R&A Awards Portrush...An Amateur

For Immediate Release...

2 February 2012, St Andrews, Scotland: Royal Portrush and Carnoustie have been chosen as future venues for the Amateur Championship.

Portrush, venue for the 1951 Open, will host the Championship for the third time in 2014 on its renowned Dunluce Links with the initial stroke play qualifying stage shared with nearby Portstewart.

In 2015, the Championship will be staged at Carnoustie for a fifth time with qualifying also taking place at Panmure, a previous Open Local Final Qualifying course.

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, The R&A’s Executive Director – Championships, said: “The Amateur Championship has a proud tradition of being contested over the finest links courses in the British Isles.

“I am delighted that the Championship will be returning to two past venues that will offer Irish and Scottish golf fans the chance to watch some of the world’s best amateur golfers in action.

“Previous Championships have seen some of golf’s greatest names, such as past champions Jose Maria Olazabal , Sergio Garcia and more recently Matteo Manassero, announce themselves on the world stage. I’m sure in 2014 and 2015 we will again see some future household names competing for the trophy.”

Portrush - which can count 2010 US Open Champion Graeme McDowell as well as Open winners Padraig Harrington (2007, 08) and reigning Champion Darren Clarke among its members -  has a long history of hosting championship golf.

It first hosted the Championship in 1960, won by Ireland’s Joe Carr, and then again in 1993 when England’s Iain Pyman came out on top. It was the scene of Max Faulkner’s Open victory in 1951 and has hosted the Senior Open Championship six times, most recently in 2004. Portrush was recently named by the European Tour as the venue for this year’s Irish Open.

Bubba On Buying Dukes Of Hazzard Car: It's About An American Cultural Institution!

Karen Crouse on Bubba Watson driving his Confederate-flag painted Dukes of Hazzard car purchase around Scottsdale.

The confederate flag painted on the roof was an issue for Watson’s wife, he said.

“I said it’s not about the confederate flag, it’s about the show and what it stands for,” he said.

And it stands for what again? Bad 80s television? Hayseeds in heat?

“It’s the most recognizable car. So years and years of persuading her, it didn’t help. Then finally we’ve never been to the Barrett-Jackson, because I’ve always played the Hope, now the Humana.

You know the Barrett-Jackson does conflict for me as well. That's always the weekend of my favorite rare wine auction in Paris. Anyway, go on...

"So I took it off this year. So a friend asked us to go and it was just sitting there.”

And the price was right.

“I wasn’t going to go much more money than that,” Watson said. “Because they were predicting a lot higher numbers, but for some reason it just fell in my lap.”

Mickelson Suing To I.D. Looney Comment Poster

Nickeesha Swaby of Courthouse News reports that Phil Mickelson is suing Videotron S.E.N.C. in Quebec Superior Court "seeking the identity of the author" of "several highly defamatory statements posted by one or more individual on the Internet, in particular on a Yahoo! website, under the pseudonyms of 'Fogroller' and 'Longitude.'"

In his complaint, Mickelson says the San Diego Superior Court authorized him to subpoena Yahoo! for information about "Fogroller" and "Longitude," and Yahoo! responded with Fogroller's Internet protocol address, which is registered to a Videotron subscriber.

Videotron's attorney said Mickelson needs a court order for the company to provide him with the information he seeks. Mickelson seeks the court order.

"It is urgent, and in the best interest of justice, to accurately identify the person using the 'Fogroller' pseudonym and posting these offensive and defamatory statements, in order to stop the dissemination of false and wrongful statements about the plaintiff and obtain reparation for the prejudice already suffered," the complaint states.

Personally, I think this is fantastic he's suing though I'm a bit surprised Yahoo has left many of these comments up (you can catch some of the postings here and here). Since it seems quite apparent to me that the names in question are posting under other names not mentioned in the suit (same writing style, same agenda, same lunacy, same accusations never proven).

It also seems quite obvious that the person in question needs serious help and has an agenda to defame Mickelson. You go Phil.

Masters Oddsmakers Think Tiger Is Back

Alex Miceli with golfodds.com's opening Masters lines, with Tiger Woods atop the list, followed by Rory McIlroy at a very attractive 8/1 and Rickie Fowler at a not-so-tempting 40-1.

Tiger Woods . . . 9/2
Rory McIlroy . . . 8/1
Phil Mickelson . . . 15/1
Lee Westwood . . . 20/1
Luke Donald . . . 20/1
Adam Scott . . . 25/1
Jason Day . . . 30/1
Dustin Johnson . . . 30/1
Nick Watney . . . 40/1
Rickie Fowler . . . 40/1
Martin Kaymer . . . 40/1
Charl Schwartzel . . . 40/1