21 reason why I love the game of golf...and I have a 22nd as well.  If I attend a professional tournament and follow my favorite player from 1 through 18, I log in around 4-5 miles of walking during that time.  If I skip back and forth between a couple of golfers, I log more.  Name me one other sport where the spectators can get almost as much exercise as the players?  I can't think of another (maybe soccer, where the fights in the stands can be more enthusiastic than the play on the field, but I'm an American...I don't attend professional soccer games).

Golf is a wonderful game. All the points you made are well taken and reasons that golf is still a somewhat honorable game unlike the publicly pampered professional "team" games. Golf is both better off since Tiger Woods came along and unfortunately, worse off at the same time. Don't misunderstand me about Tiger Woods - he is truly a phenomenal player with tremendous skills and an amazing ability to control himself under enormous pressures that most of us will never, ever, experience. It isn't a racial thing either.

Golf is better off because we get to see his wonderful skills and abilities. What is worse off is the ugly behavior of "Tiger Fans" who yell "In the Hole!" on every shot - Jeez - would you morons please stow that for a decade or two? That behavior has bled over to the local courses now too - apparently screaming and hollering at the top of your lungs is a new golfing behavior that is mandatory following the rise of Tiger Woods.

The other thing is that Tiger Woods is without question one of the luckiest people on the planet and his luck is making a mockery of the game. In the British Open on two consecutive shots - Tiger's opponent played a shot in almost exactly the same spot as Tiger - on both occassions, the opponent's ball rolled into a pot-hole bunker. Tiger's shots rolled within a millimeter of the same spot and turned onto the green and ran up to near the hole. The difference in "luck" was a total of six strokes!

Two weeks ago Tiger's shot was deflected by some numbskull in the gallery. Three officials were immediately on the spot - the deflection was caught on tape and immediately replayed. Tournament officials were aware of it instantly. There was ample time to tell Tiger of the deflection - according to the announcers, nobody did. The three officials on the spot all said they didn't see it. The press would have us believe that nobody in the crowd told Tiger what happened. He played the ball from the spot it was deflected to and made par on the hole. In the old days, Bobby Jones or Arnold or Jack or any of the players would have called the penalty on themselves and asked the officials for a ruling on placement. Golf's most important rule is that it is self-governing. You should call penalties on yourself even if nobody else sees the mistake.

Tiger didn't. That's not good for the game. The stroke or two penalty wouldn't have made any impact on the final result but it sullied my respect for Tiger Woods and the "star treatment" provided by tournament officials. More Tiger "luck"?

This week Tiger hit a ball out of the rough onto the clubhouse roof and into the parking lot on the other side. A course worker finds the ball and puts it in his catering cart. Someone eventually tells him what happened and that he has Tiger's ball. He goes back to the clubhouse to return the ball to Tiger in time to avoid a penalty for a lost ball. It turns out that hitting a ball into the next county is not legally "out of bounds" on that hole. Tiger gets a free drop (No penalty) and finishes the hole I think with a par. Even Tiger sees this as "Very Fortunate". With luck like that, we mere mortals would win the Lotto every other week.

I for one am completely sick of hearing the announcers at tournament after tournament gushing over Tiger Woods. We get it. He is phenomenal. He is a once in a lifetime golfing machine. He may very well turn out to be the best ever to have played the game. He is a well mannered and well spoken young man and a great example of what a champion should act like. But there are many other great players out there who deserve respect even if they don't win every tournament they enter - give them a mention every now and then and turn off the Tiger Gush Pipe.

Let me also say that none of this is Tiger's "fault" - he's just very good and very lucky. It isn't his fault that tournament officials can't find a rule book until it is too late to apply it. I'm tired of watching tournament after tournament where his opponent's putts rim the cup and Tiger's roll straight in. My choice is to tune the TV anything else - I'd even rather watch a NASCAR rerun - motorsports answer to wrestle-mania. Two laps to go - throw a caution for debris on the track - that's NASCAR.

Tiger should probably just sit back and buy a Lotto ticket every week and roll in the dough - but then, the way it is now, he gets to play golf and earn enough to buy the Lotto system.

WHO SAID GOLF IS COMPLICATED?


Once a player has mastered the grip and stance, all he has to bear in mind, in the brief two-second interval it takes to swing, is to keep his  left elbow pointed in toward the left hip and his right arm loose and closer to the body than the left and take the club head past his right knee and then break the wrists at just the right instant while the left arm is still traveling straight back from the ball and the right arm stays glued to the body and the hips come around in a perfect circle and meanwhile everything is mucked up unless the weight is 60 percent on the left foot and 40 percent on the right - not an ounce more or less - and at just the right point in the turn the left knee bends in toward the right in a dragging motion until the left heel comes off the ground but not too far and be sure the hands are over the right foot but not on the toe more than the heel except that the left side of the right foot is tilted off the ground - but not too far - and be sure the hands at the top of the swing are high and the shaft points along a line parallel with the ground and if its a downhill lie the shaft is supposed to be pointed downhill too and pause at the top of the swing and count one, jerk the left arm straight down like a bell ringer yanking a belfry rope and don't uncock the wrists too soon and pull the left hip around in a circle but don't let the shoulders turn with the hips - they have to be facing the hole and now transfer the weight 60 percent to the left foot and 40 percent to the right - not an ounce more or less - and tilt the left foot now so the right side of it is straight (that's the one you hit against) watch out for the left hand, it's supposed to be extended, but not too stiff or the shot won't go anywhere and don't let it get loose or you will hook, then let the wrists uncock but don't force them or you'll smother the shot and don't break too soon but keep your head down then hit the ball!


THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT!! . .


Unless you move your head, then you're screwed!!!!

One of the great things about golf (please notice my golf shirt) is that it is a sport full of good humor. My favorite book in the world is,  "How to play golf in the low 120's" which includes a list of excuses in alphabetical order.

The other thing is there is no one else to blame. I was out at Sycamore Canyon a few years back with my buddies. I hit a bad shot around the green and said, "Don't worry about it, it was my fault." They all looked at me and said, "Duh."

The flip side of that is when you hit an 8-iron over tall trees and a sand trap, landing on the green and stopping two feet from the pin, that is also your fault. Very few things in life feel any better.

You can play the same course 70 times a year and each time it is different.

It is a magical game, made all the more enjoyable when you win money from your friends.