This Should Have Been On the Golf Channel

Over in Spain, at Sergio's home course, there was a golf competition that included members of the four main tours over there - the European PGA Tour, the European Seniors Tour, the Challenge Tour and Peugot-Loewe National Tour. Some of the participants were: Sergio, Jose Maria Olazabal, Alvaro Quiros, Jose Manuel Lara, Pablo Larrazabal, Alejandro Canizares, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Ignacio Garrido, Sergio's father, Jose Maria Canizares, Jose Rivero, Antonio Garrido, Carlos Rodiles, Santiago Luna among other great players.

You can click HERE to read a review of the event.

From O'Hern's lips to Tournament Organizers Ears

Nick O'Hern spoke out after the Australian tournaments and stated that one of the biggest problems with gallery behavior is alcohol. I wholeheartedly agree. When I go to the Bridgestone Invitational and see all of those people drinking, it just makes me wonder at how much they usually drink if what they consume at the tournament doesn't make them falling down drunk. I'm glad someone is speaking out on this issue and I hope he doesn't suffer from any kind of backlash because of it. You can read an article about O'Hern's comments by clicking HERE.

Hats?

If anyone knows the story behind Brad Faxon's and Scott McCarron's chef hats at the Shootout today, please post it with a comment. I did a google search on it a few hours ago and didn't find anything.

It was good of Chris DiMarco to finish playing today even though his partner, Fred Funk, had to withdraw due to knee problems. Ian Baker-Finch stepped in for Funk. I'm sure DiMarco was trying to work on his game, but it was good for the fans to see him finish up and good for the charities involved. FYI - I made my prediction about Fred Funk before finding out that he has a bad knee. Even with a good knee, I don't think he'd be a factor on the Champions Tour in 2009. Shall I offer up a replacement for my prediction? How about Loren Roberts?

A scolding to the networks for airing both the Wendy's Three Tour Challenge and the Shootout at the same time. I'm looking forward to the ADT Skills Challenge coming up in a couple of weeks. I think the Golf Channel already announced the winners a while back - a scolding to them too. But it will be another chance for me to see Fred Couples so the spoiled ending won't matter much.

An Upcoming Anniversary

This weekend will mark an anniversary for me. It will be the 7th anniversary of my 29th year. In other words, I have a birthday coming up. I certainly don't feel as old as I'm going to be. In my mind I still think of myself as a 20-something. More than anything, it's time for the annual "Share Your Birthday with Jesus" dual purpose party and gift. I try to make sure I get a separate little celebration for the birthday and a separate gift. I really feel for all of the people born in December.

The Royal Trophy

The Royal Trophy - a team event pitting the European Tour against the best of Asia will be taking place in January. Joe Ozaki captains the Asian team and Jose Maria Olazabal will be subbing for Seve Ballesteros as the European Team captain. The latest news is that Olazabal has picked Oliver Wilson for his team. Wilson joins Paul McGinley who was selected the other day.

The official website can be found HERE. I checked and the team listings weren't posted yet. Hopefully they will be soon.

And Now for Something A Little Bit Different....

Lately, my blog has been mostly a Seve-Jose Maria update fest. So, I thought I would just do a google news search on 'golf' and see what pops up.

I found this article about a golf medal from a country club in Texas that surfaced in the UK. It is being auctioned off for charity. Why did I find it interesting? According to the article, there's a goat or gazelle stamped on one side of the medal. I'm thinking it's a goat. There aren't too many gazelles running around in Texas.

The Merrill Lynch Shootout is going on this weekend and after round 1, I think Jeff Sluman and Nick Price are in the lead. The folks I'm interested in watching are Brad Faxon and Scott McCarron, Ian Poulter and Graham McDowell, Zach Johnson and Scott Verplank, and Fred Couples. I can't get excited about Stewart Cink (Couples' partner). For those of you who care, Boo Weekley and JB Holmes are paired together and Greg Norman and Camilo Villegas are paired together.

Annika Sorenstam is leading after two rounds at the Dubai Ladies Masters.

At the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa, Len Mattiace, Robert Rock and Oskar Henningsson are tied for the lead after two rounds.

2009 Predictions

The Armchair Golfer asked me in one of the previous posts if I had any predictions for the upcoming year. I haven't really taken the time to contemplate the next golfing year. But I did jot down a few things I can post here. If I end up right at least 50% of the time, I might have to start buying lottery tickets again.

1. Sergio will fade in 2009 and not do nearly as well as he did in 2008. That seems to be a pattern for him. He'll do well for a while and then it's like he starts thinking about it and putting a lot of emphasis on it and he starts playing poorly.

2. Michelle Wie won't win. I still think that she needs to make more of an effort to take golf seriously. I've said recently that she should give up school and focus on golf. I think she will only win if she does this. She can't play one tournament or two and then go back to school. At least Tiger separated his golf from his education.

3. Greg Norman misses the cut at the Masters. I think he's going to take it too seriously and his usual final round troubles will show up on Friday. Plus the course has changed quite a bit over the years.

4. The Race for the Charles Schwab Cup will be more exciting to watch than the newly-revamped Fed Ex Cup (Again).

5. Fred Funk will still be in a funk and not be a factor on the Champions Tour in 2009.

6. Padraig Harrington will disappoint in his performance at the Majors. 2008 was magical, but after the US PGA, he didn't do anything. I think this burnout will continue through 2009.

7. Americans won't play a major part in the Race to Dubai. Despite all of the talk a few weeks ago about who from the US PGA tour will be joining the European Tour in order to be eligible for the Race to Dubai, I don't think the American players will be a factor. That's too much travel and too much culture shock for them.

8. Adam Scott's biggest competition will be with David Feherty for the Most Accident Prone Award.

9. Camilo Villegas will break the hearts of millions of women when he brings his girlfriend out into the public. Probably the sister of some friend of his from back home in Colombia.

10. Lorena Ochoa won't win as often as she did in 2008. I think she's starting to get a little tired of the hard work it takes to get to #1 and stay there. She's been going at this pace for a couple of years now. It's time for her to slack a little.

Most of these are negative predictions. I think it's easier to say what won't happen as opposed to what will. And besides, if I'm wrong, then it's good for golf. Mostly. #9 comes from my hope that Camilo won't start dating some actress, model or other celebrated beauty. And I will reiterate my own personal philosophy on relationships: Don't get married until you're 30. People don't know who they are or what they want out of life when they are young.

Pavin Officially Announced as Ryder Cup Captain

Corey Pavin was officially named US Ryder Cup captain for 2010 today. Pavin is a good choice and I'm glad the PGA didn't just take the easy way out and pick Azinger again. I like to see everyone get a turn (as you might imagine since I always complain about how biased the golf coverage is on tv). I don't think Pavin will be telling crowds to boo the Europeans like Azinger reportedly/allegedly did at Valhalla. According to This Link, Pavin *joked* that he'd asked for 12 picks for the 2010 team but that his request had been rejected. While I like the idea of a points system picking most of the team, I have to say that if the US captain could get rid of the ones who are always the top 2 or 3, the US might manage to field a very attractive team, competition-wise.

Seve Ballesteros Released

Seve was released from the hospital today after an extensive stay while getting treatment for a brain tumor. Click Here for a new article. You can also go to Seve's website for some comments from him.

A New Task for Olazabal

Jose Maria Olazabal will be captaining the European team for next month's Royal Trophy competition. Jose Maria will be stepping in for Seve while he recovers from his multiple medical procedures pertaining to his brain tumor. You can read the article from the European Tour website by clicking HERE.

Wie Gets A Tour Card

Michelle Wie earned a 2009 LPGA Tour Card after completing Q School today. If she can treat it seriously and keep her mind on her game, maybe she can be sucessful out there. I still say she needs to drop out of school if she wants to play golf. It's been clear in her efforts this year that dividing her time isn't working for her. She could probably due with limiting the Team Wie crap. They seem to me to be a big distraction. At least the media focuses on them a lot.

Jose Maria's 2009

I read on Rotoworld.com that Jose Maria Olazabal has apparently been granted a major medical extension on the PGA Tour for 2009. Of course this news is listed under a heading of "Fantasy Golf Breaking News" so I don't know if this is fantasy news for the fantasy golf world or if it's a real news item. I haven't been watching the Golf Channel so I can't tell you if they've been reporting on it.

Whatever the news happens to be, I just hope I will get to see him play more in 2009, either on tv or in person.

Another Surgery for Seve

Seve Ballesteros had to have more fluid drained from his brain, claim internet reports today. This is the fourth procedure performed since he entered the hospital back in October. He is in stable condition and hopefully, will improve.

KJ Choi Wins the Skins Game

I watched the second half of the Skins Game today. I missed it yesterday because I had no idea what channel it was on or when it was on. Anyway, Choi won it on the last hole. I was happy because of my "anyone but Ames" opinion. I thought it was very funny how interested Phil Mickelson was in the prize packages that LG offered for Eagles and Closest to the Pin contests. Some people have been commenting on how the money hasn't increased in the Skins game even though purses on the PGA Tour have skyrocketed. Well, the Skins game isn't about a bunch of money. It's about enough money to make things interesting and having a good time. I don't want to see the money increase a lot for the Skins game. It would change the very nature of the event from 'a good time was had by all' to 'cut-throat'.

Out of Nowhere

Sweden came from out of nowhere to win the World Cup. They fired a 63 in the final round to pass Spain, who shot 70, and Australia, who shot 76.

World Cup, Round Three

I believe Spain is tied at the top with Australia going into the final round.

One of the announcers calling the action on round three referred to one of the teams as 'a couple'. Yes, technically, there are two of them, but no one wants to refer to any two golfers paired together as a couple.

LG Skins Game

The Skins Game is on this weekend. I don't know how exciting it's going to be. To me, if Fred Couples isn't there, then it would be hard for me to watch it. And unfortunately, he isn't there this time. This time, the competitors are Phil Mickelson, Stephen Ames, KJ Choi, and Rocco Mediate. I'm sure there will be a lot of bantering between everyone except Choi so if you're into listening in to their conversations, it will be a hoot. Personally, I hope anyone but Stephen Ames wins. As I think about it more, I'd like to see Rocco win so the media can talk about something other than his loss at the US Open. He'd probably like for the media to talk about something other than that too.

Australian Masters

I haven't reported on the Australian Masters yet. Tim Clark's in the lead and it's a really sunny and pretty place down there. That's about all I can report because I haven't been watching it. Maybe I can see some more of it this weekend. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I was cooking and today was a shopping day.

World Cup Round 2

Spain is in the lead after two rounds of the World Cup in China. Yippee!!!!! Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal are a combined 17 under par and have a four shot lead over Germany and Australia. Hopefully they can continue this good play and win the event. Sure, this would probably be counted in 2009 but it's still 2008 for the rest of us and a win here would be another remarkable achievement for Spain this year - along with Spain winning the Davis Cup in Tennis, Carlos Sastre winning the Tour de France, and of course Sergio's Players Championship win. I don't follow soccer, but I'm sure some Spanish team did something great in that sport this year.

World Cup Round 1

The World Cup is going on in China again, at the Mission Hills course designed by Jose Maria Olazabal. There are a couple of curious results after round 1. England, represented by Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher, is way down on the list at a tie for 20th place. South Africa (Rory Sabbatini and Richard Sterne) and Italy (The Molinari brothers) are tied for 26th out of 28 entrants. I would have thought that as often as the Molinaris play together that they would have done better.

Some results after Day 1:

Germany -10 (Kaymer and Cejka)
USA T3 (Curtis and Snedeker)
Spain T3 (Jimenez and Larrazabal)
Denmark T6 (Soren and Anders Hansen)
Ireland T6 (McDowell and McGinley)
Sweden T6 (Karlsson and Stenson)
India T12 (Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh)
France T16 (Bourdy and Havret)
England T20 (Fisher and Poulter)
Italy T26 (Molinaris)
South Africa T26 (Sabbatini and Sterne)