Golf Talk

Stenson plays a practice round at Torrey Pines.

It’s never really too early to start talking about the US Open, after all, we are only 171 days, less than half a year away. The site of the 2008 US Open is Torrey Pines, normally a municipal course in sunny San Diego.

Henrik Stenson decided to take a detour last week following the Tiger hosted Target World Challenge which he competed in. Torrey Pines is also host to the Buick Invitational played every year in January, but Stenson already has plans to be in the middle east as part of the European Tour so he decided it would be a good idea to get a round in at Torrey Pines before he comes back in June. It was the first time in ten years that Stenson had payed a green fee and payed for regular range balls, you know the ones with the black stripe. Get this, he was paired for the round with someone named Pamela Anderson, except it was not the same Pam we know, just the same name.

Though Stenson got to get a good round in, the conditions will be dramatically different when the US Open rolls around. If you’ve never been to a PGA Tour event you know that the course is setup way different than it would be if you or I played on it, and that’s just a regular PGA Tour event. The US Open is like a regular PGA Tour event times 100. They always make the pin placements harder, the greens much faster and rough much thicker. I wrote earlier how Steve Marino played with a writer at a local municipal course who managed to finish under par.

Along the same lines, when Tiger said that he thought it would be nearly impossible for a 10 handicap to break a hundred in a US Open setup course will get a chance to see if he is right. At Torrey Pines, six days before the US Open, three celebrities and a Joe Hack will get their opportunity, on TV no less, to see if they can break one hundred. I’m with Tiger on this one, I doubt it will happen.

Henrick Stenson, US Open, Torrey Pines

Much is being made of Tiger Woods’ recent revelation that his wife Elin was in fact at the hospital and in labour as early as the Thursday of the US Open.

This has prompted more discussion on the re-examination of the Monday 18-hole playoff that the USGA uses for the US Open. Tiger had this to say when asked whether he would stay to play the playoff or go to his wife’s side,

“Well, that didn’t happen, so it would be all hypothetical, I’m not going down the road.”

My opinion, they should change the rules. A three-hole playoff I think would be acceptable. I personally don’t have any problems with sudden-death replay of the 18th hole. I don’t think the full round is really necessary, but then again, this is the USGA and they are crazy for making the US Open the hardest tournament in the world.

My picks for the Congressional this week later today…

Tiger Woods, US Open, PGA Tour

A selection of quotes from Sunday’s final press conference at Oakmont, following the conclusion of the 2007 US Open won by Angel Cabrera over Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk by one stroke.

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The overnight numbers are in and by the looks of it, Tiger Woods in the final pairing on Sunday was able to jack up the ratings for NBC’s coverage of the US Open this year, up a whopping 37% from last year’s Open at Winged Foot.

Of course, this has everything to do with Tiger, often referred to as the “Tiger effect”. In the end, nobody cared that everyone was over par. The only thing that would’ve sent the ratings through the roof would’ve been a Tiger vs. Phil showdown, those ratings would’ve been astronomical for NBC and the Open.

PGA Tour, US Open, Oakmont, Tiger Woods

In light of Angel Cabrera’s win at Oakmont this weekend, I thought I would title this post in spanish to celebrate the Argentinian’s grand victory. Angel posted a 69 to finish 5-over for the tournament and won by 1-stroke over Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk. While the final round lacked that quintessential highlight shot to define this year’s tournament, the suspense throughout the entire afternoon was absolutely riveting.

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In the end, Angel Cabrera was able to hold off a furious rally by Furyk and a determined Tiger to win by one shot at 5-over. Angel was simply too good on his approach shots to in his first 15 holes. Still, Furyk had his chances to force a playoff and Tiger couldn’t make any birdie putts when he needed them.

I’ll post my final thoughts tonight, but what a finish it was. Congratulations to Cabrera, your 2007 US Open Champion. Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers out there.

The full US Open leaderboard here.

PGA Tour, US Open, Oakmont, Tiger Woods, Angel Cabrera, Jim Furyk

Tiger Woods just hit his tee shot on 9, a beauty right down the fairway. Tiger’s got his red “don’t mess with me on Sunday” shirt, watch out. He’s had a couple of wayward tee shots but he’s recovered well and made some clutch par putts. I still like him coming down the back nine.

I thought Aaron Baddeley would struggle playing with Tiger and he showed it with a bad triple to start the day on the first hole. Hope he hangs on to finish at least in the top ten.

Jim Furyk has made some questionable decisions off the tee and on his approach shots. Still, he is just 2 shots off the lead and battling the course out there.

Finally, the leader, “El Pato”. Angel Cabrera is playing much better today, his approach shots are wonderful and he’s hitting almost every green. It certainly looks like he will battle with Tiger for the lead.

Position / Player / Country / Total / Hole*/ Today / 1 2 3 4 / Total
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1 CABRERA, Angel +4 11 -2 69 71 76
2 WOODS, Tiger +5 8 +1 71 74 69
3 FURYK, Jim +6 10 Even 71 75 70
4 STRICKER, Steve +7 10 +1 75 73 68
5 WATSON, Bubba +8 10 +3 70 71 74
5 ROSE, Justin +8 10 +3 71 71 73
5 BADDELEY, Aaron +8 8 +6 72 70 70
8 VERPLANK, Scott +9 13 +1 73 71 74
8 KELLY, Jerry +9 13 +1 74 71 73
8 FASTH, Niclas +9 11 +2 71 71 75
11 DOUGHERTY, Nick +10 16 +1 68 77 74

Catch the official US Open leaderboard here.

PGA Tour, US Open, Oakmont, Tiger Woods, Angel Cabrera

Sunday mornings are usually uneventful and with the tough course setup at Oakmont, it’s especially the case as the latter half players have no realistic chance of winning.

I see a lot of scores around even, 1-over and 2-over, Anthony Kim finished at 3-under, which tells me that tournament officials have watered the greens overnight keeping them relatively soft. Of course, they should dry out a little in the afternoon, but I expect that there could be some lower scores like another 3-under or even 4-under today.

The par 3 eighth hole is playing 300 yards today after they moved the hole towards the back of the green. Short hitting Fred Funk hit driver off the tee if you can believe that. Remember, Tiger says it’s against his religion to hit driver off the tee, though I think he can hit a 2-iron and still make the green.

Anyways, enjoy the afternoon folks, it should be quite the wild ride. I will post an update as the leaders make the turn after the ninth hole. See you then…

Catch the official US Open leaderboard here.

PGA Tour, US Open, Oakmont, Tiger Woods

Some players made a move up the leaderboard, others moved down in the third round of the 2007 US Open at Oakmont. Overall, the course played very well and the greens were fair. Tiger Woods was the big mover getting to second place all by himself at 4-over, Aaron Baddeley also grabbed the lead and held on to it at 2-over. Second round leaders Angel Cabrera and Bubba Watson went the other direction, but they’re still in position for Sunday. The scores are all bunched up and the final script will be a good one on Sunday.

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The greens are really playing well today. Lots of birdies to be had. We have a new leader right now, it’s Bubba Watson leading all by himself heading to the 9th hole at 1-over. But the story of the day is Tiger Woods who is 2-under for his round today and has not bogeyed at all.

As good as Tiger is playing right now, he’s had chances to really shoot a low score, like a Johnny Miller 63 if you can believe. He’s left several putts on the lip. The way he’s playing right now, it’s hard to believe that he won’t win this thing.

Angel Cabrera is fighting out there but has dropped a couple of shots. Bubba is putting decently and with his length should be up there tomorrow. Update, just as I’m writing this, Bubba triple-bogeys 9 and is now 4-over. He rushed his third shot after chunking his second from the rough, ouch…

Paul Casey has battled with birdies and bogeys, he’s looking good for Sunday as well. Justin Rose dropped one stroke but has also battled well. Stephen Ames has dropped a couple of shots but he doesn’t have a lot of TV coverage so it’s tough to say how well he’s playing.

The finishers, Vijah Singh finished an even-par round, Steve Stricker finished at 2-under.

Catch the official US Open leaderboard here.

PGA Tour, US Open, Oakmont, Tiger Woods

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl says he showed up at a pre-U.S. Open event in Oakmont because he wanted to meet golfer Tiger Woods, but then he says he was invited inside. He denies crashing the event. Watch the full interview with WTAE-TV’s Bob Mayo.

PGA Tour, Tiger Woods, US Open, Oakmont Country Club, Luke Ravenstahl, Pittsburgh

The morning started as expected, a few scores around 4-over, but there are plenty of guys at 1-over, even, and three players are under-par. The course is playing a little better than yesterday, less wind, greens seem to be little softer. Of course the afternoon could change all that. The leaders are yet to tee off.

Tiger is at the first hole, his tee shot was solid as was his approach. He just par’d the hole. I think if Tiger can shoot par or 1-under he will lead or be in the top five, in good position to win.

Vijah Singh is under for the day at 1-under after seven. Steve Stricker is playing well, he’s at 1-under after seven as well. Nick O’Hern is at 2-under to get to 8-over for the tournament. Jim Furyk bogeyed his first and is at 7-over overall at the second hole.

Rory Sabbatini and Zach Johnson are really struggling, 8-over and 5-over respectively.

I can’t wait to see Angel Cabrera and Bubba Watson tee off, to see what they will do. Justin Rose is also still to come as is Canadian Stephen Ames.

Catch the official US Open leaderboard here.

PGA Tour, US Open, Oakmont, Tiger Woods

After two of the most brutal rounds of golf in major tournament history, Angel Cabrera is the clubhouse leader at even par overall after shooting a 1-over round of 71 today. American Bubba Watson is in second all by himself at one shot back, 1-over. Paul Casey (66) and Stephen Ames (69) were the only players to shoot below par today. Tiger is still in the hunt, as is Toms and Furyk.

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I have to admit, as much as I respect Phil Mickelson and his game and all that he’s contributed to the tour, his whining this week is really starting to get to me. I wrote about Phil’s whining yesterday, but his comments today go way over the top,

Q. The injury and not be being able to prepare the way you wanted to and not being able to practice the way you wanted to?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it’s disappointing to dream as a kid about winning the U.S. Open and spend all this time getting ready for it and have the course setup, injury, you know? To think that the end of this tournament — you’re trying to win and hit great shots but you’re also trying to not end your career on one shot, which — or at least suspend it for a while. That’s a little disappointing, yeah.

Q. Would you reevaluate your preparation for the majors?

PHIL MICKELSON: Absolutely, I’m going to have to change things. This really was dangerous doing what I did because the rough was twice as long and I thought that they may play it like that, and certainly with this liquid fertilizer and these new machines that make the grass suck straight up it absolutely is dangerous. The first practice round on Monday, Jim Weathers had 6 other appointments, people hurting their ribs, their back, their wrists, it’s dangerous, it really is. You’ve got 5 or 6-inch rough and you can only get a wedge in there, what good is it to practice?

Dangerous?? Are you freakin’ serious, Phil? Getting crunched by a 250-pound linebacker from your blind side is dangerous. Getting whacked in the chops by a wayward stick is dangerous. Having a 100-mph fastball thrown at your head is dangerous. Playing bumper cars in an oval track at 250-mph with 60 other crazy maniacs is dangerous. Hitting your ball a thousand times out of 6-inch rough and wrecking your wrist before your biggest tournament of the year is simply stupid, not dangerous.

I think we as media tend to coddle these golfers too much. If they want to be treated like world-class athletes, they should play and act like it. Danger is something that is a part of LIFE, get over it. Play on, and quit acting like a baby, Phil.

PGA Tour, US Open, Oakmont, Phil Mickelson

Quotes from ASAP Sports

Paul Casey was the big story from morning to afternoon. As the afternoon players were getting ready to tee it up, they saw the one lone black number on the board, a 66 from Paul Casey. His 4-under was pretty remarkable considering you had big numbers posted by the likes of Mickelson, Furyk, and Singh.

Who said you can’t shoot under par at Oakmont, still, Paul is not in the lead, he’s at 3-over at the moment.

Watching Tiger right now, Miller is dissecting his swing, and how Tiger dips his head during his backswing. Tiger just pulled his tee shot on hole 9 into the rough, gonna be tough from there, he’s at 3-over.

Angel Cabrera just took the lead all by himself at 1-under overall, he’s playing even par heading to the 7th tee.

Nick Dougherty is falling (1-over), Olazabal is at 4-over, Ogilvy is at 5-over. David Toms is hanging in there at 1-over.

Catch the NBC Sports leaderboard here.

I’m heading over to play a round at one of our public courses here so I’ll post my Friday thoughts later tonight.

PGA Tour, US Open, Oakmont, Phil Mickelson