Golf Central

We love the fact that many of our ever-dwindling collection of Second World War veterans are still out and kicking it on the links. And we love it even more when we hear that one of them gets a hole-in-hole ...

That's what happened last Friday, when Art Wornick, who turned 88 last month, aced the 135-yard 12th hole at Wildwood Golf Club near Beaumont, Texas.

Wornick, who flew Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter planes during World War II, and a resident of Village Mills, Texas, hit a 5-wood and Art's good shootin' was witnessed by Rusty Davis, Bill Hodgkins, Jerry Fleming and Roy Bowden.

On this day in 1906, two-time major champion Henry Picard, a pre-war PGA Tour star and one of the finest teachers in golf history, was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Picard (known as "Pick" to his mates, and he had many due to his courtly manners) had the misfortune hit his competitive prime just before World War II erased most of the majors off the schedule between 1940-45.

But what a run-up it was. Picard outlasted Harry "Lighthorse" Cooper and Ralph Guldahl to win the 1938 Masters at 3-under par, then had his greatest season in 1939, when he won eight times, including the PGA Championship, and topped the PGA Tour money list with $10,303 (that's $142,000 in today's money). He also starred on the '35 and '37 US Ryder Cup teams.

After his competitive career, Picard spent a majority of his time honing the swings of very good players that he thought needed just a tweak or two to become great players...

The Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa plays host to The Nedbank Golf Challenge where twelve of the games best players will battle it out for a first prize of $1.2 million. Here’s whom I’m backing to take away the loot…

Ernie Els @ 10/3 with Coral: Els is competing for the 16th consecutive year in an event that he has won three times and finished runner-up three times. His course experience should give him a big advantage over his competitors. The Big Easy will be playing competitively with a new set of clubs for the first time but, based in his imperious performance at Wentworth last month when he gained his seventh World Match Play title, he will take some beating.

Retief Goosen @ 10/1 with Ladbrokes: Goosen is the only other course winner in the field and although he hasn’t been at his best in 2007, I think his price represents value. He has played steadily recently, including a share of fourth place at last weeks World Cup, and he is capable of pulling out a big performance on a course where he has done well in the past.

Needless to say, the people's champ didn't prevail in Indian Wells, California during the last weekend's Skins Game. As the long-running event winds into its dotage and near irrelevance, Stephen Ames made a 7-foot birdie putt to take a record $650,000 and beat the King of the Silly Season, Freddie Couples.

This Ames did despite playing golf of an appalling standard for 16 of the 18 holes. Had this been a regular-season event, the Trinidadian-Canadian vampire with the shockingly white set of chompers would have been staring at a missed cut and an early return to his coffin for the evening.

To his credit, Ames admitted he got lucky in winning his second straight Skins Game. He stiffed a 9-iron on the 18th, and watched as Couples, Zach Johnson and Brett Wetterich all missed birdie tries, then drained his own: "You kind of let the other guys beat themselves up and then you sneak in there when you need to."...

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