the_golf_watcher — Bloggers Golf

I guess Tiger can walk on water…

August 20th, 2008 — , Tiger Woods from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

EA Sports has always excelled in making top notch commercials, and this year’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘09 commercial is no exception. Apparently, EA executives, along with 70,000+ other Youtube users, saw the infamous “Jesus shot,” where Tiger Woods holes…

Golfweek and Golf World choose same cover picture

August 19th, 2008 — , Golf Digest, Golfweek from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Did anyone else notice the covers of this week’s Golf World and Golfweek magazines? Apparently, the two rival weekly publications wanted to use the same Getty Image photograph from Stuart Franklin…

Ratings continue to disappoint

August 19th, 2008 — , PGA Tour from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

PGA Tour ratings continue to plummet. Thomas Bonk of the LA Times provides the latest numbers… The overnight rating for Pettersson’s victory in the fourth round Sunday of the Wyndham Championship on CBS was an 0.9, down 31% from last…

Phelps ready to pursue golf

August 18th, 2008 — , ESPN from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

In an interview with Jeremy Schaap of ESPN, Olympic star Michael Phelps said he plans to start playing golf when he moves back to Baltimore… I’m going to try to golf after this. I’m just trying new things. Everyone’s talking…

Ridgewood should be a good change of pace

August 17th, 2008 — , FedEx Cup from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

I’ve never been to Ridgewood CC before, but it has always gotten rave reviews and seems to be one of those courses that requires a lot of imagination. One of the holes that excites me for this week’s Barclays is…

Funk seals the deal at Jeld-Wen, Pettersson pleases home crowd

August 17th, 2008 — , Carl Pettersson, Fred Funk from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Sorry for the absence of posts the last couple of days, but there has been a lack of news, which is never a good thing in the thick of August. Regardless, it was a big week on the Champions Tour…

Smyth’s son hits the jackpot

August 15th, 2008 — , Champions Tour from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

When you’re 55, and your son calls you from across the country at 6:20 in the morning, you worry. But for Champions Tour player Des Smyth, it was a once in a lifetime call. From a Golfweek staff article: The…

“The majors have lost their individual identities”

August 14th, 2008 — from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Although his commentary is unsettling on the Grey Goose 19th Hole, John Hawkins made this convincing argument on what the major championships have become: Here’s my disappointment. The majors have lost their individual identities. Every major is now playing like…

U.S. equipment sales decline

August 13th, 2008 — , Equipment from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Adam Schupak files an interesting report in the August 9 issue of Golfweek about a significant drop in second quarter equipment sales. That’s right, the second quarter, which is known as one of the most profitable, had Acushnet and Callaway…

Donald will miss remainder of season, Ryder Cup

August 13th, 2008 — , Luke Donald from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

It was announced yesterday that Luke Donald would be missing the remainder of the 2009 season to undergo surgery on his left wrist. This knocks him out of the Ryder Cup mix, making Nick Faldo’s captain’s pick decision much easier….

Woods won’t swing club until ‘09

August 12th, 2008 — , Tiger Woods from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

In his monthly newsletter, Tiger Woods said he will not be able to swing a club until next year. From the newsletter: As far as swinging a club, that’s not going to happen until next year. I just don’t have…

PGA overnight ratings drop

August 12th, 2008 — , CBS, PGA Championship from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Big surprise–without Tiger Woods, the PGA Championship’s overnight ratings for Sunday dropped 55% to a 3.0, according to Dick Friedman of golf.com… Cratering. Devastation. Decimation. Those are a few of the kinder terms to characterize the decline in the PGA…

“I think it’s clear that we are the underdogs going into these matches”

August 11th, 2008 — , Paul Azinger from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

With the first 8 spots of his team secure–Paul Azinger, never one to hold anything back, told the media in the press room earlier today: This time I think it’s clear that we are the underdogs going into these matches….

Harrington steps up in Tiger’s absence

August 11th, 2008 — , Padraig Harrington from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Even though ratings and attendance dropped at most tournaments this summer, at least someone stepped up in Tiger Woods’ absence. Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press elaborates on this topic in his post-championship commentary after Padraig Harrington’s win: But…

Garcia takes loss in stride

August 10th, 2008 — , Sergio Garcia from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Unlike his reaction to past defeats, Sergio Garcia kept things positive when addressing the media after losing by two strokes at the PGA Championship. Garcia told Peter Kostis after his round: The best thing about it is I can’t ask…

Harrington wins PGA, second straight major

August 10th, 2008 — , Padraig Harrington from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Padraig Harrington has proven that he is one of the most clutch back-9 performers in major championship history. He carded a 4-under 66 with four birdies on the back to win by two strokes over Sergio Garcia and Ben Curtis….

“Oakland Hills is inching toward ‘unfair’ territory”

August 8th, 2008 — , PGA Tour from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

The course is drying out and is looking more like a U.S. Open pre-Torrey than a typical PGA Championship. Rex Hoggard observes on Golfweek’s Tour Blog: Never like to hear the “U” word this early in the proceedings, but there…

Hewitt: Daly now working with Smith

August 8th, 2008 — , John Daly from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Brian Hewitt keeps coming up with one good report after another. Hewitt noted yesterday that John Daly is now working with renowned instructor Rick Smith. From the brief… Daly said he and Smith worked for seven hours last Sunday at…

Small galleries at PGA

August 8th, 2008 — , Jonathan Byrd, PGA Championship from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

This picture from Yahoo sports (Getty Images) says it all. The crowds were not terrible yesterday, but certainly not great. Jonathan Byrd (pictured below) was co-leader at this point and was on the first hole, his tenth. Note, there is…

Player of the year debate begins…well, not really

August 7th, 2008 — , PGA Tour from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

For all intents and purposes, the Player of the Year race has come down to four players–Tiger Woods, Kenny Perry, Padraig Harrington, and Trevor Immelman. A win this week for Harrington or Immelman would almost surely throw them into the…

Perry a question mark for PGA

August 6th, 2008 — , Kenny Perry from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Brian Hewitt broke the news earlier today that Kenny Perry scratched his cornea while removing a contact lens late Tuesday. It’s still uncertain whether or not he will play tomorrow, but odds are he will tee it up. After all,…

Report: Faldo would rather not use one of his picks on Sergio

August 6th, 2008 — , Ryder Cup, Sergio Garcia from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

It’s hard to believe that Sergio Garcia is outside of the top-10 in Ryder Cup points. Because of the American media’s obsession with Paul Azinger’s four captain’s picks, I had no idea that Garcia was 24th in the standings. With…

9th hole could raise eyebrows

August 5th, 2008 — , PGA Championship from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

If there’s one hole that could stir some serious debate this week, it might be the 257-yard par-3 9th. The hole has been lengthened 37 yards, making it so that players will have to hit hybrids and fairway woods. Though…

“It would make an okay year a great one”

August 5th, 2008 — , Phil Mickelson from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Phil Mickelson is adding a lot of weight to this week’s PGA. At his press conference earlier today, Mickelson said a win at Oakland Hills would separate this season from ‘just okay’ to a great one… Well, this is a…

Feherty: Woods is like ‘you know who’

August 5th, 2008 — , Tiger Woods from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

The quotable lines out of David Feherty at the WGC-Bridgestone were off the charts–especially when Tiger Woods was referred to several times as “you know who.” Feherty said: It’s getting so you can’t mention (Tiger Woods’) name, like Lord Voldemort…

Norman will play at Masters

August 4th, 2008 — , Greg Norman from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Tim Rosaforte confirmed on Monday’s edition of Golf Central that Greg Norman will play in next year’s Masters. Rosaforte added that Norman will compete in several events leading up to Augusta National. This will be a much longer course than…

Tiger meets with Congressional members…in person

August 4th, 2008 — , AT&T National, Tiger Woods from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Last month, the trip to D.C. for his AT&T National would have been too much Last week, though, Tiger Woods was able to make the trip to the nation’s capital to Congressional Country Club. According to Leonard Shapiro of The…

“We’re going backward and forward here between the club championship and the world championship”

August 3rd, 2008 — , Vijay Singh from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Despite missing a number of putts inside 8 feet, Vijay Singh locked up his first WGC title at Firestone earlier today. Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, and Stuart Appleby had their chances, but weren’t able to capitalize. It was a rollercoaster…

Golf Channel’s Nationwide telecast far superior

August 2nd, 2008 — , Golfweek, The Golf Channel from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Kudos to Martin Kaufmann for his piece in Golfweek’s August 2 edition. As I have been saying all along here, The Golf Channel’s Nationwide Tour crew of Jerry Foltz and Curt Byrum (pictured right) is far superior to the PGA…

Best player not to have won a WGC?

August 2nd, 2008 — , Phil Mickelson, World Golf Championships from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson continued their stellar play at Firestone, and share the third round lead with Lee Westwood. This is shaping up to be an exciting final round. Steve Elling of CBSSports.com offers this amusing bit about Phil’s…

“My one’s on whoever shows up in a body cast”

August 1st, 2008 — , Golfweek from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

If you’re just starting to plan out your picks for the upcoming PGA, Jeff Rude offers some great commentary in the August 2 edition of Golfweek (sorry there’s no external link). He examines the last three majors championship winners and…

Wie falls short again

August 1st, 2008 — , Michelle Wie from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

The Michelle Wie critics were silenced for a good 24-hours after her opening round 1-over 73. That didn’t last long. A quintuple bogey on the par-4 8th, her 17th hole of the day Friday, meant that she was headed home…

“Don’t bother playing then”

July 31st, 2008 — , Hunter Mahan, Ian Poulter from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

The Europeans sure do get fired up over any form of critique or downgrading of the Ryder Cup. Hunter Mahan, who is a pretty reserved guy, told Golf Magazine that the Americans don’t take the Ryder Cup seriously enough because…

Wie puts up solid first round

July 31st, 2008 — , Michelle Wie from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Michelle Wie posted a better score than 45+ male golfers, and has a shot at making the cut in Reno after firing a 1-over 73. Check out the wire story here.

International Cup?

July 30th, 2008 — , Champions Tour, PGA Tour from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Last year’s International closed up shop in February and Tiger Woods’ camp wasted no time in taking advantage of the prime date, adding the AT&T National to the schedule. There’s no arguing that Denver has a stellar golf scene, and…

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Lots of options for television viewing…

July 30th, 2008 — , LPGA, PGA Tour from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

With four (um…three) prestigious tournaments this week–the Women’s British Open, U.S. Senior Open, Bridgestone Invitational, and Reno-Tahoe Open–we all will have to decide what to watch and what not to watch. Golfweek’s Jeff Rude discusses the topic on the Tour…

Perry’s putting style inspires Reavie

July 30th, 2008 — , Chez Reavie, Kenny Perry from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Chez Reavie said during his post-victory press conference Sunday that he modeled his putting stroke after Kenny Perry. I watched the way he was putting and the way he set up to it. And once I got off to a…

LPGA hits rough patch with sponsors

July 29th, 2008 — , LPGA from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

The sponsorship vacancy trend for the LPGA Tour continues with one of it’s biggest tournament sponsors, Ginn, on the fence. Adam Schupak of Golfweek discusses the LPGA’s latest trials and tribulations: At a time when the LPGA is seeking a…

“Our Open lacked star power . . . drama, too”

July 29th, 2008 — , Canadian Open, PGA Tour from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

As it is one of the oldest and most storied tournaments in the books, I was waiting for a Canadian writer to vent about the lack of excitement and star power at this year’s Canadian Open. Bruce Dowbiggin of the…

“Call it the ultimate backhanded compliment”

July 28th, 2008 — , ESPN from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

ESPN.com’s Jason Sobel took on the hefty task of listing the 18 best golfers not to have won a major. Disregarding the rankings, it’s pretty difficult to make an argument against anyone on the list besides Boo Weekley (13). Weekley…

Reavie gets first tour title

July 28th, 2008 — , Chez Reavie from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Chez Reavie delivered one of the most clutch final round performances we’ve seen all year. He stayed cool and collected the entire day, and notched his first Tour victory at the Canadian Open. Billy Mayfair finished second, making it quite…

Stearns tells players not fully exempt to “play better”

July 27th, 2008 — , Michelle Wie, PGA Tour from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

The new tournament chairman of the Reno-Tahoe better take cover. Michael Stearns had this to say to the press about Michelle Wie taking a spot away from a tour player: There’s always going to be people on the bubble. No…

Mickelson calls for improvements in math and science

July 25th, 2008 — , Phil Mickelson from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Phil Mickelson testified before Congress on Tuesday about his concerns related to education in the maths and sciences in the United States, and about how his program, the Mickelson Exxon Mobil Teachers Academy, has succeeded. Lefty also got a chance…

Euros cast Iron Maiden

July 24th, 2008 — , Ryder Cup from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Nick Faldo countered the Americans’ latest celebrity hirings with one of his own–Nicko McBrain, drummer of Britain’s heavy metal rock band Iron Maiden. This is slowly but surely turning into the Celebrity Cup.

Giuliani sues Duke…no, the other one

July 24th, 2008 — , NCAA from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, was booted off of the Duke University men’s golf team this past winter, and now the family is fighting back. I just read the article on ESPN.com, but found…

“I actually thought it was a joke”

July 23rd, 2008 — , Jay Williamson, Michelle Wie from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Sorry for the Michelle Wie overload, but we’ll get back to business later tonight. In case you missed Jay Williamson’s quote from last night’s Golf Central about Wie playing in next week’s Reno-Tahoe Open: When I saw it, I actually…

“Look at me! Look at me! Again! Please!”

July 22nd, 2008 — , Michelle Wie from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

It seems that everyone is a bit skeptical about Michelle Wie’s return to the PGA Tour next week, and with good reason. As Joe Logan of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes: Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. Michelle Wie, having apparently not learned her…

“Tour broadcasts feel the pain”

July 21st, 2008 — , AT&T National, British Open, Buick Open, Tiger Woods from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Thomas Bonk of the LA Times catches us up on how badly television ratings have been hit the last three weeks without Tiger… It’s all a matter of perspective. The PGA Tour and its truckload of sponsors aren’t even asking…

Wie to tee it up with the big boys, again

July 21st, 2008 — , Michelle Wie from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Two days after her disqualification, it was announced on Monday that Michelle Wie will be teeing it up with the men at the Reno-Tahoe Open, which is played the same week as the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Going against her word, Wie…

Harrington backs Monty for Ryder Cup team

July 21st, 2008 — , Padraig Harrington from the_golf_watcher @ The Golf Watch

Colin Montgomerie’s case for being on the Ryder Cup team in September definitely improved with the support of British Open champ Padraig Harrington. In the Scottish Herald, Harrington said: Now that I’m in the team, I hope to tee it…

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