Welcome to the Monday Scramble, a breakfast menu-style catch-up on the week that was/will be in golf. Please pass the ketchup.They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But there’s a reason we only serve it on Monday. Enjoy.
• • •
THE WEEK THAT WAS (in 50 words or less): Tiger, Phil headline PGA Tour opener, while sitting at home on the couch. The Commish also says, “Hawaii? Why, no.” Boo bites the bullet. Steve Stricker, Daniel Chopra both try to lose Mercedes; Chopra fails, wins. Rory changes equipment, says from now on only his clubs will do the talking.
In other words:•
While most of us were counting either sheep, or the days until Tiger drives his Buick into a PGA Tour parking lot, Daniel Chopra and Steve Stricker were busy matching two- and three-putt pars on the first three playoff holes at the Mercedes-Benz Championship Sunday evening. Chopra finally ended the pseudo-season opener by hitting the Plantation Course’s par-5 ninth in two shots to
make a deciding birdie and earn his first trip to Augusta. “I get to go to Augusta, my lifelong dream,” Chopra said.
•
PHOTO SLIDESHOW: Opening might: Chopra is king of KapaluaAlso...
•
Sunday crossword: Back off Boo Weekley•
Sabbatini shockingly goes silent: “I’m done talking to you guys.”•
Baddeley, Sabbatini sign with Adams Golf•
Tiger, Phil; Finchem’s no-show puzzles players •
Already, an interesting Boo year
• • •
QUOTES OF THE WEEK:•
“I didn’t make it until midnight.”–
Tiger Woods, on sleeping through the New Year’s countdown (tigerwoods.com)
•
“I think it’s easily within reason.”–
Woods, on his chances of winning this year’s Grand Slam (tigerwoods.com)
•
“If you asked me a year ago if I’d be playing Mercedes, I’d say no. I don’t even drive a Mercedes.”–
Paul Goydos, the 2007 Sony Open winner who last had won on thge PGA Tour in 1996
•
“I thought I was going to jail.”– Boo Weekley, on airport security finding two hunting bullets in his carry-on
• • •
TOUR BLOG-ARHYTHMS:
•
“How much golf did (Boo
Weekley) play getting ready for Kapalua? He swung a little in the yard
and played one hole, the 40-yard makeshift hole that sits in front of
his trailer at home, with a sock on a stick for a flag. He said his
clubs never made it out of the travel bag, which was unzipped exactly
once.” (Jeff Babineau, Dec. 31)
• “Just when you thought Jan. 4
might be a slow news day in the world of golf, along comes this missive
from the PGA European Tour:
“ONE THOUSAND DAYS TO GO TO THE 2010 RYDER
CUP IN WALES.” (Jeff Babineau, Jan. 4)
• • •
FROM THE INTERVIEW ROOM:Q.
What is your language?DANIEL CHOPRA: Language? I speak Swedish, English and Indian, all three.
Q.
Just like that?DANIEL CHOPRA: Just like that.
Q.
Haven’t lost a touch of it?DANIEL CHOPRA: No, just like that. It’s funny, when I was playing the European Tour, and even out here we’d play a practice round with Arjun (Atwal) or Jeev (Milka Singh) and we’ll have a Swedish guy playing in the same group or whatever, and I’ll speak Swedish to him and Indian to him and English to my caddie. And I remember we had some American guy playing with us, and he was like, what the hell just happened?
Q.
You need to get Boo Weekley in your group.DANIEL CHOPRA: Nobody can understand what he says (laughter).
• • •
Q. Did you text Tiger at all this week?A.
MARK CALCAVECCHIA: I did. I texted him the other day when I was hiking up the mountain in Phoenix. I said, “Hiking a mountain. May die.” He texted me back and said, “You must be on the Plantation Course.” I texted him something else pretty funny, too, that I don’t remember. But I remember that one. I got to the top of South Mountain and really thought I was going to have a heart attack.
• • •
OBSERVATIONS FROM THE GOLFWEEK.COM DESK:
“Now we definitely can’t watch ‘American Gladiators.’
”–
Dan Mirocha,
after Daniel Chopra failed to get up-and-down on the 72nd hole of the
Mercedes-Benz Championship, forcing a playoff with Steve Stricker. (The
new “American Gladiators” debuted Sunday night on NBC.)
•
“The LSU football team better stop watching (the Mercedes Championship) and get to bed. They have a really big game tomorrow.”–
Sean Martin, on the seemingly never-ending season-opener, which officially ended at 10:53 p.m. on the East coast.
•
“Yeah, I’d be tired of flying to Hawaii for free money, too.”–
Ray McCarthy, upon hearing that 26-year-old Adam Scott had cited
“exhaustion” as his reason for skipping the Mercedes, which even awards the last-place finisher
$50,000.
• • •
THE WEEK THAT (WILL/COULD) BE (in 50 words or less): Michelle Wie receives
Sony Open postcard from Tadd Fujikawa: “We miss you.” ... European Tour
gets going again with a tournament in...South Africa. ...Thousands of
Golfweek.com readers curse the sky after realizing they forgot to sign
up
for a fantasy golf team.• • •
THERE IS MORE TO GOLF THAN THE PGA TOUR:
•
Fire destroys University of Texas clubhouse, upcoming events unaffected
•
12-year-old Thompson wins Dixie Amateur
•
Walshe waxes field at Harder Hall
•
Ledford wins New Year’s Invitational • • •
WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT
(on the Golfweek.com discussion boards):
•
Kelly Tilghman’s comment•
Vote: Release name for positive drug tests???
Posted: 1/7/2008
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