On Our Mind Golf Blog

A well-manicured lawn can often induce a healthy hubris in a man this time of year, especially when he is gathered with the guys for a Saturday afternoon cookout in the backyard. It's a point of contention right up there with success in one's chosen profession, who has the most attractive wife and who has the most athletically gifted children. So it goes without saying that losing that beautiful green grass surrounding your property will certainly cost you a bit of bragging rights.

Let's think of a golf course as a gigantic lawn for everyone in the neighborhood (or club) to enjoy. This summer, and for the foreseeable future, there will be no lush green grass to brag about at Haywards Heath Golf Club in West Sussex located in South East England.

This year's British Open at Royal Birkdale will mark the ninth anniversary of Frenchman Jean Van de Velde's monumental collapse at Carnoustie. Infamously, Van de Velde blew a three-shot lead on the 72^nd hole and would eventually fall short in a playoff. Regardless of what Tiger did at Torrey Pines this year, nothing can supplant that moment in my mind for sheer theater. Come on, everyone out there still has a vivid mental image of that poor schmuck rolling up his pant legs and wadding out into the hazard. Was he really going to play that shot? Nothing at that point would have shocked me.

Watching the telecast that year was like watching the Exorcist when you were a child, or for some of us as adults; hey haunted houses and ferris wheels still freak me out. You're on your couch with your knees pulled close to your chest and your hands covering your face. You tense up and can barely watch but through a gap between your fingers. It was just one of those television moments where picking another channel wasn't an option. 

The Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that Cheyenne Woods, a two-time Arizona state high school champion and one of the best high school golfers in the country, is headed to Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Cheyenne's uncle is the World's No. 1 player, Tiger Woods, and her first golf mentor was her grandfather, the late Earl Woods. 

In elementary school science classes we learned about a simple classification system used to group living things and if I recall correctly a favorite remembrance device our teachers used was "King Phillip Came Over From Germany Sailing."

If we broke down sports into classifications, golf and tennis would surely share the same subdivision. So naturally, it was inevitable that soon after Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal finished their epic battle at Wimbledon late Sunday evening London time, the comparisons and debate between the historic tennis match at the All England Club and historic U.S. Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines would begin. 

Gary Player is recognized as one of the most successful golfers of all-time. He is a member of the exclusive club of men who have captured golf's grand slam. Lapping the globe and becoming one of the world's most traveled athletes, Player has become the ultimate ambassador and spokesman for the game that has given him so much. In The Golfer's Guide to the Meaning of Life, Player shares the lessons he has learned from his life on the links.

Recently Player has been one of the leading proponents of physical fitness, speaking out to young people about the physical and psychological benefits of finely tuning your body. If there are two aspects of Player's life worth nothing, they are his workout regimen that has allowed him to remain competitive at an advanced age and his astonishing travel record that now stands at about 12 millions miles logged while competing in golf tournaments, doing charitable work and representing his sport. In the book Player writes, "I am convinced that frequent traveling is the single finest education a person can attain." 

So you’ve tried stalking her at remote LPGA Tour events or incessantly messaging her on her MySpace page (not even really sure she has one) but your efforts to get Natalie Gulbis’ attention have been to no avail.

Take solace gents, and maybe ladies too, here is your chance to get up close and personal with professional golf’s favorite cover girl.

With Tiger Woods’ AT&T National on tap for this weekend at Congressional Country Club in Washington, D.C., the most notable knee in sports is once again the subject of endless fodder and speculation. Woods’ made his first public comments since his successful ACL reconstruction surgery via conference call Monday, June 30 and talked about his prognosis but remained reluctant to address a possible return date.

The timeline for Woods’ reappearance on the PGA Tour may be getting more attention than John McCain and Barack Obama’s timetable’s for withdrawal from Iraq; and it’s an election year. 

Achieving true staying power in our pop culture conscience means you've made it. But America also thrives on fifteen minutes of fame. We clamor for effervescent fads like Furby, American Idol and one-hit wonders; who were the guys who sung Turning Japanese anyway?

When a certain 14-time major winner isn't hogging the spotlight, golf churns out instant celebrities quicker than TMZ.com. 

Tiger Woods may be the only athlete ever worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan. Woods' injury shortened season reminds me of the two-year stretch when Jordan took a sabbatical to play baseball for the Birmingham Barons.

Beginning with the 1990-91 season, Jordan's Chicago Bulls won six out of eight NBA Championships; the period concluded when Jordan retired. The two consecutive titles won by the Houston Rockets during that stretch coincided with Jordan's abbreviated minor league baseball career. 

Ask anyone in the golf industry and they'll probably agree that the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines was just so damn captivating you just didn't want it to end. Well it looks like that feeling might have to hold us over for quite some time. The remainder of the 2008 PGA Tour season will be played without Tiger Woods.

His name won't be etched onto the FedExCup at season's end. His Major Championship total will stay at 14. Not playing in either the British Open or PGA Championship means that for the first time since turning pro, Tiger will miss a major. The American Ryder Cup squad may also be in trouble because they too must carry on without Tiger.