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    <title>Golf Digest Search Results</title>
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    <pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:39:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <category />
    <dc:creator>Golf Digest</dc:creator>
    <dc:subject />
    <dc:date>2013-06-18T19:39:00Z</dc:date>
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    <dc:rights>Copyright 2009 CondeNet Inc. All rights reserved.</dc:rights>
    <item>
      <title>The Grind: Rose's big win, Phil's bigger heartbreak &amp; why we're all wickered out</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/the-grind-us-open-justin-rose-phil-mickelson.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/contributors/alex-myers"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Alex Myers&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where the next person who mentions Merion's wicker baskets risks being beaten with one of Merion's wicker baskets. Seriously, it was fun while it lasted, but all this attention might give other clubs ideas. What's next? Birdhouses on top of flagsticks? Car tires? Wicker chairs? Probably not, but if it ever happens, NBC and Jimmy Roberts will have a field day. In the meantime, here's what we're focusing on.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;WE'RE BUYING&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Justin Rose:&lt;/b&gt; A 32-year-old who was once a teen phenom breaking through &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/in-justin-rose-a-golden-generation-finally-delivers-on-its-p.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;to win his first major&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;? Hmm. We think we've heard that one recently. . . There was a joke going around after the FedEx St. Jude Classic that the only English winner on the PGA Tour in 2013 was Harris English. Not anymore. What a performance by Rose at the U.S. Open, especially considering he'd never seriously contended down the stretch at a major before. 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-grind-phil-mickelson-0618.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-grind-phil-mickelson-0618.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/06/blog-grind-phil-mickelson-0618-thumb-470x313-101584.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="313" width="470" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;i&gt;It was good to see Phil hasn't lost any of his hops. (Photo: Getty Images)&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;The U.S. Open:&lt;/b&gt; The course. The carnage. &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2013-06/photos-johnny-millerisms#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;The NBC theme music&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. The star-studded leader board. The finish. Johnny Miller saying, "Chunk and run" every two minutes. Our favorite week of the year delivered in grand fashion.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2013-06/photos-johnny-millerisms#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: A collection of our favorite Johnny Millerisms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Jason Day&lt;/b&gt;: Who says Jack Nicklaus' major record is safe? Day is just 25 and seems on pace to challenge the Golden Bear's mark of 19 runner-ups with his latest T-2 at the U.S. Open. Add a third-place finish at Augusta already this year and the question must be asked: Why isn't this guy contending more in regular PGA Tour events?
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Phil Mickelson:&lt;/b&gt; Let's focus on the positive. In the last two weeks, Phil has two T-2s that bookend him seeing his daughter, Amanda, graduate from middle school. Apparently, she even &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2013-06/phil-mickelson-kindred-0613" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;gave a speech at the ceremony&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in which she quoted Ron Burgundy from the movie "Anchorman". What a proud papa he must be! Yes, adding to his &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2013-06/phil-mickelson-us-open-kindred" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;record of runner-ups at the U.S. Open&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; stings, but obviously, you can't have &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2010-06/photos-mickelson-runnerup#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;this many close calls&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; without being a great player. That being said. . . 
&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;WE'RE SELLING&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Phil Mickelson:&lt;/b&gt; I thought I had &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2013-06/golf-fantasy-draft-us-open"&gt;&lt;u&gt;our office pool&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; wrapped up with Jason Dufner's Sunday run and Mickelson's Miracle-at-Merion holeout for eagle on No. 10 to take the lead. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. Finishing runner-up is tough. I'll be thinking about that close call for awhile. What, you thought I was talking about Phil?
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Steve Stricker:&lt;/b&gt; SHANKAPOTAMUS!!! Seriously, that train wreck was painful to watch. A U.S. course is tough enough, but under Sunday pressure, Stricker reminded us that even the world's best players are susceptible to weekend hacker moments. The shank OB on No. 2 virtually ended the 46-year-old's (last?) golden opportunity to win a first major. And he's already snuffed out his next chance by saying he won't play in next month's British Open. Disappointing.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2013-06/photos-defining-shots#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: The shots that defined the U.S. Open&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Players complaining:&lt;/b&gt; The &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2013-06/Kindred-Merion-too-tough" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;rough is too thick&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. The &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/tiger-woods-doesnt-seem-to-be-merions-biggest-fan.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;hole placements are too tough&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. The &lt;a href="http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2013/6/16/video-phil-to-mike-davis-on-274-yard-3rd-terrible.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;par 3s are too long&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Wah. Wah. Wah. Guys, the U.S. Open is one week out of the year. Is it difficult? Sure. But there's a difference between setting up a challenging course and an unfair one. Players who hit bad shots paid the price, but players who hit good shots were rewarded. And oh yeah, enough about what par is. Everyone played the same holes and added their scores up at the end of the day the same way: 281 won this tournament, not one over.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Tiger Woods:&lt;/b&gt;. When Tiger won his 14th major at Torrey Pines in 2008, what odds could you have gotten that he would go (at least) the next five years without winning another big one? 1,000 to 1? 10,000 to 1? Elbow injury or not, it's getting tough to explain Tiger's disappearing acts in golf's biggest events. Even tougher is explaining why he chipped and putted at Merion like a mid-handicapper. But never fear, Woods will still be made an overwhelming favorite for Muirfield by experts like us!
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;ON TAP&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
The PGA Tour heads to Connecticut for the Travelers Championship, aka that tournament they usually play after the U.S. Open. We have a lot of respect for Rose, who kept his commitment to playing this week instead of taking a vacation in the mountains of cash he earned himself with his first major championship. Actually, we have a lot of respect for &lt;em&gt;anyone&lt;/em&gt; who competed in that grindfest teeing it up again so soon.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Random tournament fact:&lt;/b&gt; Tim Norris owns the best score in relation to par with a 25-under performance in 1982. He's so obscure we're not even sure Google has heard of him.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;WEEKLY YAHOO! FANTASY LINEUP&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
The day before the tournament, I talked to Rose &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/will-a-mudball-determine-the-outcome-of-the-us-open.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;about mudballs&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; as he signed autographs. When our chat was over -- he did a tremendous job multi-tasking -- I thanked him for his time, patted him on the shoulder and wished him good luck. Maybe I'm not such a jinx after all. . .
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Starters -- (A-List): Jason Dufner:&lt;/b&gt; Did you see the ball-striking display this guy put on at Merion on Sunday?!
&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(B-List): Bo Van Pelt:&lt;/b&gt; BVP has finished in the top 25 at TPC River Highlands six of the past eight years.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(B-List): Fredrik Jacobson:&lt;/b&gt; The site of his lone PGA Tour win in 2011, the Swede finished T-8 in his title defense last year.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2013-06/birdies-bogeys-round-four?slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: The winners and losers from the U.S. Open at Merion&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(C-List): Rickie Fowler:&lt;/b&gt; After a respectable showing at Merion, we think the time has come for Fowler to pick up that second PGA Tour title.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Bench -- &lt;/b&gt; Bubba Watson, Charley Hoffman, Zach Johnson and Kevin Streelman.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
In honor of Pinehurst, the site of next year's U.S. Open &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; U.S. Women's Open, we present this frisbee golf video the resort sent me. In it, Ken Climo, who is apparently the 'Jack Nicklaus of Disc Golf,' takes on the famed No. 2 course:
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;object height="360" width="470"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iSr7_8Aa9DE?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iSr7_8Aa9DE?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="360" width="470"&gt;&lt;/object&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
It also gives us a chance to link to this classic Seinfeld clip in which George Costanza chooses 'Frolf' over helping out Jerry.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;object height="360" width="470"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dZF1SJW7JFw?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dZF1SJW7JFw?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="360" width="470"&gt;&lt;/object&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK&lt;/b&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
-- A player will hit a driver on one of TPC Highland's par 3s this week: 1,000-to-1 odds
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
-- Sergio Garcia will have nightmares about the Philly fans at Merion: 5-to-1 odds
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
-- Sergio Garcia will have nightmares about Merion's 15th hole: LOCK
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;THIS WEEK IN DUSTIN JOHNSON-PAULINA GRETZKY DISPLAYS OF PUBLIC AFFECTION&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Unfortunately, we didn't cross paths with Paulina at Merion. We're guessing she's not a fan of walking around in the mud. But we do know that she and DJ are still an item thanks to this tweeted photo of the two of them kissing their dog goodbye before heading off to Germany: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-grind-paulina-dustin-0618.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-grind-paulina-dustin-0618.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/06/blog-grind-paulina-dustin-0618-thumb-470x341-101603.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="341" width="470" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
BAD JOKE ALERT: Apparently, DJ likes big dogs both on and off the course!
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;THIS AND THAT&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-grind-adler-sergio.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-grind-adler-sergio.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/06/blog-grind-adler-sergio-thumb-300x276-101604.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" height="276" width="300" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Phil praised Merion, but &lt;a href="http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2013/6/16/video-phil-to-mike-davis-on-274-yard-3rd-terrible.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;ripped the USGA for the par-3 third&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; playing 274 yards on Sunday. Phil, you played right into Mike Davis' head games! . . . &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/horschel-boasts-octopus-pants-for-final-round-of-us-open.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Billy Horschel wore octopus pants&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; on Sunday. Sorry, Mr. Style, but he looked ridiculous and Johnny Miller agreed. . . . It was not a good week for people being hit by stray golf balls. &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/luke-donald-hits-a-volunteer-during-us-open-final-round.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Luke Donald&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; almost killed someone on Sunday and Golf Digest's own Max Adler was a victim of &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/when-sergio-garcias-tee-shot-strikes-you-in-the-neck.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;another wayward Sergio Garcia drive&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;above&lt;/em&gt;). Now &lt;em&gt;that's&lt;/em&gt; going all out to get a story.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Will Phil Mickelson ever win a U.S. Open?
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Will Tiger Woods ever win another major?
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Will any player ever wear octopus pants in a major again?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;em&gt;-- Alex Myers is an Associate Editor for GolfDigest.com. Feel free to &lt;a href="mailto:alex.myers@golfdigest.com"&gt;&lt;u&gt;email him&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and please &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/AlexMyers3"&gt;&lt;u&gt;follow him on Twitter&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; since he has self-esteem issues.&lt;/em&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:39:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/the-grind-us-open-justin-rose-phil-mickelson.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-06-18T19:39:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Grind: Rose's big win, Phil's bigger U.S. Open heartbreak &amp; why we're all wickered out</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/the-grind-roses-big-win-phils-bigger-us-open-heartbreak-why.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/contributors/alex-myers"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Alex Myers&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Welcome to another edition of The Grind, the next person who mentions Merion's wicker baskets risks being beaten with one of Merion's wicker baskets. Seriously, it was fun while it lasted, but all this attention might give other clubs ideas. What's next? Birdhouses on top of flagsticks? Car tires? Wicker chairs? Probably not, but if it ever happens, NBC and Jimmy Roberts will have a field day. In the meantime, here's what we're focusing on.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;WE'RE BUYING&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Justin Rose:&lt;/b&gt; A 32-year-old who was once a teen phenom breaking through &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/in-justin-rose-a-golden-generation-finally-delivers-on-its-p.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;to win his first major&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;? Hmm. We think we've heard that one recently. . . There was a joke going around after the FedEx St. Jude Classic that the only English winner on the PGA Tour in 2013 was Harris English. Not anymore. What a performance by Rose at the U.S. Open, especially considering he'd never seriously contended down the stretch at a major before. 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-grind-phil-mickelson-0618.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-grind-phil-mickelson-0618.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/06/blog-grind-phil-mickelson-0618-thumb-470x313-101584.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="313" width="470" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;i&gt;It was good to see Phil hasn't lost any of his hops. (Photo: Getty Images)&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;The U.S. Open:&lt;/b&gt; The course. The carnage. &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2013-06/photos-johnny-millerisms#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;The NBC theme music&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. The star-studded leader board. The finish. Johnny Miller saying, "Chunk and run" every two minutes. Our favorite week of the year delivered in grand fashion.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2013-06/photos-johnny-millerisms#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: A collection of our favorite Johnny Millerisms&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Jason Day&lt;/b&gt;: Who says Jack Nicklaus' major record is safe? Day is just 25 and seems on pace to challenge the Golden Bear's mark of 19 runner-ups with his latest T-2 at the U.S. Open. Add a third-place finish at Augusta already this year and the question must be asked: Why isn't this guy contending more in regular PGA Tour events?
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Phil Mickelson:&lt;/b&gt; Let's focus on the positive. In the last two weeks, Phil has two T-2s that bookend him seeing his daughter, Amanda, graduate from middle school. Apparently, she even &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2013-06/phil-mickelson-kindred-0613" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;gave a speech at the ceremony&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in which she quoted Ron Burgundy from the movie "Anchorman". What a proud papa he must be! Yes, adding to his &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2013-06/phil-mickelson-us-open-kindred" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;record of runner-ups at the U.S. Open&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; stings, but obviously, you can't have &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2010-06/photos-mickelson-runnerup#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;this many close calls&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; without being a great player. That being said. . . 
&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;WE'RE SELLING&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Phil Mickelson:&lt;/b&gt; I thought I had &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2013-06/golf-fantasy-draft-us-open"&gt;&lt;u&gt;our office pool&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; wrapped up with Jason Dufner's Sunday run and Mickelson's Miracle-at-Merion holeout for eagle on No. 10 to take the lead. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. Finishing runner-up is tough. I'll be thinking about that close call for awhile. What, you thought I was talking about Phil?
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Steve Stricker:&lt;/b&gt; SHANKAPOTAMUS!!! Seriously, that train wreck was painful to watch. A U.S. course is tough enough, but under Sunday pressure, Stricker reminded us that even the world's best players are susceptible to weekend hacker moments. The shank OB on No. 2 virtually ended the 46-year-old's (last?) golden opportunity to win a first major. And he's already snuffed out his next chance by saying he won't play in next month's British Open. Disappointing.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2013-06/photos-defining-shots#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: The shots that defined the U.S. Open&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Players complaining:&lt;/b&gt; The &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2013-06/Kindred-Merion-too-tough" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;rough is too thick&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. The &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/tiger-woods-doesnt-seem-to-be-merions-biggest-fan.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;hole placements are too tough&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. The &lt;a href="http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2013/6/16/video-phil-to-mike-davis-on-274-yard-3rd-terrible.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;par 3s are too long&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Wah. Wah. Wah. Guys, the U.S. Open is one week out of the year. Is it difficult? Sure. But there's a difference between setting up a challenging course and an unfair one. Players who hit bad shots paid the price, but players who hit good shots were rewarded. And oh yeah, enough about what par is. Everyone played the same holes and added their scores up at the end of the day the same way: 281 won this tournament, not one over.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Tiger Woods:&lt;/b&gt;. When Tiger won his 14th major at Torrey Pines in 2008, what odds could you have gotten that he would go (at least) the next five years without winning another big one? 1,000 to 1? 10,000 to 1? Elbow injury or not, it's getting tough to explain Tiger's disappearing acts in golf's biggest events. Even tougher is explaining why he chipped and putted at Merion like a mid-handicapper. But never fear, Woods will still be made an overwhelming favorite for Muirfield by experts like us!
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;ON TAP&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
The PGA Tour heads to Connecticut for the Travelers Championship, aka that tournament they usually play after the U.S. Open. We have a lot of respect for Rose, who kept his commitment to playing this week instead of taking a vacation in the mountains of cash he earned himself with his first major championship. Actually, we have a lot of respect for &lt;em&gt;anyone&lt;/em&gt; who competed in that grindfest teeing it up again so soon.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Random tournament fact:&lt;/b&gt; Tim Norris owns the best score in relation to par with a 25-under performance in 1982. He's so obscure we're not even sure Google has heard of him.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;WEEKLY YAHOO! FANTASY LINEUP&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
The day before the tournament, I talked to Rose &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/will-a-mudball-determine-the-outcome-of-the-us-open.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;about mudballs&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; as he signed autographs. When our chat was over -- he did a tremendous job multi-tasking -- I thanked him for his time, patted him on the shoulder and wished him good luck. Maybe I'm not such a jinx after all. . .
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Starters -- (A-List): Jason Dufner:&lt;/b&gt; Did you see the ball-striking display this guy put on at Merion on Sunday?!
&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(B-List): Bo Van Pelt:&lt;/b&gt; BVP has finished in the top 25 at TPC River Highlands six of the past eight years.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(B-List): Fredrik Jacobson:&lt;/b&gt; The site of his lone PGA Tour win in 2011, the Swede finished T-8 in his title defense last year.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/us-open/2013-06/birdies-bogeys-round-four?slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: The winners and losers from the U.S. Open at Merion&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(C-List): Rickie Fowler:&lt;/b&gt; After a respectable showing at Merion, we think the time has come for Fowler to pick up that second PGA Tour title.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Bench -- &lt;/b&gt; Bubba Watson, Charley Hoffman, Zach Johnson and Kevin Streelman.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
In honor of Pinehurst, the site of next year's U.S. Open &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; U.S. Women's Open, we present this frisbee golf video the resort sent me. In it, Ken Climo, who is apparently the 'Jack Nicklaus of Disc Golf,' takes on the famed No. 2 course:
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;object height="360" width="470"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iSr7_8Aa9DE?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iSr7_8Aa9DE?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="360" width="470"&gt;&lt;/object&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
It also gives us a chance to link to this classic Seinfeld clip in which George Costanza chooses 'Frolf' over helping out Jerry.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;object height="360" width="470"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dZF1SJW7JFw?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dZF1SJW7JFw?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="360" width="470"&gt;&lt;/object&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK&lt;/b&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
-- A player will hit a driver on one of TPC Highland's par 3s this week: 1,000-to-1 odds
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
-- Sergio Garcia will have nightmares about the Philly fans at Merion: 5-to-1 odds
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
-- Sergio Garcia will have nightmares about Merion's 15th hole: LOCK
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;THIS WEEK IN DUSTIN JOHNSON-PAULINA GRETZKY DISPLAYS OF PUBLIC AFFECTION&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Unfortunately, we didn't cross paths with Paulina at Merion. We're guessing she's not a fan of walking around in the mud. But we do know that her and DJ are still an item thanks to this tweet photo of the two of them kissing their dog goodbye before heading off to Germany: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-grind-paulina-dustin-0618.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-grind-paulina-dustin-0618.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/06/blog-grind-paulina-dustin-0618-thumb-470x341-101603.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="341" width="470" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
BAD JOKE ALERT: Apparently, DJ likes big dogs both on and off the course!
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;THIS AND THAT&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-grind-adler-sergio.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-grind-adler-sergio.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/06/blog-grind-adler-sergio-thumb-300x276-101604.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" height="276" width="300" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Phil praised Merion, but &lt;a href="http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2013/6/16/video-phil-to-mike-davis-on-274-yard-3rd-terrible.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;ripped the USGA for the par-3 third&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; playing 274 yards on Sunday. Phil, you played right into Mike Davis' head games! . . . &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/horschel-boasts-octopus-pants-for-final-round-of-us-open.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Billy Horschel wore octopus pants&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; on Sunday. Sorry, Mr. Style, but he looked ridiculous and Johnny Miller agreed. . . . It was not a good week for people being hit by stray golf balls. &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/luke-donald-hits-a-volunteer-during-us-open-final-round.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Luke Donald&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; almost killed someone on Sunday and Golf Digest's own Max Adler was a victim of &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/when-sergio-garcias-tee-shot-strikes-you-in-the-neck.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;another wayward Sergio Garcia drive&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;left&lt;/em&gt;). Now &lt;em&gt;that's&lt;/em&gt; going all out to get a story.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Will Phil Mickelson ever win a U.S. Open?
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Will Tiger Woods ever win another major?
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Will any player ever wear octopus pants in a major again?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;em&gt;-- Alex Myers is an Associate Editor for GolfDigest.com. Feel free to &lt;a href="mailto:alex.myers@golfdigest.com"&gt;&lt;u&gt;email him&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and please &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/AlexMyers3"&gt;&lt;u&gt;follow him on Twitter&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; since he has self-esteem issues.&lt;/em&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:39:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/06/the-grind-roses-big-win-phils-bigger-us-open-heartbreak-why.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-06-18T15:39:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>What a (Jason) Day for Sang-Moon Bae</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/05/what-a-jason-day-for-sang-moon-bae.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/contributors/john-strege"&gt;&lt;u&gt;John Strege&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Sang-Moon Bae already had a claim to at least a modicum of fame, courtesy of Golf Boys 2.Oh. &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiiOqybRvsM"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Dial it up on You Tube&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and listen carefully, toward the end:
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;em&gt;I took a vaycay at Sang-Moon Bae&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;i&gt;I&amp;nbsp;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;em&gt;got a massage every single Jason Day&lt;/em&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-sang-moon-bae-0519.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-sang-moon-bae-0519.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/05/blog-sang-moon-bae-0519-thumb-300x412-98822.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" height="412" width="300" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;The Golf Boys are Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan and Ben Crane, whose latest video has received nearly 3.8 million views on You Tube, no doubt leaving nearly 3.8 million viewers wondering where this Sang-Moon Bay is located and whether they too should plan a vaycay there.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Assuming they follow golf, they're likely to soon learn that Moon, as his colleagues call him, is not a destination resort, though if his golf swing was contagious, he'd be worth a visit.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"Fabulous golf swing," CBS' Nick Faldo said, after Bae outplayed Keegan Bradley down the stretch on Sunday to win the HP Byron Nelson Championship, his first PGA Tour victory.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/swing-sequences/2012-06/photos-keegan-bradley#intro" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: A closer look at Keegan Bradley's swing&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
His is a game that can travel, too, and it won't be in coach class. Only 26, Bae, a native of South Korea, also has 11 international victories, including three on the Asian Tour and another three on the Japan Golf Tour, where in 2011 he was its leading money winner.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
If he or Bradley were stocks, they'd be strong buys at this point. This was already assumed about Bradley, who also is only 26 and already is a major champion and three-time winner on the PGA Tour. But Bae is relatively unknown, having joined the PGA Tour last year, when he earned $1,165,952, a figure, incidentally, that he exceeded with his victory at the TPC Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Maybe better than his swing was the way he handled the pressure after squandering a four-stroke lead over Bradley. The last five holes are the most difficult stretch on the course with winds howling and he played them in even-par to win by two.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"We all marvel at this golf swing," Faldo said, "but I marvel at his mental strength as well. He showed great strength today. It wasn't very right for awhile and to face the big five holes to get in and shoot [even], fantastic."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2013-04/photos-fast-golfers#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: Our favorite fast players on the PGA Tour&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Faldo also predicted that Bae won't be "a flash in the pan." Bae is banking on that as well, aiming as he is to represent South Korea in the Olympics in 2016. Military service is mandatory in South Korea and he has yet to fulfill his obligation, but an Olympic medal or a major championship would exempt him from service.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Until then, and with apologies to the Golf Boys, Sunday will serve as the finest (Jason) Day of his career.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/johnstrege" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" data-lang="en"&gt;Follow @JohnStrege&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script&gt;!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");&lt;/script&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 19 May 2013 22:43:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/05/what-a-jason-day-for-sang-moon-bae.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-05-19T22:43:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Media: 'He's the wizard of Oz'</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/media-hes-the-wizard-of-oz.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/contributors/john-strege"&gt;&lt;u&gt;John Strege&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The thought surely occurred to anyone recalling Adam Scott's inability to close out the British Open the summer before and CBS' David Feherty eloquently put it to words.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;"The game of golf owes him one," Feherty said with Scott putting out on the 15th green in the final round of the Masters on Sunday, "but as we know the game of golf is a deadbeat debtor. It does not care."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/Adam%20Scott.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="Adam Scott.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2011/04/Adam%20Scott-thumb-325x452-29994.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" width="325" height="452" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Maybe it does after all. Scott erased the demons he took away from Royal Lytham &amp;amp; St. Annes last year and became the first Australian to win the Masters with birdie putts at the 18th hole in regulation and at 10 on the second playoff hole to beat Angel Cabrera.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When Scott holed the birdie putt at 18 in regulation that looked, for the moment, like it might deliver a victory, he shouted for joy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;"Did I just lip-read him, 'come on Aussies?'" Faldo asked. A slow-motion replay confirmed it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;"There's a great song at home called 'Come On Aussie, Come on,'" Australian native Ian Baker-Finch said. "That's what we've all been saying."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Here's the first verse, a fitting ode to Scott and Australian golf:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;"It's been a long time comin'&lt;br /&gt;
"To silence all that drummin'&lt;br /&gt;
"To show them that it wasn't just a dream."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Aussome&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;It was a day for Aussies, from start to finish.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Early, Jason Day holed a bunker shot for eagle on the second hole. "A few of the tea cups fell off the breakfast tables down in Australia on that one," Faldo said. "That will get everyone rocking."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When Scott holed the winning putt in the rain, Faldo summed it up neatly. "It's now official," he said. "He's the wizard of Oz."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;An emotional Baker-Finch, who has known Scott since he was a kid, added this: "From down under to the top of the world."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;They weren't there for tennis&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When CBS cut to Masters starter Toby Wilt to announce the final pairing of Brandt Snedeker and Angel Cabrera, Wilt was overhead asking the players, "All right, guys, ready to play a little golf?"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Wilt, incidentally, is a member at Augusta National, and a friend of Snedeker's. They partnered to win the pro-am at the AT&amp;amp;T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Put down that phone&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When Angel Cabrera was brushing leaves with his practice swings beneath a tree right of the 10th fairway, Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo seemed to be calling off the rules experts watching at home and waiting to catch players in infractions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;"He'd better be careful back there with those practice swings," Nantz said.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;"He can't knock a leaf off," Faldo said. "Now with HD, we can see a leaf falling."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The HD reference is to high definition television, responsible for the new rule designed to protect the player from inadvertent rules infractions spotted on television, the same rule that kept Tiger Woods around for the weekend.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;"You're really flirting with a penalty," Nantz said. "One of those leafs fall it would be a penalty."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;None fell.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;He used to play like that with pressure&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Peter Kostis after Tiger's second shot from the pine needles to the green at 13, leading to his third birdie in five holes: "Once Tiger kind of was out of it, there's been a freedom about his attitude and golf swing that has really taken over."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On Twitter&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Dennis Miller, comedian and radio talk show host: "re CBS opening montage. Has the Masters become too meaningful to actually play it? Is Nantz performing Extreme Unction or announcing golf?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;(Getty Images photo)&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/johnstrege" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" data-lang="en"&gt;Follow @JohnStrege&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script&gt;!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");&lt;/script&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:24:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/media-hes-the-wizard-of-oz.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-04-15T00:24:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Bad breaks and all, Woods still has his challengers right where he wants them</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/tiger-woods-still-has-his-challengers-right-whe.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/contributors/john-huggan"&gt;&lt;u&gt;John Huggan&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- For the still-sizeable group of challengers looking to win this 77th edition of golf's youngest major, the signs are ominous indeed. As so often over the last 16 years or so, the one name no one else wants to see on the leader board -- "Woods T (USA)" -- is right there, tucked in three shots behind the leader, Jason Day. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img alt="130412-tiger-woods.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/130412-tiger-woods.jpg" class="mt-image-none" style="" height="320" width="480" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tiger Woods walks up the 17th fairway during the second round of the Masters. Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Perhaps just as hauntingly, the pre-tournament favorite has himself in such a promising position with a display of efficient golf far removed from the occasional inconsistencies that have dogged him over the last couple of seasons. 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Just thrice, in fact, has the 14-time major champion -- four of those won here at Augusta National -- made anything other than par or birdie en route to a halfway total of 141, three under par. Surprisingly, only once in his already-storied career has Woods led a Masters after 36-holes. Even so, it would already appear that someone is going to have to play awfully well over the weekend to beat him.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/golf-masters/2013-04/photos-birdies-bogeys-r2#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font face="arial, helvetica, verdana" color="#FF0000"&gt;Related: Winners &amp;amp; Losers from Day Two at the Masters&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Even one of Woods' three dropped shots comes with an asterisk. Maybe even two. After laying-up his second shot short of the pond on the par-5 15th Friday, the world number one hit a pitch befitting his lofty status. At least that's how it looked in the air. Right down the flag, it hit the pin and ricocheted back into the water. As bad breaks go, it was one of the most egregious.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
No matter, Woods' next pitch was almost as accurate, the ball pulling up maybe three feet from the cup. From there, he made the putt for only his second bogey in 33 holes. The third, three holes later, was more orthodox but probably even more disappointing; three putts from the back of the 18th green.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Still, Woods didn't appear too unhappy with the state of his play with two rounds to go. And he was philosophical rather than angry about the outrageous misfortune he suffered at the 15th.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/golf-masters/2013-04/augusta-masters-scariest-shots-photos#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font face="arial, helvetica, verdana" color="#FF0000"&gt;Related: Augusta National's scariest shots&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
"It was a nice little soft 60 (degree wedge) in there, a little cutter," he said. "The wind, at the time, was coming off the right. I just tried to hold it in there. The sun was in my eyes but I knew I started the ball on the flag. It was a good one.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"My ball-striking was so good today. Even my misses were right over the flag. The shot at 18 was 'flagged.' I got the wrong gust and missed at 12, right over the flag. At 14 I was right over the flag. At 15 I hit the flag. And at 16 I was right at the flag. I really felt like I hit the ball well but didn't really get much out of the round."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
As for the next two days, Woods seemed confident enough in his ability to acquire a fifth green jacket.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"I could have been better, of course," he continued. "But everyone can say that. There's a long way to go. There's 36-holes to go and this is a tricky test. Today the wind was swirling all over the place. I got a wrong gust at 12 and almost sent it into the TV tower. Luke (Donald) got another gust and barely made the bunker. So it was tough and anything can still happen."
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/johnhuggan" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" data-lang="en"&gt;Follow @johnhuggan&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;script&gt;!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");&lt;/script&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:45:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/tiger-woods-still-has-his-challengers-right-whe.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-04-13T00:45:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Style notes from Round Two at The Masters</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/style-notes-from-round-two-at-the-masters.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Mr. Style, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://golfdigest.com/contributors/marty-hackel"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Marty Hackel&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; weighs in on a few Friday head-turners at Augusta, and attempts to explain one of Day Two's biggest conundrums.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The good news is a lot of people are asking me why adidas is scripting all of their players in the same clothing. The bad news is I have no rational explanation except that they, adidas, have drawn quite a bit of attention.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="130411-jason-day.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/130411-jason-day.jpg" class="mt-image-none" style="" height="320" width="480" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="130411-dustin-johnson.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/130411-dustin-johnson.jpg" class="mt-image-none" style="" height="644" width="480" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="130411-sergio-garcia.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/130411-sergio-garcia.jpg" class="mt-image-none" style="" height="320" width="480" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Well, at least they are allowing the players to wear their own choice of belts!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="130412-sergio-garcia.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/130412-sergio-garcia.jpg" class="mt-image-none" style="" height="346" width="480" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="130412-dustin-johnson.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/130412-dustin-johnson.jpg" class="mt-image-none" style="" height="702" width="480" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="130412-jason-day.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/130412-jason-day.jpg" class="mt-image-none" style="" height="643" width="480" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Tianlang Guan&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img alt="130412-tianlang-guan.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/130412-tianlang-guan.jpg" class="mt-image-none" style="" height="475" width="480" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pretty good selection for the young man from China. Patterned trousers are and excellent choice and I love the orange shirt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Ryo Ishikawa&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img alt="130412-ryo-ishikawa.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/130412-ryo-ishikawa.jpg" class="mt-image-none" style="" height="591" width="480" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ryo never ceases to amaze me with the way he puts everything together. Look at his shoe laces if you want to understand the phrase "it's all in the details." Impressive stuff.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MrStyleMH" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" data-lang="en"&gt;Follow @MrStyleMH&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:38:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/style-notes-from-round-two-at-the-masters.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-04-13T00:38:00Z</dc:date>
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    <item>
      <title>Media: 'I'm stupefied by the slow penalty'</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/media-1.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/contributors/john-strege"&gt;&lt;u&gt;John Strege&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;News unfolds at a languid pace in golf, but a languid pace &lt;em&gt;was&lt;/em&gt; the news in the second round of the Masters, introducing a note of controversy that provided a seamless segue from the end of the Golf Channel's "Live from the Masters" show to the beginning of ESPN's telecast.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Tianlang Guan, the Chinese teenager who earned widespread admiration for his poise and ability a day before, again was the center of attention on Friday when on the 17th hole he was assessed a slow-play penalty that jeopardized his making the cut. He made it on the number.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/Tianlang%20Guan.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="Tianlang Guan.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/04/Tianlang Guan-thumb-320x405-95722.jpg" width="320" height="405" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Near the end of its show, Golf Channel's Steve Sands interviwed Ken Schofield, the former executive director of the European PGA Tour, regarding the penalty called moments earlier by European Tour rules official John Paramor.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;"John Paramor was my first recruit in 1976," Schofield said. "I didn't regret it then and I would not have regretted it in all of my time. John will have applied the penalty in accordance of the competitions of the 77th Masters tournament. Clearly this is very, very unfortunate, but it's a fact of life. Whether the guy is 14 or whether he would have been 60-year-old Tom Watson, John would have applied the rule."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;ESPN's Mike Tirico, meanwhile, paid homage to Guan. "The 14-year-old handled it with class, saying afterwards, quote, I respect the decision [end quote], his maturity the equal of his ability, adding to the global admiration for an eighth-grader half a world from home."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, opinion was largely the domain of those on Twitter, most coming down on the side of Guan, some curiously so. For instance, Joe Ogilvie, whose Twitter avatar bemoans slow play (a cap with a red circle, the words SLOW PLAY inside them, and a red line through it), wrote: "I'm stupefied by the slow penalty. Hope he still makes the cut."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Ogilvie is among golf's faster players, incidentally, is ardently anti-slow play, and seemingly would be expected to applaud the penalty.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Then there was tennis star Andy Roddick, who wrote, "I understand everyone saying he was warned etc.......  My stance is simple to all of those arguments. He's 14."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;What does his age have to do with the rules?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Speaking of age...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Given seven hours to fill on its "Live from the Masters" show, Golf Channel featured a couple of interesting interviews, one with Raymond Floyd, once a mentor to Fred Couples. Even at 53, Couples believes he can contend in the Masters, and, indeed, he finished Friday tied for second.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;"He has a very good chance to win here because he has maintained his length," Floyd said. "That is paramount. Experience is huge. Huge. The more you play here the better you get a feel for the golf course. I see where Freddie's coming from. I agree with him totally. He has a chance to win here where he might not at any other tour event."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The big question, however, was posed by ESPN's Curtis Strange: "Can his nerves hold up?"&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Speaking of slow play...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When the ESPN telecast began, the first we saw of Tiger Woods was on the tee at the par-3 fourth hole, where there was a backup. Rickie Fowler and Jason Day, playing in the threesome following Woods' group, were standing near the tee box and visible in the background.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'The most sin...'&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;That was all of the sentence that David Feherty got out when Jim Furyk chunked his third shot into the water at the 15th hole.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He was about to say, he said moments later, "the most sinister 75 yards in golf."&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Tiger Woods might concur, his third from a similar distance striking the flagstick and bounding back into the water, a stroke of misfortune that would demoralize lesser players. Instead, he took a drop, hit it to within four feet and made the putt for a bogey.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;"And that right there is why he is who he is," Arron Oberholser posted on Twitter. "#15th club strongest mind in the game." &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On Twitter&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;David Duval: "The only way to deal with slow play is simple. Give the rules officials the ability to time players without warning them."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;(Getty Images photo)&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/johnstrege" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" data-lang="en"&gt;Follow @JohnStrege&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script&gt;!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");&lt;/script&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 12 Apr 2013 23:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/media-1.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-04-12T23:30:00Z</dc:date>
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      <title>Given another chance to make history, Couples embraces the opportunity</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/fred-couples-embraces-opportunity.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/contributors/bill-fields"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Bill Fields&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

 

&lt;p&gt;AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Will golf justice, elder division, ever make up for the 72nd-hole bogey at the 2009 British Open that cost Tom Watson his sixth Claret Jug at age 59? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="130412-fred-couples.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/130412-fred-couples.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" height="375" width="250" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
For the second straight year at the Masters, the scales have tipped teasingly toward the affirmative after 36 holes.
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
 

Fred Couples, 53, who led at the halfway point last April, is in great position again at Augusta National GC. Another green jacket, 21years after he won his only major championship and a few weeks before he will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, is in the realm of possibility.

 &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;

If Couples were a political candidate, he would have won a couple of early primaries but has a lot of work ahead of him. Instead of raising more money and getting more votes, he has to keep hitting it long and making putts.

 &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;

He is five years older than the oldest man to win a major, Julius Boros, who was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship.

 &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/swing-sequences/2008-04/photos_couples#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font face="arial, helvetica, verdana" color="#FF0000"&gt;Related: The winners and losers from Day 1 at the Masters&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;

Boros' swing was syrup; Couples is wielding his driver like a sledgehammer, unloading on the ball as if to channel his younger Boom Boom.

 &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;

"A couple of practice rounds, I just played horrible," Couples said. "Then on Wednesday afternoon, after the Par 3, I told [coach Paul Marchand], 'I'm going to swing as hard as I can.' You can't play this course driving it 275 or 289. On Thursday I went out there and just picked up a little speed. He said, 'Keep your balance and pound it.' And that's what I've been doing."

 &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;

Couples didn't hold up well on Saturday afternoon a year ago, getting off to a poor start and shooting 75 en route to a T-12.  "I think I was four over after five holes," he said of the disappointing third round. "That really wasn't good."

 &lt;/p&gt;




&lt;p&gt;

But the memory of that day hasn't tainted his hopes of what could be this year. "I've said it my whole life: This is my favorite spot in the world," Couples said. "At no given time, have I ever come here and not thought I could win. My goal is to always win this. I've had four probably really good shots at it. I got it once."
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
 

He is in position to get it again.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/swing-sequences/2008-04/photos_couples#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font face="arial, helvetica, verdana" color="#FF0000"&gt;Related: A closer look at Fred Couples' swing&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
 

"I think it's possible," said Bernhard Langer, another fiftysomething, who is two under after 36 holes, of whether a senior could win the Masters. "I always thought that Freddie, with his length, can win it because he hits it a good 30 yards by me, which helps a great deal on some of these holes. For me to win, everything has to go my way."

 &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;

Couples will need good fortune too, the likes of which he got in 1992, when his tee shot on No. 12 seemed to defy gravity on the bank and stayed out of the water.

 &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;

"Hopefully tomorrow will be a little different [than 2012] and I will play well and have a shot at Sunday," Couples said. "I mean, that's my goal. But it is hard. I'm not going to kid you. You know, I did tee off Thursday with the idea of playing well, and it's Friday afternoon late. I mean, I'm surprised, but I'm not going to freak out over it."
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
 

The laid-back, bad-back one would save that for early Sunday evening, if everything had gone right to historic proportions.

 
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
"I would like to have another run," Couples said. "Last year Jason [Day] and I really struggled off the bat and we really were a non-factor on Saturday, and that was really not much fun."

 &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;

He can make amends, then perhaps make some history.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/billfields1" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" data-lang="en"&gt;Follow @BillFields1&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[Photo: Getty Images]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 12 Apr 2013 22:56:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/fred-couples-embraces-opportunity.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-04-12T22:56:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Cold facts about golf balls</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/blogs/hotlist365/2013/02/cold-facts-about-golf-balls.html</link>
      <description>By E. Michael Johnson On the first hole of his semifinal match against Matt Kuchar at the WGC-Accenture Match Play, Jason Day had an iron shot from 166 yards into the green. Although Day...</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/blogs/hotlist365/2013/02/cold-facts-about-golf-balls.html</guid>
      <dc:creator>Derek Evers</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2013-02-27T02:30:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Pros like Hunter Mahan realize swing changes may require adjustments to their sticks</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/blogs/hotlist365/2013/01/golf-world-equipment-0204.html</link>
      <description>By E. Michael Johnson A few weeks ago during a commercial shoot in California, Hunter Mahan was admiring Bubba Watson's new Ping Tour Gorge wedges. At the Farmers Insurance Open, Mahan had a pair...</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:59:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/blogs/hotlist365/2013/01/golf-world-equipment-0204.html</guid>
      <dc:creator>Derek Evers</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2013-01-29T20:59:00Z</dc:date>
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