Tiger Woods says he is "disappointed" with
his caddie's comments about Mickelson

Tiger Woods is "disappointed" by his caddie Steve Williams' disparaging comments in New Zealand newspapers about Phil Mickelson, whom Woods referred to as a “player I respect.”
Woods, in a statement, said the "matter had been dealt with," but he did not specify what action he had taken against Williams.
There is no suggestion that the caddie has been sacked for embarrassing his employer, more likely that Tiger has given him a severe warning about his future conduct.
Steve Williams was quoted in the Taranaki Daily News as saying he wouldn’t call Mickelson a great player “because I think he’s a (expletive).”
Contacted by the Sunday Star Times, Williams confirmed making the comment.
“I was disappointed to read the comments attributed to Steve Williams about Phil Mickelson, a player that I respect,” Woods said in a statement.
“It was inappropriate. The matter has been discussed and dealt with.”
Williams began working with Woods in the spring of 1999 and has been on his bag for 13 of his 14 majors.
Mickelson’s management company issued a statement Sunday evening to respond to what it called “grossly inaccurate and irresponsible statements” by Williams.
It included a comment from Mickelson: “After seeing Steve Williams’ comments, all I could think of was how lucky I am to have a class act like Bones (Jim Mackay) on my bag and representing me,” Mickelson said.
The comments figure to bring even more intrigue to the Woods-Mickelson rivalry, and to a relationship that is hard to pin down.
They have never been particularly close, and they appeared to be even more distant when they lost both their matches as partners in the 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills, where they rarely spoke to each other.
But they exchange friendly barbs in the locker room, and both have paid each other compliments over the years. Mickelson credits Woods with a spike in prize money, and when Mickelson had his worst season on tour in 2003, Woods said "Lefty" had too much talent to end his career without a major and that his wedge game was the best in golf.
Mickelson went on to win a major each of the next three years.
Williams was not at home Monday and could not immediately to be reached for comment.
He told the Sunday Star Times that his original comment about Mickelson was not in an interview.
“I visit a lot of golf clubs and do a lot of speaking for charity, and that is one of the questions I get asked the most – what is Tiger’s relationship like with Phil Mickelson?,” Williams told the newspaper.
“I was simply honest and said they don’t get along. You know what it’s like. You’re at a charity event and you have a bit of fun. I don’t particularly like the guy myself,” he said. “He pays me no respect at all and hence, I don’t pay him any respect. It’s no secret we don’t get along, either.”
Mickelson’s management also took issue with a story Williams told the Taranaki Daily News about a fan heckling Mickelson’s physique, saying the caddie plugged in Mickelson’s name to an incident that happened years ago.
That famous story involved Colin Montgomerie at Bethpage Black in the 2002 U.S. Open.
Woods is to speak Wednesday at the Chevron World Challenge, where he is the tournament host. He has not played since winning the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines – where he and Mickelson played together the first two rounds – and likely will not see Mickelson until Woods returns, presumably in March.
What he discussed and how he dealt with Williams remains unknown. Woods credits his caddie for reading a crucial putt for par at Medinah in 1999 that helped Woods win the US PGA Championship, and for talking him into a 60-degree wedge out of the rough on the 18th hole at Torrey Pines this summer, where Woods made a 12-foot birdie putt to force a play-off against Rocco Mediate in the U.S. Open.
Williams is only the second full-time caddie Woods has employed since he turned pro in 1996. The other was Mike “Fluff” Cowan, who was replaced in February 1999. Some believe Cowan was fired for giving interviews and seeking publicity, but, according to Woods, he simply was looking for a caddie who better fitted his high-energy levels.
Williams has had several run-ins with fans, media and tour officials, never caring what anyone thought. He threw a $7,000 camera into a pond at the Skins Game when a photographer working for a corporate sponsor took a picture in the middle of Woods’ swing out of a bunker on the final hole.
He also wrested a camera from a fan – an off-duty police officer – at the U.S. Open in 2004. Williams routinely was fined by the tour for wearing shorts that were not approved.
Williams, in many of the media's opinion, is an objectionable character carried away with the self-importance of reflected glory. He is, after all, only a professional bag carrier although admittedly a rich one, thanks to his employer, Tiger Woods.
If the caddie of a less well-known player insulted a fellow player that caddie would almost certainly be shown the door. But Williams attended Tiger's wedding and is regarded as a family friend. That will probably save him his job.

Harrington tops the US golf writers' poll
for 2008

Padraig Harrington, Lorena Ochoa and Jay Haas have been named 2008 Players of the Year by the Golf Writers Association of America.
All three players will be honored at the GWAA's Annual Awards Dinner on April 8, 2009 in Augusta, Georgia.
It is Harrington's first GWAA Player of the Year award and ends a streak of three in row for Tiger Woods. Woods, who has been sidelined since undergoing knee surgery following his U.S. Open win in June, had won the award nine of the last 11 years. It is the third consecutive award for both Ochoa and Haas.
Harrington received 184 votes to 58 for Woods and five for Vijay Singh. Ochoa received 232 votes to Paula Creamer's 13. Yani Tseng received three votes.
Haas' margin in the Senior Player of the Year was the narrowest. He received 115 votes to 79 for Bernhard Langer. Eduardo Romero was third with 50 votes.
Harrington successfully defended his Open and then followed up his win at Royal Birkdale with a victory at the US PGA Championship. The 37-year-old Irishman became the first European to win successive majors in the same season and the fifth player in the last two decades to win two majors in a year. He finished eighth on the US PGA Tour money list.
Ochoa followed up two impressive seasons with seven wins and her second consecutive major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She led the LPGA in scoring for the third consecutive year and led the money list with $2.763 million. Creamer was second with $1.823 million.
Haas is the first player to win the over-50s award three consecutive times. Hale Irwin won three Players of the Year, but only two in a row (1997-98). Haas won two tournaments, including the Senior PGA Championship, and won the Charles Schwab Cup. He finished second on the money list to Langer.
The GWAA, founded in 1946, takes an active role in protecting the interests of all golf journalists, works closely with all of golf's major governing bodies and the World Golf Hall of Fame and facilitates a scholarship/internship program which is currently helping students at 17 major U.S. universities.

Tiger fever is sweeping Australia, apparently. All because the new sponsor of the Australian Open has made a bid to have the world No 1 play Down Under in 2010.

It would cost a lot of appearance

money for Tiger to play Down Under

FROM THE AGE WEBSITE, AUSTRALIA
A lot has been said about Tiger Woods coming to Australia next year. Too much, in fact.
I'll believe it when he steps off the plane. Until then, I'll remain sceptical.
Right now, the media is fanning the fires of a potential Woods visit, and any little ember will do. Here's how it works: an Australian professional sits in a news conference and is asked what he thinks about the idea of Tiger coming Down Under.
What's he supposed to say in reply? Of course, he makes a statement of the obvious: "I don't know the numbers, but yeah, it'd be great to see him here." Five minutes later his words are on every internet site in the country: "Joe Bloggs backs Australia's bid for Tiger's visit." It's a little hysterical.
Here is what has actually happened thus far. Events NSW, an arm of the New South Wales Government, has put a fully-funded deal to Woods' management to come to the Australian Open next year, having picked up the sponsorship of the tournament until 2015.

The inducement has not been made public, but it is bound to be some millions. Nor is it known whether Events NSW has found a benefactor or whether it intends to sting the taxpayer.
What is known is that the deal to bring him to the Australian Open at New South Wales Golf Club will need to be good; Woods is known to get at least $US5 million from the likes of the sheikhs in Dubai or in China to tee it up there.
Golf Australia, which runs the Australian Open, is involved and, ironically, Golf Australia was told by ETW (Woods' management firm) that it would have a better chance of success if the bid was kept quiet. So much for that one.
Coincidentally, the Victorian Government recently took up a sponsorship of the Australian Masters through the Victorian Major Events Corporation.
It's a three-year deal under which the Masters will be moved from its 30-year home at Huntingdale to somewhere else in the famed sandbelt, most likely Kingston Heath, in 2009.
In exchange for saving a tournament that had lost its corporate backer, the (Victorian) Government has imposed a stipulation upon IMG, the tournament owner and promoter, that says that the field must include three of the top-20 players in the world, not including Australians.
But they want more. The VMEC, and in particular the Sports Minister James Merino, like the idea of Woods playing in Melbourne. Not surprisingly.
But there are questions to be answered here. Who's paying the bills? Is the (Victorian) Government actually prepared to shell out a couple of million dollars to a sportsman who earns $100 million a year?
The words of Greg Turner, the New Zealand professional who has been on the Australian PGA Tour board, ring out loud this week. Turner called the 2002 NZ Open an "unmitigated disaster". It poured rain, few spectators came, and the people who put up the money did not get a return.
It doesn't stop with Turner, either.

Paul McNamee, who ran the Australian Open for two years, told The Age more than once that the tournament needed to establish itself as a viable entity before it went chasing Tiger. McNamee also felt that there was a danger that if Woods did tee it up Down Under, there would be a tremendous let-down factor in the following year if he did not come.
Stuart Appleby, one of Australia's top players, addressed the let-down factor last week, a little crudely, but accurately: "We don't want to have a date with a supermodel and all of a sudden you're going out with someone else who's not so beautiful."
It has been said that Woods wants to come and play in Australia. But Woods is unfailingly polite in public conversation, the consummate politician (Ed: Unlike his caddie, Steve Williams). It is a fact that he likes the Melbourne sandbelt courses, and he has said so before.
I have no doubt that Tiger would like to come. But, realistically, the money would have to be right, for he can get it elsewhere.
Equally as important is his left knee. Woods had surgery after winning the US Open this year, the second time under the knife for an ailment that is caused by constant swinging of golf clubs.
Already, it has limited his schedule to 15-20 tournaments a year, fewer than most professionals. He knows that he has a finite number of golf swings in him, and Woods desperately wants to overtake Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors (he has 13).
Woods will return early in the 2009 season but we won't know how his knee will respond until then. Commonsense suggests that he is scarcely going to start playing more tournaments, possibly fewer. All of which means that trips to Australia to check out the fancy bunkering won't be the top of his wish list.
When you add it up, these are bold initiatives, and worth a try. Just don't hold your breath.

Tony Jacklin to be honoured

by PGA on Friday

PRESS RELEASE ISSED BY PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS' ASSOCIATION

Two-time major winner Tony Jacklin will be honoured this week for his outstanding contribution to golf.

Jacklin will receive the Professional Golfers' Association Recognition Award at its annual luncheon and charity fund-raiser at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London on Friday.

It will be the latest in a long list of achievements for the 64-year-old, who was Britain’s first golfing superstar.

In the modern era he is celebrated for re-igniting the fortunes of the European Ryder Cup team, leading them to two victories over the US – including the first-ever win on American soil in 1987.

However, Jacklin distinguished himself as a player long before taking the Ryder Cup captaincy. Named Rookie of the Year in 1962, Jacklin, the son of a Scunthorpe lorry driver, went on to win 14 European Tour titles between 1965 and 1982, including the PGA Championship in 1972.

By then Jacklin had elevated his status as a two-time major winner breaking records along the way.

It began with victory in the 1969 Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, where he became the first British winner for 18 years. He followed that by winning the US Open the following year by a seven-shot margin the largest since 1921 and one that stood until 2000.

Jacklin’s win was also the first by a Britain in 50 years and he still remains the last player from these shores to claim that major.

In the Ryder Cup he played in seven consecutive matches from 1967 and won 13, lost 14 and halved 8 of his games.

His triumphs earned him an OBE in 1970, with a CBE added in 1990 on the back of his reign as Ryder Cup captain.

In recognition of Jacklin’s achievements, PGA chief executive Sandy Jones paid a glowing tribute.“Tony was a trail-blazer for British golf, a role he maintained for 20 years when he crossed from being a player to Ryder Cup Captain,” said Jones.“He has been a great ambassador for the sport and his success is still unrivalled. His legacy as a Ryder Cup captain continues to this day so it's a privilege for the PGA to present him with the recognition award for his great achievements within the game.”

Past recipients of the PGA Recognition Award include Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Not many around these days to remember that Tony Jacklin, who played out of Potters Bar, came up to Scotland to play in the Northern Open championship when he was still an assistant to Bill Shankland. The late Jimmy Forbes, golf writer for the Aberdeen Evening Express, used to tell me that Jacklin was the first on to the practice ground and the last off it. Hard work which was to pay off big time for Tony.

Durness TNT trio prove to be golfing dynamite

in North Alliance Christmas three-ball
By ROBIN WILSON
They took the team name of T.N.T. for the North Golf Alliance Christmas three-ball, better-ball competition played at Brora on Sunday and dynamite they were as a Durness trio of Alister Corbett, John Morrison and Norman Ross blasted the other teams to oblivion with a winning nett score of 45, level 3s for the 15-hole course.
Eighteen handicapper John Morrison was their secret weapon for Durness scoring two nett eagles, at the first and third holes and another two at the short 6th hole in an outward seven hole score of 21. Three more two's were included in their inward eight hole count of 24 eight holes and a two-stroke winning total of 45.
Local trio Peter Etheridge, Alister Matheson and Robin Wilson felt safe in first place for most of the day with an early morning score of 47 (20-27), mostly the work of Etheridge who eagled the third and sixth holes with his stroke allowance, the sixth a net hole in one, only to be denied by the Durness demolition crew.
A Thurso trio, led by Bryan Ronald, of Charlie Burness and Ally Simpson found the Brora course and greens in what were described “the best of any venue on the fixture card” and used this to claim a third place with a card of 49 (24-25), beginning their inward half card with three two's.
Other team scores: Last year's winners, Billy Ferries, Munro Ferries, Ali Melville (Tain) 50; Calum Stewart and Daniel Norrie (Brora) & Peter Sangster (Thurso) 50.
The Alliance fixtures restart on Sunday, January 11 at Reay Golf Club.

+++Pictured above are the winners and runners-up round the Christmas Tree. Back: The Brora trio (left to right) of Peter Etheridge, Alister Matheson and Robin Wilson. Front: Durness, John Morrison, Alister Corbett and Norman Ross.

'Moment of Inertia' ... what's it

all about? Is it just a big twist?

By GRAHAM DALLAS

(If you missed Graham's first article last week about club lofts being 'tweaked' to produce longer hits, scroll down to find it)
The latest buzz letters in golf are M O I - short for Moment of Inertia. The advertisements are telling you that with a high M O I driver you’re going to hit it farther and straighter. Well, we’ve heard this before, haven’t we?
M O I is basically the clubhead's resistance to twisting with off-centred strikes. The higher the M O I, the less inclined it is to twisting.

Tim Wishon describes this beautifully as the spinning as an ice skater throwing out their arms to stop spinning. So, by moving the weights further from the centre of the clubhead, it will become more resistant to twisting.
And so, as clubheads have increased in volume over the years, so has their M O I. You never heard about this, until recently, as the advertising men were focusing on "bigger is better." Then the governing bodies stepped in and capped the size of the driver at 460o; closing that marketing opportunity.

So you can’t increase M O I by getting bigger, let’s do it by cHanging the shape. Square and triangles are becoming the favoured shapes of the marketing departments. You know how it goes, “Give us something that looks different, a massive budget, and we’ll sell shed loads”.
What they don’t tell you is how much changing the shape increases M O I or that it is minimal when compared to simply fitting the shaft correctly. Let me explain this, as it is never advertised.
Steel shafts have one spine, graphite shafts have two. The spine is the shaft's most resistant point to flexing. When the shaft flexes, the natural forces in the shaft (which are considerable) will want to get the spine to where it flexes least.

The only thing stopping this occurring is your grip. If you hit the ball off-centre, the force of the clubhead wanting to twist will be added to the shaft's desire to twist. We’ve all felt the result of extreme cases - the club twisting in our hands.
So what we have to do in identify the spine (there are simple ways for club makers to do this), mark it and then fit the club so the spine is pointing towards the target, or directly away from the target.

For the purists among you we make a little adjustment to shaft alignment to compensate for head mass. Then, with off-centred hits, the shaft will be working to correct the fault rather than to amplify it.
Fitting the shaft this way will increase your club's M O I infinitely more than the latest shape. So you ask me, surely the major manufacturers do this when making clubs?

Well I can tell you, having worked in this industry for around 25 years, that I have only come across two who do so and they only started doing this in 2008. You will be surprised to know that they are Golfsmith and Benross.

Of course, all good clubmakers will do this for you are a matter of course.
So if you really want to increase your M O I, don’t buy the latest shape, just get your shafts aligned.

Editor's note: If you are really interested in the technical side of club manufacturing, you should log on to Ralph Malby's website: http://www.ralphmaltby.com/

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Karyn & Graham Dallas, the wife-and-husband team at Kirriemuir Golf Club pro's shop, are advertising Tg54.com on our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

Switch over now and find out what it's all about. Scroll down and look in the first column when you get there.

US amateur champion Lee to turn pro after Masters

United States Amateur champion, New Zealander Danny Lee, will turn professional after the 2009 Masters, according to a story in the New Zealand Herald Sunday newspaper.
“I’m going to turn pro after the Masters, definitely,” Lee, 18, said after signing for a 75 to finish joint 24th in the Australian Open at Royal Sydney on Sunday.
“I decided not long ago. I’ve been discussing it with my parents and it’s very exciting.”
By turning professional, Lee will lose exemptions into the US Open and tje Open that he earned by beating Drew Kittleson in the final of this year’s US Amateur at Pinehurst.
Lee said he will not play any amateur tournaments in the interim, relying on sponsor exemptions into pro tournaments before the Masters.

Angry Mickelson hits back at Tiger's
caddie over 'total lies'

FROM THE GUARDIAN.CO.UK WEBSITE
By staff writer LAWRENCE DONEGAN
Phil Mickelson accused Steve Williams of making inappropriate and inaccurate comments last night after it emerged Tiger Woods' infamously brusque caddie had described the world's No 3 golfer in unflattering terms in front of 250 people at a charity event in New Zealand.
Williams admitted yesterday he had indeed called Mickelson a "p****" and added, "I don't particularly like the guy [Mickelson]. He pays me no respect at all and hence I don't pay him any respect. It's no secret we don't get along either."
The sedate world of professional golf is unused to such unvarnished opinions being thrown around in public and Mickelson made his unhappiness clear.
"After seeing Steve Williams' comments all I could think of was how lucky I am to have a class act like Bones (his caddie, Jim Mackay) on my bag and representing me," the American left-hander said.
Mickelson also said a "joke" told by Williams in which the player was heckled by a fan over his weight during this year's US Open at Torrey Pines was "a total fabrication".
"It is based on an incident on the 17th hole during a practice round of the US Open at Bethpage in 2002 that involved a European Tour player (Colin Montgomerie). The story has been retold often but Woods and Williams were not present at that incident," he said.
So far Woods has not commented on the spat between his greatest rival and his bagman, although he has a history of seekingLawrence Donegan is the Guardian's golf correspondent. He is also author of the acclaimed book, Four Iron for the Soul, based on his experiences caddying for tour pro Ross Drummond. In the 1980s he was a bassist for the Bluebells and Lloyd Cole And The Commotions to avoid what he deems to be non-golf related publicity. He also has a history of dealing harshly with employees who displease him.

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE ORIGINAL STORY BY LAWRENCE DONEGAN

***Lawrence Donegan is the Guardian's golf correspondent. He is also author of the acclaimed book, Four Iron for the Soul, based on his experiences caddying for tour pro Ross Drummond. In the 1980s, Donegan was a bassist for the Bluebells and Lloyd Cole And The Commotions