Gary, Steroids, and Golf

Gary Player becomes the latest past champion to assume the position of soap box philosopher.

Thrash TalkPerhaps the only thing more tedious than watching 43 rehashes of the Van de Velde incident is listening to an old lion reminding himself he can still roar. Gary Player’s comments on performance-enhancing drug use on the professional golf tours certainly got a rise out of the news media. And although an exciting finish to a thrilling championship happily drowned out The Black Knight’s clatter, I think the issue is worth a closer look.

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Golf Talk [Episode 066]

David Feherty: “If you don’t have a belly, you shouldn’t be allowed to use a belly putter.” Congratulations to Padraig Harrington on the first of potentially many majors.

Golf Talk PodcastWe discuss the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie, won by Padraig Harrington (and many will say lost by Sergio Garcia and even Andres Romero). Also, Gary Player’s comments on drug use on the pro golf tours and more in this week’s episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 066 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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Fan No More

Sergio Garcia and Gary Player both used the media tent at the 2007 Open Championship to remove their names from my “players I root for” list.

Swing ThoughtsI used to consider myself a fan of Sergio Garcia and Gary Player. Sadly, their actions at the 2007 Open Championship put an end to that.

Before the tournament even began, Gary Player saw fit to tease us with his famous “neener neener, I know a secret” announcement that “someone” was taking drugs and that “at least ten, maybe a hell of a lot more” golfers on pro tours were using drugs. I agree with Gary’s basic point – he believes strongly in drug testing and the damage that could come to the sport if players are found to be using drugs to enhance their performance – but I’m disgusted that Gary, a legend of the game, chose the biggest stage he has to make the most damaging statement he’s ever made about the game of golf. His actions lack the class befitting a champion of the game.

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Titleist Introduces New NXT Tour and NXT Extreme Golf Balls

Golf Designers Against Distance (GDAD) members are not going to like this at all.

Bag DropTitleist, the king of all ball manufacturers, yesterday updated its NXT line of golf balls. While the Pro V1 and Pro V1x line may be the preferred ball among low-handicap golfers, the NXT line is the ball for the masses.

Previously, the NXT line featured two balls: the NXT and the NXT Tour. With the 2007 revisions, the NXT Tour has been updated and the plain-old NXT has been updated and re-christened the NXT Extreme.

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Volume One Hundred Seven

How do you say meltdown in Spanish?

Hitting the LinksPadraig Harrington came from six shots back going into the final round to have not just one but two shots at winning The Open Championship and finally put away the collapsing Sergio Garcia in the four-hole playoff.

As for Sergio “Bad Breaks” Garcia it makes no difference if his putter is standard length or belly, blade or mallet, right-hand low, left-hand low, whether he dresses like a banana or Ronald McDonald, at the end of the day the biggest determent to the young man’s game resides squarely in the space between his ears.

Finally, congratulations to Joe Ogilvie who beat some other guys and ran away with a four-shot victory in Milwaukee at the U.S. Bank Championship.

This week we have a recap of The Open Championship, the future of golf, and Commissioner Bivens going shopping.

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2007 British Open Live Blog

Will Sergio Garcia win his first major, ending the European drought the week his idol retires from the game?

14:36 – Sergio makes. Harrington does too and is the 136th Open Champion winner and the Champion Golfer of the Year.

14:35 – Sergio’s birdie putt somehow misses high! It looked in from the get-go, but it slides just outside of Padraig’s ball!! If Sergio misses, it’s over. If he makes, Padraig must make to win outright.

14:34 – Harrington’s par putt rolls three to four feet past the cup, right on Sergio’s line.

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Adams Idea a3 Hybrid Irons Review

Another generation of blended iron/hybrids are on the shelf in the Adams Idea a3 Hybrid Irons. Read on to see if they could help your game.

Adams A3 HeroThe Adams Idea a3 Hybrid Irons are the latest offering intended to blend irons with hybrids in a seamless set. Adams Golf has been an innovator in the blended-iron/hybrid market for a few years. Their concepts have been ahead of industry trends.

While the general golfing public hasn’t picked up on the usefulness of such sets I see the wisdom in seamlessly pairing irons and hybrids. The days of your average golfer carrying a 2-iron (or 3-iron, or 4-iron…) are officially over. It’s become an anomaly to see a 2-iron in a professional’s bag. Hybrids hit the ball longer and higher than similarly lofted irons. The biggest draw for the average golfer is that hybrids are much easier to hit than irons.

Adams Golf obviously sees the potential of blended sets for making golf easier for the average player. The Idea a3 Hybrid Irons are intended to fill this niché. See how well they do…

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2007 British Open Staff Predictions

The Links at Carnoustie host the Open Championship for the seventh time and we try to predict the outcome.

Thrash TalkThis week’s article is a group effort, as your friendly Sand Trap staff gives you their take on the Open Championship. Although perhaps with no hope of any degree of accuracy beyond what you’d get with the dart board approach, we’ll bring our knowledge and experience in golf to bear on predicting the winner and a few other things.

Read on to hear our thoughts, and feel free to add your own!

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Golf Talk [Episode 065]

I’d give Woody Austin a few thousand dollars if I could take his place in the British Open.

Golf Talk PodcastJonathan Byrd wins and flies to Carnoustie, Se Ri Pak wins, and Phil loses in grand Lefty fashion at Loch Lomond. Also this week: Nike Tour pros hate the ball, Tadd Fujikawa turns pro, Carnicety(??), our Open Championship predictions, and more in this week’s episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 065 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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