Twitter: Top 10 Golfers to Follow

The next best thing to following big name golfers in tournaments is, of course, to, uh, follow them on Twitter, right?

If you want to read and respond to some of the best tweets in the golf kingdom, try some of these:

1. Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter)—Poulter takes great pride in his Twitter banter and you never know what he’ll come up with from day to day. He’s brash and sometimes annoying, but always interesting.

2. Paul Azinger (@PaulAzinger)—The outspoken “Zinger” comments on everything from politics to golf and other sports. He’s never dull.

3. Stewart Cink (@stewartcink)--He has an amazing 1,157,740 followers so he must be saying something interesting on a regular basis.

4. Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory)—The young Irish phenom seems to drone on incessantly about his great girlfriend, tennis star Carol Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki), but also has personal tidbits about his daily life.

5. Bubba Watson (@bubbawatson)—Known for his offbeat tweets like “View of 16^th hole in Bermuda from jet ski”, Watson keeps you posted on his great life.

6. Natalie Gulbis (@natalie_gulbis)—The LPGA’s glamour girl keeps you updated on her life on and off the course and always provides a lot of eye candy with great photos.

7. John Daly (@PGA_JohnDaly)—Nobody lives a wilder life on the PGA tour than J.D. He was made for Twitter because you never know where he’ll be and what he’ll say.

8. Rickie Fowler (@RickieFowlerPGA)—One of Tour’s rising young stars, Fowler’s interests go well beyond golf. He sort of over tweets on the Oklahoma State Cowboys (where he attended college), but he’s still a good one to follow.

9. Brittany Lincicome (@Brittany Lincicome)—Good behind-the-scenes LPGA information available here. Lincicome and LPGA’er Christina Kim (@TheChristinaKim) recently got into a highly entertaining Twitter dust up.

10. Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods)—He has the most followers in the golf industry (2,718,053), but he never seems to say much that’s enlightening or interesting. Here’s a classic mundane tweet by Tiger: “Amazing first visit to Turkey. Thanks Turkish Airlines, event organizers and fans. Very special place and a really fun event.” Yawn.

Turn Out the Lights Tigermania

Has the Tigermania train finally pulled into the station?

While most of the media (including me) are still enamored with the power of Tiger, my guess is more and more fans are tiring of all things Tiger.

Let's face it, Woods still moves the needle for television viewers and if you put his name in a headline, you're sure to get lots of clicks on the Web.

You clicked on this column, didn't you?

That said, as a fan I'm weary of seeing Woods as the main storyline before every tournament he's scheduled to play.

The same old scene is getting real tired and played.

Here's how it goes:

Tiger does his obligatory pre-tournament press conference (with the exception, of course, of a couple of weeks ago when he did that silly Internet Q and A with lame, softball questions by fans).

Anyway, the main question is always the same: Tiger, you've been working with Sean Foley for quite some time now, how is your game progressing?

Tiger's pat answer: "Uh, I'm getting close, very close".

Oh really.

Other than that victory earlier this year at Bay Hill, all we get from Tiger is a bunch of excuses about the putts not falling, reverting back to his old swing, blah, blah, blah...

Tiger, why not tell the truth?

Your brain is still scrambled from the Escalade escapade, the ensuing divorce and the huge amounts of energy and angst it took to fight off TMZ, The National Enquirer and other tabloid journalism outlets. Moreover, you still have doubts that come with any swing change and these young bucks are harder than heck to beat.

Even if Tiger returns to form, the twenty somethings like Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson and others like Bubba Watson and Hunter Mahan are much more difficult to beat than the opponents he faced during his fabulous run to 14 majors.

The current crop of young contenders aren't shooting 74 in final rounds like Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els to make your victories easier and Phil Mickelson is not the easy mark in majors like he was earlier in his career.

We saw the future of how fascinating and exciting the PGA Tour can be without Woods, who missed the cut, with the playoff between Rory and Rickie (D.A. Points, too) at Quail Hollow. These are two immensely dynamic players who could give us years of great golf.  They're full of energy and flair, especially Fowler with those fluorescent golf shirts, Ringo Starr haircut and wispy, jazz musician mustache. C'mon Rickie, bring out the beret, please.

I want to see more of Rory and Rickie and less of Tiger.

There will never be anything like Tigermania in golf again. It was great to witness Tiger in his prime and winning majors by double digit stroke margins.

Those days are just distant memories now. It's sad, but every train eventually pulls into the station.

Goodbye Tigermania.

Hello Rory and Rickie mania.

Play Golf in Bubba Land

Shark's Tooth Golf Club, Panama City, Florida

Masters Champion Bubba Watson grew up in Florida's panhandle in a small town named Bagdad, about a 20 minute drive from Pensacola.

In what is presumably the greatest high school golf squad ever, Watson teamed with future PGA Tour pros Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum at Milton High School in Santa Rosa County.

The trio honed their games on courses in and around Milton and played junior tournaments at layouts throughout the panhandle.

If these courses are good enough for the 2012 Masters champ, hey, they should be good enough for the rest of us, right?

Utilizing flat terrain dotted with palms, palmetto, pine forests and swamps, designers like Fred Couples, Tom Fazio, Rees Jones and Greg Norman have fashioned some terrific, fun-to-play layouts in the region. If you want to play some of the courses Watson and his pals played, you're in luck, because you can tee up at them for less than $30.

Enhancing the golf experience is the laid back, casual, flip-flops and t-shirt lifestyle in the panhandle. Stretching from Pensacola to Panama City, the region has been dubbed the "Redneck Riviera" and "L.A." (Lower Alabama) because of the large numbers of southerners who drive down for annual beach and golf vacations and spring breaks from places like Birmingham, Dothan and Montgomery.

You can't beat the beaches with their blindingly white sands and emerald green waters, the exceptional deep sea fishing and the lifestyle is unpretentious and fun. This is a place where people guzzle Dr. Pepper, drink generous quantities of PBR (Papst Blue Ribbon) beer and dine on delicacies like smoked mullet, Apalachicola shrimp on the rough, oysters on the half shell and fried pickles.

For more than 30 years I've visited the panhandle to catch some rays, body surf, play golf and gorge on seafood.

Here is some of my "local knowledge":

MUST PLAY COURSES

Milton Area-Try Tanglewood, where you can play 18 holes for $20, Stonebrook ($29) and Moors, a links style layout designed by John B. Lafoy.

Navarre-Club at Hidden Creek, a Ron Garl design.

Gulf Breeze-Tiger Point, a 36-hole complex built alongside the Santa Rosa Sound.

Shalimar-- Shalimar Pointe, a collaboration by Pete Dye and Joe Finger.

Emerald Coast Golf Trail--Check this site out. They offer golf packages that include courses in Navarre, Gulf Breeze and Shalimar.

Destin/Fort Walton Beach--Some of my favorites include Kelly Plantation, a Fred Couples Signature Course, Burnt Pine Golf Club at Sandestin, a Rees Jones design that rates as one of the Golf Travel Guru's Florida favorites and Raven Golf Club Sandestin, a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design that hosted a PGA Tour Champions Tour event in 2006 and 2007.

Pensacola-- Scenic Hills, a redesign by U.S. Open Champion Jerry Pate, Perdido Bay Golf Club, a former site of the Pensacola Open for 10 years and Lost Key, a great target golf layout with beauty and challenge.

Panama City Beach--Camp Creek, a Tom Fazio design in WaterColor (a personal favorite), Origins in WaterColor, a great, innovative 6-hole layout designed by Davis Love III where you can walk, and Shark's Tooth, a Greg Norman design in Panama City Beach.

TOP GOLF RESORTS

Bluewater Bay Resort in Niceville

Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Destin

Wyndham Bay Point Resort in Panama City

PLACES TO EAT

{Note: In the following restaurants, which are personal favorites, you can wear your golf clothes or the ultimate Emerald Coast fashion statement, a Guy Harvey t-shirt and Margaritaville flip-flops.}

Boondocks (Panama City Beach)--Located off Highway 79 on the way to Ebro Dog Track, this well hidden place features favorites like fried oyster salad, grilled popcorn shrimp, fried pickles and onion rings.

Donut Hole (Destin)--Phenomenal biscuits and gravy, pancakes and coffee in mugs.

Hunt's Oyster Bar (Panama City)-If you love oysters on the half shell, this long time local favorite in downtown near the marina is a must visit.

Pompano Joe's (Destin)--Sits right on the beach offering entrees like parmesan encrusted flounder and snow crab feast.

Thomas Donut Shack (Panama City Beach)--Homemade donuts fried the old-fashioned way. Caution: No yogurt or granola available.

OTHER THINGS TO DO

Deep sea fishing (Destin marinas have lots of charter boats.)

Scuba diving and snorkeling (Some great wrecks to explore along this section of the Gulf of Mexico coast)

Canoeing and kayaking (Blackwater River State Park is a nirvana for canoe and kayak enthusiasts).

Camping (Grayton Beach State Park near Seaside is beachside camping at its finest.)

5 Reasons I Love to Watch Masters Champion Bubba Watson Play Golf

Bubba Watson, 2012 Masters Champion

1. He's never had a formal golf lesson. He doesn't have a swing guru like just about everybody else on Tour these days. It's a joy to watch Watson practicing on the range as he works the ball 30 or 40 yards in either direction. Better still, there's no swing guru, with arms folded, studying Watson's movements for angles, planes and all the other stuff we hear about ad nauseum when they talk about Tiger, Phil and others.

2. He plays fast. None of this spending endless time analyzing the shot or putt. Watson evaluates the situation, makes a decision and goes for it. A simple strategy that resulted in a Masters green jacket.

3. His stats tell the story. Watson, who's 16th in the world rankings, is number one in Driving Distance (313 yards), Top 10 Finishes (4) and the Money Leader ($3.12 million). My two favorite stats, however, are he's number one in Greens in Regulation From Other Than the Fairway and number one in Average Distance to the Hole after Tee Shot (151.9 yards).

4. He's easy to spot on the golf course. Watson is the only golfer on the PGA Tour playing a pink driver and during Master's week he wore only one style of outfit--all white. I also like the fact he's not a spoiled country club kid. He grew up in the Florida panhandle playing public courses and later started his career at Faulkner State Community College in Alabama before transferring to the University of Georgia.  Even more appealing, he once appeared in a music video with bib overalls and he owns the General Lee, the classic hot rod from the Dukes of Hazzard Show.

5. I love watching anybody-- who during a playoff at Augusta National for a green jacket-- can hit a 52 degree gap wedge through the trees off  pine straw to a slick green more than 150 yards away and land it only 15 yards from the flag.

5 Reasons Masters 2012 Will Have One of the Best Finishes Ever

1. Phil "The Thrill" Mickelson (-8) is only one shot back. Did you see that phenomenal flop shot on no. 15 yesterday? You just can't take your eyes off Phil because you never know when he'll pull off a shot that no other player on the planet can execute.

2. There are nine players within six shots of the lead and presumably we're in for more lead changes than your average, trade-some-paint and get-out-of-the-way NASCAR race.

3. Besides Phil, the eclectic line-up of contenders include Bubba Watson (-6), with his mammoth drives and ability to work the ball just about anywhere he wants; Louis Oosthuizen (-7), a British Open champion with a flawless swing; Matt Kuchar (-5), currently ranked 18th in the world rankings; Padraig Harrington (-4), a three-time major winner; Hunter Mahan (-4), known for throwing up low 60s scores, and don't forget the leader, Peter Hanson (-9), a steady Swede, who had the round of his life (65) on Saturday.

4. The back nine at Augusta National guarantees a great finish. Phil shot 30 yesterday and reportedly the pins will be in more inviting positions on Sunday.

5. No. 18 always yields drama because of its premium on a precision drive and well-placed approach shot to have an attempt at birdie. Can Phil do it again on the last hole? The entire golf world will be tuned in to find out.

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