Category: PGA

We wrote a preview of The Players Championship nearly a week ago. Players have yet to complete even 40 holes. The TPC at Sawgrass has seen a lot of weather and fans have seen very little golf. Even a Monday finish seems unlikely – we may be looking at a Tuesday finish before a champion is crowned.

Luke Donald, currently leading at -11, played all of nine holes on Sunday: six to complete his second round, and three more in his third before the all-too-familiar horn blew, signalling the end of play. He shares the 39-ish hole lead with journeyman Joe Durant. Tim Herron, defending champ Adam Scott, Lee Westwood, and Zach Johnson sit one stroke back.

Continue reading “The Tournament that Would Not End”

The Players Championship started much as it did Friday, with play delayed shortly after it had started. Thankfully the weather cleared up enough for play to resume for a while until interrupted by darkness. Among those delayed by the coming of night was first round leader Steve Jones who finished the day tied for first after nine holes. Seventy one players will show up at 7:30am Sunday morning to complete round two.

Among the best performances of the day came from Joe Durant who finished with seven birdies and an eagle to finish tied for first. He dropped strokes on holes one and five but finished with a seven-under 65. Durant’s favorite hole of the day might well have been the par-five 11th where he posted eagled on an 11-foot putt. Co-leader Lee Westwood looked like he was feeling confident as he finished his day with a 69. That was good enough to nudge him into a tie for first with Joe Durant and first round leader Steve Jones.

Continue reading “Joe Durant Shines After Rain On Saturday”

Only thirty golfers or so had a chance to make it off the first tee on Friday morning. After 44 minutes, the siren forced players back to the locker rooms as play was postponed. There was early hope that the golfers would be able to get back on the course Friday afternoon, but all of that ended as rain continued to pour down on the TPC course at Sawgrass. Late in the day officials made the decision to call the second round off completely and try to resume at 7am Saturday morning.

Continue reading “Rain Washes Away Second Round at the Players Championship”

Though I doubt Steve Jones will be around this weekend, he’s put himself in a pretty good spot to prove me wrong. The man who won the 1996 U.S. Open (and hasn’t been heard from since) escaped the mudballs, made some fine putts, and shot a blistering 64 at the TPC at Sawgrass. He leads The Players Championship over Fred Funk, Zach Johnson, and Lee Westwood, all of whom shot 65s, and a cast of others a few strokes back.

Of the big four – Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, and Phil Mickelson – only Vijay managed a great showing, carding a 67 that puts him in a tie for eighth at -5. Ernie struggled to a 1-under 71 (T51), while Phil and Tiger both carded 70s, putting them six back and tied for 29th. Phil and Tiger’s rounds couldn’t have been too different: Tiger plodded along, making pars, and tallied two bogeys and four birdies. Mickelson carded seven birdies, a double-bogey on the par-3 eighth, and three bogeys, including a splashed 3-wood from the 18th tee.

Continue reading “Oldy Jones Leads at the Players”

This week marks a special week for me. It is the first week that I get to write for The Sand Trap, and it is also time for the Player’s Championship! That is right, this tournament has been my favorite tournament since I can remember, and it is no different this year. The Masters is right around the corner, but as most people know, the PGA players treat The Player’s Championship as the “unspoken” 5th major.

The field at the Player’s Championship never lacks for star power, and this year is no different. The top 50 players in the world will come together for the first time in 2005, and they’re all looking to keep that ranking going into The Masters. After this week, the top 50 will all be exempt for the first major of the year, just two short weeks away. You can bet they will all be pushing that much harder to do well this week.

Continue reading “The Player’s Championship Preview”

Vijay Singh hit a 7-iron into the water at the 18th hole and Kenny Perry walked away with a two-shot victory at the Bay Hill Invitational. All was not lost for Singh, as he reclaimed the #1 spot in the world over a struggling Tiger Woods, who finished at -1 after an unusual – and lengthy – week.

Singh began the fourth round three back of Perry, -7 to -10 before closing the gap at the 17th when Perry failed to get up and down from the back middle of the long par 3. Hitting first at 18, Vijay cut a 7-iron into a right-to-left wind, the ball stood up, came down on the rocks, and bounded back into the water. Perry played cautiously to the green, two-putted for par, and bettered Singh’s double-bogey to claim his first Bay Hill Invitational.

Continue reading “Two for One at Bay Hill”

After Saturday, one thing is for sure… things will be busy on Sunday. From the bad weather on Thursday, the leaders have only completed two and a half rounds and will complete the third and fourth rounds on Sunday. Kenny Perry leads the Bay Hill Invitational after Saturday’s play, with Stephen Ames trailing by one and Vijay Singh and K.J. Choi trailing by two. Perry hit all but two fairways on Saturday, including his last shot of the day, a bomb on the twelfth.

Continue reading “Tiger Slips, Perry Surges in Bay Hill Third Round”

Charles Howell III and Stephen Ames caught a bit of fire on Friday as the rains went away and the sun came out at the Bay Hill Invitational. Among the 30 players able to complete their second rounds, they sat atop the leaderboard after 1½ rounds (or so) of play. Each fired rounds of 71, 68 and sit comfortably at -5.

Vijay Singh, a man on a mission (to regain the #1 spot in the world), struggled once again with his putting after hitting the ball beautifully. “I just didn’t make any putts all day,” said Singh. He didn’t have to putt on the eighth hole, though, sinking a 152-yard 9-iron for an eagle and rounds of 72, 68 to sit at -4.

Continue reading “Soggy Bay Hill Continues with Howell, Ames in the Lead at -5”

Arnold Palmer’s famous umbrella came out once again, but this time the man beneath it was not smiling. No, sir, the first round of Arnold’s tournament was rained out.

Storms dropped two inches of rain on the Bay Hill Invitational Wenesday and Thursday, and first-round play is scheduled to resume at 7:15am Friday morning. The tournament got in three hours of play Thursday, but not all had teed off, and nobody completed 18 holes.

Continue reading “Umbrellas Come out at Bay Hill”