BERMAN CONTINUES TO SUCK

WILL HE EVER SHUT UP?????

Well, I officially had to hit the mute button while watching ESPN's coverage of the U.S. Open due to Chris Berman being an absolutely atrocious golf announcer. It really is amazing that ESPN allows Berman to completely ruin the coverage year after year.

I had a similar opinion during last year's Open about Berman, and this will probably turn into an annual post as long as they allow that clown to keep working the tournament.

Other than that, the coverage has been great.

United States vs. England for U.S. Open?

versus




World Rankings

1 Tiger Woods USA
2 Phil Mickelson USA
3 Lee Westwood England
4 Steve Stricker USA
5 Jim Furyk USA
6 Luke Donald England
7 Ernie Els South Africa
8 Ian Poulter England
9 Paul Casey England
10 Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland

As you can see, there are four players in the top ten in the world from both the United States and England, all with very legitimate shots at winning the championship.

Who will be the one to add their name to this list of past champions?

Betting Odds at Pebble

Tiger Woods 7/1
Phil Mickelson 7/1
Lee Westwood 10/1
Rory McIlroy 28/1
Padraig Harrington 28/1
Jim Furyk 28/1
Ernie Els 30/1
Steve Stricker 33/1
Luke Donald 33/1
Retief Goosen 33/1
Dustin Johnson 33/1

Somehow Tiger is still the co-favorite to win, although the swing above from Monday's practice round is not a good sign.

AP Photo / Eric Risberg

U.S. Open Pairings

As usual, there are some interesting pairings set up for the U.S. Open. I thought they might pair the top three in the world like they did at Torrey Pines in 2008 but they didn't. It would have been huge to have Tiger and Phil in the same group but that would probably have put all eyes on that pairing alone and taken away from the event.

Notable pairings:

Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Lee Westwood

Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Y.E. Yang

Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk, Angel Cabrera

Ryo Ishikawa, Rory McIlroy, Tom Watson

Sergio Garcia, Steve Stricker, Paul Casey

Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Robert Allenby

All pairings and tee times

U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Winners

Jack Nicklaus (1972)


Tom Watson (1982)


Tom Kite (1992)

Tiger Woods (2000)


???????????? (2010)

A big name player has won the Open at Pebble four out of four times and I suspect this year will be no different. If I had to place a bet, my money would be on Mickelson for 2010.

Golf in Hawaii

After looking at these pictures, there's not much that needs to be said about Hawaii golf. Check out Hawaii golf courses and book your times at Hawaii tee times and you're set to go.

Obviously, Hawaii has some of the best weather in the world to go along with unbelievable scenery. Combine this with over 100 golf courses to choose from and you have yourself a prime golf trip destination.

Hawaii's Big Island:
Known as the "Golf Capital of Hawaii" the big island features an array of courses with lush fairways set between black volcanic rock rough.

Oahu:
Home to over 40 courses, Oahu has a few of the oldest courses on the island dating back to 1898 as well as more modern resort courses. You will find par-3 courses here as well as Championship layouts.


Maui:
Maui has two distinct areas that feature a majority of its courses, West Maui and South Maui. West Maui has two 36 hole resorts at Kaanapali and Kapalua while South Maui also has two resorts, Wailea (54 holes) and Makena (36 holes).

Kauai:
There are three main resorts at Kauai, Princeville on the North Shore (45 holes), Kauai Lagoons (36 holes), and Poipu Golf resort (18 holes) along the southern coast.

Lanai:
Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman each designed a course on Lanai that have been frequently voted among the best in the world as golf travel destinations. Nicklaus created "The Challenge at Manele" which is along the southern coast while Norman designed "The Experience at Koele."

U.S. Open Qualifying

It seems to me if there was only one tournament a professional golfer would want to play, the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach would have to be at the top of the short list.

It's definitely shocking to hear that Jason Day, Boo Weekly, Fredrik Jacobson, Brett Wetterich, and Nathan Green decided to pass on attempting to qualify.

"I'm really not that interested in playing it," Green said. "I'd rather sit home on the couch and watch soccer than beat my head against a brick wall for four days."

That is pretty pathetic. He must be complaining because the conditions are so difficult at the Open. Sorry Nathan, you can't play easy courses and shoot 15 under every week.

It seems weird that we almost saw the QB of the Dallas Cowboys playing in the Open and these guys didn't even try.

On another note, it also seems ridiculous that Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, and Rocco Mediate are not playing. They should be given exemptions.

John Wooden (1910 - 2010)

John Wooden was the legendary UCLA basketball coach who won 10 national championships.

He was also a golfer and is one of four people on record who made a hole in one and double eagle in the same round. That is an unbelievable feat, and by all accounts of the type of person he was, he deserved it.

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Fowler on fire at Memorial

Round One: Fowler shoots 65 including going 6-under over a five hole stretch. He birdied holes 4-6, eagled 7, and birdied 8.

Round Two: Four birdies and an eagle with no bogeys for a 66.

He currently leads at 13-under and tied the tournament record for lowest 36 hole score.

"Just being in contention the few times I have over the last eight months or so since I turned pro, this is by far the best that I've felt," said Fowler. "Game feels good. Putter's working a bit. So we're having some fun."

Photo - AP / Terry Gilliam

Number one ranking on the line again

For the third straight tournament, Mickelson can potentially overtake the top spot in the world rankings from Woods, something he's never held.

As the two will be vying for the top spot in the world, more important will be preparing for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in two weeks.

Woods won the last Open held at Pebble in 2000 by a record 15 shots.

“It would be nice to get four rounds in and be in contention and hopefully win this thing,” Woods said. “That’s kind of where I’d like to be. I’d like to see where my game is going into the Open, and I should get a full tournament in, which I haven’t had since the Masters.”

Mickelson will be looking to win his first U.S. Open, the tournament he has finished runner up in a record five times.

“It would be cool,” Mickelson said about the ranking. “I don’t want to discount it. Right now, my goal is to play well here and get ready for the Open next week.”

Photos - AP / Tony Dejak

Tiger and Phil dominate Memorial skins game

In typical fashion, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the top two ranked players in the world, played the best and won the most skins Wednesday at the pre-tournament charity event.

The event was broken up into two groups of five players and they each played the back nine. Mickelson played alongside tournament host Jack Nicklaus, as well as Ernie Els, Kenny Perry, and Sean O'Hair.

Mickelson dominated his group by shooting a six under par 30 and winning all nine skins. He blasted his driver all day, was sharp with his irons, made some nice putts, and even holed a bunker shot at the 16th for a win.

"It's been a fun day," Mickelson said. "To be able to play nine holes with Jack Nicklaus is a great feeling. I think it's cool, watching him on the last putt, grinding the way he has in the past, after he has made so many putts on the final hole. It's just fun watching him."

As for Woods, he didn't dominate quite as much as Mickelson, but won six out of the nine skins in his group which included Rory Mcllroy, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson, and Jim Furyk. He started the day four under par through four holes with a birdie at the 10th, eagle at the 11th, par at the 12th, and birdie at the 13th.

Zach Johnson won the other three skins and the rest of the players had goose eggs.

The real tournament gets underway Thursday with defending champion Woods looking for his first win of 2010.


Woods photo - AP / Tony Dejak
Mickelson photo - AP / Jay Laprete

The Memorial: Can Tiger defend?

At the 2009 Memorial Tournament, Tiger Woods was firing on all cylinders on his way to winning the championship.

He shot a final round 65 which included birdies at the 17th and 18th holes to win by one shot.

"I don't even know how to describe it", said Michael Letzig, Woods playing partner on Sunday. "It was the best golf I'd ever seen."

The win gave him his fourth title at the Memorial and 67th career victory. One aspect of his game that really stood out that week was his driving, as he only missed five fairways the entire week.

Fast forward to 2010. Woods comes into this year's tournament with a lot of uncertainty. In his last two events, he missed the cut at Quail Hollow and withdrew from the Players Championship with a neck injury.

For his standards, his game has been a disaster and he's been unable to keep the ball in play. He's been very wild off the tee, missing both left and right. His short game, both chipping and putting, have been a little off, and his mental game is not nearly as sharp as it has been in the past.

This will be the first tournament Woods has played since parting ways with long-time swing coach Hank Haney in early May.

Either way, this will be a very interesting week for Woods and for the golf world to watch. On Wednesday, Woods will play in a skins game, which he also won last year, with Nicklaus, Mickelson, Mcllroy, and six other top players.

This will be a huge week for Woods for several reasons. First, to see if his game has improved at all from his past two outings, to see how his neck injury will react, to see if he can defend the title, and most importantly to gauge his game for the upcoming U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

AP photo / Chris O'Meara

Pavin needs "brain scan"

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin recently stated that Tiger Woods would not automatically make the 2010 team.

"I'm not going to treat Tiger any different than any other player," Pavin told Reuters. "He's certainly not going to be an automatic pick."

Hmmmm. Interesting strategy.

"He's just going to be treated like everyone else. I'd love to have him on the team but I want him to be playing well."

First off, why is Pavin making these comments now? They are pointless. Tiger still has three major championships to play, as well as 5-7 regular events before the Ryder Cup even begins.
Why not see if he turns his game around over the summer before making this statement?

Plus, we're talking the number one player in the world, 14 majors, years of experience on Ryder Cup teams, not to mention probably being the best match play golfer of all time. He did go 5-0 last year at the Presidents Cup.

Even if Tiger is still struggling with his game at the time, there is no way there are 12 Americans that would be better than him.

Jack Nicklaus weighed in on the topic and had this to say.

"He’d need a brain scan if he left Tiger out of the team. Of course he should pick Tiger. The truth is that Tiger is going through some personal problems, which I’ve nothing to say about, and he’s also got some problems with his game, which he’s going to have to resolve himself. But Tiger will be in the team, I have no doubt.”

Golf in Arizona

Arizona golf is one of the top destinations in America for a golf vacation. It features many championship courses that can be played in the arid desert plains and at foothills of the mountain ranges, providing you with both great golf and excellent views.

Top hot spots providing great courses, resorts, and nightlife include Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tucson.

Phoenix golf features the Adobe course, one of the oldest in the state. Nick Faldo, golf's favorite sir, has designed a course at the Wildfire Golf Club. The Raven Course at South Mountain features over 5000 pine trees, making it a very different course than you'd expect in the desert.


Scottsdale golf features some of the top rated courses in the United States including Pinnacle, Grayhawk, Boulders, as well as Troon North Golf Club's Monument.

The 18-hole Monument at Troon is a semi-private golf course that opened in 1990. Designed by Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf, Monument at Troon North Golf Club measures 7028 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 147 and a 73.3 USGA rating. The course features 4 sets of tees for different skill levels.



Tucson golf features several courses designed by famous golfers and architects. Jack Nicklaus designed the course at La Paloma, Arnold Palmer at Starr Pass, and Tom Fazio at Ventana Canyon.


There is no doubt Arizona would be a great spot for a golf vacation with the variety of courses to choose from as well as the scenery.

Obviously, the weather is top notch for a golf trip because it's almost always sunny and rarely rains. I've never personally played in Arizona but I have played in Vegas which has a similar climate. If you play in mid-summer, I'd recommend teeing it up in the morning or the evening because it can get insanely hot at the desert courses.


All Golf travel:

Golf at Pebble Beach
Golf in Vegas
Golf in Scotland
Golf in Panama
Golf in Sicily
Golf in England
Golf in South America
Golf in Spain
Golf in Spain 2
Golf in Portugal