Sabbatini wins the Colonial, but Tiger is back this weekend

 

First of all I would like to apologize for my 2 week lapse, I have taken some time to go camping and so other things while home a short period of time.  Well to update you there have been two tournaments since The Players; The Colonial and The AT&T Classic.  Rory Sabbatini won The Colonial backing up his words about Tiger at The Players, and Zach Johnson won the AT&T Classic two weeks ago to back up his win at The Masters earlier this year.  Neither of these tournaments had a lot of big time players but what made them exciting was they were both finished in playoffs which is always fun.  Well enough with the past, this man is back this coming weekend… 

This start at the Memorial will be Tiger’s first since The Players Championship.  Meanwhile Tiger has hosted his annual “Tiger Jam” where he had Bon Jovi as the lead band.  But coming back to the golf side of things, we have heard words from Mr. Sabbatini claiming that he will win the rest of the 3 majors of the season to create his very own “Sabbatini-slam”…

“I’m looking forward to winning all three of them.  I think my biggest downfall in the past has been that I didn’t believe I could do it.” 

These are many reasons why this is completely inappropriate but the most important one is because he is directing it at Tiger.  Even though he isn’t saying it directly to him, but who is the one in the end he will have to be in those tournament, the man’s name is Tiger Woods.  Now Tiger hasn’t said anything back to him yet, that’s probably because he doesn’t have to, he has already beaten him on the golf course and is bound to do it again.  No matter what happens though I think the fact that players are actually speaking up in a sport that many could consider to be extremely dry makes me want to pay attention and watch more than ever, it’s great for the sport.  These next 3 weeks are bound to be very interesting including the US Open.  I have plans to attend The Travelers Championship in Connecticut the week after the US Open that may include the winner of the US Open. 

Mickelson wins, Tiger blows up

Well this past weekend at The Players Championship was nothing less than, well, exciting!  The first day there were almost 50 balls in the water on the 17^th hole, and on Sunday we saw Phil Mickelson the only one left standing and winning his fist Players Championship of his career.  Sean O’Hair took him down to the wire but the allusive 71^st hole (hole 17) dropped him from 2^nd to 12^th!  That is what happens after making a 7 on a par 4 and cur plunking 2 balls in the drink.  You can watch some of the shots below…

This wasn’t and uncommon body language from Tiger this past weekend at The Players Championship…

 

If you watch any of the coverage this weekend, you probably noticed that Tiger Woods was not shown at all.  That’s because Tiger made the cut on the number Friday afternoon and was in one of the first groups to tee off on the weekend.  Tiger finished the tournament even par 11 strokes back of Mickelson.  He did shoot a 67 on Sunday, but unfortunately it meant very little.  Tiger received a lot of heat for his poor play this past weekend, but honestly this proves that the man is human.  In his past 13 events he won 9 of them and he finally finished outside the top 5.  That is quite impressive, winning more events in one year that most players have in their career, give the man a break!

A Look ahead to The Players Championship

The Players Championship is often considered to be the fifth major on the PGA Tour.  It is a tournament that every player wants to win and allows hosts strong fields that mimic the majors.  This year The Players has been pushed up back to May this year, previously in March, before the Masters.  Top names that have been somewhat lackluster are Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia.  These two have been expected to have break out seasons as with many others.  Els, of course, made his announcement at the beginning of the season to work his hardest to take over Tiger in three years; well it hasn’t been looking very good for him.  This coming weekend will be a great test for all players including defending champion someone who hasn’t made much noise yet this season on tour, defending champion Stephen Ames…

 

 

The following is a short video with some spectacular views of The Players Championship’s venue, The TPC at Sawgrass…

 

 

The grounds at the TPC at Sawgrass have changed considerable this past year.  The course still looks the same but they have added a new high tech irrigation system underneath the soil to create an overall better course, especially in the rain.  The club has been completely redone leaving players boggled as to where to go when they get there.  When I think of THE PLAYERS I think of a tournament that is played completely based on pride (as all should) leaving the money completely out of it.  Whether it is a major or not or if it ever will be, wouldn’t it just be awesome to win a tournament called, The Players?  I  would think so.

Tiger wins the Wachovia Championship

 

 

Hey, I recognize that red shirt and trophy, and it’s Sunday as well, must be Tiger Woods!  After taking 3 weeks off after the Masters Tiger has come back better than ever beating the strongest field since the Masters including 27 of the top 30 players in the world.  The tournament fielded some of the best shots of the season including some of the worst.  Three players scored eagles on par 4s including Vijay Singh, Arron Oberholser, and Rory Sabbatini.  For a while during the tournament Vijay looked strong as well as Rory (64 on Saturday), but they were not able to follow it up with a strong round once they got paired with Tiger.  This shows how the man is not only unbeatable but unplayable in competition, hence his 57^th win.  That is ironic because on his front nine this past Sunday he eagled one of the par 5’s from 57 feet away, this was his reaction…

 

 

Even after taking 3 weeks off, Tiger was clearly the favorite to win this tournament.  I watched pretty much all of Tiger’s play this past weekend and I honestly do not think I have seen him in such great form in a while.  At the Masters he seemed to miss hit a lot of his short shots which we all know are the most critical shots in the game.  There are many reasons why Tiger didn’t play as well as he could have at the Masters but it is what it is and we don’t need to get into that.  It is true however that Tiger gives every tournament his all, especially the majors.  Next week is The Players at the TPC at Sawgrass where all the top players in the world will be playing once again.  Many call The Players the 5^th major, which makes sense because it has the field of a major as well as the course difficulty.  Can’t wait it should be a good one!

A Whole New Look

I have completely revamped my blog, hope ya’ll like it!

Woods and Jordan are teeing it up together in Pro-Am Wednesday

 

Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan

 

These two, Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan are probably the most well known athletes on the planet.  They will be teeing it up together early Wednesday morning at the Wachovia Championship Pro-Am.  Woods and Jordan have played golf together many times but never in an organized tournament or Pro-Am.  Tiger is playing in his first tournament since finishing second at the Masters Tournament 3 weeks ago.  This weekend’s tournament is one of the biggest on tour that isn’t a major; it always attracts the top golfers in the world annually.  This tournament is one of the few that Tiger has never won.  The following is a video comparison of these two unbelievable athletes…

Director of sponsorships and alliances of Wachovia, Dan Fleishman had this to say about the two…

“Wachovia and the Wachovia Championship wanted to bring these two great athletes together to give the patrons at the Wachovia Championship an opportunity to see something special.  Certainly, Michael and Tiger are good friends and have played a lot of personal golf together. But we are grateful they agreed to compete in the pro-am together this year.”

The fact that Woods and Jordan are playing together on Wednesday is huge.  It is a huge thing for golf that is.  Not only does Tiger attract huge crowds, but Tiger with Jordan?  That is ridiculous!  The two athletes basically own Nike considering their endorsement deals they have or have had.  The only thing about them playing together that irritates me is that the Pro-Am is not televised!  The only way to see the two of them play is to actually be there.  Maybe I’ll get a flight down on Tuesday night, I don’t know yet haha.  I think I’ll just stick to the few pictures that may be up later this week.

A Special Win for Verplank

Verplank looks to the sky after his win at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship

Well it truly was a special win for Mr. Verplank this weekend.  This was the first year of the EDS Byron Nelson Championship that Byron Nelson himself wasn’t there to host, he past away this past September.  Scott Verplank is a native of Irving, Texas where the tournament was held making it even more special.  Before the final round this past Sunday Verplank said winning this tournament would be the highlight of his career, he considered the tournament a fifth major to him.  This is saying a lot considering he has 4 wins on tour as well as a couple Ryder Cup Teams under his belt, which many players would consider their to be the highlights of their careers.  It was an exciting final round, Luke Donald gave his 3 shot lead up to Verplank fairly early in the round and chipped away and had a 10 foot putt on 18 to send it into extra holes, but couldn’t get it done.

 

 

The following is a short video tribute to the man loved by everyone, Byron Nelson…

 

Byron Nelson is held in a special place in everyone’s heart that not only was a friend of his but just new all the good things he’s done for golfers all over.  Nelson is considered to be the nicest man ever met by many people, not just golfers.  He would dedicate his life to helping others and never brag about his golf accomplishments, even though he has some records that will never be broken, including 11 straight wins on the PGA Tour.  Nelson didn’t once talk down to anyone, he would watch and analyze modern golfers of today and pull them aside and personally tell them what they are doing wrong.  He would send letters to players to tell them things, most of which will never be forgotten.  His legacy will live on forever in our hearts and through his yearly tournament.

Mickelson makes it official with Butch Harmon

 

 

The two of them have been seen working together on practice ranges at past tournaments, but now Phil is an official client of Butch Harmon.  Butch is a very renowned swing coach working with both Tiger Woods and Greg Norman, both of which have been number one players in the world or currently are.  Harmon had this to say about his other clients…

“I have already called Fred Couples, Adam Scott and Stewart Cink and assured them this won’t change my relationship with them,” Harmon said. “I’m not Rick Smith. I’m not going to spend 24/7 time with Phil. When he needs help I’ll be there with him. …But if you’re asking me who’s at the top of the totem pole, Adam Scott is my main client. And I’ve explained that to Phil.” 

Phil’s main concern is his driving.  He is not hitting the ball straight with the big stick.  As we have seen he misses left, a slice for the lefty.  He blew the US Open last year at Winged Foot because of a wayward drive.  Actually today, on the 18^th hole at Byron Nelson’s Tournament he put his ball in the water down the left side, obviously his work with Butch has not clicked yet, but it’s not expected yet.  Mickelson is currently, No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking and is 131 in driving accuracy on the PGA TOUR so far this season, doesn’t make sense.  This video below has to do with Adam Scott but it talks about what Butch will be passing along to his new client…

There has been some talk about Butch bringing Phil to the top of the world golf rankings.  First of all, that will take at least 3 to 4 years of Phil winning 5 or 6 tournaments a year, AND Tiger winning less than that.  I do not see this happening any time soon.  I don’t think Phil will begin to see results until the end of the season or possibly next season.  I have to admit since Phil is such a well known player and usually gets a lot of TV time, especially if he plays well and because of his new swing coach, it will be interesting to see how much his swing starts to look like Tiger’s or Adam Scott’s but from the left side.

Tiger puts on surprise clinic at Oakmont

 

Surprise clinic at Oakmont

So Tiger did more than just play some practice rounds at Oakmont, he put on a clinic afterwards.  This is some of the conversation Tiger had with the on lookers…

“Can you hit one from the Church Pews?” someone said to him.

“No,” Woods replied with a grin.

“Will you teach us how?” the man said.“How to play out of it? You hit it right here,” Woods said, pointing to the short grass in the fairway. “I go crazy when I watch guys in practice round play shots from a drop area. Why bring negativity into your thoughts? I only practice from where I expect to play.”

I thought this conversation between Woods and the on lookers was very interesting.  Tiger doesn’t practice from, for example the woods which was where he was a lot at the Masters.  He only practices where he EXPECTS to play.  I am assuming he EXPECTS to play done the middle of the fairway, as he said he doesn’t even want to practice hitting out of those bunkers.  Is this a key to playing well?  Okay, lets all never practice the shots that may get us out of trouble and eventually we will all become better players, haha I doubt it. 

I think it was a good idea for Tiger to do this clinic.  It really allowed him to get really close to the fans and share all the knowledge he has.  I think sometimes number one athletes in the world are over protected so bringing people close to him can’t hurt.  Tiger has always been a very private person and, well he did this clinic at a very private country club.

Tiger visits Oakmont for first time

 

 

Tiger visits Oakmont

This past Sunday Tiger Woods, along with swing coach Hank Haney, visited Oakmont Country Club, the site of the 2007 US Open.  He had a picture perfect day to enjoy the course and meet some of the members who also tagged along with him in his practice round.  This summer will be the first time Tiger will participate in a US Open on a course he has never played competitively.  The last time the US Open was at Oakmont was in 1994, the year before Tiger’s first US Open as an amateur in 1995.  Tiger says he thought Oakmont as a members’ course was far tougher than Winged Foot, where we all know he missed the cut for the first time ever in a Major.  The course’s finishing hole is what many of us amateurs would consider a par 5, but it’s a 484 yard par 4!! Check it out…

As you can tell this course is going to be long, narrow, and straight up difficult even for the best players in the world.  On the par 3 eighth hole, Tiger hit from the back tees and the hole played 288 yards!!!  He hit a 3 wood to the center of the green.  Tiger jokingly said it’s against his religion to hit driver on a par 3.  That is just absurd to have a 288 yards par 3!  The longest par 3 I’ve played was about 255 yards and yes I used my driver! 

This is the summer for the birth of Tiger’s first little knuckle head and there is a slight chance he may miss this years main golf event in the states.  It seems though despite that possibility he needs to know the course better than anyone else, so starting early is not a bad thing.  I am not sure how many other PGA Tour guys have been out to Oakmont to practice this early but I’m sure a few have, for their own good especially now hearing that the world’s number one has put some time in there.  That’s why he is number one in the world, practice, practice, practice…