The Management Mythbuster

Now that's a bargain - The Masters for $47K!

The economy must be bad, I just received an email offering me the deal of a lifetime.  The breathless missive informed me that a 4 bedroom home with 4 daily badges for every day of this year's Master's golf tournament could be mine for the knockdown price of $47,500 reduced from $66,000! Can you believe it? Watch 72 holes of golf for only $659 per hole! 

I must ring my borker and have him sell all my Citicgroup shares, then I may be able to afford one of those cheese and pimento sandwiches they sell at Augusta.  Now i wonder who was oringially going to take the house?  Bank of America? AIG?

Delayed reaction - Ryder Cup and the demise of American golf...

A number of people have commented that I must be sulking as I have been conspicuously silent on the events at Valhalla last weekend as the U.S. finally managed to win a Ryder Cup.  Well its true, I have been quiet and my normal instantaneous gloating was put on hold by an excellent performance by the spoiled millionaires who for once actually played some decent golf without a multi-million dollar purse on the line.  Congratulations, but victory is a mere blip in the decline of American professional golf...

Consider the bigger picture, in the last five years (20 events) only two Americans not named Tiger or Phil have won a major and they were called Zach and Todd!  This year the Americans went for one for four in the majors (Tiger at the U.S.Open), oh for four in the much-hyped Fedex Cup playoffs (Vijay and Camillo), failed to win the so-called fifth major, the Players (Sergio), have only four of the top ten, seven of the top twenty and sixteen of the top 50 in the world rankings. 

In short there are a lot of rich, losers playing pro-golf in the States these days!  The only hope on the horizon is Antony Kim who looks like he maybe great but in a sub-Tiger sort of way. 

But all this is not bad thing - global growth in the wonderful game simply illustrates that many others now have the opportunities that were formally limited to the privileged few here in America and that's a good thing.  Never mind the collapsing financial system there are a lot more people in the world who can fade a four iron from 213 yards out to a back right pin position and then make the putt.

PGA cool down - Ryder Cup warm up

Well it did get a little more exciting and then Padraig did his best Tiger and vanquished Sergio (again). 

With five Europeans in the top ten and ten in the top twenty the Ryder Cup is a foregone conclusion surely?  I mean Ben Curtis doesn't scare anyone  and we all know what a great team player Phil is (I will practice on my own course, bugger the team)!  As for Kenny Perry, Stewart Cink and Boo Weekley does the word journeyman cross your lips? Then there's the hero of Brookline, Justin Leonard, only he's never won a Ryder Cup singles (his big putt only and his team mates green invasion only got him a half against Ollie).

Potentially the scariest player on the US team will be (An)Tony Kim - America's Sergio?  Great ball striker, dodgy putter but lots of passion - if he can get Jim Furyk to smile, the Euros better watch out.  By the way does anyone think Sergio would have put it in the water on 16 and missed the short putt on 17 if it had been for a point?  No, of course not.

Bring it on!

PGA Championship -- I'm bored

I'm sitting here on Friday afternoon watching the PGA Championship in "wonderful HD" (am I the only person who can't see what all the fuss is about with this HD thing?) and frankly its boring. 

Many would say golf is boring at any time but I'm an addict and have been for nearly 40 years so I usually lap it up but somehow it all seems a bit flat.  Is it the absence of Tiger?  I don't think so although when he is in the field you always expect him to produce something spectacular.  It's just that the PGA never excites me - its not just when it produces odd winners (Rich Beem, Shaun Micheel anyone) after all we have had our fair share at the Open (Curtis, Hamilton, Lawrie) its just that this championship has no distinguishing feature.  Augusta is simply Augusta, the U.S.Open is the national championship and a war of attrition and the Open is just special and different.  The PGA always feels like a sort of U.S.Open lite and we had one of those two months ago and it was thrilling.

Hopefully things perk up over the weekend and we see Sergio win, just in time to set up another pasting in the Ryder Cup.

Irish eyes are smiling

I got it right as Padraig wins again (see my last post/prediction) and how impressive was he on the back nine - Tiger who?  Even my thirteen year old son was impressed with the eagle on the 17th.  And his play on the 18th banished all memories of his Van de Veldian effort last year.

Norman again loses with dignity (he's had a lot of practice) but what an each way (place) bet he would have been on Wednesday.  I could have offset some of the losses in my portfolio with that one. Lots of Englishmen on the leaderboard but only Poulter (or Sparkly as he is called in our house after he wore a very "sparkly" pair of trousers at Hoylake two years ago with the Open trophy in sequins on each leg) threatened.  The others threw it in reverse at the end as Wakefield doubled 17 and Fisher took 8 on 18.  Now that's golf to which I can relate.

What about the Yanks? Well with the exception of Mister Personality, Jim Furyk and Tiger-wannabe Antony Kim the rest looked like they were preparing for the Ryder Cup!

A world without Tiger

Even the gods seem upset at Tiger's absence from the Open judging by the weather they have blessed Birkdale with so far this week.  The first time I went to an Open was in '76 and it was a little different.  The summer of '76 has achieved immortal status in the annals of British weather for two reasons; first the sun actually shone for more than twelve hours; and second it was hot - at least by English standards.

Dad took me to Birkdale for the first round, then played on a Wednesday and I vividly remember sitting in the stands under the blazing sun while the Lancashire Fire Brigade sought to douse a few small fires that had erupted in the rough due to the heat!  Not much chance of that this week!  The 1976 Open was of course the coming out party for a 19-year old Spaniard, Seve Ballesteros, who although he didn't win (Johnny Miller cruised home by six) gave ample notice of both his talent and his personality in finishing second.  I remember watching him play a few holes and thinking that maybe in four years time I could play in the Open - I suspect I was suffering from a touch of sunstroke.  I was also there in '84 when Tom Watson won working on the scoreboards with my darling wife, then my fiancee.  It was hot that week as well and I was overcome by the heat while playing golf on the Tuesday with a friend and it took much ministering of cold towels by my bride-to-be and a few pints of England's finest (also now owned by the Belgian's!) to revive me in time for the first round.

This year the wind and rain have already changed the character of the course and I want Norman to win - he's owed after all those near misses and what a nice wedding present for Chrissie!  Still I think either Padraig, Furyk or Scott will win - so lets see what happens...

Tiger and me - tales of medical miracles

Tiger Woods went under the knife last week and yesterday projected anything from a six to twelve month recovery. This does not augur well for the golf economy as ratings plummet and any winner of a big tournament will forever have an asterisk next to their victory signifying it was achieved in Tiger's absence.

Today, I too went under the knife, well the arthroscope actually, as renowned Akron surgeon Tom Bear completed repairs to my dodgy knee. Unlike Tiger, my injuries were not the result of either excessive training (please control your laughter) or the enormous torque generated by my golf swing.  However my prognosis is for a return to action in a few weeks so Akron's golf elite will not have to worry about their triumphs being devalued for too long.

Tiger's rehab will no doubt defy all expectations as the world's foremost trainers, nutritionists, physiotherapists and investment bankers dedicate themselves to his return to dominance.  My approach will be a little more considered.  It started a couple of hours ago on my return from the hospital with an intensive session of Halo 3 on-line as I reaffirmed my rank as the worst Elite warrior in all cyberspace.  After a couple of days of further thumb exercises, I will move on to exercising the full range of motion in my right arm, first with a few glasses of Merlot before moving on to a few pints of Europe's finest ale.  As my strength builds, my legs will get in on the act through a couple of strenuous walks with the family Labrador and maybe a hike around Sam's Club. I expect to be fully functional in time for a short trip to Vegas with my darling wife in a couple of weeks and can see a lucrative return from the gaming tables.  By the end of the month I should be primed for week of sun and cocktails in St. Kitts.  I may even hit the links and re-establish my pre-eminence while Tiger is left fuming in Florida, although I'm sure Elin will offer suitable comfort...

Business as usual

Well Andy didn't win, so my record of futility as a tipster remains intact. He did however shoot 72 in the final round and roared past seven players to finish in 71st place.  Not bad considering the start of his journey almost four weeks ago in northeast Ohio.  The rest of the round was business as usual as Tiger rolls in the putt on 18 to force a payoff and the Birtish challenger falls short for the 38th straight year.  What odds do you give Rocco today? 

As for myself, Fathers Day morning was spent proving once again that I am no Tiger, as my son and I hacked around in the Fathers Day tournament.  Actually hacking is unfair on my son (not me though) as he's only 13 and I reckon I have no more than a year before he outdrives and outscores me.  Thankfully yesterday he kindly threw in a few wobbly putts to allow Dad to edge our match.  Safe to say we did not trouble the leaders.  I think we rested on our laurals from out superb victory two years ago when son definitely carried father to glory - the first of many I hope. 

Dresser Drives On

Well Andy has made it to the weekend;  a smooth 73 (two better than Phil) in the second round got him through on the number - quite an achievement and further proof of my immense predictive skills.  After all the tag line on my website (www.davidaxson.com) is predictive intelligence so at least I live up to one of the words.  Watch Andy go on the weekend...

Dresser update - oh so close

My U.S.Open watch continues and yesterday my tip, Andrew Dresser (see earlier predictions) came oh so close to fulfilling my predictions.  At 2 under par after eight holes all looked good and then he mistakenly boarded the bogey train and reversed home at 5-over. Not out of it completely - after all he's only four behind Tiger and five behind Phil.  No doubt he will tear Torrey to shreds today and elevate himself into contention. Watch this space.