Category: PGA

One of my favorite days of the year is the Sunday of the British Open. The TV comes on early and I settle in to watch the whole thing. I wish I could have invited you all over to my heavily fortified compound to watch with me, but there are space constraints and noise ordinance issues. Instead, as a public service, I kept a running diary of the final round’s events for you, as seen from my couch. Let’s get started.

8:00 a.m.: I am fully ready for the final round to begin. Caffeine and sugar are in abundance, and ABC’s coverage is on the air. An opening shot of the Swilken Bridge and an understated opening from Mike Tirico welcome us to St. Andrews, leading into a taped package showcasing the Old Course as the equivalent of Yankee Stadium. It also touches on Jack Nicklaus exiting the scene, and some exciting young fellow named Tiger playing well. Hmm. I think we might hear more about both today.

Continue reading “British Open Running Diary”

Just a few weeks removed from the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, it is now time for the British Open. The Open Championship will be played on the Old Course at St. Andrews, one of the most famous courses in all of golf. The list of winners at St. Andrews reads like a “who’s who” list of golf greats and includes names such as Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus (twice), Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, and most recently Tiger Woods.

Continue reading “British Open Preview”

The British Open is only one week away and the top golfers in the world are either at St. Andrews already or are on their way. The John Deere Classic is the last stop for some of the PGA Tour players before heading to the British Open themselves.

But the British Open is not the story this week. That honor belongs to Michelle Wie as she makes her third career start on the PGA Tour. She has missed her two previous cuts, the most recent being at the Sony Open earlier this year. The appearance by Wie will definitely make tournament directors happy because the ratings will surely get a nice boost.

Continue reading “John Deere Classic Preview”

Tiger Woods made a Sunday charge and made up a three-stroke deficit on 54-hole co-leader Jim Furyk at the (cough, ahem, Cialis) Western Open today at Chicago’s beautiful Cog Hill Golf and Country Club. The downside? Woods started the day five strokes back, and Furyk’s two-stroke victory – the tenth of his career and his first in two years – was all but assured when Tiger faltered at 13 and 14 as Furyk poured in three straight birdies to retake a four-stroke lead after Tiger caught him with an eagle at the 11th.

Furyk has finished second three times this year, including last week at the Barclays Classic when Padraig Harrington holed a 65-foot eagle at the last to nip him by a stroke, but hasn’t won since taking the Buick Open in 2003. Woods reached a milestone himself, topping $50,000,000 in career earnings.

Continue reading “Jim Furyk Takes Cialis (Western Open by Two)”

The Western Open is the oldest non-major golf tournament on the PGA Tour. That being said, it’s always a special tournament when the top two players in the world are in the field, and that is the case this week at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club. Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh played in the same tournament just two weeks ago at Pinehurst for the U.S. Open, and both players finished in the top 10. Tiger was the runner-up to Michael Campbell, and Singh finished in a tie for sixth. Just last week at the Barclays Classic, Vijay followed up his strong U.S. Open finish with a tie for seventh at Westchester.

Continue reading “Cialis Western Open Preview”

Balls were going into the hole all over the place at the 18th green today. First, Birdie Kim holes out from a bunker on the 4.7-stroke average 18th hole at Cherry Hills. Then Padraig Harrington holes an 65-foot eagle putt for a one-stroke win over Jim Furyk. Harrington, who began each of his nines by going +3 on holes 1-3 and +2 on holes 10-12, finished the nines with a birdie (7, 14) and an eagle (9, 18) to finish at -10.

Continue reading “Two Eagles Pay off for Padraig at the Barclays Classic”

Padraig Harrington started the day tied for third but tied leader Jim Furyk by day’s end. Furyk led the pack after both the first and second rounds. Harrington held the clubhouse lead until Furyk birdied the par-5 18th getting up and down out of a green-side bunker. A win tomorrow for Harrington would be his second of the season. He grabbed his first win on the PGA Tour at the Honda Classic in March, and is no stranger to the Barclays Classic as he lost in a playoff last year to Sergio Garcia.

Furyk is seeking his first win on Tour since 2003, the year he won both the U.S. Open and the Buick Open. Furyk has been close twice this year finishing T2 at the MCI Heritage and the Wachovia Championship. He is currently 13th on the Tour money list with $1,795,669 in the bank this season. If Furyk is able to cash in tomorrow he will round out his PGA Tour victories to a tidy ten.

Continue reading “Furyk and Harrington Share Barclays Third Round Lead”

Jim Furyk carded two birdies and two bogeys in his second round at Westchester Country Club. Oh yeah, he also holed out for eagle on the eighth hole! The eighth hole was Furyk’s 17th of the day, and his eagle vaulted him back to the top of the leaderboard where he finished the first round. Mike “Fluff” Cowan, Furyk’s caddy, advised his player to hit an eight-iron into the green on the difficult eighth hole, and he was right on the money. Cowan made the decision, and Furyk took care of the rest. The eagle put Jim Furyk at -8 for the tournament, and that number was good enough to keep him in the lead at the halfway point of the Barclays Classic.

Continue reading “Furyk Maintains Lead at Westchester”