On Como: "It’s been inspiring, and fun, to watch his career progress, like watching that band make it from the local bar to the Billboard charts."

As attention turns to the Hero World Challenge and Tiger's return, many eyes will be on his newly named swing "consultant" Chris Como.

PGATour.com's Sean Martin knows Como from Westlake Golf Course in Thousand Oaks, and reminisces about the early years of Como's development as an instructor and about the role of public courses like Westlake.

It’s been inspiring, and fun, to watch his career progress, like watching that band make it from the local bar to the Billboard charts. His sacrifices have been plenty -- moving around the country to work under top instructors, taking night classes for his masters in biomechanics while working full-time and going into debt to buy his first Trackman.

It’s all paid off.

He's told me many times that golf instruction has never felt like work. He didn’t make the sacrifices to become rich and famous; he was just pursuing his passion. Each golf swing is a puzzle, played out over three dimensions and influenced by innumerable variables, that he wants to solve. It's constant stimulation for a curious mind.

Farrell Evans reflects on what Como faces as an instructor and the burden of taking the job.

Harmon, Haney and Foley can each claim great success with their famous employer. By Tiger's reckoning, as judged by his decision to leave them for other teachers, they had all failed to help him sustain a dependable swing that supported the evolution of his body, advancements in golf technology and the predicament of injuries.

Podcasts! State Of The Game With Lloyd Cole; Scottish Golf

Podcasting is making a comeback (if it ever went away) thanks to the breakout murder mystery Serial, highlighted by David Carr in this week's New York Times media column on the continued strength of podcasting.

This is a convenient setup for not one, but two podcasts to consider for your Thanksgiving travel plans.

I recently sat in for episode 42 of the Scottish Golf Podcast with Ruairidh Macdonald to chat about Scotland golf travel. If you are planning a trip or thinking about one, check out the many fine episodes covering an array of important topics here and follow the show and/or Ru on Twitter. You can also subscribe via iTunes or via your preferred podcast app (my new favorite IOS app: Overcast.)

Meanwhile, after using his music to open State of The Game for 49 episodes, we finally got Lloyd Cole to appear while on break from touring and hickory golf. Cole recently released Standards in the United States where it was recorded and which has been the focus of his international touring over the last year.

Reviews of Standards have been oustanding, including The Independent suggesting it is Cole's best work, the Mail saying it's "a vibrant set full of wry wordplay," and 4-star reviews from the The Mail, Big Issue and The Independent. (His record label's purchase page including vinyl option, iTunes $9.99 download, Amazon CD $12.99 purchase. I highly recommend!)

As usual, Rod Morri, Mike Clayton and yours truly covered an array of topics, including how Lloyd got started in the game, his love of hickories and Hogan, the state of the game and how his affection for the sport is viewed by his music fans.

You can download the show as an MP3 here, listen to the show directly here, grab it on iTunes here or listen below. There is also this directory of past shows. Happy Thanksgiving!