I have been exploring other workouts as well and it seems a how one is the James Bond Workout, or Daniel Craig workout, made popular by the star of Casino Royale.

There are several links to it online, but here is the best one I have found.

For golfers, I would use caution with this type of workout. Getting big and muscular doesn’t equate to better golf. I would do a bit more cardio and be sure to stretch extra well. Let me know how it goes for you.

Most of the attention this week has not been on the competition, but more so on Tiger’s absence and how the Americans will beat back a string of losses without, arguably, the best player ever to play the game.

First, let’s talk about Azinger’s choices: J.B. Holmes, Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker, and Chad Campbell.

While Johnny Miller might disagree, I think J.B. Holmes is a great pick. Some might argue that he is too inexperienced, but I would argue new blood is exactly what the Americans need. Holmes is a birdie machine and I think in match play and best ball he will bring in several points.

I also agree with the Steve Stricker pick. He can also go low and has been having a good year.

Chad Campbell is much like J.B. in that he is a birdie machine. However, he has not had an outstanding year and he might end up being a bust.

Finally, Hunter Mahan is a solid all around player. He will complement the game of a Campbell and Holmes well. This is why I think Zinger went with him.

As far as overall competition goes, I think it will be very close and go either way. I would not be surprised if it turned out to be another Brookline.

My hope is that Kenny Perry gets to sink the deciding putt for a US victory. I respect him for passing over the British Open for a chance to compete in his home state and how much he respects the honor of representing his country. I also hope something like this happens because it will takeaway the sting of what happened at Valhalla during his PGA Championship meltdown a few years back.

As for the Europeans, one thing is for sure. Padraig Harrington is on a tear and I see him doing very well in this competition.

Let’s hope for some great golf!

My mom has been a subscriber to Golf For Women for several years and I occasionally paged through them. I always found the content to be good, but this is just further evidence of online competitors producing good content with no subscription, or for free.

My feelings are that only magazines and newspapers with the best content will see their paper publication survive. I hope Golf For Women continues as an online service, but it doesn’t look good right now for women golfers.

Frankly, I feel the loss of Golf For Women will leave a void a smaller company could find a niche in. Here is your chance, Golf Girls.

For more, BusinessWeek has the story.

This has to give him good feelings going into the U.S. Open next month. If you missed the coverage, here are some highlights:

I congratulate Trevor Immelman on his green jacket. He will be an excellent role model to kids and I have no doubt he will be a big star.

At the same time, I was truly taken back by Brandt Snedeker the whole week. What a great story he is. He loves the game, appreciates the fans, and plays his heart out. His show of emotion afterwards truly shows how much this tournament and other majors mean to the players. I have a feeling Brandt will have a few green jackets to hang in his closet before he hangs up his clubs.

I freakin’ love this game.

In my heart of hearts I think Tiger will definitely be in the top 5, but I really feel like someone is going to step up this week.

Honestly, I am rooting for Ernie Els. He wants a Green Jacket awfully bad and I think his time has come. He has had Butch Harmon take a look at his swing recently and this could be just the right recipe for Ernie going into the tournament. I don’t see Ernie running away with it, but possibly dueling with someone down the stretch. If I had to choose someone that Ernie would go head to head with, it would be Adam Scott. He is just playing too good right now and I think his game suits this course very well. If he can drop some putts, he’ll be in it on the back nine on Sunday.

I love the Masters because it reminds us that golf season is actually here.

I also looking forward to the expanded coverage we can all view on masters.org with live coverage of Amen corner as well as other parts of the tournament throughout the day tomorrow.

For background, Elk (Steve Elkington) apparently was walking while Bubba (Watson) was swinging during a round (I believe Friday) at New Orleans. Bubba then happened to throw a fit which TV cameras happened to capture. I am not sure how much of it Elk caught, but it was not very gentleman like for Bubba to respond in such a way. Elk is not without blame either and walking during a players swing where Bubba can see with his peripheral vision is not proper etiquette. After all, the gallery is asked to stand still, why not Elk?

At the end of the round, Elk simply walked off the 18th without sharing a handshake with either Bubba or Shigeki Maruyama. Cameras then caught Elk and Bubba arguing in the scoring shack. This is a bit more private, but they could have waited until they each got to the clubhouse where they could air their grievances man on man.

Frankly, if I were Finchem, I would fine them both 5k for not acting in accordance with tour values (not sure if that is the proper language, but I am sure there is a rule for players out there Finchem could use). I find both of their behavior in poor taste and they do a disservice to the Tour.

From what the commentators were saying on TGC (The Golf Channel), neither are well liked on tour and after a display like this it is easy to see why.

About a week ago I happened to notice an ad for a golf social network on PGATour.com. What was interesting was that it was the first golf social network advertising I had seen on the internet. This is smart because PGATour.com offers a targeted demographic to Stracka.com (people who enjoy golf and also use the internet). Note: I wasn’t the only one to notice this link.So, I clicked through to see what it was all about and it was a typical social network geared toward the golf niche. This isn’t too dissimilar to golflink.com and 19thhole.com.

After using some internet ninja techniques, I Google’d Stracka and found something interesting. They are paying bloggers to blog about their service.

Evidence:
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Exhibit D
Exhibit E

So, you might ask, “how do you know these were all purchased blog posts?” Consider the source: all but one blog could be even related to golf, a sports agent blog. There is even a “BMX” blog that makes a post, a very odd choice for placement. Also, consider the link structure: each post has a link for “A Social Network For Golfers” with the text linked to Stracka. It seems like the authors were directed to post certain links for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) purposes. Also, the obvious: most of the blogs have an advertisement somewhere on their blog stating how you can purchase blog posts.

Why are using services like PayPerPost and ReviewMe questionable? Marshall Kirpatrick writes in this TechCrunch article:

There does not appear to be any requirement that the payment for coverage be disclosed. There is a requirement that PayPerPost.com must approve your post before you are paid. Wow.

Robert Scoble, a prolific blogger and well known internet luminary writes:

Well, if I find out someone is getting compensated for what they are writing and doesn’t disclose that it will earn an immediate unsubscribe from me and will probably get a post questioning everything that blogger wrote.

Why is disclosure so important? Because I, as a reader, need to know about potential conflicts of interest.

None of the articles in the above mentioned exhibits of evidence disclosed that their post was sponsored. This is the biggest problem I have because those bloggers lose any sort of credibility. They shatter their own image. On Stracka’s part, they assume they can pay for branding and SEO. They want to be branded as a social network for golfers and SEO’d the same. Why will this come back to bite them? By participating in these schemes, Stracka loses credibility. Also, Google is cracking down on these link building schemes and their algorithms will adjust to remove any pagerank gained from these links.

So, it is smart for Stracka to use Adwords and PGATour.com for their advertising outlets, but using PayPerPost and ReviewMe is a mistake and my opinion of their organization has gone down.

Recommendation:
Why not get in touch with bloggers in your space and have a conversation with them about your service? Many would probably write about the site for free and you wouldn’t have to worry about future Google spider adjustments. Plus, your credibility increases and your brand grows.

Some people may not be as sensitive to these issues as I am, but I have marketed new web products in the past successfully without spending a dime and retaining all my credibility. Some basic web etiquette needs to be preserved for the consumer and for all the companies out there doing the right thing.

Andres Romero held on yesterday to win the Zurich Classic. I enjoyed watching his swing and thought other amateurs should take notice. His inside-out back and forward swing is a picture many amateurs, especially ones that come over the top, need to embed in their minds.

The inside out swing allows for a more consistent hit due to the heavier reliance on bigger muscle groups in your core. It also produces a low draw which is far more consistent than most fade shots. Few people can control a fade with consistency, Nicklaus for one.

Cheers.