Category: Thrash Talk

With the British Open fast approaching, I can’t help but think about some of the major suprises in recent years. The thoughts aren’t all positive, that’s for sure. The last two British Open champions, Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton, have done nothing worth noting since their triumphs across the pond. Add 2002 and 2003 PGA Champions Rich Beem and Shaun Micheel to that list as well. These four golfers have gone downhill in a hurry since their major championship victories, and I really don’t think that is very good for the PGA Tour to be honest.

I know that suprise winners in major championships is just a part of golf’s great history, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I definitely find myself pulling for the top golfers in the world when the majors roll around. I don’t enjoy seeing no-name golfers win the biggest tournaments in golf, and I believe a lot of people share this veiwpoint as well. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed watching Jason Gore put himself in contention a few weeks ago at the U.S. Open. That was a great story, and I wish he would have held it together on the final day. But I never wanted him to win it.

Continue reading “One-Hit Blunders”

I’ll admit that I have never been a big fan of the LPGA. I know a lot of people who aren’t, but they shy away from the question. I have enjoyed watching the PGA Tour since I started playing golf around 1996. The PGA Tour is the home of the best golfers in the world. I always believed the LPGA was just a sideshow like the WNBA is to the NBA. Don’t get me wrong, I have always respected the women that play the LPGA Tour, as many of them are just as athletic as their male counterparts. The LPGA Tour just didn’t have anything that set it apart from other sports. It was too easy for me to watch something else on television when the LPGA was on.

Continue reading “These Girls Really Do Rock”

The United States Amateur is one of the most familiar events in the world of golf, but I think it’s starting to lose some steam. Since 1990, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, and Tiger Woods have won the U.S. Amateur. Woods, as we all know, won three in a row from 1994-1996. These players have gone on to make their mark in a big way on the PGA Tour and for great reasons. Woods has nine major championships on the PGA Tour, Mickelson has one, and Leonard has one. Since Tiger’s win at the U.S. Amateur in 1996, however, the event winners have struggled in a bad way on the PGA Tour.

Continue reading “Ryan Moore: The Next Big Thing”

Thrash Talk is back after a few weeks off, and it’s right in time for U.S. Open week! The Masters is a great tournament, quite possibly the best. If I was a professional golfer, however, the U.S. Open would be the tournament I would want to win the most. I am an American, and the U.S. Open is my national championship. The top players in the world are at Pinehurst #2 preparing for Thursday’s opening round, and the favorites this year are very clear-cut, but I’m going to make a few bold predictions this week.

Continue reading “Pinehurst Predictions”

The Battle at the Bridges has been shown on television since 1999, when Tiger Woods defeated David Duval at Sherwood Country Club. In the past couple years, however, the contest has beed played in a two-on-two format instead of the original one-on-one variety. This year, the battle will be held July 25th at Rancho Santa Fe. Tiger Woods will be there as he always has been, and so will Phil Mickelson. That makes up half of the famed “Big Four” that has ruled golf headlines so far in 2005. So IMG, the sponsor of the Battle at the Bridges, thought they had something special going and tried to get the other two members of the “Big Four” to join Woods and Mickelson.

Continue reading “What is Vijay Thinking?”

Davis Love III walked up to the 72nd hole of the 1997 PGA Championship with his first elusive major championship in his grasp. He then made one of the most memorable putts I have ever witnessed. With a rainbow in the background, he rolled his ball into the hole and captured his first ever major championship. Winged Foot Country Club was the course he won it on, and at the time, DL3 was known as the best player in golf without a major. Since that victory, he has won six more tournaments on the PGA Tour, including a dominant win at The Players Championship in 2003. He won a total of five events in 2003, including the Target World Challenge in December of that year.

But what has happened to Davis Love III since his great year in 2003? He actually started 2004 off with a bang, the same way he did the previous year. But after placing in the top-10 in four out of the first five events in 2004, he really went in a “consistency” slump that still continues to this day. Since 1996, Davis has been in the top ten in the world rankings at the end of every year, including his inconsistent year last year.

Continue reading “Where Did You Go DL3?”

Retief Goosen is just another solid golfer from South Africa, right? That statement is the opinion of some, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. The 36-year-old Goosen turned pro way back in 1990, but it wasn’t until 2001 that he joined the PGA Tour. That is also the year he began to make his mark in a big way! When the 2001 U.S. Open came to Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, OK (my home state by the way), it was almost certain nobody picked Retief Goosen to win that week. He had a two-footer on the 72nd hole to seal the deal, but he missed the putt and had to make one equally as long to get into a playoff with Mark Brooks. He made that putt and defeated Brooks in an 18-hole playoff the next day to earn the first of his two U.S. Open titles.

Continue reading “The Big Four Should Be Big Five”