Annika Sorenstam’s “Vision 54”

The Swede talks about the perfect score, Tiger, and the future.

Annika Sorenstam with DriverTen years ago newcomer Annika Sorenstam won her first professional tournament. Sixty-five LPGA victories since then the Swede is in hot pursuit of the elusive 54!

After reading this month’s issue of Callaway Golf Magazine, I just couldn’t believe that Annika Sorenstam really thinks she can score the elusive 54 or as Annika calls it, “Vision 54… the pursuit of the perfect 18-hole round.” Few golfers have come close. Phil Mickelson, in a 2004 season-ending stunner gave the fans something to cheer about with his 59. A 60 followed early in 2005.

But, as Sorenstam fans have learned, nothing is impossible if Annika thinks she can do it!

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Kim Rallies to Win Mitchell Tourney of Champs

Always outgoing and dressed in red like Tiger Woods ths Sunday, Christina Kim wows the crowd and grabs her second win on tour at the LPGA Tournament of Champions.

Christina Kim at the 2005 T of CJust a single stroke separated third-round leader Liselotte Neumann from Rachel Hetherington, Heather Daly-Donofrio and Christina Kim this morning. She broke out of a four-way tie with a birdie putt at 18 to place her on top of the leaderboard. Neumann had her last victory way back in 2004 at the Asahi Ryokuken International Championship.

Rachel Hetherington currently sits in 40th position on the ADT Money list with earnings of just under $300,000. Although Rachel has eight official victories on the LPGA Tour and an equal number of runner-up finishes, she hasn’t claimed a victory since 2003. Although Donofrio is the defending champion, her career as head of the LPGA keeps her from focusing too much on golf.

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Howell Slays the Tiger in China

Tiger Woods breathed down David Howell’s neck all weekend at the inaugural HSBC Champions Tournament in Shanghai, but Woods never made the move that everyone thought was inevitable.

David Howell wins the HSBCTiger Woods three-putted for bogey from 15 feet on the fifth hole while Englishman David Howell birdied from four feet, a two-shot swing that set the tone for the final round of the HSBC Tournament of Champions as Tiger fell four shots back after starting the day one back. After that, the Englishman marched to victory in the $5 million all-star event that also served as the opener of the 2006 European Tour season.

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Episode 003

Check out our end-of-year grades, our discussion on why we care about watching the PGA Tour, and much more.

PodcastIt’s here! The third episode of our podcast is now available. You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 003 as an MP3 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

This week, we hand out end-of-year grades to Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Danielle Aimee, Charles Howell III, and many more golfers. We talk about feel-good stories and guys who don’t care who wins a PGA Tour event. For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

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Warren Pitman, Owner and Operator of Bougainvillea Golf Club

I am constantly working on ways to increase the amount of rounds played here and believe that expenses are easier to cut than revenue is to produce

Throwing Darts TitleToday’s interview is with Warren Pitman, General Manager of Bougainvillea Golf Club in Laveen, Arizona. Bougainvillea is my home course and I love to play there so much that I also work there part time. In my time spent there I have enjoyed working for and getting to know Warren, a down-to-earth guy, a great player and has done a great job improving Bougainvillea Golf Club. Warren and his wife recently had another baby and he has been very busy running the couse and chasing two little ones but I was able to pin him down long enough to get this interview. Read on…

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Tim Finchem

The PGA Tour is in need of strong leadership as it navigates to the future. Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem has an opportunity to plot a good course.

ProFilesAnyone following the PGA Tour knows that 2007 will bring significant changes to the season’s schedule. A shorter season, playoffs, and what is being called “The Quest for the Card” are all a around the corner. The man steering the ship into new waters is PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem.

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TaylorMade r7 Fairway Wood Review

The r7 isn’t just a driver (or irons): it’s also a fairway wood, and it’s a damn fine one at that.

Taylormade R7 Fairway SoleTaylorMade must really like their “r7” logo because they’re sticking it on everything these days. Just recently they announced “r7 irons,” their r7 driver line (Quad, HT, and TP) continues to sell well, and earlier this spring the r7 TP fairway woods were announced. It’s taken us awhile to get this review online because, with a $399 price tag, the r7 TP fairway wood isn’t one that your average golfer is going to want to try.

Make no mistake about it, this club – like most of TaylorMade’s “TP” or “Tour Preferred” line – is for the better player.

Better players who do put this club in their bags will find one of the best fairway metals on the market today. They’ll also find their wallets four bills lighter. Read on to see whether I felt the performance justified the cost.

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Formulating a Formula

Using the results of the Tour Championship, I devise the 40-30-20-10 rule for determine a golfer’s finishing position.

The Numbers GameIn my musings before, during, and after the Tour Championship, I came across some more fodder on our favorite topic: driving distance and how equipment is ruining the game. Readers of this site know where I and most here at The Sand Trap stand on this, so I won’t rehash.

The question remains, how do I prove it? How do I prove that it isn’t all about distance? I’ve beaten it into you about Greens in Regulation like a dead horse. Well, the answer is in a formula… something that over time can be tried and trued… something a bit more tangible than “I’m right and you’re wrong.” The difficult thing about formulas is creating one that is just that: right.

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Sneak Peek at TaylorMade’s 2006 New Products

The R7 Quad driver has been a huge hit for TaylorMade, which has become the top driver brand at retail. Now the company is refreshing the driver, and adding some irons to the R7 family.

TaylorMadeJust two days ago, the Bag Drop brought you the skinny on Callaway Golf’s new 2006 lineup. Now our operatives have come through with information on one of golf’s other equipment heavyweights: TaylorMade.

Given TaylorMade’s ongoing success with the r7 Quad driver, it is no surprise that the company’s four major upcoming new products all bear the r7 badge. Read on to learn more about two new r7 drivers and two sets of r7 irons.

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