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.
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.