Vijay Singh follows in Tiger Woods' footsteps. Sorenstam returns and how to practice the aloha shot at home

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With the feature golf story of 2008 being knee surgery for Tiger Woods, it seems almost ironic that, just after winning the Chevron World Challenge, Vijay Singh would be in a similar predicament. Singh claims that he was hurt during the event but obviously didn't know the extent of his injury.

Waiting for Tiger to arrive at the podium, Vijay cajoled, "Tiger, take your time. Don't come back too early. In fact, take a year off." Isn't Singh aware of the saying, "be careful what you wish for?"

It is said that Singh is looking at a recovery time of about five weeks which puts a comeback a bit closer to the Masters Tournament than should be attempted. I know that it took much longer for my husband, who underwent similar surgery, to be 100% so I doubt that Vijay, even with his ménage of sports trainers, will be in tip-top form.

Following in Tiger Woods' footsteps, in this case, is not necessarily a good thing for Singh as the past several years of developments have kept Singh on Tiger's tail. In 2003 it was Vijay who took the money spot on the PGA Tour away from Woods by almost a million dollars (of course Singh played a third more tournaments than Tiger in order to accomplish this feat.) In 2004 Singh dethroned Woods at the top of the World Rankings, if only for the single year when Tiger battled back.

More recently Tiger won the inaugural FedEx Cup, Singh rallied to take the second cup, both accomplishing their respective goals in similar gung-ho fashion.

Also, did you know that Vijay Singh's name means "Victorious Lion"? Quite a coincidence to Tiger Woods' moniker!. However, in the battle of tiger versus lion, it is theorized that the tiger would be victorious under most conditions.

This week we not only discuss the departure of Vijay Singh but the return of both Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam-McGee. Wait a minute, didn't the LPGA superstar recently retire?

Also, in honor of the return of the PGA Tour to Hawaii, we offer a drill to help with the "aloha shot".





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This podcast is supported by MyrtleBeachGolf.com, 866-409-2177.


Photo Credit: © indrajit.wordpress.com

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Tiger Woods' billion-dollar record, Daly's down-under, winter golf drills

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Fear not Bill Gates! Tiger Woods will not topple the richest man in the world off of his pedestal! Tiger would require about $57 billion in order to achieve this goal but he is certainly on his way! It has been reported that Woods, even with a bum knee and attending only six golf tournaments this year has made (both on and off the course) an estimated $117 million, bringing his total earnings to just under $900 million.

If Tiger plays equally as well in 2009 as he did last season and picks up another sponsor to offset the $50 million loss of his General Motors contract, there is the possibility that Woods could crack the $1 billion mark by the end of the year.

Even if Woods barely grazed the billion dollar ceiling, it is improbable that he would join Gates on the Forbes 400 as "the price of admission … is $1.3 billion for the second year in a row." Heads up, George Steinbrenner, the Tiger is on your tail!

Prediction as to how Tiger Woods will climb the ranks of the world's richest humans? His "mini-tour" will become the place where the top golfers play for high purses, turning the PGA Tour into a shell of its former self.

While Tiger is busy building golf courses and instituting himself as the harbinger of a new age in sports, John Daly is complaining that this is the "lowest point" in his life. At one point, Daly had enough money to gamble away some $50 million but now the US PGA Tour has suspended John, forcing him onto the European Tour to play in their events.

Daly, who has dived to an unimpressive 736 position in the world rankings, should be grateful for this new opportunity to "reinvent himself". Unfortunately, I think the European Tour would be more appreciative if John would continue his antics across the pond. The Australian Tour offers him a pittance, equivalent to about $50,000 of flights and accommodations (and probably all of the beer that he wants) and, in exchange, receives about $3 million in publicity that they certainly would not have had otherwise!

This week, Golf for Beginners talks about Tiger Woods' ranking both on and off the course as well as John Daly's opportunity for a change of pace. We also offer a few golf drills to practice during the cold of winter.





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This podcast is supported by Arizona Golf Packages, 1-866-444-0992.


Photo Credit: © Smh.com/AP, stopmikelupica.com

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Did women's long drive winner shaft the competition? Things to think about during golf's off-season.

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Recently, a former SWAT team cop from Los Angeles won the golf RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship. The nearest competitor lost by only a few yards in windy conditions and, where some of the challengers didn't seem to mind the outcome, a few had problems with it. Why, you may ask?

By the way, I am not talking about newly crowned RE/MAX long drive champion Jamie Sadlowski, who, with his 160-pound frame, defeated guys almost twice his size with great timing and a convincing hockey-esque style slap shot. Instead, this blog focuses on the controversy surrounding 55-year-old Lana Lawless, a 175-pound transgender who once weighed in at 245-pounds and was considered by law enforcement peers to have a very "tough and mean exterior" as Lawless admits. Lawless took women's RE/MAX honors this year after a narrow defeat at last year's semifinals.

Clubhead speed, not power alone, made the difference in the case of Sadlowski who carried his drive 400 yards. Lawless claims that her muscles have atrophied with the help of drugs that stem the flow of testosterone and that she is, for all intents and purposes, more woman than man. Sure she had drives of over 300 yards but she only bested her nearest opponent, 21-year old former long drive champion Phyllis Meti, by four yards.

About three years ago the Ladies Golf Union, which oversees that British Open, allowed transgenders to compete and Mianne Bagger took them up on their offer, becoming the first transgender since Renee Richards to play a professional sport. Looking at Bagger's 2008 stats, she appears to be a solid player with no advantage over the other players in the field but instead seems to fit right in to the middle of the pack.

The question is then, is there a definitive advantage of transgenders over "real" women and should transgenders be allowed to compete against their "peers"?

Three-time world champion Sean "The Beast" Fister said, "It's not an apples-to-apples deal. Men and women are different." Former women's world long drive champion Lee Brandon added, "if a woman has the knees, hands and feet of a man, she has genetic real estate that is more gifted."

Fox Sports polled the internet asking if it is fair for women who used to be men to compete as women and, out of almost 90,000 respondents, the answer was an overwhelming "No".

Where the average person may have trouble accepting transgenders into the fold, the media has said, "Vive la difference!" with ABC-TV leading the way featuring characters in both "Ugly Betty" and "All My Children". Of course transgenders don't have to physically compete in this platform so the question of athleticism still remains but, as long as proper procedures and guidelines are followed to ensure that transgenders do not have an unfair advantage, I think they should be allowed to compete. However, for those men who cannot adequately compete alongside their own gender and choose to make the switch solely for one-upmanship over the fairer sex, think again. Is the mandatory onsite testing really worth it?

I guess we won't be seeing "Philomena" Mickelson on the LPGA Tour any time soon!

This week on the Golf for Beginners show we not only talk about transgenders making their way onto the sports scene but also offer some great golf tips courtesy of Butch Harmon.






There is still time to get your golfer a gift! Check out our Holiday golf gift-giving guide!

Send your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed:http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes.


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"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"


This podcast is supported by San Diego Golf Central, 866-825-4094.



Photo Credit: © House of Forged-Whiteshaft, FoxSports.com