Category: PGA

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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FedEx St. Jude Classic Preview

Tim Herron and David Toms could easily be favorites at this weeks tournament but one’s hot and one’s not, read on to find out more.

FedEx St JudeMemorial weekend next year will be a little different on the PGA Tour, especially in Memphis, Tennessee. The tournament moving to June 4-10 which is the week before the U.S. Open which will hopefully attract even more of the top players in the game looking to fine tune their games. Stanford Private Wealth Management will now assume the role of title sponsor increasing the purse to $6 million making it one of the largest on the tour. Next year should also be a good celebration as it will mark the 50th anniversary of the tournament.

We’ll get to 2007 soon enough so let’s get to this years tournament.

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Bank of America Colonial Preview

Kenny Perry hopes to rebound well from his knee surgery and become only the second man to win back to back titles at the Colonial.

Bank of America ColonialThis weekend marks the 60th anniversary of the Bank of America Colonial, arguably one of the most prestigious tournaments on the PGA Tour. This tournament is currently the longest running event the PGA Tour has played at the same course, starting in 1946 as the Colonial Invitational with Ben Hogan as the inaugural winner.

Ben Hogan won four more times at this event after his first in ’46, and the clubhouse features a Ben Hogan Trophy Room to honor his legacy as well as a statue of him on the 18th green. Ben Hogan is also the only back-to-back winner of the event and at one point in time owned nearly every record in this tournament.

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EDS Byron Nelson Championship Preview

Defending champion Ted Purdy will have plenty of competition at this weeks EDS Byron Nelson Championship, but that won’t include Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson.

Byron Nelson ClassicFlash back to Sunday, May 15, 2005. I’m glued to the TV watching fellow Arizona native and good guy Ted Purdy come from two back and shoot a 5-under 65 to beat rookie Sean O’Hair by one and win his first PGA Tour title. Just two days before that (on Friday the 13th no less), Tiger Woods actually missed a cut for the first time since 1998. A streak that lasted with 142 events and beat the previous record of 113 held by Mr. Byron Nelson himself. Anyone for superstitions?

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Wachovia Championship Preview

Tiger Woods will be missed this week but with 10 of the top 11 players in the world playing this weekend, you shouldn’t be disappointed.

Wachovia ChampionshipWe’ve talked several times in the forum and in our Podcasts about whether or not one player choked or the other won but in last year’s Wachovia we definately saw Sergio choke. Holding a six stroke lead going into the final round, Jim Furyk who was paired with Sergio in the final round and ended up T-2 with Sergio, had this to say about Sergio:

“He’s lapping the field right now,” Furyk said. “The golf tournament is in his hands; he’s going to determine who the winner is. He goes out and shoots 70, you can hand him the trophy.”

Nevermind the 70, a 71 could have won but Sergio shot a 72 and eventually lost in a playoff to Vijay to finish T-2 with Jim Furyk.

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Zurich Classic of New Orleans Preview

Hurricane Katrina did it’s damage last year and now it’s time to see which player will stir his own storm to get a win at the 2006 Zurich Classic.

Zurich Classic of New OrleansLast year was the first year the Zurich Classic was held at the TPC Louisiana. Not long after Tim Petrovic won in an exciting playoff over James Driscoll did Hurricane Katrina come through the Gulf Coast region to cause extensive damage to the TPC. The PGA Tour has been in New Orleans since 1938 and is committed to New Orleans and the tournament so they weren’t about to let Katrina stop a tournament, so this year the Zurich Classic will be returning to the English Turn Golf and Country Club once again. Since the event was held there from 1989 to 2004 it will almost feel like a welcome home to the staff of English Turn and to many of the PGA Tour players.

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