SILENT TREATMENT
Charles Barkley and Tiger Woods haven’t
spoken to each other since Woods’ infamous
November 2009 car accident, Barkley told a
radio show Wednesday. “You think you’re friends
with a guy. You talk to him once a week for 15
years. You’re like, this dude is my friend, we do
things, we have fun together,” Barkley said on
the Mike Lupica Show. “I haven’t talked to him
in two years and I’m wondering what the hell is
going on.”
is in such a hurry. And why should he be? Golf
has changed so much the past 10 years that
America, once the ultimate destination for the
best players from all corners of the globe, now is
no more than an occasional detour for so many
Europeans.
GOLF’S LITTLE SECRET
Exercise your hips
for more distance.
CHUBBY SLAM
“The Chubby Slam” may sound like a canvas-rocking tactic employed by the likes of Giant
Haystacks in the 1970s wrestling scene but, in
fact, it could be the most remarkable
achievement in the history of British sports management. If one of the
nine players overseen by ISM prevails
at next week’s PGA Championship, it
will mean that this agency in Cheshire
has won all four majors in 2011. The boss is one
Chubby Chandler, who waited more than 80
majors and two decades for ISM’s breakthrough,
but Louis Oosthuizen’s win at last year’s Open
started a run of four majors from the past five.
to read more.
TIMES A CHANGIN’
There was a time when Martin Kaymer
couldn’t get to America fast enough. First came
the inspiration from Woods’ incomparable 2000
season, when he won three consecutive majors.
It was enough for the 15-year-old German to
start dreaming of the PGA Tour. Now that he’s
a major champion, which comes with a five-
year PGA Tour exemption, Kaymer no longer
It’s the question that vexes amateur golfers
perhaps more than any other: “Why can’t I hit
the ball farther?” While professionals like Rory
McIlroy and Darren Clarke regularly thump
it well over 300 yards, most weekend players
struggle to break 250. Even veterans such as
61-year-old Tom Watson, the five-time win-
ner of the British Open, will regularly out-drive
fitter club players half his age. Now orthopedic
surgeons claim to have pinpointed the reason,
and say it is all in the hips. Freeze-frame video
analysis has found that professionals rotate
their hips much more than everyday hackers
when swinging the club back. This gives them
much greater power and all-important clubhead
speed on the downswing. l
