Sunday, August 29, 2010

Kuchar takes Fed Ex lead


Matt Kuchar hit a ridiculous approach shot to two feet on the first playoff hole at The Barclays to win over Martin Laird.

Laird, who appeared to have the tournament in hand, needed to two putt from thirty feet on the 18th hole in regulation for the win. Unfortunately for him, he crushed his first putt a good eight feet past the hole and then missed coming back for a three putt.

With his first victory of the year at the first playoff event of the Fed Ex Cup, Kuchar takes the overall point lead in the quest for the $10,000,000.00 prize.

"Even if I had shut it down without a win, I would have felt it was a great year," Kuchar said. "To win, it's an incredible year."

Current Top Five:

1) Matt Kuchar
2) Steve Stricker
3) Martin Laird
4) Justin Rose
5) Ernie Els

Getty photo / Scott Halleran

Tiger clawing his way back


Look out PGA Tour. Tiger is coming soon to a golf course near you.

He shot 65 the opening round and 67 in the final round at the Barclays. Other than one horrendous swing to open round three which led to triple bogey, a missed one foot putt, and one bad nine hole stretch, he played some great golf.

As his new swing starts to kick in, he appears to have much greater control with both his tee shots and his approach shots. It seems to be just a matter of time before he's able to put it all together over four rounds.

With his play at The Barclays, Woods jumped from 112th up to 65th in the point standings. Three events remain in the Fed Ex Cup Playoffs and Woods has won on all three courses in the past. One win will put him right back into contention and it could come this week at round two of the playoffs.

"I haven't won all year," Woods said. "But this is a week that I was very close. I felt that if I would have putted better for all four days, I would have been right there. Looking forward to next week."

Getty photo / Hunter Martin

European Ryder Cup team set


European Captain Colin Montgomerie made his three captain's picks official today. He choose Padraig Harringtoin, Edoardo Molinari, and Luke Donald, leaving off Paul Casey and Justin Rose.

U.S. Captain Corey Pavin has four picks to make which are expected on September 7th.

The Ryder Cup will take place October 1 -3 at Celtic Manor in Wales as the U.S. will attempt to retain the Cup they won in 2008.

Getty photo / Andrew Redington

Wie Wins


Michelle Wie won her second career LPGA tournament at the Canadian Women's Open. She went wire to wire, ended up at 12 under par, and took home $337,500.00 with the win.

Getty photos / Darren Carroll

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Good numbers for Tiger round one at Barclays


13 /14 Fairways
15 /18 Greens
27 Putts
7 Birdies
65
Tie for 1st

For one day, Tiger Woods played like the number one player in the world again.

"It's exciting to hit the ball flush again," Woods said. "It's something I've been missing all year."

Asked whether he thinks he can still break Nicklaus's record of 18 majors, he responded, "Absolutely."

"I look at it this way," Woods said, "Hogan won all nine of his majors at my age and older. I think for every kid out there, the goal is to get there. That is the benchmark in our sport, and that's still my goal."

Woods needs to finish approximately in the top 50 this week to advance to the second round of the playoffs. He's off to a good start and certainly thinks he can still win the whole thing.

"I figure if I win, I should be OK," Woods said.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Fed Ex Cup Championship


The Fed Ex Cup playoffs begin this Thursday at the Barclays with the top 125 players in points set to go. The winner receives $10,000,000.00.

FORMER WINNERS:
2007 Tiger Woods
2008 Vijay Singh
2009 Tiger Woods

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE:
  • The Barclays (August 26-29)
  • Deutsche Bank Championship (Sept. 3-6)
  • BMW Championship (Sept. 9-12)
  • The Tour Championship (Sept. 23-26)
TOP FIVE IN STANDINGS:

1) Ernie Els
2) Steve Stricker
3) Jim Furyk
4) Phil Mickelson
5) Justin Rose

NOTABLES:

8) Bubba Watson
14) Anthony Kim
19) Rickie Fowler
21) Rory McIlroy
112) Tiger Woods

Click for complete standings

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Three first time major winners again in 2010

For the second consecutive year, there were three first time major winners. With so many good young players coming up, this may become a trend unless Tiger can get things together again.

In 2009, Angel Cabrera won his second career major at the Masters. After that there were all first timers with Lucas Glover taking the U.S. Open, Stewart Cink taking the British, and Y.E. Yang winning the PGA.

In 2010, Phil Mickelson won his fourth overall major at the Masters. From there, more first timers with Graeme McDowell winning the U.S. Open, Louis Oosthuizen taking the British, and Martin Kaymer winning the PGA.

Mickelson (Getty / Graythen)

McDowell (Getty / Lyons)


Oosthuizen (Getty / Greenwood)

Kaymer (Getty / Franklin)


Early Vegas Odds for 2011 Masters

Tiger Woods 5 - 1
Phil Mickelson 7 - 1
Rory McIlroy 12 - 1
Lee Westwood 20 - 1
Dustin Johnson 25 -1
Anthony Kim 25 - 1
Padraig Harrington 25 - 1

Sunday, August 15, 2010

PGA Championship: Final Round Photos

2010 PGA Champion Martin Kaymer (Getty photo/Sam Greenwood)

Runner-up Bubba Watson (Getty photo/Chris Graythen)

Dustin Johnson (Getty photo/Andy Lyons)

Rory McILroy (Getty photo/Andrew Redington)

Steve Elkington (Getty photo/Chris Graythen)

Zach Johnson (Getty photo/Chris Graythen)

Phil Mickelson (Getty photo/Andy Lyons)

Tiger Woods (Getty photo/Stuart Franklin)

Friday, August 13, 2010

All over the map





Tiger was all over the place through six holes during round two. He made some great up and downs and is fortunate to be even on the day. Hopefully he will consider hitting a few fairways and greens which would make things much easier.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

PGA Championship: Day One Photos

Tiger Woods - Getty photo / Stuart Franklin

Bubba Watson - Getty photo / Andy Lyons

Phil Mickelson - Getty photo / Andy Lyons

Jason Day - Getty photo / Sam Greenwood

Ernie Els - Getty photo /Andrew Redington

Charles Howell - Getty photo / Andrew Redington


Ryan Moore - Getty photo / Stuart Franklin

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

PGA Championship: Notable Pairings

Rory Mcllroy - Getty Photo / Andy Lyons

Notable Pairings:

Tiger Woods, Y.E. Yang, Vijay Singh

Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen, Graeme McDowell

Steve Stricker, Rory MclLroy, Adam Scott

John Daly, Davis Love III, Padraig Harrington

Ricky Fowler, Ryo Ishikawa, Justin Leonard

Sergio Garcia, Stewart Cink, Martin Kaymer

Jerry Kelly, Anthony Kim, Paul Casey

Corey Pavin, Ian Poulter, Camillo Villegas

Click here for all pairings and tee times

**Would have been interesting to see Ryder Cup Captains Corey "Misquoted" Pavin and Colin "Mrs Doubtfire / scandal" Montgomerie play together. **

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

PGA Championship News from #1 and #2


Tiger could have a new coach. He had Sean Foley video his swing Tuesday and both acknowledged a future pairing is possible.

"The possibility is there. I'm just taking a look at him. The advice I would give any player is to have at least two people look at your swing," said Foley.

"Certainly it's a possibility, no doubt. But there's also a lot of other coaches out there that's a possibility, as well, that I've talked to," Woods said. "I wanted to have him take a look at it today on video so I can take a look at it, and that's what we did."

Foley works with Sean O'Hair, Hunter Mahan, and Justin Rose, and each of these players has had a lot of recent success. He also works with Stephen Ames, but the only thing Tiger might say about that is "9 and 8".


Phil Mickelson acknowledged Tuesday that he woke up 5 days before the U.S. Open and couldn't walk. He has since been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, taken medication, and the symptoms have gone away.

"I'm surprised at how quickly it's gone away, and how quickly it's been able to be managed and controlled," he said. "I feel 100 percent, like I say. But when I'm laying there on the couch and I can't move, you know, yeah, I had some concerns. But I feel a lot better now."

Also, after reading a book, he decided to become a vegetarian which I'm sure will bring up many future jokes.

Getty photos / Stuart Franklin

Monday, August 9, 2010

PGA Championship Betting Odds


Bodog.com:

Phil Mickelson 10 - 1
Tiger Woods 12 -1
Rory McIlroy 16 -1
Padraig Harrington 20 -1
Steve Stricker 22 -1
Ernie Els 28 - 1
Jim Furyk 33 - 1
Retief Goosen 33 -1
Hunter Mahan 33 -1
Sean O'Hair 40 - 1

Mickelson photo: Sam Greenwood / Getty

Past PGA Champions


Defending champion: Y.E. Yang


Last champion from Whistling Straits: Vijay Singh (2004)


Last 10 Champions:

2009: Y.E. Yang
2008: Padraig Harrington
2007: Tiger Woods
2006: Tiger Woods
2005: Phil Mickelson
2004: Vijay Singh
2003: Sean Micheel
2002: Rich Beem
2001: David Toms
2000: Tiger Woods
1999: Tiger Woods

Click for a list of all PGA Championship winners.

Photos from Getty
Yang / Andy Lyons
Singh / Stuart Franklin
Woods / Andrew Redington