Ogilvy checks out the 9th green, which is in the roughest condition

Everybody’s talking about the damaged greens at the usually pristine Quail Hollow Club. It’s only Wednesday and the state of the greens is the most popular topic of the tournament. Just walk out to the putting green — quite a few of the players will tell you that it’s the best one on the course. They’re half-joking, but there’s some truth to it. Which is a shame for the well-run tournament that’s a favorite among players, caddies and the media.  (continue reading…)

The oldest and youngest participants at this year’s Masters

First of all, my sincere apologies to 14-year-old amateur Tianlang Guan for predicting he wouldn’t break 80 in the first round of The Masters. I am more than happy to be wrong, though. What a performance by the kid, who received an invitation to play at Augusta after winning the Asian Amateur, shooting a one-over 73 in his major debut.

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Hello there! This evening I’m joined by Oliver Horovitz, author of “An American Caddie in St. Andrews.” We talk about the highlights in the first round of this year’s edition of The Masters. If today was a preview of things to come the rest of the week, then we’re in for an epic finish! We have a 14-year-old, 53-year-old and Sergio Garcia, among others as first-round storylines. It doesn’t get much better!

After Deadspin posted this legendary picture of Jason Dufner hanging out with kids at a charity event in Irving, Texas, #Dufnering has become a trending meme on the internets. Here are some of the best from the pros, along with others around the Twittersphere…

Here comes the storm…

After Tiger Woods birdied No. 2 at Bay Hill to get to 12-under and take a three-shot lead over Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, Ken Duke and John Huh, the horn sounded at 2:03pm on Sunday, signaling that play had been suspended.

Woods’ quest to regain his rightful position atop the rankings was delayed by monstrous thunderstorms. There was a tornado warning — and I’m pretty sure that was my first experience in a mini-tornado, which was pretty much just as frightening as I envisioned — followed by gusts up to 52mph and heavy rain showers.  (continue reading…)

Just about everyone is watching basketball, so it shouldn’t really matter, but I did a rambly wrap-up of the third round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. As you know, Tiger Woods leads by two over Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose and John Huh.

Woods is going for his eighth victory at Bay Hill. Should he win, he will dethrone Rory McIlroy from the world No. 1 ranking.  (continue reading…)

Okay, I’m not going to lie — I giggled and even laughed out loud a few times watching “2.Oh,” the encore performance of “Golf Boys,” a group consisting of Ben Crane, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan.

The song was written by Mat Kearney.

As you may recall, the group released their international debut in June 2011. A second music video was not in the original plans, but apparently the golfers finally gave in after relentless requests from fans.

There you go, everyone! Enjoy.  (continue reading…)

I took the stage this evening in the interview room shortly after 54-hole co-leaders Michael Thompson and Luke Guthrie finished their press conferences. The lighting was quite bright, so I’m not sure why I kept looking up — perhaps I’m just drawn to shiny things?

Right when I ended the Hangout, I realized I forgot to mention one of the funny coincidences of the day. After David Lynn outplayed Tiger Woods in the third round, he was immediately whisked away by a drug-testing official.  Lynn, a 39-year-old rookie on the PGA Tour (longtime European Tour player), said today was only the second time he’d ever been tested (and of course, the other time was in Europe), which I thought was interesting considering the discussion lately about the Tour’s non-rigorous drug-testing policy and its lack of transparency.

Before I bid you a good night, in case anyone is interested, here are some quotes from Tiger following his third consecutive even-par 70. (continue reading…)

DJ and Bubba enjoying the breeze at Kapalua during the first round

Rickie Fowler stepped up to the first tee at The Plantation Course and hit the opening drive to kick off the 2013 season for the third time in four days. Difference on Monday morning? It was actually official. Beforehand, Fowler tweeted, “Scene 1…take 3.”

Fowler, who played with Jason Dufner, got the opening event off to a nice pace, completing the first 18 in less than four hours, which is very impressive on this track. As you may have heard, it’s not exactly the easiest course to to walk. In fact, it’s the most strenuous of the year. But after the week that would never end — or should I say, start — the players were ready to get things going. (continue reading…)

Bubba Watson & his caddie Ted Scott have some fun: Teddy assists Bubba by holding the ball in place.

The forecast at Kapalua’s Plantation Course continues to plague the 2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions with strong winds and gusts up to 50mph. Not much has changed from Friday when the PGA Tour’s season-opener was supposed to kick off. For the third day in a row, play was delayed, suspended, and eventually called at 12:12pm on Sunday.

The new (tentative) plan? To return on Monday morning and play 36 holes and 18 on Tuesday. The goal is to complete 54 holes — otherwise it’ll count as an “unofficial” event, meaning it won’t count as an “official” win and the champion won’t get the chance to defend his title in 2014, but it will reward “official FedExCup points/money/75% OWGR points. In other words, it would cause more harm to the already endangered venue for the event. Which would really suck. (continue reading…)