When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Live tonight on Golf Channel, 8 pm PT, the great Victoria Golf Club can be seen for the first time since the 2011 Australian Masters when play kicks off in the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open.
Victoria has been lovingly restored by architect Mike Clayton and his team.
Here is my last DVR alert post on Victoria from two years ago.
Cheyenne Woods, last week's winner, is in the field.
Also entered are Stacy Lewis, Lydia Ko and Karrie Webb.
From Glenn Jackson in the Sydney Morning Herald following Rory McIlroy's thrilling win over Adam Scott at picturesque Royal Sydney:
Golf Australia boss Stephen Pitt says he'll break the bank to lure Scott and McIlroy back next year. ''People want to see their heroes and role models and it really drives the game forward,'' said Pitt.
''Scott's win at Augusta created such a huge global platform for him to speak and he spoke so eloquently about Australia and golf and that's so valuable for Australia as a nation.
''He's exciting to watch, a good looking, eloquent young man that's captivated the sporting audience. I think he's now considered to be the most likeable sporting person in the country.''
McIlroy said he hoped to return next year. ''I always try to come back and defend where I've won,'' he said.
Note to Adam and Rory: the event moves to twice-redesigned-by-Jack-Nicklaus-The-Australian. Hold out for the big bucks!
After a second round 65 at Royal Sydney Rory McIlroy has moved to within two shots of leader Adam Scott, reports Martin Blake. 
Scott is making his final start of 2013 and attempting to win the Australian triple crown after capturing the Australian Masters and Australian PGA.
Also of note: U.S. Amateur semi-finalist Brady Watt is tied for fifth at six-under par and 15-year-old Ryan Ruffels, who was discussed on this week's State of the Game, also made the cut. Mike Clayton reports on Ruffels' impressive second round 68.
We recorded this week's State of the Game just a few hours before Adam Scott played one of the more amazing rounds of the year--62 at Royal Sydney with six birdies to start, four to finish--but we talk with Mike Clayton about his impressive play at the even more impressive Royal Melbourne.
Other topics covered include Royal Melbourne's design and setup, Rory McIlroy's game as seen up close by Clayton and 15-year-old amateur Ryan Ruffels.
As usual you can access all episodes here on the State of the Game webpage, or on iTunes.
Or for this week's episode you can download the mp3 here or, subscribe/listen on iTunes. Or here:
I know most of you have taped this segment, relived it over and over again and bookmarked it, but just in case here is Morning Drive from November 21 with Gary Williams and Paige Mackenzie talking about the first, third and eleventh of the Royal Melbourne composite course in use for the World Cup this week.
From Martin Blake's account of Jarrod Lyle's return to golf:
And tear up he did. "It was nice to get out there and see everybody that I love standing around the tee, and even people that I've never met before,'' he said later. "The crowd at the first tee was something that I wasn't expecting. To hear Lusi (his infant daughter) call out 'Daddy' ... I turned around and thought 'I'd better give her one last cuddle'. That was the end of me once that happened. I was an absolute mess. I hit that first tee shot with tears through my eyes. Normally I would've backed off but I thought 'I just want to get it over with'.''
Bruce Matthews in the Herald Sun includes many photos and video.
Brent Read in The Australian documents Lyle's return and reports the first tee moment proved emotional for his playing partners.
Even his playing partners were battling to contain their emotions.
"It hit me harder than I thought it might," said Geoff Ogilvy.
"I felt myself wanting to look away. I didn't really know how it was going to be. Two years ago the Presidents Cup first tee, the atmosphere was incredible.
"This was more moving. Everyone feels like they're part of the whole story."
The story only got better from there. Lyle walked off the first with par and then lashed another drive down the fairway at the 2nd. Among the gallery was jockey Glen Boss, who has become friends with Lyle during his fight with cancer. Lyle made a beeline for the hoop to shake hands.
And Matt Murnane in the Sydney Morning Herald:
On the second hole, a former world No.1 and three-time major winner was getting set to drive and the layout of this course means he have right of way.
There were 28 people in the gallery following the legendary Vijay Singh.
Why so many? Oh sorry, go on...
Too many to count had their eyes fixed on Lyle.
The Victorian two-putted for a par, picked up his ball and raised it to his supporters.
As he headed to the second, a fan with impeccable timing summed it up nicely: "Welcome back, Jarrod."
Welcome back indeed.
Golf Channel, which resumes coverage tonight at 9 pm ET, has posted the entire video of Lyle's first tee shot and it's definitely worth a couple of minutes of your time:
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
