[Yoda]

Got to watch Yoda student Brian Gay on the range at the Booz Allen Classic on Sunday....Solid Swing/Solid looking Shots (Long and Straight or just a little draw to his shots). It's just a matter of time and Brian will be in the winners circle...saw Brian hit out of a bunker on number 10...must of have been 30 yard shot...it was a sweet shot, rolled up nicely to the hole...Brian had a tap in for par.

I'm really proud of Brian Gay. He closed with a 5-under-par 66 in today's rain-delayed final round of the Booz Allen. Another fine finish -- and another fine check! -- for a really fine guy. And about that Sand Shot Delaware Golf witnessed, don't be too surprised: Brian currently is #1 on TOUR in both Sand Save Percentage and Scrambling.

Now, here's a stat that will surprise everybody. It even surprised Brian when I called Friday evening and congratulated him for hangin' tough and making the cut 'on the number.'

The PGA TOUR has a little measure they call Scoring Average (Actual). Unlike the measure Scoring Average (which includes a per-round adjustment based on the scoring average of the field), Scoring Average (Actual) is the arithmetic average of all your tournament strokes divided by all your tournament rounds. In other words, it is simply your average score, i.e., how well you actually have done: Day in and day out. Rain or shine. Early or late. Hot or cold. Windy or calm. In sickness and in health.

Well, last week's stat is out, and Brian's 2006 Scoring Average (Actual) is 70.46, which ranks tied for 4th with Luke Donald. Only Phil Mickelson (69.70), David Toms (70.32) and Jim Furyk (70.35) are ahead. It is a far cry from his 2005 average of 71.21, good for 112th place.

"The joy is in improving."

-- Ben Hogan

As a comparison and also as another reminder of the fine line that exists in professional golf, consider that Geoff Ogilvy, our new U.S. Open Champion, ranks 65th at 71.36, almost a full shot per round behind Brian. Paradoxically, he also ranks second on the money list at $3,919,394, just a paltry $127,499 behind Phil Mickelson and his $4,046,893. Brian's official money is $662,941, not exactly chopped liver, but nowhere near what you would expect from his Scoring Average stat. The not-too-subtle message: Regardless of your Scoring Average, it helps a lot to win golf tournaments. And this year, Geoff and Phil have both won two.

The money aside, when you consider the tens of millions of golfers and the tens of thousands who dream of the PGA TOUR versus the handful that actually make it "inside the ropes"...having the 4th lowest scoring average of those few remaining best players in the world ain't too shabby.

No sir...

Not too shabby at all.

P.S. Here's a snapshot of Brian and his wife, Kimberly, with 'ol Yoda at our Barclays Classic Golf Academy at the Westchester CC in New York. They stopped by to chat and wound up spending the rest of the afternoon with us. And then they recommended a great local NY pizzaria for our group. It was kind of an 'in place' with the players...we sat four feet from British Open Champ Todd Hamilton and his caddy and waved at Open Champ and Ryder Cup Captain Tom Lehman. It's fun to know folks who know!

P.P.S. I'm the one on the left. The left, guys...the left. Look LEFT for cryin out loud. Oh, fuhgeddaboudit!