Category: PGA

Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods are neck-and-mockneck atop the World Golf Ranking, with Singh holding a slight lead. Could this be the place for the two top guns to have a 36-hole shootout? Don’t get your hopes up for a No. 1-2 showdown at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, CA this week. First of all, the 64-player bracket is every bit as unpredictable as NCAA hoops in March Madness mode. Second of all, a third player is going to throw his visor into the “Who’s No. 1?” debate. He won’t have the world ranking points to officially claim the top spot, but at week’s end, look for Phil Mickelson to stand tall above Vijay, Tiger and the rest of the world for the all-important title of Best Golfer in the World right now.

Read on for details on how Phil is going to take over the world, as well as predictions for every single match scheduled for soggy La Costa at this week’s WGC/Accenture Match Play Championship.

Continue reading “Accenture/WGC World Match Play Preview”

Day after day of heavy rain in the Los Angeles area left the Nissan Open very open ended. Yesterday no one seemed to know for sure whether the tournament would be called after two rounds, or whether a third round would be played on Monday. However, two additional inches of rainfall last night made the decision to call the tournament an easy choice. The final leaderboard showed two leaders: Adam Scott and Chad Campbell tied at 9-under par. Thankfully, the rain eased up enough today to allow a playoff between Scott and Campbell and crown a winner. The playoff was decided on the first hole, when Scott sunk a 4-foot putt for par on the 18th green to cash in on an unofficial victory on the PGA Tour.

Continue reading “Scott Shines in Playoff”

Players finally finished the second round of the Nissan Open and tournament officials are going to attempt to get a third round in on Monday, but the forecast isn’t promising.

Adam Scott took advantage of the weather and fired a 5-under 66 to vault him into a tie for the 36-hole lead. Should the tournament end, Scott and Chad Campbell, who completed his second round on Friday and hasn’t hit a shot since, would play off late Monday for the $836,000 first-place check. The win, unfortunately, would be unofficial. Tour officials still hope that 54 holes can be played – they have 12 hours of daylight and a field of 76 golfers after the cut – to make the tournament official.

Continue reading “Manic Monday at the Nissan? Or Tuesday…”

The rain kept coming. So much so that the Nissan Open may become the first 36-hole event in nearly nine years on the PGA Tour. PGA Tour tournament director Mark Russel said “Our main goal is to get 36 holes in. We’re at the mercy of the elements, and right now it has us on the ground.”

The Nissan Open may need to catch a break just to finish 36, as rain is forecast for Sunday and Monday. The $7.5 million Match Play Championship, a World Golf Championship event, begins Wednesday in La Costa, CA. Last year’s Match Play Championship was the site of the last PGA Tour rainout when the second round was cancelled.

Continue reading “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on my Head… Saturday at the Nissan Washed Out”

Play in the second round of the Nissan Open was pushed back four hours due to rain and eventually suspended, as many players – including first-round leader Brian Davis – didn’t even get a chance to tee off.

Chad Campbell teed off, though, and nearly holed out two shots en route to a 6-under 65 that catapulted him into a three-shot lead over Robert Allenby. Davis was about to tee off on ten when the siren signaling the end of play due to darkness sounded, ending his round before it had even begun.

Continue reading “Nissan Open: Friday Recap”

Brian Davis is an unlikely leader after the first round of the Nissan Open, but then again, the first round isn’t quite over yet. Davis, a 2004 Q-School graduate, fired a 6-under 65 to take the early lead at rain-soaked Riviera Country Club.

One back, Luke Donald and Darren Clarke, who recorded a “1” on his scorecard at the “bunker-in-the-green” 6th. Donald bogeyed his last after his drive found a divot and his approach a greenside bunker. Brett Quigley, who’s having a good year so far, also fired a 66.

Continue reading “Riviera Rain: Round One of the Nissan”

If you’re not a southpaw, you run the risk of getting left behind in Los Angeles this week. That’s no left-handed compliment to port-siders Phil Mickelson and Mike Weir: it’s simply the state of the PGA Tour. Mickelson has dominated the last two events, outlasting a charging Mike Weir last week at Pebble Beach. Phil’s taking this week off, but Weir will be at Riviera Country Club trying for his third consecutive Nissan Open title. And let’s not forget that the fashionably left-handed Mickelson and Weir are the winners of the last two Masters Tournaments.

Will Weir defend at the Nissan? Is this Steve Flesch’s week to get in on the lefty love?

Continue reading “2005 Nissan Open Preview”

Pebble Beach showed its teeth today with strong winds, cold temperatures, and light rain. However, none of this phased Phil Mickelson whose one-over-par round of 73 was enough to allow him to capture the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am title. Alternating between his old “go for broke” and new “play it safe” strategies, Mickelson showed flashes of brilliance and questionable choices throughout the round, placing his seemingly insurmountable lead in jeopardy. Fellow lefty Mike Weir fought hard to challenge Mickelson, shooting a 67 despite the poor conditions. At one point, Weir trimmed the lead down to 4 strokes. However, some crucial putts were left short and some lipped out which prevented Weir from coming back. Mickelson’s win was his first back-to-back win on Tour and marked the first wire-to-wire winner at the AT&T Pro-Am.

Continue reading “Mickelson Sails through Pebble Beach”

Due to the prominence of mid-handicap celebrities, the third round at the Crosby Clambake is often referred to as “hit and giggle day,” and today’s round certainly lived up to its billing.

The weekend rounds of the AT&T are aired on CBS nearly every CBS actor was featured in Saturday’s telecast. Viewers saw Kevin James promote his movie Hitch, then flub a flop shot. They saw Ray Romano lament the ending of his television series before blading a bunker shot. And of course they saw George Lopez ham it up with a dog on a leash.

And in what has become a Pebble Beach Pro-Am third-round staple, Bill Murray stopped joking long enough with the crowd to hit some pretty spectacular shots, going -2 for three consecutive holes before falling apart towards the end of the round.

Continue reading “Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Round 3”