The Sand Trap

Well, once again the Mickelson-Woods match up we were promised, fizzled. As in, neither was still playing on Sunday—Mickelson because his back acted up and he withdrew and Tiger because he went nine-over during a seven-hole stretch and missed the secondary cut. [bonus link] Still, Torrey Pines did not disappoint. The top of the leaderboard was packed on Sunday, with the winner in doubt until the very end. The Euro Tour went to triple overtime to choose a winner. And the LPGA event came down to an up and down for birdie on the final hole. All and all, a pretty good week.

Coming up next week, hope you like desert golf, the PGA TOUR will be in Scottsdale for the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and the Euros will tee it up in U.A.E. at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Like the Champions Tour, the LPGA needs about a month to recover from their debut event so we’ll pick those two tours up later in February.

But we don’t have to wait to hit the links, so let’s do it.

Continue reading “Volume Three Hundred Seventy-One”

Oh that rulebook! Penalty strokes continue to be big stories on the tours, especially when they are assessed to big name players in big time contention. The Abu Dhabi Championship had more than its fair share of high profile penalties and near penalties.

In the U.S., the PGA TOUR arrived on the mainland, and a guy—who was ranked almost 600th in the world last year at this time—shot three 9-under rounds to outdistance the field at the Humana Challenge. Instead of his usual caddie (his wife Justine who is pregnant with the couple’s first child), he had his brother-in-law on the bag to fist bump repeatedly at the conclusion of the tournament.

This week is the PGA Merchandise show, the annual golf gearhead geekout in Orlando. Plus, we get to watch Tiger and Phil at Torrey Pines. Mickelson looked in good form at Abu Dhabi. Hopefully, Tiger comes out playing well, too, and we get a good head-to-head matchup. If not, there are another 140+ players to watch, and you’ll probably recognize most of their names. If all that fails, there’s still those hang gliders to watch. Let’s hit the links.

Continue reading “Volume Three Hundred Seventy”

Hawaiian golf is great for scenery and apparently for competitive juices if the Sony Open was any indication. With an hour of play left, no less than four players were in the hunt.

Next week, the senior circuit takes over on the islands while the PGA TOUR heads stateside for the Humana Challenge in La Quinta, Calif. It’s still another week before the LPGA starts the season in the Bahamas. Off the course, the PGA Merchandise show is just a little over a week away.

Can you smell it in the air? The 2014 golf season is just starting to bud. Now we need to come up with a plan to make sure that groundhog doesn’t see it’s shadow next month. Let’s hit the links.

Continue reading “Volume Three Hundred Sixty-Nine”

With the “Polar Vortex” chilling half the U.S. with sub-zero weather, what better way to spend an evening than watching the pros knock the little white ball around Kapalua? (By the way, polar vortex sounds way too much like something out of The Day After Tomorrow, don’t you think?)

It’s 2014, a new year, a new-ish season — the 2013-14 seasons began in October on the PGA TOUR and in November on the European Tour, but the LPGA and Champions Tour both still stick to the calendar. The start of the year is always a time of hope for golfers of all skill levels. The pros can dream of major wins and FedExCup points. The majority of us look forward to breaking 80, or 90, or 100. We fantasize about making birdie on our nemesis hole or reaching that par five in two… and not three putting this time! We resolve to shave a few strokes off our handicap and to win the club championship or our family scramble. It’s a time when all things are possible. Heck, the Cubs could still win the World Series this year.

Here’s to a happy and prosperous 2014! And for the PGA TOUR, it starts in Hawaii.

Continue reading “Volume Three Hundred Sixty-Eight”