The Real Marshals of the Dubai World Championship

NO, IT’S NOT A REALITY TV show. The people pictured above with champion Robert Karlsson (wearing red shirt, white cap and, I believe, holding a scepter) are real volunteer marshals at last year’s Dubai World Championship.

Question: Why is the fellow on the far right holding up his “QUIET” sign? Doesn’t he know The Race to Dubai is over?

The European Tour is looking to round up volunteer marshals for this year’s Dubai World Championship to be played on December 8-11 at the Earth Course (Jumeirah Golf Estates) in Dubai. Of course, it’s the concluding tournament of The Race to Dubai (a series of 50 tournaments in 29 golf destinations) and a great opportunity to see and be alongside Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Karlsson and many other European Tour pros.

Jenni Hoskins, a 17 handicapper and member of Emirates Golf Club and Bearwood Lakes in England, has been appointed Chief Marshal of the volunteer marshal operation, which last year numbered more than 300 from Dubai, the UAE, the gulf region and overseas. Marshal perks include clothing, caps, tournament passes, parking and invitations to 200 volunteers for an appreciation day with a round of golf on the Earth Course.

To learn more about marshalling in Dubai, email Hoskins at jennih51@yahoo.com.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Dubai World Championship via Alan Ewens)

Harrison Frazar Will Keep Playing

HARRISON FRAZAR WAS THROUGH. As John Feinstein writes in “A twist of fate” at GolfChannel.com, Frazar, playing with an 11-tournament medical exemption, had decided he would hang up the sticks this summer. A sports marketing job awaited him in Dallas.

“I had dinner with eight guys from the company last month after I missed the cut in New Orleans,” Frazar told Feinstein. “I really liked them and when they made the offer I said, ‘I’m there. I’m 99 percent sure I’m going to say yes. But I promised myself I’d play through the U.S. Open this year and I’m going to do that.’”

Then things happened. University of Texas teammate Justin Leonard saw a different Harrison Frazar in a practice round. Frazar seemed more relaxed, like his old self. He went on to qualify for the U.S. Open. But before heading to Congressional, there was a tournament to play in Memphis.

Frazar joined the PGA Tour in 1998 and was a top-100 player on the money list for nine straight years. Then, beginning in 2007, he dropped out of the top 125 and had to go back to Q-school to hang on to his card. Plagued by injuries and poor play the last two years, Frazar, who will be 40 in July, had had enough.

“In my mind, especially after I talked to those guys about the job, this was the end.”

Just as he was ready to set aside the clubs and slip into a suit, it all clicked in Memphis at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Frazar caught Robert Karlsson on Sunday and survived a three-hole sudden-death playoff to win his first PGA Tour title in 355 starts.

As Frazar explained to Feinstein, it was an answer to prayer.

“For a long time, Allison [Frazar’s wife] would pray to God to give me the peace to let me win,” he said. “Then she prayed that hard work would be rewarded. More recently she just asked him to please show me clearly what I’m supposed to do, whether I’m supposed to play golf or not play golf. I think the message I got is pretty clear.”

Frazar went on to finish in a tie for 22nd at the U.S. Open. With his victory in Memphis, he is exempt through 2013. The neckties will stay in the closet a while longer.

−The Armchair Golfer

Robert Karlsson: ‘What Can I Contribute?’

DO YOU EVER FEEL cynical about today’s sports-celebrity culture? Yeah, me too. There are all too many examples of selfish, spoiled, entitled, money-grabbing players in all sports.

But I just read a Global Golf Post column that makes me feel good. It’s titled “Karlsson’s Changed Life Is Changing Lives” by Ron Green Jr.

Nine years ago 11-time European Tour winner Robert Karlsson was thinking about quitting the game. Married and father of a 1-year-old, the constant travel and pressure were hard to bear. His management company handled his finances and, in essence, controlled his life. The tall Swede couldn’t send an email because he had never learned to type.

Karlsson’s life and approach to golf turned around after meeting Annchristine Lundstrom. She enrolled him in a typing class where he learned the keyboard alongside an 8-year-old and 6-year-old. Lundstrom told Karlsson to write about each golf round, including his feelings.

“I started to grow as a person,” he told Green. “I took small steps.”

Instead of changing his swing, Karlsson changed himself. Today he’s a different person with a different approach to golf stardom. The man ranked 17th in the Official World Golf Ranking says, “Instead of what can I get out of it, it’s what can I contribute?”

He takes that thought further.

“If I were a kid in the crowd, what would I like to see in me? How can I become a role model?”

This may seem quaint in our modern sports world. But it’s working for Karlsson. Now that he’s giving back in small and big ways (Karlsson started a foundation), he’s happier. And, at 41, the former European Ryder Cup player is still collecting trophies, winning twice last year, in Qatar and Dubai. A next step is to contend at the majors. He had three top 10s in 2008.

If Karlsson somehow manages to win a major, he’ll find ways to share that success with others. In a take-and-take sports world, he wants to give and give some more.

−The Armchair Golfer

Lee Westwood Misses Cut at Qatar Masters

Contributed by Alan Ewens
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

MARKUS BRIER IS THE SURPRISE leader by one stroke at the halfway stage of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy. The 42 year-old Austrian shot a second round 66 to reach seven under par for the tournament on a day that saw several more illustrious names fail to make the cut in the $2.5 million event, the third stop on the European Tour’s Desert Swing.

(Photo: Brier celebrates a birdie.)

It was a superb round by Brier whose sixth and final birdie on the ninth—his 18th— ensured a one-shot lead over 2003 champion Darren Fichardt who carded a 68. A two-time European Tour winner, Brier had to go back to Qualifying School last November to retain his European Tour card and is playing on a sponsor’s invite.

“I got lucky on the last hole as I hit it way right off the tee, maybe 30-40 yards right,” Brier said. “I was lucky to make a birdie from a wayward drive, so that’s like a two-shot win there.”

But while it was a brilliant performance by World Number 478 Brier, for Lee Westwood, who ranks 477 places higher, there was only disappointment. Putting for eagle on the last, the Englishman missed by an inch to leave himself on four over par and out of the tournament.

“It’s early season rust. I think that’s it,” said the World Number One who finished third in last year’s event. “I’m going to go on the range the next couple of days and try to get into some kind of rhythm.”

Although Westwood is the biggest casualty, he is not the only big name to miss the cut. Former Qatar winner Henrik Stenson (+6) and Englishmen Paul Casey (+5) and Ross Fisher (+4) also missed out.

World Number Two Martin Kaymer, who can replace Westwood as Number One with a top two finish, got himself back on track with a second round 70 to put himself on three over for the tournament, right on the cut.

“I definitely played a little better today with no bogeys,” Kaymer said. “The golf tournament here is tight and no one is really running away with it and I’m only seven shots away right now.”

Experience seems to be the key over the 7,388-yard Doha course, with four former winners in the top eight. Defending champion Robert Karlsson of Sweden remains two shots off the lead on five under par alongside Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and Englishman Richard Finch, while 1999 champion Paul Lawrie and 2007 winner Retief Goosen are on four under with South African Thomas Aiken.

(Photo credit: Alan Ewens on behalf of Qatar Masters)

Poulter Blunder Overshadows Karlsson Win

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a regular contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece is excerpted from his blog, Irish Golf Desk. 

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

IT WASN’T QUITE DECIDED by the flip of a coin, but it will feel that way to Ian Poulter after he bizarrely lost the Dubai World Championship to Robert Karlsson on the second play-off hole. The flamboyant Englishman potentially lost more than €416,000—€303,452 in event prize money plus another €113,000 from the Race to Dubai Bonus Pool—when he marked his ball and then dropped it onto his “lucky” marker.

The “coin”—a custom-made platinum token inscribed with the names of his children—flipped over. And as a result, Poulter was penalised a vital stroke under one of golf’s most arcane rules, effectively turning a thrilling finish to the European Tour season into a crushing anti-climax. Instead of sizing up a birdie putt of over 30 feet that would have force the Swede to hole his four footer for the win, Poulter was left putting for a par five. Understandably, he left it short, and with the pressure off Karlsson needed only one putt to claim the €910,349 top prize and his 11th European Tour title.

Germany’s Martin Kaymer claimed the Race to Dubai from Graeme McDowell and a bonus of $1.5m as he finished tied for 13th with the Ulsterman on six under par.

But the story of the week was completely overshadowed by Poulter’s mishap, which cost him the chance to continue his fight for back-to-back wins following his Hong Kong Open success. Had he beaten Karlsson he would have overtaken Lee Westwood and finished third in the final Race to Dubai standings.

“It’s a shame it’s just ended the way it has and it’s not a consolation for me that Robert holed the putt in any case,” Poulter said after a play-off that saw them brilliantly card matching birdie fours on the first extra hole. “It’s a strange rule because if I had dropped the ball on the middle of the marker and it had not moved there’s no penalty.

“But I should not drop my ball on it. It’s been my lucky marker since the start of the year and has got my kids’ names on. There are always positives, but right now I’m not seeing them.”

Poulter feared the worst after his faux pas and heard the bad news almost straight away when he called over Chief Referee Andy McFee and was informed that he was being penalised under Decision 20-1/15. Asked how frustrating it felt, he did little to hide his disgust as he lost 23 world ranking points and the chance to go to seventh in the world, instead of just eighth

“About 20 world ranking points, a lovely trophy and about $400,000—that much frustrating,” Poulter said.

At first, Rory McIlroy was sympathetic to Poulter’s plight as he informed the world on Twitter: “So gutted for @ianJamesPoulter !! What a crap rule! Still great playing for the last few weeks!” Minutes later, McIlroy tweeted again: “Poults may not have won the Dubai World Championship, but he could be in with a shout for tiddlywinks world championship!”

Ouch.

Karlsson was a worthy winner after a final round that saw him birdie the first two holes and then hole an eight iron from 172 yards for an eagle two at the third.

“These things happen in golf. It’s not the way you want to win,” Karlsson said. “The rules are there for a reason but some of them can be tough.”

Despite his failure to secure the top-three finish he needed to overhaul Kaymer in the Race to Dubai, McDowell was upbeat after closing with rounds of 69 and 68 to share 13th with his rival.

“Friday was the disappointing day for me because I lost my head, got impatient and got frustrated with myself,” he said. “To shoot seven under par and play as well as I have this weekend makes me very proud of what I’ve achieved this season. It was a nice way to finish.”

With Westwood finishing the year as world No. 1, McDowell now believes that he too has a chance to go on and become the best player in the world some day.

He said: “Of course, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think I could be world No. 1. I think a few years ago, Tiger Woods looked pretty untouchable, pretty invincible, and we were all playing for second really.

“Nowadays is a little different. When I look at one of my good friends and colleagues as the world’s No. 1 player, do I believe I can be world No. 1? Of course I do.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

(Image: Harry Lime/Flickr)

How Hot Is Too Hot for Golf?

IT’S 96 TODAY AT the St. Jude Classic in Memphis. Meanwhile, the heat index—that measurement some genius came up with that combines air temperature and relative humidity—is 110. People in Memphis and elsewhere knew when it was sticky hot and suffocating long before the heat index and “feels like” numbers came along.

Look at these tour players at TPC Southwind. They’re soaked with sweat, big dark patches ringing the seat of their pants. They look like they had an embarrassing accident. Sometimes I wonder how European players such as Swede Robert Karlsson and Englishman Lee Westwood acclimate to hot spots like muggy Memphis. I know they play worldwide, including places such as Dubai, but is there any place sweatier than the Home of the Blues?

My question to you is: How hot is too hot for golf? It’s summer now (or nearly so), golf season in North America, and the temperatures are rising. Is there a cutoff point for you, a temperature at which you say, “No, thanks. I’ll tee it up another day”?

(Photo: World’s tallest thermometer in Baker, California, a toasty hot town in the Mojave Desert. / tomspixels, Flickr)

It’s in the mid 90s across much of the Southeast and Southwest. Tomorrow the high in Phoenix will be 101. Does anyone play golf in Phoenix in the summer? Some must. But Phoenix golf, in particular, and Arizona golf, in general, are a much more comfortable activity in the winter months when highs are in the 60s and 70s rather than in June when the average high is 103 degrees and the record is a scorching 122.

This might sound like a variation of the “I walked five miles to school in the snow” story, but when I was growing up in California’s Mojave Desert I routinely played in 105-degree heat. And, yes, it was a dry heat. And, yes, that does make a difference. (But it’s still blistering hot.) It didn’t bother me as a teenager. I didn’t think anything of it. I spent summer days at the golf course and actually liked it when extreme heat cleared the course in the afternoon so my golf buddies and I could have the place to ourselves.

I don’t handle the heat as well now. I can play in it, but I find that my recovery period, especially if I walk, is much longer. It saps my energy. I’m not playing a lot of golf these days, but when I do I’m fortunate to live and tee it up in the Blue Ridge Mountains where the summertime temps rarely reach 90. That’s just fine with me.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Brought to you by ArizonaGolf.com.)

Tom on Tour: A Chat With Robert Karlsson

The media fly. Tom drives. The media sleep in hotels. Tom sleeps in his car. The media sit in the media center. Tom walks the course. It’s the PGA Tour, seen and written differently. Following is an excerpt from Tom’s e-book on the 2010 WGC-CA Championship.

By Tom Collins
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

DESPITE HIS SIZE, I HAD some trouble keeping an eye on Robert Karlsson when he walked out of the scoring room because of the cluster of media people standing between us. Then Karlsson made his way over to the railing, just left of where I was standing, to sign autographs. Well, that was nice of him. For a moment, it looked like he was going to make a left and head in towards the clubhouse, meaning I’d have to hustle around one of the hospitality tents and find some way of cornering him inside. But for now, that challenge was averted.

There were only a few autographs he had to sign, and I was fortunate that after he finished signing, he continued to walk right along the railing and right in front of me, making my task of shouting at him unnecessary.

“Hey, Robert? You met a golf writer friend of mine a couple days ago. An old Scottish writer—”

“Oh yeah.”

“Well, his back was bothering him, so he had to go, but he passed along some questions he wanted me to ask you. You have a minute?”

“Sure.”

Bob wanted to know all sorts of things, like how Robert felt after winning the Qatar Masters (“Great”) or if he was playing in the Scottish Open prior to the Open Championship in July (“Nope”), and I had to think that the anticipation of heavy rains made Robert a little more concise with his answers than he normally might be, since Bob had indicated that this man was nice and liked to talk. But the two questions and answers that interested me the most dealt with his eye injury and golf in Sweden.

Q: How is the left eye feeling? How’s the recovery going?

A: It’s feeling good. I have regular check-ups every two weeks, and it feels fine.

Q: When you were having problems with your eye, how did it affect your game? Was it painful?

A: No, no pain. Just depth perception. It was frustrating because I could never tell if the ball was sitting up or down. I had to look at the side of the ball just so I would know what to do with it.

Q: With how well the Swedes dominate winter sports, why do you think golf is so strong? What I mean to say is, what is it about the Swedish system that produces so many fine players?

A: Well, actually I think it’s for a reason not very many people consider. It’s the great weather. Yes, it can get very cold there, but the weather in the summer is perfect, so you don’t ever have to worry about a bad day on the golf course. Just quality golf. You see so many young kids from Sweden who are very fit, not only because of all the winter sports but also all of the quality golf they’re able to play in the summer.

Despite trying to get inside and off the course because of the impending rain, Karlsson seemed thoughtful and relaxed when he answered the questions, which really meant a lot.

I also noticed, before I left, that because of the steak fajitas today, I had two or three huge black pieces of something sticking out of my teeth. So I guess I should also thank Robert Karlsson for not laughing in my face.

Tom Collins is a former caddie who is following the PGA Tour in 2010. Learn more about his original e-books at TheReluctantJamBoy.com.