Woods reflective in latest website post

Tiger Woods is in a reflective mood these days, if his latest entry on his website is any indication.

In a post dated March 11, Woods offers his thoughts on the recent dinner hosted by Jack and Barbara Nicklaus for Ryder Cup hopefuls, his early years on the PGA Tour, his recent appearance at Bluejack National, the course he designed near Houston, the state of his physical rehab and even Peyton Manning's retirement.

On the Ryder Cup dinner: Woods revealed that he was the first to arrive at the Nicklaus home in North Palm

Beach, Fla., and chatted with Nicklaus. Also there were Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III and Woods' fellow assistant captains Tom Lehman and Jim Furyk. "We mostly talked about fishing and how I'm progressing. Jack, Davis and Tom talked about their experiences and what to expect. Jim asked questions, and it was good to hear from the younger guys who are on the cusp of making the team for the first time. It was nice to get things out in the open, so they understand what the atmosphere will be like. I think the dinner was a great idea and brought a lot of guys closer."

Recommended SURE BET:

SOCCER PREDICTIONS FOR SATURDAY 12-03-2016

GERMANY BUNDESLIGA1:

Bayern Munich - Werder Bremen    1WIN  

HUNGARY OTB BANK LIGA:

Ferencvaros - Puskas Academy        1WIN

Debrecen – Honved                1WIN

HOLLAND EREDIVISIE:

PSV – Heerenveen                 1WIN

NORTHERN IRELAND PREMIERSHIP:

Crusaders – Ballymena          1WIN

SCOTLAND PREMIERSHIP:

Partick - Celtic                       1WIN

Aberdeen – Kilmarnock        1WIN

SLOVAKIA FORTUNA LIGA:

Podbrezova – Zilina               1WIN

Ruzomberok – Skalica          1WIN

SPAIN PRIMERA DIVISION:

Barcelona - Getafe                 1WIN

Celta Vigo - Real Sociedad    1X      

Atl. Madrid - Dep. La Coruna 1WIN

On his early years on Tour: "Sitting around with the younger guys made me think about my early years on the PGA Tour. I left Stanford after my sophomore year and was the only one my age (20) out there. That was tough. Eventually, guys I played with in college trickled out. "Now, there's a core of younger guys, like Rory (McIlroy), Jason (Day), Rickie (Fowler) and Jordan (Spieth). It's a talented group that will compete against each other for a long time."

On his recent visit to Bluejack National, where he attended the grand opening of a 10-hole short course: "It was a great day, and quite honestly, I couldn't have scripted it any better. Taylor Crozier, Ceci Lococo and I comprised the inaugural group, and on the 81-yard, par-3 first hole, 11-year-old Taylor of Corpus Christi, Texas, aced it. How cool was that? The fans went wild, and I bear-hugged him. It was a moment we won't forget."

On how his rehab from back surgery is progressing: "Health-wise, I continue to improve. I'm working hard on my short game at my outdoor practice facility and on my indoor Full Swing golf simulator. Still no timetable on my return, but I'm excited to get back out there with the guys."

Finally, on Manning: "Congratulations to my friend Peyton Manning on his Hall of Fame career. I look forward to playing more golf with him, and right now, getting more shots. Hopefully, this will translate to more wins for my Raiders!"

SOURCE:http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/woods-reflective-latest-website-post/

Read More

Social media a tough balancing act for stars

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Nearly 2.5 million people follow Ian Poulter on Twitter and Instagram, so whenever he posts about his Ferrari collection or his clothing line or his latest result, it doesn’t go unnoticed.

The majority of the responses are positive and optimistic, kind and supportive.
But then he will scroll through this:

maybe you could play aff the womans tees. Give U a chance.
time for retirement …..
start makin more putts for birdie instead of bogey and you might actually play
The problem, of course, is that Poulter admittedly reads it all – the good, the bad and the downright vicious.

“I’m an idiot,” he said. “I’ve had enough warnings, and unfortunately you can have a hundred good messages and one bad one, and the one bad one really pisses you off.

“So note to self: Don’t (expletive) read the comments.”

The explosion of social media has made politicians, TV stars and athletes more accessible than ever before.

Sadly, that also has its drawbacks.

It is, without a doubt, one of the greatest complications of the Internet age: the free exchange of ideas also offers the angriest and most miserable people a voice, a platform, where they muster up the keyboard courage and spew hatred without consequence.

---

Recommended SURE BET:

---

SOCCER PREDICTIONS FOR SATURDAY 12-03-2016

GERMANY BUNDESLIGA1:

Bayern Munich - Werder Bremen    1WIN  

HUNGARY OTB BANK LIGA:

Ferencvaros - Puskas Academy        1WIN

Debrecen – Honved                1WIN

HOLLAND EREDIVISIE:

PSV – Heerenveen                 1WIN

NORTHERN IRELAND PREMIERSHIP:

Crusaders – Ballymena          1WIN

SCOTLAND PREMIERSHIP:

Partick - Celtic                       1WIN

Aberdeen – Kilmarnock        1WIN

SLOVAKIA FORTUNA LIGA:

Podbrezova – Zilina               1WIN

Ruzomberok – Skalica          1WIN

SPAIN PRIMERA DIVISION:

Barcelona - Getafe                 1WIN

Celta Vigo - Real Sociedad    1X      

Atl. Madrid - Dep. La Coruna  1WIN

To leave a comment on this website, users must register an account with Facebook or Google Plus. The thinking is that it would discourage an anonymous fool from polluting what can be sensible discourse. But peruse the comments left on social-media posts by LeBron James, Bryce Harper and Tom Brady. Some are complimentary. Many are sadistic, racist, homophobic or sexually explicit.

Granted, those superstars have it worse, the battle lines drawn because of their team affiliation, their significant others, their big-money contracts, their spirited style of play. Oftentimes, they are despised simply because of the logo on their jersey.

But it’s more personal in golf, because it’s an individual pursuit, and the high-profile players are targets for the fans’ vitriol. Sift through the carnage … sorry, comments … on any website, on any given day, and the world’s best golfers apparently are hacks, clowns, spoiled, thin-skinned, overrated, phonies and losers.

Justin Thomas noticed that the same few users will comment every time he shoots an over-par round, almost as if they’re waiting on their phone for the score to become official.

“A lot of them are honestly hysterical,” Thomas said, “and people hide behind their phones and say whatever, and once they get called out, from anybody, they quickly go back into their little hole and support you.”

When a Twitter user needled Jason Dufner about his winless drought, Dufner responded with a picture of him holding the Shark Shootout trophy. A month later, when he won again in Palm Springs, he reached out to the same fan with another trophy shot, this time with the caption: “another one..”

In one of the most memorable social-media interactions last year, Rickie Fowler buried a pair of haters on Instagram – one who insulted his then-girlfriend, another who criticized his swing.

Taking a blowtorch to the trolls publicly may produce an avalanche of retweets, likes and attaboys, but many wonder why a public figure even acknowledges the haters.

Perhaps more than any other Tour player, Poulter has engaged in numerous cyber scuffles. When asked why he responds to the naysayers, Poulter took a few seconds to process the question. Then he shrugged.

“Don’t know,” he said. “Sometimes you want to please the fans. It’s nice to read nice comments, but unfortunately there are dangers with doing so. Those dangers are a few idiots, a few very sad, lonely, pathetic, unhappy individuals who like to try and make misery for other people. So you have to manage what it is you want out of social media, but at times it’s tricky to be able to do that.”
Do the negative replies sting?

“Of course,” he said. “I try and brush it off, but when there are lots of idiots who say lots of things, then unfortunately it gets frustrating at times and you retaliate occasionally when you probably shouldn’t.

“Sometimes it’s very unjust. You work very, very, very hard to do something, and you put all the hours in, and somebody accuses you of being lazy or telling you to go practice and work harder and that you’re rubbish – and those are the polite versions – then it really annoys you and you want to tell that person,
‘Would you like to go forth and multiply?’ But you can’t do that. Then it’s out there in the outside world and you can get punished for it.”

A global superstar like Jordan Spieth has, incredibly, dodged much of the Internet bashing. He is good-natured, unfailingly polite and thoughtful, the total package, an All-American kid who is already a star pitchman. Polarizing, he is not.

And so it was a surprise to see Spieth get snippy on social media Thursday night. First he fired back at an Instagram user, who said that he was “garbage,” and then he called out the PGA Tour’s official Twitter account, which had highlighted a post-round comment that was made in jest.

Spieth said that he was “bored” and saw the nasty comment as he scrolled through his feed. Already frustrated after a poor round, he tapped out a reply. He’s human.

“You’ll probably never see me do that again,” he said Friday. “Obviously it was seen and known. It’s just really frustrating. I should never respond to any of that. Just let it go and by the time the next tournament rolls around, no one even remembers it anyway.”

This represents an ongoing inner struggle for Spieth, how to deal with social media, with the fallout and the bullies and the so-called experts. Earlier this year at Kapalua – a tournament he won by eight shots – he talked about trying to “quiet the noise” of the detractors while living in the spotlight.

The task is actually made easier at the majors. When he won wire-to-wire last year at the Masters, Spieth went on a social-media hiatus, passing the time at night by playing pingpong and watching movies at his rental house.

But it’s unrealistic to live in a bubble the rest of the year. He’s 22, after all. Even if he purposely tries to avoid the noise, he’s bound to notice a few criticisms or quips on his timeline or in his mentions. It’s unavoidable.

“There’s going to be plenty of people that have their own opinion,” he said. “There’s going to be plenty of people who don’t like the way I play the game or the way I handle things. I’ve just got to be confident in what I’m doing and know many more do appreciate it. … I got over it quickly.”
Sorry, haters.

CREDIT:http://www.golfchannel.com/news/ryan-lavner/social-media-tough-balancing-act-stars/

Read More

Now healthy, Stricker shares 36-hole lead at Innisbrook

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Steve Stricker’s limited schedule was only going to work if he played well.
He struggled in his nine starts last year following offseason back surgery. The Valspar Championship is already his sixth appearance this season, and he’s beginning to play his way back into tournament shape.

The 49-year-old tied the low round of the day Friday, a 5-under 66, that gave him a share of his first 36-hole lead since 2012.

“It’s frustrating when you’re only going to play those limited amount of times and you’re not playing that well,” he said. “If I’m going to play 12 or 14 times, whatever the number is going to be, I want to play well and I still think I can play well. But I was noticing that I wasn’t game ready.”

Stricker is coming off a T-11 at Riviera, his best result since the 2014 PGA.  Through two rounds here, he is tied with Will MacKenzie at 5-under 137.

Stricker was uncharacteristically poor on the greens last year, but he has found his old stroke. He made 16 of his 18 attempts inside 15 feet on Friday and is ranked first this week in putting.

“I’ve putted great this year in the times I’ve played,” he said, “and hopefully that continues.”

CREDIT:http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/now-healthy-stricker-shares-36-hole-lead-innisbrook/

Read More

Stricker, MacKenzie share Valspar lead; Spieth makes cut

PALM HARBOR, Fla. - Jordan Spieth holed three shots from off the green and made the cut with one shot to spare Friday in the Valspar Championship.

Now he has to figure out how to catch up to Steve Stricker and Will MacKenzie.

Stricker, playing for only the fifth time this year, holed out from the 10th fairway for eagle and made a 60-foot birdie putt across the fourth green for a 5-under 66 that gave him a share of the lead with MacKenzie, who had a 67.

They were at 5-under 137, one shot ahead of Bill Haas (67), Graham DeLaet (66) and Daniel Berger (68).

Spieth is just happy to be joining them. He opened with a 76 and was in danger of missing the cut, especially when the wind began to pick up just as he was starting his second round on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook.

And then he hooked his tee shot on the par-5 opening hole into a bush, had to take a penalty shot and made bogey on the easiest hole on the course.

''I'm walking off that green going, 'Oh, boy. We can either somehow flip this one around today or ... I don't want that to be the key of me not being able to be here for the weekend.' I thought it was really strong what we did after that,'' he said.

Nearly five hours later, after he nearly holed a bunker shot on the 17th to save par, Spieth exhaled on the
 18th tee and said with a smile, ''This was grinding today. I've got some good stuff coming on the weekend.''

---

Recommended SURE BET:

SOCCER PREDICTIONS FOR SATURDAY 12-03-2016

GERMANY BUNDESLIGA1:

Bayern Munich - Werder Bremen    1WIN  

HUNGARY OTB BANK LIGA:

Ferencvaros - Puskas Academy        1WIN

Debrecen – Honved                1WIN

HOLLAND EREDIVISIE:

PSV – Heerenveen                 1WIN

NORTHERN IRELAND PREMIERSHIP:

Crusaders – Ballymena          1WIN

SCOTLAND PREMIERSHIP:

Partick - Celtic                       1WIN

Aberdeen – Kilmarnock        1WIN

SLOVAKIA FORTUNA LIGA:

Podbrezova – Zilina               1WIN

Ruzomberok – Skalica          1WIN

SPAIN PRIMERA DIVISION:

Barcelona - Getafe                 1WIN

Celta Vigo - Real Sociedad    1X      

Atl. Madrid - Dep. La Coruna 1WIN

He wound up with a 68 and was at 2-over 144 to make the cut by one shot. That's all he was thinking about until he chipped in from behind the green on the 15th for a birdie, and his tee shot on the 16th narrowly cleared the water.
It was hard work, and there is plenty left.

More than just trying to make up seven shots on the weekend, he had 42 players in front of him.

Stricker began to cut back on his schedule a few years ago, and he had back surgery at the end of 2014 that limited his playing even more. But the strength is starting to return to the 49-year-old with the pure putting stroke, and he has looked solid for two days.

Stricker was tied for the lead early on Thursday until three straight bogeys late in his round. This time, he took the eagle and keep running, adding a short birdie putt on the par-5 14th and a 10-foot birdie on the 16th hole to catch MacKenzie.

''There are times I escaped with a few good breaks,'' Stricker said. ''Holing out on 10, you don't expect to do that. And that putt at No. 4 was going pretty quick, and that ended up going in. So some things evidently went my way. I'm starting to play a little better. Definitely putting better. And slowly, things are coming together.''

The large group at 3-under 139 included Justin Thomas, who hit a sharp slice to escape the trees on his first hole of the day (No. 10) and turned potential bogey into birdie on his way to a 67. Also at 139 were Augusta, Georgia, native Scott Brown (69), who has yet to play the Masters; past champion Retief Goosen and Charles Howell III, another Augusta native who had a 72.

Only eight shots separated the top and bottom of the leaderboard, leaving the weekend wide open.

That includes Spieth, the defending champion, whose first goal was get to Saturday. It wasn't easy, but he settled into his round with a 6-iron over the water to 5 feet on the third hole. He used the blade of his sand wedge to hole a birdie putt from the collar the par-5 fifth - the first time he has used that shot in competition - and putted one from off the green on No. 7 for another birdie.

He lost an easy birdie opportunity on the par-5 11th when he barely got out of a greenside bunker and was in deep rough. But he holed a 4-foot par putt that could have sent his momentum in the other direction, and despite missed birdie chances on the next three holes, the chip-in on the 15th was key.

''Today it was all about the cut,'' he said. ''All of a sudden I'm over the green on 15, kind of sitting down in the bluegrass rough just trying to hope to chip that one to tap-in range. ... Then all in all, we get finished and we're back in the tournament.''

Among those missing the cut were Keegan Bradley, who followed his 67 with a 79. It was more critical to Harris English and Webb Simpson, who were outside the top 66 in the world and will not qualify for the Dell Match Play in two weeks.

CREDIT:http://www.golfchannel.com/news/doug-ferguson/stricker-mackenzie-share-valspar-lead-spieth-makes-cut/

Read More