Tiger Woods has been released “in good condition” from hospital, following a car crash in the early hours of yesterday morning. Although initial reports indicated the billionaire golfer was seriously injured, readers will be pleased to hear he escaped with minor injuries.
Tiger apparently backed his car into a fire hydrant and then hit a tree, according to Associated Content. However, they also report that he was seriously injured in the crash, so it’s clear they can’t be entirely trusted – or perhaps their ‘credible sources’ aren’t are credible as they thought. Tiger’s wife, Elin, is reported to have heard the crash from the house; running down to the car, she used a golf club to smash in the back window. Whether this helped the situation at all, I don’t know! What I have been told, however, is that she found Tiger lying on the floor, drifting in and out of consciousness – so why she broke the back window with a golf club is a mystery to me. The police have reported that she was “frantic” at the scene, which is to be expected from anybody who finds their husband in a car crash.
Although we are jealous that the man plays golf for a living, is married to a Swedish and earns millions advertising Nike golf clothing; everybody here at the Golf Blog nevertheless wishes Tiger the speediest of recoveries; even if it is only from minor cuts to the face!
An “awareness of where the golf club is” was the only way golf pro John Randle could explain the phenomenon of five-year-old Jeevan Sihota not only winning a junior par-three tournament in par, but by carding the top score in the tournament for children up to the age of sixteen!
Having taken on Jeevan about four months ago, Randle has reduced his training schedule to just one lesson per week, based on Jeevan’s incredible ability to learn. The golf pro knows well that, for a five-year-old, it can’t all be about lessons; "I make sure he's having fun, and sneak in some instruction when he's not looking" Randle explains.
When asked about his technique, Jeeven spoke in terms of clear objectives; "I like to hit the ball right by the hole." Although being a fairly convention approach, the technique must be working as Jeeven continues to go from strength to strength, despite the fact that he has yet to even enter the education system! If, at the age of five, Jeevan is already outplaying most children in the world, where he’ll be after another decade of training may be too incredible to conceivably imagine. One thing is for sure though; I wouldn’t want the pressure of being John Randle right now!
For many people on disability benefits, it can be hard enough to find enough work to make ends meet, let alone secure a £34k managerial role and have enough time to lower their handicap at the golf course!
However, despite claiming disability living allowance since for 16 years (including seven free disability cars) on the grounds that his left knee left him "virtually unable to walk", James Dorman played so much golf that the won the Vehicle and Operator Services' Agency annual golf tournament at Formby Golf Club! On top of this, he was secretly filmed pushing a car, climbing ladders and dancing a gig – none of which with the “crab like gait” for which he was claiming benefits.
Even more infuriating for our golf-loving readers will be that, when officers raided his home, they found Dorman's wife had bought an 18-hole golfing weekend for his 40th birthday – probably using the money he scammed for not being able to walk!
Donald Trump has finally begun work on his billion-pound golf resort in Scotland, the controversy of which I mentioned a few weeks ago. Regular readers will remember his declaration that protestors of the resort were “a tiny little group of people who are hanging by a thread” – the majority of whom have had to be re-housed to make way for his leviathan structure. Thanks Donald.
Apparently the plans are to plant grass on a stretch of sand dunes, in order to stablise them for development. This has environmentalists up in arms because these particular dunes are ‘environmentally sensitive’ and have been under protection for a long time. Although I expect 1,200 houses, a five-star hotel and two international-standard golf courses will probably benefit the economy of the surrounding area, I’m still ponderous of the impact this will have on Britain’s already terrible eco-reputation. It does seem slightly unfair that we are taxed, fined and then re-taxed in the name of recycling, just to have a rich American move in up North with a massive eco-disaster of a complex. Perhaps he’ll make the out-of-bounds areas into nature reserves... For some reason I doubt it.
Doug Barron has been suspended from golf for a year by the PGA Tour after failing a drugs test, making him him the first player to be banned under the Tour’s anti-doping programme, which it launched last July . The 40 year old apologised for his offence and for “any negative perception of the Tour or its players resulting from my suspension”.
He went on to declare, “I did not intend to gain an unfair competitive advantage or enhance my performance while on Tour”, though I find that fairly hard to believe. I mean, why else would you take performance enhancing drugs if not to enhance your performance? To be fair on Doug, the PGA Tour hasn’t revealed what the drug was, or even if it was a performance-enhancer. So, in effect, the poor guy could have been banned simply for getting stoned the night before.
Still, there is rarely a good reason to cheat to win. Having said that, looking at the way Doug Barron’s career has been going lately...I can’t say I blame him if he did!
No need for golf clothes: how else could Doug Barron maintain his athletic physique, if not with the help of performance enhancing drugs?
Having agreed with Tiger Woods that China will become something of a golfing super-power within the next dozen years, Phil Mickelson is now planning to open a golf academy in Kunming to help develop the sport in the country. He also plans to create a par-3 golf course for children, to help develop the sport at a grassroots level, as well as having his instructional book translated into Mandarin.
Mickelson declared, "This is a tremendous opportunity to help develop the game in the largest emerging market in the world” which, to you and I, means something along the lines of “Golf is now an Olympic sport, which means that China will invest lots of time and money into making sure they’re really good at it. Hence, I’m cashing in early by making sure I establish my golf course and academy in time for the forthcoming boom in popularity”. I can’t say I blame him, though I am cynically waiting for the Mickelson brands of golf clothing, golf clubs and various accessories to appear in the Asian market…
"I'M GONNA BE RICH!" - direct quote from Phil Mickelson ;)
Dear Golf Lovers,
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say this: what the hell is Irish Supreme Court thinking, ruling that Portmarnock Golf Club can continue preventing women applying for memberships, on the ground that the club’s “principal purpose is to cater only for the needs of persons of a particular gender”?
Have the last hundred years just passed by unnoticed in Portmarnock? Who do they think they are (club or court, it doesn’t matter) to declare our fine sport to be one that caters for the needs of men only? Do women not play golf? Is there not a huge women’s golf tournament going on as I write this very post? Is Lorena Ochoa a purely fictional character? What is this nonsense?!
I want to know what is so special about that Portmarnock Golf Club that it is specifically designed to cater for male needs... In fact, philosophically speaking, I want to know what a court of law can conceivably hold to be the needs of men, which are not also the needs of women. Actually, I take that back; spare me the details and just explain to me what the hell is going on, because I’m half expecting them to start making national male-only holidays next! (Not that I’d complain as loudly if they did...)
Although golf is played by millions of people around the world, it is enjoyed by billions. Now, thanks to the PGA of Australia, anybody can take part in their own golfing competition with the launch of a Fantasy Golf competition, which can be played over the remaining five weeks of the PGA Tour of Australasia! Starting with the JBWere Masters, the competition will continue through the Cellarbrations NSW PGA Championship, NSW Open and Australian Open, finishing with the Australian PGA Championship. There are a variety of prizes to be won weekly, including golf balls and merchandise, but the overall winner of the Fantasy Golf competition will win an entire set of Srixon golf clubs and a tour bag!
The idea behind the game is that you, as team selector and coach, pick the twelve players you think will perform best in each of the remaining summer events on the PGA Tour of Australasia. As every hole is played, you’ll win points that add up to give you a score you can use to compete with friends, family and colleges (which will sadly be exactly the same group of people, if you’re anything like me). To get involved, simply visit http://fantasy.pga.org.au
I’m sure we all love birdsong on the golf course, but maybe there should be more of it...
The RSPB’s nature reserves cover around 140,000 hectares across Britain. Although this seems like an awful lot of land, the same amount is also covered by out-of-bounds areas on golf courses! The difference is that, where the RSPB’s nature reserves are renowned protected lands, golf courses have a bad reputation with environmentalists as being poor habitats for wildlife; chemicals, balls and even discarded golf clothes litter these hidden area.
However, this doesn’t have to be the case. If British golf courses cut down on the use of chemicals and fertilisers in these areas, this massive area of land could be made into a fantastic environment and habitat for birds to live in. Nigel Symes of the RSPB says every golf course has the potential to be a sanctuary for wildlife and that the more clubs that look into what they can do to help birds, the better! I, for one, agree with him!
Donald Trump – not our favourite person in the world – has managed to further entrench himself in our disgust by launching a new attack against quarryman and salmon fisherman Michael Forbes, who has been resisting the building of Trump’s billion-dollar golf resort. So far, Forbes has already turned down a million-dollar offer from Trump, reminding him that some people still put principles above money.
Trump called Forbes "dirty, sloppy and unkempt in his personal appearance and demeanour...He is a loser who is seriously damaging the image of both Aberdeenshire and his great country”. Unlike Donald Trump, who dresses well but still manages to make his country look even more like a bully by attempting to crush everything that stands between him and his dream golf resort.
Trump went on to call Forbes’s property “a disgusting blight on the community and an environmental hazard, with leaking oil containers, rusted shacks and abandoned vehicles dumped everywhere. It is a very poor image and representation for the world to see of Scotland”. Yet again, he has missed the point, as Martin Ford pointed out; "People see this as an issue of principle. Fundamentally, it is obviously wrong to throw a family out of their own home – a major, life-changing event – just because their presence is an inconvenience to a neighbouring landowner wanting to add to his property."
Amen Mr. Ford; I love golf, but I wouldn’t demolish somebody’s house if it got in the way of my drive!
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