Jim Furyk Wins

Since the tournament was on tape delay on CBS, I decided to stay updated by watching the socres online. So, I was very anxious to see how Retief Goosen scored a 9 on the 18th hole. That was the one thing CBS should be showing since Immelman and Furyk played routine golf for the most part. But CBS didn't show Retief's 18th hole exploits. I can understand that they wanted to be done by 6pm eastern, but Retief making a 9 was very newsworthy. As for the winner and playoff and such - I would have liked to have seen Immelman win since it would have been his first win on the PGA tour, but I can appreciate Jim Furyk's win as well. He got beat a couple weeks ago and he lost in a playoff last year, so it was a good win for him.

One last comment - my satellite dish was experiencing technical difficulties and did not show any of the local channels. So, I had to watch the golf on my 13in color tv which is hooked up to the regular broadcast antenna, instead of my 27 inch tv. I was lucky to see any of it. Dish network should give me a credit next month on my bill.

Michelle Wie

I've been reading some comments about Wie making the cut in an Asian tour men's event. Some of the comments are positive, some not. I would just like to say to those negative folks out there - you couldn't have made the cut in that event so stop criticising Michelle Wie. People have been saying the strength of the field in that event was very weak. Well you had Charlie Wi and KJ Choi in that event - two very good players.

I really don't get it - John Daly gambles more money away than has been spent on Katrina Recovery (just a bit of hyperbole there) and everyone's like "Yeah, John's the man" but all Michelle Wie did was play well in a men's only event, and she's the bad apple. I really think all these naysayers are just lousy golfers who are jealous that a 16 year old girl can beat the pants off them any day of the week.

Third Round

Jim Nantz and Lanny Wadkins were talking about the putting stats of Bo Van Pelt I believe. Jim said that the putting stats can be misleading. It's funny how those stats are never misleading when they are talking about Sergio Garcia.

Adam Scott and Retief Goosen were the stars of the day followed closely by Jay Haas. I have doubts though that Retief can follow up his 65 with another good round tomorrow.

WDs

Have you noticed just how many players withdrew from the Wachovia event? I counted 11. That seems a little abnormal.

#1 Player on Tour

Before I took the dogs out for a walk at 8pm, I was watching the Champions Tour coverage on the Golf Channel. The commentators claimed that right now, Phil Mickelson might just be the #1 player on tour. As much as I'm not a Tiger Woods fan, I think it's a bit callous to give his #1 title away to Phil Mickelson just because Tiger doesn't happen to be playing right now. And on the day of his father's funeral to boot. I love Frank Nobilo and I understand what he's trying to say - that of the players actively on tour at this very minute, Phil would be #1, but it didn't sound that way when they were talking about it.

When Phil beats Tiger in something like three or four straight tournaments, then we can talk about the #1 ranking.

Golf Roundup

David Duval made the cut this week.

Michelle Wie made the cut this week for the first time in a men's event.

Paul Azinger withdraws from Wachovia.

Bo Van Pelt scored a second round 64.

Three Haas's enter the Wachovia event, two make the cut.

For the Ladies

I checked out the Sergio Garcia Photo Gallery a few minutes ago on the Golf Channel website. They have a picture of Sergio and Camillo Villegas together. They also have one of Sergio, Luke Donald and Camillo Villegas.

In Memoriam

Earl Woods, Father of Tiger Woods, Dies

Chris Couch Wins

Now maybe Lanny Wadkins will stop criticizing cross handed chipping since it was a cross handed chip that won Couch the tournament. It seemed that no matter how well Couch did, Wadkins just did not want to acknowledge it. Just like President Bush didn't want to acknowledge the lack of credible intelligence when we went to war. Maybe it's a Texan thing.

One Missed Putt

All it took was for Chris Couch to miss one putt and Lanny Wadkins began focusing on his "one big weakness, his chink in the armor".

Anyway, the final round of the Zurich Classic is turning out to be really good. I was happy to see Lucas Glover do so well today. They need to interview him more. He has a really good accent.

Calling All Techies

My PC monitor is doing something strange. It is displaying a bluish haze across the entire screen and there are horizontal lines about an inch apart from top to bottom. I unhooked it from the cpu like the manual said to do and the picture still looked the same. I think my monitor is going bad. What do you all think?

Listening Skills

Lanny Wadkins expounded upon the benefits of being a fast player about an hour into the coverage today. Then about an hour after that, I heard Jim Nantz ask Lanny if it was better to be a fast player in windy conditions. Either they have absolutely nothing else to talk about, or Jim Nantz didn't pay attention the first time.

The Zurich Classic

I just read this article on SI.Com about whether or not the tour players this week should donate their purses to Katrina relief. My personal opinion is this: you don't know what personal situations these golfers have going on in their lives. They might need this week's check for some reason. They might have already donated a huge amount of money to Katrina relief. They might decide that they would rather donate money to some other worthy cause. Is anyone out there really going to say Katrina relief is more deserving than breast cancer research? And let's be cold and callous for a second: hurricane season is coming up and the levees probably won't hold this year either.

An Improvement

Well, between Thursday and Sunday the announce people have improved. Thursday, I heard about 5 different ways to pronounce the name Mathias Gronberg. Today, I've only heard two. And guess what - Mathias Gronberg has his own website. Check it out.

Today at the Shell Houston Open

George Bush Sr said today that he had emailed his congratulations to Phil Mickelson for winning the masters and he hoped he would hear from Phil soon. You would think if you get an email from the President, you'd respond timely. Phil needs to work on that.

Today's Notes

The Golf Channel Personalities really need to become better acquainted with nascar and racing. Kelly whatshername didn't know what dirt track racing is tonight on the Post Game show? That's even AFTER the Golf Channel has shown video of Steve Williams racing in the past (I think recently when Williams was there promoting his book). Don't they watch their own programming? West Virginians like me know what dirt track racing is.

They mentioned on the Post Game show that the sponsors are going to really be hurting because Tiger Woods is taking time off to be with his dad. I think golf is in a sad state if one player's absence can hurt the sport the way the post game people are suggesting. Golf and the PGA tour should take a lesson from Martha Stewart and her company. She went to prison and the company didn't fold. Don't put all your eggs in the Woods basket. If you have a quality product it will withstand the absence of one person.

They also talked about Michelle Wie possibly playing the 84 Lumber Classic this year and how Wie's people are sensitive to a possible backlash for taking a sponsor's exemption that a man could be using otherwise. They talked about the uproar that happened when Annika Sorenstam played her one event on the men's tour. I think there was a backlash about Annika because she had been so successful on the LPGA tour. Men were threatened because of what they feared would happen - Annika deciding to play as much as she could on the men's tour because she had conquered the LPGA tour. I don't see anything wrong with Michelle playing the men's tour because for one thing, she isn't going to win so she isn't a threat to the men who are playing, and for another, it's just going to make her a better player on the LPGA tour. And as for the argument that she would be taking a spot that a man could fill - boohoo. Any man who'd cry about not getting an exemption because of a girl really needs to think about that before he opens his mouth. Bottom line, Michelle Wie is just as important for the PGA tour as she is for the LPGA tour. How many young girls do you think will be watching the PGA tour who didn't watch before, just because she's playing the event? And how many men will be watching her play Nike clubs and will say to themselves "If they can make a girl hit the ball that far, then I need to get some of those."

And finally, as to the Shell Houston Open - There is a Smith on the leaderboard. I've always wondered why there haven't been more players with that name on the PGA tour - it's one of the most plentiful names in America. At work, one of my co-workers with that name actually got a call from a customer who didn't know who she was supposed to talk to, but chose the name Smith from the automated phone attendant program because she figured there had to be a Smith working there and she would actually get to talk to a live person instead of getting voicemail.

A New Blog

I've added a new blog to the list in the side bar. Check out Golfer's Paradise.

Round 1 Highlight

John Daly on the 15th hole. Not so much his length off the tee, but his second shot that ended up in good position on the green. And his commentary of course.

A News Report on Darren Clarke

Humble, TX (Sports Network) - Darren Clarke finished his first round at the Shell Houston Open on Thursday, then withdrew from the tournament to return home to be with his wife, who is battling cancer.

"Upon receiving results from ongoing medical tests of his wife Heather, Darren Clarke has withdrawn from the Shell Houston Open to return home outside London to discuss further treatment with Heather and her doctors," read a statement issued by the PGA.

Clarke finished a round of four-under-par 68 and was two shots off the lead when he withdrew.

Heather Clarke was originally diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago.

In 2005, Clarke took much of the season off to be with his wife as she underwent chemotherapy. He played in just 12 events, but was granted a special release from completing his 15 required tournaments.

Clarke is an 11-time winner on the European Tour. Two of those titles -- the 2000 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and the 2003 WGC-NEC Invitational -- count towards the PGA Tour.

A News Report on Tiger Woods

(I think it's good that he's taking time for his dad. Golf will be there for his next 30 to 40 years. His dad won't be.)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Tiger Woods will take time off from the PGA Tour while his father battles cancer, the world's No. 1 player said Thursday.

Woods said it was possible he would not make an appearance in a golf tournament before the U.S. Open in June.

He did not give specific details of his planned break, except to say he would not start playing "for a while," and the failing health of his father, Earl, would have a major influence on his future schedule.

"It's kind of up in the air with the situation back home, so I don't know what's going to happen," said Woods, who is in New Zealand to attend the wedding of his caddie Steve Williams. He is also due to drive in a charity motor race Monday on New Zealand's North Island.

"I'm taking time off. I'm here for this event and for Steve, and to enjoy time off and be with my father, so I won't play for a while," Woods said.

"My father is hanging in there, the guy is an absolute fighter and walking miracle."

Woods said he would definitely seek his 11th major title in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, N.Y., from June 15-18.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Heritage Winner

Despite Lanny Wadkins trashing Baddeley's pre-shot routine on every shot (give it a rest already), Baddeley succeeded and won today. I thought that was good. It's nice to see a first time winner. I did want to see the wife run out there on the green and jump into his arms though. That would have been really sweet considering yesterday was their anniversary. But it was a good win.

Do you think Jim Nantz need some prozac or something after listening to Mr Negative (aka Lanny Wadkins) for three hours? That would get on my nerves.

Where's Dale Jr and the Pace Car??

What's with CBS using the phrase 'drafting' every few seconds? I noticed it yesterday, but I'm hearing it more today. If I wanted to watch NASCAR I would. I doubt seriously they can steal the nascar fanbase just by using some of the same terminology.

Discussion with the Boss

I broke my vow AGAIN and talked golf with Tony the other day. He said that Tiger will win more majors than anyone else and that's why he's the best. So, he's saying Tiger's the best based on something that hasn't happened yet. I told him that following that logic, I could say Sergio will win more majors than anyone so he's the best. It hurts my head to try to understand Tony. He is such a guy.

You Don't See a Story Like This Every Day

Lynn on the boil in China despite embarrassing problem

ENGLAND'S David Lynn holds a one-shot lead after the second round of the Volvo China Open, despite feeling the effects of a painful boil on his groin.
The Stoke player put himself in title contention with a superb five-under-par 67 at the Honghua International Golf Club. At nine under, Lynn is a stroke clear of Portugal's Jose Filipe Lima, Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng and Zimbabwe's Marc Cayeux.
Lynn, 32, who won the KLM Open in 2004, fired nine birdies but also carded two bogeys and a double bogey on the 18th. "I'd rather be leading than chasing. I will try to keep it going tomorrow," said Lynn, who developed a boil from a suspected mosquito bite.
"I saw the doctor on Monday and it got quite bad on Wednesday and Thursday. I couldn't really line up my putts." Lynn has now had the boil removed. "It takes your mind off golf."
Lima added a 69 to his opening 67, Marksaeng matched Lynn's 67 while Cayeux fired a brilliant 65. Champion Paul Casey returned a 68 to move to four off the lead.

First Round Observations

I always liked the Heritage tournament. I remember Hale Irwin, Payne Stewart, and Davis Love always doing well there. Today, Brad Faxon and Paul Azinger did pretty well. Vaughn Taylor did really well with a 63. Nick Faldo didn't do well at all. Camillo Villegas is back this week and Jose Maria Olazabal is still here. This will be a good tournament to watch. I hope I get to see a lot of it. Phoebe keeps me pretty busy with the housebreaking. Don't ask how it's going.

As for the LPGA event, I'm watching a bit of it now. Some really good players are playing this week. Two things I'd like to say about the ladies: 1. It annoys me when they have their caddies line them up on the tee. You don't see Steve Williams lining Tiger up. 2. Why would a woman want to play on the men's tour when it gets hot? She would probably have to wear pants and that is just too uncomfortable in 90 degree heat.

The Drive for Five

I wonder what Tiger Woods thinks of the media creation of this "Drive For Five" Masters wins thing. The Golf Channel keeps saying "his" drive for five, like he created the whole idea or it was his mission. He'll have to wait until next year. I want to know if Tiger had any input on that. Something tells me that Tiger isn't really thinking, "I have to win the fifth one." I think he's thinking, "here's another major and I want as many wins as I can get."

Final Thoughts

Phil won. That's a bit boring. Fred missed putts all day. That's not out of the ordinary either. I remember one other tournament he was in contention for not long ago where he missed a lot of putts. Tiger didn't do a whole lot of anything. Tim and Rocco had rough days but at least Tim finished solo second. One thing I found interesting is that thanks to the rule that the top 16 finishers get invited back next year, Billy Mayfair will be playing next year. I know he had to use exemptions there for a while.

Final Round So Far

Through the 14th hole, Sergio is no longer dead last. Yay for him!

Who of the contenders would I like to see win today? Here's the list. I don't think I could rank them, but Fred would really be my favorite to win:

Fred Couples,
Jose Maria Olazabal
Arron Oberholser
Darren Clarke
Tim Clark
Stephen Ames
Rocco Mediate.

This doesn't mean I wouldn't be happy if someone who isn't on my list wins. But I would be disappointed if Phil, Tiger or Vijay wins. There's too much hype surrounding them. I'm tired of hearing about them.

Early Morning Observations

CBS is trying to give the Jacket to Tim Clark with more than a round to go. It's a little premature to be doing that. Remember what everyone on the Golf Channel has been saying "the tournament begins on the back 9 on Sunday."

12th hole - Tiger Woods on the tee - Bobby Clampett says "a standing ovation for Tiger Woods." I wasn't aware there were bleachers at the 12th hole. Do those people actually have a choice of sitting or standing? Being short, it's been my experience that to see anything when I'm in a crowd, I have to stand up.

A New Blogger

Check out To Golf Like Rocco.

Where's Rocco?

What does CBS have against Rocco Mediate? They've shown him maybe once or twice since he started the third round. They finally showed Rocco's tee shot on the par 3 4th. I think I see their strategy - wait until it gets too dark to see him, then put him on tv. C'mon CBS, he's a handsome man. He won't scare anyone if he's seen in broad daylight.

One of Saturday's Pairings

Vijay and Fred. Could we maybe see a repeat of the Presidents Cup? That could be an interesting pairing to watch.

Second Round

I missed a lot of the round and coverage today. While I did have half a day off from work, I spent it with Mom and Dad and they don't get the golf channel. I did, however, catch a proposal of marriage by Lucas to Carrie on Days of Our Lives and some little kid has a high fever on Passions. Mom and Dad wanted to see Phoebe.

Arron Oberholser is doing pretty well so far. Fred Couples is also doing well. Did Lanny Wadkins say anything nice about anybody? I miss Ken Venturi. Speaking of Ken Venturi, I was watching something about his US Open win on the Golf Channel this week and I wondered why there was never a major movie made about him. His career and his US Open victory is perfect for a feature film. I can even cast it: Matthew McConaughey as Ken Venturi. I'm not a big Matthew fan, but I think he would do well.

Surprising

Brandel Chamblee quoted Shakespeare earlier. I think I'm in love :)

And I like Rocco Mediate. He's pretty good on the Playing Tips from the Pros show and he was pretty good in his post round interview today.

Golf Channel Bias

Kelly Whatshername just said they don't know what to make of Tiger's round after 15 holes. That they would have to be patient and watch it unfold. Why should they treat Tiger so different than Adam Scott, Padraig Harrington, Davis Love, Chris DiMarco??? The Golf Channel folks all said "oh woe is them for their sucky rounds, even though they've only played 4 holes so far." Ok, so that was a paraphrase. But you get the idea. The people working the Masters show today have no problem condemning other golfers' rounds after only 4 holes played but won't characterize Tiger's round when it's 3/4 of the way done. I think the Golf Channel needs to practice patience in greater detail.

Masters Week

I actually get to enjoy some of the Masters Week coverage on the Golf Channel. Thanks to Phoebe, my new puppy, I took most of this week off to start housebreaking her so I can watch the golf channel while I'm home. I find it interesting how the golf channel is reporting on the earliest of first round play. On one hand it's good that players are getting noticed who aren't Tiger Woods, but on the other hand, it's strange to put so much emphasis on the tournament so early. I like it though. I'm glad my computer got fixed before the tournament began so I can surf the net for info.

No, I Haven't Forgotten to Watch Golf

I just haven't been able to post. My modem got fried this weekend and I couldn't get a new one until today. The guy who put the new one in also installed more ram so now my pc is faster too, which is nice. I watched the third round of the PGA event last weekend, saw that Phil Mickelson had a huge lead and then watched the final round of the LPGA event on Sunday. It was a more exciting tournament. I was hoping Michelle Wie would win but she did well.

I've been having a time here at the house with my new puppy. I think I'm too impatient to see the housebreaking work. I've decided to follow the more regimented 7 days schedule to see how well that works. I hope she catches on and gets housebroken. I'd be happy enough with her being trained on puppy pads. The new puppy is a chihuahua and her name is Phoebe. She's a cute thing unless she's chewing the skin off my hands. She has a slight problem with biting. She's crying now to be let out of her crate. I'd better let her out to play for a bit before bed time.

Final Round Thoughts

I was very happy to see Stephen Ames win. After the whole "9 & 8" bruhaha, it was good to see Stephen finish so far ahead of Tiger Woods.

What's with NBC Sports and their not wanting to show Sergio on TV? Sergio was paired with Mike Weir and NBC had no problem showing Mike Weir on TV even though his round wasn't as good as Sergio's. And at the beginning of today's coverage, they pointed out that Vijay was in second place going into the final round, but not a mention of Sergio who was at 8 under with Vijay. It's no wonder Sergio doesn't win the big tournaments. I mean he did everything but shoot an 80 today and he was on camera maybe three times. The media is so fickle.

Camilo Villegas did really well today and all week. At least the media puts him on tv. When are they going to start interviewing him though?

Conflicting News Articles

I read an article earlier that stated Adam Scott had changed his mind and would not get his hair cut, but this article stated he did get an official trim (I'm guessing not just that one snip from the Golf Channel Chick) and he is now officially out of the bet. Reporters need to get the stories right. The linked article also has some quotes from Adam about his third round today.

A Special Thank You

I just checked my counter stats for the blog and apparently I get the most traffic from people looking for news on the Hair Bet. So, here's a big thank you to Adam Scott, Tim Clark and Sergio Garcia for bringing all these new visitors to my blog.

Round 3

Some notes:

1) No more ESPN Carl. Yay!

2) Hold on to your seats, I'm about to throw some support to Tiger Woods. I wholeheartedly applaud him for not letting the Florida hotels dictate his dog-traveling ways. According to NBC's coverage today, Tiger couldn't find a hotel in Florida who would let him bring his dog, so Tiger has to use his big yacht this week. Good for Tiger.

3) Sergio was right there one shot back for the whole first hour of NBC's coverage and they may have shown him twice. What's with that?

4) Adam Scott was supposed to have decided to cut his hair, but then changed his mind. Well, he shot an 82 in the third round, and it's been reported that whoever in the hair bet shoots an 80 has to get his head shaved. Wonder if that will happen? Wonder if Sergio was thinking a little about that as he played today.

5) Ian Poulter's thrashing of the rough. I haven't seen him have an outburst. That was new. At least he didn't cuss on camera like Tiger did.

6) Arron Oberholzer - it's good that he was playing well for most of the round. I think if he had held it together and not screwed up 17 and 18, then tomorrow he would have shot an 80 since you hardly ever see two really good rounds back to back. His little ricochet putt was pretty cool to watch.

7) The golf course is one of the toughest and one that creates some of the best competitive golf on tour and it's only about 7100 yards. Proof that this new trend of lengthening courses isn't necessary. Vijay said in a press conference that a person wouldn't necessarily even need to hit a driver on this course.

I was watching Bob Costas interview Sergio and I thought of a couple of questions I would have liked to ask him:
1. How many different outfits does he have to choose from?

2. Is it weird for him to see himself playing golf on tv and can he immediately tell what shot and what hole it is or does he have to look at the trees and stuff. (It seems to me it would be hard to tell what hole it is if all you see is him in the middle of a fairway.)

The Players: Round 2

Davis Love missed the cut after leading the field at the end of round 1. I think the Golf Channel is making more of that than there is. The Golf Channel said a little bit ago that Sergio Garcia was leading this week in putting????? Wow! I wonder if they have their stats right. If they do then this is great news for Sergio. As to Kelly whats-her-name on the Golf Channel complaining about the hair bet. Until she gets a buzz cut she needs to leave them alone. Sergio is looking really handsome these days. Maybe that's why I didn't notice his putting....

The Players Championship

They are having some pre-tournament coverage on the Golf channel right now. The most interesting part so far is the news that Chris DiMarco isn't playing this week. The rest of it has been the usual, what's it take to win - blah, blah, blah stuff.

Final Round

Just some thoughts:
1. I didn't think Rod Pampling would pull it off. But he did. Good for him.
2. I feel really bad for Greg Owen. But he did make over $500,000.
3. For Darren Clarke to be right there at the end despite all that's going on in his personal life, it makes you realize just how much talent he has.
4. Was today designated 'Blue Shirt Day' or something. Everyone seemed to be wearing blue out there.

Having Some Fun

The third round of the Bay Hill tournament was pretty fun to watch today. My favorite moment was when Sergio Garcia went wading in some water to hit his next shot. None of that sissy-boy two club lengths and take a drop stuff for him. No sir, he played the ball where it was laying. That's what I like to see in golf.

Hair Today....

Well, according to Sergio Garcia, he is still an active participant in the hair bet. I've been watching him a little bit this evening on the round two coverage and his hair does look longer than what I remember.

New Blog

I've added a new blog to the side bar. Check out One Day One Shot. I just hope this blogger hasn't been one of those photographers who've been yelled at by the golfers and caddies for making noise.

Luke Donald Wins

It came down to Geoff Ogilvy and Luke Donald there at the end of the tournament. Between the two, I was hoping Luke Donald would win. Ogilvy has already won once this year. Time for someone else to win. Johnny Miller said there at the end that Luke Donald was single. I thought I read in Golf Magazine that Donald has a long-time girlfriend. I'm going with the Golf Magazine article. Maybe Miller is just one of those people who think someone is still single until the marriage license is signed and recorded on the books. And there seemed to be a Paul Azinger lovefest going on this weekend with regard to the announce team.

Now that I've had a couple weeks to listen to the NBC coverage, I have a few comments. They also talk about Tiger Woods way too much, even when Tiger isn't playing in the tournament. But they don't try to create the story or the tourament through their coverage like some others I've commented on in the past. Since I have expressed my opinion of Lanny Wadkins, Paul Azinger and Nick Faldo, and even Frank Nobilo over on the Golf Channel, I guess I need to express an opinion on Johnny Miller now. OK, here it is: he seems to be the one commentator who genuinely loves golf and is still excited about the game (Nobilo is a close second). He has such energy in his voice when he describes the action that even if he makes some biting comments about some players, you can't fault him too much because you can tell that if he could get out there and play every week, he would and he'd have no problem kicking some players' butts. I think some commentators try to be as critical as Miller but can't pull it off as successfully because they don't have Miller's love for the game coming through in the rest of their commentary.

3rd Round

Luke Donald, David Toms, Billy Mayfair, Jeff Gove, and Geoff Ogilvy are all in contention. Paul Azinger has done well so far this week.

I read on the internet last week after that tournament a comment written by someone who was critical of Johnny Miller and NBC for Miller doing Ford commercials and commentating at the Ford Tournament. Well, today Miller talked just as much about Hondas as he did last week about Fords. I don't see a problem there. Everyone does commercials these days. You can't just pick on Johnny Miller.

Nice Quote from Last Week's Tournament

Courtesy of Golf Digest:

As usual, (Johnny) Miller spoke his mind with just a little prodding from partner Dan Hicks. When Hicks asked him about Woods leading despite missing so many fairways, he said Woods was "lucky," and added, "The gallery sure gets to see him up close." …

I read tonight on the internet that Tiger is skipping this next golf tournament. A thought has come to me after reading this. Apparently, the only way for Tiger to approach Annika's record of winning half the tournaments she enters is for him to win one then skip one. I guess anyone could get 50% of anything when you reduce the total number counted. I'll have to take a look at those who are actually playing in the tournament to see who might stand a good chance of winning. I saw that several top level players are skipping this next tournament. Maybe they just don't like Hondas?

Ford Championship: 3rd Round

Well, I guess by the time tomorrow's NBC coverage begins, there will be one heck of a human interest story ready to go on Daniel Chopra. He's in the final group with Tiger. Or else, everyone else will be forgotten, no matter how well they are playing, and the media will still be trying to make the event all about Tiger and Phil. There are several good players in contention going into the final round. I haven't had much of an opportunity to watch NBC golf coverage since I started watching golf again, so I can't say for sure how they will cover tomorrow's play. I hope the coverage will be equally divided among all those with a chance to win.

Despite the double bogey on the last hole, Camillo Villegas had a good round today and is in a good position going into Sunday. Daniel Chopra quietly went about his business and posted a score that would be good enough to get him into the final group. They should do a human interest story on him - I don't think anyone really knows a lot about him. I haven't heard much of anything about him since I started this blog last year. Rich Beem and Dean Wilson may be a factor tomorrow, and David Toms is right there again.

Golf Central

Tiger-Phil Duel. Tiger vs Phil. Tiger and Phil Part II.

What's that? Scott Verplank and Camillo Villegas also are tied for the lead at 13 under? That doesn't fit with the story the media is trying to manufacture. So, these guys don't count.

Doral

Missed the first round. Saw on pgatour.com that Tiger had an 8 under round today. Ho-hum. Boring.

Golf Central

Some guy just introduced Mike Hulbert as the 'former 3 time winner' on the pga tour. Does this mean Hulbert is no longer a winner? Did they take his trophies away? People, especially those who make their living with words, should really think before they speak.

Geoff Ogilvy Wins

For all the Ryder Cup talk that went on during this event, the winner is a man who won't even get to play in the Ryder Cup. Maybe he'll make the Presidents Cup team next year.

They really need to stop talking about the WGC as a world wide competition. Next year, they become just any other event on tour because America has to be selfish and hog all the action.

The Golf Channel needs to offer Nick Faldo and Paul Azinger their own show once their ABC contracts are up. I have a feeling they could be a lot more entertaining than Peter Jacobson and whatshisname.

The Olympics are Over

Now I can get back to golf. I watched the semifinals yesterday for the matchplay thing. I thought Davis Love and Geoff Ogilvy would advance to the finals. But between the two of them, I don't know who will win. Davis obviously loves matchplay, but Ogilvy is younger and you would think in better shape. But, Ogilvy has gone to extra holes in all but one of his matches this week, while Davis has managed to finish most of his matches early. I think it will be a good 36 hole final.

SBS Fields Open: I'm glad Michelle Wie finished well, and ahead of Morgan Pressel after the comments Pressel has made about Wie. I can't wait to see what the rankings and money list will look like now. I wonder if Wie had won the tournament, would the LPGA let her play full time then?

Off Topic: I now have the Tennis Channel on my satellite dish. I didn't know there was a Tennis Channel. I may have to watch that a bit more to see what it's like. I watched a little of it this morning waiting for the paid programming to end on the Golf Channel.

Nissan Open

Sabbatini won. Adam Scott and Craig Barlow did really well. Fred Couples did well for about three and a half rounds. The biggest news coming from the Nissan Open is that allegedly Adam Scott and Tim Clark kicked Sergio Garcia out of the hair bet because it was suspected that he was getting a trim here and there. A while back I commented that it looked like Sergio's hair wasn't growing as fast as the other two's. So, maybe he was getting his hair cut. Anyway, I think he should keep his hair at least a little long. Scott and Clark should cut theirs immediately. At least we know their hair is a result of a bet and not just back fashion sense :)

Nissan Open

Way to go Fred Couples! It's shaping up to be a good final round tomorrow. And I sure am going to miss the ABC announce crew next year. One thing concerns me though. Apparently all the players are getting sick. I hope they didn't pick up that deadly bird flu when they were overseas. And was it really the flu that sent Tiger packing, or was it the idea of seeing J. B. Holmes outdrive him the whole day since they were paired up for the third round? Heeheehee...

There's Golf on This Week?

I've been watching the Olympics all week and haven't watched any of the Golf Channel until tonight. I saw a little of the LPGA event. Checking out the scores running across the bottom of the tv screen, I saw that Justin Rose had a good round at the Nissan Open. I hope that continues. And I've noticed that Rory Sabbatini's name keeps popping up at these tournaments - he's been having a pretty good run.

I wonder if I lived in California, if I would think WV would be as beautiful as the pictures on this website: Central Coast Golf & Wine Concierge

Luck or Foresight??

As you might have noticed, Arron Oberholser has been featured in the Spotlight section of the sidebar for a couple of months now. And today he wins the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Did I have some incredible foresight in picking him for the spotlight, or was it just blind luck?

I'm going with blind luck. If I can't even get one number on the lottery, then I have no chance of actually predicting a winner of a golf tournament. But I'm happy that Arron has won such a high-profile tournament. When I watched him during the Tommy Bahama Challenge coverage, I thought he was a nice, personable guy who deserved some good fortune.

It's just too bad I didn't get a chance to watch his play. But it is Olympics time. Although today, it was a bit boring. I actually took about a 20 minute nap today.

New Footjoy Commercial

I just saw a Footjoy commercial allegedly with the sign guy and Ernie Els in a sauna/steam room. We could only see their legs and feet, and the footjoys of course. Personally, if they are going to show half naked men in a commercial, I think they should pick guys like Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Camillo Villegas, older guys like Faldo and Couples.

This leads me to a question I've had for a while: Why isn't there a 16 month calendar of golfers out there to buy? There are all kinds of 16 month calendars of golf courses, but courses would just be well manicured dog parks if it wasn't for the players who play them. Personally, I would prefer the golfers clothed if they were featured in a calendar, but they should have calendars available for purchase at Walmart and the like. If I can buy a whole 16 months of Orlando Bloom, I should be able to get 16 months of Fred Couples, Davis Love etc.

Slacker

Okay, so I haven't been watching golf much this week. I watched a little of the European Tour event this morning and saw Kevin Stadler take a two shot lead heading into the final round. And I saw some highlights from the Pebble Beach thing. I have a feeling the Australian event is probably better golf. With the Olympics on tv for the next couple of weeks I don't know if I'll be watching much golf. The Olympics is the only time you'll ever catch me watching things like luge and curling. But then, we are getting snow right now here in WV so, I might ditch the winter events and opt for nice sunny Australia tomorrow morning on the Golf Channel.

A Blurb About the Hair Bet And......

Some info on Robert Allenby

Not Golf Related

I had the tv on the Superbowl for a second and I heard one of the announcers say "What do you think they were looking at that they made him take his pants off?" That sounds pretty provocative for football. I'm glad they have a 5 second broadcast delay in place.

Tiger Can't Turn His Back For a Second

Tiger leaves the country for a week and Jim Nantz and crew give his Greatest Golfer in All the World title to J.B. Holmes. My favorite part was when Jim Nantz said something to the effect of "I don't want to get too swept away by all the hyperbole..." This was after they had already said they hadn't seen anything like J. B. Holmes since Tiger's debut in 1996. Give me a break! They saw spectacular things last year from Sean O'Hair and Jason Gore. There are spectacular events every year in whatever sport you watch. I think it's a little premature to try to equate what Tiger's done in the last 10 years with what J. B. Holmes' future could be. And this from a Non-Tiger fan. J. B Holmes did have a spectacular tournament and I could very easily become a big fan of his. He's a good ole boy type like the guys here at home. But after watching O'Hair and Gore struggle this year after having great years last year, I'm going to wait and see what happens this year.

Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes

No, I'm not singing the George Jones classic song. Yesterday during the 3rd round coverage of the FBR Open, Lanny Wadkins and Jim Nantz were lamenting that there were so few young players out there to take the place of the aging players (you know, like David Toms who's already won this year). Well, here's a quick list of some that I found who are under 30 or who are turning 30 this year:

Rory Sabbatini
Lucas Glover
Vaughn Taylor
Bubba Watson
Carl Petterson
J.B. Holmes
Geoff Ogilvy
Justin Rose
Sergio Garcia
Sean O'Hair
Adam Scott

Oh what are we to do with no young players on the tour??? Someone needs to tell Fred Funk that he can't win any more tournaments because he's too old. And let's talk about Olin Browne who won last year in the tournament that Tiger sucked at. And Mark Calcavecchia also won last year and he's no spring chicken.

FBR Round 2

JJ Henry shot a 61 today. Unfortunately, most of the time when someone shoots a really low score, the next day's round sucks. Hopefully, it won't happen to him. J.B Holmes is again doing really well. It's great to see the new guys do so well. Lucas Glover isn't brand new, but he isn't a veteran yet and I like him. I wish they would interview him more - he has a great voice. Arron Oberholser, Justin Rose made the cut and it looks like Nathan Green and Paul Azinger may also make the cut - they are still on the course as I'm writing this. Unfortunately, it looks like Jason Gore may miss the cut. He has had a really bad year so far. Maybe he shouldn't have had such a good one last year. It made the expectations all that much higher and the disappointment that much greater.

Again, I didn't get to see much of it today on tv. I did tape the whole 2 hours and with luck I'll be able to watch it tomorrow. I attempted to tape the CBS Late Nite show last night but got the pm and am thing mixed up.

FBR Open

I missed pretty much the first hour of USA's coverage but what I did see was decent. They showed several different players: James Driscoll, Joe Ogilvie, Mark Calcavecchia, J.B. Holmes, Davis Love, Jonathan Byrd, Sergio Garcia, John Daly, D.J. Trajan, Steve Flesch and Bubba Watson to name just a few. Apparently Jim Gallagher and the second string announce team aren't as concerned about manufacturing a feel-good story of the tournament as the weekend announce team seems to be.

More on the Hair Bet

Now I know why Sergio Garcia was so frustrated this past Sunday. Something about shooting 80....

Bad Choices

So, I had the choice of watching Tiger replays on the Golf channel or watching something else until the Turtle Bay coverage began. So, I chose the Grand Ole Opry on GAC. Bad choice. Wynonna was singing. And not all that well when she tried to reach the high notes. Ugh. She's singing again (and butchering one of Elvis's favorite gospel songs). Gotta go grab that remote. Hopefully Frank Nobilo is on soon.

Final Thoughts on the Invitational

CBS needs to work more on keeping the viewers informed. For about an hour and a half of the three hours of regulation play coverage, they forgot Sergio Garcia was even there. It's not like he fell back to 3 under or anything. He still had a chance all the way to the 18th, not that you would know it because CBS completely ignored him until there was no one else on the course to cover. I had to go online to get the scores because most of the time CBS would only show the first page of the leaderboard. They showed other golfers at 8 under, but not Sergio. It would be fitting if one day Dan Hicks turned to Jim Nantz and said "Sorry, Jim. I forgot you were there." These announcers need to concentrate more on reporting the news they have instead of trying to manufacture more sensational news that would bring them more advertising dollars.

Qatar Masters

Henrick Stenson won after getting second last week. Good for him. What really struck me was this guy Richard Finch. He reminds me of the blonde villain in the James Bond movie, From Russia With Love. The name of the actor is Robert Shaw.

A New Blog

I have added Royal Green to the Blogs of Note section. Check it out.

3rd Round of the Buick Invitational

Sergio's making putts. I hope this continues. Rod Pampling also shares the lead. And Nathan Green is doing great.

A comment on the announcing - even before Sergio made it to 11 under, the announcers were already stating that Sergio, Tiger and Nathan Green would be in the final group. They were totally ignoring Rod Pampling who was still in contention. They continued to ignore him until around his second or third shot on the 18th. This blatant hyping of the event to the point of darn near lying is very unethical, I don't care how much money CBS makes by doing this. It's very hard to have respect for the announce team when they are pandering this much to the almighty dollar. If I wasn't already rooting for Sergio Garcia, I would be in Rod Pampling's corner tomorrow to show him some of the respect the announce team didn't show him today. Of course, Sergio will probably have a bad round tomorrow, so I might be rooting for Pampling anyway.

An Observation

Since the new season began, I have spent most of my time watching the Golf Channel. Last week, I didn't pay much attention to ABC's coverage of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic because watching celebrities play golf (even when they are called the sexiest man alive) just doesn't interest me. But today, I was hit with an observation that I just have to comment on. CBS's coverage seems to be heavy on aerial shots and slow mo video of Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods and very light on actual golf. It seems as though they show other crap while they are waiting on Tiger and Phil to get in position for their next shot. Here's an idea - there are about 70 other players out there, why not show some of them while Phil and Tiger are walking around or going potty. The Golf Channel appears to be doing a better job of showing the golf. When I can't tell that Hale Irwin's playing in Hawaii, then you know they are covering golf and not extra crap. And the European Tour coverage is lightning fast. If CBS insists on showing this extraneous video, then next year when the new contracts take effect, they can start their coverage a half hour early and show all this other stuff then.

Buick Invitational

I saw a quick interview with Tim Clark tonight on Golf Central. His voice does not match his current look. That long hair is very deceptive :)

It was good to see Sergio make that long putt on 17 today. And Brandt Jobe is doing really well. And he has a pretty cool name too.

I only got to see about an hour of golf today - part of the Buick event. I guess the big news, which was big news to me, was the John Daly thing about his wife. With all that going on in his life, he still had a better round than Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, both of whom took extra time off in the 'off season' and should be well rested and ready to go. It just goes to show you what kind of talent Daly has and how strong he is to withstand the turmoil in his personal life. I do have to wonder about the Daly Planet show though in light of what's happened this week.

A Lot of Good Golf This Week

There are a lot of good players in the Buick Invitational field and the Qatar Masters, the Turtle Bay Championship, and the Panama Championship are also going on. There are definitely not enough hours in the day to work 8 hours and watch all this golf. This work thing is highly overrated.

An Announcer I Like (So Far...)

Frank Nobilo. He seems knowledgeable and very happy to be there. Of course, who wouldn't be happy to be in Hawaii?

Abu Dhabi

What did I find most interesting? The remarks the announcers made about Sergio Garcia's wardrobe. One of them commented that his outfit the other day made him look like a jockey and that because of this comment, Sergio may not wear the outfit again. I would just like to say that I felt the shirt in particular highlighted his athletic physique and I would be happy to see him wear it again :)

Abu Dhabi

I watched the third round this morning and was surprised to see Chris DiMarco right up there at the top of the leaderboard. I really didn't think he'd do that well. I didn't think he'd do poorly either. But it's good to see him up there.

Abu Dhabi and Bob Hope

I haven't gotten to see much of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. I don't know why USA is sucking up to Phil Mickelson so much, but then it's their last year of covering golf so they probably don't care. Someone, either USA or the Golf Channel, kept saying that Chris DiMarco was playing in the Chrysler Classic. He must be really good to be in California AND Abu Dhabi. And one more comment about Phil. He said in an interview yesterday that he had to really fight with himself to keep himself off the course these last few weeks of his break. Too bad he fought so hard to NOT play in the Mercedes Championships.

Abu Dhabi - I taped the first round coverage and I'm watching it now. For me, I find that I really have to watch the European tour coverage closely because the announcers will say something important in their soft, polite voices and I miss it. And that yellow tour logo that sweeps across the screen - it reminds me of a banana. I look forward to seeing more of the tournament and hopefully, they will show some of the sights of the area. So, a lot of players are doing well in this tournament so far. It looks to be a good one. Vijay Singh should get special world ranking points to be that close to the lead after traveling all the way from Hawaii to play this week. And Sergio's hair looks pretty well groomed as compared to his Mercedes Championships look. Makes me wonder what the status of the hair bet is.

Sony Open

I think I counted about 15 or more players who scored worse that Michelle Wie this week. So, I'm glad she didn't miss the cut with the highest score. Playing the men's events will teach her in ways that playing the women's events won't. Michelle has to be 10 times better to play with the men because of the media exposure. So, she is learning very quickly about pressure and how to deal with it. I just don't see her doing well in any event while her time is divided up between so many different activities - school, press conferences, practice, training, playing and generally being a teenager. I think when summer comes, she'll improve.

The Hair Bet

Adam Scott's hair is really getting unruly. The punishment for losing the bet must be really horrible for Adam to put up with his hair like it is.

Michael Campbell Has a Website

Check it out here!

Well, I'm Glad I Now Have the Golf Channel

Hopefully, I will be able to keep it next year when I will need it.

PGA Tour for 2007 goes to two networks

DOUG FERGUSON

Associated Press

HONOLULU - The PGA Tour will be found on only two of the three major networks starting in 2007 under six-year deals announced Wednesday with CBS Sports and NBC Sports, with the first two rounds of every tournament and selected other events relegated to The Golf Channel.

The deal culminates a massive shake-up on the PGA Tour, which began last year when commissioner Tim Finchem unveiled a new schedule that will include a season-long points race that leads to a playoff system of three blockbluster events and the Tour Championship.

......................................... click here for the rest of the article ......................................

A Pretty Good Article

/noticias.info/ By Dave Shedloski
PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent

HONOLULU -- Think of the PGA TOUR as a movable feast for its members. They have 48 tournaments to choose from, a veritable smorgasbord of golf played in a variety of beautiful or exciting locales and on storied or enthralling golf courses. And the kicker is that $255 million will be disseminated along their journey.

Of course, no one can play every week, though some have tried -- and on the Champions Tour, Dana Quigley was renowned for his unyielding consistency. As independent contractors, players have the right to select where they play and how much, though a minimum of 15 starts is required to retain their cards.

How they fashion their schedules is a crucial component in their careers. Many players, including perennial contenders like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els, build their slates around the four major championships: the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. Others adhere to segments of the calendar or juggle dual memberships on the PGA TOUR and an international entity like the European Tour. Some favor particular areas of the country or even particular strains of grass. Some just listen to their internal clocks.

.......................... click here for the rest of the article ..............................

Sony Open

More Hawaii! I don't know if that's a good thing or if they are just torturing me.

Vijay is defending champion but Michelle Wie is grabbing all the headlines. And David Duval is supposed to play this week. I really hope he does well. It's a shame for me to come back to golf after all that time away to find him gone. Adam Scott will be playing so we can see how far along he is with the hair bet. I think Sergio should keep his new look. It's quite fetching.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Sergio Garcia.

Final thoughts on the Mercedes Championships

1) Carl on ESPN is annoying. I can't stand announcers who don't get things right. Along the same lines, that interviewer during the Appleby interview will never live down getting the "56 holes without a bogey" question wrong. Obviously, that interviewer had not been watching the tournament, or he knows very little about golf.

2) Lucas Glover wins a car! Yay for him! I think they should interview him a lot. He has a great accent.

3) Jim Furyk is going to be big this year. I think the new commercial he does for the Srixon ball is going to give him a lot of confidence that he's now one of the 'big boys' in golf. And I got tired of hearing all the announcers say that he had a home field advantage. He admitted he has maybe played 5 rounds at the Plantation course that weren't tournament rounds. I imagine if he's in Hawaii, he's got other plans than to play golf.

4) It's good that several of the players at the Mercedes championships will be playing in the Sony Open. I look forward to seeing them again. Hopefully, Jason Gore and Sean O'Hair will do better. If Brad Faxon is playing, hopefully he will improve too.

5) Vaughn Taylor was a quiet one this week. It's a shame no one spent any real time talking about him considering how well he played.

New Blog

I added a new blog to the side bar. Check out Travelling Golfer.

The Mercedes Championships

The Golf Channel is ruining me. I never get on here an post anything now that I'm watching it all the time. Oh well, let's see what I think so far about the tournament.

Sergio Garcia is doing very well in this tournament. Hopefully he won't have any bad rounds today or tomorrow.

My favorites, Jason Gore and Brad Faxon, have fallen prey to my jinxing ability.

Even with all that wind, I would still rather be there than here. Here it's barely 40 degrees and we had snow flurries this morning.

So, did Tiger skip the tournament because his father isn't feeling well, or because he wanted more of an off season??? One of the announcers said Tiger's dad wasn't feeling well, but he also made excuses for the others who skipped (Retief, Phil, and Padraig) so I can't be sure if that was an excuse or if I should actually have a little feeling for Tiger this week.

Reportedly, Mark Calcavecchia text messaged Tiger and said something like "thanks for skipping this one, more money for me." At least that's what the announcers said. My question is this: How does one get Tiger's cell number to text message him? You would think with him being the most famous golfer currently out there, that would be a closely guarded secret. But players have his number? If this had been baseball, football, or basketball, every tabloid in the world would have Tiger's number by now. More proof of why golf is the best sport in the world.

On the Eve of Round 1

Just a few thoughts on what I've seen and heard so far, thanks to the wonderful Golf Channel:

Stop talking about who's not playing this week. It's going to be a great tournament without them. I don't know why people think that golf is dead without the precious top 3 or 4 in the field. You can't beat Sean O'Hair, Jason Gore, Brad Faxon for human interest stories and excitement, and Vijay and Stuart Appleby for expected competitiveness. I think the media is deliberately doing this as a way to try to control some money issues behind the scenes - talking up the importance of the lack of a 'good' field to maybe reduce the price of tv contracts or something. And then to get someone like Phil Mickelson to make comments like he did in that Mark Rolfing interview only supports the media's position. It can be quite Machiavellian if you're in to conspiracy theories.

As for Mickelson's notion that to fix the tour they should force players to play x number of tournaments a year or lose their playing privileges - I love to repeat that I don't play golf and therefore am not knowledgeable enough to have any really good opinions on some of these things, but I do have to wonder what an idea like this would do to the international players. Those guys may not want to commit that much time to the American tour if they make their homes in other countries. If that's the case, then we could actually end up with the best international players not playing in America at all, which would totally suck. Maybe that's Mickelson's intention, to lessen the competition and make it easier for him to win tournaments out there. Who knows. But I would rather see Retief Goosen a few times a year here in America than none at all. And I liked how Mickelson told Rolfing that he thought that people should step up and run the tour like a business and if it was in the best interest of the tour he would have no problem doing what he was told and play certain tournaments. Sure, he's all for the best interest of the tour, but not until he's forced to be. Until then, he'll skip tournaments when he wants and the tour can get by on its own I guess.

As I've said in the past, I'm not a Tiger Woods fan. But, you all will be pleased to read that I've nearly come to the conclusion that if I had to choose between Mickelson or Woods, I'd almost have to pick Woods at this point. However, I think that's just because Tiger knows when to keep his mouth shut.

And all the Golf Channel analysts are predicting that Sergio Garcia will win a major this year. I sure hope they don't jinx him. I would love to see him win, but I don't know if his putting will let him. Hopefully, he's worked on it and will kick butt this year. They had one prediction that a certain golfer would reach the top 3 in the world rankings - I won't name the golfer because every time I mention him, I jinx him, but I hope he does climb up in the world rankings.

Tommy Bahama Challenge

I finally got to see this today. It was taped quite a while ago. It was thoroughly enjoyable. Until the local news woman interrupted to tell me that nothing had changed and those 13 miners were still trapped in a mine in Upshur county. It's great that they broke into the programming for no reason. That woman must have an inflated opinion of herself. Anyway, it was good to get to know the players better.

Good Story

Clark brings smile to a child
Dan Nicholl at Arabella
Sun, 27 Nov 2005

The Nelson Mandela Invitational finished on a perfect note at Arabella on Sunday, with Tim Clark's victory allowing the South African star to make good on his pledge to give his winnings to a hearing-impaired girl in Cape Town in need of a cochlear transplant.

Clark and professional partner Vincent Tshabalala won the betterball competition, a combined two-day total of 17-under-par giving them a four shot victory over Gary Player and Trevor Immelman. And with R250 000 to share between them, Clark's money will enable Siobhan, a young girl he met earlier in the week during a visit to the Carel Du Toit School For The Hearing Impaired, to get the operation she needs to enable her to hear. And with the golf serving as a vehicle for charity, Clark's gesture was an appropriate touch, as was the victory in the fourball alliance for Player's team, with the event host having celebrated his 70th birthday in November, and marking it with a birthday party on Saturday night. The real celebration came on Sunday, however, as Player, Immelman, Coca Cola South Africa Division Executive Director Alex Maditsi and former American football star Ahmad Rashad combining superbly, a 27-under-par total putting them four shots clear of Lee Westwood, Simon Hobday, singer Ronan Keating and Coca Cola Africa Division President David Lyons. Dressed in matching orange shirts and beige trousers, Player and Immelman had a large gallery following them, and the Black Knight was delighted with the outcome. "It's the first time I've won," he said afterwards, and paid tribute to his team members, who were equally enamoured with the win. "I've won a lot of trophies, but this one is going to the top of the pile, even topping the Superbowl," Rashad said after picking up a win on debut. Playing off a five handicap, the genial American struck the ball cleanly and putted well, providing perfect back-up to the professionals. Clark's victory will be a perfect warm-up for the Nedbank Golf Challenge next, where he will be joined by Retief Goosen, who looked slightly below par at Arabella, conceding that he wasn't entirely happy with his swing. No such problems for Clark, however, and while the return of Ernie Els will be the big story at Sun City, the quiet South African could be a good outside bet on his current form; if he does pull off another win, the loudest cheer will come from a little girl in Cape Town — and soon enough, she'll be able to hear those cheers, one of the many children to benefit from a weekend of golfing charity par excellence.

Preliminary Thoughts on the Mercedes Championships

First, I'd like to say that the writer of the article in the previous post had some really good points about Woods' and Mickelson's 'reasons' for not playing in certain events. Second, I can't wait to see the players who will be playing in this tournament. They are all exciting and I'm especially looking forward to seeing the first time winners play. I hope Brad Faxon does well. I think he had some surgery late in the year last year. Here's a list of everyone I'll be watching: Jason Gore, Brad Faxon, Sergio Garcia, Lucas Glover and Sean O'Hair.

Here's the complete list as PGA Tour's website had it at post time:

Stuart Appleby	Jason Bohn	Olin Browne
Bart Bryant	Mark Calcavecchia	Michael Campbell
K.J. Choi	Ben Crane	Brad Faxon
Fred Funk	Jim Furyk	Robert Gamez
Sergio Garcia	Lucas Glover	Jason Gore
Justin Leonard	Peter Lonard	Sean O'Hair
Geoff Ogilvy	Kenny Perry	Tim Petrovic
Carl Pettersson	Ted Purdy	Wes Short, Jr.
Vijay Singh	Heath Slocum	Vaughn Taylor
David Toms

With this list of top players, I doubt I'll find a second to think of Mickelson or Woods this week.

Mercedes Championship

Mercedes deserves full field
By Rob Collias, Sports Writer

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson don’t realize what they’re missing.

The winners-only, $5.4 million Mercedes Championships will kick off the PGA Tour schedule this week at a revamped Kapalua Plantation Course without Woods, Mickelson and five other golfers ranked in the world top 10.

Organizers of the eighth Mercedes played at Kapalua certainly lament the fact that No. 2 Vijay Singh, No. 6 Sergio Garcia and No. 7 Jim Furyk will be the only members of the current top 10 in the 28-man field, but the intrigue is still there for the biggest tournament this side of The Players Championship, the Tour Championship and the majors.

Woods said he needed time off after a grueling 2005 that included several stops on the unofficial silly season that starts after the Tour Championship in November.

Mickelson is skipping this event for the fifth consecutive time, seemingly because he doesn’t play well on the 7,263-yard Plantation Course. He came three weeks early in 2001 to get a feel for the course and still finished tied for 28th, 16 strokes behind Furyk’s winning effort.

No. 5 Ernie Els gets an excused absence because he was injured for most of 2005 and didn’t get the PGA win required for attendance.

Ditto for No. 8 Adam Scott, who won the Nissan Open, which did not count as an official title because rain shortened the tournament to 36 holes.

Nos. 9 and 10, Colin Montgomerie and Chris DiMarco, both came close, but did not win an event, either.

No. 4 Retief Goosen and No. 17 Padraig Harrington are both skipping the Mercedes, electing not to make the trip from South Africa and Ireland, respectively.

All of that is understandable, but Woods and Mickelson are head-scratchers.

Woods said he expects to start his season on Jan. 26 at the Buick Invitational. Is it a coincidence that Woods is sponsored by Buick and will not be driving in the Mercedes? Probably, considering he has been at six of the previous seven events on Maui, missing only the 2003 tournament due to offseason knee surgery.

Excuses are in the eye of the beholder, but Woods’ explanation that he needs time off to recover

is the bothersome part of all this. He finished in a tie for 14th in a 16-man field three weeks ago at the Target World Challenge, which he hosts annually in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

“I haven’t had an offseason,’’ Woods told The Associated Press when he announced he would not be at Kapalua. “And I need one.’’

No doubt, golfers need an offseason, but why not take it during, you know, the offseason?

Not that Woods, who turned 30 on Friday, or Mickelson need more exposure, but this event gets more coverage on The Golf Channel and ESPN than any except the “big six’’ mentioned above. TV coverage is a comment on the prestige of the event.

The absence of Tiger and Lefty will instead leave that much more attention for other players.

Bart Bryant, Jason Gore and Tim Petrovic, who all have Tin Cup stories, are in the field

For Michael Campbell – the U.S. Open winner from New Zealand – the Mercedes will be one of only two PGA events on his schedule outside of the Players, World Golf Championships and majors. Two-time defending champion Stuart Appleby of Australia will be back, too.

Next year could be a different story, even for as reluctant a tourist as Mickelson.

The Tour took a page from the Nextel Cup and will use a season-long points system next year, with a 10-tournament chase for player of the year honors to end the season. Part of the reason for the change is to avoid players skipping out on events.

Mickelson, for example, took a pass on the Tour Championship because he wanted to spend Halloween with his family.

By the way, Halloween was the Monday before the Tour Championship started. Maybe those Lear jets just don’t fly as fast as they used to.

Will a system that has done well in the down-home atmosphere of NASCAR work in the stodgy, upper-crust golf world? That definitely remains to be seen.

The Tour has always had season-long races, however – on the money list, for berths in the Tour Championship and for the scoring title.

The Mercedes shouldn’t need to offer any extra incentive.

It always offers a stacked field, and now the Plantation Course has a new look after a $1 million, four-month renovation that included the replacement of all 18 greens.

Bryant, who won two events last year – bringing his career total to three – put it best.

“You know, everybody is real excited, all the players, other than maybe two of them,’’ he said.

This event is hardly dependent on Woods and Mickelson – in 2003, Els put on a show for the ages when he finished a PGA Tour-record 31 strokes under par. The breathtaking scenery with whales breaching in the Pacific is enough for a lot of snow-bound Mainlanders to watch.

Woods and Mickelson each played in 21 official events in 2005, including an epic duel at the Ford Championship in February. Whether they are tired, or don’t like the course or the model of car sponsoring an event should not be an excuse. Barring injury, this is a tournament that should be on their docket.

Robert Collias can be reached at rcollias@mauinews.com

Tiger Week hasn't been so bad on the Golf Channel this week. I did get to see Sergio Garcia win the Omega European Masters Saturday morning. And I've been watching the Golf Academy show today. Right now Jason Gore is on there. I like Jason Gore, he's so friendly and happy all the time. I have noticed that this Golf Academy show does happen to be half infomercial when people have dvds and books to sell. One thing's for sure - I'm going to be the most knowledgeable non-golfer out there after watching all this how-to stuff.