The Pooter, she canna tack it noo more, Captain !

"The Pooter, she canna tack it noo more!", said Scotty to the Captain.

But was it Captain Kirk, or Presidents Cup Captain Greg Norman? It doesn't really matter. Two weeks after starting work with Dave Stockton (yes the same Dave Stockton that fixed up Phil Mickelson's putting late last year), Adam Scott comes out on the 36 hole Sunday, and makes just about everything on the greens (except the last - see this post's title). Can this be the beginning of one of the biggest comeback stories in Australian Golf, since, since, since, since Humpy went to work on Monday and came back to Long Reef the following Saturday?

Well I don't know. We've been here before with Adam Scott, so I am a bit loathe to go out on a limb like I did with Rory McIlroy. Adam can really "show up" some weeks, and them settles back into mediocrity for a while. It really is all about the flat stick for Scott. The question is, is Adam Scott still a streaky putter, or has the Dave Stockton work fundamentally changed things? I hope the latter. If so, he can be a real force with his long game. Anyway, congratulations to Scotty for taking the Texas Open and Australia's 2nd win on the Tour this year. What did I tell you guys about Aussies and Tour stops in Texas?

Whilst I am congratulating, it would be amiss of me not to single out the Big T for being the only guy to have Adam Scott on the final day and taking another set of skins. When the fuck are you booking the Hong Kong Tony? Anyway, he wins another $72 and the skinny resets to $12 this week, the overall goes to $112 and we all owe $100.

A few of us had Adam Scott in our stable, but Tony was the only one to put him into play in the final round. My final round players were a deliberate decision, but I still think the Yahoo guys are a pack of fuckwits. Every time we have a weather problem, their systems go to shit in terms of change deadlines etc. I really hope the PGA Tour changes to Google or some outfit that actually has an interest in Golf.

Anyway, this week we stay in the Lone Star State for the Byron Nelson Classic. This is another one of those "Respect Weeks", and whilst Byron Nelson is playing the Great 18 in the Sky these days, his dear old wife Peggie is still a very active figure in this tournament, taking charge of the Charity operations. You may be interested to know that this tournament raises the most amount of money for charity, year after year after year. Whilst Arnie may be the King, the Nelsons are also a permanent part of golfing royalty.

Of course, Byron Nelson is best remembered as the guy that won 11 straight PGA Tour Events back in 1945. That's right Long Reefers, ELEVEN STRAIGHT EVENTS and even He Who Must Not Be Named, has not managed to break that record (yet)! Now let's just understand this achievement. His opponents of note were none other than Ben Hogan & Sam Snead, so obviously this guy could play. Byron's other record that stood for over 50 years, was that of consecutive cuts made at 113 weeks. That record has since been broken by You Know Who. But a little known fact was that every single one of those 113 weeks, Byron Nelson was in the Top 20.

Following that winning and cut streak, Byron and Peggie were able to buy their dream Ranch in Texas outright, with no mortgage or debt. As soon as he completely owned his Ranch, Byron simply stopped playing Professional Golf,as he could no longer bare the time away from his beloved wife.

He didn't stop his involvement in golf however. As an extremely proud Texan, he has been involved in Junior Development for ever, until his death in 2006. His most famous protege is Tom Watson, who incidentally happened to be from Kansas, but he managed to convince Byron that he had lost his sparkly red golf shoes and just couldn't think of home, no matter how hard he tried. The Nelsons have also been instrumental in several other Texan careers such as Justin Leonard and Scott Verplank, providing benefactor money through their junior years.

The thing about Byron Nelson, at least in his prime, was his uncanny ability to hit the fairway and the green, no matter the pressure of the situation. So much so that when the USGA developed a Robot hitting machine, to test for conforming golf ball distance, they called it "Iron Byron". This may all be too much information, but like I said, it's another "Respect Week", and you know how I am about things like this.

Anyway, the HP Byron Nelson Classic is played at the TPC Las Colinas in Dallas, also known as the Four Seasons  Resort & Club. The defending champion is Rory Sabbatini, and interestingly the year before that it was Adam Scott.

Past champions of the event include Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Peter Thomson, Nick Price, Ernie Els and Tiger Woods. These guys have all won British Opens, so it will probably pay to remember what I said about Texas and wind and guys that can hit a low long iron.

Good Luck All !

The LRFG !