Tiger Keeps On Rolling, But Not Here

Hello. Tiger picked up his 4th win in a row Sunday at Firestone. While it wasn't the dominant performance of the PGA or British Open, it's still impressive. 5 career wins at Firestone. 52 career wins tying Byron Nelson. And no end in sight.
Actually, there is. Tiger plays his 3rd tournament in a row, his own Deutshce Bank, beginning Friday. This is after going to Ireland for some Ryder Cup team-building. He's got to be getting tired, especially after battling week after week.
That's why it didn't surprise me in the least when Tiger made his absence from next week's Canadian Open official. There is no way he was going to play in this event, either now or in the future. And he's not alone. Don't be surprised if Jim Furyk and others cancel out at the last minute. There's just no incentive to play in this event.
Why? As pointed out many times here, the only non-Canadian who cares about this event is Vijay Singh. The Canadian Open has lost the prestige it had as a national open. Now it's just another stop at a time of year when the big guys already have a lot of dough. The purse is too small, there's customs hassles, etc.
Get used to Tiger et al bailing from now on, especially if no company steps up to be title sponsor. As much as it pains me to say it, the Canadian Open is on the decline.

Regards,
Steve

Ramsay Breaks Rules To Win US Amateur

Hello. More Tiger talk tomorrow. Today I want to focus about Richie Ramsay, the new US Amateur champion, who defeated John Kelly of Missouri 4 & 2 in a 36-hole match.
Ramsay is from Scotland. He becomes the first Scot to win the US Amateur since 1898, when Douglas S Findlay won! Needless to say, he probably wasn't the favourite coming in. He also becomes the 3rd non-American in the last 4 years to win, joining Nick Flanagan of Australia and Edoardo Molinari of Italy. Ryan Yip of Canada lost to Kelly in the semifinals.
Ramsay took an unconventional route to get to the top. He attended a US college for one year, and found it wasn't up to his standards academically. He decided to go back to Scotland to complete his education.
He also suffered 2 rules violations. On the 16th hole in the quarter finals, his caddie touched his putting line, resulting in a loss of hole. And in the semis, he grounded his club inside the water hazard boundaries, also resulting in loss of hole.
Why are so many foreign players doing so well, especially those who haven't gone through the US college system? My theory is these schools are producing "Iron Byron" golfers, who hit the ball great on the driving range, but are unable to adapt to difficult weather and pressure situations. Ramsay was a shotmaker who was used to playing in less than ideal situations. As a result, he was able to execute shots the others could not.
When are the US colleges going to realize they have to change? There are no young Americans winning on the PGA. They aren't wining the US Amateur. They aren't winning period. It's time to change.

Regards,
Steve

In Memory of Terry

Hello. Terry passed away yesterday after a 3-year cancer battle. He was around 40. He leaves a wife and 2 daughters, ages 7 and 4 behind.
Terry was a golfer and a great curler. Last Saturday a golf tournament was held by Terry's friend John. They raised $15,000, a great amount considering John only began planning it a month ago when Terry took a turn for the worst.
Terry came on the Saturday night to see the tournament group. It was a great way for everyone to see him, as there was little trace of his illness that night. He stayed for hours. And in his final hours John came with the cheque and a photo album of the tournament. Truly the best of a bad situation was made.
When I think of his children and wife watching his battle, it's bittersweet. I've always said I wish I was the one who had cystic fibrosis instead of my kids. That is still true, and I'm sure Terry felt better knowing he had cancer instead of his family. However, watching him go through the battle must've been very difficult, knowing cancer was going to be the winner.
When I think of Terry and Darren Clarke's wife, I thank goodness golf is available for therapeutical reasons. What better way to forgot the most serious of problems and, in the case of the tournament, do something to help someone.
An old saying goes "Golf is not a matter of life and death. It's much more important". Well, no, it isn't. But it can help combat death's effects on the living.

Regards,
Steve

Greasy Ryder

Hello. Well, how many people are putting money on the US in the Ryder Cup? All indicators are not many. However, a closer look may mean things aren't as sure as what everyone thinks. The European team isn't set yet, so I'll just look at the US.
The US have two pairings that should stay intact for all 4 team matches - Chris DiMarco and Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk. These teams look better than anything Europe can come up with. They know the pressure's on them, and I expect them to come through in each match. That would give the US 4 team points. Add the fact that all 4 could win their individuals, and they alone could get 8 points. I think they're good for at least 6. Tiger doesn't like to lose, and with Furyk there to motivate him, it may be what's needed
That leaves 8.5 points needed from the remaining 4 team matches and 8 individual matches. If David Toms and Chad Campbell show their flashes of brilliance, and Stewart Cink and Scott Verplank perform like they have in past Ryder Cups, the 4 rookies may not have to do much for a US win. Worst case, this team will perform as well as the last few US teams have, which is bad.
The Euros have questions too. Sergio had a chance to shine in the British Open and PGA, and didn't. Monty may still be smarting from the US Open that got away. Darren Clarke may not even play due to the grief of losing his wife. Of course more will be known after their team is picked.
The US rookies may be what the US team needs. Time will tell.

Regards,
Steve

"Weir" Not Competitive

Hello. The rest of the field better either change or get used to where they are, because Tiger Woods is back in business. Actually, I think they have gotten used to where they are.
What would Europe look like today if Churchill had said "Hitler is undefeated so far, so I expect him to take England too"? Instead, he gave his famous "fight speech", rallied the English, and turned WWII around.
Why don't the other players realize they have to be warriors with a "win or die" mentality? Are they too complacent, already thinking they've made it since they're millionaires? Is life too soft for them?
I was really hoping Mike Weir would come in second. For a while it looked like he would do what Chris DiMarco did in the British Open. Then he faded on the back nine faster than a tank of gas. Maybe he was trying too hard. Then again, maybe he was resigned to the fact he wasn't going to win, like the rest of the top of the leaderboard seemed to be.
If I were a golf equipment sponsor on the PGA besides Nike, I'd be cutting everyone's endorsement money. The rest of the PGA Tour players are proving Tiger (with help from Nike) is superior to them.
It's time players realize Tiger may get rattled if he's challenged. Bob May took him to the limit in the 2000 PGA. Rich Beem held off Tiger in the 2002 PGA. Hal sutton held off Tiger in the 2000 Players Championship. It can be done, if you think it can. Otherwise, you might as well not start.

Regards,
Steve

Eldrick The Magician

Hello. Well what a performance by Eldrick Woods (also known as Tiger). To say he looked invincible this week is an understatement.
If I started rhyming off all the marks he set this week, it would take all day. Let's just chew on this one for a minute - he's the first player EVER to win multiple majors in consecutive years. No one before has ever done it. That's hard to comprehend, and one more reason I feel he's the best golfer ever. Of course, being 12-0 when leading a major after 3 rounds is a great stat too. More on that Tuesday.
Here's where Tiger stands related to the all-time greats in the major wins category:

• Tiger has 4 Masters wins. Only Jack Nicklaus with 6 has more.
• Tiger has 2 US Open wins. Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones have 4 each
• Tiger has 3 British Open wins. Harry Vardon has 6. Tom Watson and Peter Thomson have 5.
• Tiger has 3 PGA wins. Nicklaus and Walter Hagen have 5 each.

Next year's majors are at Augusta National (of course), Oakmont, Carnoustie and Southern Hills. Tiger struggled with everyone else at Carnoustie in 1999, and also at Southern Hills. Do you think he's itching to get revenge? Can you say Grand Slam?

It seems like a lifetime ago, but in June Tiger missed the cut, and Phil Mickelson was one par away from winning 3 majors in a row. Now it looks like no one else may win a major again.

One comment in Tiger's press conference stuck with me. He was asked if he felt sorry for the rest of the field. He said no. That's because Tiger is a golf warrior. With him it's win or die. Plus he knows whatever he does is news. He'll be hounded no matter what, so he might as well win.

Anybody want to bet against Tiger from now on? Barring injury, Tiger will be the favourite in every event he goes in from now on.

Regards,

Steve

Americans Rise From The Grave

Hello. Guess what Davis Love, Lucas Glover, Shaun Micheel and Stewart Cink have in in common. At this moment, they are the top 4 players in the PGA Championship. They are all surprises to me. As you've probably noticed, I've been down on the Americans not named Woods and Furyk. However, I'll be the first to admit I was wrong.
Love has to be the biggest surprise. He played the front 9 in 30, 6 under par. Here I thought he'd be a bad Ryder Cup captain's pick due to a very poor year. If he keeps this up, he'll be one of the team's strongest players.
Cink is another player who's been MIA. I can't remember the last time he contended. Now he's right there.
Micheel probably holds the distinction of being the only 1st time major winner thought less of than the no-major winner he beat, Chad Campbell. While Campbell has had a couple of impressive wins since, his major career is still lacking. Micheel faded faster than Y2K, yet here he is challenging.
Glover is the only one of these 4 who I would say was playing well in 2006. He's 26, and may be the future of American Ryder Cup teams.
Here's hoping they all hang on to strong showings. They'll have to play well, though, because guys named Woods, Mickelson and Ogilvy (and Jason Gore) are right behind.

Regards,
Steve

A Tale of Two Golf Courses

Hello. Yesterday I played at a well-manicured golf course in 3 hours and 50 minutes. Today I played at a course that had just been aerated in 5 hours. Other than the weather being perfect on both days, the rounds were as different as can be.
One was public, the other private. One was busy, the other quiet. One had guys talking on cellphones, the other had golfers with proper etiquette. One was tough to get a tee time on, the other you could walk right onto and play.
What surprised me is the private club had the issues, and the public club had no issues.
Why then should you pay a membership fee to follow guys talking on cellphones and walking like turtles, giving you plenty of time to look at a course destroyed by an aeration machine when you can go to a public course and play in ideal conditions for a green fee?
What makes things worse is the staff reaction when you tell them a group was 5 hours. Nothing. No threat to reduce their playing priviledges. No talking to them about cellphones on the golf course. Zippo. Zilch. Zero.
Why do we put up with it? I dunno. Next year I won't.

Regards,
Steve

PGA Championship Preview

Hello. Who do I like at the PGA this week? How about Tiger Woods? He's won his last 2 tournaments, 4 for the year, and won the PGA at Medinah in 1999. The course is over 7,500 yards, the longest ever, which also plays into his hands.
Who else will contend? I don't know either.
You really have to question which Americans will step up this week. Some definitely will in a bid to get on the Ryder Cup team. However, I'm not sure who they will be. There don't seem to be a lot of players ready to step up, as George White mentions in thegolfchannel.com.
Actually there is one other American who can contend - Jim Furyk. I don't think he can hit the ball far enough to push Tiger, but the rest of his game, physically and mentally, is right there. And Phil Mickelson can do a lot for his career if he comes through here.
As for non-Americans, I have to look at the Australians. It's been their year this year. I expect at least 3 of them to be in the top-10. Who they will be I have no idea. What a nice situation for them to be in. Canada and the US should be looking at their program thoroughly to see what they're doing.
My condolenses to Darren Clarke for the passing of his wife after a long battle with cancer. All the best in your grieving period.
It should be another exciting major. Let the golf begin!

Regards,
Steve

Ryder Cup Teams To Be Decided This Week

Hello. Congrats to Dean Wilson, Annika Sorenstam and Christie Kerr for winning in Colorado, Sweden and London, Ontario respectively.
Kerr's win featured a final round 65 to catch 71 hole leader Angela Stanford. An amazing score to say the least, coupled with an unfortunate meltdown. Stanford was at a loss afterwards. Let's hope every golfer who loses a tournament they had "in the bag" recovers.
As for Wilson and Sorenstam, they've been linked before. Wilson was one of two players to play with Sorenstam at the 2003 Colonial. Apparently they still keep in touch. Will Annika text-message Dean the way she does Tiger whenever they win? We'll see.
Wilson prevented Tom Lehman from qualifying for his own Ryder Cup team. If you're like me, you thought Lehman was long out of it. It just goes to show anything can happen with the new US team qualifying system.
This may make US players play especially hard this week at the PGA Championship, the final tournament of the year. The points are doubled, so a long shot can have a great week and make it.
Is this right? Well, as many people have said, the US team will probably do better than 2 years ago, when they were creamed 18.5 - 9.5. Time will tell. Obviously the Europeans have a great way of deciding their team, since they've been winning regularly.
Here's hoping everyone has a great week.

Regards,
Steve

Private Clubs Facing Dilemma

Hello. I found out that next week I cannot play at my private club on Monday and Tuesday because there are tournaments going on.
It leads me to a conclusion - private clubs face a dilemma. They want to have tournaments (especially charity ones) to be good citizens and to generate some revenue to keep membership fees lower. However, the members these tournaments help get upset as a result. And if there were no tournaments, not all of the membership would be happy with the higher fees.
This situation doesn't exist in public clubs. If a tournament has the club booked, then the player can pay fees at another public course with no loss of money. However, at a private club, I and other members have already "prepaid" to play at the club. If my cost/round is less than a green fee at the club (which it is), then it makes it tough to justify paying green fees elsewhere.
My pro is trying to see where else I can go to play. Hopefully he'll come through.
What can private clubs do to generate more revenue without disrupting member's play? Apparently the amount generated from the food/beverage end is not worth it, although I have my doubts. Adding another 9 or 18 holes would help, but it wouldn't be an option for all clubs. Maybe Internet marketing is the key. I'll give it some thought. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Regards,
Steve

Let The CN Canadian Women's Open Begin

Hello. Just looking at the field for the CN Canadian Women's Open. I must say I'm pleasantly surprised.
Missing are Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie, Karrie Webb and Lorena Ochoa. They are arguably the top 4 in women's golf today. However, there are good players there, including Se Ri Pak and Natalie Gulbis, both crowd favourites. Here's hoping there will be some names at the top of the list.
Kudos to CN for taking on sponsorship of this tournament, especially with its scheduled date the week after the Women's British Open. Their decision to increase the purse has helped with the field quality. It may take another $1M to get the top 4 in the field however.
Good luck in particular to North Halton's own Mary Ann Lapointe. If I listed all her accomplishments here, I'd run out of disk space. She is one of the most accomplished Canadian amateur golfers of all time, and was this year inducted into the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame. Good luck Mary Ann against this LPGA field.
Good luck too to Robbie Greenwell of North Halton in the upcoming Canadian and US Amateur championships. Robbie won our club championship by a mile this past weekend. I had the pleasure of playing with Robbie on the Friday before when he shot 67. He made the game look very easy. Continued success!

Regards,
Steve

Horses For Courses

Hello. Congrats to Sherri Steinhauer for winning the Women's British Open, and to Tiger Woods for winning his 50th title at the Buick Open.
What do these players have in common? After all, Tiger is only 30, and has just set the record for youngest ever to 50 wins. Steinhauer made this title win #7 in her career and at 43 will be hard pressed to get to 10 wins.
The answer is they have both won these titles before. For Steinhauer this is her 3rd Women's British Open, and 1st since it became a major. As for Tiger, it's his 2nd Buick Open, and he's never finished worse than 11th. Here are the other events he's won multiple times:

Mercedes (Kapalua Plantation)
Buick Invitational (Torrey Pines)
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship (La Costa)
Doral
Bay Hill
Masters (Augusta)
Memorial (Muirfield Village)
US Open (Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black)
Western Open (Coghill)
British Open (twice at St Andrews, Liverpool)
Buick Open (Michigan)
PGA (Medinah, Valhalla)
WGC-NEC Invitational (Firestone)
Disney (Palm and Magnolia)
WGC-American Express Invitational

Quite a list huh? Do you think Tiger will be favoured at the PGA at Medinah, since he won there in 1999? Me too.
We all have courses we do well on. Tour pros are no different. When in doubt, look for someone who has done well at a course in the past to do well again.

Regards,
Steve

Great Wolf Lodge a Great Place

Hello. Just got back from a stay at the Great Wolf Lodge at Niagara Falls. It just opened this spring. What a great spot! There's an indoor waterpark which includes slides of all sizes, a wave pool, a lazy river and other pools. A mini-golf course and a pool outside. And a lobby with a talking bear and moose! All of which you can walk to from your room. No need to worry about lugging stuff to a waterpark in the rain.
And what a great room! Ours had bunk beds for the kids. The inside of their room was shaped like a map. The outside was shaped like a tent. And they had their own TV, so we didn't have to fight over it with them. Our part had a doublebed, TV and a balcony.
For anyone who has single-digit-aged kids like me, there's a Cub Club where the kids can make crafts. There is story time at night, and Wiley the Wolf makes appearances throughout the day.
Did I mention there's ice cream? And other restaurants? All of which can be charged to your room using a wristband, which also serves as your room key. No need to carry a wallet or key in your bathing suit.
It's a great place for the whole family, especially if the kids are young like mine. Close to the Falls, and Dinosaur Park Mini-Golf, it's an ideal location. Someone definitely had their thinking caps on when they came up with this concept. Enjoy!

Regards,
Steve

Women's British Open Will Be The One To Watch

Hello. While the Buick in Michigan will be of much interest, the Women's British Open will be the one to watch this week. Here are the many questions that will be answered:

1. Can Karrie Webb keep it going? Webb would have to be Player of the Year right now after winning the Evian Masters. She won the Kraft Nabisco and lost the LPGA Championship in a playoff. An amzing year in the big events. Webb also gets Comeback Player of the Year.
2. Can Lorena Ochoa pull off a major? If Ochoa won this week, she'd be neck and neck with Webb. What a finish the rest of the season would be.
3. Can Annika win consecutive majors? If so, she could be headed to Player of the Year again.
4. Can Laura Davies keep it going? She must be encouraged after her T2 finish in the Evian. She now goes back home to play. Should be a factor again.
5. Is it Michelle's time? If the courses are wet and/or windy, you'd have to think Wie would be a favourite with her length and after her T2 Evian finish.
6. Will any of the top players in the Women's British Open come to the CN Candian Women's Championship the following week? It will be a big indicator of the future of Canadian golf events, as the Canadian Open will have the same situation next year. Anika will definitely miss to play in the Swedish Open. How many top players will play their 3rd week in a row after 2 top events and a continental flight? Probably very few.

It should be another great week on the LPGA.

Regards,

Steve