golf.inq

2009-07-08T17:16:00.003-04:00

I am back.

When I departed The Philadelphia Inquirer in September 2008, I said in my final post on golf.inq that I was working on hatching a new plot. That plot is now hatched, in the form of a new website, MyPhillyGolf.com.

As the name suggests, the concept for the MyPhillyGolf.com is all things Philadelphia golf. News, views, course reviews, guest commentary discussion boards.

I hope you’ll give it a try.

So long

2008-09-11T08:55:00.004-04:00

This is it, folks, my final post on golf.inq. After 26 years -- the last 13 as the golf writer -- today is my final day at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

It has been an honor and a pleasure. Covering golf has been a dream job. The places I've been, the people I've met, the golf courses I've played -- well, what can I say? During one 12-month stretch a few years ago, I played Merion, Pine Valley, Pebble Beach, Augusta National and the Old Course in St. Andrews. Yeah, it was that good.

In a newspaper career spanning 30 years, I have covered just about everything under the sun, from murder and mayhem, to national politics and movie stars. Never did I enjoy such devoted, discerning and appreciative readers as I did writing about golf. I lost count of the times I was swamped with more intelligent emails than I could ever respond to? And even if a reader wanted to argue a point with me, or take me to task, it was almost always done with civility, leaving me to wonder if the game builds character or simply reveals it.

I am leaving The Inquirer but that doesn't mean you have seen the last of me. As we speak, I am hatching a plot.

In the meantime, my new email is joelogan629@gmail.com.

I thank you. See you on the fairway,

Joe Logan

Van Sickle wins Pennsylvania Am

2008-07-30T23:57:00.002-04:00

Mike Van Sickle, son of Sports Illistrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle, won the Pennsylvania Am on Wednesday. Here's the story.

Pennsylvania Amateur, Day 2

2008-07-30T09:04:00.002-04:00

More than a dozen Philadelphia-area players were among 44 who made it to today's final round of the Pennsylvania Amateur at Saucon Valley in Bethlehem.

Read the whole story.

Pennsylvania Amateur

2008-07-29T12:06:00.005-04:00

Adam Cohan from Talamore Country Club shares the lead in the Pennsylvania Amateur, after shooting 69 on Monday.

Read the whole story.

R.I.P. George Haines

2008-07-23T09:50:00.006-04:00

Golf in Philadelphia has lost a friend.

I was saddened to read of the death last week of George E. Haines Jr. at the age of 64. His obituary in The Inquirer tells most of the story: his accomplishments as an amateur golfer and squash player, his years as a coach of both sports and four others at The Haverford School, where he was also a teacher. George was also the husband of Liz Haines, from Merion Golf Club, who has long been one of the top women players in this city.

George had been in declining health and I hadn't spoken to him for a while. But for years there, we spoke often -- or I should say mostly he spoke. I don't think I've ever had a more ardent and discerning reader than George.

For years before I actually met him, I would get long, detailed phone messages from him. Ever the coach and teacher, he would read every golf story I wrote and critique it in ways that none of my editors did, or could. Instead of As, Bs, or Cs, George would give me birdies, bogeys and pars, sprinkling in the occasional double-bogey or, if I was lucky, an eagle. Sometimes, even within a single story, I'd get a tap-in birdie and a double-bogey. Because the office voice mail system cuts off callers after one minute or so, George would occasionally leave a series of three, four, even five messages in a row to get everything off his chest. Believe me, I took those critiques to heart because I knew that George knew his golf and because I knew he was speaking from his heart.

Perhaps because his wife Liz is such a good player, George took particular interest in women's golf. When he felt The Inquirer hadn't given sufficient coverage to a women's tournament, be it a national women's amateur or a local girls' junior, I would get an earful.

There came a point when I didn't see George at local tournaments any more. Then his phone messages stopped. I knew he had health issues. When I bumped into Liz Haines at a tournament and inquired about George's health, her look of concern told me all I needed to know.

Golf in Philadelphia has lost a dear friend in George Haines and I have lost one of the most valued readers I've ever had.

S-l-o-w play

2008-07-21T07:54:00.006-04:00

My On Golf column in Sunday's Inquirer railing against slow play prompted quite a few emails. Most supported my position but one reader did accuse me of being a Type-A personality who needs to learn how to slow down and enjoy the round.

If you missed the column, it started like this

It happened again, just the other day, when I was playing golf on vacation in North Carolina.
For nine holes or more, I zipped around the course with my son, my niece's husband and a young friend, the fastest foursome on wheels. Ready, golf. Find it. Hit it. Go find it again. Heck, at the rate we were playing, we figured we'd be back at the beach cottage in time for dinner - before that ominous cloud in the distance could spoil the fun. But suddenly, not long into the back nine, the round ground to a halt.

For the rest, click here.

Here's a sampling of the emails that continue to come in:

Joe

Your article on Slow Play struck a chord with me. I play 2 or 3 times a week, mostly not on weekends. I agree with you that the course can do a great deal in controlling the pace of play. In addition to those you mentioned:1) Mark those hazards! We "know" that area of unmown weeds and stuff is a hazard, but its not marked and we search it to avoid a "lost ball".2) Drop those mowers 1/2 inch. Its not the Open. It'll still be a challenge to hit a good shot from the rough and we'll find the ball quickly. Don't forget to vacuum those leaves!3) Put out lotsa yardage markers. A GPS system on the cart doesn't help when I walk! Its also not much good if its "cart path only". If the tee box on a 3 par is 30 yards long, from where is the yardage measured? How far to carry that right bunker?4) Get those Marshalls/Course Ambassadors out there. Give them some people skills training.

Joe,
Amen… your article was presented to my wife as more documentation to justify my monthly club dues. (no names, please) golf club just made my ever growing “Will not pay to play” list after they eagerly accepted $430 in greens fees from my foursome last week and then subjected us to a 4 hour and 45 minute death march. We sat behind a foursome that was easily a hole and a half behind for 7 holes. At one point, I watched some idiot on a short par 3 take 4 shots to get out of a greenside bunker and then mark his ball so he could go to the other side of the hole and attempt to read his putt! He saved 7 with a 2 putt and then proceeded to the 9th tee leaving half of the bunker unraked…Makes me want to take up tennis.

Joe –I suspect the words that follow will fall on deaf ears and I doubt thatyou'll really read them, yet I write them anyway in an attempt topresent the other side. “Fastest foursome on wheels”, “yahoos in frontof us”, “Those knuckleheads…”?Permit me to be an arm chair psychologist for a moment. Might you be aType “A”? Perhaps even a tailgater? Run the occasional red lightbecause your time is precious? Eye roll and huff when the person infront of you at the grocery store pulls out the checkbook?I’m not on the tour, don’t belong to a private club but enjoy hittingthe links a few times a year with good friends. I love the earlymorning mist rising off the pond, the gentle curve of the dogleg, theimmaculately manicured fairways – the sights, sounds and feel of around with friends. Hell, we don’t even keep score any more. We chooseup and play best ball, laughing the whole time.“Find it, hit it, go find it again.” This is your round? Where’s thelaughter and the enjoyment? The taking advantage of this pristineenvironment to discuss life with your son or kick back with buds?Yes, I am guilty of a 4 ½ hour round. Where’s the rush? If pressed frombehind we have no problem letting the speedsters play through, but I refuse to give in, to be intimidated when yahoos like you start huffing and catcalling about ready golf. Relax, Joe. Take a breath and enjoy your surroundings with your son. Around of golf is a wonderful opportunity to connect, yet I fear if yourson sees you snorting about the knuckleheads in front of you, you maybe sending a terrible message. You want fast play? Join a club. And let those of us who just want to escape for a few hours with good friends enjoy ourselves without having to deal with folks who are trying to setsome kind of record by becoming the Fastest Foursome on Four Wheels. Where’s the fun in that?Why do you play golf, Joe?

Joe, I have been a ranger at (no names, please) fro the last 5 years, although I'm retired and this job is not a career move it provides me with some insights as to the working's of a golf course of which I'm sure you already know. First the pros are of little or no help their antics on TV only go to slow the game down. Second the finances of running a course are tremondous as you pointed out and every foursome that you lose can represent 500.00. But slow play can also lose a course many foursomes, so its a double edge sword. Third as a ranger we have to tread lightly with our customers,being to strong an d arrogant does't work. At (no names) we have 10 minute tee times and the starter instucts each group not to tee off un til the group in front of them reaches the first green. Antother problem is the way our course and many others are built, in order to play properly with our large undulating greens takes a lot of time, we also have 186 sand traps some of which only serve to slow the game down. We have a very high slope rating for each of our 5 tees, which presents a challange. Getting the players to play from the right tees is almost impossible, they look at them as sex or age related, instead of as we like to tell them that they are handicap related. And lastly alas, the customers who most respond quite nicely and say that they will try to pickup the pace, but others although a few become insulting. We at (no names) try to address this problem and are quite aware of PACE OF PLAY. An instruction we give slow groups is to stay with the group in front of them, not look behind them,because you don't see anyone doesn't mean they are not there. Joe thanks for your good article in the sunday Inquirer.

Joe, read your article in Sundays paper. Good thoughts but it did not hit the bulls eye....

The reason play is slow is that no one is educated and no one TEACHES etiquette or speed.

What if you, the Pro Shops, Rangers and especially Tournament directors stressed READY GOLF (not just lip service) What if everyone lined up their putts while the other guys was lining up his. What if only the last guy strolled up to the hole and got all the balls out. What if you parked the cart on a line from the hole to the next tee. What if you actually came to the course with the idea of playing golf and not spending time telling war stories or jokes about the last time you were on a course with a few hits thrown in. What if Golf was the reason you came to the course. Can you imagine how a pick up game of basketball would be played if as you dribbled the ball up court you had to stop and listen to someone's rendition of how you used to do it or what if......you then listened to his story on how he hit a foul shot......or a sandlot game of baseball where the pitcher took time between pitches to regal you with his other moments of glory........

It is the culture of what golf has become that is ruining the game.....Are you there to play golf and exchange some pleasantries??? or are you there to socialize and hit a few, drink beer and smoke cigars...... Unless we are taught that it is a game "to be played", not just a gathering of guys to BS......it will never change.......and I firmly believe if that message was out there from guys like you, Pro Shops, Rangers, Tournament Directors, on the wall in the pro shops, on the score cards of the charity tournaments nothing will change........golfers would love it and more would be willing to play a 4 hour (max) round. If it is all about money, think how many golfers or guys are turned off by the 5 plus hour round and just don’t go...

Thanks Joe.........

Joe,
One of the most agonizing things in the world is the slow play and the absolute refusal of the noodniks to let you play through.
But here are some things that drives me crazy: The incessant searching for lost balls. If you suck, buy cheap balls. Two minutes is plenty of time to search for a lost ball. People that hit the ball 150 yard straight and then another 100 yards to the right should just own up that they suck and even if they do find the ball, it will take another 2 shots to recover. Then they hit it into the water. Instead of walking up to the hazard, they want to take the shot over and hit it into the water again. These are usually the same people who hit into a trap and take 3 shots to get out and then "forget" to rake or walk all the way around to the other side of trap, pick up the rake and walk all the way back around to the other side again.
My helpful hints:
1. Two minutes maximum to look for lost balls. I'll even offer the person a free drop on the edge of the fairway to get things moving.
2. Take the (expletive) rake with you into the trap! This defies common sense not to do it.
3. Maximum strokes: If you stink, pick up after Triple Bogey, unless there is a good amount of money being bet, you really want to record that 117 into your USGA handicap, or proudly brag about the day you shot 152 at Pine Valley.
4. Pleeeeaaassee have sense enough to let faster groups play through!
5. I'll allow you one Mulligan per 9. Period.
I have many more.

Joe,

Without a doubt one of the best articles I've read about the slow play on public courses. Aa copy of this should be given to everyone who pays to go on a public course. The one guy your forgot is the person who takes three practice swings, hits the ball a good forty yards and then start the practic swing routine all over again.

The only public coursse I knew of is (no names, please) where the twelve minute rule was strictly adhered to. Unfortunately, the family children who took over the course, took the money and ran, and now is housing.

A ready golfer,

U.S. Open pairings

2008-06-06T13:39:00.003-04:00

Thursday (June 12), hole #1; Friday (June 13), hole #10

7:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - D.A. Points, Ocoee, Fla.; Patrick Sheehan, Warwick, R.I.; David Hearn, Canada
7:11 a.m. - 12:41 p.m. - A-Kyle Stanley, Gig Harbor, Wash.; Casey Wittenberg, Memphis, Tenn.; Hunter Haas, Fort Worth, Texas
7:22 a.m. - 12:52 p.m. - A-Kevin Tway, Edmond, Okla.; Jason Bohn, Acworth, Ga.; Dean Wilson, Las Vegas, Nev.
7:33 a.m. - 1:03 p.m. - A-Jeff Wilson, Fairfield, Calif.; Fredrik Jacobson, Sweden; Brett Quigley, Jupiter, Fla.
7:44 a.m. - 1:14 p.m. - A-Rickie Fowler, Murrieta, Calif.; Chris Kirk, Sea Island, Ga.; Dustin Johnson, N Myrtle Beach, S.C.
7:55 a.m. – 1:25 p.m. - Mark Calcavecchia, Phoenix, Ariz.; Oliver Wilson, England; Joe Ogilvie, Austin, Texas
8:06 a.m. - 1:36 p.m. - Adam Scott, Australia; Phil Mickelson, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; Tiger Woods, Windermere, Fla.
8:17 a.m. - 1:47 p.m. - Lee Janzen, Orlando, Fla.; Steve Flesch, Union, Ky.; Rich Beem, Austin, Texas
8:28 a.m. - 1:58 p.m. - Michael Campbell, New Zealand; Jesper Parnevik, Sweden; Todd Hamilton, Westlake, Texas
8:39 a.m. - 2:09 p.m. - Miguel Angel Jimenez, Spain; Boo Weekley, East Milton, Fla.; Shingo Katayama, Japan
8:50 a.m. - 2:20 p.m. - Anthony Kim, Dallas, Texas; Andres Romero, Argentina; Ryuji Imada, Japan
9:01 a.m. - 2:31 p.m. - Mike Gilmore, Locust Valley, N.Y.; A-Jordan Cox, Redwood City, Calif.; Brian Kortan, Albuquerque, N.M.
9:12 a.m. - 2:42 p.m. - Jeffrey Bors, Chardon, Ohio; Sean English, Cincinnati, Ohio; Travis Bertoni, Paso Robles, Calif.

Thursday (June 12), hole #10; Friday (June 13), hole #1

7:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Robert Garrigus, Gilbert, Ariz.; Peter Tomasulo, Long Beach, Calif.; Craig Barlow, Henderson, Nev.
7:11 a.m. - 12:41 p.m. - A-Derek Fathauer, Jensen Beach, Fla.; Scott Piercy, Las Vegas, Nev.; Justin Hicks, Royal Palm Beach, Fla.
7:22 a.m. - 12:52 p.m. – K.J. Choi, Korea; Jim Furyk, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.; Steve Stricker, Madison, Wis.
7:33 a.m. - 1:03 p.m. - A-Michael Thompson, Tucson, Ariz.; Rocco Mediate, Naples, Fla.; Brad Bryant, Lakeland, Fla.
7:44 a.m. - 1:14 p.m. - Craig Parry, Australia; Robert Karlsson, Sweden; Tim Clark, South Africa
7:55 a.m. -1:25 p.m. - Stuart Appleby, Australia; Jerry Kelly, Madison, Wis.; Lee Westwood, England
8:06 a.m. - 1:36 p.m. - Woody Austin, Derby, Kan.; Pat Perez, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Thomas Levet, France
8:17 a.m. - 1:47 p.m. - Matt Kuchar, Atlanta, Ga.; Mathew Goggin, Australia; Nick Watney, Las Vegas, Nev.
8:28 a.m. - 1:58 p.m. - Rod Pampling, Australia; Heath Slocum, Alpharetta, Ga.; Niclas Fasth, Sweden
8:39 a.m. - 2:09 p.m. - Carl Pettersson, Sweden; Soren Hansen, Denmark; Daniel Chopra, Sweden
8:50 a.m. - 2:20 p.m. - Johan Edfors, Sweden; Eric Axley, Knoxville, Tenn.; Ben Crane, Beaverton, Ore.
9:01 a.m. - 2:31 p.m. - Joey Lamielle, Sarasota, Fla.; A-Michael Quagliano, White Plains, N.Y.; Fernando Figueroa, El Salvador
9:12 a.m. - 2:42 p.m. - Chris Devlin, Northern Ireland; Yohann Benson, Canada; Brian Bergstol, Mount Bethel, Pa.

Thursday (June 12), hole #1; Friday (June 13), hole #10

12:30 p.m. - 7:00 a.m. - D.J. Brigman, Albquerque, N.M.; Jonathan Mills, Canada; Jarrod Lyle, Australia
12:41 p.m. - 7:11 a.m. - A-Nick Taylor, Canada; Charlie Beljan, Mesa, Ariz.; Rob Rashell, Scottsdale, Ariz.
12:52 p.m. - 7:22 a.m. - Stewart Cink, Duluth, Ga.; Sergio Garcia, Spain; Vijay Singh, Fiji
1:03 p.m. - 7:33 a.m. - Trevor Immelman, South Africa; Zach Johnson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Mike Weir, Canada
1:14 p.m. - 7:44 a.m. - Retief Goosen, South Africa; Scott Verplank, Edmond, Okla.; Aaron Baddeley, Australia
1:25 p.m. - 7:55 a.m. - Stephen Ames, Canada; Robert Allenby, Australia; Ben Curtis, Stow, Ohio
1:36 p.m. - 8:06 a.m. - Angel Cabrera, Argentina; Padraig Harrington, Ireland; Davis Love III, Sea Island, Ga.
1:47 p.m. - 8:17 a.m. - Bubba Watson, Bagdad, Fla.; J.B. Holmes, Orlando, Fla.; Brett Wetterich, Jupiter, Fla.
1:58 p.m. - 8:28 a.m. - Brandt Snedeker, Nashville, Tenn.; Nick Dougherty, England; Jonathan Byrd, Sea Island, Ga.
2:09 p.m. - 8:39 a.m. - Michael Letzig, Richmond, Mo.; Ross Fisher, England; Steve Marino, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
2:20 p.m. - 8:50 a.m. - Brandt Jobe, Westlake, Texas; Phillip Archer, England; Jason Gore, Valencia, Calif.
2:31 p.m. - 9:01 a.m. - Kevin Silva, New Bedford, Mass.; Bobby Collins, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Jay Choi, Korea
2:42 p.m. - 9:12 a.m. - Bob Gaus, St. Louis, Mo.; Philippe Gasnier, Brazil; Garrett Chaussard, Millbrae, Calif.

Thursday (June 12), hole #10; Friday (June 13), hole #1

12:30 p.m. - 7:00 a.m. - Michael Allen, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Jonathan Turcott, Middleton, Wis.; Scott Sterling, Baton Rouge, La.
12:41 p.m. - 7:11 a.m. - Kevin Streelman, Wheaton, Ill.; Artemio Murakami, Philippines; Robert Dinwiddie, England
12:52 p.m. - 7:22 a.m. - Bart Bryant, Windermere, Fla.; D.J. Trahan, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Chad Campbell, Colleyville, Texas
1:03 p.m. - 7:33 a.m. - Sean O'Hair, West Chester, Pa.; Richard Sterne, South Africa; Hunter Mahan, Plano, Texas
1:14 p.m. - 7:44 a.m. - Ian Poulter, England; Paul Casey, England; Luke Donald, England
1:25 p.m. - 7:55 a.m. - Henrik Stenson, Sweden; Toru Taniguchi, Japan; John Rollins, Las Colinas, Texas
1:36 p.m. - 8:06 a.m. - Justin Rose, England; Geoff Ogilvy, Australia; Ernie Els, South Africa
1:47 p.m. - 8:17 a.m. - Camilo Villegas, Colombia; Charles Howell, Orlando, Fla.; Martin Kaymer, Germany
1:58 p.m. - 8:28 a.m. - Jeff Quinney, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Justin Leonard, Dallas, Texas; Mark O'Meara, Windermere, Fla.
2:09 p.m. - 8:39 a.m. - Rory Sabbatini, South Africa; David Toms, Shreveport, La.; Colin Montgomerie, Scotland
2:20 p.m. - 8:50 a.m. - John Mallinger, Long Beach, Calif.; Alastair Forsyth, Scotland; John Merrick, Long Beach, Calif.
2:31 p.m. – 9:01 a.m. - Chris Stroud, Houston, Texas; Ross McGowan, England; Ian Leggatt, Canada
2:42 p.m. - 9:12 a.m. - John Ellis, San Jose, Calif.; A-Jimmy Henderson, Lebanon, Ohio; Andrew Dresser, Carrollton, Texas

O'Hair, 13 others earn US Open exemptions

2008-05-27T16:20:00.004-04:00

This just in from the USGA...

Far Hills, N.J. – Fourteen more professional golfers earned full exemptions into the upcoming 2008 U.S. Open by being in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking or by being among the top money leaders for the year as of May 26. A total of 72 golfers are fully exempt from qualifying for the upcoming Championship, scheduled from June 12-15 at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, Calif.

In all, three more exemption categories were closed as of May 26.

Those who earned full exemptions through the current World Ranking were Stuart Appleby, J.B. Holmes, Miguel Jimenez, Robert Karlsson, Martin Kaymer, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Sean O’Hair, Rod Pampling, Ian Poulter, Jeff Quinney, Mike Weir and Oliver Wilson. The remainder of the top 50 ranked players (38) were already fully exempt through other criteria.

Ryuji Imada earned a full exemption by being among the top 10 money leaders on the PGA Tour as of May 26. Kim and Quinney also were among the PGA Tour’s top 10 money winners. The rest of the top 10 money leaders were already fully exempt.

Jimenez and Wilson were additionally fully exempt by being the top two money leaders on the PGA European Tour for 2008 as of May 26.

One more fully exempt place could be awarded following the close of this week’s Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour, if the winner is not already fully exempt and it is his second Tour win since last April 25.

Sectional qualifying for the remaining 84 spots will take place at 13 sites on June 2. The first sectional qualifier was held May 26 in Japan with two spots for the U.S. Open field awarded.

Here is the list of the 72 golfers who are fully exempt:

Robert Allenby
Stuart Appleby
Stephen Ames
Woody Austin
Aaron Baddeley
Brad Bryant
Jonathan Byrd
Angel Cabrera
Mark Calcavecchia
Michael Campbell
Paul Casey
K.J. Choi
Daniel Chopra
Stewart Cink
Tim Clark
Ben Curtis
Luke Donald

Nick Dougherty
Ernie Els
Niclas Fasth

Jim Furyk
Sergio Garcia
Retief Goosen
Todd Hamilton
Soren Hansen
Padraig Harrington
J.B. Holmes

Charles Howell III
Ryuji Imada
Trevor Immelman
Lee Janzen
Miguel Jimenez
Zach Johnson
Robert Karlsson
Martin Kaymer
Shingo Katayama
Jerry Kelly
Anthony Kim
Justin Leonard
Hunter Mahan
Shaun Micheel
Phil Mickelson
Colin Montgomerie

Sean O’Hair
Geoff Ogilvy
Rod Pampling

Ian Poulter
Jeff Quinney
John Rollins
Andres Romero
Justin Rose
Rory Sabbatini
Adam Scott
Vijay Singh
Heath Slocum
Brandt Snedeker
Henrik Stenson
Richard Sterne
Steve Stricker
Toru Taniguchi
*Michael Thompson
David Toms

Scott Verplank

Camilo Villegas
Bubba Watson
Boo Weekley
Mike Weir
Lee Westwood
Brett Wetterich
Oliver Wilson
Tiger Woods

Goydos

2008-05-12T09:35:00.005-04:00

Personally, I was pulling for Paul Goydos to win The Players Championship.

I’ve been a sort of closet Goydos fan for about 10 years, ever since we waited out a rain delay together at some tournament somewhere. I don’t even remember what tournament it was; I just remember the skies opened up, I was out at the far end of the golf course, and I ran for the nearest shelter, where, it turned out, Goydos, his caddie and maybe three or four others also had taken refuge.

I also remember Goydos was every bit the wry wit that day as he was on TV with Bob Costas over the weekend at TPC Sawgrass.

At the time, I barely knew who Goydos was. He hadn’t won a tournament yet or otherwise attracted much attention. In fact, he was fighting just to get into tournaments and make enough money to keep his PGA Tour card. I distinctly remember him talking about how he worked as a substitute teacher back home in Long Beach on weeks he didn’t get into tournaments.

Ever since then, I’ve had Goydos pegged as a pretty normal guy, and as someone who will stand there and talk to you and offer thoughtful, honest answers to questions on a wealth of topics. It’s also hard not respect Goydos for surviving out there among the studs and bombers.

The guy is 43, he’s a single dad with two teenage daughters, he’s got a last name that sounds like a growth on your neck and he’s built like a penguin. What's not to like?

You happen to catch his retort on Saturday, after Costas asked him why he kept his top shirt button buttoned in 90-plus heat.

“I’ve got no shoulders,” said Goydos. “It’s the only way my shirt stays on.”

Daly vs. Butch, Part II

2008-05-01T11:04:00.002-04:00

Good story from ESPN.com..

Golf instructor Butch Harmon spoke to John Daly last week, but said he did not offer an apology for parting ways with the troubled golfer after reports that Daly had been drinking in a hospitality tent at a March PGA Tour event.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Tiger's handicap? Try +8

2008-04-30T13:14:00.002-04:00

Apparently having a little too much time on their hands, the good folks at the Golf Assocation of Philadelphia set out to figure out what Tiger Woods' handicap would be. They figure +8.

Says the story:

"That would mean if Tiger visits the home club of each of the Association’s player of the year he would give Michael McDermott of Merion Golf Club, the reigning William Hyndman, III Player of the Year, seven strokes, Raymond Thompson of Overbrook Golf Club, the Senior Player of the Year, six strokes and Robert Robertson of Sunnybrook Golf Club, the Junior Player of the Year, will get seven."

To read the entire story, click here.

Penn Golf Assn '08 schedule

2008-04-30T11:55:00.002-04:00

This just in from the Pennsylvania Golf Association...

The 2008 Pennsylvania Golf Association schedule, the 99th in the organization's history, once again contains events for players of various ages and skill levels throughout the commonwealth. Beginning in April, and encompassing six months, the schedule visits all four corners of the state for its 22 tournaments and 35 days of competition.

For the rest of the schedule, click here.

Crump Cup/Compher Cup

2008-04-24T09:43:00.002-04:00

A reader called in today, apparently confused about the difference between the Crump Cup and the Compher Cup.

The Compher Cup, the annual match between the Golf Association of Philadelphia and the New Jersey State Golf Association, was held this past Monday. (GAP won). This year, it happened to be at Pine Valley.

The Compher Cup is not to be confused with the Crump Cup, the annual amateur invitational, held by and at Pine Valley Golf Club. The finals match of the Crump Cup, which falls on Sept. 28 this year, is the one day of the year when the club throws open the doors to outsiders.

Tell me again why we should care?

2008-04-23T13:59:00.003-04:00

Every now and then I get a PR release that makes me scratch my head and wonder, What the ----?

Case in point...

David Leadbetter Signs Multi-Year Agreement
With Wilhelmina Artist Management

CHAMPIONSGATE, Florida — David Leadbetter,—the world’s No. 1 golf instructor and coach to countless tour professionals worldwide, including newly crowned 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman—announces he has signed a multi-year agreement with Wilhelmina Artist Management of New York City.

Wilhelmina Artist Management, a division of Wilhelmina International, will represent David Leadbetter as his exclusive worldwide agent relative to all appearances, endorsements and licensing businesses. Additionally, Wilhelmina will manage the business affairs and growth strategy for the David Leadbetter Golf Academies in North America, the premier brand for golf instruction throughout the world, as well as manage Leadbetter’s contractual relationship with IMG.

“I am extremely pleased and excited to be associated with such a superior agency,” says Leadbetter, whose announcement comes close on the heels of his longtime student Immelman’s wire-to-wire victory at the Masters. “We are developing a comprehensive plan for Academy development and future growth, and I’m sure Wilhelmina’s assistance and guidance with this new expansion will be very successful.”

In 1998, as an innovator in the industry, Wilhelmina Models became the first fashion company to develop a specific division to exclusively represent premier talent in the worlds of music, sports and entertainment. Today, that division called Wilhelmina Artist Management, is one of the industry’s finest, with a roster that includes Fergie, Natasha Bedingfield, Heather Graham, Amy Smart and Justin Chambers, among others.

Wilhelmina Artist Management creates, develops and manages celebrity-powered campaigns, product lines, private brand licensing, endorsements, sponsorships, talent appearances and corporate entertainment strategies.

“Wilhelmina is proud and honored to represent David Leadbetter, one of the legends in the golf world, and we are equally as honored to manage his Academies in North America,” says Dieter Esch, Chairman Wilhelmina Artist Management, which measurably extends brand relevance and increases brand loyalty to targeted audiences. “The purpose of this transaction is to further improve the Leadbetter brand worldwide and expand the Academy business.”

Tiger radio interview

2008-04-22T15:43:00.006-04:00

This from the folks at Fox Sports radio...

LOS ANGELES, April 22, 2008 - Tiger Woods joined The First Team on FOX with Steve Czaban this morning. Below are highlights from the interview…

On watching himself on TV:

Czaban: “Here’s an oddball question. Do you Tivo tournaments you’re in? Then go back and look at them afterwards, maybe take notes, notice something, listen to what the announcers are saying?”

Woods: “I usually have my secretary get a copy of the telecast from the PGA tour and I’ll take a look at it just from the swing standpoint, yeah.”

Czaban: “Just the swing though, you really won’t sit down and…”
Woods: “Listen to the commentators? No, never.”

On his workout routine:

Czaban: “Your body in relation to most other golfers is nothing short of phenomenal, and I’m wondering, what are you benching now, Tiger?”

Woods: “I don’t bench. Period.”

Czaban: “Come on.”

Woods: “I don’t.”

Czaban: “What do you do for your chest?”

Woods: “I might do some flys. Chest press or flys. But it’s more of a stretching exercise than a building exercise.”

On how long he might play:

Czaban: “You ever thought about how old you might be when you win your last major. Where that could be? Jack obviously won the Masters at 46.”

Woods: “With the way athletes are training and working out and keeping their bodies in shape, hopefully I could play past that at 46 and still be effective.”

Czaban: “So you think you could win a major in your 50s. You’re hoping?”

Woods: “I’d hope so. I hope that everything pans out that way.”

On tough scoring at the Masters:

Czaban: “Why didn’t we see scoring like we used to see at the Masters?”

Woods: “The golf course was set up too hard. They moved the tees up which was the only thing they could have done to at least give us a chance on Sunday. If they didn’t move the tees up, you would’ve seen probably the same kind of scoring we saw last year on Sunday.”

Czaban: “Would you dare ever go to anybody in a green jacket and say ‘you know maybe you ought to try this’?”

Woods: “All players have. A lot of the past champions have, who are actually playing. Augusta makes their own policy. They do what they want to do. A lot of times that’s great for the game of golf. I think they might have just made the golf course a little bit more difficult. I heard they’re making some changes for next year. So maybe that might facilitate some lower scores.

On his knee surgery:

Czaban: “Everyone wants to know. How’s the left wheel coming out of surgery?”

Woods: “It’s a little sore right now, but it should be good in about a month.”
Czaban: “Doctor got in and said nothing serious, little clean up, should to be good to go in about a month?”

Woods: “That’s it. He said ‘you’re getting older bud.’”

Phila retains Compher Cup

2008-04-22T08:57:00.003-04:00

This just in from the Golf Assn of Phila...

PINE VALLEY, N.J. -- The Golf Association of Philadelphia defeated the New Jersey State Golf Association, 12.5-5.5, to retain the Compher Cup on Monday at Pine Valley Golf Club.

The Compher Cup is the annual early season match between the two neighboring state associations. This was the 46th competition.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Brokaw @ Masters

2008-04-13T14:16:00.004-04:00

Each year, Golf Digest asks a non-golfer writer of some note to come to the Masters and write a piece about the experience for the following year's tournament preview. This year, it's former NBC Nightly News anchorman Tom Brokaw.

Who even knew Brokaw was a golfer? He is, but he's hardly as avid about golf as he is about fly fishing. Brokaw, who was chatting up Dan Jenkins in the media center a couple of days ago, told the Augusta Chronicle that he took up golf about 13 years ago.

"I've been playing at it more than I've been playing it," he told the paper.

Although he has played the course once, this is his first Masters. "I'm a big sports fan and I'm a big-even fan," said Brokaw, who has been to Super Bowls, World Series and Final Fours. "This was the last on my checklist of big events I've been to. My wife said, 'I rarely see you so excited.'"

Zipped lips @ Masters

2008-04-13T13:59:00.004-04:00

Certainly by tradition and maybe by club policy, only the chairman of the club can speak on behalf of Augusta National Golf Club.

It's almost comical to approach a green-jacketed Augusta member, who almost invariably is a captain of industry back home, and ask him the simpliest, most harmless question, only to have him respond, like a mantra, "You'll have to ask the chairman, Mr. Billy Payne, about matters pertaining to the club."

I'm not talking about questions like, "When you guys going to finally get a female member?" I'm talking about, "Is that tree new this year?" or "How are the greens running today?"

The absurdity of the policy reached a new height this week when one of the best players in the club, Jeff Knox, was drafted to play as a marker Saturday and Sunday in the Masters. After his round on Saturday with Miguel Angel Jimenez, Knox, 45, who once shot 61 from the member tees, could not comment on his round.

Ah, Augusta

2008-04-10T10:36:00.004-04:00

It is a gorgeous morning in Augusta. Earlier, a fog delay pushed tee times back an hour, but that has passed and now it's bright, clear springtime moring at the Masters.

I've already had my annual lunch on the back balcony of the clubhouse, overlooking the first tee. A cup of seafood chowder, a junior club sandwich and peach cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream came to about $12.

As in years past, the food was so-so but the ambiance and the view are unbeatable and unforgettable. Down below, there is a steady stream of players walking from the course to the locker room. There's also a Who's Who of big-time sports agents, writers, TV talent and execs, sports shrinks, golf industry titans and all manner of hangers-on who are able to get a pass for inside the clubhouse.

Mickelson hoax

2008-04-09T16:19:00.003-04:00

If you are hearing rumors that Phil Mickelson dropped $200,000 gambling with Augusta National members last week, then tried to weasel out of paying off the bet, don't believe it. It's an April Fool's hoax that is making it's way around the blogosphere.

A blogger cooked up the story and attributed it to Golfweek's Insider column, where the magazine posts a lot of its juicy stuff.

According to the blogger's account, the furious Augusta National members even dragged Mickelson before club chairman Billy Payne, who supposedly informed him to pay up or get out -- forever.

As the story was making its way around the internet like a virus video today, the Golfweek folks, who are sitting about five rows behind me in the media center at the Masters, were doing all they could to kill it -- and especially kill any connection to them.

Tiger on the Masters

2008-04-02T17:08:00.004-04:00

NEWSLETTER

April 2, 2008

By Tiger Woods

As you might expect, I'm gearing up for the Masters. It's the first major championship of the year and I'm excited about returning to Augusta National. They haven't made many changes to the course, so I'm not going to play an early practice round this week. I'll keep working at home with Hank Haney and try to sharpen my game.I know they removed some trees along the right side of No. 11; added 10 yards to the front of the first tee in case the wind blows; and tweaked the seventh and ninth greens.

The bottom line: It's going to be long and difficult, and you're going to have to have all aspects of your game firing. The only thing we don't know is what the wind is going to do.Overall, I feel very good about the way I'm swinging the club. Although my winning streak ended at Doral, I'm very pleased about the way I have played and hope the positive momentum carries over to Augusta.

Ever since I joined the PGA Tour in 1996, my goal has always been to win every tournament. That's just the way I think. If you don't feel that way, why enter? Although I got off to a great start his year by winning my first four events, including Dubai, I knew it was unlikely I would go undefeated. That didn't stop me from trying.

Sexy editor's note

2008-03-30T21:22:00.002-04:00

This post has nothing to do with golf. But it is the best editor's note I've seen in a long time...

New York Times

Editor's Note"

March 30, 2008 An article on March 16 profiling three sex workers in the wake of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s resignation after revelations that he patronized prostitutes misconstrued how two of the women, identified by the pseudonyms Faith O’Donnell and Sally Anderson, said they earned a living. The resulting misrepresentation of the two women’s work included a headline that referred to them as “high-priced call girls” and a paragraph that said they practiced “the 21st-century version of the oldest profession.”

For the rest, click here.

Billy Packer & golf

2008-03-28T09:16:00.006-04:00

Who knew Billy Packer had any connection to golf?

Growing up in ACC country, I heard Packer doing college basketball all my life. Once upon a time I liked him. Now I find him only slightly less annoying that Dick Vitale.

Anyway, with March Madness upon us, Golfweek saw fit to profile the Mouth of the South.

Turns out he owns and sells courses but he rarely, and barely, plays at golf.

Tiger's streak over

2008-03-24T12:10:00.003-04:00

For Tiger-philes, here's this morning's post-round interview from the WGC-CA Championship, won by Geoff Ogilvy.

Q. Would you talk a little bit about maybe the frustration of the leaderboard, never got higher than 17 and you got to 15 and can never inch a little closer?

TIGER WOODS: Well, you know, I made too many mistakes this week, you know? I was saying over there, I had four three-putts this week, I had two terrible lies in bunkers and a photographer got me on nine. With all that, to only finish two back, I think that's a great sign.

Q. Put the streak in context a little bit, how you feel that you're playing?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think the people that truly understand are the players. I don't think you guys really understand or even the fans out there, just how small the difference is. I just explained what happened this week, how close -- if I just clean up my round this week, then obviously I'm right there with Geoff, if not just a little bit ahead of the 17 he's at right now.

Q. You begun this week talking about how the breaks have been going for you through the streak. Do you feel in a sense that you just kind of ran out of breaks?

TIGER WOODS: That's the way it goes, you know? As I said, people don't really understand you need to have something happen, a positive thing happen to you out there in order to win tournaments. I heard Geoff bladed one in the hole for par. That's what you need to have happen. Those are the things that have happened to me, and things weren't going that way this week.

Q. Talk about 16 after you tried to drive the green. (Went for the green; tee shot settled in the rough along the rim of the bunker; bad break)

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, that was a very interesting lie.

Q. You went through the bunker and were on the grass?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I was in the grass. It was sandy, it was sitting kind of funky, a shot I could easily just kind of leave either three feet in front of me, or I decided to put it 15, 20 feet and try to make a putt, and I put it a little bit further than that but had to give myself a putt at it. You can't just sit around and get cute and leave it in the bunker. Now you're hoping to make 5. No, I played conservative and then tried to make a putt.

Q. At the time you got a little birdie momentum going, looked like maybe a Hazeltine Hail Mary going down the stretch --

TIGER WOODS: Well, I didn't hit a bad shot coming in. The only shot that I really hit that would be a poor shot was 18, and that was just a poor number in my head that I was trying to play to. I should have played a little bit deeper than what I did in my head. No, I didn't hit a bad shot all day, which was nice.

Q. You changed clubs on 18, too. What did you do?

TIGER WOODS: I went from wedge to 9 because the wind kept going from down to more across and more across, and I played the 9 too soft.

Q. What's this do for you looking ahead two weeks down the road where they hand out green jackets? Still feeling pretty good about the state of the game?

TIGER WOODS: I think it's a great sign, what happened this week, to make that many mistakes and only be two back.

Q. (Question regarding 16.)

TIGER WOODS: Well, I upshot that drive. If I hit it solid, I could get it there with really no problem. But I upshot it, ended up to the right. I knew if it was in the left bunker it was an easy bunker shot uphill into the grain, and I put it over the right. It was a poor shot combined with a very interesting lie.

Q. Over the weekend, the rain --

TIGER WOODS: Well, it's been a long week, and it's just going to be a long day today. It is what it is, and we all had to play through it. I had ample chances to get myself up there on that board and win the tournament and just didn't do it.

Golfweek's Best for 2008

2008-03-17T17:29:00.005-04:00

Golfweek is out with it's new list of America's Best courses. If you're a well-traveled golfer at all, it's great fun to scroll through the state-by-state rankings of "Best Courses You Can Play" to see which ones you've played.

Note: The asterisk next to a course denotes it new to the list. The (m) and (c) denote modern or classic courses.

Pennsylvania
1. Nemacolin Woodlands (Mystic Rock), Farmington (m)
2. GC at Glen Mills, Glen Mills (m)
3. Olde Stonewall, Ellwood City (m)
4. Bedford Springs Old Course, Bedford (c)
*5. Inniscrone, Avondale (m)
*6. Hershey CC (West), Hershey (c)
7. Lederach, Harleysville (m)
8. Hershey Links, Hummelstown (m)
9. Club at Morgan Hill, Easton (m)
10. Raven’s Claw, Limerick (m)

Personally, I think Inniscrone and Lederach are both ranked too high, although they both have ardent fans.

New Jersey
1. Atlantic City CC, Northfield (c)
2. Ballyowen, Hardyston (m)
3. Twisted Dune, Egg Harbor Township (m)
4. Sand Barrens, Swainton (m)
5. Pine Hill GC, Pine Hill (m)
6. Royce Brook (East), Somerville (m)
7. Scotland Run, Monroe Township (m)
8. Neshanic Valley, Neshanic Station (m)
9. Architects GC, Lopatcong (m)
*10. Shore Gate GC, Ocean View (m)
11. Seaview (Bay), Absecon (c)
12. Wild Turkey GC at Crystal Springs Resort, Hardyston (m)
13. Hominy Hill, Colts Neck (m)
14. RiverWinds, Thorofare (m)
*15. Vineyards at Renault Winery, Egg Harbor Township (m)

If you ask me, Jersey has a stronger list of courses than Pennsylvania. Major props to local architect Ed Shearon, who has two courses on the list, RiverWinds and Vineyards at Renault Winery.

Delaware
1. Bayside, Fenwick Island (m)
2. Deerfield Golf & Tennis Club, Newark (c)
*3. Back Creek, Middletown (m)
4. White Clay Creek, Newark (m)
*5. Baywood Greens, Long Neck (m)

For the full state-by-state list, click here.

Tiger tips his cap

2008-03-17T09:43:00.003-04:00

PGA Tour: We're here with Tiger Woods, now a five-time champion of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. You had a pretty nice putt on 18 to win for the third time this year. You've got a good streak going. Let's talk about it.

TIGER WOODS: Well, it was just a great day. I hit the ball well all day, and Bart played great on especially the back nine, forced the issue on 18 and by posting 9; all day we were trying to get to 10. I figured 10 at the worst we would be in a playoff. I 3-putted there at 10, and felt like, you know, I still had eight more holes to get to 10 but unfortunately it took me all eight holes. The great thing about the last hole, that was my best swing I made all week with the 5-iron I hit in there. The wind had totally switched. It was blowing off the left on 17, in off the left and now was in off the right on 18. So hit a 5-iron up there and held just a flat hill hold shot and felt great. I gave myself a putt at it. The putt, I was just trying to make sure I got the speed right. Now that green has a little bit more grass on it, and the grain has a little bit more effect on it, and I gave it just a little bit more. I hit the putt down there, and it took forever to start breaking and for the grain to start taking it; but once it started taking it, it went straight right and went in the hole.

Q. You talk so often about this is what you live for, these kind of moments. Can you talk about if you can even remember what generates through your body and mind when the putt goes in and if you even know how you're celebrating?

TIGER WOODS: You know, when Stevie handed me my hat, I was like, "How in the hell did he get my hat?" (Laughter). Evidently, it came off. I don't know how it came off, but it came off. (Laughter).

Q. Pretty dramatically.

TIGER WOODS: I need to see the highlights. I was so into the moment of the putt going in and winning the golf tournament. I kept telling myself, I've done this before, I did it against Phil, and this time it's a little bit deeper into the green and the putt has a little bit more break and it has a little more grain; I've done it before and I can do it again.

Q. Did you find it ironic you were 0-for-20 in putts over 18 feet and all the issues you had with the putting and you were short all week that that goes in?

TIGER WOODS: Well, just had to keep working on my speed. You know, all week I kept telling myself, don't leave yourself a second putt, obviously with the nature of these greens, they were not running too smooth. Like what happened at the 10th hole, I ran it by and that was probably the driest green of it them all and I missed a come backer and that's one of the reasons why I needed to really concentrate on my speed and make sure I didn't leave those putts. That's what I kept trying to tell myself on 18: Don't leave yourself a second putt. Make sure you get your speed right and so if it does miss, it's just a tad.

Q. When you're standing in the fairway on 18, it would be easy to be defensive there. How do you balance that with trying to hit a shot and leave yourself a putt to win; are you torn as to how to approach that?

TIGER WOODS: Well, there are times when you do play pretty conservative but there I played -- bear with me here. I played aggressive to a conservative spot. I wanted to make sure I made a very aggressive swing, and I was aiming at the tower there, which is probably 15, 20 feet left of the hole, just hit the ball on that tower. Because the wind had totally switched, it was in off the left on 17 and now it's in off the right. If I spin that 5-iron, I can't get there. And if I hit it at the flag, so make sure I keep it left of the flag, but be committed to doing it. Reason why I chose that spot instead of further left, because I just saw Sean get it riding on the wind and it ended up over the green. So I really couldn't afford to hit it either way; just make sure I got committed and hit a shot that would give myself a 20-footer. And it turned out absolutely perfect. That was the best thing I made all week.

Q. What did you find on the range this week?

TIGER WOODS: Just same thing I was working on yesterday. It felt good. It was just a continuation of it. And felt like I was able to control the ball again and hit it both ways, which was great.

Q. Can you quantify how much your swing progressed as far as improvement from Thursday, Friday to today?

TIGER WOODS: Well, Thursday and Friday especially, I feel like I had a two-way miss. Yeah, you saw I hit the ball right a lot, but if I stayed back and got committed to it, I hit it left. So I had to try and time my release and my wishy-washiness of the golf ball. My face was rotating too much. I had to get that organized, and I felt pretty good about what I did yesterday. I had a one-way miss, which was great, and today I hit it good all day.

Q. Given the timing of the circumstances, where does this putt rank with your history of great shots and great putts?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I don't know where it ranks but it got me a victory. (Smiling). The putt was nice. It was great to make the putt, but I was so excited the 5-iron I hit in there to give myself a putt at it. You have to understand, I had not hit the ball well the last three days, and then to have that shot with everything on the line, to hit a shot and give myself a putt at it; you saw Stevie and I celebrate in the fairway, I was so fired up I hit the shot the way I wanted to. Just tried to make sure I kept that positiveness going into the putt. And I felt good over the putt, and I also said, I did it in Dubai, downhill left-to-righter, there's no reason why I can't do it again, and it went in.

Q. Were you as shocked at what happened on 10 as we were? Can you explain what happened on 10?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I got too fixated on the line and I didn't do what I was supposed to do. I kept telling myself all week, you know, watch your pace. That green is more burnt out than the others and I ran it by. It wasn't all that smooth, and I blocked the next one. You know, I kept yelling at myself going to the next tee; that's the reason why you can't leave yourself a second putt on these greens. They are not smooth and you cannot afford to do that, and that's a lesson learned. Unfortunately it happened there on the 10th hole and in the last round. Just a bad mistake.

Q. After these greens, will you put more effort in your putting to get ready for next week?

TIGER WOODS: I feel like I putted good all week. I felt like my stroke was good. Whether they stayed online or not was not up to me.

Q. To the degree that it would be printable, what did Arnold say afterwards when he greeted you?

TIGER WOODS: Well, he said he was proud of me, the way I played. He just says, "It doesn't surprise me you made the putt."

Q. He was telling everybody it was going in when he was standing up on the hill.

TIGER WOODS: Somehow you just get a good feeling sometimes; and he being a player, knows better than anybody. Sometimes you can see it on a person whether they are going to make it or miss it.

Q. Totally different formats, I understand, but was this a tougher grind this week than Tucson?

TIGER WOODS: Tucson was more physically demanding. This week, swing-wise, I didn't really have it, and trying to manage my game around. Yesterday, I was very fortunate to post a good round and not have the leaders run off. Vijay could have played a really good round and separated himself or Nick could have made one more birdie, gotten to 10-under or 11-under par and separated himself. It didn't happen. I got myself back in the tournament, and I felt good about what I had done with my swing yesterday and I hit it great all day today.

Q. You once said the thing you admired about Hogan and Mo Norman is that they owned their swing. How close are you to owning yours?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think I'm starting to understand it, and I think that's what I meant by that. Those guys were able to fix their game, and especially Hogan, because he played tournaments. Mo didn't really play a lot of tournaments. Ben was able to understand his swing probably more so than most players ever could understand theirs and how to fix it. He was one of the first guys to ever do a lot of swinging in the room at night in hotel rooms, to try to figure it out for the next day, have the game plan going out the next day when he warmed up. You know, that's the whole idea of understanding your game so you can fix it on the fly. I made some good adjustments on it yesterday when I was playing. Today I could feel something coming on and made a quick adjustment and got back to dialed in again, which felt great.

Q. Bart was in here before and said that the guys all understand the magnitude of what you're doing, maybe the public doesn't; do you understand it?

TIGER WOODS: I do, yeah. I'm playing. (Laughter). It's a lot more stressful inside the ropes, trust me.

Q. But the streak, tying Hogan now, the whole thing.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, well, tying Mr. Hogan, when I first started my career, there's no way I could ever dreamt I would be here right now. Hopefully if I had a great career and it panned out over a number of years, I might get to that number, but certainly not this quick.

Q. In the first couple of months of this season, now you've kept the streak going, what will it take four weeks from today to be in this same position after Augusta?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I have to keep working and keep progressing and keep working on my game and make sure everything is peaking toward Augusta.

Q. Are you motivated by the idea that there's such a spotlight on you that if you run that thing three or four feet past and miss it that it would become all the talk? I guess is fear a motivator for you, or is it never --

TIGER WOODS: (Shaking head no.) I don't really look at it that way. I looked at it as an opportunity to make sure I got my pace right and to end the tournament.

Q. And the putt that went in, you looked by your reaction that you knew you had enough, that it was going to tumble in and there was a point where you looked pretty sure --

TIGER WOODS: I had a good feeling probably six or seven feet in, once the grain started taking it and slinging it to the right. Once it got going to the right, it got more downgrain and once it got going downgrain, it was going to run out.

Q. Do you remember the first tournament you ever played when you stood over a putt that if you made it, you won?

TIGER WOODS: No, I don't remember to be honest with you.

Q. Is that a feeling, is that the ultimate feeling out there?

TIGER WOODS: I have to say it's knowing that you have an opportunity to end the tournament and it's in your hands, not anyone else's; it's in your hands. Whether you do it or not remains to be seen, and it's like having the ball with a few seconds to go; do you want it or not want it. I would much rather have it in my hands than anyone else's.

Q. When you're out there, you seem so focused, but to the thousands of people out there, it's like the circus came to town. Are you oblivious to the mob that follows you around?

TIGER WOODS: No, I'm not oblivious, no. You hear it and people yelling and screaming, you know, supporting you, you hear all that, yeah. But they are not going to help me hit a golf shot. That's one of the things that my father has always tried to instill in me is no matter how bad someone wants you -- like for example, how he wants me to hit a golf shot or my mom or my friends or media or family or whatever it may be, it's up to me. I have to pull off the shot. I've got to get out there and handle my own business.

Q. Knowing how important it is to have a chance to make the last putt, can you back to yesterday when you made the birdie on 16, which basically kind of got you in the final group -- can you talk about how fun it is to hit a shot like that, to play golf shots? And then secondly, what was your strategy going into it and how did you pull it off?

TIGER WOODS: Well, the shot on 16, if I didn't hit the shot on 15, I probably wouldn't have hit the shot on 16. All week I was kind of struggling with trying to get my face square and it was just rotating too much, whatever. Then I hit that shot on 15 and I could finally feel, I finally did it right. Then when I had the shot on 16, I said, well, it's the same shot, just hold it back in the wind, but just don't hold it as much. And I just kept saying, all you do, you just don't have to hold it as much as you did on 15. When I hit it, I basically hit a release fade, which felt great; and a little 6-iron that just held it against the wind and the wind kind of drifted at the very end. The shot on 15 set up 16.

Q. I know you're busy with your own game, but after the first couple of holes, what did you see in Sean where he kind of got back into it? What did you see that you liked about him today?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, Sean got off to kind of a rough start there. But he fought back and made birdies at -- what has he made birdies at, 14 and 15. He got himself right back and anything can happen on last three holes. Just had to be there. He was right there. I mean, he was right there if Bart or myself made a mistake, he would have put himself right there with a chance to win or put himself in a playoff.

Q. Outside of people like us bringing it up, do you think about this streak much, or is it a matter of win this tournament, No. 7 follows; you win next week, No. 8 naturally follows?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think that's the way you have to play. It's nice to have positive feelings going into an event, but it starts anew. You know, one of the greatest things about our game is if you're playing poorly, the week is over, you get to go down the road and tee it up again and give yourself another opportunity to win.

Q. I don't mean to sound trite at all, but just with regard to winning, is it almost kind of becoming an addiction to some degree? I know it's what you do and you're supposed to do --

TIGER WOODS: If feels good, Mark, it really does. (Laughter). It's why you work all those tireless hours. It's why you get up at 0-dong-30 and log your miles, bust your tail in the gym, there's a reason why is to be in that position right there to fail or succeed, but to be in that position time and time again. Trust me, that's the rush, to be in that position.

Q. With all of the momentum you have right now, what could stop you from continuing the streak, if anything?

TIGER WOODS: All of the players in the event. (Laughter).

Daly speaks

2008-03-13T14:29:00.003-04:00

This transcript just in from the PR Dept at the Golf Channel, which interviewed John Daly for Golf Central

On his Disqualification from the Arny Invy:

Peter was here, my caddie. We left at 8:30 to go to the golf course to play the Pro-Am. I was right almost at Gate A when (Tournament director) Mark Russell said I missed my tee time. I said, ‘No I was supposed to go off at 9:47’. He said, ‘No, you were at 8:40.’ I said, ‘That is kind of weird because we called the tournament yesterday when I was out here at Celebration practicing and that was the time the lady gave us.’

The weird thing was why Peter didn’t think we should call back was I thought I was going to go early because that is what I requested. Robert [Gamez] said the first time isn’t going to be until 8 anyway because it is going to get light at 7:30 with the time change. So we didn’t even think about calling back. So that’s cool. No big deal.

It is just unfortunate stuff like this happens. I feel bad for Arnold because he gave me the spot. Had a great hug from him in the Monday pro-am on number seven. I love him to death. First time in 17 or 18 years that I have ever missed a tee-time. I feel responsible for it but I just feel bad this had to happen with all of the other crap going on in my life. I would never miss Arnold Palmer’s Pro-Am if he wanted me to play. I would never miss that tee time. Unfortunately I just got a bad time.

I’ve always played pretty good here. I think Arnold inspires me and makes me play a little better. I don’t know. I’ve never won here. I’ve had some great finishes and some good rounds. I feel bad for all this to happen. I’ve got to take the responsibility. I should have checked my time again.

On Splitting with Butch Harmon:

You know I haven’t seen the articles. I didn’t watch the Golf Channel last night. But Butch didn’t call me to let me know. I just texted Butch to say, ‘I just wish you would have called me,’ that’s all. I said, ‘I love you like a brother. You're the greatest golf coach, anywhere. I think you are better than anybody.’ This is unfortunate. I just wish he would have called me, that’s all.

On Events during PODS Championship:

Peter has had a neck problem for about the last two months. Jimmy has popped him back in. His neck was killing him. It got cold. And I said ‘Peter, let’s get Coach to caddy the last six or seven holes because darkness was going to come. I mean, it wasn’t like, you know, Peter was hurt. So, no problem, it was great for the tournament. Everybody loved it.

Same thing Saturday at Tampa. Gerald, the tournament director, says ‘Do you want to go to the Owl’s Nest?’ I said yeah I am already going because Hooters wants me to be there. Sign hats. Talking to the fans and having a good time. This thing about flipping a camera guy off. Well, we may have done it in fun. Half the time I take pictures with guys they want me to flip the picture off because that is what they want. We were having a good time. Nobody was loud. I thought it was good for the tournament. Hooters loved it. I sat there and ate, had a few beers with Peter. Wasn’t drunk or anything. I was there for four hours signing things. It was a good thing. But now it seems like this guy who wrote this article about me flipping off the camera guy, I guess he just doesn’t like me. But it wasn’t anything mean or anything. It was fun. That is just the way my life is going right now. You think you are doing somebody a good thing and somebody just wants to bring it all down. If that is how they want to live, then so be it. I can’t live that way.

Dumb, dumb Daly

2008-03-12T12:21:00.011-04:00

It's official now: It's time to give up on John Daly.

Yesterday, Butch Harmon, swing coach to many PGA Tour stars, dropped Daly as a client, saying the bloated blubbo was no longer worth the bother.

"My goal for him was he's got to show me golf is the most important thing in his life," said Harmon. "And the most important thing in his life is getting drunk."

This after Daly, who has lost his PGA Tour card, famously glugged his way through the Bob Hope Classic. Then, during a 2 1/2 hour weather delay at last week's PODS Championship, Daly retreated to a hospitality tent.

How did Daly respond to Harmon's rebuke?

At the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, where he had been given a precious sponsor's exemption by one of the most respected, legendary figures in the game, Daly was a no-show for his 8:40 a.m. tee time in the pro-am. Unless he's got one heck of an excuse, that'll get him nixed from the field.

Some people never learn, and apparently Daly has his sights on the top of the list.

Say what???

2008-03-12T09:59:00.005-04:00

An email poured in from a reader/viewer, wondering if they heard Sean O'Hair's post-victory interview at the PODS Championship correctly. When O'Hair thanked his caddie, his coach and his father-in-law, did NBC's Jimmy Robert's mis-hear or whatever and think the young golfer was thanking his actual father, from whom he is famously estranged?

Yes, that's exactly what happened.

To the tape:

O’HAIR: “I gotta thank my caddie Paul Tesori and my coach Steve Dahlby, and most of all I want to thank my father-in-law. You know he was there last week (tears in his eyes) and gave me a good pep talk.”

ROBERTS: “Really? I think a lot of people who don’t know a lot about golf might be surprised to hear that. But things are OK with you and him now?”

O’HAIR: “NO my father-IN-LAW Steve Lucas. My father-in-law used to be on the bag…”

Confused on new cut rule?

2008-02-11T09:37:00.000-05:00

Run you finger down the list of 36-hole scores from a PGA Tour tournament these days and you’ll often get to a new and peculiar abbreviation: MDF.

It stands for “Made the Cut, Did Not Finish.”

Judging from emails and phone messages, even many serious golf fans don’t keep up with each and every rule change on the PGA Tour. But this new rule, which determines who or will not play on the weekend, is important and controversial among many players.

The intent of the cut rule is to reduce the size of the fields on the weekends, with a goal of speeding up those excruciating 5½ rounds that sometimes become unfinished rounds and slop over to the next morning.

Tour and TV executives have concluded that fields culled to 70 to 78 make for ideal pairings, fewer long waits on tees and, therefore, better viewing. Not surprisingly, the players have dubbed it “Rule 78.”

Like the previous cut rule, Rule 78 credits players who are among the low 70 scores and ties with making the cut. But, if those low 70 scores and ties make for more than 78 players – it happens about 11 times a year, says the Tour -- then the closest number of players to 70 actually advance to the weekend.

At the Sony Open in Honolulu four weeks ago, where the rule first went into effect, 86 golfers made the cut at low 70s and ties. That meant 18 players fell victim to Rule 78, as the field was trimmed to the closest number to 70, in this case the 68 players who finished two rounds at 1-under par.

Those 18 guys got credit for making the cut, they got last place but official money ($9,805), they got 46 FedEx Cup points -- and they got shown the door.

Among the 18 sent packing were Brandt Snedeker, last year’s rookie of the year on the Tour, and John Daly.

“It was all news to me,” Snedeker said of the new policy.

Daly, who has no status on the Tour this year, was not so diplomatic. “I think it’s crazy,” Daly fumed to the Golf Channel. “It’s a stupid rule, I’m sorry.”

Stupid or not, if players were caught unaware, they have nobody to blame but themselves. In the wake of the complaints at the Sony, the Tour said, in so many words, to its members: Hello, do you people read your emails on those Tour-issued laptops we gave you? Did you not read any of the four notifications of the change?

Well, no, many of them apparently don’t. They have people for that – agent, managers, handlers, wives, sycophants.

Already there is talk that Rule 78 is so unpopular among some players that it will get repealed after only one year. In the meantime, the best advice from a lot of players are hearing is to basically stop bellyaching and player better.

“Some of the top 10 players like the rule,” Ty Votaw, executive vice president of the Tour, told USA Today. “Some of the players who live on the cut line do not.”

Who could blame the top players for liking the rule. On the weekends, they are the guys with the late tee times, slogging along behind the slow-poke, check-cashers who sweat the cut line.
Another thing is, the Rule 78 was not exactly shoved down the throats of the Tour members. The idea found enough support among the Player Advisory Council, comprised of 16 Tour players, that it went up the chain to the Tour’s nine-member Policy Board, comprised of Commissioner Tim Finchem, four outside directors and four Tour players (currently Brad Faxon, Stewart Cink, David Toms and Joe Ogilvy).

There, the cut policy was unanimous approved.

Tiger to Win Slam

2008-02-07T10:03:00.001-05:00

Okay, I’ve seen enough. Officially, this could be the year that Tiger Woods writes golf history by winning the Grand Slam.

Don’t bore me with the odds against Woods actually doing it, and don’t bother blathering on about the near-possibility of it all. I know that. But I have also seen the light and the truth and the way – and it’s Woods with a golf club in his hands.

Have you seen the way the man has started 2008?

How about an never-was-even-close eight-shot victory two weeks ago at the Buick Invitational in San Diego, his first tournament of the year? And how about his win Sunday at the Dubai Desert Classic, where he shot 65 in the final round to come from four shots back?

That makes for five wins in his last five tournaments, including the PGA Championship (his 13th major) and the Tour Championship at the end of last year. He has won seven of his last eight, the lone blemish on his record being a tie for second at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Woods’ command of his game is back, bigger than ever. So is his swagger. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the man owns golf.

Which brings us to Grand Slam. For years after Woods had that amazing stretch over 2000-01, when he held all four titles at one time, we began each new season with chatter about how that year might be the year for a Grand Slam.

Most years, the talked ended early, when Woods would fail to win the first major of the year, the Masters. Remember, of his four Masters titles, only one was in the last five years, in 2005.
Some years, Woods’ game just wasn’t there, as he twice retooled his swing. Other years, the venues for the majors just weren’t right for Woods.

This year, the stars are in alignment more than ever, and not even Woods is discouraging Slam speculation.

“I think it’s easily within reason,” Woods said during the end of his most recent monthly newsletter on his Web site.

Pressed by the media at the Buick, Woods didn’t back down. “The question is, do I see it as a possibility, and I say yes,” he said.

A fifth green at the Masters in April would ratchet up the chatter. The way his is playing, who in his right mind would bet against Woods at Augusta National, a course that is virtually built for his power game and towering irons shots. He is also the best clutch putter in the game.

For that matter, who would bet against Woods to win his third U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, the same course where he just dominated at yet another Buick Invitational.

True, the U.S. Golf Association will make Torrey Pines much tougher course for the Open. Still, not only has Woods won the Buick there six times, including the last four in a row, he even won a World Junior there as a kid.

If he is two-for-two going into the British Open, the plot thickens. The last time Royal Birkdale hosted the British Open was in 1998, when Woods was in only his second full year as a pro. He finished third at Birkdale, with the Claret Jug going to his buddy Mark O’Meara. While Birkdale is not one of the great British Open sites, Woods like it enough and that’s all that matters.

If he’s three-for-three after the British, the build up for the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club near Detroit will be nothing short of insane.

Woods’ could have bad memories about Oakland Hills. The last time he was there was for a pummeling in the 2004 Ryder Cup. Of course, those bad memories have more to do with Captain Hal Sutton’s pairings than with the golf course.

Casper to run Philly city courses

2008-01-29T16:17:00.000-05:00

For anybody who missed it in the paper a few weeks ago, here's the story I wrote about the Billy Casper Co. getting the contract to run Philadelphia's city courses...

By Joe Logan

Inquirer Staff Writer

If you're among the thousands of golfers who consider one of Philadelphia's six city-owned courses your home course, get ready for more changes.

After 2 1/2 years, the era of Liberty Golf, a local company that has managed the courses, is coming to an end. The city is in the final stages of negotiating a new contract with Billy Casper Golf, based in Vienna, Va., which manages 80 facilities in 21 states, the District of Columbia and Costa Rica.

The new management contract, however, will include only four of the city facilities: F.D.R. in South Philadelphia, John F. Byrne in the Northeast, and the crown jewel, Cobbs Creek and Karakung in West Philadelphia.

At the same time the new contract goes into effect - the target date is Jan. 1, 2008 - two of the city courses, Juniata in North Philadelphia and Walnut Lane in Roxborough, will begin being operated by two nonprofit groups.

News that the city had picked Billy Casper Golf, a proven company with a national reputation, came as an obvious blow to Liberty Golf, a smaller, younger, homegrown company that had hoped to maintain the contract.

Liberty, in fact, had been created almost overnight by Bud Connors, who had run the courses for years, first for Club Corp. of Dallas and later for Meadowbrook Golf of Florida after Meadowbrook begged out of its long-term contract in mid-2005.

"We are big fans of Liberty Golf because of the way they stepped up and helped the Fairmount Park Commission and literally made it possible for the city of Philadelphia to have golf the past two years," said Barry Bessler, chief of staff for the park commission and the city's point man on many golf-course matters. "But it was a stopgap measure. Billy Casper is a national firm and one of the leaders in municipal golf-course management. "

Although he was disappointed, Connors, president of Liberty, said that his company had gotten a fair shake from the city. But up against Billy Casper Golf, he was David against Goliath.
"We're a small mom-and-pop operation," said Connors. "I'm the president of the company, but I'm in the field every day. I wish Billy Casper good luck. "

Terms of the deal with Billy Casper - length of the contract, rent to be paid the city - are still being worked out. Neither side expects negotiations to hit a major sticking point.
Fact is, when the city put the contract out for bid, only three companies showed interest: Billy Casper, Liberty, and Kemper Sports Management, another national company whose portfolio includes Makefield Highlands in Bucks County and Heron Glen in Ringoes, N.J.

What tipped the scale in Billy Casper's favor was not grandiose promises, said Bessler, but rather straight talk and an established track record.

"They have in mind capital improvements for all the facilities," said Bessler. "Does that mean there will be enough money to turn these into Bethpage Black? No. But we believe the management company is on the same page as us in terms of what the courses need and what can benefit them most. "

Billy Casper manages a mix of private, daily-fee, resort and municipal courses across the country, including Lederach Golf Club in Harleysville, Reading Country Club in Reading and McCullough's Emerald Golf Links in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

The company's biggest municipal contracts are in Westchester County, N.Y. (three courses); Cincinnati (seven courses); and Cook County, surrounding Chicago (12 courses).
"Check with Cook County. We're like a before-and-after informercial," said Rich Katz, senior vice president at Casper's public relations and marketing company, Buffalo Communications.

In the Chicago Tribune's seasonal golf guide this past April, writer David Murray, a self-described "hard-core urban golfer," raved about the improvements at the Cook County courses since Casper took over in 2002, especially when compared to the Chicago city courses, which are managed by Kemper.

"I went to the Billy Caldwell course for a quick nine to keep the game sharp - you don't go to a Chicago public course for a serious round - and I noticed the first tee was made of grass," wrote Murray. "Where was the charming asphalt patch with the Astroturf welcome mat? And what was that in the middle of the fairway? Was it a bright, new 150-yard marker? "

Murray went on to praise Billy Casper Golf for not only improving course conditions but also for weeding out employees who had ranged from "indifferent to surly. " On the marketing side, wrote Murray, the Casper-run courses use computers to track the golf habits of their regulars, then send out special-offer e-mails that are so targeted, it's "almost creepy. "

If Billy Casper can deliver the same kind of performance in Philadelphia, Bessler and the city will breathe a sigh of relief. Initially, at least, any new management company will likely be greeted by city-course regulars with cautious optimism if not outright skepticism. Who could blame them?

Most recently, Liberty Golf did its best in a difficult situation, but before it there were years of pie-in-the-sky promises followed by neglect, first from Club Corp., then Meadowbrook Golf. In both cases, after the honeymoon, the relationship soured. It was golfers, and the golf courses, that felt the pain of the broken relationships.

This time around, to make the contract more attractive, the city has removed the two least attractive courses from the deal - Juniata and Walnut Lane. Both courses have their loyal regulars but neither tends to draw from beyond its neighborhood. The result is they have fewer rounds and produce less revenue.

In the case of Juniata, Bob Wheeler, a retired cop who has managed the course in recent years, pulled together the 12-member Juniata Golf Foundation, which he will head as executive director.

Walnut Lane will be operated by Impact Services, headed by John McDonald, the former Temple golf coach who is also executive director of the First Tee of Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Scholastic Golf Association. Both facilities will continue to be owned by the city, merely leased out for $1 a year.

While Juniata and Walnut Lane both will continue to operate as daily fee courses, Wheeler and McDonald hope to grow programs - golf and educational - for youngsters.
"We will be open just as we were before," said Wheeler. "The difference will be our hands won't be tied by the management companies or the city. "

Wheeler, who has stocked the foundation board with a cross-section of civic-minded folks involved in business, law and politics, is most excited by the promise from several trade unions to donate their services in building a much-needed clubhouse.

At Walnut Lane, McDonald is still studying the possibilities for some kind of First Tee facility, apart from the one he already runs at FDR.
"I've already had the First Tee folks from the national office in Florida up to look at it, and the USGA people, too," said McDonald.

Meanwhile, Bessler is left to keep his fingers crossed that the city has finally come up with a viable solution and a reliable management company for the future. If not, he knows he'll hear about it.

Philadelphia Public Courses
Here are the six Philadelphia public golf courses:
Cobbs Creek Olde Course and Karakung Course (West Philadelphia), 7400 Lansdowne Ave., 215-877-8707.
Juniata Golf Club (North Philadelphia), 1363 E. Cayuga St., 215-743-4060.
Walnut Lane Golf Club (Roxborough-East Falls), 700A Walnut Lane, 215-482-3370.
FDR Golf Club (South Philadelphia), 1954 Pattison Ave., 215-462-8997.
John F. Byrne Golf Club (Northeast Philadelphia), 9550 Leon St., 215-632-8666.

I have returned

2008-01-24T15:33:00.000-05:00

I said I would return and I have.

I am back after two months in the wilds of New Jersey and the News Department. I am back on golf -- the green, green, lush, manicured grass of golf.

Excuse me, I need a moment...

Anyway, because the Sports Department is also short-staffed, I'll get yanked from time to time to cover a Flyers game, or a college hoops game, or who knows what. But as spring approaches and the PGA Tour cranks up, I hope to be all golf all the time.

While I'm away...

2007-11-26T21:11:00.000-05:00

I'm leaving this lady in charge.

We interrupt this blog...

2007-11-18T14:52:00.000-05:00

In an unexpected development, I have been drafted by the Inquirer mother ship's News Department, to help out for the next couple of months. Apparently, News is even more short-staffed than Sports.

Until my return -- and my editors swear on a dogeared copy of the Rules of Golf that I will return in mid-January -- my postings here will be limited.

Back in a jiffy.

More from Sean O'Hair

2007-11-11T14:08:00.000-05:00

After a 1½-hour lunch with Sean O’Hair last week, I came away with enough stuff for a story twice as long as the one that ran in Sunday’s Inquirer.

So, here are some of his comments and quotes that didn’t make it into the paper:

Sean on the early part of the year…
The beginning of the year was a train wreck. I think I missed five out of my first six cuts.

I went back to an old instructor at the Houston event (Steve Dahlby). Ever since I went back to him things are good. I stared playing well. It was almost like an immediate improvement.

On his bad starts to the last two years…
I think it is more a matter of rust. Last year I was hitting the gym hard. I didn’t practice hardly at all. The year before, same thing. The (Philadelphia winter) weather is a problem for me. That is something I’ve got to figure out, whether it’s renting a place in Florida or buying a second home or just going down there every so often and staying in a hotel. That is something I am going to do differently this year. I’m not too keen on buying a second home but you never know.

On going into next season…
That’s what I will be focused on this winter: what can I do to prepare myself for the beginning of the year. I’ve never had a good beginning to the year. If I do, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it won’t be bad.

On Michelle Wie…
She has already sunk. She’s done. It would be very difficult for her to come back. For her to come back, she is going to have to separate herself from her parents, unfortunately. Her parents are good people, nice, but they are a little hard on her. She needs to take responsibility for her own life. It’s her life, it’s not her parents life. She needs to take responsibility for what is going on.

All I know is she is 18 years old. She is an adult. She needs to start doing things on her own, taking responsibility for her own life, her own career. But it’s none of my business. I was in a situation like that. It’s not easy to get out from underneath that thumb.

On the Players Championship…
People said, “You should have played for the middle of the green, taken your par and finished second.

I wanted to win. You could put me in that situation 100 more times and I am still going to try to win, being in the same situation. Now, I would do it in a different way. I wouldn’t fire at the pin. I’d probably take it 20 feet to the left and try and make the putt.

I hit the wrong club off the tee. I hit nine. I probably shouldn’t have gone for the pin. But you know what, I proved a lot to myself. When the time comes, I am not scared of winning the golf tournament. I am not scared of failure. It builds character.

On Tiger’s supremacy and his own efforts to become No. 1…
Tiger is not going to be on top forever. So there is a chance, if I work my tail off. One day, I have the capability of becoming the best player in the world.

Could I do it next year? Probably not. Five years? Probably not. But I’m only 25 years old. Look at Phil Mickelson. He’s what, 36 and he’s in the prime of his career. Where’s Tiger going to be 10 years from now? Where’s Phil going to be 10 years from now? Where am I going to be 10 years from now? Well, Tiger’s going to play well until he’s freakin’ 60. All I’m saying is I’m not close to the prime of my career and I’ve got some big goals. I want to be in the Hall of Fame, I want to win major championships.

On his life away from golf…
I love my life. I am so fortunate. There are times I sit there and think about things I didn’t experience as a 20-year-old. Honestly, I don’t care, because I have a lot of nice things kids my age don’t have. I have two beautiful kids and a beautiful wife who love me to death. Not to sound corny, but I am very blessed and I don’t appreciate it enough, to be honest.

You need to count your blessings. I kind of hit home the last two weeks of the Fall Season. I’m playing with guys who are on the verge of losing their jobs, and I’m thinking it could be a hell of a lot worse.

On living in Philadelphia…
I do feel like it’s home. I don’t like the winter. Winter sucks. But you know, my friends are here, my family is here. We have talked moving, going down to Georgia, the Carolinas, Florida, Arizona. The big reason we don’t move is my family, my wife. She is dead-set on living here.
If I did move, I would miss the beauty here. There is nowhere in the country prettier than this place.

I was driving late one night because I couldn’t sleep. It was after the Players and I was still kind of living it. It was 1 in the morning and went for a drive. I turned on the radio and they were talking about it. Obviously I’m going to listen to it to hear the bad things they were going to say. But they were very supportive. It was nice.

I’ve never had a home, dude. I’ve never been based out of anywhere. I moved out of Lubbock when I was 13. I moved to Arizona for three years, moved to Florida, but I didn’t’ didn’t live there for anytime. I’ve been here for five years. I’d love to be a Philadelphian. My plan is just to stay here.

Class of '07

2007-11-08T08:30:00.000-05:00

For guys on the Nationwide Tour, there's no bigger thrill -- or opportunity -- than being one of the Top 25 on the money list who play their way onto the Big Show, the PGA Tour for the following year.

Here's a link to thumbnail bios of this year's crop of fresh and not-so-fresh faces for 2008. Several of them are retreads.

Congrats, Ron Pilot

2007-11-06T12:49:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Ron Pilot, 79, board member at Glen Mills Schools and winner of one of Golf magazine's Innovator Awards.

Pilot, seen here with a few members of the grounds crew, conceived and ramroded the Golf Course at Glen Mills. Retired, Pilot still spends every day at the golf course, meeting and greeting golfers, interacting with the students. The magazine cited Pilot as the Samaritan.

Good call.

Requiem for a country club

2007-11-03T09:19:00.001-04:00

Berkleigh Country Club in Kutztown, which for years was the home to the LPGA's Betsy King Classic, ceased to exist last week and its contents auctioned off.

Longtime member Rich Lerner of the Golf Channel, who grew up in Allentown, wrote a loving tribute to his boyhood haunt for the Golf Channel website.

Rich begins his piece:

Berkleigh Country Club died last week. It ended by auction -- pin flags, tee markers, club championship boards, hole-in-one plaques and kitchen equipment. As collectibles go, we’re not talking the ’86 Masters, but for those of us who loved the modest Pennsylvania course, it was a sad occasion.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Say it ain't so

2007-11-02T15:59:00.000-04:00

In a crime against the game, if you ask me, a Richmond advertising and PR firm has been hired to rebrand Natalie Gulbis from LGPA hottie to...well, who cares.

Here's the story from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Rules changes

2007-10-31T11:19:00.000-04:00

This just in from the USGA...

RULES OF GOLF CHANGES FOR 2008 SET BY USGA AND R&A

Far Hills, N.J. – Beginning in 2008, a golfer will be allowed to lift a ball for identification in a bunker or water hazard. However, there now will be a two-stroke penalty for playing a wrong ball from a hazard. In match play, the penalty will be loss of hole.

For the entire annoucement, click here.

Wie-doggies

2007-10-16T10:04:00.000-04:00

Not a good week for Michelle Wie.

First the former teen phenom finishes next-to-dead last in the 20-player field of the Samsung World Championship, shooting 79-79-77-71, then her agent, Greg Nared, quits after a year. If you're counting, that's two agents in two years.

If you ask me, Nared bailing is one more indication that the Wie star is crashing to earth. A former Univerisity of Maryland hoops star who lived and worked as Nike's man inside the Tiger Woods bubble for years, Nared evidently had more than a bellyful of Mom and Dad Wie. That and the high-maintence coddling of the prodigy.

What happens now? What self-respecting, respectable agent will sign on now? Especially at a time when Wie seems to want to shelve her golf life for the life of the Stanford student.

She's too young and too good to be written off forever, but the road to the top keeps getting longer and steeper for Michelle Wie.

Golf

2007-10-10T09:59:00.000-04:00

A report from the front lines of vacation: I played golf Sunday, I played golf yesterday, I'm playing golf today and I'm playing golf tomorrow.

Outtahere...

2007-10-03T10:27:00.000-04:00

I'm outta here for a week or so...

Gimme the Prez

2007-10-01T08:16:00.001-04:00

I've now covered four Presidents Cups and three Ryder Cups and I've got to say, I prefer the Prez.

It's not because the U.S. tends to wins the Presidents Cup, whereas it generally gets whupped in the Ryder Cup. It's because in the Presidents Cup, both teams keep things in perspective. It's a golf match, not a clash of civilizations, not an statement on the superiority of one culture over another.

At the Ryder Cup, somewhere along the line things got too serious, too testy, too anxiety-ridden. Sit through a press conference at a Ryder Cup and nobody is smiling, nobody is loose or even looking forward to playing the matches. It has become a cliche in recent years but it's true: The Americans don't play the Ryder Cup to win, they play not to loose. The result, in the media center and on the golf course, is that they are too tight.

Of course, the Europeans know that and use it to their advantage. They can see the fear and dread in the Americans' eyes and they use it for all its worth. They laugh and joke and brag about how the mighty Americans are so much better on paper, yet, somehow, they can't seem to win against the lean, mean Euros.

By contrast, at Royal Montreal Golf Club, the Americans were glad to be here, eager to tee it up and play the game. Sure, they wanted to win, and they were facing a team in the Internationals that is superior to the Europeans, but there wasn't the pressure, the fear and loathing.

I credit the captains, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, for setting the tone. Both are a couple of old lions in winter, with their legacy's firmly in place. They've got nothing left to prove. They're just happy to still be involved in the game and hanging around the young stars of today, basking in the limelight. At the Ryder Cup, the captains tend to be younger and much more concerned about their place in the history of the Cup and the game.

Player on comebacks

2007-09-30T15:21:00.000-04:00

One of the pleasures of the Presidents Cup is watching Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, a couple of old guys, ramble on and on...and on.

Jack is good, but he's no match for Gary, king of the press conference...

Q. Obviously you're in a unique position of how far back you are, and you've got all of this experience; can you relate to anything you've done in your career that leads you to talk to your players tomorrow or tonight and explain to them, I've had a situation similar, or something that can give them something to hang their hat on for tomorrow?

GARY PLAYER: I was seven behind in the Masters going into the last round, and I felt quite confident of winning. I was always an eternal optimist. I was down to (Tony) Lema with 18 holes to go in the World Match Play Championship, which I won that. But I'm certainly not going in as an old poop and telling young guys, I did that, I did this, I did that.

If they don't know that -- they know these stories, so I'm certainly not going to blow my trump and tell them the time I came back. They know what they have to do. And I've always said it this to my team: Play well. It doesn't matter who you play. There's no such thing as well I hope I can play against this guy tomorrow, because they are all good. I've always said to them, you expect every match to be tough. There ain't no such thing as an easy match. Go out there, if you play well, you win.

You say Mon-re-all, I say Montreal

2007-09-28T11:49:00.000-04:00

I knew Montreal was French, but until the Presidents Cup, I didn't know it was that French.

It is. Very French.

From the moment the plane lands, you realize you ain't in, say, Toronto. At the airport, at least, signs are in French and English, but once you climb behind the wheel of your rental car and start driving, you see less and less English and more and more French.

Road signs are in French. Quick, at 60 miles per hour, when the I-40 splits, do you want to go ouest (west) or est (east) or nord (north) or sud (south)? High school French, don't fail me now.

Also, after Mapquest-ing the route from the hotel to Royal Montreal Golf Club, I'm driving along, wondering (A) why none of the exits and turns match up with the reading on my odometer and (B) come to think of it, I don't feel like I'm going 100, as the speedometer reads. Ah, of course, everything is in kilometers.

Everything has a vague European feel. Turn on the TV and you can find CNN and Canada's version of ESPN, but most of the news and programs are in French. Of course, they pronounce Montreal as Mon-re-all. Last night, eating dinner in a sports bar, Canadian ESPN was doing a countdown of the 10 most questionable coaching decisions. About half of them were hockey-related and the rest seemed to involve the Argonauts.

Yesterday, I needed to get a new mouse for my laptop. I drove around for 30 minutes looking for a computer store (Le Super?) Who knew from the names of the stores what most of them sold. Finally, I stumbled onto a Wal-Mart. Case closed.

Steinmetz wins Section Championship

2007-09-27T17:44:00.000-04:00

A major tip of the visor to Rich Steinmetz, head pro at Spring Ford Country Club, who shot three straight rounds of 1-under 70, for a 3-under three-round total, to win the Philadelphia Section PGA Championship at Concord Country Club.

Steinmetz takes home $7,500 for his efforts.

Jim Masserio, head pro at Aronimink Golf Club, finished second, two shots back.

For the full scoreboard, click here.

R.I.P. British Mid-Am

2007-09-21T10:21:00.000-04:00

This just in from the R&A

THE R&A TO DISCONTINUE BRITISH MID-AMATEUR

The R&A has elected to discontinue the British Mid-Amateur Championship and remove it from its championship calendar. The British Mid-Amateur, first played in 1995, restricts entry to male amateur golfers aged 25 and over. Despite various reviews of the championship over recent years, small fields for the event and a subsequent lack of quality in depth, mean that the event is no longer viable.

Commenting on the decision The R&A’s Director of Championships, David Hill, said: "The British Mid-Amateur has produced some notable champions beginning with Gary Wolstenholme in 1995 but it has struggled to establish itself as a sufficiently distinctive event in the British men's amateur golfing calendar.”

Matthew Cryer will be the final player to have his name engraved on the Mid Amateur trophy, having won earlier this year at Alwoodley Golf Club. A place in history awaits the Englishman as the trophy is destined for the British Golf Museum in one year’s time.

The drug policy press conference

2007-09-21T01:19:00.000-04:00

The players...

Jim Armstrong, Augusta National
Carolyn Bivens , LPGA
Peter Dawson, R&A

David Fay, USGA
Tim Finchem , PGA Tour
George O'Grady , European Tour
Joe Steranka. PGA of America

Q. So spring of 2008, is that a realistic chance that drug testing will take place, say, the Masters or even earlier than that?

TIM FINCHEM: Well, the question of testing protocols with regard to each of these organizations is a function of a determination by the individual organizations. What I mean by that is that we will be recommending testing protocols which we think will have credibility that will be over the course of the year, etc. Now, whether or not Augusta National at the Masters wishes to have testing at all, or testing using PGA TOUR doping agencies or whatever is a determination that they have to make. And you know, I can't answer that question yet. I suspect that having conversations with and certainly these organizations, the USGA, the R&A, the PGA and Augusta National can speak; they are all on the phone. But my sense is that they are waiting to see what the testing protocol plan will be for the PGA TOUR before they determine whether, A, if it's in any way necessary; or B, it's desirable to include any kind of testing protocols the week of their tournaments.

Q. I guess we'll pose that question to Augusta National if there's a representative on the call.

JIM ARMSTRONG: Yeah, this is Jim Armstrong. As Tim said, this is all in development, the protocols, and we'll be looking at the entire issue, we'll be watching what the PGA TOUR and the other Tours do before determining just how we'll proceed.

Q. Tim, you just said that you'd begun the process of deciding what penalties for the PGA TOUR; can I ask George if it's the same with Europe?

GEORGE O'GRADY: We are well down the line on the recommendations, but as I said in other press conferences at the end of last year, we will do if all the world agrees, is far better than one side going off on its own. I think this is still a work in progress.

Q. Is the plan for random testing, after competition testing, everything that other sports do?

GEORGE O'GRADY: It's the whole full-scale policy. As I said before, this isn't some quick move and thinking as we go. This is the whole basis, well thought out and what we've got today is all sides agreeing and working together to make sure this is really a fully thought-out policy that we will all be on the same side of. We haven't got all of the answers today, but we are well down the road.

Q. We saw during the FedExCup how a lot of players didn't really focus in on a lot of the details and the whole ins and outs of it until too late or certainly later than you guys had wished. How do you avoid that happening again with this drug testing policy to make sure that all of the players get involved and understand completely exactly what is going to happen here?

TIM FINCHEM: Well, first of all, this is a different kind of subject matter. This is a subject matter that does relate to rules of the game from the standpoint of performance-enhancing drugs and the violation of which can trigger -- will be able to trigger significant penalties. So I don't think there's going to be -- we don't have too much concern about players focusing on it. However, we are not going to leave anything to chance and we will be out with consultants and have a multiple number of player meetings and consultation sessions, probably six or eight in the first couple of three months of the year. We will probably have consultants out with us to answer questions. We'll have a 24-hour consultation line for questions from players, their agents, their fitness trainers, etc. And we will not just be talking about the rules, the substances. We will educate players on how these substances can get into your body; things that you need to watch out for; as well as, of course, bringing them up to speed on what they could expect if they get to a tournament and we are doing testing. So it's a comprehensive effort. We are not going to just have a player meeting and 30 players come and call it a day. We will be out sitting down with players aggressively and we will have a lot of people involved in that process. We're just not going to leave anything to chance.

Q. If you don't mind me paraphrasing, you've always said that there was no evidence of any performance-enhancing drug use, and the honor system of golf, etc. All that said and wherever you are today, do you consider this a landmark day for golf or a sad day for golf?

TIM FINCHEM: Well, I think that as everybody else has spoken, it's a day where we are going to be proactive in light of the realities of what's happening in sport. But for the problems in other sports, I doubt we would be at this point. But certainly the problems in other sports have created a growing perception among fans that athletes generally in many cases, in the minds of many fans who utilize substances that in other sports are banned. Now we don't ban substances in our sport, but when you combine that in the reality that for example, in the case of The European Tour, they have to undergo testing protocols because governments are requiring that they do; as does the LPGA in some instances, all of these things argue for moving forward. I think it doesn't mean we like it and it does mean we are concerned about shifting the culture of the sport from one where you know the rules and you play by the rules, and if you violate the rules, you call a penalty on yourself; to if you engage in testing, perhaps creating the specter that an organization doesn't trust what the player says, which is certainly not the case. So we are going to have to work hard on that point, but we are where we are given the way of the world and I think it's a positive day for golf because we are, A, together; B, we are spending a lot of energy to do it right. We are learning from watching what the other sports have done that in some cases have not been perhaps the right thing to do. It's taken them awhile to get it right, and we've been quite deliberate about where we're headed. And all of these things I think are positive. I think that's a positive message for the game.

Q. I was wondering if Peter Dawson, David Fay and Joe Steranka could weigh in. Are you going to sit back and see how it plays out with the testing on tours in the Europe and the U.S. before deciding on whether you'll test individually? Because obviously you have the autonomy to do that.

PETER DAWSON: It's Peter Dawson here first. As far as The Open Championship is concerned, we've taken a policy decision that The Open will fall into line with whatever drug testing regime the tours and specifically in our case, The European Tour, develops. So The Open Championship will be just as another week on Tour.

JOE STERANKA: Same for the PGA of America. We see the PGA TOUR carrying the biggest load and we plan to coordinate our activities to fall in line. We're supportive generally of announced testing, so that would mean that no single event would be known in advance that it would be a sight for testing.

Q. David, you have obviously the Men and Women's Open.

DAVID FAY: That's right. We'll be following very carefully the PGA TOUR policy, The European Tour policy because players in the Open, Senior Open come from various tours. And of course, we'll be working very closely with the LPGA for the U.S. Women's Open.

Q. But no plans to do any testing of your own?

DAVID FAY: No, not at this point. I think that as Joe said, the professional organizations have been taking the lead on this, and this second stage which will include the medical waiver procedures, the testing protocols, penalties and the like will be developed and we'll be taking our cue from that.

Q. If I could, one final question for George and Tim, do you guys have any idea what the approximation on cost is going to be for something like this on an annual basis?

TIM FINCHEM: Well, there's two levels of cost really. One is the administration of the program, including testing. And then the other is no sport has gotten into testing without litigation arising in some fashion or form, and that's a whole other level of cost, but we're not worrying about that right now. We anticipate, I think we've said this, but we're going to spend a million to a million and a half dollars a year most likely in that range, and the first two or three years, we're looking to pass that right now with respect to administering the program; it's not an inexpensive situation to get involved in.

GEORGE O'GRADY: And from our side, we've made an announcement what we're going to compute what the cost of every individual test is going to be, and you multiply that around; that's an easy one that you can quantify. The thing is, if we haven't got everything thought through and the education program to our players really has gone straightaway, we have no desire to spend the rest of our life living in a courtroom. So this is an education ensuring that the game is as clean as

Q. Joe, you have the club pros; David, you will qualifiers who could be from almost any background and not a member of a tour or college player where there is testing of college athletics. Are there any plans on what to do in the cases of qualifiers for your events who are not members of a professional tour?

JOE STERANKA: On behalf of the PGA of America, we'll be reviewing that with our board. We conduct not only the Championships, but host a number of tournaments at the national section and chapter level, and some amateur competitions, our Junior PGA Championship Series and Junior Ryder Cup and McGladrey Team Championship. So we see this as the banned substance list to becoming almost another rule of golf in which we'll administer tournaments, and then the protocol that we'll have in administering that throughout all of our competitions is yet to be determined and is something that we'll spend the rest of the year focusing on.

DAVID FAY: And that's pretty much our position, and talking about it with our board, we expect close to 9,000 to 10,000 entrants in the U.S. Open, so it's a slightly different kettle of fish. And I think education is clearly going to be, as mentioned before, a very key component. Because getting past any possible performance benefits, the possible side effects of many of the substances, detrimental side effects are real, and players should be made aware of that.

TIM FINCHEM: Let me just chime in that I don't think that there is no set of testing protocols that will come forward that will create a situation will every single person that plays in one of our events will be tested because we have Monday qualifiers. We have sponsor exemptions, and candidly, I don't think the public or we are particularly concerned about a player that plays in one tournament a year, anyway. I think it's the people that are competing, really the core competitor group, in our case is a couple of hundred players on the PGA TOUR, and then more on the other two tours. But we'll be addressing all those kind of details downstream. Thank you for joining us today, and to those who asked questions, we appreciate it. Obviously each of our organizations are available to answer follow-up questions regarding our own situations or the collective focus. And I would say finally that there will be an opportunity during the Presidents Cup next week where a number of the directors from the World Golf Foundation will be together to make some comments about, not on this subject perhaps, although questions would be answered, but on the direction of the World Golf Foundation going forward, which we look forward to probably next Wednesday in Montréal. And to the media, we encourage you to come to Montréal. I know most of you are planning to be there, and to everybody else on the call, I look forward to seeing you next week. Have a good day.

Tiger's Tour Championship press conference

2007-09-19T08:59:00.000-04:00

Excerpts from Tiger's post-victory press conference...

PGA Tour: Tiger Woods, congratulations. We've got a couple of nice big trophies here for you. First and foremost, winning the TOUR Championship for the second time in your career and winning the inaugural FedExCup. Maybe some opening comments about a great week and a great year for you. You finished the year with seven wins.

TIGER WOODS: Well, I really played well today. I mean, I hit a bunch of good shots. I think the putt at 3 today was a big putt. I needed to make that putt, didn't want to lose two shots back-to-back and give the guys ahead of me all the momentum. You know, that was a big putt to make. And then from there I really played some good golf, got on a birdie run there in the middle part of the round and basically put it away.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Maybe some thoughts on your season. Right now your scoring average is going to be identical to 2000, so obviously those years are pretty comparable.

TIGER WOODS: Yes. You know, I made a lot of improvement. It's interesting how people questioned whether I should try and improve or not or try and change my game, and here we are.

Q. Not to dwell too much on the money, but $11.26 million just got deposited into someplace with your name on it. Is that even jaw dropping to you, given your endorsements and all that? That's a pretty healthy chunk of change and accomplishment.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, you know, for me I don't look at what the purse is or prize money. You play, and when you play, you play to win, period. You know, that's how my dad raised me is you go out there and win. If you win, everything will take care of itself. You take great pride in what you do on the golf course, and when you're able to win events, that's when you can go home and be very proud of what you've done.

Q. Where would you say your confidence level is right now? And have you seen it grown over these last two years? Was there ever kind of a turning point for you?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think the last couple years has been -- I've made a bunch of changes obviously on my swing. But last year as we all know, I think the Western in the second round I really played well. Finally I went back to just playing golf again. I got over all the things that happened earlier, my dad passing, and I finally got back to just playing golf again, didn't have to -- that mourning period was finally -- I felt I was done with it. Once I got back to playing golf, I felt I was back in my rhythm again. And from then on, if you look at my results since then, it's been pretty good.

Q. You've gone 1, 1, 2, 1, 1.

TIGER WOODS: Right. I think my driving has gotten better. I feel as if I'm able to shape the ball in there and actually work the golf ball better both ways than I did early in the year. My trajectory control has been about the same, been pretty good, but being able to shape the ball both ways and being able to land the ball on the number has been good.

Q. You've won 61 TOUR titles. Do you think you've reached your prime?

TIGER WOODS: I don't think so. Well, I don't know when it's going to be (laughter). What do you want me to tell you, it's like January 5th of such-and-such a year? I mean, you don't know. The whole idea is to try and keep improving. When all is said and done, when you rack the cue and go home and retire, you can honestly say these were my best years, when I was at my peak. But when you're in it, you're always trying to improve that a little bit to get to the next level.

Q: How would you assess winning the first FedExCup?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think that overall the FedExCup was a success. I think that there need to be tweaks, yes, there needs to be some tweaks, but I think overall it provided a lot of drama towards the end of the season, especially post-PGA when most of the guys shut it down. You know, post-PGA it's either Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup and that's basically all anyone ever talks about, now that the Bridgestone has moved to the week before the PGA especially.

Q. You said again today that you never imagined this victory at this stage of your career. When you were just starting as a pro, what did you envision as a successful career at this stage?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think that if you have gone through your 20s with just a few majors, it would be a huge success. Most golfers reach their prime in their 30s. Hopefully you can carry that momentum from your 30s into your 40s, especially now that guys are working out and their longevity and their standard of play is longer than it used to be, you feel like you can carry it into your 40s. I didn't see winning this many times in my 20s and now in my 30s. I never would have foreseen that.

Q. You talked about tweaks. Do you have any comments on what tweaks you would consider to make the tournament better? And what's it like, the final tournament for you this year, to go out with such a big bang?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think -- what I described earlier to Fergie here, a couple days ago, I think that when you have 125 exempt players on TOUR and your first event is 144 guys, I thought a playoff was play all year for a smaller field, you're supposed to narrow it up, not have more players. Especially when we have limited field events, invitationals that have smaller fields, more elite, and I just think that the playoffs should be that many players. I think the playoffs you narrow the field down, and when you have 10 percent over what you do on the exempt player list starting off the first event, I think that's too many.

Q. Steve Stricker said he found the last couple of weeks very exhausting, and he almost reached the end of his rope today mentally. How mentally tiring has the last few weeks been for you?

TIGER WOODS: Very. Very. That's one of the reasons why -- people questioned why did you take the first week off. I won the PGA and the Bridgestone event, a World Golf Championships and the PGA, those are big events. When you're in contention, it takes a lot out of you. I wanted to be fresh coming into these events. It takes a lot out of you when you're in contention. I think that's what Steve was probably alluding to. It's one thing to play, and if you play four days and you don't play well, it's really no big deal. But when you're in contention, it wears on you all the time. It's not like you can go home and get away from it because you're right there with a chance to win a tournament. It definitely drains you. You know, four weeks of it, for me it was three weeks of it, four for Stricks, it takes a toll on you, not necessarily from the physical side but definitely from the mental side.

Q. You've driven the ball beautifully over the last month or so. Do you think that is the main key to this nice run of four wins and a second? And was there a time when you felt that the driver really kicked in because of the swing change or whatever?

TIGER WOODS: Well, not necessarily, because I didn't really drive it very good at the British Open. I think it's just -- as I said, I was able to shape the golf ball both ways and still hit the ball -- the number I wanted to hit it. I think that's where I needed to make some improvement, and obviously when you start feeling confident and are able to work the golf ball either way, off the tee, into the greens, and you're able to land the ball wherever you want to land it, you start feeding off of that.

Q. Zach came in here and said that dangling any more carrots in front of you was bad news for the rest of the guys in the field. Do all of these things when you add them all together, Player of the Year, Money List, FedExCup, majors, do all those little carrots add up in your head? Does it drive you even more to win them all?

Q. After The Presidents Cup, you've got an extended break and some quality time with your wife and daughter. Just wondered if there was anything in particular you were really looking forward to doing?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, putting the clubs away, not picking them up, not swinging a club, just getting away from it. Like Stricker said, I can't wait to go hunting. For me, I'm the same way, I can't wait to hop in the water and go driving.

Q. As much as Tim was kind of leading you in that direction, I noticed you didn't kiss the Cup on the green. Do you have a policy on which trophies you kiss?

TIGER WOODS: Damn, Fergie (laughter).

Q. Claret Jugs only?

TIGER WOODS: Have I?

Q. We've got pictures of that, yeah.

TIGER WOODS: There you go.

Q. Secondly, as you look forward to next year, you're defending champion of BMW and here, and Deutsche Bank supports your foundation. Do you see any way around playing four in a row next year?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's going to be extremely hard, hard on the body and hard on the mind. We'll see what happens. First of all, I've got to qualify (laughter).

Q. For the Ryder Cup or for the Playoffs?

TIGER WOODS: For the Playoffs (laughter).

Q. Running the numbers, you didn't even have to show up this week to still win the FedExCup. I know that wasn't the intent, to miss events, at least the TOUR didn't plan it that way. Do you think the schedule needs to be rejiggered to allow guys like yourself to play two in a row, then have a week off and play two more?

TIGER WOODS: It's not just four in a row, it's playing Firestone followed by the PGA and then you have that week off, and then next week four in a row plus one more, so it's five in a row. Seven out of eight weeks is a lot to ask of guys. They're all big events. Some guys have hometown events and they can go out there and have a great time. These are big events, a World Golf Championships, a major, followed by our new Playoffs system, followed by a Ryder Cup. You can't take an event off. So I think that's what guys were having a complaint with, is that because they're all such big events with such big meaning to them, it's going to be hard for all the guys to play all the events. It'll be easier for the international guys next year because they won't have to play the Ryder Cup.

Q. How important is that when you think about these four events?

TIGER WOODS: Well, they're all big events, like I said. I think that's where the guys would like to have a break, to get recharged, mentally recharged and ready to go for all those events. We have a few Europeans that play on our TOUR full-time, and I'm sure a few of them will probably play in the Playoff system, but not their entire team. We have our entire team playing the Playoff system, which adds to the fact that it's going to be a little more difficult for us to do and then compete in the Ryder Cup the very following week.

Q. You had referenced sort of the light coming on at the Western, putting your dad and the grief behind you and the streak you've been on. You've won 13 of 22 on the U.S. TOUR ending today. I'm wondering, given what you did in those earlier years, '99, 2000, eight-win, nine-win season, where you think this stretch, 14 months, fits in in terms of your best-of list, and if you're as good or better than ever, how you would evaluate it?

TIGER WOODS: I think you would probably say I didn't win as many majors through that stretch, but World Golf Championships along the way. I think that I have a better understanding of how to play the game now by far than I did back then, and I certainly have a lot more shots to get me around golf courses than I did then. That's just seven to nine years of more experience, just understanding all the mistakes I've made and how to improve and how to get myself around the golf course. My course management skills have certainly improved over the years.

Crump Cup, Day 1

2007-09-14T13:32:00.000-04:00

2007 Crump Memorial Tournament / Qualifying Round 1 Results
Pine Valley Golf Club

Open Division 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 OUT 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 IN TOTAL
Chip Lutz 4 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 35 3 4 4 4 3 5 3 4 4 34 69
Bryan Norton 3 4 3 4 3 3 5 4 6 35 3 3 4 5 4 4 4 4 3 34 69
Scott M. Rowe 4 4 3 5 3 4 5 4 4 36 4 3 3 3 3 5 4 4 4 33 69
Carlton Forrester 4 3 2 4 3 4 4 4 4 32 2 6 3 4 3 5 4 6 5 38 70
Kelly R. Miller 4 4 3 5 2 4 5 4 4 35 3 4 4 5 2 5 4 4 4 35 70
John Pate 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 3 4 35 2 4 4 4 4 5 5 3 4 35 70
Arnie Cutrell 4 4 3 4 3 3 6 5 3 35 2 4 4 5 2 5 4 5 5 36 71
ThomasGramigna 4 5 3 3 4 3 6 5 3 36 3 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 4 35 71
Roger W. Hoit 4 3 4 3 2 3 5 4 5 33 3 5 3 7 4 4 4 4 4 38 71
Jim Lehman 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 36 3 4 4 3 3 5 5 4 4 35 71
Michael McCoy 4 5 2 5 4 4 4 4 4 36 3 4 4 5 2 5 3 4 5 35 71
Richard Caldwell 4 4 3 4 3 5 5 4 5 37 3 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 35 72
Michael Kelley 4 3 4 4 3 4 5 4 4 35 3 5 4 5 3 5 4 4 4 37 72
MichaelMcDermott 3 4 4 5 4 4 6 4 4 38 3 4 3 4 3 6 3 4 4 34 72
Pat Tallent 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 36 4 3 4 4 4 6 4 3 4 36 72
Jeff Belk 3 4 4 4 3 4 5 3 5 35 3 4 5 5 3 5 5 4 4 38 73
Don DuBois 4 4 3 5 2 3 4 3 5 33 3 5 3 5 3 5 5 5 6 40 73
Edward Gibstein 5 4 3 4 3 3 5 3 4 34 3 5 4 5 3 5 5 5 4 39 73
Bill Jeremiah 5 4 3 3 5 5 5 5 3 38 3 4 4 4 2 6 4 4 4 35 73
Stephen R. Johnson 4 4 3 5 3 4 5 4 4 36 3 4 5 5 2 5 4 4 5 37 73
Oscar Mestre 4 4 4 4 3 4 8 4 4 39 3 4 3 4 4 5 4 3 4 34 73
Skip Berkmeyer 4 4 4 3 3 3 5 4 4 34 3 4 4 5 5 7 4 4 4 40 74
Brian P. Gillespie 4 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 3 35 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 4 4 39 74
WilliamHadden, III 3 4 3 4 3 4 7 4 4 36 3 5 4 5 4 5 4 3 5 38 74
ChristopherLange 3 5 4 3 3 4 5 4 4 35 3 5 4 5 2 5 5 6 4 39 74
GeorgeMarucci, Jr. 4 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 4 36 3 4 4 5 3 6 4 5 4 38 74
Garth McGimpsey 5 5 4 4 3 3 5 3 4 36 4 5 4 6 3 4 4 4 4 38 74
WilliamMcGuinness 5 4 3 3 4 5 6 4 4 38 4 4 4 4 3 6 4 3 4 36 74
Kris K. Mikkelsen 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 3 4 38 2 4 4 4 2 5 5 4 6 36 74
Eoghan O'Connell 5 4 4 4 4 3 5 5 4 38 3 5 4 5 2 5 4 4 4 36 74
Steve Slayden 5 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 36 3 4 4 5 3 6 4 4 5 38 74
GeorgeZahringer, III 5 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 5 38 3 4 4 4 3 6 4 4 4 36 74
Jerry Chang 5 5 3 6 3 4 5 4 5 40 3 3 4 4 3 6 4 4 4 35 75
Gene Elliott 4 5 3 4 3 4 5 4 5 37 4 4 4 4 4 6 4 4 4 38 75
SamMacNaughton 4 5 3 5 3 3 5 6 4 38 2 6 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 37 75
Michael Muehr 4 5 3 4 5 4 5 4 5 39 4 4 4 3 3 5 5 4 4 36 75
David Nelson 3 5 2 5 2 6 4 4 5 36 4 4 4 4 3 7 6 4 3 39 75
Jamie Slonis 4 4 3 4 4 4 6 4 4 37 4 4 4 5 3 6 5 3 4 38 75
Tom Brennan 4 4 4 4 5 4 6 4 5 40 3 4 4 5 3 5 5 3 4 36 76
Robert C. Funk 4 5 3 6 3 4 5 4 4 38 4 4 6 4 2 6 4 4 4 38 76
RobertGerwin, II 5 4 3 4 4 5 5 3 4 37 3 4 5 4 4 7 4 4 4 39 76
Steve Harwell 4 5 4 4 3 4 5 4 4 37 3 5 4 6 3 5 4 4 5 39 76
Mike Moffat 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 5 4 37 3 3 4 4 6 6 4 4 5 39 76
Scott M. Stahr 4 4 3 5 3 3 7 4 4 37 3 4 4 5 4 5 4 5 5 39 76
Patrick F. Brady 5 5 3 5 3 4 5 4 6 40 4 3 4 5 4 5 4 4 4 37 77
Patrick D. Carter 6 4 4 4 5 4 4 5 6 42 4 3 3 5 4 4 4 4 4 35 77
Michael Deo 3 4 3 3 3 5 5 4 4 34 3 5 5 4 4 7 5 4 6 43 77
Alan Fadel 4 4 3 4 4 5 5 4 5 38 3 4 4 6 3 6 5 4 4 39 77
Michael R. Foster 5 4 3 4 5 4 5 4 5 39 2 4 5 6 2 6 4 3 6 38 77
Randy Haag 4 4 3 5 3 4 5 4 4 36 3 5 4 6 2 5 5 4 7 41 77
Matthew Sughrue 5 5 3 5 4 4 5 5 4 40 2 5 3 4 3 5 6 4 5 37 77
JamesSullivan, Jr. 5 5 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 41 2 4 4 5 3 6 4 5 3 36 77
P. Chet Walsh 5 4 5 4 3 4 6 5 4 40 3 5 4 4 3 6 4 4 4 37 77
AndrewBiggadike 4 5 3 4 4 5 5 4 4 38 4 4 3 6 3 5 4 4 7 40 78
Grady Brame 4 4 3 3 3 5 6 6 5 39 3 5 3 6 4 6 4 4 4 39 78
WilliamCostin, IV 6 4 3 4 5 5 5 4 4 40 3 3 4 5 4 5 5 5 4 38 78
Craig Nichols 4 5 2 4 4 4 6 4 4 37 3 4 4 5 4 5 6 5 5 41 78
Robert Vallis 5 5 3 5 3 4 6 5 5 41 3 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 5 37 78
JohnFulkerson 4 5 4 5 3 4 5 8 4 42 4 4 3 5 3 8 3 3 4 37 79
Douglas Gregor 4 5 4 4 4 7 6 4 3 41 3 4 4 5 3 6 5 4 4 38 79
John Lobb 4 4 3 5 3 4 5 5 5 38 3 4 4 4 3 6 4 7 6 41 79
Eric L. Sexton 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 5 4 37 3 4 4 5 5 7 6 4 4 42 79
ChrisAnderson 4 5 3 6 4 4 6 4 4 40 3 3 5 4 4 8 4 4 5 40 80
WarrenChoate 4 4 3 3 6 6 7 4 4 41 4 4 4 5 4 6 4 4 4 39 80
MichaelMcGowan 5 4 3 4 3 4 6 5 4 38 4 5 4 4 5 6 6 4 4 42 80
Steve Smyers 4 6 5 5 3 4 6 4 5 42 4 4 6 5 3 4 4 3 5 38 80
GaryDurbin 4 4 4 5 3 4 6 5 6 41 5 5 4 5 4 5 4 4 4 40 81
MPalmer 6 4 3 4 4 3 6 4 6 40 5 4 4 5 3 6 5 5 4 41 81
Robert Young 4 6 4 4 3 5 5 4 5 40 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 4 6 41 81
Sam Manning 4 4 4 5 3 4 5 5 6 40 3 5 5 5 2 8 4 4 6 42 82
Clay Uselton 6 4 5 4 3 5 5 4 5 41 3 5 4 7 4 5 4 4 5 41 82
JohnBauman, III 5 5 4 4 4 4 8 3 4 41 3 4 4 5 4 8 4 5 5 42 83
JamesBryan 4 4 6 4 3 6 5 5 6 43 3 4 4 5 5 6 4 4 5 40 83
Davis Driver 4 3 3 4 3 4 4 5 5 35 4 4 5 5 9 6 6 4 5 48 83
Gary Daniels 4 5 3 5 7 4 7 6 4 45 3 5 4 4 4 6 4 5 4 39 84
Chick Wagner 6 5 4 5 3 4 5 4 4 40 4 4 5 4 6 7 5 5 4 44 84
Michael J. Brown 6 4 4 4 4 5 7 5 6 45 3 5 4 4 2 5 6 5 6 40 85
Rob Savarese, Jr. 3 4 3 4 5 6 6 6 7 44 3 5 4 7 5 5 5 4 3 41 85
Thomas Yellin 5 4 4 5 4 4 6 6 5 43 5 4 5 5 4 5 5 4 6 43 86
Steve Nicklaus 4 5 3 5 7 5 7 7 4 47 4 5 3 6 5 7 5 4 5 44 91

Senior Div 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 OUT 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 IN TOTAL
Joseph P. Keller 4 4 2 4 3 4 5 4 6 36 3 4 4 4 3 4 5 4 4 35 71
Kent Frandsen 4 3 3 4 4 3 7 4 5 37 3 4 4 4 3 5 5 4 4 36 73
Marvin Giles, III 5 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 4 37 3 4 6 4 4 5 3 3 4 36 73
John Y. Howson, Jr. 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 5 37 3 4 5 4 3 5 5 3 4 36 73
NormanSwenson, Jr. 5 4 3 3 3 4 5 4 5 36 3 4 5 4 3 5 4 4 5 37 73
O.Gordon Brewer, Jr. 6 5 4 4 3 4 5 7 5 43 3 4 3 5 3 4 4 3 4 33 76
David K. Brookreson 5 5 3 4 4 4 5 4 4 38 3 5 4 4 4 5 4 5 4 38 76
Thomas Graham 4 6 3 4 5 4 5 5 5 41 2 5 5 4 3 5 4 3 4 35 76
Jerry Greenbaum 4 4 3 4 4 4 6 4 4 37 3 5 5 4 3 6 5 4 4 39 76
Joseph Quillinan, Jr. 3 4 6 5 3 4 5 4 5 39 3 4 4 4 4 6 4 4 4 37 76
Randy Reifers 4 4 3 5 4 4 4 4 5 37 3 4 4 5 3 7 5 4 4 39 76
Jack Vardaman 4 4 4 4 3 5 7 4 4 39 2 5 4 4 5 5 5 3 4 37 76
Thomas Case 4 6 3 4 4 5 6 4 5 41 3 4 4 5 3 5 4 4 4 36 77
Allan Small 4 5 4 4 4 4 5 4 5 39 2 4 4 5 3 6 5 4 5 38 77
A. Harcourt Kemp 6 4 3 5 4 6 5 5 4 42 3 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 4 36 78
Andres Palandjoglou 4 4 4 5 4 4 6 5 4 40 5 3 4 4 3 7 4 4 4 38 78
Robert G. Housen 5 4 4 5 4 5 6 4 4 41 3 6 5 4 4 5 4 3 4 38 79
W. Logan Jackson 5 4 2 6 6 5 5 5 4 42 4 5 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 37 79
John D. McKey, Jr, 4 5 4 5 3 5 6 5 4 41 3 4 4 6 4 5 5 4 4 39 80
Ned Steiner 5 4 3 4 3 4 7 4 6 40 4 4 4 6 3 7 4 4 4 40 80
Gayle Sanchez 4 5 4 4 4 5 5 4 4 39 3 5 4 4 5 7 5 4 5 42 81
J. Stuart Francis 5 6 3 5 4 4 6 3 5 41 3 4 6 6 3 5 7 4 3 41 82
Jarrett B. Kling 4 4 3 5 3 5 6 4 6 40 3 5 4 6 4 6 5 4 6 43 83
Michael B. Rose 5 7 5 5 4 4 5 5 6 46 3 4 4 5 3 7 4 3 4 37 83
Hugh Kenworthy, III 6 4 5 5 4 4 7 4 5 44 4 4 5 6 3 6 3 4 6 41 85
Ben F. Brundred, III 7 4 3 6 5 4 5 4 6 44 4 6 3 4 4 4 5 6 6 42 86

Quote of the Day, Part II

2007-09-13T14:04:00.000-04:00

Mark Calcavecchia, when asked about the motivation for him and the others in the Tour Championship who can't win the FedEx Cup?

Cash. It's a golf tournament. We're here to win. There's only 30 guys. You figure five or six of them are just going to flat-out play bad. Hopefully, I won't be one of those five or six. If you've got any game at all, you've got about 21 or 22 guys to beat.

Quote of the Day

2007-09-12T22:39:00.000-04:00

From Mark Calcavecchia at the Tour Championship...

I'm wrecked, I'm destroyed. Like someone else said, Tiger is tired after two weeks. I've got him by 80 pounds and 17 years. How do you think I'm doing after eight out of nine (weeks)? He could run from here to downtown. I couldn't run out of a burning house (laughter). Yeah, I'm tired.

FedEx Cup f-e-e-e-l-i-n-g-s

2007-09-04T08:49:00.000-04:00

Two down, two to go.

Laugh if you must, but watching Phil and Tiger battle to the finish Sunday at the Deutsche Bank Championship, I found myself actually giving a damn.

I can't be certain if it was the eventual outcome of the FedEx Cup that interested me or merely the chance to see another good nip-and-tuck showdown between the two best players in the game. But I felt it, it was there -- a small twitch in my give-a-hoot muscle.

After sniffing at all the bells and whistles that make up the FedEx Cup, I also confess that I have checked the points standings after the Barclays and the Deutsche Banks. More than anything, I enjoy seeing who failed to advance to the next week.

Also, I'm starting to think Tiger skipping the first week was a good thing. Next year, to make things fair, maybe the PGA Tour ought to write him skipping the first event into the rules and regulations.

Still, the FedEx Cup has problems, starting with the four straight weeks of play-offs. I know most sports fans think four straight weeks of golf sound like a vacation, but four straight weeks on the road is a slog.

O'Hair makes it to FedEx Week 3

2007-09-04T07:50:00.000-04:00

With a strong T-9th finish at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Sean O'Hair has lived to play another week of the FedEx Cup play-offs.

When week two the Cup began in Boston, O'Hair, 25, from West Chester, ranked 68th in FedEx Cup points, barely over the Top 70 cut -off that would advance to week three in Chicago. He made a significant jump, though, with rounds of 68-66-74-68, for an 8-under total for the week. The 74 on Saturday derailed any chance he had of contending. Still, he left Boston ranked 58th in points, with a little cushion.

O'Hair will need an even better week at the BMW Championship to have any chance to crack to Top 30 who will advance to the fourth and final week at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Doak pokes

2007-08-20T12:00:00.000-04:00

If you saw Michael Bamberger's article about Tom Doak in Sports Ill last week, you're probably dying to know of the cruel and unusual comments the outspoken architect made about Philadelphia area courses in his controversial book The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses.

As it happens, I have a copy of the hard-to-find tome. So, without further ado, here are snippets from a couple of his mini-reviews:

Huntingdon Valley CC
Set in a wooded bowl that bottoms out just a bit too abruptly, the front nine goes around the exterior of the property like it was routed by Richard Petty -- all left turns with high right-to-left banks.

Gulph Mills GC
The premier old-money clulb in Philadelphia...There are some excellent holes -- the short 4th over a deep valley, and the 6th and 11th with their distinctive greens...but some of the supporting cast are fairly dull, and a couple are radically overdone (the 10th in particular)

Philadelphia Cricket
Some observers favor this course as one of Philadelphia's top five, but only to break up William Flynn's monopoly. It wouldn't make a list of Tillinghast's best work...

Stone Harbor
Without a doubt, this is the most ridiculous golf course I have seen to date...

...more to come

Who cares if Tiger skips The Barclays

2007-08-20T08:59:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to work myself up into an indignant lather over Tiger Woods blowing off the first of the four FedEx Cup play-off tournaments, this week's The Barclay's. Can't do it.

I know the PGA Tour is seething over the news. For crying out loud they've spent millions trying to get fans interested in the FedEx Cup. A few readers have sent me angry emails, accusing Tiger of being a lazy lout.

I don't see it that way. Tiger's absence is bad news for The Barclay's tournament organizers who are trying to sell tickets, and it's bad news for the Golf Channel and CBS, who draft off his popularity. But bad news for me and you? Why? I don't see it.

The way I figure it, Tiger is just spotting the field a one-tournament head start and making it a little more interesting for himself. You know, while the cat's away, the mice will play. Let Phil and Vijay and a few others grab a few early freebie points while Tiger is sleeping. Let the golf puditocracy wring its hands over whether Tiger can come back from this points hole he has dug for himself.

I'm betting he can. I'm betting Tiger returns to action at the Deutche Bank Championship next week, win's that, maybe finishes Top 10 at the BMW Championship the week after at Cog Hill outside Chicago, then wins the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.

Game over. Tiger wins the first FedEx Cup. What else is new?

Even Dan Jenkins gets razzed

2007-08-16T10:01:00.000-04:00

One of the benefits of this job is that I've gotten to hang a little Dan Jenkins, the legendary sportswriter and author.

Last week at the PGA Championship in Tulsa, Dan and I and a couple of others were sitting at a small table in the media center dining room, watching the tournament on a 42-inch, high-def TV when one of those Crowne Plaza commericals came suddenly filled the screen.

You know the commercials I'm talking about, with Dan, Lee Trevino, David Feherty, Alice Cooper and Natalie Gulbis sitting around a conference table debating all things golf.

When this one came on during the PGA, everyone in the dining room within earshot fell silent, watching Dan watch himself on TV. After his line was over, from all around us, there came an O-o-o-o-h, Dan...

Dan grinned and nodded took the razzing like a man.

Boo Weekley, Part 2

2007-08-11T15:35:00.001-04:00

If you aren't a Boo Weekley fan yet, you will be. How can you not be. The guy gives the best interviews in golf -- not that he's trying to.

Here are excerpts from his post-round media chat Saturday after the PGA Championship, after he three-putted the 18th to shoot 65. If he had sank his 40-foot birdie putt, he could have tied Tiger's record-tying 63 on Friday.

Q. I suppose you know as you're playing 18 what birdie there does for you, right, had somebody told you what 63 would have meant and all that since it had been shot yesterday?

BOO WEEKLEY: No, I didn't know.

Q. It would have matched the lowest score ever in a major championship, 63.

BOO WEEKLEY: Really, that would have been nice.

Q. You're kidding me, right, you had no idea?

BOO WEEKLEY: No, I was just trying to make par. You try to make par, look where I ended up (laughter), trying to be safe.

Q. When you lopped that first putt short on 18, looked like you said something to Sergio and to the crowd. Can you share that with us?

BOO WEEKLEY: Sergio asked me what I was fixing to do and he said, Do you want to trade? And I said, no, I think I like what I got right here. And then as I hit the putt and I said, well, maybe I should have traded. After I hit my second putt as I was marking it, I looked over at him and I said, Maybe I should have traded you, you know.

Q. Were you surprised at just how popular you proved at Carnoustie and how much the crowd still seemed to be getting behind you here again?

BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah, I was very surprised over there for the people that would root for me. I mean, being a foreigner, you know, I didn't know what to expect, especially coming over here for the first time. I didn't know how the people would respond to me, being who I am. And I reckon as long as you're being yourself, you can't go wrong there.

Q. As you move forward, what do you know about the FedExCup and are you looking forward to that?

BOO WEEKLEY: I don't know nothing about the FedExCup (laughter) and I just know I'm playing golf and that's all that matters to me.

Q. Do you hope to find out?

BOO WEEKLEY: Maybe in a couple of years (chuckling).

Q. After Carnoustie, you were talking about going home, going fishing, getting away a little bit, eating some real food, I guess. (Laughter) so can you talk about what you did between Carnoustie and here and is this a little bit more your comfort zone to be south of the Mason-Dixon Line and sweating?

BOO WEEKLEY: I like to sweat. I like it hot. The hotter the better, the way I feel about it. And I didn't do nothing when I went home. I just hung out at the house, me and the wife and my little boy, we went to the beach. Just had a good time. Fished and swam and played around.

Q. Have you any ambitions to play in the Ryder Cup next year and do you know about that, have you followed it in the past?

BOO WEEKLEY: If they invite me to come play, I'll come play. But, no, I really don't know a whole lot about it. I've seen some clips of it. I think Justin Leonard made a putt or something. That's about the only thing I remember of the Ryder Cup stuff.

Q. When you were growing up, you realized you had a talent to play golf, who were the players on Tour that you used to hero worship and watch?

BOO WEEKLEY: I never really watched golf. I honestly couldn't tell you. That's just something that I've never done. Still to this day I will go home and watch a little bit of golf, like if I've seen they caught a little bit of me on TV and maybe my friends Slocum or Bubba Watson or Joe Durant. I just can't sit there and watch golf. It's just not my cup of tea. And I couldn't tell you if I had somebody that I looked forward to seeing out there when I was playing, when I was younger.

Q. You had no interest in the pro game when you were learning to play the game?

BOO WEEKLEY: No, sir.

Q. You've said before that winning majors isn't really what drives you. You just want to earn enough money to retire and go fishing. When you have days like these, does it change your view of that at all? Does it make you want more or less?

BOO WEEKLEY: No, sir, I want to play 10, 12 years, whatever it takes to get enough money in my bank. I'm done. I love the game. I get tired of the grind. I get tired of being away from my family. I get tired of being away from my friends and my heart is really set on -- I love to play the game, but my heart is really with hunting and fishing.

Q. You don't really get a kick out of this kind of day?

BOO WEEKLEY: No, I mean, I had a good day and it was fun. But, I mean, what would be even funner if I'm sitting at the house catching about a 10-pounder (laughter). That's about how you have to relate this day to. That day is over. This day is over with golf. Tomorrow we'll see what it brings.

Q. Do you know where you are in the Presidents Cup points list at all and what if Nicklaus called you on Monday and said, You're on the team, what would it mean to you?

BOO WEEKLEY: That would be great. I don't know where I am on the points. I haven't got a clue.

Q. You've kind of established that you're not a golf historian. You don't like to watch golf. What got you interested enough in this to become as good as you are. Who and what got you interested in golf?

BOO WEEKLEY: I had a golf coach at the house. I played every sport you could play growing up through high school as a kid. And I got hurt in every one of them. I figured I might want to pick up a sport that ain't so much where I don't get hurt as much. I don't want to hurt myself, get hit with something. Gene Howard was his name, the golf coach that taught me how to play. And I kind of went off to college and then came back and went to a chemical plant and worked for three years there. And then my buddy Keith Slocum and his daddy talked me into coming back out and playing. They said, You've got too much talent; come out and try something a little different. So they were laying off at the plant. I took the layoff and I started playing golf. And I played my first major event and I won it. I was like, man, this is an easy way to make a living right here (laughter). So I just kind of stuck with that. Easy way of making a living.

Q. You mentioned before that you're going to play for 10, 12 years until you have enough money to go hunting and fishing. What's enough money?

BOO WEEKLEY: I don't know. I ain't got that far yet (laughter).

McDermott wins Patterson Cup, Silver Star

2007-08-10T12:28:00.000-04:00

This just in from the Golf Assn of Philadelphia...

FLEETWOOD, Pa. -- Michael McDermott of Merion GC saved the best for last and carded nine birdies in his final round, including four birdies in a row on his final eight holes, to win 105th Joseph H. Patterson Cup and Silver Cross Award Thursday

For the rest of the story click here.

Welcome to Tulsa

2007-08-08T00:55:00.000-04:00

How hot is it in Tulsa for the PGA Championship?

Well, this is me after walking a few holes at Southern Hills.

On local TV tonight, the forecast for the next several days is: 100, 100, 100 and 100. There might have been a 101 in there somewhere. And careful, because the push-you-in-a-pool humidity is what's going to make it feel really uncomfortable.

USGA names patrial Walker Cup team

2007-08-06T09:56:00.000-04:00

Here's Monday's annoucement from the USGA...

Far Hills, N.J. – Two collegiate champions, a USGA champion and three who have qualified for a U.S. Open are among the eight chosen as part of the 10-man squad to represent the United States of America team for the 2007 Walker Cup Match that will be played Sept. 8-9 at Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, Ireland.

Billy Horschel
20 (12/7/1986)
Grant , Fla.

Dustin Johnson
23 (6/22/1984)
Myrtle Beach , S.C.

Chris Kirk
22 (6/26/1985 )
Woodstock, Ga.

Colt Knost
22 (6/26/1985 )
Dallas, Texas

Trip Kuehne
35 (6/20/1972 )
Irving, Texas

Jamie Lovemark
19 (1/23/1988)
Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

Jonathan Moore
22 (4/17/1985)
Vancouver, Wash.

Webb Simpson
21 (8/8/1985)
Raleigh, N.C.

Captain
George “Buddy” Marucci
55 (3/6/1952)
Villanova, Pa.

For the rest of the annoucement and bios of the players, click here.

Ochoa on top

2007-08-06T09:29:00.000-04:00

Wow, have times changed in women's golf. Forever, it seemed like, the No. 1 woman in golf was Annika Sorenstam. Her grip was firm, her future certain.

Not any more. Even before Lorena Ochao's first victory in a major at the Women's British Open this past weekend, the young Mexican was had overtaken Sorenstam as No.1. Now, it's Ochoa's grip on the top spot that is firm. Sorenstam has even slipped to No. 3, behind Karrie Webb.

Here are the latest women's world rankings.

Rank Change Name Country Events TotalPoints AveragePoints
1 0 Lorena Ochoa MEX 51 883.68 17.33
2 0 Karrie Webb AUS 48 514.11 10.71
3 0 Annika Sorenstam SWE 39 417.71 10.71
4 0 Cristie Kerr USA 52 447.96 8.61
5 0 Se-Ri Pak KOR 38 295.99 7.79
6 0 Suzann Pettersen NOR 45 335.24 7.45
7 0 Morgan Pressel USA 42 294.86 7.02
8 1 Ji-Yai Shin KOR 34 233.24 6.66
9 1 Paula Creamer USA 57 371.84 6.52
10 -2 Juli Inkster USA 42 273.87 6.52
11 0 Mi Hyun Kim KOR 60 370.96 6.18
12 0 Ai Miyazato JPN 55 337.45 6.14
13 3 Jee Young Lee KOR 54 312.01 5.78
14 -1 Jeong Jang KOR 58 330.77 5.7
15 -1 Brittany Lincicome USA 48 268.72 5.6
16 -1 Shiho Oyama JPN 70 369.5 5.28
17 0 Stacy Prammanasudh USA 52 255.95 4.92
18 0 Seon-Hwa Lee KOR 56 269.5 4.81
19 0 Mi-Joong Jeon KOR 64 297.81 4.65
20 1 Yuri Fudoh JPN 50 225.6 4.51
21 -1 Momoko Ueda JPN 55 242.4 4.41
22 2 Nicole Castrale USA 46 196.07 4.26
23 -1 Hee-Won Han KOR 44 186.56 4.24
24 -1 Pat Hurst USA 49 203.64 4.16
25 0 Angela Park BRA 37 150.55 4.07
26 1 Natalie Gulbis USA 54 218.76 4.05
27 -1 Sakura Yokomine JPN 67 271.39 4.05
28 0 Sherri Steinhauer USA 52 204.73 3.94
29 0 Julieta Granada PRY 51 196.92 3.86
30 4 Catriona Matthew SCO 41 147.91 3.61

Tiger on Tiger

2007-08-06T08:25:00.000-04:00

You've got to hand it to Tiger Woods. Rory Sabbatini does a little trash talking and Tiger responds Sunday with a 65 that blows away the field -- Sabbo included -- by eight shots in the WGC-Bridgestone Invy.

Here are few highlights from Tiger's post-victory press conference:

Q. Twice this year you've gone against Rory in similar situations, pretty much even, and on Sunday you've prevailed. Is there a special motivation there that you get from him?

TIGER WOODS: Well, the whole idea is just -- everyone knows how Rory is, and I just go out there and just let my clubs do the talking.

Q. He said, by the way, that your performance today was far better than the one in May when he lost. Do you feel --

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. The one at Charlotte, I made everything. I did not hit it all that well on Sunday, but I just holed everything. That's the only reason why I probably won that tournament on Sunday.

Q. It's usually over and it's break time. Could you talk about the difference now of this being over and what's coming up?

TIGER WOODS: Well, you knew that starting, basically, this week that it was going to be a two-week stretch, and you're probably going to play golf every day. So there really wasn't going to be a day off. The whole idea was obviously to win this event but be playing well going into next week. I feel I made some nice strides this week, and I feel very good going into next week, getting a few days to prepare and getting adjusted, and off we go.

Q. Did you hold anything back this week? I'm not suggesting you didn't try or didn't play your best, but just anything inside, reserve some strength, whatever you want to call it?

TIGER WOODS: No, that's one of the reasons I train as hard as I do. You go all-out every day.

Q. Being the only guy under par, I don't know if you care about that, but I would think that would be -- the last guy, and I looked it up back to '99, and it's been 15 or 20 guys.

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think it's just because the golf course played so demanding this year. We've never seen it this fast. We've never seen the greens this hard and this fast. The rough was up high enough where you hit the ball in the rough -- one, you couldn't get to the green, but if you did get a good enough lie to get to the green, there's no chance of stopping it. And then with the pin locations, it just made for just a very difficult week, and you just had to keep your patience. It just felt like this event was playing more like a major than anything else. You just had to grind it out. Some years here you just feel like you've got to make birdie, three or four per nine, just to keep yourself in the tournament, but this week that wasn't the case. You just had that feeling that it was set up more like a major championship where just having a lot of pars -- pars were probably basically going to win the tournament.

Q. You were so almost emotionless and just focused on that front nine. Was that just a product that you're playing well, or did you kind of have some extra motivation to zero in and really --

TIGER WOODS: No, I just got in my own little world, like I tend to do every now and then. I just wanted to not make any mistakes out there today. I just wanted to keep putting the pressure on the guys that were chasing, because as I said, I got off to a great start, and once I got off to that start, the whole idea was to never go back to them, make them earn their way back into the tournament. I just kept making par after par after par, and the weather kept changing, kept getting more difficult, and I felt if I could just keep making a bunch of pars, the guys were going to have to get greedy and aggressive to some of these pins and probably make a mistake.

Q. Well, with what Rory has said before and the mere fact that he had kind of challenged you or called you out.

TIGER WOODS: I won both tournaments, too (laughter).

Q. He brought up beating you in the NCAAs, though. He said he beat you in the last round.

TIGER WOODS: Who won the tournament?

Q. There are a lot of people, I guess, Rory, some guy said something to him at 9, he had him tossed. Did you get the sense of people kind of -- this is your town here.

TIGER WOODS: Well, certain events people say things, and you just have to become immune to it. You just have to -- the more you acknowledge it, the worse it gets. You know, the toughest crowd I've ever had to play in front of was probably Bethpage. They were all over me and Sergio in the final group. But it was just the way it was. I mean, you just put your head down and you just go. That's fine. But the more you acknowledge it, the more you'll incite them, especially if they've tipped back a couple. That usually helps.

Q. Do you get the sense of the way people have embraced you?

TIGER WOODS: Yes, no doubt about it. This may be a home away from home for me. The crowds have been just as supportive as I've ever played in front of. Even the days where I really haven't felt good with my game, they're always out there supporting me.

Q. Have you ever thought much about Sam Snead's record at Greensboro, eight victories?

TIGER WOODS: It's not too bad, is it?

Q. Have you ever thought about doing that, and if you did, where would be the most likely place to do it?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I would like to have eight at Augusta would be nice (laughter).

Q. You're halfway there.

Golf Cart One

2007-08-04T09:48:00.000-04:00

I offer, without comment, this photo of President Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown from their recent meeting at Camp David.

Women's British Open at St. Andrews

2007-08-02T09:05:00.000-04:00

For the first time ever, the Women's British Open is being played at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

For as good a preview as you'll find, check out Ron Sirak's story in Golf World:

History says the first woman to play the Old Course at St. Andrews was Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, sometime in the mid-1500s. But likely the real first female on the Home of Golf was Sheena the shepherd's daughter who most probably sneaked on during one of those endless summer evenings in Scotland when a full moon can illuminate the landscape in a dull brilliance bright enough to follow the flight of the ball.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Whatever happened to David Duval?

2007-08-01T10:08:00.000-04:00

I don't know why but something about David Duval still fascinates me.

True, in his comeback attempt, I watched him hit it sideways. During a practice round at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock, I stood there on the tee behind him and watched him pump three in a row so deep into the woods that the smattering of fans couldn't believe it. Me, either. It was that bad.

Still, with so much talent still residing somewhere in that angst-ridden mind and body of his, how could the former No. 1 in the world effectively walk away from the game? A long-overdue happy family life waiting for him had a lot to do with it.

But as John Hawkins of Golf World wrote in this recent piece, Duval had one foot out golf's door before his game went south. If you like Duval, it's worth reading.

Natalie Gulbis wins!

2007-07-29T20:52:00.000-04:00

Ever since Natalie Gulbis joined the LPGA, the rap on her has been that she was the Anna Kournikova of golf -- all hot babe, no victories.

All that changed Sunday when Gulbis, in her sixth year on tour, won the Evian Masters in a play-off in France. Now, sudenly, male golf fans can oogle her without feeling guilty. They are, after all, studying the finer points of her golf swing.

Here are excerpts from Gulbis' post victory press conference:

Q. What does this mean to you in?

NATALIE GULBIS: What does it mean? How long do you have? This is my sixth year on Tour, and obviously the U.S. has been quite a bit of hype on if I would ever win a tournament. I was really close last year where I lost a playoff, and coincidently it was right after the match play. It was like déjà vu. There was a match play event in the United States. Lost in the first round. Worked really hard on my game. Came over here was hitting the ball well, and these two events I really wanted to play well in. I had been injured for a lot of the season and was way back on the Money List, like 44th, maybe 50th. Probably the lowest I'd ever gotten to. Just tried to stay positive, so that means a lot, that the hard work has paid off. So many great people supporting me in the U.S. from the media to my team to my fans. It's great.

Q. Was it special to have your mom here with you?

NATALIE GULBIS: Having my mom here is really, really special. The last time I was in a playoff she was not here and she was really mad. So this was great to have her over here this week. She's helped me so much throughout the week and throughout my career, I'm very happy that she was here to see it. She was way more nervous than me. Like I couldn't look at here because she was biting her nails and wouldn't drink water. So it was great.

Q. Would you say there was one thing that sort of turned your game around?

NATALIE GULBIS: Yeah: My back injury.

Q. Clarify that one.

NATALIE GULBIS: I got hurt two months ago. Had a lower back injury and had to take about a month off. I had to change my golf swing because of my injury. I had to work on my posture and I had to do all the things that I had been working on with my father for about four or five years. We had been working on these same things and they just weren't happening, and it took an injury. I was kind of thinking this might be a blessing in disguise with the injury, and I kept working on it and working on my posture and I kept hitting it further and all the things I wanted to happen on my golf swing started happening.

She's b-a-a-a-c-k

2007-07-26T10:19:00.000-04:00

Contrary to advice from me and pretty much everybody but her inner circle, Michelle Wie is not taking a long break from golf. Rather, she's in France for the LPGA's Evian Masters.

Here are excepts from her pre-tournament press conference:

PAM WARNER (LPGA media staff): You've had a wrist injury this year. Talk about how it's doing right now. How everything is going?

MICHELLE WIE: My wrist is doing BETTER. Unfortunately I had a tough year this year, because it was very unfortunate that I fell on it, but it's all better; it's healing. The bone's healed and everything, and I have to get it stronger because it's been in a cast and splints and bandages, and it needs some fresh air now. It needs to get stronger. I've been working out a lot now and trying to get back into the shape and trying to get the feel back.

Q. Are you in favor of introducing doping controls?

MICHELLE WIE: I think drug testing is drug testing. I mean, they do it in every other sport, but I think it's sad that they have suspicions of people, but drug testing is drug testing. I don't think I'm going to get caught, so I'm not worrying about it.

Q. I saw you here a couple of years ago when you played. How do you think you have changed in the last two years with your maturity as a golfer? What are the things that you've learned about dealing with media people, et cetera? How much better are you now in those two years?

MICHELLE WIE: I don't know. Hopefully I got a lot better. The first time I played here I was 14, and it seems like way back! I look at pictures back then and I think, wow, I look really different. A lot of things have changed. The world has changed, I've changed, grown a little bit taller, hopefully my game has matured a lot. I felt like last year playing when I was healthy my game was consistent, and I feel like my putting and my short game I'm gaining a lot more shots on. I feel like I'm getting better and better. Unfortunately, I got sidetracked this year with my injury, but I feel like what doesn't kill me is going to make me stronger, and hopefully this will make me a stronger mentally and physically. I feel like I'm maturing as a person, changing a little bit every year, but hopefully staying true to myself.

Q. What will you do if it starts bothering you?

MICHELLE WIE: If it does hurt during the round, I know I have some things I can do, I have a brace, so it puts comfort into my mind. I don't feel like I need it at this point. Like I said, it's getting stronger and stronger, and I just have to play until it feels better.

Q. You turn 18 in October. Will we see you full time on the LPGA?

MICHELLE WIE: I'm not sure yet. I haven't really decided what I really want to do yet. 18 is a big year. It changes everything. I'm going to make a smart decision, figure out what I really want to do and move forward onto it. I'm not really sure yet.

Q. Is it in the back of your mind -- you are incredibly young. Is there something other than golf that interests you in doing as a career?

MICHELLE WIE: Yeah, I mean, obviously I'm still so young. Other kids my age are just thinking about what they want to do as a career, and obviously golf is what interests me the most, and I just love it. I love doing it; I don't think of it as my career, I just love playing golf. Obviously, I do have a lot of interests; that's why I'm going to college, to broaden my interest, in case I turn 25 and I want to do something else, then I have my education to fall back on. I'm interested in the whole business side of things and really interested in that and obviously fashion. I like a lot of things. I just don't want my life to revolve around golf. Golf is my main interest and my main passion, and I love doing it, but at the same time I love doing other stuff as well, and you never know what's going to happen ten years down the road or whatever. So I'm keeping my options open but right now golf is my only interest.

Q. So the world actually expects to see you on the LPGA, but in reality that may not happen?

MICHELLE WIE: A lot of things happen. People don't realize that I'm still young and I have my whole life in front of me, and it's just -- I want to be able to choose what I want to do in my life, and right now I'm just so happy playing golf right now.

Q. Can I just check, which wrist is it? I thought you had problems with both wrists?

MICHELLE WIE: It's mainly the left now.

Q. So the left was the real problem?

MICHELLE WIE: Well, they were quite big, but the last one was the "accident" one, so to speak.

Q. Do you have a target in mind for this event?

MICHELLE WIE: This week I just want to be able to play as freely as I did last year, as happy as I did. No thoughts in my mind, just out there, me and the golf ball and the golf hole and the beautiful golf course and just to play. Just to be my 17-year-old self again and to have no worries and hit the golf ball into the hole, and that's all I'm asking right now. I just want to be able to play a pain-free round, not hurt and be able to play very well.

Q. Does that mean if you play rounds without pain but perhaps miss the cut you will be satisfied then?

MICHELLE WIE: Is there a cut this week? There is? Oh, yeah, there is. You know, it all depends. I just want to be able to play pain free. If I do play pain free and I don't play very well, it's going to disappoint me, but I just want to be able to play care free, and I think if I do that then I'll play very well.

Sergio's blame game

2007-07-24T08:22:00.000-04:00

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – Over the next few majors, keep an eye on Sergio Garcia. He took this loss in the British Open very hard.

After years of being heralded as a future major winner and coming oh-so-close, plenty of people, including Garcia, figured it was finally his time at Carnoustie.

The time did seem right. At 27, he is older, smarter, more mature. A wizard with an iron or a driver in his hand, only his putter had been holding him back.
He no sooner goes to the belly putter two weeks ago than he shoots a 65 in the first round of the British Open and holds the lead for three straight days. Unfortunately for Garcia, he couldn’t hold it for four.

In my experience, when this kind of heartbreaking defeat occurs, players have one of two reactions: They either use the experience as scar tissue to harden them, make them stronger or they let it pretty much destroy them.

Padraig Harrington, another almost major winner until Sunday, was quite candid in his press conference afterward. He said if he had let this one slip away, he’s not sure he would have been able to continue playing competitive.

It’s hard to know what the long-term fallout will be on Garcia, but his immediate was to be, frankly, petulant, brooding.

When an R&A official opened his press conference by asking him to address the disappointment he surely must feel, Garcia was sarcastic. “No, I’m thrilled,” he said.

After that, he went on to blame all manner of things for his loss. He got bad breaks, he got held up to long when two grounds crew workers took too long to rake a bunker, he had putts that should have gone in but lipped out.

At one point he even hinted that somebody, or something – the gods or maybe a even higher – was conspiring to keep him from winning a major.

When somebody asked about his shot during the play-off that hit the pin at the 16th , Garcia said, “It’s funny how some guys hit the pin and go a foot. Mine hits the pin and goes 20 feet away.”

When somebody else asked Garcia if he thought maybe it just wasn’t meant to be, he said, “I don’t know, I’m playing against a lot of guys out there, more than the field.”

Finally, when somebody asked him about the pressure of owning the lead for three days, Garcia said, “It seems like every time I get in this kind of position I have no room for error.”

Well, duh. Even I know that’s why closing the deal in a major is umpteen times harder than doing it at, say, the Booz Allen, where he last did it.

The one guy that Garcia never pointed the finger of blame at was himself. He can talk all he wants about bad breaks, but the fact is he started the day with a three shot lead and couldn’t protect it.

As the weather in Carnoustie cleared Sunday afternoon and guys all around him were going low, Garcia could do no better than 73, 2-over, when it mattered most. Harrington shot 67 and came and got him, plain and simple.

Until Garcia can look himself in the mirror and admit that, he’ll never win a major.

Ain't got no sweet tea, and ain't got no fried chicken.

2007-07-20T12:54:00.001-04:00

Back home, you don't get the BBC feed of the British Open, which I fear means you missed one of the all-time great interviews.

Here are the highlights of Boo Weekley's post-round interview Friday. He's doing America proud.

Most of the best stuff is lower down, and I've highlighted it.

BOO WEEKLEY

Q. How are you liking this kind of golf?
BOO WEEKLEY: I like it. It's very similar to how it is back home on the golf course I grew up on. It's a lot shorter than the one I grew up on, but it's firm like this and it plays pretty fast. You can bump it around the greens. You can use any club you want around the greens, which is a good thing. The putting surface here is really excellent. They're a little hard to read sometimes, but they roll real good and they're real flat.

Q. What's your impressions, you've been here a few days of the country, of the golf, of the people?
BOO WEEKLEY: The people are great. I haven't run into too many ‑‑ I'm going to leave that one alone. It's been nice getting to meet some people. The golf course is great. The atmosphere is great. It's a bigger atmosphere than I thought it would be.

Q. In what way?
BOO WEEKLEY: Just a lot more people. It's kind of like the U.S. Open back home. I knew it was the British Open and everything, but I figured the way the weather was going to be there wouldn't be that many people out. But today is a beautiful day, I almost blame them for not coming out today. But yesterday was awful.

Q. What didn't you know about Britain or Scotland before you came here?
BOO WEEKLEY: I would say my family was from here. That's all I knew. I knew it was a long way from where I grew up.

Q. Did they tell you much about it?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.

Q. Any background?
BOO WEEKLEY: No, sir.

Q. Where exactly is your family from?
BOO WEEKLEY: I couldn't tell you that, neither. But I know they're from here, south of here, down south on the border down there, I think. That's all I know. You'll have to ask my aunt.

Q. Did you have a passport before this season?
BOO WEEKLEY: I got one right at Christmas, you know, earlier this week.

Q. A lot of people thought you had to have tattoos out there, you know that?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah, I've heard. I mean if I do, I've got them all the way up my leg and my back. I ain't got no tatoos.

Q. What about away from the course, the food, things like that here?
BOO WEEKLEY: It's rough. It's been rough on that food. It's different eating here than it is at the house. Ain't got no sweet tea, and ain't got no fried chicken.

Q. I thought you were a fish guy?
BOO WEEKLEY: I've been eating a lot of fish.

Q. Fried?
BOO WEEKLEY: No, they've got the guy smoking some right over here, probably some of the best you'll ever eat. Yes, sir, it was good.

Q. Arbroath Smokies, you like those?
BOO WEEKLEY: Oh, yes, sir, very good.

Q. Is there anything new that's better than back home?
BOO WEEKLEY: I can't go there. (Laughter). I don't know, sir.

Q. What about driving around, is that putting you off?
BOO WEEKLEY: I ain't driving. I ain't driving nowhere.

Q. Scary?
BOO WEEKLEY: I think so. On the wrong side of the road? Yes, sir.

Q. Rumor had it that you had to smuggle in a few cans of dip because you heard they didn't have it here.
BOO WEEKLEY: I didn't smuggle a few. I brought a bunch. I think about 20‑something and my caddie brought like 30‑something.

Q. You're not going to run out, are you?
BOO WEEKLEY: Nope. Got six more to go.

Q. You have three more days.
BOO WEEKLEY: That's perfect.

Q. Did you watch any British Opens in the last say 15 years before you came here?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.

Q. On TV, you didn't?
BOO WEEKLEY: If I did it was flicking through it and stopping and wondering who it was or something like that, but I didn't. I don't watch golf. I watch it every now and then when my friends are playing it and stuff like that, but I don't care to watch it.

Q. There wasn't a curiosity how ‑‑ British as opposed to the PGA TOUR?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.

Q. Do you know about the previous Champions and previous great players?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.

Q. Paul Lawrie, you apparently played with him last week?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah. I kind of stuck my foot in my mouth there, didn't I (laughter), but I didn't know. If you don't know, you don't know. I hated I said what I said, especially with him just saying what he said a couple of days before that, he don't get no respect. And then I say something like that, you know, it's like, wham, here's a slap in your head (laughter).

Q. Have you watched television here? What do you make of the television over here?
BOO WEEKLEY: I don't watch much TV.

Q. You can't get the race on Sunday?
BOO WEEKLEY: No.

Q. Are you a NASCAR fan?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yes, sir.

Q. Are you going to St. Andrews, the home of golf, when you finish here and have a game of golf? It's only just down the road.
BOO WEEKLEY: I didn't know it was the home of golf. I thought the home of golf was where I was from (laughter).

Q. Have you developed an appetite for being abroad and playing abroad? Would you like to visit other places in Europe?
BOO WEEKLEY: I don't like to visit, I just go and do what I got to do and get home.

Q. Had you been out of the country before you went to Mexico for the Cancún thing?
BOO WEEKLEY: I've been to Canada once, but that ain't really like leaving.

Q. Jim Furyk was out in some of the local pubs last night. Are you thinking about going out with a drink and mixing with some of the locals?
BOO WEEKLEY: No, probably not.

Q. They'd love to meet you.
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah, I'm pretty sure they would (laughter).

Smokie

2007-07-20T07:57:00.000-04:00

I've got a belly full of smokie.

It's local specialty fare, sort of the cheesesteak of a nearby town, Arbroath. The original idea dates back to the Vikings 900 years ago, according to Ian, the guy doing the actual smoking. Somehow, Arbroath became the "home of the smokie."

To cook it, they dig a pit in the ground, line it with slates and put a half barrel of whiskey in the bottom of the pit for juicy favoring. Then they take haddock, or trout, cut it, tie up the tail, spread it over a plank and cook it for 40 minutes over smoking beech or oak fire, which is covered by some sort of sackcloth. In the end, the smokie is "golden brown." Quite tasty.

I had my first smokie a couple of nights ago in a pub in Arbroath, mostly at the urging of the locals at the next table. Today, a few of us discovered some guy from Arbroath has a smokie stand not far from the media center. He served his smokie on paper plates and we all stood around eating and picking tiny fish bones out of our teeth. It's sort of like standing around Pat's in South Philly eating a cheesesteak. You can't beat it.

Daly dose

2007-07-19T11:02:00.000-04:00

You want to know the state of John Daly's life and golf game?

A few minutes ago, Big John holed out from about 100 yards out in the 11th fairway to grab the solo lead at the British Open at 5-under. On the very next hole, he lipped out a two-footer for bogey, giving it all back.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that just because Daly was the momentary leader, I wouldn't bet you $2 he hangs on to make the cut. Heck, I wouldn't even bet you $2 he makes it through 36 holes without walking off the course.

Thomson on Tiger

2007-07-19T06:37:00.000-04:00

Here's a British Open note that got bumped from the paper...

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- If Peter Thomson knows what he’s talking about, Tiger Woods could win eight straight British Opens.

“I’m serious about it,” Thomson said this week. “If I can do three or five, then Tiger can certainly do better than that.”

Thomson, of course, is the last man to win three straight Opens (1954-56) – and the only player to do it in the modern era. He and his record are in all their glory this week at Carnoustie because Woods, with back-to-back wins at St. Andrews in 2005 and Royal Liverpool in last year, is gunning to match Thomson’s record this week.

Two other long-gone players, Jamie Anderson (1877-79) and Bob Ferguson (1882-82) won three straight Opens. But the list of twofers who fizzled going for three-in-a-row is long and impressive: Old Tom Morris, J.H. Taylor, Harry Vardon, James Braid,, Bobby Jones, Bobby Locke, Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino.

Thomson, winner of five Opens over his career, not only doesn’t count Woods out for three straight, he believes he could raise the bar to unthinkable heights – eight straight.

“I nearly went five in a row,” said Thomson, 77, a native Aussie. “The fourth one I sort of threw away, not quite the way Mickelson did, but I finished second at St. Andrews at my fourth run. And I felt I should have won that if I had been a bit smarter. But then I won the next one.”

If Woods does pull off the three-peat this week, Thomson will be there to congratulate him. “I’d be as proud to be linked with his name as with three-in-a-row.

Thomson thinks the only thing standing between Woods and eight straight is illness, desire and preparation and, potentially, weather.

Thomson also takes his hat off to Tom Watson, the only other modern-era player with five Open titles.

“He’s still walking around winning, too, I believe,” said Thomson.

Welcome to Scotland

2007-07-18T06:22:00.000-04:00

After two days of clear skies, warm days and a light breeze at my back, I walked out of my rented house in Carnoustie this morning to be greeted by an arresting chill and a driving rain. Man, is it dreary.

So what if it's July 18th, welcome to Scotland.

I grabbed a light rain jacket but, not to be discouraged, I struck out for the golf course wearing shorts and short-sleeved golf shirt, refusing to admit that there was any chance the sun might not come out later in the day. Halfway throught the five-minute walk to the course, I was cold and wet, telling myself what a dope I am. This is what a rainy day in late October feels like at home. All around me, cheerful native Scots were bundled up in wool sweaters, pullover fleeces and rain gear.

So what. I'm from Philly. We laugh in the face of nasty weather.

Ah, the Open

2007-07-17T07:21:00.000-04:00

If I had to pick a favorite golf tournament, it would be the British Open.

I like the trip over, I've learned how to drive on the left side of the road and I like wandering the streets of the small towns and villages where the Open is usually played.

After an overnight flight, with my body clock haywire, I was up by 5 a.m. Scotland time this morning -- midnight back home. The sun was up already, so I made a cup of coffee, grabbed my camera and struck out from the house I'm sharing a few hundred yards from the course to hit the streets of Carnoustie.

I don't care where you go in the U.S., we don't have the kind of little ancient villages they have over here. By 6 a.m., a few shopkeepers were already preparing to open. Dressed in shorts, loafers with no socks and a fleece pullover, I stuck out like a sore thumb -- or a typical America.

People nodded and greeted me on the street with a cheerful hello.

Sandbagging, cheating or remarkable golf?

2007-07-12T09:43:00.000-04:00

I've just seen something I can't recall seeing in the generally friendly confines of club golf -- what appears to have been a blatant case of sandbagging, cheating or remarkable golf.

A buddy of mine invited me to play in a one-day member guest at his club, which shall remain nameless. I was one of three guests and, along with my buddy, our foursome competed as one of 18 teams in a modified Stableford format.

Using your handicap for net scores, pars were worth one point, birdies two points, eagles three points, bogeys and worse counted for zippo. Each green even had a second, much more difficult hole location, where point values were doubled. Of course, it all came down to legitimate handicaps and the honest accounting by each team.

At the turn, hoping to gauge our success or lack thereof, we asked one of the assistant pros what it took to win this thing? High 60s, sometimes 70 points, he told us. Our team didn't play great and we went on to finish with a total of 53 points, putting us back in the pack. Plenty of teams finished in the mid-50s, the 60s and even the low 70s.

To the astonishment of most everybody, the winning team finished with 98 points -- 19 points ahead of the second-place team's 79 points. In other words, most of the teams were bunched together, except for the winning team.

As we all watched the results get posted, the doubt set in and the eye-rolling began. This foursome of middle-aged, soft-bellied, non-athletic looking guys had almost lapped the field? Was anybody buying that? No.

The pro was helpless to do anything, unless he wanted to publicly question the integrity of the member and his guests. But everybody else let their feelings be known.

At the awards ceremony and dinner, when the names of the winning team and their winning score were announced and they made their way up for their pick from the prize table, they must have been embarrassed to be greeted by snickers, hoots and hisses. One guy in the back even did that thing that where you cough, while under your breath you're yelling, "BULL----!"

Except for the prizes, those guys got exactly what they deserved.

Upheaval at the USGA

2007-07-10T15:19:00.000-04:00

There are all kinds of upheaval and head-ducking going on at the U.S. Golf Association.

The manure first hit the oscillator the week of the U.S. Open at Oakmont when Golf World magazine came out with a cover story headlined "Can the USGA survive Walter Driver?"

Driver, of course, is the high-powered, hard-driving Atlanta businessman who is president of the USGA. Even Driver's fans -- and he has his fans -- tout him as a "change agent," meaning nothing and nobody is safe these days at the USGA.

But the cover story, which was long, well-researched and damning, suggests that in the first 1 1/2 years of his two-year term Driver has tried to bring a corporate-style management to the USGA not used to it.

That might not be such a terrible thing, but Driver comes off as an impersonal, imperial, impervious man who has left many of the USGA staff of 300 cowering in fear. While the top dogs at the USGA earn hefty salaries and fly around in leased jets and drive leased Lexuses, the rank-and-file folks aren't paid nearly so well and they are seeing their benefits get cut.

In the past week or so, two top people have left: Tim Moraghan, the USGA's chief of agronomy, and a man who plays a major role in setting up U.S. Open courses. Many insiders believe Driver had been gunning to take down Moraghan ever since the disaster at Shinnecock in 2004.

Also gone, suddenly, is Marty Parkes, senior director of communications, and No. 4 on a USGA staff flow chart. Insiders suggest Parkes got the blame for not being able to kill the Golf World story before it ever got published.

I don't know Driver well. The longest conversation I've had with him was maybe 10 minutes long at the Open a few weeks ago. But I remember well the impression he was making on USGA staffers at the U.S. Amateur at Merion two summers ago, just as he was about to take over.

I remember him walking past me and a couple of USGA staffers one day. As he passed I could almost feel a chill. And as I looked over at the USGA staffers, they were almost shuddering.

"I'm not looking forward to the next two years," said one.

Tiger's swing

2007-07-07T14:09:00.000-04:00

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why Tiger Woods swings at the ball so hard. Never could.

I mean, I am sitting here watching the AT&T National as Tiger takes the violent swipes at the ball with his driver. And while the stat sheet says he's hitting more fairways than he misses, it seems like every time I look up he's dropping the club in disgust or wading around in ankle-deep rough looking for his tee ball.

I cannot help but wonder if he couldn't hit almost every fairway if he would just dial it back a little.

The guy's got power to burn. Even if he let up just a itty-bitty bit, how could it not give him a little more control and accuracy? How could it hurt?

His driving accuracy is just over 55 percent and he ranks 165th on the PGA Tour. Imagine how many tournaments he would win if he improved that ranking to, say, 65?

Abortion politics on Sports page

2007-07-05T08:37:00.000-04:00

When I checked my emails this morning, I was already hearing from angry readers accusing me of promoting a liberal pro-abortion bias on the Inquirer sports pages.

Because of a story I wrote from the AT&T National golf tournament quoting Tiger Woods on the wonders of fatherhood, some readers mistook what he said for what I believe.

Specifically, I wrote that Tiger and Elin had spent much of the first night staring at Sam, wondering how they could love something so much that "didn't exist the day before."

For the record, I don't know anybody who has any idea of where Tiger stands on abortion or on when life begins; and I know readers have no idea where I stand, despite their best efforts to jump to conclusions.

Here, exerpted from the transcript of Tiger's pre-tournament interview, is the question and answer:

Q. Everybody before they have become a father has expectations or guesses about how they will feel, but usually it doesn't -- things happen that surprise you those first couple of weeks. How have your emotional responses been different than you might have guessed?

TIGER WOODS: Well, you know, something that I think Elin and I talked about on our first night, said, how can you love something so much that didn't exist the day before. We never experienced anything like that. And certainly it's one that was different and one that was special, and something that we want to experience again.

O'Hair to British Open

2007-07-03T11:20:00.000-04:00

O'Hair, 24, from West Chester, overcame a triple bogey on the first hole to shoot 68 at Oakland Hills Monday to play his way into the upcoming British Open at Carnoustie.

Here's a story from the Detroit paper on all the qualifers.

Philadelphia Open qualifer

2007-07-03T11:13:00.000-04:00

This just in from the Golf Assn of Philadelphia...

VILLANOVA, Pa.–Alan Borowsky, a 22-year-old amateur from White Manor CC, heads to the historic East Course of Merion GC for the first time in the summer’s marquee event, the 103rd Open Championship.

Borowsky, a recent Lehigh University graduate, earned a trip to the fabled Main Line venue with a 4-under-par 66 on Monday at Radnor Valley CC (par 70, 6,531 yards), the first of three Open Championship qualifiers administered by the Golf Association of Philadelphia. Borowsky and 15 others advanced from the RVCC site into the championship field of 72.

For the rest of the story click here.

2007-07-02T16:06:00.000-04:00

How did Tiger Woods develop those pecs?

The No. 1 golfer in the world finally spills the beans about his workout regiment in a story in Men's Fitness magazine.

Hint: Low weights, many reps. Workout six days a week.

Vacation

2007-06-22T18:12:00.000-04:00

I'm outta here for a week...

Huh?

2007-06-22T01:31:00.000-04:00

It's 1:30 in the morning, I can't sleep and I'm pacing the floor, pondering the great questions of the day:

-- How to solve the health care crisis in America?

-- What to do about Iraq?

-- Why does David Letterman wear white socks every night?

-- What's up with Tiger and Elin naming their daughter Sam, not short for Samatha, but only Sam?

Phil's sorry

2007-06-21T15:13:00.000-04:00

In an open letter on his website, Phil Mickelson says that after he missed the cut at the U.S. Open, he said some things out of frustraton that may have been a little "out of line."

As we say in newspapers, here's the "nut" graf:

I have to say Oakmont was a bitter disappointment to me. Not the Open, really, despite what I said on Friday, but not being able to prepare properly for it. I tried as hard as I could with a wrist that was far less than 100 percent. It’s the national championship and the event I want to win most. But being injured for really the first time in my career, aside from a broken leg years ago, and not being able to follow the routine that’s served me pretty well over the last three years was really frustrating. It’s probably why I said some of the things I did on Friday and some of them may have been a little out of line. It was frustration talking. I’ll be a little smarter about my preparation for majors in coming years, although I’ll continue with some variation of my routine. Without it, there’s no way I would have come within a shot of making the cut, let alone shooting 74 in the first round.

Wie WDs from John Deere

2007-06-20T13:49:00.000-04:00

Finally, Michelle Wie has done something right -- withdraw from next month's John Deere Classic.

If you missed the small item in the news last night, the teen phenom from Honolulu has pulled out of the PGA Tour, where she has enjoyed sponsor's exemptions, saying she needs more to heal her ailing wrist. Frankly, I don't know which is more injured these days, her wrist or her pride, but she's smart to get away from the game and the glare of the spotlight for a while.

In the weeks since Wie WD'ed from the Ginn Tribute hosted by Annika, she has been pounded in the media. At the McDonalds LPGA Championship a couple of weeks ago, the long knives really came out for her -- from the media, the players and the LPGA.

Almost in unison, everyone said Wie's parents, B.J. and Bo, need to give her more space, stop micromanaging her life, let her grow up a little. Wie herself took heat, too. Annika Sorenstam called her out. In Sports Illustrated this week, Dottie Pepper, the former LPGA player who writes a column, said Wie comes off these days as a "self-centered, unapologetic brat."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Following is the official press release from the John Deere regarding her WD.

MICHELLE WIE WITHDRAWS FROM 2007 JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

EAST MOLINE, Illinois—Michelle Wie has withdrawn from the 2007 John Deere Classic to continue to rehabilitate her injured wrist, tournament officials announced today.

"This has been a particularly difficult decision to make because of the support I have received from the John Deere Classic and everyone in the Quad Cities," Wie said. "I want to thank John Deere for offering me this tremendous opportunity. I hope I get the chance to go back and play there again."

The decision comes as Wie is rehabilitating from a wrist injury suffered earlier this year.

“I’m just coming back from an injury,” said Wie. “While my rehabilitation is on schedule, I do not have all of my strength back yet. The TPC Deere Run course is obviously very long, and I just don’t have the length to play there right now. I do intend to play in the U.S. Women’s Open, and to continue competing throughout the summer to help myself gain strength and get back to where I want to be.”

Tournament officials were supportive of Wie’s decision.

"The John Deere Classic has long been a supporter of Michelle Wie and we remain so today," said John Deere Classic tournament director Clair Peterson. "We support Michelle's decision and we sincerely hope she continues on the path to reach her full potential in every aspect of her life. We look forward to welcoming her back when the time is right."

The John Deere Classic is a PGA Tour event to be played July 12-15 at the Tournament Players Club Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. Last year's champion John Senden will defend his title against 155 other of the world's top golfers, including Masters Champion Zach Johnson.

Furyk's rationale at 17

2007-06-19T15:16:00.000-04:00

With his bogey at the 17th on Sunday at Oakmont, Jim Furyk missed his chance to force a play-off with Angel Cabrera. Whether you think he blew it or not, here's his post-round press conference with his explanation of how the last few holes played out.

JIM FURYK: I played well all day. I struck the ball well. I hit a lot of good putts. I think I ended up making four birdies today, and the four bogeys just -- I didn't do all that much wrong; I didn't hit that many bad shots. I just wasn't able to dig it out of the rough and get the ball on the green on two on 17, and in the end that's going to be the difference. But I had a few holes like 2, 12 and 17 where I really should have been able to make par, to manage par on those three holes and I wasn't able to do it. And that's what a U.S. Open does to you, you hit a lot of good golf shots, play the hole pretty well, and somehow you add it up in the end and you have a few bogeys, and I did that a couple of times today. I was able to turn it around in the back nine. I thought making the turn if I shot 2-under, I would have won the tournament and that would have been the case. And I had a lot of opportunities; it just didn't work out.

Q. Right after your second shot on 18, you took a look over to where the crowd was. Was there a noise that you heard? Why were you looking over there so long?

JIM FURYK: Probably was looking at the scoreboard on the way up to the green. It was difficult coming in. I saw the board at 15, and then we didn't see another one until 17 green and it was tough really to be aware of what was going on ahead. I was trying to tell by the groans. I couldn't tell whether Angel Cabrera made four or five, and I wasn't aware at the time what he made on 18. But either way, it didn't matter. I was trying to hit it at the stick, just wasn't able to.

Q. On 17 did you know you were tied for the lead?

JIM FURYK: I didn't know what he made on 17. There was no way for me to know that. I heard the groan; knew he missed a putt of some sort, but I didn't know if it was a birdie or a par putt.

Q. Can you talk about the birdies and keeping the adrenaline down and how you kept yourself in it?

JIM FURYK: That's what we do to get into those positions to try to win tournaments. I think I got really excited probably after knocking the putt in at 15, and that was a pretty crucial putt. I was three down at the time and I knew the leader, Cabrera, was right in front of me. And I had to knock a putt in and get momentum going again. And I made a great par at 16. And I'm still a little surprised at 17. Surprised I made bogey and with the pin on the left-hand side of that green. The no-no is to go left, but I didn't think I would hit the ball -- I haven't hit a ball anywhere within 20 yards of anywhere that one went. So I was shocked to see how far it went. At my length, I can hit the ball left of the green and it had an avenue up the center, and that's where I wanted to go all week. And the ball I hit today carried a lot farther, and I was surprised by basically how far it went and didn't realize from the tee box that I put myself into that poor of a position. I should have been able to dig it out, and I was playing away from the pin because I had no shot at it. And I should have been able to dig it out and make a 4, and it cost me. Q. Are you the type to take consolation from two runners-up in a row and being the only guy that's going to shoot even par on the weekend, or do you kick yourself for that? JIM FURYK: No one likes consolation prizes. I'm proud of the way I played, and I'm proud of those finishes. But, you know, a second is not that much fun to be honest with you; possibly third, I guess. I'm not sure what Tiger did out there.

Q. Would you have been done anything differently on 17; would you have taken an iron and laid up?

JIM FURYK: No. The play I made was the play. Now if I went back, I wouldn't hit left of the green for damn sure. But, no, it was the play. I would stick by that play through and through with the way the wind conditions were and the pin position was. In my mind, I made the right decision. I shouldn't have hit the ball so far left, but I'm surprised it went as far as it did.

Q. The long one on 16, were you surprised it was coming in?

JIM FURYK: At the very end, about eight, 10 feet short it looked like it might have had a shot, but I was trying to coax it up there, and I was playing a good eight, ten feet of break. From that distance I didn't have a club in my bag to go at that pin. My 3-iron wasn't going to safely carry the bunker and get back there. And my next club is a hybrid, that as soft as I wanted to hit that, I thought I would have trouble hitting the green. So taking a three-iron out to the left and trying to make three was my only option.

Q. Talk about the gallery.

JIM FURYK: It was a lot of fun coming back to Pennsylvania, my family being from Pittsburgh and the people here; knowing that this is where my roots started. And even though I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania and I call Lancaster home, I had so much support here and so many fans from Pennsylvania rooting for me, and it was special. It meant a lot to me.

Q. Did you hear the chants from the guy behind the bleachers?

JIM FURYK: I heard a ton. "Here we go Jimmy" was the great one on 17. Wish I would have made birdie; I would have remembered that a lot longer.

Q. What was your ball doing on --

JIM FURYK: If it would have come back 15 feet, I would have a realistic chance of knocking the putt in. The shot I've been fighting I double-crossed a few times; I did earlier in the week, quite a few times this week and I hit it in the Church Pews. And the shot was kind of a regular to a little bit of a smooth 7-iron. Ran it down in the valley and hop it up to the pin. And being a little jacked up, I got quick and I double-crossed it. And because of getting over the top of it, obviously I hit the ball longer than I wanted to, quite a bit longer than I wanted to. And, you know, whether I was at that time -- whether I was tied for the lead or one back, I was sitting there right in the middle of a fairway with a stick trying to win the U.S. Open, just didn't do it.

Q. Can you talk about what you like about the U.S. Open?

JIM FURYK: No one enjoys getting their rear-end kicked, but I feel good about my ability to get the ball in play and hit the ball straight and kind of gut it out. And I think I've come to the U.S. Opens in the last five or six years in a good mind-frame, knowing that the course is going to be really difficult, and there is not that many places where you can go out and shoot 72 or 73 and feel good about yourself; or shoot 75 like I did in the second round and know that you hadn't shot yourself out of the tournament. You just have to -- I do enjoy it. But I also, as I said, I don't have that much fun getting pounded and shooting 6-over par.

Q. You pulled your hat down and caught your breath. Do you remember what your thought was there, covering your face.

JIM FURYK: Just excited, taking a deep breath and concentrate on what I wanted to do in the last three holes. I hit some decent shots in the last three holes. I would have liked to have got it in at par or better, but I guess if I had to kick myself on one shot, I would love to go hit the 17th tee shot again. But more than anything I would like to dig that flop shot out of the rough and get it up on the fringe and make 4. But I wasn't able to do that.

Q. 15 and 16. You and Angel Cabrera were side-by-side. And you see what each other are doing; does it feel like match play?

JIM FURYK: Not really. No, I wouldn't go that far. But I was definitely -- I was surprised when I got to the 15th green. I didn't think I was three back. I don't know where he made the birdie, whether it was 14 or 15, but I hadn't realized at that pint -- there wasn't a heck of a lot of leaderboards out there, and you get lost in the golf course where they don't have the ability to put them by 11 and 14 and some of the holes. But there was times where you would go two or three holes without seeing a board. I think you go from 9 to 12, I'm not sure if there is a board on 10 but there might be. It seemed like two-hole jumps, rather than I'm used to the 1-hole jumps. But I knew I had to knock a 6- or 7-footer in, and let him know there was a roar coming and he wouldn't make a mistake.

Q. I think there was a five-shot swing there in three holes, you went from five back to the share of the lead; is that good that you don't know about it?

JIM FURYK: No, no way. I don't mind looking at the leaderboard and seeing where I stand. I realize there is a couple of holes where they can't put one, but I like to see them.

Q. Of the majors, is this the most difficult one to come from behind, even if it's only two or three strokes?

JIM FURYK: Starting today? I would say no. You can make up two or three shots in a hole here; so I would say not. It's tough to make up two or three shots when you've got to go out there and -- I think it's harder when you have to fire birdies, and you know the scores are going to be low. You start two or three back here and par one, you can be pretty much tied at that point. I think going out there and grinding away and get in red numbers in the U.S. Open, you can make up ground in a hurry.

Oakmont Ugh

2007-06-19T09:59:00.001-04:00

After nine holes at Oakmont yesterday, I could finally identify with what the players were saying all week.

Given the traditional media pass to play the course the day after the U.S. Open, I intended to play all 18. But it was pushing 90 degrees, I was carrying my own bag, we had no forecaddie and, frankly, you couldn't find a ball in the rough unless you practically stepped on it. There was also the drive back to Philadelphia.

After the front nine, my threesome of writers had experienced enough. We called it a round, grabbed a 'dog and a cold beer at the halfway house and chilled.

It's always a thrill to play these brutally tough golf courses that the USGA has set up for an Open. But when golf is that hard, that unforgiving and that discouraging, it takes a lot of the fun out of it.

You hit a shot that you know is dead-on perfect only to watch the ball trickle across the green and disappear in the rough. Two feet off the green and you can't find it. Without a forecaddie, if you hit a tee shot into the rough, good luck finding that ball.

The players talked about the linoleum-fast greens. True, they are extremely hard to putt. But at least you can get used to them after a few holes. You know to barely touch a three-foot downhill putt and still expect the ball to roll six feet past. But I found the rough to be the toughest challenge of all. If you find the ball -- and that's a big if -- you have no clue and no control over how it's coming out, where it's going. When you've only missed the fairway by three feet, that strikes me as too much of a penalty.

That all said, I started well: 1-over par through three holes. On the 4th, I visited the church pews on the left. Actually, with a decent lie and the ball not up against a lip, that turned out to be one of the easier shots of the round.

I made my first of two doubles at the 5th, where a blind uphill tee shot left me whacking away in knee-high fescue; I made another double at the par 3 6th when I missed the green to the right and my flop shot over the bunker trickled off the green on the other side and sank into the rough.

The famous par 8th, we played from 245 yards. I hit a 3-wood to the back of the left bunker, blasted to 12 feet and two-putted for bogey.

All in all, I was 7-over on the front nine.

Cabrera victory press conference

2007-06-17T21:24:00.000-04:00

Here are highlights from Angel Cabrera's victory press conference, with a translator...

USGA: It is a pleasure to welcome the 107th United States Open Champion, Angel Cabrera. Angel, round of 1-under par 69 today, 285 for the championship. Could you tell us what it means to you to be the first United States Open Champion from Argentina?

ANGEL CABRERA: It's definitely a very difficult situation to describe. You are not the U.S. Open Champion like every day, so it's very difficult to describe at the moment.

USGA: Would you share with us a little bit what your thoughts were as you were sitting and watching Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods finish their rounds on the 18th green.

ANGEL CABRERA: I was there sitting, waiting. I knew that I could do no more to lower my score, so I was only waiting and hoping that it was going to be a win.

Q. Can you talk about the shot you made to the green on 15?

ANGEL CABRERA: It was a very impressive shot. It was a 9-iron from 160 yards, and it was very impressive. (Laughter).

Q. What brand of cigarettes did you smoke and does that help you settle down?

ANGEL CABRERA: (Laughing) Well, there are some players that have psychologists, sportologists; I smoke. (Laughter).

Q. What brand? What brand?

ANGEL CABRERA: I don't want to say the brand but they are short 72s, they are called, short cigarettes.

Q. Have you been in contact with Eduardo Romero this week and how do you think he feels about this championship?

ANGEL CABRERA: I haven't been around Eduardo, but I am definitely sure that he's very happy about this win, and, well, he's a very close friend of mine.

Q. You never missed the cut in the U.S. Open; what makes you so good in this tournament?

ANGEL CABRERA: Yes, well, I definitely usually play very well in the U.S. Open. Most of the time I'm not making any putts, but this week it was like everybody was missing the putts. So that gave me an advantage.

Q. I have actually two; one, I'm wondering how many cigarettes you went through today and that 50-minute wait from when you finished up and went inside, how stressful was that wait, watching on television?

ANGEL CABRERA: I usually smoke between eight to ten cigarettes in a round and this round was not special about the number of cigarettes; it was more or less the same. And the wait, it was tough, because I was nervous.

Q. How disappointed were you with the 76 on Saturday, and did you fear that you shot yourself out of the tournament?

ANGEL CABRERA: I shot 76 and I thought that I still had chances; that if I scored low on the final round, I would be able to win it.

Q. Two questions. One, coming off a bogey on 16, bogey on 17, what pressure were you feeling standing on the tee on 18? If you're understanding me, why aren't you answering this in English? (Laughter).

ANGEL CABRERA: Yes, definitely making bogey on those holes made me feel nervous. But, well, I knew that I had to hit a good drive to make par on the 18th hole and sit and wait. I don't speak much English because -- I understand, but I'm not fluent enough, so I feel that I cannot be myself.

Q. I just wonder if you can tell us the story of how you took up golf. There was a mention of Eduardo wanting you to play when you were 15, but I wonder if you can share in your words how you started playing this game.

ANGEL CABRERA: I started as a caddie when I was ten years old in Cordoba Golf Club, my home club, and they allowed caddies to play on Mondays, when I started playing golf, and I turned pro when I was 20 years old.

Q. Name of the club again?

ANGEL CABRERA: Cordoba Golf Club.

Q. What brand of cigarettes do you smoke and how does it help you?

ANGEL CABRERA: (Shaking head. ) I smoke.

Q. 40 years ago, Roberto DeVincenzo beat the best player in the world to win the Open Championship at Hoylake. You beat the best player in the world to win the U.S. Open Championship. How do those accomplishments compare?

ANGEL CABRERA: Yeah, definitely I don't want to compare because comparisons sometimes are not so good. But the good thing is that I beat everybody here, not only Tiger Woods.

Q. After you birdied 15, did you stand on 16 tee knowing you had a two-shot lead? And then go through your nerves and the shot selection on 16 and 17.

ANGEL CABRERA: I knew that even though I had birdie on 15, that I had to play very well the last three holes because the last three holes, you can birdie or bogey them, so I had to keep concentrated and try to make the lowest score possible on those three holes.

Q. You have six Top-10 finishes in majors previously; did you take anything from those majors, maybe draw on that today in this round or in this tournament?

ANGEL CABRERA: Yes, the more you play in a major, it gives you a lot more experience. It helps you accomplish great things.

Q. You said you beat the best player in the world and the rest of the field, but you also beat a very, very difficult golf course. In this last round, were there ever any moments for you where you said, "What are they trying to do"?

ANGEL CABRERA: Yes, definitely I was able to beat the best player and the best players here, but I wasn't able to beat the golf course. The golf course beat me.

Q. Who taught you how to play golf, and did you ever have any professional teachers?

ANGEL CABRERA: I never had a professional coach. I've always had people getting close to me and giving me one advice or two, but never had a coach.

Q. I wonder if anybody has had a moment to reflect on your impact on children in South America and Hispanic-speaking children in America? It seems now with this victory they have someone to focus on as a hero and a role model; could you comment on that? It seems very exciting.

ANGEL CABRERA: I don't want to set an example. I just want to do things right so that people can imitate and follow. And definitely this is going to be something to be remembered in Latin America, not only in Argentina, but also in Latin America and probably some other places in the world.

Q. Can you talk about your childhood; how humble was the place that you grew up, and did you have to quit school to raise money for the family? And also, I read something where you didn't learn to read or write until later in your childhood.

ANGEL CABRERA: I wasn't able to finish elementary school. Also, I had to work as a caddie to put some food on the table, so that's why probably these moments are enjoyed even more than the common things, yes.

Q. You strike me as a very private person.

ANGEL CABRERA: Yes, I am private. I have friends but it's not a big group of friends. I try to remain, you know, as private as possible.

Q. But was golf and becoming successful at golf important to you, to not only help yourself, but to help your family? Were you motivated by the fact that you knew you could have a career in the game and take care of the people you love?

ANGEL CABRERA: Yes, I couldn't do anything else. I definitely had to play golf to make a living, to feed my kids and wife. So I just feel that I have no other option.

Q. What will you do to celebrate?

ANGEL CABRERA: I don't know exactly how I'm going to celebrate, but definitely I will at some point later on tonight.

Q. Can I have an invitation?

ANGEL CABRERA: You're invited. (Laughter).

Q. Why are there so many good golfers from Argentina?

ANGEL CABRERA: There are so many opportunities for caddies to play in Argentina, even though they are private golf clubs, they allow the caddies to play. This is something that helps boost the careers of the caddies and they usually turn pro. 90 percent of the great golfers of Argentina have been caddies.

Q. I want to know, if you looked at the leaderboards today, and was there a particular point in your round where you realized you were at least tied for the lead today?

ANGEL CABRERA: It's impossible not to see them because they are so big that you cannot miss them. You have to look at them.

Q. Just talk a little bit about what kind of town you grew up in; was it a small town or big town, and what do people do in that town?

ANGEL CABRERA: It's a middle-class kind of town with a population of 30,000, and that's pretty much it.

Q. Which players do you hang out with on The European Tour, and are you playing the Scottish Open this year and do you think it will be an easier week or a tougher week?

ANGEL CABRERA: Well, Carnoustie where the British Open is going to be played, is going to be absolutely difficult, so we have to work very hard to make a good score over there.

Q. I meant the Scottish Open, not the British. And who do you hang out with in Europe?

ANGEL CABRERA: Yes, I'm going to be playing the Scottish Open. I usually hang out with the other Argentines that are playing on The European Tour. There are like ten other players that are members of The European Tour.

Q. I was just wondering, how is this victory going to be viewed in Argentina, and will this knock Manu Ginobili off the page for a day or two?

ANGEL CABRERA: Ginobili is still going to be there on the front pages because he has accomplished things that no other Argentine has. What I have done has already been done by DeVincenzo, so what he has done will be more recognized.

Q. As a result of this win, do you qualify for the FedExCup? And how likely are you to spend more time playing on the American tour?

ANGEL CABRERA: I'm not going to change my schedule, and so I'm going to keep on playing the events that I had planned to play. I'm eligible for the FedExCup.

Q. Do you consider yourself one of the best ball-strikers in the world, and if so, to what do you attribute your gift?

ANGEL CABRERA: No, I don't consider myself like being the best-ball striker. Everybody that is here playing and on the Top-50 in the World Ranking are excellent ball-strikers. So it's difficult for me to say that I am the best ball-striker.

Q. Congratulations, Angel. How much influence has Roberto DeVincenzo had on your career, and are there any players in particular that you looked up to most growing up?

ANGEL CABRERA: DeVincenzo was not much of an inspiration for me because I wasn't able to watch DeVincenzo. When he won the British Open, I was not even born. So, yes, I looked to Eduardo Romero, Fernandez; those are the Argentinians that I followed.

Cabrera wins Open

2007-06-17T21:16:00.000-04:00

Shows you what I know...

Wow

2007-06-17T15:05:00.000-04:00

I have just come from a half-hour spent watching Tiger Woods and Aaron Baddeley in their final preparations to go out as the final pairing in the final round of the U.S. Open.

Tiger had his game face on like I rarely see. On the practice putting green near the first tee, Tiger and Aaron were maybe 20 feet from each other but they never spoke, never acknowleged each other. They putted in silence, each in his own little world.

If Badds wasn't already intimidated enough, Tiger is wearing a bright red, skin-tight Lycra shirt that makes him look like some kind of bulked-up video game superhero. Badds, by contrast, looks quite human.

To make matters worse, on the first hole, Tiger pulled out his driver and smoked a tee shot dead center. Badds pulled his 3-wood and made a short, quick swing, hanging the ball out to the right.

I'm telling you, this is over before it starts.

And the winner is...

2007-06-17T13:59:00.000-04:00

Tiger Woods.

I know, I know, I'm hardly going out on a limb in predicting that the most dominating player in the game will win the U.S. Open today. But it boils down to this: If somebody stuck gun to your head and said, "Pick the winner -- and if you're wrong, I pull the trigger," who would you pick?

The way I see it, Tiger shoots 70, maybe 71. He wins because everybody else just sort of melts away under the withering pressure. I doubt anybody blows up to, say, 80, but I think we'll see some 74s, 75s, 76s.

If I turn out to be wrong, my best guess is that Paul Casey will win. The guy is a thoroughbred who will eventually win a major, even if it isn't today. Maybe, just maybe Jim Furyk. I also think Aaron Baddeley has an outside shot.

Given the pressure, I'd be very surprised if Stephen Ames, Justin Rose or Bubba Watson wins.

Baddeley's third-round interview

2007-06-17T11:37:00.000-04:00

Here are highlights from third-round leader Aaron Baddeley's post-round interview:

USGA: We are now joined by Aaron Baddeley, Aaron with an even-par round of 70 today, 212, 2-over par for the championship. Your thoughts on having a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the U.S. Open.

AARON BADDELEY: It's, I mean, it's exciting you know. That's what I felt like could I do when I came here this week. I felt like I could come here -- I felt like my game was nice and I felt like I could compete this week.

Q. When you first turned pro, you were criticized a lot and came out and said, "I want to be the best player in the world." Do you think looking back on that, people, a, misunderstood what you were saying about Tiger; and second, do you think maybe you were a bit young and naive when you were saying that stuff. I remember Butch said, "Let's see your game improve" or something along those lines. Looking back at where you are now, do you find you've sort of answered the critics, if that what's it is?

AARON BADDELEY: I would say looking back, would have been a little bit naive; I was young. But I look back at that time, I was just speaking my heart. My whole life I've always been honest. I've always spoke whatever was in my heart, you know. I've always told you guys what my dreams were, my goals. I wasn't shy to do that. So when someone says something like that, you're always going to get criticized. But that doesn't bother me a whole lot to be honest. I guess now, I mean, I wouldn't say I'm answering my critics because I'm not playing golf to answer anyone. I'm playing golf because I love playing golf. I feel now my game is totally different. I feel like I'm a different person from back then. Yeah, I mean, it's night and day the difference between -- and also who I am as a person, as well.

Q. Tiger said after he finished that all of the players up on that leaderboard who have not won a major will be dealing with emotions tomorrow that they have never dealt with before. Two questions. Were you dealing at all with any of those emotions coming in, trying to finish off a good round when you had a three-shot lead, and how do you look forward to tomorrow and dealing with that again?

AARON BADDELEY: Coming in, I knew there was tough holes coming in. I mean, 15 is a tough, tough hole and so is 16. And then 18 is a tough hole. I mean, 17 can be a tough hole when you don't put it in the fairway. So I was really just trying to keep playing. I knew I was in the lead. So I was really just trying to focus on just not worrying about that and just trying to play golf. Tomorrow, I mean, obviously I'm going to deal with some emotions because I've never been in this position before. But I play golf, I've worked my whole life to be in this position so I'm going to embrace it. I'm going to enjoy it, and I feel like if I play well, if I play my game, I feel that there's a good chance that coming down the last hole if I've got the lead.

Q. You had to scramble quite a bit today, especially down the stretch, and one shot out of the bunker, the ball was up in the rough and was pretty miraculous shot. What are you taking out of today's round and digesting for tomorrow?

AARON BADDELEY: I honestly felt like I played well, like I hit a lot of good shots -- on 14, I think it was 14, I hit a really nice shot and thought it was perfect and was just sort of the back edge. There were a couple of those today where I thought I hit good shots and didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. But I was really happy to make par on 17, just hitting in that lie. When I saw that lie I wasn't worried about it. If I hit it in the fairway, I wouldn't be in that position. I was just like, let's get it up the left side and make a par. Tomorrow, out of this round, I feel like I played nice, so I feel very comfortable out there so I'm going to take that into tomorrow, just being comfortable on the course and being comfortable with my game.

Q. Robert and I were trying to recall, you played with Tiger a few times at Augusta, I guess this would be the first time on a Sunday in the last group, and I'm wondering, is it going to be hard for you to sort of stay and keep your mind in your own game, given that that guy is going to be right next to you the whole time, and he tends to generate an aura, other players have said.

AARON BADDELEY: Yeah, Tiger -- I like playing with Tiger, because Tiger is a great person to play with because he's very complimentary. When you hit a good shots, he'll say, "Good shot." Obviously he's a great competitor and loves competition. I'm very comfortable playing with Tiger in a major. When I see that pairing, I'm always pleased, because he's the best player in the world, and I like playing with the best players in the world; I always have done. When I was young, I remember asking Greg Norman for a practice round; I remember asking David Duval for practice rounds, because these guys were the best players in the world. I just enjoy playing with the guys who are the best at what they do.

Q. Take away the presence of Tiger, but there's another aspect of playing with him, which are the galleries, a lot of movement, huge media contingent, the potential for distractions taking place. When you've played with Tiger in the past, how much of a distraction or problem has that been? Have you ever been burned by that circumstance?

AARON BADDELEY: No, never had one issue to be honest. I think because the galleries are so big that you can't see anyone move. (Laughter) It's true. It's harder when there's four or five guys there because when one guy sort of moves his left arm, you can see it. But when you've got like 4,000 or 5,000, you can't really see anything; it's just a sea of people. So I haven't had any issues with it.

Q. A couple of weeks ago, Jack Nicklaus said he was very impressed that you came to him to ask to pick his brain a little bit. Would you talk about why you did that, what you got out of that and did he tell you anything that could help you tomorrow?

AARON BADDELEY: I spoke to Jack -- I was really keen to talk to Jack, because obviously he's the best player that's ever played the game, and everyone talked about how -- like his whole career, everyone talked about how well he thought around the golf course. Like that's one of the reasons why he won all of these tournaments and all of these majors because of how well he thought. So I tried to talk to him about how he prepared for tournaments, majors, and how he played his way around the course and things like that. He was great. I mean, I was amazed how he was like, "Ask me more, ask me more." Basic things, like, "Go out and try it, and if there's something else you want to talk about, just give me a call, no problems." He was great.

Q. Anything to help you tomorrow?

AARON BADDELEY: Tomorrow, yeah, absolutely. Just -- I'm not going to say anything, but I'll take something from what he said tomorrow, absolutely.

Q. That was at Memorial this year?

AARON BADDELEY: Yes.

Q. Can you take us through the maturation you referred to of when your swing and confidence kicked in, when you got better, why you're better and so forth?

AARON BADDELEY: I would say in October, November, 2005, I was out working with Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett, and ever since I started working with them, there's really been an upward curve of improvement of driving the ball in the fairway, hitting better iron shots. Yeah, I mean, that's just been a constant improvement, and I feel like every time I go to practice with them or even by myself, I know exactly what I need to work on. And I just feel like I'm going to keep improving because of what I'm working on.

Q. I was just wondering if you were observing leaderboards out there today and did you know Tiger was making a bit of a charge, and how did you react?

AARON BADDELEY: Yeah, I was definitely watching the whole day. I mean, from the -- I think from the second hole, I was looking at the leaderboard. I saw Tiger was 1- or 2-under early, so I mean, you've got to expect that. Tiger loves playing in majors and loves winning. So I was expecting Tiger to have a good day today.

Q. Johnny Miller famously said during commentary during the last round last year that Geoff Ogilvy could at least say he was leading the Australian Open. If you don't win tomorrow, is this some sort of consolation?

AARON BADDELEY: I can't think about that right now. I'm just worried about tonight. I'm worried about just doing better, a good session on the range tonight, a little bit of work and relaxing with Richelle and coming out tomorrow and playing as good as I can.

Q. Back when you were a teenager and won the Australian Open, there was a tremendous amount of hype and a lot of people talking about the next great player, and you have the commercials and all of those things. Does that seem like a long time ago, and how do you look back at that time of your life?

AARON BADDELEY: That does seem like a long time ago to be honest. What was it, eight years ago? I just look back at that time as like after the Australian Open, I look more at that time of when I struggled and was missing cuts, wasn't playing good. I look at that time as probably the most important time of my life, those two or three years -- probably three or four years when I struggled. Because if I don't go through that, if I didn't struggle as much as I did -- if I had just struggled a little bit, it would be different. But to struggle as much as I did, that was the most important part of my life. No. 1, my relationship with the Lord grew like beyond anything what I could imagine, which is the most important thing in my life; who I am as a person, my character, everything has developed and become stronger. I feel a lot wiser now because of all that and things I did wrong. And then I look back at that time, as well, and just say, if I didn't go through that, I wouldn't be sitting here today. I definitely wouldn't be sitting here right here right now leading a U.S. Open, if I don't go through that time of my life.

Q. Sunday is a long day for leaders. It takes a while for the leaders to get out; how do you make the day go by? Do you go to services or do you have a Bible study?

AARON BADDELEY: This morning actually went by really quick. I slept in a little bit until like 8:30, 9:00, got up. Every morning I always like study my Bible and wrote down some stuff and pray and stuff. So I'm just going to do that tomorrow like normal and have breakfast with Richelle, hang out. Probably be 11:00, 12:00 by then and get ready to come out here, come out here two hours before and do my regular routine.

Q. What are your keys to putting and what are the special challenges of these greens at Oakmont?

AARON BADDELEY: My keys to my putting is just I keep it really simple. I always have my little checks of making sure the ball is in the right position, making sure the putter face is square. That's really all I do with my putting. And I just look and react, like if you watch me putt, I'm pretty quick over the ball. That's something I've done since I was like 16. And then the challenges to these greens, best example is the 10th hole today. I was six feet from the cup and I had at least a three to four feet break in the putt. It came in really backwards. That's how challenging these greens are, because you've got to just hit the putt out and led it feed in there. Even like the last hole, the putt was so quick and so slopey, you had to just feed it out to the left and let it fall in there. There's no bashing the ball in the hole or anything like that. So you've really got to be careful with your speed and your line.

Q. Do you think the harder the greens, the better for you?

AARON BADDELEY: Yeah, I enjoy when you need to -- when you have to have feel; when you've got to get on the green and be like, okay, it looks like two cups out on the right, but you have to play a foot, foot and a half and sort of feed it in there.

Q. What prompted you to wait behind the 18th green at Augusta for Zach? Is that from Wednesday nights and those type of things, and would this not be a good time to remind people out there because you're playing with you-know-who that you were actually born in the U.S.?

AARON BADDELEY: Yes, I was actually born in the U.S. I've got dual citizenship. With Zach, Zach is a fellow brother in Christ, and I know it's very special to -- it's a special time in his life. I mean, he just won the Masters. We were at home watching the coverage, and when he birdied -- I think when he birdied 16, we were like five or ten minutes from the course. We drove straight back to make sure we were there on the 18th.

Q. You were at the house?

AARON BADDELEY: We were at the house just watching the coverage and we came back to watch him play the last couple of holes back at the course. Yeah, I mean, I wanted to be there because Zach is just a great guy and great friend and just wanted to be there to support him for that special time. It was just awesome. Richelle wanted to go back, as well. She was like, we're both like, "Do you want to go back?" "Yeah, let's go back right now." She's friends with Kim, as well. Both Richelle and I definitely wanted to be there.

Q. Your Web site has daily scriptural readings and the ones for tomorrow don't seem to be particularly pertinent to golf or to competition. Is there one that you key on when you're in a situation like that, anything, favorite verse?

AARON BADDELEY: I always use one verse, I used it at Hilton Head, it's the 2 Timothy 1:7, it says, "For God has give us a spirit of fear but power of love and a sound mind." I constantly quote that verse to myself. But I just enjoy reading the Bible. This morning I was just reading and writing and praying, and that's what is most important to me, every morning.

Q. Did you as a kid that you would ever be sitting here? And then second part of the question, when you were sitting in Scottsdale and you didn't have a Tour to play on, and it looked pretty grim for you, did you ever lose your faith; did you ever think that, you know, you're not going to make it as a professional golfer?

AARON BADDELEY: What is it, September 2000? I felt like that -- that I was going to quit. I told my dad I was quitting and walking away from the game because it was too hard. So, yeah, I definitely had doubts for sure. What was the first part of the question?

Q. When you were a kid, did you think to yourself that you were going to -- did you dream about ever winning?

AARON BADDELEY: Absolutely. That was something that was very vivid with my dreams, really, to be honest, seeing myself in that position. I mean, I've watched so much golf, I can tell you about what people wore, what they shot, everything. I just loved golf. I loved watching the majors; I taped them and watched them over and over; I can recite commentary from when Nick Price won. I saw myself in that position, absolutely.

Q. What did your dad say to talk you out of it, assuming it was him and not your own decision?

AARON BADDELEY: Dad said, "Fine, if that's what you want to do. If you want to walk away, that's absolutely your decision." I spoke to my dad and Greg's dad and they both said, "If you want, that's fine, but what's in your heart, what do you want to do and what are your dreams." And I started writing some stuff down, and I wanted to play golf. That's what I wanted to do. That's what was deep in my heart and that's what I got back to, like what was deep down in my heart, not just the frustration and annoyances.

Q. You're in the same position Appleby was at Augusta, final group with Tiger. We know who won there. Can you talk about scoreboard watching; could it be a mistake not to do some scoreboard watching tomorrow and just ignore the rest of the field and stay focused on just the two of you?

AARON BADDELEY: I think so for sure, absolutely. Because it's not like Tiger and I are seven shots ahead of the rest of the field, you know. It's like it's me and Tiger and there's a few other guys at 5-over. I think it would be a mistake not to look at the boards. It's all fun when you see your friends up on the board playing well. I always look and enjoy it and play my game. Like I said, I can only control what I do tomorrow.

Bartholomew wins Philly Am

2007-06-16T18:45:00.001-04:00

This just in from the Golf Association of Philadelphia...

MALVERN, Pa.–Philip Bartholomew was fortunate to make the 107th Amateur Championship field a few weeks ago in a pre-qualifier at Ballamor GC. A fellow competitor three-putted the final hole to allow all the players sitting at 80, including Bartholomew, into the championship proper.

On Saturday at Applebrook GC (par 71, 6,765 yards), the 19-year-old Elon University sophomore, turned that fortune into history when he became the first member of Yardley CC, surprisingly enough, to forge his name onto the J. Wood Platt Amateur Championship trophy.

For the rest of the story, click here.

O'Hair's Open stats

2007-06-16T17:59:00.000-04:00

Sean O'Hair shot 73-80 and missed the cut in the U.S. Open, but he did lead the field in one stat at Oakmont: He ranked No. 1 in driving distance for the two rounds, averaging 319.3 yards.

For clues into why O'Hair was a trunk-slammer on Friday, take a deeper look at his stats. It wasn't because of fairways hit; O'Hair ranked tied for 33rd. And it certainly wasn't because of greens-in-regulation; O'Hair ranked tied for 15th.

The culprit was putting. With the flat stick in his hand, O'Hair ranked tied for 144th, needing 33 putts on Thursday and 36 on Friday, including three three-putts.