An Angelic performance: U.S. Open recap

Back in April, I predicted that Angel Cabrera could win the Masters. That was just about the kiss of death, because Angel finished 37th, his worst finish ever at Augusta (besides three missed cuts). So this time around, for the U.S. Open, I made no predictions at all.

It was fun just watching things unfold. Angel Cabrera, an Argentinian from a very poor childhood, is good for golf. Anyone who can can drive the ball 397 yards into tight fairways deserves to win (OK, technically, the ball rolled off the fairway into the primary cut, but close enough). He played courageously, attacking the fairways and pins. And he played better than Tiger Woods on Sunday. What a win for Angel!

Is Oakmont too easy?

Where's the carnage, where's the high scores? +10, said Vijay. The winning score looks like it will be under par.

Leaderboard.

The U.S. Open train wreck: vote whether you want bad scores?

Before the carnage begins, let's get your view on whether you actually like to watch the pros shoot really bad scores at the U.S. Open. Do you really want the winning score to be +5 to +15?

Is Oakmont too difficult?

"I broke 100," said Tiger after his practice round at Oakmont, the site of this week's U.S. Open. Vijay Singh says the winner could be +10. (More)

Memorial Tournament live video feed starts Thursday

LIVE@ the Memorial coverage presented by FedEx will be broadcast online from 10:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. LIVE@ the Memorial will again feature Brian Katrick and Billy Kratzert, who have anchored the previous 4 LIVE@ Series events. Television coverage of competitive rounds will be from 3 – 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday on GOLF CHANNEL, 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. Saturday on GOLF CHANNEL and 3 – 6 p.m. on CBS, and Sunday’s final round from 12 – 2 p.m. on GOLF CHANNEL and 2:30 – 6 p.m. on CBS (all times are ET).

Go to video here.

Colonial turned into Crowne Plaza Invitational

Rory Sabbatini, voted the least favorite to play with on tour by his peers, won the Colonial -- er, the Crowne Plaza Invitational -- this weekend. Rory birdied the first hole and beat Jim Furyk and 49-year-old Bernard Langer. Wow, Bernard's still getting it done, almost at age 50.

So this tournament just doesn't seem the same with the new name. Remember when Annika Sorenstam almost made the cut here. Now, the tourney seems to have lost some of its stature. At least it's not the Holiday Inn Invitational.

Masters champ Zach Johnson wins again

Zach Johnson is proving that he may be no 1-hit wonder. He won today in a playoff victory over Riyuji Imada at the ATT Classic. (More)

TPC No. 17 train wrecks Sean O'Hair with quadruple bogey

It was painful to watch: trailing by only 2 strokes and playing in the last group with Phil Mickelson, Sean O'Hair pulled out a 9-iron for the 135 yard island green No. 17. The NBC announcers immediately questioned the club choice, guessing it was way too much club. Sure enough, it was. His ball was 12 yards too long and completely air mailed the green. O'Hair thought he hit it well, but he misclubbed. What was his caddie (his father-in-law) thinking?

O'Hair then dunked his 3rd shot back into the water. Ooops. It was all over. Sean played so well all day. You hate to see this kind of collapse. It was brutal.

TPC, Day 1: Lefty + Sabbatini, -5; Tiger, +3

Did Butch Harmon earn his keep, or what? You know that Butch relishes the opportunity to beat Tiger just as much as Rory Sabbatini apparently does.

Check out the leaderboard

Byron Nelson recap: Scott Verplank wins -- where were Tiger, Ernie, and others?

Did anyone catch the Byron Nelson Classic this past weekend? It was a touching finish with local boy (from Dallas) Scott Verplank catching Luke Donald and winning what Scott considers his "5th Major." Verplank needed to sink a 1 and a half footer on 18 to seal the deal, and he was so nervous, he nearly missed it.

Two other big stories: The greens were overriden with poiana, which left huge brown patches on the green. Then, there were the no-shows by 8 of the Top 10 players in the world, including No. 1 Tiger Woods.

Ron Sirak writes: "The biggest name, of course, among those missing this week is Tiger Woods, whose loyalty to Nelson was expressed in eight appearances at Byron's tournament. But Woods, who will likely play next week at the Wachovia Championship, will join top-15 players Jim Furyk, Adam Scott, Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson, Retief Goosen, Geoff Ogilvy, Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, an ailing Trevor Immelman and Zach Johnson in skipping the tournament."

OK, it's hard to single out Tiger from this list of the top players, all of whom who did not feel obliged to honor Byron Nelson the year of his death by attending his tournament. Tiger was probably getting some much needed R'n'R, while catching some of the NBA playoffs. This is a nonstory, I don't think it is a big deal.

Ron Sirak (among other golf writers), however, is taking Tiger to task:

"The more complicated answer -- and probably the correct one -- is that very few of today's millionaires appreciate the fact that it was guys like Nelson, who struggled to make ends meet, who made today's PGA Tour possible.

"There is a sense of entitlement among contemporary players that is totally out of proportion with both their achievement and their sacrifice. That sense of entitlement tends to view the world through me-colored lenses. Just as last year the one PGA Tour event all players should have been tripping over each other to enter was in New Orleans, the one must-make tournament this year should have been the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. And it had nothing to do with prize money or scheduling. It had everything to do with what was right."

Mickelson selects Masters champion dinner menu -- is it a Tiger trap?

The previous year's winner of the Masters gets the privilege of selecting the menu for the past champions' dinner. In 2005, Mickelson, winner in 2004, selected "lobster ravioli in a tomato cream sauce, Caesar's salad and garlic bread at the champions dinner," according to TGC.

Well, this year, Mickelson has selected a menu that sounds a lot higher in cholesterol and fat content: "southern fried chicken, baby back ribs, beef brisket and smoked sausage. If that's not enough, vanilla ice cream will be served for dessert." (More here)

I hate to be cynical about this selection, but the high red meat content plus the fried chicken can't be all that appealing to the health conscious players like Tiger Woods. I mean, c'mon, who eats "beef brisket" today? Mickelson must know that this meat-heavy menu won't be appealing to Tiger (who has 5% body fat). Tiger's long been on record that he's cut out (or reduced) fried chicken and fatty meats from his diet. Hopefully, they will at least serve salad so Tiger won't go home hungry.

Tiger Woods wins CA Championship, but not without stress at finish

Tiger Woods won again today, but things got very interesting down the stretch. Tiger had a 3-stroke lead going into the 17th hole and the tourney seemed all but over, but Brett Wetterich stuffed his tee shot for a makeable birdie of 8 feet. Unfortunately, Brett, visibly nervous, missed the putt.

But on 18, Brett striped a 316 yard drive down the center of the tight 18th fairway, which is lined with water on the left. Tiger "layed up" with a 2-iron off the tee and "layed up" again with an iron. Brett then stuffed his iron to about 8 feet again. Tiger then hit his pitch deep on the green, almost to the exact place where Mark Calcavecchia had putted his ball off the green into the water for a triple bogey. Tiger, however, judged the 52-foot putt perfectly, leaving a 1-foot tap in. Meanwhile, Brett hit a nervous putt that stopped a half an inch short of the hole. Game over.

Phil out, VJ out, Goosen out, Sergio out -- Tiger in

Round 2

Ernie Els ousted in 1st round

Bradley Dredge upset Ernie Els, 4-2. Tiger is 2-up after 4 holes. All scores here.

Nissan Open at Riviera: Phil Mickelson makes another statement--Tiger beware

Thursday's rounds
Padraig Harrington went really low, shooting 8-under to take the first day lead. Phil Mickelson had a great day, too, at -5. And Pat Perez is also at -5.

Friday's rounds
When is the last time at a PGA event that the top 10 consisted of 5 players in their 20s? Maybe never. Well, today, at the Nissan Open, Charles Howell III, Sergio Garcia, Aaron Baddeley, Ben Curtis, and Geoff Ogilvy are all on the leaderboard.

But the story of the tournament is now Phil Mickelson, who took a share of the lead at -11 with Paddy Harrington. Lefty shot 6-under today and seems to have found his form with his driver, hitting 66% of fairways today (down from 80+% last week, but still impressive for Riviera).

Leaderboard

Phil Mickelson makes a statement: not an idiot any longer

The golfing gods can be cruel. One day you've won two majors in a row and are just about to win your third (with many calling you The Rival to Tiger Woods), the next day, your game is in complete shambles after one of the most embarrassing finishes to the final hole of a major, short of Jean Van de Velde. Last year, who could forget Phil Mickelson summing up his final hole at Winged Foot and the U.S. Open: "I'm such an idiot."

Well, this past weekend, Phil Mickelson moved a long way to exorcising his U.S. Open demons by winning his 30th PGA title at Pebble Beach by a dominating final round performance that left the runner up Keven Sutherland 5 strokes back. And it appears that Mickelson is an idiot no longer, having learned some valuable lessons from his humiliating finish at the U.S. Open. The biggest of all: Phil recognizes that he has a problem with a massive slice on his driver and needs to fix it. That's the same bugaboo that killed Mickelson and Tiger on the final hole of the Ryder Cup when they were paired together -- and Phil's 3-wood left Tiger against the fence with an unplayable lie. Unfortunately, Mickelson ignored his problem back then and it finally caught up with him. Now, Mickelson realizes he can't ignore it any longer.

"I believe I can take what happened at Winged Foot and make it a plus for the rest of my career. I think I'm going to be a better driver of the golf ball for the rest of my career. At least, that's the goal."

Wii at AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

This weekend at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Nintendo will be at an event, which will feature their extremely popular Wii Sports and give party-goers a chance to play Wii Sports, including Wii Golf. Additionally, Nintendo will have two Wii interactive stations on-site for guests to experience Wii Sports and play Wii Golf.

Event Info:
- The event will be held on Saturday, February 10, 2007, at The Inn At Spanish Bay
- Guests will include VIPs, pro-golfers, and celebs

Personally, I have been dying to try to get my hands on a Wii system and play Wii Golf. My friends who have played the Wii have been extremely impressed. Unfortunately, I have been able to find one at my local retailer, but, once I get a Wii, I will definitely be posting a review here on The Golf Blog for you, our readers.

Anyways, I will be receiving photos from the event, showcasing the VIPs, pro-golfers, and other celebs attending the event!

Dubai: Els comes out firing -- right at you, Tiger

Ernie Els looks like he has something to prove this year. Today, he opened with a 6-under 66, which is one stroke back of the leaders Graeme McDowell and Ross Fisher as the Dubai Dessert Classic.

Tiger Woods is 4-under, with a 68, and appears to have everyone just where he wants them. Leaderboard