Lexus Cup Preview

It’s Annika Sorenstam and her picks versus Grace Park and the Asian contingency duking it out this weekend at the Lexus Cup.

LPGA logoAn international team of golfers led by the one-and-only Annika Sorenstam hopes to level a group of Asian golfers managed by Grace Park on their own turf at the inaugural Lexus Cup.

Toyota Motors Pacific, IMG and the Singapore Sports Council have hopes that this match-play format which includes some of the finest world golfers will attract attention to the sport which is growing in leaps and bounds in Asia.

The selection is not only based upon experience but on the “personality and charm” of each chosen participant. If you ask me, charisma doesn’t win a golf match, but a bit of luck sure can help!

Get Your Balls Imprinted – Free

Titleist offers free imprinting until December 10, so order now!

The holidays mean one thing to Titleist fans: stocking up on custom-imprinted Pro V1s! Just about every year, Titleist offers free personalization on golf balls. We’ve been remiss in not posting something until now, however, because you only have until December 10 to order your balls. The imprinting is free, but the balls will still go for normal pricing.

Place your order with your local Titleist-licensed retail outlet – pro shops, Dick’s Sporting Goods, etc. and get yourself in the holiday spirit. For more information, visit “The Ultimate Holiday Gift” at Titleist.com.

Titleist Holiday Imprinting

Target World Challenge Preview

Tiger Woods hosts some of the world’s best golfers in this annual showdown.

Target World Challenge LogoThe 2006 PGA Tour season is less than a month away, but there is still a little golf to be played in 2005. The world’s best golfer, Tiger Woods, plays host this week to some of his peers from around the globe in the annual Target World Challenge. Also, the course (Sherwood Country Club) is great, and the prize money is even better. All of these things add up to a pretty special event.

Disappearing Act

This week’s Thrash Talk unveils a few golfers who are going to struggle in 2006.

Thrash TalkLast week’s Thrash Talk was on the positive side, but I won’t write something positive two weeks in a row. Last week, I talked about a few golfers who will make great comebacks next year, including David Duval, Mike Weir, and Paul Casey. This week I’m covering the opposite. There are golfers every year that fall out of the spotlight and struggle, and 2006 will be no different.

Sneak Peek at MacGregor’s 2006 New Products

MacGregor Golf has had some tough times over the past decade, but the company is trying to innovate its way back into the limelight. Here’s what it has on tap for 2006.

Bag DropMacGregor Golf has been very busy over the last two years, bringing a series of interesting and innovative products to market in a attempt to reclaim market share. In 2005, the MACTEC NVG driver pointed the company in a new direction with a focus on cutting-edge technology.

The Bag Drop has just scored the scoop on MacGregor’s 2006 product line, and it is clear that MacGregor is going full-speed ahead in the MACTEC direction with a big batch of new drivers, hybrids, irons – and some interesting new Bobby Grace putters.

Volume Thirty-Eight

Here’s nine links to get you started on your week.

Hittin' the LinksTop of the morning to ya. It’s getting cold in my part of the world, so I haven’t really been doing too many golf-related activities. The free time has allowed me the ability to scour the Web for more golf links, but as always, if you have a link you think I might be interested in, let me know.

Now, on to this week’s links.

Ai Miyazato Medalist at Q-School

Ai Miyazato posts a runaway win at LPGA Q-School. Watch out Paula Creamer and the rest of the LPGA Tour, Miyazato is the new rookie in town!

Ai Miyazato Wins at Q-SchoolTwenty-year-old Ai Miyazato delivered a one-two punch this weekend at LPGA Q-School with a wire-to-wire victory against challengers who seemed to fade away as the tournament progressed.

With a lead steadily growing from earlier rounds, Miyazato breezed through her fifth and final eighteen holes while the rest of the pack struggled to gain ground. With only twenty-four tour exemptions on the line, the rest of the ladies were clamoring for either one of those remaining twenty-three spots or even one of the thirty-five conditional status positions. Anything is better than being sent back to the minors.

Matt Killen, Swing Coach For Kenny Perry

Matt Killen is young enough to be PGA Tour winner Kenny Perry’s son. In fact, his best friend IS Kenny Perry’s son. Yet he coaches a winner. Find out more about the rising young teaching star in this interview.

Throwing Darts TitleToday’s interview is with Matt Killen, Swing Coach for PGA Tour standout Kenny Perry. Matt has known Kenny nearly his entire life and grew up playing golf with Kenny and his son, Justin. He and Justin are best friends and were roommates in college at Western Kentucky University.

Kenny introduced Killen to Ron Gring when he was a freshman in high school. Ron helped him with his game but eventually helped him branch over in to teaching. Over time he became extremely interested in how the golf swing worked and began teaching as a sophomore in high school. He took him under his wing, and studied with him and tried to learn as much as possible about the mechanics of the golf swing.

Read on to find out more about Matt.

Episode 005

Tune in this week as we bash Natalie Gulbis’ dad, call Annika Sorenstam a dirty cheat,

PodcastAfter a week off (mmmm, turkey…), we come back with a the fifth episode of our “Golf Talk Podcast.” You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 005 as an MP3 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

This week, talk about the Natalie Gulbis show, Monty and Ernie in 2006, Fred Funk’s pink skirt, Phil Mickelson’s year-in-review, Q-School, and a whole bunch of statistical “nuggets” from Dave Koster. For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.