Stat profiles for 1500 golfers
49-year-old short hitter Corey Pavin is somehow under par and in the top 15
Corey Pavin got a courtesy invitation to the PGA Championship as captain of the 2010 U.S. Ryder Cup team. You would think it would just be a ceremonial appearance, like it was for European captain Colin Montgomerie, who missed the cut. But Pavin has just wrapped up a third-round 71 and is currently tied for 12th at 1-under. That's fourth among Americans, which means he is so far outplaying most of the players who will be on his team next year.
It's an extraordinary performance by a 49-year-old who is the shortest hitter on Tour by 10 yards with a 259-yard average. It's a very different type of appearance at Hazeltine than the U.S. Open in 1991, a year when Pavin was the Player of the Year. That time he was just one stroke back after 36 holes with 71-67, then suffered a 79 in the third round and ended up tied for eighth. That was a disappointment, but a top-10 finish this time would be reason for celebration.
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Tiger Woods is letting his challengers creep closer; Vijay Singh shaky on the short ones.
A few thoughts after the front nine on Saturday:
How often do you see a pro leave a four-foot putt short? You might be able to count them on one hand, but that's what Vijay Singh did with his birdie putt on the ninth hole. He also had a miss from three feet on the fifth hole. No doubt he'll be trying not to leave himself any putts in the throw-up zone on the back nine.
With scoring conditions pretty good, Tiger Woods did the field a favor by shooting only even par on the front nine, letting three players creep within two strokes. He missed a slick three-foot par putt on the fourth, but even more damaging perhaps were his failures to capitalize on the seventh and ninth holes, settling for pars. He drove into the rough on the easily reachable par-five seventh, forcing a layup, and spun a sand wedge approach back off onto the fringe on the ninth.
Lee Westwood is wearing a shirt straight out of NASCAR. He's got logos in five places: both chests, both sleeves, and the back. It's distracting to look at.
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A look at the Iphone application which is not worth the money and Kangaroo TV, which should be the basis of future Iphone applications.
Chaska, Minn. A couple of technical products have been seen at the PGA Championship this week and since I love technical stuff, I thought that I would give them a try.
Now before we tell you about the products, we have to look at the innovation of golf products and frankly the grade is very poor. The PGA Tour has always been behind the scale that is led by Major League Baseball, who have taken their product and brought it to a new era with creative technology in which folks can view every game on computers and now Iphones. They have set the curve on the way stats are distributed and frankly make the PGA Tour look like a joke. It seems the tour has to watch others come out with other products before they get off the dime and bring a product to their fans. Yes they will argue on this but golf doesn't have a revenue stream like other sports in computer and Iphone products that people would love to buy.
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Now the Iphone and Ipod has been a staple of the American culture for years now and we still haven't seen an Iphone application from the PGA Tour, guess they are too busy trying to make a buck "Twittering" instead of coming out with something innovative and could create the revenue stream that MLB has created.
The Masters and U.S. Open had an applications and frankly they are OK, still nothing more impressive with distributing an array of information, stats and video's like MLB. The first thing that would be nice is getting the radio telecast of the championship, maybe even the telecast. What is a problem, the powers to be think they just have to put what is on the internet and frankly that is a problem. So these Iphone applications are nothing more than putting what is on the internet on the Iphone.
Now the Iphone application from the PGA Championship has one really big problem, they charge $1.99 for nothing more than an application that you can get for free on PGA.Com. What is scary is the thought that some genius will think that they can charge for the internet just like the Iphone. Now there are a thing or two that are on this application like personal alerts that you can program but this isn't that great because you aren't going to be following the PGA Championship from your Iphone. So what the PGA of America has done is give a slap to the face of it's fans to charge them $1.99, even though it won't break the bank of anyone that has an Iphone it's not going to help spread the buzz of the PGA Championship. On top of that to pay $1.99 for around 5 days is a joke and I wish that I could get by money back.
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I talked with several people that had this Kangaroo TV and they all loved it and said how much it enhanced their experience of watching the PGA Championship even though they were at the event. On top of that the technology of the TV is made not to bother golfers because there aren't any speakers on the unit and you have to wear a headset to get the audio.
So is this the future of golf? I hope so, in talking with a representative of American Express they expressed how much positive feedback they have gotten with this product. I know that I have used it before at the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship last year, but they have made this product even better and it's pretty near perfect. I know that this year when TNT and CBS weren't on the air they had Golf Channel which gave a lot of good features and things.
Frankly the PGA Tour has to look at this technology for an Iphone application. Now I fear that their TV contracts may prevent them from making this product possible but in the course of a poor economy if they would offer the networks a percent of the profits, I would bet you that the networks would have a change of heart on this. But that always seems to be the problem with the Tour, they aren't willing to give any money back to their partners.
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It's hard to find any encouraging signs for Tiger Woods' challengers based on past history
I knew it was an impossible mission, but I searched Tiger Woods' records when holding the 36-hole lead for any glimmers of hope for the players chasing him. All I can say is, play hard, guys.
Woods is 8-for-8 in majors, but, hey, he's only 32 of 38 overall, right? Maybe you can point to the 2004 Wachovia Championship, where he had a two-stroke lead after shooting 69-66, then shot 75-68 and missed a playoff by one stroke. That's the only time he's lost more than a one-stroke 36-hole lead, but he's four ahead this weekend at Hazeltine.
Woods also lost a 36-hole lead at the 2004 Byron Nelson. But here's the rub: Those two losses came in a year when he was going through a swing change and won only one tournament. In other words, he wasn't the normal Tiger Woods.
Since then, he's reeled off 12 in a row when leading after 36. What's more, he had reeled off 18 in a row before 2004. Yes, he's 30 of his last 32 when ahead at the mid-point.
Woods started his career 2-for-6 when holding the 36-hole lead, but all occurred in his first three years, which is ancient history. By the way, he was only tied for the lead in three of those. Of his six career losses when holding or sharing the 36-hole lead, only three have come when he led outright.
In major championships, he has led eight times at the 36-hole mark and his average third round on those occasions has been 69.25, with six sub-par and two even-par rounds.
The bottom line is that the only realistic chance is a heroic final two rounds by one of his challengers. The enduring problem of chasing Tiger Woods in a major is that going for heroics on a major championship course set-up is courting disaster.
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John Daly may have been gone, but he wasn’t forgotten. His patrons from apparel maker Loudmouth Golf were still on the Hazeltine grounds Friday, in all their glory.
Alan Wallace, vice president of sales for Loudmouth, had toned it down somewhat, wearing lime green and yellow checked pants and matching yellow golf shirt. On Thursday he was sporting the company’s Aloha Girls pants, which retail for $90.
Wallace said Loudmouth sales are up 60 percent since the end of April. He wouldn’t divulge sales figures for the privately-held company, saying only Loudmouth has quadrupled its volume thanks to Daly.
Loudmouth apparel was available only via the 7-year-old company’s Web site (www.loudmouthgolf.com) until April, when it began to sign up retail accounts. Wallace said Loudmouth already is in 220 retail outlets, mostly golf shops and specialty shops, and the company has hired 17 sales reps.
“Not many people can say that in this economy,” Wallace said.
For the record, Wallace said Daly wore pants with a 42-inch waist when he signed on to endorse Loudmouth in April, and he’s now down to 36s.
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After last week you would of thought that European Tour official John Paramor would of laid low this week, nope he didn't and Asian player Thongchai Jaidee was his newest victim.
Thongchai Jaidee survived the curse of John Paramor.
Despite being prodded by the recently notorious European Tour referee to pick up the pace during Round 2 at Hazeltine, Jaidee posted a topsy-turvy, 4-over-par 76 and sits tied for 39th place, nine shots behind midway leader Tiger Woods.
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Harrington, of course, rushed his next couple of shots and made 8 on the hole, ceding the lead to Woods, who made birdie and went on to notch his 70th career title.
Paramor didn’t put Jaidee’s threesome on the clock, but he did warn them to hit the accelerator. Jaidee double-bogeyed that hole and the next, but the Asian Tour’s leading money winner from Thailand didn’t blame those results on being rushed.
“It was OK. If you don’t get a penalty, it’s OK,” said Jaidee, adding that Paramor was simply doing his job. “He’s a nice guy. I love John Paramor.”
Paramor said players have generally been supportive of his action at the Bridgestone.
“If nothing else, it has brought attention to the issue of slow play,” he said.
Paramor said Woods and Harrington walked past him on the 5th hole during Round 1 at Hazeltine, which was the first time he had seen either player since the incident at Firestone. He said Woods and caddie Steve Williams ignored him, but Harrington smiled and gave him a nod.
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So what does club pro Kevin Roman have in common with John Daly, not much.
CHASKA, Minn. – I’m typing today with a badly sprained wrist wrapped in an ice pack. I’m staying here in Minnesota with the coach of local high school girls’ tennis team, so we went to hit some balls. I know she has a competitive streak a mile wide, but I came into the net anyway. She tried to give me what Roger Clemens calls “the bow tie,” a screaming rocket towards the Adam’s apple, (named for the area at which it’s named). Pie-eyed with horror, I lurched out of the way, tripped over my own feet and broke my fall with my hand. When the cobwebs cleared, there I was for the second time in two days, flat on my back, legs splayed in an ungainly position, blinking stupidly.
Twenty years ago there would have been a Trinity College Women’s Lacrosse star in that picture with me. Sadly, times change.
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Guess what? That was one of the two holes where they were measuring driving distance. His 150 yard driving distance record may be a dubious record.
Oh well, at least Kevin beat John Daly and J.B. Holmes who both withdrew. Kevin may be a club pro, but it’s those down-home, grass-roots, green and grateful club pros that sometimes show us the true meaning of sportsmanship, not guys who run around the country looking for tournaments in which to shoot 84 and withdraw. The kid had a mortifying day, yet had a great attitude nevertheless. Take this interview snippet:
Jay: Talk about what you’ll take from the day that was good. What did you do right out there. What went well?
Kevin: I ate lunch well. I ate lunch great. I ate ice cream like a PGA Champion!
You have to admit, the kid has a great sense of humor about it. He twisted in the wind for five hours on the course, while twenty friends and members watched live and two cities watched via TV and Internet as Kevin sank deeper and deeper into the nether-reaches of the leaderboard. It was 18 lashes in the public square…well seventeen; he birdied the par-5 seventh
Still just a few hours removed from an experience that would have devastated a touring pro, there was Kevin, laughing with his wife, Donna, eating pasta with his members who made the trip, working the swing of a thirteen-year-old student of his, and yes, eating popsicle after popsicle with the same smile on his face and twinkle in his eye he had on the practice range all week.
Meanwhile, John Daly is down the road somewhere, who knows how many miles away and how many brain cells removed. Since – and these are his words – “beer doesn’t count,” his withdrawal leaves more time for drinking. Daly has now withdrawn from three majors. He has a long and consistent pattern quitting when the going gets tough. He has DQ'd himself from tournaments intentionally about a dozen times in his career by storming off without signing his scorecard.
There are few Holy Commandments of the professional game, but among them are “always play hard,” “always play with dignity, grace, class and sportsmanship,” and “always sign your card.” It's called being a pro: plain and simple, something Daly mocks every time he launches six balls into the water trying to reach a par-5 and takes an 18, something he mocks every time he does something else to call attention to himself, and something that dumbs down golf to a lowest common denominator and erodes the altruistic virtues and ethos the game has nurtured and promoted for centuries.
Daly may have a Claret Jug and a Wanamaker Trophy, but Kevin Roman is more of a role model. He’ll bust a gut to post a respectable score; Daly won’t even work up a good sweat. A true pro guts it out with the same grit and determination whether he shoots 87 or 67.
“I remember Bill Brodell, a club pro, qualified for the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and opened with an 88,” said pre-eminent sports writer Gary van Sickle. “He could have packed it in, but he didn’t he gutted it out. The next day, he got a hole-in-one at the seventh hole and is in the record books forever.” That’s called playing for pride, something every one of these club pros will do to their last breath. They don’t take one second of their time on tour for granted. The opportunity may never come again.
So maybe Kevin Roman won’t make the cut, but he’ll play with honor, pride, and class. You don’t tell the greatness of a man by what he does when times are good, but when times are tough. Heck, just today the run of lousy breaks continued. Just before his tee time, while standing around watching Ernie Els finish on 18, a drunken lugnut shouted “ERRRRRRRRRR-NIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!”, flailed his arms around like Neil Peart at a Rush concert, and splashed his Bloody Mary all over Kevin’s brand new Greg Norman-brand khaki slacks. Kevin just sluffed it off like it was nothing, another day in the office for a hrd working club pro.
Oh well. At least it beats looking up at the sky after nearly eating a tennis ball, and typing the rest of the week with one hand.
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With only two Americans on the first two pages of the leaderboard, it looks like the Olympics already
It's Tiger Woods and Lucas Glover against the world at the PGA Championship. At the moment, there are 17 players under par and Woods and Glover are the only Americans.
There are three from England (Ross Fisher, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter), two from South Africa (Ernie Els, Rory Sabbatini), two from Australia (Brendan Jones, Robert Allenby), and one each from Fiji (Vijay Singh), Northern Ireland (Rory McIlroy), Ireland (Padraig Harrington), Denmark (Soren Kjeldsen), Taiwan (Y.E. Yang), Germany (Martin Kaymer), Spain (Alvaro Quiros), and Sweden (Henrik Stenson).
What is this, the PGA Championship or a preview of golf in the Olympics?
As it happens, Ross Fisher just had a shot from the bank of a bunker on the 18th that Peter Kostis described as "like a baseball swing" because he had to stand in the bunker with the ball way above his feet. David Feherty chimed in with exactly what I was thinking. "I don't think Ross Fisher has played much baseball." Being from England and all.
Maybe he wished he had played baseball instead of cricket. Fisher ended up with a bogey on 18 for two straight bogeys to finish an otherwise excellent round of 68. He had moved into a tie for the lead before the stumble, but now Woods is in control.
From an American perspective, that's the guy you want up there when the gold medal is in sight.
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Spain's Alvaro Quiros is looking to overpower Hazeltine while introducing himself to the U.S. public
On Wednesday, I pointed out that with the extra-long par fives at Hazeltine, the longest bombers might have somewhat of an edge because they can reach or come close to the three par fives that range from 606 to 642 yards and not worry about the water in front of the green on the 578-yarder. The names I mentioned were J.B. Holmes, Bubba Watson, and Dustin Johnson.
I was remiss in not mentioning Spain's Alvaro Quiros, who is probably the longest of them all (he is averaging 316 yards on the European Tour). My first thought was to include him, but then I thought about the fact that he had missed the cut in the first three majors and maybe hadn't figured out how to play major championship courses yet. Apparently, he's figuring it out.
Quiros shot a 69 on Thursday and also gave a demonstration of his power by reaching the green in two on the 606-yard 11th hole, which was of note because it was playing into the wind. He did it with a driver from the fairway on the second shot.
It was love at first sight at Hazeltine for Quiros, who said he was 6-under for the first five holes of his first practice round and ended up "7 or 8 under" for the day. Wouldn't that have been some round in the tournament?
The 26-year-old has won a tournament in each of his first three years on the European Tour, and he's introducing himself to the American public this week (he's 1-under through two holes on Friday to tie for the lead at 4-under). Quiros at Hazeltine could be like Daly at Crooked Stick, minus the side issues.
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Sal, Dave and guest Jay Flemma discuss the first round of the PGA Championship, those not doing so well, and the Olympic Committee Golf Decision.
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