This Week at WorldGolf.com: Feb. 15, 2006

This week's L.A. (Nissan) Open
promises plenty of Hollywood drama

As someone who reveres history, I prefer to call this week's PGA Tour stop the Los Angeles Open. You can call it the Nissan Open if you wish, and it starts tomorrow at the Riviera Country Club. This is the tournament that defied the PGA's ban on black players by inviting boxer Joe Louis to play in 1952. It's where Babe Didrickson was the first woman to play in a men's PGA tournament in 1938 (she missed the cut).

The Los Angeles Open at the Riviera C.C. is where Ben Hogan, 11 months after a near-fatal crash with a bus, limped to a second-place finish in 1950 in one of the most dramatic comebacks in sports history.

And speaking of comebacks, how about Ken Venturi rallying from eight strokes back and making consecutive eagles to beat Art Wall with a final-round 63 at Rancho Park in 1959?

This is the tournament where in 1961 at Rancho Park Arnold Palmer stubbornly kept trying to hit his second shot to the green at the par-5 18th, spraying four balls in the water and taking a 12. The next year at Rancho Park, Jack Nicklaus played his first tournament as a pro and made the cut, but finished last and took home $33.

The Los Angeles Open returned to the Riviera Country Club in 1973 and it was here in 1992 that 16-year-old Tiger Woods was given an exemption and missed the cut, but promised to be back.

Tiger is back again this year but he's been winless at the Riviera five times in his professional career. This time he's hoping to extend his season-opening winning streak to three tournaments.

Can Mike Weir, twice the winner of this tournament, rebound after his final-round collapse at the AT&T last weekend? Will this be the week David Duval finally breaks through and rediscovers his game with a win? Will John Daly be a man, or will he walk off the course in disgust like he did two weeks ago in Scottsdale?

Ernie Els and Chris DiMarco will be here, too, but many of us will have our eyes glued on rookie J.B. Holmes in his first appearance since he destroyed the field at the Phoenix (NBR) Open.

It's going to be a great weekend of golf.

As always, WorldGolf.com welcomes your comments.

Brora Golf Club in the north
of Scotland will blow you away

Someone once likened Brora Golf Club to St. Andrews. The reason being that from Brora's first tee, as at the Old Course, one sees an unremarkable expanse - or so it appears. But this is golf at its most elemental, a spartan links where sheep and cattle roam freely. It's so remote it's barely on the map and the feel of the course is ancient. You half-way expect to be hauled away for playing "gowf" instead of practicing your arrows.

Also: Plan your Scotland golf pilgrimage right!

Lahinch Golf Club: Two courses,
equal one amazing Irish experience

Few venues in Ireland evoke the history and majesty of the game as does Lahinch Golf Club in Clare County, Ireland. Where else can one walk the same ground that was once trodden by golf legends Old Tom Morris and Alister MacKenzie, along with the present-day likes of Mickelson and Love? After more than 110 years, it's a club that still has golfers second-guessing themselves, and making long-range reservations to get back on.

Also: Doonbeg is an artful balance of links and resort golf

It's all right: Lefties still
lacking in the world of golf

Human beings are unique in that the majority of people favor their right side. But where does this leave left-handers? Well, even with star golfers like Mike Weir and Phil Mickelson, lefties are in a big minority on the golf course. But if players can produce more power from the left side than the right, will we be seeing more left-handed golfers taking their swings in the future? Only time will tell.

Also: Writers differ in opinions of 'player-friendly' Magique irons