Welcome to the Tour Blog, where Golfweek reporters Jeff Babineau, Jeff Rude, Rex Hoggard, Dave Seanor, Alex Miceli, 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 Wachovia Championship, the Players Championship thorugh the Stanford St. Jude Classic on the PGA Tour, and the Ginn Tribute and McDonald’s LPGA Championship on the LPGA.
HAVRE DE GRADE, Md. – Morgan Pressel is looking to do more than win the second leg of the Grand Slam. She’s out to protect her title of youngest player to win a major. Both Angela Park and Na On Min have a chance to unseat Pressel in the final round of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship. Park is the youngest exempt player on tour (Aug. 25, 1988) while the non-exempt Min (Nov. 5, 1988) is the youngest overall.
Park is one of the few players on the leader board who has actually heard of Min, the tournament’s leader by one stroke over Suzann Pettersen. She said the 5-foot-4-inch Korean is sneaky long for her size and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Pettersen said she might recognize Min when she greets her on the first tee Sunday, but the name doesn’t sound familiar. Webb had to resort to calling her “the leader” during her post-round interview because she didn’t know Min’s first name.
We’ll cut Webb and Pettersen some slack though. The rookie Min is among 19 Koreans to make the cut here at Bulle Rock.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 9, 2007
If I could steal anyone’s swing on the PGA Tour and use it for my own enjoyment, I’m thinking I’d pilfer Adam Scott’s action. It’s pretty, powerful and efficient. And it’s the reason he’s leading the Stanford St. Jude Championship by three strokes after 54 holes.
Though I admire his swing, I’m a little concerned about Scott’s timing. I’m wondering if he’s peaking too soon again.
Scott, you may recall, won the Shell Houston Open the week before the Masters. Then he tied for 27th at Augusta.
Now, coming off consecutive top-6 finishes over the past month, Scott has an excellent chance to win in Memphis the week before the U.S. Open. That would be a rare double and give him a chance to win the Week Before a Major Grand Slam.
I’m thinking he’ll close Sunday, though David Toms is chasing. Scott has won four of the five times he has led after three rounds. And he has made no bogeys on the back nine this week.
– Jeff Rude
Posted June 9, 2007
HARVE DE GRACE, Md. – The Big Wiesy is 9 over through 13 holes today, currently last among those who survived through the weekend. In case you’re wondering, the 88 rule does not apply after the cut has been made. Wonder how many people know that little tidbit?
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 9, 2007
I see where John Daly’s life as an unpredictable country song took a new twist Friday. By the sounds of it, he’s lucky it didn’t take a twist with a blade.
J.D. looked like a mess at the PGA Tour event in Memphis. His face looked like it had been sliced and diced, what with red marks on the cheeks. It wasn’t a shaving accident. Rather, he told the cops that his wife tried to stab him with a steak knife.
Now, if Daly were a steak, he’d be rare. He’s a Tour rarity in many ways – for his length, for his unhealthy lifestyle, for his troubled past and present, for his two majors before age 30.
Thing is, I like J.D. Always have. Known him since 1991. He has a big heart. He’s playful and fun to be around. He just needs to stop marrying blind dates, that’s all. It’s never good to exchange vows with a stranger. Daly has married four times now, and you could say he’s not into long courtships.
I hope he’s safe, and I hope he finds happiness.
By the sounds of it, though, he might need to wife-proof his house rather than child-proof it.
– Jeff Rude
Posted June 8, 2007
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. – Caught Kelly Robbins as she was getting in the car this afternoon. Curiosity got the better of me after seeing her post 90 last Sunday at the Ginn Tribute.
She was in a remarkably good mood considering the fact that she’s currently 119th after two rounds of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship (78-72). Needless to say she was on her way home.
Robbins didn’t want to talk about the 90. But she did say that it’s more a matter of her head and her heart rather than technique.
“I’m just trying to decide if I want to be out here or not,” said Robbins. “If I can find my place and feel good about what I’m doing and where I’m going then I’ll continue to play and if not, I’ll find something else to do.”
Robbins, who won the 1995 LPGA Championship, now has seven starts this season. She’s made three cuts and her best finish came at the Sybase Classic (T-66).
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 7, 2007
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. – Lisa Fernandes and Danielle Downey joke they are tailgating on the practice green here at Bulle Rock. As the first and second alternates, the pair are keeping their ears open for a hint of hope that they might start the year’s second major.
Fernandes and Downey spent most of the morning sitting on a cooler (filled with water) off the side of the green reading every word of USA Today. They even learned something new after reading Christine Brennan’s commentary on Michelle Wie.
“The 17-year-old’s career path, it turns out, is nothing more than a parabola, at least thus far. This week, it reached its nadir,” wrote Brennan.
Whatever “nadir” means, the pair knew it couldn’t be good. Webster’s defines it as “the lowest point.”
“I had to google it,” said Fernandes. “I’ve got a degree but it wasn’t in English.”
They plan on packing up and moving to the 10th tee soon to watch Wie tee off at 2:16 p.m. Even if they can’t get in, these twentysomething professionals at least want to enjoy the show.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 7, 2007
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. – Natalie Gulbis has two herniated discs and is expected to be out for two weeks. Ran into Grace Park at the gym tonight and found out that she withdrew from last week’s Ginn Tribute because of migraine headaches. Park saw the doctor yesterday for treatment and believes it was brought on by allergies. She plans to play in this week’s McDonald’s LPGA.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 5, 2007
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. – The buzz here at Bulle Rock is all about Michelle Wie. The first person I saw when I arrived at the McDonald's LPGA Championship today was Wie’s caddie from last week, David Clark. Seems he’s survived for at least one more gig.
Wie was out early this morning getting in some practice before the pro-am started and word around the press tent is her swing didn’t look much better than last week. A column in today’s Baltimore Sun said that Wie had her right hand rubbed down by a trainer before she teed off in yesterday’s pro-am, and she was seen wincing on the first tee. The kicker here is that Wie pulled out of the Ginn Tribute because of her LEFT wrist.
Wie and her entourage left the course a little over an hour ago. She’s scheduled to return at 3:30 p.m. for a press conference. Should be interesting.
In other WD news, Natalie Gulbis pulled out of a tournament for the second consecutive week with a back injury. Jean Bartholomew took her place.
– Beth Ann Baldry
June 5, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Four wet days at Muirfield Village was enough for Paul Azinger. The 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup captain pulled out of the U.S. Open sectional qualifier in Columbus today.
“The U.S. Open is my least-fun tournament,” Azinger said. “It’s no fun. It’s a royal pain in the (rear). What’s your reward (for qualifying), you get to go play Oakmont? I don’t dislike it. It’s just so hard.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 4, 2007
DUBLIN, Ohio – Whether it’s the list of international winners at his Memorial Tournament or his ring-side seat as U.S. Presidents Cup captain the last two years, Jack Nicklaus has concerns about his team’s chances later this year at Royal Montreal.
“We keep playing the United States against the rest of the world. Maybe we ought to play east vs. west,” Nicklaus said Sunday shortly after crowning likely International President Cupper K.J. Choi Memorial champion. “We ought to divide this up a little differently, maybe the Americas as a team because it's going to continue to go that way as the game grows internationally.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 4, 2007
DUBLIN, Ohio – A familiar waiting game ensued this morning here in Buckeye country. Players were greeted with a light drizzle and the threat of more lightning early Sunday, delaying the start of the final round by an hour.
It is the 33rd time a round has been suspended, delayed or canceled in the tournament’s 32 years. And the spiraling remnants of Tropical Storm Barry gave organizers a 50 percent chance of more weather woes.
Escalating delays, play was halted for 2 hours, 32 minutes on Saturday, threaten to push the proceedings over to Monday, which would force U.S. Golf Association officials to postpone the start of a nearby 36-hole U.S. Open sectional qualifier.
“I talked with Mike Davis (the USGA’s senior director of competitions). We would push (the qualifier) to Tuesday,” said Craig Smith, a U.S. Golf Association spokesman. “And anyone who doesn’t get out (of Ohio in time for another qualifier), we’ll fit them into the Columbus qualifier.”
The field for Monday’s qualifier features no shortage of Tour talent. Among those scheduled to play are Ryan Moore, Josse Maria Olazabal, Camilo Villegas and Mark Calcavecchia.
The Columbus qualifier, which will be played at OSU’s Scarlet Course and Scioto Country Club, annually draw a deep field. Harrison Frazar, who didn’t even play the Memorial, was preparing Saturday on the Scarlet Course. While others, like Paul Azinger, had endured enough weather and planned to pull out of the qualifier.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 3, 2007
DUBLIN, Ohio – In the often vanilla world of professional golf, we await a Will MacKenzie sighting like some snowboarding, kayaking, bungee jumping Santa Claus. Problem is, since his Cinderella start at the season opener in Hawaii the wild one has been equally wild from tee and fairway.
But on Saturday here in the heart of America, “the adventures of Willy Mac” continued thanks to a seven-birdie, no-bogey 65 that left him tied for third place at the weather-delayed Memorial.
The key to his third round was a return to his fundamentals. Or, what passes for basics in the world of Willy Mac.
“I started using the ‘Badds.com’ again,” smiled MacKenzie, referring to the putting style used by Australian Aaron Baddeley.
And his swing? “That’s the Willy Mac-ington,” MacKenzie said. “It’s a little Willy Mac and a little Steve Elkington.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 2, 2007
DUBLIN, Ohio – The lineup at Muirfield Village is starting to look like the cast from Fox’s “House.” The Memorial’s first-aid station field up, in order, with Phil Mickelson (wrist), Lucas Glover (back spasms) and Zach Johnson (strep throat).
Jason Gore, who knows a thing or two about pain, said dealing with bumps and bruises is part of a life on the PGA Tour.
“Advil is a wonder drug,” he smiled.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted June 2, 2007
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Lorena Ochoa just gave die-hard fans of the Ginn Tribute something to cheer about. The world No. 1 spun one back into the hole for eagle on the par-5 ninth to take a four-shot lead over Angela Park. The rain is coming down pretty hard outside but Ochoa managed to make the turn 4 under. By the way, several locals have noted that it hasn’t rained in Mt. Pleasant the last eight weeks. That’s the one thing Bobby Ginn’s money can’t control: the weather.
Last season Ochoa topped the eagles category with 15. She’s on pace to blow past that number in ’07, as she’s already posted nine eagles in 39 1/2 rounds.
– Beth Ann Baldry
June 2, 2007
I was interested to see colleague Beth Ann Baldry's blog that today's Ginn Tribute hosted by Annika will be played under a weather forecast that calls for "100 percent" chance for rain.
One hundred percent? Wow. I don't know that Noah even had that forecast.
Wish I had the umbrella concession today up in Mt. Pleasant.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted June 2, 2007
Did you know if the PGA Tour season "regular" season ended today, your last man in for the FedEx Cup chase would be rookie Kyle Reifers, who is 144th in the points standings.
The bad news: He probably wouldn't be all that thrilled. His missed cut at Memorial marked the fifth consecutive start in which he missed the cut.
You guys do remember the FedEx Cup, don't you?
– Jeff Babineau
Posted June 2, 2007
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The total number of players who have WD’d from the Ginn Tribute is now up to nine. Natalie Gulbis withdrew prior to the second round due to injury. Sae-Hee Son, Jin Joo Hong and Grace Park all withdrew Friday with various ailments.
Amateur MacKinzie Kline, the 15-year-old who used a cart this week because of a medical condition, is also listed under the WD category but for a different reason. Kline shot 89 in the second round and fell prey to the 88 Rule that Michelle Wie made famous yesterday when she came oh-so-close. Because Kline failed to break 88, she is banned from the tour for the rest of the season. The odds that Kline would’ve received another exemption this season are slim-and-none. But it still sounds harsh.
The forecast for Saturday here in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., is 100 percent chance of rain. Players will tee off both tees tomorrow beginning at 7 a.m. in an effort to get the round in. The forecast doesn’t look any better for Sunday, meaning the dreaded Monday finish is a strong possibility. That’s the last thing anyone wants to hear the weekend before a major.
At least one person in next week's field has a chance to get out of the bad weather in S.C. and get a little practice in at Bulle Rock Golf Course, sight of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship. LPGA members aren’t allowed to practice at a tournament sight until 5 p.m. Sunday prior to the tournament. Because Michelle Wie isn’t a member, that rule doesn’t apply to her. You can bet her bags are packed.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted June 1, 2007
Phil Mickelson withdrew after 11 holes Thursday at the Memorial Tournament and Michelle Wie withdrew at the LPGA event after 16 holes. That might be the biggest day for withdrawals in sports since, I don’t know, a group of millionnaire athletes, pick a team, happened upon the bank teller’s window around the same time.
Not to slight the sore wrist. Was a big day for the sore wrist, too. I believe the wrist was named Body Part of the Day in USA Today or some such publication that likes those little awards.
– Jeff Rude
Posted June 1, 2007
GLENVIEW, ILL. – I wasn’t at the LaSalle Bank Open very long before a couple of players, old friends of mine, complained that purses on the Nationwide Tour aren’t high enough.
Of course, they are former PGA Tour players used to more commas, zeroes and senses of entitlements.
– Jeff Rude
Posted June 1, 2007
Apparently, it's a bad day for wrists. This just in, too, courtesy of the PGA Tour:
Playing in his 354th career event on the PGA Tour, Phil Mickelson was forced to withdraw after 11 holes of his first round at the Memorial Tournament due to a left wrist injury. Mickelson was 2-over-par at the time.
It was his second career WD – his first being the 2004 Las Vegas Invitational where he withdrew prior to the third round due to food poisoning. At the time (in Vegas), Mickelson was T27 after posting rounds of 66-68 (-9).
– Jeff Babineau
Posted May 31, 2007
So much for Michelle Wie's comeback at the Ginn Tribute. She was at least 14 over par with a few holes to go when she withdrew a few minutes ago. Included in there was a 10 on a par 5 and three other 6's on her card.
Why do I say she was "at least" 14 over? Because that was her score shown before the LPGA whisked it away, wiping her scorecard clean on LPGA.com as if she'd never played at all.
Don't know her status for next week's McDonald's LPGA. Beth Ann Baldry is on the scene in South Carolina. Can't wait to hear how this one unfolded.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted May 31, 2007
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Anytime Louise Suggs walks up to a podium, you know it’s going to be entertaining. Today Carolyn Bivens announced the receipt of a $1 million donation from Dolores Hope (wife of the late Bob Hope) to The LPGA Foundation. Suggs was on hand for the announcement to say a few words about her lifetime friend.
“I want to tell you something,” said Suggs. “Dolores and I started on this 25, 30 years ago. She’s a little bit slow, like molasses, when it comes to getting rid of her money.”
Hope certainly chose to give this bit to a good cause. Past LPGA commissioner Charlie Mechem also got up to say a few words since he was responsible for creating the foundation in 1991. Designed to give aid to those in the golf industry who need financial assistance because of serious illness, injury, loss of income or some other significant hardship, the foundation has given more than $600,000 to the golf community and beyond.
Mechem said this donation could be a “tipping point” for the foundation if others with deep pockets choose to follow in Hope’s footsteps.
Other LPGA legends in attendance for the announcement were Peggy Kirk Bell, Betty Jameson, Marilynn Smith and Carol Mann. Hope, who did not make the trip to S.C., celebrated her 98th birthday Sunday.
“I think it’s remarkable what she has done for us,” said Suggs. “Dolores, you old bat, I’ll see you soon.”
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted May 30, 2007
The Memorial is one of the lucky ones, in that it has Tiger Woods, and gets him every year. So do the WGCs, the majors, your Bay Hills and Wachovias, etc. However, in the spirit of David Letterman, in descending order, here's our top 10 lists on the best tournaments NOT on Tiger’s regular rota:
Rex Hoggard
10. World Cup (Not official, but still a worthy event.)
9. U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee
8. PODS Championship
7. Sony Open
6. Turning Stone Resort Championship
5. AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
4. Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
3. Verizon Heritage
2. The Barclays (OK, so it’s hard to believe the world No. 1 will skip the FedEx playoff opener. But not as hard to believe that he’ll play seven out of nine weeks.)
1. FBR Open
Jeff Babineau
10. Stanford (Memphis)
9. John Deere
8. Pebble
7. Honda (West Palm Beach)
6. Sony
5. FBR (Phoenix)
4. PODS (Tampa)
3. Colonial
2. Canadian Open
1. Verizon Heritage
(Note: Now that Westchester is in the playoff rotation, I think he’ll return)
– Golfweek Staff
Posted May 30, 2007
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Walking into the interview room today Bo Wie patted me on the back and said “Long time no see.” Gee, I was thinking the same thing about the Wie entourage. Bo, of course, is Michelle’s ever-present mother. She doesn’t get nearly as much attention as her husband, B.J., but is every bit as much involved in her daughter’s life.
Michelle looked more like a tennis player than a golfer when she came in to face the media for the first time in months. Dressed in a white tank top with a touch of pink, a white skort and her signature pageboy, Wie talked about everything BUT her injuries.
“It’s all better now and I don’t think that talking about the injury will help me or anyone,” she said.
Wie did say that the pain in her wrists is virtually nonexistent, unless she hits a “zinger here and there.” This weekend Wie will be missing her high school graduation to compete on the LPGA for the first time this season at the Ginn Tribute. She’s not overly upset about this fact since she at least got to attend her high school prom. When asked who accompanied her to the prom, Wie said she went with a professional golfer: “Her name was Michelle Wie.”
High school girls everywhere can feel good knowing that even a teenaged millionaire has a hard time finding a date.
Wie still plans to “broaden her horizons” by going to Stanford next fall. When asked if her parents were following her to California she said they were “still negotiating.” She did, however, say that she will be “dorming” next semester.
As for life without golf, Wie was surprised to find out how much she really missed the game.
“Truthfully, it kind of sucked,” she said. “Before I was like, ‘Oh, God, I don't want to practice. I don’t want to work out.’ But when I’m sitting on my butt all day watching TV it was like ‘I want to go out and work out and practice.’ ”
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted May 29, 2007
Now Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College can add an NJCAA Division I National title, the school’s 10th bottle cap, to one of our favorite nicknames thanks, at least in part, to an inspiring “Gipper” speech from Zach Johnson.
The Artichokes rolled over Midland College May 18 at Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz. Scottsdale coach Jon Levy, who played against Johnson while the two were in college and roomed with the Masters champion during his mini-tour days, arranged for Johnson to meet with the team prior to the WGC-Match Play Championship in February.
“They realized he was telling them the same thing I was always saying. Hey, maybe coach does know what he’s talking about,” Levy said.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 29, 2007
If I were a Tour player (feel free to sing this blog to the tune “If I Were A Carpenter”), one of the last people I’d want to run into in a playoff would be Jim Furyk. He’s smart, tough, gritty, hits it solidly, putts like a thief and has that look like he’d step on your neck if he had to in order to win.
So how do you explain this stat: After losing at Colonial on Sunday, Furyk is now 2-7 in playoffs. Wow. He even won his first playoff, in 1996 in Hawaii, which means Sunday’s playoff makes him 1-7 in his last eight. (The lone victory in there being over Trevor Immelman at Wachovia in 2006.)
Then again, Ben Crenshaw, officially the Man Not Named Tiger You'd Least Like To See Standing Over A 20-Footer to Beat You, was 0-8 in playoffs. And another Texan, Ben Hogan, was 8-12 in playoffs over his career. I'm willing to bet Hogan didn’t join you for dinner on those dozen occasions he lost, either ...
– Jeff Babineau
Posted May 28, 2007
VIRGINIA WATER, England – BMW must be awfully sensitive when it comes to other car companies. Either that or George O’Grady, the European Tour’s executive director, is having memory problems.
O’Grady mentioned Europe’s end of season tournament on at least two occasions, but seemed to forget the tournament is called the Volvo Masters.
Maybe O’Grady was too scared to upset the BMW executives standing at the back of the interview room, because on both occasions the Euro Tour head honcho simply referred to the tournament as the “season-ending Masters.”
Funnily enough, the word Volvo turned up in the second reference when the official, sanitized, transcript turned up.
O’Grady’s omission should go down well at Volvo’s head office, considering the amount of money the Swedish car company has invested in European golf over the years.
I’d love to hear what Volvo’s Mel Pyatt has to say to O’Grady when the pair stand on the first tee at Valderrama and conduct the traditional welcome handshake with every player in the field.
– Alistair Tait
Posted May 27, 2007
Win, lose or draw this week at Colonial Country Club, Tim Clark will likely watch the rest of the PGA Tour season from his couch.
Before the affable South African arrived in Texas he’d decided that the best way to treat an on-going neck injury was with rest. And not even rounds of 70-66 and the midway lead at Colonial were going to change his mind.
Besides losing one of the circuit’s most approachable players, Clark’s absence will be felt most at the majors. He’s finished in the top 25 at nine of the 18 Grand Slam events he’s played, including a tie for 13th this year at Augusta National. That’s .500 ball from an undersized shortstop.
Earlier this year during an interview in Houston, Clark became almost reverent when he talked about playing major championships: “I’m always excited to play a major. I think my concentration is better. My preparation might be a little better. When I get on the course every shot means something.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 27, 2007
What a sad couple of days for golf.
Kelly Jo Dowd, who inspired us all with her strength and spirit, passed away Thursday after a long battle with cancer. She was 42.
The Dowd family’s plight became a national story 13 months ago, when Dakoda Dowd, then 13, played the LPGA’s Ginn Open at Reunion Resort, just outside Orlando. I’ll never forget seeing Kelly Jo raise her hands high in the air when Dakoda ripped her opening drive right down the middle. “Proud” doesn’t begin to capture what was filling up her heart that morning.
When Dakoda birdied the hole, she beamed, “My daughter’s a stud.”
Months earlier, Kelly Jo sat on a wooden bench near the practice tee at Reunion as Dakoda hit golf balls. The deep love for her child was so evident in her eyes. The parent-child bond the two shared, and the sense of family enjoyed by Dakoda, Kelly Jo and Mike Dowd – Kelly Jo’s husband and Dakoda's dad – is something every family should strive to achieve. We’d all be richer. Life dealt the Dowd family a tough hand, and they’ve always handled it with incredible class.
The news of Kelly Jo’s passing comes on the heels of news earlier in the day of the shocking, sudden death of John Mineck in the Boston area on Thursday. It would be inaccurate to say John didn’t have any kids. His “baby” was his beloved Boston Golf Club, and it was there on Thursday his life came to a tragic end, as he was killed in an accident incurred while he operated heavy machinery on property at the club.
Boston Golf Club, if you haven’t had the pleasure of visiting, is such an incredible place, so cool. It has John’s indelible fingerprints all over it. It always will.
Condolences to both families. Kelly Jo and John were special, kindred spirits who lived life with a vibrant energy we all should carry each morning the sun comes up.
As I write this, it’s nearly 1 a.m., and my – and John’s – beloved Red Sox are on TV, winning a rain-delayed game out in Texas. My 6-year-old son, Luke, is asleep next to me on the couch, no doubt dreaming of something grand that only 6-year-olds can dream. When I carry him up the stairs to bed tonight, you can bet he’ll get an extra hug and kiss.
Too often we’re starkly reminded how short life really is.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted May 26, 2007
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Bruce Vaughan is still in there trying. He doesn’t know any other way.
The 50-year-old from Hutchinson, Kan., finished tied for third at last year’s Champions Tour Qualifying School, but as fate would have it, a change in the rules didn’t give him what he was after: fulltime exempt status for the ensuing season. So he was relegated to Monday qualifying, and as he admitted Friday after a second consecutive even-par 72 left him in the top 10 midway through the Senior PGA Championship, that’s been an uphill battle.
He’s in the unenviable position of trying to gain exempt status for 2008 by making enough money after he plays well enough just to get into the tournament. “It’s bad timing on my part,” he said. “I’m 1-for-whatever. It’s tough to get out here. But like they say, if you don’t like the rules, play better.”
By his own admission, Vaughan has held virtually every tour card there is: PGA Tour, Nike, Ben Hogan and Nationwide. His brief bio lists two victories on the Nationwide Tour and the 1994 Mount Edgecombe Trophy in South Africa.
Health issues have contributed to his problems. Between 2000 and ‘04 he underwent six knee surgeries and has had a partial knee replacement tried three times on the same (left) knee.
Through two rounds at Kiawah’s Ocean Course, Vaughan has been rock steady. He and Eduardo Romero, the 36-hole leader, were the only players in the 156-player field to play the front nine with nothing worse than a par. “I found it fun for 13 holes,” he said of his second round in which he got to four under par, just two shots off the lead. “Then we turned for home and the horse ran out of gas.”
While a good weekend would result in a nice payout for Vaughan, once again his only luck is bad luck. The Champions Tour has a rule whereby a top-10 finish earns a player an automatic spot in the tour’s next event. But that does not apply to cosponsored events, of which the Senior PGA is one.
— Rich Skyzinski
Posted May 25, 2007
VIRGINIA WATER, England – Watch Vijay Singh long enough and you will come up with interesting ideas on practice.
Singh was standing 15 paces in front of his bag on the practice ground. His caddie would place a ball in the rough, press it down slightly and then Vijay would slash away with the drive, the ball coming out low.
I watched him do this for five balls and then he strode back to his bag and started hitting drivers the way you are supposed to hit them: off a tee.
“How’s it going, man?” he asked me.
“Pretty good,” I said. “What’s the drill for?”
I was hoping to discover the secret to the universe, but I wasn’t surprised by Vijay’s answer.
“No reason,” he said. “Just for the hell of it, see if I can get the clubface on the ball.”
I’m used to Vijay and his weird practice methods. I went to Chiswick driving range in West London once to do a feature on him when he was on the European Tour. I wandered around the driving range looking for Vijay only to be told that Vijay was down on the rugby field.
I got directions and drove down to where this hedge met a wire fence. I crawled through this hole in the fence to find the future Masters winner hitting balls off scrub grass through the uprights of the local rugby field.
Later on when it got dark, Vijay would move to the Astroturf mats on the driving range. Former European Tour pro Malcolm Mackenzie came across Vijay one night when he was alternating hitting drives with his own driver and one with a lady’s shaft in it.
“It helps my rhythm,” Vijay explained.
Another time Vijay introduced himself to Mark Roe on the first tee at Gleneagles during the Scottish Open and told Roe he wouldn’t be spending a lot of time walking down the fairways.
“You expecting to play badly, or something Vijay?” Roe asked.
“No, but I’m going to be swishing a club through the rough to help strengthen my forearms.”
So Singh spend the round slashing through the rough, this from the guy with graphite arms.
As I said, watching Vijay practice is always entertaining – as long as you have hours to kill.
– Alistair Tait
Posted May 25, 2007
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — When I was out on the Ocean Course on Thursday for the first round of the Senior PGA Championship, I ran into a small group of people wearing Kemper Lakes shirts.
I don’t think they’re here to see the wildlife, and there are too many of them just to be spectators. To me, their presence means the course in Long Grove, Ill., in suburban Chicago, probably is in line to get a PGA of America championship.
If I had to speculate, I’d say it’s the 2009 Senior PGA. At the moment, the PGA of America has announced the site of only one future Senior PGA — next year at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y., near Rochester — so it’s time for another.
If you were thinking PGA Championship, the next available open date for that is 2014, and I’m guessing the PGA of America wouldn’t go to Kemper Lakes the year before it visits Wisconsin’s Whistling Straits, which is just 140 miles from Chicago. In fact, the PGA Championship already is locked in at numerous Midwestern sites: 2008 at Oakland Hills, outside Detroit; 2009 at Hazeltine National, near Minneapolis; then 2010 and 2015 at Whistling Straits.
There's a connection between the PGA of America and Kemper Lakes, which just last year became a private facility. The 1989 PGA Championship, won by Payne Stewart, was played there.
Chicago is a great golf city, and with the former Western Open (now the BMW Championship) being played in Chicago only every other year, it’s a good fit.
— Rich Skyzinski
Posted May 24, 2007
FORT WORTH, Texas – When I got to Colonial on Tuesday, I thought I might have been at a Champions Tour event. One aging player even said to me, “This field seems to have a bunch of old guys.”
I would’ve liked to operate the Just For Men concession. Last time I saw that much gray was at a Senior Open, male division, and that’s not even counting premature types like, I don’t know, maybe Trip Isenhour. Or maybe it was at that Mayo Clinic hotel I stay at near Jacksonville.
Anyway, old is in at Colonial. Veterans love it because you don’t have to bomb the ball. You have to shape it. Course knowledge and experience matter. And young guys who blast and chase would rather play on a wide-open track than on the doglegs of Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth.
Besides old probably looks better than young in the winner’s red plaid jacket. We know this by experience. Over the last two decades, the winner’s average age is 38. Only two guys in their 20s have won since 1990, a couple of shotmakers named Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.
During that span, seven jackets have gone to guys in their 40s, including a 48-year-old Tom Watson. Kenny Perry matched his own scoring record there at age 44.
Whether an old-timer wins again this year, who knows? After the partial first round Thursday, halted by rain, only four of the top 16 leaders in the clubhouse were at least 41.
But it’s early. And old guys like to get up early.
— Jeff Rude
Posted May 24, 2007
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Three cheers for Kerry Haigh.
The man responsible for course setup for several PGA of America events, including the PGA Championship and the Senior PGA, prudently moved up several tees for the first round of the Senior PGA at The Ocean Course.
The teeth of The Ocean Course is in the last five holes, all of which run along the Atlantic and directly into the prevailing wind. It is not at all uncommon for winds to blow all day long at 25-30 mph.
On Thursday, Haigh reduced the length of The Ocean Course by 187 yards at seven holes, including four of the last five: 14, 15, 17 and 18. He shaved 40 yards off the 18th hole, to 390, and after the morning wave of starting times the hole still ranked as the second-most difficult with bogeys and double bogeys outnumbering birdies by a ratio of 11-to-1.
“I must say one thing,” remarked Nick Price. “I think Kerry Haigh did a great job of setting up the course today. Because if we had played the tees that we played in the practice rounds, it would have been very, very difficult.”
Joked club professional Jeff Coston of Blaine, Wash., following an even-par 72, “I was going to play from those tees anyway, even if they hadn’t moved up the markers.”
– Rich Skyzinski
Posted May 24, 2007
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – It was like two kids at an amateur event, both taking turns talking about the crazy shots they had at different holes and how difficult they were. That was the scene outside the scoring area in the first round of the Senior PGA Championship. Dave Stockton, captain of the 1991 Ryder Cup team that returned the Cup to U.S. soil, asked Joe Inman what he shot, to which Inman replied with no particular look of disgust, “81.” Upon hearing the news, Stockton perked up since he’d shot the same over a very windy Ocean Course at Kiawah Island.
They then tried to figure out where they had birdies – if any. Stockton had his lone one on No. 7, while Inman didn't have any. They then went through the bizarre shots, like Inman's five iron from 150 yards into the 18th, and Stockton’s three putts from short distance.
Neither seemed upset, but resigned to the fact that the course is maybe just to hard for them.
– Alex Miceli
Posted May 24, 2007
VIRGINIA WATER, England – Golf really is a funny old game – at every level.
Handicap golfers turn up at the club feeling ill at ease with their swing, then go out and shoot the lights out. Or they turn up feeling confident and end up wanting to tear up the card up after nine holes.
The pros aren’t much different.
Former Arizona State player Alejandro Canizares was in a funk on Wednesday. It seemed he just couldn't find the center of the clubface.
He even went so far as to tell former Palmer Cup teammate Stephen Lewton that he was playing so badly he’d be lucky to break 80.
I saw him on the range and can confirm he looked like a lost soul. He looked like he was struggling badly with the driver. If body language is any indicator then the Spaniard’s body was sending out red alert signals.
Guess what? He shot 68 in the opening round with two eagles, four birdies and four bogeys.
Funny old game, huh?
– Alistair Tait
Posted May 24, 2007
VIRGINIA WATER, England – It’s a strange fact that many people who work in golf don’t play the game.
Talk to people who work in the game – journalists, equipment reps, caddies, officials, etc. – and you hear the same answer when you ask: “How’s your game?”
Invariably the reply comes back: “Haven’t played in months.”
It’s a standard answer, followed by: “I just don’t have the time.”
One equipment rep was complaining to me the other day about having sore legs.
“Why?” I asked.
“I played golf yesterday and I’m just knackered (or tired, for those lacking British origin).”
I was bemused and delved deeper into why his legs should be tired. I thought he’d maybe played 36 holes or something. No, just the standard 18, but his first 18 in nearly a year.
It’s the same with European Tour officials who are based at Wentworth. This is a club with three golf courses, yet talk to most people who work for the tour and they maybe play once a year, if they are lucky.
There’s a lesson there: if you think a career in golf means 365 rounds a year, think again. Most people who work in golf normally give it up as a hobby.
– Alistair Tait
Posted May 24, 2007
Twenty-one events into the 36-tournament “regular season” and the FedEx Cup era looks a lot like the PGA Tour circa 2006. Tiger Woods is the early favorite for Player of the Year, the Masters was magical and Tour pros are already grousing about potentially unfair conditions looming at the U.S. Open.
Golf should burrow a truism from baseball, you don’t talk pennant races in May. The FedEx Cup may indeed deliver, but we won’t know until the fall.
However, the Tour’s new slate has simplified one annual fall rite. Before the FedEx Cup trimmed the “regular season” and reduced the number of available starts late in the season, the year’s top college prospects wrestled with the decision to turn pro before the U.S. Amateur and Walker Cup. The days of players bolting college and parlaying six or seven sponsor exemptions into enough cash to earn a Tour card are likely a thing of the past.
“I told (University of Georgia senior Chris Kirk) that unless he can get seven or eight starts (on the PGA Tour), he should wait to turn pro until after the Walker Cup,” said Trip Kuehne, a life-long amateur and two-time U.S. Walker Cupper. “You will, for the rest of your life, be introduced as a member of the 2007 Walker Cup team. I still get goose bumps when that happens.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 24, 2007
FORT WORTH, Texas – And now another report on fairway fashionistas from your Style Blogger. As you may recall, I chronicled in this space that the women at the Byron Nelson tournament last month could often be found in wedge high heels.
I neglected to include this important fact: The heels are made of cork. In style in a big way is the cork wedge high heel. So don’t go out and buy ones made of wood or, gasp, fake wood.
They’ll be out in droves again this weekend at Colonial, too. But I’m not sure it will match the thousands that wore cork high heels at the Nelson.
Last time I saw that much cork, I was either at a wine store or at the Sammy Sosa corked bat game.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 23, 2007
FORT WORTH, Texas – Tim Herron not only collected $1.08 million for winning the Colonial tournament last year, he got an unexpected bonus several months later. When Crowne Plaza became the tournament’s new title sponsor, the hotel chain gave Herron 1 million points to use for hotel stays.
Although maybe the concierge needs to fill Lumpy in on how to redeem.
“I haven’t used them yet because I don’t how to use them yet,” Herron said.
Nor is he up on the value.
“A million points, I don’t know if that’s like a half night,” he said, drawing laughter. “It might be 2 million points a night. I have to figure that out.”
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 23, 2007
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — There are so many people walking around The Ocean Course with their heads down, it looks like they’re all scouring for spare change.
Actually, they’re just Senior PGA Championship spectators trying to protect themselves and limit the sand flying into their eyes — no small task on Wednesday, a day that was easily a four-club wind.
Whether you go by course rating or some more subjective assessment, there’s no arguing that The Ocean Course is one of the toughest courses in the country. When golf course architect Pete Dye returned a couple of years ago to make some renovations to the course he finished just in time for the 1991 Ryder Cup, workers drained the lake at the par-3 17th and reclaimed 40,000 balls. Part of Dye’s work was to create more playing areas, especially around the greens, so he moved back many dunes — and in the process another 15,000 lost balls were recovered.
To try and keep their shots lower, many players this week have elected to put a 1- or 2-iron in their bag in place of a 5-wood. That sounds like an interesting combination: trying to hit a 1-iron into a crosswind of 30 mph.
I have only one piece of advice for spectators: Heads up!
— Rich Skyzinski
Posted May 23, 2007
VIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND – Caddie Willie Aitchison could only shake his head and laugh as he looked over the players’ car park at the BMW PGA Championship.
“It certainly didn’t look like that in my day,” Aitchison said.
In Aitchison’s view was Darren Clarke’s Lamborghini, Michael Campbell’s Porsche and what looked like a Formula 1 car belonging to Ian Poulter. Throw in top of the range BMWs thanks to the sponsors, and Aitchison was looking at literally millions in metal.
Aitchison achieved fame with Lee Trevino, helping the Merry Mex to two British Open wins. So he has seen the champagne side of life, but nowadays bears no resemblance to the riches the stars enjoyed in Aitchison’s heyday.
“These don’t look like cars, they look like spaceships!”
– Alistair Tait
Posted May 23, 2007
VIRGINIA WATER, England – Nick Faldo needs to work on his timing if he is to carry off his Ryder Cup duties with aplomb.
It was certainly off when he announced Jose Maria Olazabal and Paul McGinley as his Ryder Cup vice captains to the awaiting media here at the BMW PGA Championship.
Faldo created a bit of build-up for the Spaniard, going over his Ryder Cup and playing record before announcing his name.
That was the cue for Olazabal to appear from behind a screen and show himself to the waiting press.
Out came Victoria Harris, the European Tour’s media relations co-ordinator, looking acutely embarrassed to announce that, er, Olazabal was going to be slightly late.
“Where is he?” Faldo asked. “In the wings? He’s late?
“It’s all about timing. I need to make a note that the team need to be all present and correct before I announce them.”
Olazabal finally entered the room 30 seconds after Faldo announced him. The Englishman might become a great Ryder Cup captain, but right now he gets 1 out of 10 for stage management.
– Alistair Tait
Posted May 22, 2007
Listen to National Public Radio for any amount of time and you realize how many real problems there are in the world. We play, cover, watch and adore a game, so it’s important to keep things in perspective. For a moment, however, it’s worth noting an episode that ranks as an injustice, at least within the relatively just world golf.
For nine holes Monday, Nick Flanagan sloughed off the post-victory haze that followed his Sunday triumph at the Nationwide Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs and appeared poised to advance to the final stage of qualifying for next month’s U.S. Open.
But as the afternoon wore on and the fatigue settled in, the rail-thin Aussie struggled on the Pinewild Country Club’s Holly Course in Pinehurst, N.C., site of the local U.S. Open qualifier. Flanagan’s back-nine 37 cost him a ticket to sectional qualifying and the possibility of a warm and fuzzy return to Oakmont Country Club, site of his 2003 U.S. Amateur victory.
Flanagan won his first Nationwide event (Henrico County Open) on April 29, four days after the cutoff for Nationwide Tour winners to earn an exemption to sectional qualifying. And his BMW victory lap didn’t help his status.
The U.S. Golf Association clings to special invitations into its national championship like a 2-year-old to a sippy cup, but if ever there were grounds to give a guy a freebie, Flanagan’s the man.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 22, 2007
Seems the golden rule of real-estate also applies to PGA Tour events. Early commitments to this year’s Stanford St. Jude Championship, which was repositioned to the week before the U.S. Open on this year’s calendar, include Adam Scott and Sean O’Hair.
While the AT&T Classic, which was traditionally played the week before the Masters prior to the FedEx Cup extreme makeover, seems to have ended up on the wrong side of the schedule rail-road tracks. We’re not saying the field outside Atlanta this week is weak, but isn’t Raymond Floyd retired?
Location, location, location.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 19, 2007
It’s quickly become lore in major championship circles that the greens at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club – which Mike Davis, the U.S. Golf Association’s senior director of competitions, call “scary” – will need to be slowed down for next month’s U.S. Open. On Monday, Davis transformed golf’s most confounding “urban legend” into fact.
“Yes, it is true,” said Davis, who figures the greens normally run between 14 and 15 on the Stimpmeter, but will be slowed to 13 or 13 1/2 for the championship. “We come to town, the club has to slow them down for us, because I will tell you in the fall, they are faster than that.”
What’s next, HD footage of Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster on YouTube.com?
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 16, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. –Expect to see Tiger Woods take another visit to Oakmont before U.S. Open week. Woods was there a couple of weeks ago for an American Express outing. But according to Woods, the course wasn't really in game shape and he wants to take another look as Oakmont comes into its own with rough and faster greens.
While Woods is unwilling to commit to his schedule before the U.S. Open, it is widely believed he will play Memorial in Columbus, just a short hop for Woods in his private jet from Oakmont.
– Alex Miceli
May 13, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. – On this Mother’s Day we’re reminded of an old bromide “Ma Blog” used to lecture us with – the early bird gets the worm.
In this case the bird is Phil Mickelson, who was spotted at the far end of TPC Sawgrass’ practice range Sunday at 9:45 a.m. That’s five hours before his final-round tee time.
Chances are, this early bird gets the Waterford Crystal.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 13, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Maybe Phil Mickelson was right. The second-round leader predicted that, despite a firm, fast, difficult golf course, that someone would reach double digits under par on the weekend at The Players Championship.
Early Saturday returns supported that thesis. The TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course, oddly, went soft. Henrik Stenson shot 66. Then Luke Donald came in with a 65. And then Jeff Quinney trumped all that with a 64.
Fifth major?
How about the Bob Hope at Indian Wells.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 12, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – It is a gorgeous, sunny Saturday out here. Which makes it even crazier that lightning struck for the second time in two days.
With a perfect hop and roll from a scant 229 yards out on the par-5 second, Peter Lonard bagged the second albatross of this tournament. Remember, the first double eagle in Players Championship history happened on Friday when Hunter Mahan pulled it off on No. 11.
Frankly, don't be surprised if it happens again. TPC Sawgrass, which has been brutal for two days, is finally relenting and the boys are getting after it.
Charl Schwartzel tied the tournament record earlier today with a 6-under 30 on the back nine, which included an eagle on No. 11 and consecutive birdies on Nos. 15-17. Luke Donald went out in 31 on the front, turned in a 65 and is officially in serious contention.
And Sergio Garcia, who toned things down from his rowdy orange and light blue ensemble on Thursday, was one shot away from a similarly stellar round. A ball in the drink on No. 18 led to a double bogey, but he still posted a 67 and at 3 under for the tournament is in position to make some noise on Sunday.
– Travis Hill
Posted May 12, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. – Going to waste some space on the annual space-wasting issue of fifth majors.
A colleague rode his high-horse into history this week, granting The Players its long-coveted “fifth major” status. Three thoughts on what The Players may or may not be:
• Never heard a single Tour player utter the words, “Trying to peak for The Players.”
• Quick, how many Players did Jack Nicklaus win?
• Tiger Woods has never loaded up his entourage and headed to Ponte Vedra Beach a few weeks early to “get a feel for the course.”
Point is, it's the players, not the media, nor Tim Finchem, nor even the public that bestows major status. The Players is a wonderful event with arguably the year’s deepest field. Maybe in another 33 years it will be Grand Slam worthy.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 12, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – One of the keys to winning golf tournaments is to minimize the damage of a so-called “bad” round. Juicers might call it making lemonade out of lemons. Architects might call it turning swampland into a championship golf course, like, come to think of it, the famous TPC Sawgrass currently on the world stage.
So it was Friday for Phil Mickelson. The big lefthander with the evolving swing and new guru turned something resembling an 80 into a 72. As a result, he ended the second day of the Players Championship in first place, a stroke better than a little-known Australian named Nathan Green.
As ball-striking went, this wasn’t the Mickelson that hit more than 80 percent of his fairways at Pebble Beach this year or the one who turned controlled cuts into three major victories in 2004-06. Rather, this was Scrambling Phil at or near his best, which is saying something considering he and a chap named Tiger Woods have the world’s best short games.
Lefty hit but six fairways and six of the firm, fast greens in regulation. He did hit two flagsticks, but for the most part he continually bailed himself out. He took only 23 putts. He had 13 one-putt greens. The guy in the equipment van altering the edges of wedges doesn’t grind as much.
“I’ll gladly take 72 because I didn’t put myself in some great spots,” he said after his blue-collar day in the Florida sun. “I didn’t play well enough to shoot a low score but fought hard to keep it around even par. I relied on my short game to keep me in it.”
The wind wasn’t nearly as penal as on Thursday, when it gusted to 39 mph. Scores reflected that, particularly the 66s of Steve Lowery and Jose Maria Olazabal. And the wind isn’t expected to howl on the weekend, leading Mickelson to surmise that the winner could reach double digits under par.
At the moment, the leader is but 5 under, and happy to be there considering what he called a “lot of loose shots.” Somewhere, Dave Pelz was probably smiling more than Butch Harmon.
Tim Finchem probably is smiling, too, if he listened to Mickelson’s interview. Among other things, the leader made a strong case for why the Players in May is better than the Players in March.
“In the past it has always been a preparation for the Masters,” Mickelson said. “It has not really been a tournament that most of the guys come in geared up and ready to play. They don’t want to peak too early, they want to win the Masters. Given its own identity, I think you’re going to see more of the top guys gear up for this event and be sharp when it comes around.”
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 11, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Highlights from an afternoon stroll around Sawgrass:
• If you've been to The Players Championship on a Saturday, you know you've been to one of the most fun venues in golf. It is extremely difficult to beat a sunny day at Sawgrass. Well, after a rainy, windy Thursday morning blew away much of the atmosphere, the sun came out today. And it feels like a Saturday. There is palpable energy out there.
• Working through the crowds in the bowl around No. 17 had me thinking one thing: Should I just quit
Golfweek right now and have a beer or three?
• Saw a guy rocking searsucker pants with little red lobsters all over them. Just a strong, strong play.
• It never ceases to amaze me how big Tiger Woods' gallery is. Although today, I think the line at the bar in the Island Club might have been bigger.
• I take it back. The new clubhouse is bigger than them both. And yes, I have heard all of the negative talk about the bad example it sets, and how courses don't need that, and yadda yadda yadda. Everyone who says that needs to take a walk through that thing while the tournament is going on. Impressive.
• Note to my bosses: We need to get Robert Lohrer for some Fashion
Focus videos out here. The beautiful people are out and flaunting it.
• Saw another guy out at No. 17, about as close as you can get to where the players walk up to the green from the tee box, wearing what appeared to be a Boston Bruins jersey and this crazy wig thingy that looked like Buckwheat stuck his finger in a light socket. Good times.
• Just one beer? Please?
– Travis Hill
Posted May 11, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Hunter Mahan made some history on a spectacular afternoon here at Sawgrass.
Sitting 227 yards out on the par-5 11th hole, the sun was certainly shining on Mahan. He went right after the green, clearing the stream and bunker in front ... and jarring it for the very first double-eagle in the history of The Players Championship.
(Word is he used a 5-iron. A 5-iron?????)
Who knew the weather was so nice that there would be an albatross out?
– Travis Hill
Posted May 11, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. – One by one, players slouched into the scoring building on Thursday with the same, rope-a-dope look you normally see at U.S. and British Opens.
Jason Gore, who knows a thing or two about U.S. Open success and failure, opined: “They asked me upstairs (in the Golf Channel booth) what the hardest hole was and I said, ‘Yes.’”
Scary statistic of the day: Last year, 57 balls were deposited into the water surrounding the 17th green for four rounds. The number for Thursday reached 50 before rush hour.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 10, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Tiger Woods hit the most amazing shot I’ve ever seen. Ever. And it happened at, of all places, the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course.
It happened before he said, “Hello, world,” and proceeded to break the professional golf bank. It happened in 1994, at the U.S. Amateur here, on the 35th hole of the final match against Trip Kuehne. It happened on golf’s most infamous hole, the dramatic island 17th.
In dry, August conditions, Tiger Woods actually hit a shot that day that landed on the right fringe and, bizarrely, stayed on the right fringe. That’s right, somehow it didn’t bounce into the water, like hundreds if not thousands you’ve seen. Woods proceeded to make the putt for a decisive birdie en route to clinching the first of his three consecutive Amateur titles on the last hole.
Woods has had other memorable moments here. He, of course, won The Players Championship in 2001. He came close in 2000, when he was edged by Hal “Be the right club today” Sutton.
But other than that, this isn’t Tiger Woods’ place. It’s his anti-Augusta or un-Firestone. It’s a Point A to Point B target course that just hasn’t suited the world’s best player.
Here’s how oddly bad it has been for Woods. In 10 previous starts at The Players, Woods has finished better than 10th only twice, that second-first run in 2000-01. And he has had no top 10s in the last five years.
Thursday was more of the same. Woods shot 75 in the opening round of the 2007 Players. The round was remarkable because he made exactly no birdies. It’s only his sixth Tour round as a pro in which he has made no birdies.
Woods hit six fairways, nine greens in regulation and too many putts (31). He had three three-putts. This isn’t the usual fare for a guy who has won nine of his last 11 stroke-play starts on Tour.
“I hit the ball pretty good today,” he said.
But not well enough. The original TPC doesn’t tolerate so many missed fairways and greens. Woods knows that.
“You’ve got to place the golf ball correctly,” he said, “and if you don’t there’s going to be a consequence for it.”
For Woods, the consequence was this: He made four fewer birdies Thursday than someone named Craig Perks.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 10, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rory Sabbatini certainly likes to stir things up. After his first-round 5-under 67 gave him a share of the clubhouse lead, he came into the interview room and put on another show. No one was quite sure when he was kidding or just being ridiculously overconfident ... but hey, at least he wasn't giving out stock answers.
Among his gems:
• On Tiger Woods' opening 3-over 75: "I want Tiger ... I want him to pick it up and we'll be up there late on Sunday."
• On his belt buckle, which appeared to be encrusted with diamonds: "You have to go through the right secruity check point (at the airport). ... I like wearing stuff like that. I like just being a little different."
• On the Sports Illustrated poll where players overwhelmingly voted him as the player they would least like to play with: "(Someone asked me about that yesterday) that 25 percent of the guys on Tour say the player they wouldn't want to play with was me. And I don't know 25 percent of the guys on Tour, and there's probably 25 percent I wouldn't want to play golf with. You can pick your battles, but I'm not out here to make friends. I'm out here to win golf tournaments."
• On how people have a difficult time with his sense of humor: "Trust me, it drives my wife nuts. She never knows when I'm just taking the Mickey out of her or whether I'm being serious. I'd say I probably kid 99 percent of the time. Maybe that's why people don't understand me, because it's a dry sense of humor."
Like the Sahara Desert, Rory.
– Travis Hill
Posted May 10, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The equipment companies are also having to make adjustments with all of the changes going on here.
In the past when the Players was in March and just two weeks before the Masters, players would be tinkering with different clubs, trying to find the right combination for the first major of the year. With the move to May, players have been spending most of their time trying to learn the nuances of the renovated golf course and have done little to no tinkering.
Of course, that could be because they are harder to find. The equipment vans have been moved from the right side of the driving range to another 100 yards right of their previous location and are not as easy to find as in the past.
– Alex Miceli
Posted May 10, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. – This just in from the tough start department.
Stewart Cink rattled his tee shot on the 10th hole, his first of the event, off a few pines trees right of the fairway. His second shot caromed off another tree further right and his third attempt clipped yet another pine. He finally escaped the woods with his fourth shot and two putted from 37 feet for an opening double bogey.
No trees were injured in the making of this blog.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 10, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. – Among some of the most entertaining traditions in the game, the 17th-hole caddie contest each Wednesday at The Players ranks just south of Augusta National’s Par-3 Contest.
Each caddie’s player donates to the contest fund, which this year will benefit the Bruce Edwards Foundation for ALS Research, and the looper gets to see how tough life can be on the other side of the bag.
Greg Owen’s man Ray “Retro” Farnell won with a tee shot that came to rest 5 feet, 4 inches away from the flag. Peter Lonard’s caddie, Scotty Martin, was one of the last participants. His semi-shanked 8-iron rolled to 6 feet, 1 inch for second place.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Martin smiled.
At least Martin avoided the murky abyss that surrounds the island green. Steve Duplantis, who caddies for Daniel Chopra, sent his 131-yard tee shot over the green.
“Only brought one club,” said Duplantis, who may be the first caddie to miss-club himself.
Ernie Els tried to ease his caddie into the shot. “OK, just relax,” the Big Easy chaffed, just before his man, J.P. Fitzgerald, slipped on the wet grass and nearly topped his shot into the 16th fairway. In his defense, Fitzgerald’s reload safely found the putting surface.
Just finding land was a victory for most caddies, while Farnell won a new watch and a year’s worth of bragging rights.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 9, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. – Early Wednesday and the far end of the TPC Sawgrass practice range, normally the domain of reclusive stars seeking sanctuary, included the high-profile likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Wedged between the two was Eric Axley. Are there really that many East Tennessee State fans hounding the former Buccaneer that he needs a break from prying eyes?
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 9, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. – Haven’t played a tee shot in anger yet so it may be a tad early, but the new, improved, May Players looks a lot like the old, mushy March Players.
A subtropical storm lingering off the north coast of Florida has the game’s “fifth major” off to a soggy, yet familiar, start. The move to May was prompted, at least in part, by a need for drier conditions. But this week’s forecast is for a 60 percent chance of storms Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
The rub? The weather the week of March 22-25, The Players longtime time slot, was warm, clear and dry in Ponte Vedra Beach.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 9, 2007
Sitting in my living room Monday unwinding from a long day at work, I flipped on the TV to see what my DVR had in store. Still starry-eyed from McSteamy’s (Eric Dane from “Grey’s Anatomy”) surprise appearance on “Oprah,” I was surprised to see that her next guest was boy-next-door Masters champ Zach Johnson.
He wasn’t mentioned in the show’s opening teaser, but there he was, looking quite smart in a button-down black shirt and grey pants, chatting about his surprise victory at Augusta.
Everyone seems to cry on that show, and Johnson was no exception. Oprah got the waterworks started when she read a letter from a woman claiming to be his No. 1 fan. Johnson didn’t guess it was his younger sister, Maria, until Oprah clued him in and called her out on stage.
Moments later Oprah surprised Johnson yet again when she introduced NFL quarterback and Cedar Rapids native Kurt Warner to the audience.
“You can really bring the emotions out can’t you?” Johnson said.
“That’s what I do,” Oprah replied with a smile.
– Beth Ann Baldry
May 7, 2007
Don't look now, but Tiger Woods has won nine of his last 11 stroke-play starts on the PGA Tour. I'm not sure where that stands historically, but I believe the technical term for the achievement is Stupid Good.
Ben Hogan once won eight of 11 majors he entered during one stretch. He did that with a body that was battered by a bus. But over 10 months it's probably safe to say no one has ever played better golf, at least since Byron Nelson and World War II.
Woods began Wachovia Championship week playing with his cigar-smoking pal, Michael Jordan, in the pro-am. He finished it by winning by two strokes even though he closed with a final-nine 38 and was bothered by some leg pain.
People wondered if Woods would be better in his 30s than he was in his 20s. The answer so far seems clear. He's not only better, he's better coming from behind. He already has as many come-from-behind victories (eight) the last 2 1/2 years as he had in his first nine years on Tour.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 6, 2007
The top two Wachovia Championship finishers both made double bogeys coming in. And high finisher Vijay Singh made two bogeys and a triple coming in. It appeared the boys were stinking up the gym.
That speaks of one thing: Quail Hollow is one of the best courses on the Tour. You might say it deserves the strong field and favorable date it received.
– Jeff Rude
Posted May 6, 2007
Got a chance to view the new Castle course at St. Andrews this week, the seventh course at the home of golf, which should be ready for play next July.
A few things struck me as I was shown around the clifftop course to the east of the Auld Grey Toon:
• Couldn’t they have come up with a better name than “The Castle Course” for the latest addition to the Home of Golf?
• Where did architect David McLay Kidd find all the dead elephants to bury under his large, undulating greens? Or given the proximity to the sea, maybe he’s buried beached whales?
Given the abundance of humps and hollows on the greens, this course is going to produce more three putts than the Old Course or Augusta National.
I’d hate to have to play this layout on a windy day on quick greens. Getting the ball to stay still is going to be a job and a half.
• Congrats to the architect for routing the closing holes on both nines along the clifftops. The 6th green, 7th, 8th and 9th holes all sit by the sea. While the 16th green, 17th and 18th holes run by the sea.
And to think, the closing holes of so many old links finish inland, even though the old architects had the opportunity to site the closing stretch beside the water. Royal Dornoch, Nairn, Royal Troon, Gullane, Ballybunion, Turnberry, Machrihanish and many others all end with the 18th hole returning inland.
Even a modern classic like The European Club sees the 18th hole finish inland when architect Pat Ruddy had a chance to have his finishing hole run along the ocean, like Waterville.
So, well done on that front Mr. McLay Kidd. As for those buried elephants or whales? Well, maybe they could be replaced with a few cows or sea lions!
– Alistair Tait
Posted May 4, 2007
I wonder how well golf gloves sell in the region of Angus? Not very, I’d say.
From a brief anecdotal survey conducted by my good self while putting on the Carnoustie practice green, I’d say gloves sales in Angus don’t feature too highly in Footjoy’s sales figures.
While watching locals teeing off on the Carnoustie Buddon Links, I reckon every second golfer wasn’t wearing a golf glove.
This might be stretching things too far, but maybe Ben Hogan’s to blame.
Maybe the sight of Hogan winning the 1953 Open Championship at Carnoustie, sans glove, has left a lasting legacy for many Carnoustie golfers. If it was good enough for Ben… might be the motto of many Carnoustie golfers.
– Alistait Tait
Posted May 4, 2007
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Best par of the day today at the Wachovia Championship? Well, I don’t know if this is THE best, but it certainly would make the ballot. Craig Kanada’s tee shot at the 345-yard 14th hole at Quail Hollow struck a huge oak tree just off the tee and fell into the rough.
Total distance of the drive: 61 yards.
He and his caddie looked like two NASA scientists as they feverishly studied their yardage books trying to compute what Craig had left in. It’s a hole most PGA Tour players don’t plan to attack from behind the ladies’ tee. Finally Kanada got his number, pulls 3-wood from the bag, rips it down the right side of the fairway, and the ball doesn’t stop running until it gets up onto the green some 284 yards away.
A patron already a few Budweisers into his day despite the fact noon was more than an hour away didn’t resist a jab at the diminutive Kanada.
“Hey, nice green in regulation,” he yelled.
Kanada, not missing a beat, pointed to the tightly mown members’ tee just a yard or so from where he’s struck his shot, smiled and replied, “Yeah, but I didn’t get the fairway.”
He got up to the green and two-putted for his par. Fellow competitor Michael Putnam hit hybrid-wedge to 13 feet but missed his birdie putt, also making 4.
Hey, they all look the same on the scorecard.
By the way, in the group ahead of Kanada, Rocco Mediate hit the same tree. But his drive traveled "way" past where Kanada ended up. Mediate's distance: 81 yards.
That'll really help the stats.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted May 3, 2007
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Don’t be surprised to see Tiger Woods transitioning into a Nike Sumo2 in the near future. That’s Nike’s square-headed model, which, at impact, makes more noise than an old Ozzy Osborne concert. He recently was hitting the driver when he stopped in at Oakmont for a U.S. Open tune-up.
“I hit my driver a little bit further,” Woods said of the Nike SasQuatch Tour he currently has in tow. “Yeah, I hit the other driver slightly straighter, but I still like being able to manuever the ball both ways for now. It’s a loft issue. I haven’t got quite the right loft yet. As soon as we get that dialed in, I may switch.”
– Jeff Babineau
Posted May 3, 2007
How good is the Quail Hollow layout, stage for this week’s mid-major PGA Tour gathering? As one player said last night, “It is incredible . . . I just hope they never host an (U.S.) Open on it. The USGA would screw it up.”
All of which makes us wonder what to expect next week at TPC Sawgrass. Hard, dry conditions combined with thick rough could turn The Players into a U.S. Open Lite.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 3, 2007
Michelle Wie will make her debut north of the border this August at the CN Canadian Women's Open. Why Canada you ask? Consider this: The Canadian Women's Open increased its prize money by $550,000 to $2.25 million this year. It's now the fifth-largest purse on tour.
Oh, Canada.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted May 2, 2007
The Michael Jordan, Skipper Beck (the man who supplies the Wachovia Championship's courtesy cars) and Tiger Woods threesome drew a decent gallery Wednesday. The fairways were lined two and three deep, and the greens three times that. It looked more like a major than a early pro-am round. Neither Woods or Jordan signed autographs during the 18 holes, but they were both clearly having a good time. Jordan spoke to the crowd on numerous occasions and most of the time he interacted with Woods, trash was being talked.
On the 11th hole, as Woods was waiting to hit 3-wood, Jordan kicked Woods' teed up ball into the crowd. As Woods wound up to swing minutes later, Jordan coughed during his back swing. Woods's drive split the fairway.
Next, it was Jordan's turn. His Airness outdrove Woods by at least 35 yards.
Jordan then gave a cigar to a woman on the 14th hole, under the condition she would smoke it.
The last prank came when Jordan's tee shot on the par three 17th came to rest dangerously close to the water. Woods waited for Jordan to walk across the green, then kicked his ball in the water.
– Alex Miceli
Posted May 2, 2007
More than a few players bolted Dallas with a desire for smooth, true-rolling greens that are actually . . . well, green, as well as a curious interest in what can best be described as “The Phil Rules.”
One member of the circuit’s Player Advisory Council figured no fewer than 40 players had questioned how Tour officials had interpreted the rule on players missing a pro-am, not Phil Mickelson or how “Lefty” handled the situation.
As Tour members gathered in Charlotte, N.C., for a players' meeting Tuesday evening, “The Phil Rules” incident promised to be Items 1A and 1B on the agenda. But not because of Mickelson’s actions. Because of the Tour’s.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted May 1, 2007
Missing pro-ams is the hot topic going into the 5:30 players meeting today.
Many players believed the issue had been dealt with and excuses like a death in the family were fine with them. But Phil Mickelson's miss last week at the Byron Nelson Championship because he couldn't get his plane to Dallas from Little Rock, just four hours away when he already was in Dallas earlier on Tuesday, smacked of a double standard.
Tour officials are spinning the decision to let Mickelson play as part of an earlier policy board decision put in place January 1 that provides the on-site tournament director with discretion to excuse a player from a pro-am due to a serious personal emergency.
Many players now are wondering what the definition of "serious personal emergency" is and its seems that a Pandora's Box was opened. Since it is hard to re-cork the bottle, Commissioner Tim Finchem will have some push-back from the players, but it's hard to believe that anything significant will change since the board voted on the recent change.
– Alex Miceli
Posted May 1, 2007
A couple thoughts after watching the final round of the EDS Byron Nelson Championship:
• One would have to believe Byron Nelson would have loved Sunday’s finish, with one of Dallas’s own, Scott Verplank, taking home the championship, a player who had great respect and admiration for Nelson.
• What’s up with Luke Donald closing golf tournaments? Thought this kid was an English assassin? At one point Sunday, he was up by three and seemingly was not going to be caught. But as we witnessed earlier this season at the Sony, when he let one get away, he needs to get a little tougher down the stretch.
• Phil Mickelson got absolutely blasted for missing the Tour Championship last fall. That’s fine. But those who hammered Phil for not doing the right thing in October ought to salute his effort to show up in Dallas when so many other top players failed to heed the Tour’s call.
They were honoring Byron Nelson in Dallas this week, and two of the top 10 players showed up. Before I hear the tired arguments that (A) these guys are independent contractors, (B) that the course was in lousy shape and (C) that players needed the week off with two big weeks (Wachovia and the Players Championship) coming up, let me ask this: When did playing three weeks in a row become the equivalent of walking 10 miles to school uphill in the snow?
It’s golf. C’mon. Nobody can play three weeks in a row?
When there is $10 million up for grabs for the winner of the FedEx Cup playoffs later this week, you watch how many guys can get off the couch and play three and four and even seven in a row.
In a single word, my thoughts on the top players’ efforts to honor a gem of a man this week in Dallas?
Weak.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted April 29, 2007
IRVING, Texas – Michael Allen can become the first Monday qualifier to win a PGA Tour event the same week since Fred Wadsworth did so at the 1986 Southern Open.
At the moment, the laid-back Allen sits in third place through 54 holes, two strokes behind leader Luke Donald and one behind Dallas native Scott Verplank. The 48-year-old Allen, who has last fall got through Q-School a record ninth time, shot up the leaderboard with a 64 Saturday at the Four Seasons TPC at Las Colinas.
This is the third time this year Allen has successfully Monday qualified, tying him with another veteran in his late 40s, Tommy Armour III. By Allen's count, he had Monday qualified only once before this year.
"I was something like 1-for-38," he said. "Now I'm 4-for-38."
Allen calls Sunday an important day in his career but stressed that he doesn't want to put too much pressure on himself. "It's a hard way to play when you can't breathe for 18 holes," he said. "I really don't have anything to lose. There's nowhere to go but up when you're at the bottom."
Allen didn't play for six weeks until last week's Zurich Classic, because he couldn't get in tournaments on his Q-School status and because he was recovering from a torn elbow tendon he suffered when he fell off a bicycle in Mexico in February while there for a tournament.
"I had a cocktail in one hand and was breaking with the other and went over the handle bars," he said.
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 28, 2007
IRVING, Texas – Your fashion correspondent here can say without a shadow of a doubt that the women's wedge heel is in style in a big way, a big Texas kind of way. He knows this because he has seen hundreds if not thousands of wedge heels on the women who have come out to party this week at the spring social known as the EDS Byron Nelson Championship.
Now, high heels aren't something normally seen at golf tournaments, true. But this is Dallas, and this is the Nelson, a place for Dallas' finest to see and be seen.
Your pop culture expert here figures about every fifth woman was wearing wedge heels. That qualifies as a major trend. Put it this way, the women's wedges drawfed the number of wedges in the players' bags. And that would've been the case had every player carried 14 wedges.
Not that there weren't other kinds of high heels. There were. One woman wore heels that were at least 5 inches tall, maybe 6. Circus stilts aren't much taller. All of this at a golf tournament, not a nightclub.
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 28, 2007
IRVING, Texas – Luke Donald is leading the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, and that should surprise no one. This place seems to suit him, to the point that he now has shot 10 consecutive rounds in the 60s here. The latest entry of 67-66--133 puts him one stroke ahead of Brett Wetterich, Sean O'Hair and Fredrik Jacobson.
"I have good thoughts, good memories here," Donald said.
Donald has made one bogey in two days. He missed one fairway Friday. He's rocking and rolling.
"Everything is working well," he said.
The Englishman said he was excited about his game entering the week because he was swinging well. On top of that, he likes the two courses here because they are not bombers' paradises.
"You don't have to be ultra-long to be successful here," he said. "Any kind of game can win around here."
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 26, 2007
IRVING, Texas – The EDS Byron Nelson Championship at the midway point is proving the Courses for Horses theory right once again.
Leader Luke Donald has shot in the 60s 10 consecutive times here.
Co-runnerup Brett Wetterich won last year.
Co-runnerup Sean O'Hair was second two years ago.
Fifth place Scott Verplank has finished in the top 6 four times.
Vijay Singh, tied for seventh, has won here before.
Don't be surprised if the winner comes out of that group.
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 26, 2007
IRVING, Texas – Tommy Armour III had his annual sushi party to kick off EDS Byron Nelson week and, once again, it was a people-watching extravaganza. Many of Dallas' well-endowed lovelies attended, not to mention a few players and equipment reps and the like.
You couldn't miss the house. It was covered by beams of colorful lights. Inside, colored parasols dangled from a ceiling.
I mentioned to Armour, the cool PGA Tour bon vivant, that I wasn't sure if the women at his soiree were getting younger or I was getting older. Probably both.
The gracious host smiled and said, "Yes, we were celebrating youth."
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 26, 2007
IRVING, Texas – Lot of talk 'round these parts about how bad the field is for the Byron Nelson Championship less than six months after the passing of the tournament's legendary namesake.
Before we launch into a "spoiled-Tour-player" diatribe, it's important to point out the remade FedEx Cup schedule leaves players little wiggle room this time of year. Remember, we're already halfway through the FedEx season and the next few weeks are big ones with the Wachovia Championship, Players Championship and Memorial on the docket.
It's also worth pointing out TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas should be renamed TPC Rough & Ragged. Many of the greens have bare spots and feature different grasses which will make consistent green speeds a challenge.
"This is the worst-conditioned course we play all year," hissed one Tour player late Wednesday on TPC's practice range.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 26, 2007
IRVING, Texas – PGA Tour rookie Anders Hansen was born in Denmark, lives in Switzerland, has won a big tournament in England and has traveled all over Europe. I don't know if he's cultured, but he's been around and seen a lot of different cultures.
Which brings us to his multinational palate. He knows a thing or two about food, for he has sampled it in too many European countries to count. He never got bored eating out when he played the European Tour because he pretty much ate varied cuisine in a different country every week.
"You go to Spain, Germany, Italy, it's different every week (for food)," Hansen said after shooting 66 in the first round of the EDS Byron Nelson Championship.
So imagine his culture shock here in the United States. Needless to say, he has noticed we have a few chain restaurants.
"Here you can go to the same restaurant every single week, get the same food every single day," he said. "But that's how the Americans like it, which is good."
As a followup, I asked him if he had a favorite American restaurant that measures up to European standards. He was succinct.
"No," he said.
Then he tried to wiggle out by saying that his answer reflected not on our standards but on our repetition.
"I like American food, so it's not an issue," the Dane said.
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 26, 2007
IRVING, Texas – Byron Nelson dies and top players chose to stay away from his tournament in droves. Only two players in the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking are playing this week – Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson, and they were paired together for the first two days.
Personally, I think more elite players could have made a point to show up and honor the late legend a few months after his passing. But the PGA Tour moved the Nelson date from mid-May to a less-than-optimum spot in late April, preceding the Wachovia and Players Championships. Plus, the condition of the TPC Four Seasons at Las Colinas course waned last year, prompting an upcoming renovation.
Still, more players could adopt the thinking of one Ryder Cupper J.J. Henry.
"I'd go play in a hayfield somewhere if it had Byron Nelson's name on it," the respectful Henry said.
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 26, 2007
Let's see. The field at this week's EDS Byron Nelson Championship, unfortunately, already is pretty watered down, with only two top 10 players in Dallas. So what did we have on Thursday? Those two top 10 guys, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh, playing in the SAME GROUP.
Both will be done by the time Golf Channel goes on the air Friday.
Gee, that makes a lot of sense.
I know the argument: the tee times are blindly determined by computer, and such glitches are unavoidable.
Right. If that's really the case, then I think it's time the PGA Tour got a new computer.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted April 26, 2007
IRVING, Texas – A word of advice on "friendly" games of "P-I-G" with your random PGA Tour pro. Don't assume, don't reach for your wallet and, above all else, don't challenge a guy with the name of an NBA small forward. Tim Petrovic may be known for his smooth putting stroke and short career as a pizza delivery man, but the lanky Tour winner can can 3-pointers just as easy as 3-footers.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 24, 2007
Last time I watched Nick Watney and Scott Gutschewski play golf, they were basically playing the role of set decoration. Make that invisible set decoration. They played along two years ago at the John Deere Classic in the same group with a teenage girl named Michelle Wie. They played two rounds together and Watney and Gutschewski came into the interview room to talk not about themselves but about Wie.
Times are different now, way different. While Wie is on the shelf with a wrist injury, Watney and Gutschewski are in prime position to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Watney leads by two strokes entering today's fourth round, and Gutschewski is tied for third.
Joining them up top is not a teenage girl but 38-year-old Ken Duke, alone in second. There's one other thing different. This is main stage, not side show.
– Jeff Rude
Posted April 21, 2007
If you missed the story of John Kimbell winning on the Nationwide Tour last week, as many did, you missed one of the better tales of 2007. Kimbell, now 38, was once employed on the graveyard shift loading trucks for UPS. He was in his early 20s when he started hitting golf balls as something to do when he got off work with a full day ahead of him.
Come to think of it, there was another native Georgian who didn't really take up the game until his early 20s and did OK for himself: Does the name Larry Nelson ring a bell?
So Kimbell's South Georgia Classic triumph last week has vaulted him to No. 2 in Nationwide earnings, giving him a huge jump on trying to finish in the top 25 in order to earn a PGA Tour card for 2008.
Not to get TOO far ahead, but here's a quick thought (this should be read with "dream sequence" music playing in the background): Let's say Kimbell is the next Boo Weekley, stepping out of the shadows to take the PGA Tour by storm. He lights it up late in 2008, his rookie season, and pulls off the Cinderella finish by capturing the Tour Championship in his home city – Atlanta.
Question: Would the FedEx folks have a hard time handing their prestigious FedEx Cup trophy to (gulp!) a former UPS guy?
I'm thinking the PGA Tour has already held meeting upon meeting and been thinking and plotting about just this scenerio. In its in-house tournament wrap-up of the Nationwide Tour event last week, a Tour employee wrote Kimbell spent five years "working for a parcel delivery company."
Hmmmmmmm.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted April 21, 2007
NEW ORLEANS – George Lopez – star of screen, stage and fairway – was enjoying a late dinner Wednesday at Tujague's, a hidden gem among a city of diamonds, when he was asked who has logged more time between the ropes on Tour this year, he or Tiger Woods?
"Not sure," smiled Lopez, who was the playing-host at this year's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and made it to the weekend a few weeks later at Pebble Beach as an amateur. "But I met a (aspiring) pro a few weeks ago and asked if he'd ever played on Sunday at a Tour event. No? I have."
When asked if he'd return to the Crescent City next year to play in Zurich Classic pro-am, the 14-handicapper said yes. He must need the FedEx Cup points.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 19, 2007
WESTWEGO, LA. – Of all the reasons for players to avoid the Zurich Classic like Bourbon Street the day after Fat Tuesday, there is only one thing that draws me back to the TPC of Westwego like some famished swallow to Capistrano. Food.
You can keep your "Oak tree" behind Augusta National's stately clubhouse and the compact driving range at Torrey Pines, the best place to spend a day talking to players, filling a notebook and eating the best food on Tour is the range at the New Orleans stop.
Wednesday's menu: steak sandwiches, garlic mashed potatoes and crawfish etouffee courtesy of Ruth's Chris Steak House and Acme Oyster House served up crawfish, oysters and shrimp with the best remoulade sauce this side of the Huey P. Long Bridge.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 18, 2007
40,000 FEET OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO – Peg me a travel snob, but I have avoided flying Southwest Airlines with all the ardor of a 6-year-old ducking piano lessons. No seat assignments, endless boarding lines that queue passengers like cattle, it's always seemed a barbaric why to travel in this day and age.
Despite my Southwest-phobia, there I was before dawn Tuesday morning waiting with the rest of the cattle in "Line A" for the 7 a.m. flight to New Orleans and this week's Tour stop at TPC of Louisiana when my perception of the little-airline-that-could changed dramatically.
There in line with the rest of us schmos was a lineup of PGA Tour stars past and present that included former U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, Tripp Isenhour, Paul Gow and Arjun Atwal, who is playing his first PGA Tour event since being involved in a tragic auto accident March 10 that left a central Florida businessman dead and Atwal under investigation.
The lesson? Don't be a travel snob. A direct, on time hop trumps dedicated seats any day of the week.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 17, 2007
REUNION, Fla. – The lead group didn't it even make it to their drives on the first hole when the horn blew for the second time today. Play was suspended for the first time at 9:09 a.m. and resumed 31 minutes later. Lorena Ochoa hit her drive slightly left and then Laura Davies hit hers left of left off the deck on No. 1, minutes before play was suspended.
Play is expected to be delayed for several hours as storms pass through the area with wind and cooler temperatures following in the afternoon.
CBS is scheduled to broadcast the tournament from 1-3 p.m. and then pick up PGA Tour coverage. No word yet on whether or not they will extend coverage to broadcast the last few holes or kick it the Golf Channel.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 15, 2007
REUNION, Fla. – If there's one thing Laura Davies hates more than playing in the rain (oops, don't read tomorrow's forecast), it's playing slow.
I asked Davies today if she was annoyed by the fact that her third round at the Ginn Open took 5 hours and 45 minutes and she didn't hold back: "Absolutely, it's ridiculous. Someone should have been shot I think."
Davies, of course, was kidding but clearly miffed about how long the final group had to wait on every tee shot and approach on a blistering afternoon.
"They (fellow tour players) are foolish," said Davies, who practically races around the course. "They mess around on the greens. They look at things from a hundred angles. They don't just get on."
Davies is scheduled to board a 5:25 p.m. flight to London Sunday but has no chance of making it because she's in the final group, tied with Lorena Ochoa at 14 under. Missing a flight is small potatoes for someone looking for her first LPGA victory since 2001. She'll get over it.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 14, 2007
REUNION, Fla. – A loud cheer went up when Nancy Lopez made birdie on her 17th hole Friday at the Ginn Open. Unfortunately, it was too little too late in the legend's LPGA comeback. By that point, Lopez's score had been removed from the standard bearer's sign out of respect. Lopez was 19 over par despite having made birdie on three of her past four holes. She finished the Ginn with rounds of 83 and 80.
Lopez had a promising start at the Ginn, shooting 36 on the front nine Thursday. She was 1 over in two tours of the front side, but shot a combined 90 on the finishing nine for the two rounds.
– Sean Martin
Posted April 13, 2007
REUNION, Fla. – Stephanie Louden was lucky her housemate, Hilary Lunke, picked up her phone around 7:30 a.m. The LPGA had left several messages on Louden's cell phone letting her know that she was now in the Ginn Open after Annika Sorenstam withdrew due to injury. They called Lunke, who let her old Stanford teammate know she was on the tee in one hour and went down to the kitchen to make Louden a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
"When they said Annika's time I thought that meant in Annika's group, as in that's the easiest way to identify the group I was going to be in," said Louden. "It was shocking."
Louden said there were around 50 people on the first tee waiting for the 8:32 a.m. tee time, which also included Julieta Granada. After 10 minutes of hitting balls and five minutes of putting, Louden, a non-exempt player, shot 1-over 73.
As of 6:20 p.m., Sorenstam was still in a Miami hospital awaiting news on the ruptured disc in her back that is expected to sideline her for at least a month.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 12, 2007
There's no substitute for confidence. Consider Jerry Kelly, the nails-tough Wisconsinite who has been flagged for icing a time or two but has never been dubbed an iceman in golf's biggest events.
Less than five days ago Kelly stood behind the 18th green at Augusta National equally delighted and dumbfounded by his fifth-place finish at the season's first major.
"I still can't believe I've been out here so long and this is my first top 10," said Kelly, who in 27 previous majors had never finished better than 20th.
On Thursday at Harbour Town, the former all-city high school hockey player kept it between the red lines nicely, opening with a 10-birdie, two-bogey 63 for the first-round lead. Nothing like loosing a major monkey, eh, Jerry?
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 12, 2007
REUNION, Fla. – Nancy Lopez broke a toe on her right foot last week after running into some wrought-iron patio furniture. It doesn't hurt when she swings, but gets "pretty sore" when she walks. A fitter Lopez is gunning for a top-10 this week at the Ginn Open and is glad to have that nervous feeling back in her belly.
It's nice having Lopez back in the interview room. You'd be hard-pressed to find a player who provides more detail when answering questions. (In other words she's long-winded, a reporter's dream.) Lopez isn't afraid to tell you what she thinks and has such a fun-loving, passionate approach.
Lopez on Michelle Wie, becoming a member at Augusta, Annika Annika Sorenstam, and beach volleyball:
On Wie's decision to compete against the men: "When I played on the boys' golf team in high school, I was only allowed to play because there was no girls' golf team. Well, Michelle has a team to play with, the LPGA Tour."
On becoming the first female member of Augusta: "I told Hootie, if he ever wanted to have a female member, that I was available, and that I was Mexican-American and that he would kill two birds with one stone."
On what the success of young American players means for the tour: "Probably five years ago when I sat in a press conference and listened to Annika, they asked her what would be better for the LPGA Tour and she said if she was an American, and she was right. At that time, if she would have been an American, our tour would have been even more fantastic, because she really kept us above water I think for a long time with her great game, and of course her goal of winning all the majors."
On the coverage of LPGA events: "Some days I get a little angry because I don't feel like we get the attention we deserve because we have some of the best athletes in golf. ... When I see women's volleyball on the beach on television and not golf, that bothers me for some reason."
When a reporter in the room mentioned that the women who play beach volleyball wear bathing suits, Lopez said: "Yeah, but Natalie Gulbis looks really good in (her) calendar."
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 11, 2007
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - So yeah, Harbour Town's a great course, and the beaches and family atmosphere are great. But that's not the only reason the Verizon Heritage is a favorite PGA Tour stop for many players.
As a former Hilton Head resident for seven years, I can personally attest that the island very possibly contains more great restaurants per capita than any other PGA Tour town. And don't think the players don't notice.
"I just like to enjoy the marina and the restaurants and go out for dinner most nights," Justin Rose told The (Hilton Head) Island Packet. "It's not the kind of place where you stay in and order room service all week."
Masters champ Zach Johnson was even more succinct when explaining to the media why he honored his commitment to play here despite an overwhelming couple of days: "Hilton Head, it's good food," he said. "Food is a big thing to me. I love food."
– Kevin Adams
Posted April 11, 2007
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - Three days after his triumph at Augusta National, Zach Johnson finally returned to the golf course. Since his victory Sunday night, Johnson's world has been a whirlwind of interviews, TV appearances, reading congratulatory text messages and simply trying to get a few minutes of quiet. Hitting golf balls? Forget it.
Doesn't look like he'll get much alone time this week at the Verizon Heritage. Last year at Harbour Town Golf Links, Johnson's pro-am group might have been followed by a couple of dozen fans. This year, hundreds crowded the No. 1 tee box, where Johnson was loudly announced as the "2007 Masters champion," and followed his fivesome throughout the day.
It's a long way from trying to hold off Tiger Woods and Retief Goosen down the stretch at Augusta to a Wednesday pro-am with four guys named Huey, Donald, Chuck and Frank. So it's understandable if Johnson's concentration might have been lacking.
He split the first fairway with his drive, then hit a decent approach to the back left edge of the green on the 410-yard par 4. Knowing Harbour Town's greens are a good bit slower than Augusta's, Johnson sent his first putt just to the right of the hole, 3 feet past. He pushed the comebacker and took a bogey 5.
Hey, better it happen Wednesday on Hilton Head than Sunday at Augusta . . .
– Kevin Adams
Posted April 11, 2007
When you win the Masters, life's volume turns up a notch, and suddenly everyone wants to know everything about you. Zach Johnson hasn't been much of a go-to guy in the media on various subjects, but that's all about to change, as he'll be peppered with requests and suddenly be expected to be an expert on anything and everything.
It's also a proven tradition that the guy who dons a green jacket on Sunday evening in Augusta gives a nice ride to his sponsors. People want to know what clubs he plays (Titleist 905R driver, Titleist 695CB irons, Vokey Design wedges), what ball he uses (Titleist Pro V1x), and what putter he uses to rolls the rock (SeeMore FGP).
But never before have I run into such a detailed list of what a champion was WEARING. Did you know, during the heated final round at Augusta, Johnson wore Dunning Golf's:
• Interface Pro Compression Long Sleeve Mock ($79)
• Interface FX Pique Stitch Panel Polo ($89)
• Interface Stretch Flat Front Pant ($99)
• Interface Thermal Windshield Vest ($119)
• Tour Belt ($79)
• Interface Pro Compression Boxer Briefs ($35)
Of course, being the cynic I am, I can't help but think Justin Rose might have been able to avoid at least one of those three costly double bogeys on Sunday had he been sporting the Dunning Interface Pro Compression Boxer Briefs. Just think: For a mere 35 bucks, he could have earned himself millions.
By the way, $35 for boxers? And I thought the price for a dozen golf balls was high ...
– Jeff Babineau
Posted April 11, 2007
Was sitting around last night watching a replay of the Masters on HDTV - which, by the by, is the only way to view the season's first major – when the thought hit me. What will Zach Johnson serve at next year's Champion's Dinner? Jon Levy, a long-time friend of Johnson who played the mini-tours with the newly crowned Masters champ, jokingly suggested the former NGA/Hooters Tour player would go with chicken wings and Iowa sweet corn. As Jackie Gleeson would say, how sweet it is.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 11, 2007
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - With all of the hoopla that followed his victory Sunday at Augusta National, Zach Johnson thought long and hard about continuing on to Hilton Head Island and the Verizon Heritage. In the end, it wasn't a hard choice. The Masters champ honored his commitment.
Hilton Head's only a 2 1/2-hour drive from Augusta, but Johnson took the long way via New York City. Johnson appeared on CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" Monday night to read Letterman's infamous Top 10 list. The subject: "Top 10 Things I Can Say Now That I've Won The Masters . . . " (No. 1? "Thanks to Global Warming, Next Year I'm Playing Without Pants.")
Johnson was then scheduled to fly back to Augusta to pick up his RV before making the drive to Hilton Head on Tuesday.
Johnson wouldn't have been alone in skipping the Heritage after winning at Augusta National. (Remember, a couple of guys named Tiger and Phil have dominated there lately.) In fact, Johnson is the first to play the following week at Hilton Head since Vijay Singh in 2000.
How have Masters winners fared the next week at Harbour Town Golf Links? Since 1983, when the Heritage was moved to its spot following the Masters, nine times the champion has made the trip to Hilton Head (including Nick Faldo three times).
Bernhard Langer was the first to do so in 1985, and he also won the Heritage – the only Masters champ to triumph the following week at Harbour Town.
Although the Masters champ has made the cut eight times in the nine visits (Larry Mize was the only exception in 1987), none finished in the top 10 after Langer until Singh tied for third in 2000.
The complete list:
1985: Bernhard Langer, won
1987: Larry Mize, missed cut
1988: Sandy Lyle, T-13
1989: Nick Faldo, 1989, T-11
1990: Faldo, T-16
1993: Langer, T-16
1996: Faldo, T-29
1998: Mark O'Meara, T-24
2000: Vijay Singh, T-3
2007: Zach Johnson, ???
– Kevin Adams
Posted April 10, 2007
REUNION, Fla. – Ahhhh, to be young and rich. I just got an inside look at Julieta Granada's Range Rover Sport, a luxury SUV if there ever was one. (Granada's car can speak 14 different languages.) If you're wondering how Granada spent part of her million-dollar paycheck from the ADT, this is it.
Granada was standing outside the Ginn Grande waiting for her mother to pull the car around when Morgan Pressel walked out the door. Pressel had a new silver Gucci bag slung over her shoulder, the spoils of her recent win at the Kraft Nabisco.
"You're 700 short," Granada shouted to Pressel with a laugh as she walked to her car. Pressel won $300,000 two weeks ago at the Kraft and Granada was giving her good friend a ribbing about the $700,000 difference in their winning paychecks.
Needless to say, both can afford to splurge every now and then. On Monday at the Ginn Granada asked Pressel, a well-wired teen, for a few pointers regarding her new BlackBerry 8800. A smitten Pressel immediately went to the Cingular store and bought one for herself.
Speaking of accessories, it was hard not to notice the new Audemars Piguet wristwatch Pressel was sporting during her pre-tournament interview today. The opulent timepiece was a gift Pressel received last week from Audemars Piguet, one of her sponsors.
When asked how exactly how many diamonds were blinging from her wrist, Pressel didn't hesitate: "Two-hundred and fifty-seven on the top and 32 on the bottom."
And as if that weren't enough to make a girl jealous, Pressel just inked a deal with the Gemesis Corporation to wear their diamonds while she plays (earrings and necklace). The Sarasota, Fla., company claims to be the "world's leading producer of cultured diamonds." Pressel has a pair of yellow diamond earring studs that she can dress up with more than a dozen different chandeliers.
Good thing Pressel lost her golf bag coming back from the Kraft and not her jewelry bag.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted April 10, 2007
AUGUSTA, GA. – First time I met Zach Johnson was in 2002 on a practice putting green at a NGA/Hooters Tour event in Central Florida. He was quiet and friendly with an unorthodox, albeit highly effective, putting style and a strong grip.
What struck me at the time on that rough-around-edges practice green was a simmering competitiveness you normally associate with athletes of other sports and an unwavering belief in his own ability.
On Sunday at Augusta National, with the sun slipping behind the pines down the first fairway, I saw that same, quietly confident young man. The only difference? A green jacket, size 40 regular draped over his shoulders that looked as if he'd been wearing it his entire life.
Johnson is a student of the game who still studies Ben Hogan's swing looking for the secret and, although It may be too early to call, I'd say he's looking a lot like our generation's Ben Crenshaw.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted April 9, 2007
Posted: 6/11/2007
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