Bubba Watson Hits Craziest Shot of the Week

303 yards, driver off the deck, 40 yard slice, and an eagle. Honestly, how do you not like watching this guy play golf? He's more fun than his suspenders!!

via Devil Ball

Dustin Johnson and Natalie Gulbis Are Sitting in a Tree

The wait is over! Natalie Gulbis has a new number seven (get it, that's the number DJ made on the 72nd hole at Whistling Straits, burn!) and he is the next big thing in golf.

Yep, Gulbis and Dustin Johnson are officially dating, end all speculation (?) that they weren't.

Honestly, this is news, I guess. We haven't had this big a relationship in golf since the whole Amy-MJ rumors.

So, yes, that is your big update for this week. Natalie Gulbis ... Dustin Johnson ... adidas ... boom.

Is Viewers Calling In on Rules Fair?

I've got some questions about my take on the viewers calling in on rules violation during live golf events, so I decided to give a few sentences on my thoughts on what I think. As you know, Camilo Villegas got disqualified on Friday after moving a loose impediment during his Thursday round. He finished the round, signed his scorecard, but a viewer called in the rules infraction and after reviewing it, the PGA Tour decided he had broke the rules and needed to be disqualified.

Now, I've got two big points here that I want to make about this, and these are my biggest pushes.

First, I don't hate the fact that viewers can call in on rules. It makes golf distinctive and a little more viewer-friendly, giving people at home an actual hand in events if they see something happen that others don't. Do I feel good when it happens, deep in my stomach? No, it still feels a bit unfair, but as we all know, golf has about 36,000 rules and not one person can know them all (that's why even rules officials drive around with those big books in their carts). Did Villegas intentionally do that? No, not at all. He was doing it more out of frustration than anything. It was a playful move that got him DQ'd. I remember back when Phil Mickelson was playing the PGA Championship, and after a bunker shot that left him in the bunker once more, he was raking the sand with his feet, only to look up to an official and let him know, "I'm not testing the sand!"

So, do I like the viewers calling in? Umm, kinda. I'm like 56 percent. It works, because it makes golf completely different from any other sport, but I do feel a little dirty when someone gets canned from an event for it.

Now, what do I think is an appropriate measure we could do to make this a little more fair? Why not just access the appropriate penalty to whoever got the viewer to call in instead of just disqualifying the golfer? See, if you sign a card and didn't access a penalty, you are automatically disqualified. So why not add a rule that says if someone from an outside party (not an official, playing partner, spectator, etc.) that could have IMMEDIATE influence on a player on that exact situation calls out a rules infraction, the player can still access the penalty to that hole, given a certain amount of time after (Say, until he hits a tee shot in the next round). So, if this happened to Villeags, he is given the two-stroke penalty for moving the divot, and he can keep playing. This gives the viewers a chance to keep calling in, and the players not a death sentence if they do.

So, that's my solution. Golf is pretty crazy, and the rules are even crazier, but we should give the players a little bit of a break here if we can. If everyone in the world is watching an event, any little misstep could cost you a LOT of money.

Is Bubba Watson Quickly Becoming the Most Stylish Golfer?

On Wednesday at Kapalua, the big hitters decided to have a long drive contest against Jamie Sadlowski. Bubba Watson was there, and he was sporting the above outfit.

Now, I never thought a guy named Bubba would bring out the best in fashion, but it seems he continues to bring the goods. The overalls? I love them, and they look sharp on his very slender frame.

I've seen a few of his outfits, and always am impressed. Is Bubba the new fashion guru? That might be the case.

AP

Nothing Like a Rules Violation To Start the New Year

Last season will be remembered as the Year of the Rules Violation, with the highlight coming at the PGA Championship when Dustin Johnson mistakingly grounded his club in a bunker on the 72nd hole to miss out on his first major championship. That event was just one of several rules violations/controversies in '10, but guess what, we're starting off '11 the same way.

Geoff Shackelford posted the above video of Camilo Villegas on the 15th hole. After going for the green in two, Villegas found himself in a very tough spot, and it took him three pitches to get the ball out of this little area. After his second attempt, a lower pitch that started to come back at him, Villegas randomly moved an old divot. It was probably more out of frustration than anything, but as Shackelford points out, that's a clear violation of rule 23-1, which states, "When a ball is in motion, a loose impediment that might influence the movement of the ball must not be removed."

I was watching this as it happened, and immediately thought something was up. With video that clear, it is most likely that Villegas will be disqualified from his first event of the year.

The saddest part? He was handeling the meltdown about as good as you can, smiling to his caddie as he tried different chip shots.

Nike Twitter Employee 'Randomly' Walks in on Tiger Working Out

Years ago it was probably pretty easy to fool people. We didn't have access like we do now. We didn't have FourSquare. We didn't have any of it.

But sometimes it's just good, ol' fashioned ignorance that us regulars can figure out.

Nike Golf's Twitter account posted this message at about 7 AM PCT on Thursday -- "You never know who you'll see at the Nike Headquarters gym...@TigerWoods working out before his product mtgs." They attached a photo to this. The photo is below.


Oh, so you just randomly ran into the guy at the gym? No idea he was going to be there? THERE ARE TWO CAMERAS AND A GUY WITH A CELL PHONE THERE! YOU CAN'T FOOL US, NIKE GOLF!

So, yeah, nice try. You guys are doing this for some spot or something. You didn't just walk in and see him working out before you spent 20 minutes on the elliptical.

h/t PGT

Geoff Ogilvy Will Be Hand-ed $70K

The tour kicks off on Thursday in Hawaii, but the more you read and watch about these players, the more you realize that it is still vacation mode. Sure, would they love to bag a win here against all the champions from 2010, and be invited back before they even leave the island? Absolutely. Are they more interested in karaoke, swimming and hiking? It sure seems it.

That is where defending champion Geoff Ogilvy comes in. According to AP, the Australian was swimming when he cut his hand on a coral reef, requiring 12 stitches and a very minimal chance of playing in the Hyundai. No worries for Geoff, however, since the event doesn't have a cut, and just making it to the first tee with a golf club and a ball in hand is good enough for a last place check of $70,000.

Is there a moral issue here with Ogilvy taking to the first tee just to collect a check when he isn't competing? I don't think so. He earned his way here, and has all the right in the world to tee it up, earning his succulent five-figure check, and be on his way.

Would you do it? Battle all you want here or there, but you know you wouldn't pass up on a $70,000 piece of paper when it is basically being handed to you.

Getty Images