On Our Mind Golf Blog

Tom Brady is one of my personal heroes. He's won three Super Bowls, married one of the hottest women on the planet and graces the cover of GQ as often as he appears on the front of Sports Illustrated. What can you say, women want him and men want to be him. Now if only Bill Belichick would stop stealing his thunder by making ill-advised late game decisions.

In the current issue of GQ the Patriots signal caller dishes on everything from the story behind his infection after reconstructive knee surgery to the fashion sense of Tiger Woods.

When Hank Haney talks, golfers typically lesson, especially if they're the impressionable young men and women from around the world who attend the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head Island.

This weekend Hank Haney spent some time watching the players who attend his school compete in the Hank Haney Invitational presented by BMW. The tournament was played on Harbour Town Golf Links and the Ocean Course, both of which are affiliated with the Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head.

Davis Love III is one of the most well-spoken athletes, and notice I did say athletes, on the PGA Tour today. I enjoy listening to him comment on current events having to do with the game of golf as much as I do any player. I also think Jim Furyk gives a good, informative and articulate answer, as does Tiger Woods when he dares to go off script and give an unrehearsed response.

In a piece posted today on Golf.com’s Shop Blog, Love said the groove restrictions that go into effect on Jan. 1 would be “much adieu about nothing,” and I realize that’s incorrect usage of ‘adieu’ but I’m not the editor of Golf.com. He also went on to compare watching a PGA Tour event in 2010 with watching a NASCAR race at Talladega. And if you’re listening Titleist, Mr. Love is helping himself to quite a few of your golf balls.

After a few weeks of vacillation that would make former Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry proud, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy ended rampant speculation and declared his intent to join the PGA Tour in 2010. McIlroy's decision came prior to the UBS Hong Kong Open, one of the events leading up to the European Tour's Dubai World Championship.

"The European Tour will still be my home tour," McIlroy said on Wednesday. "I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea that I'm just going away to America because that is not what I'm planning.

This weekend four of golf's most talented young players will participate in a made-for-television event on one of the most stunning golf landscapes you'll probably never see in person. Located in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, Cape Kidnappers was developed by former hedge fund manager Julian Robertson and promises to be a visual smorgasbord for anyone who tunes into the this weekend's HD broadcast on NBC Sports.

The combatants are Hunter Mahan, who enters as the event's defending champion, Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas and Sean O'Hair.

Former Tiger All-American Lucas Glover delivered a very un-Clemsonlike performance at Bethpage Black in June, fending off the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to win the 2009 U.S. Open. On Saturday night, along with head coach Dabo Swinney, Glover led the perpetually underachieving Clemson football team past Howard's rock and down the hill at Death Valley.

The long-time tradition is referred to by Clemson supporters as the "most exciting 25 seconds in college football."

If you're looking to purchase a few fresh outfits for the golfer in your life this Holiday season, don't take any fashion advice from David Beckham.

Embattled English footballer and on-again, off-again midfielder for Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy caused quite a stir this fall when he took to the links in the City of Angels sporting a backward cap, hideously oversized cargo shorts and what appeared to be indoor soccer shoes.

In the days after a scuba diving accident drastically changed the path of Jordan Thomas’ life, the Chattanooga native and avid golfer decided to provide inspiration and answers to others rather than seek them.

At 16 years old Thomas’ legs were sheared off below the knee by a boat’s propellers during a family fishing trip in the Florida Keys. During his two-week stay in a Miami hospital, Thomas took note of the plight of other amputees whose families, if they had families, weren’t as financially fortunate as his. 

Rickie Fowler's early success on the PGA Tour is agruably the most impressive start to a professional career since none other than Tiger Woods exploded onto the scene in 1996. That year Woods won twice in eight PGA Tour starts, which was good enough for 25th on the money list ($790,594). 

It's worth mentioning that Fowler has already earned $553,700 by finishing in the top 10 in each of his first two PGA Tour starts (Justin Timberlake Shriners Hosptials for Children Open and Frys.com Open).

In his last full season on the PGA Tour (2002) Gary Nicklaus, son of 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus, competed in 26 events. He made the cut just six times, and his best finish was T52 at the Reno-Tahoe Open.

Not exactly inspiring play from the man who Sports Illustrated once splayed across its cover under the headline of "The Next Nicklaus." Seven years later, there was Gary at the first stage of the PGA Tour's qualifying school still chasing his dream, although most probably view it as a man chasing his father's considerable shadow.