No one has a better seat for watching the magnificent 17th hole at Sawgrass than me. I've got my cushy Lazyboy reclined into the perfect three-quarter position with my favorite refreshing beverage close at hand. The big hi-definition image is fabulous and my family understands that any effort to move me is futile. So in this potato-state I relish The Players Championship as if I was there.

One my favorite holes to watch in professional golf is the 17th at Sawgrass. And I'm not alone. The attending fans swarm the 17th and rally around their favorite pro as he walks onto this infamous tee box. It's a real treat for the fans!

And as we watch each contestant step up, those clever programming pros at NBC split the screen with the standard trajectory shot and a static shot of the players reaction. And for one brief slice of time you get a real-time window into the heart and soul of some of these incredible athletes. And somehow I find a way to momentarily relate to some of these big strikers, even if it is with the unfortunate shots that find the drink.

I dig that story of Fred Couple's famous shot into the water followed by the hole-in-one. You know he was completely aligned with the universe when he penned that par on his scorecard.

Maybe you could give up a few of your own all-time favorite Sawgrass stories. Time to share... 

Just watched Tiger par the 18th from the junk for the second time. The guy is fearless when it comes to recovery strategies. He's definitely on the hunt and the competition has a tendency to crash and burn when he turns up the pressure! I've been following Armchair Golfer's on-the-course Masters coverage for the past several days. His view from the inside is both informative and entertaining.

The Masters is all about the best of the best and Tiger Woods is never too far afield when the best is required. Will he win? Only the foolhardy would bet against him. Some would say it's his to lose. There's a nifty masters chat room over at the official Masters Tournament site. Just click on the "Chat Now" and jump into one of the many ongoing live discussions. I chatted with a few fellas about whether Tiger would win or not. Loads of good chatter. Don't miss it.

There are a few sporting events that I insist on watching in hi-definition. Let me see... there's the NCAA Final Four (congrats Jayhawks), The Super Bowl, The Stanley Cup, The World Series and, of course, every major golf tournament. And as any self-respecting sports fan knows, the best hi-def sports coverage on the planet is The Masters!

It's all very intimate, you see. It's about crispy new golf shirts, highly polished golf shoes and perfectly creased trousers. The grounds are... well... Augusta National after all. The pristinely manicured grounds look magnificent from every angle. Even the fans are better looking at The Masters. Go figure!

So as I lick my chops in anticipation of kicking back for the big event I suddenly realize that my service provider, Charter Cable, doesn't carry the CBS hi-definition feed. No worries though... I'm setting my DVR for the Golf Channel coverage and hitting my local pub for the big rounds! 

I was perusing Larry Dorman's New York Times article about Pebble Beach's famous eighteenth hole being the perfect intersection of golf and nature when it suddenly occurred to me that he might have missed a much bigger picture. I was particularly put off by the arrogant notion that we regular folks would only witness it's greatness from in front of our television.

But first... let's give credit where it's due. The eighteenth at Pebble is super famous, super beautiful and super exclusive. If you're looking for the top celebs, the best golfers and the finest TV coverage of the great game of golf, The Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is the place to be.

But what of the great unwashed multitudes who may never get the chance to visit Pebble? Are they denied the grandeur of golf's intersection with nature? I think not. I can name a few fabulous settings that I've witnessed that rev the golf/nature meter quite nicely. Kiawah Island, Kohler Wisconsin, and Cabo San Lucas immediately come to mind. And it didn't cost an arm and a leg to play. Well maybe just an arm and few fingers.

And if your any kind of an avid golfer you've more than likely had some fantastic natural outdoor experiences at your very own hometown golf links. It's one of the great pleasures that come with the game. And you only need to be aware of your surroundings to experience the natural wonders.  

So tell me. Have you experienced a perfect intersection of golf and nature? Or do you need to throw down that $450 greens fee at Pebble to attain golf/nature nirvana? 

Those clever blokes at In Golf We Trust can really put up some hi-test banter. A recent post about "what the golf world need more of" really tickles our fancy. Get a load of this...

You know what golf needs more of? 

What's that. What's your newest grand plan to revolutionise our great game?

More fights. You know. We need some proper knock-down, drag-outs 

What, you mean like ice hockey? Football? Baseball? Guys just throwing down randomly on the tee box because they don't like each other?

Yeah. The way it is, they walk around the course, they play great golf, but they never fight 

Oh, I see. You must be looking at that leaderboard over there, and you see the name of Rory Sabbatini right next to the name of Tiger Woods.

...more here.

I'm rarely disappointed with their anecdotal approach to all things golf. Good humor makes the world go round. Carry on fellas!

Kelly Tilghman's recent verbal faux pas at the Mercedes Benz Championship has spiraled from a poor choice of words to a full blown crisis for Kelly. And wouldn't you know, once blood was in the water, Reverend Al (The Shark) Sharpton was sure to feed into the frenzy. Kelly's two week suspension and public apology just isn't enough punishment for Al. He wants to see her ousted from her job.

A quick review of the You Tube footage of the incident tells the whole story. Kelly's "lynch him in a back alley" comment rolls out without hesitation and with her usual humorous intent. And like a bolt of lightning, the proverbial skat hit the fan! Kelly's turn of phrase was surely ill advised but exactly on point.  

We wish Kelly a painless recovery and look forward to her return. We believe she has payed her debt to the super-scrutinous media and will, no doubt, carefully monitor her on-air euphemisms in the future. As for the reverend Al, he'll continue circling the warm waters of the media until he can feed again. Sadly... that's his job.

Masters champion Zach Johnson was understandably disappointed that he was unable to pocket any of the 18 super-lucrative LG Skins this weekend. I just can't help thinking that Zach's agenda is less about the glitz than many other rat-packish high profile players like Fred Couples, Greg Norman and Lee Travino. He's more of a hard working midwesterner who just happened to earn $3.9 million in 2007, which included an unlikely Masters victory where he just played better than the rest of the field ...including Tiger.

Which makes it that much more painful to relive this quadruple bogey at this years Accenture Match. It just shows that even the best are occasionally subject to golf's ruthless downturn.   

A look back at The President's Cup final day shows no real surprises. Everyone was pretty confident that the US lead would secure victory of the cup by the end of Saturday's matches. And then came Mike Weir. The Sunday single match between Mike and Tiger was a really enjoyable golf feast.

Canada's own Mike Weir played like a champion against the best in the world. Grinding back from the loss of his three stroke lead to win proved to be a fantastic ride for golf fans everywhere. The home town favorite's birdie on seventeen provided just the charge he needed to bring home the victory for the cheering Canadian fans.

Mike admitted that this event ranked up there with his Master's win in 2003. And who wouldn't revel in a one on one, personal victory over the great Tiger Woods! All in all ...a decent day on the links.

Just when you thought Mister Top-of-the-Heap, Tiger Woods, had transcended all known human boundaries we are reminded that even the best are controlled by the human condition.

It's been a full year since Annika Sorenstam has won an LPGA tour event. Many of us have been wondering where she's been and why she's not cracking tough after Lorena Ochoa.

It seems Annika has been busy with some pressing personal issues outside of her relentless pursuit of tournament wins. It was reported that her boyfriend of two years, Mike McGee, popped the question this past weekend at their home in Orlando Florida. "What a lovely surprise," Sorenstam said. "I'm as happy as I can be." Congratulations all around.

Everybody knows Tiger Woods is the best in the world. He is, without doubt, the benchmark by which all-things-golf are measured these days. It's no real surprise that he won the PGA Championship. Most of us expected it.

But what about this weather issue. Is he the best in every weather condition? Watching the sweat pouring off of him during the TV coverage seemed to be no problem for Mister Numero Uno. As a matter of fact, the more soaked he became, the stronger he appeared. His unlikely, but traditional, choice of black pants and red shirt seemed to reveal the significant advantages and rigors of his physical training. He is a well-muscled golfing machine.

And as usual, as he strong-armed his way to victory, his mere mortal opponents seemed to wilt and sag as the the final round progressed. Woody Austin made a valiant charge and played a terrific round but, looked increasingly damp, saggy and uncomfortable throughout the day. Even the Big Easy, Ernie Els, looked as if he was in super slo-mo on Sunday.

And then there was my own Sunday morning round. Gees Louise, it was hot out there. And we started at 8:00 in the morning. I was drenched to the bone by 10 AM and wondering why we were there by 11:30. My respect for Mr. Woods achievement and ability has certainly increased a few notches on the super-star scale. 

Lorena Ochoa has all the required intensity of a major champion. She has reached that number one momentum that has moved her well beyond the proverbial "one hit wonder" status. She knows how to grind it out and makes no excuses for her shortcomings, not that there are many. And at the end of the day she is walking away with lots of trophies.

While her look on the links is that of a voracious competitor, she sounds and appears remarkable demure and reserved when she's off the course. She's really nice, quite humble and endlessly gracious. She is exceedingly proud of her Mexican heritage and always mindfull of her ever expanding fan base. 

Even the recently dethroned ace, Annika Sorenstam, says she is impressed by all things Lorena. She's blossomed into a really great player. It's fun to see. She is such a nice person and, you know, it nice to see good things happen to her. That's big praise from a true champion.