Golf Etail Blog

We’re impressed. Duly.

Now, about our lotto numbers…

Ever the sportsman, top-ranked Tiger Woods says he voted for fellow golfer Padraig Harrington for PGA Tour Player of the Year, according to GOLF.com.

“It was nice to see Paddy play as well as he has,” Woods was quoted as saying in the article. “It was just a matter of – as I said, a matter of time. The confidence you get from winning one, and then two just proves it to you that one wasn’t a fluke, and it gives you all that confidence in the world. And look how he did it; he shot 32 on the back nine on both of them.”

Woods’ vote, notes reporter Michael Walker Jr., is particularly significant because the World No. 1 has voted for himself in the past.

On a semi-related note, we had no idea that Utah’s Healthsouth Medical Center – where Woods had arthroscopic surgery performed – served humble pie to its patients.

GOLF.com surveyed more than 2,600 readers to find out what they deemed the biggest stories of 2008. The results are in.

1.    Tiger Woods limps to a playoff victory at the U.S. Open, then has reconstructive surgery on his left knee and misses the rest of the season. (48%)
2.    John Daly is found passed out outside a Hooters in Winston-Salem, N.C., and spends the night in jail. (24.2%)
3.    Captain Paul Azinger leads the U.S. to victory in the Ryder Cup. (5.3%)
4.    Rocco Mediate comes from nowhere to tie Woods and force a playoff in the U.S. Open. (4.4%)
5.    Padraig Harrington wins two straight majors, the British Open and the PGA Championship. (4.1%)
6.    Annika Sorenstam retires. (4.1%)
7.    After a difficult divorce, Greg Norman marries Chris Evert and contends at the British Open at 53. (1.5%)
8.    Tiger wins four tournaments in a row (1.3%)
9.    Seve Ballesteros has multiple surgeries for brain cancer. (1.2%)
10.  The LPGA says that all players must speak English or be suspended, but then backs down.

Surrounded by supporters, female golf phenom Michelle Wie finished LPGA Q-school yesterday with a par on the 90th hole, closing with a 2-over-par 74 and a total of 12-under 348, tying for seventh place and guaranteeing herself LPGA Tour playing privileges for 2009.

Though the most talked-about contender, Wie was just one of 20 players who gained full playing status at LPGA International. Others included former NCAA champion Stacy Lewis, who shot a final-round 69 to finish at 342, earning medalist honors, and LPGA event first-timer and Yale University grad Jeehae Lee.

Golf instructor Ron del Barrio demonstrates how to hit the ball 300 yards, in the #1 golf lesson video on YouTube.

If you’ve tried Ron’s technique, leave a comment to let us know how well (or not) it worked.