FanHouse Nick Price

Each Wednesday during the golf season, FanHouse will be bringing you the top five names in golf and why they are important this week. Did Barack Obama play 18 holes with Tiger Woods? Did a certain player do something off the course that made him or her a hot topic? Or was just playing golf enough to get the pot stirring? Join us for a new weekly ranking feature we call Making the Cut.

5. Danny Lee -- He is only 18, but Lee has made some waves in his amateur career and just this week decided to turn pro, after using his Masters invitation from his U.S. Amateur win. If you don't think he's ready for the PGA Tour, you're very wrong. Earlier this year, Lee won the Johnnie Walker Classic, a European Tour event that has such esteemed former champions as Adam Scott, Greg Norman, Ernie Els and Mr. Woods. Lee was the youngest winner ever on the European Tour, and will be in the field at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for his first tournament as a pro.

In 1994, Nick Price was at the top of the golf world. A victory at the British Open at Turnberry followed by a PGA Championship in the same year had Price ranked as the top golfer in the world. Fifteen years later, Price was invited to play in the first British Open at Turnberry since his historic victory, but has said he might decline the offer to give a younger player a chance to start his own record book, like Price did by finishing second at the British in 1982.

Tiger Woods has a history of slow starts at the Masters. In 1997, his first trip to Augusta National as a professional, he fired an opening-round 70 that included a front-nine 40. He won by 12 shots.

When Augusta National was lengthened to more than 7,400 yards, people didn't believe that anyone would be able to tame the course like in years past. Augusta was supposed to be tough, fierce and the new face of the course was going to extinguish those Sunday cheers the patrons had grown so fond of.

Thursday showed us that wasn't the case, and Chad Campbell is quickly becoming the man to reveal that it can be had. Through 16 holes, the runner-up to the 2003 PGA Championship is 9-under for the day, which would tie the Augusta National course record if he could par out. A birdie on one of the last two holes and Campbell would do something that has never been done -- shoot a 62 in a major championship.

Nick Price shot a 63 in 1986 and Greg Norman fired the same score in 1996, but neither went on to win the Masters.

Update: Campbell bogeys 17. Now "just" 8-under. Birdie on 18 to tie the course record at Augusta.

Second Update: Campbell bogeys 18 as well to shoot 65 and take the clubhouse lead by a shot.

Ernie and Colin before they hated each others' guts.

When Ernie Els takes issue with something you've said, and is so fumed about it that he calls you out in the media ... well, you come off looking like a pretty big jerk.

It should be no surprise, then, that Colin Montgomerie was on the receiving end of an Els diatribe. Monty's always on the receiving end of not-so-nice comments, usually precipitated by something he said. Here's what he did this time:

Ernie Els has dismissed Colin Montgomerie's criticism of his decision to skip the European Tour's season-ending Volvo Masters, suggesting the Scot is merely shooting his mouth off....

"Well, you know where it's coming from, so it's no surprise," said the world No. 4 of Montgomerie's accusations. "He obviously wants to make some noise and some news for himself, so I take it with a grain of salt coming from him."

Does anybody take Monty seriously anymore? First, Nick Faldo questioned Montgomerie's team spirit (because every middle-aged golfer needs that) and now mild-mannered Els is taking his shots. I used to feel sorry for Monty, forever catching hell from American galleries because of his inability to win outside of Europe and his scorching case of rabbit ears. Now, though, it's just sad in a sorta funny way.

Monty responded to Els' response, but really, who cares? (Okay, I'm sure somebody does, but you're going to have to click the link to read it.)

Last week, commissioner Tim Finchem announced that the PGA Tour will start drug testing in 2008. Not so much because professional golf has a substance-abuse problem, but because every other professional sport does. Whatever, Tiger Woods thinks the punishment should be severe and swift for those found guilty of juicin', though he's a little short on the details:

"Given our reputation in our sport, how honorable our sport is and always has been and will continue to be, I think that the penalty's got to be somewhat significant," Woods said.

"I don't know how extensive. But I believe that it has to be somewhat significant because the sport has traditionally been about honor, and I think that someone who breaks that code of ethics in our sport should be penalized."

It's all a horse-and-pony show as far as I'm concerned, but I understand that Finchem wants to address this before it actually becomes an issue. Although, as Tiger relates, it's not like the tour is without abusers:

"We all think that it has probably happened in the past. We know guys who have tried beta-blockers. Nick Price is the first one to admit it, that he did use it, because he had a heart problem. He needed to do it so he didn't have any more heart complications. He said it actually hurt his game. But, you know, as far as that, we really don't know."

I'm not a pharmacologist, but beta-blockers are supposed to offer some physical advantage? I mean, other than managing heart arrhythmia and keeping you alive? If that's the closest the tour has to a drug problem ... well, Finchem should spend his time on really important stuff -- like fixing the FedEx Cup.