Monday, May 3, 2010

“Couples, caddie have partnership that goes deeper than golf” plus 3 more

“Couples, caddie have partnership that goes deeper than golf” plus 3 more

Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Couples, caddie have partnership that goes deeper than golf

Posted: 03 May 2010 11:56 AM PDT

In the years when the Cadillac wreath adorned Fred Couples's golf shirts, his patrons at General Motors would leave him a shiny Escalade at airports across the country. The big beasts went untouched. Couples routinely turns down courtesy cars, and he doesn't need the ladies at transportation to give him a ride to the pro-am party or anywhere else. I'm good, thanks. Fred's got Joe.

Last week was typical. Joe LaCava, Fred's caddie, arrived in Savannah for the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf on Wednesday. It was Week 5 of the seven-week Fred Couples Mixed Tour Tour: Cap Cana, Houston, Augusta (finished sixth!), Tampa, Savannah, Charlotte this week, Ponte Vedra Beach next. LaCava walked the course, marked up his yardage book, ate Italian for dinner and checked into his room at the Residence Inn in downtown Savannah. On Thursday morning Joe, compulsively punctual, was at a nearby private airport long before Fred arrived.

Joe loaded the trunk of his rented Chevy Impala with Fred's stuff. (Fred, with his tender back, doesn't lift anything heavier than a sand wedge.) Joe drove to the golf course at the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort and Spa for their 12:30 pro-am tee time. Fred was tired and headachy. They talked about ... almost nothing. Car silence, you probably know, is the ultimate sign of comfort between two grown men.

Joe has been on Fred's bag for 20 years and he has been on TV a million times, but your eye goes to the star of the show and Joe has never become a Fannie or a Fluff or a Stevie. Which is how Joe wants it. He's a barrel-chested man with model posture often in Adidas running shoes, little NBA socklets, pleated shorts, an Under Armour golf shirt and a floppy hat embroidered with the logo of the New York Giants. You maybe know that Fred likes sports. Joe, who played football, basketball and golf at Newtown (Conn.) High, does too. He's 46, four years younger than his boss, and he's not going anywhere. He's perfect for Fred. He knows what to say when and when to say nothing.

Friday in Savannah was a brand-new day for Fred. The Legends is a two-man, three-day better-ball event, and Couples played with old friend Jay Haas. Between them in the first round, they made birdies on half the holes and pars on the others. (For the three rounds they were 23 under and tied for fourth.) In Fred's fantasy life he's the centerfielder for the Yankees, and on this day he was on a team, with Joe and Jay and Jay's caddie, Tommy Lamb. Fred lives for that feeling, being part of the team, and Joe does too. Last year's Presidents Cup, with Fred the captain of the U.S. team, Haas as his assistant, Joe the unofficial caddie captain and Michael Jordan around all week, was like a shot of adrenaline for Fred. He's still living off it. It has kept Joe on the road, and he's not complaining.

In Savannah on Friday, Couples and Haas were paired with Tom Lehman and Bernhard Langer. Langer was introduced on the 1st tee as the winner of 85 worldwide tournaments. Team Fred took a stab at the list. They knew of the two wins at Augusta, of course, and the '85 win at Hilton Head and the 10 wins on the Champions tour. After that they were stumped. Fred: Did he win like 70 times in Europe? How much fun do you think they were having, playing Name Bernhard's Titles while making birdies and competing for valuable cash and prizes? Every time you looked up, Fred, with the tannest left hand (no glove) and ankles (no socks) in golf, had an arm around somebody, and his whole gang was giggling about something.

Between them, Fred and Joe have more than 50 years on Tour, and 50,000 observations, questions and stories. When not over a shot, they're usually talking about something. Fred loves this one: Lehman's caddie on Friday, and for most of the past 18 years, was Andy Martinez, a Californian loaded with Kumbaya spirit. At the 1995 Ryder Cup two U.S. caddies got into a fight. Andy gathered around the loopers. C'mon guys, we're a brotherhood. We got to get along. Fistfighting, that's so childish. Andy polled the group, looking for the year of each caddie's last fight. Fifth grade, ninth grade, seventh grade, 1972. And then it was Joe's turn: "January."

"January?"

"Some drunk at a Giants game was asking for it."

Davis Love III, who is close to both Fred and Joe, makes the point that Joe is a true New Yorker (despite his Connecticut plates). He's a Giants fan and a Yankees fan and he's accustomed to winning. Over the years Love has often employed Joe on weeks when Fred has been off. "Joe leads," Love says. "Fred and I both need that. Joe's very sure of himself. He'll say to me, 'Nothing but a seven-iron, Loveman.' Fred's an artist. He has so much God-given ability. And Joe manages that ability." When you think about legendary ­caddies—Eddie Lowery (Ouimet), Angelo Argea (Nicklaus), Herman Mitchell (Trevino), Williams (Woods)—they all had swagger. LaCava's the same. "Joe's the captain," Love says. "Fred would spend all his time on the range talking with the guys if he could. Joe makes sure he gets his work in." Couples agrees with all of that.

There are many nights on Tour when Fred will have dinner with Joe and other caddies, most often Jim (Bones) Mackay, who works for Phil Mickelson, and John Wood, who caddies for Hunter Mahan. They might eat at a Five Guys or a Fuddruckers or a strip-mall Italian place. Two generations ago Fred's family name was Copolla, and he has an Italian connection with Joe they both know is there.

At home in the California desert, Couples lives in an elegant Spanish-inspired hacienda filled with antiques and original art he selects himself. (For a Presidents Cup gift exchange, Fred, in modest consultation with Joe, commissioned an oil painting of the International team captain, Greg Norman, sitting with his wife, Chris Evert. It was a lovely idea ruined by the timing of the Norman-Evert breakup, about a week before the event began.) But when he's on the road, Couples doesn't care if he's in a Hilton Garden Inn by the airport, as he was at Houston this year, or staying on a beautiful teak-and-brass yacht in the Savannah harbor, as he did last week. The yacht, called Calypso, is owned by a friend of Haas's, and Fred spent Friday afternoon on it, lounging, watching ESPN and analyzing the relative strengths of MJ's and Lawrence Taylor's golf games. Joe was right there

Once a year or so, Fred goes to Connecticut and visits the LaCava family: Joe and his wife, Megan, and their children, Lauren, 13, and Joe, 11. The kids are athletic, and Fred plays catch with them, attends their games and eats pizza in front of the TV with them. It's his surrogate family. "And after about three days," Joe says, "he's had enough."

Brothers can joke like that, and that's almost what they are. Space helps make it work. Most years, they're together for only 15 or so weeks, 20 tops. Two of the most stable relationships in Fred's life are with his caddie and with his longtime agent, Lynn Roach. Fred has been less lucky in love. His marriage to his University of Houston girlfriend, Deborah Morgan, ended in divorce in 1993, and in 2001 she took her own life. Fred's second wife, Thais Baker, died of breast cancer in February 2009, when they were separated. He's had his share of sorrow, and then some. The toll of it we'll never know. But Joe does, and he's the model of discretion. Omertá, Tour-style.

Joe came on Tour in 1987, fresh out of Western Connnecticut State, to work for his cousin Ken Green. (They have nearly the same face and the same brashness.) They won together three times on Tour, and LaCava worked for Green at the 1989 Ryder Cup. At the end of the first day the Euros led 5–3. American heads were low. "C'mon, we're only down by a point," the kid caddie told his team. Blank stares. "We got Calc and Kenny tomorrow and that's an automatic!" The next morning Green and Mark Calcavecchia trounced Christy O'Connor and Ronan Rafferty.

For the 1990 season Green decided to have his out-of-work brother, Bill, caddie for him. Green called Couples, asking him to hire Joe. Fred tried him out on the West Coast swing. Twenty years later Joe and Fred were in Savannah together, and Ken was there too. Bill Green was not. He was killed last year in an automobile accident near Hickory, Miss., that also claimed Ken's girlfriend, Jeannie Hodgin; his dog, Nip; and the lower half of his right leg. On Friday, when Fred was in the scorer's trailer, Green, playing on a prosthetic in his first Champions tour event since the accident, was talking with cousin Joe.

Various lives might be so different had Ken not decided to bring out Bill two decades ago. Maybe Joe would still be on Ken's bag. Maybe Fred would not have won at Augusta in '92. Maybe Bernhard would have won that year. Maybe Ken Green. Who knows? Life's strange. Best not to overthink it.

Here's what Fred does know. He and Haas were at nine under par after the first round. Blaine McCallister and his partner, Bob Tway, were nine under too. "Hey, Joey," Fred said on Friday afternoon, while lounging on the yacht. "How much fun will that be, to play with Blainey?"

McCallister and Fred were roommates at Houston 30 years ago. It must be nice to be able to warp time like that.

Here's another thing Fred knows. When he walked out of the clubhouse after that better-ball 63, Joe was there. He always is. He had the air-conditioning blasting, the windows rolled down and the passenger seat pushed all the way back. Fred pulled his shirt out of his waistband and climbed into the Impala and off they went, headed for the Calypso. It was home for the week. Next week Joe will take Fred someplace else.

Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Golf-Cash cow Ishikawa saved Japan tour - director

Posted: 03 May 2010 01:05 AM PDT

By Alastair Himmer

TOKYO, May 3 (Reuters) - Record-breaking teenager Ryo Ishikawa has saved Japan's struggling JGTO men's golf tour from financial ruin, a top official said on Monday.

The 18-year-old, who fired a Japanese tour record 12-under-par 58 at the weekend, has more earning potential than any athlete the country has produced, JGTO executive director Andy Yamanaka told Reuters.

"Ryo is the complete package," Yamanaka said. "I'm not sure if it was the same situation with Tiger Woods in the U.S. when he was younger but I've never seen anyone like Ryo in terms of his potential as an international athlete.

"It's fair to say (he rescued the JGTO Tour). Before he appeared, people were losing interest in men's golf. The men's tour at that time didn't have a star player like Ryo Ishikawa.

"Players were rude to fans and didn't turn up to official functions. Their behaviour wasn't professional. Ryo woke up a lot of the players."

Ishikawa's magical 58 on Sunday gave him a seventh career title at the Crowns tournament in Nagoya, three years after he became the Japanese tour's youngest winner at 15.

"He went out in 28 (strokes) yesterday," said Yamanaka. "That's amazing. That is one of the toughest golf courses in Japan."

Ishikawa's financial impact on the JGTO since his breakthrough win in 2005 as a bashful schoolboy has also been astonishing.

NUMBERS GAME

"I couldn't estimate the figures," said Yamanaka, letting escape a long sigh. Under the current economic circumstances it is very important to have Ryo Ishikawa on the tour.

"Because of his presence there is more income for sponsors and better ticket sales of course.

"But TV ratings for tournaments where he is playing well are above 10 percent—which for golf is unbelievable."

Ishikawa's ultra-bright smile and good manners have also helped boost his celebrity, with mothers dragging their children to watch him play.

"You have no idea how many women and kids come to watch," said Yamanaka. "Not just young ladies but mothers who want their kids to be like Ryo Ishikawa.

"It's not just his golf game, it's his charisma and his ability to behave on and off the course. It's not enough now to be a great athlete. You have to be perfect in every aspect."

Losing their cash cow to more lucrative overseas tours remains a constant fear for JGTO officials.

"He's got 19 endorsements and more than 12 or 13 TV commercials," said Yamanaka. "We worry about the future—him going to the U.S. or Europe and imagine if that happens what would our tour become?"

Asked about Ishikawa's projected future earnings making him Japan's first billion dollar athlete, Yamanaka said: "It could even be more than that!"

(Editing by Patrick Johnston; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

digg del.icio.us
more

Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Second golf course fire in a week

Posted: 03 May 2010 04:33 AM PDT

Two fires in a week at a derelict building on a golf course in Bulwell are due to suspected arson attacks, firefighters said.

Five engines were called to the fire at the golf course in Bulwell Hall Park at about 2000 BST on Sunday.

The first floor of the two-storey building was severely damaged by flames, firefighters said.

They were called to the same building last Monday. Officials said investigations were ongoing.



Print Sponsor

Golf-Maiden U.S. victory helps lighten McIlroy's load

Posted: 02 May 2010 06:05 PM PDT

By Andrew Both

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, May 2 (Reuters) - Lumbered with the burden of being labeled "golf's next big thing" Rory McIlroy's breakthrough PGA Tour victory on Sunday could not come soon enough for a man yet to celebrate his 21st birthday.

"I got to seventh in the world at the start of the year and I'm thinking, 'if I'm the seventh best golfer in the world I should be competing'," McIlroy told reporters after registering a stunning four-stroke victory at the Quail Hollow Championship.

"I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, which you shouldn't. Sometimes you need to sit back and (realise) you're doing pretty well and just put things into perspective a little bit."

Despite possessing a wealth of talent, the Northern Irishman had only one professional victory to his name prior to this week, early last year in Dubai, before he blew away a majority of the world's best players with a magnificent closing 36 holes.

A final round 10-under-par 62 was a perfect way to break his American duck and lift the self-imposed pressure in one fell swoop, completing a rite of passage that fellow professional Padraig Harrington claims is a must for any aspiring great.

"There's an awful lot of pressure on him," three-time major winner Harrington said of McIlroy. "At home, no matter how he does, the focus is on him all the way through Europe.

"When he plays in Europe he's a big star and when you're not winning, you're not delivering and it becomes a burden.

"It's amazing the difference when you get a win. He will be a lot more comfortable with who he is, a lot more patient."

ALL ABOUT WINNING

Harrington was speaking after Ryo Ishikawa shot a closing 58, the lowest score ever on a major international tour, to win the Crowns tournament in Japan, but before McIlroy had won.

Asked who he thought was the more impressive of the two, the Irishman gave the edge to Ishikawa but felt a victory for McIlroy could change his opinion.

"To be honest, it's about winning. Ryo's well ahead of the others but if Rory wins here today, different story.

"It's very hard when you throw someone out of their comfort zone (and a) win over here for Rory would be massive.

"Winning in Japan or Europe, that's very important too, but to be a world beater they've got to leave their comfort zone and win, and if Rory wins today, that's what he's done."

McIlroy could have easily missed out on his maiden U.S. victory after struggling through the first two rounds before an eagle on his 16th hole on Friday allowed him to make the cut with nothing to spare.

"That was the most important shot of the year," he said of the four-iron he struck to within six feet of the cup.

"I said yesterday, that it could have been the turning point of my season but I think today I've confirmed that."

McIlroy grew up following the feats of Tiger Woods but over the next few years it may be the world number one admiring the Briton's achievements.

"Tiger set the benchmark so high," McIlroy said two days ahead of his 21st birthday. "We want to achieve that. Even if we don't get to that level, it's still pretty good." (Editing by John O'Brien; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

digg del.icio.us
more

Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
Posted by at

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)