Mark O'Meara eagled the Par 5, 18th on Friday to take a two-shot lead over Loren Roberts, Mark McNulty and John Jacobs at the Champions Tour's Boeing Classic at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge in Snoqualmie, Washington. (Don't feel bad, I had to drag out an atlas to find out it is about 30 miles east of Seattle too.)
Meanwhile, after a short drive across New Jersey from The Barclays, the Nationwide Tour's Northeast Pennsylvania Classic at Elmhurst Country Club in Moscow, PA has completed its second round of play.
Guy Boros, the son of the late Julius Boros, a two-time U.S. Open champion and Hall of Famer, surged to a two-shot lead over Henrik Bjornstad with a brilliant 6-under, 64 and sits at 9-under after 36 holes.
All the way across the country in North Plains, OR, the LPGA Tour has descended on the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club for the Safeway Classic. Beth Bader fired an opening round 8-under, 64 and leads a trio of golfers by one shot.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Simpson leads? D'oh!!!!
No not that Simpson. Webb Simpson, a Wake Forrest alum who only turned pro last year, has parlayed 11 birdies and just three bogeys into a nice two-shot lead halfway through The Barclays.
Simpson, if the tournament were to end today, would go from 2900 points behind Tiger Woods all the way to only 600 points back in the chase for the FedEx Cup. Not bad considering Simpson entered this week 85th in the Cup standings.
But remember, we still have 36 holes to play and there is a lot that could happen between now and Sunday.
Speaking of the Cup chase, current second place occupant Steve Stricker is currently tied for sixth in the tournament, three shots clear of Woods, who continues to struggle with his putting. Stricker has shaved off 210 points of the nearly 1,300-point lead Woods started the week with and is looking to trim off even more by Sunday's final hole.
As expected, Lucas Glover (5th in FedEx) missed the cut and lost a lot of ground to Woods, as did Kenny Perry (4th in FedEx) who barely made the cut and is four shots back of Woods. Zach Johnson (3rd in FedEx) is keeping pace with Tiger at even par through 36 holes.
While moving up 10 spots despite shooting 1-over 72 for the round, Woods' continued woes with the flat blade must be a source of annoyance that the No. 1 player in the world must be getting tired of.
But he'll need to solve that problem, and fast, if he plans on collecting his second FedEx Cup title.
Simpson, if the tournament were to end today, would go from 2900 points behind Tiger Woods all the way to only 600 points back in the chase for the FedEx Cup. Not bad considering Simpson entered this week 85th in the Cup standings.
But remember, we still have 36 holes to play and there is a lot that could happen between now and Sunday.
Speaking of the Cup chase, current second place occupant Steve Stricker is currently tied for sixth in the tournament, three shots clear of Woods, who continues to struggle with his putting. Stricker has shaved off 210 points of the nearly 1,300-point lead Woods started the week with and is looking to trim off even more by Sunday's final hole.
As expected, Lucas Glover (5th in FedEx) missed the cut and lost a lot of ground to Woods, as did Kenny Perry (4th in FedEx) who barely made the cut and is four shots back of Woods. Zach Johnson (3rd in FedEx) is keeping pace with Tiger at even par through 36 holes.
While moving up 10 spots despite shooting 1-over 72 for the round, Woods' continued woes with the flat blade must be a source of annoyance that the No. 1 player in the world must be getting tired of.
But he'll need to solve that problem, and fast, if he plans on collecting his second FedEx Cup title.
And the chase for the Cup begins....
As we begin the four-week run to $10 million, it is probably a little too early to say one player has put himself out in front, even though Tiger Woods does have about a 1,300 point lead over second place Steve Stricker.
But one player may have already shot himself out of the running before the second round has finished at The Barclays. Lucas Glover rolled into this week's event in fifth place, about 1,700 points behind Woods, in the standings. But a second round 81 has pretty much insured a missed cut this week for Glover who will likely take a bit of a tumble in the standings and would almost have to win two of the final three events to win the Cup. Impossible? No. Improbable? Yes.
Speaking of Tiger, at this writing, Woods is at 1-under and tied with third place Zach Johnson but trails Stricker by one shot.
But one player may have already shot himself out of the running before the second round has finished at The Barclays. Lucas Glover rolled into this week's event in fifth place, about 1,700 points behind Woods, in the standings. But a second round 81 has pretty much insured a missed cut this week for Glover who will likely take a bit of a tumble in the standings and would almost have to win two of the final three events to win the Cup. Impossible? No. Improbable? Yes.
Speaking of Tiger, at this writing, Woods is at 1-under and tied with third place Zach Johnson but trails Stricker by one shot.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The FedEx Cup.....YAWN......
The third installment of the most worthless playoff system in sports gets underway this week at the Barclays, held at the Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey.
While props should be given to the PGA Tour for tweaking the format enough to force the season points leaders into showing up for the first of the four-tournament format, the fact remains that having points determine a playoff winner just doesn't create a true playoff atmosphere.
You have an off day or two in the NFL, NBA or MLB playoffs and you are toast. Have an off day or two in the FedEx Cup and you live to play next week. Which is why I'd like to see one last change to the FedEx Cup to make it a true playoff and increase the tension, and pressure on all of the players. Use the season-long points to determine the Top 30 players. Those 30 would be the only ones competing on the course that week while, like they do during the week of the British Open, the rest of the PGA players will compete in another tournament elsewhere during the four-week long playoffs.
After four days, the Top 20 players will advance to the next week's event and play in Week 2 at the Duetche Bank Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts . After that four-day tournament concludes, the Top 10 earn a berth in Week 3 at the BMW Championship in Illinois which will trim the field down to a Top 4 and those four would play a four-round tournament in Week 4 at The Tour Championship in Atlanta to determine the season's champion.
This would force someone to play four solid weeks of golf, making it more likely that we would really get the best player of the year hoisting the Cup, as opposed to someone getting hot and winning two events early then coasting the next two weeks, i.e. Vijay Singh's victory last year.
Will it ever happen? Doubtful, but a fella can dream can't he?
While props should be given to the PGA Tour for tweaking the format enough to force the season points leaders into showing up for the first of the four-tournament format, the fact remains that having points determine a playoff winner just doesn't create a true playoff atmosphere.
You have an off day or two in the NFL, NBA or MLB playoffs and you are toast. Have an off day or two in the FedEx Cup and you live to play next week. Which is why I'd like to see one last change to the FedEx Cup to make it a true playoff and increase the tension, and pressure on all of the players. Use the season-long points to determine the Top 30 players. Those 30 would be the only ones competing on the course that week while, like they do during the week of the British Open, the rest of the PGA players will compete in another tournament elsewhere during the four-week long playoffs.
After four days, the Top 20 players will advance to the next week's event and play in Week 2 at the Duetche Bank Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts . After that four-day tournament concludes, the Top 10 earn a berth in Week 3 at the BMW Championship in Illinois which will trim the field down to a Top 4 and those four would play a four-round tournament in Week 4 at The Tour Championship in Atlanta to determine the season's champion.
This would force someone to play four solid weeks of golf, making it more likely that we would really get the best player of the year hoisting the Cup, as opposed to someone getting hot and winning two events early then coasting the next two weeks, i.e. Vijay Singh's victory last year.
Will it ever happen? Doubtful, but a fella can dream can't he?
Sunday, August 23, 2009
As for Sergio....
Garcia once again let a lead slip away in a PGA event, letting a three-shot lead on Sunday dissolve into a fourth-place finish at the Wyndham Championship.
Garcia missed a three-way playoff by one agonizing stroke and opened the door for Ryan Moore to capture his first PGA victory.
Garcia tops the list as best player never to win a major and it is beginning to look like he will finish his career with that dubious honor wrapped firmly around his neck.
Garcia missed a three-way playoff by one agonizing stroke and opened the door for Ryan Moore to capture his first PGA victory.
Garcia tops the list as best player never to win a major and it is beginning to look like he will finish his career with that dubious honor wrapped firmly around his neck.
Is it time to get off Michelle Wie's back?
All the naysayers that have belittled Michelle Wie's approach to playing in men's tournaments just may need to zip it for awhile.
Wie led the Americans in total points with 3.5 while leading the USA to a 16-12 victory over Europe in this weekend's Solheim Cup, including an early 1-up victory over Helen Alfredsson during Sunday's singles. It was the third straight Cup win for the U.S. and eighth overall.
There is no doubt that Wie can play and, in my humble opinion, will make the cut at a PGA event within the next three years if she keeps teeing it up with the big boys.
Wie led the Americans in total points with 3.5 while leading the USA to a 16-12 victory over Europe in this weekend's Solheim Cup, including an early 1-up victory over Helen Alfredsson during Sunday's singles. It was the third straight Cup win for the U.S. and eighth overall.
There is no doubt that Wie can play and, in my humble opinion, will make the cut at a PGA event within the next three years if she keeps teeing it up with the big boys.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Welcome
For my first post here I thought I would simply say hello and add that I am looking forward to discussing all things golf. From the latest news and results from the PGA, LPGA and Champions Tours to the latest news in golf technology and new courses. My hope is to make this blog a full, and fun, examination of the greatest individual sport ever created. And I also hope to see a lively discussion of the game in your posts here as well.
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