Teeing_Off.

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1/27/10

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TEEING OFF

WORDS WISE & OTHERWISE

BOO WEEKLEY, when asked at the Sony Open in

Hawaii if he would venture into the Pacific: You aint never going to hear me getting killed by no sharks.
ROBERT KOLODJAY, one of the survivors of US

Airways Flight 1549 that Capt. Sully Sullenberger landed successfully in the Hudson River, on driving to Myrtle Beach for a rescheduled golf vacation: Weve got a big Suburban. Well take our time.
SABER ZIDALE, assistant manager of Egypts Mena

House GC, located near Great Pyramid of Cheops, about the Department of Antiquities rules against allowing new water hazards for Robert Trent Jones IIs renovation: Antiquities will allow a lake only 2.5 meters deep in case you hit a mummy. The LPGA seemed destined to fall into a bunker and disappear. Sponsors were fleeing because of the economy. Players were rebelling because they didnt like commissioner Carolyn Bivens. And Michelle Wie, unsure if she was a student at Stanford or a pro golfer, still hadnt done much except play poorly in mens tournaments. But then, a possible series of turning points swept the tour. First, Wie went undefeated, with three wins and a tie, to help the U.S. Solheim Cup team defeat the Europeans outside Chicago in August. Michelle celebrated by grabbing the American flag and holding it high. Then, at the end of October, marketing whiz Michael Whan was named the new commissioner. A couple of weeks later, Wie earned her first professional win at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico. Whan and Wie could be the duo that saves the LPGA. Wie has one prominent fan, at least. When the Solheim team appeared at the White House, President Obama gave Wie the Shaka sign pinkie and thumb hanging loose, middle fingers rolled. Hawaiians flash it to one another as a sign of respect and greeting. Both Obama and Wie are graduates of Honolulus Punahou School.

WIE THE PEOPLE

PHIL MICKELSON, responding to a childs question

at a fundraiser about shelving his driver at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2008, where he had a disappointing week: Sometimes Im an idiot. I can admit it. My thinking at the time is that I would have a better chance hitting fairways. That was my logic going in. It didnt pan out very well. Any nicer questions?
RORY MCILROY of Northern Ireland, on what he

came away with after seven weeks playing the PGA Tour in America: A tan.
MINDY AFFRIME, producer of the movie version of

Golf in the Kingdom, on using Oregons Bandon Dunes as the locale, No one will know its not Scotland.
CHARLES BARKLEY on reaction to the Golf
Wie: Kevin Cox/Getty Images; Gulbis: Scott Halleran/Getty Images; Headshots: PGA Tour

Channels The Haney Project/Charles Barkley: Little old ladies walking down the street want to give me advice. Everybody gives me golf advice. Its hilarious.
PAULA CREAMER on former LPGA commissioner

Carolyn Bivens suggestion that players Tweet during competition: I will not be twittering in my round. It should not happen in any sport.
ANGEL CABRERA, on arriving to register at U.S.

Rocco Mediate who lost a playoff for the 2008 U.S. Open to Tiger Woods Duffy Waldorf and LPGA player Natalie Gulbis played themselves in a January episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on CBS-TV. The plot centered on the discovery of a body of a star golfer during a highprofile tournament. And no he wasnt smacked in the head with a 5-iron.

CSI: ISLEWORTH?

Open two months after winning the Masters and encountering an official: She asked, Last name please.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON, blaming problems off the tee for five straight missed cuts: My driver is an office club at the moment. It works 9 to 5 and never on weekends.

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AT H L O N

S P O R T S

G O L F

2010