Golf Central

On this day in history is a very good day to be born indeed if you intend to become a golfing great, because three legends of the game were born on this day - Nancy Lopez, Paul Azinger and Dr Cary Middlecoff.

Lopez was born January 6, 1957 in Torrance, California, and of course went on to become a stereotype-breaking LPGA Hall of Famer. A Mexican-American, Lopez was lauded as a "progressive woman of colour" - but of course, it helped that she had game, as well.

Breaking onto the Tour in 1978, Lopez won nine tournaments her first year and eight in her next. She went on to roll up 48 LPGA Tour victories, including three major titles, and was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1987 at the age of 30. ... Happy 51st, Nancy ...

Why are there so many Canadians in Maui following the leader Mike Weir and Stephen Ames?...: Canadians are everywhere except Canada during the winter months. You should see Disneyland in Southern California in wintertime. The locals are working at Disneyland. The rest of the people there are from Calgary and Moose Jaw.
I can never tell their accents apart...: True the Canadian accent and the Southern California accent are very similar. Soft and mellow.
But how can you tell them apart?...: The SoCals say "out" and the Canucks say "oot". SoCals say "like" a lot and the Canadians said "eh?". And the locals will be watching NFL or talking about baseball in the sports bar, and the Canadians only want to watch hockey.
OK. It seems like the Canadians in the gallery are even backing their "adopted" son Stephen Ames. Why's that?...: Well, Ames married a Canadian gal who has a fetish for freakishly huge white teeth.
Seems like Ames is chomping at the bit for another win this week....: Yep, and he took another bite out of Weir's lead on Saturday. He just needs to continue to gnaw away at Weir's 13-under lead and he might well be tasting victory Sunday. And let's just say Ames isn't afraid of the "big gorge" on No. 18.
You never ease up, do you?...: Do you want me to? I thought we were just chewing the fat.
Ease up! OK, who else has a chance to win?...: Well, really, anyone. There are 11 players within five shots of Mike Weir. I'm going to stick to my first-round pick, the big Swindian Daniel "Exploding Divots" Chopra, but  ...
It's anybody's ball game isn't it....: Yeah. Nick Watney seems relaxed and hits it huge, but he's so young. He went out Saturday dressed in all white like a hospital orderly and he cleaned up with a 67 ... but the most polished of the close challengers is Jonathan Byrd at minus-11, whose short game is so good that he's a big threat if conditions get nasty.
Stop sitting on the fence. What about Jim Furyk?...: Well, the world No. 3 with the goofy swing turned in the week's best round Saturday (a 66) and he's got a major under his belt. But he's paired with Ames.
Are you saying Jim might be a bit scared?...: You said it, not me.

Welcome back to the PGA Tour!...: Welcome back! Mind you, it doesn't seem much like the PGA Tour with all this paradise scenery.
That's okay though. The golf wasn't exactly PGA Tour quality either, was it?...: Not really. This winners-only field struggled to cope with the gusting winds and rain showers and only 10 of the 31 broke par.
Yeah, but did you see the "Jimi Hendrix of the Ukelele", Jake Shimabukuro, play the national anthem at the start?...: That was great. That was probably the best playing all day, unless you count Nick Watney and Daniel "Exploding Divots" Chopra.
Nick Watney. He's the American guy who sounds like he should be English ...: Yep. He rode a hot putter to card a 5-under 68, one shot better than Chopra, the funky Indian-Swedish dude with the spikey hair.
What about Vijay Singh, the pre-tourney favourite?...: The King of Kapalua seemed a frustrated fellow all day. He's made swing changes in the off-season and never looked comfortable. It showed as Vijay shot a frustrating 1-over and pretty much stomped around Kapalua looking like a broken man.
How about everyone's favourite hick, Boo Weekley?...: Well after getting stopped at the airport for having live ammo in his luggage, Boo could have used a few more bullets out there today. He also should have spent more time golfing than hunting over the winter. He shot 80.
OK, well, who's your new favourite now?...: Well, I'm going to say Chopra. He's played the course "hundreds" of times on his Playstation and he's got the big-driving game that suits Kapalua's wide-open hilly fairways and monster greens.
Didn't Chopra once drive a golf ball off the Great Wall of China?...: That's true. That's what I mean when I say he likes the wide-open spaces.
OK. Anything else I need to know, other than Playstation makes me better at golf?...: Well, Jonathan Byrd turned up in a pair of pink trousers, saying he had to do it "since it's Hawaii".
I thought Hawaii was all about grass skirts and Aloha shirts ...: Tell that to Jonathan ...

When Associated Press golf hack Doug Ferguson reported from Kapalua on Mark Calcavecchia's humorous exchange of text messages with Tiger Woods earlier this week, nearly every outlet of journalism devoted to golf had the news. After all, Ferguson is the chief golf reporter for the world's largest news agency.

So it's not news to you that the 47-year-old Calcavecchia, in preparation for Kapalua's steep up-and-down terrain, had been getting fit by mountaineering in Arizona. Calc texted Tiger en route from one of the treks: "Hiking a mountain. May die." To which Tiger promptly responded by text: "You must be on the Plantation Course."

You can draw at least one conclusion from this: Calc and Tiger are on a friendly basis. And it's a funny little story.

But after further thought, the question arises: Tiger Woods sends text messages? ...

On this day in 1967, a soft-spoken, soft-swinging, gentlemanly winner named David Toms was born in Monroe, Louisiana. Now, David Toms would be the first to admit he doesn't seem like much of a pro athlete - let alone a consistent champ and a major title winner. He's only about 5-foot-8, looks and dresses a bit like an accountant, hates controversy and talking about himself, and is one of the shorter hitters on the PGA Tour.

"I wear a medium shirt. And I'm a medium person," Toms once joked about himself.

So exactly how did Toms win 15 PGA Tour events, including the 2001 PGA Championship with the lowest score ever in a major, amass nearly $30 million in career earnings, and end up married to such a stunning trophy wife that she posed in a bikini in Sports Illustrated? ...