Captain Azinger is on the Clock

Find out which golfers Paul Azinger should pick for this year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Thrash TalkI want to start by congratulating Padraig Harrington on his second consecutive major victory. Over the past 13 months, he has gone from one of the best without a major to one of the best, period. As for Sergio Garcia, maybe next time. Speaking of Harrington and Garcia, they will both be stalwarts on Nick Faldo’s favored European Ryder Cup team next month.

The European golfers still have a couple more events to lock in their spots on the team, but the eight guaranteed United States spots have already been decided. Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Ben Curtis, and Boo Weekley locked in their spots after the PGA Championship. Captain Paul Azinger has a few weeks to decide the remaining four golfers that will represent the Americans at Valhalla.

Azinger could go down the list and pick the next four in line, but that’s not happening. Unfortunately, after looking at the standings, it’s hard to find four guys worthy of a spot on the team. That doesn’t bode well for the U.S. chances, but you never know. I’ve studied the standings long and hard, and these are the four guys most worthy of a captain’s pick.

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Golf Talk [Episode 097]

Padraig Harrington, current World #1 (except in the official rankings, where he’s still #3), wins again.

Golf Talk PodcastPadraig Harrington wins back-to-back majors with a pair of Sunday 66s at Oakland Hills. We break down the final major of 2008 and talk Paddy, Sergio, Ben, Phil, and others, plus Amanda Blumenherst 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 097 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

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

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Fall 2008 Sneak Peek: Titleist 909 Metals Series

Titleist is set to replace every driver, fairway wood, hybrid, and wedge and is also adding four putters this fall. Get in and buckle up.

Bag DropChez Reavie won the Canadian Open two weeks ago and Parker McLachlin won the following week using a prototype driver that’s been getting a lot of buzz on the PGA Tour, in our forum, and around the golf rumor mills, websites, and 19th holes.

The drivers, which debuted shortly before the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, have even been talked about at Titleist’s Tour Blog – a small but important step for the usually secretive Acushnet company.

A few weeks after the U.S. Open I was invited to Titleist’s Oceanside facility to try out some of the new equipment – it’s far more than just drivers – and I’ve come away with some information. Here, now, is what I learned.

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Volume One Hundred Fifty Six

Padraig makes it two in a row, Annika falls short in her Scandinavian farewell, and John Daly has yet another teacher

Hittin' the LinksHello and welcome to Hittin’ the Links. The Final Major of the year is complete, thank goodness we still have the Ryder Cup to look forward to before silly season arrives again. And how about that Padraig Harrington? I guess he was just waiting for Tiger to get hurt so he could win all the majors in his absence. Don’t get me wrong though; what he did is impressive.

In this edition, we take inventory at the 90th PGA Championship, see how it has effected the Ryder Cup team, and see why Kenny Perry had to miss out. Also, we see who won Annika’s farewell Swedish tournament, find out who Big John is working with now, take note of the toughest Major season yet, and send our condolences to the family of “The Sarge” Orville Moody. Read on!

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2008 PGA Championship Final Round Live Blog

Read along, join us, and comment at the bottom as we follow the final round of 2008 PGA Championship.

Oakland Hills13:00:00: Welcome to the 2008 Live Blog of the PGA Championship. With Saturday’s rain, Sunday will be an endurance test for those atop the leaderboard.

Can Ben Curtis add the Wanamaker Trophy to his mantle along with his Claret Jug? Can Padraig Harrington make it back-to-back in the majors? Will Sergio Garcia or J.B. Holmes win their first major? How many victims will The Monster claim?

13:14:42: Sergio (Mr. Black) birdies the first hole. Can he shake off the putting woes to win his first major?

13:18:14: J.B. Holmes finds himself in the pine trees and Nick Faldo questions his use of driver off the tee. Henrik Stenson’s drive isn’t much better.

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A Different Look at Golf

Sometimes simplicity reveals something new about the complex.

Trap Five LogoI’ve always been into visual communication, though I’m not much of an artist. So I was pleased to find Jessica Hagy’s site where she “makes fun of some things and sense of others” through simple charts that you might normally come across in a marketing meeting. She uses simple Venn diagrams, faux line graphs, and other illustrations to reveal the humor or provide some insight on day-to-day topics.

What does this have to do with golf? Nothing, of course. But I liked the idea of using such basic illustrations to explicate difficult subjects so much that I had to apply it to my favorite sport. Thus, what follows are my attempts to do what Hagy does very well… take something complex and break it down into something simple. And maybe to make someone chuckle a little bit, too.

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Cleveland HiBORE XLS Fairway Wood Review

Is Cleveland’s latest HiBORE fairway wood solid enough to warrant a purchase?

Cleveland HiBORE XLS Fairway Wood ReviewI’ve been playing golf more than a decade now, and I’ve always been a huge fan of the fairway wood. Unfortunately, that’s because I’ve never been real consistent with my driver, so the fairway wood has been my go-to club off the tee on many occasions. Even though I recently started to hit my driver better, I’ll still pull my fairway wood multiple times per round.

A few years ago, I started hitting the Titleist 904F fairway wood. My game off the tee changed for the better because of it, and I’ve had a love affair with the club ever since. I knew it would take a solid fairway wood to replace my Titleist, and that’s where Cleveland comes into play.

I’ve had the original Cleveland HiBORE Driver in my bag for a year or so, and unlike most critics, I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve hit it very well, and that has given me confidence in the Cleveland brand. With that in mind, I figured I’d give the new HiBORE XLS fairway wood a shot. Has it been solid enough to replace my Titleist 904F? Keep reading to find out.

For the record, the model I am reviewing is the 15° fairway wood.

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2008 PGA Championship Predictions

The staff gives their predictions on the season’s final major championship.

Thrash TalkThe season’s final major begins today, and it’s time for more predictions from The Sand Trap staff. After an exciting WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last weekend, names like Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, and Lee Westwood have popped up as favorites this week. Mickelson and Singh have three major victories apiece, while Westwood is still looking for his first.

The golfers are only half the equation, however. The venue for this year’s PGA Championship is Oakland Hills, and it will be a tough test to say the least. It will play nearly 7,400 yards, and with par being 70, it will be a beast.

Who is going to win this year’s final major, and who else might be a serious threat? Also, who are some possible dark horses and disappointments? As always, we will give it our best shot. If you have any predictions to add, please comment below or discuss them in the forum.

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Golf Talk [Episode 096]

Vijay Singh putted like a Tourette’s patient with the yips, but still won!

Golf Talk PodcastThe PGA is coming, and Vijay Singh is warming up… kind of. Michelle Wie misses another cut, the USGA moves forward with groove regulations, the PGA is exciting, Colin Montgomerie is whining, a whole lot more in this episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 096 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

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

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