Golf Central

What's that goofy grin all about?: You know that guy who writes those little blurbs on the front page of the website, writing the headline and description for what we're talking about?
Yeah. What about him?: That guy's an idiot!
Why?: Well he thinks he's so clever, for one. Yesterday he wrote a blurb that said everybody should "quote enjoy this pic of Geoff Ogilvy while you can, golf fans because two guys called Tiger and Lefty are just two shots back end-quote!" ...
Yeah. So?: What an idiot! Geoff Ogilvy is still leading! So he's got to use Geoff Ogilvy's picture again on the site front!
Well, to be fair they can only use one pic of one golfer on the site front ...: And usually they go with the guy who's leading! So that's Ogilvy again, the 2006 US Open champion! He's 12-under-par on the Blue Monster.
Yeah but who's behind him?: Oh. I see what you mean.
Yeah, Tiger Woods. I'm going to bet we'll won't see Geoff Ogilvy's face on the site front come Sunday morning ...: Well Tiger's still got to get past Ogilvy to win this thing, and he's one shot behind after a 66. Adam Scott's in the mix too, he's only three shots back.
This is Tiger Woods we're talking about ...: Hmmmn. I see what you mean. What are the odds of a Woods victory then?
1 to 2 ...: And Ogilvy?
He's only 5 to 1, same as Adam Scott ...: I see. Maybe that guy who updates the site front isn't so stupid after all. Please apologise to him for me.
You just did ...: Doh!

Tiger Woods is doing everything so easily right now, you start feeling numb until he does something else that dumbfounds you. Friday at Doral was no exception.

How many eagles have you ever made in your life? One? Two? A couple dozen? Well, the Big Cat beat the hell out of Doral again on Friday with a 66 that featured a pair of eagles. That's the first time since last year's Buick Invitational that Tiger has had two eagles in a single round, but also the 14th time in his career he's done so ...

Cue the sappy pastoral guitar music and speak in tones of hushed wonder, because it was on this day in 1934 that the inaugural Masters Tournament began at Augusta National Golf Club. A field of the 72 best pro and amateur golfers in the world teed it up in what was originally known as the Augusta National Invitational Tournament, fighting for a purse of $5,000 (nearly $80,000 in today's money!) ...

Hmmm ... this is an interesting leaderboard ...: I see what you mean. For once it's not really about who's leading, but it's about who is two shots back.
Nothing against Geoff Ogilvy ...: No! Ogilvy's a great player, great guy. So is the other co-leader, our man Miguel Ángel Jiménez, who is also on 7-under after both shot 65s.
But those guys with 67s ...: Yep, that's the story. Sorry, Geoff and Miguel ... Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson both posted 67s and we're positioned for a great battle over the weekend on the Blue Monster.
The "Monster" wasn't very monstrous today though, was it?: Nope. Actually Doral is the easiest of all the courses on the Florida swing. And to be honest the rest of the field can't be too pleased that Tiger is only two back after the first day on a course he owns.
Does Tiger really "own" Doral?: Technically no. But you know what I mean ...
So what did the Big Cat have to say about his round?: He said: "I was pissed ..."
Huh? Tiger was drunk?: No, you silly Englishman. He meant he was upset. He three-putted on the last hole for an ugly bogey, and otherwise he'd be only one shot behind going into Friday.
Gulp ...: Gulp indeed. So we might actually get to see that Tiger / Lefty pairing that everyone is thirsting for.
Speaking of thirst, let's go get pissed ...: Hey, if it works for Tiger ...

Japan's Ryuji Imada gets a lot of love on In Golf We Trust, but the smiley little fella from Mihara, in Hiroshima Prefecture, got some backing in a strange place this week at Doral: In the US press.

American golf scribes tend to ignore Japanese tour pros like the plague, and quite often are accompanied by tacky references to Pearl Harbour. But Imada has a lot of new friends in the press tent after he got swept up in the maelstrom of John Daly's disqualification last week from Bay Hill ...