Steve Stricker Pulling Away at Riviera
With a sizzling 67-65-66 Steve Stricker has opened up a 6-shot lead in the competition at Riviera Country Club. Luke Donald, J.B. Holmes, and Andres Romero are tied for second at 9-under. Surging George McNeill fired a 66 to share 5th place with Kevin Stadler and Dustin Johnson at 7-under.
Phil Mickelson followed Friday’s 66 with a disappointing 71, to wind up in a tie for 18th place at 4-under.
Every player in the top-10 shot under par-rounds except Johnson, who carded a 74.
Phil +1 at Northern Trust, but minus one wedge
Phil Mickelson opened his Northern Trust Open with a 1-over 72 after keeping his promise not to play the controversial pre-1990 Ping Eye 2 wedge which caused a tempest in a tea cup with journeyman pro Scott McCarron.
Mickelson, completely within his rights to play the club according to Tim Finchem’s comments at yesterday’s presser, elected to leave the club out even though it was grandfathered in under PGA Tour Rules. “The PGA Tour supports the USGA’s notion of trying to pull the spin rate back,” said Finchem. of the 218 different players who participated in Tour events this year, only five played the club as of Wednesday’s press conference.
As we go to press, Dustin Johnson’s 7-under 64 leads by one over Andres Romero of Argentina and Kevin Stadler. Ricky barnes and Brandt Snedecker are two back.
Irish Golf Writer Brian Keogh is now a Father!
Congratulations to Irish Golf Desk’s Brian Keogh and his lovely wife Elena, who became parents just minutes ago. Tristan Keogh de las Heras was born in Dublin, Ireland early Thursday morning. Mother, father, and child are all doing well.
Here’s hoping we have a future sports writer in our midst, the third generation in a row for Brian’s family. Slante, Tristan:) May the good Lord shine a light on you, as bright as an evening sun!
Pictures coming soon.
Hank Gola Agrees: Phil not to blame in Wedge-gate
Hank Gola’s New York Daily news article nails down the issues in Phil Mickelson vs. Scott McCarron.
From the article:
“It raised the hackles of journeyman pro Scott McCarron, who blasted Lefty.
“It’s cheating and I’m appalled Phil has put it in play,” McCarron told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Tiger a cad? Phil a cheat? What has the honorable game come to?
Except Mickelson isn’t a cheat. Cheating is knowingly putting an illegal club in the bag. Mickelson’s equipment conforms to USGA regulations.
Let’s back up. Golf’s governing body decided to outlaw irons with square grooves because they make it too easy to apply backspin from the rough on short shots, virtually negating rough as a hazard and taking a skill out of the game. But under a lawsuit the PING company settled with the USGA over another issue 20 years ago, any square-grooved PING Eye 2 wedge made before 1990 is deemed legal because the lawsuit takes precedence over any rule change.
Mickelson, who shot a 70 Saturday and trails leader Ryuji Imada by four shots heading into the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open, heard about John Daly using one in the second tournament of the year in Hawaii and remembered he had one in his garage.
There had been some grousing when Daly and others were playing them, but not until Mickelson used one did it become a full-blown controversy.
Without mentioning McCarron by name, Mickelson said Saturday he had been “publicly slandered,” but he put the onus on the USGA.”
Great, just what the Tour needed, war on a second front. Now Scott will get a lesson in the star system – service on the PGA Tour Player Advisory Committee or no service on an important committee. Well it’s just another “man or a mouse moment” for Tim Finchem to shrink from. What a place he runs…pamper, enable, excuse, and obey. Just leave your cash in the till when you’re done.
Scott McCarron Should Practice more and Hang Phil Mickelson Less
Okay so a PGA Tour also-ran, a guy who makes close to a million dollars for finishing 82d and 91st, when he plays the Tour at all, dimes Phil Mickelson as a cheater for playing approved clubs from 1990ish??? What a tool. “Watermelon! Watermelon! Watermelon Rind! Look at the scoreboard and see who’s behind!”
When has Scott McCarron ever been relevant to the conversation? Look at these stats. He ought to be mortified to open his mouth. Zero wins! He’s should start the “Shut up already and win Club” with Frank Lickliter. But this is the behavior you sometimes get from millionaires who come in 82d. See the NBA for more examples.
Phil’s clubs are approved, so anyone can use the same equipment: end of story. If they tell you to report to the tee with a rake and an Easter Egg, you do it. Equipment doesn’t have a head, and golf is 90% mental…the rest is insanity.
PGA Show Merchandise – Tiger Woods Mistresses Golf Balls
by Tony Korologos
ORLANDO, FL - Here’s is the article and the video of the week.
I found the show stopper. Tail Of The Tiger Golf Balls is a set of one dozen golf balls, each of which contains one of the first 12 mistresses of Tiger Woods. Picture and video above.
If Elin is happy, we should be happy
The most important person – the person who’s “temperature” the media should “take” in gauging whether Tiger Woods is really learning from this experience and is on the road to recovery – is Elin. She’s been wronged, humiliated, and followed by the paparazzi. She’s been lied to repeatedly, belittled, and watched as her seemingly perfect family shattered in a heartbeat.
So if reports are true that she is happy with Tiger’s progress at Gentle Path clinic for sex rehab, that’s a good sign. Although it seems far too early to speculate too deeply, CBS reports – through two tabloid sources – that she was still interested in trying to save their marriage.
Several news outlets are reporting that Woods wants to stay married as a sham, a show for the cameras and the sponsors, but I don’t believe that Elin – after all she has been through – will allow IMG to run the show any more, not after they have been pandering and enabling serial philandering with strippers, hookers, waitresses, and Z-list celebutards like Jaimee “Money” Grubbs. Elin has 300 million reasons to leave, if she doesn’t like a single step in Woods’s post-rehab gentle path towards the future. If Tiger wants his life back to as-normal-as-it-can-be-post-scandal, he’ll have to do what she says when she says it.
After years of being the cat that ate the bird – in fact every bird that came along – now Woods is the most henpecked man in America. Elin will have him on double secret probation, which bodes well for better transparency, access, and altruism from Tiger, the lack of which helped blow the situation through the roof in the first place, and the continued lack of which will continue to result is a deserved vilification and demonization.
Nevertheless, now that the tabs are not only on his trail, but angry at the games being played and the addition of even more security around his family, Tiger better be squeaky clean, because they will continue to walk 360 degrees around him to find any and all dark corners, and woe to him if he relapses. They’ll also find out in a heartbeat if staying with Elin is really staying with him as a sham, and if someone else is sleeping in her place when the golf media aren’t looking.
And that is the real question isn’t it? Now that the golf media have taken an uppercut to the chin form the tabs and the blogs – who are not afraid of IMG or the Tour’s retribution and not beholden to them for access to Tiger which rank and file golf writers never got before, aren’t getting now, and never will get, world without end, Amen – now that golf writers have every right and duty to ask hard, probing questions, are they going to let Tiger and the Tour skate through the thin ice in the name of The Chase to Make Money off Breaking Jack’s Record?
Daily News Reports Elin Posed as Tiger in Text to Uchitel
Details have emerged about that fateful which ultimately sent Tiger Woods into sex rehab, and a bad-look-alike out in a mis-guided effort to throw the media off the trail. (Boy, wasn’t that just Gaffe-tastic! Thanks for the laughs!)
According to the Daily News, Woods broke the news to Elin that the National Enquirer story about he and Rachel Uchitel would be published. According to the article:
“The golfer told Nordegren that he and Uchitel were just friends and even put the New York party girl on the phone with his wife to reassure her.
But when Nordegren learned that the Enquirer was reporting that Tiger and Uchitel had a romantic rendezvous in Australia, she confronted the golfer.
Rather than fight, Woods took an Ambien and hit the hay, the report says.
It was while Woods was snoozing that Nordegren started snooping through her husband’s cell phone and discovered his text messages to Uchitel’s number, including one that read, “You are the only one I’ve loved.”….Nordegren, busted the girl-crazy golfer by using his cellphone to text his mistress – while pretending to be him, a new report says.
“I miss you,” Nordegren tapped out, according to the report. “When are we seeing each other again.”
After Rachel Uchitel texted back, Nordegren called her rival. When she answered, the angry wife reportedly said, “I knew it was you.”
“Oh f—,” Uchitel reportedly replied.”
This began the expose of not just this affair, bit Woods’s shameless philandering with cocktail waitresses, pancake waitresses in church parking lots, porn star hookers, strippers, and dingbat Z-list actresses on “Tool Academy.”
There’s an idea for Elin…send him to the Tool Academy.
Woods is at the Gentle Path recovery center in Mississippi, and required to tell Elin about every single act of infidelity in detail.
Daily Mail names 19th mistress of Tiger Woods as Brit Emma Rotterham
Georgina Littlejohn of the U.K. tabloid Daily Mail writes explosive allegations of sex and cover up regarding a newly discovered mistress of Tiger Woods. British mother of two Emma Rotterham was reportedly paid $500,000. for silence about their affair, but refused to surrender her cell phone to the Team Woods flunkies who delivered the cash to a secret location in Western Florida, as she hid out from the tabs at Woods’s insistence. From the article:
“According to a newspaper report today, the golfer gave mother of two Emma Rotherham $500,000 (£310,000) in cash after she promised never to speak about their 18-month fling.
Blonde Emma, 42, is said to be 34-year-old Tiger’s 19th conquest and his most recent mistress, was reportedly handed a bag by a member of the sportsman’s security team, which was stuffed with $100 bills.
And according to source close to Tiger, Emma had to sign a confidentiality agreement upon taking the money which bought her silence.
They said: ‘She’s very happy and walking round with a big grin on her face – like the cat that’s got the cream….Emma, who moved to Florida from London four years ago after her youngest daughter finished primary school, caught Tiger’s eye at the Blue Martini club, said to be one of his favourite haunts..’”
But here comes something even more radioactive…it seems everyone at the Orlando’s Blue Martini, which Tiger allegedly treated like his own personal den of iniquity, was well-acquainted with his philandering ways and looked the other way at the very least:
“The source said: ‘Tiger couldn’t keep his eyes of her butt. Everyone in the room knew what was going to happen sooner or later. He sat next to her most of the evening.
‘You could see he was making a play for her. Emma speaks very well with a posh English accent. And Tiger loved it. He thought she sounded classy and sexy.’
According to the source, they swapped numbers at the end of the night and embarked on an 18-month affair, which ended earlier this month when she was given her pay-off.
They would meet once a week at his office in Windermere for sex and Tiger even reportedly flew her out to Michigan last August where he was competing in the Buick Open tournament and introduced her to the drug Ambien, which made their sex ‘mind-blowing’.”
Hey Cialis! Viagra! You’re getting the pants beat off you in the sponsorship arena by a sleep aid! Think you might not be getting your money’s worth from the PGA Tour? Do you think anyone buys your product because of the ads they see on telecasts?
And if you needed further proof that Team Tiger is in full cover-up and intimidation mode – like they think they can exercise over you and the media post-rehab – here is your bottom line:
“She reportedly sent a text to Tiger who told her not to contact him as Elin was ‘going through everything’.
But when the News of the World found out about her, Tiger arranged for her to be driven away to the beach resort Naples on the other side of Florida to Orlando, where she was put up in the Ritz-Carlton hotel and told to stay out of sight.
“The insider said: ‘Emma was completely freaking out and didn’t want to be away from her teenage daughter. She told Tiger she would never talk about their affair but that she had to get back home to sort out her life.’
She was then moved to a rented villa on the Bay Hill golf resort near Tiger’s home, and he stayed in constant contact with her.
But the source said Emma felt like she was living like she was in a witness protection plan and she returned to her home before Christmas.
A week after New Year, she got her final text message from him, telling her to meet up with one of his security team who handed over the $500,000, but she refused to hand the aide her mobile phone which contained texts from Tiger.”
So, hiding and destroying evidence, kickbacks, and witness intimidation. Timid Finchem, what is your opinion on how all this makes the PGA Tour look? Do you think – for one second – that we’ll swallow the fake and fraudulent image you’re going to sell us ever again?
***cricket! cricket! cricket!***
On a personal note, I could never marry a girl named Emma…because then she’d be “Emma Flemma,” and that’s just too funny.
Ryan Ballengee Interviews Doug Barron
Nicely done, Ryan. Doug Barron not only proclaims his innocence, but demands greater transparency in the PGA Tour’s testing and punishments. We join in that request, except of course for Tim Finchem, who – in one of the biggest frauds in steroids testing history – surrendered his own dweeb-infused specimen, presumedly because he’s a shoo-in to captain the US Olympic Nimrod team.
Just like the PGA Tour doesn’t test for masking agents or HGH, I know they also don’t test for three martinis, clams casino, a nice piece of fish, garlic bread, two sides, and tiramisu. But thanks, Tim. The gesture really meant something.
I tell you what: next time you want to appear on camera in the middle of a tournament, could you offer us your specimen instead of doing an interview? It’ll draw higher ratings than your vacuous, self-indulgent B-school mumblings.
Anyhoo, here’s a good nugget from the article:
“Finchem said to me, ‘If you appeal, you would come down to court in Jacksonville and will lose.’,” Barron claims.
“[The Tour] had attorneys. They tried to bully me. But I can’t prove that I was made to be an example.”
It would have cost Barron $20,000 to fly himself, his lawyers, and his doctors down to Florida to participate in his appeal. Instead, he filed for a temporary restraining order in a Memphis, Tennessee, court.”
Video of the Week: John and Nikki Coke + Mentos Prank
These two are a scream…
And congratulate them…they just got engaged!
Garcia Breathes Fire! US Ryder Cup team better off without Tiger Woods
The funny thing about it is…he’s right! There’s no surly prima donna deliberately being passive aggressive and intentionally wearing the opposite color of the rest of the team so he could look like “the playing captain,” there’s no chump who refuses to get along with #2 in the world Phil Mickelson and flatten all comers like Mighty Thor’s Hammer, and there’s no club-throwing, curse-screaming, autograph-refusing tyrant who doesn’t want to be there because that event doesn’t count in the Chase to Steal Jack’s Record at All Costs.
Sergio Garcia once again shows he has no fear of Tiger Woods, and The Guardian calls him gutsy. He said,
“Without him, everyone wanted to be the leader. They played amazing golf. You could see a different energy in the team.”
Funny, bit a few months ago, we’d have hang, drawn, and quartered Garcia for that comment. Now that we see Woods exposed as a fraud and an excreble human being, Garcia and every other player can speak their mind freely, and should be encouraged to do so.
Australian Fans Lambaste Tiger, who is in Mississippi “recovering”
Fans at the Australian Open tennis tournament lampooned Tiger Woods, putting him in a giant purple pimp hat, with scepter, bling and cash as a joke, similar to the skit performed at a Jacksonville jaguars game earlier this year, where a character dress liked Elin chased a Tiger clad actor around with an oversized novelty club. Both crowds howled their approval.
Tim Finchem! Call your office! You too IMG, because if you think we’re going to believe his mea culpa – in light of reports he’s demanded and gotten special treatment at the Pine Grove facility – you’re sorely mistaken. Several news outlets report that – unlike every other patient – Woods has a single room rather than a roommate, that he is not required to attend group therapy. From the articles:
“Fellow patients who claim he is getting star treatment are furious.
While THEY must undergo group therapy, Tiger insists on only one-to-one sessions.
He is also said to get maid service, while other patients make their own beds, clean their rooms and have to scrub toilets as part of their therapy.
A source at the clinic said: “When Tiger enters one of the public areas, other patients have been told they have to leave the room. Other patients share a cabin, but Tiger has his own. His special privileges are causing a lot of resentment….Tiger is said to still believe that he does not have a problem. But he agreed to spend six weeks at the clinic in remote Hattiesburg after furious Elin ditched her wedding ring.“”
He, Finchem, and his handlers don’t get it: that’s exactly the kind of pandering and enabling that got him in this mess int he first place. The New York Post actually reported that a source said, “He’s doing it for his public image. That’s what he cares about most.
It’s shattered…and acting secretively and defensively will only make things worse.
Orlando Sentinel Reports Tiger in Mississippi for Sex Rehab Treatment
The first legitimate news outlet has finally reported conclusively that they believe Tiger Woods is in Hattiesburg, Mississippi for sex addiction recovery and treatment at Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services, one of the nation’s top treatment centers. The Orlando Sentinel quoted two TV Broadcasting sources in their story, which was previously reported by a few bloggers and tabloids.
The LA Times has also joined in reporting the story and has writers camped out as if trying to confirm Bigfoot. From their article:
“This all started Friday when celebrity Web site radaronline.com reported that Woods was at Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services, one of the nation’s top treatment centers. The place is owned by Forrest General Hospital, a couple of miles down the road.
Problem is the Pine Grove clinic is locked up tight. Celebrities apparently pass through there all the time, yet employees are bound by confidentiality agreements. And let’s face it: Celebrity rehab clinics are supposed to be in towns like Palm Springs or Los Angeles.
But it kind of makes sense that a sex addiction program is here. No one could possibly expect to find celebrities at a converted cottage-style motel, nestled between a rental car place and a windshield repair business in an aging part of town.
“Rock stars and big-name people come through here, and one of the reasons is no one would think they’re here,” Brantley says.”
By the Wei…err…way…Steph Wei, who is either right on top of the news, or just ahead of it, had this to say, quoting a trustworthy source in The Guardian’s Lawrence Donegan:
“It’s very possible this is just another rumor. But several media outlets in Mississippi were confirming the claim, citing sources from inside the clinic. The Guardian’s Lawrence Donegan reports:
A spokeswomen for the clinic declined to comment on Woods last night, and the sheriff’s office in Hattiesburg refused to confirm or deny reports that local police had stepped up security at the clinic following the arrival of a new celebrity patient.
However, WJTV television news in Jackson, Mississippi, reported that employees and visitors at the clinic have confirmed to its reporters that Woods is there. Meanwhile, one eyewitness said she saw Woods arriving at the Hattiesburg-Bobby L. Chain Municipal Airport on Monday night.”
Whether Woods is in Mississippi, Mineola, Myannmar, Marrakesh, or Mongolia doesn’t really matter. What matters is what kind of person returns: the same secretive, vindictive, arrogant pig he was before who only went to rehab for show, or a newly humble, grateful, transparent Woods who isn’t the biggest phony on the planet and trying to convince us that he’s superhuman. If this story form across the pond is true, don’t hold out hope that he’s engaged in any self improvement. From the article, titled “Team Woods crafts a “Shut up and Stay Deal for Elin:”
“An inside source said: ‘Tiger and his advisers are now trying to get a grip on his very messy situation. The stream of women revealing flings has halted and the team feel that if he can ride the storm for the next few months then people will forget about the scandal. Elin is the key to that. Under the proposal put forward by Tiger’s business associates she would stay with Tiger in the public’s eyes, but in reality they’d be leading separate lives in private. For that she’d receive a huge cut of his fortune and a share of his future earnings. Tiger’s people believe the public will think his home life simply can’t be as disjointed as reported and, with his wife still on board, he can’t have been such a bad boy.’
Elin is also demanding custody of their dogs, allegedly telling Woods, ‘I’m keeping our dogs – you can have your dogs!’
The pay-off would also include a large sum of money for the couple’s two children, Sam, 2, and Charlie, 11 months, and the promise Nordegren could live her own life.”
This story indicates that the real problem, the panderers and enablers, are not only still around, but still calling the shots. It dovetails perfectly with the New York Post report that Tiger’s mom Kultida is begging Elin to return and that “[Tida] had been telling everyone how ‘Team Woods’ would soon be back together and this all would blow over. That made Elin furious.”
But one of the final straws between the mother and daughter-in-law was when Tida accused Elin of hiring “pretty women” as house staff to try to test her husband amid rumors of infidelity, the friend said.
“Elin blew her top,” the source said.”
So that’s the situation folks: wed to the money and not to what’s right, Tiger, Nike, IMG, and Timid Timmy are gonna try to just lie to your face and act like nothing ever happened. Thank goodness Elin has enough ethics and mettle for all of them combined, because she’s doing a better job protecting golf’s image and virtues than everyone else. You go girl!
And, of course, in case anyone forgets, Dr. Galea and his little black bag of magic fairy dust are still looming on the side, ready to erupt on a moment’s notice.
Restaurant Review: My Kitchen in Forest Hills Still the best value in NYC
GALIK AMBARSOM SERVES UP MORE LUSCIOUS DESSERTS AT MY KITCHEN RESTAURANT IN FOREST HILLS
Your taxes are soaring, your health insurance is going through the roof, and gas prices are starting to pass $3.00 again, but you can still find a phenomenal value for dinner in New York City at Galik Ambarsom’s “My Kitchen” Restaurant in Forest Hills.
Year-in and year-out Forest Hills is praised as the best community/neighborhood in New York City. It has charming, dignified Tudor and Georgian style architecture, easy access to parks, golf, tennis, and Shea Stadium, and one great restaurant after another. Forest Hills was home to such luminaries as Donna Karan, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Carroll O’Connor, The Ramones, and Peter Parker (he’s Spider-Man, for those of you scoring at home).
Best of all, they know bargains in Forest Hills. There’s an old adage in New York City: anybody can find the great $60 steak. The key is to find the great $20 steak.
Well New York City: Meet Galik Ambarsom…again!
As a life-long restauranteur, Galik has not only treated New Yorkers to the best deals in town, but he gives each customer his personal attention. “We love Galik!” exclaimed a smiling customer, as she took a bite of his herb-crusted prime rib. “It’s rare to get such personal attention from a head chef, but he not only oversees every dish in the restaurant, he stops by to chat with every customer to make sure they are happy. And you can’t beat the prices.”
Indeed it is champagne quality at beer prices at My Kitchen. Although the menu changes from day-to-day, rotating in new American-Mediterranean cuisine, every entrée on last week’s menu was under $20, including Jumbo Shrimp Paella ($17), New York Sirloin Steak with potatoes and mushrooms ($18), and Veggie Pasta with Pesto and Gorgonzola ($14). “That’s a bargain all day long,” gushed a beaming Robert Gomez as he dove spoon first into Galik’s trademark dessert, strawberries and zabaglione.
“We’re running a special for Valentine’s Day,” explains Galik. A $40 prix fixe dinner includes green salad or country pate for an appetizer, steak or Norwegian Salmon for an entrée and choice of dessert along with a COMPLIMENTARY BOTTLE OF IMPORTED CHAMPAGNE! You read that correctly, you get a free bottle of champagne for dinner on Valentine’s Day with your dinner for only $40. Try doing that in Manhattan: the champagne alone will cost you double.
“We also have special full banquet menus that run from $25-$45 for large parties,” he explains. Indeed, the restaurant’s banquet business has been remarkable, with everything form weddings to graduations to birthdays. “Great food, great prices, and a five-star chef attending to your every need,” explained one customer. “My Kitchen has become a family tradition for us for both events and holidays.”
Specializing in Mediterranean and American cuisine, Galik’s sublime command of flavors puts My Kitchen over the top of most other NYC restaurants. Couple that with reasonable prices, and you need never purchase another $12 bowl of soup, $14 drink or $60 steak. With its scenic outdoor courtyard lit by Venetian lanterns, this romantic oasis is perfect for courting someone special.
Galik himself is just as much of a draw as his excellent menu. Proving once again that personalized attention and customer service are not dead, but are the cornerstones of any successful restaurant, his patrons come hungry, leave happy, and tell all their friends. Get a reservation now, before the Zagat’s crush turns this idyllic little getaway into a feeding frenzy.
Food: Six and a half stars (all ratings out of seven). Truly outstanding food: inventive recipes and old favorites means there;s something for everyone.
Service: Six stars. How could you expect anything else from a career restauranteur like Galik?
Value: Seven stars. You need to make the trip to Forest hills for a day of shopping, sports, and dinner. Your wallet will turn cartwheels when you’re done.
Overall: Six and a half stars.
My Kitchen
106-17 Metropolitan Ave.
Forest Hills, NY 11375
718.544-5644