Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Glory's Last Chance

Here is the latest top 10 from the Official World Golf Ranking:

1.  T. Woods
2.  P. Mickelson
3.  R. McIlroy (NIR)
4.  J. Rose (ENG)
5.  A. Scott (AUS)
6.  M. Kuchar
7.  B. Snedeker
8.  G. McDowell (NIR)
9.  L. Donald (ENG)
10.  K. Bradley

Remarkably, the last four majors were won by golfers ranked 2, 3, 4, and 5 on this list.  Tiger hasn't won a major this year, but he's won 5 times in only 11 starts.  After so many flukey winners in recent years, this has been a great year for golf fans.

Unfortunately, that run may now be coming to an end.  Here are the last 10 winners of the PGA:

2012:  R. McIlroy (NIR)
2011:  K. Bradley
2010:  M. Kaymer (GER)
2009:  Y.E. Yang (KOR)
2008:  P. Harrington (IRE)
2007:  T. Woods
2006:  T. Woods
2005:  P. Mickleson
2004:  V. Singh (FIJ)
2003:  S. Micheel

It's a pretty good list, but check out the 2003 winner -- Shaun Micheel.  That was the only victory of Micheel's career -- and one of only two times he finished in the top 10 of a major.  And that lone victory came at Oak Hill Country Club, the same course that is hosting this week's PGA.  Here were the top 4 players in the 2003 PGA:

1.  S. Micheel
2.  C. Campbell
3.  T. Clark (RSA)
4.  A. Cejka (GER)

Not exactly Murderer's Row.  And here were the top 4 at the 1989 U.S. Open, the last National Open held at Oak Hill:

1.  C. Strange
T2.  C. Beck
T2.  M. McCumber
T2.  I. Woosnam (WAL)

Again, not an impressive list.  Oak Hill doesn't always produce such disappointing results -- Jack Nicklaus won the PGA here in 1980 and Lee Trevino took the Open here in 1968.  But I'm afraid it's one of those U.S. Open-type courses with lots of narrow fairways that punishes long, aggressive players.  This type of course makes no sense to me, as long, aggressive players tend to be the best players in the world.

So I think this is the week to take the field, and assume that some relative unknown will take the title.  But given how much fun this year has been for golf fans, we won't complain (all that much).

53 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. This has very little effect on me, as I watch almost all golf tournaments -- with the lone exception of the Masters -- with either no sound or only radio sound. I don't remember the last time I heard Johnny Miller do a golf tournament.

      I still listen to CBS's coverage of the Masters because I like Verne Lundquist and Nick Faldo, and because Augusta National won't let Gary McCord do the Masters.

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  2. Robert Garrigus--what a long, strange trip it has been from Nampa, Idaho, to Oak Hill--is 3-under through eight holes and alone in the lead.

    Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods of Cypress, Calif., Just birdied the par-5 13th hole (his fourth of the first round) to move to 1-under.

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    1. Garrigus--son of the late, 1968 Mexico City Olympics silver-medalist trap shooter, Thomas Garrigus--just bogeyed his ninth hole, and he's now tied for the lead with a bunch of other guys at 2-under.

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  3. Tiger birdies his sixth hole, so he's to 2-under. But now Garrigus has returned to 3-under, joining David Toms of Monroe, La., in a tie for first place.

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  4. Now Toms has dropped back to the T3 with Tiger and many others at 2-under, but Garrigus and David Hearn of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, have rolled out to 4-under.

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  5. OK, the PGA.com video feed of Tiger's group just showed a different scoreboard: Hearn alone in the lead at 4-under, followed by Jim Furyk of West Chester, Pa., at 3-under and then Tiger and the boys at 2-under.

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  6. No. 11 ... 5 or 6-foot Tiger putt for birdie, and it limply drifts right of the cup as it nears ... stays at 2-under ... Golf.com just Tweeted that Furyk, Garrigus and Hearn are all tied for lead at 4-under ... I trust no scoreboard that I'm finding so far ...

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    1. GC Tiger Tracker ‏@GCTigerTracker
      Oy -- that 4-footer didn't even hit the hole. Missed opportunity there.
      10:33 AM - 8 Aug 13


      I wonder if I'll forget at some point in the next couple of days that I've already at least twice made the argument at the HP that Tiger probably gets more nervous than he used to, putting at majors, and go through the whole explanation again thinking that it's all a new and brilliant thought.

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    2. These short putts just absolutely kill Tiger in the majors. My guess is that if you kept track of the little putts that he misses in this tournament, that will explain that gap between him and the eventual winner.

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  7. Emma Talley just demolished her opponent in the Round-of-32 at the U.S. Women's Amateur, winning by a score of 8 & 7. She's onto the round of 16.

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    1. YEAH! YEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

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    2. We've already put up a separate post on this event. It looks like her next match will be against someone who plays for Mississippi State.

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  8. And on No. 3, Tiger puts more umph into his birdie try, but the putt zips past the hole on the left ... par again ... still 2-under ...

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    1. And this is the part where Tiger loses two or three more strokes because he's annoyed about his bad putting. I bet have seen him do this during at least 15 times at majors since 2008.

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  9. Keegan Bradley looks a little like Jay Cutler, carries himself similarly and offends his sport's CW in exactly the same way.

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  10. David Hearn is exactly the sort of person I expect to win at Oak Hill this weekend.

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    Replies
    1. I went ahead and put the "all alone" label on this post earlier today.

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  11. Tiger's 10-footer for par save on the par-5 No. 4 lips off left ... 1-under ...

    GC Tiger Tracker ‏@GCTigerTracker
    Lips out the par putt. Ugly bogey on the par 5, back to -1. Resist the urge to panic, though I know you cannot.
    11:05 AM - 8 Aug 13

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  12. Tiger's lengthy birdie putt scorches by the No. 5 cup, and then he leans over his putter with a nauseous look on his face. He looks like a guy with whom you might avoid eye contact after encountering him staggering out of a stall in the men's room at the reception at his ex-girlfriend's wedding.

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  13. Tiger gets one on No. 6--a dicey 6-footer to save par--so he remains 1-under. Keegs of Woodstock, Vt., has joined him there. They're in a T15 if one is to believe the PGA.com leaderboard.

    Furyk is alone in the lead at 5-under, and Hearn is the clubhouse leader at 4-under.

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  14. Tiger par on No. 7, his 16th of the first round.

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  15. TNT's coverage is minutes from starting. TNT and CBS have the TV this weekend. If CBS gets to trot out Jim Nantz for the majors, then I think NBC should get to run the Hillary miniseries. It's only fair.

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    Replies
    1. NBC can run the Hillary mini-series. They just can't have the Hillary mini-series and any GOP debates.

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  16. Furyk--playing behind the PGA.com featured group of Tiger, Keegs and Davis Love III--just added another birdie, so he's taken the lead out to 6-under.

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    Replies
    1. Jason Sobel ‏@JasonSobelGC
      Sign you cover golf: Just typed "FGYRJK" into my phone and it autocorrected to "FURYK."
      12:06 PM - 8 Aug 13

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  17. Tiger double-bogeys the 9th hole, which was his last. He played his first nine holes in 33, and his last nine holes in 38, and his chances of winning the 2013 PGA Tournament are done.

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  18. And Tiger closes the round with a double-bogey, and there is no joy in Mudville.

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  19. Jim Furyk bogeys the 9th hole (his last) to finish with a 5-under par 65. He is the clubhouse leader, but I just can't seem him holding it together for three more days.

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  20. The guys on PGA Tour Radio were very critical of Tiger's double-bogey on his last hole, as they should have been.

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  21. Kohki Idoki is a 51-year-old golfer from Japan who had never played in the United States until this year's Senior PGA Championship -- which he won. That got him an invitation to his first PGA Championship. And now he has birdied four of the first five holes, and he is four-under par for the tournament. What a start!

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  22. Rory McIlroy is three under through four holes. He hasn't won a tournament all year, but this would be a good time to start.

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  23. Next year, the PGA Championship will be at Valhalla Golf Club in beautiful Louisville, Kentucky. The last time the PGA Championship was held at Valhalla was in 2000, when Tiger Woods beat Bob May in a playoff to win one of the greatest tournaments I ever saw.

    The last big event at Valhalla was the 2008 Ryder Cup, which was also the only time since 1999 that the Americans won the Cup.

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  24. Kohki Idoki is wearing an orange shirt with a large "87" emblazoned on the shoulder. I have no idea what that means.

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  25. Since bogeying the first hole, Miguel Angel Jimenez has made five birdies in a row. He is 4-under par through 6.

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  26. Oh, I'll bet Tim Clark is going to win the tournament.

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    Replies
    1. He's another good bet. It's going to be someone in that class -- foreign golfers who might occasionally play in the Ryder Cup or the Presidents' Cup.

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  27. Idoki finally takes a bogey, and he is 3 under par through 9 holes.

    Jimenez took a took a double-bogey on 7, and he's back to 2 under.

    Mickelson is off to a terrible start; he's 3 over par through 6.

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  28. By the way, the Golf Channel will be covering the U.S. Women's Amateur starting at 3 P.M. Central.

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  29. Today in Charleston it's 84 degrees with 80 percent humidity. My guess is that for Emma Talley, that's pretty typical golfing weather for August.

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  30. They're showing Gary McCord on TNT right now, so I'm very glad to be listening on PGA Tour Radio.

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  31. Of course, as soon as I start rooting for my main man from Osaka Prefecture, Japan, he gets himself a bogey. Kohki Idoki is 2-under through 11 holes.

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  32. Suddenly Adam Scott has made four birdies in a row, and he is 4 under through 7.

    McIlroy birdies the 9th (where Tiger made a double bogey), and he makes the turn at 3 under.

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  33. Adam Scott makes his fifth birdie in a row on the 8th hole, and he is now tied for the lead at 5 under par.

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  34. The TNT guys are definitely fired up for a big Adam Scott weekend.

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  35. I've switched over to the Golf Channel, where I am definitely NOT live-blogging the U.S. Women's Amateur.

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  36. EMMA TALLEY WON HER MATCH BY A SCORE OF 2-UP. SHE IS INTO THE QUARTER-FINALS OF THE U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR.

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