January 2008 Archives

The Northern Trust Open (Feb. 14-17 at Riviera) has seven of the top-10 players in the world. The list includes: Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Justin Rose, K.J. Choi, Adam Scott and Rory Sabbatini. Players have until Friday, Feb. 8 to commit.
Other noteables include: Sergio Garcia, Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera and John Daly.

Below is a release requesting volunteers for the AT&T Champions Classic, a senior tour event, at Valencia Country Club in March.

If you look like Phil Mickelson or so a good impersonation of him, there's an open casting call (to be in a commercial with him) tomorrow at the Crowne Plaza Beverly Hills.
Here's part of the release regarding the event:
Avid golf fans can also visit ameetingwithphil.com to submit a story or video for a chance to participate with
Phil Mickelson in the Crowne Plaza national TV ad campaign. The “A Meeting with Phil” ad campaign with Mickelson and selected golf fans is slated to air April through September 2008.
WHERE: Crowne Plaza Beverly Hills
1150 S. Beverly Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90035
310-553-6561
WHEN: Tuesday, January 29
10 AM – 5 PM

Just talked to Northern Trust Open tournament director Tom Pulchinski this morning. Northern Trust had an event at Tiffany's in Beverly Hills to unveil the tournament's new trophy. It was a nice trophy with an outline of the exterior of Riviera's clubhouse on the bottom.
Anyway, Pulchinski said that John Daly, Kevin Streelman, Chez Reavie and Lee Westwood will receive the four sponsor exemptions for the tournament. Anthony Kim of Studio City received one last year, but, with the year he had last year doesn't need one this year.

Tiger Woods had a remarkable victory in the Buick Invitational on Sunday, winning by a tournament record eight strokes at Torrey Pines. It was his 62nd PGA Tour victory, which ties Arnold Palmer. And Tiger is just 32. He might be better than ever. Should we just crown him the U.S. Open winner right now? The U.S. Open is at Torrey Pines, where Tiger has won four consecutive Buick Invitational titles and six overall. He's played the Buick 11 times as a pro and when he didn't win it, he finished no worse than top-10.

Tiger Woods believes the Grand Slam is a possibility this year - and he's saying that on the eve of his first tournament of the season at the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines. Asked if he's setting up fans for disappointment by making such a tournament early, Woods said:
``Well, I've had that happen before, won two majors in a row and people say, ``What's wrong with you?''. It is what it is. The question is, `Do I see it as a possibility?' And I say yes. As I said, a lot of different factors go into it, and hopefully all those factors line up for me. The venues, this year, I like all the venues, but I've liked all the venues before in the past. It's just a matter of getting your game coming together at the right time and getting all the right breaks. You're going to have to get lucky every now and then, and hopefully, you get lucky at the right times.

Steve Duplantis, the tour caddie for Eric Axley, died early Tuesday morning. He stepped off a median in Del Mar and was hit by a taxi. Below is the story from the Associated Press:

Tiger Woods has not confirmed whether or not he'll play in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera. Here's what he said Tuesday:
``L.A. is still kind of up in the air,'' Woods said. ``I always love playing Riviera. ... Hopefully, one of these years I'll be able to get it under my belt.''
Woods is 0-for-11 - including two years as an amateur - at Riviera.

Tiger Woods is playing in a pro-am right now in preparation for this week's Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines. Afterward, he'll hold a press conference - his first official one of the season. We were at his press conference at the Tiger Woods Learning Center on Monday, where he announced his new ''first pump'' challenge for children and unveiled a statue of he and his father. He spoke briefly about the Kelly Tilghman situation. We'll discuss the season, how he thinks the grand slam is a possibility this season and his dominance at Torrey Pines, site of this year's U.S. Open.
I'll post entries from the presser this afternoon.

Should we just write Tiger in for the U.S. Open championship now? Tiger has won the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines five times in 100 appearances. Of the five times he didn't win, he finished in the top-10. The U.S. Open is at Torrey this year. The course will be set up differently, but Tiger always plays well here.

Rory Sabbatini is making news off the golf course. Sabbatini will make the single-largest one-time donation by an individual to the United Through Reading Military program tomorrow. The amount was unspecified.
Sabbatini will make the donation tomorrow at the Naval Base San Diego with his wife, Amy. This is a nonprofit program that enables deployed parents onboard Navy ships to share their love and support with their children by reading books aloud on DVDs.

Phil Mickelson will play at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club next month, his publicist, T.R. Reinman told me on Tuesday.
This is big for the Northern Trust, since it's unclear if Tiger Woods will skip the event for the second consecutive year.

Justin Leonard squandered a four-shot lead with 18 holes to play, and D.J. Trahan won the Bob Hope Classic for his second career PGA victory. Anthony Kim, who was tied for second, four shots behind Leonard to start today's round, shot a 3-under 69 at the Classic Club and finished in a tie for third. He won $295,000. Not bad for his first start of the season.

Anthony Kim (Studio City) shot a 6-under 66 at La Quinta today and is tied for second, four shots behind leader Justin Leonard. He was even in the lead for a bit today.

Sorry for the brief blog postings as I was at La Quinta much of the day following Kim. He is in a four-way tie for second and won't play in the final group with his friend and current Justin Leonard, who, like Kim, lives in Dallas.

After parring the first four holes of the day, Anthony Kim parred the next three holes at La Quinta in the Bob Hope Classic.

Anthony Kim (Studio City) has birdied the first four holes (Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13) at La Quinta to move into a tie for second.

Robert Gamez's day hasn't started on the best note. He led by one shot heading into today's fourth round, but his name wasn't even spelled correctly on a leaderboard. Then, he hit into the water at the Classic Club's second hole and double bogeyed to fall from first into a tie for third.

Boo Weekley, and his aww-shucks charm was on display at the Bob Hope Classic. Weekley shot a 10-under par 62 at PGA West and moved from a tie for 34th after the second round to fourth after Friday's third round. Asked about the weather, Weekley said: ``It's a little too dry for me out here. I'm waking up in the morning time early in the morning and nose bleeding and stuff. I'm a little chaffed. I got a rash and it's just a little dry for me. I like it a little more (with) humidity.''
Asked if he has problems with nosebleeds when he's at home in Florida, Weekley said: ``No, not unless somebody hits me.''

Robert Gamez - who went 15 years between PGA Tour victories - leads the Bob Hope Classic at 18-under after he shot a 67 at PGA West. Gamez has a one-shot lead over D.J. Trahan and Justin Leonard. Anthony Kim is fifth after a 67 at Silver Rock.

Anthony Kim shot a 5-under 67 at Silver Rock, but he felt like he left a lot of putts out there. He's 13-under for the tournament and is four shots behind leaders D.J. Trahan, Justin Leonard and Robert Gamez.
``It could've been a lot better,'' Kim said. ``I missed four to five putts inside 10 feet and three putts inside five feet.''

Anthony Kim birdied the 10th hole at Silver Rock to move into the fifth spot at 13-under (three shots off the lead) at the Bob Hope Classic. Kim, 22, is considered by many to be the best young player on the planet. He took four months off from tournament golf. This is his ifrst tournamnet back, and it's clear he's showing no signs of rust.

The editor who decided to run a picture of a noose on the cover of Golfweek magazine has been replaced, according to the Associated Press. Golfweek's magazine cover is out this week and was a teaser to the story about Kelly Tilghman's ``lynch him in a back alley'' comment regarding Tiger Woods. The AP story is below:

Anthony Kim is playing the ultra tough Silver Rock Resort course today, but he's already eagled the seventh hole and moved into the top-10. Kim, who had an eagle on No. 6 at Classic Club yesterday, is 3-under today through seven holes.

Jason Gore should laugh it up today since he's playing with Jimmy Fallon, Anthony Anderson and Thomas Gibson. Gore (Hart, Pepperdine) 71-72--143 and is tied for 94th.

This just in: John Daly just played his first bogey-free round in THREE years. Daly - who has won two major championships - has struggled mightily with his game the last few years but shot a 2-under 70 at La Quinta on Thursday. The last time he shot a bogey-less round was at Tamarisk Country Club - which used to be on the Bob Hope circuit - in 2005.

D.J. Trahan shot a 64 Thursday and Robert Gamez shot a 65 to tie for the lead after Thursday's second round of the Bob Hope Classic. Justin Leonard - who's one shot back - shot a 64 as well.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem responded in a statement to Golfweek's magazine cover of a noose. It was referring to Kelly Tilghman's slip on air when she discussed what younger players could do to beat Tiger Woods. She said: ``lynch him in a back alley.''
"Clearly, what Kelly said was inappropriate and unfortunate and she obviously regrets her choice of words. But we consider Golfweek's imagery of a swinging noose on its cover to be outrageous and irresponsible. It smacks of tabloid journalism. It was a naked attempt to inflame and keep alive an incident that was heading to an appropriate conclusion."

I had just left Anthony Kim's group and missed his eagle on No. 6 at Classic Club. He's tied for 15th at 7-under for the tournament. D.J. Trahan is the Bob Hope leader at -12 for the tourney and Robert Gamez is one stroke back.

D.J. Trahan is in a four-way tie for the lead at the Bobe Hope at 9-under par. I was just about to write Trahan was the sole leader when he bogeyed the first hole at Silver Rock and now Justin Leonard, Todd Hamilton and Robert Gamez all moved up on top of the leaderboard. That's the nature of a tournament that's played on five courses over four days - there's a lot of movement and we're in just the second day.

On the over of this week's magazine, Golfweek has a controversial picture of a noose. This was to promote the magazine's story on Kelly Tilghman (The Golf Channel), who in talking about what younger players could to do beat Woods, said ``lynh him in a back alley.'' She was suspsended for two weeks and is not at this week's Bob Hope Classic.

Tim Petrovic, Matthew Goggin, Joe Durant, Omar Uresti and Shigeki Maruyama all shot 65s to lead the tournament. Four of the five players shot 65s at the Classic Club while Uresti's came at PGA West. Today was the first round and there are four left. If you don't see any big names on the leaderboard that's because none of the top-20 players are in the field and just three of the top-30 are here.

Matthew Goggin is the new leader at the Bob Hope Classic. He's at 8-under with three holes to play on the Classic Club course.

Charley Hoffman is a San Diego native and big Chargers fan. He's also the defending champion. That means he'll be out on the Classic Club golf course when the Chargers play the Patriots for the AFC title.
``Hopefully, I'm playing, I'm in contention, I'm not really worrying about it,'' HOffman said. ``That's the main thing for me, obviously. If I'm not playing that well I'm going to be asking around to see how it's going. And a lot of the guys, a lot of the galleries sneak the phones in and sneak the PDAs in and you can usually get some scores and updates and such. Hopefully, they're not beating us too bad going into the fourth quarter, and we have a chance to win, and I have a chance to win.''

Tim Petrovic already is 5-under-par through nine holes at the Classic Club. Looks like we might see some low scores on that course. Anthony Kim (Studio City) is 2-under through nine holes at PGA West. There are five courses in the rotation, but everyone will play the Classic Club for the final round. My posts might be infrequent during the day since I'll be out on the course, but I'll post something as soon as I return.

As promised, here's the transcript of Tuesday's Bob Hope Classic press conference with tournament host George Lopez. Give it a read, and you'll be laughing. When he refers to wanting a pink argyle sweater, that's my pink sweater he's talking about.

Stewart Cink has the distinction of being the highest-ranked player at the Bob Hope Classic, and he's just 24th in the world rankings. There are no players ranked in the top 23 and just three in the top 30. Scott Verplank (25th) and Mike Weir (30th) are in the field, too. That's where the celebrities come in. George Lopez, who hosts the event, will play with Samuel Jackson and Luke Wilson. Charley Hoffman, the defending champion, will play with that group today. Other celebrities in the field are: Cheech Marin, Yogi Berra, Alice Cooper, Kenny G, Kevin James and Don Cheadle.

Tiger isn't the only big name not playing in the Bob Hope Classic. None of the world's top 20 players are here. Asked what he would need to do to convince Woods to play, Lopez said: ``You know, I tried to entice him with the outlet mall. Maybe if we built a dock or a yacht, a marina where he could park Privacy.''

As George Lopez walked through the media tent a little while ago, he jokingly told a reporter to get off an adult Web site and come sit in on his press conference. It was worth it. I was literally crying I was laughing so hard. When the transcript is done, I'll post it in its entirety, because it's worth a look. But in all seriousness, George seemed disappointed that not one player ranked in the top-20 is here. He called for some of the top players to give back more to the game that he said has given them so much. He also spoke about his friendship with Rory Sabbatini. More on all this later.

Anthony Kim (Studio City) graduated from La Quinta High, so he's a big hit with the media here in Palm Desert. But he showed up for his press conference without the usual ``AK'' belt buckle that he purchased when he was at the University of Oklahoma. He said he might bring it out for the tournament, which begins today.
He will also be without a few tournaments this season, although he did say he'll play in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club.

I'm here in Palm Desert for the Bob Hope Classic, so check here for updates, stories and more. Linda Hope, Bob Hope's daughter, was here for a press conference this morning. She told the story of how her dad and mom, on their first date, sketched holes on courses in New York that they both knew.
``It was the thing that drew them together, a thing they enjoyed throughout their lives playing,'' Linda Hope said. ``So often as kids on Sunday, we would have to take our little golf bags and follow behind and it was a source of great amusement.''

Here's an interesting column from Brian Hewitt of The Golf Channel about the Tiger Woods vs. Rory Sabbatini feud, which escalated last month when Sabbatini pulled out before the final round of the Target World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, yet still pocketed $170,000 in prize money ...

Tiger vs. Rory: The Gulf Grows
January 09, 2008

By Brian Hewitt, The Golf Channel

The bad blood between World No. 1 Tiger Woods and Rory Sabbatini is boiling again.

The latest chapter in the feud was writ large this week when a representative for Woods was asked by GOLF CHANNEL if Tiger or his people had heard anything from the Sabbatini camp since December.

“Nothing,” said Greg McLaughlin, president of the Tiger Woods Foundation and tournament director of Tiger’s Target World Challenge presented by Countrywide. “And I’m not expecting we will.”

December is when Sabbatini withdrew from Woods’ tournament after 54 holes, but not before pocketing the $170,000 for finishing last in the elite 16-player field. Sabbatini cited unspecified personal reasons for the pull-out. A Sabbatini spokesman said Sabbatini was suffering from “shin splints.”

Several players openly criticized Sabbatini for his decision not to play Sunday. “They (the Sabbatini camp) couldn’t even get their stories straight,” added one tournament official.

Woods’ event is an invitational, with the top 12 players on the world rankings getting automatic spots in the field. One Woods source told GOLF CHANNEL the tournament will not be disappointed if Sabbatini declines to play in the 2008 event if he qualifies. “We would certainly encourage him not to accept his invitation,” said the source.

For his part, McLaughlin, when asked if he hoped Sabbatini would choose not to play in the 2008 Target, said that was an accurate characterization.

Sabbatini finished in the middle of the pack at the Mercedes-Benz Championship last week and declined comment all week long on the brewing Woods feud. But his agent, Bud Martin, presented the other side of the story late Monday.

Martin said he had made several calls to McLaughlin, none of which had been returned. He said he hoped the matter could be cleared up. “Obviously, Greg is a friend of mine,” Martin said.

Martin said Sabbatini’s current plan is to donate the $170,000 from Tiger’s tournament to “United Through Reading,” a program that allows military personnel to record themselves reading books to their children and then send the DVDs home.

Martin also pointed out that Target, Tiger’s title sponsor, is heavily involved in supporting “United Through Reading.” He said the tentative plan is for Sabbatini to make the donation at the Buick Invitational in San Diego later this month.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Woods’ first scheduled tournament appearance in 2008 is the Buick Invitational.

The enmity between Woods and Sabbatini surfaced last year when Sabbatini publicly said he thought Woods was more “beatable” than he had previously been.

Woods, who usually lets his clubs do the talking in these instances, pointed out the difference in his record and Sabbatini’s—Tiger has won 13 majors, Sabbatini has won none.

Sources say Woods was privately furious with the circumstances surrounding Sabbatini’s withdrawal from his tournament. And the subsequent comments from the Woods’ camp clearly indicate that animosity still exists.

The Associated Press
KAPALUA, Hawaii — A new year on the PGA Tour always brings about some degree of
change. Some players have new equipment deals. Others have pledged to get into better
shape.
Perhaps the biggest change at Kapalua is Rory Sabbatini.
He’s gone silent.
Sabbatini is a spunky South African with tons of firepower in his game who is coming off his
best season on the PGA Tour. He won at Colonial, played in the final group in two other
events, was the only player to finish in the top 10 at all four playoff events, wound up
fourth in the FedEx Cup and played on his first Presidents Cup team.
That’s not what made his year so memorable to the public, however, and it ended on a sour
note.
Sabbatini is never bashful about saying whatever is on his mind, which is why he didn’t blush
when stating that Woods looked “beatable as ever” after losing a final-round lead to him at
the Wachovia Championship.
Actions proved far more powerful than words, however. His peers roundly criticized him — some
publicly, most privately — when he withdrew last month from the final round of the Target
World Challenge, pocketing last-place money of $170,000.
This wasn’t directed at Woods, the tournament host who arranged for sponsorship of a $5.5
million purse at a tournament that raises money to educate children. But it was different
from a WD at a regular PGA Tour event because a.) the size of the last-place check, b.) it
was guaranteed money in the silly season and c.) his bold challenge to Woods.
More than anything, in the words of Mark Calcavecchia, it was “Rory being Rory.”
Sabbatini’s agent later said he withdrew because of shin splints, that he went home Saturday
night to get them worked on, but there was no improvement and Sabbatini didn’t want to risk
it. This rang hollow, however, because locker room attendants said he packed up Saturday
afternoon and gave away all his gear — sweaters, shoes, balls.
Tournament officials had no idea what happened to his courtesy car until late Sunday night or
early Monday morning. Turns out his caddie had it, presumably giving the boss a ride to the
airport.
So what really happened?
Asked on Tuesday if he had a few minutes, Sabbatini politely said he was in a rush to leave,
and when asked if the next day would be better, he kept walking. After his pro-am Wednesday,
he again said he didn’t have time.
“I’m done talking to you guys,” he said.
Approached a few minutes later at his locker, Sabbatini said, “I have nothing to say.”
Not even about his change in golf equipment?
“I’ll let my clubs do the talking,” he said.
There is word of a personal tragedy Sabbatini was going through, although that can’t be
confirmed because he won’t talk.
Sabbatini wasn’t the least bit rude in declining to speak. He appears to be in good spirits,
and he has spent a half-hour or so after his rounds to sign autographs, exchanging
pleasantries with the gallery.
How long Sabbatini will be on mute remains to be seen, and it probably won’t matter unless he
plays well. Considering how his last year went, not speaking might not be the worst idea.
Sabbatini feels as though he was taken out of context, and there’s some truth to that.
His basic message is that he wants to go head-to-head with Woods at every turn, which usually
means he would be in contention. Woods is the best, and that’s where Sabbatini wants to be.
Every player should have such aspirations.
What caused pens to run out of ink were his comments after losing to Woods at Wachovia.
“No, the funny thing is after watching him play on Sunday, I think he’s more beatable than
ever,” Sabbatini said. “I think there was a few fortuitous occasions out there that really
changed the round for him. And realizing that gives me even more confidence to go in and play
with him on Sunday again.”
Woods was the first to concede he wasn’t always hitting it where he was aiming at Quail
Hollow. What made him respond was when Sabbatini said Woods was “scary” in full control of
his game, and he liked the “new Tiger” better. Woods is sensitive toward criticism of his new
swing, especially after it had brought him four of the last nine majors at that point.
Sabbatini never backed down because that’s not his nature.
He signed up for the first tee time Wednesday at Oakmont before the U.S. Open, with Woods’
name already on the list. Sabbatini played alone that day, and when someone jokingly asked
Sabbatini if Woods was ducking him, he chirped, “I don’t know. I’ll go find out.”
He walked across the putting green and began chatting to Woods, who rarely looked up, but
smiled when he finally did. Sabbatini laughed, came back to a group of reporters and shared
his information.
“He said he stopped playing on Wednesday at the majors a couple of years ago, and it’s worked
out OK for him,” Sabbatini said.
Over the next few months, Sabbatini said he wanted to play Woods in the Presidents Cup
because he would either win and give his team a lift or lose and be a sacrificial lamb. They
were in the final group at Firestone, and Woods beat him by nine and the field by eight.
By then, they were linked as adversaries, and pulling out of the Target made the headlines
even larger.
“Obviously, Rory is full of confidence,” Woods said at Firestone. “He believes in what he can
do, and there’s a lot to be said for that.”
But right now, you won’t hear it from Sabbatini.

The Associated Press
HONOLULU — The Golf Channel suspended anchor Kelly Tilghman for two weeks on
Wednesday for saying last week that young players who wanted to challenge Tiger Woods should
“lynch him in a back alley.”
Tilghman was laughing during the exchange Friday with analyst Nick Faldo at the Mercedes-Benz
Championship, and Woods’ agent at IMG said he didn’t think there was any ill intent.
But the comments became prevalent on news shows Wednesday, and the Rev. Al Sharpton joined
the fray by demanding she be fired immediately. The Golf Channel didn’t know who would replace
Tilghman in the booth this week at the Sony Open or next week at the Bob Hope Chrysler
Classic.
“There is simply no place on our network for offensive language like this,” The Golf Channel said
in a statement.
Tilghman became golf’s first female anchor last year when the PGA Tour signed a 15-year deal
in which The Golf Channel broadcasts the first three events of the year, weekday coverage of all
tour events, and full coverage of the Fall Series and opposite-field events.
The suspension ends in time for the Buick Invitational on Jan. 24, when Woods will make his
2008 debut.
Faldo and Tilghman were discussing young players who could challenge the world’s No. 1 player
toward the end of Friday’s broadcast at Kapalua when Faldo suggested that “to take Tiger on,
maybe they should just gang up for a while.”
“Lynch him in a back alley,” Tilghman replied.
“While we believe that Kelly’s choice of words was inadvertent and that she did not intend
them in an offensive manner, the words were hurtful and grossly inappropriate,” The Golf Channel
said in its statement. “Consequently, we have decided to suspend Kelly for two weeks,
effective immediately.”
Woods and Tilghman have known each other 12 years. She was picked to host a club
demonstration with Woods in south Florida when he talked about new products from Nike
Golf.
Tilghman was helped when Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent at IMG, said it was a non-issue and
considered the matter “case closed.”
“Tiger and Kelly are friends, and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly,” Steinberg
said Tuesday night in a statement released by The Golf Channel. “Regardless of the choice of
words used, we know unequivocally that there was no ill-intent in her comments.”
Tilghman had said in a previous statement she apologized directly to Woods, and the immediate
support from Woods’ camp was crucial.
After Woods won the 1997 Masters at age 21 to become its youngest champion, Fuzzy Zoeller
referred to him as “that little boy,” and suggested that Woods not serve fried chicken or
collard greens, “or whatever the hell they serve,” at the Champions Dinner.
Woods, who had a different management team in his first full season, did not respond for
three days to Zoeller’s apology, and it took Zoeller years to recover from the fallout.
Tilghman’s comment made the rounds Wednesday on TV shows such as CNN’s Headline News, and it
was prominently discussed on blogs and message boards on the Internet. It also was a topic on
the practice range at the Sony Open.
“I’m sure Kelly wishes she never said that,” Jim Furyk said. “I haven’t spoken with Tiger,
but I’ve been told that they’ve had their talk and they’ve discussed it. Anything I say is
kind of just like pouring salt in the wound at this point. Obviously, she would love to not
have said that and for it not to be news. I’m glad that her and Tiger spoke.”
Fred Funk only heard about the comment Wednesday morning.
“There was no ill intent at all,” he said. “I think it was just a slip, and they said that
Tiger has already forgiven her. I think when you’re in the TV tower for that many hours,
you’re going to wish you didn’t say some things probably, and that was one thing that slipped
out. I think you’ve got to give them a little grace.
“Her integrity, how Kelly is respected out here, is pretty good. I think Tiger really likes
Kelly, so that helped squash it. Because Tiger could have run off with that if he took it the
wrong way. But he didn’t, so that was good.”
Before her suspension was announced, Sharpton spoke on CNN’s “Prime News” and
continued to push for her firing, saying he wanted to meet with The Golf Channel because the
comments were “an insult to all blacks.”
“Lynching is not murder in general, it’s not assault in general,” Sharpton said. “It’s a
specific racial term that this women should be held accountable for. What she said is racist.
Whether she’s a racist ... is immaterial. She’s a broadcaster. The channel has to be
accountable to the public.”

The Oak Park boys golf team is selling tickets to the Northern Trust Open (formerly Nissan Open) for a discounted price. The following is from Oak Park coach Bruce Beck regarding tickets:

Michelle Wie is not expected to play in any PGA Tour events this season, her swing coach, David Leadbetter, told the Associated Press.
The following is an excerpt from the AP story:

Golf Channel play-by-play announcer Kelly Tilghman apologied for saying young golfers should "lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley," according to the New York Daily News.

Here is a story that ran on ESPN from its news services:
Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman has apologized after saying during Friday's telecast of the PGA Tour's opening event that today's young players should "lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley."
According to New York Newsday, a spokesman for the network said Tilghman apologized on Sunday's telecast and has reached out to Woods' representatives to express her regrets for the comments.
Tilghman, who played college golf at Duke, works as the main play-by-play announcer during The Golf Channel's PGA Tour telecasts.

What's your reaction?

Tiger Woods will honor his late father, Earl Woods, by unveiling a statue of him Jan. 21 in Anaheim. Also at that time, Woods will be on hand to discuss a new youth foundation program. Tiger Woods already has established the Tiger Woods Foundation and Tiger Woods Learning Center, which opened in 2006 in Anaheim. Woods also will open a TWLC in the Washington D.C. area.

During the NFL broadcast on CBS yesterday, the network aired commercials for the Masters...Don't get me wrong, just about veryone loves the Masters, but THREE months before it begins? The Masters tees off on April 10. I haven't even seen commercials for March Madness yet.

Want to appear in a golf ad with Phil Mickelson? Read on.

UCLA's new football coach, Rick Neuheisel, is a golfer, too. When discussing his firing at Washington, and the subsequent lawsuit he won for wrongful termination, he said he used to think of certain people while he was on the tee. However, he said it ruined his golf swing. Look for Neuheisel on the links in July, which is the month college football coaches take vacations and have time for things like golf.