NOEL O'REILLYwith the pick of the Golf news

Mickelson hungry for slice of the Waffle House action

GIVEN he is lampooned mercilessly about his fluctuating weight and who freely admits to having a healthy appetite, we assumed Phil Mickelson might have resisted the temptation to buy into a fast food chain.

But it seems Mickelson, who returns to action at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational this week, really, really enjoys his waffles. So much so he is prepared to sink a hefty chunk of change into a flagging Waffle House chain.

Mickelson, along with two business partners, has tabled a $20 million (€13,858,955) bid for Southeast Waffles, a financially troubled company that runs 105 Waffle House outlets across four states in America.

Having had the dubious pleasure of refuelling in various Waffle Houses in the past, where the terms fine and dine are strangers to the menu, Planet Golf would’ve presumed it was more a John Daly sort of joint.

Daly to be scene and heard again

ON the subject of Daly, it appears the Wild Thing has signed up for another series of his reality TV show on the Golf Channel.

Despite his recent penchant for garish outfits, Daly insists he’s now a calmer individual than the one that graced our screens in The Daly Planet back in 2006. Good news for Daly, bad news for producers expecting more bang for their buck and a repeat of that alcohol-fuelled ride through the PGA Tour.

Daly has been trying to get his life and career in order since being found passed out in front of a Hooters bar last October and claims to have his drinking under control. He hopes the show will give viewers an insight into his new clean living, “boring” lifestyle.

“I’m more laid back,” he said when asked about the project. “It won’t have the hustle and bustle of the last show.”

With a working title of Out of the Rough, expect to see John and his technicoloured dream pants burning a hole in your plasma screen early next year.

K Club tee time bargains online

IT was with some interest that we noticed The K Club are now making tee times available on the internet booking site teetimes.ie Considering you could still pay up to €380 per head for a round on the Palmer Course as recently as February – although given the economic climate how many people actually paid that amount is questionable – the fact you can now pick up a tee time for just €80 online certainly appealed to our inner Eddie Hobbs.

Now Planet Golf is no mathematician, but having laboured over the abacus we worked out that there are potential savings of some €1,200 per fourball to be had. That should leave plenty of spare change in the kitty for a couple of drinks at the bar.

Whether €80 for a round of golf should still be considered a bargain is another matter.

Death threats a way of life for Wie

MICHELLE Wie may not be everybody’s cup of tea and has a long way to travel before coming even close to justifying the hype that greeted her emergence as a precocious teenager.

By all accounts not the most popular of players in the locker room, where she was initially treated as something of a novelty act, Wie has yet to claim her maiden title as a professional.

But some of the bile and vitriol aimed in her direction has occasionally strayed over the line of taste and decency and it’s hard not to feel sympathy for a 19-year-old who has to worry about death threats as well as the state of her game.

Explaining the relative lack of security guards accompanying her in the build-up to last week’s Women’s British Open, Wie commented: “It just depends on the week and depends how many death threats I get that week. I guess this week it’s only a couple, so I’m not in that much danger.”

Bashful Prince claims another title 

RYO Ishikawa continues to snap at the heels of Rory McIlroy for the tag of world golf’s “Bright Young Thing” after claiming his second title of the year on the Japan Golf Tour on Sunday.

Granted, the Japanese tour might not carry the same cachet as its European and American equivalents but the Sun Chlorella Classic was the 17-year-old’s fourth victory as a professional.

And as he showed at Turnberry, the “Bashful Prince” appears to have the game to contend on the biggest of stages.