Greg Norman home recovering after chainsaw accident

Norman hospitalATLANTA, Ga. – Greg “The Shark” Norman nearly saw his golfing days come to an end.

Norman, working at his home in South Florida, was cutting back trees when a branch sent his left hand toward the chainsaw. Luckily for The Shark, the chainsaw struck just above his wrist and missed an artery that could have ended his playing days.

“Thank God the blade wasn’t running full speed or it would have taken my hand off,” Norman told the Associated Press. “I handled everything as calmly as I could. There is no major damage.”

According to Norman, there’s no muscular damage to his arm.

Fans’ concern poured in on Norman’s Instagram account, where The Shark posted a photo of himself in the hospital and another a week later standing next to a tree.

Norman home“Greg…Please Take Care! We heard about you [sic] injury and we are very concern [sic] about you,” one commenter said. “Get well soon!”

“Feel better,” another said. “I admire your attitude but I’d be done with chainsaws. Get well champ!”

Norman, 59, made it clear that his days of yard work and caring for his ranch are far from over.

“There’s a little tingling in my fingers, which is better than no fingers at all,” he said.

[Image: Instagram: shark_gregnorman]

Well, that’s one way to make a par

At the par 4 14th at the TOUR Championship on Friday, Rory McIlroy lost a drive right into the spectators. It seemed innocent enough after it brushed a tree and looked as if it found its way to the ground. Rather, the ball slipped its way into a spectator’s pocket.

A rules official allowed McIlroy to take his free drop. And, if things weren’t weird enough, you can feel the awkwardness when McIlroy goes to place his tee in the ground and the spectator doesn’t move.

McIlroy went on to save par––one hell of a par, we might add––and that dude has bar story that will trump almost all bar stories for the rest of his life.

Everybody wins!

[Image: YouTube screenshot]

So John Daly’s music is pretty bitchin’

JohnDaly_guitar

John Daly, known for his long drives and wild golf course antics that must make PGA Tour officials hang their heads in shame, has been cranking out some pretty bitchin’ music the past couple years.

Daly released the album I Only Know One Way in 2010, a country track that features plenty of mentions about golf, and what we assume, Daly’s life and life around golf.

Most notably, Hit It Hard

Hit it hard, man // so far, man // no laying up, no holding back, afraid of nothing it’s a natural fact // I hit it long, man // ’till it’s gone, man // keep taking chances, livin’ large, I hit it, I hit it, I hit it hard

In 2011 he released the album Rocking Horse, and followed it up with Sunburst in 2012.

It’s amazing that a guy who’s smoked and drunk so heavily holds such a good singing voice. Though Daly’s golf game has struggled this season, at least he’s always got a shot at making it as a musician.

Keep hittin’ ’em long, John.

What the hell to do with the dilapidated Astrodome

Houston Astrodomes Future

Following Harris County Judge Ed Emmett’s proposal to turn the Astrodome into the world’s largest indoor park, Houston residents have been voicing their opinions on what to do with the Astros’ former home. Some good ideas, some…..not so much….

[Image courtesy of the Associated Press]

What we’re watching on Netflix

Netflix

 

Kevin Spacey<< House of Cards

five stars

 

 

T.V. series [2 seasons]

Congressman Frank Underwood [Kevin Spacey] is a bad, bad man who will do the unspeakable to advance his political career.

 

 

 

 

Unhung Hero >> Unhung Hero

three stars

 

 

Movie [1:26]

Does size matter? For Patrick Moote, yes. Yes it does.

 

 

 

 

 

The Killing<< The Killing

three stars

 

 

T.V. series [4 seasons]

Who killed Rosie Larsen?

 

 

 

 

The Boy In The Striped PajamasThe Boy in the Striped Pajamas >>

five stars

 

 

Movie [1:34]

Friendship can be found in the most unlikely places.

McIlroy CRUSHES drive; announcers couldn’t care less

Rory McIlroy POUNDED a drive today at the Scottish Open on the par 4 13, blasting it 436 yards while driving the green. A 436-YARD DRIVE!!! It even takes the camera man a second to find the ball.

The announcers clearly share our enthusiasm.

19th Hole: An epiphany, of sorts

Editor’s Note: Since the day journalism got its hold on me in 2006, I’ve had the dream of owning and running a publication. With the help of family, friends, and so many others, that dream is becoming more of a reality. These are the details of that journey.

College always scared me.Matt Keyser

It never offered a nesting home like high school, which allowed its kids to live in the notion that they were still children who were protected from the terrors of the real world.

As soon as you accept that high school diploma, that naïve notion disappears. You’re an adult now, son, and with it comes the responsibilities of growing up. It’s a terrifying realization, and one I came to much too quickly when North Lake College’s cashier’s office came calling that tuition was due or I’d be dropped from my classes.

I had no idea what I wanted to do. I started college a semester early in summer 2006 hoping to get an early start on figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. I’d hope to quickly reach an epiphany as I meandered through the college’s halls, questioning my very existence.

One semester went by. Then the next.

After a brief trial-and-error period that included a heavy dose of science courses—the TV show Crime Scene Investigation has always fascinated me—I gave up on the biology and chemistry route.

Back at the beginning of questioning my existence, and receiving heavy pressure from my family, I opted to turn to my love of writing. Even if it didn’t stick as a career, I thought, maybe I’d get a few good pointers I’d carry the rest of my life.

That was January 2007.

In the ensuing eight years, writing has taken me to places I’ve never imagined: to the negative temperatures of Wyoming, inside the hotel rooms of Hollywood’s biggest celebrities, in the home of a college student who was beaten and left to die.

But it’s Ace In The Cup—call it Ace for short—that has me the most excited.

Because with Ace, much like those college hallways, the future is full of possibilities.

19th Hole: 2014 golf resolutions

Ah! It’s a new new year, which means a new slate of golf resolutions.

It’s great what the new year brings, isn’t it: resolutions to succeed and reach those seemingly unattainable goals, to become a better, more caring person—or, for many of us, to become better golfers.

It’s easy to be all talk about New Year’s resolutions, but it’s another to commit and follow through for the ensuing 365 days.

These, friends, are my 2014 golf resolutions in what I hope to be a year where the golf gods treat us all kindly, so that we may all keeping the cursing and club-throwing to a minimum.

Godspeed to us all.

1. (Finally!) Record a hole-in-one GolfBall

This has been a goal of mine since the day I started playing the game. I’ve never had one, never seen one (T.V. doesn’t count), never been on the course when one has been sunk (that I know of). This shot has done its best at eluding me for more than 20 years.

Sure I’ve had my fair share of close calls. At 17 on hole 21 at The Village Golf Club in Panorama, I faded a 6-iron to a middle pin that rolled within two inches of the cup. At 19 on hole 2 at Texas National, I flushed a 9-iron 140 yards directly behind the hole with some great backspin that fed directly to the hole. The ball lipped out.

Don’t even get me started on how many times I’ve nailed the flag only to have the ball ricochet off the green—occasionally into the water.

DAMN YOU, GOLF GODS!

2. Play golf in Scotland

The allure of playing in the country where golf was invented is so appealing. To walk on the grass that millions of others have through the past century; to play where the game’s inventors, the game’s best have teed up a ball; to be engulfed in that environment would be one of the crowning achievements in my golfing career. Woods81

Plus, do y’all remember that time that Tiger shot 81 at Muirfield in 2008? I’d like to think that when I’m on top of my game I could beat that score [[Editor’s note: on a day when conditions are clear]].

There’s only one way to find out.

3. Shoot under par

Shamefully for all the years I’ve been playing golf I’ve never recorded a round under par. I’ve been frustratingly close!  Like the time at the Bear Creek – East Course in Dallas when I needed to par the par-4 ninth to shoot 35, but embarrassingly walked off the green with a double.

4. Beat my damned brother again

Growing up I had no issues rubbing it in my little brother Ethan Keyser’s face that I could beat him on the golf course. Or I could drive it farther. Or I could chip it closer. Or I could drive the golf cart.GreenRead

A lot has changed since those days.

Now Ethan consistently beats me. And can drive it as far as me. And can chip it closer. And can drive the golf cart, for that matter.

And, much like myself back when he was a small pipsqueak, he has no problem chastising me every time he beats me on the course.

No more, little bro. Family or not, I’m coming for you this year.

5. Hit a golf ball from a moving plane into the ocean

I’m not even sure if this is possible. One, would you be able to maintain balance long enough to complete a full swing? Two, if you were able to keep said balance, would the ball hold still long enough for you to hit it? Physicists readers, what say you?!

If it is, it seems as if a 500-yard drive wouldn’t be out of the question.

Speaking of resolution No. 6…..