Kenny Perry wins the PGA’s Memorial for a record third time.
June 2, 2008
Kenny Perry joined Tiger Woods as the only three-time winner of the Memorial on Sunday, taking a big step toward joining the No. 1 player in the world on the Ryder Cup team this fall.
With every contender in full retreat on the back nine, the 47-year-old Perry surged ahead with pars and one timely birdie, coasting home to a 3-under 69 and a two-shot victory that could not have come at a better time.
He became the oldest winner at the tournament Jack Nicklaus built, and as he walked off the green to warm handshake from the tournament host, Perry soon was surrounded by his wife and three children. It was the first time in his two decades on the PGA Tour all of them had been at a tournament he won.
Bigger still was his answer to U.S. captain Paul Azinger’s statement earlier in the week, that anyone making his Ryder Cup team would almost certainly have to win on tour this year.
Perry, who squandered two chances in the previous three weeks, delivered his best golf of the year.
He finished at 8-under 280, the highest winning score at the Memorial in 23 years. Perry earned $1.08 million for his 10th career victory, which translates to 1,080 points toward the Ryder Cup, moving him up to No. 5 in the standings.
The Ryder Cup will be held at Valhalla in his native Kentucky, and Perry is so desperate to make the team that he won’t even bother qualifying for the U.S. Open. He does not like Torrey Pines, and figures he should devote his energy to tournaments where he has a better chance of earning points, such as Memphis next week and Hartford the week after the U.S. Open.
“When he (Azinger) said in the paper that you’re probably going to have to win a tournament to get on his team, that changed my thinking,” Perry said. “I’m glad I saw it.”
Third-round leader Mathew Goggin lost his three-shot advantage in three holes and stumbled home to a 74, tied for second with former Masters champion Mike Weir, Justin Rose and Jerry Kelly, all of whom closed with a 71.
All of them had their chances until dropping shots somewhere along the back nine.
Perry took the lead with a birdie on the ninth hole and never gave it up. He effectively secured victory with a 5-wood to 12 feet on the par-5 15th hole, and while he had to settle for a two-putt birdie, it gave him a three-shot lead with three holes remaining.
“I hadn’t seen you all week,” he told Nicklaus walking off the 18th green. “It’s nice to see you here.”
Nicklaus, who played 43 consecutive U.S. Opens and won four of them, didn’t flinch earlier Sunday when told that Perry was skipping the national championship.
“My goal was never to make the Ryder Cup. It was to win the U.S. Open,” Nicklaus said. “But I understand. Being in Kentucky, it’s a big thing for Kenny. He’s looking at the big picture for him to do what he wants to do.”
Perry was one shot behind going into the final round of the Players Championship and closed with an 81. He was in a playoff in the AT&T Classic outside Atlanta two weeks ago when his second shot to the par 5 caromed off the base of a tree and shot back across the green and into the water.
“Magic always happens here,” said Perry, who also won in 1991 and 2005.
It sure didn’t happen for anyone else.
Goggin’s three-shot margin was gone in three holes, and his lead vanished in four, courtesy of two bogeys as everyone else was moving forward. The only consolation was a birdie at No. 18 and a tie for second, matching his best PGA Tour result.
“It took me three, four holes to calm down,” Goggin said. “And that was the difference.”
Four players had a share of the lead on the front nine, all of them poised to take charge.
Rose was the first to 8 under when he holed a bunker shot for eagle on No. 7, but he retreated with a bogey from the bunker on the next hole and fell apart early on the back nine, not all by his own doing. Still in range of the lead, Rose watched an approach just left of the flag on No. 13 hit a sprinkler in the fringe and carom into the gallery, leading to bogey.
Weir, trying to become Canada’s biggest PGA Tour winner with his ninth victory, chipped in for birdie from short of the ninth green to make the turn at 8 under and tied for the lead, but he also gave away shots early on the back nine. Weir came up short on the 10th and missed a 10-foot par putt, then went over the 11th green with a wedge into rough so deep he could barely see his ball.
Weir had the last chance, two shots behind until missing a 7-foot birdie on the 17th.
“When you win a tournament, you guess right a few times,” Weir said. “Today, three times in a row I guessed wrong.”
Kelly never had a share of the lead, but he felt as miserable as the rest of them. Perry made his lone bogey on the 17th to fall to 8 under, and Kelly was 3 feet away for birdie to pull within one shot. His putt caught the lip and spun 5 feet away.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Kim wins the Wachovia Championship for first PGA win.
May 5, 2008
Knee surgery prevented Tiger Woods from attempting to defend his Wachovia Championship title. Anthony Kim didn’t disappoint fans at Quail Hollow Club looking for Tiger-like brilliance.
In a near flawless performance Sunday, the 22-year-old Kim became the youngest winner on the PGA Tour in six years. Following monster drives with flagstick-hitting approach shots and steady putting, Kim shot a 3-under 69 to cruise to five-shot win over Ben Curtis.
The former NCAA freshman of the year at Oklahoma won’t turn 23 until next month. But he dominated a star-studded field by finishing with a 16-under 272 total, three shots better than the previous tournament record held by Woods.
“I’m a little bit numb right now, but that walk up 18 was the best feeling of my entire life,” Kim said. “I’ll never forget that feeling. I had chills going up and down my spine. I want to recreate that as many times as possible now, so I’m really going to work hard.”
Kim earned $1,134,000 and became the youngest winner since Sergio Garcia won his third PGA Tour title in the 2002 Mercedes Championship.
Kim brought memories of Garcia, but for a different reason, when he strolled to the first tee Sunday with a four-shot lead and no PGA Tour wins. Garcia blew a six-shot lead at Quail Hollow in 2005 and lost in a playoff to Vijay Singh.
“I was actually pretty comfortable. I thought I’d have a couple more butterflies in my stomach at the first tee,” Kim said. “I felt pretty calm and confident about my game.”
It showed. Kim birdied the first and fifth holes to pull away from playing partner Heath Slocum, who shot a 73 and finished at 8 under.
“Anthony played great,” Slocum said. “From the get-go he put his foot on the gas and never let off. That was very, very impressive.”
Kim made 25- and 20-foot putts for birdies on the seventh and eighth holes to reach 17 under for a seven-shot lead as his giant belt buckle reading “AK” sparked in the bright sunshine.
Kim’s first miscue was on the par-4 ninth, when his drive landed in a fairway bunker, forcing him to lay up. He then hit the flagstick with his third shot and saved par.
Kim’s bogey on No. 13 was erased with birdies on the next two holes. He finished bogey-bogey-par, pumping his fist as his last putt dropped, as he lapped a field that included 18 of the world’s top 25 golfers.
“I knew my life was changing on the 18th green when I was lining that putt up,” Kim said. “It was just so special. I’ll never forget that feeling. All these emotions were starting to run through and I realized what I had done and all the hard work had paid off.”
Curtis’ 65 was the best round of the day and the best final round in the tournament’s six years. The 36-hole leader, Jason Bohn, shot a 71 to finish third at 10 under.
None of the big names lurking near the top of the leaderboard Sunday made a charge.
Jim Furyk (7 under) and Phil Mickelson (5 under) shot 72s. Singh was out of it before he hit two tee shots in the water on No. 17 and chipped in for triple bogey. His 74 left him at 4 under.
Robert Allenby’s 66 put him at 9 under and alone in fourth place. But there was no match for Kim, who became the eighth 20-something golfer to win this year.
“I kind of sensed that he was going for a bit of a trip,” Allenby said of Kim. “I had a look on 17 just to see where he was. I knew he was going pretty good. I was playing for second.”
After leaving Oklahoma following his junior year, Kim tied for second in his PGA Tour debut at the 2006 Texas Open. He earned his tour card that winter and was the youngest rookie in 2007 when he had four top-10s finishes.
But Kim didn’t come close to winning and struggled with his temper and his decision-making. He decided he had to practice more and not take as many unnecessary gambles on the course.
“I think if I had won last year my practicing would have gone down even less - and there wasn’t much to go down,” Kim joked. “I might have been playing on the Hooters Tour. It might have been the best thing for me, just to get slapped in the face and realize that I can’t win out here without practicing, giving it my all on every golf shot, every practice round.”
After three missed cuts earlier in the year, Kim played in the final group at the Verizon Heritage two weeks ago, but never threatened for the win. Things changed at Quail Hollow, where Kim finished tied for seventh behind Woods last year.
Kim is the fifth first-time winner in 2008, joining Brian Gay, Greg Kraft, Andres Romero and Johnson Wagner.
“I was an immature kid last year,” Kim said as he wore the winner’s blue jacket. “I feel like I’ve grown up quite a bit and I think that helped me so much this week, so much this year and hopefully in the future.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Scott wins EDS Byron Nelson Championship in a playoff.
April 27, 2008
Adam Scott felt he needed to make a statement by winning Sunday. He did, though, not quite the way he wanted to do it.
After blowing the three-stroke lead he carried into the final round, Scott made a nine-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to force a playoff, then made a 48-footer playing it again on the third playoff hole to beat Ryan Moore in the EDS Byron Nelson Championship.
“In the end, I think (the statement) was to myself, I could actually win it when things weren’t going my way,” Scott said. “But it wasn’t quite the statement I had in mind. I would have liked to have gone out there and have played like Ryan played and won by a few.”
Still, Scott made the clutch shots when he needed them for his sixth PGA Tour victory after cutting short his post-Masters trip home to Australia so not to waste his good play there.
Playing the 18th hole for the third time in less than an hour, the second time in the playoff, Scott hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker to the right. But he got his approach to the front of the green, then rolled the putt over two ridges and into the cup.
“I got away with one today,” said Scott, at No. 10 in the world the highest-ranked player in the Nelson field. “A bit lucky.”
Moore still had a chance to force another hole, but his pin-high putt from the fringe skimmed just past the cup.
“I’m just a little frustrated I didn’t make mine,” said Moore, who closed with a 2-under 68 to match Scott (71) at 7-under 273.
The playoff was a fitting end after a back-and-forth Sunday duel between Scott and Moore, who finished four shots ahead of Bart Bryant (72). Nicholas Thompson (67), Mark Hensby (69) and Carl Pettersson (69) tied for fourth at 2 under.
It was the fourth career runner-up finish for Moore, the first player since Tiger Woods to skip Q-school and go straight from college to the PGA Tour. Woods got his first victory in his seventh start as a pro, while Moore is still looking for his first after 70 tournaments since 2005, after he was a four-time All-American at UNLV.
“A loss is a loss, but I tied for first at the end of the day,” said Moore, who had never been in a playoff. “I was just proud of myself for battling around on a tough day in tough conditions.”‘
Playing conditions at the redesigned TPC Four Seasons changed drastically again after rain overnight combined with blustery conditions Sunday. It was an unseasonable cool day with temperatures barely reaching 60 degrees, with wind gusting to 30 mph making it feel cooler — and making club selection harder.
The winning score was the highest since the Nelson moved to the Las Colinas venue in 1983. Only three other times had a winner failed to finish at least 10-under par, and two of those were in rain-shortened tournaments.
The playoff started with both players making pars, first at No. 18 and then at the TPC Four Seasons’ signature par 3, the 198-yard 17th hole, where Moore had taken a one-stroke lead in regulation by curling in a 12-foot birdie putt.
Scott, who earned $1,152,000, missed opportunities to win on each of the first two playoff holes, leaving makable birdie putts short both times.
Moore’s tee shot to start the playoff went way right into the gallery, but he made a great save to the green and was able to two-putt for par.
When they were back to 17, Scott went for the flag tucked in the right front of the green beyond the lake, and landed the ball about 10 feet from the cup. Moore was well left off the fringe, near the same area where Scott was in regulation, but both two-putted, sending them to 18 again.
Moore played for only the third time in 10 weeks, having taken some extra time off this spring instead of continuing to play through the pain of a sore shoulder and surgically repaired left hand still bothering him two years later. He opened with a 67 for a share of the lead.
“After this week, I’m looking forward to the rest of the season,” Moore said.
It was the 16th playoff at the Nelson since 1968, more than any other tournament on the PGA Tour. The last was in 2004, when Sergio Garcia beat Robert Damron and Dudley Hart on the first extra hole.
At the start of the day, Scott stuffed both hands in his pockets walking down the No. 1 fairway after pushing his opening tee shot way right into trampled grass, but he managed to salvage a bogey after a nice approach short of the green. He was steady until he got to the 174-yard fifth hole, where he hit his tee shot fat and into the water. That double bogey shrunk his lead over Moore from three shots to one.
After Scott and Moore both birdied the par-5 seventh, Moore got even at 6-under with a 6-foot birdie putt on the 461-yard eighth.
Moore went ahead with a 7-foot birdie at the 10th hole, and maintained that lead until consecutive bogeys. His tee shot at the 180-yard 13th went into a greenside bunker and he couldn’t make the 10-foot par putt, then his approach at No. 14 went into another bunker behind the green that put Scott up by one.
But Scott, who had a 7-foot birdie attempt at No. 11 stop one roll short of dropping into the cup, hit his first two shots at No. 15 into the rough and wound up with bogey.
“I will probably take away more from gutting it out than winning by five,” Scott said. “I needed to go and close this thing out, and it was tough. … It would have been a tough defeat.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Scott leads the EDS Byron Nelson Championship after Day 3.
April 26, 2008
Adam Scott figured there was no point wasting his good play to take money from his mates in Australia. So he cut short his trip home to get back on the PGA Tour.
“I came here to get in contention and win a golf tournament,” said Scott, who stayed home only a week after the Masters. “I feel like I’ve been playing well this year and haven’t quite done it. So I’m kind of pushing myself a little bit to do that.”
He only needs one more good round to win the EDS Byron Nelson Championship.
Scott took a three-stroke lead into the final round after a 3-under 67 Saturday got him to 8-under 202. He birdied two of the last three holes, including a 3½-footer at the 429-yard 18th.
“It all depends on Adam,” said Bart Bryant, among the quartet of players three strokes behind. “Obviously, he’s a world-class player. He has the potential to go out and kind of run away with it.”
Scott, at No. 10 in the world the highest-ranked player in the field, again topped the leaderboard after his solid finish Saturday, and Kevin Sutherland’s bad one.
Sutherland, whose only PGA Tour victory came six years ago, was at 7 under with a one-stroke lead over Scott until bogeys on the final two holes.
After missing a 7-foot par putt on the 198-yard 17th hole, Sutherland pushed his final tee shot way right into heavy rough — and was still in the rough after his punch shot. He finally got to the front edge of the green and two-putted from 70 feet.
“I have to remember what I did before that,” Sutherland said. “I had a good rhythm going, a good feeling and tried to keep doing that. … I kind of got away from that maybe at the end.”
Sutherland (67), Bryant (67), Charley Hoffman (68) and Ryan Moore (68) made up the closest group chasing Scott. Sergio Garcia, after a season-best 65, was four strokes back along with Dudley Hart (66) and Jesper Parnevik (68).
While Sutherland was getting spectators moved out of the way for his first shot out of the rough at 18, Scott missed a chance for a bigger margin when his 9-foot birdie attempt at the 504-yard 15th hole drifted left only inches away from the hole. But Scott didn’t wait long for another birdie chance.
Scott missed the fairway on the par-5 16th, layed up into the fairway and put his approach shot inside 6 feet to set up a birdie. After his aggressive birdie attempt at 17 rolled 6 feet past the hole, Scott’s approach at 18 was right on the pin.
In his only other Nelson appearance two years ago, Scott shared the lead at the end of each of the first three rounds. A closing 71 left him in third place behind Brett Wetterich and Trevor Immelman, who missed the Nelson cut this year in his first tournament since winning the Masters.
“I’ve got something to prove,” Scott said, recalling 2006. “I’d like to play how I have the last couple of days, just in a nice rhythm.”
Scott’s third round began with his opening tee shot landing in a fairway bunker, though he saved par with a two-putt from 17 feet before missing a 6-foot-par chance at the 221-yard second hole. There were consecutive birdies before Scott missed the fairway at the 451-yard eighth for a bogey, his last of the day.
“It was a bit of a slow start for me. I never really got going on the front and let everybody catch up,” Scott said. “I knew a solid nine holes would do me good. … No. 16 and 18 were key. I finished the day with a couple of nice wedge shots, and that makes it a little buffer going into (Sunday).”
Until the end, things were going well for Sutherland.
After his 4-foot birdie at the 174-yard fifth hole, he reached the 542-yard 7th in two shots and had to make only an 8-footer for eagle. He added birdies at Nos. 11 and 13 before the unwanted ending.
“I hit the ball terrific. The first 14 holes, I really didn’t miss a shot,” Sutherland said. “It would be a little different if I bogeyed the first two holes and birdied the last two holes obviously. … Right now, you kind of stew a little bit on it. But (Sunday), I can’t remember it.”
The redone TPC Four Seasons course could play much differently for the final round because of an overnight forecast for inclement weather and more than an inch of rain. Tournament officials will use threesomes Sunday, teeing off from Nos. 1 and 10.
Garcia, the 2004 Nelson champion, had three birdies his first seven holes, starting with an approach to 7 feet on the opening hole. His only bogey came at No. 8, when he had his only three-putt - from 72 feet. He added three more birdies after that.
His best scoring round of the season came despite hitting only two of 14 fairways. Garcia baled himself out of trouble with his short game and his putter, an 8-year-old one he recently pulled out of his old bags. He needed only 27 putts.
“I loved it as soon as I put it down. It just gave me a good vibe,” Garcia said. “It’s just that old feeling from years back when you did well and you holed putts and stuff.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Scott leads after Day 2 at EDS Byron Nelson Championship.
April 26, 2008
Adam Scott birdied his first four holes and shot a second-round 67 to take the lead at 5-under 135 halfway through the Byron Nelson Championship on Friday.
That was good for a one-stroke lead over fellow Australians Mark Hensby (67) and Mathew Goggin (69), and Scott McCarron (66), who missed all of last season recovering from right elbow surgery.
Scott managed only one more birdie in his second round to go with two bogeys, but that was enough to give the only one of the world’s top 10 players at the Byron Nelson sole possession of the lead.
“It would have been nice to get a couple more after my start,” said Scott, 10th in the latest rankings. “But I’m pretty happy.”
McCarron, who for seven months before his surgery in August 2006 played with a muscle torn away from the bone in his elbow, had a bogey-free round with a pair of birdies on each side. More encouraging was playing healthy.
“There was a long time there where I did not know if that was going to happen,” McCarron said. “I’m just happy to be playing without pain. I’m taking baby steps to get where I can play and compete again. This is a big step obviously.”
Hensby had his only two bogeys in his first three holes, during the same stretch of Scott’s birdie string. But Hensby made an 8-foot birdie at the 180-yard 13th hole and played bogey-free for the rest of the round, including a 4-under 31 on the front nine.
The fairways at the redesigned TPC Four Seasons course firmed up, but wind still gusting more than 25 mph (40 kph) made scoring conditions tough again. The cut of 3-over 143 was the highest at the Nelson since 2000. The last time a second-round leader had a higher score was 1984.
Trevor Immelman followed his opening 78 with a 75 and became the first Masters champion since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1994 to miss the cut in his next tournament.
Ryan Moore (70), who shared the first-round lead with Goggin and Eric Axley, had five birdies and five bogeys. He dropped two strokes off the pace into a tie for fifth with Justin Leonard (bogey-free 66), Parker McLachlin (69), Charley Hoffman (68) and Roland Thatcher (68). Axley shot a 74.
Thatcher, who played in one of the last groups of the day, matched Scott for the lead with birdies at Nos. 14 and 16. But Thatcher finished with consecutive bogeys, hitting over the green at the 198-yard 17th before putting his final tee shot into a lake.
After his 25th-place finish at the Masters, Scott returned to Australia and played a couple of rounds, then decided he “should be back on tour rather than wasting it at Sanctuary Cove.”
The opening string of birdies on Nos. 10-13 in the morning at the redone TPC pushed Scott into the lead. He matched Moore after chipping to 7 inches at the 323-yard 11th, then added two more birdies, an 8-footer at No. 12 followed by a 19-footer.
“I just managed to hit a few good shots in a row,” Scott said. “There weren’t too many after that. It was just a matter of hanging in there. … It was a bit of a battle, a fair bit of scrambling going on. The conditions were tricky.”
Scott hit only five of 14 fairways. He missed the green on his approach from the rough for a bogey at the 406-yard 14th, but played even for the rest of the day.
Two years ago in his only other Nelson appearance, Scott shared the lead in each of the first three rounds. A closing 71 left him in third place behind Brett Wetterich and Immelman.
The Masters was the lowest finish for Scott in the five U.S. PGA Tour events he’s entered this season. He opened the defense of his Houston Open title with a 63 before later withdrawing because of illness.
“I’ve really played pretty good all year,” Scott said. “It’s been a matter of trying to put four days together. So, yeah, it’s kind of a continuation, and that’s why I came back.”
Hensby has struggled all season. He made the cut for only the third time in 10 starts.
After securing his U.S. PGA Tour card with a runner-up finish in his final event last year, Hensby started this season by missing six straight cuts, then withdrew from his seventh tournament after an opening 79.
“Yeah, I actually thought I’d play well this year,” Hensby said.
It’s been four years since Hensby got his only tour victory, in the same season that he finished 15th on the money list. But he’s never been able to recapture that form.
“I’d say I really didn’t know what I was doing that year, to be honest,” Hensby said. “I played well, but I never really had an idea of what I was really doing with my golf swing.”
All three of Hensby’s cuts have been in the last month, which coincides with the time since he started working with a coach.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
2008 EDS Byron Nelson Championships - Day 1 Leaders.
April 25, 2008
Jesper Parnevik has been so inconsistent that he’s willing to take advice from a golfing buddy he refers to as a “complete hack monster.”
Something worked Thursday, with Parnevik overcoming gusty wind and a redesigned course to shoot a 2-under 68 in the first round of the EDS Byron Nelson Championship.
That left him only one shot behind Ryan Moore, Mathew Goggin, and Eric Axley, whose 67s made them the highest-scoring first-round leaders at the Nelson since 1984.
So what was that tip Parnevik received during a phone call Wednesday night from his friend in Colorado?
“It was really a stupid thing,” Parnevik said. “It was the way he had his left big toe at impact. … It should be kind of pointed a little bit upwards.”
Parnevik was in a group of eight players at 68 that included 10th-ranked Adam Scott, the only player from the top 10 in the world ranking in the field. Kevin Sutherland, Briny Baird, Shaun Micheel, Ian Poulter, Dustin Johnson and Parker McLachlin also shot 68s.
Only 24 of the 156 players in the field broke par. Masters champion Trevor Immelman, playing for the first time since winning the green jacket, finished with a 78, better than only three other players.
Axley, who overcame an early bogey with four consecutive birdies from Nos. 4-7, was in the lead alone until he bogeyed the 429-yard 18th hole. He missed the final fairway and hit his approach into a greenside bunker - the only bunker he found all day.
Goggin, in the same group with Parnevik, got to 3 under with three consecutive birdies on their back nine. He sank putts of 15-20 feet on Nos. 5 and 6 before hitting his second shot at the 542-yard seventh hole to the fringe and chipping to 2 feet.
Moore had seven birdies and four bogeys in only his third tournament in 10 weeks. That included a six-hole stretch on the back nine when he had either a birdie or bogey on each.
“It was just one of those days that you knew it was going to be a battle the whole time you were out there,” said Moore, who has taken extra time off the last 2½ months to cure a sore shoulder. “I’ll take a 67 on any course any day. This is definitely one of my better rounds of the year, for sure, in these conditions.”
The unusual high opening scores at the Nelson had more to do with the weather - windy conditions with gusts of more than 30 mph and wet fairways after about an inch of rain overnight - than the redesign of the TPC Four Seasons course since last year.
“It’s hard to make a real fair comparison right now, with the soft fairways and the wind blowing 20 mph,” said Harrison Frazar, a player from Dallas who was a consultant during the $10 million renovation. “I don’t think we need to jump to any conclusions too early.”
Frazar shot 73, a shot better than J.J. Henry, the Fort Worth resident who was the other player consultant on the project.
Soon after last year’s tournament, when deteriorating greens were bumpy and sometimes brown, work began to make changes on every hole, with new tee boxes and more undulating greens, and to relocate 165 trees.
With the redone TPC, this is the first time since 1993 that the Nelson has been played on only one course. Cottonwood Valley across the street also was used during first- and second-round play from 1994 until last year.
Parnevik last won on the PGA Tour in 2001 and hasn’t finished better than 24th this season, missing four of 10 cuts. The Swede matched his best score in 25 rounds even after giving up a couple of strokes late, missing a 5-foot birdie putt at No. 7 before hitting into fairway and greenside bunkers on the following 461-yard hole.
Even though Parnevik won the Nelson in 2000, and has played there 10 other times, he was uncertain at times on the greens.
“It gives me an advantage of coming here for 10, 12 years, that you know every putt, you know every break,” Parnevik said. “And today, I didn’t have a clue. I actually missed a lot of putts out there.”
Immelman, the Nelson runner-up two years ago, was already 6 over through eight holes. He needed 34 putts and finished with a bogey at the 427-yard ninth, soon after his only birdies at Nos. 6 and 7. The South African admitted this week that the victory at Augusta “still hasn’t quite sunk in yet” after more than a week to celebrate and reflect.
“I just think I’ve just run out of gas,” Immelman said. “I’m obviously real tired. I’m been trying to get as much sleep as I can, as well as obviously running around.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Boo Weekley repeats as Verizon Heritage champion.
April 21, 2008
Boo Weekley’s first Verizon Heritage victory was a surprising relief. His latest? A joyful celebration that was a year overdue.
Weekley successfully defended his title Sunday at Harbour Town, closing with an even-par 71 for a three-stroke victory over Anthony Kim (71) and Aaron Baddeley (71).
Last year, Weekley needed chips-ins on the 71st and 72nd holes to beat Ernie Els by a stroke on a Monday morning for his first PGA Tour victory.
On Sunday, Weekley strode up the 18th fairway with the win very much in hand and the gallery chanting, “Boooo! Boooo!”
“I thought that you really won is when you stand there and pull the ball out of the hole and turn around to the crowd and say, ‘You know, hey, I am the champ,”‘ Weekley said. “I chipped it in back to back last year, and I didn’t get to stand there and turn to the crowd and do the fist pump.”
And Weekley was ready to oblige. He gave the gallery a thumb’s up as they loudly cheered, “Boooo!” He bowed to the fans and threw up his hands in triumph.
“I wanted to do the moonwalk, the belly-roll,” Weekley said.
Weekley took a three-shot lead into the final round and watched it grow by mostly staying trouble free, and seeing competitors struggle to try and catch up.
“It was a lot easier than last year, wasn’t it?” a smiling Weekley said to his group on the 17th hole after his routine par.
Kim trailed by three at the start and, paired with Weekley, was in the best spot to pressure the leader. But Kim’s chance at a first PGA Tour title disappeared with a double bogey on the par-4 ninth.
Jim Furyk, ranked ninth in the world, was the hardest charger early, cutting a six-stroke deficit in half with three birdies in the first five holes. Furyk, though, fell back with a bogey on the 11th.
He shot a 69 to finish fourth, his third top-five finish in the past four Verizon Heritages.
No one else, including former Verizon Heritage champs Baddeley and Stewart Cink, could make a run at Weekley.
“I just struggled,” Weekley said. “I reckon everybody struggled.”
Not that Weekley didn’t add his own pizazz to the round. He made bogey on No. 8 after botching a chip, then looked in trouble on the 10th with a difficult pitch over a bunker. And Weekley killed it — right into the cup for a birdie that put him up by five.
Weekley grinned as the gallery chanted his name over and over.
He did it again four holes later, slam dunking a 30-footer for birdie from the fringe that if it didn’t hit the cup might have rolled into the water off the edge of the peninsula green.
“Well, it didn’t,” Kim said.
Weekley earned $990,000, and a second consecutive invitation to the Masters. He tied for 20th at Augusta National to miss qualifying for 2009.
The even-par finishing round ended Weekley’s string of seven rounds here in the 60s.
Weekley’s the first with consecutive victories here since five-time winner Davis Love III in 1991 and 1992. The late Payne Stewart (1989, 1990) was the only other to go back-to-back in Harbour Town’s history.
Both those stars had played this tournament several times before that success. Weekley just teed it up here for the first time last year.
Perhaps more important for him, Weekley can revel in his Harbour Town title for another year.
He’s charmed the galleries with his Hee Haw demeanor in a country club world full of starched collars and hushed tones.
He proudly calls himself a redneck. He chews tobacco at times during his round. “It’s just a habit,” he says. “It’s a bad one, but it’s a habit.”
He says the winner’s trophy will probably sit in the barn for a few weeks until his new house is built. He’s thrilled to get a second plaid champion’s jacket. “I can wear one on Saturday, one on Sunday,” he said.
Weekley’s just as likely to rake a bunker or give a ball to a young fan — as he did to one adorable blonde pre-schooler during Saturday’s round — as to shoo away autograph seekers.
What would you expect from some one who got his nickname from Yogi Bear’s cartoon sidekick, Boo Boo.
It’s clear that Weekley knows Harbour Town better than your aa-ver-age golfer.
Although, how long he keeps going at it is anyone’s guess. The 34-year-old says the game’s too stressful. “This golf is a crazy game. That’s why I only want to do it for so long and then get out of it,” he said.
What would Boo do? “Where you been?” he asked. “Huntin’ and fishin”‘
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Immelman snags green jacket with 2008 Masters win.
April 14, 2008
Trevor Immelman has never felt better. Four months after he had a tumor removed from his back, Immelman handled the wind and pressure of Augusta National far better than anyone chasing him Sunday to win the Masters, the first South African in a green jacket in 30 years.
Immelman held it together around Amen Corner and stretched his lead to as many as six shots on the back nine, taking the life out of a Masters that began with so much hype.
A two-putt par on the final hole gave him a 3-over 75, matching the highest final round by a Masters champion. Even so, it was good enough for a three-shot victory over Tiger Woods, whose hopes for a calendar Grand Slam ended with a thud.
Woods never got within five shots of the lead when he was on the course, twice missed birdie putts inside 8 feet and had to settle for a 72 and his second consecutive runner-up finish in the Masters.
“I learned my lesson there with the press,” Woods said with a smile. He was the one who started the talk about a Grand Slam by stating three months ago that winning all four majors in the same year was “easily within reason.”
The only slam possibilities now belong to Immelman, a 28-year-old with a polished swing, who finally realized his potential in the wicked wind of Augusta and a final round that yielded only four rounds under par.
Immelman, who finished at 8-under 280, started the week by playing a practice round with his boyhood idol, Gary Player, who won his third Masters in 1978 and set a record by playing for the 51st time.
Player told Immelman he was good enough to win the green jacket, and he left him a voicemail Saturday night that Immelman played on his speaker phone for his family to hear. The message: “I know you’re going to win.”
“He’s been on me all week, telling me to believe in myself,” Immelman said. “He also told me to keep my head still on putts. It’s really a special moment, and I’m glad I pulled it through for him.”
Reached by telephone in Abu Dhabi, Player told his assistant: “I am so proud of Trevor. What a thrill it was to see him come back from major surgery and beat Tiger. I can’t wait to see him and shake his hand personally.”
Immelman’s wife, Carminita, and their 1-year-old son were waiting for him behind the green. Jacob took hold of the 18th flag, fussing when he couldn’t go into the scoring shack to be with his father.
Immelman’s parents also were there to greet him with hugs. His father, Johan, is the former commissioner of the Sunshine Tour in South Africa.
“It’s his moment, not mine,” said the father, who waved away a reporter.
No one doubted he was capable of winning a major, but maybe not this one. Only four months ago, doctors discovered a tumor in his diaphragm that required surgery through his back to remove it. The tumor was benign and the recovery was quick, even though it took him two months to get his game back in shape.
The recovery hit warp speed this week at Augusta, where Immelman had only broken par once in his five previous Masters.
“This has been the ultimate roller-coaster ride, and I hate roller coasters,” Immelman said. “I win the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa, and a week later I’m having an operation to remove a tumor. … I felt like I had to start from zero again. Here I am after missing the cut last week.
“Masters champion — it’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of.”
Immelman built a two-shot lead with three rounds in the 60s, and held it together during a few nervy moments.
He made a 10-foot par save from the bunker at No. 9 to keep a two-shot cushion, but continued to look shaky. Immelman missed the 11th green well to the right when his chip didn’t quite reach and he was left with a 20-foot putt that was slick and dangerous.
Ahead of him, Woods was gaining momentum.
Woods holed a 70-foot birdie putt on the 11th, made an acrobatic escape from the trees on the 13th and spun a wedge down the slope on the par-5 13th that left him 5 feet away for birdie.
Immelman holed his par putt. Woods missed, just as he has done the last two years on the back nine of a major he once dominated. Brandt Snedeker and Steve Flesch, the last two players with any hope, folded quickly.
Woods closed with a 72 and has finished 3-2-2 in his last three Masters. It also was his fifth runner-up in a major.
Immelman earned $1.35 million for his second PGA Tour victory, with Woods also finishing second behind him two years ago in the Western Open.
“I was trying to be tough out there,” Immelman said. “There’s a disaster around every corner.”
Emotions were running wild for all the contenders, none more than Snedeker, who tied for third with Stewart Cink. The 27-year-old American with Huck Finn looks and a constant smile made only six pars in his round of 77, tying for the lead with an eagle on the second hole but stumbling badly the rest of the way.
“I went from extreme highs to extreme lows, and that’s what you don’t want to do around here,” Snedeker said.
Flesch was within two shots of the lead until a gust caught his 8-iron on the 12th hole, sending it into Rae’s Creek for a double bogey. He bogeyed four straight holes after that and shot 78.
Ultimately, everyone made it easy on Immelman. The three guys behind him at the start of the final round were a combined 18-over par.
Woods wasn’t much better. He managed only three birdies, the last one from 18 feet on the final hole that came way too late. Woods could only offer a dismissive wave when the ball disappeared.
“I hit the ball well enough to contend,” Woods said. “I definitely hit the ball well enough to put some pressure on Trevor. I just didn’t make any putts.”
The first blast of wind hit Amen Corner an hour before the leaders teed off, a sign of how tough it would be in the final round. And that didn’t account for the pressure on four guys contending for the first time in a major — at Augusta, no less.
The first to fall was Paul Casey, two shots out of the lead until it took him two shots to get out of the bunker on No. 4 for double bogey. Casey dropped six shots in a five-hole stretch, including the par-3 sixth, when he called a penalty on himself for his ball moving a fraction of an inch as he stood over a 3-foot putt. Casey closed with a 79.
For the others, it took awhile longer to collapse.
Snedeker provided most of the excitement on an otherwise dull day, holing a 35-foot eagle putt on No. 2 for a share of the lead. He made a 45-foot birdie putt across the green on the 12th for a birdie to pull within three shots.
But there was a massive shortage of pars, and far too many mistakes.
The biggest came on the par-5 13th. Riding the momentum from a two-shot swing on the previous hole, Snedeker went for the green in two and left it well out to the right, finding the bottom of Rae’s Creek for the second straight day. Snedeker held the club at both ends and flexed the shaft, wanting to snap it in half.
“Golly, man, if somebody could tell me how to play that second shot, I’d love to know,” he said. “Because two days in a row, I’ve hit it in the damn water.”
Immelman wisely laid up, then fired a wedge into the back bank and watched it roll down to 2 feet for birdie. As the bogeys piled up behind him, the South African suddenly found himself in the most beautiful spot at Augusta.
He had a five-shot lead with five holes to play, most of the trouble out of the way.
His lone mistake was a tee shot into the water on the 16th for double bogey, but by then he could afford it.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Immelman retains lead after day 3 of 2008 Masters.
April 12, 2008
Trevor Immelman watched one last shot turn out better than he expected Saturday in the Masters, each one keeping him atop the leaderboard and Tiger Woods farther behind.
Immelman was headed for double bogey or worse on the 15th hole until his ball somehow stopped on a steep slope toward the pond, allowing him to escape with par. On the 18th, he barked instructions to his ball — “Sit down,” he pleaded — only to see it stop 30 inches away for a final birdie and a 3-under 69.
That gave him a two-shot lead over Brandt Snedeker, two players in their 20s who will get their first taste of major championship pressure in the final group at Augusta National.
Perhaps more importantly, Immelman stayed six shots ahead of Woods.
Under the easiest conditions at Augusta in three years, Woods had to settle for a bogey-free round of 68 that was probably the worst he could have shot. He has never won a major when trailing going into the final round, and he has never won a PGA Tour event when trailing by more than five shots after 54 holes.
“If I had made a few more putts, I’d be right there,” Woods said. “But I’m right there anyway.”
That depends on the four guys in front of him, none of whom has ever won a major.
It starts with Immelman, who was at 11-under 205 on a damp, cloudy afternoon that included a 40-minute delay because of rain.
Snedeker steadied himself after three straight bogeys around Amen Corner, getting those shots back over the final five holes, including a 10-foot birdie on the 18th for a 2-under 70 that put him in the final group.
Steve Flesch was the best Lefty in his pairing with Phil Mickelson, also finishing with a birdie for a 69 to reach 8-under 208. Paul Casey, among four players who had a share of the lead, shot a 69 and was another shot back.
And then there was Woods, the only player within seven shots of the lead who has won a major.
It was the first time in a dozen rounds at the Masters that Woods broke 70, but he had reason to expect much more. The third round began under a light drizzle and was stopped for 40 minutes when storms rolled through eastern Georgia. That made the course soft and long, the greens receptive. With no wind, it was ripe for a charge.
But all Woods could muster was one birdie putt outside 10 feet. Two other birdies came on par 5s when he was putting for eagle, another with a wedge inside a foot on the 17th. Woods missed four straight putts inside 15 feet on the front nine that could have turned his fortunes, and an 8-foot birdie on the par-5 15th.
“I was curious like everyone else — what did Tiger shoot today?” he said.
It was the first time in a dozen rounds at the Masters that Woods broke 70, but he had reason to expect much more. The third round began under a light drizzle and was stopped for 40 minutes when storms rolled through eastern Georgia. That made the course soft and long, the greens receptive. With no wind, it was ripe for a charge.
But all Woods could muster was one birdie putt outside 10 feet. Two other birdies came on par 5s when he was putting for eagle, another with a wedge inside a foot on the 17th. Woods missed four straight putts inside 15 feet on the front nine that could have turned his fortunes, and an 8-foot birdie on the par-5 15th.
“This is the highest score I could have shot today,” Woods said. “I hit the ball so well and I hit so many good putts that just skirted the hole. But hey, I put myself right back in the tournament.”
Six shots is a lot to make up in the final round at the Masters. No one has done that since Nick Faldo beat Greg Norman in 1996.
His hope might come from the inexperience atop the leaderboard. Woods was the only player within seven shots who has won a major.
“There’s such a long way to go,” Immelman said. “There are so many great players out there. If I rest on a two-shot lead, I’m not going to do very well. I’ve just got to have positive thoughts and give it my best shot.”
Gary Player is the only South African to win the Masters, the last of his three victories coming 30 years ago.
Immelman’s lone mistake came on the par-3 fourth, but he was solid the rest of the afternoon and surged ahead with two spectacular shots and one incredible break.
He hit a low pitch across Rae’s Creek that hopped once and skidded to a stop 2 feet behind the cup for birdie on the par-3 13th for the outright lead. Then he went two shots ahead with an 8-foot birdie on the 14th.
It all looked as though it might wash away on the 15th in a moment reminiscent of Fred Couples in 1992, when a tee shot on the par-3 12th was held up by a blade of grass. That break carried Couples to his lone major title.
Immelman hit a sand wedge that spun back, caught the slope and rolled quickly off the front of the green. Perhaps there was just enough rain to keep the slope soft. The ball slowed to a trickle, then stopped. One more turn, and it would have been in the water.
“I was begging for it to stop as soon as it could,” Immelman said. “I knew there was a chance it was going to go in the water. I must say, I couldn’t quite believe it when it stayed up.”
He chipped to 5 feet and saved par.
Immelman recalls watching the Masters at home in South Africa when Couples dodged a double bogey, but he quickly pointed out a few major differences.
“This is the 15th hole of the third round, and his was the 12th hole of the final round,” Immelman said. “I was extremely fortunate that my ball stayed up there, but there’s still a long way to go in this tournament.”
Snedeker, playing his first Masters as a pro, nearly let his big chance get away with an errant tee shot on the 11th, a tee shot that sailed over the 12th green and an approach into Rae’s Creek that led to bogey on the 13th.
But he followed with consecutive birdies inside 10 feet, and another one on the 18th to get into the final group.
“I’m going out there to play good golf and see what I’ve got,” Snedeker said. “This is the ultimate test for us.”
It could be a test in other ways. Behind the clouds was a front that was expected to send temperatures into the low 60s and bring 20 mph winds, the scariest conditions on a course where even a breeze can play tricks.
That might be what Woods needs to keep alive his fading hopes of a calendar Grand Slam.
Hoookscenter.com wire report.
Immelman leads after day 2 of the 2008 Masters.
April 11, 2008
Anyone who thought this Masters might be the start of something grand must have struggled to stay awake Friday while watching another performance from Tiger Woods that hardly matched the hype.
And even after he scrambled from the opposite fairway for one last par, expectations shifted.
The Grand Slam that Woods said was “easily within reason” will have to start with the second-best comeback at Augusta National.
The 36-hole leader was Trevor Immelman, who only four months ago was in a hospital in South African to begin a speedy recovery from a benign tumor that doctors removed from his diaphragm. He put together his best start of the year, adding another 4-under 68 to build a one-shot lead over Brandt Snedeker.
“This year is special,” said Immelman, who was at 8-under 136. “To shoot two 68s in the first two days is probably beyond my expectations, so I’m pretty thrilled right now.”
Only when the wind died late in the afternoon did Woods come to life. He stuffed his approach into 2 feet for a birdie on the 17th, then escaped with par on the final hole when he drove into the trees. Woods hit a low hook off the pine straw around tree trunks and into the 10th fairway, then hit a sand wedge that might have spun back closer to the hole if not for hitting Stuart Appleby’s ball.
No matter. Woods made the 8-footer for par and a 71.
Even so, he was at 1-under 143 and seven shots out of the lead. The largest 36-hole comeback in Masters history was Jack Burke Jr. in 1956, and that required a weekend collapse by Ken Venturi, who played that year as an amateur.
“I’m in good shape,” Woods said, perhaps knowing something the 40,000 fans at Augusta didn’t. “I’m obviously seven back. I need to play well. We’ve got tougher conditions coming in. You’ve got to stay patient. On this golf course, you can make up shots quickly. I’ve just got to hang in there.”
Woods rallied to win from six shots behind over the final two rounds in 2005, but he was tied for third. This time, he had a dozen players ahead of him, and they were no amateurs.
Phil Mickelson, who has won the green jacket two of the last four years, got enough out of his second round to post a bogey-free 68 and was three shots behind at 139 along with Ian Poulter of England and Steve Flesch, whose 67 was the best score of the week.
“You want to stay close,” said Mickelson, who is emerging as the favorite. “You don’t want to make any big mistakes and get way out.”
Immelman set an early target.
Playing in the fourth group of the morning, before the wind began to rustle the pines, he made the turn in 35 and navigated the dangerous 11th hole with a 7-iron that stopped 5 feet away for birdie. And while the 28-year-old South African failed to birdie the par 5s on the back nine, he atoned for that by closing with two birdies.
Immelman has never taken the lead into a weekend at any major. Returning from his Dec. 18 surgery, he has not finished among the top 40 in seven stroke-play events this year.
But he received strong advice from a couple of Masters champions this week, South African icon Gary Player and Ben Crenshaw, who have told him his polished swing is more than adequate.
“The best players in the world get nervous and they feel pressure,” Immelman said. “I guess it’s just who can disguise it the best and who can handle it the best. I’m thrilled with my play thus far, but there’s a very long way to go. I can’t sit back and put my feet up. I’ve got to go out there and just try and play as well as I can the next couple of days.”
Snedeker, the PGA Tour rookie of the year in 2007, turned in the craziest birdie of the round when he used his wedge to chip from the upper tier of the par-3 sixth green, a perfect play that rattled into the cup.
“I was more nervous over that shot than I was all day,” Snedeker said. “Because I knew if I messed it up, people were going to have a field day with me on that one. I had to pull it off.”
He wound up with a 68, and will play in the final group Saturday in his first Masters as a pro.
“If I had told you at the beginning of the week that I thought I was going to be in second place, you probably would have thought I was crazy,” Snedeker said. “And I probably would have thought you were right.”
And the odds that Woods would be seven shots behind?
They were even-money he would win the Masters, outrageous odds for golf, and one Las Vegas bookie had 9-to-2 odds against him winning the Grand Slam — all four majors in the same year.
Woods might have disguised his nerves, but not his frustration.
After a birdie from the trees, he again played the par-5 second hole conservatively by laying up, then dumped a wedge into the bunker and wound up with bogey. He was nine shots behind when he made the turn, then promptly three-putted for bogey from 55 feet on the 10th hole, misreading the break on his first putt by 6 feet.
He stood over a slippery 10-footer for par on the 11th, but knocked that in to keep from falling farther behind. He saved his day over the final two holes, particularly the 18th.
Still, he needs some help.
The forecast calls for thunderstorms on Saturday, with a cold front behind it.
“You have to play well. I don’t care who you are in this tournament,” Woods said. “You have to play well under tough conditions here, and that’s kind of how it’s going to end up being. You’ve just got to stay so patient around this golf course.”
The cut was at 3-over 147, leaving a short field of 45 players for the weekend.
Fred Couples won’t be among them for the first time in his career. The ‘92 Masters champion missed a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole and shot 72 to miss the cut by one shot, leaving him tied with Player at a record 23 consecutive cuts at Augusta.
Even so, Saturday was loaded with possibilities.
Woods has never won any of his 13 majors when trailing after 54 holes, and knew he had to make up ground on the 12 players ahead of him, not to mention major champions Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh who joined him at 1 under.
The group at 4-under 140 included Stephen Ames (70) and Paul Casey (69), with former Masters champion Mike Weir (68) among those another shot back.
“It’s too difficult a golf course to chase anybody,” Casey said, worried more about who was ahead of him than behind him.
Poulter, however, wasn’t ruling out the world’s No. 1 player.
“Who knows with Tiger?” Poulter said. “He can go out there and put two 65s on the board, I know that. We’ve all seen it before. But Augusta National is a difficult golf course.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.