Pettersen closes strong, grabs Lotte Championship lead

Pettersen closes strong, grabs Lotte Championship lead










Kyle Galdeira, The Sports Xchange April 19, 2013 12:40 AMThe SportsXchange



KAPOLEI, HAWAII -- Strong winds affected Thursday's second round of the LPGA Lotte Championship at Ko Olina Golf Club in Kapolei, West Oahu, but Suzann Pettersen's consistent play trumped any ill effects posed by the weather.

The 10-year tour veteran turned in a 3-under 69 to take sole possession of first place at 10-under. Pettersen sank four birdies a day after notching nine birdies in her first-round effort.

Pettersen, the No. 6 player on tour, posted birdies on three of the final eight holes as she positioned herself for a run at her 11th career tour win.

"We had sunshine, rainbows, rain -- it was a great day," Pettersen said. "I got up-and-down quite a few times, and am feeling good with my putter. Once you pick up your club, it's go time. Just hanging in there today and trying not to get too comfortable. I'm feeling good, feeling sharp. I'm pretty happy with 69 today."

Ai Miyazato responded with a familiar charge to the top of the leaderboard as the event's defending champion stands alone at second place at 9-under after firing a 4-under 68 earlier in the day.

The No. 9 player in the Rolex Rankings finished her round on the front nine, and used a blistering streak of five birdies through the final seven holes, including a 20-foot birdie putt from the edge of the green on the par-3 8th, to skyrocket into the lead.

She credited her familiarity with the Bermuda grass greens for helping her to read them, and make key putts down the stretch.

The Japanese native entered this week with three top-25 finishes so far in 2013, including a runner-up position at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founder's Cup a month ago in Phoenix. Miyazato claimed last year's inaugural event, holding off Spain's Azahara Munoz and South Korea's Meena Lee by four strokes.

"It was definitely windier than (Wednesday), so it was pretty tough," Miyazato said when asked about the windy conditions. "On the back nine I made great putts out there, and it was a great finish. I'm not sure if (the wind) suits (my game), but I grew up in the wind. Hawaii is always a windy place, and it's fun to play in these weather conditions."

Hyo Joo Kim, a South Korean 17-year-old, finished at 1-under on the day to move her to 7-under, and into a third-place tie for the tournament. The KLPGA member birdied two of the final five holes to push her second-round score under par. Fellow South Korean Hee Kyung Seo, the 2011 Rookie of the Year, emerged unscathed with an even-par 72 to remain at 7-under along with Beatriz Recardi.

No. 2 ranked Stacy Lewis carded a 1-under 71 to pull into sixth place at 6-under. The two-time winner in 2013 can regain the No. 1 ranking with a victory this week.

"We we're warming up at 6:30, 7 o'clock in the morning, and the wind's howling, so going into the day sitting on the range, you knew it would be hard," Lewis said. "You had to fight for every shot. You couldn't really try to make too many birdies, you had to take some putts if they came and grind out a few pars. Anything under par today is a good score."

The winds, which were very calm on Wednesday and led to a slew of low first-round scores, were blowing steadily from 10 to 20 mph from the moment the first group teed off at 7 a.m.

Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn took a few steps back a day after shooting a tournament record-tying 8-under 64, which resulted in her owning the lead after the first round. The 17-year-old shot 75 on the heels of two birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey on the par-3 16th -- quite a departure from her seven birdies and an eagle notched Wednesday.

Despite the setback, the Ladies European Tour rookie remains in contention with a seventh-place mark of 5-under.

Tour veteran Se Ri Pak, fellow South Korean So Yeon Ryu and Americans Jane Rah and Austin Ernst are also tied with Jutanugarn, and remain four shots off the lead.

Notes: Top ranked Inbee Park sits in a tie for 19th place after shooting 71 to improve to 3-under. The South Korean took over the No. 1 ranking Monday following her victory at the Kraft Nabisco Championship two weeks ago. ... Michelle Wie, one of two homegrown players in the field, just barely made the cut after shooting a 4-over 76. The Punahou School product hit only five of 14 fairways and seven of 18 greens in regulation, but advanced with a score of 2-over. ... The field is competing for a share of the event's $1.7 million prize purse, which includes a $225,000 winner's check.

Woods' former caddie: Tiger should have been DQ'd

Woods' former caddie: Tiger should have been DQ'd










The Sports Xchange April 19, 2013 1:40 AMThe SportsXchange



Tiger Woods' former caddie, Steve Williams, said this week that Woods should have been disqualified for taking an illegal drop during the Masters tournament last week at Augusta National.

Williams, who caddied for 13 of the 14 majors won by Woods, spoke to a television station in his native New Zealand when he offered his opinion.

"From what I can gather, he took an illegal drop, signed a scorecard and left the course," Williams told the television station. "Under most circumstances that would result in disqualification. ... If the rules of golf are upheld, I believe he should have been disqualified."

Williams was quick to admit he did not have all the facts, but did think Woods, the No. 1 player in the world, should have been disqualified. He also said that he did not believe his former boss was trying to "gain anything on the field" after his third shot to the 15th green bounced off the flagstick and into the water resulting in a penalty shot.

Woods finished in a tie for fourth while Williams' current boss, Adam Scott, won the Masters in a playoff with Angel Cabrera. It was Scott's his first major victory.

Pettersen one step closer to win No. 11 on LPGA Tour

Pettersen one step closer to win No. 11 on LPGA Tour










Kyle Galdeira, The Sports Xchange April 19, 2013 10:00 PMThe SportsXchange



KAPOLEI, HAWAII - While a slew of clever iron approaches and putts provided Suzann Pettersen with another solid round on Hawaiian turf, it was a key save from the sand that ultimately gave her the lead.

After finding a sizable bunker with her second shot on the par-4 17th, Pettersen chipped out to within two feet of the hole, putted for par, and maintained a one-shot lead at 14-under to cap Friday's third round of the LPGA Lotte Championship at Ko Olina Golf Club in Kapolei, West Oahu. The weather changed for the third consecutive day, as light rain showers and overcast skies provided intermittent respites from the tropical heat, and appeared to aid in the golfers' scoring ability.

Pettersen, a 10-year tour veteran, turned in a 4-under 68, her third consecutive sub-70 round this week. Pettersen drained five birdies, including three straight to begin the round, after notching 13 birdies in her first two rounds combined.

The No. 6 player on tour is now in position to collect her 11th career tour win. The native of Norway has credited multiple factors for her success in Hawaii, including new shoes that allow her to "feel the green" better, and an aggressive putting stroke that has her attacking holes on the course's generally slow greens.

South Korean Hee Kyung Seo, the 2011 Rookie of the Year, used an eagle and six birdies to post a 66 and pull to within a shot of the lead at 13-under-par.

Her iron game was spot-on as shown by Seo's second shot from behind a bunker on the par-4 15th, which plopped down just a few feet away from the cup leading to a tap-in putt for birdie.

However, a bogey on the par-4 18th, caused in part by an errant second shot that sank into a bunker behind the green, solidified her second-place standing.

Ai Miyazato, the No. 9 player in the Rolex Rankings and the event's defending champion, turned in another consistent effort of 2-under 70 after going 5-under and 4-under in the first two rounds. She now stands three shots off the lead in third place at 11-under, and leads Hyo Joo Kim (-10) by a stroke.

Second-ranked Stacy Lewis carded a 3-under 69 to pull into a three-way fifth-place tie at 9-under. The two-time winner in 2013 can regain the No. 1 ranking with a victory this week.

Lizette Salas posted an impressive 5-under round, and vaulted up to 9-under-par after starting the day tied for 13th. She was buoyed by a run of five birdies in seven holes on the front nine, and finished the round with just one bogey.

Following the round, she credited the recent switch back to a traditional, short putter from the anchored "belly" club she had been using with aiding her strong run this week.

Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn, a rookie on the Ladies European Tour, remains in the hunt and rounds out the group at 9-under-par, two days after shooting a tournament record-tying 8-under 64, which resulted in her owning the lead after the first round. The 17-year-old shot 4-under Friday on the heels of five birdies, two of which came on the final two holes.

American Jessica Korda moved up to within six shots of the lead after posting a 6-under 66 to move to 8-under. She has two top-10 finishes in 2013, and looks to add to her one career LPGA victory.

Top-ranked Inbee Park also sits in a tie for eighth place with Korda and Jodi Ewart Shadoff after shooting 67 to improve to 8-under-par. The South Korean took over the No. 1 ranking Monday following her victory at the Kraft Nabisco Championship two weeks ago.

Notes: Beatriz Recari continued her incredible run of consistency, as the "Iron Woman," as fellow golfers have dubbed her, shot an even-par 72, and moved into 11th place at 7-under. The native of Pamplona, Spain, has now played in 59 consecutive LPGA events over a two-and-a-half year period, and has made 40 consecutive cuts. ... Tour veteran Se Ri Pak shot a 1-under 66, and the LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame member sits in a tie for 12th place at 6-under-par. ... The remaining field of 77 is competing for a share of the event's $1.7 million prize purse, which includes a $225,000 winner's check.

Tiger Woods: Can Anyone Stop the World's Best?

Tiger Woods: Can Anyone Stop the World's Best?











Ryan Ballengee May 14, 2013 4:56 PM


COMMENTARY | Since Tiger Woods ran into a fire hydrant the night after Thanksgiving 2009 until his win at Bay Hill last year, the question was: Will Woods ever regain the dominance of years past?



So many dismissed the question. The naysayers said Woods co
uld recover from the bruises of a low-speed car wreck, but the embarrassment of a months-long slew of revelations about his personal life probably would permanently scar his professional career.





Now look at Woods. He's back as world No. 1 by the highest margin in the Official World Golf Ranking since the unpleasantness dribbled into 2010. He's won four times this season, doing so sooner in the calendar year than at any other time in his career -- even the dominant 2000 season, where he won nine times on the PGA Tour.



In seven PGA Tour starts this season, Tiger's batting .571. Throw out the WGC-Accenture Match Play, and Woods is winning at a .667 clip in U.S. stroke-play tournaments. Sick.



Not even the golf courses that have given Woods the most trouble can slow him down these days. Woods had one win in 15 prior appearances at The Players Championship, that is until last weekend. He won at TPC Sawgrass for the second time in his career, joining an illustrious club of two-time winners at the Stadium Course.



Woods will play next at the Memorial Tournament at the end of May, defending the title he won at Jack Nicklaus' place a year ago to tie the Golden Bear with 73 PGA Tour wins. After that, it's onto the U.S. Open at Merion where, despite Woods never having set foot on the Philly-area club, the world No. 1 will be a prohibitive favorite.



With all of the evidence clearly pointing toward the return of Woods' competitive splendor, is there anyone in the world that can stop him?



Right now, the answer seems to be "no."



Woods is not only doing the things he has in the past to win, but has even improved in areas he was lagging as he aged.



In par-5 scoring, Woods is No. 1 on the PGA Tour -- a statistic he owned from 2000-03 and, after a year off to make a swing change in 2004, again in '05, '06 and '09. When Woods wins at his most prolific rate, he dominates the longest holes on the course.



An improving area for Woods is putting. He leads the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting, the somewhat amorphous stat used to determine the best with the flat stick. Retroactively analyzing data back to 2004, Woods has never been top dog in that category, but in 2007 and '09, Woods was in the top three for the year. Between those two seasons, Woods won 13 times, although he managed just one major title in that span.



Tiger even leads the PGA Tour in percentage of greens hit in regulation from inside 125 yards, which was a glaringly lagging part of his game a year ago despite a three-win campaign. Woods was 48th last year in that stat.



Every indicator seems to suggest Woods is at his for being a 37-year-old man now almost three full years into his work with teacher Sean Foley.



The major sites for the remainder of the year even suggest Woods could replicate the 2000 campaign of nine wins, including three major titles.



Woods has never played at Merion, site of the U.S. Open, but fortunately for him, hardly any of his peers have either. The Open was last at the club in 1981. The course will play under 7,000 yards, forcing players to be extremely accurate off the tee or face very penal rough.



Woods has won on a course like that before, taking the '06 Open Championship at burnt-out Royal Liverpool. He didn't a need a driver that week, but picked apart a venue that had not held the game's oldest major since 1967. A lack of familiarity was not a problem.



Speaking of the Open and the Claret Jug, Woods was not successful in winning it at Muirfield in 2002, where the Open returns this July. Woods finished T-28, six shots out of a four-man playoff that Ernie Els ultimately won. Then again, Woods was going for a third consecutive major that week. Muirfield is not especially long, but the wind and weather will likely dictate Woods' fate in Scotland.



Perhaps the only major of the three that does not seem to suit Woods is Oak Hill, which plays host to the PGA Championship. The upstate New York club last held the PGA in 2003, where Woods was mired in swing-change limbo. Shaun Micheel won in a nailbiter, beating Chad Campbell by two with a 72nd-hole birdie for the ages. However, the course will play under 7,200 yards, which allows Woods to play the kind of strategic golf that complements his patient approach to winning.



It's not likely, but certainly not out of the realm of possibility for Woods to sweep the final three majors of the year. That would put him at 17 majors, one shy of tying Jack Nicklaus and staring a second Tiger Slam in the face at the 2014 Masters.



As Woods would insist, it's all a process. The Woods machine is humming, however, and seemingly no one can stop it but Woods himself.



Ryan Ballengee is a Washington, D.C.-based golf writer. His work has appeared on multiple digital outlets, including NBC Sports and Golf Channel. Follow him on Twitter @RyanBallengee.

Marijuana Marshaling to Be Softened by WADA; PGA Tour Next?

Marijuana Marshaling to Be Softened by WADA; PGA Tour Next?











Ryan Ballengee May 14, 2013 5:28 PM


COMMENTARY | The World Anti-Doping Agency has decided to stop worrying about athletes smoking marijuana weeks before competition. The PGA Tour following suit, however, is a foggy proposition.



WADA's Executive Committee and Foundation Board met May 12 in Montreal,


http://golfweek.com/news/2013/may/14/tour-mum-wada-softens-stance-marijuana/">according to Golfweek, and, among other changes made to the agency's code for 2015 is the amount of cannabinoids that can be in a tested athlete's sample. The body hiked the amount by a factor of 10 -- from 15 nanograms per milliliter to 150 ng/mL.





In other words, if an athlete uses marijuana in the weeks leading up to an event, they'll soon be much less likely to get caught in an on-site drug test than one who is smoking up just before or during competition.



As far as WADA is concerned, marijuana is a recreational drug that is not considered performance-enhancing. They've decided to treat is as such.



That decision may have implications for the PGA Tour, which adheres to WADA's code and guidelines when administering their anti-doping program, which began in 2008. Under the Tour's program, a positive test for cannabinoids can result in a sanction, but neither has to be disclosed to the public.



This WADA change, however, will not be implemented for another two years. A change to the agency's code recently may lead the PGA Tour all the way to court.



A week ago on Wednesday, the PGA Tour was sued by Vijay Singh in New York State Supreme Court for their handling of Singh's admitted use of deer-antler spray in a Jan. 28, 2013, Sports Illustrated article.



Singh was to be suspended for 90 days for acknowledging use of the product, which is said to contain IGF-1, an insulin-like hormone that can only be absorbed by the body through an injection, not orally. After conducting an investigation, the PGA Tour consulted with WADA in response to Singh's protest of his pending suspension. WADA replied, saying it had removed deer-antler spray from its list of banned substances, saying only a positive blood test for IGF-1 could be grounds for sanction. The PGA Tour does not currently collect blood samples from players.



However, the best-known case of the PGA Tour's handling of marijuana use may be the 2010 situation involving Matt Every.



Every, 26 at the time, was arrested on July 6 for a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession during the week of the John Deere Classic. The PGA Tour suspended Every for three months, but did so under the umbrella idea of "conduct unbecoming a professional" that's covered in the player handbook, not the anti-doping program.



The PGA Tour did not comment to Golfweek for their report, saying they had just been made aware of WADA's decision.



Ryan Ballengee is a Washington, D.C.-based golf writer. His work has appeared on multiple digital outlets, including NBC Sports and Golf Channel. Follow him on Twitter @RyanBallengee.

Tiger Woods Wins the Players: What Does it All Mean?

Tiger Woods Wins the Players: What Does it All Mean?











Travis Mewhirter May 14, 2013 5:37 PM






COMMENTARY | Where oh where to begin with Tiger Woods and his win at the Players Championship this past weekend.

Do we start with his spat with Sergio Garcia, the Spaniard with whom Woods makes no bones about his disdain for? Or maybe the step that Woods took in closing in on Sam Snead's all-time PGA Tou
r victories mark (Snead finished with 82, Woods now has 78)? Perhaps some speculation over whether this portends a summer sweep of the majors for the world's No. 1 golfer and quite possibly its most polarizing athlete?



Well, first, let's just being with Tiger, and what Tiger has to say about Tiger. He's never lacked hubris, carrying himself with more panache than any athlete in any sport, so his hauteur in the post-win press conference wasn't exactly surprising, but it was enlightening to see just how Woods was feeling about his game.

"Am I surprised?" Woods said after sealing up his 13-under-par victory at TPC Sawgrass. "No. I know a lot of people in this room thought I was done. But I'm not."

As for surprised, there really is no reason he should have been. Prior to this weekend's jaunt in Florida, Woods had won in three of his six starts in 2013 and posted a strong showing at the Masters, though anything other than winning these days unleashes a torrent of questions whether he will ever truly beat Jack's record. Woods is now four for seven, leading the FedEx Cup by a landslide and has reached four victories in a season quicker than ever before (this marks his 12th year reaching that mark).

But, as for people in the media room counting him out, there were still more than likely very few. Even when Woods was languishing through swing changes, divorces, yips and meltdowns, he was still the most feared name on the leaderboard. I don't think you will find many that would have stood firmly by the notion that Tiger Woods, one of the most dominant athletes of this generation, was finished, caput before his 40th birthday.

However, say there may have been a few out there whose loathing of Woods -- not contesting your reasons for that -- was so great that they really did convince themselves his career was in an irreversible downwards spiral. Even they have to admit that Woods is not over yet. In fact, we may be getting a glimpse of the best of him to come.

"The golf course played tricky today," Woods said. "It was fast and difficult and I hit it so good, it was fun. I hit it high, low, left to right, right to left, whatever I wanted, except for that tee shot at 14."

To hear Woods, who has an uncanny knack for finding some reason, any reason, to nitpick at his game, say that he could hit whatever shot he wanted, save one costly exception, a flukish hook, is downright scary. Even in his three previous wins this season -- at the Farmer's Insurance Open, Cadillac Championship, and Arnold Palmer Invitational -- Woods was still missing a few shots from his arsenal. He wasn't in full command of his draw off the tee, his cuts weren't always cutting quite right, and his iron play was spotty at points, which kept him from getting consistently clean looks at birdie.

And then Sawgrass rolled around, and Woods hit 55 out of 72 greens -- third in the tournament -- got up and down on more than 70 percent of his misses, went 4-for-4 from greenside bunkers and finally overcame 12 years of struggles at the Stadium Course.

"I feel like I'm getting better as the year's going on," Woods said, "which is nice."

The key phrase in that, obviously, is "as the year's going on." We all know what's coming in the weeks ahead: the U.S. Open at Merion, the British Open at Muirfield, and the PGA Championship at Oak Hill.

It would be difficult to find somebody who expects Woods to lay an egg at all three. With the way he's playing now, coupled with the way says he's feeling about his game, it might just be easier to find someone who fully expects him to take all three.



Travis Mewhirter has been working in the golf industry since 2007, when he was a bag room manager at Piney Branch Golf Club in Carroll County, Maryland, and has been involved, as a player, since 2004. Since then, he has worked at Hayfields Country Club, where the Constellation Energy Classic was formerly held, and has covered golf at the high school, college, and professional levels.

Flooding forces LPGA to rerout tourney course

Flooding forces LPGA to rerout tourney course










The Sports Xchange May 23, 2013 5:10 PMThe SportsXchange



The LPGA is taking drastic measures to make the most of the rain-shortened Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic.

Friday's shortened first round will now be only 12 holes, rerouting play at the Ocean Club Golf Course around holes that have been left unplayable due to flooding. Officials hope to get in a minimum of 12 holes on Saturday and Sunday as well, and will reassess playable holes on a daily basis.

There will be no cut this week, with the top 70 players and ties earning official money as long as at least 36 holes are completed.

"When you have a situation like this, you bring everyone together that you trust and you make the decision," said LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan. "It's fair if someone doesn't like the decision we made, but I think this outcome is a lot better than any other alternative. Everybody who plays the next three days will play the same course."

It's a difficult situation for the LPGA with a first-year sponsor, and players were informed of the decision during a meeting at the clubhouse at the Ocean Course, which was pummeled by more than a foot of rain over an eight-hour span on Tuesday.

"It's all about your perspective on it," said world No. 2 Stacy Lewis. "If you go into it thinking, 'this is dumb' or 'we shouldn't play' then you probably won't play very well. I think, for the sponsors, we need to play. It's a first year event and we need to get out there."

There have been 15 36-hole events since 1963 on the LPGA Tour. The most recent 36-hole tournament was the 2007 Hana Bank KOLON Championship, which was shortened from 54 holes to 36 following 50-plus mph winds during Sunday's final round. Suzann Pettersen was declared the 36-hole champion.

Tiger Can End Feud With Sergio by Accepting Apology

Tiger Can End Feud With Sergio by Accepting Apology











Adam Fonseca May 23, 2013 6:18 PM




COMMENTARY | Life is defined by how one responds to opportunity.

Tiger Woods has been a glaring example of that adage over his career. With the exception of Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus, no man has ever achieved more than Woods on the golf course. He was presented with an opportunity years ago to not only dominate a sport in which he is obs
cenely talented, but also to do so as a black man in a sport previously dominated by white men. No one will argue that Woods made the most of that opportunity.



Woods was also infamously faced with an opportunity to come clean about his own personal failures, and to do so very much in the public eye. His fall from grace following November of 2009 will forever be tarnished on his legacy. When speaking of Tiger's achievements -- no matter how numerous when his career is over -- people are destined to recall his poor decisions off the course as much as his brilliant actions on it.

Tiger was faced with the opportunity to admit his wrongdoing to the world, which he did in the most public of ways. Now, Woods is faced with another opportunity.

There isn't a person I have spoken to on the topic of Sergio Garcia's racial comments toward Tiger who would blame Woods for never again giving Garcia the time of day. Woods has every right to hold a grudge, keep his head down and eyes forward, and simply ignore Garcia from this point forward. Their disdain for one another is no secret. Life will go on.

Doing so would not solve anything. As the Golf Channel's John Feinstein suggests, Tiger Woods can shock the world by sincerely -- and publicly -- accepting Garcia's apology. It would be an admirable gesture in a situation that has lacked poise and, at times, maturity.

The recent Sergio Garcia-Tiger Woods feud has been enjoyable to watch from a fan's perspective. I would be dishonest if I didn't admit that I like a little gamesmanship at times. It makes things interesting. It keeps sports fresh and intriguing, almost like a game within the game. Who doesn't enjoy a little trash talking?

But as is the case with most sports feuds, it is all fun and games until someone says something he or she can't take back. Emotions run hot and eventually boil over. Remarks evolve from simple bulletin-board material to personal attacks. When a microphone or TV camera is tossed into the mix, things get even messier. Someone always becomes "that guy."

It is not Tiger's duty to accept Sergio's apology. It is not one person's job to throw his hands up and say, "OK, we're all going to be friends now." Feuds don't end that way, no matter how trivial in nature or inflammatory they become. Peacefully breaking a feud must be a mutual effort from both parties involved.

However, if Tiger Woods does want to end this snafu with Sergio Garcia in a manner that would be both admirable and inspiring, he should accept Garcia's apology with a firm handshake, a smile and maybe even a joke.

In doing so, Tiger will have made the most out of yet another opportunity in his career.



Adam Fonseca has covered professional golf since 2005. His work can be found on numerous digital outlets including the Back9Network and SB Nation. He currently lives in Chicago with his wife. Follow Adam on Twitter @chicagoduffer.

Local knowledge propels Haas to early lead

Local knowledge propels Haas to early lead











PGA.COM May 23, 2013 7:10 PM

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View gallery
Jay Haas found an old friend in the gallery en route to taking the early lead.(Getty Images)


By T.J. Auclair, PGA.com Interactive Producer

ST. LOUIS - It wasn't exactly a home game, but Jay Haasfelt right at home in the first round of the 74th Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid at Bellerive Country Club on Thursday.

Haas, 59, was born in St. Louis and raised in nearby Belleville, Ill. Though he has spent much of his adult life in Greenville, S.C., Haas estimates he's probably played more rounds at Bellerive - 30, give or take a few - than most of his fellow competitors in the field this week.

That local knowledge proved beneficial Thursday, as Haas snagged the early clubhouse lead with a fantastic, bogey-free round of 5-under 66 with less than his best stuff. Haas's mark was one better than Kiyoshi Murota and PGA Professional Sonny Skinner, who were also early starters.

Kenny Perry, Dan Forsman and Fred Funk were all among a group of early finishers to shoot 2-under 69.

"I'm certainly very excited about shooting 5 under here," said Haas, a two-time Senior PGA Champion. "It's probably my lowest score ever at Bellerive, no matter what age I was. I didn't expect it going out. I wasn't very sharp today, but managed to keep my misses in the correct spots and I took advantage of a few good iron shots and just kind of kept it between the ditches, I guess you would say. But very, very pleased with that."

Haas said the first time he played at Bellerive was at 16 or 17 years old for a sectional qualifier.


"I shot a couple 80s or something," he said. "It was a man's course. And the ball didn't go very far back then. And so I've always thought of it as that course. And when I come here, anything par or under I feel like I've stolen something kind of."

Skinner, playing in his fourth Senior PGA Championship, avoided what could have been a disaster with an incredible par at the par-3 sixth hole, his 15th of the day. Measuring 206 yards, Skinner unleashed a 4-iron from the tee that came up short and found a greenside bunker. Faced with a horrible lie and the ball some three feet below his feet, Skinner bladed the ball and sent it through the green about 40 yards from the hole.

Remembering that it was a good spot to miss and realizing he could still salvage bogey, Skinner played an aggressive pitch shot that somehow fell into the cup for an unlikely par.

"That helped out quite a bit," Skinner said. "I just trying to make a four and it rolled in the hole for a three."

Thursday has been the coolest this week with temperatures in the low 60s under overcast skies. It rained a little during the morning, but picked up in intensity as the afternoon wore on.

Torrential rains on Monday softened the course significantly. As late as Wednesday afternoon, players like Bernhard Langer wondered whether it would even be possible to play the first two rounds without lift, clean and place because of the mud balls.

Thanks to dry conditions overnight Wednesday, competitors were able to play it down in the first round with few issues.

"I thought that the course is remarkably drier today," Haas said. "It's not by any means running fast, we picked up a little bit of mud, I was a little surprised, because yesterday we were picking up a lot of mud on our tee shots. And it drained quite well today. Hopefully it's not going to rain, if it does, not too hard and it will kind of continue to speed up as the week goes on. The greens, even through the monsoon that we had Monday night and on, the greens have been pretty good. What I mean by that is the firmness of them. They have not ever been soft. But they're not rock hard either. So just the texture of them is really nice. But, yeah, the course was remarkably dry."

Convicted NY killer's golf art masks caged reality

Convicted NY killer's golf art masks caged reality










CAROLYN THOMPSON (Associated Press) June 8, 2013 12:41 PMAP - Sports


ATTICA, N.Y. (AP) -- Valentino Dixon's colored pencil drawings evoke carefree days on the links, dewy greens, open spaces, fresh air enlivened by flowers and crisply trimmed fairways.

But the artist has never set foot on a golf course.

For 22 years, Dixon's world has been concrete floors and metal bars, fluorescent lights and tiny spaces.

It is nothing like what appears on paper as he runs rainbows of pencils down to nubs on blades of grass, reflective ponds, sweeping branches - all the while hoping that someday it will exist for him outside of his imagination.

Outside the walls of Attica.

Hope hinges on Dixon's efforts to overturn his conviction for a murder that another man confessed to: the Aug. 10, 1991, shooting death of 17-year-old Torriano Jackson on a crowded street corner on Buffalo's east side.

Proclaiming his innocence through evermore legal motions and appeals, Dixon draws, spending 10 to 12 hours a day illustrating a kind of serenity he has never known.

''They'd have run me out if I talked about golf,'' he said during a recent interview with The Associated Press inside the maximum-security prison, recalling the tough city streets where football and basketball ruled.

He knew early on he had a talent for drawing, copying comic strip characters so perfectly his mother thought he'd traced them. An elementary school teacher guided him into Buffalo's Academy for Visual and Performing Arts for high school. But one class shy of a diploma, he entered a world of drug dealing and guns.

''I know I disappointed my teachers at performing arts,'' he says now, inside this upstate New York fortress infamous for a deadly 1971 riot. ''I wanted to become one of the best in the world.''

Dixon, now 43, knew trouble was brewing that night in 1991. But he said he was inside a store buying beer when he heard the shots that would send four victims to the hospital. Torriano Jackson was shot 27 times, and his older brother, Aaron, was among the wounded.

Out on bail with drug and weapons charges pending, Dixon went home and went to bed, he said, only to be arrested the next day.

''I wasn't nervous,'' he said. ''I thought, 'The truth will come out.'''

But when investigators disregarded a confession by 18-year-old LaMarr Scott, saying it was coerced by Dixon's family, Dixon was on his way to trial and a sentence of 39 years to life. With no physical evidence, jurors in Dixon's trial relied on the testimony of three prosecution witnesses, Dixon said, and his own lawyer's refusal to call witnesses of his own. He's eligible for parole in 2030.

''To this day, I'm trying to figure out why they arrested me in the first place,'' he said. Since his conviction, several witnesses have come forward to say Dixon was not the gunman, and he has passed a lie-detector test, all part of his bid for freedom.

None of it sways prosecutor Christopher Belling, who built the case against Dixon.


''He's had at least three appeal proceedings and each time the courts have upheld his conviction,'' said Belling, now senior trial counsel in the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

Sitting in his prison cell in 1998, Dixon picked up the pencils an uncle had sent him and, for the first time in about a decade, began drawing. Animals, landscapes, people. When then-prison Supt. James Conway gave Dixon a picture of the 12th hole of Augusta National, home of The Masters, and asked if he would draw it in 2009, something about it spoke to him.

''I've been drawing the golf courses ever since,'' he said.

Hours of drawing are broken up by workouts, meals, prayers and reading. Earphones counter prison noise with the music of Celine Dion, Billy Joel, Whitney Houston.

Trapping his pencil between his fingers and thumb in a grip that got him in trouble as a boy, the white of the paper disappears completely, as if painted.

''It takes a lot of layering. Colors on top of colors,'' Dixon said, demonstrating a technique honed over time.

His mother, Barbara Dixon, knowing her son has never set foot on a golf course, is convinced a higher power is at work.

''Once he started drawing the golf courses, he said, 'Ma, I feel such a sense of peace unlike anything I've ever felt,''' she said.

A fellow inmate's Golf Digest subscription provides the pictures that have been his inspiration. More than 130 golf drawings later, the magazine opened another door with its regular feature, ''Golf Saved My Life,'' written each month by a contributor with staff writer Max Adler.

''I've never hit a golf ball,'' began Dixon's essay, published last July. ''Everything I draw is from inside a 6-by-10 prison cell.''

He described his descent from art student to cocaine dealer to murder suspect to inmate inside Attica's ''honor block'' for those with the cleanest disciplinary records.

''When I was a young man I wasn't useful to society - this I don't argue. But I'm not a murderer,'' the father of three wrote. ''That's the worst thing somebody can be, and I'm not that. I hope all you need to do is look at my drawings to know that.''

Adler spent five months delving into Dixon's story, reading thousands of pages of trial transcripts, police reports and affidavits and interviewing attorneys, the trial judge, a juror, witnesses and others. He followed the inmate's essay with a detailed retelling of the crime and conviction, coming away convinced an injustice had been done.

''In the accumulation of every detail,'' Adler said by phone, ''I'm left without any doubt that he is innocent.''

Shooting victim Aaron Jackson disagrees.

''I'm glad that he's found himself with whatever it is that he's doing,'' said Jackson, a community activist who mentors youth. ''But my younger brother, his life came to a terrible end. ... (Dixon) went to prison and Torriano went to a grave.''

Pressel leads LPGA Championship after two rounds

Pressel leads LPGA Championship after two rounds










The Sports Xchange June 8, 2013 8:00 PMThe SportsXchange



PITTSFORD, N.Y.-- Morgan Pressel has teed it up 106 times in tournament play since her last victory in the 2008 Kapalua LPGA Classic.

She's positioned herself well to end that drought on Sunday in the Wegmans LPGA Championship, but there's a lot of work left to do on what will be a marathon day at Locust Hill Country Club.

There are 20 players within six shots of the lead, which sits at 6 under par after Pressel carded a 2-under 70 on Saturday in the second round. Rain washed out the first round on Thursday, meaning players will play 36 holes Sunday to complete the third and fourth rounds.

Starting on the 10th hole in the afternoon wave and dealing with an occasional downpour on her front nine,Pressel birdied three of her first five holes to move to 7 under. She dropped shots at the par-4 16th and 18th holes but steadied herself coming in by playing her final nine holes in 1 under, thanks to a birdie on the par-5 eighth hole.

There are several players giving chase, most notably world No. 1 Inbee Park. She tied for the day's low round with a 4-under 68 and is 4 under for the tournament, tied for second place with first-round leader Chella Choi. Those two will join Pressel for the final two rounds.

Park and Pressel played junior golf together in Florida, but lately their careers have gone in opposite directions. Pressel has just one top-10 this season, and Park has won three times, including the season's first major in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Asian-born players have won the last eight majors on the LPGA Tour, and if Pressel falters Sunday, they're in position to continue that streak. Including Park and Choi, six of the top 11 players on the leader board come from South Korea, with Amy Yang and Jiyai Shin in a tie for fourth at 3 under and Sun Young Yoo and Na Yeon Choi part of a tie for seventh at 2 under.

Just 13 players are under par after another cold, wet day.

NOTES: Tying Park for low round of the day with a 68 was Michelle Wie. She's at par for the championship and moved up 57 spots on the leader board, from a tie for 71st to a tie for 14th. ... World No. 2 Stacy Lewis, the top-ranked American, is in a tie for 31st at 2 over for the tournament after shooting par 72.

The Sports Xchange June 8, 2013 9:10 PMThe SportsXchange

Pressel poised to end drought










The Sports Xchange June 8, 2013 9:10 PMThe SportsXchange



PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Morgan Pressel has teed it up 106 times in tournament play since her last victory at the 2008 Kapalua LPGA Classic.

She's positioned herself well to end that drought on Sunday in the Wegmans LPGA Championship, but there's a lot of work left to do on what will be a marathon day at Locust Hill Country Club.

There are 20 players within six shots of the lead, which sits at 6 under par after Pressel carded a 2-under 70 on Saturday in the second round. Rain washed out the first round on Thursday, meaning players will play 36 holes Sunday to complete the third and fourth rounds.

"The question will be just how committed I can be to every shot, because when you get tired your mind starts to wonder," Pressel said. "So that'll be the biggest test, truly staying focused on every shot. At the end of the day I probably won't want to think another second, but that will mean that I gave it my all."

Starting on the 10th hole in the afternoon wave and dealing with an occasional downpour on her front nine, Pressel birdied three of her first five holes to move to 7 under. She dropped shots at the par-4 16th and 18th holes but steadied herself coming in by playing her final nine holes in 1 under, thanks to a birdie on the par-5 eighth hole.

There are several players giving chase, most notably world No. 1 Inbee Park. She tied for the day's low round with a 4-under 68 and is 4 under for the tournament, tied for second place with first-round leader Chella Choi. Those two will join Pressel for the final two rounds.

Park and Pressel played junior golf together in Florida, but lately their careers have gone in opposite directions. Pressel has just one top-10 this season, and Park has won three times, including the season's first major in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

"I've experienced a lot of golf," she said. "That really helps going into major championships like this.

"You feel a lot more comfortable."

Asian-born players have won the last eight majors on the LPGA Tour, and if Pressel falters Sunday, they're in position to continue that streak. Including Park and Choi, six of the top 11 players on the leader board come from South Korea, with Amy Yang and Jiyai Shin in a tie for fourth at 3 under and Sun Young Yoo and Na Yeon Choi part of a tie for seventh at 2 under.

The last time an LPGA major went to 36 holes in the 2012 Women's British Open, Shin romped to a nine-shot victory.

Yoo had an incredible stretch of birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie from holes nine through 12, but faltered with a pair of bogeys down the stretch to finish at 3-under-par 69 for her round.

Just 13 players are under par after another cold, wet day. Overnight rain left the already-waterlogged course downright sloppy in areas.

"I've heard a lot of people talk about the rough and you just gotta not hit it in it, basically. It's easier said than done, but just stay away from it," said Australian Sarah Jane Smith, who did that by hitting 11 of 14 fairways on her way to a round of 3-under 69.

Park hit 12 of 14 fairways in the second round.

"If you hit the ball straighter, it makes the golf course play a lot easier," she said. "I've been doing that the last two days here."

NOTES: Tying Park for low round of the day with a 68 was Michelle Wie. She's at par for the championship and moved up 57 spots on the leaderboard, from a tie for 71st to a tie for 14th. ... World No. 2 Stacy Lewis, the top-ranked American, is in a tie for 31st at 2 over for the tournament after shooting par 72. ... South Korean Mi Jung Hur has hit only 25 percent of the fairways this week, an astonishingly low number because of the heavy rough, but made the cut thanks to taking just 51 putts, second in the field to Pressel's 50 through two rounds.

Tiger Woods posts worst score in a major

Tiger Woods posts worst score in a major











Eric Adelson June 16, 2013 5:44 PMYahoo Sports






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Tiger Woods reacts after putting on the eighth green at the U.S. Open. (AP)ARDMORE, Pa. – Tiger Woods wearing red. Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Open. Grandstand overflowing with fans holding their breath as a ball rolls toward the cup, Swoosh rolling over itself again and again.



It's an iconic image – in fact, if you were born in 1990 or after, it might be the only iconic image you associate with the game of golf. And yet here at Merion Golf Club, on this U.S. Open Sunday, all the drama belonged a thousand yards away from Woods' thousand-yard stare. His par putt on 17 veered right and left him at 13-over par for the tournament. He would finish there and card the worst score to par in a major in his professional career.

Just one bad event for the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world? Easy to say, especially on a brutal course that's about as suited to his game as the city of Philadelphia is to Mai Tais with little umbrellas. This is the course that caused Jason Dufner to toss his wedge in the drink and pushed Rory McIlroy to bend his club into disrepair as if he was Bo Jackson after a strikeout.





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Tiger Woods finished the 2013 U.S. Open at 13-over. (Yahoo! Sports)But Woods is supposed to be better than them, tougher than them, and able to bend even the nastiest courses to his will. Now he's got a left elbow injury of unknown severity, two horrendous performances in a row, and five full years without a major championship.



Tiger Woods the legend is cemented in history. Tiger Woods the 30-something golfer with a history of knee surgeries? Well, hmmm.

Here are the two issues that should worry fans of Woods:

1. His putting: The old Woods could make a 12-foot putt simply by scaring it into the hole with his menacing glare. This version of Woods? Mediocre. He had some reasons – detractors will say excuses – for his problems this week, including the greens being "grainy" and the pin placements being only a step away from a ridge leading down to trouble. He called Merion "tricky," which is the same word he used earlier in the week to describe a Westchester course that also gave him trouble.

2. His weekend play: Woods' overall progress since the fire hydrant episode in 2009 has been upward, but he tends to fall away on the weekends, especially in majors. He was 3-over going into Saturday's third round, and he ended up 10 shots worse than that. Now, is this a coincidence? Is it because of the putting struggles? Or is it because of the wear on his surgically repaired legs? Woods is a terrific athlete, yet let's face it: He puts a lot of torque on that left knee every time he swings the club. That can add up on any man who's been playing a sport as aggressively as Tiger has for his entire life.

Woods sure didn't seem vexed after his round. Asked what he did well and what he did poorly this week, he shot back, "I did a lot of things right. Unfortunately I did a few things wrong, as well."

Positive self-talk is a hallmark of great golfers and great champions, but Woods did more than a few things wrong at Merion – he scored bogey or worse 21 times vs. 10 birdies.

A lot of us take dramatic Sundays with Tiger Woods for granted. But that iconic Woods moment – the one we can replay in our memory over and over again – seems quite far away now.

Horschel joins pantheon of colorful golf pants

Horschel joins pantheon of colorful golf pants











PGA.COM June 16, 2013 6:07 PM

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"Well here they are! The highly anticipated highly controversial....Octopus pants!," tweeted Billy Horschel …



ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) -- Considering the history of outrageous pants in golf, Billy Horschel had to go a long way to stand out.

But the Octopus-print pair he donned for Sunday's final round at the U.S. Open did the trick. Somewhere, John Daly, long considered golf's leader in the clubhouse for colorful fashion, is rummaging through his closet for a response.

Horschel, a former University of Florida golfer, teed off in eighth place at 3 over, four strokes behind final-round leader Phil Mickelson. While Mickelson went with an all-black ensemble, Horschel tweeted a photo of himself in the navy and white giant squid-patterned slacks, set off by a magenta-toned polo shirt, before heading over to the course.

"Well here they are! The highly anticipated highly controversial....Octopus pants!"

Strange as the pants looked, few people should have been surprised by the unusual fashion statement. Eclectic only begins to describe Horschel; according to his PGA Tour bio, he also devoured the Twilight young-adult vampire novels in the span of two weeks and is "a believer in Bigfoot and UFOs."

But as far as fashion, Horschel is hardly alone. Loud pants are such a staple of the sport that a number of amateur tournaments are organized each year requiring participants to show up in stunningly wild slacks.

At the professional level, Englishman Ian Poulter has long been considered the front-runner in today's game, wearing everything from his native flag to something best described as an old TV test pattern. Rickie Fowler has pushed the boundary in terms of color, but usually wears the same tone from head to toe.

But just like those two, Horschel has no problem making a "look-at-me" statement. Anybody who saw him pumping his fists and hopping around while celebrating his first tour win in New Orleans earlier this year -- after rolling in a 20-footer to win -- knows that.

Woods matches his worst-ever score in a major

Woods matches his worst-ever score in a major












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Tiger Woods shot a 4-over 74 Sunday, which gave him his worst 72-hole score as a pro in the U.S. Open, and tied his high score in any major at 13-over 293.(Getty Images)

PGA.COM June 16, 2013 7:47 PM


By Doug Ferguson, Associated Press

ARDMORE, Pa. -- This isn't the kind of record Tiger Woods had in mind at the U.S. Open.

Woods went out-of-bounds on his second tee shot of the final round at Merion on Sunday and closed with a 4-over 74. That gave him his worst 72-hole score as a pro in the U.S. Open, and it tied for his high score in any major.

"I did a lot of things right," Woods said. "Unfortunately, I did a few things wrong, as well."

Woods finished at 13-over 293.

His previous high score in a U.S. Open was 290 at The Olympic Club in 1998 and Shinnecock Hills in 2004. Woods shot 294 at Oakland Hills in 1996 as an amateur.

Just two days ago, Woods was four shots out of the lead and very much in the hunt to end his five-year drought in the majors. Then, he went 76-74 for his worst weekend in a major championship. Just over two weeks ago, the world's No. 1 player had won three of his last four events on the PGA Tour and was starting to establish his dominance.

But he looked ordinary at Merion.

Starting the final round 10 shots behind, Woods made a birdie putt on the opening hole. Instead of a fist pump, he offered only a mild wave. Whatever hopes he had of at least getting his name on the leaderboard ended quickly. Woods pushed his tee shot to the right on the par-5 second hole, over the trees and out-of-bounds. His next tee shot was close to going out-of-bounds, stopping a few yards away in front of a tree. He wound up with a triple bogey.


It was his only big number of the week, though his 20 bogeys were startling.

"I struggled with the speed all week," Woods said. "These greens are grainy. It's one of the older bent grasses -- creeping bent. I struggled with the speed, especially right around the hole. Putts were breaking a lot more. I gave it a little more break and then it would hang. That's kind of the way it was this week."

The 293 matched his high score at any major, last year at the Masters when he tied for 40th.

Woods didn't mention any pain in his left elbow, though he kept that a mystery throughout the week. He was flexing and shaking his left hand on shots out of the rough early in the week, saying only that it was painful. He later revealed that he first hurt it at The Players Championship last month, which he won. But he didn't mention the shot or even which round it happened.

Merion remained a mystery for Woods throughout the week. For the first time since Olympic in 1998 -- the year he was rebuilding his swing -- he failed to break par in any of the four rounds at a U.S. Open.

"It played tricky. The rough was up," Woods said. "They were raking the rough up every morning into the grain, and the pins were really tough."

Woods plays again in two weeks at the AT&T National at Congressional, where he is the defending champion. His next major is the British Open at Muirfield, where in 2002 he was going for the calendar Grand Slam until he got caught in a vicious weather pattern of a cold, sideways rain and shot 81 to fall from contention.

The final major of the year is at Oak Hill for the PGA Championship, where 10 years ago Woods never shot better than 72 and wound up at 12-over 292.

"There's always a lesson to be learned in every tournament, whether you win or lose," Woods said. "I'll look back at the things I did right and the things I did wrong."

Golf-Park wins third consecutive major with Women's Open title

Golf-Park wins third consecutive major with Women's Open title










June 30, 2013 6:26 PM



June 30 (Reuters) - South Korean Park Inbee became only the second LPGA player to win the first three majors in a season when she roared to a four-stroke victory at the U.S. Womens Open on Sunday.

The world number one held steady with a final-round two-over-par 74 to finish at eight-under 280 at Sebonack Golf Club in New York.

She earlier this year won the Kraft Nabisco Championshipand the LPGA Championship.

Only Mildred (Babe) Didrikson Zaharias has previously won the first three womens majors in a season. She did it in 1950, winning the Titleholders Championship, the Women's Western Open and the U.S. Women's Open.

Fellow South Korean I.K. Kim matched Parks 74 and took second at four-under 284 but was never able to really challenge Park.

Ryu So-Yeon was third at one-under 287 with Americans Paula Creamer and Angela Stanford and England's Jodi Ewart-Shadoff tied for fourth at one-over 289. (Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles, Editing by Gene Cherry)

Golf-Perry ends heartbreak with Senior Players title

Golf-Perry ends heartbreak with Senior Players title










June 30, 2013 6:43 PM



June 30 (Reuters) - Kenny Perry seized his long awaited first seniors major title with a stellar final round at the Senior Players Championship on Sunday.

Perry shot a six-under 64 to vault past overnight leaderFred Couples and finish at 19-under 261 as he claimed a two-shot victory at the Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh.

Perry, 52, had suffered playoff losses at the 1996 PGA Championship and 2009 Masters before losing last month's Senior PGA Championship despite a two-stroke lead.

This time, he trailed Couples by two heading into the last round but forged a comeback with a bogey-free round.

After Couples three-putted at No. 15 to give Perry a one-stroke lead, the eventual winner hit consecutive approach shots to tap-in range on the 16th and 17th holes.

Couples had a final chance to tie on the par-5 18th, but after he reaching the green in two shots his 45-foot putt slid past the hole.

Couples finished at 17-under 263, tied with Duffy Waldorffor second.

Michael Allen and John Huston shared fourth at 12-under 268. (Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles, Editing by Gene Cherry)

Park wins third consecutive major with Women's Open title

Park wins third consecutive major with Women's Open title










June 30, 2013 6:47 PM

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nbee Park of South Korea holds the 2013 Harton S. Semple Trophy after winning the 2013 U.S. Women's Open …



(Reuters) - South Korean Park Inbee became only the second LPGA player to win the first three majors in a season when she roared to a four-stroke victory at the U.S. Womens Open on Sunday.

The world number one held steady with a final-round two-over-par 74 to finish at eight-under 280 at Sebonack Golf Club in New York.

She earlier this year won the Kraft Nabisco Championshipand the LPGA Championship.

Only Mildred (Babe) Didrikson Zaharias has previously won the first three womens majors in a season. She did it in 1950, winning the Titleholders Championship, the Women's Western Open and the U.S. Women's Open.

Fellow South Korean I.K. Kim matched Parks 74 and took second at four-under 284 but was never able to really challenge Park.

Ryu So-Yeon was third at one-under 287 with Americans Paula Creamer and Angela Stanford and England's Jodi Ewart-Shadoff tied for fourth at one-over 289.

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles, Editing by Gene Cherry)