Hello again and welcome to another edition of Hittin’ the Links. Oh, there is definitely a chill in the air. I hate to admit it but autumn definitely has us firmly in its grasp. Time to get those winter golf clothes out of the closet once again.
In this newest edition of HTL we take an early look at the European Tour’s globetrotting 2009 schedule, see what Boo Weekly was doing at a recent NASCAR event, and send our best wishes to the great Seve Ballesteros after his recent diagnosis. Also, we investigate Presidential golf, see why Philly may get a Tour event, find out what the heck diaper bingo is, and catch up on this week’s Tour winners. Read on!
Hole 1: Frequent Flyer Miles!
The European Tour has announced a record 53 tournaments in 26 different destinations all over the world. [Link]
Hole 2: Seve Ballesteros
Spaniard Seve Ballesteros has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. [Link]
Hole 3: Boo and NASCAR
Boo Weekly got to wave the green flag, among other things, at a recent NASCAR race. [Link]
Hole 4: Presidential Golf
Finally there is a Presidential speech I can get behind! [Link]
Hole 5: Titleist and the 2009 PGA Merchandise Show
Titleist has announced its plans to exhibit at the 2009 PGA Merchandise Show. [Link]
Hole 6: Diaper Bingo?
Tiger Woods describes in a recent interview how he is passing the time, including playing diaper bingo. [Link]
Hole 7: Philly Getting Tiger’s Event
With Tiger’s AT&T National event needing a home while Congressional gets a facelift, Aronimink Golf Club in Suburban Philadelphia has shown interest in being its short-term home. [Link]
Hole 8: Senior Players Championship
D.A. Weibring takes home the final major of the year. [Link]
Hole 9: Valero Texas Open
Zach Johnson is back to his winning ways after shooting lights out on the weekend in Texas. [Link]
What is interesting about this European Tour calendar is the fact that two of the tournaments, the HSBC Champions and the UBS Hong Kong Open are counted twice because of the fact that they are trying to accommodate the race to Dubai as the season ender next year. So technically there should have been only 51 events. Nonetheless the tour is expanding rapidly and no wonder that some of the big names on the PGA Tour are seriously considering migrating to the European Tour.
Of course the other big news is Zach winning again. Albeit late in the season, Zach needed this win to prove that he should still be counted in the big league and maybe he could spring another major surprise. Well it should not be considered a surprise anymore should it. I think this win will do him a lot of good and he will be in contention more often next year. Felt sorry for Charlie Wi, who despite carding an unbelievable 9 under par 61 could only manage a second place finish which was his best ever finish on the PGA Tour.
Seve’s too young to be up against it. With his characteristic guts and grit, I think he’ll beat the odds.
I didn’t know if we would ever see Zach Johnson back on top of a leader board. It doesn’t hurt that it was a weak field, but I think it will do wonders for his confidence and he’ll probably be back on top before too long. Maybe even at Augusta again.