Hitting the Links: Thank God the Forecast Has Changed!

Tiger Woods was seen twice limping into a Toronto Hospital (Geoff Shackelford)

For the first time ever, the BMW PGA Championship will host all four major champions (Golf)

Facial hair? (Geoff Shackelford)

Tiger’s loyalty says he’s gonna stay with his agent (Geoff Shackelford)

Is the BMW PGA the fifth major? (Golf Channel)

Dustin Johnson has hired Fred Couples caddy (Golf Channel)

Tiger’s tweet caused some people to talk (Golf Digest)

Will Kenny Perry’s Valhalla magic continue on the Champions Tour? (Golf)

Despite a hail storm, the greens at the TPC Four Seasons are OK (Golf)

Get in good golf shape (Golf Digest)

With his agent leaving IMG, what will Tiger do? (Devil Ball)

There are not a lot of big names at the Byron Nelson Championship (Devil Ball)

Former USGA Technical Director Frank Thomas talks about the evolution of golf equipment in a new book (Geoff Shackelford)

Charl Schwartzel and Martin Kaymer receive top Euro Tour awards (Wei Under Par)

Tiger’s Oprah interview from 2001 (Waggle Room)

 

Fantasy Foursome: Travelers Championship

A good week as far picks go (aside from Nick Watney) but the problem is, I still command a, um, commanding lead over the rest of these slackjawed yokels.  Unfortunately, the warm blanket that is the ease of picking majors is over and the crapshoot begins all over again.  I fully expect this commanding lead for the lead commander to get even commanderinger over the next few weeks, so lets just get to it, shall we?

First the standings…

1. Brilliance personified – 78
2. Lefty – 226
3. Schneider – 295
4. Tips – 330
5. AC – 352
6. toneypenna – 378

Yes, that’s right…the young buck has a 300 point lead on that old fuck.

/drops mic

Anyways…onto the picks for this week in Hartford.

AC:

Rickie Fowler is the pick this week. Is there a hotter player on TOUR right now? He’s got five top 10’s so far on the year and is currently sitting 12th in the FedEx Cup Point race. When he wins this week, he’ll jump to 3rd in the standings. Not bad for a 21 year old in his second year out of Oklahoma State (the fake OSU). Fowler didn’t play in the US Open so he doesn’t have to deal with the post tournament depression/let down and this course just sets up so well for him. TPC River Highlands is not particularly long at just over 6800 yards; so break out the Tuna Golf and go for birdie. Oh and please go for the green at #15. Its a 296 yard par 4. So get ready to see the Cowboy Orange on Sunday walking up the 18th green with his first professional victory in the bag.

 

Day 3 at the Masters

Cabrera vs. Perry…a heavyweight battle.

But you know Chad Campbell, Furyk, and Stricker will be around.  And look at the guys lurking at -4…Tiger, Phil, Nick Watney, Sean O’Hair, Hunter Mahan, Anthony Kim and Stephen Ames.

If you miss tomorrow, you’re a fool.

 

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.

 

What You Missed: Round 2 WGC CA Championship

Tiger’s struggling.  You know, it’s not that he isn’t playing good golf either.  His swing looks fine enough, and he’s moving all right, so I don’t think the knee is as much of an issue as the rust.  Like I said yesterday, Tiger wasn’t that far off.  The blemishes on the scorecard are less a result of bad shots as they are a matter of some fine tuning thing that can be fixed, and knowing Tiger, will probably shake off all at once in a huge birdiefest.

But, for today, he’s not.

Instead, like a tournament at Doral tends to do, the cream rose to the top.  Phil, following his ridiculous 65 yesterday with another 66 today leads at -13 with Nick Watney in 2nd at -11, who’s off Phil’s pace by a stroke per round.  It’s a four man race at this point…right behind Phil and Watney is 19 year old, and Tuna Golf favorite, Rory McIlroy and, another TG fav, Kenny Perry right there at -10.  Notables behind them are Camillo Villegas at -9, Alvaro Quiros, Dustin Johnson, Furyk and Poulter at -8, and Sean O’Hair and Paddy within a hot streak at -7. 

 

Fantasy Foursome: Northern Trust Open

The Northern Trust Open will be played this weekend at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Pallisades, CA, and one of my favorite video game courses play at a par 71 and 7298 yards.  With a purse of $6,300,000 with the winner will taking home a smooth $1,134,00, and with that kind of coin on the line you’re going to have a nice field.

Last year Phil Mickelson took home the top prize, finishing with a score of -12. His second round -7/64 was the low round of the tournament. Schneid’s recent man crush, Paddy Harrington, finished tied with Luke Donald at -7. K.J. Choi, Steve Stricker, J.B. Holmes and Stuart Appleby also earned  top 10 money by finishing T7/-5. I can definitely see the top scores staying in the same general range (-10 to -12 for the winner) as last year with the usual big names making some noise. This year we will get to see the Japanese prodigy Ryo Ishikawa make his PGA Tour debut. This kid is only 17 and he is the youngest player ever to enter the top 100 Official World Golf Rankings. Some of this year’s other notables: Jim Furyk, Mike Weir, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, and Retief Goosen.

 

What You Missed:Chevron Final Round

Some highlights throughout the final round and a little recap of our stellar picks.

Fijianness

• Vijay, in all his mighty Fijianness(yay for new words) had a great day shooting a final round 67. Vijay was able to birdie the 18th hole with a 10 foot putt to claim the victory over Steve Stricker. His final run for the lead was started on the back 9 with three straight birdies, which really set the stage for his victory.   What’s even more amazing was that Vijay took a good deal of time off after his win at the FedEx Cup. He was not only able to play after 3 months off but he was also able to win in a field that was made up of some of the best golfers out there.
• Finishing third overall was Anthony Kim. He was the 54-hole leader coming into this round and still shot remarkably well, except for those two consecutive double bogeys on the 14th and 15th. The par-3 where A.K. hit his 7 iron short into the water was pretty disappointing especially after the 14th where he drove right into some bushes. Even though by now I totally realized I had no shot at K.J. Choi coming back. I was definitely pulling for A.K., but it seemed he didn’t have the gas to create a strong finish.

 

What You Missed: Chevron Round 3

Everything you missed from Saturday’s third round at the Chevron World Challenge.

• Jim Furyk continues to amaze me and it’s not because of his “phone booth” swing. He had a chance to cushion his lead on 18 and go into day 4 with a 1-2 shot lead. Instead, he pulled a “me” and donated his 2nd shot to the drink. I know how you feel, Jim…I have a phobia of water too. Furyk pulled the string too much from the drop and then missed his putt to give him a double and a 70 for the day. He’s currently at -7 and should make for an interesting Sunday.
• Villegas picked up where he left off and continued to plat consistent golf. By the way, what does he have against regular-sized bills on his hats? He started to look a little shaky on the 16th par 5. His tee shot landed directly in the fairway bunker and his out shot was a terrible effort that went about 30 yards into the rough. I know it wasn’t a great lie in the sand but it was still a bad shot. luckily for him, he stuck his 3rd shot withing striking distance from the pin and penciled in a par. I guess that is why these guys are doing what they do and I am doing what I do…sit on the couch and watch in awe. I still can’t get over his hats, though. Camilo finished with a 69 (giggedy) and is 2 shots off the lead.

 

What You Missed: Chevron Round 2

Everything you missed from today’s second round at the Chevron World Challenge.

• Shout out to Kenny Perry…way to make me look good so far. Awesome, dude.
• These greens are pretty ridiculous, huge and undulating and if you’re more than 15 feet away it’s not going to be easy to say the least. There are a bunch of dips and shelves and with the balls spinning like crazy, the breaks are intense. The course was still pretty soft overall and the greens were rolling faster, but it still had it’s wet spots, and the bunkers were no help as they were wet themselves, leaving tough bunker shots to extreme sloped greens.
• Freddy Couples played a pretty good round at -3, 69, but on 18 he hit one of the worst shanks I’ve seen since I stepped off of the course in late October. I mean this thing gave new meaning to the word “slice”. All he had to do was put it above the hole, straight on, from less that 150, and he blocks it a good 20 yards right. I love big FCand love seeing vintage FC highlights from back in the day. His swing is just so pretty, like Ray Allen’s jump shot.
• After making eagle on the par five, 5th, Boo Weekley was pretty shaky at best, though his 3W into the green on said par five, 5th was the shot of the day. For those of you who ever may come back to read this, Boo is my favorite golfer.  He wasn’t striking the ball too strong throughout this second round, which he started at T2 on the leaderboard. He shot a -2, 70 on day one, he then rattles a +1, 73. (For the math wizards, that’s a T7, -1)
• Camillo Villegas squeezed out a +2, 74 in the first and comes back with a -5, 67. He’s been playing some pretty solid golf lately and he is currently sitting at T2, -3 at day’s end. If he keeps this up then he’s going to be shootin’ darts come early next year, Shooter McGavin style.
• Furyk’s first round-4, 68 put him in good position to really make some noise and his response? -1, 71 and is currently sitting pretty at the top of the leaderboard.

Hey Kenny, the comeback starts now. The comeback starts now.

 

First Tee: Because Not Everyone’s Swing is Perfect

See what I did there? If not check the Fantasy Foursome…