Posted by John Anderson
Whacking through a bucket of Sunday range balls while waiting for Elin's twin sister to call back…
Hope for wind: First, Chad Campbell. Second, Scott Verplank. The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic once again reinforced the adage, "When the wind blows, always take a Texan." This has been true since before Hogan and Nelson were in the caddie yard at Glen Garden in Fort Worth. It was true before Dan Jenkins ever typed a word about golf. It'll be true in 100 years.
Air play: Campbell's wife, Amy, is still looking for her first finish in the Top 40 on the Billboard charts.
From the mouths of future major winners: The following exchange took place with my 4-year-old son on Sunday:
Collin: Dad, is Tiger Woods playing?
Dad: No.
Collin: Can we change the channel to football?
Son, that's why there are two weeks between the championship games and the Super Bowl: Tiger Woods makes his 2006 PGA Tour debut this week at the Buick Invitational in San Diego. There will be no flipping of the channel to football. Even the NFL has the good sense to get out of Tiger's way.
Freddie vs. Rocco: Near as I can tell, the PGA Tour Super Bowl bet is between Seattle native Fred Couples and Pittsburgh man Rocco Mediate. Shame there's not a way to wager perfect spine alignment. A lifetime supply of back massages would make sense, but those are already available in the tour's fitness trailer. So the bet is a personality switch for a month. Seahawks win, Rocco has to quit his talking, and if the Steelers win, Freddie has to begin a running on-course dialogue with himself, partners and fans, and in the media center.
XL Golf Cities: Handicapping the Xtra Large Bowl from a golf standpoint:
Best player: Palmer (Pittsburgh) vs. Couples (Seattle)
Major course: Oakmont (Pittsburgh) vs. Sahalee (Seattle)
Majors held: Nine (Pittsburgh) vs. One (Seattle)
Winners: Sarazen, Armour, Snead, Hogan, Nicklaus, Miller, Els (Pittsburgh) vs. Singh (Seattle)
Bet the Steelers!
Kobe's 81. Not so hard, really: Ted Purdy, Heath Slocum, Jason Gore each shot 81 on the number at the Mercedes Championship this year. Fred Funk, Sean O'Hair, Brad Faxon and Carl Pettersson have also returned scorecards that began with an 8 in 2006.
Tiger's 81: Third round of the 2002 British Open at Muirfield. Tiger Woods gets caught on the course in a storm that would have scuttled the D-Day invasion. Shoots 81 and, after winning The Masters and U.S. Open, says good bye to the Grand Slam.
Should Golden State be pleased or frightened? The following day Tiger came out and shot the low round of the Open Championship, a smooth little 65 at Muirfield.
I'm not there yet but someday… Michelle Wie infamously put up an 82 playing in the final group during the final round of the U.S. Women's Open.
'81 was a long time ago: A look at the golf year in 1981.
• Tom Watson won The Masters by 2 strokes over Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller.
• David Graham finished three clear of George Burns and Bill Rogers at the U.S. Open at Merion.
• Rogers recovered well, won the British Open at Royal St. George's by 4 over Bernhard Langer. (Side note: In 1881 Bob Ferguson won at Prestwick for the second of his three Open championships.)
• Larry Nelson took home the Wanamaker Trophy with a 4-shot victory over Fuzzy Zoeller at the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club.
• The United States retained the Ryder Cup with an 18½-9½ win at Walton Heath G.C.
• Tom Kite won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average and the money title with $375,699.
There'll be no money involved: Nathaniel Crosby, son of crooner Bing, won the U.S. Amateur Championship in 1981.
It was a lot of money back then: When Arnold Palmer led the tour in prize money in 1962, his total was $81,448.
But I still felt young: In 1981, Arnold Palmer won the second-ever U.S. Senior Open.
Come on, I'm in kindergarten, three aside is plenty: In 1981, Woods was 6. Breaking 80 was an average day.
Kobe needed one more 3: Sam Snead holds the record for most PGA Tour victories with 81, although Sam's people insist the number is 84.
Wilt's 100 was OK: All totaled, Snead's professional wins (worldwide but not all PGA Tour recognized) add up to 135.
What's the stimpmeter reading on MJ's head? And just so there's no further confusion, Snead went with the bald look long before Michael Jordan ever thought of it or played his first $5,000 Nassau.
