Just a Quick Update ...

First, a mini-Bacon rant. How do hotels, especially sufficient hotels that cost three digits a night, not have quick wireless Internet at this day and age. It is almost 2010. Our phones get Internet. Our iPods get Internet. Actually, Steve Jobs called me and wants to put a Safari browser in my right shoe. If you are a property, that, say, rhymes with Farriott, get it together. You have 800 people in your hotel. We need to use our computers. Don't give me a signal that makes me feel like I'm trying to connect in the middle of the Afghan mountains.

So, yeah, I don't really have much of a signal here in Houston, which is awesome, but Starbucks has coffee and a respectable connection so here I am, reporting while some guy across from me is using one of those Bluetooth thingys that you have to hold up the wire to talk into. Technology!

Thursday is the first day of the LPGA Tour Championship and I'll be carrying for the bag for Erica Blasberg for the second time this season. We've had some good practice rounds and the course seems to suit her game, so hopefully come Sunday, we can walk away with one of those big checks.

A couple of observations ...

-- Players and caddies alike have been super gracious to the Wie camp after the win. I've seen congratulatory handshakes and hugs to everyone, including David Ledbetter, this week. I think everyone knows what a big deal it is for the tour to have Wie finally win the game. (and on the same note, Michelle has been super appreciative of all the love. Say what you want about her, but she, from all accounts, seems to be one of the nicer girls out on tour. Not all the girls out here would have been so friendly after all that has been tossed her way.)

-- Length will matter this week. The course is damn near 6,700 yards, and the course will be windy most of the week. If you can't get it out there off the tee, you could struggle with Mother Nature starts a-blowin'.

-- Is being a professional golfer a good deal? Standing by the putting green on Tuesday, the Yes! putter guy was there with a bag full of putters for players to test out if they wanted. I asked the guy what was protocol with his ability to give them away and he responded, "One player could come up and take every single one and I couldn't say anything about it." So, yes, add that to the 355,329 reasons why being a pro golfer is a great deal.

-- Smart Water on every hole. 355,330 reasons, I guess.

I'll be attempting to post tonight at some point after the round, but you can always follow me on Twitter as updating is way easier (and funnnnnnier!). Also, at some point Thursday, Jay Busbee will post the podcast we recorded on Wednesday night. Check it out
and let me know what you think.

Oh, and follow Erica's round right here. Look, making things easier!

Reunited! Caddie Tales, 2.0

Just a short announcement before I head off to Oxford, Mississippi for the Tennessee-Ole Miss football game this weekend ... next week, at the LPGA Championship in Houston, I'll be caddying once more for LPGA golfer Erica Blasberg.

Earlier this season, I got the opportunity to loop for Blasberg at the J Golf Phoenix LPGA International, and for some asinine reason, she asked me to do it again.

I get into Houston on Monday, and will be there to bug the LPGA all week. If you're around the event, or come out to see it, don't hesitate to swing by and say hello. I'll be the one caddie with the bum shoulder and the confused look, trying to read greens for a girl that can read greens way better than myself.

Also, I'll be posting some stuff around here all next week, and will be chatting it up with the always entertaining Jay Busbee on his podcast. I'm trying to convince Erica to join the podcast and tell Jay just how bad of an idea it was to invite me to caddie again, so if that happens, well, you can all send me two dollars. Thanks for the cash!

Final announcement ... if you want to give a fun prank-y gift to your golf friend that has everything, I just got this Div Pro thing in the mail, and it's pretty awesome. Basically the divot tool to kill all divot tools, and you can shotgun beers with it. I'm taking it to Oxford with me. I'll let you know how things end up (Read: Not good).

Have a great weekend, and now, go Pomplamoose yourself.

G'day, 68!

If there ever was a good example of just how much better Tiger Woods is at golf than the rest of the world, it's this week at the Australian Masters. Sure, we get to see him smoke PGA Tour fields six or seven times a year, but somethings different about this one.

Maybe it has to deal with him playing in such a different time zone, so waking up each morning to catch up on the score is another "how many strokes is Tiger winning by now" game that we're playing with each other. Maybe it has to do with a weaker field, something Tiger never plays in. Whatever it is, Tiger's three shot lead after a Friday 68 means that he will win and the only hanging question is by how many.

The new Tiger game deals with fairways and putts. So far at Kingston Heath Golf Club, El Tigre has hit 25 of 30 fairways (advantage, Woods) and made just one bogey through 36 holes.

He's going to card his seventh victory of the season. It's happening, and don't look at me with those eyes. I'm not playing the screaming heads card, I just believe when Tiger is up three shots on guys named Greg Chalmers, Jason Dufner and James Nitties, lets just say he probably isn't losing sleep.

Fine. Fine! I'll Jump Aboard the Rickie Fowler Bandwagon

The kid is good. He's good. Are you hearing me? This is me, dropping my doubts. Tossing all the questioning and the "it's all happening so fast"s and letting Rickie Fowler just be a damn good golfer and that's it.

Thursday, at the Children's Miracle Network Classic, Fowler shot a 6-under 66 to land a shot back of Justin "adidas now just spray paints my clothes on my body" Rose who is leading, making it the third straight PGA Tour tournament that Fowler has shot 67 or better on Thursday.

Fowler is now, ready for this, 40-under in nine rounds of golf as a professional. 40-under! He hasn't shot a round over 69 since turning pro. He has five rounds of 66 or better. He is an absolute animal.

I was a tad nervous about Fowler at first, but it just goes to show that I am not smart and he is that good. A couple more rounds like this, and Fowler can enjoy his offseason before the 2010 season kicks.

David Duval Continues to Play Like David Duval

David Duval is the ultimate Valentines Day candy box (or as Jim Gaffigan poetically calls it, "the mystery candy."). One day you're reaching for a solid piece of chocolate and the next you have the weird thing in your mouth that tastes like toothpaste just got a facial.

Duval, as you know, is 125th on the 2009 money list, meaning that if things ended RIGHT NOW, he'd be the last person to earn a 2010 card and have another year of trying to find that game we used to love.

This week, at the Children's Miracle Network Classic, Duval needs to make some dough, or risk being inevitably leapfrogged by someone behind him that showed up to play. Problem is, he opened with a 76 on Thursday, and is two shots off of dead last in the field, meaning you and I have as good a shot to be landing that precious card as Duval does at this point.

Duval seemed like things might turn around this season, but if you take out that U.S. Open at Bethpage, the guy would have only banked $63,994, or the equivalent of working a weekend shift at a popular Manhattan bar and walking out with four bucks in tips.

The early leaders are already 5-under. Duval will have to fire some Bob Hope-like round if he even wants to sniff the weekend, and will most likely miss his 15th cut of the year.

Duval and John Daly are pretty good examples of how similar golf is with grandparents ... one day you're all together, working the afternoon ranger shift at the Raven Golf Club, and the next, you've completely lost it.

DTCC Site News!

Alright, I'm not going to clutter all the fantastic golf info for this wonderful Thursday (it's my birthday ... send me presents!), so all the boring site news stuff will be after the jump. Hop along over with me if you really care.

The Casio Exilim EX-FS10 Camera Looks Awesome

Ever shot a picture of yourself swinging with your digi-cam, and been disgusted with the way you looked at address, at the top of your swing, and where you were when you finished?

Hey, me too! Well, now there's a camera for that. The Casio Exilim EX-FS10 is a camera that will set up posture lines and such for you if you fire pictures of your golf swing to help aid you in your attempt to reach birdie land.

You've seen this technology a ton with some of the fancy cameras the pros use, but we're poor by god and we don't get any of this fun stuff. Until now, I guess.

Price has yet to be disclosed on this bad boy, but I'm assuming, as cameras go, it'll be somewhere in the $400 range. Or I could be completely off. Nobody pays me to guess prices, jerk!

h/t Gizmodo