Steve Stricker wins his 2nd tournament of the year with his victory at the John Deere Classic in Illinois. This moves Titleist golf clubs back into a tie with Nike for 2nd place on the tally (which you can see at the bottom of this post). For his victory, he gets $774,000.

They had to play 36 holes on Sunday to make up for a rain delay, and Stricker shot 64, 68. He finished at -20, 2 strokes ahead of Tim Petrovic. Zach Johnson, Brandt Snedeker, and Brett Quigley finished tied for third at -17.

I like this offer because it’s very creative. If you buy Cleveland® Golf's CG7™ irons, CG7™ Tour irons, Launcher® irons, HiBORE® Xli irons, CG® Tour irons or HiBORE® Bloom® Xli irons for women before the end of 2009, you can trade them in for a new, updated set of irons anytime between January 2010 and December 2011 (2 years). This means that for the next 4 years, you can have irons that are only at most 2 years old, all for the price of one set of irons.

On June 30, Ryo (pronounced “Yo”) Ishikawa took his Yonex golf clubs to victory at the Mizuno Open, and in the process earned his way into the British Open. The Mizuno Open took place in Tokyo, and it is Ishikawa’s 2nd win as a professional. He won his first professional tournament as an amateur 2 years ago when he was an amateur. He’s now 17, and has won 3 professional tournaments.

The a7 hybrid irons set from Adams golf clubs is designed for mid-handicappers, and is a set that includes 2 hybrids, and 6 irons. The two hybrids are to replace the 3 and 4 irons. The 5 iron has a hollow back, which makes it a good transition between the hybrids and more conventional irons that make up the 6 iron through pitching wedge.

Jerry from Cookeville, Tennessee asked Rush Limbaugh on his radio show what golf clubs he plays. Since it was Open Line Friday, Rush was obliged to answer. He said that his driver is about 4 years old, but he just can’t find anything he can hit as well. He didn’t mention which fairway woods he plays, but he plays clubs from several different brands, including Cleveland, TaylorMade, and Titleist.

Rush also admitted to using a foot wedge when no one is looking.

A thief stole 3 golf carts and 1 set of clubs at a Mt. Airy, North Carolina country club this weekend. The carts belonged to Inez Simmons Cox, Donnie Lee Marion and David Simmons and are valued at $5,500. The stolen golf clubs belonged to Inez Simmons Cox.

Two weeks before the Masters, Tiger Woods won at Bay Hill. Many said that he was almost certain to win at the Masters. That didn’t happen. Two weeks before the U.S. Open, Tiger won at the Memorial. Many said that he was a shoe-in to win the U.S. Open. That didn’t happen. Now, Tiger has taken his Nike golf clubs and won the AT&T National in Bethesda, Maryland, two weeks before the British Open. I’m sure many will say he’ll definitely win the British Open. Maybe he will and maybe he won’t, but there seems to be a pattern emerging, and the pattern would suggest that he won’t win.

The golf industry is getting creative in a tough economy. There are several great buys and interesting promotions. Here’s one of the best ones. If you buy a Callaway Big Bertha Diablo driver, FT-iQ driver, or FT-9 driver, from Golfsmith and Phil Mickelson or Rocco Mediate Win the U.S. Open (June 18-21), 100% of the purchase price will be refunded.

Much of the western United States was facing a drought in 2002. Wild fires, fed by the dry conditions, roared across miles. Flames of one blaze licked the land not too far from my home in Colorado.

As we played golf, my buddies and I watched the firefighting helicopter fly over the course on its trips between the blaze and its water supply. We imagined our course’s man-made ponds that were used for water hazards and irrigation being helpful in the firefighting efforts. In truth, we wanted a close-up look at the helicopter.

It’s been well over a decade, but my three-putt on the first playoff hole of the Colorado State high school qualifying tournament still haunts me.