Sports Views

I'd never considered ranking golfers by their crossword puzzle appearances.

I mean, “Alito”? It’s a fantastic name for crosswords — a mere five letters long but brimming with regularly used consonants and vowels (and how generously alternating they are!). Alito, if confirmed, might find himself as the next Eero Saarinen (for years, the hottest architect on the crossword scene) or the next Ernie Els (the hottest crossword golfer, although Michelle Wie is creeping up on him).

Related Products: Visit our store

Read more from this blogger: Alito and Crosswords

This is a really tough tournament for all the great players.

He was not the only one to suffer on a tougher afternoon which gave way to some heavy rain in the evening - Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson, three and four in the world rankings respectively - begin today’s second round a shot worse on two over and even Spanish ace Sergio Garcia slipped back into the pack at two under having closed to within a shot of Woods after 12 holes.

Related Products: Visit our store

Read more from this blogger: Golf: It’s route 66 for Tiger

If the top five play like the top five, this would be interesting:

Ernie Els looks as though he belongs with the other stars at the Byron Nelson Championship. The Big Easy is part of the ``Big Four'' that includes Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson. The top four pla...

Related Products: Visit our store

Read more from this blogger: Worldly Els looking to get on track in America (Covers.com)

IMG's problem is getting all four of these fantastic players. Singh has already signalled "no show".

The buzz in golf this year has been the "Big Four," and IMG figured it could not go wrong by inviting Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson to showcase their skills on prime-time television later this summer in the "Battle at the Bridges."

Related Products: Visit our store

Read more from this blogger: Singh rejects Big Four invite (Sports Illustrated)

If there are no cameras and no phones at the links, that means the fans would, well, have to watch the game.

-- Call for Cameraphone ban on Golf Tournaments - Ernie Els - The world's No.3 golfer - called on golf chiefs to ban cameras and mobile phones at all major tournaments

Related Products: Visit our store

Read more from this blogger: Golf Rules leave fans pining for phones

Where's Tiger in all this?

World number three Ernie Els closed the gap on second-ranked Vijay Singh after cruising to a 13-shot victory at the thunderstorm-hit Asian Open in Shanghai on Monday. South African Els now trails Fijian Singh by just 1.12 points in the official world rankings.

Related Products: Visit our store

Read more from this blogger: Els closes on Singh (Eurosport)

This was a long time in coming, but Els was just not on his game.

Phil Mickelson, who had found winning a major to be more elusive than trying to catch a moonbeam in his golf bag, out-dueled Ernie Els down the stretch to claim the green jacket. And Mickelson won the Masters with an array of great, clutch golf shots, not by simply treading water while others crumbled in the pressure cooker.

Related Products: Visit our store

Read more from this blogger: The Masters is a sanctuary even for hackers