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A horde of golfers troop on the Lusaka Golf Club turf tomorrow to compete in the fifth edition of the Pro-Am golf open championship.
Professional Golf Association of Zambia (PGAZ) secretary Hilda Edwards said in a statement issued in Lusaka yesterday that the tournament will provide local golfers with the much needed competition amongst themselves.
Edwards said the competition will help to improve the score of golfers and prepare for the Zambia Sugar Open golf championship.
She said the tournament has attracted some low handicap amateurs and that it will be used to inspire young golfers.
The two day tournament runs from May 9 to 10 at the Lusaka Golf Club.
“There has already been a marked improvement in some of the players like Kelvin Phiri, Patrick Mwendapole and Muhammad Zulu. These have really improved their scoring with the on-going competitions,” Edwards said.
She said investing in pros through such tournaments will enhance their confidence when competing in international championships.
Edwards said the competitions will improve the golfers’ scoring abilities and to encourage others to turn professional.
“We are also inviting business houses and individuals to partner with us by ensuring that we do something to improve the standards of our local players by giving them these much needed competitions,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Zambia Ladies Golf Union (ZLGU) has picked a four-member final team to represent the country at next month’s East and Central Africa Golf Challenge set for Lusaka Golf Club.
And Mauritius has pulled out of the tournament due to failure to form a formidable team for the June 2-4 championship.
ZLGU president Moono Mwila said in Lusaka yesterday that the final team was picked after the Southern region order of merit phase two ladies open tournament in Mazabuka last weekend.
The team comprises the Nawa sisters, Melisa and Tina Nawa, Hilda Edwards and Davenshi Naik.
Mwila said Lona Mwenda and Miliase Siame have been dropped from the team.
She is confident that the four golfers will represent the country well by winning the championship.
“We have picked a formidable team. I am confident that the four golfers will perform wonders during the tournament. This time around we have to grab the trophy from Tanzania especially that we will be enjoying home ground support,” Mwila said.
Zambia finished second to Tanzania in last year’s tournament in Botswana.
She said the participating countries are expected to start arriving in the country on May 30.
Teams are expected from Kenya, Malawi, Reunion, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and hosts Zambia.
“We are not too sure about Ethiopia. They are still doubting their participation,” she said.
After the East and Central Africa championship, golfers will compete in the Zambia Open Ladies Golf championship from June 7 to 9 at the same venue.
Meanwhile, the ZLGU has named a team of seven to represent Zambia in the Triangular Golf Championship which set for June in Kenya.These are Lona Mwenda, Miliase Siame, Kanela Mulenga, Edwards, Naik, Melisa and Tina.
Zambia Daily Mail » Lusaka Golf Club hosts pro-am
Professional Golf Association of Zambia (PGAZ) secretary Hilda Edwards said in a statement issued in Lusaka yesterday that the tournament will provide local golfers with the much needed competition amongst themselves.
Edwards said the competition will help to improve the score of golfers and prepare for the Zambia Sugar Open golf championship.
She said the tournament has attracted some low handicap amateurs and that it will be used to inspire young golfers.
The two day tournament runs from May 9 to 10 at the Lusaka Golf Club.
“There has already been a marked improvement in some of the players like Kelvin Phiri, Patrick Mwendapole and Muhammad Zulu. These have really improved their scoring with the on-going competitions,” Edwards said.
She said investing in pros through such tournaments will enhance their confidence when competing in international championships.
Edwards said the competitions will improve the golfers’ scoring abilities and to encourage others to turn professional.
“We are also inviting business houses and individuals to partner with us by ensuring that we do something to improve the standards of our local players by giving them these much needed competitions,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Zambia Ladies Golf Union (ZLGU) has picked a four-member final team to represent the country at next month’s East and Central Africa Golf Challenge set for Lusaka Golf Club.
And Mauritius has pulled out of the tournament due to failure to form a formidable team for the June 2-4 championship.
ZLGU president Moono Mwila said in Lusaka yesterday that the final team was picked after the Southern region order of merit phase two ladies open tournament in Mazabuka last weekend.
The team comprises the Nawa sisters, Melisa and Tina Nawa, Hilda Edwards and Davenshi Naik.
Mwila said Lona Mwenda and Miliase Siame have been dropped from the team.
She is confident that the four golfers will represent the country well by winning the championship.
“We have picked a formidable team. I am confident that the four golfers will perform wonders during the tournament. This time around we have to grab the trophy from Tanzania especially that we will be enjoying home ground support,” Mwila said.
Zambia finished second to Tanzania in last year’s tournament in Botswana.
She said the participating countries are expected to start arriving in the country on May 30.
Teams are expected from Kenya, Malawi, Reunion, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and hosts Zambia.
“We are not too sure about Ethiopia. They are still doubting their participation,” she said.
After the East and Central Africa championship, golfers will compete in the Zambia Open Ladies Golf championship from June 7 to 9 at the same venue.
Meanwhile, the ZLGU has named a team of seven to represent Zambia in the Triangular Golf Championship which set for June in Kenya.These are Lona Mwenda, Miliase Siame, Kanela Mulenga, Edwards, Naik, Melisa and Tina.
Zambia Daily Mail » Lusaka Golf Club hosts pro-am
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2006/12/07
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TO make way for what is expected to be a high turnout in this year's edition of the ESKOM Golf Open in Jinja this weekend, professionals and top-notch amateurs have teed off two days ahead of the rest of the field.
Over 30 professionals and the low handicap (0-5) amateurs embarked on their 36-hole competitions at Jinja Golf Club on Thursday morning.
The two categories will wind up on Friday ahead of the 18-hole main event that will tee off on Saturday.
The professional category will see Deo Akope face off with the likes of Herman Mutaawe, George Olayo, Denis Anguyo and Brian Toolit among others.
Tight amateur contest
With his ego bruised by defeat to ex-professional Peter Ssendawula in the Mehta Golf Open last month, Willy Kitatta will leave nothing to chance in the ESKOM Open.
"This is one tournament I wouldn't want to lose to anybody. I recently suffered my only defeat since September last year and there is a great sponsorship package for the winner. I got here early and I have grasped the tricky course," Kitatta told New Vision Sport yesterday after a practice round.
Kitatta who usually travels for tournaments in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania in search for better competition said the sponsorship would give him financial relief. ESKOM will sponsor the amateur (handicap 0-5) category winner in all tournaments within East Africa for one year.
"This is an opportunity I have to take. It's my most important tournament this season," he explained.
Kitatta will be up against defending champion Adolf Muhumuza and Lawrence Muhenda who just won the Brigadier Noble Mayombo Memorial Tournament in Fort Portal last weekend.
Entebbe's Ssendawula and a host of top-notch amateurs in Jinja will heighten the level of competition.
ESKOM Golf Open: Professionals, top amateurs tee off early
Over 30 professionals and the low handicap (0-5) amateurs embarked on their 36-hole competitions at Jinja Golf Club on Thursday morning.
The two categories will wind up on Friday ahead of the 18-hole main event that will tee off on Saturday.
The professional category will see Deo Akope face off with the likes of Herman Mutaawe, George Olayo, Denis Anguyo and Brian Toolit among others.
Tight amateur contest
With his ego bruised by defeat to ex-professional Peter Ssendawula in the Mehta Golf Open last month, Willy Kitatta will leave nothing to chance in the ESKOM Open.
"This is one tournament I wouldn't want to lose to anybody. I recently suffered my only defeat since September last year and there is a great sponsorship package for the winner. I got here early and I have grasped the tricky course," Kitatta told New Vision Sport yesterday after a practice round.
Kitatta who usually travels for tournaments in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania in search for better competition said the sponsorship would give him financial relief. ESKOM will sponsor the amateur (handicap 0-5) category winner in all tournaments within East Africa for one year.
"This is an opportunity I have to take. It's my most important tournament this season," he explained.
Kitatta will be up against defending champion Adolf Muhumuza and Lawrence Muhenda who just won the Brigadier Noble Mayombo Memorial Tournament in Fort Portal last weekend.
Entebbe's Ssendawula and a host of top-notch amateurs in Jinja will heighten the level of competition.
ESKOM Golf Open: Professionals, top amateurs tee off early
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2006/12/07
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From lowered expectations come unexpected results.
While it’s hard to imagine the world’s second-ranked player beginning any week on the PGA Tour with a “nothing to lose” mentality, Rory McIlroy’s record at TPC Sawgrass speaks for itself.
In three trips to the Tour’s flagship stop, the Ulsterman had never broken par, never made a cut and never sniffed a leaderboard, which might explain why he happily skipped the so-called fifth major in 2011.
As McIlroy’s Northern Irish stable mate Graeme McDowell figured on Wednesday, sometimes love for a golf course can be unrequited. Early Thursday, McIlroy set out for this week’s Players Championship grouped with the newest member of the Grand Slam club, Adam Scott, who was a tad gutted when the announcer didn’t introduce him as the 2013 Masters champion.
“I think (the announcer) said, ‘The 2004 Players champion,’ which is good,” McIlroy recalled. “For me at least he didn’t say, ‘Now on the tee, Rory McIlroy, who has missed three cuts at The Players.’”
So forgive McIlroy, the young man who has won two majors by a total of 16 strokes and has slowly played his way back into form following a sluggish start to the season, if he arrived at TPC Heartbreak with a distinct devil-may-care attitude. And don’t be surprised when that indifference leads to something entirely unexpected.
On a perfect day for scoring, McIlroy joined a collective birdie barrage by going 2 under through his first three holes and turning at 5 under. His opening 66 left him tied for second place and three strokes behind surprise early leader Roberto Castro.
“I feel a lot more relaxed coming into this year,” McIlroy said. “Whatever I do this week it will be better than what I’ve done before.”
But then McIlroy’s quick start at The Players goes well beyond lowered expectations. After going 0-for-3 on the quirky north Florida layout, he also changed his strategy to a more measured approach for this year’s edition.
For the record, McIlroy didn’t hit a single driver on the front nine and teed off with the big stick just three times (at Nos. 11, 14 and 16) on Day 1.
“I’m figuring out how to play Pete Dye golf courses,” said McIlroy, who actually has won Tour events on Dye-designed courses (2012 PGA at Kiawah Island and 2012 BMW at Crooked Stick). “There’s no point in hitting driver off the two par 5s on the front. I can hit 3-wood at No. 2 and still reach the green (in two shots). This golf course is about keeping your ball in play.”
There’s also something to be said for keeping your ball below the hole to allow for more aggressive putts, an option McIlroy, or anyone else for that matter, didn’t have on last week’s much-maligned putting surfaces at Quail Hollow Club.
Although he tied for 10th at the Wells Fargo Championship, McIlroy ranked 68th in the field in putting and had just two one-putts on his closing nine in Charlotte, N.C.
McIlroy also finally succumbed to a putter change that his short game coach Dave Stockton Sr. had been pushing for some time. On Tuesday, Dave Stockton Jr. delivered an identical Nike Golf Method putter to McIlroy that he’d been using. The only difference was about 1 ½ degrees of additional loft.
“With the forward press I knew he could do it. There is no mechanical change needed. I want the fastest roll possible,” Stockton Sr. said. “I told his caddie it was coming in Charlotte, ‘I want him to try this before he gets too late in the year.’ (McIlroy) texted me last night and said how it felt really, really good.”
The result was a 27-putt performance that may seem statistically nominal, but is a monumental improvement for a player who hits as many greens in regulation as the world No. 2 does (he hit 15 of 18 Thursday).
For the day, McIlroy made just one putt over 5 feet – a 14-footer for birdie at the 16th hole – but was a perfect three-for-three from 4 to 8 feet. By comparison, he converted just 10 out of 22 attempts from the same distance for the week at Quail Hollow.
Call it the “Three Little Bears” syndrome for McIlroy this week. The new putter Stockton had made is McIlroy’s third this season, the first was a tad too heavy, the second didn’t have quite enough loft, and the third seems just right, at least through 18 holes.
“I would be really confident in his ability to make the short ones with more loft,” Stockton said. “I told him two things, ‘You have enough loft and you are on really good greens. You are going to be shocked with what you are going to do.’”
If Thursday’s 66 wasn’t shocking, it was at least unexpected considering his Sawgrass scorecard. It’s a change of fortune that didn’t escape McIlroy following what was, for him, a historic day regardless of where he ended up on the leaderboard.
“It’s my first under-par round here on this golf course,” he smiled. “I’ll take whatever I can get.”
Maybe McIlroy didn’t solve the Dye dilemma on Thursday, but at least he’s beginning to understand what the question is on the Stadium Course.
Rory McIlroy Reverses Fortune With 66 at The Players | Golf Channel
While it’s hard to imagine the world’s second-ranked player beginning any week on the PGA Tour with a “nothing to lose” mentality, Rory McIlroy’s record at TPC Sawgrass speaks for itself.
In three trips to the Tour’s flagship stop, the Ulsterman had never broken par, never made a cut and never sniffed a leaderboard, which might explain why he happily skipped the so-called fifth major in 2011.
As McIlroy’s Northern Irish stable mate Graeme McDowell figured on Wednesday, sometimes love for a golf course can be unrequited. Early Thursday, McIlroy set out for this week’s Players Championship grouped with the newest member of the Grand Slam club, Adam Scott, who was a tad gutted when the announcer didn’t introduce him as the 2013 Masters champion.
“I think (the announcer) said, ‘The 2004 Players champion,’ which is good,” McIlroy recalled. “For me at least he didn’t say, ‘Now on the tee, Rory McIlroy, who has missed three cuts at The Players.’”
So forgive McIlroy, the young man who has won two majors by a total of 16 strokes and has slowly played his way back into form following a sluggish start to the season, if he arrived at TPC Heartbreak with a distinct devil-may-care attitude. And don’t be surprised when that indifference leads to something entirely unexpected.
On a perfect day for scoring, McIlroy joined a collective birdie barrage by going 2 under through his first three holes and turning at 5 under. His opening 66 left him tied for second place and three strokes behind surprise early leader Roberto Castro.
“I feel a lot more relaxed coming into this year,” McIlroy said. “Whatever I do this week it will be better than what I’ve done before.”
But then McIlroy’s quick start at The Players goes well beyond lowered expectations. After going 0-for-3 on the quirky north Florida layout, he also changed his strategy to a more measured approach for this year’s edition.
For the record, McIlroy didn’t hit a single driver on the front nine and teed off with the big stick just three times (at Nos. 11, 14 and 16) on Day 1.
“I’m figuring out how to play Pete Dye golf courses,” said McIlroy, who actually has won Tour events on Dye-designed courses (2012 PGA at Kiawah Island and 2012 BMW at Crooked Stick). “There’s no point in hitting driver off the two par 5s on the front. I can hit 3-wood at No. 2 and still reach the green (in two shots). This golf course is about keeping your ball in play.”
There’s also something to be said for keeping your ball below the hole to allow for more aggressive putts, an option McIlroy, or anyone else for that matter, didn’t have on last week’s much-maligned putting surfaces at Quail Hollow Club.
Although he tied for 10th at the Wells Fargo Championship, McIlroy ranked 68th in the field in putting and had just two one-putts on his closing nine in Charlotte, N.C.
McIlroy also finally succumbed to a putter change that his short game coach Dave Stockton Sr. had been pushing for some time. On Tuesday, Dave Stockton Jr. delivered an identical Nike Golf Method putter to McIlroy that he’d been using. The only difference was about 1 ½ degrees of additional loft.
“With the forward press I knew he could do it. There is no mechanical change needed. I want the fastest roll possible,” Stockton Sr. said. “I told his caddie it was coming in Charlotte, ‘I want him to try this before he gets too late in the year.’ (McIlroy) texted me last night and said how it felt really, really good.”
The result was a 27-putt performance that may seem statistically nominal, but is a monumental improvement for a player who hits as many greens in regulation as the world No. 2 does (he hit 15 of 18 Thursday).
For the day, McIlroy made just one putt over 5 feet – a 14-footer for birdie at the 16th hole – but was a perfect three-for-three from 4 to 8 feet. By comparison, he converted just 10 out of 22 attempts from the same distance for the week at Quail Hollow.
Call it the “Three Little Bears” syndrome for McIlroy this week. The new putter Stockton had made is McIlroy’s third this season, the first was a tad too heavy, the second didn’t have quite enough loft, and the third seems just right, at least through 18 holes.
“I would be really confident in his ability to make the short ones with more loft,” Stockton said. “I told him two things, ‘You have enough loft and you are on really good greens. You are going to be shocked with what you are going to do.’”
If Thursday’s 66 wasn’t shocking, it was at least unexpected considering his Sawgrass scorecard. It’s a change of fortune that didn’t escape McIlroy following what was, for him, a historic day regardless of where he ended up on the leaderboard.
“It’s my first under-par round here on this golf course,” he smiled. “I’ll take whatever I can get.”
Maybe McIlroy didn’t solve the Dye dilemma on Thursday, but at least he’s beginning to understand what the question is on the Stadium Course.
Rory McIlroy Reverses Fortune With 66 at The Players | Golf Channel
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2006/12/07
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The days are long gone when you can cede Tiger Woods a victory after 54 holes, let alone 36 holes, or even assume anything about how he will play the next day.
That said, there may be only one thing you really need to know about the Players as the PGA Tour's flagship event heads to the weekend with Tiger sitting at 10 under par, a shot behind Sergio Garcia and just ahead of glittering pursuers such as Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson and Jason Dufner, among others.
Tiger already has three victories this year, his game appears stronger and more solid than at any time since the mid-2000s and he looks healthier, sleeker and more golf-ready than he has in years.
Here comes the punchline: Asked after Friday's round if there was any part of his game he wasn't pleased with, Tiger smiled ever-so-slightly and answered, "No, I'm pretty pleased with where it's at right now."
Later, asked to identify one part of his game he was happiest with, he reiterated, "I'm pleased with every facet of it."
Rory McIlroy was a wee teenager when Tiger was in his dominating prime, but those with longer memories will recall that on the few occasions Tiger was willing to admit he was playing well, he was actually playing fantastically. Those were the weeks he won going away.
Yogi Berra won't tell you this is "déjà vu all over again," but make a note.
"I'm driving it well, hitting it well with my irons, my distance control is good, my short game is really solid and I'm making my share of putts," Tiger said.
Uh-oh. What's left? Not sticking his tee into the ground as easily as he'd like? Not finding the ball marker in his pocket as quickly as he used to? Not tying his shoelaces too neatly?
Roberto Castro got the Players off to a flying start with an opening 63 on Thursday. By Friday morning, the focus shifted to Tiger. That's the best break a tournament can get.
Even better, despite back-to-back 67s, Woods isn't running away with this thing. Just when the tournament's temperature rose a couple of degrees after Tiger ran in a 20-foot eagle putt on No. 2, his 11th hole of the day, to briefly take the lead. Garcia, playing in the group ahead, was on a run of five straight birdies en route to a final-nine 31.
Garcia capped his round with an eighth birdie at No. 8, the long par 3, for 65. Meanwhile, Westwood pitched in for eagle at No. 11, his second hole, then birdied the next two holes and shot 66 to move into third with Kevin Chappell, two shots behind Garcia after the morning wave finished.
There was also Ryan Palmer, who chipped in for eagle at the par-5 9th and 11th holes, and shot 69. Playing with Woods, defending champion Matt Kuchar birdied three of his last four holes for 66 to finish at seven under.
This just in from Captain Obvious: It looks like we are in for a terrific weekend at the Players.
The Stadium course isn't typically the kind of track where players can run away and hide, although it has been done. See wins by Stephen Ames (2006) and Henrik Stenson (2009). The spotlight will be on Tiger this weekend, but it appears as if he's going to have plenty of heavy-hitting company.
You may be tempted to dismiss Garcia, who had a long spell of indifferent play after his 2008 sudden-death win over Paul Goydos, but that would be a mistake. The Spaniard has been steadily improving, and you may have forgotten that he won the Wyndham Championship last August. Also, the Stadium course is his favorite playground. He's got a win, a second and a fourth at TPC Sawgrass, and no one has won more money in the Players than Sergio, who has pocketed more than $3.2 million. Even during his down period, he was able to drop in a closing 65 and finish 12th in 2011.
"I've managed to play quite decent on this course," Garcia said. "Any good thing you can get in your head is obviously positive."
The two things that spurred his temporary slide were his attitude and his putting. His attitude has improved, and he has gradually gotten better on the greens since he went to a claw grip three years ago.
A look at his Friday card showed how effective Garcia was with the putter. His birdies at 16 and 18 were from seven and nine feet, respectively. He made five birdies in a row starting at the 2nd hole. The respective lengths of those putts were 15, 7, 8, 19 and 26 feet. He plowed home a 40-footer at the 8th. He had 26 putts on Thursday, 25 on Friday. When Sergio is making putts, he ranks among the world's best players.
"A couple of tee shots here and there I would have loved to hit a little better, but other than that it was nice," Garcia said. "It was a wonderful day."
Westwood, the Englishman who transplanted his family to Florida last winter to better acclimate his game to U.S. courses, is another sort to be reckoned with. He was ranked No. 1 in the world less than two years ago and is one of the game's most consistent ballstrikers. Even though he famously skipped the Players in 2009 and 2011, he claims to be a fan of the Stadium course.
"I love the course, always have," Westwood said. "It's always suited my game and I've played pretty well around here. I had a few chances when it was played in March and in May. It's a course I always feel like I can see a way around."
Westwood finished fifth and sixth in 1998 and '99 and was fourth three years ago after opening with 67-65. So he knows how to go low here, which he proved again with his 69-66 start.
Westwood is sporting a goatee of sorts. It came about, he explained, because he dived into his swimming pool and scratched his nose, lip and chin so badly he couldn't shave for a week. "I just thought, What the hell? Try to look like you but a bit lighter," he said with a laugh.
More contenders are sure to surface, but Woods will soak up most of the attention on Saturday. It seems just like old times. He's dominating the par-5s -- he's eight under through two rounds. He failed to birdie the 11th on Friday but eagled th
That said, there may be only one thing you really need to know about the Players as the PGA Tour's flagship event heads to the weekend with Tiger sitting at 10 under par, a shot behind Sergio Garcia and just ahead of glittering pursuers such as Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson and Jason Dufner, among others.
Tiger already has three victories this year, his game appears stronger and more solid than at any time since the mid-2000s and he looks healthier, sleeker and more golf-ready than he has in years.
Here comes the punchline: Asked after Friday's round if there was any part of his game he wasn't pleased with, Tiger smiled ever-so-slightly and answered, "No, I'm pretty pleased with where it's at right now."
Later, asked to identify one part of his game he was happiest with, he reiterated, "I'm pleased with every facet of it."
Rory McIlroy was a wee teenager when Tiger was in his dominating prime, but those with longer memories will recall that on the few occasions Tiger was willing to admit he was playing well, he was actually playing fantastically. Those were the weeks he won going away.
Yogi Berra won't tell you this is "déjà vu all over again," but make a note.
"I'm driving it well, hitting it well with my irons, my distance control is good, my short game is really solid and I'm making my share of putts," Tiger said.
Uh-oh. What's left? Not sticking his tee into the ground as easily as he'd like? Not finding the ball marker in his pocket as quickly as he used to? Not tying his shoelaces too neatly?
Roberto Castro got the Players off to a flying start with an opening 63 on Thursday. By Friday morning, the focus shifted to Tiger. That's the best break a tournament can get.
Even better, despite back-to-back 67s, Woods isn't running away with this thing. Just when the tournament's temperature rose a couple of degrees after Tiger ran in a 20-foot eagle putt on No. 2, his 11th hole of the day, to briefly take the lead. Garcia, playing in the group ahead, was on a run of five straight birdies en route to a final-nine 31.
Garcia capped his round with an eighth birdie at No. 8, the long par 3, for 65. Meanwhile, Westwood pitched in for eagle at No. 11, his second hole, then birdied the next two holes and shot 66 to move into third with Kevin Chappell, two shots behind Garcia after the morning wave finished.
There was also Ryan Palmer, who chipped in for eagle at the par-5 9th and 11th holes, and shot 69. Playing with Woods, defending champion Matt Kuchar birdied three of his last four holes for 66 to finish at seven under.
This just in from Captain Obvious: It looks like we are in for a terrific weekend at the Players.
The Stadium course isn't typically the kind of track where players can run away and hide, although it has been done. See wins by Stephen Ames (2006) and Henrik Stenson (2009). The spotlight will be on Tiger this weekend, but it appears as if he's going to have plenty of heavy-hitting company.
You may be tempted to dismiss Garcia, who had a long spell of indifferent play after his 2008 sudden-death win over Paul Goydos, but that would be a mistake. The Spaniard has been steadily improving, and you may have forgotten that he won the Wyndham Championship last August. Also, the Stadium course is his favorite playground. He's got a win, a second and a fourth at TPC Sawgrass, and no one has won more money in the Players than Sergio, who has pocketed more than $3.2 million. Even during his down period, he was able to drop in a closing 65 and finish 12th in 2011.
"I've managed to play quite decent on this course," Garcia said. "Any good thing you can get in your head is obviously positive."
The two things that spurred his temporary slide were his attitude and his putting. His attitude has improved, and he has gradually gotten better on the greens since he went to a claw grip three years ago.
A look at his Friday card showed how effective Garcia was with the putter. His birdies at 16 and 18 were from seven and nine feet, respectively. He made five birdies in a row starting at the 2nd hole. The respective lengths of those putts were 15, 7, 8, 19 and 26 feet. He plowed home a 40-footer at the 8th. He had 26 putts on Thursday, 25 on Friday. When Sergio is making putts, he ranks among the world's best players.
"A couple of tee shots here and there I would have loved to hit a little better, but other than that it was nice," Garcia said. "It was a wonderful day."
Westwood, the Englishman who transplanted his family to Florida last winter to better acclimate his game to U.S. courses, is another sort to be reckoned with. He was ranked No. 1 in the world less than two years ago and is one of the game's most consistent ballstrikers. Even though he famously skipped the Players in 2009 and 2011, he claims to be a fan of the Stadium course.
"I love the course, always have," Westwood said. "It's always suited my game and I've played pretty well around here. I had a few chances when it was played in March and in May. It's a course I always feel like I can see a way around."
Westwood finished fifth and sixth in 1998 and '99 and was fourth three years ago after opening with 67-65. So he knows how to go low here, which he proved again with his 69-66 start.
Westwood is sporting a goatee of sorts. It came about, he explained, because he dived into his swimming pool and scratched his nose, lip and chin so badly he couldn't shave for a week. "I just thought, What the hell? Try to look like you but a bit lighter," he said with a laugh.
More contenders are sure to surface, but Woods will soak up most of the attention on Saturday. It seems just like old times. He's dominating the par-5s -- he's eight under through two rounds. He failed to birdie the 11th on Friday but eagled th
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2006/12/07
Messages:
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Australia will host golf's revamped $US8 million World Cup at Royal Melbourne in November, tournament organisers and state government officials said on Sunday. A joint announcement by the International Federation of PGA Tours, the Australian state of Victoria and the International Golf Association said the World Cup will be staged on November 21-24.
It will be the fourth time the World Cup has been held in Australia with the last event won by the United States at Royal Melbourne in 1988, as part of Australia's bicentennial celebrations.
Royal Melbourne, which also hosted The Presidents Cup 2011, will stage back-to-back events in November.
The World Cup will be preceded by the Australian Masters, which boasts recently-crowned Augusta Masters winner Adam Scott as the defending champion and will be followed by the Australian Open at Royal Sydney.
"This is a great day for golf and a great day for Australia," PGA of Australia chief executive Brian Thorburn said.
"The addition of the World Cup will complement an already strong swing of tournaments including the Australian PGA, Open and Masters and will significantly boost the international player prospects for these events."
The World Cup will have a total purse of $US8 million, with individual stroke-play competition worth $US7 million, and a team component (adding the total scores of two-man teams) worth $US1 million.
The World Cup qualification system is similar to the one that will be used at the Olympic Games -- golf returns to the programme in Rio in 2016.
The field will include 60 players with no cut and with eligibility taken from the Official World Golf Ranking.
Up to four players can qualify, per country, if they are in the top 15 rankings.
Beyond No.15, up to a maximum of two players per country can qualify.
Under the World Cup qualification model England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be recognised as individual nations, not as Great Britain as at the Olympics.
forum-ixgames-com/newthread-php?do=newthread&f=48
It will be the fourth time the World Cup has been held in Australia with the last event won by the United States at Royal Melbourne in 1988, as part of Australia's bicentennial celebrations.
Royal Melbourne, which also hosted The Presidents Cup 2011, will stage back-to-back events in November.
The World Cup will be preceded by the Australian Masters, which boasts recently-crowned Augusta Masters winner Adam Scott as the defending champion and will be followed by the Australian Open at Royal Sydney.
"This is a great day for golf and a great day for Australia," PGA of Australia chief executive Brian Thorburn said.
"The addition of the World Cup will complement an already strong swing of tournaments including the Australian PGA, Open and Masters and will significantly boost the international player prospects for these events."
The World Cup will have a total purse of $US8 million, with individual stroke-play competition worth $US7 million, and a team component (adding the total scores of two-man teams) worth $US1 million.
The World Cup qualification system is similar to the one that will be used at the Olympic Games -- golf returns to the programme in Rio in 2016.
The field will include 60 players with no cut and with eligibility taken from the Official World Golf Ranking.
Up to four players can qualify, per country, if they are in the top 15 rankings.
Beyond No.15, up to a maximum of two players per country can qualify.
Under the World Cup qualification model England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be recognised as individual nations, not as Great Britain as at the Olympics.
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2006/12/07
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Tiger Woods has said he doesn't want to be as good as he was at the turn of the century, when he held all four major championship trophies concurrently and when he last won the Players Championship (2001) at TPC Sawgrass. He wants to be better.
After winning his second Players trophy by two over David Lingmerth, Jeff Maggert and Kevin Streelman, Woods is certainly on the right track. The 37-year-old No. 1 overcame a double-bogey on the par-4 14th hole when his tee shot hooked into the water, watched his closest pursuer, Sergio Garcia, fall apart with a series of water balls on 17 and 18, and signed for a 2-under 70 that could signal a big summer ahead in the majors.
"The golf course played tricky today," Woods said. "It was fast and difficult and I hit it so good, it was fun. I hit it high, low, left to right, right to left, whatever I wanted, except for that tee shot at 14."
The victory was Woods's fourth of 2013 and 78th overall, four short of Sam Snead's all-time record of 82, and came with his girlfriend, Olympic gold medal-winning skier Lindsey Vonn, watching from the gallery. He has now converted 53 of 57 third-round leads/co-leads on Tour, including 22 of his last 23.
"He's always hit it really good and now he's starting to get that putter back to the way it was in 2000," said Brandt Snedeker, who shot a final-round 70 to finish 7 under and in a seven-way tie for eighth place. "Didn't seem like he missed a putt for two years, and he's kind of getting that feeling back again."
Woods hit a succession of 3-woods, 5-woods and long-irons off the tees, reaching for his driver just once, on the par-5 11th hole. He hit 55 of 72 greens in regulation -- tied for third among all players -- and got up and down more than 70 percent of the time. He was four for four in sand saves. Asked if this was the most impressive of Woods's four wins this year, his caddie, Joe LaCava, said it was.
"He played great at Bay Hill and Doral," LaCava said as he stood in the parking lot and packed Woods's clubs in a travel bag emblazoned with the Stanford logo, "but this is a more demanding course, tee to green." For much of Sunday it seemed Woods might get the stiffest challenge from Sergio Garcia. The two clashed over a perceived breach of etiquette by Woods when they were paired together Saturday, and made no secret of their disdain for one another. They were still tied by 6 p.m. Sunday, when Garcia birdied 13 to pull even with Woods, who had just double-bogeyed 14 up ahead.
Playing with Garcia in the largely ignored final group of the day, one behind Woods and Casey Wittenberg (75, -7, T8), Lingmerth also birdied 13.
Just like that a potential Woods coronation had turned into a quartet at the top at 12 under: Garcia, Woods, Lingmerth and the resurgent Maggert, at age 49.
Woods got up and down from the front bunker to birdie the par-5 16th hole, and Garcia hit the green in two and two-putted to match him at 13 under. Maggert found the water on 17 and made double-bogey to take himself out of it.
That's when the day took the biggest plot twist since Woods's water ball on 14: Garcia hit not one but two balls in the drink on 17 and made a quadruple-bogey 7.
"I just under-hit it a little bit," Garcia said. "I felt with a little bit of adrenaline and stuff I didn't want to shoot over the green with a wedge. Just needed to hit it a little bit harder; maybe [I was] a little too confident." He found the water again on 18, making double-bogey to shoot 76 and tie for eighth place.
Lingmerth, a former hockey player, had been playing with a stiff neck and missed eight of his last 10 cuts (and five straight) coming into the Players. But with his dad, uncle and brother following him every step of the way, he played nothing like a hapless rookie at TPC Sawgrass, a course he had seen nearly a dozen times since he moved from Fayetteville, Ark., to Jacksonville in December.
After stalling in the middle of his round, Lingmerth birdied 12 and 13, made bogey on 14 and nearly eagled the par-5 16th hole out of the sand trap left of the green, settling for another birdie. He hit a brave tee shot seven and a half feet right of the right pin on 17, but with a chance to tie he missed his birdie try a hair right.
Needing to birdie 18 he hit into the right rough and also hung his approach shot to the right, giving himself a nearly impossible, lightning-fast, 78-foot birdie putt. When he struck it and watched as his ball zoomed well past the hole and onto the fringe, Woods had won the tournament. He hugged LaCava.
"It was a great week overall," Lingmerth said. "I'm in it to win it. I felt I had a good couple of chances there toward the end, and just didn't putt very well."
The leaders returned to finish the rain-delayed third round early Sunday morning, and Woods played his last four holes in 1 under, which got him into a three-way tie for the lead with Garcia and Lingmerth. After three days in which the greens had run at reasonable speeds, they were noticeably faster Sunday.
"These greens are getting really firm, and much faster today than they were even the last two days," said Kevin Streelman, who shot 67 to tie Martin Laird and Jimmy Walker for the day's low round and tied for second at 11 under par.
"I three-putted five times," said Swede Peter Hanson, shaking his head.
Rory McIlroy, who had lingered just out of contention entering the final round, birdied four of his last six holes to shoot 70 and finish 7 under. That was good enough to tie for eighth place, and the former No. 1 walked away knowing what he needs to address in advance of next month's U.S. Open at Merion.
"Tee to green I thought I played really, really well," said McIlroy, who hit 34 of 56 fairways and 52 of 72 greens. "I just didn't hole the putt. I've got a week off now and I'll go and work on that and see if I can improve around the greens. If I can do that and keep hitting the ball the same way, I think it'
After winning his second Players trophy by two over David Lingmerth, Jeff Maggert and Kevin Streelman, Woods is certainly on the right track. The 37-year-old No. 1 overcame a double-bogey on the par-4 14th hole when his tee shot hooked into the water, watched his closest pursuer, Sergio Garcia, fall apart with a series of water balls on 17 and 18, and signed for a 2-under 70 that could signal a big summer ahead in the majors.
"The golf course played tricky today," Woods said. "It was fast and difficult and I hit it so good, it was fun. I hit it high, low, left to right, right to left, whatever I wanted, except for that tee shot at 14."
The victory was Woods's fourth of 2013 and 78th overall, four short of Sam Snead's all-time record of 82, and came with his girlfriend, Olympic gold medal-winning skier Lindsey Vonn, watching from the gallery. He has now converted 53 of 57 third-round leads/co-leads on Tour, including 22 of his last 23.
"He's always hit it really good and now he's starting to get that putter back to the way it was in 2000," said Brandt Snedeker, who shot a final-round 70 to finish 7 under and in a seven-way tie for eighth place. "Didn't seem like he missed a putt for two years, and he's kind of getting that feeling back again."
Woods hit a succession of 3-woods, 5-woods and long-irons off the tees, reaching for his driver just once, on the par-5 11th hole. He hit 55 of 72 greens in regulation -- tied for third among all players -- and got up and down more than 70 percent of the time. He was four for four in sand saves. Asked if this was the most impressive of Woods's four wins this year, his caddie, Joe LaCava, said it was.
"He played great at Bay Hill and Doral," LaCava said as he stood in the parking lot and packed Woods's clubs in a travel bag emblazoned with the Stanford logo, "but this is a more demanding course, tee to green." For much of Sunday it seemed Woods might get the stiffest challenge from Sergio Garcia. The two clashed over a perceived breach of etiquette by Woods when they were paired together Saturday, and made no secret of their disdain for one another. They were still tied by 6 p.m. Sunday, when Garcia birdied 13 to pull even with Woods, who had just double-bogeyed 14 up ahead.
Playing with Garcia in the largely ignored final group of the day, one behind Woods and Casey Wittenberg (75, -7, T8), Lingmerth also birdied 13.
Just like that a potential Woods coronation had turned into a quartet at the top at 12 under: Garcia, Woods, Lingmerth and the resurgent Maggert, at age 49.
Woods got up and down from the front bunker to birdie the par-5 16th hole, and Garcia hit the green in two and two-putted to match him at 13 under. Maggert found the water on 17 and made double-bogey to take himself out of it.
That's when the day took the biggest plot twist since Woods's water ball on 14: Garcia hit not one but two balls in the drink on 17 and made a quadruple-bogey 7.
"I just under-hit it a little bit," Garcia said. "I felt with a little bit of adrenaline and stuff I didn't want to shoot over the green with a wedge. Just needed to hit it a little bit harder; maybe [I was] a little too confident." He found the water again on 18, making double-bogey to shoot 76 and tie for eighth place.
Lingmerth, a former hockey player, had been playing with a stiff neck and missed eight of his last 10 cuts (and five straight) coming into the Players. But with his dad, uncle and brother following him every step of the way, he played nothing like a hapless rookie at TPC Sawgrass, a course he had seen nearly a dozen times since he moved from Fayetteville, Ark., to Jacksonville in December.
After stalling in the middle of his round, Lingmerth birdied 12 and 13, made bogey on 14 and nearly eagled the par-5 16th hole out of the sand trap left of the green, settling for another birdie. He hit a brave tee shot seven and a half feet right of the right pin on 17, but with a chance to tie he missed his birdie try a hair right.
Needing to birdie 18 he hit into the right rough and also hung his approach shot to the right, giving himself a nearly impossible, lightning-fast, 78-foot birdie putt. When he struck it and watched as his ball zoomed well past the hole and onto the fringe, Woods had won the tournament. He hugged LaCava.
"It was a great week overall," Lingmerth said. "I'm in it to win it. I felt I had a good couple of chances there toward the end, and just didn't putt very well."
The leaders returned to finish the rain-delayed third round early Sunday morning, and Woods played his last four holes in 1 under, which got him into a three-way tie for the lead with Garcia and Lingmerth. After three days in which the greens had run at reasonable speeds, they were noticeably faster Sunday.
"These greens are getting really firm, and much faster today than they were even the last two days," said Kevin Streelman, who shot 67 to tie Martin Laird and Jimmy Walker for the day's low round and tied for second at 11 under par.
"I three-putted five times," said Swede Peter Hanson, shaking his head.
Rory McIlroy, who had lingered just out of contention entering the final round, birdied four of his last six holes to shoot 70 and finish 7 under. That was good enough to tie for eighth place, and the former No. 1 walked away knowing what he needs to address in advance of next month's U.S. Open at Merion.
"Tee to green I thought I played really, really well," said McIlroy, who hit 34 of 56 fairways and 52 of 72 greens. "I just didn't hole the putt. I've got a week off now and I'll go and work on that and see if I can improve around the greens. If I can do that and keep hitting the ball the same way, I think it'
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2006/12/07
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Five decades after Fidel Castro ordered Cuba's golf courses to be closed down because he considered them "elitist", the island's communist government has approved the construction of a luxury golf resort, complete with an 18-hole course.
The $350m (£227m) Carbonera Club proposed by British firm Esencia is the first of a dozen similar initiatives that have long been under consideration.
The move is a sign of the changing times here, as the government seeks new revenue sources to fund its socialist revolution.
"It will be a major complement to the tourist offering of [the resort town of] Varadero and the start of a whole new policy to increase the presence of golf in Cuba," Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero told the BBC during a visit to Varadero.
Long wait
He confirmed that a formal deal had been reached for a joint venture between Esencia and the Cuban government to develop the Carbonera resort, a short distance along the coast.
"We've been working on this for seven years, step by step, so we're very excited it's finally going to happen," Esencia's CEO Andrew McDonald said on a tour of the 170-hectare (420-acre) site.
Mr McDonald said he expected building work to begin next year on a design which would transform the area.
As well as the golf course, the plans include the construction of an exclusive, gated community of some 650 apartments and villas.
There will also be a hotel and a country club, complete with tennis courts, spa and a yacht club.
And Carbonera is not the only project in the pipeline. A second golf project, with Chinese investment, is expected to be approved by the end of this year.
Other resorts will then be rolled out gradually across the island with Spanish, Vietnamese and Russian funding.
Property boom
And it is not just golf that is the novelty here.
Foreigners will be able to buy property on the developments, the first time that has been allowed anywhere in Cuba apart from a short-lived experiment in the 1990s.
"People retiring in Canada and Europe often look for a second home," says Gabriel Alvarez, the Cuban official charged with developing the new sector.
"Cuba has all the conditions to be an option for them: safety, nature, culture. So why not come here?", he asks.
The luxury developments will remain, for now, the only place foreigners can buy in Cuba. Early figures suggest high demand for a market that has been off-limits for decades.
Theplan is to turn the island into a golfing destination to rival nearby alternatives.
"Golfers are renowned for travelling to new places; it's a multi-billion dollar industry," says Mr McDonald.
"I think Cuba will fit very well into that jigsaw, and be very popular," he adds.
But for that to become reality, the island needs more courses. Currently, there is just one 18-hole course in Cuba, at the Varadero Golf Club.
The club opened as tourism to Cuba took off in the 1990s, and some 200 rounds are played there each day.
"There's definitely scope for more golf here," said Canadian Daryl Giles during a recent tournament there.
"You go to Florida and there's lots of choice. Here there's just the one," he said.
With more courses, "you could have a helluva good time here," he added.
Slow progress
But it has taken Cuba a long time to come round to the idea.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
"I think golf could have a good future here. We love baseball, and the swing is similar”
Enrique Nunez Cuban golf enthusiast
In pre-Communist times, there were at least seven golf courses on the island, frequented mainly by wealthy residents and US visitors. locals recall.
Even Fidel Castro famously played a round in Havana once, taking on Che Guevara dressed in military fatigues.
But he was clearly not a convert, ordering Cuba's courses be put to less "bourgeois" use.
Today, one of them lies abandoned just outside Havana; another became a special forces training ground and a third forms the rolling lawns of a city arts school.
But pragmatism has finally overcoming lingering resistance to reversing that move.
Attempts to drill for oil and bring economic independence to Cuba have come up dry and the death of the island's key financial backer, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, has made the future more uncertain.
Democratic game
So once unthinkable things are happening here. Tourism is now the second biggest source of income on an island once closed to the outside world. Last year, 2.8 million people visited Cuba, mostly opting for all-inclusive hotel deals along palm-lined golden beaches.
But figures suggest golf tourists spend four times more than pure sun-seekers, and Cuba wants to tap into that potential.
The Carbonera Club deal also suggests other foreign investment could pick up pace now .
"I think there's more openness to bringing people like us in. As long as Cubans are in charge of the speed of the process, then anything is possible," he sys.
As for golf, Cuba is keen to re-style the game as a democratic sport, pointing out that the sport has been included in the next Olympic Games.
"Of course it's not for all Cubans at this moment," admits Enrique Nunez, owner of a successful Havana restaurant and recent golf convert.
A round costs five times the average monthly state wage here.
But there is already talk of creating a golf federation for locals, taking advantage of the new tourist facilities.
"I think golf could have a good future here. We love baseball, and the swing is similar," Mr Nunez suggests.
Even though the sport was banned for so long, "we could be naturals," he says.The evolution of the Cuban cigar
BBC News - Cuba golf project gets green light
The $350m (£227m) Carbonera Club proposed by British firm Esencia is the first of a dozen similar initiatives that have long been under consideration.
The move is a sign of the changing times here, as the government seeks new revenue sources to fund its socialist revolution.
"It will be a major complement to the tourist offering of [the resort town of] Varadero and the start of a whole new policy to increase the presence of golf in Cuba," Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero told the BBC during a visit to Varadero.
Long wait
He confirmed that a formal deal had been reached for a joint venture between Esencia and the Cuban government to develop the Carbonera resort, a short distance along the coast.
"We've been working on this for seven years, step by step, so we're very excited it's finally going to happen," Esencia's CEO Andrew McDonald said on a tour of the 170-hectare (420-acre) site.
Mr McDonald said he expected building work to begin next year on a design which would transform the area.
As well as the golf course, the plans include the construction of an exclusive, gated community of some 650 apartments and villas.
There will also be a hotel and a country club, complete with tennis courts, spa and a yacht club.
And Carbonera is not the only project in the pipeline. A second golf project, with Chinese investment, is expected to be approved by the end of this year.
Other resorts will then be rolled out gradually across the island with Spanish, Vietnamese and Russian funding.
Property boom
And it is not just golf that is the novelty here.
Foreigners will be able to buy property on the developments, the first time that has been allowed anywhere in Cuba apart from a short-lived experiment in the 1990s.
"People retiring in Canada and Europe often look for a second home," says Gabriel Alvarez, the Cuban official charged with developing the new sector.
"Cuba has all the conditions to be an option for them: safety, nature, culture. So why not come here?", he asks.
The luxury developments will remain, for now, the only place foreigners can buy in Cuba. Early figures suggest high demand for a market that has been off-limits for decades.
Theplan is to turn the island into a golfing destination to rival nearby alternatives.
"Golfers are renowned for travelling to new places; it's a multi-billion dollar industry," says Mr McDonald.
"I think Cuba will fit very well into that jigsaw, and be very popular," he adds.
But for that to become reality, the island needs more courses. Currently, there is just one 18-hole course in Cuba, at the Varadero Golf Club.
The club opened as tourism to Cuba took off in the 1990s, and some 200 rounds are played there each day.
"There's definitely scope for more golf here," said Canadian Daryl Giles during a recent tournament there.
"You go to Florida and there's lots of choice. Here there's just the one," he said.
With more courses, "you could have a helluva good time here," he added.
Slow progress
But it has taken Cuba a long time to come round to the idea.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
"I think golf could have a good future here. We love baseball, and the swing is similar”
Enrique Nunez Cuban golf enthusiast
In pre-Communist times, there were at least seven golf courses on the island, frequented mainly by wealthy residents and US visitors. locals recall.
Even Fidel Castro famously played a round in Havana once, taking on Che Guevara dressed in military fatigues.
But he was clearly not a convert, ordering Cuba's courses be put to less "bourgeois" use.
Today, one of them lies abandoned just outside Havana; another became a special forces training ground and a third forms the rolling lawns of a city arts school.
But pragmatism has finally overcoming lingering resistance to reversing that move.
Attempts to drill for oil and bring economic independence to Cuba have come up dry and the death of the island's key financial backer, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, has made the future more uncertain.
Democratic game
So once unthinkable things are happening here. Tourism is now the second biggest source of income on an island once closed to the outside world. Last year, 2.8 million people visited Cuba, mostly opting for all-inclusive hotel deals along palm-lined golden beaches.
But figures suggest golf tourists spend four times more than pure sun-seekers, and Cuba wants to tap into that potential.
The Carbonera Club deal also suggests other foreign investment could pick up pace now .
"I think there's more openness to bringing people like us in. As long as Cubans are in charge of the speed of the process, then anything is possible," he sys.
As for golf, Cuba is keen to re-style the game as a democratic sport, pointing out that the sport has been included in the next Olympic Games.
"Of course it's not for all Cubans at this moment," admits Enrique Nunez, owner of a successful Havana restaurant and recent golf convert.
A round costs five times the average monthly state wage here.
But there is already talk of creating a golf federation for locals, taking advantage of the new tourist facilities.
"I think golf could have a good future here. We love baseball, and the swing is similar," Mr Nunez suggests.
Even though the sport was banned for so long, "we could be naturals," he says.The evolution of the Cuban cigar
BBC News - Cuba golf project gets green light
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
In almost every major disagreement between siblings, sports teams or ethnic groups, there is usually some underlying explanation for the dispute that goes back months, years or centuries (in the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict).
Over the past weekend at The Players Championship at TPC at Sawgrass, we saw history in action in the war of words between Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia. In the midst of an argument over on-course etiquette, it came out that Garcia doesn't think Tiger is a nice person.
No tour player has been that forthcoming about his personal feelings toward the 14-time major champion. There were those who were critical of Tiger's character after the revelations of his sordid extramarital affairs in late 2009, but no one tried to use that moment to give a portrait of the whole man and what kind of guy he would be to have a beer with. Sergio got some support from the marshals who were stationed on the second hole on Saturday. Tiger said he had only pulled his club, the act that set off the chain of events that upset Garcia, after he was given the go-ahead by the marshals, who disputed that claim in an interview with Sports Illustrated.
"Nothing was said to us and we certainly said nothing to him," said chief marshal John North. "I was disappointed to hear him make those remarks. We're there to help the players and enhance the experience of the fans. He was saying what was good for him. It lacked character."
Tiger's worst offense in all of this could be (allegedly) lying about consulting with the marshals or misinterpreting signals that he might have gotten from them that it was his turn to play.
Players, with the help of their caddies, generally exchange their yardages in the fairways with others in their group to determine who will play first. Sergio and Tiger were on opposite sides of the fairway and didn't go through this ritual. This might have saved us from having to endure all this "he said, he said" business, but in the end, none of it had any bearing on the outcome of the golf tournament.
And besides, if Tiger had pulled a lay-up club instead of a fairway metal to hit the par-5 in two, there wouldn't have been the crowd applause to irritate Sergio.
Most people want to take a side when it comes to Tiger. In our commentary-driven culture, it's not enough to just love or hate him. Some of us need to defend him against the haters, who have found a hero in Sergio.
Every occasion to talk about Tiger is a time to argue and ruminate over his strengths and weaknesses, his character and likability, his choice of girlfriend and caddie.
Tiger is not above reproach or completely innocent. He is not known on tour as one of the "nicest guys," but neither were Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman or Nick Faldo in their primes. But around the tour, Tiger is considered professional, and if he likes you he will give you a nickname and the gentle ribbing that happens between friends.
As several players have told me through the years, it's hard to dislike a man who's made them all rich through the interests and corporate sponsorship that he's brought to the game. Yet for these same reasons, it's also easy to resent him. But Sergio didn't give one example to demonstrate why Tiger is not a very nice person.
Could it be that he's angry at Tiger for being everything Sergio is not? The events on Saturday were perhaps a convenient way for Garcia to let loose some of his venom against the world's No. 1 player.
We have the version of events from two marshals. It's conceivable that Tiger got clearance to play from another official. What reason would he have to make up a conversation that didn't happen?
Tiger has spent his entire professional career dealing with crowds: pushing them back and pulling them in through his dramatic theater. All of that history doesn't come tumbling down over a split-second decision on one hole.
This war of words is far from over, and once it's done we still won't be any closer to knowing fully whether Tiger is a nice guy or one we can trust.
The debate about whether or not Tiger Woods is likable - Golf - ESPN
Over the past weekend at The Players Championship at TPC at Sawgrass, we saw history in action in the war of words between Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia. In the midst of an argument over on-course etiquette, it came out that Garcia doesn't think Tiger is a nice person.
No tour player has been that forthcoming about his personal feelings toward the 14-time major champion. There were those who were critical of Tiger's character after the revelations of his sordid extramarital affairs in late 2009, but no one tried to use that moment to give a portrait of the whole man and what kind of guy he would be to have a beer with. Sergio got some support from the marshals who were stationed on the second hole on Saturday. Tiger said he had only pulled his club, the act that set off the chain of events that upset Garcia, after he was given the go-ahead by the marshals, who disputed that claim in an interview with Sports Illustrated.
"Nothing was said to us and we certainly said nothing to him," said chief marshal John North. "I was disappointed to hear him make those remarks. We're there to help the players and enhance the experience of the fans. He was saying what was good for him. It lacked character."
Tiger's worst offense in all of this could be (allegedly) lying about consulting with the marshals or misinterpreting signals that he might have gotten from them that it was his turn to play.
Players, with the help of their caddies, generally exchange their yardages in the fairways with others in their group to determine who will play first. Sergio and Tiger were on opposite sides of the fairway and didn't go through this ritual. This might have saved us from having to endure all this "he said, he said" business, but in the end, none of it had any bearing on the outcome of the golf tournament.
And besides, if Tiger had pulled a lay-up club instead of a fairway metal to hit the par-5 in two, there wouldn't have been the crowd applause to irritate Sergio.
Most people want to take a side when it comes to Tiger. In our commentary-driven culture, it's not enough to just love or hate him. Some of us need to defend him against the haters, who have found a hero in Sergio.
Every occasion to talk about Tiger is a time to argue and ruminate over his strengths and weaknesses, his character and likability, his choice of girlfriend and caddie.
Tiger is not above reproach or completely innocent. He is not known on tour as one of the "nicest guys," but neither were Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman or Nick Faldo in their primes. But around the tour, Tiger is considered professional, and if he likes you he will give you a nickname and the gentle ribbing that happens between friends.
As several players have told me through the years, it's hard to dislike a man who's made them all rich through the interests and corporate sponsorship that he's brought to the game. Yet for these same reasons, it's also easy to resent him. But Sergio didn't give one example to demonstrate why Tiger is not a very nice person.
Could it be that he's angry at Tiger for being everything Sergio is not? The events on Saturday were perhaps a convenient way for Garcia to let loose some of his venom against the world's No. 1 player.
We have the version of events from two marshals. It's conceivable that Tiger got clearance to play from another official. What reason would he have to make up a conversation that didn't happen?
Tiger has spent his entire professional career dealing with crowds: pushing them back and pulling them in through his dramatic theater. All of that history doesn't come tumbling down over a split-second decision on one hole.
This war of words is far from over, and once it's done we still won't be any closer to knowing fully whether Tiger is a nice guy or one we can trust.
The debate about whether or not Tiger Woods is likable - Golf - ESPN
Join:
2006/12/07
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29893
Guan Tianlang is one of five amateur players being honoured this week for the Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Awards.
While the other four award recipients will be watching the Byron Nelson Championship, the 14-year-old Guan — already the youngest player to make a cut on the PGA Tour — is playing in the tournament.
This is the second PGA Tour event for the eighth-grader from China since making the cut last month at the Masters. He also made the cut at New Orleans, where he first spoke with Nelson officials about playing this week.
“Always a challenge, every tournament, because this is another big event ... this is only my third start and everything is still new to me,” Guan said Wednesday, a day before the Nelson’s opening round. “I have to play my best and make some good score.”
The youngster’s impressive performance at Augusta has led to invitations to play in other events. He hopes to again be playing in the weekend rounds.
“For this week, I want to enjoy the experience, great experience here,” Guan said. “And hope to, yeah, make the cut. And if I make the cut hope to play better and better.”
There are two sponsor exemptions playing in this year’s Nelson: Guan and 19-year-old Jordan Spieth, the Dallas native playing at TPC Four Seasons for the third time.
Spieth is playing as a pro this time, having made six of nine cuts and already won nearly $700,000 this season. As an amateur at the Nelson, he tied for 16th as a 16-year-old in 2010, then played on the same day as his high school graduation two years ago when he tied for 32nd. He played one season at the University of Texas before turning pro.
“I think it’s incredible what he’s doing,” Spieth said about Guan. “He played beyond his years, the composure. I watched him at the Masters and honestly going into it, I thought it would be a little too much for him, and he surprised the whole world. Then to follow it up with a made cut in his second event.”
The two had what Spieth described as “small talk” when they were on the range next to each other in New Orleans.
This week in the area Spieth calls home, they were near each other on the putting green.
“It was just me and my bag, and he he’s got a whole group of people,” said Spieth, a past recipient of the Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Awards based on golf performance, academic success and community involvement.
Guan has handled the pressure of playing PGA events.
He said he prepared for the Masters for a long time, and that experience helped him in New Orleans and should help him this week.
“Just a long way to go,” Guan said, adding that he has learned a lot in just two starts. “Yeah, a little used to getting to know what to do on the tour. Best players in the world, what are they doing, what are they playing.”
Read more: Chinese golf phenom in the field at PGA Tour
While the other four award recipients will be watching the Byron Nelson Championship, the 14-year-old Guan — already the youngest player to make a cut on the PGA Tour — is playing in the tournament.
This is the second PGA Tour event for the eighth-grader from China since making the cut last month at the Masters. He also made the cut at New Orleans, where he first spoke with Nelson officials about playing this week.
“Always a challenge, every tournament, because this is another big event ... this is only my third start and everything is still new to me,” Guan said Wednesday, a day before the Nelson’s opening round. “I have to play my best and make some good score.”
The youngster’s impressive performance at Augusta has led to invitations to play in other events. He hopes to again be playing in the weekend rounds.
“For this week, I want to enjoy the experience, great experience here,” Guan said. “And hope to, yeah, make the cut. And if I make the cut hope to play better and better.”
There are two sponsor exemptions playing in this year’s Nelson: Guan and 19-year-old Jordan Spieth, the Dallas native playing at TPC Four Seasons for the third time.
Spieth is playing as a pro this time, having made six of nine cuts and already won nearly $700,000 this season. As an amateur at the Nelson, he tied for 16th as a 16-year-old in 2010, then played on the same day as his high school graduation two years ago when he tied for 32nd. He played one season at the University of Texas before turning pro.
“I think it’s incredible what he’s doing,” Spieth said about Guan. “He played beyond his years, the composure. I watched him at the Masters and honestly going into it, I thought it would be a little too much for him, and he surprised the whole world. Then to follow it up with a made cut in his second event.”
The two had what Spieth described as “small talk” when they were on the range next to each other in New Orleans.
This week in the area Spieth calls home, they were near each other on the putting green.
“It was just me and my bag, and he he’s got a whole group of people,” said Spieth, a past recipient of the Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Awards based on golf performance, academic success and community involvement.
Guan has handled the pressure of playing PGA events.
He said he prepared for the Masters for a long time, and that experience helped him in New Orleans and should help him this week.
“Just a long way to go,” Guan said, adding that he has learned a lot in just two starts. “Yeah, a little used to getting to know what to do on the tour. Best players in the world, what are they doing, what are they playing.”
Read more: Chinese golf phenom in the field at PGA Tour
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2006/12/07
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Keegan Bradley had no thoughts about a course record, or the possibility of a 59, after consecutive bogeys in the middle of his opening round at the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas.
Until his 136-yard wedge shot on his final hole Thursday.
"It was going right at it. (A 59) crossed my mind for a second, and it would be unbelievable if I buried this," Bradley said. "But I had 3 feet to shoot 60. I was actually very nervous, uncomfortable over it."
Bradley shot a 10-under 60, completed by that short birdie at the 428-yard ninth hole, to break the TPC Four Seasons course record and match the best round ever at the Nelson.
After missing the fairways off the tees and making bogeys at No. 18 and then No. 1, the latter starting his back nine, Bradley was at 3 under. He made a 17-foot birdie putt at the 221-yard second hole, and was 7 under his final eight holes with an eagle-birdie-birdie finish.
"It was rare to match up a ball-striking day and make everything. ... It happened today," Bradley said. "The hole looked huge. Even the putts I missed almost went in."
Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel was in second alone at 63, one shot ahead of Robert Karlsson, Harris English and Ted Potter Jr.
Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old amateur from China, shot 70 in his second tournament since making the cut at the Masters. The eighth-grader also made the cut in New Orleans three weeks ago.
Guan was among 97 players at par or better on the 7,166-yard course after 1½ inches of rain Wednesday night. Players were able to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairways.
Defending champion Jason Dufner shot a 70 in a group with good friends Bradley and Matt Kuchar (69).
"It felt like a Saturday morning round with my buddies," Bradley said.
LPGA Tour: Lexi Thompson birdied four of her last five holes for a 7-under 65 and a share of the lead with Eun-Hee Ji in the Mobile Bay Classic (Ala.).
The 18-year-old Thompson, second last year behind Stacy Lewis, had eight birdies and a bogey on The Crossings course.
"I knew my game was good, so just going to try to keep that going," said Thompson, who hit to within inches on the par-4 ninth to set up her closing birdie.
Jessica Korda was a shot back at 66, while Lewis opened with a 70. Michelle Wie shot a 74.
Web-com Tour: Four players, including former Stanford star Zack Miller, shared the lead at the 22nd BMW Charity Pro-Am (S.C.).
Miller, tour rookie Franklin Corpening, Hudson Swafford and Mark Anderson had 9-under scores on The Reserve at Lake Keowee. Miller had eagles at Nos. 5 and 15.
European Tour: Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts lost opening round-robin matches in the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Kavarna, Bulgaria.
Thongchai Jaidee beat Poulter 3 and 2, and Colsaerts, the defending champion, fell 4 and 3 to Branden Grace at Thracian Cliffs.
Golf: Keegan Bradley just misses magic number of 59 - San Jose Mercury News
Until his 136-yard wedge shot on his final hole Thursday.
"It was going right at it. (A 59) crossed my mind for a second, and it would be unbelievable if I buried this," Bradley said. "But I had 3 feet to shoot 60. I was actually very nervous, uncomfortable over it."
Bradley shot a 10-under 60, completed by that short birdie at the 428-yard ninth hole, to break the TPC Four Seasons course record and match the best round ever at the Nelson.
After missing the fairways off the tees and making bogeys at No. 18 and then No. 1, the latter starting his back nine, Bradley was at 3 under. He made a 17-foot birdie putt at the 221-yard second hole, and was 7 under his final eight holes with an eagle-birdie-birdie finish.
"It was rare to match up a ball-striking day and make everything. ... It happened today," Bradley said. "The hole looked huge. Even the putts I missed almost went in."
Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel was in second alone at 63, one shot ahead of Robert Karlsson, Harris English and Ted Potter Jr.
Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old amateur from China, shot 70 in his second tournament since making the cut at the Masters. The eighth-grader also made the cut in New Orleans three weeks ago.
Guan was among 97 players at par or better on the 7,166-yard course after 1½ inches of rain Wednesday night. Players were able to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairways.
Defending champion Jason Dufner shot a 70 in a group with good friends Bradley and Matt Kuchar (69).
"It felt like a Saturday morning round with my buddies," Bradley said.
LPGA Tour: Lexi Thompson birdied four of her last five holes for a 7-under 65 and a share of the lead with Eun-Hee Ji in the Mobile Bay Classic (Ala.).
The 18-year-old Thompson, second last year behind Stacy Lewis, had eight birdies and a bogey on The Crossings course.
"I knew my game was good, so just going to try to keep that going," said Thompson, who hit to within inches on the par-4 ninth to set up her closing birdie.
Jessica Korda was a shot back at 66, while Lewis opened with a 70. Michelle Wie shot a 74.
Web-com Tour: Four players, including former Stanford star Zack Miller, shared the lead at the 22nd BMW Charity Pro-Am (S.C.).
Miller, tour rookie Franklin Corpening, Hudson Swafford and Mark Anderson had 9-under scores on The Reserve at Lake Keowee. Miller had eagles at Nos. 5 and 15.
European Tour: Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts lost opening round-robin matches in the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Kavarna, Bulgaria.
Thongchai Jaidee beat Poulter 3 and 2, and Colsaerts, the defending champion, fell 4 and 3 to Branden Grace at Thracian Cliffs.
Golf: Keegan Bradley just misses magic number of 59 - San Jose Mercury News
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The legendary amateur player from San Francisco and 1964 U.S. Open champion worked at the network for a record 35 years before he retired in 2002.
Ken Venturi, the principled and plainspoken CBS Sports golf analyst who commented on the game for a broadcast-record 35 years until his retirement in 2002, has died. He was 82. Venturi died Friday at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, Calif., his son Matt told the San Francisco Chronicle. He recently had developed a series of infections in his back and required surgery.
Venturi was elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame but was unable to attend the May 6 induction ceremony.
During his playing career, Venturi nearly won the 1956 Masters as a 24-year-old amateur (he shot an 80 in the final round and lost by a shot) and went on to capture 14 PGA Tour events, including, most memorably, the 1964 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club outside Washington. Playing 36 holes on the final day in 100-degree heat and stifling humidity, Venturi somehow put together rounds of 66 and 70 on an extremely tough course to stagger home to victory. “My God, I’ve won the Open,” he said immediately after sinking his final putt.
The San Francisco golf legend retired from playing because of carpal tunnel syndrome and joined CBS as lead golf analyst for the 1968 season. Through the years, he was paired in the tower at the 18th hole with the likes of Vin Scully, Pat Summerall and Jim Nantz.
Venturi formulated his approach to broadcasting by taking advice from the late CBS golf producer Frank Chirkinian. “You’re doing television. It’s not what you say but what you don’t say. I never talked over a shot — I let it play,” he told David Feherty in a 2012 interview at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles.
His 35 years of work makes him the longest-tenured lead analyst in sports broadcasting history. Remarkably, Venturi managed that despite a terrible stammer that hampered him when he was young. “A teacher told my mother that I was an incurable stammerer and that I’d never be able to speak,” Venturi once recalled. “My mother asked me what I was going to do, and I said, ‘Well, I’m going to take up the loneliest sport I know of -- I’m going to take up golf.’ ”
After Venturi departed, CBS replaced him with Lanny Wadkins, who lasted five seasons before current No. 1 analyst Nick Faldo was hired.
The blue-collar, blue-eyed Venturi grew up in San Francisco and learned the game at Harding Park, a public course where his dad eventually would run the pro shop. Earlier, Fred Venturi made a living selling nets and twine to fishermen along the Northern California coast.
The younger Venturi declined a draft offer from the New York Yankees, attended San Jose State, served in the Korean War and won the San Francisco City Championship three times and the California state amateur twice before his heartbreaking near-miss at Augusta in 1956. He always said that had he won that Masters, he never would have turned pro.
After his grueling Open victory in 1964, Venturi won twice more that season and was selected as the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year and Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year. But the next season, he lost the feeling in his hands and won a paltry $295 on tour.
Venturi underwent major surgery on both hands and in 1966 posted his final Tour victory at the Lucky International Open at Harding. In 2000, he captained the winning U.S. Presidents Cup team.
Venturi’s success in golf brought him Hollywood connections. Dean Martin was his amateur playing partner at the Crosby tournament at Pebble Beach each year, and he and Frank Sinatra were great pals. They lived together for a time, and the legendary entertainer gave away the bride in 1972 when Venturi married his second wife, Beau — and paid for the wedding. She died of brain cancer in 1997.
Ken Venturi, Famed CBS Sports Golf Analyst, Dies at 82 - The Hollywood Reporter
Ken Venturi, the principled and plainspoken CBS Sports golf analyst who commented on the game for a broadcast-record 35 years until his retirement in 2002, has died. He was 82. Venturi died Friday at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, Calif., his son Matt told the San Francisco Chronicle. He recently had developed a series of infections in his back and required surgery.
Venturi was elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame but was unable to attend the May 6 induction ceremony.
During his playing career, Venturi nearly won the 1956 Masters as a 24-year-old amateur (he shot an 80 in the final round and lost by a shot) and went on to capture 14 PGA Tour events, including, most memorably, the 1964 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club outside Washington. Playing 36 holes on the final day in 100-degree heat and stifling humidity, Venturi somehow put together rounds of 66 and 70 on an extremely tough course to stagger home to victory. “My God, I’ve won the Open,” he said immediately after sinking his final putt.
The San Francisco golf legend retired from playing because of carpal tunnel syndrome and joined CBS as lead golf analyst for the 1968 season. Through the years, he was paired in the tower at the 18th hole with the likes of Vin Scully, Pat Summerall and Jim Nantz.
Venturi formulated his approach to broadcasting by taking advice from the late CBS golf producer Frank Chirkinian. “You’re doing television. It’s not what you say but what you don’t say. I never talked over a shot — I let it play,” he told David Feherty in a 2012 interview at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles.
His 35 years of work makes him the longest-tenured lead analyst in sports broadcasting history. Remarkably, Venturi managed that despite a terrible stammer that hampered him when he was young. “A teacher told my mother that I was an incurable stammerer and that I’d never be able to speak,” Venturi once recalled. “My mother asked me what I was going to do, and I said, ‘Well, I’m going to take up the loneliest sport I know of -- I’m going to take up golf.’ ”
After Venturi departed, CBS replaced him with Lanny Wadkins, who lasted five seasons before current No. 1 analyst Nick Faldo was hired.
The blue-collar, blue-eyed Venturi grew up in San Francisco and learned the game at Harding Park, a public course where his dad eventually would run the pro shop. Earlier, Fred Venturi made a living selling nets and twine to fishermen along the Northern California coast.
The younger Venturi declined a draft offer from the New York Yankees, attended San Jose State, served in the Korean War and won the San Francisco City Championship three times and the California state amateur twice before his heartbreaking near-miss at Augusta in 1956. He always said that had he won that Masters, he never would have turned pro.
After his grueling Open victory in 1964, Venturi won twice more that season and was selected as the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year and Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year. But the next season, he lost the feeling in his hands and won a paltry $295 on tour.
Venturi underwent major surgery on both hands and in 1966 posted his final Tour victory at the Lucky International Open at Harding. In 2000, he captained the winning U.S. Presidents Cup team.
Venturi’s success in golf brought him Hollywood connections. Dean Martin was his amateur playing partner at the Crosby tournament at Pebble Beach each year, and he and Frank Sinatra were great pals. They lived together for a time, and the legendary entertainer gave away the bride in 1972 when Venturi married his second wife, Beau — and paid for the wedding. She died of brain cancer in 1997.
Ken Venturi, Famed CBS Sports Golf Analyst, Dies at 82 - The Hollywood Reporter
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Manne wrote:
The legendary amateur player from San Francisco and 1964 U.S. Open champion worked at the network for a record 35 years before he retired in 2002.
Ken Venturi, the principled and plainspoken CBS Sports golf analyst who commented on the game for a broadcast-record 35 years until his retirement in 2002, has died. He was 82. Venturi died Friday at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, Calif., his son Matt told the San Francisco Chronicle. He recently had developed a series of infections in his back and required surgery.
Venturi was elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame but was unable to attend the May 6 induction ceremony.
During his playing career, Venturi nearly won the 1956 Masters as a 24-year-old amateur (he shot an 80 in the final round and lost by a shot) and went on to capture 14 PGA Tour events, including, most memorably, the 1964 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club outside Washington. Playing 36 holes on the final day in 100-degree heat and stifling humidity, Venturi somehow put together rounds of 66 and 70 on an extremely tough course to stagger home to victory. “My God, I’ve won the Open,” he said immediately after sinking his final putt.
The San Francisco golf legend retired from playing because of carpal tunnel syndrome and joined CBS as lead golf analyst for the 1968 season. Through the years, he was paired in the tower at the 18th hole with the likes of Vin Scully, Pat Summerall and Jim Nantz.
Venturi formulated his approach to broadcasting by taking advice from the late CBS golf producer Frank Chirkinian. “You’re doing television. It’s not what you say but what you don’t say. I never talked over a shot — I let it play,” he told David Feherty in a 2012 interview at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles.
His 35 years of work makes him the longest-tenured lead analyst in sports broadcasting history. Remarkably, Venturi managed that despite a terrible stammer that hampered him when he was young. “A teacher told my mother that I was an incurable stammerer and that I’d never be able to speak,” Venturi once recalled. “My mother asked me what I was going to do, and I said, ‘Well, I’m going to take up the loneliest sport I know of -- I’m going to take up golf.’ ”
After Venturi departed, CBS replaced him with Lanny Wadkins, who lasted five seasons before current No. 1 analyst Nick Faldo was hired.
The blue-collar, blue-eyed Venturi grew up in San Francisco and learned the game at Harding Park, a public course where his dad eventually would run the pro shop. Earlier, Fred Venturi made a living selling nets and twine to fishermen along the Northern California coast.
The younger Venturi declined a draft offer from the New York Yankees, attended San Jose State, served in the Korean War and won the San Francisco City Championship three times and the California state amateur twice before his heartbreaking near-miss at Augusta in 1956. He always said that had he won that Masters, he never would have turned pro.
After his grueling Open victory in 1964, Venturi won twice more that season and was selected as the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year and Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year. But the next season, he lost the feeling in his hands and won a paltry $295 on tour.
Venturi underwent major surgery on both hands and in 1966 posted his final Tour victory at the Lucky International Open at Harding. In 2000, he captained the winning U.S. Presidents Cup team.
Venturi’s success in golf brought him Hollywood connections. Dean Martin was his amateur playing partner at the Crosby tournament at Pebble Beach each year, and he and Frank Sinatra were great pals. They lived together for a time, and the legendary entertainer gave away the bride in 1972 when Venturi married his second wife, Beau — and paid for the wedding. She died of brain cancer in 1997.
Ken Venturi, Famed CBS Sports Golf Analyst, Dies at 82 - The Hollywood Reporter
Was a great guy. So many years to the game!
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Mark Mulder’s children are ages 5, 3 and 1. They never saw their daddy pitch in the major leagues when he was a two-time All-Star and a World Series champion with the St. Louis Cardinals. His baseball career, sadly cut short by shoulder injuries, will be simply mementos and videotape to them.
What they will know is that golf is his passion now, and he’s pretty darned good at it.
Since pitching his last major league game in 2008 at the age of 30, Mulder has become a late-blooming golf phenom. He’s won more than a dozen events on the Golf Channel Amateur Tour, and he put another checkmark on his sporting to-do list Sunday at the La Costa Resort & Spa. Mulder birdied two of the last four holes, fired a 1-under-par 71 on La Costa’s demanding Champions Course and captured the Celebrity Championship hosted by Marshall Faulk. His two-round total of 1-over 145 was two shots better than former NHL player Bernie Nicholls, who closed with a 72.
A victory over celebrities and retired athletes might not seem like a big deal, but Mulder admits he is “ridiculously” competitive and hates to lose, even when the wins in golf come far more infrequently than in baseball.
“I know for him it’s the excitement. I know what it does for him being able to compete and still feel that side of it,” Mulder’s wife, Lindsey, said when the round was over. “He’s obviously doesn’t get that through baseball anymore, so it’s very exciting. And it’s something our kids get to watch him do.”
Mulder, who pitched left-handed but plays golf as a rightie, made his major league debut with the Oakland Athletics in 2000. He notched a combined 40 wins in the 2001-02 seasons, and Mulder was part of a strong rotation that led the A’s to four straight postseason appearances.
But he began to suffer rotator cuff and shoulder problems in 2006 and pitched his last game for St. Louis in 2008. It wasn’t until 2010 that Mulder officially retired, and that same year he began lighting up the Golf Channel Amateur Tour around his home in Scotsdale, Ariz.
Mulder won seven tournaments in 2010 and another four in ’11. He also qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.
“I’ve competed my whole life, and then baseball, it just ended,” Mulder, 35, explained. “Golf gives me a chance to compete. Competing is all I want.”
Two years ago at Morgan Run in the Celebrity Championship then hosted by Drew Brees, Mulder led going into the final round, but shot 74 and was overtaken by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. This time, Mulder trailed actor and previous champion Jack Wagner by one shot, but overtook Wager early and finished like a stellar closer.
“I kind of choked here the last few years,” Mulder said. “To close the deal is a pretty good feeling to come out here and get it done.”
Mulder now has his eye on celebrity golf’s biggest tournament, the American Century Championship, that will held in Lake Tahoe in July. He finished seventh last year.
“This tournament and Tahoe are the two big ones,” Mulder said. “So it’s a step.”
Integrated Sports Marketing, which has staged the San Diego Celebrity Championship for 15 years, reported that this year’s event raised $125,000 for the foundations of Faulk and Junior Seau.
Mulder shows complete game in winning celebrity golf | UTSanDiego-com
What they will know is that golf is his passion now, and he’s pretty darned good at it.
Since pitching his last major league game in 2008 at the age of 30, Mulder has become a late-blooming golf phenom. He’s won more than a dozen events on the Golf Channel Amateur Tour, and he put another checkmark on his sporting to-do list Sunday at the La Costa Resort & Spa. Mulder birdied two of the last four holes, fired a 1-under-par 71 on La Costa’s demanding Champions Course and captured the Celebrity Championship hosted by Marshall Faulk. His two-round total of 1-over 145 was two shots better than former NHL player Bernie Nicholls, who closed with a 72.
A victory over celebrities and retired athletes might not seem like a big deal, but Mulder admits he is “ridiculously” competitive and hates to lose, even when the wins in golf come far more infrequently than in baseball.
“I know for him it’s the excitement. I know what it does for him being able to compete and still feel that side of it,” Mulder’s wife, Lindsey, said when the round was over. “He’s obviously doesn’t get that through baseball anymore, so it’s very exciting. And it’s something our kids get to watch him do.”
Mulder, who pitched left-handed but plays golf as a rightie, made his major league debut with the Oakland Athletics in 2000. He notched a combined 40 wins in the 2001-02 seasons, and Mulder was part of a strong rotation that led the A’s to four straight postseason appearances.
But he began to suffer rotator cuff and shoulder problems in 2006 and pitched his last game for St. Louis in 2008. It wasn’t until 2010 that Mulder officially retired, and that same year he began lighting up the Golf Channel Amateur Tour around his home in Scotsdale, Ariz.
Mulder won seven tournaments in 2010 and another four in ’11. He also qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.
“I’ve competed my whole life, and then baseball, it just ended,” Mulder, 35, explained. “Golf gives me a chance to compete. Competing is all I want.”
Two years ago at Morgan Run in the Celebrity Championship then hosted by Drew Brees, Mulder led going into the final round, but shot 74 and was overtaken by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. This time, Mulder trailed actor and previous champion Jack Wagner by one shot, but overtook Wager early and finished like a stellar closer.
“I kind of choked here the last few years,” Mulder said. “To close the deal is a pretty good feeling to come out here and get it done.”
Mulder now has his eye on celebrity golf’s biggest tournament, the American Century Championship, that will held in Lake Tahoe in July. He finished seventh last year.
“This tournament and Tahoe are the two big ones,” Mulder said. “So it’s a step.”
Integrated Sports Marketing, which has staged the San Diego Celebrity Championship for 15 years, reported that this year’s event raised $125,000 for the foundations of Faulk and Junior Seau.
Mulder shows complete game in winning celebrity golf | UTSanDiego-com
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It was Mark Twain, I think, who said that ''golf is a good walk spoiled''. But, conversely, it is walkers on golf courses who can spoil a good game of golf.
I'm talking about people who take short cuts across municipal golf courses, earphones stuffed in and oblivious to the cry of ''fore'', and those who exercise their dogs, off leash, on courses while a game is in play.
Take this example from a game at Northbridge golf course. On one hole, you have to hit downhill to the green about 100 metres away. The view to the left of the green is totally obscured by shrubs. After I hit my ball into the air, a golden retriever emerged from the left and trotted onto the green, followed by its owner, equally shaggy and with leash in hand, striding beside the pin. Luckily, my ball landed just off the green.
Walkers seem to assume two things. First, that golfers can hit in a straight line, so that if the walker happens to be 10 metres to the right or left of a line between the golfer and the hole, he/she will be missed. Or that even if the walker is right in the line of fire, the ball will soar comfortably overhead. But, as Porgy and Bess tells us, it ain't necessarily so. Golf balls hit by hackers can and do have unintended trajectories. They can slice to the right, hook to the left, loft high into the air and drop short, or skid along the ground, ricocheting at groin height.
The other assumption seems to be that golf balls, because they resemble dimpled ping-pong balls, are equally harmless if they hit you. Golf balls have been known to take out eyes, cause concussion and brain damage, even kill people. You may as well exercise your dog on an active rifle range.
Another problem is the cowboy groundsman who emerges from behind trees in the maintenance vehicle and drives in front of the tee while someone is teeing off. Yes, I know - maintenance staff have right of way. But when you're teeing off, there's only one place you are looking and that is down at the ball.
We hackers have enough trouble avoiding hitting our own teammates who stand in front of us and, on tight courses, the oncoming golfers on adjacent fairways.
To avoid our golf game spoiling your walk, dear walkers, we seek your co-operation and vigilance.
Read more: Walkers turn golf into a whole new ball game
I'm talking about people who take short cuts across municipal golf courses, earphones stuffed in and oblivious to the cry of ''fore'', and those who exercise their dogs, off leash, on courses while a game is in play.
Take this example from a game at Northbridge golf course. On one hole, you have to hit downhill to the green about 100 metres away. The view to the left of the green is totally obscured by shrubs. After I hit my ball into the air, a golden retriever emerged from the left and trotted onto the green, followed by its owner, equally shaggy and with leash in hand, striding beside the pin. Luckily, my ball landed just off the green.
Walkers seem to assume two things. First, that golfers can hit in a straight line, so that if the walker happens to be 10 metres to the right or left of a line between the golfer and the hole, he/she will be missed. Or that even if the walker is right in the line of fire, the ball will soar comfortably overhead. But, as Porgy and Bess tells us, it ain't necessarily so. Golf balls hit by hackers can and do have unintended trajectories. They can slice to the right, hook to the left, loft high into the air and drop short, or skid along the ground, ricocheting at groin height.
The other assumption seems to be that golf balls, because they resemble dimpled ping-pong balls, are equally harmless if they hit you. Golf balls have been known to take out eyes, cause concussion and brain damage, even kill people. You may as well exercise your dog on an active rifle range.
Another problem is the cowboy groundsman who emerges from behind trees in the maintenance vehicle and drives in front of the tee while someone is teeing off. Yes, I know - maintenance staff have right of way. But when you're teeing off, there's only one place you are looking and that is down at the ball.
We hackers have enough trouble avoiding hitting our own teammates who stand in front of us and, on tight courses, the oncoming golfers on adjacent fairways.
To avoid our golf game spoiling your walk, dear walkers, we seek your co-operation and vigilance.
Read more: Walkers turn golf into a whole new ball game
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2006/12/07
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For years, we have heard golfers talking about “getting out of their own way’’ in an effort to allow themselves to play the game more freely.
Yesterday, with the anticipated announcement by the USGA and R&A that they will ban the anchored putting stroke as of Jan. 1, 2016, golf has gotten into its own way.
This not only is a shame, but it is misguided use of the USGA’s and R&A’s time, which should be spent more wisely on ways to improve the game and make it more popular and accessible — such as keeping costs down and speeding up the pace of play.
The USGA and R&A constantly thump their respective chests about the importance of “growing the game.’’ This decision is a hypocritical blow to that notion. It does nothing to help grow the game. These are governing bodies of the game worldwide, not simply the governing bodies of professional golf. You can make the argument they should be more concerned with the popularity of the amateur game rather than the professional level.
Yet the decision to ban anchored putters that already have been around the game for some 30 years is a knee-jerk reaction to the fact that four of the past six major championships have been won by a player using an anchored putter.
If anchored putting is such an advantage, then why isn’t every pro using one? Why isn’t every winner on the PGA Tour using an anchored putter?
If anchor putting was so easy, why did Keegan Bradley, one of this issue’s poster boys as the first player to win a major anchoring when he won the 2011 PGA Championship, miss a short birdie putt on the 16th hole Sunday that cost him the Byron Nelson championship?
This ban has opened a worldwide can of worms, with questions about whether the PGA Tour and PGA of America will adhere to the ban and whether players who use the anchor putter will seek legal action against the USGA and R&A.
The PGA Tour and PGA of America, perhaps in a way to show their respective disdain for the ruling and make the USGA and R&A sweat a bit, issued statements yesterday that they will review the situation before deciding if they would adhere to the ban.
The reality, though, is that as strongly as those two organizations feel that anchored putters should be allowed, they feel even more strongly about there being no separate rules in the game — bifurcation. Eventually, both the PGA Tour and the PGA of America will relent and abide by yesterday’s ruling.
Different sets of rules in golf would ruin the best virtue of the game — which is that amateurs, even if for one shot in a round, actually can hit a shot as well as one of the pros they watch on TV. Sometimes it is that one shot per round that keeps us coming back to the course.
The game of golf is — and always has been — about getting the ball into the hole in as few strokes as possible. Every minute of every day, golf-club manufacturers are coming up with new technology for players to do so.
In doing that, the club manufacturers are making the game more fun and accessible for players because they are making it easier.
When it comes to advances in equipment technology, which includes drivers with heads as large as VW Beetles, the horse left the barn a long time ago. The golf ball is more juiced than Barry Bonds in his prime and, because of that, pros are rendering traditional golf courses obsolete, because they are hitting the ball so far. Pros are hitting 6-irons 230 yards.
So the fact the USGA and R&A believe banning anchored putting will reel in the game from being too easy is a joke. Sadly, the joke is on all the amateur players who use the anchored putter, because those putters makes the game easier and more accessible for them.
The USGA and R&A have wronged the players in the game they should be looking after the most — the amateurs who use these putters.
Thanks to the USGA and R&A, golf just got into its own way.
Golf hurts itself with short-sighted new rule - NYPOST-com
Yesterday, with the anticipated announcement by the USGA and R&A that they will ban the anchored putting stroke as of Jan. 1, 2016, golf has gotten into its own way.
This not only is a shame, but it is misguided use of the USGA’s and R&A’s time, which should be spent more wisely on ways to improve the game and make it more popular and accessible — such as keeping costs down and speeding up the pace of play.
The USGA and R&A constantly thump their respective chests about the importance of “growing the game.’’ This decision is a hypocritical blow to that notion. It does nothing to help grow the game. These are governing bodies of the game worldwide, not simply the governing bodies of professional golf. You can make the argument they should be more concerned with the popularity of the amateur game rather than the professional level.
Yet the decision to ban anchored putters that already have been around the game for some 30 years is a knee-jerk reaction to the fact that four of the past six major championships have been won by a player using an anchored putter.
If anchored putting is such an advantage, then why isn’t every pro using one? Why isn’t every winner on the PGA Tour using an anchored putter?
If anchor putting was so easy, why did Keegan Bradley, one of this issue’s poster boys as the first player to win a major anchoring when he won the 2011 PGA Championship, miss a short birdie putt on the 16th hole Sunday that cost him the Byron Nelson championship?
This ban has opened a worldwide can of worms, with questions about whether the PGA Tour and PGA of America will adhere to the ban and whether players who use the anchor putter will seek legal action against the USGA and R&A.
The PGA Tour and PGA of America, perhaps in a way to show their respective disdain for the ruling and make the USGA and R&A sweat a bit, issued statements yesterday that they will review the situation before deciding if they would adhere to the ban.
The reality, though, is that as strongly as those two organizations feel that anchored putters should be allowed, they feel even more strongly about there being no separate rules in the game — bifurcation. Eventually, both the PGA Tour and the PGA of America will relent and abide by yesterday’s ruling.
Different sets of rules in golf would ruin the best virtue of the game — which is that amateurs, even if for one shot in a round, actually can hit a shot as well as one of the pros they watch on TV. Sometimes it is that one shot per round that keeps us coming back to the course.
The game of golf is — and always has been — about getting the ball into the hole in as few strokes as possible. Every minute of every day, golf-club manufacturers are coming up with new technology for players to do so.
In doing that, the club manufacturers are making the game more fun and accessible for players because they are making it easier.
When it comes to advances in equipment technology, which includes drivers with heads as large as VW Beetles, the horse left the barn a long time ago. The golf ball is more juiced than Barry Bonds in his prime and, because of that, pros are rendering traditional golf courses obsolete, because they are hitting the ball so far. Pros are hitting 6-irons 230 yards.
So the fact the USGA and R&A believe banning anchored putting will reel in the game from being too easy is a joke. Sadly, the joke is on all the amateur players who use the anchored putter, because those putters makes the game easier and more accessible for them.
The USGA and R&A have wronged the players in the game they should be looking after the most — the amateurs who use these putters.
Thanks to the USGA and R&A, golf just got into its own way.
Golf hurts itself with short-sighted new rule - NYPOST-com
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2006/12/07
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García should be sitting in a room far away – perhaps even laid out on a couch – reflecting on a remark which he first intended to be “funny”, then wished to be viewed as “silly”, but which Tiger Woods rightly described as “hurtful, wrong and wholly inappropriate”.
The Spaniard should have been told to withdraw from the European Tour’s flagship event. Instead, he informed a packed press conference on Wednesday that he had not even been fined by this Tour or the PGA Tour.
Incredible, isn’t it? Golfers are routinely hit with £5,000 sanctions for throwing clubs around. But throw a racist jibe across a room containing 300 guests, causing offence on a much wider level, and all the professional has to do is apologise and appear contrite. And golf wonders about its reputation.
It is insulting to cast some of the officials involved as middle-class white men turning the other way. But it is their fault that perception is inevitable.
Let us consider what has happened to Woods since he supposedly broke down all those barriers at the 1997 Masters. He had not even finished making that history when Fuzzy Zoeller made the original “fried chicken” wisecrack. Zoeller paid for his comments – which were only “made in jest” – by losing contracts and his form. The poor lamb.
Zoeller was not suspended by the US Tour, but for some reason was still, in some quarters, projected as the victim. The whisper was that Woods could have and should have helped the lovable veteran with a kindly statement. Golf seemed to have a problem appreciating the vile undertones in his casual racism.
Fast forward to 2011 and Steve Williams on stage at a caddie awards night at a World Golf Championship event, announcing he was glad that his boss Adam Scott won an event because “I wanted to stick it right up that black asshole”.
There was not any pity for Williams, a gruff Kiwi who hardly inspired affection, but again there was no fine or suspension from the Tours; just another worthless statement saying how “disappointed” they were, but recognising that Williams had apologised.
There is a trend developing here and if was happening in a sport such as, say, football there would be a very loud and justifiable outcry. Yet golf carries on regardless, trampling over sensitivities in the stampede to the ATM. García explained he did not withdraw because “this tournament deserves me”. He actually believes he is that important.
The game must now show genuine leadership. But after two of the most powerful men in golf – the European Tour chief executive and the PGA Tour commissioner – briefly met with García on Wednesday lunchtime they displayed a stunning disregard about the seriousness of the situation.
“We consider the matter closed,” they said, ignoring the problem in the hope it might go away. But it will not, regardless of how rigorously they try to brush it under the corporate rug. Woods has the right to make his living in a workplace which does not tolerate racism.
But no, the official statement dismisses García’s outburst as “a stupid remark”. That just about sums it up. As Woods said, it was too hurtful and too wrong to be classified in the “stupid” or “silly” bracket. Woods deserves better, golf deserves better. And this BMW PGA Championship does not deserve Sergio García.
European and PGA Tours have let golf down by their response to Sergio Garcia's taunts about Tiger Woods - Telegraph
The Spaniard should have been told to withdraw from the European Tour’s flagship event. Instead, he informed a packed press conference on Wednesday that he had not even been fined by this Tour or the PGA Tour.
Incredible, isn’t it? Golfers are routinely hit with £5,000 sanctions for throwing clubs around. But throw a racist jibe across a room containing 300 guests, causing offence on a much wider level, and all the professional has to do is apologise and appear contrite. And golf wonders about its reputation.
It is insulting to cast some of the officials involved as middle-class white men turning the other way. But it is their fault that perception is inevitable.
Let us consider what has happened to Woods since he supposedly broke down all those barriers at the 1997 Masters. He had not even finished making that history when Fuzzy Zoeller made the original “fried chicken” wisecrack. Zoeller paid for his comments – which were only “made in jest” – by losing contracts and his form. The poor lamb.
Zoeller was not suspended by the US Tour, but for some reason was still, in some quarters, projected as the victim. The whisper was that Woods could have and should have helped the lovable veteran with a kindly statement. Golf seemed to have a problem appreciating the vile undertones in his casual racism.
Fast forward to 2011 and Steve Williams on stage at a caddie awards night at a World Golf Championship event, announcing he was glad that his boss Adam Scott won an event because “I wanted to stick it right up that black asshole”.
There was not any pity for Williams, a gruff Kiwi who hardly inspired affection, but again there was no fine or suspension from the Tours; just another worthless statement saying how “disappointed” they were, but recognising that Williams had apologised.
There is a trend developing here and if was happening in a sport such as, say, football there would be a very loud and justifiable outcry. Yet golf carries on regardless, trampling over sensitivities in the stampede to the ATM. García explained he did not withdraw because “this tournament deserves me”. He actually believes he is that important.
The game must now show genuine leadership. But after two of the most powerful men in golf – the European Tour chief executive and the PGA Tour commissioner – briefly met with García on Wednesday lunchtime they displayed a stunning disregard about the seriousness of the situation.
“We consider the matter closed,” they said, ignoring the problem in the hope it might go away. But it will not, regardless of how rigorously they try to brush it under the corporate rug. Woods has the right to make his living in a workplace which does not tolerate racism.
But no, the official statement dismisses García’s outburst as “a stupid remark”. That just about sums it up. As Woods said, it was too hurtful and too wrong to be classified in the “stupid” or “silly” bracket. Woods deserves better, golf deserves better. And this BMW PGA Championship does not deserve Sergio García.
European and PGA Tours have let golf down by their response to Sergio Garcia's taunts about Tiger Woods - Telegraph
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It’s not every year that a senior gets to close out her career playing her home course on the biggest stage in college golf—the NCAA Women's Championship. But Emilie Burger, who won the Mason Rudolph Championship last fall and the Bryan National Collegiate this spring, is doing just that. Though the Bulldogs failed to qualify as a team, the 22-year-old from Hoschton, Ga.,, a three-time All-American, qualified for her first national championship by shooting one-under 212 at the West Regional at Stanford GC.
“It’s a dream come true to be playing in this event on my home course. I started out playing junior golf here. The whole golf program has been such a blessing,” said Burger, who through three rounds this week at the University of Georgia GC has played solid stretches of golf despite scores of 75, 77 and 75. Big numbers have been her problem with three double bogeys and a quadruple bogey over 54 holes.
Burger began attending annual summer golf camps at Georgia as a child and still uses the Bulldog headcover she received from Todd McCorkle, the former Georgia women’s coach, for being named "Camper of the Week" as a kid.
As you’d expect, the headcover is a bit ratty. Joan Berger, Emilie’s mother, has done some serious knitting and patching to preserve the memento throughout the years. “There are plenty of new ones around, but she refuses to give it up,” said Joan, who along with her husband, Gary, has missed only one of Emilie’s college events.
“Ever since I got that headcover I’ve wanted to be a Bulldog,” said Emilie.
At the end of the month, Burger will play in a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier in Sanford, N.C., then will play a schedule of Symetra Tour events for the rest of the season. She’ll turn pro after Friday’s final round.
“It’s going to be difficult,” said Joan about not being able to watch Emilie play on a regular basis. Added Gary, “We won’t be there to talk to her after a tough round. But [former Georgia women’s coach] Beans Kelly gave Emilie some great advice. She said, 'People will advise you to change this or change that. But keep playing with what got you here. Just focus on improving what you already do.’ “
Kelly followed Burger’s third round and shared some memories about the soon-to-be professional. “She came to my golf camp when she was about 8 and she was all in for Georgia. She was enamored with the Bulldogs. You could tell that this kid had a future here.
“She obviously has talent, but she also has a very competitive fire in her belly," Kelly said. "Her demeanor on the golf course is something to be modeled after. She’ll get fired up inside, but you always know you’re going to get a committed golf swing from her. She’ll leave here a decorated athlete and her mark on Georgia golf will definitely be felt.”
Current women’s coach Josh Brewer thinks the younger members of his team can learn a lot from Burger. “Her work ethic is off the charts," Brewer said. "She could have easily settled for being an All-American honorable mention, but she wanted to be the best player in the country. That desire will help her at the next level.”
Despite not playing her best this week, Burger will take a lot of positives from her time at Georgia to the next level. Not the least of which is her old, mangled Bulldog headcover.
Read More Georgia's Burger happy to be at home: Campus Insider: Golf Digest
“It’s a dream come true to be playing in this event on my home course. I started out playing junior golf here. The whole golf program has been such a blessing,” said Burger, who through three rounds this week at the University of Georgia GC has played solid stretches of golf despite scores of 75, 77 and 75. Big numbers have been her problem with three double bogeys and a quadruple bogey over 54 holes.
Burger began attending annual summer golf camps at Georgia as a child and still uses the Bulldog headcover she received from Todd McCorkle, the former Georgia women’s coach, for being named "Camper of the Week" as a kid.
As you’d expect, the headcover is a bit ratty. Joan Berger, Emilie’s mother, has done some serious knitting and patching to preserve the memento throughout the years. “There are plenty of new ones around, but she refuses to give it up,” said Joan, who along with her husband, Gary, has missed only one of Emilie’s college events.
“Ever since I got that headcover I’ve wanted to be a Bulldog,” said Emilie.
At the end of the month, Burger will play in a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier in Sanford, N.C., then will play a schedule of Symetra Tour events for the rest of the season. She’ll turn pro after Friday’s final round.
“It’s going to be difficult,” said Joan about not being able to watch Emilie play on a regular basis. Added Gary, “We won’t be there to talk to her after a tough round. But [former Georgia women’s coach] Beans Kelly gave Emilie some great advice. She said, 'People will advise you to change this or change that. But keep playing with what got you here. Just focus on improving what you already do.’ “
Kelly followed Burger’s third round and shared some memories about the soon-to-be professional. “She came to my golf camp when she was about 8 and she was all in for Georgia. She was enamored with the Bulldogs. You could tell that this kid had a future here.
“She obviously has talent, but she also has a very competitive fire in her belly," Kelly said. "Her demeanor on the golf course is something to be modeled after. She’ll get fired up inside, but you always know you’re going to get a committed golf swing from her. She’ll leave here a decorated athlete and her mark on Georgia golf will definitely be felt.”
Current women’s coach Josh Brewer thinks the younger members of his team can learn a lot from Burger. “Her work ethic is off the charts," Brewer said. "She could have easily settled for being an All-American honorable mention, but she wanted to be the best player in the country. That desire will help her at the next level.”
Despite not playing her best this week, Burger will take a lot of positives from her time at Georgia to the next level. Not the least of which is her old, mangled Bulldog headcover.
Read More Georgia's Burger happy to be at home: Campus Insider: Golf Digest
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2006/12/07
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If your idea of a nature hike involves driving an elusive ball over acres of meticulously manicured greens, then bookmark this list of premier putting destinations created with golf enthusiasts in mind, hand-picked by the boutique hotel experts Mr & Mrs Smith.
1. Primland; Virginia, USA
Pristine Primland hotel in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains is an elegant estate surrounded by 12,000 verdant acres. One of the many spectacular ways to explore the grounds is by playing across ridge tops and over valleys on the 18-hole Highland Course, designed to thrill every level of golfer.
Rejuvenate following your day of sport with a bespoke golfer's treatment - sea salt scrub, mud wrap, deep tissue massage - at the sublime spa. All before retiring to your luxurious Fairway Cottage with a fieldstone fireplace and private deck, set just steps from the scenic greens.
2. Residences at Kapalua Bay; Maui, Hawaii
Perched on the Pacific Ocean, Maui's Residences at Kapalua Bay hotel is the ultimate paradise playground with its landscaped lagoon pool, airy, modern suites, kaleidoscopic coral reefs, private beaches, and spa honoring traditional Hawaiian treatments. And, what draws club-toting travelers is the two championship palm-strewn golfing greens.
Brush up on your technique at the state-of-the-art Kapalua Golf Academy, or tee-off on either of the world-renowned courses, each set against a background of sweeping ocean and ancient mountain vistas. It's possible you'll take more photos than you will strokes on these jaw-dropping courses.
3. Farm at Cape Kidnappers; Hawke's Bay, New Zealand
Set in the foothills of Hawke's Bay in one of New Zealand's fêted grape-growing regions is the Farm at Cape Kidnappers hotel. This 6,000-acre working sheep and cattle farm is dotted with 22-charming cottage suites, and has a par 71 golf course dramatically perched on a cliff above the churning Pacific. With deep ravines, jutting ridges and windswept terrain, this unique course is perfect for those who relish a challenge.
And, no matter how things play out, reward efforts with a trip to the hotel's serenity-boosting spa followed by an epicurean feast paired with local wines.
4. Kirimaya; Thailand
Khao Yai boutique hotel Kirimaya, a few hours' drive from Bangkok, is a grown-up rustic Thai retreat, and a most exotic setting for an exclusive, Jack Nicklaus-designed 18-hole golf course. With its single-track layout surrounded by lush jungle and mountains, you may feel as if you're the only one out on the links.
Overall, the resort exudes understated good taste and combines modern sophistication with an all-natural escape. Rustic trimmings such as antique doors and wooden decking give way to simply furnished rooms showing off the best of contemporary Thai design, as well as elegant tented villas.
5. Masseria Torre Maizza; Puglia, Italy
In the coast-hugging countryside of Puglia, the 16th-century Masseria Torre Maizza hotel offers yet another tempting reason for an Italian adventure: a scenic round of golf.
Immersed in a grove of olive and almond trees is a handsomely landscaped split-level nine-hole course with sea views. And, this spacious escape with cool, contemporary décor and jasmine-lined pathways offers plenty of additional amusements too: an Aveda spa, private beach, two massive pool decks, cookery school and equestrian center.
6. Stoke Park; Buckinghamshire, England
Seasoned pros and untested novices will both feel right at home on the majestic grounds of Buckinghamshire's Stoke Park, whose 27-hole championship course has seen games by the likes of James Bond in Goldfinger. The acclaimed golf academy includes everything from a swing-analysis video suite to a driving range.
If you can tear yourself away from the golf lover's dream, though, the stately mansion is equally impressive; the White House-resembling building was designed by 'Mad' King George III's architect and the highly acclaimed spa Stoke Park Spa is the perfect alternative if your other half isn't quite as passionate about the links as you are.
7. Finca Cortesin; Costa del Sol, Spain
The Costa del Sol's elegantly sprawling Finca Cortesin boasts both one of Spain's top courses and the idyllic
year-round weather to go with it. Host of the Volvo World Match Play Championship for three years and home to a Nicklaus Academy, this course is one of our favorite places to spend a day, from the Mediterranean views to the green-side Spanish dining.
Afterwards, make for one of the three Moorish-tiled pools or head straight for the private Beach Club to recuperate. By night, sip potent cocktails and dine on fresh seafood at one of the three international restaurants.
8. Blantyre; Massachusetts USA
If you unexpectedly stumbled upon Blantyre, a grand old Berkshires estate, you might think yourself somewhere in Scotland, between its castle-inspired architecture and the
18-hole Cranwell Golf Course that surrounds it. Hike around the rolling hills and admire the area's renowned natural beauty - the colourful autumn leaves are legendary - or participate in old-world sports like croquet and snow-shoeing.
The illusion continues inside, where it's all roaring fires, antique accessories and cheese fondue whenever you want it.
9. Namale; Fiji
For anyone but a golf aficionado, the tropical Fijian Namale Resort's nine-hole course, driving range and virtual golf simulator might go unnoticed amid the opulent hydrotherapy spa, snorkeling and diving excursions and picturesquely situated private bures.
Private outdoor dining overlooking the ocean is de rigueur and resort-coordinated visits to local villages make stays that much more memorable. If you decide to just lounge by your airy villa's plunge pool, though, you'll be in good company - Namale has been a favorite retreat of such privacy-seeking celebrities as Ed Norton and Russell Crowe.
10. Carneros Inn; California, USA
Nestled away in Northern
1. Primland; Virginia, USA
Pristine Primland hotel in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains is an elegant estate surrounded by 12,000 verdant acres. One of the many spectacular ways to explore the grounds is by playing across ridge tops and over valleys on the 18-hole Highland Course, designed to thrill every level of golfer.
Rejuvenate following your day of sport with a bespoke golfer's treatment - sea salt scrub, mud wrap, deep tissue massage - at the sublime spa. All before retiring to your luxurious Fairway Cottage with a fieldstone fireplace and private deck, set just steps from the scenic greens.
2. Residences at Kapalua Bay; Maui, Hawaii
Perched on the Pacific Ocean, Maui's Residences at Kapalua Bay hotel is the ultimate paradise playground with its landscaped lagoon pool, airy, modern suites, kaleidoscopic coral reefs, private beaches, and spa honoring traditional Hawaiian treatments. And, what draws club-toting travelers is the two championship palm-strewn golfing greens.
Brush up on your technique at the state-of-the-art Kapalua Golf Academy, or tee-off on either of the world-renowned courses, each set against a background of sweeping ocean and ancient mountain vistas. It's possible you'll take more photos than you will strokes on these jaw-dropping courses.
3. Farm at Cape Kidnappers; Hawke's Bay, New Zealand
Set in the foothills of Hawke's Bay in one of New Zealand's fêted grape-growing regions is the Farm at Cape Kidnappers hotel. This 6,000-acre working sheep and cattle farm is dotted with 22-charming cottage suites, and has a par 71 golf course dramatically perched on a cliff above the churning Pacific. With deep ravines, jutting ridges and windswept terrain, this unique course is perfect for those who relish a challenge.
And, no matter how things play out, reward efforts with a trip to the hotel's serenity-boosting spa followed by an epicurean feast paired with local wines.
4. Kirimaya; Thailand
Khao Yai boutique hotel Kirimaya, a few hours' drive from Bangkok, is a grown-up rustic Thai retreat, and a most exotic setting for an exclusive, Jack Nicklaus-designed 18-hole golf course. With its single-track layout surrounded by lush jungle and mountains, you may feel as if you're the only one out on the links.
Overall, the resort exudes understated good taste and combines modern sophistication with an all-natural escape. Rustic trimmings such as antique doors and wooden decking give way to simply furnished rooms showing off the best of contemporary Thai design, as well as elegant tented villas.
5. Masseria Torre Maizza; Puglia, Italy
In the coast-hugging countryside of Puglia, the 16th-century Masseria Torre Maizza hotel offers yet another tempting reason for an Italian adventure: a scenic round of golf.
Immersed in a grove of olive and almond trees is a handsomely landscaped split-level nine-hole course with sea views. And, this spacious escape with cool, contemporary décor and jasmine-lined pathways offers plenty of additional amusements too: an Aveda spa, private beach, two massive pool decks, cookery school and equestrian center.
6. Stoke Park; Buckinghamshire, England
Seasoned pros and untested novices will both feel right at home on the majestic grounds of Buckinghamshire's Stoke Park, whose 27-hole championship course has seen games by the likes of James Bond in Goldfinger. The acclaimed golf academy includes everything from a swing-analysis video suite to a driving range.
If you can tear yourself away from the golf lover's dream, though, the stately mansion is equally impressive; the White House-resembling building was designed by 'Mad' King George III's architect and the highly acclaimed spa Stoke Park Spa is the perfect alternative if your other half isn't quite as passionate about the links as you are.
7. Finca Cortesin; Costa del Sol, Spain
The Costa del Sol's elegantly sprawling Finca Cortesin boasts both one of Spain's top courses and the idyllic
year-round weather to go with it. Host of the Volvo World Match Play Championship for three years and home to a Nicklaus Academy, this course is one of our favorite places to spend a day, from the Mediterranean views to the green-side Spanish dining.
Afterwards, make for one of the three Moorish-tiled pools or head straight for the private Beach Club to recuperate. By night, sip potent cocktails and dine on fresh seafood at one of the three international restaurants.
8. Blantyre; Massachusetts USA
If you unexpectedly stumbled upon Blantyre, a grand old Berkshires estate, you might think yourself somewhere in Scotland, between its castle-inspired architecture and the
18-hole Cranwell Golf Course that surrounds it. Hike around the rolling hills and admire the area's renowned natural beauty - the colourful autumn leaves are legendary - or participate in old-world sports like croquet and snow-shoeing.
The illusion continues inside, where it's all roaring fires, antique accessories and cheese fondue whenever you want it.
9. Namale; Fiji
For anyone but a golf aficionado, the tropical Fijian Namale Resort's nine-hole course, driving range and virtual golf simulator might go unnoticed amid the opulent hydrotherapy spa, snorkeling and diving excursions and picturesquely situated private bures.
Private outdoor dining overlooking the ocean is de rigueur and resort-coordinated visits to local villages make stays that much more memorable. If you decide to just lounge by your airy villa's plunge pool, though, you'll be in good company - Namale has been a favorite retreat of such privacy-seeking celebrities as Ed Norton and Russell Crowe.
10. Carneros Inn; California, USA
Nestled away in Northern
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2006/12/07
Messages:
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A new slim line Matteo Manassero targeted next year's Ryder Cup after landing the biggest title of his career in the European PGA Championship here at Wentworth on Sunday.
The Italian shed seven kilograms of weight during a fitness push in the off-season when he cut out the carbohydrates and pushed weights in the gym.
It paid off as the 20 year old is fitter and survived a four-hole play-off at Wentworth beating Simon Khan to the title and playing himself into the world's top 50.
Manassero told reporters after becoming the youngest ever winner of the European Tour's flagship event: "I feel like the work has paid off. Everybody asks me have I been sick?
"I did quite a lot of cardio training and when I started to play again I stopped the diet and worked to get some muscle.
"When you slim down, you slim down a bit of everything but I have stabilized really well and I have felt comfortable all week. I feel much better physically now - it was work that had to be done and I am happy I did it but it didn't take me long.
"Right now I am just eating normal things - I like to eat so you have got to treat yourself."
Manassero's new found fitness would come in useful in next year's Ryder Cup at Gleneagles where he could play 36 holes on the first two days if he makes Paul McGinley's European team - it also means he has qualified for next month's US Open.
He has never played in the biennial match but his experience of play-off golf in the professional game and the amount of match play he played as a youngster would stand him in good stead.
Manassero added: "Ryder Cup is different. I have never played it but I have been to one and I could feel it was a different atmosphere.
"It is a bit like a play-off but more like a play-off for a major because everything is so intense.
"I am looking at the next Ryder Cup - I really want to be there. I feel good in match play because I have done well in the Accenture and I played a lot of match play as an amateur."
Manassero also drew on the experiences of two years' ago when he was in contention here but had to watch Luke Donald and Lee Westwood fight out a play-off.
"That helped me a lot and helped me not think too much about things today," he added.
Manassero will head to Swedish Open this week earlier than planned as he does not have to attend US Open qualifying at Walton Heath on Monday.
Golf: Manassero targets Ryder Cup after win - Channel NewsAsia
The Italian shed seven kilograms of weight during a fitness push in the off-season when he cut out the carbohydrates and pushed weights in the gym.
It paid off as the 20 year old is fitter and survived a four-hole play-off at Wentworth beating Simon Khan to the title and playing himself into the world's top 50.
Manassero told reporters after becoming the youngest ever winner of the European Tour's flagship event: "I feel like the work has paid off. Everybody asks me have I been sick?
"I did quite a lot of cardio training and when I started to play again I stopped the diet and worked to get some muscle.
"When you slim down, you slim down a bit of everything but I have stabilized really well and I have felt comfortable all week. I feel much better physically now - it was work that had to be done and I am happy I did it but it didn't take me long.
"Right now I am just eating normal things - I like to eat so you have got to treat yourself."
Manassero's new found fitness would come in useful in next year's Ryder Cup at Gleneagles where he could play 36 holes on the first two days if he makes Paul McGinley's European team - it also means he has qualified for next month's US Open.
He has never played in the biennial match but his experience of play-off golf in the professional game and the amount of match play he played as a youngster would stand him in good stead.
Manassero added: "Ryder Cup is different. I have never played it but I have been to one and I could feel it was a different atmosphere.
"It is a bit like a play-off but more like a play-off for a major because everything is so intense.
"I am looking at the next Ryder Cup - I really want to be there. I feel good in match play because I have done well in the Accenture and I played a lot of match play as an amateur."
Manassero also drew on the experiences of two years' ago when he was in contention here but had to watch Luke Donald and Lee Westwood fight out a play-off.
"That helped me a lot and helped me not think too much about things today," he added.
Manassero will head to Swedish Open this week earlier than planned as he does not have to attend US Open qualifying at Walton Heath on Monday.
Golf: Manassero targets Ryder Cup after win - Channel NewsAsia
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All six players shot 78 or better, led by Jefferson Kao, who had a 69. Jason Chen (71), Dean Sakata (72), Brian Fong (75), Sahith Theegala (77) and Chris Niithaworn (78) combined for a score of 364. Also qualifying for Thursday's Southern Section team championships were Orange Lutheran at 379 and Mater Dei at 381. Orange Lutheran's Blake Barens shot 69.
In the Central Division final at Lakewood Golf Course, Loyola (see above photo) won with a score of 378. Mira Costa was second and Harvard-Westlake third. Blake Meek shot a 73 to lead Loyola.
In the Southern finals at Tijeras Creek Golf Club, Sunny Hills (368), Damien (374) and Newport Harbor (382) advanced. Brad Tapfer of Newport Harbor shot 69.
In the South Coast Division at Talega Golf Course, Corona del Mar (380), St. Margaret's (381) and Tesoro (383) advanced.
In the Central Coast Division at Cypress Ridge Golf Course, Arroyo Grande (390) edged Rio Mesa (391), with Ventura (393) in third place. Mitch Martin of Arroyo Grande shot 69.
In the Northern Division at Souel Park, Westlake won with a score of 360. Next came Oaks Christian at 375 and Arcadia at 376. Sean Crocker of Westlake shot a 67.
[url=latimesblogs-latimes-com/varsitytimesinsider/2013/05/golf--html]Golf: Diamond Bar wins Western Division with superior play [Updated] - latimes-com[/url]