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February 2008 - Posts

• I Told You So!

  I want to start this week by saying, “I told you so!” I also want to say, “Ok, I know, you don’t care!” And, no matter how eloquent I am about this topic, you say, “It doesn’t matter; we are not going to watch.” So what am I talking about? It’s the LPGA of course! While all the pun dents sit around trying to “figure-out” who is the real number two or who is the real chaser of Tiger Woods, we actually have some competition on the Women’s side. Like me, last Saturday night, many of you watched Memphis vs. Tennessee. Normally, this is not a game most of us would give a damn about. Sure, like the LPGA, there is a small, vocal group that watches any college basketball game. But for the average fan, it takes something extra-ordinary to get us to watch a college basketball game on a Saturday night. So, one vs. two, especially one vs. two that have never been there before, captured our excitement. Now, if I can just get any of you to understand that this where we are with the LPGA. And it’s better than that... not only do we have a one vs. two, we have a one vs. two vs. three vs. four vs. five. And the absolute best part of this competition is that there is an American in the group. The one thing we have been praying for on the PGA Tour is upon us... it’s just on the other side of the fence. Annika begins the year announcing, “I am back.” Paula Creamer wins the second event of the year. And now, this morning, Lorena Ochoa begins her 2008 season at the top of the leaderboard with 6 birdies and zero bogeys. Add to this the Asian women at the top of every leaderboard and last year's sensation, Suzann Petersen in the wings, and you have the making of golf’s premiere tour. Ok, I’ve said it... I know that it won’t mean anything to you and it will never change your attitude about watching the women, but darnit, I am going to keep trying! Speaking of trying... I have a suggestion. Yesterday, Michele Wie was given another sponsors exemption. Since I cannot seem to get anyone to listen, I am going to take a different tact. The following paragraph is for Tournament Directors only. (I’m just teasing, you can read it.) “Ladies and Gentleman, you are doing a disservice to Michele Wie. I understand your belief that Ms. Wie might increase attendance at your event, but I want to explain that you are not helping this talented young lady. If each of you will take just one-year off, not invite Michele to any event that she does not qualify for, I guarantee she will become a much better player and will absolutely increase the size of your audience by leaps and bounds. How? I hear you saying. Here’s the deal. With no sponsor’s exemptions, two things will happen to Michele. One, she will have to find other places to play. I.E. The Futures Tour. Playing on that level will assist in improving her game and give here a much better opportunity to win. Hell, if she does not win on the Futures Tour, then you would not have wanted her to begin with. (And I promise, The Golf Channel will still find a way to report on her and keep her name in the news.) Two, as long as you continue to give her exemptions, she will never get to the level of “uncomfortable” that she must in order to reach her goal of the “Greatest golfer ever.” I know none of you will listen to me about this either (see first story), but I know what I am talking about. Think about your kids. If you give them everything, they have nothing to strive for. Another last place finish... I really do not want to start calling Michele "The Female John Daly." Congratulations to Commissioner Tim. It just goes to show that there are some incredibly powerful, incredibly rich bosses who will turn the other cheek. For about 15 years, Commissioner Tim and Greg Norman have been the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s. These two guys just do not see eye-to-eye on many things. But, when it came time to replace Gary Player as Captain of the European Presidents Cup Team, the PGA Tour Commissioner lowered his guard and appointed Greg Norman. I understand the pick. I understand the need to give the post to Norman, but due to the fact that Greg barely knows any player under 30, he will need a couple of very talented Vice-Captains to manage the operations. Not too different from Jeff Sluman’s job with Nicklaus. I assume a guy that can make a million just getting up in the morning will gather a management team that will allow Greg to do what Greg does best. Be out front. And while I believe that Nick Price should have been the next Captain, I am really proud of Tim Finchem for raising the “White Flag.” One last thought... Tiger Woods is great. I know, silly comment. But I really mean it. Last Sunday morning on my radio show I raised the question, "Would you rather play golf or watch Tiger Woods?"I raised the question for a purely personal reason. There have only been three times in my “sports life” that watching someone would actually keep me from playing. I would rather play golf anytime than watch; when I was younger, I would rather play basketball than watch it. In the first part of my life, it was Sandy Koufax. When Koufax pitched, I would drive my dad crazy about taking me to the game. (No TV back then.) Watching Koufax was watching perfection. After Koufax, it took awhile to get me off the diamond or the court. Then the Lakers signed a young man by the name of Magic Johnson. Magic was poetry. His very first game, he threw a pass to Kareem, who made a “skyhook” to win on the last shot. Earvin went crazy. He jumped into Kareem’s arms. Kareem was shocked. After the game he took Magic aside and explained, “Magic, we have 81 more of these, you cannot get that crazy after a win.” Thank God Magic never believed that. His poetry continued every single night. Earvin went away and I went back to the courts and the golf courses. Along came Tiger Woods. What can I say that has not been said? Every time a tour player enters an event, they WANT to win. Every time Tiger enters a tournament, he EXPECTS to win. That is what makes it so fun to watch. Posted Feb 28 2008, 12:48 PM by Steven Gribin with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Steven Gribin, Tiger Woods, LPGA, Magic Johnson, Michele Wie, Greg Norman

• The Golfers' Weekend Roundup - 2/25/2008

  It was a great week for golf on all levels… The best players in the world – WGC Match Play Championships at The Gallery Golf Club, Marana, Arizona. Tiger Woods stepped to the plate on Wednesday in his first round match and was almost sent home by JB Holmes. For 13 holes, Holmes played terrific and Tiger slapped his way around the course. It was at the thirteenth hole that Tiger almost broke his club against his golf bag. It sat in a waste area about 60 yards from the fairway. It was the location of Tigers tee shot. That swing against his bag might have been the best he’d made to that point. It also brought the change Tiger so desperately needed. From that swing until the end of the round and the end of the match, Tiger Woods went from 3 down to a winner. He proceeded to go 5 under in 4 holes. From the moment Tiger found that swing until the 28th hole of the final 36-hole match, Tiger Woods was nothing less than awesome. After beating Aaron Oberholser, 3 and 2, Tiger and Aaron Baddeley hooked up for one of the finest Match Play events ever, with Woods advancing on the 20th hole. One the first hole of his next match, against KJ Choi, Tiger lost the hole. It would be the last time Tiger would be behind. In his nine year history at this event, Woods is now 31-6. He is 20-4 against International players, of which this event started with 42 and only 22 Americans. By annihilating Stewart Cink in the final match 8 and 7, Tiger took his record against American players to 11-2. For Woods, it was his third win in this event. With this victory, Woods passes Arnold Palmer on the all-time list collecting his 63rd victory. Some time this year, Tiger will pass Ben Hogan, next in line at 64. The runner-up players have fun in Mexico – Brian Gay hoists a winner’s trophy While the Top 65 were working their way around a course in Tucson, a large group of tour players were south of the border playing in the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Brian Gay was playing in his 293rd tour event without a win. He was 13th on the list of active players without a tour victory. Jay Delsing currently leads the list with 548 PGA Tour events without a victory. With his win, Gay collects 2250 Fed Ex Cup points and a 2 year exemption on the Tour. A third round 62, his career low, allowed him to finish the event at 16 under par. His check for $630,000 brought his career earning to just under $7, 500,000. Not bad for the 36 year old non-tour winner. Four players played all 4 rounds in the 60’s. Gay, Steve Marino, who finished 2nd and Matt Kuchar and john Merrick, both T3. Last years, winner, Fred Funk finished T63. Paula Creamer makes it a double in Hawaii – it just took 12 months After winner the LPGA Tours first event in Hawaii in 2007, Paula Creamer managed to come from 2 back and win this year’s second Hawaiian tournament. When it counted the most, Paula Creamer turned it on. With four birdies in her last five holes, including consecutive birdies on the final three, Creamer overcame 36-hole leader Jeong Jang (64-68-69=201, -15) to win the Fields Open in Hawaii by one stroke at 16-under-par 200 (66-68-66). It is Creamer's fifth LPGA Tour victory and second in her last four events, after winning The Mitchell Company LPGA Tournament of Champions last November. Said Creamer, who battled flu-like symptoms en route to earning $195,000 for her win: “I knew that coming down the stretch, just that pressure and knowing if you want to win this golf tournament you have to make this putt. That kind of took that momentum into 17 and made that one, and then into 18.” Creamer started the round at 10-under-par and two strokes behind Jang. With birdies on the first and third holes, she had closed the gap and the duo was tied at 12-under. Jang took a one-stroke lead by making a 10-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole. Neither Creamer nor Jang could make a move until both birdied the par-5, 470-yard 14th hole. Jang took her largest of the day with a birdie on 15, but then Creamer rose to the top with her birdies on the remaining holes, sealing the deal when her 6-iron from 164 yards landed five feet from the hole for the birdie putt to win. After winning last week, Annika Sorenstam got off to a slow start in the 2nd Hawaiian Tourney with a 70, but rounds of 66-68 brought Annika to a 4th place finish. The LPGA continued to introduce us to new players with Lindsey Wright, Minea Blomqvist, Song-Hee Kim and Johanna Head all producing career-best performances at the Fields Open. Michele Wie, appearing in her first event of 2008, again a non-member of the tour finished with a closing round of 78 and a tie for last place. This week the PGA Tour moves to the Florida Swing with their event at PGA National in Palm Beach. The LPGA moves to Sinapore. Posted Feb 25 2008, 03:47 PM by Steven Gribin with no comments Filed under: Steven Gribin, Tiger Woods, LPGA, Mayakoba Golf Classic, Brian Gay, WGC Match Play Championships, Paula Creamer, Weekend Roundup

• The Best Never Give Up

  A quick point about last week’s post. As you might imagine, the responses to my discussion about “Where are the women?” came from both sides of the fence. I did, however learn something extremely interesting. As most of you probably know, when the Tour Players split from the PGA of America, a decision was made to allow the Tour Players to be members of the PGA. It seems the same is not true of the LPGA. LPGA members are NOT members of the PGA. Not sure of the reasons behind this, but one thing is true… Why should great members of the LPGA Teaching staff not be members of the PGA? Why should we ask these women to pay two sets of dues and more importantly, have to go through the processes of being a PGA member? I am trying to learn the politics of this matter and will keep you in the loop. Proving people wrong – Since 1994 she had won a tournament every year until 2007. Her neck injury, according to people, “in the know” was much worse than disclosed. She was already recognized as, “one of”, if not the greatest women player of all time. For the first time, it seemed her personal life was beginning to take a front seat to her game. There were so many reasons for Annika to slip into mediocrity. Except, it’s Annika. Lesson one for the week – Always strive to be the best. Any of you remember Kobe’s first season with the Lakers? He took a last shot in a playoff game, it missed the rim completely. The greatness did not come in missing the shot. The greatness came in his desire to take that shot. His greatness came in every off-season after that shot. Not many guys want the ball in the last seconds of a game, especially not many 18 year olds. More importantly, Koby has spent each off-season working to get better. Imagine that, the best player in the game (whether you like him or not) spending his vacation getting better. That’s Koby…That’s Annika. There is a choice to being the best. Annika has made it and it showed on Sunday. The Best never give up – Want your children to understand that concept. Show them Tiger Woods in Round 1 of the Match Play. Didn’t TIVO it… call me, I got it. Woods struggled with his game. It started from shot one… a ball he hit out of bounds. Nothing seemed to work. For 13 holes, Tiger Woods looked like any other golfer on the Tour. The difference came after an unplayable lie from his tee shot on that 13th hole. To be more specific, it came after Tiger took his drop and it landed in the worst possible spot. Tiger took one extra swing, at his golf bag, and from that moment until he shook JB Holmes hand, Woods played, well, like Tiger. He went from 3 down to moving to Round 2. I think the hardest thing to do in a round of golf is find a swing that has disappeared. There are very few that can handle that problem. See Ernie Els. That 3 year plan made need a little more time. There is a quality in the best. It is called, “never quit.” 19 times, Jack Nicklaus finished 2nd in majors. How many times could he have called it a day? What we saw yesterday from Tiger was absolute greatness. 3 down with 5 to play and he had just hit a drive to an unplayable position. How much would you like to see Tigers nervous system; Tigers brain waves as he moved to the 14th tee box... Birdie 14; Birdie 15; Birdie 16; Eagle 17, five under in 4 holes. “I just kept saying I could win in regulation,” said Woods, who had a back-nine score of 6-under-par 30 despite a bogey. “That’s what I’ve always done, even if I’m 2-down with three to go ro 3-down with five to go or whatever it may be. "I've been in that situation a lot of times. I always say I can win in regulation. It doesn't mean that you do, but you have to believe that you can. And today was one of those lucky times where everything just happened to turn my way at the right time." How many actually say that to themselves… lesson two – the best never quit. Why Wie – Lesson three – at what point should the media report on the news rather than try to create it. For the last 4 days, those of us that watch The Golf Channel (God forbid, ESPN or Fox should actually discuss golf) have had to deal with another on-slot of Michele Wie promotion. From :30 second promotional mentions about the tournament this weekend to some sort of story in just about every show. Every 5 minutes another picture of Michele… another story. If I am Carolyn Bivens, the LPGA Commissioner, I am doing everything possible to get the LPGA on The Golf Channel. See, if there was ever a week for The Golf Channel to help one of its biggest clients, the LPGA, it was this one. Instead of sticking us with more promotion about a non-playing, non-winning, non-member of the LPGA (it is very important for me to say that I like Michele Wie and still think there is greatness in her. My anger is not directed at Michele but at the one place I can go to learn about golf), I want to give you what they should have been doing. Maybe it’s just me, but I am truly sick of hearing about someone that has not done anything. I can give you so many better stories. Stories that in the long run might actually assist in making the LPGA stronger. Stories that might actually excite the viewer to watch the next tournament rather than hearing about the “same old thing.” Here are just a few. How about promoting Angela Park. A young lady, that like Tiger, never gave up. After being assessed a two-shot penalty for slow play, she came back and was in the hunt. How about Russy Gulyanamatta or Memoko Udeda. Two young ladies that fought to hang with Annika. Great young women who should be talked about. How about Kelli Kuehne. Leading after the first round she shots 79 in the second. But instead of quitting; instead of walking through her third round, she proceeds to shot the low round of the day. You might think me crazy discussing this, but before you do, watch the LPGA this weekend. There are great stories that need to be shown and told and promoted. Posted Feb 21 2008, 03:16 PM by Steven Gribin with no comments Filed under: Tiger Woods, Women in Golf, Annika Sorenstam, LPGA, PGA, Michelle Wie

• Phil’s Wins in Los Angeles

  For so many years, Phil Mickelson has been quoted as saying that he wanted to have a trophy from each West Coast event. Thanks to some help from Jeff Quinney, Phil has accomplished his goal. Victory came in his 10th start at the Northern Trust Open. He had made six cuts, with the win representing his second top-10 finish. Mickelson finished runner-up in 2007 when he lost in a playoff to Charles Howell III. It has been 20 years since Phil Mickelson first stepped inside the ropes at Riviera, a 17-year-old amateur in awe of the fabled course off Sunset Boulevard, inspired by names like Hogan, Snead and Nelson that were on the trophy. Lefty finally joined them on Sunday, adding to his impressive collection of PGA Tour titles on the West Coast. Phil wins for the 11th time (of 33 wins) in the state of California and the first time at Riviera Country Club. Victories in California: Buick Invitational—(3 - 1993, 2000, 2001); AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am—(3 - 1998, 2005, 2007); Mercedes Championship—(2 - 1994, 1998); Bob Hope Chrysler Classic—(2 - 2002, 2004) and Northern Trust Open (2008) He now has victories at 19 different PGA Tour stops in his 17-year PGA Tour career and his 33rd career TOUR title ranks 13th all-time PGA Tour winners list. Mickelson made two clutch putts on the back nine and seized control when Jeff Quinney self-destructed with the putter. Quinney looked like a player trying “way too hard” to beat the left hander. With Quinney’s mistakes and Mickelson playing just well enough to finish the deal, Phil got to take a relaxing walk up the 18th fairway with a victory he felt was a long time coming. He closed with a 1-under 70 for a two-shot victory. "The fact I haven't won this and it has taken me so long to win makes it that much more special," Mickelson said. From the start of the final round, the Northern Trust (a name I still have a hard time saying… how about the Los Angeles Open Northern Trust at Riviera), this tournament was a two man event. Mickelson and Quinney had separated themselves from the remainder of the field by 4 shots. On the front side, the lead changed a number of times with Quinney playing aggressive, positive golf, but once making the turn, Jeff’s play got a little loose and put too much pressure on his putter. With this win, Phil Mickelson can now say he has something Tiger has never attained, a win in Los Angeles. It’s surprising, knowing this is Tiger’s home town. Incidentally, Jack Nicklaus never won here either. British Open champion Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald each shot 68 and tied for third, although this was a two-man race from the start, and a one-man celebration over the final two holes. Annika Makes her 2008 Debut a great one… OK, I am going on notice, if you don’t take the time to watch the LPGA, you are making a horrific mistake. Sure, the PGA Tour has Tiger and Phil and John “what’s his name,” but the Women’s tour is getting deeper and deeper. Ending 2007, Annika Sorenstam, perhaps the greatest women golfer of all time, was not sure she’d ever play again. Injuries to her neck and back left her in a position of total uncertainty. After choosing to bypass surgery, Annika went to work on a strong rehabilitation program. Having not played in Hawaii for a number of years, Annika chose to open the gates right from the start. With only 13 tournaments played in 2007, Annika was anxious to see how her neck would hold up through a full tournament. The answer came Saturday night, when Annika won her 70th LPGA event, moving her to just 18 behind all time leader Kathy Whitworth and silencing all the questions concerning her ability to return. While number one player in the world, Lorena Ochea stayed home and continued to practice for her 2008 season debut, the LPGA introduced us to 2 more sensations, Momoko Ueda of Japan and Russy Gulyanamitta of Thailand. Ueda, a 21 year old rookie, looked like a veteran playing under control and with a smile on her face. Russy, who played on the tour in 2004, lost her card and is back, also had her best career finish. Perhaps the biggest event of the game came from, unfortunately a rules official. On the tenth hole, Angela Park, who at the time was 7 under par, was handed a two stroke penalty for slow play. Park proceeded to bogey the hole giving her a triple bogey. Angela continued to claw her way back into contention and finished back at 7 under. After the round, Park was extremely upset about the ruling. “We never caused any delay in play and I truly though it was unfair,” said Park. For Annika Sorenstam, she finished at 10 under par and will continue her early season play this week at Ko Olina. “I could not have asked for a better start,” said Sorenstam, who remains third all-time in career victories behind Mickey Wright (82) and Kathy Whitworth (88). “It's very gratifying to see that the preparation I've done paid off and now I really want to put '07 behind and say, ‘Hey, I'm a contender,' and I intend to be that all year.” Posted Feb 18 2008, 12:53 PM by Steven Gribin with no comments Filed under: Steven Gribin, Phil Mickelson, Women in Golf, Lorena Ochea, Jeff Quinney, Annika Sorenstam, LPGA, Riviera

• Where Are All the Women?

  Hope you had a great week.  This last Sunday Evening, I was fortunate to be invited to the Annual Northern Texas PGA Section, Awards dinner held at the Four Seasons.  As with all the other years I’ve attended (last year of course being the most fun because I received an award), the evening was full of great stories and terrific information about golf in our home town. As I left the hotel to head home, a question kept entering my mind.  A question that many of you who listen to my show or read these columns know might arise in my feeble brain.  The question, “Where are all the women.”  I am not talking about wives or girlfriends, but about participants or honorees in our section.  With the LPGA starting their tour this weekend and the excitement about Annika chasing Lorena (see weekly poll question) and because of my constant search to get more people involved with our great game, over the last four days the question has become more encompassing.  “Where are the women?”  Let’s start with some facts.  Of the 28,000,000 golfers in the USA, the NGF (National Golf Foundation) reports between 22 and 24% are women or about 6,300,000.  Of that number, 17% are avid golfers or about 1.1 million.  A very important fact about this 17%, avid golfing women spend more money on their game, on average, than every category of golfer but one.  Another very important factor with women golfers…they are younger.  The highest percentage of avid golfer woman is between 30 and 39; the average avid golfing male is much older.  Finally fact, and I put this in bold because it is the most concerning to me, Texas is not in the Top 20 of highest percentage of Avid Women Golfers.  Not in the Top 20.  How stupid is that.  We have the best courses; we have one of the highest percentages of Tour players; we have great weather, and yet, we can’t get our women to play more golf. What becomes incredibly clear to me is that the environment has to change before we can expect the players to change. The PGA of America, the national body of our NTPGA reports that there are approximately 27,500 members in good standing and of that number, 926 is women.  In checking with the NTPGA office, I found that there are currently 763 members and 26 are women.  That works out, in both cases to 3%.  These are facts, not indictments.  But it is so disheartening to hear.  What makes these numbers even more concerning to me is that they represent a 44% increase from ten years previous.  I think we get into a trap when it comes to some of these issues.  I often wonder how “the groups feels.”  What groups?  The groups included in the statement, “We are trying to improve our growth with women, minorities and youth.”  Perhaps these are three separate questions that when raised separately can more easily be answered.  We talk so much about the growth of the game.  About the creation of this program or that program for the junior golfer, perhaps we need to start with the hiring of our apprentices and interns.  Imagine, in this town, the NTPGA reports of the 26 women in the Association, there are 2 women Head PGA Professional’s and only 1 Assistant Professional, almost 40% of the women are apprentices. “The Northern Texas Section and The PGA of America is committed to addressing diversity issues, including women in golf.  Our national alliance with the Executive Women’s Golf Association coupled with a new college recruiting program and an ongoing commitment to hire women and people of color as interns paves the way for a more diverse organization,” stated Darrell Crall, executive director of the Northern Texas PGA and The PGA Foundation.  “But clearly this is not a project but an important cultural objective; more work must be done to attract women to the business of golf.” Sitting in that room with some of golf’s smartest minds, Randy Smith, Ronny Glanton, Mac Spikes and so many more, I would like to call on the Associations new President, Mark Viskozki and his board to enter into new programs and begin to open this great profession to more women.  Heck, with such great women’s college teams as TCU, SMU and North Texas in our backyard, let alone all the women high school golfers, perhaps we need to create some funding for special intern positions for women in golf management. One last point about the NGF 2005 study concerning women and why 3.7 million women left the game.  There number one reason was “entry barriers being too high.”  The study came to the conclusion that this was not a money issue.  The barrier women were describing was: attitude, awareness and most important, a comfortable environment. I think that says it all… bring more women into the professional and they will bring more women into the game.  Not in a patronizing, “women only want to be with women” kind of way, but by helping the 737 men become more aware of what women want and need and most importantly, help create a comfortable environment for women to enter and just as important enjoy and thereby stay in the game. It’s beginning to be a tough year for the best players on the tour, except Tiger.  Imagine this… in the first six weeks of the PGA Tour, 3 Top 10 players and a former Top 10 have managed to lose tournaments that we would normally consider slam dunks for these guys and they have all done this to players outside the Top 100.  Sudden Death losers include: Phil Mickelson, VJ Singh and Steve Stricker (maybe Steve did it so we can name later in the year he can win a couple of times and then be named the come-back player of the year for the third straight season).  Justin Leonard let his slip away within the normal or not so normal 90 holes. This reminds me of my picks for the majors in 2008.  If you remember, I stated earlier that this would be the year of only repeat winners.  That these for major courses were most conducive to players that have been there before.  If these guys don’t start finishing their events, I could really be wrong.  Oh, wait… Tiger is two for two. Posted Feb 14 2008, 01:46 PM by Steven Gribin with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Steven Gribin, Tiger Woods, Women in Golf, Mac Spikes, Ronnie Glanton

• Kickin' It With Tiger

  On the Media Enough discussion about number 2. Standing around with Tiger Woods at the kick-off of the Nike driver, I asked him which was his favorite stat of 2007. "Was it his greens in regulations or the incredibly few 3 putts he made." He looked at me and said, "7". In case you've forgotten, that's his number of wins. Let's see, he wins one by 8 and wins from 4 behind. I think it is time to drop the discussion about who is number two. Phil Mickelson, the current number 2, is closer to number 1000 than he is to Tiger Woods. The question at hand, just how many of 18 can Tiger win? And, one of my favorite questions: When Tiger finally doesn't win, which reporter will ask, "What's wrong with Tiger's swing?" Mark my words, it will happen. Why do we always go over the edge? JB Holmes makes two great putts on Sunday and now we get the question, "Is he the best 20-something in golf?" Since his last win, which also happened at the FBR, Holmes has played in 50 events and had a total of 4 Top 10's. Have we so little to talk about that now we have to create issues that are non-issues? JB Holmes is a good player. Is JB Holmes anywhere near the best 20-something player? If he is, than my kids and your kids will be watching soccer in the next 10 years and that is really scary. But, my favorite line of the week I admit it, I watch The Golf Channel. This week's promo about the ATT National Pro/Am brought a smile to my face. "Watch Hollywood's best actors..." I got so excited. I didn't realize that Tom Hanks, Sean Penn, Russell Crowe or Denzel Washington had taken up the game. Or that Jack Nicolson or Al Pacino had chosen to take their game public. I guess The Golf Channel and I have differing points of view about "best". What makes this promo a bigger problem is that the tournament is without Bill Murray. Golf's biggest comic is filming a movie in Ireland. For so many years, Murray has been THE staple of this tournament. Watching this weekend just won't be the same. Feeling Bad Remember earlier in the year when Ernie Els announced his goal of overtaking Tiger within 3 years? As golf fans, that got us excited. Someone other than Rory or Ian Poulter, someone with major wins actually going public with his goal of replacing Woods. Just one tiny problem. If Sunday in Dubai was a forecast of things to come, Ernie is closer to Rory and Ian than to Tiger. Speaking of Poulter, I go to bed each night and my final little prayer is for he and Woods to play against one another at the match play in Tucson. Did you see Tiger's little dig at Poulter in his winning interview at Dubai? You think Stephen Ames got it bad? 9 and 8 could seem like a close match. Woods stat of the week I have to give you one little stat. In his last five events, including the Target Shootout, Woods is 100 under par. 100 under par. My god, how many of us make 100 birdies in a year? My stat of the week In the last couple of weeks a number of industry stats have been released. It seems for the second year running, golf course closings outpaced openings. The number of golfers once again did not increase, but there was one exciting stat that brought a smile to the face of industry manufacturers. For as long as I can remember, we buy a new driver every three years; we buy a new set of irons every 7 years. As manufacturers have brought new equipment to the marketplace at a quicker rate, it seems we are buying more quickly. We now buy a driver every 12 – 18 months and are purchasing new irons every three years. I really like all the new equipment on the market. One thing is certain, from Nike to every other manufacturer, they are trying to make the game easier for each of us. Finally You will see below our question of the week. This is a new feature we are adding to our newsletter. Usually this question will deal with issues pertaining to one of the tours. For instance, I would love to get your opinion on the following... I know that each member of the PGA Tour is an independent contractor, choosing their schedule and the tournaments they want to participate in. But, I think there needs to be a new rule. I think every player on the tour should play in every event once each 4 or 5 year period. What do you think? Regarding our question this week, we are heading to Horseshoe Bay for our first getaway of 2008. The price will be absolutely incredible. We will have so much for you and your entire family should you decide to bring them. We are down to picking the weekend of the trip and want your help in deciding. At this point we are not including price. We just want to get the date established. See below for details... Have a great week and do not forget about The Tribute outing on the 20th. Posted Feb 07 2008, 03:48 PM by Steven Gribin with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Steven Gribin, Tiger Woods, The Golf Channel, J.B. Holmes, Ernie Els