2024 - WEEK 51 Dec 16 - Dec 22
WORLDWIDE LEADERBOARDS
PGA TOUR EUROPEAN TOUR JAPAN TOUR SUNSHINE TOUR
ASIAN TOUR AUSTRALASIAN TOUR CHAMPIONS TOUR
LPGA TOUR LET JLPGA TOUR EPSON
KORN FERRY CHALLENGE AMERICAS
DAILY NOTES - July 4, 2008
- Living Legend: The 2008 season has thus far offered limited success for Japanese golfing icon Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki who, at age 61, has entered six J Tour events before this week, withdrawing from two, being disqualified from a third, and missing the cut in the remaining three. Yet much like Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer still drew massive crowds long past their playing prime, Ozaki certainly deserves a similar eminence in his homeland where he remains, hands down, Japan’s greatest-ever domestic golfer. Indeed, though he didn’t travel especially well (his lone non-Japanese win coming at the 1972 New Zealand PGA), Ozaki’s J Tour record is literally staggering. For example, he won a mind boggling 106 tournaments in Japan, and while the J Tour (which was officially founded in 1985) only recognizes 94 as official, the remainder were of entirely comparable quality; they were simply won a few years too early. Further, Jumbo won five Japan Opens and six Japan PGAs, led the Order of Merit an unmatched 12 times (including nine of 11 from 1988-98), and remained among the top 20 in the Official World Ranking until age 52, making him easily the oldest man to retain so high a position. But all of that said, it can be argued that Ozaki might be somewhat overrated, for while fellow Japanese stars like Isao Aoki and Tommy Nakajima achieved some notable success overseas (Aoki finishing 2nd at the 1980 U.S. Open and winning the 1983 Hawaiian Open), Ozaki really did not. For he had only a minimal impact on the various PGA Tour events he competed in, and his Major championship record – three top 10s against 18 missed cuts in 44 career starts – is lukewarm at best. But if I were attending this week’s UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship, or any other J Tour event in which Jumbo tees it up, he would certainly be the player I’d choose to follow. Because historically, there haven’t been too many opportunities to watch a player with 100+ trophies from a single professional tour on his mantlepiece. Like…never.
Daniel
3 Comments
YOUTH, MUSCLES AND THE U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN
But this run of youthful success got me to thinking… (Continue)
1 Reference
THE WEEK AHEAD (6/30 - 7/6)
PGA Tour: AT&T National
Site: Congressional Country Club - Bethesda, MD
Yards: 7,255 Par: 70
Defending: K.J. Choi 271 (beat S. Stricker by 3)
Field: World Top 25: Steve Stricker (7), K.J. Choi (10), Jim Furyk (13), Trevor Immelman (14), Anthony Kim (20), Aaron Baddeley(22) & Andres Romero (24) Other Notables: Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Davis Love III & Corey Pavin.
ENTRANTS WEBSITE GOLF COURSE AERIAL
European PGA Tour: European Open
Site: London Golf Club - Ash, England
Yards: 7,257 Par: 72
Defending: Colin Montgomerie 269 (beat N. Fasth by 1)
Field: World Top 25: Sergio Garcia (8), Justin Rose (9), Padraig Harrington (12) & Robert Karlsson (23) Other Notables: Michael Campbell, Niclas Fasth, Paul Lawrie, Colin Montgomerie & Ian Poulter.
ENTRANTS WEBSITE GOLF COURSE AERIAL
Japan Tour: UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship
Site: Shishido Hills Country Club (West course) - Kasama, Japan
Yards: 7,005 Par: 72
Defending: Shingo Katayama 271 (beat N. Takemoto by 1)
Field: World Top 25: None Other Notables: Ryo Ishikawa, Shingo Katayama, Prayad Marksaeng, Frankie Minoza, Tommy Nakajima, Jet Ozaki, Jumbo Ozaki, Craig Parry, Toru Taniguchi & Lian-Wei Zhang.
ENTRANTS WEBSITE GOLF COURSE AERIAL
LPGA Tour: P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship
Site: Pinnacle Country Club - Rogers, AR
Yards: 6,238 Par: 72
Defending: None (2007’s inaugural playing was rain shortened to 18 holes)
Field: World Top 20: Paula Creamer (4), Cristie Kerr (7), Jeong Jang (8), Momoko Ueda (11), Inbee Park (12), Jee Young Lee (13), Seon-Hwa Lee (14), Morgan Pressel (15), Mi Hyun Kim (16), Eun-Hee Ji (18), Stacy Prammanasudh (19) & Angela Park (20) Other Notables: Laura Davies, Pat Hurst, Meg Mallon & Grace Park.
ENTRANTS WEBSITE GOLF COURSE AERIAL
Champions Tour: Dick's Sporting Goods Open
Site: En-Joie Golf Course - Endicott, NY
Yards: 6,974 Par: 72
Defending: R.W. Eaks 199 (beat B. Vaughan by 3)
Field: Entire Charles Schwab Top 25 Except: Jay Haas (1), Loren Roberts (4), Nick Price (6), John Cook (8), Tom Watson (9), Tim Simpson (13), Fred Funk (16), Steve Pate (17) Other Notables: Isao Aoki, Jim Dent, Bruce Fleisher, Gil Morgan, Jim Thorpe & Fuzzy Zoeller.
ENTRANTS WEBSITE GOLF COURSE AERIAL
Elsewhere…
LET – Oxfordshire Ladies English Open – Thame, England
JLPGA – Belhuna Ladies Cup – Obata, Japan
European Challenge - AGF-Allianz EurOpen de Lyon – Monthieux, France
European Seniors - Russian Seniors Open – Moscow, Russia
Canadian – Saskatchewan Open – Saskatoon, Sakatchewan
THE WEEK IN REVIEW (6/23 - 6/29)
The U.S. Women's Open - Edina, MN
Entering play ranked 42nd in the world and winless as a professional, Korea’s 19-year-old InBee Park became the youngest-ever U.S. Women’s Open champion by besting an elite field at Interlachen with a nine-under-par aggregate of 283. Park, the 2002 USGA Girl’s champion, began Sunday’s round two strokes behind 54-hole leader Stacy Lewis and managed her victory with a simple final-day formula: among the last 18 players on the golf course, her 71 was the only sub-par score. After getting off to a fast birdie-birdie start, Park fell back with bogeys at the 6th and the 8th, but, with the rest of the field faltering, ultimately built a four-shot lead with a birdie at the 13th. Playing steady golf thereafter, her finish was marred only by a meaningless bogey at the 17th, which was quickly atoned for with a tap-in birdie at the par-5 18th. Park’s playing partner, Helen Alfredsson, also birdied the last to finish 2nd, four strokes back, while second-round leader Angela Park and In-Kyung Kim tied for 3rd, five back. Among the pre-tournament favorites, only world number four Paula Creamer was seriously heard from, beginning Sunday only one stroke off the lead before collapsing with an untimely 78, to tie for 6th. World number one Lorena Ochoa began 73-74 and was never a factor thereafter (tying for 31st) while number two Annika Sorenstam, playing in her final U.S. Open, eagled the 72nd hole but still finished T24. Number three Suzann Pettersen was one of the rare players to break par on Sunday (with a 71) but could do no better overall than a tie for 13th. For InBee Park, who has laboured on the Futures Tour and, occasionally, in Japan since turning pro in 2006, the win is of incalculable importance – though in raw numbers, she will jump significantly (to 12th) in Tuesday’s updated World Ranking while also climbing to 4th in official LPGA earnings.
PGA Tour: Buick Open
Playing for a birth on a U.S. Ryder Cup team scheduled to compete in his home state of Kentucky, 47-year-old Kenny Perry captured his second PGA tour title of 2008, posting a 19-under-par 269 total to win the Buick Open. Perry closed with a final round 66 to seal the victory but would not have triumphed without a bit of help. Woody Austin, winner of this event some 13 years ago, was in prime position for a second Buick triumph after taking a one-stroke lead behind four birdies from the 12th through the 16th hole, but promptly finished bogey-bogey (including a three-putt at the last) to lose by one. Austin was joined in 2nd place by long-hitting Bubba Watson who missed a 12-footer on the final green that would have forced a playoff. With the win, the resurgent Perry climbs from 27th to 19th in the Official World Ranking, and to 4th on the PGA Tour money list, while virtually locking up the coveted Ryder Cup berth.
FINAL RESULTS MONEY LIST PGA TOUR STATS INTERVIEWS
European Tour: Open de France ALSTOM
In one of the more surprising results in recent E Tour memory, Spain’s 25-year-old Pablo Larrazabal, a pre-tournament qualifier who called himself “the 150th best player here,” captured the French Open in Paris, his 269 aggregate beating Colin Montgomerie by four. Larrazabal, who actually caddied for his brother Alejandro in this event five years ago, started fast with a six-under-par 65 on Thursday, remained tied for the 36-hole lead after a second-round 70, then pulled ahead with a solid 67 on Saturday. Sunday saw victory clinched with another 67, though not without one or two anxious moments, notably a double-bogey seven at the 9th. But with four back-nine birdies, Larrazabal was soon free and clear, with Montgomerie having to birdie the last just to creep within four. For the upstart Spaniard, victory means a jump from 481st to 138th in the World Ranking and, more importantly, full E Tour playing privileges through 2010.
FINAL RESULTS ORDER OF MERIT E TOUR STATS
Asian Tour: Singha Thailand PGA Championship
Korea’s 36-year-old Joong-Kyung Mo claimed his second career Asian Tour title by winning the inaugural Thailand PGA Championship in Chiang Rai, riding a final-round seven-under-par 65 to a 267 total and a three-shot triumph over Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines. Australia’s David Gleeson (who closed with a Sunday 64) and local hero Prayad Marksaeng, the region’s hottest player, tied for 3rd, four shots back. The victory lifts Mo to 29th in the Asian Order of Merit.
FINAL RESULTS ORDER OF MERIT ASIAN STATS
Champions Tour: Commerce Bank Championship
Loren Roberts closed with a solid 68 – highlighted by a clutch birdie at the par-5 17th – to claim his first Champions Tour title of 2008 at the Commerce Bank Championship. The birdie gave Roberts just the cushion he needed to bogey the long par-4 finisher at Eisenhower and still win by one, his 201 total bringing him in one stroke ahead of Nick Price (who birdied holes 14-16 while mounting a late charge) and Lonnie Nielsen. The victory was Roberts’ ninth career Champions title.
FINAL RESULTS MONEY LIST CHAMPIONS STATS
Elsewhere…
Chie Arimura won her first official JLPGA title at the Promise Ladies, her 54-hole total of 202 routing Shiho Oyama by five………Vicky Hurst won for the third time on the 2008 Futures Tour, shooting 213 over 54 holes to win the Horsehoe Casino Classic by one stroke over Jin Young Pak………Holland’s incomparably named Taco Remkes claimed his first European Challenge Tour victory at the Scottish Challenge, posting a 271 total to beat England’s Seve Benson and Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl by five………Justin Hicks, who gained a bit of attention as an early leader at the recent U.S. Open, broke through to claim victory on the Nationwide Tour, his 269 total allowing him to win the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic on the first hole of sudden death over Casey Wittenburg………Canadian Dustin Risdon defeated American George Bradford in sudden death to win the Canadian Tour’s ATB Financial Classic after the pair tied at 264.
DAILY NOTES - June 28, 2008
Anyway, to save time, I once again borrow from my Book of Golfers to profile the 2008 inductees:
PETE DYE (USA)
Born: Urbana, OH 12/29/1925
Old Tom Morris was among the first to codify it, Willie Park, Jr. and H.S. Colt advanced it greatly, C.B. Macdonald gave it Golden Age definition and Robert Trent Jones modernized it worldwide. Yet for all the impact that these men had on golf course design, a strong argument can be made that no one has influenced it more than an insurance broker from rural Urbana, OH, one Paul “Pete” Dye.
A fine amateur who competed in one British and five U.S. Amateurs, Dye (b.12/29/1925) played at Florida’s Rollins College where he met and married Alice O’Neal before returning North to sell insurance. In 1959, Dye left the business world to begin designing golf courses, initially creating a several low-budget Midwestern layouts hardly demanding of the world’s attention. But in 1963, Pete and Alice took a month-long trip to Scotland, where they discovered pot bunkers, unmanicured rough, railroad sleepers shoring up hazards and a far less power-oriented approach to game. The impact of these things upon the Dyes was immense, and once back in the States Pete blended them into a somewhat modernized hybrid that would soon become the most copied style in the business.
Crooked Stick, a local Indianapolis club completed in 1966, was the first layout to reflect this old/new look, with The Golf Club, a 1967 project in New Albany, OH, spreading the word a bit farther. But only in 1969, when Dye teamed with Jack Nicklaus to build Hilton Head Island’s Harbour Town Golf Links, was the Dye style widely introduced to the world stage. Initially measuring little more than 6,600 yards, the tight, strategic Harbor Town hosted the PGA Tour’s first Heritage Classic in 1969, yielding the highest 36-hole cut of the season with rounds in the 80s outnumbering sub-par scores roughly 2 to 1.
In 1981, Dye would again change the face of architecture with his TPC at Sawgrass, a longer, tougher track built to serve as permanent host of the PGA Tour’s Players Championship. With its much-imitated 132-yard 17th elevating the concept of the island green to an entirely new level, the TPC’s creative use of waste areas and greens contoured to repel inferior approaches once again captured the design world’s attention. Several years later, as advances in equipment began to presage changes in the game’s fundamental balance, Dye stepped things up even further, first with the Stadium course at PGA West (1986), then, in 1990, with the windswept Ocean course at Kiawah Island.
It is interesting to note that for most of his career, Pete Dye has charged considerably less for his services than many other big-name architects, and, occasionally, has worked essentially for free. Further, he has long built his courses in the oldest of fashions, seldom using maps or even sketches, always improvising and refining in the field. Misunderstood by many but widely observed by all, Pete Dye has surely been postwar golf’s most important – and copied – golf course designer.
DENNY SHUTE
Born: Cleveland, OH 10/25/1904 Died: Akron, OH 5/13/1974
An outstanding player primarily during the 1930s, Herman Densmore “Denny” Shute was a 15-time winner on the PGA Tour despite entering far fewer events than many of his brethren. His first important victory came at the 1930 Los Angeles Open when he defeated Bobby Cruickshank and Horton Smith by four. Three years later, while traveling abroad with the Ryder Cup team, Shute won his first Major at the Open Championship at St Andrews, riding four straight 73s into a playoff with countryman Craig Wood, which Shute won by two. His best finish at the Masters was a tie for fifth in 1935, while at the U.S. Open he was seven times among the top 10, finishing second in 1941 and losing in a three-way playoff to Byron Nelson and Craig Wood in 1939 in Philadelphia.
Shute’s luck ran a bit better in the PGA Championship, however, an event he would win in 1936 and ’37 and remain the last man to claim back-to-back until Tiger Woods in 1999 and 2000. In 1936 at Pinehurst, Shute bounced Bill Mehlhorn in the semis before closing out long-hitting Jimmy Thomson on the 34th hole of the final with an eagle. In ’37, he caught a break when Jug McSpaden missed a four-footer at the 36th to win, opening the door for Shute to triumph with a par at the 37th.
A quiet, focused and well-liked man, Shute gained a bit of unwanted notoriety in 1939 when his entry into the PGA was refused because his entry fee arrived a day late. A threatened boycott by other stars got Shute into the field, of course, but the story is highly illustrative for those who might assume the PGA of America’s preoccupation with money to be strictly a modern thing.
CAROL SEMPLE THOMPSON
Born: Sewickley, PA 10/27/1948
The rare golfer whose game truly has improved with age, Pennsylvanian Carole Semple Thompson (b.Sewickley 10/27/1948) is the all-time champion of Curtis Cup participation, playing in a remarkable 12 matches between 1974-2002 and amassing a record total of 18 victories, including the 2002 clincher at Pittsburgh’s Fox Chapel GC. The low amateur in four U.S. Women’s Opens, Thompson won the 1973 U.S. Amateur (1 up over Anne Quast Sander at Montclair, NJ), then lost her title defense in the 1974 final to Cynthia Hill. Her summer wasn’t a total loss, however, for after traveling across to Porthcawl, Thompson defeated Angela Bonallack in the British Ladies final to become only the ninth player to claim both national amateur titles. Also the winner of the 1976 and ’87 North & South Amateurs, the 1986 Trans-Mississippi and the USGA’s contemporary Mid-Amateur title in 1990 and ’97, Thompson further solidified her dominance by winning four consecutive U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs from 1999-2002.
HERBERT WARREN WIND
Born: Brockton, MA 8/11/1916 Died: Bedford, MA 5/30/2005
The Dean of American golf writers, Herbert Warren Wind graduated Yale University in 1937, then journeyed to England to earn a Masters degree at Cambridge in 1939. Fascinated by golf after seeing such stars as Francis Ouimet, Gene Sarazen and Walter Hagen play during his youth, Wind became fully addicted to the game while in Britain, attending the 1938 Walker Cup matches at St Andrews and meeting the great Bernard Darwin.
Wartime saw Wind stationed in both China and, during the occupation, Tokyo. Upon returning Stateside, he landed a job writing profiles for the New Yorker while also researching and writing his first book, the epic Story of American Golf (Farrar, Strauss, 1948). An enduring classic which has been reprinted as recently as 2000, this masterpiece opened numerous literary doors, paving the way for famous biographical collaborations with Gene Sarazen and Jack Nicklaus, as well as with Ben Hogan for the instructional epic The Modern Fundamentals of Golf (A.S. Barnes, 1957). Another period work, The Complete Golfer (Simon & Schuster, 1954) showed Wind as a most astute editor, for a half-century later, this remains among the very best anthologies of golf material ever assembled.
Blessed with a pleasant, informative style that is at once extremely learned yet relaxed and highly accessible, Wind gained great fame as a writer and editor in the early years of Sports Illustrated, then for his expansive essays on all aspects of golf upon returning to the New Yorker in 1962. Two anthologies of Wind’s magazine work can be deemed essential, Herbert Warren Wind’s Golf Book (Simon & Schuster, 1971) and Following Through (Ticknor & Fields, 1985) as they represent, quite simply, the best that American golf writing has ever had to offer.
CRAIG WOOD
Born: Lake Placid, NY 11/18/1901 Died: Palm Beach, FL 5/7/1968
Perhaps as popular a player among his peers as has ever teed it up, Craig Ralph Wood came out of Lake Placid, NY to make a major splash in golf during the game’s prewar Golden Age. The son of a timber company foreman, Wood was big, blond and exceptionally powerful, yet he also possessed the sort of refined skills that led to 21 victories on the PGA Tour between 1928-44. As a glamour figure golf has seen few grander, for Wood married a beautiful New York heiress and lived the jet set life when jet-setters traveled by Packard. Yet he was universally hailed as the ultimate non-celebrity, a down-to-earth man who routinely helped younger players and remained modest to the core. Indeed Sam Snead once called him “the nicest guy I think I’ve ever seen.”
On the links, Wood was a long and superbly straight driver of the ball, an earlier version of Greg Norman. And beyond the driving, blond hair and gregarious lifestyles, the Wood-Norman similarities hold one more unfortunate component, for Craig Wood was among the unluckiest golfers of all time. Like Norman, Wood lost all four Major championships in playoffs. At the Masters, he was the victim of Gene Sarazen’s miraculous double eagle, his seemingly insurmountable three-shot lead vanishing in a heartbeat before Sarazen beat him over 36 holes the next day. At the U.S. Open it was Byron Nelson beating him in an classic 36-hole playoff which saw both men shoot exceptional 68s over the first 18. In Britain Wood had largely himself to blame, driving into the Swilcan Burn to commence a 1933 Open Championship playoff at St Andrews, ultimately losing to Denny Shute by five strokes. And then, inevitably, there was the 1934 PGA Championship. Facing his own former assistant Paul Runyan in the final, Wood hit his second shot on the first playoff hole, a par 5, to just nine feet while Runyan needed a deflection off of a car tire just to lie 60 yards short in the fairway. Runyan wedged to a foot, Wood missed and Runyan closed him out on the 38th.
As his 21 titles testify, however, Wood also knew how to win and in 1941, at age 39, he finally broke through to become the first man ever to capture the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same season, the former by three over Byron Nelson, the latter by the same margin over Denny Shute. By this time, however, any Grand Slam aspirations had died amidst the wartime cancellation of the Open Championship, with the conflict soon removing most big-event play from what little remained of Wood’s prime.
After serving as the golf professional at Winged Foot during the war years, Wood would ultimately retire to the Bahamas and Florida, outliving his wife and dying childless in 1968.
DAILY NOTES - June 27, 2008
- Too Loose (because "Cooked Goose" was too easy): Okay, so Retief Goosen has eaten a bit of crow after suggesting (jokingly, it seems?) that perhaps Tiger Woods’ knee injury wasn’t all that it seemed during the recent U.S. Open – and that’s fine, because regardless of actualities, someone in Goosen’s position is asking for trouble by making such comments. Now… I’m not for a moment suggesting that I agree with Goosen; Tiger clearly was injured, and we can only assume that any knee injury serious enough to require surgery would indeed cause significant pain. But, as anyone who’s been following this story closely knows, there are questions here, particularly since one needn’t look too far to find doctors stating that a double fracture of the tibia is virtually unheard of in someone so young, or how unlikely it is that an in-shape athlete could rupture their ACL while simply jogging. So what’s really going on here? One nice thing about our media-saturated, internet-driven age: if there is any chicanery going on with regard to Woods’ knee, we will find out about it eventually. So for now lets simply say that I’m sure Tiger was hurt, and I’m sure he was in pain. But as an astute friend of mine observed, if the pain was great enough to make walking difficult, shouldn’t dropping to his knees in frustration at a missed putt put him in agony? Sorry Retief. Perhaps if I (or anyone else) had made so brash an intimation earlier, you wouldn’t have had to…
- Who Needs Torrey Pines?: My records show that at the time of Bobby Jones’s victory at the 1930 U.S. Open, the Interlachen Country Club measured 6,637 yards – not terribly different from the 6,789-yard version currently in play at the U.S. Women’s Open. Like so many of America’s great Golden Age designs, Interlachen was built in the suburbs of a big city (or, in this case, Twin Cities) at a time when such locations were still semi-remote and land was plentiful. In most metropolitan areas, however, post-WWII development changed all of that, leaving many classic courses hemmed in by housing and commercial development, with little room to expand. Thus as unregulated equipment advances render fewer and fewer of these, our best golf courses, usable for PGA Tour/Major championship play, they do not disqualify the less-power-oriented LPGA from making a visit. Indeed, a brief look at the last five sites of the U.S. Women’s Open – Interlachen, Pine Needles, Newport, Cherry Hills and The Orchards – reveals a list of wonderful old courses which, with the faintly possible exception of Cherry Hills, could not hope to host a major men’s event. What does all this add up to? One more reason, perhaps, why women’s golf is fast becoming more appealing than men’s…
- Perhaps I Was Wrong…?: I’ll stand by my post-U.S. Open column suggesting that the PGA Tour as a whole will survive the remainder of 2008 without Tiger Woods…but this week’s Buick Open in particular, I’m not so sure about. First, this is an event pigeon-holed halfway between the U.S. and British Opens, a time of the year when most of the world’s elite generally have not shown a great interest in spending the week in Grand Blanc, MI. Second, it is played on what may very well be the least interesting golf course on Tour; simply put, golfers who tune in annually to watch events at Pebble Beach, Riviera or Harbour Town are not especially likely to clear their schedules for the the back-and-forth drabness of Warwick Hills. Aside from being situated close to the large Detroit market, about all the Buick really had going for it (at least relative to the Tour’s A and B-level stops) was Tiger’s undying loyalty to Buick, one of his major sponsors. So yes, even a nice story like, say, Corey Pavin winning emerges, this is one week that will really rue Tiger’s absence.
THE U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN
Lorena Ochoa (Mexico) (4-1): The world’s best is in a modest slump, having not won in over a month. Of course, that timespan only included two starts (a T3 at the LPGA Championship and a T6 at last week’s Wegman’s), so…
Annika Sorenstam (Sweden) (8-1): Annika’s last (?) U.S. Open, with prevailing wisdom suggesting that a strong run is in the offing. Could be, though aside from her T3 at the LPGA Championship, she hasn’t cracked the top 10 since the second week of May.
Suzann Pettersen (Norway) (9-1): Though getting attention mostly for blowing last week’s Wegman’s on the final nine, the world number three seems to be rounding into form in the warm weather. Last week’s collapse could linger, but considering the way she rebounded to win last year’s LPGA Championship after blowing the Kraft Nabisco, I doubt it.
Ji-Yai Shin (Korea) (12-1): This 20-year-old up-and-comer seldom plays in America (so far) but quietly finished 6th at last year’s Open. She dominates her homeland tour as few ever have and competed favorably in Australia against the LET’s best during the winter. Indeed, my Oz sources tell me she’s the real thing – and a win here would certainly deliver that message.
Jeong Jang (Korea) (13-1): A great bet for office pools awarding points for the top 10 finishers, but for all of Jang’s fine play, only two wins in over seven full LPGA seasons gives cause to wonder. True, one of them was a Major (the 2005 Women’s British Open) but with three top 10s in her last five U.S. Open starts – but none better than 6th – this is probably more of a place or show bet.
Paula Creamer (USA) (15-1): The world’s 4th-ranked player has two 2008 wins under her belt but has recently been in a run of (relative) mediocrity, finishing between 10th and 16th in four of her last five starts. Of course, the most recent 10th (at last week’s Wegman’s) closed with three straight sub-70 rounds, so perhaps she’s trending well. Alternatively, she’s never bettered 13th in five previous Opens.
Cristie Kerr (USA) (15-1): The defending champ has played through a quiet 2008, but her fortunes seem on the upswing following a T10 at the LPGA Championship and a 5th at last week’s Wegman’s. It’s sort of a hunch placing her this high (on paper, she’s probably more like 20-1) so we’ll see…
Morgan Pressel (USA) (15-1): The confident Pressel really struggled early this year, but with three top 10s in her last four starts (including a T2 at the Sybase and aT6 at the LPGA Championship), the 2007 Kraft Nabisco winner is climbing fast. Tied for 2nd in the 2005 Open as an amateur, so she’s tasted the rarified air. A nice choice once beyond the obvious top three.
Yani Tseng (Taiwan) (16-1): It’s possible that this Taiwanese teenager is getting a bit too much love here, because aside from her impressive victory at the LPGA Championship, she hasn’t bettered a tie for 14th since mid-April. Still, she’s got the requisite length, and any 19-year-old who knows they’re capable of winning a Major is dangerous.
Maria Hjorth (Sweden) (21-1): A playoff loser to Tseng at the LPGA Championship, the long-hitting Hjorth has emerged as a solid threat in 2008, with a 4th-place finish at the Kraft Nabisco also highlighting her season. Clearly her length figures to be an advantage over the nearly 6,800-yard Interlachen layout.
Christina Kim (USA) (23-1): The charismatic Kim has played well of late, thrice finishing among the top seven in three of her last five starts. Though seemingly poised for a (m)ajor breakthrough, her (M)ajor championship record is uninspiring; indeed, her only two MCs of 2008 were at the Kraft Nabisco and the LPGA Championship.
Mi Hyun Kim (Korea) (25-1): An eight-time LPGA winner, this veteran in winless in 2008, but has logged top 10s in three of her last four Majors, including this year’s Kraft Nabisco and LPGA Championship. A little under the radar at present, but stranger things have happened.
Karrie Webb (Australia) (25-1): It’s been an up-and-down year for this Hall-of-Famer, with three top fives slipped in among a number of nondescript starts. She did win the Australian Women’s Open during the winter, but there’s little (beyond raw talent) to suggest a serious run this week. Hasn’t bettered a T16 (including three MCs) at the Open since winning it back-to-back in 2000-01.
Laura Diaz (USA) (30-1): Something of a longshot but after starting the season with two top-four finishes in three starts, then slipping a bit in April and May, Diaz finished 5th at the LPGA Championship and 12th last week in Rochester. Of course, her last top 10 at the Open came in 2002…
Ai Miyazato (Japan) (35-1): A hunch. Not too long ago an up-and-coming international star, Miyazato has struggled in 2008, logging not a single top 10 (including four MCs) in her first 12 starts. She tied for 6th last week in Rochester, however, and certainly possesses a wealth of talent, so just maybe…
THE WEEK AHEAD (6/23 - 6/29)
PGA Tour: Buick Open
Site: Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club - Grand Blanc, MI
Yards: 7,127 Par: 72
Defending: Brian Bateman 273 (beat W. Austin, J. Gore & J. Leonard by 2)
Field: World Top 25: Jim Furyk (12) & Justin Leonard (23) Other Notables: Chris DiMarco, Fred Funk, Lee Janzen, Tom Lehman, Larry Mize & Corey Pavin.
ENTRANTS WEBSITE GOLF COURSE AERIAL
European PGA Tour: Open de France ALSTOM
Site: Le Golf National - Paris France
Yards: 7,225 Par: 71
Defending: Graeme Storm 27 (beat S. Hansen by 1)
Field: World Top 25: Lee Westwood (17), Miguel Angel Jimenez (20) & Robert Karlsson (22) Other Notables: Angel Cabrera, Martin Kaymer, Paul Lawrie, Colin Montgomerie, & Ian Poulter.
ENTRANTS WEBSITE GOLF COURSE AERIAL
Asian Tour: Singha Thailand PGA Championship
Site: Santiburi Country Club - Chiang Rai, Thailand
Yards: 7,113 Par: 72
Defending: New event
Field: World Top 25: None Other Notables: Prayad Marksaeng & Thaworn Wiratchant.
ENTRANTS WEBSITE GOLF COURSE AERIAL
LPGA Tour: U.S. Women’s Open
Site: Interlachen Country Club - Edina, MN
Yards: 6,789 Par: 73
Defending: Cristie Kerr 275 (beat L. Ochoa & A. Park by 2)
Field: Ranked: The entire Rolex top 20 Other Notables: Everyone who’s physically able.
ENTRANTS WEBSITE GOLF COURSE AERIAL
Champions Tour: Commerce Bank Championship
Site: Eisenhower Park (Red course) - East Meadow, NY
Yards: 6,904 Par: 70
Defending: Lonnie Nielsen 199 (beat L. Roberts by 2)
Field: Ranked: The entire Charles Schwab Cup to 20 except Jay Haas (1), Bernhard Langer (2), Tom Watson (8), Craig Stadler (11), Fred Funk (13) & Joey Sindelar (18) Other Notables: Isao Aoki, Ben Crenshaw, Bruce Fleisher, Tom Kite, Bruce Lietzke, Gil Morgan & Curtis Strange.
ENTRANTS WEBSITE GOLF COURSE AERIAL
Elsewhere…
Sunshine Tour - Sun International Touring Pro-Am – Sun City, South Africa (unofficial event)
JLPGA – Promise Ladies – Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
Nationwide Tour - Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic – Clarksburg, Ontario
Euro Challenge - Scottish Challenge – Cardrona, Scotland
Canadian Tour - ATB Financial Classic – Calgary, Alberta
Futures Tour – Horseshoe Casino Classic – Hammond, IN
THE WEEK IN REVIEW (6/16 - 6/22)
PGA Tour: Travelers Championship – Cromwell, CT
With six top-10 finishes (including two 2nds and two 3rds) thus far in 2008, Stewart Cink was likely the hottest golfer yet to record a victory on the 2008 PGA Tour, but that relative drought ended in Hartford where his 18-under-par total of 262 proved just enough to edge defending champion Hunter Mahan and 48-year-old Tommy Armour III by one. Cink, who recorded his first PGA Tour victory some 11 years ago at this same event, birdied the final two holes on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round. But after making an early bogey at the par-four 4th, Cink carded four birdies between the sixth and 15th to nose out in front, then hung on with three finishing pars. Mahan and Armour both closed with five-under-par 65s, Mahan birdieing the final two holes to make it close, while Armour could only finish birdie-par when two birdies were needed.. With the long-awaited win (his first since his two-victory Ryder Cup season of 2004), Cink jumps to 3rd in PGA Tour earnings, and from 12th to 6th in the Official World Ranking.
FINAL RESULTS MONEY LIST PGA TOUR STATS INTERVIEWS
European PGA Tour: BMW International Open – Munich, Germany
Twenty-three-old rising star Martin Kaymer claimed his second E Tour victory of 2008 at the BMW International, becoming the first German to win this event on his home soil and doing so in dramatic fashion. With rounds of 68-63-67, Kaymer had launched himself to a commanding six-shot lead through 54 holes before stumbling badly on Sunday. After going out in 38, he then suffered a watery triple-bogey at the par-five 11th to fall two strokes behind a surging Anders Hansen. But demonstrating uncommon resilience, Kaymer righted the ship with a birdie at the 13th before ultimately tying Hansen at 273 with a birdie at the par-five finisher. The pair then returned to the 18th for sudden death where Kaymer quickly clinched the title by crushing driver-6 iron to within seven feet, and safely two-putting for birdie. With the victory, Kaymer climbs to 7th in the E Tour Order of Merit and sixth in Ryder Cup points, while also jumping from 41st to 30th in the World Ranking, where he remains the only under-25 player among the top 50.
FINAL RESULTS ORDER OF MERIT E TOUR STATS INTERVIEWS
Japan Tour: Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic – Yomiuri, Japan
It took 42-year-old Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand seven years to land his first Japan Tour victory (early June’s Mitsubishi Diamond Cup) and now Marksaeng has made it two in row, birdieing five of his final seven holes at the Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic to post a 269 total, enough to edge Azuma Yano by one. Marksaeng actually birdied holes 12-15 to push himself into contention, then, after a bogey at the par-three 17th, birdied the par-four closer for the win. In addition to moving into 1st place in the Japan Order of Merit, and climbing from 81st to 70th in the World Ranking, Marksaeng (who finished 3rd in the Asia Tour’s Bangkok Airways Open three weeks ago) also gains a spot in the upcoming Open Championship, the R&A having chosen to exempt the top four finishers here.
FINAL RESULTS ORDER OF MERIT J TOUR STATS
LPGA Tour: Wegman’s LPGA – Rochester, NY
Twenty-two-year-old Korean Eun-Hee Ji broke through for her first LPGA Tour victory in Rochester, NY, posting a 16-under-par 272 to beat world number three Suzann Pettersen by two strokes. For Ji, in her second year on the American circuit, the victory evened the score with Pettersen,who edged her in the Kolon Championship (played in Korea) last October – and, more importantly, also cemented her U.S. playing status for the foreseeable future. In point of fact, the event was largely Pettersen’s to lose…and she did, surrendering a three-stroke lead behind three final-nine bogeys en route to a closing 72, and a continuation of her winless (in America) 2008. Meanwhile, Ji, who rocketed into contention with a third-round 64, logged four back-nine birdies in the midst of her Sunday 67, finally pulling ahead with a birdie at the par-three 15th, then locking it away with a four at the par-five 17th. The win moves her up to 10th on the LPGA money list, and certainly establishes her as yet another young international star to watch in women’s golf.
FINAL RESULTS MONEY LIST LPGA TOUR STATS
Champions Tour: Bank of America Championship – Concord, MA
Making birdie on three of his final four holes, Jeff Sluman won his first Champions Tour title since turning 50 last September, posting a 199 54-hole total to best Loren Roberts by two. Sluman both started and finished strongly during his closing 64, adding birdies at four of the first five holes to his finishing rush, and ultimately holing a 35-footer birdie putt at the last to close things out in style. New Englander Dana Quigley and Zimbabwan-turned-Irishman Mark McNulty tied for 3rd, six shots back.
FINAL RESULTS MONEY LIST CHAMPIONS STATS
Elsewhere…
England’s Rebecca Hudson birdied the third hole of sudden death to defeat Anne-Lise Caudal at the LET’s Tenerife Ladies Open after the pair deadlocked on 278 in regulation, denying Caudal her second straight LET victory………Yuko Mitsuka claimed her second career JLPGA title in epic fashion, carding a 16-under-par 200 to win the Nichirei Ladies by 10 shots over Shiho Oyama……..Stephanie Otteson’s 204 total was enough to edge Jessica Shepley by one at the Futures Tour’s Duramed Championship………Australian Jerrod Lyle defeated Chris Kirk on the first hole of sudden death at the Nationwide Tour’s Knoxvile Open after the two deadlocked at 269………England’s David Horsey won for the first time on the European Challenge Tour, his 269 aggregate being just good enough to win the Telenet Trophy (in Houthalen, Belgium) by a single shot………On the Euro Seniors Tour, Spain’s Juan Quiros birdied the last for a 212 total, narrowly beating homestanding Des Smyth by one at the Irish Senior Open………Canadian Adam Speirs cardd a 275 total to edge countryman Wes Heffernan and American Byron Smith at the Canadian Tour’s Greater Vancouver Charity Classic.
DAILY NOTES - June 21, 2008
- Too Young To Be Forgotten: It’s been an interesting year for Germany’s top young prospect, 23-year-old Martin Kaymer, who gained a bit of early attention as the only under-25 to be ranked among the world top 50 following a season-opening E Tour win in Abu Dhabi. A late run at Tiger Woods in Dubai two weeks later (where Kaymer eagled the last to claim solo 2nd) appeared to validate all of the attention, but his performance has slipped slightly since, with only two top 10s (neither better than 7th) in seven subsequent E Tour starts. More disappointing, however, have been Kaymer’s sojourns in America, where he lost in the first round of the WGC Match Play, then failed to better his recent tie for 53rd at the U.S. Open in four additional starts (including an MC at Augusta). None of this is too terrible, of course – we are, after all, still talking about a 23-year-old – but perhaps benefiting from this exposure to elite competition, Kaymer has once again found his form this week at the BMW International outside of Munich. On Thursday, he stood an unimposing one-under-par through his first 16 holes before birdieing the 17th and making eagle at the 567-yard finisher to post a solid 68, good enough to tie for 10th. But picking up where he left off on Friday, Kaymer reeled off a bogey-free nine-under-par 63 on a golf course which is playing rather more difficult than several recent E Tour pushovers. The result is an imposing five-shot halfway lead over England’s Benn Barham and France’s Francois Delamontagne – though one suspects that Kaymer’s eyes will focus more upon world number 15 Henrik Stenson, who won this title in 2006 and currently sits one stroke further back on 137.
- Older, But Won’t Let Us Forget: It’s not as though Massachusetts’ Nashawtuc Country Club, site of this week’s Bank of America Championship, is the toughest venue on the Champions Tour schedule, but one still must take notice of 72-year-old Gary Player once again playing remarkable golf, his opening 73 coming within a single putt of shooting his age – rather a rarity in major competition. But this was hardly one lightning bolt round. On the contrary, Player already has bettered his age in 2008 (with a second-round 70 at February’s ACE Group Classic), then both equaled and bettered it (with second and third rounds of 72, 71) at March’s Toshiba Classic. Guess the five decades worth of lectures he’s given on physical fitness weren’t just blowing smoke…
- Young, And Hoping To Forget: Last year, that is. Carding four birdies against three bogeys, Stanford University student Michelle Wie posted a second consecutive 71 to stand on 142 at the halfway point of the Wegman’s LPGA in Rochester. The good news: she’s tied for 17th in a fairly strong field of professionals, hardly a bad show for someone who struggled so mightily during 2007. The bad news: She stands seven and eight shots behind Suzann Pettersen and Morgan Pressel respectively, both of whom carded seven-under-par 65s on Friday. Wie, by the way, is tied with world number one Lorena Ochoa, though the high-profile pair are not scheduled to play together on Saturday.
- Almost Forgotten: In the field as a past champion, John Daly fired a pair of 72s at the BMW International in Germany, his 144 36-hole aggregate being neither embarrassing, nor good enough to make the cut. What’s next, the Japan Tour?