In Golf We Trust | Golf Central | You can take our freedom, but you'll never take our 5-iron!

Thursday, July 03, 2008

On This Day In History - Babe Has Cancer Surgery... Then Wins

Babe Zaharias: 'The Mafia photoshoot's on the other hole, mate...'

It was on this day in 1954 that Babe Zaharias won the US Women's Open at Salem CC, Massachusetts. 'Big deal,' we hear you ask. 'She's won loads of those, hasn't she?' Well, yes, she has, but this one was a wee bit special, because it was her first US Open after coming back from cancer surgery.

Not only did Babe win, she won it in style, finishing with a 291 total for 72... an incredible 12 strokes ahead of Betty Hicks in secind place. 'My prayers have been answered,' said Babe after hoisting the trophy for the third time. Other women to win the US Open on this day include Betsy Rawls (1957), Carol Mann (1965) and Sandra Spuzich (1966)... but nobody comes close to Babe.

On a terrible day for birds, today in 1844, the last pair of Great Auks were killed. The only of the Auk family to reach modern times, they were hunted from the birth of time for their eggs and fur. A person buried at the Maritime Archaic site in Newfoundland, was found to have been buried in a suit made for 200 Auk skins, with their heads left on for decoration. They're better off out of it...

Join us in a soothing hum of Hau`oli la hanau! to European Tour nobody, Marc Farry (49), cantankerous director Ken Russell (81), playwright Tom Stoppard (71), Fontella 'Rescue me' Bass (68), incendiary journo Julie Burchill (49), and the diminutive Tom Cruise (46).

Comments [0]

Golf Central | On This Day In History

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

The Duffer's Guide To Golf's All-Rounders

John Daly: Stick to the day job, mate...

Ever wondered where today's tour pros would be without golf? Imagine if golf had never been invented. What would they do to make a living; serve burgers in McDonald's, stack shelves in a supermarket... collect bins? Not this lot, who'd all be able to fall back on sports they played as youngsters before they took to the fairways to make millions...

Comments [1]

Golf Central | The Duffer's Guide

The Bet Detective - The European Open

Colin Montgomerie and Jodie Kidd: 'Yeah, she's my new missus...'

So much for going with the local boys, eh? What an absolute load of rubbish those French lot turned out to be on 'home soil' at the Open De France. At least Soren Hansen's each way finish has given me a bit of extra pocket money to play about with this week, which I intend to spend as follows...

Colin Montgomerie
He may be grumpy and boring, but you can't take away the fact that Monty's a good golfer when he wants to be... which is why I'm choosing him this week. Had a great time at last week's Open De France, finishing second behind the uber-impressive Pablo Larrazabal. He won last year's European Open at the K Club and seems to be getting back into some sort of form as of late.

Soren Hansen
How has this Swede not won on the European Tour this year? He's finished second twice, third three times and has had two other top ten finishes on the European Tour in 2008. Surely this week he's going to finally get a win under his belt, or whatever it is they wear around their waists in Sweden...

John Bickerton
There's still great value to be had on Redditch's finest, which is a little bit of a suprise considering the good form he's shown in the past few weeks. Not only has he already won on tour this year at the Alfred Dunhill Championships, Bickerton's been playing well recently, tying for third at the BMW International Open and finishing tied seventh at the Open De France. Worth an each way...

To make sure you're getting bang for your buck, go to www.thebetdetective.com.

Last Week's Picks
Soren Hansen- 3rd
Thomas Levet- T30
Francois Delamontagne- Missed Cut

Comments [0]

European Tour | Golf Betting | Golf Central | The European Tour | Tournament Betting

Preview - The European Open

Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia: 'Luke Donald... personailty transplant... that's funny, Pad?'

The European Tour train rolls into the London Club this week for the European Open, with only a few stops left until the Open at Birkdale. Drug testing's on the cards for the first time at this week's tournament, and we're hoping the results come back all clear, simply to enjoy the pleasure of ringing the Black Knight up and telling him to 'stick that in your crack pipe and smoke it, mate.'

1.Sergio and Padraig to be paired
Garcia and Harrington will be playing together on British Soil for the first time since that playoff duel thingy at Carnoustie last year. This will be Garcia's first appearance on the European Tour since winning this year's Players Championship... hope there's no hard feelings.
2. A word from the Bendinat Group
The London GC, venue for this week's tournament, is owned by Mallorcan real estate giants, the Benidat Group. The company's Benidat Estate is the most exclusive property in Mallorca, and covers some 800 acres. The company also own their own golf course, Real Golf de Bendinat.... wonder how long it took them to come up with that?
3. Monty's made a few changes in the bag
Colin Montgomerie's got a new set of irons in the bag, which have been weighted specifically for him (quite heavy, then?) and are fitted with a set of shafts exactly that, touch wood, seem to be working well.Word has it that Monty's changed to a set of Vega wedges, which, if you didn't already know, give more bite around the greens than a pitbull terrier.
4. It's a Jack Nicklaus-designed course
London Club's Heritage Course was designed by the one and only, Jack Nicklaus. Designed by the Golden Bear in 1994, the course plays 7,208 yards from the championship tees, with water coming into play on six holes. The fairways have been narrowed for the week, with the rough set at 75mm and the greens measuring 10 1/2 on the stimpmeter. Expect low scoring this week, with all par fives reachable in two with a drive and mind iron; Sergio Garcia only had 200 yards for his second shot on the 5th and 8th holes during practice.
5. Kent: The garden of England
If we're not on the golf course, you'll find us visiting Sissinghurst gardens, getting lost in Hever Castle's giant maze, getting smashed at the Kent Beer festival, acting all Ye Olde in the medieval market town of Tonbridge and munching on a Ploughman's lunch.

Comments [0]

European Tour | Golf Central | The European Tour | Tournament News

Drugs Are Bad... M'kay?

Why drug testing should be introduced on tour (Reason one): Amy Winehouse

Put the crack pipe down and stub that spliff out, guys, because drug testing hits the European Tour for the first time this week at the London Club. After Gary Player ran his mouth about knowing at least ten players who were using performance-enhancing drugs, procedures have finally been put in place to make sure the game is clean.

The drug-testing system has had little support from golfers themseleves, but players like Nick Dougherty, Justin Rose and Ross Fisher don't expect there to be any casualties from the new system. "If there are guys out there taking performance-enhancing drugs then I hope they get caught and I hope they do something about it, but I'd like to think golf hasn't got a problem," said Nick Dougherty earlier this week.

Comments [0]

European Tour | Golf Central | The European Tour

«Older Posts

Newer Posts»