Romantic evening for the young lovebirds

After Rory McIlroy missed his second straight cut — his first on the European Tour since 2008 (aside from majors) — at Wentworth last Friday, he said he needed to refocus his practice energies. He barely broke 80, posting a 79. Golf’s latest golden boy is indeed human. Well, McIlroy had a bad week, which included a club throw during the first round, but known for his candor, he admitted that he may have slacked off in the practice department lately, according to The Guardian‘s Lawrence Donegan: (continue reading…)

Zach and caddie Damon Green pay tribute to Damon's dad who last battle to stomach cancer 10 days ago

Just landed in Columbus for Jack’s tournament, the Memorial, this upcoming week — that’s right, after a two-week hiatus, I’m back on Tour. Woot!

While I was packing and hustling to catch my flight, I watched the last nine holes of the duel between Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner, who was gunning for his third win in four starts, at Colonial. It might as well have been match play since the rest of the field was too many strokes back to catch the duo. Turned out to be an intriguing finish in more than one way. (continue reading…)

The scene of the incident

Graeme McDowell’s opening round at the European PGA Championship ended on a sour note with a triple-bogey 8 to post a two-over 74. He incurred a two-shot penalty on the 18th hole at Wentworth because of a “freak” rules violation and a slight brain fart by the golfer. After an errant tee shot into the bushes, McDowell tried to take a look at his ball, which was entangled in some branches, and as he approached, he thought it may have oscillated a dimple or two.

He went ahead and punched out, and then as he walked down the fairway, he called over a rules official and asked him to take a look at the TV footage because he wasn’t sure if it had moved — even though he couldn’t have necessarily prevented it and didn’t gain an advantageous lie. Point of the rule is to protect the field from a player improving his/her lie, but there’s that gray area where intention should come into play as it does in several other rules. (continue reading…)

Forward toss!

As you can see in the photo above, Rory McIlroy clearly hasn’t had much practice in the art of club tossing (for expert throws, see here and here). It appears after he let it fly, he thought, ‘Oh, no, I didn’t mean that!’

The 23-year-old uncharacteristically let his frustration get the best of him on the 12th hole at Wentworth on his way to posting a two-over 74 in the first round of the European PGA Championship. (continue reading…)

After a very long hiatus, welcome (back) to this special edition of Balls in the Air, where I size up my Fantasy Golf picks of the week, featuring guys to watch (or not), and interesting story lines and tidbits from behind the scenes.

The usual poker-faced Dufner reacts with extra gusto on the 72nd hole in Dallas

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been OVER A YEAR since I last did a “Balls in the Air” post. I started to neglect Fantasy Golf, and when you’re on tour every week, there’s more work (obviously) than sitting at in my apartment behind my computer.

By the way, I started to get the shakes yesterday (Wednesday). It’s the first time this season that I’ve missed TWO CONSECUTIVE Tour stops. I’m sure everyone out there is missing me oh-so-dearly! Don’t worry, I’m fine, I hear the first few days of the shakes are bad, but if I can get through Friday, I’ll be OK. (continue reading…)