Sometimes Less is More

Is the PGA Tour season too long? I know one person who thinks so.

Thrash TalkThe length of the PGA Tour season is a topic that has been discussed in detail for a few months now. There have been a couple articles about this here at The Sand Trap, but nobody has really voiced their opinions yet. I have thought about it many times in the past few months, and I finally have enough courage to speak my opinions on the matter. It’s not an easy topic because it would affect so many around the golf world. But would the effect be good or bad overall? That is the question I am going to answer.

WGC-NEC Invitational Preview

The best golfers in the world tee it up at the beautiful Firestone Country Club.

World Golf Championship LogoThe final major championship of the season is in the past, and it’s time for the golfers to push towards the season-ending Tour Championship in November. Usually the week after a major calls for weaker fields for the most part, but that won’t be the case this week. The World Golf Championship’s second event of the year is on tap and will be played at Firestone Country Club. The field for this event is made up of the following: players from the most recent Ryder Cup and President’s Cup, the top 50 golfers from the official World Golf Rankings, and winners of selected worldwide events.

PGA Championship Aftermath

This week’s Thrash Talk dives into a couple different topics including Phil’s win at Baltusrol and the President’s Cup.

Thrash TalkThe PGA Championship has come and gone, but not without causing a stir in the golf world. The positive stories include Phil’s second major championship victory, Tiger’s weekend charge up the leaderboard, and Charles Howell III’s ace on the fourth hole Saturday. The latter story was my personal favorite, but the other two were pretty special as well. The good usually doesn’t come without the bad, however. Did anyone in the last few groups play anything that resembled good golf Sunday? The world’s best golfers were three-putting, duffing pitch shots, and hitting tee shots near the out-of-bounds markers.

PGA Championsip Preview

The top golfers in the world head to Baltusrol for the PGA’s final major championship of 2005.

pgachampionship_baltusrol_logo.jpgThe PGA Championship is the final major championship of the year on the PGA Tour, and it will be played at Baltusrol Golf Club this week. As usual, there are numerous storylines heading into the week, and it will be exciting to see how everything unfolds. Tiger Woods is at the top of the list of stories once again. Woods will be looking to win his third major of 2005 and the 11th of his career.

A win this week will put Tiger in a tie with Walter Hagen on the all-time list of major championship victories. So far in 2005, Woods has finished first at The Masters, second at the U.S. Open, and first at last month’s British Open. Tiger is arguably playing the best golf of his career, and he will be the unanimous favorite at Baltusrol this week. Out of Woods’ 10 major championship victories, two have come at the PGA Championship.

It’s Put up or Shut up Time

Sergio Garcia will finally get the monkey off his back at the 2005 PGA Championship at Baltusrol.

Thrash TalkThe final major championship of the 2005 PGA season is here already! It seems like it was just yesterday when Tiger was narrowly defeating Chris DiMarco in a playoff to win his fourth green jacket. After that, it was on to the U.S. Open, where Michael Campbell gave us the major championship surprise of the year. Retief Goosen had an awful final-round collapse, and Campbell outlasted Tiger to win his first major. And just last month, Tiger struck again at the British Open. Mr. Woods worked his way around St. Andrews beautifully on his way to winning his second career grand slam.

The International Preview

PGA Tour professionals head to Castle Pines for one last tune-up before the PGA Championship.

The International LogoThe final major championship of 2005 is just one week away, but many of the top-ranked golfers are making one last stop in Colorado before heading to Baltusrol for the PGA Championship. Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh battled it out last week at the Buick Open, and Vijay eventually pulled out the victory. Both Singh and Woods will be taking this week off in preparation for Baltusrol, and Ernie Els is out for the season due to knee surgery. That being said, the rest of the big guns on the PGA Tour will be teeing it up at Castle Pines in what should be a very exciting event.

Coming Back for More

2005 has marked the resurgence of a few veterans on the PGA Tour.

Thrash TalkLast week in Thrash Talk, I mentioned a few young guns who have yet to live up to their potential on the PGA Tour. It was a bit of a negative story. This week, I am turning things around to the positive. There are always golfers that have success certain years and then dissapear for a period of time. Some make a resurgence, and some never make it back to the spotlight. A couple examples from last year are John Daly and Carlos Franco.

John Daly had a horrendous 2003, finishing 171st on the money list. Daly not only won an event on the PGA Tour last year, he also finished 21st on the season-ending money list. Carlos Franco has always been a little inconsistent, but he finished 94th on the 2003 money list. Last year, Franco won the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee and finished 29th on the season-ending money list. These kinds of stories are always great in my opinion, especially when the golfers are fan favorites like Daly.

Buick Open Preview

Tiger and Vijay headline a strong field this week at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club.

buickopen_logo.gifTiger Woods comes into the Buick Open on top of the golfing world as always. Mr. Woods won his second major of the year two weeks ago at St. Andrews to (hopefully) answer the question “is he back yet” once and for all!

Unfortunately, last year’s Buick Open took place when Woods was still facing that question, and the honor of being defending champion belongs to Tiger’s top rival, Vijay Singh. Both players will be looking to win this event for the second time in their respective careers. Singh also won it in 1997, and Tiger won it in 2002.

3M Greptile Premium Golf Glove Review

3M makes golf apparel? You bet, and it’s not too bad either.

3M Golf LogoMost golfers I know love to shop around for new golf equipment. It’s like Christmas morning any time of year! We all love to test out the latest drivers, irons, wedges, and putters. But if there’s one golf item I hate buying, it’s gloves. I am very hard on golf gloves and go through several every year. I live in Oklahoma, where the humidity at times is overwhelming, and humidity and golf gloves definitely don’t get along. I rediscover this fact every year.