It was a feel-good kind of weekend for the PGA and Nationwide Tours as fan favorites Sean O’Hair and Jason Gore each won.
For Sean O’Hair, playing in his rookie season on the PGA Tour, this victory locks up a two-year exemption, invitations to the majors (including the British Open in four days), and the respect and admiration of everyone in the world except for his father. We need not repeat the story here, but we will remind those who have forgotten: Sean O’Hair’s father made him sign a contract when he was 17 guaranteeing his dad 10% of his future earnings. He once called Sean “pretty good labor” on a TV special. Yeah, that guy. Glad you remember now.
After six long years of collapsing under pressure when the going got rough Heather Bowie finally collided with victory today at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. No, Heather didn’t win the tournament in valiant fashion scoring an eagle on the eighteenth green. It took Bowie three playoff holes and Gloria Park dropping a low hook into the creek on the 18th for a triple-bogey to gain the victory. But I guess a win is a win.
They say you drive for show and putt for dough, so that would make the putter many player’s “money club,” right? This week, we’re going to look at famous money clubs.
I’ve never been to Louisiana, but I can picture some of the folks who live there sitting on the front porch sipping lemonade on a hot summer day. David Toms fits that image well. David Toms is a low-profile man with a high-profile game. Low-profile comes naturally to a guy who grew up, not in New York, Seattle, or Beverly Hills, but in Shreveport, Louisiana. The pace there is a bit slower than in almost any part of the country and that is the way Toms seems to like it.
The British Open is only one week away and the top golfers in the world are either at St. Andrews already or are on their way. The John Deere Classic is the last stop for some of the PGA Tour players before heading to the British Open themselves.
In 1982, PGA caddy Judd Silverman was on a self-imposed mission to bring an LPGA tournament to Ohio. With the okay from former LPGA commissioner John Laupheimer, Silverman contacted several sponsors and Jamie Farr who lent his name and secured celebrities for the inaugural event.
With the British Open fast approaching, I can’t help but think about some of the major suprises in recent years. The thoughts aren’t all positive, that’s for sure. The last two British Open champions, Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton, have done nothing worth noting since their triumphs across the pond. Add 2002 and 2003 PGA Champions Rich Beem and Shaun Micheel to that list as well. These four golfers have gone downhill in a hurry since their major championship victories, and I really don’t think that is very good for the PGA Tour to be honest.