Turn on the spotlights, let the games begin...
Tiger Woods will compete this week at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron. He’s won seven times on the Ohio layout. High school buddy Bryon Bell will be his caddy.
A bright shining star that needs no spotlights...
Taiwanese golfer Yani Tseng won the Women's British Open for the second straight year. At the age of 22, she's the youngest golfer, man or woman, to have won 5 major titles. Yikes!
"Have to enjoy it when you can..."
If Darren Clarke winning the Open Championship was a surprise, then the way he celebrated his unexpected victory certainly was not. Clarke, never shy when it comes to a party, arrived back at Royal St. George’s on the Monday morning following his victory to a media gathering with no sleep following his three-shot win over Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
“I’ve not been to bed yet,’’ said Clarke, 42, who was joined by friends and family at a nearby rental home. “There’s no surprise really, is there? It's now 10 past 9:00 (a.m.) and probably won't get any sleep until tomorrow at some stage. Have to enjoy it when you can. I had quite a few pints and quite a few beers and quite a few glasses of red wine, and it all continued until about 30 minutes ago. I did look at my watch before I said that, so it did take a while. But it's been a very good night.’’
A 14-time winner on the European Tour, Clarke was not on high on very many lists of potential winners. He came in ranked 111th in the world, and although he won a European Tour event earlier this year in Spain, it was played the same week as the Players Championship, where nearly all of the top-100 players in the world competed. Now he’s guaranteed himself spots in all four majors for at least the next five years, the Open until age 60. “I think I'm definitely a better player now than I was ten years ago,’’ Clarke said. “And yes, I definitely appreciate an awful lot more what I've achieved now than what I did then.
Hail Northern Ireland...
With three of the last six major championship winners coming from Northern Ireland, the push is again on to bring the British Open back to Royal Portrush, where it was played in 1951, the only time it was held outside of Great Britain. The course, where Open champion Darren Clarke plays, is considered one of the best links in the world.
To be worthy, R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said Portrush would require “the usual mixture of a great course and plenty of infrastructure combined with a prospect of commercial success is what's needed. We've got no doubts about the golf course, although there might be one or two things we would do. The political situation in Northern Ireland – which is clearly a sensitive topic in Ireland and in the United Kingdom – is surely part of the problem, although Dawson downplayed it.
The Open will be played at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s next year, followed by Muirfield in 2013 and Royal Liverpool in 2014. St. Andrews is expected to get the 2015 Open and subsequent years have yet to be announced. Clarke lives in Portrush and is clearly in favor of the course being returned to the rotation, which currently has nine venuesand a new No.1 on top of the rankings list.
Keeping score, World Golf Rankings...
# 1 Luke Donald, England,
# 2 Lee Westwood, England,
# 3 Martin Kaymer, Germany
# 4 Rory McIlroy, N. Ireland
# 5 Steve Stricker, USA
# 6 Phil Mickelson, USA
# 7 Dustin Johnson, USA
# 8 Jason Day, Australia
# 9 Nick Watney, USA
# 10 Charl Schwartze, S. Africa
# 28 Tiger Woods, USA
Free falling without a parachute...
Tiger Woods is now ranked 28th in the world. His drop to 21st last week was the first time he's been out of the top 20 since 1997. Rankings are based on points earned over the previous two years wighted by tournament, position finished and age of points (points for a tournament decrease by a set percentage as they age). Almost 24 months ago, Tiger won twice and finished second in three consecutive events -- the Buick Classic, July 30-2, the Bridgestone, Aug 6-9, and the PGA Championship, Aug 13-16. Those points will expire in quick weekly succession. His last two wins of 2009 -- the BMW Championship in September and Australian Masters in November -- are also about to evaporate from ranking relevance leaving Tiger in a World Rankings accelerating free-fall. He needs to get back in the game, and place well, to stop the free-fall.
Childs play...
Six-year old Reagan Kennedy made an 85-yard hole in one on the third hole at The Links at Ireland Grove, Bloomigton, IL earlier this month.
After acing the hole, she calmly walked back to her cart, she remembered her fathers advice, don't make a lot of noise on the course.
Reagan's ultimate golf goal – beating her father.
An Irish fair weather golfer, how odd......
It should have been no surprise to see Rory McIlroy struggle at Royal St. George’s, eventually finishing in a tie for 25th. It's not like he is going to win every major, and the whirlwind he endured after capturing the U.S. Open was significant. Still, it was somewhat odd to hear him complain about the bad breaks he got with the weather – yes, he was on the wrong side of the draw, which saw him get the worst of the weather on Thursday and Friday.
McIlroy downplayed any issues such conditions presented him saying he would “just wait for a year when the weather is nice. I mean, my game is suited for basically ever golf course and most conditions, but these conditions, I just don’t enjoy playing really. That’s the bottom line. I’d rather play when it’s 80 degrees and sunny and not much wind. . . There’s no point in changing your game for one week a year.’’
If such comments were made by an American player, he could have expected to get hammered by European, especially U.K. media. But McIlroy generally got a pass. At least give him credit for being honest.
O Canada, O Canada...
Sean O'Hair won the RBC Canadian tapping in for bogey on the first playoff hole two Sundays ago, and then watching fellow American Kris Blanks lip out his bogey putt from just over 5 feet. It was O'Hair's fourth PGA TOUR victory, but his first since 2009 and first top-15 during this year even missing 10 of 17 cuts. And then there is John Daly. John got his first top-10 finish since 2005 with a tie for ninth after a 72 at the RBC Canadian.
Can you name this course?
If your bucket list of courses to play includes things like oldest course, longest course, highest course and lowest course, this course is on your list. Opened for play in 1931, the course was renovated in 1997 by Perry Dye. Oh, the reason its on the bucket list, this U. S. course is the world's lowest elevation golf course, at 214 feet below sea level. Can you name the course, or at least my location? I'll give you one more hint. Don't kill yourself thinking about my location. Yes, that's the hint. To see if you are correct, or to just learn the name of this course, please click here. Thank you.
A. No penalty. Larry was correct in saying that there is no penalty if a player accidentally moves his ball in the process of lifting it, Rule 20-1.
B. One stroke penalty. Larry was correct in saying that there is no penalty if a player accidentally moves his ball in the process of lifting it, Rule 20-1. Unfortunately for Larry, the rule does not apply in this situation. One stroke penalty.
C. Two stroke penalty. Larry was correct in saying that there is no penalty if a player accidentally moves his ball in the process of lifting it, Rule 20-1. Unfortunately for Larry, the rule does not apply in this situation. Two stroke penalty
And the answer is ... Click here to read the answer
A. Larry has to get some of these right. In this case, he was correct. Scott's ball must be played as in lies.
B. Scott is correct. He can improve his lie. Well, in actuality, not improve the lie, but restore it back to its initial at rest status.
And the answer is ... Click here to read the answer
Making a bully the subject of compassion...
It is tough trick making Steve Williams into a sympathetic figure, but Tiger Woods has found a way to do it. The golfer sacked his caddie of 12 years at what appears to be a curious time, when the two have not been together for months due to Woods’ injuries. Turns out Woods didn’t like the idea of Williams caddying for someone else in his absence – even though he originally approved it.
Williams has few fans due to his boorish ways on the golf course serving as Tiger’s enforcer, but few have ever questioned his caddie prowess or his loyalty. He worked for the likes of Raymond Floyd and Greg Norman, and both lauded his abilities. For Woods, he was on the bag for 13 majors and 63 PGA Tour wins and for a guy who seemingly has so many changes in his life, having a constant inside the ropes would seem a good idea when he returns to golf. Instead, he fires one of the few remaining links to his successful past?
Williams seems non too happy with the curt dismissal. Should he write an insiders tell all book, it will be the #1 seller that everyone will deny buying and say, "Oh, it was a gift, I would have never bought it."
Grand Slam for the girls just got harder...
The LPGA Tour sold itself out when it announced that the Evian Masters in France would in 2013 become the tour’s fifth major. The tournament will be renamed The Evian Championship and move to September, joining the Kraft Nabisco Championship, LPGA Championship, U.S. Women’s Open and Women’s British Open as majors. It seems that one more is too many, especially for a tour that has lost so many tournaments. Then again, in these days, sponsors who put up big money get what they want, and Evian wanted the prestige of being called a major championship, history be damned.
Have you ever notice, Evian spelled backwards spells naive?
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