On Our Mind Golf Blog

The credit crisis stemming from the almost collapse of our financial industry due to poor lending practices, deregulation and something call a credit default swap has affected every sector of the American economy.

Even stalwarts like Apple, producer of the highly seductive iPhone, iPod and Mac has watched its stock prices plummet; at this time last year Apple (AAPL) was worth $200 a share, but as of this morning the stock was trading for about $97. Essentially, one of the nation's most well-known and respected innovators couldn't escape this economic downturn. But Apple will recover because their sleek, touch screen products have captured the attention of the American public and weaved themselves into the fabric of our society. In other words, consumers love anything Apple rolls out. 

If you're a fan of golf and haven't been hiding out under a rock for the better part of a week, you've undoubtedly heard a feel-good story or two emerging from Orlando, Fla., and La Quinta, Calif.

Those two locations were the host cities for the LPGA and PGA Tour's qualifying schools, which concluded Monday when the men's Tour handed out 28 cards. 

Whether we're trekking hundreds of miles to be with those that we love, or at least pretend to this time of year, or are dashing off in a different direction to avoid our families, the holiday season is always a popular time to travel. Suppose your plans involve playing a few rounds of golf in a warm weather destination. Would you rather fly or drive? I've always had the same answer to this question, but the recent drop in gas prices only enhances my argument for hitting the open road.

If I know I'm headed to the airport to begin a trip, I'm never in very good spirits. My mother's tendency toward late arrivals for everything from church to soccer games somehow made me determined to be prompt. So a 7:30 a.m. departure usually means a 4:30 a.m. wake-up, and by the time you board your flight you've already been awake for three hours. Factor in delays, layovers, cramped seating, sweaty cabins, hostile airline employees (at least 95 percent of them are) and an overall uncertainty that makes it impossible for you to be confident you'll arrive on time to your destination with all of your belongings intact, and you've got plenty of reasons to avoid the airport, especially during the holidays. 

Michelle Wie hasn't survived a cut on the PGA Tour, nor has she been able to achieve a landmark victory since her win at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links as a 13-year-old.

In three days, she may erase those memories, or at least enclose them in a thick marine layer like the one that can be witnessed at San Diego's Torrey Pines, by not only becoming an official member of the LPGA Tour, but by winning her first professional golf tournament. 

Michelle Wie isn't talking to the assembled media in Daytona Beach, but her play is sending a message that she doesn't intend to be discussing her most recent failure come Sunday.

Wie shot a 3-under 69 Wednesday on the Legends Course at LPGA International in the first round of qualifying school to put her into position to officially become a member of the LPGA Tour  for the first time ever. She capped of her round with a birdie at the par-4 18^th to put herself into a tie for sixth place. 

Remember when Alex "the Material Boy" Rodriguez and super-agent Scott Boras "unintentionally" leaked the news that A-Rod would opt out of his contract with the New York Yankees during the World Series to deflect attention from the hated Red Sox?

Well this situation is almost nothing like that. Golf and college football aren't exactly the Montagues and the Capulets. But the announcement by the PGA Tour that it ratified changes to the structure of the FedEx Cup competition guaranteeing a champion wouldn't be determined until the Tour Championship just as the buzzards (aka sportswriters) begin to pick the meat off the bones of the BCS does allow the public to debate the logic of two flawed systems. The Yankees didn't want to get lost in the shuffle, and neither does the PGA Tour. Hey! Our system sucks too. Don't ignore us completely. Please use this opportunity to make a half-assed comparison between two totally dissimilar circumstances.

One of the primary goals of PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and his minions heading into the 2008 season was to create a buzz surrounding the FedEx Cup finale (never intended to be known as playoffs) by narrowing the gap between No. 1 and No. 125 at year's end, thus creating a more volatile postseason atmosphere.

The experiment failed, and has again been reworked for 2009. While the Tour has struggled to create drastic swings at the end of its four-part FedEx Cup event, hopeful Tour players relegated to the doldrums of Q-School are surrounded by a culture of instability capable of leaving one player with the means to purchase an Aston Martin a calendar year removed from qualifying school finals, while his unlucky counterpart is stuck roaming from city to city on the mini tours in a Toyota Prius.

California's Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is a skier, not a golfer.

That may be the only logical explanation for golf's inclusion in a proposed sales and use tax that would also be applied to appliance and furniture repair, vehicle repair and veterinarian services Feb. 1, 2009 if the legislation passes. That rate would be 8.75 percent if the governor's proposed three-year sales tax increase of 1.5 percent also is passed. 

Monday morning Tiger Woods became the most unlikely domino to be toppled by the deepening economic crisis. General Motors announced it would be ending its longstanding endorsement deal with the world's number one golfer to cut expenses and conserve cash.

A statement released by GM read: "Both GM and Woods agreed to a mutual and amicable separation that included a desire for more personal time for the 14-time major winner who is expecting his second child in late winter as well as the search for budget efficiencies during a difficult economy for General Motors." 

The newest course built on golf's holy land, St. Andrews, Scotland, has been named the "Best New Course of 2008" by Travel + Leisure Golf magazine.

David McLay Kidd's Castle Course, the seventh course at St. Andrews, has been controversial to be sure, but has certainly garnered its share of attention since opening on June 28, 2008.