Ramblings and Rumblings
PGA
Jim Furyk won the Canadian Open yesterday and in the process moved up in the world rankings to 2nd place, moving Phil Mickelson down a spot. Ouch! A year ago, Mickelson had become the darling of the media and the fans as he had just won the PGA Championship and eventually would go on to win the Masters, securing his spot as golf’s darling boy. Now he’s been replaced by a golfer who’s swing is just slightly better than Miller Barber’s, but hey, who can argue with Furyk’s success? I hope Mickelson is planning a makeover in the off-season or will start calling him Little John Daly.
LPGA
Kudos to Cristie Kerr for taking the champ Annika Sorenstam out with a TKO! It was great to see someone (anyone) finally stand up to Sorenstam when it mattered most – on the back nine on Sunday. Annika didn’t give this tournament away, Kerr took it from her with birdies when she needed them most, and Sorenstam couldn’t answer. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Lorena Ochoa as she had multiple opportunities to pull close to the lead, but she couldn’t make the putts.
Ochoa leads Sorenstam by about $300,000, but it’s going to be a tight battle as Ochoa is not scheduled to play as many tournaments as Sorenstam by the end of the year. It’s possible Sorenstam might win the money title by just showing up and collecting a paycheck.