Archive for October, 2009
October 31, 2009
American Anthony Kim won two round-round robin matches Thursday in the Volvo World Match Play Championship, while fourth-ranked Paul Casey lost twice to drop out of contention for a semifinal spot.
Kim topped the Seve Ballesteros Group with four points after beating Casey and Retief Goosen, both 3 and 2, at Finca Cortesin Golf Club. Scott Strange beat Casey, returning from a rib injury, 1-up. Goosen beat Strange 1-up.
This is the first round where I really played solid golf in over a year, Kim said. Ive been scoring pretty sporadically … but this was a consistent round with some great ball striking. Its important to get a huge lead because if there is a tiebreaker, then that counts. Were just trying to keep our foot on the gas.
Casey lost to the 168th-ranked Strange when he missed a 7-foot birdie putt on 18.
I cant swing the way I want, Casey said. Im coming out of a lot of the shots. Scott played well, but, having said that, I gave him three holes on the front and you cant do that against anybody in this field.
In the Mark McCormack Group, Oliver Wilson beat Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer, both 1-up, and Robert Allenby topped Kaymer 1-up and halved with Garcia.
The Wilson-Allenby match Friday will determine the semifinalist.
I was very nervous all day yesterday, said Wilson, fighting neck pain. Towards the end of my first match it was tightening up, but overall it was pretty good and to win twice on the first day is everything I wanted to do.
In Gustaf Larson Group play, Angel Cabrera beat Rory McIlroy 3 and 2, and Simon Dyson held off Henrik Stenson 3 and 2. In the Assar Gabrielsson Group, Jeev Milkha Singh topped Lee Westwood 5 and 4, and Ross Fisher edged Camilo Villegas 1-up.
October 30, 2009
SONOMA, Calif - Phil Blackmar and Jeff Sluman shot 6-under 66s in breezy conditions Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Champions Tours season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
After winning the ATT Championship last week in San Antonio to earn the last spot in the season finale, the 6-foot-7 Blackmar had six birdies in a bogey-free round at Sonoma Golf Club. Sluman was even par at the turn, then birdied three of his first four holes on the back nine, eagled the par-5 16th and birdied 17.
Eduardo Romero, the Toshiba Classic winner in March at Newport Beach, was a stroke back at 67, and John Cook and Brad Bryant opened with 68s.
Charles Schwab Cup points leader Loren Roberts had two eagles in a 70. Fred Funk, 165 points behind Roberts in second place in the race for the $1 million annuity, had a 71. Jay Haas, the 2008 points champion, also shot a 71, while Bernhard Langer, the only other player in contention for the points title, had a 72.
Langer is 348 points behind Roberts, and Haas is 602 back. The players will receive a point for every $500 earned, making a victory worth $442,000 and 884 points.
Volvo World Match Play Championship
CASARES, Spain - American Anthony Kim won two round-round robin matches in the Volvo World Match Play Championship, while fourth-ranked Paul Casey lost twice to drop out of contention for a semifinal spot.
Kim topped the Seve Ballesteros Group with four points after beating Casey and Retief Goosen, both 3 and 2, at Finca Cortesin Golf Club. Scott Strange beat Casey, returning from a rib injury, 1-up. Goosen beat Strange 1-up.
In the Mark McCormack Group, Oliver Wilson beat Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer, both 1-up, and Robert Allenby topped Kaymer 1-up and halved with Garcia.
In Gustaf Larson Group play, Angel Cabrera beat Rory McIlroy 3 and 2, and Simon Dyson held off Henrik Stenson 3 and 2. In the Assar Gabrielsson Group, Jeev Milkha Singh topped Lee Westwood 5 and 4, and Ross Fisher edged Camilo Villegas 1-up.
Singapore Open
SINGAPORE - Englands Ian Poulter shot a 5-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over South Africa star Ernie Els and Taiwans Chan Yih-shin during the suspended first round of the Singapore Open.
Play was halted by darkness following a three-hour suspension because of lightning on the Sentosa Golf Clubs Serapong Course.
Second-ranked Phil Mickelson opened with a 69, while Padraig Harrington and Geoff Ogilvy were unable to finish the round. The tournament is sanctioned by the European and Asian tours.
Viking Classic
MADISON, Miss. - Play in the Viking Classic was postponed because of impending rain and wet conditions at Annandale Golf Club, pushing the event to a Monday finish.
Early morning rain soaked the already waterlogged course. The weather left pools of water on fairways and bogs of mud throughout the 7,199-yard layout.
The tournament is the fourth event in the PGA Tours Fall Series.
October 30, 2009
American Anthony Kim won two round-round robin matches Thursday in the Volvo World Match Play Championship, while fourth-ranked Paul Casey lost twice to drop out of contention for a semifinal spot.
Kim topped the Seve Ballesteros Group with four points after beating Casey and Retief Goosen, both 3 and 2, at Finca Cortesin Golf Club. Scott Strange beat Casey, returning from a rib injury, 1-up. Goosen beat Strange 1-up.
This is the first round where I really played solid golf in over a year, Kim said. Ive been scoring pretty sporadically … but this was a consistent round with some great ball striking. Its important to get a huge lead because if there is a tiebreaker, then that counts. Were just trying to keep our foot on the gas.
Casey lost to the 168th-ranked Strange when he missed a 7-foot birdie putt on 18.
I cant swing the way I want, Casey said. Im coming out of a lot of the shots. Scott played well, but, having said that, I gave him three holes on the front and you cant do that against anybody in this field.
In the Mark McCormack Group, Oliver Wilson beat Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer, both 1-up, and Robert Allenby topped Kaymer 1-up and halved with Garcia.
The Wilson-Allenby match Friday will determine the semifinalist.
I was very nervous all day yesterday, said Wilson, fighting neck pain. Towards the end of my first match it was tightening up, but overall it was pretty good and to win twice on the first day is everything I wanted to do.
In Gustaf Larson Group play, Angel Cabrera beat Rory McIlroy 3 and 2, and Simon Dyson held off Henrik Stenson 3 and 2. In the Assar Gabrielsson Group, Jeev Milkha Singh topped Lee Westwood 5 and 4, and Ross Fisher edged Camilo Villegas 1-up.
October 30, 2009
Results Thursday from the World Match Play Championship, a ?3,25 million ($4,8 million) European Tour event at the par-72, 7,380-yard Finca Cortesin Golf Course (all 18-hole matches).
Group A
Scott Strange, Australia, def. Paul Casey, England, 1 up
Anthony Kim, United States, def. Retief Goosen, South Africa, 3 and 2
Anthony Kim, United States, def. Paul Casey, England, 3 and 2
Retief Goosen, South Africa, def. Scott Strange, Australia, 1 up
Group B
Oliver Wilson, England, def. Sergio Garcia, Spain, 1 up
Robert Allenby, Australia, def. Martin Kaymer, Germany, 1 up
Oliver Wilson, England, def. Martin Kaymer, Germany, 1 up
Robert Allenby, Australia, halved Sergio Garcia, Spain
Group C
Simon Dyson, England, def. Henrik Stenson, Sweden, 3 and 2
Angel Cabrera, Argentina, def. Rory Mcilroy, Northern Ireland, 3 and 2
Group D
Jeev Milkha Singh, India def. Lee Westwood, England, 5 and 4
Ross Fisher, England, def. Camilo Villegas, Colombia, 1 up
October 29, 2009
Just five years after winning the British Open, Todd Hamilton is fighting for his PGA Tour card at the Viking Classic.
He isnt alone.
The tournament begins Thursday with dozens of players trying to retain their eligibility with two events left in the 2009 season. All 21 players between Nos. 114 and 135 on the money list are entered. The top 125 get full exempt status on the 2010 tour.
Its important for me to keep my card, Hamilton said while pelting range balls.
The tournaments new spot on the schedule makes it a pivotal event for players hovering around the cutoff. And Hamilton has work to do at No. 133.
Its the first time hes been in such a difficult position. His Open victory in his first year on tour gave him a five-year exemption. That expires after this years season finale Nov. 12-15 at the Childrens Miracle Network Classic.
I know that its a nerve-racking thing if you are on the bubble, Matt Kuchar said. The best thing to do is try not think about it, try not figure out what position youve got to finish in. Just play good golf.
Kuchar isnt worried. Hes 24th on the money list, second only to 14th-place David Toms in the field, and arguably the hottest player among the 132 chasing the $648,000 winners check at a waterlogged Annandale Golf Club, after winning three weeks ago and finishing in the top 15 in his last five straight tournaments.
Thunderstorms earlier in the week drowned the course, taking some of the bite out of the par-72, 7,199-yard layout and leaving players like rookie Ricky Barnes soaking wet after a Tuesday afternoon practice round.
Barnes, who built a six-shot lead in the third round of the U.S. Open in June before finishing second, is another player with his card on the line. After that runner-up finish at the U.S. Open, he missed six of nine cuts, slipping to No. 121.
Drop five spots and Barnes could wind up back in PGA Tour Qualifying School for a fifth time. Hes never graduated from Q-School, a grueling event capped by a six-round final where the top 25 win full playing rights.
Im playing the golf course instead of the rest of the 15 guys near that number, said Barnes, who finished high enough on the Nationwide Tour money list last season to give him full exemption onto the PGA Tour this year. You cant really treat it as match play.
But Hamilton will, in a way, especially this late in the year. The 44-year-old said during late-season tournaments, scoreboards dont just show scores. Theyll show the live fluctuations in the money list during the event.
You look up there and you see 128 by your name, he said, its a little different than when you see 123 or 124.
There are a few more familiar names lingering around the cutoff: 2002 PGA champ Rich Beem is No. 124 and former world No. 1 and 2001 British Open champion David Duval is 125th.
Asked if hes glanced at the money list to figure out what position he needs to finish in these last two tournaments, Hamilton shrugged.
I havent, he said. But I may.
Rickie Fowler doesnt show up on the money list because he is not yet a PGA Tour member, although the Viking Classic is equally meaningful. The 20-year-old from Oklahoma State began his pro career with consecutive top 10s, including a playoff loss last week.
Fowler is the equivalent of 136th on the money list with $533,700. If he were to have another top 10 at Annandale, it might be enough for him to earn his card without Q-school.
October 29, 2009
Paul Casey is trying to shrug off a rib injury that could trouble his chances at the new-look World Match Play Championship.
The Englishman, who won the event in 2006, said Wednesday that his rib area was tender and tight as he gets ready to play a full event for the first time since July.
Trouble is, theres no way really of testing it until Im out here in the mix playing golf, Casey said at Finca Cortesin golf course, which is hosting for the first time.
Casey is scheduled to open play Thursday against Scott Strange, while 16 players including Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Masters champion Angel Cabrera are all in action. Casey will also play two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen and Anthony Kim in Group A.
Injuries could be a factor in a tournament that has transformed from a straight knockout to a round-robin group format where the four winners will advance to Saturdays 36-hole semifinals.
Sundays final will also be 36 holes.
Martin Kaymer arrived with broken toes from a kart racing accident, Oliver Wilson has a neck problem and Jeev Milkha Singh of India is also experiencing foot troubles.
Kaymer and Wilson meet in Group B, which also includes Garcia and Robert Allenby.
Westwood comes into the head-to-head competition at the top of the European Tour money list following his first win in two years at the Castello Masters. The Englishman, No. 5 in the world, is the top-ranked player in Group D, which also includes Milkha Singh, Camilo Villegas and Ross Fisher.
The $1.1 million winners check would certainly help Westwood secure the top spot in the Race to Dubai standings. Kaymer, Rory McIlroy and Casey are also in the chase with three events remaining.
It is now in my hands. If I win all of the tournaments, it will be impossible for anybody to get past me, Westwood said. Its as good a chance as Ive had all year really and its as good a position as Ive been in all year.
Henrik Stenson leads Group C, where the seventh-ranked Swede opens against Simon Dyson. McIlroy gets Cabrera.
This years event moved to Spain after being held in Wentworth, England, since 1964, although last year it was not played. Ernie Els wont be defending his title due to a contractual obligation to play at the Singapore Open.
The event is replacing the Volvo Masters on the calendar after the usual end-of-season event turned into the Race to Dubai.
October 29, 2009
Loren Roberts doesnt have much ground to give as he closes in on his second Champions Tour championship in three years. He does have history on his side.
Roberts holds a 165-point lead over Fred Funk heading into this weeks Charles Schwab Cup Championship, though - with points being doubled for the final event of the season - Bernhard Langer and 2008 champion Jay Haas are also within range.
Yet the 54-year-old Roberts can take comfort knowing that only once in the previous eight years has the leader heading into the final seniors tournament lost the points lead.
Its nice to come in here with a lead but its not safe, said Roberts, who won the tour title in 2007. I havent shown good form the last two weeks so Ill have to take it up a notch, raise my game up a level. I will probably look at the (leaderboard) more than usual.
Roberts is second on the tour with three wins this season but finished tied for 22nd at last weeks ATT Championship after placing 26th at the Administaff Small Business Classic before that.
Roberts leads in points despite taking an entire month off this summer. Upon returning, he ran off seven straight top 10 finishes, including a win at the Senior Open Championship in July, to move past Langer, who led the points race for the first six months of the season.
The break in the middle of the season really recharged my batteries, Roberts said. I hadnt done that in 28 years, and I really credit that for my success in the last half of the season.
Roberts has 2,458 points while Funk is in second with 2,293 followed by Langer (2,110) and Haas (1,856).
Langer leads the tour with four wins. He also has placed in the top 10 in 14 of 19 tournaments this season but struggled in August when Roberts passed him for the points lead.
The bottom line is we still have four rounds of golf to play, said Langer, who shot a 7-under 65 during Wednesdays pro-am. You have to do the business first and try to win the tournament, then the rest will happen. I dont think you want to be out there thinking about it constantly every shot. You just have to play the course.
The 72-hole event is being played at the Sonoma Golf Course for the last time in seven years. The Schwab Cup Championship moves to San Franciscos Harding Park, site of this years Presidents Cup, for 2010 and 2011.
The field for this weeks tournament was narrowed to 29 players after Tom Lehman withdrew on Wednesday due to an undisclosed family emergency.
Lehman was 22nd on the money list to qualify for the tournament. Because he withdrew, the winner of this years tournament will receive 884 points and $442,000, meaning four players will have a chance to claim the $1 million annuity for winning the Charles Schwab Cup.
October 28, 2009
World No 2 Phil Mickelson says hes finally got the Sentosa Golf Club course figured out and expects to better his previous performances when the $5 million Singapore Open starts Thursday.
Mickelson tied for ninth place at 2 under last year and finished 23rd at 8 over in 2007. He hopes to be able to put those results behind him this week by easing his attacking style on certain holes.
Last year, I was a little overly aggressive at times, Mickelson said after finishing a practice round Tuesday. Ill play one or two holes more conservatively than I have in the past.
Now that Ive played here a couple of times, Ive learned the nuances of the golf course.
Mickelson, who has won three tournaments this year but no majors, said he hopes to build on the momentum from his PGA Tour Championship victory last month.
The last few weeks Ive started to play very well, he said. Its been an OK year. I would have liked to have a victory at a major.
Mickelson said greens softened by rain should result in low scores at the Singapore Open, which is co-sanctioned by the Asian and European tours.
The greens and the fairways are in perfect shape and allow for low scoring, he said. 16, 17 under will be a pretty good score.
Indias Jeev Milkha Singh won last years tournament with a 7-under performance.
After Singapore, Mickelson will remain in Asia to join Tiger Woods at the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai next week.
October 28, 2009
Rickie Fowler picked a good year to try to get his US PGA Tour card without going to Q-school.
Fowler tied for seventh in Las Vegas two weeks ago, then lost in a three-way playoff at the Frys.com Open in Arizona last week, giving him $553,700 in two starts. He has at least one tournament left, the Viking Classic this week in Mississippi.
A year ago, Martin Laird finished 125th on the U.S. PGA Tour money list with $852,752, a record amount required to keep a card. Fowler would have needed a runner-up finish at the Viking Classic to match that figure.
But the money is way down this year.
David Duval is holding down the 125th spot at $623,824. With two tournaments remaining, Fowler might be able to finish 10th at the Viking Classic and have enough money to get the equivalent of 125th, thereby skipping Q-school.
A year ago with two tournaments remaining, the 125th spot was at $795,320 - thats $171,505 more than this year.
Tour officials attribute the drastic shortfall in the loss of two tournaments from the Fall Series. The Ginn sur Mer Classic is no longer on the schedule, and the Texas Open moved to the spring when the Atlanta tournament couldnt find a sponsor.
Total prize money on the tour for official events is $275 million, nearly $5 million less than a year ago (part of that includes a drop in the British Open purse because of the exchange rate).
The difference is found at the bottom of the money list.
Vijay Singh won the money title last year at $6.6 million, mainly because Tiger Woods played only six tournaments until knee surgery. This year, Woods has clinched the title with $10.5 million.
Otherwise, the distribution of cash looks very similar.
Three players have earned over $5 million this year, same as 2008. Fourteen players have made at least $3 million, same as last year. And with two tournaments remaining, 36 players already have topped $2 million, compared with 37 players in 2008.
Go farther down the money list, however, to find that 104 players made over $1 million last year. Only 88 players are over $1 million this year with two tournaments left.
Closer to where it counts - 125th on the money list - shows how much those two missing tournaments make a difference.
It also shows up in a most peculiar way, highlighted by the playoff loss of Fowler and Jamie Lovemark.
Fowler became a special temporary member because he earned the equivalent of 150th on the money list in 2008 (Todd Hamilton was 150th at $537,958).
Lovemark has made $453,872, which wasnt enough for special temporary membership. However, Lovemark is equal to 147th on this years money list. If he gets through the first stage this week and manages to stay in the top 150 after the U.S. PGA Tour season ends on Nov. 15 at Disney World - unlikely - he would be exempt into the final stage of Q-school.
Meanwhile, Disney World still has one exemption left to offer, and it could be torn between two very worthy candidates - Fowler and Lovemark. Disney already used one of its exemptions on a Big Break contestant.
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TWEET: Parker McLachlin was waiting to tee off on the fifth hole on Sunday at the Frys.com Open when he faced a backup, whipped out his cell phone and decided to go on Twitter.
Just made birdie on 4. Waiting on 5th tee. First tweet during a tourney round. Dont want to get too used to this!
Uh, that would be a good idea.
McLachlin violated a U.S. PGA Tour policy by using his cell phone during competition. Players can only use their cell phones during practice rounds, and only on the practice range during pro-am rounds.
Along with using his cell phone for a tweet, McLachlin used it to answer a call from the tour.
We did have a conversation with Parker, said Rick George, the tours chief of operations. He was unaware of our cell phone policy. It wont happen again.
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DIVOTS: New Zealander Danny Lee, the former U.S. Amateur champion who became Europes youngest champion when he won the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia this year, failed to get through the first stage of Q-school. His next tournament? He is eligible for a $7 million World Golf Championship next week in Shanghai. … For those who think the Presidents Cup pairings are contrived minus the blind draw, consider what it has delivered. Tiger Woods opponents in the Presidents Cup have been Greg Norman, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Mike Weir and Y.E. Yang. In the Ryder Cup, he has faced compelling matches against Costantino Rocca, Andrew Coltart, Jesper Parnevik, Paul Casey and Robert Karlsson.
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STAT: Tom Pernice Jr. earned $334,000 in 23 starts in the first eight months. Since turning 50 on Sept. 6, he has earned $506,800 in three starts - one on the Champions Tour, two on the U.S. PGA Tour.
October 27, 2009
Brandt Snedeker and Boo Weekley won the Golf Skills Challenge in a playoff at The Breakers on Monday.
In the final of the worse-ball portion of the contest, Snedeker and Weekly initially tied finalists J.B. Holmes and Kenny Perry at par, forcing a playoff on the 305-yard, par-4, 14th hole.
Snedeker and Weekly, who split $314,000 in total prize money, gained an edge when Holmes drive landed next door on the 15th tee. Holmes put them into further trouble by hitting into a trap 46 feet from the hole.
He hits it so long its kind of hard for him to gear down, Weekly said. When J.D. hit it left I figured hed kind of hit a 4-iron or 3-iron and lay back a little bit.
It was a tough shot from over there.
The champions sank a three-foot putt to win $200,000 for the reverse scramble portion of the event. Holmes made a six-foot putt for par, but Perrys putt skimmed past the hole, ending it.
I thought it was awesome, Snedeker said of the format. It put a lot more pressure on you when you realize you could let your partner down besides yourself. That makes it much harder.
Snedecker and Weekley set themselves apart from the rest of the field by winning three of the first six skills challenges - the bunker shot, chip shot and trouble shot.
The other three were the long drive, mid-iron, and short iron.
In the worse-ball semifinals, also played on the 14th, Snedecker and Weekly faced Fred Couples and Hunter Mahan.
The other semifinal had Holmes and Perry against Fred Funk and Nick Price.
