MY 2008 RYDER CUP TICKETS arrived in the mail this week. I was excited to get them, especially after my Masters tickets were mistakenly returned to Augusta this past spring. That could have been a disaster.I’m sitting at my desk leafing through the o…

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Continue reading → 2008 Ryder Cup Tickets Arrive

Miguel Angel Jimenez launches one at The Open Championship.(Steven Newton/Flickr)THEY CALL HIM THE MECHANIC. I’m referring, of course, to Miguel Angel Jimenez, and today on the CBS telecast Faldo and crew were wondering aloud about the nickname. Were…

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Continue reading → WGC-Bridgestone Invitational: The Mechanic

WHEN IAN O’CONNOR CONTACTED ME in May and offered to do something on his new golf book, Arnie & Jack, I said, “Great.” The book was doing very well and already on my radar. Then the author emails me. Perfect.Besides, growing up, Jack Nicklaus was m…

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Continue reading → Q&A: Ian O’Connor, Author of ‘Arnie & Jack’

(Photo courtesy of John Coyne)OK, HE’S NOT WALTER HAGEN. But he did write a golf novel about The Haig called The Caddie Who Played with Hickory.John Coyne is an accomplished author and golf friend. He sent me the above photo a few weeks ago. In April…

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Continue reading → John Coyne Swings a Hickory Wood

(Jim McKay)JOHN DERR COVERED 62 MASTERS and was a colleague and longtime friend of Jim McKay. I asked him for his thoughts following McKay’s death on Saturday. “Jim was a trusted colleague at CBS,” wrote Derr in an email, “where he was at home …

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Continue reading → Derr: ‘Better Luck on the Back Nine, Jim ’

LEGENDARY SPORTS BROADCASTER Jim McKay died this weekend. He was 86. Something I didn’t know: His real name was James McManus, but he legally changed it after hosting a program a CBS executive dubbed “The Real McKay.”Some of us grew up with McKay…

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Continue reading → Remembering Jim McKay

“Underrated” has been following Billy Casper around for years. Casper was a great player who many people either haven’t heard of or don’t know much about.Today at Legends of Golf when they introduced Billy on the first tee, his list of accompli…

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Continue reading → Legends of Golf: Mr. Underrated, Billy Casper

“I’d like to be remembered as a nice guy and a fairly decent player.”?Charles CoodyThose are pretty humble words for a guy who won the Masters. Charles Coody got his Green Jacket in 1971, beating runners-up Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller by two …

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Continue reading → Legends of Golf: Remembering Charles Coody

Half of golf is fun; the other half is putting.?Peter DobereinerIt wasn’t that long ago that Steve Flesch was putting “very poorly.”You wouldn’t have known it last week at the Masters. The southpaw was dropping par-saving putts in the throw-u…

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Continue reading → How Steve Flesch Got His Masters Putting Mojo

John Derr interviewing Ben Hoganfor CBS Radio.John Derr is a former golf journalist and CBS broadcaster who covered 62 Masters. His friends in golf included Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead.I asked him what was new this morning. “Celebrated 90th …

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Continue reading → Former Masters Broadcaster Shoots Age

Gary Player at the Masters.(The Armchair Golfer)While a generation of American golfers idolized Jack Nicklaus, South African golfers such as Nick Price, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and new Masters champion Trevor Immelman looked up to their hero, Gary …

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Continue reading → Trevor Immelman’s Idol

(C O’Neal/Flickr)“Tiger Woods, whose hopes for a calendar Grand Slam ended with a thud,” reported ESPN.com.“And it ends the American’s hopes of a Grand Slam of all four majors this year,” concluded BBC SPORT.Here they come. The doubters. The …

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Continue reading → Tiger Woods Will Still Win the Grand Slam This Year

Paul Casey (Pocketwiley/Flickr)Playing on an Augusta National course softened by rain, Tiger Woods did what he needed to do on Saturday. Woods shot a moving-day 68 and, at one point, pulled within a few shots of the lead.But somebody forgot to tell Tre…

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Continue reading → Masters Round Three: Plot Twist

Ian Poulter is in contention at the Masters. (Speedpics/Flickr)South African Trevor Immelman is the 36-hole leader at Augusta. Englishman Ian Poulter is tied for third, three shots back.Trevor Immelman“The best players in the world get nervous and th…

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Continue reading → Masters Chatter: Trevor Immelman and Ian Poulter

Defending champion Zach Johnson practices his stroke.(John Coyne)We’ve been here before. A couple of young, talented players (Trevor Immelman and Brandt Snedeker) rise to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway point of the Masters. Then there are th…

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Continue reading → Masters Round Two: Familiar Territory

(Photo: The Armchair Golfer)Has it already been 10 years since Mark O’Meara rolled in that right-to-left mid-range birdie on the 72nd hole to win the Masters?Since then O’Meara, of all people, apparently suffered from a case of the yips. I always t…

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Continue reading → Masters Round One: Mark O’Meara Claws His Way to 71

(Photo: The Armchair Golfer)A moment before “lift off.” Tiger Woods collects a tee and readies himself to launch his 3 metal on the par-4 10th hole at Augusta National during Monday’s practice round. To his right, Mark O’Meara retrieves his dri…

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Continue reading → Armchair Golf at the Masters: Chasing a Tiger

What’s that saying? Something about no one remembers who finishes in second?Fifty years ago, in 1958, Arnold Palmer won his first Green Jacket. Palmer’s play and charisma combined with television forever changed professional golf. Arnie went on to …

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Continue reading → 50 Years Ago at the Masters: Fred Hawkins’ Near Win

As you can see from the below photos, it was overcast at Augusta National on my Monday at the Masters. It was also quite cool until the sun broke through the thick cloud cover in the early afternoon.John Coyne and I made a couple of loops through Amen …

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Continue reading → Armchair Golf at the Masters: Amen Corner

Yesterday I made my first-ever trip to Augusta National Golf Club for the Masters Tournament. It was Monday, the first practice day. Following are a few photos to get started. More to come.Departing: The Armchair Golfer and daughters.My Masters compani…

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Continue reading → The Armchair Golfer Visits the Masters

(Wally Baba/Flickr)It’s impressive when you get your first PGA Tour victory. Especially wire to wire. And especially when it’s the final event prior to the Masters, earning you a last-minute spot in the elite field at Augusta National Golf Club com…

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Continue reading → Johnson Wagner Earns Late Masters Invitation

(Pocketwiley/Flickr)“Get off on the last South Carolina exit,” Kathy said. “It’s farther but will save you time.”Kathy works in the ticket office at the Augusta National Golf Club. She helped me a week ago when my tickets for the Monday pract…

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Continue reading → My Road to the Masters

Recently a PR person at the Wall Street Journal contacted me. She wanted to alert me to their story about a new Masters book, First Sunday in April: The Masters.They and others made a big stink about the title. (The Masters ends on the second Sunday in…

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Continue reading → New Masters Book Is a Green Jacket Compilation

The Patrons Menu. (Wally Baba/Flickr)To my knowledge, I’ve never eaten a pimento cheese sandwich. Unless my parents served me one when I was a boy, in which case I ate every bite. That was the rule.However, I may eat one next Monday when I attend my …

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Continue reading → Masters Food: A Tradition Unlike Any Other

No. 13 at Augusta National Golf Club. (Wally Baba/Flickr)On the trail of a golf story from yesteryear, I stumbled across Errie Ball, a Welsh-born pro who was befriended by Bobby Jones at the 1930 British Open and soon after came to America to be assist…

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Continue reading → Errie Ball: Last Man Standing from First Masters

In his book, FANATIC: 10 Things All Sports Fans Should Do Before They Die, Jim Gorant takes you on his pilgrimage to golf heaven on earth, Augusta National. It’s good stuff for the golf or sports junkie. Jim provides vivid glimpses into this world-fa…

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Continue reading → Armchair Q&A: SI’s Jim Gorant on the Masters

(Pocketwiley/Flickr)I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for the Masters. So while I keep an eye on the Zurich Classic and Shell Houston Open, I’m going to kick off my Masters coverage tomorrow. Here’s some of what’s ahead.Q&A: SI’s Jim Go…

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Continue reading → Masters Coverage at Armchair Golf

The next thing I know, I’m at Baylor Medical Center, the only hospital in the United States that doesn’t have the Golf Channel.?David FehertyCBS golf analyst David Feherty still had his razor sharp wit, even with three broken ribs and a punctured lun…

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Continue reading → David Feherty No Match for Truck

Errie BallImagine talking to a person who played in the first Masters in 1934, a Welsh-born friend of Bob Jones who came to America at Jones’ urging in 1930. I talked to him a few weeks ago. His name is Errie Ball. He’s 97 and lives in Florida with…

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Continue reading → Jack Fleck Still Owes Him a Buck

The Hogan Bridge at Augusta National. (Torrey/Flickr)As the reigning U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links champion, Colt Knost had locked up an invitation to the 2008 Masters. Instead he decided to turn pro, reasoning there would be more opportu…

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Continue reading → No Regrets for Colt Knost

The notification came in the mail on Saturday. By random drawing, I was awarded two daily grounds tickets for the Wednesday practice round at the 37th Ryder Cup at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.It wasn’t my first choice. I applied for tw…

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Continue reading → I’m Going to the Ryder Cup

The first two rounds of the 2008 Masters will be televised by ESPN. The USA Network had covered the opening 36 holes for the past 25 years.(Maybe they just got tired of the theme music.)“With the worldwide reach of ESPN, and their demonstrated leader…

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Continue reading → Going to the Masters: ESPN and Me

(Eric Schweikardt)1967 Masters champion Gay Brewer once said, “If they’ve got an Augusta National in heaven, that’s where I want to go.”Perhaps Brewer, who died last Friday after a bout with lung cancer, is playing Amen Corner today. He was 75.I wa…

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Continue reading → Gay Brewer Loved Augusta National

Yesterday two strangely coincidental golf things happened:1. My 2008 Masters Tournament Practice Rounds Ticket Application arrived in the mail.2. My 2008 Ryder Cup Ticket Application was sent to me via email.(Both are random drawings.)Look, I’m not sup…

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Continue reading → Are the Golf Gods Smiling on Me?