"Stephen Curry, the golfer: As comfortable on links as on court"

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Steph Curry tees up in this week's Ellie May Classic, a Web.com Tour event and Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle profiles the basketball stars' passion for golf.

Kroichick writes:

In competing against those players for the first time, Curry will climb into uncharted territory. This is completely different than his good-natured outings with famous friends, from former President Barack Obama and Michael Jordan to Tom Brady and Justin Timberlake.

Last month, during the American Century Championship, a celebrity tournament near South Lake Tahoe, Curry at various times played alongside Timberlake and NFL quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Tony Romo (since retired). Their rounds included several playful moments, such as Curry catching footballs thrown by Rodgers and Romo.

Beneath the frivolity, Curry took his golf seriously. He shot a final-round 68, the best score any player posted in the three-day event, and finished fourth in a field of 89.

Callaway Live: Falcons QB & Links Golf Lover Matt Ryan

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Yours truly was promoted as the guest on Callaway Live with Harry Arnett this week, but in a bit of television magic (me shuttling to Carlsbad from The Open), I happily step aside for suprise guest Matt Ryan.

Not only did he lead the Falcons to last year's Super Bowl, but Ryan is a terrific lover of golf. I think you'll enjoy his discussion of his annual trip to enjoy links golf, how the game helps him retain his flexibility and why it's his off season passion.

But only after certified Falcons fanatic Arnett gets in a few Super Bowl questions...

Where Are They Now Files, Birkdale '08 Edition: Padraig Harrington vs. Greg Norman (Viewer Discretion Advised)

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The Shark tired to a final round 77 but gave us a thrill when contending for the 2008 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

As the championship prepares to return there nine years after that exciting week, this seems like a nice opportunity to catch up with winner Padraig Harrington and T3 finisher Greg Norman.

Padraig Harrington is tied for the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open lead. Yes, he's got an interesting swing and finish these days, but he's as lovable, driven and zany as ever. But he's found a place of contentment, something he addressed after the round (Nick Rodger's report for the Herald.)


Greg Norman vacations regularly, injures himself constantly and likes to keep his clothes off on Instagram.

"Thompson’s mom, Judy, battles cancer and fuels daughter’s fire"

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As the U.S. Women's Open gets underway in Bedminster, Golfweek's Beth Ann Nichols talks to Lexi Thompson's mom, Judy, about her cancer fight and the help she received from Morgan Pressel.

As Judy was told she'd have a long wait until surgery, she reached out to Pressel, who lost her mother to breast cancer and who has since set up a powerful foundation.

Judy hesitated to call because Pressel was at a tournament.

“I will take care of this,” Pressel assured her, “you’re in my hands now.”

Pressel lost her own mother to breast cancer in 2003. Her Morgan & Friends charity event, in which Lexi participates, has raised $6.5 million.

With the help of Pressel, Judy met with doctors almost immediately. Five days later, on June 6, she had surgery.

“If it wasn’t for (Morgan) and her foundation,” Judy said, “I would still be waiting.”

Chubby And Westwood In "Shock" Split

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Players and agents split all the time and no one blinks an eye. But the shock of finding out Lee Westwood is in a legal dispute with longtime ten-percenter Chubby Chandler ends a loyalty era. As the younger generations is increasingly steered in ominous directions by agents hostile to everyone not writing them a check, Chandler is a former player turned businessman who has always had a good sense for his clients. In this case, he a loyal horse in Westwood and it's sad to see them split.

But as James Corrigan reports on the duo's long term partnership for The Telegraph, and says Westwood is off to IMG.

Westwood was believed to be shareholder in ISM and his departure is clearly a blow for the Manchester-based company, which remains one of the biggest players in the market, despite losing players of the calibre of Rory McIlroy, Charl Schwartzel and Matt Fitzpatrick. Westwood was clearly one ISM’s marquee names, boasting on-course earnings of approximately£50 million and off-course income estimated to be more than £5 million per year.

Europe’s second is an almost certainty  to be a future Ryder Cup captain, with 2020 his stated year of choice. His main handler at IMG is likely to be the much respected, Guy Kinnings, who is global co-managing director of the golf division.

Punters: Pre-Open Championship Karma Watch, Poulter Edition

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Nothing against the four players who made it through the Open Qualifying Series at the Greenbrier Classic, and nothing against the series itself, but punters with karma hunches may want to check out this James Corrigan Telegraph story on Ian Poulter making it to Royal Birkdale by playing the Woburn qualifier.

Besides taking the local qualifying angle at a course he knows well--once one of the great features of The Open and now relegated to this last event due to the Open Qualifying Series--Poulter did this in a year he finished second at The Players. And the year The Open returns to the site of a second place finish.

“Obviously going back after what happened will be special. I honestly thought I had that 15-foot putt on the last to maybe win or to get in a play-off and then my Irish friend decided to go bananas on the last five holes.

“But still, it was a great week, my best in a major. After I finished, [his wife] Katie told me she was pregnant with Lily [the third of their four children], so it was happy days. Birkdale is my favourite Open venue.”

Just saying he's worth a look for a nice each way wager at 100-1...

Poll: Should The Governing Bodies Drop The Anchoring Ban?

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Bernhard Langer's recent brush with anchoring at the U.S. Senior Open prompted a pre-round visit with rules officials from the USGA. There was also overwhelming outrage on social media and coverage from Fox Sports addressing concerns of a possible rules violation. The issue summed up here by Brandel Chamblee, who coverage this week may have prompted the latest response:


At the very least, Langer is taking things right up to the edge of the anchoring ban. At the worst, he's openly resisting the rule knowing that the genteel world of golf would never actually prosecute a player of his caliber.

This all prompted an unusual Friday news dump with statements from Langer, fellow Champions Tour long putter user Scott McCarron and the USGA. Here is what was said:

The "integrity" language here from the USGA would suggest that actually enforcing the rule is now almost impossible given the introduction of intent.  With this in mind and knowing there are seniors whose golfing lives were made miserable by not being able to anchor, perhaps it's time to drop a rule that will not be enforced?

The SI/Golf.com gang contemplated massaging or changing the rule in this week's discussion that included caddie John Wood.

Given the potential rules changes for 2019, should the governing bodies consider abandoning a rule that started in 2016 after much debate?

The poll and your votes please:

As part of the rules revisions, should the governing bodies drop the anchoring ban?
 
pollcode.com free polls

Rematch? Rory, Elkington Twitter Manspat On Hold...For Now

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Sad news for those hoping to see major champions collide on social media as Rory McIlroy has instructed his wife to change his Twitter password, effectively ending any hopes of another spat with Steve Elkington.

Alistair Tait with the details for Golfweek.com.

“I must have wrote that tweet and deleted it about five times before I actually sent it,” McIlroy revealed. “I sort of regret sending it.”

Oh regrets nonsense!

His reasoning for getting annoyed with Elkington could be chalked up to an interclub dispute. The Major Winners Club.

“It’s not what was said,” McIlory explained. “It’s who said it. Anyone that’s been in that environment should realise how hard golf is at times. That’s the thing that got to me more than anything else.

“If it was written by a member of the media or something I could let it slide, because I can sort of says to myself ‘they don’t really know how it is and the don’t know what you have to deal with.’ But a former player that has won a major and been successful? That’s sort of why it got to me and why I sort of retaliated a little bit.”

Sigh: Lexi Declines To Talk To All Media Pre-KPMG

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With the KPMG Women's PGA at Olympia Fields, the women's second major would seemingly be a good spot for Lexi Thompson to return to some normalcy after her brutal penalty strokes at the last major.

Instead, Lisa Cornwell reports for Golf Central, Thompson is declining all media requests. This is especially a shame given Thompson's likability, star qualities and age. Hopefully it's a short term situation.




Family And Friends Rally Around "Leaky"

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Wonderful reporting here from Tim Rosaforte on family and friends supporting Bruce Lietzke as he battles cancer. One of the game's great natural talents whose ball flighting would be a ball-striking legend in the tracer era, Lietzke is currently on a break from chemo but still has hurdles to climb.

From Rosaforte's report:

Rose was scheduled for a trip to Pensacola, Fla., but Bruce said to her, “Maybe you need to stay here.” On April 12, two CAT scans at the emergency room in Tyler led them to a specialist in Dallas. Five days later, close friends Ben Crenshaw, Jerry Pate and Bill Rogers, along with their wives, spent four hours with Lietzke, telling old stories of their college days and tour life. According to Lietzke, the laughter they were creating in the reception area at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center was so loud, he thought they would be removed from the hospital.

“We just talked and talked and talked,” Lietzke remembers. “They hung around until I was going into ICU. I said good-bye on the way in. Four hours later they were still there after I came out.”

"As Phil and Bones part ways, an appreciation of what made them so good together"

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Alan Shipnuck's Golf.com mailbag covers many topics, but this on Phil and Bones was strong:

There may never be another player-caddie combo like it again, with such a pair of outsized personalities, both of whom were willing to take us inside the ropes with their insights about the game. Phil and Bones will both be all right going forward, but I'm definitely going to miss watching them do their thing.

And this from Michael Bamberger, also at Golf.com:

Bones's job was to get Mickelson in a place where he could play his best golf. That's why he is unlike any other caddie that came before him. It was a deeper role than any of us had seen before. But Mickelson was a prodigy even before the two had met, good enough to win the Tour's Tucson stop as an amateur, in 1991. In their quarter-century together, Mickelson has often needed to dance to songs he recorded himself and Bones never wavered in his support. So whether it was carrying two drivers or practicing away from the site of a major or playing catch as a warm-up exercise, Bones was all in. Phil needs somebody to look at him, and Bones did.