While Augusta is my favorite major to watch, and while I consider the U.S. Open to be the toughest major to actually win, there is something about The British Open that makes it the most special of the four. Maybe it’s because it is golf’s oldest championship. Maybe it’s because it’s fun to [...]

Everyone is anticipating a Lorena Ochoa (pictured)-Annika Sorenstam duel (numbers one and two in the world, respectively; click here for the current women’s world rankings) this weekend at the U.S. Women’s Open at Interlachen Country Club in Minnesota, but as Tiger and Phil show us time and time again, rarely do these much-hyped #1-2 [...]

Gear up for this week’s U.S. Open with some preview coverage. Doug Ferguson breaks down the story behind the mega-pairing (a full list of pairings is available here) for Thursday-Friday (Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott (pictured)). Ed Sherman gives kudos to the USGA for putting this dream threesome together. In my [...]

Tiger Woods may have come up short yet again at Augusta (which did nothing to disspell the lone ‘criticism’ of his game–i.e. that he cannot come from behind on Sunday to win), but that doesn’t mean that Nike and IMG weren’t elated by the success of South African Trevor Immelman, who has been overshadowed by [...]

If you are a golf fan, then Masters week is your Super Bowl. Sure, the 90-man field is by far the weakest of the four majors, boasting aged “past champions” who would have no business at any Club Championship, let alone with the world’s best at Augusta. But the hallowed venue’s storied history, pristine conditions, [...]

1. Tiger Talk

By now, you’ve not only been barraged with coverage of Tiger Woods’ latest heroic feat–a sliding left to right putt for birdie at the Arnold Palmer Invitational that ranks just short of divine–but you’ve also heard that Tiger’s “streak” fell short Monday morning at Doral to the Puma-clad Geoff Ogilvy (pictured). Meanwhile, Doral’s [...]

SFX meets PETA
It’s a good thing for Tripp Isenhour that we no longer run a ‘Nightmare Clients Of the Week’ column anymore. As you’ve probably already read, Isenhour, represented by John Mascatello and SFX Golf, faces misdemeanor criminal charges (up to 14 months in prison and $5,000, if convicted, per government sources) for his [...]

Tiger Endorses Obama?
It’s well known that the vast majority of PGA Tour players are rank-and-file Republicans. Or at the very “worst,” closet independents. Over the years, some players have been more vocal than others about their political leanings. No one will ever forget in 1993, for example, when Ryder Cup team member [...]

One day this will be an answer in Trivial Pursuit, so pay attention: Who was the second in a string of successive agents to quit representing Michelle Wie? That would be Greg Nared (pictured with Wie), the former University of Maryland basketball player who spent a decade as a Nike representative working on, among [...]

Sixteenth installment of The Primary Cut – weekly insights from the world of golf player management and other golf-related industry and player news.
As expected, Phil Mickelson, who had been in the midst of a lawsuit that he filed against ex-sponsor Bearing Point (Tim Rosaforte reported the matter has now been ‘pulled off the table’), had [...]

Fourteenth installment of The Primary Cut – weekly insights from the world of golf player management and other golf-related industry and player news.
Links Sports, We Hardly Knew Ye
When David Parker of the now-defunct Links Sports Management Group announced via email to his clients, Kenny Perry, Chad Campbell and Shaun Micheel, that he would be retiring, [...]

Thirteenth installment of The Primary Cut – weekly insights from the world of golf player management and other golf-related industry and player news.
1. Gulbis Leaves Octagon For IMG

Credit Golfweek’s Scott Hamilton for breaking the biggest story of the week—LPGA star Natalie Gulbis’ move away from the Giff Breed-headed Octagon Golf over to IMG’s ever-growing stable, [...]

Twelfth installment of The Primary Cut – weekly insights from the world of golf player management and other golf-related industry and player news.
Adams Golf Rescues Rory
It didn’t take long for someone to scoop up Rory Sabbatini, the controversial South African, who was last seen tipping the valet at Sherwood Country Club as he sped away [...]

Eleventh installment of The Primary Cut – weekly insights from the world of golf player management and other golf-related industry and player news.
School’s Out Forever?
Golf World’s Ryan Herrington reports that not surprisingly, 21-year-old South Korean native and UNLV junior Seung-Su Han decided to stay an amateur and play for the Rebels, at least through next [...]

Tenth installment of The Primary Cut – weekly insights from the world of golf player management and other golf-related industry and player news.
1. The State of the LPGA Has Never Been Better
Two relatively recent articles within the past year (USA Today and BusinessWeek) relate to the current state of the now 59-year old LPGA Tour [...]

Ninth installment of The Primary Cut – weekly insights from the world of golf player management and other golf-related industry and player news.
1. Take two pills and call me in the morning
In light of the fact that drug testing on the PGA Tour will start July 8, 2008 after the Tiger Woods-hosted AT&T National at [...]

Eighth installment of The Primary Cut – weekly insights from the world of golf player management and other golf-related industry and player news.
1. Q School’s Over
Tour veteran Frank Lickliter II opened the six-day grindfest with consecutive 62’s and never looked back, completing a wire-to-wire victory at Orange County National in Winter Garden, FL and finishing [...]

Seventh installment of The Primary Cut – weekly insights from the world of golf player management and other golf-related industry and player news.
1. Q School: The Midway Point
Three rounds out of six are in the books [see leaderboard] in the 2007 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament (Q School), where 166 players are playing for their jobs [...]

Sixth installment of The Primary Cut – weekly insights from the world of golf player management and other golf-related industry and player news.
1. Q School Finals: An Overview
The final stage of the PGA Tour’s Qualifying Tournament (Q School) is known by some as golf’s “Fifth Major” (or its “cruelest tournament” as one author put it) [...]

Fifth installment of The Primary Cut – weekly insights from the world of golf player management and other golf-related industry and player news.
1. One strike and you’re out?
The PGA Tour plans to start its new drug-testing program as early as July, with penalties for a positive test ranging from a one-year suspension for a first [...]