Casey To Vijay: You Can't Keep Up WIth Me In The Gym Old Geezer

Who said it would get dull with Tiger out of the picture fo ra while? Thanks to reader Chris for Craig Tregurtha's report on the lastest chapter in the Vijay v. Britain's-soft-golfers-spat, with Paul Casey tells us far more than we ever wanted to know about his home routine:

“I am angry, he has no clue what I do, so how can he comment?” Casey, who had a second-round 68 to move into contention at the BMW International Open in Munich yesterday, said. “I can only speak for the guys I know well, like Justin Rose, Luke Donald and Ian Poulter, but we are all working incredibly hard and I think it is an unfair shot from Vijay. I would like to see him try to live with me in the gym for a couple of hours.

“He does not know us and he has no evidence to back up what he says. We are all very frustrated that we have not won majors and that our results have not been as good as we would have liked. But it is not down to lack of effort and perhaps when we do make a breakthrough then it will open the door to a lot more wins.

"You never know for sure if you're going to get one because there's so many variables like blood type and heart size that have to match."

Craig Dolch reports on Erik Compton getting a second heart transplant just in time and talks to Jim McLean about the prospects of another return to golf by Compton.

"Get that golfer off my football field."

Thanks to reader Warren for noticing this Q&A with Paul Goydos conducted by Laury Livsey that includes a fun story about his Long Beach State days and the school's ever-so-brief football coaching stint by George Allen.

Long Beach State had a driving range that the football team wanted to use to practice on when George Allen got there for his one year as coach. I'm on the golf team, so one day I was out there hitting and shagging balls, and he yells, 'Get that golfer off my football field.' I never met the man, but let's just say he definitely knew who I was.

Ogilvie Really Wants To Meet Bill Gates And Find Out Where Vista Went Wrong

Colin Fly profiles Joe Ogilvie on his aspirations outside of golf, including possibly becoming a PGA Tour vice president in hopes of someday warranting consideration for the Commissioner's job. After all, where else in golf can you make that kind of money?

In the meantime, Ogilvie, who has eaten with Buffett about 10 times, is keeping busy with investments and thinking about how he would pick Gates' brain if the two met.

He said he's much more interested in the philanthropic work of the billionaires like Gates as opposed to how they amassed their fortunes.

"I can understand philanthropic work more than I can understand the Vista operating system," said Ogilvie, who admitted he owned a Mac. "Obviously he's one of the smartest tech guys that ever lived, so it would be fun just to think about, 'Where we would go from here?' — that type of thing."

Or, I would submit, "is Vista the biggest disaster in the history of operating systems?"

"President of what?"

Jeff Rude files this frightening item for the Golfweek tour blog:

Dean Wilson, Zurich Classic first-round leader, grew up in Hawaii. Wilson now knows Barack Obama, presidential candidate, also grew up in Hawaii.  More to the point, Wilson now knows who Obama is.

That wasn't the case in December 2006 when the PGA Tour player was taping a television segment at a daily-fee course on Oahu. Obama also happened to be there that day, playing golf with childhood friends while on vacation.

Someone mentioned to Wilson that that guy over there might be the next president.

"President of what?" the golfer said. "President of the golf club?"

Admitted Wilson later, "I had never heard of him."

And who says professional golfers aren't focused?

Focused?

Nobody will ever accuse Jeff of being rude ever again.

"If it were celebrity, then that would be fine, but it's not celebrity when all you do is get mocked about it. That's not celebrity."

Jeff Duncan profiles Woody Austin in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, offering this disturbing anecdote:

He became a gallery favorite, where fans kidded him -- "Don't hit it in the water, Woody!" -- and punctuated his shots with cries of "Aquaman," the nickname bestowed upon him by Presidents Cup teammate Phil Mickelson.

Even his playing partners at pro-am events got into the act, showing up at the tee box on three different occasions in swim goggles.

And they wonder why guys don't want to play pro-ams.

At least Woody's honest about it:

"What can you do?" he said Wednesday after his pro-am round at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana. "If it were celebrity, then that would be fine, but it's not celebrity when all you do is get mocked about it. That's not celebrity. All I do is get mocked and ridiculed and chided. There's nothing great about it."

Newton: "You keep hearing comments about how they don't think there's any shame in coming second to Tiger. You would never have heard that from a Raymond Floyd."

Thanks to reader Mark for this Will Swanton piece from The Age quoting Jack Newton:

"Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Raymond Floyd, Lee Trevino, who I still think is the best player I ever played with, were tough and uncompromising men who would have stood up and fought him," Newton said.

"They were great players in their own right, but hard as nails to go with it. They would have eaten their own grandmothers on the course if they had to. I'm not sure you could say that about any of the guys out there trying to beat Tiger now.

"I'm not exactly saying they're soft. Tiger could well be the greatest player of all time. But I don't see many of them aiming up or getting in his face. I get the feeling they're just playing for the money. They make their millions every year and that's enough for them.

"You keep hearing comments about how they don't think there's any shame in coming second to Tiger. You would never have heard that from a Raymond Floyd."

Good Week: Atwal Wins In Malaysia And Is Cleared Of Charges

He's got status on the European Tour and the state of Florida seems to have finally made up its mind about his case. The bad news: back to the Nationwide Tour.

Tripp Isenhour Cements Lead In Lowlife Of The Year Award Race

Thanks to reader Tony for a fine reason, courtesy of Sarah Lundy in the Orlando Sentinel, to hope Tripp Isenhour never breaks 75 ever again.

And people wonder why golf has a lousy reputation with environmentalists.

Update on 2008-03-07 06:58 by Geoff

Quick spin by his agent after apparently not returning the AP's initial call: 

PROFESSIONAL GOLFER TRIPP ISENHOUR ISSUES APOLOGY
 
(RESTON, Virginia) - Professional golfer Tripp Isenhour has issued a sincere apology for a December 2007 incident in Orlando during which he hit a golf ball into a tree accidentally killing a red-shouldered hawk during the taping of a golf instructional video.
 
"As soon as this happened, I was mortified and extremely upset and continue to be upset. I want to let everyone know there was neither any malice nor deliberate intent whatsoever to hit or harm the hawk. I was trying to simply scare it into flying away. As evidenced by our family having adopted three cats from a local shelter, I am an animal lover. We ask that everyone accept my sincerest apology, and please be respectful of my family's privacy," says Isenhour.

Atwal Cleared...Wait, No He's Not...

A wire report last week announced that Arjun Atwal had been cleared in the street racing manslaughter case and included this quote from him:

"The (investigation) report went to the state attorney's office two weeks ago and last week I got a call from my lawyer saying they have thrown all the charges out. So, I am clear," Atwal, who is in Gurgaon for the Johnnie walker Classic told reporters on Thursday.

Steve Elling placed a call and it sounds like Atwal either needs to get a new attorney, or he had a really bad cell reception over in India:

Danielle Tavernier, a spokesperson for the State Attorney's office, said the overseas reports were inaccurate. "It's an open, active case," she said.

Poulter Does Not Deny Posing Nude; Thematic Differences Explain The Rest

Anything to liven up what will be another Tiger rout...Poulter clarifies his Golf World remarks:

"I was misquoted," Poulter told reporters after opening his Dubai Desert Classic campaign with a two-under-par 70. "It was taken out of context."

Poulter, ranked 22nd in the world and with seven European Tour wins to his name, said the level of media reaction to the article had weighed heavily on his shoulders.

"I have had it on my mind since last night," he said. "You put the Internet on and it's THE (golf) story.

"The story is also I couldn't get my word (of reply) in before everyone else. I have to try and explain the situation of how it was actually said, as opposed to how it has been written.

"Two very different themes."

Non-denial denial duly noted. This is funny: 

"You let people in your house for three hours and you do a nice, private interview and this is what happens. Very unfortunate."

A private interview? Is that an oxymoron?

And since when do you pose nude for a private interview? 

Poulter Says He's Spent Too Much Time Worrying About His Outfits To Rival Tiger

Therefore Ian undressed (and you thought his attire could not get any worse) for the March edition of Golf World (UK) and look what came out of his mouth:

"The trouble is I don't rate anyone else," said the extrovert Englishman. "Don't get me wrong, I respect everyone who is a professional.

"But the problem is I haven't played to my full potential yet. And when that happens it will just be me and Tiger."

Well, at least he's honest about the competition.

The 32-year-old Poulter, when asked for his predictions on who would win the Masters in April, replied: "Put Tiger down for that one".

For the year's second major at the US Open, he said: "You can put me down for that one".

Scramble me a jet to Vegas now.

Poulter, pictured nude in the magazine with only a golf bag guarding his modesty, admitted he was nowhere near challenging Woods yet.

"Tiger is one in a million," he said. "Actually Tiger is one in 10 million."

That's better.

Thanks to reader Nick for this treat.

"No, sir. Rice."

Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum fired 61 to open the World Cup in China which gave them the lead, but more importantly, meant a press room visit for Boo.

Anyone know what this means?

BOO WEEKLEY: We played pretty solid today. We just brother in lawed it very well, kept it in play and kept us it front of us.

Love this exchange:

Q. What did you know about China before you came here?

BOO WEEKLEY: Not much.

Q. Anything?

BOO WEEKLEY: No, sir. Rice.

Q. The Wall?

BOO WEEKLEY: Sir?

Q. The Wall.

BOO WEEKLEY: Oh, yeah, I know The Great Wall of China, but I thought it was closer to where we're at, and I found out it was a lot further away. But yeah, I knew the Wall was here.

Shockingly, Boo is not out and about much...

Q. And what have been your impressions of China so far?

BOO WEEKLEY: We ain't been ever doing nothing. We go straight to the motel and straight here, but I know the people here are friendly. It's very nice, they always say hey and they are polite and stuff, and that's always a plus when you show up somewhere, especially in a foreign country and they are polite and nice. That's a plus for me.

For more Boo, check out his My Shot in the latest Golf Digest. 

Rory's Mom: It's The Irish Blood That Makes Him Do It

Jaime Diaz profiles Rory Sabbatini in the November Golf Digest and gets to the bottom of the South African's easy going manner:

"You pass the genes on," says his mother, Sharon, by phone from South Africa. "I've got Irish blood in me, and I've got a very, very short fuse. And I also speak my mind, and it gets me into trouble as well. You get to a boiling point, and you explode, and obviously you regret it afterward. But most people appreciate me for being straightforward. I'm not one of these mundane, boring people, and neither is my son. I've always let him be himself."