Golf Punk Magazine - Blog: comments, tips, hints, reviews and fun

	Tuesday, February 26, 2008

And The Winner Is...

No matter how mesmerising the film is, or how chameleonic its stars, you never walk away from the cinema knowing who won. In golf it’s different – the players are fighting it out on the same stage, and at the end of the day the results are on the leaderboard for the audience to see. Thank goodness for that. Imagine having to sit on the edge of your seat while an inebriated has-been actor, model, or reality TV star soaks up as much time as possible under the spotlight before opening an envelope and in a slur, announces Tiger Woods as the best golfer in the world. What a miserable anticlimactic prospect compared to watching him in action at the WGC.
If golf could be compared to the movie industry - though we know who would win that prize – which tournament would be crowned best film? Which caddy/coach best supporting actor? Would the European Solheim Cup team win best make up?

Check out Gerard Gallagher’s list and let us know your nominations.

“BEST SCREENPLAY: "The Mexican and the Swede"

It has already been a good year for Annika Sorenstam. Coming off her first winless season since 1994, when she was a rookie, Sorenstam opened 2008 with a victory at the SBS Open in Hawaii, a tournament she was playing for the first time. She followed that with a fourth-place tie Saturday at the Fields Open.

Now ranked No. 2 in the world, Sorenstam is finally on track to challenge top- seeded Lorena Ochoa, who has dominated the LPGA Tour for two seasons. It's unlikely Sorenstam will be able to overtake Ochoa this year, but it will be fun to watch her try.

Runner-up: "Searching for Bobby Jones"

When Tiger Woods was asked during the offseason whether winning the Grand Slam this season was a possibility, he couldn't resist telling the truth: Of course it is, especially for the best golfer of all time at the peak of his career. Bobby Jones is golf's only Grand Slam winner. He did it in 1930, when the U.S. and British Amateurs were considered major championships (Jones also won the U.S. and British Opens that year).

Devil's Dyke green keepers yesterday.

BEST ACTRESS: Christina Kim

As the plucky, truth-telling lead in "Christina's World," Kim played a golfer who always said the right things, cared about the right things, and did the right things.

Probably best known for her cheerleading at the 2005 Solheim Cup, Kim hasn't won on the LPGA Tour since that same year. It's probably the only thing keeping her from being a star. After taking a share of the first-round lead at the season-ending ADT Championship last year, where the winner receives $1 million, Kim was asked what she would do with the money. "I'll probably tell you in January when I'm like six-foot-two with blonde hair and a size-four," she joked. "You'll figure out how I spent the million dollars."

Runner-up: Michelle Wie

For her costumed role in "The Student," where she lost herself in the character of a teen phenom pretending to be an ordinary co-ed, all while simultaneously being one of the highest-paid athletes in the world.

BEST ACTOR: Rory Sabbatini

For his role in "The Golfer Everyone Loved to Hate," Sabbatini drew heavily on villains from the past, particularly William Zabka, the 1980s actor who played bad guys so well it was hard to separate him from the roles.

Sabbatini's "Sweep the leg!" moment came at the Target World Challenge in December, a non-official tournament that benefits Tiger Woods' foundation. Just showing up is worth nearly $200,000 -- yet Sabbatini, a notorious Tiger- baiter, found it OK to withdrawal under inauspicious circumstances. Said Fred Couples: "He's messing with the wrong guy."

Runner-Up: Boo Weekley

"Being Boo Weekley" is a funny, quirky look at golf's emerging everyman. Missing John Daly? Weekley is your guy. He was stopped by airport security on his way to the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship for having rifle bullets in his carry-on bag. Said Weekley, "I just sat there and shook my head like I was an idiot." Weekley also molds his playing schedule, at least somewhat, around hunting and fishing seasons.

BEST DIRECTOR: Phil Mickelson

The latest installment of the "Lefty" franchise saw Mickelson orchestrating changes to the FedEx Cup playoffs to fit his own personal schedule, doing so on millions of screens across the country after winning the Deutsche Bank Championship last fall.

Complaining that the playoffs were scheduled without a break, Mickelson threatened to sit out the next FedEx Cup event. Then he did. "I've got my kids starting school...and things I'd like to be at. On the other hand, I feel obligated to support the tour, so there has got to be a balance," he said.

Runners-up: The world's major golfing tours

For their direction of the sport's anti-doping policy in "Worldwide", seven major golf organizations should be rewarded. Aspects of the policy have been criticized, but it's hard to not like a sport wanting to prove that it's clean.

BEST PICTURE: "These Guys are Good"

With more storylines, better golfers, bigger tournaments and more money than any other circuit, the PGA Tour remains the best show in golf. Its new ending, the FedEx Cup playoffs, only strengthened its case.

Runner-up: "So Are We"

About the LPGA Tour, which has undergone a renaissance despite controversial leadership from its commissioner and an off year from its marquee star. If you're a golf fan and haven't been paying attention to the women, well, shame on you...”

2/26/2008 2:51:16 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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