This Week at WorldGolf.com: April 12, 2005:

The problem wasn't that Jack Nicklaus got all teary eyed and told the press it was his last time playing at the Masters. The problem was people actually believed him.

When are we ever going to learn? Apparently, these people have never seen a boxer's retirement press conference. Any boxer's. Or Michael Jordan's first or second goodbye announcements. Heck, didn't golf just go through this with Arnold Palmer every year for about 10 years? The King told everyone this was probably the last time, only to come back the very next year, so many times that when he finally did bow out of competing in majors, it lacked any emotional impact whatsoever.

Jack will be back. Guaranteed. They never step away the first time they say they are, especially when they've played as long as Nicklaus has. This isn't Barry Sanders suddenly bolting in his prime. Jack Nicklaus is still playing the Masters at age 65. You don't think he's going to get the Augusta itch at 66 or 67?

Once again, this isn't Jack's fault. He's been through an emotional roller coaster with the death of his 17-month-old grandson and the decision to play. He's entitled. It's the people who made it into a major story when the start of Tiger Woods' great comeback from the Masters deserved the Saturday night attention that are at fault.

There was a spikes feud between Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh to talk about. (See National Golf Editor Tim McDonald's hilarious blow-by-blow of the locker room confrontation.) Instead, we got Jack with a tear running down his face.

The only thing worse than this overblown "retirement" was 73-year-old Billy Casper's record-setting wimp out. When Casper "no-carded" - declined to submit his scorecard - electing to disqualify himself rather than write his 34-over-par 106 into Augusta's record books, he became the worst kind of sports baby.

The 1970 Masters champ deserved to play and he deserved to have that 14 on the par-3 16th preserved for all time. What is it with these senior citizen golfers who want it both ways?

Here at WorldGolf.com, we won't talk out of both sides our mouth or look for the easy copout. Instead, you'll get Tim McDonald calling the famed David Leadbetter, "the most overrated golf instructor of all time," an inside look at how a golf management company is trying to eliminate next-day, tee-times services in Las Vegas, Brandon Tucker's musings on being an American asking for free refills in Spain and Kiel Christianson arguing the Masters telecast is equivalent to a Paris Hilton video (our favorite Nutty Professor doesn't get out much).

As always your comments help make the show go. Feel free to educate me on why these old guys keep trying to hog a stage that's no longer theirs.

Drink your wine and tee
off at De Zalze in the Western Cape

The DeZalze Golf Club is laid out within the De Zalze Winelands Golf Estate in the Western Cape province of South Africa. There is a golf hotel and on-site wine tasting. The South Africa edition of Golf Digest ranked De Zalze 31st in the country, a 10-place jump from the last rankings. It's generally acknowledged as one of the top courses in the Western Cape, so we asked Tim McDonald to check it out during his recent visit.
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V-MOI Triad putter is a tinkerer's delight

Mentor's V-MOI putters all feature large forged aluminum heads with slots into which weighted cylinders can be inserted. The V-MOI Triad putter has three such slots, thereby allowing for 20 weight configurations. The V-MOI Quadra has four, allowing for 35 weight configurations. So if you think the repositionable weights in the TaylorMade r7 driver are cool, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Full story | Golf Equipment Reviews

Sometimes it's hard to be a woman golfer

For women, on top of all the usual golf annoyances, there are a whole separate host of irritations to deal with. From shopping to sexism, correspondent Jennifer Mario is here to enlighten our male readers with the issues she and other female golfers encounter on a regular basis.
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