"I bet I'm the only guy that has to work (Wednesday)."

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Jill Painter with a super story on Tom Gardner, an assistant pro at Bel-Air Country Club who got in the Northern Trust Open at the local SCPGA qualifier.

After the 11 a.m. shotgun start at the exclusive country club, he'll race down Sunset Boulevard, about four miles from Riviera Country Club, and get some work in on the driving range and putting greens.

Gardner has his own crucial tournament this week. He qualified as a club pro to play in the Northern Trust Open, which starts Thursday.

"I bet I'm the only guy that has to work (Wednesday)," Gardner said with a laugh.

Gardner, 33, got the rest of the week off to play on the PGA Tour, so he's been the star at Bel-Air, a place filled with stars like Luke Wilson, Jerry West and Pete Sampras.

"Since I've qualified, it's been a fairly big thing at Bel-Air," Gardner said. "They've sent out emails, and the membership has been unbelievable. They're so supportive. They've really made this fun.

"It's been a dream of mine to work at a golf course like this, and there's 300 people congratulating me and telling me how proud of me they are."

He goes off at 1:15 Thursday on #1.

Questions Surround Gulbis Decision To Pose With Painted Swimsuit In Swimsuit Issue

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You can feel the tension as golf.com's Jeff Ritter doesn't back down in questioning the decision to use a body painted swimsuit for Natalie Gulbis's SI Swimsuit issue shoot. Uh, so yes, that's paint. How do they do the part where...oh this can't end well. Just check it out. On newstands this week.
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State Of The Game, Episode 3: "The game's never been easier and people have never complained more about how hard it is."

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That stellar quote came from Mike Clayton during this week's belly putter-focused show.

You'll hear some sound clips from Tiger Woods and a few I picked up at the USGA Annual Meeting. Panelists Clayton and Huggan are joined by special guest and long putter exponent Craig Spence chat about what figures to be a huge issue over the coming year. Rod Morri hosts, and music is supplied by Lloyd Cole. Give it a listen.

Here's the direct link to the third episode.

Here's a directory with the first three episodes.

And here's the itunes page for the show where you can get all three or subscribe, it's free.

Or finally, you can listen below:

Shock: The Donald In Feud With Politicians Who Approved His Scottish Course

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An unbylined AP story on The Donald's shocking, I mean shocking turn against the same politicos who ramroded his Scottish golf project through despite objections. This time it's over the wind farm that'll spoil The Donald's views the days the water is not shrouded in fog.

Trump has launched a blistering attack on Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond over plans to build a "horrendous" wind farm off the coast of his luxury Scottish golf resort. In an open letter, Trump accuses Salmond of being "hell bent on destroying Scotland's coast line and therefore Scotland itself."

The bitter words are a far cry from the love-in the two men enjoyed four years ago when Salmond backed Trump's 750 million pound (US$1.2 billion) golf development 12 miles (16km) north of Aberdeen despite protests from environmentalists and locals about damage to rare sand dunes.

Back then, Trump invited Salmond to join him and actor Sean Connery to be the first to tee off on what the businessman described as "the world's greatest golf course." Trump also heaped praise on Salmond's government after it overruled local lawmakers who rejected the planned golf resort.

The Scottish leader backed the golf course by claiming it would create hundreds of tourism jobs around the Aberdeenshire area.

The Donald wrote a letter...and brought China and his mother into it.

"Jobs will not be created in Scotland because these ugly monstrosities known as turbines are manufactured in other countries such as China. These countries, who so benefit from your billions of pounds of payments, are laughing at you!" Trump said.

Trump concludes the attack by referring to his mother, who was raised in Scotland.

He adds: "I'm doing this to save Scotland and honor my mother..."

He ridicules the Scottish National Party's renewable energy policies, claiming the economic benefit is going to China and other countries, not Scotland.