Tiger's pre-Buick interview

Excerpts from Tiger's pre-Buick interview

TIGER WOODS

PGA Tour: You've tied Walter Hagen with winning 11 majors, talk a little about that
victory.

TIGER WOODS: Well, it was just an emotional win for me. I think any time you win a major
championship, it brings up so many different emotions, because it's so hard to do. Then when
you are actually able to come out on top, you feel the elation, the euphoria that goes on,
all of the hard work, all of the nervousness, the things you've got to deal with in major
championships, all of these things just wear you down and if you're able to come out on top,
it's one of the greatest feelings you could possibly have.

Q. Looking ahead at the PGA, do you feel like whether you win it or Phil wins it, one of you
can kind of have 2006 be the memorable Player of the Year so to speak?

TIGER WOODS: Well, right now as of right now, I think with, you know, having the two World Golf Championships, THE TOUR Championship and a major championship ahead of us, four big
events, anything can happen. Hopefully I can get it done in those four events check, four
bigger events like that, especially in a couple of weeks.

Q. How much motivation was what happened at the U.S. Open for you at the British to rebound
from missing the cut there for the first time?

TIGER WOODS: I think the Western was pretty important. I did not start off well. I shot my
first round over par and I got it going from there. I had a chance with a few holes to go to
win the golf tournament. That to me was what I needed to have happen going to the British. I
needed to have it turn around like that kick quickly and get back into playing mode again.
By the time I got into playing mode at the U.S. Open, I was already 2 , 3 , 4 over. You
can't do that in the U.S. Open, you have to get into the rhythm of the round quickly. I
didn't do that. At the British Open, because of the Western, I got into the rhythm of the
round so much faster and I didn't put myself behind the 8 ball right out of the gate.

Q. You talked a little bit about the Ryder Cup, you have a very young team, what do you
think about the chances of the USA team up against the Europeans?

TIGER WOODS: Well, as of right now, both sides are going to have some players that have
never been on any team before. So as of right now but you know, the points can swing so
fast. We've got basically three tournaments left and with the major being worth so many
points, I mean, every time I look at it, it's like, okay, he's in, he's out. It keeps
changing every week and it's changed a lot.

But as it stands right now, yeah, we have a lot of inexperience versus the top 5 guys on the
team have all been on teams before and then the other guys haven't. The Europeans are
finding the same thing. Right now I think there's four guys that have never played on a team
before.

So it will be interesting to see for both sides to see what transpires and also see how the
picks go and see what the two captains are going to do for their picks.

Q. You've been in the public spotlight, a fan favorite for quite a few years now, but one
kind of senses that with the passing of your father and the emotional win a couple of weeks
ago, that there's even more love for you more as a person than as an athlete, is that
something that you sense?

TIGER WOODS: People have come up to me and said really nice things since the Open and that's awfully nice of them. They can say all these nice things, but I still miss my dad. It is
what it is. It's awfully nice that people especially that have had loss before come up and
share their experiences. That's rewarding in that sense to hear so much about other people's
lives and how we're all basically in the same boat at one time or another. From that
standpoint, it's been remarkable, really.

Q. Last year in a question I posed to you, I referred to you as a "wily veteran" now on Tour
and you said, "don't put me out to pasture yet." But with time, and now with success, you're
tied with Walter Hagen. There's only one more name on the list and that great history and
tradition of golf leaves you one more target. I know it's a one tournament at a time type of
situation, but what does it mean to you now as one more of those accomplishments on the
major list adds to a total that gets you closer to the greatest maybe of all time, Jack
Nicklaus?

TIGER WOODS: Well, starting out, if you're lucky enough to get anywhere near Jack's record, awfully lucky to pass him, if it happens, it's going to take a career. It took Jack over 20
years to get his. There's no way you can ever have it happen quickly. I've played ten years
out here and I'm just barely passed halfway and realizing how many he won.

Certainly looking at Jack's record, I think the most important thing about Jack's record is
he had 18 wins and he got 19 seconds. When you put in 27 Top 2s, it puts it in perspective
he good he was in the biggest events. When you look at his whole record, you look at how
good he was for the longest period of time. No other player in the history of the game has
done that, be that good for that long.

Q. You've had Chris DiMarco on your heels for a couple of majors last two years. You've
shared team rooms with him at the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup. What have you learned about him over the last couple of years as a player and as a person?

TIGER WOODS: Well, what a fantastic competitor. He's a guy that will continue to fight. He
needs to just hang in there and gut it out and give it his best. That's one thing that you
have to admire about any player is that ability not to quit. People quit, you see it all the
time, but I think it's more remarkable that people never quit.

Q. You talk about liking this course and obviously you have a relationship with. Beyond
those things, does the timing work out really well, this year in particular, to have a break
after the emotional win and time after this before the PGA?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it works out perfect because I got a chance to unwind for a few days and then get back up and start getting ready for this event. I have all of next week to go home
well, maybe go home, hurricane might be blasting through there again. But I get to go
somewhere and practice and get ready. I always find it nice to get ready in solitude and
have my game where I want it when I go into a major championship, rather than playing my way into shape.

Q. It's been 12 days since Hoylake now. When you think back on the emotions that came
pouring out on the 18th green, do you have a different perspective about what that was all
about or why that happened, because as you said afterward, that's really not you, but it
happened. Have you thought about that in the last week and a half?

TIGER WOODS: I try not to. Only because I never really lose my emotions like that. And for
me to feel that type of loss, it doesn't feel very good. I haven't seen the coverage, so I
haven't seen that part of it. I haven't even seen a golf shot yet. I've been asking for
somebody to send me a DVD or some kind of tape and I haven't got it yet. So I haven't seen
anything of the golf tournament.

All I know is I remember being in Stevie's arms and crying like a baby and him pushing me
away into my wife saying you deal with him and just bawling there. I've never done that. I
never have. It's because I've never, ever played a golf tournament without Dad. It's the
first time where I've ever within a golf tournament without Dad either seeing me or being
around physically where I could call him up and say, hey, we can talk and rap about it. But
those days I'll never have that day again.

What hurt so much for me this year at Augusta not winning, because I knew that was Dad's
last tournament he would ever see me play in. And it hurt quite a bit, I've never been as
disappointed walking off a golf tournament. I just wanted to play well at the U.S. Open and
I was able to win the British. I kept coming back, why couldn't I have done this a few
majors ago and give him one more thing to see.

But I don't think I could have probably won at the British Open without Dad because I had a
sense of calmness that I don't have I'm usually pretty calm at majors but I was unusually
calm at this major. I think it was Pop up there just keeping me cool and level headed.

Q. There's so many great young players in the field this week and I think I counted a dozen
major winners just playing in the Pro Am alone today, and yet everybody likes to come
gunning for Tiger. Is that still something that you kind of feed off of and enjoy, the fact
that you know, wherever I tee it up, everybody wants to get a shot at me?

TIGER WOODS: Well, it is and it isn't, one of the guys in the field. That's about it. The
ones that are playing this week, you've got to beat everybody here, not just one of those
guys. Hopefully I can put my name up there with a chance on Sunday and get the W somehow.
But there are a bunch of major championship winners, as you said. But, you know, whoever is
in the field, you've got to beat them all in order to win the golf tournament.

Q. How did getting back and playing golf again help you kind of recover a sense of normalcy
after your father's passing?

TIGER WOODS: Well, it was interesting because it was actually probably the hardest thing for me to do was get back and play again because that's how I learned the game. I learned it
from Dad. Every time I take time off when I come back, I always focus on the basics, grip,
posture, stance, alignment. I learned every one of those things from Dad. So that was the
hard part is coming back and getting started. Once I got started it was all right. But
getting over the hurdle of getting started and knowing that he'll never be there to talk
about these little things in detail.

Tiger's effect on TV ratings

Good story from the Washington Times...

By Tim Lemke
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

August 3, 2006

It's simple math: A golf tournament, plus Tiger, equals good ratings. Broadcasters and fans have known that since Tiger Woods sprang onto the golf scene a decade ago. But the absence of Woods in several key events this year has underscored how much his presence controls the viewing habits of sports fans.

For more, click here.

I played

Like a glutton for punishment, or a fool, I just played 18 holes in this heat.

Teed off at Inniscrone at 11:30 this morning, just as the scorching sun was almost perfectly overhead. By the second tee, I was sweating like a pig. By the third tee, I had finished the Gatorade I bought in the pro shop. By the fourth tee, I looked like I'd been shoved in a pool. By the fifth tee, I had sweated through both my golf gloves and was fishing around in my bag for old crinkled, dried-up gloves that I'd never bothered to toss.

Every time I came to a water cooler, I soaked my towel and wrapped it around my neck. The worst of it was when I had to actually get out of the cart and hit a shot. Searching for errant balls in the rough, or standing over a shot, with the sun pounding on my back, there were moments I feared I might spontaneously combust.

In all, I spotted one foursome and one twosome on the course. By the time I left, the kid collecting carts said they'd had 16 players total today. I'm surprised that many people went out.

I drank two Gatorades and a bottle of water. By the end, I was weak and pretty much miserable.

Didn't play that bad, though.

Ortiz wins Junior-Junior

Jonathan Ortiz of Philmont CC defeated Zachary Dilcher of Hartefeld National, 4&2 to win the 2006 Junior-Junior Boys' Championship Wednesday at Woodbury CC.

That was Wednesday. But you could see this kid coming a mile off. Here's a story I did about him four
years ago.

A star rises in Kensington
Jonathan Ortiz, 9, emerged as best in a contest for about 6,000 children.

By Joe Logan
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

As well as he already plays golf, ask Jonathan Ortiz what he wants to be when he grows up and you'll hear no mention of being the next you-know-who. "I want to be on top of the world - in golf circles," said Jonathan, who lives in the Kensington section of the city and is a fourth grader at Visitation School.

He's off to a good start.

Two weeks ago in Orlando, Fla., Jonathan smashed a 159-yard drive, nestled a couple of chip shots oh-so-close to the hole, and sank putts of 7 and 20 feet to win the national title from among about 6,000 hopefuls in the 7- to 8-year-old age group in the Golf Channel's annual Drive, Chip & Putt Junior Golf Skills competition. Add that honor - along with the handsome Waterford crystal bowl that came with it - to Jonathan's impressive and fast-growing array of almost 60 trophies from junior tournaments here at home and as far away as Florida and California and it's clear this boy has a knack for the game.

"This kid is special," said Chris Eck, co-owner and teaching pro at Experienced Golf Center in Fort Washington, where he works weekly with Jonathan.
"I teach Jonathan as if he were a 20-year-old, because he already has the attention span and desire to learn and listen and perform as an adult. Honestly, he has what it takes to make it to the PGA Tour. "

As Eck spoke one evening last week, 9-year-old Jonathan pumped ball after ball into a net, showing off a compact, well-honed swing that seems equal parts hard work and natural athletic ability.

"You see that move?" said Eck, proud that Jonathan already demonstrates a kind of body control that most young golfers don't master until much later in their development. It was Jonathan's stepfather, David Brice, a guard at Graterford Prison, who first put a club in the youngster's hands. Inspired, as so many others were, by Tiger Woods' amazing 12-shot win in the 1997 Masters, Brice rushed to the closest driving range he could find. Jonathan, not yet 4, tagged along.

As Brice pounded balls, he couldn't help but notice that young Jonathan, hitting from the next mat at the range, had a pretty good little swing of his own. They came back to the range again and again.

Almost two years ago, Brice and Jonathan met Eck by chance when they stopped by his booth at the annual winter golf show at the Fort Washington Expo Center. Before long, Jonathan had a new friend and teacher in Eck, as well as a place to practice.

For Brice, the struggle has become how to finance Jonathan's golfing quest, which this year took him to 33 tournaments (in which he earned 16 first-place trophies, nine seconds and four thirds) up and down the East Coast.

"We are poor - at least we don't have money compared to the other kids traveling this circuit," said Brice, who is married to Jonathan's mother, Nydia Vasquez. Vasquez works in a medical records office. Jonathan's 12-year-old sister also lives with the family in Kensington.
Brice estimates he dug into the family coffers for about $6,000 this year. Another $6,000 came from a benefactor, Joe Corcoran, a businessman whom Brice met while he was caddying in an outing at Philadelphia Country Club.

"As far as I'm concerned, Joe Corcoran walks on water," Brice said. "Believe it or not, there are some good people in this world, and he has a big heart. This guy has seven kids of his own. "

Who knows what next season holds for Jonathan. Now it's time for a little downtime, a couple of weeks of rest and relaxation. Then it's back to work, getting ready for next season. "This year was a big test for us," said Brice, who not only had to juggle the finances but also time off from work. (The inmates at Graterford follow Jonathan's exploits through Brice. ) "I think he'll stay with it."

Jonathan didn't hear his father. He was too busy hitting balls.

Media scum's diary as Tour caddie

Good, juicy reading here as Gary Van Sickle, senior writer for Sports Icky and self-described media scum, bears all in his on-line diary of his five days caddieing for Andy North.

MILWAUKEE -- A chart of my pulse rate Saturday morning would've been entertaining. It was about 6:15, well after zero-dark-thirty but still well before any self-respecting caddie would expect to be awake and alert. (I don't have any self-respect but that's another story.) I was on the practice range at Brown Deer Park with Andy North, the two-time U.S. Open champion who asked me to caddie for him during the U.S. Bank Championship (just for fun, no money will change hands). He was warming up before we went out at 7 a.m. to finish the last 8½ holes of our rain-delayed second round.

For more, click here.

Puh-leeze

From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram news of a Hummer golf cart...

By DAVE FERMAN
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

Sam Goodrich says he can’t afford a Hummer — so he got the next best thing. Or at least the next best thing for a golfer like him.

“It’s a toy you can brag on that other people are envious of,” Goodrich, a 59-year-old retired Delta Air Lines pilot, said of his $21,000 customized golf cart, which looks like a mini-Hummer. “Golfers always want the newest driver or the coolest-looking putter.”

For the rest of the story, click here.

Golf in this heat? You nuts?

Against my better judgment, I scheduled a tee time for early afternoon today. I took a shower, slathered on sunscreen and tossed an extra shirt in my bag, just so I could to be dry on the drive home.

Then I walked outside.

In the 10 steps from my front door to my car, I suddenly came to my senses: Only a dope with a death wish would play golf in this 101-degree weather. What, did I want to be carted off the course like Michelle Wie at the John Deere Classic?

I can't believe I actually stood there for a minute or two, with my hand on the car door, debating whether it was really as hot as it seemed, or was I wimping out? By then the smoldering heat had begun to rise up from the asphalt. Yeah, it really is that hot.

I walked back inside, cracked open a bottle of ice cold water and returned to my desk, where I adjusted the air conditioning vent near my feet to wide-open. What was I thinking?

Is anybody playing in this heat?

Weekly notes from the PGA Tour

E NOTES FROM THE PGA TOUR

PGA TOUR·

The veteran set played well last week at the U.S. Bank Championshipin Milwaukee with five players over age 40 finishing in the Top 10.

In addition to winner Corey Pavin (age 46), Jeff Sluman (48), Joey Sindelar(48), Woody Austin (42) and Billy Andrade (42) all finished in the Top 10.·

Corey Pavin won last week’s U.S. Bank Championship while finishing dead last in Driving Distance for the week.·

Vijay Singh enters this week’s Buick Open looking for his thirdconsecutive win at the event. Singh also won the title at Warwick Hills in1997 giving him three wins in the last nine years at the tournament.·

A Tiger Woods victory at the Buick Open would give him 50 career TOUR wins. He’d be just the seventh player in history to reach that figure.He’d also be the youngest. Jack Nicklaus was 33 years, 6 months and 21 days old when he claimed his 50th career title (1973 PGA Championship). Woods turned 30 last December 30.·

If the season were to end today, THE TOUR Championship presented byCoca-Cola would feature a field that included 14 Americans, five playersfrom Australia, four from South Africa, two from Canada and one each fromFiji, Sweden, England, Spain and Colombia.·

Trevor Immelman and Nathan Green lead all rookies with five Top-10 finishes each. The two are among four rookies to already pass the$1-million mark in season earnings. The others are Camilo Villegas and J.B. Holmes.·

One more on rookies: The top three players in Driving Distance onTOUR are rookies—Bubba Watson, J.B. Holmes and Robert Garrigus. In fact, seven players ranked among the Top 10 in Driving Distance are in theirfirst year on TOUR.

NATIONWIDE TOUR·

The Nationwide Tour Championship at the Houstonian announced a purseincrease this week. The season-ending event will now offer a $750,000purse with $135,000 going to the winner.·

Does anyone close like Brandt Snedeker? On his final hole inregulation in his last five starts, Snedeker has recorded four eagles andone birdie.·

One more on Snedeker: Over his last five starts, the former U.S. Public Links champ has jumped from 93rd on the money list to seventh.·

Tripp Isenhour enters this week’s Cox Classic presented by Chevroletwith two wins on the season. One more and he earns an automatic promotionto the PGA TOUR. Of the seven players to earn the automatic promotion inTour history, three have done so in Omaha—Chris Smith, Heath Slocum and Jason Gore. Gore accomplished the feat last year.

CHAMPIONS TOUR·

Following his victory last week at the Senior British Open, LorenRoberts has won five of his 20 career starts on the Champions Tour. He has18 Top 10 finishes in those 20 starts. He’s played in the final group onSunday eight times already this year, winning four times. By the way, hedidn’t earn his fifth PGA TOUR win until his 432nd career start.·

Roberts and Jay Haas are the only players to finish in the Top 10 ineach of four Champions Tour major championships held so far in 2006.·

One more on Roberts: His final-round score of 75 equals thesecond-highest final round score by a winner in Tour history. Only thefinal-round 76 by Lee Elder at the 1985 Denver Post Champions was higher.·

70-year old Gary Player posted a 1-under par 69 in the first round oflast week’s Senior British Open.

LPGA Tournament Owners vs. Bivens

Check out this letter from the chairman of the LPGA Tournament Owners Assn.

July 28, 2006

To: Jay A. Coffin, Golfweek
Fr: Jack Benjamin, TOA Chairman of the Board

Re: Article – Rift Between Bivens, TOA Widens


Jay,

After receiving many requests for information, the TOA’s position in this memo is only to provide clarification on statements in the article posted on Golfweek’s website this week.

From the tournament point of view, all this really boils down to is managing revenue and expense. Tournaments in 2006 provided roughly $50,000,000 in purse to the LPGA. Tournaments spent another $100,000,000+ to stage events on the Tour. The LPGA takes 6.5% of the total purse ($3,250,000) to support LPGA programs and operations. The remaining $46,750,000 goes to the players. In addition, under the new contract requirement, the LPGA will receive $100,000 from each tournament as a fee to host a LPGA event. Given today’s tour of 32 events, that amounts to $3,200,000 annually. In total, the LPGA receives or will receive a minimum of $6,450,000 directly from the tournaments to support programs and operations. The major concern with just these additional costs (there are other cost requirements in the contract such as purse increases and 100% of the IDS electronic scoreboard expense), is that there are no new revenue sources identified by the LPGA or the Tournaments to sustain these increases in the future. The financial risk rests only with the tournaments.

Another issue that makes interesting conversation is the LPGA impression that tournaments make anywhere from 2 to 9 times the profit that the LPGA makes on an annual basis. This statement is a result of not understanding the business models of most tournaments. The charity gift is not profit. Charity dollars are a requirement and often a line item expense in the tournament budget. The charity gift/expense is necessary in order to attract and keep sponsors and volunteers. It provides a major focus for raising money to support a tournament. The added LPGA expense requirement in the proposed contract, without the identification of new revenue streams, will in many cases reduce the charity contribution, which ultimately reduces sponsor satisfaction and volunteer recruitment. Typically, the only funds left over after the charity donation, are funds to provide operational cash flow until the next year’s tournament.

The TOA’s sole purpose as an association is to investigate, disseminate, and provide factual information to its members in order for the tournament businesses to be competitive and sustainable. The TOA has been engaging in business development efforts with the LPGA on a regular basis for over 20 years. We have had many difficult conversations, and many intense negotiations; we have always come to a satisfactory agreement. That is one of the major reasons why the LPGA business opportunity is so well positioned in today’s sports marketplace. The stage has been set over the years by the great skills of the players, coupled with the partnership between the LPGA and all its major stakeholders and investors.

The implication that the TOA or its member tournaments are struggling with “change” is misleading as tournaments change each year in keeping pace with the sports and entertainment environment and industry. Positive, sustainable change is a negotiated direction between partners who share a vision, and then agree on a path to achieve that vision. This principle is the underlying theme of the TOA’s strategic plan. It’s just business management 101. It only gets complicated when the business vision, the roadways to execute the vision, and the measurements of success are absent or just not clear.

Thank you for your time.

Ryder Cup points

UNITED STATES TEAM 2006 STANDINGS
(through British Open/B.C Open)
=================================
1. Tiger Woods 3,755.000
2. Phil Mickelson 2,474.375
3. Jim Furyk 1,896.000
4. Chad Campbell 1,129.602
5. David Toms 1,072.250
6. Chris DiMarco 830.000
7. J.J. Henry 778.750
8. Zach Johnson 756.477
9.Brett Wetterich 746.000
10. John Rollins 685.000
11. Vaughn Taylor 660.833
12. Lucas Glover 641.376
13. Davis Love III 631.875
14. Fred Couples 627.727
15. Tim Herron 621.667
16. Tom Pernice 565.000
17. Arron Oberholser 557.500
18. Stewart Cink 556.894
19. Billy Mayfair 489.166
20. Brett Quigley 478.333
21. Scott Verplank 475.667
22. Jerry Kelly 473.750t
23. Ben Curtis 445.000t
23. Steve Stricker 445.000
25. Jeff Maggert 439.334

Note: The Top 10 finishers on the points list qualify for the 12-man team,U.S. Ryder Cup Captain will select the two final players to complete the team.

RYDER CUP WORLD POINTS LIST
(through July 23)
===========================
1. David Howell 207.27
2. Colin Montgomerie 205.90
3. Jose Maria Olazabal 202.09
4. Henrik Stenson 199.01
5. Luke Donald 187.74
6. Sergio Garcia 180.71
7. Paul Casey 165.33
8. Carl pettersson 154.12
9. Padraig Harrington 152.22
10. Paul Broadhurst 125.73
11. Johan Edfors 125.00
12. Darren Clarke 121.42
13. Thomas Bjorn 101.40
14. Paul McGinley 101.07
15. Miguel Angel Jimenez 99.47
16. Ian Poulter 92.61
17. John Bickerton 89.12
18. Nick Dougherty 88.89
19. Anthony Wall 87.97
20. Lee Westwood 87.63
21. Robert Karlsson 87.06
22. Simon Khan 77.49
23. Kenneth Ferrie 76.99
24. Anders Hansen 76.17
25. Niclas fasth 72.49

RYDER CUP EUROPEAN POINTS LIST
(through July 23)
==============================
1. Colin Montgomerie 2,413,016.11
2. David Howell 2,274,635.98
3. Henrik Stenson 1,744,908.71
4. Paul Casey 1,721,833.85
5. Sergio Garcia 1,557,771.27
6. Padraig Harrington 1,482,527.44
7. Paul McGinley 1,411,982.24
8. Jose Maria Olazabal 1,381,698.05
9. Paul Broadhurst 1,336,905.57
10. Johan Edfors 1,247,039.24
11. John Bickerton 1,141,957.16
12. Kenneth Ferrie 1,107,963.52
13. Thomas Bjorn 1,104,681.38
14. Robert Karlsson 1,092,811.77
15. Luke Donald 1,059,830.20
16. Miguel Angel Jimenez 1,007,261.85
17. Simon Khan 989,891.32
18. Anthony Wall 989,942.62
19. Stephen Dodd 915,044.05
20. Nick Dougherty 904,124.05
21. Anders Hansen 845,424.55
22. Niclas Fasth 813,308.77
23. Ian Poulter 751,854.43
24. Jose Manuel Lara 747,274.03
25. Simon Dyson 684,533.61

Note: The Top 5 finishers on the Ryder Cup World Points List qualifyfor the 12-man team, the top 5 finishers, not otherwise qualified,on the Ryder Cup European Points List will qualify for the team,European Ryder Cup Captain will select the two final players tocomplete the team.

Golf in space news

Cosmonaut Prepares for Out-of-this-World Golf Shot

Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin will attempt to jettison a golf ball into orbit around the Earth in September when he makes his second trip to the International Space Station. If Tyurin's shot proceeds as anticipated, the golf ball will be in orbit for more than three years, travel some 2 billion miles, and be tracked via the Internet.

For more, click here.

Raudenbush wins Junior

From the Golf Association of Philadelphia:


GLADWYNE, Pa.–After a 28-day, rain-induced hiatus, Matt Raudenbush of Pine Valley GC defeated a feisty Michael Kania of Overbrook GC, 2&1, Friday at the Golf Association of Philadelphia's 92nd Junior Boys' Championship at Philadelphia CC.


For the full story, click here.

Pavin's 26

Pavin scorches course
26 on front nine a PGA record

By GARY D’AMATOgdamato@journalsentinel.com
Posted: July 27, 2006

It's all about the long ball on the PGA Tour these days, with weight-room fanatics wielding 46-inch drivers and swinging from the heels, playing smash-and-find golf on courses with no defense for the 375-yard tee shot.

Once in a while, though, an old-fashioned shot-maker turns back the clock and shows the kids how it used to be done.

For the Gary D'Amato's full story, click here.

Bivens vs. critics

This just in from the Golf Channel press department:

MEDIA ADVISORY

LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens to Answer her Critics on Friday’s Sprint Post Game on The Golf Channel


WHO: Carolyn Bivens Commissioner, LPGA Tour
Steve Sands Sprint Post Game Host
Brian Hewitt Sprint Post Game Analyst

WHAT: Carolyn Bivens will appear on Friday’s Sprint Post Game news program on The Golf Channel, following the conclusion of the third round of the Evian Masters. Fully aware that she will be asked tough questions, Sprint Post Game will provide a forum for Bivens to answer her critics, explain her positions and to defend her record.

WHEN: Sprint Post Game
Friday, July 28, 9:30 – 10:30 p.m. ET

WHERE: The Golf Channel

Tiger's July newsletter

July 27, 2006

By Tiger Woods

Winning my third British Open was pretty special. Coming into the tournament, I knew I was playing well, but you never know if it will carry over, especially on a strange course.I arrived the Saturday before the tournament because we had never been to Royal Liverpool before and there was no information on the course.

Stevie (Williams) caddied on the course in the early 80's but he couldn't remember a thing. We just had to get there early and formulate a strategy.The max I hit my driver during my practice rounds was three times, just because the wind was different and it was blowing quite a bit. I also wanted to take a look at the golf course. As far as strategy formulating, it probably didn't happen until Monday, and then Tuesday I tried it out and I didn't play on Wednesday.

Out of the four days that I did play - from Saturday through Tuesday - we had three different wind conditions. So I got to play the course so many different ways, and each time I kept coming back to one or two drivers, if I felt comfortable doing it. As it turned out, I only used it once, on the 16th hole Thursday.

Once the tournament stated, I didn't feel I really needed to be that aggressive out there. Just plot your way along and keep making pars. The par-5's where so reachable, I knew I could do damage on them and be in contention on the back nine Sunday. As it turned out, I was right. I played them 14-under par.Of course, I also ranked first in fairways hit in regulation and second in greens in regulation. That's not a bad combo, is it?

For some reason, I had just a wonderful inner-peace the entire week. I didn't know what was going on. It was a great feeling and I wish you could have it all the time, but it doesn't work out that way.When I was playing, I never really got that aggravated and I never got that excited. It was just a nice, level feeling the entire week.

Come Sunday afternoon when I really needed it, I was able to birdie 14, 15 and 16, but I felt at ease. I wasn't pressing all day and I felt a nice, even feeling and it worked out. Sometimes it doesn't work out. This time, it did. Pop must have been looking down on me.

Another thing that happened was before the last round, when I went to warm up at the practice range, I hit several yardage signs on the fly. I also did that last year before the final round at St. Andrews, when I hit the 100-yard marker four-straight times and went on to win. This year was similar. My distance control felt great and I was able to carry it over to the course.

After I met with the press, I went upstairs in the clubhouse with Stevie, Elin, Hank (Haney) and a few friends for a champagne toast with the R&A. The first thing I told them was, `That's the hardest you guys have ever set the pins.' They laughed and apologized for the warm temperatures and lack of wind. I told them if I hadn't been wearing spikes, I would have slipped off a couple greens. They were pretty slick.

I also sent a short text message to Annika Sorenstam that read: 11. When she recently won her 10th major on the LPGA Tour, she couldn't wait to text me. Guess I'm 1-up now.Winning was no fluke.

At the Western Open earlier this month, I worked my butt off with Hank. After I opened with a 1-over 72, we worked for 2 ½ hours until dark, even though I had an early starting time the next morning. I was sliding my head to the right during my back swing and worked hard to correct that. The next day, I shot 67 and went on to finish second. That was huge for me.

Needless to say, I feel good about my swing. I'll play in the Buick Championship next week, then get ready for the PGA Championship at Medinah. Winning another major championship does wonders for your confidence.

Thanks for all your kind emails. And, if you're interested, tickets for the Target World Challenge, Dec. 13-17 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Ca, can now be purchased online at targetworldchallenge.com.Take care.

Weekly notes from the PGA Tour

E NOTES FROM THE PGA TOURPGA TOUR·

Tiger Woods wasn’t the only player to hole out from the fairway on apar-4 last week. In fact, an astonishing 10 eagle two’s were recordedlast week at the B.C. Open presented by Turning Stone. A remarkable fivewere made in the first round. Arjun Atwal played the par-4 ninth hole in2-3-2-4 for the week.·

Tiger Woods hit 85.7% of the fairways in winning last week’s BritishOpen. That’s the highest percentage for any winner on the PGA TOUR thisyear.·

One more on Tiger: His victory last week made him the first playerin TOUR history to go over the $60-million mark in career earnings.·

It was a different course, but John Rollins obviously likes theupstate New York area. He was second at the B.C. Open last year at En JoieGC and the winner this past week at Turning Stone.·

Larry Mize finished in a T6 last week at the B.C. Open for his firstTop-10 finish since a T2 at the 2001 Marconi Pennsylvania Classic.·

Along the same lines, Bob May recorded his first Top-10 finish sincehe was third at the 2000 Reno-Tahoe Open. May finished second last week atthe B.C. Open.·

Where are all these long hitters coming from? The Nationwide Tour. Eight of the current Top 10 in Driving Distance on the TOUR are formerNationwide Tour players.

CHAMPIONS TOUR·

Champions Tour players Tom Watson and Fred Funk both made the cut last week at the British Open. Watson finished in a T48 while Funk wasT66.·

Champions Tour player Wayne Levi returned his home area of New York and made the cut at the PGA TOUR’s B.C. Open last week. Levi finished in aT62.·

Americans have won the last three Senior British Opens. Tom Watson won twice, 2003 and 2005, while Pete Oakley won in 2004. Watson won in2003 at Turnberry, site of this week’s Senior British Open. He also wonthe 1977 British Open at Turnberry.·

This week’s Senior British Open marks the third consecutive ChampionsTour major championship on the schedule. The U.S. Senior Open (won byAllen Doyle) started things off followed by the Ford Senior Players Championship (won by Bobby Wadkins). The Champions Tour was off last week.

NATIONWIDE TOUR·

The victory by John Rollins last week at the B.C. Open was the 190th win by a former Nationwide Tour player on the PGA TOUR. It was the 15th win this season by alums of the Nationwide Tour.·

Lendl extras and out-takes

Here are a few quotes from Ivan Lendl that didn't make it into today's story in the Inquirer:

On his constant need to compete, even with himself, such as during his daily bike ride when he feels compelled to improve his time. Does he ever stop and smell the roses?

"No, no. I smell them on the way back."

On whether he knows enough to give his daughters, Marika and Isabelle technical advice about their swings.

"No. I am not looking at their swings. I do not understand swings enough. They know more about their swings than I do. I look at where their misses go, so I can give reports to their coaches.

"Sometimes, when I go over a round, I say, okay, she missed six greens to the left. If I tell their coach, he knows what the problem is. When she calls him in the evening, he already knows what to tell them."

On why neither Marika or Isabelle mentioned Nancy Lopez or Annika Sorenstam as idols.

"They wouldn't know about Nancy Lopez (too long ago). I am surprised they didn't mention Annika."

And how come no mention of Michelle Wie, other than Isabelle's dismissive comment, "She hasn't won anythying."

"I will stay out of that one. I will give you a tip: Ask anybody out here, do a survey, and if Michelle Wie comes up once, I would be shocked."

Note: Wie's name is mud around the American Junior Golf Association because she essentially blew off junior golf to try to luck at the next level.

On whether he wishes he'd found golfer earlier in his life?

"I wish I had it over; I would play golf. Gary Player put it best. He has an outing every year and one year, he had a bunch of celebrated retired athletes. He says to every one of us, 'How old were you when you retired? 34. 36. 31.' He said, 'I am 62 years old and if somebody told me I had to quit golf, I would cry.'"

More Bivens controversy

More trouble between the new LPGA commissioner and the tournament owners. Check out this latest story from Jay Coffin in Golf Week

Rift between Bivens, TOA widens

By JAY A. COFFIN

Another week, another Carolyn Bivens controversy.

This time, the LPGA commissioner bailed on a July 20 Tournament Owners Association meeting at the last moment, saying she was uncomfortable with the situation. Bivens made her decision moments before she was to board an airplane heading for Denver, and she told several other LPGA staff members they were not permitted to attend. One senior staffer was at the Denver airport when Bivens made the decision, and the staff member immediately returned to the tour's Daytona Beach, Fla., headquarters.

For the full story, click here.

Five things I learned watching the British Open

1. Tiger Woods will definitely break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors. In the past year, I had my doubts. No longer. He's as good as ever, and more determined.

2. Parched as it was, Hoylake was a perfectly suitable venue, not the over-matched has-been course many of the critics made it out to be.

3. Chris DiMarco has more grit, guts and fight in his pinky finger than most of his tour pro rivals could ever dream of having.

4. Jim Furyk ain't far behind him.

5. I'd never really noticed before what a vacuous, annoying twit Bobby Clampett is.

Tiger's post-victory press conference

Q: Tiger, you've defended your championship very successfully. How do you feel at this stage? How do you feel now?

TIGER WOODS: Wow, I don't know where to begin. I just excited, worn out, just so many different emotions to describe right now because I guess it all came out on 18.

But overall it was such a if you're looking at it just from a golf standpoint, it was such a difficult week, with the fairways and greens being as hard and fast, and Chris playing just beautiful golf today. He just kept putting the pressure on me in the group behind. I just had to continue to try to be patient, make birdies whenever I could, but just whatever I do, just don't drop a shot and give him any momentum.

And it didn't quite work out that way. I bogeyed 14 and I believe I bogeyed 12 and he birdied 13. So two shot swing right there. I guess it just then I got hot there at 14, 15, 16, which was nice to give myself a little bit of a cushion playing 17 and 18, because obviously anything can happen on 18. I was able to play it basically stress free.

Q. Can you talk about the emotion on 18, with Stevie there? Did that surprise you that you let it out, let loose like that?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I've never done that. You know me. So it's just I guess all the things that we've gone through of late and I guess I'm kind of the one who bottles things up a little bit and moves on, tries to deal with things in my own way.

But at that moment it just came pouring out and of all the things that my father has meant to me and the game of golf, and I just wish he could have seen it one more time. I was pretty bummed out after not winning The Masters, because I knew that was the last major he was ever going to see. So that one was that one hurt a little bit. And finally to get this one, and it's just unfortunate that he wasn't here to see it.

Q. Do you think the U.S. Open was an unfair test, and after that because you had not played for so long, did you think, I have to prove something to anybody or even to yourself?

TIGER WOODS: Well, the U.S. Open was not an unfair test. That is the hardest Open venue we play. It's just hard.

Q. I didn't mean that so much as the fact that you had no time to really get ready for it.

TIGER WOODS: No, I had plenty of time, nine weeks. I had plenty of time to get ready for it; I just did not execute and I did not play well and subsequently I was only there for two days.
But this week coming into this week I played well at the Western, and I almost won the Western. And I knew that my game was pretty close to where I needed to have it for a major championship, and to come in here this week, my practice rounds, everything was really, I guess, getting better each and every day. And I developed a strategy to play this golf course that I thought suited me and I felt comfortable with it, and I went out there and executed my game plan.

It's just one of those things where you develop a game plan and stick with it and there's times when you need to adjust, but I stuck with it the entire week. I adjusted clubs off the tees, just because the wind conditions kept changing, but as far as the overall game plan, I never deviated.

Q. Chris talked about what he called your uncanny knack of turning it up, doing what you needed to do when somebody is chasing you. One, could you talk about that, and also could you talk about Chris's knack of giving you the best fight all the time?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, as far as what Chris said, I don't intend to do it on purpose; that's not one of those things where I can turn on the switch. I believe in the way I play golf that you turn the switch on the first hole and you have it on the entire time. And you don't try any harder on each and every shot. You have the same effort level, you give it everything you have on every shot.

And for some reason in my past I've seemed to pull things off at the end and I think that's just due to I feel comfortable being there. I've been there enough times. I've had enough success that I feel comfortable being in that situation, and I kept telling myself today that basically only Ernie and I had won this Championship. We're the only ones who have basically won majors on that board. Sergio hasn't done it yet and I'm sure he will soon. Chris hasn't done it and he's come so close the last couple of years.

And I just think that there's certain calmness that comes about being able to say with honesty that I've done this before. And I'm out there and that's the calmness that I feel coming down the stretch.

Q. In light of your emotions at the moment and what you've said regarding your late father, will your celebrations differ in any way or is there anything special you might do given the situation and the circumstances?

TIGER WOODS: This jug will be filled up, I'll tell you that (laughter).

Q. With what?

TIGER WOODS: Beverage of my choice (laughter), and not just once.

Q. May I ask what the beverage of your choice is?

TIGER WOODS: No (laughter). Yes, you can; you just asked. Will I answer? No.

Q. Can you talk about the genesis of your strategy to not hit driver this week? You had said that you didn't know much about this course. Did you read about it on the flight over?

TIGER WOODS: Nope.

Q. It was just when you first got here. Was there a moment when it happened?

TIGER WOODS: No. As I was playing the golf course, I would hit a couple of drives, and the driver would go 350, 370 yards. How can you control that out here? You can't control that. The fairways become they're hard enough to hit as it is, and you add driver and they go that far, now how hard is it to hit? So I just felt in the end if you stayed out of the bunkers this entire week and had just a decent week on the greens, I felt that I would be in contention on the back nine.
And I hit the ball well the entire week and I felt like I had wonderful touch on the greens, except for the last nine holes yesterday. Other than that, I felt that my strategy was sound. It was going to keep me out of trouble.

Guys who were trying to hit the ball over the bunkers, they're going to have shorter clubs on the greens, no doubt about that, but a lot of these flags you can't attack with wedges. On 4, I had I'm aiming 30 feet left of the hole, and I couldn't keep it on the greens. That's the nature of the golf course and the way it was playing this week.

I felt the conservative approach was the way to go. And it lent itself to that this week, especially with four par 5s. And you figure if you just handle the par 5s, that's 16 under par right there. You sprinkle in a few more here and there around the golf course and you're looking pretty good.

Q. Has Hoylake stood the test of time and should The Open come back here, and if so, why?

TIGER WOODS: I think it's a fantastic test. With the golf course being this fast, it lent itself to just amazing creativity. Granted, if you would have had easier pins I'm sure it would have gone lower. These are the most difficult pins I've ever seen at an Open Championship. And a couple of times you feel like if you hit a putt too hard you'll actually putt it right off the green, and you never have that feeling at an Open. But this week it certainly was the case.

And I think because the yardage played short, in some cases, because it was so fast, you hit 3 wood, driver, hitting it 380 yards down there, you're going to have a lot of short irons in there. The only defense they had was pin locations and hard, dry conditions. And we couldn't really go all that low.

Q. Should it come back here?

TIGER WOODS: Yes.

Q. It didn't even look like you missed shot in your round. By your count how many did you miss and is this the best week you've had?

TIGER WOODS: I didn't mis hit any shots today. I may have started a ball left a couple of times or hit a couple to the right, but they were hit flush, and that's a pretty neat feeling when you're able to do that, to never really mis hit a golf shot, to hit it flush. I started off on line, but at least it's hit correctly and you can always make adjustments for that, and that's easy.

Q. Best long irons?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I have to say because I've never played a golf course like this, either, where you've had to hit so many. I hit quite a few off the tee, obviously, but I don't think I've ever hit this many into the greens, 3 and 4 irons and 5 irons on par 4s. But the golf course allowed itself to run the ball up on basically every hole. You had an opportunity to run the ball on the ground, run the ball into the green. So I just took advantage of that.

Q. Given what you learned from your dad about how to think about golf, the mental approach, what would you think about how you went through this tournament?

TIGER WOODS: He would have been very proud, very proud. He was always on my case about thinking my way around the golf course and not letting emotions get the better of you, because it's so very easy to do in this sport. And just use your mind to plot your way around the golf course and if you had to deviate from the game plan make sure it is the right decision to do that. He was very adamant I play like that my entire playing career.

Q. You're used to cameras following you and clicking off, as well. It seemed like there were a lot of distractions today, perhaps every hole. How did you deal with that, especially on the 12th fairway?

TIGER WOODS: It wasn't the 12th fairway, we had it every hole. We've never seen anything like this before. It wasn't the professional photographers, it was the gallery. They would either bring cameras or camera phones. They kept going off while we were over the shot or preparing to hit the shot or even hitting the golf shot, they were going off. And it was very, very frustrating for Sergio and I because because of all the undue delays that we've had with our caddies and the marshals and trying to get a situation where we can play, we got put on the clock. And it wasn't our fault. But that's just the way it was.

British Open notes

If you like notes and details, here are the first round notes from the PGA Tour staff:

The 67 sub-par first rounds were the most for an opening round at the Open Championship
since TOUR records in relation to par began being kept in 1956. The previous high was 59 in
1995 at St. Andrews. The first-round highs among the other major championships are 57 in the
1993 and 1995 PGA Championships (stroke-play began in 1958), 39 at the 1990 U.S. Open and 35 at the 1992 Masters. The last time the Open Championship was held at Royal Liverpool GC, there were 19 sub-par rounds. Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, a member of the PGA TOUR, holds the first-round lead alone at the 2006 Open Championship, one stroke ahead of Greg Owen, Anthony Wall, Miguel
Angel Jiminez, Keiichiro Fukabori and Tiger Woods. The two-time winner on the European Tour fired a 6-under 66 set a course record (course has been modified since last Open Championship in 1967) and post his career-best round in a major and just his third round in the 60s in 21 major championship rounds. Previous best was a 5-under 67 during round four of the 2005 Open Championship (T11).

England’s Greg Owen, a member of the PGA TOUR, produced a 5-under 67 on Thursday. It was his best round in a major championship in 23 rounds. Owen is making his sixth start in an Open Championship and has made two prior cuts with a career-best finish of T23 in 2001. Earlier this season, Owen finished one stroke behind Rod Pampling at the Bay Hill Invitational for his best TOUR finish.

England’s Anthony Wall, playing in his second career major, sits in a tie for second after
his 5-under 67. Wall finished T46 at Royal St. George’s in 2003, his only other start on the
PGA TOUR.

The 5-under 67 by Miguel Angel Jimenez on Thursday is his best opening round in a major
since he posted a 5-under 66 during round one of the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf
Links. It’s his best round at the Open Championship since a 67 during round three in 2001 at
Royal Lytham.

Tiger Woods posted an opening-round 5-under 67 on Thursday. It was the seventh time in his last nine starts at the Open Championship that Woods has opened with a sub-par round. He’s also recorded 10 of his last 11 rounds in the Open at par or better. It’s just the second
time he has opened a major with a round in the 60s since the 2002 Open Championship (17
starts), the other was a 6-under 66 during his win in 2005 at St. Andrews.

This is the fourth time in 12 starts at the Open Championship that Tiger Woods has opened with a round in the 60s. He has finished no worse than third when doing so with two wins in 2000 (67) and 2005 (66) and a third (65) in 1998.

Sergio Garcia finished with a 4-under 68. It was his best round in a major championship
since a 2-under 68 during the second round of the 2004 U.S. Open. It’s also the first time
Garcia has opened a major with a round in the 60s since a 69 in the 2003 U.S. Open (13
starts).

Australia’s Marcus Fraser, playing in just his second career major, fired a major
career-best 4-under 68 to sit in a tie for seventh. He missed the cut at St. Andrews in
2005.

South Korea’s S.K. Ho fired his first major round in the 60s in 17 rounds with his 4-under
68 on Thursday. Ho’s previous low in a major was 70 during the first round of the 2003 Open
at Royal St. George’s.

Australia’s Mark Hensby, playing in his second Open Championship, opened with a round in the 60s (4-under 68) for the second straight year. Last year, his 5-under 67 helped him to a T15 finish.

Canada’s Mike Weir posted a 4-under 68, his best round in a major since a 68 during the
third round of the 2005 Masters. Since his win at the 2003 Masters, Weir has posted just
seven of 46 rounds in a major in the 60s. It was Weir’s first major opening-round in the 60s
since a 69 at the 2004 U.S. Open Championship where he finished T4. Weir is looking to post back-to-back top-10s in a major (T6-2006 U.S. Open) for the first time since a T4 at the
2004 U.S. Open and a T9 at the Open Championship.

Ernie Els began an Open Championship with a round of par or better for the 11th time in 16 starts and is looking to make his 15th consecutive cut in the tournament. His 4-under 68 was
his best opening-round at the Open Championship since a 6-under 66 in 2000 at St. Andrews GC when he finished T2. It’s just his third round in the 60s over his last 25 rounds in the majors dating back to 2004 PGA Championship.

Jim Furyk’s 4-under 68 was tied for the best round posted by a player from the United
States. Furyk is looking to break a streak of five consecutive missed cuts at the Open
Championship. Interestingly, he made the cut in his first five Open Championship starts,
including three top-10s. The 68 was one off Furyk’s low round in an Open, a 4-under 67
during the 1997 first round at Royal Troon.

U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Tom Lehman matched Furyk with a 4-under 68. The 1996 winner at Royal Lytham posted his best round at the Open since an opening-round 68 in 2000 at St. Andrews.

The 68 was Lehman’s best round in a major since a 68 during round two of the 2001 U.S .Open at Southern Hills CC. It’s just his second round in the 60s in his last 43 major rounds (69, rd 2, 2005 Open Championship).

Australia’s John Senden, who became the eighth first-time winner on the PGA TOUR at last
week’s John Deere Classic, fired a 2-under 70 during Thursday’s first round. This is his
second trip to the Open Championship, he missed the cut in 2002 at Muirfield GC after rounds of 76-70—146 (+4).

There are seven players from the PGA TOUR making their initial start in an Open
Championship. The group was led by Lucas Glover and Vaughn Taylor with even-par-72s on Thursday. The others -- J.J. Henry (73)., J.B. Holmes (74), Arron Oberholser (73), Brett Quigley (79), and Brett Wetterich (75).

Lopez on Wie

Let there be no question about where Nancy Lopez, the Tiger Woods turned grande dame of the LPGA, stands when it comes to Michelle Wie - - she should forget about the PGA Tour.

Check out these excerpts from Lopez's recent pre-tourney intervew at the Jamie Farr:

Q. Being a child prodigy yourself, to some degree, what do you think of Michelle Wie and the approach she is taken to being professional at the age of 16?

NANCY LOPEZ: I'm really always saying I'm kind of confused, I'm not really sure what she wants to do. I haven't really talked to her about it.I know if I had a 16 year old that could play golf the way that she did, or she does, I think I would have advised my 16 year old to play more amateur golf. I would have never encouraged her to play on the men's tour.

I think that, you know, we have a woman's tour, and I think the men, I would probably say that most of the players on the PGA TOUR probably don't want her to play on their TOUR. They probably don't say that, but I'm speaking for them and my opinion. You know, I respect the PGA TOUR. They have their tour. I don't want any of their guys to play on our Tour. If we did not have a rule, I wouldn't want them to be over here. If they did we would have no women Tour because we would have a bunch of men on our Tour beating us. I'm a little confused there because I know when I was a little girl I wanted to win. I just don't think Michelle can win on the men's tour.

I would think that her goal would be to win on the woman's tour and be the best she can be on the woman's tour. Because she is such a great talent and she is really a nice girl. To be the best right now, she is going to be playing against some of the best players that's ever played on the LPGA Tour. I think we have the best product we've ever had with all of the young players that are out here and they will be here for many, many years. Most of them are around 20.

So I would think that she would set her goals to be the best, and to beat Annika, and to win more tournaments than Kathy Whitworth. She can do that. But everyone says, ‘Well, she has finished second in that event.' There is a big difference second and first. There really is because I've been there. To win you know when you are walking down the 18th fairway, and you're either one shot behind, or tied, or one shot in the lead, that is pressure.

So, you know what it's all about if you've been there. She hasn't won for a long time. I mean it's been a while. I think it's going to be harder – I think if she would have played more amateur golf she would have already won out here. I truly believe that. Because she would have come out here with the attitude internally that she was the best and that she could win. I don't really know if she can answer that question to herself now that she can really win right now. I think she will eventually win for sure on the LPGA Tour, but I really think she would have won already by now.

Q. Do you think it would benefit the LPGA to get her out to a few more things? I know there are a myriad of rules because she is not a full time member, giving the attention that she draws.

NANCY LOPEZ: Definitely. I want the LPGA Tour to succeed. The PGA TOUR is already doing that. We need her on the LPGA Tour to bring those people in the gates to watch her play. That's why we are going to make more money for charity first, and then for the LPGA Tour for the purses to get bigger. I hope that she cares enough about the LPGA Tour to come out here and play with us and bring those fans out here to watch Michelle Wie on the LPGA Tour.

Shove it

Phil Mickelson is now offiically sick and tired of questions about his monumental meltdown at the U.S. Open.

After his first round 69 at the British Open this morning, Mickelson sat down for a quick chat with Jim Huber from TNT. Soon enough, of course, the conversation turned to you-know-what and whether it might haunt him this week as his chased his first Claret Jug. Mickelson, who is as savvy as it comes in media relations, forced a smile and said something like, "Well, I'm not going to let one hole affect how to do in majors."

But what was obvious and undeniable as Mickelson spoke through gritted teeth was that he wanted to lunge across the chair, yank that microphone out of Huber's hand, and shove it down his ever-loving throat.

British Open digs

Here in the good old US of A, when we travel, we tend to take accommodations for granted. Not so in Europe.
I once had a hotel room at the Ryder Cup that had a shower but only half a shower door.

Check out this "Postcard" from this week's British Open from Barker "The Rover" Davis of the Washington Times:

In the well-established tradition of bizarre British Open lodgings, the Rover is delighted to report that his accommodations in Liverpool this week are the most shocking he's ever encountered in nine trips to the Open.

The Rover is booked into a massive hotel in center city Liverpool (a stunningly dirty port town that should be renamed Cesspool) called the Adelphi. The once-grand Adelphi is one of the largest and oldest hotels in the city. And it's quite clear the owners haven't spent a shilling on upkeep since Bill Shakespeare stayed there. It's simply an impossibly shabby old dame. The Rover's room is large enough for a basketball court, complete with 12-foot ceilings, intricate molding and gaudy candelabra lighting. But every stick of furniture in the room, all of it gloriously unmatched, is marred by a combination of cigarette burns and stains of dubious origin. The "king-sized bed" is two sagging twins shoved together. Better yet, both are fitted with single sheets, completely dispelling the illusion.

Not only are grime, cobwebs and dust omnipresent, the Rover arrived to find the following objects under a high side table: two cigarette butts, an empty pint glass and two soiled cocktail napkins. And after two visits from the maid, they're still there. Suffice it to say, it's the kind of room where one never removes his shoes, much less his socks. Should the Rover fail to correspond later this week, it will undoubtedly be because Jack Nicholson has burst out of a closet and induced a coronary.

Arnold grabs early lead in the Philly Open

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

Steve Arnold, an amateur from Yardley CC, holds the first-round lead after posting a 3-under-par 68 at Llanerch CC in the Open Championship.

For live scoring, click here.

Top golfing docs

Who's the best golfer among doctors in the area?

That would be Dr. W. Clark Hargrove, a heart surgeon at Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, and a 1.3 handicapper at Merion and Pine Valley.

I wasn't surprised to stumble across that fact in the August issue of Golf Digest, because, as it happens, Clark and I grew up in the same small town in North Carolina, Tarboro. I can remember Clark winning the club championship at our little 9-hole club, Hilma Country Club, when he was only 13 or 14. He's still got game, ranking tied for 19th in the magazine's national list.

For Golf Digest's complete list of Top Docs, including a few more from the area, click here.

Tiger's pre-British Open interview

Excerpts from Tiger Woods' pre-tournament interview at the British Open.

Q: Tiger, coming here to a links course, which is in true links condition, you've been here
for a few days now, how do you find the course playing?

TIGER WOODS: It's not playing slow. The golf course is definitely fast. It's hard. It's a
little bit slower the last couple of days because obviously they're putting some water on
it, trying to keep it alive. But overall it's going to be a fantastic challenge this week to play a golf course this fast. We don't get a chance to do this very often, but when we do, it sure brings back shot making and creativity back in the game.

Q. The last time you had the 2 iron in the bag before this week, and kind of talk about
that.
TIGER WOODS: The last time I played with it was probably it was Dunlop Phoenix last year.
Yeah, that's the last time I actually have used it in competition.

Q. Can you talk about that?
TIGER WOODS: The 5 wood just definitely is not rolling, obviously. That's the reason why
it's in the bag, on most golf courses. But this week, I like the feeling, I'm trying to take
advantage of the fast fairways and roll the ball out there. And the 2 iron enables me to do
that.

Q. You obviously missed the cut at the U.S. Open. Now you've had a month to prepare and you seem to be very much ready for The Open. How do you get ready for this? Is it mental?
TIGER WOODS: I think it's just getting back into the playing again. I took a lot of time off
prior to the U.S. Open and I wasn't hitting the ball as well as I wanted to in competition.
But I fixed those mistakes prior to the Western and I got back into the competitive flow
again. And I got things going and it's nice when you play four rounds. I had two extra days
there at the Western to get back into the flow of things and the weekend I played great. So
I feel like I'm back into playing again after taking such a long time off prior to the U.S.
Open.

Q. I was going to ask about your father. Those of us who saw you in THE PLAYERS and then The Masters and the U.S. Open have seen you in different and obviously very understandable circumstances, and those of us who have lost parents understand. When do you think you can say I'm clear of it, I've come out of it, I've learned how to deal with it, and do you still think of your father every day?
TIGER WOODS: Well, there's not a day that I don't think I'll ever go through life without
thinking about my dad. I love him dearly. And everyone I've ever talked to that has lost a
parent, they think about them every day and they always miss them, and especially if the
bond that we've had, you know, I think it transcended just a normal parent/child
relationship. And I think that's probably why I will think about him more, and especially
when I'm out here playing and practicing, because a lot of the fundamentals actually all the
fundamentals that I learned were from him.

Anytime I go back to my basics and work on grip, posture and stance and aim and all those
things that I learned from him, I always think about those younger days. I honestly don't
think there will ever be a day that I won't think about him.

Q. But there will be a day when you say to yourself, yes, I've come to terms with it, I've
worked it out. Have you arrived at that day or when do you think it will come?
TIGER WOODS: I've come to terms with it, there's no doubt about that. He's not here anymore. It's not like I can pick up the phone and call him and say, "Pop, what do you think about my putting stroke?" Those days aren't here anymore. So I've got to come to terms with it and understand it, it's just not there. I have so many wonderful memories that I'll look back on
it with smiles every time.

Q. Given how unusual it was for you to miss a cut in the U.S. Open, what were the practice
sessions like the next couple of years? How significant was it to sort of feel that Sunday
pressure and get in the chase again at the Western?
TIGER WOODS: Well, it was nice to get back out and practice after The Open and work on the things that I did not do well at The Open. And I felt like I rectified that at the Western.
And after the first day I didn't really I didn't putt all that well and got it going on the
weekend with the putter, but I also hit the ball better. It was nice to be back in the mix
with a chance on the back nine, even though I didn't pull it off, but I had a chance. And I
would say it's been a while, but it's only been two tournaments. I had a chance at Augusta
and my next tournament was the U.S. Open. Tournament wise it was only two tournaments, but time wise, it was a little longer.

Q. I'm curious, with regard if there's anything fun you've done with the Claret Jug, having
it, and if so, what did you do when you had it, showing it around, bringing it to places?
TIGER WOODS: Just filled it up with beverages of my choice (laughter).

Q. At home, or did you bring it around at all?
TIGER WOODS: What, would I bring it out to I wouldn't do that, no.

Q. You've been drawn with Nick Faldo the first few days. What's your current relationship
with him after the way he criticized your swing a year or two back?
TIGER WOODS: We really don't talk much.

Q. You don't talk much? Will you be talking on Thursday and Friday?
TIGER WOODS: I've only played with him two times since I've been a pro. And there wasn't a lot of talking there, either.

Q. So does that mean you'll shake hands on the first tee and on the 18th green, and that
will be it?
TIGER WOODS: I don't know. I really don't know. It's up to him and I'll be in my world
trying to compete and trying to win the Championship, and I'm sure he'll probably do the
same thing.

Q. If he wants to talk, what will be your reaction?
TIGER WOODS: Surprised (laughter).

Q. If we could talk about the golf course for a second. It's not often you have a course
with bunkers like this. Is it as much of an issue as some of us are making it to be?
TIGER WOODS: It depends on what you're trying to do with your tee shots. I don't know what most of the guys are doing on 3, but you have that option of driving it over, if you want
to. On 18 they can come up on you a little quick, if the wind is down off the left. But
other than that it really doesn't come into play.

Q. Two thoughts, how often do you use the driver here, because it is so fast? Are you using
a 2 iron off the tee more than the driver?
TIGER WOODS: Yes.

Q. Tiger, before the U.S. Open you said that you felt ready to compete. After missing the
cut there, do you did you rationalize missing the cut as basically the fact that you just
hadn't played competitively since The Masters?
TIGER WOODS: I was ready to compete, there was no doubt about that, I was ready to compete and I was ready to play and I just didn't play well. I just didn't get into the competitive
flow fast enough. By the time I did get into the flow of the round, I was always behind the
8 ball, and you can't wait that long to get into the flow of a round.

Taking that much time off and then coming back to well, as it is, the hardest U.S. Open
venue we've ever played, it made it really difficult. Subsequently I didn't execute. I
didn't execute fast enough. As I said, I got into the flow too late. If I had gotten down to
a flow a little earlier, things might have been different.

Q. Going back to what you said about how you would want to ring your father and say "Pop,
what do you think about my putting stroke," who do you ring up now? Do you talk to Mark
O'Meara or your mum?

TIGER WOODS: I always talk to my mom, I talk to her all the time.

Q. Does she give technical
TIGER WOODS: No, no, no, no (laughter). No. She usually gives words of encouragement from mom. As everyone knows, she's pretty fiery. So it's more from that side than it is from a
technical side.

Q. Who would you ring for the who could you say, "What do you think of my putting stroke," Hank or Mark?
TIGER WOODS: Hank. That's why he's my coach.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the imagination you need to use specifically here at
Hoylake? Some of the guys were saying they couldn't keep their balls on the greens on the
par 3s on the front.
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, you know, some of them. Yeah, if you get downwind it's really hard to
keep it on the green, unless you get a chance into the wind to use the wind as a backboard.
But when it gets going downwind and the greens are this firm you have to to a front pin,
it's going to be really hard to get it close. A lot of good shots here downwind are going to
be 20, 30, 40 feet away and it's going to be a good shot.

That's one of the neat things about playing over here is that the galleries certainly
understand that. You hear the types of applause; we play around the world and a lot of times
the ball gets airborne there's always applause. Over here if you hit a good shot and they
know it and it's 30 feet away, there's a pretty good roar, because that is a good shot. The
people are very knowledgeable when we come over here and play an Open Championship.

Q. You mentioned playing the birdie holes. There's already conjecture that you might see the
first sub 63 in a major this week. And your 18 under par in St. Andrews, could you talk
about that? You mentioned the support. Do you think you've been more of a crowd favorite
because of the way you handled everything surrounding your dad's death?
TIGER WOODS: Wasn't it 19? I got to 20 and bogeyed 17. Sorry. Give me a little credit.
No, I think it's if the wind doesn't blow, you can make some birdies out here. The par 5s
are reachable and there are some short par 4s out here. You can get the ball in pretty
close. You would have to take no wind in order to have a chance of going to sub 63. But as
far as the 19 under par mark, I think it obviously can be done, but will it be done is
obviously a different story. And as we all know, it's all dependent on the weather. We
played St. Andrews in 2000 with almost no wind.
Q. Do you look at it as sympathy?
TIGER WOODS: I don't think of it as sympathy. We all have things that go on in life. I'm not
the first one, I'm certainly not the last one. It happens to everybody. Everybody goes
through moments like this. You've got to handle it and move on. It's been fantastic to have
the people, all the letters and the e mails and the phone calls we've received. I think
mainly because of the impact my father has had on the game of golf, and as a person. That to
me means so much to me.

Philadelphia Open

Time once again for one of the biggest days in local golf, the Philadelphia Open. Defending champion Graham Dendler, an assistant pro at Merion, heads the field of 45 club pros and 15 top amateurs.

Here's GAP preview:

For the first time in more than half a century, the Open Championship returns to historic Llanerch Country Club. The 102nd Open Championship takes place on Wednesday, July 19, with a field of 60 players competing in the one-day, 36-hole stroke play championship. The field will be comprised of 15 amateurs from the Golf Association of Philadelphia and 45 professionals from the Philadelphia Section of the PGA.

Back to defend his championship is Graham Dendler, 34, of Havertown, Pa., an assistant professional at Merion Golf Club. Dendler defeated a strong field by a stroke last year at a difficult Aronimink Golf Club. He looks to become the first back-to-back Open winner since Frank Dobbs of Spring Ford Country Club turned the trick in 1991-92.

For the rest of the preview, tee times and tournament history, click here.

Ho hum Hoylake

Most years, the British Open is played on a course with history and impeccable credentials. This year, as the Open returns to Hoylake for the first time on four decades, the silence is deafening. John Huggan, Golf World's man in the U.K., offers this preview.

By John Huggan
Golf World July 14, 2006

Driving past the course, aloong a blandly suburban road on the Wirral Peninsula perhaps 10 miles from the city of Liverpool, you'd never know Hoylake existed. Underwhelming, unimpressive even, the initial glimpse of the links itself is but marginally more interesting.

"On first view [the holes] are not imposing," said the first great golf writer, Bernard Darwin. And he wasn't wrong. Shadowed by distant dunes whose sole scene-stealing purpose seems to be obscuring the striking blue waters of the Dee Estuary and the rolling hills of North Wales, Royal Liverpool offers gentle changes in elevation and little more than the odd bush or two to occasionally break the monotonous vista.

Later, even a closer inspection does little to immediately recommend the place; golf's supposedly sure-fire indicator of architectural inadequacy, the various internal out-of-bounds, here marked by small grassy banks known as "cops," inevitably provokes bemused smiles and the odd furrowed brow. You can almost see the questions forming in the minds of every first-time visitor.

For the rest of the story, click here.

So long ABC

With ABC Sports bowing out of PGA Tour coverage starting next year, this week's British Open is the network's swan song. Expect the farewell to be sentimenal and sad.

For a good idea of what's going on behind the scenes, check out this story in Golf World by Dave Shedloski.


By Dave Shedloski
Golf World July 14, 2006

More than 100 of them assembled for dinner at the Marriott Rancho Las Palmas Hotel in Palm Springs on a crisp Saturday night in January, their appetites diminished as they tried to talk around the tumult injected into their cloistered realm. Overshadowing the occasion for which the ABC golf team gathered that evening--to celebrate the beginning of another season of PGA Tour telecasts--was the week-old, other-shoe-dropping news that 2006 would be their last for the foreseeable future.

"It was the weirdest feeling," Brandt Packer, then-associate producer of the network's golf broadcasts, said of a banquet where humble pie was the main course. "There was a wedding going on in the ballroom next to ours. Our room was like a wake."

Sensing the maudlin atmosphere during early-round cable telecasts of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, producer Mark Loomis hoped to rally the troops. In a halting voice he quoted from author Muriel Strode: "I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path and leave a trail." Then he had the lights turned down and presented a video montage of ABC's golf highlights from the previous year.
"
How we got to this point I don't know, but it's the end of a wonderful journey. "
-- Peter Alliss
"Mark was trying to show us all the good work we had done and what we had to look forward to," said Andy North, on-course reporter and two-time U.S. Open champion. "It was a great way to lead us into the year. But to watch the video also reminded us that we weren't going to have a chance to do any of those things again."

For the rest of Shed's story, click here.

Ah, the British Open

I was finally getting okay with the fact that I'm not covering the British Open this year -- my favorite tournanent of the year, hands down -- when the phone rang Sunday night. It was Ed Sherman, golf scribe for the Chicago Tribune and one of three other writers I always share a house with at the British.He was calling from O'Hare Airport as he was about to board the flight to Manchester, England.

"We're playing Royal Birkdale tomorrow," he said.

I groaned. "Thanks, I needed to hear that," I said, immediately falling into a self-pitying funk that will last all week.

A post-flight round of golf is part of our routine after the overnight flight; it's the best way we've found to get your body clock get in sync with the five-hour time difference, when the natural inclination is to crash into the nearest bed immediately.

Once we land and locate each other in the airport, we head to the best course we can get on (within a reasonable driving distance) and play golf til we drop. The only downside is that those times I didn't sleep so much as a wink on the flight, I ended up sleep-walking my way through a round on a great course (Royal Lytham comes to mind).

The Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA, they're all great. But the British Open has been my personal favorite since the first one I ever covered, coincidentally, at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England in 1998. Mark O'Meara won in a play-off against Brian Watts.

What's so great about the British?

Everything. If you're a golfer and you don't get chill bumps at the Open Championship, as they call it, you don't have a sense of golf history and you may not have a pulse. It applies every year, but it was truest of all last year when the Open was at St. Andrews.

The golf is special, obviously. But what appeals to me even more is everything else that goes along with the Open. Unlike so many tournaments in the U.S., the British Open tends to be played in small towns, even villages (Carnoustie, St. Andrews, Southport, Muirfield, Sandwich), which often feel like American towns must have felt 100 years ago. I spend hours walking the streets, popping into little corner shops, bistros and bakeries, snapping pictures as I go.

More later.

Tiger on the British Open, LeBron

A few tidbits from Tiger Woods' July newsletter to fans...

By Tiger Woods

I love the British Open. Any time you win that championship, it's pretty special. It's the oldest one in our sport. I've got a couple of Claret Jug replicas at home that I look at from time to time, and the names on the trophy are pretty amazing: Old Tom Morris, Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, Sam Snead. It's an honor to have my name on there twice.

I honestly don't know anything about Royal Liverpool, but I'll play three or four practice
rounds and that should be enough time to prepare. The key is to make sure you do your
homework and find out what the golf course will allow you to do.

It was the same with Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Carnoustie and St. Andrews. It's not like I haven't done it before. We play around the world and learn different golf courses in a day or two. It's part of playing golf. I think people are making too big a deal out of the fact that the tournament hasn't been played at Hoylake since 1967.

Geez, time flies when you're making millions...

Next month (Aug. 29) marks my 10th year on the PGA Tour. It's hard to believe the time has
gone by that fast. It doesn't feel like I've been out here that long, but after a while, it all blends in with the same golf courses, hotels, restaurants and volunteers. No way did I think I would have accomplished what I've accomplished in the game. It's quite remarkable, actually. In 1996, I was just hoping to earn my PGA Tour card and prove I belonged.

A bunch of things have changed since I started: the money involved; the physical fitness of
players; technology, especially the size of driver heads; and the length of golf courses. I
feel very fortunate to make a living playing a game I love and look forward to the next 10
years.

Pity the fool who only makes $20 mil a year...

Speaking of money, I just read that LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers signed a new
three-year contract for $60 million. Obviously, that's a great deal, but I wouldn't trade
places with him. Most NBA players only have two options: a team contract and a shoe deal.
That's the only exposure they get.