On Our Mind Golf Blog

By now, you've probably heard that the "People's Champion," Phil Mickelson will return to action next week at the World Golf Championships - Bridgestone Invitational following a six week hiatus to be with his wife and mother as they simultaneously battle breast caner.

We're sure to be inundated with sad, depressing stories leading up to the tournament about Phil and his family and rightly so - it's been a banner year for tragedy in the Mickelson household.

Last weekend multi-talented entertainer and lone credible survivor of the bygone boy band era Justin Timberlake unveiled his eco-friendly golf course project, Mirimichi, a 7,400-yard layout he saved from development and turned into America' preeminent "green" golf course for roughly $16 million.

The course is situated just outside of Memphis, Tennessee, and is Timberlake's latest contribution to a game that he's becoming increasingly involved in.

When Buick Open tournament officials announced late last week that Tiger Woods had committed to participate in this year's event, which begins this Thursday in Grand Blanc, Michigan, I'd imagine local golf fans felt similar to local baseball fans when a big league club announces that one of its superstars will be making a rehab appearance with a minor league affiliate that plays nearby.

Woods showing his face at PGA Tour stops perceived to be on the "B" list just doesn't happen anymore.

Spanning more than 840 miles, which is longer than the drive from Augusta, Ga. to New York City, Nullarbor Golf Links will claim to be the world's longest golf course when it officially opens for play on Oct. 22. It's the kind of overindulgence and extravagance you'd expect to find in America, but this course is a collection of golf holes set upon the desolate and arid terrain of the Australian Outback.

The 842-mile, par-71  golf course will traverse the almost treeless, limestone Nullarbor Plain that covers a wide stretch of land from South Australia to Western Australia. Depending on your pace of play, and how fast your drive, the golf course will take about four days to finish.

Tom Watson's unlikely renaissance at this year's Open Championship has helped to relight the nearly extinguished embers heating the often revisited question of whether or not golf should be considered a sport.

At the most basic level, a dry and direct dictionary definition, sport is defined as an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess, often of a competitive nature. It should be clear to even the most biased of dimwitted national columnists, like CBS Sports.com's Mike Freeman, who we'll get to shortly, that golf does indeed fall in line with these simple yet substantive criteria.
 

Everyone who attended this past weekend's 20th anniversary American Century Championship, a star-studded golf event featuring athletes from every professional arena and a variety of actors, comedians and television hosts, and hoped that Charles Barkley would show up with a fluid golf swing consiting of one sweeping motion left disappointed.

Despite working under the watchful eye of Hank Haney, recently named one of the top five golf instructors in America by Golf Digest, Barkley's hiddeous hitch still haunts him, like a ghost lurking in his attic. 

The moment many scribes were already calling "The Greatest in the History of Golf" never materialized Sunday, as the most sentimental favorite of all-time, at least for this weekend, Tom Watson finally broke down one putt shy of claiming his sixth Claret Jug.

Upon first glance Stewart Cink will appear as the ultimate benefactor of Watson's missed opportunity, which became so sad midway through the 17th hole I could barely watch, but it's Watson's peer and dueling partner at Turnberry in 1997 who stands tall in golf's history books after this weekend. 

As Sunday dawns over the Firth of Clyde Ross Fisher will roll out of bed, if he was able to sleep at all, facing a decision that 99.9 percent of us could never dream of. He begins the final round of the 138th Open Championship one shot of the pace set by 59-year-old Tom Watson with a stated promise that he would hop on a jet to be with his wife Jo, who is expecting the couple's first child, if she were to go into labor.

Your first born child or your first major championship? Holding your wife's hand as she agonizes in the delivery room or holding the Claret Jug on the 18th hole at Turnberry? 

Tiger Woods found himself on the decidedly unfavorable side of the draw at the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, but no such excuse can be made for the early hole he dug himself Thursday at Turnberry.

Wind was nonexistent and scoring conditions were optimal during day one at the Open Championship. Woods wound up with a one-over-par 71 during his morning round, while 59-year-old Tom Watson blistered Turnberry shooting a 5-under-par 65. Woods' 17-year-old playing partner Ryo Ishikawa bested the World No. 1 by three strokes. 

The 2008 United States Amateur champion Danny Lee decided to retain his amateur status in order to compete in this year's Masters tournament. Lee didn't fare very well during his first appearance at Augusta National Golf Club, failing to make the cut by a significant margain finishing two rounds of play at 11-over-par.

Lee did turn professional shortly thereafter, forfitting a spot in the U.S. Open reserved for the reigning U.S. Amateur champion. Lee attempted to play his way into the field at Bethpage Black, but was unsuccessful in his effort. Sacrificing his amateur status and turning professional enabled him to cash in on endorsement deals and prize money, but came with the added risk of missing the national championship for Lee, but he didn't petition the USGA to reinstate his amateur status. He made a decision and had to live with it.