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Qatar Masters Preview

Ernie Els looks to continue his winning ways at the Qatar Masters.

ernie_els_bunker.jpgErnie Els looks to win back-to-back tournaments this week as he enters the Qatar Masters at the Doha Golf Club. After winning the Dubai Desert Classic, Els is interested in adding the Mother of Pearl Trophy to his collection while overseas.

The tournament, which was originally a European Tour event, will be a joint-sanctioned event with the European Tour and the Asian Tour. Els’ entry (his first appearance) in the tournament will boost the event’s standings, as he is the highest ranked player to have played in the country since the tournament began in 1998.

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Big Trouble in Little Doral

The PGA has always been against the use of appearance fees to recruit strong fields. However, sports management company IMG has stirred up some major controversy about the PGA and appearance fees.

IMGEarlier last week, our preview of the Ford Championship at Doral briefly touched on a Ford “company outing” where several high profile players were paid roughly $100,000 to appear on the Monday before the tournament. At the time, PGA Tour officials okayed the event, but made it clear they would be examining the issue more closely later in the year. However, a letter just published by Golf World writer Ron Sirak may speed up the time table on the issue.

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Annika Rules at 2005 Mastercard Tournament

Sorenstam emerges victorious to claim her 57th LPGA trophy today at the 2005 Mastercard Tournament.

Mastercard TournamentAnnika Sorenstam fired a four-under 68 today to take the lead from Cristie Kerr and proclaim victory at the 2005 Mastercard Tournament from Mexico City. Karrie Webb, twice player of the year and with 32 career wins, finished in second place. “I’ve probably worked harder over the last couple of years than I have ever worked on the Tour” remarked Webb in a recent interview.

Lorena Ochoa rallied to fifth place after coming back from a 27th place tie on Friday. Ochoa, the 23-year-old darling of Mexican golf and two-time LPGA tour winner, is the first Mexican-born champion on the LPGA Tour. At the end of 2004, Ochoa made a pledge that in 2005 she would improve her position and topple number one seed Annika Sorenstam. “I think I need to remain consistent with where I am and try to shorten the distance that Annika has over me. I want to get closer and closer to give her more of a fight,” Ochoa states in a recent LPGA.com interview.

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Tiger Wants Less Quantity, More Quality

Is the PGA Tour’s season too long? Tiger Woods thinks a shorter season would lead to stronger and more competitive tournaments.

tiger_woods_interview.jpgThe tournament at Doral this week is attracting a lot of hype, mostly because 11 of the top 12 players are playing in the Ford Championship. It makes sense since talented fields and big prize money help bring drama and attention to regular tournaments. So why can’t the PGA Tour get the best players to show up every week? It seems like for every tournament with a strong field and a tough course we have to sit through three or four tournaments like the Southern Farm Bureau Classic and Reno Tahoe Open with no-name players battling on a municipal-like golf course. Tiger Woods has an answer to the problem, shorten the PGA Tour season.

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MasterCard Classic Tournament

Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb are ready to tee off their LPGA seasons in Mexico at the inaugural MasterCard Classic.

lorena_ochoa.jpgAfter making its debut in Hawaii, the LPGA will jetset down to Mexico for the first ever MasterCard Classic. This tournament goes hand-in-hand with the Open de Mexico Femenil, a golf event played in January 2005 in Mexico. The idea of the Open was to select up to six Amateur Mexican Female Golfers to participate and contend with the best players in the LPGA.

By far the biggest draw for the tournament will be Annika Sorenstam who makes her first start in 2005 as she attempts to defend her four straight money titles. The tournament will also be the debut of Australian Karrie Webb, a sure fire candidate for the LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame. Webb needs just nine more starts this year to fulfill the eligibility requirement of 10-years active membership on the LPGA. While these two will be very popular, look for hometown hero Lorena Ochoa to garner quite a bit of attention throughout the tournament.

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Ford Championship Preview

An all-star lineup, big prize money, and the Blue Monster. They can only mean one thing: The Ford Championships at Doral.

Ford ChampionshipNow that the West Coast Swing has finished up, the PGA Tour turns its attention to the Sunshine State. The first tournament in Florida: The Ford Championships held at the famous Blue Monster Course at Doral Resort. The big news for the 2005 tournament is big names. This year boasts one of the strongest fields in the event’s history. Tiger Woods passed on big time appearance money from the Dubai Desert Classic to tee it up at Doral. However, winning will not be easy. Woods will be competing in a field with names like Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen, and Vijay Singh. A total of 11 of the top 12 players in the world will compete at Doral including David Toms, fresh off his domination at the Match Play Championships.

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Dubai Desert Classic Preview

Ernie Els and Mark O’Meara headline the Dubai Desert Classic which has drawn another strong field to compete for one of the richest purses in golf.

Mark O'MearaDoral isn’t the only must-watch tournament this week. The European Tour makes its yearly stop in the United Arab Emirates for the Dubai Desert Classic. This is the 16th year the tournament will be played at Emirates Golf Club, a course known as the “Desert Miracle” for its lush fairways and greens amidst the arid desert conditions.

Defending champion Mark O’Meara is the tournament’s oldest winner at 47 and will defend his title this year. However, the favorite again is sure to be World #3 Ernie Els. Before the season, many were predicting this would be Els’ breakout year. However, The Big Easy is the only player in the top four of the World Rankings without a win in 2005. Dubai will be a good place to rectify that. Els has won the event twice (1994, 2002) and holds the course record of 61.

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Accenture WGC Match Play Finals

David Toms continued his hot ball striking to capture the Accenture WGC Match Play Finals.

David TomsSixty-four players, 108 holes of golf, just one winner. David Toms continued his golf clinic throughout the finals of the Accenture WGC Match Play Finals today. Toms posted a 6 and 5 victory over Chris DiMarco, and may have displayed some of the best ball striking the PGA Tour has ever seen. In the consolation match, Retief Goosen and Ian Poulter exchanged birdies back and forth until Goosen finally won on the second playoff hole.

The field was finally trimmed to two players. Although it wasn’t the matchup many wanted, there was no shortage of great golf to be seen today. A total of 36 holes would decide the winner, which should provide more than enough time to sort out the true champion. Just how did Toms manage to severely trounce a player of DiMarco’s caliber?

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Chrysler Classic: New Faces and Old Places

Geoff Ogilvy became the 14th first time winner at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson winning a playoff against Kevin Na.

Geoff OgilvyThe Chrysler Classic of Tucson has become the premier event for first time winners on the PGA Tour. Today, Australian Geoff Ogilvy joined the winners club thanks to his clutch performance on the second playoff hole. Ogilvy began the day tied for the lead along with Kevin Na, the youngest player on Tour. When regulation was over, three players were tied for the lead at -19. Ogilvy, Na, and veteran Mark Calcavecchia who battled for a round of 69 to get into the playoff.

On the first playoff hole, Calcavecchia found a fairway bunker and took two shots to finally escape netting a double bogey which took him out of the running for the title. This was Calcavecchia’s 26th time to place 2nd in a tournament. Ogilvy made par easily while Na scrambled to get up and down from the rough to save par and extend the playoff. The next hole was the par-5 10th. Both Na and Ogilvy missed the fairway and ended up in a grove of trees.

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