We’ve had eight winners on tour so far and they have been a variety of players… some long, some short. Some people have focused in on one type of player and ignored the rest. The numbers of all eight show us that things really haven’t changed.
Eight tournaments up and eight tournaments down. We’ve had a long hitter (JB Holmes) win at the FBR and a few not-so-long hitters (David Toms, Arron Obelholser) win at Waialae and Pebble Beach. Another thing we’ve also had is a lot of talk, discussion and consternation in our forums and from an old friend.
I’ve taken each winner’s numbers and see if they agree with one side or the other… or even both. Read on to see what it says.
If you want to get people riled up, try using “technology” and “tradition” in the same golf conversation.
Last week, Titleist posted an opinion piece on the brand’s website on the ever-contentious subject of technology vs. tradition. Geoff Shackelford responded with point-by-point dissent, which touched off a flame war of comments, and another story on sportsfanmagazine.com has covered some of the same ground.
Shackelford’s piece and the companion piece on sportsfanmagazine.com both claim to be rooted in “the facts.” There are plenty of opinions in both, but actual facts are hard to come by. Let’s take a closer look.
Will 2006 bring as much fireworks and ratings as 2005 did? With the top seven players in the world duking it out at The Blue Monster, we can only hope.
Wow, how time flies! Last year’s Ford Championship at Doral made numerous headlines, from the IMG memo, Tiger and Phil going head to head, Tiger setting the 72-hole tournament record with a 24-under par 264 and Tiger regaining his number one position in the World Golf Rankings.
The fans are anticipating another great event and they shouldn’t be disappointed. The event is treated almost major like by the players and fans for the degree of difficulty in the course and the quality of the field. In fact, this is the first stroke-play event this year that we get to see the top seven players in the world in the same field.
The Accenture Match Play Championship once again showed golf fans that rankings don’t really matter.
College basketball has March Madness, which happens to be one of my favorite times of the year as a sports fan. Golf fans get the Accenture Match Play Championship a month earlier than its basketball counterpart, and it has quickly turned into one of my favorite events of the golf season. I’ve showed my support for the World Golf Championship events before, but I want to take this opportunity to do it again. The WGC events get two thumbs up from me!
Golf Gods .com is now all new. Check out the site and enter to win a Pinseeker Tournament Edition laser rangefinder.
In the 90s, the founders of Golfgods.com were among the first and best known of the Internet golf pro shops. Known mainly for their catchy name and for their “hot smoking deals” on golf equipment, Golfgods was a pioneer in the modern-day phenomena of “search engine marketing.”
This morning at 12:00 a.m. C.S.T. Golfgods launched a freshly re-designed web-based retail shop. The new site is a fresh look for the Minnesota-based retailer of golf equipment and a radical-change from their previous Yahoo-store. The site features many add-ons compared to the old site including tabbed product sections, brand stores, electronic buying guides which were written by the staff of The Sand Trap .com and a streamlined check-out process. The site is located at golfgods.com.
Cobra’s return to tour prominence is getting a boost from some hot young players.
In the mid-90s, Cobra Golf was one of the hottest brands at retail and on Tour. Greg Norman was the face of the brand, and even a youngster named Tiger Woods used a King Cobra steel driver during his first years on Tour.
After several years away from sponsoring Tour players, Cobra is back on Tour in a big way. Bomber JB Holmes won the FBR Open, and Geoff Olgilvy downed Davis Love III to win the Accenture Match Play. Pretty slick start for the snake. How’d they do it?
With some big shoes to fill, this volume gets it started off right.
We can all agree that Josh did a great job with this column and since this is an interim issue of “Hittin’ The Links” (before Matt takes over), I think its time to show you some garbage I’ve been lookin’ at for a while – things I’ve found interesting or things I just thought noteworthy.
Let’s get started.
Despite a 66-66-65 start, Waldorf can’t get the job done. Meena Lee takes Fields Open. Ogilvy wins WGC Match Play.
If the audience of the 2006 World Golf Championship Accenture Match Play Tournament has learned anything, it’s that match play is ridiculously unpredictable.
Play started Wednesday with a couple of tournament records. Tiger Woods (1) broke the winning differential record with a solid trouncing of Stephen Ames (64). Tiger managed to win every single hole on the front nine before letting up and halving the 10th for a 9&8 victory. Asked his reaction to Stephen Ames’ comment that “Anyone can win in match play… especially where he [Tiger] is hitting it,” Tiger simply responded “9 and 8.” Scott Verplank and Lee Westwood tied a tournament record by playing eight extra holes for a total of 26, an exhausting day that perhaps contributed to both players’ early exits in subsequent rounds.
Continue reading “Weekend Triplet: Triplett, Ogilvy, and Lee Win Events”
Tiger demolishes Ames, Paula Creamer changes the business of gal’s golf, and Michelle Wie is ranked THIRD in the world? Also the media’s distance bias, Daly and Olazabal on the HOF ballot, and Nikki of BBV infamy.
I guess this week we learn that even when trying to compliment Tiger Woods, you have to be careful what you say. Stepehen Ames now knows that. Other topics in this week’s podcast include Paula Creamer changing the business of women’s golf, Michelle Wie debuting at number three in the women’s rankings, Daly and Olazabal as possible hall-of-famers, and Nikki of the Big Break V. We also get into a debate on media bias when it comes to the distance debate: which side are you on?
You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 014 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.
