How many times we golfers have endured the snickers and jokes about the loud outfits, chasing the little white ball, and "Golf?  Is that really a sport?"

         But now comes word that those of us who play the game will have the last laugh -- literally.  According to a 2008 study of 300,000 Swedes by the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, golfers live on average five years longer than do non-golfers.

        That ought to make those missed three-footers a little easier to take.