10 Million Dollars?

Did Vijay Singh really just make $10 million-plus for just showing up and completing four rounds at the Tour Championship last week? That's amazing. I know a lot of hard work went into putting himself in position to claim such a prize, but seriously, $10 million for just showing up? Things have certainly gotten out of whack, if you ask me. I hate to say that it takes some of the fun out of watching golf on TV but sitting here pondering how I'm going to make my family's budget adjust to this sagging economy and the slow-down of our personal profitability, its all starting to seem a bit silly to me. Much like the NFL has begun to distance itself from the everyday fan by how much they're charging for parking, tickets, concessions, etc. at each game, I'm starting to think the PGA Tour is going down the same path. Who pays for these ridiculously large purses that golfers compete for each and every week? Corporate America fronts the money, sure, but you can bet your bottom dollar (pun intended) that they're making sure that we, the fan, ultimately pay them back for their support of the tour.

The Putter Will Make You Money

I bought a new-used Scotty Cameron putter on eBay last winter and boy has that thing paid for itself this summer. Make putts--make money. Miss putts--lose money. Its that simple. So why don't people spend more time working on their putting? I don't know but I guess I won't labor about it, otherwise it would just be harder for me to beat them on the greens. I did make the mistake of getting my circa 62-model putter a bit damp one foggy morning and then covered her up and put her away for the week only to find she had rusted slightly upon my next unsheathing of her. Anyone got any suggestions on how to carefully remove said rust spots? I'd love to know because she looks like she has chicken pox now and that's no way for such a powerful weapon to present herself for battle each Saturday morning.

Jay Williamson's Pants

Has anyone been watching the Viking Classic this week during the Ryder Cup? Me neither, but I did see enough late last night to bring up a question I've been wondering about for weeks: why does Jay Williamson wear his pants so high up his stomach? I know he's short and stocky but he looks silly, like an old man almost, with his pants so high up. Would someone please tell him that golf fans like me can't concentrate on the action when he's traipsing around the golf course looking so silly. And speaking of the Viking Classic, why did the PGA Tour think it was a good idea to have no event the week before the Ryder Cup and then play an opposite-field event the week of the Ryder Cup? That seems silly to me. People are missing out on that spoiled little brat Casey Wittenberg actually playing some decent golf this week, just like everyone thought he was going to do every week after his low-amateur finish at the Masters a few years back.

Andres Romero

This guy seems like a cool customer on the golf course. I don't know why I am so drawn to him when he's on TV or why I always seem to root for him when he's in contention. I think part of it has to do with the fact that he looks like the Calibos (minus the horns, of course), the main antagonist from the epic 1981 movie "Clash of the Titans." Perhaps its his reported humble beginnings growing up in Argentina that make me root for him as the eternal underdog? Whatever the case, I certainly hope he continues to play well and prosper on the PGA Tour. I'll certainly never forget his back-nine charge at Carnoustie in 2007--I was so moved by his bravery and bold shotmaking that I bought the same adidas shirt he was wearing that day so that maybe, someday, I could make a similar climb up the leaderboard at one of my clubs many less-important events. It never hurts to dream, I guess.

Practice

I hit 50-some bunker shots out of my practice bunker in my backyard today. I'm home with the wife and kids this week so I had some time to kill during nap time and thought I might as well use it constructively and get better out of the sand. I had two breakthroughs today with my technique too: 1) I'm bending my knees more at address, giving myself more of a feeling of getting ready to go down and hit through the ball, and 2) I'm trying not to release the club with my hands, keeping my right hand "under" my left through the impact area. Nothing earth-shattering, that's for sure, but I felt like I made some progress and that's half the battle.

The U.S. Ryder Cup Team

Who should Paul Azinger pick for this year's Ryder Cup team? I can't remember the last time I was so excited about the upcoming Ryder Cup matches--I think its because I'm relishing the idea of the U.S. team actually being an underdog this year and I love pulling for the underdog. If experience is what the team needs, then I think you can't go wrong with the likes of Steve Stricker, Rocco Mediate, Woody Austin and Scott Verplank. Stricker and Mediate don't necessarily have a lot of Ryder Cup experience but they've been around the game for some time and likely won't get too overwhelmed by the magnitude of the matches. For some fresh blood, however, I think Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson, Brandt Snedeker and J.B. Holmes might be solid choices. They might just play like they don't give-a-damn and maybe that's what the team has needed to play like these last ten or so years. To be honest, I wasn't even slightly disappointed when Tiger Woods announced he would be out of golf for the remainder of the year, and hence, would be missing the Ryder Cup. They haven't done diddly with his "Greatest Player of All-Time" moxy on their team so far so why should he presence even be missed this year?
My only concern is that Azinger is going to try and out-smart himself and make one, maybe two, out-of-left-field type picks and have a couple of really questionable players on the team. I hope he can put his own ego aside and make four solid selections come Tuesday morning and a couple of weeks from now we can all be rejoicing in a victory by our American team. Only time will tell, I guess--I'll be watching his press conference tomorrow, that's for sure.