Three first time major winners again in 2010

PGA Championship

For the second consecutive year, there were three first time major winners. With so many good young players coming up, this may become a trend unless Tiger can get things together again.

In 2009, Angel Cabrera won his second career major at the Masters. After that there were all first timers with Lucas Glover taking the U.S. Open, Stewart Cink taking the British, and Y.E. Yang winning the PGA.

In 2010, Phil Mickelson won his fourth overall major at the Masters. From there, more first timers with Graeme McDowell winning the U.S. Open, Louis Oosthuizen taking the British, and Martin Kaymer winning the PGA.

Mickelson (Getty / Graythen)

McDowell (Getty / Lyons)


Oosthuizen (Getty / Greenwood)

Kaymer (Getty / Franklin)


Early Vegas Odds for 2011 Masters

Tiger Woods 5 - 1
Phil Mickelson 7 - 1
Rory McIlroy 12 - 1
Lee Westwood 20 - 1
Dustin Johnson 25 -1
Anthony Kim 25 - 1
Padraig Harrington 25 - 1

PGA Championship: Final Round Photos

PGA Championship

2010 PGA Champion Martin Kaymer (Getty photo/Sam Greenwood)

Runner-up Bubba Watson (Getty photo/Chris Graythen)

Dustin Johnson (Getty photo/Andy Lyons)

Rory McILroy (Getty photo/Andrew Redington)

Steve Elkington (Getty photo/Chris Graythen)

Zach Johnson (Getty photo/Chris Graythen)

Phil Mickelson (Getty photo/Andy Lyons)

Tiger Woods (Getty photo/Stuart Franklin)

All over the map

PGA Championship

Tiger was all over the place through six holes during round two. He made some great up and downs and is fortunate to be even on the day. Hopefully he will consider hitting a few fairways and greens which would make things much easier.

Out of the fog?

PGA Championship

Tiger Woods looked a lot more mentally focused and his swing looked much more controlled during round one of the PGA Championship. His 71 could have been a lot lower if it weren't for a few errant shots but he's still right in thick of things after day one. The big question now is whether or not he can keep it up for the remaining three rounds.

Interview with TNT's Jim Huber:

Woods on his play in the first round: “I got off to a good start today which was nice and I’m just trying to grind my way along. I dropped a few shots, but overall I posted under par.”

Woods on if his work leading up to the PGA Championship paid off after the first round: “I thought I hit the ball pretty good. It felt like I had control of the ball most of the day, especially with my trajectory which was nice. I haven’t had that in a while so it felt good to have that.”

Woods on what he needs to improve with his game: “I just need to continue to improve every day. I need to be a little bit more solidified and today I felt like I had good speed on the greens. If anything, I was leaving putts a little bit short. They were a little bit slower than what I was seeing. I just have to make that adjustment.”

PGA Championship: Day One Photos

PGA Championship

Tiger Woods - Getty photo / Stuart Franklin

Bubba Watson - Getty photo / Andy Lyons

Phil Mickelson - Getty photo / Andy Lyons

Jason Day - Getty photo / Sam Greenwood

Ernie Els - Getty photo /Andrew Redington

Charles Howell - Getty photo / Andrew Redington


Ryan Moore - Getty photo / Stuart Franklin

PGA Championship: Notable Pairings

PGA Championship

Rory Mcllroy - Getty Photo / Andy Lyons

Notable Pairings:

Tiger Woods, Y.E. Yang, Vijay Singh

Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen, Graeme McDowell

Steve Stricker, Rory MclLroy, Adam Scott

John Daly, Davis Love III, Padraig Harrington

Ricky Fowler, Ryo Ishikawa, Justin Leonard

Sergio Garcia, Stewart Cink, Martin Kaymer

Jerry Kelly, Anthony Kim, Paul Casey

Corey Pavin, Ian Poulter, Camillo Villegas

Click here for all pairings and tee times

**Would have been interesting to see Ryder Cup Captains Corey "Misquoted" Pavin and Colin "Mrs Doubtfire / scandal" Montgomerie play together. **

PGA Championship News from #1 and #2

PGA Championship

Tiger could have a new coach. He had Sean Foley video his swing Tuesday and both acknowledged a future pairing is possible.

"The possibility is there. I'm just taking a look at him. The advice I would give any player is to have at least two people look at your swing," said Foley.

"Certainly it's a possibility, no doubt. But there's also a lot of other coaches out there that's a possibility, as well, that I've talked to," Woods said. "I wanted to have him take a look at it today on video so I can take a look at it, and that's what we did."

Foley works with Sean O'Hair, Hunter Mahan, and Justin Rose, and each of these players has had a lot of recent success. He also works with Stephen Ames, but the only thing Tiger might say about that is "9 and 8".


Phil Mickelson acknowledged Tuesday that he woke up 5 days before the U.S. Open and couldn't walk. He has since been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, taken medication, and the symptoms have gone away.

"I'm surprised at how quickly it's gone away, and how quickly it's been able to be managed and controlled," he said. "I feel 100 percent, like I say. But when I'm laying there on the couch and I can't move, you know, yeah, I had some concerns. But I feel a lot better now."

Also, after reading a book, he decided to become a vegetarian which I'm sure will bring up many future jokes.

Getty photos / Stuart Franklin

PGA Championship Betting Odds

PGA Championship

Bodog.com:

Phil Mickelson 10 - 1
Tiger Woods 12 -1
Rory McIlroy 16 -1
Padraig Harrington 20 -1
Steve Stricker 22 -1
Ernie Els 28 - 1
Jim Furyk 33 - 1
Retief Goosen 33 -1
Hunter Mahan 33 -1
Sean O'Hair 40 - 1

Mickelson photo: Sam Greenwood / Getty

Past PGA Champions

PGA Championship

Defending champion: Y.E. Yang


Last champion from Whistling Straits: Vijay Singh (2004)


Last 10 Champions:

2009: Y.E. Yang
2008: Padraig Harrington
2007: Tiger Woods
2006: Tiger Woods
2005: Phil Mickelson
2004: Vijay Singh
2003: Sean Micheel
2002: Rich Beem
2001: David Toms
2000: Tiger Woods
1999: Tiger Woods

Click for a list of all PGA Championship winners.

Photos from Getty
Yang / Andy Lyons
Singh / Stuart Franklin
Woods / Andrew Redington

Web-Series offers a 'Behind the Greens' look into the 2010 PGA Championship

PGA Championship

Did you ever wonder how a golf tournament is created? Most people rarely realize the dedication and hard work necessary to transform a course such as Whistling Straits into the venue needed for the PGA Championship.

In the new web-series "Behind the Greens", fans can share in the excitement in the "building" of the 92nd PGA Championship, following the Course Superintendent, Operations Manager and Championship Director as they plan the event.

From the initial "build-out" on June 20th, you will be able to watch as Whistling Straits is transformed into a "small city", adding bleachers, tents, skyboxes and making sure there is "enough power cords to keep the mini-city running."

The web-series officially begins Thursday, June 3rd, but you can watch this cool trailer of Behind the Greens right now!

Will Tiger Woods be too old to take Olympic gold? Also Harrington on Woods and John Daly limps off course again

PGA Championship

Click here to listen.

A word within almost every sports column in the United States is that Tiger Woods 'choked' and gave up a 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship to the golfer who stood in 110th position before the Sunday start, Y.E. Yang. Did Tiger choke or only prove that he is human after all?

'Choke' is a strong word to associate with Tiger Woods and it is not supposed to happen to the one golfer that everyone believed to be made of steel, an alien from another planet to many fans. Some may say that he brought his "B" or "C" game to the final round of the fourth major and others may claim that Woods now has chinks in his armor but rimmed putts are hardly the stuff of failure.

A second place finish yesterday makes it difficult to say that Tiger allowed "a hungrier, more focused, more composed golfer kick the stuffing out of him" as written by Jay Mariotti. Let us reserve that visualization for Padraig Harrington whose quintuple bogey forced him to drop his head once again and sigh his way through another event with Tiger in the field.

Should golfers in future events be less fearful in a face-off with Woods?

Five wins this season is hardly a sign that Tiger is slipping off of his pedestal but lacking a major win this season also cautions fans that he can be beaten. Woods doing negative self-talk? That hardly ever happens either and perhaps Tiger is not even aware of it but when he rolls the playback, which he will, I'm sure that Woods will come back stronger than ever.

Fed Ex Cup golfers, BEWARE!

As far as Olympic glory in 2016, I don't think a forty-year-old Woods will compete but, on the other hand, the gold medal would look great in his trophy room. The problem is, could folks stand it if Tiger only came home with a bronze medal?

Golf for Beginners also reviews Padraig Harrington's thoughts on why Tiger should have won the PGA Championship and how any golfer can follow his progression.

We also look at the real reason why John Daly walked off the golf course at the PGA Championship.


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Photo Credit: © Telegraph/AFP

Tiger Woods tips on hitting the mud ball, Solheim Team wild about Wie, 18 holes in only an hour and are WNBA fans interested in golf?

PGA Championship

Click here to listen.

Does Tiger Woods' victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational portend another major failure this week at the PGA Championship?

Although Woods put on a clinic this week, he may just as easily fail in his bid to win a single major tournament this season. Reuters mentioned that Tiger "sent out an ominous warning to his rivals" for the upcoming major event, but, as we have seen from Tiger this year, he has not been able to close the deal on one major title this season.

Perhaps Tiger should be content realizing that there are plenty of PGA Tour events left to play this season concentrating his efforts instead on tying, or beating Jack Nicklaus' record. Knowing that just the sight of Woods creeping up the leaderboard or tied for the lead causes the best golfers in the world to fall by the wayside (most recently, Padraig Harrington's disastrous flub at the 16th) should be enough glory in itself.

Even if Tiger fails to win a single major tournament this season, fans should consider his five wins in 2009 a sign that Woods is the man to beat on the PGA Tour.

"Just being able to come back and play and be successful again has been a tremendous step in the right direction," Woods confirmed.

But is this the Tiger Woods that fans want to see: father, husband and humble winner or "Super Tiger" as the Examiner calls him, "the Tiger that the media, sponsors and fans have created...invincible to everything from Kryptonite to Sabbatinium."

Although fans are a fickle bunch they know to expect a certain degree of fireworks whenever Tiger Woods is in the field. That being said, Harrington and the rest of the defending field better have golf balls filled with Kryptonite to have a chance at defeating Woods this week.





Golf for Beginners offers a Tiger Woods tip on hitting the dreaded mud ball. We also discuss the validity of Dean Knuth's assumption that golfers can play a round in one hour. The reasons why Team USA is wild about Michelle Wie is also a topic as well as if golf is a good half-time fit at WNBA games.

Tweet this blog… Your followers will thank you!

Send your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes. Click Here to receive our archived podcasts and 100's of easy golf tips free!

Get to know us on You Tube and MySpace and TWEET US on TWITTER

"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

This podcast is supported by ResortsGolfandSpa.com, 866-643-6078.

Photo Credit: © Marketingshift.com

The PGA Championship

PGA Championship

The PGA Championship starts this Thursday and will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.

Pairings and tee times

television coverage

leaderboard

Tiger notches career win #70

PGA Championship

Does anyone get the idea that Tiger Woods likes winning?

With the win today, he:

• has 70 career wins (3rd on all time list behind Nicklaus and Snead)
  
• has 7 career wins at Firestone
• is in first place in Fed Ex Cup
• is in first place on the money list
• has 5 wins in 2009 (the most on tour)
• has his 3rd come from behind win this year
• has back to back wins
• has now won his last tournament heading into a major for the 4th time this year
• heads into the PGA Championship a heavy favorite (as usual)
  

I hope everyone is enjoying the Tiger Woods story as we will never see anything like this again. He is the Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, and Muhammad Ali of his sport. It will definitely be interesting to see how long he plays, and how many wins and records he puts away.

Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Tiger vs. Paddy

PGA Championship

Not much needs to be said about this match up. Both Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington are in strong form as of late and this should be a great final round to watch. The world #1 faces a three shot deficit to Harrington, who has won two of the last five majors. Many golf fans have been waiting to see these two square off, and it will be interesting to see how Harrington handles the pressure of playing with Tiger. It should be a good warm up for both of them, as they will also be paired together for the first two rounds at the PGA Championship starting next week.

Final round tee times for the WGC at Firestone.

Harrington calls out Tiger Woods: I deserve to win! Also, align yourself like the pros and how to be a Patriot on Labor Day

PGA Championship

Click here to listen.

With a rousing finish at the 90th PGA Championship, Padraig Harrington confirmed that he can mix it up with the best golfers in the world, not solely on the European Tour. One may claim that a single major might have been a fluke but two in a row and three wins in the last six events prove that Harrington is really on to something! Perhaps Ben Hogan's "secret" has something to do with it, mentioned Harrington's instructor, Bob Torrance.

Poor Sergio floundered once again. At the 2007 British Open, both Harrington and Garcia choked their way through the final holes with the Irishman taking control at the 17th to win. Similar circumstances occured this week as Garcia's ball found the water leaving the door open for Harrington to finish the job. The PGA Championship was obtained much the same way as in his 2008 British Open rally against Norman. The intense stare, taking advantage when he saw Sergio floundering were intentional, with Harrington telling himself that he deserved to win.

Padraig Harrington knows that he can defeat Sergio Garcia when the pressure is on but how will he do against Tiger Woods when the world's number-one returns injury free?

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune believes that Harrington's performance this year is deserving of the "Player of the Year" award. Randall Mell of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Harrington, 36, has stepped forcefully into the vacuum created when Tiger Woods was sidelined for the season...and has done so with fierce closing skills under intense final-round major championship pressure."

This week Golf for Beginners discusses what seems to make Harrington unbeatable when the pressure is on. A golf tip from Jim Flick on proper alignment is also featured.

Information on Ireland's golf courses and Patriot Golf Day are also covered on this week's broadcast.

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Photo Credit: © STLToday.com.

Will Daly's six-pack and Mickelson's roll of the dice challenge Woods for FedEx cup, RedEye i330 laser putter update, deep rough maneuvers and more!

PGA Championship

Click here to listen.


Even though Phil Mickelson resumed a practice regimen for the PGA Championship, it still wasn't enough to beat (or even compete against) Tiger Woods, who won his thirteenth career major after a sweltering weekend at Southern Hills.

Did practice make a difference for Mickelson or should he have taken the "John Daly approach", going in cold after a diet of casino play and cold beer? Both Mickelson and Daly finished with a +6 after four rounds of play and both appeared to be in good spirits afterwards with Phil claiming, "I don't want to be hard on myself because, for a couple, I wasn't able to make the swings and hit the shots I needed to try to hit," feeling that his Players Championship victory is "what salvaged the year for me."

John Daly, ever optimistic commented, "It was a good week, just take small steps."

Mickelson looked confused and tired. Should he have just said, "the heck with it" and played agressively this weekend? Mickelson would have probably had more fun and may have scored better! Although Daly's approach to Southern Hills finished with the same results, in the end, Daly looked like he played the better game.

So what's next for Phil Mickelson? He says he's excited about the FedEx Cup playoffs but will we see a showdown between Lefty and Tiger Woods? My guess is that Woods will walk away with the ten million dollars although Daly is always an unknown.


This week on Golf for Beginners we give you an update on Barry's progress with the RedEye i330 laser putter, golf tips on dealing with the rough and how to stop topping the ball.

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