Ask anyone who knows me and they will agree with this one thing: I do not have a lot of good ideas.

I'm the guy who lost my nest-egg investing in a hemophiliac rugby league (not one team survived the first season). Then there was that restaurant/beauty salon, where you could get you hair cut during dinner (hairy mashed potatoes are even worse than they sound). Most recently, I sunk a lot of dough into a company that pioneered the mass cloning of mosquitoes. Turns out, we have enough mosquitoes as it is. Who knew?

So when I do get a good idea, I tend to give up on it too fast, steeped in doubt and self-loathing as I am. Then someone else takes that idea and runs and I get diddly – same as with my bad ideas.

Four years ago, while living in Amherst, Mass., I discovered that Penn Gillette, of Penn & Teller fame, was born and raised in nearby Deerfield, Mass. Based on this tenuous connection, I e-mailed the magical duo to propose writing a golf article on them. I didn't know if they could play or not, but I figured that they could come up with a few clever golf bets, maybe even enough to turn into a book.

They never did write back (even after my second or third missive), so I gave up, reckoning that they hated golf, or golfers, or just me (most likely me).

Just imagine my shock when, while watching the Ford Doral Championship, I see a trio of commercials starring Penn & Teller and Johnny Miller. In them, Penn & Teller coax Miller into a series of – you guessed it – clever golf bets.

Gee. What a great idea. Wish I would have thought of it.

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