December 2008 Archives

John Daly was supsended by the PGA Tour for six months, he said. Click hereto read the Associated Press story.

Jon Lovitz of Saturday Night Live fame was spotted at Sherwood Country Club. He was signing autographs, too.

Jeff Han, Brandon Truong and Anthony Pidlaoan, who are all 14-year-olds from Arcadia, wore the letters `A', `K' and `!' respectively and garnered some television time.
``We always call (Pidlaoan) AP, and I just wanted to say AK really loud,'' said Truong, who came up with the idea. ``
The trio of AK fans had ROX on the back of their shirts, but those fell off. They were getting teased by two younger boys in Santa hats, one of whom wore a shirt that said ``Anthony'' and another which said ``Kim.'' Those boys told the teenagers from Arcadia that they copied them.

Vijay Singh made a birdie on the 18th hole to beat Steve Stricker by a stroke in the Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

Singh finished at 11-under 277.

Anthony Kim and Hunter Mahan tied for third at 7 under.

Luke Donald shot the tournament's low round, a 6-under 66, Sunday.

"I played a lot better today," said Donald, who shot over par in each of the first three rounds (73-75-74). "Made nine birdies and just one shank."

That shank came on the par-3 15th, the course's signature hole, and led to a double bogey.

After taking a double bogey on the 14th hole, Anthony Kim's tee shot on the par-3 15th hit the rocks in front of the green and bounced back into the water. He's three back of Vijay Singh and seemingly fading fast.

Anthony Kim hit his tee shot on the par-4 14th into tall rough right of the fairway and had to take a drop.

Kim had birdied the par-5 13th to move to 9 under, one stroke behind co-leaders Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh.

Kim ended up with a double bogey on the 14th to drop three back.

Newly named Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin, an Oxnard native and former UCLA star, was in attendance Sunday at Sherwood Country Club.

Anthony Kim put his tee shot on the short par-4 10th into a fairway bunker, but that was the least of his worries on the hole.

Kim's bunker shot, from 88 yards out, went over the green and rolled up underneath a wooden fence and against a tower for a television camera.

As Kim waited for a PGA Tour rules official, he sat on the top plank of the fence, which then broke. After his initial surprise, Kim turned to the gallery with a sheepish look.

After a lengthy discussion with a rules official, Kim took a free drop. He chipped about 10 feet past the hole, then holed his putt for a miraculous par. He looked skyward briefly, then burst into a wide smile.

Jim Furyk followed by making his own putt, for a birdie, to snap a three-way tie with Kim and Vijay Singh and regain the lead.

Anthony Kim holed a flop shot from right of the ninth green for a birdie, pulling him into a tie for first with Jim Furyk at 8 under.

Three young fans following Anthony Kim spelled out AK! with white placards they wore around their necks.

Luke Donald was 7 under for the day through 14 holes before shanking a shot on the par-3 15th, the course's signature hole.

The ball went far right off the tee, into the rocky hill on the downhill hole which features water in front of the green. The ball bounced off the rocks and rolled down the hill into the pool of water.

Donald took a double bogey on the hole to drop back to 1 over for the tournament.

Jim Furyk birdied three consecutive holes starting at No. 3 to move to 10 under and take a two-stroke lead over Anthony Kim.

Furyk three-putted for a bogey at No. 6, but Kim dropped a shot on the par-4 seventh to keep the two-stroke margin.

Jim Furyk birdied the third and fourth holes to move to 9 under in the Chevron World Challenge, one stroke ahead of Anthony Kim.

None of the players in the final two twosomes Sunday birdied the first hole, generally one of the easiest on the course.

Jim Furyk made a birdie on the par-3 third to pull into a tie for first with Anthony Kim at 8 under. Vijay Singh and Steve Stricker are two back.

First- and second-round leader Jim Furyk missed an opportunity lead the tournament from start to finish when he took a double-bogey 6 on the 18th hole after hitting his approach shot into the water in front of the green.

That dropped Furyk to 7 under, one stroke behind Anthony Kim.

Camilo Villegas, Steve Stricker and Vijay Singh are tied for third at 6 under heading into Sunday's final round.

Anthony Kim birdied the 10th, 12th and 14th holes to move into the lead at 8 under Saturday, one stroke ahead of Jim Furyk and two better than Vijay Singh.

Singh had an eagle and three birdies on the back nine to go from 1 under to 6 under.

Steve Stricker birdied the first three holes on the back nine to get to 6 under, one shot behind Jim Furyk.

Jim Furyk shot a 2-under 34 on the front nine to retain the lead at 7 under.

Anthony Kim is making a move, getting within a stroke after a 34 on the front and a birdie at No. 10.

Jim Furyk bogeyed the 18th hole Friday, but he still has a 2-shot lead over over Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas and K.J. Choi after today's second round.

Antony Kim could become Tiger Woods' next rival. Kim, who grew up in Studio City, is coming off a banner year that has him nipping at Tiger's heels. Click herefor the story.

First-round leader Jim Furyk parred the first eight holes Friday before making a birdie at No. 9 to regain the outright lead at 5 under, one stroke ahead of Boo Weekley.

Hunter Mahan and Fred Couples are two strokes back.

South Korean star K.J. Choi speaks little English, as evidenced by this transcript from his interview following Thursday's opening round:

Question: Just tell me about the round. How is it out there?
Answer: Yeah, yesterday just pro-am, 14 holes, and not seeing yesterday the five hole on the front side. My focus today little the catch and the weather and roll much better, and the nice weather, nice swing, little in the putt make it and hit it second shot and it spin too much and then the control with a very hard time. But very nice today.

Q: What's it like playing in Tiger's event?
A: I'm very impressed with Tiger's event. Every year if I make it and play, but my schedule with the baby sometimes Korea, but this time I appreciate to play. Last year I'm playing entry and pull out because the little hurt in my low back. I promised this year I'd play. Very quality and first class, the tournament, and no weather yesterday, but looks good in four days.

Fred Couples shot a 3-under 33 on the front nine Friday to move to 2 under for the tournament.

K.J. Choi birdied the first three holes Friday to move into the lead at 5 under in the Chevron World Challenge.

His lead was short-lived, however. Choi had a bogey on the fourth hole, a double-bogey on the sixth and a bogey on the eighth to drop back to 1 under, three shots behind co-leaders Jim Furyk and Boo Weekley.

Jim Furyk leads the Chevron World Challenge at 4-under after today's first round. K.J. Choi and Boo Weekley are tied for second at 2-under.

Anthony Kim had what almost served as a comedy hour in his news conference at the Chevron World Challenge yesterday. Kim, who grew up in Studio City, poked fun at himself over a couple of recent injuries and much, much more.

Only four of the 16 players in the Chevron World Challenge are under par right now in the first round. Hunter Mahan is 2-under through 17 holes, Boo Weekley is 3-under through 15 holes, Jim Furyk is 2-under through 14 and Anthony Kim 1-under through 12-under. Stephen Ames is 4-over through 10 holes.

Tiger Woods is in Thousand Oaks for the Chevron World Challenge and updated us on his recovery from knee surgery. To watch some video of his news conference and read the story, click here.

The Chevron World Challenge will offer golfers official world ranking points beginning next year. This is the first time world golf rankings will be extended to an unofficial PGA Tour event.
``That's something we're proud of and very excited for next year,'' Tiger Woods said. ``To have that opportunity I think is going to draw an even better field than we've ever had over the years, and we're really looking forward to that.''

Woods hasn't hit everything in his golf bag, but he has gotten back to hitting shots on his surgically-repaired left knee. Time off has allowed him to contemplate the day he will retire and what it would be like if we could watch him at the driving range right now.
``When my best is not good enough, I'm not going to be out here competing,'' Woods said. ``You know, I certainly understand that more so now than ever before, because if I had to play this week, my game would not be ready for public consumption. I couldn't display it right now. I wouldn't want to. I wouldn't want you guys to see me out there playing that poorly. I'm just not ready yet.''

Asked if he'll play in the Masters in April, Woods said returning to play in the major ``has always been an intent. As far as reality, that's two different things.''
Woods has been hitting balls with his shorter irons but hasn't yet hit all of the clubs in his bag.

Anthony Kim was sporting a winter hat and cold hands Wednesday at Sherwood Country Club. He's in town for Tiger Woods' Chevron World Challenge and even stopped by Woodley a couple of days ago to see his friends and coach. Kim detailed his recent ankle and jaw injuries (the jaw injury he suffered while horseback riding in New Zealand). He was funny as usual. I'll have more on Kim in Friday's paper.

The biggest thing that people wanted to know today - beside where Tiger Woods is in his rehabilitation - is what he had to say about caddie Stevie Williams' unflattering comments about Phil Mickelson.
``What ended up happening is that I communicated with Phil, and we've discussed it,'' Woods said. ``I talked to Stevie about it. He feels bad about what happened. I was disappointed it even happened at all. (It was) something none of us wanted to have happen. It's over and done with. We've put it to bed.''

Tiger Woods confirmed that Steve Williams will be on his bag this season but that he was disappointed in his comments. He also said they've moved on. Williams made comments in New Zealand recently about Mickelson being a ``p-----''. He also retold an unflattering story of Mickelson at the U.S. Open. although the anecdote he used was about another player and was from the U.S. Open in 2002.
Comments to follow.

Tiger Woods will have his press conference at the Chevron World Challenge here at Sherwood Country Club tomorrow. Should be interesting to see what his reaction to Stevie's comments about Phil were.

Tiger Woods' caddie, Stevie Williams, made the kind of headlines Woods despises. Speaking about Phil Mickelson, he told New Zealand newspapers: ``I wouldn't call (Phil) Mickelson a great player because I hate the p----.''
Mickelson's representative issued a statement on Sunday that read: "After seeing Steve Williams' comments all I could think of was how lucky I am to have a class act like Bones on my bag and representing me."
Williams also told a story about a fan heckling Mickelson at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, but Mickelson's representatives said the heckling incident happened at the U.S. Open in 2002 and invovled a European player, not him.
Let the games begin!

The Oak Park golf team is selling half-price tickets to the Northern Trust Open, Feb. 16-22 at Riviera Country Club. Proceeds benefit the Oak Park golf team. Read on for more information.

Corey Pavin, a UCLA product who grew up in Oxnard, was named Ryder Cup captain for 2010. Pavin was outspoken about his passion for wanting to captain the 2010 team in Wales. Just talked to Pavin last month at the Journey at Penchanga resort opening, and he was saying his phone was on, and he was waiting for the call. He finally got that call.

Paul Azinger said earlier this week it wasn't him. So is it Corey Pavin, the UCLA product? We'll find out tomorrow when the PGA of America makes its announcement.

Here's the story I wrote for today's paper about a 94-year-old man who had his third career hole-in-one last week.

Max Herman, 94, of Sherman Oaks aced the seventh hole at Braemar Country Club last week. It's his third career hole-in-one, all of which have come after the age of 90 and all of which were at Braemar Country Club.

Paul Azinger told Golfworld.com he won't captain the Ryder Cup team in 2010. That means Corey Pavin, a UCLA product who grew up in Oxnard, is still in the running. Azinger captained the U.S. to a victory at Valhalla in Kentucky earlier this year. The PGA of America is expected to name its new captain on Thursday. Here's the story.

Michelle Wie earned her LPGA Tour card, but she didn't do it the easy way. Wie had to go through Qualifying School. For more on how she earned her card, click here.

Barack Obama seemingly does it all...he even golfs. But what kind of golfer is he? Check out this article in the Chicago Sun Timesfor more on Obama's golf game.