Thoughts on the 2009 PGA Championship, Briefly

Random musings on the aforementioned.

Thrash TalkAs Tiger Woods limped home Sunday (figuratively, this year) looking thoroughly befuddled and not at all the “Sunday Tiger,” we’ve come to expect, a few disjointed thoughts were swimming about my own befuddled consciousness.

In no particular order of significance, I mulled over the following, which I don’t present as any insightful recapitulation of the final round of this year’s PGA Championship, or nuanced breakdown of Tiger’s failure to secure victory after leading in the final round of a major (for only the second time in his career). Rather, I pen (alright, type) the following as a presentation of a few talking points loosely associated with my impressions of a few days ago.

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Golf Talk [Episode 122]

Tiger Woods is now 14/15 when holding the 54-hole lead in major championships.

Golf Talk PodcastTiger wins at Firestone for his seventh and seventieth, but can’t get the job done against Y.E. Yang at the 91st PGA Championship. Plus, Solheim Cup news, a timing issue, golf in the Olympics, and a whole lot more in this episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 122 as an MP3 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

Note: the use of MP3 format is a one-week trial. MP3 does not allow us to create chapters, artwork, or embedded links like AAC.

For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

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Dave Koster Analysis

Think you would be satisfied with your swing after you win a club championship. Not David.

Swing CheckDave Koster is very different than many of the players we analyzed in previous articles. Dave hits the ball 290 yards with a slight draw. He plays scratch golf. He has won his club championship. Simply stated, Dave Koster is not a beginner. The catch is that like all of us – including Tiger – as he can definitely improve.

Identifying problems in Dave’s swing is not very hard. However, given the fact that several of his problems are clearly offsetting each other, our challenge will be to identify what problem is holding him back from going even lower.

Read on to see Dave’s swing and the fixes I’ve outlined for him.

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Volume Two Hundred One

Tiger gives up a lead, Venezuela is getting rid of golf, and the birthplace of U.S. golf is up for sale. Is the world coming to an end?

Hittin' the LinksHello out there everyone in golf land. Anyone out there still in shock? Yep, the invincible Tiger Woods did get beat, you weren’t dreaming. I believe it’s a good thing: it gets boring watching everyone fade in his presence. Good job Y.E. Yang, I for one did not believe you could do it.

In this most recent volume of Hittin’ the Links, we first look at the sale of U.S. golf history, then see what happened to Lefty at the PGA, and find out what Seve is doing now to fight cancer. Also on tap, we investigate Hugo Chavez’s disdain for golf, find out Tiger’s plans for Olympic golf, and do a wrap-up of the Y.E. Yang shocker at Hazeltine. Read on!

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2009 PGA Championship Final Round Live Blog

Will Tiger hold on to win his fifth and fifteenth PGA and Major? Or will this be the first time in 15 tries he doesn’t take it with a final-round lead?

2009 PGA ChampionshipWe’re live blogging the final round of the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club. Tiger Woods is poised to win a record-typing fifth PGA Championship (and his third consecutive) and his fifteenth major – each of which he’s previously won with the third-round lead as he has this year.

Will major winners Padraig Harrington (two back at -6) or Lucas Glover (four back at -4) win the title, or will Y.E. Yang or Henrik Stenson capture their first? Could someone from -3 or further possibly go low enough to win, or is this a five-horse race? Let’s put it this way: if Tiger shoots 70, Paddy and Y.E. have to shoot 67 to win, and G. Lover and Stenson have shoot 65. 67 is the lowest round of the week – and it’s only been shot by two people. They’re both playing in the final group.

Pos   Player                Tot     R1    R2    R3
---   ------------------    ---     --    --    --
1     Tiger Woods           -8      67    70    71
T2    Padraig Harrington    -6      68    73    69
T2    Y.E. Yang             -6      73    70    67
T4    Lucas Glover          -4      71    70    71
T4    Henrik Stenson        -4      73    71    68
T6    Ernie Els             -3      75    68    70
T6    Soren Kjeldsen        -3      70    73    70
T8    Ross Fisher           -2      73    68    73
T8    Brendan Jones         -2      71    70    73
T8    Martin Kaymer         -2      73    70    71
T8    John Rollins          -2      73    73    68
T8    Alvaro Quiros         -2      69    76    69

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2009 PGA Championship Predictions

Everyone has an opinion… but at least ours are right! Joking…

Thrash TalkFor this year’s edition of The Sand Trap‘s PGA picks, we are both predicting and responding to the pressing questions you’ve been mulling over as of late, including, but not limited to, “Was Rich Beem’s dance at the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine the worst victory celebration ever?”

More pertinent inquiries and speculation inside.

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Volume Two Hundred

Tiger wins again, J.D. gets his own reality show, and golf may be part of the 2016 Olympics

Hittin' the LinksHey look everybody, Hittin’ the Links just turned 200! Everybody’s favorite little informative column gets to it 200th episode, and just think I knew it when it was just 121.

Enough celebrating – how about Tiger? Anyone picking him to win the PGA Championship? It’s been awhile since he last tasted victory in a major, I sure wouldn’t count him out at Hazeltine.

In this milestone volume of HTL we start off finding how to make Tiger mad, then take a look at Bridgestone’s new contract with the PGA Tour, and investigate what problems arose between a poker player and the USGA. Also in this edition, we do an Olympic preview, take a peek at John Daly’s new reality show, and do a wrap-up of the week’s championships. Read on!

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More of the 710 Series Irons from Titleist

From the range of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, we bring you a sneak peek at the new 710 Series irons from Titleist.

A few days ago we gave you a sneak peek at Titleist’s upcoming 710 Series of irons: the CB, MB, AP1, and AP2.

Today, we present our own images, from the range at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, OH, as well as some video. Enjoy.

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Golf in the Olympics

In or out? What are the reasons for or against golf in the Olympics?

Trap Five LogoA lot has happened in the game of golf since it last played the role of an official Olympic sport. The last gold medal was won by a Canadian golfer named George Lyon. He won the medal at the 1904 Summer Olympics held in St. Louis, MO.

The fight has been rekindled to once again bring golf into competition for a medal. The official decision will come in October 2009. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will meet on this date and vote on adding no more than two (maybe none) of seven elected sports. The seven sports that are competing for a spot are golf, baseball, softball, karate, roller sports, rugby, and squash. That’s right, I said squash!

In this week’s Trap Five, we’re counting down five of the larger issues in the “Golf in the Olympics”

The five items listed below seem to draw the most attention in Olympic golf discussions.

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