"Y'all the State Champs!"

Okay, quickly, Byron Nelson bookend.


Thatch had a rough Saturday, shooting 2-over 72 to fall well back. He rallied on Sunday to tie for 7th, so good on him. Adam Scott of course, defeated Ryan Moore on the third playoff hole by draining a 48'7" putt for birdie. Coincidentally, that is the exact same length (down to the inch!) of putt that he made on the final green to win the SHO in 2007. It also marks the second consecutive year (don't forget Scotty V's mini-Crenshaw moment) that the Byron Nelson has had a memorable finish despite a lackluster field, so no complaining, Dallasites!

So this week is all about getting as much writing done as possible in time to cover the State High School Championships in Austin all next week.



Houston has a lot of horses in the race...from Montgomery 4A girls going for eight (8!) in a row, to Clements' Blake Redmond (left) defending his 5A individual title, to The Woodlands defending their 5A team title, to Cory Whitsett (right) trying to get the win that slipped away from him last year. I love covering high school golf but to be honest, I get the impression that a lot of the upper-tier talents have a lackadaisical attitude about. They play in so many quality tournaments that high school is kind of second rate. However, as take-it-or-leave-it they may feel about the actual tournament, you can see that they all really care about their teammates. Team golf is always fun to cover.


So who's the team to beat in Austin this year? I'd say the Dillon Panthers.

Seriously though. They should do a high school golf episode of Friday Night Lights, my favorite show. They already have showcased volleyball and soccer. We all know that bad boy halfback Tim Riggins plays because of that one episode where he got hustled by his alcoholic, deadbeat, Corpus Christi golf pro father. Did I mention this show is awesome? SO glad it's coming back. I imagine Dillon Golf Club being a lot like another small town golf course that I frequent. Suffice to say, Hallettsville Golf Club's most arresting architectural feature is the chain-link backstop behind the eighth hole.

Good luck at State, kiddos!

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.

Bobby Lord Update

It's really easy for us to dehumanize the athletes we watch on TV. Their extraordinary level of play, their bank accounts, their jet set lifestyle are all factors that help us forget that sports stars are regular people. For me, the most memorable moment of Tiger Woods' career wasn't a fist pump or a chip-in, but the emotional hug he gave Steve Williams after winning the first major after the loss of his father. Because you know what? We've all been on the giving or recieving end of that hug.

We were reminded again when Ernie Els announced that his five-year-old son Ben has autism.

The news made my think back to one of my favorite stories of 2007: Special Olympian Bobby Lord. We profiled Bobby in our May 2007 edition. Bobby worked at the driving range at Magnolia Creek. As far as I know he still does. But what the golfers aiming 7-irons at the ball-picker didn't know was that the driver, Bobby, could deadlift 600 pounds. That's right, Bobby is the best Special Olympian power-lifter in the country. When I talked to Bobby and his parents way back in April, Magnolia Creek had just hosted a golf-a-thon to raise money for a trip to Shanghai to compete in the Special Olympics World Championships in October. I know I'm a little late with the update, but nonetheless I'm happy to report that Bobby captured two golds and one silver while competing in the highest level of power-lifting. Bobby also loves playing golf as much as he does lifting.

I wish everyone could have a chance to meet and talk to people like Margie, Robert and Bobby. They really opened my eyes to some misconceptions about autism.

"(Most people) think that autism is a severe mental handicap when in fact it is a perceptional disorder that does not in any way limit their motor skills or ability to perform sports," Margie told me. "In some ways it enhances their ability to play sports because of their tenacity. They're never going to quit. When everyone else is leaving the golf course or putting green, they're still going to be there."