George Lopez could have made a bigger deal out of the ill treatment he got from the committee of the Bob Hope Classic, but unlike the committee, he had too much class.
For the past few years, Lopez worked tirelessly as the official host of the Tours’ only 90-hole celebrity-amateur tournament. He called in markers with his celebrity friends to have them come out and play in the event. He begged celebrities that didn’t owe him a favor. Once they got there he spoiled them rotten.
Lopez was also instrumental in improving the quality of the professional. On his own expense, he would go to tournaments to personally recruit players for the Hope. While patrolling the practice range, he’d usually put on impromptu walking stand up act. He loved the tournament and was totally dedicated to it.
Late last year, he received a two-minute phone call from a committee member informing him that his voluntary services were no longer needed. A quick thank you was added, followed by a good bye.
To be honest, replacing Lopez with Arnold Palmer makes the situation more palatable. It’s the 50th anniversary of the tournament and Arnold won the first event and won the last of his 62 Tour wins at the Hope as well as three in between. Palmer definitely has history on his side.
So, why couldn’t be the Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer with George Lopez. Lopez certainly would gladly take a back seat to Palmer. He gets it.
What no one gets is why the hasty replacement without the courtesy of an explanation. It only fuels speculation.
Palm Springs houses more Republicans than GOPers who attended the Republican National Convention. In case you haven’t noticed, this number doesn’t include many Mexican actor/stand up comics.
Speaking of his stand up act, it deals with the life of a Mexican getting along with the Anglo world. While not a blue act, it is at the least, colorful. Given the ultra conservative climate surrounding the Hope, there could have been an element that felt they didn’t want to associate with a guy like this. Sure, why would the BOB HOPE Classic want to be associated with a comedian?
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
The LPGA took a hit when Annika Sorenstam left the circuit to marry Mike McGee with plans to start a family. This left the crown to Lorena Ochoa. Now, it’s Ochoa’s turn to drop a bomb.
Recently, the charming and talented Mexican announced her engagement to Aero Mexican CEO Andres Conova. She also alluded to the fact that she plans to have a limited career so she could start a family.
This a hit the LPGA could hardly stand.
Bartender, how about a bottle of tequila for the table and Spanish Rosetta Stone for yours truly so even if I can’t join the conversation, I can understand what’s being said.
See you on the first tee,
Jack
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Starting off the 2009 season...
I’m starting to like the off season as much as the season itself. As for action, with the money being offered, the Silly Season isn’t silly anymore. If you don’t believe it, ask the IRS. This is the real deal. With the race to Dubai, the European Tour has a 53-tournament schedule. Play close attention to how many of our guys fork over the $3,500 membership fee to the Euros. It will be interesting.
Always a favorite in this corner is John Daly. PC’d after being over served at a Hooters in North Carolina, he was vilified everywhere. Okay, he was drunk and belligerent, but he was never arrested. Most bartenders who I know (and I know a few…look at the name of this blog) would recognize the condition of the person on the outside of the bar. They’d stop serving him long before he was awarded the orange wardrobe the local constabulary gave him.
Now, PGA Tour commish Timmy Finchem has suspended JD for six months. Granted, the suspension is probably not solely for this event, but rather for the compilation of his misdeeds. In effect, this might be a good turn of events for Daly. He can play on the European Tour and if he’s serious about finding his enormous game again, will be able to do it under the radar. This has to be a good thing for the PGA Tour’s version of a rock star (Fred Couples aside).
There is a potential downside for Daly however. Previously saddled with three or four of the wackiest wives in the world (Like he’s been the sanest of husbands), the word is his latest girl friend has the potential to rock the world of wacky. Oy vay, JD when is your life going to stop being a soap opera?
*********
Michelle Wie actually did something on her own. She qualified for the LPGA Tour. Now, we might be able to get a true sense of what her real talent is. Hopefully, her parents will stop insisting that she play against the boys on the PGA Tour. In fact, hopefully now that Michelle has turned 18, they will leave her alone altogether. Unfortunately, the Korean culture may keep her subservient to her parents forever.
I never thought I’d say this, but her talent might have been maximized had she had a father more in the mode of Earl Woods. Think of this, her talent level has waned since she almost made the cut as a 13-year-old at the Sony in her native state of Hawaii. The closest she has come to legitimate accomplishment since then was one miss-signed scorecard last year that could have secured her playing privileges for 2009. Now she’ll be on the LPGA Tour on her own merit with something she’s never had before—respect from the other card carrying members.
Hopefully for Michelle this current event will catapult her career to what had been predicted for her years ago. All she has to do is take control of her career and ignore the incessant caterwauling of her overbearing parents.
Bartender, please bring a case of Miller Delight for John Daly. I think he’s going to need it. Another night in jail might provide him some relief. Also a glass of red (make that Stanford Cardinal red) wine for Michelle. Yeah, like she’s never had a glass of wine before. Me? I’m just going to sit back and watch this car wreck.
See you on the first tee.
Jack
Always a favorite in this corner is John Daly. PC’d after being over served at a Hooters in North Carolina, he was vilified everywhere. Okay, he was drunk and belligerent, but he was never arrested. Most bartenders who I know (and I know a few…look at the name of this blog) would recognize the condition of the person on the outside of the bar. They’d stop serving him long before he was awarded the orange wardrobe the local constabulary gave him.
Now, PGA Tour commish Timmy Finchem has suspended JD for six months. Granted, the suspension is probably not solely for this event, but rather for the compilation of his misdeeds. In effect, this might be a good turn of events for Daly. He can play on the European Tour and if he’s serious about finding his enormous game again, will be able to do it under the radar. This has to be a good thing for the PGA Tour’s version of a rock star (Fred Couples aside).
There is a potential downside for Daly however. Previously saddled with three or four of the wackiest wives in the world (Like he’s been the sanest of husbands), the word is his latest girl friend has the potential to rock the world of wacky. Oy vay, JD when is your life going to stop being a soap opera?
*********
Michelle Wie actually did something on her own. She qualified for the LPGA Tour. Now, we might be able to get a true sense of what her real talent is. Hopefully, her parents will stop insisting that she play against the boys on the PGA Tour. In fact, hopefully now that Michelle has turned 18, they will leave her alone altogether. Unfortunately, the Korean culture may keep her subservient to her parents forever.
I never thought I’d say this, but her talent might have been maximized had she had a father more in the mode of Earl Woods. Think of this, her talent level has waned since she almost made the cut as a 13-year-old at the Sony in her native state of Hawaii. The closest she has come to legitimate accomplishment since then was one miss-signed scorecard last year that could have secured her playing privileges for 2009. Now she’ll be on the LPGA Tour on her own merit with something she’s never had before—respect from the other card carrying members.
Hopefully for Michelle this current event will catapult her career to what had been predicted for her years ago. All she has to do is take control of her career and ignore the incessant caterwauling of her overbearing parents.
Bartender, please bring a case of Miller Delight for John Daly. I think he’s going to need it. Another night in jail might provide him some relief. Also a glass of red (make that Stanford Cardinal red) wine for Michelle. Yeah, like she’s never had a glass of wine before. Me? I’m just going to sit back and watch this car wreck.
See you on the first tee.
Jack
Friday, December 12, 2008
The golf off season ... no so fast!
I know this is the off season for golf, but this one has had a more activity than most in the recent past. There’s a new Ryder Cup captain, someone shot 59 in Q-School and Michelle Wie actually accomplished something.
First things first and that’s the announcement of new Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin. Huh? Let’s see. The players who were victorious in the Ryder Cup this year were vociferous in their support for the return of Paul Azinger as captain evidently had their pleas fall on deaf ears. Why mess with success? Azinger came up with a brilliant game plan, executed it and won. He would have gladly returned and wasn’t asked. Now we have Corey Pavin.
The worst thing about following a winner is you can’t win. There will be comparisons made and in the often unfair court of public opinion, Pavin is doomed to be found wanting.
As a player, Pavin has won 27 times worldwide including 15 times on the PGA Tour as well as the 1995 US Open at Shinnecock. He accomplished these admirable numbers while being arguably the shortest hitter on Tour and that includes you Fred Funk. In his prime, his short game was impeccable. His competitiveness was unmatched. Hell, for years I thought his name was Corey Pavin, the Gritty Bruin because that was what the TV guys always called him referring to his UCLA collegiate career.
That being said, he still shouldn’t be the Ryder Cup captain in 2010. In 2012? Sure, but not now. We know the players buy into Azinger’s pod system and will follow him through brick walls. Why put Pavin in a situation to fail? It doesn’t make any sense.
******
Harrison Frasar shot 59 at Q-School. Next you’ll be telling me elephants can fly. Maybe I missed something, but isn’t Q-School supposed to be golf’s ultimate throw up on your shoes event? It’s the tournament you don’t try to win. It’s the tournament you try not to lose. Finish in the top 25 (and ties) and you get your Tour card. Win and you get $50K. That’s tip money to these guys.
It used to be devastating if a player didn’t get playing status. Now they’re just playing for a working address. If a player doesn’t earn his PGA Tour card, he has a fall back position on the Nationwide Tour. Sure, it’s not going to allow him a million dollar year, but he’ll have a pretty good living sitting in front of him for the taking.
Congratulations to the 28 players who earned their playing privileges. Under today’s rules there are more players who finished in the top 150 on the money list last year who will get into 15-20 tournaments due to that status. Add up to seven sponsor exemptions and that’s a pretty full schedule. Sorry, I just can’t feel sorry anymore for the guys who don’t make the grade at Q-School.
*****
After years of unfulfilled promise, Michelle Wie is about to pursue a professional golf career in earnest as she earned her playing privileges by surviving LPGA Q-School. Good for her. Providing that her parents stay out of the way, she’ll be a mega-star. Trust me the LPGA Tour doesn’t deserve this. First, they lose Annika Sorenstam and a month later they pick up a player who will keep the Tour in the news for years.
Wie already has a rivalry waiting with Morgan Pressel. Pressel has been outspoken about how Wie has had U.S Open invitations as well as other exemptions handed to her in the past. This rivalry has nasty potential and should be interesting for years. Pressel will be more frustrated when she realizes that Wie will have considerably more star power regardless of their playing records.
*****
Just a couple of notes from the Del Webb Father/Son (in some cases daughter and grand son) Challenge. I ran into Lee Trevino outside the clubhouse at Champions Gate in Davenport, Fla. He was hobbling along and I asked if he had either hip or knee problems. “No,” he said, “I’m just practicing for when I do.”
I then asked how he was playing? “I’m hitting it so short, I can hear it land.”
I’ve known the man for 30-plus years. I’ve got to believe he stays awake at night dreaming up these lines.
Bartender pour a glass of champagne for Harry Frasar and Michele Wie and their other Q-School graduates. Add one for Corey Pavin. He’ll need it. There was a day when a scotch would be poured for Lee, but he said the morning he woke up and there was still ice in the glass, he decided to stop until his career is over. Put it on ice for a long time. He’ll never stop playing…and we’re better for it.
See you on the first tee.
Jack
First things first and that’s the announcement of new Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin. Huh? Let’s see. The players who were victorious in the Ryder Cup this year were vociferous in their support for the return of Paul Azinger as captain evidently had their pleas fall on deaf ears. Why mess with success? Azinger came up with a brilliant game plan, executed it and won. He would have gladly returned and wasn’t asked. Now we have Corey Pavin.
The worst thing about following a winner is you can’t win. There will be comparisons made and in the often unfair court of public opinion, Pavin is doomed to be found wanting.
As a player, Pavin has won 27 times worldwide including 15 times on the PGA Tour as well as the 1995 US Open at Shinnecock. He accomplished these admirable numbers while being arguably the shortest hitter on Tour and that includes you Fred Funk. In his prime, his short game was impeccable. His competitiveness was unmatched. Hell, for years I thought his name was Corey Pavin, the Gritty Bruin because that was what the TV guys always called him referring to his UCLA collegiate career.
That being said, he still shouldn’t be the Ryder Cup captain in 2010. In 2012? Sure, but not now. We know the players buy into Azinger’s pod system and will follow him through brick walls. Why put Pavin in a situation to fail? It doesn’t make any sense.
******
Harrison Frasar shot 59 at Q-School. Next you’ll be telling me elephants can fly. Maybe I missed something, but isn’t Q-School supposed to be golf’s ultimate throw up on your shoes event? It’s the tournament you don’t try to win. It’s the tournament you try not to lose. Finish in the top 25 (and ties) and you get your Tour card. Win and you get $50K. That’s tip money to these guys.
It used to be devastating if a player didn’t get playing status. Now they’re just playing for a working address. If a player doesn’t earn his PGA Tour card, he has a fall back position on the Nationwide Tour. Sure, it’s not going to allow him a million dollar year, but he’ll have a pretty good living sitting in front of him for the taking.
Congratulations to the 28 players who earned their playing privileges. Under today’s rules there are more players who finished in the top 150 on the money list last year who will get into 15-20 tournaments due to that status. Add up to seven sponsor exemptions and that’s a pretty full schedule. Sorry, I just can’t feel sorry anymore for the guys who don’t make the grade at Q-School.
*****
After years of unfulfilled promise, Michelle Wie is about to pursue a professional golf career in earnest as she earned her playing privileges by surviving LPGA Q-School. Good for her. Providing that her parents stay out of the way, she’ll be a mega-star. Trust me the LPGA Tour doesn’t deserve this. First, they lose Annika Sorenstam and a month later they pick up a player who will keep the Tour in the news for years.
Wie already has a rivalry waiting with Morgan Pressel. Pressel has been outspoken about how Wie has had U.S Open invitations as well as other exemptions handed to her in the past. This rivalry has nasty potential and should be interesting for years. Pressel will be more frustrated when she realizes that Wie will have considerably more star power regardless of their playing records.
*****
Just a couple of notes from the Del Webb Father/Son (in some cases daughter and grand son) Challenge. I ran into Lee Trevino outside the clubhouse at Champions Gate in Davenport, Fla. He was hobbling along and I asked if he had either hip or knee problems. “No,” he said, “I’m just practicing for when I do.”
I then asked how he was playing? “I’m hitting it so short, I can hear it land.”
I’ve known the man for 30-plus years. I’ve got to believe he stays awake at night dreaming up these lines.
Bartender pour a glass of champagne for Harry Frasar and Michele Wie and their other Q-School graduates. Add one for Corey Pavin. He’ll need it. There was a day when a scotch would be poured for Lee, but he said the morning he woke up and there was still ice in the glass, he decided to stop until his career is over. Put it on ice for a long time. He’ll never stop playing…and we’re better for it.
See you on the first tee.
Jack
Friday, November 14, 2008
Golf as an Olympic sport? Daly abroad
This past week the International Golf Federation made a formal proposal to the International Olympic Committee to reinstitute golf into the Olympic Games in 2016. Why?
Correct me if I’m wrong. We already have the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup. Throw in the annual World Cup and I think we have our bases covered. According to the IGF the game is played in approximately 120 countries. The game is expanded to the limit. Grow the game? I don’t foresee anyone in Rwanda dreaming of Olympic gold via the golf route. I do, however, see that same person in Rwanda dreaming of solid gold via the golf route.
Golf is now truly a global game, but is it an Olympic event? Think of it. How many Olympic events are called “games?” I play golf...okay not well, but do I consider myself to be participating in an athletic endeavor? Are you kidding? It’s purely recreational and that’s where it belongs. Golf is a recreational activity and not to be placed in the same category as a decathlon. Alright, I’ll give you synchronized swimming. By the same token, if you screw up there, you could drown. That isn’t going to happen in golf...Woody Austin aside.
It’s not like golf hasn’t been part of the Olympics before. In 1904 there were 77 competitors and only 73 of them were Americans. The rest were Canadians. One of them, George Lyon took the gold medal and earned a spot in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
Let’s face it; the Olympic golf is played every week. The best players from every country square off on professional tours around the world. Golf as an Olympic event would just be another tournament. The last thing we need is just another tournament.
*****
Next week in Hong Kong, John Daly is making his season debut on the European Tour. As a former British Open champion he’s an automatic member. Seeing as how he’s pretty much worn out his welcome over here, Europe may be a viable option.
For the most part, it’s pretty difficult to get kicked out of Hooters and even more so when they’re supposed to be your sponsor. Yet, JD did just that and got locked up for the night. To date Hooters hasn’t ended his contract, but you can imagine they’d like him to go away. What better place to go than Europe?
Daly has proved that he can’t compete in the U.S. As big a draw as he still is on the PGA Tour, he’s proving to be more and more of a liability.
Maybe and it is a big maybe, he’ll find his game over there. However, that’s going to take a lot of hard work and dedication. Unfortunately, those are two things he’s seemed to have avoided over the last five years. It might do the big guy well to stencil two words on his golf bag and to look at them often. Those words are LAST CHANCE, because that’s what it is. I have a terrible feeling that the next words we read about Daly are going to deal with a tragedy.
Bartender, on that happy note please pour me a tall, cold glass of Diet Coke. That’s the other fluid JD is addicted to.
See you on the first tee,
Jack
Correct me if I’m wrong. We already have the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup. Throw in the annual World Cup and I think we have our bases covered. According to the IGF the game is played in approximately 120 countries. The game is expanded to the limit. Grow the game? I don’t foresee anyone in Rwanda dreaming of Olympic gold via the golf route. I do, however, see that same person in Rwanda dreaming of solid gold via the golf route.
Golf is now truly a global game, but is it an Olympic event? Think of it. How many Olympic events are called “games?” I play golf...okay not well, but do I consider myself to be participating in an athletic endeavor? Are you kidding? It’s purely recreational and that’s where it belongs. Golf is a recreational activity and not to be placed in the same category as a decathlon. Alright, I’ll give you synchronized swimming. By the same token, if you screw up there, you could drown. That isn’t going to happen in golf...Woody Austin aside.
It’s not like golf hasn’t been part of the Olympics before. In 1904 there were 77 competitors and only 73 of them were Americans. The rest were Canadians. One of them, George Lyon took the gold medal and earned a spot in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
Let’s face it; the Olympic golf is played every week. The best players from every country square off on professional tours around the world. Golf as an Olympic event would just be another tournament. The last thing we need is just another tournament.
*****
Next week in Hong Kong, John Daly is making his season debut on the European Tour. As a former British Open champion he’s an automatic member. Seeing as how he’s pretty much worn out his welcome over here, Europe may be a viable option.
For the most part, it’s pretty difficult to get kicked out of Hooters and even more so when they’re supposed to be your sponsor. Yet, JD did just that and got locked up for the night. To date Hooters hasn’t ended his contract, but you can imagine they’d like him to go away. What better place to go than Europe?
Daly has proved that he can’t compete in the U.S. As big a draw as he still is on the PGA Tour, he’s proving to be more and more of a liability.
Maybe and it is a big maybe, he’ll find his game over there. However, that’s going to take a lot of hard work and dedication. Unfortunately, those are two things he’s seemed to have avoided over the last five years. It might do the big guy well to stencil two words on his golf bag and to look at them often. Those words are LAST CHANCE, because that’s what it is. I have a terrible feeling that the next words we read about Daly are going to deal with a tragedy.
Bartender, on that happy note please pour me a tall, cold glass of Diet Coke. That’s the other fluid JD is addicted to.
See you on the first tee,
Jack
Friday, November 7, 2008
Miracles in the Children's Miracle Network Classic
It was appropriate that the field of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic, the final event on the PGA Tour schedule would include Erik Compton. No one personifies what kind of miracles can happen better than he.
As a teenager Compton required a heart transplant. He made it through and became one of the top junior golfers in the country. After a full and successful collegiate golf career, he followed his dream of becoming a professional golfer.
Like most pros, Compton started on the mini-tour circuit playing where and when he could. He was learning his trade and eventually made it to the Nationwide Tour. During a week off this past summer, he felt something wrong in his chest. Fortunately, he lives a short drive from his hospital in Miami. He drove himself to the hospital.
By the time he arrived, he knew something was really wrong and he was right. He was suffering a heart attack. It was quickly surmised that he needed another heart transplant. There was no choice. He successfully survived the procedure yet again. It happens, but usually the recipient walks on egg shells for the rest of his/her life. Erik Compton is hardly usual.
Six months later, he was healthy enough to accept a sponsor’s exemption into the classic. It was a different Compton this time around. When he was a kid, he was reluctant to speak about having had a heart transplant. He wanted to just be thought of as another golfer. He didn’t realize that he’d never be “just another golfer.”
Today, he’s a proud spokesman for organ donations and transplants. Thanks in part to the steadfastness of Casey Martin years ago when he took the PGA Tour to court for the right to ride a golf cart in tournament play, Compton just might yet realize his dream of playing golf at the highest level.
I think the only person who cares if he realizes his dream is Compton himself. Sometimes the glory is in the journey and not the destination. His effort and persistence is inspiring.
++++++
The PGA Tour has come up with yet another format for the FedEx Cup playoffs. The new plan calls for the season-long points will be reset and the top 125 point earners will play in the first event. That number is down from 144. The next week the top 90 players will be in the field—down from 120.
The third event will feature the remaining to 60 points down from 70. In the Tour Championship finale, the field will be cut to 30 again, but the points will be reset so everyone will have a chance to win. So, in other words, the first three weeks of the playoffs the strategy will be to play to not be eliminated. This could cause some very boring, close to the vest golf.
Even if it does, this seems to make more sense than anything else they’ve tried.
++++++
If Erik Compton hadn’t been in the field of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic, the story would have been the play of Jeff Overton. Less than a month ago, Overton underwent an emergency appendectomy and a week and a half later was back on Tour. Such is the life of a PGA Tour player who is on the top 125 money list bubble.
Granted the surgical procedure is a lot less invasive that it once was, but a week and a half? Also, there was one other issue. Because of drug testing, most pain killers are on the banned list, so Overton had to go cold turkey. Finally, he applied with the Tour for a waiver so he could take Percocet. Two days later the Tour granted the waiver. Little did they know that Overton had rolled the dice and took a chance that this wasn’t his week to be tested. As it turned out, he was right.
What this points out is the silliness of drug testing parameters. It wasn’t as if Overton was faking a problem. He had the surgery and I would imagine he was in pain. It should have been an automatic waiver from day one. Kudos for granting the waiver citing that they put a player’s health needs first. Just wondering why it was an issue in the first place.
++++++
Rumors that the Sergio Garcia, Morgan – Leigh Norman romance had landed in Splitsville were premature. She accompanied the Spaniard to China for the HSBC Championship. You don’t think she’s giving him putting lessons, do you? His turnaround with the flat stick has been amazing. I wonder that if this relationship continues to develop, Morgan – Leigh’s Dad Greg will insist the Sergio start playing MacGregor equipment?
Bartender, a magnum of your finest champagne, please, Let us raise a glass to Erik and Jeff for two very gutsy performances.
See you on the first tee,
Jack
As a teenager Compton required a heart transplant. He made it through and became one of the top junior golfers in the country. After a full and successful collegiate golf career, he followed his dream of becoming a professional golfer.
Like most pros, Compton started on the mini-tour circuit playing where and when he could. He was learning his trade and eventually made it to the Nationwide Tour. During a week off this past summer, he felt something wrong in his chest. Fortunately, he lives a short drive from his hospital in Miami. He drove himself to the hospital.
By the time he arrived, he knew something was really wrong and he was right. He was suffering a heart attack. It was quickly surmised that he needed another heart transplant. There was no choice. He successfully survived the procedure yet again. It happens, but usually the recipient walks on egg shells for the rest of his/her life. Erik Compton is hardly usual.
Six months later, he was healthy enough to accept a sponsor’s exemption into the classic. It was a different Compton this time around. When he was a kid, he was reluctant to speak about having had a heart transplant. He wanted to just be thought of as another golfer. He didn’t realize that he’d never be “just another golfer.”
Today, he’s a proud spokesman for organ donations and transplants. Thanks in part to the steadfastness of Casey Martin years ago when he took the PGA Tour to court for the right to ride a golf cart in tournament play, Compton just might yet realize his dream of playing golf at the highest level.
I think the only person who cares if he realizes his dream is Compton himself. Sometimes the glory is in the journey and not the destination. His effort and persistence is inspiring.
++++++
The PGA Tour has come up with yet another format for the FedEx Cup playoffs. The new plan calls for the season-long points will be reset and the top 125 point earners will play in the first event. That number is down from 144. The next week the top 90 players will be in the field—down from 120.
The third event will feature the remaining to 60 points down from 70. In the Tour Championship finale, the field will be cut to 30 again, but the points will be reset so everyone will have a chance to win. So, in other words, the first three weeks of the playoffs the strategy will be to play to not be eliminated. This could cause some very boring, close to the vest golf.
Even if it does, this seems to make more sense than anything else they’ve tried.
++++++
If Erik Compton hadn’t been in the field of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic, the story would have been the play of Jeff Overton. Less than a month ago, Overton underwent an emergency appendectomy and a week and a half later was back on Tour. Such is the life of a PGA Tour player who is on the top 125 money list bubble.
Granted the surgical procedure is a lot less invasive that it once was, but a week and a half? Also, there was one other issue. Because of drug testing, most pain killers are on the banned list, so Overton had to go cold turkey. Finally, he applied with the Tour for a waiver so he could take Percocet. Two days later the Tour granted the waiver. Little did they know that Overton had rolled the dice and took a chance that this wasn’t his week to be tested. As it turned out, he was right.
What this points out is the silliness of drug testing parameters. It wasn’t as if Overton was faking a problem. He had the surgery and I would imagine he was in pain. It should have been an automatic waiver from day one. Kudos for granting the waiver citing that they put a player’s health needs first. Just wondering why it was an issue in the first place.
++++++
Rumors that the Sergio Garcia, Morgan – Leigh Norman romance had landed in Splitsville were premature. She accompanied the Spaniard to China for the HSBC Championship. You don’t think she’s giving him putting lessons, do you? His turnaround with the flat stick has been amazing. I wonder that if this relationship continues to develop, Morgan – Leigh’s Dad Greg will insist the Sergio start playing MacGregor equipment?
Bartender, a magnum of your finest champagne, please, Let us raise a glass to Erik and Jeff for two very gutsy performances.
See you on the first tee,
Jack
Thursday, October 23, 2008
A trip around the golf world ...
Just some thoughts while contemplating the changes in the FedEx Cup qualifying system for the 2009 PGA Tour season.
The first thought I have about the FedEx points system is that it might be a moot point. The European PGA Tour has stolen some of the PGA Tour’s thunder with their Race to Dubai. The Euros (with help from the Dubai sheiks) have doubled up on the FedEx Cup by posting a $20 million bonus at the end. By the way, instead of the intricate points system trying to be employed on these shores, the Euros are relying on their Order of Merit (that’s money list). Gee, what a novel idea, but isn’t it too simple?
There’s an unwritten rule in professional golf. If you put $20 million on the table, they will come. The first player of note who said he’d adjust his schedule to attempt to qualify for Dubai was Phil Mickelson. Of course he said something about enhancing his career by becoming more of an international player. Right, and if someone would put up $30 million for a series on the moon, he’d play to enhance his career by becoming more of an intergalactic player.
The problem with being the first to admit he’s succumbed to the golden glow is you take the first hit. There will be others and you can count on it. The system works in favor of the players. The four WGC events count to the 12 event minimum as do the four majors. That leaves four appearances. Since the 2009 season begins in less than a month, look for some PGA Tour players to get a head start in the early part of the European schedule. Many of the Americans travel to Scotland to play the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond the week prior to the British Open, so in effect the PGA Tour members who could challenge in Dubai won’t have to alter their schedule that much. It should be interesting.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
This week in the first two rounds of PGA Tour Q-School First Stage competition, Miami’s Erik Compton opened with a disappointing 76 and a 75. Maybe the scores aren’t great, but the effort is out of this world.
Five months ago, Compton underwent heart transplant surgery—his second. He has the spirit of a champion, maybe now he has the heart, or at least one that will last. Hopefully, Compton will be able to recharge his professional career which included a stint on the Nationwide Tour following a successful campaign on the Canadian Tour. Compton turned professional following a successful collegiate career at Georgia.
Will Compton finally realize his dream of making it to the PGA Tour? The odds say no, but I don’t think he reads the morning line. He’s a 28-year old golfer with his third heart. He’s been defying the odds since his first transplant at age 12. How can you tell him no.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
This past year was supposedly going to be Annika Sorenstam’s “Retirement Tour.” Now, one of the greatest woman players of all time is hedging her bet. Sorenstam, who will marry in January, had planned to put her clubs into mothballs following a tournament in China. Now, she says she might just go into hiatus.
Her plans as far as marrying and starting a family remain in tact, but now she says that depending how she feels and her situations work out, she may consider a return. Normally, this corner would have untoward remarks about waffling like this. However, given the class and dignity she has brought to the game, we can only wish her the best.
Bartender, a glass of European red wine, perhaps an Italian vintage if you will. It appears I might be spending some time on the continent over the next year.
See you on the first tee,
Jack
The first thought I have about the FedEx points system is that it might be a moot point. The European PGA Tour has stolen some of the PGA Tour’s thunder with their Race to Dubai. The Euros (with help from the Dubai sheiks) have doubled up on the FedEx Cup by posting a $20 million bonus at the end. By the way, instead of the intricate points system trying to be employed on these shores, the Euros are relying on their Order of Merit (that’s money list). Gee, what a novel idea, but isn’t it too simple?
There’s an unwritten rule in professional golf. If you put $20 million on the table, they will come. The first player of note who said he’d adjust his schedule to attempt to qualify for Dubai was Phil Mickelson. Of course he said something about enhancing his career by becoming more of an international player. Right, and if someone would put up $30 million for a series on the moon, he’d play to enhance his career by becoming more of an intergalactic player.
The problem with being the first to admit he’s succumbed to the golden glow is you take the first hit. There will be others and you can count on it. The system works in favor of the players. The four WGC events count to the 12 event minimum as do the four majors. That leaves four appearances. Since the 2009 season begins in less than a month, look for some PGA Tour players to get a head start in the early part of the European schedule. Many of the Americans travel to Scotland to play the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond the week prior to the British Open, so in effect the PGA Tour members who could challenge in Dubai won’t have to alter their schedule that much. It should be interesting.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
This week in the first two rounds of PGA Tour Q-School First Stage competition, Miami’s Erik Compton opened with a disappointing 76 and a 75. Maybe the scores aren’t great, but the effort is out of this world.
Five months ago, Compton underwent heart transplant surgery—his second. He has the spirit of a champion, maybe now he has the heart, or at least one that will last. Hopefully, Compton will be able to recharge his professional career which included a stint on the Nationwide Tour following a successful campaign on the Canadian Tour. Compton turned professional following a successful collegiate career at Georgia.
Will Compton finally realize his dream of making it to the PGA Tour? The odds say no, but I don’t think he reads the morning line. He’s a 28-year old golfer with his third heart. He’s been defying the odds since his first transplant at age 12. How can you tell him no.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
This past year was supposedly going to be Annika Sorenstam’s “Retirement Tour.” Now, one of the greatest woman players of all time is hedging her bet. Sorenstam, who will marry in January, had planned to put her clubs into mothballs following a tournament in China. Now, she says she might just go into hiatus.
Her plans as far as marrying and starting a family remain in tact, but now she says that depending how she feels and her situations work out, she may consider a return. Normally, this corner would have untoward remarks about waffling like this. However, given the class and dignity she has brought to the game, we can only wish her the best.
Bartender, a glass of European red wine, perhaps an Italian vintage if you will. It appears I might be spending some time on the continent over the next year.
See you on the first tee,
Jack
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Seve
It’s Wednesday Oct. 15, 2008. In a Madrid hospital, Seve Ballesteros is recovering from brain surgery to remove a tumor. You can count on two things on following a surgical procedure. The doctor never says anything other than surgery was successful and he/she never issues a specific time line for recovery.
Realizing this, we can only hope for a complete and speedy recovery for one of the most charismatic golfers of all time. Personally, I fondly remember the day Ballesteros was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Praise for how he won his first British Open championship by hitting a tournament-saving shot from a parking lot, how he almost singlehandedly raised the European Tour from the ashes, how he resurrected the Ryder Cup flowed like fine Spanish wine. I remember that day, but moreover I remember a day, or moreover a week in 1983.
It was March of ’83 and the place was the Sea Turtle Inn in Jacksonville Beach, Fla. It was Tuesday morning and I’d arrived at the hotel the previous evening after driving from 18 miles north of Boston over the weekend. Being that this was the first Tournament Players Championship that I covered, I was placed in the media hotel as far away from the course as possible.
That explained why I was there. I never found out why Seve was staying there. Regardless, as I entered the lobby that morning, the first person I recognized was Seve. He was pacing the lobby waiting for a courtesy car to pick him up and take him to the course. (This was before the players were issued cars to transport themselves). Since I was headed to the course, I introduced myself to the Spaniard and offered him a lift. With a perceptible sigh of relief, he accepted.
Due to traffic, it was a solid 30-minute ride to the TPC Sawgrass. During the ride, I found Seve to be humorous, charming and apparently a great guy. Then something happened. As I turned the corner to head up the road to the clubhouse, it felt as if the temperature in the car had dropped 20-degrees. I pulled up to the front of the clubhouse and as soon as I stopped, Seve bolted from the car. There wasn’t a “thanks for the ride” or even an acknowledgment that I was alive. He just got out and almost ran into the clubhouse. Okay, my ego didn’t demand any acknowledgment, but I thought it strange.
The next morning brought a close duplicate. I saw him in the lobby, offered a ride, was entertained on the ride and then it happened again. The guy who’d been in my car disappeared and was replaced by an iceberg. This time I asked what was up.
“I’m in my office now,” he said. “I wouldn’t come in the press room while you’re writing and bother you. I expect the same.”
I’d dealt with many professional athletes prior to that day and some of them more famous than Seve, but I’d never seen that level of intensity that could be turned on as quickly before or since. Since then, I’ve seen the jovial Seve and I’ve seen the other as well. To be honest, I prefer the former. I can say this. I’ve never seen an athlete who brings more to the table as far as determination to win.
Having said that should he bring that level of determination to his recovery program, he’ll be up and around in no time.
Bartender, a couple of tall, cool glasses of sangria for Seve and myself as I toast his health. Salud mi amigo, salud!
See you on the first tee,
Jack
Realizing this, we can only hope for a complete and speedy recovery for one of the most charismatic golfers of all time. Personally, I fondly remember the day Ballesteros was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Praise for how he won his first British Open championship by hitting a tournament-saving shot from a parking lot, how he almost singlehandedly raised the European Tour from the ashes, how he resurrected the Ryder Cup flowed like fine Spanish wine. I remember that day, but moreover I remember a day, or moreover a week in 1983.
It was March of ’83 and the place was the Sea Turtle Inn in Jacksonville Beach, Fla. It was Tuesday morning and I’d arrived at the hotel the previous evening after driving from 18 miles north of Boston over the weekend. Being that this was the first Tournament Players Championship that I covered, I was placed in the media hotel as far away from the course as possible.
That explained why I was there. I never found out why Seve was staying there. Regardless, as I entered the lobby that morning, the first person I recognized was Seve. He was pacing the lobby waiting for a courtesy car to pick him up and take him to the course. (This was before the players were issued cars to transport themselves). Since I was headed to the course, I introduced myself to the Spaniard and offered him a lift. With a perceptible sigh of relief, he accepted.
Due to traffic, it was a solid 30-minute ride to the TPC Sawgrass. During the ride, I found Seve to be humorous, charming and apparently a great guy. Then something happened. As I turned the corner to head up the road to the clubhouse, it felt as if the temperature in the car had dropped 20-degrees. I pulled up to the front of the clubhouse and as soon as I stopped, Seve bolted from the car. There wasn’t a “thanks for the ride” or even an acknowledgment that I was alive. He just got out and almost ran into the clubhouse. Okay, my ego didn’t demand any acknowledgment, but I thought it strange.
The next morning brought a close duplicate. I saw him in the lobby, offered a ride, was entertained on the ride and then it happened again. The guy who’d been in my car disappeared and was replaced by an iceberg. This time I asked what was up.
“I’m in my office now,” he said. “I wouldn’t come in the press room while you’re writing and bother you. I expect the same.”
I’d dealt with many professional athletes prior to that day and some of them more famous than Seve, but I’d never seen that level of intensity that could be turned on as quickly before or since. Since then, I’ve seen the jovial Seve and I’ve seen the other as well. To be honest, I prefer the former. I can say this. I’ve never seen an athlete who brings more to the table as far as determination to win.
Having said that should he bring that level of determination to his recovery program, he’ll be up and around in no time.
Bartender, a couple of tall, cool glasses of sangria for Seve and myself as I toast his health. Salud mi amigo, salud!
See you on the first tee,
Jack
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
