Green Posse

Congrats to Tiger and Elin Woods on the birth of thier first child. Sam Alexis Woods was born early Monday morning, hours after he completed the final round of the U.S. Open. I wonder what would have happned if Tiger and Cabrera had finished tied, because the USGA requires a Monday playoff for the U.S. Open. And if Tiger’s child was born sometime Monday, would he have left the playoff? Smart money says yes. He’d have been gone in a heartbeat.
Michelle Wie’s camp announced she has withdrawn from next months’s John Deere Classic. Citing …read more

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Players from America fared very well in this year’s U.S. Open and that’s a pleasant suprise for a change, as they claimed 10 of the top 20 finishing spots on the leaderboard. Bubba Watson was the only real “young gun” on the list, but he needs to feel very proud of how he finished. He took a lot of heat from the broadcast team, but overall he did very well.
The other real American surprise was Lee Janzen. He’s been struggling for years trying to get his game back, and has been using sponsor’s exemptions more often …read more

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I didn’t given Angel Cabrera enough props yesterday, and he fully deserved more than he got. I’ve been watching a replay of the final round and Cabrera played some fantastic golf, under intense pressure. Does this win make him a top-tier player? Hardly, but it may give him the confidence to win more often on the PGA Tour (when he plays). I had no idea how far the man can hit a golf ball. Simply amazing. And when he striped his tee shot on 18, that sent a serious message to Woods.
And Tiger’s press …read more

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Well, Tiger is 0-fer when he enters the final round of a major, trailing the leader. For all the great shots he hit yesterday, the opposite happened today, and he looked dazed and confused. Even more frustrating for Woods I’m sure is that this tournament was there for the taking; all he had to do was shoot even par.
I have a theory: Tiger seems to be motivated not only by the challenge of winning majors, but by the attention and adulation the top-5 (whomever they happen to be) gets when they are winning majors. Last year, …read more

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This is the U.S. Open,not the B.C.Open (with all due respect). The USGA, in my opinion, dumbed down the greens for Saturday’s third round, and let a whole bunch of guys in the tournament that really shouldn’t be there. There’s no doubt they buckled under the pressure to not duplicate the Shinnecock debacle.
The cream is supposed to rise to the top at major championships, especially the U.S. Open, but a quick look at the leaderboard, and it could be the leaderboard at the B.C. Open. Aaron Baddeley is a decent golfer, but he’s hardly a top-tier …read more

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Phil Mickelson is at +11 for the U.S. Open, and ironically enough, he still has a decent chance of making the cut. More importantly, was it a smart decision to attempt to play this week, given that his wrist was hurt far more than he let on (which is his perrogative). Did he potentially sacrifice the long-term health of his wrist in order to play this week?
Unfortunately, Phil is getting roasted by columnists and the 2nd round isn’t even over yet! I think Phil was so hell-bent on trying to exorcise the demons from last year that …read more

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I wrote yesterday that there was tons of hoopla being generated about how difficult the USGA set up Oakmont for this year’s U.S. Open. My personal opinion is that these are the best players in the world, and it doesn’t hurt for them to play a venue, once a year, that really tests their mettle. If they hack the ball around, does it really hurt their confidence in the long run? I think not. In fact, regardless of how difficult a course is, if the greens are soft (as these were this morning), these guys are …read more

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I watched the Johnny Miller special on the Golf Channel last night and I thought it was an excellent show, in that it showed a different side of Miller that the general public doesn’t get to see. Without question, he’s opinionated, arrogant, and sometimes can be flip in his comments, but it also showed someone who is humble, and really appreciates what golf has given him.

He readily admitted when his comments were over-the-top, or perhaps unjustified, and he’s willing to take the heat for them. One of his classic, and probably slightly unfair comments was after Craig Perry …read more

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I was watching the Golf Channel’s coverage of the U.S. Open and you’d think there were going to be snipers lining the fairways taking pot shots at the golfers. Dave Pelz (one of Mickelson’s coaches) did a spot on the Golf Channel on the 10th hole, and he called it “the hardest par-5 in America” because of the severity of the green’s inability to hold a chip shot. Yes, this course will be tough, but it seems the Golf Channel turns up the hype a little much at the U.S. Open each year.
However, if it’s as tough as …read more

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Okay, I think it’s time to put the Adam Scott hype machine to bed for a while. He’s been touted as the next “Tiger Woods” for about three years now, and he’s yet to follow up his Players Championship with a win in a real major. And Sunday’s collapse at the St. Jude Championship was reminiscent of Ochoa’s collapses as of late. Scott is infinitely better than Woody Austin, but look who was holding the trophy on Sunday. Yeah, Austin shot a career-round of 62 to win, but Scott was leaking oil all the way …read more

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