What is it about Spain?

Raphael Nadal

Sergio Garcia

Jose Maria Olazabal


This single girl is so wasting her life here in WV. I need to move to Spain.

Thanks Golf Magazine Online

Thanks to Golfonline.com I now ahead of time who's going to win the LPGA event that is currently on my tv. I went to the website to see if they have any new David Feherty stuff, but saw the headline instead. So, now I can either watch something else, or work on the golf romance novel. I actually have the first chapter written, but I think it might be too short. Or else I will need to have more chapters than I thought. I have some serious editing to do. But I did think I might, hopefully, get maybe one chapter a week written. That doesn't sound like too much. I do have a serious problem with the book though. I don't know what I'm going to write. I know how the book will end, but how I spend the 10 or so chapters to get to the end is the problem. Maybe I should have done an outline first. I did that with my first novel.

St. Jude: Final Round

I didn't know who to cheer for this time. At first I thought John Cook. Then, they told me Jay Delsing hadn't won in over 500 tournaments, so I decided to cheer for him. Then as he started falling back, I thought maybe Tom Pernice. Then they tell me Jeff Maggert hadn't won in 7 years and I thought, well he would be a deserving champion. Bottom line - there were too many good players to cheer for this week.

Where's Peter Kostis?

He wasn't covering the final round today? David Feherty jumped from one group to another - I bet he lost an extra 5 pounds trying to keep up with all the players. I hope nothing's wrong with Peter or his family.

What's with the PGA Tour Players?

The Senior tour players let the on course commentators interview them during the round, not all the time, but sometimes it happens. And some of the LPGA tour players wear microphones for the Golf Channel so we can hear what they are saying during the round. Why are the PGA tour players such sticks in the mud? Granted, I don't need Tiger Woods to wear a wire to hear his fowl language, but still, it would be nice if the PGA tour and the players would loosen up just a little bit like the other two tours. Why should we have to wait for guys like Fred Couples or David Toms or anyone else to turn 50 before we get to enjoy interviews during a round? And the only time I ever get to hear the under 50 set through a microphone is during the skins game after the season's over. I wonder if the pay differential has something to do with it. The more money there is, the less fan-oriented people are.

No Excuse Today...

I didn't really have an excuse today for not watching golf. But I did nap during the European coverage. When you get up at 5am even on weekends, a nap is not to be refused. I was disappointed that Jose Maria Olazabal wasn't on tv this morning. Hopefully he will have a really good round tomorrow and I'll get to see some highlights. As for the St. Jude Classic, it seems like all I saw were missed putts. And the Senior PGA - Peter Jacobsen somehow got water in his shoes. I missed the first part of that. LPGA is on tonight on the Golf Channel. I shouldn't nap through that.

Missing the golf

I've been watching some of the St. Jude Classic, but last night I went to the store after work and didn't get home until late and tonight, this wonderful computer had to be recovered because of some stupid file it said was corrupted. (I think it's a built in time-release bug created by either microsoft or compaq to get you to buy a new computer after a few months. If I get the message again in 7 months, I will know my conspiracy theory is fact). Anyway, because I had to fool with this computer, I didn't get to watch much of the golf.

Warm and Fuzzy Golf Story of the Week

Darren Clarke showed why golf is the best sport when he put integrity above winning in the final round of the Irish Open.

What Could Have Been

When I use the program guide feature on my satellite dish, I am told that I think last night I could have watched the wonderful world of golf featuring Fred Couples and Greg Norman. Maybe it was Friday night. Tonight, I could have watched the Daily Planet. Instead, Tiger Woods' three US Amateur wins are being shown. Just a note to the Golf Channel - I would have preferred Fred Couples. It certainly is not a possibility that anyone will forget Tiger in the short time he will be away from the game.

A Question to Ponder

Tomorrow night on Golf Academy Live they will have another free lesson segment featuring someone with the last name Shankland. Wouldn't a name like that make you stop and think first before accepting a lesson?

Lumpy!!

I have to admit it. The entire weekend, all I could do was remember the Footjoy commercial where Tim Herron jumps out of the birthday cake. I've been saying "Lumpy!!" in the same manner as the sign guy all weekend. And now I have another reason to say it. Tim Herron won the Colonial in a playoff. Good for him. Richard S. Johnson did really well, making it to the playoff. He could stand to eat a few more meals though.

More From Golf Magazine

They have a feature where they ask four golfers questions. Some of the questions are about playing certain types of shots and some questions are more of a human interest type. This month they asked Tim Clark, Arron Oberholzer, Luke Donald, and Chris DiMarco what they eat and drink during a round. Tim Clark said anything from hamburgers to bananas, but mostly nothing. Arron Oberholser said trail mix. Luke Donald and Chris DiMarco said Amino Vital sports drinks. I hate to say this, but I'm liking Tim Clark and Arron Oberholser more because they eat real food.

Colonial

There were some pretty good shots today (Tim Herron comes to mind) and some not so good (Stewart Cink comes to mind). David Feherty did a thing about Ben Hogan. It was strange seeing Feherty dressed all respectable like in a suit. And they showed some of the Ft. Worth zoo. I'm wondering why they didn't just send Gary McCord and David Feherty to the zoo if they wanted to feature it. That would have been funny.

Sick People

There are some sick people out there. I checked my hit counter stats and people are actually doing google searches for naked pictures of camillo villegas. Stop that! He's a nice boy.

A Rare Look At David Feherty

And I don't just mean the nude photos. In the current issue of Golf Magazine there is an exceptional article/interview with David Feherty. This article discusses his personal struggles with depression and alcohol. Everyone should read this article. The article also shows you just how much of a saint his wife is for sticking by him through everything. And his kids - the stories about his little girl are precious. As for the nude photos, they are very artistic and you don't see anything you don't want to see. But I'm sure some men out there will still be uncomfortable when they see the photos.

Get Well Jason

Jason Gore had to withdraw from the Colonial today after injuring his right arm on a drive on the third hole. The Golf Channel interviewed him after he left the fitness trailer and he said that what he had was something to do with tendonitis and scar tissue. I hope he gets better in time for the US Open. Golf Central reported that he will go for an MRI on Monday.

The Colonial

I admit it, I haven't watched much of the first two rounds. I had company yesterday (a three ring circus called the niece and nephew) and today I went to the grocery store. The biggest thing I noticed was David Feherty calling the action. That was a nice change. I did hear on the Golf Channel that Bubba Watson had a 391 yard drive. That is huge.

Who Needs That Driving Accuracy Stat??

Golfer Not Liable for Errant Golf Ball

Tue May 16, 7:12 AM ET

A golfer may not be held liable for mistakenly hitting another golfer with an errant golf ball, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled.

The court unanimously upheld a lower court ruling to dismiss Ryan Yoneda's lawsuit against Andrew Tom, whose wayward ball hit Yoneda in the left eye at Mililani Golf Course in 1999.

Chief Justice Ronald Moon wrote Yoneda assumed the risk of the injury when he played golf.

It is "common knowledge that not every shot played by a golfer goes exactly where he intends it to go," the ruling said, adding there wouldn't be much "sport" in the "sport of golf," if golf balls went exactly where the player wanted.

The April 28 ruling makes clear a golfer who intentionally hits a ball to inflict injury, or recklessly hits the ball knowing that injury is highly likely, would not be exempt from liability.

The court considered whether golfers should have to shout "fore" or other warnings to protect other players. The justices concluded, however, that doing so was golf etiquette, not a requirement recognized by law.

"With the ruling that warning is like an option, that's not too good," said Yoneda, who suffered permanent vision damage. "I know what it's like to be hit and I don't want anybody to go through what I went through."

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The novel

My golf themed romance novel is progressing at a very slow rate. Sergio Garcia may very well win a major before I get this thing written. I really do need to buckle down and be more disciplined about it. I am currently reading a romance novel I've read before and taking notes about what all those non-dialogue paragraphs are about. I'm learning just how clever Nora Roberts is.

Wie Makes it to Sectionals

Michelle Wie made it through local qualifying and will advance to sectionals for the Men's US Open. I think the sectionals will be tougher for her. It's an unfamiliar course and the competition will be tougher.

Infomercial Puzzlement

I was watching the infomercial for the Heavy Putter today and the big selling point about this putter is that it makes the larger muscle groups work, thereby keeping the smaller muscles from ruining the putt. If the putter works because of muscle groups, then what was the point of having the robot use the putter in the tests? The robot doesn't have muscles.

Winners

Wetterich won the Byron Nelson, which is good since he's a first time winner.

Edfors won in Europe. He could stand to eat a few meals. He's too skinny.

Bobby Wadkins won on the Senior Tour.

I was napping during the Nationwide event so I missed the winner there.

And according to the Golf Channel, Karrie Webb won on the LPGA tour.

By Way of a Google Search

I've noticed that lately I've been getting a lot of hits from the google search "Lanny Wadkins Chris Couch". Who knew all it took to get visitors to my blog was for Lanny Wadkins to cuss on National TV.

Golf Crazy

There has been golf on tv all day today it seems. I'm used to seeing a few infomercials on the golf channel, but today I turned the tv on at 11am and golf has been on ever since, either on the golf channel or on cbs. I did get to see a couple of infomercials this morning. Although it's the weekend, I still have to get up at 5am to take my puppy outside. So, I watched the flimsy golf club infomercial and dozed through the pilates for golfers infomercial. It's a good thing I'm not addicted to golf, just a fan. Because I wouldn't have been able to get anything done today.

Filling a Void

So, I actually started writing a romance story about golf. Don't get your hopes up that anything will come of it. I have only written one novel in my life and unfortunately I developed a 'been there done that' attitude afterward and haven't been able to bring myself to finish a story since. And, although I read a ton of romance novels, I only read dialogue and skip the love scenes, so writing all that other stuff that I don't read is going to be a challenge.

3rd Round Byron Nelson

Hopefully, this was Adam Scott's one bad round of the tournament and he will get back on track tomorrow. Trevor Immelman and Brett Wetterich are also in contention. I don't know who to cheer for tomorrow. Adam's so likable that he's a favorite, but Trevor is a favorite because of last week and Brett is ranked in the 200's. A win would mean a lot to him. And then for an oustide chance, there's Omar Uresti. The final round is sure to be something.

Round 2 Byron Nelson

Adam Scott and Brett Wetterich are leading and Arron Oberholser had a round of 60 today. Who missed the cut: Tim Clark, Fred Couples, Sergio Garcia and Camillo Villegas among others.

The British Masters

Kevin Stadler is playing there this week. It will be interesting to see how he does on the European Tour. Darren Clarke is tied for the lead after the first round. They say he didn't expect to make the cut this week. He has the most inherent talent of anyone I've seen. If he applied himself like Mickelson or Singh, he could be World #1 very easily.

Round 1 at the Byron Nelson

Some observations from the scoreboard:

Sergio is 5 over. I really think it's not just the putting that's giving him trouble.

Chris DiMarco is 4 over. Anyone else think it's odd that his pga tour commercial is him telling people how he's never had a teacher or whatever? He might think about getting one given his recent performances.

Charley Hoffman - the announce crew on the USA channel love his long hair - but most commentators turned negative when Tim Clark's and Adam Scott's hair got unruly during the hair bet.

Adam Scott and Steve Lowery are tied for the lead after round one.

Carlos Franco used a driver after his putter got damaged during the round. He made a few putts with it too. Sergio might take some notes (and yes, Sergio is a favorite of mine, but you can't ignore the obvious.)

I Won

I won a sleeve of Taylormade golf balls from Golfblogger who was sponsoring a contest to try to increase viewership and postership on his forum. I'm so excited. Yes, I don't play golf, but I can take these golf balls to work and tease my boss since he has to pay for the ones he loses when he plays golf. LOL!!! And I might actually look into getting an old used club sometime and playing around with the golf balls. I live on a 20 acre farm and it would be really good exercise to hit the ball and then go find it. But they are supposed to be red, so they will be easy to find.

And just an aside - do you know how careful you have to be when you are talking about golf balls? You always have to specify 'golf' otherwise the conversation takes on a whole different meaning. Believe me, there are dozens of suggestive comments buzzing around in my head right now :)

A Literary Void

You all might not have guessed, but I am an avid romance novel reader. I read at least one a day (well, one in about 3 hours stretched out thru the workday). Recently, Harlequin made a deal with NASCAR and they will now be publishing NASCAR themed romance novels. I want to know where the PGA Tour themed romance novels are! Why should I read about Dale Jr when I could be reading about Sergio Garcia??!! He is so much hotter than Jr. I may just have to write one myself and try to get it published. Now that I have the golf channel for all my research, I think I could write a contemporary golf themed romance novel. I did write a historical romance novel once. I submitted it and everything. The rejection letter was very polite. A couple years later I actually read the manuscript and realized that it sucked. But I finished it and submitted it which is a lot more than some people have done in their lives.

Jim Furyk Wins

Since the tournament was on tape delay on CBS, I decided to stay updated by watching the socres online. So, I was very anxious to see how Retief Goosen scored a 9 on the 18th hole. That was the one thing CBS should be showing since Immelman and Furyk played routine golf for the most part. But CBS didn't show Retief's 18th hole exploits. I can understand that they wanted to be done by 6pm eastern, but Retief making a 9 was very newsworthy. As for the winner and playoff and such - I would have liked to have seen Immelman win since it would have been his first win on the PGA tour, but I can appreciate Jim Furyk's win as well. He got beat a couple weeks ago and he lost in a playoff last year, so it was a good win for him.

One last comment - my satellite dish was experiencing technical difficulties and did not show any of the local channels. So, I had to watch the golf on my 13in color tv which is hooked up to the regular broadcast antenna, instead of my 27 inch tv. I was lucky to see any of it. Dish network should give me a credit next month on my bill.

Michelle Wie

I've been reading some comments about Wie making the cut in an Asian tour men's event. Some of the comments are positive, some not. I would just like to say to those negative folks out there - you couldn't have made the cut in that event so stop criticising Michelle Wie. People have been saying the strength of the field in that event was very weak. Well you had Charlie Wi and KJ Choi in that event - two very good players.

I really don't get it - John Daly gambles more money away than has been spent on Katrina Recovery (just a bit of hyperbole there) and everyone's like "Yeah, John's the man" but all Michelle Wie did was play well in a men's only event, and she's the bad apple. I really think all these naysayers are just lousy golfers who are jealous that a 16 year old girl can beat the pants off them any day of the week.

Third Round

Jim Nantz and Lanny Wadkins were talking about the putting stats of Bo Van Pelt I believe. Jim said that the putting stats can be misleading. It's funny how those stats are never misleading when they are talking about Sergio Garcia.

Adam Scott and Retief Goosen were the stars of the day followed closely by Jay Haas. I have doubts though that Retief can follow up his 65 with another good round tomorrow.

WDs

Have you noticed just how many players withdrew from the Wachovia event? I counted 11. That seems a little abnormal.

#1 Player on Tour

Before I took the dogs out for a walk at 8pm, I was watching the Champions Tour coverage on the Golf Channel. The commentators claimed that right now, Phil Mickelson might just be the #1 player on tour. As much as I'm not a Tiger Woods fan, I think it's a bit callous to give his #1 title away to Phil Mickelson just because Tiger doesn't happen to be playing right now. And on the day of his father's funeral to boot. I love Frank Nobilo and I understand what he's trying to say - that of the players actively on tour at this very minute, Phil would be #1, but it didn't sound that way when they were talking about it.

When Phil beats Tiger in something like three or four straight tournaments, then we can talk about the #1 ranking.

Golf Roundup

David Duval made the cut this week.

Michelle Wie made the cut this week for the first time in a men's event.

Paul Azinger withdraws from Wachovia.

Bo Van Pelt scored a second round 64.

Three Haas's enter the Wachovia event, two make the cut.

For the Ladies

I checked out the Sergio Garcia Photo Gallery a few minutes ago on the Golf Channel website. They have a picture of Sergio and Camillo Villegas together. They also have one of Sergio, Luke Donald and Camillo Villegas.

In Memoriam

Earl Woods, Father of Tiger Woods, Dies