it’s safe to say that walking is the preferred means of conveyance at this golf course, about an hour’s drive outside Berlin. There are legions of pull charts available, and still some old-schoolers, yours ...

SEMLIN AM SEE, Germany - So this is what they mean by the 19th hole. I sit on the generous patio of Golf Resort Semlin am See, roughly 70 kilometers outside Berlin, watching the sun turn more orange as it sinks closer to the ridge of trees in the distance. There’s just the right amount of clouds in the sky to spread this color far and wide. Before me, the green expanse of this resort’s 27-holes stretches out flat and very green (it’s been a wet summer in these parts). Still, sprinklers are doing their thing. I’m making my way ...

Michelle Wie, coming off a disappointing week in France at the Evian Masters (and let’s face it, what hasn’t been disappointing about Michelle Wie lately), rebounded to shoot even par today in the first round of the 2007 Women’s British Open, and finds herself in the clubhouse six shots off the lead. The leader is World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa of Mexico, who was flawless today: six birdies (three on each side) and no bogies for a 6-under 67. Louise Friberg is in second place, at 4-under, after a round that included six birdies and two bogeys. Two are at 3-under (Ai ...

Not long ago, I wrote a short piece about how it seemed that, finally, the fuss around Michelle Wie had died down. After two dreadful performances on the LPGA Tour – dead last at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship, then another withdrawal at the U.S. Women’s Open – and that controversial pull-out from the Ginn Tribute, it seemed – thankfully – that Wie decided to go into hiding and re-evaluate her game, her priorities and her future. The entire golfing world – the media, the players, the LPGA – would benefit from a “time-out.” Personally, I believed – and still do – that ...

Going into the British Open this year, I would have said that Sergio Garcia would never win a major golf tournament in his career. He was just that overrated. It was as irrefutable a fact to me as gravity. Now I say this: He will win a major. Why the change in heart, especially following yet another monumental Garcia choke? It was something, easy to overlook, that Nick Faldo said on the eve of the tournament. Asked why Europeans are able to perform so magnificently during Ryder Cups, but not during major golf championships, Faldo said it had to do with putting ...

He’s got a lot of golfers breathing down his neck, but Sergio Garcia is holding strong, firing an even-par second round of 71 today to remain at 6-under for the tournament. The clubhouse leader is facing some charges from Boo Weekly and Jim Furyk. Paul McGinley of Ireland, at 4-under, has just teed off. Tiger Woods is not off to a rocky start. He’s at 1-under following a double-bogey on his opening hole, and a birdie on No. 2. Garcia was solid today: Two bogeys, two birdies. No real scares (but also, no real success at distancing himself from the field). The cut right ...

BONN, Germany - Here I am, in this pretty, former Cold War capital, not too far from the edge of Europe, and probably a two hour flight from Carnoustie. Can I get any coverage on television? Nope. It’s almost like a badge of honor that Germans will tell you they give not a crap about the British Open. On Germany’s two main sports channels, it’s all afternoon coverage of the Tour de France. During the “shoulder” periods during the day - i.e. morning and night - it’s soccer. This morning I futility tried to find some British Open coverage, ...

So it looks like amateur Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland will be around on the weekend. He’s slipped well off the lead and is at 2-over after a second round 76. But the cut right now is projected at 5-over, so he’s safe. But man, it’d be fun if he was still up there, nibbling at the lead. I mean, come on: Rory McIlroy Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy? They’re from different worlds, but both had a go at a major championship. As Tin Cup once said - and McIlroy will no doubt realize this some day - “Greatness courts failure.”

Almost as ridiculous as the site of Boo Weekly wearing camouflage under his golf shirt is TravelGolf.com blogger T.R. Massey’s comments about British Open weather. Why would they host a major tournament in such an inhospitable (read: cold) climate? Your first reaction would be to say: Well about 150-years of tradition probably has something to do with it. Massey anticipates this and says that just because golf was invented here doesn’t mean it’s the best place to play the tournament. Uh, it’s the British Open. The weather all around Britain - be it Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, southwestern England - is ...

Sergio Garcia Thursday opened the 2007 British Open at Carnoustie with a round of 65 to lead the tournament at 6-under par. Garcia, equipped with a new belly-putter meant, he said, to bring more consistency to his putting, had seven birdies on the day and one bogey. Five of his birdies came on the back nine. A wet and windy day kept the course soft, and players scored reasonably well - especially the Europeans in the field. Irishman Paul McGinley shot a 4-under 67 to claim sole share of second place in the clubhouse. There is a logjam at 3-under par, including Austrian Markus ...

I suppose that if a European is going to win the British Open at Carnoustie, it would be fitting if it was Sergio Garcia - who leads the tournament through the first round at 6-under-par. No player has borne the weight of a golf continent’s collective expectation more than Garcia in the last 10 years, and no player has missed as many opportunities to meet those expectations. Ever since he burst on the scene and gave Tiger Woods a scare at the 1999 PGA Championship, Garcia has been labeled the future of European golf (not to mention the heir-apparent ...

Well, my initial instinct was right: John Daly couldn’t really be leading the British Open. I mean, come on! Thus, I kept refreshing my computer, wondering when the jig would be up. And there he is, at 2-over-par through 17, having given seven strokes back to the field in five holes. That’s a run that would make Michelle Wie proud. I’m guessing he ran out of cigarettes after holing out on the par-4 11th for eagle, which gave him the tournament lead at 5-under-par. Dump Truck followed that up with: *A double bogey 6 on No. 12 *A par 3 on No. 13 *A ...

I had to refresh my computer several times, just to see if it was really true: John Daly is at the top of the leaderboard midway through the first round of the British Open, at 5-under-par. Mr. Trailer Park himself. The man more comfortable with a cold one in his hand than a golf club. Not today, it seems. He’s lighting the course up through 11 holes: Birdies on Nos. 5,6 and 10 and he has just holed out on the par-4 11th for an eagle 2. Daly has done well to become one of golf’s laughingstocks - so well, in ...

It’s early during Round 1 at the British Open at Carnoustie, but already golfers are scoring. K.J. Choi has the early lead at 4-under-par through 13 holes, one stroke ahead of a surging Tiger Woods. Choi, who won the inaugural AT&T National a few weeks ago, got off to a hot start with birdies on four of his first six holes before dropping a stroke with a bogey at the par-4 seventh. Woods has shot up the leaderboard and is at 3-under par, along with Irishman Paul McGinley. Woods is through six holes so far. He started his round par-par before a birdie on ...

TravelGolf.com’s Chris Baldwin recently said he was awaiting - though I’m sure not anxiously, or even actively - my pick for the British Open that kicks off tomorrow at Carnoustie. He’s made it clear that he thinks a European does not have a chance at the title. And while I do follow European golf to the point that I feel bad whenever I don’t pick a European to win, I’m hard pressed to argue against him. I wish I could float out all kinds of unusual yet - upon closer inspection - solid and interesting picks to hoist the ...

The PR flacks - em, writers - over at Europeantour.com give Nick Faldo a big, wet happy-brithday kiss, as the best golfer Europe has ever produced turns 50. I suppose it is a milestone (beyond the obvious reasons why), since the logical follow-up will now be to wonder whether Good St. Nick will join, if not to say dominate, the dreadful Champions Tour. His teeing it up Thursday at Carnoustie suggests that he might not be ready to go to that graveyard of golfing glory just yet. Even by the standards of PR writing, the European Tour’s love letter to Faldo teeters ...

I just wrote a short piece on the retirement of Seve Ballesteros, who’s hanging it up after trying to stage a comeback earlier this year (a rather unfortunate decision, in hindsight). Seems like the passionate Spaniard just doesn’t have it in him anymore, and he will only tee ‘em up with his kids from now on. What this means for European golf isn’t that much since, as I write, Ballesteros belonged to an era that has long since ended: A time, long ago, when European golfers actually contended in - and, gasp, won - major golf tournaments. Think of that ...

Monty’s back. Colin Montgomerie finally was able to put something together at a European PGA Tour event, winning the European Open this weekend at Ireland’s K-Club. He finished with a Sunday round of 65, 11-under for the tournament. It’s not been lost on the media that Monty’s having a tough year. Actually, it’s been a 19th month drought since the last time he hoisted a trophy (which made my pick for him to win the U.S. Open last month all the more bold - and, as it turned out, stupid). I felt Monty was due going into the Open, and realize now that ...

In what must have been an easy call, the European PGA Tour just named Angel Cabrera the tour’s Golfer of the Month for June, following his win at the U.S. Open at Oakmont. “I am very happy with all this recognition which gives me strength to keep playing at the highest level,” said Cabrera. “This win was very important, especially as it had been 40 years since another Argentine won a Major so hopefully my US Open win will be a big boost for golf in Argentina. “The Golfer of the Month award is very important to me. The European Tour ...

Well, I’ll be the first to admit when I’m wrong and, man, I was really wrong on this one. Of course, I’m referring to picking Colin Montgomerie to win this week’s Open. The Scotsman had a dreadful two rounds and missed the cut at 18-over-par for the tournament. Those two rounds included something like three double-bogeys and one triple-bogey. What’s most disheartening is that Monty finished a full four strokes worse than Sergio Garcia. What can I say? I felt my pick had some merits: Monty does generally play U.S. Opens well (finished second last year after all), nearly won the U.S. ...

TravelGolf.com’s Chris Baldwin blasts Sergio Garcia in his blog today after the gutless Spaniard posted a monster opening round of 79 at the U.S. Open. Baldwin says Garcia is “the most overrated player of the Tiger Woods era.” You know what? He’s absolutely right. Garcia is like tennis’ Anna Kournikova: Long on renown, pitifully short on results. But I don’t want to steal Baldwin’s thunder (I’ve made my feelings known about Sergio Garcia before). Read what he has to say. Garcia’s defenders are falling fast. Soon, the only one left will be Bill Wolfrum.

Sports writers like to make bold predictions, so here’s mine: Colin Montgomerie is going to win this week’s U.S. Open. Think I’m crazy? People have made wackier forecasts on this site. (I hear WorldGolf.com’s Bill Wolfrum, yet to reveal his official Open pick, is eyeing Bob Estes to go all the way at Oakmont this year). This truly is the 43-year-old Scotsman’s year. And man is he due: 10 top-10 finishes in major championships since 1990, and five second place finishes. Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks Montgomerie is finally ready to hoist a trophy. OK, I’ll admit ...

Watching the final round of the French Open today, in which Spaniard Rafael Nadal pretty much dominated World No. 1 Roger Federer, I kept wondering one thing: Where’s Tiger Woods? I thought I had read somewhere that these guys had developed quite a close friendship (it’s lonely on top, isn’t it?) - each attending the other’s big moments, bonded in the unity of simply being the best in their respective sports. Here in Germany, the television kept flashing to a rather unfortunate looking woman I took to be Federer’s significant other (I for one have no idea if Federer is married), ...

A lot of ink has been spilled on Michelle Wie’s bogus withdrawal from the Ginn Tribute, including two posts in this space - though I at least can fall back on the record of never having felt the need to write about Wiesy until yesterday. So I think two blogs, now make it three, is ok. I simply reached my tipping point yesterday with Wie. (The two or three readers of this blog will also know that I’ve hammered on Sergio Garcia, the PGA Tour’s unfulfilled promise of a player, so it’s not like I’m bashing only one player. I’ve also ...

Is there anybody out there who is really buying Michelle Wie’s excuse that she re-aggravated one of her wrists and that was the reason she withdrew from the Ginn Tribute? Get serious. Feeling the need to follow-up on an earlier blog - one that now seems rather prophetic, I think - I have to say that Wie simply saw the writing on the wall at the Ginn. On the one hand, the LPGA has an 88-rule: Any non-tour member who shoots 88 or higher is barred from competing in LPGA Tour events for the remainder of the year. On the other, the ...

I for one am waiting for Michelle Wie’s media machine to announce that she is heading over the pond to the European PGA Tour to continue her pathetic quest to make a cut in a PGA Tour event. I mean, up to now she has humiliated herself in every PGA event she’s played (well, maybe not every one…she did miss the cut by only two at the 2005 John Deere Classic, I think). Can it be that long until Wie gets the idea to try her luck at one of the smaller events over in these parts? I say this because ...

My colleague Brandon Tucker has written a smart piece on why European golfers should get the most out of their euros by heading to the States to take advantage of the pathetic value of the U.S. dollar right now. Personally, it’s tough living in Europe and watching the U.S. dollar go down the toilet. I can remember, back in 2002, when there was pretty much rough parity between the dollar and the European Union’s newfangled currency, the euro. It was a joy to buy train tickets and meals in places like Italy and France and put the calculator away. I ...

Anyone catch an unexpected name near the top of the leaderboard at the Player’s Championship this past weekend? No, not Sergio Garcia, though I’ll eat a little crow on past statements and recognize that he did mount a real charge on Sunday (birdies on four of his last five holes) to finish in second place, two back of Phil. No, I’m talking about Jose Maria Olazabal. The name sort of jumps out at you once you scan the short way down to third on the leaderboard, at 8-under. It’s funny how someone who is 41-years-old can be seen as an ...

Ok, so a lot of eyes will be on Jacksonville, Fla., for the PGA Tour’s 2007 Players Champsionship this week. That’s too bad, because we finally have a full week scheduled on the European PGA Tour. The Challenge Tour is in Seith, France for the A.G.F. Allianz Golf Open de Toulouse. This will mark a comeback of sorts for England’s John E Morgan. You might remember that this is the guy who managed to earn his place on the 2003 European Tour (after winning the 2002 Challenge Tour Championship), but instead opted to go to PGA Tour Q-school instead. He won ...

PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Not long ago I wrote, briefly, about a round I played at Golf Resort Konopiste, not far outside Prague, in the Czech Republic. My review of the resort’s D’Este course is now on WorldGolf.com. There is always a story behind a story, and what perhaps my blog on this round, and certainly the subsequent review, did not reveal were the trying circumstances that made this one hell of a hard 18 holes of golf. There are tough rounds, and there are tough rounds, and there are rounds at Golf Resort Konopiste…after a long bout of drinking Czech beer ...

The licensed bore and the curmudgeon both like to say that as big pictures go, sports are insignificant. Many times I would find that a hard point to refute, never more than when considering that most peculiar of species, The Fan - and I have not a few of these in my family (how sad to see grown men and women who can barely fill the time between Sunday game day). Of course, stacked against human tragedy and shortcoming, what really does hold its significance? It’s one of the easiest - and therefore emptiest - arguments to make, not least because ...

Could this be déjà vu for Raphaël Jacquelin? Jacquelin finds himself still in the lead of the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai heading into the weekend. Last week, you might recall, Jacquelin found himself in the same position at the Volvo Open (also held in Shanghai), heading into the weekend rounds at 4-under-par. Then the Frenchman collapsed: He started Saturday with three bogeys on the front nine, and added another on the back (with no birdies to stem the blood flow). Then Sunday he added two more bogeys and by then he was too far back for two late-round birdies to ...