CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) – U.S. Open winner Rory McIlroy said Wednesday that his relationship with top-ranked tennis player Caroline Wozniacki can help him become golf's world number one.
After spending two "great" weeks together in the United States, McIlroy believes he and the 21-year-old from Denmark can be good for each other's careers.
"I think we definitely spur each other on. She's number one in the world and I've got a major and we sort of both want what each other have," the sixth-ranked McIlroy said.
"It's a big goal of mine. I want to become the best player in the world," McIlroy said ahead of the European Masters, his first tournament since injuring his right arm at the PGA Championship three weeks ago.
While recuperating, the 22-year Northern Irishman was by Wozniacki's side at tournaments in Cincinnati and New Haven ahead of bidding for a first Grand Slam title at her U.S. Open.
McIlroy said he was impressed with Wozniacki's dedication, and picked up pointers to improving his own game.
"She's got a great work ethic and it's something I can probably learn a lot from," he said admiringly.
"It's a lot more physically demanding than golf," McIlroy said, adding he has long been a tennis fan. "They do put the work in, they really do. It's just amazing how they can get up each morning and keep doing the same thing, putting their bodies through that.
"It's pretty impressive."
McIlroy said the couple were "taking a day at a time," knowing tournament schedules leave few chances to meet much more this year.
He watched on television Tuesday night when his top-seeded girlfriend opened at Flushing Meadows with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Spain's Nuria Llagostera-Vives.
Wozniacki is next scheduled to play Thursday, after he completes his first round at the European Masters, which counts as the first points-scoring event toward representing Europe in the 2012 Ryder Cup.
McIlroy's more immediate goal is chasing world No. 1 Luke Donald of England, who plays in the U.S. this weekend.
"I don't think it's achievable in the short term, Luke is quite a long way ahead," McIlroy said.
He calculates he can rise to a career-high No. 3 with victory at the Crans-sur-Sierre club, and other results fall his way. Fifth-ranked Martin Kaymer of Germany is in the European field while the Americans occupying third and fourth spots, Steve Stricker and Dustin Johnson, play at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston.
McIlroy will look for inspiration from "one of the most beautiful places in the world," where he almost got his first professional win as a 19-year-old. He took a four-stroke lead into the final round in the Swiss Alps but lost in extra holes to Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin.
"I still think about that playoff in 2008," said McIlroy, who has still to win in Europe as a pro. His sole European Tour victory was at Dubai in February 2009.
McIlroy's injury began as damage to his right wrist three holes into his PGA challenge, and spread up to his shoulder as he compensated for the pain.
"Now it's not painful. It's more like a numb sensation, like if someone gives you a dead arm," he said, after a morning practice Wednesday, following nine holes the previous afternoon.
"It's nearly 100 percent and I'm happy with it," McIlroy said.
Tiger Woods has dropped a further six places to 44th in the world golf rankings.
Fellow American Webb Simpson leapt from 27th to 14th with his play-off victory over Chez Reavie in the Deutsche Bank Championship, second of the FedEx Cup play-off events.
Thomas Bjorn's victory in the Omega European Masters in Switzerland on Sunday lifted him from 59th to 28th.
Latest leading positions: 1 Luke Donald 10.41, 2 Lee Westwood 8.16, 3 Martin Kaymer 7.03, 4 Rory McIlroy 6.88, 5 Steve Stricker 6.84, 6 Dustin Johnson 6.75, 7 Jason Day 6.09, 8 Phil Mickelson 5.84, 9 Matt Luchar 5.84, 10 Adam Scott 5.83.
11 Nick Watney 5.36, 12 Charl Schwartzel 5.11, 13 Graeme McDowell 4.75, 14 Webb Simpson 4.67, 15 Bubba Watson 4.66, 16 KJ Choi 4.58, 17 David Toms 4.07, 18 Ian Poulter 4.02, 19 Paul Casey 3.93, 20 Robert Karlsson 3.86.
Jose Maria Olazabal could hardly have asked for more from the first qualifying event for his Ryder Cup team.
Thomas Bjorn, enjoying the best season of his life, won the Omega European Masters in Switzerland with one of the rounds of the year.
Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy, two of the stars of last year s win, finished second and joint third, and Lee Westwood, another of the Celtic Manor heroes, was only a shot further back in sixth.
Veteran Bjorn, 40, last played against the Americans at The Belfry in 2002, but is enjoying a career Indian summer.
The Dane won the Qatar Masters in February, was fourth in The Open in July and now has achieved back-to-back victories at Gleneagles and Crans-sur-Sierre.
Back into the world s top 30 as a result eight months ago he was not even in the top 130 Bjorn said: It s been an amazing two weeks.
As for next year s Ryder Cup in Chicago he added: There s a long, long way to go and with the talent we have it s going to take a few more weeks to get there.
Three behind teeing off yesterday, he equalled the lowest round of his European Tour career with a nine-under-par 62, playing the final five holes in five under with an eagle and three birdies.
It gave Bjorn a four-stroke victory over former world No.1 Kaymer.
McIlroy was happy to have put himself into contention in his first week back from hurting an arm against a tree root at last month s US PGA Championship.
I didn t know what to expect coming back off the injury, said the US Open champion.
But the arm was 100% healthy and that s a huge positive.
Tiger Woods stepped from behind a microphone, thankful to be done with a short interview that felt like an intrusion. He took 23 questions, most of them about his golf, a few others about his left leg, then walked off without looking at anyone.
"That's why you guys listen," he muttered under his breath, "and I play."
He was as dismissive as ever, another example of how much has changed in his world, and how little he realizes it.
He is not the Tiger Woods he once was.
Such bravado used to be accepted from Woods because he always backed it up.
On the golf course, he set an unparalleled standard of excellence. Starting Thursday, he'll compete in the PGA Championship without having won anything in nearly two years. His agent said he once rejected 100 emails a day from companies wanting to get involved with the world's most famous athlete. In the 16 months since Woods returned from a sex scandal, he still doesn't have a corporate logo on his golf bag. His only new endorsement is a Japanese heat rub.
One thing that still looks the same is that red shirt on Sunday, yet even that has lost some of its meaning.
"That's his trademark," Graeme McDowell said. "Really, I think that's all it is right now. What it means to him is obviously a different thing. What it means to the rest of us ... it's not really something to be intimidated by anymore."
McDowell, who won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach last summer, still considers Woods to be a special player. But after more than a year of finishing in the middle of the pack, or finishing the final round before the leaders even tee off, or not even playing because of recurring injuries to his left leg, Woods is more like just another player in the field.
No. 1 in the world a year ago, he's now No. 30.
"Mystique is not something that's measurable," McDowell said. "It's when you stand on the tee box with him and you get the feeling you're in the presence of greatness. When someone shows themselves as flawed and human ... what Tiger was doing all for years and years was superhuman. He was imposing himself on players just by being there.
"Until he starts winning again, he's not going to get that back."
Some things haven't changed. Woods still draws the biggest crowds, tournaments sell more tickets and golf is more interesting when he plays. Among his peers, he has always been popular because of the way he plays golf and because the TV interest he created made them all rich. They love having him as a teammate at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. He is one of the guys that week.
But do they really know him?
Did they ever?
Mark O'Meara was his best friend, more like a big brother, for many years until O'Meara remarried and moved to Houston. They talk sporadically and see each other even less. Woods remains close to Notah Begay, who rarely plays on tour these days. He plays practice rounds with Arjun Atwal, another member at Isleworth Country Club, outside Orlando.
Stewart Cink was among his biggest supporters when Woods first was exposed for cheating on his wife after Thanksgiving 2009. They have been playing golf since they were juniors and joined the PGA Tour about the same time. Cink once told a story of how his mother went back onto the course after his round because she wanted to watch Woods play.
"I don't feel like I know him as well as I used to," Cink said. "I never knew him that well, but now I feel like I hardly know him at all. I wouldn't say that's a big difference. I think he may be gun shy about getting close to people, either his fellow competitors like me, caddies, the media. He's a really private guy. But once you get to know him, he's really good to be around.
"He's not out here to be social. That's not his goal," Cink said. "He has a big sheet of goals to accomplish. His social life is not his No. 1 priority, nor should it be."
Now that Woods has moved into his new home in south Florida, he has practiced on occasion at the Bear's Club, home of Jack Nicklaus. Robert Allenby saw him there two weeks ago and said he felt Woods seemed more at ease with his life. At tournaments, he sees no change.
"We see him come out and practice, play and get out of here," Allenby said. "He's always been a big one to save his energy for the tournaments. But that's the beauty of Tiger. A lot of stuff has happened in his life. When it comes to his golf, he still tried to keep that the same. That's impressive. I know what it's like to go through a divorce, and it can get seriously ugly."
That falls in line with what Woods said in 2000 to Golf Digest senior writer Jaime Diaz, who has been around Woods longer than any other journalist. "To live a sane life, I have to be ruthless sometimes. Put up a wall, be cold, say no. If I didn't, I would never have my own time and space, which is vital to me to achieve what I want in life."
Even so, some of his peers thought he would return a different person - perhaps spend a little more time in the locker room, or play charity events for other players beyond his closest friends.
For all he's done to wreck his image, most everyone on tour wants to see him return to greatness. Even though there is a new wave of players starting to emerge, like U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, it's hard to find anyone who won't say that golf still needs Woods.
"Tiger still is golf, really," McDowell said. "It's exciting to have him back."
Cink could see parallels with David Duval, an enigma when he was No. 1 in the world, portraying a coldness behind those wraparound shades. His game went into a freefall, partially brought on by injuries, and when Duval was at his lowest, he showed a softer side and became more appealing.
Woods has never warmed to the media, mastering the art of saying very little, but with a smile.
The shield now is a cement wall.
Woods once said he never read anything, and even turned down the TV when one of his friends was playing, because the media had opinions without having all the facts. Now he reads everything. He will be the first to admit that the calamity in his personal life is no one's fault but his own. But he thinks the media has made it personal.
His answers are more clipped. Asked last week how long it has been since his leg felt this strong, Woods replied, "Years," without saying how many. How long since he stopped having to put ice on his knee? "A while ago," he said.
It would be foolish to think that Woods can never get back to the top, maybe not as dominant as he was before, but still the player to beat. Remember, he won 14 majors in his first 12 years, and that wasn't an accident. He was that good.
His was the one score that always mattered.
"You never had to scroll down to find it, did you?" Ian Poulter said.
The PGA Championship last year is when he first started working with Sean Foley. Progress is hard to measure because Woods took a two-month break in the winter and then went four months, last week at Firestone, before he completed a tournament.
Earlier this year, he kept saying he needed more rounds to fine tune his swing. So why not play more tournaments? "Because I have a family. I'm divorced," Woods snapped in March. "If you've been divorced with kids, then you would understand."
He is sharing parental duties with his ex-wife. The weeks that Woods signed up to be with their two children were the weeks he never played golf, which is why he said he could not play in Greensboro, N.C., in two weeks, even if that was the only way to extend his season.
Physically, he looked as strong as ever at the Bridgestone Invitational. He had too many sloppy stretches, not unusual for someone who had not played a full round of golf since the Masters.
Mentally? Emotionally? Only Woods knows.
"I think he's found it difficult to pull his personal issues and separate them from his professional life, and I think it's affected his game," said Stuart Appleby, a fellow member at Isleworth. "His temperament, his patience ... that's been tested and tested and tested. He senses the public doesn't look at him in a perfect light the way they once did."
A PGA Tour official was talking the other day about the best shot he ever saw from Woods. There are plenty of choices. Woods chipped in for eagle from mangled rough on the 18th green in Japan to force a playoff in the 2001 World Cup. Yes, there was some luck involved. Then again, Woods had become accustomed to good fortune. The chip-in at the Masters when his ball hung on the lip for a full second. Or that 35-foot birdie putt at Kapalua to beat Ernie Els in a playoff.
He has gone from making every right move to taking every wrong turn.
Nothing is going his way.
Woods made his return to golf last week, and even while finishing 18 shots behind, he became a focal point Sunday evening. His ex-caddie Steve Williams, angry at the timing and the way Woods fired him last month, celebrated an eighth win at Firestone, this time with new boss Adam Scott.
Williams called it "the best win I've ever had."
It was a direct shot at Woods, with whom Williams won 13 majors among 72 wins worldwide. Williams has pledged to write a book, although he has a non-disclosure agreement, as does most everyone who goes to work for Woods.
One reason Woods didn't want Williams to work the U.S. Open for Scott is that it would add another layer of controversy to a career that could do without it. Ultimately, it turned into another sordid chapter in a soap opera that shows no sign of ending.
And to think that for the longest time, Woods only made news because of his golf.
Nick Faldo, a six-time major champion who now works for CBS Sports, said winning used to be a "foregone conclusion" for Woods. At the moment, nothing is certain.
"Tiger has definitely lost his aura right now," Faldo said.
Lee Westwood weighed in on Steve Williams this morning, criticizing CBS for giving him the caddie forum to rip his old boss, Tiger Woods.
“I thought there was no relevance to the interview other than to have a good dig at Tiger Woods in the ribs, putting him on TV,” the World No. 2 said in his PGA media center interview. “It’s blatantly obvious that he’s a fantastic caddie, because he’s won with all different kind of players. I just didn’t see the point in putting him on TV. Obviously he does a good job. And there’s obviously a bit of friction there. So, what’s the point?”
Westwood said he “probably” would have had a talk with Williams if he was his caddie. As it is, Westwood’s man, Billy Foster, was at the top of Woods’ wish list as Williams’ replacement. Luring him away, however, is proving difficult
“Billy's great, because we get on so well,” Westwood said. “We’re friends and we can chat out there and he can draw my attention away from the round when my mind doesn’t need to be on it. He can also count, which is a big advantage . . . and he’s got a lot of experience. He’s been out here, getting on for 30 years, I think. He’s seen a lot of things, caddied for a lot of good players and been in a lot of tricky situations.
“Between us, it works pretty well. We don't get surprised very often.”
Then he added, as a dig, “And he interviews well.”
When asked what makes a “great” caddie, Westwood replied, “It’s more what they don't say than what they do say. It’s such a psychological and mental game, golf, that the smallest wrong thing at the wrong time can distract you from what you’re trying to achieve.
“Probably the best caddies are the smartest ones and the ones that are switched on mentally more than some of the others maybe,” he went on. “It helps to have been out a long time. I don’t know how long Steve has been out, but he caddied for Ray Floyd and Greg and Tiger and he will have been through most things with those players. I guess in his early days, like everybody, he will have said the wrong thing at the wrong time and maybe he will have learnt from that.
“When Adam got in certain situations or when Tiger got in certain situations, he will have known what to say or not what to say, more to the point.”
Luke Donald, who followed Westwood into the interview room, backed Williams, to a point.
"I think Stevie was given the opportunity to talk and he had the right to say what he wanted to say," he said. " The only disappointing thing that I found personally from it was there was no talk of how pleased he was about Adam winning. It was a little bit deflected away from Adam winning, and obviously the caddie does play an important role, but I think if he had mentioned something about Adam, this wouldn't have been an issue."
A decade ago, twin brothers in England discovered what most golfers already knew — practice is boring.
The driving range is a monotonous place of repetitive motions, most of which are grossly errant and devastating to the possibility of any real improvement.
The brothers, inventors by trade, developed a microchip to place inside a golf ball, without affecting its weight or trajectory, which could determine exactly how far it is hit.
Steve and Dave Jolliffe’s ingenuity spawned a new way to practice and play the sport loved by so many. It’s called Top Golf, and by next year it’s likely that micro-chipped balls will be zipping through Toronto.
Top Golf takes the practice aspect of a driving range and makes it competitive, while adding the good times of your local pub.
“Our view is that it’s a new category in the sport of golf,” says Joe Vrankin, CEO of Top Golf. “It’s really golf entertainment.”
“The vast majority of people go for fun,” he says. “It’s for the social side of it — they decide if they want to go to Top Golf, or to a high-end bowling alley, or to a movie, or to a bar. That’s what our competition is.”
So what exactly is Top Golf?
New York Times sportswriter Bill Pennington described it as a “cross between the ambience of a 1950s bowling alley and an episode of ‘The Jetsons’.”
The basic idea is to turn the driving range experience into a social activity. It turns the country-club traditions of golf into an accessible night of entertainment, without the dress code.
Friends gather in a hub, complete with sofas, tables, televisions and a touch-screen monitor. The players take turns shooting golf balls at targets scattered at different spots across a 250-yard open fairway. As many as six people can play at a time.
“It’s kind of like high-end bowling meets darts,” Vrankin says.
The interactive touch screen keeps track of how far each ball is hit, and awards points for accuracy and shot difficulty.
The monitors can also order up some pints and bar food, brought directly to your party by waiters known as caddies. Each facility is more than 50,000 square feet, with a restaurant and two bars. It costs about $6 per person to play a game at peak hours.
While the serious golfer in you is groaning, consider the appeal to the rest of us hacks.
Close to half of the Top Golf patrons are not golfers, Vrankin says. They’ve either never picked up a club before, or might get out to a range or course once or twice a year.
And there’s still room for the serious, solo practice session — complete with computer technology to track your shot distance, and specialized games to focus on accuracy.
Each of the micro-chipped balls is produced by Callaway Golf, which was an early investor in the company. There are plans to eventually create a Top Golf tournament circuit.
There are currently four Top Golf locations in the United States and three in the U.K., and the company plans to expand heavily over the next couple of years.
The facilities average about 200,000 visitors a year, with each visitor spending about $35. In the U.S., there is a Top Golf near Washington, one just outside Chicago and two in Dallas.
Top Golf will open up three new locations in the southern U.S. through the next year, and are about 12 months away from expanding further into the north, including Canada. The company plans to have up to 50 locations running in the next six years, Vrankin says.
Heating methods have been perfected at the Chicago location, where people play the game in the open with a -10 C wind-chill. Snow is removed quickly from the fairways, allowing it to remain an open-air game, free from the dreary confines of a dome.
That year-round appeal might even lure some of the traditional polo shirt-sporting, handicap-counting crowd in the winter months.
“Toronto would be a fantastic market for us,” says Vrankin. “Canada is a great market for golf.”
Colin Montgomerie yesterday questioned Rory McIlroy's build-up for the Open Championship. Does this mean the Ulsterman's honeymoon period is already over or is his Ryder Cup captain simply concerned that the experience might be overwhelming for the US Open champion when he eventually turns up at Royal St George's next week?
Undoubtedly the latter. Montgomerie remains a huge fan of the 22-year-old and declares "he will contend". But he also believes it would have been wiser for McIlroy to play an event in the three-week gap between Congressional and Sandwich.
"I can understand having two out of three weeks off, but I would like to have seen Rory play a competitive tournament between the two majors," Montgomerie said.
Since the eight-shot victory which established him as golf's new superstar, McIlroy has attended a number of sponsors' days, made two trips to Wimbledon and travelled to Hamburg for the world heavyweight title fight. Originally, McIlroy had been due to play in last week's French Open and Montgomerie thinks he should have stuck to that plan or at least entered this week's Scottish Open. Yet Montgomerie is not worried about any rust in McIlroy's game.
"Rory's so natural I don't think there are any fears about his game," said Montgomerie. "But it's the locker room. There will be so many people wanting to congratulate him, wanting to talk to him. That's bloody tiring. Whether it was the French or the Scottish Open he could have got that out of his system, so he could start the Open afresh. Now he's got all that ahead of him and by the time he gets to the first tee, I think he will be mentally tired. But who am I to say?"
After two days' reconnaissance on the Kent links this week, McIlroy will stay away from the course until the Tuesday afternoon – and does not plan to play until Wednesday. Padraig Harrington agreed with Montgomerie in believing McIlory might be in for a hectic time. "Whenever you win and you go to the next tournament there are 155 other players and 155 other caddies who want to say 'well done'," said the three-times major winner. "Everyone will want a conversation. That will be an issue for him."
Montgomerie and Harrington were talking at the launch of the "HSBC Ultimate Open 18" (the duo's choice of the perfect Open course pulled from the nine courses on the current Open roster). They arrive in Inverness today to prepare for this week's Scottish Open, with Montgomerie needing a top-five finish to stand a chance of qualifying for Sandwich. "I haven't missed an Open in 22 years. I'm in the last chance saloon," he said.
Pablo Larrazabal birdied the fifth playoff hole to beat fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia and win the BMW International Open on Sunday, capturing his his second European Tour tournament.
Larrazabal made his short put on the par-5 18th after Garcia missed from about 5 feet to add to his victory at the Alstom Open de France title in 2008.
Both players have now qualified for the British Open at Royal St. George's at Sandwich next month. Their prize money won putting them top of a money list from six European Tour events, starting with the BMW PGA Championship and ending in Munich.
Garcia birdied the 18th during his final round to shoot 4-under 68 and join Larrazabal (68) on 16-under 272 to force the playoff.
There was nothing between them for four playoff holes, matching each other's score at No. 18 twice, No. 12 and No. 17 before playing the last hole for the fourth time Sunday. Garcia sent an eagle attempt four feet beyond the hole and missed his birdie chance.
Before the playoff, Larrazabal had birdies at Nos. 1, 6, 7 and 9 before two more at No. 10 and 11 gave him the outright lead.
Garcia's started steadily with five pars but, having relinquished the lead, a long eagle putt on No. 9 took him back into a share of the lead at the turn.
He picked up seven shots in six holes up to No. 11, which he eagled to move two shots ahead of Larrazabal, who bogeyed No. 13.
Garcia, however, then made three straight bogeys from No. 12 for Larrazabal to cut the lead.
PGA Championship holder Martin Kaymer shot a 69 for a share of 18th place with Dustin Johnson (67) and European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie (69) seven strokes back.
World No. 1 Yani Tseng, a week after Rory McIlroy turned the U.S. Open into a rout, did the same in the LPGA Championship, the second major of the season on the LPGA tour. Beginning Sunday's final round with a five-stroke lead, Tseng made birdies on five of her first eight holes, took a 10-shot lead to the turn and waltzed home to a 10-stroke victory over Morgan Pressel at soggy Locust Hill Country Club.
With a 6-under-par 66, Tseng finished at 19-under 269 — which included 27 birdies — and tied the record for lowest score in relation to par ever shot in a major championship, by and man or woman.
Tseng has won four of the last 13 majors played on the LPGA tour. At 22, she is the youngest player — male or female — to win four major championships since Young Tom Morris won his fourth and final major in 1872 at age 21. For perspective, Tiger Woods was 24 when he won his fourth. Former world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa won just two majors. And Patty Berg's record of 15 majors on the LPGA tour no longer seems so distant.
It was Tseng's sixth win worldwide this season, her 16th career win worldwide and her eighth career victory on the LPGA tour.
"It's pretty good," Tseng said with a smile as she listened to a list of her historical achievements this week. "But I just try to focus on every tournament. I don't think about (history) too much.
"I will still go and try to win the next major."
That would be the U.S. Women's Open in two weeks at The Broadmoor in Colorado. A win there and she would become the youngest player — man or woman — to win a career Grand Slam.
As for Sunday, her main foe was herself.
"I kept telling myself that I'm going to break a record. I was so far ahead I had to have a goal to look at," said Tseng, who won the LPGA Championship during her rookie-of-the-year season in 2008, and won the Kraft Nabisco Championship and Ricoh Women's British Open last year. "I was patient all day. I had a bogey on the first hole, but I told myself it's only the first hole and I can get more birdies. On the 18th hole, I almost cried because it was so emotional with all the fans."
An over-eager photographer snapped a picture in Tseng's backswing on the first tee, which led to a poor drive and a bogey. Only a three-putt bogey on the 13th bothered Tseng the rest of the day, and the two blemishes were more than offset by her eight birdies. For the week, she hit 68% of fairways, 79% of greens in regulation and needed 111 putts.
"Yani is a phenomenal player," said Suzann Pettersen, who finished in a tie for third with Paula Creamer and defending champion Cristie Kerr, who also shot 19 under last year in the LPGA Championship to win by a record 12 shots. "She pushes the edges like Annika (Sorenstam) used to, and Lorena (Ochoa) used to. Now Yani is getting an edge on us."
Tseng's idol, mentor and former owner of her house, Hall of Famer and 10-time major champion Sorenstam, was impressed as she watched the tournament in her Florida home.
"The sky is really the limit for her as she has tremendous physical abilities and the willingness to put in a lot of work to get better," Sorenstam said in a text message to USA TODAY. "I admire her ambition and the fact that she has really improved her English. She realizes that she's got a chance to be the face of the LPGA for years and she'll need to communicate well with the media, sponsors, and fans to capitalize on that."
"When we get together off the course to discuss her goals she asks a lot of good questions. I can tell she is genuinely interested in improving in all areas. She wants to do the right things that will enable her to be a star for a long time."
Martin Kaymer walked off the course amazed at Rory McIlroy’s performance.
He didn’t see a lot of shots, but he saw enough to call McIlroy’s game fantastic.
"The way he plays golf, it’s a different golf,” said Kaymer, who won his first major last August at the PGA Championship. "It’s close to perfect.”
". . . .It is great for him to win the event early in his career. He’s only 22 years old and especially after what happened at the Masters, you know, all the eyes on him. And to finally to bring it home and to win not only, I would say, the biggest over there, anyway, besides the Masters, but it’s the U.S. Open, if you are the champion of the United States, it’s quite impressive. And to be the second Irish. I mean, I’m very happy for him and for his family, as well. He has great parents. It’s great to see.”
Kaymer did say, though, that Congressional was . . . well, not Pebble Beach or Pinehurst.
"It’s not really a U.S. Open golf course, to be honest,” Kaymer said. "It plays softer. You have birdie chances the first nine It plays fairly easy. If you hit the fairways, you can go straight at the flags. And the greens, they roll along. Still, 16‑under, or wherever he’ll finish today, it’s very impressive and I’m very happy for him.”
McIlroy’s expected win will also give the Internationals a string of five consecutive major championships for the first time ever. Internationals held four in a row in 1994 — Jose Maria Olazabal (Masters), Ernie Els (U.S. Open) and Nick Price (British Open, PGA).
When asked what he thought that said about American golf, Kaymer said, "It says, I think, that the Americans struggle a little bit. Since Tiger (Woods) has been on a, how do you say, a little down.”
He added that the advent of the World Golf Championships have strengthened international golf, but that it was Padraig Harrington, who won three of six majors (2007, 2008 British Opens; 2008 PGA Championship) "gave us at least the belief that we can win here in America, as well."
In a finish eerily similar to last year’s tournament, the Swede watched someone collapse on the 18th hole only to find himself come up short in a playoff again.
In 2010, it was Robert Garrigus who blew a three-shot lead that led to a three-man playoff that also included Karlsson and eventual winner Lee Westwood. This time it was Harrison Frazar hitting it in the water on the 18th — only he outlasted Karlsson in the head-to-head battle, beating him on the third extra hole.
“I cannot say I could have done much more,” Karlsson said. “It was a great match, and someone has got to win and someone has got to lose.”
Karlsson had a chance to extend the playoff to a fourth hole, but his chip shot on No. 12 settled nearly 12 feet away to leave him a difficult par putt.
The Swede missed and Frazar got his first career victory, something Karlsson, who has 11 wins on the European Tour, will have to wait for on the PGA TOUR.
”Chipping here is quite difficult in general,” Karlsson said. “The ball wasn’t lying that great. I thought I had the right club and just came at it a bit too low and landed in the down grain and just released too much.”
Still, Karlsson tried to keep his head high after another runner-up in Memphis.
“It was good fun,” he said. “That’s why were here. That’s why we play. That’s the challenge of the game to be here and to play.
“He played great and I played good as well. It’s one of those days where I think most of us had a lot of fun out there.”
World No 1 Yani Tseng captured her second LPGA Tour victory and her fifth title worldwide this year when she won the LPGA State Farm Classic on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Taiwanese star shot a closing 4-under 68 at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Illinois, to win by two strokes from US No 1 and World No 4 Cristie Kerr
The overnight leader at 17-under-par, Tseng, whose first victory this year came in the Honda LPGA Thailand and who held a one-shot lead over Mindy Kim when she teed off in Sunday's final round at Panther Creek. got off to a fast start, only to see Kim play catch-up and match her..
She made a birdie on the first hole. She would then make five consecutive pars while Kim recorded back-to-back birdies on the 5th and 6th holes to pull even with Tseng at 18-under-par.
But after Kim's bogey on the 7th gave her opponent the outright lead again, Kim slowly began to pull away from the field with birdies on eight and 13 hoisting her to 20-under-par before she finally sealed her seventh-career LPGA Tour victory with a birdie on 17 to finish at 21-under-par 267.
For Tseng, this is the third time in her career she has won an LPGA title after entering the final round as a leader or co-leader.
Tseng said: "I feel very exciting. I had a lot of energy going into this morning, and I knew I could do it. I just kept telling myself, Focus, focus.
"So all my energy, all my patience I focussed on every hole. I tried to play one shot at a time, and I did a great job. I missed couple putts, but I still hung in there and finish the way I wanted to.
For Kerr this was a third straight runner-up finish.
Her attempt at picking up her 15th LPGA Tour victory on Sunday fell three strokes short, despite shooting a sparkling 5-under 67 in the final round.
Three weeks ago, Kerr lost to Suzann Pettersen in the finals of the Sybase Match Play Championship and she fell one shot shy of victory at last week's ShopRite LPGA Classic.
Kerr now has six top-10 finishes in nine tournaments this season, five of which were top-5 finishes. In two weeks, when Kerr attempts to defend her title at the Wegmans LPGA Championship, she will be doing so with good memories of her finish here
"I played pretty well today," She said afterwards.
"I thought the back nine played a little tough. We had longer clubs into the greens - at least by two or three clubs. I played good; I just needed to get some of those putts up to the hole, give 'em a chance it go in. Left a couple short. It would have been nice to make birdie on the last hole, but it didn't matter. Yani was too far ahead.
Brittany Lincicome came up just short in her bid for two consecutive victories. One week after capturing her fourth career LPGA Tour victory at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, Lincicome finished in a tie for third with Paula Creamer at 16-under-par.
Despite a slow start with a bogey at the second hole, Lincicome played the next 11 holes in 4-under to pull within two shots of the lead, but she couldn't maintain her charge.
Sean Foley, the swing coach for Tiger Woods, believes his client will return to form after pulling out of the U.S. Open because of a lingering injury to his left knee.
"He's doing the right thing," Foley told The Washington Times on Wednesday. "A lot of people in golf are selfish, and this is affecting them and making them upset. This is about my buddy who has taken responsibility. I'm proud to see that he has realized this is the best thing to do. It's frustrating in the short term, but the big picture is much better."
Foley has worked with Woods since the summer of 2010. Because of the knee, Woods withdrew from the first round of the Players Championship last month after nine holes.
"You look at the sidelines in the Stanley Cup and NBA championship and there are a lot of guys who would like to play and would be hurt," Foley said. "Anyone at the highest levels of sport is overusing their bodies too much.
"The body's not meant to create that much linear force and torque force. Go to the driving range before the Open and ask every guy, and I bet you he's hurting."
Woods, 35, hasn't won a tournament for a year and a half. But Foley is adamant he will return to form.
"He'll get over it," Foley said. "If you don't believe in Tiger Woods' ability to play golf, you're crazy. Who doesn't go through a dry spell in life? We all do."
Pity this golf ball. Tim Tebow's business partner tweeted this photo of the former University of Florida Heisman Trophy winner-turned Denver Broncos quarterback about to pulverize a golf ball on the driving range at the St. Jude Classic golf tournament in Memphis.
Tebow's arms look like Hulk Hogan. His business partner, Angel Gonzalez of XV Enterprises tweeted: "Insane pic of @TimTebow getting ready to tee off @FedEx @St. Jude Classic."
The photo is "100% real, no photoshop," he added. The reason for the club's torque is Tebow's swing speed has been clocked at 141 mph.
Rory McIlroy knew he faced an uphill battle, trailing Steve Stricker by five at the start of the final round of the Memorial Tournament.
“You know you’re going to have to do something pretty special,” McIlroy acknowledged.
The Northern Irishman gave it a go, too — shooting a 32 on the front side that included four birdies in a row — before signing for a 68. McIlroy had two holes remaining after the weather delay and finished things off on a positive note with an 11-foot birdie putt.
"It was a great way to finish the tournament," McIlroy said. "I felt as if I played really good this week, I just made a few too many mistakes, which really cost me, and we’ll have to try and cut those out before the U.S. Open in a couple weeks’ time. But there’s definitely a lot of positives to take from how I’ve played this week."
McIlroy heads to Haiti on Monday on a mission for UNICEF. He’ll return to the States on Wednesday and play several rounds at Congressional in advance of the U.S. Open.
"I feel as if I drove the ball really good, putted the ball really good this week," the 22-year-old said. "Game is in good shape. I feel really good about it.
"My putting has been very solid the whole week, so you know, that’s a huge positive to take into the U.S. Open. … If anything, just a little bit of strategy more than anything else, just if you’re going to miss shots, miss it in the right places.
"This week if you miss greens it’s very penal here and you get punished quite easily. It’s the same as the U.S. Open, if you miss it in the wrong places you’re looking at a 5 or a 6. So it’s just something I need to address a little bit."
Luke Donald has overtaken Bubba Watson for the lead in the FedExCup.
Watson, who led Donald by 28 points, tied for 42nd after shooting 72 on Sunday. Matt Kuchar also made a huge move — he tied for second and moved from 14th to fourth in the standings.
Bubba Watson had held the FedExCup lead since late April, when he won the Zurich Classic. Donald becomes the fifth different player to lead the standings this year.
Donald, who tied for seventh, also extended his string of top-10 on TOUR to nine. The streak began when he won the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in February and ended a five-year victory drought.
Donald also has two top-10s on the European Tour during that stretch, including a win last Sunday at the BMW PGA Championship. He beat Lee Westwood in a playoff that day and leap-frogged him into the world No. 1 spot, as well.
But Donald’s par-or-better stretch ended at 23 on Saturday when he shot a 73.
Luke Donald secured the world No. 1 ranking by winning the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday, beating Lee Westwood in a playoff in what was a duel for top spot between the two players.
On the first playoff hole, Donald landed his approach onto the No. 18 green to within a few feet, while Westwood sent his shot into the adjacent water hazard to decide the tournament at Wentworth.
It is only the second stroke-play title in the past five years for Donald, who joins Westwood and Nick Faldo as the only Englishmen to hold the top spot since the rankings were introduced in 1986.
Donald will replace Westwood when the new rankings are released on Monday. His second tour victory this year, and fifth overall, also extends his lead in The Race to Dubai standings.
"Sounds pretty good, doesn't it," said Donald, last year's runner-up. "It's an amazing accomplishment. It's something I will be very proud of when I look back. I will savor this moment, it's very special. I think I will stay the same person, I hope I do. I'm looking forward to the challenge of staying No. 1. I know Lee and Martin (Kaymer) will be chasing me very hard."
Having trailed co-leaders Matteo Manassero and Donald by two strokes entering the round, Westwood shot a 3-under 68 and Donald hit a 70 for both to total 6-under 278.
Simon Dyson of England (69) finished third at 280 after hitting a 69. Marcus Fraser of Australia (67), France's Raphael Jacquelin (71), Shane Lowry of Ireland (67) were two strokes further back.
In a group of seven on 283 was three-time champion Colin Montgomerie (68), who claimed his first top-10 finish in almost three years, and Manassero (75).
It was third time lucky for Donald, who had missed out on becoming No. 1 after losing to Ian Poulter in the World Match Play final last week in Spain and going down to Brandt Snedeker in a playoff at The Heritage in April.
But his consistency in finishing in the top 10 for the past nine tournaments -- including winning the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona in February -- ensured his first playoff victory on either the European or PGA TOUR will give him the No. 1 ranking.
Donald said Westwood's water-bound approach in the playoff was more down to poor fortune than execution.
"It wasn't a bad shot, just had a litte bit too much spin on it. It was just unfortunate, you don't like to see that," Donald said. "Lee is a champion and has been a great No. 1 for European golf."
Westwood couldn't believe his ball didn't stay on the green.
"Where did the ball pitch? It's amazing it went in the water," Westwood said. "When Luke's (shot) was in the air, I thought it might have gone in the back bunker."
A tournament of mostly unimpressive scoring -- due to a redesign from Ernie Els that has made the West Course almost unplayable, or to fiendishly difficult pin placements, depending upon whom you believe -- continued at the start of the final round.
Donald began the day by going bogey-bogey, visibly blanching after duffing his chip at the par-3 No. 2 from just off the green.
Manassaero double-bogeyed No. 3 after needing two shots to reach the green from an adjacent bunker. Donald birdied the next hole to draw level with the Italian in front again.
Westwood, however, made four birdies in nine holes after a bogey on No. 3 to sit on top of the leaderboard.
Another birdie on the difficult No. 15 green was made possible by one of the shots of the tournament. Having missed the fairway with his driver and receiving a free drop, Westwood carved a 7-iron with draw that rolled within 4 feet of the hole, the putt taking him two strokes ahead of Donald.
That lead evaporated at No. 16.
Westwood three-putted after having dropped his club in his follow-through from the tee. Donald, in the next group, landed his approach within a foot of the hole -- and the top two players in the world were level again.
Down the home straight, Donald and Westwood mixed the sub-standard with the sublime.
Donald's birdie putt lipped out on No. 17 after a brilliant rescue shot following an approach that hit a tree. He landed his tee shot into the bunker at No. 18, not long after Westwood had sent his 5-wood into the gallery at the last.
"If you're going to miss your chances, you'll go into a playoff -- and they are volatile, aren't they?" Westwood said later.
Jordan Spieth may have shown his age in the last four holes, but overall, the 17-year-old amateur still had an impressive week in his second start at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.
Spieth went bogey-double bogey-bogey-double bogey in the final four holes in Sunday’s final round. He wasn’t alone in his struggles at TPC Four Season Resort’s closing stretch, but it was a tough day for the high school graduate.
“I was humbled by the this back nine.” said Spieth, who will be a University of Texas freshman this fall. “ … It’s hard. It stings right now, it really does.”
Spieth shot a 7-over 77 in the final round to leave him at 6 over for the tournament. He was still 1 over through 14 holes, which still gave him hope to make a move. Instead, he just moved backwards.
“I’m proud of the way I hung in there until the last four holes,” Spieth said.
Spieth started the final round just four shots off the lead. But a bogey at the opening hole was a foreshadow of struggles to come. Spieth eventually posted three double bogeys on the day, along with five bogeys.
But he also had four birdies, and 20 overall for the week. Defending champion Jason Day led the field this week in birdies with 22.
Another big crowd followed Spieth, who had big troubles off the tee Sunday. He hit just four of 14 fairways.
“I was everywhere today,” Spieth said. “I probably played a shot left-handed. I hit probably 30 trees. … It just wasn’t there with the driver today. Had I hit some fairways today, I think I could’ve shot a couple under and had a good shot.”
Last year in this event as a 16-year-old, Spieth became the sixth-youngest player to make a cut at a PGA TOUR event and eventually finished tied for 16th.
During his 16 seasons on tour, Tiger Woods has been featured in a slew of TV commercials, including some that required actual acting, timing and theatrical chops. He has a Screen Actors Guild card.
OK, sure, he hasn't filmed any acting lately for all the obvious reasons, because as a marketable commodity, even Nike can't much use him at the moment. But that underscores the notion that's about to be presented -- he's far too rusty to have pulled off what would have represented his greatest thespian effort ever.
At a press session Tuesday outside of Philadelphia, Woods was asked about the state of his relationship with longtime agent Mark Steinberg and management agency IMG. The fading former world No. 1 looked his inquisitor in the eye and seemed sincere.
For those who say that you can tell when Woods is bull-shooting us whenever his lips are moving, this would have been Oscar-worthy.
"I'm committed to both, with IMG, and Mark's my agent," he said, not batting an eye and seeming rather surprised the issue was broached.
So given the unblinking delivery, it's hard to believe he knew what was coming later in the day, when Steinberg was put on waivers by IMG after his contract-renewal talks with the company abruptly broke down, according to reports.
Agents come and go, in all sports. It's inside-baseball stuff, generally. Players sue agents. Agents sue players. Agents leave companies. Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus left IMG. This development is different because of the timing, circumstances and protagonists. The Shark and Bear were at the top of their sports at the time.
It presents Woods with more nagging, niggling details to sort out as he tries to re-assemble a reputation and career that have corroded from the bottom up starting with his 2009 sex scandal. Now he is facing yet another big-money divorce -- either from his agent and friend, Steinberg, or the management firm that helped put him on the marketing map and secured endorsement deals that made him the first billionaire earner in sports history.
"I'm very happy with both," Woods said Tuesday.
Pick one.
It adds another layer to the upchucking upheaval in Woods' personal and private lives, and in this instance, there's crossover. Steinberg stuck by Woods at his lowest ebb as the stomach-turning scandal played out -- sure, he had a financial stake in it -- and is one of Woods' few personal confidants. A divorce from IMG or Steinberg is going to potentially cut across all boundaries.
What's next, Steve Williams quitting? Come to think of it, plenty of folks have noticed that the longtime caddie hasn't been doing much whistling while he works for Woods lately, either, and was none too crazy when he was painted by a broad, bad brush when the scandal broke.
For the past 18 months, Woods hasn't so much lived a life as endured a ginormous, endless distraction. Cops, lawyers, judges, disgraced Canadian doctors, waitresses, porn stars, swing coaches, tour disciplinary action and a career-long victory drought. The lines blur and they've become almost impossible to separate.
In his last start, Woods quit after shooting 42 over nine holes, citing aggravated knee, Achilles and calf injuries. Now he'll need even more ibuprofen for the massive headache his management issue will certainly cause.
The latest falling domino adds another level of stress in an area where Woods is particularly vulnerable -- his wallet. The nuances of the agent game are interesting, because while agencies often solicit and land endorsement deals for clients, companies often take the initiative, too. They make the first call, and big firms like IMG then match up the particulars of the prospective corporate endorsement deal with the best sports figure in its client closet.
Woods won't be benefiting from any of those handout deals anymore. In fact, IMG negotiated his appearance fees, often at tournaments run overseas by one of IMG's subsidiaries (incest layer duly noted). Woods' last victory, 18 months ago at the Aussie Masters, came while he was receiving $3 million from a tournament run by IMG. His appearance-fee deal with Dubai has also reportedly expired, another revenue source that has dried up like spit in a desert.
Add them to the list. Despite assurances from Steinberg that deals were in the offing, Woods hasn't signed an endorsement deal since the scandal broke, his course-design business hasn't produced a single viable venue and the doorbell long ago stopped ringing. According to a source involved with several PGA Tour events, Steinberg has been actively shopping around the rights to Woods' bag for $5 million, with the guarantee that Woods would play in the company's tour event. The price was $8 million originally, the source said.
As the ash continues to fall around him, it's worth reminding that as far as celebrities and athletes go, Woods is fairly loyal to the crew around him, which means if Steinberg wants to continue as his management mouthpiece, he'll darned likely get the chance. Steinberg presumably knows where many of Tiger's silicone-enhanced bodies are buried, after all.
But hanging his shingle as a solo act, or even as part of another firm, might have its pitfalls. Whether Steinberg can reel in the clients without the institutional might of IMG behind him will bear watching. He wasn't selling Woods even with IMG's muscle, and in golf circles, Steinberg isn't exactly a universally beloved character given the heavy-handed manner in which he has handled Woods' affairs over the years. That could cost them endorsement opportunities, too, assuming Woods ever gets his game sorted out.
When will the latter happen? That's a million-dollar question of another kind, but given Tuesday's latest shock to the system, later seems like a safer bet than sooner. Yes, those are contract terms I just gave you in writing.
It's become head-spinning, and the spiral seems to have a distinctly downward arc. When the agents-of-misfortune development is added to the laundry list of personal, professional and physical issues he already faces, the guy who was once the best ever by a wide margin is now, in fact, more marginalized than ever.
John Daly has become the fourth player to withdraw from the BMW PGA Championship, pulling out after 14 holes of the second round because of a hip injury.
The two-time major winner was 12 over and set to miss the cut at Wentworth on Friday.
Jose Maria Olazabal (back), Paul Waring (hand) and Robert-Jan Derksen (rib) dropped out of the tournament in Thursday's opening round.
Daly's withdrawal leaves one American in the field -- 489th-ranked Anthony Kang, who shot a 6-over 77 on Thursday and is battling to qualify for the weekend.
Daly is scheduled to play in the Wales Open next week at Celtic Manor, but it is unclear if the injury will rule him out.
For the first time since before he won the 1997 Masters with an historic 12-shot victory, Tiger Woods dropped out of the top 10 in the world rankings Sunday night. And his plunge won't stop there.
How far might he fall? The numbers stack up against him.
Not to get too engrossed in the minutiae of the world rankings formula, but the main ingredient is a rolling schedule that pulls results from the past two years of a player's record, with the most recent 13 weeks weighing the most heavily.
To put this into perspective, over his first six events of 2009 -- which have already come off Woods' world ranking record -- Tiger's average finish was 7.6 through that year's Players Championship and included one victory at Bay Hill. During that span, he dropped from No. 2 in the world to No. 12.
Over the next four months, though, his world ranking points from 2009 will be nearly impossible to replace. From the 2009 Memorial in early June through the Tour Championship at the end of September, Woods claimed five victories in 10 events and nine top-10s overall for a staggering average finish of 2.8.
That stretch of golf might have been one of his best ever in a career that saw him win back-to-back majors on four separate occasions including the Tiger Slam of 2000-01.
No one can say for sure just how far Tiger will fall in the rankings in the coming months due to the complexity of the system. Outside the top 20? Top 30? A free fall is all within the realm of possibility now.
Part of the problem is, Woods just doesn't play that much. The world rankings use a minimum divisor of 40 tournaments whether you've played that many times or not. That's averaging 20 tournaments a year, which Woods barely does, once you add in the handful of tournaments he plays away from the PGA Tour. As of this week, Woods has teed it up in just 35 tournaments that award world ranking points in the last 24 months.
So, the theory goes, if Tiger played in more tournaments, he would earn more world ranking points since he almost always makes the cut. Since Tiger doesn't play as often as most other top-tier players, he has fewer chances to earn those precious points.
After the Players Championship, no player in the world had lost more world ranking points (156.979) than Woods in 2011. No one in the top 16 had gained as few as Woods (42.801) this season. That doesn't bode well for Woods if he wants to return to his place atop the game of golf.
Could he get on a hot streak and win a bunch of tournaments to replace all those wins? Of course. We're talking about a 14-time major winner here.
But with that balky knee injury that has resulted in him playing just nine competitive holes since the Masters in early April, the possibility of a return to the top 10, much less No. 1 in the world, seems unlikely any time soon.
Ian Poulter beat Luke Donald 2 and 1 in an all-English final of the World Match Play Championship on Sunday, denying his compatriot No. 1 spot in the world rankings for the first time.
The 22nd-ranked Poulter, who defeated top-ranked Lee Westwood in the last 16, pulled clear of his Ryder Cup teammate by winning two of the last four holes with birdies in a scrappy final in Andalusia.
"It's a nice boost. Questions have been asked of me over the last five months," said Poulter, who sealed his first tournament victory in 2011 and picked up a winner's cheque for ?800,000 $1.14 million.
The second-ranked Donald would have toppled Westwood as No. 1 if he had won the tournament but he missed his chance -- just like he did last month when losing a playoff to Brandt Snedeker at The Heritage in South Carolina.
"Ian took his opportunities and I didn't," Donald said. "It leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But I just ran out of steam a little bit."
Poulter became the first player to win both Match Play titles either side of the Atlantic -- he won the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship last year. Donald won the 2011 edition of that tournament in Arizona in February.
Poulter, who beat Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts at the first playoff hole in the second semifinal earlier Sunday, had been taken to at least 18 holes in his previous five matches on the Finca Cortesin course this week, while Donald had marched relentlessly to the final despite struggling with a throat infection.
But Donald never found his top form against Poulter, making just one birdie -- at the 6th -- and four bogeys.
Poulter went 1 down on the eighth when, after slicing his tee shot into the bushes at the side of the fairway, he slipped down a bank trying to thrash away his second shot.
He got up unscathed to promptly concede the hole, shared the next three holes and then drained a 45-foot putt on the 12th green to draw level.
Birdies for Poulter at the 14th and 16th sealed Donald's fate.
Once again, the par-5 18th hole at Hamilton Farm GC proved to be the difference in a match at the LPGA’s Sybase Match Play Championship. On Sunday evening, it determined the champion.
With a curling birdie putt at the last hole of her match against Cristie Kerr, Suzann Pettersen won the final match 1 Up to take the championship in New Jersey.
The win is the first in some 20 months for Pettersen, dating back to the ’09 Canadian Women’s Open. The Norwegian, whose short game has continually hampered her despite an outstanding game from tee to green, never trailed in her final match against Kerr but certainly was not assured a win until the absolute last shot. The weight of it all caused Pettersen to look up into the sky when the putt dropped, shortly after falling to her knees at the realization of her victory.
Typically, getting to the 18th hole in match play is a bad sign. For Pettersen, it was a sign of certain victory. In four matches, she had a match go to the last hole. Every time, she made birdie four, won the hole and the match.
Pettersen’s win marks the third time a player born in Europe has won on the LPGA in their last four events.
Angela Stanford, who lost the final two holes in the morning semifinal against Kerr, then was thrashed in the consolation match against Na Yeon Choi. She lost 4 & 3 in a match that was never really close. Stanford was runner-up in this event in 2010.
Curiously, it was the putter that acted up for Kerr instead. Normally one of the steadiest on the LPGA with the flat stick, Kerr missed four short putts to win holes which could have turned her fortune.
She had just finished packing the car -- everything but her husband and his golf clubs -- when an old friend walked up.
"Don't you come over here,'' Sonya Toms said. "You're going to make me cry.''
And she did. Just a little.
A few minutes later, caddie Scott Gneiser's eyes welled up a bit too.
If only they had laid up at the 16th...If only that putt at 17 had gone in...If...
This one wasn't just about a tournament lost. This was about family. About a moment that doesn't come around too often when you're 44. A moment that would have redefined David Toms' career. An afternoon that would have given 13-year-old Carter a father-and-son moment -- a family moment -- beyond compare.
Instead it was a time to reflect, to give out hugs. To talk about how the son was inspiring the dad; about how in losing, you also win; about taking the momentum from this week to Fort Worth next week and Colonial Country Club, which just happens to be one of Toms' favorite courses.
"If I can go in there and take some of the things I did this week, maybe get back in the hunt, maybe I'll feel more comfortable the next time and do better,'' Toms said.
For most of this perfect sun-splashed Sunday afternoon, THE PLAYERS Championship was there for Toms to take. A coulda, woulda, shoulda if you will. A moment that would erase all those years when he hadn't been in the mix and all those missed cuts here. He knew it. He could feel it.
He just couldn't pull it off. One mistake at 16 when he got ahead of himself, followed by an all-world birdie out of a divot at 18 to force a playoff. Then one momentary lapse on a clean-up par on the playoff hole.
That was all K.J. Choi needed. He tapped in for par and a win at THE PLAYERS Championship.
Toms shook his head.
"I thought I made the first one, and I hit a great tee shot,'' he said. "It was just a couple feet away from just going right down to the hole, and I just wasn't there on the putt.
"I was probably thinking ahead and thinking about the next hole, and I just got up there and missed it.''
A few minutes earlier, he had buried a 17-footer to tie and the crowd had gone crazy. Choi had missed the green and had to scramble for par.
"We were walking up to the green, and I had already had a small victory by hitting the shot I did out of the divot in the fairway, and K.J. had hit his chip and I knew he was going to have to I don't know,'' Toms said. "What was that, five or six feet that he had to make his? So I figured even if I don't make it I still have a chance that he might miss to get in a playoff.
"Then my caddie said let's give them something to cheer about, and it was a right edge putt, kind of downhill, just one of those kind you've got to get rolling. It was the best putt I've had in an awful long time. And to see it track the whole way knowing it was in about with five or six feet to go, it was a great feeling. It's something I can take away from this week to be able to make a putt like that when I have to.''
If he only had made that 18 footer in the playoff...
Ten years removed from his PGA Championship win at Atlanta Athletic Club -- in fact he won three times that year -- Toms is working his way back to the top.
His shoulder is healthy and he came into the week with a pair of 2011 top-5s -- a tie for third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard a tie for fifth at the Mayakoba Golf Classic -- in his hip pocket. His love for the game has come back, mostly because he's enjoying the heck out of playing it, and sharing it, with Carter.
"It's a lot of fun,'' Toms said. "It's so funny, when I'm picking out my outfit for the next day, he's picking out his outfit for the next day. It's funny. Those young kids are looking up to the young guys out here on TOUR, and he follows it all the time. I mean, it's on his phone, it's on his computer, and he's watching The Golf Channel all the time.
"It's kind of neat to see, though. When I was really winning a lot of tournaments, he knew about golf and he was around some, but he didn't play it and wasn't into it. But now he is. It would have been nice to win today for him.
"He had one of his little friends there and they were following me every step of the way. Disappointed because of that, but he can take a lot of stuff away from this week. Watching his dad out there playing and seeing me under pressure, you know, it's neat. Because if I were to make a bogey or hit a bad shot, you look over and you see him in the crowd and just kind of put a smile on your face and puts it all into perspective.''
Carter used to dabble in golf, but back then his real love was baseball. And he was good. But now he's a budding star in his dad's chosen game and both mom and dad are enjoying it.
"We were on the back porch for four or five hours yesterday watching it rain, and (Matteo) Manassero was out there and he was talking to my son and his friend,'' Toms said. "And they're only four or five years apart, and the guy is playing this golf tournament. He can relate to me a lot better than he can my son can relate to that guy a lot better. I'm just his dad, you know, that plays golf.
"He's watching Rickie Fowler and all these young guys and trying to dress like them and act like them and play golf like them. And that's fine. I mean, I think that's a neat part about growing up on the PGA TOUR, kids that are out here. They get to see a lot of go a lot of neat places, see a lot of great courses, meet a lot of famous people, and there's a lot of good role models out here for them.''
Like his dad.
Toms didn't mince words. He admitted he was a little nervous at times Sunday, something you'd expect since his last win was the 2006 Sony Open. Even with a dozen PGA TOUR wins, that major and three Ryder Cup and three Presidents Cup teams on his resume' it's been a while since he was this close to a win.
"I was very happy with the way I held up the last, well, 31 holes I played today, I guess,'' Toms said. "You know, with the lead or around the lead the whole time, I mean, it's tough when you haven't been there in a while and when you haven't played this golf course well.
"So I just, you know, I just kept plugging along, plugging along and made a couple mistakes towards the end, but making that putt on 18 when I had to, you know, that just shows that I can still do it when I need to.
"I got nervous a few times out there. I got ahead of myself on 16 in regulation. Seeing K.J. had to lay up already I probably should have laid up and hit a wedge up there and made par at the worst, but I felt like I could get it on the green and take maybe a two shot lead there and put a lot of pressure on him. So that was the mindset, and I just hit a bad shot."
Carter saw it all. He took it in. He learned from he saw. And when Toms walked to the car, he was there with a smile, helping load the last of the things in the car.
A few minutes earlier, Toms had talked about working his way back to the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cups -- "Man, you know, every year that they have one that I am not on, I know what I'm missing,'' -- and reminding everyone that one Sunday wasn't going to change his lie.
"Like I said, if I would have won this tournament, it doesn't change my life in any way,'' he said. "Maybe a little more confidence going forward, but that's it. It doesn't really change anything. Maybe exempts me to the Champions Tour, but other than that, no big deal.'
That drew a laugh.
But seriously, he said, the day was a blur -- the way it is when you get in a zone. He felt comfortable and in control.
And, yes, he wanted the win for Carter, more than anything.
"You know, and the interesting thing, the look on his face (when Toms missed the putt) was probably like, hey, his dad was leading all day long and then all of a sudden he didn't win,'' Toms said.
"But he understands. That gives me more incentive to get back and do it here soon."
When Cheyenne Woods was 2, she plucked a club from a bag, like a sword from a stone, and whacked a golf ball into the netting in her grandfather's garage, where her Uncle Eldrick — you may know him as Tiger — famously took his mythic first cuts.
Cheyenne doesn't remember, but she knows all about the family lore. Her mother, Susan, recalls how Earl Woods Sr. — beguiled by her swing — found a shorter club and showed his granddaughter just how to grip it.
"He saw something in her," Susan says.
Earl Sr. didn't coach Cheyenne, as he did Tiger, but he bought her clubs of her own by the time she was 6 and set her up with a coach in Arizona, who would send tapes of her swing to the doting grandfather in California.
Today Cheyenne is 20, a junior at Wake Forest who will compete in this week's NCAA championships in Bryan, Texas.
She is ranked 23rd by Golfweek, a long shot to win the women's individual title the way Tiger won the men's for Stanford in 1996. But when Cheyenne won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship last month, she immediately thought of her grandfather, who died in 2006.
"He would be very proud," she says, "of how far I've come."
Tiger tweeted his delight: My niece, Cheyenne, just won the ACC golf title by 7 shots! That's awesome, I'm so proud of her.
Cheyenne's father, Earl Jr., is Tiger's half-brother. She even looks a bit like Tiger. "I get that a lot," she says. "But I don't see it. I feel like I just look like myself."
Small wonder she asserts selfhood. When you golf, and your uncle is you-know-who, comparisons are unfair but inevitable — as much a part of her daily landscape as putting greens and open fairways.
"Hopefully everyone lets her be her," Tiger says. "People don't need to compare her to me."
They do, of course, and have since she picked up that first club — one of his old ones, as luck (and creation myth) would have it.
"Let her create her own life," Tiger says, "and her own path."
When she was little, Cheyenne would ask her teachers on the first day of school: Do you know who my uncle is? It was cool to be Tiger's niece. She still felt that way when she started playing junior tournaments and the cameras followed her every move.
Today, Cheyenne does her best to strike a middle ground: She is proud of her famous uncle but eager to own an identity apart from a man she does not really know all that well.
"We talk a little bit here and there," she says. "He's busy. I'm busy. We have our two separate lives."
They have played together, though not often. "Obviously, I'd love to play with her more," Tiger says. "It has been fun to watch her. I have watched her on film, and it's been amazing to see her progression over time."
Tiger's face lights up as he talks about her while walking to his car after practice before last week's Players Championship— from which he would bow out early with a knee injury.
"She has sought some advice here and there," Tiger says, "but that obviously is between us."
Earl Sr. offered advice mostly from a distance, except when her family made trips to California. On the visit when Cheyenne was 2, "We came to watch Tiger at the L.A. Open," Susan says. "He was 16. I pushed her around the course in her little stroller."
That night, Earl Sr. watched her in his garage. Years later, he predicted she'd be the female Tiger.
"He said that when I was really young, too," Cheyenne says. "So it's just funny how he had this eye for people. He knew when Tiger was young he was going to be a superstar. Maybe that'll be me.
"If I just keep working hard — nothing is going to be given to me — I think I have the potential."
'She's just getting started' Cheyenne, on track to graduate from Wake Forest a year from now, hopes to play on the LPGA tour some day.
"If you look at the LPGA, there is nobody that looks like me," she says. "There's nobody that has my name. There is a lot of potential, I feel like, in my name and the fact that I am different from other people."
She means her blend of ethnicities: "My mom is white. My dad comes from my grandfather, who was part Native American, Chinese, black and white. That's me. I'm a mutt."
Her mother and father are divorced. She has two brothers and two non-mutts — Peanut, a 15-year-old basenji, and Moose, a 3-year-old chocolate Lab.
"It's fun to see her mature as a person over the years," Tiger says. "To see her grow up, starting … in the same garage where I started the game of golf, and to see her progress through all of this and to win such a big event (as the ACC) is great to see.
"And she's just getting started. I know what she can do, and it's going to be fun to watch her do it. … She's just a sweetheart. She is as nice and as humble as anyone could possibly be."
Cheyenne was highly recruited out of Xavier College Prep, a Catholic girls school in Phoenix. Wake Forest coach Dianne Dailey asked her then for her greatest strength. Cheyenne's answer: mental toughness.
"I still think so," she says. "I feel like having to separate myself from Tiger, and separate myself from pressure, from the expectations put on me, I feel like I can handle that pretty well."
Even so, Dailey did her best to shoo reporters from Wake Forest when Cheyenne arrived, figuring a media circus was not what a freshman needed.
"It got to be too much," Dailey says, "and we just had to say, 'This is not about famous relatives. This is about Cheyenne. When she becomes a good golfer, you all can come back and interview her.' And that's now. She is coming into her own."
As a freshman, she had a 76.2 scoring average, fourth on the team. As a sophomore, she had a 73.47 scoring average, the school record for women. And this season she is at 73.60, best on a team ranked 14th in the country entering the NCAA championships. The best NCAA finish for Wake's women's team was third in 1995; Wake's men's golf team has won three national championships.
Cheyenne found her ACC title troubling in one respect. When Natalie Sheary won the ACC in 2009 and Michelle Shin won it in 2010, her teammates got regional attention but little nationally.
"They work just as hard as I do," Cheyenne says. "They should get the same recognition."
"We understand," Sheary says, "it's not something she controls."
Sheary, one of Cheyenne's roommates, describes her as stylish — "great clothes" — and loyal — "great friend." She also says Cheyenne is surprisingly quiet in group settings.
"She doesn't pipe up in the conversation," Sheary says, "and then out of nowhere she throws in a line from a song or a movie, like Anchorman, and it fits just perfect, and it's hilarious. She's just very, very funny with a bunch of one-liners."
That sense of humor is on display in Cheyenne's bio on the Wake website. Asked for the best golfer she's ever played with, Cheyenne picks Charles Barkley, the Basketball Hall of Famer with a notorious hitch in his swing.
"Yeah, I know, I'm getting a lot of flack for that," she says, laughing musically. "Obviously, Tiger is the best golfer I've ever golfed with. But I had to throw something different out there."
The disappointment question Tiger, 35, has won 71 PGA tournaments, including 14 majors. Still, his last Tour win came Sept. 13, 2009. Golf fans know the import of that time line.
He hasn't won since his life imploded after a day-after-Thanksgiving 2009 fender-bender with a fire hydrant led to a gusher of revelations about infidelities and ultimately to his divorce from Elin Nordegren, mother of their two young children.
At a remarkable news conference in February 2010, Tiger apologized to family and friends he had "severely disappointed."
Was Cheyenne disappointed in him?
"I mean, I feel like it's the same as anything," she says. "I mean, I don't know. It's hard to say. That's just hard. I don't know."
It is the only time she stumbles in an hour-long interview. Cheyenne is a communications major who hopes to get into broadcasting some day. She is uncommonly smooth in front of a camera or a digital recorder.
The question is posed again.
"I feel like I don't really have a say in whether I'm disappointed," she says at last. "I mean, we're not super, super close. It's not like my dad cheated on my mother.
"But he is a member of my family and I guess maybe a little bit disappointed, but it doesn't affect how I see him. And I still look up to him. He's one of the people I look up to the most."
