The Common Golfer

Congratulations to Phil Mickelson, who shot an amazing 65 to win the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.  But make no bones about it, Mickelson is not a fan of the playoffs format, saying something to the effect of:

“Let me see if I get this straight.  I shoot 65 and beat Tiger, he gets $10 million, and I only get $1 million?  No, I’m just kidding…”

What’s crazy to me is how no one is making a bigger deal about this.  I’m paraphrasing Mickelson’s comments on NBC after winning, because nobody has the actual comment on their sites!  The only comments I was able to find were something a little bit calmer that I’m assuming Mickelson said later at the press conference, where he basically says he’s happy to have a scenario where he and Tiger both win money.

I don’t have a problem with Phil’s comments…but hopefully word gets back to Tim Finchem.  Yesterday’s outcome may have been a “dream scenario” for the PGA Tour with Tiger and Phil both winning at the same time, but it says a lot when neither of your champions is enthused with the playoff system at all!

Yesterday’s final round was exciting to watch, and it was great to see golf’s two biggest stars in the limelight.  Everything seemed to “work itself out.”  But much like the BCS for college football, if the format isn’t changed, one of these years we’re going to end up with a disaster (like Heath Slocum winning the playoffs that he has no business even being a part of in the first place).

These new Callaway JAWS wedges are coming in January 2010, and have been designed by famous wedge designer Roger Cleveland.  They will feature MD (Mack Daddy) grooves, which have been made famous by Phil Mickelson.

The new JAWS wedges will utilize a new approach to wedge design, whereby most of the weight of the club has been moved to the top blade.  The theory is that the center of gravity is higher, resulting in a more piercing and accurate ball flight.  The wedges will also feature a “C Grind,” where a large portion of the trailing edge is removed from the sole to the heel.  This puts the leading edge of the club very close to the ground when the face is opened up, making it easier to “pick” the ball cleanly from any lie.

JAWS will be available in two finishes:  milky chromium, and vintage black.  So many new wedges coming out in late 2009/early 2010…which are you most excited about?

Who?  Yes , you’re reading correctly – Ted Purdy will be this week’s winner at TPC Boston.  How can I be so sure that a guy with only one top 10 finish all year will suddenly win?  Because that is the only outcome possible that can make the FedEx Playoffs more absurd!

Heath Slocum seems like a great guy and all, but how the hell does the #124 player pull a victory out of his ass, and climb all the way to #3?  So we’re now operating under the assumption that Slocum should be ranked higher than Phil Mickeslon (#10 with 2 victories this year), and US Open champion Lucas Glover (#9), just to name a few?

This just in:  Jean Van De Velde just outscored his three buddies in their weekend foursome (I assume that’s what he’s doing these days), and has now catapulted to #5 in the FedEx standings!  Can you believe it?

If this is the sort of drama the tour is trying to create, they might as well take the FedEx standings at the end of the season, flip them upside down, and see if Tiger can claw his way from last place all the way to the top in four weeks.  The PGA will need to make some serious changes soon, or they risk having a disaster much like the BCS system in college football.  The last thing we need is the field of 35 at the Tour Championship filled out with people like James Nitties, Mark Leishman, Kevin Streelman, and Scott Piercy (actual players no one has heard of, that still have a chance in the playoffs).  *disclaimer:  no offense to any of the players above.  I’m sure they’re great guys

My absolute favorite golfer on tour is Phil Mickelson – he always has been.  I’ve been really busy today, but wanted to get something posted to my site.  So I’m going to take some “liberties,” and post this great story I saw on Niceballz. Read the rest of this entry »

On Sunday, the top 10 players for both Presidents Cup teams were finalized.  Now all that remains are the two captains’ picks for each side.  The matches are just around the corner, from October 8-11 at Harding Park in San Francisco, California.  Captains Fred Couples and Greg Norman will announce their captains’ picks on September 8.

The American team players so far are:  Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Sean O’Hair, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim and Justin Leonard.  The International team players so far are:  Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera, Mike Weir, Robert Allenby, Y.E. Yang and Tim Clark.

The American team players are determined by PGA Tour earnings over the past two years, with 2009 earnings worth double.  The International players are determined based on world ranking.  Couples has already said that Hunter Mahan will be one of his two picks.  Norman has made no indication as to who he may select.

I’m sure I hold a slight bias, just by being American, but it looks to me like the American team should be the heavy favorite in October.  Besides the obvious inclusion of Tiger Woods on the American team, Stricker, Johnson, and Perry have all been having great years.  When I look at the International players, there are a lot of big names on the team, but only a few of them have been playing consistently great golf this season.

Golf’s biggest names are all joining in a global effort to make golf an Olympic sport for the first time in 105 years.  On Thursday, August 13, the executive board of International Olympic Committee will vote on which two sports they will recommend be added to the Olympics as soon as 2016.  The full committee will then later vote to make the recommendations final.  Seven sports are being considered for two available spots, the other sports being rugby, softball, baseball, karate, roller sports, and squash.

A 4 1/2 minute video was sent to the IOC last month, presenting why golf should be an Olympic Sport.  The video featured Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim, and Paula Creamer spoke on the video on behalf of American golf.  In addition, to present a “global front” for what is a global game, some of golf’s biggest international stars also spoke, including Annika Sorenstam, Ernie Els, Camilo Villegas, Lorena Ochoa, Karrie Webb, Sergio Garcia, Mike Weir, and K.J. Choi.

First off, I’m not even sure what the hell “roller sports” are, but I’d be shocked if they were voted in.  The same can be said for squash, rugby, and karate.  However, given that softball and baseball have recently been in the Olympics, it seems that three sports are vying for two spots.  It’s odd, though, that softball and baseball are considered separate sports, when softball is basically women’s baseball.  Golf, on the other hand is one sport.  It will be very disappointing if golf doesn’t make it, and it seems the IOC could satisfy more people if they grouped baseball and softball as one.  Regardless of if golf returns to the Olympic rotation or not, it’s definitely absurd that it’s been out of the rotation for so long when you look at other summer Olympic sports (like table tennis, and beach volleyball to name a few).