September 2nd, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
I maintain that the reason golf works itself into such a tizzy over the selection of the Ryder Cup team is because it’s closest golf gets to other sports.
Think about it. In the other sport I cover, hockey, the two most anxiously-anticipated days are the day of the trade deadline and the first day of [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → Paul Azinger’s captains picks: Discuss among yourselves.
August 24th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
It seems like I’ve written countless stories about some unlikely third-round leader who claims he’s ready to contend on Sunday. Kevin Streelman is another one of those.
A PGA Tour rookie, with only one top-five finish to his credit, Streelman is most likely today to hit his first drive today off a corporate tent and into [...]
Related StoresAugust 22nd, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
So much energy is expended trying to figure out why certain guys play well on certain courses. Is it the style of architecture? The length? The galleries?
It’s probably all of the above, not to mention the type of grass, the weather, the food, and whether or not you got stuck in traffic on the way [...]
Related StoresAugust 21st, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
So let me get this straight:
Hunter Mahan rips the PGA of America and the Ryder Cup, says how much he prefers the Presidents Cup, then misses the cut at the PGA….and still wants to be included on the U.S. Ryder Cup team???!!!!
Well, you can get away with that sort of thing when you shoot 62, [...]
Related StoresAugust 21st, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
By almost all accounts, the pre-tournament reviews of Ridgewood Country Club have been positive, to the extent that players’ affections for Westchester Country Club sound like a distant memory. To wit, Phil Mickelson:
I like Westchester. I think it’s a great golf course. I do feel as though Ridgewood is a step up in quality. I’ve [...]
August 20th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
Actually, I don’t get a vote for PGA Tour Player of the Year. That’s only for players, and seeing how my low round of the year is an 86 (and that was very good for me), I’m pretty sure I don’t qualify.
But one of the early storylines emerging this week at The Barclays is who [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → And my vote for PGA Tour Player of the Year is…
August 20th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
Chances are if you’re visiting a golf blog, you know about, and presumably care a little about this year-old venture known as the FedEx Cup. The question is how much?
I’ll say my piece here from the press room at The Barclays at Westchester Ridgewood Country Club: I care more about golf at this time of [...]
Related StoresAugust 9th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
I had long been resistant to those naysayers who said the golf season was officially over the moment Tiger Woods pulled his rip cord on 2008. And given the drama of Greg Norman at the British Open, I thought I was on to something.
Except here comes the PGA with that walking charisma factory known as [...]
Related StoresJuly 20th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
I won’t lie: I was rooting for the guy.
There aren’t many people who can be insanely wealthy, possess world-class talent and have Chris Evert on their arm and still come across as a sympathetic character. Greg Norman is that guy.
One of my first epiphanies that golf produces drama like no other sport came watching Norman’s [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → You’ve hurt me too many times, Greg Norman
July 9th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
The key to winning the Ryder Cup is to not have Tiger Woods on your team. I’m kidding…sort of.
But think about it: one of the Americans’ major obstacles has been overcoming their own perceived surplus of talent in comparison to the relatively unimpressive Europeans. This, of course, to paraphrase the Brits, is complete rubbish. The [...]
Related StoresJuly 7th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
So here’s my take on the new Pound Ridge Golf Club in today’s paper. The abridged version: I liked it a lot, but my ego and my wallet couldn’t afford to play there on a regular basis.
Which is fine. I doubt a sports writer with a mortgage and two kids is what owner Ken Wang [...]
Related StoresJune 20th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
I’ll have a few stories coming next week on the opening of the Pound Ridge Golf Club, the new daily fee layout in, you guessed it, Pound Ridge that was designed by the legendary Pete Dye.
I was out there last week, and the course, transformed from a former 9-hole facility, is indeed a spectacular place. [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → $235 for a round of golf? Do you get a free bowl of soup with that?
June 18th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
In a related story to today’s Tiger Woods bombshell is this report in which Retief Goosen says he was only joking when he said Woods was faking his knee injury during the Open.
“I was joking, really. I mean, how do I know? I never spoke to the guy,” Goosen said. “He’s got a sore knee, [...]
June 18th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
That hiss you’re hearing is the air going out of the rest of the golf season.
The AP’s indefatigable Doug Ferguson breaks the story of Tiger Woods now being forced to miss the rest of the year because he needs more surgery on his left knee.
And to think at one point I thought Woods may have [...]
Related StoresJune 16th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
So why was this U.S. Open in particular so riveting?
Yes, there was the compelling theater of seeing the game’s greatest player stared down by a guy who could easily be your next door neighbor. There was the golf course set dramatically on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. There was the energy of grandstands overflowing [...]
Related StoresJune 16th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
There are few things in life that are as universally deplorable as the 18 hole playoff. Everyone hates it: the players, the writers, the golf fans who now will either a) miss out on the playoff because they’re working; or b) furtively try to watch the playoff during work, which is fine unless those [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → Just when this thing was getting exciting, the 18 hole playoff
June 12th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
Andy Svoboda knew this was the deal when he boarded a plane for San Diego as the second alternate into the U.S. Open. He knew alternates could only hit balls and putt, and could only walk the actual golf course.
Still, the Larchmont resident probably didn’t expect the experience to be so torturous. Imagine having a [...]
Related StoresJune 10th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
I played my first round of golf in nearly a year this past weekend, an admission that may lead to my banishment from the honorable fraternity of golf-obsessed golf writers. There’s a lot of blame to go around for that layoff: my two sons, my boss, my hockey stick and tennis racket. While you’re at [...]
Related StoresJune 8th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
It may feel like forever, but it’s actually only been two years since Westchester was the temporary capital of the golf universe, and the U.S. Open at Winged Foot highlighted a stretch of three high-profile events in Westchester in six weeks.
Now the Open is gone and won’t be back for at least another dozen years, [...]
Related StoresJune 5th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
I was there the last time Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were paired together in a major. It was the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah, and every move on the first tee was subject to interpretation.
Was that a practice swing or a gesture of aggression? Did Tiger just glare at Phil? Who’s that third guy? [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → Tiger and Phil paired together. Amateur psychoanalysts rejoice.
June 5th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
It turns out Andy Svoboda’s dream of playing in a second U.S. Open didn’t die on the fifth playoff hole of his sectional qualifier earlier this week. Or at least it hasn’t died yet.
The Larchmont resident, who was outlasted by Long Island club pro Mike Gilmore in the playoff Monday at Old Oaks Country Club [...]
Related StoresMay 28th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
Let’s see, Tiger Woods hasn’t played since the Masters, has pulled out of the Memorial, and won’t play again until the first round of the U.S. Open.
Sound familiar?
It should. It was only two years ago that Woods’ schedule followed the same pattern—although as opposed to this year, when Woods has been sidelined because of arthroscopic [...]
Related StoresMay 22nd, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
Perhaps you heard of the interview President Bush gave recently in which he said he didn’t think it was appropriate for him to play golf during wartime:
“I didn’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” he said. “I feel I owe it to the [...]
May 19th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
There seems to be very little in the way of middle ground when it comes to Phil Mickelson. Either you’re naturally drawn to him because of his ever-present smile, or repelled by him for the very same reason.
But regardless of how you feel about his Leftiness, you have to give him credit for the recent [...]
Related StoresMay 16th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
Maybe golf isn’t a sport, but I don’t see any football players earning the distinction of “Fittest Guy in America.” But that’s what Men’s Fitness has designated Tiger Woods.
Having studied the guy up close for several years now, I will say the guy is an impressive specimen. But what about me? The other day I [...]
Related StoresMay 13th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
When you get a chance to cover golf like I have, you’re often asked to rank certain events. I’ve said before that covering the 2005 British Open at St. Andrews was the coolest experience of my career. The most dramatic event may have been watching Phil Mickelson sink an 18-foot birdie putt on the [...]
Related StoresApril 14th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
If you’ve been following this Paul Azinger-Nick Faldo saga, in which Azinger described his Ryder Cup captain counterpart in unflattering terms in an interview and then said the words were taken out of context, it gets even better.
Now the Daily Mail of London has produced an audio file of that interview. It’s a bit grainy, [...]
Related StoresApril 13th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
So there you have it, Trevor Immelman, Masters champion.
Just as I predicted.
A couple of thoughts:
I’ve covered six Masters and this one had the least Sunday drama. And yet even then, there were a few defining moments. One was Immelman holing his 20-footer from the fringe on 11 to save par Another was Tiger Woods making [...]
Related StoresApril 13th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
Apparently I’m not the only guy who wants to put his foot in his mouth today. Another is Tiger Woods, who said after his round that he never should have mentioned going for the Grand Slam.
“I learned my lesson there with the press,” said Woods, who claimed the fifth runner-up finish of his career in [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → From now on, Tiger Woods will plead the fifth
April 13th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
Somebody has to say it, because if you were looking for inspired Sunday charges, you are likely to be disappointed.
Instead this Masters is turning into a white knuckle sweepstakes of who can fall apart the least. Trevor Immelman appears to be that guy with now a five-shot lead with five holes to play.
Let’s just there [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → A bad Masters is still pretty good. And this one is pretty bad….
April 13th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
And the Bonehead Of The Week Award goes to…me for this regrettable exchange in the Augusta National pro shop.
True story: I was buying a hat for a friend when one of the two girls behind the counter noticed my credential.
“Sam,” she repeated my name. “My name’s Samantha.”
“Really?” I said. “My parents said that if I [...]
Related StoresApril 13th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
Johnson Wagner was still smiling after his 75 in the final round today, and why not?
He was a week removed from his first PGA Tour win. He had just played four rounds in the Masters. And now he had a chance to watch one of his good friends, Brandt Snedeker, try to win his first [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → After four days of intense golf, Wagner plans to watch some intense golf
April 13th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
Hold on to your hairpieces. It’s starting to blow here.
One theory says the winds at up to 30 miles an hour would play right to Tiger Woods’ strengths. But maybe not if he’s got to make some birdies himself in order to catch the leaders.
Woods tees off in eight minutes. Stay tuned….
Related StoresApril 13th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
Today my father turns 73, an age that looks a lot older in print than it does on him. He still plays multiple sets of tennis several times a week, and this morning he went on a five-mile walk.
If I was not in Augusta covering the Masters, I would be at my parent’s place watching [...]
Related StoresApril 12th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
If a stomach parasite or benign tumor on his diaphragm weren’t going to deter Trevor Immelman, it doesn’t sound like Brandt Snedeker or Steve Flesch had much of a chance, either.
The South African now has a three-shot lead in the Masters.
He did, however, just suck his ball off the green on 15 and needed some [...]
Related StoresApril 12th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
I must say, I am becoming a fast fan of Brandt Snedeker, if only because he is everything Tiger Woods is not. Whereas Woods proceeds through a round of golf as if it were a colonoscopy, Snedeker somehow has this silly idea in his head that golf can be fun.
He answers every question earnestly as [...]
Related StoresApril 12th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
The most frustrated man at Augusta National right now might be Tiger Woods, who may no longer be on speaking terms with his putter after missing birdie putts on each of the last six holes.
Or it might be the guy I saw following Woods on the front nine, who raced down a hill after Woods [...]
Related StoresApril 12th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
They’re off and running.
It was a 40-minute delay, meaning the final pair of Trevor Immelman and Brandt Snedeker won’t go off until around 3:20.
Meanwhile, if you had Trevor Immelman and Brandt Snedeker in the final Saturday pairing today, report directly to the Masters press room because you should be doing this job instead of me.
[...]
Related StoresApril 12th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
One of the great phenomenons in sports is the obsession with the Augusta National logo, with people forking over thousands of dollars at a time for Masters shirts, hats, jackets, umbrellas, boxer shorts, and even official Augusta National power tools (OK, not really).
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a brilliant logo, and it seems like every [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → Meanwhile, if you have a few thousand dollars to burn
April 12th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
So much for no delays. The horn just blew to pull golfers off the course.
Johnson Wagner is 1-over par through three holes after bogeying the par-5 second.
Related StoresApril 12th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
The fact that I’m now feeling close to 100 percent means I was able to accompany my housemate Shaun Powell to the Augusta YMCA this morning for a welcome Saturday morning workout.
Of course, it also meant that I was able to storm right into the press room after that workout and have the week’s first [...]
Related StoresApril 11th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
….it was 1982.
…there was no wireless internet in the press building.
…there was no internet.
…there was no press building.
….a 7-year-old Tiger Woods said for the first time, “I’m right where I want to be heading into the weekend.”
Related StoresContinue reading → The last time Fred Couples hasn’t played the weekend at the Masters….
April 11th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
One thing about covering Tiger Woods: you’re always waiting for him to snap to life, and never entirely convinced he isn’t going to hole out his tee shot from 450 yards away.
The point is that even with Woods trudging along at 1-over par, nine shots off the lead, I’m still waiting for him to do [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → When is this guy going to hit the “on” switch?
April 11th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
My steady recovery from my mysterious ailment allowed me to partake in another Masters tradition today: lunch in the Augusta National clubhouse.
On the best days, you can even score a prized seat on the clubhouse veranda, but seeing those were all full today we had to settle for a table inside in the library, which [...]
Related StoresApril 11th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
The Johnson Wagner Express rolls on.
After a spectacularly bad start on the first hole, the Garrison product closed with a respectable 2-over 74, and now is on his way to making the cut in his first Masters.
After opening with a 7 and moving to 5-over par through six holes, Wagner said he was “tickled” with [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → Wagner rallies late, actually uses word “tickled”
April 11th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
For the most part I am envious of Augusta National members seeing how they’re almost all inordinately wealthy, and they get to play the nicest golf course in the world on a regular basis.
The exception might days like today, when it’s 80 degrees and sunny and I’m wearing short sleeves and shorts. If you’re [...]
Related StoresApril 11th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
A few links while we witness Trevor Immelman’s inevitable march toward history:
Tiger Woods begins the Masters in characteristic unspectacular fashion
Johnson Wagner sheds the aw shucks routine and gets down to playing golf http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080411/SPORTS01/804110415&referrer=NEWSFRONTCAROUSEL
*******************************************************************
After such an impressive opening round, Wagner is off to a nightmarish start to his second round. He made triple-bogey seven on the [...]
Related StoresApril 10th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
OK, not really on that last part.
But what looked to be a predictably nervy Masters debut for Johnson Wagner ended in impressive fashion. After ramming his opening par putt in and out of the cup and then making three more birdies on the front side, the Garrison product closed with three birdies on the back [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → Wagner pulls even with Woods, says he’s going after the Grand Slam, too
April 10th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
Should you be concerned about Tiger Woods after his consecutive bogeys?
Probably not seeing how this is actually Woods playing to form. The four-time Masters champion has never broken 70 in the first round of the Masters, and hasn’t broken par since 2002.
Related StoresApril 10th, 2008 — , Golf Blog Posts from Sam Weinman @ Teeing Off
The first Masters I covered was in 2003, when Darren Clarke opened with a 65. The next year featured a classic back-nine Sunday duel between Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els, with Mickelson birdieing two of the final three holes to win his first Masters.
Those days seem to be over. There are six players tied for [...]
Related Stores