Australians worldwide jubilant over Scott's win

Australians worldwide jubilant over Scott's win











PGA.COM April 14, 2013 10:46 PM

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When Adam Scott slipped on the Masters green jacket, all of Australia rejoiced.(Getty Images)


By Dennis Passa, Associated Press


BRISBANE, Australia -- It began overnight on social media in Australia, hours before three of the country's best golfers teed off among the top five in the final round of the Masters in that elusive pursuit of a green jacket.

Adam Scott and Jason Day were trending on Twitter. Marc Leishman was also a popular subject.

Golf fans anxious for Australia's first win at Augusta National even developed their own hashtag: #itsourtime.

The 32-year-old Scott obviously thought it was, too.

The affable Queenslander beat Angel Cabrera in a two-hole playoff. That finished at 9:40 a.m. Monday local time on Australia's east coast, nearly five hours after the keenest of fans woke up -- at 5:00 a.m. -- to watch the start of the telecast from Georgia.

Finally, the drought had ended. It was Scott's first major, and the only major an Australian had never won.

Tom Watson, who missed the cut at Augusta this year, tweeted: "You showed great courage Adam ... and resiliency from last year's disappointment at Lytham." Scott bogeyed the last four holes last year to lose the British Open by a shot to Ernie Els.

Golf Australia tweeted "quite simply, the most magnificent Monday imaginable." Australian pro Marcus Fraser, who plays mostly on the European Tour, said "still speechless!"

Jarrod Lyle, an Australian golfer recovering from leukemia, posted: "you (censored) beauty Scotty. Great win well deserved."

American Jessica Korda, a member of the LPGA Tour who won last year's Women's Australian Open, tweeted: "Adam Scott!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A million girls just fell in love."

Before the result was known, The Australian national newspaper underscored some of the frustration -- and pressure -- on the country's golfers.

"Three Aussies share Masters burden," blared a headline on its website, with the first line of the story reading: "This time, a nation's expectations won't fall on to the shoulders of just one man."

But the Australian telecaster, Network Ten, may have jinxed at least one them.

The network sent a TV crew to the Warnambool Golf Club in southern Victoria, Leishman's home club. They did live crosses to the clubhouse during the telecast, but there were few cheering opportunities as Leishman finished with a 72 and was tied for fourth with Tiger Woods, four behind the closing 9-under totals of Scott and Cabrera.

Day, who shot 70 along with Cabrera, finished third, two behind the leading pair.

Scott and Day came close in 2011 at Augusta but were left stranded by South African Charl Schwartzel's late run of four consecutive birdies, and the Australians finished tied for second.

Another Australian, 2006 U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, was also in the hunt that year, but finished tied for fourth, four shots behind. Surprisingly, Ogilvy didn't qualify this year.

Greg Norman had a couple of high-profile losses at Augusta. In 1986, Jack Nicklaus shot a 30 on the back nine to take the green jacket from him. In 1987, Larry Mize chipped in from 140 feet during a playoff to leave Norman second. In 1996, a six-shot lead over Nick Faldo wasn't enough when Norman shot a final-round 78.

In his victory speech Sunday night, Scott was gracious in thanking his mentor: "Greg Norman has been incredible to me and all the young golfers in Australia. Part of this definitely belongs to him."

There was a minor faux pa Monday from the sport's national governing body, the PGA of Australia. Late in the final round, it sent out a tweet saying: "We need a mistake from the big hitting Argentine down 13."

A few minutes later, the PGA was criticized by a California follower: "Really? #badssportsmanship."

The PGA of Australia quickly tweeted a reply: "We shouldn't wish bad luck for anyone and the previous tweet was bad sportsmanship Clearly let our enthusiasm get in the way."

Cabrera hit into the creek on the 13th and later bogeyed the hole to fall out of the lead.

Social media was set to be the haven for suggestions for next year's champions dinner at Augusta, with Scott getting to call the shots on the menu.

Will it be crocodile canapés, emu burgers, kangaroo steaks or even koala-shaped cupcakes for dessert? Whatever, it should probably be pretty interesting after waiting all these years.

Singh sues PGA Tour over deer-antler spray

Singh sues PGA Tour over deer-antler spray










The Sports Xchange May 8, 2013 11:21 AMThe SportsXchange



A week after the PGA Tour lifted sanctions against Vijay Singh for acknowledging his use of a deer-antler spray, he filed suit Wednesday against the tour.

Singh was cleared last week by the PGA Tour of wrongdoing, but that didn't stop him from taking his case to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, alleging that the tour violated its duty of care and good faith.

The suit claims that the tour should have recognized through testing and research that the deer-antler spray contained no banned performance-enhancing substances.

Singh had acknowledged in an interview in January that he had used the spray but did not realize it had been linked to a human growth hormone. The World Anti-Doping Agency no longer has the deer-antler substance on its banned list.

"The PGA Tour has now finally admitted that the use of deer antler spray is not prohibited," the suit indicates. "Rather than performing its duties to golfers first, and then determining whether there had been any violation of the Anti-Doping Program, the PGA Tour rushed to judgment and accused one of the world's hardest working and most dedicated golfers of violating the rules of the game."

Singh's lawyer is Peter Ginsberg, who handled Jonathan Vilma's case against the NFL in the New Orleans Saints' bounty scandal.

"We just received the statement," PGA Tour vice president Ty Votaw told USA Today. "We will have no comment."

Singh has won three major championships and has 34 career PGA Tour victories. He's also a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame

"I am proud of my achievements, my work ethic, and the way I live my life," Singh said in a statement. "The PGA Tour not only treated me unfairly, but displayed a lack of professionalism that should concern every professional golfer and fan of the game."

Vijay Singh Bucks Up, Sues PGA Tour in Wake of Deer-Antler Spray Situation

Vijay Singh Bucks Up, Sues PGA Tour in Wake of Deer-Antler Spray Situation











Ryan Ballengee May 8, 2013 12:03 PM


COMMENTARY | Vijay Singh wrote the PGA Tour a "Deer John" letter on Wednesday, in the form of a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court.



Singh and his lawyer Peter Ginsberg accuse the PGA Tour of "reckless administration and implementation of its Anti-Doping Program" and subjecting the Fijian to "public humiliation." The problem is that Singh brought this all on himself.



In a Jan. 28, 2013, Sports Illustrated piece, Singh admitted to taking a substance known as deer-antler spray which, at the time, was banned under the Tour's anti-doping program. It was banned by the Tour and the World Anti-Doping Agency (who helped guide the Tour's creation of its banned-substance list) because the spray was thought to contain an insulin-like hormone, IGF-1, that is considered a performance-enhancing drug.



The PGA Tour had warned its players about taking deer-antler spray in 2011 after Mark Calcavecchia not only admitted using it, but promoted it. Despite the warning and the slap on Calc's wrist, Singh used the spray anyhow. The 50-year-old's admission triggered an investigation of the case by the Tour despite two factors: (1) the fact that IGF-1 can only be absorbed by the body if injected as opposed to orally via deer-antler spray and (2) the Tour could not conduct a test for IGF-1 because it only takes urine, not blood, samples from players.



For three months, the outcome of the case was the subject of speculation and questioning. Singh continued to play on the PGA Tour through the entire process, refusing comment on the topic.



Then last week, the PGA Tour announced its response: nothing. The Tour consulted with WADA, which had since decided taking deer-antler spray alone is not enough to warrant a sanction. Only a positive test for IGF-1 was enough. Since the Tour could not produce that evidence, the decision was made to not suspend Singh at all instead of a 90-day suspension Singh alleges in his lawsuit was to be his original penalty.



Of course, the timing is not by mistake. Singh could have waited to file his lawsuit but took to the court system on the eve before the Tour's biggest event. That's some way to repay the Tour and commissioner Finchem for essentially absolving Singh of any wrongdoing despite his blatant disrespect for the anti-doping program and the Tour's warnings about deer-antler spray. Curiously, Singh's suspension, had it been enforced by the Tour, would have ended at the conclusion of this week's Players Championship.



The suit itself is riddled with typos, errors and misleading statements, including that the PGA Tour operates the PGA Championship (no, that's the PGA of America), as well that Singh's urine samples did not indicate a banned substance (great, only a blood test could identify IGF-1).




The filing also goes into a lengthy string about IGF-1, the tiny concentration of it found in deer-antler spray and that cow's milk contains the substance as well. However, the concentration of IGF-1 in deer-antler spray is as much as 20 times higher than what's found in milk. That's merely a distraction.



It may turn out that deer-antler spray is as effective in enhancing performance as deer urine, sold in far higher quantities to hunters than the product produced and supplied to Singh by Sports With Alternatives to Steroids (S.W.A.T.S.). The company has experienced a boom in business since the S.I. story, convincing at least a few thousand people that a little buck shot in the throat might make them stronger or faster. The joke's on them. Even still, the Tour's anti-doping program says it's a no-no to even attempt to take a prohibited substance.



Perhaps the height of the filing's comedy, however, is the notion that the Tour caused "media and fans focused on Singh's alleged violation of the Anti-Doping Program rather than on Singh's play." That stemmed from his admission that he took a substance the PGA Tour banned at the time, which the anti-doping program clearly states is a violation.



This filing was meant for public consumption. It was meant to cause a stir and create sympathy for Singh. He doesn't deserve any, but the Tour is not without fault. To use the words of Singh's lawyer, the nature of this lawsuit is rather specious, but it may force some important changes in the Tour's anti-doping program.



Perhaps it will force the PGA Tour to adopt blood testing, which could have identified IGF-1.



The Tour may no longer be able to rely on WADA for advice on its program and enforcement, as well as take drug testing administration completely in-house.



If those changes happen, they will be a good thing, no matter how preposterous the events that precipitated them.



Ryan Ballengee is a Washington, D.C.-based golf writer. His work has appeared on multiple digital outlets, including NBC Sports and Golf Channel. Follow him on Twitter @RyanBallengee.

Hall of Famer Ken Venturi Transformed Televised Golf

Hall of Famer Ken Venturi Transformed Televised Golf
2013 Inductee Venturi Raised the Bar for Golf Commentators While Ken Schofield Elevated the Ryder Cup











Mark McLaughlin May 8, 2013 1:10 PM




COMMENTARY | When Jim Nantz joined the CBS broadcast team in 1985, televised golf was limited to two hours every Saturday and Sunday.

Golf cov
erage has boomed since then with fans now able to see much more action across global professional tours accessible on multiple media beyond TV. It was against this backdrop of plenty that Nantz stepped to the podium during Monday night's World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony in St. Augustine, Florida.



He was there to introduce 2013 inductees Ken Venturi and Fred Couples. Venturi played a significant role in elevating the popularity of the game and sharing it with millions through television. A third inductee, former European Tour executive director Ken Schofield, has also been a mover and shaker in bringing golf to a worldwide audience.

I have to thank Venturi and his CBS broadcast mates for stirring my interest as a fan. Vin Scully was the lead commentator with Venturi as his analyst when I started watching in the late 1970s. Tournaments then went by names like the Glen Campbell Los Angeles Open, Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic and the World Series of Golf.

Venturi was lead golf analyst for CBS from 1967-2002, the longest such tenure in sports. He later worked alongside Pat Summerall in the 18th hole booth before eventually teaming up with Nantz, who paid tribute to Venturi in this letter.

Many credit Venturi for his style of correctly predicting a player's strategy but he did much more than that. He raised the profile and cachet of golf analysts, paving the way for Johnny Miller, Paul Azinger and Nick Faldo. But unlike that acerbic bunch, Venturi made his mark by sharing his passion for the game and delivering it with honesty and humility.

I associate Venturi with Torrey Pines, Riviera, and Pebble Beach as well as Doral, Muirfield Village and Firestone, tour stops covered exclusively by CBS for years.

Back in those days, CBS broadcast the Masters while Jim McKay, Peter Alliss and the ABC crew televised the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. Weekday coverage was nonexistent and we were lucky to catch back nine action on the weekend.

NBC made a serious golf push when it gained broadcast rights to the Ryder Cup in 1991.



One of the men most responsible for adding competitiveness to the Ryder Cup was Schofield. During his 29-year tenure running the European Tour, he was instrumental in adding European players to an undermanned Great Britain & Ireland team and turning the Ryder Cup from a lopsided contest dominated by the U.S. into gut wrenching, must-watch TV.

How important has the Ryder Cup become? Well, it got European stalwart Colin Montgomerie into the Hall of Fame this year without a major victory or a win on U.S. soil.

Scoring the Ryder Cup was a coup for NBC, which had stepped up its golf coverage with the hiring of Johnny Miller in 1990. Three years later it outbid ABC for the rights to the U.S. Open and has been a major force in golf ever since.

Along with the Golf Channel, NBC will provide 22 hours of live coverage of the 2013 Players Championshipstarting Thursday. We as viewers owe a debt of gratitude to new World Golf Hall of Fame members Ken Venturi and Ken Schofield for this bonanza.

Mark McLaughlin has reported on the PGA Tour for the New York Post, FoxSports.com, Greensboro News & Record, and Burlington (N.C.) Times-News. He is a past member of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association. Follow him on Twitter @markmacduke.

Garcia makes insensitive remark about Woods

Garcia makes insensitive remark about Woods










The Sports Xchange May 21, 2013 10:30 PMThe SportsXchange



The verbal sparring between Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods keeps getting uglier.

On Tuesday during a European Tour awards dinner, a TV reported jokingly asked Garcia whether he might invite Woods to dinner during the U.S. Open.

Garcia replied, "We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken."

Later, Garcia tried to smooth over the racially insensitive remark with a statement issued by the European Tour.

"I apologize for any offense that may have been caused by my comment on stage during The European Tour Players' Awards dinner," the statement read. "I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner."

Garcia and Woods have feuded since they played in the same group during the third round of The Players Championship on May 11. Garcia complained that Woods riled the gallery at Sawgrass when he pulled a club from his bag from across the fairway while Garcia was preparing to hit a shot.

Garcia later suggested that the world's No. 1 player should have known better. Woods countered that he thought Garcia had already hit.

"Not real surprising that he's complaining about something," Woods commented at the time.

Since then, the two players have done little to mask their feelings about one another.

: On Monday, Garcia suggested that Woods has a problem with honesty.

"He called me a whiner. That's probably right," Garcia said. "It's also probably the first thing he's told you guys that's true in 15 years. I know what he is like. You guys are finding out."

He added that he didn't plan to call Woods to discuss the matter.

"First of all, I don't have his number," Garcia said. "And secondly, I did nothing wrong and don't have anything to say to him. And he wouldn't pick up the phone, anyway."

Garcia's latest remark resembled a response by Fuzzy Zoeller in 1997 when asked what Woods would have on the menu after his won his first Masters title.

"You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not serve fried chicken next year. Got it? Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve," Zoeller said.

Sergio Garcia's racist comment makes him the loser in his feud with Tiger Woods

Sergio Garcia's racist comment makes him the loser in his feud with Tiger Woods











Martin Rogers May 22, 2013 9:54 AMYahoo Sports







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The feud between Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods escalated through The Players Championship. (Getty Images)Just for a while there, Sergio Garcia actually had it pretty good; back in form, contending on Sundays and holding the sympathetic vote in an edgy little rivalry with the best player in the business. And then, with a pair of ill-chosen words, it all changed.



Garcia took his ongoing verbal joust with Tiger Woods way out of bounds at an awards dinner for the European Tour on Tuesday, foolishly joking that he would invite the world No.1 around for dinner during the U.S. Open and saying, "We will serve fried chicken." An immediate and seemingly genuine apology was issued but not in time to prevent everything from having shifted.

The Spaniard's words took a soap opera founded on mutual dislike, but one that was amusing, entertaining and occasionally childish, down a thorny path littered with racist undertones that golf wants no part of.

In a split second he ensured that his part in the pantomime is now most certainly that of villain, and those who sympathized with him in his dispute with Woods will now rapidly scatter.

"What seemed to be a funny question, and I tried to give a funny answer – it came out totally wrong," Garcia said Wednesday in what amounted to his second apology. "I want to make sure everybody knows I'm very, very sorry. I can't apologize enough times.

"As soon as I left the dinner, I started getting a sick feeling in my body. I didn't really sleep at all. I felt like my heart was going to come out of my body. I've had this sick feeling all day. Difficult to hit a shot all day."

The Tiger and Sergio Show began in earnest during the second round of The Players Championship, with Garcia complaining he had been distracted by crowd noise excitement caused by Woods pulling a club out of his bag while he was about to swing.






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Sergio Garcia immediately apologized for his remarks about Tigers Woods. (Getty Images)Tit-for-tat exchanges in news conferences, post-round interviews and television segments followed, with Garcia describing Woods as "not the nicest guy on tour" andWoods responding with a blunt "no" when asked if there was a reconciliation between the pair in the works.



Yet aside from the Tiger diehards – those lovable souls who choke at the mere hint of a suggestion that the world's greatest golfer might not be the cuddliest of characters – Garcia seemed to have many observers on his side.

Garcia's portrayal of Woods as an arrogant and aloof opponent who cares little for his peers did ring somewhat true, and the simmering tension injected a dash of spice into the sometimes vanilla world of top level golf. Furthermore, there was that nagging sense that as long as this spat continued, Garcia might be able to channel it to help him play better, maintain his strong start to the season and bring him bounding up the world rankings.

With a game built on confidence, Garcia has never shied away from hostile obstacles and some of his finest hours have come in the cauldron-like atmosphere of the Ryder Cup.

With each fresh outburst or snub, the rivalry – one that stretches back nearly a decade and a half to when a teenage Garcia gave eventual champion Woods a fright on the final day of the 1999 PGA Championship – drew in a few more souls whose interest in the game is normally reserved only for the majors.

There is nothing like playground histrionics from two leading stars to engage the audience in the gap between the Masters and the summer showpieces. Having two strong characters make no secret whatsoever about the fact they have no time for the other carried delicious appeal.

But then Garcia went and blew it with a moment of idiocy that turned him into a cautionary tale and gifted him membership to the Fuzzy Zoeller School of Inappropriate Speech (Hon. President Steve Williams).

Garica, who doesn't have Woods' phone number, reached out to Tiger's agent, Mark Steinberg.

"I would love to talk to him as soon as possible and make sure everything is OK," Garcia explained.

It matters not that the apology swiftly arose from Garcia’s own free will and reflection and not as a response to a public outcry.

Or that Garcia had the class not to try to hide behind the pitiful excuse of "cultural differences" that his countrymen on the Spanish basketball team used when defending a slant-eyed gesture they made ahead of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Because it is too late. Woods is now the victim, the one with the sympathy. And the one with the last laugh.

"The comment that was made wasn't silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate …" Tiger said via Twitter. "I'm confident that there is real regret that the remark was made."

For a player once seen as having unlimited promise, it must already hurt Garcia enough to compare his career, devoid of a single major title, with that of 14-time major winner and 78-time tournament victor Woods.

Garcia’s confidence is always prone to disappear at a moment’s trigger, and the scrutiny that will inevitably follow this furor could be enough to halt the momentum that had been building nicely through seven top-20 finishes and four top-10s in the eight PGA starts to date in 2013.

Notwithstanding the fact, of course, that even that run pales in comparison to Woods' four victories on the year, his return to the top spot in the sport and now even the moral high road from which to peer down on Garcia.

Suddenly, it is not so much fun being Sergio Garcia anymore, and it is entirely of his own making.

Woods calls Garcia's comment 'hurtful'

Woods calls Garcia's comment 'hurtful'










The Sports Xchange May 22, 2013 10:31 AMThe SportsXchange



Tiger Woods responded Wednesday morning to Sergio Garcia's fried chicken remark made a night earlier, saying it was insensitive but that the golf rivals should move past their verbal sparring.

"The comment that was made wasn't silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate," Woods tweeted. "I'm confident that there is real regret that the remark was made.

"The Players ended nearly two weeks ago and it's long past time to move on and talk about golf."

During a European Tour awards dinner on Tuesday night at the BMW PGA Championship in Virginia Water, England, Garcia responded to a question about inviting Woods to dinner at the U.S. Open in June.

"We'll have him 'round every night," Garcia said. "We will serve fried chicken."

Garcia issued an apology later in the evening for the racially insensitive comment.

"I apologize for any offense that may have been caused by my comment on stage during the European Tour Players' Awards dinner," Garcia said in a statement. "I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner."

Garcia said he was sorry again Wednesday during a news conference.

"Obviously, finally, most importantly, I want to apologize to Tiger and anyone I could have offended by the comment I made," he said. "I just want to say I feel sick about it, and I'm truly, truly sorry. ... I hope we can move on."

Garcia emphasized that he wasn't trying to be racist and that he had reached out to Woods' agent.

"It was very hard," Garcia said. "As soon as I left the dinner, I started getting a sick feeling on my body. I really didn't sleep at all last night."

The spat started at The Players Championship earlier this month when Woods and Garcia played together during the third round. As Garcia prepared to hit a shot on the second hole, he said Woods pulled a club from his bag across the fairway, which caused the crowd to stir and distracted Garcia. A dispute ensued between the two.

Garcia clearly doesn't get along with the world's No. 1 player.

"I mean, you can't like everybody," Garcia said earlier Tuesday. "I think that there's people that you connect with and there's people that you don't. You know, it's pretty much as simple as that. I think that he doesn't need me in his life, I don't need him in mine, and let's move on and keep doing what we're doing.''