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, ...