Golf Central

On this day in 1966, one of golf's finest but unluckiest golf champions of the modern era was born in Hondarribia, in Spain's Basque region: José María Olazábal.

Breaking onto the scene as a junior, Ollie won the (British) Amateur in 1984 at the age of 18. And it wasn't long before Olazábal made his mark as a pro: Despite a career plagued by bizarre injuries, Olazábal is the proud owner of two Green Jackets, has been a force on Europe's Ryder Cup teams, and is renowned as one of the most creative scramblers of the modern day ...

And now we see how the big the gap is between No. 1 and No. 2 in the world ...: Big. You've got that right. Just when you thought the FBR couldn't produce nearly the drama of what happened in Dubai, we had Lefty charging back to nearly win the thing from four shots down.
That's what Tiger did in Dubai, isn't it?: He sure did. But hometown boy Phil Mickelson just couldn't pull it off for his 33rd PGA Tour win. He played a brilliant closing round, got to 14-under, which should have been 15-under had he not been unlucky with a putt that grazed the hole on the last.
Still, Phil got into a playoff, didn't he?: Yes, but instead of sealing the deal, he got overpowered by young JB Holmes, who had a slice of the lead for most of the last three rounds. But JB got it done. And that's two wins now for the huge-hitting 25-year-old from Kentucky, both in Scottsdale.
How did JB do that?: He simply overpowered Phil Mickelson. He came up with a clutch birdie on the 18th to tie Phil in the clubhouse in regulation, then blew Phil away with pure power on the first playoff hole.
That was a heck of a tee shot ...: I'm not sure heck describes it properly. It was herculean. Phil split the fairway with his driver, then JB cranked a 359-yarder that left him a little wedge to the green. He outdrove Mickelson, who is a long hitter, by nearly 80 yards.
So all this stuff the club-makers say about distance is true, then?: In this case it was ... it was a matter of feet and inches. Mickelson had a gap wedge for his approach on the playoff hole, but he was wide by 20 feet from 137 yards out. Whereas Holmes just flipped a little wedge shot onto the green from 72 yards out and made the eight-footer ...
And the rest, they say, is history ...: And Phil Mickelson will just have to wait to carve out another niche of his history, while Tiger just did it ... again.
What's next?: Well, Tiger takes a couple of weeks off and Phil Mickelson regroups himself for Pebble Beach, where he's defending champ. And you should re-group a bit, yourself ...
Speaking of re-grouping, or should I say re-groupie-ing, where did Camilo Villegas finish?: I shouldn't even answer that question, but since you asked, 5-under, tied for 34th.
So-so week for him after his hot start ...: I didn't say what he was 5-under ...
We'd better clean it up before we hit Pebble Beach ...: We'd better had.

On this day in 1912, in Fort Worth, Texas, a quiet gentleman who holds at least two of the records that Tiger Woods will probably never break, was born: the great legend, Byron Nelson. One thing that Tiger won't do for certain is to quit competitive golf while he's on top, as Nelson did at the age of 34 in 1946. But a year earlier, Nelson had a season that probably not even Tiger can match.

In 1945 (and despite the misconception that Nelson was competing against weakened fields because of World War II), Nelson won 18 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including a streak of 11 in a row. But those were different days ...

I told you that thing about Tiger wearing red on Sundays ...: Oh god, now you're going to start stating the obvious. Why don't you state what's really obvious about Dubai this year?
What's that?: That it was an absolutely cracking finish.
I'll have to agree with you there ...: It was almost like some world order got restored or something like that. The world No. 1 played like it on the final day.
Shall we go through Tiger's card then, if we must?: We must. First of all, Tiger shot bookend 65s. He looked like he was going to dominate on the first day, then after two average rounds, he looked like he was dead in the water. He started the final round four shots back of Ernie Els.
And then what happened?: Well, Tiger didn't give up, like he never does. He started off on fire, but a bogey at the 9th hole looked like it finished his run ...
But then, as they say, "Tiger made the turn" ...: Is that what they say? Anyway, yes, so he did. Tiger fired in birdies on 10, 12, 13 and 14, and then his putter caught fire.
His putter caught fire after the four-birdie run?: Yeah. On 17 he drained a seemingly unmakeable birdie putt from the fringe. And on the 18th, he drained a 20-foot left-to-right downhiller that found the middle of the cup to give him the clubhouse lead.
And then everyone faded ...: That's right. Ernie Els had the last chance at him, but in almost a deja vu of what happened at Leopard Creek, Els needed a birdie on 18 to tie Tiger, but doinked his approach into the water.
Fantastic stuff. And Martin Kaymer proved he belongs in the big leagues ...: He sure did. The 23-year-old Düsseldorfer showed he's the best player in his age bracket by closing with a sparkling 66, which might have been good enough to win had it not been for ...
The guy who wears red on Sundays?: That's right, Cliche Boy.
Cracking tournament though, wasn't it?: Cracking. See you in India ...
But not Tiger, unfortunately ...

After a string of statements more bold than his attire, Ian Poulter has claimed that his comments about being Tiger Woods’ main rival were “taken out of context.” That old chestnut... He stated that he intended no disrespect to his fellow professionals and to be fair to Poulter, the article shows little evidence of any malice. 

However, he refused to apologise for arguably the most offensive (ahem) piece of the article, the nude cover shot. He told BBC Sport "You know, everyone sees me with my clothes on week-in, week-out." Yes we do Ian, and to be honest, we'd rather it stayed that way.