Round Up

Ross Fisher won the European Open today with a final score of -20. It's too bad he wasted that whole day qualifying for the British Open since he gets in with this win too. Sergio followed up his Saturday 74 with a final round 66 - the low round of the day and finished solo-second at -13. Graeme McDowell didn't do so well today, but a few times they showed him on tv I thought he looked rather handsome in his raingear.

Eduardo Romero won on the Champions Tour. He's a favorite of mine just because he has the nickname "The Cat".

The Big News of course is: Rafael Nadal wins Wimbledon! He beat Roger Federer in 5 sets with a score of 9-7 in the fifth - there are no tiebreaks in the final set at Wimbledon. This match seemed to last all day due to a couple of rain delays and it was virtually dark when Rafa was showing off the trophy to the crowds.

So, we have Spain winning in soccer. Rafa winning the French Open-Wimbledon combo. Hopefully, this will bode well for Sergio at the British Open. Or Miguel Angel Jimenez. Or any other Spaniard who's in the field - I haven't seen the entry list.

The Media's Latest Attempt to Ruin Golf

Have you heard about the "*" controversy? Apparently, because the media still want to cash in on Tiger Woods, they are virtually saying that every tournament played from here on out while Tiger's home nursing his knee should have an * attached to the winner's name because it just can't be considered a 'real' win if Tiger wasn't there. Gee, Tiger only plays 15 tournaments or so when he's not laid up with a bad knee. Are they going to go back to the 20+ other events on the tour calendar and put "*"s on those wins too?

I can see putting an * on a win if it was rain-shortened or if there was a war on and half the players boycotted the event or something. But this stupid idea of assigning an * just because Tiger doesn't play in an event is ridiculous beyond belief. They're not going to put an * on Novak Djokovic's Australian Open win just because Federer had Mono and got beat in the semi's.

I guess the next move the media will make is to put "*"s next to every Non-Tiger winner of every tournament that Tiger played in and make excuses for him like "oh Tiger sneezed on the tenth hole in round 3, so this win shouldn't count because Tiger wasn't at his best".

If Tiger had taken better care of himself, he wouldn't be out with an injury in the first place. Why aren't the media focusing on that? Instead of saying "hey kiddies you might not want to mirror Tiger's swing because he's had trouble with this knee for 10 years", they are completely ignoring that aspect of this whole story and saying not only can Tiger do no wrong, but he should be given even more credit than he deserves by devaluing the accomplishment that these other players will earn by winning tournaments in his absence.

Wacky British Weather

Wimbledon's men's final is on at the same time as the final round of the European Open. Now unless there's some magical tape delay going on, the sun's out at Wimbledon and pouring down the rain in Kent.

Today's Thoughts

1. I was watching last night's Golf Central this morning and I heard Kelly Whatshername say that Kenny Perry is skipping the British Open for Ryder Cup purposes. Obviously she did not attend or listen to his press conference after the Buick Open in which he said he was skipping the British Open because he was already committed to play in the opposite event here in America and he wasn't going to go back on his word and leave the sponsors and charities out in the cold. Gee, who am I going to believe, Kenny Perry or a Golf Channel announcer? Yet another reason to mute the Golf Channel and just look at the video.

2. European Open - Sergio had the round of the day, a 64, today to move into either third alone or a tie for third. I didn't check out the full leaderboard to see where everyone else finished up after the second round. Ross Fisher is still in the lead, which is good considering how rare it is for someone to back up a 63 or any low round with another good round. And I read on the European Tour website that Sergio has been keeping up on Rafael Nadal's progress at Wimbledon. So have I, but I think for possibly different reasons - LOL. I would love to see Nadal win Wimbledon, but I've been feeling sorry for Federer lately. All of the press is on him this year for his 'lackluster' performance. Excuse the man for being sick earlier in the year. A lot of people are wanting to write him off, probably because Novak and Nadal are younger and more exciting. In interviews it sometimes sounds like Novak would like to write Federer off. It's an interesting thing to note, when Pete Sampras was number one and winning everything, I couldn't stand him, but when Federer wins everything, I don't have the same feelings. I put it down to the media. Sampras was American and I'm subjected to a biased American media. Federer, being Swiss, gets more, dare I say it, neutral press and I'm not bombarded with a biased, player worshipping press - you know the kind we have when it comes to Tiger Woods.

Round 1 - European Open

Checking out some of the scores from the European Tour:

Ross Fisher -9
Rory McIlroy -5
Gonzalo Fernandez Castano -4
Jose Manuel Lara -4
Justin Rose -3
Sergio Garcia -1
David Howell -1
Stephen Dodd +2

Comments: What's happened to David Howell in the last couple of years? Remember how he was one of the hottest guys on the Tour leading up to the Ryder Cup in 2006? And the same question about Stephen Dodd. I saw him two years ago at the Bridgestone Invitational and now, according to the European Tour website, his world ranking is 707? I don't know how that number can be right.

Sergio in Europe this Week

Sergio's playing at the European Open this week instead of Tiger's event. From what I read, it sounds like this might be Sergio's first tournament at this specific course. That's what I like about Sergio. Sure he would like to win majors, but he also plays golf for all of the different aspects of the game - traveling around to different places, playing different courses and not just the same ones every year. You really get a sense that he sees the bigger picture - that it isn't about winning or majors. It's about the experience.

Sticker Update

No, that's not Steve Stricker. I mean the sticker for my new license plate. Apparently it was the dealership who put the wrong sticker on the plate. I had a message on my answering machine tonight when I got home from work from the dealership. I called them back and apparently they put the wrong sticker on the plate. The woman I spoke to is going to mail me the right sticker. I don't know if my email to the DMV was what prompted this. The plate was mailed to me from the dealership. I was curious about why the dealership would send me my plate, but I just thought they were forwarding it on from the DMV to me. I didn't know they put stickers on the plates before sending them out.

I bought a door mat this morning at walmart to put beside my driver's side door here at the house so I can wipe off my shoes before getting into the car. And I plan on buying brushes to keep in the roadmap slots in the doors so I and my passengers can wipe our feet before getting into the car when we are elsewhere. And no, I'm not obsessed. Really.

A Spaniard Wins in France

25 year old Pablo Larrazabal won the Open de France ALSTOM today by 4 shots over Colin Montgomerie. He had to qualify just to play in the event and was ranked 481st at the beginning of the week. Even more remarkable, according to the European Tour website, Pablo is now 17th in the European Ryder Cup standings. Just think, we could see Sergio, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Pablo Larrazabal playing in the Ryder Cup and Jose Maria Olazabal as assistant captain. It might be a very good year for Spain in the Ryder Cup.

Perry Wins Again

Well, I guess people can stop criticizing Kenny Perry's decision to skip the US Open now since he won again today at the Buick Open. He knows what he's doing.

Darn My Luck

I was looking around the Buick website today and checked out the Tiger's Clubhouse thing. I found out that I could have a free weekly grounds pass to the Bridgestone Invitational just for being a Buick owner. I have already bought my tickets. I haven't gotten them yet. They should be mailed out sometime this coming week, hopefully.

I like my car so much that I go outside to just look at it. Today I went out and decided to get some exercise while I was out, so I walked circles around the car for about 40 minutes. It's such a pretty car. I do have a new problem with it. The idiots at the DMV sent me my new license plate for it, but it has a 2006 sticker on it. Completely expired. Even though there was a DMV office open yesterday, they did not have a phone number listed anywhere on the internet, so I did the only thing I could do - I emailed the Commissioner of the West Virginia DMV and told him about getting the expired sticker and asked what I had to do to fix it. It will probably cost me money, although as it was a mistake on their end, it shouldn't. If there's a way they can track which employee did it, I would be happy to pay to get another sticker as long as that employee gets suspended for a week or two without pay. It isn't like we have DMV offices on every corner in our state. I have to drive at least 30 miles to get to one. That's a long way to go to correct a mistake made by the DMV.

I'm watching the Buick Open this week, mostly to see the Buick commercials and the cars on the course. David Feherty's back and it's a shame he doesn't have Tiger there - he has to actually leave the hyperbole at home this week and call the golf action as the rest of us see it. Back to the commercials, there's one Buick commercial where they show my car! Well, not exactly my car, but it looks just like it.

Check it Out

Nick, of Nick's Golf Palace, has been stopping by here lately and posting a few comments. So, I thought I would take a minute to urge everyone to check out his blog.

See My Pretty Car

That Darn Tiger Woods

That man just cost me $25000. How, you ask? Yesterday I bought a new 2008 Buick LaCrosse CX. It's "Scarlett Red" with "Titanium" interior. I wouldn't have been looking at the Buicks if it weren't for all of those Buick commercials I have to watch when I watch golf. And why are there so many Buick commercials out there? Because Tiger advertises them. At least I didn't buy a Lucerne. The LaCrosse is expensive enough for me.

As for the car: I wanted a red one but the dealership only had two silver ones on their lot. When the salesman realized I was going to keep my 1998 Lumina, he figured the only way I was going to buy a car that day was if he could find me a red one (I didn't need to buy one that day if I had a car I could drive). So, he had some guy in the office look for red ones on the internet. He claimed this was the only red one in the state of West Virginia, but when I looked online, I found 4 with one having the paint color I would have preferred: "Red Jeweled Tint". But it could be that those other dealerships hadn't updated their website and that car was already sold. At first, the salesman was showing me the used cars but when he asked me how much I was looking to spend and I said "I want to keep it under $30,000", you should have seen those cartoon Dollar Signs pop out of his eyes. That was a bit funny. He showed me the news ones then, but he kept showing me the Pontiac Grand Prix and I don't really like those. I think the body style is ugly. They had a red one of those. I made the salesman do a lot of walking yesterday. The car lot is stretched out length-wise and he had to walk that whole length a couple of times. But as I don't go carshopping ever, I didn't really know what I wanted and what I was looking for. So, I even took a peek at a Dodge Avenger. Finally I test drove one of the silver LaCrosses and it was very nice. The driver's seat adjusts up and down and front to back. The A/C fan is controlled by button instead of knobs (My Lumina's A/C fan barely works and I have to toggle the knob back and forth a hundred times to get it to work). The radio keeps working even after you turn off the car and pull the key out of the ignition. That concerned me for a bit yesterday until I could read the book. I get free Onstar for a year and free XM radio for 3 months. The radio is set on the PGA Tour network and I haven't gotten the Onstar started yet. The trunk is a little smaller than my Lumina's and the car takes the potholes in my driveway a lot better than the Lumina. Both cars have a V6 engine, but the Lumina's is a 3.1L and the Lacrosse has a 3.8L. When I test drove the silver LaCrosse, I accidentally squealed the tires when I pulled out of a parking lot. It has a bit more power than the Lumina. The LaCrosse comes with two power accessory outlets (at least I have only found two) and my car came with 3/4 of a tank of gas, which probably makes the $25000 I'm spending worth it when you look at the current price of gas - LOL Wednesday, the dealership people are going to pick my car up at work and take it to spray this protectorant all over it. With this stuff on the car I won't have to wax it for 5 years. I thought that sounded great since my Lumina is lucky if I wash it once a year, let alone wax it.

I like the LaCrosse even though it seems that the view out of the back window is more narrow than that of my Lumina. I read in the owners manual that I have to wipe off the chrome every time it gets wet or dirty. Heaven knows what I have to do with the aluminum wheels that they have on it. I'm hoping that protectorant stuff will seal that too and I won't have to do much cleaning. I'm still keeping my Lumina. I have studded snow tires for that car so I figure I'll run it in the Winter and park the LaCrosse. It didn't cost me much more to insure a new LaCrosse since, thanks to dad's handling of my insurance, I am insured to the hilt anyway. And insuring the Lumina with the minimum required by the State of WV only cost me about $290 more on the year. That was a very good deal I thought.

I'm happy that I have a brand new car. I figure I should be able to have one brand new car in my lifetime and then get used ones after that. My Lumina was a gently used one when I got it. Plus, my Lumina has a bad head gasket and according to Dad, the engine could go at any time so I didn't fancy driving it to Akron for the Bridgestone Invitational at the end of July. I'm going back to the tournament again this year. Wednesday night the LaCrosse will really feel like my car because I will be able to move my little stuffed dinosaur into the back dash and put my house key on the key ring. I don't want to do that before the dealership guys pick up the car to do that detailing work. You should never leave personal stuff in the car or your house key on the key ring when you're giving the car and key ring to a dealership, mechanic, or detailing workers.

As for Yesterday - it was the most expensive day of my life. Not only did I buy the car, but I also spent $433.00 ordering new glasses to wear. Mine are all scratched up so I went to the eye doctor and ordered new ones. The ones I'm getting come with little magnets on either side of the lenses and sun glass clip ons that will just adhere to the frames with those magnets. That's really handy. The color of the frames are purple. Not red. It was nice to hear the office girl saying that I needed small frames because I have a small face. That wasn't the case 6 years ago when I last went to the eye doctor. I was fat back then.

Rocco Should Have Won

Rocco doesn't have any majors, Tiger's got too many. Rocco should have won the US Open.

I didn't watch any of the last two rounds or the playoff. Rafael Nadal was busy winning his first grass court tournament so I watched that instead. Had absolutely no interest in watching Tiger Woods or listening to either the Golf Channel or NBC. This morning, I watched infomercials on the Tennis Channel rather than the Live From show on the Golf Channel.

US Open Round 2

I watched a bit of this yesterday, but only until I found Rafael Nadal playing a grass court tournament on the Tennis Channel. I checked out the leaderboard and here are a few names that jumped out at me: Luke Donald Even par, Davis Love -1, Oliver Wilson +1 and Miguel Angel Jimenez -1. 3 Under is leading the tournament.

I heard yesterday that Miguel Angel Jimenez was grouped with Shingo Katayama and Boo Weekley for the first two rounds. I hope Sergio warned Miguel ahead of time about Boo's math skills.

US Open, Round 1

Watching it, but not paying much attention to it. It's good to see non-superstars at the top of the leaderboard. I hope it continues past today. As for the 'supergroup' - that Jimmy Roberts in his sports report talked about the 'supergroup' but only talked about Woods and Mickelson. Not a word about Adam Scott. I still don't know what he shot today. Personally, I am happy to see Mickelson end up one shot better than Woods. Odd that no one is talking about it all that much. But if Tiger had shot the better score, we the golf watchers would never hear the end of it. I can't really talk about the leaderboard right now since there's a couple more hours of play to go and it is far from being set in stone for the day. I will probably be behind the whole week since they are playing so late.

Speaking of being behind, this morning I caught some of last night's Live from show on the golf channel. I think it was the second day in a row that they repeated themselves when talking about Tiger's knee. It's ridiculous. They are saying the same things over and over just so they can say Tiger's name. Either get some new Tiger news to talk about or shut the heck up. There are about 140+ other golfers they could be talking about this week.

Finally, yay - Mike Tirico's back. He is a very good golf announcer and it's a shame he doesn't do more of it. Also glad to hear Judy Rankin, Andy North, and Terry Gannon. Not happy to hear ESPN Carl.

Quick Notes

Justin Leonard won the St. Jude in a playoff against Robert Allenby and Trevor Immelman. Lorena Ochoa didn't win the LPGA event.

I've been watching the French Open for the last couple of weeks - Rafael Nadal won the Championship in decisive fashion - straight sets against Roger Federer with the last set at love. I'm a Nadal fan, but I did feel kind of bad for Federer. He was hoping to do better this year.

As for the US Open (Golf) coming up this week - is there anyone out there who believes the Golf Channel commercial that says they will spotlight golfers other than Tiger Woods? I don't believe it. If they do, it will be a Golf Channel announcer asking every other golfer how they think Tiger's knee will hold up.

A New Website

The folks at PUTT3R sent me an email, asking that I check out their website. It's a golf news blog. You all should also check it out. It seems like a good way to get quick golf news.

A Very Entertaining Article

I found this entertaining article/opinion piece written by a Canadian in response to a comment Tiger made that 'no one watches hockey any more.' I got a big kick out of it.

Perry Wins at the Memorial

I didn't watch any golf this weekend. I figured that as soon as Sergio wasn't leading after the first round, the media would be all over him, treating him like dirt like they did before he won the Players, so I watched the French Open instead. A lot of great tennis, you all should be watching it. Anyway, I saw on google news that Kenny Perry finally won something this year after the close calls he's had ever since the Players. Good for him. Hopefully, this will get him onto the Ryder Cup team. He needs to be there.