PGATOUR.COM - Sabbatini's black hat no longer a symbol of his personality

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Forget about the black hat.

Rory Sabbatini may reside in Texas -- where cowboys and villains have filled many a large screen -- but he doesn't like to be shone in that light anymore.

Fourth-round coverage

YANG, ALMOST: Y.E. Yang shot a strong Sunday 66 but fell short by a shot. Nonetheless, he leaves Palm Beach Gardens with renewed confidence. Story SUNDAY MONEY: Graeme McDowell moved into a tie for sixth Sunday with a course record-matching 64 at PGA National, the first time he broke 70 all week. Story NO CHANGE AT TOP: Lee Westwood could have leaped over Martin Kaymer back into the world No. 1 spot but failed to finish in the top three at The Honda. Story

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Sure, the South African was the one who famously took on Tiger Woods a few years ago, claiming he was as beatable as anyone. And Sabbatini also was the one who infamously left Ben Crane behind late in the round because he felt his partner was playing too slow.

But the Sabbatini who won Sunday's Honda Classic by a shot over Y.E. Yang for his sixth career PGA TOUR title insists he's not the bad guy everyone thinks he is. Nor did he ever embrace that caustic image.

"No, I don't enjoy it," Sabbatini said. "I'm a passionate golfer, I really am. I love the game of golf and I've had my moments. I'm not proud of everything I've done out here, but I'm trying to learn. I'm trying to be a role model for my children and I know as my wife has said to me, I wouldn't want my son doing some of the things that I've done in the past.

"So I definitely have to take into account that my son is old enough now that he understands everything that I do, and really try and be a role model for him."

Maybe it shouldn't matter who Sabbatini was, but what he's become. He will always play fast and say what's on his mind, but he also gives plenty of his time -- and his money -- to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund for military families in need. And when he's playing well, he can beat anybody in the world.

There are reasons for a somewhat kinder, gentler Sabbatini. For one, he watched last September as his wife, Amy, had to be put in the Intensive Care Unit after complications during the birth of their third child, Bodhi. Sabbatini also had his own medical issues late last year, being diagnosed with skin cancer on his face that required minor surgery.

Thus, the reason behind his switch to a larger hat, a la Greg Norman. These experiences also explain his gradual personality shift.

"It's been a tough road," he said. "So it definitely is kind of a turning of a new leaf, so it really does feel good. It does feel like a fresh start in a sense."

One thing remains constant: Sabbatini won't back down, whether it's being asked a tough question by a reporter or when Yang cut his once-commanding five-shot lead to one with three holes left Sunday.

Sabbatini responded with a clutch 16-foot birdie at the 16th hole to restore his lead to two and weathered the rest of the Bear Trap, along with a a 28-minute lightning delay, to two-putt the final hole and move back into golf's inner circle by qualifying for this week's World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship in Miami.

"After 15, I knew I had to put some pressure back on Y.E.," Sabbatini said. "Making that putt was a huge bonus."

Sabbatini, who was once ranked among the top 10 in the world, has always had the skills. Now he's learning how to control his mood as well as his ball trajectory.

"I commend him for being I guess so emotionally stable," Yang said of Sabbatini. "Usually if you're in the front, if you're running away from somebody, you tend to be a bit nervous. But in Rory's case, he seemed really calm."

For most of Sabbatini's career, he's been as calm as the 25-mph winds that turned the first three rounds of The Honda Classic into a mini-U.S. Open, where par was your friend.

But just as the winds at PGA National died down, so has some of Sabbatini's bluster.

"He gets in his own way an awful lot and rubs some people the wrong way," said Jerry Kelly, who finished third. "I can relate to that because I'm the same type of person. But he usually has the best intentions for everybody else around him. Today, he did not let his emotions get the best of him."

via pgatour.com

Good for him!!

Chirkinian passes away at 84 « PGATOUR.com The Tour Report

Remembering Frank Chirkinian

Legendary golf television producer Frank Chirkinian passed away on Friday.

Frank Chirkinian, the legendary golf and sports television producer, passed away at his North Palm Beach, Fla., home Friday evening after a long battle with lung cancer. Chirkinian, who was selected for induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in February, was 84 years old (click here for a video tribute of Chirkinian).

Under his 39-year watch as CBS’ lead golf producer, the network was the first to use high-angle cameras in blimps, trees and cranes. He also put roving reporters on the ground, painted the cups white and created the IFB device that allows producers to talk to their announcers during a telecast.

In 1960 he was the first to list a player’s score relative to par instead of their total strokes for the tournament.

In all, Chirkinian produced 38 Masters telecasts.

PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem issued the following statement:

"Frank Chirkinian was a visionary in every sense of the word," Finchem said. "He was an artist. The sport of golf was presented on television to generations of fans in innovative, imaginative and entertaining ways because of Frank. Our sport has lost a friend and a true pioneer."

The World Golf Hall of Fame issued the following statement:

Jack Peter, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum: “Golf lost one of its giants with the passing of Frank Chirkinian. Like everyone in the game, the World Golf Hall of Fame family is saddened by this news. We will be honored to celebrate his life and impact on the game with his induction into the Hall of Fame in May. He will forever be remembered as a pioneer and truly deserving of being known as the father of golf on television.”

CBS Sports issued the following statements Friday:

Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports: "In his 38 years with CBS Sports, Frank Chirkinian’s remarkable innovations and contributions have become the industry standard for the way we watch golf on television. Frank has left a legacy of excellence and creativity in golf broadcasting that will never be equaled and is a true Hall of Famer in all of sports television."

Jim Nantz: "He was a friend, a mentor and a father figure to me. I was blessed to have his guiding hand extended to me at the age of 26. I am comforted knowing, as long as there is golf being televised any where in the world; Frank Chirkinian lives."

Lance Barrow, Coordinating Producer of Golf and the NFL on CBS Sports: "The golfing world lost a great ambassador to the game today in the passing of Frank Chirkinian. He did as much for the game as anyone who has ever been associated with golf. His legacy will live on forever."

CBS Sports will honor Chirkinian throughout the day on Saturday. Nantz will deliver a special tribute to Chirkinian during halftime of the Kansas-Missouri game that begins at Noon, ET.

via tourreport.pgatour.com

A great loss.

Rising Gas Prices Hit Home - WSJ.com

HOMESTEAD, Fla.—This Miami exurb flourished in the housing boom but has fallen hard during the bust, with one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation for the past two years. Rising gasoline prices are making a bad situation even worse.

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Jason Henry for The Wall Street Journal

Gas prices are squeezing Homestead, Fla., residents like Craig McBean, who commutes some 30 miles to Miami.

Home buyers priced out of the red-hot Miami market in the middle of the last decade flocked to places like Homestead, putting up with a longer commute in return for less expensive housing. Mortgages were easy to get and often began with low rates that would later rise. Homestead's population, now about 50,000, rose dramatically during this time as thousands of homes were built and sold.

That all started crashing down in 2007. The first wave of foreclosures started when interest rates on adjustable-rate subprime mortgages jumped and lifted payments beyond what many could afford. With prices collapsing, foreclosures picked up momentum as borrowers who found themselves underwater—owing more on their homes than the homes were worth—started walking away.

Higher gas prices are now hitting hard around Homestead, where many residents drive some 30 miles to work in Miami, adding to homeowners' strain. So while the foreclosure problem is starting to abate in many cities, the problem in places like Homestead could grow.

"The people who bought in Homestead were generally people who were on the margin to begin with. It's not a good sign when gas prices go up and become an added cost factor for these struggling homeowners," said Ned Murray, associate director of the Metropolitan Center at Florida International University, a Miami-based applied-research institute.

Data prepared for The Wall Street Journal by CoreLogic Inc. showed that in two Zip Codes in the Homestead area, 33032 and 33033, more than 44% of all mortgages were three months or more delinquent as of November. Those were the highest rates in the country. A loan typically enters the foreclosure process once it is three months past due. (CoreLogic looked only at Zip Codes with more than 5,000 mortgages.)

The communities in the two Zip Codes are filled with modest, middle-class homes, many built from 2004 to 2006. Some of those homes are now empty after the owners left or were evicted. Some of those still around are considering leaving.

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Of Homestead's 21,300 mortgages, nearly 9,000 are severely delinquent, with 6,100 homes in a state of foreclosure and more than 900 owned by the bank and likely empty, CoreLogic said. Homestead says about 700 homes are vacant.

Among the struggling Homestead homeowners is 35-year-old firefighter Craig McBean, who purchased a three-bedroom home in 2005 for $250,000. Since then, the home's value has fallen nearly 40% and his wages have been cut 20%. About two years ago, the monthly payments on his home jumped to $2,400 from the original $1,800, taking a big bite from his $45,000 annual salary. Still, Mr. McBean has held on and continued to make his payments.

But the rising price of gasoline, currently around $3.40 a gallon in the Homestead area, has hurt. Mr. McBean said his gasoline costs doubled in recent years and it now costs him $80 to $100 a week to fuel his 1997 Ford F-150 truck. And his expenses are likely to keep rising; energy analysts expect average gas prices to hit a peak somewhere between $3.75 and $4.25 nationally this summer, in part because of turmoil in the Middle East.

With the higher mortgage and gasoline costs, and a one-hour commute to Miami on Florida's Turnpike, Mr. McBean is considering leaving Homestead, though he hopes to avoid foreclosure. "I would like to move somewhere closer to work," he said. "The money I could save over three to four years, I could put down on another home."

His predicament—and the pinch felt acutely in exurban America—is forcing some families to reconsider the total cost of living far away from urban centers, not just the cost of the actual home. "People thought they were getting a bargain when they were paying less" for a house, said Linda Young, research director at the Center for Neighborhood Technology. "What they didn't realize is that the transportation costs could be even more."

The Chicago-based nonprofit, which promotes public transportation and energy efficiency, estimates that in Homestead, housing and transportation together consume nearly half of the median $36,000 household income for the area.

"There are a lot of people stuck in far-out suburbs who are not going to be able to sell their homes because they made bad bets on the housing boom," said Jack McCabe, a housing analyst with McCabe Research & Consulting in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

David Dabby, president of Dabby Group Advisors, a Miami-based real-estate consulting and valuation firm, said the majority of the homes built between 2004 and 2006 in the Homestead area have gone into financial distress or foreclosure.

"Cataclysmic is not the word, but it's that type of event," he said, noting that nearly 90% of all home sales over the past 18 months have been distressed sales."That's as high as you can get."

via online.wsj.com

Sad but true... and somewhat avoidable.

Pressure Mounts on Absent Democrats - WSJ.com

Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin and Indiana ratcheted up the pressure on their absent Democratic colleagues Thursday, aiming to force an end to standoffs over bills that would limit public workers' bargaining rights.

In Wisconsin, Republican senators passed a unanimous resolution finding their 14 Democratic colleagues in contempt. They ordered the Democrats to return to the Senate in Madison by 4 p.m.—and threatened them with arrest if they resisted. Indiana House Republicans moved to start fining missing Democrats $250 a day, beginning Monday

via online.wsj.com

Yes.

Jobs Takes Stage at Apple Event - WSJ.com

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who took a leave of absence earlier this year citing medical reasons, took the stage Wednesday at a product event in San Francisco.

Geoffrey A. Fowler/The Wall Street Journal

Steve Jobs

Mr. Jobs's surprise appearance was greeted by a standing ovation. "We've been working on this product for awhile, and I didn't want to miss it," he told the audience.

The Cupertino, Calif., consumer electronics maker unveiled a second-generation iPad. Mr. Jobs said the iPad 2 has a dual-core microprocessor and new design.

Apple's new iPad would be hitting the market at a time when a slew of other manufacturers have announced plans to launch similar products this year. As competition intensifies in the growing tablet space, analysts and companies are also concerned about a looming price war.

In January, Apple said Mr. Jobs is taking a medical leave of absence and that Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook would take over day-to-day operations. Mr. Jobs, 55 years old, has battled pancreatic cancer and had a liver transplant in 2009.

UPDATE: The next-generation iPad will come in white as well as black. The new device will ship on March 11, a week from Friday. It will ship in the U.S. first, and two weeks after that will ship in 26 other countries. "This thing is going to be everywhere in the month of March," Mr. Jobs said.

via online.wsj.com

Good news!

Stubborn Fact: Public Employees Paid More Than Private Workers in 41 States | The Blaze

As pro-union protesters erupt across the country, USA Today just released analysis that may cause a backlash against public unions. The findings? In 41 states, public employees “earn higher average pay and benefits” than private workers in each respective state.

The paper reports:

The analysis of government data found that public employees’ compensation has grown faster than the earnings of private workers since 2000. Primary cause: the rising value of benefits.

Wisconsin is typical. State, city and school district workers earned an average of $50,774 in wages and benefits in 2009, about $1,800 more than in the private sector. The state ranked 33rd in public employee compensation among the states and Washington, D.C. It had ranked 20th in 2000.

Among the key findings:

• California. Public employee compensation rose 28% above the inflation rate from 2000 to 2009 to an average of $71,385 in 2009.

• Nevada. Government employees earned an average of $17,815 more — or 35% — than private workers, the nation’s biggest pay gap. The state’s low-paying private jobs in tourism were the cause, says Bob Potts of the Center for Business and Economic Research at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

• Texas. The state ranked last in benefits for public employees. The state hasn’t granted cost-of-living increases to most retirees since 2001.

via theblaze.com

Interesting.

PGATOUR.COM - The 'Best American' question? No easy answer right now

Here's one that will tie your brain in knots:

Best American golfer. Right now. Not ever. Not in perpetuity. Not best swing or best personality or most entertaining.

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Not one with the most potential down the road.

Best at this point in time.

Gotcha. Right?

Never thought we'd get to this point, did you? It was always so simple. Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson. Pick one. Dealers choice. You're either a Tiger guy/gal or a Phil guy/gal.

Right now, they're fifth and sixth in the world rankings and sinking. Every week, it seems, another European leapfrogs one or both. And the big news is Phil has narrowed the gap to .10 of a point in the rankings.

Wasn't that long ago we longed to see that. Only at the top of the rankings. Not slip-sliding down the ladder.

They're still America's superstars. The game's superstars, for that matter. They step onto the property -- let alone the course -- and they're news. They enter a field, it's pure gold. They're in contention, they drive broadcast numbers.

They win? Oh, that's been a while, hasn't it?

With Tiger battling yet another swing change and trying to put past life issues behind him and Phil continuing to adjust to his psoriatic arthritis and the family's battles with breast cancer, they're no longer -- or at least right now -- America's go-to guys.

Will they be back? Absolutely. Don't ever doubt that. When they're at their best, they ARE the top two players in the world. They'll win more majors, lead more Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams. They're locks for the Hall of Fame.

But right now? What we'd give to see Tiger focus on playing one of those mind-boggling shots instead of his latest swing plane. You dance with what brung you, to borrow a phrase from Darrell Royal, and, in Tiger's case, that's a powerful, seriously close to natural swing and an imagination and belief beyond compare. And Phil? He's fearless and his short game is beyond compare. Hitting fairways? Pfft. Close is good enough for him. Heck, we saw what he could do off pine straw.

Tweaking is part of the game. But wholesale changes too often? Look at Padraig Harrington, the king of tinkering. He made 14 changes in the off-season and they're just starting to take hold. When he's on, he's at the top -- think three majors. Right now, he's 36th in the rankings.

Get back to those things and, well, they'll be battling back up the ladder.

But until then? Well, America is in a bit of a kerfuffle. Every where you turn, you see talent. And a but ...

• Bubba Watson may have the best attitude and natural swing of the bunch -- and a win at the Farmers Insurance Open -- but he needs to pick up the pace. He's outgoing, he's fun. And he's moving up the rankings.

• Rickie Fowler -- you have to follow Bubba with his BFF -- has one of the best swings and best games out there. He's a bonafide superstar who's comfy-cozy in the spotlight and delivers under match play pressure. The but? He hasn't won ... Yet. It's coming.

• Dustin Johnson. So long off the tee. So close to two majors. He's the aloof one. Isn't really at ease with the attention that comes with being at the top. He needs to take a page from, say, Brit Luke Donald who's quiet, but can chirp away with the best when the time comes (like right now, coming off his win at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play). And there's that rules thing.

• Matt Kuchar. It's been a longer-than-anyone-thought rise, but he's risen to 10th in the world. He is a former champion at this week's Honda, and he did beat Watson in the consolation finals of the Match Play and he's solid. Piled up three other top-10s this year, but just three wins in his career. But hard to say he's the best.

• Anthony Kim. He's got the game and the confidence and a pretty decent start to the year. He was pretty amazing before wrist surgery last year -- a playoff win at the Shell Houston Open, a third at the Masters and a second at Honda -- but he's struggled a bit coming back.

• Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk. Strick's ninth in the world, Furyk's 11th. Two veteran leaders with all-around strong games. Must-haves on every U.S. team. Both won twice last year, with Furyk winning the FedEx Cup. Strick started the season with two top-10s, Furyk with one. The Florida swing/run-up to Augusta will tell us a lot.

• Hunter Mahan. The newlywed with a strong game. Not afraid of competition or showing emotion. But needs more wins.

And then there are guys like Mark Wilson, the only two-time winner out there. He's on the way up, which just makes the American outlook stronger. And Zach Johnson and Stewart Cink? You want them on your side, right?

We wanted a global game and we have it. Four Europeans in the top four spots in the world. A group of international stars like Donald, Jhonattan Vegas, Paul Casey, Camilo Villegas, Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell who spend part -- if not all -- of the time living in the U.S. Sometimes you almost think of them as U.S. guys. Almost.

The bottom line? It's hard to pick the best American right now. If we really, really, really had to? We'd go with Phil, who was runner-up Bubba in San Diego and got a top-10 at the AT&T.

But honestly, let's give it a month, say five weeks to untangle those knots. For Tiger and Phil to straighten a few things out or for someone to step up.

Heading into Augusta we figure the answer has to simpler. Doesn't it?

Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM and can be reached at melaniehauser@gmail.com. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR. Follow her on Twitter @melaniehauser.

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Good question.