Golf archive

Earlier this year I covered the story of how the PGA Tour pulled off the near-miracle of making it through the recession relatively unscathed, only to emerge in an even stronger position. The PGA Tour, because of its size and clout, acts as the leading indicator of the sport itself, at least from the spectator side of things.

This past year only solidified golf’s renaissance. It might go down as golf’s best year ever.

The highlights:

–Tiger Woods is back. No, he didn’t win a major tournament. But he did win five regular Tour tournaments, finished second in the FedEx FDX -0.02% Cup standings and took home the Player of the Year trophy for the 11th time. That’s a pretty solid comeback. And he has to break his major drought soon, right?

–All of the majors were memorable. Adam Scott won the Masters in a playoff, his first major win. Justin Rose (U.S. Open) and Jason Dufner (PGA Championship) also broke through for the first time. And, somehow, Phil Mickelson conquered his old demons to win his first British Open.

–Henrik Stenson won the FedEx Cup, taking home a cool $11.5 million (he won the Tour Championship, as well). Stenson, whose ranking had plummeted to number 230 in 2011 and who had been involved in the Stanford Financial alleged Ponzi scheme, was quite the comeback story himself.

–Inbee Park took the LPGA Tour by storm, winning six events—including three consecutive majors—and bringing her Tour some much-deserved attention.

It’s fitting that the golf year was bookended by two memorable putts. Adam Scott made a 12-foot putt to win the Masters in a playoff in April, the best putt of the year. The worst? I’ll go with the Tour’s most popular tobacco-chewer, Jason Dufner, and his daffy sideways-scoot from last week.




Golf's Best From 2013 - Forbes

The 2013 calendar year is getting close to its final moments. With a mere 11 days remaining in the year (counting today), the countdown has begun. Except for the occasional father-son silly event or a pro tourney on the other side of the world, golf's major tours are currently in a state of hibernation that will last until the start of the New Year. With that in mind, we'll be spending the next few weeks reviewing the 2013 season from the perspective of the game's top circuits as well as its top-echelon professionals of note. Next week we'll check in on the Lake County golf scene. Finally, we'll assess all that happened in the game as well as the ramifications for 2014.

This week we'll focus on those individuals who had memorable career achievements on the men's, women's and senior circuits. Golf is the ultimate individual game and a number of individuals had most memorable seasons. For them, 2013 was a very good year.

On golf's four major tours, namely the American PGA Tour, the European PGA Tour, the LPGA Tour, and the Champions Tour for the over-50 set, no one sustained greatness or dominance throughout the entirety of the year. Tiger Woods made a strong early showing during the front portion of the year, winning four times by mid-May. However, none of those four victories came with a green jacket. Woods would prevail for a fifth time in August at always-friendly Firestone, but once the Fed Ex Cup playoffs began, it was all about Henrik Stenson. Stenson won the second and final playoff events to go along with a runner-up at Akron and a third at the PGA to conclude a six-week stretch of dynamic shotmaking and scoring. He repeated the feat in November when he won the European tour's version of their playoffs, capturing the DP World Tour Championships in faraway Dubai along with its bonus purse.

On the LPGA Tour, Inbee Park had a remarkable first half of the season. She won six times and three of them were majors, including the Nabisco (Dinah Shore), the LPGA Championship and the Women's U.S. Open within the first 15 events of 2013. Park went into the Women's British Open at St. Andrews in August with the added burden of becoming the first golfer to win four professional majors in the same year. Alas, Inbee came up short as Stacy Lewis birdied the Road Hole, crossed the Swilcan Bridge and birdied the 18th hole to win a most memorable Women's Open Championship. The LPGA has five majors and Suzann Pettersen won the Evian Masters. Pettersen won four times in 2013 and Lewis won three times.

The Champions Tour, the home of the smooth-swinging 50-and-over gang, saw Bernhard Langer win two of the year's first six events. Kenny Perry won his first of three tourneys in late June. Perry, who captured two majors, the Senior Players and the Senior U.S. Open, won the season-long Charles Schwab Cup and its bonus money. The senior tour's finale was contested at San Francisco's Harding Park and was a most memorable event with Freddie Couples winning. Two journeymen golfers with a Northern California history, Michael Allen and Esteban Toledo, took full advantage of the senior tour mulligan by winning twice each on the Champions Tour in 2013 while finishing within the top 12 on the money list. When least expected, the persistence of the individual will play out with golfing success. In this case, 2013 was a big-time career year for Allen and Toldeo, former Golden State mini-tour regulars.

Both Tiger Woods and Henrik Stenson would readily have traded their five titles or their $10 million bonus money for a green jacket or a claret jug. However, while Woods and Stenson had outstanding campaigns in 2013, they concluded their year majorless. Woods is looking for that elusive 15th major that has been five years in the making. Stenson's return to the top only solidifies his place among the game's best players to never win a major. Stenson may very well break through with his first grand slam win in 2014. For Woods, it's simply conjecture whether he can find a putting stroke on the weekend of a major championship. While it is quite apparent that he can still dominate a field at friendly locales such as Bay Hill and Firestone, he can't recreate those experiences at places such as Augusta National, especially on the greens.

In April, Adam Scott prevailed in a sudden-death playoff to win the Masters as well as lose the distinction of being the best golfer without a major. Justin Rose got off that list too with his impressive win at the U.S. Open at Merion. Jason Dufner was this year's version of Bubba Watson with his victory at Oak Hill in the PGA. Dufner displayed some of the most brilliant final-round shotmaking in the history of major championship golf. Two-foot tap-in birdies are good.

Phil Mickelson won early at Phoenix and then surprised even himself by beating Branden Grace in a playoff to capture the Scottish Open. At the following week's British Open at historic Muirfield, Mickelson found himself mired just outside the top of the leader board with just six holes left to play. Those ahead of him included Lee Westwood, Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera and Hunter Mahan. Phil played those last six holes in 4-under-par, and when the wind finally settled, he was the feel-good story of the year. For the 43-year-old Mickelson, his win at Muirfield was his fifth major title and first British Open victory. He needs a U.S. Open to complete the career grand slam. Of course, Phil has finished runner-up in that event six times, including this past year. Next June, the National Open will be contested at Pinehurst, another site Mickelson had a runner-up finish. Yet it was a nice moment for Phil and quite possibly was the icing on a great career.

Lastly, Tiger led the PGA Tour in victories, money earned, world ranking points and rules chaos. On four different occasions he was involved in a rules imbroglio, starting early at a European Tour event in

President Barack Obama, hopeful of some rest and relaxation after a bruising year in politics, wasted little time getting his golf game in gear on the first full day of a two-week end-of-year family vacation to his home state of Hawaii.

The first golfer hit the links early Saturday afternoon at a Marine Base course on the Mokapu Peninsula, a golf-club shaped piece of land jutting into the Pacific Ocean not far from the Obamas' rented holiday house.

Onlookers lined up along the road to catch a glimpse of the president's motorcade en route to the links. A smiling Obama was spotted in his SUV wearing a tan baseball cap, white golf shirt, and sunglasses.

Obama's foursome comprised Bobby Titcomb, a long-time friend; Marvin Nicholson, one of the president's schedulers; and Sam Kass, a White House chef who is executive director of the Lets Move! program, First Lady Michelle Obama's fitness initiative.

Titcomb, who attended school with Obama in the 1970s, was arrested in 2011 in an undercover prostitution sting, and later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge.

There was no immediate word on the president's golf score. Obama is an avid golfer who plays off a respectable handicap of 16 or 17, and is estimated to have logged more than 150 rounds since being elected president.



Obama on friendly confines of golf course as vacation starts - chicagotribune-com

Teenage golf star Lydia Ko has split with the only coach she has had since she took up the sport as a 5-year-old.

Guy Wilson, who has worked with the 16-year-old Ko for 11 years, issued a statement saying he was "incredibly disappointed" the partnership is over. Ko hasn't publicly commented on the decision.

Michael Yim, her agent at IMG, said Monday that Ko worked with various teachers at the Leadbetter Academy in Florida before going to Taiwan for the Swinging Skirts tournament, an event she won two weeks ago in her second start as a professional. Kim said Ko plans to meet with other teachers before deciding on a full-time coach.

Ko has won five professional tournaments -- four as an amateur -- while coached by Wilson, who said it had "been an honor to help develop Lydia into the No. 4 golfer in the world."

"When I first met her the golf clubs were taller than she was and she didn't know the first thing about a driver or a putter, but now she has one of the most envied swings in the women's golf world," Wilson said.

Born in South Korea and raised in New Zealand, Ko won the Women's Canadian Open at 15 last year to become the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history and successfully defended the title this year.

Read more: Lydia Ko splits with coach of 11 years - GOLF-com

Pebble Beach, Merion, Bethpage Black and St. Andrews … all within the click of a mouse. Seem enticing?

World Golf Tour and Golf Channel are excited to announce the 2014 WGT Virtual Tour, the first-ever online golf season where players will be able to access a myriad of world-class venues in addition to those mentioned above.

The Virtual Tour is a year-long online competition, played on WGT and covered by Golf Channel. The tour is similar to other professional golf tours, but played online and open to all players regardless of ability or experience. Throughout the season, players will accumulate WGT credits by competing in monthly tournaments, in hopes of qualifying for the Virtual Championship and the live invitational event held in December.

WGT players in all countries are eligible to compete in the Virtual Tour at no charge. Each monthly event includes a free virtual item from the tournament sponsor, and tournament purses will be the largest ever – starting at 200,000 WGT credits and increasing throughout the season.

The first event is the IOA Open in January, a closest-to-the-hole tournament played on historic Pebble Beach. Players will post their best score in the first round any time from January 1-24, then add a single-play, second-round score from January 25-31. The top 70 combined scores in each WGT tier will split the 200,000 WGT credit purse.

The first three venues of the 2014 Virtual Tour sound like a dream golf vacation: Pebble Beach in January, followed by Royal St. George’s in February and Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course in March. Future tournament sites include Bethpage Black, Harbour Town, Merion, Olympic and St. Andrews, while WGT will also launch several brand new venues in 2014, including Bandon Dunes and Pinehurst No. 2.

Golf Channel will be covering the WGT Virtual Tour with weekly updates on the new Virtual Tour blog, including monthly video interviews with WGT players and winners. Virtual Tour scores (including WGT usernames) will be featured on the Golf Channel leaderboards and tickers, alongside scores from the PGA, Champions, LPGA, European and Web-com tours.

In December, top players from the season will compete in the WGT Virtual Championship, as well as the WGT Invitational, a live weekend event held near Golf Channel studios in Orlando, Fla. This will be the first time that the best WGT players will compete face-to-face in virtual golf, with highlights televised on Golf Channel.

Anyone can sign up for WGT via GolfChannel-com, and play on the Virtual Tour requires no previous experience. The first tee box is now open on many of the world’s greatest courses; click here to get started and remember to hit it straight!


World Golf Tour, Golf Channel Announce 2014 Virtual Tour | Golf Channel

Obviously he’s not a golfer.

LeBron James stars in a new Samsung commercial with the suddenly-ubiquitous Kevin Hart in which the comedian/actor tries to give the basketball star golf pointers by recording his Barkley-esque swing on his phone. There are interludes with the smart watch and Hart riffing in his trademark style, but the real highlight of the commercial is LeBron’s swing. Or, more appropriately, his “swing.”

With the way his feet move, it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for his Nike spikes.

LeBron plays golf like Dwight Howard shoots free throws. LeBron plays golf like Mike Woodson coaches the Knicks. LeBron plays golf like the Eastern Conference plays basketball. Either way, it ain’t pretty. MJ, he’s not.


Pictures: LeBron James plays golf like the Knicks play basketball | For The Win

Every calendar year, the desert loses people who have been important to the desert golf scene, people who had a great impact on the game in this golf mecca. But 2013 was a year that seemed to hit the desert harder in that regard than other recent years. Some of the biggest and most important names in desert golf passed away, and one local club pro passed away showing more courage than most could have imagined.

Ken Venturi was a star in so many ways in golf that it was hard to keep track. He was a brilliant amateur player, maybe the last great hope for the gentleman amateur golfer in this country. He turned into a fine professional player with 15 tour wins, And his 1964 win in the U.S. Open while suffering from the impact of the 100-degree heat at Congressional Country Club outside of Washington D.C. goes down as one of the greatest performances in golf history. But Venturi, who died in Rancho Mirage on May 17 at 82, wasn’t finished when carpel tunnel syndrome robbed him of the use of his hands. He went on to one of the longest and most distinguished broadcasting careers, spending 35 years as an analyst for CBS. His influences included being a mentor to future PGA Tour star John Cook during Venturi’s time as head pro at Bermuda Dunes Country Club and being the captain of the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup team in 2000.

Ernie Dunlevie lived enough life for three or four people. Friends with people as diverse as Howard Hughes, Clark Gable and Arnold Palmer, Dunlevie was an important land developer in the desert. He also was a driving force in the founding of the Palm Springs Golf Classic in 1960, which became the Bob Hope Classic and is now the Humana Challenge. He was on that event’s board for 53 years. And he was a war hero, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross during World War II. He died in October at 96.

Gen. William “Bill” Yancey was the first true tournament director of the Bob Hope Classic, taking the job in 1966 and bringing military organization and efficiency to the event and helping the event give away more charity funds than before he arrived. It was only later people found out that Yancey, the man making decisions about day-to-day operations of the Hope, had been one of the men in charge of the covert CIA U2 spy plane program in the 1950s.

Tracy Lane might not be a familiar name outside of the Coachella Valley, but in turning her story of terminal cervical cancer at age 31 into a chance to educate others, Lane showed that local club pros can have a big impact on the lives of club members and can reach outside the walls of private clubs to help the world. Lane and her husband and fellow club pro Derek established the Tracy Lane Foundation to raise funds for cervical cancer research. Just over four months after Tracy’s death in August, Derek Lane announced the foundation had raised more than $260,000 with a major fund-raising tournament planned for February.

Venturi, Dunlevie, Yancey and Lane all left the desert and golf with lasting and important legacies.



www-mydesert-com/article/20131228/SPORTS0501/312280066/Desert-lost-golf-figures

In March 2011, on his maiden and only India trip so far, legendary investor Warren Buffett was fatigued to have to answer questions about the great depression and the Lehman crisis. Much of what he had wanted to say was already out in the public domain. Journalists just wouldn’t get past the economics.

So when I got some time with him, I started with discussing his wallet and his golf. That made him get up and talk. I said to him, “Mr Buffett, I would like to know what lies inside your wallet.” He smiled back, pulled it out with a little bit of an old man’s struggle. The world’s most successful investor carries an old, worn out black leather wallet, mildly tattering at the edges. It has a picture of his family, just a couple of credit cards and almost no money.

But in there hidden are some intangibles. And among these are golf lessons. All these were reasons enough to smile for the cameras with Buffett’s wallet and his lessons.

Buffett isn’t great at golf. He doesn’t want to be. Probably still shoots in late 90s with a handicap of about 20. He always wanted to be a stockbroker. A brilliant one at that. He plays golf for leisure and conversation.

Among his golf buddies is fellow philanthropist Bill Gates and the two have been spotted playing a game or two at the Augusta National, the holy grail of courses of which Buffett is a member.

Author David Rynecki would later write of the two, that they are just happy having a good time.
“They are the best in their respective professions and yet don’t try to take that to golf…They simply don’t care if they look foolish hitting a little white ball along tightly mowed grass.”

That can be said as a great lesson from greats. CEOs push themselves to be superb at everything. In the boardroom and outside it. And perhaps get great at none.

It’s not like Buffett picked up his game late in life. A photo recently tweeted by an ESPN journalist shows Buffett in his teens in his high school book. It describes him as a sportsman on the school’s golf team. That this game was dear to him was further established when he started making a living. After selling popcorn at the age of ten and later newspapers, Buffett collected and re-sold golf balls. He would collect them from golf courses he’d visit and then make a buck by selling them for a profit.

The book Snowball, a biography Buffett cooperated with, says Buffett peddled used but shined up golf balls for “six bucks a dozen”. He made a nearly 50% profit on these. Buffett instituted a supplier, who he guessed also got them out of golf course ponds and made a good business out of it just as well.

Buffett’s stories are just as strange as the businesses he adopted. But one thing always stood out -- he remained focused, if not humble, in doing just about any business, no matter how silly or nondescript, that would make him money.

Some of the world’s best-known businessmen have had a history of golf beginnings. Just like Buffett. At the age of 14, Charles Schwab got a job as a caddie at a golf course. Another great investor Peter Lynch chose to caddie over selling newspapers, calling it more lucrative. No doubt a large number of business whizzes learnt a trick or two on the course.

Former Chairman and CEO of GE, Jack Welch, isn’t the world’s best corporate golfer for no reason. DLF’s KP Singh picked up the game in the army and later scripted history when he and Welch planned the BPO-real estate boom in Gurgaon led by the multinational firm.

Buffett’s a great investor and a great philanthropist.

But the wealth of his experience lies in the fact he believed in the idea of ‘keep on moving’ – from business to another.

He kept his relationships, his discipline and his friends – all of those little learnings that he collected from an early golfing experience.


What's in Warren Buffett's wallet? A few lessons in golf! - Money - DNA

SUNDAY, 14 July. It was the day that effectively shaped the 2013 golf season.

Not only did it give Phil Mickelson the confidence boost to become Open champion for the first time; it was also the start of a run of form that saw Henrik Stenson cap his return from the depths of despair by sitting at the top of the tree on both sides of Atlantic.

After finishing third behind Mickelson in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart – the pair were then first and second at Muirfield seven days later – there was simply no stopping Stenson, the Swede securing the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup by winning the Tour Championship then repeating the feat in the European Tour’s season finale to clinch the Race to Dubai title.

It was a stunning effort from Stenson, one of the game’s most likeable characters, who has shown remarkable resolve to bounce back from his plummet down the world rankings that coincided with him losing $8m in investments linked to notorious fraudster Allen Stanford.

As Stanford serves a 110-year prison sentence, Stenson can look forward to an exciting future that, even if he put his clubs away for the next six months, will include a Ryder Cup appearance on Scottish soil when Gleneagles welcomes the event back to the home of golf for the first time in more than 40 years in September.

Then, it will be strange for Scottish golf fans to be cheering against Tom Watson, the American captain in Perthshire, and the same goes for Mickelson, who cemented his place in the hearts of those educated followers of the Royal & Ancient game with his dream double last summer.

At Castle Stuart, he did his best to throw away the Scottish Open as he three-putted from nowhere on the 72nd green only to conjure up some classic ‘Mickelson Magic’ – a difficult chip he put stone dead at the first extra hole against Branden Grace – to retrieve the situation in only the way he can. Then, in East Lothian, where the Claret Jug joust had been overshadowed by criticism of Muirfield’s men-only policy, he burst out of the pack with a scintillating four birdies in his last six holes, closing with a 66 to win by three after starting the final round five shots behind the leader, Lee Westwood.

It was a triumph that came five weeks after Mickelson had suffered the heartache of a record sixth runner-up finish in the US Open, the latest man to deny him in that event being Justin Rose, whose triumph at Merion was every bit as sweet for the Englishman as Adam Scott’s victory in The Masters earlier in the year. Bidding to make amends for blowing a big lead as he lost out in the Open Championship to Ernie Els at Lytham the previous summer, Scott’s cry of “Come on Aussie” after holing a putt across the green at the 72nd hole was one of the highlights of the year.

Even though it caused angst for this correspondent fighting a deadline across the other side of the Atlantic, so, too, was Angel Cabrera’s approach minutes later to the last that set up a play-off, which Scott won at the first extra hole by holing another good putt.

As from the start of next year, the Australian will no longer be able to use the long putter that has helped transform his game after the year’s most significant announcement resulted in that impending ban on ‘anchoring’.

With Jason Dufner winning the USPGA Championship, it meant another barren major year for Tiger Woods, who recorded five PGA Tour wins but, on the downside, found himself embroiled in just as many rules rows, including one at Augusta that is likely to leave a sour taste in many mouths for a considerable time.

Sweet, however, was undoubtedly Europe’s first Solheim Cup success on American soil, the honour of securing that triumph in Denver falling to North Berwick’s Catriona Matthew in her seventh appearance in the biennial event.

Matthew won the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open for the second time in three years at Archerfield Links while the highlight of the year amongst her male professional counterparts was Stephen Gallacher’s stylish win in the Dubai Desert Classic.

On the amateur front, it was a season to forget, mainly due to the fact a Scot failed to make the Walker Cup for the first time since 1949. But, with Bearsden’s Ewen Ferguson winning the Boys’ Amateur Championship and Bradley Neil from Blairgowrie showing potential, it is hoped that is just a blip.

It would be remiss to draw a line under the 2013 season without mentioning Lydia Ko, the 16-year-old Korean-born player who lives in New Zealand having won twice on the LPGA Tour as an amateur and, within a few weeks of joining the paid ranks, recently landed her first winner’s cheque.

For others, notably Rory McIlroy, it was a frustrating year. Thankfully, though, things are starting to look up again for the two-times major winner, which, with that Ryder Cup looming on the horizon, is good news for Paul McGinley and Europe.



Golf review: Mickelson and Stenson shine in 2013 - The Scotsman

The start of a new year leaves us hoping for a better 2014 than we had in 2013. That's not too much to ask for, right?

Well, here are 18 wishes for the upcoming year in golf. Some could happen (like No. 4). Some might happen (like No. 11). And some like (No. 13) would probably signal the end of the world as we know it.

1. Time for a 62 in a major. If PGA Tour pros are challenging for 58s at a regular event, surely a 62 in one of the big four is in the offing, right? Unfortunately for those wanting to make (or watch) history in this area, it would be hard to believe anyone who is in charge of setting up a major championship venue would leave that as a possibility. No one wants to get shown up in front of an international audience, and that's what would happen if someone dropped a 62 on their track. 2. Champions Tour player wins a regular tour major. Tom Watson proved it was clearly possible at Turnberry in 2009 and Greg Norman showed us the older set isn't ready to pack it in, either, at Royal Birkdale in 2008. For this to happen, though, it would have to be at the Open Championship, since a U.S. Open, PGA Championship or Masters title would be nearly impossible solely due to the length of those layouts.

3. Phil Mickelson joins Twitter. There are so many ways to go at this. Betting tips for the NCAA tournament? NFL fantasy draft advice? Stock suggestions? OK, maybe leave that last one to the experts, but adding Mickelson to the Twittersphere would surely enlarge his already-massive legion of fans. And I'd be willing to bet the guy who owns @Lefty could be persuaded to part with it, for a price of course.

4. Ian Poulter, Jim Furyk both make Ryder Cup teams. For Poulter, he'd have to break his leg the week before the tournament not to be, at worst, a captain's pick for the event he was born to play. As for Furyk, a bit of redemption would be in order to make a U.S. squad trying to break a streak of losses on foreign soil that dates back to 1993.

5. That Tiger's golf game is the only newsy thing from his world in 2014. Remember the good old days when the only discussion around Woods was about his wayward drives on the course? Rules violations and since-rescinded allegations of cheating by an analyst dotted the Tiger landscape in 2013. A major victory in 2014 solves most of this, but is that too much to ask of a 38-year-old with a 48-year-old's knees?

6. That no marshal is quoted ever again. After Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia traded barbs at the Players Championship in May, we had dueling marshals being interviewed about who said what and when at TPC Sawgrass during the final round. Those volunteers are the backbone of pro golf tournaments, but I'm sure just about every one of them would prefer to be seen and not heard. Let's hope that's the case.

7. A return to the old Q-school format. OK, PGA Tour, you had your fun with the Web.com Tour Finals series and a new version of Q-school where players only get to the minor leagues. Let's go back to the old system, where Cinderella stories kept us on the edge of our seats for six rounds. We'll look the other way and act like nothing ever happened this year. Thanks.

8. ShotLink at the major championships. It's not often the PGA Tour does something far and away better than golf's major championships, but in terms of statistical data being made available to the golfing public, the tour's ShotLink service should be a required installation at every major-championship venue. That's not to say it's perfect, but it's a significant upgrade from what's available right now, which feels like next to nothing for the masses.

9. PGA Tour begins announcing fines and suspensions. This might be the longest of long shots, at least while Tim Finchem is ruling the roost in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Wouldn't more accountability from the top professional golf tour in the world be a good thing?

10. "Anchor ban" should never be written, spoken or tweeted for the rest of the year (or ever.) That, or course, would mean the USGA and Royal & Ancient would have to rescind their ban immediately, which is highly unlikely, since it's slated to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2016.

11. A transparent World Golf Hall of Fame. At least the powers that be announced they are looking to revamp a system that never released ballot totals and acted as if state secrets were at stake. It's a hall of fame, for goodness' sake. Let the fans know who got in, who barely missed out, who might be next on the list the following year. That alone builds up the suspense and the interest. What, exactly, is there to hide?

12. PGA Tour, stop answering the phones. How about this … when the phone rings, do what we all do when it's a telemarketer calling at dinner time ... don't answer! No more calling in rules violations, or at least limiting it to same-day calls and guys not getting disqualified if they already signed their cards.

If someone records the golf, should it be the player who loses out because the fan at home didn't watch the round until his family goes to bed? And don't hit me with the "they should know the rules" bit, because if the rules violation happens Sunday and the tournament is over, it's in the books and no one's changing it. So why do they DQ guys if it's after Rounds 1, 2 or 3?

13. That golf's governing bodies all play nice together in the same sandbox. The USGA, R&A, PGA of America, PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and others all talk a good game. They even own many of the same goals. But when it comes down to it, often they have different plans for fixing what ails golf. What's that old line about too many cooks?

14. The extinction of slow play at both the pro and amateur levels. This won't happen until/if No. 13 happens, and the chance of that, as an old colleague of mine used to say, is slim to none and slim just left town. Everyone wants to point the finger at some other reason instead of dealing with the issues at hand. Until the powers that be can put th

Each time Joe Lazaro readied a shot on a golf course, everyone nearby paused in curiosity and awe.

“Whenever I’m playing, other people may be at a parallel hole or the hole behind me, they’ll all stop to watch,” he told a reporter in 2008. “And my coach will say, ‘They’re all shaking their heads, Joe. You hit a good shot.’ It just amazes people to know that a blind person could hit a ball so good.”
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A mine blast in Italy during the Second World War took away the sight of Mr. Lazaro, who was 95 when he died of cancer on Christmas Day at his home in Waltham, Mass.

While convalescing from his war injuries, a sports counsellor suggested he play golf, a sport he had first tried while caddying as a boy.

During the next six decades, Mr. Lazaro became one of the world’s best blind golfers. He competed in more than 50 U.S. Blind Golf Association championship tournaments, winning seven U.S. national championships and a pair of international championships.

His celebrity tournaments helped raise hundreds of thousands for charity and in 2007 he was in the first class inducted into the association’s Hall of Fame.

“When I started in blind golf, I did it for the enjoyment of competition,” Mr. Lazaro said in 1970 when the Golf Writers Association of America presented him the Ben Hogan Award, and he shared the stage with Arnold Palmer and Bob Hope. “I never thought it would lead to such wonderful things as this.”

He added that when he worked “with blind youngsters, I try to get across the idea that sight is a luxury that God gives us, but we have other faculties to be fully used when it is taken away.”

That was also true for him away from the golf course. For years Mr. Lazaro worked as a salvage technician at Raytheon, and “at home, he was like any other father,” said his daughter Joan Cavanaugh. “He would take care of the garden and cut the grass.”

Many who met Mr. Lazaro didn’t immediately realize he couldn’t see. “I’d bring people home and introduce them, and he’d walk right up, look them in the eye, and stick out his hand,” his daughter said. “I used to bring dates home and they wouldn’t even know he was blind.”

Neighbours grew accustomed to the sight of Mr. Lazaro mowing his lawn after nightfall, and his children knew he wouldn’t shy from duties that seemed to require eyesight.

“He taught me how to drive,” his daughter said. “He was in the driver’s seat, showing me how to use the clutch, and I’d be in the passenger seat steering, and we’d go around the block.”

The second of six siblings, Joseph C. Lazaro Jr. was born in Waltham to Joseph Lazaro and the former Josephine Ferrara, Sicilian immigrants who started a trucking company in Waltham.

Caddying at the Weston Golf Club as a boy, he made 60 cents (U.S.) for each 18 holes. “Caddies could play on Mondays and I started when I was 13,” he told a reporter in 1979.

After graduating from Waltham High School, he was a driver for his family’s trucking business until joining the U.S. Army during the Second World War. He served with the 109th Combat Engineers and was in England when he met Edna Basnett. They fell in love and planned to marry after the war. Then he was shipped to Tunisia before heading into battle in Italy. On Sept. 8, 1944, a mine blast near Florence blinded him.

When doctors said he would never regain his sight, “it hit me like a ton of bricks,” he said in 1979. “My mind went around in circles for two or three days.”

From the hospital, he sent word to Edna and offered to break off the engagement. “But you’re still the same person, you’ve just lost your sight,” she replied.

“I told her that love must be blind, too,” Mr. Lazaro said in 1962. “I’m glad it was.”

They married in Waltham on April 30, 1946. Early on, Mr. Lazaro told his wife that “we’re going to be travelling together, and I can’t navigate, so you be the skipper,” and Skip became her nickname.

Apprehensive at first about playing golf, he relented and went out on a course with a coach, who helped lead the way. “I tell you it was wicked,” Mr. Lazaro said in 2008 as he recalled his first day back on a golf course. “You lose your equilibrium, and when you swing, you fall off your feet. You’ve got to develop equilibrium.”

He quickly became comfortable, even though a few things remained beyond reach.

“One thing missing is the wiggle waggle, as I call it,” he once said, because blind golfers hold their clubs stationary before taking a swing.

As for putting, “We have a special method,” he said. “On the long ones, the caddie rattles the pin loudly in the cup. It’s a little like radar. It’s amazing how your ear, bent low in crouch over the putter, picks up the noise to guide you in your stroke.”

He added that “it’s easy to gauge the roll. You walk along the line of putt and sense the roll with your feet, which get a sensitivity of their own. And then from three feet or so you feel the way with your hands.”

In 1954, Mr. Lazaro was the first North American blind golf champion, winning a tournament in Toronto.

It was the first time he defeated Charles Boswell, a legendary blind golfer from Birmingham, Ala. In 1962, Mr. Lazaro won his first national championship, slipping past Mr. Boswell after seven consecutive years of finishing second.

Among his many honours, Mr. Lazaro was named the 1980 New England PGA Man of the Year, and his fame was such that when he met Tiger Woods in 2006, “He said, ‘Joe, I know all about you,’” Mr. Lazaro recalled afterward.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Lazaro leaves another daughter, Lynne; a son, Joseph III; a brother, Bernard; and four grandchildren.

The first blind golfer to break 80, Mr. Lazaro’s best score was 77 at the Wayland Country Club.

At a 1987 fundrais

Ever wanted an interactive list of all the president's golf partners?

Don't worry, Time magazine has you covered.

Time updated its infographic on President's Obama's golf roster after Thursday's round, which included New Zealand Prime Minister John Key -- a rare golfing guest for the chief executive.

"It was the 160th round of golf of Obama's presidency, but only the 10th that included a fellow office holder," Time reported.

"By way of comparison," the magazine added, "it was the 117th time that White House trip director and First Bro Marvin Nicholson, who filled out yesterday's foursome, has participated."

The graphic divides Obama's golf partners into six categories: Aides, friends, officials, office holders, celebrities and journalists.


All of Obama's golf partners listed

ADAM Scott has fired a second consecutive three-under-par 70, only to find himself seven shots adrift of Tournament of Champions leader Zach Johnson.

World No.2 Scott compiled five birdies but bogeyed the 13th and 16th in Kapalua, Hawaii on Saturday to be in 12th place in the 30-man field of winners on the US PGA Tour last year.

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One of the hottest players in world golf, Johnson stole a three-shot lead with his bogey-free 66 to reach 13-under at the halfway point.

Noted for his accuracy and short game, 2007 Masters champion Johnson has recorded seven top-10 finishes in his past 10 official US tour events dating back to July's John Deere Classic.

"The more I get my feet here, the more I walk these grounds, the more comfortable I become," Johnson said after hitting 16 of 18 greens in regulation and taking 30 putts at Kapalua.

Defending champion Dustin Johnson (66) was tied for second with Jordan Spieth (70) and Matt Kuchar (68) at 10-under.


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After a break of almost a month, the European Tour resumes with the prestigious Volvo Golf Champions, which will be hosted for the second successive year by the Durban Country Club, from 9 to 12 January.

The elite field is made up of players who have won on the European Tour in the last year, players who have won 10 or more European Tour titles, and previous winners of the Volvo Golf Champions.

Seven South Africans are in the field. There would have been eight, but Ernie Els pulled out of the event late last week. Nonetheless, defending champion Louis Oosthuizen, former US Masters winner Charl Schwartzel, Richard Sterne, Branden Grace, Darren Fichardt, Dawie van der Walt and Thomas Aiken will ensure there is a strong home challenge for the title.

'Excited'

"I am excited to open my season in front of my home fans and to be competing against such a strong field of champions," Schwartzel said in a statement in December. "It is pretty impressive to have so many South Africans qualifying and with the two past winners also being South African, it is definitely a title I would love to win."

Guy Kinnings, the Global Head of Golf for IMG, the tournament’s co-owners, commented: "The strength of South African golf is really illustrated by the number of great South African champions who have qualified for this season opening event of 2013 Champions. They join a great field of European and international Champions with some of the Tour's most exciting young stars and Europe's most prolific winners. It should be a fantastic week of golf with plenty for the home crowds to cheer about."

Oldest entrant

Spanish star Miguel Angel Jiminez will be the oldest man in the field after celebrating his 50th birthday on Sunday. He may be the oldest, but his skills are far from fading as he proved by winning the Hong Kong Open in December. It was his 20th Tour victory and his 13th since he turned 40.

Jiminez has, however, never won in South Africa. Naturally, a number of South Africans have: Louis Oosthuizen, , Richard Sterne, Darren Fichardt, Dawie van der Walt, Thomas Aiken, Charl Schwartzel, and Branden Grace.

Among the competitors from abroad, Jamie Donaldson, Marcel Siem, Morten Orum Madsen and Thomas Bjorn have also tasted victory in the country.

Recent victories

The two Danes won recently, with Madsen claiming the South African Open crown in November, while Bjorn outplayed a strong field to claim the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City in December. After securing victory on the Gary Player Country Club course, Bjorn declared: "This is right up there with the biggest victories of my career. The golf I played this week was so good.

"I'm 42 and to start my 14th season like this is unbelievable. This takes me into 2014 with the belief that I can compete with the best in the world."

Prize fund

The total prize fund is a considerable $4-million (R42.7-million, with the winner set to pocket a cheque for $700 000 (R7.47-million).

A Pro-Am will take place on Wednesday, followed by the first round of the tournament on Thursday. Up to 15 000 spectators can be accommodated on each day of the event.

Tickets

On Wednesday, tickets cost R50, with juniors getting in for free if accompanied by a full paying adult. On the tournament days, tickets are R120 each or R220 for a season ticket. Children from the age of 12 to 18 pay only R50, but must be able to prove their age if required, while pensioners over the age of 60 will pay R80. Children under the age of 12 get in for free if they are accompanied by a full playing adult.

R10 from each ticket will be donated to the official charity of the Volvo Golf Champions, Star for Life, a South African non-profit organisation, which helps young people fulfill their dreams and supports them in living a healthy and Aids-free lifestyle.

Read more: Volvo Golf Champions ready to tee off

Being careful not to cause injury at the packed CES preview event, Zepp's Jason Fass demonstrated his company's sports sensor to the BBC's Dave Lee.

The small yellow device fits to various pieces of sports equipment, such as a golf club, tennis racquet and baseball bat.

Using Bluetooth, the sensor transmits analysis of movement to a tablet app, giving feedback immediately.



Video: BBC News - CES 2014: Sports sensor 'judges your golf swing'

World No.1 Tiger Woods has cracked $US1.3 billion ($1.45 billion) in career earnings by leading the Golf Digest 50 income list for 2013, with Australian Adam Scott coming in eighth.

The 14-time major champion topped the list for the 11th time in its 11-year history with $US83 million, including an estimated $US71 million off the course and more than $US12 million in prizemoney.

Golf Digest magazine reported on its website on Tuesday that Woods' winnings of more than $US155 million reflect less than 12 per cent of his career earnings, with $US1.16 billion coming from endorsements since his pro debut in 1996, a figure that continues to increase even after his infamous sex scandal and ensuing divorce.

Second on the Golf Digest list was Phil Mickelson at $US52 million, with an estimated $US45 million in endorsements and other non-prizemoney income.

The US left-hander won last year's British Open and hopes to complete a career grand slam by winning this year's US Open, an event where he is a record six-time runner-up.

Arnold Palmer, the 84-year-old golf icon whose popularity helped spawn the television riches of today's players, was third at $US40 million, largely from licensing deals in Asia.

Jack Nicklaus, who turns 74 on January 21, ranked fourth at just over $US26 million. The record 18-time major champion joins Palmer and Gary Player for the annual honorary tee shots that mark the start of the Masters each year.

Sweden's Henrik Stenson, who won the US PGA Tour playoff crown and the European Tour's Race to Dubai, was fifth at $US21.45 million.

Despite a year with only one title, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy was sixth on $US20.6 million.

South African legend Player, 78, was seventh at just over $US16 million, followed by Scott, who won his first major last year at the Masters, in eighth on $US15.65 million with $US7.6 million in estimated endorsement income.

South Africa's Ernie Els and retired Australian star Greg Norman completed the top 10.

Japan's Ryo Ishikawa was the top Asian player on the list at 26th, while Paula Creamer was the only woman on the list at 48th with $US5.28 million.

Read more: Tiger Woods still golf's top earner as he passes $1bn for career

The story of Sand Valley begins with an apology.

While on a weekend hike with his wife, a construction executive named Craig Haltom came upon an area in central Wisconsin with giant sand dunes. He thought: This would make for a great golf course.

He contacted Mike Keiser, the Chicago greeting-card magnate who had turned a remote stretch of Oregon coastland into one of the world's great golf destinations by celebrating the origins of the game — walking with caddies, links play affected by the elements.

But with Keiser continuing to add to the Bandon Dunes properties in Oregon, plus developing Cabot Links in Nova Scotia, he had little appetite to build. Plus, as he put it, "I couldn't believe a site in central Wisconsin, with no ocean or lake, would be anything but mediocre."

In the fall of 2012, he sent business partner Josh Lesnik to scout the property. The president of KemperSports promised, "I'll try to make it something you are not interested in."

So much for that.

"I'm very sorry to tell you this," Lesnik told Keiser, "but you are going to love it."

So much so that Keiser purchased about 1,500 acres, closing the deal Dec. 17. And this week he announced the hiring of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw to design the first course, projected to be open for play in 2016.

If successful, Keiser will build a second course. And a third. And a fourth. And thus attempt to create America's next golf mecca fewer than 250 miles from Chicago.

Already 120 "founders," mainly from Chicago and Milwaukee, have committed $50,000 each to finance the property, and they will help make up a membership of about 200.

But Keiser is a firm believer in public-access golf, noting that nearly every great course in Scotland and Ireland is open to people of various means. So while founders will have a concierge to steer them to certain select tee times, the property will be open to all, with green fees in the $150 range.

"It's going to be the public's chance to play a Pine Valley," said Chicagoan Jim Murphy, Sand Valley founder No. 1. "The property is so cool, with natural sand areas and elevation changes. It's very different from many we see in the Midwest."

Pine Valley, in New Jersey, ranks as the nation's greatest course on the Golf Digest list. Sand Hills, a 1994 Coore-Crenshaw masterpiece in the rolling terrain of central Nebraska, is ninth.

Put them together and you have Sand Valley.

It's a name Keiser said he wanted to bestow on the Oregon course that became Pacific Dunes.

"It turns out," Keiser said, "that an area near Wisconsin Rapids has the ultimate Sand Valley dunes."

Most of the world's great courses are built on sand, which drains well and is easy to move, allowing for creativity among course architects.

"The (property) is beautiful," Lesnik said, "whether you are someone who carries 14 clubs or likes to hike."

Murphy visited the area in May. Asked how quickly he knew it would make for great golf, he replied: "I wasn't even out of the car yet. And I've walked a lot of golf properties. Just driving the car onto the dunes was amazing. For golfers it will be a 'wow' experience."

Unlike most Keiser properties, golf carts will be permitted. Like Sand Hills, Sand Valley is so remote that it would be difficult to find enough caddies for every player. Walking will be encouraged, though.

The Coore-Crenshaw team, which renovated Pinehurst No. 2 for the men's and women's U.S. Opens this year, will begin design work as soon as the snow melts.

The plan is not only to construct multiple courses, but also for founders to build housing in the area to supplement the plethora of vacation rentals along or near Lake Arrowhead.

The property will join Erin Hills and Kohler courses such as Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run to cement Wisconsin as the Midwest's top high-end golf destination.

Keiser's four 18-hole Bandon Dunes layouts rank in the top 16 on Golf Digest's list of the nation's top public courses, and the man whose Chicago apartment overlooks the Diversey Harbor Lagoon sees vast potential in Sand Valley.

And to think, it all started with the words "I'm very sorry."



Sand Valley could be Wisconsin's next golf mecca - chicagotribune-com

A golf professional and manager who stole more than £40,000 from two clubs has been jailed.

Frazer Baxter was jailed for three years after he pleaded guilty to two charges of theft and one of false accounting.

Baxter carried out the crimes while at Market Harborough Golf Club and Cosby Golf Club.

At Market Harborough, where Baxter was the club professional for 21 years, he diverted members' subscriptions and proceeds from the golf shop into his own account, Northampton Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Tony Stanford said Baxter covered up his thefts by generating false invoices and records.

At one stage, he set up a spreadsheet so he could keep track of the thefts, committed between January 2011 and March 2012.

After he left his £45,600-a-year post at Market Harborough, he was appointed secretary and manager at Cosby Golf Club, in June 2012.

Mr Stanford said Baxter, as club secretary and manager, made a point of taking over the handling of subscriptions, diverting money from the club into his account.

Baxter's crimes started to unravel after a Cosby member complained when a subscription payment he had made was not registered with the club.

Mr Stanford said: "The cheque had been altered and made payable to Baxter, who had forged the club member's initials to allow the money to be paid."

He said the thefts came to light when police questioned him about the cheque in July.

Mr Stanford said the total stolen from Market Harborough Golf Club was £26,290 and the amount taken from Cosby Golf Club was £14,477.

Baxter (46), of Clinton Way, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, admitted the charges at a hearing on December 13.

He had been remanded on bail until yesterday, while pre-sentence reports were prepared.

David Charman, for Baxter, said: "My client has lost everything – his marriage, his home and his good reputation. He will never be able to pursue this career in the future.

"He is being divorced and the matrimonial home is up for sale. There will be funds to pay compensation to the clubs."

Mr Charman said Baxter was suffering from depression when he started to steal from Market Harborough Golf Club.

"My client was a person of previous good character," he said.

Recorder Andrew Lockhart QC told Baxter: "This was a very high degree of breach of trust and I have no alternative to impose an immediate custodial sentence."

He jailed him for two years for the theft from Market Harborough Golf Club, and a further year for the theft from Cosby Golf Club and false accounting, to run consecutively.

Read more: Golf professional Frazer Baxter jailed for stealing more than £40,000 from clubs in Leicestershire | Leicester Mercury

England's Tommy Fleetwood leads the Golf Champions event in Durban, South Africa by one stroke after posting a three-under par round 69 on Saturday.

The 22-year-old, who sealed a maiden European Tour victory in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles last August, finished his round with a birdie to edge ahead of France's Victor Dubuisson (69) and Dutchman Joost Luiten who shot a round of 70.

"It's a tough a course as it is but obviously when you're not quite on your game it turns into a very, very difficult course," Fleetwood said, EuropeanTour-com reported.

"I played four or five really good holes, but obviously the rest of it, I struggled ... Three under around this golf course, when you're not on your game is an absolutely brilliant score, and so I think it's showing that I'm maturing as a golfer and I can actually score when I'm playing bad, which is one of the most important parts of being a professional golfer."

Home favorites Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace are fourth and fifth respectively. Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open champion, fired a one-under par 71 to finish on eight under par, while Grace is one shot further back after carding a 68.

England' Paul Casey recorded the lowest score of the day -- a seven-under 65 lifting him up into a five-way tie for 10th place on four-under par.

Meanwhile at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Brain Stuard completed a second successive round of 65 to lead by one from Australia's Marc Leishman and Hideto Tanihara from Japan at the halfway stage.

Journeyman Stuard, 31, will have to fend off some stiff competition in the final two rounds at the Waialae Country Club if he is to secure his first PGA Tour victory.

"This was my first PGA TOUR event and I finished 25th," Stuard said, PGATour-com reported.

"It's kind of an old style golf course and for whatever reason, I enjoy playing those," he added.

Compatriot Harris English is two shots back on eight under after firing his second round of 66, while Australia's Adam Scott is one shot further back.

The reigning Masters champion finished 2013 in brilliant form capturing the Australian PGA Championship and Masters titles last November and is well placed for a weekend charge after a round of 66 took him into a six-way tie for fifth. America's Boo Weekley and Justin Leonard are in a group of six players one shot further back on six-under par.


Fleetwood leads the way at Golf Champions event in Durban - CNN-com

Drew Oxley almost gave up on golf after taking up the game in middle school.

The Chesapeake High School senior is glad he didn't. Oxley signed Thursday to play golf at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio.

"Terry Kimball has been my golf coach since seventh grade," Oxley said. "He's helped me a ton. I don't know that I'd even be playing golf if it wasn't for coach Kimball and a couple of my golf buddies, Nick Duffield and Seth Waggnoner."

The formerly frustrated middle school duffer finished ninth of 72 golfers in the state tournament last season. Slices have become straight. Putts once left short now reach the hole. The work put in has paid off.

Oxley, a 6-foot-2, 160-pound senior, was an All-Ohio Valley Conference selection and has helped the Panthers win four league championships. The Panthers have won the last five OVC titles. Oxley carries a 75.7 stroke average and a 3 handicap. He shot 84-84 -- 168 in the state tournament at Ohio State.

Several colleges showed interest, but Shawnee State was his favorite.

"Shawnee State was different," said Oxley, who plans to major in Business Management and Journalism. "The staff there is really interested in how you're doing in school and helping you graduate on time. That's important to me."

The Bears are coached by Shawnee State Hall of Famer Roger Merb, who began the program 26 years ago. SSU plays its home matches at the Portsmouth Elks Country Club. Shawnee State featured four sophomores, two juniors and one senior on last year's team.

Oxley also runs track, but will stick to golf in college.

"I like to run," Oxley said. "It's fun. It's less stressful than golf."

Oxley was the Ohio Division II district player of the year. He shot 73 last week in the district qualifier.

An honor student, Oxley participates in several activities off the course. He is a member of the National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Beta Club and the Prom Committee, among others.

"I like to watch movies and hang out with friends," Oxley said. "But a lot of my time is spent on golf."

That time appears to have been well spent.



Chesapeake senior signs to play golf at Shawnee State | The Herald-Dispatch