The LET Tour kicks off next week at the Handa Australian Open Feb. 3-6th

Hey, there's an app for that! That's right, the "Handa Australian Open" has an iphone app as well as one for blackberry. You can see leaderboards as well as draws and tweets, etc.

The Handa Australian Open boasts that Christina Kim returns to "finish" some "unfinished business". They quoted her last year saying the course was ripe for the picking. Christina finished in a tie for 46th last year. That's not saying she played badly, as only 7 players in the ENTIRE FIELD finished under par! Christina is known for what they called her "eye-catchng attire" and "hearty" laugh. She is one of the most enjoyable LPGA players to follow. Christina says it like it is and lays it all out with an honest approach. She is in tune to her fans and utilizes the social media world to remain available to them. Known on Twitter as @thechristinakim , she has over 14,000 followers! I am proud to say I'm one of them! I think this will be the year that Christina breaks out with a new confidence and increased talent of the sport. She's definitely one that you'll want to keep your eyes on!

Last years Open was played March 11-14th and won by Yani Tseng, who finished at -9. Yani was followed by Laura Davies in 2nd place and Karrie Webb in 3rd. Giulia Sergas and Katherine Hull tied for 4th.

Current world's #1 Jiyai Shin, will start her season off here as well. It will be interesting to see how many times that position changes hands this year. You can be sure, that many will be in the fight for it!

The tourney will be played at the Commonwealth Golf Club in Melbourne. Sitting approx 45 min from the Melbourne airport, there is a link you can use to catch the time table for public transportation via http://www.viclink.com.au The course plays 6076 yards and is a Par 73. Also noted, is that in the event of a play-off, the 18th hole will be played repeatedly until there's a winner.

 Television coverage is slated to be on ABC as follows; 3:00 - 6:00 PM thursday and Friday, 2:00 - 6:00 PM Saturday and 1:00 - 6:00 PM Sunday.

Now, Go Hit Some Balls...................

Kaymer is set to take the World No. 2 spot with a WIN in Abu Dhabi

Martin Kaymer only needs to finish in the top 7 in order to take over the No. 2 spot from Tiger Woods. And, by the way he has played the first 3 rounds, he is on course to do just that!

His only criticism of his game after the 3rd round, was that he only birdied TWO of the par 5's! He still carded a 66 and is now leading by 5 strokes going into the final round.
IF, or I should say "after tomorrow" when Kaymer likely takes home the trophy; it will be the first time an all-european top two did so since Faldo & Langher in 1993! A feat that Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer can be proud of indeed! While Westwood just made the halfway cut with a round of par, he stands in a tie for 65th place out of the remaining 70.

An American player struggling to find that top form, was Lefty. After a round of 72, he sits in 39th place on the leaderboard. While a European to watch is Rory McIlroy, he finished with a birdie and an eagle on the day to sit at -13. And David Lynn is close behind at -12.

Another "couch potato" caller leads to the DQ of Padraig Harrington. Harrington was only 1 off the leader after the opening round, when he was DQ'd for signing an incorrect score card. I did not see it however, apparently on the 7th green when he replaced his ball as he began to move his marker, his finger brushed the ball "causing it to move". For all of those who know or have read, the movement of the ball while replacing it is covered under Rule 20-3a and there is no penalty to this HOWEVER, the ball must be replaced. And because the ball was not replaced, this created a breach of said rule and the penalty stroke was accorded. Padraig was aware that his finger brushed the ball, that is not in question. He states that he felt the ball oscilated and did not "move" therefore, he did not do any replacing of the ball.

Now, IF Padraig would have called the Ref over and explained the situation, he would have told the Ref he did not see it move but simply oscilate. There would have been a ruling on the course and he would have continued. He applied the rule "to the best that he could" in the situation at hand. He was addressing the rule and he felt what he did was accurate. Padraig showed complete respect when he was shown footage and agreed the ball moved approx 1 1/2 dimples. He did not fault the ruling but accepted it as part of the sport and the respect shown for such. Harrington showed the class that the sport expects at this high level.

Now, my opinion of the situation is unchanged.......I feel the officials on course and all of the players playing must be the ones who make rulings and play according to such. I do not feel it is up to some BillyBob sitting at home who says "that balled moved a dimple"! This is merely getting unbelievable, when allowing this type of officiating. If that's the case, then I'll watch every tape and the European PGA Tour can PAY ME to officiate! Until then, it should be up to the honor of the PLAYERS and the rulings of the OFFICIALS!

Now, Go Hit Some Balls................

Alexis Thompson's request for 12 exemptions....denied.

While she may have won more money than 33 other players; she is only 15 y.o. She will turn 16 y.o. next month. The LPGA has denied her request to have her exemptions on the 2011 LPGA Tour this season changed to limited vs her 6 she currently has. With one of the new changes however, she can shoot for  Monday qualifiers to earn more. Previously, only LPGA Tour members could do so on Monday Qualifiers.

Now, I'm sure alot of people have a strong opinion about the request and about playing Monday qualifiers. I personally think that at only 15 (soon to turn 16 yo), she needs to spend her time being a kid per se. She needs to not be thrown into a stressful and sometimes challenging environment. Finish school and then after school, if she forgoes college, then that's her choice. Until you're 18 yo, you can't vote, you can't marry (in most states without parental approval) and you are not considered an adult. If you ask several of the young professional players who turned pro at an early age, many would agree that it's best to wait. While she is sure to be playing golf for many years to come; she cannot get back her childhood and those "high school moments" and "relationships".

Look at Michelle Wie. She just had her rookie season last year on the LPGA Tour and just turned 21 yo recently. She finished her Senior year at Stanford missing the next to last tourney to complete finals. This is a young woman who has her head on straight. I wish all young women whose dream is to play the LPGA, would do the same. At any given time, a Golf career can be over due to injury, etc. What will they fall back on then? Get your education now and then devote your life to the Sport of Golf. It's a regret you won't have to deal with down the road.

Now, Go Hit Some Balls.................

After an Opening Round Washout Thursday, the SONY OPEN is on!

This week's SONY OPEN is at the awe-inspiring Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, HI It is worth 500 FedEx Cup points and a winner's check of $990,000.  This course first opened to play in 1927....that's right, Feb. 1, 1927! Originally designed by Seth Raynor & Charles Banks in 1927; it was redesigned by Desmond Muirhead in 1992. It is a Par 70 and plays 7,234 yards. The course features Bermuda grass throughout. Ryan Palmer is the defending champ who beat out Robert Allenby last year by 1 stroke.

Several of the holes at Waialae Country Club, are designed after amazing holes elsewhere on the globe. Take the hole #13, which is designed from one on the Biarritz Golf Course in France. The 8th hole after the Berwick Course in Scotland, and the 10th hole has the same features as the 17th hole at St. Andrews in Scotland. Varies Hawaiian Opens have been held at Waialae since 1928, with the first PGA Hawaiian Open in 1965. This course has a tremendous history and you can read more about it and it's struggles through the years via it's website at waialaecc.com  David Toms set the course record of 61 in 2006, when he won the tourney.The most difficult hole is stated to be #2, which is a par 4, 423 yarder. The easiest is #9 a par 5, 506 yards (which is normally played as the 18th by members).

Sony Open in Hawaii
Round 1- last updated4:18 p.m. ET

POS	PLAYER	SCORE	THRU	TODAY
T1	Chris Riley	-4	16	-4
T1	Justin Rose	-4	14	-4
T3	Stuart Appleby	-3	14	-3
T3	Chad Campbell	-3	11	-3
T3	Brian Davis	-3	11	-3

Tournament coverage is 7:30-10:30 PM ET and then 7:00-10:00 PM ET on Sunday for the final round.

Now, Go Hit Some Balls...................

Byrd wins season's first event in a Hawaiin Sudden Death Playoff

Beautiful Kapalua Hawaii was the site of Jonathan Byrd's win on Sunday in a playoff with Robert Garrigus. He finished at -24.

After Byrd's hole in one in Vegas got him to Maui, he certainly didn't think he was going to card back to back wins. Garrigus well....not so happy. He failed to sink a 12 footer on the final hole of regulation for an eagle. Byrd also could have won on the final hole in regulation but also missed his birdie putt. After Byrd narrowly missed his 50 foot putt in the first playoff hole, he narrowed it to a 10 footer on the second and got his "byrd" and the WIN.

Graeme looked stellar on Sunday and shot a round of -11 to get him down the the final hole for a chance of heading into the Playoff against Byrd & Garrigus, but missed his 10 foot birdie attempt on #18 .Stricker who was looking strong and tied with both Byrd and Garrigus starting the final round on Sunday, just couldn't hang on and finished in a tie for 4th with Carl Pettersson at -4. 3rd Place went to Graeme at -23. Nonetheless, it was a great tournament to start the season off!

Additional drama came with the DQ of Camillo Villegas after an in inquiry set in motion uproar that could be heard around the globe. One man, Dave Andrews is feeling the backlash as he should. He is not a golf pro, but a self proclaimed "golf-nut". He plays more than 100 rounds a year. He spent 30 yrs as a television reporter & has written a golf novel. He was watching the opening round with friends and saw "Camillo flick away some loose pieces of grass as his ball was rolling back down a slope towards his divot on #15". What happened next, is crazy! He said to his friends that he thought that was "wrong". His friends then went onto the USGA's website and found the rule. Rule 23-1 to be exact; "when a ball is in motion, a loose impediment that might influence the movement of the ball must not be removed".

While the PGA Tour states viewers calling in "apparent rules violation is nothing new", they still check things out stated Jon Brendle, Rules Official. This inquiry came through Social Media giant Twitter. He tweeted to the PGA Tour, it's website producer, and The Golf Channel. Now, tell me he was not on a mission! He then contacted another Blogger, Ryan Ballengee who had apparently not seen the questionable violation. Once he watched this, he reportedly agreed and then sent an email to the PGA Tour media official at Kapalua.

At any rate, I think that WE as fans need to respect the game and the Tour Players. They play by known rules. At times, as in the case of Dustin Johnson's debacle last season; there will be innocent mistakes made. When we the fans try to become Officials and overstep those lines, then I have a problem. I don't think it is the place of any fan whether in person or via telecast, to make a violation call. Players play on their honor and knowledge of the rules. This violation in no way could have affected ANY fans. It could have affected a score, Camillo's. If none of the field felt this was an error, then it should have been left to the course officials. The lesson here is that innocent errors or judgements can occur in ANY profession. Officiating however, needs to be left to the Officials on hand and the other competitors to question ONLY!

Perhaps the scorecard rules should be changed. This could allow both the Player affected and the Officials to review the potential violation and be informed of penalty strokes to be given prior to signing of scorecards. To wait and have a player sign a card and then be broadsided when they did not think an action was a violation or better yet even know of any discussion of such, well.......... that is just plain wrong in my opinion. Please note I said "My Opinion". I don't post blog articles to start debates, they are simply my account of a sport I love. I watch and play all the GOLF possible and I can say that I would NEVER try to become an official from a viewer perspective! And, I agree with Ian Poulter who tweeted that "armchair officials" should not be officiating. This is the professional's sport, and if Andrews wanted to officiate, then I guess he wasted 30 yrs in television reporting; because he should have become a certified official instead!

Now, Go Hit Some Balls.........................

2011, a New Start, a New Season!

First upon the schedule of events is the PGA Tour's "Hyundai Tournament of Champions" from Jan. 6-9th in beautiful Maui, Hawaii at the Kapalua Resort. This tournament field is formed from Champions of the 2010 PGA Tour and will host players this week at The Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort. This will be the inaugural tournament for New Title Sponsor Hyundai.

From the beautiful shores to the gorgeous sunsets, Maui is one of the most beautiful places to host a PGA event. Our players arrived early to take advantage of the island and it's beauty. Bubba Watson tweeted on Monday, that he was playing a round with his wife Angie and that he was in shorts and riding a cart; both things you will not normally see Bubba Watson doing. Today, he was playing another practice round and also, will doing an EASPORTS promo for the 2012 Tiger Woods game. The Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 : The Masters will hit stores in May, 2011 and will feature The Masters at Augusta National. Yay! You can all pick up the current Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 at EASPORTS right now!

For those that don't follow Bubba on Twitter, you're missing out. He often posts videos of golf shots to just plain FUN tweets! You can follow him at @BubbaWatson . Ian Poulter another active Twitterer, is responsible for getting me hooked on "Cut the Rope". This is a game you can download from the App store for iphone or ipad. Very addicting! You can follow Ian via Twitter at @ianjamespoulter .

Those competing are: Geoff Olgilvy, Ryan Palmer, Bill Haas, Ben Crane, Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Ian Poulter, Cameron Beckman, Hunter Mahan, Camillo Villegas, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Phil Mickelson, Jason Bohn, Rory McIlroy, Tim Clark, Adam Scott, Jason Day, Zach Johnson, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Bubba Watson, Louis Oosthuizen, Matt Bettencourt, Carl Pettersson, Stuart Appleby, Bill Lunde, Martin Kaymer, Arjun Atwal, Matt Kuchar, Charley Hoffman, Heath Slocum, Rocco Mediate, Jonathan Byrd, Fransesco Molinari and Robert Garrigus.

The awe striking Plantation Course is a par 73, 7,411 yard course. The current course record is 62 and held by K.J. Choi, who set this in 2003 at the Mercedes Benz Championship.


The gates will open each of the four tournament round days at 8:30 a.m. There will be Fan-Zone Fed-Ex Cup activities throughout the tournament. Practice rounds started Sunday and will be played through today. The Pro-Am event is on Wednesday. Tee times are not yet posted. The TV schedule will be via The Golf Channel and first round coverage will be at 5:30 PM - 10:00 PM on Thursday, Jan. 6th. Rounds 2 & 3 will be at the same respective times. The final round however, on Sat. Jan. 8th will be telecast from 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

Now, Go Hit Some Balls................................