In some off-beat, non-Tiger Woods reflections on the golfing year just ended, Mike Stachura of the American Golf World has cast his net admirably wide. And here are a few samples which caught my eye.

One good turn deserves another - especially in golf and politics. So, as a thank you to George W for his rousing, "Remember the Alamo" speech to the Ryder Cup troops at Brookline, 1999, US skipper Ben Crenshaw was seen recently in the Texas state capitol joining a group protesting at the latest presidential recount. "Florida: No more Mulligans", proclaimed Gentle Ben's placard.

In Michigan, the owner and general manager of Beaver Creek GC issued a public apology after an outing which featured 20 female employees of the Detroit topless bar, Mannequins. While claiming he was assured the women would keep their bikinis on the entire time, Beaver Creek owner, David Calhoun, admitted: "Maybe my judgement wasn't the best in the world."

At the Players' Championship, David Duval (right) explained why he was seeing a consultant to improve his interview skills: "I have met with a consultant simply to try . . . I guess the first thing I should say is that I kind of went to the tour and said I am . . . I don't want something where, you know, you are not going to change my nature and I don't ever want to change my nature. I want to sit here and if I am asked a question, I want to answer the question, so I am not going to sit here sometimes . . . also maybe to . . ." Not unreasonably, Stachura concluded it's not working.