Hot
1. Old guys. Kenny Perry went crazy low in Hartford and Bernhard Langer had a top 10 at the BMW. I've endured a million Cialis commercials during golf telecasts but never heard it mentioned that the pills can help firm up your putting stroke, too.
2. Aaron Stewart Looking for someone to root for at this week's North and South Amateur? Payne's boy, a redshirt sophomore at SMU, is teeing it up at Pinehurst No. 2 practically 10 years to the week since Stewart's defining U.S. Open victory at Pinehurst.
3. Ryo Ishikawa. The so-called Bashful Prince sure doesn't play that way, making a nine during the final round at the Mizuno Open but still pulling out a victory with a chip-in for eagle on the 70th hole. Now he's heading to the British Open. And how did you spend your summer when you were 17?
4. Rafa Echenique. He finished second at the BMW International Open but still managed the wildest round of the year — a closing 62 that included a 27 on the back nine featuring an eagle and an albatross. Andres Romero, you now have even more competition for the title of most charismatic Argentine.
5. David Toms. He's turned into the straightest driver on tour — on Sunday at Hartford he hit 14 of 14 fairways — and he still has that buttery putting stroke. The fact that this wily vet hasn't won in three years just tells you how cutthroat the PGA Tour is.
Not
1. Lorena Ochoa. Not only is Jiyai Shin continuing to push for the number one spot but now Ochoa has fired her longtime caddie, Dave Booker. I wouldn't call it panic, exactly, but clearly all is not right in Lorena's world. And don't look now, but the U.S. and British Opens are coming up fast.
2. Grooves. The rules changes proposed for 2010 were confusing enough and now comes word that the PGA Tour may rebel against the USGA's decree. I know I'm the first one to think of this, but wouldn't it have been easier just to throttle back the ball a little bit?
3. Anthony Kim. He's the defending champ at this week's AT&T National, which gives us a chance to reflect on how much his game has matured in the last year. Uh, on second thought...
4. The Ryder Cup. Bidding has begun to host the 2018 extravaganza, and the countries vying to offer up the most mediocre golf course are France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Sounds like a nice bicycle trip, or maybe a special edition of Playboy, but couldn't they have scared up at least one or two countries with some actual golf tradition?
5. Morgan Pressel. Hey, I love her tweets, too, but playing in the final group on Sunday at the Wegman's she went seven over on the back nine, free falling to 15th place. Then she blew off the reporters who had assembled in the rain to ask a few questions. You can probably guess which of the two blunders I find more unforgivable.
(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1907885,00.html)
