Couples Downplays Masters Chances; Kind Of

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John Huggan on a modest but confident-sounding Fred Couples heading into the Masters:

Realistically -- there's that word again -- Couples doesn't see himself as a challenger for a second green jacket, citing an inability to find a higher gear as the biggest difference between himself and the likes of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson.

"I have played fairly well at Augusta over the last few years," he continued. "But when I have a shot to work my way up the board, I don't continue to do it. I'm not like the young guys. I don't go on streaks of four or five birdies in, say, six or seven holes. So while I'm consistent in my scores, I don't shoot 66 or 67 like Rory, Tiger or Phil. Those are incredible scores on that course. For me, a really good score is 70 or 71. But if I shoot four of them, I'll be in a great spot by the end of the week."

In Defense Of Steiny...

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Words I never thought I'd type. But a reader who is also a litigation attorney has seen some of the discussion about Team Tiger never having secured a non-disclosure agreement with instructor and author Hank Haney, and offered this in an email explanation:

In light of Hank Haney’s recent comments regarding the absence of a non-disclosure agreement, it is my insight that any purported non-disclosure agreement that attempted to cover this book would be overbroad and unenforceable.  As such, the absence of a non-disclosure agreement is really a straw man argument.
 
As a litigation attorney, I come across many NDA’s and confidentiality agreements in my practice.  Generally, NDA’s cover “confidential information,” which covers data or information proprietary to the non-disclosing party.  “Proprietary” is simply another term for ownership.  As Haney claims that these are his memories, he would have a factual basis to argue these stories were not proprietary to Tiger and he is free to write about it.  So even if an NDA was in place, Haney could find a way around it.
 
To come up with an agreement that forbade Haney to ever talk about anything said between him and Tiger would be truly overbroad.  I would never recommend a client to sign such documents, unless it is within the context of litigation and the agreement is to resolve a lawsuit.  Additionally, no golf instructor like that would ever sign such agreement, as it would hinder their abilities to market themselves.

The Donald Does Bohemian Rhapsody!

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Niamh Anderson of the Daily Mail reveals the overnight UK sensation (1000 YouTube views!!) though I must say, I'll never look at Donald Trump's comb-over quite the same again. And that's saying a lot. (Thanks reader David for this.)

The woman behind the video, freelance writer Hazel Cameron, 52, said she was delighted with how it turned out. She said: ‘It took nearly two years to complete but we are thrilled with it.’

She came up with the idea in 2010, when she and her friends were talking about Trump’s plans. Miss Cameron said she ‘had to do something’ to raise awareness about the links course.

She said: ‘His actions are appalling. I’ve spent almost my whole life working in business and I know how difficult planning and environmental laws can be.

'So why was he able to come in and sweep them all away? We have hundreds of golf courses in Scotland and we don’t need another one – especially if it means that people will lose their homes.’

She emailed May asking for  permission to use the song and was surprised to receive a reply within four hours. May told her: ‘I hope you will be able to stop this nasty project.’

CBS Head: Conservative Ratings Projections On Latest TV Deal

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Daily Variety's Stuart Levine talked to CBS's Sean McManus about a variety of deals, including the latest PGA Tour deal through 2021.

"In the most recent PGA tour deal we did, we did not assume that Tiger was going to be as dominant as he has been in the past," McManus said. "We did a very conservative projection on ratings. If Tiger finds his groove and plays a number of PGA tour events, that's all upside for us, but when you look at Rory McIlroy or Luke Donald, and put Phil Mickelson in that group, there is still an awful lot of really appealing golfers on the PGA tour."

"I wouldn't like to pass a golf ball."

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Thanks to Mike Johnson for Tweeting Colin Gilmore's story about Callaway, the golf ball swallowing python who confused the balls for eggs but was saved by doctors at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Australia.

Dr Pyne said snakes had an incredible ability to swallow objects as they could dislocate their jaws, but they could not necessarily digest everything they eat.

"I wouldn't like to pass a golf ball," he said.