A heartwarming, memorable day for Scottish teen
December 26, 2012 - 8:38am
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T.J. Auclair
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Thomas Brock
Sky Sports
Thomas Brock, an 18-year-old avid golfer from Scotland, has become an inspiration to his hero, 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie.

Scouring the Internet for something heartfelt to give you this holiday season, we came across a piece by Sky Sports in the UK entitled "My Special Day."

Similar to ESPN's "My Wish" series, which works alongside the Make-a-Wish Foundation to put together a sports-themed unforgettable day for children with life-threatening conditions, this edition of Sky's Special Day focused on 18-year-old Thomas Brock.

The young Scot was introduced to the game of golf at the age of 13 after tagging along to the course with his grandfather. Rapidly, Brock's handicap dropped until he became a single-digit player. 

But in April of 2011, Brock's life hit a serious speed bump. He was diagnosed with cancer in his left foot and given two options:Hhe could receive chemotherapy, but there was no guarantee the cancer wouldn't come back; or, for a greater chance of survival, Brock could have the foot amputated. He opted for the latter and, one week after the amputation, Brock was back on the golf course and -- on one leg -- shot a 73 in his first round, post amputation.

That's the set-up for what became Brock's "Special Day," with a trip to Aberdeen, Scotland, to meet his hero, Paul Lawrie, the 1999 Open Champion and member of the winning 2012 European Ryder Cup team.

Click here to watch the touching feature. 
Angry Shark done with Medalist GC
December 24, 2012 - 6:24pm
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John Holmes
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Greg Norman
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Greg Norman designed the Medalist Golf Club layout with uber-architect Pete Dye in 1995, but the club hired another architect for its redesign work.

In the Palm Beach area of Florida, where so many many professional golfers live these days, no players have larger profiles than Jack Nicklaus at the Bear's Club and Greg Norman at the Medalist Golf Club. But no longer.

Norman designed the Medalist layout with uber-architect Pete Dye in 1995, and the club's many high-profile members include Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler. But the Medalist hired architect Bobby Weed – a Dye disciple best known for his work with many of the PGA Tour's properties – for a facelift, according to Tim Rosaforte of Golf Digest and the Golf Channel, who said the move angered Norman.

"It's really a slap in the face at the end of the day," Norman told Rosaforte via email. "It's the end of a legacy by the board doing what the board is doing now. It hurts a lot to tell the truth. It's a shame."

As a result, Norman wants the Medalist to take his and Dye's names off the course, and to give back all the memorabilia he has let the club display over the years – including, presumably, the huge shark that hangs over the bar in the men's locker room.

Categories: Medalist Golf Club
Christmas gifts for world's top 10 golfers
December 23, 2012 - 8:38pm
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John Holmes
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Lee Westwood
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Jake Mann at Bleacher Report says Lee Westwood wants more PGA Tour victories in the coming year.

I know what I want for Christmas. I'd bet you know what you want, too.

But what do the world's greatest golfers want Santa Claus to bring them? Over at Bleacher Report, Jake Mann puts on his thinking cap – is it red, with a little white ball on top? – and ponders what the game's top players are hoping to find under their trees come Christmas morning.

I think I can improve on some of the items on Mann's gift list. For example, he says Lee Westwood wants more wins in the United States, but I know Westy couldn't care less about winning any more regular PGA Tour events. The one and only thing he's asking Santa for is a long-awaited – and, I would add, much-deserved – breakthrough in a major.

So what is Mann divining for players like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson? Click here to take a look at his list and see what you think.
OneAsia to hold Q-School in California
December 21, 2012 - 1:56pm
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John Holmes
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Garrett Sapp
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OneAsia Tour veteran Garrett Sapp could have some company next year if some of his fellow Americans succeed in the circuit's California Q-School.

The OneAsia Tour will hold not one but two final-stage Q-School tournaments early next year – with one in the United States and the other in Malaysia.

The U.S. Q-School will take place at the Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms, in Industry Hills, Calif., on Jan. 29-Feb. 1. The Malaysian event will return to Sutera Harbour Golf Club in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, on Feb. 5-8.

The winner of each Q-School is s guaranteed starts in all 2013 OneAsia's tournaments, while those who finish second and third will likely get starts in most events. Positions then will be awarded alternately between the Malaysian and U.S. Q-Schools.

"As we enter our fifth season, there has been phenomenal interest in OneAsia from around the world and we feel that holding one of our Q-School tournaments in the United States will satisfy that demand and also help promote the tour there," said OneAsia Chairman and Commissioner Sang Y. Chun.

An increasing number of Asia-Pacific players are basing themselves on the West Coast of the United States to go to college or take advantage of playing and coaching facilities not available in Korea or northern China during winter.

The OneAsia circuit was founded four years ago by the China Golf Association, the Korea Golf Tour, the Korea Golf Association and the PGA of Australasia as an alternative to the Asian Tour. It now includes the national Opens of Australia, China, Korea and Thailand among other events.

And speaking of Asians and Americans and golf, Jack Newton has two words of advice for international golfers eager to seek their fortune on the PGA Tour: Slow down!

Young golfers would be best served cutting their teeth in Asia and Europe before heading for the riches of the PGA Tour, Newton, one of Australia’s most prominent golfers in the 1970s and early ‘80s and more recently a big advocate for junior golf. He also urged his fellow Australians not to expect too much too soon from their junior stars.

"A lot of people want to put tags on people ... this player's going to be the best that ever lived and so on. And they stub their toe somewhere and disappear," said Newton in The Australian, Australia's national newspaper, citing the struggles of junior star Won Joon Lee, who now has returned to Australia after flaming out on the Web.com Tour. "A lot of these kids are rushing to America too early and then get their arse kicked.

Lee "lost his card in America. He's got a place in Las Vegas and he's flying back to shut all that down to come back to Sydney and start again," Newton said. "That's the way it can go."

Newton spoke out after comments from Jake Higginbottom, the 19-year-old who recently won the New Zealand Open as an amateur, then immediately turned pro and later said he hopes to come to the United States for Q-School next year.

"I just wish a lot of these kids wouldn't rush to America because you'll get killed with the numbers," Newton told the newspaper. "It's not that they're better, but there's someone shooting the lights out every week and it gets to you mentally in the end."

Bubba Watson and Ping present $250,000 to children's hospital
December 20, 2012 - 6:06pm
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John Holmes
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Bubba Watson
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Bubba Watson's pink driver doesn't just stand out because of its color; it stands out for the good it's doing for Phoenix-area charities.

We all watched Bubba Watson swing his bubble-gum pink Ping driver for much of the year – including at the Masters, where he earned his first major victory and became not just a golf superstar but a pop culture favorite.

Watson wielded that unmistakable driver as part of his ''Bubba & Friends Drive to a Million'' effort in partnership with Ping's ''Bubba Long in Pink. Driven by Ping'' campaign. To help raise funds for Phoenix-area charities, Ping has donated $50 for each of the 5,000 pink drivers sold.

And on Thursday came the payoff. Watson and Ping presented $250,000 to the Phoenix Children's Hospital. The money will be used to create the Bubba Watson and Ping Golf Gait Lab, which will serve pediatric patients with neuromuscular diseases and disabilities.

Here's a cute photo from the check presentation ceremony that Ping Golf tweeted out. That's Ping Golf CEO John Solheim in the middle, and I suspect you can pick Bubba out of the crowd.
2014 European Tour Gleneagles event dropped to prepare for Ryder Cup
December 20, 2012 - 10:08am
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T.J. Auclair
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Gleneagles
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Gleneagles is the site of the 2014 Ryder Cup.

Early this morning, while most of us were still sleeping, the European Tour sent out a press release announcing that the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles will not be a part of the European Tour's 2014 international schedule, "due to the venue's staging of The Ryder Cup that year, but will return in the summer of 2015."

"With regret we have accepted that we have no option but to postpone the Johnnie Walker Championship for a year," Graeme Marchbank, Johnnie Walker Championship Director, said. "The Johnnie Walker Championship is a major highlight in the calendar for Diageo and a key commercial platform for the promotion of the world’s number one Scotch whisky, so we are naturally disappointed to miss a year.

"However, as the owner of Gleneagles and as an Official Partner of The 2014 Ryder Cup, Diageo is also working closely with our partners at The European Tour to help deliver a fantastic event. We are also working closely with the Scottish Government on maximising the wider benefit of The Ryder Cup to Scotland. Over the next two years we will be focusing all of our efforts on the goal of delivering the best possible Ryder Cup in 2014.

"We are delighted that in 2015 the Johnnie Walker Championship will return to Gleneagles in partnership with The European Tour."

The move makes sense, seeing as most venues that host big events close down in the year leading up to that event. However, it's a punch in the gut to any potential U.S. team members who were hoping to go on a scouting trip and see Gleneagles in tournament condition.

In case you were thinking, "that's OK. A potential U.S. team member can go play the Gleneagles event in 2013," well, they probably won't do that either.

The 2013 Johnnie Walker Championship is scheduled for Aug. 22-25 -- the same week as the opening event of the PGA Tour FedExCup Playoffs, The Barclays at Liberty National in Jersey City, N.J.

Richard Hills, European Ryder Cup Director, said: "We are very grateful to the management of both Diageo, the owners of Johnnie Walker, and The Gleneagles Hotel for agreeing to postpone the Johnnie Walker Championship so that preparations for The Ryder Cup can begin as planned in July 2014. The magnitude of The Ryder Cup is such that trying to host the Johnnie Walker Championship in the same season would have compromised both events."
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