Green Posse

Charles Howell III finally got the 2nd win of his career and it wa a long-time coming. Howell III beat Phil Mickelson in a three-hole playoff at the Nissan Open in Los Angeles. It could be said that Mickelson gave the tournament away by making bogey on the 18th hole, but give Howell III credit because he shot a great 6-under 65 to put himself in contention.
Mickelson hit a few loose shots today, but it was his putting that let him down over the course of the day, and his usually-excellent chipping was suspect a few times as …read more

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Paula Creamer ended her 18-month winless streak by outlasting Julieta Granada at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay today. Actually, Creamer made it closer than she wanted by making double-bogey at 11 and bogey at 13 and at one point was tied with Granada until making a birdie at 17. Creamer needed this win not only for her confidence but because this is a Solheim Cup year and she needs to start accumulating points as soon as possible.
Morgan Pressel was tied with Creamer going into today’s final round but Pressel looked all out of sorts, especially on …read more

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Perusing the second-round leaderboard for the Nissan Open at the Riveria Country Club in Los Angeles, but it looks like it could be a European tournament in some far-flung city in Ireland. There are 6 international players in the top 12, which is hardly surprising, given the depth of the international players.
I think it’s great to see the international flavor rise to the top as I hope it puts at least a little pressure on their American under-30 counterparts to step it up a notch. And it’s great to see Charles Howell III having a good tournament yet …read more

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It was great to see the LPGA women back in action today on the Golf Channel. Paula Creamer is leading after the first round at the SPS Open at Turtle Bay in Hawaii and it’s good to see her back on form again. The leaderboard is full of talent that includes Gulbis, Inkster, Webb, Pressel, and Granada, all more than capable of winning this week.
Lorena Ochoa struggled a bit today on the greens and it appeared she never got a feel for her putts, but her ball-striking was excellent, as always. Natalie Gulbis has revamped her swing …read more

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I had no idea that the impact of the International going away would generate the kind of interest that it has since the announcement was made a few days ago. There was an excellent article in the Denver Post by Woody Paige, and another great article on GolfWorld’s web site by John Hawkins. Though both articles come from different perspectives (Paige resides in Denver and Hawkins covers golf worldwide), they both come to similar conclusions: Tiger Woods and Tim Finchem have far-reaching power.
The first point is that Woods can literally make or break a tournament by his presence. …read more

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I’m chomping at the bit waiting for the LPGA tour to officially start and this week the ladies kick off their season at the Turtle Bay Resort in Hawaii. Last year’s LPGA Player of the Year, Lorena Ochoa has to be the early favorite, but media darling Karrie Webb has started off the year winning two no-name event in Australia, so she’ll be a factor. However, this a pretty good field and it’s hard to say who’s going to play well coming out of the blocks.
According to this article, the South Korean players won 11 tournaments last year …read more

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Nick Price made his long-awaited debut on the Champions Tour this past weekend, and though he only finished tied for 20th, it was great to see Price back on the golf course again. You can tell he wants to win and is taking this very seriously, as he was pretty straight-faced when the Golf Channel did show his golf shots.
I for one, am glad to see guys like Price on the Champions Tour. It’s time to push the senior circuit to a different level and Price, along with Bernhard Langer and Seve Ballesteros are not coming out to …read more

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Phil Mickelson got the 2007 winless streak off his back by winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am today. And lefty looked totally in control today with his iron shots which left him very makeable birdie putts all day. Everyone knows that there are top-10/20 players in the world and then there is everyone else. That was extremely apparent today while watching Kevin Sutherland and John Mallinger do their best impressions of tour pros.
That’s not a knock on either one but more of an observation that we all tend to take the Mickeson’s, Woods’, Singh’s, and Furyk’s for …read more

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Okay, maybe I’m watching too much of the Golf Channel, but enough of Las Vegas lounge lizard Danny Gans already. He was funny the first time, but now it’s just annoying to see Rich Lerner fawn all over Gans at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Yes, it’s the celebrities that make the fans come out and buy tickets to these events, but this generation of TV stars and comedians don’t hold a candle to the celebs of the past.
Ray Romanao, Kevin James, Danny Gans? Sounds like an accounting firm. Bill Murray is over the top sometimes, but …read more

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It was reported today that Michelle Wie fell while she was running and injured her wrist. Word has it that she’s wearing a hard cast and may be out of golf for at least a month. This of course, puts the Nabisco Championship without one their biggest draws if she indeed misses the tournament.
While I don’t doubt the seriousness of her injury, it appears this is just another moment in the last 6 months that have put the teenager in a negative light. If I’m her Dad, I would tell her to take at least 3 months …read more

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