Maybe Charles Barkley's golf swing can't be fixed. He spent the better part of a year working with Hank Haney, Tiger Woods' coach, and any improvements in his game can kindly be described as imperceptible. The Golf Channel got "The Haney Project" out of it, easily the most popular program in the history of the network, so there's that. But if Haney, who charges non-celebrity hackers $500 an hour for a session, can't do anything with this, that might be Chuck's cue to cut back on the public golf appearances. You know, in the name of not maiming innocent bystanders.
So it makes perfect sense that Barkley will tee it up Friday at the Lake Tahoe Celebrity Golf Championship. And the discerning gambler can even wager on the chance that he wins the whole thing. Odds start at 499-1.
Sounds low.
That's everyone's initial reaction -- even Chuck's, I'd imagine -- but if John Daly was 250-1 to win the British Open (so far, so good on that front, Brinson), then Barkley has to be closer to infinity-1. Because, really, barring an asteroid strike taking out everybody else in the field -- as well as the marshals and forecaddies, just to be safe -- there's no chance he's winning. (And even then, who knows if he could finish the round without losing all his golf balls.)
Despite Sir Charles' many shortcomings, he's eternally optimistic about his golf game and I give him credit for that. So much so, in fact, that he hopes to eventually win at Tahoe. Seriously.
"One of my goals is to win the Black Masters one year. That's my only goal," Barkley said during a teleconference promoting NBC Sports' made-for-TV event. "We call Lake Tahoe the Black Masters because we have our own tournament. You've got to be a quarterback or hockey player (to win) so the black guys, we joke around, we call it the Black Masters."
Okay, so maybe Chuck's not that serious. Plus, he later admitted that he was in Tahoe to kick it with friends and bust out some karaoke at the casinos, which may or may not be a euphemism for "gamble my ass off."
"It ain't like I'm going to bed at 10 o'clock. Ain't like I'm going to lose the tournament because I didn't get a good night's sleep."
It's all about expectations and perspective. Either way, the fun starts Friday and it will be televised on NBC this weekend.
