K.J. Choi wins 26th Annual Skins Game title with birdie on 18th hole.
November 30, 2008
K.J. Choi holed an 11-foot birdie putt worth $270,000 on the 18th hole Sunday to win the 26th Skins Game with $415,000.
Stephen Ames missed a nine-footer that would have tied the hole and forced the foursome including Phil Mickelson and Rocco Mediate into a playoff.
Instead, Choi’s putt gave him $340,000 for Sunday’s nine holes and made him the fifth international player to win the title.
“I’m very proud to have won the Skins Game, the first time ever for a Korean player,” said Choi, who said he watched the Skins Game and the Masters growing up in South Korea. “I’m very, very happy today.”
Stephen Ames, looking for a third consecutive title in the event, won $250,000 on the first hole of the day with a birdie to finish second. Mickelson was third with $195,000, while Mediate earned his $140,000 with a birdie on the 16th hole.
It is just the seventh time that all four players in the event have won money.
“I thought it was a good day. Everyone was able to win a skin today,” Mickelson said. “It was a fun few days. We all would have liked to have gotten the last skin. I just didn’t make the putts. I thought Stephen and I each had putts to carry over some skins.”
Choi started the day with the lead but fell behind Ames on the first hole. Mickelson won $170,000 on the par-4 13th with a tap-in birdie. Choi added $70,000 with a four-foot eagle putt on the 14th hole.
Mediate, frustrated when his long birdie putts were tied by other players three times over the two days, finally broke through with a three-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th for his $140,000. Again, Ames missed a six-footer that could have tied the hole and carried the money over.
On the 18th, all four players hit the green, but Mediate and Mickelson missed putts from about 11 feet, while Choi made his uphill birdie putt. Putting down the same hill, Ames’ putt slipped to the right, giving Choi the title.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Zach Johnson wins the Texas Open for his 4th career title.
October 12, 2008
Zach Johnson found his putting touch in time for a season-salvaging victory in the Texas Open.
“I’ve been working on my putting over the last six weeks with my teachers and it really paid off this week,” Johnson said. “I had a tough year, but the putts started to fall into today and that why I’m at the top of the leaderboard.”
The 2007 Masters champion who entered the week with only one top-10 finish this year, Johnson followed his third-round 62 with a 64 on Sunday for a two-stroke victory over Charlie Wi (61), Mark Wilson (63) and Tim Wilkerson (64).
The win in the Falls Series event, capped by a 5-foot birdie putt on 18, was his first on the PGA Tour outside Georgia. In addition to the Masters, he won the 2004 BellSouth Classic and 2007 AT&T.
“This week I was just concentrating on the process not the outcome,” Johnson said. “I had six weeks off this fall (after not qualifying for the FedEx Cup playoffs) and I just rededicated myself to getting back to what I used to do.”
Wi parred the final two holes.
“I didn’t look at the scoreboard until I got to the 15th hole. I knew Zach was close, but I was playing very good,” Wi said. “I was very happy to make those birdies on 15 and 16. I wish I could have made one more.”
Third-round leader Rory Sabbatini shot a 72 to finish seven strokes back at 12 under.
Johnson never trailed on the back nine, but both Wi and Wilkinson keep the pressure on with birdies putts of their own. On the par-4 18th hole, Johnson hit his drive more than 300 yards and put his 9-iron approach to five feet.
“I’m not proud of many shots, but I was proud of that one,” Johnson said.
The ensuing walk up the 18th fairway was a filled with smiles and waves for the crowd, while his wife and young son waited behind the green.
“Hopefully this is the first of many to come,” Johnson said.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Seve Ballesteros confirms he has brain tumor, will have biopsy.
October 12, 2008
After a career full of miraculous shots — including one from a parking lot during his first British Open win - Seve Ballesteros was preparing for the “hardest challenge” of his life Sunday after announcing he has a brain tumor.
Ballesteros, 51, was set to undergo a biopsy on Tuesday before doctors determine how to proceed.
“Throughout my career I have been among the best at overcoming challenges on the golf course,” the five-time major winner said in a statement released by Madrid’s La Paz hospital. “Now I want to be the best confronting the hardest challenge of my life, with all my strength, counting on all of you who are sending me encouraging messages.”
Ballesteros was admitted to the hospital on Monday after briefly losing consciousness,
“Once I had been able to inform my three children personally and their mother, I can now communicate to you the illness I am suffering from,” Ballesteros said. “After an in-depth check up which has been carried out on me in the La Paz Hospital they have detected a brain tumor.”
Ballesteros did not give any more details on the test results. It was unknown whether the tumor was benign or malignant.
“I have always shown my solidarity with those people who face illness, including those whose (illnesses) are much worse than mine,” said Ballesteros, who was also admitted to a hospital last year when doctors discovered an irregular heartbeat. “Now my wish is to ask for respect towards my family and especially my children. We will keep you informed.”
The swashbuckling Spaniard was well known for being able to manufacture a shot from just about anywhere, a feat that earned him the title “Car Park Champion” at the 1979 British Open. The Pedrena native found the green from a parking lot next to the 16th fairway at Royal Lytham & St. Annes before sinking a long birdie putt on his way to his first major title.
During that final round, Ballesteros used his driver only nine times and hit the fairway once.
Jose Maria Olazabal, who visited Ballesteros after playing at the Madrid Masters on Sunday, said that his former Ryder Cup partner appeared in good physical shape.
“I saw Seve looking very well. We were speaking for quite a little while,” Olazabal told Spanish news agency Efe. “I wish him a prompt recovery.”
Ballesteros, who won a record 50 times on the European tour, won the British Open three times and the Masters twice before retiring last year due to a long history of back pain. He has since focused mostly on golf course design.
“He was one of the most talented, charismatic players the game has seen,” D.A. Weibring said Sunday in Maryland after winning the Senior Players Championship. “He had a great swagger, had a great short game, great creativity. … He’s truly one of the personalities of the game, especially the creativity and short game.”
Many credit Ballesteros’ spirit and flare on the golf course for transforming the European game.
When the Ryder Cup competition was expanded to include continental Europe in 1979, Ballesteros helped beat the United States in 1985 to begin two decades of dominance. He also captained Europe to Ryder Cup victory on home soil in 1997 at Valderrama.
Ballesteros and Olazabal teamed up to produce the most formidable partnership in Ryder Cup history, with an 11-2-2 record.
“I want to thank from the bottom of my heart everyone who has shown interest with great fondness for my health,” Ballesteros said in the statement. “Many thanks. A big hug.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
United States recaptures Ryder Cup for first time since 1999.
September 21, 2008
They bungled the lyrics and were decidedly off-key, but their motivation and intentions were surely pure.
As homegrown hero Kenny Perry stood in the first tee box Sunday, a group of his Commonwealth brethren in the bleachers began blurting out the words to Old Kentucky Home, an effort that fizzled when the lava-lunged fans couldn’t remember the words.
After years of the hearing the U.S. team repeat the same sour chorus, Perry and his new Ryder Cup mates had no such trouble, giving the heavily favored Europeans a symphony of red, white and bluegrass.
After plenty of tears and jeers, the Yanks reclaimed the elusive Cup for the first time since 1999 with a stirring 16½-11½ victory over the Euros at Valhalla Golf Club, riding the efforts of two native Kentuckians and their adopted country cousin to an American antebellum reconstruction.
The lopsided score represents the largest American victory since 1981, when the Americans won 18½-9½ in old Surrey, England. That’s a long way, both geographically and philosophically, from where country Kenny lives.
The determined Perry won his match with ease, fellow Kentucky native J.B. Holmes made two brilliant birdies down the stretch to nail down a victory and homespun Boo Weekley had six birdies and an eagle to win in a rout to lead the American charge, which has been a very long time coming.
“I couldn’t hold back the tears,” said Perry, 48, who piled the pressure on himself this week. “It’s the greatest day of my life.”
Including U.S. captain Paul Azinger, there were at least a dozen others wearing the same uniform who wouldn’t have argued the point. But for Perry and Holmes, it was doubly delicious. The pair of native sons finished the week a combined 4-1-2, collecting five points. Weekley, who was embraced as a homeboy himself with his corny country quotes and crazy cheerleading antics, was unbeaten at 2-0-1.
“They took it to us the last couple of years,” the colorful Weekley said, low-balling the length of the drought by a few miles. “And now it’s time for us to take it back.”
As the champagne sprayed, the animated Weekley did a few victory laps around the clubhouse, pretending he was riding a galloping horse while whipping himself on the backside. Which beats the mood of three days earlier, when nitpicking at the underdog and overmatched U.S. team felt like whipping a dead horse.
What’s experience worth? Even in a pressure cauldron like the Ryder, it’s not always a difference-maker. Astoundingly, the veteran trio of Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, who all lost on Sunday, finished the week without a victory between them.
Garcia, sent off first in an attempt to get some mojo working as the Europeans began the day trailing 9-7, was crushed by 23-year-old Anthony Kim, who was so swept up in the moment that after ending it on the 14th green, 5 and 4, he began rushing off to the next tee, oblivious that the match had just ended and he’d scored a potentially major point.
“I’m coming out of my skin right now I’m so excited,” Kim said as the Cup was clinched. “We’re obviously very proud of ourselves. Hopefully we got a lot more coming.”
The Europeans mustered a minor move through the middle of the day, but with Harrington and Westwood fading in the last two positions on the lineup card, the day quickly became a runaway for the Americans.
There’s a sentence nobody expected to read this week.
Somewhat fittingly, American veteran Jim Furyk won the clinching point with his 2-and-1 win over Miguel Angel Jimenez. Furyk had been on the receiving end of the clinching point in the American loss in 2002, so he personified the team’s utter turnaround.
“It’s an awful feeling,” recalled Furyk, who entered the week with a Ryder record of 6-12-2.
More than anyone, though, it was the two Kentuckians, Weekley and the other rookies who were at the fore. Holmes made two huge birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to all but secure the cup that Furyk nailed down a moment later.
“Best moment of my life right now,” said Holmes, who grew up 80 miles up the road and attended University of Kentucky. “I’m just so excited. This was just an unbelievable day. I don’t know what else to say.”
Perry was likewise overwhelmed, and for good reason. The veteran won three times this year during an all-out press to make the roster, then tailored his schedule to maximize his chances, drawing stern criticism for sitting out two major championships. A moment before he teed off, as the locals tried to serenade him behind the first tee, he cast an eye into the bleachers and seemed to soak in the scene. He looked almost serene, which for a twitchy guy like Perry, was very unusual.
“This is what he’s been waiting for,” said Azinger, standing nearby.
With his family in tow all week, including his 84-year-old father riding along in an electric cart — dressed in denim overalls — Perry drilled Henrik Stenson 3 and 2 to secure the team’s second point of the day. It also ended a brief three-match European winning streak.
Only a few days before the matches, he freely admitted that, given the emphasis he had placed on the matches, he was going to be “a hero or a goat to the whole state of Kentucky.” Hey, no pressure there, right?
The Old Kentucky Homeboy delivered.
“It’s the greatest day of my life,” he said. “My dad, my wife my three kids ran up on the green — a magical day. I had such a calm and coolness about me, and the fans are just unbelievable.
“I kept telling everybody this is kind of my swan song, and what a way to go out.”
There is plenty of reason for optimism on the horizon, too. American rookie Hunter Mahan, who had famously criticized the Ryder in a magazine interview over the summer, even though he had only received second-hand reports on the event, was fully willing to eat crow after his experiences this week, which included scoring a team-high 3½ points.
Mahan, who was undefeated, had characterized the role of American players as akin to slaves for the week, but he played more like Spartacus.
“I knew what to expect, but it blows that out of the water,” Mahan said. “The people, the fans, the moments we had, I just felt a lifetime of memories right there.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Harrington wins second straight major at the PGA.
August 11, 2008
Padraig Harrington isn’t interested in sentimental story lines that keep popping up at the majors. He’s too busy winning them, and writing his name into the history books.
First came the British Open, where he ended a fairy tale for Greg Norman with a 32 on the back nine of Royal Birkdale. Then came the PGA Championship, where even Harrington could sense destiny on the side of Sergio Garcia.
It turned out to be a familiar story Sunday — and for Garcia, a familiar finish.
Three shots behind at the turn, Harrington again shot a 32 on the back nine thanks to three putts that major champions make — a 12-footer for par on the 16th to tie, a 10-footer at No. 17 to take the lead and a 15-foot par putt at the end that set off another celebration.
Harrington closed with a 4-under 66 at Oakland Hills for a two-shot victory over Garcia and Ben Curtis to become only the fourth player to win the British Open and the PGA Championship in the same year.
Along the way, he ended 78 years without a European winner at the PGA Championship. And to top it off, he became the first European ever to win consecutive majors.
“I obviously hold a lot of European players who I grew up watching in high esteem,” Harrington said. “To believe that I achieved something they hadn’t is very special.”
He showed no regard for one of his own for the second straight year.
Garcia ran his record to 0-38 in the majors, right when the 28-year-old Spaniard felt it was all coming together. He had a one-shot lead and was in the middle of the 16th fairway when he hit into the water and had to scramble for bogey. Then he missed a 4-foot birdie on the 17th to match Harrington. And he could only watch — again — as Harrington knocked in a par on the last.
“I have no regrets of anything I did out there,” Garcia said.
Harrington talked about going to another level after winning the British Open, and he wound up in elite company a month later. He joined Tiger Woods (2000 and 2006), Nick Price (1994) and Walter Hagen (1924) as the only players to win the PGA and British Open in the same year. And he now has won three of the last six majors, accumulating them at a rate only Woods can appreciate over the last 25 years.
“That’s Tiger-like, right there,” Curtis said.
Woods, who missed his second straight major after season-ending knee surgery, could have appreciated Harrington’s clutch performance. Even more impressive was how he kept his cool, rarely showing emotion over key putts until the final one dropped.
Harrington pumped his fist twice, then a third time for effect.
Moments later, after Curtis failed to hole his shot from the fairway, he was holding son Patrick by his heels in a family moment and hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy for another major victory.
Harrington finished at 3-under 277 and earned $1.35 million.
Curtis lost a chance to validate his shocking victory in the 2003 British Open. He bogeyed two of the final four holes for a 71, but came away with a big consolation. His tie for second was enough to move him up to No. 7 in the U.S. standings and qualify for the Ryder Cup.
“It’s almost a victory in itself,” Curtis said.
Garcia moved to No. 3 in the European standings and sewed up a spot on his fifth straight team.
Harrington wasn’t even in the picture Sunday morning when players returned to Oakland Hills to resume the weather-delayed third round, some of them playing 36 holes. He was 4 over after nine holes, then ran off four straight birdies on the back nine for a 66 to get into contention going into the final 18.
With another major at stake under gloomy skies, Harrington simply shined.
And for the second straight year, Garcia suffered.
Harrington rallied from six shots behind last year to beat Garcia in a playoff at Carnoustie. This time, he spotted the Spaniard three shots when they made the turn and made four birdies over the back nine.
Garcia accepted defeat far more graciously than at Carnoustie, although he was terse when asked if he sensed he would win his first major as he headed to the back nine after two tremendous par saves.
“Next question, please,” he said. “Let’s try to keep this as positive as we can, please.”
J.B. Holmes, who had a one-shot lead when he arrived Sunday morning to play the final 36 holes, was one shot behind going into the final round and collapsed in a hurry with a triple bogey. He shot 81.
Boo Weekley closed with a 66 to finish at No. 8 in the standings and earn his first trip to the Ryder Cup.
Woods is the only other player to win so many majors so quickly in the last 25 years — the U.S. Open in June made him 4-of-8 until the surgery.
Trying to play it safe after Garcia went into the water on the 16th, Harrington pulled his approach into the bunker and blasted out some 12 feet beyond the cup, leaving himself a putt with about 2 feet of break. He made it for par, then hit 5-iron to 8 feet on the 17th for one of only four birdies there in the final round.
As well as Harrington played, however, Garcia had a hand in his victory.
He chunked a chip short of the par-5 12th green that made him settle for par. His 6-iron to the 15th flew into the cup on the fly and bounced out, leaving him a 10-foot birdie putt that never had a chance. And after answering Harrington with a tee shot to 4 feet on the 17th, he couldn’t match his birdie. Garcia’s putt was left all the way, catching the lip and spinning away.
The other member of the threesome was Charlie Wi, playing in his first major.
“I turned to my caddie on 16 and said, ‘God, this is a lot of fun just to watch,”‘ said Wi, who shot 74 and tied for ninth.
Curtis shot 68 in the morning to finish his third round at 2-under 208 for his first 54-hole lead in a major. He was the only player to reach 4 under on the weekend with a two-putt birdie on No. 6, where the tees were moved up to make the hole play 294 yards. He had three solid par saves on the front, but none on the back when it mattered.
He was tied for lead after a 10-foot birdie on the 14th, but pulled his drive on the 15th and made bogey, then watched his tee shot on the 17th land too hard and roll into a clump of rough behind the green, leading to another bogey.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Harrington repeats as British Open champ in 2008 at Birkdale.
July 21, 2008
Padraig Harrington enjoys few moments more than the walk down 18th fairway of a century-old links course, especially with a four-shot lead in the British Open and the engraver putting the final touches on the oldest trophy in golf.
He stopped Sunday to share the moment with Greg Norman, who knows this path all too well.
Celebration for one, sympathy for the other.
“I did say to him coming down 18 that I was sorry it wasn’t his story that was going to be told,” Harrington said. “I did feel that, but I wanted to win myself. In this game, you have to take your chances when you get them.”
Harrington seized his opportunity by smashing a pair of fairway metals into the par 5s that carried him to a 32 on the back nine of blustery Royal Birkdale and made him Europe’s first player in more than a century to win the British Open two years in a row.
“Obviously, winning a major puts you in a special club,” Harrington said after closing with a 1-under 69 to win by four shots over Ian Poulter. “Winning two of them puts you in a new club altogether.”
Norman got a chance no one saw coming.
Still on his honeymoon with tennis great Chris Evert, at 53 only a part-time golfer with no expectations, the Shark found himself with a two-shot lead going into the final round and still one shot ahead with nine holes to play.
It ended like so many other majors for Norman — a quick succession of bogeys, the clutch shots belonging to someone else. He made eight bogeys in gusts that reached 40 mph, closed with a 77 and tied for third.
“Where does it rank in those? Probably not as high as some of the other ones,” Norman said of the six other times he lost a 54-hole lead in a major. “Quite honestly, I’m sure I surprised a lot of people.”
So did Harrington.
The 36-year-old Irishman injured his right wrist eight days ago, and it was so sore that he could only practice for nine holes on Tuesday and for three swings on the eve of his title defense.
He gave himself a 75 percent chance of starting, 50 percent of finishing.
Turns out that wrist was strong enough to hit all the right shots. Better yet, it was strong enough to lift the claret jug.
“It was a great distraction for me,” Harrington said. “It took a lot of pressure off me. It took a lot of stress off me. The fact that I didn’t play three practice rounds like normal for a major was a big bonus. I was very fresh going into the weekend, and this 36 holes was a real battle.”
Harrington first had to take the lead from Norman, which he did on the par-3 12th when Norman missed a 10-foot par putt. Then came a late charge from Poulter, who made a 15-foot birdie on the 16th and saved par with a 15-footer on the final hole for a 69 that looked like it might be good enough to win.
But the Irishman responded with clutch shots of his own. He hit a 3-wood into the wind to 40 feet on the par-5 15th and got down in two putts for birdie, giving him a two-shot lead. Standing in the 17th fairway, still aware that Norman could make eagle and stay in the game, Harrington hit a 5-wood that bounded onto the green and up the ridge, stopping 4 feet away for eagle.
That gave him a four-shot lead, and he knew it was over when his tee shot found the 18th fairway.
What a change from last year, when Harrington made double bogey on the 18th hole, got into a playoff only when Sergio Garcia couldn’t save par, and couldn’t celebrate at Carnoustie until a testy 3-footer for par on the last hole of overtime.
“I enjoyed the claret jug so much I didn’t want to give it back,” Harrington said.
He finished at 3-over 283, becoming the first European since James Braid in 1905-06 to win the Open in successive years.
It was his first victory since the British Open last year, and it could not have come at a better time. Harrington moved to the top of Europe’s Ryder Cup standings, and the victory moved him to No. 3 in the world ranking behind Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
“I’m quite enjoying this,” Harrington said, cradling the claret jug. “I don’t think I’ll get down off the stage.”
Norman played a familiar role as the tragic figure.
He lost his two-shot lead after the third hole and wound up in a tie for third with Henrik Stenson, who shot 71. The 77 was one shot better than the last time Norman led a major, closing with a 78 in the 1996 Masters.
“I walk away from here disappointed, but with my head held high, because I hung in there,” Norman said.
Poulter thought he could bring England its first British Open since Nick Faldo in 1992, playing bogey-free over his final 15 holes. He went to the practice range in case of a playoff, but put his clubs away when he saw that Harrington made eagle on the 17th hole.
“I can only do what I can do,” Poulter said. “And I done my best.”
Norman tried to keep alive his hopes with a 35-foot par putt on the 14th, and a shot from a pot bunker that made him spin backward, turning to see the ball land 4 feet away at the 15th for his only birdie of the day. Harrington, however, didn’t back down.
“Padraig played brilliantly today, even though he tried to let it get away in the middle of the round,” Norman said. “He came back and performed brilliantly, and he finished like a true champion.”
The leaderboard featured a familiar name, missing an “s.”
Chris Wood, a 20-year-old amateur from England, closed in on the lead until three straight bogeys on the back nine. He finished with a 72 and tied for fifth at 10-over 290 with Jim Furyk (71).
“It’s been the best week of my life,” Wood said.
Norman felt much the same, except for the final day.
What an amazing week for the Shark - spending his honeymoon in Skibo Castle, showing up at Royal Birkdale to tune up for the Senior British Open and Senior U.S. Open, then feeling those old competitive juices.
Fans perched themselves atop every sand dune to see if Norman could pull off a victory that would have ranked among the most stunning in golf, from Jack Nicklaus winning the Masters at age 46 to Ben Hogan returning from a life-threatening car crash to win the U.S. Open.
But instead of a fairy-tale ending, he delivered a rerun of opportunities lost in the majors.
Norman hit into a pot bunker on the first hole and made bogey. He missed the green left on the second hole and made bogey. His tee shot buried in the right rough on the third hole for another bogey. And he had to make an 8-foot putt to save bogey on the sixth.
Just like that, a two-shot lead over Harrington turned into a two-shot deficit.
Harrington gave him one last chance with three straight bogeys to close out the front nine. That was the last bogey he made.
“This year is more satisfying,” Harrington said.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
K.J. Choi leads after second round of British Open at Birkdale.
July 18, 2008
Tiger Woods on crutches was supposed to be a chance for someone else to seize the spotlight at the British Open. Greg Norman wasn’t the guy anyone had in mind.
Neither was David Duval.
Indeed, Royal Birkdale proved to be fertile ground for fairy tales Friday.
K.J. Choi rolled in a 25-foot birdie on the final hole for a 3-under 67 in more gloom and wind along the Irish Sea, giving him his first lead in a major championship. It will be the second consecutive year he plays in the final group at the British Open going into the weekend.
But the biggest surprises were right behind him, starting with a pair of British Open champions who once were No. 1 in the world.
Norman barely touched a club in the month leading up to his 26th appearance in golf’s oldest championship. The 53-year-old married tennis great Chris Evert three weeks ago, and a trip to England counts as the tail end of his honeymoon.
He wound up renewing his love affair with links golf, delivering great escapes over his final three holes for an even-par 70 that put his name atop the leaderboard for most of the afternoon until Choi birdied the final two holes.
Choi was at 1-under 139, one shot ahead of Norman.
“My expectations were almost nil coming in, to tell you the truth,” Norman said. “My expectations are still realistically low, and I have to be that way. I can’t sit here and say, ‘OK, it’s great. I’m playing well and I’m doing it.’ I am playing well. I am doing it. But I still haven’t been there for a long time.”
His last victory was 10 years ago in Australia at the Greg Norman Holden International. He hasn’t been this close to the lead at the halfway point of a major since he was leading the ‘96 Masters.
Duval knows that feeling.
His last victory was the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan at the end of 2001, the year he won his only major at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. What followed was a mysterious slump that included a half-dozen coaches, precious few rounds under par and an aloof player who found happiness in marriage and children.
For those waiting for another collapse, Duval never showed a hint of it.
He chipped in for birdie at No. 11, kept damage to only a bogey when he found a pot bunker off the tee on the 13th, and bounced back with another birdie on the par-3 14th.
“I’ve been working toward greatness, not just getting back to making cuts and managing to play halfway decent,” said Duval, who had made only one cut in 11 starts this year before arriving at Royal Birkdale. “I’ve been trying to take the long route and the hard route and try to get back to greatness.
“That story is yet to be told as to whether I can get back to that point or not,” he said. “But that’s what I strive for.”
This wonderful story unfolding at Birkdale still has a long way to go.
It starts with Choi, a 37-year-old from South Korea who didn’t think much of golf until a high school teacher handed him an instructional book by Jack Nicklaus. A seven-time winner on the PGA Tour — the most of any Asian player — he overcame a bogey on the first hole to play flawlessly in a steady 20 mph wind and occasional squirts of rain.
“I think today was probably my best round I’ve ever played at the British Open,” said Choi, who trailed Sergio Garcia by two shots going into the third round at Carnoustie last year before finishing in a tie for eighth. “Everything worked the way I wanted it to.”
The best finish belonged to Camilo Villegas of Colombia, whose lone victory came last year in Japan.
A marketing dream, Villegas is known as “Spider-Man” for splaying his body horizontally to read putts at surface level. He made everything over the final five holes - all birdies - for a tournament-best 65 that left him two shots behind.
“Let me tell you, when you get on the first tee, you never think about a score,” said Villegas, who got into the British Open as an alternate when Kenny Perry decided not to come. “You just think about every single shot because you don’t know how bad it can get, when the weather is going to get like it was yesterday morning. So you’re just trying to grind every single shot. And that’s what I did.”
Villegas was at 141.
Duval and a half-dozen others were at 2-over 142, which is where more fairy tales in the making reside.
Padraig Harrington normally wouldn’t fall into that category, but the defending champion injured his right wrist and wasn’t sure he could even tee it up Thursday. The Irishman said there was only a 50 percent chance he would finish his first round.
And the odds he would play his final four holes in 4 under and shoot 68 and be three shots out of the lead?
“As long as I could play, I was happy,” Harrington said. “The wrist injury took some of the pressure off me, but it definitely was a nice distraction to have, assuming that I was going to go and play.”
Now he’s in decent shape as he tries to become the first European to win consecutive British Opens since James Braid in 1905-06.
Others at 142 included former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, Robert Allenby, Graeme McDowell and Alexander Noren, a Swede who attended wind-blown Oklahoma State.
Twenty players were within five shots of the lead, a group that includes Jean Van De Velde, the Frenchman made famous by his follies on the final hole at Carnoustie that led to triple bogey and cost him a claret jug. He was at 4-over 144.
“This whole tournament is likely to be sorted out in the last nine holes, and you just want to be in that hunt,” Harrington said.
Sergio Garcia, the pre-tournament favorite, has some work to do. He was moving into contention until hitting sideways on the 11th hole on his way to a double bogey, and he had to settle for a 73 that put him six shots behind.
Ernie Els was lucky to still be playing. He missed a 5-foot par putt on the final hole for a 69 and figured he had missed the cut. He wound up making it on the number, but he might need a new putter on Saturday considering how hard he threw his into the ground as he stormed off the 18th green.
Lee Trevino is the only 36-hole leader at Royal Birkdale to win the British Open, perhaps opening up more possibilities.
Considering what Norman and Duval have done over 36 holes, anything can happen.
Norman’s most dramatic shots weren’t even for birdie. With his feet planted on the edge of a pot bunker on the 16th, he leaned down and scooped out a shot to 6 feet to save his par. Then came a 12-foot putt on the 17th to make bogey, and he finished it off with a 20-foot par putt from the fringe on the 18th.
At a packed press conference, Norman was asked if he anticipated being in this position when he arrived at Royal Birkdale.
“Nope,” he said, flashing those pearly whites. “I’m not going to say anymore.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Rocco is tied for the lead after opening round of British Open.
July 17, 2008
The day started with howling wind and soaking rain. By afternoon, the showers had stopped and the breeze tailed off.
Rocco Mediate was among those taking advantage of the break in the weather.
Mr. Everyman proved his performance at the last major championship was no fluke, becoming the first player at the British Open to break par Thursday. His 1-under 69 was quickly matched by Graeme McDowell and Robert Allenby, all of them late starters seizing on their meteorological good fortune.
Mediate chipped in for birdie at No. 17, then knocked in a 20-footer for another birdie at the final hole. Clearly, he has gotten over his playoff loss to Tiger Woods at last month’s U.S. Open.
“I love it here,” said Mediate, playing the British for the first time since 2002. “It’s great to be back.”
McDowell and Allenby also headed to the Royal Birkdale clubhouse with birdie-birdie finishes, joining Mediate atop the leaderboard.
This was a day that could be divided into two very distinct groups: Those who had to tee off in the morning, and those who checked in later.
Out of the first 26 threesomes — exactly half the 156-player field — there were 19 scores in the 80s and two other players quit before they could get there, too. There wasn’t one red number in any group. The average score was 77, the numbers jacked up by steady, sometimes heavy rain and winds gusting up to 35 mph.
Among the horror stories: Phil Mickelson lost a ball in the tangly rough and shot 79; Vijay Singh signed for an 80, and so did Ernie Els, the worst score ever on his sterling Open record; Sandy Lyle and Rich Beem simply gave up.
Certainly, Kenny Perry must have been chuckling to himself after taking all that grief for deciding to skip the oldest of the majors because he didn’t think it suited his game.
“It got to the point where you just don’t care,” moaned Pat Perez, who went off in the second group of the day and shot 82. “Now I know why Kenny stayed home.”
Compare that with the afternoon. The next 10 groups to finish produced all three of the co-leaders, as well Greg Norman and Adam Scott, each at 70. No one in the latter half of the bracket had yet to shoot worse than 79.
Mediate, 45, revitalized his sagging career at Torrey Pines, where he lost a 19-hole playoff to Woods but became the hero of average Joes everywhere with his “what in the heck am I doing here” demeanor.
After his dramatic win, Woods headed back to surgery for further repairs on his ailing left knee, knocking him out for the rest of the year. Mediate carried on, picking up right where he left off at the last major.
And this time, at least, he won’t have to worry about fending off Woods, all warm and comfy back home in the States.
Before the weather improved, it was virtually impossible to cope with holes such as the gargantuan sixth, a 499-yard layout that played into the teeth of the wind. Boo Weekley was forced to play driver on two straight shots — and he still didn’t reach the green.
“If this is the summer,” said Weekley, a native of the Florida Panhandle, “I couldn’t live here.”
Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen and 2003 Masters winner Mike Weir put up the best scores among the early starters, both shooting 1-over 71s.
“Par is irrelevant on a day like this,” said Craig Parry, who hit the first shot of the tournament and struggled to a 77. “You can only laugh and take it on the chin. The golf course is going to win.”
Goosen overcame a double-bogey at No. 6 and somehow managed to put up four birdies in brutal conditions that made golf’s oldest championship a stern test even without Woods looming over the field.
“One of the best” was how the South African summed up his round. “It was a battle out there.”
Weir also had a double-bogey on his card. But he countered it with the first eagle of the tournament at the 17th, where he knocked a 5-iron from 235 yards to 12 feet and sank the putt.
“Starting the day, I definitely would have taken 1-over par,” the Canadian said. “The wind was at strong as I’ve ever seen.”
Despite a sore wrist, defending champion Padraig Harrington got off to a solid start with a 74. The Irishman would have been even closer to the lead if not for a bogey-bogey finish, but was pleased with his round given that he seriously considered withdrawing just a day earlier.
“I think the bad day helped,” Harrington said. “You had no time to think about anything else but your next shot.”
The guy he beat a year ago, Sergio Garcia, shot a 2-over 36 on the front side.
Beem called it quits after reaching the midway point with a score 10 strokes higher. His first seven holes went like this: bogey, quadruple-bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey, double-bogey.
“If I had continued, I don’t think I would have broken 90,” Beem said.
Lyle, who won the Open at Royal St. George’s in 1985, reached a similar conclusion. The 50-year-old pulled out after playing the first 10 holes in an 11-over 49.
“I felt I could do myself more harm than good,” he said. “It could take three weeks to recover from this.”
They were hardly the only ones struggling. Mickelson, whose game isn’t well-suited for links golf, couldn’t find his ball after hitting into the rough at No. 6. He had to take a penalty and wound up with a triple bogey, on his way to a 79 that goes down as the worst start of his Open career.
Els, considered one of the favorites with Garcia, fell apart down the stretch with three straight 6s and eclipsed the 78 he shot in the opening round at Royal St. George’s in 2003.
Singh took the opposite tack, playing the first 11 holes at 10 over, with only two pars.
“You got rain blowing sideways. It was cold. It was windy,” Singh said. “I didn’t play that badly.”
Others persevered. English favorite Justin Rose, who memorably finished fourth as a 17-year-old amateur in the last Open played at Royal Birkdale in 1998, struggled through the front nine but pulled himself together for a 74. David Duval, whose career fell apart after his 2001 Open win at Lytham, put himself in contention with a surprising 73.
“It’s just a matter of digging in and scrapping it out,” Rose said.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Kenny Perry wins the Buick Open for second time in career.
June 30, 2008
Kentucky, Kenny Perry is coming home.
Perry shot a 6-under 66 on Sunday to win the Buick Open by a stroke at 19 under, likely locking up a spot on the Ryder Cup team that will face Europe at Valhalla about 40 miles from his birthplace.
“I’m ecstatic,” he said. “It really won’t sink in until I’m actually putting on the red, white and blue.”
Perry was amazed he won at Warwick Hills for a second time because Woody Austin closed with consecutive bogeys to blow the tournament and Bubba Wilson just missed a 12-footer that would’ve forced a playoff.
While Perry was on the driving range, he backed into earning $900,000.
“I still can’t believe I won,” he said. “I feel like I need to go make a birdie out there to win.”
Austin and Watson shot 68s.
Perry, 47, joined Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as the only multiple winners this year on the PGA Tour, became the oldest player to win at Warwick Hills and joined a short list of multiple champion.
Vijay Singh has three Buick Open titles, while Woods, Julius Boros, Tony Lema and now Perry have two in the tournament that celebrated its 50th anniversary.
“It’s always nice to have your name associated with the greats of the game,” Perry said. “I’m just hanging onto the shirttails.
“I’m the guy that’s going to get their clubs out of the trunks of their car.”
Austin sounded like he wanted to hide in a trunk.
He became the leader by curling a 9-footer in at the 16th, then fell back into a tie by missing a 13-foot putt for par on the next hole. Austin three-putted from 63 feet to close the tournament and put Perry ahead.
“I threw it away,” said Austin, whose demonstrative ways led him to cup a ball and slam it against the wood board marking the 7th tee. “I didn’t hit the ball close enough to the hole the last two holes to counteract my yips.
“I’ve got to figure it out or I’d better quit.”
Watson had a chance to force a 73rd hole despite a hooked tee shot by remarkably punching the ball onto the green to set up a makable putt that he barely missed.
“If someone had told me that on a tight golf course I’d have a putt for a playoff, I’d have taken the putt and skipped the rest of the week,” he said.
Perry is not going to be at the British Open because he already committed to playing in Milwaukee the same week, following his decision to not attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open the day after winning the Memorial.
“I committed to all these tournaments before when I was ranked 100th in the world,” he explained. “Now all of a sudden I’ve won twice, I’m probably top 20 in the world now.
“I’ve already committed to Milwaukee and I’m not going to back out.”
Perry, who won in 2001 at Warwick Hills, has 11 victories on the PGA Tour.
He had a bogey-eagle-bogey-birdie stretch that dropped him from the lead and put him back into a tie with Austin at the 16th.
His best shot of the week was at the par-4 14th, where his tee shot landed in sand and he pitched in for eagle from 30 yards.
“It came off like a dream, took two hops and just slam-dunked right in the cup,” Perry said. “You never expect to make them, but that really energized me for the last few holes.”
But Perry lost the lead at 15 when he plugged a shot into a greenside bunker, leading to a bogey that put Austin ahead.
Perry bounced back at 16 with a birdie, putting him in position to take advantage of Austin’s collapse and Watson’s errant tee shot on the final hole.
With Tiger Woods sidelined by season-ending knee surgery, Perry trails just two active players in U.S. Ryder Cup standings and one in the FedEx Cup standings.
He has all but guaranteed he’ll reach his goal of playing for his country in his home state and improving his chances to win $10 million in the PGA Tour’s playoff.
“With Tiger out, it’s just a great opportunity for an old guy here to actually steal some money in that FedEx Cup,” Perry said. “So that’s what we’re after now.”
Before Perry gets a chance to win the loot, though, he will get an opportunity in September to live a dream.
“My only goal was to make The Ryder Cup team, and that’s really got me focused for whatever reason,” he said. “It’s at home in Valhalla in my home state and at a golf course that I lost the 1996 PGA Championship to Mark Brooks in a playoff.
“I just feel like I needed to go back there.”
U.S. Open runner-up Rocco Mediate closed with a 70 and finished 11 under, tied for 28th.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Tiger Woods has second surgery on left knee in 10 week span.
June 25, 2008
Tiger Woods has undergone reconstructive surgery on his left knee in Utah to repair a torn ligament, and doctors say it’s “highly unlikely” there will be any long-term effects.
It was the second time in 10 weeks Woods had surgery on his knee, this time on his anterior cruciate ligament.
“We were confident going into this surgery, and I am pleased with the results,” Dr. Thomas D. Rosenberg said in a statement released by IMG, Woods’ management company.
“There were no surprises during the procedure, and as we have said, with the proper rehabilitation and training, it is highly unlikely that Mr. Woods will have any long-term effects as it relates to his career.”
The surgery came one week after Woods went 91 holes at Torrey Pines to win the U.S. Open in a playoff over Rocco Mediate, revealing later that he also had a double stress fracture in his left tibia.
The surgery, performed by Rosenberg and Dr. Vernon J. Cooley in Park City, was the fourth time Woods has had surgery on his left knee. He had a benign tumor removed in 1994, and he had benign cysts removed in 2002, along with fluid around the ACL.
Woods said he tore his ACL while jogging last year after the British Open, but tried to make it through the end of this season without surgery. Two days after his runner-up finish at the Masters, he had surgery to clean out cartilage in his left knee.
The world’s No. 1 player announced last week that he would miss the rest of the season, which includes two more major championships and the Ryder Cup.
“It was important to me to have the surgery as soon as possible so that I could begin the rehabilitation process,” Woods said in a statement. “I am very appreciative of Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Cooley and his staff’s guidance and look forward to working with them through the necessary rehabilitation and training.
“I look forward to working hard at my rehabilitation over the coming months and returning to the PGA Tour healthy next year.”
He did not say when he would start his rehab or any timetable for his return.
Hookscenter.com wire report.