Phil, Criminals, Bracketology, and the 2-putt rule

4 footer for par and retain the lead. Stand over it. Eye the line. Smooth takeaway, smooth stroke. YIPE! Missed it.
3 footer for par and extend the playoff. Stand over it. Eye the line. Smooth takeaway, smooth stroke. YIPE! Missed it.

What is Phil and vijay. They had their putts to win or extend tournaments. They missed them. Now, I LOVE to see vijay lose, I hate that chauvanistic bastard. I root against him all the time. Time to jump on the Paddy wagon. However, Phil did choke. He had that putt for the lead. And he yipped it out. You can call it "choking", you can call it "the yips", you can call it whatever. But that yipped putt ranks right up there with his US Open debacle last year. Okay, maybe I jumped the gun, but how that Tiger seems to be back, will we see the old or new Phil? At the Ford, it was the old Phil. Time will tell. And MAJOR sympathy goes out to Geoff (or is it Joe) Ogilvie, whose drive on 18 landed in a divot, thus essentially ending his bid for a birdie on 18 to tie for the lead. I've got to believe that we need to change that to be a free drop. It's SO tough for even the pros to hit from a lie like that, they should get a drop.

Ryan Moore's accomplishments are incredible, and should not be trivialized in any way, but the road to the PGA is littered with dominant amateurs, guys who romped through the field time and time again, only to collapse under the pressure of the big time. As with Phil's 2005 mental makeup, the verdict is still out, stay tuned bat fans.

Score one for the Atlanta PD and FBI. After leaving a lone female deputy to escort a 6'1" 200lb criminal to court (you can guess the rest: stolen gun, shot deputy, slain judge/stenographer/customs agent), they tracked him down to an apt where he had an apparent hostage and brought him to justice. Surrendered without a fight. Now the hostage is telling a detailed account of how she saved the man - I cannot go into this in too much detail, as I have not read the entire account, and my cynical nature lingers on the fact that she might be an acquaintance who was just harboring him until he could get out, but now they are conspiring to make her look like the "angel" and have her time in the limelight and make money. Not sure. Just skeptical I guess. I find it odd that a rapist, murderer, and escaped convict would go into an apt and take a shower, wash up. She claimed that they "bonded" so much that she offered to help him get a new escape vehicle, and offered him money to help him out. Things that make you go "hmmmmm"... Personally, I hope he fries.

No comment on Mike Tice. Now, of course, the issue of why the Vikings have issues becomes a tad bit clearer...

Bracketology...UCONN (my alma mater) a #2 seed. Deserved, IMHO. Washington a #1 seed? I'm not convinced, but Wake Forest can rectify that possible error with a beat down in Albuquerque if the #'s 1 and 2 meet in that region. Georgia Tech a #5 seed with a record of 19-11?! First #1 to go down? I believe it will be Illinois. Not sure why, but they will be the first to exit. If things hold true to form, they will have to come up against (well, not QUITE to form) Nevada then BC, I don't see the challengers to Washington to be stronger than those in the Chicago regional. However, I'm guessing here. HOWEVER, Duke better watch out for Syracuse, and UNC better watch out for Florida. Lowest seed to advance out of the first round - ie UPSET special? ODU will upset Michigan State or New Mexico will upset 'Nova. That's what the heart says. What the money says in the office pool might be different. Let TILAM fan the flames of debate!

Every year, around this time, many of the nicer golf courses aerate and sand the greens. This makes putting roughly equivalent to putting on bumpy gravel. I hate it. They don't break true, they don't roll smooth, they don't hold, you name it. So golfers invoke the "2 putt rule". This says that from anyplace on the green, due to the condition of the course, you only count 2 putts, nothing more. Well, on hole #4 yesterday it saved my bacon. About an 80 foot putt for birder turned into a tap in for par even though the green was in horrible condition and the putt ended up 12 feet from the hole! HeHeHe. However, on #12, I got the shaft, when a perfectly struck 12 foot birdie putt got hung up in the sand and stopped 3 inches short of the hole. In normal green conditions, the putt on 4 rolled an addition 9-10 feet, and the birdie putt goes in. But it evens out, and the golf gods are sated. Final verdict - 2 over par 74, including a titantic 325 yard blast on the 18th hole. 2 other 300 yard howitzer blasts as well. Looks like Thew is finding his rhythm with the big dog. Thank you Titleist. Thew patiently awaits Tilam's golf excursion to his hometown for the first annual Tilam whoopin...