Golf Talk

Granted, Tiger Woods is not charging his way to the top of the leaderboard at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but he is showing signs that he is ready to break out of his training wheels and start rolling over the competition. Maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part, as I do have him playing on my fantasy team this week, so it would be nice if Woods could start dominating any time now.

Photo: AFP

But the news of the second round is all about Sean O’Hair (left). And it’s not like he was the only one to shoot 5 under today. Robert Allenby also shot a 65 to move up from a tie for 41st to a tie for 3rd. Not bad, Allenby. I almost, almost played you this week, and you are making me wish I had.

But the thing about Sean O’Hair is that he also shot a 3 under in the first round, so that puts him at 8 under thus far for the Arnold Palmer Invite, and that, my friends, is 3 strokes ahead of his nearest competitor, Jason Gore, who stayed even for the day to fall from the top spot to the runner-up.

Allenby is sharing 3rd place with Ryuji Imada, who also had a great day, going 4 under. And Tiger Woods is creeping up from 10th to 5th today, with a 1 under 69. Could Saturday be the day for a charge from the World’s best golfer and defending champion (did I mention that Tiger has won the Arnold Palmer five times already? In fact, he won four years in a row starting in 2000)?

Meanwhile, on the LPGA Tour, Lorena Ochoa is going for a hat trick in Arizona at the J Golf Phoenix LPGA International, but running into some trouble as she cannot seem to be able to shoot better than par.

...she's adorable! Again, photo from AFP.

In-Kyung Kim (right) is not having the same problem, as she has gone 4 under in both rounds one and two and leads the ladies at 8 under. Suzann Petterson was off by one both days, shooting 69’s (3 under) and is currently two behind at 6 under. Petterson is tied with Karrie Webb, who has gone 70-68.

On the European Tour, it’s the Open de Andalucia de Golf in Seville, Spain, and though you may expect Sergio Garcia to be playing; alas, he is not. German Marcel Siem is leading at 9 under after two rounds. A Frenchman, Jean-Francois Lucquin, and a Brit, Graeme Storm, fill out the top three. Take that, Spain.

golf, PGA, LPGA, Arnold Palmer Invitational, Tiger Woods, Sean O’Hair, Robert Allenby, Jason Gore, Ryuji Imada, J Golf Phoenix LPGA International, Lorena Ochoa, In-Kyung Kim, Suzann Petterson, Karrie Webb, Andalucia Open, European Tour