Someone Get Me a Band Aid for My Bleeding Heart

It's such a shame, really. I was watching Golf Central and apparently some players don't like the fact that the courses are getting tougher. Add the proposed USGA equipment changes in and these poor players might actually have to work a little harder to earn their millions.

Hmm.... they could be in Iraq getting shot at every day. They could be flipping hamburgers at a McDonalds. They could be working in a WV coal mine with bad safety equipment and little or no safety training.

"These Guys are Good"

Well, some of them are definitely good at being spoiled.

Here's a thought the whiners might not have had: Maybe Jack and Arnold are making the courses tougher to try to show the USGA that equipment changes aren't the only option out there to try to keep the game reined in. Maybe they are trying to actually SAVE some of the equipment attributes that the USGA is leaning toward addressing.

Singapore Masters

The coolest thing about the Singapore Masters - the shadows of the air planes flying over the course. You don't even see Blimp Shadows like that.

Manufacturing Stories

Yes, Heath Slocum and Boo Weekley attended the same high school. But that's almost the only comparison that could be made between last week and this week. Slocum wasn't leading and didn't lose the tournament on a 3 ft putt. (He missed a playoff on a 3ft putt - closer to 4 ft than Boo's last week.) The media, however, would love to draw comparisons and did.

Congratulations to Mark Calcavecchia for winning the PODS Championship.

Singapore Masters

This tournament is being held at a place called Laguna National G & CC. Today, Renton Laidlaw called it Laguna Beach. I didn't know he watched MTV.

Carlos Rodiles, I believe, is the only spaniard playing there on the weekend. But the name of the week goes to Iain Steel, who sounds like a secret agent or a private eye.

PODS Championship - Saturday

Just a couple of things tonight on today's coverage:

Greatest quote from Johnny Miller this year (paraphrased): "Chris DiMarco hates my analyzing, he's really going to hate me now." LOLOL!!! (I say paraphrasing because I couldn't remember if it was analyzing or commentating or what word Miller used there, but he was analyzing DiMarco's swing.)

Proof that the Analyst Jinx is a true phenomenon: Twice now the analysts have commented on how great Billy Andrade is at putting, and twice Andrade has missed the putt.

Controversy and Conspiracy Theories

On the Post Game show tonight on the Golf Channel, they reported that some players are not happy with the rumor that Tiger's July 4th tournament could be an Invitational.

Conspiracy Theory: Would people who control the invites to these Invitational events manipulate the invite process to protect certain players with regard to Fed Ex Cup points or World Rankings Points? Or Win Streaks?

Philosophical Question: Should Invitationals count toward official money, world rankings, and Fed Ex Cup points since not everyone gets an equal chance to participate?

The Weaseling Continues

The Golf Channel, in promoting their coverage of Palmer's tournament next week, actually said that Tiger would be there working to begin a new Win Streak.

Give me a break!

This is so ridiculous.

The Pods Championship

For the second week in a row, the leading score hasn't really moved in the first two days. People just changed positions. At least it isn't that discouraging for fans of players who are 4 or 5 shots back. It means they are still in it.

Some observations:

I love listening to Bob Murphy. He's so folksy that you can't imagine him saying anything negative about anyone. And they could be having a major hurricane in Florida and Bob would find some way to put a happy spin on it. It was a really nice way to end my work week.

Some players to mention: Vaughn Taylor -4, Daniel Chopra -4, Arron Oberholser -3, Billy Andrade -3, George McNeill -2, JB Holmes -2, Sergio Garcia -1, Peter Lonard +1, Brad Faxon +2.

John Daly and Fred Funk have withdrawn due to their injuries. I can understand why Daly would show up to play, the tournament was nice enough to give him a sponsor's exemption and Daly was good enough to show up and try. But Fred needed to just stay home and work on the back. I think he said he was feeling great when the tournament started, but really, he should have taken the week off. It's not like he needs the money or anything.

Sergio's leading in greens in regulation this week so far. Thursday's stats were better than Friday's.

And finally, the Golf Channel had the decency to show Kirk Triplett today on the coverage. They should since he does commercials for the title sponsor. Kirk had to figure he'd get star treatment this week. I wonder if the Pods People are doing anything special for him.

Blogger Had a Hiccup

I guess some comment spammers got lucky with the magic verification words - there were 10 spam comments on one of my posts. I had to delete them, although one, Moreaboutdogs, I was tempted to visit, given my fondness for dogs. But with my luck, it wouldn't be canines, but the Randy Jackson - American Idol variety.

Callaway Commercial

Have you all seen the new commercial where the narrator says that since using their driver, Annika Sorenstam and Phil Mickelson have won 12 majors and shot rounds of 59? The key phrase being "shot rounds of 59". When did Mickelson shoot his 59? Or has Annika shot two or more rounds of 59? I swear the commercial said plural - rounds of 59.

A Touching Interview

Did anyone else see Mike Ritz' interview with Mark Wilson's caddie on Golf Central this evening? That nearly brought tears to my eyes. He said all he'd ever dreamed of was getting his flag for caddying for a winning player. If I'd seen this a couple weeks ago right after Phoebe passed away, I would have been crying buckets.

And Jose Coceres has to be one of those guys who wins fans everywhere he goes. He's having a great year so far and it's so neat to see him so spirited.

You have to feel for Boo Weekley. You can tell he's disappointed but still he's got that good ole boy smile and roll with the punches attitude.

And Camilo Villegas needs to take this knack he has for great playing in Florida and bring it to other states. Hopefully, he'll be winning soon on the PGA Tour.

Honda Classic Winner

Okay so even though I found out who won the event, Mark Wilson, I am still watching the playoff. It was either this or Oprah since the golf channel had informercials on. Definitely, watch golf before Oprah. Especially Camilo :)

Pierre Fulke Retires

I haven't seen anyone else blog about this yet, so I will. Former European Ryder Cup member Pierre Fulke has decided to retire from playing golf. According to this story on BBC Sport, he is exploring other avenues in golf, such as golf course design.

A Day for Playoffs

Anton Haig won the Johnnie Walker Classic in a playoff and the Honda Classic still isn't decided as four players will continue a playoff tomorrow morning. This was a great day for golf with a lot of suspense to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats. Anton Haig is only 20 and this is his first win. It's always good to see a first time winner.

As for the Honda Classic, I don't know who to root for to win. I like Camilo and he would be a first time winner. Mark Wilson made a really big clutch putt in the first playoff hole to stay in it, making him someone you'd want to cheer for. Then you have Boo Weekley who's looking for redemption for the three putt on the 18th in regulation play. And finally, there's Jose Coceres who at 43 years old is someone anyone should be rooting for to win. Plus I like how he just makes up his mind and plays without a lot of waffling.

I guess I'll be recording the playoff tomorrow. It's supposed to start at 8:30am eastern time on the Golf Channel.

Maintenance

I added the Babelfish translate this page feature to the blog. It's at the end of the sidebar on the right. And I added the Sergio Garcia blog to the blogs of note section.

Found a New Blog

While doing a google search on Sergio Garcia, I found the following blog. You might need a translator like Altavista's babelfish to read it.

Sergio Garcia

The Johnnie Walker Classic

I got to watch some of this today. Apparently Retief Goosen was expected to be a factor, but as yet, he hasn't been real close to the lead. Adam Scott is playing there this week and hasn't had much luck. There are a couple of Spaniards playing there this week, Rafael Cabrera Bello and Ignacio Garrido, currently 50th and 62nd respectively.

I'm just glad I got to see the course and all the scenery pictures. One of the best parts of watching the European Tour coverage is seeing what all the different countries are like.

Honda Classic: A True Contest

Well, no runaway leaders this week which makes for a more interesting tournament to watch. And I like the fact that they made the course a par 70 for the tournament. Let the players have all their high tech equipment. They need all that plus talent to play well this week.

So far there's only one thing annoying me: the overuse of the phrase 'the bear trap'. I get it. By now, we ALL get it.

And I noticed in the hit counter stats that someone came here looking for a reason for Nick Faldo's absence from the Golf Channel's coverage of the Honda Classic. I haven't seen anything official, but my personal suspicion is that when Johnny Miller covers the weekends, we probably won't be seeing Nick Faldo on Thursday or Friday. I think there was one exception which was the Matchplay, but with other tournaments that NBC provided weekend coverage for, I'm pretty sure we didn't see Faldo. Which would mean Faldo would be free for post game and pre game shows on the Golf Channel. There's no reason why Faldo Fans should be deprived of his ..... well, you get the point.

A Simple Request

Now I know why I keep seeing references to this new blog everywhere I surf. I got a very pleasant email from Travelling Golfer asking that I spotlight the following blog. So, here it is:

The Wedge Guy

Time for only 3 Majors?

I just heard Mark Lye on the Post Game show say that short hitters like Fred Funk shouldn't even play Augusta National because short hitters can't compete against the Tigers, Ernies and Phils on that course. Apparently, Augusta National has found a new form of exclusionism (read into that what you will). The US Open is tough, but Corey Pavin won that tournament and he isn't the longest hitter out there. I say it's time to demote the Masters if the tournament doesn't want to offer a fair test for all types of professionals, not just the biggest moneymakers.