Welcome to the Tour Blog, where Golfweek’s reporters deliver the latest inside news and happenings on the PGA Tour, LPGA and European Tour.
Gary Wolstenholme is used to being the center of attention, but the former two-time British Amateur champion must be a little uncomfortable in this week’s Portugal Masters. He must be feeling a few daggers being glared into his back.
Wolstenholme is playing in Portugal this week on a sponsor invite. It is his first professional start on the European Tour after turning professional at the end of the summer.
There must be some consternation in the lower regions of the European Tour food chain about Wolstenholme’s place in the field, specifically from bubble players needing to claw their way into the top 115 on the Euro Tour order of merit.
Top 115 guarantees employment next season, and there are a lot of worried tour members given that there are just two tournaments left to earn 2009 status.
Imagine how players like Martin Wiegele, Peter Fowler, David Drysdale and Gareth Paddison, among others, feel about Wolstenholme taking up a spot in Portugal. All are outside the top 115, and just outside the cut off point for entry into the Portugal Masters.
Austrian Wiegele lies 142nd on the money list from 24 starts. He’s been writing letters of desperation to tournament sponsors and promoters trying to get into more tournaments to avoid a trip to the Q School.
Think he’s not a little perturbed at a sponsor’s invite going to a player like Wolstenholme this late in the season?
– Alistair Tait
Posted Oct. 15
Got an e-mail today announcing the field for the ADT Golf Skills Challenge. I scrolled down, wondering who might be representing the LPGA this year. Turns out there are no women. It’s PGA Tour players and their caddies. Didn’t see that one coming.
Here’s the lineup: Peter Jacobsen/Mike “Fluff” Cowan, Fred Couples/Joe LaCava, Greg Norman/Greg Norman Jr. and Rocco Mediate/Matthew Achatz.
Total prize money for the event is $820,000. No bag toting required.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Oct. 14
The PGA Grand Slam, designed for the year’s major champions, is being played this week in Bermuda. And the two Americans best at winning majors these days, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, aren’t there, for different reasons.
The PGA Tour is playing in Las Vegas this week. And those top two American golfers, Woods and Mickelson, both known for spending some time in Vegas, aren’t there.
But while Tour golf plays on, that doesn’t mean Woods and Mickelson have dropped out of public view. But these days you can seen them not on golf courses but at sporting events and on TV shows.
The other day, Woods was spotted on camera watching the Los Angeles Dodgers host the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League playoffs. And Mickelson was spotted at the Texas-Oklahoma football game in Dallas on Saturday and appeared on the show Entourage on Sunday night.
Don’t worry. We’ll see them compete against each other in due time. The next major is only six months away.
– Jeff Rude
Posted Oct. 14
LAS VEGAS – It was a very cool day in Las Vegas with the high reaching 66 degrees. Short sleeves were a rare sight, and so were the fans.
Today was the start of the week for the Justin Timberlake Shriner’s Hospital Open – the newest name in the lineup for the PGA Tour’s annual stop to Sin City.
There was some star power on the driving range prior to the start of the pro-am, which had less than a dozen teams competing. Justin Timberlake was warming up next to Butch Harmon, who was also hitting balls. On the opposite end was John Daly.
I expected to see a mob of some sort following the pop star; instead, the equipment reps, caddies, pro-am participants and media on the range outnumbered the fans in the gallery by at least a 10-1 count.
– Lance Ringler
Posted Oct. 13
If watching birdies is your thing, head to San Antonio next year. There aren’t many places this side of Indian Wells that afford a PGA Tour player a better chance to ramp up his self-esteem and dial down his scoring average as the Valero Texas Open.
Five years ago Tommy Armour III set the 72-hole scoring record of 64-62-63-65–254 there at LaCantera. In the five stagings there since then, the average winning score has been 262.
Last weekend was more of the same. On Sunday, there were two 61s, one 62, two 63s and five 64s. Zach Johnson shot 126 on the weekend and won the track meet by two with 261. He is among the fortunate. Two players actually have shot 261 there the last six seasons and not won.
Why such low scores?
“The weather was good, the wind wasn’t blowing overly hard, the course isn’t long (6,881 yards) and these guys were making a lot of putts,” said Tony Piazzi, Golf San Antonio president and CEO. In other words, players who drove into the fairway could go pin-seeking with short irons to receptive greens.
The Texas Open moves to May on the schedule next year, the week after the Players Championship, and all signs indicate that the TPC San Antonio’s AT&T Oaks course will be ready to host the tournament in 2010. The move to the Greg Norman design will mean the end of the go-low birdiefest.
“From what I’ve heard, my suspicion is the winning scores of the Valero Texas Open will look very different,” Piazzi said. “Players who have gone out there really like what they’ve seen.”
– Jeff Rude
Posted Oct. 13
More fodder for those who think the PGA Tour's Fall Finish is little more than a Band-Aid for an ailing part of the season:
Your first two fall winners: Johnson & Johnson.
That would be Dustin and Zach, of course. Ba-dum-pum.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted Oct. 13
Seve Ballesteros has a brain tumor and is prepared to fight the “hardest challenge” of his life. It was unknown whether the tumor was benign or malignant. Perhaps a scheduled Tuesday biopsy will determine that.
At any rate, let's hope his doctors’ hands are as good as his were when he used a wedge.
– Jeff Rude
Posted Oct. 13
Aree Song celebrated a small victory Oct. 12 at the Longs Drugs Challenge. Most fans probably didn’t realize Song was in the field since she finished a humdrum T-67. For those keeping track of Song, however, it was a huge step. Last week marked her first LPGA start since the 2007 Longs Drugs Challenge.
Since late 2006, Song has battled Irritable Bowel Syndrome (“IBS”). She underwent a number of treatments trying to find relief and, too weak to play, was told by doctors to take an extended break. Two months ago a doctor advised her to embark on a 15 day water-only fast that would “reboot” her system. The fast worked, and she’s on the road to recovery with the help of herbal medicine and a vegetarian diet.
Song feels her strength is at 80 percent and plans to spend the offseason focusing on fitness. Longs will remain her only ’08 appearance. She hopes to play a full schedule in 2009.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Oct. 13
I see Tim Finchem says he isn’t too worried about the 2009 European Tour Race to Dubai, a race that will end with a $20 million jackpot. He is quoted as saying the Race will have little effect on the PGA Tour.
Well Finchem would say that, wouldn’t he?
He’s right not to worry about a mass exodus to the European Tour, but he should have a few concerns about players who do take up Euro Tour membership.
You don’t have to be a mathematician to realize that 15 PGA Tour events and 12 Euro Tour events – the minimums needed on both Tours to retain membership – adds up to 27 events worldwide.
Vijay Singh has played 23 times on the PGA Tour this season. Robert Allenby has played 26 events. Both seem set to rejoin the European Tour. Meanwhile, Camilo Villegas is said to be thinking of joining. He played 22 PGA Tour events this year.
These numbers are likely to fall in the next few years as these players, and others, juggle schedules to get the five other European Tour events aside from the co-sanctioned major championships and WGC tournaments needed to maintain Euro Tour membership.
That means some sponsors could lose the services of Singh, Allenby, Villegas and others. That’s why Finchem should be concerned. The last thing he needs in these troubled financial times is star names defecting and leaving some tournaments with weaker fields.
Alistair Tait
–Posted Oct. 9
There is something to be said for leaving a tournament without regret. That has been Tiger Woods’ modus operandi for some time. As his coach, Hank Haney, has said, Woods never has remorse over performance because he grinds and tries his best on every shot.
The Woods’ tenet apparently filters down. You can sense that in the words of Charles Howell III, also one of the PGA Tour’s hardest workers.
While Howell the other day acknowledged that he has “underachieved” given his innate talent, he added, “That hasn’t been because of the lack of a work ethic or trying or caring or doing anything I can to get better.”
Here’s the kicker that sounds familiar: “Whatever happens in my career, I know that I’ve worked as hard as I could.”
Such a mindset makes acceptance much easier.
Next, Howell, like any other touring pro, needs to see more putts fall.
– Jeff Rude
Posted Oct. 8
Please don’t think about this over your next putt, unless of course you want a built-in excuse.
Lee Janzen, two-time U.S. Open champion, enlightened the Children’s Miracle Network Classic media day with this startling piece of agronomy: “On a 10-foot putt, you’re putting over 10,000 blades of grass–and they’re all growing,” Janzen said today.
Then he added what you might be thinking, considering those numbers.
“How do you even make putts?” he said.
– Jeff Rude
Posted Oct. 7
TURNBERRY, Scotland – One reason why previous owners of the Turnberry Hotel have struggled comes down to one main factor – Scottish weather.
Turnberry is one of the most glorious spots in the British Isles, with fantastic views out to the magnificent rocky edifice of Ailsa Craig, the Isle of Arran, Mull of Kintyre and Ireland. However, summer doesn’t last long in this part of the world.
I found that out in June when I covered the Amateur Championship. On that occasion there were high winds, pelting rain and temperatures that were anything but summery. There was sunshine at times, but not enough of it. Waterproofs and sweaters were needed.
I managed to get decent weather when I played Turnberry yesterday. It was cold, but I managed to get in before the rain got really heavy. However, I felt for those playing today.
Rain that had started about 6 p.m. the day before was still falling when I woke up.
I looked out of my bedroom window and the 18th green was 60 percent under water. The green staff was doing its best to get the water off.
Hardy golfers were still going out in the persistent rain. I was glad I wasn’t one them.
It reminded me of a quote I once got about Scottish weather from swing coach Gavin Christie.
“We get seven months of bad weather – followed by winter!”
– Alistair Tait
Posted Oct. 7
TURNBERRY, Scotland – Want to know if the global financial crisis is affecting the golf industry? Talk to a caddie.
The caddie I had at Turnberry yesterday said numbers are down on
previous years, with less and less foreign travelers playing the game
in Scotland.
“It used to be I would get two bags in one day,” the caddie said. “I
would literally come in from one round and turn straight around go back
out. I haven’t done that for a while. We’re just not getting the same
numbers as we used to.”
There won’t be much work for the Turnberry bagmen over the next few
months. The Ailsa Course will close November 1 in preparation for next
year’s Open Championship. The hotel will also close to begin a
refurbishment.
The deep pockets of the Dubai-backed Leisurecorp now own Turnberry,
lock, stock and barrel. Previous owners have struggled to make the hotel
a going concern.
Leisurecorp intends to make big song and dance about its prized
asset. It remains to be seen, though, whether those foreign golfers
will be attracted back in sufficient numbers to make Turnberry a viable
business.
– Alistair Tait
Posted Oct. 7
Lots of handwringing over the Tour’s second dip into the post-season
pool, but after shouldering through the first round of baseball’s
playoffs maybe things aren’t that bad for Camp Ponte Vedra Beach.
Check MLB’s post-season balks.
• Both the New York Yankees and New York Mets fail to make the playoffs in their final seasons at their respective stadiums.
• The buzz surrounding a potential “Red Line” series between the
Chicago Cubs, those lovable losers looking to end 100 years of
championship hopelessness, and the south side White Sox lasted about an
inning.
• A potential Tinseltown series between the Angels and Dodgers suffered a similar fate.
Which leaves baseballs with all the buzz of a potential Tampa
Bay/Philadelphia World Series. It makes Vijay Singh’s walkoff look like
good stuff.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Oct. 7
OK, it’s official. With the Fall Finish
under way, golf has officially raised its white flag and surrendered to
All Things Football. Nonetheless, don't tell me the Fall Finish doesn't
have some great perks. I like to think of it as the Confidence Season.
Think
about it: A year ago, your winners during the inaugural Fall Finish
included such names as Steve Flesch, Justin Leonard, Chad Campbell,
Mike Weir and Daniel Chopra. Campbell and Leonard rode the momentum of
those much-needed victories into 2008 Ryder Cup appearances; Flesch had
two high finishes at the majors this season (T-5 at the Masters, a
sixth at the PGA); Weir got jumpstarted again when he won in Arizona,
and was back at the Tour Championship this year for the first time
since '04; and Chopra liked winning so much at the Ginn sur Mer Classic
last fall that he opened 2009 by winning again at Mercedes.
In
winning at Turning Stone on Sunday, rookie Dustin Johnson picked up a
cool million bucks (plus change), earned a two-year exemption and now
will start his 2009 season at Kapalua.
Does anything about that sound "minor league" to you? Me neither.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted Oct. 6
Got a peek at a “tentative” 2009 PGA Tour schedule this week and was
intrigued by a few alterations. Expect the season to begin a week later
than normal, with the Mercedes-Benz Championship ending on Jan. 11.
The Florida Swing has also undergone a makeover, with the Honda Classic
leading off the first week of March followed by the WGC-CA Championship
(Puerto Rico Open), Tampa and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
As expected, the Tour also is looking to create a Texas Swing in the
heart of the calendar. The Texas Open, currently a Fall Series event
but sliding into prime time to replace the sponsor-less Atlanta stop,
is scheduled for May 14-17; followed by the Byron Nelson Championship
and Colonial.
The Buick Open is slatted to be played after the British Open, moving
from a late June date this year to an early August slot.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Oct. 5
Vijay Singh will have plenty of time to go shopping with that $10
million FedEx Cup bonus. The workaholic will take more time off than
usual in an effort to heal an ailing body.
Singh
plans on playing only two more tournaments the rest of the year, both
unofficial: The Del Webb Father/Son Challenge and Tiger Woods’
Chevron World Challenge presented by Bank of America. Both are in
December.
“I’ve been hurt a lot,” Singh, 45, winner of a
record 21 PGA Tour titles since turning 40, said the other day. “My arm
still hurts and my back still hurts, so I’m going to take some time off
and get myself in good shape physically and see if I can come out
stronger (next year).”
– Jeff Rude
Posted Oct. 3
Quietly
having a wonderful year is Briny Baird. He is among the first-round
leaders of the Turning Stone Resort Championship, and no one should be
surprised if he breaks through this week with his first PGA Tour
victory.
Baird keeps stacking up good finishes. He
already has finished in 21st place or better a remarkable 14 times this
year. He has done so with terrific iron play, which follows the suit of
his father, former Tour player Butch Baird, an outstanding ball-striker.
Baird
has won more than $2 million this year on the strength of his approach
shots and short game. He leads the Tour in greens in regulation, is
fourth in total birdies and ninth in scrambling. That was good enough
to pave his way to the top 30 and the Tour Championship.
– Jeff Rude
Posted Oct. 2
It
has been a year of change for Suzann Pettersen. She moved into a new
house, fired her caddie, changed instructors and hired a new trainer.
Pettersen
fired James Walton after the Kraft Nabisco, where she finished tied for
second. The Englishman was on the bag for all five of Pettersen’s
victories in 2008. Instead, she opted for a more experienced caddie in
Greg Johnston.
But that must have not worked out as planned.
Pettersen
fired Johnston after Mobile and went back to Walton, who is looping for
her this week at Samsung. She remains winless on the LPGA in 2008.
Perhaps she should’ve stopped at the new house.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Oct. 2
Juli
Inkster took a little sabbatical after the CN Canadian Women’s Open.
She “couldn’t handle” her swing anymore and needed to press the restart
button.
During the off-weeks, Inkster helps out her youngest
daughter’s high school golf team with a weekly nine-hole match. Inkster
and another player take on her daughter, Cori, and a teammate in a
best-ball competition. The Hall of Famer gives them a shot per hole and
the loser has to carry both sets of clubs back to the clubhouse, with
Inkster taking pictures.
The Californian is playing this week at
the Samsung World Championship on a sponsor exemption. When asked to
weigh in on the LPGA’s developing English policy, Inkster said the
problem was more cultural than a language barrier.
Her solution?
“I
would put one of the young Koreans with a Meg Mallon or a Pat Hurst or
a Juli Inkster during a pro-am and just have them go out there and
communicate and make small talk,” Inkster said. “Count that as their
pro-am, just so they can learn.”
Sounds like a good place to start.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Oct. 1
He
has yet to announce a surprise 11th hour run for the office of U.S.
president, but Boo Weekley, the bull-ridin' hero of the Ryder Cup,
seems closer to making that decision all the time. He certainly has
been picking up his fair share of voters.
Here's his schedule for this week, for those of you who can't possibly get your fill of Boo:
Thursday night, Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
And
this weekend, he'll wave the green flag at Talladega for NASCAR's Amp
Energy 500, the fourth race in the Cup chase. Don't forget, Boo already
has been invited back to Kentucky for the running of the Derby in May.
I'm trying to picture that now: Mint Julep in one hand, spit cup in the other ...
– Jeff Babineau
Posted Oct. 1
Kudos to the PGA Tour for making a prompt and prudent decision
regarding Erik Compton’s request to use a golf cart during PGA Tour
Q-School.
Officials notified Compton, who underwent his second heart transplant
surgery earlier this year, he would be allowed to ride in a cart during
the first stage qualifier in south Florida Oct. 21-24.
According to published reports, the Tour also granted Compton a waiver
to use a beta blocker which is part of the circuit’s banned substance
list.
The Tour should be applauded. The gritty south Floridian has fought enough battles in his short life.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Oct. 1
Disclaimer: we never made anything better than a “C” in any math class
and have turned balancing our checkbook into something of a lottery,
but it must be pointed out the FedEx Cup arithmetic just doesn’t add up.
Vijay Singh edged Camilo Villegas by 551 FedEx Cup points for the $10
million cash grab. But by our count, the Colombian won $2.92 million in
four playoff events while the Fijian managed just $2.66 million.
Must be the new math.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Sept. 29
ATLANTA – At 3:31 p.m. on a cloudy Sunday in Dixie, Vijay Singh quietly
wrapped up his final round at the Tour Championship and assured himself
a $10 million haul and the FedEx Cup.
Asked by an observer if he planned to go to the range, Singh’s caddie Chad Reynolds smiled, “Probably.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Sept. 28
Adam Schreiber went 2-3 on Sunday, which surely put a smile on his
face. The Michigan-based instructor works with Anthony Kim (T-3 at Tour
Championship) and Candie Kung (T-2 Navistar LPGA Classic). Kung lost in
a playoff to Lorena Ochoa, but posted her best finish since 2005.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Sept. 28
ATLANTA
– Vijay Singh shot 9-over-par 289 and finished 16 strokes off the Tour
Championship lead. But never has 9-over 289 been so lucrative. His
completion of 72 holes netted him the $10 million bonus as FedEx Cup
champion.
That meant for some odd moments all week on the course.
“It
was really weird,” Singh said. “I’d make a bogey and get
congratulations. I’d make a double and get congratulations. It didn’t
matter what I made.”
– Jeff Rude
Posted Sept. 28
ATLANTA – It’s become good fun to take digs at Sergio Garcia’s putting
in recent years. But, last week’s Transatlantic two-ball with Anthony
Kim up the road at Valhalla aside, the “Castellon kid” seems to have
recaptured that daring touch he enjoyed early in his career.
For the week at East Lake, the Spaniard is 5-for-5 from 7-10 feet and
8-for-9 from 3-5 feet. Forget that total putting stat (124th). When you
hit it as well as Garcia those numbers can lie. What counts is his
ability to hole the clutch 6 footer and “El Nino” is slowly proving he
can.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Sept. 28
ATLANTA–Some people whistle while they work. Some people listen to music.
Latest
evidence, golf labor division, came late Saturday afternoon when Ryuji
Imada hit balls on the East Lake on the range for more than an hour
while wired up listening to music on his mp3 player.
Trying to
relax and find rhythm to music is nothing new to golf, just probably
more prominent. Decades ago Sam Snead said he “really would’ve killed”
his competition had he played to music. Years later, PGA Tour
journeyman Richard “Disco Dick” Zokol competed while listening to tunes
through his headset.
– Jeff Rude
Posted Sept. 27
ATLANTA–The
30-man Tour Championship is down to a three-man race on Sunday. And if
Sergio Garcia keeps playing like he has the last few months, it
probably will be a one-man race.
As an aside, so much for
Ryder Cup hangovers. The top three players also grinded last week at
Valhalla: Garcia at 8 under par and Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson
three shots back.
– Jeff Rude
Posted Sept. 27
ATLANTA–Vijay Singh is tied for
24th place, 17 shots off the lead. His 73-74-72 adds up to 219. Never
has anyone in the history of golf shot a 219 as lucrative.
He
could crawl around Sunday and shoot 312 in the final round and still
haul off the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus. Never has anyone in the
history of the game played for so much money with so little pressure.
– Jeff Rude
Posted Sept. 27
ATLANTA – Those awaiting a Ryder Cup redo on Saturday at the Tour Championship were likely disappointed.
Saturday’s marquee match up of Anthony Kim and Sergio Garcia didn’t
provide the same measure of excitement as the duo’s Sunday shoot-out
last week at Valhalla.
Kim struggled with his driver on his way to a 2-over 72 to slip out of
the lead. While Garcia was solid on his way to a 67 and a three-stroke
advantage. In match play terms, Garcia beat Kim, 4 and 2, at East Lake.
But that still pales in comparison to the 5-and-4 rout the American
rookie laid on the Spaniard last Sunday.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Sept. 27
ATLANTA – Anthony Kim isn’t slowing down on the golf course, where he
leads the season-ending Tour Championship, or away from it. America’s
newest Ryder Cup star capped his Friday by attending a comedy show
featuring “Cheech and Chong.”
Kim’s caddie, Eric Larson, is a huge Cheech and Chong fan and talked
his boss into attending. Asked if he knew anything about the comic
combo, Kim smiled, “Not a clue.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Sept. 27
ATLANTA – No reason subtle can’t be succinct. Asked after his
second-round 66 what the difference was between his 4-under round and
his opening 75, Australian Robert Allenby deadpanned: “About nine
shots.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Sept. 27
ATLANTA – There’s been little, if any, sympathy for European captain
Nick Faldo, particularly among the more pointed press from the
Continent.
Among some of the more painful headlines following last week’s Ryder
Cup rout, “Captain Folly” was one of the more tame offerings.
As if all that wasn’t enough, the Englishman has had to spend the last
two days talking about American buzz saw Anthony Kim as a Golf Channel
announcer at the Tour Championship.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Sept. 26
ATLANTA–For the second weekend in a row,
Anthony Kim will go up against Sergio Garcia in yet another Cup event.
Last Sunday, Kim thumped Garcia in Ryder Cup singles, 4 and 3. This
week, they figure to duel in the FedEx Cup playoff finale, the Tour
Championship.
Separated by three shots at the top
of the board on the back nine of the second round, Kim (minus 8 through
30 holes) and Garcia (5 under after 31) were the only players better
than 2 under par as the leaders played the back nine.
This time
might be tougher for Kim, aka AK, aka the only leader so far. That’s
because the fiery Spaniard might feel he has something of a score to settle.
– Jeff Rude
Posted Sept. 26
ATLANTA – It’s not often someone
leads the first round of a PGA Tour event by four strokes. It’s even
more unusual that the person on top is coming off a Sunday-Monday
hangover “that took a couple of days to get over.”
Anthony
Kim is the player and winning the Ryder Cup was the reason for the
celebration. Kim shook off the post-party hangover with a six-under-par
64 at East Lake in the Tour Championship, the FedEx Cup finale.
He leads Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Trevor Immelman. And he knows how to get his body back to full strength.
“Lots
of food, lots of sleep and I probably watched 12-14 hours of
television,” Kim said. “I hung out with friends and tried to enjoy
every moment. This Ryder Cup hangover doesn’t feel as bad as a college
hangover.”
– Jeff Rude
Posted Sept. 25
ATLANTA – Bubba Watson was a
beneficiary of the more volatile points system in the second year of
the FedEx Cup playoffs. But because he was able to climb into the top
30 and the Tour Championship, that doesn’t mean he thinks the process
is best.
“Hopefully they’ll tweak it a little bit because
it’s too much,” Watson said. “I’m the one that got helped and it’s
still not right. It’s kind of unfair to see Padraig Harrington has won
two majors and he’s not here. The fans want to see that instead of me.”
– Jeff Rude
Posted Sept. 25
ATLANTA – Less than 96 hours removed from the pinnacle of his
professional life, Kenny Perry hit a sort of rock bottom on Thursday at
the Tour Championship.
As the Ryder Cup hero signed for his opening-day 76, a card that
included six bogeys and bettered just two other players in the 30-man
field, he was notified he’d been tabbed to be tested for
performance-enhancing drugs for the second time this year.
“That sucks,” Perry said as he exited the scoring trailer before
turning to a Tour official. “Has everybody on our Tour been tested?”
Just what we need, more cups.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Sept. 25
Angela Stanford won’t have a chance to go deep in the Heart of the
Dixie. After winning the first Alabama tour stop in Mobile, Stanford
withdrew from the Prattville event Sept. 25 with a sore shoulder.
Her
Bell Micro victory did, however, give her a spot in the Samsung World
Championship, which starts Oct. 2 in Half Moon Bay, Calif. Stanford is
one of four Americans in the 20-player field. Juli Inkster will be
there on a sponsor exemption, while Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr
qualified for the event.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Sept. 25
ATLANTA – And now, back to your regularly scheduled FedEx Cup finale ...
Hard
not to experience a letdown after last week's dramatic Ryder Cup, but
at least a U.S. victory at Valhalla has a bunch of guys walking on
clouds and has given the Tour Championship
some kind of buzz.
After all, there's no Tiger and the $10 million champion (Vijay Singh)
only needs to stay upright for 72 holes to capture his crown. If you're
Coca Cola, paying the big bucks to sponsor this thing, what kind of a
deal is that?
(By the way, wonder if Vijay has employed a food taster this week in Atlanta?)
As Jim Furyk points out, "I like being here, and you might as well come out and play well if you're going to be here."
Good
point. Actually, Furyk has another incentive: He has a home at Kapalua
Resort's Plantation Course, and only once since 1999 has he missed
starting his season at his vacation home for the Mercedes
Championships. (That was in 2005, after his season was ended by a wrist
injury the previous year.)
He has eight top 10s this year, but
no victory to get him to the winners-only Mercedes. Otherwise, he'd
have to try to get 'er done at the Fall Finish, and we don't expect to
see a whole lot of Furyk and his Ryder Cup mates then ...
– Jeff Babineau
Posted Sept. 24
Call it a Boo-nanza. The Man from Milton rode the bull into Ryder Cup
lore last week and directly into the arms of celebrity. We hear Thomas
Brent’s social calendar – which, before the matches, include two items:
hunting and spending time with family – has ballooned in the wake of
his Valhalla victory dance.
Although he had to turn down a spot on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
because of a previous committment, Weekley will make a quick stop in
Atlanta this week for a sponsor’s photo shoot before heading to South
Carolina for an outing.
The hightlight of the cameo swing, at least for Weekley, will be the
NASCAR stop at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 5 where he will drop the
starting flag and, if the stars align properly, meet his racing
favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Sept. 24
In the aftermath of what seemed to be an incredibly successful Ryder
Cup, it’s interesting to look at the LPGA’s equivalent. Many worried
that if the Americans lost one more time, the Ryder Cup itself might be
lost.
Well, the opposite is true on the women’s side, where the
American women reign supreme. Even more telling than the lopsided 7-3
series total, however, is who can’t play. Of the top 20 players on the
LPGA money list, 13 can’t participate. Something sure seems a little
off.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Sept. 23
It’s post-season award time and expect Davis Love III to earn the
year’s first honor. The veteran will be awarded the Tour’s Payne
Stewart Award today at the Tour Championship. The award is given
annually to the player “sharing Stewart’s respect for traditions of the
game, his commitment to uphold the game’s heritage.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Sept. 23
2008 Tour Blog archive:
Click here for the Ryder Cup blog.
Click here for the runup to the FedEx Cup and Barclays, Deutche Bank and BMW.
Click here for the PGA Championship blog.
Click here for the
Women’s British Open and run-up to the PGA.
Click here for the British Open.
Click here for for the AT&T National and Women’s Open.
Click here for the U.S. Open.
Click here for the run-up to the U.S. Open.
Click here for the Masters.
Click here for the Kraft Nabisco and the run-up to Augusta.
Click here for the Florida Swing.
Click here for the West Coast Swing and LPGA’s Hawaiian kickoff.
Click here for the kick off of the season in Hawaii.
2007 Tour Blog archive:
Click here for blogs from the ends to the PGA Tour and LPGA seasons.
Click here for the post-Fed Ex Cup and Presidents Cup.
Click here for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Click here for the Solheim Cup.
Click here for the PGA Championship.
Click here for the British Open and Women’s British Open.
Click here for the AT&T National, Women’s Open and Senior Open.
Click here for the U.S. Open.
Click here for the Players Championship and the run-up to the U.S. Open.
Click here for the Masters.
Click here for the Kraft Nabisco and the run-up to Augusta.
Click here for the Florida Swing.
Click here for the second half of the West Coast Swing.
Click here for the first half of the West Coast Swing.
Click here for the kick off of the season in Hawaii.
Posted: 7/22/2008
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