7,400 Yard Firestone: Nine Drive And Pitch Holes!
/Nick Faldo Tweeted about his letter to the IGF Saturday but I found this much more revealing about what he's seeing this week at Firestone. Love the hashtag:
When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Homewrecker Scott Leads; Says He's Unaware Of His Role In Stevie-Tiger Breakup
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Doug Ferguson on Adam Scott's opening 62 at Firestone and post round claims that he hasn't followed the Tiger-fires-Stevie-for-disloyalty story."The relationship between looper and PGA Tour pro is, like everything else in sports, under a microscope..."
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Brad Klein is fascinated by the increased scrutiny of today's PGA Tour loopers, but just wishes there would be more attention paid to caddies.Tiger's Back (Again), Press Conference Clippings
/Doug Ferguson seizes on Tiger saying he has the itch to play again.
He said he started hitting balls a couple of weeks ago, without giving an exact date, and that he got the itch to start playing soon after. Woods said he thought about playing The Greenbrier Classic last week, but decided to wait a li
Tiger And Stevie's First Tee Reunion Delayed At Least Until The Weekend
/GolfChannel.com has "learned" that the opening round pairing for Tiger is with buddy Darren Clarke.
Read More"Not every course has to end with a strong par-4."
/Andrew Ramspacher files what should be required reading for anyone who thinks a par-3 is a lousy way to end a golf tournament, documenting the thrills the finishing one-shotter at Greenbrier. I did get a chuckle reading Gary Woodland went with wedge after being torn between that and a 9-iron...from 169 yards!
Read MoreStallings Wins And Immediately Blogs About It
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Now, this is a cause for concern, but there is an explanation:
When I played Transitions this year, I wrote about how my third place finish changed everything. But this is totally different. Winning Greenbrier means I also won 500 FedEx Cup points, boosting my ranking from 88th to 26th. I’m more excited about that than the money. (But obviously the money is a huge bonus — I earned $1.08 million for finishing first.)
Besides the obvious hit on greater Ponte Vedra area drug store sales of ED refills in an already beleaguered economy, there is an explanation for this blatant FedEx Cup pandering.
Stallings, who started the final round one stroke off the lead, jumped 62 spots to 26th in the season-long race for the $10 million bonus. That increased security is particularly important to the native New Englander who dearly wanted to make field for the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, which is played in Foxborough, Mass.
"One of the biggest goals we had was to get to Boston," Stallings said. "I was born just outside of the city (in Worcester), and I'm huge, huge, diehard Red Sox fan. To have them have the pairings party at Fenway (Park) ... I told them just to have an opportunity to go in the gates at Fenway any time I can, I would be signed up for as many as I could."
Here is Stallings' winning putt:
And his post round press conference...
2011 Greenbrier, U.S. Senior Open, Women's Open And Haskell Open Comment Thread
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Busy, busy, Sunday.
Caroline Masson will try to hold off Inbee Park and Meena Lee to win the Women's Open Championship at suddenly vulnerable Carnoustie.
Anthony Kim must fend off Scott Stallings, Gary Woodland and Webb Simpson to win at the Greenbrier.
Olin Browne tries to hold off Pavin, O'Meara and age shooter Hale Irwin.
Pepperdine's Jeff Gove made two eagles Saturday (video included!) and goes for his fourth career Nationwide Tour win.
And most important of all, Shackleford faces Belmont winner Ruler On Ice and the surging Coil in the $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park.
"The U.S. Open was just a factory to take your money."
/Aaron McFarling in the Roanoke Times walks around the property Friday and lists all of the ways the Greenbrier Classic excels. While I giggle at the references to the Old White Guys TPC playing "too easy" last year (wasn't it also one of the most exciting events of the year?), this little note about the fan experience caught my eye:
Read MoreTiger Woods Returning To Firestone With His Trusted Travel Agent In Tow
/You gotta hand it to the newsroom at TigerWoods.com, another exclusive confirmed by Tiger his ownself on Twitter.
Read MoreCantlay's '11 Prize Money (If He Were A Pro): Roughly $456,297
/Jim McCabe has several interesting notes from the last week, including more comments from Luke Donald about the Canadian Open setup, Brad Faxon gearing up for his Champions debut in a few weeks and this on Patrick Cantlay's continued great play.
Read MoreThey Didn't Say That Did They? "The top guys in college, the top 20 or 30 guys, can beat the top 20, 30 guys on the PGA Tour."
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Harris English, understandably confused for a character in a P.G. Wodehouse novel, did not win a Nationwide Tour event Sunday. Instead, it was Harris English from the University of Georgia, who outdueled another amateur, LSU's John Peterson. Throw in another impressive PGA Tour performance from UCLA's Patrick Cantlay at the Canadian Open, and you have to be impressed with the showing of college golf's finest.2011 Canadian Open, Senior Open, Evian Masters Final Round Open Comment Thread
/Inguring finishes on tap at all three...
Read MoreFriday Night Mowers Come Out In Vancouver!
/What prompted the PGA Tour to order a trimming of the excessive Canadian Open rough at Shaughnessy on Friday night?
Read More“I don’t know if it should be a one-shot penalty for a guy who lands his tee shot in the fairway and two-bounces into the rough."
/Cam Cole wonders if the excessive setup at the Canadian Open--rough for rough's sake--will hurt the already fragile tournament's chances of drawing name players in the future even though sponsor RBC is already essentially paying appearance fees to several.
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