Hooked On Golf Blog's FORMER LOCATION

HOG has moved

2006-12-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

Hooked On Golf Blog is the web's top golf blog. It is now located at http://www.hookedongolfblog.com so update your blogrolls!

Merry Christmas

2005-12-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

This is a friendly reminder that Hooked On Golf Blog has moved to a new, bigger, better spot on the web!

The new HOG has a better look, format, image gallery, huge links section, polls and much more.

Take this location off your blogroll and replace it with http://www.hookedongolfblog.com now!

Hooked On Golf Blog Has Moved!

2005-11-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

WE HAVE MOVED HERE!

http://www.hookedongolfblog.com

WELCOME TO THE EMERGENCY HOOKED ON GOLF BLOG LOCATION!

2005-11-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Last night at 2:00am or so the server for www.hookedongolfblog.com fried. There was a quadruple redundant RAID setup there. The original drive became corrupt and the raid just backed up the corruption.

The main HOG server will be down for at least a day before I can even LOOK at it to see what has been lost. I do have a backup of the database which means all the posts will be there. The mods I've done to the template and many of the images may be missing.

It's going to take me a few days to get things back up to speed. So I've got you pointed here to my former blog location until I get HOG back up to full speed.

This will give me the chance to upgrade my blog software and add a couple of new features I was waiting on.

In the mean time, enjoy this picture of TIGER WOODS' house:

I apologize for the inconvenience.

mediaguru

A little tiny secret for you

2005-08-10T00:05:00.000-06:00

Heres a little tiny secret for you. Hooked On Golf Blog moved to here: http://www.hookedongolfblog.com

Still some old links coming here...

2005-07-25T09:55:00.000-06:00

There are still a few old links coming to this location of hooked on golf blog. I hope I never have to change URL's again because it has now been over three months since I switched and I'm still trying to get folks to put my new location in their blogroll!

So if you'd please update your blogrolls that are coming here to my new location at:

http://www.hookedongolfblog.com !!! thanks.

Just thought I'd let you know

2005-06-28T23:42:00.000-06:00

Hooked On Golf Blog has moved to http://www.hookedongolfblog.com ...

By the way...

2005-06-08T23:40:00.000-06:00

By the way, did I ever tell you my golf blog has moved to http://www.hookedongolfblog.com?

NEW SITE, NEW LOOKS, NEW STUFF, NEW LOCALE

2005-04-28T22:31:00.000-06:00

CLICK HERE TO GO TO HOOKED ON GOLF BLOG'S NEW LOCATION!

HOOKED ON GOLF BLOG HAS MOVED!

2005-04-28T22:29:00.000-06:00

HOOKED ON GOLF BLOG HAS MOVED!

WE HAVE MOVED HERE!

http://www.hookedongolfblog.com

GO TO http://www.hookedongolfblog.com

2005-04-28T22:27:00.000-06:00

HOOKED ON GOLF BLOG HAS MOVED!

WE HAVE MOVED HERE!

http://www.hookedongolfblog.com

Since the beginning I’ve been using the free service at blogspot and the blogger software. This served me fine for a while, but my blog is growing fast. I’ve been feeling growing pains and having some formatting and display issues.

Now I’m no longer tied to blogger. I have my own domain and hosting now. I’ve been able to use much better blogging software and hopefully the interface and features will be much better. I also anticipate better speed and performance as well.

My new server also has TONS of other capabillities and scripts that I’ll be able to use to make the experience here even better. For now, I’m just working on the design and basics of the blog. More features will be coming soon.

This will be the last post here.
PLEASE UPDATE YOUR LINKS TO OUR NEW URL:
http://www.hookedongolfblog.com

GO TO http://www.hookedongolfblog.com

2005-04-28T22:25:00.000-06:00

WE HAVE MOVED HERE!

http://www.hookedongolfblog.com

Since the beginning I’ve been using the free service at blogspot and the blogger software. This served me fine for a while, but my blog is growing fast. I’ve been feeling growing pains and having some formatting and display issues.

This will be the last post here.
PLEASE UPDATE YOUR LINKS TO OUR NEW URL:
http://www.hookedongolfblog.com

HOOKED ON GOLF BLOG HAS MOVED!

2005-04-08T20:20:00.000-06:00

WE HAVE MOVED HERE!

http://www.hookedongolfblog.com

This will be the last post here.
PLEASE UPDATE YOUR LINKS TO OUR NEW URL:
http://www.hookedongolfblog.com

Masters Day 2 Posponed Due To Weather

2005-04-08T11:52:00.000-06:00

The second round of the Masters has been suspended for the day and will resume at 8 a.m. ET Saturday.

Chris DiMarco did manage to finish his first round this morning with a 67 and leads at -5.

Streak #2 ends at 39

2005-04-08T09:09:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately yesterday my current streak (#2) of playing consecutive golf holes with one ball ended at 39. The record is still 92.

Talk of Tiger Disqualification?

2005-04-08T08:59:00.000-06:00

Late last night on The Golf Channel (yes I do watch that channel!), there was a media buzz around Augusta that Tiger may have made a mistake on 13 green after he putted into Ray's creek. The first theory was that he improperly put a 2nd ball into play and that he may be DQ'd. Then after realizing he hadn't actually completed his round and signed his scorecard, there would only be a penalty assesed.

But the problem wasn't 13 at all. It was another hole where Tiger tapped in a putt. Apparently a viewer called in and reported that Tiger had putted with the putter between his legs rather than to his side. (The way Sam Snead used to putt). Tiger had to align himself in an odd way so that he wasn't standing in anyone's line. Tiger actually had a meeting with rules officals and they reviewed the tape. They determined that Tiger had not done anything wrong eventually.

So Tiger's bad day didn't end when he stopped playing. It continued late into the evening.

List of strange day one items

2005-04-08T08:41:00.000-06:00

What strange things happend in day 1 at The Masters?

1. Tiger putts an eagle putt into Ray's creek.
2. Tiger chunks his driver and knocks it 60 yards.
3. Tiger hits the flagstick with a great shot on 1, only to have it bounce into the trap where he can't get up and down.
4. A former Masters champion shoots a 106
5. Another former Masters champion withdraws
6. Palmer is on the leaderboard....Ryan Palmer
7. Duval was at -2....for a while
8. Jack was at -1....for a while
9. 5 hour 20 minute rain delay
10. Ernie Els was in the trees more than the fairway
11. Fuzzy had 15 clubs in his bag for the first 2 holes.
12. Vijay elects to finish the hole after the horn and three putts for bogey
13. A player forgot to bring his golf clubs to The Masters
14. Play suspended due to darkness
15. Martha Burke is still out there
16. Late night after day one there was talk that TIGER MIGHT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED. But all was ok.

Go bug someone else Martha

2005-04-08T08:20:00.000-06:00

"Martha Burk's not quite finished with Augusta National. The national women's group headed by Burk sent letters to the Masters' three television sponsors asking for details on their hiring, pay, and promotion of women. Burk she wants to make sure IBM, SBC Communications and Exxon Mobil aren't discriminating against female employees."

Come on Martha, give it up already. You've lost this battle. Go bug someone else.

Masters Day 1

2005-04-07T18:20:00.000-06:00

What a surprise... Play was delayed by over 5 hours in round 1 of The Masters due to rain. I guess Mother Nature couldn't get a membership at Augusta. They were unable to finish the first round due to darkness. Play will resume at 9:45 a.m. ET. The lowest score for a finished round is 69 by Mark Hensby. Chris DiMarco is at -4 but hasn't finished his round.

The "Big 5" (not 4): VJ & Phil and Goosen are at -2, Tiger is at +2 and Ernie Els is at +3.

I love watching this tournament because there are things that can happen here that simply don't just about anywhere else.

Tiger had some very entertaining moments. First was the eagle putt from the middle of the green into Ray's Creek on 13. Then his approach shot on 1 bounced off the flagstick and into the greenside bunker...bogey. Later on he chunked his driver 6 inches behind the ball and hit his drive 60 yards on #2. He knocked his 3rd shot into the trap and made a miracle putt to save his par 5.

Other interesting items include David Duval who had it to -2 at one point but is now at +3. Shingo is taking advantage of his special invitation. Palmer is on the leaderboard.....Ryan Palmer. Nick Flado had to bail due to a back injury. He shouldn't have had all that fun in the par 3 contest. Nicklaus had it going at -1, but fell back to +4.

I love The Masters.

The worst putt Tiger ever hit?

2005-04-07T15:05:00.000-06:00

On 13 (par 5) today at The Masters, Tiger had a lenghty eagle putt. He knocked it by the hole, off the green and into Ray's creek. WOW!

Masters News Conference Wednesday

2005-04-07T00:08:00.000-06:00

Hootie took the stand at today's Masters news conference. There were the usual questions about women becoming members to which Hootie answered, "We have adopted a new policy. We don't talk about club matters, period."

Hootie was forced to legitimate their not inviting Colin Montgomere to the Masters. Seems pretty clear to me as he didn't meet the qualifications and they wanted to invite Shingo Katayama to draw from their huge base in Japan.

There was lengthy question and answer as to wether or not the Masters is considering putting a "tournament ball" into play. Such a tournament ball would turn back the technology clock and reduce the distance the ball could travel. Ball manufacturers would certainly be against this for general PGA Tour play. Players would too as this would hurt their endorsement money. Hootie made it quite clear he'd like to see a tournament ball.

Discussion went to sponsors (or lack thereof). Hootie stated "we could go on without sponsors indefintely." But he did mention the plan to add a new practice facility and hinted that sponsor money would be the funding source. Regarding sponsors for The Masters: I love only having to watch 4 minutes of commercials per hour.

Today was the traditional par 3 contest. This is a very casual event where the players have fun with each other and the spectators....er a "patrons." Remember they're not specatators, they're "patrons."

The latest weather report is for rain Thursday and possibly Friday. Come on Mother Nature, you know better than messing with Hootie and The Masters. If you don't let it rain maybe they'll let you join the club. Maybe not, you're female.

I really hope it doesn't rain. They're saying the greens are HARD AND FAST. This is the way I like to see The Masters. I love the need for crucial approach shot placment and perfect putting. These are not as important if it rains and softens the course.

Stupid press questions at the Masters

2005-04-05T19:02:00.000-06:00

Press guy: "Tiger, why is it that in the history of the Masters no one has put together four rounds in the 60's?"
Tiger: "Because it's hard."

DUH!

Press guy: "Tiger would you enjoy blowing away the field and winning by ten?"
Tiger: "Yes."

DUH!

Press guy: "Phil, what did you take from your duel with Tiger at Doral?"
Phil: "A loss."

DUH!

My goal for next year is to get into the Masters as the first golf blogger to get a press credential.

Tiger sighting at Augusta

2005-04-05T11:46:00.000-06:00

From the practice tee at Augusta! There are some mac users (myself included) who can't get to the live broacast from masters.org. I figured a way around it that works for me using firefox.

I just pasted this URL into my browser and bypassed their browser check.

CLICK HERE

Busy Golf Monday

2005-04-04T21:40:00.000-06:00

Here's a recap of the busy day in golf today, the Monday before The Masters.

1. Phil Mickelson won the BellSouth Classic by winning a 4 hole, 5 man playoff. The other 4 playoff players were Jose Maria Olazabal, Rich Beem, Brandt Jobe and Arjun Atwal.

Olazabal was a whole golf story on his own. He had a chance to win the tournament in regulation, but his nerves got the best of him. He pulled a short birdie putt on 18 in regulation, and did the same thing on the first playoff hole. Jobe and Atwal knocked their 2nd shots in the drink on the 1st playoff hole, leaving Mickelson, Beam and Olazabal to continue on to the 2nd playoff hole.

On the 4th playoff hole, Olazabal had a nuclear meltdown. He had to hack out of the salad bar and then hope to knock his 3rd shot on the green and make birdie. Instead he knocked his 3rd AND fifth shots into the drink on 18. At that point it was "adios Jose." Phil then drained a 20 foot birdie putt to close out Beam and claim his 3rd victory of the year and the 26th of his career.

2. Jack Nicklaus announced today that he WILL compete in The Masters this year. Glad to hear it.

3. Many players were on the course at Augusta practicing today. It was fun to watch DLIII, Haas, Clarke and many others go through their practice routines on the range. You can go to www.masters.org and see live cameras all week from different locations. The camera stayed on long after the players left. It was kind of funny to watch one grounds crew guy out there picking up range balls by hand.

4. On a personal note, I stopped in at my club today to give a friend some shopping money. He's flying out to The Masters tomorrow. I gave him $200 and a shopping list of Masters goodies. The main thing on my list is a Masters flag.

5. On a 2nd personal note, one of my 3 golf leagues is tomorrow. Not sure that will happen since now (9:55pm) it is HAILING SIDEWAYS here.

This is COOL!

2005-04-04T12:26:00.000-06:00

I'm watching the live feed from The Masters right now! The live camera is on the range. I've been watching Tom Lehman and Jay Haas practice. How cool is that. Haas' caddy is helping him out with stance, ball position and swing positions. It is very neat to watch them working on their swings and getting feedback from their caddies.

Tom Lehman

Jay Haas

IT'S MASTERS WEEK!

2005-04-04T08:19:00.000-06:00

16 Tee to Green
Originally uploaded by mediaguru.

It's Masters week folks! This is without a doubt the best golf week of the entire year.

There is something "special" about The Masters and Augusta. Perhaps it is the touch of Bobby Jones.

Here's another photo from my Augusta gallery courtesy of Everett, my best friend. Check out Everett's blog at The Grand Staircase.

This photo is of the 16th green.
Click here for all 74 photos from this gallery and enjoy!

I told you so

2005-04-04T08:08:00.000-06:00

In this post I mentioned that I thought Ian Woosnam's "back injury" would miraculously heal by the opening round of The Masters.

I'm big enough to admit that I was wrong.

His back got better even quicker. Quick enough in fact to play a practice round at Augusta on Sunday while the players who didn't abandon ship on the BellSouth were still trying to get their 2nd of 3 rounds completed.

Streak #2 continues

2005-04-03T17:25:00.000-06:00

76 yesterday and 76 today. Two 18 hole rounds with my BlackMax ball. Both rounds were very windy. Current streak is now at 36 holes.

I'm attempting to break my 92 hole record of consecutive holes with one ball.

Weather delays at the 2005 Masters?

2005-04-03T08:47:00.000-06:00

The curse of the PGA Tour this year has been rain delays. Given the close proximity of the BellSouth Classic and the fact that it has been delayed 2 days made me wonder if The Masters would have any weather issues. I always think of The Masters as 84 degrees and sunny. That won't the case this year apparently.

Here's the current weather report for The Masters, 3 days 23 hours 8 minutes and 27 seconds before tee off.

BellSouth Classic reduced to 54 holes

2005-04-03T08:39:00.000-06:00

The won't be a 36 hole finish on Monday at the BellSouth Classic. I bet many of the players (especially those going to The Masters) are happy about that.

After play on Saturday 63 players had yet to finish the FIRST round. Billy Mayfair was atop the leaderboard at -4 but had only completed 13 holes. Several other players were at -3 and had finished round 1.

Starting the new streak

2005-04-02T22:20:00.000-07:00

Recently I posted about going 92 holes with one BlackMax ball.

I've started the new streak as of today. 18 holes. Tomorrow is a tournament and hopefully I'll be up to 36. A report will follow.

Abandon ship!

2005-04-02T07:50:00.000-07:00

Former Masters champion Ian Woosnam has withdrawn from the rain delayed BellSouth supposedly due back problems. Yeah right. I bet his back feels better by Thursday.

Four other players withdrew Friday. They included Stuart Appleby, ranked No. 13 in the world, Chris DiMarco, ranked No. 15, Steve Flesch and David Peoples. David Peoples is not in the Masters however.

Here's the DNS list: Chris Perry, Chris Dimarco, Bob Burns, Ian Woosnam, David Peoples, Luke Donald, Ken Green, Steve Flesch and Stuart Appleby.

The players who no show do have to submit a reason to the PGA within 14 days. I'm sure all the players who are in the Masters will site "health reasons" for missing the BellSouth.

Jim Furyk on 18 Tee at Augusta

2005-04-02T07:33:00.000-07:00

Jim Furyk on 18 Tee
Originally uploaded by mediaguru.

With The Masters coming up here is another sample from my 74 pic Masters and Augusta photo gallery. The photos in the gallery are much larger than this sample here.

If you haven't seen these pics yet, check them out here.

Photo credit: Everett @ The Grand Staircase 2002.

The Masters starts in 5 days 21 minutes and 31 seconds.

Still looking for more golf blogs!

2005-04-02T06:35:00.000-07:00

Before I head out to the links today to play a great Authur Hills designed links course called Wingpointe, I thought I'd shout out to the blogosphere another request for golf blogs. I've got a bunch in my blogroll so far but there must be more out there!

Send me your links! Here are a couple that are on my new or hot list:

10 golf blogs for the price of one: Travel Golf, home of our pal Jay Flemma (A Walk In The Park)
The Golf Blog (could their name be any more descriptive?)
Grouchy Golf Blog (this blog has some golf balls)
The Reluctant Jam Boy is fresh out of the birthing room.
Golf Tips and News is run by a 17 year PGA pro.
The Sand Trap has great content on a daily basis.
Bogey Lounge is one of my favorites.
Golf Blogger is everything golf.
Major Championships - A Golf Resource and Blog
Sorta Golf ...they make up their own rules.

Nike One.....Platinum?

2005-04-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

Our buddies over at Bogey Lounge dug up the scoop on the Nike One "Platinum" golf ball. Apparently Tiger has been "testing" this prototype ball for the last few months.

The engineers at Nike apparently still haven't fixed the problem Tiger had with the previous models:

It goes 300+ yards out, and 40 yards to the right....

Don't wake me up!

2005-04-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

"Inclement weather has delayed the start of the first round of the BellSouth Classic until Saturday. Current plans call for 18 holes each to be played on Saturday and Sunday with a 36-hole finale on Monday."

If I were playing in The Masters I would probably bail on the BellSouth Classic. I wouldn't want to be playing 36 on Monday and then have to travel to Augusta on Tuesday to prepare for The Masters tired.

Gee, what else is new?

2005-03-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

The first round of the Bell South Classic was moved to Friday because of rain.

ZZZZZZ.....yaaaawwwwn.

EXCLUSIVE Augusta National Photo Tour!

2005-03-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

View from behind 15 Green up 15 Fairway
Originally uploaded by mediaguru.

EXCLUSIVE Augusta National photos! I've just posted a virtual tour of the ENTIRE COURSE from tee to green! See every hole. See angles you WILL NOT see on TV! Also see the amenities and some PGA Tour players on the course!

CLICK HERE for the tour at my sister site: Web Country Club!

This is an awesome 74 picture slide show of Augusta National and the Masters!

Photo credit: Everett @ The Grand Staircase
Year: 2002

And I golfed yesterday....

2005-03-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

igolfedyesterday
Originally uploaded by mediaguru.

Here's the view outside my garage today.

And I golfed yesterday.... Geez.

My playing partner was on fire. In a string of 3 holes he went birdie, birdie, eagle! He won all the dough.

I couldn't agree more

2005-03-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

Travelgolf's Tim McDonald hits this one right on the head:

Courses in bad shape should give discounts!

Masters Players List

2005-03-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

Masters champions:@ Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mark O'Meara, Nick Faldo, Ben Crenshaw, Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize, Jack Nicklaus, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller, Gary Player, Raymond Floyd, Tommy Aaron, Charles Coody.

U.S. Open champions (last five years):@ Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk.

British Open champions (last five years):@ Todd Hamilton, Ben Curtis, Ernie Els, David Duval.

PGA champions (last five years):@ Shaun Micheel, Rich Beem, David Toms.

Players Championship (last three years):@ Fred Funk, Adam Scott, Davis Love III.

U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up:@ Ryan Moore, Luke List.

British Amateur champion:@ Stuart Wilson.

U.S. Mid-Amateur champion:@ Austin Eaton III.

Top 16 players and ties from 2004 Masters:@ K.J. Choi, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, Chris DiMarco, Nick Price, Kirk Triplett, Padraig Harrington, Charles Howell III, Casey Wittenberg.

Top eight players and ties from 2004 U.S. Open:@ Jeff Maggert, Shigeki Maruyama, Robert Allenby, Steve Flesch.

Top four players and ties from 2004 British Open:@ Lee Westwood.

Top four players and ties from 2004 PGA Championship:@ Justin Leonard, Chris Riley.

Top 40 players from the 2004 PGA Tour money list:@ Stewart Cink, Stephen Ames, Stuart Appleby, Mark Hensby, Rory Sabbatini, Zach Johnson, Chad Campbell, John Daly, Scott Verplank, Jerry Kelly, Darren Clarke, Jay Haas, Kenny Perry, Carlos Franco, Rod Pampling, Tim Herron, Jonathan Kaye, Luke Donald, Ted Purdy, Ryan Palmer, Bo Van Pelt, Jesper Parnevik.

Top 50 players from the final 2004 world ranking:@ Miguel Angel Jimenez, Thomas Bjorn, Angel Cabrera, Ian Poulter, Peter Lonard, Fredrik Jacobson, Thomas Levet, David Howell, Nick O'Hern, Joakim Haeggman, Trevor Immelman.

Top 10 players from the 2005 PGA Tour money list after The Players Championship:@ Joe Ogilvie, Tom Lehman.

Top 50 players from world ranking published the week after The Players Championship:@ Tim Clark, Craig Parry, Graeme McDowell.

Special invitations:@ Shingo Katayama, mediaguru (just seeing if you are paying attention)

Tiger returning to amateur status?

2005-03-29T17:54:00.001-07:00

Did you see Tiger in SHORTS today at the Tavistock cup? Haven't seen him in shorts since he was an amateur. NO he's not turning amateur.

The Tavistock cup is the the biggest inter-club championship which takes place between Isleworth Country Club and Lake Nona Golf and Country Club. Members of the clubs include the biggest names in golf such as Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Retief Goosen, Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam and more.

Host Isleworth Country Club and Lake Nona Golf and Country Club ended the one-day competition in an 8 ½-8 ½ tie.

Short hitters rejoice!

2005-03-28T16:37:00.000-07:00

Finally The Players Championship is over. After days of starting and stopping due to rain delays, they are done.

Today the wind was brutal to the players. #17 claimed many victims, including Bob Tway who recorded a tournament record 12 on the par 3.

Short hitters everywhere rejoice! Fred Funk is The Players Champion! Finally a tournament where driving accuracy means something! I think more tournaments need to be set up to evenly reward not only driving distance, but driving accuracy as well.

And now for the Funky picture show:

Funky break dancing (when Fred missed a putt)

Fred's lie in the bunker on 18. He had to get up and down to stay at -9 and win the tournament.

Funk does "the funky fist pump" (his version of the Tiger fist pump)

Fred throws his hat down knowing he has probably won the tournament after making his par saving putt on 18.

The greatest golfer ever?

2005-03-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

Who is "the greatest golfer ever?" Is it Jack or Tiger? Jack or Tiger? That is all we hear.

Annika Sorenstam has just won her 5th tournament IN A ROW. She has also notched her first major win of the year (8) at the Nabisco.

She has won more times in her career than Tiger, and is on a much faster pace than he is in career wins. Barring injury or early retirement Annika could eclipse just about any professional golfer's career wins.

So is she the greatest golfer ever? Does it matter that she's female?

Pub about pub about pub

2005-03-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

My pal BogeyMan over at Bogey Lounge gave me some nice pub so I'm returning the favor!

Now get your golf balls over to Bogey Lounge and check it out. Join up their forums too (after you join ours of course!).

My streak ends at 92

2005-03-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately today I knocked my Maxfli BlackMax prototype ball in the drink on the 2nd hole. Harder than anticipated fairway bunkers caused me to thin one over the green into the water.

My record of holes played with that one ball ended at 92. Time to start a new streak.

Saturday at the TPC

2005-03-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

They didn't finish the 2nd round Saturday so they're going to finish it today (Sunday). 3 players who did finish are in the lead at -10: Luke Donald, Joe Durant and Lee Westwood. Third-round play will begin around 11:30 a.m. ET.

On a monetary and logistic standpoint I wonder how much it costs the PGA tour when these events get postponed and they have to move to a Monday finish.

Ok, that's it for now. I'm off to play 18. A report will follow.

Masters countdown added!

2005-03-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

I've added a javascript which is counting down till the MASTERS! It is a little funky so hopefully it won't mess up my pages much!

TPC Round 2 Delayed Due To Rain

2005-03-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Round 2 of The Player's Championship started but only a few players were able to play a couple of holes. Play has been suspended and will resume early tomorrow morning.

There is also talk that they may let the players who completed some holes play them over. That sounds strange, but they should do that if they start round 2 with lift/clean/place tomorrow. That would be fair.

DISPLAY ISSUES

2005-03-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

Help me out people! If you see something that doesn't look right please let me know. I've been playing with some formatting inside the posts and when I look at it in Firefox everything looks great. But in IE and Safari I'm seeing some formatting problems. So leave me some comments if you see something the doesn't look right!

Update: I belive I have solved the issues that were Explorer related. It looks correct on Explorer and Firefox. My version of Safari the white background is not correct.

Please comment and let me know your browser and what problems you may have!

Ping Craz-E Putter Review

2005-03-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

The Ping company has been long recognized for it's pioneering design of golf clubs. There is always a buzz about the new Ping drivers, wedges or irons. But I don't think Ping gets enough credit for it's putter design and innovation.

The Ping Craz-E putter is a whole new concept in design. The face has a blue urethane insert which gives it a soft feel. The blue urethane insert line behind the face provides a strong alignment visual.

The weighting of the putter is heavy in the heel, toe and rear of the putter which gives it that "low center of gravity" that all golfers seem to need. The crescent shapes along with the blue line gives an optical aid which helps you aim and align properly. Ping calls this the Optigraphic Effect.

I don't really know if the Optigraphic Effect is why the putter works so well for me. I think that the putter just "feels" great. It is just a static piece of metal and plastic but when I put it in motion it feels very smooth and wants to travel square to the target line. The weighting is balanced perfectly and helps you produce a pendulum like stroke.

Two other typically unimportant items that are overlooked with putters are the cover and the grip. Ping's design is equally as great here. The cover is a very nice thick leather with a magnetic seal. I like the fact that they didn't use velkro, which over time wears out and looks shabby. The Winn AVS grip (right) is the best feeling grip I've ever used.

There are also 5 shaft/hozel configurations to match your taste.

My rating on the Craz-E putter is a 9 out of 10. They got it all right on this one.

www.pinggolf.com

The Player's Championship: Round 1

2005-03-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

Steve Jones

Steve Jones tries to use some body english to help his chip go in at the TPC. He shot an amazing 64 in the first round of The Player's Championship.

More amazing than his 64 is that he took the entire year off in 2004 due to injury, then comes in to the best field in golf and smokes the rest of the top 50 in the world.

The question will be can he keep up the pace he set? Fred Funk, Lee Westwood & Zach Johnson are all one shot behind at 65.

Fred Funk taps in on 18.

The "big 4" all registered rounds under par. Tiger had 4 birdies and 2 bogeys and missed several putts under 10 feet.

Phil Mickelson bogeyed 17 & 18 to shoot 70.

Ernie Els shot 71 and Vijay Singh had the best performance of the big 4 with a 5 under 67.

I imagine these will be the lowest scores of the tournament with the soft greens. The rough will be getting longer, and the greens harder.

More TPC pictures

2005-03-23T23:27:00.000-07:00

#4

#11

#8

#16

#18 Approach

Need I Say More?

2005-03-23T00:27:00.000-07:00

The TPC is this week. Need I say more?

The time I met John Daly

2005-03-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

A few months after the 1995 British Open I was in a very unknown and tiny little gambling town in Nevada called Wendover. Wendover is about 2 hours west of Salt Lake City on I80. It is a podunk little stateline gambling town with 4 casinos out in the middle of the Great Salt Lake's "Salt Flats." The Salt Flats is where many of the world land speed records have been set, and many car commercials.

So I'm out there gambling playing 21 at the $25 table at this podunk casino. I'm the highest roller in the place. I'm the only guy playing more that $2.

After an hour or two by myself at the $25 table guess who sits down next to me? JOHN FREAKING DALY. They immediately increase the table minimum to $500/hand, but since I was already there I was grandfathered into the table. JD played two hands at $500 per hand all night.

I turned to JD and casually said "hey, nice job at the British Open" and he said "thanks." For the next several hours JD and I played blackjack together and "shot the s**t." He was very cool and not cocky at all. I couldn't figure out how big JD could end up in Wendover. He told me that his wife (2nd at that time I believe) was from this even more podunk town called Tooele (google it). When he would come into town to visit the wife's family, he'd just drive to Wendover and gamble.

It was funny to watch JD because this was when he was just trying to quit drinking. He was a good boy. No booze at all that night. But he was smoking up a frenzy. He was so scattered at one point he had a lit cigarette in each hand.

When it was time for me to go to bed JD was still gambling away. After talking to him for 2-3 hours I felt too stupid to ask him for his autograph. So I said see ya later and he said "good luck" to me and that was it. I'm sure he'd recognize me if I ever met him again so I hope I do. He was cool.

Two strokes: $936,000

2005-03-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

Vijay's shot into the drink on 18 at Bay Hill dropped him to a tie for 2nd and $440,000, instead of the possible $900,000 for winning the tournament.

Last week Vijay missed a 2 foot put which cost him $496,000.

So you could say that two strokes have cost Vijay $936,000 in the last two weeks.

When two strokes costs me money it's $2.00 betting my buddies.

Don't run your mouth against Annika

2005-03-20T22:35:00.000-07:00

Lorena Ochoa should have done her talking with her game and not her mouth. She gave up a 4 stroke lead with 3 holes to play, and lost in a playoff to Annika. I'd recommend keeping your trap shut next time and finishing off the job.

Perry wins, Vijay regains #1, Daly hackfest

2005-03-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

Vijay Singh surged on the back 9 and caught up to Kenny Perry on the 18th hole at -12. Singh misjudged the wind and knocked his approach shot in the drink. Perry safely knocked his approach shot onto the green and two putted to win at Bay Hill.

Though Vijay didn't win, he still regained the #1 world ranking due to Tiger's mediocre finish.

The battle between Perry and Singh was nearly as entertaining as watching John Daly on 18. John was at even par on 18 (he played the back first) when he knocked his approach shot in the rocks. Instead of taking a drop, he took several whacks at his ball but only managed to catch rock. He scored an 11 on that hole and dropped himself to last place.

My Utes go to the sweet 16!

2005-03-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

Under the non golf related category I'd like to congratulate MY University of Utah Utes for making it to the sweet 16. Unfortunately we are meeting Kentucky next. Kentucky is the team we were leading by 15 at halftime in the national championship game in 1998, only to lose the game. Kentucky has knocked us out two other times since then.

I hate Kentucky. I hope my Utes can be victorious this time. Go UTES!

90

2005-03-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

No I didn't shoot a 90 today.

90 is the number of consecutive holes I've played with the prototype Maxfli BlackMax golf ball. Though I've almost worn all the lettering off the ball, the cover is still in great shape. The ball is still very playable. This ball is SO durable.

This is now turning into a challenge to see how many holes I can go. I'm going to keep playing this same ball until I either lose it or deem in unfit for play.

I play in a tournament tomorrow so I'm hopefully going to get my total up to 108.

Watch your mouth Freddy!

2005-03-18T18:15:00.001-07:00

You gotta love TIVO. I hardly ever watch anything live anymore.

I'm watching Freddy Couples off to the right of the 16th green at Bay Hill. He took a free drop away from the cart path. When he dropped his ball, it nestled way down into the rough. A fan must have laughed about it and ticked old Freddy off. Freddy said "yeah, that's pretty f'ing funny isn't it?" The announcers had to apologize for his comments.

Freddy then proceeded to hit his bad lie over the green and into the lake. He ended up getting a 7 on that par 5.

That reminds me of another F bomb he dropped a few years ago. I can't remember the tournament but it was on a 2nd or 3rd playoff hole. He knocked his shot into the lake and said "God damn it I hate this f'ing game." The announcer then said "Mr. Couples has expressed his displeasure with the previous shot." Yeah, displeasure.

Arnie's Umbrella! and Adios Jan

2005-03-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

Isn't it ironic that Arnie's logo is the umbrella and his tournament at Bay Hill was rained out today?

Oh, and the Big Break III (crotch shots only) I mean Ladies Only: My favorite player Jan has "gone home." Someone is going home. Someone is going home. They can't hit a green with about 20 attempts. Ok, I may be exaggerating a little. Blame the wind... Someone's going home.

Sun Mountain Speed Cart

2005-03-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

"It's better to push a cart than to pull it." Sounds like a Volkswagen commercial.

Gone are the days of the old Bag Boy two wheel pull carts. The hip golfers are now pushing their clubs around with fancy 3 wheeled carts.

CLICK HERE for the full product review of the Sun Mountain Speed Cart.

Maxfli BlackMax Prototype Final Conclusion

2005-03-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

72 holes with my first BlackMax ball and still going! Somehow I've managed to play 4 straight 18 hole rounds with ONE ball. Two of the rounds were 73 (one good enough for 3rd in a local tournament).

The most amazing thing about this ball is the durability. I'm going to get a digital photo of the ball I've used. Aside from some wearing of the decoration, the ball is quite undamaged and still playable. I'm going to just keep playing holes with this ball until I either lose it or wear it out.

I've said in all of my reviews that the iron play with this ball is amazing. The feel off the irons and the accuracy I seem to have is great. My distance control is right on. This may be due to the fact that my iron game is solid right now or that the ball is just that good... Perhaps it's a little of both.

All 4 of the rounds I've played with this ball have been in moderate to heavily windy conditions. I've used the Callaway HX Tour in windy conditions and the BlackMax is every bit as good, if not better in the wind.

Until my last round played I wasn't sure about the supposed distance of this ball because my driver just wasn't working well. This last round I finally resolved that question with some very solid drives. One of my pals that I play with is a BIG hitter. He plays either the HX tour or V1X. If I am "on" with my driver I can usually hit it as long as him or at least within 5-10 yards. On this day he was hitting the "new" V1X. We both have the 983K drivers with the same YS6 firm shaft. Two occasions he crushed his driver and was a good 20 yards in front of me. One occasion we both crushed our drives into the wind and I was 10 yards in front of him. The final occasion we both hit pure drives straight downwind on a par 4 (410 yards). The two balls were exactly 40 yards from the green. (Yes that's 370 but the wind was strong and the ground very hard).

I don't play the V1X as it feels way too hard for me. When I play the V1 my buddy is MUCH longer than I am. When I played the BlackMax we were neck and neck. So I can conclude that this ball is a long ball. I would say it is much longer than a V1, and about even with a V1X or HX Tour. I would also say that this ball is better into the wind than the V1X.

Chipping for me has been terrible as of late (shaking off the winter rust), but my putter has been strong. I've always liked the feel of a V1 off the putter better than an HX Tour and the BlackMax feels just as nice. I would say for me, there is just a little less spin around the greens than a V1 more than an HX Tour.

This ball definitely beats the HX or V1 in it's value. I can barely play 9 holes without rendering an HX tour unplayable with some full wedges or short irons. The V1 is more durable than the HX for me. I can play around or two but if I hit a ton of full lob wedges I can scrape the cover right off. The BlackMax does not wear like that. For a premium ball I can get much more play per dollar out of the Maxfli, provided I don't lose it.

Lose it? I can't lose it. I've knocked it OB 3 times. I've knocked it in the "forest" 2 times. I've bounced it off of fences and skipped it over lakes. I've hit it left handed twice and nailed several trees.

72 holes and going strong....How many holes will I go before I lose it or deem it unplayable? My next round with it is this Thursday...

The $496,000 putt

2005-03-13T16:09:00.000-07:00

Vijay Singh had a 2 foot putt to continue the playoff with Padraig Harrington on the 2nd playoff hole at the Honda Classic. I almost fell out of my chair when he missed that two foot putt. Vijay is as close as it gets to a golf machine and very seldom does he miss a putt like that.

So Harrington (63) defeats Vijay (64) and Joe Ogilvie (who lasted one playoff hole) to win the Honda Classic and $990,000.

Rather than winning the $990,000, Vijay has to settle for a mere $494,000.

Big Break III: Crotch Shots Only

2005-03-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

Sarah is eliminated after scoring a 7 on a par 3 over water that was about 175 yards.

This was an interesting episode for a few reasons.

1. First I believe this episode showed the weaknesses of these players. As a male golfer I was very surprised that on some drives they couldn't even hit their drives 220 yards. Their driving accuracy wasn't much better.

2. I did think their flop shots were fairly good. They all hit many shots very close but the green looked really soft.

3. Their chipping in this episode was terrible. Perhaps it was nerves.

4. The crotch shots in the driving competition were an OBVIOUS ploy to get more viewers. How many times did they practically zoom in on pelvic regions of the women wearing short skirts? Don't get me wrong, as a red blooded male I'm all for it...

Bridgestone sues Titleist

2005-03-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

Bridgestone is suing Titleist over supposed patent infringements. They've apparently been "discussing" said infringements for "months" with no settlement. Bridgestone claims Titleist (Acushnet) balls including Titleist® Pro V1™, the Titleist® Pro V1x™, the Titleist® NXT™, Titleist® NXT Tour, the Titleist® DT SoLo, and the Pinnacle® Exception™ golf balls are all in violation.

I wonder if it is just a coincidence that about 1 week before this news becomes public, Titleist announces completely "New" versions of their golf balls. Did they change the manufacturing process or some technology in the "new" version to avoid further claims from Bridgestone?

My pals over at The Sand Trap cover this in a little more detail.

Jason (you know who you are): You guys must be sitting back in your chairs laughing...

Maxfli BlackMax Prototype Test 2

2005-03-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

Round 2 of my on the course testing of the new Maxfli BlackMax took place last Sunday at my first 18 hole tournament of the year, a men's club event.

Unfortunately on the first hole I screwed up badly and bladed my approach shot over the green right into a fence that marked the OB line. The ball hit the fence and bounced back in bounds. (Note after blading a lob wedge into a chain link fence the ball had NO marks or scuffs). I had more troubles on the hole and ended up with a triple bogey. Next hole was a par 5 that I reached in two and two putted for birdie. To make a long story short, after the triple on the first hole I ended with 73.

I played the same ball that I played my first 18 hole test with. At the end of the 36th hole, the BlackMax literally looked shiny and brand new. THIS BALL IS VERY DURABLE!

Once again my iron game was good and the ball responded and felt awesome. Off the putter the ball feels great to me. It does not feel "hard." The parts of my game that were bad were chipping and driving. Unfortunately the jury is still out with me on driving distance and workability because for the 2nd round in a row my driving was terrible. Usually my driving is solid.

I had a couple of possible OB and "tree incidents" with my little BlackMax and once again it refused to get lost. So for some funny reason I can't lose this ball! I say again, if they can patent that feature they'd have the best selling ball in history!

Tiger's charitable contribution

2005-03-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

As my new found friend Insta Marv reports, Tiger has given the Ford GT he won at Doral to his caddie Steve Williams.

Anyone find it ironic that Tiger won the Ford GT and Phil is the big Ford endorser?

He's Back! Tiger is #1 again

2005-03-06T16:05:00.000-07:00

Tiger pumps his fist one last time as he makes par on 18 to close out Phil Mickelson at Doral. With this victory Tiger regains the #1 position in golf.

The battle today was everything I'd hoped for. Tiger gained on Phil and then overtook him by two with an eagle. Phil came right back and birdied the next two holes to tie. Tiger then made a clutch putt at 17 to go up by one. It was just like two boxers exchanging punches.

Phil had a chance to sink a chip to force a playoff. Look how close his ball was to going in the hole below:

This is the kind of golf I'd love to see on a weekly basis.

Tiger & Phil: Heavyweight Championship

2005-03-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Today's Ford Championship at Doral was one of the best and most entertaining PGA events I've watched in a long time. Tiger was spectacular with a 63 which included knocking his drive onto a 372 yard par 4 (330 carry to the middle of the green).

Phil, despite driving the ball poorly, answered Tiger's charge with a fine 66.

The final round tomorrow should be a lot of fun. Tiger and Phil are both playing well. Could this be the big heavyweight championship bout we've all been wanting?

How much are you willing to pay for golf?

2005-03-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

Jay Flemma (A Walk In The Park) and I have been discussing the expense of golf.

Golf is not cheap. The equipment is expensive. The green fees are expensive. You spend 4-5 hours away from work where you could be MAKING money.

How much are you willing to spend on a round of golf? How much do you spend over the course of a year for equipment, rounds, ibuprophen, hotdogs and all related items? I'm almost afraid to calculate it.

I had a theft in my garage a couple of years ago. I frantically checked to see if my clubs had been stolen and thank goodness they hadn't. It was at that point that I realized how much it would cost me to replace them. $400/driver, $300-400 for fairway woods, $1000 irons, $125-150x4 wedges, $200 putter, $200 bag, $100 premium balls, $100 rain gear, $50 umbrella..... If my golf bag had been ripped off I would have been out well over $3000.

CLICK HERE to discuss this in the forums.

Doral - Maxfli Prototype Test 1

2005-03-04T01:47:00.000-07:00

DORAL: Despite the 18th hole being the hardest hole on the PGA tour, Jose Maria Olazabal, Phil Mickelson and 2 others are at -8 (64) for the first round of the Ford Championship at Doral. Tiger is 1 stroke behind. Is this going to be another track meet like the Bob Hope?

MAXFLI BLACKMAX: I was able to play 18 holes today with one of the soon to be released Maxfli BlackMax golf balls. I don't think 1 round gives me enough data to do a full review but my first observations are:

1. The ball feels amazing and is extremely responsive off my irons. I laser beamed several shots right at the flag today and they stuck right there. Even long irons felt awesome. I put a 6 iron to about 4 feet on the toughest hole of the course today and made the putt for birdie. I birdie that particular hole a couple times a year. Pretty good for March 2nd.

2. The ball is extremely durable. After 18 holes the ball almost looks brand new. There are no scuffs or shreds at all on the surface. I didn't get to hit very many full wedges which can scuff a ball, so I still need to play a round or two more with one.

3. I didn't hit my driver particularly well today and the temp was only in the 40's and 50's. So I can't come to a conclusion on the distance factor until I play a round with better conditions and a better swing.

4. This ball seems to dislike being lost. On the 2nd hole I knocked the darn thing in the trees twice but found it. This is a great feature for a ball to have. If Maxfli can patent that one they'll all be rich.

Review: La Costa Resort & Spa

2005-03-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

lacosta9
Originally uploaded by mediaguru.

With the recent conclusion of the Accenture Matchplay Championship at La Costa, I figured now was as good a time as any for my La Costa course review.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL REVIEW

Click the pic above for slide show.

Clearing up some Taylormade rumors

2005-03-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

I have a new inside buddy at Taylormade who is very cool. Checking in with him to see if there's any new news there he just wanted to let me know a few things:

1. The r7XR driver selling in Japan is not coming to the US

2. Adidas has some cool new shoes called "Tour Metal" coming out that Ogilvy wore when he won this weekend

3. There has been a rumor about new drivers coming out but that rumor is FALSE. So don't wait for a new Taylormade driver to come out. They have reduced the prices so buy an r7 or r5 NOW!

He also let me know that I should have some of the yet to be released Maxfli BlackMax balls to test and review shortly. These will have a combination of distance and spin, like combining a ProV1 and ProV1x into one.

Titleist revamps ball lineup for 2005

2005-03-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

Titleist has not come out with a "new" ball yet. But they have "tweaked" the ball speed and spin rate of the ProV1. According to their charts they've increased the length of the ball a few yards and reduced the spin on certain iron shots.

More EQUIPMENT NEWS: Click here

Titleist's web site www.titleist.com

In case you cared....

2005-02-28T17:13:00.000-07:00

27-year-old Australian Geoff Ogilvy sank an 18-foot, downhill putt for birdie on the second playoff hole Sunday to beat Kevin Na and win the Chrysler Classic of Tucson for his first PGA Tour title.

Toms wins Accenture Match Play...and is good

2005-02-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, I finally went 100% for my picks in a round for the Match play. David Toms defeated Chris DiMarco 6 and 5 to win 1.3 million bucks and a neat trophy. Did I mention that Toms is good?

I'm not a news reporter so that is as far as it goes. But I will comment that Phil, Tiger, Vijay and the rest had better look out. Toms was just starting to come into his own when he injured his wrist a couple of years ago. Now he's back and should prove to be a big factor in any tournament he plays in.

Though he lost, I though DiMarco showed serious guts, especially coming back in the semifinal against Goosen in the fashion that he did.

I would love to see more matchplay on the PGA tour, but you know the corporate sponsors don't. They didn't get their big "hollywood" showdown between Tiger and Vijay or Ernie etc...

David Toms is good

2005-02-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

Newsflash: David Toms is good.

He's also my pick for the final in the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Next post or two my small review and a couple of pictures of when I played La Costa.

Toms & Dimarco advance to the finals

2005-02-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

0 for 2 last bracket. DO NOT BET WITH ME! My picking stinks on this!

David Toms defeated Ian Poulter 3 and 2. Chris Dimarco unseeded #1 Retief Goosen 2 and 1. So it's Toms & Dimarco in the final tomorrow.

Going to go with Toms this time. This should be an interesting match.

Round 4 pairings & pix

2005-02-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

4 for 8 last bracket. I'd be losing a ton in vegas.

Dimarco vs Cink -DIMARCO
Goosen vs Allenby -GOOSE (if he wakes up)
O'Hern vs Poulter -O'HERN
Toms vs Scott -SCOTT

(I couldn't decide on Toms vs Scott, so my boy picked that one)

No Tiger vs Phil this year..VJ gone

2005-02-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

David Toms knocked off Phil Mickelson in round 3 of the Accenture 4 & 2.
Tiger Woods fell to Nick O'Hern 3 & 1 and Jay Hass defeated Vijay Singh 3 & 2.

Being a #1 seed in this tournament is no guarantee apparently. The three who are playing the best right now are Stewart Cink, David Toms and Adam Scott.

Retief Goosen defeated Chad Campbell in 19 holes.

Matchplay day 2 round 2 bracked & pix

2005-02-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

Man, bad picking last round at 7/17!

Bobby Jones Bracket
Chris DiMarco (4) vs Jay Haas (9) DIMARCO
Davis Love III (3) vs Stewart Cink (2) III

Ben Hogan Bracket
Retief Goosen (1) vs Chad Campbell (5) GOOSE
Kirk Triplett (15) vs Robert Allenby (11) TRIP

Gary Player Bracket
Nick O'Hern (8) vs Luke Donald (5) O'HERN
Rory Sabbatini (10) vs Ian Poulter (11) POULTER

Sam Snead Bracket
David Toms (4) vs Phil Mickelson (1) PHIL
Sergio Garcia (2) vs Adam Scott (3) SERGIO

Matchplay day 2 matchups & pix

2005-02-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Bobby Jones Bracket
Vijay Singh (1) vs Jay Haas (9) VEEJ
Chris DiMarco (4) John Daly (12) DIMARCO
Stewart Cink (2) vs Tom Lehman (10) LEHMAN
Davis Love III (3) Lee Westwood (6) III

Ben Hogan Bracket
Retief Goosen (1) vs Fred Couples (9) GOOSE if he wakes up
Miguel A. Jimenez (4) vs Chad Campbell (5) CAMPBELL
Kirk Triplett (15) Craig Parry (10) PARRY
Graeme McDowell (14) Robert Allenby (11) ALLENBY

Tiger Woods (1) vs Nick O'Hern (8) TIGER
Kenny Perry (4) vs Luke Donald (5) PERRY
Padraig Harrington (2) Rory Sabbatini (10) PADRAIG
Stuart Appleby (3) vs Ian Poulter (11) APPLEBY

Sam Snead Bracket
Phil Mickelson (1) vs Angel Cabrera (8) PHIL
David Toms (4) vs Mark Hensby (12) TOMS
Sergio Garcia (2) vs Jerry Kelly (10) KELLY
Adam Scott (3) David Howell (11) SCOTT

Accenture Matchplay Round 1 Results

2005-02-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

Somehow I went 8/8 on my picks of the Bobby Jones Bracket. Despite that I was 18/32. Some of the "upsets" were surprising. Weir, Clarke, Hamilton, Pampling and Ames were all favorites but lost.

I did feel like a genius picking Daly.

Results:

Bobby Jones Bracket
Vijay Singh (1) def Shingo Katayama (16) 4 and 3
Jay Haas (9) def Jonathan Kaye (8) 4 and 2
John Daly (12) def Justin Leonard (5) 1 up
Chris DiMarco (4) def Tim Herron (13) 1 up
Lee Westwood (6) def Steve Flesch (11) 4 and 3
Davis Love III (3) def Chris Riley (14) 1 up
Tom Lehman (10) def K.J. Choi (7) 4 and 2
Stewart Cink (2) def Fred Funk (15) 2 up

Ben Hogan Bracket
Retief Goosen (1) def Stephen Leaney (16) 1 up
Fred Couples (9) def Peter Lonard (8) 1 up
Chad Campbell (5) def Fredrik Jacobson (12) 2 up
Miguel A. Jimenez (4) def Rod Pampling (13) 3 and 2
Robert Allenby (11) def Todd Hamilton (6) 6 and 5
Graeme McDowell (14) def Darren Clarke (3) 1 up
Craig Parry (10) def Tim Clark (7) 1 up
Kirk Triplett (15) def Mike Weir (2) 1 up

Gary Player Bracket
Tiger Woods (1) def Nick Price (16) 4 and 3
Nick O'Hern (8) def Charles Howell III (9) 19 holes
Luke Donald (5) def Zach Johnson (12) 4 and 3
Kenny Perry (4) def Thomas Levet (13) 3 and 2
Ian Poulter (11) def Jim Furyk (6) 3 and 1
Stuart Appleby (3) def Joakim Haeggman (14) 19 holes
Rory Sabbatini (10) def Thomas Bjorn (7) 6 and 5
Padraig Harrington (2) def Jeff Maggert (15) 1 up

Sam Snead Bracket
Phil Mickelson (1) def Loren Roberts (16) 3 and 1
Angel Cabrera (8) def Paul Casey (9) 4 and 2
Mark Hensby (12) def Stephen Ames (5) 7 and 6
David Toms (4) def Richard Green (13) 1 up
David Howell (11) def Shigeki Maruyama (6) 6 and 5
Adam Scott (3) def Trevor Immelman (14) 2 up
Jerry Kelly (10) def Scott Verplank (7) 1 up
Sergio Garcia (2) def Alex Cejka (15) 4 and 2

Best throw of the day

2005-02-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

The award for round 1 of the Accenture Match Play Championship goes to Thomas Levet. After he missed a par putt to keep his match with Kenny Perry alive, he hucked his putter into the lake!

Matchplay: brackets, times and my picks

2005-02-23T21:18:00.000-07:00

MY PIX IN CAPS

Bobby Jones Bracket
Vijay Singh (1) vs Shingo Katayama (16) 11:01 a VEEJ
Jonathan Kaye (8) vs Jay Haas (9) 11:10 a HAAS
Justin Leonard (5) vs John Daly (12) 9:58 a DALY (soft course)
Chris DiMarco (4) vs Tim Herron (13) 9:49 a DIMARCO
Lee Westwood (6) vs Steve Flesch (11) 7:34 a WESTWOOD
Davis Love III (3) vs Chris Riley (14) 7:25 a DL III
K.J. Choi (7) vs Tom Lehman (10) 8:46 a LEHMAN
Stewart Cink (2) vs Fred Funk (15) 8:37 a CINK CINKS FUNK

Ben Hogan Bracket
Retief Goosen (1) vs Stephen Leaney (16) 11:19 a GOOSE (If he wakes up on time)
Peter Lonard (8) vs Fred Couples (9) 11:28 a LONARD
Chad Campbell (5) vs Fredrik Jacobson (12) 10:16 a JACOBSON
Miguel A. Jimenez (4) vs Rod Pampling (13) 10:07 a JIMENEZ
Todd Hamilton (6) vs Robert Allenby (11) 7:52 a HAMILTON
Darren Clarke (3) vs Graeme McDowell (14) 7:43 a CLARKE
Tim Clark (7) vs Craig Parry (10) 9:04 a CLARK
Mike Weir (2) vs Kirk Triplett (15) 8:55 a WIERSY

Sam Snead Bracket
Phil Mickelson (1) vs Loren Roberts (16) 11:55 a PHIL
Angel Cabrera (8) vs Paul Casey (9) 12:04 a CASEY
Stephen Ames (5) vs Mark Hensby (12) 10:52 a AMES
David Toms (4) vs Richard Green (13) 10:43 a TOMS
Shigeki Maruyama (6) vs David Howell (11) 8:28 a SHIG
Adam Scott (3) vs Trevor Immelman (14) 8:19 a SCOTT
Scott Verplank (7) vs Jerry Kelly (10) 9:40 a VERPLANK
Sergio Garcia (2) vs Alex Cejka (15) 9:31 a SERGIO

Gary Player Bracket
Tiger Woods (1) vs Nick Price (16) 11:37 a TIGER
Nick O'Hern (8) vs Charles Howell III (9) 11:46 a HOWELL
Luke Donald (5) vs Zach Johnson (12) 10:34 a DONALD
Kenny Perry (4) vs Thomas Levet (13) 10:25 a LEVET
Jim Furyk (6) vs Ian Poulter (11) 8:10 a FURYK
Stuart Appleby (3) vs Joakim Haeggman (14) 8:01 a APPLEBY
Thomas Bjorn (7) vs Rory Sabbatini (10) 9:22 a BJORN
Padraig Harrington (2) vs Jeff Maggert (15) 9:13 a PADRAIG

Shots of Lake Las Vegas

2005-02-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

I MUST golf here:

Rains postpone Accenture Match Play

2005-02-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

The heavy rains are still causing the PGA problems. The 1st round of the Accenture Match play has now been postponed until Thursday.

I've been in Vegas for the last 3 days where the rains from LA had hit there too. Let me tell you I was afraid my car would be swamped several times. Vegas had more rain in 3 those days than they get in an average YEAR. Fortunately I wasn't golfing there.

Adam Scott wins Nissan in playoff

2005-02-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

Due to the shortening of this tournament because of the heavy rains, this win does not count as "official" for Adam Scott. The $864,000 he made will surely spend "officially."

A Blog From The Inside

2005-02-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

Check out this new blog from the inside at Taylormade.

http://www.carlsbadconfidential.com/

Jason is very cool, so hit his blog and spread the word!

Sneak Peak of the Titleist 905 driver

2005-02-19T23:10:00.000-07:00

Some crazy person paid $2047.00 for one on ebay!
click here for a sneak peak of the Titleist 905 driver.

Wolf Creek

2005-02-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

Wolf Creek
Originally uploaded by mediaguru.

I'm standing at the tee of a par 3 on Wolf Creek golf course in Mesquite, Nevada.

"The Big 4" Head To Head Stats

2005-02-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

There were 8 events in 2004 in which Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson all played. Here is how they all fared head to head in those 8 events:

So what conclusions can be drawn here? Tiger's average finish was the best, but Phil's earnings were by far the best. Vijay is at the bottom of the list in both categories.

Tiger can regain #1 this week

2005-02-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

If Tiger places 4th or better at the Nissan Open he will overtake Vijay as #1. It is OBVIOUS right now that he is NOT the #1 player as of this moment to me. The ranking system MUST be changed.

Annika files for divorce

2005-02-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

Annika Sorenstam has filed for divorce. Maybe she'll go out with me. I think she's kind of cute....and she's one hell of a golfer.

Big Break III Ladies Only

2005-02-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

I admit I like the Big Break series. It's a bit cheesy but it's the only reality TV I can stand.

First observations. Most of these women have better swings than the men in BBI or BBII. They obviously have some "eye candy" and getting viewers is what it is all about. I'm cool with that.

Jan is VERY cute. Valeria is way hot and I love the accent. (single and 3 children at 25???) Danielle is nice, especially for the soon to be viagra crowd. Felicia is a fireball and may have the best swing of them all. Liz? Well, let's just say she'd fit right in on the LPGA tour if you catch my drift.

Quest for golf blogs!

2005-02-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

I'm on a quest for golf blogs and cool golf sites. Here are a few new I've found:

Golf Blogger
Musey's Hole In One
No Three Putts
Grouchy Golf
The Tour Reporter
The Sand Trap
A Walk In The Park
MJonGolf

Click their links on my blogroll and check 'em out.
Give me your golf links!

UPDATE: THEY'RE ROLLIN' IN!

Phil wins 2nd in a row at Pebble

2005-02-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

Phil didn't play his best round today, but he had a hell of a cushion. He didn't need to play his best round to win. Mike Weir (my neighbor!) played an excellent round and put a little pressure on Phil. But Phil was so far ahead it just wasn't enough for Weirsy.

I don't know if it is his coaching (short game: Dave Pelz, long game: Rick Smith), his equipment or finally his mental maturity that is making the difference. Perhaps a combination of all three. But Phil is scarrrry good right now.

It's only February and the golf season is very interesting already. Tiger and Vijay already have victories. Where are all those "young guns" now? The big boys are in charge.

Player Of The Year?

2005-02-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

Too early to crown the POY yet?