Golf Central

'If you want my shirt Mr Singh sir, you're gonna have to fight me for it...'

However staid and predictable it may seem, golf is never short of odd little curios that conveniently help us learn a little more about life in general. This week alone, Iestyn George realises that even men of enormous ego have honour, that you're only as good as your last tour win and that he already needs another holiday - preferably in Wisconsin...

1. Look out world - Tiger's streak is over...:

Let's face it, the sooner everyone ditched the fanciful idea he could remain unbeaten all season the better. Odds of 1-3 on Day Two were a joke, but he still managed to put the squeeze on the field at Doral despite not being at his best on the greens. Looks like he's just right to start winding up his game for The Masters.

2. Golf is still a game of honour:

Having recently endured criticism and mockery in equal measure for his quote about how one day it would be just him and Tiger Woods, Ian Poulter won nothing but respect for calling the rules officials at the CA Championship at Doral, which meant he ended up putting the last four holes on Saturday with a wedge - and nailing a 20 foot putt on the 18th so save par. Read all about it here...

3. ...But it is bad for your health:

That's what it says in The Wall Street Journal, so who are we to disagree? They've dredged up a report in the British Journal of Opthamology citing an incident when a 16 year-old player swung a 7-iron off the tee at a pitch and putt and ended up with the tee peg lodged in his eye.

4. Monty will be missed at Augusta. But not that much...:

Colin Montgomerie failed to clamber into a qualification spot for The Masters with a much-needed strong showing at Doral. Mind you, he has missed the cut in the past five of the six times he's played at Augusta.

5. Sergio isn't relevant anymore...:

You know your career's in crisis when you've been cast aside by Palm Beach Post writer Greg Stoda like a pair of jumbo cords that seemed like a good idea for a week in 1982. At least Sergio still remains hideously visible to aliens circling the globe thanks to the preponderance of yellow he wears.

6. Golf is bad for your health again (no, it really is...):

That's what they'd have you believe in the Orlando Sentinel with the not-in-the-slighest-bit-provocative headline 'Smoking Casts Its Carcinogenic Cloud Over Golf'. Writer Mike Bianchi names and shames the tour players who smoke on course right here.

7. Tiger Sells; and no doubt we'll be buying again:

Every self-respecting online golf hack has been bombarded by the new Gatorade Tiger ad, testing our gullibility almost every day in the past week with press releases disguised as insider gossip. Annoying for us, money in the bank for everyone associated with Woods.

8. Sometimes you get the feeling you might be in the wrong job:

Not that we're complaining, of course, but it would one day be nice to have the opportunity to swap the sleet and rain of England for Kohler, or Bandon Dunes. Check out Golf Magazine's recently-published list of top golf resorts in the US, Canada, Mexico and the Carribean and you'll see what we mean...

9. Look, we know golf will never be hip...:

But just take a look at this Eric Koston Girl skateboard deck here and tell us you wouldn't want to mount it on a wall for show, even if that arthritic hip stops you from actually using it.

10. ...But it can be horribly bling sometimes:

What other reason can there be for Jeev Milkha Singh using a leopardskin golf bag during play at Doral. Not a tacky, imitation leopardskin bag, but one made from real leopards. Yeuch...