Lorena Ochoa -10, Michelle Wie -6, Annika E

Is this the changing of the guard? Lorena Ochoa opened up a 4-stroke lead, shooting an amazing 10-under 62. (Lefty Mickelson shot a 9-under 63 at the BellSouth Classic.) 16-year-old Michelle Wie is in second place, after shooting an impressive 6-under 66. Annika apparently couldn't get untracked, finishing at even par. There's a lot of tournament left to play, though, so we'll see what Annika can do tomorrow. (Full leaderboard)

ESPN will have full second day coverage at 5 p.m. ET.

Paula's pink balls

I always wondered what happened to colored golf balls after they became so popular when Jerry Pate started playing an orange Wilson ball. Well, USA Today reports that Paula Creamer plans on playing a pink golf ball by Precept on Sunday of this week. Of course, only a woman can pull off playing with a pink ball.

2006 Major No. 1: Kraft Nabisco

This week, the women take center stage with the first Major of 2006 -- the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Annika is defending champion. Next week, the Masters, where Tiger is defending champion... but we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let the fun begin!

Golf for Women

Ron Sirak has, as usual, an excellent article analyzing the status of the LPGA here. The article is accompanied by what may the dorkiest photo ever taken in golf, see here.

"Michelle Wie creates more buzz than anyone in golf right now, Tiger included. People are paying attention to the LPGA in a way not seen since Nancy Lopez had her spectacular rookie year in 1978, when she won nine times, five of them in a row."

The Tiger report: 60 Minutes interview

If you missed it on Sunday, the transcript is here. Yahoo has the video clips from the interview here.

Asked why a golf swing is so difficult when Tiger makes it look so easy, he replied, "So many moving parts. Your whole body's moving, and this ball is not moving. It's standing still, laughing at you."

Where were the Players at the Players Championship??

There are so many good talking points from this weekend's Players Championship that I do not know where to begin or how to write this post. So, I've decided that I am going to list some of the things that I found interesting about this past week's tournament.

1. Love III goes 65 - 83 with a 9 on his 36th hole.
2. Steven Ames in the same season loses 9 and 8 to Tiger in the Match Play and then wins the Players by 7.
3. Sticking with Ames, what about his grin?
4. Arron Oberholser having a 1 stroke lead in the 3rd round stepping up to 17 and playing 17 and 18 in 5-over.
5. Villegas' outfits.
6. Sergio's putting stroke or lack thereof.
7. 3 holes in 1 on 13.
8. Tiger finishing in the middle of the pack.
9. Pete Dye's killer design.
10. Moving the tournament back to May.

So let's use the comment section to discuss some of these interesting topics or feel free to add some of your own.

Take a mulligan: TPC should NOT become a major

There's been a lot of the recurring banter about the TPC, and whether it should become a "fifth major"? USA Today's Jerry Potter has an excellent article about it here.

Frankly, I could really care less about the issue, if it were not for one thing: recognizing 5 majors will screw up the uniformity of conditions between Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. If Tiger is to break Jack's record of 18 majors, the conditions should remain as uniform as possible.

Making the TPC a fifth major now will effectively give Tiger many more attempts at majors than Jack. We could try to retroactively recognize Jack's 3 victories at the TPC, but those weren't even at Sawgrass (which became the site in 1982). The retroactive recognition of Jack's TPC victories would also be unfair in that the TPC only started in 1974, 12 years after Nicklaus became a pro. Jack would get short changed in the end, even though he currently has a 3-1 edge on Tiger in TPC victories. True, Tiger has won only 1 TPC, and it doesn't appear based on his stats that the TPC is Tiger's favorite tournament. But Tiger's got many years left to go, so making the TPC a "fifth major" would give Tiger a disproportionate number of attempts at winning a major compared to Jack. Bottom line: don't make the TPC a "fifth major" for the simple reason that it would screw up Tiger's run. Viva el tigre!

Tiger flies to California to visit dad

Skipping his practice round at Sawgrass, Tiger made an unplanned flight to California today to visit his ailing father, Earl Woods, who has been battling cancer for the past two years. It is reported that Tiger will still play in tomorrow's TPC. More here.

The Big Easy report

Well, what can I say? This was a disappointing [Bay Hill] tournament for me…and I made such a good start, as well. You know, I’ve been trying to remember the last time I shot three consecutive rounds over par. Apart from last year’s Masters, where I played badly but was still trying to shake off a bad dose of flu, I reckon it’s got to be at least five years ago. (More from Ernie here.)

TPC No. 17: The Most Intimidating Hole in Golf

Pete Dye, along with his wife, had sheer genius when they designed No. 17 at Sawgrass. This short 138 yard hole defines the entire golf course and gets in the heads of every golfer at the TPC. For more on how Dye and his wife came up with the hole (by accident), read here. Bob Tway set the record last year with a 12. Hopefully, someone will beat it this year!

New feature: TGB Golf Clap

The Golf Blog receives dozens of requests from different people seeking recognition on this blog. We appreciate all of these requests, but, given our short staff, we can't always get to them right away. Today, we're introducing a new feature entitled TGB Golf Clap in which we'll highlight some of these requests for recognition of golf websites.

1. One Day One Shot is golf photo blog by Patrick Micheletti in Paris. Awesome pics! See here.

2. Live From Augusta 2006 is a website of two golf enthusiasts JM & Dan, who have been lucky enough to score tickets to this year's Masters. Pretty hilarious stuff, guys! April's just around the corner. See here.

sophomore slump: fact or fiction?

Sean O'Hair has gotten off to a rotten start -- effectively missing 5 of 7 cuts (if you count this week's WD after an opening round 76). (Stats) I haven't been able to seen O'Hair play yet this year, because he's usually not around during the weekend.

Meanwhile, Paula Creamer is showing some signs of life. Two Top 10s in her past two starts, after a less than spectacular start of the season. (Stats) Paula must be working out, because she's increased her distance off the tee (probably by 5-10 yards). She also appears to be sporting a visor instead of a cap, which makes her look a little different with her flock of hair visible.

Bay Hill: crazy finish

I watched the "high"lights of the Bay Hill Classic, only they were more like lowlights. Greg Owen appeared to be heading for his first tour victory after Rod Pampling bogeyed the 17th hole, giving Owen a two stroke lead. However, Owen still had a 3-footer for par, which he proceeded to miss badly, not even touching the hole. Owen then missed a 2-foot comebacker, which lipped out. Wow, 3 putts from less than 3 feet. Amazing. On the 18th hole, Owen faced a must-make 12-footer for par and a playoff. It looked good, but the ball lipped out -- again. Amazing. Pampling survived to win with an even par final round 72.

Duval or Saunders??

I hate to do this to DD, but I think it'd be an interesting question.

Who does better this week at the Bay Hill Invitaitonal??

Former British Open Champion David Duval or Arnold Palmer's grandson and reigning Bay Hill Club Champion Sam Saunders??

My pick would be Duval.

What do you think?

Vogue: Inside the Lair (of Tiger)

Vogue has a new mag for men, featuring none other than Tiger Woods. In the article, you'll discover why Elin was in "mild horror" after seeing what music Tiger was playing for his workout tunes on his iPod. Can you guess whom Tiger was jamming to?

The Tiger report

One thing I've done this year is pretty much take the 2-iron out of my bag and replaced it with a 5-wood. I think the last time I carried it was at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan. I can get the ball up in the air higher with a 5-wood and hit it 250 yards, about 10 yards further than my 2-iron.

Last year when I won at Doral, I received a new car in addition to the prize money. I gave the car to Stevie (Williams), who loves racing. I did the same thing last week when I won again. Considering all the things he's done for me in my life and my career, it's the least I could do.

Winning at Doral was special for a lot of reasons, but the biggest was because it came on my dad's 74th birthday. I know he was able to watch the telecast, so it was neat that I was able to pull off a victory for him. I called him afterward to wish him Happy Birthday.I have always loved dogs - I had a Labrador growing up - and recently received a new Border Collie from my wife, Elin. We named him Taz. He's real smart, follows me everywhere, and has a lot of energy. They say Border Collies average a marathon a day and that doesn't surprise me. I take him running with me, but I have to be careful because he's still growing. We usually go about four miles, running and walking. He's an awesome dog.

Natalie charges, but Annika closes with victory

Natalie Gulbis continued her strong play this year, shooting the low round 66 on Sunday in Mexico. Natalie momentarily had the lead in the clubhouse, at -6. But then, of course, Annika had yet to finish her play. Annika shot a 2-under 70 on Sunday, which was good enough to give her a -8 for the tourney and the championship. Gulbis ended up tied for fourth when it was all said and done. (Leaderboard)

TGB contest: win a Nintendo handheld + golf game

The Golf Blog is having a photo contest. Winner gets a free Nintendo DS + the new golf game True Swing! All you have to do to win is to send us the coolest digital photo with the words "The Golf Blog" somewhere in the photo (such as written on a placard or scrawled in the sand). You pick the scene, the background, the subject of the photo, etc. Time to get creative! Submit by April 1. That should give you plenty of time to come up with something good while on Spring Break!



Rules:
1. Each participant can send only 1 photo. Submit to: thegolfblog [AT] yahoo.com; please include name and address in email.
2. The photo can be on anything, but must include "The Golf Blog" somewhere in it.
3. By submitting, you grant The Golf Blog full rights to copy, distribute, and publicly display your photo.
4. You have until midnight on April Fool's Day (April 1) to make your submission, although this is no joke.

Cobra corps: Camilo Villegas

He's a young gun from Columbia, and he's already made a lot of buzz with his long drives, aggressive play, and fashion-plate attire. His name is Camilo Villegas (bi- Jay-gas) and he's already finished in 2nd twice this year, including last week to Tiger. What clubs does Villegas play? You guessed it: Cobra. What a coup for Cobra.

USA Today has a write-up on Camilo here, with what may be The Best Picture of the Year by Wilfredo Lee, AP.

The Natalie report: FHM swimsuit photos

Just in time for spring: the FHM photo shoot of Nat is out.

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Photo 4

Counterfeit Golf Retailer Jailed

Today, while reading the business headlines on yahoo.com, I noticed a press release from the United States Golf Manufacturers Anit-Counterfeiting Working Group, which stated that a golf retailer in Shanghai had been convicted of selling counterfeit golf equipment.

According to the press release, the retailer, who's name is interestingly Xie Fu Ping, "was sentenced to 1 year's imprisonment (suspended for 1 year) and ordered to pay a fine. The criminal conviction followed enforcement conducted by the Chinese authorities in August 2005 when the police raided Xie's store and seized counterfeit golf inventory valued at US$57,682."

I am glad that the foreign authorities are cracking down on counterfeit clubs.

Also, for those interested, "The U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group consists of the world's leading golf equipment manufacturers. Its members and brands include Acushnet Company - Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra Golf; Callaway Golf - Odyssey, Top-Flite and Ben Hogan; Cleveland Golf-Never Compromise; Nike; PING; and TaylorMade-adidas Golf - Maxfli."

Wanted: SOMEONE TO PUSH TIGER

Tomorrow, I expect to see in some publication the headline: Tiger 2 PGA Tour 0. Granted, this headline would not be completely true. But, at the Buick Invitational, Olazabal, Garcia, Lefty, and Nathan Green folded and allowed Tiger to win ugly. (See our coverage here, here, here, here, and here). Basically, Tiger beat Olazabal in a playoff without much problem.

Then today, no one put pressure on Tiger, and he coasted to victory at the Ford Championships at Doral. Granted, I would never have expected Tiger to finish bogey, bogey, but as he said, "A win's a win" in his post round interview. Today, David Toms, Rich Beem, and many, many others bogeyed the last hole, the "Blue Monster." But, Toms' bogey on the last hole gave Tiger a 2-shot lead standing back in the fairway. Tiger then proceeded to hit the ball into a right greenside bunker (all he wanted to do was keep it "inside the grandstands"), and made he bogey and thrust his hands in victory.

All I wanted was to see someone push Tiger. Someone to force Tiger to make birdie on the last hole. Heck a par would have sufficed today. I am a golf fan and I want to see the best players play at the TOP of their game, not just with the game they brought. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching the tournament. Villegas will be something special and Toms' run at the end at least had me watching till the end. But, watching Tiger win, especially this way AGAIN, I agree totally with Johnny Miller who was disappointed with the PGA Tour.

Come on guys. If you GUYS ARE GOOD! Let's see someone press Tiger down the stretch!!!

Take a mulligan: Tiger will not lose again this year -- say what?

Tiger won again, doing just enough to stave off by 1-stroke David Toms and the exciting young gun Camilo Villegas (another Cobra club user) to win the Ford Doral Championship. Let's see Tiger has entered 4 stroke play tournaments, and he's won 3 of 4 -- or 75% of them. The one tournament he lost (the Nissan Open), he was sick (but he's never won that tournament, so maybe he woulda lost anyway). If you count the World Match Play Championship that Tiger also lost, his record for the season is 3 of 5 tournaments, still an amazing 60%.

In 2005, I went out on a limb after Tiger won this tournament last year and predicted that he would win at least 2 majors and break his drought of 0-10 in majors (see here). He did. Well, this year, to borrow Paula Creamer's famous words, "I'm laying it down": Tiger will not lose another tournament this year -- the 4 majors, the TPC, the regular tour events, you name it. Tiger's running the table. Game over.

Say what? OK, I know, it's impossible, but, if you really think about it, Tiger Woods is the only golfer on the planet who would even have a chance of pulling off the impossible. It would not surprise me -- and I'll bet it would not surprise the rest of you -- if Tiger won 60 - 75% of his remaining tournaments this year. Now, I just hope I didn't jinx you, Tiger!

NBC Might Have a Winner

Good thing for NBC, American Idol is not aired during the weekend, because NBC might have a ratings winner. Airing against regional college basketball on CBS (on Saturday) and Nascar, College Basketball, and NBA Basketball on Sunday, NBC has the potential to have Phil v. Tiger all weekend at the Ford Championships at Doral.

After the second round, Tiger and Phil are tied at 13-under with other fan favorites Rich Beem, Zach Johnson, and David Toms in the hunt. (Mulligan's favorite Lucas Glover is also in the hunt). Hopefully, this weekend will provide some great golf and good coverage, because I'm starting to get the itch to play.

Doral: Tiger v. Phil, Part II

It was a year ago this week when Tiger and Phil put on the best showdown of 2005, going shot for shot at the Ford Doral Championship (here). After watching that tournament, yours truly correctly predicted that Tiger was about to break out of his over 2-year winless "slump" in majors and he would win at least 2 majors in 2005 (here). He did.

Yesterday, Tiger and Phil picked up where they left off. Tiger shot an 8-under 64 to take the lead, while Lefty's one back at -7. (More here)

UPDATE: Second round play has started already. Ryan Palmer has just taken the lead at -10. Leaderboard.

Great Article on Augusta

I read this article today on ESPN.com and I felt that it was so good that I should post the link here on The Golf Blog.

It is written by Ron Whitten for Golf Digest and discusses how Arnie and Jack feel about the new and old changes to August National. It is definitely worth taking a bit of time to read.

The Natalie report

Aloha! Back from two weeks in Hawaii. What a blast. I was very pleased with my finishes in the first two events. I struck the ball well both weeks, and I’m going to work to continue to put myself in contention every event that I am entered.

I am back in Vegas now after a day trip with Butch Harmon and Freddie Couples to Houston to honor Butch’s brothers passing. I’m going to spend the next week working on my game and getting ready to go to Mexico City for the next event. One more cool stop before we’ll be going to the Academy Awards. And parties. And having a designer make a dress. Should be fun! (More)