Golf Central

Believe it or not, there other sports in this world apart from golf and there is, for that matter, more to the weekend than simply hacking your way around 18 holes or plonking yourself in front of the box and watching the pros do it. This weekend, get yourselves over to Harrah's Casino in Las Vegas for the 2008 World Series Of Poker Main Event.

The highlight of every poker player's year, the WSOP Main Event is a $10,000 buy-in, no-limit hold 'em event. There will be 12,000 players calling, folding and bluffing their way to the coveted gold bracelet, not to forget a winner's cheque worth well over $8 million.

In such a massive field, it's unlikely that reigning champion Jerry Yang will win again, but stranger things have happened. The Main Event started on Thursday and goes on for seven days, with the final table being played, somewhat bizzarely, in November. A few players to look out for that are left in the field include Scotty Nguyen, Bill Gazes, Paul Wasicka and Harry Demetriou.

It's not often that something well and truly inspires us to hit the fairways here at IGWT, but when we learned about the likes of Jack Newton and the British Amputee Golf Association, it was almost impossible not to dust off the clubs and book a tee time.

Jack Newton is an Australian golfer, best known for his playoff performance against Tom Watson in the 1975 Open at Carnoustie. Eight years after losing to Watson, however, Newton was seriously injured after walking into the spinning propeller of a Cessna plane. Remarkably, he still shoots scores in the mid-80s despite losing his right arm.

Equally impressive is the tale of the British Amputee Golf Association, who convene at Bryn Meadows GC, South Wales, this weekend for the most prestigious tournament of the year. 50 golfers from across the world will play in the event, which was first hosted at Bryn Meadows in 1989 and is played at a different course every year. The tournament and association were both founded by golf enthusiast Brian Mayo, who lost both his legs after licking a golf ball contaminated by weed killer.

Mayo sadly passed away in 1999, and his wife, Fay, said, 'I would think he's looking down now with some of his golfing heroes and he would be pretty chuffed with the way it's turned out.' Never a truer word said.

Ross Fisher shot a record-breaking 63 at The London Club to take a two-stroke lead at The European Open. 27-year-old Fisher's nine-under round included a holed 187 yard bunker shot on the seventh and a massive 413 yard drive on the ninth hole.

Fisher beat Seve Ballesteros' previous record set in 1984... to think he nearly didn't play the event because he was too tired. Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell and David Frost are two strokes behind Fisher, with Rory Mcilroy, Peter Hedblom and Jeev Milkha Singh well in the mix.

Colin Montgomerie was the best of our picks at two-under, though Robert Karlsson and John Bickerton both dissapointed after rounds of 74 (two over).

Steve Marino carded a bogey-free, five under 65 to take a one-shot lead at the AT & T National. Marino birdied three of his first four holes and never had to make a par putt longer than five feet, finishing on the 18th hole with an eight-foot birdie.

After opening rounds of 66, Jeff Overton, Frank Licliter and Rod Pampling find themselves one behind. Germany's Alex Cejka, 375/1 long shot Notah Begay III and Anthony Kim are all in the mix, with rumours rife that Kim is set to unveil a new belt sometime over the weekend.

Kim kept pretty quiet about the new arrival, saying, 'I actually had to get insurance on this thing;that's how nice it is. So it will be here on the weekend.' Of our picks, Kevin Streelman is fairing the best at one-under, with Steve Stricker one-over and Rocco Mediate at three-over. Early stages and all that...

It was on this day in 1931, in the searing 105 degree heat, that Billy Burke and George Von Elm scuttled back to the clubhouse at Ohio's Inverness club to grab a cold drink and some rest before the following day's playoff. After 72 holes, both players were tied on 292 and competed in what turned out to be a marathon battle.

After 36 holes of playoff golf, there was nothing to separate the two players at 149 (seven over par). Another 36 holes later, Burke finally emerged victorious by one stroke (148 to 149). The US Open victory kicksarted what would be Burke's finest season, in which he reached the semi-finals of the PGA Championship, won four professional tour events and appeared on the Ryder Cup team, where he boasted a perfect record of two for two.

12 years later in 1943, a New York City golf professional was arrested for operating a gambling game in which golfers tried to win a new ball after giving up an old one. Unlike us, he was clearly unaware that golf and crime don't mix...

In a dusty bullring, on this day in 1947, Manolete, the greatest bullfighter in history, died after being gored in the leg by his fifth bull of the day. Rising to prominence after the Spanish Civil War, he excelled at the kill and was famous for standing close to the bull and performing five passes in succession without moving out of the way. In response to his death, General Franco ordered three days of national mourning, with only funeral dirges heard on the radio.

Oh yeah, and it's also American Independence Day.

So it's Feliz Cumplea–os! as they say in Spain to LPGA player, Suzanne Strudwick (43), lovely day crooner Bill Withers (70), peace activist Ron Kovic (62) and the so far past it he's almost back again Neil Morrissey (46). And on this day in 2003, Barry White waddled off to the boudoir beyond, aged 57.