Golf Spelled Backwards

I was browsing YouTube the other day and stumbled across excerpts from Tiger Woods' national TV debut. It's a famous story: At age 2, Tiger appeared on The Mike Douglas Show in a segment that included his father, the host, plus Bob Hope and Jimmy Stewart. Footage from that appearance isn't hard to find; I'd seen it before. It's been used in television commercials and in video segments many times. You've almost surely seen it before, too: And it occurred to me after running across li'l Woods again - and it's not an original thought, to be sure - just how amazing well- and thoroughly documented the lives of today's youth are compared to those of people who grew up in the 1980s and earlier. Or, heck, even the 1990s. Once upon a time, it wasn't that easy for parents to film their children. Depending on the family's income level, it might not be possible at all. Even if it was, the process of filming, developing film, showing the film was ....

Once upon a time, Tiger Woods dominated golf like no golfer before. Crazy to think there are actually golf fans alive today who don't remember Woods' incredible streak from 1999 through 2000. They've heard about the "Tiger Slam," but didn't witness it. And today, Woods is struggling and probably will never be "Tiger" again. He's coming off an 85 at The Memorial as I write this. But once upon a time ... Here's a brand new example of just how dominating Woods was in those days: Golf Magazine columnist and stats guru Mark Broadie has examined PGA Tour rounds since 1983 and discovered that Woods holds a hitherto unrecognized record - most consecutive rounds beating the field. "Beating the field" means scoring better than the average of the field in a golf tournament for each given round of that tournament. From August 1999 to November of 2000, Tiger beat the field in 89 consecutive rounds. How astounding is that? Tiger's s...

Tiger Woods is playing in his first round 2015 today as this is written, at the Phoenix Open. That's the tournament where, in 1997, he famously aced the 16th hole as a rookie. And kudos to the PGA Tour for quickly posting a side-by-side comparison video of Woods' swings at the Phoenix Open, comparing 1997 to 2015. Here you go: Tiger's 1997 swing vs. Tiger's 2015 swing. A video posted by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) on Jan 29, 2015 at 12:14pm PST No surprise that, equally quickly, Brandel Chamblee had a pointed take. Here's his tweet; you can click to read the comments and debate that ensued: All u need to know about a b4&an after is evident in this picture 97 he covered the ball,now he's addicted to an idea pic.twitter.com/JJwEC9o9JK — brandel chamblee (@chambleebrandel) January 29, 2015

Remember the time Tiger Woods played with guns while visiting Navy SEALs? Tiger took weaponry onto a shooting range in San Diego during a 2006 visit. Here's the pic: Oooooo, I'm scared! Tiger looks kinda badass there. But I guess looking badass isn't too hard when you're holding a handgun and a shell casing is flying. If this photo were taken today, I imagine we'd see Dan Jenkins' photo on those targets. Here's the actual cutline that goes with the photo: San Diego (May 31, 2006) - Professional Golfer Tiger Woods squeezes off a round from a handgun during training at a shooting range outside San Diego. Navy SEAL instructors assigned to Naval Special Warfare Center at Coronado taught Woods basic marksmanship skills during a recent visit. U.S Navy photo by Chief Journalist Deborah Carson A few months earlier Tiger Woods was also in San Diego hanging out with Navy SEALs (remember what Hank Haney wrote about Tiger's SEALs obsession?): And the cut...

By now you've heard - everyone in the golf universe has heard - that Tiger Woods' new swing instructor is a guy named Chris Como. Como definitely was not an unknown before Tiger picked him - he'd made Golf Digest 's Best Young Teachers list, he was one of Golf Magazine 's Top 100 teachers - but starting work with Woods certainly elevates one's profile. So who is this guy? One way to learn about Chris Como is to learn from Chris Como. Let's watch some of the golf instruction videos featuring him that are available on YouTube. If you want to go really in-depth in Como's swing thoughts, you can start with this 21-minute video in which Como discusses the golf swing with a biomechanist: In this Golf Digest clip, Como teaches us to make a smoother putting stroke: This Golf.com clip is titled "Hit it farther with footwork": The following clip is less than 30 seconds, but in it Como demonstrates what is probably his best-known bit so ...

Here is the lead to an article in the New York Post : The head of college counseling at the elite Horace Mann School is a Tiger Woods-impersonating bully who threatened to use his powerful connections to ruin a Manhattan hospital nurse after she dumped him, sources told The Post. Canh Oxelson, 42 — a Harvard grad who for more than a decade made a living off his uncanny resemblance to the serial-philandering golf champ — was arrested last week at his Upper West Side apartment after he allegedly threatened to send naked pictures of Minochy Delanois, 28, his girlfriend of six months, to her bosses at NYU Langone Medical Center. Huh. So a guy who made a living impersonating Tiger Woods wound up (allegedly) doing something scuzzy involving nude photos, texting and email? Are we sure he's not just working a new act? (Thank you, I'll be here all week.) (But seriously, kids - the alleged behavior is deplorable and possibly criminal. Although Tiger's admitted behavior was s...

I was on TigerWoods.com today and clicked on the navigational tab that reads "Sponsors." This takes you to a page where Woods' sponsors are listed. And that page is looking pretty skimpy these days. I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that Woods' endorsement deals have shrunk in recent years, post-scandal. But still, I was suprised at just how short and unimpressive the list is. You can see it yourself here . Since EA Sports dropped Tiger a couple weeks ago, Woods' list of sponsors really only includes two major global brands: Nike Golf and Rolex. The website list is stretched out by including the PGA Tour and the Dubai development for which Woods is designing a golf course. But that's kind of cheating. The tour isn't paying Woods anything (it's listed because of a content-sharing arrangement), and Woods' deal with the Dubai company is centered around his golf course design company. Other brands on the list of sponsors include ...

Here's the headline from PGATour.com's update about Tiger Woods finishing second at The Barclays: You know, back in the old days when Tiger "spasmed," he usually finished first.

Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia don't like each other. Their decade-long spat devolved into public insults just a few weeks ago. Can they get over it? The two stars took a step to putting the controversy (if not the dislike) to rest by shaking hands and talking on the driving range at Merion on Monday prior to the 2013 U.S. Open. But we think they can do more. We have 10 foolproof ways that Sergio and Tiger can put their problems behind them and move on to a better, healthier relationship. Top 10 Ways for Tiger, Sergio to Settle their Differences 10. Two words: hot tub 9. Agree to stop hating each other and start hating Matt Kuchar 8. Flamenco dance-off 7. 3-irons at 30 paces 6. Exchange flowers and chocolates 5. Call a moratorium on tricking one another with the ol' pull-my-finger routine 4. Acknowledge the homoerotic tension and agree to "take it slow and see where this leads" 3. Slap fight 2. Oil each other up, pump each other up for ultimate pose-off 1. Girl...

It's time once again on the schedule for Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament. Last year, at the 2012 edition, Tiger Woods won with the help of a brilliant chip shot on the 16th hole in the final round. Let's look back, shall we?

It's tournament week at The Players Championship, but Tiger Woods spend Monday in New York attending a gala with girlfriend Lindsey Vonn. It must be love! Here's a selfie snapped by Lindsey: Along with the photo, she wrote this: "Looks a little different from the golf course and ski slopes ;) he looks good in a suit❤thx to Elie Saab @JimmyChooLtd and @armani #selfie #MET #ilovefashion" In another tweet, Vonn gushed: Had an amazing time at the MET. Thx to Anna Wintour and @ vouge for styling me, & of course thx to my amazing man for being my date. Night :) — lindsey vonn (@lindseyvonn) May 7, 2013

Talking about the Tiger Woods ruling at The Masters, of course: 2-stroke penalty, but no DQ. I like that ruling, I think it's fair and in keeping with the spirit of the new decision regarding DQ'ing players at-a-later-date for wrong scorecards. Remember, almost every time in the past when a golfer has been DQ'd next-day or later-on over an incorrect scorecard, most of the golf world has gotten up in arms about the unfairness of it. So the governing bodies added a decision giving discretion to committees to waive such a DQ. Tiger is one of the first test cases, he had his possible DQ waived under the new rule ... and now lots of folks are up in arms about that ! Just goes to show: When it comes to a high-profile penalty or DQ in golf, there is never going to be consensus. Anyway: Lots of PGA Tour players are reacting on Twitter, and here are some of those reactions: @ tigerwoods @ the_masters took his penalty and should play! He's my pick to win. — Ted Purdy (@...

Golf Channel's Jason Sobel tweets the details of a text message that Tiger Woods sent to Rory McIlroy after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational: Rory McIlroy on a text message he got from Tiger Woods this morning: "He told me to get my finger out of my ass and win this week." — Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelGC) March 26, 2013 Actually, I'm guessing that it's Caroline's finger that's up Rory's ass.

... g-o-l-f-i-n-g. Or is that s-k-i-i-n-g? Either way, they're definitely k-i-s-s-i-n-g. Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn came out of the closet today, both announcing through social media that they are, in fact, gettin' it on. They even posted a few photos, including this one that Vonn posted to Instagram: (Photo: instagram.com/lindseyvonn ) Tiger's website includes more pics . Both sports superstars posted notes to fans, too. First up, here is Tiger's message: "This season has been great so far and I'm happy with my wins at Torrey and Doral. Something nice that's happened off the course was meeting Lindsey Vonn. Lindsey and I have been friends for some time, but over the last few months we have become very close and are now dating. We thank you for your support and for respecting our privacy. We want to continue our relationship, privately, as an ordinary couple and continue to compete as athletes." And Lindsey added her own on Facebook: ...

Tiger Woods has (and has had) a lot of sponsors, and he's made a lot of promotional videos (such as TV commercials) for them. My favorite remains the "Tiger Trap" video that he did for Buick. The set-up was this: Regular golfers (real golfers, not actors) step up to a tee and find a wedge laying on the ground. Gasp - it appears to be Tiger Woods' wedge! Then Tiger himself rolls up in cart: "Hey guys, did you find a wedge?" Tiger then challenges them to a closest-to-the-pin contest. Can you imagine the nerves these golfers must have felt? Woods does this with several groups. Sometimes he hits great wedge shots, sometimes he intentionally screws up. The big reveal is this: A golfer who beats Woods in the closest-to-the-pin contest wins a Buick Rainier SUV. The group of middle-aged women is the best. The reactions are great. Check it out: You can tell this was done a long time ago because Tiger still looks a little skinny.

At least, he does in this new Nike commercial:

Here's what Tiger Woods had to say to his buddy Steve Stricker via Twitter: Thx stricks for the great putting lesson, and congrats on 2nd :) Great weekend at Doral all around. Thx for the support! See u in Orlando. — Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) March 11, 2013 Congrats on 2nd! Ouch! The joke, of course, is that Stricker gave Woods a putting lesson prior to the WGC Cadillac Championship, correcting a flaw he had noticed in Tiger's set-up. Then Tiger went out and won the tournament, with Stricker finishing second. And how did Tiger win the tournament? Putting. Woods needed only 100 putts for the week - the fewest putts he's ever used in a 72-hole tournament (see the PGA Tour record in this category). So, yeah: Thanks Strick, and congrats on 2nd!

I'm so old I can remember when all the rumors were about Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn hooking up! But to answer the question in the headline: No, Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren are not back together (probably). But they are together again, in a way! The gossip website TMZ.com acquired photos of Woods and Nordegren together at a recent event for their kids. It's the first time the two have been photographed in public together since those infamous incidents around Thanksgiving 2009. Tiger showed up first, Elin arrived about an hour later. They appeared friendly with one another while watching over the kids. Then, someone started snapping photos of them (later sold to TMZ, obviously), and Woods and Nordegren split - leaving together in Elin's vehicle. From this, some are concluding that there must have been some truth to those National Enquirer -fueled rumors a couple months ago about Tiger trying to woo Elin back. (Those rumors actually predated the Tiger-Lindsey Vonn...

( Update 3/18/2013 : Tiger and Lindsey confirm they are dating .) The latest evidence of a Tiger Woods-Lindsey Vonn romance? Tiger sent his private plane to Austria to give Lindsey a lift back to the United States. TMZ originally reported it. You might have heard that Vonn was involved in a serious ski accident that will keep her out of competition the rest of the year. Vonn's crash happened during the Alpine World Championships in Schladming, Austria. She is returning to the U.S. for the necessary surgery. And she's flying on Tiger Woods' plane. Woods' plane picked Vonn up in Austria on Friday. Related posts: • Woods, Vonn pass up chances to deny romance • Are Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn dating?

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...