PGA

Congrats to Stuart Appleby for winning the Shell Houston Open in wire-to-wire fashion. This is Applebe’s first multiple-win season and he’s definitely good enough to make some noise at the remaining major’s.So it appears at first glance that Tiger might not be a factor in the U.S. Open this year because of his decision to take some extended time off to be with his ailing Father. However, I wouldn’t rule him a non-factor because he could use this as a motivator and suprise everyone by making some serious noise.

LPGA

Annika chokes!? Hard to belive, but Annika Sorenstam spit the bit coming down the home stretch at this past weekend’s LPGA tournament. She shot a 3-over 75 that included a double-bogey 6 on 17, which sealed her fate. Nevertheless, she’s still the number one player in the world on the LPGA and she’s entitled to have an off day once in a while.What about those Asian girls though? They’ve really stepped it up this year and have been a factor in most of this year’s tournaments. Paula Creamer is still not hitting on all cylinders and Morgan Pressel finally had a decent tournament after struggling for a few weeks.

Golf Analysis Tools

There was an article in the Wall Stree Journal about the rapid growth of simulators and other expensive analysis tools driving a wedge between golf’s haves and have-nots. I think the article is a little over the top because someone that can afford a $50,000 simulator is in the top .1% of all golfers anyway and the far majority of weekend hacks can’t relate to someone like that. However, swing technology has improved dramatically and in fact has become more affordable for everyone.

Being the golf nut that I am, I watch the Golf Channel quite regularly.  At a minimum I’ll watch Golf Central every night to catch up on the day’s events.  However, I also watch the Big Break (V), The Grey Goose 19th Hole, and usually Live From and the Post Game show each Sunday.  The Golf Channel is also broadcasting select LPGA events and is the network broadcasting all of the Champions and Nationwide tour events as well.

Big Break V

Becky Lucida was eliminated (again) from competition after playing her way back on the show. They’re down to the final four and any of the ladies left are capable of winning from this point on. That’s not to say they’re all equal players. Ashley has the most fire and practically wills her shots when shem needs them. Jeanie has lots of talent, but lacks confidence in key moments. Kim has fantastic determination, and a great short game, but her lack of length could be her downfall. Julie just doesn’t take crap from anyone and there’s a definite coolness between her and Ashley. She could be the eventual winner.

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed all of the Big Break shows to date. The USA vs. Europe was probably the most fun to watch because it was a team competition and it was played in Europe, not to mention all of the conflicting personalities.
Grade: A

The Grey Goose 19th Hole

This season’s show has been a disappointment because Kelly Tilghman is no longer the full-time host. I think this has created some inconsistency in how the show flows. Vince Cellinni is probably the 2nd best Tilghman, but it’s just not the same show any longer. Kudos to the Big Dawg and Charles for hanging in there during what I belive are interesting times.
Grade: C 

Post Game Show

Now that she’s has more time on her hands, Kelly Tilghman has replaced Kraig Kann and is now the host of the Post Game Show. Kann was also excellent, and I’m not sure why the change was necessary. Tilgham’s is excellent as the new host and has a great rapport with practically everyone on the show.
Grade: A

PGA

Aaron Baddeley finally got his first win at Harbour Town, after breaking on the PGA scene in 2000 as teenager. The expectations for Baddeley were extremely high as he won the Austrailian Open as a 19 year-old. The grump Jim Furyk finished second in what was a great back nine to watch.

LPGA

Lorena Ochoa also got the monkey off her back by winning in Las Vegas this past weekend. She had the tournament in hand as she led wire-to-wire. Hopefully, Dottie Pepper will give her some credit as I think she unfairly criticizes Ochoa for not having the killer instict sometimes.

LPGA

Lorena Ochoa has put together two solid rounds of golf again and leads the LPGA’s Takefuji Classic in Las Vegas heading into Saturday’s final round. Ochoa has had some problems closing the deal in the last couple of years and I hope she finally puts a strong round together. She was absolutely covering the pins in Friday’s second round and looks very confident.

This event is being played at the Las Vegas Country Club, but quite frankly it looks like the local muni in anycity, USA. If I was LPGA comish Carolyn Bivens, I’d be extremely unhappy with the course conditions in Las Vegas. The LPGA is finally becoming a viable alternative to the PGA on some weekends and they deserve better playing conditions and certainly better purses.

The Golf Channel’s Big Break V

For those watching the Golf Channel’s Big Break V, the latest contestant to get eliminated was Dana Lacey. I had picked her to make the final two because she had one of the better swings of all the ladies, but this format does not allow for someone to recover from a bad shot. Either you have it that day, or you don’t. Generally speaking, the best players tend to make the finals, but there have been times when the better player had a horrible day and got elminated. Bart from Big Break IV comes to mind.

The producers threw a twist into this version of the Big Break by allowing a contestant that had been previously eliminated, to play her way back into the competition by beating the previously eliminated contestants. I personally think this is completely unfair to the remaining players because they had already played well enough to elminate the player that is now back on the show.

This group of ladies is so much better than the last group of women that the comparison’s would be unfair. This group has far more tournament experience, as most them have played, or are active players on the Future’s Tour. They have a natural camaraderie with each other and seem to really respect each other’s abilities. You can find more information about the Big Break here.

David Toms was asked during a media conference call what kind of change he would make at Augusta, if he had the opportunity to have an audience with Augusta chairman Hootie Johnson.  Read on:

TOMS: “….so many rules.”

Q: “What do you mean by that?”

TOMS: Well, to me it’s still a place where the players walk around on eggshells, and you know, not knowing if they are in the right place; they are worried about their cell phones being on; having to stop by the little place, the hut on the way in, to scan your ticket; to making sure you only have one parking pass and somebody else doesn’t get in there; to making sure that the wrong person doesn’t get your pass and get thrown in jail trying to sell it to somebody else; to not signing autographs in certain spots or not asking for an autograph in a certain spot; or sitting down at the table too long. It’s just one thing after another. It’s like, you know, the only place all year where the players don’t feel like they are the most important thing there. That’s the way I see it and I don’t think that I’m the single opinion on that…..”

Now, we all have rules and regulations we must follow if someone other than ourselves sign our paychecks.  And given the  opportunity, we would like to suggest changes to make our work environment better.  No harm in that.  However, I can’t help but feel Mr. Toms has a somewhat holier-than-though attitude, given his “…it’s the only place where the players don’t feel like they are the most important thing there” comment.  The PGA Tour has changed dramatically in the last 20 years and it went from being appreciative you made the cut and are going to make a check, to how come my courtesy Escalade doesn’t have tinted windows?  Please Mr. Toms, have some humble pie and appreciate all the good things you’ve earned by being a PGA Professional.

Not surprisingly, the television ratings for this year’s Masters were down 13% from 2005’s Woods-DiMarco showdown. I think the greens intimidated everyone to the point of the players afraid of running putts too far past the hole and leaving a tricky putt coming back. Even the treacherous 16th hole Sunday pin location didn’t have any drama on Sunday. Usually, the 16th is good for at least a few shots above the hole that come curling back down for potential holes-in-one.

Also, for all the noise made about Augusta’s lengthened holes, I personally don’t think it was a factor in eliminating or giving an advantage to certain players over others. Was the course tougher? Probably, but when you have Ben Crenshaw, at 54, on the leader board after Friday, I think it shows you just need to hit it straight and have a good putting round.

You’d think Phil’s win was the second coming of…Tiger. Literally every golf writer on the planet has jumped on the Mickelson bandwagon and picked him to run the table on the rest of the majors. No doubt Mickelson played very well, but I think it was a game of attrition more than anything else. That’s not to suggest Tiger hasn’t won a few this way, but the back nine was there for the taking if someone would have stepped up.

Tiger Woods is taking some serious heat from disability groups after making his “putting like a spaz” comment during his post-round interview. Was the statement inappropriate? Absolutely. However, it was said after a very disappointing round of golf and he was criticizing his own play after he’d just walked off the golf course. Granted, even NASCAR has had its own drivers clean up their language post-race so as not offend sponsors and impressionable children.  And yes, even the PGA’s squeaky-clean, ultra-conservative players must be held accountable as well. And in fact, Woods did apologize through his manager Mark Steinberg.

Phil Mickelson sleepwalked to his second Masters victory yesterday at Augusta National. This had to be one of the most boring Masters final rounds in recent memory as no one could mount any kind of charge to put the heat on Phil. If Fred Couples or Tiger Woods would have had average putting days, they would have at least made it interesting, but both putted like the flat stick was a club they’d never seen before.

Now we get to hear weeks of analysis from our friends at the Golf Channel touting the possibility of the “Phil Slam”. Mickelson would have to win the U.S. Open and the British Open to complete the Phil Slam and I just don’t see it happening. You can vote on the possibility here. And we’re not going to hear the end of Mickelson’s two-driver approach and what a genius he was for using it at Augusta. Yawn.

I am curious to see what the overnight ratings are for CBS, because I have to believe the numbers were way down with no one making a run and Tiger not being in the mix. It was exciting to see Tim Clark make a little noise as he’s a scrappy player that just doesn’t back down.

Augusta’s new length didn’t seem to play a factor in determining the outcome, but it was good to see the pros hitting long irons (and fairway metals) to some of the holes. But like the ad says, these guys are good and the added distance was a non-factor.

Phil Mickelson shot a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s rain-delayed third round and leads Chad Campbell and Fred Couples by one shot. Woods, Singh, and Goosen are two shots back, and Ernie Els sits 4 back. Look for the back nine on Sunday to be a shootout and I’m not convinced all of the “Big Five” will be in the mix.I don’t think Chad Campbell will be a factor, but Stephen Ames might carry his Players Championship momentum into Sunday afternoon and suprise everyone. Anyone within 5 shots has a reaisitic shot at winning and if the course conditions dry out, it could bring even more players into the mix. Sentimental favorite Ben Crenshaw had a horrible third round and finds himself 10 shots back. The wet weather eliminates average length hitters, and Crenshaw ranked last in driving distance heading into the third round.

On the LPGA, Michelle Wie moved back into second place in the women’s world rankings after her strong showing in the Kraft Nabisco Championship. I’m as big of fan of Wie’s as their is, but the world rankings need a major makeover in my opinion. A quick look at the top ten shows that Wie has only 15 official LPGA events under her belt, which I feel is about 15 events less than it should be. It’s obvious that the Asian Tour officials had a lot of influence with the LPGA’s new commissioner for the rankings to include not only Wie, but Yuri Fudoh who primarily plays the Women’s Asian tour.

Chad Campbell shot a 5-under 67 on Friday to take the lead at the Masters. Don’t look back though because the top 5 in the world are all within 5 shots of the lead. Vijay Singh shot a two-over 74 but is still only two back at 3-under par. Ben Crenshaw followed his amazing 1-under on Thursday with an even par round Friday and still finds himself on the leaderboard only 5 back of Campbell. The top 10 includes 7 international players, which emphasizes the fact the international players are every bit as good as their American counterparts.

Unfortunately, fan favorite Chris DiMarco missed the cut after playing in Sunday’s final pairing for the previous two years. He’s obviously sill nursing a rib injury from skiing two weeks ago in Colorado. Other surprises to miss the cut were David Toms, Michael Campbell (reigning U.S. Open champion), Colin Montgomerie, John Daly, Tom Lehman, and Sean O’Hair.

Was reading some Masters statistics and for all the noise about technology making the ball go further, and Augusta making the course longer, Tiger Woods is hitting his driver 25 yards less than he did in 1997, the first year he won the Masters. Ponder that for a while.

The Fijian,Vijay Singh leads after Thursday’s first round at Augusta.  His 5-under 67
leads Rocco Mediate (say again?) by one shot and Arron Oberholser by 2 shots.  Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson are three shots back, Ernie Els is 4 back, and Tiger Woods is lurking 5 shots back of Singh.

Augusta National played dry and fast on Thusday with most of the field comparing its conditions to U.S. Open type conditions.  The wind is supposed to blow harder on Friday and if so, look for approach shots to start rolling through the greens.  These kind of conditions favor Goosen because his touch on and around the greens is second to none, evident by his U.S. Open win in 2002 at Shinnecock Hills.

Ben Crenshaw brought back a bit of magic on Thursday by shooting a 1-under 71 and finds himself on the leaderboard.  The 54-year old former two-time Masters champion knows that Augusta’s new length will eventually eliminate him, he sill had that fire for one round.