Category: PGA

2006 Buick Championship Preview

With both the Buick Championship and the U.S. Womens Open happening in the same week, its hard to imagine a better week for golf!

Buick Championship LogoConnecticut isn’t exactly regarded as a mainstay of professional athleticism. Their only professional sports team are the New England Seawolves, who compete in the AFL. Perhaps it is for this reason that the crowds go bananas for their very own PGA Tour stop. This year is sure to please the Connecticut crowds once again with more stellar play from the best touring professionals in the world.

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Booz Allen Classic Preview

The Booz is back! Another quality tournament returns for our enjoyment.

Booz Allen Classic LogoWell, this week we can finally see some birdies! It may be hard to top last week’s final-hole theatrics, but the Booz Allen Classic has been known to provide some drama in its own right. Last year, the Swashbucklin’ Spaniard found a putter that actually worked for him and walked away with this event.

You may not see eight-inch rough, but you can bet on seeing some birdies this week!

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Final Round of the 2006 U.S. Open

We’re live blogging the final round of the 2006 U.S. Open. Will Phil Mickelson rack up the third leg of a Mickelslam, or will someone else walk away with the trophy?

Geoff Ogilvy7:27 – Johnny Miller: “I’ve never seen such a finish in championship golf.”

7:11 – Phil plays the last two holes at the U.S. Open +3 to lose to 29-year-old Geoff Ogilvy.

7:07 – Phil runs his ball into the thick greenside rough from the bunker. I think I’ve seen a lot of miracles in my day, but holing out here may just top them all. It would top Tiger’s 16th-hole chip-in at the 2005 Masters. Barring this miracle, Geoff Ogilvy is the 2006 U.S. Open Champion.

7:05 – Johnny Miller: “Man, he [Phil] got a couple bad breaks on the lies, didn’t he?” Uhhmmm, no??? Only the two bunker shots in the last two holes.

7:03 – Phil hits his third shot into the greenside bunker. Par is virtually out of the question now. He has to get up and down to get into a playoff or Geoff Ogilvy will win the 2006 U.S. open. Johnny Miller again: “just crazy shot selection.”

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2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Preview

The U.S. Open returns to Winged Foot in what is sure to be one fabulous championship.

Winged Foot U.S. Open LogoIt’s finally U.S. Open week. I’ve been waiting for this tourney for a long while now. In my humble opinion, the U.S. Open is the hardest test in golf. Sure, The Masters is very pretty, the British is very windy, and the PGA is very exciting, but none are as brutal and more complete a test of golf as the U.S. Open. I look forward to this week all year and can’t wait for the action to begin. Let’s get started with the breakdown.

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2006 Barclays Classic Preview

The week before the U.S. Open is rarely attended by some golfers and always attended by others. Will this year share the drama we saw last year with Padraig’s final-hole eagle?

Memorial LogoThe thoughts on many golfer’s minds this week may not be the Barclays Classic, being that the event comes the week before the U.S. Open, an event known for its drama and history. However, the Barclays Classic has provided plenty of drama in its own right, and should not be overlooked. While the term divine intervention maybe be a little strong, the luck of the Irish was on Padraig Harrington’s side last year as he took his second career PGA Tour victory.

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The Memorial Tournament Preview

This year’s stop in Dublin, Ohio will prove to be an exciting one thanks to newly furrowed bunkers and a star-studded field.

Memorial LogoThe PGA Tour is making its traditional stop in Dublin, OH two weeks prior to the U.S. Open. This shady suburb of Columbus is home to Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village Golf Club. This year the PGA Tour will find a few changes at Jack’s place. For the first time, Nicklaus himself has opted not to play in his event, Tiger Woods has decided to prolong his mourning hiatus and begin preparation for the U.S. Open, and perhaps most important to the players in the field, Nicklaus and the PGA Tour have decided to furrow the bunkers in order to penalize players for finding them instead of providing a reprieve from the rough.

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Memorial Journal, Day Two – Seeing and Being Seen

A whole lot of images from Tuesday at The Memorial at Muirfield Village.

The Memorial TournamentTuesday at The Memorial is mainly about two things: the induction ceremony for the year’s honorees and the clinic Jack Nicklaus and selected PGA Tour golfers put on for the benefit of a small crowd. This year, Bubba Watson pounded drives out of (Jack’s) sight and José Maria Olazabal demonstrated his tremendous wedge game.

Of course, neither of those events are particularly newsworth, so I ventured onto the course to take a slew of pictures. A few gigabytes heavier, I returned with a helpful dose. I’ve hand selected a few for you here. Yes, this version will be light on the commentary and heavy on the imagery, so click through and wait just a bit for the images to load. I hope you find the wait worthwhile…

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Memorial Journal, Day One – Muirfield Village’s Defenses

Muirfield Village is no pushover. Not only does the course throw 7400 yards at players, but it throws sand, water, elevation changes, and tricky greens, too. Players will have their hands full this week!

The Memorial TournamentMuirfield Village Golf Club, Jack Nicklaus’ home course in Ohio and host of The Memorial Tournament since 1976, is a playground. Nicklaus designed and built Muirfield Village, and it’s no coincidence that the tournament to which it plays host is called the “Masters of the Midwest” – many believe Nicklaus modeled much of Muirfield Village after the famous host course of the actual Masters, right down to the diagonal peanut-shaped par-three twelfth green over water.

Like Augusta National, Muirfield Village has four primary defenses: a meandering creek that sometimes widens into a pond, changes in elevation, lots of sand, and deceptive, sloping greens.

This photo essay examines the first three of these defenses. For the latter, why, simply know that last year in the first round, I watched Jesper Parnevik four-putt from 35 feet on the relatively mild second green.

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PGA Tour, Nicklaus Experiment with Furrowed Bunkers at Memorial

Brows are furrowed over “Jack’s New Rake” at Muirfield Village. Furrowed bunkers have returned to the PGA Tour, at least as a one-week trial.

The Memorial TournamentI’ve long argued for making bunkers on the PGA Tour penal. Too many good golfers, particularly on par fives, aim for bunkers and prefer a lie on the beach than any in greenside rough.

That may all change soon if the PGA Tour’s experiment this week at Muirfield Village during The Memorial Tournament proves successful. The Tour is trying out a new rake that gently furrows bunkers this year, and the early feedback is that it’s working.

The PGA Tour has, to this point, only talked about acting on their threat to do something about the bunkers, but in place of fine-toothed rakes, contestants (and their caddies) will find widely spaced and long-toothed rakes made of wood. The result: less consistent lies and tougher shots.

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