Golf Central

I see that the leaders shot 65 today ...: Indeed they did. And none of them are called Tiger Woods, unless of course you're talking about the Dubai Desert Classic, where Tiger Woods did indeed shoot 65.
OK, so which jokers shot 65 here in the Scottsdale Desert Classic then?: Charles Warren and Kevin Sutherland.
Not much of a classic here is it, then?: Not unless you're talking about the traditional frat-party atmosphere at the 16th green here, which is always a classic bender. And there were 83,657 party animals out there today. But don't diss Warren and Sutherland just because you don't know much about them.
Fair enough. So what was the drama out there?: Well, Sutherland, the '02 World Match Play champ, broke his 9-iron swinging into a cactus on his fourth hole of the round.
So what did he do?: Well, this is 2008. His caddie put in a cell-phone call to the Ping tour rep, who hustled another 9-iron out to him six holes later.
Wonder what Ben Hogan would have thought of that?: He probably would have wondered why Sutherland didn't use the rest of his 9-iron to chop down the rest of the damn cactus.
Are you saying today's Tour pros are soft?: Ermmm, well ... Camilo Villegas certainly isn't. The muscle-bound chick magnet from Colombia had the ASU freshman babes falling over themselves with a nifty 66 that puts him right in the hunt for his first PGA Tour win.
What chance does the Hunkosaurus have?: Pretty good, actually. Villegas is a great talent, but he's been one of these players who puts up lots of steady rounds ... lots of 3-unders and that sort. He's never been one to fire off a streak of birdies and blitz everybody. But with a 5-under start you've got to like Camilo's chances, especially if he turns in one more hot round.
Didn't he play with Warren?: Yep, and somehow the 32-year-old Warren managed to keep his eyes on the golf instead of all the hotties following Camilo to card his 65.
Speaking of hot rounds, how about that Sun Devils cheerleader-type over there at the beer tent?: I reckon Camilo has an ever better chance with her. Got your camcorder?
You perv.

On this day in 1949, Jimmy Lee Thorpe was born one of 12 children in Roxboro, North Carolina - but life really started for Big Jim when he turned 50 nine years ago.

Jim Thorpe was good enough to become one of the few African-American regulars on the PGA Tour in the 1980s, where he won three times and nearly $2 million. But that was a far cry from the 1970s, when Thorpe played the hustling game - on the golf courses around Baltimore, on the horses, and on the poker tables ... and was so broke that his wife once said "We were broke as a joke ..."

But after those 459 tournaments on the PGA Tour (Jim's first regular job, at the behest of his patient wife Carol), Thorpe hit the magical half-century mark in 1999 ... and hit the gravy train of the PGA's Champions Tour with the mindset of "now all I want to do is win" ...

OK, it's been pretty well documented that last week in San Diego, Tiger Woods matched the great Arnold Palmer for fourth on the all-time PGA Tour victories list with his 62nd win at only the age of 32.

So that PGA Tour victories list now looks like this:
1) Sam Snead: 82 wins
2) Jack Nicklaus: 73 wins
3) Ben Hogan: 64 wins
4) Arnold Palmer: 62 wins
4) Tiger Woods: 62 wins

But interestingly enough, Tiger is even higher on another esteemed list. If you take a look at our revised list of all-time European Tour champions, it looks like this:
1) Seve Ballesteros, 50 wins
2) Bernhard Langer, 42 wins
3) Tiger Woods, 33 wins
4) Colin Montgomerie, 31 wins
5) Nick Faldo, 31 wins

Note, this is an "unofficial list", because the European Tour requires membership of its tour to qualify for the Order of Merit and official record lists. And Tiger is not a member. But with Tiger in Dubai this weekend, it makes an interesting comparison.

So how does Tiger have so many "European Tour" wins? Because a win in a major championship counts as a win on both tours. Tiger has 13 of those. And so do victories in World Golf Championships events. Tiger has 14 of those, too. OK, most of those came on US soil ... but count Tiger's two Johnnie Walker Classics, three Deutsche Bank-SAP Opens, and the '06 Dubai Desert Classic, that brings Woods' European tally to 33.

Woods has said that he has considered taking up official European Tour membership since 1999, and it would be in his interest to do so because it would make him eligible for the 2009 "Race to Dubai", Europe's counterpart to the big-money FedEx Cup. But European Tour membership would mean Tiger would have to play in four more European events a year to reach the required 11, and pay his $500 fee for his tour card.

Somebody, quick! Loan Tiger 500 bucks! ...

On this day in 1959, a golfer who personifies the grind of the PGA Tour and who really just needs to catch a break for once was born in San Mateo, California - career tour hanger-on Michael Allen. Happy 49th, Michael.

You see Allen has always been just good enough to hang around ... most of the time. Allen turned pro way back in 1984 when Tiger Woods was only 9, and amazingly, he has made 296 starts on the PGA Tour ... but he has never won a tournament ...

Hmmmn. This looks different ...: How's that? I see a big leaderboard over there. It says "WOODS" at the top in big letters with a 65 next to it. And everybody else is two shots or more behind.
Yeah, but those are different names behind him! ...: Ah, I see, yes, that's true. Instead of the usual guys like Mickelson, Furyk, Sabbatini, Choi, Cink, et al., Tiger is leading guys named Edberg, Jimenez, Kaymer, Levet and the Euro lot this time.
That's right. He's deigned to destroy the European Tour's elite for a change Does anyone have a chance?: Maybe. Martin Kaymer has something to prove head-to-head and he's only 2 back. And Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els are in striking range at 4-under, 3 back.
That Tiger is all heart ...: Instead of busting open his can of whoop-ass on the poor PGA Tour guys, he's showing that he's an equal-opportunity ass-kicker. Why wait until the majors?
Em, by the way ... it's "arse-kicker". It's the European Tour, you know, old chap. Mind your spellings ...: Sorry, I've just come off the other Tour. Anyway, since when is Dubai Europe?
Since Dubai became the megalopolis of the new rich and the European Tour started making it its "showcase" event of the new year ...: Yeah, but it's still not in Europe.
Stop being semantical ...: Hey, you started on the "arse" thing. Anyway, I'm confused. It's like being in a time-warp. It's weird. Tiger's here in this desert paradise, probably marching relentlessly to yet another victory. So it seems normal ... it's just that whole Euro Tour thing ...
Well, Tiger has obligations all over the world ...: Yeah, and obviously he has a different M.O. than anyone else. He just hops on his plane, flies across the world and dominates where ever he goes.
True, but Camilo Villegas is the main attraction back in Arizona on the PGA Tour this week ...: What's his M.O.?
Well, Camilo just hops on an Arizona State University cheerleader and ...: Stop it right there.