Photo courtesy of SN#1's Flickr photostream

When Stewart Cink won the British Open in 2009, he thrust himself into the Golf limelight as a Major Championship winner.   By that time, Cink had already established himself as a Twitter superstar.   He had over 500,000 followers in July of 2009 and he is now up to over 1.2 million.

Why has Cink, a professional golfer, not the most hip group of people in the world, garnered such a large Twitter following?   He makes the most of his Tweets by doing all the things great Twitter-ers do: tells of his likes and dislikes, gives his followers an inside look into his profession, gives tips on golf for the average guy, lots of retweets to his followers’ questions, little games and prize giveaways (ala Shaq), comments on popular movies and TV shows, and lots of humor and good cheer.   If you are new to Twitter, Cink is an example of a great Twitter-er.   Here is a sampling from the last couple of months of Cink’s Tweets:

• Oh yeah congrats to all you Canadians. We were watching from the trailer park!!   –   about 18 hours ago

• Hmmm..I’m at the DMV and “Give Me One Reason to Stay Here” is playing to all the folks waiting in line.   -  7:54 AM Feb 26th

• Just listening to David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” on the way to practice. One of few songs I like that include a countdown. Your favorites?   -  1:51 PM Feb 23rd

• @ELANO94 be sure to get left shoulder behind ball on backswing and swing clubhead down the line or outside after impact.   –   10:13 AM Feb 23rd   via Echofon  in reply to ELANO94

• I think I may be takig this healthy food thing too far. I just bought my dogs’ food in the organic section.  -  1:57 PM Feb 11th

• Heading to Los Angeles tonight for the Northern Trust Open. Do you think N. Pelosi would send a military jet for my travel needs?   –   8:14 PM Feb 1st

• @ALBATROSS_VIEW sorry, no way to fix a slice easily! But be sure to change directions with patience at top of swing.   -  11:13 PM Jan 27th   via Echofon  in reply to ALBATROSS_VIEW

• Tonight @ Philips Arena, 1st person to tell me IN PERSON the movie @lisacink  and I saw today gets tickets to next Tuesday’s Thrasher game.   –   4:43 PM Jan 26th

• Had a movie date with @lisacink today during school. Saw Leap Year with Amy Adams. Loved it, then put my Man Card in the shredder.   –   3:59 PM Jan 26th

• Sitting in the Tundra outside Chick-Fil-A waiting for son Connor to close up. Okay though, I’ve got DMB keeping me company. Cry Freedom Cry.   -  10:38 PM Jan 25th

Photo courtesy of avinashkunnath's Flickr photostream

Michelle Wie, 20, won her first LPGA golf tournament last weekend.   In many people’s view, it’s been a long time coming.   Miss Wie has been in the public spotlight since age twelve.   Nobody disputes her talent.   Some have disputed her maturity at times.  However, those same people likely did not grow up under a media microscope.    What do you get from following Michelle Wie on Twitter?  You get a tranparent look at a young woman who is at the top of her profession at a very early age, but she is still learning about herself and her place in the world as a person.   That makes for a good Twitter follow.   You can follow Michelle at http://twitter.com/TheMIchelleWie.    Here’s my Top Ten Tweets (so far):

• wowwwww……never thought this would feel THIS great!!!! about 19 hours ago 
• So I’m a huge klutz. I resprained my ankle on the way to lunch and then I burnt my finger when I spilt hot tea on it.   -4:47 PM Oct 1st
• First week of school was great. I have the best roommate, neighbors, and friends . And plus classes seem interesting.   -2:10 PM Sep 28th 
• @sdimegUSATgolf   it’s ok my nicknames were much worse in high school. U can only imagine what people would do with the last name wie hahah   -10:31 AM Aug 15th, in reply to sdimegUSATgolf
• Felt like I had a taste of what i can shoot today. A couple holes bit me in the ass today but other than that I felt pretty good about it   -8:36 PM Jun 28th
• Listening to iration, natural vibrations, sublime and some more island reggae at the airport is making me smile inside. But I miss the aina    -5:44 AM Jun 21st 
• Thank you all for the congrats! I made the top play in sportscenter!! And they showed my “dance”. How embarassing haha excited to play today   – 5:27 AM Jun 14th
• Did u know that the 7-11 extreme gulp is 50% bigger than the volume of the human stomach?!? Those slurpees are oh-so-delicious tho! Yummmy    -11:31 AM Jun 10th 
• im really sorry for the people i have offended…but really…it was just a doodle..no real thought went into it   -6:29 PM Jun 5th 
• and i had no intentions of offending my native korean people. THE BACKGROUND IS NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE JAPANESE FLAG.    -6:25 PM Jun 5th