Aug 4, 2021 5 min read Email

THE STARTER SHACK

One 82, a 79, a birdie, birdie, eagle stretch, and a 57! Yeah, some caddie went out and shot a 26-31 that included a three-putt from 6 feet! Golf is hot this week!

❌ Pro had six mistakes on her scorecard

🌭 The perfect hot dog

🍺 Cameron Smith may have traveled through time...and back again.

⛳️ Annika is back!

LPGA TOUR

Annika The Great

As we put fingers to keyboard, Annika Sorenstam was the leader of the US Women’s Senior Open.

With the Olympic Games taking golf’s center stage, let’s not be remiss to celebrate the return of one of golf’s messiahs.

The last time Annika competed at a major was the 2008 US Women’s Open

Finished +3 and T-24
Walked off in style with a hole-out eagle on 18

After staying away competitively for 13 years, she is making her return to the major stage this week at the US Senior Women’s Open.

Most casual golf fans just forget how good Annika was in her heyday. She retired at the relatively young age of 38, however, that didn’t stop her from running up one impressive resume:

LPGA Rookie of the Year (1994)
94 professional wins (72 LPGA wins, 3rd place all-time)
10 major wins (T-4 all-time), Career Grand Slam in 2003 (6th woman in history)
Made 298 cuts in 307 events in her LPGA career (read that again...97% cuts made!)
8-time LPGA Player of the Year
6-time Vare Trophy winner (lowest stroke average)
8 Solheim Cups, 37 matches played (22-11-4 record), 24 career points won
All-time leader in LPGA earnings ($22.5M), played 187 fewer events than number two
Only LPGA player to ever shoot 59 in a competitive round
LPGA Hall of Fame (2003)

What makes this all the more incredible is that Annika turned professional in 1992, played only 14 seasons on LPGA Tour, before retiring in 2008.

The only other 14-year stretch that rivals this in the modern game is the first act of Tiger Woods career, ironically from about the same era (1995-2009).

This was a golden age for both the LPGA and the PGA Tours.

While we can appreciate JoAnne Carner ripping darts and actually shooting her age in the first round (82) and 79 in her second round, we are collectively thankful that Annika has decided to come out of exile and regale us all with her talents once again.

GIMME

No check cashing in Saudi Arabia: The PGA Tour announced it will deny players permission to play in the Saudi International which has been known to pay out huge appearance fees (Tiger turned down $3 mill) to top-ranked players. The tournament is no longer part of the European Tour schedule and is now considered "unsanctioned".
Rory has a tiny head: which is not good for his future bobblehead series, it's also not good for team events where he doesn't get custom-made hats. Apparently, Rory has a teeny tiny head and unless he gets hats custom made they fall off. We can't believe we're making news about Rory's head size.
Shoots her age (82) at US Senior Women's Open: the star of our last newsletter, JoAnne Carner shot an 82 in the first round. What makes her even more of a legend is that she hasn't played golf in 14 months because of Covid. Apparently, she and her caddie are great at golf but terrible at math...they had six mistakes that needed to be corrected on the scorecard before signing. Then she goes out and outdoes herself with a second-round 79!. This woman is a damn legend!
NEW PUTTER ALERT!: Bettinardi Studio Stock 9 ‘Forever ’90s’ putter looks really good in pictures. Probably even better in our hands.
Best Tee Markers: Somebody has time on their hands to come up with this ranking...and we're very thankful. Here are the best tee markersat PGA Tournaments.
The weight of the Olympics: we see in the comments sections of social media all the time — "you're playing professional sports, suck it up", "I wish I had the pressure of missing a putt on the 18th green and still making a million dollars", yadda yadda shut your trap. Just because these people are playing professional sports doesn't mean it doesn't come with its pressures...legitimate pressures. Rory weighs in on the debate here.
Who cuts your mullet?: Lee Trevino cuts Cameron Smith's Kentucky waterfall. What?! Yeah, that's what we said but it's not THE Lee Trevino. Still, what are the chances.

PIC OF THE DAY

"Hey, if you were a hot dog, and you were starving, would you eat yourself?" Will Ferrell (SNL)

Do you butterfly your dogs? You should. Or so we read at a Golf.com where we learned how to make the perfect hot dog. What we found really weird was that there were no steps that included: dropping your dog in the fire, pulling it out, shaking/blowing it off, continue to cook/burn it until it has nasty blisters, smoother it in mayonnaise and relish, and then eat/gnash at it with our teeth 'cause it's too damn hot!

W(was)ITB

Old Salty Golf knows how to pack a bag.

Little bit of this, little bit of that. The Titleist Persie is a nice touch—205 yard club that pushes through the wind like a FedEx delivery during Tornado season.

INSIDE THE ROPES

We remember when we broke 50 on the front nine for the first time.

57?! A mini-tour/caddie at Shadow Creek got hot in the desert sun just off the Vegas Strip. Let's be clear, yes, this was a shorter (6300 yard) course with relatively easy greens but he bogeyed the 17th green with a three-putt from 6 feet and still shot 57!

GOLF GEAR

Olympic WWE Golf Champion!

Let us be perfectly candid here.. We're not great at golf. Our swing looks like Clark Kent making love to a goat in a phone booth who's trying to make a collect call to Old MacDonald, so the thought of winning a gold medal at the Olympics is about as likely as catching Clark Kent making love to a goat in a phone booth who's trying to make a collect call to Old MacDonald. So, we've found the next best thing...Undisputed Belts Golf Champion Belt.

This won't help your swing but it will help you look like you're holding a legitimate golf tournament.

If you're enjoying The Starter Shack share with a friend....we would appreciate it as much as a members bounce.

Did a smart good-looking friend share this? Want to read more?