Roberts Wins the Charles Schwab Cup!

Finally, Loren Roberts won the Charles Schwab Cup, the culmination of the season long points race. And he looked really, really happy to have his hands on that trophy. It was fitting that he won it this year considering how he lost it last year.

The PGA tour can keep their boring Fed Ex Cup. The Champions Tour knows how to make a season long competition exciting!

Found a Blog

Check out the Jose Maria Olazabal Blog! Whoever this Becky is, she's got tons of blogs about all kinds of sports people. Check out her blogroll, she's probably got your favorite listed.

Sunny Day

Thank goodness we've got the Champions Tour. The PGA Tour event was rainy. It looked like from the highlights that the Mallorca Classic was rainy. And it's been rainy here all day. At least the Champions Tour event is sunny. And it's pretty exciting. Would be better if Loren Roberts and Jay Haas were closer to the lead, but Eduardo Romero and Jim Thorpe are neck and neck.

I didn't see any of the Mallorca Classic today. I had considered recording it and watching it later, but didn't and when I got back from shopping I took a three hour nap and pretty much finished off the day that way. I think the working out combined with my 5am wake up call every morning is catching up to me. Good thing I took this extra day off today.

Leaderboard

Well, I checked the leaderboard of the Mallorca Classic and saw that Sergio is currently tied for 11th and 2 back of the lead. Jose Maria is apparently not playing. Hopefully I will get to watch some of this tomorrow since I have tomorrow off.

I'm watching some of the Champions Tour event. Eduardo Romero is making a charge for the lead, currently held by Jim Thorpe. This week will decide the Charles Schwab Cup champion and there are about 4 or 5 people with a chance to win that. Loren Roberts is leading the way in that race with Jay Haas hot on his heels. I must have missed some Champions Tour Golf because I don't remember Loren Roberts having a really great year. I guess that's a testament to the great competition on that tour.

Out of Touch

I haven't been too into golf lately. Last week, the men were playing tennis in spain and it was an exciting final with David Nalbandian defeating Roger Federer - I watched that instead.

But this week is the Mallorca event on the European Tour and Sergio and Jose Maria are supposed to be playing. I hope Jose Maria is healthy.

I have Friday off, but I was planning to go shopping that day. I may have to record Friday's round and watch it later in the day.

Check out the GolfBlogger's website if you want some golf news. He's been paying attention.

Jose Maria in the News

Check out this good article about Jose Maria Olazabal and his Mission Hills course in China which will host the World Cup in a few weeks.

PJ's New Coat

PJ loves to show her pride in her honorary daddy's (Jose Maria) Spanish heritage and legendary role on the European Ryder Cup Team. I made this coat today with my own very sore fingers, except for the flag - I bought that from a company online.

I Guess I Missed It??

Did I miss the Grand Slam of Golf? I know it was played earlier in the week and Angel Cabrera won, but I thought it would be aired some time later on. I think I saw on the web that it was actually on Tuesday and Wednesday this week? I was watching tennis then.

Maybe He Should Try Yoga?

I just read that Jose Maria Olazabal won't be at the Portugal Masters because of tendonitis in his shoulder. It has been a knee injury that has kept him sidelined for months. Maybe he should try yoga and pilates to stretch out his muscles and strengthen them.

George McNeill Wins

Like the title says, McNeill won the Frys.com open today with a commanding performance. I like to see the first time winners. Way back on December 5th 2006, I said the following after watching the Q-School coverage: "I did pick 5 players to keep an eye on next year: Michael Boyd, who shed some tears when he spoke of his father's passing and the family paint store, George McNeill who was the medalist, Jaco Van Zyl, Anders Hansen and Paul Stankowski."

Two of of the five have won this year, McNeill on the US Tour and Hansen on the European Tour.

And for the second time, I've heard the announcers talk about players trying to get into the Masters. This time they were talking about McNeill and how he has three more tournaments to go and he's 59th on the money list. So, do the winners of the Fall Series tournaments not get the exemption into the Masters??? Did the Masters organizers pick and choose which tournaments' winners will get into their championship? That's not right, if that's what they did. Maybe they just made the magnanimous gesture for tournaments thru the Tour Championship?

Annoying Announcing

Okay, so I've watched some of the golf channel coverage of the Frys.com Open and I have the following comments about the announcing:

1. Vegas Gambling references - enough already. It's cheesy and only tells us that you aren't clever enough to make the golf itself interesting.

2. Rich Lerner's incessant other-sports analogies - if he wants to call baseball games, he's working for the wrong network.

3. As previously mentioned - Tiger, Tiger, Tiger. Some of us are sick of Tiger. Some of us would like to see the players who are actually playing in the event to be talked about. If I participated in a drinking game for every time they said "Tiger", I'd stay drunk. It's absolutely ridiculous.

26 and counting

Last night on the Champions Tour coverage, I heard them say that Andy Bean has played 26 events this year. I don't want to hear a PGA tour player claim to be tired after only playing 15. Granted, the Champions Tour players only play three rounds a tournament, but the Champions tour players are older than the PGA tour players. I'd say it evens out, which means Andy Bean has played a lot of golf this year.

For the Girls out There

A question for the girls: Do any of you watch the Champions Tour and look at the 'rookies' and think, gee they are pretty handsome? That happened to me when Hale Irwin debuted, when Loren Roberts debuted, when Jay Haas debuted and now when Bernhard Langer debuted (I won't even go into what I thought when Seve played earlier in the year). Of course, with Langer, it was more "gee, he's in great shape" rather than handsome, but you get the point. Although, comparing young Langer to current Langer, he's grown into his own look and is pretty stylish right now.

What's really depressing is that I get closer and closer to that Champions Tour rookie age. When Irwin debuted, there was a considerable age difference, but now, it's only 15 years or so. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, I have a Rafael Nadal calendar hanging up to remind me in a different way of how old I am.

Speaking of the Matchplay

I am very glad to see Angel Cabrera in the final. I especially love the look in his eye when he hits a shot he loves. There's a fire there that compels you to not only watch but throw your support to the Argentine. And have you noticed that the European Tour coverage doesn't refer to his nickname?

European Day

Today has been European Tour day. I watched the matchplay this morning and the Open de Madrid this afternoon. Truthfully, I listened more than watched the Open de Madrid. I was making a little coat for PJ to wear. She can't wear a velcro harness because she pulls too hard against it and gets out of it, but it's getting colder and I thought I could make her a little velcro coat to wear over the harness she does wear. So, I did that this afternoon. It's a little small on her. I've been checking out little yellow star appliques to sew onto Winnie's harness and PJ's coat to turn them into European Ryder Cup team flags, but the stars I've found online are all too big. I can't fit 12 of them on either piece of doggie clothing. So, I did the next best thing - I searched for iron on patches of the Spanish Flag. I found a company that sells them and bought two. Once I get the harness and coat the way I want them, the flags will be sewn on and Winnie and PJ will proudly sport their honorary daddies' national flag :)

As for the Frys.Com Open - I got tired of the golf channel's relentless recollections of Tiger Woods' win there, so I turned the channel to the Tennis Channel and I'm watching the semifinal of the Kremlin Cup - Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova (that probably wasn't spelled right).

Stress-free and Friendly

The other day I found a blog written by a Canadian man. This guy wrote a lot about tennis and as you know I watch tennis, so I found myself bookmarking the man's site and even posting a few comments. Well, the guy calls himself an angry man, and his writing backs that up. He seems very hostile about certain subjects, which is his right. It is his blog and he can write whatever he wants. And let me point out that just because his tone comes across as hostile, that doesn't mean his points are not based in fact, or at the least, his perception of how things are in the world. Every blogger has the right to post about the world as he or she sees it (as long as the writing doesn't create a dangerous situation or puts forth a flat out lie) How does the angry Canadian's approach to his subjects affect me? Well, it ups my blood pressure. I can feel it increasing, just like that commercial in which the man is wearing the blinking blood pressure button.

Conversely, there is another Canadian who writes a much different blog. His blog is friendly, thought provoking, and relaxing. Who is this guy? It's Nolan Matthias. His blog? Golf Balls Don't Float.

While I might pop in to check out the angry man's blog once in a while, I don't think I'll make a habit of visiting it. I find my life is infinitely better if I minimize the negativity. Case in point: I could spend my blogging time talking about how much I don't like Tiger Woods, but who would want to read about that? And how would I feel if I devoted that much time to something so negative? So, instead, I try to write mostly about the things I like and only write a little bit about the things I encounter that bother me. For instance, if I know Tiger's playing in a U. S. tournament, I probably will focus on the European Tour that week.

In any event, since Nolan's website is so pleasant, I'll continue to regularly visit it. You can too. Just click here: Golf Balls Don't Float.

My Next Sewing Project

I have been hit with a very cute idea for a design for Winnie's next harness. The European Ryder Cup Team Flag - blue with gold stars. I hope the Ryder Cup folks won't sue me for making a dog harness that looks like the flag. But really, they should be thinking of these things. Just like Adidas should be turning all of Sergio's outfits into little doggie outfits :)

Disappointed

Well, I just read that Jose Maria Olazabal will not be playing this week afterall. He apparently withdrew from the tournament. I really do hope he gets better.

This Coming Week

Two European Tour events going on this week: The HSBC World Match Play Championship and the Open de Madrid. As for the HSBC, Andres Romero, Angel Cabrera, Paul Casey, Justin Rose, Woody Austin, and others are playing in that event. The Open de Madrid may possibly see the return of Jose Maria Olazabal. I hope if he plays, that he will play well and that he's healthy.

Valero Texas Open

How many lives does Jesper Parnevik have? Several apparently. I was so hoping Parnevik would win since he hadn't won in 6 years. And every time Parnevik got into trouble he found a great shot to get him out. I loved all those shots at the pin, like, why aim anywhere else?

Justin Leonard did win on the third playoff hole. He hasn't won since I think they said 2005. He's ok, but I still have negative thoughts of him thanks to Brookline in 1999. He wasn't part of the group that ran onto the green and through Jose Maria's line, but he was their cheerleader and the impetus for their charge.

So, several people secured their cards today with their finishes in this event. It will be interesting to see the rest of the tournaments in the fall series. I like overtime on the golf channel. If golf ran over to extra holes on a network, the announcers acted as though the extra time was coming out of their own paychecks, but the Golf Channel announcers just roll with it.

As Promised: Winnie's New Harness

As I said yesterday, I sewed this myself by hand. Not quite the stylish Adidas gear that her honorary daddy, Sergio, wears, but it fits her and works and she doesn't growl or snap at me when I put it on her or take it off of her. So, I say this is a success.

Dougherty Wins in Europe

Nick Dougherty finally won his second tour event in Europe today at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Justin Rose finished second and moved even closer to taking over the #1 spot on the Order of Merit. Rory McIlroy has probably earned his card for next year with a third place finish.

Oh, and for all the females out there in love with Dougherty - among all the people he thanked during the interview was his girlfriend.

It Ain't over Til It's Over.... But is it?

It just dawned on me today while listening to the Valero Texas Open that if I didn't have the Golf Channel, the PGA Tour season would be over for me. The networks apparently aren't covering the Fall Series. There are thousands of people out there who probably don't even know that golf is still being played. Someone tell me again how smart Tim Finchem is supposed to be.

I was listening to the golf today because I was in the other room ....... sewing. Yes, I said sewing. It's shocking to me too. Winnie throws a fit over every single harness I bring her except for the velcro kind. And her velcro harness that she's been wearing has gotten too small. So, today I made a new velcro harness for her. Boy are my fingers sore from those sewing needles. Pretty much the only things I've ever sewn are buttons so this was an entirely new experience for me. I don't know any fancy stitches and I followed the general design of the harness Winnie has been wearing. If I can get a picture of Winnie wearing it, I'll post it here. The whole time I worked on this harness I kept saying, "It would only take mom ten minutes on her machine to do this." It took me about three hours.

Big News so Far

The big news in golf so far is the two hot rounds that Jesper Parnevik shot at the Valero Texas Open - 61-65. And I think he switched putters at some point? I wasn't paying too much attention.

And those commercials with the Rascal Flats version of the song Life is a Highway - blah, blah, blah are very annoying. Why doesn't the company have commercials with all the versions of that song? That would be an interesting advertising campaign.

From the LPGA - they were doing a breast cancer awareness thing and wearing pink during their early rounds of this week's tournament. Beth Daniel related to the audience the story of Heather Farr who died from cancer because her doctors told her they would just monitor her condition instead of operating (they believed she was too young for her cancer to be that aggressive). There is a lesson in this story for everyone - men and women alike - and that message is: get a second opinion!!! Every day I see news article on the web about doctors misdiagnosing patients. Just the other day on the Today Show there was a woman who had a double mastectomy and then later found out she never had cancer at all. And to think state legislatures want to limit jury awards in medical malpractice cases. What they need to limit is the award amount in the RIAA song downloading lawsuits - Walmart sells cds with the same number of songs on them for anywhere between $9.72 and $15.96 - proof that the RIAA and the record companies are making a fortune on the nearly $6.00 difference there. Of course, as you all know, I have dial up access so I obviously buy cds instead of downloading songs. I can't tie up my phone line for hours for a song that I could get in just seconds by buying the cd. And of course, there's always the risk that while you are 'sharing' your music online, you could be vulnerable to viruses being sent to your computer. I should stop there - I might have just given the RIAA an idea.