Golf Central

It was on this day in 1949, that in McKinney, Texas, Tom Kite was born. That's right, that Tom Kite - the one who looked like he stepped right out of a high-school chemistry lab and right onto the first tee of a major championship.

OK, Tom Kite was never a chick magnet. With an image that can only be described as pallid, kindly, ghost-white, freckle-faced, hair like a Brillo pad and Coke-bottle glasses, Tom Kite did not look like a future golf star. He never cared. He just took it to them time after time, and when it all stacked up, Kite (or as his mentor Harvey Penick might have said) was a winner, that's all that matters. Count up the score. And play "goff", as they say on the Plains of Texas.

So what's Kite's score? Let's see what bullying the funny-looking kid gets you ...

OK, let me guess: Guess what?
Guess that Ernie Els is top of the leaderboard: Spot on. He posted a tremendous third round 64 for a score of 13-under, two shots ahead of Lee Slattery at 11-under, with John Bickerton and Ross McGowan at 9-under.
What happened to Omar Sandys?: He shot a third round 74 to be tied 5th at 6-under.
Anything else of note happen?: Oliver Wilson won arguably the best prize in golf…
Hang on, these guys win millions a year. They have lifestyles most of us can only dream of. They have houses in America, the Carribean…: Yeah, but when did you last win 190 cases of fine wine with one golf shot?
Tell me more...: Wilson scored a hole-in-one on the 16th with a remarkable 5-iron to 207 yards and won 190 cases of Terra de Capo.
Why 190?: It’s the length of the hole in metres.  
You learn something…: Let me stop you right there. You tried that one yesterday.
And you were quite disparaging, as I remember: Quite right.
Got any offensive comments today, then?: I can’t be bothered, to be honest.
Why ever not?: Too excited.
Oh yeah?: Not in that way. Just can’t wait for Hatton v Mayweather…

On this day in 1962, a man with one of the strangest allergies in golf history - and one of the game's most lovely swings - was born in Inverell, NSW, Australia: Steve Elkington.

Likeable regular-guy Elk has carved out a career on the PGA Tour that can be described as "solid," "workmanlike" and "what else might have been" ... Despite being born allergic to grass and dust (which makes a job in golf just that little bit harder) and three bouts with meningitis, and several surgeries, Elkington is still the owner of 10 PGA Tour titles and a single major - the 1995 PGA Championship.

Elkington's swing is a thing of beauty and has long been the envy of his peers on the Tour. There's at least one of those peers who wouldn't have minded that Elk hadn't turned up at the course one day in '95, that being Colin Montgomerie ...

What the…: I know, I know, I missed a day.
Any excuses?: None that would stand up in court.
Get on with it then: OK. Sion Bebb took full advantage of earning his tour card in Q School last week by taking the lead after the first day.
I know him: Really?
No, but my dad was best mates with his father in Friars School, Bangor: Thanks, can I get on with it now?
By all means…: He remains tied for third, but the leader outright is South African Omar Sandys at 8-under, with England's Lee Slattery two shots behind at 6-under.
What's the story with Sandys?: He's a proper Sunshine Tour journeyman, who spent the previous evening under the bonnet of his car, fixing his clutch.
Did he succeed?: He did, as it happens.
Slattery's just lost his tour card, hasn't he?: Yes, by just 77 euros. He's too good to be gone for long, though.
How's Ernie getting on?: He's tied third with Bebb, John Bickerton, Richard Bland, Craig Lee and Titch Moore at 5-under. Darren Clarke's there or thereabouts too, tied 15th at 2-under.
Mpumalanga sounds very exotic doesn't it…: It used to be called the Eastern Transvaal. It means 'the place where the sun rises' in Swazi.
You learn something new every day: You do if you're not all that bright…

Funny how Tiger Woods never really says much during the golf season proper. He's too busy with that Zen-like focus, working out how to take all his would-be rivals down. But in the off-season (that is, if you get a chance to see him), Tiger can drop his guard and be refreshingly engaging and open with his, erm, chat. And in typical Tiger fashion, he never really sticks his foot in it, but he comes close. ... but hey, he's Tiger Woods, so he's allowed.

Tiger didn't mean to, of course, but he may have cut a bit close to home this week with two of the major forces in his life: his bread-and-butter (sponsor Nike) and his offspring (daughter Sam Alexis).

First, at a news shindig in Port St Lucie, Florida, at the PGA Learning Centre where Woods was promoting Nike's equipment, he actually ended up pimping out a rival's gear. He said he wasn't thinking of changing any of clubs in his bag (all of which are Nike-made except one), and then sung the praises of the one non-Nike club: his trusty Scotty Cameron putter, made by Titleist.

"Yeah, 12 majors with one putter isn't too bad," Tiger said, smiling. No word on whether Nike bosses were frowning ...

Then, Tiger was chatting away happily about his daughter, who was born in June, saying that little Sam had been watching him hit golf balls on the range.

"It's interesting," Tiger said. "She kind of shakes every time I hit a shot, like she gets excited. ... She's never going to beat me, though."

Again, all said with a smile. Somehow, we're not positive Tiger will live that one down once Sam is old enough to read press clippings.