Battle of the Bridges

The Battle of the Bridges takes place tonight in what might be Tiger Woods’ final Monday-night appearance.

Tonight, at 7pm ET on ESPN2 and at 8pm ET on ABC, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen, and John Daly will meet at the Battle of the Bridges. Tiger Woods may not be playing in Monday-night golf beyond this year’s event, making this event one you won’t want to miss.

Ratings have dropped since Sergio Garcia bested Woods in a head-to-head match in 2000, and this year’s lineup failed to get Vijay Singh and Ernie Els for the best-ball match play tournament.

For those of you who can’t get enough Tiger, for those of you who hate or love Phil Mickelson, for those of you who want to see if John Daly has gone back to the mullet, and for those of you who want to see if Retief Goosen’s facial expression ever changes, tune in tonight.

Ben Crane Takes Rain-Soaked US Bank Championship

Ben Crane took only four hours to shoot a 1-under 69 to capture his second PGA Tour victory, the US Bank Championship.

Ben CraneBen Crane, one of the slowest players on the PGA Tour, walked away with the US Bank Championship. Carding a 1-under-par round of 69, Crane was never pressured as his nearest competitors Scott Verplank, Chris Smith, and Kenny Perry folded with rounds of 71, 71, and 73. Crane eventually won by four over Verplank and five over Chad Campbell, one of the few players to have a decent day in the blustery conditions, firing a 65.

Continue reading “Ben Crane Takes Rain-Soaked US Bank Championship”

Creamer Rises to the Occasion at Evian Masters

Paula Creamer easily wins her second LPGA Tour event at the Evian Masters with a tremendous lead.

paula_creamer_evian.jpgMillion dollar baby. That’s what everyone is calling 18-year-old Paula Creamer after easily taking home her second trophy on the LPGA Tour this week at the Evian Masters in France. Creamer took the lead in the second round and never gave an inch. By the third round most of the competitors struggled to keep pace with the rookie. Young Creamer had built an impressive seven-stroke lead heading into the final round.

Her final round was just as spectacular as Creamer carded a 1-under 71 to finish eight shots ahead of her two nearest competitors, Michelle Wie and Lorena Ochoa.

With her victory at the Evian Masters Paula Creamer was handed a check for $375,000 (the third largest first-place check this season) and a beautiful and heavy-looking silver trophy. She is now the youngest millionaire in LPGA Tour history and the quickest player to earn $1 million in her career breaking Karrie Webb’s record of ten months, ten days.

Continue reading “Creamer Rises to the Occasion at Evian Masters”

Best Players to Have Won Only One Major

The golf world loves to talk about the best players never to have won a major, but what about the best players never to have won a second major?

Trap Five LogoGolf has long had a title, “Best Player Never to Win a Major” (or BPNTWAM). Kinder souls prefer the label “Best Player Yet to Win a Major” (BWYTWAM), but the core truth remains: good golfers who have yet to break through to capture a Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, or PGA Championship.

Once players get the monkey off their back, why, they’re home free, right? Not so fast. This week’s Trap Five counts down the best players who have won only one major. Sure, the monkey may be off their back, but he’s still clinging to their ankles.

Winning one major demonstrates both skill and a bit of luck, but luck favors the prepared. Which active players are the best to have happened upon the confluence of skill and luck only once? Read on to find out.

Continue reading “Best Players to Have Won Only One Major”

Fred Couples

Couples continues to find a measure of success on the Tour while dealing with injury and a deep field.

Fred Couples DriverFred Couples has become a familiar face to golf fans since he turned pro in 1980. Born in Seattle, Washington, Couples got his PGA Tour start in 1981. He is a favorite for many who live in the Pacific Northwest. Nicknamed “Boom Boom” for his length off the tee, Freddy has a total of 15 PGA victories to date. You might recognize him from a certain Bridgestone commercial. All together now, “Boom, boom, boom, boom.”

As a testimony to Couples’ staying power, he is 27th on this year’s money list at $1,459,046. He broke in to the top 20 again after his excellent finish at the British Open last week and is currently ranked 17th in the world. He finished 12th on the money list in 2004 after starting in just 16 tournaments due to back trouble. His back limited both his tournament schedule and his ability to practice for much of last year.

Fred Couples is Mr. Cool on and off the course. Not much seems to rattle him, unless you are talking about his lack of wins of late.

Continue reading “Fred Couples”

Twisted Pressel

Morgan Pressel turns eighteen soon and wants to join the Ladies Professional Tour ASAP. Is this the best move for her?

morgan_pressel.jpgNow you see her, now you don’t. So goes the story at the U.S. Women’s Junior Amateur championship where Morgan Pressel thought she was a shoo-in to win this week but lost in second-round match-play action.

Colombia’s Juliana Murcia Ortiz, another 17-year-old and a virtual unknown on the professional women’s circuit, now moves on to the semi-finals. Morgan goes home crying again.

The question for Pressel is whether or not competing at the junior amateur level after a second place finish at the US Women’s Open was a good idea?

Continue reading “Twisted Pressel”

Quick Comment on Slow Play

Ben Crane takes all day to shoot a 62… but it’s because of a weather delay, not slow play. Or was it?

Slow play on the PGA Tour has gotten so bad that I read the following and chuckled out loud:

Ben Crane posted an 8-under 62 Thursday to lead the U.S. Bank Championship, though it took him all day to do it…

The quote of course continues:

…as two separate weather delays totaling about five hours turned the day into a miserable marathon that fewer than half the field finished.

Ben Crane, of course, was the recent subject of some inappropriate actions by Rory Sabbatini. That I immediately thought “slow play” and not “weather delay” demonstrates just how big an issue slow play has become on the PGA Tour, even if it still remains somewhat comical.

Expect a longer entry on slow play from us soon. For now, I’ll simply ask this: what are your thoughts on the pace of play on the PGA Tour? Five hour rounds are not uncommon, and that’s for threesomes and twosomes.

New Adidas Tour 360 and FootJoy GF:II Shoes Coming Soon

Your feet just got a whole lot techier – the Adidas Tour 360 and the FootJoy GF:II are about to hit the streets.

Adidas Tour 360Your feet are about to look a whole lot fancier on the golf course as industry leader FootJoy and TaylorMade-owned Adidas release new shoes geared towards merging fashion with function and form with flair.

The Adidas shoe – the Tour 360 – recently won the prestigious ispovision Global SportStyle Award for men’s footwear. The most unique feature of this shoe? The lack of a sole under the arch of the foot. It’s got a heel and plenty of spikes under the ball of your foot, the famous three-line Adidas acts as a support system. To quote Adidas:

Continue reading “New Adidas Tour 360 and FootJoy GF:II Shoes Coming Soon”

What’s in the Bag?

Instead of crunching the statistics this week, we take a peek inside the bags of Tour winners.

The Numbers GameA simpler Numbers Game this week. Instead of looking at stats, I decided to examine the bags of the guys on the PGA tour. Specifically, the equipment of all the players who won tournaments this year. My motivation behind this is to look beyond the advertising and claims of the manufacturers about having the ‘#1 Driver on Tour.” The following lists comprise every piece of golfing equipment used to win every PGA tournament this year. Period.

So what were the results? Read on to find out.

Continue reading “What’s in the Bag?”