TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - REMEMBERING JOHN DALY

I’m going to miss John Daly. Not the baffoon of recent years; I mean the guy who used to be great. It’s been a while since he’s contended in anything beyond a beer-guzzling, M&M’s eating contest. I’d say he’s a shadow of his former self, except that he casts an ever-growing shadow. John has a good heart, although his brain has been mis-wired since he was a kid and has never really been properly repaired since. I recall, during a long drive competition before the Canadian Open at Glen Abbey not long after Long John joined the Tour–hearing the distinct clank of the Arkansas native mashing the ball through wind and rain at Glen Abbey…when you could barely hear the click of other contestants in the competition. John’s ball flew miles past the next closest man in the field. I remember all the time that he had for a young journalist, and his complete absence of ego. He’s four years removed from his last win, the 2004 Buick Invitational, and 13 years since his previous victory, the 1995 British Open. And now he’s reduced to mindless stunts, like the one aired on The Golf Channel a few months back –whacking shots without shoes and, Lord help us, a shirt. Butch Harmon became one of the first golf instructors in history to fire his student, and John is now left with few companies willing to endorse him beyond, say, Hooters. Although even that franchise might reconsider after Daly was found passed out outside a Hooters in Winston-Salem, N.C. Oct. 26 (he said he fell asleep, but the local police say different, and medical attention was also called in).

Last Week, Stuart Appleby called Daly, who missed the cut by four shots yesterday at the Australian Masters, “a walking train wreck.”
I’m going to miss John when he’s gone–the product of his own continuing willingness to fall down and not get up again. I wish it weren’t so. Few golfers in history have possessed such awesome raw talent, but it’s going to take a lot of personal strength and a vast support group to right his path. Saving that, only the intervention of the Almighty Himself can steer Big John back onto the fairway.
But it better happen soon.

THE KING AND HIS COURT
Ontario Golf contributor Danny King remains arguably the best Canadian professional not touring anywhere. The Ontario Zone team of King (who fired a nifty 69-72, Matt Peavoy (71-77), Dan Clark (68-76) and Dan Greenwood (78-77) edged the foursome from B.C. by two shots to claim the Titleist-FootJoy CPGA CPC InterZone Team Championship, contested over the first two of rounds of the three-round tournament in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Team Ontario pocketed $500 apiece.
A day later, however, King slipped to a final-round 76 to finish in fifth spot overall, four shots back of the individual winner Kyle German of Vancouver. King picked up another $2,750 for his efforts.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - FINDING AN EDGE IN SIN CITY

Seeking an edge over the competition, several Las Vegas golf courses are implementing unique programs at their respective facilities, none moreso than Royal Links, the layout that specializes in replicating famed holes from the British Isles. While you can hire a regular caddie there for $100, or have your foursome chip in $40 apiece for a forecaddie, Royal Links is spending more time promoting its Par Mates program–eight extremely hot young ladies who will basically hang out with you for the round. Yes yes–they’re advertised as keeping your score and phoning in food & beverage orders and helping you pick out something nice in the pro shop afterward and making you generally feel better about yourself after a triple bogey, but let’s be honest–they’re meant as eye candy and as potential deal-closers if you’re entertaining a client. The regular caddies must just love watching these ladies prance around without working up a sweat, particularly when the girls’ going rate is $225 a round, no less! Nice job, if you can get it, I suppose.

Another, more conservative approach to providing yourself with an edge sees two Las Vegas golf courses (managed by the same company) purchasing a motor coach and shuttle bus to ferry customers directly from the Vegas Strip to Angel Park and The Legacy Golf Club. The new group golf amenity provides seating for 48 players plus clubs in the main bus, with room for 24 and equipment. It’s not just extremely convenient, but a safe way to avoid drinking and driving. Inevitably–this being Vegas and all–some entrepreneur will consider combining both promotions.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre – THE BIRDS

My significant other, Mary, and I are ideally situated in Oakville, with a lovely little lake (giant pond) behind our home. This slice of environmentally protected heaven is home to numerous varieties of birds, including herons and even a peregrine falcon a few weeks back. This time of year, though, there’s an influx of Canadian geese–a LARGE influx. Even Alfred Hitchcock would have been overwhelmed.

HATS OFF TO EDGARD DODDS-HEBRON
Anne Edgar Dodds-Hebron, the accomplished Brampton amateur player (and a seriously good golf course reviewer, as we’ve discovered at Ontario Golf Magazine), has been named the Canadian Junior Golf Association’s Volunteer of the Year. Anne doesn’t just love to play; she loves the game. A deserving winner, to be sure!

GOLF THROUGH THE LENS, Chris Gallow – Looks like my dream camera has come.

In the world of pro-sumer and consumer grade cameras there has been a real trend towards producing a product which can do both stills and video. Now the video from these cameras isn’t the best but is pretty darn good for the price. In the professional world of imagining we never thought that this trend would come but it has. 

Red Digital Cinema has released a website showing its new line of modualor digital capture solutions. Price wise this camera will not be in everyones stocking this year, sorry folks.

This system allows the photographer to build the entire camera from the ground up and convert the camera to fit the needs of the days shoot. Most amazing thing about the system is that we can now shoot high resolution still and digital cinema with the same camera to the tune of a max of 261mp @ 25fps (panoramic model). Also you can use your Nikon, Canon, Mamiya, or Red lens with the system depending on the “brain” you pick. 

So I will be starting to save my pennies and if you would like to make a donation that would be great also

I had the good fortune of meeting Jesüs Carmona, the director of golf at El Tigre Golf Club in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, last week. Carmona has a fondness for (and an impressive collection of) Bengal tigers, including these two at his nearby Paradise Village resort. The big ones are back at a compound near the entrance of the golf course. Watch for Ontario Golf magazine’s travel feature on the Riviera Nayarit region of Mexico in in the coming months.

WOODS ENDS BOND WITH GM
Speaking of Tiger, Mr. Woods and GM have severed their bond. After an eight-year working relationship, General Motors reports it will end its endorsement deal with Tiger Woods at the end of the year. The company says it’s looking to reduce costs, and that the world’s No. 1 golfer wants more personal time as he expects his second child. Woods has globally endorsed GM products and has been closely tied to its Buick brand in the United States, Canada and China. He has also carried the Buick logo on his golf bag since 2000, and his most recent promotion was to caddie for a contest winner for nine holes.
Marketing Magazine reports that the termination of the most recent five-year deal, believed to be worth at least $7 million US a year, was “absolutely mutual,” according to Woods’ agent at IMG, Mark Steinberg. GM’s vice-president for North American sales, Mark LaNeve, claims the separation is the result of discussions earlier in the year and has nothing to do with to the company’s campaign for $25 billion in loans from the federal government.
Ya, right. And neither does Buick’s decision to cut back on its deal providing courtesy cars at PGA Tour events.
Expect PGA Tour tournament sponsorships to be next.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre – YOU GOTTA CHECK THIS PLACE OUT

We had a business meeting yesterday at WEGZ Stadium Bar on Rutherford Rd. in Vaughan. It’s hard to describe the place other than to say it’s like Walt Disney World for sports fans. More than 90 HD TVs, 10 100-square-foot projection screens, one massive 22×16 foot screen, which is pretty amazing in high definition, and 23,000 square feet of space, with everything from golf simulators to off-track betting, and more in between than I have time and space to explain. I mean there were three TVs on different channels in the men’s washroom! Hell, the wall beside our booth featured a Tour de France yellow jersey signed by Lance Armstrong and a boxing glove autographed by Muhammed Ali, and there’s a private room for rental that features seven large flat-screen TVs, not including the huge screen at the end, and a sound system that can crack the walls. There’s also some serious talent in the waitress staff. The web site doesn’t do it justice, but it’ll give you a small taste of the atmosphere.

MORE GOOD DEEDS FROM GOODFELLOW
For anyone who missed the moving story of Edward Goodfellow and Andrew Fazackerley’s fundraising marathon golf, suffice it to say that Edward’s mom, Cathy Goodfellow, is a remarkable woman. She could get stranded on a desert island and somehow raise enough money to fund the construction of a boat. Her most recent claim to fame was helping the Golf Association of Ontario sign up something like 22 schools in the Kingston area to take part if the association’s Callaway Golf in Schools program. Then she advised the GAO that she’d already raised the money to fund the programs.

PGA TOUR AWARD NOMINEES
Nominees for the Jack Nicklaus Trophy as the PGA TOUR Player of the Year are Padraig Harrington, Kenny Perry, Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas and Tiger Woods. Singh, it’s easy to forget amid all the talk of wunderkind Anthony Kim and Sergio Garcia’s recent exploits, finished atop the money list this past season with $6,601,094 in earnings in 23 events. Tiger finished second with $5,775,000 in just six tourneys. Phil Mickelson was third with $5,188,875 in 21 starts.
The nominees for Rookie of the Year include Dustin Johnson, Canadian Open winner Chez Reavie, Andres Romero, Kevin Streelman and Marc Turnesa, while Dudley Hart, Davis Love III and Rocco Mediate are the three players on the ballot for Comeback Player of the Year honours. You heard it here first that two-time major champion Harrington will be the Player of the Year, Mediate will be the comeback kid and Romero will be the rookie of the year…even though he actually played in three PGA Tour events last year and earned just under $600,000.
The winners of the three awards will be announced in mid-December.

Looking at the world through rosé-coloured glasses
I’m still recovering today from a little overindulging at the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo at the Toronto Convention Centre’s South Building last night. It runs through Sunday…by which time I should have my sense of equilibrium back.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre – OWN YOUR OWN GOLDEN TEE

The Playdium Store in Toronto, which specializes in home entertainment goodies, is including in its latest catalogue a series of pre-owned, reconditioned video consoles–I mean the big jobs you see in bars and video arcades. The models they’re currently listing start at $990 and go up from there (a similar version below). Now that’s cool and all, as is the Pacman unit they’re also listing, but if anyone wants to send me a Galaxian for Christmas, you’d really be in my good books!

THE DR GETS INTERNATIONAL HONOUR
The Dominican Republic (DR) got the nod yesterday as the “Golf Destination of the Year for the Caribbean and Latin America” by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO). “The IAGTO award affirms that the DR has arrived on the international scene as an important new ‘It’ destination for golf. The world is taking notice of the DR’s world-class designer golf courses set amid stunning sea sides, beaches and mountains in an accessible and affordable destination,” noted the DR’s Minister of Tourism, Francisco Javier Garcia.
Each year, the IGTM annual conference brings together golf tour operators and the meetings industry with leading hotels, resorts and golf courses of the world to conduct business and grow the industry. “Since the first designer golf course opening in the DR, which was Teeth of the Dog at the world-popular Casa de Campo resort, golf has been a booming facet for the country’s tourism industry,” added Garcia. “The DR, blessed with breathtaking countryside and pristine beaches, is home to some of the world’s most dramatic and spectacular golf courses designed by legends such as Pete Dye, P.B. Dye, Jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent Jones, Gary Player, Tom Fazio and Nick Faldo.” (It’s also home to the odd beach-going topless babe, which doesn’t hurt–although that’s offset, in part, by the exorbitant number of overweight European men wearing Speedo-type bikinis.)
In addition to the award, the DR was recently recognized by Travel & Leisure Golf magazine as “The Player’s Paradise,” honouring the Faldo Legacy Course at Roco Ki as one of the top 10 best new golf courses in the world. Golfweek is also about to release its ranking of Punta Espada Golf Course as No. 1 among the top 50 in the Caribbean and Mexico, with the Faldo Legacy Course placing 20th. I’m looking forward to playing that one next month when I join a media trip to the Punta Cana region of the country. In the interim, I’m eagerly waiting to see where my favourite track in the DR places–Playa Grandé, (below) which is mind-blowingly spectacular, but always gets overlooked somehow.

SPONSORS BAIL ON LPGA TOUR
Although I personally enjoyed watching women’s golf more than men’s this year–for the first time ever, given the present depth of talent and personalities–as expected, the LPGA Tour is feeling the financial squeeze more than its male counterpart. The LPGA Tour will offer three fewer official events in 2009, and only 20 in the U.S. among its 31-stop 2009 season. Departing events include the ADT Championship, which starts Thursday and closes this year’s slate.
According to a Marketing Magazine report, purses will be around US$55 million, about $5.25 million down from 2008.
“It’s no secret that the road ahead, particularly 2009, is going to test our mettle,” LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens told the magazine, adding that the LPGA is confronting challenges facing not only “other sports and entertainment organizations, but by every business enterprise of any kind in all corners around the world.”
Other sports affected by fiscal belt-tightening include the NBA, which recently announced layoffs and the closing of its Los Angeles office, and several NASCAR teams, which have laid off staff to cut costs.
Apart from the ADT, other events falling by the wayside due to sponsorship issues include
the Fields Open in Hawaii and Ginn Tribute in South Carolina. An event in Thailand is being added from Feb. 26-Mar. 1, but the Safeway International, which has been held in Arizona, is also gone over
a sponsorship issue and essentially becomes the LPGA International in the
Phoenix area.
Also absent from the 2009 schedule released Wednesday are after-season events, such as the Lexus Cup and Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge.
Next year’s LPGA schedule begins in Hawaii, then heads to Thailand, Singapore and Mexico, not returning to the U.S. until the Phoenix event from March 26-29, details of which have yet to be released.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre – TOURING CHATEAU WHISTLER ONLINE

Web surfers can now tour all 18 holes at Chateau Whistler thanks to a great software addition to the club’s website. By clicking here, you’ll get a lot more than the standard limited video tour. Instead, viewers are presented with a very extensive, high-speed, eye-level tour of the entire course (my favourite of all the Whistler tracks) including the trail from green to the next tee, as well as a full 360-degree view from stationary points along the way, should they so desire. Hell, if you want you can even look upward to the top of the treeline and into the sun (don’t worry–you won’t go blind).

THE WORLD’S TRUEST ISLAND GREEN
I just returned from a visit to the Riviera Nayarit region of Mexico–roughly Nuevo Vallarta to Punta de Mita on the Pacific side, about 45 minutes west of Puerto Vallarta. At the Four Season’s Punta Mita, I discovered one of the world’s most spectacular par-3s–a true island green that sits 175 yards or so offshore from the main course. Word has it course designer Jack Nicklaus was siting at the beach club a decade ago and looked at the rocky chunk of land and mused about the possibility of a green going there. Problem is, it’s only accessible during low tide (although a few special guests have borrowed an amphibious vehicle to make the connection.) Consequently, the hole number is 3B–a bonus hole for those who approach it at the right time of day. Below is a view of a pair of power carts departing along the cobblestone road built on the ocean floor–Atlantis-like–that connects land and sea. And in case anyone was wondering, I knocked it to about 18 feet from the back tees…and then almost three-putted.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre – RBC CANADIAN OPEN EARNS PGA TOUR AWARD

The RBC Canadian Open has been honoured by the PGA TOUR for “Most Improved On-Site
Presentation” for its initiatives at the 2008 event at Glen Abbey. The award recognizes the RBC Canadian Open for creating excellent on-site spectator experiences and sponsor branding opportunities, including a concert series on the waterlogged course.
“This award was made possible because of our title sponsor RBC,” said tournament director Bill Paul. “With the support of RBC, we challenged ourselves and set goals to improve the tournament. We look forward to raising the bar at our tournament every year.”
The 2009 RBC Canadian Open will be held July 20-26 at the Abbey.
Incidentally, the 2009 PGA Tour schedule was just released. The lone tournament with a stand-alone date that sports a lower purse than the Canadian Open’s $5.1 million US is the John Deere Classic in Illinois, at $4.3 million. The good news is that the Open’s prime sponsor, RBC, is as stable as any on Tour and may yet find a more attractive summer date in the near future with many other title sponsors feeling the financial squeeze.

COOLEST NOTES FROM THE 2008 PGA TOUR SEASON
Dave Lancer, the PGA Tour’s director of information, provides the intriguing list of cool notes from the past season on Tour.

• Stephen Marino made the most putts on TOUR over 25 feet this past season—35.

• Ben Curtis had the longest stretch without a 3-putt green, going 374 consecutive holes at one point.

• It’s only been around two years, but still only four players have finished in the Top-10 in the final FedExCup standings in both seasons—Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and K.J. Choi.

• Kevin Streelman had the most rounds in the 60s—54.

• International players won 18 times on TOUR in 2008. The 18 wins came from players who hail from 10 different countries—Argentina, Australia, Colombia, Fiji, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Sweden.

• Bubba Watson led the TOUR in Driving Distance for the third consecutive season. His average has fallen each year, though, from 319.6 to 315.2 to 315.1. (Apparently the threshold of distance has already been reached, so manufacturers must be concentrating of improving accuracy…or spending more time on computer games.)

• Joe Durant led the TOUR in Greens in Regulation for the third time in his career. (A lot of good that did him–he finished 129th on the money list.

• Bob Tway led the TOUR in Putting with a 1.718 average and at age 49 he became the oldest player to lead the TOUR in any statistical category. (a lot of good that did him–he finished 132nd on the money list)

• Corey Pavin played the Par-3s the best this year, at 11-under. (A lot of good that did him–he finished 112th on the money list. Needless to say, the tour remains all about POWER!)

• Who played the most rounds on TOUR in 2008? Patrick Sheehan with a whopping 124.

• Nicholas Thompson led the TOUR in starts in 2008 playing in 36 tournaments. There were 34 players who had 30 or more starts this season.

• Who misses left off the tee the least on TOUR? That would be Scott Verplank who did so only 7.52% of the time. The TOUR average was 13.19%. How about missing right? Olin Browne missed right the least often at 5.47% compared the TOUR average of 14.54%.

• Players in their 20s won 15 times this year while players in their 30s collected 24 titles and players in their 40s won nine times.

• A record 104 players earned at least $1 million.

• Nine rookies finished among the Top 125—Andres Romero (36th), Dustin Johnson (42nd), Chez Reavie (71st), Kevin Streelman (78th), Marc Turnesa (81st), Tim Wilkinson (92nd), Michael Letzig (93rd), Brad Adamonis (124th) and Martin Laird (125th).

• Jason Gore continued an odd trend. He became the sixth player in the last seven years to win the Total Driving crown and yet not finish among the Top 125. Only Charles Warren in 2007 avoided that fate during that span of time.

• Tim Petrovic struck the year’s longest drive of 439 yards on the 11th hole during the first round of the Honda Classic.

• Who 3-putted the least on TOUR? Craig Kanada 3-putted only 1.62% of the time in 2008—19 3-putts in 1,170 holes.

• Who played the Par-4s best this year? John Huston at 4-under
Par-5s? Charles Howell III and
Steve Marino at 130-under

• Here’s a bit of an oddity. The two players who led the TOUR in Top-10s, Jim Furyk and Robert Allenby, failed to win an event between them.

• Who was the youngest winner in 2008? Anthony Kim who won the Wachovia Championship at age 22 years, 10 months and 15 days. Who was the oldest winner on TOUR in 2008? Kenny Perry who won the John Deere Classic at age 47 years, 11 months and 3 days.

• Driving Distance has been declining in recent years. There were 13 players who averaged 300 yards off the tee this year, exactly half as many as did in 2005. In fact, the last time this few players averaged 300 yards was back in 2003 when nine players accomplished the feat.

• ShotLink provides a lot of interesting data including these items. Who has the top Clubhead Speed on TOUR? J.B. Holmes at 123.05 mph on average. Who has the top Ball Speed? Again, J.B. Holmes at 181.43 mph on average. Who hits his tee shots the highest? Robert Garrigus at an average of 121 feet, 11 inches. Who carries his tee shots the furthest? A combination of the above with Holmes and Garrigus each averaging 298.6 yards of carry.

• Players who led the field in Putting won six times this past year. Five times the player who led in Scrambling won while twice the player who led in Greens in Regulation was victorious. The most accurate driver won twice as well while the player who led the field in Driving Distance won only once all year—Dustin Johnson at the Turning Stone Resort Championship.

• To follow-up on the note above, when all three Tours are added together, players who led the field in Putting won 16 times while players who led in Driving Distance won only twice.

• The toughest hole on TOUR was the 499 yard, par-4 sixth at Royal Birkdale. It played to a stroke average of 4.764. The toughest course was the par-70 Royal Birkdale which played to a 74.869 stroke average.

• The top scrambler on Tour was Brian Gay who got it up and down 64.82% of the time. The TOUR average, by the way, was 56.17%.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

• Ron Streck set a new record in Sand Saves in 2008, getting up and down out of greenside bunkers 69.64% of the time. The old mark was 65.80% by Vicente Fernandez in 2000.

• Who had the most rounds in the 60s? Loren Roberts with 46.

• Bob Gilder played in all 29 events to extend his streak of consecutive events played to 122. Gilder was the only player to compete in every event this year.

• It was a great year for rookies on the Champions Tour. Bernhard Langer was the leading money winner while five others finished among the Top 30—Jeff Sluman (4th), John Cook (5th), Mark Wiebe (17th), Gene Jones (19th) and Joey Sindelar (25th).

• David Edwards led the Tour in Driving Accuracy for the third consecutive season. He also led the PGA TOUR in Driving Accuracy back in 1994.

• Tom Purtzer led the TOUR in Driving Distance for the fourth time. Purtzer claimed the crown in 2003 and 2004 and came back to win in again in 2007.

• The longest drive of the year was hit by Steve Thomas, a 386-yard effort on the 13th hole during the third round of the Regions Charity Classic.

• The youngest player to win on the Tour this year was Bernhard Langer who claimed the Toshiba Classic at age 50 years, 6 months and 11 days. The oldest player to win was Tom Watson who won the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf crown at age 58 years, 7 months and 23 days.

• Who had the most Top 10s on the Champions Tour this year? John Cook who had 15.

• Who 3-putted the least on Tour in 2008. Walter Hall 3-putted just 1.73% of the time this past year—23 times in 1,332 holes.

• The toughest hole on Tour was the 470-yard, par-4 11th at Royal Troon which played to a stroke average of 4.730.

• The toughest course on Tour was Oak Hills CC (Senior PGA Championship) which played to a stroke average of 75.994 or 5.994 over par.

• The top scrambler on the Champions Tour for 2008 was Jeff Sluman who got it up and down 68.63% of the time. The Tour average was 53.68%.

• Who played the Par-3s the best this year? Ben Crenshaw at 9-under.

• Who played the Par-4s the best this year? John Cook at 51-under.

• Who played the Par-5s the best this year? Tom Kite and Keith Fergus at 110- under.

NATIONWIDE TOUR

• After playing an entire season, Mark Leishman and Brendon Todd tied for 19th on the money list with the exact same total–$244,224.

• Winners on the 2008 Nationwide Tour hailed from four countries outside the U.S. with Australia leading the way with four different winners. Other countries that produced Nationwide Tour winners in 2008 were India, Zimbabwe and Canada.

• Who had the most rounds in the 60s? Brendon de Jonge with 54. He also played the most rounds with 101.

• Who had the most starts in 2008? A tie between Brendon de Jonge and J.J. Killeen, each with 29.

• For the first time in the 19-year history of the Nationwide Tour, three players earned more than $400,000. In addition, a record 28 won $200,000 or more and a record 66 won $100,000 or more.

• Former Nationwide Tour players won 20 times on the PGA TOUR this year including two members of the Class of 2007—Chez Reavie and Marc Turnesa. Former Nationwide Tour players have won 237 times on the PGA TOUR since 1991.

• Among The 25 were eight players who didn’t win in 2008, but eight others who did win did not finish among The 25.

• The toughest hole this season was the 469-yard, 18th hole at Wente Vineyards which played to a stroke average of 4.534.

• The toughest course this year was the par-70 Panama Golf Club which played to a stroke average of 72.959.

• Three players went over the $1 million mark in career earnings on the Tour this year—Darron Stiles, D.A. Points and Jeff Klauk. Five players have now reached the $1 million mark on the Nationwide Tour.

• Who played the Par-3s the best this year? Brendon Todd at 3-under.

• Who played the Par-4s the best this year? Brendon de Jonge at 58-under.

• Who played the Par-5s the best this year? Jeff Brehaut at 146-under.

• Reid Edstrom had the season’s longest drive at 416 yards during the first round
of the Miccosukee Championship on the fifth hole.

• Greg Chalmers had the most Top-10s on the Tour in 2008 with 10. Chalmers also became the first lefty to win twice on the Tour when he won the Henrico County Open.

• Gavin Coles is Mr. Even Numbered Years. When Coles won the Chitimacha Louisiana Open he posted his fourth career win—all coming in even numbered years—2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008.

• Greg Owen had an amazing statistical year. He finished first in five stat categories—All-Around, Scoring Average, Total Driving, Birdies and Sand Saves. His 102 score in All-Around set a new Nationwide Tour record breaking the old mark of 111 set by Zach Johnson in 2003. Owen was also 8th in Driving Distance and 9th in Greens in Regulation.

• The Class of 2008 will feature 16 rookies heading to the PGA TOUR—Matt Bettencourt, Jeff Klauk, Bill Lunde, Colt Knost, Scott Piercy, Peter Tomasulo, Rick Price, Kris Blanks, David Mathis, Casey Wittenberg, Aron Price, Marc Leishman, Brendon Todd, Spencer Levin, Matt Weibring and Ricky Barnes.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre – PGA Tour’s tier II events will have it tougher

As the world of golf moves closer to a global tour, a few players have already jumped ship to commit to both the European Tour and PGA Tour in 2009. Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim have each paid their 2,000-pound fee to sign up, thereby committing to playing a minimum of 12 events on the foreign circuit next season. The four majors and three World Golf Championship events count toward both tour requirements, meaning players would have to play a minimum of eight more PGA Tour events and five more European Tour events. Keep in mind, though, that nobody of note is planning on missing the season-ending tour championships East Lake, outside Atlanta (PGA Tour) and Dubai (European Tour). That leaves four European Tour events (all promising huge appearance fees for big-name players—and make no mistake, despite what Sergio Garcia said last week about great players wanting to play in great fields, if the European Tour banned appearance money, nobody would have left the American tour.)
That said, the chance to compete in the $20 million Dubai World Championship has certainly caught a lot of players’ attention. At the end of the 2009 season, the top 60 money earners in Europe will qualify for what that tour is billing as the richest tournament in the world and held at the Greg Norman-desigened Jumeirah Golf Estates course from November 19-22. The event will have a prize fund of $10 million dollars and a first prize of $1.6 million. A bonus pool of $10 million dollars will also be shared by the top 15 players in the Race to Dubai after the tournament, with the winner taking away another $2 million.
Beyond the obvious suspects, the easiest event for those committed to the other side of the pond to consider is the Scottish Open, the week before the British Open at Turnberry. That leaves two tourneys to play in to make the minimum requirement. The BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth (May) and the two events immediately before the Dubai finale, the HSBC Champions and the Hong Kong Open, are the most likely condidates. (I know, that’s three, but it makes perfect sense that they play all of these).
On the PGA Tour, there are still seven to cover for the crossover gang. Certainly the Players Championship, Wachovia, the Deutsche Bank and, you’ve got to figure, a couple FedEx playoffs will be included. That just leaves two. And the Canadian Open won’t be one of them for anyone of note outside the two big Canucks, Weir and Ames. It’s hard to fathom Kim and Villegas—both big attractions at this year’s Canadian Open at Glen Abbey—returning in 2009. As the trend of more stars migrating across the Atlantic continues, it’s going to get harder and harder for second-tier PGA Tour events to attract a decent enough field to guarantee one of the dwindling number of major corporate sponsors.
Weir was also rumoured on a couple fronts to be considering playing more in Europe, but his agent, IMG’s Brad Pelletier, assures Mike is playing the same sched as last year—well, minus the season-opening Mercedes Championship, since it’s confined to 2008 Tour winners.
Even if Weir did go to Europe, though, he played 26 events this past season, and he’ll never miss the Canadian Open, says IMG’s Dave Haggith.