Tiger Slips, Perry Surges in Bay Hill Third Round

Kenny Perry leads round 3 of Bay Hill as play is suspended by darkness.

bay_hill_invitational.gifAfter Saturday, one thing is for sure… things will be busy on Sunday. From the bad weather on Thursday, the leaders have only completed two and a half rounds and will complete the third and fourth rounds on Sunday. Kenny Perry leads the Bay Hill Invitational after Saturday’s play, with Stephen Ames trailing by one and Vijay Singh and K.J. Choi trailing by two. Perry hit all but two fairways on Saturday, including his last shot of the day, a bomb on the twelfth.

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Soggy Bay Hill Continues with Howell, Ames in the Lead at -5

The sun came out to play, and so did the PGA Tour players at Bay Hill. They didn’t quite finish the second round, but they had fun trying.

Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Retief GoosenCharles Howell III and Stephen Ames caught a bit of fire on Friday as the rains went away and the sun came out at the Bay Hill Invitational. Among the 30 players able to complete their second rounds, they sat atop the leaderboard after 1½ rounds (or so) of play. Each fired rounds of 71, 68 and sit comfortably at -5.

Vijay Singh, a man on a mission (to regain the #1 spot in the world), struggled once again with his putting after hitting the ball beautifully. “I just didn’t make any putts all day,” said Singh. He didn’t have to putt on the eighth hole, though, sinking a 152-yard 9-iron for an eagle and rounds of 72, 68 to sit at -4.

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Ochoa Leads Halfway Through Safeway

Lorena Ochoa follows an opening round of 65 with a 12 under par 67 and leads by two.

SafewayTwenty-three year old Mexican superstar Lorena Ochoa looked much more confident during today’s round of golf at Jack Nicklaus’ Prospector Course at Superstition Mountain than a few weeks ago at the Mastercard Tournament from Mexico. When asked what Ochoa was most interested in as she went to the weekend she responded, “I’m very happy with my round, and I think, you know, those two shots lead and three over Annika are important. I’m going to have a little advantage in the weekend, and hopefully now if we play in the same group, or second and third place, so now we would be in the pressure thing together.”

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Ochoa, Lim Lead at Safeway

Lorena Ochoa and Siew-Ai Lim fired 65s, and defending champ Annika Sorenstam is one back.

Lorena OchoaThe defending champion Annika Sorenstam fired a 6-under par 66, but it was not good enough to match first-round leaders Lorena Ochoa and Siew-Ai Lim, who carded 65s. Michelle Wie is in danger of missing the cut at 73.

Sorenstam is in good position to defend her title at the Safeway International, said of her 66 “That’s the kind of start I wanted, and then we go from there.” Veteran Juli Inkster was also at -6. Karen Stupples shot 67, Soo-Yun Kang, Sung Ah Yim, and Moira Dunn shot 68s. Several players shot 69 Thursday, including Paula Creamer, Beth Daniel, Natalie Gulbis, Dawn Coe-Jones, and Karrie Web.

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Umbrellas Come out at Bay Hill

The Bay Hill lived up to its name as it filled with water Thursday, leaving some players stranded on the practice tee and yet to hit a shot in the tournament.

Arnold Palmer UmbrellaArnold Palmer’s famous umbrella came out once again, but this time the man beneath it was not smiling. No, sir, the first round of Arnold’s tournament was rained out.

Storms dropped two inches of rain on the Bay Hill Invitational Wenesday and Thursday, and first-round play is scheduled to resume at 7:15am Friday morning. The tournament got in three hours of play Thursday, but not all had teed off, and nobody completed 18 holes.

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Want More Golf? Turn Up Your Radio

“Golf on the radio” used to sound about as exciting as “watching paint dry.” But thanks to XM radio’s new golf plans, there are some interesting new developments over the airwaves.

XM RadioYou’ve probably read about the recent flurry of sports-related signings by the two big satellite radio networks. XM has Major League Baseball, but is going to lose NASCAR to its rival Sirius, which already has the NFL and NBA. How has XM hit back? By adding golf to its menu. So when you’re done getting crunked up with Lil Jon, you can get your groove on with PGA Tour-sanctioned radio, 24-7 style.

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The PGA Tour’s Stock is Rising

Everyone’s heard the PGA’s slogan “These guys are good,” but with the NHL locked out and NBA ratings falling, just how far can the PGA go?

PGA TourThanks to the NHL’s unfortunate lockout, more and more people seem to be tuning into golf fans and several sources are preditciting golf will pass the NHL and become the fourth most popular sport after football, baseball, and basketball. Just why is golf becoming so popular these days? People who play the game well are obviously going to give professional golf quite a bit of attention. However, between 70-90% of golfers will never break 100, so why do golfers love the game so much despite their bitter struggles?

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Bay Hill Invitational Preview

Nine of the top 12 players in the world are playing at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Invitational, and the World #1 is once again up for grabs.

Bay Hill InvitationalTiger Woods regained the top spot in the world two weeks ago and bested Phil Mickelson at Doral, the current world #2 couldn’t convert from two feet, two-putting to finish second at the Honda Classic, and Ernie Els has won two tournaments in a row. The interesting thing about this week’s Bay Hill Invitational may not be who wins, but who sits atop the World Golf Rankings when all is said and done: Woods, Singh, and Els all have a shot at it.

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Sorenstam Defends Win at Safeway International

Annika Sorenstam, already on top of the 2005 ADT Official Money list, defends her title this week at Superstition Mountain.

Safeway InternationalAnnika Sorenstam will defend her title this week at the 2005 Safeway International from Superstition Mountain, Arizona. This will be one of eight title defenses for Sorenstam who won her first tournament of 2005 at the Mastercard Classic Tournament. Sorenstam plays exceptionally well at this event. Last year, Annika boasted a four-shot win over Cristie Kerr. And, in 2001, Annika became the first woman to card a 59 during the second round of the tournament. Perhaps being a graduate of the University of Arizona makes her feel comfortable when she is playing at this event.

Cristie Kerr is among the players looking to dethrone Annika. Last week, Cristie tied for third place after leading through to the final round of the tournament. With a second place finish at the LPGA opener, the SBS Open at Turtle Bay, Kerr is only $18,000 short of first place on the 2005 ADT Official Money List.

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