Comeback for Corey Pavin

Although he won the U.S. Bank Championship wire-to-wire, Corey Pavin finally made a "comeback" on the PGA tour. The guy who won 1 major (the U.S. Open at Shinnecock) has all but disappeared for the past 10 years (not winning any tournament). Nice to see Corey back in the win column. It's been too long.

Pavin was one of my favorite players, particularly because he was a bulldog and clutch putter in Ryder Cup play. He kind of reminded me of how Chris DiMarco plays in team competition. Tom Lehman has picked Pavin as an assistant for the Ryder Cup team, along with Loren Roberts, who won yesterday the Senior British Open. Maybe this is a good omen for the U.S. team.

Why Michelle Wie is ahead of schedule

So Michelle Wie finished second--again. But look whom she finished second to, the hottest female golfer this year, Karrie Webb, who has already won three tournaments, including another major. To get chased down by Karrie Webb, particularly this year, is nothing to be ashamed about. It's just another lesson for the 16 year old phenom playing again in the last group on Sunday of a big tournament.

The way I see it, Michelle Wie is well ahead of schedule. Why? Because she's 16 years old, and when compared to the closest thing to a peer she has on the LPGA tour, she's head and shoulders above the competition.

Just compare Michelle to the other teen phenom on tour, 18 year old Morgan Pressel. Morgan has played in 14 tourneys this year, with only 4 Top 10 finishes and no finish better than tied for 5th. Her worst finishes include 2 missed cuts, and tied for 60th, 69th, and most recently, a tied for 54th at the Jamie Farr.

Michelle Wie hasn't missed a single cut on the LPGA tour, and because she's under 18, the LPGA does not allow her to play the full number of events. At the majors, she tied for 3rd (finishing one back) at the Kraft Nabisco (beating Pressel by 9 strokes), 5th at the LPGA Championship (beating Pressel by 15 shots), and 3rd (finishing two back) at the Women's U.S. Open (beating Pressel by 14 shots). She finished 1 back and tied for 3rd at her first LPGA event at the Fields Open (beating Pressel by 5 strokes).

Maybe it's unfair to compare Wie to Pressel. But Pressel was the No. 1 women's amateur in 2005, having won the U.S. Women's Amateur and the AJGA Player of the Year (and a total of 11 AJGA events over her junior career). Pressel has "learned how to win" as a junior, but all of the young guns are finding it much more difficult on the LPGA tour.

Morgan's time will come. But so will Michelle's. And when Michelle's does, she could dominate the LPGA tour like no other has before.

Wie comes up short again at the Evian Masters

It is hard to fault a 16-year-old phenom for being so close to winning so often. But,yet again, Michelle Wie could not close the deal at the Evian Masters. Wie has a two stroke lead after a birdie at 11, but then played the last 7 holes at even par. Laura Davies played those holes at -2 and Karrie Webb was -3 for that stretch.

Webb prevailed as the champion, finishing at -16 for the event. Wie finished tied for second with Davies at -15. More details are here from ESPN.

Wie tied for lead going to the back nine

As of this writing early Saturday morning, Michelle Wie has made the turn in the Evian Masters at -14, which has her tied with Karrie Webb. Lorena Ochoa, Se Ri Pak and Laura Davies are all two back at -12. Let's see if Wie can keep it together down the stretch and secure her first win.

Sadly, I think we can now only follow this exciting story on-line here via the LPGA leaderboard. The Golf Channel is only providing taped TV coverage late tonight.

Another Mulligan -- the google for golf?

Trolling through the email sent by our readers, we found one really cool service entitled "Another Mulligan." Sorry, no relation.

Basically, it's a search engine for golf related material--a google for golf, if you will. You can find the site at www.anothermulligan.com. Happy surfing!

The Tiger report

I arrived the Saturday before the tournament because we had never been to Royal Liverpool before and there was no information on the course. Stevie (Williams) caddied on the course in the early 80's but he couldn't remember a thing. We just had to get there early and formulate a strategy. As far as strategy formulating, it probably didn't happen until Monday, and then Tuesday I tried it out and I didn't play on Wednesday. Out of the four days that I did play - from Saturday through Tuesday - we had three different wind conditions. So I got to play the course so many different ways, and each time I kept coming back to one or two drivers, if I felt comfortable doing it. As it turned out, I only used it once, on the 16th hole Thursday.

For some reason, I had just a wonderful inner-peace the entire week. I didn't know what was going on. It was a great feeling and I wish you could have it all the time, but it doesn't work out that way. When I was playing, I never really got that aggravated and I never got that excited. It was just a nice, level feeling the entire week. Come Sunday afternoon when I really needed it, I was able to birdie 14, 15 and 16, but I felt at ease. I wasn't pressing all day and I felt a nice, even feeling and it worked out. Sometimes it doesn't work out. This time, it did. Pop must have been looking down on me.

Another thing that happened was before the last round, when I went to warm up at the practice range, I hit several yardage signs on the fly. I also did that last year before the final round at St. Andrews, when I hit the 100-yard marker four-straight times and went on to win. This year was similar. My distance control felt great and I was able to carry it over to the course.

I also sent a short text message to Annika Sorenstam that read: 11. When she recently won her 10th major on the LPGA Tour, she couldn't wait to text me. Guess I'm 1-up now.

The Best 9 Ever: Pavin shoots 26 for 9 holes

Hats off to Corey Pavin, who plunked down 8 birdies for a 26 on the front nine at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. On a par 70 course, Pavin only managed one more birdie on the back nine to shoot 61. The front nine score of 26 is the best ever in a PGA event (although Billy Mayfair and Robert Gamez have been 9-under before).

Check out this scorecard!

Webb leads Evian Masters -- Ochoa and Wie chasing

The women are in France this week for the Evian Masters, which Paula Creamer won last year, going away. In the second round, the re-ascendant Karrie Webb has taken the lead at -11, followed by Lorena Ochoa at -10 and Michelle Wie at -9. Se Ri Pak is putting up another good showing at -7.

Annika and Paula are well back at -5.

So far, the hot players from earlier this year are still playing well, while both Annika and Paula, neither of whom started out hot, are still not. I am very impressed with Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak, who seemed to be in a pretty long slump for their standards. Maybe David Duval does have a chance of winning another major?

Full leaderboard.

Diora Baird's sexy golf photos

You know it's the summer when Maxim busts out the photo spread of a hot model on the golf course. Not sure that Guess model Diora Baird even plays golf, but here they are:

1. Photo 1
2. Photo 2
3. Photo 3
4. Photo 4

TGB go clubbing: Cleveland 588 DSG wedge, 60 degree

If you're like me, your short game is the weakest part of your game. Short pitches from tight lies are probably my least favorite shot in golf. I've toyed on and off with the 60 degree lob wedge--Titleist, Taylor Made, Callaway. But I haven't found one that I really liked. Until now. It's the new Cleveland 588 Dynamic Sole Grind (shown above in 56 degree). Not only is this club beautiful to look at, it's very versatile. The bounce is constructed with a "V" like shape that allows the blade to slide through more easily when the face is open. But there's still enough bounce on the club to help prevent totally chunking it. The biggest thing for me was finding a wedge with the right bounce--one that is forgiving in a variety of situations. I think I finally found it.

So far, I practiced with this club for one afternoon on the pitching hole. I found this club so easy to hit. It's the kind of club that, within one swing, you start getting positive vibes. I even started hitting some amazing flop shots out of the rough. I've only hit this club on the range, though, so my review is limited. I haven't had a chance to take it on the course or use it in the sand, but my feeling about this club is the most positive I've felt about a wedge in a long time. If all goes well, I may even replace my classic 56 degree Cleveland 588 wedge--which is over 15 years old--with the new DSG model!

The Big Easy report

Some commentators were saying we were going to tear this golf course apart, but I just didn’t see that to be honest with you. Maybe if you were out there playing with your mates you could go and shoot the lights out, but this is the Open Championship. You can’t afford to take too many risks or make silly mistakes. This kind of golf course can really bite you if you get out of position. You have to remember it’s a four round event. You have to stay patient and pace yourself.

As it turned out, I had to really battle out there on Saturday. My iron play just wasn’t there, especially on the front nine. I was all over the place, to be honest. But I hung in there and like I say, I battled right to the end. My putter saved me, basically.

Tiger played great golf and I have to give him a lot of credit for that. He had a game plan, he stuck to it, and it worked out very well for him.

Having had a night to reflect on things, obviously it’s hard to be happy when you’ve had a chance to win a major and it doesn’t come off. But like I said in my introduction, on this occasion I have got to be satisfied with a top-three finish. I haven’t been in the top-10 at majors for a while, so it was great playing late over the weekend and playing decent golf. I gave it my best shot, 100 per cent all the way, but on this occasion it wasn’t good enough.Still this was a big week for me. For the first time in a while I can honestly say that I’m excited about my golf game again.

More on Ernie's blog.

TGB Chart: Tiger Woods v. Jack Nicklaus

Well, as you can see from the TGB chart (click on for larger view), Tiger's pulled ahead of Jack Nicklaus' pace in winning majors even more. By age 30, Jack had 8. Tiger now has 11, a 3 major lead. From age 31 to 36, Jack did rattle off 6 major victories, however, so we'll see how things progress for Tiger.

Lay off of Sergio Garcia

Hi, I haven't posted in a while, but someone needs to stand up for Sergio Garcia. The guy has been beat up more in the press than anyone else, even though Sergio performed just about as well (73) as Ernie Els (71), Jim Furyk (71), Angel Cabrera (73), and Adam Scott (72) on the final day of The Open Championship. Here's a pretty brutal article entitled Garcia Suffers Curse of Custard Yellow and the Collywobbles. Or I just found this one: You'll Never Be the Top Banana Until You Learn How to Putt, Sergio.

No one who has ever been paired with Tiger Woods on the final day of a major when Tiger's the leader has ever posted a round better than Tiger, much less a round in the 60s, other than Bob May and Chris DiMarco.

Sergio Garcia is only 26 years old. Adam Scott is also 26 years old, and he hasn't come as close to Garcia in winning a major. Comparing Garcia to Tiger is unfair. No one compares to Tiger. Garcia should be compared to some of the other major winners. Duval didn't win his one major until he was 29 years old; Furyk was 33 years old, as was Phil Mickelson; Vijay Singh, 35 years old; and Mark O'Meara, at 41. Ernie won at age 24, and Justin Leonard at 25, but winning in the mid-twenties is really difficult.

Did BBC's Peter Alliss make a triple bogey on Sunday?

OK, I've already included Peter Alliss as one of the reasons why I love the British Open (see here). Within the span of three minutes, however, Alliss appeared to make three big gaffes on Sunday. I don't have exact quotes, but here they are, as best I can recollect:

1. Alliss suggested that Tiger's calmness on the course might be attributable to some "Oriental" influence from his mother (Kutilda is from Thailand). At least in the U.S., "Oriental" is not the correct term to refer to Asians. I'd gather it's no longer correct in the UK, either.

2. When questioned if Tiger was the best he'd seen at the British, Alliss acknowledged Tiger's greatness, but then noted others he had seen in his many years of broadcasting. "First, there was Arnold Palmer. Then there was Seve. Then there was Jack Nicklaus."

3. Soon thereafter, Alliss tried to correct the television scoreboard, insisting that Ernie Els was one stroke better--even though he had just bogeyed. Mike Tirico quietly corrected him.

I don't want to blow any of these out of proportion, but the fact they occurred in rapid succession seemed to confirm that Alliss, who is 75 years old, was off of his game.

Thank you, Chris DiMarco

I was at a bar on Saturday night, talking to one of my buddies. He asked me who I thought would win the British Open. I said, "If you take Tiger out of the equation, then I think Chris Dimarco will win. He's playing well and he has the most guts of anyone chasing Tiger." Sergio has never shown up on a major Sunday (other than his coming out party at the '99 PGA at Medinah), and Ernie Els played so poorly with his wedges on Saturday, that it did not look good for him. Furyk and Cabrera would have to go low, but I doubted they would.

My friend wasn't satisfied with my response -- I had to pick one. I did. I said Tiger's my pick (I'm not stupid), but if there's one guy who can challenge him, it's DiMarco.

Well, sure enough, that's exactly how things panned out. When DiMarco hit his bomb of a birdie on 14, he closed the gap to 1 behind Tiger. For all of the firepower on the leaderboard (Els, Garcia, Furyk, Cabrera, Scott), only Chris DiMarco -- the guy who's been injured, hasn't played well this year, and who lost his mother two weeks ago -- put any pressure on Tiger. But I can't take too much credit for my prediction because we've seen this before from Chris DiMarco at the 2005 Masters. And we've seen his gutsiness and mental fortitude at the Ryder Cup. Chris DiMarco does not back down, not even to Tiger. Yesterday was a testament to DiMarco's mental toughness. (If only DiMarco could erase that triple bogey on 7 from the first round.)

Thank heavens that the second place finish pulled DiMarco up into the Top 10 for the Ryder Cup. The U.S. team will need him, sorely.

Tiger Woods = flawless

From tee to green, Tiger Woods was flawless today, finishing the tourney at -18. Although he only won by two strokes over a gutsy Chris DiMarco (-16), Tiger was in total control the entire final round.

Never using driver, Tiger put on the most flawless display of golf shotmaking that I have ever witnessed. If you missed it, you missed pure perfection.

Afterwards, Tiger broke down and wept. (Photo here)

British Open: so many amazing storylines

After Tiger Woods could not build on his lead, the leaderboard is filled with so many interesting storylines of potential winners.

1. Tiger Woods (-13): can Tiger win Major No. 11, back-to-back British Opens, the first since the death of his father, while using driver only once in the entire tournament? Three costly three putts prevented Tiger from getting some separation today. Smart money still has to be on him.

2. Sergio Garcia (-12): can Sergio, playing in the final group with Tiger, finally get his first major and exorcise his Sunday demons? Sergio came onto the scene in 1999 at the PGA Championship at Medinah, where it will be played again this year. Hard to believe that, with all his talent, Sergio hasn't made more noise since then.

3. Chris DiMarco (-12): can Chris rebound from injury, a bad year, and the sudden death of his mother to a heart attack? Chris battled Tiger at the Masters two years ago; that experience should help tomorrow.

4. Ernie Els (-12): can Ernie finally rebound from his knee injury and past second place finishes, and get Major No. 4? Had a really sloppy round with the wedges today, so maybe will follow up with a low round.

5. Jim Furyk (-11): can Jim rebound from the missed putt on 18 at the U.S. Open and claim Major No. 2?

6. Angel Cabrera (-11): can the Argentinian Angel get his first major and follow Argentinian Roberto de Vincenzo, who last won the Open at Royal Liverpool in 1967, the last time the Open was played there?

7. Hideto Tanihara (-10): can Hideto become the most unlikely and lowest ranked winner, and the first Asian to win the Open?

8. Mark Calcavecchia (-9): can Mark get his second British Open (1st in 1989)?

9. Adam Scott (-9): can Adam get his first major before Sergio does (both age 26)?

El Nino + Furyk storm to top

Sergio and Jim Furyk are -6 for the day, and are tied for the lead at -11 with Tiger and Ernie.

Why I love the British Open

I love everything about The Open Championship -- its history, its rota of links golf courses, its charming towns, its knowledgeable golf fans, and, yes, even or especially the unpredictable weather. Here are my five favorite things about The Open:

1. The links style golf courses are beautiful and steeped in tradition. They are all in front of you, and not "tricked up" or "Tiger proofed." Hoylake is almost all brown. The R&A doesn't feel obliged to add furrowed rakes in the bunkers. The course is what it is. If someone shoots -20 this week, it won't matter.

2. The golf courses are all public courses; anyone can play them. We thought Bethpage Black was special in hosting the U.S. Open because it was public -- well, the entire Open rota is open to the public. Royal Liverpool info is here. Men can wear shorts, but have to wear "knee-high long socks."

3. BBC commentator Peter Alliss and the man who introduces the players on No. 1, Ivor Robson. Need I say more?

4. Nasty pot bunkers.

5. The weather. I do enjoy watching at least one round of high winds or bad weather.

Thank heavens for Ernie Els!

Well, Young Tom Morris (who complained here) will get his wish, not on the weather but on the competition with Tiger. Ernie Els matched Tiger's 65, to pull within only one stroke of Tiger. The tournament is not over yet. Game on, man. I can't wait for tomorrow morning's final pairing!

-12
Tiger Woods

-11
Ernie Els

-9
Chris DiMarco

-8
Retief Goosen

Full leaderboard

British Open, Day 2, 7:30 am: Tiger eagles 14

Well, the tournament may well be over. Tiger Woods just hit 2-iron on 14, followed by the purest 4-iron from 205 yards out that bounced right into the hole. Tiger couldn't tell the ball went in until the fans started cheering. Tiger's got the lead at -11. The closest competitor is Chris DiMarco at -8. Most of the other big names haven't even teed off yet, but they have their work cut out for them just to keep pace with Tiger.

-11
Tiger Woods

-8
Chris DiMarco

-7
Miguel Jimenez
Retief Goosen

Full leaderboard

British Open, Day 1

Tiger Woods hit 2 irons all day (with the exception of driver on 14). Well, the plan worked pretty well, including an eagle on the par-5 18 that drew a patented fist pump from Tiger--and the most emotion of the day from him. Course management was clearly Tiger's focus. Save for a couple sprayed shots, Tiger's play seemed to be rounding into form. He's tied for second, at -5. Nick Faldo struggled for most of the day, shooting +5 (with a costly late double bogey). Can't believe my man Seve (+2) beat Faldo.

-6
Graeme McDowell

-5
Tiger Woods
Miguel Jimenez
Keiichiro Fukabori
Greg Owen

-4
Marcus Fraser
SK Ho
Mikko Ilonen
Mark Hensby
Sergio Garcia
Mike Weir
Ernie Els
Jim Furyk
Tom Lehman
Adam Scott
Ben Crane
Brett Rumsford
Carl Petterson

-3
Phil Mickelson
Sean O'Hair
Lee Westwood+ others

Notables
David Duval -2
John Daly E
Colin Montgomery +1
Seve Ballesteros +2

Full leaderboard

British Open, 9:45 am update

-6
Anthony Wall

-5
Greg Owen

-4
Marcus Fraser
SK Ho
Mikko Ilonen
Mark Hensby
Sergio Garcia
Mike Weir
Ernie Els
Jim Furyk
Anthony Wall

-3
Phil Mickelson
Sean O'Hair
Tom Lehman
Lee Westwood
+ others

Full leaderboard

Tiger + Faldo kiss and make up

Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo shook hands yesterday. And today they were practicing side by side on the driving range, although Faldo refrained from analyzing Tiger's swing.

About 30 minutes until they tee off.

British Open, 7:30 am update

If you haven't seen Hoylake yet, the course is one big lot of brown hardpan. The course is so dry, there's a fire warning for the patrons. Almost every single shot looks like a tight lie. TNT has coverage on now. Leaders are at -4; the first four are still on the course:

-4
Ernie Els
Phil Mickelson
Sergio Garcia
Mike Weir
Marcus Fraser, SK Ho, Mikko Illonen, Mark Hensby - 68

Full leaderboard

The Phil report

You've got to hand it to Phil Mickelson. Instead of wallowing in self-pity after his U.S. Open debacle, Lefty was already practicing for the British Open after his meltdown. As the AP reports:

The leather-bound registry is called the "Strangers Book," an inch thick with weathered pages dating to 1980. The latest edition is in the clubhouse at Royal Liverpool for guests to sign when they play the storied links course.Imagine what Ernie Els must have thought when he showed up to play 10 days after the U.S. Open.On the line above the first empty space, dated June 26, was the signature of Phil Mickelson from San Diego."They asked me to come sign the club book, and I saw Phil's name there," Els said Tuesday. "And I was like, 'What's he ... is he playing today?' And they said, 'No, he was here two days ago.' And that kind of surprised me a little bit. He's played the course many times. That's the way he wants to prepare. He wants to see the course a million times.

Phil Mickelson and short game guru Dave Pelz have spent many hours discussing Royal Liverpool."That's his way right now."Mickelson was so eager to leave behind his debacle at Winged Foot - a double bogey on the 72nd hole that cost him the U.S. Open and a third straight major championship- that he showed up at Hoylake that next week to start preparing for the British Open.He spent two days at Royal Liverpool, then returned last Thursday to play what amounts to a full tournament. He played four rounds, each of them taking a little more than eight hours as he studied every option off the tee, from the fairway, around the green. Mickelson played Sunday morning, then returned Sunday afternoon and played into the late twilight.

Full story here.

Tiger switches back to 2-iron; may shelve driver

The conditions at Royal Liverpool are hard and fast, not to mention, brownish. That has prompted Tiger to switch back to his 2-iron (from 5-wood) and even to consider not using a driver. More here.

"The golf course is definitely fast. It's hard. It's a little bit slower the last couple of days because obviously they're putting some water on it, trying to keep it alive. But overall it's going to be a fantastic challenge this week to play a golf course this fast. We don't get a chance to do this very often, but when we do, it sure brings back shot making and creativity back in the game."

TGB money line of the day

Ian O'Connor, in USAToday:

As for Jeff Gove, the John Deere playing partner who roasted Wie for being "inconsiderate" enough to suffer from heat exhaustion and slow down his megastar career, here's a question: How many tickets did you sell for that tournament?

Wie isn't just the biggest attraction in golf; she was also tough enough and long enough off the tee to outplay 81 men in a recent U.S. Open qualifier, including a few who have been on a Masters leaderboard (Len Mattiace, James Driscoll and Ricky Barnes). Wie finished one shot behind Mark O'Meara, former Masters and British Open winner. She finished three shots ahead of her playing partner, David Gossett, the former U.S. Amateur champ who once won ... drumroll, please ... the John Deere Classic.

Does Tiger have a spat with Nick Faldo?

Tiger Woods is paired with Nick Faldo (and Shingo Katayama). Apparently, it's not a love match. As ABC commentator, Faldo has been critical of some of Tiger's swing changes over the past two years. Now, the three-time British Open champion Faldo is feeling very nervous about playing with Tiger when his (Faldo's) game is so rusty. AP reports:

"I need a smidgen more than a week's practice to take on Tiger," he said.

Clearly, playing alongside Woods for two rounds at this stage in his career is not what he wanted.

"Not when I'm totally unprepared, trying to prepare the best I can in a short space of time," he said. "Now I get thrown into the deep-end spotlight. But we will muddle through it."

Here's what I think: Faldo is overestimating how important (NOT!) he is to Tiger's world. Tiger can beat Nick Faldo on anyday of any week, at any time. Tiger wants to win the British Open, not beat Nick Faldo. If Tiger tries to one-up Faldo, then we know Tiger's really off his game plan.

What happened to David Duval?

Five years ago he won his first major. He hasn't won anything since. Bob Verdi of Golf Digest gets up close and personal with DD here full interview.

Q: What have the last few years been?
A: Pretty tough. Hard. As bad as things got with golf, I never really thought of quitting the game. I contemplated not playing professionally anymore. I didn't want my professional golf life to destroy my recreational golf life. I didn't want the bad stuff on the PGA Tour to take away any desire to play the game at home. I didn't want to hate the game in such a way that I didn't want to play with my buddies or with my kids. But I was probably another really bad year away from doing that. * * *

Q: So you were right [about the Ryder Cup and players designating money for their charity]?
A: *** The only guys who don't get paid at the Ryder Cup are the players in the Ryder Cup. The captain makes money. That's a problem I had with Crenshaw in 1999. . .

The Big Easy report

On the Open Championship: The Open Championship will always be my favourite tournament of the year for as long as I’m playing this game. I love everything about it; the unique challenge of links golf – you know, the type of shots you have to play and how you have to adapt your game to suit whatever the conditions throw at you from one day to the next. And I love the atmosphere, the way the spectators understand the game and appreciate your good shots. Not taking anything away from the other majors, but there’s nothing else like the Open.

On Hoylake: It’s a shame that Hoylake has been left on the sidelines for so long, because it’s a great golf course. I understand the reasoning – obviously the infrastructure wasn’t in place to cope with such a huge tournament. But now that’s been resolved, let’s hope it stays on the Open rota. This is what I’d call a classic links, with the sand dunes and the pot bunkers. It has a really nice look about it. It’s not the longest course, compared to what we’re used to, but it’s set-up like a links should be. The course has browned off in the last few weeks and the ground is hard, dry and fast-running. Hopefully we’ll get a bit of wind, too. Then it’ll be a proper test.

On responding to critics: People are writing a lot of stuff about my game not being where it needs to be. I know that. I don’t need anyone to tell me what’s obvious to me. But you know something? With major championships, recent form isn’t everything. When I won the Open at Muirfield in 2002 I didn’t play great at Loch Lomond the week beforehand. I nearly missed the cut, in fact; just like I almost did last week. But then I got to Muirfield and something clicked. I played some of the best golf of my life to win my first Open title. How does that happen? Who knows. The fact is, winning a major is about more than just hitting the ball well. It’s about using your head, playing smart golf, staying patient and, let’s be honest, getting a bit of luck at the right time.

More from Ernie's blog

Take a mulligan: it ain't right, Natalie

It just doesn't seem right. After John Senden won his first PGA event at the John Deere Classic by posting a 19-under, Natalie Gulbis was still on the course in Toledo, Ohio trying to do the same on the LPGA tour. At 18-under after the 10th hole (after rattling off 6 birdies), Natalie ended up needing only one more birdie to win her first LPGA victory. Like Senden, Nat needed 19-under to win. But, eight holes later, no such luck. Nat had several great looks at the hole, but her birdie putts always seemed to graze the edge of the hole and come out. They were either hit a tad too hard, or Lady Luck had run dry for Natalie Gulbis.

As I watched the back nine, I kind of sensed that Natalie Gulbis was one one-putt away from her first victory. But, after leading the tournament for most of the day, at times by a three or four shot margin, Natalie could not get any of her putts to go down. And her playing partner Mi Hyun Kim was not about to give up and hand Natalie the victory. It just doesn't seem right that none of Nat's putts on the back nine went down after they all did on the front. But that's golf, a fickle game.

Natalie Gulbis moves on...

With the monkey still on her back and old head cover still on her club. One thing I've always liked about Natalie Gulbis is her positive attitude.

DANA GROSS-RHODE: Natalie, you did great, you fought. Can you just go into your round?

NATALIE GULBIS: Usually coming into Sunday, we are kind of on the range and we were talking about shooting 4- and 5-under, and I thought for sure 5- or 6-under would do it, and I got off to a good start and shot 6-under and found myself in the playoff. The playoff, I had three chances for birdies. I hit some pretty decent putts. Some of them, for whatever reason, it was a bad read and I hit a little bit too hard, and that was about it.

Q. Was anything happening on the back nine than on the front?

NATALIE GULBIS: Making putts more than anything. I was dropping putts on the front nine, and I'm not sure you saw it on TV, but I had chance after chance until probably 16, and 17 I didn't have a chance, but almost the whole back nine, I felt like I had chances, and I lucked out three or four putts, and I gave myself plenty of opportunities to continue to make birdies.

Q. Did you ever wonder if it's going -- I mean, I'm sure you are confident it's going to happen, but you are awfully close and had a chance.

NATALIE GULBIS: All you can do is keep giving yourself chances. Butch (Harmon) and I always talk about giving yourself a chance to win with nine holes to play, and the same thing with my father. You want to have a chance, and this is what you learn from, and this is where you want to be. You want to have that putt for 10 or 12 feet to make it.

Q. Did you think with the three- or four-shot lead at some point you start to maybe look ahead, or no?

NATALIE GULBIS: No. I just try to stay in the present because everybody was playing well. After I was 4- or 5-under, Paula was in front of me, she was making birdies, and I played with her yesterday and she was hitting the ball well. Kim has one of the best short games on Tour. I knew she was beginning to make birdies, so I was trying to get to 20. I thought maybe 20 would do it. I didn't quite get there.

Q. Are you surprised that you went -- I think you got five in a row, and then you went like the next 14 holes and just couldn't find another birdie.

NATALIE GULBIS: No, I actually got five in a row, and I birdied 10. Then I didn't birdie anything else on the back nine. Like I said, I had chances, so it's not like I didn't have any chances throughout the whole day.

Q. How much scoreboard watching did you do? Do you watch the scoreboard all the time?

NATALIE GULBIS: Absolutely. That's what makes it fun. You want to know where you are at, and for me personally, it helps me stay aggressive. If everybody else is making birdies, I want to make birdies too, and I don't want to be hitting the center on the greens.

Q. I know you were playing with Kim, but were you maybe watching to see how Paula was doing, because she had four in a row there?

NATALIE GULBIS: No, I didn't know that, but I just looked at the board, and you can hear cheering where people are making birdies, and then when it's time to hit my shots, I was trying to make birdies, too.

Q. Does this more or less second the opinion that you can win on Tour, the mere fact that you were hanging with her, and not only that, but she had to make several shots to stay even with you?

NATALIE GULBIS: I always thought I could win on Tour. When I came out here five years ago, I thought I could win my first event. This has actually been one of the few events where I've led going into Sunday, and I've actually put together four really good rounds; four under par rounds and four rounds in the 60s. I had three good rounds, and I had rounds were I played well, but it's very positive because I played well straight through.
Q. Natalie, how difficult is it for you? You are still smiling.

NATALIE GULBIS: It sucks. It's not good. It's very difficult.

Q. But you are still smiling. Are you satisfied with your round?

NATALIE GULBIS: I'm always smiling, but it's very upsetting.

MR. GULBIS: What do you think about our dad getting a haircut if you would have won?

NATALIE GULBIS: I think your hair looks good long. I don't want you to change. That's just your look. I would have liked to have retired my head cover, though. I'm a little bit bummed.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about being in the zone, and it just seemed like every shot was covering flags for almost the whole day. Was your iron play as good as maybe it's ever been?

NATALIE GULBIS: That's probably the strength of my game, is definitely my iron play, and this week I drove the ball well, too. I was in the fairways, which allowed me to fire at a lot of pins, as well as iron play, and I just kept firing at pins, and this golf course is definitely pin honey out here, especially as soft as the greens were.

Q. What's next for you? How do you keep your head up after being so close?

NATALIE GULBIS: Well, it's not like I finished last. I had a pretty good week. It's definitely a lot of positive stuff from here, and I'll go back home and work on my game, and there are three big events coming up overseas, but this was a big week for me because I really wanted to qualify for the ADT (Championship), and I was kind of on the bubble, and I needed a top-5 finish to qualify for the ADT.

Natalie Gulbis starts hot, but can't close on first victory

Painful. I slit my thumb chopping an onion while watching the playoff between Natalie Gulbis and Mi Hyun Kim. That, along with the onion and Natalie's as-close-to-victory-as-you-can-get, almost made me cry.

The ESPN2 coverage started out when Natalie was on fire. Decked out in her orange Adidas outfit (fitting for Cleveland Browns fans in Northern Ohio), Natalie shot a 29 on the front nine and pulled a 4 shot lead over Mi Hyun Kim. Natalie almost eagled No. 10, so, after settling for a tap in birdie, Natalie was 6-under for the day. As TV coverage started, Natalie was sitting pretty at -18. Mi Hyun was 3 back at that point, and the closest competitor to Nat. Frankly, I was already thinking of all the great things I would be saying on The Golf Blog about Natalie's first victory.

But I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Natalie shot even par for the back 9 -- she was stuck at -18, while her competitors Mi Hyun and Paula Creamer started making a late charge. Nat's speed on her putts gave her some problems on the back nine. Although she had some makeable birdie opportunities on the back, Nat seemed to be hammering her "Hammy" putter right through most of the breaks. Suddenly, Natalie had gone cold, and, at least to me, her eyes and facial expression seemed to display much more nerves on the final three holes in regulation. She played valiantly, though, saving some pressure par putts coming in.

Meanwhile, Mi Hyun birdied three straight holes to force the playoff (and could have won it on 18 but missed a makeable putt). (Paula Creamer almost made the playoff by pulling off a string of 3 straight birdies, but she also missed a makeable birdie putt on 18.) Suddenly, the momentum had shifted to Mi Hyun.

But, in the playoff, Natalie seemed to have rebounded and to be hitting the better shots. On 2 of the holes, Natalie was closer to the pin within the 10 to 15 foot range for birdie. But she could not convert with the Hammy putter. Mi Hyun drained a 20 footer to win on the third playoff hole, and Natalie's 12 footer slided by. A disappointing loss for Natalie, but she played her heart out. Her time will come.

Holy Toledo! Natalie Gulbis tied for lead

Natalie Gulbis just plunked down 5 birdies (plus one bogey) on the front nine, to pull into a tie for the lead at -8 with Reilley Rankin and Mi Hyun Kim, who have already finished their second rounds. Nat's got the entire back nine left, so GO NAT! Will this week be the one in which Natalie breaks through -- in Toledo, Ohio, no less?

Sunday Morning UPDATE: With almost three rounds complete (after a huge rainstorm delay on Friday), Natalie, Reilley Rankin, and Mi Hyun Kim are still tied for the lead, at -12. Paula Creamer + Se Ri Pak have entered the picture at -11. Annika's within striking distance at -8.

The weather will be hot and steamy again, perfect for someone from Vegas. Go Nat.

Full leaderboard.

Jeff Gove: pouring salt on the wound

Jeff Gove won't be winning the Humanitarian Golfer of the Year, at least not this year. While playing with Michelle Wie, who got sick with heat exhaustion and had to get an IV and go to the hospital, it appears that Gove was glad to have Wie drop out because he felt Michelle was "inconsiderate" and just holding the group up. For a guy who's missed seven of the last nine cuts, he sure does have his opinion.

"She just said, 'I'm going to withdraw,' which was good because she was holding us up again," said Jeff Gove, who finished at 1-over 143 and missed the cut by three strokes. "I saw she was hurting, but she never said anything. And she was walking real slow, which I thought was inconsiderate again because we're trying to keep up. If we get on the clock again, that's painful."

This reminds me of the time when Pete Sampras became dehydrated and threw up on court while playing a 5-setter against Alex Corretja. While vomiting, Pete received a delay of game warning from the ump. Talk about lack of concern.

Wie drops out with heat exhaustion

Although she is from Hawaii, Michelle Wie got sick in the heat and couldn't continue after nine holes. Full story.

The Tiger report

I play to win and never like finishing second. Just the same, I felt pretty good about my performance at the Cialis Western Open last week. Obviously, I haven't played very much this year and my game is rusty. But I put in a lot of time on the practice range at Cog Hill with Hank Haney and we're starting to piece some things together. The last time I logged that many hours on the range was in March at Isleworth during the Bay Hill Invitational.

I honestly don't know anything about Royal Liverpool, but I'll play three or four practice rounds and that should be enough time to prepare. The key is to make sure you do your homework and find out what the golf course will allow you to do.It was the same with Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Carnoustie and St. Andrews. It's not like I haven't done it before. We play around the world and learn different golf courses in a day or two. It's part of playing golf. I think people are making too big a deal out of the fact that the tournament hasn't been played at Hoylake since 1967.

I just read that LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers signed a new three-year contract for $60 million. Obviously, that's a great deal, but I wouldn't trade places with him. Most NBA players only have two options: a team contract and a shoe deal. That's the only exposure they get.

That's it for now. Gotta go practice for Royal Liverpool. Hope you're having a great summer and I'll talk to you next month.

Jamie Farr Classic: Natalie + Paula shoot 67

Finally. Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer managed to post good first rounds at the Jamie Farr Classic in Toledo, Ohio. I've been waiting for these glam girls of the LPGA to start making some noise this year. Could this be the week one of these women pull through with a victory?

Also, hats off to Nancy Lopez for giving it a go this week. Score's not great, but Nancy's great for golf.

-6
Michelle Estill, Liselotte Neumann

-5
Reilley Rankin, Sung Ah Yim,

-4
Natalie Gulbis, Paula Creamer, Laura Davies, + others

Other notables
Se Ri Pak, -3
Annika Sorenstam, -2
Morgan Pressel, -2

Full board

The Wie report: ouch!

After 14 holes, things are not looking pretty: Michelle is +5, and next to dead last in the field. The leaders are at -7. Leaderboard here.

So you think you can golf?

All of us who golf would like to improve, no matter what level you play at. For those of you who are more serious about it, I have two questions:

1. Self-diagnosis or swing coach?: For many years, mostly when I was a kid and teenager, I had a swing coach (several different ones over the years). For the past seven or so years, I've been on my own (although once or twice I've taken a lesson). One of the things I don't like about finding a new swing coach is that sometimes the pro is not a good teacher, or, even worse, the guy has only one "style" of swing in mind and tries to get you to fit their one swing. I'm not a teenager or Tiger Woods, so I can't spend hours on the range totally revamping my swing. But I do see benefits in getting pro analysis now and then. I was just about to take a lesson this summer with a new guy, but the guy's number was not available at the range where I practice. So I decided that I'm smart enough to figure out why I hit some of my bad shots. Sure enough, after watching my ball flight, I did figure out my swing path was a little messed up. So far, the results have been pretty good.

My question is: do you have a swing coach or do you self-diagnose your own swing?

2. Range or course? I've always loved to practice on the range and beat balls, but maybe my problem is more on the course when I revert to old habits. How many of you practice more on the course or on the range?

Here's a funny story from Monty about how little he hits on the range: "I haven't worn out my body bashing balls," Montgomerie said last week in Ireland. "Actually, I can prolong my career longer than others because I haven't bashed myself up." Monty said he hits about 150 balls during a typical round -- assuming he shoots around 70. He said Sky Sports sent a reporter to count how many balls Vijay Singh hit in a typical day at the U.S. Open."Just short of 1,000 in the day," Montgomerie said. "That included 400 putts after he finished. He's older than me by four months. But he's unique. He is one end of the scale, and I am the other. That's a 700- or 800-ball difference in a day. You multiply that by six days' play in a week. He does very well."

The Big Easy report

Ernie Els is, hands down, the best blogger among the pros. He does so regularly, and with very detailed posts. This week, Ernie has a lot to say here about the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond and the upcoming British Open at Holyake. But here's the real story:

Before I get on to what's happening this week, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the boys and girls from the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation who last weekend won the inaugural Friendship Cup against the team from Tiger's Foundation. And they won it in some style, too. Sounds like the team made a storming start on the first day, then got a touch of the jitters on the second day, which gave Tiger's team a fighting chance going into the final day's singles matches. But my boys and girls rallied together and put in a fantastic team performance, not losing one of the eight individual matches out there. The end result was a convincing 12 1/2 - 3 1/2 from the possible 16 points up for grabs. Well done!

These type of matches are a great experience for young golfers and hopefully everyone on both sides will have learnt some valuable lessons - you know, something to help them take their games to the next level. And hopefully they had some fun, too. That's what it's all about.I also want to thank Tiger for taking time out of his schedule to present the team trophy at the end of the matches. I know how much that will have meant to all the kids; it will have been an inspirational moment and I'm sure they will remember it for the rest of their lives.

Tiger and his team will have a chance to turn the tables when the Friendship Cup comes to Fancourt in 2007.

The Natalie report

It's been awhile since we heard from Natalie Gulbis. But here's what she says about how she consoled herself after getting knocked out in the first round of Match Play:

Anyway I have had an amazing week aside from the event. I am staying at the Trump Bedminister in a house with my family and friends. We have had an absolute blast. This place is amazing, the course is unreal, and the facilities are perfect! I have been working out early and then playing tennis for a few hours every day. Next I’m off to the course for my typical practice schedule then to the pool with my friends who are here. We have cooked almost every night and have had so much fun!

Next stop is to Toledo, OH. Greg, my friend, and dad are driving the 8-hour trip tomorrow. Time for movies and magazines. Hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for coming onto my website and for the continued support!

Michelle Wie back on PGA tour this week

Michelle Wie returns to the John Deere Classic this week in Silvis, Illinois. Last year, she missed the cut by 2 strokes. What will this year hold? More disappointment? Or play on Sunday?

At least the 16-year old Michelle knows where to find the ice cream in town. "Whitey’s Ice Cream, for sure. Particularly the ice cream pie with fudge, caramel and nuts.’’ (More here)

Match play: the right to remain silent?

Michelle Wie's received a little flak from the press for apparently not talking with her competitors Se Ri Pak and Brittany Lincicome during their matches. See here.

To me, this seems like a non-story. This is the Match Play championship, for pete's sake, not some high school party.

What next for Brittany Lincicome?

Brittany Lincicome is blonde, blue-eyed, and can bomb the ball off the tee. She's got a cute smile, but a razor sharp competitive edge. Brittany's only 20 years old, but just won the Match Play tournament, defeating the likes of Michelle Wie and Julie Inkster.

So what's next for Brittany?

A. Will move into Top 5 players on LPGA tour
B. Will become known as best young, blonde on tour
C. At least reporters will know how to spell her name
D. Nothing. Will receive no more fame or attention than Marisa Baena did for winning Match Play last year

Who is playing better after U.S. Open: Phil or Tiger?

At the Cialis Western Open, Phil Mickelson tied for 65th, at +3, while Tiger tied for second, at -11. Tiger had three rounds in the 60s, while Phil had three rounds in the 70s. Could this mark the shift back to Tiger after Phil's brief run at the majors? Is Phil still feeling the side effects of self destructing at the U.S. Open, where he played the final hole like "such an idiot"?

Hats off to Trevor Immelman for his first win at a PGA event.

Women's match play finale

I was hoping for a final in the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship with young guns Paula Creamer and Lorena Ochoa. Creamer and Ochoa will play against each other this afternoon, but in the consolation match, because Juli Inkster knocked out the Creamer 5 & 4, and Brittany Lincicome rallied to beat Lorena Ochoa in 19 holes.

My money is on Inkster, though a win by Lincicome might vault her into the upper echelon of women's golf.

Something needs to be done...

about the length of PGA pros. I just heard on the Wstern Open telecast that Vijay, through 17 holes in his third round, had hit 10 wedges for approach shots. Given that the shortest par 3 is 180 yards and thus more than a wedge, this means that on the other 13 long holes (only three of which were par fives), Vijay only had to hit more than a wedge for an approach on 3 holes!!

Though I know this is old news, I still cannot accept that new technology has turned the typical Tour event into a glamorous pitch and put contest. Of course, as the US Open highlights every year, growing out the rough can bring shotmaking back into the game. But more and more I am coming around to Jack's idea that we need a standard Tour ball for all the players that won't go over 280 yards on a regular basis.

Exciting elite 8 at women's match play ... now down to 4

Unlike the men's match play event, which rarely has all the top players advancing into the later rounds, the women's match play event has a terrific group still standing in the quarterfinals. Here are the on-going matches:

Lorena Ochoa
Sophie Gustafson

Michelle Wie
Brittany Lincicome

Karrie Webb
Paula Creamer

Annika Sorenstam
Juli Inkster

As of 2:30pm EDT, Ochoa and Creamer and Sorenstam are all 2 or 3 up, but Michelle Wie is 3 down with 8 to play. Live scoring here.

UPDATE: Ochoa v. Lincicome and Creamer v. Inkster will be the semifinal matches starting in the morning on Sunday.

The Sorenstam/Inkster match was great, going down to the last hole All Square. Inskter played amazingly down the stretch after being 2 down with 5 to play. She made birdies on four of the final five holes, just barely missed birdie on the other fifth, and drained a short putt for birdie to win on 18 after Annika's birdie put slid by moments earlier.

Based on her play today, I'd make Inkster the favorite tomorrow, though I'm alwasy rooting for the Pink Panther.

Big golf week on tap ... predictions?

Following up an exciting U.S. Women's Open championship, this coming Thursday starts exciting events for three tours:

• The men play the Western Open with both Tiger and Phil in the field.
• The women play their World Match Play Championship with Annika and Michelle seeded 1 and 2.
• The seniors play the U.S. Senior's Open with Fred Funk joining the elder statesmen.

I will make the (bold?) prediction that none of the persons named in this post will be taking home a trophy on Sunday.

Ron Sirak on why women's golf is better than men's

Someone once said great minds think alike. Well, here's what Ron Sirak of Golf World wrote this week: "As for women's golf being more fun to watch than men's, it is sort of like the comparison of men's tennis to women's tennis. Men's tennis has been overpowered by power. It's all about the speed of the serve. Women's tennis has points that last longer than a tenth of a second. Men's golf also has become a power game, while the women have a more complete examination of shot making. . . . At Newport, Sorenstam and Pat Hurst and even Michelle Wie had to play mid and long irons into par-4s. They had to hit 4-woods into par-3s and had fairway-wood approach shots to par-4s. Precious few par-5 greens were hit in two shots. Go to an LPGA event and you will see every club in the bag hit at one point or another. Most PGA Tour events now can be played with a handful of clubs."

Well, back on August 23 of last year, TGB's Douglas wrote: "But, in the end, I think I enjoy the LPGA event so much because it inspires me to improve my golf game more so than the PGA event. When I watch the PGA pros, on a course measuring 7200 yards, bashing their drives 300 yards and hitting 6-irons from 200 yards away, I come away feeling that I will never be able to play golf the way it is played by the pros. But when I watch the LPGA pros, on a course measuring 6600 yards, driving about 250 yards and hitting 7-irons from 150 yards away, I come away feeling that I can play like a pro. I also come to see the little things a pro does to average rounds of 70 (instead of the rounds of 80 that I average)."

The Stephen Ames report

Stephen Ames has a way of shooting with his mouth. The Golf Blog reported here about his "smack" talk against Tiger before Tiger thrashed him in match play. Well, here's what Stephen said about Phil Mickelson's play at the U.S. Open:

"I was shocked, even for Phil. I thought he had changed. Everybody has seen him change to a more conservative approach, and then all of a sudden that beast within came back out. The old Phil was still in there.

"You have to make good decisions to win a major because you know in a major someone is going to crack. He's eccentric; he wants to be different. Tiger is by far the better player, so Phil figures, 'I'm not going to battle with Tiger all the time so I'll be different.' "

The Tiger report

Tiger's back, too. He admitted that he was rusty at the U.S. Open after the long layoff. Also, Tiger revealed that he watched both the third and fourth rounds of the U.S. Open after he missed the cut as his "punishment."

About who he thought would win: Tiger said Monty. "He was on the right side [on 18], on the flat spot with a perfect angle with his fade. It doesn't get better than that."

Asked about Phil's ability to bounce back after blowing the U.S. Open: "I don't know. . . More than likely to stay competitive you have to, especially in our sport. We fail more than we succeed. You pick yourself up off the ground and you have to play the next week. If we had a percentage very similar to (a batting average) ... if you put a .300 in your winning percentage, you would have one heckuva career. But that's not normally the case."

Take a mulligan: Now that's honesty.

The Mickelson report

Phil's back, and kicking. So how did Phil get over blowing the U.S. Open? Gene Wojciechowski reports here:

Mickelson's 7-year-old daughter, Amanda, who was born the day after Lefty finished second at the 1999 U.S. Open, led the charge as soon as the front door opened.

"Did you win, daddy?" she said.

"No," said Mickelson.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But second is soooo good," she said. "Second is wonderful."

And then she paused. "Do you want pizza?"

Take a mulligan: OK, that's awfully sweet, but if it were my kid, she would've said, "Daddy, do you want a slice of pizza? How about two slices?"

TGB go clubbing: TaylorMade R7 425 driver

Over the long weekend, I finally found the time to give the R7 425 driver (9.5 degrees) by TaylorMade a good tryout. I had tried it out before on a couple holes in different rounds I played in the past month, but never really committed to playing a full 18 holes with it. A couple errant drives, and I would stick it back in the bag, opting to stick with my old, but halfway reliable Titleist 783K.

Well, after finally practicing with the R7 425 driver on the driving range for a good hour and then taking it out on the course, I can easily report that I'm switching over to the TaylorMade driver. And that's saying a lot because I'm pretty clingy with my clubs -- once I find one that I like, I usually stick with it. I've played Titleist drivers for about eight years, and still use the Callaway Steelhead 3 wood with a small head!

The key for me with the R7 was playing around with the movable weight screws on the driving range to find the right configuration for me. I recommend to everyone testing this driver out, to play around with the screws when you first hit the club. Frankly, I didn't know exactly what the yellow and red dot screws meant, other than that the red weighs more than the yellow. So I just played around with it, and watched my ball flight change with different configurations. I usually play a draw, and I ended up with a draw configuration. TaylorMade has a video on its site to help you figure the color coding configurations. You don't really need it, though, because with some trial and error, you should be able to find the right configuration that fits your swing.

Once I figured out the right screw configuration for my own swing, the R7 425 driver really worked like a charm. I've been reluctant to switch to a bigger head because, at least visually, I don't like the look of a huge blob at the end of my shaft. But the R7 425 model seems just about the right size for me of the newer generation of drivers (that now go up to 460 cc). I found it easy to hit, and pretty forgiving on off-center hits. I only started to get into trouble after I had been hitting the driver so well for the first 6 holes, that I started to really try to bomb the ball even more and ended up overswinging.

As far as distance goes, I think I picked up a few more yards of carry (which probably translates into even more yards of total distance on dry fairways). I didn't do a side-by-side comparison with my old Titleist, but that's an older club (with a lower degree), so the comparison may not be fair anyway. I didn't do exact measurements, but, based on the yardage markers at the range and course, I'd guess that my good drives averaged around 240 to 250 yards of carry, plus another 20 yards or so of roll. (Any drive over 280 yards would be a really great rip for me.) Once I have a little bit more time practicing with this club, I hope to be able to increase my fairways hit. One thing is for sure: I've made the switch to TaylorMade.

TGB golf gossip

It was a big week for Annika. Not only did she win the US Open, she got her US citizenship and has gone public with her relationship with her new boyfriend, Mike McGee, an agent for International Golf Partners and son of former PGA tour pro Jerry McGee. His photo is here.

Meanwhile, Pat Hurst admitted that, on the night before the playoff, she took the kids and family to McDonald's. Nothing like a Happy Meal to shoot a good round. She said that all the local restaurants were full.

Now that's cold...

This paragraph in this wire story about Annika Sorenstam's US Women's Open victory over Pat Hurst really made me laugh, though it seemed a bit harsh:

Now Sorenstam has pulled even with male counterpart Tiger Woods with 10 major championships. She has won three Opens, three LPGA Championships, three Kraft Nabisco (formerly Dinah Shore) titles and one Women's British Open. Woods called Sorenstam after each round — "that was sweet," she said — and she planned to text Tiger before nightfall. Perhaps Hurst will phone Phil Mickelson.

The Pat and Annika show

Monday will provide another 18 holes for Pat Hurst and Annika Sorenstam to duel with the US Women's Open championship on the line. I forgot when writing this post that the women would not re-pair during their 36-hole marathon on Sunday, which meant that Hurst and Sorenstam played both their rounds together. Finishing tied gives them another chance to soak in a wet but amazing course while trying to determine this year's champion.

Though many may discuss the failure of Michelle Wie to close the deal yet again after being tied for the lead after 3 rounds, I think the fact that the groups did not re-pair was a shame for both Michelle and the event. Mixing up the groups (and the personalities) for the final round might have produced even more drama than we saw on Sunday (though the finish was still exciting).

I'll make an against-the-grain prediction by saying that Pat Hurst gets it done on Monday. (But perhaps I am rooting for Pat because she supports my personal theory that I can order a lot from the snack cart without hurting my game too much.) Others?

UPDATE: Annika is back on top of the women's golfing world. Details here.

A telling(?) start to a long day for the ladies

The third round of the U.S. Women's Open at Newport C.C. has already begun, and the early numbers are intriguing. As of 9am, Annika and Michelle are off to fast starts with early birdies, but slow starts by Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis and a few others may set up the final round as a two-person showdown.

How exciting would it be for Annika and Michelle to be the final paring in the final round? That's certainly what I will be rooting for when ESPN2 starts its TV coverage at 11am this morning.