Sean O'Hair, Thespian

Every time I see the Fed Ex Cup commercial with Sean O'Hair quoting poetry I am reminded of a young Jan Michael Vincent. You all should check out his early work like The World's Greatest Athlete or my favorite Charles Bronson movie, The Mechanic. Then compare Vincent to the O'Hair commercial.

July 4th News

I just heard on Golf Central that the PGA Tour has come up with a replacement for the International which would be played in Washington DC. And surprise, surprise, Tiger Woods is a factor. His Foundation is to benefit greatly from this deal.

Remember on Feb. 7th when I said the following:
"My own conspiracy-laden opinion: Just how hard did Finchem work to save the International if he was working on the replacement at the same time? After reading Greg Norman's book and reading other anecdotes about Finchem, I don't know if I trust him."

I think my cynicism is justified. That poor old man in Denver was sold out by the Tour who continues to milk Tiger for all he's worth.

Lucky for me that Wimbledon is contested during the July 4th week. I'll be watching that unless Sergio and Jose Maria are both playing this new golf tournament. And even then, I might not watch.

Final Results

Henrik Stenson won the matchplay. Geoff Ogilvy ended up second and Trevor Immelman defeated Chad Campbell to take third. All in all, I can't say I'm disappointed in the results, but I would have liked to have seen Geoff Ogilvy win.

And the weaseling has begun. Jimmy Roberts spent who knows how long trying to convince us that even when Tiger loses, he still wins. Blah, blah, blah. It seems as if NBC may be feeling the self imposed heat from a Tigerless weekend and couldn't go an hour without mentioning him. They really do need to stop doing that and start building up the rest of the players. Tiger won't be there forever.

I think the most important observation to make with regards to the Matchplay is that lack of American presence at the end. Americans play matchplay every year, either Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup, and still they seem weak. Paul Azinger really has his work cut out for him in 2008.

Ball mark ???

Everyone seems to be making veiled comments about Tiger's excuse of 'forgetting' to fix the ball mark on that putt he missed. I get the impression that these announcers aren't buying it. As I'm not a golfer, I can only go by what I see, what I hear, and what I know about what I see and hear and who I see and hear it from. And believe it or not, I have to believe Tiger's account of the event. I don't think he's the kind of person to invent a bad excuse. He'd make up a really good one. Plus, Johnny Miller said he could see how there may have been some difficulty due to how the grass had been mowed.

Personally, I think people are focusing on the ball mark a little too much. Bottom line is, if it all came down to just that one putt, then Tiger messed up somewhere along the way in getting to that point. He shouldn't have had to rely on that one putt to win and the fact that he did means that he had already lost the match.

matchplay

So, the two players Faldo and Miller picked are in the final. I can't remember which analyst picked which player, but Stenson and Ogilvy will be squaring off tomorrow for the win. As for who I pick - I like Stenson, but Geoff Ogilvy's daughter is named Phoebe so I'm going with him. And for the consolation match I'm picking Immelman. Which probably means Chad Campbell will win. I am a horrible jinx.

Still Missing Phoebe...

But I just watched Tiger lose to Nick O'Hern so I have to post. Yippeee!!! The faux win streak is over! Let the weaseling begin. The media will try everything to make excuses or flat out lie to the public but the plain truth is that he lost, lost, lost.

And I just want to say that I've been watching the Matchplay this week and I've been very, very happy to see Justin Rose doing so well. He is such a nice guy and he deserves his success. And I'm glad to see Paul Casey doing well. He might win this thing.

Sad to see Sergio, Jose Maria and Miguel lose out early. But Sergio did have a 6th place finish last week so he's still playing better than he has all year.

Sergio's new Michelob Ultra commercial is so funny. I love the tranquilizer tees.

I was watching the LPGA coverage and I got to thinking: Why is it they can find T-shirts with real sleeves, but when I got to walmart, I can only find T-shirts with virtually no sleeves. I have flabby skin that I want to hide, dang it! The golfers can wear tank tops, they're in great shape. Give me the real T-shirts.

Now, an update on my tragedy - I still miss Phoebe. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were really hard for me. I'm still hugging a stuffed animal at night while I'm sleeping. And I'm spending much more time paying attention to Steffi and Fritz, my other two dogs. I'm glad I don't let the dogs sleep with me or it would be even more unbearable. I guess you could say something positive came out of this. My parents have been more supportive and more emotional to me than they have ever been before. I've never had this kind of attention from them. We are not a close, huggy family. I have written a want ad and I'm putting it in the buy/sell/trade publications in my area and on the local radio show. I found an ad for a female chihuahua puppy for sale, but when mom called she found out it had already been sold. But the seller has another chihuahua who will be having puppies in about 6 weeks so I'm on a list for those puppies if there are any females in the litter. So, at the least I could be getting a puppy by about the first week of June.

Back to Golf for a second: Who is Grant Boone? He's covering the Fields Open and I've never heard of him.

And finally, A BIG, BIG, BIG THANK YOU to everyone who expressed their sympathies to me about the loss of Phoebe. I really am fortunate to have so many wonderful friends supporting me at this time. You guys are terrific!

Hiatus

I may be taking a break from posting for a while. My wonderfully perfect, most loving little Phoebe (my chihuahua for you new readers) passed away this morning. The vet didn't offer a diagnosis, but her symptoms were consistent with Parvo or this other disease that my friend Polly researched on the web for me. Phoebe had been vaccinated for parvo but maybe it didn't work. I've posted the whole story on my Miranda's Window Dressing blog if you want to go there to read the details. You know how people on the day time talk shows will say that it helps to tell your troubles to people and get things out - well it's not helping me. It's just making me cry more. So, when I'm able to take some joy from golf watching again, I'll be back.

It's About Time

Sergio has finally put together two good rounds. He's currently at 7 under par at the Nissan Open. Retief Goosen had a hole in one in round two. I haven't found out yet if he's won a car. The announcers never tell us about that and that's the most exciting part. They are still playing the second round out there in California, or else they have to finish up tomorrow. I'm not sure. The second I got the PGA Tour website to load, my pc crashed and rebooted. There's just something about all that annoying video and audio crap on that website that my dial up connection doesn't like.

I heard on the Post Game show I think that Phil has won 16 times in California. He's only won what - 30 tournaments? That's comparable to the stat that Tiger wins something like 40% of his tournaments on the same courses. There's something wrong with the world ranking system when players can be this restrictive in their presence within the professional golfing world and still be ranked so high.

Will It Count?

If Tiger loses the Accenture Matchplay, will it end the win streak? I'm betting if he loses, the media will say it doesn't count because it isn't a stroke play event. They will come up with some excuse.

Annoying

I'm listening to the SBS LPGA event on the golf channel while I'm surfing the web. I'm getting really annoyed at the announcer who keeps quoting the SkyCaddie. I know SkyCaddie is a sponsor of the coverage, but I just think its cheesy to actually be using the skycaddie during the event. If Footjoy was a sponsor of the coverage would the announcer say "I'm enjoying this 18 hole walk in my great new pair of Footjoys, available in every color, even passion pink?"

What was that Jim Carrey movie where he lived in the tv world and there was product placement going on all around him?

Going Low

It seems like every tournament this year, either on the US tour or the European Tour has had a first round leader who's shot a really, really low round. While it's great to see those players doing well, it does depress me to see that because that means the rest of the players have just that much more to overcome if they expect to challenge and win. And you can't even rely on the usual theory that a low round is followed the next day by a high round. I would rather see a tightly bunched leaderboard after the first day.

Just in Time for Valentine's Day

No time for the birdies

Sunday, February 11, 2007

By Paul Ferguson

He's one of Northern Ireland's most eligible bachelors.

At 27, Portrush golfer Graeme McDowell seems to have it all.

A blossoming professional career, bulging million dollar bank balance, two luxury homes either side of the Atlantic and a family who love him dearly.

But as St Valentine's Day approaches there's no sign of a girl on his arm.

That's what BBC Northern Ireland sports presenter Stephen Watson found out while filming a special up close and personal documentary about the likeable Co Antrim man.

Click HERE for the Whole Article

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am

I've really had a problem with the CBS coverage this weekend. And that problem is basketball. If they say the golf coverage begins at 3pm, then it should begin at 3pm. They should not finish one basketball game and then switch over to another basketball game. This has been a problem with networks for years - golf not getting the respect it deserves. This problem would be solved if basketball would actually adhere to the time frames. But, no, they have to have time outs and they have to stop the clock everytime someone touches the ball.

Oh, Phil Mickelson won. I normally don't comment on the families, but his little boy needs a haircut. He's a cute little boy, but I had to be told that this was his little boy. It must be that 'first haircut' thing that parents go through.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am

Today Jose Maria shot a 69 to get to 6 under par. That's really good. Did we see him? No. We saw the celebrities. Couldn't they have skipped just ONE of the many, many Danny Ganns performances and showed Jose Maria? I think Danny is related to that Lance Barrow considering how much camera time the guy got.

I can't report on things like round of the day because they are still playing. So, here are a few scores for you: Corey Pavin shot -5 today. John Mallinger and Kevin Sutherland are chasing Phil Mickelson and are currently just one shot back. Tom Watson is still playing well and is currently tied for 12th. Brett Quigley, Dean Wilson, Camillo Villegas are all playing well this week.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am

I watched some of this today. I was treated to an interesting exchange between David Feherty and Nick Faldo. Feherty was describing Nick as sculpted and Nick said "don't stop there." Kelly jumped in and said "please stop there." I was with Nick on this one. I don't mind hearing about his sculpted.....

And what's with the seating arrangement? In Hawaii, Nick and Kelly seemed to be seated evenly. This time, Kelly looks like she's sitting at the kiddie table. Can't they raise her chair up an inch or two? That's going to bug me if they don't fix it.

And I got to see Jose Maria Olazabal again today. That made me happy.

Who Will Be the First?

Who will be the first to suggest that Tiger is skipping the Nissan Open in an effort to preserve his faux winning streak since he's never won there? It won't be me because I read it on another website yesterday while I was googling.

This is good news for me. I get another week of enjoyable golf watching. The only downside is that Sergio's not been playing well and that will probably continue next week. But who knows, maybe he will be inspired by his first tournament in the US this year and do well.

A New Friend

A fellow by the name of Nolan Matthias was nice enough to leave a comment on one of my previous posts. So, I checked out his website. You should check it out too. It's very thought provoking, in that way that I had to think in my Essentials of Leadership class in college. I still have that Steven Covey book around here somewhere.

Check out Nolan's website HERE.

A Shorter Version of Golf???

BBC News reports:

A new version of golf has been launched with the hope of making the same impact as Twenty20 cricket and rugby sevens.

In PowerPlay Golf, each green has two holes instead of one, with a black flag denoting a more difficult pin placing and a white flag the easier one.

Over nine holes, players have to make three powerplays where they have to go for the harder option.

Click HERE for the rest of the article

My View: The only thing shorter is only playing 9 holes. If I played this I would take hours trying to decide which pin to go for. Keep in mind, I did take about 4 months to decide whether or not to buy a $7.00 purse.

Sad News

The International is no more. It came out today that the Denver tournament could not find a title sponsor and will not be contended this year. According to news articles, Tim Finchem has been working on a replacement tournament to fill the void. You can read about the end of the International by clicking HERE.

My own conspiracy-laden opinion: Just how hard did Finchem work to save the International if he was working on the replacement at the same time? After reading Greg Norman's book and reading other anecdotes about Finchem, I don't know if I trust him.

What I will miss most: Castle Pines is one of the most beautiful courses I've ever seen. I doubt there are more than 3 or 4 courses out there that could top it.

Stats Out of A Hat

I'm watching the replay of the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic while waiting for Digging for the Truth to start on the History Channel. Some idiot emailed the announcers and said that 90% of Americans want to see every shot Tiger Woods plays and the other 10% are just mad because he's breaking records. I would love to see the study this idiot is quoting when he writes emails like this.

Just in case Renton Laidlaw and Warren Humphreys read this: I do not want to see Tiger Woods. I do not want to see his wayward drives, his ball hitting spectators, his missed putts, his expletive-laden tantrums when his multi-million dollar golfing technique only results in a birdie and not an eagle. I am completely and utterly sick of seeing the media suck up to him even to the point of promoting this faux winning streak. I could care less about records being broken. I wasn't around when the 11 straight was set. I wasn't around for the 18 majors record. Records don't mean anything to me. A tournament is more than just one player and all the players should be shown.

Brett Quigley Interview

I found a good interview with Brett Quigley when I googled his name. Check out the interview by clicking HERE.

Feliz Cumpleaños

Happy Birthday on February 5th to Jose Maria Olazabal!!!

Next Tournaments to Watch

On the PGA Tour: The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Alejandro Canizares is playing again this week. Others in the field include: Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal, Brett Quigley and Camillo Villegas (with the contest winning caddie).

On the European PGA Tour: The Maybank Malaysian Open. Players who may be participating include: Lee Westwood, Michael Campbell, Darren Clarke, Andres Romero, Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa, and Prom Meesawat who did so well at the Dubai Desert Classic.

On the Champions Tour: The Allianz Championship. Looks like all the top guys will be there. I didn't see Hale Irwin's name on the list however. But Alejandro's daddy, Jose Maria Canizares is playing.

Looks like a good golf watching week. If you can ignore the celebrities at the Pro-Am.

FBR Open

Aaron Baddeley won today. He played really well all four days. Jeff Quinney played really well for 3 and three fourths days. He had a two shot lead for a while but had a few bad holes coming in. One of the announcers on NBC compared Quinney's round to that of Phil Mickelson's final round US Open last year. I think that was unfair. Mickelson had considerable winning experience behind him when he collapsed. Quinney is still a rookie. Brett Quigley played well once again. And Bart Bryant was in the mix too. John Rollins is still playing well. That'll show all those naysayers who criticized his Ryder Cup points for winning the BC Open.

Found this on NBC Sports.com

Two winning streaks not worth comparing

Excerpt Below:


"The most glaring difference, however, is the duration.

Starting the first week of March, Nelson won his first five tournaments in five weeks, and there wasn't another tournament on the schedule until the Montreal Open the second week in June. The only tournament he skipped during the streak was the St. Paul Open a week after the PGA Championship. He missed that week because of a back injury. Small wonder.

The 11th and final victory in Nelson's streak came Aug. 4 at the Canadian Open.

"As you can imagine,'' Nelson wrote, "though I was playing very well, I was also getting very tired.''

Nelson won 18 times that year, a record Woods might never break because he might not even play 18 times in a year.

When he skipped the Tour Championship last year, Woods said he was exhausted playing seven tournaments in nine weeks."

Woods' Streak Continues

His Losing Streak. Three straight Non-US Events. First was the HSBC Champions in which Y.E. Yang won. Second was the Dunlop Phoenix where Padraig Harrington won. And third is the Dubai Desert Classic which Henrik Stenson just won.

You know when the Nationwide Tour players made the comment that theirs was the Second Best Tour in the world? Well, maybe they were thinking second to the European Tour. Since it's the European Tour that seems to have the competition and the courses that succeed in beating Woods like the US Tour can't.

Finally!!! Thank you NBC!!!

I've waited nearly two weeks to see Jose Maria Olazabal and I finally got to see him today. NBC started the show with him on 16. I'm speaking of the FBR Open coverage of course. Jeff Quinney is once again playing very well, like he has for the last couple of weeks. He's currently got a 2 shot lead over Aaron Baddeley. Brett Quigley is currently in 3rd. Along with Baddeley's 7 under par round, Troy Matteson also had a round of -7. Alejandro Canizares was only one under par on the day. Hopefully, he will have a good round tomorrow. I look forward to seeing tomorrow's final round.

Off Topic: with the wind chill tonight, they are expecting temperatures to feel like -15 degrees. There's a good possibility that my water will freeze. This concerns me a bit. Have I mentioned how much I hate the Winter Season? I would bring in my cats, but they won't want to stay in the house. I had them in this morning and after a little while they wanted out. There are all kinds of snuggle spots all over the farm the cats can crawl into to keep warm.

FBR Open

Dudley Hart opened with a 64. A whole slew of people are one back, at -6 including Paul Azinger. The announcers on the Golf Channel kept hyping Chris DiMarco, saying he's going to catch Dudley Hart and 'here he comes'. Well, DiMarco ended up -3 with a bogey on 16 and a double on 17. I hate it when the announcers try to create the story instead of reporting on the story they've got. They tried to set it up as DiMarco's hot week or something.

I wondered when I looked at the list of the field why Alejandro Canizares was playing there this week. Now I know. He attended college in Arizona.

Jose Maria Olazabal is even par so far. George McNeill is -1, Fred Couples and Lucas Glover are also even par, and Phil Mickelson, John Daly, Brad Faxon, and Lee Janzen are +1.

There are a lot of really good players in the field this week. Everyone should watch this rather than the thing over in Dubai.