Category: ProFiles

It’s been almost a year since the last installment of Celebrity Deathmatch, but since things are shaping up in the FedExCup for a possible third mano y mano matchup between Rory Sabbatini and Tiger Wood, it seemed like a perfect matchup for Deathmatch.

I know, Steve Stricker (104,950 points) and K.J. Choi (102,900) are leading the FedExCup standings for the moment, but Woods-Sabbatini have a history extending way back to May and the Wachovia Championship. No offense to Stricker and Choi – both of whom are playing great golf – but who better to revive the Deathmatch with than brash and trash-talking Rory against the world’s number one golfer? First let’s meet the contenders.

Continue reading “Celebrity Deathmatch: Rory vs. Tiger”

On Sunday when Tiger raised the Wanamaker Trophy, a lot of people around the country might have wondered why it’s called the Wanamaker Trophy and just who or what is a “Wanamaker.” Something about the name “Wanamaker” made me think of Walter Matthau’s character in The Bad News Bears. But a quick Google search revealed that it was Morris Buttermaker who showed up to coach youth baseball with a beer and a cigar in hand – not a Wanamaker.

Though I knew the trophy preceded Matthau’s role by some 60 years, I didn’t know much about the man it was named for or about the history of the trophy itself. Thanks to PGA.com and a handful of other sites, it’s pretty easy to learn more about a very interesting man who helped lay the foundation for golf’s popularity today.

Continue reading “Nine Holes with Rodman Wanamaker”

Watching the 2007 Open Championship was a little like viewing a good action movie. There were heroes getting their teeth kicked in and coming back to win the day. There was comedy and drama. There were plenty of car wrecks and explosions. And at the end of the gauntlet, an evil ogre waited.

You can’t have a good movie without a great cast, so here are my picks for each of the nine leading roles from this year’s Open Championship.

Continue reading “Nine Roles at the Open Championship”

Sam Snead is a legend on the PGA Tour. Rightfully so. He had as much longevity in the game as anyone ever has and he has the win count to prove it. “Thinking instead of acting is the number one golf disease,” said Snead. He left an amazing record of action.

World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Snead was born May 27, 1912 and died May 23, 2002, just shy of his ninetieth birthday.

Continue reading “Nine Holes with Sam Snead”

A lot of ink has been spilled over Zach Johnson this week and I’m going to add to the mess by way of Internet clutter and this ProFile.

From his runner-up finish to former Masters champ Mark O’Meara in the par-3 tournament to winning the entire enchilada, Johnson has had an amazing week. Plus I’ll bet that’s the first time someone’s called the Masters an enchilada. I’m a trend setter, plain and simple. Classy too.

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There is no question in my mind that Gary Player is one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game. The South African native turned pro in 1953 and out of relative obscurity started winning. And for many, many years he never stopped.

With virtually an unassailable international victory total Player is a remarkable competitor, international figure, and ambassador of the greatest game.

Continue reading “Nine Holes With Gary Player”

Elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981, Trevino is truly a memorable character in golf lore. His ability to distill truth into a Trevino-ism is well known. His ball-striking exceptional, his ability to talk in the middle of a swing a little odd, and his PGA and Champions Tour records have cemented him as one of the very best to have stalked the fairways.

Trevino once said, “I’m down in the top 30. I won six majors, but I wasn’t dominant, wasn’t long enough for courses like Pebble and Augusta.” And while he doesn’t give himself much credit, history will make up the difference. He is one of a kind.

Continue reading “Nine Holes with Lee Trevino”

Aaron Skidmore isn’t your typical professional. In fact he never really was a pro golfer, except that he is and always will be a pro to me. I can’t remember what his swing looked like and there isn’t one swing tip I remember him passing on to me. He gave up the game out of necessity long before I took it up.

But still I consider him the one who handed me the baton. It was he, whose passion for the game somehow found its way to me and surfaced about three years after he passed away. I came by it honestly because Aaron Skidmore was my Grandpa.

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I can’t think of another golfer, man or woman, who won 17 tournaments including one major in the first two years after joining professional competition. Nancy Lopez accomplished in her freshman and sophomore seasons what some never achieve their whole career.

Her quirky swing and dominating play made her one of the LPGA’s most celebrated and winning athletes. She is known as much for being a gracious competitor as she is her impressive record.

Continue reading “Nine Holes With Nancy Lopez”