Did Steve Williams step on Tiger’s ball at the PGA? He says he didn’t, and I’m inclined to believe him, since to my knowledge, there has never been any allegation of prior shenanigans.

But in any case, the Golf Channel is running a teaser that Williams is on his way out as Tiger’s bagman.

It turns out that Williams is just on a bit of a vacation. But there may be a grain of truth in The Golf Channel’s sensationalism. There has long been a feeling among golf observers that the surest way to get removed from Team Tiger is to cause a distraction. I’ve read more than once that players who are known to be Tiger’s friend will not comment on him for fear of being shut out of the inner circle.

With his camera grabbing escapades, his race car driving, and now the plugged ball, Steve Williams is certainly on his way to becoming a distraction. As USA Today put it, while Williams pleaded with the fans for support in the plugged ball issue, they “paid him back with interest” for his past antics:

Woods was already 2 over for the round, and Nike couldn’t help him. Stevie Williams, the caddie, couldn’t help him, either, even as Williams was asking the roped-off fans — pleading with them — to identify the cameraman, marshal, player or caddie who had stepped on poor Tiger’s ball.

These were the very fans who had their cell phones and Kodaks confiscated by Stevie Blunder in majors gone by. The fans were paying back Williams with interest. No, they didn’t see anyone step on Tiger’s ball

.

That certainly looks like Williams is becoming an issue to me. And iff Steve Williams becomes an issue, will he go the way of Butch Harmon and Mike Cowan?

A Michigan couple is on what seems like a dream vacation to me: 61 days of golf in 50 states.

Forbes has an article on the most expensive golf gear, including the Louis Vuitton Golf Bag, the Cadillac Escalade Golf Cart,a dn the $5,000 a pair JohnLobb made-to-order golf shoes.

Hacker Mike emailed to tell me that he has created a new golf site and forum. Point your virtual golf cart over to the 19th Hole and take a look.

The eCaddy Digital Scorecard is a digital device that hangs from your bag and lets you enter scores, Stableford points, handicaps, and hole handicaps. You also can enter player and course names. When playing on your own, the eCaddy turns into a full fledged game analysis device, as you keep track of fairways and roughs hit, shot types, etc. You later can download the information for further analysis to your computer.

The Laserlink is a handheld device that you aim at a flagstick to get an accurate reading of the distance to the hole. No more searching for sprinkler heads. I had a posting on it earlier.

According to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press, its going to be approved for use in tournaments later this month. It’s already ok for use in handicap rounds.

(Still, I can’t see Tiger using it).

The idea is that it’s going to speed up rounds because players will spend less time wandering about for sprinkler heads.

I never understood the fascination of amateur golfers with distance, though. I can always tell which club I need to use just by eyeballing it. I’m rarely off by too much. But even if I knew that it was 151 to the pin, instead of 145, that really wouldn’t make much difference to me. I can’t hit it exactly 151, and anything in that range is a 7 iron. Some will be a little short of the hole, some a little long, some left, and some right.

Another thing that I think courses could do is to put up a stake on alternating sides of the fairway every 25 yards out to 200 yards. They stakes could be tagged with the yardage, instead of a color.

An article in the Canton Observer (Michigan) examines how Tiger and equipment changes have affected high school golf. Salem High Coach Rick Wilson says:

“When I first started coaching, if someone broke 80, that was a great round. If you could shoot 79 (in the early 1980s), you’d probably be the medalist in the conference meet. Now, there are kids who aren’t satisfied if they shoot 38 or 39 for nine holes. The equipment - both the clubs and the golf balls - is a lot better, too.

Heck. Rick Wilson’s teams aren’t satisfied if they aren’t breaking par. His girls’ teams shoot 38 and 39. I coached against Salem for several years when I was coaching golf at a rival local high school. His teams are always highly talented and well prepared. He’s a great guy, a superb coach and a great golfer.