I know a rule is a rule but how the heck can you tell if you’re in a bunker when thousands of people are standing in it. Dustin Johnson gets penalized on the final hole of the PGA Championship for grounding his club in what could best be described as the “remnants of a bunker” to the right of the 18th fairway. We all know the rule, no grounding your club in a bunker, but come on. No one could tell that was a bunker, not Johnson, not his caddy, not David Feherty or Jim Nantz and Sir Talks-a lot Faldo had no idea either and they were looking at it from the overhead shot. All you saw was a splash of sand and a path ten feet wide that the fans had cleared to allow Johnson to play. The “bunker” in question was so far out of play it was behind the gallery and bore no resemblance to a real bunker.
The PGA rules committee broke the news to Johnson that he would be assessed a two stroke penalty and his 71 that tied for a three man playoff was now 73 and he would finish tied for fifth. Give Johnson some credit, he handled it with class. David Feherty tracked him down in the locker room and he said “It never crossed my mind that it was a bunker…I thought it was a piece of dirt that the crowd trampled down.” This episode is especially tragic when you consider that Johnson blew his lead at The U.S Open and now had his chance at redemption taken from him. He showed plenty of class when he said, “I just have to deal with it.”
Sergio Garcia has started his “break from golf” since he missed the cut at The PGA Championship and has said he’ll not play for two months. Actually, he started his break a long time ago even though he has been on the course he hasn’t been playing for a long time. With Sergio at home in Spain he should reach out to his friends for help in getting through this difficult time. I know another golfer that could use a break and really hasn’t been playing golf for a few months either. Sergio should give his old buddy Tiger Woods a call.
Who needs a break more than Tiger? Nobody, not even Sergio. The two of them could hang out and help each other through these difficult times. Sergio could teach Tiger the subtleties of soccer and maybe knock back a few Michelob Lights. Tiger is a big hoops fan so he could work on Sergio’s three point shot and maybe bring over some of his old “Tiger-Ade” since we can’t get it in the stores any longer.
They say Sergio has been in his slump since he broke up with his girlfriend, Morgan Norman. Well, we all know that Tiger knows plenty of women and with one phone call he could hook Sergio up. The two of them are young, good looking, single (well practically single) and they could be having a ball. Who needs golf? They both have millions and plenty of other diversions.
This could be where Sergio actually fulfills his potential that we all saw when he challenged Tiger at the 1999 PGA Championship. When he literally chased Tiger down the fairway there he was labeled as Tiger’s next challenger. We all know how that went. Tiger 14 majors, Sergio zip. But it all doesn’t have to be about wins, it can be about fun too.
Imagine how much fun those two could have together. Forget swinging the clubs and go out and party in the clubs. They could exchange tips on how to handle the media and finally ignite the rivalry that for so long has been missing. Tiger and Sergio are two guys looking for their game in different places. Maybe they could use each other’s company to find it.
After two days of a stuttering start The PGA Championship finally started to look like a real golf tournament on Saturday. With some golfers finishing their second round early Saturday morning the sky cleared to give the players a clear and fogless view of Whistling Straights. While the tournament may now look like a major, the leaderboard looks like anything but a major championship. Five of the top six names on the leaderboard are under thirty and the only one that isn’t is from China, that’s right, China.
Twenty nine year old Nick Watney shot an impressive 66 to take a three stroke lead over Dustin Johnson (26) and Rory McIlroy (21) who both shot 67. Thirty two year old Wenchong Liang from China shot a new course record 64 to vault up the leaderboard and land in a tie for fourth with Jason Day and Martin Kaymer.
None of these golfers have won a major and leaderboards like this may well be the future of golf. Watney has been playing well with two top tens in his last three starts including a tie for seventh at The Open Championship. Dustin Johnson once again will be in the final group at a major as he was when he blew his lead at The U.S. Open. Rory McIlroy is trying to become the youngest major winner in fifty years at twenty one and would a win for him put a much younger face on major championship golf.
If these young guns are to falter there is some major winners lurking. At five strokes back are PGA Champion Steve Elkington, Masters Champ Zach Johnson and U.S. Open Champion Jim Furyk. With Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson still off their form and out of contention a showdown between these “youngsters” could be a blessing. There are many good, young golfers on tour that are vying to be the next major champion. Sunday’s final round at Whistling Straights will give these guys their chance at making history.
On the eve of the PGA Championship Phil Mickelson has revealed that he is being treated for arthritis. He says he has it under control by giving himself weekly anti- inflammatory injections. As if Phil doesn’t have enough going on in his life, now he is dealing with this.
This week at Whistling Straights he’ll be tested from tee to green on that monster of a course, ahh the greens. That’s where Phil’s game has betrayed him. He can’t seem to make the gimmie putts. You know the ones that you and your buddies give each other each week. The ones inside the leather are the ones that give Philly Mick the most trouble. If professional golfers played “inside the leather” Phil would be the one chasing down Mr. Nicklaus.
Phil has been missing those short ones for a long time now and it doesn’t matter if he is under the watchful eyes of Dave Pelz, Butch Harmon or Dave Stockton, he can’t seem to make the “should make” short putts. He’s been teasing us for years with his escape artist short game but even at his best when he is winning majors he still finds a way to slide a few short ones by the hole. Remember this year’s Masters final round? Phil hits the shot of the tournament on thirteen from the pine straw, under and through the trees to three feet. It was a remarkable shot. In typical Phil fashion he gets up there and he misses the putt. He still goes on to win but he never makes it easy on himself. That’s Phil, he teases us every week.
Check out Phil talking about his arthritis.
As they say in the promos, it’s “Glory’s Last Shot” this week at the last major of the season. The PGA Championship at Whistling Straights tees off on Thursday and by Sunday evening the golfing landscape could change significantly. Will this week answer all the questions surrounding the tour or will it just create more?
Will there be another new face that wins his first major? Will Tiger bounce back or continue his free fall? Can Louie or Graeme win their second major? Will Phil stop teasing us and finally get to number one? Will the foreigners continue their streak and shut out the Americans? Will an Englishman finally get it done? Who makes the Ryder Cup team? It’s bound to be a great week on an amazing course. Whistling Straights is a favorite of The PGA of America and it’s easy to see why.
Golf fans are used to watching Tiger Woods break barriers all the time. Whether it was his win at The Masters as the first African-American or his record victories at The U.S. Open and the Open Championship, Tiger has gone where few golfers had gone before. Tiger set a new personal record on Sunday at The Bridgestone Invitational when he finished 18 over par, his worst performance ever as a professional.
I thought after the dozens mistresses had surfaced last year I couldn’t be surprised at anything Tiger did. I was wrong. Each week he falls deeper and deeper into his slump. He finished tied for 78th and 30 strokes off the lead. There was a day when Tiger was beating the field by margins like that. But if you consider that he couldn’t drive, chip, putt or hit an iron you can understand how he can be 18 over. He’ll get used to hit, heck I shoot 18 over every week, but he’s Tiger. He’s supposed shoot 18 under. Right now he is living in a bizzarro world where everything is backwards. He is getting worse, not better.
On Sunday Woods looked like he was a guy that just had a root canal and was heading over to his proctologist’s office. He couldn’t get out of there fast enough. As the round went south, and it went bad early, he had no focus to go with along no swing. If he goes into The PGA with this game it will get real ugly. At least he was honest when he said it wasn’t fun. It wasn’t much fun watching it either. As Tiger said,” It’s been a long year.” It may be a little longer yet.
It’s a marquee pairing at The Bridgestone Invitational, two of the world’s best and most popular golfers going head to head in the final round of a significant tournament. Tiger Woods and Anthony Kim playing together in the final round is enough to make golf fans giddy with anticipation. There’s only one problem: they’ll be teeing off as the second pairing of the day at 7:45 am. They will be done with their round long before the leaders tee off and you’ll only get to see some taped highlights. Tiger will probably be on his jet getting out of there before leaders Sean O’Hair and Ryan Palmer have laced up their Footjoys.
Woods is at 11 over and Kim is at 10 over and they were out of it after day one. At least Anthony Kim has a legitimate excuse. He is playing in his first tournament since his thumb surgery three months ago. He’ll need a few outings to get his game back in shape but his partner is running out of tournaments to find his. If Kim has a legit excuse then maybe we could say that Tiger has an illegitimate excuse (cheap shot, I know). Tiger’s game is long gone and is nowhere in sight. He has no solid part of his game right now. He is spraying his driver, iron shots are nowhere near as accurate as they should be and his short game looks like a 14 handicapper. At least Kim shot a 69 on Saturday to show there is light at the end of the tunnel. The light at the end of Tiger’s tunnel is a freight train full of mediocrity and early tee times and Tiger is standing in the middle of the tracks.
The Goose leads Philly Mick and Justin Leonard by a stroke going into the third round of The Bridgestone Invitational. Those three have eight majors between them and make a pretty interesting leaderboard. Mr. 14 Majors is thirteen shots back and still looking for his swing.
I know a rule is a rule but how the heck can you tell if you’re in a bunker when thousands of people are standing in it. Dustin Johnson gets penalized on the final hole of the PGA Championship for grounding his club in what could best be described as the “remnants of a bunker” to the right of the 18th fairway. We all know the rule, no grounding your club in a bunker, but come on. No one could tell that was a bunker, not Johnson, not his caddy, not David Feherty or Jim Nantz and Sir Talks-a lot Faldo had no idea either and they were looking at it from the overhead shot. All you saw was a splash of sand and a path ten feet wide that the fans had cleared to allow Johnson to play. The “bunker” in question was so far out of play it was behind the gallery and bore no resemblance to a real bunker.
