May 2010
48 posts
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Did Corey Pavin Upset the PGA of America?
Fifty year old Corey Pavin must still feel like he can win on the PGA Tour. We can only assume that’s why he has decided to ruffle the feathers of the PGA of America and play in this week’s Colonial instead of the PGA Senior Championship. In addition to the PGA Championship, the PGA of America’s flagship events are the PGA Senior Championship as well as the Ryder Cup where Pavin...
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Is American Women's Golf Dead?
The current state of American golf on the LPGA Tour is not good. Take a look at the numbers:
No American has won this year on the LPGA Tour and Michelle Wie is the only one to do so in the past 12 months.
Asians have won all 7 official LPGA events so far this year.
Does a lack of American success make you less interested in the LPGA Tour? I know it does for me.
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Canadian Pro Shoots 25 on Back Nine
Canadian Club Pro Jamie Kureluk shot a staggering 25 on the back nine in Round 1 of the RBC Insurance Alberta Open Championship on Tuesday. His back nine consisted of 7 birdies and 2 eagles en route to his eleven under par (-11) homeward nine. The scorecard is pretty amazing to look at:
It’s hard to imagine that someone who played his last 10 holes in 12 under par didn’t break 60,...
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Can Jason Day Go Back to Back?
Jason Day, the ultra-talented 22 year old Aussie who broke through last week at the Bryon Nelson Championship for his first tour victory, is looking to make it two straight this week at Colonial. Although a considerably tougher field awaits him this week compared to last, Day has more than just momentum on his side - he’s also a member at Colonial and was in contention at last year’s...
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“He’s certainly not going to be an automatic pick. He’s just going to...”
– Corey Pavin on the possibility of not selecting Tiger Woods as one of his four Captain’s picks if the World’s #1 doesn’t automatically qualify.
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“I didn’t hear him tell me not to call him Mr. Pernice, so I went back and...”
– Jordan Spieth, who at 16 became the sixth-youngest player to make a cut in a PGA Tour event, on communicating with third-round playing partner Tom Pernice Jr., 50, at the Byron Nelson Championship
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Vijay's US Open Hopes Growing Slim
As mentioned in last week’s post, Vijay Singh had fallen out of the Official World Golf Ranking’s (OWGR) Top 50, meaning he had one event left, last week’s Byron Nelson Championship, to make a move back into the Top 50 and earn an automatic exemption into this year’s US Open. Unfortunately for the Big Fijian, he missed the cut in Dallas and has fallen to 59th in this...
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Karlsson's Strange Journey
After rounds of 75-70, Swede Robert Karlsson convinced himself that he had missed the cut in last week’s BMW PGA Championship and he headed home to Monaco, some 650 miles from the tournament site. Sounds fairly typical except for one small problem - when he got home he found out he made the cut. Uh oh.
So began the tortuous return, via Nice, a commercial flight to Orly in Paris, a...
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Khan Soars Up OWGR Rankings
England’s Simon Khan, the World Number 471, came from seven behind to win the European Tour’s Flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship (as a Monday Qualifier no less!).
The win takes Khan to World Number 106, jumping a staggering 365 spots in one week!
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Big Names to Miss British Open
Several big name PGA TOUR players are in danger of missing this year’s British Open at St. Andrews.
A 36-hole British Open qualifier was held yesterday at Gleneagle Country Club for those not yet exempt for the season’s third major. The event looked more like a PGA TOUR stop then a Monday qualifier.
Tim Petrovic and Bo Van Pelt led the eight PGA TOUR players who qualified.
Among...
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Woods to Return at Memorial
Tiger Woods will return to competitive action at next week’s Memorial Tournament. In his last appearance, Woods withdrew on the seventh hole of the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship on May 9. The Memorial would have likely been Woods next tournament regardless of injury.
Woods will look to get his form back at a tournament that he has absolutely dominated. Tiger is the defending...
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Romo Advances to Sectional Qualifying of US Open
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo came one step closer to playing in the 2010 U.S. Open, parring three playoff holes to advance out of the local qualifier at his home course, The Honors Golf Club of Dallas.
Romo fired a 2-under par 69 and then added three playoff hole pars to advance to Sectional Qualifying on June 7th at the Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas. Romo birdied three...
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“We’re all fans of Tony Romo, and we think it would be great if he...”
– Byron Nelson tournament chairman George Conanton on why they wouldn’t extend a Sponsor’s Exemption to Tony Romo.
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Who is the Best Player Without a Major?
There’s a lot of ways you can rank the current best players to have never won a major - based on potential (McIlroy, Kim, Ishikawa, Fowler), career PGA TOUR wins (Perry, Stricker, Sergio, Scott), near misses in Majors (Westwood, Sergio), etc. - but for this list we’re going to look at this point in time who is best player without a major that has the best chance to win a major in the...
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Is John Daly Finished?
John Daly continues to draw a tremendous amount of support and interest in the world of golf despite his mediocre golf results over the past several years.
Daly plays mostly on sponsor’s exemptions these days but can he still win or is he being extended sponsors exemptions as nothing more than a sideshow?
Daly has not won on the PGA TOUR since the 2004 Buick Invitational. In fact he...
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Vijay Falls Out of Top 50 in Golf Rankings
For the first time since 1992 Vijay Singh is no longer ranked amongst the Top 50 golfers in the World according to the Official World Golf Ranking.
It’s hard to believe that Singh, just one year removed as FedEx Cup Champion, has fallen so far. In Singh’s case it’s much more about injuries though than a guy who has lost his game. Unfortunately for Singh it’s more than...
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Jerry Rice DQ'd from Natiowide Event
Hall of Fame Wide Reciever Jerry Rice was disqualified from the Natiowide Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am on Friday after his caddie used a range finding scope to check yardages.
The error by his caddie means that Rice won’t take part in Saturday’s third round, the last before the celebrity event cuts the field for Sunday’s finale.
Rice was in violation of Rule 14.3, which prevents competitors...
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Are European Golfers Overrated?
When taking a glance at the current Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) one thing that jumps out at us is the presence of Europeans at the top of the list. Of the Top 20, 7 hail from Europe compared to only 6 from the United States. Most of the Europeans are big names that we’ve been led to believe are stars in the golf world, but the question is, “are these guys really that...
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Texas Open Round 2 Delayed
The start of the second round of the Valero Texas Open has been delayed six hours due to an unsettled weather picture that includes heavy rain, abundant lightning and a tornado warning.
The current start time for the second round is unknown, but the course conditions will be reassessed at 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m.). A decision regarding the resumption of play will take place at that time.
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Ryder Cup Watch - Europeans
The U.S. isn’t the only side with big name players not currently qualifying for the Ryder Cup. The European Ryder Cup Standings show that the Euros are in a similar bind with a deep list of top flight, experienced Ryder Cup talent sitting below the cut line:
Oliver Wilson - 10th
Padraig Harrington - 11th
Miguel Angel Jimenez - 13th
Sergio Garcia - 14th
Ross Fisher - 15th
Graeme...
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Ryder Cup Watch - U.S.
Taking a quick glance at the current U.S. Ryder Cup points list you’ll notice something very interesting - Tiger Woods is not currently an automatic bid. Tiger sits in 10th place with 1946.16 points. Phil Mickelson leads the team with 4,901.25 points.
With the new setup there are only 8 automatic bids for this year’s team with the captain getting four picks. With Tiger’s...
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Top Instructors Comment on Tiger's Swing
“I don’t think that his swing is that far off. It looks like his swing is far off because he’s not addressing the real issue. I think he needs to make some pre-swing adjustments.”
— Peter Kostis, Instructor and on-course analyst for CBS Sports
“The club has just gotten too far around and behind him,” Mogg said. “If you combine his weak grip and...
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Romo Advances Past Pre-Qualifying for Nelson
Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo shot par 72 on Tuesday to finish in a 12-way tie for 20th place to advance from pre-qualifying into the Monday qualifier for next week’s Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas.
To play in the Nelson, Romo must finish among the top four golfers Monday in the open qualifying round at the Stonebridge Ranch Country Club’s Hill Course, the same...
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“When he was working with Butch Harmon, Tiger Woods had a lethal combination of...”
– Golf Channel Analyst Brandel Chamblee
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History Spotlight: Whitemarsh Valley CC
To our younger generation of readers in the area it may seem that Philadelphia has a weak PGA TOUR golf history, only remembering the brief stint early in the decade in which the SEI Pennsylvania Classic was held at Waynesborough Country Club as a poorly attended late season event.
As Aronimink Golf Club readies itself for the best players in the world as host of the AT&T Classic this summer...
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Bo Van Pelt on Fire
Relative unknown Bo Van Pelt has been on fire the last three weeks, collecting three straight Top-5 finishes. Bo finished T-3, 5, T-4 at the Verizon Heritage, Quail Hollow, and THE PLAYERS Championship. He was a combined 30 under par in those three tournaments. His PLAYERS performance moved him up 10 spots in the Ryder Cup rankings from 27th to 17th. Van Pelt has one career PGA TOUR victory.
...
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May 10th US Open Qualifying Results
Here are some notable results from US Open Local Qualifying on Monday throughout the country:
Advanced
Kevin Tway (son of TOUR vet Bob Tway)
Manuel Villegas (brother of TOUR star Camillo Villegas)
Alternate
Sam Saunders (grandson of Arnold Palmer)
Failed to Advance
John Smoltz (former Atlanta Braves pitcher)
Josh Scobee (current Jacksonville Jaguars kicker)
Gary Nicklaus (son of golf...
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Haney Quits as Woods Swing Coach
Tiger Woods famed swing coach Hank Haney - whose reputation has been under fire of late with Woods 2010 on course struggles - has stepped down after six years of teaching the World’s #1 golfer.
Haney makes it clear that this was entirely his decision but you have to question the validity of that.
Here is the statement in full from Haney’s Web site:
“I would like to thank Tiger for the...
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LPGA's Blasberg Passes at 25
LPGA golfer Erica Blasberg died Sunday in a Las Vegas suburb according to police and her agent.
Henderson police spokesman Keith Paul said Monday that authorities were investigating the 25-year-old Blasberg’s death. It was not immediately clear whether foul play was involved.
Blasberg played in only one LPGA Tour event this year - two weeks ago in Mexico where she tied for 44th. She was a...
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“I did, a lot of pars today. Very boring round. I apologize to all the TV...”
– Phil Mickelson when asked about making 9 pars on the front nine of his second round of THE PLAYERS Championship.
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Major Championship for Quail Hollow?
Due to the rising popularity of the Quail Hollow Championship over the past few years on TOUR there has been some speculation that the Charlotte course could land a major championship in the near future.
Well, according to this article, 2016 may be the year and the PGA Championship may be the major. From the article:
The earliest, according to PGA of America spokesperson Julius Mason, would be...
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18 Greens in Regulation for Molinari
Francesco Molinari hit all 18 greens in regulation during today’s second round 65. It’s the first time since 1992 that a player has hit all 18 greens at THE PLAYERS Championship in one round. Molinari is currently one stroke back at 11 under par.
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“I think it depends on whether you’re a PGA Tour member or not. I think The...”
– Lee Westwood on whether THE PLAYERS Championship was the “5th Major”
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Anthony Kim Out 10-12 Weeks
The injured thumb that forced Anthony Kim out of this week’s PLAYERS Championship was operated on today. The surgery will shelf Kim for 10-12 weeks, meaning he will miss this year’s US Open at Pebble Beach. The timetable for his return will be right around the British Open being played at St. Andrews. His status for that event is still up in the air.
“While I had hoped to be...
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Don't Forget Mother's Day!
Send flowers to the special Mom’s in your life by clicking the link below from one of our sponsors, JustFlowers.com:
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Is Tiger Ready to Turn it Around at Sawgrass?
Not if his practice round is any indication of how Woods is playing.
His sloppiness early this week has been just as bad as last week’s missed cut at Quail Hollow, if not worse. In practice rounds at Sawgrass this week Woods played the front nine Monday and the back on Tuesday. In those 18 holes, he hit seven balls into the water. Yikes.
This week when asked about the status of Hank...
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“I saw the 58, too, before I played. It got me pumped up. Not 62 pumped up, but...”
– 21 year old Rickie Fowler asked if he thought Rory McIlroy could have been inspired last Sunday by another young gun’s sparkling performance (Ryo Ishikawa had fired a closing 58 in Japan that day), Fowler laughed.
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Brittany Lincicome Plays Men's Event
Lost in the shuffle of final round 58’s and 62’s, was news that Brittany Lincicome, a three time LGPA winner played in a Men’s Professional event last week.
Before you start thinking “here we go again”, this is not another Michelle Wie situation. Lincicome has no aspirations of playing against the big boys on the PGA TOUR. The 18-hole Orlando Mini Tour event was...
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Mickelson to #1?
With a win this week at the PLAYERS Championship, combined with Tiger Woods finishing outside of the Top 5, Phil Mickelson will become the World’s #1 ranked player.
The opportunity presented itself for Mickelson due to a 15 foot birdie he rolled in on the 72nd hole at last week’s Quail Hollow Championship, which moved him out of a tie and into solo second giving him the extra points...
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Kim and Stricker Out at Players
Anthony Kim and Steve Stricker have both withdrawn from the Players Championship this week due to injury. Kim is battling a thumb injury while Stricker continues to have shoulder problems.
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“I’m just trying to keep up with him. I played that tournament [in Japan]...”
– After closing out The Quail Hollow Championship with a bogey-free 62, Rory McIlroy comments on Ryo Ishikawa’s record-breaking round of 58 on the Japan Tour.
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Rory Answers Ryo!
Not to be outdone by Ryo Ishikawa’s amazing final round 58 (-12) and Japan Tour victory Sunday morning, young Rory McIlroy responded with a sparkling 62 (-10) to capture the Quail Hollow Championship.
With the difficult course, tough conditions, and World Class field, Sir Nick Faldo said on the telecast that he thought Rory’s final round heroics were more impressive than Ryo’s...
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Ryo Goes Low!
On Sunday Ryo Ishikawa shot a final round 58 to win The Crowns event on the Japan Golf Tour. Anytime you hear about a score in the 50’s it turns heads, even those in a casual practice round, but this is a 58 in a Pro tournament…in the final round…by an 18 year old. He compiled 12 birdies and 6 pars on the par 70 layout, going out in 28. He burned the edge for birdie on 18 that...
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“For as beautifully designed as this golf course is tee to green, the greens are...”
– Phil Mickelson on Quail Hollow Golf Club, following his third round 71, leaving him two strokes back heading into Sunday’s final round.
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The "Experts" Picks
Be on the look out for experts who say they aren’t surprised by Tiger’s 74-79 disaster at Quail Hollow because, well, they’re probably lying. Here’s a look at five Golf Channel “experts” who predicted Tiger would not only be a factor at Quail Hollow, but he would WIN the tournament, which goes to show that nobody has any idea how Tiger will play right now.
I...
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Tiger's Worst?
On paper Tiger Woods second round 79 at the Quail Hollow Championship was his second worst round ever:
81 - 2002 British Open, third round 79 - 2010 Quail Hollow Championship, second round 78 - 1999 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, third round 78 - 1996 Tour Championship, second round
Tiger’s highest ever scoring round, a third round 81 at the 2002 British Open at Muirfield, was in...
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Welcome to the PhillyGolfGuide.com Golf Blog!
Welcome to the PhillyGolfGuide.com Golf Blog. We are happy to launch both our website and blog today. PhillyGolfGuide.com is dedicated to answering the question: Where can I play a good public golf course in the Philly area? We look at the best of the Philly area public golf scene by providing course rankings for the area as a whole as well as the Philadelphia area counties in PA, NJ, and DE.
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Course Rankings Feedback
What do you think about the PhillyGolfGuide.com course rankings?
We hope to update our course rankings based on user feedback, so please let us know what you think. Should your favorite course be listed? Should Course A be ranked higher than Course B? Has a course made a major improvement or suffered a major decline this year?
