The Tennis Blog

You all will be really happy to read that I've finally created the tennis blog. So, there will hopefully be no more comments about Rafael Nadal on this blog. LOL. Unless, of course, there's a news story about him playing golf.

Anyway, if you're interested, check out: Views From the Baseline

Shell Houston Open, Round 2

Well, it's another heartbreaking week on the PGA tour as Jose Maria Olazabal missed the cut. Miguel Angel Jimenez also missed the cut. I guess there are other players to watch this weekend. Several players are tied for the lead at -6. I think I'm going to check out the European Tour tomorrow and see what's going on there.

Missed Out

Well, Rafael is out of the tennis tournament and all I got to see were a few highlights tonight on ESPN2. Last night the Tennis Channel aired an interview with him, but I'd seen that before. Still, it was better than nothing. I have begun a tennis related blog. I have a lot of work to do on it to get it completely up and running. I have to still get a stat counter and register it with the blog search websites and google as well as adding some links.

And as for golf, I missed out on seeing any of Jose Maria Olazabal or Miguel Angel Jimenez today. Hopefully I will see them tomorrow. I will have to remember to record the coverage.

Like Nothing I've Read Before

Oprah went to break just a few minutes ago and said she'd be right back with the next book club selection - like nothing I've ever read before. So, my first thought was "She's going to read John Daly's autobiography?" That's like nothing she's ever read before, I'm sure. But no, she chose some fiction novel - something called The Road.

Checking Back in With Golf

According to an article on the European Tour Website, there is a record number of European Tour players invited to play at the Masters this year - 34 in all. The following are the European Tour First Timers: Bradley Dredge, Johan Edfors, Kenneth Ferrie, Robert Karlsson, Jeev Milkha Singh and YE Yang. And Justin Rose, a favorite of this blog, has gotten an invitation to play this year. Good for him!

Some notables competing at the Shell Houston Open this week: Brad Faxon, John Daly, David Howell, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Rocco Mediate, Steve Stricker, Adam Scott and Jose Maria Olazabal. Maybe I'll get to see Jose Maria play and play well.

LPGA: Lorena Ochoa wins again at the Safeway International. Good for her. I hope she continues her success that she had last year.

More Tennis

I swear I'm going to keep watching until I see Rafael Nadal!

Today, it occurred to me that the following phrase can be misinterpreted:

"_________ (Name of player) is serving with new balls."

Tennis related meaning: Every so many games, they have to retire the tennis balls they use and play new ones.

CA Championship Notes

I didn't watch the third or fourth rounds. See my previous post for the reason. But I checked the leaderboard and am pleased to see that Sergio finished T3 and Jose Maria didn't follow Friday's bad round with another bad one on Saturday and Sunday. He finished T35. And South African cutie Anton Haig (He's so young, you have to call him a cutie) finished T32. Good for him.

Tennis notes: Fernando Gonzalez was fun to watch today. He threw rackets and exhibited a lively temper, but didn't take it out on the ball boys and girls or the umpire. Rafael Nadal didn't even have to play his match. His opponent was unable to take to the court. Good for Nadal, bad for me. I never get to see him play. And Andy Roddick still makes me want to send him some Ritalin and some decaf coffee. Boy is he fidgety.

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

After my heart was broken, nay, I say crushed, yesterday with the news that Jose Maria Olazabal shot an 80, I found I just couldn't continue to watch the CA Championship. My heart just wasn't in it. So, today I've been watching the tennis tournament on the Tennis Channel. I'm still waiting to see Rafael Nadal, but I did see former world #1 Juan Carlos Ferrero before rain postponed the rest of his match. I've often considered starting a tennis blog, but if I did that then I would have to learn how to spell all those really hard names.

About the post title: Love - Tennis, get it? Also, it's a shout out to John Daly's good friend, country singer Johnny Lee.

WGC CA Championship

Spaniard Watch: Jose Maria Olazabal is -3 and Sergio is -1 after round 1.

Henrik Stenson and Robert Allenby are leading after the first round at -5. Some other scores of note:
Brett Quigley +1
Steve Stricker +2
Johan Edfors +2
Anton Haig +2
Paul Casey +4
Yong Eun Yang +4
Retief Goosen +5
Phil Mickelson +5

You know I heard the PGA Tour had a line of wine, but it now looks like they have their own special brand of whine as well.

They played some comments from Shaun Micheel tonight on the Sprint Post Game Show that addressed limited field events. He seemed very upset, almost whining, that he didn't get in to the WGC event when players from Asia did.

Here's my take on it: It's a WORLD Golf Championships event. NOT a PGA tour event. It's only right that select players from around the world are allowed to compete. It encourages world-wide competition and opens the doors to players on the other tours to see what the American PGA tour is like.

If Shaun Micheel wanted in to the WGC event, maybe he should have won something like Yang did when Yang beat Tiger Woods in Asia.

It sounded to me like some people were thinking that things like entry into the WGC event should be handed to them just because of what tour they play. I've thought for a while that the US tour is very pretentious and snobbish, but attitudes like this one make it more than just appear that way.

Short Putts

Lately, the tv analysts have been making a big deal out of the short putts missed by Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum in recent tournaments. They want to try to make a big news story out of this, as if it's never happened before or has never happened so frequently. I remember last fall that Loren Roberts missed a short putt to win $1 Million. They didn't keep harping on that for weeks on end. I think it's time to put the Weekley and Slocum putts to bed and move on.

Arnold Palmer Invitational, Final Round

It seemed like it was Vijay's day out there today. He won today with Rocco finishing second and Vaughn Taylor in third. Sergio had a few bad holes coming in. I would have liked to have seen someone other than Vijay win since he'd already one once this year, but at least it wasn't Tiger. Tiger, by the way is continuing with the current streak he's on - his losing streak. I think the most satisfying thing I've taken out of this final round is Vaughn Taylor's performance. I was more than pleased to see him finish better than Tom Lehman. Just a gentle reminder to 'Captain Tom' that he didn't treat Taylor right during the Ryder Cup.

Golf Channel's Post Game Report: Well, it's Brandel's turn to be spotlighted here for his comments. He said Tiger Woods drove it well in last year's PGA Championship. The two spectators he hit with his wayward drives would have to differ with Brandel's memory of that event. And Brandel also said he hadn't heard one player complain about how the courses have been playing. Well, Brandel obviously didn't see Dean Wilson's comments as aired on the Golf Channel.

Arnold Palmer Invitational, Round 3

Vaughn Taylor's in the lead, Paul Casey surged then backed off, and Rocco had a bad day. Tiger made no move at all, heehee. Ben Curtis is in a good position going into the final round.

Off Topic: The Casino Royale movie was good. In the book, Vesper leaves Bond a letter and kills herself. I didn't read the whole book because it was very, very boring, but I don't think the whole 'her boyfriend was kidnapped' thing happened in the book. I think she was just a double agent in the book. M stole the show in the movie though. A personal note to me: Remember to turn off the screen saver if I'm watching a movie on the pc. I don't mind seeing the pictures of the Valderrama golf course that I have as part of my screensaver, but not when Bond is wearing his bathing suit. And for the guys out there - you all might want to skip the Bond torture scene when you watch the movie. I could have done without seeing that.

Golf The Musical

Fore! 'Golf the Musical' way out of bounds

BY PAM HARBAUGH
FLORIDA TODAY

When it comes to reviewing "Golf the Musical," there is an entire fairway of puns to plow, but the bottom line is the show is not up to par. However, the back nine, er, second act, is humorous.Starring four singing, dancing, joking performers dressed in various forms of golf attire standing in front of a large photograph of a golf course, the show is a musical revue. It is not a musical, which is supposed to have something called a "book," as in story line, characters, setting, etc.
............................ CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE ..............................

Rock On Rocco!

I know, that title wasn't original, but hey, at least I came up with something. Rocco Mediate is leading after a second round 65 today at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It is so great to see Rocco doing so well. I just caught a small portion of his press conference and he was very emotional about it. I hope he continues to do well this week and for the rest of the year. John Rollins and Paul Azinger also shot 65s today, the low rounds of the day it looks like. I don't know what the cutline will be but it's almost certain that unfortunately Jose Maria will miss it. Last year's winner, Rod Pampling is likely out as well. Sergio didn't do as well as he could have, but it was under par again today which is good. Paul Casey didn't make a move today but is still in a good position, especially with Tiger falling behind with his bad round today. Vaughn Taylor didn't do so well today either but still managed to only drop one shot today and is currently -5.

As for me, I did watch some of round 2 coverage today. Last night I watched the extra features dvd of the Casino Royale DVD set. The stunts they showed were pretty cool. Real stunts, not blue or green screen fake stuff.

A Very Excellent Interview with Sergio Garcia

By Dave Shedloski
PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. -- If you think it's hard to believe that Sergio Garcia is in his ninth year as a professional golfer, then try to imagine how the still-young but ever-wiser Spanish sparkplug feels.

"It's quite funny," Garcia mused Thursday after his opening 66 in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. "I look back and I think ... it feels like I was 19 three years ago, but I've been out here almost nine years now. It feels like three years ago I just started, so it's gone really quickly."

....................................... CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE INTERVIEW .......................................

(about Bayhill)

"Anything that premiums accuracy off the tee, I think it's great. I've always said it; I enjoy the tournaments where the winning score is somewhere between 5 and 6 under and maybe 12 (under). Those, to me, are the best challenges for us, because you have to play well. It's not just a putting contest. It's nice to see the courses shaped up this way."

The courses have shaped up this way for several weeks now. PGA TOUR tests have been consistently more difficult, particularly during the Florida Swing. Garcia just smiled at that observation.

"Who cares? The game was not meant to be easy."

Heaven Help Me

I'm watching Oprah instead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. I can't stand it. It isn't enough that Tiger Woods will be the only person they show tomorrow when he plays in the afternoon, but they have to show every shot he makes in comparison to Phil Mickelson's today. They won't be showing Phil like that tomorrow afternoon. I just checked the leaderboard. I didn't even know Vaughn Taylor is tied with Woods. And I didn't know that Sergio is at -4. There's a lot they could be reporting on and showing but instead they show only Tiger (with a little bit of Phil thrown in just to put Tiger in an even more glorious light). Woods wasn't the only person 'invited' to the Invitational. The Golf Channel needs to do a much better job in reporting golf in total, not just one person's every move. After all, I don't think it's called the Tiger Woods Channel.

At least I got the Casino Royale DVD today. I can watch that tonight instead of the re-air.

Someone Get Me a Band Aid for My Bleeding Heart

It's such a shame, really. I was watching Golf Central and apparently some players don't like the fact that the courses are getting tougher. Add the proposed USGA equipment changes in and these poor players might actually have to work a little harder to earn their millions.

Hmm.... they could be in Iraq getting shot at every day. They could be flipping hamburgers at a McDonalds. They could be working in a WV coal mine with bad safety equipment and little or no safety training.

"These Guys are Good"

Well, some of them are definitely good at being spoiled.

Here's a thought the whiners might not have had: Maybe Jack and Arnold are making the courses tougher to try to show the USGA that equipment changes aren't the only option out there to try to keep the game reined in. Maybe they are trying to actually SAVE some of the equipment attributes that the USGA is leaning toward addressing.

Singapore Masters

The coolest thing about the Singapore Masters - the shadows of the air planes flying over the course. You don't even see Blimp Shadows like that.

Manufacturing Stories

Yes, Heath Slocum and Boo Weekley attended the same high school. But that's almost the only comparison that could be made between last week and this week. Slocum wasn't leading and didn't lose the tournament on a 3 ft putt. (He missed a playoff on a 3ft putt - closer to 4 ft than Boo's last week.) The media, however, would love to draw comparisons and did.

Congratulations to Mark Calcavecchia for winning the PODS Championship.

Singapore Masters

This tournament is being held at a place called Laguna National G & CC. Today, Renton Laidlaw called it Laguna Beach. I didn't know he watched MTV.

Carlos Rodiles, I believe, is the only spaniard playing there on the weekend. But the name of the week goes to Iain Steel, who sounds like a secret agent or a private eye.

PODS Championship - Saturday

Just a couple of things tonight on today's coverage:

Greatest quote from Johnny Miller this year (paraphrased): "Chris DiMarco hates my analyzing, he's really going to hate me now." LOLOL!!! (I say paraphrasing because I couldn't remember if it was analyzing or commentating or what word Miller used there, but he was analyzing DiMarco's swing.)

Proof that the Analyst Jinx is a true phenomenon: Twice now the analysts have commented on how great Billy Andrade is at putting, and twice Andrade has missed the putt.

Controversy and Conspiracy Theories

On the Post Game show tonight on the Golf Channel, they reported that some players are not happy with the rumor that Tiger's July 4th tournament could be an Invitational.

Conspiracy Theory: Would people who control the invites to these Invitational events manipulate the invite process to protect certain players with regard to Fed Ex Cup points or World Rankings Points? Or Win Streaks?

Philosophical Question: Should Invitationals count toward official money, world rankings, and Fed Ex Cup points since not everyone gets an equal chance to participate?

The Weaseling Continues

The Golf Channel, in promoting their coverage of Palmer's tournament next week, actually said that Tiger would be there working to begin a new Win Streak.

Give me a break!

This is so ridiculous.

The Pods Championship

For the second week in a row, the leading score hasn't really moved in the first two days. People just changed positions. At least it isn't that discouraging for fans of players who are 4 or 5 shots back. It means they are still in it.

Some observations:

I love listening to Bob Murphy. He's so folksy that you can't imagine him saying anything negative about anyone. And they could be having a major hurricane in Florida and Bob would find some way to put a happy spin on it. It was a really nice way to end my work week.

Some players to mention: Vaughn Taylor -4, Daniel Chopra -4, Arron Oberholser -3, Billy Andrade -3, George McNeill -2, JB Holmes -2, Sergio Garcia -1, Peter Lonard +1, Brad Faxon +2.

John Daly and Fred Funk have withdrawn due to their injuries. I can understand why Daly would show up to play, the tournament was nice enough to give him a sponsor's exemption and Daly was good enough to show up and try. But Fred needed to just stay home and work on the back. I think he said he was feeling great when the tournament started, but really, he should have taken the week off. It's not like he needs the money or anything.

Sergio's leading in greens in regulation this week so far. Thursday's stats were better than Friday's.

And finally, the Golf Channel had the decency to show Kirk Triplett today on the coverage. They should since he does commercials for the title sponsor. Kirk had to figure he'd get star treatment this week. I wonder if the Pods People are doing anything special for him.

Blogger Had a Hiccup

I guess some comment spammers got lucky with the magic verification words - there were 10 spam comments on one of my posts. I had to delete them, although one, Moreaboutdogs, I was tempted to visit, given my fondness for dogs. But with my luck, it wouldn't be canines, but the Randy Jackson - American Idol variety.

Callaway Commercial

Have you all seen the new commercial where the narrator says that since using their driver, Annika Sorenstam and Phil Mickelson have won 12 majors and shot rounds of 59? The key phrase being "shot rounds of 59". When did Mickelson shoot his 59? Or has Annika shot two or more rounds of 59? I swear the commercial said plural - rounds of 59.

A Touching Interview

Did anyone else see Mike Ritz' interview with Mark Wilson's caddie on Golf Central this evening? That nearly brought tears to my eyes. He said all he'd ever dreamed of was getting his flag for caddying for a winning player. If I'd seen this a couple weeks ago right after Phoebe passed away, I would have been crying buckets.

And Jose Coceres has to be one of those guys who wins fans everywhere he goes. He's having a great year so far and it's so neat to see him so spirited.

You have to feel for Boo Weekley. You can tell he's disappointed but still he's got that good ole boy smile and roll with the punches attitude.

And Camilo Villegas needs to take this knack he has for great playing in Florida and bring it to other states. Hopefully, he'll be winning soon on the PGA Tour.

Honda Classic Winner

Okay so even though I found out who won the event, Mark Wilson, I am still watching the playoff. It was either this or Oprah since the golf channel had informercials on. Definitely, watch golf before Oprah. Especially Camilo :)

Pierre Fulke Retires

I haven't seen anyone else blog about this yet, so I will. Former European Ryder Cup member Pierre Fulke has decided to retire from playing golf. According to this story on BBC Sport, he is exploring other avenues in golf, such as golf course design.

A Day for Playoffs

Anton Haig won the Johnnie Walker Classic in a playoff and the Honda Classic still isn't decided as four players will continue a playoff tomorrow morning. This was a great day for golf with a lot of suspense to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats. Anton Haig is only 20 and this is his first win. It's always good to see a first time winner.

As for the Honda Classic, I don't know who to root for to win. I like Camilo and he would be a first time winner. Mark Wilson made a really big clutch putt in the first playoff hole to stay in it, making him someone you'd want to cheer for. Then you have Boo Weekley who's looking for redemption for the three putt on the 18th in regulation play. And finally, there's Jose Coceres who at 43 years old is someone anyone should be rooting for to win. Plus I like how he just makes up his mind and plays without a lot of waffling.

I guess I'll be recording the playoff tomorrow. It's supposed to start at 8:30am eastern time on the Golf Channel.

Maintenance

I added the Babelfish translate this page feature to the blog. It's at the end of the sidebar on the right. And I added the Sergio Garcia blog to the blogs of note section.

Found a New Blog

While doing a google search on Sergio Garcia, I found the following blog. You might need a translator like Altavista's babelfish to read it.

Sergio Garcia

The Johnnie Walker Classic

I got to watch some of this today. Apparently Retief Goosen was expected to be a factor, but as yet, he hasn't been real close to the lead. Adam Scott is playing there this week and hasn't had much luck. There are a couple of Spaniards playing there this week, Rafael Cabrera Bello and Ignacio Garrido, currently 50th and 62nd respectively.

I'm just glad I got to see the course and all the scenery pictures. One of the best parts of watching the European Tour coverage is seeing what all the different countries are like.

Honda Classic: A True Contest

Well, no runaway leaders this week which makes for a more interesting tournament to watch. And I like the fact that they made the course a par 70 for the tournament. Let the players have all their high tech equipment. They need all that plus talent to play well this week.

So far there's only one thing annoying me: the overuse of the phrase 'the bear trap'. I get it. By now, we ALL get it.

And I noticed in the hit counter stats that someone came here looking for a reason for Nick Faldo's absence from the Golf Channel's coverage of the Honda Classic. I haven't seen anything official, but my personal suspicion is that when Johnny Miller covers the weekends, we probably won't be seeing Nick Faldo on Thursday or Friday. I think there was one exception which was the Matchplay, but with other tournaments that NBC provided weekend coverage for, I'm pretty sure we didn't see Faldo. Which would mean Faldo would be free for post game and pre game shows on the Golf Channel. There's no reason why Faldo Fans should be deprived of his ..... well, you get the point.

A Simple Request

Now I know why I keep seeing references to this new blog everywhere I surf. I got a very pleasant email from Travelling Golfer asking that I spotlight the following blog. So, here it is:

The Wedge Guy

Time for only 3 Majors?

I just heard Mark Lye on the Post Game show say that short hitters like Fred Funk shouldn't even play Augusta National because short hitters can't compete against the Tigers, Ernies and Phils on that course. Apparently, Augusta National has found a new form of exclusionism (read into that what you will). The US Open is tough, but Corey Pavin won that tournament and he isn't the longest hitter out there. I say it's time to demote the Masters if the tournament doesn't want to offer a fair test for all types of professionals, not just the biggest moneymakers.