Sergio Garcia wins TPC in playoff over Paul Goydos

Is the monkey finally off his back, or does Sergio Garcia still need to win a major?

After hiring short game guru Stan Utley, Sergio Garcia finally seems to have a game plan with his putting. It paid off this weekend. Garcia hit 14 fairways on Sunday and managed a 1-under par in really difficult conditions. But it was putting that kept Sergio in the tournament with clutch putt after clutch putt made, including a key 5 footer for par on the monster 18th hole.

The playoff was on the island green 17th hole. Unfortunately, Paul Goydos went first and his wedge ballooned into the wind -- and then into the water. Sergio stuffed his wedge to 4 feet. After Goydos missed his bogey putt, Sergio "two putted" from 4 feet.

Congrats, Sergio!

Sergio Garcia shoots 66 at TPC; Trevor Immelman WDs with illness

Sergio Garcia made an appearance today, shooting 66 at The Players Championship to open a 2-stroke lead at 66. Meanwhile, Trevor Immelman has not shot under par since winning The Masters, and he had to withdraw from the TPC due to illness (vomiting and upset stomach).

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LPGA Michelob beer mashup ad

I like the water jumping video better, but this vid is still a lot of fun. Natalie Gulbis should shake harder next time.

High speed golf cart chase in Vegas

Can Anthony Kim close today?

Anthony Kim is a young gun with a 4-shot lead at the Wachovia Championship. Can AK win his 1st PGA tourney? Yesterday, he looked so confident. It's his tournament to lose...or win.

Problems dealing with a notable manufacturer

My dad sent me this interesting personal story via an e-mail titled "No wonder nobody buys Wilson clubs anymore." I am wondering if other readers have had similar customer service problems with Wilson or other major manufacturers:

A couple of days ago I bought a new set of Wilson Staff CI7 irons. They had received a great review in a golf magazine and after hitting them and a little research I took the plunge.

I am a 6 handicap and my warm up or practice iron is a 7 iron. Perhaps this is why the steel shaft on my 7 iron of my previous set, Callaway X-14's, had on two separate occasions broken during normal swings. I then discovered it was not possible to get exact replacement shafts since they were no longer made. Because of this I thought I would be smart to get replacement shafts now, so if I were to break a shaft on my new Wilson clubs I would have a replacement.

First I checked the usual sources, Golfsmith, Golf Works, the internet and discovered no one had the shaft on my clubs. So I called Wilson who told me the shaft was proprietary and only they had it. O.K. I said, I would like to buy two of them. I was told I could only return a club if it was broken.

When I explained I was a competitive golfer and could not afford to be without a club for a few weeks, I was told there was nothing I could do but send the club back to them. Further I was told they couldn't guarantee that they would have the same shaft when if and when I sent the club back to them. I asked to speak to a supervisor who might be able to help me out, to no avail. This is ridiculous. What ever happened to customer service? Guess I won't be buying or recommending Wilson clubs to anyone.

OMG: John Daly, no shirt, no shoes, no nothin'

Butch Harmon says, contrary to John Daly's comments, Harmon didn't apologize

It is a very sad fact that 2-time major winner John Daly is now ranked 595th in the world. Even sadder that he says he lost his contracts because of former coach Butch Harmon's public disapproval of his drinking and other shenanigans at the PODS Championship.

The saga isn't over. Apparently, JD said the drinking reports were all lies, and that Butch Harmon apologized to him. Well, today, Harmon says he never apologized and stands by his comments. (More)

I wonder if they'll be making more Winn commercials together?

Annika Sorenstam beats Paula Creamer in a playoff

Lorena Ochoa took a week off. Out emerged former No.1 Annika Sorenstam, who won her 71st victory. Annika won on the 1st playoff hole against Paula Creamer, who took 3 putts from the fringe. It would be nice if Annika can put some heat on Lorena. (more)

Tiger Woods off crutches

Needless to say, I'm a little stir crazy since my knee surgery on April 15. Although I've been through this before and understand the need for patience, I don't enjoy sitting around.

I really don't have a timetable for returning to competition. The doctors have said I should be able to play again in four-to-six weeks, but nothing is certain. I'm just going to do what they tell me to do.

At least I'm done with the crutches. I used them last week at Tiger Jam XI in Las Vegas to get around the hotel. Now, I'm wearing a knee brace and hope to start rehabbing soon.

I knew a couple of months ago I was going to have the surgery. The knee has been bugging me for a while. The only decision was do you miss the Masters or play in the Masters? I decided to play. Even if I had won, I still would have had the surgery.

I've definitely been playing in pain, but that's not why I didn't win at Augusta. I just never got comfortable with my putting stroke. As I said after the tournament, I was dragging the putter coming through which meant I couldn't start the ball on line. That's all it takes on those greens. Obviously, it was frustrating because I hit the ball well enough to win. It was just one of those things.

I called Trevor Immelman a couple days later to congratulate him. He was on the TV circuit, so I didn't actually talk to him, but I left a voice message. Nobody has ever doubted his ability. He has a beautiful golf swing and it was only a matter of time before he put it all together at a major championship.

The course was very difficult. I didn't hear as many roars as I usually hear, especially on the weekend. It did play like a U.S. Open course, which is fine. But I think the galleries are used to seeing birdies and eagles. On Sunday, the way the wind was blowing, it was tough to make pars. I hear the club might be making some changes next year to give us a break. We'll see what happens.

My sincere thanks to all the fans who have emailed their support and best wishes since my surgery. It means a lot to me. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Take care.

Tiger

Rumor mill: Tiger Woods might not play until US Open, skipping Memorial

LA Times has fueled the speculation that Tiger Woods might not play until the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, following his knee surgery. Rain at Muirfield, the site of Jack's tournament, is cited as one negative factor for playing there. (More)

Need your help: what's the ruling

One of our readers wrote in a question:

In a qualifying match, my son hit his golf ball up the hill on the elevated green from 220 yards out into a group of upperclassmen teammates. My son didn't think that he could reach them and apologized to the group of teammates, however it appears in anger that one of them stole his golf ball. What's the ruling? Is there any penalty to the golf ball thief?

Michael Israel paints Tiger WoodsPaula Creamer

Are my eyes deceiving me, or does this painting look more like Tiger Woods than Paula Creamer?

Lorena Ochoa wins 4th in a row

Lorena Ochoa has won the last 10 of 15 tournaments, and 4 in a row. She's hotter than Tiger Woods right now, but gets less than 1 percent of the attention. Go figure.

Minor backlash against Tiger's caddie Steve Williams for violating Augusta's cap requirement

There is some backlash among caddies against Stevie Williams, Tiger's caddie, who violated Augusta's requirement that caddies wear green caps during the tournament. (more)

Tiger Woods has knee surgery again -- possibly out of TPC

It's the same left knee that Tiger Woods has arthroscopic surgery on before in 2002. You know it must have been bothering him if he would do this in the middle of the season. He's going to be out for about 1 month -- meaning he will likely miss the Byron Nelson, Wachovia, Players Championship, Colonial, and even possibly the Memorial. PGA Commish Tim Finchem just saw the TV ratings go down and expressed his "disappointment" that Tiger could not play in these tournaments, but you know, health comes first.

"Tiger has been experiencing pain in his knee since the middle of last year, and when he had it looked at by his doctors, arthroscopic surgery was recommended," said his agent Mark Steinberg, "Tiger has played through the pain in the past, but knew it would be better for him to have the procedure done as early as possible."

(more) and more

For sale: new set of Men's Callaway Hawkeye VFT irons, 3-W, with graphite shafts (R)

I have a set of new men's Callaway Hawkeye VFT irons, 3-PW, graphite shaft (regular) standard lie. They are brand new, never been hit, with the plastic wrappings still on them. My dad bought these clubs a few years ago for $925, but never played them -- ever. No one has ever swung them. (He's a golf nut who basically buys more sets than he ever uses.)

A left handed version of these new clubs sells on eBay for $699. Callaway sells used versions of these clubs for $512.99. Callaway describes the clubs as follows:

"High technology for a low center of gravity. The Hawk Eye VFT Irons are everything that Callaway Golf has learned about iron design poured into a titanium package. A unique casting process creates a large, lightweight titanium clubhead with perimeter weighting and VFT Technology; the striking appearance is created by a proprietary finishing process. But the real beauty is an internal weight pocket that positions mass deep and low across the clubface for extraordinary trajectory and control with plenty of feel and forgiveness. Sure, they are smart and gorgeous. But they are designed to make you look like a genius."

I'll sell these new VFT irons for $625, plus you pay shipping costs. The clubs will ship after payment is received and cleared. Please email The Golf Blog at thegolfblog [at] gmail.com with serious offers or inquiries. Just click on the Contact link to the right for the email address.

Brandt Snedeker breaks down and cries after losing the Masters

Click here if video not working

Green jacket ceremony for Trevor Immelman

Video click here

Not much excitement on Sunday: Immelman wins by 3 strokes

The wind started blowing on Sunday, and so did the players. Trevor Immelman has played steady all day and has a 5-stroke lead. Tiger Woods made one 70-foot bomb, but has not been able to keep any momentum. What a disappointing week for Woods.

I'm impressed with Trevor, but this Sunday has been pretty boring compared to past Masters. The wind really made it difficult for any of the players to make any birdies.

Maybe Augusta has finally Tiger-proofed the course.

Video highlights -- click here

Immelman is the man -- takes 2 stroke lead into final round (-11); Tiger six strokes back

VIdeo highlights click here

TIger's video highlights click here

Tiger interview

Round 2 recap of Masters

Video highlights here

Post-round interview of Tiger Woods (-1)

Trevor Immelman assumes lead at Masters at -8

Andres Romero, the next big thing?

Andres Romero is extremely long (despite his small stature) and he can putt. He almost won the British last year until his club selection got the better of him. In watching him play yesterday at the Masters and then seeing cut away shots to Sergio Garcia struggling to make putts, I was left with two very different feelings. Even though the two are only a year apart in age, I get the feeling that Andres Romero will win a major very soon, but that Sergio Garcia may never. Don't get me wrong, Sergio's a great talent, but to watch him putt these days is unbearable. It's now a mental thing, and, if it becomes too mental, then the Ian Baker-Finch syndrome might eventually creep in.

Day One at the 2008 Masters: can Zach Johnson repeat?

Top 10

-4
Trevor Immelman
Justin Rose

-3
Brian Bateman
Brandt Snedekar
Lee Westwood

-2
Stephen Ames
Zach Johnson
Robert Karlsson
Ian Poulter

Other Notables
-1: Retief Goosen, Phil Mickelson, Mark O'Meara
E: Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Justin Leonard, Andres Romero, Sandy Lyle, Boo Weekley
+2: Ernie Els

Current leaderboard here

Video highlights of Day 1

Arnold Palmer starts the Masters

79 year old Arnold Palmer started off the Masters with the first drive. I really admire Mr. Palmer for all he's done for the game and for being the incredibly warm and gracious person he is. He's still got a swing at 79. Amazing.

Ian Poulter aces 16th on day 1 of Masters

Video link here.

Tiger Woods interview after 1st round

Tiger Woods recovers from +2 after 14 to finish even par

Who is Butch Harmon's No.1 student?

Ernie Els?

Phil Mickelson?

Adam Scott?

It will be interesting to see if several of these guys are in contention on Sunday. Who will Butch spend time with first?