Will Michelle Wie now go to the next level?
I can’t say that I’m a huge Michelle Wie fan.

She’s a gifted golfer and, even at 20 years old, has shown glimpses of the talent we’ve heard about for the last 10 years or more. So I do have t...

Some familiar names fail to keep PGA Tour cards for 2010
The 2009 “regular season” on the PGA Tour is over.

So is the Fall Series, the add-on to that regular season, made up of tournaments with lesser purses but, at the same time, provide those who...

Mickelson sets stage for dramatic 2010
Soooooooooo, while those at the pinnacle of the PGA Tour’s food chain finish off their 2009 season with a lucrative week in China, those desperately trying to get a foot in the door at the bottom end ...

Tour players forced to mingle ... and don't like it
I’ve said this before and probably will say it many, many more times.

In a lot of ways, I respect professional golfers much more than a lot of other athletes in the “play for pay” business. A...

GolfCourt anyone? An idea with real 'net' merit
Look around your town or city and if you don’t readily find a tennis court that’s greatly underused or overgrown, you’re in a rare locale.

Those tennis courts are the target of a creation kno...

Smith adds to Western Pa. golf lore with Mid-Amateur triumph
Pardon me while I wax parochial for a few words.

I am a life-long resident of western Pennsylvania, an area of the world that lacks the sunshine and warm weather of some parts of the world, b...

Thoughts to live by when planning a golf trip
It’s my opinion, and one that’s widely shared among those who have ever participated in a golf trip, that what happens in the days and months prior to the trip itself is critical to the success of the...

Woods perfect, U.S. wins President Cup
Sometimes, things are almost too good to be true.

I mean, seriously. The world’s best player, who took a long time to warm up to these team championships, providing the Presidents Cup-winning...

U.S. leads Presidents Cup ... but not by much
Two days into the eighth edition of the Presidents Cup, things are just about where they should be.

The United States team has a 6 ½-5 ½ lead over the Internationals, built in large part in t...

Games can add to golf trip excitement
In Part I of this series, I regaled you with a Reader’s Digest version of a four-man golf trip to central Florida, a trip that had only a bit of drama and was pretty much straight golf. No games, no b...

Golf trips: Lots of fun if done properly
They are known by a variety of names.

Golf trips, buddy trips, man-cations, getting-away-from-work-and-the-family-for-a-week.

By whatever name they’re known, getting away for a week ...

Haas snatches Senior Players Championship from Watson
Say it ain’t so, Tom!

What possibly could the odds be of a guy being in control of two major championships in the same calendar year, coming to the 72nd hole of each and … winning neither?

Presidents Cup: A San Francisco treat?
With the last big stroke play tournament in their rear-view mirrors, the elite players in the world turn their attention to San Francisco’s Harding Park Golf Course and the eighth playing of the Presi...

And the winner is: Mickelson AND Woods
It took long enough, but the PGA Tour finally got what it’s been yearning for: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson finishing one-two (and two-one) and standing next to one another on the victory stand.

Nothing's been decided halfway through the Tour Championship
Stop me if you’ve heard this one.

Tiger Woods 2009 is golfing his ball better than anyone else, hitting shots that few of his competitors can even dream of and with 36 holes of a tournament i...

It's down to the wire for the FedEx Cup title
If it wasn’t so sad, it would almost be laughable.

The PGA Tour, with healthy contributions from FedEx, has worked tirelessly to make the FedEx Cup the raging success it seemed to be when it ...

Former pitcher Steve Blass right on target with two aces
Something very rare happened not very far from my house last week.

In a suburb southeast of Pittsburgh at a place called Greensburg Country Club, two holes-in-one were recorded.

In t...

The Greenbrier: An historic host for a PGA Tour event in 2010
Players on the PGA Tour get the opportunity to compete on historic courses in a lot of spectacular places. Do Augusta National, Pebble Beach, Oakmont, Winged Foot, Oakland Hills, Olympic Hills ring an...

Cog Hill had no chance to tame Tiger
Funny game golf.

How many times over the course of the years have we heard how difficult it is for professional golfers back up a really low round with another low round?

Obviously t...

Elite amateurs battle for Walker Cup this weekend
OK, consider this a pop quiz.

What’s the name of the men’s amateur golf tournament in which names like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bob Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey an...

The King is 80; Long live the King!
Believe it or not, there are people in the world who don’t realize the significance of the birthday we’re celebrating today.

A day before the solemn observance of 9-11, golfers, non-golfers, ...

Stricker's the man halfway through FedEx Cup chase
Since its inception, the FedEx Cup and its contrived playoffs has raised many an eyebrow because of a perceived lack of “buzz” in the golfing world.

And, indeed, the idea of Vijay Singh being...

Golf about to enter brave new world of wedges
So, while sitting at a table in a fashionable steakhouse recently, the topics of conversation among five golf-type guys were varied.

But it always came back to golf. And then, just before des...

Patriot Golf Day: An easy way to help others
It is on rare occasions that a convergence of two completely different enterprises comes together so magnificently.

A rather simplistic idea, Patriot Golf Day combines something we love to do...

Slocum defies odds to win opening FedEx event
It is said that the FedEx Cup playoffs are not for the underdog.

While the initial event of the four-event featured the top 125 players in the year-long FedEx Cup points chase (the number dro...

On biggest stage, youthful U.S. women come of age
So as a fan of women’s professional golf in the United States, why should you be more than a bit encouraged by what the young ladies from the U.S. did in winning the Solheim Cup this weekend?

...

Can Tiger-Paddy be golf's next rivalry?
Some kind of warmup for the PGA Championship, huh?

What went on Sunday afternoon in the World Golf Championships—Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club was entertaining at the lea...

Big weekend on many golf fronts
The list of accomplishments by Tiger Woods that belong in the “spectacular” category is lengthy, of course.

Winning the Buick Open last weekend, while very nice, would hardly fit into that ca...

Some thoughts on Pinehurst's 2014 Open doubleheader
It’s been over a month now since that historic announcement was made on the Monday of U.S. Open week.

World-renowned Pinehurst Resort, the crowned jewel of the North Carolina Sandhills, was t...

Wacky week at Canadian Open ends with Green's first win
Ironic, isn’t it, that the national championships of the United States and Canada, a pair of neighboring countries, were dominated by rain and won by players who had never won a major and had never wo...

Cink's season makes big "Turn"
A few years down the road, Stewart Cink is going to laugh about 2009.

The laugh will be above and beyond the smile that will be very difficult to remove as a result of his thrilling playoff v...

Watson's dream turns to a nightmare; Cink realizes his dream
Golf fans and historians may be quick to characterize Stewart Cink as the villain in one of golf’s greatest passion plays, the 2009 British Open championship.

That, however, would be wrong. I...

Watson knocking on door of "major" history
Forget about the fact that should he win, Tom Watson would become the oldest major champion in the history of the game …..by 11 years.

Forget that a win Sunday in the 138th British Open would...

TWs are the headliners on second day of Open
OK, let’s get this detail out of the way right off the top.

Steve Marino is tied with Tom Watson for the lead at the 138th Open Championship at Turnberry.

Marino, 29, has been on and...

Quiet day at Turnberry; low scores dominate
BRITISH OPEN ROUND ONE WRAPUP 1 What happened Thursday in the first round of the 138th Open Championship is exactly what detractors point to when saying that Turnberry is not a good enough test for 1...

Turnberry to provide strategic Open test
It’s time to tee up in the third major of men’s professional golf and guess what?

There’s rain in the forecast. Remember Bethpage Black?

But if the wind blows and the rain comes down...

1977 at Turnberry: What a show by Watson, Nicklaus
There are plenty of reasons to remember the 1977 British Open at Turnberry with great appreciation.

It is most remembered as the “Duel in the Sun,” a spectacular display of world-class golf b...

Finishing heroics give Korea's Ji Women's Open title
It’s not stated anywhere in the bylaws of the United States Golf Association that in order to win the Women’s Open you must be Korean-born or pull off a spectacular shot on the 72nd hole of the event....

Rough going continues for LPGA, Carolyn Bivens
Is it just me or does the LPGA seem to find itself in the headlines a lot? And most of the time, the headlines are for all the wrong reasons.

The Ladies Professional Golf Association prides i...

Arnold Palmer continues to be recognized, honored as golf's King
Arnold Palmer has been honored many, many times in many, many ways over the span of his illustrious golf career.

His office in Latrobe, Pennsylvania is adorned with a great many of the trophi...

Glover's Open champion good for the game
I may be in the minority but I have no problem with how the U.S. Open played out, even though it took five days to play out.

Sure, it’s always exciting when Tiger Woods wins and gets closer a...

Rain keeps falling, as do pretenders at the Open
It can be scalding hot.

Or uncharacteristically breezy.

Or it might even be a situation where a specific location might be doing a real good imitation of Seattle.

But isn’t ...

Some thoughts on the still-early stages of the U.S. Open
Already we have witnessed one of the most bizarre U.S. Opens on record … starting with the fact that as Saturday evening arrives, only a small portion of the third round will get played before Sunday ...

Furyk capable of keeping Tiger from 15th major title
Ya know, now I'm confused about this Open.

For months we've heard about the beast that is Bethpage Black, how it's been tweaked and bolstered to provide even a tougher test for the field of 1...

No doubt about it, they'll have to beat Tiger
When discussion takes place about this week's U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, the centerpiece is always Tiger Woods and his pursuit of history in the form of Jack Nicklaus' 18 major victories.

H...

Some things to think about for U.S. Open
It's less than a week away and the anticipation is building toward the start of the U.S. Open. There are all kinds of plots and subplots involved in every Open because of the diversity of the field, t...

Emotional Mickelson back out on Tour at St. Jude Classic
Phil Mickelson took a redeye flight from San Diego to New York Monday night to enable him to get an early look at Bethpage Black, the site of next week’s U.S. Open.

Mickelson brought those re...

Tiger's back and the U.S. Open field is in trouble
I opened my radio show Saturday with the following:

“If Tiger Woods continues hitting fairways as he did the first two days of the Memorial, the Open is closed.”

Well, he did and it’...

Mediate hopes to regain magic at Memorial
Rocco Mediate has played teed it up in 24 events since his spectacular duel in the sun with with Tiger Woods in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

Four of those were in golf’s “Silly Season...

Stricker wins Crowne Plaza, keeps Clark streak going at 184
So what do we take from Steve Stricker’s playoff victory Sunday in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club?

Well, for starters, it’s hard winning out there on the PGA Tour. Ask...

Hank Haney never had a bigger project than this one
Everybody has projects that seem Mt. Everest-like to them. Whether it’s cleaning out the garage, a couple days of landscaping and gardening or remodeling that bathroom, all tend to make a grown man s...

Trust me, myriad of challenges ahead for Mickelsons
The news, shocking and disheartening, grabbed national and international headlines last week.

Golf’s most prominent couple had been broadsided by one of life’s most difficult challenges.
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For Paul Goydos, life or death has much deeper meaning
Let’s start with the bottom line:

No one is perfect. We all have our faults and our warts will eventually show. But every once in a while, we come across someone who warrants our respect and...

Introducing the 2009 Masters Pool Winner - DocT
Occasionally, we're going to profile the most active members of our forum community. While we'll not intrude into their privacy, we'll try to give you a sneak peak into their personalities and their i...

North Carolina: Plenty of good golf in those Sandhills
“If I want to go to the beach, I can get there in a couple hours. If I want to go to the mountains, I can get there in two or three hours. And if I want to play golf, I sure don’t have to go very far ...

How tough do golf's majors really need to be?
A caller to my Saturday morning radio show expressed the opinion that major championships are no longer worthy of that major word. He said he’s tired of the tap-in birdies, par 5s that are played with...

Stenson avoids wrecks, wins first Players Championship title
The television ratings for the final round of the Players Championship had to be astronomical. No, the golf wasn’t spectacular as the players thrashed their way around the Stadium Course at the TPC a...

Cejka still leads, but Tiger's lurking
Rush-hour traffic in mid-town Manhattan has more forward movement than the leaders at the Players Championship on Saturday. This near, but not quite major has gained a bigger and bigger reputation wit...

2009 Player's Championship - Day 2
The jewel of Ponte Vedra Beach is being turned into the International Players Championship, at least through two rounds. The strongest field of the PGA Tour season to this point is being led by a quar...

Players Championship not ready for rank of Major
There is very little associated with next week’s Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. that could ever be seriously viewed as “laughable,” other than, of course, the nothing that this specta...

Here's your chance to win $1 million playing poker and golf
Have you heard about the guy from Portland, Oregon who’s so confident he’s the best combination golfer/poker player in the world that he’s issued a pricey challenge. His name is Dusty Schmidt, a 27-ye...

Kelly breaks Long Victory Drought in New Orleans
See what happens when the PGA Tour’s upper crust takes the week off? Unpredictability, chaos, a winner who would have had a very slim chance of being on anyone’s fantasy golf league’s team for this we...

Kelly, Toms poised to break through again
The Zurich Classic of New Orleans has gained something of a reputation as a haven for first-time winners on the PGA Tour but a couple of the Tour's likeable veterans are making noises like that may no...

Lehman ready to take step to the "other" side
Tom Lehman is many things to many people, including accomplished golfer, major championship winner, husband, father, man of great faith and great compassion. This week he’ll add something else to that...

Perry Boosted by Support, Playing in Zurich Classic
The last thing Kenny Perry wants to become is a sympathetic, ala Greg Norman when discussions of the Masters take place in years to come. Norman had three great opportunities to add a green jacket to ...

Bethpage the Beast Awaits 2009 U.S. Open
Seven years ago, the Black Course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island became the first municipally-owned golf course to host a U.S. Open. Additionally, at 7,214 yards, the par-70 layout was the long...

Want to play where the pros do? Try a virtual U.S. Open
Only 156 of the millions of people in the world who play golf will get the opportunity to play Bethpage Black in the U.S. Open in June. But if you have a computer, an internet connection and some ga...

Cabrera overcomes odds, charges to win Masters
El Gato has once again proven mightier than the Tiger. For the second time in almost two calendar years, Angel Cabrera has withstood the pressure of a Tiger Woods Sunday charge and won a major champio...

Great drama on tap for Masters Sunday
MASTERS WRAPUP III SATURDAY: Somebody forgot to tell the players in the 73rd Masters that Saturday is annually known as Moving Day around Augusta National Golf Club. Those at the top of the leaderboa...

Perry, Campbell: Southern Gentlemen in Command
MASTERS WRAPUP II: Kenny Perry has established a couple of traits during his 21-year career on the PGA Tour. First, and most importantly, the Franklin, Kentucky resident is widely known as one of the ...

Old Guys Day at the Masters
MASTERS WRAPUP THURSDAY: It seems that every year the first day of play in the Masters features a theme of some sort. Remember the year that Tiger Woods shot 40 on his first nine holes? That was an “O...

Augusta National Golf Club; The way the players see it
Reverence is the word of the week during the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. There’s reverence for the history of the tournament, reverence for players – past and present – who have made the f...

Augusta National: There's Nothing Like it
Whether you're attending for the first time or you've been to the Masters multiple times, the feeling is the same once you get to the main entrance of Augusta National Golf club. You can feel it, ther...

Couples, Norman put their mark on Presidents Cup team
During its formative years, the Presidents Cup was put together with a collection of the best professional golfers in the United States and the rest of the world. The rosters of those teams changed sl...

It's Way Past Time to Start Speeding Up Play
It’s that time of year. A new golf season is upon us and the excitement of getting outdoors, enjoying great scenery, competition and companionship has begun to build. In the back of my mind, however, ...

Torrey Pines - One of Southern California's Finest
The ride from Lindbergh Field gives no inkling as to what awaits at the end of that journey. Sure, a glimpse of beautiful downtown San Diego can be seen out the window and make no mistake, it is a bea...

Who's Number One?
Those of us old enough to remember fondly recall the great duels between Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Nicklaus, Gary Player and Nicklaus and Palmer. Those were the things that laid ...

Are you ready …. For Tiger?
Golf’s main man competes in his first stroke-play event since the U.S. Open in June this week in the World Golf Championships-CA Championship Doral County Club in Miami. Tiger Woods won three straigh...