Tiger unable to tame Oak Hill, not soured by late stumble

Tiger unable to tame Oak Hill, not soured by late stumble

Frank Pingue August 8, 2013







.

View gallery
Fans look on as Tiger Woods of the U.S. is escorted to the 16th tee during a practice round for the 2013 …


By Frank Pingue

ROCHESTER, New York (Reuters) - Tiger Woods, who arrived at this week's PGA Championship as the overwhelming favorite to win a 15th major, was still liking his chances despite a messy finish to his opening round on Thursday.

Woods, who is looking to snap a five-year title drought in golf's elite championships, had a bogey and double-bogey over his final six holes as part of a one-over 71 that left him six strokes behind clubhouse leader Jim Furyk.

"I'm still right there," said Woods, who started out on the back nine and was two under after six holes. "As of right now, I'm only six back and we have a long way to go."

In relatively benign conditions on an Oak Hill course that was softened by overnight rain, Woods scrambled to make several par-saving putts but was unable to take full advantage of any spurts of momentum.


On his first hole, the par-four 10th, Woods sent his tee shot into the first cut of rough and then yelled at himself after leaving his approach short of the green. Woods chipped past the hole but sank an eight-footer for par.

He missed the green on his next hole, the par-three 11th, but salvaged par with a short putt after chipping out of some greenside rough.

Woods picked up his first stroke of the day at the massive 598-yard, par-five 13th hole, tapping in for birdie after a stunning approach shot left him just short of the cup.

ENORMOUS ROAR

The world number one got to two under when he drained a eight-foot birdie putt at the par-three 15th that set off an enormous roar from an adoring gallery that followed his every move at sunny Oak Hill.
View gallery."
Fans ask for autographs as Tiger Woods walks to the course for his practice round for the 2013 PGA C …

Woods also did well to save par at his ninth hole when he got up and down from a greenside bunker.

"The round realistically could have been under par easily," said Woods, who arrived at Oak Hill fresh from a seven-stroke win at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

"I feel like I played well today and made some nice key putts and the key is I left it in all the good spots too."

The world number one's round started to unravel when he bogeyed the par-five fourth after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker.

But it was his final hole that was a far cry from the red-hot form he has been showcasing of late to earn the nod as title favorite in the year's final major.

"I was completely blocked out and tried to shape one over there and I drew no lie at all from my third shot," said Woods, who is seeking his first major crown since the 2008 U.S. Open.

"I was just trying to play 20 feet long, putt back and try and just get bogey.

"I didn't even get over the bunker (with the third). Came out nowhere. Didn't really have much from there, hit a beautiful putt, just lipped out."

(Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)

Atricles Course: http://golfatn.blogspot.com/

Play resumes at Oak Hill after weather suspension

Play resumes at Oak Hill after weather suspension

Mark Lamport-Stokes August 8, 2013









By Mark Lamport-Stokes

ROCHESTER, New York (Reuters) - Play resumed at 5:35 p.m. ET in Thursday's opening round of the PGA Championship after a 70-minute suspension due to the threat of lightning at Oak Hill Country Club.

Already softened by two inches of overnight rain, Oak Hill's challenging East Course was expected to become even more receptive when the players returned to the par-70 layout.

Earlier, horns had sounded to halt the action as thunder rumbled overhead, and heavy rain then followed during the first interruption at the year's final major.

At that point, American Jim Furyk was the early leader in the clubhouse after firing a five-under-par 65.

Also at five under was Masters champion Adam Scott of Australia, who had reeled off five consecutive birdies from the par-five fourth and still had eight holes to complete.

Canadian journeyman David Hearn opened with a 66 to sit one stroke off the pace, level with Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez who had played 12 holes.

Tournament favorite Tiger Woods, hunting his first major victory since the 2008 U.S. Open, double-bogeyed his final hole, the par-four ninth, for a 71 to trail by six strokes.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue)

Atricles Course: http://golfatn.blogspot.com/

Bookend bogeys can"t mar Hearn's PGA debut

Bookend bogeys can"t mar Hearn's PGA debut

PGA.COM August 8, 2013







.

View gallery
“Between the first and the last, I played some really solid golf,” said David Hearn.(Getty Images)



By Stan Awtrey, PGA.com Contributor

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Making a bogey on the first hole isn't the best way to start a round of golf, let alone a major championship. But that's the way David Hearn made his PGA Championship debut on Thursday.

Turns out there wasn't another misstep until the final hole. Hearn, one of two Canadians in the field, shot a 4-under 66 in the first round, leaving him only one shot behind early leader Jim Furyk.

"Between the first and the last, I played some really solid golf," Hearn said. "Obviously a little disappointed with the finish, but after than bogey on 1, got a birdie right back on No. 2 and that kind of got me back in the direction pretty quickly."

Hearn made the turn at 2 under and picked up back-to-back birdies at No. 10 and No. 11. He approach at No. 10 was about four feet from the hole, and he smoked a 3-iron to with about 15 feet at No. 11. Hearn made a nice eight-foot putt to save par at No. 12 and picked up another birdie at the 15th when a 9-iron left him a four-foot putt, which he made.

Hearn struck a poor tee shot on No. 18 and had to punch out of the rough. His approach was 12 feet from the hole, but he missed the putt to finish at 4 under.

"Overall, I played pretty solid and drove the ball great most of the day," he said. "Just the one bad tee shot. But I think even Tiger [Woods] last week, winning by seven, I'm sure he would tell you there's a shot here or there that he could have done a little better."

Hearn showed he still had some momentum from the John Deere Classic, where he lost on the fourth extra hole of a playoff to young Jordan Spieth. Hearn also drew from a pro-Canadian crowd that seemed to grow as he worked his way around the course.

"I heard a lot of 'Go Canada' out there," he said.

Atricles Course: http://golfatn.blogspot.com/

One-hit wonder Micheel singing happy song at Oak Hill

One-hit wonder Micheel singing happy song at Oak Hill

Steve Keating August 8, 2013








By Steve Keating

ROCHESTER, New York (Reuters) - Shaun Micheel is golf's ultimate one-hit wonder.

A decade ago the American was number one with a bullet, shooting to the top of the PGA Championship leaderboard to become one of golf's most unlikely major winners.

That year he arrived at stately Oak Hill Country Club a virtual unknown and left a chart-topper with many critics predicting a string of hits to follow.

Now 44, Micheel returned to the scene of his greatest triumph this week a golden oldie with fans still singing the praises of what remains his one and only PGA Tour win.

"I know people want me to do well, and maybe they don't expect me to do well, but I made a lot of fans up here in Rochester," Micheel told Reuters. "I take a lot of pride in what happened 10 years ago.

"There were some great memories out there."

Unfortunately for Micheel no new ones were made on Thursday as the 2003 champion scuffed his way to a six-over 76.

It was hardly a pleasant stroll down memory lane, Micheel's nosedive beginning with a double-bogey at the par-four seventh followed by four straight bogeys from the 11th.

He would pick up his only birdie of the day at the par-three 16th but immediately gave that shot back with a bogey at 17.

"I started off OK, six pars and then kind of had a bad break on seven and made a six then I got on the bogey train," said Micheel, still confident he can add another win to his resume.

"I didn't have a great round, if I could have made two or three more birdies out there I would have been happy with three-over but it just wasn't meant to be.

"I putted extremely well 10 years ago, I just couldn't find that magic on the greens today."


It took Micheel 164 tournaments to notch his first win and in the 10 years and 215 starts since it continues to be his only success.

In four PGA Tour events this year Micheel has yet to make the cut, record a round under 70 or earn any prize money.

"Had you told me that when I hoisted that trophy on Sunday night ... if somebody had whispered in my ear that you're going to become a non-exempt player on the Tour and you're going to be a non-exempt player on the Web.com Tour, I would have told you you were crazy, or thought I was dead or retired," said Micheel.

"It's been frustrating I suppose. The shoulder surgery I had in '08, I just don't swing like I used to.

"My form just doesn't function the way that I need it to. So I was kind of in search of a lot of things of trying to figure out how to recreate my golf swing."

While some golf fans may struggle to recall the man who claimed the 2003 PGA Championship they are unlikely to forget the manner in which it was won.

Clinging to a one-stroke lead over Chad Campbell as he stepped onto the 18th tee, Micheel found the rough then took a seven-iron and unleashed a shot that landed inches from the cup leaving him a tap in for the win.

Micheel may not be remembered as one of the game's greats but his shot has found a spot in golfing folklore, immortalized by a bronze plague on the 18th fairway.

"Over the years, I think I've escaped relatively unscathed with what I'm going to call the one-hit wonder notion," said Micheel. "I mean, I totally get it, I really do, but I don't think people really understand that there's a process involved in winning major championship golf."

For Micheel the beat goes on.

While 21 years of sweat and effort has produced a single title for Micheel, Tiger Woods recently put winning a tournament into perspective.

"Even if you miss the cut in every tournament you play in; you win one, you're part of history," said Woods.

(Editing by Frank Pingue)




Atricles Course: http://golfatn.blogspot.com/

Golf-Furyk back on high after a season of some lows

Golf-Furyk back on high after a season of some lows

August 8, 2013








By Mark Lamport-Stokes

ROCHESTER, New York, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Jim Furyk has seen it all during a long PGA Tour career, giddy highs and painful lows, and he was delighted to build on a recent uptick in form by charging into contention for the PGA Championship on Thursday.

With his usually sharp short game once again clicking after he had surprisingly struggled for much of this season, Furyk putted superbly on the way to a five-under-par 65 in rain-softened conditions at Oak Hill Country Club.

Though the American veteran with the unique loopy swing signed off with a bogey at the par-four ninth, his final hole of the day, he was in an upbeat mood after setting the early pace in the year's final major.

"Usually disappointed with ending the day on a bogey, but you know, 65 at the PGA is not so bad, so I'm feeling pretty good about today," 2003 U.S. Open champion Furyk told reporters after piling up six birdies in his first 16 holes.

"I'm happy that I played a good round. Trust me, I'll be in a good mood the rest of today. But I'm wise enough and been there enough that, it is only Thursday. Right now we are jockeying for position.

"I hit a bunch of fairways today, controlled my iron shots very well. Felt good with the putter, so a fun day when stuff like that happens. Today was probably one of the best putting rounds, if not the best putting round I've had this year."


Furyk, a 16-times winner on the PGA Tour, had been more than frustrated after missing the cut in the last two majors, the U.S. Open in mid-June and the British Open at Muirfield which followed five weeks later.

"Those are probably the thorns in my side," said the 43-year-old American, who has posted just four top-10s in 17 starts on the U.S. circuit this season with his best finish a tie for third at the Texas Open in April.

"I did not feel confident with my putter and that was putting a lot of pressure on the rest of my game and quite honestly, I wasn't particularly driving the ball that well.

"Basically two of the three most important components of playing well, and usually two strengths of my game. So I worked real hard at Canada and last week on kind of fixing those problems, and feel very comfortable with what I'm doing."

Furyk, who has not won on the PGA Tour since his stellar 2010 campaign when he triumphed three times, felt his game turning around with top-10s at the Canadian Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in his last two starts.

"I felt great today," he said of his putting. "Doesn't mean it's going to feel great tomorrow, and whatever, but I feel like I'm moving in the right direction.

"I've always had a lot of confidence in my game and my short game has always been a strength, but putting is streaky. I've had some really good moments in my career, and I think great years with the putter, and I've also had my struggles, as well.

"This sport beats you up. If I played 25 events a year and I win one event a year for my entire career, you would be a hell of a player, you won over 20 times on the PGA Tour and you're going to lose 24 times a year. You've got to take your lumps." (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Atricles Course: http://golfatn.blogspot.com/

Andrew Svoboda wins Web.com Tour event

.

View gallery

Andrew Svoboda hits on the second tee during the final round of the John Deere Classic golf tournament, Sunday, July 14, 2013, at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

August 11, 2013AP - Sports

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Andrew Svoboda won the Price Cutter Charity Championship on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title, closing with an 8-under 64 for a three-stroke victory.

The 33-year-old former St. John's player finished at 22-under 266 at Highland Springs Country Club. He opened with a 64 and followed with rounds of 72 and 66.

In 17 PGA Tour starts this year, Svoboda has made only four cuts and withdrew from another event. He has played six Web.com Tour events, missing three cuts.

Brazil's Fernando Mechereffe shot a 67 to finish second. Matt Davidson and Sweden's Daniel Chopra tied for third at 18 under. Davidson had a 64, and Chopra finished with a 68.

Atricles Course: http://golfatn.blogspot.com/

Woods ends with 70, frustrated not to contend

 

PGA.COM August 11, 2013

.

View gallery

Tiger Woods again had trouble keeping his tee shots in the fairway, hitting only 4 of 14, on Sunday.(Edward …

Watch all of Tiger Woods' highlights | Explore all our PGA Championship video

By T.J. Auclair and Stan Awtrey, PGA.com

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - It's not often that Tiger Woods finishes his Sunday round before the lead groups even reach the first tee. But that's the sort of week it was at the PGA Championship for the No. 1-ranked player in the world.

And once again, Woods will have to wait for major championship win No. 15.

Woods - a five-time winner on the PGA Tour in 2013 - was never a factor in the season's final major, as he matched his best score of the week with an even-par 70 to finish at 4-over 284. He has now completed eight competitive rounds at Oak Hill without breaking par.

"It's more frustrating not being in it," Woods said. "Having a chance to win it on the back nine on Sunday, I can live with that. It's always frustrating going out there and grinding my tail off coming in just to shoot even par for the day. That's tough.

"I put four good rounds together last week, unfortunately it wasn't this week," he added, referring to his runaway victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. "Didn't seem to hit it as good and didn't make many putts until the last few holes today. But I didn't give myself many looks and certainly didn't hit the ball good enough to be in it. Jim [Furyk] is 9 under par right now. I've had nine birdies through 72 holes, so not enough birdies."

After opening with seven consecutive pars on Sunday, Woods ran into a little trouble with a bogey on No. 8 followed by a double bogey at No. 9. He pulled things together on the back with three birdies in a four-hole stretch beginning on No. 12 to get back to even, where he would finish his day.

He again had trouble keeping his tee shots in the fairway, hitting only 4 of 14, his least accurate round of the week. He somehow managed to get to 12 greens in regulation and saved par on four of the ones he missed.

"They cut (the rough for the tournament and then obviously let it go as the week went on," Woods said. "It's back to where it was last week right now. It's really tough and the greens are starting to pick up a little bit of speed."

One of his biggest saves came on the 18th hole. He hit his tee shot in the right rough and air-mailed his approach in the rough on the left of the green. Woods then played a nice pitch to within three feet and made his par.

And though Woods wasn't able to get much done in terms of scoring, he didn't feel that would be the case for the rest of the field.

"The golf course is set up to be had," he said. "There are a few really hard pins out there, really, really hard pins. If you can navigate through those holes, make your pars, there's certainly some gettable pins, as well.

"With it being soft, they give us some pretty easy pins from 12 on in," he noted. "It'll be interesting to see how some of these guys play, especially some of the shorter hitters. You still got the huge backstop behind it and you can almost hole it. It'll be interesting to see what happens."

With his PGA Championship in the books, Woods now hasn't won a major championship since the 2008 U.S. Open, a stretch of 18 events in which he's competed without a victory. He tied for fourth in the Masters this year, and followed that with a tie for 32nd at the U.S. Open and a tie for sixth at the Open Championship.

"I was close in two of them," Woods said. "I was right there and certainly had a chance to win the Masters and the British this year. The other two, I just didn't hit it good enough. Just the way it goes."

Woods plans to take a brief break to spend time with his children before returning for the FedExCup playoffs that begin with The Barclays in two weeks.

Atricles Course: http://golfatn.blogspot.com/

Column: Woods departs early, empty-handed again

.

View gallery

• 
  .
• 
  .
• 
  .

JIM LITKE (AP Sports Columnist) August 11, 2013AP - Sports

PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) -- The red shirt on Sunday and the size of the galleries were the same. So, too, in an odd sort of way, was the early departure.

Tiger Woods was gone from the PGA Championship by early afternoon, 4 over for the tournament and miles from Oak Hill by the time the trophy presentation began. He always said majors were the events he wanted to be measured by, so it should have come as no surprise when a fan reminded him of that, yelling ''Masters 2014!'' even as Woods trudged his way up the final fairway.

Asked afterward whether it would be tough to wait until next spring to resume his chase of Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 career majors, the glazed-over look in Woods' eyes was familiar as well.

''The only time it was really hard was going into '01,'' he began. ''That was really tough because I was asked, basically every day and every round for eight months, 'Is it a grand slam? Are you going to try and win all four?'''

That was at the end of the 2000 season, but it seems like a lifetime ago now. Woods won the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship in succession that year, roughly the middle of an incredible run when he collected seven majors in four years.

View gallery."

Tiger Woods reacts after missing a birdie putt on the third hole during the final round of the PGA C …

''Then I was in a slump through that period where I didn't win for three (years) or something like that,'' Woods added a moment later. ''I heard it for a very long time. So that was a long wait, too.''

Those were three years between his wins in the 2002 U.S. Open and the 2005 Masters. That seems like a lifetime ago, too. Back then, Woods kept insisting he could get even better, so he embarked on a swing overhaul with a new coach and bided his time until history proved him right. That 2005 win at Augusta launched the second great major run of his career - another six titles in four years - ending at the 2008 U.S. Open, where Woods won playing on a broken left leg. He has been stuck on 14 majors since.

The maddening thing about this latest drought - beyond the fact that Woods will be 38 in December, an age when most great champions are done winning majors - is that Woods can still play. Injuries and the self-inflicted sex scandal of late 2009 effectively wiped out the next two seasons. But he won three times last year and five times already this season, including just a week ago at Firestone, where he practically lapped the field by seven strokes.

''Unfortunately, it wasn't this week,'' Woods said. ''Didn't seem to hit it as good and didn't make many putts until the last few holes today. Didn't give myself many looks and certainly didn't hit the ball good enough to be in it.

''Jim is 9-under par right now,'' Woods continued, referring to leader Jim Furyk who had yet to tee off. ''I've had nine birdies through 72 holes.''

View gallery."

Tiger Woods walks to the first tee during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at …

Exactly why that is remains anyone's guess.

If it's because Woods presses too hard during the majors now, we'll all be a lot older by the time he gets around to admitting it. He certainly knows this litany:

Most of the game's great major champions crested the hill by their mid to late 30s. Bobby Jones retired at 28. Tom Watson and Byron Nelson never won another after 33; Arnold Palmer, 34; and Walter Hagen, 36. Gary Player won only one after 38 and Nick Faldo his last at 39. Ben Hogan was an outlier, winning into his early 40s.

Jack Nicklaus won all but one of his by age 40, covering an 18-year span; and that last one, the 1986 Masters at age 46, was what people mean by ''catching lightning in a bottle.''

Woods can't rely on that. But neither, it seems, should he rely on trying to play the majors the way he always has - cautiously plotting his way around the game's toughest venues while many of the same golfers he inspired to hit the gym and hit it longer fly by him taking risks. What he's doing at the moment isn't working, at least not in the majors, no matter how hard Woods tries to spin the results.

View gallery."

Tiger Woods hits from the fairway on the first hole during the final round of the PGA Championship g …

''Is it concerning? As I said, I've been there in half of them this year,'' he said referring to his finishes at the Masters (tied for fourth) and last month's British Open (tied for sixth). So that's about right.

''If you are going to be in there for three-quarters, or half of them, with a chance to win on the back nine,'' he added, ''you have just got to get it done.''

Good luck with that.

---

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and follow him at http://twitter.com/JimLitke

Atricles Course: http://golfatn.blogspot.com/

Mallon guides U.S., wild-card Wie into Solheim Cup

The Sports Xchange August 15, 2013The SportsXchange

Meg Mallon, captain of the United States Solheim Cup team, has learned to trust her instincts on the golf course. She's still learning what it takes to be captain of her country's 12-player roster.

 The Cup event begins with match play Friday in Parker, Colo., with two foursome matches in the morning and four four-ball matches in the afternoon. The first matches are scheduled for a 7:30 a.m. tee time at Colorado Golf Club. 

 "I made the picks. I had all these stats in front of me, but it really came down to my instincts," said Mallon, who solicited direct advice from five-time Ryder Cup captain Curtis Strange. 

 Mallon's team includes the two captain's picks, rookie Gerina Piller and enigmatic 23-year-old Michelle Wie, and 10 others who earned their spots based on points to date on the LPGA Tour schedule. 

 Wie might have been viewed as a preculiar call considering the world-ranked No. 82 female golfer hasn't won since 2010 and missed the cut in 16 of her past 40 events. To Mallon, Wie's distance off the tee was too enticing to keep at home. She said she didn't want "five to six birdies a day at home sitting on the couch. 

 "It's tough being a captain's pick. There's a lot of pressure that that player puts on themselves being a pick," Mallon said. "So Michelle Wie for me was a no-brainer in that position. She has Solheim Cup experience. She lives on this stage almost every day that she plays. So walking into this environment is not going to affect her." 

 Cristie Kerr was one of the U.S. 10-player team to speak out in support of the selection. 

She makes a lot of birdies," Cristie Kerr said. "And match play is a different animal. She can have a bad hole and then bounce back and make three birdies. Her length is going to be an advantage. It's about the golf course, and what game suits the course, and what player completes the team and has the personality that helps mesh the team together. That's Michelle."

Strange advised Mallon in July to remember why she was in this position. He said, "'You always trusted your gut and your instincts when you played golf, you should do the same thing as a captain,'" Mallon said.

 Europe won the Cup in 2011 at Killeen Castle in County Meath, Ireland, but has never won on American turf since the event began in 1990. With six returning players from the victorious 2011 team and a group of talented rookies, Captain Liselotte Neumann has no fear that her team will be the first to earn a successful title defense. 

"We've been waiting for two years to get our Cup back," said Paula Creamer, who is competing on her fifth U.S. Solheim Cup team this year. "We've never lost on home soil and we're all very aware of that. It's little bit of added pressure but I still think we can use our crowds to be great motivators for us and I think we'll all feed off of that."

Atricles Course: http://golfatn.blogspot.com/