I will be attending my first PGA event in August, the PGA Championship. I have tickets for each day and probably will check out the practice rounds. Any advice as to whom to tag along with during the tournament? Whom should I avoid? Is it really worth it to follow Tiger Woods for a round?
—Eric, Norcross, Ga.
You're much better off following Tiger in a practice round, Eric, than in the tournament when the entire free world is in his gallery. Tiger likes to duck as many fans as he can at majors so he often goes out early. I'm talking first light, 6 a.m. It's not unusual for Tiger to finish a practice round before the majority of the spectators shake off their hangovers and show up. During actual play, John Daly is always good entertainment and very fan friendly. I'd check out Retief Goosen, the new Open champ, and rookie Charles Howell, who hits it a ton, if he gets in the field. And, of course, that writing fool, Brandel (Total Shambles) Chamblee .
I agree with your comment that putting statistics don't identify the good putters. What if the length of each putt made to close out a hole were added up for the whole round. The higher the figure, the better the putter. At least this would show who's draining the long putts.
—Mitchell, Mililani, Hawaii
I hear about ShotLink during TV broadcasts, but is the information available to the public?.
—John Poprac, Los Angeles
ShotLink, a new laser-based system the PGA Tour is trying to start up, will give distances on every shot, Mitchell, and provide remarkable putting stats. We'll know who has the best make percentage from six feet, 12 feet, any distance; who hits it closest with a 6-iron on average; and so on. The system isn't up and running quite yet, in part because of a dispute over whether tour caddies should be paid for providing club information. ShotLink is being used around the greens on golf telecasts, as John and others have noticed, but it's not yet available to the public or even the rest of the media, as far as I know. It will be soon, theoretically, but ShotLink's start date has been pushed back time and time again.
Supposedly he's a good guy, but I have to take Bruce Fleisher to task for a couple of things he did during his U.S. Senior Open win. First, it kills me to hear a player scold his caddie for yardage or club selection on the course, never mind in the press tent afterward, as Fleisher did. Second, wearing those brutal sunglasses while being interviewed on NBC, he looked like a guy going through a mid-life crisis. Hey, Flash, now that you've won the Senior Open, take responsibility for the shots you hit -- and lose the shades! Maybe that will help those pathetic TV ratings.
—Sean McCarthy, Norwell, Mass.
The first rule of being a pro, for the sake of your confidence, is that a bad shot is never your fault. The only thing that can help senior television ratings is a 50-year-old Jack Nicklaus or mandatory Hooters girls as caddies. Hey, I think I'm onto something ...
You gotta love the way things are setting up for the British. Sergio García and Phil Mickelson have been playing well, Colin Montgomerie finally showed up, and Tiger Woods is struggling. Any picks? I'm taking Tiger again, but after the blowup following the first round of the Western, I'm starting to second guess. We haven't really seen the petulant Mr. Woods in the past few years. What's up with him? I know he can't win every week, but he seems a tad more edgy than usual. Is it as simple as just being frustrated or is it something else?
—Casey Haverstick, Austin, Texas
'Stick, Tiger is so isolated that what's up with him is just guesswork. Only an absolute idiot wouldn't pick him to win the British. So I'll go with the lefties: Mickelson, MIke Weir and Steve Flesch. OK. And Tiger.
