This Week at WorldGolf.com: May 10, 2006

Gamblers are a different breed

My late grandfather always had a taste for gambling and was surprisingly good at it. However, when he was young and newly married he lost $1,000 playing craps.

Back then that was a fairly ridiculously high sum. Unwilling to tell my grandmother about his loss until he rectified it, he did the only thing he could think of to get the money back. He worked harder and put $3 in a drawer every day for a year. When my grandmother learned a year later that he'd lost $1,000, she was handed $1,100.

These were a different breed of people.

In today's world, we have John Daly admitting to losing $50-60 million gambling, and deciding to rectify it by playing less costly slots. Or we have Charles Barkley claiming to have lost $10 million gambling and lashing out that it's his money and he can do what he pleases with it.

This is the new breed, I suppose, from a generation sans a depression. But aside from the mind-shattering lack of personal discipline and disregard for money and the positive things it can do, there is another thing that gambling obscene amounts of money creates - foul play.

Daly, keep in mind, is an active golfer that, regardless of his physical condition, has shown he can still compete with the world's greatest golfers on any given day. Shouldn't this raise some flags for those at the PGA Tour?

Take it even further: Should an inexplicably missed three-foot putt at the American Express Championship last October now be examined? Missing a putt like that, in a playoff you couldn't have predicted he'd be in, against Tiger Woods?

This is by no means an accusation but these are the doors Daly has now opened. If someone can lose $60 million playing slots, then it's safe to say they are capable of virtually anything. They need to be watched, because they obviously have lost control of themselves.

Only Babe Ruth kept baseball from spiraling into irrelevancy after the Black Sox scandal of 1919. If the PGA Tour is going to have a player admit to losing millions gambling, they better keep an eye on him. A worst-case scenario would be beyond tragic.

Again, let me make it clear I'm not accusing Daly of anything improper whatsoever. But when modern athletes admit to this level of gambling, they obviously can't see the inherent dangers that go along with it.

These are a different breed of people, after all.

As always, WorldGolf.com welcomes your comments.

A golf ski trip? It's an extreme
sport catching on in Whistler, B.C.

When you both ski and golf on the same mountain in the same day, you would think you did something unique. But at Chateau Whistler Golf Club in British Columbia, it's so common they even have a name for it - Whistler Extreme Day. And while the majesty of the mountains will have skiers enthralled, the Robert Trent Jones Jr. design and Canadian scenery will help give golfers the time of their lives, as well.

Also: Reviewing Chateau Whistler Golf Club

Golf for Beginners: Wie makes history, how
to use impact tape, tee box etiquette, more

Although Michelle Wie fell 12 strokes shy of victory at the SK Telecom Open, she made the cut and delighted thousands of her fans. With her confidence surging, she has a number of high-profile events in her sights. PGA Professional Martin Nolletti discusses the biggest problems for women golfers and gives "casual" golfers tips on how to stay even. After listeners bashed Barry's tee box etiquette, he comes battling back. Also: A look at how to properly use impact tape.

Also: Click here to listen to this week's show

Front to back: The backswing
is the start of a good golf swing

Golf instructors around the world teach the backswing in many different ways. Most are successful with some people and not others. Here swing guru Mel Sole gives us his version of how the backswing should be achieved based on a "feel" system. "I don't tell my students how to get it there - I let them feel that for themselves," Sole writes.

Also: Is Moe Norman's 'Natural Golf' all hat and no cattle?