Casey jumps to number three after latest victory
The return of Tiger Woods, Angel Cabrera’s Masters win and the rise of Rory McIlroy as the future global are among the top stories so far this year.
All this while, England’s Paul Casey has been quietly, efficiently and stealthily slipping under the radar. But after his victory at the BMW PGA Championship, it will be a bit more difficult for Casey to go unnoticed.
After all, the triumph, his third of the year, boosted him to number three in the world rankings. At the start of the year, he was 41 in the world.
Casey fired a closing four-under-par 68 for a total of 271 and a one-stroke victory in the European Tour event over local favourite Ross Fisher at Wentworth, Virginia Water in England. Fisher had threatened to take the event into a play-off but his fantastic 64 fell just short.
The 31-year-old Casey had already won the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and Shell Houston Open this year, as well as finishing runner-up to Geoff Ogilvy in the World Match Play Championship in Arizona.
He joins players such as Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Bernhard Langer as PGA Championship winners after holing a curling four-footer for victory. He said in an AP article:
“This feels great. All the great names are on this trophy, and I wanted to be there as well. It’s nice to be part of that history. It’s quite strange thinking I used to stand there listening to the sound of the golf ball off the club whistle past your head, and now I’m on the other side of the ropes.â€
Soren Kjeldsen closed with a 69 for third place at 275 while one stroke behind was Stephen Dodd, who finished with 67. McIlroy finished fifth after his 71.
On the US PGA Tour, South African Rory Sabbatini fulfilled a lifelong wish when he won the HP Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas.
Sabbatini had always wanted to have his name on the famous trophy in the tournament named after the legendary golfer. His closing round of 64 enabled him to do so with his total of 19-under-par 261, a record for the tournament, giving him a two-stroke victory over Brian Davis.
Davis also closed with 64 with DA Points finishing third on 264 after his final round of 65. Scott McCarron (62) and Dustin Johnson (66) tied for fourth on 265.
Sabbatini was a wearing pink shirt in solidarity with Amy Mickelson, the wife of top American golfer Phil Mickelson who recently announced he has stopped playing to help his spouse battle breast cancer. He said:
“Obviously this tournament is very special. It’s one that I wish I had have been able to win it and look up and see Byron sitting there at the 18th green. What a wonderful name to be associated with now.â€
Nicklaus tips Woods to break major record
Most things in life are relative, even Tiger Woods. Take, for example, the voices of some sections of the golf gallery who believe Woods’ best days are behind him given his knee surgery last year and the fact that he has gone three tournaments on the US PGA Tour without victory, including the US Masters.
Since winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the end of March, Woods finished tied for sixth at the Masters, fourth at Quail Hollow and eighth at The Players Championship. For any other player, that would be quite a decent comeback from a procedure as complicated and career-threatening as ACL surgery.
Yet, for Woods, it appears the numbers fail to impress. Not so for Jack Nicklaus, the man whose benchmark Woods has targeted and who believes the world number one is well on track to breaking his record of 18 majors.
In a recent interview with the UK’s Sky Sports, Nicklaus was quoted as saying Woods, who has 14 majors, can surpass his record, though there are plenty of youngsters ready to challenge him at every turn. Nicklaus said:
“Tiger is probably not back at this point. He’s still winning or getting real close, but he’s not playing his best. When he gets to his best he’s going to be tough again because he’s a great player. I think he probably will (break my record). His work ethic is good enough and he’s young enough. He certainly should pass that.â€
Woods’ last major title was the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines, immediately after which he stopped playing to fix his knee. He made his comeback this year and his next major target is, once again, the US Open next month.
Nicklaus suggested that players such as Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and American Anthony Kim are among the youth squad who are most likely to challenge Woods.
Woods himself has identified teenager McIlroy as the golfer who is best equipped to one day replace him as world number one.
Meanwhile, speaking of Woods and relative, the 18-year-old niece of Tiger, Cheyenne Woods, is set to make her LPGA debut at the Wegmans tournament in Pittsford, New York in June.
Cheyenne, who is a freshman at Wake Forest, is the daughter of Earl Woods Jr, the son of Tiger’s father, Earl, from a previous marriage.
She received a sponsor invitation to play in the LPGA event, having been named Arizona High School Golfer of the Year in 2007.
Mocs’ On Track For NCAA Championship
When you’re a mid-size college golf program making the NCAA Championship is a big deal. When your team is less than two seasons old and comprised entirely of freshmen and sophomores, that achievement becomes a whole lot more impressive.
Two seasons ago Colette Murray was named head coach of the University of Tennessee Chattanooga women’s golf program, a program that was discontinued in the mid-1980’s due to a lack of funding and support. Starting from scratch with Murray at the helm the program has grown in leaps and bounds in its first two seasons, faster than even those close to the program could imagine. In 2007/8 the Lady Mocs left Chattanooga in a team van to travel to Jacksonville State University in Alabama (Murray’s Alma Mata) to play their first tournament in close to 20 years. The five first-year players promptly went out and won the Chris Bannister Gamecock Classic hosted by Jacksonville State by 27 shots. As if that result wasn’t impressive enough, it was quickly overshadowed by the next two results, both wins at Elon and Iowa St. Before the season was over Murray’s squad of freshmen had won four times and barely missed out on post-season play, a late-season slump costing them a spot at the 2008 East Regional Championship.
The Lady Mocs were rewarded for their astounding first season with invitations to some of the top tournaments in the country this season. A stronger schedule has led to less wins (only two on the season), however playing the best teams in college golf week after week has allowed Chattanooga to feel comfortable at the top, and an extra year of experience has proven invaluable to the players themselves.
In their first trip to the East Regional two weeks ago the UTC shot a final round 320, edging out Georgia State and Washington to secure the 8th and final spot in the NCAA Championship Tournament. It was an accomplishment even the Lady Moc’s coach could not fathom fully.
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“Our schedule this year was designed to prepare us for nationals. It will not be an easy task, but we will compete and see what happens.†Murray said last week following her team’s qualification. “We were not just happy to qualify I assure you. Getting to Regional was a great first step, but we were not satisfied just to get that far. I am so proud of the effort we displayed in Columbus. It is a bit of a whirlwind.”
Australian native Emma de Groot has been the Lady Mocs’ go-to player in their first two seasons. de Groot has posted some impressive numbers both as a freshman and a sophomore in college golf. In 23 career tournaments she has posted 13 top 10 finishes and 16 in the top 20. This season her good play was rewarded when she was named in the All-Southern Conference team for the second time, posting a 75.87 career scoring average to go along with her four career individual titles. Last season she competed at the East Regionals as an individual, earning an impressive T17Â .
Murray’s other sophomore, Austrian Christine Wolf shot the low round of the day for her team in the 3rd round at the East Regionals, showing patience and poise in the gusty conditions, she ground out a 78 and tie with teammate de Groot for 40th place. Wolf posted a 77.55 scoring average in her second season and despite her youth is one of the more experienced players on the team.
The rest of the Lady Mocs NCAA Championship squad is comprised of freshmen with extensive international playing resumes. In fact, noted online publication Golfweek recently produced an article on Murray’s team of foreign stars. The article went so far as to call Chattanooga’s meteoric rise, “an incredibly impressive feat at an unheralded school like Chattanooga.” It went onto praise Murray’s recruiting process and her ability to “harvest diamonds” from foreign soil.
Moa Duf is first year player who arrived in Chattanooga in January 2009 and wasted no time making an impact on the Lady Moc roster. Duf comes direct from the Swedish national program that has produced the likes of Annkia Sorenstam. She posted a 78.53 scoring average in her half-season with a best finish of 5th at the JMU/Eagle Landing Invitational. The final two members of Murray’s squad are her South American connection. Maria Juliana Loza comes from Columbia has been a solid performer her first season, posting a 77.71 scoring average with a best finish of T6, one shot behind teammate Duf at the JMU/Eagle Landing Invitational. Southern Conference Freshman of the Year Maria Salinas from Peru rounds out the side. Salinas put up the second-best scoring average on the team, a 76.13 stoke average that included five rounds of par or better, including a team-low 72 at the East Regional. She produced a team-high 5 top 10s and was named to the All-Conference and All-Freshman teams.
Despite the rise and rise of the UTC program, youth and inexperience are a fact of life as Chattanooga trys to continue their fairytale post-season run at the NCAA Championships at Caves Valley Golf in Owings Mills, Maryland this week. So far this season’s East Regional is the only event outside the regular season the team has competed in as a whole. But Chattanooga has done nothing if not surprised a lot of people in their first two years on the scene. Golfweek, in an NCAA Championship preview gave UTC the “Congrats on making it” award. Quietly, Murray believes her team may be doing more than just “showing up” at Caves Valley.
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“We played a (strong) schedule like we did so we could be prepared for this level.” she said. “We have 5 good players and you never know what can happen when a group like ours comes together.”
Murray and Chattanooga seem to be building a reputation on understatement. Count on them making some noise in the very near future.
Follow Chattanooga and all the scores from the 2009 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships at http://www.golfstatresults.com/home.cfm
Local amateur Lowry stuns pros at Irish Open
Irishman Shane Lowry may have missed a four-foot putt in typical amateur fashion – after all, he is an amateur. But that did not stop him from getting the better of the pros in the Irish Open.
The 22-year-old Lowry became only the third amateur to win a title on the European Tour when he beat Englishman Robert Rock on the third extra hole at Baltray.
On the final hole, the five-plus handicapper hit the ball to four feet. But soon after acknowledging the crowd, he was filled with embarrassment as he putted wide. He was given another chance, though, in the play-off.
Rock missed a nine-footer in the first extra hole and two holes later, both at the 18th, the Englishman failed to get up and down in recording a six as Lowry made himself eligible for the 500,000-euro first prize but was forced to decline because of his amateur status.
According to reports, he was to decide on Monday whether or not to turn professional, noting he would be “mad not to†consider the prospect.
The former Walker Cup representative, who is the son of a famous Irish Gaelic football player, gave notice of his potential by shooting 62 on Friday in his first-ever Tour event. He said on the European Tour website:
“I can’t believe it – this is going to take a long time to sink in. I know my life is about to change forever. I’m feeling shock more than anything. I got an invite here, it’s my first tournament and I would have been happy to make the cut. But then I shot the 62 and after that I thought ‘this is my week – I can win’. And I did!â€
Lowry and Rock closed with 71s to finish on 17-under-par 271 for the tournament, two ahead of Sweden’s Johan Edors, who also had a 71 on the final day.
England’s Nick Dougherty and Scottish player Marc Warren were tied for fourth on 275 while another Scot, Alastair Forsyth, was alone on sixth at 276.
Lowry could be taking part in Wentworth this week at the BMW PGA Championship should he decide to take the plunge and go pro.
There was play-off drama on the US PGA Tour as well, with former US Masters winner Zach Johnson successfully defending his title at the Valero Texas Open.
Johnson beat fellow American James Driscoll in the play-off for his second victory of the season. Johnson closed with an even-par 70 while Driscoll surged into play-off contention after his brilliant eight-under round of 62.
However, Driscoll couldn’t sustain his long-putting antics in the play-off as Johnson birdied the first extra hole to seal victory.
Bill Haas and Paul Govdos were tied for third on 266 while four players – Brian Davis, of England, Australian Marc Leishman, Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobsen and American Justin Leonard – were joint fifth.
On the LPGA Tour, South Korean Oh Ji-young shot two-under 70 in the final round for a total of 14-under 274 and victory at the Sybase Classic in Clifton, New Jersey.
She was four strokes ahead of Suzann Pettersen while Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie were tied for third, a further four strokes adrift.
On a cold, windy day that made scoring difficult, Pettersen closed with 74. Wie and Creamer each scored 73 on the final day.
US golf leaders take plight to government
The big guns of American golf are on a propaganda offensive, taking careful aim at the big guns of government.
At a time when the golfing industry in the US is being criticised for extravagance, and coinciding with National Golf Day, the top men from the US PGA Tour, PGA of America and World Golf Foundation (WGF) were telling lawmakers what the real deal is.
PGA Tour’s Ty Votaw, Joe Steranka, of CEO of PGA of America and WGF’s Steve Mona trekked to Washington to meet with the big hitters on Capitol Hill, trying to convince them that golf is beneficial to the country as an economic healer.
This comes at a time when several companies such as Northern Trust and Chrysler are receiving bailout money from the US government yet continuing their multi-million dollar sponsorship of professional tournaments.
According to a USA Today article, Steranka pointed out that golf is a $76 billion industry in America, employing more than 2 million people and paying as much as $61 billion in salaries. Steranka, whose body is the union for club pros, was quoted as saying:
“The biggest message we’re trying to give is golf’s impact on jobs. There are 16,000 golf courses in America, and 90 per cent of them are small businesses that employ 40 to 50 people.â€
One of the main concerns for the industry is the government’s plans for legislation that may affect taxes, particularly those relating to charity spending. PGA Tour events are non-profit organisations and in 2008 donated $124 million for charitable funds.
It is the objective of the golf leaders to make sure lawmakers are aware of the sport’s benefit to charities as well as the fact that, contrary to perception, not everyone in golf is riding out the economic crisis smoothly.
Manufacturers of equipment are suffering as well as golf resorts, which are experiencing a drop in business because people are travelling less. Said Votaw:
“The vast majority in Congress do understand the Tour’s issues but some may not be aware of how certain legislation can affect us.â€
Swede Stenson wins ‘fifth major’ at Sawgrass
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson absorbed all the pressure thrown his way as he strolled to a four-stroke victory at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
With Tiger Woods failing to pose a challenge on the final day, Stenson closed with a six-under-par 66 for a 12-under total of 276 in what is regarded by many pros as the fifth major tournament.
England’s Ian Poulter was alone on second place on 280 after his 70 while Americans John Mallinger and Kevin Na bothh scored 70s to share third place on 281.
Jim Furyk (69), Brian Davis (71) and Ben Crane (72) were tied for fifth on 282 as Tiger settled for eighth place 283 after his 73, having had a share of second place overnight.
For Stenton, it was his second title on the PGA Tour since 2007 WGC World Matchplay Championship. He also became the second straight European ton win the TPC following Sergio Garcia’s triumph in 2008.
Stenton said his ability to stay calm throughout the tournament was key to his victory. He was quoted as saying in a Reuters article:
“It is a great feeling to have won this championship on a golf course I really enjoy playing. I just handled myself very well throughout these four days, putted well and gave myself plenty of chances and stayed very level-headed.â€
After the third round, Woods was five strokes behind overnight leader Alex Cejka, who crashed out of contention with a final round of seven over 79.
Like many of his fellow strugglers, Woods found the hard and fast greens difficult to read and also was unable to control his drives, hitting only six of 14 fairways. He said:
“I just kept hitting those spinners up to the right and it was frustrating because if I am down the right side, I’d spin to the right, aim down the left side, spin it to the right.â€
Poulter showed great character to fight back and earn second place but it was his 75 in the third round that meant he was unable to challenge for the title.
On the European Tour, Argentina’s Daniel Vancsik shot a six-under-par 67 for a total of 267 and a six-stroke victory at the Italian Open.
While the day belonged to Vancsik, he was forced to share the limelight with Amerian showman John Daly, who showed that he still has much to offer the game as he earned a share of second place.
Daly’s late charge, which featured four birdies on the back nine, saw him finish with 66 for a total of 273 alongside Raphael Jacquelin and Robert Rock.
The former US PGA Championship and British Open winner, now 43, is trying to make a comeback to the professional circuit on the European Tour.
Vancsik recorded eight birdies and two bogeys on his final round for his 17 under score and his second tour title, having won the Madeira Islands Open in 2007.
Meanwhile, Cristie Kerr scored a one-under-par 70 to win the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill and become the first two-time winner of the LPGA Tour event in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Kerr’s total of 16-under 268 was two strokes better than Korean Kim In-kyung, who shot 71.
“Rub Of The Green” – Golf Rule 19-1
Here is a golf rules question I received relating to “the rub of the green”!
RULES OF GOLF QUESTION:
“After my second shot to our 18th on Sunday I was still about 30 metres short of the green.
The green keeper suddenly appeared and started watering the green with a rather thick hose. It;s really dry in NZ and I appreciate it needs to be done to save the greens.
I was waiting for him to finish when he waved us on. I was most reluctant to do this as the pin was on the back of the green and a
section of hose ran right across my flight path.
I used my loft wedge, the ball looked good in flight but hit the hose
and shot off the green into thick grass.
a) Can I replay my ball?
b) As my opposition replied it’s the rub of the green.”
RULES OF GOLF ANSWER:
“Your friend is absolutely correct, it was ‘rub of the green’. Your ball was deflected by an outside agency and had to be played from where it came to rest (Rule 19-1). Think positively, if the hose had deflected your ball into the hole you would have holed out with your 30 metre pitch!”
Visit here for more Rules of Golf questions.
Disclaimer: Whilst every attempt has been made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of this information on the Rules of Golf I am human and have been known to be wrong! Neither I, nor anyone connected with GolfSwingSecretsRevealed.com, shall be held responsible for any losses caused by reliance upon the accuracy or reliability of such information. Readers should refer to the full text of the rules and decisions as published in the official publications of the R&A and the USGA, The Rules of Golf 2008-2011 and Decisions on the Rules of Golf 2008-2009.
How To Play Great Golf In The “Flow”
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Andy’s Prologue:
Following on from Gail Smirthwaite’s highly interesting post on How Much Does Your Ego Play A Part In Your Game Of Golf?, I would like to present Gail’s thoughts on playing in the “flow”. Gail’s Advice: In this blog post I am going to look at the importance of the mind when it comes to playing golf. |
It never ceases to amaze me how many golfers overlook developing the number one aspect of performance that can position them ahead of the field and help them to be consistently more successful. I am referring to the power of the mind, but more importantly how to control it so it doesn’t control you!
It has long been accepted that the mind is what makes the key difference between success and failure in many areas of life and not least in sport. Yet golfers who really want to achieve a better result, lower their handicap, or win tournaments, do not actively engage in preparing themselves as much mentally as they do physically.
Tiger Woods possibly did not know the importance of having a sports psychologist at the age of 12 but he does now. It is a little known fact that Jay Brunza, Sports Psychologist, worked with Tiger from such a young age. Woods has often said that he doesn’t need to work on his mental game, but then will follow this up by saying that he doesn’t need to “because all the strategies have been in place from the age of 12!†Tiger’s father knew the importance of the mind and guided Tiger well, but although guidance is so important at such a young age credit needs always to go to Tiger who has taken ‘strength of mind’ and the ability to focus to a new level.
It is so important to develop your mental skills and clearly the earlier the better. Although many golfers out there may not have been fortunate enough to have a trained sports psychologist on hand from childhood believe me when I say that it’s never too late.
If you think of the sports person you most admire, how would you describe them? Possibly focused, driven, motivated, dedicated, ambitious – all these skills are not to do with technique or talent but everything to do with attitude.
If you make the choice to learn to be more aware of how to create a positive mindset and how these skills can be developed then you stand every chance of not only creating the golf game you want to achieve, but success in the life you want as well.
Much has been written about top sports performers’ ability to perform ‘in the zone’. It is in this ‘state’ where the best results are achieved most easily. You can liken the zone to that feeling of everything being so easy on every level; when you are operating without conscious thought and without effort. To give you an everyday example; remember what it was like when you learnt to drive a car? It was awkward trying to remember everything in the correct order, but after time you learnt to drive without any conscious thought for the process.
University of Chicago psychologist Mihalyi Csikzentmihalyi has studied the equivalent state in the workplace, a state which he refers to as being ‘in flow’. This is the feeling when you are fully motivated, inspired, and passionate about what you are doing. When you are fully effective and powerful and time flies by and results seem to just happen. You may have experienced golf shots like that before because this is what brings back so many golfers to the game time and time again.
What percentage of your golf game are you operating in flow? And what are the times where you are not? There are a number of feelings that potentially will threaten you whilst performing ‘in flow’; such as when you are disengaged, bored, unfocused, full of self-doubt and fear, or distracted.
I recently coached a successful businessman in his mid-forties. He came to me to help him to lower his golf handicap as he had become increasingly frustrated with his golf game over the whole golfing season. He booked the usual course of six sessions and by session five he had not once mentioned his golf! I asked him during this session how well he had been playing recently and if he wanted to discuss his game. He answered that his game was now ‘absolutely fine’ and ‘that ‘it’ was taking care of itself!’
We had spent the previous five sessions talking about his career and we had worked on his various challenges within his work role, what he valued and how to honour these, in order to take the stress out of his life. He became goal-focused on what he wanted in his working life and by session five his confidence and self-esteem had returned along with his golf game!
Here was a man not performing in the ‘flow’ in the one of the most important aspects of his life; his career and this was affecting his game of golf. Each one of us possess natural talents – the ones that we are born with – if we do not recognise what we are good at then life can become a struggle.
When we follow our path, the one that offers least resistance, and begin to play the game we most naturally play, on and off the golf course, we begin to excel. We will find that we are having fun because it is ‘effortless’, we are in the flow because we are doing what we ‘love’ to do.
So take a moment to remember that playing golf is a great hobby not a matter of life and death. Get your game into perspective; have fun, enjoy and get yourself into your flow!
Many thanks for reading.
Gail Smirthwaite
The Continuing Maturation Of Sean O’Hair
“I’ll make plenty of money in my career. I want the crystal.”
That’s what Sean O’Hair said following his dramatic collapse down the stretch at the 2007 Players at the TPC of Sawgrass. His quadruple bogey 7 on the “Island green” 17th hole, followed by a bogey on the 18th hole saw O’Hair drop from second place, where he was duelling with eventual champion Phil Mickelson, into a tie for 11th. That stumble at the finish line cost him somewhere in the neighbourhood of $750,000, but he didn’t make any apologies for his play. He didn’t question his resolve and he didn’t question his own talent. He stared at the face of failure, into the eyes of “choke” and he didn’t bat an eyelid.
Two years later Sean O’Hair is returning to the TPC of Sawgrass for the 2009 version of The Players a different person and golfer, some would say a fully formed man. Last week O’Hair proved to himself and the world that he belongs in the upper echelons of the game, taking down Tiger Woods and one of the strongest fields of the year in winning the Quail Hollow Championship. The 26-year old has risen to number 12 in the world, up from 59th at the start of the year, and is currently 3rd on both the PGA Tour Moneylist and Fed-Ex Cup rankings. He leads the tour in probably the two most significant statistical categories as well- the all-around ranking and scoring average. Speaking to the media at The Players yesterday O’Hair reflected on his year so far, his past, and the reasons behind for his rise to the top.
“I think, number one, Rotella and I always talk about with putting, if you’re not a good wedge player, if you don’t have the opportunities from inside ten feet, your putting statistics aren’t going to be that great. If your birdie opportunities are from 20, 25 feet instead of ten, eight feet, you’re obviously not going to putt as well as somebody who does have those opportunities. So that’s number one.” O’Hair said.
“I think number two, I’ve changed my stroke a little bit. I’ve always been kind of an armsy putter, and I haven’t really ever released the putter face. And I think I’m more…I’ve changed my stroke to more of a shoulder rotation. So that’s definitely helped. I think my putting stroke has improved quite a bit in the last couple of months. And then obviously when you start seeing that ball go in the hole, your mind changes awfully quickly.”
Quail Hollow brought O’Hair’s victory total on the PGA Tour to 3, all well before his 30th birthday. Of all the American stars under the age of 30, he is the first player to do that. And while he may be a little more “under-the-radar” than compatriots like Anthony Kim or Hunter Mahan, in a lot of respects O’Hair has grown up on the PGA Tour, and is a more mature player for doing so. His well-publicised split with his father non-withstanding, it takes a while to mature under the harsh spotlight of golf stardom, something O’Hair has had to deal with since he made his tour debut as a gangly 22-year old. Now in his 5th year on tour, O’Hair can not only boast of 3 tournament wins, but he and wife Jackie are also expecting their third child this summer. When asked about the expectations placed on the young Americans O’Hair was dismissive, but realistic about perceived expectations from the public and the media.
“You’re asking about expectations that you guys have, and with all due respect, I really don’t care what you guys think. My thing is I care about where I want to go, and I think the thing is there’s a lot of things that have been written in a negative way, especially after Bay Hill and the thing is I can’t control what you guys write. I can’t control the expectations people have on me. The only thing I can control is how I think of myself and the expectations that I put on myself.”
But for all his success this year, O’hair is still very much on a mission. The goals he has talked about are lofty ones- winning the career Grand Slam along with 50 events on the PGA Tour itself. Quail Hollow did a lot to put the demons of Sawgrass and Bay Hill behind O’Hair, and with a new found confidence it’s hard to bet against him.
“I don’t want to be just a guy on the PGA TOUR making a good living. That’s not my goal. My goal is to win as many golf tournaments as possible. I want to win major championships. I want to win this tournament. There’s a lot of goals I have. At the end of my career I’d love to be in the Hall of Fame….I believe in myself. I believe that I can become one of the better players out here. I think I feel like I’m on the right track to do that.”
O’Hair gets his revenge over Tiger
Sean O’Hair made amends for his collapse at the recent Arnold Palmer Invitational when he won the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina.
O’Hair lost a five-stroke lead to Tiger Woods at Bay Hill five weeks ago but this time he trumped the world number one, who bemoaned a lack of consistency as he finished fourth.
The 26-year-old O’Hair shot a three-under-par 69 for a one-stroke victory over Lucas Glover and Bubba Watson, becoming only the third player in his 20s to win at least three titles on the US PGA Tour, joining Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia.
O’Hair, who totalled 11-under 277, admitted that he was keen to erase the bad memories of Bay Hill. He said in an AP article:
“Losing stunk at Bay Hill. Even though it’s tough to lose like that, to lose a five-shot lead against Tiger, you still learn from it. I talked to my coach. I talked to my caddie. And we just all said all I have to do is keep putting myself in those situations, and at some point I’m going to learn how to win. It’s just nice to win as quickly as I did after Bay Hill.â€
Glover was in with a chance to force a play-off but he had to settle for a share of second place after closing with 71. Watson made 70.
Woods probably knew it wasn’t going to be his day when he parred the 14th, par-four hole. After driving green, he needed to sink a 25-footer for eagle but ended up putting three times.
The 14-times major champion parred the last 10 holes to score 72. Woods rued his mistakes but was full of praise for O’Hair.
“I had my opportunity there at 14. I made a mistake there. I knew the green was baked out. It was downwind, and I didn’t heed my own warning, and ended up putting too hard. Sean’s got all the talent. We know that. We’ve seen how well he’s played. He’s been through a lot off the golf course, and it’s just a matter of time before all that settles in.â€
On the European Tour, Frenchman Thomas Levet shot a final round of four-under-par 68 to win the Open de Espana in Girona by two strokes.
Levet’s total of 18-under 270 was enough to give him the title over Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti, who shot a 65 in the last round for his 272.
Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and Irishman Peter Lawrie were tired for third on 274. Bjorn closed with 66 while Lawrie scored 69.
After receiving his trophy and cheque for 333,330 euro, Levet dedicated his victory to Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros, who is recovering from a series of surgeries to remove cancerous growth from his brain. He said on the European Tour website:
“I always think about Seve, he is having a hard time at the moment. Seve, I dedicate this win to you.â€
It was Levet’s fifth title on the tour, the most by a Frenchman.
HSBC Champions in China joins WGC series
Over the past couple of years, the Asian Tour has been battling with the European Tour and the Australian-led OneAsia Tour over tournaments and branding rights in the world’s biggest continent.
The Europeans have tried to start tournaments in India and Korea without Asian Tour permission while the OneAsia people are trying to form a rival tour.
But the latest twist has come from much farther away – the US PGA Tour, who have swooped on one of Asia’s golfing jewels, China.
Looking to enhance its role in China, the PGA Tour has made the popular HSBC Champions tournament part of its World Golf Championship (WGC) series.
This means that the likes of Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia, who are expected to play in the $7 million November 5-8 event in Shanghai, will be going to Asia for more than simply a cultural and commercial jaunt but for a worthy tournament bolstered by WGC credentials.
With prize money increased by $2 million, the tournament becomes the fourth leg of the WGC series and the only one being played outside the United States.
The move is a major triumph for the PGA Tour, which is facing pressure from an increasingly richer and aggressive European Tour in the battle to lure big-name golfers. Woods, no less, praised the move, as he said in a Bloomberg article:
“It is an event that symbolises the amazing progress of golf in Asia and its new World Golf Championships status underlines how firmly China has established its place on the global golf calendar.â€
PGA Tour commissioner Tom Finchem described it as a major step forward for world golf, firmly believing that the the tournament will be a watershed for global golf. He enthused:
“This is one of the most significant steps ever taken in the globalisation of golf and one of the most logical. World-class golf has arrived on this continent and the map of the golf world may never look the same.â€
The WGC series was first launched in 1999. Other events are the Accenture Match Play Championship, the Bridgestone Invitational and the CA Championship.
Kelly’s a hero again after seven years
Veteran American Jerry Kelly endured a nervous final day, losing and then regaining the lead to end a seven-year tournament drought.
Kelly scored a final round of one-under-par 71 for a 72-hole total of 14-under 274 to win the Zurich Classic in New Orleans by one stroke.
The experienced PGA Tour player, who last won at the 2002 Western Open, went into the last day with a three stroke lead. By midway through the round, though, he was three shots back.
That’s when he decided to get himself together. A couple of birdies later, and with other players falling over themselves, Kelly managed to hang on for victory in the $6.2 million tournament.
One stroke behind on 275 was the trio of South African Rory Sabbatini, South Korea’s Charlie Wi and American Charles Howell, who squandered a two-shot lead through the course of the day.
Sabbatini got close with his 67 while Howell and Wi shot 68 each. They were one stroke ahead of Americans Steve Marino and David Toms.
Since his last victory, the 42-year-old Kelly had notched four runners-up positions and 42 top 10s.
Few would have guessed that Kelly would be breaking his barren run on his 200th tournament since his last success.
Only last week, Kelly abruptly walked off the course on the second day of the Verizon Heritage tournament after shooting 10 on one hole, blaming flu and a dislocated rib.
He has come back in the best possible way and doesn’t want to wait another seven years for his next title. He said in an AFP article:
“I got myself in position. I wish I could have finished it a little better.”
On the European Tour, Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee won for the second time this year in a joint-sanctioned event when he took the Ballantine’s Championship title in Jeju, South Korea after a three-way play-off.
Thongchai, a former Thai Army paratrooper, birdied the extra hole to beat Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and home favourite Kang Wook-soon to lift the title in the tournament that is jointly sanctioned by the European Tour and Asian Tour.
He finished the final round on two-under 70 for a total of four-under 284 after going into the fourth day four strokes off the pace.
Fernandez-Castano missed the green in the play-off while Kang was unable to sink a five-foot putt for birdie. Thongchai stepped up to drop his six-footer on the par-four 18th for a three and follow up his victory in the Indonesian Open in March.
Meanwhile, world number one Lorena Ochoa, of Mexico, delighted her home fans when she won the Corona Championship on the LPGA Tour in Morelia.
She scored a final round five-under-par 68 for a total of 25-under 267 and a one-stroke victory over Norway’s Suzanne Pettersen, who also shot 68. It was Ochoa’s third pro victory in Mexico
Pro Golfers Use Twitter To Tweet To Their Golf Fans
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Pro golfers twitter their way into fans’ hearts.
Professional golfers are going back to the people thanks to technology. In the old days of pro golf, the big-name players were mostly happy to rub shoulders with ordinary folks off the course. Modern golf doesn’t allow for such intimacy, with the increased money involved, television coverage, sponsor obligations, security and the higher profile golfers enjoy these days compared with the past. However, social networking websites such as Twitter.com are allowing the pros to once again connect with fans in a cyber kind of way. |
LPGA Pro Nicole Hage tweets at Twitter.com/NicoleHage, to view more photos please visit her Facebook page here.
Twitter is the latest sensation in social networking. The site allows users to post “tweets†or short messages to their subscribers, providing updates, news and other interesting and often personal tidbits. It’s like a blog with fewer words.
Among the well-known golfers who provide tweet service are Stewart Cink (@StewartCink), John Daly (@PGA_JohnDaly) and Stuart Appleby (@StuartAppleby) while female golfing tweeters include Natalie Gulbis (@Natalie_Gulbis), Morgan Pressel (@MorganPressel), Meaghan Francella (@MFrancella) and NicoleHage (@NicoleHage).
Other golfers tweeting with their fans are US PGA Tour winner Parker McLachlin (@ParkerMcLachlin), Japanese-American sensation Tadd Fujikawa (@Tadd_Fujikawa) and women’s Futures Tour players Carling Coffing (@CarlingCoffing), Liz Janangelo (@PumpkinPutts), Whitney Myers (@Whitney0Myers), Maggie Simons (@MaggieSimons), Kristie Smith (@NikeGolfChick) and Briana Vega (@BrianaVega), the latest winner of golf reality show Big Break.
Cink is one of the most active twitter-ers and is keeping his fans up-to-date with his progress when competing in tournaments and during time off from the Tour.
Hage, Gulbis, Pressel, Daly and the others also faithfully provide updates on a regular basis to keep fans happy.
There is much to catch up on from pro golfers, so log on to Twitter.com, where you can also read the latest about me Andy Brown (@AndyBrownGolf) and HomeofGolf.TV.
In Alphabetical Order: (please let me know of anymore pros that join Twitter so as I can update this page- thanks)
Sofie Andersson (@SofieAndersson)
Swede Sofie Andersson is one of the many promising professionals to come from Sweden and who is now competing on the Duramed Futures Tour in the US. The 26-year-old joined the Tour in 2007 and won a tournament in her rookie year at the Aurora Health Care Champions in Wisconsin. She has also had six other top 10 finishes, including second at the 2009 Michelob ULTRA Duramed Futures Players Championship. She resides in California.
Stuart Appleby (@StuartAppleby)
Australian Appleby turned pro in 1992 and has since been a consistently successful golfer since. He started off on the Australasian PGA Tour before winning twice on the secondary Tour in the US in 1995, where he finished fifth on the money list and qualified for the US PGA Tour. Appleby has won eight times on golf’s premier tour and he reached the top 10 in the world in 2004. His best performance in a major was at the 2002 British Open, where he lost in a four-way play-off to Ernie Els.
Kyeong Bae (@KyeongBae)
South Korean Bae Kyeong has been on and off the elite LPGA Tour since 2002, and a permanent fixture since 2006. Although she has never won on the main tour, she did find success during her year on the Future Tour is 2005 when she won two tournaments. She has also won the Shinsegye Cup KLPGA Championship on her native Korea LPGA Tour. Her best finish on the LPGA Tour was second place at the 2006 Sybase Classic.
Stacy Biebar (@GolfProGirls)
Bio coming soon.
Paul Casey (@Paul_Casey)
Bio coming soon.
Susan Choi (@GolfProGirls)
Susan played Varsity golf at Wellesley College for all four years. This experience triggered a passion, and made her realize that this is what she want to do for the rest of my life. Susan started competing in local and national events her Junior year at Wellesley and had some pretty good success, but most importantly she says, “I loved it!†Susan has been featured on Big Break Ka’anapali and she is a proud founder of GolfProGirls.com.
Irene Cho (@TheIreneCho)
Irene Cho is a product of the University of Southern California and has been playing on the LPGA Tour since 2007, one year after turning professional. She had a distinguished amateur career, earning AJGA All-America honours in 2002 and 13 top-10 finishes on the American Junior Golf Association tour. In 2006, she was Honda Player of the Year and Pac-10 Player of the Year.
Stewart Cink (@StewartCink)
Cink, who turns 36 in May, is one of the most respected players on the PGA Tour. With 12 professional victories to his name, including five titles on the PGA Tour, Cink has established himself as one of the world’s leading golfers, having broken into the top 10 of the world rankings intermittently in his career. One of the highlights of his career was reaching the final of the 2008 Match Play Championship in Arizona, losing to world number one Tiger Woods.
Carling Coffing (@CarlingCoffing)
The 23-year-old Coffing is one of the rising stars of the women’s game, having turned professional in 2008. The Ohio State graduate with a degree in communications had a stellar college career, at state and national level and is currently competing in the women’s Futures Tour. She is hoping to one day break into the LPGA Tour.
Paula Creamer (@ThePaulaCreamer)
American Paula Creamer has been one of the biggest stars of the LPGA Tour ever since she burst on to the professional scene in 2005. She has earned more than US$1 million each year since turning pro and won eight tournaments along the way. When she won the Sybase Classic in 2005 at 18 years, nine months and 17 days, she became the youngest winner at the time of a multi-round tournament on the LPGA.
John Daly (@PGA_JohnDaly)
Daly is one player whose charisma and persona could rival that of Tiger Woods in terms of fan popularity. The 43-year-old two-time major champion is currently on a comeback in the professional game after years in the wilderness, trying to rediscover the form that helped him to the 1991 US PGA Championship and the 1995 Open Chamipionship title. His booming drives make him one of the biggest drawcards on the tour, even when he is not playing well.
Chris DiMarco (@ChrisDiMarco)
Chris DiMarco is a veteran on the US PGA Tour, having joined the pro ranks in 1990. In recent years he has shown the ability to challenge the top players in any situation and has been rewarded with three titles – the 2000 SEI Pennsylvania Classic, 2001 Buick Challenge and 2002 Phoenix Open. DiMarco was runner-up at the 2006 British Open, the same year he won the Abu Dhabi Championship in UAE on the European Tour.
Heather Daly-Donofrio (@LPGARocks)
Daly-Donofrio is an 11-year veteran of professional golf, having first joined the LPGA Tour in 1998. She has two tour titles to her name, winning the 2001 First Union Betsy King Classic and the Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions. She achieved two top-10 finishes in 2005 but has since only played sparingly on the main tour.
Meredith Duncan (@Meredith_Duncan)
Meredith Duncan turned in professional in 2002 after a successful amateur career during which she won the US Women’s Amateur Championship in 2001. The following year, she was part of the US Curtis Cup team. After turning pro, she played on the Kosaido Ladies Asian Circuit and, in 2003, tied for fifth at the LPGA Final Qualifying event to earn her Tour card.
Allison Fouch (@AllisonFouch)
Fouch turned professional in 2006 and enjoyed her best year in the LPGA Tour in 2008, when she made the cut in 17 of 25 tournaments she played. Her best finish was at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, where she finished tied for second and also had a career-low score of 64 in the final round. The previous year, she won twice on the Futures Tour and had eight other top-10 finishes for second overall in the money list and an exemption for the 2008 LPGA Tour.
Meaghan Francella (@MFrancella)
Having turned pro in 2004, Francella’s major triumph to date has been in winning the 2007 MasterCard Classic where she saw off Annika Sörenstam in a four hole playoff. In 2006 Meaghan won the Lakeland Duramed Futues Classic, helping her secure a 5th place on the Futures Tour money list and full exemption for the 2007 LPGA season. She finished 29th and 88th on the LPGA money list for 2007 and 2008 respectively.
Tadd Fujikawa (@Tadd_Fujikawa)
Fujikawa hit the headlines in 2006 when, aged 15, he became the youngest golfer to qualify for the US Open. The next year, he became the second youngest player to make the cut at a PGA Tour event, Hawaii’s Sony Open, at 16 years and four days. He left the amateur ranks in 2007 and won his first tournament as a pro in April 2008 at the Mid-Pacific Open in Hawaii.
Julieta Granada (@JulieGranada)
Paraguay’s Granada has been a pro since 2005, winning the YMCA Futures Classic on the Futures Tour in 2005 before joining the LGPA Tour in 2006. In that year, she won the final tournament of the season, the ADT Championship, enabling her to collect the first-ever $1-million prize in women’s golf. A graduate of the David Leadbetter school in Florida, the 22-year-old has had a fine amateur career and is one of the stars of the future.
Natalie Gulbis (@Natalie_Gulbis)
One of the most glamorous and popular golfers on the LGPA Tour, Gulbis, 26, has also proven herself to be a quality player, earning her first title at the 2007 Evian Masters. She showed promise at a young age when she qualified for her first LPGA tournament, the 1997 Longs Drugs Challenge. At 14, she was the youngest amateur to do so until Michelle Wie broke her record in 2002.
Sophie Gustafson (@SophieGustafson)
Another pro export from Sweden, Gustafson has been a regular feature on the LPGA Tour since 1998. Her best year on the Tour was on 2000 when she won two tournaments and had two other top-10 finishes. She triumphed in the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship and the Weetabix Women’s British Open. She won again the following year, at the Subaru Memorial of Naples and captured her fourth tour title at the 2003 Samsung World Championship.
Nicole Hage (@NicoleHage)
Hage turned professional in June, 2007 and returned to LPGA Final Qualifying School last year where she finished joint 34th to re-enter the Tour. Prior to becoming pro, she enjoyed a successful amateur and junior career, earning All-American credits in 2002 and 2003 as well as being on the 2002 Junior Solheim Cup.
Maria Hjorth (@MariaHjorth)
Hjorth is one of the veterans of the LPGA Tour, having made her rookie year in 1998 and then going on to win two tournaments and attain five other top-10 positions in 1999. Her maiden triumph on the Tour was the SAFECO Classic and she also won the Mizuno Classic. She had to wait eight years before her next triumph, at the 2007 Navistar LPGA Classic.
Janell Howland (@Janellaxo)
Howland has played only sparingly on the LPGA Tour since 2005, having played eight tournaments in total, including five in her rookie year. In 2008, she played 16 tournaments on the Duramed Futures Tour and eventually regained her card for the main circuit in 2009. She had a strong amateur career, winning two tournaments in 1999 while representing Lamar University and the 2001 Bermuda Match Play.
Noon Huachai (@NoonH)
Noon Huachai is a rising star from Bangkok, Thailand, who turned professional in 2007 and has played on the Duramed Futures Tour. As an amateur, she met with much success, winning three times on the 2005 Future Collegians World Tour. The same year, she also recorded three wins on the International Junior Golf Tour. She now makes the United States her home.
Rebecca Hudson (@GolfingBecs)
Bio coming shortly
Vicky Hurst (@TheVickyHurst)
Hurst is one of the most popular new faces on the LPGA Tour. She made her debut in 2009 and has already recorded two top-10 places from eight tournaments (up to 06.09), in which she made the cut seven times. She turned pro in 2008 and went on to win five events on the Duramed Futures Tour to earn her Rookie of the Year honours and priority list for the LPGA Tour.
Trevor Immelman (@TrevorImmelman)
Bio coming shortly
Peter Jacobsen (@JakeTrout)
Jacobsen is one of the stalwarts of the US PGA Tour, having won seven titles during his heyday and continuing on to find success on the Champions Tour, where he won two majors. The 55-year-old American is also a well-known TV personality, with two shows on The Golf Channel. The last of his PGA Tour titles was the Greater Hartford Open in July, 2003.
Liz Janangelo (@PumpkinPutts)
Janagelo is an American professional who plays on the women’s Duramed Futures Tour, having had one season in the elite LPGA Tour in 2008. The 25-year-old from Hartford, Connecticut turned pro in 2006 after a solid amateur career that include five titles in her State Open Championship. Her best season so far was in 2007 when she won twice on the Futures Tour to finish sixth in the season-ending rankings.
Sarah Kemp (@SarahJKemp)
Kemp had an outstanding career as an amateur and professional in her native Australia before making the jump to the LPGA Tour in 2008 via the Ladies European Tour. She was her country’s top-ranked amateur in 2003, the year she won the first of two Australian Stroke Play Championships. In 2005, she won four times on the Australian Ladies Professional Tour before achieving nine top-10 finishes on the Ladies European Tour from 2006-07.
Christina Kim (@TheChristinaKim)
Kim is an American of Korean heritage, born in San Jose, California in 1984 and now one of the most colourful and talented female golfers on the LPGA Tour. She is famous for her flamboyant style of dress and the Kangol berets she loves to wear. And her golf is not bad either with three pro titles to her name – the 2004 Longs Drugs Challenge and 2005 Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions, which added to the 2002 Garden State Summer Classic she won on the Futures Tour.
Mindy Kim (@MindyKim89)
Kim is in her rookie season on the LPGA Tour in 2009 after a successful 2008 in which she won three times on the Duramed Futures Tour, where she also finished second on the money list. Kim turned professional in 2007 after a solid amateur career in which she won the 2006 American Junior Golf Association Mission Hills Desert Junior Classic and the Los Angeles City Championship.
Jeehae Lee (@Jeehaeda)
Lee made her LPGA debut in 2009 after more than two years as a professional, which included two victories on the Futures Tour. The Seoul-born Korean, who studied economics at Yale University, had a strong amateur career, with one victory in the American Junior Golf Association. She was also third at the 2003 Ivy League Championship individual tournament and the low amateur at the 2006 Connecticut Women’s Open.
Spencer Levin (@Spencer_Levin)
American Levin has been playing professionally since 2005 but it is only in 2009 that he has been a regular feature on the PGA Tour. The 25-year-old previously played on the Nationwide Tour, where, in 2008, he earned seven top-10 finishes to end up 22nd on the money list. He is the son of former PGA Tour golfer Don Levin.
Stacy Lewis (@Stacy_Lewis)
A rookie in 2009, Lewis made a solid start to her career on the LPGA Tour with some eye-catching performances. The previous year, she had played seven events on the Tour with two top-10 finishes, including a tie for third at the US Women’s Open. As an amateur, Lewis won 12 collegiate events during her time with the University of Arkansas and was a four-time All-American.
Davis Love III (@Love3D)
Love is one of the most respected golfers on the professional tour, having been among the paid ranks since 1985 and a long-time resident among the world’s top 10 players. The 45-year-old has won 20 titles on the PGA Tour including the 1997 US PGA Championship, which remains his only major win so far. His last win was the Children’s Miracle Network Classic in November, 2008, a victory that gave him a lifetime exemption on the Tour.
Paige Mackenzie (@Paige_Mackenzie)
After turning pro in 2006, she promptly went on to win an event on the Cactus Tour as a sponsor’s exemption. Mackenzie had played a handful of times on the LPGA in 2005 and 2006 before earning full playing honours in 2007. Her best finish in a major was actually when she was an amateur, tying for 13th place at the 2005 US Women’s Open. While at University of Washington, she finished as the country’s top amateur according to Golfweek and became the college’s first female golfer to win the Pac-10 Championship individual title.
Michelle McGann (@MichelleMcGann)
McGann is a true stalwart of the LPGA Tour, having made her debut in 1988 and turning pro one year later. The chirpy star enjoyed her best years during the mid-1990s when she won seven tournaments in three years. Her last victory on the Tour was in 1997 when she captured the ShopRite LPGA Classic, one of two titles that season. McGann has earned more than US$3 million in prize money.
Jill McGill (@JillyMcgilly)
The statuesque McGill is a veteran of the LPGA Tour, having enjoyed her rookie season in 1996. In that time, she has had numerous top 10 finishes and came close to winning tournaments in 2001 and 2005, both times earning the runners-up check. The six-footer had a solid amateur career, winning the 1993 US Women’s Amateur Championship and the 1994 US Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship.
Rory McIlroy (@RorsMcIlroy)
Bio coing shortly.
Parker McLachlin (@ParkerMcLachlin)
The Hawaii-born McLachlin has been in the pro ranks since 2003 and broke through to the main PGA Tour in 2007. After successfully returning to qualifying school for the 2008 season, McLachlin ended his tournament drought when he won the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. That performance helped him secure his place on the Tour until 2010.
Kate Miller (@GolfProGirls)
Kate received a golf scholarship to the University of North Carolina. Her collegiate career is highlighted by being named a two-time All-ACC selection for golf. She also had the chance to be a sideline reporter for ESPNU during a UNC Basketball game. Katie is now a member of the Duramed FUTURES Tour, and she aspires to play on the LPGA Tour. She would also like to pursue a career in journalism. Kate is one of the founders of GolfProGirls.com.
Tina Miller (@TinaMillerGolf)
Miller, whose full name is Christina Mae Miller, is a 26-year-old pro golfer from Miami, Florida who turned professional in 2005 at the LPGA Wendy’s Championship for Children. She has been playing golf since she was seven years old and earned a full scholarship to the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. In her junior year, she became a member of the elite Iron Arrow club – the university’s highest society honour.
Whitney Myers (@Whitney0Myers)
Myers is another golfer who is trying to make a name for herself on the women’s Futures Tour after showing plenty of potential at junior and amateur levels. She is a former winner of the Pennsylvania State Junior Girls’ Championship and a two-time AJGA champion. The 23-year-old was also the individual winner of the 2008 SEC Women’s Golf Championship.
Johanna Mundy (@JohannaMundy)
Englishwoman Mundy has been a professional on the LPGA Tour since 2000 after an amateur career that included victories in the 1992 and 1994 Sussex Ladies Championship and the 1994 Astor Salver. She has had four top-10 finishes in her LPGA Tour career with her best most recent performance being 13th place at the Corona Championship. Also last year, she tied her career-low score of 65 in the last round of the Fields Open, where she earned 14th place.
Jane Park (@MaryJane1432)
Park has been playing professionally on the LPGA Tour since 2007 and, though she has come close, was still looking for her first career title by the middle of the 2009 season. Her best performances in 2008 were two second places, a third and one other top-10 finish. As an amateur, she was runner-up at the 2003 US Women’s Amateur and tied for 30th at the US Women’s Open.
Suzann Pettersen (@SuzannPettersen)
One of the best players on the LPGA Tour, Norwegian Pettersen joined the Tour in 2003. She enjoyed a fantastic year in 2007, winning five tournaments, finishing second twice and gaining five other top-10 places. Her victories included a major triumph at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship, when she also went over US$1 million in career earnings. She has since earned more than US$4 million.
Pat Perez (@PatPerezGolf)
It has been a breakthrough year for 33-year-old Perez in 2009 after he won January’s Bob Hope Classic for his first PGA Tour victory. In the first two rounds of the tournament he set a record of 20-under-par 124 for the lowest score over 36 holes relative to par. Although Steve Stricker beat the record by one over the third and fourth rounds, Arizona native Perez, who has won once on the Nationwide Tour, went on to win the tournament and establish himself as a winner on the Tour.
Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter)
Englishman Poulter is one of the most popular players on the circuit with nine professional titles titles. Seven of his victories come from the European Tour while he has also won Japan’s famous Dunlop Phoenix tournament in 2007 and the 1999 Ivory Coast Open on the Challenge Tour in Africa. The often colourfully dressed Poulter scored the winning points for Europe in their 2004 Ryder Cup victory over the US.
Amber Prange (@GolfProGirls)
Amber Prange is a graduate of Washington University and was an All-American junior and collegiate player, with 9 Top-Ten NCAA Finshes. She recently competed in Golf Channel’s Big Break Michigan. A rookie on the Duramed Futures Tour last year, she will continue to compete on the Futures Tour for the 2009 season. Amber is one of the founders of GolfProGirls.com.
Morgan Pressel (@MorganPressel)
Pressel has emerged as one of the leading players on the LPGA Tour with more than US$2 million in earnings since she turned pro in 2006. She was barely 18 when she was given special exemption to join the Tour full-time. She has two titles under her belt and a string of top-10 finishes. Pressel enjoyed an eventful amateur career, finishing joint runner-up at the 2005 US Women’s Open.
Anna Rawson (@TheAnnaRawson)
Australian Rawson has been playing the game since she was 13 years old and the glamorous golfer also does modelling work, either on the catwalk, print ads or on television. The Adelaide-born Rawson started playing full-time on the LGPA Tour in 2008, when she recorded a career-best tie for 10th at the Bell Micro LPGA Classic. As an amateur, she was a member of the 2003 NCAA Championship team, representing University of Southern California, and won numerous amateur tournaments in her native Australia.
Maggie Simons (@MaggieSimons)
The 24-year-old Simons joined the Futures Tour at the start of 2008 after enjoying much success as an amateur. She is a two-time winner of the North Carolina Women’s Amateur tournament and was the runner-up in the 2007 North and South Women’s Amateur Championship. She earned a degree in psychology at Wake Forest University but is now focusing mostly on her budding golfing career.
Kristie Smith (@NikeGolfChick)
The 20-year-old Smith is one of Australia’s up and coming female golfers, having only recently turned professional after a successful amateur career. The daughter of former Aussie golfer Wayne Smith, she was the Australian Amateur champion in 2008 and was the best-performing amateur at the 2008 Women’s Australian Open. The Perth native is currently playing on the Duramed Futures Tour with an eye on one day qualifying for the LPGA Tour.
Annika Sorenstam (@Annika59)
Sweden’s Sorenstam is one of the greatest female golfers ever to play the game, having dominated women’s golf in the late 90s to mid 2000s. She won 90 tournament titles all over the world, 72 of them on the LPGA Tour and 10 majors. She tops the career money list with more than $22 million in earnings and once shot 59 in a competition. The 38-year-old retired from golf at the end of the 2008 season to start a family.
Angela Stanford (@Angela_Stanford)
Stanford has four career victories to date (06/09), the first one coming in 2003 in her third year on the LPGA Tour. That was at the ShopRite Classic and it was not until 2008 that she recorded her next triumph at the Bell Micro LPGA Classic. The same year, she won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. She started 2009 by winning the season-opening SBS Open for her fourth career title.
Karen Stupples (@KStupples)
England’s Stupples has been playing on the LPGA Tour since 1999 and her best year on the circuit was in 2004, when she won two tournaments, finished runner-up once and had five other top 10 places. One of those victories was at the Women’s British Open where she became only the second player to shoot a double eagle at a major tournament. More recently, her best finish was second place at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill in 2008, the same year she crossed the $3 million mark in career earnings.
Perry Swenson (@PerrySwenson)
Bio coming soon.
Yani Tseng (@YaniTseng)
Taiwan’s Tseng made her LPGA Tour professional debut in 2008, making the cut in 26 out of 27 tournaments and picking up her maiden victory at a major – the LPGA Championship. She had nine other top-10 finishes. So far in 2009 (up to end of June), she has had one more victory, winning the LPGA Coming Classic and shooting a career-low 62 in the process.
Brianna Vega (@BriannaVega)
Vega, 27, plays regularly on the women’s Futures Tour after turning professional in 2004. Although born in New Jersey, she went to college at North Carolina State University, twice winning the state’s Most Valuable Player award, in 2003 and 2004. At the 2008 Suncoast Series Tour, she finished with three victories and emerged as the leading money winner. Vega has recently shot into the limelight by winning the golf reality show, “Big Break VIâ€.
Michelle Wie (@TheMichelleWie)
Wie is one of the most famous names on the LPGA Tour, having played regularly as an amateur since she was barely out of her teens but only making her full-time Tour debut in 2009, having turned pro four years earlier. One of the best amateurs ever, she set many records in the unpaid ranks including the youngest to qualify for the USGA Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at the age of 10, in 2000. Shortly before turning pro, she was runner-up at the 2005 McDonald’s LPGA Championship.
Gay storms to record Heritage triumph
Brian Gay had good reason to wear shades at the Heritage Classic at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. If it was not the sunshine, at least his golf was brightening up his life in record fashion.
Recognised as one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, Gay shot a seven-under-par 64 in the final round for a tournament record 20-under 264 and a 10-stroke victory over Luke Donald and Briny Baird.
A 60-foot eagle putt on the second hole established the tone for the day as he set the course alight to beat the previous record of 265 made by Loren Roberts in 1996.
Dropping just two shots all tournament, Gay picked up his second title on the Tour. He told Reuters afterwards:
“This feels great. It was just a phenomenal week, virtually mistake-free. I didn’t see a leaderboard all day. We were just out there doing our thing. I just wanted to stay focused and I kept looking down.â€
Donald closed with 66, which featured eight birdies while Baird ended with a 68. Former US Open winners Lee Janzen and Todd Hamilton were tied for fourth on 275 while former Masters winner Jose Maria Olazabal shared sixth place with Tim Wilkinson on 276.
One stroke further behind were Rory Sabbatini, Matt Weibring and Tim Petrovic.
Apart from a tournament low, Gay’s margin of victory was also better than Davis Love III’s previous record of seven in 1998. Gay was also the first golfer on Tour to win an event by 10 or more strokes since Phil Mickelson in 2006.
His first victory on the circuit was the Mayakoba Golf Classic last year in Mexico.
On the other side of the world, in Beijing, there was another momentous occasion for global golf with the first OneAsia tournament being held – the China Open – and Australian Scott Strange claiming victory.
OneAsia is the brand new professional tour in Asia and is a joint venture between the Australasian Tour, China PGA and Korea PGA.
Although the Asian Tour has opposed the Tour and encouraged its players against competing, the tournament, previously on the Asian Tour schedule, had a pretty good field with Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie leading the European Tour contingent.
But it was Strange who stole the show at the CBD International Golf Club as he closed with a 68 for a total of eight-under par 280.
Strange finished one stroke ahead of Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who had a 72 and also second at the recent Estoril Open de Portugal.
Mark Brown, Ashely Hall and Richard Finch were tied for third on 282 with David Dixon and Stephen Dodd sharing sixth.
Monty finished in a tie for 25th place, nine strokes off the pace.
OneAsia plan to have a handful of tournaments this season and expand their schedule next year. They got off to a good start with an event co-sanctioned by the European Tour and worth $2.2 million.
Strange’s victory enables him to qualify for September’s Volvo Match Play Championship in Spain.
Masters To Remember, But For The Wrong Reason
Angel Cabrera won his second professional major Sunday afternoon at Augusta National Golf Club. Cabrera has now won the Masters and the U.S. Open. For someone from South America, you can’t pick two tournaments you would rather win than those two. No disrespect to the Open Championship and the U.S. PGA Championship, but the U.S. Open and the Masters are as good as it gets in the Western Hemisphere. With two major wins in the last eight majors contested (same as Tiger Woods), Cabrera has seemingly turned into the most accomplished player in the history of his continent overnight. It’s a great story. It’s an amazing story. Unfortunately, it was not the story that dominated headlines at Augusta on Sunday, and in the papers on Monday morning. Kenny Perry had given the tournament away in a most painful manner.
After jamming his tee shot on the par 3 16th hole to within two feet, assuring himself of a birdie and a two shot lead going to the 17th, Perry’s long awaited first major seemed to be a lock. Then, out of nowhere, it was almost as if he realized what he was about to do. Kenny hadn’t made a bogey since his back nine on Friday, and then he made back to back bogeys on the 71st and 72nd holes. Perry looked rattled, and did not commit to a single swing he made on the last two holes. Once the playoff started, I gave Perry no chance to come out victorious. And after Cabrera’s unbelievable par on the first playoff hole, eliminating Campbell, it left him one-on-one with Perry. The rest is history. Cabrera makes a routine par, and Perry is left to contemplate what might have been. If this was the Shell Houston Open or the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, I have no doubts that Kenny finishes the job on Sunday. That is what makes major championships so difficult to win. The pressure gets cranked up several notches, and some people just can’t handle it.
This Masters will be remembered by many as the tournament that Kenny Perry gave away, and not the tournament that Angel Cabrera outlasted the field for his 2nd major title. If you’re looking for more evidence of what I’m talking about, go ask Geoff Ogilvy how many questions he answered about Phil Mickelson’s finish at Winger Foot in 2006, as opposed to questions he answered about his own. Ogilvy was the only player in the last four groups to make a par on the 72nd hole. He hovered around the lead all week, but all anyone could talk about was how Mickelson gave the tournament away. Perhaps a better example: I polled six of my friends, all of whom I would consider to be very golf knowledgeable, if they could tell me who won the 1999 Open Championship? I obviously knew the answer because I have no life and I’m a major championship guru. Only one out of the six of them could tell me that Paul Lawrie was the 1999 Open Champion, but all six of them could tell me where they were when they watched Jean Van de Velde implode on the 72nd hole at Carnoustie.
The bottom line is that people win golf tournaments every week, some spectacular, some not. But, it’s rare when you get to see someone lose in an unusual or unfortunate manner, and that is often which sticks in our minds, which is a shame.
– Patrick Keegan
