Guess who’s back?

It begins with a T and normally ends with him winning.

Tiger Woods is ending his nearly eight-month long absence from the PGA Tour, announcing that he will defend his title in the $8.5 million WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship next week at Dove Mountain in Marana.

Woods, who has not played since his playoff win in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, made the announcement on his web site.

“I’m now ready to go play again,” Woods said.

Welcome back Tiger, Golf has missed you.

In other news, I will be enjoying my first round of golf for quite some time this coming Sunday. I’ll be enjoying 9-holes at my local course, and depending on how I play, I may let you know how I get on!

Interview: England U18 star, Hugo Dobson

The English Golf Union has included three uncapped players among the 11 to form its England Under 18 training Squad for 2009.

One of the trio is 17-year-old Suffolk golfer, Hugo Dobson. The youngster is the current Suffolk Junior Champion, has finished fourth in the Fairhaven Trophy and came seventh in the Carris Trophy.

We caught up with Dobson in order to learn a little more abut him.

Hi Hugo, first things first, what is your handicap?
I currently play off 1.

You were recently named in the England Under 18 training Squad for 2009. Was that a shock? Are you excited by the prospect?
Well to be honest, I wasn’t shocked at first because I was traveling to play for England in Holland at the time. But once I got back home, I couldn’t believe that I was seen as one of the top 11 juniors in the country – I still don’t!

It’s a great honour though and I’m very excited about the prospect of it.

For those that haven’t seen you play, what do you think your strengths are?
Well I like to think my temperament is really good, which gives an edge over most players (my age), as lots of the juniors at the moment find it hard to control their emotions. But if you just put things into perspective, then you realise how stupid it is to get so upset over a golf shot!

Another positive from my point of view would be my desire to improve. I’m obviously not the number one in the world and I haven’t exactly have won a major or anything, but for most players it is easy to be happy with your game and not feel as if you need to improve. It’s just that I feel no matter how good or well I play, I know that it still isn’t perfect, so I know that I can always do better.

What about your weaknesses?
I could write a thousand words! But my main one is probably not staying in the present, especially when I know that I am leading.

Things like the winning speech get to me! Instead of thinking about the task in hand, I am instead thinking  of stuff like “how many people will be at the prize giving?” and “I hope that no one stays to hear the speech.”

So i suddenly find myself thinking about something miles in the future and occasionally that does effect my concentration!

Where is your home club?
I actually have two, Fynn Valley and Woodbridge.

Who is you favorite player and why?
My favourite player is Tiger. Not bacause of him being the best in the world, but because of what he has done for the game. I mean he has completely changed all the stereotypical views on the game and in a way made it ‘cool’, which has ultimately lead others to do the same.

What is your favourite golf club and why?
Well so far the best club I have been to is Valderrama in Spain, walking round that course always inspires me.

Finally, what does the future hold? Is the aim to eventually go Pro?
Yea, for sure. I have always wanted to be a tour pro, even in pre-school when everyone else wanted to be a fireman or astronaut I said that I wanted to play on the European tour!

Not many of my mates knew what I was talking though, which I guess is hardly surprising, seeing as we were only five!

Cheers Hugo, and good luck with the England squad!

Is golf better off without Woods?

The PGA tour has had one notable absentee of late. World number one Tiger Woods had to take an enforced break from the game due to a knee injury that required surgery.

We know what’s in his bag, but is the game better off without him?

Tiger generally dominates the golf scene, so it has been argued by his fellow professionals that the game has benefited from its stint without Tiger.

Both Mark O’Meara and Colin Montgomerie have said that tournaments have been, and will be, much more open, leaving the path clear for anyone who has the cajonas to step up to the plate.

You can be sure that whoever does win a competition in Tiger’s absent will be posed the following question; “Would you have won it if Tiger was here?” Well the answer should be; “He’s not here, so it doesn’t matter! In ten years time people will forget that Tiger wasn’t here, they will just see who won it!”

I’m actually of the opinion that golf is weaker without Tiger. His persona and his performances often raise the level of good golf on offer, which can only be good thing and I’m looking forward to having him back on the tour.

What’s in Tiger Woods’ bag?

     

Here is a questions that golf enthusiasts around the world should know the answer to…

Which golf clubs does the best player in the world use?

Everyone wants to play like Tiger, you’d be a fool not to. But he would be nothing without his clubs, they are vital.

He has been described as the best golfer of all time and despite currently being out injured, he is still a hot topic in the the golf world.

Tiger swears by his Nike clubs, although, for $90m, so would I… 

So here we go:

Driver: Nike SQ Tour 7.5° w/ Mitsubishi Diamana Whiteboard Shaft

3 Wood: Nike SQ II 15° w Mitsubishi Diamana Blueboard

5 Wood: Nike SQ II 19°

Irons (3-PW): Nike Blades with True Temper Dynamic Gold X-100

Wedges: Sand wedge: Nike Pro Combo 56°, lob wedge: Nike VR 60°

Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist TW prototype

Ball: Nike One Platinum complete with “Tiger” inscription

So there we have it. 

If you have a spare two grand lying around, i’m fairly sure you could afford most of that…

Golf at the 2016 Olympics?

Golf was among seven sports making their case for inclusion in to the Olympics, competing for two spots on the program for the 2016 Summer Games.

Baseball, golf, karate, rugby, softball, roller sports and squash made hour-long, closed-door presentations to the International Olympic Committee’s program commission.

The sports for London 2012 have already been decided and these seven have to wait until next October to find out if they have a place in the 2016 Games.

It’s been a century since golf was an official sport in the Olympics, with George Lyon of Canada claiming the last gold medal in 1904. 

While it would be interesting to see golf included as an official sport, I also have my reservations. For me, the Olympics should be the pinnacle of each particular sport, and I’m not convinced that a gold medal would top the ‘must have’ list of the Pro’s.

It seems that Tiger also shares my view…
 

“It would be great to have an Olympic gold medal, but if you asked any player, ‘Would you rather have an Olympic gold medal or green jacket or Claret Jug (given to British Open champion)?’ more players would say the majors.”

 

A possible solution could be to ban the pro’s and in true Olympic spirit, limit the competition to just the game’s top amateurs.

However, while there are those against golf at the Olympics, there are of course plenty backing the possible inclusion.

Anthony Kim, for one, says it would be an honor to play for a medal while Annika Sorenstam from Sweden, Phil Mickelson from the United States, Suzanne Petterson from Norway and Vijay Singh from Fiji are also known supporters.

The proposed format for the Games is 72 holes of stroke play, with a limit of three spots for each country, determined by world rankings or wild-cards.

So will it be included? I guess we’ll just have to wait until next October to find out!