Friday Fragments

And to think a mere 24 hours ago we were speaking of lame alliterations.... The irony, she burns!

Did Steiny's Head Explode? - We all know that there's something in the water down in Florida, but get a load of this:

WTF?  For those unfamiliar with the reference, Shack helpfully fills us in on the etymology:

There the image sits. For no rational reason, a stern, shirtless Tiger Woods is wearing a Santa cap, invoking his children and referencing Mac Daddy, a phrase Merriam-Websters defines as "a conspicuously successful pimp." Or option two, "a slick womanizer." The Urban Dictionary also weighs in (gloriously).

So it's a wholesome family Christmas tradition.... Geoff has two full posts of Photoshop fun for your amusement, I'll just share a couple of tweets:

Geez, Eammon, I'm having breakfast here!  Not a good image....

And I think Rory speaks for us all:

What he said!

Speaking of Phil.... - For all you aspiring bloggers, note the deft touch on that segue.... And my hands never left my wrists.  But enough about me...

Our Phil may just be the luckiest man on the planet...  Or, if this isn't luck, then there may be really dark turn to the story.  Remember a few days ago when we had the story of the FBI leaks in his insider trading case and we noted our interest in the motive of the leaker?  It seems that the case against Billy Walters is about to unravel because of these leaks:

A dismissal would represent a significant blow to Mr. Bharara’s efforts to revive vigorous insider trading prosecutions two years after an appeals court overturned the

convictions of two hedge fund managers and imposed stringent limits on prosecutors. 

The case against Mr. Walters has been marred by revelations this month that a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation leaked details of the inquiry to reporters at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times two years before Mr. Walters was indicted. 

That agent has told federal prosecutors that he was a “significant source of confidential information” for the reporters, who produced articles about the investigation in 2014.

I've run into something I've not seen before, the Times piece linked will allow me to copy-and-paste an excerpt, so I'm limited to that which Shack excerpted.  

The agent's motivation is believed to be to jump start a stalled investigation, yet Mr. Walters has some history of skating from serious allegations, as per this from Shack:

This would not be the first time Walters was charged only to have the case not made. More importantly, Phil Mickelson would not have to take the stand and Billy could return to the AT&T Pro-Am!

Set aside that dig at the Tour's embrace of the shady Mr. Walters, Phil testifying would be troublesome for him and the Tour.

Commitments Run Wild -  Golfers all over are committing, first the aforementioned Phil:

Despite two recent surgeries, Phil Mickelson has officially committed to his first event of 

2017. On Thursday night, Mickelson announced he will play the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in late January. 

Recently it was reported Mickelson went under the knife for a second time this fall to repair a sports hernia and that there was no immediate timetable for his return. According to an announcement from the event Thursday, Mickelson will be ready to go in just one month.

That's good news on a couple of levels.  First, that he thinks he'll be physically able to go that soon.

Secondly, he's always hated the Rees Jones redo of the South Course and then had the disappointment of not supervising the redo of the North.  Glad he's not holding a grudge, since it's a home game for him.

 Then there's Rory:

It appears Rory McIlroy has a wedding date. 

According to a report from the Irish Daily Mail, the Northern Irishman and fiancee Erica

Stoll recently sent out wedding invitations, with the ceremony reportedly to be held some time in April 2017 at Ashford Castle in Ireland. The pair has actually spent New Year’s Eve at the five-star luxury hotel, one of the country’s most exclusive wedding venues, the past two years. According to the Irish Independent‘s rundown on this development, the pair will spend this New Year’s Eve, too, at Ashford Castle to get a feel for it ahead of the wedding.

So, invitations would go out when?  C'mon, it's the Christmas season, this was mean-spirited:

Of course, this isn’t the first time McIlroy has released wedding invitations. The 27-year-old infamously called off his engagement to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki in May 2014 just days after wedding invitations were sent out. (McIlroy recently received a pretty nice ribbing about this from a 9-year-old.)

 Then there's this prediction from Josh Berhow, what at first glance you might think doesn't fit:

Phil Mickelson will play the 2016-17 season as a 46- and 47-year-old PGA Tour veteran, but age won't stop him from winning a major in 2017.

He hasn't won a major (or Tour event) since the British Open at Muirfield in July 2013, but that will change in the coming months. A player with his resume, which includes 42 career Tour wins, isn't going to get skunked for the remainder of his 40s. Mickelson is too good for that, and his recent play justifies it.

I suspect you'll agree that this makes Josh a strong candidate for commitment.

If Wishes Were Horses... -  Posting under the nom de tweet of Nosferatu, comes this analysis of what the Official World Golf Rankings would look like based only for the last year's play:

The rankings are far from perfect, but while his season-ending streak was impressive, does anyone really think we should only include twelve months of play?  

Fairways Lives, Siriusly - I've never listened to a minute of it, nor do I have the PGA Channel as a preset on my car radios, but reports had surfaced that Matt Adams' Fairways of Life show was going bye-bye (or that Matt was going away).

Apparently fans of the show expressed their displeasure:

We like a happy ending as much as the next guy....