Golf

[Terrier Williger]

Congrats to Michael Campbell on winning the US Open.
What a comeback he's made, after totally losing his confidence and almost quitting the sport a few years ago.

I'm hoping the Lee Westwood story will have a similar ending.

2005 US Open
Final Result (Top 25)

1 CAMPBELL, Michael Even F -1 71 69 71 69 280
2 WOODS, Tiger +2 F -1 70 71 72 69 282
3 GARCIA, Sergio +5 F Even 71 69 75 70 285
3 CLARK, Tim +5 F Even 76 69 70 70 285
3 HENSBY, Mark +5 F +4 71 68 72 74 285
6 LOVE, Davis III +6 F -1 77 70 70 69 286
6 MEDIATE, Rocco +6 F +1 67 74 74 71 286
6 SINGH, Vijay +6 F +2 70 70 74 72 286
9 PRICE, Nick +7 F +2 72 71 72 72 287
9 OBERHOLSER, Arron +7 F +3 76 67 71 73 287
11 ESTES, Bob +8 F Even 70 73 75 70 288
11 PAVIN, Corey +8 F +3 73 72 70 73 288
11 HEDBLOM, Peter +8 F +5 77 66 70 75 288
11 GOOSEN, Retief +8 F +11 68 70 69 81 288
15 CINK, Stewart +9 F -1 73 74 73 69 289
15 COUPLES, Fred +9 F Even 71 74 74 70 289
15 ELS, Ernie +9 F Even 71 76 72 70 289
15 IMADA, Ryuji +9 F +1 77 68 73 71 289
15 COOK, John +9 F +2 71 76 70 72 289
15 JACOBSEN, Peter +9 F +5 72 73 69 75 289
15 CHOI, K.J. +9 F +6 69 70 74 76 289
15 TOMS, David +9 F +7 70 72 70 77 289
23 FUNK, Fred +10 F Even 73 71 76 70 290
23 LEONARD, Justin +10 F +3 76 71 70 73 290
23 CLAXTON, Paul +10 F +4 72 72 72 74 290
23 PERRY, Kenny +10 F +4 75 70 71 74 290
23 BROWNE, Olin +10 F +10 67 71 72 80 290

[SideshowTim]

he did play very well, staying on par was always going to be very hard and i would have been very surprised if anyone finished under par. it was a good tournament though, good to see a little known guy win it. woods is definately on his way back up to the top too though.

[Grippa]

Well played to Campbell for winning yesterday, great performance, on a very hard course.

With the British Open just around the corner, Tiger has to be one of the favourites as his form is better this year, with a 1st and a 2nd now in the majors this year.

[HomertheGreat]

I was all over this the whole weekend. I was pulling for Gore early on, but as he started to fade, I switched over to Tiger. He just couldn't hit a putt all tournament. Campbell deserved it though, he really hit some incredible shots under pressure.

[kevin]

what the fuck happened to goosen in that final round

[SideshowTim]

yeah that was pretty amazing 11 over par today, i was expecting him to be close to winning if not win after round 3.

[Sex Cauldron]

Gore has to be pretty pissed with himself. At the very least he should've finished in the top 20 or so and earned some exemptions, I dunno if 49th will rate him much of anything.

Tiger needs his old coach back.

[Terrier Williger]

Gore has to be pretty pissed with himself. At the very least he should've finished in the top 20 or so and earned some exemptions, I dunno if 49th will rate him much of anything.
It got him $20,275.
Although Goosen had completely lost it early in the final round, Gore seemed to be holding it together.
They say that sometimes your playing partner can affect your game and perhaps it was Goosen who eventually dragged him down. But he had been playing way above his normal level, so the toughness of the course and his lack of experience in being a contender for a major most likely took its toll.
An amazing collapse by Goosen though, I really thought he'd see it through, when he was leading by 3 shots after the 3rd round.

Tiger needs his old coach back.
You mean Butch Harmon ?
As well as a good coach, he's not a bad summariser on Sky Sports.
I'm not sure it will happen though, 'cos I don't think they see eye to eye anymore. Woods didn't take too kindly to Harmon, when he criticised him in public recently, saying he was in denial about accepting that his driving was shite, and also losing some of his mental toughness.
Anyway, Woods isn't doing too badly with his current coach (Hank Harvey?) He's definately starting to regain some of his lost form. 1st and 2nd in the 2 majors so far this year confirms that. He's main problem is his driving, he's 161st on the tour for accuracy.
His putting is not too bad - he dropped from 36th to 67th after this tournament, which shows you how tight the rankings are.
I'm not sure he'll ever achieve what he did in that golden year of 2000 again, but if anyone can, he can.

It will be interesting to see how this win affects Campbell. He's had some good wins on the Euro tour and I've always thought he's had the talent to pull off a big victory, even though he can fall apart at times. I'd like to think he'll move on now and become a challenger to the "big four". But there is the possibility he could do a "Duval" and settle for his 1 great victory and fade away completely.

[SideshowTim]

It got him $20,275.

i really need to learn how to play golf.

[God]

Congrats to Campbell, good to see a Kiwi doing well at golf.

[Terrier Williger]

i really need to learn how to play golf.

Yeah, not a bad little earner if you can make it to the top level.
If Gore had managed to finish in the top 20, lets say in the group of 8 players from 15th to 22nd, he'd have picked up $88,120.
Meanwhile Campbell was pocketing a cool $1.17 million.

[kane]

golfs a good hobby.

[Terrier Williger]

I notice that Jean Van de Velde (remember him ?) is joint leader going into the final round of the French Open....


.....EDIT (Sunday) The "paddling" frenchman has lost it again today, by hitting a shot into the water on the final hole when he was in the lead. Just like the British Open at Carnoustie in '99, and again he's been beaten in the play-off.
It's a cruel game sometimes. :(

[Terrier Williger]

Michelle Wie (http://www.pgatour.com/story/8628390)has scored a first round, 1 under par 70, in the John Deere Classic, and has a chance of being only the second woman to make a PGA tour cut.
But I reckon she'll have to shoot at least the same score again in the second round to do it.

I'm still not sure about women competing on the mens tour, but if they show as much talent as this 15 year old, then I don't see why not.

Meanwhile, across the pond, the Scottish Open is taking place at Loch Lomond, where Phil Mickleson is making a rare appearance at a regular European tour event. This is the last tournament before next weeks 'British' Open at St Andrews.

My tips for the 1-2 at St Andrews;

1. Els
2. Garcia

[SideshowTim]

i'm predicting:

1. woods
2. els

[Jason]

Wie just missed the cut. It looked like she was going to make it, but she had a double bogey on 6 and then a bogey on 7 and that cost her. She's a great golfer considering she is only 15 and I can definetly see her making the cut in the future.

[bovine_university]

I'm not even a fan of golf and I was rooting for Michelle to get in. It's a shame, she has so much talent. I'm sure she'll get it next year though.

[Terrier Williger]

I think she's gonna keep getting invites to at least 1 tournament a year, judging by her standard of play and the interest in her.
They tried with Aneka Sorenstam a couple of years ago, but she was overawed, and didn't enjoy the experience.
One things for sure, there's plenty of time for Wie to improve, Woods was 20 before he turned pro.
Speaking of Woods, I see he'll be 30 in December...bloody hell! does time fly.

[HomertheGreat]

i'm not sure if it's a good idea for her to keep playing in these men's events. she's had two major choke jobs the past couple weeks. i think she needs to settle down a bit, and just focus on beating women. she's only 15, there's plenty of time

[Terrier Williger]

The Scottish Open was won by the 29 year old South African Tim Clark today.
If anyone is thinking of putting some money on an outsider for The Open, then you could do a lot worse than this guy who is currently a 66-1 shot.
Clark finished joint 3rd in the US Open just a few weks ago, and if you can think a bit further back, he finished 3rd in the US PGA Championship in 2003.

[Terrier Williger]

Jason Gore mighta bottled it in the final round of the US Open a few weeks ago, but this weekend he was back to winning on the Nationwide Tour.
Gore claimed the $108,000 first prize at the National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic. The victory is Gore's first since 2002.

Meanwhile the latest world rankings have been announced ahead of Thursday's Open. The top 20 are as follows;

1. Tiger Woods
2. Vijay Singh
3. Ernie Els
4. Phil Mickelson
5. Retief Goosen
6. Sergio Garcia
7. Adam Scott
8. Jim Furyk
9. Padraig Harrington
10. David Toms
11. Chris DiMarco
12. Kenny Perry
13. Angel Cabrera
14. Davis Love III
15. Luke Donald
16. Darren Clarke
17. Tim Clark
18. Stewart Cink
19. Justin Leonard
20. Miguel A. Jimenez

The big mover was obviously Tim Clark, who rose from 26th to 17th this week.
Michael Campbell the US Open winner is 22nd.

[SideshowTim]

i'm cheering for adam scott at st andrews. i'll be happy if he comes in the top 5.

[Grippa]

I'd really like to see Darren Clarke win, but in all honesty i think it will be between Tiger and Ernie

[Jason]

I'm really hoping Nicklaus can make the cut. It would be a nice way for him to go out.

I'm thinking Furyk or Ernie will end up winning the tournament.

[Spartan]

time for the only tournament I'll watch all year...except for a playoff series late on a sunday afternoon from time to time.

[SideshowTim]

woods in the lead so far at 6 under par.

[HomertheGreat]

Tiger completely owns this golf course. with 66 today, i really see him running away with this thing.

[Terrier Williger]

Yes, the signs are ominous, Woods with a one shot lead after Round 1.

Here's the top of the leader board
1. Woods (USA)...... 66 -6
2. Hensby (AUS)..... 67 -5
3= Couples (USA).... 68 -4
3= Donald (ENG)...... 68 -4
3= Goosen (RSA)..... 68 -4
3= Immelman (RSA).. 68 -4
3= Lonard...(AUS).... 68 -4
3= Olazabal (ESP).... 68 -4
3= Ramsey (SCO)..... 68 -4 (Amateur)
3= Riley (USA)......... 68 -4
3= Schuster (GER).... 68 -4
3= Verplanck (USA)...68 -4

Notable strugglers are;
74= Els 74 +2,
74= Mickelson 74 +2
74= Toms 74 +2
98= Di marco 75 +3
98= Davis Love III 75 +3
116= Weir 76 +4
116= Westwood 76 +4
138= Furyk 78 +6

As for Jack Nicklaus, he shot a 3 over par 75, but I reckon he's got a chance of making the cut if he can go round in par or maybe +1 tomorrow.

[Spartan]

tiger's gotta play in the afternoon tomorrow, when the wind gets downright nasty at the old course.

[SideshowTim]

wow, who the fuck is hensby? nice to see an aussie up the top though.

[Rekart]

Weather reports say tomorrow isn't going to be that windy, Spartan, but that could change. I hope it does, just so there's some competition.

[Terrier Williger]

wow, who the fuck is hensby? nice to see an aussie up the top though.
Hensby was challenging in the opening rounds of the US Masters earlier in the year, he ended up finishing joint 5th.

The weather forcast, looks like being very similar to yesterday, so the scoring should be reasonably good.

I've gotta say I was dissapointed with Poulter's trousers. Last year he wore those union jackers, but yesterday he wore a pair with a picture of the claret jug on them. The only prob was that from a distance, to me it looked like a bird had shit down his leg.

[Terrier Williger]

It looks like it could be a stroll in the park for Woods, but the heat is on for 2nd place. Great to see Monty will be playing in the final pairing tomorrow.
Jack Nicklaus bowed out in style, by birdie-ing the last hole. His visit to the Swilcan Bridge going up the last, to acknowledge the crowd and the media, will long stay in my memory.

Leader Board after 2nd Round.
1. Woods (USA)........66-67;-11
2. Montgomerie (SCO).71-66; -7
3= Alenby (AUS)........70-68; -6
3= Faxon (USA).........72-66; -6
3= Immelman (RSA)....68-70; -6
3= Lonard (AUS)........68-70; -6
3= Olazabal (ESP)......68-70; -6
3= Singh (FIJ)...........69-69; -6
3= Verplank (USA).....68-70; -6
10=Bryant (USA).......69-70; -5
10=Couples (USA)......68-71; -5
10=Garcia (ESP)........70-69; -5
10=Khan (ENG)..........69-70; -5
10=Van Pelt (USA).....72-67; -5

Most of the big names have made the cut with Els, Mickelson and Goosen all on 3 under par.

The cut was at +2, and notable casualties were;
O'Meara +2
Nicklaus +3,
Furyk, Hamilton and Price +4,
Love III +5
Weir +7
Jacklin +11
Duval +13

[HomertheGreat]

I really don't see anyone challenging woods at this point. i don't see monty being there sunday, just because he's monty. sergio and vijay may give him a little run at it, but 5 shots is hard to make up, especially when the leader is the best golfer in the world. i'd also like to see couples make a run too, just because i like the guy.

but that nicklaus birdie today was great. talk about going out in style.

[SideshowTim]

yeah i can't see woods loosing, if he keeps getting -4 for the next two rounds, i really don't think he will lose. major number 10 for woods on the way.

[gravymaster]

A lot of times in sports, player's exits are corny and just plain silly. Jack went out very graceful and with a ton of style today.

Woods has run away with this one, though. I would be VERY surprised if someone came close to him in the next couple of days.

[Jason]

Nice to see Nicklaus go out in style. I would have liked to see him make the cut, but the birdie on 18 seemed like a good enough exit.

This is Woods tournament to lose. The only way he loses is if he has a meltdown which I can't see happpening.

[SideshowTim]

woods 2 shots clear after the last hole. he birdied the last hole which was good for him, i'd say if he gets 2 or 3 under tomorrow he'll win but if not...goosen is looking pretty good, he shot a 66 today which was excellent.

[Terrier Williger]

Yeah, Woods wasn't at his best today, but still did well to come out of things with a 1 under par 71. But his lead has been halfed, and now makes for a much more interesting final round.
I agree that he'll probably need to shoot at least a 69 to guarantee the championship. There are a few good players in the chasing pack, who at the moment are 3 or 4 shots back, but could fire a 6 under par round of 66 or better tomorrow. This could take the title away from Woods if he doesn't shoot below 70.
Monty hung in there well today, and did better than I thought, but he missed too many birdie chances, and may regret this. Goosen is looking like a real danger, and will be wanting to make up for his collapse in the final round of the US Open. Olazabal has been a revelation - he could do it, he's won the Masters twice, but he's still feeling his way back to form, and I expect it to be 1 round too many for him tomorrow.
Singh has yet to fire a really low round and is due one - he's been playing well from tee to green, but has missed loads of birdie puts. The same could be said of Garcia.
Don't know about Faxon - he's shot a good round and may not have another in him, and surely 'Cambo' can't do it again ?
All the others need to be looking at shooting the course record to have a chance of winning !

Leader Board After Round 3

1. Tiger Woods USA............66-67-71; -12
2. José Maria Olazábal ESP....68-70-68; -10
T3.Retief Goosen RSA...........68-73-66; -9
T3.Colin Montgomerie SCO.....71-66-70; -9
T5.Brad Faxon USA...............72-66-70; -8
T5.Sergio Garcia ESP............70-69-69; -8
T7.Michael Campbell NZL.......69-72-68; -7
T7.Vijay Singh FJI................69-69-71; -7
T9.Bart Bryant USA..............69-70-71; -6
T9.Tim Clark RSA..................71-69-70; -6
T9.Darren Clarke NIR.............73-70-67; -6
T9.John Daly USA.................71-69-70; -6
T9.Søren Hansen DEN............72-72-66; -6
T9.Maarten Lafeber NLD.........73-70-67; -6
T9.Bernhard Langer GER.........71-69-70; -6
T9.Sandy Lyle SCO...............74-67-69; -6
T9.Sean O'Hair USA..............73-67-70; -6
T9.Kenny Perry USA..............71-71-68; -6
T9.Scott Verplank USA..........68-70-72; -6
T20.Trevor Immelman RSA......68-70-73; -5
T20.Adam Scott AUS.............70-71-70; -5

Winning this years Open has definately passed by Phil Mickelson (-3), and Ernie Els (Even) this year.
Top amateur going into the final round is Lloyd Saltman from Scotland who is on a very creditable 4 under par.

[SideshowTim]

woods has got it. a greatly deserved win for him. i'm glad he won too.

[Grippa]

Fair play to Woods. I like to see him do well, although I'd rather have seen Monty win.

[SideshowTim]

montgomerie was in a position where he could have taken over, he didn't play very well on the back 9 though which cost him alot. tiger really deserves this, let's hope he gets 19 majors under his belt.

[Grippa]

montgomerie was in a position where he could have taken over, he didn't play very well on the back 9 though which cost him alot. tiger really deserves this, let's hope he gets 19 majors under his belt.

Yeah I'd really like to see Tiger break Jack's record, and considering his age I think he has a very good chance.

[Terrier Williger]

Congrats to Tiger Woods for a well deserved victory. His skill playing the difficult back 9 was the key to his win - his putting, especially from distance, was awsome.
Interesting to see a lot of over 40's in the top 20, which shows how long Woods can still play for at the top level.
Although Monty, like so many others, faded on the back 9, he played well to finish runner-up.
He seems to have got over his personal problems of the last few years, and is playing much better. Maybe he could still win a major ?

Final Leader Board

1. T.Woods..........(USA) 66-67-71-70; -14
2. C.Montgomerie (SCO) 71-66-70-72; -9
3= F.Couples........(USA) 68-71-73-68; -8
3= JM.Olazabal.....(ESP) 68-70-68-74; -8
5= G.Ogilvy..........(AUS) 71-74-67-69; -7
5= B.Langer..........(GER) 71-69-70-71; -7
5= V.Singh.............(FIJ) 69-69-71-72; -7
5= M.Campbell......(NZL) 69-72-68-72; -7
5= S.Garcia..........(ESP) 70-69-69-73; -7
5= R.Goosen.........(RSA) 68-73-66-74; -7
11= G.McDowell.....(NIR) 69-72-74-67; -6
11= N.Faldo...........(ENG) 74-69-70-69; -6
11= I.Poulter..........(ENG) 70-72-71-69; -6
11= K.Perry...........(USA) 71-71-68-72; -6
15= D.Frost........... (RSA) 77-65-72-69; -5
15= N.O'Hern.........(AUS) 73-69-71-70; -5
15= M.Hensby.......(AUS) 67-77-69-70; -5
15= L.Saltman ......(SCO) 73-71-68-71; -5 (Amateur)
15= T.Immelman....(RSA) 68-70-73-72; -5
15= J.Daly.............(USA) 71-69-70-73; -5
15= S.O'Hair..........(USA) 73-67-70-73; -5
15= D.Clarke..........(NIR) 73-70-67-73; -5

Woods has now won 10 majors, and finished as a runner-up twice.
While Nicklaus at the same age (29) had won 7 majors and finished 2nd 7 times.
He gained another 8 wins and 8 runners-up spots between the ages of 30 and 40, and then won his last 3 majors, and finishing 2nd another 3 times between the ages of 40 and 50 !!!!
I wouldn't put it passed Woods to make it 11 major titles before he's 30, by winning the USPGA in a few weeks time.
I also think Woods is not too far away from the form he was in during his finest year in 2000, when he was brilliant to watch. If he get's into that sort of form then no-one stands a chance. I can see him beating Jack's record before he's 35.

[Grippa]

Yeah i can certainly see Tiger making it 11 at the PGA this year. He is just in so much better form than anyone else. For instance, Mickelson had a terrible time and Els didn't make much of an impression.

[Terrier Williger]

I see Tom Watson won the Senior British Open today after beating Des Smyth in a playoff.
Greg Norman was 3rd.
Craig Stadler 4th.

[SideshowTim]

woo! norman! so when's the pga?

[Terrier Williger]

The USPGA Championship on the regular tour is due to start;
August 11th with a Purse of $6,250,000 at Baltusrol Golf Club
This course has one of the longest par 5's on the pro-tour - 647 yards.

The next Major on the Seniors tour, is this week - The US Senior Open at NCR Country Club, Kettering, Ohio

[SideshowTim]

that's a shitload of cash. i'm hoping tiger wins, he deserves it after having such a great year already.

[Terrier Williger]

Nah, I think he should give someone else a chance...someone like....Monty :D .
I'm gonna be intersted to see if anyone (John Daly ?) can reach that 17th - 647 yard - hole in 2 shots.

[Terrier Williger]

Big news this week concerns Ernie Els who's had to have an op on his knee (cruciate ligament ?) after injuring it during a sailing holiday on the Med.
It looks like he will be out for quite some considerable time, and will certainly not play in the PGA.

Meanwhile Singh leads the Buick by 5 shots after the 3rd round - Woods is joint 4th 8 shots behind.

In the US Seniors Open Stadler and Roberts lead by 3 shots after the 3rd round.
Smyth and Watson are 5th, Norman is 7th 5 shots behind.

EDIT - (Monday)

Singh retains the Buick, and becomes the first player to win it 3 times.
Woods finishes joint 2nd 4 shots behind, so Singh doesn't gain too many points on Woods in the World rankings.

Senior US Open was won by Allen Doyle, who came from 9 shots back to beat Roberts and Weibring by a shot. Greg Norman followed last weeks 3rd place by finishing 4th in only his 2nd Seniors event. He was 2 shots back.

On the Euro tour the Scandanavian Open in Sweden was won by Aussie Mark Hensby, who beat home player Stenson in a play-off. Hensby is teamed-up with Nick Faldo's old caddie Fanny Sunesson.

Michelle Wie finished joint 3rd in the British womens open - 6 shots behind winner Jeong Jang of Korea.

[Terrier Williger]

US PGA starts tomorrow, anybody want to bet against Woods ?

Singh and Goosen have each had a win in the last two PGA tour events, so he may have some competition.

[Grippa]

Woods is well off the pace with an opening round of 5 over par. But at the moment the leaders are only at 3 under, so Woods is still capeable of bridging that gap. However Mickelson is one of those at 3 under so he has put himself in a very nice position.

[Terrier Williger]

Yep, Woods at tied 113th is gonna have to get a bit of a move on to even make the cut, while Mickelson joint leader at -3 is looking dangerous. Goosen is at -2, and Singh getting back to even par after struggling for most of the round are both very much in touch.
Top Brits are Lee Westwood and Greg Owen who are right up there at 2 under, while Luke Donald has got off to his usual good start at 1 under.
Monty struggling at +7 after his hand injury from last week. :(

Leaders After Round 1 at -3;

Trevor Immelman (RSA)
Ben Curtis (USA)
Stuart Appleby (AUS)
Phil Mickelson (USA)
Rory Sabbatini (RSA)
Steven Ames (CAN)

[California Prunes]

Well done Tiger Woods. I am a huge huge fan of his and was so pleased to see him make the cut. He was ridiculously unlucky today with so many bad breaks going against him such as the ball going up right against the high fringe twice making it much harder to get a clean strike on the ball and one of the times when it was up against the collar of the rough he had to turn the putter sideways and use the side of the putter to strike it.

The worst stroke of luck came at the 17th. After a whopping 354 yard drive, he had a chance to become the first player to reach the hole in two (well John Daly and Sandy Lyle did it in 1993 I think but thats when the hole played at 630.) Since then it has been lengthened further to 650. After a brilliantly struck 3 wood on a great line it just hit the rough right near the edge of a bunker and then took a terrible bounce which gave him a near impossible bunker shot. Because of the bad bounce a near certain berdie four became a bogey six.

However as I said im so pleased he made the cut, and although he is 12 shots back I really believe that if he plays like he did on the back nine for two more days he still has a very good chance of victory.

And my predicted winning score - -9

Also that was a terrible incident on the 4th with the tree collapsing. Two people had minor injuries but are fine while the other man trapped has suffered a broken leg and is in hospital. Lets hope he has a speedy recovery and although a broken leg is obviously a horrible thing to suffer in truth it could have been worse.

[Terrier Williger]

Yeah, weird accident with that tree. Luckily no-one got seroiusly hurt.

Scoring amongst the leaders was a lot harder yesterday, but there were a few movers from further down the field including Thomas Bjorn, who shot a course record equalling 63. Mickelson who looked like he was running away with it, has been brought back to the pack and plays with Davis Love III in todays final pairing.
Woods has pulled himself up to even par after a 4 under 66 and is now only 6 shots back - can he win it ? Singh who went round with 17 pars and a birdie at the last and Goosen who also went round in 1 under, are right in there at -4 and -3 respectively.
There's also a chance Elkington who is playing well after a few years of injury and illness can win his second PGA title, 10 years after his first.

Leaders after round 3
Mickelson -6
Love III -6
Bjorn -5
Perez -4
Appleby -4
Elkington -4
Singh -4

Westwood and Owen top Brits at -3.

EDIT- Daly managed to land the ball on the 17th green in two shots yesterday after hitting a driver and a 2 iron.

[Toli]

This year I started learning how to play golf. I've had lessons and played 4 or 5 games. But I don't support it at the moment.

[California Prunes]

EDIT- Daly managed to land the ball on the 17th green in two shots yesterday after hitting a driver and a 2 iron.

Yeah, that was pretty amazing to hit it on in two with only an iron in hand for your 2nd shot to a 650 yard hole. Just a shame he had to putt with a sand wedge.

[HomertheGreat]

what was up with him and his putter (or lack of one) yesterday. they explained it, but i didn't quite get it.

anyway, the tournament has been great so far. great to see davis love back on top, as well as phil.

[California Prunes]

what was up with him and his putter (or lack of one) yesterday. they explained it, but i didn't quite get it.

Basically on the 8th hole after Daly finished his hole, in anger he chucked his putter hard against his bag and the putter head came loose. So for the last 10 holes of the round he was forced to putt with a sand wedge. Heh it was quite fun to watch.

[gravymaster]

Jesus christ, Phil. Don't blow this.

[Terrier Williger]

Bad Weather and poor light has put pay to todays play, so they're gonna have to finish tomorrow with the title up for grabs.

Mickelson at -4 amazingly holds a one shot lead from Elkington and Bjorn, after it looked like he was falling apart, but all the leaders have been dropping shots which now means that Woods who is safely in the clubhouse at -2 has still got a chance of winning.
It's been entertaining stuff, and it means I will be able to see the end of the tournament without having to stay up til the small hours :D

Leaders
Mickelson -4 (13)
Bjorn -3 (15)
Elkington -3 (14)
Woods -2 (F)
Love III -2 (13)
Singh -2 (15)
Ogilvy -1 (F)
Campbell -1 (F)
Goosen -1 (16)

I think Mickelson will win.

[California Prunes]

[QUOTE=Terrier Williger]Mickelson at -4 amazingly holds a one shot lead from Elkington and Bjorn, after it looked like he was falling apart, but all the leaders have been dropping shots which now means that Woods who is safely in the clubhouse at -2 has still got a chance of winning.
QUOTE]

I really want Woods to win but unfortunately the last two holes are par fives so you have to think somebody will play them in atleast one under par. However I remain optimistic that Woods can still take the title. C'mon Tiger!

[gravymaster]

Nice job by Phil to keep steady and get the win today. Nice to see him get another major. I guess we can finally stop hearing about him not coming up big in key situations.

[Terrier Williger]

Yeah Mickelson has definately laid the ghost of never winning a major to rest and has probably got a few more major titles to come. He has also moved up to 3rd place above Els in the world rankings, thanks to his great win at the PGA.

TOP 25
1 Tiger Woods 16.77
2 Vijay Singh 11.89
3 Phil Mickelson 10.22
4 Ernie Els 9.23
5 Retief Goosen 8.29
6 Sergio Garcia 7.09
7 Adam Scott 5.70
8 Padraig Harrington 5.41
9 David Toms 5.35
10 Jim Furyk 5.34
11 Kenny Perry 5.30
12 Angel Cabrera 5.20
13 Chris DiMarco 4.82
14 Davis Love III 4.56
15 Darren Clarke 4.43
16 Luke Donald 4.34
17 Tim Clark 4.24
18 Fred Couples 4.22
19 Michael Campbell 4.13
20 Stewart Cink 4.03
21 Thomas Bjorn 3.93
22 Miguel A. Jimenez 3.62
23 Scott Verplank 3.61
24 Colin Montgomerie 3.55
25 Stuart Appleby 3.49

Big mover this week was Thomas Bjorn who climbed 10 places, thanks to finishing runner-up to Mickelson.

Woods however has just gone past Singh in the money list, by a mere $338,671 - he's now earned just short of $7.3 million in prize money so far this season. Mickelson closed the gap in 3rd to only $1.38 million behind Singh!

Jack Nicklaus has picked Fred Couples and Justin Leonard as his wild cards for the Presidents cup in September, while Gary Player has ignored Steve Elkington despite him finishing joint second in the PGA and having a good 8-4-3 record in previous PC's. He's gone for South african Trevor Immelman and Aussie Peter Lonard.

[SideshowTim]

gonna bump this thread. tiger won the us pga, suprise surprise. he really is a magnificent player, i think he will go down as the greatest of all time. it's not like he has no competition, he has many excellent golfers to compete with yet he always seems to come out on top. 12 majors is incredible, especially when you aren't even halfway into your career, most golfers would more than happily retire with 1.

[rickey]

Did anyone read that piece of shit article by Bill Simmons on Tiger Woods? I gotta say, most of what he recommended for him to improve his image was borderline racist. This fuckin guy writes for ESPN Mag and his own little blog site on the website, has this huge national following, yet his editors let him get away with that crap? Unbelievable.

[SideshowTim]

there still is alot of racism in golf whether people accept it or not. i'm so glad tiger is doing so well though because it's almost like a big "fuck you, you're wrong" to all those racist golfing traditionalists out there.

[rickey]

Did you read the article? What other racism are you talking about. If ANYTHING, golfing traditionalists are mysogonists, case in point Augusta national Park where they won't allow woman members.

[SideshowTim]

uh, up until about 50 years ago a black person would NEVER be allowed to set foot on a golf course. i think augusta was a white only membership policy in the 90's still! how about when people wanted to lengthen golf courses and stuff like that just to reduce tigers "dominance". there was no talk of this when nicklaus was in his prime and destroying everything in his path.

[mike_donnelly]

I would think a player would feel complimented if a rule change was forced because of their dominance. I think in basketball the free-throw was made into a compulsory shot because Wilt Chamberlain would go for a dunk (don't quote me on that, I am probably wrong)

[box elder]

i think the "tiger-proof" courses had more to do with the fact that he really was the only person who could hit that far off the tee and still be good at everything else too. it really was an attempt to level the playing field, as it were, moreso than to stop a black man from winning (at least in my opinion, i obviously cannot see into people's minds). however, he really is so much better than anyone else at everything, that it doesn't matter. he won the british open withought using his driver at all, so that tells you how complete his game is.

what he did today was pretty damn impressive, too. vijay had a 3 stroke lead and shot 3 under in the final day and still got crushed. tiger's front nine today was just fun as hell to watch.

p.s. i would have bumped this thread long ago if i knew it existed. i just figured nobody here cared for golf.

[SideshowTim]

tiger is in amazing form. what a golfer. i thought he had no hope coming into the last round, but he took his chances and did amazingly well. not many golfers can shoot 4 bogeys for a day and still get a remarkable -8 for the day. so he's won 5 tournaments in a row now, is that a personal record for him? wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.

[box elder]

he won 6 in a row between '99 and '00. also, i'm pretty sure he didn't bogey a single hole yesterday. if i recall he had 2 eagles, 4 birdies and the rest pars.

[The lesson is never try]

Europe winning in the ryder cup :D casey got a great hole in one, and woods is doing really poor at the moment, so happy for clarke as well

[California Prunes]

Just got my internet up and running after a couple of weeks downtime, and I'm extremely pleased to find the Golf thread bumped to the first page where it belongs. :)

I am huge, huge Tiger Woods fan and therefore very happy by his recent streak of five strokeplay victories in a row on the US PGA Tour. After two wonderful rounds of 63 (-8) and 64 (-7), he holds a four shot lead over Stewart Cink at the halfway stage of the WGC American Express Championship in Hertfordshire, England.

I will be watching the final round on Sunday at the event itself. This will be the first time I see my idol in action and hopefully I'll be there to witness a Tiger masterclass. Sensational sportsman.

[SideshowTim]

another title for tiger. won the wgc american express championship with an excellent 23 under...just as i thought he was losing some form after the ryder cup...

[box elder]

he's never done well in the ryder cup. it just doesn't suit his style of play.