Interesting Golf in October....Say it Ain't So, Joe !!!

Today, as I was trying to recover from a nasty cold, I had some free time to veg in front of the tube...scrolling past the golf channel, I saw not one, but TWO fairly engaging tournaments in action. The Nationwide gang is slugging it out at Pete Dye's Valley Course at Sawgrass, while the last season PGA crew teed it up in Sin City at the Justin Timberlake/Shriners gig.

I've played Dye's Valley course 4 times this year, so it was pretty darn cool to watch the pros playing somewhere I visited as recently as 4 weeks back. These guys are currently scrambling to make it into the Nationwide's version of the FedEx Cup, with only the top 60 finishers this week making it into next week's season ending Nationwide Championship. It was good to see the crop of NW'ers who will make it onto the PGA Tour next year by virtue of finishing in the top 25. Among these are Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey (formerly of The Golf Channel's "Big Break") and Jhonattan Vegas - both very good players and a lot of fun to watch.

JT's brought more than "Sexy Back" this year to his signature event - as a fair number of top tier players are in the field ( Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, et al). It's been wet in Vegas this week, so the scores are low - be sure to check this out in between football games this weekend.

One last thing before I go - be looking for some kick azz new irons from the boys at TaylorMade golf - I've only seen photos (and have not read anything about them - so consider this a SCOOP !). More info coming next week as I start digging around on this story.

Oh, as a matter of fact...It IS good to be back.

Some interesting Observations from the Waste(d) Management Open

I know that most of you were glued to the Olympics this weekend - according to the folks I follow on Twitter, only a moron was watching the Waste Management Open (until Sid Crosby slapped in the final goal). Well, if you weren't at least channel surfing to catch SOME of the event, you missed a few interesting things.

Congrats to Hunter Mahan on a great win...

Hunter Mahan is one of my favorite golfers, and really put the pedal to the medal (except on #17 & 18) on the back 9 to secure his 2nd win. One of my very first posts was a recap of the 2008 Ryder Cup, where Hunter really stepped up his game and established himself as a young gun to watch out for. His experience really set him apart on Sunday, and I hope he wins a few more this year. While I was perusing the "Hunter Mahan's winning clubs" post on golf.com, I noticed that Hunter plays a Ping Rapture driver...the same one as Masters champ Angel Cabrera. What's interesting about this you say...not much except that this is Ping's "SUPER game improvement" driver...with MAXIMUM forgiveness. In other words, two guys who do this for a living are playing a "Max Game Improvement" club...I'm just sayin...

Rickie Fowler....hmmmmm....well....

To be fair, I'm just gonna say that his lack of experience was as obvious as Hunter's experience was. His decision to lay up on the par 5 #15 has been roundly derided by everyone with a laptop, so I won't pile on any more. The young man has game, I think we can agree on that...but he did not close like a winner...that's for sure. Rickie is also catching a lot of flak for his clothing choices, and most of it is deserved. I get it that he is being "young and fashionable", and that those clothes are "not intended to appeal to people like me"...however, some "young and fashionable " people also think Lady Gaga looks cool...and they are just wrong. And sadly, in Rickie's case, his defenders are just wrong as well. The clothes are bad enough,but not nausea inducing, until you get to the headwear. I'm not sure who in the world has told him that the "hat over the ears look" is "working", but for the love of humanity, JUST STOP...it is flat out scary. And please, dude, CHANGE THE HAIRSTYLE ! I don't care if you grow some dreads, get it Tiger striped, bleach it white, rock an Arsenio Hall fade, or shave it off...but the "20's Flapper 'do" is frickin' KILLING me (and dozens of other people) - plus it SO makes you look like a WOMAN... As I tweeted yesterday, Katharine Hull called, and she wants her hair back...

The biggest feel good story of the weekend - a GREAT finish by Chris Couch

Most of you probably don't even know who Chris Couch is...just another journeyman PGA player. Others will remember Chris as the guy who won the 2006 Zurich Open in New Orleans by chipping in from 55 feet on the 18th hole...., but only after hitting a really crappy bunker shot and practically throwing away any chance he had to win. Unfortunately, that win did not lead to much more success for him. He was 167th on the money list in 2007, sat out 2008 with a shoulder injury, and played in part of 2009 on a major medical exemption..but made only 3 cuts, winning less than $60k. Chris was in the field this week via the major medical exemption, and by birdieing 5 of his last 10 holes, he finished in a T4, and pocketed a cool $300k. Congrats to a great guy, and someone who I hope continues to play well this year.

Dude Looks Like a Lady... or Separated at Birth - You Decide

Rickie Fowler - DUDE .......................................Katherine Hull - LADY

This weekend, while watching current Oklahoma State golfer Rickie Fowler playing in the Nationwide Tour's Children's Hospital Invitational, I was immediately struck by two things:

(1) Fowler is one hell of a talent, who will very soon be a force to be reckoned with - first on the Nationwide Tour, but soon enough on the PGA Tour. He has the tools, the shotmaking ability, and the moxie to get it done on Sunday (even if he did lose the playoff)

(2) The dude's hair totally freaks me out - the androgynous sideburn hair thingys he is rocking make him look almost exactly like LPGA player Katherine Hull (shown above).

So, I leave it up to you loyal reader:

Is he the modern day incarnation on Aerosmith's "Dude Looks Like a Lady", or were he and Ms. Hull merely "Separated at Birth" ?