Christy O'Connor has earned Himself

a place in Golf's Hall of Fame

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By Alistair Tait
Ireland’s most famous golf legend doesn’t need to be identified by his full name. Mention “Himself” in any clubhouse in the Emerald Isle and any golfer will think of Christy O’Connor.
No golfer in Ireland is as well-loved as the 84-year-old, who becomes only the second Irishman, after the late Joe Carr, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
A smile comes to the faces of current Irish stars Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington when asked about O’Connor. The Irish legend has strongly influenced both men’s careers.
“I still keep in touch with ‘Himself,’ ” McGinley said. “I’ve been fortunate to play a lot of golf with Christy over the years, and like everyone else it was fascinating to watch him play. He always had words of encouragement, but most of all the game seemed to come so easy to him. Watching how he could control the ball and the ball flight was what appealed to me most. I’ve never seen a better wind player than Christy.”
As a teenager, Harrington was lucky enough to play with O’Connor. In fact, O’Connor has helped influence Harrington’s strong work ethic.
“The greatest lesson he gave me was when he rebuked somebody one day for saying he (Christy) had a very natural golf swing,” Harrington said. “He told the man how much work he had put in to get his swing that way.
“He was pointing out to me how much practice he had done to build his swing. He was making sure to me as a 15- or 16-year-old that through hard work you built a swing, that it wasn’t just given to you.”
Some of Ireland’s greatest players succeeded with unorthodox swings. From Jimmy Bruen’s famous loop to Eamonn Darcy’s ungainly chop, Irish players have developed no end of methods to help battle the strong winds that buffet the Irish coastline. O’Connor was the most fluid swinger of them all.
“Christy flows through the ball like fine wine,” Lee Trevino once said.
O’Connor developed his swing in County Galway. Born in Knocknacarra, O’Connor grew up only a wedge shot from the seventh tee of Galway Golf Club. He began life as a caddie but filled his time productively between bags.
“Life was tough in those days, and to help out, I used to caddie at the Galway Club,” O’Connor said in John Cunningham’s “History of Galway Golf Club.’’
“In between rounds, I spent hours on end chipping and putting around the first green. In time I became a fanatic.
“When I eventually turned to golf to try and make a decent living, I knew I was a fair old player. But I never imagined that my life would be all about big tournaments, travelling the world and winning money. There were not enough hours in the day for me to practise my golf. But it was all worthwhile.”
Worthwhile, indeed. The Irishman won 43 professional tournaments, including the British Masters, Irish Open, the PGA Match Play and other now-defunct European Tour events.
In 1958, he teamed with Harry Bradshaw to win the Canada Cup (now the World Cup).
The boy from poor farming stock made history in 1970 when he won the then-highest prize in golf: £25,000 for winning the John Player Classic in Manchester.
O’Connor was a mainstay on Great Britain and Ireland teams from 1957 to 1975. In his debut, he helped GB&I win the ’57 match at Lindrick. O’Connor thrashed Dow Finsterwald 7 and 6 in singles to help GB&I win the cup for the first time since 1933.
O’Connor never played on another winning team. The closest was the 1969 match at Royal Birkdale, a 16-16 tie. Overall, he compiled an 11-22-4 Ryder Cup record.
The Irishman never won a major, but he only played in the Open Championship. He finished runner-up to Peter Thomson in 1965, one of his 10 top-10 finishes in the game’s oldest tournament.
“Apart from winning a major, getting inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame is the highest accolade you can receive,” McGinley said. “It’s very well deserved. He will be a very proud Irishman.”

+Also inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame on Monday night were Lanny Wadkins, Jose Maria Olazabal. Joining them posthumously was US President Dwight Eisenhower, whose love of golf has been credited for a surge in interest in the game - in America - while he was in office from 1952-1960. The number of people who took up golf in those years more than doubled, and golf historians credit a good portion of that surge to Eisenhower's visibility in playing the sport.
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Click on these links for more on the subject:
World Golf Hall of Fame
Complete coverage of the 2009 induction ceremony
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Eisenhower was said to have played golf more than 800 times during his eight years as president, and was a member of the Augusta National Golf Club. He becomes the first US President to be a member of the Hall of Fame.

US Tour suspend Barron for a year for drug abuse

FROM CBSSports.com
Doug Barron, one of the lesser-known names in pro golf, has been suspended for a year by the US PGA Tour for violating its anti-doping policy.
This is the first suspension under the two-year-old policy and begins immediately.
"I would like to apologise for any negative perception of the tour or its players resulting from my suspension." Barron said, "I want my fellow tour members and the fans to know that I did not intend to gain an unfair competitive advantage or enhance my performance while tour."
The tour had no further comment.
Barron, 40, made no cuts in four Nationwide and one US PGA Tour events this year. He has $2,724,280 in career PGA Tour earnings and most recently had five top 25s and earned $731,990 in 2005, with a best finish of third that year.

Stop snoring - and cut your handicap!

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By REBECCA SMITH, Medical Editor
Chronic snoring may impair your golf swing, researchers have found after players' handicaps improved by three strokes following treatment.
The study involved 12 golfers with severe sleep apnoea, a condition where oxygen flow is disrupted during sleep causing the sufferer to stop breathing for more than ten seconds at a time.
The condition causes extremely loud and heavy snoring, excessive sleepiness during the day and irritability due to tiredness.
Researchers at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey, America, recorded the golfers' handicap index and daytime sleepiness at the beginning of the trial and then began treating them with natal positive airway pressure.
The treatment involves wearing a mask at night which delivers a continuous supply of compressed air that prevents the throat from closing which is what causes the characteristic gasps and the episodes where breathing stops for a few seconds.
After 20 rounds of golf played over three to five months their handicap improved along with their sleepiness scores.
A dozen golfers without the treatment showed no improvement.
The findings were presented at Chest, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians in San Diego, California.
Study author Dr Marc Benton, of the Atlantic Sleep and Pulmonary Associates, said: "More so than many sports, golf has a strong intellectual component, with on-course strategising, focus, and endurance being integral components to achieving good play.
"Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome can lead to daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and cognitive impairment, all side effects which can negatively impact a person's ability to golf to the best of one's ability.
"As any golfer knows, when your ability to think clearly or make good decisions is compromised, the likelihood of playing your best is greatly diminished.
"Through treatment with NPAP, we can improve many cognitive metrics, such as attention span, memory, decision-making abilities, and frustration management, which may, in turn, positively affect a person's golf game."
The golfers with the best handicap to start with showed the greatest improvement, with drops from 9.2 to 6.3 on average and their sleep scores also improved from 10.8 to 2.8.
Co-author Neil Friedman said: "The drop in handicap among the better golfers probably reflected that the major limiting factor was not golf skill but cognitive compromise that improved when the sleep apnoea was treated."
In Britain 3.5 per cent of men are thought to have sleep apnoea along with 1.5 per cent of women. It can be associated with obesity and is most common in people over the age of 40.
Drivers with sleep apnoea are 15 times more likely to be involved in a car accident and they are required to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) on diagnosis. However licences will not be removed if treatment plans are complied with.
Sleep apnoea can increase the risk of high blood pressure which in turn raises the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Dr Benton said doctors try to persuade patients to comply with their treatment by emphasising the medical benefits, but he said concentrating on golf improvements may be more effective.
He said: "Providers typically attempt to maximise compliance with NPAP by promoting its medical benefits or warning patients of the risks involved in not being treated, but this approach does not always work.
"In the case of this study, the possibility of improving one's ability to play golf appears to have been a significant motivation to improve treatment compliance."

Winter tee time offer for four at Gleneagles

Gleneagles Hotel management are offering golfers the chance to purchase a tee time for for four for £199 - a saving of £81.
The tee time charge of £199 applies whether there are three or four players in the group.
With three of the finest 18-hole championship courses in Scotland – the King’s Course; the picturesque Queen’s Course; and venue for the 2014 Ryder Cup Matches, the challenging PGA Centenary Course – Gleneagles offers an exhilarating test for any golfer.
The special rate of £199 is available from from Sunday to Thursday inclusive every week until March 31, 2010 and is subject to availability.
No handicap certificate is required to play any of the three championship golf courses.
To check availability or to book please call resort sales on 0800 704 705.
+From the PGA E-Bulletin.

Offers also at Muirfield, Prestwick & Royal Troon

Members of Scottish Golf Union-affiliated golf clubs can take advantage of exclusive preferential green fees this winter at three of Scotland’s most famous Open championship venues with proceeds from sales being invested in junior golf.
Muirfield, Prestwick and Royal Troon have all generously donated tee-times to the Scottish Golf Union between November and the end of March, with a four-ball on each course costing just £280, representing great savings against the standard green fee rates. The Troon Portland course is also available, at £140 per four-ball.
These special offers are only available to existing members of SGU affiliated clubs, adding great value to your club membership. To book, please call us 0n 01334 466477 or e-mail sgu@scottishgolf.org
There are restrictions on which days and at what times these offers apply.
+From the Scottish Golf Union website (www.scottishgolf.org)

Ross McGowan has fingers crossed he's called up

from first reserve for Shanghai tournament

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
England's Ross McGowan, currently sixth in the European Ryder Cup table, is waiting to discover if there is any chance of him playing in this week's WGC-HSBC Champions' event in Shanghai.
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Click on the links for more golf news:
Fisher rests easy after overdue win
Poulter clings on for victory
Win for Suzuki
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McGowan is now up to first reserve after the withdrawal of Masters champion Angel Cabrera from the 78-strong field and the cancellation of the US Tour's Viking Classic.
Ian Poulter's win in the Singapore Open did not help the Surrey golfer, though. Poulter was already exempt for China but the spot opened by that went to the Asian Tour, and their first reserve was Thailand's Chapchai Nirat.
This is a huge week both for the European Order of Merit race and the Ryder Cup points battle.
Now the tournament has become part of the World Golf Championships series, the first prize is more than £722,000, while the 68 world ranking points that could be on offer are more than anyone has managed in the first two months of Ryder Cup qualifying.

Sandy Lyle 63rd with $227,572 earnings

Bernhard Langer tops US seniors'

money table for 2nd year in row

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Florida-based German Bernhard Langer has topped the US Champions (Seniors) Tour Money List for a second consecutive year to cap a magnificent season of four wins and 15 top tens in the United States.
Europe's 2004 Ryder Cup captain earned his second Arnold Palmer Award as the Champions Tour leading money-winner after finishing the year with $2,139,451, ensuring that for the second straight year he was the only player with over $2 million in earnings having won $2,035,073 in 2008.
The 52 year old European Senior Tour Member, pictured, also earned his second consecutive Byron Nelson Award for the lowest scoring average on the Champions Tour of 68.92, the lowest since Tom Watson in 2003 (68.81). He also headed the top ten table with an impressive 15 top tens in his 20 events on the US Champions Tour.
Andy Stubbs, Managing Director of the European Senior Tour, said: “Our congratulations to Bernhard on a wonderfully consistent season and particularly his four victories. He carried his form in the United States over to Europe when he performed with distinction in two regular European Tour events – the BMW International Open and the Mercedes-Benz Championship – and to win over $2 million on the US Champions Tour was a wonderful achievement.”
The Charles Schwab Cup went to Loren Roberts, with Langer fourth after John Cook won the season ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
The finale to the European Senior Tour season - the OKI Castellón Senior Tour Championship – takes place in Spain this week where Ian Woosnam, Glenn Ralph and Sam Torrance lead the battle to be Number One. Woosnam will be aiming to follow the example of his fellow Masters Champion by winning the European Senior Tour Order of Merit for a second successive season.
2009 US CHAMPIONS (Seniors) TOUR LEADING MONEY-WINNERS
(Number of tournaments in brackets)
1 Bernhard Langer (Ger) (20) $2,138,451.
2 Loren Roberts (US) (22) $1,960,613.
3 John Cook (US) (23) $1,798,664.
4 Jay Haas (US) (21) $1,758,395.
5 Fred Funk (Us) (21) $1,569,810.
6 Jeff Sluman (US) (25) $1,378,094.
7 Andy Bean (US) (24) $1,313,217.
8 Mark O'Meara (US) $1,278,985.
9 Dan Forsman (US) (23) $1,203,638.
10 Nick Price (Zim) (23) $1,203,638.
Selected others:
20 Tom Watson (US) (12) $798,672.
31 Mark James (Eng) (17) $500,625.
63 Sandy Lyle (Sco) (19) $228,572.
64 Greg Norman (Aus) (6) $213,676.
80 Des Smyth (Ire) (5) $105,434.
87 Sam Torrance (Sco) (2) $84,515.

Bill Britton wins US Senior PGA pro championship

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida -- Bill Britton of Rumson, New Jersey, rewrote the record book and spent Sunday afternoon holding off a late charge from Texan Perry Arthur at PGA Golf Club, on his way to capturing the 21st US Senior PGA Professional National Championship.
Britton fired a final-round 5-under-par 67 to complete a 72-hole performance of 18-under-par 270 and a one-stroke victory. His overall total was a stroke better than the previous record held by Jeff Coston of Blaine, Washington, who won in 2006.
The 54-year-old PGA Director of Instruction at Trump National Golf Club Colts Neck, New Jersey, Britton made a 5ft par-saving putt on the 18th green to preserve the victory over Arthur, who earlier knocked home a difficult 8ft birdie putt to finish alone in second place.
"Perry [Arthur] didn't have to make a 3 on the last to make it tough," said Britton jokingly. "I left my first putt a little shorter than I wanted to, but played the putt to move a little left and it dropped."
Britton and Arthur were knotted at 15-under through 12 holes, before Britton was able to separate himself with birdies at Nos. 13 and 14.
"Perry was doing really good early and it was close," said Britton. "I was plodding along, then made a 12-footer at 13 for a birdie and at No. 14, I made a 20-footer uphill into the grain for birdie. I was fortunate and feeling pretty good from there."
Britton knew that the final round against this field would not be easy.
"I shot a 65 yesterday and would not have been surprised if we had a few others do that today," said Britton. "It was ideal today and I knew I would have to make birdies to win and I was able to do that."
Britton, the Low Club Professional at the 2007 US Senior PGA Championship, will lead a 35-player contingent of Senior PGA Professionals to Colorado Golf Club near Denver for the 2010 Senior PGA Championship (May 24-30).
"I will probably appreciate this all a little more later, I am still a little nervous," he said. "I think I made all the putts that I didn't make all summer long down here this week."
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• Complete coverage of the Senior PGA Professional National Championship
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Arthur, enjoying his best overall performance in six national championship appearances after sharing 11th in 2004, caught Britton with a 4-under-par front side and held the deadlock until the 13th hole.
Arthur, who birdied the 16th hole to come within two strokes of Britton, did his best to put extra pressure on the leader on the 408-yard 18th hole.
Facing a stiff crosswind and with a flagstick perched just a few paces in the front of a green side bunker, Perry executed to near perfection. He hit a 117-yard pitching wedge approach to eight feet and knocked home the birdie putt.
"I made six birdies, shot 66 and my hat's off to Bill," said Arthur, a PGA Teaching Professional at Sherrill Park Golf Course in Richardson, Texas. "Bill kept it going so well with birdies on 13, 14 and 16. Bill and I have played a lot of golf together, much of it on the Tour. I knew how good he was with the putter."
Championship alternate Paul Daniels of Port St. Lucie, Florida, finished alone in third place with a 273.
"I was a little nervous starting out, but I wasn't upset with how I played," said Daniels, who had never made a cut in a national championship event. "To come in third after never having been in this position before and to get a bye for the first round of the [Champions Tour] Q-School is something I never would have imagined. It was a great week and yes, I did learn a lot out there against some very fine players."
Defending National Champion Kirk Hanefeld, 53, of Acton, Mass., fired a final round 75 and finished in a tie for 23rd.
On Sunday, The Wanamaker Course yielded the lowest scoring average (71.79) over the four rounds of the Championship.

Cook takes title, Roberts wins £1million annuity

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
SONOMA, California (AP) -- John Cook had a tough time staying focused Sunday in the final round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championships. Loren Roberts had no such problem.
Cook spent the morning exchanging text messages with Joey Sindelar, his close friend and former Ohio State teammate who was hospitalised Saturday after having a pulmonary embolism. Then Cook went out and won the season-ending tournament by five strokes for his second Champions Tour title in three weeks.
"That kind of shocks you a little bit when one of your compadres goes down," said Cook, who closed with a three-under 69 to finish 22-under 266 at Sonoma Golf Club.
"That's serious stuff. I don't like to see anybody, friends or family, go down like that. I was thinking of him all day."
Cook, also the Administaff Small Business Classic winner two weeks ago in Texas, broke the tournament record of 268 shared by Jim Thorpe and Andy Bean.
Roberts shook off two days of struggles for a second straight 66 to tie for sixth at 13-under 275 and win the points title and $1 million annuity for the second time in three years. He had to hold off a strong surge from Bernhard Langer (68), who also finished at 13 under.
"I played two totally different golf tournaments in one week," Roberts said. "The first two days I really didn't hit it very well and I really didn't putt well. You just hate to get to the end and blow it."
He didn't, shooting 12 under over the final two rounds. Roberts, the 2007 points champion, said he plans to donate a portion of his winnings to a Sacramento-area school district to help keep girls' and boys' golf programs going.
Russ Cochran (68) finished second in the tournament. Brad Bryant (69) and Jeff Sluman (68) were 15 under, and Phil Blackmar (69) was 14 under.
After opening with a 68 on Thursday, Cook shot a tournament-record 62 in the second round and followed with a 67 to enter Sunday with a comfortable lead.
Though he continued to have a few problems off the tee, Cook stayed consistent throughout the four days and avoided getting into serious trouble. He was bogey free Sunday and had only two bogeys the entire tournament, making up for whatever problems he did have with a solid short game and steady putting.
Before teeing off in the final round, Cook received an encouraging text message from Sindelar, his college team-mate at Ohio State who remained hospitalised after having a pulmonary embolism during the third round. The Champions Tour said Sindelar's condition had improved but doctors at Sonoma Valley Hospital wanted to keep the 51-year-old for further observation.
"He said he was fine and to go finish the deal," Cook said. "Hopefully we'll get a chance to see him tonight."
Cook's lead was never really challenged.
Cochran birdied No. 8 to pull within five strokes, but Cook moved to 21 under when he curled in a long putt on the 427-yard, par-4 12th.
Cochran had another birdie on the 436-yard, par-4 15th and made a long birdie putt on the 18th, finishing second for the second time in his rookie season on the tour.
Cook birdied the par-3 17th, then tapped in for par on the 18th.
This is the last time the season-ending tournament will be held at Sonoma. The event will be played at Harding Park in San Francisco in 2010 and 2011.
Roberts wouldn't mind a few more years in the wine country, however.
He has celebrated the points championship twice while walking off the 18th green at Sonoma and nearly missed a third in 2006 when he three-putted on the final hole.
After falling behind Langer early this season, Roberts charged back into contention with wins at the Senior British Open in July and at the Boeing Classic in Washington in August then went into the season finale with a 165-point lead.
He didn't play well the first two rounds in Sonoma, but corrected a flaw while on the driving range late Friday night then played 12 under the rest of the weekend to secure the points title.
"For me, this might be one of my best accomplishments in golf just because I really wasn't playing very good the first part of the year," Roberts said. "To be able to come back and win it essentially with two-thirds of a season was remarkable to me."