Scott's Masters Win Boosts Rounds Down Under

Adam Scott (Flickr)

THAT GREEN JACKET FOR ADAM SCOTT is sending positive ripples through Australia and its golf industry.

John Holmes of PGA.com reports:

The latest report from the Australian Golf Industry Council (AGIC), issued earlier today, indicated that April delivered the highest number of competition rounds played in any month over the entire financial year to date (July through June), while total rounds growth over the April 2012 period was just less than 1 percent.

"April proved to be a positive month with the largest number of competition rounds recorded for a month in the year to date," said Golf Australia CEO and AGIC Chairman Stephen Pitt.

"There is absolutely no doubt that Adam's win will have a significant impact on the Australian golf industry. His achievement and the people it inspires cuts through on all levels of golf."

2013 HP Byron Nelson Championship TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

THE 2013 HP BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIP is underway at TPC Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas. Keegan Bradley is the clubhouse leader after firing a 60. The first round is still in progress.

Purse: $6.7 million
Winner’s share: $1.17 million
Defending champion: Jason Dufner

2013 HP Byron Nelson Championship Leaderboard

The field
Tee times
The course
Tournament overview
Tour report
HP Byron Nelson Championship website

TV SCHEDULE

TV coverage of the 2013 HP Byron Nelson Championship is on Golf Channel and CBS.
All times ET.

Thu, May 16
3:00-6:00p GOLF

Fri, May 17
3:00-6:00p GOLF

Sat, May 18
1:00-2:30p GOLF
3:00-6:00p CBS

Sun, May 19
1:00-2:30p GOLF
3:00-6:00p CBS

SIRIUS-XM PGA Tour broadcast times

Rocco to Tiger: Please Sign My Pin Sheet

ROCCO MEDIATE RECENTLY APPEARED ON 'FEHERTY.'

In the above clip, the six-time PGA Tour winner shares an anecdote about an autograph request to Tiger Woods after the two battled in an 18-hole playoff at the 2008 U.S. Open, which Woods famously won even though he was hopping around Torrey Pines on a broken leg.

Golf Channel's Will Gray detailed Mediate's request at GolfTalkCentral:

According to Mediate, at the 2009 Players Championship he placed in Woods' locker a picture of the two of them from the playoff, in addition to his copy of the pin sheet from the fifth day of competition at Torrey Pines. 

Mediate added a note, asking Woods to autograph them with a personalized inscription so that they could be added to his home collection. 

"Look, sign these for me, write something on there, personalize it and then sign the pin sheet," Mediate recalled of his request of Woods. "Because I'm going to put them on my wall somewhere."

So, what happened?

I guess you'll have to watch the clip.

Rhonda Glenn: 'Giving Voice to Women's Game'

Rhonda Glenn (USGA)

LONGTIME JOURNALIST RHONDA GLENN has left the USGA, but she'll continue to write about women in golf.

Glenn's so-called retirement will include working on her ninth book, an autobiography of LPGA great Nancy Lopez. Lisa Mickey profiled Glenn in "Giving Voice to Women's Game" in the New York Times:

Glenn, 67, retired last week after nearly 50 years as a journalist and an employee of the United States Golf Association. Her desire to document the strokes, triumphs and challenges of players often far from public view shaped her career as a writer-historian. 

Glenn literally wrote the book on women's golf, the landmark work "The Illustrated History of Women’s Golf," published in 1991.

" ... I'd see these women chasing their dreams, and there was a certain nobility to that," Glenn told Mickey. "That's when I decided to become a journalist, because I didn't want their stories to be lost."

Glenn got started as a teen, working as a radio announcer and sports director in Florida. She interviewed Louise Suggs, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, all future Hall of Famers.

"I wasn't afraid," she said. "What was important was the interview."

Glenn moved on to a newspaper in Texas and then into television in Virginia, eventually landing a job as a golf commentator for ABC. She became the first female sportscaster for ESPN in 1981.

Glenn's work at the USGA included the establishment of a Mickey Wright Room alongside the Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer rooms at the USGA Museum. Wright is appreciative of Glenn's dedication to the women's game.

"That room in the museum is not just a tribute to me," Wright said in the article. "It's a tribute to all the women before me."

Glenn may have retired from the USGA -- because of the extensive travel, she said -- but she hasn't retired from telling stories.

Happy Mother's Day Win for Tiger Woods

I'M COVERING THE MOTHER'S DAY angle of Tiger Woods's victory at The Players Championship. It might be the only angle left.

Moderated by Laura Neal of the PGA Tour, Tiger talked to the media after he wrapped up his second win at TPC Sawgrass and 78th career title on the PGA Tour.

"Tiger," Neal said, "you said you might have caused your mom (Kultida) a heart attack out there. Give us some reaction to the hard‑fought day you had out there."

"Yeah, she's probably not too happy with me," Woods said, "especially after the tee shot at 14. But it was a tough battle. I mean, the golf course played tricky today. It was fast and difficult, and I hit it so good today, it was fun. I hit it high, low, left to right, right to left, whatever I wanted, except for that tee shot at 14. I didn't really miss a whole lot of shots. I pured a lot of putts, too. Could have been something pretty low today, just had a bunch of lip‑outs. But they were all good putts, and we were joking on the front nine, through nine, Joey [LaCava] said, you might want to hit a bad putt, maybe it might go in. So I hit one on 14 (laughing)."

A member of the press later posed this question to Woods: "You've obviously won a couple big tournaments when your dad was still with you. Can you talk about how it feels to win a big tournament on Mother's Day?"

"It's fantastic," Tiger replied. "I haven't got a chance to talk to her yet. I will after the round. I talked to her this morning. I'm sure that she'll give me a ration of grief for the shot on 14 and what I did with her blood pressure, but I'm sure it's all good now, though.

Yep, all good.

Other stuff happened, stuff that people talked a lot about on TV, and also wrote a lot about, for that matter.

But, in the end, Tiger probably fears his mom way more than anyone or anything on a golf course. Which probably has something to do with why he's such a relentless closer on Sundays.

So while yesterday looked like Tiger's day, Tiger knew it was actually her day.

Happy Mother's Day, Kultida. Er, belated.