Sips of Maginnes: The Ghost, Ben Franklin and Justin Rose

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Thanks to his Ghost putter, Justin Rose is leading the PGA TOUR in scoring average this season.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Ben Franklin, Philadelphia's most favored son: "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." I'll try to do the former here.

• Brian Gay shot 67 in the opening round of the AT&T National -- and he did it with just one golf ball. Don't worry, the good folks from Titleist didn't forget to put a few dozen balls in Brian's locker this week. He just didn't change. Brian said that he thought about changing balls a few times during the round but his caddy Kip Henley told him to keep going. Brian used two golf balls on Friday, two more on Saturday and three on Sunday for a total of eight for the week. If you are wondering what is typical, on average a PGA TOUR player will use about six balls per round. Unless he gave the unused balls to the kids in the gallery Brian could have faced some overweight baggage fees on the way home.

• Following an opening-round 70 Paul Goydos found his way to the chipping area on the other side of the clubhouse from the first tee. Paul dropped a bag of balls some 15 yards from the front of the green and rolled the first ball to his feet. He clipped the pellet off the top of the grass and it sailed most of the way to the flag, checked up and dropped in the hole. "Any questions?" he asked. I told him to quit; he couldn't do any better. Paul's reply was typical Paul. "But what if I have the same shot tomorrow? The mythical law of averages says that I can't do it twice in a row." I tried to explain to him that by that same logic I should be dating a supermodel by now but he wasn't biting. By the way, his next chip clanged off the flag. And in case you are wondering, Claudia Schiffer hasn't called.

• Michael Connell made birdie on the ninth hole at Aronimink on Friday morning to get in at 3 over and make the cut. That's hardly extraordinary unless you consider that Connell's first 36 holes were anything but ordinary. He bogeyed his first four holes on Thursday and then made five more in the next 14 holes to shoot 77. To make matters worse, Michael made double bogey on his first hole Friday and bogeyed his next to move to 10 over. Then he went nuts. Over the next 16 holes the Mississippi State grad made seven birdies on the way to a 66 that matched what was at the time the low round of the week The round of 4 under enabled him to play the weekend, although Michael wasn't able to move up the leaderboard and finished 71st.

• Tiger Woods failed to break par in any round last week for just the fourth time in his career (not including the majors). Even so, Tiger was still in a good mood following the final round. When Sirius XM's Fred Albers joked that he had worn a red shirt in Tiger's honor the world No. 1 called Fred out. "No, you didn't," Tiger said. "It was just the only one that you had left." Tiger said that he was really looking forward to the British Open next month at St. Andrews. Rumor has it that Tiger is heading across the pond early but not for golf. Word on the street is that he is off to go fly fishing in Ireland for a few days.

• Justin Rose led the mini-money list that ran from THE PLAYERS Championship through the AT&T National. The top two players not otherwise exempt for the British Open earned a spot in the field at St. Andrews. Second on that list was Bubba Watson, the man who came from behind to beat Justin at the Travelers Championship. Interestingly, if any of the players who were in contention behind Justin had won the AT&T National they would have bumped Bubba out of the British Open. Furthermore, if Bubba was sweating out his entry at St. Andrews it was something that he could have avoided. He lost in a playoff in the American qualifier for the British Open last month.

• Are you tired of hearing about the "Ghost" yet? No, I am not talking about those things that go bump in the night. I mean the putters that fell into the whitewash at TaylorMade. Justin Rose used his Ghost to exorcise his demons from the Travelers Championship. The Ghost is not a new putter design, it is just the shiney, new thing on Tour. Billy Mayfair said that his Ghost was exactly the same design as his other putter except that it is stark white. I am not telling you that the Ghost won't make you putt better. I am also not telling my daughter that Silly Bandz won't make her run faster.

• Aronimink proved a very good host for the AT&T National. "It really has a major championship feel," Scott McCarron said Saturday afternoon, echoing the refrains of many of the game's best players. The Donald Ross design was in impeccable condition, the greens were tough and the galleries massive and appreciative. It was a more than successful week for the PGA TOUR's return to the City of Brotherly Love. It was a proud week for Aronimink, AT&T and the Tiger Woods Foundation -- all of whom stayed out of the way and out of the media this week and simply put on a great show. And that is how it should be. After all, "well done is better than well said," again, from my friend Ben Franklin.

Former PGA TOUR player John Maginnes is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.