Golf International Magazine Online

October 2006 - Posts

• This Week Golf Is All About The Money

  The Chrysler Championship is the final full-field event of the year, a time for players to pay more attention to dollars and cents than birdies and bogeys. The bottom 120 spots on the money list will be determined, with significant stops down the ladder at No. 30 (Tour Championship), No. 40 (Masters invitation), No. 125 (full status next year) and No. 150 (conditional status). Paul Azinger has been down this road before. Two years ago, he was No. 123 on the money list and seemingly in good shape until a bogey on his 17th hole and a three-putt bogey on his final hole that caused him to miss the cut by one shot. He screamed in disgust as he walked off the course, and the real agony set in two days later when he wound up at No. 126. He's trying not to pay too much attention to the money list, and that much was clear when he picked up a copy of it on a table and casually scanned the players around him. "Is it that close?" he asked. "Are you kidding me?" Azinger is just under $22,000 ahead of Bubba Dickerson (No. 125), but at least he has a chance. Dickerson, a former U.S. Amateur champion, is the third alternate this week and might not get a chance to tee it up. If any of the three players behind him -- Brian Bateman, John Cook or Mark Calcavecchia -- so much as make the cut, Dickerson loses his card. "I've got one week to play good," Azinger said. "It's in my hands." How much does each shot matter? No sooner had Azinger put down his copy of the money list than he recalled Las Vegas two weeks ago, when he had a 10-foot birdie putt on the last hole. He missed it, which cost him about $20,000. "I know I'm one shot away from not being in this position," he said. The nail-biting starts Thursday on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook, a worthy test for the winner, a roller coaster for those who are on the various bubbles: Top 30 -- Joe Durant's victory at Disney moved him up 37 spots to No. 29 on the money list, and he looks fairly comfortable with a $185,018 lead on the guy at No. 31 (Tim Clark). Ernie Els is between them, playing for the first time since he finished fifth at the American Express Championship last month. Els has played Innisbrook once, but calls it his favorite PGA Tour course in Florida. Clark has missed the cut twice and finished 11th in Tampa. Top 40 -- A month ago, Troy Matteson only wanted to keep his PGA Tour card. Then he won in Las Vegas, tied for second at Disney and now has Georgia on his mind. Going to East Lake for the Tour Championship would require at least a third-place finish, but what Matteson really wants is a trip to Augusta National. Here's where the ulcers come in. Matteson was alone in second at Disney until a bogey on the last hole. The tie cost him $92,000, sending him from 36th to 42nd on the money list, an example of how every shot counts in the final few weeks. Tour rookies Camilo Villegas (No. 37) and Nathan Green (No. 38) appear to be safe. Vaughn Taylor is at No. 39, feeling even more pressure since he lives in Augusta. On the bubble is Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman, who gave up at least $35,500 (last-place money) when he withdrew from the American Express Championship last month to attend Byron Nelson's funeral. Had he not left Europe early, Lehman would be No. 36 on the money list. Top 125 -- The bubble belongs to Dickerson, and it could burst Thursday if three more players don't withdraw. It would be awful if a guy at No. 125 on the money list doesn't get a chance to play in the final tournament, but like everything else in golf, players have no one to blame but themselves. Dickerson has played 32 times this year and has only three top 10s, which explains why he is so low on the pecking order for getting into this tournament. And he did himself no favors last week at Disney. After opening with rounds of 66-68, he closed with 72-78 to tie for 71st and move up only two spots. Cook is at No. 127 and has the advantage of getting a sponsor's exemption. The other exemption went to Duffy Waldorf at No. 130, both reaping the rewards of supporting the tour for a combined 44 years. Top 150 -- Henrik Bjornstad is the first PGA Tour player from Norway, but maybe not much longer. He is at No. 150 by a scant $3,401 over Tag Ridings, and Bjornstad is in a worse predicament than Dickerson as the seventh alternate. Ridings has come through in the clutch before at Tampa. Two years ago, he was at No. 190 when he birdied seven of the last 10 holes for a 64 in the final round of the Chrysler Championship, tied for 11th and earned just enough money to finish at No. 125. Conditional status is not the end of the world. Guys who finish between No. 126 and No. 150 drop in the pecking order behind those who earn cards through Q-school or the Nationwide Tour. Briny Baird finished at No. 126 a year ago and got into 25 tournaments this year, earning enough to be No. 100 to secure his card. Finish outside the top 150, however, and punch a ticket to the second stage of Q-school, or spend next year either begging for exemptions or chopping it around the Nationwide Tour. Now that's pressure. Posted Oct 27 2006, 03:20 PM by Golf International with no comments Filed under: Golf International, Chrysler Championship

• I Bet You 100 Pesos I Make This Putt

  Lorena Ochoa was kicking herself for making a mistake at a time when she couldn't afford any. Two shots behind the best player in women's golf, with Annika Sorenstam in a bunker on the 10th hole at Bighorn, Ochoa hit an 8-iron some 60 feet left of the flag to seemingly lose her advantage. Only when she started pacing the putt did her attitude change. "I bet you 100 pesos I make this," she told her caddie. The ball streaked across the green, banged into the back of the hole and hopped out for the briefest second before disappearing for a birdie that changed everything in the Samsung World Championship. Ochoa walked off the green in a tie, birdied the next hole to take her first lead, then pulled away from Sorenstam down the stretch to close with a 7-under 65 and win by two shots Sunday for her fifth victory of the year. "Luck, it's important to have," Ochoa said. "When you play Annika, you got to do all those things. Make a long putt, good driving, get lucky bounces. And I did that." Ochoa said it was her biggest win of the year, a strong statement considering she won in her native Mexico last week, which felt like a major championship with so much pressure playing at home. This certainly had more riding on the outcome. Sorenstam is a member at Bighorn, was unbeaten on the desert course, had a three-shot lead going into the final round and was trying to set an LPGA Tour record by winning the same tournament for the sixth time. "Being three shots back is not an easy thing," Ochoa said. "To overcome and win the tournament, and it's my fifth win in the season, and player-of-the-year points are very important ... for sure, my biggest 18 holes." Sorenstam has been the LPGA Player of the Year the last five years, but that could be about to change. Ochoa now has a comfortable lead in the points-based race, and Sorenstam will have to win her last two tournaments to have any chance. The 24-year-old Mexican also has a big lead on the money list at more than $2.3 million, $434,646 ahead of Sorenstam. The Swede will have to win the season-ending ADT Championship, a new gimmick this year that pays $1 million to the winner. But the biggest prize for Ochoa was beating Sorenstam in a fascinating duel in the desert. "I really don't know what to say other than just to congratulate Lorena on a great performance and a great week and a great year," Sorenstam said after closing with a 70 that featured three bogeys. "I'm probably as disappointed as you can be. It just doesn't get any worse than this. I gave it all I had this week. She just played very, very well." They had played in the final group only two previous times. Ochoa stumbled badly in losing at Phoenix last year, and Sorenstam got her again when they played this summer in Sweden. All signs pointed to another victory for Sorenstam at Bighorn, but Ochoa had other ideas. One of the most dynamic players on the LPGA Tour, a superior putter, Ochoa was a mixture of calm and confidence. She started by making a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 1, then nearly holed a putt from 70 feet on No. 2. Then came the par-5 third, when Ochoa knocked in a 45-foot eagle putt to peck away at the lead. Ochoa caught her with a two-shot swing on No. 5, making an 18-foot birdie putt as Sorenstam three-putted for bogey from 50 feet. The Swede showed some resiliency with birdies on the seventh and ninth to restore her lead. Then came the sudden shift at No. 10. "I was upset with myself," Ochoa said of her miss with the 8-iron. "I was walking and pacing the ball and I thought, 'I can make this one. Just turn it around.' It was a really long putt, and that probably was the biggest turn of the day." The final turn came on the 15th. Both players laid up on the par 5, but Sorenstam's sand wedge from 61 yards came up short below a ridge, and she three-putted for another bogey. Ochoa holed a 15-foot birdie, and suddenly had a three-shot lead with three holes to play. "I knew it was about time," Ochoa said. "I knew I could do it. We're breaking a barrier today. It's very important to me. It has extra meaning, for sure. I'll go home next week and celebrate it." Ochoa and Juli Inkster had the lowest score of the tournament. Inkster was 10 shots better than her playing partner, 17-year-old Michelle Wie, who closed with a 75 for her worst score on the LPGA Tour this year and her eighth consecutive round against women without breaking par. Wie finished 17th in the 20-player field. "Obviously, I'm not feeling as wonderful as I did," Wie said. "Like I said before, sometimes we have to take a step back in order to move forward. This is the time of year you don't play that great, your best, and all of a sudden you play good. I feel that's coming in me." Her final event of the year is the Casio World Open on the Japanese tour the week of Thanksgiving. For Ochoa, it was a huge step forward. She is in great shape to dethrone Sorenstam as player of the year, with the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average, and perhaps with the money title. And it might signal a new era on the LPGA Tour. Posted Oct 20 2006, 03:19 PM by Golf International with no comments Filed under: Golf International, Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa

• Coach Thinks Tiger Woods Can Still Improve

  Tiger Woods has won six U.S. PGA Tour events in a row and is producing some of the best golf of his career, but coach Hank Haney says there is still room for improvement. Haney, who helped guide Woods through a swing change that has revitalised his game, said the world number one has been hitting his irons so accurately that his short game has been neglected. "His iron placement has been pretty darn good all year. He's starting to eliminate his three-putts and keep those to a minimum," Haney told Reuters in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "That's been something that's been plaguing him at parts of the year, and then there's obviously the short game. "The better you hit it the fewer short-game opportunities you have and it seems like when that happens there's more pressure on those few short-game shots," said the Texan, who has been working with Woods for two and a half years. Haney helped Woods coordinate his swing, keeping it on a plane from backswing through downswing and taking pressure off his surgically-repaired left knee. After a 2003 season in which Woods won five U.S. Tour events but no majors, he won just twice the following year and his major drought continued. Last year he started getting comfortable with the swing changes and won six times on the Tour and added the Masters and British Open to his major haul. It all came together this summer after taking some time off due to the death of his father Earl. "Before a major it is more intense, usually about 10 hours a day," said Haney, adding that Woods also put in another two hours a day on physical conditioning. Haney said it took courage for a player like Woods to rework his swing. "It does take a lot to make that commitment and that's not a commitment that every player will make," he said. "Some people are real comfortable where they are. Tiger is not worried about where he's been or where he is. "His mind only thinks about how he could improve and he's not ever scared to take a chance to get better. I think that's one of the things that makes him a little different." Posted Oct 13 2006, 03:17 PM by Golf International with no comments Filed under: Golf International, Tiger Woods, Hank Haney

• Another Streak For Tiger Woods

  Another shot safely on the green, Tiger Woods gazed toward the darkening sky in mid-afternoon when he heard the rumble of thunder from the horizon. "We've gotten lucky so far," he said. Within 20 minutes, the siren sounded to halt play at the American Express Championship, which was as close as anything came to stopping him. And even Mother Nature eventually relented. Right now, there is no stopping him. Threatened only by weather that twice delayed the inevitable, Woods turned in his most complete performance of an amazing year by closing with a 4-under 67 to win for the sixth straight time on the PGA Tour, matching the second-longest streak in tour history. Woods now is 109 under par during his streak. The only suspense on a dreary day north of London was how the other numbers would stack up. The margin of victory was eight shots over Adam Scott and Ian Poulter, the biggest blowout for Woods since he won by 11 shots at the 2003 Bay Hill Invitational. He finished at 23-under 261, his second-lowest score over 72 holes in his PGA Tour career. Woods went 36 consecutive holes without missing a green, a streak that ended on No. 12 right before the second delay, when he pulled his approach into a bunker and made the only bogey of his final round. "This was a fun week," he said. "I hit the ball really well -- all 72 holes, really. It's fun when you can control your golf ball that well." Another streak ended on the 567-yard closing hole, which Woods referred to as a long par 3 after he made eagle the first three rounds. This time, his chip from just short of the green rolled past the cup by a few feet, and he had to settle for birdie. But that's not the streak that mattered. In a week remembered for the death of Byron Nelson, Woods' sixth straight PGA Tour victory rekindled curiosity whether Lord Byron's record in 1945 of 11 consecutive victories really is untouchable. Woods wasn't ready to touch that one -- yet. "It's still a long way away," he said with a laugh. "If you look at it, I'm barely halfway. What he did was absolutely remarkable, and I'm just thrilled that I've been able to win six in a row twice. That to me is a pretty neat accomplishment in itself." He also won the final four PGA Tour events in 1999 and his first two starts in 2000. Ben Hogan won six straight in 1948. Woods' victory sent him past Nelson, Hogan, Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer with his third PGA Tour season of at least eight victories. Woods won eight times in 1999 and nine times in 2000. "He's dominating the game," Scott said. "It's not the first time he's done it, either." The only hope Woods offered was when the trophy was securely in his hands. After playing seven times in the last nine week, he's ready to take a vacation. "I'm getting away for a little bit," Woods said. "As far as golf, I've had enough of it for a while." His next tournament might be the Tour Championship at the end of October, where he can match his 2000 total of nine victories. Still undecided is whether he will play Disney in three weeks. Skipping that tournament, which has never been his favorite, would leave him one round short of being eligible for the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average. Asked how much that award meant, Woods replied, "Not much." "I've had a good year," he said. "But if you don't play enough rounds, you don't play enough rounds." He might come up short because of missing the cut at the U.S. Open for the first time in a major. That was his first tournament back since his father died of cancer in May, and Woods has been nearly unstoppable since then. The only two tournaments he didn't win were the Western Open (a tie for second) and the World Match Play Championship two weeks ago at Wentworth, a European Tour event that does not count toward his PGA Tour streak. Woods successfully defended his title for the fifth time this year, and he is 10-of-15 in World Golf Championships that are stroke play. He won at The Grove the first two days by opening with rounds of 63-64 to build a five-shot lead, and never giving anyone else much hope. The closest anyone got to him on a dreary afternoon in this village north of London was Jim Furyk, his Ryder Cup partner. Furyk got within five shots through five holes and was at 15 under when his approach to the sixth buried in lush grass on the side of a hill. The entire group searched for the ball, and it was located only because Ian Poulter inadvertently stepped on it. By rule, Furyk had to drop the ball in the same spot without penalty because of the outside interference. Furyk then told rules official Mike Shea he was taking a one-stroke penalty for an unplayable lie because he would not have been able to play it had the group found the ball without Poulter stepping on it. He went back to the fairway and got up-and-down for bogey. "I just felt like it was definitely taking advantage of the situation," Furyk said. "Ian did me a favor by finding the ball. Stepping on it probably was the only way we were going to get it. All that went through my mind, and I felt like I did the right thing." Furyk closed with a 69 and finished fourth at 270. Woods improved to 38-3 when he has at least a share of the lead going into the last round, and he has never lost when leading by more than one. Any thoughts about a collapse ended early, when Woods hit a long iron from 225 yards on the par-5 second that dropped softly over a bunker and stopped 3 feet away. In one of his rare mistakes, Woods hit the putt too hard and it lipped out, making him settle for birdie. The person carrying the scoreboard got confused and posted 20 under next to Brett Quigley's name, which came as a shock to some of the fans pressed behind the ropes down the third fairway. Those who had been following Woods all week knew better. Posted Oct 06 2006, 03:16 PM by Golf International with no comments Filed under: Golf International, Tiger Woods