Missing links: TPC Sawgrass' 17th hole 'not that hard,' and the growing stature of David Toms' golf academy

By John Strege

Stories of interest you might have missed...

The 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass is "just not that hard," the headline on Justin Ray's story at ESPN.com says. Ray is a senior researcher with ESPN Stats and Information, and he takes a statistical look at one of the most famous holes in golf.

(Getty Images photo)

The best place for a tour pro to go to practice? Strange as it seems, some say Shreveport, La., "the host of possibly the best golf practice facility on the planet," writes Gannett's Roy Lang. It is home of the David Toms Golf Academy 265.

"I chuckled last week when a fellow journalist joked on Twitter that Trump was to demolish the iconic lighthouse [at Turnberry] and build a 50-foot statue of himself in its place," writes Euan McLain in Scotland's Daily Mail. He added this, which aptly summarizes his point: "A great line but don't mistake Trump for such a fool as to make sweeping changes."

Ben Hogan, once an iconic name in golf equipment, is making a comeback and is doing so in Hogan's hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. The hometown newspaper, the Star Telegram, has the story of the new Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company.

Rory McIlroy turned 25 on Sunday, and Bernie McGuire of the Irish Examiner reflects on how his career has unfolded to date. "There is that competitive side of me where you expect more of yourself given what you have achieved and what you have accomplished," McIlroy said, this despite his having won two major championships already.

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