The Masters Trophy Always Makes Me Laugh

There are a lot of cool things about winning the Masters. You get to play there for the rest of your life. You get a million bucks. You get a green jacket. You get to go play Augusta whenever you want.

But the thing that few know, is you actually get a trophy. Yep, it's the one on the left, and it still cracks me up whenever I see it. Obviously someone complained once that there isn't a trophy that goes with the win, so they decided to make one. I have a feeling this isn't the thing people ask Masters winners to show when they come the house after you take down the first major.

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The Bushnell Hybrid Rangefinder is Next Step in GPS Systems

Occasionally I'll get something in the mail from a golf company to review. No matter if it's a ballmarker or a driver or a shirt, I'll attempt to be fair when rolling out my thoughts on said product.

So, when I tell you that I absolutely am head over heels in love with the new Bushnell Hybrid know that I'm not just saying that because the package it came in was stuffed with $100 bills. Nope, I'm saying it because this is the next step in rangefinders. An exact pin yardage mixed with what the front and back of the green will be. It's like having a pin sheet on every golf course you will ever play again, and that is incredible.

I wasn't as excited as I thought I'd be when I got the device. I've used Bushnell and SkyCaddie before, and think they're both great products. I like to know the exact yardage to the pin, so I usually would go with a device I could laser to the flag, but the way SkyCaddie has transitioned lately has made their products must-owns as well.

The Hybrid is the next step. The first thing you might notice is the bulky side with the GPS part. It is different if you've used a lot of Bushnell before, but you get used to it (I found myself shooting at pins with the Hybrid sideways for the first couple of holes because of the added weight to the left side, but I eventually got past that).

The first thing I loved is that you don't have to connect it to the Internet. I arrived at the course I was playing, typed in "Dobson Ranch" after going through a question about what state I was playing, and the course came up. Boom, we're ready to go.

The green yardage might not be that beautiful, but it doesn't have to be. The GPS point is to give you the information you need, and nothing more. What is it to the front? What is it to the middle? What is it to the back? Now, let's fire at the pin.

Too many times I find myself forgetting to check the entire yardage, or see the entire picture. I will fire at a pin, see it is 156, and then yank out my 9-iron, but if the pin is in the front, and there is water guarding it, and I now know that it is 173 to the back, I might as well hit a smooth 8, and if it goes 10 yards past the pin, I'm still putting for birdie with a par under my belt. That's what the hybrid gives you.

I really enjoyed knowing both. I found myself a couple of times just looking at what the middle yardage was without even firing the laser at the pin, because I knew where I needed to hit it. It's the best of both worlds.

Does it have any flaws? Not anything that jumps out. You have to manually change between holes, which might seem like a big deal to some that are used to it just automatically doing that, but I'm sure it will be a bug that goes away with the next edition. Basically, what Bushnell did was combine two devices, like if a cell phone company came out with a iBlackberry, and made it to where you get the best of both worlds in just one piece of electronics.

Observations From This Weekend

Since the weekend had a lot of golf going on, I figured wrapping it up in one of those list thingys would be the best way to do. Sip your coffee before moving on. Okay? Okay.

1.) Martin Kaymer's win makes him the best in the world -- I expanded on this point over at Yahoo!, but figured I'd make it here as well. He has five wins since January of 2010, including a major championship, and finished in the top-10 in two other majors last season. He is only 26, but is killing folks on the golf course, and he has the type of swing that will keep him around for a loooong time.

2.) Jhonattan Vegas broke the Twitter record for "most pointless jokes about a golfer's name" in the history of the site -- Hey, even I made a few! But on this Vegas guy for a second, how impressive was that win? He had the lead for the better part of the week, and then had to secure it in a playoff against the winner from last year and another rookie. That is clutch stuff. Don't expect this guy to go away, and maybe even win again this year. It seems there are people that have "it" and people that don't, and a guy that wins his first playoff against two guys after battling for the lead over five days makes him one of those "it" dudes.

3.) Phil Mickelson is going to struggle this season -- I pointed that out before the season started, but when the biggest news about you in the last five months is the fact that you are back to eating meat again, your golf game isn't in the right place. Look for Lefty to continue to struggle with his golf game, Augusta not withstanding.

4.) Watch this YouTube video -- Go, watch it now!

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Apparently This Will Send You Home

You've probably heard by now that Padraig Harrington was disqualified on Friday at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship after posting a first round 65 that left him just a shot back of the leader. Harrington, who has been going through some swing changes lately, finally got it all in place, but was called out by a television viewer, the second time something like this has happened in just three weeks of golf in 2011.

The video above, courtesy of Geoff Shackelford, shows Harrington moving the ball. As he removes the coin, he kind of, sort of touches the ball and it moves a little, a human error by all accounts but still something you can't do according to the rules of golf. And he was disqualified. Because he didn't know he did that. And there goes a great round for Paddy.

I ranted about it over at Devil Ball, but it really is insane that this is still a rule. Change it, people! Nobody should be getting disqualified because of this!

Every Davis Love III Joke You'll Read Today

As you've heard, Davis Love III was named the Ryder Cup captain on Thursday, huge news if you've lived under a rock for the past few months and didn't know it was already happening.

So, nothing really more to say ... everyone enjoys him, he seems like a good guy, and he will be good at it. So, without further ado, here is a list of all the dumb Davis Love jokes you'll hear today, in no particular order.

Ryder Cup Love
Don't Love Jose - Davis Named Captain
Love-ing this Pick for Ryder Cup
Ryder Love
I Love The Way You(r) (ball) Lie(s)
Players Love Their New Captain
Illinois Love
Davis Would Love to Make This a Win for the Americans
Game of Love
Can't Get Enough of this Everyday Love
Love Can Build a Squad
Love Hopes for Pot of Gold at Medinah
Good Love is On the Way
We're All in For Love, We're Not Lost Without You
Love, Actually!
The Americans Looks So Good in Love
Yes Love
Can You Feel the Love Tonight?
I'm Lovin' It!
All You Need is Love!
Love Conquers All
All is Fair in Love on Tour

Okay, got anymore? Puns! Woohoo!

Phil Mickelson Says BRING ON THE MEAT!

I'd have to say the reason that Phil Mickelson has decided to end his run as a vegetaran the same week he is visiting the United Arab Emirates has nothing to do with the difficulty of ordering a Caesar salad over there, but you never know.

But the reign is over ... Mickelson will again be eating meat, he told reporters on Wednesday, something he decided to change when he was diagnosed psoriatic arthritis back in 2010. That didn't last long, however, and it seems that the burger-loving lefty will again be back at the drive-thru line.

I do like the fact that Phil still can chomp down on a Five Guys burger here or there. He always was the guy that wasn't scared to do that, and when he was forced to switch veggie, it just never felt the same. Now, he's back, and even though he said he's more aware of what he eats, I hope to one day be stepping on peanut shells near the major championship winner as we both eye down a delicious, meaty slab of beef.

Welcome back, Phil!

Oh, Canada! Country Takes to Twitter for Tiger

When Tiger Woods joined Twitter, I wasn't so sure the relationship would work, but I've never lived in an igloo, so what do I know?

That's what some Canadian Open organizers are trying to work out right now. The 2011 Maple Leaf Open is set for the week after the British, but our northern neighbors are basically getting on one social networking knee and begging Woods to make it to their event.

Organizers are asking fans to send Tiger tweet messages, replies and whatever else they can to beg him to make it up to the event Woods won in 2000.

Honestly, it isn't a horrible idea. Do we think Tiger really is checking his UberTwitter ten times a day like the rest of us? No, probably not, but the idea at least gets people like myself and others writing about it, and I'm sure the question will be tossed Tiger's way in an interview or two.

I'd guess that Woods already has his entire schedule made up for this season, and probably isn't going to make that long flight after the British to Canada, but it does bring on a whole other aspect of social media; begging.