If Stewart Roche had never gained notoriety as a record-setting golfer in his 90s, he still would have made quite a name for himself:

-Graduated No. 2 in his Notre Dame law school class and served a year as law school president
-Spent four years in the Counter Intelligence Corps during World War II, including Agent in Charge of the Madison, Wis., branch office
-Oceana County Savings Bank president for 33 years in Hart, Mich.
-Practiced law in Hart for 41 years
-Owner & operator of Hart Petroleum Company for 17 years
-Volunteer work with the local Rotary Club, American Legion post and St. Gregory's Church.

But, as any avid golfer can attest, you greatly enhance your life resume when you factor in what you've done on the golf course. Since picking up golf in the early 1950s, Mr. Roche has had nine holes-in-one. Incredibly, three have come since he turned 91:

Photo of Stewart Roche courtesy of WZZM-13.

On July 20, 2007, he made an ace at Golden Sands Golf Course in Silver Lake, Mich., with a driver on the 175-yard third hole. And the last two aces came on the same hole, the 125-yard 12th, at Oceana Golf Club in Shelby, Mich. He used a 4-iron on Sept. 2, 2009, and muscled the ball in the hole with a 5-iron on June 15, 2012.

Mr. Roche considers his ace-making ability "very lucky," but when he demonstrated his swing for anchor and news/sports reporter Brent Ashcroft of WZZM TV-13 in Grand Rapids, Mich., he hit a shot within two feet. The first ace he ever made, in the 1950s, he says was far from skillful; he topped the ball and saw it hit the pin and go in. "One of the guys I was with said, 'I'm not even going to congratulate you on that one,'" Roche said.

A Grand Rapids native, Roche has lived in Hart, Mich., for most of his life. A regular group includes a pair of players in their 80s, Ray Larson and Larry Pluister, and a youngster, Rev. Tom Bolster, in his late 50s. At his best, Roche was a 9-handicapper. Now, with his third ace since age 91, we include him in our recordbooks with the unique title of "most prolific hole-in-one shooter of a golfer in their 90s."

There have been a few others in our record-books who made news by making multiple aces during their ultra-vintage years, including George Selbach and Joe McHugh, who each had two aces at age 97, and Anton Lee, who had six holes-in-one after age 80.

Setting a longevity record is a difficult thing to pin down. It's not an exact science, and saying one golfer's feat overshadows another can be dicey. Does making two aces at age 97 trump three aces from 91 to 96?

We like to celebrate everyone's feat at that age and give them credit for their own niche in history. Most of us would just be happy to say we can put the clubface on the ball in our 90s and advance it down the fairway, let alone make aces.

Roche gets out about twice a week for nine holes in a cart, sometimes three times. In one of his recent rounds, on July 27, he had a 42 at Oceana, where he's a charter member. "I'm so old I can shoot my age," he says. Mr. Roche has longevity in his family, so his good fortune on the golf course could very well continue for quite awhile. If so, he'll separate himself from the other celebrated nonagenarians in our archives -- a very rare breed indeed.

-- Cliff Schrock

ANCASTER, Ontario, Canada -- The RBC Canadian Open is history with a title sponsor, a working relic that began its run in 1904 and recalls the best the game has had to offer, from A to W, Armour to Woods.

Its roll call of winners also includes Hagen, Snead, Nelson, Palmer, Casper, Trevino and Norman, each contributing to the prestige that once earned it the unofficial label of fifth major.

In 1919, J. Douglas Edgar won it by 16 shots, still a PGA Tour record nearly a century later. Incidentally, Bobby Jones tied for second.

Related: The best courses on the PGA Tour

In 1910, Canadian George Lyon finished second. Lyon is the last player to have won an Olympic gold medal in golf, in 1904, and the trophy he also received for doing so was on display at Hamilton Golf and Country Club here last week, on loan from the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum.

The Canadian Open is played on quality golf courses, too, including this year's site, Hamilton, G&CC, designed by renowned course architect Harry S. Colt.

Related: The year of the comeback on the PGA Tour

Why is all this important? It's not, and that is the sadness. The Canadian Open has a longer and deeper history than any PGA Tour event, yet it generally is ignored by the game's elite.

Matt Kuchar, ninth, was the only player in the field from the top 10 in the World Ranking. He and Hunter Mahan (13th) and Ernie Els (15th) were the only players from the top 20 in the field.

The winner was Scott Piercy (above), who was ranked 100th and outlasted runners-up William McGirt (303rd in the World Ranking) and Robert Garrigus (70th) to win by one. Piercy completed 72 holes in 263, equalling a tournament record that was set by Johnny Palmer in 1952.

The victory was his second in two years (he won the Reno-Tahoe Open in 2011), suggesting talent. But the combination of Piercy, Garrigus and McGirt vying on Sunday afternoon is a symptom of a tournament that has become a victim of the modern schedule.

The Canadian Open annually falls on the week after the British Open, the week before the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, and two weeks ahead of the PGA Championship. With the FedEx Cup playoffs following shortly, the Canadian Open has been crowded out of many elite players' schedules.

The title sponsor, RBC, has done an admirable job of buttressing the field by signing to endorsement contracts a tour staff that ensures that a handful of recognizable names are entered each year. Els, Furyk and Mahan are all RBC clients and were in the field (though only Mahan made the cut and he finished tied for 48th. Luke Donald, another RBC client and the No. 1 player in the World Ranking, chose to pass.

Moreover, the tournament, by way of providing incentive for British Open participants to participate (or to eliminate a disincentive for some to do so), charters a plane to bring them, their families and caddies from Britain to Canada.

It speaks to the plight of this tournament that deserves better, however, that one year, a player hitched that Britain-to-Toronto shuttle, then withdrew shortly after landing and headed home.

Wait, is it is at the Olympics, or are at the Olympics? Ah well, whether or not they qualify as plural these days is rather insignificant, Rory McIlory and Caroline Wozniacki are in love, and this week they bring that love to the Olympics.

Love struck? Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki arrive at Olympic Village. Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

The much-documented relationship has taken some hits in recent weeks due to the decline in their professional performances since they've started dating. Some have even gone as far as to speculate it's the reason for their failures, and now McIlroy's fellow countryman Graeme McDowell has confirmed it is true -- at least he thinks so.

Speaking to Morning Drive this week, McDowell suggested the constant travel to be with Wozniacki is wearing Rory down, and the result we're seeing in his golf game is actually fatigue. But not to worry, "he's a young kid and he has all the talent in the world. It is only a matter of time [before he comes back]."

Let's be honest, who wouldn't want to gallivant around the globe as one of the sports world's "it" couples? And between Dubai appearance fees and underwear lines, neither one of them has to win another tournament and they'd still be set for life. While at some point the lack of success may hurt their popularity, for now we're just going to have to accept the fact that enjoying each other's company is as much on their agenda as winning. Or as McDowell puts it, "the boy's in love. He's crazy about her. It's not a bad problem to have."

Not a bad problem to have indeed, and at least for McIlroy, the focus will now shift to Wozniacki's on-court performance for the next couple of weeks. Not to mention, there's all that rampant Olympic Village sex to look forward to.

-- Derek Evers
Follow @derekevers

Unfortunately for Martin Kaymer, the 2010 PGA Championship will be remembered more for how Dustin Johnson lost than how the German won. It was Johnson who unwittingly grounded his club in one of Whistling Straits' 967 bunkers on the final hole of regulation to receive a two-stroke penalty and miss out on a playoff.

Related: Golf's all-time biggest rules blunders

While Kiawah Island's Ocean Course, site of the 1991 Ryder Cup, has its share of hazards one comes to expect from a Dye design, its sandy areas don't play as bunkers in the traditional sense. From the course's website:

"The course's second line of defense lie within the uniqueness of our sand areas. At The Ocean Course, we have absolutely no 'bunkers.' . . . The Ocean Course features what few other golf courses anywhere in the U.S. feature, the "transition area'. The rule book defines these areas to be played 'through the green,' simply meaning that typical sand trap rules do not apply."

Related: The craziest finishes at the PGA Championship

As a result, when players find the sand, they will be allowed to ground their club, take practice swings and even move lose impediments. The local rule is in place due to different debris that inhabits these areas on the windswept course. With the tide also playing a role, transition areas -- more commonly referred to as waste bunkers -- vary from hole to hole, making it only fair players can test the surface before playing a shot from one.

Which leads us back to 2010. Unfortunately for Johnson(watch a video here), the rule in place was the opposite at Whistling Straits that week, with every inch of sand, even those areas outside the ropes where the fans had walked, playing as a traditional bunker. This year, that won't be the case and Kiawah's local rule will undoubtedly be a big talking point. We can think of one golfer who will probably get sick of hearing about it pretty fast.

-- Alex Myers
Follow @AlexMyers3

Andy Hyeon Bo Shim holds the trophy after winning the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. Photo: Jim Cole/AP Photo

Like the British Open, both the boys' and girls' U.S. Junior Amateur tournaments ended in dramatic comeback fashion as Andy Hyeon Bo Shim and Minjee Lee took home their respective titles over the weekend.

Shim, 17, of Duluth, Ga., rebounded from a 5-hole deficit -- the largest comeback in championship-match history -- to defeat Jim Liu, 16, of Smithtown, N.Y., 4 and 3, and claim the 2012 U.S. Junior Amateur title at the 7,125-yard, par-72 Golf Club of New England.

"This is a dream come true," said Shim. "I couldn't believe myself. He [Liu] is in the top 5 (juniors) in the country... I was 5 down, but if I just keep making my birdies on the front nine, it happens... I just kept thinking about one shot ahead."

Liu, who became the youngest-ever champion of the Junior Amateur when he won at the age of 14 in 2010, was 5 up after the morning 18 of the 36-hole match, but Shim won eight of the first 10 holes in the afternoon on the strength of three birdies, one eagle and six pars to turn the match around.

Shim becomes the third Korean player to win the Junior Amateur. Terry Noe of Korea won in 1994 and Sihwan Kim won in 2004.

On the girl's side, held at the 6,291-yard, par-72 Lake Merced Golf Club, Australia's Minjee Lee, 16, became the country's first ever U.S. Girls' Junior Amateur champion, winning four of the final six holes for a 1-up victory over Alison Lee, 17, of Valencia, Calif., in Saturday's 36-hole finale. If you recall, Alison Lee was one three amateurs to make the cut at the U.S. Women's Open two weeks ago.

"I'm so relieved that it's over," said Minjee Lee, currently ranked No. 8 in the Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking. "I was so tense coming into the last couple of holes."

Minjee Lee became the eighth USGA champion to hail from Australia, and the first since Geoff Ogilvy won the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club. She is only the third Aussie female to capture a USGA championship, joining Jan Stephenson (1983 Women's Open) and Hall of Famer Karrie Webb (2000-01 Women's Open).

For a full recap, head over to the USGA website.

-- Derek Evers
Follow @derekevers

Ernie Els with the Claret Jug inside the men's locker room. Photo: Ian Walton/R&A

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- It's one of the game's oldest aphorisms and it was never more apposite than on the final day of this 141st Open Championship at Royal Lytham: Every shot in golf pleases someone. So it was that, as Adam Scott stumbled and fumbled his way to four successive bogeys over the closing holes, the new "champion golfer of the year," Ernie Els, played the back nine in a startling 32 strokes to steal the title from the unfortunate Australian.

It was, as so often in golf at any level, first the gathering-pace of Scott's sad decline, then the dark inevitability of his loss that will stick in the memory. Armed with a four- stroke lead at the start of Sunday's bright and blustery round, Scott couldn't quite get it done and now finds himself grouped with the likes of Arnold Palmer (1966 U.S. Open), Ed Sneed (1979 Masters), Nick Price (1982 British Open), Greg Norman (1986 PGA and 1996 Masters), Mike Reid (1989 PGA) and Jean Van de Velde (1999 British Open) -- those who lost major championships they really should have won.

Related: The best and worst from Sunday at the British Open

With four holes to play, Scott seemed to have everything under control. A birdie at the 444-yard 14th had restored his four-shot advantage and, with no one up ahead able to make anything like a telling move, ultimate victory seemed assured. But it wasn't. Dropping a shot into the wind at the brutal 15th -- it averaged 4.61 for the final day and was the hardest hole on the course -- was no big deal, but the same cannot be said of the three-putt bogey Scott perpetrated at the drivable 336-yard 16th. Suddenly, when Els made birdie at the closing hole, Scott needed two tough pars to win -- and wasn't up to either task.

"I know I've let a really great chance slip through my fingers today," he said afterwards. "But somehow I'll look back and take the positives from it. I don't think I've ever played this well in a major championship, so that's a good thing for me moving forward. All the stuff I'm doing is going in the right direction. Today is one of those days, and that's why they call it golf."

Related: The worst major meltdowns

As you'd expect from a man of his experience, Els was both sympathetic and understanding of the younger man's pain. The pair are great friends -- and former Presidents Cup partners -- and the big South African has had his own share of major disappointment over the course of his 19-year professional career.

"The ones where you come close and don't win, those stay with you," he told Scotland on Sunday during last week's Scottish Open. "2004 was easily the worst year of my golfing life. And, at the same time, it was a great year. There were a few 'almosts.' I almost won all four majors and I was almost number one in the world.

"So, when it comes to the majors, I feel like I am maybe a little over par, given the level of my ability and talent. I'm hard on myself, but I feel like five or six wins would be more realistic. That would have put me in the Nick Faldo/Seve Ballesteros sort of area, which is where I feel like I belong."

Related: Ernie Els' putting checklist

Now, of course, Els has four majors to his name and is one notch closer to joining that illustrious duo, a fact he puts down to a much-improved general attitude and the work he has done with coach Sherylle Calder on his much-criticized putting stroke. Lest it be forgotten, only three months ago Els' stroke was the subject of public ridicule -- courtesy of CBS commentator David Feherty -- and failed to qualify for an invitation to this year's Masters.

"I started with Sherylle in the first week of January this year," he revealed. "When she saw my stroke she told me it was the worst she had ever seen in any professional she had ever worked with. So I've come a long way in a very short time."

Still, Els' victory was not solely down to improved technique. There was a little bit of inspiration in there too, courtesy of his ten-year old son, Ben, who suffers from autism.

"I made a lot of putts today with Ben in mind, because I know he's watching," said Els senior. "He loves it when I hit golf balls. He's always there. He comes with me. He loves the flight of the ball and the sound. I know he was watching today, and I was trying to keep him excited. I wanted to keep him excited, so I made a lot of putts for him today."

-- John Huggan
Follow @JohnHuggan

Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- For years Tiger Woods seemed to inhabit the right side of the fine line between winning and something else. Twinned with his greatness, especially in the major championships, those bits of good fortune helped his cause.

Woods' 5-iron to the demanding par-4 sixth hole Sunday in the final round of the British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes flirted with an evil bunker short of the sixth green.

"It was one yard," Woods said. "One yard."

These three feet didn't work in Woods' favor. His approach found the sand instead of safety, and he hardly had a shot. His only good luck was that the ricochet just missed him. Woods did well to escape the deep hazard on his second attempt after manufacturing a creative shot from his knees that rode the top of the face and skittered on the green.

Related: How Tiger's swing has changed

Three putts and a triple bogey later, the chance that Woods was going to be able to come from behind for the first time after 54 holes to win a major was as bruised as his scorecard.

But his hopes weren't over. With 54-hole leader Adam Scott and others struggling on a links that thanks to a bit of breeze had regained its bite, Woods was still in the fray.

But he couldn't stay there.

Within striking distance after a birdie at No. 12, still trailing Scott by the five-shot margin with which he began the final round, Woods quickly spiraled out of contention with uneven moments that were reminiscent of his struggles at last month's U.S. Open at Olympic Club.

Bogey at 13. Bogey at 14. Bogey at 15. It was less than ordinary golf by an extraordinary golfer.

Related: Worst major meltdowns

A birdie at No. 18 gave Woods a closing 73. Amid the messes so many were making on a testing day, he finished T-3 with Brandt Snedeker, four strokes behind champion Ernie Els, who won with a 72-hole total a shot higher than Woods thought would make a playoff when he made the turn.

Woods has now played 13 majors without a win, his last coming at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Observers may see it as a Sahara Desert of a dry patch for the 36-year-old, but Woods -- who has won three PGA Tour events this year -- insists it is something less daunting.

Related: 10 burning questions from the 2012 British Open

"It's part of golf," he said Sunday evening. "We all go through these phases. Some people, it lasts entire careers. Others are a little shorter. Even the greatest players to ever play have gone through little stretches like this."

Since winning the 2008 U.S. Open, Woods has seven top-six finishes at majors. Other players would covet those like gold, but Woods is familiar with a greater vault. At Lytham, as at Olympic, he couldn't remember the combination that used to come so easily.

-- Bill Fields
Follow @BillFields1

On the eve of the Championship, on Wednesday night, I spent £100 -- about $160 -- on the legal British exchange sports betting website Betfair, as follows:

- £5 on Tiger Woods at odds of 10.5 to win £47.50.
- £10 on Lee Westwood at 15 to win £140.
- £10 on Justin Rose at 32 to win £310.
- £10 on Graeme McDowell at 36 to win £350.
- £10 on Rickie Fowler at 40 to win £390.
- £10 on Sergio Garcia at 40 to win £390.
- £5 on Jason Dufner at 48 to win £235.
- £5 on Zach Johnson at 75 to win £370.
- £5 on Bubba Watson at 85 to win £420.
- £10 on Branden Grace at 200 to win 1,990.
- £5 on Brandt Snedeker at 300 to win £1,495.
- £10 on the winning nationality being South Africa at 8.4 to win £74.
- £5 on a winning score of 5 strokes or more at 8.8 to win £39.

Snedeker opened with 66-64 to tie the 36-hole Open lead and his odds shortened considerably down from the opening 300. With £1,495 in credit against Snedeker (from a £5 stake), I started making "lay" bets -- betting against him -- on Thursday night and throughout Friday when, at one point when he had a four-shot lead, his odds had fallen to 4.2. Snedeker is a thoroughly likeable character, but for him to go on to win seemed highly unlikely. I also put lay bets on Zach Johnson at odds of 17, Graeme McDowell at 18, and Bubba Watson at 30. These hedge bets all earned me back more than my initial stake of £100. On Sunday, when McDowell hit the 7th green in two and was looking like mounting a challenge, and his odds had fallen to 4.6, I started making more lay bets on him.

I didn't make a single bet all week either for or against surprise champion Ernie Els, whose odds hovered around 50 on Wednesday, but he made good my "winning nationality" bet which erased all my bogeys for the week--the likes of Lee Westwood, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia, among several others, especially Tiger Woods who I foolishly kept backing throughout the weekend.

The end result? A modest profit. You win some, you lose some, as Adam Scott knows only too well.

-- John Barton

(Getty Images)

Ultimately, the drama inherent on a major championship Sunday carries the show, as it did again at the British Open, Ernie Els improbably prying the claret jug from Adam Scott's grip.

Here they are in their own words in the immediate aftermath:

"It wasn't to be. That's golf, isn't it?" Scott said in his interview with the BBC.

"I feel numb," Els said in his interview with ESPN's Tom Rinaldi. "Later on it will set in that I won this golf tournament, but right now I feel for my buddy."

Together they made the final hour memorable. Before then, ESPN's outspoken analyst Paul Azinger helped make it interesting, not necessarily for the right reasons.

Azinger might be the best analyst in golf (duly noted in this space before), but he did not make a compelling case on his own behalf during one 30-minute stretch in the final round. He erred on the rules, called those on Twitter "a bunch of clowns," then doubled down by taking to Twitter to say it again, while using this hashtag: #ToDumbToKnowTheirClowns."

Related: Interviews they'd like back

Azinger on the rules

When Tiger Woods was stymied in a bunker at the sixth hole and pondered coming out backwards, Azinger suggested another option.

"Ball could go anywhere that Tiger's about to hit if he chooses to go backwards," he said. "Much easier option to just drop it. Take your unplayable, walk out of the bunker and keep that point between you and the hole."

Rule 28, Ball Unplayable, from the Rules of Golf, states: "The player may deem his ball unplayable at any place on the course, except when the ball is in a water hazard. The player is the sole judge as to whether his ball is unplayable."

So far so good. Then it says this: "If the unplayable ball is in a bunker, the player may proceed under Clause a, b or c. If he elects to proceed under Clause b or c, a ball must be dropped in the bunker." (Emphasis ours).

The option that Azinger was talking about was Clause b, "Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped."

Azinger on Twitter cited a rules official for his error: "Ask RNA official about unplayable in bunker. He gave me wrong answer. It's been addressed and fixed on air."

Azinger vs. Twitter followers

Azinger often spars on Twitter with his followers (usually on politics), and when Scott Van Pelt brought up the topic of those Tweeting with instant opinions on rules, Azinger replied: "There's a ton of experts on Twitter, I can tell you that. What a bunch of clowns."

Josh Elliott, the news anchor on ABC's Good Morning America and ESPN alum, was among many who took exception. Elliott wrote on Twitter: "'Clowns,' @PaulAzinger...? Because people...have opinions, and share them in this de facto global sportsbar? Seems a bit much. #TheOpen"

Azinger still ranks among the top two analysts in golf. Regarding the rules error, it can happen. The clowns comment, meanwhile, was over the top. The bottom line: Outspoken and opinionated are the qualities that landed him the job. Occasionally he's going to irk, to which ESPN spokesman Andy Hall alluded in this statement:

"We hire analysts to give their opinions and expect them to do so, whether we agree with them or not."

Related: Azinger's Tweet runs afoul of ESPN policy

How did Tiger make triple?

Hank Haney via Twitter has the answer: "Bad shot, bad break, bad decision, 3 putt."

It was reminiscent of the time that Seve Ballesteros was asked how he four-putted. "I miss, I miss, I miss, I make," he replied.

ESPN's Flight Track

It produced some excellent images, notably Graeme McDowell's 3-wood second shot on the 11th hole, a low, "dead, neck pull," Azinger called it. "That might be the worst shot he's hit in 20 years."

Tiger issues

Tiger Woods' Nicklaus chase stalled again, and Azinger brought up a compelling point by way of explanation.

"I look at Tiger, Adam Scott's playing the way Tiger used to play -- attack, attack attack," he said. "If he was swinging as great as everybody thinks he's swinging he'd probably hit more drivers and 3-woods off the tee."

Midway through the back nine, with his chances at winning slipping away, Woods again took iron off the tee.

"That just goes to show you that he's not very comfortable at all with the driver," Curtis Strange said. "He's just not the same man we knew some years ago, not the same player."

-- John Strege

Related: The costliest rules mistakes in golf history

First, Tiger Woods hit into a greenside bunker on the sixth hole. He had a poor lie, nearly against a steep lip. Woods opted to play the shot and his ball hit the lip and nearly struck him before falling back into the bunker. Had the ball struck Woods, it would have been a two-shot penalty under Rule 19-2 and the ball would be played as it lies. Announcers during the telecast, notably Paul Azinger, were also unclear what Woods' options were if he decided not to play that bunker shot. Woods had three options under the unplayable-ball rule (Rule 28). He could have taken a two-club-lengths drop, no closer to the hole, in the bunker. He could have also dropped in the bunker behind a line between where his ball lay and the hole, with no limit to how far back provided the ball was dropped in the sand. His third option would have been to replay the shot that put him in the bunker in the first place. All three options come with a one-stroke penalty.

Related: Regrets? They've had a few

The second incident involved Adam Scott on the seventh hole. He hit over the back of the green and the ball came to rest on a slope in some light rough. Scott approached the ball and took a couple of practice swings a few inches from it. He then walked toward the green to get a better feel for how the ball would roll out once it got on the green. As he returned to the ball several seconds later, the ball rolled out of the rough and into a new position in a collection area. According to Rule 18-2, if Scott had caused the ball to move with his practice swing, he would have been assessed a one-stroke penalty and the ball would have to be replaced. Since Scott had not addressed the ball and since he told the rules official on hand that his practice swings did not cause the ball to move, he was allowed to play from the ball's new position with no penalty. Had he addressed the ball, he would have had to be virtually certain, as in 99 percent sure, that he did not cause the ball to move otherwise the penalty would be assessed (18-2b).

-- Ron Kaspriske
Follow @RonKaspriske