Saturday, April 30, 2011
Pitcher John Smoltz struggles in Nationwide debut
Former Braves pitcher John Smoltz struggled in his Nationwide Tour debut, shooting a 15-over 87 at the South Georgia Classic on Saturday to miss the cut by 27 strokes.
The 43-year-old Smoltz opened with an 84 after two long weather delays forced him to play 18 holes over two days. He was even worse in the second round at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, with his 27-over 171 nine strokes worse that any of the other 147 golfers who completed both rounds.
Smoltz spent nearly his entire career with Atlanta, becoming the only pitcher in major league history to post 200 wins and 150 saves. He pitched for Boston and St. Louis in 2009 before moving into broadcasting.
He played in the South Georgia Classic on a sponsor exemption.
The 43-year-old Smoltz opened with an 84 after two long weather delays forced him to play 18 holes over two days. He was even worse in the second round at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, with his 27-over 171 nine strokes worse that any of the other 147 golfers who completed both rounds.
Smoltz spent nearly his entire career with Atlanta, becoming the only pitcher in major league history to post 200 wins and 150 saves. He pitched for Boston and St. Louis in 2009 before moving into broadcasting.
He played in the South Georgia Classic on a sponsor exemption.
Alexis Thompson shares lead @ Avnet Classic, could be youngest winner in LPGA history
Alexis Thompson moved into position to become the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history, shooting a 5-under 67 in breezy conditions Saturday for a share of the third-round lead with Song-Hee Kim in the Avnet LPGA Classic.
Thompson will be 16 years, 2 months, 21 days on Sunday. Marlene Hagge was 18 years, 14 days when she won the 1952 Sarasota Open, which was an 18-hole event. Pleasanton native Paula Creamer is the youngest winner of a multi-round event, taking the 2005 Sybase Classic at 18 years, 9 months, 17 days.
"I'm going into (Sunday) just going all-in on every golf shot," Thompson said. "Play consistent like I have the last few days and hopefully it'll all go well."
Kim had a 70 to match Thompson at 7-under 209 on The Crossings course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Magnolia Grove complex in Mobile, Ala.
Amy Yang (72) was a stroke back, and Maria Hjorth (67), Suzann Pettersen (71) and Karen Stupples (72) were 5 under.
Juli Inkster (70) and Christina Kim (72) were 3 under, and Creamer (75) was 2 over.
Thompson of Coral Springs, Fla., played in the U.S. Women's Open at 12 and turned professional last year. She said she didn't notice her top spot on the leader board until she was heading up to the 18th green.
"I hadn't been looking at the leader board, since I'm not trying to worry about that," she said.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Was John Daly implying Tiger Woods wasn't getting any?
Earlier today, John Daly sat down with Sports Radio 790, ostensibly to talk about working with former Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett and his relationship with Jon Gruden. The conversation started along those lines, but quickly took a turn for the Tiger Woods. From there, the questions about Tiger’s sexual escapades soon followed. And in discussing Tiger’s troubles, Daly, as always, wasn’t boring.
Daly started off with some kind words for Gruden, calling him his “new psychologist,” someone who’s “always positive,” and a “great guy to talk to.” He also talked about what he could have handled better during his career…a natural lead-in to Tiger. Daly talked with Tiger after his personal life fell apart, and believed Tiger should have been more forthcoming, and sooner:
“I told him – I said, if you would have come out after that night of the incident and told the world what was going on, not listened to your agents, not listened to anybody else, what your heart said and thought – what you just told me – this story would have ended in one day.”
Interesting, no? Tiger must have had a pretty good reason, then, for doing what he did. Daly said he didn’t want to share what the reason was, but some things he said later on in the interview started to clear things up a bit.
“You’re looking at a guy all the way to his college days, all it was was golf, golf, golf, golf, golf..he never had a chance to live a life. You know, certain things people go through, certain things you like, certain things you don’t like…He found out late what he really liked…He didn’t have a chance to find out what women were like…until his late teens…almost 20.”
Getting warmer…
“My exes…they didn’t want to have sex anymore. And when that happens, and I’ve always been straight up front with every one of ‘em: I said, if you’re not gonna give it to me, I am gonna go get it somewhere else…is that adultery? Well, maybe so, but from what I understand, when you’re married they’re supposed to give it to you.”
A-ha! But that was Daly talking about his life, not Tiger’s. But then one of the interviewers asked Daly if Tiger could have gotten away with going up in front of reporters and telling them essentially what Daly just did – that he wasn’t getting any at home. Daly’s response?
“Exactly…that’s what I did.”
They asked him again if Tiger could have gotten away with it. Daly: “I think so.” He added that had Tiger been up front from the beginning, there wouldn’t have been women claiming affairs left and right. So while Daly never quite came right out and said, “Tiger wasn’t getting any from Elin anymore” – well, we’ll agree with Guyism that he couldn’t have implied it much more strongly. Like we said, John Daly: never boring.
Se Ri Pak returns to place of three previous victories
Se Ri Pak has reason to feel comfortable going into this week's Avnet LPGA Classic at Magnolia Grove's Crossings Course.
The LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer is coming off her best finish of the year three weeks ago at the Kraft Nabisco Championship with a tie for 10th. Now, she finds herself at a course where she has won three tournament titles going into the Classic starting Thursday. It's not home for the South Korean, but it sure feels that way.
Pak has competed in 10 previous tournaments on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail course, winning three times, including last year's Bell Micro LPGA Classic. She also won the 2001 and 2002 Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions titles on the same course.
"Everyone asks why you're so good on that golf course," Pak said Wednesday. "I don't exactly know why my game suits in this golf course. But the golf course, you kind of — you have to (be) really smart playing. You know, like you're not always hitting straight. (It) doesn't always have to be a great shot on the golf course. But this course you have to think how this shot, next shot, how to make it good, make sure which shot is easier.
"I guess overall, my game is pretty good on this golf course."
Obviously. In her previous appearances at the Crossings Course Pak has an overall score of 42 under par. That includes last year when she won with a 13-under score in 54 holes of play. The final round was cancelled because of rain and Pak, Brittany Lincicome and Suzann Pettersen played a sudden death playoff on the 18th hole to determine the winner.
Pak dropped a 10-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole after Lincicome had made a 30-foot, downhill par putt. Pak said when she returned for practice rounds this week she was greeted with a sense of familiarity.
"You have a great memory about it," she said of the course. "Of course, this week is going to be a strong field but it's supposed to be on the LPGA Tour."
Five other former champions of tournaments on this course, and nine of the top 10-ranked players, are in the field. There's also Stacy Lewis, who is coming off her first LPGA win — and her first major championship — having won the Kraft Nabisco Championship in the previous LPGA event. Lincicome and Pettersen are back, as is world No. 1 Yani Tseng, who has one LPGA win, two wins in Australia, a win in Taiwan and a second-place finish in the Kraft Nabisco to her credit this season.
"I played this two, three years already and I've never done good," Tseng said of her previous Magnolia Grove experiences, when she finished tied for 33rd last year and tied for 35th in 2008.
There are six Canadians in the field. They include Lorie Kane of Charlottetown, Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Stephanie Sherlock of Barrie, Ont., Jessica Shepley of Owen Sound, Ont., Lisa Meldrum of Montreal and Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C.
This marks the first LPGA tournament since April 3, and the first competition for most of the field during that span.
Paula Creamer makes her return to the Crossings Course where she has won events as an amateur and a professional for the first time since the course underwent major renovations. The tournament wasn't played in 2008 when the LPGA changed its date on the schedule and Creamer missed last year's tournament as she recovered from thumb surgery. She won the Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions crown here in 2007.
"You always want to play with the best players," Creamer said. "You want to have the strongest fields that you can. That makes the tournament special and makes it more exciting for everybody. You know you have to play well and you have to beat a lot of good players."
Karrie Webb, Dorothy Delasin, Christina Kim, Angela Stanford and Creamer have all won titles at Magnolia Grove in the past.
The LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer is coming off her best finish of the year three weeks ago at the Kraft Nabisco Championship with a tie for 10th. Now, she finds herself at a course where she has won three tournament titles going into the Classic starting Thursday. It's not home for the South Korean, but it sure feels that way.
Pak has competed in 10 previous tournaments on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail course, winning three times, including last year's Bell Micro LPGA Classic. She also won the 2001 and 2002 Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions titles on the same course.
"Everyone asks why you're so good on that golf course," Pak said Wednesday. "I don't exactly know why my game suits in this golf course. But the golf course, you kind of — you have to (be) really smart playing. You know, like you're not always hitting straight. (It) doesn't always have to be a great shot on the golf course. But this course you have to think how this shot, next shot, how to make it good, make sure which shot is easier.
"I guess overall, my game is pretty good on this golf course."
Obviously. In her previous appearances at the Crossings Course Pak has an overall score of 42 under par. That includes last year when she won with a 13-under score in 54 holes of play. The final round was cancelled because of rain and Pak, Brittany Lincicome and Suzann Pettersen played a sudden death playoff on the 18th hole to determine the winner.
Pak dropped a 10-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole after Lincicome had made a 30-foot, downhill par putt. Pak said when she returned for practice rounds this week she was greeted with a sense of familiarity.
"You have a great memory about it," she said of the course. "Of course, this week is going to be a strong field but it's supposed to be on the LPGA Tour."
Five other former champions of tournaments on this course, and nine of the top 10-ranked players, are in the field. There's also Stacy Lewis, who is coming off her first LPGA win — and her first major championship — having won the Kraft Nabisco Championship in the previous LPGA event. Lincicome and Pettersen are back, as is world No. 1 Yani Tseng, who has one LPGA win, two wins in Australia, a win in Taiwan and a second-place finish in the Kraft Nabisco to her credit this season.
"I played this two, three years already and I've never done good," Tseng said of her previous Magnolia Grove experiences, when she finished tied for 33rd last year and tied for 35th in 2008.
There are six Canadians in the field. They include Lorie Kane of Charlottetown, Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Stephanie Sherlock of Barrie, Ont., Jessica Shepley of Owen Sound, Ont., Lisa Meldrum of Montreal and Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C.
This marks the first LPGA tournament since April 3, and the first competition for most of the field during that span.
Paula Creamer makes her return to the Crossings Course where she has won events as an amateur and a professional for the first time since the course underwent major renovations. The tournament wasn't played in 2008 when the LPGA changed its date on the schedule and Creamer missed last year's tournament as she recovered from thumb surgery. She won the Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions crown here in 2007.
"You always want to play with the best players," Creamer said. "You want to have the strongest fields that you can. That makes the tournament special and makes it more exciting for everybody. You know you have to play well and you have to beat a lot of good players."
Karrie Webb, Dorothy Delasin, Christina Kim, Angela Stanford and Creamer have all won titles at Magnolia Grove in the past.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Westwood reclaims #1 in world, Luke falls just short
Lee Westwood won the Indonesian Masters on Sunday and ended up regaining the No. 1 spot in Official World Golf Ranking when Luke Donald lost a playoff at The Heritage.
Donald would have jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 with a victory, but lost to Brandt Snedeker on the second hole of a playoff.
After waiting out a lightning delay on the final hole, Westwood finished off a 3-under 69 for a three-stroke victory over Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee.
The English star, ranked second behind Martin Kaymer entering the week, won on his 38th birthday.
Asked what he wanted for his birthday, Westwood replied, "Something silver and shiny."
As he stepped off the 18th green a portion of the gallery sang "Happy Birthday."
Westwood finished at 19-under 269 in the Asian Tour event at Royale Jakarta. He took a five-stroke lead into the final day after opening with rounds of 68, 66 and 66.
"It was quite a day, really," Westwood said. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy with a five-shot lead. I'm experienced enough to know that patience is the key.
"I hit the ball great, but didn't hit the putts when it mattered."
He did hole a tricky birdie putt on No. 11.
"It was probably the hardest putt I had all day. it was 15 feet with 3 feet of break," he said.
Jaidee shot a 65.
Donald would have jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 with a victory, but lost to Brandt Snedeker on the second hole of a playoff.
After waiting out a lightning delay on the final hole, Westwood finished off a 3-under 69 for a three-stroke victory over Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee.
The English star, ranked second behind Martin Kaymer entering the week, won on his 38th birthday.
Asked what he wanted for his birthday, Westwood replied, "Something silver and shiny."
As he stepped off the 18th green a portion of the gallery sang "Happy Birthday."
Westwood finished at 19-under 269 in the Asian Tour event at Royale Jakarta. He took a five-stroke lead into the final day after opening with rounds of 68, 66 and 66.
"It was quite a day, really," Westwood said. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy with a five-shot lead. I'm experienced enough to know that patience is the key.
"I hit the ball great, but didn't hit the putts when it mattered."
He did hole a tricky birdie putt on No. 11.
"It was probably the hardest putt I had all day. it was 15 feet with 3 feet of break," he said.
Jaidee shot a 65.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Westwood finally gets another win and possibly #1 ranking to boot
Lee Westwood won the Indonesian Masters on Sunday to put himself in position to move back to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, if Luke Donald fails to win the PGA TOUR event in South Carolina.
Donald had a one-stroke lead entering the final round of The Heritage and would jump from No. 3 to No. 1 with a victory. Top-ranked Martin Kaymer took the week off.
Westwood, who celebrated his 38th birthday on Sunday, opened the final round birdie-bogey and then made eight straight pars.
The birdie on hole 11 was the turning point in Westwood's round.
"It was probably the hardest putt I had all day, it was 15 feet with 3 feet of break," he said.
After waiting out a lightning delay on the final hole, he finished off a 3-under 69 for a three-stroke victory over Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee.
The Englishman totaled 19-under 269 in the Asian Tour event at Royale Jakarta.
As he stepped off the 18th green a portion of the gallery erupted singing "Happy Birthday" -- and Westwood had plenty to smile about.
When asked what he wanted for his birthday, Lee replied with a grin, "Something silver and shiny."
"It was quite a day really," he continued. "I knew it wasn't gonna be easy with a five-shot lead. I'm experience enough to know that patience is the key. I hit the ball great, but didn't hit the putts when it mattered."
Lee had only positive things to say about the inaugural Indonesian Masters.
"Fantastic golf course in brilliant condition," he said. "I have been to Indonesia twice and have had a great time and the playing field will only get stronger."
Park Hyun-bin of South Korea briefly shared the lead with Westwood before a bogey on No. 11. Jaidee made a charge but missed a few key puts on his way to shooting a 65.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Dustin Johnson and caddie split after lack luster 2011 start
Dustin Johnson is searching for a new caddie, having split with caddie Bobby Brown after nearly three years on TOUR, Golf Digest’s Tim Rosaforte reports.
The move is a surprise one, but both sides appear to be in agreement that a change is needed.
"This part of the game and we both understand that," Brown told Rosaforte on Tuesday. He added that "we are very cool with each other and will remain very close. We’re like brothers."
Johnson’s agent, David Winkle, confirmed the breakup, saying it was "mutual." But Winkle added that "only time will tell if their break proves to be temporary or permanent."
Winkle said Johnson will likely have a trial run with a few potential replacements before making any decision on Brown’s replacement. Johnson will have a "qualified friend" on his bag for his next start, the Ballantine’s Championship in Seoul, South Korea.
Brown has been on the bag for all four of Johnson’s PGA TOUR wins, but Johnson has struggled with inconsistency this year. He posted two top-10 finishes in January but has just one top-10 finish in his last seven starts — a second at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship — and has missed two cuts during that span.
In his last start, he tied for 38th at the Masters.
Warning for top players from the Royal & Ancient
THE boss of The Open wants Tiger Woods and other stars named and shamed if they spit or swear at Sandwich.
The former world No.1 was fined by the European Tour in February for spitting on a green at the Dubai Desert Classic.
US TV decided not to show Woods spitting at the Masters but he and Phil Mickelson were caught on camera swearing after poor shots.
Although the US PGA Tour regularly fines players for poor on-course conduct they refuse to reveal any details.
The only time an American disciplinary record has been made public was when John Daly’s 456-page personnel file was revealed during a court case last year.
But Peter Dawson, chief executive of the Royal and Ancient Club, is determined top players act as “role models” at The Open at Royal St George’s in July.
“These guys are role models and we are looking for them to behave as well as possible on the course,” said Dawson.
“There have obviously been some incidents we don’t like. I still think generally the behaviour in our sport is a model for other sports and it is why those incidents get so much publicity.
“I am in favour of these sanctions being publicised.”
Woods was left cursing his luck at the last Kent Open in 2003 when he lost his ball from his opening drive – and carded a triple-bogey seven.
But the fairway has been widened by 12 yards after fewer than 30 per cent of players hit the shorter grass from the tee.
Royal St George’s remains the only Open venue in England to openly discriminate – with no women members allowed – but Dawson said: “It is not something I am overly concerned about.”
Monday, April 18, 2011
McIlroy can't hold 54 hole lead for second week in a row
UNLUCKY Rory McIlroy put on a brave face after following up his Masters heartbreak with another final-day collapse at the Malaysian Open.
The Northern Irishman held a three-shot lead at one stage during a third round that ran into Sunday because of rain, but ended up two shots behind the winner, the prodigious Italian 17-year-old Matteo Manassero.
“At this moment I’m pretty disappointed but it was a good week,” insisted McIlroy, who led last week in Augusta after 63 holes only to crumble but travelled for 25 hours to play in Malaysia just days later.
“I started off really well in the tournament. To shoot the scores that I did considering the travelling is a pretty good effort.”
McIlroy extended his overnight lead with a birdie on 10 as he and playing partner Manassero hurried to finish their third rounds, but a double bogey at the 15th saw him slip behind his teenage rival before the final round.
And despite three birdies in four holes from the eighth, McIlroy stuttered again with a double bogey and two bogeys in a 69 to finish on 14 under par, behind Manassero and Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, whose 67 saw him snatch second place.
Manassero’s victory was his second on the European Tour and a timely success ahead of his 18th birthday tomorrow. He said: “It’s a great achievement after just 11 months of professional golf. It’s a great achievement and gets me into the Majors.”
The Northern Irishman held a three-shot lead at one stage during a third round that ran into Sunday because of rain, but ended up two shots behind the winner, the prodigious Italian 17-year-old Matteo Manassero.
“At this moment I’m pretty disappointed but it was a good week,” insisted McIlroy, who led last week in Augusta after 63 holes only to crumble but travelled for 25 hours to play in Malaysia just days later.
“I started off really well in the tournament. To shoot the scores that I did considering the travelling is a pretty good effort.”
McIlroy extended his overnight lead with a birdie on 10 as he and playing partner Manassero hurried to finish their third rounds, but a double bogey at the 15th saw him slip behind his teenage rival before the final round.
And despite three birdies in four holes from the eighth, McIlroy stuttered again with a double bogey and two bogeys in a 69 to finish on 14 under par, behind Manassero and Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, whose 67 saw him snatch second place.
Manassero’s victory was his second on the European Tour and a timely success ahead of his 18th birthday tomorrow. He said: “It’s a great achievement after just 11 months of professional golf. It’s a great achievement and gets me into the Majors.”
Tiger's niece Cheyenne Woods wins ACC Championship
Someone with a last name Woods is getting the job done and raising trophies in golf. It’s Tiger Woods‘ niece, Cheyenne.
Cheyenne Woods, a junior at Wake Forest University, won the individual ACC Championship on Sunday by seven shots. It’s a dominating win and the biggest feather in Woods’ cap in her golfing career.
Woods opened the day tied with University of North Carolina’s Allie White, but by posting the only round below 70 in the final round, the Demon Deacon pulled away from the field to finish at 5-under 208 for three rounds. Ultimately, Woods helped Wake Forest to finish 4th in the team competition, while UNC won its first ACC team championship in 19 years by beating Duke by 24 shots.
The win is Woods’ first of the year and third of her collegiate career.
Her more famous uncle, Tiger, sent a tweet to congratulate her on the accomplishment.
“My niece, Cheyenne, just won the ACC golf title by 7 shots! That’s awesome, I’m so proud of her,” he said.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
McIlroy leads again going into Sunday. Can he close the deal?
For the second consecutive week, Rory McIlroy leads a golf tournament going into Sunday. Play has been suspended for Saturday most of the way through the rain-delayed third round of the Maybank Malaysian Open and the Ulsterman leads the tournament by two shots halfway through his round.
McIlroy is on 12-under, a couple clear of three players, including 17-year-old Matteo Manassero. Gregory Bourdy and first round leader Alex Noren join the Italian teen on 10-under.
McIlroy is 1-under on his third round after an 8-under 64 on Friday to get into a share of the lead. His lone buddies through nine holes came on his last of the day.
“It’s a solid start. I could have been two or three shots better off but it is nice to hole that putt at the end on the ninth and finish on a positive note,” McIlroy said.
Bourdy has the second best round of the day going – 6-under through his day. Martin Kaymer, coming off of a sound defeat at the hands of Augusta National, is also 6-under for the day and now three back of McIlroy.
But the round of the day at Kuala Lumpur belongs to Hwang In-choon. He is 7-under on the third round with three holes to play.
Jim Thorpe thrilled to be back on the links after a 10 month stint in prison
Standing over a 20-foot putt to save par used to be a stressful situation for Jim Thorpe. Not anymore.
When you've had your liberty taken away for almost a year, bad lies and crooked numbers suddenly don't seem nearly as daunting.
As Thorpe approaches today's tee time for the opening round of the $1.7 million Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am at TPC Tampa Bay, the 62-year-old veteran of the Champions Tour is thankful for his freedom.
"A lot of things have changed since I left," said Thorpe, who recently spent 10 months in an Alabama prison camp for income tax violations. "We have put together a beautiful team called Team Thorpe that will make sure that things that happened in the past would not happen again. Sometimes in life we make mistakes and trust the wrong people."
Thorpe must trust a rusty swing this week as he joins a field of 76 golfers competing for the winner's share of $255,000.
In 2009, Thorpe pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay income taxes. The 13-time winner on the Champions Tour was released from the Alabama facility in January and re-assigned to a halfway house in Orlando to complete the terms of his violation.
"I miss the excitement and the competition," Thorpe said Thursday. "I thought this week coming back to a golf course I played quite a bit would be nice to get my feet wet again. Tuesday morning, when I drove in, I've never been that nervous on the golf course in my whole life. I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know how the pros were going to receive me."
Those fears proved unfounded as Thorpe's peers greeted his return with encouraging handshakes and welcome smiles.
During his time in prison, Thorpe fell out of shape. He spent much of his time watching the Golf Channel and pining for his return to the fairways.
He also had a harsh message for his wife and daughter: stay away.
"I don't think you ever want your family to see you in a situation where you don't have control of your destiny," Thorpe said. "They understood it. They know the type of person that I am, and I told them just let me do what I need to do and this will all be gone in 10 months."
Meanwhile, the correspondence kept pouring in from Thorpe's contemporaries, offering support during his incarceration.
"I got a lot of letters from a lot of guys," Thorpe said. "The most unexpected letter was from Tom Watson, who gave me a putting tip. When I saw Tom yesterday, I said, 'You could have given me this putting tip 30 years ago.'"
Thorpe hasn't played particularly well at this TPC course, registering only three top-20 finishes in 10 appearances.
He acknowledged the probability of early jitters today as he resumes a professional career that has earned him more than $15 million.
"I'm playing with a good friend of mine, Dana Quigley, and I know he'll find a way to relax me out there," said Thorpe, who earned a football scholarship to Morgan State as a running back. "For some reason, I feel a little nervous … basically because I don't know what to expect when I hit the first tee shot. But it's like playing football – once you get the first hit, the game is on."
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Masters champ Charl Schwartzel commits to playing Canadian Open
Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and three-time major winner Ernie Els.
How's that for a South African threesome?
It's an intriguing trio that organizers of the RBC Canadian Open might want to throw together in the same group at this summer's tournament at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club.
We have known for quite some time that Els will be playing at Shaughnessy, but the additions of Schwartzel and Oosthuizen are a big bonus for a Canadian Open field that is shaping up to be the best in many years.
Oosthuizen's sister-in-law, Kamloops resident Susanna Swart, confirmed their participation in a phone interview on Wednesday. She and her family just returned from the Masters, which Schwartzel won in dramatic fashion by birdieing the final four holes on Sunday.
"They are both coming to play," said Swart, whose younger sister, Nel-Mare, is married to Oosthuizen.
Swart said Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, along with their families, will be joining she and her husband Servaas and their children at a lake-front home in the Okanagan for a vacation right after the Canadian Open.
Oosthuizen, who won last summer's British Open, and Schwartzel have been close friends since their junior golf days in South Africa and have previously visited the Kamloops area for vacations.
Oosthuizen even played a round of golf in relative anonymity at Tobiano near Kamloops after his British Open win last summer at St. Andrews.
"Louis comes every year and Charl has been here twice now," Swart said, then added with a laugh: "Just think about it, these are two guys who have both stayed in my basement. They have both won majors. It's funny, eh."
Swart is convinced Schwartzel's Masters win won't change his plans.
"We texted Charl the other day just joking about it," she said. "And he said I'll see you this summer."
Swart said after their Okanagan vacation, Oosthuizen and Schwartzel are planning to fly out of Kelowna to the Bridgestone Invitational, a World Golf Championship event scheduled for Aug. 4-7 in Akron, Ohio.
Bill Paul, Golf Canada's tournament director, said Wednesday that Schwartzel and Oosthuizen have not yet officially committed to the event.
"On the tail of Augusta that would be great news," Paul said. "It would certainly be great to have the current British Open and Masters champions at the RBC Canadian Open. But until a player commits or has told me he plans to commit I really can't comment. But it sounds like a great story and I'm on it."
Schwartzel and Oosthuizen would join an impressive list of players expected at Shaughnessy for the July 21-24 event. Luke Donald, Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar, Anthony Kim and Els are already committed to play in the $5.2 million US event.
The Canadian Open is returning to Shaughnessy after a successful event there in 2005. That tournament was won by Mark Calcavecchia, who now is a regular on the Champions Tour but has said he plans to return to Shaughnessy this summer.
This year's tournament is being held the week after the British Open at Royal St. George's and tournament organizers have a charter aircraft booked to fly players to Vancouver from England.
The Masters: Greatest sporting event in the world?
Cool article by Michael Goldstein
Deflated from the adrenaline kick of Masters Sunday I found myself sitting on the couch with glazed eyes and the golf channel blaring replays at me. The golf channel, entirely dedicated to professional golf, can be simply too much. Is the Tiger of old back? Did Rory prepare properly? Where are all the Americans? Is Dustin Johnson's swing awry? Yawn...
One problem with the concept of a golf channel is that there are plenty of inane conversations going on to fill time. And there are so many replays - I've heard Gary Player giving the same interview about 30 times and it's driving me crazy. Not to mention the analysts sprouting baseball-esque stats about all the players (guys it's not rocket science that most of the guys are "0-for" at the Masters). So I was about to make the effort to get off the couch and change the channel when one conversation pricked my interest.
This particular conversation was led by Frank Nobilo, the straight-shooting, unshaven Kiwi who keeps everything mildly tolerable on cable channel 39. His question: is the golf course Augusta National the best sporting stage in the world?
Frank's reasoning was that, year after year, some of the most thrilling sports viewing happens on Masters Sunday. It is a sports drama like few others. The atmosphere is electric - roars reverberate around the property as though five football matches are being played alongside one another. As a Masters virgin, I quickly learned what a Sunday afternoon "Tiger Roar" sounded like, and it didn't take much to guess a subsequent roar was in the "Tiger makes eagle to get a share of the lead" category.
The back nine of Augusta National is made for drama. The par-fives of 13 and 15 are simply fantastic holes where the guys can shoot all kinds of numbers. While the chasing pack are playing these holes and the cheering is growing louder, the leading groups are struggling through the immensely difficult holes at amen corner. The organising green jackets set the course up to enhance this drama and pins are placed in swales that encourage birdies and even eagles. Adam Scott was barely milimetres of acing the 16th hole, which would have surely sealed the title for him in the most spectacular fashion ever seen.
On Sunday afternoon no fewer than eight players held a share of the lead at some stage. Some players were charging up the scoreboard with birdies, others were feeling the pressure and stuttering around the course. The spectators were glued to the results and the reactions from the crowd as the scoreboards changed were like a blind Mexican wave circling the fairways. Those who say that a certain player doesn't look at the scoreboard are kidding themselves - they can't ignore the drama that is going on around them.
And then you've got the spectators' experience which, through years of trial and error, has been perfected by the Augusta National committee. It's easy to see the action, you get up close with the players and there are no issues with futile things like food, toilets or even expensive beer. If you need a break from the cheers and the action engulfing you, it's easy to shut your ears off and look around the blazing streaks of azaleas and graceful dogwoods set off against the green canvas.
So with Frank having evoked the emotions that I'd experienced for the first time just hours earlier, it got me thinking - is this the best sporting stage going around?
I went back to a few sporting experiences I've been lucky enough to be part of: the Boxing Day test at the MCG; the All Whites' final qualifier against Bahrain; the Open Championship at St Andrew's; the Ryder Cup in Wales. All were fantastic events, but the Masters has them for dead.
Of course there are other annual sporting stages which are undeniable bucket list nominees: Flemington for the Melbourne Cup, the Monaco Grand Prix, the Tour de France or the Superbowl. And then there are the more irregular events which take years of buildup before their climax like the Football or Rugby World Cup Finals and, of course, the Olympics. Having not been to any of these events it would be impossible for me to comment for sure.
So I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts. But one thing I know is that when you get the stage that is Augusta National Golf Club, fill it with passionate spectators and add a few dozen professional golfers, the guaranteed result is both a surreal live sporting experience and a television drama like no other.
Tiger thinks Rory can learn from nightmarish final round @ Augusta
Tiger Woods never suffered the kind of day during his younger days in a major that Rory McIlroy did on Sunday at the Masters, or Dustin Johnson did at last year’s U.S. Open or Nick Watney did at the PGA Championship. But as a 20-year-old in his first year on the PGA TOUR, Woods failed to nail down the 1996 Quad Cities Classic after leading by 54 holes.
Woods led by one stroke going into the final round but shot a 2-over 72 and finished tied for fifth behind Ed Fiori. Woods would not lose a 54-hole lead on TOUR again until the 2009 PGA Championship when he was 33 years old.
He thinks McIlroy can learn from Sunday’s results at Augusta National, when the 21-year-old blew a four-shot lead in shooting 80. Same goes for Johnson, who shot 82 in the final round at Pebble Beach after taking a three-shot lead after 54 holes, or Watney, who had a three-shot lead at Whistling Straits last August but shot 81.
"I had the lead going into the final round (in 1996) and blew it," Woods said during an interview on the Golf Channel’s Morning Drive on Thursday, "so I know exactly how they feel — not necessarily in a major championship, but to have that opportunity at that young age, it’s a significant opportunity.
"I think they have to take advantage of it and learn from it, learn from the mistakes, and apply them for next time."
Upon reflection of his own performance at Augusta National. Woods said he was pleased with the stretches in which he played well but knows he can get better.
Woods started Sunday’s final round seven shots behind McIlroy, but shot 31 on the front side to grab a share of the lead … only to fall back when his putter cooled off and he failed to sustain the momentum.
"I think that Sunday was a bunch of fun for about nine holes," Woods said. "I got into the mix a bit. I was kind of on the periphery. Rory was seven shots ahead of where I was and I had to get in it and going out in 31 put me right square into the mix and that part was fun, that part was a lot of fun — and next time hopefully I don’t start so far back or if I do start that far back maybe I can put together a whole 18 holes instead of just nine."
Woods bemoaned the short putts that he missed on the final nine, as well as "the bad iron shot on 13 with a 7-iron in my hand, not making three or four there."
Woods added: "I wasn’t able to post the number that I needed to post to put heat on the guys behind me who had two easy par 5s to play. Obviously every tournament we play in there are a bunch of shots we can go over and we always look at those opportunities to get better."
Woods led by one stroke going into the final round but shot a 2-over 72 and finished tied for fifth behind Ed Fiori. Woods would not lose a 54-hole lead on TOUR again until the 2009 PGA Championship when he was 33 years old.
He thinks McIlroy can learn from Sunday’s results at Augusta National, when the 21-year-old blew a four-shot lead in shooting 80. Same goes for Johnson, who shot 82 in the final round at Pebble Beach after taking a three-shot lead after 54 holes, or Watney, who had a three-shot lead at Whistling Straits last August but shot 81.
"I had the lead going into the final round (in 1996) and blew it," Woods said during an interview on the Golf Channel’s Morning Drive on Thursday, "so I know exactly how they feel — not necessarily in a major championship, but to have that opportunity at that young age, it’s a significant opportunity.
"I think they have to take advantage of it and learn from it, learn from the mistakes, and apply them for next time."
Upon reflection of his own performance at Augusta National. Woods said he was pleased with the stretches in which he played well but knows he can get better.
Woods started Sunday’s final round seven shots behind McIlroy, but shot 31 on the front side to grab a share of the lead … only to fall back when his putter cooled off and he failed to sustain the momentum.
"I think that Sunday was a bunch of fun for about nine holes," Woods said. "I got into the mix a bit. I was kind of on the periphery. Rory was seven shots ahead of where I was and I had to get in it and going out in 31 put me right square into the mix and that part was fun, that part was a lot of fun — and next time hopefully I don’t start so far back or if I do start that far back maybe I can put together a whole 18 holes instead of just nine."
Woods bemoaned the short putts that he missed on the final nine, as well as "the bad iron shot on 13 with a 7-iron in my hand, not making three or four there."
Woods added: "I wasn’t able to post the number that I needed to post to put heat on the guys behind me who had two easy par 5s to play. Obviously every tournament we play in there are a bunch of shots we can go over and we always look at those opportunities to get better."
New biodegradable golf balls made from lobster shells?
Golfers may soon be able to eat their lobster and hit it, too.
The University of Maine and the Lobster Institute, a joint Canada-U.S. industry organization, have teamed to produce a biodegradable golf ball made entirely from lobster shells previously destined for the scrap heap.
The crustacean-based spheres break down in less than two weeks, substantially less time than toxin-laced regular balls that scientists say can sit in woods and ponds for up to 1,000 years.
Because the lobster balls crack after only a few shots, their intended market is cruise ships that are currently barred from discharging anything toxic into the ocean. But there’s hope that they could someday be sold alongside Titleists and Callaways.
“This is something we could eventually work on, but we’re still at the prototype phase,” said Bob Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute, a research and education organization.
There are other biodegradable balls on the market, all designed for one-time use. But Bayer says what sets the lobster ball apart is that it is the same weight as a regular golf ball.
“When you hit it with a driver, it makes that same sound as a regular golf ball and goes almost as far,” he said. “It really has the same feel as a normal golf ball.”
There’s a Canadian connection, too: The shells come from a processing plant in Deer Island, N.B.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Team Faddy pro player Mike Arnaud playing on PGA Tour this week
Faddy Golf has finally made it to the "show". Team Faddy pro player Mike Arnaud is teeing it up this week with the big boys on the PGA Tour at the Valero Texas Open.
Mike texted me this afternoon and told me about the news, and we at Faddy Golf couldn't be any happier or prouder of Mike for this truly special accomplishment.
Follow Mike's progress on PGATour.com
Mike tees off Thursday at 9:20, and Friday at 2:05.
Good luck Mike, we are all pulling for you.
Was Schwartzel's win good for the game of golf?
Article by Lee Siegel
In the aftermath of The Masters, I made some comments in the newsroom that ended up on Twitter. Being in the media, I’m very familiar with how these things work: I said one thing and it ended up on Twitter as “Lee Siegel hates golf.” All meant in fun, but not really close to what I meant.
Here’s what I meant: I think there are different reasons every individual person watches a sporting event and it can vary from event to event. I’ve always enjoyed watching greatness. Who wouldn’t want to watch Da Vinci paint or JFK or MLK speak... you get the point. So I’m not one who ever minded watching Jordan dominate the NBA, or more precisely, Tiger win. So it was with that eye that I watched Sunday’s Masters finish.
From my chair, it felt like the same thing I’ve seen in almost every major for the last 10 years. Was Charl Schwartzel great? of course he was. Was the drama of the day great? of course. But did we see the future that was being forecast before the round begun, that future being Rory McIlroy? The answer is no. We saw another final-round blowup. Same as Nick Watney at the PGA and Dustin Johnson at the U.S. Open.
Could Schwartzel win the grand slam this year, or at least another major in the next two or three years? Sure he could. But we're still waiting for that to happen for Jim Furyk, Y.E. Yang, Todd Hamilton, Ben Curtis and on and on. Yeah, they all have different stories, but the story for golf seems to end the same, with a different major winner every time and none of them the so-called “future of golf.” Not one of the previous major winners -- save for Tiger and Phil -- seems to be able to re-create their greatness in another major. They were great once but never again. That's not my definition of greatness, and the source of my Twitter-elevated comments.
I don’t think anyone would disagree that rivalries are good in sports. We cherish Giants-Dodgers here. All I’m asking for is there to be more than the one-sided Tiger-Phil rivalry in the majors. If others would join the fray, it would be spectacular for golf and would finally make the pre-tournament and pre-round talk seem relevant, rather than more talk about how (insert hot name here) will be the future of golf.
Right now, if you were selling golf at its highest level (the majors), you would have to say, “Come watch because you never know who will win.” “The parity means anyone can win on Sunday.” “It could be a spectacular finish like the Masters.”
Who would you want people to follow on Thursday and really feel they have a chance to win? Tiger and Phil are good picks; can you name anyone else you could be sure will contend and wion more than once in their career?
So was Schwartzel’s win good for golf? In my mind, no -- not unless he wins again and again. All I’m asking is for someone to step up and come through in the clutch, under the hottest lights.
Do I hate golf? To the contrary, I love it, and will even if that next great clutch player never steps up. I’m just hoping someone does soon.
McIlroy losses the Masters then his golf clubs...
Rory McIlroy can’t buy a break this month.
First, after leading the Masters for three rounds and taking a four-shot cushion into the final day, he suffered an epic meltdown with a final-round 80.
Then, upon arriving at his next tournament, eager to get back on the golf course and get his game straightened out, he discovered he couldn’t.
Because his clubs were missing.
Despite taking a private jet — with Masters champion Charl Schwartzel — from Augusta, Ga., to Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysia Open, McIlroy learned that his clubs were unaccounted for when he arrived.
"It hasn't happened often; it's one of these things you can't help it, going through so many time zones and so many connecting flights your bags are going to get lost sometimes," McIlroy said.
"Hopefully they turn up tonight and I'll be ready to go tomorrow.”
McIlroy said he had plenty of time to reflect on his Masters experience during the long flight.
"I'm really just looking at the positives," McIlroy said. "I led that golf tournament for 63 holes, and that's really all I can look at. Everyone's going to have bad days — mine just happened probably on the most important day of my golfing career.
"But I'm a very positive person, I know I'll get over it. When I get back in that position, if I have learned from it, I won't let it happen again.”
"All the respect to Rory, he seems fine,” Schwartzel said. “Rory is just such a good guy, he seemed to get over things very quickly.
"Obviously, I think deep down he must be hurting a little bit, but he's 100 percent fine. He seems to get over it and he's by far a good enough player. He's going to win lots of majors, lots of them."
First, after leading the Masters for three rounds and taking a four-shot cushion into the final day, he suffered an epic meltdown with a final-round 80.
Then, upon arriving at his next tournament, eager to get back on the golf course and get his game straightened out, he discovered he couldn’t.
Because his clubs were missing.
Despite taking a private jet — with Masters champion Charl Schwartzel — from Augusta, Ga., to Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysia Open, McIlroy learned that his clubs were unaccounted for when he arrived.
"It hasn't happened often; it's one of these things you can't help it, going through so many time zones and so many connecting flights your bags are going to get lost sometimes," McIlroy said.
"Hopefully they turn up tonight and I'll be ready to go tomorrow.”
McIlroy said he had plenty of time to reflect on his Masters experience during the long flight.
"I'm really just looking at the positives," McIlroy said. "I led that golf tournament for 63 holes, and that's really all I can look at. Everyone's going to have bad days — mine just happened probably on the most important day of my golfing career.
"But I'm a very positive person, I know I'll get over it. When I get back in that position, if I have learned from it, I won't let it happen again.”
"All the respect to Rory, he seems fine,” Schwartzel said. “Rory is just such a good guy, he seemed to get over things very quickly.
"Obviously, I think deep down he must be hurting a little bit, but he's 100 percent fine. He seems to get over it and he's by far a good enough player. He's going to win lots of majors, lots of them."
Monday, April 11, 2011
McIlroy suffers Norman like melt down on Sunday @ the Masters
Before you can walk you have to learn to crawl. Boy wonder Rory McIlroy found this out the hard way Sunday at Augusta National.Cool and confident all week and displaying a maturity long beyond his 21 years of age, McIlroy learned the cruel lesson that so many others who have strode these fairways before him have: The Masters truly doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday -- and it’s usually lost there, too.
Ben Hogan. Arnold Palmer. Scott Hoch. Greg Norman (twice). Rory McIlroy.
In this case, that’s inauspicious company for McIlroy whose four-shot lead going into Sunday disintegrated into an 80-stroke disaster as he tumbled to a tie for 15th in a major championship he seemed so poised to win, much the same way a 21-year-old Tiger Woods did more than a decade ago.
If there’s anything the rest of us learned it’s that Rory is no Tiger, as he was once dubbed in Northern Ireland newspapers headlines like: “The New Tiger” and “Ror of the Tiger.”
That is by no means an indictment of McIlroy.
The comparisons to Woods were inevitable as McIlroy too took to golf as a toddler and by age 2 was already driving it more than 30 yards. By age 9, McIlroy won the world’s under-10 championship and by the time he reached his teen years, he winning everything in sight and had reached No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in 2007.
“I'm very disappointed,” McIlroy said. “I was leading this golf tournament with nine holes to go, and I just unraveled. Hit a bad tee shot on 10, and then never really recovered.
“It's going to be hard to take for a few days, but I'll get over it.”
It was less than a year ago that McIlroy set the golf world abuzz with an opening 63 at the British Open at St. Andrews only to shoot 80 the next day and eventually finish third.
A month later, McIlroy was again in contention on one of the game’s biggest stages at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits -- until he three-putted the 15th hole in the final round and ultimately finished one stroke out of a playoff with Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer.
At the Masters, he seemed to have learned from those experiences. McIlroy sprinted out of the gate with a bogey-free 65 in the opening round and by the time Saturday night came he had built a four-shot cushion and was well on his way to securing what looked to be the first of many major championships.
McIlroy was so comfortable in fact that he’d taken to throwing a football around with his friends every night outside the rented house they were staying in for the week.
For three days, McIlroy had also played with good friend Jason Day, 23, and the first two also with 22-year-old pal Rickie Fowler.
Then came Sunday and it was time to get serious. McIlroy was paired with Angel Cabrera, an intimidating figure in stature if not by nature. He’d also won here before.
Tiger fires front nine 31 to charge @ the Masters and possibly silence critics
Tiger Woods deflected scrutiny that he had lost his concentration, that his game had gone south, and tabloid speculation about his personal life, the only way he knew how: by shooting a 67 in the final round at Augusta National.
With up-and-coming star Rory McIlroy sinking as fast as he was rising in the final round, Woods proved to be the elder statesman with 14 Major Championships under his belt, who still has it.
Had Woods even had an average day putting, he probably would have won the Masters, and his comeback story may very well have rivaled the memorable 1986 Masters win by Jack Nicklaus.
Imagine the adulation from golf experts had Woods won. After shooting a 74 in the third round, Woods almost won the title after a fantastic final round. He seemed like he was dead in the water on Saturday, and young McIlroy had passed him by, only to be revived on Sunday, while McIlroy fell off the map.
Now imagine the reaction from the non-golf-fan public. A sports star who seemed like his life was crashing before the world's eyes would have proven to everyone that his spirit couldn't be broken.
A tabloid-hungry public would have ran with past news about his supposed new girlfriend and long-time neighbor, who Woods allegedly has been dating for the past few months.
It would have been another media circus.
But with Woods failing to win, though being in the mix within the dying moments of the final round, he found a way to come out on top.
His fourth-place finish proved he still has it. His new swing is paying dividends, and he has the confidence to be considered a favorite for a major.
The U.S. Open is 66 days away.
Don't think Woods isn't counting the days.
With up-and-coming star Rory McIlroy sinking as fast as he was rising in the final round, Woods proved to be the elder statesman with 14 Major Championships under his belt, who still has it.
Had Woods even had an average day putting, he probably would have won the Masters, and his comeback story may very well have rivaled the memorable 1986 Masters win by Jack Nicklaus.
Imagine the adulation from golf experts had Woods won. After shooting a 74 in the third round, Woods almost won the title after a fantastic final round. He seemed like he was dead in the water on Saturday, and young McIlroy had passed him by, only to be revived on Sunday, while McIlroy fell off the map.
Now imagine the reaction from the non-golf-fan public. A sports star who seemed like his life was crashing before the world's eyes would have proven to everyone that his spirit couldn't be broken.
A tabloid-hungry public would have ran with past news about his supposed new girlfriend and long-time neighbor, who Woods allegedly has been dating for the past few months.
It would have been another media circus.
But with Woods failing to win, though being in the mix within the dying moments of the final round, he found a way to come out on top.
His fourth-place finish proved he still has it. His new swing is paying dividends, and he has the confidence to be considered a favorite for a major.
The U.S. Open is 66 days away.
Don't think Woods isn't counting the days.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Mickelson hoping for another magical weekend
Phil Mickelson couldn’t get his putter going on Friday. As a result, he likely will need an even better weekend than the one he produced last year at Augusta National if he wants to successfully defend his Masters title.
Mickelson shot even-par 72 in the second round Friday, leaving him at 2 under for the tournament, well off the lead.
Last year, he was tied for third, two shots off the pace after 36 holes. A pair of 67s on the weekend catapulted him into the Green Jacket. But this year, he has a much larger deficit to make up, and many more warm bodies to climb over.
But don’t worry — he’s not conceding anything just yet.
"These next two days are my favorite two days of the year, the weekend of the Masters," Mickelson said. "There’s nothing better than playing the weekend here at Augusta, and to be a couple under par in a position where a good round in the mid-60s, you can make up a lot of ground out here.
"I was able to do it last year on Saturday, and I’m going to have to make a good run tomorrow, too."
Still, he needs to find his putting stroke. He required 33 putts on Friday, missing several short ones that left him perplexed.
"Today I left a lot of shots out there that were not hard up and downs," Mickelson said. "You know, they were very doable. I missed a few four- or five-footers there, but I expect to get those up and down. I didn’t; I left a lot out there today.
"I can’t afford this weekend to leave those shots out there."
Last week, Mickelson shot 63-65 in the final two rounds to capture the Shell Houston Open. He knows how to produce magic at Augusta National, so expect him to make some noise.
"Fortunately I’m not in that bad a spot where if I can go out and shoot a good round I can get right back in it," he said. "It’s kind of like last week … where I’m in a position, if I can go make a move on Saturday and get right back in it."
Mickelson shot even-par 72 in the second round Friday, leaving him at 2 under for the tournament, well off the lead.
Last year, he was tied for third, two shots off the pace after 36 holes. A pair of 67s on the weekend catapulted him into the Green Jacket. But this year, he has a much larger deficit to make up, and many more warm bodies to climb over.
But don’t worry — he’s not conceding anything just yet.
"These next two days are my favorite two days of the year, the weekend of the Masters," Mickelson said. "There’s nothing better than playing the weekend here at Augusta, and to be a couple under par in a position where a good round in the mid-60s, you can make up a lot of ground out here.
"I was able to do it last year on Saturday, and I’m going to have to make a good run tomorrow, too."
Still, he needs to find his putting stroke. He required 33 putts on Friday, missing several short ones that left him perplexed.
"Today I left a lot of shots out there that were not hard up and downs," Mickelson said. "You know, they were very doable. I missed a few four- or five-footers there, but I expect to get those up and down. I didn’t; I left a lot out there today.
"I can’t afford this weekend to leave those shots out there."
Last week, Mickelson shot 63-65 in the final two rounds to capture the Shell Houston Open. He knows how to produce magic at Augusta National, so expect him to make some noise.
"Fortunately I’m not in that bad a spot where if I can go out and shoot a good round I can get right back in it," he said. "It’s kind of like last week … where I’m in a position, if I can go make a move on Saturday and get right back in it."
Martin Kaymer opens door for new number 1
Martin Kaymer didn’t exactly play like the No. 1 golfer in the world on Thursday during the first round of the 75th Masters Tournament.
The 26-year-old German shot 78 — his highest round ever at Augusta National. So suddenly the perplexed Kaymer is in danger of missing his fourth straight cut at the Masters.
In fact, only four players shot higher than the enormously talented German did, and two of those play the Champions Tour.
“For me it was very difficult,” he said. “Every day that I played here was a tough day so far. So, yeah, … I was disappointed, because there’s some golf courses that suit you and some they just don’t.”
Should Kaymer make another early exit, there are plenty of players waiting in the wings to take over the No. 1 spot in the world. In fact, five could end Kaymer’s reign at six weeks come Sunday and here are the scenarios.
* Lee Westwood needs to win.
* Phil Mickelson needs to win and have Kaymer finish lower than solo second.
* Luke Donald has to win and have Westwood finish lower than solo second and Kaymer finish outside the top three.
* Graeme McDowell needs to win and have Mickelson finish lower than solo second, Westwood finish outside the top four and Kaymer finish outside the top 55 or miss the cut.
* Tiger Woods needs to win and have Mickelson finish lower than solo second, Westwood finish outside the top four and Kaymer finish outside the top 18.
Kaymer, who has won five times in the last 15 months – including the PGA Championship, is at a loss to explain his lack of success at Augusta National.
He decided to change his preparation this year – taking the last two weeks off. Kaymer spent the first back on the practice range back home in Scottsdale and the second in the Augusta area playing golf with his father and his brother.
Still, the frustration continued. In seven rounds now at Augusta National, Kaymer has only broken par once and he has never shot in the 60s.
“I was trying to hit good golf shots today and not playing very well,” Kaymer said. “My putting was okay, I think my short game was definitely better than the last three, four, years, but I just didn’t hit the ball as good as the last two or three years ago.”
So what’s next for the frustrated Kaymer? To be honest, he’s not really sure. But he might see if he could pick the brain of his countryman Bernhard Langer, who has won two Masters.
“There’s not really a game plan,” Kaymer said when asked about Friday’s second round. “I think that I don’t really know how to play the golf course. I don’t know, I can think about another hour or hour and a half or two hours, and I just don’t really find a solution.
“I think that maybe I got to sit down with Bernhard Langer later and ask him. … I think that I can only get good advice from him.”
The 26-year-old German shot 78 — his highest round ever at Augusta National. So suddenly the perplexed Kaymer is in danger of missing his fourth straight cut at the Masters.
In fact, only four players shot higher than the enormously talented German did, and two of those play the Champions Tour.
“For me it was very difficult,” he said. “Every day that I played here was a tough day so far. So, yeah, … I was disappointed, because there’s some golf courses that suit you and some they just don’t.”
Should Kaymer make another early exit, there are plenty of players waiting in the wings to take over the No. 1 spot in the world. In fact, five could end Kaymer’s reign at six weeks come Sunday and here are the scenarios.
* Lee Westwood needs to win.
* Phil Mickelson needs to win and have Kaymer finish lower than solo second.
* Luke Donald has to win and have Westwood finish lower than solo second and Kaymer finish outside the top three.
* Graeme McDowell needs to win and have Mickelson finish lower than solo second, Westwood finish outside the top four and Kaymer finish outside the top 55 or miss the cut.
* Tiger Woods needs to win and have Mickelson finish lower than solo second, Westwood finish outside the top four and Kaymer finish outside the top 18.
Kaymer, who has won five times in the last 15 months – including the PGA Championship, is at a loss to explain his lack of success at Augusta National.
He decided to change his preparation this year – taking the last two weeks off. Kaymer spent the first back on the practice range back home in Scottsdale and the second in the Augusta area playing golf with his father and his brother.
Still, the frustration continued. In seven rounds now at Augusta National, Kaymer has only broken par once and he has never shot in the 60s.
“I was trying to hit good golf shots today and not playing very well,” Kaymer said. “My putting was okay, I think my short game was definitely better than the last three, four, years, but I just didn’t hit the ball as good as the last two or three years ago.”
So what’s next for the frustrated Kaymer? To be honest, he’s not really sure. But he might see if he could pick the brain of his countryman Bernhard Langer, who has won two Masters.
“There’s not really a game plan,” Kaymer said when asked about Friday’s second round. “I think that I don’t really know how to play the golf course. I don’t know, I can think about another hour or hour and a half or two hours, and I just don’t really find a solution.
“I think that maybe I got to sit down with Bernhard Langer later and ask him. … I think that I can only get good advice from him.”
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The Golden Bear's 1986 win @ Augusta still top of the mountain
On the 25th anniversary of his sixth and final — and most improbable — Masters title, at age 46, Jack Nicklaus looks back with both passion and detail on golf’s where-were-you moment. He also still sees Tiger Woods coming after him and his 18 career major pro championships.
“I assume he’ll get his focus back on what he’s doing and he will probably pass my record,” Nicklaus said of the winner of 14 majors whose career is in flames from self-inflicted burns. “But then the last part I always say about it is, he’s still got to do it. He’s still got to win five more (majors) and that’s more than a career for anybody else playing.”
Nicklaus makes a good point. The idea of five major titles these days exceeds comprehension for most players. Phil Mickelson enters this 75th Masters, scheduled to begin Thursday morning, favoured for his fourth green jacket and fifth major overall and Phil’s now in his 40s and fighting arthritis. As well as he is playing — and 18 birdies in his final 36 holes at Houston last weekend for his 39th career victory is telling — he’s well into the back nine of his career.
Neither is Mickelson any kind of lock here; a dozen of golf’s outstanding young players look to crack the club of major winners and it’s only a matter of time for Rory McIlroy, Ryo Ishikawa, Nick Watney, Dustin Johnson, Luke Donald and several others to break through.
One thing about these kids, as well as Mickelson and Woods and pretty much everyone else in the field of 99 teeing it up Thursday, is that they all revere that magical Nicklaus moment in ’86. Most who were around remember watching it on TV as kids. They’ve certainly felt its impact ever since, the way Nicklaus still does after all these years. He was four shots down with four holes to play, but eagled 15, birdied 16 and 17 and heard — and recognized — the groans behind him from Seve Ballesteros’ killing 4-iron hooked into the greenfront pond at 15.
“I guess you can make a big conversation out of anything,” said Nicklaus, who was due out at 7:40 a.m. Thursday with old rival and fellow Augusta National member Arnold Palmer to hit the Masters’ ceremonial first tee shots. “But it was a long time ago and it was an exciting week for me. (Son) Jackie was on the bag. It was fun having my mother and sister here, who had not been here since 1959.
“Even more fun, I holed a few putts (on) the back nine, which made it possible that we could sit here and talk about it.”
Talk Jack can. At age 71, he can still give anyone club and yardage on every shot on his sensational back-nine 30. He recapped how he knew what his main rivals that day — Ballesteros, Tom Kite and Greg Norman — were doing. (“At a certain point in the tournament it becomes a match-play event against those on the leaderboard, so you have to know who is there to do what you’re going to try to do.”) He told how he wrestled control into his own hands, the place he felt it was the safest, by sinking that famous 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole, raising his putter heavenward in one of golf’s iconic images. (“So my goal and my focus then was not to worry about anybody else, because they were going to chase me now. It was: How do you play the last hole?”)
He played it in par, Norman and Kite ended a shot back and modern golf’s greatest moment was forged. A quarter-century later it stands unsurpassed.
Could this Masters re-energize a star-starved game?
What golf needs is a shot in the arm, an injection of star-power excitement to ratchet up interest and create more buzz around the majors.
What golf doesn’t need is a buzz-kill Masters winner — a player so anonymous that he’ll have golf fans scrambling from their TV sets to their computers to Google him to find out who he is and where he came from — slipping the coveted Green Jacket over his shoulders Sunday evening in the Butler Cabin.
More often than not, the Masters has been uncanny in its propensity to deliver the best — the most poignant or thrilling story as its winner.
With apologies to the likes of Mike Weir (2003), Zach Johnson (2007) and Trevor Immelman (2008), all of whom won the Masters and faded into the game’s woodwork, the golf gods generally drop great stories from the sky onto the Augusta National grounds Masters week.
Golf, which has been a bit stale so far this year, needs a great story.
Tiger Woods hasn’t won a tournament in almost 17 months and hasn’t won in America since September 2009 and he’s working with the third swing coach of his professional career, trying to reinvent his game despite already winning 14 majors.
Until last week’s stirring victory in Houston, Phil Mickelson hadn’t won a tournament since last year’s Masters.
Then there’s the stable of young guns who are poised to become stars but have not quite crossed the threshold — players such as Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, Bubba Watson, Nick Watney, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler, to name a few.
Golf, a star-driven sport, needs either one of its established stars to win the Masters, or it needs one of the up-and-comers to validate his status.
Woods rediscovering his form to win a fifth Green Jacket and 15th major a year after he turned his life into a raunchy reality TV show would be fascinating theater.
Mickelson, who has won three of the last seven Masters, winning his fourth to tie Woods and Arnold Palmer would be a wildly popular result for a couple of reasons. First, his worldwide appeal is at an all-time high and, second, he would further distance himself from Woods in current form; and it would catapult him to the
No. 1 ranking in the world for the first time in his career.
If it’s not going to be Tiger or Phil in that Butler Cabin schmoozing with CBS’ Jim Nantz, though, a first major championship win for Johnson would be a massive story considering the way Johnson leaked away final-round leads in the U.S. Open and PGA Championship last year.
A win by Westwood, the second-ranked player in the world, would introduce America to an entertaining personality with perhaps the driest sense of humor in the game.
A win by Ian Poulter, one of the most prolific Twitter users in sports, might freeze the website for a month he’d generate so much traffic with his tweets.
A win by McIlroy or Fowler would send their respective status straight through the stratosphere, though a Fowler win might be a bit much to ask considering that only one player in Masters history (Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979) has won in his first go-round at Augusta.
We haven’t even mentioned Martin Kaymer, the reigning PGA Championship winner who’s ranked No. 1 in the world at the moment. If Kaymer wins this week, he’ll have won the last two majors. Kaymer, though, hasn’t made a cut in three tries at Augusta.
Mickelson’s win last week and his comfort and confidence on this course notwithstanding, this is one of the most wide-open Masters in memory.
A look at the world rankings is all you need to know about the state of the game. The reality is there is no true No. 1 player in the world.
The world rankings are so crowded at the top that six of the top seven players have a chance to be No. 1 by winning the Masters this week.
If you care about the state of golf, pull for the most compelling story to unfold this week.
The game needs it.
What golf doesn’t need is a buzz-kill Masters winner — a player so anonymous that he’ll have golf fans scrambling from their TV sets to their computers to Google him to find out who he is and where he came from — slipping the coveted Green Jacket over his shoulders Sunday evening in the Butler Cabin.
More often than not, the Masters has been uncanny in its propensity to deliver the best — the most poignant or thrilling story as its winner.
With apologies to the likes of Mike Weir (2003), Zach Johnson (2007) and Trevor Immelman (2008), all of whom won the Masters and faded into the game’s woodwork, the golf gods generally drop great stories from the sky onto the Augusta National grounds Masters week.
Golf, which has been a bit stale so far this year, needs a great story.
Tiger Woods hasn’t won a tournament in almost 17 months and hasn’t won in America since September 2009 and he’s working with the third swing coach of his professional career, trying to reinvent his game despite already winning 14 majors.
Until last week’s stirring victory in Houston, Phil Mickelson hadn’t won a tournament since last year’s Masters.
Then there’s the stable of young guns who are poised to become stars but have not quite crossed the threshold — players such as Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, Bubba Watson, Nick Watney, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler, to name a few.
Golf, a star-driven sport, needs either one of its established stars to win the Masters, or it needs one of the up-and-comers to validate his status.
Woods rediscovering his form to win a fifth Green Jacket and 15th major a year after he turned his life into a raunchy reality TV show would be fascinating theater.
Mickelson, who has won three of the last seven Masters, winning his fourth to tie Woods and Arnold Palmer would be a wildly popular result for a couple of reasons. First, his worldwide appeal is at an all-time high and, second, he would further distance himself from Woods in current form; and it would catapult him to the
No. 1 ranking in the world for the first time in his career.
If it’s not going to be Tiger or Phil in that Butler Cabin schmoozing with CBS’ Jim Nantz, though, a first major championship win for Johnson would be a massive story considering the way Johnson leaked away final-round leads in the U.S. Open and PGA Championship last year.
A win by Westwood, the second-ranked player in the world, would introduce America to an entertaining personality with perhaps the driest sense of humor in the game.
A win by Ian Poulter, one of the most prolific Twitter users in sports, might freeze the website for a month he’d generate so much traffic with his tweets.
A win by McIlroy or Fowler would send their respective status straight through the stratosphere, though a Fowler win might be a bit much to ask considering that only one player in Masters history (Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979) has won in his first go-round at Augusta.
We haven’t even mentioned Martin Kaymer, the reigning PGA Championship winner who’s ranked No. 1 in the world at the moment. If Kaymer wins this week, he’ll have won the last two majors. Kaymer, though, hasn’t made a cut in three tries at Augusta.
Mickelson’s win last week and his comfort and confidence on this course notwithstanding, this is one of the most wide-open Masters in memory.
A look at the world rankings is all you need to know about the state of the game. The reality is there is no true No. 1 player in the world.
The world rankings are so crowded at the top that six of the top seven players have a chance to be No. 1 by winning the Masters this week.
If you care about the state of golf, pull for the most compelling story to unfold this week.
The game needs it.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Stacy Lewis out duels Yani Tseng to take 1st LPGA Major of the year
Stacy Lewis of the U.S. won the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the first of four annual major tournaments on golf’s LPGA Tour.
Lewis shot a 3-under-par 69 during the final round at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, to finish 13-under for the tournament. Defending champion Yani Tseng of Taiwan was second at 10-under after a final-round 74.
Lewis, 25, is the fourth golfer to make the Kraft Nabisco her first LPGA Tour win. She joined the circuit in 2009 and her best result prior to today was a second place finish at last year’s Tres Marias Championship.
Tseng, ranked No. 1 in the Women’s World Golf Rankings, fell short of her fifth victory of the season after taking a two-shot lead into the final round.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Mickelson's driver cracks but stays in play
Turns out Phil Mickelson’s driver might be ok after all, even though he will probably switch to a backup.
Mickelson called a rules official in the middle of his round on Thursday and asked that he be allowed to replace his driver, which had a small crack in it. Of course, that request was denied — it was just a crack — and Mickelson kept using the club.
Mickelson actually reeled off four birdies in five holes to get back in the red after a slow start at Redstone. He capped his off his day with a birdie-par finish on two of toughest holes on the course.
"It flew fine there on the end after I thought there might be an issue," said Mickelson, who averaged 316 yards off the tee Thursday. "It flew okay."
"It actually looked like the driver that was made from a stronger titanium. It actually does that, kind of creates a little spider-like crack. It doesn’t affect the performance. I’ll be fine to use it. Sometimes it has that look. The shots I hit after were great. The ball flew very well. There wasn’t an issue, but it just scared me when I looked down and saw it."
Mickelson called a rules official in the middle of his round on Thursday and asked that he be allowed to replace his driver, which had a small crack in it. Of course, that request was denied — it was just a crack — and Mickelson kept using the club.
Mickelson actually reeled off four birdies in five holes to get back in the red after a slow start at Redstone. He capped his off his day with a birdie-par finish on two of toughest holes on the course.
"It flew fine there on the end after I thought there might be an issue," said Mickelson, who averaged 316 yards off the tee Thursday. "It flew okay."
"It actually looked like the driver that was made from a stronger titanium. It actually does that, kind of creates a little spider-like crack. It doesn’t affect the performance. I’ll be fine to use it. Sometimes it has that look. The shots I hit after were great. The ball flew very well. There wasn’t an issue, but it just scared me when I looked down and saw it."
Lincicome & Lewis lead the Kraft Nabisco
Brittany Lincicome and Stacy Lewis are splitting more than dinner checks and lodging bills at the LPGA Tour's first major tournament of the year.
The friends and occasional road roommates overcame desert heat to shoot 6-under-par 66s Thursday, sharing the first-round lead at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Sandra Gal and Mika Miyazato were one stroke back.
Wendy Ward, who lives near Edwall, outside Spokane, was among players tied for 10th place at 70.
Paige Mackenzie, a former Washington Huskies player from Yakima, and Jimin Kang, a graduate of King's High School in Shoreline, were tied for 27th at 72. Ex-UW player Louise Friberg shot a 79 and was tied for 107th.
Despite playing in the hotter part of an unseasonably scorching day, Lincicome and Lewis handled the fast, dry Mission Hills course with similar skill. Caddies were given permission to take off their jumpsuits when temperatures exceeded 100 degrees in the afternoon.
Although they aren't rooming together this week because their parents made the trip, they went to dinner together Wednesday night.
"Stacy has been a great friend for a little while now," Lincicome said. "If we don't want our fathers or mothers to go to a tournament, we'll stay together, but she's just a really nice girl. We're kind of the same age, very low-maintenance for both of us, so it's very easygoing."
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