•
NOW ON GOLFWEEKTV: Hate to be Rude: Ian Poulter
Jeff Rude’s “I Hate To Be Rude” column appears on Golfweek.com on Friday, the same day as his video show of the same name.• The wonderful Wimbledon men’s final, among other things, underscored that what professional golf needs most is a Rafael Nadal.
• Jean Van de Velde qualified the other day for the British Open. A quote machine and a character, the Frenchman prompts a crazy dream. His winning a summer Open nine years after his Category 5 collapse at Carnoustie would be far more bizarre than someone (well, OK, not just someone) winning a summer Open on a broken leg.
• Sure, this major is different. The British Open will go on without the men who were ranked 1-2 in the
Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index through July 5. But I’m not buying the notion that a major victory without Woods comes with an asterisk. Winning a major is a tough task no matter what.
I mean, even Paul Lawrie didn’t have an asterisk that read: * JVD went cuckoo. You think Sam Snead thought his two 1949 major titles should read: * Ben Hogan was out after being battered by a bus? You think this year’s champ will carry this one: * Kenny Perry somehow played Milwaukee instead.
There are no asterisks in golf, unless someday the guy hoisting a trophy has a tainted test tube.
• Perry, 47, shot 65 in the first round of the John Deere Classic and is looking for his third victory of the season. The last player age 45 or older to win three in one year was Gene Littler in 1975.
The last player ranked higher than Perry to not enter the British Open? Tiger Woods in a leg cast.
Good company either way.
• Perry can’t wait to play the Ryder Cup, but isn’t there an opposite-field event that week? I mean, he’s going to turn his back on the Vikiing Classic?
• Paula Creamer birdied nine of the last 11 holes and shot an 11-under-par 60 in the first round of this week’s Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. She played so well that she lost track, thinking she shot 61 on a par-72.
I’m not only impressed but relieved. She shoots 59 and I’ll wear pink every round the rest of my life.
• Greg Norman’s divorce cost him a reported $103 million. While that might sting Norman, that figure would put his ex-wife, Laura, No. 1 in official PGA Tour career earnings by a wide margin.
That’s about $21M ahead of someone named Woods and more than double the official haul of a guy nicknamed Lefty.
• If the Ryder Cup points race ended today instead of after the PGA Championship, the eight qualifiers for the U.S. team would be Stewart Cink, Phil Mickelson, Perry, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Boo Weekley and Woody Austin.
Then who would captain Paul Azinger pick? One man’s guess: Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker, J.B. Holmes and the hottest hand of mid-August.
• A new name low on Golfweek’s rankings is Lance Manywounds. Here’s hoping he doesn’t keep failing to qualify for weekends. We can take only so many “Manywounds cut again” headlines.
As a side note, “manywounds” in one Indian dialect actually means Arron Oberholser.
• Some people get honored after they die. One beauty of Mike Souchak’s rich life is that he lived with the PGA Tour’s all-time 72-hole scoring record of 257 for almost 46 years.
Souchak died the other day from complications after a heart attack at age 81. I had the privilege of spending a few hours with the former Duke football player years ago. I recall him as a kind giant of a man.
• Kudos to East Lake in Atlanta. For the Tour Championship in September, the club is bringing in former East Lake assistant pro Errie Ball, who was recruited to the club from England by none other than Bobby Jones in 1930. Ball, 97, is the only living person who played in the first Masters Tournament.
Are you listening, Billy Payne? Honoring Ball at the next Masters would be a nice touch.
Posted: 7/11/2008
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