Kaymer Wins the PGA Championship, But Dustin Johnson’s Mishap Gained the Intrigue

August 15, 2010 by chappy81 10 Comments

I’ve been a Dustin Johnson fan for about two years now, and today when he sunk his birdie on the 17th/71st hole at Whistling Straights, I thought for sure he’d be the winner of his first major at the PGA Championship. I was really excited for the guy that I’d been pulling for to break through over the last couple seasons. I met him when he was first coming onto the scene, and he was a very likable guy. Really easy going, and someone you truly want to see succeed. He had more Phil than Tiger in him. I thought his coming out party was going to happen when he was leading in the US Open at Pebble Beach heading into the final round, but he choked hard on the 2nd and 3rd holes, and was never able to recover. Even MCeezy, who never watches golf was pulling for him in the US Open. He was right there at the Brittish Open, but Louie had an insurmountable lead after getting favorable playing conditions for each of his rounds, so DJ was an after thought on the leader board as was everyone else on that Sunday. I thought today was DJ’s day since he was one shot up with only one hole to go, but it wasn’t to be as he was once again a victim of himself.

Is it a bunker? I wouldn't call it one, unless the green fees were only $1 for that course....

His tee shot was bad, but the disaster wasn’t even him hitting his second shot from the middle of a hoard of onlookers. You’ve probably heard about it by now. His ball was sitting in what looked like a cart path like area that was trampled from numerous spectators walking on it all weekend. I’m not saying that it didn’t look like a bunker, but it was one f***ed up bunker that looked worse than any municipal course bunker I’ve seen. In the heat of the moment, it was tough to really confirm that he was in a bunker. When he addressed the ball in the f***ed up bunker, he ended up touching his club to the ground, and that cost him any chance at the major. There were boos raining down from the crowd as the ruling was made shortly after he putted out and was on his way to what seemed to be a three way playoff. The ruling honestly killed my enthusiasm for the playoff and the rest of the tourney. I can’t say I don’t agree with the ruling, since a rule is a rule, and they did post it in the locker rooms. The only winner in this situation was CBS, because all the drama at the end had to add to their ratings.

All in all, it was Johnson’s fault for not taking the time to check it out with a rules official or anyone just to make sure that it wasn’t a hazard. Actually if I was DJ, I’d probably have some choice words for Bobby Brown (his caddy) for not noticing that it was a hazard. Every players caddy should be reminding their player of rules on any particular course. The caddies sure make enough to be held accountable for that (10% of the winnings usually). DJ handled it classy though. He didn’t scream injustice or cry about it. He solemnly faced the reporters the same way he did after his implosion at Pebble, and gave them the disappointed answers they were looking for. As an avid golf fan, I’m happy that we will have a better storyline for the major news networks to talk about than how Phil and Tiger did. Hopefully this will be a tipping point to where we can start talking about all the great up and coming golfers in the mainstream media like McIllroy, Johnson, Watson, Ishikawa, Kaymer, and Day.

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Tiger is Being Tamed by his Age

July 23, 2010 by chappy81 9 Comments

Awhile back I wrote that I was hoping Tiger Woods wouldn’t break Jack’s record of 18 total majors won. I’m feeling a little more confident of that semi-prediction after seeing Tiger go 0 for 3 in majors so far this year with some of his favorite courses (Augusta, Pebble, and St. Andrews) lined up for him to win, err, lose. We thought he might be holding all four championship trophies by the end of the year, but now we will probably be surprised if he is even holding one. Will he ever win another major again? Ok, that’s probably a bad question, since I’m sure he’ll win at least a couple more over the next decade, but at St. Andrews we saw him do something he’s never done throughout his entire career; question his abilities. For the first time in over a decade of dominance he changed his putter just before the tournament and opted for a Nike putter over his trusty Scotty Cameron, and then on Sunday, he inexplicably changed back to his old trusty Scotty Cameron. It was like Lebron’s choice to make his decision on national TV. Well thought out, but ultimately a bad idea. Does this mean Tiger is starting to blame his equipment for his deficiencies on the course? Is this a sign that he isn’t confident in his abilities, and is looking for new equipment to make up for it? Nearly every guy on the tour changes their swings and equipment to get better, but we never have heard about Tiger changing his trusty putter that sunk everything within ten feet at every critical moment throughout his career, so I’m thinking he’s starting to doubt himself at least a little for more reasons than just the putter switch. Read more of this post

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The Old Lady Never Showed Her Teeth

July 18, 2010 by chappy81 5 Comments

This years British Open at St. Andrews was uneventful for the TV viewers. There was very little drama going into Sunday, and watching a two man race isn’t that much fun since it takes so long between golf shots. I was rooting for Paul Casey, but when I flipped on the TV Sunday morning it was pretty much already over. From what I understood it was pretty much over on the 8th hole today. At least with the US Open we had guys close at the top of the board, and choking was more a factor than good play, but nevertheless much more entertaining than the blowout at the old course. With most of the guys we want to see atop the leader board (Tiger, Phil, Daly) already far out of contention all we could hope for was some drama like an epic meltdown, mixed with one of the guys 7-10 strokes back playing out of their mind on Sunday, but that didn’t come close to happening. I’m happy for Louis Oosthuizen (this years champ), but it made me want to head out and enjoy the summer day instead of battling heavy eyelids. There wasn’t really anyone putting real pressure on him during the tourney after day two. I don’t want to discount what the guy did on the course, since he obviously dominated it. At the same time, I can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if he had less favorable tee times during the first couple of days, and was stuck in the wind that eliminated a lot of the competition. He never really experienced the old lady showing her teeth as Tom Watson would say. I watched a lot on Saturday, but am glad I didn’t waste my day away on Sunday seeing who would win the battle for 2nd place. By the way congrats Lee Westwood on coming in 2nd, you are officially the best golfer to not win a major. Hopefully you don’t hang onto that title as long as Phil did. In my eyes the best part of the tourney was one shot. You’ve probably already seen on the highlights. Miguel Jimenez had an amazing double bogey save on the 17th. The hole was eating everyone alive all week long, and playing a half a stroke over par for the tourney. Although Jimenez couldn’t escape with a par, he did leave us with this creative gem. Thanks Miguel for giving me the off the weeezy shot that I will remember this years open by. Come to think of it, I’ll probably remember this shot more than the winner that everybody had a hard time pronouncing his name!

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Tiger Should’ve Listened to Eddie!

June 30, 2010 by chappy81 2 Comments

By now I’m sure you’ve heard about Tiger’s record divorce settlement that rewarded his now ex-wife Elin, around $750 million, and is the largest ever dolled out by any athlete. I have to say I think Tiger should’ve listened to Eddie. I don’t know a friend or college student that hasn’t watched Eddie Murphy’s bid at one of the best all time standup routines ever in Raw. His breakdown of marriage and divorce for celebrities is something every celebrity and superstar should learn from. Maybe Tiger was hitting the books too hard at Stanford to have time to watch something that would make him smile. Apparently that was his big loss. He was married in 2004 well after the Tiger slam, and he was on top of the world rolling in money and endorsements. Why wouldn’t he have gotten a prenup knowing his thirst for women was so strong?!? Oh well, live and learn I guess… I’m sure he’ll return to billionaire form before you know it. Now that he’s got a clear mind and conscious, maybe he will start dominating again on the course, and show us FU mode once again. One thing I’d like to see is D-Wade and Tiger throw a big singles party somewhere in Florida. Maybe even at that $80 million Jupiter house that Tiger refused to give to Elin in the settlement!

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Where Am I, and What Did I Just Watch???

June 20, 2010 by mceezy 9 Comments

A Danish Panda? How Fitting!

I’ve been back from China for a week now, and I can’t figure out what happened. Now that the NBA Finals are over, I’ve come to find my sports weekend consisted of soccer and golf. Now I’m not one of those people who talk shit about soccer and golf, but it’s just not for me. I appreciate the game of soccer, and I’ll find my way out on the links every month or two, but watching it on TV for me is the equivalent of popping a couple of Ambien. It just doesn’t do it for me. However, in the last week, I’ve watched three FULL soccer matches, which brings my lifetime total up to, well, three. Much of the credit goes to my screwed up sleeping schedule. The majority of night’s sleep has come to an abrupt stop somewhere between 3 – 4am.  I’m actually thankful the World Cup is going on in South Africa right now. Those 4:30am games have been a lifesaver. But then, what’s my excuse for sitting down and watching the entire Cameroon-Denmark game on a Saturday afternoon? That one’s easy though. With the absence of a Chinese team, I’ve got to root for my other ethnicity, the Danish. I watched them lose to the Netherlands in their opening game, and after stumbling out of the gate against Cameroon, I was left texting Tony asking if the Danes were really this bad. Thankfully, right on cue, they scored a goal to tie it up, and then added another to give them the win, and eliminate Cameroon. Apologies to Tophatal. I would’ve actually been rooting for Cameroon had they been playing anyone else. This match was much better the other two I caught. First, the aforementioned Denmark-Netherlands game, and then later in the week, I took in the Argentina manhandling of South Korea. I guess I should be excited about seeing a hat trick, which has to be somewhat of a big deal, since three goals TOTAL in a game seems infrequent. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of an Asian team.

On to golf…. the advent of High Definition television has certainly made golf more appealing to me, but it still only can hold my attention for so long. I’d basically just be checking out the scenery, but not paying attention to who’s doing what. You’d think that’d be the case this weekend, since the US Open was right here in our backyard at Pebble Beach, but I found myself actually following what was going on. Maybe that’s not a good thing, as I found myself rooting for a young fellow named Dustin Johnson, only to watch him completely meltdown en route to a +11 day, surrendering a three stroke lead in the process. Perhaps I got hooked today because the players looked like me on the golf course. I’m pretty sure I could’ve hung in there with Johnson through the first three holes. What’s weird is the A’s were playing their way to a win in St Louis on the other channel, yet I found myself glued to the Open.  I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’m ready for the NBA Draft, or the NFL season, something. Anyone know when the UFL season starts? I might be ready to go watch Daunte Culpepper play on the home field of the worst college football program in the history of the NCAA soon.

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Players to Watch For in the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach

June 16, 2010 by chappy81 7 Comments

I think I’ve been a little too overly excited for the the upcoming US Open at Pebble Beach, mainly because it’s at my former workplace, which is why I started the stories from Pebble Beach series earlier this year. I’ve never seen the course set at an open level, but know that even back when I was working there from 2004-2006 they were continually adding in obstacles and changing tee boxes to make the course tougher for this very event. Hopefully this time around it won’t be a blowout like the 2000 US Open at Pebble where Tiger won by a ridiculous 15 strokes. It sounds like nearly every hole has been changed since Tiger’s dominating US Open, whether it’s an added bunker or trees, a little extra length off the tee, narrowed fairways (they moved many fairways closer to the cliffs), etc. We all know about the length of the rough in the Open, and that will surely cause the players the most grief over this weekend. It sounds like it’s going to be a chilly weekend in the Monterey Penninsula, so hopefully the wind kicks up too making it tougher to shoot low. I’d like to see some 4 or 5 irons being used on the famous 109 yard par 3 7th hole. Here’s a few players that I’ll be looking forward to watching how their weekend unfolds… Read more of this post

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Pebble Beach Stories Part IV: The Caddies

June 11, 2010 by chappy81 10 Comments

I bought this putter while I worked at Pebble. There were only 400 made, and to this day I'm pissed that I sold it away just to double my money. I wish I listened to my buddy Roy, and if you reading this, you were right to keep yours!

I’ve taken a little break from this series, but since I’m on vacation, I figured I should revive the series since it’s not exactly a time sensitive post, an evergreen if you will. Anyways, if you happened to miss the first three parts of this series and are interested in catching up here they are, Pebble Beach Stories Part I, Pebble Beach Stories Part II: Chi Chi Did It First, and Pebble Beach Stories Part III: The Baseball Players.

The caddies at the courses at Pebble Beach Resorts are probably some of the luckiest guys around. You wouldn’t you know that listening to them complain more than a feminist group. Sure, it’s a physically demanding job carrying two bags for 18 holes, but there aren’t many better places to take that walk, and sometimes they get blamed for making the wrong call on a shot, but in the end they get solid pay even before they get their tip. When I was there it was $65 a bag, and usually they’d carry two for a guaranteed $130. They’d get a minimum of a $50 tip, but more times than not, it was between $100-$200. Some of them have returning clients that must either be a nice person to walk with, or they are a baller that is going to want that caddy to hook them up with some things non-golf related.

Sometimes the caddies hook the guys up with, ummm, escort services, yes even the married ones. (Side note, a lot of guys asked me about escort services, and I would either give them the number to call or tell them to ask one of the caddies.) Another reason is sometimes certain caddies are good at getting their players certain drugs, no need to elaborate which ones, it’s irrelevant. I’ve heard some guys actually request a certain caddy, because they liked them the last time, that’s an unimaginable crazy scenario, I know. Some also take a caddy based on their reputation, and that is basically their seniority.

They get to meet all kinds of cool people that are just happy to be there whether they are famous or on a company sponsored trip. One of my good buddies caddied for the CEO of Jack Daniels, he ended up with a nice tip ($400-$500), and delivery a week later that was a box of JD Single Barrel bottles, flasks, cocktail glasses, and other JD swag. I gladly helped him take down some of the premium whiskey! It seems to happen to each caddy every couple months, which is why I think they have it pretty easy.

Seniority reigns supreme in the caddy shack, and it’s weird that the oldest guys are the grumpiest. It was always funny to hear them talk about some of their players, and how they didn’t deserve to play on the course, because they were so bad at golf. It might be half true, but REALLY!?! They just paid $450 for the round each, probably had to stay a night at the resort just to get the tee time ($400-$1,000), and throw in $65 more for a caddy that doesn’t even like them, and they don’t deserve to be there?!? I’ll be the first to admit, there were some spoiled rich bastards that came in, but knowing how much we charge for everything, you just have to suck it up, and be nice. Usually you’ll even get a tip out of it, unless your helping Charles Schwab (the cheapest man in America who never tips with a $60 Million dollar house next to the 18th tee at Pebble).

Another thing about the caddies I found entertaining is when the big tourneys come into town. I got to chill by the driving range and give them range balls. I’d often listen in on them betting on their players within their pairings. They would be betting on everything! They would bet on shots their players took on the range! I remember one time Luke Donald’s caddy was talking to another caddy for the player next to him (can’t remember who), but they were betting on whether or not Luke could fade his shot around a range pole, because that was what he was working on. They were betting $5 a shot on the stupid range warm up shots! I know for a fact that some guys lost all their money they made for the day to another caddy, always funny stuff. This is one reason I’ve always believed Stevie Williams must be more rich than we even think. I bet Tiger makes 9 out of the 10 shots Stevie could bet on!

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Jack vs. Tiger

May 26, 2010 by chappy81 12 Comments

Jack Nicklaus is still golf’s record holder for most majors won (18). It was thought for years that Tiger would destroy Nicklaus’s record when he was racking up Majors championships at the same rate he was picking out mistresses, and honestly, I still think he will break 19 major wins. Over the years I’ve felt that Jack was slightly bitter that he knew his record of 18 championships would fall to the hands of Tiger. I even remember him saying something to the extent of I should’ve won more to make it harder for him. Today Jack had some comments about Tiger that I found pretty interesting.

Nicklaus says if Woods, with 14 major wins, doesn’t win the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach or the British Open at St. Andrews — two of Woods’ favorite courses — this year he will have a hard time catching him.

“If he does he will probably go ahead and break my record,” he said. “If he doesn’t win this year he has a tougher road to go. He will be 36 next year and time starts to go. He has to win five majors. Phil Mickelson won his fourth at the Masters, but prior to that three was the next closest (active) guy. So Tiger has to win almost two careers (of a ‘regular’ player) in the next five or six years to do that and that is a pretty big chore.”

While I agree with Jack’s thought that Tiger would dominate this year since the majors are at his favorite courses/courses he dominates, I don’t buy that it’s his last chance to get close to the record. It’s probably either head games or a reminder that it’s pretty damn hard to do what Jack did regardless of how talented you are. Jack isn’t rooting for Tiger to break his record or ever has. I know for a fact that Jack wouldn’t have said this a year ago before all the scandals broke out, because lets face it, Tiger was untouchable, and Jack would’ve just come off looking like he was a grumpy old bitter man. Now he can publicly challenge Tiger without the whole golf world going into a frenzy. I’m sure it felt good for Jack to get those thoughts off his chest!

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Early US Open Storlines

May 25, 2010 by chappy81 7 Comments

You may remember back in my first edition of Pebble Beach Stories, I wrote how much I despise the Fijian Bastard, Vijay Singh. Today I saw that Vijay missing the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship last Friday dropped him from the 51st ranked player to the 59th ranked player. That’s not all that exciting in itself, but it has forced him to play in a 36-hole playoff to try and qualify for the US Open at Pebble Beach. It could be the first time he has missed the US Open since 1994, and I hope he chokes in the qualifier so this does in fact happen. Not just to see him struggle, but so he’s not at Pebble creating hell for my former co-workers on the driving range! The part that I find most entertaining is Tony Romo could actually be in the US Open and Vijay could be a spectator. Couldn’t have drawn this up any better myself!

It’s been all over the newswires the last couple days that Phil Mikelson could be the #1 ranked player with a win at the Colonial this weekend. He would only be only the third player since 1998 to be ranked number 1, that isn’t named Tiger (David Duval and Vijay are the only other two to hold the #1 spot). If Phil doesn’t do very well, he will most likely still be #2, but if Lee Westwood, currently #3 pulls out a victory, he could conceivable jump Phil in the rankings. Tiger is supposed to play again next weekend, but no matter who ends up being in first come June it could set up to be a great storyline for the US Open. Despite it being a great major tournament, adding in the question of who will be the #1 golfer adds that much more drama. A non-US Open related story, Tiger might not be invited to the Ryder Cup according to captain Corey Pavin. I’m not buying it, but he is the 11th ranked American this year, so there’s a chance, but I’d say that’s a slim one since golf will want him to be in there for the ratings if he’s healthy. I think Pavin is just trying to pull in a little attention while he can!

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NorCal Rookie Ramblings

April 27, 2010 by chappy81 9 Comments

Can I be the fourth guy in your group?

I’ve more than documented my man crush on Curry, and it has even stretched to seeing how he’s spending his time in the off season, sad I know. Make no mistake, I’m not a stalker that’s going to ask Curry to go to Santa Barbra to buy some antiques with me like this guy, who has more of a fatal attraction to Kobe than a mancrush. Curry made an appearance showcasing that he has some game on Monday. No, the Warriors aren’t magically in the playoffs, and if your thinking, I already knew he was a baller, and could’ve won rookie of the year this year, but I wasn’t talking about hoops. Curry played in the Quail Hollow Championship Pro Am yesterday, and posted three birdies on his score card, which is pretty impressive. He was paired up with PGA pro Stephen Lowry, Nascar’s Michael Waltrip, his dad Dell Curry, and Charlotte police chief Rod Monroe. I’m not sure exactly what the handicaps were for each player, and I’m sure that the handicaps they had helped their group a little, but their group ended up winning the tourney shooting a 54. Pretty impressive work Stephen. I guess Dell taught him a jumper and a golf swing, even though after the tourney Steph said that his dad beat him by three strokes, I’m sure he’ll beat him the next time they play. I’m far from a good golfer, and anytime I have three birdies in a round whether the course is tough or easy, I’m usually pretty happy. I doubt Stephen gets out on the links all that much, but I have a feeling when his playing days are over he will be better than Jerry Rice is on the Nationwide tour!

Some other news broke out today on the rookie of the year that MCeezy and I debated about, and would be Tyreke Evans. He’s another Norcal baller that will put Sac back on the map . He didn’t get out on the links, instead he is being recognized for his professional accomplishments during his rookie season. Although there is no official announcement made by the NBA, Sactown Royalty seems to have the inside scoop, and has reported that Tyreke will be holding the ROY award on Thursday or Friday. I honestly didn’t get to see that much of Tyreke this year, since I live in Southern California, and it’s rare that the Kings are on anywhere outside of Sac. He joined Lebron averaging 20, 5, and 5 on the year, and had some competition from Steph Curry and Brandon Jennings, but was clearly the most consistent rookie this year. All in all a great year for the rookie, and a deserved winner of the award. Hopefully these two guys can bring Norcal out of the basement of the West.

Next up: Who wins the #1 pick in the lottery?

Kings 15.6% of the ping pong balls

Warriors 11.9% of the ping pong balls

The rest of the teams odds, if you care…

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Rice Less Than Impressive on His Nationwide Debut

April 16, 2010 by chappy81 4 Comments

Jerry is Keepin it Classy

We debated earlier this week on what the over/under for Jerry Rice should be in his first professional golf tournament at a very tough TPC Stonebrae course in the Bay Area. We had set the over/under at 85 eventhough Rice was reported as a scratch golfer, we assumed he’d struggle a little in his first event, and weren’t shocked by his opening round. Yesterday he shot an 83, which I was happy about becuase I picked the under, but other than that it was a less than impressive showing. He played like an ameteur, recording five bogeys, and four double bogeys, but wasting 20 years playing that silly pigskin game might have cut into the 47 year old’s time to work on his swing so we can give him a pass.

“My score is up there,” Rice said, shaking his head. “I wanted to at least shoot my jersey number (80). When so many bad things happen, you start to press.I felt like I had to hit it close and had to get birdies. … I feel like the wheels completely fell off today.”

Rice has always been a classy guy, and I’m sure he had some nerves out there that made him shank a few more shots than he would on a normal round. To his credit he took the high road, and didn’t seem to be shaken keeping his composure when he made a bad shot or two unlike that guy named Tiger. He shot nine over on the first 8 holes, and then settled down shooting only one over for the next nine, but got a double bogey on the 18th. The score put him in a tie for 153rd of a field of 155. Now that he knows what to expect maybe he’ll shoot lower today. Looks like he’s only two over through six holes so far. That’s already a big improvement over yesterday’s front nine.

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Phillin the Love at Augusta

April 11, 2010 by chappy81 5 Comments

It was quite a fun weekend of golf, even if you aren’t that into the sport. There were plenty of memorable players and shots that made it interesting and fun to watch. The whole time I was waiting for the wheels to fall off for Phil, instead I was pleasantly surprised it was Tiger falling apart on Sunday. There were a lot of fun story lines that kept me from changing the channel, including 50 year old Freddy making a push, Anthony Kim coming out of nowhere, Lee Westwood playing solid, but not quite pulling it out in a major once again, and a lot of great golf shots in between. Read more of this post

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Eastern Martial Arts Meets Western Sports

March 20, 2010 by chappy81 2 Comments

I’ve heard of many athlete’s taking up different types of conditioning regiments, and know that some turn to different types of fighter training to get their stamina up. Whether it’s boxing or martial arts keeping them agile and strong for the rigors of their sport they do what they need to stay at the top. I’ve never really seen it go the other way though. You don’t often get to see a well rounded martial arts guy playing non boxing/MMA sports. Anyways, whoever this guy above is, he took it to a new level with his nun chuck abilities. He shows us he can hit for power in the batting cages. I don’t think there’s a pitch that’s out of his zone with that kind of unorthodox swing. He’s got a different type of nun chuck when he feels like hitting the links. I wonder if he has a full set? Amazingly his swing still looks better Charles Barkley’s does! If he wants to pimp a chick, he can even impress the ladies with his badminton skills. If he was on your team for anything, you know he’d be able to help you celebrate in style opening champagne bottles for the team. He’s the full package in a multi-sport athlete. If West Eastern State can find the Ivan Brothers then why not look for some talented young kid in some crazy martial arts community in Asia!

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Pebble Beach Stories Part III: The Baseball Players

March 2, 2010 by chappy81 11 Comments

The 8th at Pebble is my favorite hole on the course. There isn't a better over the cliff 2nd shot anywhere I've played!

Here’s the third installment of my stories from working at Pebble Beach. If you missed PART I or PART II click on the links to view. The baseball players are easily the most entertaining group of characters that I saw stumble their way the through the golf course. The best part about the baseball guys is that they show up to the first tee smelling like booze at 8-9AM. No other professional sports group drinks nearly as much as them. They will often ask you to grab them a bloody mary to cure the hangover before their round. It’s pretty funny when the mini-store they have at the resort runs out of booze EVERY time they come to town. The only times I saw the store sold out was during tournaments or when the baseball players were there! Another fun part is watching the baseball guys BOMB their drives.  They are one of the groups that plays a lot of mini golf games while at the resort such as scrambles/best ball/elimination games throughout the week. I always would volunteer to be a judge for the events and got to most of the time. Anyways, with spring training in full swing here’s my most notable memories from the always fun, MLB players.

Brett Boone – Easily the winner of the biggest drunk guy maneuver. Although there were complaints of someone leaving fecal matter in the elevator on this very night, but nobody owned up to that one, so it will be a mystery forever. We just know it had to be one of the ball players. It might be a coincidence, but  the two times that Boone came to Pebble, I saw him occasionally over their week, and about 6 of the 7 times I saw him, he had a cocktail in hand. I remember helping him in the morning of the particular day of the “incident”, and he was dropped off in the front area where the bag drop is. He had a cocktail in hand, and already had that drunk lazy eye look at 8:30 in the morning. Not surprising by any means, but he was slightly ahead of pace on this particular morning if you know what I’m saying.

Anyways, fast forward 16 hours to a little after midnight. Brett Boone and another player that was never identified to me decided to start a bonfire just outside his hotel room at Spanish Bay. A good chunk of landscape got burnt luckily not any fairway, and also a little of the building had some charring on it. This extremely smart idea no doubt came from some heavy drinking, and earned Boone a $20K fine for fixing up the damages. He also received a ban from the resort. In case you were wondering why so many athletes go broke, this could be another good example of why…

Adam Dunn – He holds the title for the best golf shot I’ve ever seen by a non-golf professional. We were doing a scramble, and I was the judge for the six pairings (twelve players overall). Basically, the game was; the two worst scores are eliminated on each hole, each pair had players alternating shots, when there were three teams left it went to a single elimination for each hole. I can’t remember who Dunn’s teammate was for this mini game, but there were only three teams left at the time of the shot. We were on the par 4 15th hole at Pebble. Dunn was hitting his fourth shot, and it looked like the other two teams had VERY make-able par chances(Neither groups made them). He was about 45-50 yards out, and he hit his shot a mile up in the air. It bounced on the green once with a little backspin slowing the balls speed after it touched down, and on the second hop it went into directly into the hole. His 50 yard chip in saved them on the hole, and they eventually won the scramble. It very well could be the only time I’ve really seen Dunn win! Sorry Reds and Nats fans, pun intended.

Derek Lee – The longest drive I’ve ever seen on the 18th hole came from Derek. I’m not sure exactly how far it traveled, but it went close to 400 yards. It was past the trees that are supposed to give you trouble on your second shot. It was a shame he wasted that monster drive by shanking his second shot into the water to the left of the green, but hey, most of us would be happy with just having that first shot… A side note on DLee, my buddy in guest services wouldn’t accept any of his money/tips from him all week while “hooking” him up with upgrades to his room and things of that nature. At the end of the weekend, he sent my buddy to the pro shop to get fitted for clubs and sent him a brand new set of Nike golf clubs. My friend couldn’t turn that down! I’ll always root for him no matter how much he struggles or how much Chicago fans rip him, he just made that good of an impression on me!

Cory Lidle - I was debating whether putting a negative on the deceased was in bad taste, but essentially I’m just telling a story. Also, it’s been two years since the plane crash, so I figure enough time has passed. It’s a shame my memory of Lidle was the most horrid display of putting I’ve seen. I could really see two year old throwing a ball at the hole and getting as close as him. He missed so bad on one putt he was slightly off the green after it. He took his time setting up these putts, and seemed to put some genuine effort into the shots which made it more perplexing. Something just wasn’t clicking, I felt bad for the guy. He ended up four putting that green, and the one that actually went in, was a rocket that he was lucky it stayed down. Maybe he didn’t care or was just THAT bad at putting.

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Tiger and Playboy?

February 27, 2010 by chappy81 1 Comment

Tiger’s losing his sponsors left and right if you haven’t noticed. Gatorade (aka. Pepsi Co.) just kicked his contract to the curb, which isn’t all that surprising since he never said when he’d return to golf. Why pay the guy that goes into hibernation. I’m think that this is a bigger deal than losing his sponsorship with Accenture since they are a company that caters to the upper class. Gatorade on the other hand is drank by pretty much everyone, at least the people I’m around. I guess they thought his little fake sobbing during the speech wasn’t convincing enough to keep him on the payroll. Maybe it was those references to having a tough life, the Gatorade front office thought “Well, we will  try as hard as we can to make your super celebrity life harder!” Maybe they decided they only wanted one robot in Federrer. What’s next for Tiger? Only he could tell you that, and I’m sure he’d have to write up a prepared statement that he can’t even memorize ready for you in six short months. This would only confirm he is indeed some type of cyborg, and has only learned the same amount of emotions as a Terminator.

One thing I’d like to see come out of all this, is him losing ALL of his sponsors, and starting from scratch. As soon as he wins his first major all this will be in the past and new opportunities will be coming along. I’m guessing Nike and EA will stick with him, because they have products based completely on him, but he’s going to have to pick up some new sponsors. Maybe he could get sponsored by Playboy. I’d probably pin him more as a Hustler type guy from all the fetishes he seems to have, but since Playboy is a little classier it would be the more likely of the two scenarios. Playboy has had some rough times lately due to the huge surge of internet porn out there for free. Hugh is an idol to most men, and I’m doubtful Tiger’s marriage will work out, so he’d be an amazing spokesman for the company. Instead of getting sponsored, he should just buy the company! We could even have a reality show with him feeding off the Girls Next Door success called Girls on the 19th hole or maybe Get in the Hole. Hugh you need to make this happen, there isn’t better icon to save your empire than sponsoring the most publicized affair of all time. Would people all of a sudden change their opinion on Tiger? Doubtful, because he doesn’t have the dynamic personality that Hugh does.

Hope you enjoyed the rant. I had a long conversation about this with a buddy today.

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