Category: Thrash Talk

With the President’s Cup just two weeks away, the Ryder Cup is the event that has been getting the golf world’s attention the past couple weeks. 2006 European captain Ian Woosnam is worried his team won’t be as strong as it possibly could be for the 2006 matches at the K Club. As it currently stands, the European participants must play in 11 European Tour sanctioned events to qualify for the team. The 11 events, however, can include all four major championships and the World Golf Championship events.

Continue reading “Ryder Cup Controversy”

When the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst began, I didn’t really have a clue who Jason Gore was. After the U.S. Open was over, however, I think everyone and their dog knew who Gore was. Seriously, the television crew took us into Gore’s personal life, both at home and on the road. We all got to see his wife and son, as well as the kind of car he drove.

Jason Gore did play great golf at Pinehurst for three days. He probably deserved all the media attention, and it’s no secret the media enjoys covering the underdogs in sports. Gore found himself in the final group on Sunday with a legitimate chance to win the United States Open Championship right? Not exactly. A final-round 84 left Gore in a very modest tie for 49th.

Continue reading “Gore to the Rescue?”

The length of the PGA Tour season is a topic that has been discussed in detail for a few months now. There have been a couple articles about this here at The Sand Trap, but nobody has really voiced their opinions yet. I have thought about it many times in the past few months, and I finally have enough courage to speak my opinions on the matter. It’s not an easy topic because it would affect so many around the golf world. But would the effect be good or bad overall? That is the question I am going to answer.

Continue reading “Sometimes Less is More”

The PGA Championship has come and gone, but not without causing a stir in the golf world. The positive stories include Phil’s second major championship victory, Tiger’s weekend charge up the leaderboard, and Charles Howell III’s ace on the fourth hole Saturday. The latter story was my personal favorite, but the other two were pretty special as well. The good usually doesn’t come without the bad, however. Did anyone in the last few groups play anything that resembled good golf Sunday? The world’s best golfers were three-putting, duffing pitch shots, and hitting tee shots near the out-of-bounds markers.

Continue reading “PGA Championship Aftermath”

The final major championship of the 2005 PGA season is here already! It seems like it was just yesterday when Tiger was narrowly defeating Chris DiMarco in a playoff to win his fourth green jacket. After that, it was on to the U.S. Open, where Michael Campbell gave us the major championship surprise of the year. Retief Goosen had an awful final-round collapse, and Campbell outlasted Tiger to win his first major. And just last month, Tiger struck again at the British Open. Mr. Woods worked his way around St. Andrews beautifully on his way to winning his second career grand slam.

Continue reading “It’s Put up or Shut up Time”

Last week in Thrash Talk, I mentioned a few young guns who have yet to live up to their potential on the PGA Tour. It was a bit of a negative story. This week, I am turning things around to the positive. There are always golfers that have success certain years and then dissapear for a period of time. Some make a resurgence, and some never make it back to the spotlight. A couple examples from last year are John Daly and Carlos Franco.

John Daly had a horrendous 2003, finishing 171st on the money list. Daly not only won an event on the PGA Tour last year, he also finished 21st on the season-ending money list. Carlos Franco has always been a little inconsistent, but he finished 94th on the 2003 money list. Last year, Franco won the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee and finished 29th on the season-ending money list. These kinds of stories are always great in my opinion, especially when the golfers are fan favorites like Daly.

Continue reading “Coming Back for More”

I am always excited to see young talent make their way to the PGA Tour. There are always going to be young guns that overachieve and young guns that unfortunately underachieve. Tiger Woods obviously burst upon the scene in late 1996, and he has elevated the sport to new heights ever since. In the past five or six years, there have been a handful of golfers with the “next great challenger to Tiger” stamp on them. This group has included names such as Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott. These two golfers haven’t won a major yet, but they have still had very solid careers and have lived up the hype.

Continue reading “Young Guns Gone Bad”

The British Open has come and gone, and it definitely lived up to the hype. The Old Course was once again the site of history. Tiger Woods won his second Claret Jug and completed the career grand slam for a second time. He and Jack Nicklaus are the only two golfers in history to accomplish that feat. Speaking of Nicklaus, the Golden Bear said farewell once and for all to major championship golf. He missed the cut by two strokes, and his walk down the 18th fairway on Friday will be remembered forever.

Those two stories will stick out in most people’s minds for years to come, but one other thing really caught my attention this past weekend. A certain South African once again struggled in a major championship, and I’m talking about Ernie Els. The “Big Easy” was plagued by inconsistent play once again, finishing at -2 overall and in a tie for 34th. Els started off with a shaky opening round and then bounced back with a 67 on Friday. He then shot a 75 on Saturday and finished with a 70 in the final round. This is definitely not the same Ernie Els we are used to seeing.

Continue reading “It Hasn’t Been Easy for the Big Easy”

The old course at St. Andrews is often referred to as the home of golf, and it’s always special when the Open Championship is played there. This year will be no different, and I am here to tell you who will contend and who will pretend. When St. Andrews hosted the British Open in 2000, the players got the best of the course throughout the week. Tiger Woods etched his name into the record books with his brilliant performance. Woods finished with the lowest score in relation to par in British Open history (-19). He also won by an astounding eight strokes. Who will walk away British Open champion this Sunday? You are going to have to keep reading to find out what I think.

Continue reading “The British Open Breakdown”