With the major season officially over for 2010, we decide whether or not the US PGA Championship lived up to expectation. Did it produce a worthy winner? Was there enough final day drama? And was the bunkering beautiful or bonkers?
Martin Kaymer: A+
The German couldn’t have appeared more at peace ahead of the final round, an aura he attributed to ‘a little bath’ and a lengthy night’s sleep. His almost flawless final round of two-under-par consisted of three birdies, 14 pars and just a single bogey, keeping his nose in front as soon as Watney made his double bogey at the first. Read more…
With the Old Lady dusting off her shoulders after another memorable tournament at St Andrews, we look at the winners and losers of the 150th anniversary Open Championship.
Louis Oosthuisen: A+
After Thursday’s opening round 65, everyone waited for the South African to drop away, assuming his first round fireworks were more fluke than flair. However, as stubborn as the Old Course itself, the South African refused to be downtrodden by his doubters, instead biting back with three sub-par rounds to leave his challengers in the shade. His Open record thus far might have comprised of three missed cuts, but this former Ernie Els Foundation player proved that when he does make it past halfway, he does so in style. This may have been the year of the World Cup in his homeland, but victory at the home of golf sees that and raises it one Claret Jug.
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Exactly a year after declaring she wanted to ‘do an Annika’ by becoming the longest-running ladies world No.1, Cristie Kerr took her most decisive step yet toward fulfilling her goal – and she did it in Sorenstam-esque record-breaking style.
A 12-stroke victory in the LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club in New York with a record-breaking 19-under-par total earned Kerr the world No.1 spot she has craved since joining the LPGA in 1997.
And not only that, but she became the first American woman to do so – proving, perhaps, that the US aren’t quite ready to relinquish their tour to the invasion of Asian players with whom it has been bombarded with over the last five years.
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If a seventh consecutive American victory in the Curtis Cup isn’t an indication that something needs to change for Great Britain and Ireland, I don’t know what is.
While the away side took a slim lead into day two of the event at Essex Country Club in Massachusetts, the US girls turned up armed with a tin of white paint on Saturday to wash away any hopes the GB&I girls had of victory – with a 6-0 drubbing on day two.
Meanwhile, in those 14 years since GB&I’s last victory at Killarney Golf Club, stars of the European scene have passed through the amateur game with bundles of accolades, before bursting onto the professional stage with victories galore.
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Love, money, revenge and reward – just some of the biggest motivating factors in any victory.
But for Phil Mickelson it seems that when it comes to getting himself psyched up for run-of-the-mill PGA Tour events – none of the above can get his gearbox roaring.
Even the prospect of overtaking Tiger Woods at the top, finally reaching No.1 in the world – the best player in golf – was not enough to motivate Lefty to victory at a Tigerless Colonial.
So what does it for him? What does it take to inspire Mickelson to those jaw-dropping, fist pumping victories that see him pull off superman-style heroics from pine needles and drop eagles and birdies like there’s no tomorrow?
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His 87 years won’t stop Roberto de Vicenzo teeing it up in the Champions Challenge at this year’s Open Championship, while Seve Ballesteros has refused to allow multiple brain surgeries to scupper his chances of saying a fond farewell to his fans at St Andrews this year.
To describe Jack Nicklaus’ lack of commitment to the event scheduled for the eve of the 150th anniversary Open Championship as a disappointment is an understatement to say the least.
For a man who had his swansong at St Andrews in 2005, an all-singing, all-dancing affair with his face emblazoned on five pound notes and emotional scenes over the Swilken Bridge, not to take part in the commemorative tribute to both the Open and its champions is sad, but to claim he has ‘no real desire to go there’, as he did at the Masters in April, is downright disrespectful.
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World No.1 Tiger Woods’ cloak is on a shaky peg – and England’s Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey plan to unscrew it for good.
The English trio believe Woods’ 258-week run at the top of the tree is fast-nearing its end. Begging the question – which one of the monkeys on his back will reach the top of that tree first? Three’s a crowd, after all.
On merits, it would appear that Westwood would be the favourite. The nearly-man of the Masters, pipped at the post at the Players, that big win is surely just around the corner for Westwood. And, as the current world No.3, he is the closest of the three to catching Tiger’s tail.
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The news of Lorena Ochoa’s departure from professional golf is as big a blow to the LPGA Tour as Tiger’s transgressions were to the PGA Tour.
The ladies game has lost its figurehead, a role that even Ochoa herself initially struggled to fulfill with the same ease as her predecessor, the dominant Annika Sorenstam.
However, just as the popular Mexican, known for her beautiful rhythmic swing, had steadily begun to charm her way into our hearts, she pulled the carpet from beneath us – and in effect, the LPGA.
Already struggling to attract sponsorship for its diminishing tour schedule, the LPGA will already be looking to another of its stars to step up to the plate – but just who is capable of emulating the success of Ochoa, never mind that of Sorenstam, is anyone’s guess. Read more…
The public are getting sick of Tiger’s many mistresses wriggling their way out of the woodwork. The press are getting sick of hearing how the world No.1’s car crash and ‘transgressions’ are “a private matter”. And I’m darn sure that his wife Elin is pretty much sick of the sight of her super-successful husband.
But it seems that, while Woods’ golfing colleagues welcomed the news of his Masters return with open arms, they too are getting downright sick of being asked about how much they know, what they think and whether they’re happy at the 14-time major champion’s return.
And they’re quite entitled to be. After all, these guys are here to play golf – not to speculate or gossip about one of their colleagues (regardless of how interesting or scandalous it may be). Read more…