April 2009 Archives

While Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson had a nice duel going, Chad Campbell, Angel Cabrera and Kenny Perry positioned themselves without the same fanfare and applause and got into a playoff. Cabrera won his first Masters title with a par on the second playoff hole. He has won only two PGA Tour events, and both are majors. He won the U.S. Open in 2007 and now the Masters. Cabrera is 39, although don't you think he looks a heck of a lot older than 39?

Here's the transcript of an interview with Anthony Kim from the Masters. In it he discuses his early-season travels to golf tournaments overseas, his latest injury and that special feeling of playing in his first Masters.

Anthony Kim, who grew up in Studio City, has done a lot in his brief PGA Tour career, but he's never played in the Masters. Today will be his first appearance at Augusta National. He'll play in the group behind Tiger Woods with teenagers Roy Ishikawa and Rory Mcilroy.
``The quality of golf is definitely getting better with the younger generation,'' Kim said. ``I think kids like myself and other guys are coming out with a lot -- our skills are a lot more honed than just coming out here, hitting the ball as hard as you can and learning how to play golf.
Our technique probably is a lot better because we have access to great golf facilities, great coaches. And some people travel out here with mental coaches and trainers and all that.
So we are very fortunate to have that in our back pocket. So I think the level of golf in the younger generation is getting better and better.''

UCLA product John Merrick is playing in his first Masters this week.

Tiger Woods updated his monthly newsletter from the Masters today. At the end, he said he'd check back in after the Masters. Think it will be after he's fitted for his fifth green jacket? He's certainly confident it could happen.
Here's the newsletter:

Here is the transcript from Tiger Woods' news conference from Augusta National this afternoon.

Tiger Woods' press conference at Augusta National is on ESPN News right now, and he's still as confident as ever despite this being his first major since he's returned from reconstructive knee surgery. Woods was asked if he could win the Grand Slam, and he said yes.
``I know I can do it. I've done it,'' Woods said. ``It's hard for me to sit here and tell you it can't be done because I've done it before. Hopefully, it will start this week for me.''

Gary Player. He'll tee it up in his 52nd Masters Thursday. Player, 73, won three times and became the first internation player to win at Augusta National in 1961. He hasn't made the cut since 1998. Former Los Angeles Times writer Thomas Bonk has a nice piece about this in Golf World.