A few weeks ago, I broke down the current status of the United States Ryder Cup team, and now it's time to take a look at the team from across the pond. The European side will enter this year's matches as the three-time defending champions, and regardless of what the media says, they will definitely be the favorites this time around.

The European Ryder Cup team is selected using three different methods. The first is based on the players' standing in the European Tour Order of Merit over a 12-month period. The second is based off the players' Official World Golf Ranking points won in the same 12-month period. These two methods will qualify 10 members for the team, while the remaining two golfers will be selected by captain Nick Faldo.

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Sergio Garcia wins the biggest event of his life so far (with possible exception to the British Am), and owes a big gust of wind for the assist. Plus Sorenstam cleans up at Kingsmill and a whole lot more in this episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 088 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week's Show Notes - links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information - just read on.

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The 2008 Masters and Players have come and gone, and this month's list is weighted by both. Trevor Immelman won the green jacket last month at Augusta but has struggled badly since. Sergio Garcia, on the other hand, silenced the putting demons long enough to win The Players this past weekend. The media has been waiting for the young guns to step it up, and both Immelman and Garcia did just that in the past month.

It's been a great past month for the PGA Tour, but the LPGA Tour has also made waves. In fact, three ladies have completely dominated things in 2008. Lorena Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam, and Paula Creamer have accounted for 10 wins in 11 events so far this season. That's an amazing stat to say the least.

All five mentioned above are in this month's Bunker's Dozen, but where will each of them end up? Continue reading to find out. If you have anything to add, please comment below or discuss it in the forum.

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Good day and welcome again to Hittin' the Links. Let me start off this week by saying Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Where would we all be without mom? Hopefully, all the mothers had a nice day.

Now, back to golf. HTL has again perused the Internet for all that's interesting in the world wide golf web. This week we start off with a look at golf destination Baghdad, check the PGA Tour power rankings, and test our rules knowledge at the USGA website. In addition, we see what Johnny Miller had to say about Tiger, do a Michelle Wie update, take note of this week's Tour winners, and finally we send our condolences to Jeff Maggert and his family for their loss. Read on.

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To say the buzz about the AP1 and AP2 irons from Titleist is loud is an understatement of quite some size. I cannot recall a product release in the last couple of years that generated the amount of interest, comments, feedback and questions from Sand Trap readers and forum members as these groundbreaking, technology-infused irons from the traditionally traditional Titleist.

Between our announcement of the 2008 lineup, Erik's field test and his AP2 review, we've received well hundreds of comments and questions. Add this to the amount of discussion and buzz in our forum and it's really quite remarkable the excitement these irons have generated.

We're going to focus on the AP1 irons for this review, which Titleist says is for the "skilled and aspiring" golfer. What is an "aspiring golfer"? While I would say all golfers are aspiring to some degree, I think the AP1 are designed for those of us who are in the double-digit handicap range. We show flashes of our golfing potential, but still have an evolving golf swing that could use a little forgiveness while still providing feedback to help us improve. Thus, perhaps we "aspire" a wee bit more than the guy who plays once a month.

Read on to find out this aspiring golfer thinks about these "sure-don't-look-like-Titleists" irons.

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The four major championships are obviously the biggest tournaments each season, but "The Players" is next in line. The field is always one of the best, and the course is always a tough test for the world's top golfers. The TPC at Sawgrass is also one of the most recognizable layouts in the world thanks in part to its great finishing stretch. The 16th hole is a risk/reward par five, the 17th is the famous island hole, and the 18th is one of the toughest finishing holes in golf.

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Paula Creamer visits her second playoff in a row, Anthony Kim walks away with his first PGA Tour win, drug testing is delayed, we know which guy will be tackling Torrey Pines, we interview Steve Pelisek about the Titleist AP1 and AP2 irons, and a whole lot more in this episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 087 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week's Show Notes - links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information - just read on.

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I played my first full round of golf with my (great) Uncle Bud at the Bedford Springs course in Bedford, PA. Bedford Springs was originally designed by Spender Oldham, modified by A.W. Tillinghast, and later revamped and altered by Donald Ross. In the 1890s and 1900s, Pittsburghers wealthy from the thriving steel industry would venture two hours south to Bedford, PA where the natural spring water was said to have rejuvenating, youth-giving qualities. While the women spent their time in the spas, the men entertained themselves with a round on the resort's golf course.

After falling into disrepair, both the hotel, spa, and the golf course have recently seen a massive influx of hundreds of millions of dollars. All three are open once again and receiving guests and golfers.

I played the course in September, 2007. Read on to see what I thought of this revived classic.

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Has it been a week already? I guess it has, so it's time again for Hittin' the Links. Let's get ready for an electonic tour of all that is golf on the World Wide Web.

In this edition, we take an early peek at what's new for this year's U.S. Open, take an even earlier look at the goings on at the British Open, and investigate what is going on between Butch Harmon and Big John. Also of interest, we see how our economy is affecting the PGA Tour, get sentimental about golf tournament winners, check out Western Ireland, and check in on the winner of the Wachovia Championship. Read on!

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