Volvo World Matchplay

This looks complicated. I checked out the 'leaderboard' on the European PGA Tour website and it requires a bit of concentration. Groups A, B, C, and D with players playing more than one match. Looks kind of like a round robin kind of event. They used to do that on the ATP tour at some event in Vegas I think. Press reports kept suggesting that Anthony Kim was 'the star' of the day, but according to the European PGA Tour website, Oliver Wilson scored the same number of points as Kim.

I might watch some of this as Tiger's not playing in it. I have tomorrow off but I'm shopping in the morning.

Castello Masters Final Round

I watched the final round today and was disappointed that I only got to see Jose Maria Olazabal once. According to the announcers, Sergio was ill and he didn't play that well today. It seemed like the whole three hours of coverage was just a putting highlights show with all kinds of putts just scraping by the edge of the cup. Martin Kaymer made some great putts. And it was a good story to see Michael Jonzon win after waiting 12 years since his last win.

Castello Masters

Sergio is in second and Jose Maria is still in the top ten. I hope they both do really well tomorrow. And how great was it to see the nice warm and sunny weather over there? It's rainy and damp here.

How Happy Am I?????

Have you seen the leaderboard for the Castello Masters? Jose Maria Olazabal is in the top 10!!! I am so excited. I can't wait to watch some of this over the weekend. Oh, and yeah, Sergio is up there too. Martin Kaymer, coming off of an injury, is doing really well so far.

Checking out Stats

I got curious about the PGA Tour money list so I checked it out. I can't bring myself to report on Brad Faxon's current standing. It makes me pretty sad. But here are some other observations:

David Duval is hovering around the 120 mark. Let's all send him some positive thoughts and prayers and hope that he can finish in the top 125.

Lee Janzen is around 96 or so. That has to be a 'feel good' story that should get some good press, but probably won't.

George McNeill is approx 87th currently. So much for those renegades who have the nerve to say that the only way to get on the PGA Tour should be through the Nationwide Tour - no more Q-School. McNeill won Q-School a couple of years ago and here he is, still here.

Jeff Overton doesn't need to worry about his card this year. Or his appendix. He's currently 82nd.

Fred Couples is around 71st on the list. That's exceptional for Fred. I just hope he has one more great week at the Masters. If anyone deserves a second major, it's Fred.

Several players have played 29 weeks so far, but Brian Davis is currently heading that category with 30 weeks. Still don't feel sorry for any of them when they claim they 'need an off-season'.

I don't know how much volatility there is with the list, but I'd say if a player isn't 95th or better, he might be thinking of trying to earn a few extra dollars.

Missed Westwood's Win

I missed the Portugal event on the European Tour this weekend. I've been watching tennis and QVC. But I read that Lee Westwood won and with a final round six under par. I feel bad for Molinari. It would have been nice if he had won.

Madrid Masters

Ross McGowan won the event, but he managed to make it interesting in the final round. He started out with a huge lead but only managed a one under par final round. It was enough though to secure the win over second place Mikko Ilonen. Gareth Maybin shot -8 today and moved up 22 spots to finish tied for 4th. As for the Spaniards: Ignacio Garrido, Jorge Campillo and Miguel Angel Jimenez finished in the top ten. Sergio couldn't get anything going in the final two rounds and ended up T17. And Jose Maria Olazabal managed to finish the tournament tied for 53rd. Not bad for someone who doesn't play all that often these days. Hope he can build on this week and do better in the future.

A little bit of trivia: Stan Utley, the putting guy, played the first two rounds of this event. He didn't do well. He's down at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Now This is a Good Golf Story

I found this article about a pigeon who has seemingly fallen in love with the man who nursed him back to health. What a great story!

I Agree with Darren Clarke

I found this article regarding golf in the Olympics. It reports that Darren Clarke's view is that the Olympics to him have always been comprised of amateur sports and that's what he thinks of when he thinks of the Olympics. I agree. I personally think that if Olympic golf isn't an amateur event then it's just another week on Tour and nothing special. Not to mention that there's no competition when you have Tiger Woods playing against golfers from say Namibia. There's no real sport there and it's a complete waste of time. Dare I say a joke.

Wow!

Jose Maria Olazabal shot 7 under today to make the cut on the number at the Madrid Masters. Sergio Garcia is tied for the lead with David Drysdale. I hope I can watch some of this on Saturday and Sunday. I'm so excited for Olazabal. I hope he continues to do well.

Didn't Last Long

I saw the news on the Golf Channel a few days ago about Greg Norman and Chris Evert. Then just a few minutes ago, I saw them again on a UK Newspaper Website. While I didn't post my opinion of their marriage on this blog, I did think it wouldn't last very long. They are both too strong-willed people and I just didn't see it working out. Hopefully, this will resonate among the golfing and tennis playing public and there will more thought given to relationships before any golfer-tennis player relationships develop in the future. They don't seem to work out.

Rio Wins the Olympics in 2016

I was happy that Chicago didn't get the Olympics. There are many things I could say about it, but I think it's better to avoid political and economic discussions here and just say "Yay" for Rio and I can't wait for NBC's hours of touristy reporting segments.