Ken Green's At Senior PGA, Still Fighting For A Shot

Ken Green, who five years ago lost everyone close to him in an unimaginably awful accident and who hit such a low a year ago that he admits to having contemplated suicide, opened with an 80 at the Senior PGA Championship, writes Bill Fields.

Even better, despite struggling to get any sponsor's invites in his efforts to come back, Green hasn't lost his sense of humor.

Fields writes:

Disappointingly for Green, he hasn't had much success gaining sponsor's exemptions into Champions Tour events in an attempt to "tell his story" and inspire others with disabilities. He said he's 0-for-12 in his latest attempts, but got a spot at Harbor Shores as a former United States Ryder Cup team member. The undulating Jack Nicklaus design was a tough challenge for Green, who opened with a nine-over 80.

"I heard the greens were off the charts. I didn't know Jack also did the fairways a litle bumpy," Green said. "For your average two-legged person, maybe they're not [that difficult], but for the one-legged yo-yo that I am, these fairways are nasty. It's discouraging. The one thing I didn't want to do is embarrass me or golf. I know it's not, but in my brain I feel like it is."

Video: Rory Turns Off Phone, Gives Away Laptop, Holes Shot

Formerly engaged Rory McIlroy revealed after an opening 68 at Wentworth that he's turned off his cell phone and given away his laptop, reports James Corrigan.

McIlroy revealed that he has taken what other youngsters may consider radical steps to stay in a bubble. “I haven’t put my phone on for two days and have given away my laptop,” he said. “It’s sort of like living in the Sixties and Seventies.

"It’s part of life, it’s s----y, but it is the way it is. I made a commitment to be here. It’s the European Tour’s flagship event. I’m very proud to be part of the European Tour. The European Tour have been very good to me over the last number of years.”

Ewan Murray offered this reflection on McIlroy's shocking about face on his engagement to longtime girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki.

Albeit it contradicts the fact McIlroy is single-minded, there has always been a theory that he felt almost obliged to settle down due to the advice of elder statesman. The legendary Gary Player, for example, previously insisted that McIlroy has “got to find himself a wife that’ll help him, actually almost dedicate her life to him being a success”. Such old-fashioned logic is not in touch with modern reality for a global star such as McIlroy who has always displayed a tendency to live life to the full.

Because we're still apparently living in the 20th century, footage of McIlroy's retro high-spin approach shot is not available through, say, the European Tour's YouTube account.

However, GolfCentralDaily thankfully put the shot up:

State Of The Game Podcast 39: Ran Morrissett

Yes, two weeks and two State of the Games. Last week's chat with Richard Gillis was excellent in case you missed it, and this week we welcome another one of the game's brightest people in Ran Morrissett, co-founder of GolfClubAtlas.com, a member of the Cabot Links team and one of the most trustworthy critics of golf architecture on the planet.

As a resident of Southern Pines, North Carolina, Ran kicks off our discussions about Pinehurst and the golf mecca that it is as the U.S. Open is less than three weeks away.

As always, iTunes is a super place to listen or download episode 39, or you can subscribe there, or if you haven't been sucked into the Apple ecosystem, there's always the option to download it as an MP3 or listen below.