Monday, January 25th, 2010 Better Than Caffeine Happy 29th to Alicia Keys. 34-26-38. Born Alicia Augello Cook. Smokin' Aces & The Nanny Diaries. Incredibly hot singer who's also a huge best-selling R&B artist. Raised by single mom in Hell's Kitchen, NY. POSTED BY AVID GOLFER AT 07:36 AM

Monday, January 25th, 2010 "Thank God Phil's Returning to Play" The SI.com boys grapple about the Tiger rehab photos, the importance of Phil returning this week, and why Bubba Watson can't close the deal with his current swing (see Sunday's double-bogey on 18). Always a worthy Monday read. And in case you forgot, the Bob Hope Classic concludes today on GolfChannel... Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 07:23 AM

Monday, January 25th, 2010 Geezers Actually Put on a Show Fred Couples and Tom Watson in the final group Sunday. Lead changes several times before Watson wins by canning a short (but very miss-able) putt on 18. I believe that's the first Champions Tour event I felt compelled to view in quite a while. By the way, loved Freddie's new kicks. Looked damn comfortable too. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 07:14 AM

Monday, January 25th, 2010 The Daily Tiger Radaronline reports the Woods marriage isn't over yet as Elin has spent some time with Tiger at the rehab center in Mississippi. "The marriage is not over. They both want to save it," a source familiar with the situation told RadarOnline.com exclusively. Elin has been with Tiger in Mississippi for approximately five days and private security was hired to keep her out of sight, RadarOnline.com learned exclusively. She is participating in his recovery therapy. If that's indeed the case, I still predict a Tiger no-show at the Masters in April. There's no way he'll be tournament ready and only plays when he firmly believes there's a fighting chance to win. A major is hardly the event to give him that chance. Publisher Robert and I already have a wager on it. The WSJ throws their business two cents on how the Tour is struggling with shaky sponsors and a lack of sure-fire star power (i.e. doesn't matter who plays if Tiger does not). "It's a fairly tough conversation for the PGA Tour right now," said Tony Ponturo, former director of sports marketing for major sponsor Anheuser-Busch InBev and a board member of the women's LPGA Tour. "Maybe the marketplace doesn't allow for million-dollar first prizes anymore." Farmers Insurance Group, a unit of Zurich Financial Services, swooped in last week and agreed to a last-minute, discounted deal that pays the PGA Tour about $3.5 million to sponsor the Torrey Pines event. That is about half of what General Motors previously paid to sponsor what long was known as the Buick Invitational. GM, in financial trouble, ended its PGA tour contracts last summer. "The good news is we got a discount. The bad news is we only have one week Continue Reading "The Daily Tiger" POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 07:08 AM

Monday, January 25th, 2010 Todd Hamilton Thinks U.S. Course Layouts Are Mundane AG and Teebox buddy Todd Hamilton believes courses in the states these days  are dumbed-down monotonous. "The way courses are typically set up in the US seems to me very mundane. It's the same every week and they are ruining golf by doing it that way. When I'm at home I don't go to my club and play every day. That would be boring. So I play all over town if I can. I like variety." "There's not much of that on the PGA Tour. It seems like the tee-markers are moved five yards in four days. The courses are always long and the rough is always high. Not every par-3 has to be 230 yards with the pin placed maybe four yards from the edge of the green. And the ground always seems to be soft. You don't need rough to make a good test. If you get the ball running off line and there is nothing to stop it, the course is actually more challenging and interesting. Short grass works because it tempts us to go for shots we maybe shouldn't go for. And it is so much more interesting around the greens. From a tight lie, I have options. I can use my lob wedge. I can use my 9-iron. And I can use my putter. If the grass is long, all you do is chop it out with a 60-degree wedge. We are all good at that shot by now." He's not the first golfer to complain about this, but it appears nothing is gonna change either. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 06:49 AM

Monday, January 25th, 2010 Michael Campbell, Meet Ian Baker-Finch Both won a major before their respective games fell quickly off the planet (although Finchie found enough confidence to the the Colonial a go last year. But Campbell is still fighting a big case of "what the hell was that?" "I just don't know what is going on as it's like there are two Michael Campbells at a golf tournament these days. On the practice range my game is fine and I am hitting balls perfectly but when I get onto a golf course I just tighten up. But what I do know is that it has been a horrible rut over the last two to three years. I've been through this before, so I have some idea what it's like but hopefully this will be the last time." At Abu Dhabi, Campbell shot 83-77. This is his last year of exemptions for his U.S. Open win. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 06:38 AM

Sunday, January 24th, 2010 Goodbye Conan. With More Cowbell. In case you missed it, Conan O'Brien signed off Friday with his first ever Tonight Show guest Will Ferrell. Nice, low key speech by Conan and Ferrell delivered a "heartfelt" farewell Freebird complete with gratuitous cowbell. Stay classy Conan. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 04:16 PM

Friday, January 22nd, 2010 Nike Golf Equipment Not Hurt By Tiger Tales MSNBC's fine sports business reporter Darren Rovell says Nike club sales not affected by Tiger's issues. In the 13 weeks before Tiger's accident, Nike Golf sales had declined in the mid single digits, according to SportsOneSource, a market retail tracking firm. In the seven weeks since, sales have declined in the mid single digits. "The incident has had no apparent impact on the sales of Nike Golf," said SportsOneSource analyst Matt Powell. Powell said golf equipment sales are almost entirely discretionary and the state of the economy affects buying more than anything else. More importantly, golfers will always use whatever clubs work best for their game--no matter what stigma is attached. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 09:45 AM

Friday, January 22nd, 2010 Tomorrow on the Teebox We're at Crest Cars off Parker and 1-75 in Plano. We talk about the growing dissension among Tour players with the groove rule, preview what wonderful toys to expect at next week's PGA Show in Orlando, and examine the quirky male morning ritual at 9:10. So tune in or stop by the little Teebox with Craig and me THIS Saturday morning from 8-10. Cheers, Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 07:19 AM

Friday, January 22nd, 2010 Better Than Caffeine Happy 51st to Linda Blair. 34C-24-34. All-time fav hot actress in prison roles. Fluent in Spanish. The Exorcist, Chained Heat, Born Innocent, Sweet Hostage & Roller Boogie. On her role as Regan in the Exorcist: "I wanted to be a princess. I wanted to be in Disney movies, I wanted to be in "Lassie", I wanted to be in "Flipper", I didn't want to be a monster". Oops. POSTED BY AVID GOLFER AT 07:14 AM

Friday, January 22nd, 2010 The Daily Tiger The NY Daily News reports fans are already taunting Woods--even at a non-golf event. Stephanie Wei talks to CBS spokesperson Leslie Ann Wade who admits the CBS golf crew was told not to discuss the Tiger Woods saga. Both Gary McCord and Ian Baker-Finch were talking to people they know a little tongue in cheek. CBS suggested to its commentators to wait until the network came on with its golf coverage in San Diego. [The Tiger story] had very little to do with golf and they’re not reporters; they’re not speaking for a magazine or a show — they’re specifically golf analysts, analyzing the tournaments as they’re being played. How about the tournament at Torrey Pines, an event Woods normally plays? [The commentators] would certainly be free to speak about the developments with Tiger and how his lack of presence will affect the season. Wei predicts perhaps the network wants to stay in Tiger’s good graces to maintain future access to him — that “first sit-down interview” is still up for grabs and a show like 60 Minutes is a possible contender. Sound reasonable to me. Woods is still oh-so-powerful even when AWOL. And CBS is certainly not one to rock Tiger's wobbly boat. Singer John Mayer has some interesting advice for Tiger. Better to click the link than for me to post it. Trust me. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 07:00 AM

Friday, January 22nd, 2010 Foolish Golf Gadget of the Day AG staffer Aaron Martin sent this for your review. The Electronic Drink Caddie stores 54 oz of your favorite beverage complete with spigot. Only $99.95. But, does it count against the 14 club limit? It certainly counts against the limitations of common sense. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 06:43 AM

Friday, January 22nd, 2010 McCarron to Kim; "Get Your Rear Over Here" golfdigest.com reports new Tour Player Advisory Committee member Scott McCarron is none too pleased with Anthony KIm skipping his hometown Bob Hope Classic for guaranteed $$$ at Abu Dhabi. "I think it sends a bad message when you're out chasing money over in Abu Dhabi. "Are you helping the PGA Tour when you do that? Absolutely not." And he calls out commish Tim Finchem. "The tour does not have to give the conflicting events release. It's up to Finchem. He can do that. He can say, 'Anthony Kim, you can't go to Abu Dhabi. You've got to play here. Sorry." "We're at the start of the season, we need sponsorship, we need everybody playing here. And I mean everybody. For me, being on the PAC, I would say, 'Mr. Finchem, don't let any guys out, at least the first couple weeks.'" Head-in-the-sand Finchem lamely defends himself. "I'm not much aware of a groundswell on that issue," he said. "The conflicting event releases we feel we've had in place now for 15, 20 years seem to be fine. You have the odd occasion where it raises a question, but on balance, we do not have a very significant of players at all seeking conflicting event releases." SI.com's Gary Van Sickle adds, "I think as long as the economy maintains where it is, maybe ticks up a little bit, I think the prospects are very good," Finchem said. "The Hope is — the Hope has a long history with the PGA Tour. It's got a great charitable relationship with the Eisenhower Medical Center. It's raised millions and millions of dollars for that complex. It is a terrific experience for amateurs, that we all know. We Continue Reading "McCarron to Kim; "Get Your Rear Over Here"" POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 06:39 AM

Thursday, January 21st, 2010 Breaking News--Good for Jordan Spieth A little AG birdie tells us Jesuit High School golfer and reigning U.S. Jr. Amateur champion Jordan Spieth received a Sponsor's Exemption at this year's HP Byron Nelson Championship. He becomes the youngest player at 16 yrs old to play since Tiger Woods (17) in 1993. Great opportunity for a terrific kid and player. Nice job Salesmanship Club! Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 03:12 PM

Thursday, January 21st, 2010 CSI: Long Ball Tonight on CBS at 9p EST, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation revolves around a murder on a golf course. AG's AZ columnist Bill Huffman reports. Natalie Gulbis, Gary McCord, David Feherty, Duffy Waldorf and Rocco Mediate guest star. McCord says he would hound the CSI director to play a corpse. "I told them about my dream role of being a dead body, and they invited me to their studio, which was about a half hour from the golf course,’’ McCord related. “So every time I’d be in Valencia after that, I’d go over and hang out at the studio, meet the cast and their special-effects guy, and just remind them that I wanted to be a dead body on TV someday.’’ “Louis said, ‘I told you I’d get you on.’ He remembered that I wanted to be a dead body on TV, which was kind of nice of him,’’ said the 61-year-old McCord. “The only drawback was, it takes about four days on the set to be a dead body – I’m not making this up! – and I only had two days to do the shoot.’’ Better him than Gulbis as her body is very much alive. Check it out tonight to see if Gary gets his wish. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 07:28 AM

Thursday, January 21st, 2010 Better Than Caffeine Aussie actress Jacqui Maxwell. Dukes of Hazzard, CSI & 24. Not much data, but the images should suffice quite nicely. POSTED BY AVID GOLFER AT 07:16 AM

Thursday, January 21st, 2010 The Daily Tiger Lots of reaction to Tiger Woods' snapshot by The National Enquirer outside the rehab center in Mississippi. cbssports.com's Steve Elling says, "The series of photos, said to have been taken outside a Hattiesburg clinic, are fuzzy and somewhat indistinct, but appear to be the world’s No. 1 golfer." In keeping with the mystery surrounding the entire Woods scenario, the photos have a certain Yeti quality, as the shrouded subject in question looks in the general direction of the photographer and keeps on moving. The photos have slightly better resolution that the Loch Ness Monster shots from Scotland. Si.com's Michael Bamberger is distraught. The poor bastard, the guy in those Enquirer snaps. He looks like a caged animal. It's hard not to feel sorry for him. Anyone who says Tiger brought his problems on himself is of course correct. You can imagine Elin's pain and embarrassment. But Tiger's whole life looks different since Thanksgiving, or it does to me. Aussie golfer Geoff Ogilvy has some advice for El Tigre. "I think he should come out away from the golf course," the Australian said. "I think that would be the best thing for him and for every other player and for the tournament. I don't believe a lot of tournaments want all the tabloid media floating around." "One, out of respect for all the other golfers, and two, to diffuse the circus part of it before he actually gets to a golf tournament. I don't believe a lot of tournaments want all the tabloid media floating around. "The first press conference he does is going to be the crazy one, isn't it?" said Ogilvy, who won the SBS Championship in Hawaii this month. "A lot people who have been afraid to ask questions for the past 10 Continue Reading "The Daily Tiger" POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 07:05 AM

Thursday, January 21st, 2010 Rory McIlroy Crashes Car Too But "I Didn't Have Anyone Chasing Me" Precocious 20-year-old Rory McIlroy has some nice toys including a new Lamborghini . Too bad he can't drive in snow. "I didn't have anyone chasing me!" Instead, compacted snow had made an ice rink of the driveway at his luxury Co Down home and McIlroy simply span off." "I was crawling down the driveway," he explains. "There's a sharp left-hand bend and as I braked to turn into it, the car just slid. As it did, I thought to myself, 'I know where this is going' – straight into the hedge. I ended up in the neighbour's cabbage patch." Having a 20-year-old son, I can only imagine and recoil in horror to what Rory pays in car insurance. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 06:49 AM

Thursday, January 21st, 2010 70 Big Ones for Jack Today He might not be the King or the Chosen One, but the Golden Bear Jack Nicklaus is still the best golfer of all time until someone knocks him off that 18-major-win pedestal. GolfChannel will celebrate with special programming at 6:30 EST. Blow 'em all out Bear. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 06:36 AM

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 The Next AG Golf Event is March 28 Want to know where its at? Want to know what's in a goody bag valued over $200? Want to know how you can win great prizes on the course, including expensive watches, rounds of golf, resort packages and more? Stay tuned. Full details some time this afternoon! Craig POSTED BY AVID GOLFER AT 10:15 AM

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 First Photos of Tiger? Stephanie Wie's excellent blog posts photos from Radaronline via The Enquirer supposedly of Tiger Woods near the rehab center in Hattisburg, MI. Stephanie writes, The grainy quality of the pictures make it difficult to discern whether it’s actually Tiger or just a scruffy-faced black guy in a hooded sweatshirt. But Radar says an eyewitness confirmed the man in the photo is indeed Tiger, proclaiming “while he was bundled up, the golfer was recognizable in person.” (Let me guess — the “eyewitness” is the photographer.) Take the photos for what they’re worth, but the tabloids have been right enough times with this story... Does kinda look like him. I think. Hope so--as at least we'd know he's still with us. As one reader wrote; "It has to be Tiger. What other black guy would wear shorts above the knee?" Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 09:48 AM

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 The Daily Tiger Sergio Garcia believes Woods will return to the course quicker than most expect. How he knows, nobody knows. "The best thing for Tiger at the moment is to get on the course and do what he knows best," said Garcia, who had a personal rivalry on the PGA Tour with Woods over the past 10 years. "Only he knows when he is going to come back. I have got the feeling that it's going to be earlier that what everybody thinks." "I think he (Woods) is very strong mentally and it's not like the break he had for injury a couple of years back when he had the knee problem," Garcia said. "If you can't walk you can't swing. It's different." "There's nothing better than playing against the best," Garcia said. "But there is always an upside and a downside. The downside when he is playing is that you know your chances of winning are a little lower. "The upside is that when you know you are playing against him and you manage to beat him, it's always that much sweeter to have beaten the best. So for the game, it is not good that Tiger is out. We hope he gets back as soon as possible." Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 06:29 AM

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 Better Than Caffeine Moon Bloodgood. 33-24-34. Great name. Intoxicating Dutch-Irish-Korean mix. Worked as a model and Laker Girl before landing such roles as bot-kicking babe Blair Williams in Terminator Salvation. People named her one of their 100-most beautiful people in 2009. Good choice. “I'm into chivalry. As much as I'm a guy's girl with a potty mouth, a polite man who opens the door is so refreshing.” POSTED BY AVID GOLFER AT 04:48 AM

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 How Does One Get THIS Job? Golfweek.com reports that apparently, USGA club testers at PGA Tour events have lots of down time. Dispatched to Hawaii by the USGA to help the Tour abide by the new grooves rule, Jim Hubbell had plenty of time to watch the waves crash into Waikiki Beach. He performed club tests for just a handful of players. “I jokingly refer to him as the Maytag repairman because he didn’t have much to do,” said Dick Rugge, the USGA’s senior technical director. Rugge offered two explanations for the lack of activity. First of all, the USGA began testing at professional events in late August – The Barclays was the first – so many players already have checked their clubs. Secondly, equipment manufacturers all have the portable testing device and have examined the clubs of their staff players. Believe it's time to update that resume... Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 04:36 AM

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 Titleist Two-Step Geoffshackelford.com reports that Titleist is producing new Titleist Pro V1 Plus and Plus Trajectory balls for Tour players only. That's not big news as Tour players normally hit clubs and balls not available immediately to the public. What's news is these balls will never be sold to the public. Ironically, Titleist CEO Wally Uilhein has spoken out against bifurcation for years. We have never supported the position of bifurcation. Playing by one set of rules, playing the same game, playing the same course and playing the same equipment is what makes golf different. It is the essence of the game. Bifurcation is only seriously advanced by those who think that the game is on some edge of ruination and who thus, as a result of their narrow and biased thinking, feel some form of radical surgery is required. You sticking with that Wally? Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 04:26 AM

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 "I'm Just Happy to be Alive" Golfweek.com reports that a physical trainer for Phil Mickelson and other Tour players has returned to the course after a bizarre greenside accident in 2008. Jim Weathers, who responded to Chez Reavie’s victory in the ’08 RBC Canadian Open by spraying his client with champagne inside the ropes behind the 18th green, was tackled by a Royal Canadian Mountie. Weathers since has had numerous medical problems that he says were related to the incident after a throat implant was dislodged. A year after the incident, Weathers was hospitalized with pulmonary embolism due to blood clots and an infection in the gastrointestinal tract. “I coded twice,” Weathers said, using the term for cardiac arrest. Weathers, 48, a burly former Green Beret whose training is as a shiatsu master, still has a blood clot in his left arm but says he is about 80 percent recovered. He faces a legal dispute with the Mountie and, with $780,000 in medical bills, the prospect of bankruptcy. Tackled for spraying champagne? Since when is champagne a deadly weapon? That Mountie apparently had no sense of humor--or common sense. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 04:13 AM

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 Breaking Up is Hard to Do So much for brotherly love. Looks like Luke Donald has parted ways with his caddie and older brother, Christian Donald.  Luke hasn't won since 2006 and ranks 31st in the world rankings.  Big brother has since landed on the bag of the world's 8th-ranked player Paul Casey (nice coup for Christian).  "It was horrible," Donald said. "Chris has been nothing but a great caddie and brother to me. But after eight years, sometimes it's just time for a change. For both of us, not just me." "Now it's new; it's fresh. And anytime you get something new -- a new driver, new putter -- you're excited about it." These types of moves aren't new, they happen all of the time on tour.  It's probably a good move for both brothers.  Something tells me, however, that Christian has a better chance at snagging a major on Casey's bag than on that of little brother's. David Castle POSTED BY DAVID CASTLE AT 02:32 PM

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 iPhone Offers Worthy iSwing App Our lone office iPhone user Jason will love this. The review looks promising and I'm sure Jason (the constant swing tinkerer) will download it asap. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 07:33 AM

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 Better Than Caffeine Happy 64th to Dolly Parton. 40DD-20-35. 9-5 and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. The real life Jessica Rabbit. The most successful female country singer with a record 25 #1 singles and 42 top-10 country albums. She has the distinction of having performed on a top-five country hit in each of the last five decades. On her famously large pontoons, “I don't know if I'm supporting them, or they're supporting me." POSTED BY AVID GOLFER AT 07:24 AM

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 Abu Dhabi Lures Players From the Hope By money-whipping Tour players, the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship leaves the Bob Hope Classic cupboard bare and devoid on any top-25 player and only 6 of the top-50. The most notable is Anthony Kim, a La Quinta High graduate, whose address during his prep years was PGA West. The Hope even gave him a sponsor exemption his rookie year. Kim is also a Tour member of the European Tour. "We wish we had a few more players," Michael Milthorpe, longtime event director said. "That's why the tour should have looked at it hard and just did something for this year and said, 'We're not going to grant any conflicting events releases, stay in the states and support what we have here.' You might have a few guys buck the system, but overall the media would applaud it, the fans would applaud it and the sponsors would certainly applaud it." Yeah, except the Tour is defenseless to do so. Kenny Perry countered that "I used to play the Hope, but it has changed. Used to be, you played the desert courses like Indian Wells and Bermuda Dunes. They've completely left the desert out, and now it's all big, long, 7,600-yard courses. They've really changed the complexion of that tournament, which I don't like. So those (Middle East) tournaments fall in the schedule where I wasn't going to play anyway, and I want to stay sharp." Kudos to Farmers Insurance Group who sunk some sponsor $$$ into the event even when realizing the field was essentially starless. Tour Commish Tim Finchem must've laid down big time on the deal. Rick Arnett POSTED BY RICK ARNETT AT 07:13 AM

first | prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | next | next 5 | last