Love, money, revenge and reward – just some of the biggest motivating factors in any victory.

But for Phil Mickelson it seems that when it comes to getting himself psyched up for run-of-the-mill PGA Tour events – none of the above can get his gearbox roaring.

Even the prospect of overtaking Tiger Woods at the top, finally reaching No.1 in the world – the best player in golf – was not enough to motivate Lefty to victory at a Tigerless Colonial.

So what does it for him? What does it take to inspire Mickelson to those jaw-dropping, fist pumping victories that see him pull off superman-style heroics from pine needles and drop eagles and birdies like there’s no tomorrow?

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Four years ago, when Donald Trump landed in Scotland to announce plans for a new golf development in Aberdeenshire, people dismissed his claim that it would be the “greatest course the world has ever seen” as the type of brash hyperbole that characterises somebody worth upwards of  $1billion.

But there’s a reason people like Trump are billionaires – a proven track record of delivering on their word.

Having secured a world exclusive interview with the man himself (published in issue 98 of bunkered), I was privileged to be invited to Menie for a reception hosted by Trump, his son and business associates as they checked in on the progress being made to the course.
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His 87 years won’t stop Roberto de Vicenzo teeing it up in the Champions Challenge at this year’s Open Championship, while Seve Ballesteros has refused to allow multiple brain surgeries to scupper his chances of saying a fond farewell to his fans at St Andrews this year.

To describe Jack Nicklaus’ lack of commitment to the event scheduled for the eve of the 150^th anniversary Open Championship as a disappointment is an understatement to say the least.

For a man who had his swansong at St Andrews in 2005, an all-singing, all-dancing affair with his face emblazoned on five pound notes and emotional scenes over the Swilken Bridge, not to take part in the commemorative tribute to both the Open and its champions is sad, but to claim he has ‘no real desire to go there’, as he did at the Masters in April, is downright disrespectful.

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World No.1 Tiger Woods’ cloak is on a shaky peg – and England’s Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey plan to unscrew it for good.

The English trio believe Woods’ 258-week run at the top of the tree is fast-nearing its end. Begging the question – which one of the monkeys on his back will reach the top of that tree first? Three’s a crowd, after all.

On merits, it would appear that Westwood would be the favourite. The nearly-man of the Masters, pipped at the post at the Players, that big win is surely just around the corner for Westwood. And, as the current world No.3, he is the closest of the three to catching Tiger’s tail.

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Just a matter of hours after Ryo Ishikawa became the first player to shoot a 58 on any major professional golf tour, the Japanese teenager’s fellow prodigy Rory McIlroy shot a course record 62 to win his first PGA Tour title at the Quail Hollow Championship.

Cue excited conversations about how these achievements signal a changing of the guard in terms of golf’s dominating protagonists, fuelled further by Tiger Woods missed cut at Quail, only his sixth in his professional career and second in ten months.

Is such gossip justified or idle? A little bit of both, probably.

Ishikawa and McIlroy are hardly new to the golf stage and the limelight that goes with it. Read more…