On New Year’s Day, the LPGA released its 2011 schedule. Problem is, it was the scheduling equivalent of serving up an undercooked pie. (I was going to say "turkey," but that would add an element of criticism — and trichinosis — that wasn’t intended.)  The leaked schedule has 24 events as well as the Solheim Cup in Ireland. That’s down from 26 events in 2010, though two were unofficial events.

An LPGA official blamed a "computer glitch" for the early release of the "incomplete" schedule. We’ll do a complete breakdown of the schedule once it hits officially. For now, though, the above logo is all you’re gonna get. Make your travel plans now! 

Read More Golf News from:

You probably don’t know the name Billy Joe Patton. He didn’t make The Devil Ball 100 list of the most important golfers of all time; shoot, he probably wouldn’t make the top 500. But he was a significant figure in the game, and in many ways was much closer to us than almost anyone on that list will ever be.

Patton died on New Year’s Day at age 88, and although he hadn’t played competitively in years, he’s nonetheless fondly remembered by a wide swath of the golfing public. He was a lifelong amateur, but played well enough to earn his way onto five Walker Cup teams in the middle of the 20th century.  

While he won numerous amateur championships, his best-known tournament is probably the one he didn’t win: the playoff he just missed playing at a little club in a backwater Georgia town.

The year was 1954, and Sam Snead and Ben Hogan had battled to a draw in Augusta. Patton was on pace to join them in a playoff thanks to a hole-in-one on the 6th. But on the 13th, like Phil Mickelson would do more than a half-century later, he tried to reach the green in two. Unlike Mickelson, Patton dunked his ball there and at the 15th, and would go on to finish just one stroke behind Snead and Hogan. (Snead eventually won.)

Years later, when dedicating the Hogan and Nelson bridges over Rae’s Creek, Bobby Jones’ wife recommended dedicating something to Patton. Jones replied that "Billy Joe doesn’t care  

Patton played well at Augusta and other tournaments, with 1961 being his high-water year with three wins. He would win tournaments from 1947 to 1981, an amazing run of longevity.

Ron Green Sr. wrote a touching tribute to Patton in the Charlotte Observer, and summed up his game thusly:

Billy Joe played swashbuckling golf, happy golf, golf that was
splendid only in its result. He played golf that substituted soul for
mechanism, golf that always had a dramatic uncertainty to it, golf that
had a joy to it that we don’t often see anymore among the best players.

We should all be lucky to get such a sendoff for our golf games. Condolences to Patton’s family, friends and fans.

Read More Golf News from:

Were it not for Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer would be the runaway favorite for breakout player of 2010. He reached No. 1 on the European Tour, he won a major, he won the Race to Dubai, he played in the Ryder Cup, and he won at St. Andrews in the Dunhill Cup. Any of those would be a good career; Kaymer did all of ‘em in a single year. That’s not bad.

But for all his accolades, one honor still eludes him. Kaymer is one of the most talented golfers on the planet, but he’s never achieved that tough-but-not-impossible feat: the hole-in-one.

He’s 25 years old, he’s played tens of thousands of holes all over the world, and he’s never achieved that mythical ace. Old ladies, kids, people with absolutely zero talent but enough strength to power the ball down the fairway and enough luck to hit it straight just once –all those people have carded aces, and not Kaymer? Huh.

The professional record for holes-in-one is held by Art Wall Jr., who carded 45 over his career. Second place is Jack Nicklaus with 22. 

So if you’re lucky enough to have a hole-in-one in your own history, you’ve got at least one thing up on the European No. 1. And if you’ve done it, hey, why not tell us about it here? Gotta kill time ’til Thursday, after all. 

Read More Golf News from:

You may still be bleary-eyed from that New Year’s Eve party — and we know you haven’t written your Christmas thank-you notes yet, so don’t even try to blow that by us — but the 2011 golf season officially gets underway this week as the Hyundai Tournament of Champions begins at the lovely Plantation Course at Kapalua. Yes, yes, for most casual fans golf doesn’t truly begin until Masters Sunday, but for us diehards, we’re rolling right now, baby!

As befits its name — the second half, at least — the HTOC invites all the tournament champions from the previous year to do battle. That means well-known faces like Anthony Kim, Bubba Watson, Camilo Villegas, Jim Furyk and Ernie Els are in attendance, along with "wait, he won last year?" guys like Jason Bohn, Bill Haas and Derek Lamely. Not in attendance: Phil Mickelson, who won in Augusta last year. Also not in attendance: Tiger Woods, who … er, never mind.

Anyway, this will be a good chance for you to get back in the swing of golf — ugh, sorry, awful pun — by watching some of the best in the game. And at long last, we can stop trying desperately to manufacture stories out of nothing at all. We’ve got real golf to talk about, baby!

The tournament begins on Thursday. Join us for another fine year of golf, won’t you?

Read More Golf News from:

You all know names like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickeslon and Rory McIlroy. These are the guys that lead the charge on the PGA Tour. But what about the rest of the guys that you don’t know a lot about, but have the talent to make some noise in 2011? We give you five names that are setting themselves up for big things this season. 

Jamie Lovemark: He’s 23, and nearly won a PGA Tour event at the end of 2009, when he lost in a playoff to Troy Matteson, but he had a year to dominate the Nationwide Tour and is not set to make a smiliar splash on the PGA Tour. He’s got all the tools to be a multiple winner on the PGA Tour, so expect Lovemark to be in the hunt for Rookie of the Year when the season concludes. 

Webb Simpson: In 2009, as a rookie, Simpson burst on the scene, finishing in the top-10 in his first two events, and in the top-20 in four of his first five events when he made the weekend. He cooled off in 2010 at the beginning of the season, but Simpson still had seven top-25s including a tie for fourth at the Justin Timberlake event. Simpson has that quiet demeanor, but he is definitely the type of golfer that is due to win before long.

Chris Kirk: He won two Nationwide Tour events last season, and in his only PGA Tour start of ’10 finished in a tie for 15th when he closed with a 66 at the McGladrey Classic. He’s only 25, but the University of Georgia product has won at every level (he was part of the ’05 national championship team) and expect that trend to continue with his first full year on the PGA Tour.

Ben Martin: Martin, 23, has been touted as the type of golfer that could be the next Rickie Fowler type. He breezed through Q-School, and seems to be one of those types of players that could do what Simpson did when he started his PGA Tour career; high finishes, and fast.

Ricky Barnes: Okay, you’ve heard his name a ton in big events, because that seems to be when he plays his best, but it’s crazy to think Barnes still has never won a PGA Tour event. Now 29, Barnes seems to be in a position to finally win, and when he does, expect the floodgates to open. He is the type of guy that focuses his play around the majors, so don’t be surprised to see his name floating around a leaderboard or two at the big ones.

Read More Golf News from:

It’s 2011 (yikes), and with that, we give you our Devil Ball predictions for the new year. Enjoy them, and let us know your thoughts about them as we roll into another golf season.

Phil Mickelson‘s arthritis situation will be a bigger deal than we initially thought: You can’t say Lefty had a bad 2010, because he added another major championship to his growing resume, but after Augusta it was a very, very poor performance by Phil. Why is that? Because he was dealing with the psoriatic arthritis situation, among other family health issues. I’ve heard from a doctor or two that this is a bigger deal than most in the media are giving it, and I think it will continue to keep Phil sidelined. I expect another season like the last from Mickelson, who might have some success earlier in the season but will fade as the year wears on.

Tiger Woods will be the 2011 Comeback Player of the Year: Did you ever think he’d be up for such an award? Nope, but after the end of ’09 and his entire 2010 season, Tiger is in a position to claim this when he dominates. I think Tiger will win four or five times in ’11, including a major, and allow us all to forget, finally, what happened at his house, with his family, and to the Escalade. Everyone deserves a shot at redemption, and with his play at the Chevron, it seems Tiger still has the game to win, as long as a certain Northern Irishman stops making putts.

Rory McIlroy will win the PGA Championship: Nope, he isn’t ready for a Masters or U.S. Open, and the British is too much pressure now from the locals, but McIlroy is ready to take home a major, and I think the Atlantic Athletic Club is the place it happens. Rory has finished third two straight times at the PGA, so expect a win for the youngster to jump-start his major career.

Dustin Johnson will rise above all the other 20-somethings as the top talent: It’s hard to realize that Johnson is only 26, but the four-time PGA Tour winner is going to emerge this season as the best American youngster in the game. He has all the tools, and his swagger is undeniable. He told me he is working hard at his game from 150-yards and in, and if he can lock that in, he’s going to be really tough to beat.

Lee Westwood will have a letdown year: For all the accolades Westwood has under his belt, his success on American soil is still lacking, and that is, as they say, where the oil is pumped. Lee had a really great 2010, until you look at how many times he actually won; just twice, and one was because a guy triple-bogeyed the final hole to get him in a playoff.

Okay, your turn. Give us some of your predictions!

Read More Golf News from: