Hall Thompson, the controversial founder of Shaol Creek Golf and Country Club in Alabama, whose words unwittingly kicked off a racial crisis in the sport, has passed away. He was 87.

Thompson developed Shoal Creek in the Birmingham suburbs in 1977. Designed by Jack Nicklaus, the course hosted the 1984 and 1990 PGA Championships, and has consistently ranked among the best in the country for its design. 

However, it’s not Shoal Creek’s layout that brought it notoriety; it’s the golfers permitted to play on its holes. Shoal Creek was a private, all-white club when, in 1990, Thomspon told the Birmingham Post-Herald that "this is our home, and we pick and choose who we want. We have the right to associate or not associate with whomever we choose." Thompson later claimed he was misquoted.

Even so, that comment set the airwaves ablaze, and that was before the Internet. Sponsors pulled $2 million in commercials from PGA Championship broadcasters ABC and ESPN. African-American groups threatened to picket the club during the tournament. And just days before the tournament began, the club gave an honorary membership to a local insurance executive.

As a result of Shoal Creek, the PGA Tour, the LPGA, the PGA of America and the USGA all adopted guidelines mandating that clubs could not discriminate. (Note that Augusta does not fall under the purview of any of these organizations.) If courses did not meet the standards, they would be dropped from consideration, and 11 clubs failed to meet the standards. (At least one, Aronomink Golf Club, has revised its policies and again is in the tournament rotation.)

Shoal Creek, meanwhile, has also gotten back in the good graces of the golf establishment — or, more properly, the public — and has hosted the U.S. Amateur Championship and will be hosting other tournaments in the future.

Oh, and in September 2009, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice became a member.

Tiger Woods will return to his mother’s home country for the first time in 10 years next month. He’s scheduled to play in a one-day skins tournament on Nov. 8, part of ongoing celebrations for King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 60th year of rule. 

"The last time I played in Thailand was in 2000. I am really looking forward to coming back and hopefully win it all!" Woods "said" in a statement that Woods himself probably never even came within a thousand miles of saying. (The exclamation point was the dead giveaway.)

Publicity gimmicks aside, this ought to be a fun tournament. Woods will be playing with Paul Casey, Camilo Villegas and Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand. Total prize money will be $300,000, and the players all agreed to donate their winnings to charities overseen by King Bhumibol. (I find nothing unsual in that at all.) The golfers will wear pink shirts in deference to the ailing king.

Woods will drop in and drop out, spending about 24 hours in Bangkok after completing play in the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. He’ll bolt from there to Australia to play in the Australian Masters, an event he won last year. 

You’re not tired of it yet, are you?

Jonathan Byrd‘s ace was instantly one of the most famous one-and-dones in golf history. But before we move forward, let’s size up how well this ace matches up against some of the best in recent golf history. No rankings, just a roundup. Shall we begin?

This first one doesn’t technically count because it didn’t happen in the course of a real tournament, but Vijay Singh‘s skip-shot ace on the 16th at Augusta during a practice round is as slick as it gets:

Next up, Tiger Woods in Phoenix. What a peppy little fellow he was!

Here, Fuzzy Zoeller‘s ball takes its own sweet time making its way to the hole:

Next, Jason Hargett — not a PGA player, but still — with the most profitable putt of his life:

And finally, the best shot of all of these — Leif Olson‘s bank-shot ace:

There are thousands more, of course. So add your favorites in the comments below as you rank these. Have at it!

I’m sure Sun Mountain employees everywhere will hate this analogy, but for their rain suits, torrential downpours on Day 1 of the Ryder Cup and complaining from nearly everyone, it was the perfect storm of bad press.

The company that provided rain gear for the American Ryder Cup team in Wales this October was the dog of the opening ceremonies, becoming one of the biggest stories of the first two days of the Ryder Cup because it seemed they failed to repel water. Players complained, captain’s complained, and stories were tossed around everywhere badmouthing the company that was picked to keep America dry.

But founder and owner Rick Reimers finally spoke on the phone about the wet, worriment of Wales, stating that he thinks it wasn’t really the rain suits’ fault to begin with.

Reimers admitted that he was as confused (and depressed) as anyone, and even stuck an employee in a shower for two hours with the team’s rain suit on (Ed. Note: That dude needs a raise) and didn’t see the suit leaking at all.

Final verdict from Sun Mountain?

"We think nobody got wet with rain coming through the garment," Reimers said. "Did the outside material hold more moisture than you’d like? Probably. When something gets soaked, it feels cold on the skin. People might interpret that as being wet."

OK, while it seems a bit off, that isn’t a crazy idea. If you’ve ever been in a downpour with rain gear on, you still feel wet even if your skin isn’t wet, because you are cold and you are miserable, and face it, every other part of your body that isn’t covered in rain gear is soaked.

Also, Sun Mountain is still in the hunt for next year’s Presidents Cup rain gear, which will luckily not be played in a country known for their October downpours (next year will be in sunny Australia).

So, go out, buy Sun Mountain rain gear, and if you don’t believe in the product, you can always stand in a shower for two hours to test it out.

For those that worry about such things, we’re in the final days of Tiger Woods‘ reign as No. 1 in the world. The Official World Golf Rankings have finally caught up to reality, and come this weekend, Woods will be dethroned as the world No. 1.

So who will take over? Lee Westwood, according to the numbers, but if Martin Kaymer can manage a win at the Andalucia Masters this week, he’ll be No. 1. Can you hear the cheers? Yeah, me neither.

We’ve discussed this topic before, and we’ve come to the same consensus as Jack Nicklaus: The world No. 1 ranking means little in and of itself, and because of the supreme lag time, it doesn’t take into account more recent swings in a golfer’s play. 

Tiger fans will say this is all irrelevant, that Woods is still the best player in golf. (Right now, he’s not.) Could he get back to the top? Absolutely. But he’s not going to be there for five-year stretches any more, you can bet on that.

Once the switchover happens, fans of Kaymer and Westwood will take justifiable pride in their guy’s accomplishments. But really, it’s yet another ranking system that generates more headlines than actual news.

Still, what this also means is that for the foreseeable future, Phil Mickelson‘s window to take over the No. 1 spot has slammed shut. Kaymer’s amazing play this year — four wins, including a major — far outdistances anything Phil accomplished, and Westwood’s steady game, when he’s healthy, is likewise the equal of anything Phil can do right now.

So, just for the heck of it, have your say. Who, in your opinion, is the No. 1 golfer in the world right this very minute? And 3 … 2 … 1 … go!