Preview: The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions

Expect to actually view golf this weekend on television as the women travel to a beautiful Robert Trent Jones golf course.

LPGA logoThe LPGA is heading into the final stretch, nearing the last hurrah of the season playing golf in Alabama this weekend. Who better to defend at this tournament than LPGA Tour President Heather Daly-Donofrio?

Forty-five previous LPGA tour champions will take part in this limited field event in an attempt to win one of the final trophies of the year and a piece of the $850,000 purse.

Kathy Ireland Worldwide has signed on as the presenting sponsor but no, the ladies won’t be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine!

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Scotty Cameron Putter Restoration and Custom Shop

Scotty Cameron introduced custom and restoration services in April, and we take them for a test drive with an old, beat up Coronado.

Scotty CameronScotty Cameron is an artist. Modern artist to some, renaissance artist to others, and an artist of his own breed to a thoughtful few. Though he doesn’t work with oils, he does offer his pieces of art in an oil (can) finish, and while you may not find him among the lilies at Giverny, you will find him among the mills at his California studio.

Scotty Cameron makes putters. Far from ordinary putters, many believe them to be the best in the land. What began as a hobby has turned into a world-class business and a long-standing association with Titleist. Scotty’s works of art routinely top the professional golf tours in putter counts and can be found in the bags of players like Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Brad Faxon, Davis Love III, and more. These pros and more trust Scotty with their “gamer,” the putter they know will make the crucial 10-footer to win a major.

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The Young Americans Need to Step Up

Will any young Americans step up and compete with Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, and Luke Donald?

Thrash TalkThe PGA Tour season is officially over, and it’s time to get ready for 2006. I watched the Tour Championship this past weekend, and I definitely enjoyed the golf. It will have to hold me over for a couple months. I’ve been known to notice things in various tournaments that some people don’t really care to notice, and this past weekend was no different.

First off, congrats to Bart Bryant for winning his second event of the season. Bryant outlasted a tough field and definitely isn’t a no-name winner anymore. Tiger Woods battled the entire event and was in contention as usual. Other Americans in the top-10 included Scott Verplank, Davis Love III, and Ben Crane. Verplank and Love are both in their 40s as far as age goes, and Woods and Crane will both turn 30 in the next four or five months.

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Sneak Peak at Callaway’s 2006 New Products

After a comeback year that included products like the Big Bertha 454 and Fusion FT-3 drivers and the X-Tour irons, Callaway Golf has some new products ready for 2006. Here are the details.

Bag DropIt wasn’t long ago that Callaway Golf unveiled the long-awaited Big Bertha Fusion FT-3 driver. It’s been a solid hit at retail, but the season is drawing to an end. Several companies – including Cleveland, Cobra, Ping and Titleist – have already announced and/or shipped new products with next year in mind, and TaylorMade is expected to announce new products any day now.

Callaway gave some of its key accounts a sneak peek at what new products it will be bringing to market in the first part of next year at the recent PGA Fall Expo in Las Vegas. The Bag Drop has the scoop on those new sticks, some of which are already in the bags of tour players as prototypes.

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Volume Thirty-Four

Breathe easy, the links are here!

Hittin' the LinksI had some great weather in the nation’s capital this weekend, so I decided to play some golf. Bad idea. I played horrible and ended up getting so angry about it. It pretty much ruined my weekend. I haven’t been this upset on the course since I played in high school.

Anyway, enough about me. On to the links.

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Sorenstam Breaks Record at Mizuno Classic

Annika Sorenstam wins fifth straight Mizuno Classic breaking records on both the LPGA and PGA tours.

annika_sorenstam_mizuno.jpgNeither wind nor rain nor intense competition could stop history from being made this weekend at the Mizuno Classic. Annika Sorenstam knew what was at stake if she won and put her blinders on to accomplish her goal.

Although the fierce competition from both Jennifer Rosales and Young Kim kept Annika on her toes, the Swede’s final round rally secured her place in history on both the LPGA and PGA tours. With her fifth consecutive win Sorenstam passes legends Gene Sarazen, Walter Hagen and Tiger Woods as the only golfer to accomplish this feat.

“I am very, very happy. I had the chance to do something today that nobody else has done,” said an ecstatic Sorenstam.

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The Biggest Stories of 2005

Our top five stories of the year… and three that almost made the cut. Can you guess what they are?

Trap Five LogoAs the 2005 PGA Tour season all but concludes this weekend with The Tour Championship, we look back at a year in review. What were the biggest stories this year? Can you remember them all? Have we?

In looking back, we also look forward to a 2006 that will bring us more of the same great stories (and, hopefully, less of the bad ones). We look forward to surprise winners, dominance by a select few (or one), exciting majors, long putts, hole-outs from the sand, Michelle Wie, and much, much more. This year, Eight things stood out to us, and five made the cut into our top 5.

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Episode 002

The Tour Championship, Phil Mickelson’s decision not to play in it, the legs on the ladies of the Big Break III (and why IV is such a snore), Jeff’s hole in one, and much more!

PodcastWe’re happy to announce that the second episode of our podcast is now available. You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 002 as an MP3 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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Linda Warnshuis, Tournament Director for Lake Erie Charity Classic

Linda Warnshuis is the Tournament Director for the Nationwide Tour’s Lake Erie Charity Classic. Hear her thoughts on Jason Gore, Kip Henley, and running a small-market Nationwide Tour event.

Throwing Darts TitleToday’s interview is with Linda J. Warnshuis, Tournament Director for the Lake Erie Charity Classic. Her responsibilities included day-to-day operations of the tournament, from sponsorship, organization, operations, volunteers and liaison with the PGA Tour and The Golf Channel. The Lake Erie Charity Classic is held at the Peek’n Peak Resort in western New York which gives guests the opportunity to watch professional golf while still enjoying the amenities of the resort has to offer.

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