Besides being the arguably the game's greatest player ever, Tiger also has to be its most massive lightning rod.

From reader Tom Todd this week:

Best golfer on the PGA Tour? absolutely. Will he break Jack's records? probably. Was Tiger's profanity laden outburst "out-of-bounds"? Most definitely - young people look up to Tiger as their hero and the way he acted in front of these kids was unacceptable. Shame on ESPN and The Golf Channel for giving Tiger a pass on this. It appears the media is afraid to take him to task when he has a grave !apse in judgment. Tiger whines about the quality of the greens. Then he goes ballistic over the sound of a clicking camera ruining his shot. Come on Tiger. You make millions and millions of dollars playing a game. By wanting to be the very best in the world, you should accept a few minor distractions in your very blessed life.

Reader Jim Woods says good job to John Hawkins for reminding us of "Tiger saying he was impervous to such disturbances because Earl, his all-knowing father, used to jingle keys in the kid's backswing."

Thanks to The Angry Golfer for printing what I've been saying to friends for a couple of years. After hearing the story a million times about how Earl jingled coins and performed other tricks to distract Tiger, I was baffled by how Tiger would go ballistic because of the click of a camera. Two choices.....stop the Earl story, or have Tiger live up to it.

You're right about the language. Who can defend it? He ain't perfect. But he's about as close as we'll ever see. He is our Ruth...another guy with a few flaws.

--Bob Carney

When Tiger wins or Tiger loses, when the streak continues or when it ends, you want to talk about Tiger. In the wake of Geoff Ogilvy's victory at Doral, that's still the case:

Bob Creemens of North Richland Hills, Texas:

Clearly Tiger Woods is the best golfer on the planet and will most likely be the most heralded golfer of all time. He is also a true sportsman and a fine gentleman. Having said that, thank you Geoff Ogilvy. I am tired of hearing about the perfect season. But most of all I am tired of hearing about the Fed Ex Cup. Who cares! I am so tired I intend to use the United States Postal Service from now on.

Ron Field of Morton, Washington:

A good number of associates are really fed up with the bias reporting, in both print and TV, shown towards Tiger Woods. On Saturday, NBC commenced their broadcast with 'Tiger Woods is in second place to Geoff Ogilvy'. It should have been 'Geoff Ogilvy is leading Tiger Woods by a shot'. Then, what do they do? 'They immediately show what happened at 5.45pm the previous Sunday with Woods winning.

Please give us all a break and report the golf properly from the leaders back. Then, to make matters worse, Woods is six strokes off the leader and heis getting more space than the leaders....I bet that Geoff Ogilvy won't be shown next time he plays if he is six shots behind.

I suppose 'Golf World' will put Woods on the cover again this week because he finished fifth.

And then there is J. Johnson, of Topsham, Maine, who sees it a bit differently:

Former high shool golf team or spectacular shot of Tiger Woods winning. I can see how difficult it was to decide for you brain dead fools.

--Bob Carney

Ron Sirak's column urging golf and its fans to stop enabling John Daly has drawn lots of response. (Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post has also done a strong column on the subject). Some of you, like North Carolinian Dennis Thomas, are empathetic:

The saddest part of this ongoing nightmare with John Daly is that it is self-inflicted. I know what I’m talking about on this one, as I had a 26-year battle with alcohol. Unfortunately, John Daly will have to hit bottom before he is willing to turn his life around, if it’s not to late. Mr. Sirak is correct--sponsor exemptions are only enabling his bad behavior.

Others, not so much so. Rick Patterson of Tennessee:

Daly's nothing but a third rate drunk! He should be kicked off the tour and allowed to drown in his own sorrow. Plus he's addicted to gambling! He's been given too many chances already. Cut him loose!

And Texan Wayne Gordon:

Read the book...absentee parents...no boundaries...no discipline...no morals. Why would he change when he got older? I've watched him from Crooked Stick to the Memorial and nothing has changed, no boundaries...no discipline... History repeats itself. The abuse of the promoters, dedicated volunteers and golf fans has gone on long enough.

John has many fans. And he's losing many others. But his popularity is not the point. The uneasiness that Ron and Leonard and that many of us feel is that some night we'll get a call that will make John's troubles until now seem insignificant by comparison. That's a bad thing.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: Mark Feldman/Getty Images)

Bill Fields has won lots of support for his run for the presidency of golf. Two of latest supporters are Ohio reader Larry Nagy and highly-respected PGA professional Mike Hebron, of Long Island:

From Larry:

Fields for president! After reading Opinion, March 14 Bill Fields has my vote. Here are a couple more planks he might want to add to his platform. (1) Make the pros wear spikes in the retro silly-season event to give them a taste of chewed-up greens. (2) Ban the awkward terms “three-metal”, “fairway-metal”, “metal-wood”, etc, that TV announcers struggle with, and restore the perfectly good name for these clubs, i.e., the “spoon”. With these two planks Mr. Fields could run the gamut from the best (soft-spikes) to the worst (putting numbers on clubs) things ever to happen to the game of golf.

From Mike, praise for two of Bill's comments: Shoo young golfers out of the high-tech lesson studio and away from the pyramids of perfect practice balls more often.... and Get the pro game moving...Jack Nicklaus did just fine aiming all by his lonesome, and so does Tiger Woods. Self-reliance occasionally is mythologized in our sport, but it is, or ought to be, one of its inherent strengths.

Research about the nature of learning finds that following “how to” directions does not fully engage the higher cortex in the brain, where learning takes hold. Studies also show when learning, "general ,just in the ballpark suggestions” give a greater return on investment... than technical information filled with details.

"Pleasurable Game for All" is what the PGA call letters should stand for. During the last 20 years the golf industry has focused on the perfect swing, the perfect ball, the perfect set of clubs, and I could go on. For many this focus on perfection has put aside the pleasure of playing the game. Trying for perfection can create frustrations and makes the game less inviting for individuals, which does not grow the game for the golf industry.

Mike, I love that last comment. You know a lot more about the learning part than I do. But I know that it's a game of walking with a bit of swinging interspersed. Our obsession with that second part has sometimes kept us from enjoying the second. Thanks.

--Bob Carney

North Carolinian Tom Corrigan begs to differ on our choice of a Pinehurst bar for the 50 Best 19th Holes.

Of all the bars in all the hotels in Pinehurst, you picked the wrong one. The Pine Crest Inn stands foresquarely first for foresomes. Where else can you chip into the fireplace? The Ryder Cup Lounge is for stiffs.

Tom, of all the lists in all the magazines in all the world, you read ours and (some of us would argue) got it exactly right.

--Bob Carney

Ethel & Andy Miller of Walnut Creek, Ohio, prove that Montana is not the only state with winters that drive men to madness. Evidence attached:

From Dick Hochman, of Savannah, comes a mild chiding...

Attribution. That's all that's missing; and it's really no big deal at that.

The important thing is that I LOVED Fred Couples' article:" Swing Easy, Hit Hard". What a joy to be able to re-visit this concept again, 43 years later. You see, the book, "Swing Easy, Hit Hard", was written by Julius Boros and published in 1965. Great 'stuff' then and, in this day of super-power golf, even more important now.

I guess it takes someone of a 'certain' age to recognize and enjoy good thing again and again.

Dick, thanks for the note. We remember Boros' book and should have reminded readers, too. The two players have a bit in common. Boros won 18 times, including three majors. Couples has 15 wins, including one Masters and two Players Championships. Couples has made a living in the Silly Season and Boros helped start the original Silly Season, the senior tour.

Mostly they share swings that make the game look simple and power easy to come by.

--Bob Carney

Justin Blair of Three Rivers, Michigan sends a candid assessment of the Bomb & Gouge article in the April Golf Digest in which Bomb supported and Gouge opposed the new adjustable clubs that have reached golf store shelves this season. At the risk of cross-blogging (Bomb and Gouge do an equipment blog on this site), we obtained a response from Mike "Bomb" Johnson, equipment editor of Golf World.

First, Justin:

I just want to say: Bomb is an idiot, but Gouge, you are a genious!  The stance you've taken on the new adjustable shaft golf clubs (April 2008) is right on the mark.  I have yet to hear anyone put it as succinctly as you. 

People at these golf magazines wonder why so many "Average Joe's" leave the game year in and year out, well, that's your answer.  The game is getting too expensive for regular golfers, and these new-fangled "ideas" do absolutlely NOTHING to help us out.  Club manufacturers want to help?  Try cutting your costs, especially with these idiotic "ideas"!

Again, Gouge, a BIG "thank you" for being realistic about this new club fad.  At least you have the guts to look into our best interests, and not the manufacturer's.  Sorry to be so harsh Bomb, but try learning a few
things from your partner.

Now Mike, er, Bomb the idiot: 

Hi Justin: No offense taken. As I noted in the article, the cost of these adjustable clubs is somewhat obscene. But that doesn't detract from the fact that, if you put cost aside (and some golfers do), these clubs can possibly help.

Now everyone has to do their own cost-benefit analysis on that. And I would certainly agree that the number of folks buying into adjustability at this price tag will be extremely low. And I think that's good. I am in total agreement with you and my partner (who I also agree is a genius) that the cost of equipment is approaching out of control. It is why we both regularly tout fine, affordable equipment such as that produced by Adams and Tour Edge, to name a couple of companies.

But I don't believe that we should stymie innovation just because the initial cost of products is sky-high. If the price offends you, simply don't buy it. But remember that DVD player you have in your house would not have been made possible if someone hadn't started the idea more than 20 years ago with those old betamax tape machines—which, at the time, cost more than $2,000. In short, I'm more a fan of the possibilities of adjustability down the road than I am of the current offerings.

Thanks for writing, Mike.

Thank you both. I'm heading off now to change the weight on my Zebra.

--Bob Carney

Thanks to Gene Madsen of Bigfork, Montana, for making our 45-degree weather here in Connecticut (where the pins are in!) feel absolutely balmy:

Thought you might like to see what we do for golf here in the north. As the crow flies we are about 50 miles south of the Canadian border. I have 4 holes, 2 par 4s of 125 yards, a par 3 of 75 yards and a par 5 of 150 yards. We play 4 holes out and 4 back with pins near the tees. Always play skins with partners, 25 cents a hole. We had a hole-in-one at the par 3 yesterday. I drill the cup hole down about 6" and use old fish sticks for the pins. It takes me 20 minutes to plow with my pickup truck. Usually start making the course when the ice is 6" thick. We use one club, a putter.

Thanks, Gene. That first cut looks like a bear. Wait, I think that is a bear!

For more Montana Madness click below....

--Bob Carney

Michael McMullen of Newburgh, New York, writes to amend our list of Golf Digest's 50 Best 19th Holes.

After reading your top fifty list of Best 19th holes I noticed that the regular guy's golf bar is strikingly absent. I am sure that after playing a round at Pebble Beach that the Tap Room for a 21-year-old scotch is just the thing. While you did mention the Newport C.C. you overlooked its blue collar cousin across the bay, the Jamestown Golf Course. The 9-hole layout is challenging and fun but the best part is the pub/pro shop downstairs. The Newport Storm and Sierra Nevada is ice cold and the girls behind the counter make a cheeseburger that is worthy of anyone. Bear in mind that most of the readers of your magazine are muny players and members of the burger and beer crowd. Sorry, no whole roasted garlic.

I could see the "whole roasted garlic" crack coming. I told them not to mention the whole roasted garlic. But look at the bright side. Now you're a regular guy that knows about whole roasted garlic. So you got that going for you.

You're right, Michael. We are light on the regular-guy hangouts: The grill at Spook Rock Golf Course in Ramapo, New York, the Ross Room at Warren Valley near Detroit, the bar at Royce Brook in New Jersey or the one at Centennial in Carmel, New York (standard but highly serviceable). But based on your description, I suspect that Jamestown has won the pub-slash-pro shop division. I'll have a Dark and Stormy.

--Bob Carney

For Minnesotan Richard Rasmussen Golf Digest's April story on President Dwight D. Eisenhower's prodigious golf habit brought back memories.

For a ten year old in 1955 there was no First Tee or Tiger Woods to inspire one to be a golfer,but there was President Eisenhower.An iconic figure who had led the Allies to victory in Europe and with great dignity led America as its President. He was a figure we looked to emulate and his passion for golf was transferred to a whole generation who have become lifelong golfers. Thanks for the nostalgic visit to our youth.

Richard, I was ten in 1955, too, and while I liked Ike, his golf didn't get me excited. What pulled me into the game, about four years later, was a Michigan club about a half mile from my home where, if you paid attention and were really well behaved, they'd pay you $3 to carry a golfer's bag around for a few hours. Amazing! Dearborn Country Club was the place. And Dearborn's caddy program, under the irascible oversight of pro Faust Bianco pulled my brother and I into the game and eventually helped us earn Evans Scholarships to the University of Michigan.

So as much as I miss presidents who aren't afraid to say they play a lot of golf, I miss caddy programs more. I'm happy to say Dearborn is still turning out Evans Scholars, as are many clubs in the Midwest where the program thrives, but carts--and our misguided belief that they somehow make the game easier or more fun--have done away with the best "first tee" program ever invented.

Thanks for the letter...and for the memories.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: AP)

In the March 14 issue of Golf World columnist Bill Fields, with an audaciousness we're not used to, announced his candidacy for the presidency of golf. As his platform, Fields offered sensible solutions for slow play, present-day tour players' ignorance of the game's history, more access to our game for juniors, sensible directional signs, consistently colored tee markers, a Champions Tour match-play event, among other planks. Several of you quickly volunteered to be Fields Superdelegates!

D.A. Rexin of Troy, Michigan, cast...

A vote for "President Bill" Fields. Assuredly the BEST common sense golf article I've read in years. Bill's ideas re: The "Silly Season" event using 70's equipment is terrific, something I think we'd all enjoy watching, a great number of us having "learned" the game with these splendid tools.

Amen regarding Tee markers. (Designer colors ?)

Again YES pertaining to directional signs. Most seem to confuse more than help.

A Champions Match Play event would also be a great idea.

And finally, PLEASE bring back 150 yard stakes, bushes or trees. I've been saying the very same thing for years. Just for convenience sake and TIME savings, you can spot and gauge your distance SO much easier.

Thank you Bill for putting into publication, what a great many of us have been thinking.

PS. Perhaps Golf World could share this article with other currently popular golf publications. (Or maybe I should).

Great Stuff - keep it up!

Sarasota's Dick Leabo, also signed on for the ticket:

Bill Fields opinion column is on target! Bill said "Well, that is the first 100 days. Nothing to it." As an efficient President I would have thought he could do all he listed before lunch. Remember the Ross Perot cartoon?

Ross Perot? Hey, I voted for Ross Perot. But now I'm leaning toward Fields.

--Bob Carney

Jim Moriarty's coverage of the PODS Championship in Golf World contained the note that John "Daly reprised his roll in Happy Scaffolding where he signed autographs and pedaled souvenirs."

Winning an Editors' Blog tip of the visor are two readers who identified mistakes in that little note:

After opening the issue with K.J. Choi on the cover and simply scanning Jim Moriarty's article on the PODS Championship, I was surprised to learn that John Daly "reprised his roll" and then "pedaled souvenirs." Did K.J. also handle the proof reading for this article?

Ouch. That was Texan Jim Piland. Right behind him was Robert K. Fortenbaugh.

I cannot visualize John Daly on a bicycle "pedaling" souvenirs. Your writer or proofreader should know the difference between that word and "peddling". Careful pronunciation of the two words tells you that they are different.

We stand corrected: Roll should have been role; pedaled should have been peddled.

Thank you, sirs, for taking the time to bring these to our attention. Moriarty, you're on double secret probation.

--Bob Carney

Like Bill Nicholson yesterday, Scott Houston didn't love the Dan Jenkins column, The Frank Lickliter Show, in the April issue:

Welcome to the Golf Digest show, where every month we review the pages to see if anything new has been discovered in the world of golf. I'm Sclaff McDivot, your host and today we'll start on page 98 because excluding the talented David Owen column, we have five pages of instruction that could appear in any volume of Golf Digest since it's inception, one useless Q and A etiquette page and 93 pages of advertising. So let's begin today's show with a review of The Frank Lickliter Show, which is not to be confused with this show, even though the writer of the Lickliter show is accomplished and will undoubtedly contribute another boring piece AFTER the Master's about stirring a martini with Gene Sarazen's famous four wood or how he watched the last hole in 1962 from the porch of Mamie's cabin while eatin' a bowl of chili he had flown in from Texas or better still, the day the great Hogan let him wear his hat for one hole in 1973 or anything equally boring.

So today's column is about...wait a second folks, I thought I underlined something funny or relevant or interesting in the column...well, I'll be, can't find a single line that captures the imagination or really makes sense.

Well, that's it for today's show, hope you'll tune in next month for another rousing time as we review this famous writer's next story..."How I turned a million dollars worth of golf stories, into twenty-five cents of nonsense."

>

Very clever, Scott, but so mean. Are you by any chance a member of the media?

--Bob Carney

Corey Roop of Kingsville, Texas, had a problem--consistency-- and the March Issue, specifically Jim Flick's "Six Steps to a Perfect Grip" story, solved it. It took some work, though.

After seeing pictures of Tiger Wood's backswing recently, I was amazed at how perfectly flat his left wrist was in relation to his forearm and shaft.

So on a whim, for the first time, I proceeded to the back yard to hit balls into the net and videotaped my backswing. I was shocked at what I found on those tapes. My set-up was perfect, takeaway was right on, in fact, I think my swing could be a exact copy of David Duval's, yet at the very top of my backswing, before the downswing was started, I had severe case of left wrist cupping (looks as if I'm swinging a baseball bat), which was so profound, caused the shaft to go across the line of my swing plane. Then on the downswing, I somehow re-routed the club to the and manipulated my hands to square the club-face. Because of this discovery, I have found the sickness that every-now-and-then cripples my swing and ruins my scores.

To fix this, I tried making my grip weaker/stronger, varying ball positions, hinging the wrist early, flatting my swing plane even more, taking the club back more outside, and placing a ruler under my watch to see if this would prevent this virus. Nothing worked until I found the article by Jim Flick. I followed his guidelines and instantly my wrist cupping was gone. Because of this simple, yet the most important basis fundamental of them all--a proper grip--I now have a perfect flat wrist and a tour-level "top" backswing without ever having to think about mechanics while I swing. Now, I'm anticipating tour-level consistency and much lower scores.

Keep us posted, Corey. You might want to track your progress on the new Golf Digest Challenge, which just re-launched. It'll give you Short and Long Game Handicaps. And if you want one of Jim McLean's instructors to analyze your swing, just to confirm your analysis, you can do that, too.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: Dom Furore)

Coloradan Bill Nicholson, "Former Marine", takes huge exception to Dan Jenkins' column entitled The Frank Lickliter Show in the April issue of Golf Digest.

This is obviously a personal one-sided view of a "journalist" who has a problem with Frank Lickliter. Perhaps Frank shunned an interview attempt by Mr. Jenkins, famous golf writer, and hurt his feelings. The part of the Frank Lickliter Show Mr. Jenkins didn't report on is the most important part....the countless hours and financial support Frank donates to U.S. military charities like the Wounded Warrior Project, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, and others. Not to mention that Frank broke his arm, Mr. Jenkins, from a fall while visting our troops in Iraq - A trip organized by Frank with other patriotic tour pros. Put the red golf ball on your nose Mr. Jenkins, famous golf writer.

Bill, thanks for the letter.

Dan loves great golf. He believes, if I may, that a golfer's celebrity ought to be earned on the course, not via television shows and promotions that celebrate something other than great performance. And he loves to poke fun at those who get a bit full of themselves because they get this other kind of attention. (BTW: He makes this point a heck of a lot more amusingly than I just did). But I know that Dan in no way disparages what Lickliter has done for our troops.

By the way, to donate to the Wounded Warror Project, click here.

--Bob Carney

(Illustration: Michael Criley)

Let me take a moment to sing the praises of buddies golf trips.

I've just returned from mine--a group of eight lobbyists, Democrats, union organizers and editors who have, to prove our tolerance, added one die-hard conservative over the 24 seasons we've assembled in February or March, mostly at Amelia Island Plantation (with a few years of PGA Golf Club mixed in). The trip is an equal mixture of golf, cigars, martinis, red wine, college basketabll, politics, personal updates, rules violations, snoring, steak, baked potatoes, hugs and complaints, with a couple of minor arrests thrown in over the years.

I look forward to this trip more than Christmas or Yankees Opening Day, and when I almost had to miss it this year felt the way I imagine one would feel cheating on his wife. I relented, and made it for half the trip. What makes the Tradishun (that's what we call it, so sue me) so enjoyable is that the golf, while somewhat competitive, is not obsessivley so. Our games are not great--the group ranges from 5 to 18--but to a man we play fast, needle hard and lobby like crazy for extra shots. No surpise: the lobbyists get the most unecessary strokes. Most of us our old now and not nearly as feisty as we used to be. We haven't had a two-separate-dinners feud in three or four years and the two young additions to the group (one union organizer, one entrepreneurial capitalist) keep us from living too much in the past.

This past weekend we played at the three courses at Amelia (two early Pete Dye tracks and Amelia River, a playable and fair Tom Jackson design), the Golf Club of North Hampton (a really strong Arnold Palmer just off the island) and Laurel Island Links, a Davis Love design about twenty minutes up I-95 in Georgia. (Davis seems to have taken his design cues from Sea Island and Augusta: wide open spaces off the tee, with lots of different and interesting green structures.

As with all buddies trips, and this is one of the core values, to quote HR department, is we've each had to change over the years to make the thing work, and in doing so the trip has made us better, I think. For my part, I've gone from being--I'm quoting here, since I don't remember any of this--a very temperamental, club-banging, rules stickler to a live-and-let live casual golfer who has adopted the Reasonable Man's Rules of Golf: All balls into the woods, briars or backyards are treated as having entered a lateral hazard. Putts are given generously except in our 36-hole tournament, when mostly we putt things out. Mulligans are optional on the first tee, though I've noticed they've disappeared over the years simply because they take too much time: Great rules for early season resort golf when 36 holes a day allow you to forget shots, good and bad, quickly.

Whether you adopt these rules or not, here's to your taking a trip like this soon. It teaches the game--all aspects of the game--better than any golf experience I've done. When the friendship comes first, somehow the golf gets faster--and more fun.

Love to hear about your buddies trip if you take one.

--Bob Carney

Jim Fuchs of Costa Mesa says Johnny Miller was swinging over the top in his analysis of the pressure our U.S. Open Contest winner will face at Torrey Pines:

I must have misread the breaking 100 at the US Open rules. I missed the part that says if the contestant fails to break 100 he/she is either executed or loses their home or their life savings. There is no pressure on this individual. They are not expected to break 100. They probably could care less what they shoot. The contestant/entrant is no doubt looking for their 15 (or in this case 60) minutes of fame, so they should welcome the media exposure. I would think there should be a fair amount of pressure on the celebrity golfers. This might be their first round where they actually count all of their strokes. And they certainly don’t want to embarrass themselves. And of course the most pressure will be on the golfer(s) (other than Tiger) who are in contention in the fourth round and trying to win the US Open.

Point well taken, Jim. But something tells me that whether it's life and death or not, it's going to feel like that to the winner of our contest--and to the celebs for that matter. As Grantland Rice said, "Because golf exposes the flaws of the human swing--a basically simple maneuver--it causes more self-torture than any game short of Russian roulette."

You'll decide who that winner is, by the way, when voting among five finalists begins online at the end of the month.

--Bob Carney

(Illustration: John Ueland)

You keep us honest, continued: In our April Masters Section story on K.J. Choi, Dave Kindred wrote:

"Winning a major," says Choi, who would be the first Korean to do it, "cat take you to a whole new world. I want to experience what that feeling is like, to win the biggest tournament in the world."

The quote was fine. But "who would be the first Korean to do it," was not and John Dickens of Middletown, NJ, was quick t point it out:

You suggest in the April Golf Digest that one day, dear old K J. Choi might become the first Korean to win a major golf championship. He's much too late because Se Ri Pak and Birdie Kim have already been there, done that, beginning in the last century. Is it possible that your writer, David Kindred, is also unaware that the USA has won the soccer World Cup?

Ouch. Thanks, John, we needed that. For the record, Se Ri Pak has won five majors, including two, the U.S. Open and the McDonald's LPGA Championship, in 1998, her rookie season. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2007. Birdie Kim won the 2006 U.S. Women's Open.

The story should have read "who would be the first male Korean to do it."

We also acknowledge that the U.S. Women's Soccer Team captured the World Cup in 1991and 1999.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: LPGA)

From Little Rock Reader James Henson comes this question and complaint:

 

I am writing to ask why there is not more mention or attention to the recent announcement of Ben Els’ autism on the Golf Digest website.  About all that I have seen is the AP story from Ferguson and Rich Lerner’s column on the TGC website.

Have you and others been aware of his illness? Has this been a “respect the privacy of the family” type deal? If it has not been known, doesn’t this put Ernie’s performances on the golf course in a different light?

We have corresponded before relative to Els a few years ago after he won his British Open is 2002. I really thought that win would mean big things for Els. But now I understand that Ben turned 2 in 2004 during his near Saturday Slam year. He probably found out sometime that year of Ben’s condition. Says a lot about his inability to stay focused on his game.

I would like to know who it is that said that “Tiger has a timeshare in Ernie’s head”.
Whoever came up with that little gem is despicable and ignorant.

I believe that Ben Els has a place in Ernie’s head and his heart and that is how it should be.

God bless their family.

Thanks, James. I think you are right that this weighed heavily on Ernie's mind.  I think there is reporting about it now because Ernie has made it public and wants to use the coverage to raise awareness and funds to fight the disease. The Ben Els story leads our weekly, Golf World, this week in the "Bunker" section. You'll also find it online.

--Bob Carney

Ralph Bolstad liked the President Eisenhower piece in April, in which it was revealed that the Presidency of the United States was the dream job for a golfer in the 1950s. (Ike had 194 golf days in 1958, more than 1,000 throughout his two terms.).

Enjoyed the article about Ike and his golf playing. The pictures of Ike were great!!! Brought back a lot of fond memories. One thing I hoped might be part of the article was a paragraph or two on the type equipment, golf clubs and balls, that Ike used. If that is available would appreciate any info you can share. I'm a long time subscriber to your magazine. You guys do a great job!!!

I'm tempted to say he played with any darn equipment he wanted (President Bill Clinton told us he was inundated with clubs), and in a way, that's true. But Ike played Spalding because those were the clubs that Bob Jones endorsed. In fact, Eisenhower's irons had a special insignia on the backs: "General Ike." Thanks for the question.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: AP)

In case you missed it, here is Kiter's response to yesterday's rant about the industry's ability to grow the game, from someone who worked on one of those Mom and Pop courses I referred to:

Over the past few years, golf has been posing as hungry but not acting upon it accordingly. I grew up on a 9-hole course owned by my father and uncle. There were leagues for every type of player and all members knew Friday mornings belonged to the kids. Junior clinics began at 8am on the range (by age group) followed by 9 holes of play. Here I am, 12 years old and I'm helping my uncle teach the golf swing to 8- and 9-year olds. I loved it. I learned a lot about the swing by teaching it to kids when I was a kid. Not only was it inexpensive, but it helped grow golf in the area.

Now, it is difficult to find such a thing at any course around. Couples leagues have turned into a once-a-year tourney and most times you're not paired with your spouse because your spouse doesn't play. Not only should there be a push for juniors to play, but women especially. I'm the tournament director for a regional amateur tourney in my area and we have been having difficulty keeping the women's tournament active because of the lack of participation.

Club pros and course directors--both public and private--have to reach out and make golf a lifestyle again. Help re-sell used clubs to assist the beginners to get started. Hold beginners clinics at least a couple times a month--for all, not just members. Promote partial memberships--10 rounds, 20 rounds, 30 rounds, etc. Offer twi-light rates, "Mondays only" memberships, Junior day, anything along these lines.

Drive home the fact that golf is both sport and recreation and once learned, you can play it the rest of your life. It befuddles me to see so many pompous people involved in what used to be the "gentleman's sport".

Nothing is worse than visiting a course outside of your area only to be treated like an outsider who doesn't belong. Nothing is better than visiting a new course and being treated like a new family member, even just for a day.

When 60,000 people enter a contest to play the U.S. Open course, the sport's in good shape. We just get in our own way sometimes.

--Bob Carney

Allow me a rant.

I spent the weekend in Montauk, New York, at the tip of Long Island, where there's a beautiful public course called Montauk Downs. It's a 1928 Robert Trent Jones design draped over sand hills and around fishing ponds (the kids scatter with their poles when you come to the tee on No. 6), a bargain at the resident rate of $36 and even at the visitor rate of $72. So when the weather broke Saturday night my friend Rich and I looked forward to a fast, off-season round Sunday morning. It would be windy--it had been blowing about 40 miles an hour and was supposed to continue--but sunny and pretty dry, given the rains of 12 hours previous. The sand absorbs water out there like a sponge.

But nothing doing. "The course is closed," said the woman behind the register. At 9 o'clock there were only a few us wanted to go, all walkers, of course; there was no way they would allow carts out after the rain. "Sorry. Too wet. The range is open, though." We hit balls, but we were dying to play. The course looked pretty dry; we could see just two small puddles from our vantage point, looking out at four or five holes. (Later, we talked to a neighbor of Rich's, a golfer, who walked his dog on the course Sunday morning. "Oh, it was fine," he said. "No problem playing."

Hmm, I thought. This is the industry that's wringing its hands about decreased rounds and golfers lost to other activites. Let's say there were just 25 of us who wanted to walk the course on Sunday. Maybe a few friends like Rich and I, a couple of singles, maybe a dad or two and his kids. Maybe it was only $1,000 to the State of New York. The offices were open anyway. The pro shop was open. The range was open. What would have been the harm of letting 20 or 25 diehards walk and play the golf course? In the world of round-counting, we were low hanging fruit. (I remember playing at Tralee in Ireland two years ago. We played through the most ferocious wind and rain I'd ever encountered. As we finished, soaking wet, huge puddles lined the 18th fairway. We dried off, ate lunch and by the time we'd finished the sun was out and golfers were heading out again.) But at Montauk they were closed.

The fact, is golf isn't hungry. It talks hungry. It issues press releases as if it's hungry. But if it were really hungry, there would have been no question about golf on Sunday at Montauk Downs. If it were really hungry, there would be free clinics for kids every month at every public course. If it were really hungry, there would be after-school junior hours where kids could get access to local courses. If it were really hungry there would be nine-hole leagues for every conceivable human subdivision, from singles to sorority sisters, heck, maybe even six-hole leagues. If it were really hungry, I'd be writing about a crazy, gale-swept, laugh-out-loud, triple-digit round at Montauk on Sunday.

Golf ought to take a lesson from the Mom and Pop owners of the courses we grew up on who created couples outings, hit-and-giggle clinics, breakfast leagues, free hot dogs with rounds, you name it, to fill their "inventory". Or from Frank Thomas, the former USGA official whose new book, "Just Hit It", echoes this back-to-basics theme. "Golf really should be a simple and pleasant experience," says Frank. "The game began in nature," says Frank. "That's where we found satisfaction." Not in perfect conditions. Not even in big-name designs. That's all we wanted on Sunday, a little tussle with nature. Folks who understand why people play don't find reasons to shut their gates. They might warn us about the wet spots. But they enjoy crazies like Rich and me who would want to play in a 40-mile-an-hour wind. We're their customers.

--Bob Carney

We look forward to letters from our friend Dave Riffey in Shell Lake, Wisconsin, Bret Favre's retirement has folks feeling ornery. This week Dave takes on a favorite topic of ours. (We retain Dave's capitalization for emotional impact):

I find it quite sickening that the Prima Donnas on the tour can't figure out... HOW TO PLAY FASTER! When interviewed, they talk about longer courses, tougher courses, and not enough PGA officials. These are all true. My question is, why do you have to talk to your caddie like he is your prom date... The caddies job is to GIVE YOU THE YARDAGE AND THE WIND, IF ANY..... you are the one who should select the club.

That can't be that hard. They know actly how far they hit each club. What more do they need.

HIT THE DAMN BALL !!!!

Then, THEY GET TO THE GREEN...CIRCLING LIKE A VULTURES......THEY ASK THE CADDIE TO LOOK.....HE SQUATS, SHAKES HIS HEAD..WALKS HALF WAY...LOOKS BACK....PUTS HIS HAND ON HIS CHIN....THEN THE PLAYER SQUATS...WALKS AROUND...

PUTT ALREADY !!

SOLUTION TO THIS WHOLE DEAL :

1. CADDIES, STOP READING PUTTS !!!
2. CADDIES, GIVE THE YARDAGE..THEN SHUT UP !!
3. NEED A RULING... OTHERS IN THE GROUP PROCEED TO HOLE OUT...DON'T WAIT....

Dave, we welcome a round with you. With the hours we have left over, we'll buy you the beer and a brat or two. Thanks!

--Bob Carney

Colorado reader Howard Gluckman writes about Mike Johnson's "Buyer Beware" story in the Feb. 29 issue of Golf World:

I was disappointed in the article on counterfeit clubs.  I have no doubt that it is a big problem for the manufacturers, and it needs to be stopped.  However, there was little information of use to consumers.  If ebay and other Internet sources are not valid places to buy legitimate clubs, then say so — and back it up, but otherwise the article should have given us some useful tools for deciding if a club is counterfeit before buying it.

Howard, did you miss the sidebar: "Which is the fake and how to tell?" It has several pieces of advice, including...

If a club lacks a serial number there is a good chance it could be fake...

and

Beware of brand-new clubs on an Internet auction site. While some stories of "just won in a raffle" or "got as a gift" are true, some aren't.

Or, my favorite...

If a club you are evaluating claims to be titanium and a magnet clings to it, it is fake.

The fact is, as Mike Johnson told me in response to your letter, there are no absolutely hard and fast rules. Some Internet auction sales are fine, for example; some aren't. If a site allows you to examine a club before your payment is forwarded to the seller--golfclubexchange.com, for example--all the better.

Hope this helps.

--Bob Carney

Bill Fields' terrific story on Herb Wind and Amen Corner in the Masters Section brought back memories for Peter Kaufman of New York City.

I had the privilege of taking a college course in Sports Journalism in the early 1970's, taught by Herbert Warren Wind. That resulted in once or twice a year lunches with Mr Wind for about twenty years or so, to my absolute delight.  The substance of the lunches was blessedly one-sided, as I always implored him to do pretty much all the talking while I did all the listening (with the occasional question tossed in). 

Of this much I am certain: Mr Wind would have applauded the outing of his "mistake" regarding the musical provenance of the phrase "Amen Corner".  He treasured accuracy and precision in his incredibly textured and honed prose, and I cannot help but feel that Richard Moore's record-correction would have been rewarded  with one of Mr Wind's trademark broad smiles and a slight nod of the head.   Tough to get Higher approval than that!

I agree, Peter. I think Herb would have loved Bill's piece. It was the most respectful, laudatory correction in the history of magazines.

--Bob Carney

Bob Wishnie, a member of the CBS TV crew, has a bone to gnaw, er pick, with Jim Moriarty and his Feb. 29 Golf World column, Eating a la Tour. Moriarty set the pecking pecking order: players first, sponsors second, caddies third. "Below even the caddies," wrote Mo, "are the TV folk:"

In response to Jim Moriarty's 'Eating a la Tour', as a member of the CBS golf technical crew for 24 years, I believe we are the best fed crew in sports. I realize the article was tongue in cheek, but the guys on our catering truck work lousy long hours to feed around 200 people twice a day 4 days a week. Thanks to our producer Lance Barrow, we've enjoyed Unique Catering out of Los Angeles since the early 90's. Barry and Roger will go out of their way to help someone's dietetic requests, including daily alternatives at a pasta, taco, quesadilla or omelet station. I don't know if Patton's Third Army ate better, but I guarantee we have more choices....

Wishnie, the camera operator who caught Tiger's chip-in at the 16th at the Masters and zeroed in on that final turn into the hole, goes on to provide mesmerizing detail on the feeding habits of CBS talent:

McCord and Feherty are anything but just tasters. David has to bike up to 50 miles every morning so he can gorge at lunch and I've seen McCord pin his mustache up to avoid mac and cheese stains.

As far as unionized technicians being the 'evolutionary equivalent of carnies', I invite Mr. Moriarty to lunch at any CBS golf event this summer and enjoy our feast and company. Look me up behind the camera at the 17th green but be on time as I'm usually the first in line for lunch.

Maybe you guys eat well, Bob. But Tom Mirus, a tournament volunteer from Kentucky, believes that your Golf Channel counterparts do even better:

...having volunteered a number of years for the Telephone Pioneers at the old Bruno's Memorial Classic (now the Region's Charity Classic) I had the opportunity to dine at the Volunteeers Tent on much of the local fast food quisine. However, the last year that I worked before moving from the Birmingham area, I was able to volunteer with the Golf Channel. Let me tell you, those folks eat well as do their volunteers. They bring their own chef and kitchen and put on a spread for breakfast and lunch that would be hard pressed to beat even at the Champions Club food fest. Feeding a bunch of sometimes wet and cold or hot and sweaty people from close to daylight to late afternoon with sufficient food is a challenge in itself, but to do it in style with great tasting food is something out of the ordinary. Thanks to the Golf Channel folks, I didn't go without sufficient calories needed to work their tasks.

No need to broadcast that, Tom.

--Bob Carney

John Chansky of Framingham, Mass., writes on the game's and the tour's nemesis: slow play. He likes what he sees on the LPGA Tour. The PGA Tour not so much.

Once again the LPGA trumps the PGA and no one notices. Last year it was drug testing, this year it is slow play. A few weeks ago Angela Park gets penalized for slow play, on a Sunday afternoon. During the WGC final when there are only two players on the course Tiger is quoted "who are we holding up?" after being warned of slow play. When will the PGA Tour wake up and starting being a leader instead of a follower? Let's start by hitting the players with some penalties. The average golfer is watching these guys line up every little thing and I have to be behind this bozo on the course as he lines up a two footer for a double bogey.

John, you know that Tiger Woods has made noise about this. Recently, so have Jerry Kelly and Adam Scott, among others who think the hammer has to come down on the big tour.

"Everyone knows who [the slow players] are," Jerry Kelly said. "We need to single them out."

"People play way, way too slow," Scott said during the Indian Johnny Walker tournament. "They need to hurry up. They should start penalising people. Just penalise them."

You may not like the way they spell penalize in Australia, but they are willing to do it. Personally, I wouldn't care about how fast they play on tour, except the foursome that plays in front of me every weekend seems determined to play at exactly the same pace.

--Bob Carney

Mike Johnson's February 29 story in Golf World, Buyer Beware, struck home with a bunch of people, especially those who weren't bewaring.

Gentlemen,

Referencing your issue of 2/29/08, "Buyer Beware" article.

I purchased a Callaway FT-i driver on eBay on 9/22/07. Almost immediately, I received emails from other eBay buyers who stated they had been ripped off by the seller from whom I had purchased.

I took my club to the Martin's PGA Superstore and asked the club expert to check out my club. He quickly showed me that every single component in the club was counterfeit. Even the head cover was bogus! The club's bar code, when scanned, said the driver was a sand wedge!

I have saved the 24 emails and the club itself to offer to Callaway Golf as evidence. I want the seller and the manufacturer to to face justice. I recall how Ely Callaway fought a constant battle with counterfeiters.

That's Jim Walker, who goes on to say he later bought a real FT-i and loves it.

Arthur Kramer emailed us with a somewhat similar story and a couple of photos. We post one.

I saw your article about counterfeit clubs and I thought I'd show you one. I bought this on Ebay not knowing it was fake. It was a lot less than a Sasquatch so I really didn't care after I found out. It came out of Canada. I contacted NIKE and they didn't seem to care either. They told me it was fake because the hosel didn't have a serial number. I noticed underneath that the paint scheme was a little wrong too. You can see in the pics that the little marking in front of the 460 is black, it should yellow and the fact that the hosel is too short without the serial number is the other giveaway. Just thought you might like to share this. Thanks, nice mag. If you want to print it, I can take some better pics for you.

All the manufacturers care, Arthur. They're spending a ton to keep this "$240 million scam" from happening.

--Bob Carney

Jaime Diaz's column on the relationship of Tiger Woods and Barack Obama in Golf World's Feb. 29th issue drew rapid response, not all of it positive.

Diaz admittedly went out on a limb:

I can't help it. Something visceral tells me Tiger Woods has had something to do with the ascension of Barack Obama. Maybe a lot.

Despite some cultural experts urging him not to, Jaime  forged ahead with his premise and drew fiery responses, including one from Floridian George Elgart, who called the column "racist".  An excerpt:

 

Tiger, love him or detest him, is the finest example of a golfer I have had the pleasure to observe in my 50 summers.  News flash to Mr. Diaz: This kid really is special.  Compare him to Einstein, to Jonas Salk, to Michael Jordan, to Babe Ruth, to Michaelangelo, to Disraeli or Pele, fine, but please spare us the comparison to a political newcomer, untested by time or circumstance.  I would ask Diaz for his favorite Obama accomplishment, but evidently he has already included it in his piece: his race.  Tiger is not great because or in spite of his ethnic heritage, Tiger is the greatest golfer of his (or perhaps any) age because of his remarkable ability to play golf. 

Len Raley of Elk Grove, California, also had a problem with Diaz's logic:

I was offended at the content of the Opinion column in the February 29th issue of Golf World for several reasons:   First and foremost, political and cultural opinion drivel of this kind has no place in a weekly golf publication. If I wish this kind of content, I can find it in a multitude of publications far better suited to the topics.

Second, the ill-conceived connection premise of the opinion content was accurately described by Dr. Harry Edwards as having "... next to nothing to do with the other". The fact that Diaz actually let the article leave his word processing vehicle and that you chose to publish the piece is mind boggling.
 
Lastly, I see the article as a new low in the "Billary's" efforts to capture the Democratic presidential nomination. Recruiting a hack golf writer to point out the empty rhetoric used by Obama in his sales pitch to the American public is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Please note that I have included elements of my own political opinion. You don't really care to hear it --do you?

Actually, Len, we do. The reason columnists write columns like this one is because they generate very passionate letters, yours included. Thanks for sharing it.

--Bob Carney