While Rory, Lee and Martin are off this week, as are Tiger (mild achilles strain) and Phil, there is plenty to talk about with lots of Canadians in action around the world, including Mike Weir in Spain.
Here's where they all are this week with notes compiled by our fine Canadian golf writer Jeff Brooke who you can find in the Globe and Mail and at Golf Canada..
PGA TOUR: TRANSITIONS CHAMPIONSHIP
COURSE: Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club, Copperhead Course (7,340 yards, par 71).
CANADIANS: Graham DeLaet is playing in his third straight event and is coming off his first top-10 result of the season; Stephen Ames is playing his fourth straight event having missed the cut in the last two; David Hearn is back after taking last week off.
NOTES: Last week's winner Justin Rose, defending champion Gary Woodland, and Japan's Ryo Ishikawa are in the field along with second-ranked Luke Donald, Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, 2010 winner Jim Furyk and two-time champions Retief Goosen and K.J. Choi. ... England's Tom Lewis is making his PGA Tour debut. The 21-year-old English player won the European Tour's Portugal Masters last year.
EUROPEAN TOUR: ANDALUCIA OPEN
COURSE: Aloha Golf Club (6,881 yards, par 72).
CANADIANS: Mike Weir is making his 2012 European debut, taking advantage of Tour membership awarded to him for winning the 2003 Masters. He returns to a course that saw him win the 2000 WGC event.
NOTES: After a pair of World Golf Championship events, the European Tour returns with a lineup that includes Robert Rock, Colin Montgomerie and Miguel Angel Jimenez, who is the tournament host. ...Rock won the Abu Dhabi Championship in January.
LPGA TOUR: LPGA FOUNDERS CUP
COURSE: JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, Wildfire Golf Club (6,613 yards, par 72).
CANADIANS: Lorie Kane, Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Rebecca Lee-Bentham, Alena Sharp are all in the field. Leblanc and Sharp are making their season debuts while Kane and Lee-Bentham are playing their first LPGA event since the Tour's Australasian swing. ... Stephanie Sherlock is the first alternate while Samantha Richdale is also listed as an alternate.
NOTES: Last year, the players competed for a mock purse and charity donations. While the charity donations are still there, this year's tournament has official prize money attached to it. ...Karrie Webb won the inaugural event last year for her 38th career win. ... Other winner's so far this season include Jessica Korda, Yani Tseng and Angela Stanford.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: TOSHIBA CLASSIC
COURSE: Newport Beach Country Club (6,584 yards, par 71).
CANADIANS: Jim Rutledge and Rod Spittle
NOTES: Last year, Nick Price matched the Champions Tour record with a career-best 11-under 60 in the first round, then shot 68-68 to beat Mark Wiebe by a stroke....Dick Stockton plays this as his only event of the year, he has never missed one, and is of course on of golf's most respected putting guru's these days.
eGOLF PROFESSIONAL TOUR: Pine Needles Classic
COURSE: Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club and Seven Lakes Country Club, North Carolina
CANADIANS: Cam Burke, Greg Doherty, Matt Hill, Brad Revell, Zach Schnurr,
NGA TOUR: Milton Martin Honda Classic
COURSE: Chattahoochee Golf Club, Gainesville, Ga.
CANADIANS: Marc-Etienne Bussieres and Robbie Greenwell
ASIAN TOUR: Cambodian Classic
COURSE: Angkor Golf Resort, Siem Reap, Cambodia
CANADIANS : Ron Harvey, Jr., Lindsay Renolds, Rick Gibson, Matt Johnston
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Rose wins WGC at Doral as Bubba falters and Tiger withdraws
*****Latest world rankings click here
http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps?region=world&PageCount=1
First, let me say Justin Rose 70. -16 earned his win. 2 birdies and a bogey on the front, same on the back including the 5 at 18, nothing flashy, solid performance.
However once again Bubba Watson 74, -15, added to the lore that his lack of chutzpa, guts, brains, mental strength.. call it what you will, cost him his first WGC win.. and I'm not sure he really even cares.
For 3 days he just shredded the Blue Monster, made it look easy, he said his pink driver was going so far and so straight he was hitting all the fairways unheard of for me, he would say, and my putting is coming around..he would add.
That was after Saturday.
On Sunday with all the marbles on the line, someone else called Bubba showed up. He did manage to birdie the first, hell I could it was playing so easy, then he rattled of 4 bogey's in 7 holes to go out in 39 and let the pack right back in. He drove it wildly, off cart paths, into ponds, into rough he hadn't seen all week. Watson didn't hit a fairway on the front nine, and only one tee shot managed to stay inside the bunkers that frame the fairways. He was in the water twice, once in a canal on the fifth hole that not many knew were there. He shot a 39 on the front nine, which included three putts outside 8 feet to limit the damage
He only made 7 bogey's in his first 3 rounds, made 5 on Sunday. At or near the lead in driving accuracy for 3 rounds, he plummeted so badly on Sunday he ended up T68.
Still he had a 15 footer for birdie on 18, after a dazzling recovery, a 4 iron low screamer from behind some palm trees, to go to a playoff with Justin, but I just knew he was not going to make it.. and he didn't.
Rory 67, holed out for eagle from the greenside bunker on 12 and was just a shot back, but bogey's at 14 and 18 cost him, even with the birdie on 16 to get within 1 shot again, but he ended up 3rd at -14.
So 1st and 3rd for 2 weeks work in Florida for the phenom..stll World #1..
By the way the wind never did get up to the steady 30km/h that was forecast, proving the weatherman in Miami is as inaccurate as most everywhere else I have been...
Also Sergio took a 12 on the par 4 3rd when he put 4 balls in the water.. 12... and still shot 76..T60
Now to Tiger who had to withdraw after his drive on 12, in obvious pain.. Here is the AP report.
Discomfort in his left Achilles caused Tiger Woods to withdraw from the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship after hitting his drive on the 12th hole Sunday.The golfer, who has been plagued by injuries in recent years, said he will have the injury evaluated early this week.
Woods, 36, appeared to be in some distress after hitting his second shot in the water at the par-5 10th hole at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral, where he was on his way to his worst finish in nine appearances at the venue.He appeared to favor his left leg, and then after hitting a 321-yard drive at No. 12, Woods summoned officials and was escorted from the property with his caddie, Joe LaCava, on a golf cart. Woods went to the parking lot and drove away with LaCava. Woods lives about 100 miles north of Doral outside of Jupiter.
He issued a statement about an hour after he left the course."I felt tightness in my left Achilles warming up this morning, and it continued to get progressively worse," said Woods, who made three bogeys and no birdies during the final round. "After hitting my tee shot at 12, I decided it was necessary to withdraw. In the past, I may have tried to continue to play, but this time, I decided to do what I thought was necessary."
Woods first suffered an Achilles injury at last year's Masters and tried to return a month later at the Players Championship, where he withdrew after just nine holes. He later said that he caused himself a setback by trying to return too soon.
Woods, who began the fourth round of the World Golf Championship event eight strokes behind leader Watson, missed four months of action last year after suffering what was then described as a Grade 1 mild medial collateral ligament strain to his left knee and a mild strain to his left Achilles tendon.
The initial injury occurred while "hitting a difficult and awkward second shot from the pine straw under the Eisenhower tree left of the fairway at No. 17 during the third round of the 2011 Masters," according to his website. Woods tied for fourth in that tournament.
"It looked like he made a swing on 12 that really hurt," said Webb Simpson (77), who played with Woods during the final round. "But he didn't say a whole lot. He just said he's got to be done. It looked like he was in some pain ... maybe his heel was bothering him, something with his foot. I don't think it's anything serious, but we didn't talk or anything so I'm not sure exactly what it was."
Paul Tesori, a veteran caddie who works for Simpson, said he noticed an issue with Woods walking as early as the fourth hole. He said that LaCava said the Achilles "puffed up."
Woods is scheduled to play a two-day exhibition called the Tavistock Cup, March 19-20 in Orlando, followed by the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which he has won six times. That tournament begins March 22. The Masters, which Woods has won four times, but not since 2005, begins April 5.
Although Woods said he is suffering from an Achilles injury, it is his left knee that has been most bothersome over the years. He has endured four operations on the knee, including reconstructive surgery on a damaged ACL following his 2008 U.S. Open victory. (The Achilles injury that Woods said he suffered in 2008-09 was his right, not his left, as last year's was reported to be.)That kept him from playing the rest of the 2008 season, but he returned in 2009 to win six times on the PGA Tour and another event in Australia
final scoreboard click http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/leaderboards/current/r473/index.html
PUERTO RICO OPEN
I was rooting for Ryo Ishikawa and Graham Delaet here, GD shot 71, -10 T9 and lost to American, George McNeil.
Ishikawa, on the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that left his homeland in ruins, closed with a 68, -15 and had a one-shot lead after making birdie on 3 of his last 4 holes. McNeill 69, -16 caught him with a birdie on the 16th, took the lead with a birdie on the 17th and added another birdie on the par-5 18th for his 2nd PGA tour win.
Ryo has now earned $582,471 on the PGA TOUR this season, surpassing the $411,943 -- No. 150 on the 2011 money list -- needed for special temporary membership. He has 60 days to join the tour as a special temporary member after becoming eligible and then he would be eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions this season.
final scoreboard..http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r483/
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
(with notes from pgatour.com)
http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps?region=world&PageCount=1
First, let me say Justin Rose 70. -16 earned his win. 2 birdies and a bogey on the front, same on the back including the 5 at 18, nothing flashy, solid performance.
However once again Bubba Watson 74, -15, added to the lore that his lack of chutzpa, guts, brains, mental strength.. call it what you will, cost him his first WGC win.. and I'm not sure he really even cares.
For 3 days he just shredded the Blue Monster, made it look easy, he said his pink driver was going so far and so straight he was hitting all the fairways unheard of for me, he would say, and my putting is coming around..he would add.
That was after Saturday.
On Sunday with all the marbles on the line, someone else called Bubba showed up. He did manage to birdie the first, hell I could it was playing so easy, then he rattled of 4 bogey's in 7 holes to go out in 39 and let the pack right back in. He drove it wildly, off cart paths, into ponds, into rough he hadn't seen all week. Watson didn't hit a fairway on the front nine, and only one tee shot managed to stay inside the bunkers that frame the fairways. He was in the water twice, once in a canal on the fifth hole that not many knew were there. He shot a 39 on the front nine, which included three putts outside 8 feet to limit the damage
He only made 7 bogey's in his first 3 rounds, made 5 on Sunday. At or near the lead in driving accuracy for 3 rounds, he plummeted so badly on Sunday he ended up T68.
Still he had a 15 footer for birdie on 18, after a dazzling recovery, a 4 iron low screamer from behind some palm trees, to go to a playoff with Justin, but I just knew he was not going to make it.. and he didn't.
Rory 67, holed out for eagle from the greenside bunker on 12 and was just a shot back, but bogey's at 14 and 18 cost him, even with the birdie on 16 to get within 1 shot again, but he ended up 3rd at -14.
So 1st and 3rd for 2 weeks work in Florida for the phenom..stll World #1..
By the way the wind never did get up to the steady 30km/h that was forecast, proving the weatherman in Miami is as inaccurate as most everywhere else I have been...
Also Sergio took a 12 on the par 4 3rd when he put 4 balls in the water.. 12... and still shot 76..T60
Now to Tiger who had to withdraw after his drive on 12, in obvious pain.. Here is the AP report.
Discomfort in his left Achilles caused Tiger Woods to withdraw from the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship after hitting his drive on the 12th hole Sunday.The golfer, who has been plagued by injuries in recent years, said he will have the injury evaluated early this week.
Woods, 36, appeared to be in some distress after hitting his second shot in the water at the par-5 10th hole at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral, where he was on his way to his worst finish in nine appearances at the venue.He appeared to favor his left leg, and then after hitting a 321-yard drive at No. 12, Woods summoned officials and was escorted from the property with his caddie, Joe LaCava, on a golf cart. Woods went to the parking lot and drove away with LaCava. Woods lives about 100 miles north of Doral outside of Jupiter.
He issued a statement about an hour after he left the course."I felt tightness in my left Achilles warming up this morning, and it continued to get progressively worse," said Woods, who made three bogeys and no birdies during the final round. "After hitting my tee shot at 12, I decided it was necessary to withdraw. In the past, I may have tried to continue to play, but this time, I decided to do what I thought was necessary."
Woods first suffered an Achilles injury at last year's Masters and tried to return a month later at the Players Championship, where he withdrew after just nine holes. He later said that he caused himself a setback by trying to return too soon.
Woods, who began the fourth round of the World Golf Championship event eight strokes behind leader Watson, missed four months of action last year after suffering what was then described as a Grade 1 mild medial collateral ligament strain to his left knee and a mild strain to his left Achilles tendon.
The initial injury occurred while "hitting a difficult and awkward second shot from the pine straw under the Eisenhower tree left of the fairway at No. 17 during the third round of the 2011 Masters," according to his website. Woods tied for fourth in that tournament.
"It looked like he made a swing on 12 that really hurt," said Webb Simpson (77), who played with Woods during the final round. "But he didn't say a whole lot. He just said he's got to be done. It looked like he was in some pain ... maybe his heel was bothering him, something with his foot. I don't think it's anything serious, but we didn't talk or anything so I'm not sure exactly what it was."
Paul Tesori, a veteran caddie who works for Simpson, said he noticed an issue with Woods walking as early as the fourth hole. He said that LaCava said the Achilles "puffed up."
Woods is scheduled to play a two-day exhibition called the Tavistock Cup, March 19-20 in Orlando, followed by the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which he has won six times. That tournament begins March 22. The Masters, which Woods has won four times, but not since 2005, begins April 5.
Although Woods said he is suffering from an Achilles injury, it is his left knee that has been most bothersome over the years. He has endured four operations on the knee, including reconstructive surgery on a damaged ACL following his 2008 U.S. Open victory. (The Achilles injury that Woods said he suffered in 2008-09 was his right, not his left, as last year's was reported to be.)That kept him from playing the rest of the 2008 season, but he returned in 2009 to win six times on the PGA Tour and another event in Australia
final scoreboard click http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/leaderboards/current/r473/index.html
PUERTO RICO OPEN
I was rooting for Ryo Ishikawa and Graham Delaet here, GD shot 71, -10 T9 and lost to American, George McNeil.
Ishikawa, on the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that left his homeland in ruins, closed with a 68, -15 and had a one-shot lead after making birdie on 3 of his last 4 holes. McNeill 69, -16 caught him with a birdie on the 16th, took the lead with a birdie on the 17th and added another birdie on the par-5 18th for his 2nd PGA tour win.
Ryo has now earned $582,471 on the PGA TOUR this season, surpassing the $411,943 -- No. 150 on the 2011 money list -- needed for special temporary membership. He has 60 days to join the tour as a special temporary member after becoming eligible and then he would be eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions this season.
final scoreboard..http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r483/
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
(with notes from pgatour.com)
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Gary Player was right..
round 4 tee times..http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/tournaments/r473/tee-times.html
live scoreboard click..http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/leaderboards/current/r473/index.html
First things first. The weather forecast has isolated showers with that wind from the E at 30km/h, which is like it was on Thursday when only 12 guys broke par. The first tee time today is 8.40am with the leaders off at 2.40pm, when the wind is still listed at 30km/h.
A few years ago in an interview for our Fairways golf show, Gary Player who was lauding his latest versions of his Black Knight clubs, told me that one day soon, pros would be hitting their drives 400 yards rendering many of the Tour's courses obsolete if something wasn't done to restrict the flight of the golf ball. Well he wasn't far off.
Yesterday in calm conditions, Bubba Watson (68) -17 who leads this WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral by 3 shots, hit his first 3 drives of the day nearly 350 yards in his eagle, birdie start. As I said earlier the 1997 Ray Floyd re-design which included positioning bunkers at 270 yards to challenge the pro's drives is now outgrown as these guys carry the ball 300-310 yards.
Bubba is not only flying the fairway bunkers, but also the doglegs and the water, designed originally to make this Blue Monster course a very daunting challenge. The course played like a par 68 yesterday even though holes like 18 still offer a stern test. On Thursday in the wind it played to 73.7.
Rory was at 9 under on his round standing on the 13th tee but played the last 6 in +2, settling for 65 and -9 total, much like Tiger who started with 3 straight birdies, but also stalled coming in for 68 -9, both 8 shots back of Bubba.
However if today is like Thursday, the wind will make any lead anything but a sure thing, Bubba shot -2 70 on Thursday, Adam Scott who putted himself out of contention for the lead yesterday shot 66 in the wind of round 1, Schwartzel 68, Dufner 66, so a lot can change today.
Keegan Bradley 66 -14 will be paired with Bubba today at 2.40, with Justin Rose 69 -14 playing with Peter Hanson 69 -12 in the penultimate group. Tiger 68 -9 is off at 2.00pm with Webb Simpson 66 -9, Donald 69 -9 and Charl Schwartzel 70 -9 are off at 1.50, and Rory 65 -9 is off with Johnson Wagner 67 -10 at 2.10.
If any of these guys can post a score, and the wind makes the course the Blue Monster again it will be a heck of an afternoon in Miami..
Puerto Rico Open... I am keeping an eye on Graham Delaet who starts today 8th at -9, 4 shots off the lead of -13 held by George McNeil
here is a link to live scoring . http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r483/
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
live scoreboard click..http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/leaderboards/current/r473/index.html
First things first. The weather forecast has isolated showers with that wind from the E at 30km/h, which is like it was on Thursday when only 12 guys broke par. The first tee time today is 8.40am with the leaders off at 2.40pm, when the wind is still listed at 30km/h.
A few years ago in an interview for our Fairways golf show, Gary Player who was lauding his latest versions of his Black Knight clubs, told me that one day soon, pros would be hitting their drives 400 yards rendering many of the Tour's courses obsolete if something wasn't done to restrict the flight of the golf ball. Well he wasn't far off.
Yesterday in calm conditions, Bubba Watson (68) -17 who leads this WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral by 3 shots, hit his first 3 drives of the day nearly 350 yards in his eagle, birdie start. As I said earlier the 1997 Ray Floyd re-design which included positioning bunkers at 270 yards to challenge the pro's drives is now outgrown as these guys carry the ball 300-310 yards.
Bubba is not only flying the fairway bunkers, but also the doglegs and the water, designed originally to make this Blue Monster course a very daunting challenge. The course played like a par 68 yesterday even though holes like 18 still offer a stern test. On Thursday in the wind it played to 73.7.
Rory was at 9 under on his round standing on the 13th tee but played the last 6 in +2, settling for 65 and -9 total, much like Tiger who started with 3 straight birdies, but also stalled coming in for 68 -9, both 8 shots back of Bubba.
However if today is like Thursday, the wind will make any lead anything but a sure thing, Bubba shot -2 70 on Thursday, Adam Scott who putted himself out of contention for the lead yesterday shot 66 in the wind of round 1, Schwartzel 68, Dufner 66, so a lot can change today.
Keegan Bradley 66 -14 will be paired with Bubba today at 2.40, with Justin Rose 69 -14 playing with Peter Hanson 69 -12 in the penultimate group. Tiger 68 -9 is off at 2.00pm with Webb Simpson 66 -9, Donald 69 -9 and Charl Schwartzel 70 -9 are off at 1.50, and Rory 65 -9 is off with Johnson Wagner 67 -10 at 2.10.
If any of these guys can post a score, and the wind makes the course the Blue Monster again it will be a heck of an afternoon in Miami..
Puerto Rico Open... I am keeping an eye on Graham Delaet who starts today 8th at -9, 4 shots off the lead of -13 held by George McNeil
here is a link to live scoring . http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r483/
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
Friday, March 9, 2012
Morning rain, less wind, big hitting Bubba leads low scoring at Doral..
The wind is down by 10mph and is more from the SSE as opposed to the E yesterday, and as a result scoring is much lower nearly halfway through round 2 on the Blue Monster at Doral.
Bubba Watson started on 10 and went out in 31and he is at -8, Justin Rose though is -6 through 10 to lead at -9.
Rory started eagle, birdie playing off the 1st to get to -2, Martin Kaymer is -5 through 8 holes playing off 10, -4 total so far.
The drive at 18 is much easier today, only 30 pars yesterday, and the most of the guys are getting home with mid irons. Yesterday nobody made it past 270 yards with their drive, Tiger has just smoked one 310. He is -2 today playing off 10, T23 right now.
GMac is -5 through 5 today -2 total..
ROUND 2 WRAP****
What a difference a day makes. The Blue Monster played nearly 3 shots less difficult, 18 lost most of her teeth, and the scoreboard is littered with 64's 65's and at the top of the class is Bubba Watson with a -10 62 -12 total. He swapped the lead all day with Justin Rose who is second -8 64 -11, with Adam Scott 68, now at -10 in third.
The average score was 69.9, close to three strokes easier than the opening round. There were 12 scores in the 60s on Thursday, and 31 of them Friday. Watson and Rose put on an amazing show of birdies, making 17 between them.
This course obviously favours the big bombers and this week Bubba is the biggest. He leads the tournament in driving distance with a 323.5 average, which includes two drives of 373 yards, downwind, of course at No. 1 on Thursday and at No. 2 on Friday.
Tiger explains that the game has outgrown the redo that Ray Floyd gave it in 1997. "When Raymond did the redo on the bunkers, at the time, 280 was a carry," said Woods,"Now, you know, most of the golf courses we play, it's 310 to 320. If we get normal wind, or no wind at all, these bunkers really are not in play."So the longer hitters, it's just drive it down there and you've got a wedge in your hands"
Bubba playing with a pink driver (charity) is one of those guys in sport who is worth the price of admission. Barry Sanders, Mohammed Ali, Gretzky, Lemieux, George Best, Arnold Palmer, Tiger were all those kinds of guys, liable to do something jaw dropping special. Bubba with the Blue Monster in a less severe wind, with soft greens and fairways just shredded it with an array of shots that was unbelievable.
On the par 5 8th, he drove the ball dead into the wind 307 yards dead straight, nobody else in the field was within 20 yards, then he stood on a 3 iron from 225 that was never more than 20 feet off the ground, a shot he described as dead straight, over the water to 10 feet, made the putt for eagle.. special..
Lot's of guys made their moves, Kaymer 64 now at -7, Tiger who didn't get all he could have out of his round, 67 now -5, Luke was solid if unspectacular 68, now -6, Rory started eagle, birdie, said he couldn't get the speed of the greens right 69, now -2, Thomas Bjorn whom I tipped yesterday had another steady 68, still without a bogey, now -8. Mickelson 71 is at -1
All in all there are 19 guys going down to Tiger at -5 who are within 7 shots of Bubba going into the weekend, and that doesn't include Rory or Lee Westwood who recovered with a 67 of his own on Friday to stand at -1
The weather for Saturday has the wind at 20kph from the east by this afternoon, which is the tough wind, Friday it swung to the SSE which made 18 easier. It is dead calm in Miami at 6am this morning, all being said it looks like another day to go low.
Notable pairings for Saturday, Rory and GMac, Tiger and Stricker, Bubba and Rose again, Scott and Peter Hanson who shot 65 and is quietly at -9, my guy Bjorn and Bradley both at -8. It will be another fun day at Doral and please note the tee times are moved up from 11am to begin at 745am.
for live scoring click here....http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/leaderboards/current/r473/
round 3 tee times click.. http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/tournaments/r473/tee-times.html
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
(with notes from pgatour.com)
Bubba Watson started on 10 and went out in 31and he is at -8, Justin Rose though is -6 through 10 to lead at -9.
Rory started eagle, birdie playing off the 1st to get to -2, Martin Kaymer is -5 through 8 holes playing off 10, -4 total so far.
The drive at 18 is much easier today, only 30 pars yesterday, and the most of the guys are getting home with mid irons. Yesterday nobody made it past 270 yards with their drive, Tiger has just smoked one 310. He is -2 today playing off 10, T23 right now.
GMac is -5 through 5 today -2 total..
ROUND 2 WRAP****
What a difference a day makes. The Blue Monster played nearly 3 shots less difficult, 18 lost most of her teeth, and the scoreboard is littered with 64's 65's and at the top of the class is Bubba Watson with a -10 62 -12 total. He swapped the lead all day with Justin Rose who is second -8 64 -11, with Adam Scott 68, now at -10 in third.
The average score was 69.9, close to three strokes easier than the opening round. There were 12 scores in the 60s on Thursday, and 31 of them Friday. Watson and Rose put on an amazing show of birdies, making 17 between them.
This course obviously favours the big bombers and this week Bubba is the biggest. He leads the tournament in driving distance with a 323.5 average, which includes two drives of 373 yards, downwind, of course at No. 1 on Thursday and at No. 2 on Friday.
Tiger explains that the game has outgrown the redo that Ray Floyd gave it in 1997. "When Raymond did the redo on the bunkers, at the time, 280 was a carry," said Woods,"Now, you know, most of the golf courses we play, it's 310 to 320. If we get normal wind, or no wind at all, these bunkers really are not in play."So the longer hitters, it's just drive it down there and you've got a wedge in your hands"
Bubba playing with a pink driver (charity) is one of those guys in sport who is worth the price of admission. Barry Sanders, Mohammed Ali, Gretzky, Lemieux, George Best, Arnold Palmer, Tiger were all those kinds of guys, liable to do something jaw dropping special. Bubba with the Blue Monster in a less severe wind, with soft greens and fairways just shredded it with an array of shots that was unbelievable.
On the par 5 8th, he drove the ball dead into the wind 307 yards dead straight, nobody else in the field was within 20 yards, then he stood on a 3 iron from 225 that was never more than 20 feet off the ground, a shot he described as dead straight, over the water to 10 feet, made the putt for eagle.. special..
Lot's of guys made their moves, Kaymer 64 now at -7, Tiger who didn't get all he could have out of his round, 67 now -5, Luke was solid if unspectacular 68, now -6, Rory started eagle, birdie, said he couldn't get the speed of the greens right 69, now -2, Thomas Bjorn whom I tipped yesterday had another steady 68, still without a bogey, now -8. Mickelson 71 is at -1
All in all there are 19 guys going down to Tiger at -5 who are within 7 shots of Bubba going into the weekend, and that doesn't include Rory or Lee Westwood who recovered with a 67 of his own on Friday to stand at -1
The weather for Saturday has the wind at 20kph from the east by this afternoon, which is the tough wind, Friday it swung to the SSE which made 18 easier. It is dead calm in Miami at 6am this morning, all being said it looks like another day to go low.
Notable pairings for Saturday, Rory and GMac, Tiger and Stricker, Bubba and Rose again, Scott and Peter Hanson who shot 65 and is quietly at -9, my guy Bjorn and Bradley both at -8. It will be another fun day at Doral and please note the tee times are moved up from 11am to begin at 745am.
for live scoring click here....http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/leaderboards/current/r473/
round 3 tee times click.. http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/tournaments/r473/tee-times.html
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
(with notes from pgatour.com)
Thursday, March 8, 2012
The Blue Monster plays tough at windy Doral...live scoreboards Doral and Puerto Rico
The east, southeast wind at Doral has been blowing through the Miami area all week and is scheduled to continue throughout the weekend. It dominated the story from round 1 at Doral where Adam Scott and Jason Dufner managed it better than the rest of the field to lead at -6 66, 2 shots ahead of Charl Schwartzel and Thomas Bjorn, who was bogey-free at -4 68. Watch out for Thomas this weekend, he is an excellent wind player.
The first hole, downwind par 5 529yds is merely a 350 yd drive and a short iron for these guys, making par was giving the field at least a stroke. Flip the coin to the tough 18th a 467yd par 4 with the huge lake bordering the left, palm trees and heavy rough to the right and the wind blowing at 30kph across the hole, there were more bogeys, double-bogeys and triple-bogeys (a total of 42) than there were pars (30); the stroke average of 4.743 was higher than that for the par-5 first hole (4.743). Only a dozen players managed to break 70, and a dozen more broke par. The average score was 72.7
Charl Schwartzel who hit one of the best drives on 18 that I saw all day played it in driver, 5 iron for a par 4 to stand at -4 68...."That's as tough a wind as you can play it in," he said. "If you bail, you are probably going to make bogey anyway. It's one of those where you have to just take it on. I ran off there with a 4. I'm very happy"
Luke Donald who I watched hit his drive safely to the corner of the dogleg left, but well back picks up the story ""Well, I hit 3-wood into 18, par 4, and I hit 7-iron into the first, which is a par 5. So, obviously, when you get this sort of east, southeast wind, it just plays very tough." He was at -4 coming into the 18th, but hit that 3 wood into the pond , made double to end up -2 70, which was the best of the big 3 pairing, Lee Westwood made bogey on his first 3 holes (9-11), fought back but ended up at +4 76, while our new #1, Rory McIlroy said he felt flat, but still got around in +1 73 with you guessed it, birdie at the first, bogey at the last .
Tiger, who has won this event 6 times, started with an eagle on the first, also made bogey on 18, like all the guys had trouble pulling the right club and also three-putted twice, but battled around in his very smart all black with white belt shoes and hat outfit, to par 72, 6 shots back, and Phil Mickelson is also at E 72 with a double, 2 bogey's and 4 birdies, and a par on 18 !!..
What a round, or should I say finish for Sergio. He was one shot out of the lead at -5 through 12 holes. He didn't hit a fairway the rest of the way, nor did he make so much as a par. He followed five straight bogeys by hitting two shots into the water on the 18th and taking triple bogey. Over that six-hole stretch, Garcia went from being -5 to +3,75
Steve Stricker was at -6 at one point until he made bogey at 13, 17 and 18 summed it up..The course is playable," he said. "You can see it in the scores. It's still playable, whether we have this wind or not, so it's manageable out there, and you just have to play hard and play well."
live scoring at WGC Cadillac Championship http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/leaderboards/current/r473/index.html
The pairings remain the same for Friday, except they flip nines, so the guys who started on 10 Thursday, start on 1 Friday with that downwind par 5.
round 2 tee times http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/tournaments/r473/tee-times.html
While all eyes are on the WGC at Doral, the rest of the guys are at the Puerto Rico Open including 3 Canucks, Graham Delaet T8 -3 69, Stephen Ames T83 +2 74 and Matt McQuillan T127, +7 79.
The leaders at -6 66 are Matt Jones of Australia and George McNeil from the States..
live scoring at the Puerto Rico Open click http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r483/
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
(with notes from pgatour.com)
The first hole, downwind par 5 529yds is merely a 350 yd drive and a short iron for these guys, making par was giving the field at least a stroke. Flip the coin to the tough 18th a 467yd par 4 with the huge lake bordering the left, palm trees and heavy rough to the right and the wind blowing at 30kph across the hole, there were more bogeys, double-bogeys and triple-bogeys (a total of 42) than there were pars (30); the stroke average of 4.743 was higher than that for the par-5 first hole (4.743). Only a dozen players managed to break 70, and a dozen more broke par. The average score was 72.7
Charl Schwartzel who hit one of the best drives on 18 that I saw all day played it in driver, 5 iron for a par 4 to stand at -4 68...."That's as tough a wind as you can play it in," he said. "If you bail, you are probably going to make bogey anyway. It's one of those where you have to just take it on. I ran off there with a 4. I'm very happy"
Luke Donald who I watched hit his drive safely to the corner of the dogleg left, but well back picks up the story ""Well, I hit 3-wood into 18, par 4, and I hit 7-iron into the first, which is a par 5. So, obviously, when you get this sort of east, southeast wind, it just plays very tough." He was at -4 coming into the 18th, but hit that 3 wood into the pond , made double to end up -2 70, which was the best of the big 3 pairing, Lee Westwood made bogey on his first 3 holes (9-11), fought back but ended up at +4 76, while our new #1, Rory McIlroy said he felt flat, but still got around in +1 73 with you guessed it, birdie at the first, bogey at the last .
Tiger, who has won this event 6 times, started with an eagle on the first, also made bogey on 18, like all the guys had trouble pulling the right club and also three-putted twice, but battled around in his very smart all black with white belt shoes and hat outfit, to par 72, 6 shots back, and Phil Mickelson is also at E 72 with a double, 2 bogey's and 4 birdies, and a par on 18 !!..
What a round, or should I say finish for Sergio. He was one shot out of the lead at -5 through 12 holes. He didn't hit a fairway the rest of the way, nor did he make so much as a par. He followed five straight bogeys by hitting two shots into the water on the 18th and taking triple bogey. Over that six-hole stretch, Garcia went from being -5 to +3,75
Steve Stricker was at -6 at one point until he made bogey at 13, 17 and 18 summed it up..The course is playable," he said. "You can see it in the scores. It's still playable, whether we have this wind or not, so it's manageable out there, and you just have to play hard and play well."
live scoring at WGC Cadillac Championship http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/leaderboards/current/r473/index.html
The pairings remain the same for Friday, except they flip nines, so the guys who started on 10 Thursday, start on 1 Friday with that downwind par 5.
round 2 tee times http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/tournaments/r473/tee-times.html
While all eyes are on the WGC at Doral, the rest of the guys are at the Puerto Rico Open including 3 Canucks, Graham Delaet T8 -3 69, Stephen Ames T83 +2 74 and Matt McQuillan T127, +7 79.
The leaders at -6 66 are Matt Jones of Australia and George McNeil from the States..
live scoring at the Puerto Rico Open click http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r483/
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
(with notes from pgatour.com)
Weir is off to the Costa del Sol for his European Tour debut.
Mike Weir is set to make his 2012 European Tour debut next week at the Open de Andalucia Costa del Sol event in Span.
The Masters champion will be one of five major winners in the field at the Aloha Golf Club which includes European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal, Open champion Paul Lawrie and U.S. Open champions Michael Campbell and Rich Beem.
The tournament will mark a return to Spain for Weir, who captured the 2000 WGC-American Express Championship when it was played at Valderrama. The Brights Grove, Ont., golfer held off Lee Westwood by two strokes to triumph over a world class field that included Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods and Nick Price.
"I'm looking forward to returning to Spain next week," said Weir. "I have very fond memories of winning a World Golf Championship event early in my career, and it will be special to play there again. I have always enjoyed the golf courses in Spain and have heard that Aloha is an outstanding golf course. It will be a fun week."
Weir is taking advantage of a 12-year exemption on the European Tour given to him for his 2003 Masters victory. He is using European Tour events to fill out his 2012 golf schedule as he attempts to regain his full PGA Tour status after almost two injury filled seasons.
After a difficult 2011 season, Weir made the decision last fall to undergo elbow surgery after withdrawing from the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Vancouver. He returned just over six months later in January of this year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am but has missed the cut in all three PGA events he's played in.
The Masters champion will be one of five major winners in the field at the Aloha Golf Club which includes European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal, Open champion Paul Lawrie and U.S. Open champions Michael Campbell and Rich Beem.
The tournament will mark a return to Spain for Weir, who captured the 2000 WGC-American Express Championship when it was played at Valderrama. The Brights Grove, Ont., golfer held off Lee Westwood by two strokes to triumph over a world class field that included Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods and Nick Price.
"I'm looking forward to returning to Spain next week," said Weir. "I have very fond memories of winning a World Golf Championship event early in my career, and it will be special to play there again. I have always enjoyed the golf courses in Spain and have heard that Aloha is an outstanding golf course. It will be a fun week."
Weir is taking advantage of a 12-year exemption on the European Tour given to him for his 2003 Masters victory. He is using European Tour events to fill out his 2012 golf schedule as he attempts to regain his full PGA Tour status after almost two injury filled seasons.
After a difficult 2011 season, Weir made the decision last fall to undergo elbow surgery after withdrawing from the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Vancouver. He returned just over six months later in January of this year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am but has missed the cut in all three PGA events he's played in.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Light hearted look at round 1 tee times WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral
tee times for WGC Cadillac at Doral http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/tournaments/r473/tee-times.html
I count 74 players in the field and here are the pairings that I will be most interested in and why.. They are off split tees and because it's a limited WGC field the first tee time scheduled is very comfy 11am.
Off #1
12:10 pm Rose, Justin Watson, Bubba Wilson, Mark .. Mark will be hitting into the green first all day...
12:20 pm Day, Jason Johnson, Dustin Schwartzel, Charl .. 3 great young guns, should be a birdie fest, but who'll have the beard this week ??..
12:30 pm Kaymer, Martin Stricker, Steve Simpson, Webb .. 3 of the most boring guys, but they produce such great golf, would love to slip a mickey of vodka into their water bottles ..
12:40 pm Woods, Tiger Watney, Nick Garcia, Sergio .. in the past at least Sergio and Tiger had chicks to talk about...
Off #10
11:10 am Quiros, Alvaro Stanley, Kyle Woodland, Gary .. even the Blue Monster isn't big enough for these nukes..
11:20 am Mahan, Hunter Scott, Adam Mickelson, Phil ..Mick and Hunter are hot... Mick player of the month..if Hunter wins again, Mick and Adam switch to the Nome..
11:50 am McIlroy, Rory Donald, Luke Westwood, Lee ... "1,2,3 . that's how elementary it's gonna be ".. Nice touch guys.
12:00 pm Fowler, Rickie Poulter, Ian Goosen, Retief .. Poully needs his best threads to keep up with el PUMA..
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
I count 74 players in the field and here are the pairings that I will be most interested in and why.. They are off split tees and because it's a limited WGC field the first tee time scheduled is very comfy 11am.
Off #1
12:10 pm Rose, Justin Watson, Bubba Wilson, Mark .. Mark will be hitting into the green first all day...
12:20 pm Day, Jason Johnson, Dustin Schwartzel, Charl .. 3 great young guns, should be a birdie fest, but who'll have the beard this week ??..
12:30 pm Kaymer, Martin Stricker, Steve Simpson, Webb .. 3 of the most boring guys, but they produce such great golf, would love to slip a mickey of vodka into their water bottles ..
12:40 pm Woods, Tiger Watney, Nick Garcia, Sergio .. in the past at least Sergio and Tiger had chicks to talk about...
Off #10
11:10 am Quiros, Alvaro Stanley, Kyle Woodland, Gary .. even the Blue Monster isn't big enough for these nukes..
11:20 am Mahan, Hunter Scott, Adam Mickelson, Phil ..Mick and Hunter are hot... Mick player of the month..if Hunter wins again, Mick and Adam switch to the Nome..
11:50 am McIlroy, Rory Donald, Luke Westwood, Lee ... "1,2,3 . that's how elementary it's gonna be ".. Nice touch guys.
12:00 pm Fowler, Rickie Poulter, Ian Goosen, Retief .. Poully needs his best threads to keep up with el PUMA..
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
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