Henrik Stenson's Probing Sitdown Q&A With Henrik Stenson

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I'm clearly behind the times having not seen the club flip into the water in Dubai. If you don't want to sit through the interview, the club disposal is below, as lifted from the German Golf Channel. But the interview is fun because as the person who sent it to me noted, it's hard to imagine more than a handful of Americans who could pull it off.
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"It’s serious enough that it scared me pretty well."

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As someone who recently had something removed that was less serious than Rory Sabbatini's skin cancer, I think it's great to see him using the situation to spread the gospel and perhaps starting a foundation to help the less fortunate. Oh, and he has a five shot lead going into Sunday's Honda finale, reports Larry Dorman:
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"Beth Allen: living donor. Such an extraordinary descriptor."

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Beth Ann Baldry with the story of little known American touring pro Beth Allen's extraordinary donation to her older brother, Dan.

Allen, a relatively unknown American professional who plays in Europe, tries to downplay the gift as “a given.” Allen and her older brother, Dan, haven’t talked much about the kidney she’s scheduled to give him March 1.

“We never had an official conversation or anything,” Allen said. “I told my mom I was going to go and see.”
The process began last summer, and on Feb. 2 Allen received word while playing in the Australian Women’s Open that she’d been approved to donate. Doctors told Allen that nothing is certain until she’s wheeled in for surgery, but the exclamation points that peppered a recent e-mail said it all.

Beth, 29, treks the world playing a game that’s the very fabric of the entire Allen family. Yet the independence she enjoys is lost on Dan, 38, who has a rigid 7 p.m. daily curfew in San Diego. “I’m like Cinderella,” he says, laughing. That’s when he must begin the daily 10-hour dialysis treatment that sustains his life. Dan has been married to a machine for the past five years.

Cary Grant Estate Calls: Martin, We Want Our Scarf Back!**

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You have to admire the bold fashion move by Martin Kaymer, especially since he has been vehemently opposed to stripes, patterns or anything else that a good anal-retentive German would oppose.

Still, it was a shock to see his cold weather, uh, accoutrement, during Saturday's match play. Maybe a gift from his recent Middle East appearances?

In case you were wondering, Kaymer got a thumb's up from Golf Digest fashion man Marty Hackel:

"The nicest thing is just to get up in the morning -- for example here, to get up in the morning 6:30, 7:00, get on the range and see the sunrise, that is the best moment."

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Martin Kaymer today in Tucson:

Q. Prior to Abu Dhabi you were talking about the dynamics of you and Lee and Tiger playing. And you reminded me of that today because you were talking about how you didn't want to see anybody do badly. And you talk -- back then you talked about playing with love in your heart. Can you say more about that in terms of how you play the game in joy and love?

MARTIN KAYMER: Well, I think golf, you know, you should play for the right reason. You should not play golf to make dollars. And, for me, the nicest thing is just to get up in the morning -- for example here, to get up in the morning 6:30, 7:00, get on the range and see the sunrise, that is the best moment. Those things, I think, that is life quality. And for me it doesn't really get better. And to play good golf, all those things play a big part of that.

"Such heightened sensitivity naturally shows up in the elite player’s toolbox."

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For all of the talk about the average golfer aspirational golfer wanting to play the same equipment as the professional, we always assume the pros are getting stuff that's fine tuned compared to what's on the shelves of Roger Dunn. As Michael Bamberger demonstrates in this look at feel players, with a focus on Bubba Watson, it's not just the manufacturers who can refine equipment to the tightest specs. Elite players demand differently than most of us. 
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