Halloween At Work

Friday was the annual Halloween party at work. Due to the new dress code, we were challenged to come up with costumes that would still comply with the dress code. Some workers did not comply with the new dress code and wore blue denim bibbed overalls. But April and I complied with the dress code. April dressed as a golfer. I grabbed her club (it was a lefty 9 iron) and said "I'll be your caddie." So, we had some fun with that on Friday. One of the co-workers saw April and said "Look out, Tigress Woods coming through." And I said, "Well, that must make me Stephanie Williams." LOL!

Tour Championship Preview

The preview show came on after the final round of the Chrysler Championship today. They previewed just about everyone's chances except Sergio Garcia's. They even talked about Ernie Els who won't be there. Anyway, hopefully I will get to see much more of this event than I have of the last two weeks of golf. ABC has more hours devoted to it this coming weekend. They did have some good interviews on the preview show. Sean O'Hair among them. I hope he does well. They also mentioned that Phil Mickelson won't be at the Tour Championship for "personal reasons". Mike Tirico said this was leading some people to speculate as to what those reasons are. I must really be out of touch because I haven't heard anything about this. I'll have to search it out later.

Chrysler Championship

Another first time winner on the PGA tour this week. Carl Petterson won today. Although he's officially from Sweden, you could tell when you heard him speak that he's picked up a bit of a southern accent from the time he's spent in North Carolina. And of course he has a cute adorable kid. Have you noticed that there are no non-adorable offspring of PGA golfers? They are all cute.

My Comments On the Van De Velde story

While I think it's great that Michelle Wie gets to test herself against the men of the PGA tour in some tournaments, there is something to be said for tradition. I would prefer that the men's Majors remain Men Only events. I'm sure one day, way down the road, the two sexes will unite for one, single tour. But I hope that doesn't happen for some time. When I think of all the history with the British Open, I just think that to preserve that by keeping it a Men Only event would be a nice thing.

The next thing you know, they will be wanting to turn James Bond into Jane Bond. There are some things, you just shouldn't change.

Van de Velde wants to play in Women's British Open

28 October 2005
Jean Van de Velde, famous for losing a British Open, says he wants to play in the women's equivalent at Royal Birkdale next year.

The Frenchman, who let slip the 1999 championship at Carnoustie by running up a triple-bogey seven at the 72nd hole, is unhappy at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club's (R & A) recent decision to allow women to qualify for the British Open.

"It's crazy that women should be allowed to try to qualify for our Open when men cannot do it for their Open," Van de Velde told reporters after struggling to a seven-over-par 78 in the first round of the Volvo Masters.

"I intend to make a stance. What kind of discrimination is this?

"I think it is a farce and those poor guys who won the British Open three or four times must be spinning in their graves."

Van de Velde intends to contact the Ladies Golf Union (LGU), governing body for the Women's British Open, to insist he gets a chance to qualify, even though he knows their rule is that any participant must be "of the female gender".

"I am definitely going to approach them (the LGU) to get an application form," he said.

Van de Velde appreciates he would have a huge golfing advantage over the women.

"I know we have an unfair advantage, so if we have an unfair advantage, let them play with themselves and let us play with ourselves."

Earlier this month, the R & A ruled that the top five women from each of their four majors will be allowed to enter regional qualifying for the 2006 British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

But Van de Velde believes the R & A have more important issues, like testing players for drugs, to address than allowing women to play in British Open qualifying.

"I definitely anticipate my entry form being accepted (by the LGU) because if it doesn't then I will definitely take advice on what I can do about it and I will see how far it can go," he said.

"If they do allow me to, I'd definitely go and play, just to make a point. I would be very happy to use the ladies' locker-room.

"Where do we draw the line? If we allow women to try to qualify for the men's Open it implies women can play with men, so why not men playing with women?"

Former Ryder Cup player Barry Lane of Britain applauded Van de Velde's stance, saying "they (the R & A) are going overboard".

Lane added: "If 100 men decided to take the same stance and they all qualified off the ladies' tees, they could take most of the Women's British Open spots."

Volvo Masters

So, I do a google news search for Sergio Garcia and I get tons of stories about Colin Montgomerie's second round 66 and his two shot lead. Okay. So, Colin Montgomerie is apparently really close to winning the Order of Merit again. Good for him. The press seems to be trying to build up a fight between Montgomerie and Michael Campbell. I don't see why either one of them should take the bait. Montgomerie cherishes the Order of Merit title. It means a lot to him. So, let it be. Campbell, on the other hand, prefers Major Championships. And why not since he's won one? I don't know about you, but I prefer to see golfers being nice out there and not sparring with each other in the press. If I want to see hostility like that, I'll watch the WWE. I don't want to someday find Colin Montgomerie taking a walk down Know Your Role Boulevard (That's a reference to the Rock - fyi). I'd rather see him all happy and smiles for winning a tournament the good and decent way and hear him speak graciously about his competitors.

The Jinx is Back

Yesterday I listed several golfers who were participating in the Chrysler tournament. Today I find out many of them missed the cut. So, the jinx is back and it's not limited to Jim Furyk. Sorry about that.

The Volvo Masters

Associated Press

SOTOGRANDE, Spain -- Colin Montgomerie moved closer to winning the European Tour money title, shooting a 4-under-par 67 Thursday for a share of the first-round lead in the Volvo Masters. The Scot was tied with defending tournament champion Ian Poulter. Montgomerie holed a 111-yard wedge for an eagle on the par-5 eighth and birdied the last hole on the 6,952-yard Valderrama course. "It's always lucky," Montgomerie said. "It was a wedge of 111 yards. I hit it 112 and it backed into the hole. You intend to hole it but it's always lucky when it comes off."

U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell had a 72 was 23rd in the 55-man field. Montgomerie, trying for his eighth career Order of Merit title and his first since 1999, leads Campbell by $182,000. The New Zealander is the only player who can catch Montgomerie, but must finish ahead of him here to do so. Luke Donald, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia shared third place after 68s. He struck his approach to 8 feet at the first hole and made a birdie. He gained another shot at the second hole when Campbell bogeyed from a bunker, and birdied the third from 18 feet.

English Ryder Cup player Poulter is trying to extend his streak of winning one title every year since 2000.

Montgomerie, second in the British Open and winner of the Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews last month, made a superb start to his round. "The first hole was crucial," Montgomerie said. "I was anxious, obviously. I felt anxiety which was understandable. But I got rid of that in the first three holes." He dropped two shots when Campbell birdied the long fourth hole and Montgomerie bogeyed the sixth after driving into the rough and hitting into a greenside bunker. "That was a good bogey," Montgomerie said. "When I saw the lie in the bunker with a big tree in the way, I was looking at a double. I was lucky." He immediately birdied the short sixth hole from 30 feet, and the eagle at the eighth gave him a four-shot edge on Campbell.

"It wasn't great, it wasn't brilliant," Campbell said of his round. "All credit to Monty. He played great today. "It's a very fickle golf course. I've just got to be patient the next three days and pick up some ground."

Montgomerie said Bernhard Langer's decision to pick him as a wild card for last year's Ryder Cup was responsible for his current form. "Bernhard gave me an opportunity," said Montgomerie, who sank the winning putt in Europe's 18½ to 9½ victory at Oakland Hills. "That was a crucial move on his part for my career, because it was going in one direction -- the wrong direction."

Chrysler Championship: Round 1

Who jumps out at me on the Leaderboard?

Vijay Singh +3 --- Not having a good year
Sean O'Hair +2 --- Announcers have named him Rookie of the Year
Carlos Franco +1 --- Always one to watch, he's had a good last few months
Jason Gore E --- He's on a roll
David Toms +1 --- I would feel more comfortable if he was taking it easy before his surgery
John Cook E --- Good round for a part time announcer
Justin Rose -1 --- He's had a good year, especially good last few months. Friendly to the fans
Brandt Jobe -1 --- He always seems to be in the hunt on Sunday. A good one to watch
Lucas Glover -3 --- Last week's winner. he should have a good couple of rounds.
Retief Goosen -4 --- Watch him because he's 4 in the world.
Tom Lehman -4 --- I think this might be a very good round for him.
Jeff Brehaut -6 --- Leader

Who will be there on Sunday competing for a win? It's hard to tell. Retief and Vijay would surprise me if they were there. After the year they've had, I'm not sure I can be confident about them. There are a lot of players who need good showings so it's really difficult to pick a favorite to root for.

The Answering Machine

As some of you might know, I now live alone. My parents have moved to a new house. Well, I bought a new phone and as is my usual practice, I have let the masculine voice that comes with the phone to be the answering machine message rather than recording my own. To have a bit of fun and because I can, I have named the answering machine voice "Sergio". I thought it was cute to name the man who answers my phone after Sergio Garcia. I also named my new pc after him. LOL!

Sergio got some practice today answering my phone. I came home to two messages. One of them was a telemarketer selling, rather ironically, satellite dishes and the other was a hang-up. I think it's absurd that I have the number for only one day and I'm getting telemarketer calls. I swear I think the phone company sells our phone numbers to these call centers.

Chrysler Championship

It looks like this will be a good tournament. Jason Gore, Adam Scott, Sean O'Hair, Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh, and last week's winner Lucas Glover are all supposed to compete. Too bad I still don't have a satellite dish. I will only be able to catch Sunday's round. But I am getting the dish installed on Nov. 5th (if they find my house) so hopefully, I'll be able to watch a little more golf later on. I don't plan to sign up for the package that includes the golf channel just yet. I figure with the season winding down, there wasn't much point in getting the golf channel right now. Maybe in January or February I'll add it on.

Back on the Web

Well, I'm back. I'm sure most didn't notice I was gone, but I did disappear for a bit. I got a new phone number thanks to my parents moving. So, now that things are getting settled down a bit, I am finally able to get back on the web and return to business as usual. I still don't have a satellite dish. I wrote about that over on the Miranda's Window Dressing blog.

When I get time I will get caught up on all the golf news and probably post some comments. It's good that the PGA tour saw another first time winner this past week and the Funai tournament. He called Judy Rankin "ma'am". I thought that was so cute. Those southern boys have such good manners. You know his parents and grandparents are proud :)

I do find it odd that Tiger Woods would miss a cut in a tournament that produced such low scoring.

Funai Classic: Round 1

Hunter Haas had the best round with a 9 under par. Nick Price, Jason Gore, Justin Rose and Sean O'Hair are all doing well. Tiger is tied for 44th place after round 1. I see that Kevin Stadler is back after being disqualified last week. Hopefully, things will go better for him this week.

I'm Out of Touch

Aside from having the Hall and Oates song in my head now, I am distressed over the latest development to affect me regarding my parents' move to their new house. They took the satellite dish. I have no way to watch golf today, tomorrow or Saturday. I'm out of touch with the PGA tour. I do have internet access, but only until Monday morning. Then the phone dies. My parents are moving that too. Hopefully I can get a phone line for this house without too much trouble, but Mom got the third degree when she contacted the phone company about her phone.

I just read a news story fronm ABC News

That says Michelle Wie got disqualified for something that happened on Saturday. You'd think there would be no instant replays or delayed replays or "oh hey, let's review what a golfer did maybe a week or two ago." Even the IRS gives you a time limit of three years to be audited on a tax return. Something tells me this golf tournament was held in the California Whine Country.

Samsung World Championship

Michelle Wie finished 4th in her first pro event and earned about $53,000. Annika Sorenstam made some history by winning the event for the 4th or 5th time. And she had a huge lead. Paula Creamer did well too. I got to watch some of this event today while I was helping my parents move. I hope Michelle ditches the plaid pants. And I liked that graphic they showed that compared Michelle to Tiger. Her stats were so much better than his in that graphic.

Michelin: Final Round

Now that the tournament is over I can safely say: Yay for Jim Furyk for doing so well! I wish he hadn't bungled that last playoff hole, but in the grand scheme of life, Wes Short Jr needed the win more. So, I think this proves that I do have a jinx-ability when it comes to Jim Furyk. I was mum for this whole tournament and he almost won. I will have to check out the stats and the money list to see where everyone ended up. Hopefully I can do this before I lose phone service. Mom and Dad have moved and they are going to be taking their computer, phone, internet connection and satellite dish with them. It will be like 1980 around here for a week or two until I get everything back. I'm thinking of getting the 180 channel package from my satellite dish provider. I would get the Golf Channel and a few more history/discovery channel options.

Samsung World Championship

So, Michelle Wie is third after the third round. This is great. So far she is proving that her decision to turn pro was a sound one. She can compete. Hopefully, she will do well tomorrow and silence some critics. I did a google news search on this event and I was amazed at how many negative headlines there were - headlines suggesting that Annika Sorenstam was out there in some antagonistic role trying to teach Michelle a lesson for turning pro or something. These so-called journalists need to stick with reporting facts and leave the Hearst-inspired "remember the maine" yellow journalism to the tabloids. These writers obviously do not follow golf and are not fans or else they would trust the golfers to make the news and wouldn't need to create news on their own. I'm sure Annika Sorenstam is quite capable of making some news worthy of writing and reading.

Michelin Championship, Round 3

I finally got to see some of the tournament today. Thursday I was shopping and Friday I was on the treadmill so I missed the first two rounds. Today's round was hampered by the wind. Ted Purdy scampered up to the top of the leaderboard with a great round. Ryan Moore had a really bad hole to mar a really good round. I think he probably should have given more thought to his situation before attempting to play that shot out of the rocks. It looks like this week will end up being one that could make or break someone's year with a lot of guys on the first page of the leaderboard who need good finishes to get them in position for next year.

Well, I'm off now to get an update on Michelle Wie..............

Michelin Championship at Las Vegas

The next tournament is this one. I hope this means I will see plenty of commercials with that cute little Michelin dog. That little dog is the sole reason I would buy Michelin tires. I see that David Duval is playing this week. Hopefully he will make the cut. John Daly is supposed to play this week too. I wonder if he will continue his good play from last week. And a name I haven't seen in a while is listed in the field on the pga tour website: Rory Sabbatini. And yes, I do know who is featured on the pga tour website for being a multiple winner of this event and no, I'm not even typing his name. I would like for him to make the cut at least.

I updated the spotlight section over in the sidebar. Check it out.