Hail King Rory-Golf's New No. 1

Golf has its new king and he comes in the form of a floppy-haired, Irish, 22-year-old, who can flat out play.

With Rory McIlroy’s victory at the Honda Classic, which pushed him over the top to No. 1 in the World Rankings, golf now has a dynamic poster boy, who can perhaps help our withdrawal from Tigermania.

While Tiger reminded the world of his brilliance with a scintillating 8-under, 62 on the final day, it was Rory who dominated the tournament on every other level.

Hopefully Tiger continues to improve and give Rory a strong rival because it would be great for golf. Rory is taking a somewhat measured view of his number one ranking. At the media conference after the Honda Classic, he was asked, “How long do you think you can stay here?”

He answered: “I don't know, I mean, it depends on how I play.  I mean, hopefully I can stay here but it depends on how others play.  It really is‑‑ you don't‑‑ I'd like to stay there for a while.  I'm not sure how far above Luke I go now or what the point difference is, but as long as I keep playing good golf and have chances to win tournaments, then hopefully I'll stay up there.”

Unless Tiger turns into a Vijay Singh, who won big-time and played fabulous golf in his 40s, it looks like the next ten years will be the “Decade of Rory”. 

Let’s raise a toast to watching some phenomenal golf by this exceptional young Irishmen. If Tiger, Phil and others can give him some serious competition, we’re in for some fantastic golf viewing in the near future.

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My Personal Top 50 Courses in the World

Have you ever been asked "If you could play just one course, what would it be?" For Ben Hogan, the one course he said he could play happily for the rest of his life was Seminole. Tom Lehman wrote a letter to Shinnecock Hills in 1995 stating, "If I were given one day to live, and could play any course that I wanted for my last round, I would choose Shinnecock." I actually think this is the wrong question. I'm too greedy to limit the list to just one course.

The right question would be, if you had unlimited time and money, and access to whatever courses you wanted, which courses would you put on your short list to play. Think of it as your own personal global Open Championship rota of courses.

Try sometime to rank the top golf courses you have seen or played. Then take out a blank sheet of paper and try to write it down again. Or think about it a few days and try it again. Try it again and see if you come up with the same list. It's a futile exercise. My own personal experience is that it is easier to bucket courses into categories or group them together. Below is my current list:

The bunkering on Royal Adelaide's 7th hole

Top 10
Cypress Point
National Golf Links of America
Sand Hills
Carnoustie
Loch Lomond
Sunningdale (Old)
Cruden Bay
Maidstone
Royal Portrush (Dunluce)
Royal Adelaide
Merion
Morfontaine

Sunningdale's 12th green

Next 10
Shinnecock Hills
Camargo
Shoreacres
Pine Valley
Yeamans Hall
Royal County Down
Jack's Point
Woodhall Spa
Barnbougle Dunes
San Francisco Golf Club

Jack's Point's fifteenth hole in Queenstown, NZ

Next 10
Turnberry
Whippoorwill Club
Los Angeles Country Club
Seminole
Somerset Hills
Royal Melbourne West
Kauri Cliffs
Kawana
Bethpage Black
New South Wales

Whippoorwill's par three 4th hole

Next 10
Pebble Beach
Riviera
Crystal Downs
Prestwick
Kingsbarns
Baltimore (Five Farms)
Lahinch
Garden City Mens Club
Naruo
Myopia Hunt Club
Highlands Links

Prestwick's ideal opening hole

Next 10
Bandon Dunes
The Valley Club of Montecito
Kiawah (Ocean Course)
Pinehurst #2
Royal Dornoch
Hirono
Chicago Golf Club
Valderamma
Royal St. George's
Royal Liverpool

Hirono's crazy sloping 14th fairway

The smart aleck's among you have probably noticed that I don't know how to count. I did take a little liberty to include eleven courses in each category because it's very difficult to keep it to ten and I've never been particularly good at math. If you don't like that approach, create your own list.

Why Tiger Woods Can't Win

Following Tiger Wood's introduction to an Orlando Isleworth fire hydrant in 2009, we were introduced to another Tiger on the golf course. Tiger 2.0 resembles 1.0 somewhat these days, but the new version just can’t seem to win and add to his trophy case like the feared older version.

You can blather on endlessly about his new coach and swing and whether he can keep the ball on the fairway consistently, but it’s Tiger’s pathetic flat stick game that probably wouldn’t even get him a win on the Nationwide Tour.

Woods ranks 175^th in the PGA Tour Strokes Gained Putting performance stat. When you watch Woods on the greens these days he looks like an 18-handicapper overcome with anxiety at a corporate scramble with the boss watching. These days Woods hopes the ball goes in rather than knowing it will find the bottom of the cup.

Other parts of Tiger’s 2.0 game aren’t that impressive, either. He ranks 81^st in driving distance at 290.4 yards and 177^th in total driving. On the bright side, he’s first in Sand Save Percentage, and eighth in Greens in Regulation percentage and Scoring average.

The bottom line is if Tiger’s putts begin to fall, he will win again. Suffice it to say, just about every professional golfer who sticks a peg in the ground will tell you they’ll win again if they can just drop a few putts. 

Who Won? Huh?

Jeremy Lin is all the rage in the NBA these days. About to be cut, he came off the bench to play some of the best ball at his position and help elevate the bottom-of-the-barrel New York Knicks to a legitimate playoff team. Adding to his unbelievable ascent and growing legend is that he is an American of Asian descent. That's a first in the NBA.

Well the PGA has it's own version of Jeremy Lin. His name is John Huh and he is tearing up the PGA out of nowhere in Lin-like fashion. Huh started his rookie year making the cut at his very first start, finishing top 15 in his next two starts, and winning in his fifth start last weekend at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Like Lin, Huh was born in America to Asian parents. Huh played at Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta, California where he wasn't even the best player on his team. He was a virtual unknown on the junior golf circuit because of limited financial resources. After high school, Huh attended California State University, Northridge but left after two weeks due to scholarship ineligibility after the NCAA changed a rule. Huh turned pro in 2008 and played on the Korean Tour before qualifying for the 2012 PGA Tour by finishing T27 at Q-school. Huh has the hottest rookie start on the PGA Tour since Tiger and he's well on his way to the 2012 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year honors. So it appears that there are a lot of similarities between Lin and Huh. However, unlike Lin, we probably won't have to endure all those annoying puns!