In Honor of Seve's Debut on the Champions Tour

Check out Seve's Official Website.

AT&T Classic

Hmmm...... the announce crew was talking about how the tournament needed Zach Johnson there this week since all the big names are taking the week off. It's a shame the announcers like Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo aren't supporting the tournament by working this week. CBS really needs to examine that aspect of their broadcasts. What kind of message is CBS sending to viewers if its own employees don't show up for the tournament? Thank goodness for David Feherty and Ian Baker Finch. One's funny and the other one's an encyclopedia. They could do the whole show themselves.

Irish Open, Round 3

Padraig Harrington has a three shot lead going into the final round, giving hope to Irish folks everywhere that there might actually be an Irish winner of the tournament this year. Apparently, that hasn't happened in something like 25 years?

I watched a little of this today. The course is beautiful. Why the European players would prefer American courses is beyond me. Ours aren't that pretty.

Great News Story from The Birmingham News

Click Here for the Website

MIKE PERRIN

News staff writer

The Gunter family of Guntersville completed a sort of cosmic circle on Wednesday when young Seve Gunter met a golfing legend at Ross Bridge.

Seve, 18, is the son of Keith and Sallie Gunter and the brother of Taylor, 28.

When Mrs. Gunter was expecting her second child, she told big-brother-to-be that he could pick the name - fully expecting to be able to sway his choice to hers, which was Dalton, her father's name.

Not so fast, Mom.

Taylor was a golf fan in 1988 and one of the hottest names on the circuit was Spaniard Seve Ballesteros. His mind was made up. He insisted that his new brother would be named Seve.

"Mom gave me the choice of Dalton and two other names and Seve, but there was never any choice, really," said Taylor. "Seve stuck out to me. It's always been a unique name.

"I knew he wouldn't like it until he got older. He had to deal with it when he was younger, but he's all right now."

Seve, from Guntersville, not Pedrena, said his unusual name hasn't been a burden.

"Sometimes people would call me Steve or `Seeve,' but besides that it's been great," said the junior at Guntersville High, who is a member of the school's golf team and an academic scholarship winner from the University of Alabama.

The Bruno's Event Team set up a meeting of the two Seves on Wednesday after Mrs. Gunter wrote to executive director Gene Hallman explaining all the family's "ties" to Ballesteros.

Taylor Gunter shares Ballesteros' birthday of April 9 and Ballesteros won the Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic in September 1988 - on the day Guntersville's Seve was born.

Seve

Just by watching a couple of holes of the Champions Tour coverage, I have to say that Seve looks very good, physique-wise. Or it could just be that all the other players out there don't and it makes him look better. But seriously, did you check out the biceps on Seve? Impressive. You don't see those on Hale Irwin or Jay Haas.

Irish Open, Round 2

Padraig Harrington has the lead going into the weekend, with Andres Romero, Joakim Backstrom and Simon Wakefield one shot back.


Didn't get to watch any of this today. There were spaniards in all four quarterfinal matches of the tennis tournament going on in Germany. I just had to watch that instead.

Armchair Golfer Branches Out

The Armchair Golfer has begun writing a column for MVN (Most Valuable Network). I've added a link to the blogs of note section and you can check out the column by clicking HERE.

Round One: Irish Open

Four players, including Andres Romero, are tied for the lead after shooting 68 in the first round. They are the aforementioned Romero, Simon Dyson, Peter Hanson, and Peter Gustafsson. I'm a big fan of Andres Romero so this is really great news. If I didn't have the Tennis Channel and I wasn't watching all those Spaniards play tennis, I'd be watching the Irish Open. I did flip over to it this morning, but they were all wearing coats and looked really cold, so I went back to tennis. Probably wasn't much warmer in Germany, but the players looked warm.

From ESPN.COM

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2871557&campaign=rss&source=GOLFHeadlines

South African Ashleigh Simon, 18, who just turned professional, accepted a sponsor's exemption to the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship, becoming the first golfer to enter the 64-player field.

The event features the world's top 30 ranked players, the top 30 on the LPGA money list, the No. 1 ranked player on the LET Order of Merit, the defending champion and two sponsor's exemptions.

"I can't wait to get out on the Tour," said Simon. "I have thoroughly enjoyed my amateur career and feel I am absolutely ready for the next stage of my golfing journey. I have been fortunate enough to have already experienced the professional environment so I know it is a place where I feel comfortable and I feel I have learned a lot from the tournaments I have played so far."

The tournament will begin on Thursday, July 19 and conclude on Sunday, July 22 with 18-hole semifinal, third-place and title matches.

Brittany Lincicome defeated Juli Inkster, 3&2, to win her first career LPGA title at last year's event.

Seve Makes Champions Tour Debut

Read this article from BBC Sport. It has some interesting quotes from Seve.

Irish Open

Since I have the week off, I'll actually be able to watch Thursday and Friday golf this week (unless I'm watching tennis). At the Irish Open, the following are set to compete: Marcel Siem, Nick Dougherty, Lee Westwood, Johan Edfors, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Anton Haig, Andres Romero and a bunch of other people.

I've read some comments on news websites that suggest that 'no one' is showing up for the Irish Open because of the Fed Ex Cup and how all the European Tour players are abandoning the European Tour to chase the $10 Million first place prize for winning the Cup. Well, I think there are a lot of good players at the Irish Open this week. And as I said in my previous post, I don't think it's the Fed Ex Cup that's motivating the European Tour players to play so much in America, I think it's the revamped schedule.

Golfing Gossip From BBC.COM

Found this on BBC's website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A22768653

Graeme McDowell is here and is another to voice concern. The Portrush player recognises that the US Tour is proving more and more attractive at the moment.

There’s a $10 million carrot being dangled in the form of the FedEx Cup which builds to a climax in September.

“They are going all out to steal all our top players off us and get them playing over there as often as they possibly can,” McDowell said.

“I guess you can’t really resent them for it. They do have money to offer; they do have TV; they do have the stars; they have Tiger Woods. It’s tough."

My Thoughts: I think what people need to focus on is that part where he says "They've got Tiger." If the European Tour players keep that in mind, then they shouldn't be trying to make an effort to win the Fed Ex Cup. Stay in Europe and win tournaments instead of coming over here and missing the cut and not making it through the playoffs. I think what's hurting the European Tour is the revamped US schedule. Now for something like 4 months in a row, the European Tour players who play the WGC events, the Majors and the special tournaments like the Memorial are possibly having to miss some European Tour events to play in America since there's a big tournament each month. Europe might get lucky in July with the British Open, some players will be over there warming up.

There's a lot of interesting points and quotes on that BBC page. Click the link and read the rest of it.

Can't These People Use Hyphens?

From THIS WEBSITE:

Diagnosing and Correcting Mishits Mishits can be painful experiences on the golf course. You know what happens after you hit one, but you might not be sure what's happening to cause you to hit one.

Found a New Golf Blog

Check out The Principal's Nose.

What's Up on the Tours This Week?

If you want to read one article that lets you know what's going on this week in golf, then read this one. What do I think is the most anticipated event? Seve Ballesteros' debut on the Champions Tour, of course. Another opportunity for Spaniard Watch. I just hope he plays well.

Tennis Overload

Since I'm off all week for puppy pad training, I had the tv on the Tennis Channel today. The tennis itself wasn't bad, it was the fans chanting "let's go (insert player's name), let's go". They chanted this all the time for something like 6 hours. It was driving me nuts by 3pm so I watched Ellen and then turned the tv over to the Martha Stewart show. Stayed away from the golf channel until 6pm when they had Brett Quigley on doing yoga. I wanted to hear what other people had to say about the whole Cliff Kresge-Sergio Garcia thing so I waited around for Golf Central. Unfortunately, all I've heard are announcers reporting that Sergio was within the rules, I heard parts of Sergio's press conference, and I heard Kresge's damage control statement released by his agent. What I wanted to hear was Frank Hannigan explaining the rule.

Where do I come down on the controversy? If you're a newbie (like Kresge), your best way to address something like that is "Hey Sergio, I'm not completely up on the rule. Would you mind if we call a rules official so he can explain it to me?" You're less likely to offend people that way. Plus, if there's one thing I've learned about the rules of golf, it's that no one really knows what they are.

Players Championship: Final Round, So Far

I have to post while the puppies are sleeping - there are two holes left to play.

Comments so far:

When NBC's coverage first started today, Dan Hicks showed Tiger highlights and said that his was the 'round of the championship, today so far, matching Oberholser'. Allow me to supply a hypothetical internal monologue going on while Dan was saying that: "Tiger's the greatest, our cash cow... wait, didn't Quinney shoot a 64 yesterday.... but today Tiger did great.... except he went out early which means there are dozens of other players to complete their rounds and Oberholser shot a 67 too..... If I use my stellar announcer voice and make it sound great, the viewers won't know I'm such a suck up to Tiger"

Sergio made a lot of good putts today. He made a 38 ft (NBC said 38, Brandel Chamblee said 48) putt on the 'gimmicky' 17th for birdie. Going to break, you heard Johnny Miller (I love that man) say, "That was better than most."

As for Sergio and Jose Maria, it has been a wonderful, spectacular, tournament for them. Jose Maria moved from 108 after the first round to maybe top 5 or so when the tournament ends. Sergio had two great rounds Saturday and Sunday.

Sean O'Hair is really suffering right now on the 17th. You have to feel really bad for him. But this is the first time he's ever been on this big of a stage so at least he can walk away with that in his mind. He made it this far. It's a stepping stone to build on for the future.

As a side note: I don't want to think that me getting the puppies this weekend, who are named after Sergio and Jose Maria, had anything to do with their good play. I would rather think that Sergio's and Jose Maria's good play is a good omen for how well things will go with me and the puppies. The puppies already have a good idea what puppy pads are for. I'm taking the whole week off to puppy pad train them, so hopefully, they will learn quickly and I will have well trained dogs who will live for about 15 years. I'd rather not have to puppy pad train any others for a while.

An update: Sergio is now in second place after Phil and Sean O'Hair completed the 17th.

Players Championship: Round 3

Sean O'Hair birdied 16, 17, and 18 to finish the third round with a one shot lead over Phil Mickelson. I guess that answers the question of whether or not the 17th hole is 'too gimmicky'.

Sergio and Jose Maria are at -3. Finally Sergio had a really good round of golf with -5 today. I got to see both him and Jose Maria today. Fitting since the puppies are named after them (see my previous post).

Other 3rd round scores: Jose Coceres -4, jeff Quinney -8, Luke Donald -7, Henrik Stenson -6.

It's nice to actually see other golfers actually play golf for a change. Bless NBC, they only mentioned several times that Tiger was way, way behind. They didn't show lowlights or anything. I have to think that Johnny Miller has something to do with that. I don't think he's too much into sucking up to 'stars'.

Meet the Puppies!

The one with the pointy ears is named Phoebe Josephine Maria Olazabal (PJ for short), and the one with the floppy ears is named Winnie Garcia.

Players Championship: Round 2

The best rounds of the day: a pair of -6s from Steve Lowery and Jose Maria Olazabal. They jumped from T108 to T16. Mickelson leads at -5, with Australian Nathan Green in second.

Players You Didn't Know Were There: Colin Montgomerie, Niclas Fasth, Paul Casey, Bobby Wadkins - they missed the cut.

Players Championship: Round 1

A couple days ago I saw a headline that said Tiger Woods felt the 17th hole at the Players was too gimmicky. I think he was just trying to make premature excuses because he knew he wouldn't play well. He's +3 after round 1. Even Sergio had a better score (+1). As for gimmicky? Mickelson and Sabbatini didn't seem to have any trouble as they are tied for the lead at -5. And quite frankly, a round of golf consists of 18 holes, not 1. Just like a tournament consists of the top so many and ties, not just one player.

I got to see a little bit of Sergio and Jose Maria today. I was shocked.

Alternative Programming

As I was boycotting CBS' coverage of the final round of the Wachovia Championship (see yesterday's posts for reasons why), I found some other things to watch on tv: Deep Sea Detectives - I learned about the mass sinking of a German fleet of ships in 1919, LPGA Golf - I saw a playoff between Juli Inkster and Mi Hyun Kim, Kim won, and then I watched Horse Jumping on NBC - decided that they shouldn't have those kinds of events since that one horse had to be put down after getting injured. If it wasn't for that competition that horse could have lived a very long happy life as someone's pet, giving rides to little kids at birthday parties or helping to teach novices how to ride.

So, to sum up the effect of alternative programming: 1/3 happy, 2/3 depressing. Still better than Tiger-Fest.

A Happy Day for Spain

Not only did Sergio and Jose Maria make the cut at the Wachovia Championship and finish under par for the tournament, but in even bigger news, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano won the Italian Open after a final round 65 and a playoff.

And Furthermore

To continue on the previous post's comments about the tour discussing changing the cutline because players would be waiting on tee boxes and 'no one wants to see that on tv'. Well, there was plenty of golf being played today at 3pm eastern, and at 3:15pm eastern etc but what did CBS show? Tiger Woods standing around on the driving range.

Note to the PGA Tour: Your problem isn't slow pace of play, you're problem is the media's devout committment to only show Tiger Woods no matter what he's doing. Soon they will have port-a-potty cam to catch him in the port-a-potty during his round. And they will sneak a hidden camera in his Tiger Head Cover too. Just you wait.

Note to the PGA Tour and CBS: I'm currently watching Cash in the Attic on BBC America instead of your lousy Tiger Love Fest called the Wachovia Championship. Good luck to Sabbatini and Oberholser.

20 minutes

20 minutes into the half hour pre-game show and no one on the golf channel has mentioned that Arron Oberholser is also in the lead at -6 after two rounds. They are only talking about Tiger and Vijay as if it's a two way tie for the lead instead of a three way tie. So, since the golf channel has ignored him, I'll make mention of Arron here:

Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser,
Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser, Arron Oberholser.

(And yes, I typed all those - no copy and paste involved. He deserves the special effort)

Way to Go Mark Russell of the PGA Tour

He was asked if having Tiger and Vijay in the final group affected the decision on how to play the third round given the weather delays and he said no. Good for him for not bowing down to the media and the sponsors.

And Steve Sands is talking on the pre-game show about discussions going on about what the cutline should be changed to and Steve said people at the players meetings were suggesting that no one wants to see the best players in the world on saturday and sunday sitting on tee boxes instead of playing golf. Seems to me that people tune in to watch golf and if there are people waiting on a tee box then that means there's golf being played somewhere on the course. Someone needs to slap some sense into the Tour and the media people and tell them that we want to see all the players on tv, not just three straight hours of Tiger (Yuck and Double Yuck).

Finally!

Finally, Sergio has a decent round to speak of. One under after the first round of the Wachovia Championship. Jose Maria Olazabal was 2 under on his round.

Some others doing well:
J. B Holmes
Trevor Immelman
Arron Oberholser
Bernhard Langer
Brett Quigley

Open de Espana

It looks like Charl Schwartzel won this tournament with a final score of -16.

Some results of Spanish Players:

Carlos Rodiles -14
Carlos Del Moral -7
Manuel Quiros -6
Carlos Balmaseda -4
Gonzalo Fernandez Castano -3
Alvaro Salto -2
Ignacio Garrido -1
Miguel Angel Jimenez -1
Alvaro Velasco +3

#1 Finishes T2

#1 Lorena Ochoa finished tied for second with Julieta Granada at the Corona Championship. Silvia Cavalleri won the tournament. Pretty respectable for Ochoa.

Verplank Wins The EDS Byron Nelson Championship

Scott Verplank shot a 66 to finish one shot ahead of Luke Donald to win the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. This is a special win for Verplank who shared a 20 plus year friendship with Byron Nelson. Watching the final round today I could tell it was Verplank's day as he hit several great shots. Personally, I think this win is also an 'in your face' kind of statement to a certain former Ryder Cup captain who sat Verplank out when he was playing well last fall at the K Club.

Team Nationwide

I got an email about Team Nationwide, "a select group of graduates from the 2006 Nationwide Tour currently competing on the PGA TOUR." It looks like they've created a website to focus on the Nationwide Tour and the PGA tour players that graduated from the Nationwide Tour last year. If you want to check it out, click here.

EDS Byron Nelson Championship

It looks like the final round will be pretty exciting. Luke Donald has a one shot lead over Scott Verplank and qualifier Michael Allen is just two behind. Ian Poulter is 4 back and while I like Luke Donald, it would be something to see Ian Poulter post a low number in the final round.

Possibly the Best Golf Story This Week

Found on This Website

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) - A mother teed off by drunken golfers urinating near her house by the 18th hole resorted to videotaping the men after no action was taken on her complaints. Video of some men relieving themselves behind trees at the city-owned course was played on local and national television news.

"Many times I would say, 'You're on camera,' and they'd keep right on going. They'd yell and scream obscenities at me," Delisa Schubert said.

Schubert, her husband and daughters ages 11 and 15 live next to the Tennessee Centennial Golf Course in Oak Ridge, 20 miles west of Knoxville. She said they family moved there so the girls could improve their golf game.

Schubert has reported the problem to police, city officials, the local district attorney and the golf course manager. They suggested she record the offenders, and in a year she says she has captured more than 40 golfers in the act.

Signs banning public urination are posted on the golf course, and the city is talking to the course operator about the issue, said Josh Collins, director of the city's recreation and parks department. There are restrooms nearby at the 16th hole and the clubhouse.

Schubert says the underlying problem is too much beer and no restraint.

"When you have no inhibition, you're just going to go anywhere," she said.

"On the face of this, it's funny. But when you think about it, it's extremely dangerous. They're going to get in their car and drive off drunk."

Another First Time Winner!

Nick Watney won the Zurich Classic today, finishing with all four rounds in the 60s.

I like it when a first timer wins.

It's Your Lucky Day.....

If your name happens to be Raphael (any spelling). Today Raphael Jacquelin won in Asia and also Rafael Nadal won a tennis tournament in Monte Carlo. If your name is Raphael you should buy a lottery ticket. I'd say your odds are pretty good today.

BMW Asian Open

Raphael Jacquelin is leading the tournament in China so far. I haven't watched any of this because tennis has been on at the same time, but it isn't surprising to see Jacquelin at the top of the leader board. He's been playing well lately. It seems like I keep seeing his name every week.

Third Round, Zurich Classic

I watched a little bit of this today. I had a major headache and ended up eating some chocolate and taking some tylenol and going to bed. What I saw of it was a bunch of people at the top of the leader board with no clear front runner. Should be a good final round tomorrow. It looks like low rounds are possible on this course so we could see someone coming from the pack to win. Mark Calcavecchia and Kyle Reifers didn't make a move today, so they might have a good chance tomorrow. The leader, Nick Watney, shot a -4 round today and Ken Duke and Scott Gutschewski also had low rounds. It might be tough for them to go low again tomorrow.

Off Topic

In case anyone is interested - I've created a new blog about Chihuahuas. I have searched google repeatedly and haven't really found a lot of chihuahua blogs out there. So, I thought I would start one. Feel free to check it out: Gaga For Chihuahuas.

Round 2 Zurich Classic

Mark Calcavecchia is leading after two rounds. I didn't watch much of this today. I was home by about 4pm eastern and could have watched all 2 hours left, but it was so sunny and nice outside that I went out with the dogs for a while. Some players today: Lucas Glover, Nick Watney and Kyle Reifers are still there near the top. Boo Weekley, Paul Azinger and Arjun Atwal will probably miss the cut. The cut hasn't been made yet as of this posting so I can't comment on those closer to the cutline. Kevin Na and Jose Coceres have withdrawn according to the pga tour website leaderboard.

The Zurich Classic

Some First Round Scores:
Kyle Reifers -8 - Leader
Mark Calcavecchia -6
Tim Petrovic -5
Carlos Franco -4
Lee Janzen -3
George McNeill -3
Peter Lonard -1
Steve Stricker -1
Jose Coceres E
Matt Kuchar E
Arjun Atwal E
Jaco Van Zyl +3


Kelly Tighlman needs to get some caffeine. At least Lanny Wadkins injected some personality into his voice, even if some of us didn't like the personality he chose. But Kelly's monotone "I'm trying to be a serious anchor because I've bought into the first woman anchor in history crap" voice almost put me to sleep yesterday.

Screwed By Blogger

Monday night everything was fine. I could post on my blogs and life was good. Tuesday after work, I discovered that the not so fine folks at Blogger had migrated all my blogs to what they call ‘new blogger’, supposedly a better form of blogger that offers new features. Well, I tried to log into blogger using my blogger username and password - nothing. Tried logging into new blogger with my google account name and password - again nothing. I was redirected to the blogger help site. What kind of help did I get? Canned how to articles that did nothing but lead me around in circles. Then I clicked on every option available to try to contact an actual employee of blogger, but it took me over an hour to find a form to complete to submit to them. And it wasn’t a ‘report a problem’ form. I went to the google help group and found that many, many others were suffering from the same problem I had. Did google employees help us? One employee posted the same canned answer that we found at blogger help. And he said ‘if this doesn’t work then contact us directly at (insert website). This kind of thing may be best solved on an individual basis.” Well, when you click on that website link, it takes you back to the page where I clicked everything I could to try to find a ‘help me’ form to fill out. After all this, I posted my own comment on the google help group website detailing every step I had taken. I wrote everything down and did it three or four times so I know what I tried and what I didn’t. To date no google tech support person has responded to anyone on that forum that has the same problem I did. Finally, some other blogger supplied the answer and it involved tinkering with the address of a link that blogger supplies us when we ask to retrieve our passwords. Basically, that link that we got when we asked to retrieve our passwords was reading our usernames as Case Sensitive, but when Blogger tried to find our accounts, it was not reading our usernames as Case Sensitive so it wouldn’t recognize us. That is a programming problem that blogger and google tech support are just too lazy to fix. So, instead, they let their customers flounder in frustration.

Bottom line: Blogger/Google Tech support is not serving the customers. They would rather spend their time making money in corporate mergers and stock options, lying to investors by saying that Google is a good company that provides valuable goods and services to the public when in actuality they ignore the customers and do not service their products to the satisfaction of the end users. Or, they are goofing off in a lax workplace in which productivity is not emphasized, but playing with toys is. Word to investors - if the tech support won’t help the people the company serves, then the company doesn’t care about you either. Sell your stock and invest your money in money market accounts or IRAs or Certificates of Deposit. You’d be better off.

Now They Can Stop Talking About His Missed Putt

Boo Weekley wins the Verizon Heritage tournament! He had two chip-ins in the last three holes to pull out the victory over Ernie Els.

Lincicome Wins

Brittany Lincicome stayed patient and ended up winning the Ginn Open while Lorena Ochoa and Laura Davies couldn't hang in there at the last. I really wanted to see Lorena win and take over the number 1 ranking, but I'm a fan of Brittany Lincicome and I'm happy to see her win.

Verizon Heritage - Play Suspended

The final round is suspended and will pick back up tomorrow on the golf channel at 10:30 am eastern. CBS did manage to get a few interviews in today but they spent a good majority of the time showing last year's final round. Not that I didn't appreciate seeing the nice sunny weather and all, but did they have to bring Lanny Wadkins back into it?

Hey, There's Golf on TV

Yes, I actually got to watch the third round of the Verizon Heritage today. Kevin Na is really making the most of the week. He has to, I think he's only got some kind of limited status on tour thanks to an injury he had last year. And lucky for us, we got serenaded by Ian Baker-Finch and Gary McCord as they celebrated Na's last name. Jerry Kelly is in the lead and Ernie is tied with Kevin Na in second place. Boo Weekley and Zach Johnson are right there on the first page of the leader board.

And I think anytime anyone makes a hole in one in a pro tournament, they should win something. I guess Kelly didn't win anything for his hole in one today since no one ever said anything.

Ineffective Email

I got a spam email from someone who wanted me to send them $20.00 to promote my blog. Well, in the email, they called my blog "Evan Par Round". Something tells me they wouldn't do a good job promoting the blog if they can't even spell it right.

An Interesting Insight

I'm watching the Tennis Channel and an interview with Mary Jo Fernandez. She said that the transition from Juniors to the Pros was tough because as a Junior she was used to winning a lot of tournaments, but when she turned pro she didn't win for 4 years and that shook her confidence.

An interesting point of view and one that could be considered when thinking about Michelle Wie's decision to turn pro.

Out of Luck

You all are out of luck if you're tuning in to read some insightful comments about the Verizon Heritage this week. So far, I haven't paid much attention at all to it. I stopped at Rite Aid yesterday and loaded more money on my prepaid credit card and tonight I went to see my puppies after work. The puppies are getting more adorable all the time. They are showing more brown around their noses, eyes and paws. I have the whole visit detailed on my Window Dressing blog if you want to read it - the link is over in the sidebar.

For insight into the Verizon Heritage tournament, I suggest you visit The Armchair Golfer's website.

Checking Out the European Tour

Seve Ballesteros turned 50 years old on Monday. Click here to read what the European Tour had to say about him.

The Volvo China Open is taking place this week. Here are a few of the competitors:
Anton Haig, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Marcel Siem, Andres Romero, Carl Suneson, Simon Dyson, Stephen Dodd, and a bunch of other players.

Verizon Heritage

Checked the list of everyone in the field. Here are a few names to watch:
Jeev Milkha Singh, Richie Ramsay, Vaughn Taylor, Brad Faxon, Rocco Mediate, Matt Kuchar, Zack Johnson and Loren Roberts.

Zach Johnson is the 2007 Masters Champion

I watched the leaderboard on the web and saw that Tiger was two shots back going to 18 so I decided to turn the tv over to CBS and watch the rest of it. It's great to see Zach Johnson win. I loved watching him hug his family when he came off the course.

Like a Steinbeck Novel

The third round of the Masters for me was like trying to read a Steinbeck novel. Very boring and very long and you can only think 'gee they need to end this, I have a load of laundry to put in the washer."

I don't think every tournament should be all about birdies and have scores like 20 under par or anything, but if no one does well, then I think something needs to be changed. In this case, I think it might be sucky players rather than a tricked up course causing the damage.

I probably won't watch the final round tomorrow. It's too depressing. I'll just check in on the leaderboard online every so often.

A Selfish Post about Me

I went to see some chihuahua puppies this morning and have placed a deposit on two adorable little females. They are barely two weeks old so in about 5 weeks I'll be able to bring them home. They won't replace Phoebe and it will still hurt to think about her, but I will be busy learning about my new puppies and their personalities and they will soon take up a special place in my heart right next to Steffi's, Fritz's and Phoebe's places. One of the puppies is short haired and white with black spots and the other puppy is long haired white with black spots.

I wanted to bring all the little puppies home. Especially the little 2 1/2 pound chihuahua female, but I was afraid that little one would get hurt accidentally by Fritz, my rambunctious dog who jumps up and down when he wants to go out and doesn't look where he's landing. He's landed on Steffi a couple of times.

Rest assured, when I get them and bring them home, there will be plenty of posts and pictures of them on this blog and every other blog I've got. So, you'll get to learn a lot more about them in the months to come.

Masters, Second Round Thoughts

Some Scores:
Brett Wetterich and Tim Clark -2
Vaugn Taylor -1
Jerry Kelly and Justin Rose E
David Howell, Padraig Harrington, Bradley Dredge +1
Jeev Milkha Singh, Paul Casey, Craig Stadler +3
Henrick Stenson +4
Jose Maria Olazabal +5
Ben Crenshaw +6
Miguel Angel Jimenez, Fred Couples and Brett Quigley +8

Missed Cut:
Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia and others.

Thoughts:

Vaughn Taylor is right in there as is Justin Rose. I kept watching Justin this evening and kept telling the tv "you can't win the tournament today". I think it's important on a course as seemingly as challenging as this to be patient. And Justin seemed very patient today.

Craig Stadler - How well is he doing so far? Sheesh. I guess the Old Guard at the Masters will want to make more course changes after seeing these Champions Tour guys doing so well.

Paul Casey and Padraig Harrington had the low rounds of the day with a pair of 68s. I guess they will shoot 80s tomorrow now.

It would be nice to see Jose Maria and even Miguel Angel Jimenez tomorrow on the coverage. A limited field event and they still can't show all the players. That's absurd. If the Masters is so freakin' special, then all the players there are special and should get some TV time. I at least got to see Jose whenever he happened to be in Justin's camera angle today. And I got to see him play the last part of the 18th hole. He's only a 2 time Masters Champion. Ryder Cup legend.

And Finally, and I do mean FINALLY, the leaderboard that you go to on PGATOUR.COM finally has Johan Edfors' name spelled correctly. Now that he's missed the cut and his week is over. A little to late to show some respect I think.

Help Needed From Fellow Bloggers

Please help me figure this out. I don't remember much from last year's Masters.

Does this year have:

A. A much tougher course than last year and if so how is it tougher?

B. Players more poorly prepared than last year?

C. A more overly critical announce team (without Lanny Wadkins, that would be an achievement) that is just telling people that everyone sucks?

As someone who is only watching the USA coverage and not the golf channel analysis, I am getting the impression that the course is really, really tough and the players are really, really bad.

Please, give me a little insight.

So Not Fair

In order for Fred Couples to make the cut at the Masters, I have to now root against Justin Rose! That's not right. Forgive me, Justin. But Fred's got to make the cut and keep his streak alive.

The Masters, Round One

Some Scores:

Justin Rose and Brett Wetterich -3 Leaders
Vaughn Taylor -1
Henrik Stenson E
Jeev Milkha Singh E
Jose Maria Olazabal +2
Brett Quigley +4
Steve Stricker +4
Sergio Garcia +4
Paul Casey +7
Seve Ballesteros +14
Miguel Angel Jimenez +7
Johan Edfors +6

Comments:
Really great to see Justin Rose leading along with Brett Wetterich. A special thank you to Vaughn Taylor and Henrik Stenson for not playing into the Miranda Jinx. I picked Stenson to win in an email sent to the waggleroom folks. I also said Paul Casey would come in second. The jinx seems intact for him. I've had a special inkling about Jeev Milkha Singh ever since his great showing at the Volvo Masters last year. I think he could be a spoiler again.

And finally........ The Masters Leaderboard on the web has Johan Edfors' name mispelled. I sent an email to the webmaster asking that it be fixed, but was ignored. So, in a special nod to Johan, I will repeatedly spell his name correctly here, just in case the tech geek who screwed it up on the leaderboard website is reading: Johan, Johan, Johan, Johan, Johan, Johan.

Congratulations to the Quigleys

Brett and Amy Quigley welcomed a daughter into the world earlier today. Brett is returning to Augusta for the tournament. The name they chose: Lillian Sage Augusta Quigley.

Click here for the brief news article.

Here's a better news article

A Short News Article

I found a short news article about Jose Maria Olazabal and the Masters.

Time to Take a Look at the Masters

Well, I've avoided Masters Week as long as possible I think. I've turned the golf channel on for the first time this week and the Masters Edition of Playing Lessons From the Pros is on.

So, let's see what's going on and what I'm thinking:

I googled golf and masters at google news and I kept seeing headlines about Howell and at home at Augusta - You can tell where my mind is at - I kept thinking "Does David Howell have a house in Georgia?" LOL. Forgot all about Charles Howell III.

And then there's the news story about the person hired by CBS to help cover the Masters who ended up allegedly participating in a bank robbery. I can hear some old traditionalist out there somewhere saying "well, if they'll hire Gary McCord, they'll hire anybody." There's hope for me wanting a job with them someday.

Here's a nice story about Jeev Milkha Singh and his first trip to the Masters.

As for predictions, I have no idea who will win. I don't think it will be Phil Mickelson because he's been too quiet lately and not playing a lot. I don't think it will be Adam Scott because he won last week and I don't like to pick the guy who won last week to win this week in any tournament. And I'm very, very worried about Jose Maria Olazabal. He hasn't played well all year. I really hope he finds something special this week and has a good run.

Finally, I hope the winner of the Masters this year will be someone other than Phil or Tiger. If they are the only ones to win the thing, then it somehow loses some of its prestige because no one else feels like they have a chance to win. And if they don't think they have a chance, then the fans will follow suit and it will be a very boring tournament. With all the pomp and circumstance surrounding the tournament, I think we are all deserving of a good cinderella story this week. Maybe it will be Brett Quigley :) Now that would be the feel good story of the year.

Great News for Brett Quigley

Brett Quigley had to leave his Tuesday practice round at Augusta and fly home to Florida as his wife went into labor. He hopes to be back in time for his tee time on Thursday. Wonder if the Masters people will give him some green cloth diapers for the baby?

Here's a link to the Brett Quigley news.

Today's Word: Inexcusable

Johnny Miller used the word inexcusable repeatedly during today's coverage of the final round of the Houston Open. So, I will use the word as well.

It was completely and utterly inexcusable for Dottie Pepper to forcibly prevent Adam Scott from leaving the 18th green by smacking him in the chest with the microphone. She spent how many years on the LPGA tour and she doesn't know when a tournament is still going on? Obviously, Adam wanted to clear the green because Bubba Watson's group was coming up the 18th. It's not as if Adam is a rookie and doesn't know he's supposed to speak to one of the tv people after he wins a tournament. It was unprofessional of her to act in that manner and I hope someone at NBC disciplines her for that.

Big Excitement on the European Tour

Spaniard, amateur, and Oklahoma State attendee Pablo Martin-Benavides has won the Estoril Portuguese Open. The first time an amateur has won on the European Tour since its inception.

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.