Live Blogging: Final Round of the 2006 PGA Championship

We’re live blogging the final round of the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah. Will Tiger Woods win his 12th, or will someone else hoist the Wanamaker Trophy?

19:00 – The final standings of the 88th PGA Championship.

#    Player          Tot  Today  R1    R2    R3    R4   Total
---  --------------  ---  -----  --    --    --    --   -----
1    Tiger Woods     -18   -4    69    68    65    68    270
2    Shaun Micheel   -13   -3    69    70    67    69    275
T3   Luke Donald     -12   +2    68    68    66    74    276
T3   Sergio Garcia   -12   -2    69    70    67    70    276
T3   Adam Scott      -12   -5    71    69    69    67    276
6    Mike Weir       -11   +1    72    67    65    73    277
T7   K.J. Choi       -10   -1    73    67    67    71    278
T7   Steve Stricker  -10   -3    72    67    70    69    278
T9   Geoff Ogilvy     -9   +2    69    68    68    74    279
T9   Ian Poulter      -9   -1    70    70    68    71    279
T9   Ryan Moore       -9   -3    71    72    67    69    279
T12  Chris DiMarco    -8    E    71    70    67    72    280
T12  Sean O'Hair      -8   -4    72    70    70    68    280
T14  Tim Herron       -7   +1    69    67    72    73    281
T14  Henrik Stenson   -7    E    68    68    73    72    281

Nobody managed to gain any ground in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings. Tiger Woods has won his twelfth career major.

18:47 – Tiger backs off from his putt a second time, saying “you’ve gotta be kidding.” Nantz: “If it happens a third time Steve Williams is taking names.” I’m not sure what the disturbance is. Tiger rolls his putt to a foot. It’s over.

18:37 – Wadkins: “Tiger can still get them when he’s not playing his best. I don’t think Phil can.” Tiger finds the right intermediate cut on #18.

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Woods Can be Toppled Today at the PGA

Players believe they finally have a shot at taking down the greatest player to ever play the game when he is tied for the lead. What exactly would it take for that to happen?

Luke DonaldTiger Woods is nearly unbeatable when he is tied for the lead on Sunday at a major championship. However, after watching yesterday’s round, I think there three things that could allow us to witness one of the most incredible David versus Goliath upsets in golf history. If one of the players follows the criteria below, they might be the one holding the Wanamaker trophy today instead of Woods.

Tiger Woods stood with CBS reporter Bill McAtee after Saturday’s round and let the world know just what kind of major championship was playing out before those in attendance and on the course.

“It honestly doesn’t feel like a major,” Woods said. “I mean in a major you expect that you’re going to look for a lot of pars and hope to sprinkle in a couple of birdies when you can, but you just can’t do that and hope to contend this week at week at Medinah with that mindset. I saw all the low scores early on, and some guys were three or four-under-par through six holes – when that kept happening I knew I had to go low.”

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Nickent 3DX Hybrid Irons Review

With hybrids now mainstream equipment, Nickent leverages its success in this niche to introduce an integrated set of irons and hybrids that totally rethink loft progression. So is their lofty promise justified?

Nickent 3Dx Hybrid Iron HeroAs our editor, Erik J. Barzeski, reported in his review of the Nickent 3DX Pro irons, Nickent has taken on noted club designer John B. Hoeflich and, with his expertise, launched itself into the iron market in a big way.

Their latest offering is an evolutionary – maybe even revolutionary – take on set makeup. The Nickent 3DX Hybrid irons are designed from the hybrids on down. What this means is that there is no longer a gap in loft between the shortest hybrid and the longest iron. Loft progression through the set results in extremely strong mid-irons and weaker short irons.

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Tom Bendelow

Unheralded course designer Tom Bendelow left a few gems for us. One of them, Medinah Country Club, we’re enjoying this weekend at the PGA Championship.

ProFilesWhile Alister MacKenzie and Donald Ross are recognized designers in the world of golf, you may not have heard of a certain Scottish golfer and designer named Tom Bendelow. While you may not have heard of him, you’re likely watching the PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club, one of Bendelow’s designs.

The most prolific designer in North America, having designed over 800 courses, Bendelow’s contribution to American golf have been largely unappreciated. Designing in a time when earth moving was largely impossible Bendelow’s designs incorporated what the land gave him.

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PGA Championship 2006

Sometimes you have to look at the past to look into the future. The PGA Championship in 1999 was mostly about Tiger and Sergio, but there were a few other guys that had good weeks back then that need it now.

The Numbers GameIt’s hard to imagine that it was seven years ago that Tiger and Sergio were paired in the final round at Medinah in the PGA Championship. It was supposed to be the start of a rivalry. It was supposed to be as if Jack and Seve were in their prime at the same time. Tiger lived up to his end of the bargain, but Sergio is still searching for the magic he once had.

There were a lot of other good golfers out there in 1999 that played some great golf at Medinah. This week in The Numbers Game, I’ll look at some of the other players that played seven years ago and see if it means good or bad things for each of them.

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Golf Talk [Episode 033]

Will we ever go one week without talking about Michelle Wie or Tiger Woods? Highly unlikely.

PodcastTom Lehman almost makes his own Ryder Cup team, but falls short of Dean Wilson. Kimberly Kim becomes the youngest to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur (at 14) and Cristie Kerr gets back on track. Plus the usual Tiger and Wie stories along with Divotgate, bent grass gone wild, and PGA Championship previews. Tune in to this episode of Golf Talk for more.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 033 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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2006 PGA Championship Preview

The final major championship of the year returns to Medinah Country Club with a longer layout and deeper rough. Can Woods hoist the Wanamaker Trophy again, or will the 7,500-yard layout bring Tiger to his knees?

Medinah LogoThe chance of Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia pulling off another 1999 finish at Medinah is improbable; however, that doesn’t mean Phil can’t take over Sergio’s role and turn the 2006 PGA Championship into one of the best majors in golf history. As always, the TST staff is hard at work getting ready for Thursday with our major championship predictions and pairings.

The PGA may be the last major of the year, but I think we all know deep down that we’re going to be glued to our chairs come Sunday afternoon for another down-to-the-wire finish.

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2006 PGA Championship Predictions

The Sand Trap staff members attempt to predict the outcome of the season’s final major championship.

Thrash TalkThe season’s final major championship has arrived, and it’s time for predictions. The 2006 majors have all provided great memories, and we can all hope the PGA Championship does as well. The top golfers in the world have victory on their mind, but many others are gunning to make the Ryder Cup team.

Phil Mickelson won The Masters in April, Geoff Ogilvy won the U.S. Open in June, and Tiger Woods won the British Open in July. These three will be in the same pairing for the first two days at Medinah. The PGA Championship winner could very well be one of these three men. A win for any of these golfers would likely solidify their bid for PGA Tour Player of the Year.

What’s a major championship at The Sand Trap without predictions? I was way out in left field with my British Open predictions, but the PGA shall serve up my redemption. I hope you all enjoy the predictions, and if you have anything to add, please comment below or discuss it in the forum.

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Fit Factors: Club Fitting, Part One

No two golfers or golf swings are identical. Thus buying clubs off the rack with standard specifications is something of a crapshoot. If you’ve never had clubs fitted, here’s what you should be looking at.

Bag DropBack in the days before steel shafts and matched sets, Bobby Jones put together a set of clubs one by one over the course of his career based solely on feel. Toward the end of his time as a competitor – once swing weighting was invented – someone measured them and found them all identical, save one iron. Jones’ response? He’d never trusted that club.

Today it’s a whole other ball game. Club manufacturers, teaching professionals, and independent clubmakers and fitters all recognize the importance of fitting clubs to players to help them make the most of their abilities.

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