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Tiger Woods taking a lesson from Michelle Wie, Sorenstam delivers, golf tip
2009-03-24 18:48:00
Click here to listen.Michelle Wie reportedly received $700,000 in appearance fees to attend the Asian Tour's 2006 SK Telecom Open. Tiger Woods ' bonus for showing up at the Australian Masters will top the $3 million mark with the state government footing half of the bill! Are appearance fees a good idea and can they help fuel a weakened economy?Crowds no doubt swarm to an event where Tiger Woods is in the mix. A report from Ernst and Young stated that an estimated "10-20,000 overseas and interstate visitors would travel to the southern city to see Woods." That translates into over $19 million dollars in income for Australia! This is a win-win situation for the Masters but the Open, which plays only two weeks later, will probably suffer with a lax in funding and attendance. Endorsement deals are lining pockets but, in the future, will larger-than-life players require appearance fees before even deciding to play? Phil Mickelson's presence at the Barclays in Singapore grossed him sev...
More About: Golf , Lesson

Wie joins Woods in media circus, Tiger hated by Esquire writer, golf ball t
2009-03-17 14:23:00
Click here to listen.Step right up! The circus is in town and is performing at a golf course near you! Watch as Henrik Stenson performs his schluoss to the delight of sighing maidens. Be mystified as IMG jumps through hoops to insure maximum visibility for Michelle Wie! Delight as unimaginable trick shots made by Phil Mickelson inspire awe! For the piece de resistance, you might even catch Tiger Woods juggling golf balls just before the Masters Tournament! Ringling Brothers Circus claims to be "The Greatest Show on Earth" but both the PGA and LPGA Tour players are stepping up efforts to entertain in addition to playing golf just for the "sport" of it."Golf ers" are now being renamed "stars", NBC News sent a reporter to cover Woods' return and, according to Bob Verdi, "the gathering of writers, broadcasters, and photographers around Tiger was substantial." Even sponsors such as Northern Trust are jumping on the bandwagon, creating a more carnival gala within their sponsorships by in...
More About: Media , Writer , Esquire

Henrik Stenson strips at Doral. Was the bogey really worth it?
2009-03-13 21:17:00
Swedish statesman and UN official Dag Hammarskjold once said, "There is a point at which everything becomes simple and there is no longer any question of choice, because all you have staked will be lost if you look back."One could maintain that the choice to strip to his "Bjorn Borg's" was a no-brainer for Henrik Stenson after his golf ball got stuck in the mud at Doral during the WGC-CA Championship. Earlier in the season, at the Dubai Desert Classic, Stenson was in a similar predicament but remained clothed and wound up covered in mud for the rest of the round.Aside from his "jocks", the only other bit of "clothing" Stenson kept on was his golf glove. "Shirt, trousers, socks, shoes, hat, the lot was off." After making his shot, Henrik cleaned up with the help of his caddie, grabbed his gear and hastily redressed."If you are saving a shot, that has to be worth taking your shirt and trousers," the Swede mentioned after his very entertaining bogey was salvaged. With Tiger Woods in t...
More About: Worth

Can Superhero Natalie Gulbis come to the rescue of her LPGA career?
2009-03-10 14:40:00
Click here to listen.Natalie Gulbis seeks stardom but when in the spotlight rarely puts on more than a mediocre performance. Between her lackluster appearance on Celebrity Apprentice and her recent slip in Rolex Rankings, it doesn't look like Gulbis is more than a passing fancy in the eyes of the camera. In other words, just because you don a superhero costume doesn't necessarily mean you are imbued with extraordinary abilities!Although Gulbis initially accepted Donald Trump's challenge, she has stayed incognito, waiting for Joan Rivers to thrust her into the spotlight and urge her to wear a superhero costume which Natalie mentioned looked like a cross between "Halloween and a stripper" (Rivers must have seen the Calendar). Perhaps it's better for Natalie to lurk because when she spoke to both Trump and the CEO of Zappos.com, she nearly blew the win for her team!As far as her appearances on the LPGA Tour, Gulbis makes for a pretty picture but, to date, has not become much of a s...
More About: Career , Superhero , Rescue

Can Superhero Natalie Gulbis come to the rescue of her LPGA career?
2009-03-09 20:05:00
Click here to listen. Natalie Gulbis seeks stardom but when in the spotlight rarely puts on more than a mediocre performance. Between her lackluster appearance on Celebrity Apprentice and her recent slip in Rolex Rankings, it doesn?t look like Gulbis ...
More About: General , Career , Superhero , Rescue

Phil Mickelson wins bailout money, Ogilvy swaps golf ball mid-hole and matc
2009-03-02 18:32:00
Click here to listen.Until the recent flood of bank bailouts occurred, I'm not sure that the masses knew, or really cared, what financial institutions did with customer funds, so long as the economy was secure. So, in a sense, good came from this massive overhaul as disclosure helped open the eyes of the world to the vast waste and appetence that banks have kept hidden under their veils of secrecy.TMZ recently educated viewers on one such bank, Northern Trust, which spent millions of dollars on the sponsorship and advertising related to it's same-named tournament. Extravagant parties were thrown for hundreds of clients and employees of the company and although local hotels, businesses, entertainers and even tournament winner Phil Mickelson received benefit from the outpouring of capital, it hardly helped put the economy back on track.According to TMZ, a Northern Trust representative stated that operating funds were utilized, not bailout dollars. Of course, that logic seems skewed ...
More About: Money , Golf , Morgan Stanley , Hole

Stanford schools Michelle Wie on the mental game. Tiger Woods returns and i
2009-03-02 18:31:00
Click here to listen.Michelle Wie 's high hopes were dashed once again as she struggled against the wake of the tide which Angela Stanford created as she plowed through on the back nine at the SBS Open. Expectations, as we have seen time-and-time-again, have a way of throwing this game of golf into turmoil instead of doing what Stanford did by "just having so much fun." Michelle Wie version 2.0 is still very much a work in progress.The battle between the two was exciting and proved that, although Wie has much work to do on her mental game in order to shift focus from competing to winning, her optimism and greatly improved swing will serve her, and the LPGA Tour, well this year. Any threat so far to Lorena Ochoa? Not likely?Carolyn Bivens, who in 2006 mentioned her "master plan to expose the personalities of our stars to the general media", will now get the opportunity to turn her dreams for the LPGA into reality, thanks to the addition of Michelle Wie.Several interesting deals to co...
More About: Mental , Tiger Woods , Schools , Game

Phil Mickelson wins bailout money, Ogilvy swaps golf ball mid-hole and matc
2009-03-02 17:27:00
Click here to listen. Until the recent flood of bank bailouts occurred, I?m not sure that the masses knew, or really cared, what financial institutions did with customer funds, so long as the economy was secure. So, in a sense, ...
More About: Money , Golf , General , Phil , Hole

Getting to know us through our YouTube golf video
2009-02-26 20:46:00
Hello fellow golfers and everyone who tunes in to our weekly golf podcasts and reads our very special Golf for Beginners blog! For the past five years, Barry and I have written about golf for the pure love/hate relationship behind it and for the satisfaction we get from offering tips that we learned. We still enjoy taking our twilight walks together (sigh) and keeping you involved in our weekly games, even if we're not always playing up to par!As a matter of fact, that is precisely how this blog got started!Barry handed me a gift of a set of golf clubs that he purchased off of the internet (yes, left-handed) and turned me over to a golf instructor. He was smart enough not to teach me himself but, since I was learning about golf anyway, he wound up making a more concerted effort in his own game, eventually attaining a few scores in the 70's!I wanted to make sure that I would remember what was taught to me and decided to write it all down where I would keep looking at it. I also wan...
More About: Video , Youtube

Amy Mickelson relieved that Phil finally won
2009-02-24 17:07:00
Aside from the utter joy displayed, Amy Mickelson showed signs of relief and satisfaction after Phil rolled a six-foot putt to clinch the Northern Trust Open. To really understand the moment in question, all you had to do was to look at Phil's mother's face as she stood with eyes closed and fingers crossed, waiting for the roller-coaster ride to come to a halt.The two were poised to watch Mickelson in a playoff, thinking that this may be a repeat of the 2007 experience at Riviera where Phil lost in a sudden death playoff to Charles Howell III. Steve Stricker lurking at the eighteenth and trying to psyche out Mickelson as he made his final putt didn't comfort the ladies either!The pressure was off after Phil Mickelson's win but he noted that "it was not easy" letting his five-stroke lead slide out from under him. The good news is that Lefty learned from this experience. "I was able to fight hard. Even though I didn't have my best stuff, I was able to fight through it.""I knew he...
More About: Finally

Charles Barkley working to become the next Tiger Woods and how science can
2009-02-23 21:58:00
Click here to listen.To look at the golf swings of both Tiger Woods and Charles Barkley , one would have to admit that they are complete opposites from start to finish. Even with a gimp and a grimace at the 2008 U.S. Open, Woods' fluidity was still beautiful to watch. Barkley's movements, on the other hand, have been the fodder for everyone from amateurs on YouTube to Tiger Woods himself, who jokingly attempted to copy the infamous swing which has been compared to "a tornado on acid".Charles Barkley has finally had enough ribbing and will allow himself to be guided by Hank Haney in which the master instructor will try and rid the former NBA star, once an 80's golfer, of his "spasmodic hitch". Haney believes this "hitch" is hiding the real quandary and will address problems of dropping the head through impact and the angle of Barkley's swing plane noting, "when you have a mess like he has, you're not going to fix it with a swing thought."It should be interesting to see if Haney c...
More About: Science

Charles Barkley working to become the next Tiger Woods and how science can
2009-02-23 21:32:00
Click here to listen. To look at the golf swings of both Tiger Woods and Charles Barkley , one would have to admit that they are complete opposites from start to finish. Even with a gimp and a grimace at the ...
More About: Science , General

Natalie Gulbis cooks on Celebrity Apprentice
2009-02-20 21:07:00
Could Natalie Gulbis , LPGA super-golfer, become the next Celebrity Apprentice?Donald Trump's latest attempt at capturing viewers includes a cook-off with Gulbis and the possibility of catfights with Deal or No Deal's Claudia Jordan , filling the show with more surprises than the recent bankruptcy deal which Trump Casino filed and, in a huff, the Donald walked away from. No bailouts here!Expect other players in the mix like Dennis Rodman, Herschel Walker and double-threat Melissa and Joan Rivers to add to the mayhem! Andrew Dice Clay looked like he was even sassing "the Donald" in a recent advertisement which means that this show is really digging deep to come up with greater commercial success. Trump tried once in 2007 to rally publicity with a Rosie O'Donnell feud but ratings slumped to an all-time low which showered the television reality show premiere of Grease with more viewers, and that turned out to be a prime-time bomb!Has Donald Trump assembled the most creative cast of ch...

Stanford schools Michelle Wie on the mental game. Tiger Woods returns and i
2009-02-16 17:14:00
Click here to listen. Michelle Wie ?s high hopes were dashed once again as she struggled against the wake of the tide which Angela Stanford created as she plowed through on the back nine at the SBS Open. Expectations, as we ...
More About: Mental , Tiger Woods , Schools , General

Does Michelle Wie version 2.0 still have glitches and is Tiger Woods too ti
2009-02-10 15:50:00
Click here to listen.With LPGA Tour card in hand, Michelle Wie is presenting the upgraded version of herself to fans this week at the SBS Open. You might even consider her "M.W. version 2.0", but don't expect any new surprises as she still remains the same golfer but in a shiny new package.Although her parents have allowed her a bit of wiggle room by allowing Wie to live on campus they still maintain ultimate control, living close by and even following her around in a cart three times a week during practice sessions. She alleges that she's "to the point where I don't care what other people think of me, if they think I'm weird or something" which obviously means she is still concerned about the opinions of others. The now nineteen-year-old Wie is also probably fearing what may happen to her endorsements if she should not succeed on the LPGA Tour. Yes, Michelle Wie has demons that she needs to exorcise in order to successfully play in the zone and make a name for herself among her...
More About: Tiger Woods , Tiger , Woods

Does Michelle Wie version 2.0 still have glitches and is Tiger Woods too ti
2009-02-10 15:22:00
Click here to listen. With LPGA Tour card in hand, Michelle Wie is presenting the upgraded version of herself to fans this week at the SBS Open. You might even consider her ?M.W. version 2.0?, but don?t expect any surprises ...
More About: Tiger Woods , General , Tiger , Woods

Mickelson feels good about his ridiculous score. The trick to hitting a mud
2009-02-02 22:05:00
Click here to listen.Mickelson's debut at the FBR Open was more of a fizzle than a roar. Phil not only missed the cut but appeared to be in self-denial as well."It doesn't feel as far off as the score indicates," Mickelson said. "I know the score is ridiculous. But it doesn't feel bad."One interpretation of the above statement may be that, although Phil struck the ball well, it did not go where it was intended, which caused him to search through the cacti on more than one occasion. But Mickelson must have been concentrating his thoughts more on the Arizona Cardinals point spread more than to believe that he wasn't at all rusty, hitting only eight of twenty-eight fairways and flying several greens with his usually faithful lob wedge. At least Phil made it to the finish line at last year's FBR Open before finally succumbing to J.B. Holmes, who came back from the brink of defeat to trounce Mickelson. Come to think of it, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes made an ex...
More About: Trick , Score , Good , Ridiculous , Phil Mickelson

Mickelson feels good about his ridiculous score. The trick to hitting a mud
2009-02-02 21:21:00
Click here to listen. Mickelson?s debut at the FBR Open was more of a fizzle than a roar. Phil not only missed the cut but appeared to be in self-denial as well. ?It doesn?t feel as far off as the score ...
More About: General , Trick , Score , Good , Ridiculous

No excuses for Mickelson to miss Bob Hope Classic. Also drive into the wind
2009-01-25 00:25:00
Click here to listen.This year is considered "fifty years of Hope " and over two million dollars were distributed in 2008 to charities through the Classic event, but even so, the top fifteen PGA Tour golfers are MIA, most with no reason as to why this tournament is not worthy of their support.Once distinguished as golf's best celebrity pro-am event with comedians ranging from Jackie Gleason to Jack Lemmon picking up the sticks for charity, the "Hope" seems to have lost a bit of its glamour and dimension. Utilizing Arnold Palmer as celebrity host (perhaps because he won the inaugural event) and, for the most part, only being able to conjure up a few old-time has-beens with some notables like Dan Quayle, Kurt Russell and Sterling Sharpe, I wonder when Tim Finchem will stand up for events of such illustriousness and not leave it up to freedom of choice? Can the PGA Tour impose a ruling to force more top-name golfers into faltering events?Arnold Palmer recently mentioned, "I used to spr...
More About: Drive , Wind , Miss

No excuses for Mickelson to miss Bob Hope Classic. Also drive into the wind
2009-01-24 23:51:00
Click here to listen. This year is considered ?fifty years of Hope ? and over two million dollars were distributed in 2008 to charities through the Classic event, but even so, the top fifteen PGA Tour golfers are MIA, most with ...
More About: General , Drive , Wind

Vijay Singh follows in Tiger Woods' footsteps. Sorenstam returns and how to
2009-01-20 15:51:00
Click here to listen.With the feature golf story of 2008 being knee surgery for Tiger Woods , it seems almost ironic that, just after winning the Chevron World Challenge, Vijay Singh would be in a similar predicament. Singh claims that he was hurt during the event but obviously didn't know the extent of his injury.Waiting for Tiger to arrive at the podium, Vijay cajoled, "Tiger, take your time. Don't come back too early. In fact, take a year off." Isn't Singh aware of the saying, "be careful what you wish for?"It is said that Singh is looking at a recovery time of about five weeks which puts a comeback a bit closer to the Masters Tournament than should be attempted. I know that it took much longer for my husband, who underwent similar surgery, to be 100% so I doubt that Vijay, even with his ménage of sports trainers, will be in tip-top form.Following in Tiger Woods' footsteps, in this case, is not necessarily a good thing for Singh as the past several years of developments have k...

Wie's void filled by Tadd Fujikawa, relax your swing without drugs or alcoh
2009-01-20 15:48:00
Click here to listen.Although Zach Johnson created excitement at the Sony Open winning by a stroke against Toms and Scott, it was fan favorite Tadd Fujikawa whom the cameras followed with the same fervor as when Michelle Wie played here. And why not? Both Hawaiian teenagers have caused quite a stir with solid length off the tee, hustling to create opportunities to keep them in the game. Wie's claim to fame to date has been her numerous exemptions with slim success into men's events while Fujikawa has earned his way in, with congratulations flowing from guys like 2007 Masters winner Johnson who consider Tadd, "borderline phenom."Michelle Wie, once considered a "phenom", has finally taken the necessary steps to ingratiate herself with the LPGA Tour, hoping to reinvent herself and get the fans behind her once more. It is nice to see her name listed in the roster. There were huge crowds following Tadd this weekend, hoping to see the short, stout-framed teen make the cut and put pressu...
More About: Drugs , Swing , Relax

Wie's void filled by Tadd Fujikawa, relax your swing without drugs or alcoh
2009-01-19 20:28:00
Click here to listen. Although Zach Johnson created excitement at the Sony Open winning by a stroke against Toms and Scott, it was fan favorite Tadd Fujikawa whom the cameras followed with the same fervor as when Michelle Wie played ...
More About: Drugs , General , Swing , Relax

Vijay Singh follows in Tiger Woods' footsteps. Sorenstam returns and how to
2009-01-12 17:03:00
Click here to listen. With the feature golf story of 2008 being knee surgery for Tiger Woods , it seems almost ironic that, just after winning the Chevron World Challenge, Vijay Singh would be in a similar predicament. Singh claims that ...
More About: General

Tiger Woods' billion-dollar record, Daly's down-under, winter golf drills
2009-01-06 19:03:00
Click here to listen.Fear not Bill Gates! Tiger Woods will not topple the richest man in the world off of his pedestal! Tiger would require about $57 billion in order to achieve this goal but he is certainly on his way! It has been reported that Woods, even with a bum knee and attending only six golf tournaments this year has made (both on and off the course) an estimated $117 million, bringing his total earnings to just under $900 million.If Tiger plays equally as well in 2009 as he did last season and picks up another sponsor to offset the $50 million loss of his General Motors contract, there is the possibility that Woods could crack the $1 billion mark by the end of the year.Even if Woods barely grazed the billion dollar ceiling, it is improbable that he would join Gates on the Forbes 400 as "the price of admission ? is $1.3 billion for the second year in a row." Heads up, George Steinbrenner, the Tiger is on your tail! Prediction as to how Tiger Woods will climb the ranks of t...
More About: Golf , Winter , Dollar , Record

Tiger Woods' billion-dollar record, Daly down-under, winter golf drills
2009-01-05 20:10:00
Click here to listen. Fear not Bill Gates! Tiger Woods will not topple the richest man in the world off of his pedestal! Tiger would require about $57 billion in order to achieve this goal but he is certainly on ...
More About: Golf , Winter , General , Dollar

Did women's long drive winner shaft the competition? Things to think about
2009-01-01 20:34:00
Click here to listen.Recently, a former SWAT team cop from Los Angeles won the golf RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship. The nearest competitor lost by only a few yards in windy conditions and, where some of the challengers didn't seem to mind the outcome, a few had problems with it. Why, you may ask?By the way, I am not talking about newly crowned RE/MAX long drive champion Jamie Sadlowski, who, with his 160-pound frame, defeated guys almost twice his size with great timing and a convincing hockey-esque style slap shot. Instead, this blog focuses on the controversy surrounding 55-year-old Lana Lawless, a 175-pound transgender who once weighed in at 245-pounds and was considered by law enforcement peers to have a very "tough and mean exterior" as Lawless admits. Lawless took women's RE/MAX honors this year after a narrow defeat at last year's semifinals.Clubhead speed, not power alone, made the difference in the case of Sadlowski who carried his drive 400 yards. Lawless claims t...
More About: Competition , Winner , Things

Did women's long drive winner shaft the competition? Things to think about
2008-12-29 20:36:00
Click here to listen. Recently, a former SWAT team cop from Los Angeles won the golf RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship. The nearest competitor lost by only a few yards in windy conditions and, where some of the challengers didn?t ...
More About: Competition , General , Winner , Things

Nicklaus builds a golf town, will Tiger Woods erect a city? Also, playing i
2008-12-22 20:03:00
Click Here to listenDon't tell Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods that the country is in a recession and that the rest of the world is suffering as well because neither will believe you. Both golfers have moved forward with plans to build high-end communities in spite of the downward trend perhaps hoping that the number of "haves" will be enough to pave the way for future development.Nicklaus, for example, has just entered into an agreement with Grupo Viveros to create a private town complete with two hotels, marina, airstrip, hangars, two hundred fifty high-end villas as well as a Jack Nicklaus signature golf course on a currently uninhabited island off the coast of Panama. Oceanfront lot prices start at $530,000.Tiger Woods, is working on courses in Dubai, Punta Brava and in the high Carolina area where two of Jack Nicklaus' Signature golf courses are already situated alongside of courses designed by Gary Player and Tom Fazio. Woods mentioned recently during his tour of the Punta Bra...
More About: Golf , City , Town

Nicklaus builds a golf town, will Tiger Woods erect a city? Also, playing i
2008-12-22 17:36:00
Click Here to listen Don?t tell Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods that the country is in a recession and that the rest of the world is suffering as well because neither will believe you. Both golfers have moved forward with ...
More About: Golf , General , City , Town