Keep them doggies Roland..RAWHIDE

So the plan this weekend was to leave early Sunday morning for Whispering Pines in Trinity and to cover the final round of the Big 12 Championship before (finally) going home.

How-EVUH!!

There is the small matter of Roland Thatcher, Houston native, Carlton Woods member. Through 16 holes yesterday Thatch was tied with Adam Scott for the lead at 5-under. A bogey-bogey finish dropped him back into a tie for fourth. He's close though, and chipping and putting well. If he has a good ball-striking round today he could be in the final group.

This could mean that I leave Dallas at about 6 p.m. tomorrow, since I'll be staying in the event that Thatch picks up his first PGA Tour win. Not as bad as Texas-OU when I left Ft. Worth at 10 p.m. (thank you Dylan Welch).

Iron Byron

I got to say, of all the commutes between the major cities in Texas (Austin-San Antonio, Austin-Dallas, Dallas-San Antonio, Houston-Austin, Houston to San Antonio) that Houston to Dallas is the worst. Normally I'm aces about driving whatever distance you need but this drive really taxes me. For one, there is nothing to look at. I-45 cleaves straight through the Pinney Woods. You get the sensation of driving down a shoot of featureless green. No scenery. At least Austin to Dallas has Waco to break the monotony, not to mention views. When the Buckees in Madisonville opens (coming soon!) it will be the biggest thing along the route. No, Huntsville doesn't count. It's basically North Houston anyway.

There's one interesting sign though. Woody's Smokehouse in Centerville claims to be the jerky capital of the world. I mean, really? I'm testing it out on the way back. Exit 134. Can't be as good as Whittington's in Johnson city, I say.

As you can guess, yeah I'm at the Byron Nelson.

Anyway, this is the first day of the tournaments. Matthew Goggin (no idea) is currently leader. No Tiger, no Phil, no Vijay, no Ernie, no Boo (my fav). There is Sergio and Adam. Both are paired together the first two days and both should draw plenty of Nelsonettes.

If you're a Houston sports fan resentful of the Cowboys, come to Dallas during Rangers season. Instant Schadenfreude. They allowed 19 runs last night. I'm smiling as I write this.

The media amnenites at this tourney are nuts. They have a huge lounge area for us to relax, read, and talk on our cell phones, incredible food, a frappuccino machine, and the kicker....A NINTENDO WII FOR MEDIA USE!! Green eggs and ham that's awesome. I soundly defeated Mark, our executive editor, in a three-hole Wii Golf match this morning.

By the way, if you're ever at the McKinney Starbucks off ElDorado and Jimmy is your barista, order the "Gentleman's Latte." It'll change your life.

Late Post

Umm...sooo. Are there any readers of this left besides my dad? *crickets chirp*

Apologies for the lengthy absence. Instead of trying to catch up by posting what I should have, allow me to offer some quick hits:

Johnson Wagner wins the SHO

Pretty impressive considering that Phil, Geoff Ogilvy, Steve Stricker, and a lot of other winners were playing in Houston, AND Wagner didn't rank highly in almost any PGA Tour statistical category. He's a real nice guy, and you can tell this win meant more to him than it would have to a proven champion. Fun fact, his actual first name is Montford. Awesome. The first Blair offspring has a new first name: Montford Danger Blair.

Trevor Immelman wins the Masters

Or Tiger lost it, depending your mood. Even though much hullabaloo was made over Tiger's missed chances (and rightly so) Immelman won it more than Tiger lost it. How clutch was hit putt from off the green at 11. Super clutch. everyone kept saying he was going to crack under pressure and he didn't. By the way, did you hear he's a fan of Gary Player? Coincidentally I'm at the Byron Nelson right now and he opened with an 8-over 78. D'oh.

Adam Scott Likes This Course Okay

On the final hole at last year's SHO, Adam Scott made a 48-foot par putt to win. On the first hole today he made a 55-foot birdie putt that jump-started a course record 9-under 63. The funny thing is that he almost withdrew. Scott took awhile to come into the press center after his round because he was being looked over by the medical staff. Turns out he is running a fever and could be suffering from strep throat. He said he's felt crappy all week and didn't want to get out of bed. In the end, he decided to come out and see how he did. I wonder who felt worse, Scott or Jason Gore, who did withdraw due to illness?

Welcome to the SHO! Part I

Wow, I can't believe SHO week is already here. Seriously, it's APRIL!! I feel like I'm still recovering from Christmas. Apologies for not updating sooner during the week...I also can't believe it's already Thursday.

The Shell is one of the few weeks of the year when we get to cover the professional circuit. It's interesting to see how the national golf media lives. Sometimes it can be pretty messy. Yesterday we all wanted to talk to Phil Mickelson after his pro-am round, but Phil didn't want to come into the media center, and wanted to do his interview outside the scorer's hut. It was drizzling, and us print guys had to jockey for position with the TV vultures. We stood in a semicircle for almost 15 minutes waiting for Phil to finish 18, and complete the autograph guantlet. As soon as Phil stepped into the circle the TV cameras closed like a trap, shutting most of the print guys outside of the circle. I almost lost an arm shoving my recorder through a gap. The TV guys (who only think about golf when they drive by a putt-putt course) asked only six stock questions, including such gems as "With all the attention to (Tiger) do you ever feel like your career is overlooked?" Answer: "Not really." THAaaaaNKS!!!

It was lame. After this week I can't wait to get back to the events where it's just me.