On Tuesday I travelled back up to St Andrews.

Sometimes I drive and sometimes I fly but a few days ago I chose the train from London Kings Cross.

Infact I was an hour early and so I wandered over to St Pancras International station next door as I wanted to see the redevelopment in the flesh.

Why I love rail travel.

Quite simply rail travel means I don’t lose a day of work. The East Coast trains comes with WiFi allowing me to work throughout my journey. I also have a Vodafone datacard as backup.

I do marvel at how easy internet access is becoming, soon everywhere will be one massive hotspot!

Only today I was reading that Alaska Airlines will be offering WiFi on all their flights. You may have already experienced this whilst flying on American, United, Delta, and AirTran.

So there I was … checking the time on my phone … 10:29

My train was due to leave at 10:30

A second later it eased out of the platform and I wondered if I’m the only one that gets a pleasant buzz whenever a train leaves on time.

I know there are no guarantees but somehow you are optimistic that all being well you will arrive on time.

I was due to arrive at 16:00 in Leuchars.

Up until the early 1960s St Andrews had its own railway station, but the government’s Beeching report put paid to that.

If you are ever in the Dunvegan Hotel and Restaurant, a 9 iron from the 18th green on the Old Course, you can see some great photos of how the line used to run adjacent to the 16th fairway.

Leuchars (pronounced more like “lookers”) is a 10 minute bus ride from St Andrews and so the remainder of the jorney has to be by bus or taxi.

It’s always so cool to look up from my laptop and take in the breathtaking scenery as the train travels from England to Scotland through Berwick-upon-Tweed.

At points you are so close to the waves you can imagine you are riding them – or maybe that’s just me!

As my own journey came to its end, it was a pleasure to reflect back on the fact that during the five and half hours of my journey I had completed the new renovation of GolfInsideCircle.com

Now it might not be on a par of the fine work at St Pancras International station but nevertheless I’m proud there is now one place to listen to all the great guests we have had since September last year.

I’m also very pleased to introduce this month’s guest, she is Jennifer Scott a certified clinical hypnotherapist who has appeared with Kelly Tilghman on The Golf Channel and gives 2-hour seminars on how to play in the zone at The San Diego Golf Academy.

In fact Golf Magazine rated Jennifer’s audio 2 CD Program, “Own The Zone(TM)” with its highest rating. The program includes specific methods to improve your focus and ease any anger or frustration you may feel on the course. Additionally golfers are taught proven techniques to develop a pre-shot bubble where nothing can distract you.

Please head over to GolfInsideCircle.com to hear Jennifer speak and learn more about how her work can help your game.

Alternatively you can listen to her by clicking on the orange button below:

Jennifer teaches golfers to be free of confusing extraneous thoughts by using the power of the subconscious mind to relax and focus. These teachings put an end to your confusion and allow you to play “in the zone” for longer and longer periods of time. When you are in hypnosis you are in the zone and Jennifer teaches golfers how to get into this state effortlessly.

Discover more by visiting OwnTheZoneGolf.com

Quick Question for you.

What do Stewart Cink, Lucas Glover & Zach Johnson have
in common?

The answer is Dr Morris Pickens.

He was responsible for getting their mind games in shape prior to winning a Major Championship!

Infact he has provided sports psychology consulting for many PGA, LPGA, Nationwide, and Champions Tour players over the years.

Thus I am sure you will agree there is MUCH to be learnt from someone who has taught 3 major champions.

It was therefore a honour recently to hear Dr Morris Pickens speak during an interview for Golf Inside Circle.

The following golden nugget of advice really got me thinking about how I personally spend my time at the driving range and how it isn’t helping my scoring.

Like me you may only get a couple of hours in the week to practice – if that!

If we are not careful, we can end up down the range hitting shots with our driver and picking other clubs at random to hit.

Dr Morris Pickens points out that this approach simply won’t help my scoring.

He draws my attention to this one important fact.

“If you look at how the game is played this doesn’t constitute enough of the actual scoring on the golf course.

Basically when you look at it, most players only hit about 20% of all their shots, whether they are a 30 handicap or whether they are a tour player, with a 9 iron to a 3 wood off the ground.

80% off your shots hit are going to be either hit off the tee, so that would be your driver or 3 wood, with your wedges or with your putter.

So you have to understand those 5 clubs are different from the other 9 clubs

Those are you scoring clubs, namely your driver, your wedges
and putter.

So the other 9 clubs are kind of “advance the ball without hurting
yourself” clubs.

So if you consider you have 2 nights a week to practice, your time
is better spent working one hour on your driver and wedges.

And the other hour spent on your chipping and putting.

This way you are more likely to get better in the scoring areas.

Take for a second the concept of “scorecard golf”:

Nobody ever plays “scorecard golf” but if you look at your game like this it will help explain the principle of working in the scoring areas even further.

Imagine.

There are 36 putts in a round, so that’s 36 shots.

Then there are 14 tee balls, so that makes a total of 50 shots.

Then there are 4 par 5s where you can’t reach in 2 or either you go for them in 2 and you miss the green. So let’s just say you have 4 wedges into par 5s in one form or fashion.

That’s 54 shots

Then you miss 6 greens and have to chip, so that’s 6 more shots.

So that’s 60 shots in total.

And you still haven’t hit any irons out of the fairway yet!

So what you have to realise is that they you have already hit 60 shots out of however many you are going to take, say 70, 80 or 90 shots and you still haven’t hit any irons yet.

So when you start to understand this, you can really make progress in terms of how you approach practice and where you need to spend time and how you can improve your scoring.”

Tell me this.

Do you ever have the tendency to get on the range and think to yourself a thought like this.

“I just can’t hit that 3 iron (or say another mid to long iron), I need to throw in some practice there.”

I do and Dr Morris Pickens agrees saying:

“This is a natural inclination because you have more irons in your bag and you might feel you should be better at these.

But in actual reality you will never get the return on that investment!

Imagine spending hours and hours trying to improve your accuracy with
a 5 or 7 iron from say 50 feet on average to 30 to 25 feet.

You will do much better spending your time on your putting making
sure you can 2 putt the 50 footer and occasionally make that 30 or
25 footer.

That’s going to give you a much better return, instead of trying to
improve your 5 iron because quite simply you don’t hit it enough
to make that big a difference.”

That’s stellar advice and really something to take on board.

If you would like to hear more from this interview please head over to this page where you can receive a free CD copy and album.

Additonally I highly recommend Dr Morris Pickens’ new book:

“Learn To Win”

You can grab a copy here.

Good luck and play well.

It has been less than a year since Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros revealed to a shocked golfing world that he was suffering from a life-threatening brain tumour.

The man who could devise spectacular escapes from almost anywhere on the golf course was facing the most difficult challenge of his life, with the stakes much higher.

He has had four delicate operations and is starting his sixth round of chemotherapy. He is far from recovered but, true to his fighting nature, Ballesteros is already planning to compete in next year’s British Open at the Home of Golf in St Andrews.

In a wide-ranging interview with Sky Sports, he said:

“Golf has always been my love. St Andrews is the home of golf. Next year in 2010 is the Open Championship at St Andrews and I want to be there because I think I can really compete – not at the level of Tom Watson this year at Turnberry – but I can compete and I want to go there in a way of thanking all the British people for all the welcome I have received from them over the years and say goodbye in a proper way.”

Ballesteros revealed that he is practicing on a regular basis and that his main problem, physically, is judging distance.

He has won three Open titles – the highlight being the 1984 triumph at St Andrews – and two Masters Green Jackets during his career, in which his swashbuckling style made him the Tiger Woods of his time, in terms of fan-drawing power.

Using a golf analogy to describe the state of his health, Ballesteros said in the interview that there was still a long way to go.

“I would say I am at the tenth hole (of my recovery). I have had six chemos and the radio section is going to start for 24 days and then hopefully the doctor will finally say that everything is gone. It’s difficult to say in words (how hard it has been mentally). The pain physically was a little bit, but mentally for the last nine months it has been really, really tough.”

Having recently met Tim Southwell, the co-founder of Loaded and founder of GolfPunk, at The London Golf Show I have great pleasure in introducing his new Golf Web TV channel and Social Networking site called Showmethegolf.TV

Over the past six months the site has gone from strength to strength, and no wonder when you have Sam Torrance, the former Ryder Cup player and captain, and Jay Townsend, the highly regarded TV and radio commentator on board.

Every half hour show celebrates every nook and cranny of the game, with player interviews, celebrity golf challenges, new golf gear, loud opinions, instruction, tour news, and a host of other innovative golf capering ideas.

I’m not sure if it’s true, but Tim tells me he got the idea for the show after apparently drinking too much root beer and watching Wayne’s World followed by Happy Gilmore!

Along with Sam and Jay, Tim is joned by presented by Sophie Horn – a 4 handicap golfer.

Check out Sam being interviewed by a 9 year old with the biscuit tin challenge!

I recommend you check out further great golf videos at Showmethegolf.TV

“I’ll make plenty of money in my career. I want the crystal.”

That’s what Sean O’Hair said following his dramatic collapse down the stretch at the 2007 Players at the TPC of Sawgrass. His quadruple bogey 7 on the “Island green” 17th hole, followed by a bogey on the 18th hole saw O’Hair drop from second place, where he was duelling with eventual champion Phil Mickelson, into a tie for 11th. That stumble at the finish line cost him somewhere in the neighbourhood of $750,000, but he didn’t make any apologies for his play. He didn’t question his resolve and he didn’t question his own talent. He stared at the face of failure, into the eyes of “choke” and he didn’t bat an eyelid.

Two years later Sean O’Hair is returning to the TPC of Sawgrass for the 2009 version of The Players a different person and golfer, some would say a fully formed man. Last week O’Hair proved to himself and the world that he belongs in the upper echelons of the game, taking down Tiger Woods and one of the strongest fields of the year in winning the Quail Hollow Championship. The 26-year old has risen to number 12 in the world, up from 59th at the start of the year, and is currently 3rd on both the PGA Tour Moneylist and Fed-Ex Cup rankings. He leads the tour in probably the two most significant statistical categories as well- the all-around ranking and scoring average. Speaking to the media at The Players yesterday O’Hair reflected on his year so far, his past, and the reasons behind for his rise to the top.

“I think, number one, Rotella and I always talk about with putting, if you’re not a good wedge player, if you don’t have the opportunities from inside ten feet, your putting statistics aren’t going to be that great. If your birdie opportunities are from 20, 25 feet instead of ten, eight feet, you’re obviously not going to putt as well as somebody who does have those opportunities. So that’s number one.” O’Hair said.

“I think number two, I’ve changed my stroke a little bit. I’ve always been kind of an armsy putter, and I haven’t really ever released the putter face. And I think I’m more…I’ve changed my stroke to more of a shoulder rotation. So that’s definitely helped. I think my putting stroke has improved quite a bit in the last couple of months. And then obviously when you start seeing that ball go in the hole, your mind changes awfully quickly.”

Quail Hollow brought O’Hair’s victory total on the PGA Tour to 3, all well before his 30th birthday. Of all the American stars under the age of 30, he is the first player to do that. And while he may be a little more “under-the-radar” than compatriots like Anthony Kim or Hunter Mahan, in a lot of respects O’Hair has grown up on the PGA Tour, and is a more mature player for doing so. His well-publicised split with his father non-withstanding, it takes a while to mature under the harsh spotlight of golf stardom, something O’Hair has had to deal with since he made his tour debut as a gangly 22-year old. Now in his 5th year on tour, O’Hair can not only boast of 3 tournament wins, but he and wife Jackie are also expecting their third child this summer. When asked about the expectations placed on the young Americans O’Hair was dismissive, but realistic about perceived expectations from the public and the media.

“You’re asking about expectations that you guys have, and with all due respect, I really don’t care what you guys think. My thing is I care about where I want to go, and I think the thing is there’s a lot of things that have been written in a negative way, especially after Bay Hill and the thing is I can’t control what you guys write. I can’t control the expectations people have on me. The only thing I can control is how I think of myself and the expectations that I put on myself.”

But for all his success this year, O’hair is still very much on a mission. The goals he has talked about are lofty ones- winning the career Grand Slam along with 50 events on the PGA Tour itself. Quail Hollow did a lot to put the demons of Sawgrass and Bay Hill behind O’Hair, and with a new found confidence it’s hard to bet against him.

“I don’t want to be just a guy on the PGA TOUR making a good living. That’s not my goal. My goal is to win as many golf tournaments as possible. I want to win major championships. I want to win this tournament. There’s a lot of goals I have. At the end of my career I’d love to be in the Hall of Fame….I believe in myself. I believe that I can become one of the better players out here. I think I feel like I’m on the right track to do that.”

Pro golfers twitter their way into fans’ hearts. Professional golfers are going back to the people thanks to technology. In the old days of pro golf, the big-name players were mostly happy to rub shoulders with ordinary folks off the course. Modern golf doesn’t allow for such intimacy, with the increased money involved, television coverage, sponsor obligations, security and the higher profile golfers enjoy these days compared with the past. However, social networking websites such as Twitter.com are allowing the pros to once again connect with fans in a cyber kind of way.

LPGA Pro Nicole Hage tweets at Twitter.com/NicoleHage, to view more photos please visit her Facebook page here.

Twitter is the latest sensation in social networking. The site allows users to post “tweets” or short messages to their subscribers, providing updates, news and other interesting and often personal tidbits. It’s like a blog with fewer words.

Among the well-known golfers who provide tweet service are Stewart Cink (@StewartCink), John Daly (@PGA_JohnDaly) and Stuart Appleby (@StuartAppleby) while female golfing tweeters include Natalie Gulbis (@Natalie_Gulbis), Morgan Pressel (@MorganPressel), Meaghan Francella (@MFrancella) and NicoleHage (@NicoleHage).

Other golfers tweeting with their fans are US PGA Tour winner Parker McLachlin (@ParkerMcLachlin), Japanese-American sensation Tadd Fujikawa (@Tadd_Fujikawa) and women’s Futures Tour players Carling Coffing (@CarlingCoffing), Liz Janangelo (@PumpkinPutts), Whitney Myers (@Whitney0Myers), Maggie Simons (@MaggieSimons), Kristie Smith (@NikeGolfChick) and Briana Vega (@BrianaVega), the latest winner of golf reality show Big Break.

Cink is one of the most active twitter-ers and is keeping his fans up-to-date with his progress when competing in tournaments and during time off from the Tour.

Hage, Gulbis, Pressel, Daly and the others also faithfully provide updates on a regular basis to keep fans happy.

There is much to catch up on from pro golfers, so log on to Twitter.com, where you can also read the latest about me Andy Brown (@AndyBrownGolf) and HomeofGolf.TV.

In Alphabetical Order: (please let me know of anymore pros that join Twitter so as I can update this page- thanks)

Sofie Andersson (@SofieAndersson)

Swede Sofie Andersson is one of the many promising professionals to come from Sweden and who is now competing on the Duramed Futures Tour in the US. The 26-year-old joined the Tour in 2007 and won a tournament in her rookie year at the Aurora Health Care Champions in Wisconsin. She has also had six other top 10 finishes, including second at the 2009 Michelob ULTRA Duramed Futures Players Championship. She resides in California.

Stuart Appleby (@StuartAppleby)

Australian Appleby turned pro in 1992 and has since been a consistently successful golfer since. He started off on the Australasian PGA Tour before winning twice on the secondary Tour in the US in 1995, where he finished fifth on the money list and qualified for the US PGA Tour. Appleby has won eight times on golf’s premier tour and he reached the top 10 in the world in 2004. His best performance in a major was at the 2002 British Open, where he lost in a four-way play-off to Ernie Els.

Kyeong Bae (@KyeongBae)

South Korean Bae Kyeong has been on and off the elite LPGA Tour since 2002, and a permanent fixture since 2006. Although she has never won on the main tour, she did find success during her year on the Future Tour is 2005 when she won two tournaments. She has also won the Shinsegye Cup KLPGA Championship on her native Korea LPGA Tour. Her best finish on the LPGA Tour was second place at the 2006 Sybase Classic.

Stacy Biebar (@GolfProGirls)

Bio coming soon.

Paul Casey (@Paul_Casey)

Bio coming soon.

Susan Choi (@GolfProGirls)

Susan played Varsity golf at Wellesley College for all four years. This experience triggered a passion, and made her realize that this is what she want to do for the rest of my life. Susan started competing in local and national events her Junior year at Wellesley and had some pretty good success, but most importantly she says, “I loved it!” Susan has been featured on Big Break Ka’anapali and she is a proud founder of GolfProGirls.com.

Irene Cho (@TheIreneCho)

Irene Cho is a product of the University of Southern California and has been playing on the LPGA Tour since 2007, one year after turning professional. She had a distinguished amateur career, earning AJGA All-America honours in 2002 and 13 top-10 finishes on the American Junior Golf Association tour. In 2006, she was Honda Player of the Year and Pac-10 Player of the Year.

Stewart Cink (@StewartCink)

Cink, who turns 36 in May, is one of the most respected players on the PGA Tour. With 12 professional victories to his name, including five titles on the PGA Tour, Cink has established himself as one of the world’s leading golfers, having broken into the top 10 of the world rankings intermittently in his career. One of the highlights of his career was reaching the final of the 2008 Match Play Championship in Arizona, losing to world number one Tiger Woods.

Carling Coffing (@CarlingCoffing)

The 23-year-old Coffing is one of the rising stars of the women’s game, having turned professional in 2008. The Ohio State graduate with a degree in communications had a stellar college career, at state and national level and is currently competing in the women’s Futures Tour. She is hoping to one day break into the LPGA Tour.

Paula Creamer (@ThePaulaCreamer)

American Paula Creamer has been one of the biggest stars of the LPGA Tour ever since she burst on to the professional scene in 2005. She has earned more than US$1 million each year since turning pro and won eight tournaments along the way. When she won the Sybase Classic in 2005 at 18 years, nine months and 17 days, she became the youngest winner at the time of a multi-round tournament on the LPGA.

John Daly (@PGA_JohnDaly)

Daly is one player whose charisma and persona could rival that of Tiger Woods in terms of fan popularity. The 43-year-old two-time major champion is currently on a comeback in the professional game after years in the wilderness, trying to rediscover the form that helped him to the 1991 US PGA Championship and the 1995 Open Chamipionship title. His booming drives make him one of the biggest drawcards on the tour, even when he is not playing well.

Chris DiMarco (@ChrisDiMarco)

Chris DiMarco is a veteran on the US PGA Tour, having joined the pro ranks in 1990. In recent years he has shown the ability to challenge the top players in any situation and has been rewarded with three titles – the 2000 SEI Pennsylvania Classic, 2001 Buick Challenge and 2002 Phoenix Open. DiMarco was runner-up at the 2006 British Open, the same year he won the Abu Dhabi Championship in UAE on the European Tour.

Heather Daly-Donofrio (@LPGARocks)

Daly-Donofrio is an 11-year veteran of professional golf, having first joined the LPGA Tour in 1998. She has two tour titles to her name, winning the 2001 First Union Betsy King Classic and the Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions. She achieved two top-10 finishes in 2005 but has since only played sparingly on the main tour.

Meredith Duncan (@Meredith_Duncan)

Meredith Duncan turned in professional in 2002 after a successful amateur career during which she won the US Women’s Amateur Championship in 2001. The following year, she was part of the US Curtis Cup team. After turning pro, she played on the Kosaido Ladies Asian Circuit and, in 2003, tied for fifth at the LPGA Final Qualifying event to earn her Tour card.

Allison Fouch (@AllisonFouch)

Fouch turned professional in 2006 and enjoyed her best year in the LPGA Tour in 2008, when she made the cut in 17 of 25 tournaments she played. Her best finish was at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, where she finished tied for second and also had a career-low score of 64 in the final round. The previous year, she won twice on the Futures Tour and had eight other top-10 finishes for second overall in the money list and an exemption for the 2008 LPGA Tour.

Meaghan Francella (@MFrancella)

Having turned pro in 2004, Francella’s major triumph to date has been in winning the 2007 MasterCard Classic where she saw off Annika Sörenstam in a four hole playoff. In 2006 Meaghan won the Lakeland Duramed Futues Classic, helping her secure a 5th place on the Futures Tour money list and full exemption for the 2007 LPGA season. She finished 29th and 88th on the LPGA money list for 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Tadd Fujikawa (@Tadd_Fujikawa)

Fujikawa hit the headlines in 2006 when, aged 15, he became the youngest golfer to qualify for the US Open. The next year, he became the second youngest player to make the cut at a PGA Tour event, Hawaii’s Sony Open, at 16 years and four days. He left the amateur ranks in 2007 and won his first tournament as a pro in April 2008 at the Mid-Pacific Open in Hawaii.

Julieta Granada (@JulieGranada)

Paraguay’s Granada has been a pro since 2005, winning the YMCA Futures Classic on the Futures Tour in 2005 before joining the LGPA Tour in 2006. In that year, she won the final tournament of the season, the ADT Championship, enabling her to collect the first-ever $1-million prize in women’s golf. A graduate of the David Leadbetter school in Florida, the 22-year-old has had a fine amateur career and is one of the stars of the future.

Natalie Gulbis (@Natalie_Gulbis)

One of the most glamorous and popular golfers on the LGPA Tour, Gulbis, 26, has also proven herself to be a quality player, earning her first title at the 2007 Evian Masters. She showed promise at a young age when she qualified for her first LPGA tournament, the 1997 Longs Drugs Challenge. At 14, she was the youngest amateur to do so until Michelle Wie broke her record in 2002.

Sophie Gustafson (@SophieGustafson)

Another pro export from Sweden, Gustafson has been a regular feature on the LPGA Tour since 1998. Her best year on the Tour was on 2000 when she won two tournaments and had two other top-10 finishes. She triumphed in the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship and the Weetabix Women’s British Open. She won again the following year, at the Subaru Memorial of Naples and captured her fourth tour title at the 2003 Samsung World Championship.

Nicole Hage (@NicoleHage)

Hage turned professional in June, 2007 and returned to LPGA Final Qualifying School last year where she finished joint 34th to re-enter the Tour. Prior to becoming pro, she enjoyed a successful amateur and junior career, earning All-American credits in 2002 and 2003 as well as being on the 2002 Junior Solheim Cup.

Maria Hjorth (@MariaHjorth)

Hjorth is one of the veterans of the LPGA Tour, having made her rookie year in 1998 and then going on to win two tournaments and attain five other top-10 positions in 1999. Her maiden triumph on the Tour was the SAFECO Classic and she also won the Mizuno Classic. She had to wait eight years before her next triumph, at the 2007 Navistar LPGA Classic.

Janell Howland (@Janellaxo)

Howland has played only sparingly on the LPGA Tour since 2005, having played eight tournaments in total, including five in her rookie year. In 2008, she played 16 tournaments on the Duramed Futures Tour and eventually regained her card for the main circuit in 2009. She had a strong amateur career, winning two tournaments in 1999 while representing Lamar University and the 2001 Bermuda Match Play.

Noon Huachai (@NoonH)

Noon Huachai is a rising star from Bangkok, Thailand, who turned professional in 2007 and has played on the Duramed Futures Tour. As an amateur, she met with much success, winning three times on the 2005 Future Collegians World Tour. The same year, she also recorded three wins on the International Junior Golf Tour. She now makes the United States her home.

Rebecca Hudson (@GolfingBecs)

Bio coming shortly

Vicky Hurst (@TheVickyHurst)

Hurst is one of the most popular new faces on the LPGA Tour. She made her debut in 2009 and has already recorded two top-10 places from eight tournaments (up to 06.09), in which she made the cut seven times. She turned pro in 2008 and went on to win five events on the Duramed Futures Tour to earn her Rookie of the Year honours and priority list for the LPGA Tour.

Trevor Immelman (@TrevorImmelman)

Bio coming shortly

Peter Jacobsen (@JakeTrout)

Jacobsen is one of the stalwarts of the US PGA Tour, having won seven titles during his heyday and continuing on to find success on the Champions Tour, where he won two majors. The 55-year-old American is also a well-known TV personality, with two shows on The Golf Channel. The last of his PGA Tour titles was the Greater Hartford Open in July, 2003.

Liz Janangelo (@PumpkinPutts)

Janagelo is an American professional who plays on the women’s Duramed Futures Tour, having had one season in the elite LPGA Tour in 2008. The 25-year-old from Hartford, Connecticut turned pro in 2006 after a solid amateur career that include five titles in her State Open Championship. Her best season so far was in 2007 when she won twice on the Futures Tour to finish sixth in the season-ending rankings.

Sarah Kemp (@SarahJKemp)

Kemp had an outstanding career as an amateur and professional in her native Australia before making the jump to the LPGA Tour in 2008 via the Ladies European Tour. She was her country’s top-ranked amateur in 2003, the year she won the first of two Australian Stroke Play Championships. In 2005, she won four times on the Australian Ladies Professional Tour before achieving nine top-10 finishes on the Ladies European Tour from 2006-07.

Christina Kim (@TheChristinaKim)

Kim is an American of Korean heritage, born in San Jose, California in 1984 and now one of the most colourful and talented female golfers on the LPGA Tour. She is famous for her flamboyant style of dress and the Kangol berets she loves to wear. And her golf is not bad either with three pro titles to her name – the 2004 Longs Drugs Challenge and 2005 Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions, which added to the 2002 Garden State Summer Classic she won on the Futures Tour.

Mindy Kim (@MindyKim89)

Kim is in her rookie season on the LPGA Tour in 2009 after a successful 2008 in which she won three times on the Duramed Futures Tour, where she also finished second on the money list. Kim turned professional in 2007 after a solid amateur career in which she won the 2006 American Junior Golf Association Mission Hills Desert Junior Classic and the Los Angeles City Championship.

Jeehae Lee (@Jeehaeda)

Lee made her LPGA debut in 2009 after more than two years as a professional, which included two victories on the Futures Tour. The Seoul-born Korean, who studied economics at Yale University, had a strong amateur career, with one victory in the American Junior Golf Association. She was also third at the 2003 Ivy League Championship individual tournament and the low amateur at the 2006 Connecticut Women’s Open.

Spencer Levin (@Spencer_Levin)

American Levin has been playing professionally since 2005 but it is only in 2009 that he has been a regular feature on the PGA Tour. The 25-year-old previously played on the Nationwide Tour, where, in 2008, he earned seven top-10 finishes to end up 22nd on the money list. He is the son of former PGA Tour golfer Don Levin.

Stacy Lewis (@Stacy_Lewis)

A rookie in 2009, Lewis made a solid start to her career on the LPGA Tour with some eye-catching performances. The previous year, she had played seven events on the Tour with two top-10 finishes, including a tie for third at the US Women’s Open. As an amateur, Lewis won 12 collegiate events during her time with the University of Arkansas and was a four-time All-American.

Davis Love III (@Love3D)

Love is one of the most respected golfers on the professional tour, having been among the paid ranks since 1985 and a long-time resident among the world’s top 10 players. The 45-year-old has won 20 titles on the PGA Tour including the 1997 US PGA Championship, which remains his only major win so far. His last win was the Children’s Miracle Network Classic in November, 2008, a victory that gave him a lifetime exemption on the Tour.

Paige Mackenzie (@Paige_Mackenzie)

After turning pro in 2006, she promptly went on to win an event on the Cactus Tour as a sponsor’s exemption. Mackenzie had played a handful of times on the LPGA in 2005 and 2006 before earning full playing honours in 2007. Her best finish in a major was actually when she was an amateur, tying for 13th place at the 2005 US Women’s Open. While at University of Washington, she finished as the country’s top amateur according to Golfweek and became the college’s first female golfer to win the Pac-10 Championship individual title.

Michelle McGann (@MichelleMcGann)

McGann is a true stalwart of the LPGA Tour, having made her debut in 1988 and turning pro one year later. The chirpy star enjoyed her best years during the mid-1990s when she won seven tournaments in three years. Her last victory on the Tour was in 1997 when she captured the ShopRite LPGA Classic, one of two titles that season. McGann has earned more than US$3 million in prize money.

Jill McGill (@JillyMcgilly)

The statuesque McGill is a veteran of the LPGA Tour, having enjoyed her rookie season in 1996. In that time, she has had numerous top 10 finishes and came close to winning tournaments in 2001 and 2005, both times earning the runners-up check. The six-footer had a solid amateur career, winning the 1993 US Women’s Amateur Championship and the 1994 US Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship.

Rory McIlroy (@RorsMcIlroy)

Bio coing shortly.

Parker McLachlin (@ParkerMcLachlin)

The Hawaii-born McLachlin has been in the pro ranks since 2003 and broke through to the main PGA Tour in 2007. After successfully returning to qualifying school for the 2008 season, McLachlin ended his tournament drought when he won the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. That performance helped him secure his place on the Tour until 2010.

Kate Miller (@GolfProGirls)

Kate received a golf scholarship to the University of North Carolina. Her collegiate career is highlighted by being named a two-time All-ACC selection for golf. She also had the chance to be a sideline reporter for ESPNU during a UNC Basketball game. Katie is now a member of the Duramed FUTURES Tour, and she aspires to play on the LPGA Tour. She would also like to pursue a career in journalism. Kate is one of the founders of GolfProGirls.com.

Tina Miller (@TinaMillerGolf)

Miller, whose full name is Christina Mae Miller, is a 26-year-old pro golfer from Miami, Florida who turned professional in 2005 at the LPGA Wendy’s Championship for Children. She has been playing golf since she was seven years old and earned a full scholarship to the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. In her junior year, she became a member of the elite Iron Arrow club – the university’s highest society honour.

Whitney Myers (@Whitney0Myers)

Myers is another golfer who is trying to make a name for herself on the women’s Futures Tour after showing plenty of potential at junior and amateur levels. She is a former winner of the Pennsylvania State Junior Girls’ Championship and a two-time AJGA champion. The 23-year-old was also the individual winner of the 2008 SEC Women’s Golf Championship.

Johanna Mundy (@JohannaMundy)

Englishwoman Mundy has been a professional on the LPGA Tour since 2000 after an amateur career that included victories in the 1992 and 1994 Sussex Ladies Championship and the 1994 Astor Salver. She has had four top-10 finishes in her LPGA Tour career with her best most recent performance being 13th place at the Corona Championship. Also last year, she tied her career-low score of 65 in the last round of the Fields Open, where she earned 14th place.

Jane Park (@MaryJane1432)

Park has been playing professionally on the LPGA Tour since 2007 and, though she has come close, was still looking for her first career title by the middle of the 2009 season. Her best performances in 2008 were two second places, a third and one other top-10 finish. As an amateur, she was runner-up at the 2003 US Women’s Amateur and tied for 30th at the US Women’s Open.

Suzann Pettersen (@SuzannPettersen)

One of the best players on the LPGA Tour, Norwegian Pettersen joined the Tour in 2003. She enjoyed a fantastic year in 2007, winning five tournaments, finishing second twice and gaining five other top-10 places. Her victories included a major triumph at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship, when she also went over US$1 million in career earnings. She has since earned more than US$4 million.

Pat Perez (@PatPerezGolf)

It has been a breakthrough year for 33-year-old Perez in 2009 after he won January’s Bob Hope Classic for his first PGA Tour victory. In the first two rounds of the tournament he set a record of 20-under-par 124 for the lowest score over 36 holes relative to par. Although Steve Stricker beat the record by one over the third and fourth rounds, Arizona native Perez, who has won once on the Nationwide Tour, went on to win the tournament and establish himself as a winner on the Tour.

Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter)

Englishman Poulter is one of the most popular players on the circuit with nine professional titles titles. Seven of his victories come from the European Tour while he has also won Japan’s famous Dunlop Phoenix tournament in 2007 and the 1999 Ivory Coast Open on the Challenge Tour in Africa. The often colourfully dressed Poulter scored the winning points for Europe in their 2004 Ryder Cup victory over the US.

Amber Prange (@GolfProGirls)

Amber Prange is a graduate of Washington University and was an All-American junior and collegiate player, with 9 Top-Ten NCAA Finshes. She recently competed in Golf Channel’s Big Break Michigan. A rookie on the Duramed Futures Tour last year, she will continue to compete on the Futures Tour for the 2009 season. Amber is one of the founders of GolfProGirls.com.

Morgan Pressel (@MorganPressel)

Pressel has emerged as one of the leading players on the LPGA Tour with more than US$2 million in earnings since she turned pro in 2006. She was barely 18 when she was given special exemption to join the Tour full-time. She has two titles under her belt and a string of top-10 finishes. Pressel enjoyed an eventful amateur career, finishing joint runner-up at the 2005 US Women’s Open.

Anna Rawson (@TheAnnaRawson)

Australian Rawson has been playing the game since she was 13 years old and the glamorous golfer also does modelling work, either on the catwalk, print ads or on television. The Adelaide-born Rawson started playing full-time on the LGPA Tour in 2008, when she recorded a career-best tie for 10th at the Bell Micro LPGA Classic. As an amateur, she was a member of the 2003 NCAA Championship team, representing University of Southern California, and won numerous amateur tournaments in her native Australia.

Maggie Simons (@MaggieSimons)

The 24-year-old Simons joined the Futures Tour at the start of 2008 after enjoying much success as an amateur. She is a two-time winner of the North Carolina Women’s Amateur tournament and was the runner-up in the 2007 North and South Women’s Amateur Championship. She earned a degree in psychology at Wake Forest University but is now focusing mostly on her budding golfing career.

Kristie Smith (@NikeGolfChick)

The 20-year-old Smith is one of Australia’s up and coming female golfers, having only recently turned professional after a successful amateur career. The daughter of former Aussie golfer Wayne Smith, she was the Australian Amateur champion in 2008 and was the best-performing amateur at the 2008 Women’s Australian Open. The Perth native is currently playing on the Duramed Futures Tour with an eye on one day qualifying for the LPGA Tour.

Annika Sorenstam (@Annika59)

Sweden’s Sorenstam is one of the greatest female golfers ever to play the game, having dominated women’s golf in the late 90s to mid 2000s. She won 90 tournament titles all over the world, 72 of them on the LPGA Tour and 10 majors. She tops the career money list with more than $22 million in earnings and once shot 59 in a competition. The 38-year-old retired from golf at the end of the 2008 season to start a family.

Angela Stanford (@Angela_Stanford)

Stanford has four career victories to date (06/09), the first one coming in 2003 in her third year on the LPGA Tour. That was at the ShopRite Classic and it was not until 2008 that she recorded her next triumph at the Bell Micro LPGA Classic. The same year, she won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. She started 2009 by winning the season-opening SBS Open for her fourth career title.

Karen Stupples (@KStupples)

England’s Stupples has been playing on the LPGA Tour since 1999 and her best year on the circuit was in 2004, when she won two tournaments, finished runner-up once and had five other top 10 places. One of those victories was at the Women’s British Open where she became only the second player to shoot a double eagle at a major tournament. More recently, her best finish was second place at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill in 2008, the same year she crossed the $3 million mark in career earnings.

Perry Swenson (@PerrySwenson)

Bio coming soon.

Yani Tseng (@YaniTseng)

Taiwan’s Tseng made her LPGA Tour professional debut in 2008, making the cut in 26 out of 27 tournaments and picking up her maiden victory at a major – the LPGA Championship. She had nine other top-10 finishes. So far in 2009 (up to end of June), she has had one more victory, winning the LPGA Coming Classic and shooting a career-low 62 in the process.

Brianna Vega (@BriannaVega)

Vega, 27, plays regularly on the women’s Futures Tour after turning professional in 2004. Although born in New Jersey, she went to college at North Carolina State University, twice winning the state’s Most Valuable Player award, in 2003 and 2004. At the 2008 Suncoast Series Tour, she finished with three victories and emerged as the leading money winner. Vega has recently shot into the limelight by winning the golf reality show, “Big Break VI”.

Michelle Wie (@TheMichelleWie)

Wie is one of the most famous names on the LPGA Tour, having played regularly as an amateur since she was barely out of her teens but only making her full-time Tour debut in 2009, having turned pro four years earlier. One of the best amateurs ever, she set many records in the unpaid ranks including the youngest to qualify for the USGA Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at the age of 10, in 2000. Shortly before turning pro, she was runner-up at the 2005 McDonald’s LPGA Championship.

Spanish golfing great Severiano Ballesteros has given an interview for the first time since he was diagnosed with having a cancerous brain tumor six months ago – and all he wants to do is get back to a normal life and open his dream golf course.

Ballesteros, the matador of global golf when he burst on to the scene 30 years ago, reflected on his glory days, insisting his was an art more than a sporting skill, and his future after undergoing four operations to remove the growth.

Quoted by the Associated Press from an interview given to the Marca sports daily in Madrid, Ballesteros said:

“My first hope is to recuperate normality. After that, a course in Santander. That has been my dream for a long time. I have always considered myself to be more of an artist than a player. I think I can say that I have done some very special things on the course, things that even today, I don’t think any player has done.”

According to the report, Ballesteros was looking frail and his weight had fallen to 165 pounds – though that was how much he had weighed when winning the Masters at age 23. He has recently started another round of chemotherapy.

One week short of his 52nd birthday, Marca reported how five-time major winner Seve was, at times, filled with emotion as he talked about life, his passions and how the battle against illness is like trying to win a major, only with much higher stakes.

“This is the most important shot of my life. I’m fighting to win my sixth major. Life has given me a second chance. I’m not called Seve Ballesteros, I’m called Seve Mulligan because I’ve had the luck to be given a mulligan, which in golf is a second chance. I’ve been given the mulligan of my life. The proof is that I’m alive, that I can do things, that I speak, I’m perfectly able to reason.”

Ballesteros also spoke of his admiration for other sports stars, such as American Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong, who had previously won a battle against cancer, Barcelona football star Lionel Messi and compatriot Rafael Nadal, the world number one tennis player.

What he failed to mention that the respect and awe that other sportsmen and women hold for Seve is probably far greater.

When you’re a 26 year-old PGA Tour rookie the first few months of the year can be intimidating. The flashy rental cars, the exotic locations, the money and attention being throw at you from all angles. These distractions can add up and before you know it you’re half way through the season and you’re fighting just to keep your card. For a player who lists “partying” and “girls” under “Interests” on his PGA Tour bio, keeping that focus may prove to be just about impossible.

But James Nitties doesn’t want to hear about any of that.

Nitties, who earned his PGA Tour card with a T2 at the 2008 at Q School in December, opened the year with back-to-back missed cuts at the Bob Hope and the Sony and looked to be a victim of the early season jitters and distractions that many greenhorns suffer from. That was before an opening round 7-under 65 at the FBR Open in Phoenix, AZ thrust the young man from Newcastle, Australia squarely into the PGA Tour spotlight. At the tournament widely known as the biggest party on the PGA Tour, the self-confessed party boy was right at home.

Putting all the distractions aside, the former Golf Channel Big Break star went on to add rounds of 69, 70 and 68 to finish T4, just two shots out of a playoff with Charlie Hoffman and eventual winner Kenny Perry. In just his third PGA Tour event ever, the young Aussie fought tooth and nail all the way to the finish, and if he was at all nervous being in contention for his first PGA Tour victory, he didn’t show it.

“I’ve lead major events before so I tried to draw on that,” Nitties said, referring to battles with PGA Tour veterans like Robert Allenby and Peter Lonard on the Australian Tour over the past few seasons. “Sunday was probably one of the most relaxing days of the week. I felt comfortable, calm and excited all at the same time.

I was hitting it great and feeling great on Sunday. I didn’t look at the leader board until 12 but I knew I was close. When I saw the scores I was actually surprised the leaders were not going deeper.”

Nitties came out of the gate hot on Sunday, making four birdies against no bogeys on the front nine to turn in 31 and get to -13 for the tournament.

“After my second shot went long of the green on 13 I got a little rattled.” he said, referring to a blistering 4 iron approach from almost 250 yards. “I hit a great shot and was angry walking off with par there.”

Nitties pared the par 5 15th despite having just a six iron in for his second shot, and when Perry made birdie a group later Nitties was one shot back of the lead with two holes to play. When he failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker on 17 the resulting bogey all but ensured that he would miss the Perry-Hoffman playoff by two shots.

“Apart from the finish it was very bittersweet,” he said, reflecting back on the week. “I made a couple of inexperienced errors, but it really felt like the first proper PGA Tour event for me. It was exciting to be in contention and I was very happy with the way I handled the pressure.”

The T4 earned Nitties $264,000 and shot him to 21st on the money list (now 26th) and 35th in the Fed-Ex Cup points race. He currently sits behind only Scott Piercy and Webb Simpson in 2009 rookie earnings. Perhaps most importantly, Nitties’ inspired play in Phoenix means he has the luxury of re-evaluating his goals for the rest of 2009.

“My goals have definitely changed. At the start of the year I wanted to get a jump on the (money list) re-rank and to secure my card as quickly as possible. Now my goals have shifted. One goal is to get into the top 100 in the world and the other is to get a win this year. I just want to stay focused and committed to those goals because is right where I want to be.”

The PGA Tour season is a long road to hoe and with goals like those, the partying and girls may have to take a backseat for a while longer.

From: Andy Brown
Currently enjoying a shot of Lagavulin after
a sunny day filming in the Home of Golf
St Andrews, Fife
Wednesday, 18:21 p.m.

Hi there,

I have finally launched http://www.HomeofGolf.TV

On 24th January I announced my idea in this blog post and on the strength of the 150 favourable comments I have produced this first episode.

You can watch it by either visiting here on the widescreen or by playing the smaller screen video below.

Finally make sure you tap here to ensure you don’t miss episode 2!

Remember it’s “Nice to be Nice!”

Cheers

Andy

P.S. I look forward to your comments!