Queen Opens R&A Membership Betting As 3-1 Favorite

I couldn't find it on their site but PaddyPower.com is offering 3-1 that Queen Elizabeth will be the first female member of the Royal And Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, tweets Martin Dempster of The Scotsman.

Last year Paddy Power had "given odds of 11/8 on the club not allowing their first female member until a point between 2016 and 2025. More worryingly the odds on the end of their ancient policy not coming until before the end of 2025 are at 4/6."

Well those numbers are obsolete now, and The Queen certainly fits the Royal and Ancient membership profile: really old, really rich, really British and really likes gin.

I still have my fingers crossed for Condoleeza Rice.

As for the all important UK reviews, Owen Gibson of The Guardian slaps the R&A around for not pushing host courses to take in female members before concluding:

If his members vote in favour of dropping the ban on female members on 18 September, with a two-thirds majority required, it will be interesting to see whether that changes.

Just as the emergence of a young Tiger Woods acted as a powerful symbol for the idea that you didn't have to be white and rich to play golf, so the painfully slow process of shedding its sexist image is another necessary step in maintaining tradition but positioning it for the future.

Derek Lawrenson couldn't help but be skeptical about the vote's timing on the same day as the Scottish independence vote.

'The reason for holding it that day is that it is enshrined in our constitution that the business meeting takes place the day before the last day of Autumn Medal week. So you see our dilemma,' said Peter Dawson, R&A chief executive.

A good day to bury bad news should the members, who are predominantly past retirement age, remain set in their ways? Dawson is confident that will not be the case and there will be the requisite two-thirds majority, thus ending 260 years of men-only rule.

Getting In The Masters Mood: Podcast Edition

It was my great privilege to appear on Mitch Laurence's Golf Connections show to discuss the run-up to the Masters, but I'd evn more strongly recommend listening to his recent pre-Masters shows with Ben Wright, Frank Christian and John Derr. (Scott Michaux had a great piece on Derr last year.)

The Masters memories are flowing, and it's a treat to hear what these grizzled veterans of all things Augusta have to say.

I explain all and link to the shows here in this GolfDigest.com Local Knowledge item.

Brandel: "Tiger may have been born to play golf, but it seems he was also born to build and destroy."

Brandel Chamblee is back and not handing out any letter grades, but instead focusing on Tiger's desire to rebuild his swing for an Athlon Sports piece.

Chamblee says history will look upon Woods swing "by the year or vintage, the way one talks about great wines."

Because the Tiger Woods of 1997 was vastly different in form from the Tiger Woods of 2000, and different yet again in 2007, and different still today in 2014. Among his mind-blowing accomplishments, ascending to the number one spot in the world and dominating the world of professional golf with four completely different swings might be the most “in your face" feat ever achieved in sport.

Tiger may have been born to play golf, but it seems he was also born to build and destroy.

Michael Jordan worked harder than his peers to improve his form, but the mechanics he used to score over 3,000 points in the 1986-87 season looked essentially identical to those he used to hit a jumper with 5.2 seconds left to clinch the NBA Championship for the Bulls against the Utah Jazz in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals. Gordie Howe played professional hockey in five different decades, and in his 2,421st game, his style was just as recognizable as it was in his rookie season of 1946. Imagine if either of these athletes, after being colossally successful early in their careers, had completely changed the way they played their respective sports — not once, but four times, and after each change became the best again. It would just never happen, not once, let alone four times.