The Golf Week in Review
Luke Donald moves to #3 in the world with his win at the Accenture Match Play....Kaymer is the new #1 in the world rankings.....Johnny Miller compares Tiger to Mike Tyson...Karrie Webb wins HSBC Women's Champions.....Johnson Wagner wins Mayacoba Golf Classic...European golfers continue to lead the golf world in the whining competition....
Kaymer 14th player to hold #1 World Ranking
By reaching the finals of the Accenture World Match Play, Martin Kaymer has become the new #1 player in the World Rankings. With four wins including a major championship since last summer, Kaymer has been playing like the true #1 in the world and should stay near the top of the rankings for some time to come.
The 13 players before him as world #1 since the ranking began back in 1986 are:
Bernhard Langer 13 weeks
Seve Ballesteros 61 weeks
Greg Norman 331 weeks
Nick Faldo 97 weeks
Ian Woosnam 50 weeks
Fred Couples 16 weeks
Nick Price 44 weeks
Tom Lehman 1 week
Ernie Els 9 weeks
David Duval 15 weeks
Vijay Singh 32 weeks
Tiger Woods 623 weeks
Lee Westwood 17 weeks
Tiger Woods like Humpty Dumpty while Elin Nordegren a dancing star
Johnny Miller's comments came soon after Woods lost his match against Thomas Bjorn in first round action at the WGC Match Play event this past week. In a comparison to Mike Tyson, TV Announcer Miller said that, like Tyson, Woods was "way above all the other players, and had a great fall, and there’s pieces all over the place trying to put them together.”
Like pieces of Holyfield's ear Johnny? More than a bit of exaggeration in Miller's comments which are usually stated with bit of flourish, don't you think?
The comparison made between Woods and Tyson is ridiculous at best. Woods, although terribly unfaithful, was always a gentleman golfer on the course as opposed to Tyson's disgraceful antics which eventually led him to jail time.
On a more positive note, Elin Nordegren began dusting herself off soon after her split from Tiger Woods with a cover shoot for People Magazine and a number 60 spot on AskMen.com's 2011 list of "Most Desirable Women". Although a boyfriend did appear on the scene, sources say Tiger Woods' jealous nature keeps suitors at bay.
Credit: Hubpages
In an effort to keep picking up the pieces of her life, rumors are coming in that Elin will appear on Dancing with the Stars. 12th season cast announcements will be made tonight on The Bachelor.
It appears that Nordegren is having less trouble rebounding than Tiger Woods!
Now if only Tiger Woods would start dancing on the golf course. Fans are still waiting for history to be made!
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Mayakoba Golf Classic Live PGA Tour Golf Online Streaming HD Video Coverage
Live Golf
Date:27 February 2011
HSBC Women's Champions Final Round Duel: Arimura vs. Webb
The final round of the HSBC Women’s Champions looks like one of those great things in golf: a good old-fashioned duel. If stroke play can ever look like match play then this is it. Separated by just one stroke, and a further five shots clear of the rest of the field going into the final round, Chie Arimura and Karrie Webb have been conducting their own private battle. Tim Maitland reports.
The duelists could not be more different: Chie represents the future, Karrie is already a legend.
credit: Karrie Webb winning Kraft Nabisco
Webb at 36 has seen it all, done it all and got the t-shirt! She qualified for the World Golf Hall of Fame 11 years ago and when she became eligible to be inducted in 2005 she was the youngest inductee ever at that time.
Arimura in sharp contrast has never won outside Japan, but those who have watched her burst onto the scene on the JLPGA have been expecting her to break through internationally. At just 23 years of age she already has seven wins under her belt, including five during a spectacular 2009 season: she knows how to win.
credit: Golf Digest
“It’s still not easy! With each experience you learn the nervousness and the pressure you have to go through. I say I’m still not used to it!” Arimura says.
The main reason that an international win is missing from her young CV may be that she hasn’t played that often outside her homeland. During her great 2009 season she showed up at the Evian Ladies Masters and the Women’s British Open and last year she played the HSBC Women’s Champions, the Evian and in all four LPGA majors, finishing 9th at the Kraft Nabisco, 32nd in Singapore.
Those with insider knowledge of the Japanese game, such as 2010 HSBC Women’s Caddy of the Year Dean Herden, have been expecting her to breakthrough internationally.
“I’m not surprised at all. She had a wonderful year in 2009 and she really learned how to win that year. She’s a real hard worker and she’s probably the toughest Japanese player since I’ve been caddying on the JLPGA Tour! All that hard work pays off somewhere down the line,” says Herden.
“She hits her iron shots so straight and you need to do that around this course. She’s a complete player. She hits it so straight off the tee and she hits her irons so straight and she’s deadly with the putter. All round she’s got a great game; there’s not one part that is weak. She chips well, she does everything right. She’s cute and she’s known for that in Japan; the smile, the good looks and she’s not very tall. She’s quite famous too, her and Sakura Yokomine,” he adds, before insisting that, if Chie wins on Sunday it won’t be long before her name is just as accepted as those of Ochoa, Shin (who he caddied to victory in 2009) and Ai Miyazato.
“It’s the great thing about this event, it’s a great stepping stone for every player; once they win this it gives them the confidence to go on to even bigger and better things. I think Chie can probably win a US Open she hits it so straight and they set up those courses with long rough and tight and she’ll kill it,” Herden insists.
Arimura’s caddie this week, Lionel Matichuk, who works permanently on the Japan Tour, has also known Chie was bound to break out internationally sooner or later.
“She’s good. She’s good enough to do it. She’s top quality; she just hasn’t played many international events,” said Matichuk.
“I’ve known her for three years and she’s always been pretty good. This week she’s just been in control, hitting a lot of solid shots into the wind, so the wind hasn’t affected them much and if she’s made a mistake somewhere she’s recovered. She’s got a good short game, pretty much everything.”
As if playing almost head-to-head with a legend like Webb – a winner of 7 majors and 36 LPGA events – Arimura will also have the hottest player on the planet in her 10-10 a.m. group. The world number one Yani Tseng, still in with a chance of winning for the fourth week in a row and her fifth consecutive event, leads the best of the rest six shots behind the young Japanese star.
“To play amongst these great players, even now, feels very much like a dream, but I’m calm and I think I’m ready to play well,” Chie insists.
“We had the duel between Lee Westwood and Francesco Molinari at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai last November and people are still talking about that,” says Giles Morgan of the event won by the young Italian.
“That battle was compared, not equal to, but compared with the 1977 Duel In The Sun at Turnberry between Nicklaus and Watson; that’s how special duels are and if we have one in the final round in Singapore the fans are in for a treat!” he adds.
Arimura, who has never won an LPGA tournament, will be paired Sunday with Webb and world No. 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan, who shot a 69 Saturday and is six strokes off the lead.
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Winter Competitions
Should play again be interrupted by the weather, the number of counting cards for the winter league will be one less that the number of full weeks that the course has been open and available for play.
Course Update
They have been pumping tens of thousands of gallons of water off the 11th Fairway which is now clear.
So a good golfing weekend in prospect.
Slow Motion Bunker Shot
16 Left in the Dust including Mickelson, McILroy, Casey, and Westwood
Rickie Fowler (Andy Lyons / Getty)
Rickie Fowler displayed some sick skills by pouring in 5 birdies and 2 eagles in route to taking down #1 seed Phil Mickelson. Fowler will next face Matt Kuchar in the sweet sixteen.
Ben Crane (Andy Lyons / Getty)
Rory McILroy spoke earlier in the week that Tiger isn't the player he once was. No kidding Rory. He never lost to Ben Crane 8 and 7 though. Win something before you talk. Have a nice flight.
Jason Day (Sam Greenwood / Getty)
Jason Day used a few mind tricks against Paul Casey, who had reached the finals of this tournament the past two seasons. Day made Casey putt out a 1 1/2 footer, a length normally conceded. "He looked really angry at me, too," Day said. "It was only about a foot and a half. ... But it's not about that hole, it's about the future holes coming on. So if I can make him a little angry, if I can get him out of his game plan and force him to make silly decisions out there, that's obviously part of the mind games that you play." Day went on to win 4 and 2.
Nick Watney (Stuart Franklin / Getty)
Nick Watney took out #1 seed Lee Westwood for the 2nd consecutive year by a score of 1 up. Westwood admitted something interesting. "I haven't worked on my putting much lately," he said. "And it showed." Hmmm. Sounds like a good strategy for the number #1 player in the world. I guess that goes along with him saying he would rather stay #1 in the world than win majors.
All results
Watch PGA Tour Live WGC Accenture Match Play Golf Online Streaming HD Video In Here
Live Golf
Date:23 February to 26 February 2011
Start: 18:00 CET
Fowler vs. Mickelson headlines round of 32
Rickie Fowler (Andy Lyons / Getty)
Rickie Fowler will square off against Ryder Cup teammate Phil Mickelson on day two of the Accenture Match Play Championship, one of several great Thursday matches.
Phil Mickelson (Andy Lyons / Getty)
Other notable round two matches include Lee Westwood vs. Nick Watney, Y.E. Yang vs. Stewart Cink, Graeme McDowell vs. Ross Fisher, Martin Kaymer vs. Justin Rose, and Jason Day vs. Paul Casey.
Would have also been great to see Woods (3 time champ) vs. Ogilvy (2 time champ) but Woods "blew it" big time.
Debacle in the Desert for Woods
After making a 10 foot birdie putt at the 18th to square his match with Thomas Bjorn at the Accenture World Match Play, Tiger Woods then hit his tee shot at the 19th into the dense sagebrush in the desert to the right of the fairway. It took him two shots to get the ball back to the fairway, and after missing his bogey putt, conceded the match to Bjorn.
Asked how he felt after the match, Woods responded "pissed."
"I had two easy up and downs (on the back nine) and I hit two atrocious chip shots. I missed a putt at 17 that I should always make. After the birdie at 18, I had all the momentum and I blew it."
The three time champion of the event is now going home early with 31 other players.
(Stuart Franklin / Getty)
(Andy Lyons / Getty)
WGC Accenture Match Play Golf Live Online Streaming HD Video Coverage
Live Golf
Date:23 February to 26 February 2011
Start: 18:00 CET
Match Play Challenge
Accenture World Match Play previous winners
2010: Ian Poulter over Paul Casey
2009: Geoff Ogilvy over Paul Casey
2008: Tiger Woods over Stewart Cink
2007: Henrik Stenson over Geoff Ogilvy
2006: Geoff Ogilvy over Davis Love III
2005: David Toms over Chris Dimarco
2004: Tiger Woods over Davis Love III
2003: Tiger Woods over David Toms
2002: Kevin Sutherland over Scott McCarron
2001: Steve Stricker over Pierre Fulke
2000: Darren Clarke over Tiger Woods
1999: Jeff Maggert over Andrew Magee
Based on the history of the tournament, Woods, Casey, and Ogilvy are top choices to do well this week. However, this also shows that anyone can get hot and advance as evidenced by Kevin Sutherland winning in 2002 and Pierre Fulke making the finals in 2001. Almost every match is a pick-em as anyone can beat anyone on any given day.
Accenture World Match Play Betting Odds
Bodog has listed these odds for their top ten.
Tiger Woods 12-1
Martin Kaymer 14-1
Paul Casey 14-1
Rory McIlroy 16-1
Phil Mickelson 16-1
Lee Westwood 20-1
Graeme McDowell 22-1
Dustin Johnson 25-1
Ian Poulter 25-1
Geoff Ogilvy 25-1
Kikkor Golf: Bringing cool new style to golf shoes
Kikkor Golf is a new company started by James Lepp, who won the 2005 NCAA individual golf championship while at the University of Washington. After turning pro, he soon turned to the world of business where he saw a need for cooler golf shoes, especially for the younger generation.
The goal of the company is to create unique and stylistic shoes while still providing the important technical attributes such as grip, stability, waterproofing, and durability.
Kikkor is based on the West Coast of Canada with their products now readily available throughout North America, soon to be worldwide. The company also recently had a booth at the PGA show in Orlando where they received a lot of positive reviews throughout the media.
I just received my first pair in the mail and they are definitely unique looking and comfortable. They appear to be well made and durable. I've yet to use them on the course due to cold weather and snow in the forecast but will be trying them out soon.
Check out their website at kikkor.com to view their new line for 2011. Kikkor has provided The 20th Hole site the chance for any readers to receive a 10% discount. Use the discount code "matt gullo" at checkout to save some money and get a new look on the course.
Yani Tseng Hopes Number One Rule Applies at HSBC Women's Championship in Singapore
Need a Career Boost?
JD Browning Golf offers some top tips on how to handle a career slump in Sunday Times article "Need a Career Boost" by Clover Stroud.
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/living/Wellbeing/article546247.ece
Rule Change
The Practice Tee
Golf Week in Review
The award for genius of the week goes to Jim Gray.
Aaron Baddeley: By the numbers at Riviera
Scores: 67,69,67,69, -12
Fairways in Reg: 50% (T57)
Greens in Reg: 72.2% (3)
Sand Saves: 100% (T1)
Putts per round: 28.5 (T35)
Total Birdies: 15 (T18)
Prize Money: $1,170,000.00
Fed Ex Points: 500
The biggest key for Baddeley this week was his ball striking, placing 3rd for the tournament in greens in regulation. He also only made 3 bogeys on the week to go along with 15 birdies, 1 double, and an eagle.
Track your golf stats and records
Northern Trust Open: Final Round Photos
Vijay Singh (Stephen Dunn / Getty)
Kevin Na (Harry How / Getty)
Fred Couples (Stephen Dunn / Getty)
Keep Practice Fun!!
I think that this video is a great example of how fun practicing your golf can be. Rather than just beating balls on the range or going through the motions on the putting green, use your imagination when you practice, work with a friend, enjoy the competition, keep it interesting, and most importantly, make it fun!
Faddy Golf blog on hiatus until March 5th
For the next 2 weeks posts will not be updated with current golf news. We (Team Faddy) is taking a golf trip to Myrtle Beach.
We will continue blogging when we return. Until then...Cheers
Jer
Strathmore G.C versus Caird Park G.C. Mail on Sunday Classic 2011 2nd Round - 5th March
Sorry Alan, Rory et al, over 18years old as of the 1st January 2011 on this one (competition rules).
Bubba Watson withdraws after shooting 75 (or hurting stomach muscle)
In a sign of the times that 1 million dollars is not enough of an incentive to play golf for four rounds, Bubba Watson has withdrawn from the Northern Trust Open due to a hurt stomach muscle. Excuse me? Yes, a hurt stomach muscle.
I wasn't aware the stomach had muscles, especially for most professional golfers. Watson said he wanted to be ready for the World Match Play which begins this coming Wednesday. Is the hurt muscle going to be that much different in 4 days? Cmon.
There once was a guy who played 5 rounds with a broken leg and torn ACL. That was a good story.
Anyway, dammit, I just bruised my fingernail because of too much typing. I'm definitely calling in sick at the office tomorrow.
The 10th at Riviera presents risk and reward
Listed at 315 yards, the players have the option to try and drive it or lay back in the fairway. The small green is surrounded by bunkers so even if a player lays back, it's still a difficult approach shot, especially with a back right pin position.
Take a tour of the hole
Yesterday, during the first round of the Northern Trust Open, the featured group of Fred Couples, Bubba Watson, and Anthony Kim had some difficulty with the hole.
Watson hit driver short of the left greenside bunker, attempted a flop shot but left it in the bunker, hit his bunker shot about 15 feet short to the fringe, then missed his par putt. He made bogey.
Kim drove it short of the right greenside bunker, hit a flop shot into the bunker, but then made a great bunker shot to get up and down for par.
Couples chose to lay back with an iron off the tee and put himself in good position in the fairway. From 85 yards, he hit his wedge into the right bunker where it plugged, hit his bunker shot to 15 feet, missed the putt, and settled for bogey.
The 10th should have a significant impact on who wins this week.
John Cook says Tiger's swing is starting to click
“He’s excited about what he’s doing,” Cook said Thursday at a press conference for the Champions Tour’s ACE Group Classic. “It’s just a matter of getting it onto the golf course under competition and what he and Sean [Foley] have been working on. (Click here for a Q&A with Foley on Tiger’s swing.)
“[Tiger] now really has a great understanding. As of Monday, it finally clicked to him … where the face of the club needs to be at certain points, which really sounded to me like kind of old school Butch [Harmon] but with a better face angle on his backswing, which means, wow, that’s something really good.”
Woods, of course, hasn’t won since the 2009 JBWere Masters — a span of more than 500 days.
“He’s in a good place,” continued Cook. “He’s playing quite a bit, so that’s a good thing. I think that’s what he needs is just reps, more reps, go play, just go out and play.
“He’s in a place where he doesn’t think he has to hit that many balls now, he can just go play. He’s not just grinding, grinding, grinding. He’s got it.”
Time will certainly tell. Woods will next play in next week’s World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Woods has won the event three times, the last of which came in 2008 at The Gallery at Dove Mountain.
The Accenture Match Play Championship moved to The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in 2009. Woods lost 4 and 2 to Tim Clark in the second round that year and missed last year’s event while he was dealing with his tumultuous life off the course.
This time, Woods appears to be in a much better state of mind.
“He is so happy in his life outside of golf,” said Cook, who admitted he hadn’t talked to Woods much last year. “Everything couldn’t be better. He really — he wants to play well so badly that he’s become one of us. He never had to struggle like that. He wants it so bad; now he needs to get it onto the golf course and trust it and relax and just go play, because what I saw on Tuesday was vintage.”
Still, the results have been slow to come.
In his only start on the PGA TOUR this season, Woods tied for 44th at the Farmers Insurance Open. At last week’s Dubai Desert Classic, he tied for 20th. Last year, Woods went winless on the TOUR for the first time in his career.
“I think frustration-wise, yeah [it was harder on him than any other time I’ve known him], because he was lost last year, completely lost,” said Cook. “He knew he had to make some sort of change because he just wasn’t getting it. It’s hard enough to play golf and be competitive with all the other stuff going on, and now you throw in another wrinkle where you don’t really trust what you’re doing and then you make a change and you have to relearn again and you have to take it to a golf course and compete.
“It was just the hardest thing and it just was so frustrating for him because he didn’t have really a clue, and he had always had a clue.”
Seven months into it — Woods officially began working with Foley last August – things finally seem to be clicking for Woods based on what Cook saw this week at Isleworth.
“His excitement is back, just the way he’s portraying things and his body language is upbeat again,” Cook said. “It’s not, you know, dreading the Masters. He welcomes it.
“That’s what we all need. We all need him back. He wants it, too. He still wants [Jack Nicklaus’] record. Obviously, he wouldn’t be working as hard as he is if he didn’t.” — Brian Wacker
Bubba Watson withdrawls from The Northern Trust
Watson, who won the Farmers Insurance Open last month, told officials of his decision after completing his round on Thursday. He shot a 76 that included an eagle, one birdie, six bogeys and one double bogey.
Watson later told reporters that he went to the emergency room earlier in the week to make sure the pain wasn’t due to anything serious. “Then it was still bothering me so I did a CAT scan, so I did an ultrasound and a CAT scan, so I did two visits to the doctors two days apart,’” he said.
Watson said the blood work and other tests came out negative. He’s just very sore and found it difficult to concentrate on golf Thursday at Riviera.
“Tried to go today,” Watson said. “It’s just my mind was worried about that and not worried about playing golf. I’m not in the right place. I need to rest. I need to rest my stomach and hopefully get better for Tucson”
Tiger Spitting Is Not His Biggest Problem
Anyone who went to watch the Pro-Am at the Dubai Desert Classic will have seen Tiger playing his rounds with 3 guys, one of whom was a Colonel in the US army who was flown in to play with Tiger, having won a competition to play in the Pro-Am. However, what they also would have noted was the Tiger didn't really interact much with these guys, the other 2 of which had probably paid huge bucks to play with him. Instead the only person (of the many I should say) that were on the fairways/greens/tees with him that he interacted with was a blonde young lady who was caddying for one of the amateur players.
Surely Tiger needs to sort out this kind of behaviour if he is going to get any of his reputation back...
Tiger's swing old school but better, according to Cook
What makes a good golf blog and more questions answered by Golf for Beginners
Recently I was asked this question (and more) by the folks over at Leaderboard Golf, a new website aiming to be "the authority for golf online."
Although the number of golf blogs has greatly expanded since Golf for Beginners hit the internet back in 2004, I believe that all memorable golf blogs have certain commonalities: they question what they read/see and hear, offer you an opinion and make you want to comment. Isn't that what blogging is all about?
Check out the new Leaderboard Golf website and feel free to click on the Stacy Solomon: Golf for Beginners Interview where you'll also find out about my favorite professional golfing moment and my goals for 2011!
Most people who read Golf for Beginners and connect with me via Twitter and Facebook, also know that I utilize social media and believe that this growing medium is changing the way business is conducted on the internet.
In the premier issue of 914Inc Magazine, I offer up two easy ways to attract followers on Twitter. Dave Donelson, author of five books including his most recent novel, Heart of Diamonds, also discusses the benefits of Facebook and LinkedIn as integral parts of a saavy marketers online presence.
Click here to read "OMG U R on Fire!" written by Dave Donelson.
A hearty thank you to both Leaderboard Golf, @Leaderboard on Twitter and to Dave Donelson who is both on Facebook and on Twitter as @TheDynamicMgr.
Manager Chubby Chandler explains Westwood & McIlroy's Players Championship snub
Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy's decision to skip the Players Championship at Sawgrass in May has been defended by their manager Andrew Chandler.
World number one Westwood and Northern Ireland's rising star McIlroy are giving the tournament, dubbed the "fifth major" a wide berth, saying it did not fit their schedules.
Both have opted to take up European Tour membership in 2011, meaning they can only play three events on the PGA Tour outside of the majors.
Chandler told CNN that moving the PGA Tour's flagship tournament from just before the U.S. Masters to a slot in May had prompted the decisions of his star duo.
"I would think when it was played at the end of the March it was getting to be the fifth major," said Chandler.
"Moving it to the middle of May has made it about the 10th most important tournament in the world.
"It isn't a priority for them as they would rather win a major or a world golf championship event," he added.
The absence of current world number one Westwood from the TPC has been seen as a snub to the PGA Tour, but Chandler says it is purely down to the calendar.
"They cannot play every week," he said.
McIlroy has also denied reports of a rift with PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem for abandoning the U.S. circuit after only one year as a full-time member.
He wrote on his Twitter blog: "For everyone who is interested, the reason I'm not playing TPC this year is because I've never thought the golf course has set up that well for me.
"Hence, two missed cuts in two years. I have no sort of vendetta against Tim Finchem or the PGA Tour; I love playing in the U.S. and have always found the people very welcoming."
South Africa's Tim Clark won last year's Players Championship, with Westwood finishing tied for fourth, four shots behind.