Welcome to the Tour Blog, where Golfweek’s reporters deliver the latest inside news and happenings on the PGA Tour, LPGA and European Tour.
Editor's note: This is the archived
material from the run-up to the 2008 U.S. Open.
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. – It wasn’t hot here in Bulle Rock. It was
downright unbearable. At 5:05 p.m. the Heat Index at the McDonald’s
LPGA Championship was 102 degrees. Lorena Ochoa called it her hottest
LPGA event to date. More veteran players say only the 1999 U.S. Women’s
Open at Old Waverly in West Point, Miss., was warmer.
The First
Aid station treated 54 people on Saturday. Among those who suffered
from heat exhaustion was German rookie Sandra Gal. She was in an
ambulance getting fluids through an IV shortly after coming off the
golf course. Gal shot 75 and should be able to play tomorrow, but will
likely pull out of the 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier she’s scheduled to
play on Monday.
Rachel Hetherington also had a tough time getting around, feeling lightheaded midway through the round.
“I got a little bit of heat stroke out there,” said Hetherington, who was signing autographs despite feeling quite ill.
Lorie
Kane drank 10 bottles of water and five sports drinks and still managed
to play the entire round without visiting a Port-O-Let. More of the
same sweltering heat is expected tomorrow. Needless to say, the
practice area didn’t get much traffic this afternoon.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 7
HAVRE
DE GRACE, Md. – Jee Young Lee texted her caddie, Jason Gilroyed, Monday
evening around dinnertime and said “I think I can win this week.” The
fact that she’s leading the McDonald’s LPGA Championship after three
rounds comes as no surprise to the fun-loving Korean or her looper. The
22-year-old has yet to win an LPGA event on U.S. soil, but she’s come
awfully close. Gilroyed was on Cristie Kerr’s bag last summer when she
won the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles.
“If she feels loose she plays as well as anyone out here,” said Gilroyed, who felt like the heat was good for his boss.
Lee,
one of the longest players on tour, is a perfect fit for this generous
track. The greens are relatively flat, making it easy for her read the
lines and judge the speed. Plus, she can let loose with her driver on
nearly every hole.
Lee doesn’t carry the resume of an Annika or Lorena, but don’t expect her to fade away on Sunday.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 7
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. John Daly shows up in Memphis playing
on a sponsor’s handout, hacks and huffs his way to rounds of 72-81 – a
card that included four double bogeys, six bogeys and a holed-out wedge
shot for eagle – and snaps his putter, although “JD” convinced
officials the broken implement was the byproduct of a misstep not his
32 putts.
The St. Jude Championship was Daly’s first Tour event back since
April’s Byron Nelson Championship and surgery to repair an ailing
stomach muscle. Sadly, it seems nothing has changed.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 7
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. – Bad news for the
rest of the field. Lorena Ochoa just called today’s 7-under 65 her best
round of the year. She called it “easy.” Your World No. 1 is so relaxed
midway through the year’s second major she’s off to see “Sex and the
City” this evening with her brother and a friend. Many friends have
told Ochoa she needs to see the film, and since she hasn’t seen any of
the television series she will “do the movie so I’ll be done with
it.”
“I like to have a hot dog and a Diet Coke and
chocolate,” Ochoa said. “Sometimes I don't understand the English so I
miss a lot of jokes.”
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 6
HAVRE
DE GRACE, Md. – It was almost painful to watch Morgan Pressel lag
behind Lorena Ochoa more than 50 yards on every hole. That is, until
Pressel hit shots inside her playing partners (Ochoa and Karrie
Webb) with fairway metals.
Pressel recorded seven birdies in a
3-under 69 Friday and put on an impressive display with her arsenal of
woods. She doesn’t carry anything higher than a 6-iron in her bag and
was more pleased with the way she hit her 3-wood than her short irons.
“Seems like my 9-iron was my struggle today,” she said with a chuckle.
Heading
down the 10th fairway Ochoa noted that she’d had 121 yards into three
pins. Pressel quickly replied that she’d had 195 yards in five times.
“I was like I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’ll shut up,” Ochoa said laughing.
On
a sad note, Pressel scrambled to find a new caddie this morning when
her regular looper, Jon Yarbrough, learned his father had died this
morning after a long bout with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Pressel picked up
19-year-old Matt Hall this morning to carry her bag and was left to her
own devices to get around the course.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 6
Stacy
Lewis signed with Sterling Sports Management this week. The recent
Arkansas grad was Golfweek’s 2007 and ’06 Amateur of the Year. She went
5-0 at the Curtis Cup last week in St. Andrews to lead the U.S. team to
victory.
Lewis will play this summer as a professional and
hopes to land the maximum of six LPGA sponsor exemptions. Her next
event is U.S. Women’s Open sectional qualifying June 9 in Garland,
Texas.
Sterling represents 12 active LPGA players, including 2008 Ginn Tribute winner Seon Hwa Lee, Jeong Jang and Brittany Lincicome.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 6
This just in from Jack Nicklaus.
The
Golden Bear tells the Tour Blog he’s disappointed by internet reports
criticizing J.B. Holmes for a perceived snub Sunday at Nicklaus’
Memorial Tournament. In saying a snub “couldn’t be further from the
truth,” Nicklaus confirms Holmes’ version as first told here June 2 on
the Tour Blog.
People got the wrong impression when the CBS
telecast showed Holmes walking past the legendary tournament host
without acknowledgment after a final-round 77. Thing is, Holmes didn’t
see Nicklaus and, something the telecast didn’t capture, went back down
by the 18th green to embrace and apologize to Nicklaus upon learning of
the situation.
Anyway, here’s what Nicklaus had to say to anyone who jumped to the wrong conclusion:
“When
J.B. walked off the 18th, he never saw me. After all, I was just
another grey coat in a blue tie, wearing sunglasses. I did happen to
catch Nick O’Hern’s eye and he stopped to speak. When J.B. found out a
few minutes later that he had walked by me, he came back, apologized
and we spoke. There is no issue here, whatsoever. J.B. is a terrific
young player and person, and it is unfair to him to have these
assumptions continue.”
– Jeff Rude
Posted June 5
It’s no typo, it’s a dream come true and a good decision. At 8:06 a.m.
(Left Coast Time) on June 12 the golf world will stand still when Tiger
Woods and Phil Mickelson get things under way at the U.S. Open. Perfect
symmetry, Torrey Pines’ first tee and golf’s first foes.
Pairing Nos. 1 and 2 – for the record, Adam Scott rounds out the
threesome, officially becoming the game’s most high-profile third wheel
– has TV types in a knot. But let’s be honest, sport leagues tinker
with lineups all the time to contrive marquee match-ups. Inter-league
play gives us the Yankees vs. Mets and White Sox vs. Cubs, and the NBA
stretched time and travel for that Heat (Shaq) vs. Lakers (Kobe)
showdown a few years back.
Seems to us it was about time golf got on board the match-up merry-go-round.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 5
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. – Saw my first “Don’t
Go Annika” T-shirt on Day 1 of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship.
Sorenstam might not be viewing this as a farewell tour, but the rest of
us are.
The World No. 2 struggled with her putter during an
opening 2-under 70. The good news for Sorenstam is there aren’t
any major champions on the leader board midway through the first round.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 5
HAVRE
DE GRACE, Md. – Ran into Ian Triggs this morning and asked for the
prognosis on Karrie Webb’s putting stroke. Webb missed several short
putts during the final round of the Ginn Tribute last week, including a
3-footer on the first playoff hole.
Apparently, Webb’s head
was too far over the ball at address, causing her to rock back in the
middle of her stroke. Triggs flew in from Australia and provided a
second set of eyes. Now it’s just a matter of Webb trusting it.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 5
I was watching a hockey game Wednesday night and a golf report broke out. Ba-dum-pum.
Actually,
NBC used its intermission show between the second and third periods of
the Stanley Cup finals to announce that for the first time, the U.S.
Open will pair players for rounds 1-2 according to World Ranking. This
means we will get the marquee pairing of No. 1 Tiger Woods, No. 2 Phil
Mickelson and No. 3 Adam Scott.
This format also gives us
Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy and Justin Rose, as well as the two-day pairing
of Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and K.J. Choi.
Three thoughts immediately struck me:
1.
Ernie Els, who was No. 3 before missing yet another cut at the
Memorial, never has been so relieved to drop in the World Ranking,
missing out on the Tiger-Phil circus. He's No. 4. Happily.
2.
I thought to myself, 'Wow, what a bad deal for the U.S. Amateur
champion,' who, of course, gets the traditional U.S. Open pairing
opposite the defending U.S. Open champion. It's one of the great perks
of winning the Amateur. Then it hit me that last year's U.S. Amateur
champ, Colt Knost, isn't even in the field. He turned pro and did not
make it through qualifying. So no biggie.
3. Does Tiger know about the pairings? He doesn't watch hockey, you know ...
– Jeff Babineau
Posted June 4
Just received an early scouting report from Torrey Pines and by all
early accounts the season’s second major championship will not be
wanting in the “wow” department.
Jon Law, a long-time Tour equipment rep and San Diego-area resident,
wandered around the seaside muni on Tuesday and was taken by the
layout’s conditioning, the narrowed driving corridors and the normally
well-grassed bank between the 18th green and the small pond in front of
the putting surface known as Devlin’s Billabong.
The U.S. Golf Association – which, thanks to new set-up man Mike Davis,
has returned a measure of fun back into the national championship – has
shaved the bank around the Billabong. Which means that any
approach shot hit with too much spin will find a watery end.
Players will also be impressed with the championship’s driving range.
Officials molded the first and 10th holes of the adjacent North Course
into a practice area that would make Vijay Singh consider relocating to
the Left Coast.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 4
Geoff Ogilvy was facing a fairly busy
week leading into the U.S. Open. He and his family were scheduled to
jump in the car after he returned to Phoenix from the Memorial and head
west to Del Mar, Calif., for the summer.
The sizzling heat of
Phoenix is just too much for his young daughter, so Ogilvy rented a
house through the PGA Championship for his wife, Juli, and daughter,
Phoebe.
Consequently, Ogilvy will be based just miles up the
coast from Torrey Pines, where he planned to spend part of his week
leading into the Open. Ogilvy will get his fair taste of California
this summer, too, with a proposed light schedule that includes
the U.S. Open, British Open, WGC-Bridgestone and PGA Championship
before he jumps headlong into the FedEx Cup playoff chase.
– Alex Miceli
Posted June 4
Was watching the Tour brethren go through their paces early last week
at Muirfield Village when a long-time player manager wandered by and we
started talking about the myriad statistics available to players of the
ShotLink era.
“Some stats can be misleading,” he said. “What is Tiger Woods No. 1 at? That’s probably pretty important.”
Hard to argue with that logic so we took a look at TW’s stats sheet and
found some interesting nuggets. He’s first in approach shots from
100-125 yards, scrambling from 10-20 yards and putting from 5 feet (he’s a
mind boggling 11 for 11).
While we’re on the subject of Woods, his swing coach Hank Haney was on
XM Radio with Peter Kessler this morning. According to Haney, Woods is
progressing well from knee surgery and will be ready for next week’s
U.S. Open. When asked if he thought Woods would take it easy hitting
out of the Torrey Pines' rough, Haney quickly put that idea to rest.
“You’re not going to see him throttle back,” Haney said. “It’s not what he does.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 3
The camera doesn’t always tell the whole story.
J.B.
Holmes has taken some heat because he was shown on the CBS telecast of
the Memorial Tournament walking past Jack Nicklaus without
acknowledging the tournament host. Holmes was on the way to the scoring
trailer after a fourth-round 77, and some viewers interpreted Holmes’
behavior as a snub of a golf legend.
Holmes says that couldn’t
be further from the truth. He maintains he “idolizes” the Golden Bear
and didn’t see him standing there among other committee members dressed
similarly.
“I would never do anything like that,” he told Golfweek through an aide.
When
he learned of the situation through a call from his father-in-law,
watching from home, Holmes hurriedly walked back down the hill,
apologized to Nicklaus and told him he hadn’t seen him, according to
the Holmes camp.
Holmes said Nicklaus told him not to worry and thanked him for coming back to visit.
Thing is, the eye in the sky didn’t show the postscript.
– Jeff Rude
Posted June 2
Kenny Perry, one of
golf’s hottest golfers, is skipping U.S. Open sectional qualifying because
he doesn’t like playing 36 holes and doesn’t like Open site Torrey Pines.
His mindset is interesting for several reasons.
One is that countless golfers
dream of all three things: Playing 36 in a day, playing in a U.S. Open and
playing a famous course on the Pacific Ocean.
– Jeff Rude
Posted June 2
DUBLIN, Ohio – Player carping here at Jack’s Place seems to have
subsided, and the host likely quieted the conspiracy theorist Sunday
morning when he was asked about the combination of thick rough, slick
greens and furrowed bunkers.
“(The rough) is probably a little deeper than they would have liked,”
Nicklaus said on XM Radio. “They told us to cut it at 4 1/2 inches, and
we did. I played last Sunday and Monday and didn’t hit it off the
fairway. So, I really didn’t know what it was like.”
Seems the Golden Bear isn’t above shaming his younger charges into silence.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 1
DUBLIN, Ohio – Never a good time for a weather delay, but just moments
after Kenny Perry rifled his tee shot at the par-3 fourth hole to 3
feet the emergency horn blew sending players to shelter.
No way to know if Perry’s birdie attempt was weighing on him, but the
last we saw the cool Kentuckian he was nervously swinging his umbrella
in between glances toward the fourth green.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 31
DUBLIN, Ohio – Spotted Coastal Carolina men’s golf coach Allen Terrell
this morning at Muirfield Village. Terrell still doubles as swing
coach/mentor to PGA Tour rookie Dustin Johnson, the Chanticleers’
all-time scoring leader.
Coastal Carolina finished 22nd at the NCAA East Regional and failed to
advance to this week’s Division I Championship, which gave Terrell a
chance to work with Johnson at the Memorial. It was not, however,
Terrell’s first choice.
“I would rather be (at NCAAs), I promise you that,” Terrell said.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 30
DUBLIN, Ohio – Brett Quigley called it “doomsday.” Others had less-than-printable monikers for Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village.
Shaun Micheel was the first victim of greens some players estimate are
rolling at 15 on the Stimpmeter. The former PGA champion hit his
approach 57 feet past the hole at the par-4 18th. His birdie putt
stopped rolling 46 yards down the fairway and Micheel signed for a
double-bogey 6.
Not long after Micheel’s odyssey, Justin Bolli fired his approach about
50 feet past the hole and raced his first putt to almost the same spot
in the fairway. Bolli added to his woes when his chip from 45 yards
stopped short of the pin and spun back down the fairway. Bolli finally
two-putted for a triple bogey-7.
“It’s ridiculous,” hissed one player as he walked out of the scoring
hut. “You turn a great golf course into a piece of (crap) by making the
greens too fast.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 29
DUBLIN, Ohio – As a venue, Muirfield Village fashions itself a U.S.
Open Lite. Thick rough, fueled by a particularly wet spring, and slick
greens, according to Jason Gore the fastest putting surfaces on Tour
this year, offer a glimpse of things to come at Torrey Pines.
While Bubba Watson’s bomb-and-gorge shtick may seem to be the round peg
for the U.S. Open’s square hole, consider the left-hander’s start at
the Memorial and his recent U.S. Open resume.
The big man from the Florida Panhandle is 3 under through nine holes in
central Ohio, having birdied four of Muirfield’s five longest holes
including easy ‘4s’ at the par-5 fifth and seventh holes following
drives of 330 and 322 yard drives, respectively.
And last year at Oakmont, Watson tied for fifth in his second national
championship after finishing an out-of-character 31st in fairways hit
and fourth in total putts.
Think Angel Cabrera with level shoulders and a pink golf shaft.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 29
Yes, Torrey Pines’ South Course will be
set up far differently for the U.S. Open than it is during the Buick
Invitational early in the year–firmer turf, narrower fairways, faster
greens and higher rough.
Some say that will negate the
power games of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, winners of nine PGA Tour
titles combined at Torrey Pines. Paul Goydos, Players Championship
runner-up, is not one of those who believes the world's top two players
will be held back.
“In my opinion it’s going to be 10 (wins for
those guys) unless Paul Goydos is up there,” said Goydos, serious about
the first part of the sentence. “They’re the chalk. This is Big Brown
in the Preakness.”
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 28
Lorena
Ochoa pulled out of the Ginn Tribute due to family illness and was
replaced in the field by Eva Dahllof. No offense to the Swede, but this
puts a sizable damper on the fan-favorite pairing of Ochoa (now
Dahllof), Juli Inkster and tournament host Annika Sorenstam.
Ochoa has won six of nine events this season. Dahllof has missed the cut in
six of nine events.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted May 28
DUBLIN, Ohio – Paul Azinger hasn’t led the U.S. side to a single point,
let alone a golden chalice, and yet he’s already added a measure of
excitement to this year’s Ryder Cup with his from-the-hip style.
On Wednesday at the Memorial, he was asked about possible pairings for
this fall’s matches. Azinger said he’d ask players for their preferred
partners as well as anyone they simply would not want to play with.
Which prompted a follow-up question: “What happens if 11 guys all put
one guy they don’t want to play with?”
“Dude’s in the envelope or something, I don’t know,” said Azinger,
referring to the player each captain tabs to sit in case the other side
loses a player to injury or other circumstances. “(He) may not play
until Sunday.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 28
Maybe for those who read tea leaves and consult tarot cards for a
living, Tiger Woods’ press conference Tuesday was enlightening. For
those of us confined to our mere mortal senses, the 30 or so minutes
was something less than an eye opener.
Woods – in the metro Washington, D.C., area to talk about his AT&T
National event – said his rehab from knee surgery is “right on
schedule” for next month’s U.S. Open and that he wasn’t ready to play
this week’s Memorial. Other than that, the world No. 1 revealed little.
Just a guess here, but after watching a couple of Tour players rush
back from injury – Arron Oberholser comes to mind –Woods knows what he’s
doing with his rehab. And the press.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 27
The unfavorable news keeps coming for Arron Oberholser. He not only has
battled injury after injury the last year, but this week he slipped to
No. 51 in the world ranking at the wrong time. The top 50 through
Sunday’s play are exempt into the U.S. Open.
To his
credit, Oberholser said he probably deserved what he got because he
hasn’t played well in the five 2008 PGA Tour starts he has made in
between injuries and treatments.
When I caught up with
Oberholser on the last hole of the Crowne Plaza Invitational pro-am at
Colonial, his head and spirits were both down. He was finishing up just
his second 18 holes since the Masters and said that he was pretty much
hating golf because he’s tired of the continual fight through physical
problems and the uncertainty over whether the bone spur in his left
hand will need surgery.
Before making the cut at Colonial in his
first tournament since the Masters, Oberholser talked as if his main
goal was blocking out the possibility of having a second hand surgery
since October. He figures his hand, shoulder and neck woes this year
stem from coming back from that operation.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 27
ROCHESTER,
N.Y. – You can make an argument that it’s anyone’s ball game entering
today’s final round of the Senior PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country
Club because for much of the week, players have been able to create
short bursts of brilliance. But Oak Hill is a microcosm of the game
itself; just when you think you have it figured out, that’s when it
jumps up and smacks you silly.
Mark O’Meara’s second-round 66 is
the low score of the week, but he finds himself seven shots behind
because that was sandwiched between a 76 and 77.
Bruce Vaughan
had a hole-in-one on Saturday, a 164-yard 7-iron at the sixth. It was a
round in which Vaughan hit 15 greens in regulation – and one day after
he
missed 15 greens.
Yesterday, former U.S. Open
champion Scott Simpson inexplicably turned in a sensational finishing
kick. Having managed just two birdies over his first two and a half
rounds, Simpson made five birdies over his closing seven holes.
“Believe
me, I don’t know what happened,” said Simpson, who finds himself in the
second group from the end in today’s finale. “Yeah, it looked easy. It
just turned into a pitch-and-putt there for a second.”
The top
20 players on the leader board have only four sub-par scores between
them, so expect the winning score to be over par. But you never know.
– Rich Skyzinski
Posted May 25
ROCHESTER,
N.Y. – It’s going to be a great golf weekend at Oak Hill, and not
simply because winter may have made its last call here.
There’s
plenty of local interest in the final 36 holes of the Senior PGA as two
players with area connections, Rochester native Jeff Sluman and Joey
Sindelar of nearby Horseheads, N.Y., both are firmly entrenched inside
the top dozen. A couple of others made the cut as well, which should
make for a fun homecoming weekend.
“I wouldn’t be entirely out
of it at this point,” said Sindelar after a second-round 69 left him at
5 over par, well within striking range. “Yesterday I just didn’t do
anything right and today I did some things right. It certainly wasn’t a
perfect round of golf, but it was good enough.”
Regardless of
what happens over the weekend, Sindelar, competing in his first Senior
PGA, will enjoy playing in front of friends and family.
“I’ll
make eye contact with a bunch of people,” he said. “That’s the fun of
it. I would hate to come up here and march with my head down for 72
holes and not see so many people that came out to say hello. . . . We
all live on the road so much that it’s fun to have this chance, so many
people that I know can be here.”
Lonnie Nielsen, from the
Buffalo suburb of East Aurora, was a standout player in the Western New
Section PGA Section with nine Section championships, 10 Section match
play titles and two New York State Opens. After a dismal 81 on
Thursday, he rebounded with a solid even-par 70 to qualify for the
weekend.
On Thursday, Nielsen played the par 3s in 6 over
(4-3-5-6), and over a stretch of four holes, 15-18, Nielsen was seven
strokes better on Friday.
“Yesterday was a nightmare,” he said.
“Nothing good was happening yesterday. I putted poorly and drove the
ball poorly, and when you do that you just can’t play this course.”
With
all the success he had as a club professional, Nielsen remembers his
days in the Section fondly. “I really enjoyed being with the guys there
whenever we played our events. It’s a great group of guys, a real
family atmosphere in our Section. Many times I wish I were still back
there because we had a lot of fun.”
– Rich Skyzinski
Posted May 23
Forget his opening 65 at Colonial. Forget his lofty perch atop the
Crowne Plaza leaderboard (T-2). The only numbers that matter from Phil
Mickelson’s first trip around the Texas layout are 84 percent and 73
percent. That was Lefty’s greens in regulation and driving accuracy
totals, respectively.
If the U.S. Open goes according to script, Torrey Pines – where
Mickelson spent time early last week on a pre-championship scouting
trip – will play similarly hard and windswept. Mickelson’s opening act
at Colonial could be the first sign that the SoCal stars are aligning
perfectly.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 23
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Life on the Champions Tour is usually a holiday: wide fairways, 54 holes, no cuts. But not this week.
Over
the first 11 events of the 2008 Champions Tour, the most difficult
course was the Ocean Course at Hammock Beach in Palm Coast, Fla., for
the Ginn Championship. It played a little more than two shots (2.28, to
be exact) over par.
And while the majors are expected to be more
difficult, Oak Hill’s East Course is in the process of leaving Hammock
Beach so far in its dust, you’ll need the Hubble Telescope to find it.
After one day at the 69th Senior PGA Championship, the average score was almost
seven
strokes over par (6.87), and that stat is more astounding considering
that Oak Hill’s par of 70 is two strokes below that of Hammock Beach.
Every
hole averaged over par and bogeys outnumbered birdies by a ratio
greater than 4.5-to-1. Geez, at the par-3 third, there were but five
birdies against 65 bogeys – and four holes played more difficult than
that one.
“There’s some situations where it’s hard to advance it
(from the rough),” said defending champion Denis Watson, who hit just
half the greens but managed a respectable 2-over-par 72. “I watched the
mowers out there; they’re not cutting, they’re just moving the grass,
laying it over. There’s nothing coming up. This place can really get
you if you get it in the wrong place.”
– Rich Skyzinski
Posted May 22
Armchair caddies have had big fun this week lambasting Parker McLachlin
for laying up on the 72nd hole at the AT&T Classic. From the middle
of the 18th fairway, McLachlin was two shots out of the lead and needed
an eagle to earn a spot in the ensuing playoff. Instead, McLachlin laid
up and three-putted from 30 feet to tie for fifth.
Whether he was playing it safe, playing for a paycheck or simply trying
to find a shot that he was comfortable with we’ll never know. What we
do know is that McLachlin ranks 135th on Tour in the “going for the
green” statistic, connecting on just 36 percent of his attempts. Hardly
a confidence boost when a pond looms short and, as Kenny Perry learned
in the playoff, a single evil pine tree awaits to the right.
We also know that McLachlin’s caddie, longtime looper Scott Gneiser,
has a pretty good record when his man takes the safe road. At the 2001
PGA Championship at nearby Atlanta Athletic Club, Gneiser and David
Toms laid up at the par-4 18th on Sunday. That turned out pretty good.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 22
FORT WORTH – Local favorite Colt Knost,
2007 U.S. Amateur champion, began the week with a bang at the Crowne
Plaza Invitational at Colonial. In the Monday pro-am, Knost shot a 62
that included a double-eagle 2 on the 611-yard 11th hole.
This wasn’t your grandfather’s double eagle. He holed a 3-wood shot from 290 yards.
Odder
than that, the recent Nationwide Tour winner has made six double eagles
in his life. That’s not only unusually high–Jack Nicklaus had made only
two through the mid-1990s–but it’s twice the amount of his three
holes-in-one.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 21
Big day in the world of sport on Wednesday. The venerable South Course
at Torrey Pines closes today as officials make final preparations for
next month’s U.S. Open.
And, of course, there’s that other sport happening in Moscow. Today’s
UEFA Champions League all-English final between Manchester United and
Chelsea gets underway at about 11:30 a.m. on the West Coast.
Could be a tough call. One final loop on the seaside muni before the
world’s best and brightest take center stage, or a 1-nil shoot-out.
Hmmmm, decisions, decisions.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 21
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The PGA of America must be going through Wite-Out by the gallon.
Since
the starting field for the 69th Senior PGA Championship at Oak Hill
Country Club was determined, there have been no fewer than 26
withdrawals; that was the total as of midday Wednesday.
The WDs
have included 10 major championship winners and at least two players
who’ve enjoyed a bit of good Oak Hill karma: Fred Funk, who was T-7 at
the 2003 PGA Championship, and Curtis Strange, who won the second of
his back-to-back U.S. Open titles at Oak Hill in 1989.
“I have
no idea why 26 people withdrew,” said Jeff Sluman, a Rochester native
considered one of this week’s favorites. “I know it’s important to the
players that are here.”
– Rich Skyzinski
Posted May 21
FORT WORTH – Paul Goydos’ 15 minutes of
fame isn’t up yet. Overnight he has gone from faceless journeyman to
red-carpet celebrity–and he didn’t even win the Players Championship.
Goydos
lately has been treated like golf’s glitterati. Last week in Atlanta he
got the star treatment at a Braves baseball game. He visited with
manager Bobby Cox in the dugout and left with an autographed ball. He
sat in the general manager’s box two innings. He signed autographs from
his box seat near the on-deck circle.
“All that’s a great honor for a guy like me,” Goydos said.
What’s
more, his Long Beach State cap–the kind worn by the school’s baseball
team, known as the Dirt Bags–was sold to a bar owner for $4,000
at a school fundraiser. Goydos bought the lid on a whim for
$14.99 plus tax at the Charlotte airport the week before the Players.
“The
most unexpected thing that’s happened to me is the hat,” Goydos said.
“It’s taken on a life of its own. It being auctioned off for $4,000 is
as nutty as it gets.”
If that isn’t, hearing “let’s go Dirt Bags” wherever he goes is.
“I don’t think that’s happened on the PGA Tour before,” he said. “Even being called a Dirt Bag is a positive thing now.”
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 20
Let’s give the PGA of America credit for walking the lonely major-championship doping rope.
The
folks who run the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup could have taken the
road heavily traveled and deferred testing for performance-enhancing
drugs until next year, after the PGA Tour and golf’s other ruling
bodies had worked out all the inevitable wrinkles. Instead, players at
“Glory’s Last Shot” later this summer at Oakland Hills and the Ryder
Cup will be subjected to a cup ceremony of another sort.
However
reluctantly we’ve arrived at the doping crossroads, the PGA deserves
kudos for leading the way among the major-championship set.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 19
Did a double take when we glanced at the AT&T Classic leaderboard
and eyed Guy Boros. That’s right, the 43-year-old who hasn’t finished
inside the top 40 at a Tour event since 2003 was tied for seventh late
Friday afternoon.
We can only assume Boros landed his spot in the field as an alternate, just ahead of Old Tom Morris and Harry Vardon.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 16
DULUTH, Ga. – Jonathan Kaye left TPC
Sugarloaf tied for the AT&T Classic lead at 6 under. Kaye, who’s
playing on a major medical exemption after having surgery on his right
big toe early last year, has been idle for seven weeks after finishing
T-75 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in late March. But he looked
good Thursday morning, shooting a 66 before the rain came in. However,
the second round could be iffy.
Kaye’s group was bogged down
while waiting for a ruling on No. 5 and it spent the next eight holes
“running” after being put on the clock. Kaye said the toe was already
sore after his round.
“There’s some nice little cardiac hills
out there for you to get your heart rate up right before you’ve got to
hit it,” Kaye said. “It’s kind of like the Tour de France.”
– Scott Hamilton
Posted May 15
DULUTH, GA. – A few random thoughts while tromping around a soggy TPC Sugarloaf during the first round of the AT&T Classic:
•
While hanging out at the driving range this morning I couldn’t help but
think about the field in this event. While it has its share of young
guns and journeymen, there could also be a separate sect forming a
broken hearts club. David Duval, Greg Norman, Paul Goydos – those three
alone create a curiosity factor that has people watching them. Everyone
around these parts are familiar with Duval and Norman’s struggles,
while Goydos is the flavor of the week after dumping his ball into the
pond during last week’s sudden-death playoff at The Players.
•
The tournament director said today he traded dates in order to get
better weather. That’s kind of true considering the drought that has
engulfed the Southeast for a year and the fact it snowed here a couple
of years ago when this tournament was played the week before the
Masters.
• Speaking of Goydos, he’s still wearing that Long
Beach State hat, the one he plunked down $26 for in the Charlotte,
N.C., airport. He has to consider it to be kind of good luck. After
all, his second-place finish to Sergio Garcia last week produced
$1,026,000. That will buy just about anything you want at Lids.
•
Go to the locker room at TPC Sugarloaf and you will be greeted by a
lady named Dale Earnhart. As someone who shares a name with another
iconic athlete I just had to take a photo of my ID badge with her ID
badge. It was kind of a worlds-collide moment. The real irony is that
she had met both Dale Earnhardt the legendary NASCAR driver and Olympic
gold medal figure skater Scott Hamilton, though she assured me I was
more interesting than both. I was actually more interested to hear that
her nephew is former Georgia quarterback David Green.
• Being in
Atlanta, home of the Weather Channel, here’s my chance to play
meteorologist: The forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies in the
morning with a 30-percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before
gradually clearing during the afternoon. The high should be about 76
degrees with winds building up to 15-25 MPH later in the day. Take
that, Jim Cantore ...
– Scott Hamilton
Posted May 15
Lot of talk in the wake of Sergio Garcia’s Players' victory. Is he
ready to finally win that major? Can he challenge Tiger? Has he shed
his putting demons? Short answers, too soon to call. On all counts.
Although the Spaniard’s victory at TPC Sawgrass was a classic, he still
has to cash with Woods in the field. As for majors in the short term,
we would have to give the SoCal tandem of Woods and Phil Mickelson the
nod at Torrey Pines for next month’s U.S. Open. But Garcia has good
vibes at Royal Birkdale, where he finished tied for 29th in 1998 as an
amateur, and the last time he played a round that mattered at Oakland
Hills, site of this year’s PGA Championship, he didn’t loose a match
going 4-0-1 at the 2004 Ryder Cup.
As for the putting, perhaps he isn’t as woeful as advertised. Maybe a
solid ballstriker will always be haunted by the fact that the more
greens you hit, the fewer one-putts you will have. But there is one
glaring statistic that has nothing to do with Garcia’s GIR. For the
week, he was 67 for 78 on putts from inside 10 feet. While that was a
drastic improvement over his season average (86 percent), it still
ranked him a pedestrian 33rd in The Players field. As a general rule,
middle of the pack on the greens is no way to win major championships.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 15
DULUTH, Ga. – The field is your typical post-major gathering (that is,
if you’re one of those who consider The Players to be that “fifth
major”) and navigating your way through Atlanta traffic to TPC
Sugarloaf is a hassle. But the golf course is interesting and the
hospitality by the AT&T Classic’s staff and volunteers is top-notch.
Still the best part may actually lie between the nightmare that is the Big Peach’s highway system and the watered-down golf.
The road leading up from the course’s front gate to the clubhouse is
littered with homes worthy of any magazine cover. But the architecture
isn’t what makes the short drive interesting. It’s the who’s who of
“Hot-lanta” residing in them.
That allows the shuttle drivers ferrying media from an off-property lot
to play the role of tour guide. On one jaunt, my driver pointed out
homes belonging to Mary J. Blige, Chipper Jones, Michael Vick (at least
for a little longer) and a castle-looking house formerly owned by a
reputed madam (yes, that kind of madam). Thought it was curious she had
set up shop across from a playground.
– Scott Hamilton
Posted May 14
Annika Sorenstam will present Wednesday’s Top Ten List on David
Letterman. Shortly after announcing her upcoming retirement Tuesday,
Sorenstam threw out the first pitch at a Mets game.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted May 14
As we watched Annika Sorenstam inch closer to the end, the thought
occurs. What happens in say five years when Tiger Woods eclipses Jack
Nicklaus’ major total and he is no longer moved by the notion of golf
immortality? It makes the time we have left with the world No. 1 worth
savoring.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 13
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.–Judging by early
finishers and a strong wind, the end of the Players Championship
figures to be highly dramatic on the last two holes. Disaster looms ...
and has already struck early Sunday starters.
Camilio
Villegas was one under par for the day until he finished with a
double-bogey 5 at 17 and triple-bogey 7 at 18. Richard Sterne made 9 at
the last. Cliff Kresge closed with a 7. Playiing partners Johnson
Wagner and Heath Slocum, as well as D.J. Trahan, finished with double
bogeys.
Fives were wild at 17 early. Besides Villegas, Jason Bohn, Aaron Baddeley and Retief Goosen made doubles there.
And all that was just in the first 12 twosomes. So stay tuned. And buckle up.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 11
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rain seems to have bypassed TPC Sawgrass, but
the storm has left behind ravaging winds. As his man Stuart Appleby
warmed up Sunday afternoon, caddie Joe Damiano’s hat blew off his head
and trundled down the range. Damiano couldn’t retrieve the lid because
he had to hold his man’s staff bag to keep it from blowing over. It’s
going to be a long day for those who play golf for a living.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 11
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Tour officials decided not to move up tee
times for Sunday’s final turn at TPC Sawgrass despite a forecast that
called for a 50 percent chance of rain and possibly hail.
We understand TV wags the dog and that network execs didn’t pay
millions to air re-runs. We also don’t expect the Tour to adjust times
to avoid a Monday finish to help the thousands of volunteers or media,
although going the extra day cuts into our Monday four-ball play.
The difficult part to take here is the shot to competitive integrity.
Somehow a round that stretches over two days just doesn’t seem right.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 11
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – If you’re looking for a sentimental favorite
on Sunday at The Players, start at the top of the leaderboard and go no
further.
Paul Goydos: single father of two, former substitute teacher,
self-dubbed “journeyman” and, if the cosmic tumblers fall according to
plan, faux major champion.
And if all that’s not enough to replace the Tiger Woods void, consider just Saturday’s sound bites from the man.
• After pulling off an all-world par save at the 13th hole received little gallery response: “Tough crowd.”
• On his yearly progress: “I think I’m a better player than I’ve ever
been. That said, so is everybody else who plays out here, which is the
problem.”
• On never having held a 54-hole lead: “Sixteenth year (on Tour) and this is the first. I guess I was due.”
• On his Sunday frame of mind: “I try to win every week. It doesn’t look like it, but it’s why we play.”
• And, our favorite, just before rifling a hybrid to 14 feet for birdie
at the last, Goydos swept away a used cigarette and muttered, “These
things will kill you.”
We can assume he was referring to the cigarette, not the shot.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 10
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.–The Players
Championship, by several planets, is the most fan-friendly tournament
in golf. A slew of information is readily available through
scoreboards, jumbo screens and hand-held devices.
About the only thing missing late Saturday noon was the fan part.
When
the two leaders at the time, Paul Goydos and Sergio Garcia, played the
12th hole, only about 150 people were in their gallery. Not many more
watched them play 13.
I am fairly certain I’ve ever seen leaders draw so few at one of the four major championships.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 10
PONTE
VEDRA BEACH, Fla.–A male spectator, perhaps overserved, was taken away
by security on the 17th tee Saturday after yelling to Sergio
Garcia, “Don’t go swimming on Mothers Day!”
Apparently the fan’s behavior was deemed unbecoming.
Such
behavior also probably would have gotten him ejected at the rowdy 16th
at the FBR Open in Scottsdale. But for a different reason–lack of
heckling creativity.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 10
WILLIAMSBURG,
Va. – Round 3 of the Michelob Ultra Open didn’t exactly go down as
anyone imagined. Lorena Ochoa bogeyed five of the last 11 holes to fall
into a tie for 10th. She’s now eight strokes behind Annika Sorenstam
and tied with Suzann Pettersen, who whizzed around Kingsmill in 6
under.
Sorenstam hit only nine greens on the day but made her
first bogey of the week on the 54th hole. Her wedge game has been
superb, and she’s made every key putt.
Ochoa, however, hit 12
greens and needed 31 putts to get through her round. Despite a
frustrating day with the putter, Ochoa wasn’t at all interested in any
overtime efforts on the practice green.
“(I’m) going home to try to forget about it,” she said.
The Sorenstam-Ochoa pairing was fun while it lasted. Too bad it didn’t work out for Sunday, the only day that matters.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted May 10
PONTE
VEDRA BEACH, Fla.–The lone figure on the Players Championship driving
range at 4 p.m. Saturday looked like a throwback. Tom Lehman hit full
wedge shots not down the range but down the teeing area roped off by
yellow twine. Some 100 yards away was his caddie, Andy Martinez.
The
scene looked like something out of the 1970s and before, when caddies
shagged balls for their golfers. All that was missing were a shag bag
or baseball glove.
Martinez was down there, though, not to shag
but to measure. Lehman wanted to know the exact distance to a couple of
markers on the ground as he hit into a 20-mph wind.
Practicing
in high wind can be detrimental to the swing, but Lehman never has been
much scared by heavy current. He won his lone major, the 1996
British Open, thanks largely to a third-round 64 in windy conditions at
Royal Lytham and walked off that day with a six-stroke advantage.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 10
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – It’s 10:36 a.m. here at the Michelob Ultra Open at
Kingsmill and soup is already on the table for the afternoon lunch spread.
Today’s special: Ultra Beer Chili. (Not kidding)
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted May 10
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – For all those who mine the late-night
infomercials looking for a toy to improve their game take heart, Tour
players are not immune to the gadget jones.
Early Saturday we spotted Retief Goosen hitting a dozen balls with a
weighted club, Phil Mickelson using a putting alignment tool on the
practice putting green and Stuart Appleby dusting off the rust by
swinging a club with something called a “Club Fan” attached to it to
provide resistance.
“Tin Cup’s” Roy McAvoy would be proud.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 10
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – A small victory went unnoticed late Friday
afternoon. In the third-to-last group of the day, Jason Bohn stepped to
TPC’s 18th hole needing a birdie to make it to the weekend. He didn’t
know the par-4 closer was the day’s toughest test, playing to a 4.464
average, but the waves rolling across the lake down the left side of
the fairway told him it wouldn’t be easy.
The fifth-year Tour player hit a perfect drive and approach to 6 feet,
6 inches and calmly holed the birdie attempt, just one of 14 birdies
carded there on Friday.
“It’s such a grind,” Bohn said. “You know you’re going to get a bad
bounce. You know you’re going to make bogeys. You’re just trying not to
make a double and then you hit a good shot and it’s so hard to get the
ball close.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 10
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Christina Kim was cruising along nicely at 7 under
until she hit a 15-minute delay on the 18th tee. Kim pulled her drive
left and posted double-bogey to cap an otherwise solid round.
“Seven
birdies, one bogey through the first 17 holes and then &*%!,” said
a clearly miffed Kim. “I’m going in for a facial, that’s all I care
about right now.”
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted May 9
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Although it seemed Michael Allen had few
reasons to celebrate his 73-77 start at The Players, there was a
highlight. Allen’s tumbling 60-foot birdie putt at No. 13 on Thursday
was selected one of ESPN’s “plays of the day.”
“Yeah, back of the cup. That’s the only thing I was thinking,” Allen joked on Friday.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 9
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Woke up to rain here
at the Michelob Ultra Open. There were several tornado warnings in
nearby towns but nothing close enough to Kingsmill to cause much of a
scare. Play was suspended at 10:51 due to heavy rains and resumed 28
minutes later. Afternoon tee times were pushed back 20 minutes.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted May 9
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Chad Campbell is making an early move up the
leaderboard. He’s 4 under for the day through 10 holes and right on
script.
Seems the big Texan plays his best golf in even-numbered years, earning
spots on the 2004 and ’06 Ryder Cup teams with victories at the ’04 Bay
Hill Invitational and ’06 Bob Hope.
With September on his mind, Campbell also has some added motivation. A
member of “Camp Chad” recently revealed that Campbell and his wife,
Amy, are expecting the couple’s first child in mid-September.
If we may suggest possible names, please consider “Valhalla” if it’s a girl, and “Samuel” if it’s a boy?
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 9
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Robert Garrigus narrowly missed hitting for
the cycle early Friday. After a double bogey-6 at the 10th hole, he
made par (5) at No. 11 and birdie (3) at No. 12 before recording the
week’s first hole in one (1) at the 13th.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 9
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – They’re big on numbers along this stretch of
the First Coast. We have the fifth major, $1.71 million in cash to the
winner and 144 of the world’s best. Here’s Day 1 by the numbers.
• Jason Gore starts his round 4-9-4-6 and withdraws after just four
holes because of a high heart rate. We wish the big man the best and
hope for a speedy recovery. The Tour’s not as much fun without him.
• Shigeki Maruyama opened with a 67 . . . that would be a double bogey-6 at No. 1 and a double bogey-7 at No. 2.
• Kevin Na played Ping-Pong across the fourth green, chipping into the
creek, across the green, everywhere but in the hole, and signed for an
8.
• Ryan Armour withdrew after signing for an 81. Or, as one scribe grumbled, he was suffering from a low-grade fever: 81.
• Or, how about Nathan Green’s birdie-birdie-quadruple bogey finish. That’s 4-2-8.
• And, of course, No. 17. The 17th was relatively benign on a mostly
calm day, with just 20 (Matt Kuchar hit in twice) of the 141 players
dumping their tee shots into the murky pond compared to last year’s
first round when 50 tee shot found the drink.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 8
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Spent part of the back nine today walking with
ESPN’s Jane Crafter, one of the nicest TV types in the business.
Michelob didn’t opt for coverage on Thursday this year, so Crafter was
out for a stroll taking mental notes.
An amateur photographer,
Crafter’s work will debut this week in a segment called “Jane’s Craft.”
Each week she will take pictures of the host city for a travel
diary-type feature during the broadcast. On Wednesday, Crafter visited
Colonial Williamsburg and took reenactment photos.
Other
signature features to look for during the telecast are Andy “North’s
Notes” (on the course) and Judy’s (Rankin’s) Rankings.” Apparently
Charlie Rymer hasn’t nailed down his niche yet.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted May 8
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.–Do you believe in magic? I do, and I’m thinking Trevor Immelman might.
In
10 PGA Tour stroke-play tournaments this year, Immelman missed six cuts
and finished better than 40th once. You may recall the aberration. That
was the magic –his perfect storm at the Masters.
Since winning
the green jacket, a tired Immelman has shot 18 over par in four
rounds – 78-75 at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and 76-73 at the
Wachovia Championship.
Don’t worry about him. He’ll be back in
form in due time. But first he needs rest and recovery from the high of
victory and the post-Masters whirlwind relating to appearances and
business.
His plan to rest accelerated on the first day of the
Players Championship when he withdrew after waking up early in the
morning and suffering from an upset stomach and vomiting. He returned
home to recover.
He discussed his continued fatigue the day
before. Asked if he has had a chance to take a deep breath since
Augusta, the South African said, “No, not really.” He said he was eager
to take two weeks off after the Players and “just decompress ... and
figure out what’s going on and how I’m going to go about it from here.”
He
said he went from high to numerous commitments to “coming down” to “not
being focused” when playing. “My game has kind of gone sideways, so
that’s been a little disappointing,” he said. “I need to get some time
away just to think about how I’m going to start building again from
here.”
One suggestion: Watch the Masters tape.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 8
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Tiger Woods has said of TPC Sawgrass’ 17th
hole that it’s a fine test that should be played early in a round. His
point is that having such an unconventional hole so late in a round
could unduly influence the outcome of the tournament.
Little doubt Paul Goydos would agree. The Tour veteran teed off on No.
10 Thursday and hit his tee shot long into the lake on his way to a
bogey 4. Goydos rebounded, however, birdieing five of his final 10
holes for an opening 68 that left him two behind early leader Sergio
Garcia.
“I think (No. 17) is tremendous,” he said. “When I hit it, I had a bad
feeling I hit it too good, which I don’t have that feeling very often
when I hit it too good.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 8
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – I’ve lost track of
the number of players who have told me Kingsmill is their favorite tour
stop. They love the course, the housing, the gym, the peaceful setting,
the friendly volunteers. Defending champ Suzann Pettersen even loves
all the trees.
The Michelob Ultra Open kicks off Thurdsday and
the 9:05 a.m. pairing is the group to watch. The top three players in
the world – Lorena Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam and Pettersen – are going
to spend some quality time together the first two rounds. That pairings
computer really knows how to pick ’em (wink, wink).
“Doesn’t seem like it’s random,” said Sorenstam laughing, “but I’m happy about it.”
So are the rest of us.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted May 7
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Just watched Retief Goosen dunk his tee shot
at the 17th hole. Worse news than that: Editor type won’t let me reload
my picks for
this week’s Fantasy Aces. Before that woeful wedge shot,
Goose seemed like a decent “ace” up my sleeve.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 7
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Talk about your double takes. We took a
stroll down TPC’s 18th hole this afternoon and were flummoxed when the
first group playing through included the polarized duo of Rory
Sabbatini and Ben Crane.
Sabo and Crane, of course, were leading men in one of the game’s most
talked about slow-play episodes in 2005 at the Booz Allen Classic. So
imagine our chagrin when the two walked up the 18th in the same group.
Had Crane accelerated his slow-play shtick? Had Sabbatini slowed down
his speeding psyche? Had Bizzaro World broken out at the Tour’s marquee
event?
Turns out, it was none of the above. Sabbatini teed off after Crane’s
group and . . . wait for it, caught up with them on the 17th. The two
were cordial to each other after the round, but we’re guessing they
didn’t make dinner plans.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 6
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Small community this Tour circle. We wandered
past an interesting exchange this morning. Ernie Els, who recently
broke with longtime swing coach David Leadbetter to join the Butch
Harmon stable, was headed to TPC Sawgrass’ practice range when he
paused to have an extended conversation with Leadbetter.
Earlier in the day, Leadbetter said on Peter Kessler’s golf talk show
on XM Radio “Making the Turn,” that he had spoken with Els a few days
earlier and that the South African said, “he just wanted another
opinion,” and that he was working on, “many of the same things,” that
he and Leadbetter had been perfecting.
Seems not all breakups are antagonistic.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 6
There’s going to be a lot of talk about who among the dozen or so
twenty-somethings who have emerged this year will step up and become
the yin to Tiger Woods’ yang.
With respect to the current crop – a group that includes newly minted
Masters champion Trevor Immelman, 28; Wachovia winner Anthony Kim, 22;
Andres Romero, 26; Adam Scott, 27; Sean O’Hair, 25; J.B. Holmes, 25;
D.J. Trahan, 27; and Johnson Wagner, 28 – there is no yin to Tiger’s
yang. At least not now.
What we expect is a sort of closer by committee. A collective challenge
from a youthful circle that grew up in awe of Woods’ accomplishments,
but is unscarred by failure and hungry to challenge the world No. 1.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 5
David Toms says his back feels much better. The top of the Wachovia
Championship first-round scoreboard confirms. Nor did he feel any pains
on the greens.
It’s early – in the tournament and season –
but a healthy Toms who putts like normal (read: well) is good news for
the U.S. Ryder Cup team and captain Paul Azinger.
Toms
missed about a month because of a bad back earlier this year.
Considering the U.S. will try to reverse the trend of consecutive
9-point losses this September, the condition of Toms’ deteriorated
discs is an important detail.
Toms, 41, is in the midst of a
busy stretch at places that suit his control game. The last of his 12
PGA Tour victories was the first full-field week in 2006. But if
healthy, he has good chances in May besides this week to win and
impress Azinger. Keep on eye on him at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at
Colonial, where he has contended often on his favorite Tour course.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 1
CHARLOTTE,
N.C. – No big surprise that one of the big topics at the mandatory
players meeting the other night at Wachovia was slow play.
“We talked a lot about it,” said David Toms, who is one of four Tour player directors who serve on the board. “We always do.”
Thing
is, they never seem to get anywhere on this subject. The Tour’s field
staff believes there are too many players on the golf course (thus, the
'Rule 78' fiasco earlier this season) and players maintain they’re
playing for big stakes and lots of cash, so five-and-a-half hours for
rounds is simply the way of the world.
The Tour knows who its
worst snails are, but very little is done to change the glacial pace of
the (Slow) Dirty Dozen. Tour officials want players to police each
other.
Right.
That’s simply putting players who play
at an adequate pace in an awkward spot they do not want to be in. Some
players have suggested that the biggest offenders simply tee off last
every Thursday and Friday, and they’d get the point. I like that one.
One
newer twist in the latest meeting, though, was discussion of course
setups. They seem to be getting more and more difficult, with pins
tucked 3 paces off the edge of some greens, and that’s never going to
do anything to help pace of play. In Dallas last week, Adam Scott and
Ryan Moore played off at 7 under.
It marked the fifth time since the Tour hit Florida in late Febuary that the winning score was only single digits under par.
“One
of our Tour officials said that he was under the directive of the
board, a policy that was put in place 15 or 20 years ago, that golf
courses should be as difficult as you can make them but still be fair,”
Toms said. “Who knows, maybe the board will pass something new. We'll
have some different verbiage in there.”
How’s this for starters: Play faster.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted May 1
We hear U.S. Ryder Cup skipper Paul Azinger will make an appearance at
this weekend’s Kentucky Derby to participate in the media blitz
leading up to September’s matches at nearby Vahalla Golf Club.
’Zinger is probably no stranger to the betting window, so we’re
offering a few tips. Take “Big Truck” at 5-to-1 to show, “Colonel John”
at 4-to-1 to place, and Tiger Woods in the 10th Sunday singles’ spot to
win this year’s Ryder Cup.
And anyone who says the Derby is the most exciting two minutes in
sports has never watched the world No. 1 size up a 10 footer on the
18th to secure Samuel A. Ryder’s 16-inch chalice.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 1
Mark Tulsa down
as the week Lorena Ochoa learned the word ‘unbeatable.’ Here’s an
excerpt from Wednesday’s press conference with the Spanish-speaking
Ochoa, who is aiming to win her fifth consecutive tournament:
Q. Do you feel unbeatable?
LORENA OCHOA: That’s a new word. I never heard that.
Q. Do you feel like no one can beat you?
LORENA
OCHOA: Well, I believe I can beat everybody. I mean, you
know, it’s never too good to get too comfortable and think nobody can
beat you. It’s another thing to feel comfortable with your game.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted May 1
If I’ve heard it once this year, I’ve heard it 20 times: Doesn’t Phil Mickelson look different?
The answer is yes.
The
reason is he has been working out with trainer Sean Cochran since 2003
and in the past year or so admittedly has eaten better. Mickelson says
he works out about five days a week, mixing martial arts with
stretching and resistance, core and cardio training.
Hence the Mickelson you’ve seen this year is a bit tighter in the waist and bigger in the shoulders and chest.
And
that’s not all. He says he’s even taller. That’s right, taller. Men
don’t tend to grow upward at age 37, but Mickelson says he has sprouted
a half-inch or inch because of stretching exercises.
The upshot
is that he has changed putter lengths, from his old standby of 33 1/2
inches to 35 inches. Among other things, he said, “it’s easier on the
back.”
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 30
This week’
s Wachovia Championship has 15 of the world’s 20 top-ranked players but not injured No. 1 Tiger Woods.
Question is, would the typical tournament director rather have 15 of the top 20 or just Woods and no one else in the top 20?
Educated conjecture says the latter.
Point
is, golf’s balance at the top is a bit out of whack at the moment. Only
way that improves is if other players close the gap on Woods. Though we
got a taste of a so-called Big 4 or Big 5 in the middle of this decade,
we might have to wait a while for parity to rear its head again.
Spectator
golf is at its best when Phil Mickelson is playing well and giving
Woods something to think about. Spectator golf is at its second best
when Woods is playing, period. We’
re all fortunate to be able to
witness the best.
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 29
The game’s oldest major championship will not embrace the game’s newest
twist. Royal & Ancient Golf Club officials announced April 29 that
there will not be testing for performance-enhancing drugs at this
year’s British Open.
Citing the intense education programs currently underway on the PGA
Tour and European Tour, R&A officials said they plan on delaying
testing until next year to accommodate players from other tours who had
not had the luxury enjoyed by players in the United States and Europe.
“We very much plan and hope and intend that it will take place next
year,” said Peter Dawson, the secretary of the R&A. “It is a
function of timing, and we do see the Open Championship as another week
on Tour as far as drug testing is concerned.”
Fittingly, it appears likely that the PGA Championship, the most
progressive of the game’s four majors, will be the first to implement
Grand Slam testing.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 29
SOUTHPORT,
England – Some golf fans will do anything to stay connected to their
mobile phones. That much was obvious at Carnoustie last year.
The
R&A instigated a mobile phone ban last year after problems at Royal
Liverpool in 2006. Things were so bad that Tiger Woods had to back off
four shots over the last two days.
Most fans accepted the ban
at Carnoustie, but one spectator tried to get around the ban by hiding
his phone in a sandwich. David Hill, the R&A’s director of
championships, didn’t know what type of sandwich it was, only that it
was “quite squishy.”
The phone was taken off the spectator and
handed back to him when he left the course. He wasn’t deterred, though.
He tried to smuggle it into the course later in the day, this time in
his shoe.
– Alistair Tait
Posted April 29
Royal
Birkdale has been extended by 155 yards for this year’s Open
Championship. Major changes come at the 3rd, 6th, 11th, 16th and 17th
holes. The third will play 44 yards longer than in 1998; the 11th has
been extended from 408 yards in 1998 to 436 yards this year; hole 16
now measures 439 yards against the old 416 yards; the par-5, 17th has
been lengthened to 572 yards from 547; while the sixth becomes the
second hole on the course, along with the 13th, to measure 499 yards,
19 yards longer than it was in 1998.
Twenty new bunkers have been added since 1998, with a net total of six more bunkers than the last Open Championship.
The
most controversial change comes at the 17th where the green has been
moved forward of its previous position. The green is long and narrow
and over several tiers, and putting could be a nightmare for anyone who
finds the back of the green.
– Alistair Tait
Posted April 29
SOUTHPORT,
England – Golf is full of ironies. One was obvious here at Royal
Birkdale when the R&A conducted its annual Open Championship press
conference.
After listening to the R&A talk about how Royal
Birkdale had been lengthened and toughened up to pose a greater
challenge to the world’s elite golfers, I found Gordon Sherry, a player
once destined to join the world’s elite, on the putting green
conducting a clinic for a group of golfers.
Sherry, you may
remember, won the 1995 British Amateur Championship. He finished fourth
in the Scottish Open that same year, made the cut in The Open, and
played a key role in helping Great Britain & Ireland win the Walker
Cup.
Sherry tried to make it in the professional game and
failed. His story has been well documented, and should be a lesson to
those youngsters who think they will sail into the professional ranks.
Sherry
was in good spirits when I talked to him in the clubhouse. He now works
for sports management company 110 Sports. He seems to have found his
niche in life. However, I couldn’t help thinking there was something
wrong with a man teaching regular golfers the art of putting when he
should be preparing to play in this year’s championship.
– Alistair Tait
Posted April 29
AVENTURA, Fla. –
A half-dozen Japanese reporters took a red-eye flight to see Momoko
Ueda play in the final pairing of the Stanford International Pro-Am
with Annika Sorenstam and Paula Creamer. Ueda, a rookie on tour, is
playing alongside Sorenstam on Sunday for the second time this year.
She also went to toe-to-toe with Sorenstam at the SBS Open in February.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 27
AVENTURA,
Fla. – Beth Bader and amateur Aaron Theobald won the pro-am competition
of the Stanford International Pro-Am. Theobald is a former patient of
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. For every eagle
made this week Stanford is donating $1,000 to the hospital.
Theobald,
23, was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 16 years old, undergoing
multiple surgeries and chemotherapy. The baseball player turned to golf
after a hip replacement and has played limited rounds this year in
Bloomington, Ill.
Last week Theobald received a call from his orthopedic surgeon while driving to Texas. The doctor asked him to call back but said “It’s nothing serious.”
“I
didn’t believe it at all,” said Theobald, who feared something was
found on an x-ray and thought he might have to undergo another surgery.
Needless to say, he was relieved to find out Stanford was offering him
a spot to play in this week’s pro-am with Bader.
Theobald, a
TGI Friday’s bar tender, hit a six-iron from 175 yards to 4 feet on the
par-5 18th green to set up an eagle putt. The 10-handicapper missed the
putt but still managed to help lift Team Bader to a 25-under 187
performance.
Bader missed the cut this week but still enjoys the
same spoils as Theobald: An Audemars Piguet watch, Waterford trophy,
Tiffany prizes and a trip to any domestic Fairmont resort courtesy of
American Airlines.
“I hung in strong for Aaron,” said Bader. “Trying to read putts for him coming in. He played strong.”
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 26
AVENTURA,
Fla. – Annika Sorenstam finds herself holding a final-round lead for
the second time this year and the 71st time in her career at the
Stanford International Pro-Am. The Hall of Famer has won 47 of the 70
tournaments she’s led going into Sunday, or 67.14 percent.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 26
AVENTURA,
Fla. – Amateurs Russ O’Brien and Bill Marshall were interviewed at
separate times, but delivered word-for-word answers on their experience
playing in the last group at the Stanford International: “One of the
greatest thrills of my life.”
O’Brien, a financial adviser for
Stanford, paired with Annika Sorenstam and said it took him three days
to calm down his nerves. Marshall, owner of Team Marketing in Boca
Raton, partnered with Young Kim.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 26
The deadline for U.S. Open applications came and went this week. More
than 8,000 signed on for a chance to play a tricked-up Torrey Pines in
June, including entries from 68 foreign countries.
More interesting than all that, however, is how many entries were rushed in at the last minute.
A 39-year-old amateur from Massachusetts wins the procrastination
award, slipping his entry in just 56 seconds before the 5 p.m. (EDT)
deadline on April 23. He wasn’t alone. One hundred and two entries were
filed via the USGA’s Web site in the final hour.
Talk about slow play.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 26
AVENTURA, Fla. –
Twenty-three teams advanced to the final-round of the pro-am
competition at the Stanford International Pro-Am. Eight of those LPGA
players, however, didn’t make the cut and won’t be paid for their
efforts tomorrow.
LPGA pros are eligible for the same prizes as
amateurs. Winners receive a pair of Audemars Piguet watches, a few
undisclosed Tiffany items and a return trip to Fairmont complete with
airfare.
Neither James Blake nor James Caan made the cut.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 25
AVENTURA,
Fla. – Nancy Lopez shot 81 Friday. Believe it or not, that was a
10-stroke improvement over Day 1. Her second round over the Miller
Course ended with back-to-back birdies, but also included an 8 on the
par-3 15th.
“I kept hitting balls in the water,” Lopez said. “Didn’t know there was a drop area.”
The Hall of Famer was as gracious as ever after her round, signing autographs and trying to stay positive.
Lopez
won’t let this showing get her down. She still plans on playing five or
six events this year, but said she needs to get into better shape.
“I’m glad I’m not playing tomorrow because I’m really, really tired,” she said.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 25
AVENTURA,
Fla. – Don Soffer’s fiancé graciously gave up a seat in her cart
to give me a few minutes with the man responsible for Fairmont
Turnberry Isle. For the record, she’s a striking blonde who looks,
shall we say, slightly younger than Mr. Soffer.
Actually, Soffer
is responsible for Aventura in its entirety to be exact. Soffer said he
only agreed to allow the LPGA to come to his resort if celebrities were
part of the package. The way he figures it, celebrities will draw more
fans to the event and then LPGA players will wind up taking center
stage.
So how did Soffer find his namesake track?
“This is the first time I’ve played all 18 holes,” Soffer said. “I mostly play tennis.”
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 25
AVENTURA,
Fla. – Star tennis player James Blake learned a valuable lesson during
Round 1 of the Stanford International Pro-Am: Bring lots of food.
“Normally
where I’m playing there might be a cart girl come around or a hot dog
at the turn or something,” said Blake, who partnered with Paula
Creamer. “I guess that doesn’t happen here.”
What Blake and the
rest of the tour weren’t prepared for were six-hour rounds. On the
Miller Course (which players will not see over the weekend), players
complained of extraordinarily tough pin placements, particularly for a
pro-am event.
Wendy Ward waited 41 minutes on the par-3 second
hole before teeing off because the back pin-placement was so difficult
to negotiate. When Lindsey Wright’s group reached No. 2, the wait was
so long her caddie walked back to the caddie tent to get a hot dog.
“I
think it’s safe to say the players don’t mind being challenged,” Ward
said. “It’s what we do for a living. But the course setup was suspect.
... It’s hard to stay focused that long. Our pro-am partners were
fading, we were fading. It was kind of humorous at first, but then it
was highly frustrating.”
Chris Higgs, the LPGA’s COO, said the
challenge facing the first-year event is making the courses competitive
for tour players while still providing an enjoyable experience for the
amateurs.
“It’s a necessary evolution for a format like this,” said Higgs of Thursday’s learning experience.
Kelli
Kuehne’s group took 50 minutes to play the first two holes on the
Miller course. Her amateur partner also has played at the PGA Tour’s
pro-am party at Pebble and told her he’d “never seen anything like
this.”
Unfortunately, if the wind keeps up Friday things won’t
get much better. The pins must remain the same for the second round so
that conditions will be the same for the entire field.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 24
Apparently
there’s a reason no player besides Tiger Woods the last 20 years has
followed a Masters victory with a win in his next start. Make that two
reasons: Letdown and fallout from a post-Masters whirlwind.
The
latest example is Trevor Immelman. He went from first at Augusta to
153rd after the first round of the EDS Byron Nelson Classic. His 78
beat only three players.
“I just think I’ve run out of gas,”
said Immelman, who snap-hooked a ball out of bounds at 15 and made a
triple-bogey 7. “I’m obviously real tired. I've been trying to get as
much sleep as I can, as well as obviously running around and doing
things like this. You know, I think what I've got to do is figure out a
way to balance it all so that I can feel like I get to tournaments
feeling fresh and ready to go.”
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 24
What do PGA Tour players do when they’re not charming crowds and vying
for titles? Seems fishing is the sport du jour for Tour types.
Boo Weekley, who has long held he’s playing professional golf just long
enough to secure his golden years of fishing and hunting, took the week
off after winning his second consecutive Verizon Heritage and is a
virtual lock to drop a line in a Florida Panhandle watering hole before
he gets back to his day job.
We also learned that Brandt Snedeker, who charmed Augusta National
galleries with his smile and fearless play, is testing the waters off
the Florida Keys this week.
Seems the blue blood sport has more blue collar to it than we thought.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 24
IRVING, Texas–A
year after both the golf course and field wilted and a couple of days
after a title sponsor warning, things are looking up for the EDS Byron
Nelson Classic. The Nelson now has a newly refurbished TPC
course, new conditioning, a new date in coming years and now a new
extension with EDS.
Early in the week EDS chairman and CEO
Ron Rittenmeyer said his company needed favorable dates from the PGA
Tour if it were to renew its title sponsorship when its contract
expires after 2010. Suffice to say, he got what he wanted, because
Rittenmeyer and Tour commissioner Tim Finchem on Wednesday announced a
four-year extension through 2014.
“The PGA Tour stepped up and
really helped make this happen,” Rittenmeyer said. “(Finchem) has
eliminated reasonably what are our concerns. ... It was a convergence
of everything.”
The Nelson had been a mid-May staple for decades
until last year, when the Players Championship moved from March to May.
Fields suffered last year and this week as a result of the April slot
soon after the Masters.
But the Tour has tentatively scheduled
the Nelson in late May the next two years, according to a document
obtained by Golfweek. Those years the tournament will be held two weeks
after the Players and a week before the nearby Crowne Plaza Colonial.
Though dates for 2011-14 weren’t disclosed, you can bet that EDS
got similar preferred dates the next two years.
Meanwhile,
the $10 million course renovation has been met with positive feedback
from players. Paul Goydos called the conditioning “mind-boggling” good,
Ted Purdy said the new greens are the Tour’s best so far this year, and
J.J. Henry said no course on Tour this year has been in better shape.
Bottom line: Excellent conditioning and favorable dates means the Nelson should again draw top fields.
“It’s
fantastic, a huge improvement,” Masters champion Trevor Immelman said.
“As soon as the word gets out about how good the golf course is,
they’ll start attracting great players again.”
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 23
Carson
Daly, of MTV fame, has WD’d from the Stanford International Pro-Am due
to an NBC taping conflict. He was scheduled to partner with the always
colorful Christina Kim.
That’s a big hit for the already sparse
list of celebrities who committed to play in the inaugural event.
Instead, Kim will tee it up this week with actor James Caan, best known
for his role as Sonny Corleone in “The Godfather.”
Caan stopped by the media room early in the week and delivered a few pre-tournament gems:
On his current celebrity status: “People have forgotten my name. I think they think I passed away, which I did on that television show.”
On comments he’s received from players: “The
standard you know, ‘I wish you hadn’t gone through the toll booth,’ or
‘How are your ankles?’ and all that kind of stuff. That’s all great.
Thank God they still remember.”
On the possibility of being outdriven by a girl: “I look at my fantastic, muscular body and you would think that I would be capable …”
On simulating the celebratory chest bump Kim shared with her caddie at the ’07 ADT: “It’s a good idea. I’ll ask her tonight at dinner. Maybe after a couple beers we can practice the chest bump. She’ll win that.”
Other
notable pairings include Paula Creamer and tennis star James Blake as
well as television’s Stone Phillips and Meg Mallon. The “Dateline NBC”
anchor was spotted reading an LPGA media guide by the pool yesterday at
Fairmont Turnberry Isle.
Don’t worry Stone, your partner has a pretty good resume.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 23
Boo Weekley will never be confused with Ben Crenshaw, but you have to
give the big man from the Florida Panhandle his due. On his way to his
second dinner jacket, Weekley ranked 23rd in putts for the week (107
total) and he was 65 for 73 on putts from 10 feet and in.
“It's all about putting out here,” said Weekley, who worked with Sea
Island (Ga.) Resort putting guru Mike Taylor before last year’s
Heritage take and again last week. “Each tournament that you play,
you’ve still got to hit it. But I think day in and day out it’s all
about that putting.”
We know Boo isn’t in the market for a new nickname, but if he was we’d
suggest the “Boss of the Mossy Oak.” Or, how about “Gentle Boo?”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 21
Although he may have spotted Boo Weekley, who appears on his way to the
second leg of the “Low Country” Grand Slam at Harbour Town, too much of
a head start (five strokes), it’s good to see Jason Bohn post some
decent scores.
We caught up with Bohn a few weeks back in New Orleans, his first
tournament back after missing a month for the birth of his second son
(Cameron Davis, and, yes, junior was named after Scotty Cameron of
Titleist putter fame). What stood out from that conversation was the
perspective the time off had instilled in Bohn.
“I couldn’t hit a golf ball for six months and it drove me crazy,” said
Bohn, who cracked two ribs last year at the Memorial and missed most of
2007. “But it was cool because I got to spend a lot of time with my 2
year old (Conner).”
Funny how 2 year olds bring out the perspective in all of us.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 20
REUNION, Fla. – The two holes I watched Juli Inkster play, she
three-putted (Nos. 1 and 10). After she three-putted for par on the
par-5 10th, she tossed up her ball and hit it into a hazard using her
putter like a baseball bat. Then she threw her naughty flatstick across
the green and hit her bag.
Needless to say, I wasn’t surprised
to see Inkster out late on the practice green following the round. Beth
Daniel was watching her putt and appeared to be offering tips. Inkster
followed her 69-69 start with a disappointing 77. Hopefully next year’s
Solheim Cup captain gave her something good to sleep on.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 19
REUNION,
Fla. – Yani Tseng plays fearless golf. She’s an aggressive power player
who makes a ton of birdies. She’s also a rookie who can’t wait to play
her first round with World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa at the Ginn Open.
“Dreams
come true,” said Tseng of her final-round pairing with Ochoa and
compatriot/friend Teresa Lu. “I want to learn something from her. I
think that’s my attitude for tomorrow. I feel very confident.”
Lu
remembers the first time she played with Ochoa several years ago. The
smooth-swinging Taiwanese player tried to keep up with the
long-hitting Mexican that day in Las Vegas and had a rough day.
“I learned my lesson,” said Lu, who trailed Ochoa by 40 yards off the tee on the first hole Saturday. “I’m playing my own game.”
Tseng might want to take note.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 19
HILTON
HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The PGA Tour has a new rock star. His biggest
obstacle, besides a guy named Tiger, may be his ability to manage his
time.
Brandt Snedeker was putting in extra work after shooting a
third-round 1-under-par 70 Saturday afternoon at the Verizon Heritage.
As leaders Boo Weekley and Lucas Glover made their way from the ninth
green to the 10th tee at Harbour Town Golf Links, a good portion of the
gallery stopped to watch Snedeker. Fresh off the Masters, where he
briefly held the lead before a shaky Sunday resulted in a third-place
finish, Snedeker took time to chat with well-wishers and sign
autographs.
And then he took more time.
And more time. He finally walked away from the railing, though only after all the autograph seekers had been satisfied.
A
few folks stuck around to watch from the bleachers, as Snedeker finally
retreated back to the range, never really seeming perturbed about this
newfound celebrity.
– Scott Hamilton
Posted April 19
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Birds of a feather evidently do flock together, at least on Hilton Head.
That
was Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey making his way around Harbour Town Golf
Links on Saturday. Gainey blended in with the gallery in a pair of
broken-in jeans, appearing every bit the Everyman fans expect a day
after missing the cut by two strokes.
Gainey spent most of the
day following. . .? Fellow Joe Sixpack Boo Weekley, of course. I
couldn’t help but to consider the possibilities if those two are ever
paired together. The galleries would resemble a day at Darlington or
Talladega, even in a posh place like Hilton Head.
– Scott Hamilton
Posted April 19
HILTON
HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Two gloves? Tommy Gainey needed two hands to count
his score on the 10th hole at Harbour Town on Friday.
Gainey, he
of reality-show fame, posted a 10 on the 439-yard, par-4 10th hole
during the second round of the Verizon Heritage. Beginning with a tee
shot that went out of bounds, the South Carolina native collected three
penalty strokes and had to hack out of the primary rough four times.
Gainey
– who earned the “Two Gloves” nickname because, well, he wears two golf
gloves – rose to fame by winning Golf Channel’s “Big Break” reality
series. He put time in on the Nationwide Tour before earning his PGA
Tour card last year at Q-School. That came only after grinding it out
on the mini tours and working various other jobs (including wrapping
insulation on water heater tanks) that give him an Everyman appeal. The
sad part is the 32-year-old Gainey might have made the cut for just the
fourth time this year if he had avoided that one collapse. He shot
2-under 69 Thursday and rebounded from that disastrous 10th to birdie
the next hole and play his final eight holes at even en route to a
5-over 76.
Two Gloves sticking around for the weekend in his
home state would have certainly added something to a good event that
lacks a Tiger or Phil or even a John Daly.
But, hey, even Rocky got knocked out every now and then.
– Scott Hamilton
Posted April 18
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The local paper here – The Island Packet
– had a blurb this week that said Boo Weekley’s agent described him as
“a combination of Crocodile Dundee, Roy Hobbs (from the movie “The
Natural”) and Roy McAvoy (from “Tin Cup”).” Weekley has yet to slog his
way through the waters of Calibogue Sound hunting gators and he hasn’t
tried to strike out the Whammer on three straight pitches, though he
certainly had a “Tin Cup” moment today here at Harbour Town Golf Links
during the second round of the Verizon Heritage.
Weekley, the
tournament’s defending champ, pushed his tee shot into the pine straw
along the right side of the 571-yard, par-5 15th with only a mediocre
opening if he opted to advance the ball. But instead of trying to slap
something through that hole to set up a third shot, he laced a 5-wood
some 236 yards into the right greenside bunker. He blasted out to 7
feet, leaving a birdie putt he drained to go to 8 under.
It was
a classic Boo moment only made better when, right before addressing his
ball in the pine straw, he looked at playing partner Mark Wilson to ask
“Hey, it’s all right to scratch off in this stuff, right?” Wilson, who
obviously understood what Boo meant better than the gallery crowded
around him, said it was indeed legal for Weekley to dig in for a better
stance.
The reserved Wilson then adjusted his hat and smiled.
– Scott Hamilton
Posted April 18
I
keep hearing the Masters was a snore. It wasn’t snore. It was a tease.
Trevor Immelman’s short game and Tiger Woods’ putting kept looming
drama at bay.
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 18
There’s
a lot of things golfers can learn from Hall of Famer Tom Kite. Work
ethic. How to operate a wedge. How to write notes to pro-am partners.
And how to wake up in the morning.
The latter came to mind when
Lorena Ochoa scrambled to make her 7:30 a.m. pro-am time the other day
after waking up late thanks to a faulty alarm clock. Had she been late,
she would have been disqualiified from playing in the Ginn Open and
going for her fifth victory in six 2008 starts.
Here’s where
Kite comes in. He traveled the PGA Tour with three alarm clocks, just
in case. After all, you can’t play if you don’t wake up and show up.
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 18
REUNION,
Fla. – Every once in a while, LPGA tournaments allow the media to eat
in the players’ dining room. In theory, it sounds like a great place to
get access to players, but the truth is, it’s kind of awkward. Nobody
wants to bother players while their eating, so media members tend to
huddle at the same table and try to stay out of the way.
There
is one thing I’ve noticed the last few days that seems kind of strange
here at the Ginn Open. The food selection isn’t too healthy for a
professional sports tour. Yesterday the main course was pizza. I
happened to be in line the same time as Lorena Ochoa and noticed that
she made a loop around all the tables before seeming to settle on a
slice of pie. She told me what she ate during the offseason a few
months ago and pizza was not on the menu.
Today, the main table
offered the same sparse salad selection, and a full potato bar -- sour
cream, onions, cheese, bacon bits, the works. There were some hot
sandwiches over to the side, but, as one player pointed out, a turkey
sandwich would’ve sufficed.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 17
No doubt PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem’s heart is in the right
place in his recent push to have golf included in the Olympic Games.
We’re just not sure if that’s the type of company golf should be
keeping. Think about it, after the NCAA, the IOC (International Olympic
Committee) is probably the most reviled sports organization around.
Neither does golf need all the political baggage that inclusion into
the games brings. Do we really want to have Tiger Woods or Phil
Mickelson or any other star having to answer questions about China’s
human rights record?
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 17
REUNION, Fla. –
One might think Christina Kim would be the poster child for next week’s
Stanford International Pro-Am, given her exuberate personality.
Or maybe not.
“I
have my pro-am face and my tournament face,” Kim said. “I don’t know
how I’m going to do both at the same time. I might look schizophrenic.”
The
celebrities gathering in South Florida April 24-27 include TV anchor
Stone Phillips, professional tennis players James Blake and Ivan Lendl,
Miami Dolphins kicker Jay Feely and Carson Daly, of MTV fame.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 17
REUNION,
Fla. – Considering more LPGA players call Orlando, Fla., home than
anywhere else, you might say the comfort level at this week’s Ginn
Championship ranks as the highest on tour.
And that’s not even
taking into account Ginn Resort’s reputation for exceptional customer
service, which is only a fact, not a cheap plug. (I am also staying at
home this week.)
“It’s nice being able to drive your own car
in,” said Paula Creamer, who purchased her home at Isleworth Country
Club early last year.
“Just being able to be in your surroundings, you’re very comfortable.”
The biggest difference?
“I
guess I just go home and have dinner in my kitchen instead of a
restaraunt, I think that’s the biggest difference,” said Creamer, who
said cooking duties rotate between her and her parents.
Tonight’s menu: “We’re having barbecue.”
– Eric Soderstrom
Posted April 16
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Success breeds confidence, but there’s
something to be said for the hunger that failure, either real or
perceived, can provide. Last week marked the first time in 17 years
that Davis Love III wasn’t part of the “tradition like no other” at Augusta
National.
Love spent the week turkey hunting and didn’t watch the season’s first
major on TV. This week Love has spent more time on the Harbour Town
practice range than anyone else and a member of his inner circle
suggested that his Masters miss could be the spark that “DLIII” has
been searching for.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 16
REUNION, Fla. – Brittany Lincicome will try to defend her title at this
week’s Ginn Open without one key component to last year’s victory: her
caddie.
Greg Johnston, one of the LPGA’s most respected loopers,
quit last week. The pair started working together in late 2006.
“I didn’t see it coming,” said Lincicome, who has a
“friend of a friend” on the bag at Reunion. “It’s unfortunate that it’s
the week I’m defending.”
Johnston left Lincicome to loop for
Suzann Pettersen, who fired James Walton after the Kraft Nabisco, where
she finished tied for second. The Englishman was on the bag for all
five of Pettersen’s victories and was spotted on the range this week
working for compatriot Johanna Head. Lincicome will work with Brian
Dilley (formerly with Shi Hyun Ahn) after the Ginn.
Johnston
began his career working for Penny Hammel before spending more than a
decade with Juli Inkster. He left Inkster after the 2005 Solheim Cup to
go work for Michelle Wie. The Big Wiesy fired him after the 2006
British Open, and he picked up Lincicome later that year.
Incidentally, Lincicome and Pettersen are paired together for the first two rounds this week. Talk about awkward.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 15
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Tough day to
unwind at the Verizon Heritage with 35-40 mph wind gusts and
temperatures in the 60s. Asked about the conditions, Jason Day’s
caddie/swing coach Colin Swatton sighed, “Hit driver, 3-wood at (the
par-4) 18 today.” Did Day reach the green in two shots? “Nope,” said
Swatton, whose man ranks 29th on Tour in driving, with a 291.2-yard average.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 15
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Funny
headline in this morning’s “Island Packet” newspaper: “Golfers, fans
should prepare for no-see-ums.”
The warning, of course, was
issued for the tiny bugs, which are also called biting midges, that
inhabit this corner of the “Lowcountry.” But it occurred to us that
the headline could also double as an apt description for the last two
Masters champions – small-in-stature, big -in-heart Trevor Immelman and
Zach Johnson.
How lucky is Verizon Heritage tournament director
Steve Wilmot to have an endearing defending champion like Boo Weekley?
Consider Weekley’s ceremonial tee shot on Monday into Calibogue Sound
with a vintage hickory-shafted driving iron. The pride of the Florida
Panhandle likened the implement to the “whoopin’ stick” his father used
to use on him.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 15
Posted: 6/19/2008
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