Category: Thrash Talk

How nice would it be to win The Players Championship and Tour Championship before turning 27? Adam Scott knows how that feels now, yet he is still considered an underachiever by golf fans worldwide, including myself. The young Australian burst onto the scene a few years back and was quickly labeled the next Tiger Woods. That was unfair to Scott, but it’s just part of the game.

Adam Scott’s golf swing is very similar in mechanics to Tiger’s old swing, but that’s about all the two have in common. Scott is laid back and never seems to change emotion, while Tiger lets the world know what he is thinking throughout his rounds. In the grand scheme of things, Tiger had eight major championship victories before turning 27 compared to Scott’s zero.

Continue reading “The Tiger Challenge”

The Race to The Tour Championship is one that keeps me interested in the PGA Tour long after the season’s final major championship, and this year was no different. I watched nearly every tournament in the past month or two, including yesterday’s final round of the Chrysler Championship. Congratulations are in order for K.J. Choi who won this week’s tournament and moved from 68th to 26th on the PGA Tour money list. Choi gets to tee it up at East Lake for his efforts.

Most of my weekend focus was on Ernie Els. The Big Easy missed out on the top 30 last season due to late-season injuries, but he was bound and determined to make it to the season’s final event this year. In the end, a tie for sixth was good enough to move Els to 27th on the money list. Seeing the South African attempt to crunch the numbers after his round showed me just how much The Tour Championship still means to most of the world’s best.

Continue reading “Tour Championship Ramblings”

The Nationwide Tour has seemingly changed its name more times over the past decade than Vijay Singh has changed putters in recent years. My first memories of the tour was Steve Flesch winning the 1997 Nike Tour Championship to earn his PGA Tour card. Flesch hasn’t ever dominated on the PGA Tour, but he has had a solid career nonetheless.

Troy Matteson was an unknown in the golf world about a month ago. Matteson finished first on last year’s Nationwide Tour money list to earn his PGA Tour card in convincing fashion. However, he found out early in 2006 how much tougher the PGA Tour is.

Continue reading “Nationwide Tour Watch List”

It has been a couple weeks since I published a Thrash Talk, but good things have been happening in the golf world. The Sand Trap held its annual Newport Cup in North Carolina, and once again my team was on the short end of the stick. It was great to meet up with all the guys and play some great courses, but losing isn’t my cup of tea. But I must say that, as an American golfer, being a loser in a team event is particularly fitting.

As far as the PGA Tour goes, congratulations to Troy Matteson for picking up his first career PGA Tour victory. Matteson was a star on the Nationwide Tour last season, and he took full advantage of his PGA Tour exemption this season.

Continue reading “A First Time for Everything”

Tiger Woods won his sixth consecutive stroke-play event, and he did it in convincing fashion. The race for the player of the year award was over a month ago, and Tiger really has nothing left to prove in 2006. We will probably see him one more time on the PGA Tour this season.

That one start will be the season-ending Tour Championship. That also leads me right into this week’s topic. Tiger may have nothing left to prove, but that’s not the case for so many outside the top 30 on the money list. The golfers outside the top 30 want to make one last push to get into the grand finale. Playing in the Tour Championship can make or break a season for many of the world’s best.

Continue reading “The Race to The Tour Championship”

I still haven’t recovered from the Ryder Cup beatdown the Europeans gave the United States this past weekend, but there really isn’t anything I can do about it. The European team was favored, so the result shouldn’t be that shocking. The final score was the same as it was in 2004 at Oakland Hills, 18½ to 9½. The complete domination is what really blows my mind, and it’s quite obvious some things need to change for the Americans.

The United States team didn’t play great golf, but they certainly played good golf. The Europeans, on the other hand, played lights out. Anything the Americans did, the Europeans did even better. I have never seen so many holed long putts and chip-ins in my life, at least in a three-day period. I take my hat off to the golfers from across the pond. They handed us a third consecutive beating, and all the credit should go to them.

Continue reading “Ryder Cup Rundown”

Ryder Cup week has finally arrived! The major championships in golf are awesome, but something about The Ryder Cup makes it even more special. The event has gained a lot of steam over the past decade or so and has truly become one of the greatest sports spectacles in the world.

The United States team usually comes in as the favorite, but that’s no longer the case. The European side thumped the U.S. team two years ago at Oakland Hills. The margin of victory was one of the largest in the event’s long history. The two teams are once again set for battle, and there are a lot of storylines to keep us entertained for the next week.

Continue reading “2006 Ryder Cup Predictions”

I’m happy Jim Furyk won the Canadian Open this past weekend, and I’m even happier he moved up to second in the Official World Golf Ranking. Other than that Tiger fellow, Furyk is the best on the planet right now. He held off a pretty tough field en route to his second win of the season.

While Furyk earned the biggest paycheck of the week, Jonathan Byrd took a pay cut in the final round.

Continue reading “It’s Time for a (Rules) Change”