Essentially, it?s a succinct form of navel gazing that?s quickly established a firm hold of the blur of social media we?re all grappling with; when those navels belong to the more celebrated amongst our disparate online society, the allure of Twitter becomes vividly apparent. Lance Armstrong leads the army of sports celebrities Twittering away, with Bob Skinstad head of the class locally; Twitter has also infected the golf community, and it?s been most entertaining following assorted pros in the build-up to this week?s PGA Championship.

Twitterer in chief is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Ian Poulter (who still hasn?t worn the pair of floral trousers I gave him at the Nelson Mandela Invitational several years ago). Poulter caused quite a stir earlier this week by posting a picture of Justin Rose relieving himself on the private jet the two of them flew out of Firestone in on Sunday night (with Camilo Villegas and Trevor Immelman); Poulter?s updates are both entertaining and frequent, and after running through his opening day outfit last night ? blue tartans, light blue shirt, white visor for day one ? he signed off for the day looking forward to his opening group with Ernie and Steve Stricker.

The golf insight is interesting, certainly (?every hole seems to be 500 yards, even the par-threes?, the assessment of a murderously long layout this week), but the real voyeurism comes with the off the cuff remarks on life in general ? beating Graeme McDowell at Nintendo Wii tennis, YouTube links to Oakley out-takes, and the often refreshingly mundane life of a professional sportsman. There are, it would appear, touches of the everyday to the rock star life of top golfers.

And I?m not the only one with an unashamed thirst for inside info: a cool 422 915 people are following Poulter at the moment, which is roughly 420 00 more than Camilo Villegas, fresh to Twitter, and also caught up in the Rose picture controversy (harmless fun, but the sanctimonious reaction apparently came pouring in); of greater importance this week, Villegas has a picture of his yardage book up on his account, and mirrors Poulter in shaking his head at just how long Hazeltine will be playing this week.

Both golfers are following Immelman, who?s celebration of Springbok successes was tempered by the announcement that he?d had to pull out of this week?s Major, and is back in Orlando getting rehab on his wrist; bad news for South African fans, although Immelman seems reasonably upbeat. Having a firsthand line to last year?s Masters champion means you know as soon as possible when he?ll be back, another advantage of the all-powerful Twitter.

Most interesting to follow this week, though, has been Geoff Ogilvy, the Australian Twittering away during his practice rounds (?what does it say about practice round pace of play that I can be Tweeting so much??), and making some candid observations. ?There are so many people out here early it?s incredible. Tiger really has changed the way people watch practice days,? one such update during yesterday?s practice; ?I just had 245 into 12, which is a par-four by the way, after a great drive. And 13 is a 255 to the hole par-three... into the wind,? a reminder of how brutal Hazeltine is this week.

But it?s the throwaway lines as much as the golf that makes for fun reading ? ?watching America?s Got Talent, wondering how Hasselhof?s still on TV,? a wry Ogilvy comment, while Rory McIlroy?s missing ATM card in the week of the Open sparked plenty of activity on his account: ?No ATM card! Getting one sent to Turnberry next week! Luckily my manager Chubby has spotted me a few quid to last to the end of this week!?

As a new forum, Twitter has opened up access to star names as never before; as the Poulter photo incident illustrated, the extent to which that access continues is very debateable. Ideally, open, candid updates will continue, but I have my doubts; they?ll be there this week, though, and keeping an eye on the field through their own assessments on Twitter will make for an entertaining sideshow the year?s final Major. Not that I?m any closer to working out just who Tiger?s likely challengers will be this week; I?ll keep an eye out for clues from Hazeltine, though, amongst the banter from Poulter and co.

  • Contact Dan at dan@metropolis.co.za