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Heinz History Museum (Pittsburgh, PA) Hosts Golf Exhibit

Golf has never really matched its peer sports when it comes to museums. The official Hall of Fame, admittedly, is pretty cool. I checked it out a few years back on a trip to St. Augustine, Florida.

That said, it doesn't seem to attract the public interest or prestige of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, for instance. Plus, the coolest exhibit is almost certainly the five iron brought by American astronauts on a space voyage...

Here are some pictures of the golf section of the "Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum," which is inside the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, PA. If you haven't been there before, it's located smack dab between the Strip District and Station Square. A long walk from the T or parking at the convention center are your best bets.

More importantly, I thought the Center's ode to golf was pretty solid. It is all about celebrating the accomplishments of Pittsburghers, so the emphasis is certainly on the King himself, Arnold Palmer. There are quite a few pictures of Palmer moments blown up and hung throughout the golf room. He also donated his copy of the Claret Jug, so today was the first time I laid eyes on the trophy of the Open Championship.

Aside from that, there are a few sets of old sticks to illustrate the growth of golf in the area. There's also a little section commemorating Oakmont Country Club's significance to championship golf. This includes a one hole miniature golf course that simulates Oakmont's infamous church pew bunkers (pictured right).

All in all, I thought the Heinz History Center's golf exhibit was a pretty good look at the sport's impact on the area. I would have loved to see a shout out to some of the other successful golfers in the region; for instance, U.S. Open champion and Uniontown native Jim Furyk or U.S. Open runner up Rocco Mediate of Greenburg.

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Trouble in paradise? Gossip mag accuses Tiger Woods of cheating on Elin

on November 27, 2009 11:00 AM , in American Golf , PGA Tour 2009 , Tiger Woods , Wacky , 0 Comments

Wow. We tried the technology version of ZealousGolfer.com a couple of days ago with the Google Wave article, and now we are going in the trashy gossip direction. Temporarily, of course.

Trust me, golf news during the silly season is a bit tough to come by. On the bright side, January is rolling around rapidly.

On to the story. Word on the street is that the emperor of golf, Mr. Tiger Woods, is engaged in scandalous behavior with a New York 'party girl.' For possibly the most well-behaved (and sometimes robotic) athlete in professional sports, this seems like a significant change of character.

Here's the story. The National Enquirer is reporting in their new issue that Tiger Woods has met up with his mistress in New York, Las Vegas, and Australia over the past year. Her name: Rachel Uchitel. She has been linked in the past to several other celebrities as well.

Sports by Brooks has a gallery of pictures of the 34 year old New Yorker and an extensive explanation of the backstory. Check it out for more information.

Apparently, the Enquirer is publishing a few pictures of Uchitel checking into the Crown Towers in Australia, which was the same hotel Tiger stayed at during a recent trip. I suppose this is supposed to validate the whole theory.

If you are into this type of thing (i.e. celebrity cheating, freemason conspiracies, alien abduction, etc.), I guess there is room to speculate about why Tiger and Rachel appeared in the same location.

Does ZealousGolfer.com think Tiger is cheating on his wife? I am going to stick with Tiger on this one. Having been groomed by IMG and his parents to never show a bad side to the public, I would think Tiger would be smart enough to avoid such behavior. The fact that gossip magazines don't have the greatest record of accuracy probably helps Tiger's case a bit too.

Furthermore, the evidence just isn't there. I am sure Rachel is not the first Tiger fan to check into the same hotel as him while he was playing a well publicized golf tournament.

At any rate, take from this story what you will.

Read It? Golf Digest 'Green Star' Awards

on October 20, 2009 3:02 PM , in American Golf , Golf Digest , 0 Comments

For this edition of "Read It?" I wanted to talk about a section in the November '09 Golf Digest. GD has published the second annual "Green Star Awards" to celebrate the accomplishments of golf resorts that have made extraordinary efforts to protect the environment.

In addition to listing the courses that received this year's awards, Golf Digest also published several articles related to golf and environmental protection.

The links between golf and the environment, as Golf Digest notes, are obvious. For one, a vast majority of those who spend their days on the links have a love of nature and the outdoors. On the other hand, the pesticides and immense amount of water used in maintaining our courses poses a severe environmental risk.

My favorite piece in this section was Roger Schiffman's interview of Thomas Friedman (The World is Flat), a well-known NYT columnist. Apparently, Friedman is an avid golfer who has several ideas on how golfers and courses can take responsibility for the environment.

Friedman urges the golf community to unite in order to establish norms governing the environmental responsibilities of players and courses. He explains, "Everyone needs to get together and say: 'Our objective is to preserve and enhance the game and the planet on which it's played. To make golf a leader in greening the world."

For Friedman, golf courses should post a rating of their carbon footprint next to slope and course ratings.

The November issue is on newsstands now.

Pavin to be named Ryder Cup team captain

on December 10, 2008 7:54 PM , in American Golf , Ryder Cup , 0 Comments

The United States, during the last installment of the Ryder Cup, found success under the leadership of Paul Azinger. 'Zinger's torch appears to be headed in the direction of Corey Pavin, who last played in the Ryder Cup 15 years ago.

While Tiger Woods will almost certainly return for the 2010 matches which will return to Europe once again, Pavin has a number of obstacles to overcome. America has not successfully defended its title by winning consecutive Ryder Cups since 1993.

Though Pavin may lack playing experience in the historic matches, he did serve as the assistant captain to Tom Lehman during the 2006 Ryder Cup. Prior to being chosen as an assistant captain, Pavin almost qualified to the 2006 Ryder Cup by winning the U.S. Bank Championship.

The Ryder Cup will be played at Celtic Manor in Wales in 2010.

Leonard returns to Ryder Cup glory

on September 13, 2008 12:01 PM , in American Golf , Ryder Cup , 0 Comments

TheGolfChannel.com recently posted an interesting article about American golfer Justin Leonard. Of course, Leonard was responsible for "the shot heard 'round the world" during America's rally to win the Ryder Cup in 1999 at Brookline Country Club.

Since then, victory has been, for the most part, elusive in Leonard's career. He failed to make the Ryder Cup team multiple times after his terrific save in the 1999 Ryder Club. Even more devastating was his failure to make the 2004 team as he entered the PGA Championship that season requiring nothing less than a victory to earn enough points to make the team. However, Leonard ultimately lost after tying for first place and golfing in a three way playoff with Vijay Singh prevailing.

American Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger seems glad, at least, to have Leonard as a member of the American squad once again. He said, "[Leonard] has a lot of heart and a lot of moxie. He's going to be fun to have on this team."

'Zinger submits Ryder Cup roster for American team

on September 7, 2008 12:38 AM , in American Golf , Ryder Cup , 0 Comments

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger has finalized his team for the 2008 Ryder Cup to be contested in Kentucky.

Azinger's choices as captain, which allows non-qualified players to be selected for the team, included Chad Campbell, Steve Stricker (pictured left), J.B. Holmes, and Hunter Mahan.

The rest of America's team will be comprised of Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Ben Curtis (pictured right), Jim Furyk, and Book Weekley.

Of course, this team is missing one player who qualified but will not be attending as a playing-member due to his injury: Tiger Woods.

Stricker finished ninth in Ryder Cup points, which left him one spot away from making the team after a stellar performance at the PGA Championship by Ben Curtis.

Homes is a Kentucky native who has extensive experience with Valhalla Country Club, which will certainly be an asset in addition to his famous long drives.

Clearly, Mahan overcame a major mental lapse when he chose to criticize the PGA America for a number of reasons, but claimed that the PGA did not care about the American team. Further, he asserted that the PGA was only in the Ryder Cup game to make money. However, Mahan apologized to Azinger and the PGA, which appears to have been enough to make the team.

Campbell was ranked 20th in Ryder Cup points, which makes his being selected somewhat confusing. Azinger, in selecting Campbell, passed former Ryder Cup stars like Scott Verplank (pictured left) and major champion Zack Johnson up.