Archive for February, 2008


Vijay Wants to Gang Up on Tiger

Fijian Vijay Singh was the last player to dislodge Tiger Woods from the world number one spot. Not only did he unseat the American but on the way to the top ranking, he wore a cap that had “Tiger Who?” written on it. It was his golfing skills, and not the words, that took him […]

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Is the Home of Golf Empty?

Less than a day after writing about the frustrating, if gilded, career of Sandy Lyle I find myself ruminating once more on the state of Scottish golf. Colin Montgomerie speaking both from the heart and with sense has publicly stated his frustration with the lack of talent emerging from the home of golf: “We’ve been […]

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Meeting Triumph and Disaster With A Smile

The Big Five who dominated golf in the 1980’s ushered in a new era for the game in Europe. They stood toe to toe with America’s finest and came out on top. Seve, Faldo, Woosnam and Langer have remained, more or less, in the limelight. We remember the genius of Seve, the dominance of Faldo, […]

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Woods Snares Match Play Title

Tiger Woods achieved another milestone, surpassing Arnold Palmer in tournament victories after winning his fourth straight title at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. World number one Woods beat Stewart Cink eight and seven in the 36-hole final for his third Match Play title and earned sole fourth place on the career list with […]

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Augusta the Snake Back in Rough

Augusta is back in the rough. No, it has nothing to do with the possible layout for this year’s US Masters. It is about Augusta, the golf-ball eating snake. If you remember a while ago, there was a couple in northern New South Wales, Australia who put some golf balls in the chicken coop in […]

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Golf and the Meaning of Life

Where do we seek comfort and reassurance when the certainties of life crumble underneath us? For the award winning Scottish poet and novelist Andrew Greig this was the question he faced as he recovered from a potentially fatal brain condition. The answer for Greig was to take to the golf courses of Scotland. He charts […]

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Sorenstam Makes Swift Return to Winning Ways

The mark of a champion is to state your intentions of victory and then letting your ability do most of the talking. This is exactly what Annika Sorenstam has done. After an horrendous 2007 in which she failed to win a trophy, the former world number one teed up for the first time in 2008 […]

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Are You Confused By Red And Yellow Stakes?

For as long as I have been playing golf there has always been confusion over the rulings for red and yellow stakes, or to put it more accurately “Water Hazards” and “Lateral Water Hazards”. I recently ran across the same confusion again in the email below, so please read on to ensure you are absolutely […]

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The Penalty For Hitting Your Golf Bag With Your Tee Shot

Hi, it’s Barry here, this week I answered another interesting question on The Rules of Golf: RULES OF GOLF QUESTION: “A player leaves his bag in the middle of the next fairway as his next tee shot will come back past where he has left his bag. If the same player hits his bag with […]

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Sorenstam Wants Quick Return to the Top with ‘Annika Golf’

Very good athletes are usually quite prudent at setting immediate goals when it comes to launching a comeback. Be it because of injury, poor form or a sabbatical, even the elite sportsmen and women are humble about their hopes as they take tentative steps on the comeback trail. But then there is Annika Sorenstam. No […]

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A Welcome National Obsession

Why golf? I can’t answer that question, it only throws up more unanswerable questions. Why should golf, a game whose true intricacies I will probably never master, exert such a hold over me? I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. The winter and a new career in the voluntary sector have conspired to keep […]

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Chasing Pack Trip Up in Pursuit of Tiger

How do you psyche yourself up to compete with a phenomenon? Do you meekly concede defeat and scrap it out for the best of the rest crown? Do you fire up your own belief by shouting from the rooftops about how you are, indeed, a contender? A tricky one that. Recent weeks have seen both […]

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Chowrasia Joins Indian Greats on European Tour

Shivshankar Chowrasia added his name to an elite band of Indian golfers who have triumphed on the European Tour when he lifted the Indian Masters title at the Delhi Golf Club on Sunday. The son of a greenkeeper, 29-year-old Chowrasia delighted the crowd, who had hoped to see a local winner in this inaugural tournament. […]

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India and China Could Make Asian Tour Irrelevant

South African star Ernie Els has said something that the Asian Tour better be wary about. While taking part in the inaugural Indian Masters in Delhi, Els said in an AFP article that India has the advantage over their fellow massively populated and hence lucratively poised rivals China when it comes to golf. Asian Tour […]

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An Outsiders Inside View

How many of us had the conversation. Watching some televised sport (the normal triggers are sport of a truly woeful nature or those moments of sporting exhilaration when athletes seem to transcend what is thought possible in their chosen field) the chat will inevitably come to the missed opportunity: “Could have been me that, you […]

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