February 2008 Archives

Here is the monthly newsletter that Tiger Woods writes for his Web site, Tigerwoods.com.
Woods talks about how, since 2000, he's playing fewer events on tougher courses against the best fields and winning more. Interesting stuff. He also talks about seeing his ''Gatorade Tiger'' in a store for the first time and slow play on the PGA Tour, among other things. Worth a read.

Fred Couples and Greg Norman were named President's Cup captains for U.S. and international teams, respectively, in the 2009 President's Cup at Harding Park in San Francisco.

Tiger Woods said ''that's my intent'' when asked if he believes he can win every tournament he plays this season. What do you think? Ludricous or possible?

Tiger Woods has won all three tournaments he's played this season. He thinks he can keep this up, too. Tiger already said he thinks winning all four majors is ''within reason''. Now, he said he wants to go through the season undefeated.
``That's my intent,'' Woods said after winning the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships.

Tiger Woods won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships on Sunday over Stewart Cink. He's won all three tournaments he's played this year. Incredible. He won the Buick Invitational, Dubai Classic, and now the match play event. When he said winning all four majors was ''within reason'' before the season started, he wasn't kidding.

The answer is obvious to any question that involves Tiger Woods, right? Maybe not. Who will win today's 36-hole final match at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships - Tiger Woods or Stewart Cink?

It took 20 holes, but No. 1 seed Tiger Woods made a 13-foot putt to beat Aaron Baddeley in the third round. It was a great back-and-forth match. Woods will play K.J. Choi tomorrow. Steve Stricker, the other top seed, lost to Angel Cabrera, 4 & 3.
``We hit quality shot after quality shot,'' Woods told the Golf Channel. ``Matches like that are fun to be a part of.''

Aaron Baddeley and Tiger Woods have an exciting match going at the Accenture Match Play Championships. They're all square through 19 holes. The match is aired live on the Golf Channel right now.

Michelle Wie has taken a break from classes at Stanford and is playing in the Fields Open in Hawaii. Her trademark smile was back as she shot a 3-under 69 Thursday and is tied for 19th. It was the first time she shot below 70 in about a year and a half. She showed no signs of the wrist injury, but let's see what happens in today's second round.

Phil Mickelson's Riviera magic didn't last long. Stuart Appleby beat him 2 and 1 in today's second-round match play in Arizona.

Tiger Woods just beat Arron Oberholser 3 and 2 in the second round of match play.
Woods is 19-3 in the last 22 matches and will play Aaron Baddeley in the third round today. David Toms conceded his match against Baddeley because of a back injury.

If you can't wait until March to start filling out an NCAA-like championship bracket, you can print one for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships at www.worldgolfchampionships.com.

UCLA's Kevin Chappell and Lucas Lee and USC's Jamie Lovemark are all on the Ben Hogan Award watch list. The complete list, in alphabetical order, follows.

Tiger Woods came back from 3 down to beat J.B. Holmes in the first round of match play at the WCG-Accenture Match Play Championships on Wednesday. Would have been interesting to see what Anthony Kim could've done against Woods. Kim was scheduled as the 64th seed, and therefore, would've played Tiger Woods. But Ernie Els decided at the last minute to enter the field, even though he previously said he wouldn't. Els did what he normally does in match play and was upset in the first round by Jonathan Byrd, 6 and 5 - tied for the worst loss of the day. Woods tees off against Arron Oberholser at 10:39 a.m. this morning.

This was the lead to a notebook by The Associated Press' Doug Ferguson from the first day of the Accenture Match Play Championship, on Anthony Kim (Studio City):

The Robert E. Burns Memorial Golf Classic is March 31 at Robinson Ranch. Proceeds benefit colorectal cancer research. The tournament is named after Bob Burns Sr. who died of colon cancer in 2006. Burns Sr. is the father of Bob Burns Jr., a Santa Clarita resident and professional golfer. For more information, email Richard Coapman at r.coapman@att.net. Companies who wish to donate prices or purchase tee signs, can contact Bill Alexander at 805-527-4720.

Phil Mickelson has something Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus don't: a win at Riviera. Does that make the win sweeter?
``That's not what I'm looking for,'' Mickelson said. ``But the fact that (Ben) Hogan, (Sam) Snead and (Byron) Nelson are on here, I think that's really cool.''

Phil Mickelson shot a 1-under 70 Sunday to win the Northern Trust Open. It was his first win in the tournament in 11 tries. He had a one-shot lead after 54 holes and even though Jeff Quinney briefly took the lead after Mickelson bogeyed the ninth hole, Mickelson rallied quickly for the victory.

Northern Trust CEO Rick Waddell was following Phil Mickelson's group inside the ropes. Also, Amy Alcott, who was here helping Mickelson with putting tips on Wednesday, was in the gallery.

Phil Mickelson is up by two shots in the Northern Trust Open. Jeff Quinney - the only player in the field to give Mickelson a run at the tournament title - bogeyed holes 13, 14 and 15 - to make this Mickelson's tournament to lose.

Jason Gore (Hart High) shot a 4-under 67 in the final round. He's currently tied for fifth. He said while he's driving back to his home in Valencia, he's hoping his name will move up the leaderboard even more.

Phil Mickelson and Jeff Quinney are essentially playing match play now. They're all tied up at 13-under with six holes to go.

Phil Mickelson has a one-shot lead in the Northern Trust Open and tees off at 10:20 a.m. Of the 25 times Mickelson has had the outright lead after 54 holes, Mickelson has won 18 times. That's impressive, although one of those times he failed to win was last year at Riviera Country Club.

Phil Mickelson has a one-shot lead after firing a 1-under 70 Saturday at Riviera. Mickelson had a four-shot lead when the round started, but Jeff Quinney's 4-under 67 put him one shot back. Mickelson and Quinney played in the final group Saturday and will play in the final group today, along with John Rollins.

Jeff Quinney bungled the 11th hole at Riviera Country Club with a bogey and Phil Mickelson birdied. Mickelson is at 12-under and has a two-shot lead. We'll have to ask Quinney what happened, but he was 81 feet below the hole, then pulled a Joe Citizen golfer shot and cranked it 88 feet above the hole. Then he chipped it and left it 28 feet short as the ball didn't get over the ridge.

CBS' coverage of the Northern Trust Open started at noon, but CBS didn't show its first live shot until 12:16 p.m. Jeff Quinney aced the par-3 sixth hole about five minutes before noon, but it took CBS more than 15 minutes to show tape of it.

Jeff Quinney aced the par-3 sixth hole and now leads the tournament by one stroke. Quinney is at 10-under while Mickelson is at 9-under. Mickelson has four pars and one bogey.

Wow. That was quick. Phil Mickelson - who started the day with a four-shot lead - has just a one-shot lead after four holes. He parred the first three holes and bogeyed the fourth. John Rollins is on a roll and has birdied the first, fourth and sixth holes to move to 8-under. Phil is 9-under for the tournament.

Phil Mickelson has started the day with two pars. He had a four-shot lead after 36 holes, but it's already been cut to three strokes. Jeff Quinney birdied the first hole. Mickelson is playing with Quinney and Robert Allenby.

Phil Mickelson has the 36-hole lead in the tournament after a 10-under 64 Friday in the second round. Last year, Mickelson was tied with Padraig Harrington for the lead after 36 holes.

Rory Sabbatini is wearing the Superman buckle again. He won here at Riviera in 2006, wearing the Superman buckle. I talked to Riviera corporate officer Michael Yamaki last week, and he talked about how much he liked Sabbatini. He told Sabbatini after he won that he'd like to have his belt to put on display at Riviera. A couple of months later, the belt arrived from Sabbatini. Riviera keeps it in a shadow box. Sabbatini is even for the tournament and 1-over through seven holes.

Fred Couples, always one of the most popular players at Riviera, shot a 1-under 70 in today's second round and is tied for 16th, four shots back. Couples has battled back problems over the years and is now 48. But he's not ready for the Champions Tour any time soon, and even when he is, he'd much rather play Riviera than a Champions Tour event. Players who reach 50 are eligibile to play on the Champions Tour.
``If they give me a spot (at Riviera), I'd rather play here,'' Couples said. ``So, I'll be out here, hopefully, another couple of years.''

Chad Campbell and K.J. Choi are tied for first at 6-under, although both recently teed off. Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington are tied for third, along with Scott Verplank and Vaughn Taylor at 4-under, two shots back.

Anthony Kim just finished a nightmarish round in which he shot a 6-over par 77 in the second round. He finished the round with a triple bogey after he hit into the left trap and needed to shots to get out of it and three-putted. Last year, he finished tied for ninth after a final-round 64.

Those golfers who thought they'd catch a break with an early tee time today were wrong. Winds were 10-15 mph in the morning, but the winds are supposed to calm down a bit in the afternoon. Golfers who teed off in the afternoon yesterday dealt with swirling winds. And those who had afternoon tee times yesterday had early-morning tee times today, meaning they didn't catch a break. Sergio Garcia teed off in the afternoon yesterday and shot a 74.

K.J. Choi has become one of the best golfers in the world, maybe the best that hasn't won a major. Here's what he said about his quest for a major at the Northern Trust Open, which he led by one stroke after Thursday's first round.
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``First of all, twofold, first of all, I don't think I could do it alone. It's something that the Lord is going to have to help me. Without His help, I don't think I'll be able to do it.
Second, in order for me to win a major tournament, I think I still have to improve on my short game. The practice routines that I do, I'm going to have spend more time developing and improving my short game, although, you know, it's my ninth year out on TOUR, I still feel like I can't read I'm having trouble at times reading the lies, the grass, the greens. Maybe it's because I've been so accustomed to playing on the golf courses in Korea and Asia where it's a lot different than the courses here. But you know, maybe in the back of my mind, I'm too accustomed to that.
So even the rough, in a major tournament, when you're in the rough, I feel like sometimes I can hit it out and you know, I can hit it I'm trying to hit it short but it goes long; I try to hit it long, it goes short. It's really hard to determine how the ball is going to come out of the rough. So it confuses me. When I get bogeys on holes like that, it confuses me.
If I'm able to improve on the short game and hitting out of the rough, I think my chances will get better.''

Kevin Na had LASIK surgery in December, but it was a disaster. His vision was 20/100 AFTER the surgery. Up until last week when he was cleared to wear contacts, he had to have someone drive him around because he couldn't see as well. He joked that he won't be one of those athletes who signs an endorsement deal with a company.
`` I guess I won't be signing autograph pictures and putting it up on his wall,'' Na said at the Northern Trust Open. ``You know what, even though it didn't work out for me, I don't blame anybody. I really have belief in my doctor, and that if I redo it, I still have 100% belief, and he's supposed to be the world's greatest doctor. He's done a lot of athletes, world famous athletes. He's pretty well known. He's in Beverly Hills, and that's as far as I'll tell you.''

The auditions for Crowne Plaza Hotel's - a meeting with phil contest - are over and the commercial will be filmed at the end of the month in San Diego.
Asked if he's seen video of any of the auditions, Mickelson said: ``I've heard about it. I haven't seen it, specifically. I will beforehand, but I am looking forward to that. I think that will be fun.''
Phil's parents, his wife and brother have all been judges for the auditions, which took place in New York, San Diego and Los Angeles.

The Northern Trust Open suspended play at 5:41 p.m. due to darkness. Those players will resume their rounds at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow. Seventeen players were on the course when play was called.

Anthony Kim said he was disappointed when he learned he wouldn't be playing with Tiger in the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championships next week. He said he received about 130 calls Wednesday evening. Kim was expected to be the 64th seed, but because Ernie Els unexpectedly decided to play, Kim won't get in the field. He said he'd spend the time decorating a new house he just bought in Palm Springs.

The wind is howling at Riviera Country Club. I'm sitting in the press tent, and parts of the tent are flapping around like crazy. Golfers who played in the morning had a real advantage by not dealing with the wind.

Anthony Kim was on the verge of having the match of his life against Tiger Woods in the Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona next week. Kim was scheduled to be the 64th-ranked player in the world, which means he would've played top seed Woods. According to the Associated Press, Ernie Els has officially entered the event even though he previously said he would not. That leaves Kim as the odd man out unless someone else withdraws from the event.

K.J. Choi shot a 6-under 65 in Thursday's first round and has a one-shot lead over Kevin Na. The wind picked up late morning, so that score probably will hold up for the afternoon.

Phil Mickelson and John Daly are both at 3-under par and are tied for fifth at the Northern Trust Open. How about that? Daly agreed to switch pro-am tee times with Mickelson on Wednesday since Mickelson was running late.

I got a chance to walk in with Amy Alcott on Wednesday at Riviera Country Club. She left Phil Mickelson's group with a couple of holes to play after giving him advice on the greens. She's been a longtime member at Riviera. Alcott coached the high school girls golf team at Harvard Westlake last year, and she said she'll probably be back to coach again this year.

Phil Mickelson played with a couple of CEOs in his pro-am on Wednesday. And he gave McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner a funny tip on Riviera's par-3 No. 6 hole. Skinner's tee shot was rolling back toward the hole and everyone was hooting and hollering. Skinner must have thought the ball stopped, because he bent down to pick up his tee. As he did that, he nearly scored a hole-in-one when his ball just missed the cup. Mickelson gave him a lesson in ``Golf: 101'' when he told him if he was going to get a hole-in-one, best to watch it go in the cup!

Who says PGA Tour officials don't have a sense of humor?

J.B. Holmes, who ranks second on tour in driving distance at 309.6 yards per attempt, is paired in the first two rounds with Fred Funk and Zach Johnson.

The 51-year-old Funk is 182nd among 186 players off the tee at 263.5 yards, while Johnson, the defending Masters champion, is 184th at 260.0.

For the record, Bubba Watson tops the list at 316.5 yards per drive while former UCLA standout Corey Pavin is No. 186 at 256.0.

Phil Mickelson switched his pro-am tee time with John Daly, although he did get to the course at 11:10 a.m., his exact tee time. He switched with Daly earlier in the mornin