Shamble 15 Answers

Byron Nelson - Remarkable, kind, genuine, dignified, gracious, fantastic, admirable, generous...

(bonus word) ...gentleman.

Shamble 15 - Byron Nelson Special Edition

A single quote cannot do the memory of Byron Nelson justice, so I have compiled a list of adjectives used to describe him. When they are unscrambled, the letters in parentheses (_) reveal a noun used to describe Lord Byron.

AEKLMRAERB
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (_) _
DIKN
_ _ (_) _
EGIUENN
(_) _ _ _ _ _ _
FGINDEIDI
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ (_) _
CGIRSUAO
_ _ (_) _ _ _ _ _
INSACFTAT
_ _ (_) _ _ _ (_) _ _
BDEILMRAA
_ _ (_) _ _ _ _ _ _
NORSUEGE
_ (_) _ _ _ _ _ _

Bonus word: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Best Ball 23 Answer

"He's just a big heap of energy swirling around in the room." - Robert Karlsson on Sergio Garcia

Best Ball 23

The Ryder Cup has given me hope on finding good quotes again. They were available in spades last week. I've turned a couple of my favorites into puzzles this week. Today's puzzle features Robert Karlsson on Sergio Garcia. The quote is short but I don't have time to make it anything fancier than a cryptogram today.

FN'R ASRE X HBI FNXT GC NONUIL RDBUVBOI

XUGSOP BO EFN UGGW.

Ryder Cup Review

And now it's time for an analysis of where I went wrong in my Ryder Cup preview.

1. Tiger Woods vs. Sergio Garcia - Woods Garcia - Garcia continues his role as clown prince of the Ryder Cup.
2. Jim Furyk vs. Luke Donald - Furyk Donald - Breaking news! Luke Donald has broken Sergio's reign as the top European player in the Official World Golf Rankings.
3. Phil Mickelson vs. Henrik Stenson - Mickelson Stenson - It seems most people agree that Mickelson's performance was the biggest disappointment of the event.
4. David Toms vs. David Howell - Howell - Being a Howell fan proved to be correct.
5. Chris DiMarco vs. Colin Montgomerie - Montgomerie - If you combine Monty's singles record with Garcia's teamplay record, you would just about have the perfect Ryder Cup man.
6. Chad Campbell vs. Padraig Harrington - Harrington Campbell - Well, I thought this choice was obvious, but Harrington was Europe's biggest disappointment with only 1/2 of a point. Campbell only fared slightly better with two halves.
7. Stewart Cink vs. Jose Maria Olazabal - Cink - Ollie collected 1/2 of a point more than Cink, but I'm still saying I was right here for two reasons. Olazabal's points were largely influenced by Garcia. Cink's win in Sunday's singles was quite impressive.
8. Scott Verplank vs. Darren Clarke - Verplank Clarke - I repent of doubting Clarke. Verplank also did well when he had the chance to play, but the inspiration surrounding Clarke wins out.
9. Zach Johnson vs. Paul Casey - Casey - I look forward to seeing if Casey's match play prowess of late translates back to stroke play as the regular season continues. 10. Vaughn Taylor vs. Robert Karlsson - Karlsson - Karlsson had the dubious privilege of playing against Tiger on Sunday marring his rookie Ryder Cup record.
11. J. J. Henry vs. Lee Westwood - Henry Westwood - I was right that Henry would do well, but I was wrong to doubt Westwood.
12. Brett Wetterich vs. Paul McGinley - McGinley - Well, McGinley didn't do that great, but he did do better than Wetterich

Ryder Cup on Paper

I've run a little analysis of the Ryder Cup by comparing the players in order of their official world golf rank.

1. Tiger Woods vs. Sergio Garcia - Woods - Ryder Cup records may favor Garcia, but I think Woods is getting a little better handle on the concept of a team event. And last week's match play aside, who's gonna bet against his current form.
2. Jim Furyk vs. Luke Donald - Furyk - Donald is good, but Furyk is better. 'Nuff said.
3. Phil Mickelson vs. Henrik Stenson - Mickelson - Tough call here, but I'm going with Mickelson's experience despite Stenson's recent win.
4. David Toms vs. David Howell - Howell - Both have been hit and miss, but not allowing myself to pick draws and I'm a Howell fan.
5. Chris DiMarco vs. Colin Montgomerie - Montgomerie - Boy, oh boy, what a choice! Grinder Dimarco or Ryder Cup royalty.
6. Chad Campbell vs. Padraig Harrington - Harrington - Finally an easy choice!
7. Stewart Cink vs. Jose Maria Olazabal - Cink - Cink is sharpening his game right on schedule.
8. Scott Verplank vs. Darren Clarke - Verplank - Clarke's got something to fight for, but the pressure is on and Verplank is a grinder.
9. Zach Johnson vs. Paul Casey - Casey - Properly hating means knowing your opponent wants to win just as much you do and now is the time to be competitive. Casey is ready to keep that Cup.
10. Vaughn Taylor vs. Robert Karlsson - Karlsson - Karlsson has been in quite good form of late.
11. J. J. Henry vs. Lee Westwood - Henry - I'm with the doubters on the Westwood pick.
12. Brett Wetterich vs. Paul McGinley - McGinley - An Irishman in Ireland.

In summary, Americans 6, Europeans 6. As for the fourball and foursomes, I'm guessing the Euros have a slight edge, say 7½ - 8½. That makes my final call Europe keeps the Cup in a closely fought showdown ending 14½ - 13½. So there, I agree with everyone that says that we're the underdogs this year, but I don't think it is as drastic as it looks at first glance.

Where did I disappear to?

(A) La-la Land
(B) An LPGA tournament
(C) Out of town
(D) All of the above

You're right! It's "(D) All of the above." Since this is a golf blog not a personal life blog, I'll leave out the details of (A) and (C) and highlight the golf tournament.

The John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic presented by SemGroup, soon to be known as the SemGroup Championship presented by John Q. Hammons, brought the LPGA back to Tulsa last week. As usual, I did my part to get involved. It was my second year to work in the scoring trailer, and here are some notes:

• Like any winner probably would, Cristie Kerr read over her scorecard about 5 times to make sure it was right before turning it in.
• There at the end I was doing triple duty as a scorecard collector/caddie bib collector/marshall. At least I got practice on caddie services before next year's PGA Championship. But really, people, the tournament was shorthanded this year. Get out there! Volunteer! Working behind the scenes like that can be a great experience!
• Finally, I know the tournament had to be moved away from the PGA Championship, but whose bright idea it was to reschedule the tournament to April 30 - May 6? It always storms the first week of May in Tulsa. Just when we've endeared the players to our little stop on tour we invite them just in time to have a party in the Renaissance Hotel's tornado shelter. Brilliant!