It’s back, it’s big, and it’s brilliant. Sal Johnson of Golf Observer has his annual PGA Tour season-long guide: every tournament, every player, every stat, by the TOUR’s go-to man for stats for the last thirty-five years. We’ll be reviewing it here soon. Until then, check out sections of it at GolfObserver.com.
Sal Johnson – who just finished his ’09 PGA TOUR guide – has this great write up on the business end of things at Golf Channel in ’09.
Also, ESPN reports Tiger may return for the Accenture match play.
While we write up the Texas trip, here’s the reads of the day.
Sal Johnson of Golf Observer has his annual predictions for 2009.
The San Jose Mercury reports John Daly confirms his 6-month suspension.
Hat tip to0 Sal Johnson of Golf Observer for finding this excellent article by Gary Van Sickle describing that we didn’t need to ride the Tiger wave. I’ll add it wasn’t just Tiger’s wave, it was a booming economy ingeneral and an strong upturn in the golf industry at the same time. Tiger rode the wave, he wasn’t the lunar cycle causing...
I read a lot of terrific sportswriting this year. Dave Andrews and Joel Zuckerman emerged with solid efforts, the first a fictional account of life on the Duramed Futures Tour, (Pops and Sunshine), the other the definitive work on Pete Dye golf courses. Even Dan Jenkins got into the action with his laugh a minute skewering of the LPGA, (The Franchise Babe). Honorable...
Here’s another great read you can use to battle tryptophan. John Hawkins has this terrific, sharp analysis of the 2008 U.S. Open, a truly great tournament. I still say Winged Foot was better, even though it was a shocker ending, not a happy one, but still equally mesmorizing.
Here, enjoy my bonus piece on the same topic.
CBS Sports’s Steve Elling breaks down the new changes to the FedEx Cup, where the top 5 control their own destiny, the next five have a great chance to win, and the last 20 have a shot if they win and players around them falter. From the article: “After two seasons of not-so-grand finales in which the top $10 million bonus was all but clinched before the...
The Wall Street Journal’s John Paul Newport has this great article on how golf showed how to beat hard economic times. John’s long pieces in the journal are a throwback to the days of Berfnard Darwin. Put him on the top of your nightstand.
…well except for Pete’s “Bury me in a Pot Bunker.” I’ve been so swamped finishing up my Robert Trent Jones, Jr. interview and some pieces on Leatherstocking G.C. and Long Shadow that I have not been able to write it up, but I love it and use it as a great reserach tool and fun read on the couch watching football. Anyway, do yourself...
Tim Rosaforte of Golf World writes this solid piece on Aronimink, the new site of the AT&T National in 2010 and 2011. As usual, Tim’s informative and makes youn think. From the article: “For a city with such a rich tradition in golf, the Philadelphia market has been displaced on the PGA Tour calendar. The area hosted the SEI Pennsylvania Classic in...
…leaf through editor Geoff Russell’s piece and see what tickles your fancy. Ron Sirak, Tim Rosaforte, and Bob Carney are leaders in the clubhouse this issue.
Karl MacGinty has some thoughts on the why the Irish Government should bail out the Irish Open. Sounds good to me, that tournament rocks. Wanna bet Padraig Harrington agrees? Of course, one of my favorite all-star writers, Mike Vaccaro has this throwaway classic about Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price, who rocked my beloved Red Sox to sleep. Man, come all the...
Something a little different today. The master of the revels despises us as peddlers and purveyors of bombast, But my father was granted the first license to open a public theatre company from her majesty, the Queen. And he drew from poets the literature of the age. Richard Burbidge – Shakespeare in Love Literature – that’s a good word to describe...
What do you get when you mix a classical education, a rhyming dictionary, too much soda, and a lot of patience? St. Padraig and The Monster! I’ve been asked by Jeff Shelley over at Cybergolf to do some more notes and comments about writing it, but here’s a few for now: 18 stanzas, one for every hole on the golf course. I finished it on my cousin...
Steve Elling reports that changes are coming once again at Augusta National, but there is hope that they’ll prune the trees on 11 and 15 that have everyone howling like the Banshee of Tralee. (Hat tip: Mike Mosely and Chewbacca). Next Tim Rosaforte has an excellent review of his sit down with Tim Finchem about the FedEx Flop. But look, what’s more...