Tap-Ins

A few hurried, back-handed stabs at items that have caught my attention in the golfing world ...

The Best Swing on Tour. Over at golf.com, Golf magazine's panel of "Top 100 Teachers" have come up with a list of seven of the "best" golf swings on tour, based on different individual components. Who did they decide has the "Best Overall Swing"? You'll never guess. Oh, wait ... you probably already have.

Jack is ... Jack. A really nice, in-depth look at the enduring legacy of Jack Nicklaus by Jaimie Diaz over at golfdigest.com. A brief excerpt:

Nicklaus and Woods have been compared every which way, from driver through putter and beyond, with the sum total long considered almost a wash. But the potential for major life mistakes that seemed moot in two people so driven and organized has suddenly become the most important element of all. Nicklaus' steady conservatism, which on the course might have begun to seem quaint and even limiting in contrast to Woods' bolder style, has become the potential off-the-course difference-maker. As Nicklaus sits in the clubhouse, an early finisher watching the recklessness that has cost Woods the lead, the score Jack posted is looking better.

The Ryder Cup Runneth Over ... with Christians, it seems. A few people have noticed that three of the four captain's picks by Corey Pavin, a born-again Christian, are regulars at the Tour's weekly Bible study – as are a few who earned their way on (not to mention some of Pavin's assistant captains). Is there a holy conspiracy afoot? Probably not, posits Wall Street Journal writer John Paul Newport in his weekly Golf Journal column.

Title Defense – Failed! Last weekend the Whiffler attempted to defend his title at the annual White Lake Classic in Michigan. No blood clots this year, but a lingering hamstring injury – the result of a freak soccer-coaching accident  several weeks ago (it's for the CHILDREN!) – probably helped ... uh, hamstring my efforts to repeat. To prepare (since I hadn't swung a club since the accident), I'd been repeatedly visualizing the 6-iron I hit a few years back to get just inside Steve Stricker's shot at the "beat the pro" par-3 hole at a charity golf outing. (What? I never mentioned that before? Huh. For one brief, shining moment, I bettered the best swing on Tour!)
     Alas, all that visualizing wasn't enough – though I did hit one of the best six-irons of my life, to about five feet, for a birdie on the 18th hole of the warm-up round. The shot helped cap an amazing back-nine comeback by Team Butt Hutt to secure a free dinner that night. Victory never tasted so succulent as the ribeye steak I gorged on by Lake Michigan.
     But congratulations to Mike "Scruffy" "Landfill" "Homer" "Skipper" Neuses (below, with arms crossed) for his impressive victory in the main event the next day.

UPDATE: In response to Chery's comment below, here are Scruffy/Serbo, Zim (the Whiffler), the Glacier, Keith, and Little Tommy.

One more time ...