Golf Tips 001-blogspot: 01/21/13

Monday, January 21, 2013

US PGA winners and losers

By Eurosport | Bunker Mentality – Tue, Aug 14, 2012 00:30 BST

Woods not happy on the third hole during the final round at Kiawah (Reuters)

Another US PGA Championship is in the books. What looked to be a tightly contested final round turned into an absolute rout, as Rory McIlroy pulled away from the field on the back-nine to win by eight shots.

McIlroy, of course, came out the big winner this week. But he wasn't the only one making noise, good or bad, during the final Major of 2012. Here's a look at the winners and losers from Kiawah Island's Ocean Course.

Winners

Rory McIlroy — Another year, another historic win. Seriously, what else can you say about Rory McIlroy? The 23-year-old was simply amazing over the weekend, recording 13 birdies and just two bogeys to win by eight shots, a US PGA Championship record. Who held the PGA record before McIlroy, you ask? Jack Nicklaus. So, yeah, decent week for McIlroy. It was so decent, in fact, that when he was asked what he'd improve swing-wise from the week, he responded with: "Nothing." His final round was about as flawless as they come.

David Lynn — If not for McIlroy's win, Lynn would be getting some serious play. The Englishman managed to fire weekend rounds of 68-68 to finish runner-up. If you're wondering why a guy who finished eight shots back in second deserves a spot on the winner's list (Lynn was never really in contention at any point on Sunday), get this: Lynn was playing in his first Major in nine years. How impressive is that? The finish also booked his place in the Masters next year which, you know, is kind of a big deal.

Phil Mickelson — Mickelson ended the week T-36 and never got into contention during the final round, but his finish was good enough to lock up the eighth and final automatic Ryder Cup spot. Based on his play coming into the week, there was a chance Davis Love III could have left him off the team. However, after Sunday, he no longer has to worry about the potential dilemma. Mickelson can go ahead and make reservations for Chicago.

Seung-Yul Noh — The 21-year-old made a statement on Sunday with a 7-under 65, the lowest round of the day, to go from 7-over to even par. The impressive final-round performance allowed Noh to move up 37 spots on the leaderboard and post his first top-25 finish at the US PGA Championship. Not bad for a kid who's two years younger than Rory McIlroy.

John Daly — Give John Daly a round of applause. The big guy didn't figure into the mix on the weekend, but he managed to do something Sunday on the back-nine that made everyone stand up and take notice. Daly went out in 1-over 37 during the final round and looked to be struggling with his swing, but over the course of the last nine holes, he put it all together, closing with four birdies in a seven-hole stretch to post his best finish in a Major (T-18) since a T-27 at the 2009 Open. Well done, JD.

Losers

Tiger Woods — What else can you say other than that Woods was once again a huge disappointment on the weekend. For the fourth consecutive Major, he failed to post an under par round on the weekend, a troubling stat that would lead you to believe there's something going on upstairs. The putter disappeared and he was a non-factor on Sunday. After being a near-lock to win when he held at least a share of the 36-hole lead, the last few Majors proves that Woods is human and has some swing issues - putting and short game top the list - that need to be fixed.

Hunter Mahan — You could lump Rickie Fowler and Brandt Snedeker in with Mahan, but of the three vying for an automatic spot on the Ryder Cup team, the guy with the wraparound shades had the best chance to knock Phil Mickelson out of the last automatic spot on the team. Mahan not only failed to accomplish that goal during the week, he didn't even make the cut. With two wins this season, you'd think Mahan would be a lock. But with only one top-10 in his last 12 starts, his spot on the team is up in the air.

Lee Westwood — Westwood remains the best player in the world without a Major for at least another eight months after missing the cut at the US PGA Championship. With a T-45 at The Open and a poor finish in the last Major of the year, there's no question he's going in the wrong direction. Now it's time to see if he can right himself and get back into contention at the Majors next year.

Kiawah Island — This spot on the list has more to do with the awful infrastructure on the island and less with the course. Players noted all week that Kiawah Island looked like a links-style course but certainly didn't play like one. That won't necessarily cause the US PGA to pass on Kiawah in the future, but with the weather on Saturday and the soft conditions, there's a chance the Pete Dye design could get passed over for a more reliable venue in the future. Also, it reportedly took fans upwards of four-plus hours to leave the parking lot and get off the island following Saturday's rain-soaked round that ended up getting moved to Sunday morning. You can't have backups like that and expect to host another big tournament. Simply put, Kiawah Island is just too small to host a Major championship.

Local rules for the US PGA Championship — Michael Hoey was DQ'd for not replacing his ball to the same buried lie in the sand. And yet, the PGA of America thought it was OK to play all bunkers as "sandy areas" for the week. You have to wonder who comes up with these ridiculous rules sometimes.

Lightning strikes with McIlroy on the attack

By Eurosport | Bunker Mentality – Sun, Aug 12, 2012 00:37 BST

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland tees off on the eighth hole during the third round of the US PGA Championship …

The weather has loomed large at this 94th US PGA Championship on the South Carolina coast.

On Thursday it was so benign the players held the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island to ransom. On Friday the wind swirled and the course got its rightful revenge. Saturday was somewhere between, and delivering a fascinating afternoon of golf when the threat of lightning intervened to end play with the leaders halfway through their third rounds.

As the siren sounded two men at opposite ends of their careers topped the leaderboard. Joint overnight leader Vijay Singh had picked up two birdies and made more steady progress to get to six under, while Rory McIlroy had gone on a birdie blitz on his front nine of 32 to join him.

At 49, Singh has a chance to become the oldest winner of a Major championship on Sunday. His second-round 69, in Friday's brutal conditions, was arguably the most impressive of the tournament so far and the big Fijian certainly has the experience to cope with a fuller than usual final day - which will see players finish their third round before starting their fourth.

Despite the fact he's only 23, you'd say the same about McIlroy, too.

The Northern Irishman went on the attack on Saturday and - while he played some wayward shots - he sunk some good putts and looked a model of focus. Most notable was the moment McIlroy's drive at the 3rd got lodged in a tree. He could have panicked, but he calmly took a drop, chipped to inside 10 feet and holed out for par. Easy.

Tiger Woods, meanwhile, was having one of those frustrating spells we've seen befall him so often since the "transgressions". Friday's red-hot putter went cold and Woods proceeded to drop three shots in four holes before the call of the siren put him out of his misery. At one under and with 11 holes still to play in his third round, Woods is obviously still in contention. But there were signs on Saturday he'd lost the key to whatever he unlocked the day before.

Elsewhere, Adam Scott gathered pace on his road to possible Open redemption. The Australian made four birdies in five holes to close out his front nine, and walked off the course just one shot off the lead.

Graeme McDowell is also well placed. After a disappointing 76 on Friday, he promised to bring his Ryder Cup mentality to the course on Saturday and the result was a scorecard that has him two under for both his round and the tournament. McDowell has seven holes to finish off on Sunday.

Also at two under is Ian Poulter, who gave up a couple of bogeys early on, but clearly has his game face on at Kiawah. Poulter loves the wind and if it blows on Sunday he will go into the day with absolute confidence he can win a first Major. Poulter being Poulter, he'll go into Sunday with absolute confidence whatever the weather, of course.

Others are in the mix too. Carl Pettersson, Bo Van Belt, Steve Stricker and Trevor Immelman have all played themselves into contention and watching things unravel on the final day promises to be as unpredictable as the Kiawah weather.

US PGA Championship - Par-fives cost Scott a lot at Kiawah

Adam Scott, eager to gain major redemption after his stunning Open collapse, was frustrated by missed opportunities on the par-fives in the weather-delayed third round at the US PGA Championship.

By Reuters | Eurosport – Sun, Aug 12, 2012 16:23 BST

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One of 26 players who had to complete the round on Sunday morning at Kiawah Island, the 32-year-old Australian bogeyed both the 11th and 16th on the way to a level-par 70.

He covered the more difficult back nine in two-over 38 to finish at three-under 213, four strokes behind pacesetting Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy.

"I played well again, just a couple errors on the par-fives," Scott told reporters after a round that included four birdies in a sizzling outward nine.

"I was in good position, but a couple of poor shots and I ended up making six from a position I should be making four.

"It's put me a little bit behind the eight-ball starting this afternoon. I'm going to have to play very well and make some putts."

Scott, who squandered a four-shot lead with four holes to play in last month's British Open at Royal Lytham, had steeled himself for a gruelling last day at Kiawah where he will end up playing 27 holes.

"This afternoon is the last round of a major in contention," said the world number seven who has yet to win his first major title. "To have a good round and try and win requires mental toughness.

"You know, the 27 is not a big deal, but this afternoon as it comes down to the back nine, especially at this golf course, is going to require everyone's skill to be at their best."

Asked if he had changed his playing strategy because of the relatively calm early conditions on Saturday, Scott replied: "I just played the way I thought the course needed to be played.

"There wasn't much change, maybe just off the 13th tee where I wasn't planning on hitting an iron off that tee this week, and today I did. I hit a poor one, but I made four.

"It was just a couple of errors on the par-fives ... and I didn't make the six-foot putts that I've been making all week. I've got to make them this afternoon."

Golf - Abu Dhabi win proves Donaldson was right not to retire

Jamie Donaldson refused to listen when a doctor told him to quit golf and, nine years on, vindication of his decision to carry on came when the Briton scored the best win of his career at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

Reuters – 2 hours 39 minutes ago

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Donaldson had such a chronic back condition in 2004 that one specialist suggested retirement. But he was given the go-ahead after seeking a second opinion and on Sunday he held aloft the attractive silver Falcon Trophy in the desert.

It was his second European Tour victory and undoubtedly the most important, the blond Welshman having outplayed a line-up containing world number one Rory McIlroy and second-ranked Tiger Woods.

McIlroy and Woods missed the halfway cut before Donaldson had to overturn a two-shot deficit on world number five Justin Rose to scoop the first prize of 336,725 euros ($447,600) in the closing round.

"The first doctor I went to see in 2004 said 'Don't play' so I went to see someone else," he laughed after a closing 68 gave him a 14-under-par aggregate of 274 at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. "That wasn't what I wanted to hear.

"As soon as someone says that, you just go and see someone else," said Donaldson after beating Rose and Dane Thorbjorn Olesen by one stroke. "The second guy I saw said I needed to do a load of core stability exercises ... so I did a lot of gym work for a year.

"Now I don't do that much gym work any more, to be honest I actually do none," Donaldson told reporters with a big grin on his face. "I do more physio stuff these days and I get massages before and after I play.

"But without doing the work I initially did nine years ago I wouldn't have carried on playing. The back was really bad then."

Donaldson, 37, who claimed his first European Tour victory at the 255th attempt when he won last year's Irish Open, blamed himself for his original injury.

"I used to practice ridiculously long hours to a point where I couldn't stretch before or after," he said. "I waltzed on to the practice ground and stayed there all day hitting balls.

"When you're doing that for years and years on end, you're going to have some sort of injury.

"Once I got over the hurdle of stabilising everything I was in a position to manage the problem which I now do through physio and staying flexible and loose, rather than spending hours in the gym."

Donaldson lost his card in 2006 and was forced on to the second-tier Challenge Tour the following year before starting to rebuild his career back on the main circuit in 2008.

He has gradually improved season by season since then and is now at the stage where he can mix it with the best.

"Perseverance is a big word," said Donaldson who has climbed into the world's top 30 as a result of his victory in Abu Dhabi. "I suppose if I look back on my career I was in the wilderness for about four years after the injury.

"It was a case of finding things that work to put in the whole package to be able to keep getting better every year.

"Some of the top names didn't make the cut but they were here in Abu Dhabi and it made it a very big, grand tournament," said Donaldson.

"It was a tough field and a brutally hard golf course so that makes it all the more special for me."