Hitting the Links: Please Let Me Golf This Weekend

Trying to play a course called Stonewater this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed for me. The theme of the year has been wet and I’m hoping to buck the trend. I think I’ve played like 4-6 rounds so far this year and only one of said rounds has been dry. I love Ohio and all, but this needs to change. Southern Ohio is all blooming and warm, but we’re still gray and gloomy in Northeast Ohio. Sweet.

Today’s tee time for Quail Hollow (PGA Tour)

Some picks for the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow (PGA Tour)

Some possible sleeper picks for Quail Hollow (PGA Tour)

There’s a pretty loaded field at Quail Hollow (Golf)

Will Shoal Creek host another major? (Golf)

Is the fight for the World #1 ranking good for golf? Blitzkrieg says yes (Golf)

Fred Couples has only played two rounds of golf since the Masters (Golf Digest)

Charles Barkley says the tornado damage to Alabama is the worst he’s ever seen (Golf Digest)

Speaking of Chuck, he broke a club in a Pro Am (Golf Digest)

Sean O’Hair still endorsing Sean Foley on his website (Waggle Room)

Arnold Palmer played the Quail Hollow Pro-Am from the tips. Boss. (Waggle Room)

Tiger says he’ll be back for the US Open (and he’s gonna win) (Devil Ball)

Justin Rose or Anthony Kim (Devil Ball)

Dustin Johnson has picked out a new caddie (Devil Ball)

Douche bag supreme Rory Sabatini says he won’t be punished (Wei Under Par)

Rory McIlroy says he’s gonna be making some changes (Wei Under Par)

Oak Lane Country Club sells at auction (Geoff Shackelford)

Apparently the tiff between Sean O’Hair and Rory Sabatini is over slow play (Geoff Shackelford)

Olympic golf tournament? (Geoff Shackelford)

 

First Tee: AK Swing Vision

 

Fantasy Foursome: Wyndham Championship

Wow does this field suck.  I don’t mean to be a dick, but do you know how I know a field sucks?  When Kevin Streelman is leading.  Oh, and yes this thing is running late because I and my fellow TG authors are idiots.  See, we usually exchange a bunch of emails with our picks in there, and, like every other week, we had em all ready to go only…yea, nobody stepped up and wrote the post.

It happens.  It’s the fuckin’ Wyndham.  Fuck it…there’s more important shit to worry about like the Ryder Cup and making sure the PGA never returns to Whistling Straits again to write up a picks post for a tournament where the highest ranked player is a busted up Anthony Kim (and the only other top 30 player is the eminently boring Carl Pettersson).  But better late then never, right?

Anyways…I have a big ass lead thanks to my man Bubba.  Sure, Lefty is still hanging around, but lets face it, Southerners usually give up and quit, so it’s only a matter of time until he gives up and the lead is safely in this capable, tenacious Ohesian’s hands for good.  Lets get to the standings and then to the picks.

1. Wire-to-wire096 – 259
2. Lefty – 479
3. AC – 629
4. Schneider – 647
5. Tips – 678
6. JayV – 731
7. no balatas – 813

 

Day 2 of the Masters

Day 2 of the Masters is now over, and we are coming up on moving day. Unfortunately for some like The Big Easy the tournament ended early, but for others, like Anthony Kim, it was a historic day.  Anthony shot an amazing 11 birdies today to one up Tom Watson for the most birdies in a single round at The Masters, which was 10. We saw some amazing play from Anthony and from Kenny Perry this afternoon.

I especially enjoyed the discourse between Kenny Perry and his caddie Fred Sanders at the 18th. Kenny was pretty torn between his 9 iron and his 8 iron. Thinking that the 9 iron might be too much but that the 8th might hit the false front and role back down. Fred reaffirmed the choice without any hesitation, and Kenny stepped up and struck it to within a few feet of the hole, impressive as hell.

 

The Field: What’s Wrong with Anthony Kim?

It seems like only yesterday when Anthony Kim was one of the top golfers in the world, winning at two of the hardest courses on tour, dominating the Ryder Cup, and contending on a weekly basis.  In reality, he hasn’t been relevant since the first week of January, and even worse, that was the lone bright spot since last August, and has been about as shaky as it gets for an “elite” golfer.

For a kid who got so much ink last year and was covered on a Tiger Lite basis on the Golf Channel, our expectations were raised.  And why wouldn’t they be?  AK won at two major worthy courses and played like a seasoned vet in the Ryder Cup, so of course we thought big things were on the horizon.  Should we have viewed his future with some temperment?  Probably, but in this day and age of instant gratification when it comes to information, AK doesn’t have that luxury.  Tiger ruined that grace period that kids get, and now, we’re all openly wondering what’s wrong, if this is just a blip in the radar or if AK is going to join the numerous uber-talented wunderkinds who never made much of a splash after showing a lot of early promise.

And then came news that he’s withdrawing from Bay Hill…and the slope just keeps getting steeper.

 

Fanatsy Foursome: WGC-CA Championship

Levy/PGA TOUR

The 12th stop on the PGA TOUR train brings us to Doral Golf Resort & Spa for the WGC-CA Championship in Doral, FL. Since the economy sucks, the chance to take home $1,400,000 ($8,500,000 total purse) on a giant check is hard to pass up for the PGA elite. The 80-player field is the largest in CA Championship history and it also includes 17 event virgins (and that’s just for the hospitality tent).

 

Tuna Exclusive: AK left holding his own bag

It doesn't say anything about selling coke

Not exactly the best  way to start a weekend.

When Anthony Kim arrived at this week’s Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, Australia, he had to carry his own luggage AND golf clubs out of the airport. Okay, that might be a bit of a stretch but his regular caddy, Eric Larson, was denied entry shortly after arriving in the Outback.

According to the report from the Melbourne Herald Sun, AK and Larson had traveled together from the Malaysian Open, but Larson never left the airport and had to wait for a US-bound plane.

Kim didn’t have much to say about the incident and sited “personal things” but it doesn’t take a lot of digging to figure it out.

 

First Tee: Anthony Kim

 

Tiger Watch

It is no secret. Just as Spence is a huge fan of AK’s game and Sergio’s looks, I am a fan of everything TW…even his caddy (and his wife. Tiger’s not Stevie’s).

I know that he already gets a lot an un-godly amount of attention from every media outlet…if he’s playing or not. Whether you like it or not, one of the biggest stories of the 2009 Tour is Tiger’s return. He has become the golf version of the Yankees and Duke basketball (also a fan- hate the Yankees though). Everyone is anticipating his return. The haters are hoping that he falls flat on his face. The others are anxioulsy awaiting his return to the top. Personally I think it is scary to think that he could return better and stronger than ever. He could be “video game” good. For what is worth, I shot a 47 on TW 2008 for the PSP.

Even at 2 years old, Tiger was better than half of the field and would’ve finished under par at Kapalua. Of course, that means he would’ve had to win a tourny at age 1.

 

First Tee: AK

So sweet.