Great response from all of you this week and I'm glad you enjoyed the US open, it was a pleasure to be a small part of it.

Mike Jones was right about Tiger and indeed the pack chasing him. Mike, I cringed when I heard about the extent of Tiger's injury and felt saddened that our own Luke Donald and Ian Poulter pulled out mid-round with sore hands. Therein lies the difference of desire and determination.

Els: swing problems

Paul Roberts, nice of you to invite me for a game at the Glamorganshire. If I had the time, I would. By the sound of what Alex Hay says, a glass of red in the bar would be an idea too! I saw the Roman ruin that Sir Terry Mathews cannot get rid of which seems a shame when you think of what he has done at Celtic Manor. It would make a good halfway hut!

Alieu Faal was annoyed at Retief Goosen's comments. Retief does not have an ounce of malice in him Alieu, and I suspect he just said, it seems to have hurt on his bad shots. That makes sense as the bad shots were caused by the pain. We now know, it must have hurt on every shot, including the putts.

Dean Vincent, thanks for your kind comments and Spain one and two is not such a bad call at Royal Birkdale. If Tiger drove the ball as well as Sergio Garcia, he would win every time he played instead of just 70 per cent.

Jimenez is enjoying an Indian Summer and has the imagination to play well in Lancashire. Sunny Soto (cracking name!) agrees with you. If Garcia putted as well as Tiger, they would play-off every time they both played

Gra C, you said the way it is. Tiger has to be the ultimate sportsman of all time.

To Eddie Chambers: Lee Westwood is a born winner and he did us all proud last week. He has never really contended for a major before. Now he knows he has what it takes, he will cross the line soon.

Wendy Kouvardine is correct in saying there is now a great chance for the rest with Tiger sidelined. Let's hope our talented bunch can make hay while Woods is away.

To David Smith, I agree with all of your observations on Ernie Els. His swing was too steep which left the clubface too open at the end of his backswing. His swing was also too upright. Butch hates both of these things, so they will get sorted.

His new swing is more like it was a decade ago. It's wider, shorter and shallower. That combination will get his balance back where it should be. At the moment, he can do it on the range but cannot take all of it onto the course. His final round last week was good apart from the silly seven at 15.

You may be surprised, but even great players like Els lack confidence at times. One really good round will convince him he is on the right track and I think that will come soon.

Finally, Kevin Fenelon talks of us ignoring Tiger spitting. Kevin, I have said a hundred times how much I hate this 'habit'. It's disgusting. Mediate was at it too.

I saw two young lads at my club, Mannings Heath, spit on the putting green before they teed off. I walked over and pulled them up on it. You can guess the answer: "Tiger does it, and that's good enough for us. And who the hell are you anyway?"

Sometimes you just can't win, Kev...

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