This Week at WorldGolf.com: May 24, 2006

All eyes to England as the best in
Europe battle for the BMW Championship

As the 2006 U.S. Open inches ever closer, now is the time for all eyes to drift to Europe. The best are getting together to battle it out at the BMW Championship at the West Course at Wentworth Club, in Surrey, England.

And by all eyes, we mean all eyes. The PGA Tour is offering up the Fed Ex St. Jude Classic, which has become the "At-least-David-Toms-is-showing-up" Classic, and is in dire need of being given a miss by golf fans.

Instead, watch if Colin Montgomerie can do the seemingly impossible and pocket his fourth title in the event formerly known as the PGA Championship. It would be startling due to the fact that Monty's game is in pure freefall, having missed seven of his previous cuts.

If that's not enough, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Michael Campbell are in the field, as is defending champion Angel Cabrera, the Argentine who dazzled the fans at the Masters earlier this year, closing strong and finishing tied for eighth.

Still not enough? The entry list for the BMW Championship also includes Luke Donald, Adam Scott, Jose Maria Olazabal, David Howell, Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn and Padraig Harrington.

If a non-U.S. player is going to win the U.S. Open this year, they'll be playing this week at Wentworth. To make matters even more interesting, Wentworth has recently been redesigned - given more length and bite - by none other than Ernie Els.

"I know I could be getting some stick from the guys for what's been done, but at the end of the day they will be better equipped for the majors," Els told PA Sport. "Anybody going to the U.S. Open will have a much better feel of what they are going into. Miss a shot in a major and you're either in rough, a bunker or in danger of three-putting."

Of course, what would a column praising the quality of this week's European Tour event be without a daring prediction? Yes, with all these fantastic players from around the globe competing, we have crunched the numbers and checked the biorhythms of the field, and we see just one man conquering Europe:

American Kevin Stadler.

As always, WorldGolf.com welcomes your comments.

Mano a mano with Robert Trent Jones
at Magnolia Grove in Mobile, Alabama

Magnolia Grove, in a hilly area of Alabama away from busy Mobile, is part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and it's a good example of Jones' "hard par, easy bogey" philosophy. Both the Crossings and Falls courses can throw you for a loop, especially the latter, even with four or five sets of tee boxes. "The Crossings is a shot-makers course," Director of Golf Paul Martino said. The Falls, meanwhile, makes you work even harder.

Podcast: Hear more about golf in Mobile, Ala.

Golf for Beginners: mental game tips,
golf etiquette (no Sybase Classic chat)

Common courtesy and decorum are not taught in most schools but if they were, Barry and I probably would not have to discuss the basics of golf etiquette. This is not for beginners only - everyone should listen and wonder if they're guilty of these faux pas. Also, great news for Nextel/Sprint subscribers: Our show has grown so popular that the Mobile Broadcast Network on Nextel/Sprint wants us to join its list of downloadable programs.

Also: Subscribe to our RSS feed to get each week's show

Equipment Review: Upswing
Golf making "simply good clubs"

Upswing Golf lends a no-nonsense approach to club making. With tons of flashy clubs out there on the market, Upswing Golf launched a range of clubs in a more traditional style. Sure the technology is there, graphite and titanium included, but without the bells and whistles. You simply get good clubs at a reasonable price. Club makers come and go but with their business philosophy, Upswing Golf will be here for some time to come, writes Kiel Christianson.

Blogger: It takes a real man to play the Callaway HX Pearl