Golf Fun Across the Pond

Filed in archive Golf News on January 26, 2007

Courtesy: BBC Sport

There's a fun website out of the UK that's worth a look, if for no other reason but for its cutting humor. It's called Golf Punk Online. And that gives you a clue...

Here's a sampling of what's available:

A link to BBC Sport and an article in which Tiger Woods says if the birth of his first child clashes with the British Open, then, guess what, Tiger will skip the Open.

It certainly appears that Tiger is a new man, putting last year's tragic loss of his Dad behind him. Now he's going to be a dad himself and who can blame him for re-prioritizing his life? We may see a little less of Tiger on tour once his child is born.

And speaking of the Open, organizers have banned cell phones (they call them "mobiles" in Britain) on the course. Apparently last year some of the players complained about the number of cell phones being used during play. Who hasn't suffered through at least one annoying ring tone during a movie? Imagine how ticked off the pros get.

The problem is, in the UK talking on a cell phone or mobile is like wearing underwear: pretty much everyone does it. And they use 'em until the batteries are dead! Anyway, only the sound of birds chirping and the wind blowing will be heard at Carnoustie for this year's British Open.

There's a good piece on how British tennis player Andy Murray, who lost this week to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, gets more press than Luke Donald. Both Brits, but Murray is ranked 16th in the world and Luke Donald is ranked 7th in the world.

Apparently the English media think Murray is just dandy and Donald is just...a professional golfer.

The article goes on to poke fun at the fact that Paul Casey, another Brit on the PGA tour, has just won his fourth tournament in 14 months but has been mentioned in only 32 stories in the national media since New Year's Day! Murray has been mentioned in over 300 stories in the last month.

And the conclusion? The writer has a sneaky suspicion that the Brits love a sportsman who tries but fails. They're not so keen on a winner. It makes for a fun read.