Tiger Woods will skip the Funai Classic at Disney.
For the first time since turning pro, Tiger Woods will miss the Funai Classic at Disney. According to Disney officials, Tiger missed the 5pm deadline for entering the tournament. It appears that life cruising around the Caribbean on a multi-million dollar yacht is much more important than his streak at the Funai Classic. But, can you blame him? I don’t.
Bernhard Langer pulled off an impressive win over World No. 1 Vijay Singh at the HSBC World Match Play.
Well, yesterday’s predictions didn’t go too badly; 5 out the seven remaining matches called correctly, with one of mis-calls going to the 37th hole. That match was won by Bernhard Langer, pulling off an impressive victory over world number one Vijay Singh.
Today’s matches are being played to an excellent standard. Jimenez played the first 18 holes of his match with Bernhard Langer in 63 shots (an approximate score, since all putts aren’t necessarily holed in match play), and finished the eighteenth 3 up. Padraig Harrington also went round in 63, and although he was 6 up on Thomas Levet after 18, he was pegged back to 2 up after losing four holes in a row. Whatever the Frenchman had for lunch, I want some of it.
Read the extended entry for my predictions for the rest of the second round. Post yours in the comments.
The US Coast Guard boards Tiger’s yacht “Privacy.”
CNN reports that armed officers of the Coast Guard boarded the couple’s new mega-yacht Privacy in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The crew apparently was not aware they had to file advance notice of arrival. Doh!
The first round of the HSBC World Matchplay remains unfinished due to rain delays. Retief Goosen was the day’s only winner, thrashing Jeff Maggert 12&11.
Who says it never rains in England? Well, no-one, frankly, and with good reason. The first round of the HSBC World Match Play Championship was heavily disrupted by rain, which meant that only one match out of the eight 36-hole first round matches was settled before the close of play, with US Open champion Retief Goosen crushing Jeff Maggert 12&11. Goosen was 8 up after the first 18 holes, and only required a further 7 holes to complete the rout and set a new record for the largest margin of victory in the event.
The delay has given me the opportunity to make some predictions for what’s left of the first round, and I’ll do the same for the remaining rounds. Post your predictions on here too, and we’ll see who comes out tops!
Read the extended entry for my predictions.
A roundup of this past week’s tour events.
In Las Vegas on the PGA Tour, Andre Stolz shot a 5-under 67 to win the Michelin Championship by a shot over Tom Lehman, Harrison Frazar, and Tag Ridings. Ridings, who began his final round on the back nine, shot a 29 on the front and tied the course record with a final-round 61 to just barely come up short.
Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher won for the first time on the European Tour, beating Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell on the first playoff hole Sunday at the dunhill links Championship. Ernie Els and Fred Couples finished five strokes back and Vijay Singh finished eight strokes back.
On the Senior Tour, Larry Nelson shot an 8-under 64 to come from behind and beat Hale Irwin with a birdie on the first playoff hole at the Administaff Small Business Classic.
Liselotte Neumann won her first LPGA Tour title in six years, holding off a late charge by Grace Park for a three-stroke victory at the LPGA Asahi Ryokuken International Championship on Sunday.
And finally, on the Nationwide Tour, 22-year old Chris Nallen chipped in on the 72nd hole and sealed the win on his Nationwide debut at the Gila River Golf Classic at Wild Horse Pass Resort. Nallen went wire-to-wire and won easily by eight strokes.
When you are in between clubs, take the longer club, grip an inch down the shaft, and make your normal, positive swing.
There are times out on the golf course when you find yourself “between clubs”; that is, at an awkward distance from the flag. You may find that you are slightly too far away for a full 8-iron, but slightly too close for a full 7-iron.
You should resist the temptation to hit the shorter club slightly harder. This will most likely result in an out-of-control swing, a poor ball strike, and ultimately a wayward shot. Another common mistake is to take the longer club and try to swing slower. This can cause an awkward, tentative swing, which increases the chances of catching the ball “fat” or “thin”.
Instead, opt for the longer club, but grip down the shaft about ½ inch to an inch, and take your normal swing. Gripping slightly further down effectively decreases the length of the shaft, which takes those extra 5 yards of your ball flight. Remember to maintain a positive strike, and resist the temptation to swing harder or softer than normal.
The Big Break II challenges are boring. Let’s hear some suggestions for new ones.
I finally got around to watching this week’s Big Break II. Thank {insert your own deity here} for PVRs. The first challenge (skills) was interesting, having each player hit four balls (two draws and two fades) around a huge obstacle to a green 180 yards away. The player with the lowest cumulative distance between their best draw and best fade was exempt from the next two challenges.
Then I thought they stepped it up a notch for the next challenge in which each player was represented by a small pane of glass mounted in a frame and the players took turns attempting to break other player’s panes thereby elminating that player from the challenge. It required a pretty low trajectory punch shot to hit the glass.
Tiger Woods marries Elin Nordegren in Barbados.
Ending weeks, even months, of speculation, Tiger Woods did indeed go fishing in Barbados yesterday. To entertain himself – and the gossip columnists – while he was there, he also married his fiancée (who else?), Elin Nordegren, in “a lavish but top secret $1.5m ceremony.” Click one of the following links for the tedious details.
I can now see one of two things happening. Either Tiger’s game will improve, and everyone will claim that the stability of married life has allowed him to be less distracted on the golf course, or his form will dip (or stay the same – Woods not winning at least eight tournaments a year, including three majors, will always be considered a failure in the eyes of the media), and further speculation about the supposed effect of Elin on his game will ensue.
Congratulations to both of them anyway.
Callaway Golf introduces the Big Bertha Heavenwood hybrid series of clubs.
Back on September 1st, Callaway introduced the Big Bertha Heavenwood hybrid series of clubs aimed at golfers who struggle with the longer irons. Combining the accuracy and control of a long iron and the distance of a fairway wood, the Heavenwood hybrids join a growing array of hybrid clubs now available on the market.
“Our new Big Bertha Heavenwood Hybrids represent the best of everything you expect from the Big Bertha name and live up to our brand promise of Demonstrably Superior and Pleasingly Different(R) products,” said Patrice Hutin, President and Chief Operating Officer of Callaway Golf. “They are an entirely new category of club that gives you the distance and control to take on the most difficult long shots, with the confidence and skill to get you there in two.”
The Big Bertha Heavenwood Hybrids are offered in lofts 1H (14°), 2H (17°), 3H (20°), 4H (23°) and 5H (26°), which correspond to traditional 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-irons. They should be available now in a store or pro-shop near you. I, myself, plan to check the availability of a demo the next time I’m at the range.
