Posts for 'General Golf Talks' Category

I'm tired of hearing about the car crash, the exposure that the pro golfer was cheating on his wife, the number of women coming forward claiming to have had an affair with Tiger, the trips to rehab and the apologies for his indiscretions.

While I'm not one to advocate adultery in any way, let's be clear on one thing, Tiger Woods is not the first and he will not be the last man (or celebrity) to cheat on his wife.Okay, the revelation of the above-mentioned events were exciting fodder for the masses and at first we all waited with bated breath to see what new piece of information would be revealed.

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Tim Jackson shot a second-round 70 to leave him at even par and earn medalist honors at the U.S. Amateur on Tuesday, even after he was assessed a one-shot penalty for slow play at the conclusion of his round.

The 50-year-old became the oldest player in the history of the tournament to lead after stroke play. The top 64 in the field of 312 move into match play Wednesday at South Hills Country Club, with the 36-hole final set for Sunday. Jackson's group, which included John Kostis of Paradise Valley, Ariz., and Patrick Duncan Jr. of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., was warned by USGA officials after the fourth hole that it had fallen off the pace. It was given a second warning at the ninth hole and, after it failed to close the gap to the next group by No. 13, was subject to an additional two-shot penalty.

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Back in 1904, when the Summer Olympics were held in St. Louis, golf was among the sports on the program. It was dropped by 1908, and has not appeared since.

That, though, could change in 2016. The International Olympic Committee will vote Thursday in Berlin on which sports to add for the Summer Games in seven years. Golf's bid is considered a strong one, and it has the backing of all the major international tours -- as well as the world's best player.

"Golf is a truly global sport, and I think it should have been in the Olympics a while ago," Tiger Woods said at Hazeltine National Golf Club. "If it does get in, I think it would be great for golf and especially some of the other smaller countries that are now emerging in golf.

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Having played two of his best rounds of the year at the Bridgestone Invitational, Padraig Harrington is willing to settle for something less on the weekend. "I'll take two more times under 70 on the weekend and we'll see how we get on," Harrington said Friday after following a 64 with a 1-under 69 to grab a one-shot lead over Tim Clark. Harrington, winless in official tour events since last year's PGA Championship at Oakland Hills, was at 7-under 133. He led by two strokes after an opening 64, then came back with a 69, putting up subpar scores in consecutive rounds for the first time in four months.

Clark shot a 69 to stay in second place, and Scott Verplank was alone in third with his own 69 to get to 135.
Tiger Woods, chasing his seventh win in the Bridgestone, had an even-par 70 and was tied for 13th, five shots back. It is the first time he has ever been out of the top 10 after a round at Firestone Country Club.
The conditions might change soon. Thunderstorms were predicted for the weekend, which could change the dynamics on a course where the greens have gotten progressively harder and faster. With the Firestone South layout stretching to 7,400 yards, any substantial rainfall would likely make the course seem longer.

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Mike Weir is well aware that a Canadian hasn't won the Canadian Open in 55 years, and that it has been 95 years since the tournament crowned a Canadian-born champion. "It's our national championship, and all us Canadians, we want to put to rest that it's been so long since one of us has won one," Weir said

Wednesday, a day before the start of the 100th edition of the tournament. Pat Fletcher, born in England, was the last Canadian winner, taking the 1954 event in Vancouver, British Columbia. Carl Keffer is the only Canadian-born champion, winning in 1909 and 1914. Albert Murray, also born in England, won in 1908 and 1913.

"The odds are pretty much staked against us," said Stephen Ames, a naturalized Canadian citizen from Trinidad & Tobago. "Fifteen playing this week in a field of 156. ... It makes things difficult to some extent, but at the same time, we have what we call the 15th club in our bag with the crowd."

Weir is making his 19th appearance in the national championship, back at Jack Nicklaus-designed Glen Abbey for the second straight year and 25th time overall. The 2003 Masters champion, an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, came close to breaking through in 2004 at Glen Abbey, losing to Vijay Singh in a playoff. Last year, Weir tied for fifth, five strokes behind winner Chez Reavie.

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Only when it looked easy did Stewart Cink face his toughest challenge. With one hole remaining in the British Open playoff, Cink split the middle of the 18th fairway and had a four-shot lead. His opponent was in the weeds short of the green in two. Not even Jean Van de Velde could blow this.

Cink struggled to contain a smile as he stood next to caddie Frank Williams, and who could blame him? In his dozen years on the PGA Tour, he had five victories and played on four Ryder Cup teams, yet had done nothing to otherwise distinguish himself.

That's what made the final, meaningless hole so vitally important. This wasn't just any opponent he was beating. It was Tom Watson. And if the world was watching, no one in the world was rooting for Cink except for his immediate family. Even then, an exit poll might have been in order.

Cink wore a lime green hat. It might as well have been black. "It's mixed feelings, because I've watched him with such admiration all week," Cink said later. Walking the fine line between celebration and condolences, Cink struck his best pose of the championship.

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Tiger Woods watched good friend Roger Federer in the championship match at Wimbledon for as long as he could before heading out to prepare for the final round of the AT&T National.
The fifth set was tied at 14 when he was on the putting green. When he arrived at the practice range, he heard that Federer finally broke the serve of Andy Roddick to win 16-14, capturing a record 15th title in Grand Slam events, one more than Woods has majors.
He paused to take his cell phone from his golf bag and send Federer a text message: Great job. Now it's my turn."
He smiled as a room full of reporters laughed. Woods knew what they were thinking and quickly corrected them.
"Not by 15," he said. "I meant win today."
He took care of that Sunday at Congressional, although it wasn't quite as dramatic. Tied going into the final round — a position from which Woods has not lost in nearly five years — he surged past Anthony Kim with three birdies in a five-hole stretch, only to see that Hunter Mahan had joined Woods atop the leaderboard by tying the course record with a 62.
He saved par on the next two holes, from a tough spot in the bunker and with a 6-foot putt to atone for a pedestrian chip, then turned another poor chip into a winner when he holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole.
Woods wound up with a 3-under 67 and a one-shot victory, his third this season in nine starts.

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Tiger Woods was on the back nine at Congressional, trying to win his own tournament for the first time. His main competition was relaxing in the clubhouse, having a bite to eat and joking with Woods' wife and daughter.
This wasn't a typical Sunday showdown. After all, there was no way Woods could intimidate a player who finished more than an hour earlier with a round that tied the course record. All he could do was try to find a way to make one birdie somewhere between hole No. 12 and the end of the round.
Woods got what he needed at the par-5 16th, sinking a 20-foot putt that proved to be enough to beat Hunter Mahan by one stroke at the AT&T National.
"Six holes to go, and at the time I was tied for the lead," Woods said. "It was just like, 'You can go either way. You can win the tournament or you can lose the tournament from here.' Just got to keep plodding along and hopefully maybe sneak one or two birdies coming in and get the title."
As the tournament host, Woods then got to present the Capitol dome replica trophy to himself and interview himself on the 18th green — "So Tiger, how did you play today?" he said as thousands of fans laughed — and complete an unusual trifecta of winning all three PGA Tour player-hosted events in the same year, having taken the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and Jack Nicklaus' Memorial last month.

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The best of Tiger Woods came Friday when his game was falling apart.
Woods lived up to his hopes of being a "greedy host" when he salvaged his round during a shaky stretch in the middle and shot 4-under 66 to take a one-shot lead at his AT&T National with the lowest 36-hole score ever at Congressional Country Club.
"Either I hit it pretty close to the hole, within 10 feet, or I was missing greens," Woods said. "So it was a little bit of two ends today. It was nice to actually get a score out of it."
Woods was at 10-under 130, breaking by one shot the previous 36-hole score at Congressional set last year by Tom Pernice Jr. and Jeff Overton. Woods had a one-shot lead over Rod Pampling, who had a 64 to boost his chances of qualifying for the British Open.
Defending champion Anthony Kim couldn't build on his course-record 62 from the opening round. He played in the afternoon, after Woods set the target, and caught him briefly before missing too many fairways and having to settle for a 70 that put him two behind.
Jim Furyk, adding more star power to the leaderboard, had a 67 and was alone in fourth.
Perhaps more daunting than Woods' record 36-hole score is his record on the PGA Tour when he has at least a share of the 36-hole lead. He is 31-6, having won the last 11 times from that spot dating to 2004 at the Byron Nelson Championship.

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Anthony Kim is regaining a lot of his strength and a little of his swagger. He can only hope his record start Thursday at the AT&T National will allow him to get rid of some frustration built up from a year of not winning.
Kim ran off eight birdies over his final 13 holes and set the course record at Congressional with an 8-under 62, giving him a two-shot lead over tournament host Tiger Woods and two others.
The 24-year-old Kim has not won since his victory in the AT&T National last year, slowed by an assortment of injuries that caused his game to slip just as he was being anointed the next great American player.
It was the best round of his PGA Tour career, although Kim walked off the par-5 ninth green slightly perturbed after narrowly missing a 10-foot birdie putt. Apparently, eight birdies wasn't enough.
"You don't have many opportunities to bust a 61," Kim said.
But it was enough to hold off Woods, who missed his tournament last year after having season-ending knee surgery. Woods played in the afternoon with deceptive wind swirling from trees lining the fairways. He missed only two fairways and three greens, and made enough putts for a 64, his lowest round since the 2007 Tour Championship.
"Today was nice to get back inside the ropes and get out there and try to catch AK," Woods said. "He lit it up this morning."

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