Welcome to the Tour Blog, where Golfweek reporters Jeff Babineau,
Jeff Rude, Rex Hoggard, Dave Seanor, Alex Miceli, James Achenbach, Alistair Tait and
Beth Ann Baldry 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 AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods, the U.S. Women's Open, U.S. Senior Open and PGA Professional Championship.
BETHESDA, Md. – Woody Austin, one of the hottest players on Tour with a
victory and a runner-up showing in his last five starts, turned down an
invitation to the British Open.
“I don’t know how to play that
type of golf, and I would probably go over there and shoot two high
numbers and make a fool of myself,” said Austin, who has played the
Open just once in 12 years on Tour.
Austin’s invite, which was
based on a mini-money list, was awarded to Hunter Mahan, while Pat
Perez qualified to play Carnoustie via his tie for third place at
Congressional.
Austin said he’d planned to play next week’s John
Deere Classic and that had he qualified for the British Open earlier he
would been able to prepare better. Perhaps, but the only thing I know
is that the only way to win a major is to play in one.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 8, 2007
BETHESDA,
Md. – Learned two lessons at the 2005 British Open. When in doubt,
always yield before entering one of Scotland’s ubiquitous roundabouts;
and never, under any circumstances, bet against Tiger Woods.
As
Congressional fills to a capacity crowd today, however, it’s hard to
think the host with the most has a seven-shot rally in him.
In
fact, history shows that Woods, who tees off this afternoon seven pokes
adrift of Stuart Appleby, seems to loose a little magic when he enters
the final round trailing by more than a half dozen or so.
Sixteen
of Woods’ 55 Tour titles are of the come-from-behind variety. But only
three of those victories (1996 Las Vegas Invitational, four back; ’97
Mercedes Championships, four back; ’00 AT&T Pebble Beach, five
back) came when he entered the final lap trailing by more than three
shots.
My pick is K.J. Choi, which would put the Korean halfway
home to the new “Legends Slam” following his victory at last month’s
Memorial.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 8, 2007
HAVEN,
Wis. – I’m not much of an expert about anything, but I have been in
portable toilets at golf tournaments all over the country and some
abroad. I’ve seen all kinds – clean, dirty, smelly. Until now, I’ve
never been into ranking them, but I’m here to tell you that the U.S.
Senior Open here at Whistling Straits has the best portable toilets
ever, right outside the media tent. Clean, spacious, nice counters and
fixtures. Plus, framed photos on the walls of Whistling Straits and
another great Kohler-owned course, Blackwolf Run. Almost better than
home.
But then that makes sense. Kohler knows a thing or two about making good bathrooms.
Think about it. If I were at the AT&T National, I’d expect decent phone service.
– Jeff Rude
Posted July 7, 2007
HAVEN,
Wis. – Tom Watson is leading the U.S. Senior Open by three strokes
after 54 at linksy, windy Whistling Straits. Makes sense, really.
After all, Watson won five British Opens on windy, links courses.
As it happened, then, the Hall of Famer was asked if the sight of fescue grass turned him on.
“Not as much as wife,” Watson said, smiling.
Good answer. And good for a few points. Wife Hilary was sitting in the back of the interview room.
– Jeff Rude
Posted July 7, 2007
BETHESDA,
Md. – Popular spot Friday night for players and others was RFK Stadium
for the first game of a Washington Nationals/Milwaukee Brewers series.
Jerry
Kelly, the Tour’s preeminent “Brew Crew” fan, threw out the first pitch
and was joined in a skybox by fellow Wisconsinite Steve Stricker.
“He threw a perfect strike,” said Brian Anderson, the former Golf Channel analyst who joined the Brewers’ TV team this season.
Since
trading his fairways and greens gig for life watching the diamond,
Anderson said his travel schedule has lightened and “I’ve gotten to
play a lot more golf.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 7, 2007
BETHESDA,
Md. – Sorry. I can hear the words coming out of Jamie Lovemark’s mouth,
but my cynical scribe brain won’t let me believe that the rail-thin USC
freshman will shun the play-for-pay world much longer.
Since
winning the NCAA individual title on June 1, Lovemark helped lead the
U.S. team to victory at the Palmer Cup, lost in a playoff to former
U.S. Ryder Cupper Chris Riley at the Nationwide Tour’s Rochester Area
Charities Showdown and, until a sloppy double bogey at the 18th Friday
at Congressional, was a fixture on this week’s AT&T National
leaderboard.
Despite his success and opportunity, he’s scheduled
to play the Nationwide Tour stop next week in Columbus, Ohio, Lovemark
said he has no plans to leave school early.
“My goal is to
graduate,” said Lovemark, who easily made the cut at Congressional with
rounds of 67-74. “There’s so many different things that could happen.
But I plan on staying at least a few more years.”
Refreshing. Hard to believe, but refreshing.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 6, 2007
BETHESDA,
Md. – Three thoughts on Phil Mickelson’s first post-U.S. Open outing,
and none of them positive: no wrist wrap, no birdies and no idea what
to expect at the season’s third major in two weeks in Scotland.
“It’s
all right,” was about the only thing “Lefty” would say about his ailing
left wrist. Instead, Mickelson said his putting was the problem on
Thursday.
The good news? Mickelson missed more than half his
fairways Thursday (hitting only six of 14), but had no visible trouble
playing out of Congressional’s thick rough.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 5, 2007
BETHESDA,
Md. – While this week’s AT&T National has all the markings of a
“must play” event – deep-pocketed sponsor, cushy time slot, “A list”
golf course and influential host – there is no guarantee of long-term
success.
As any Tour pro will confess, you can tack all the
zeroes you want onto the purse and pamper players all you want, but
it’s the golf course that dictates a good field. And the players,
particularly tournament host Tiger Woods, love Congressional’s Blue
course.
Problem is Congressional is scheduled to host the 2009
U.S. Amateur and 2011 U.S. Open and the layout’s membership had been
reluctant to host the area’s former Tour stop.
Commissioner Tim
Finchem said the Tour would consider rotating the event to other area
courses – Robert Trent Jones Golf Club and the often-criticized TPC
Avenel are primary candidates, while the golf course at nearby Andrews
Air Force Base has also been mentioned. Or, the event could bolt the
Washington D.C. area when Congressional’s dance card is full.
In
a not-so-subtle push toward Congressional membership, Finchem made it
clear where the final decision will be made: “That would be a big help
if Congressional saw its way free to have us here frequently over the
years as part of a rotation or whatever. It’s something we’ll have to
sort out.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 4, 2007
Looking
at the field for this week’s AT&T National we’re thinking the Tiger
Woods Foundation, which is tournament host and beneficiary of the
event, might want to consider a name change. We suggest “the AT&T
Tiger Woods Friends and Family Championship.”
Among those who
received coveted sponsor exemptions into the inaugural, limited-field
event are a PGA European Tour player (Notah Begay III), a Nationwide
Tour player (Chris Riley) and a Champions Tour player in waiting (John
Cook). All three, it should be noted, are either friends of the world
No. 1, former college teammates or both.
Questioning sponsor
exemptions is always a risky business, particularly when Woods is
calling the shots. But we can’t help but think that there are some
players who actually
have Tour cards who may have been more deserving of the freebie.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 2, 2007
SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – Here’s one wag’s Pick 3 Ticket for tomorrow’s final day of the U.S. Women’s Open:
1. Lorena Ochoa. It’s time.
2. Morgan Pressel. A fighter who will hang to the end.
3. Julieta Granada. Won’t be long until she’s holding a U.S. Open trophy.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted June 30, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – If anyone has any lingering doubts that golf truly has
gone global, we give you this little nugget from the 62nd U.S. Women's
Open at Pine Needles:
Saturday's final threesome (Jiyai Shin, Amy Hung, Angela Park) hail from Korea, Chinese Tapai and Brazil.
They tee off at 5:30 p.m. EST.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted June 30, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – Another day in women's golf ... another saga with
Michelle Wie. Two go hand in hand. Or maybe that's wrist in wrist.
The
Big Wiesy re-injured her left wrist playing a shot from the rough at
the 18th hole (her ninth) at Pine Needles Saturday morning, made bogey
to shoot 42, hit two shots on the par-5 first hole (her 10th) and
called it an Open. Another WD for Wie.
It's been a troubling
stretch for her to say the least. The whole Rule 88 debacle at the
Ginn, finishing dead last (by 10) among those who made the cut at the
McDonald's LPGA, and now this.
In her last three Women's
Opens, she tied for 13th (and low amateur honors) at the Orchards, had
the 54-hole lead at Cherry Hills (finishing T-23 after a closing 82)
and tied for third at Newport, just out of the Sorenstam-Hurst playoff.
To say that seems a lifetime ago is a massive understatement.
She
is scheduled for three weeks off (having thankfully returned the
invitation she'd received from the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic July
12-15) and then is scheduled for three straight: Evian Masters,
Weetabix Women's British Open at St. Andrews, Canadian Women's Open.
A
friendly bit of advice for young Ms. Wie: If you're not ready to play
(as has been the case this ENTIRE season, dating to the Sony Open in
January), then don't play. It's pretty simple.
Get well soon. Don't push your injuries. You have a long future ahead of you.
And maybe look into some summer classes at Stanford.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted June 30, 2007
Let
the FedEx folly begin. The PGA Tour has turned up the heat on its
post-season bash with a series of new commercials – one spot featuring
Sergio Garcia and St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols is particularly
amusing – and a high-profile “Playoff” button on the homepage of
pgatour.com that directs traffic to the FedEx Cup section of the Web
site.
But the thing is the only news worth reporting so far are the players who are
not
among the top 144 in FedEx Cup standings. Among the outsiders are the
likes of Justin Leonard (148th), U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger
(160th) and John Daly (176th).
What kind of NASCAR knockoff post-season would it be without the many logos of J.D.?
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 30, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – Natalie Gulbis rolled into Pine Needles shortly before
the horn blew at 1:47 p.m. for the first rain delay. Gulbis never did
tee it up Friday at the U.S. Women’s Open. Her biggest dilemma for
tomorrow? Deciding whether or not she should wear the same outfit.
Adidas scripts Gulbis’ clothes for major championships, and technically
she hasn’t played the second round yet.
“It’s a really big stress on my part,” joked Gulbis.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 29, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – Ji-Yai Shin might not be a familiar name to American
fans, but Koreans know all about this bespectacled 19-year-old who
opened with a 1-under 70 at the U.S. Women’s Open.
She’s
actually 13th in the Rolex World Rankings thanks to her dominating
performances on the Korean LPGA. So far Shin has won four of eight
tournaments on the KLPGA this season and finished in the top 10 all but
once (when she placed 11th). Earlier this season she tied for 15th at
the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Shin hit three bags of balls this afternoon before weather delays hit but has yet to start the second round.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 29, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – At the U.S. Women’s Open, there is a tournament within
the tournament. Namely, the Parks vs. the Lees vs. the Kims.
There
are six Parks (led by Angela, who shot 68), six Lees (led by Meena and
amateur Jennie of Duke, who each shot 71), and 10 Kims (led by Joo Mi,
who shot a first-round 70). So, taking the low six of each surname,
here’s the unofficial first-round tote board: Lees 440, Parks 441, Kims
442.
How’s that for good old-fashioned drama?
– Jeff Babineau
Posted June 29, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – There are 15 names on the main leaderboard inside the
press room right now at the U.S. Women's Open, and two – count 'em, two
– are American. That would be Charlotte Mayorkas and Angela Stanford.
This isn't exactly your grandmother's U.S. Open ... or your mom's.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted June 29, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – Gary Gilchrist thought it was going to be a banner year.
His star pupil, Suzann Pettersen, won the McDonald’s LPGA Championship
and several of his up-and-coming stars at the International Junior Golf
Academy qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open.
But the week
after Bulle Rock, Gilchrist received some surprising news: His employer
had plans to replace him. Hank Haney is the IJGA academy’s new director
of instruction (when he’s not teaching Tiger Woods).
Not again, Gilchrist thought.
This
isn’t the first time the outgoing South African has been asked to take
a back seat to a bigger name. He helped build the David Leadbetter
Academy in Bradenton, Fla., from the ground up and began working with
Michelle Wie before she became a household name. Gilchrist decided to
leave Bradenton when Leadbetter took over as Wie’s fulltime instructor.
He moved to Hilton Head with designs to build a program that would
rival the success of Bradenton.
Gilchrist said folks at the IJGA encouraged him to stay on and work under Haney, but he couldn’t see that working out.
“That’s
why I left (Bradenton) in the first place, because I wanted to have
reconigtion for what I was doing,” Gilchrist said. “I’m not sure what
direction I’m going in, but I’d still like to build a business around
juniors.”
For now, Gilchrist said he’d continue working with his
stable of LPGA players that includes Pettersen, Nicole Perrot, Song-Hee
Kim, Allison Hanna-Williams, Candy Hannemann and Mhairi McKay.
– Beth Ann BaldryPosted June 29, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – They sometimes call golf a game of inches. (By the way,
who, exactly, are “they?” – but I digress.) In any case, for world No.
1 Lorena Ochoa on Thursday, a distance of 36 inches – OK, a yard if you
must – made a big, big difference.
Ochoa was motoring along
nicely at even par on the back nine when she hit a poor tee shot at the
426-yard 14th hole. Her ball finished in a fairway bunker, and she had
195 yards to the hole. She had a good feeling, wanted to hit 5-wood,
and didn’t want her caddie, Dave Brooker, to talk her out of it.
“I
said, ‘Just trust me. I like this one.’” No wonder she had a feeling.
She hit a soft fade to the green, and as the ball neared the hole, the
crowd’s collective voice started growing louder and louder, peaking as
the ball fell into the hole. Eagle.
Three holes later, Ochoa
missed another fairway at the 440-yard 17th. This time, it was 194
yards left to the flag. Why the 5-wood didn’t get to make a command
encore isn’t known. Instead, out of the rough, Ochoa opted for a
7-wood, and her approach shot squirted right, darted through two
sections of bleachers, rolled through some rough and pine needles and
finished out of bounds. That’s Oscar Bravo. She did a nice job to
salvage double bogey.
“Nothing really I can do,” she said
after her round of 71. “I thought the shot was perfect and it was just
a bad one. Nothing you can do. I’m really happy with my round. I’m OK.”
Hey, Lorena, if you're OK, then I'm OK with that.
– Jeff BabineauPosted June 28, 2007
SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – It’s high time for the U.S. Golf Association to add a second qualifying round for the U.S. Senior Open.
The
way it is right now, the Senior Open has just one 18-hole qualifying
round. As a result, a number of highly skilled golfers break 70 but
still don’t qualify.
The U.S. Women’s Open, like the men’s U.S.
Open, includes an 18-hole local qualifying round and a 36-hole
sectional qualifying round.
Consider this: The 2007 Women’s Open attracted 1,251 entries, while the 2007 Senior Open had 2,615, more than twice as many.
Sure, it would mean more work for the USGA, but the current qualifying setup simply isn’t fair.
– James Achenbach
Posted June 28, 2007
SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – News from the Alexis Thompson watch:
The
10th tee at Pine Needles is a mile from the the clubhouse, but 300
people made the trek to see 12-year-old Thompson tee off in the opening
round of the U.S. Women’s Open.
Thompson, the youngest golfer
ever to play in this championship, looked nervous but split the fairway
on the 518-yard par 5. She then laid up with an iron, leaving herself
125 yards to the flagstick.
She either misjudged or mis-hit her third shot, the ball coming up five yards short of the green.
Failing to get up-and-down, she bogeyed the hole. Her two playing partners, Angela Jerman and Amy Yang, birdied the hole.
Thompson faced a 25-foot birdie putt on the 11th green when play was called off because of an approaching storm.
Making the cut would be a monumental achievement for Thompson. The consensus among observers was clear: No way, Jose.
– James Achenbach
Posted June 28, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – Three former U.S. Amateur champions were paired in the
first group off the first tee. Marci (Newton) Hart shot 73, while Kelli
Kuehne and Dorothy Delasin each had 74.
Early in the round, the
gregarious Kuehne yelled to her mother: “Hey, Mom, that Marci’s mother
right behind you. Pam, meet Penny. Penny, meet Pam. You can waddle
together, or doodle together.”
Pam Kuehne had a quick response: “We don’t waddle.”
Add Kelli with a laugh: “Neither do I ... I don’t think.”
– James Achenbach
Posted June 28, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – After missing the cut in her first two U.S. Women’s Open
appearances, Nicole Hage was hoping it would be third time’s the charm
last year in Newport. A disastrous opening-round 89, however, put an
end to that.
The recent Auburn grad is back again, playing in
her fourth Open as a professional at age 22. Hage recently signed with
Blue Giraffe Sports for management and is wearing the designs of Pahr
72, a San Diego-based company.
Hage was a four-time All-American
at Auburn despite never winning a college tournament. At the behest of
her longtime south Florida friend Morgan Pressel, Hage decided to begin
working with Pressel’s instructor Martin Hall. The pair have been
working since the spring to tone down her draw by using more of her
core strength and less wrist action.
“Morgan kept telling me I need to go see Martin,” Hage said. “We really connected well.”
In
other recently-turned-pro news, Taylor Leon has signed with SFX Sports
Group. Leon went with the classic style of Brooks Brothers for her
clothing contract and is also sponsored by AEGON/Transamerica.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 27, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – Just to hear Mike Davis speak is to hear the kinder,
gentler voice of the USGA – at least in the way the organization sets
up an Open course. Davis is the senior director of rules and
competitions for the USGA, the man in charge of the set up for the U.S.
Open and U.S. Women’s Open.
One line said during Wednesday’s
press conference at Pine Needles sums up how the new regime operates as
compared to the old. Realizing the possibility of rain in the Sandhills
area the next few days, Davis said, “Just because we set the tee signs
at a certain place doesn’t mean we actually have to play from there.”
Amen.
Some
will recall the USGA’s unbending stubborness to show such flexibility
at the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black a few years back. Despite high
winds, several tees never were moved more than 10 yards from the sign
posts, meaning players on some holes struggled just to reach the
fairways.
Ah, the signs of progress.
–Jeff Babineau
Posted June 27, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – Morgan Pressel awoke Wednesday morning with a swollen
right ankle. The culprit: a spider. The 19-year-old was bit by the
arachnid during the night and it resulted in a right ankle that looked
like the size of a golf ball.
Pressel limped her way through 18
practice holes and said that, although she felt fine, she wasn’t able
to go after shots with her typical aggression.
Good thing her
grandfather’s name is Dr. Herb Krickstein. He loaded Pressel with
Benadryl and expects her to be fine for Thursday’s tee time. Not
exactly an ideal way to start the week, but an itsy-bitsy-spider isn’t
going to keep her from playing in her beloved Open.
–Jay A. Coffin
Posted June 27, 2007
Can
Lorena win her first major? Is Annika going to be a threat? Should we
mention Paula’s name this week? Will Wie make the cut? Or how about one
of these teenagers?
Let’s toss out the 52-week window and simply take a look at the
Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index since Jan. 1. We like to call it the “Heat Index”:
1. Lorena Ochoa
2. Annika Sorenstam
3. Paula Creamer
4. Sarah Lee
5. Mi-Hyun Kim
6. Morgan Pressel
7. Shi Hyun Ahn
8. Stacy Prammanasudh
9. Suzann Pettersen
10. Karrie Webb
– Lance Ringler
Posted June 27, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – The talk of the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles will be
12-year-old Alexis Thompson, but she isn’t alone in representing the
Kiddie Corps. Actually, the official teen count at this year’s Open is
24 – and that doesn’t count Thompson, who doesn’t become a teen until
next February. She was still in diapers when Annika Sorenstam won here
in 1996.
Wonder if the Women’s Open will appear on the 2008 AJGA schedule ...
– Jeff BabineauPosted June 26, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – Morgan Pressel was asked about her memories of the 2001
U.S. Women’s Open here at Pine Needles. Remember, it was the
wet-behind-the-ears, 13-year-old Pressel who came here as the youngest
player ever to qualify for this Open. She shot 77-77 and missed the cut.
Alexis
Thompson broke Pressel’s record, qualifying as a 12-year-old this year.
However, Pressel still owns the record as youngest major champion, via
her victory earlier this year at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Pressel was asked, “if you had ever seen clips of when you played six years ago and do you ask yourself, who was that?”
Answer: “I asked myself who dressed me, that’s what I ask myself. How did anybody let me dress like that?”
– Jay A. CoffinPosted June 26, 2007
SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – Want to feel old? Listen to 12-year-old Alexis Thompson explain her television viewing habits.
“Let’s
see, I watch ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’ on ABC Family, ‘Hannah Montana’,
‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’, anything on Disney Channel pretty
much.
Alrighty then.
– Jay A. CoffinPosted June 26, 2007
SOUTHERN
PINES, N.C. – After a lengthy courtship, Lorena Ochoa finally tied the
knot with Ping. Ochoa signed a multi-year endorsement deal with the
company June 25 after playing with Ping equipment since age 15.
Ochoa
won’t be making any changes to the make-up of her bag this week,
continuing to carry the Ping Rapture Driver, S58 irons, a Rapture
5-wood, 21-degree hybrid and Ping tour wedges. She will continue to use
her Odyssey Tri-hot putter, but is expected to be using a Ping putter
by 2008.
Ochoa’s new Ping bag, however, didn’t make it to N.C.
in time for the announcement. She expects it to arrive in time for the
weekend.
So why did it take the No. 1 player so long to make a club deal?
“Well,
I don’t know, finally they make up their mind,” Ochoa said. “I needed
to have my sponsors with me. ... I didn’t want to go with any other
company or just for the money.”
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 26, 2007
SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – Never before has the biggest championship in women’s golf been this, well,
Open.
For the first time in U.S. Women’s Open history, there are more
international players than U.S.-born athletes. Eighty foreign-born
players are competing this week along with 76 American-born.
In
2000, U.S. players outnumbered foreign players 2:1. Not surprisingly,
Korean players lead the race with 36. (There are 46 players of Korean
descent at Pine Needles.) Sweden is second with eight players while
Australia has four.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 26, 2007
The
Champions Tour held its fourth media summit in Concord, Mass., on
Monday, and Champions Tour president Rick George had a lot of positives
to unveil. The scoring average on the Champions Tour is 71.51, second
best in the 28-year history of the circuit, despite the fact the tour
now plays on courses stretched to nearly 7,000 yards (6,931 yard
average). There are at least a dozen new faces in the top 30, so there
is some turnover near the top – though not at the very top (Jay Haas,
Loren Roberts and Brad Bryant stand 1-2-3, as they did a year ago).
Bernhard
Langer, Jeff Sluman, John Cook, Phil Blackmar, Fulton Allem and Wayne
Grady all are expected to make Champions Tour debuts later this season.
Attendance at events is up; charitable dollars are up; viewership
numbers on Golf Channel are up.
If there was any “bad” news,
it arrived in the middle of the 2008 schedule, which was released
months earlier than usual (again, a good thing, meaning that most title
sponsorships already are secured and there won’t be 11th hour
scrambling). But in one four-week whirlwind next summer, the Champions
Tour will stage three of its majors: the Senior Open Championship at
Royal Troon in Scotland (July 24-27), the U.S. Senior Open at the
Broadmoor Resort (July 31-Aug 3) and the Jeld-Wen Tradition at Sunriver
(Aug. 14-17).
Apparently, part of the snafu was created when
there was a scheduling conflict created between the U.S. Senior Open at
the Broadmoor (in Colorado Springs) and the PGA Tour’s International
stop outside Denver. The latter, of course, no longer exists.
In
truth, this is a tour in much healthier shape than a few years ago,
when people were wondering whether it needed to be propped up by
lowering the age threshold to 45. There has been a good deal of carping
on the Champions Tour about its new Monday qualifying system, and
George said he is collecting data and looking at it “very critically.”
“I can tell you a lot of players in that system don’t like it,” he said.
However,
if there are any changes to be made, they will be implemented no
earlier than 2009. Applications for this year’s Q-School are going out
in a matter of days.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted June 26, 2007
It’s
a familiar tune from Nationwide Tour honcho Bill Calfee. One day, the
former player turned Tour exec has mused on more than one occasion, he
envisions a split-tour system.
Calfee contends the Nationwide
and PGA Tours will become golf’s version of Major League Baseball’s
American and National Leagues, and journeyman Jay Williamson’s play
this week in Hartford is another sign the two circuit’s are closer than
many think.
“Five years ago (two-league talk) was a tough
discussion,” Calfee said earlier this year. “But as (Nationwide Tour
grads) have improved competitively and the two tours are drawn closer
together, even within our organization’s walls people are starting to
see the possibilities.”
What’s next? Interleague play?
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 24, 2007
SUNRIVER,
Ore. – You could get Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones and Tiger Woods to make
personal pitches and there are clubs in this country that still
wouldn’t give up their course for a week – which makes you sit up and
take notice of the people who oversee Sunriver Resort all the more.
If
there’s a place that offers its facilities for more national
tournaments, I’m not aware of it. Since 2000, this scenic panorama at
the foot of snow-capped Mount Bachelor has been the site of three NCAA
Division I Championships (two for women, one for men), the U.S. Women’s
Amateur Public Links and the American Junior Golf Association’s
Tournament of Champions. This year alone, four top-flight events have
found their way here: this week’s PGA Professional National
Championship (the second to be played here); the Tradition, one of the
majors on the Champions Tour; the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur; and the
Pacific Amateur.
In all honesty, Sunriver’s well-worn welcome mat hasn’t been put out merely for the good of the game.
“We’re
trying to do everything we can to publicize all the good things we have
to offer,” says Josh Willis, the head professional at the resort’s
Crosswater course, “and in all reality, we’re trying to keep the resort
at maximum occupancy.”
But every time the resort brings in 150
golfers for a tournament (or, in the case this week, 312 players),
Sunriver Resort has the opportunity to sell all its other attractions:
swimming, boating, hiking, kayaking, more than 30 miles of paved bike
paths, convention and meeting space, and top-notch restaurants. “The
resort is doing lots of good things,” says Willis, “and there’s no
question that golf has helped create an added value to our residents
and members.
“We continue to do this because we continue to want to find people who’ve never been to Crosswater.”
Sunriver
hasn’t undertaken any studies or marketing surveys to realize how much
future or return business has been generated by its tournament play.
But it’s an idea that should, at the very least, get people at other
clubs thinking.
– Rich Skyzinski
Posted June 23, 2007
SUNRIVER, Ore. – There’s another Argentine contending for an American national championship.
Despite
hitting only half of the greens on Sunriver Resort’s more difficult
course, Crosswater, in Friday’s second round of the PGA Professional
National Championship, Rick Leibovich managed a 2-under-par 70 and is
firmly among the leaders after 36 holes.
“I’m assuming I gained
some ground today,” said the 35-year-old Leibovich, the head
professional at Tehama Golf Club in Carmel, Calif. “If the wind blows a
little this afternoon, I don’t think the scores will go lower. I think
I’ll be in the top 20.”
Leibovich moved to the U.S. with his
mother when he was 17. He spoke no English and had only far-off dreams
of making his living in the golf business. He got a job working the
practice range at a club in California; he picked up balls in exchange
for all the practice he wanted, and soon enough his 6 handicap began to
fall.
He was a bag boy for two years, then got promoted to an
assistant in the golf shop. He tried the life of a touring pro – the
Canadian Tour for two years – and that was long enough for him to
realize that kind of life wasn’t his true calling.
“I learned I
wasn’t good enough, basically,” he said. “I had another chance to do it
afterward, but I turned down the money and the sponsors. It was hard
for me to make cuts, and I wasn’t winning. I just didn’t want to live
that kind of life.”
His father still lives in Argentina, where
he is a sports psychologist. “I was basically his guinea pig,”
Leibovich said. “He’s definitely helped me, but progress doesn’t always
come right away.
“Most players have a way they boycott
themselves in one way or another. Maybe it’s your personal life, or
expectations, or a lack of trust in yourself: fear. It’s a long
process, which many people don’t realize. Every time I play I learn
something.”
Some 10 years ago, Leibovich was playing a casual
round with a club member who urged him to try a long putter. Leibovich
agreed, though it came so close to being a very brief experiment.
“That
was on a Friday,” he remembered, “and on Monday I played in an event at
Stanford. I figured I’d try it. I had 41 putts and I remember saying,
‘This was probably a stupid move.’ ”
In Friday’s round, he had
five one-putts in a six-hole stretch on the front side, then ran off
five consecutive one-putts on the back. “It’s taken some time,” he
admitted.
At least at the moment, Leibovich, who maintains a
dual citizenship, isn’t thinking he’s ready to follow in the footsteps
of Angel Cabrera, whom he’s never met. “This is the first time in three
tries that I’ve made the cut,” he explained. “That was my first goal –
to make the cut. But now that I’m here, I might as well try to make the
top 20.”
That’s the magic number to gain a spot in the PGA
Championship in August at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
And that would give him a chance to meet another Argentine champion.
– Rich Skyzinski
Posted June 22, 2007
SUNRIVER,
Ore. – It was a big deal on a national basis when Suzy Whaley became
the first woman to compete in the PGA Professional National
Championship in 2002.
This week, Patricia Post of Germantown,
Md., became the second, but there’s no hubbub over her place in the
field of 312 – unless you consider that her husband, Brendon, also is
playing. That makes them the first couple to play in the event.
“It’s
cool that we are both here,” said Patty on Thursday after opening with
a 5-over-par 76 at Sunriver Resort’s Meadows Course. Brendon, the
director of instruction at the Club Golf Performance Center in
Gaithersburg, Md., had a 1-over 72, also at the Meadows.
Patty,
the women’s golf coach at Georgetown University, had her share of ups
and downs. Though she holed a shot from the fairway at the par-5 17th
for an eagle, she also was penalized two strokes when a bunker shot at
the 11th, her second hole of the day, caromed off the top of the face
and came back and hit her.
“This experience (of us both playing)
is hard,” said Brendon. “Usually in tournaments, I caddie for her and
she caddies for me. It’s a lot of fun to have us both playing here,
that’s for sure.”
He birdied two of his first three holes and
was still 1 under after another birdie on 14. He had bogeys on 15 and
17 (the hole his wife eagled).
“It really helps us to both be
golfers,” he said. “I work on her swing and she works on mine. If
either one of us has a problem, we know what to work on.”
The
Posts qualified for the PGA Professional National Championship through
their finishes at last year’s Middle Atlantic PGA Championship; he was
runner-up and she tied for 12th.
– Rich Skyzinski
Posted June 21, 2007
Every
time we print types get to thinking our ink-stained existence is tough,
we’re reminded how hard life can be for the other half.
Just got
off the phone with Golf Channel on-course reporter Jerry Foltz, who is
at the Travelers Championship in Hartford, Conn. Foltz arrived at the
Travelers after two days in Rhode Island for the CVS Charity Classic
and planned to leave Thursday for the PGA Pro National Championship at
Sunriver Resort in Oregon.
“Three live tournaments in one week,” said Foltz, “that’s got to be some sort of record.”
The good news? All his flights are on Delta, which means mega SkyMiles. The bad news? He’s flying coach.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 20, 2007
Don’t
know who made the call on Michelle Wie deciding to withdraw from the
John Deere – her family, her management team, or hey, even Michelle
herself – but it’s the right one at this time. Her play has not been
very high quality of late, and showing up at John Deere to shoot 80-78
wasn’t going to do anyone any good.
I always say Michelle
playing the Sony Open in Hawaii is fine, a natural fit, being that she
is from the islands and has such a large cheering section there. And
she has shown in the past she can compete against the men at Waialae.
But if she’s going to play other men’s events in the future, she ought
to think about showing up to Monday qualify. That would garner the
respect of her peers more than simply taking another free start.
Had
she shown up in Silvis, Ill., for the Deere next month on the “merits”
of her play this season – which we all know has been far below her
talents – the screaming among PGA Tour players would have been louder
than ever. It could have been downright ugly.
Now she can
concentrate on the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles next week without
the Deere hanging over her head. Maybe she can play well enough there
to get her confidence back on track.
That’s what Michelle Wie – and golf in general – needs most right now.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted June 19, 2007
The Tour Blog archive
Click here for the U.S. Open blog.
Click here for the Players Championship and the run-up to the U.S. Open.
Click here for the Masters blog.
Click here for the Kraft Nabisco and the run-up to Augusta.
Click here for the Florida Swing.
Click here for the second half of the West Coast Swing.
Click here for the first half of the West Coast Swing.
Click here for the kick off of the season in Hawaii.
Posted: 8/9/2007
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