It’s finally over. Actually, it was over so long ago, the Fat Lady is hoarse from singing about the woes of 2008. So here’s to ‘09, which I’m optimistically declaring the Year of Redemption only because I hope the last 365 days were as bad as things could ever get. Predictions, wishes and observations for a New Year, including one my colleague Brandon Tucker also forecasts: 1. Tiger Woods WILL NOT win a major. If you want action, I still want significant odds, but call it a gut or contrarian feeling as he comes back from knee surgery. His putting has failed ...

Freak snow storms. Crazy cold snaps. Wild winds. A wife, or girlfriend, who hates golf. Oh, and those obnoxious airline baggage fees … It’s enough to make you not want to play, much less haul your clubs to a favorite golf destination. So as I headed to Las Vegas for the holidays, I broke out Plan B from the Golf Traveler’s How to Pack Light and Still Tee It Up manual. Let’s face it. If you travel this time of year, you’re battling a lot of adversity to get in a round or two. Heck, there was still snow in two ...

Rivalry? What rivalry? In order for one to exist, opponents have to be evenly matched and beat each other’s brains out over a period of time. It helps if their records against each other are about the same. Phil Mickelson v. Tiger Woods does not qualify under that definition. Not on the course anyway. It’s much juicier outside the ropes, as witnessed by the latest sniping between the two camps. This time it was done by Woods’ caddie/proxie, Stevie Williams, who expressed his dislike for Mickelson and actually used an expletive to describe him. Tiger issued a terse, pseudo-apologetic statement. Phil issued a statement ...

It’s never too early to lobby the USGA when it comes to hosting a major championship. If you’re Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, it should be a matter of simply filling out the paperwork. Kelly Miller, president of Pine Needles and affiliated Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club located across the street in the Pinehurst, N.C. area, told me last week his golf course wants the U.S. Women’s Open at the next available date. “We’ve extended the invitation,” Miller says. “Ideally, we’re looking to have them back in 2016 or 2017.” That seems like a long time, but Pine Needles just hosted ...

I wasn’t feeling particularly lucky as I approached the starter’s house today at Pinehurst’s No. 4 course. The way I see it, you’ve got a better chance of hitting the lottery than being paired with someone fun, interesting and good at golf. That’s why I show up as a single about once every, oh, quarter-century or so. Not that I’m anti-social; I just never took that “it’s just you vs. the course” thing literally, and have heard too many horror stories of bad pairings. On the contrary, golf is a social game that in my book should include friendly banter (not to ...

Stop the presses! No, really. Stop the presses. Got a call from a friend at the Rocky Mountain News this weekend and heard the tale of another dying newspaper, only with a twist on that time-worn phrase shouted by a journalist breaking a huge story. Layoffs, buyouts, cutbacks, For Sale signs … not really news if you’ve been following the news in any industry. But talk in Denver is that the Rocky Mountain News, founded in 1859, might simply shut down. And Monday, the Tribune Co. (publisher of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune) filed for bankruptcy. Oh, this little tidbit hit the ...

In a perfect world, prizes in a golf charity auction should not be the reason you donate. Ditto for the menu, although a fine filet mignon and a crisply glazed crème brule certainly has a knack for getting the party started. So let’s face it: the better the goodies, the greater the goodwill. And the folks at the Lymphoma Association have a roster of items that appear guaranteed to open some pocketbooks for helping anyone affected by lymphatic cancer. Several holiday auctions are being held from through Dec. 12. It’s on eBay, so there’s no excuse not to “attend” and bid on ...

Forget titanium and graphite and cavity-back irons and square-headed drivers. Just when you thought golf technology had hit a speed bump comes word that future advancement lies in … dimples? As in dimple patterns on a golf ball, designs of which apparently are still in the stone age, according to stories this weekend in the New York Times and other publications. Heck, and I thought they couldn’t possibly improve on Titleist’s Pro-V1 or Callaway’s Tour ix. But researchers at Arizona State University and the University of Maryland tell us significant extra yardage might soon be on the way for even the shortest ...

Can you imagine the temptation? Here was J.P. Hayes, cruising along on his way to the finals of qualifying school, en route to securing a full-time spot on the PGA Tour, and all he had to do was ignore his conscience. Heck, he’d already assessed himself a two-stroke penalty for having switched the model of his ball in the middle of the round last week at the Deerwood Club in Kingwood, Texas. But later that night, it dawned on Hayes that the Titleist ball his caddie had tossed him was a prototype not on the USGA approved list. Does he turn himself ...

Garages and closets are full of all sorts of useless golf gadgets. At some point, they might have helped slice the ball a little less or slow your swing speed down to, say, 199 mph. Like kids with new toys, we play and tinker with them and hope (mostly hope) it’s a cure-all, until a week or so later they’re collecting dust. Did you hear the one about the faux club that doubles as a urinal and discreetly allows you to stay on the course instead of going in the woods? No, really … it’s called the UroClub, it fits in ...

I had the pleasure of lunch today with Jay Overton, the host professional at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Fla., and one of the country’s most decorated teaching pros. He’s been at Innisbrook for 30 years, and as you might imagine, he has an old-school attitude when instructing players. Specifically, Overton has an aversion to taking a mechanical approach to the golf swing. “It’s not a good thing for most people,” he said. “Everybody’s different. I’d rather help them get better and improve what they already have in their game.” I couldn’t agree more. Hey, I’m all for progress. Love all ...

If an Olympic skier had to break a leg, I suppose he’d rather do it on the last run before the snow melts. Plenty of time to mend before the powder falls again. B.J. Upton, star center fielder for the Tampa Bay Rays, waited until after the World Series and underwent surgery this week for a torn labrum in his shoulder. He’ll be back at full strength when spring training camp opens. Sorry, but there is no offseason in golf, which I’m painfully aware of as the tourists flock to Florida and play on our perfect Fall greens amid the year’s best ...

Man, what a way to start the sports pages the other day. Coffee, donut and another police mug shot of John Daly. Grim. Rock bottom. Shoulda figured the next time we saw Daly would be up against a precinct wall. Not that Daly set the bar very high. Even as he won two majors and millions of dollars, he’s never had far to fall. But one thing emerged about Daly that I did not know: he sleeps with both eyes open when he’s trashed, stressed or both. That was his story to the cops after his concerned RV driver dialed 911 because Daly ...

I got a confession to make. It wasn’t until circa 1990 that I actually owned a set of golf clubs after moving to Sarasota, Fla. I started covering the game about that time, too, and went on to work for USA Today and write for the New York Times and have been fortunate enough to sit ringside at some of the great sporting events of the past 20 years. Of all sports, though, golf rarely failed to provide the depth and drama that makes for such great theater. It’s man against course. Club vs. ball. Man against himself - the ultimate battle, ...