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Record Broken at The Masters..

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Matteo Manassero (photo by Vinod Divakaran / CC BY 2.0)

No, it does not consist of how many women a golfer has slept with. As a matter of fact, Tiger is not even involved in this.

Check out this tidbit the AP reported: “Italian 16 year-old Matteo Manassero became the youngest player to ever make the cut at the Masters, sinking three long par putts on the back nine Friday to finish at 3-over—right on the cutline. Manassero has now made the cut at both his majors, having tied for 12th at last summer’s British Open. “I always want to stay levelheaded since that’s the education that my parents gave me,” he said. “My parents help me also in this period to stay more level. But I dream for something like the Masters.” So do older golfers, and they don’t have his track record.

Manassero, who last summer became the youngest winner in the 124-year history of the British Amateur, shattered Augusta National’s previous record for youngest player to make the cut. South African Bobby Cole was about a month shy of his 19th birthday when he made it in 1967. Manassero is also the first amateur to play the weekend since 1999.And he’s the lone teenager out of the four in this year’s field to make the cut.”

Now, I’m not knocking Tiger’s return or his warm welcome by the fans. It’s just that I noticed how this feat by Manassero got pushed to the back burner because the prodigal son has returned. You know last time I checked, there weren’t too many 16 year olds making there way around Augusta National for a crack at the green jacket. Know why? BECAUSE IT’S THE FIRST F%@$IN’ TIME…EVER!

Kudos to you, Matteo! From one Paesano to another, in bocca al lupo!

The Masters to the Rescue?

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Image courtesy of someecards.com

The folks over at someecards.com really have a way with words. But all sarcasm aside, the above graphic isn’t too far fetched. For the last few months, everyone tied to the golf industry has looked at this Tiger situation with a weary eye.

From the pro tours down to the golf retailers, the thought of a season without the sport’s golden child was troublesome to say the least. No Tiger meant no ratings, which would inevitably lead to lower sales and less interest – all this piled atop an already slow market do to the current economic climate.

Meanwhile, those of us in the golf blogosphere have had a field day as the public gorged themselves on all the lusty details. Yet even the non-traditional media harbored an ominous feeling for the golf industry in general – once the gossip hounds digressed, would our readership digress as well?

But then came the announcement that Tiger’s eagerly anticipated return would play-out at the most renowned golf event of the year – The Masters. With this news, the power-players in the golf industry breathed a sign of relief – the prodigal son had returned. But will it matter?

I think people will watch this tournament – and I think many will be virgin viewers, who have never watched a golf tournament before. They will look intently at every move Tiger makes – diagnosing not his swing, but his demeanor.

What will his body language tell them about his frame of mind? Has he been mentally compromised? Is he truly sorry for what he did? These are questions people want to know the answers to – despite the fact they may never learn those answers. So yes, in a way – The Masters has inadvertently come to the rescue of golf in its time of need. But what about next week?

The good news is, eventually golf (especially the pro tours) will return to normalcy. The bad news is, golf (especially the pro tours) will return to normalcy. Pondering some foresight, November 2009 – April 2010 will just be a spike on the graph of golf’s timeline – a swirling media buzz that brought widespread interest to an otherwise niche group of fans.

Tigers Graph

The trick is, for the golf industry, to capture that media buzz on a more frequent basis…albeit without the scandalously delicious plot.

Are You Betting on Tiger to Win The Masters? Or Just Betting?

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Are you betting on The Masters? (photo by Tom Lianza / CC BY 2.0)

Are you like me? Do you think betting on sports makes things a bit more interesting? No? Well, you’re wrong. It does. Let’s say you’re watching a football game between the Browns and Rams. Unless you’re a fan of one of the two, most people don’t care about the result, right? Well, put $50 on it. Now what?

Throughout every individual sport’s season, there are all kinds of games that don’t matter to a casual fan. But once the chance to win some money enters the equation, suddenly an all new interest becomes apparent. Think about the Super Bowl. The boxes get passed around the office and even the people who think the Lakers played the Yankees in the Stanley Cup Finals last year are scribbling their name into three or four empty slots. They’re dropping $20 or so, on a game they don’t know the first thing about, in the hopes of winning a couple of Franklins. NCAA tournament time is another great example. I don’t follow college hoops all that closely, but year in and year out, I’m filling out at least one bracket! Between all the boxes, brackets, pools and, who could forget, fantasy sports, a little wager makes watching the game(s) all the more interesting.

However, some of the greatest wagers you’ll find come from Vegas around Super Bowl time. Fun, out of the ordinary bets such as, “Will the Colts and Saints combine for more points than the New Jersey Nets?” or “Will Kobe Bryant outscore the Colts?” or “What color hat will Peyton Manning wear on the sideline, blue or white?” Some of these bets have almost nothing to do with the game, but they simply provide some fun to either a fan or non-fan. It gives everyone at least a bit of a reason to tune in.

Sparked by the return of Tiger, some of these off-beat wagers are now becoming popular in the golf betting world. According to Bodog Sportsbook Manager Richard Gardner, betting on the Masters has doubled from last year. Included in all of those extra wagers are not only the old “Who will win The Masters?” and “Where will Tiger Woods finish?” Now we’re seeing wagers a little more, dare I say, fun? Let’s take a look at some examples:

What color hat will Tiger Woods wear in Round 1?

Black 5/4
White 7/4
Red 7/2
Blue 11/2
Any Other Color 8/1

Will Tiger Woods be Heckled after Addressing the Ball and Step Away?
Yes -120
No -120

Will Elin Nordgren be Seen on Camera?

I hope you already placed your wager on this one since Tiger has already given away the answer.

Will Tiger Woods cry during his acceptance speech if he wins?

Yes -120
No -120

Thank goodness for the world of sports gambling. Without it, for many people who aren’t all that interested in the PGA Tour and have lost interest in the Ringling Brothers & Tiger Woods circus, this is just another golf tournament. But for people who partake in the gambling side of things…there’s more to it than the tournament itself. There’s the prospect of winning (or losing) some money. There’s the idea of looking at things in the tournament that, normally, you would pay little to no attention. And the PGA should be happy also, as this brings in more viewers who normally may not have paid any mind.

Don’t get me wrong, the amount of wagers is not exactly approaching Super Bowl standards. But to have the amount of wagers double, that alone shows, thanks to Tiger, the amount of interest generated for this years Masters. Me personally, I never do much more than quickly peek in to see what’s going on. This year will likely be no different. Although, I’ll most likely be peeking in with the hopes Tiger dons a red hat on day 1.

First Golf Round of the New Season…And a Quick Mention of Tiger

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golfing-219993_640OK, so before I get started I guess I have to quickly get into the “Tiger spoke, so I’m obligated to make mention of it” frame of mind. It’s his first actual interview since the show he put on for his statement, and it started out with some promise.

I’m told by the ESPN anchor that this is a “no-holds barred, no question off-limits interview.” Great! That’s kind of what everyone wanted in the first place right? Of course, two of the first three questions were not answered as they were “private matters” for Tiger. There were three questions in total answered this way. I understand they are private matters, and should remain so, but don’t tell me it’s a “no question off-limits” interview if it’s actually not. Well, I guess the questions can be asked…but you’re not necessarily going to get an answer.

But my favorite part of this latest Tiger episode was this exchange:

Tom Rinaldi: Why not seek treatment before all of this came out?
Tiger: I didn’t know I was that bad.
Rinaldi: How did you learn you were that bad?
Tiger: Stripping away denial, stripping away rationalization.

What?! You didn’t know you were that bad? Has anyone else been following this story? Has anyone else seen the text messages that were released? He knew EXACTLY what he was doing. The guy acted like he was on a top-secret, James Bond-like, covert mission for cryin’ out loud! And as for the second question…”stripping away denial, stripping away rationalization” – Hey buddy…you got caught!! Stop making excuses! Just come out and say it – “I didn’t learn…I got caught!!!”

This is not what I wanted to talk about today, but for heaven’s sake, when the most honest man among athletes is Jose Canseco…we have a real problem.

I digress.

What I really wanted to talk about was my first time out on the course this year. See, here in Connecticut, we’ve had about a week’s worth of unseasonably warm temperatures and beautiful days. Mid-to-upper 60’s (even cracking 70 a couple of times), sunny, light breeze…perfect golf weather! Hey, the weather is great, it’s the first day of spring…why not make it the first day of golf also? I can’t remember the last time I played golf in March. Actually, I may have never played this early! So I called up Stinky Golfer Greg to see if he had time to squeeze in nine holes. Lucky for me, he did.

We’re both fired up to get back out there, break-out the sticks, and show this course what we’ve got! But once out there, we’re quickly reminded what the long winter lay-off has done to our games. I’m not a great golfer by any means to begin with, and I went to the range only once during the off-season. Greg didn’t go at all. We’re both out of “golf shape,” and it’s showing. Nevertheless, we pushed on.

By roughly the fourth or fifth hole, we came to realize we are not only out of golf shape, but we haven’t yet shed ourselves of the extra “winter weight” yet. We begin a bit of huffin’ and puffin’. Note to self: For future first-rounds-of-the-season…take a cart.

When all nine holes were said and done…we both played like it was our first time out…ever! But the best part is, neither of us cared. We were out on the course, early in the new season no less, and that was all that really mattered. We didn’t really care all that much what the scorecard told us. It didn’t much matter that, next to Greg’s name, it appeared as if I was writing in binary code a few times. It also didn’t matter that my final tally may have appeared a bit closer to an area code than a golf score. No…what really mattered was being out there in the first place. Nice weather, hanging with a friend, conversation, laughs, clubs in hands, hacking our way through a track. This is what it’s all about.

So here’s to the promise of a new season…and the disappointment it will ultimately render in October.

Swing ’til your happy, friends!

Golf and This Thing of Ours

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Recently, I ran across an interesting article about mobsters Al Capone and Sam Giancana’s passion for golf. These two Chicago gangsters actually used a nine iron for what it was meant to be used for. Not for nothing but I’m glad I wasn’t around to keep score.

Dave Kindred, a contributing writer to Golf Digest wrote:

One dark and steamy Chicago summer night, the telephone rang as Harry Pezzullo watched the fights. Golf pros don’t get many late-night pleas from clients. But there was no confusion once Pezzullo heard Sam Giancana’s voice. The ganglord said to the pro, “Get your ass down to the club.” Money had changed hands that afternoon, most of it leaving Giancana’s. He wanted the pro to look at his swing. More than that, he wanted it fixed. Now. “Now?” Pezzullo said. Said Giancana, “Now.”

It was getting on to midnight and Harry Pezzullo was in his pajamas. His two sons were asleep. When he told his wife about the call, Mrs. Pezzullo offered sage advice. She said, “Get your ass down there. I don’t want ’em coming here.” Because Mission Hills had no lighted practice tee, Giancana’s boys arranged for their cars’ headlights to shine on the boss and the pro. Somebody emptied a gross of new balls onto the ground. Pezzullo looked at Giancana’s swing. Made a fix here and there. Rerouted the plane. Fiddled with the grip. The sleight of hand had its drama.

Meanwhile, the golf stories about Al Capone go as follows:

More brazen than wise, Banjo Eyes once accused Capone of cheating. The big guy replied, “On your knees and start praying.” He pulled from his golf bag a .45 revolver. Sullivan wrote that only his plea for Banjo Eyes life stayed a fairway execution. Jostled in the golf bag another day, a revolver fired a bullet that tore through Capone’s right leg and embedded in the left. A week’s stay in the hospital preceded his return to Burnham. “After that,” Sullivan wrote, “the boys double-checked to make sure the safety catch was on before they deposited any gun in a golf bag.”

With all of this talk about “family” it made me wonder; What would pro-golfers names be if they were gangsters?

The Boss:
Ben Hogan a.k.a “The Godfather” a.k.a “Two Iron Tex”

The Under-Bosses:
Sammy Snead a.k.a uhhhhh…”Slammin’ Sammy”…go figure
Byron Nelson a.k.a “Cut Man”

The Consigliere’s (Advisers):
Jack Nicklaus a.k.a “Nicky Bear”
Arnold Palmer a.k.a “Bay Hill Bang”
Gary Player a.k.a “Lights Out”

The Caporegime’s (Captains):
Greg Norman a.k.a “Shark”…again, go figure.
Fred Couples a.k.a “Boom Boom Copolla”
Payne Stewart a.k.a “St. Stewart” All respect to this man…
Nick Faldo a.k.a “Anchor Man”
Tiger Woods a.k.a “Cablinasian Kid”
John Daly a.k.a “Sloppy Joe”
Sergio Garcia a.k.a “Borriol Bull”
Ernie Els a.k.a ” E Double”
Phil Mickelson a.k.a “Lefty Flop”
Vijay Singh a.k.a “Three Finger Fiji”

Now that’s a family tournament if I ever saw one…Hit ’em straight and remember: Do the right thing!

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