Image Credit: Reuters This year’s edition of the U.S. Open centers on Dustin Johnson, and for good reason.

The hype about recently-retired Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo joining the broadcast team as part of CBS’s coverage of the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational at the Colonial Country Club this past weekend took a rather ordinary tournament and provided a great sense of anticipation. And it turned out to be illuminating, although also a little disappointing.

Photo Credit: Florida Trend Phil Esposito is one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of the National Hockey League, but the Hall of Famer is also a good golfer. Proof of that is that he has recorded three aces. Esposito, who won the Stanley Cup twice with the Boston Bruins and sits sixth overall in the NHL all-time goal scoring with 717, recorded the third hole-in-one of his life in May on a 135-yard, par-three hole at Fox Hollow Golf in Trinity, Florida. The course is owned by Dave Creighton, father of former NHL player Adam Creighton, and is about 35 minutes north of where Esposito lives in Tampa Bay. Among his many accomplishments, Esposito helped to start up the Tampa Bay Lightning NHL franchise in 1992.

In the competitive industry for consumer appeal, manufacturers of golf balls are developing different ideas to attract customers. Volvik, which has been in the business for over 35 years, has been at the forefront of colored balls and has been making some substantive moves since the start of year to raise its profile, signing some big-name players and enhancing its sponsorship to tournaments. The South Korea-headquartered company is the number one color ball among professionals, currently endorsed by more than 75 players.

Image Credit: TaylorMade Golf The Players Championship is considered one of golf’s most important annual tournaments – the unofficial fifth men’s Major – but this year’s competition had some of its attention diverted by the sale of TaylorMade Golf to KPS Capital Partners. TaylorMade had been on the block for a while, and back in February there were reports it had been having trouble selling its assets, so the sale price of $425 million is really not that much.

Image Credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images Good on the United States Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews for acting quickly to change the rules that will limit the use of video evidence to affect the outcome of an event. How many of us truly felt for Lexi Thompson, who entered the final day of the ANA Inspiration tournament with a three-shot lead with six holes to play and suddenly found herself penalized four strokes for committing a violation the day before in the third round? Yes, she broke the rules by marking a ball and then replacing it an inch away from the actual spot. But if not for some TV viewer alerting the tournament officials, no one would have known. Think about it, with all the tournament officials, none of them spotted the innocent mistake.

Image Credit: Bryan Bros Instagram If there’s one thing that Wesley Bryan has learned it’s that golf can be fun if golfers can allow themselves to break away from the norm and get wild and crazy. While it was interesting watching Bryan record his first PGA victory with a win in the 2017 RBC Heritage, I found it more appealing learning about the trick shots he has done with his brother George.

Image Credit: PGA No matter how many times I watch the Masters, I am always amazed by the ebb of flow of man versus nature, and man versus fate. As I look back on the 81st Masters, there are images that are stick in my mind for a whole bunch of different reasons. The ceremonial opening tee shots became far more emotional in the first tournament since the passing of the legendary Arnold Palmer. You could see the emotion on the faces of Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus as Billy Payne, Chairman of Augusta National, so eloquently talked about the man known as The King.

Image Credit: SB Nation Every year since 1960, the Par 3 contest at Augusta National is an interesting prelude to the Masters. It is full of fun and frivolity, in stark contrast to the seriousness of the Masters, which has announcers talking in hushed, reverent tones. There has never been a player who has won the Par 3 contest and the Masters in the same year, although Raymond Floyd came close in 1990, losing the Masters in a sudden-death playoff to Nick Faldo, who won the coveted green jacket for the second consecutive year. Floyd’s attempt to record the Par 3 and Masters win came undone on the second hole when his iron shot went into the water. Had he won, it would have been the first player to win a Masters in four consecutive decades.