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Showing posts from January, 2013

Hackers - the Computer Kind - Use Wilson Golf's Twitter

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Hackers like to play around with other people's and organization's Twitter accounts as much as they like to mess with websites. Today, Wilson Golf's Twitter account was hacked in the service of one of those "miracle weight loss" spam tweets: (I used a screen grab above rather than embedding the tweet so that nobody would accidentally click the link included in the spam tweet.) Wilson isn't responsible for this, of course; if you've never been hacked on Twitter and had a spam weight loss tweet sent from your account, well, you probably will. But in a way, the tweet almost makes sense. After all, Wilson's most prominent staff golfer is Padraig Harrington, and Paddy is fit . Harrington probably has some weight loss secrets he can share! Maybe Wilson should try to capitalize on this bit of spam. Padraig Harrington's Weight Loss Secrets Revealed! Step 1: Give up potatoes! (Hat tip to @SandieCrowley for catching the tweet.)

Worst Tournament Name ... Ever

That would be the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Wow. What's the marketing slogan? "With a name like Waste Management Phoenix Open, it's got to be good!" I get it. Waste Management is a major and very successful company; the PGA Tour needs sponsors, it takes them where it can find them. Waste Management founders and leaders should be proud of their success; the Phoenix Open personnel surely are very happy to have a big-time company as their title sponsor. But still ... Waste Management. Eww. But it could be worse. It could be much worse ... Top 10 Rejected Names of the Waste Management Phoenix Open 10. Acid Reflux Phoenix Open 9. Open Sewer Phoenix Open 8. Hairy Mole Phoenix Open 7. Stinking Cesspool Phoenix Open 6. Painful Bunion Phoenix Open 5. My Butt Itches Phoenix Open 4. Yeast Infection Phoenix Open 3. Adult Diapers Phoenix Open 2. There's This Weird Thing on My Balls Phoenix Open 1. It Hurts When I Pee Phoenix Open

SI Article on Quack RF Products and Deer Antler Sprays Includes Golf, Vijay Singh

A great Sports Illustrated article in this week's issue - posted online here - looks at a company that lures pro athletes into using quack products such as radio-frequency blocking hologram stickers (which don't actually work) and deer antler sprays (which don't actually work and may contained banned substances). The article's focus is mainly on football, but it includes a couple mentions of golf. I'll just pass along these teasers and urge you go read the article: The chips and spray also had recently begun to spread through golf after a friend with whom Ross sold Christmas trees introduced him to a PGA caddie. In short order, Ross says, the caddie "was passing me around the golf world like a prostitute." As soon as the Vobora verdict landed, though, the NFL, the PGA and MLB sent notice to athletes that the S.W.A.T.S. deer-antler spray -- which had been advertised as containing the banned IGF-1, an ingredient common to all brands of deer antler spray ...

Some CBS Affiliates Choose 'Dr. Phil' over Torrey Pines on Monday

When it became clear that the Farmers Insurance Open finish would be pushed back to Monday, most of the golfers probably assumed that the Monday restart would take place first thing in the morning. After all, many of those players needed to get to Arizona for this week's Waste Management Phoenix Open; some of them hoped to play in that tournament's Monday qualifier. But PGA Tour schedules aren't created for the golfers, they are created by the TV networks. What the networks want, the networks get. And so the restart happened around 11 a.m. Monday in San Diego, allowing CBS to finish its broadcast in the late afternoon/early primtime on the East Coast. And I don't have a problem with that! The TV networks pay billions of dollars to the PGA Tour, and a lot of that money trickles down to the players in the form of huge purses and fantastic perks. Re-starting near noon rather than first thing in the morning cause you to miss the Phoenix Open Monday qualifier? Tough ...

Cruel Shoes: Paula Creamer, High-Heeled Pumps, and Pain Threshold

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We already knew that Paula Creamer is one tough cookie - remember how much pain she was in with those thumb problems a few years ago? Yet she played through it for a year or more, and even won the U.S. Women's Open in her first tournament back after surgery. But if you still needed any proof of Paula's toughness, well, just look at those heels she's wearing in the photo above. If her feet had been forced into that position without her permission, the forcer would be facing criminal charges. And getta load of those high-heeled pumps in the pic to the right. Well, you can't see much of the actual shoes - but you can imagine their cruelty by looking at the angle of Paula's feet. Not even ballerinas walk around like that. Pity poor Cristie Kerr, who probably, putting her own high-heeled black pumps on for this gala affair, thought to herself, "Oh yeah, these are gonna be the highest heels at the party!" She screamed upon standing, but darn it, it w...

The Amy Mickelson-Michael Jordan Rumor

The Amy Mickelson-Michael Jordan affair rumor. You've heard it, right? It got started back in 2010, around the time Phil Mickelson was winning The Masters. To this day, type "Amy Mickelson" into the Google search field and Google will try to autocomplete your query to "Amy Mickelson Michael Jordan" or "Amy Mickelson Michael Jordan rumor" or "Amy Mickelson Michael Jordan affair." Amy is Phil's wife, of course. Michael Jordan is a good friend of Phil's main rival, Tiger Woods. I understand Mr. Jordan also played basketball, but can't really speak to that. I focus entirely on golf, you see. With a side business in unfounded, crazy rumors. Put the Amy Mickelson-Michael Jordan affair rumor in the "you've got to be kidding" file. There's not a hint of a scintella of evidence - evidence! what a concept! - of any Amy Mickelson-Michael Jordan affair. There's barely any evidence of an Amy Mickelson-Phil Mickels...

Get Ready for Pro Shops Filled with Non-Conforming Equipment

Some comments recently made by TaylorMade-Adidas Golf's CEO are causing a bit of a stir in golf. The comments by Mark King came in an interview with Rick Young of Score Golf , and you can boil down King's comments to this: The USGA is counterproductive to the growth of golf, someone else needs to come along and knock the USGA off its perch, and we're reaching the point where we might just start ignoring the USGA. King is mad about the proposed ban on anchoring putters, and he's mad that TaylorMade might lose money because of that ban. Long putters and belly putters are growth items in the golf club market. No company that currently makes them wants to stop making them. And King says TaylorMade won't stop making them, no matter what the USGA says: “What we’re (TMaG) going to do whether there is bifurcation or not is we will continue to make long putters for golfers. If they roll the ball back we're not going to roll our ball back. We will for a tournament...

Woods, Vonn Pass on Chances to Deny Romance

Are Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn dating? We detailed the rumors in an earlier post . But on Thursday, Vonn's publicist provided a statement to USA Today addressing the rumors. The statement just failed to confirm or deny. In fact, Vonn's statement "addressing the rumors" was really a statement failing to address the rumors. Which is still a statement! Here's the statement from Vonn's PR flack: "Lindsey is currently in the midst of the World Cup season in Europe. Her focus is solely on competing and on defending her titles and thus she will not participate in any speculation surrounding her personal life at this time." The USA Today piece also notes that Tiger, through his spokesman, said he would not respond to reports that he and Vonn are dating. Well, they were both given the opportunity to deny they are dating, and neither Tiger Woods nor Lindsey Vonn took it. Does that mean anything? You decide. ( Update 3/18/2013 : Tiger and Lindsey...

Little Luke Donald, Mizuno Loyalist

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Luke Donald is a Mizuno man. Always has been, always will be. Don't believe me? Here's little Luke: There are big changes in the world of golf club endorsement deals every year, but as you can tell from the photo above of the young Luke Donald, Donald has been playing Mizuno since he was a child. He continued playing Mizuno through college, then signed a sponsorship deal with the company in 2003. And now Donald has re-signed with Mizuno, continuing "one of the longest-standing equipment relationships in golf," the company says, and "signing to continue to be a brand ambassador for years to come." Of course, this post was really just an excuse to run the photo of young Luke. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Mizuno Golf)

Flim-Flam Follow-Up

Following up our post of several days ago about of the re-birth of Power Balance "magic bracelets" : Why do golfers so often fall prey to sounds-too-good-to-be-true magic products? Here's one reason: Want to give back to this game you love? Then pick up a Golf Digest Power Balance wristband. Proceeds go to First Tee. tinyurl.com/bdylq3w — Stina Sternberg (@StinaSternberg) January 22, 2013 (Stina Sternberg is a senior editor at Golf Digest . And someone whose talent I greatly admire, so, sigh ...) Golf Digest is the No. 1 publication in golf - it should be exposing products such as magic bracelets, not promoting them. And The First Tee is a great organization that teaches golf and life skills to at-risk youth, and now will be complicit in pitching woo-woo to them. These two outfits should be ashamed at affiliating with a company that has the history of Power Balance . But there's money to made (by Golf Digest ) and money to be raised (by The First Tee). Rela...

You've Come a Long Way, Baby

The women on the LPGA Tour of 2013 will play for sums of money unimagined just 30 years ago. As recently as the late 1970s, an LPGA Tour golfer finishing outside the Top 10 on the money list might have to take a second job during the offseason. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. The LPGA still struggles with image, and particularly with the question: should we sell the looks of our players? Or at least the hot ones? If you've been paying attention to the way the Tour markets Natalie Gulbis, among others, you know the answer right now is yes. I was thinking of these things recently as I flipped through the 1974 LPGA Tour media guide. Because as obviously as the Tour sells image today, that's nothing compared to the way the Tour was trying to sell appearance 30 years ago. For example, the 1974 media guide includes such snippets about players as this: • Sharron Moran: "Favorite among girl-watchers, with a collection of fancy hats for her flowin...

Top 10 Other Tiger Woods Demands Rejected By Qatar Masters

You might have heard the story about the Qatar Masters tournament rejecting Tiger Woods' demand for a $3 million appearance fee. We heard that story, too. But we also heard other stories - stories about other demands Woods made in order to appear at this week's tournament, demands Qatari officials all rejected. And, exclusively, we share those demands with you now: Top 10 Other Tiger Woods Demands Rejected By Qatar Masters 10. Practice balls with Hank Haney's face on them 9. Lockerrom towels must all have that Downy-fresh smell 8. Less sand - not just on the course, but in the entire region 7. The infidelity phone 6. Urinals with Hank Haney's face in them 5. Lavender-scented candles in all on-course portable toilets 4. For the fourth round, only red M&Ms in the lockerroom 3. Free membership in Hair Club for Men so Tiger can try to keep up with Rory's mop 2. Change name of Persian Gulf to Cablinasian Gulf 1. Blondes, and lots of them

'Magic Bracelet' Power Balance Back in Business, with Stacy Lewis' Help

The annual PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla., tees off this week, and one of the companies that will be there is Power Balance. LPGA Player of the Year Stacy Lewis, signed last year as an endorser of the silicone wristbands with their little hologram badge, will be at the Power Balance booth. You remember Power Balance, right? For several years after the company came along in 2007, up through about early 2010, those magical Power Balance bracelets with their magical powers were everywhere. The company claimed the hologram on each bracelet was somehow imbued with ... well, with something that gave the wristband the ability to "react with the body's natural energy flow" and "resonate with and respond to the natural energy field of the body" in order to help wearers achieve "up to a 500% increase in strength, power and flexibility." It was all about "Eastern philosophies" of medicine and healing. It was all a load of crap. Golfers (a...

No 3-Putts

David Frost is a golfer with a reputation as a great putter. He's on the Champions Tour now, and his putting nerves haven't left him. Following the 2013 senior circuit opener in Hawaii, Frost is now on a streak of 254 consecutive holes without 3-putting. The PGA Tour record is 449 consecutive holes without a three-putt, held by Luke Donald. What's your longest streak without a three-putt? Mine is probably ... two holes.

Is There Doping In Golf? Of Course There Is!

A Reuters article datelined from the site of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship focuses on comments by Thomas Bjorn, Henrik Stenson and Richard Green, comments in which those three golfers dismiss the idea that doping might exist in professional golf. "I would find it very surprising if we encountered any enhancing drugs in golf," Stenson said. Said Bjorn: "In golf we do our drug-testing and it seems to be a very clean sport. We can be proud of that." Awwwwwww , that's adorable. Of course there is doping going on professional golf! Given everything we know now about performance-enhancing drug use in some other sports, given that we know drug tests are routinely beaten by some of the worst dopers in sports history (Lance Armstrong: "I've never failed a drug test!"), given that one or two pro golfers have actually been caught ... well, you'd have to be extremely naive to think no pro golfers are doping. In the cycling world, as an e...

Now That's a Hazard: Unexploded WWII Shell Under Golf Course

Yesterday we posted a set of temporary local rules that were in place at one British golf course during World War II. Local rules that took into account such things as live gunfire and unexploded bombs. But who knew such rules might still be relevant today? At one Australian course, the locals are interested, you might say, in the possibility that an unexploded Japanese bomb lies beneath one of the fairways. The course is Royal Sydney Golf Club. The bomb is a leftover from a shelling of Sydney Harbor by a Japanese submarine in 1942. Two historians investigating that attack believe at least one of the bombs is unaccounted for, and lies under the ground of the No. 8 fairway at Royal Sydney. The club issued a statement to the effect that there was really nothing to worry about : The club notified the Defence Department's explosives ordnance division, which advised no action was necessary at this stage. "The club has sought expert advice in this matter," the st...

Are Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn Dating?

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( Update 3/18/2013 : Tiger and Lindsey confirmed they are dating .) The cover of this week's National Enquirer claims that Tiger Woods has offered Elin Nordegren $200 million and a no-cheat-clause in the prenup to get re-married. Perhaps a more plausible rumor currently making the rounds is that Tiger's new girlfriend is Lindsey Vonn. Vonn is an American downhill skier, a legend in women's skiing with multiple World Cup titles, dozens of individual race wins, and Olympic glory. She's also a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. (Photos: instagram.com/lindseyvonn ) As the time of this writing, Woods has not addressed the rumors he is dating Vonn (probably because golf journalists are too scared to ask him). Vonn, however, has denied she and Woods are a couple - but acknowledged they are "friends." If Woods and Vonn really are dating, it would be a little ironic given that Vonn was one of the sports celebrities who publicly mocked Woods' foibles...

Local Rules in Britain During World War II

The list that appears below has something of an "urban legends" feel about it. But it isn't an urban legend; it's a real list of temporary local rules put in place at Richmond Golf Club in 1941, taking into account that little inconvenience called World War II. Temporary Local Rules at Richmond Golf Club During World War II 1. Players are asked to collect bomb and shrapnel splinters to save these causing damage to the mowing machines. 2. In competitions, during gunfire or while bombs are falling, players may take shelter without penalty for ceasing play. 3. The position of known delayed action bombs are marked by red flags at a reasonable, but not guaranteed, safe distance therefrom. 4. Shrapnel and/or bomb splinters on the fairways or in bunkers, within a club's length of a ball, may be moved without penalty, and no penalty shall be incurred if a ball is thereby caused to move accidentally. 5. A ball moved by enemy action may be replaced or, if los...

Tiger Woods' 90-Yard Topped Drive at Abu Dhabi HSBC

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Tiger Woods carded a 72 in his first round of 2013, at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. But that round included this very ugly drive: He cold topped it. The ball ran along the ground and got hung up in some thick grass, short of where the cart path crossed the hole - a drive of about 90 yards. Funny part of this video is the announcers' stumbling attempts to figure out where Tiger's ball is - they clearly were looking way up the hole, but there was no ball where they were looking!

What's the Weirdest Sports Story of Past Four Years: Tiger, Suzy or Manti?

Tiger, Suzy and Manti, oh my! We've seen some weird stories in the sports world in recent years, and two recent ones really stand out: There's the currently breaking story about Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o and the fake girlfriend. Te'o's "girlfriend" was allegedly an inspiration for him during his senior season, and their "relationship" received quite a bit of media attention - especially after she allegedly died of leukemia. Turns out, she never existed. But is Te'o the victim of a cruel hoax - or the co-perpetrator of hoax designed to generate publicity for himself? We don't yet know. Only about a month before the Te'o story, there was the Suzy Favor Hamilton story. Hamilton, an "America's sweetheart" type of athlete, an Olympian, and the most dominant American distance runner ever (among women, anyway). A 44-year-old wife and mother, a successful realtor, a motivational speaker. And, it turns out, high-priced...

The First Rory McIlroy-Tiger Woods Commercial for Nike Golf

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And here it is, the first television commercial for Nike Golf featuring both Tiger Woods and Nike's new wonderboy Rory McIlroy: Entertaining. Nike always seems to do a good job with its lighthearted, personality-driven television spots, don't they?

Top 10 Lance Armstrong Confessions about Golf

You might have seen the stories that disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong plans to confess to decades of cheating in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. (If that confession surprises you, you are a blinkered Armstrong fanboy.) But cycling isn't the only area in which Armstrong has cheated. Oh, no sir. He's a huge golf buff and we've exclusively learned that, shockingly, Armstrong also plans to confess his golf sins to Oprah. What will he confess about golf? Glad you asked. Lance Armstrong's Top 10 Golf Confessions 10. Always used a non-conforming driver. 9. "Gained strokes" in the mountains, if you know what I mean. 8. Required all playing partners to inject themselves with Banana Boat sunscreen and Gatorade. 7. His gimme putts were not always inside the leather. 6. He only carried pencils with erasers. 5. When wishing opponents "good luck" on the first tee, he didn't really mean it. 4. His 2-Ball Putter only had one ball. 3. Always used ...

Using Tiger Woods to Promote the 'Infidelity Phone'

Let's say you're a healthy, virile, horny male who has no moral or ethical qualms about cheating on your spouse or girlfriend. Someone, like, say ... oh, I don't know ... Tiger Woods. What's your weakness in hiding that infidelity from those you're cheating on? Cell phone. If you don't intently watch over that smartphone, one of your honeys might check your messages or your texts, and, boom, the jig is up. Right, Tiger? Well, the Japanese have an answer. It's something Japan's philanderers refer to as the uwaki keitai , or "infidelity phone." It's 3-year-old flip phone available only in Japan, but its privacy settings are so good at hiding those calls and texts that you want to hide that Japanese philaderers flock to it. Just how good are the infidelity phone's privacy features? So good that one of the former executives at the company that came up with the features said this: "If Tiger Woods had this Japanese feature in h...

Callaway's Ishikawa Signing Bigger than Nike's McIlroy Signing

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It wasn't exactly a secret - the news first broke in October - but Callaway has made it official: The company has signed Ryo Ishikawa to an endorsement deal. As endorsement signings go, I think this will be bigger for Callaway than signing Rory McIlroy will be for Nike. By that I mean, impact at the cash register. Yes, Ishikawa will produce more business for Callaway than McIlroy does for Nike. Why? Asia. Asia is the biggest growth market for golf, and the 21-year-old Japanese superstar Ishikawa is the biggest golfer in Asia right now. Yes, McIlroy is hugely popular and has a large fanbase, but he doesn't generate the excitement - in Asia - that Ishikawa does. What about the American market? No contest there: It's McIlroy. But Callaway grabbed Ishikawa away from Yonex for Asia, not America. (Although it's certainly possible that Ishikawa will impact the American market, too. He's playing on the PGA Tour in 2013. And I am convinced that he will become, prob...

LPGA Gains Tiger Woods, Loses Jamie Farr

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Good news and bad news for the LPGA Tour, although the bad news is really good news. Got it? First, the good news that is good news: For the first time, the Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchise from Electronic Arts will include an LPGA game mode. No, really, that's good news, and it's significant. The LPGA needs all the help it can get, and this game is hugely popular. Little girls and big girls alike can create female characters now and actually play LPGA tournaments, with the March availability of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 . And two more LPGA golfers are included in the game, bringing the total to five. Accept progress where you find it. Now, the bad news, but bad news that is really good news: Jamie Farr is out. What for several decades has been the LPGA stop in Toledo, Ohio, under variations of the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic name, will, in 2013, drop not only Farr's name from the title, but Farr's involvement in the tournament altogether. That's bad news, but the...

Dustin Johnson's Gallery Girl This Year is Paulina Gretzky

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Remember back in 2011 when Natalie Gulbis showed up at the PGA Tour's Hyundai Tournament of Champions, following Dustin Johnson from the gallery? Natalie told a reporter with golf.com that she and Dustin were dating. Dustin initially declined to comment, but a few days later he denied that he and Natalie were a couple. That was weird, wasn't it? Guess Dustin got cold feet. (Which, by the way, is something Natalie must have all the time. I mean, when your legs are that hot, your feet must be quite cold, relatively speaking.) Now it's two years later, but Dustin showed up in Hawaii for the season opener once again with a hot babe trailing him in the gallery. This time, it was Paulina Gretzky. So far, Paulina is famous for two things: 1. Being the daughter of Wayne Gretzky; 2. Posting pics of herself like this on Instagram: As I write this, neither Dustin nor Paulina have publicly commented on their relationship, but those golf.com guys are on the case again. The maga...

Throwing the Book at an Error-Strewn Golf Book

So I picked up a book recently entitled From the Links: Golf's Most Memorable Moments . It's one of those vignette golf books: short entries of famous (and not so famous) moments, incidents, occurrences, achievements and so on through golf history. I like those kinds of books. I wanted to like this one. Alas, this was the first sentence: The 1938 US Open was held at the prestigious Cherry Hill Golf Club in New Jersey. Uh ... no. The 1938 U.S. Open was played at Cherry Hills , not Cherry Hill. And Cherry Hills is in Colorado, not New Jersey. Two errors, one minor, one major - in the very first sentence! Now, I'm not one to be unforgiving about errors. Every writer makes mistakes. I probably make a lot of them; in fact, I'm sure I do. But I'm just a guy with a blog - not a book author who, presumably, had an editor. The errors only mounted from there. On page 2, the author referred to "Ralph" when he was actually talking about a golfer named Ray ...

A Floating Golf Course In the Middle of the Ocean

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Global warming is affecting different parts of the world at different rates, and, therefore, is affecting the golf world at different rates. The country of The Maldives - 26 atolls, 1,192 (mostly tiny) islands in the Indian Ocean - feels the rush of climate change much more urgently than you and me. That's because the Maldives is disappearing - literally - beneath the rising ocean waters. Some other island nations have made plans to evacuate as their homelands fall beneath global-warming-fueled rising seas. But those plucky Maldivians have another plan: Replace their disappearing natural atolls and islands with man-made, floating islands. This might sound like a far-out, far-off idea. But it's not. Construction begins this year, and plans include a golf course. (Graphics: dutchdocklands.com) Pioneering architectural firm Dutch Docklands is designing the man-made islands, which will support homes, businesses, restaurants, hotels, convention centers and, yes, a golf co...

Allison Micheletti and Mike Modano Get Icy Hot

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You know Allison Micheletti, right? The attractive young golfer is probably best known (now) as a cast member on Golf Channel's Big Break Atlantis series, which aired in the first half of 2012. Before that, though, she got noticed as the hot girlfriend of PGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer, accompanying him at tournaments and the 2009 Ryder Cup. Kaymer also caddied for Micheletti a few times during her attempts at LET Q-School (she's also played LPGA Q-Schools). By the time Big Break Atlantis hit the air, Allison and Martin were no longer a couple. Meantime, another couple was on the skids: Former NHL star, and future hockey Hall of Famer, Mike Modano and actor, singer and Playboy poser Willa Ford. Modano and Ford announced their plan to divorce after five years of marriage in August 2012. And now, Modano, age 42, and Micheletti, age 25, are a couple.   What do they have in common? Golf and hockey. Modano is an avid golfer; Micheletti is a hockey fanatic...

Put Your Name on the Majors Aggregate Championship Trophy

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(Editor's Note: Following is a guest post by Colin MacGillivray, who tracks the Majors Aggregate Championship every year at golf-majors-champion.com .) By Colin MacGillivray Who is the best golfer in the world each year? Is it the money leader, the FedEx Cup champion, the one with the most wins or top-10 finishes, or lowest adjusted scoring average? It may be none of these. The golfer with the lowest total in the four Major Championships might claim the spot. Sixteen rounds and four cuts in the world's toughest and most sought-after tournaments must have some merit. This year it was Adam Scott. The first winner was Arnold Palmer in 1960, so the competition is over 50 years old, yet is largely still a secret. I have been compiling the aggregate scores for the Majors for over 25 years and in 1999 the establishment of the Majors Aggregate Championship of Golf became a reality. In that year Tiger Woods played in the World Cup at the Mines in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...

Is Europe Catching Up to America In Women's Golf?

I suspect the European Solheim Cup team from 2011 would answer that question from the title with a resounding "yes!" But I was struck by something when looking at the year-end women's world rankings. In the Top 50, at the end of 2012, there were more women from European countries than from the United States. Here are the golfers in the Top 50 from each side of the Solheim Cup: USA 3. Stacy Lewis 11. Cristie Kerr 12. Paula Creamer 18. Brittany Lincicome 19. Angela Stanford 24. Lexi Thompson 29. Brittany Lang 38. Morgan Pressel Europe 6. Suzann Pettersen 14. Catriona Matthew 16. Azahara Munoz 28. Anna Nordqvist 32. Karine Icher 33. Sandra Gal 40. Caroline Hedwall 48. Caroline Masson 50. Carlota Ciganda On the American list, only Lexi Thompson can be thought of as an "up-and-comer." But on the European side, there are three such youngsters: Hedwall, Masson, Ciganda (some might even include Munoz, but I think she's too well-established...