Masters champion to punch ticket to prestigious PGA Grand Slam of Golf (PGATOUR.com)
March 31, 2010
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla., March 30, 2010—There's a reason a spot in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf is considered one of the hardest berths to secure in golf. After all, 45 men have won the Masters since its 1934 debut, but only 18 have carried off the trophy earned by the "Champion of Champions."
The first of those coveted spots in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf will go to the winner of the Masters Tournament, April 8-11, at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. Argentina's Angel Cabrera, winner of the 2007 PGA Grand Slam of Golf, is the defending champion.
The winner of the 2010 PGA Gra… PGATOUR.com – Mar 31, 10:28 am EDT Golf Gallery function prev_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index > 0) { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index – 1); } else { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index); }}function next_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index 0) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next); }*/}function goto_photo(p) { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { for(i = 0; i < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos.length; i++) { if (i == p) { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, ); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, none); } } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page) { YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page.innerHTML =(p + 1); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = p; } } update_buttons();}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init = function () { YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_prev, click, prev_photo); YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_next, click, next_photo); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = 0; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page = YAHOO.util.Dom.get(carousel_page); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos = YAHOO.util.Dom.getElementsByClassName(item, div, leadphoto); if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { goto_photo(0); }}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init();
The PGA Grand Slam of Golf returns to the Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton, Bermuda, Oct. 18-20, where Lucas Glover posted a five-stroke triumph over Cabrera in last year's meeting of major champions.
The PGA Grand Slam of Golf will once again air on TNT, where it is broadcast in prime-time to more than 99 million U.S. homes and an international audience of more than 100 countries. Comprised of the four major championship winners, the 36-hole PGA Grand Slam of Golf provides the best players in the world the opportunity to earn a spot in the most elusive and difficult foursome in all of golf.
Joining the Masters Champion in that foursome will be the winners of the U.S. Open, June 17-20 at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif.; the British Open, July 15-18, at the Old Course at St. Andrew's in St. Andrew's, Scotland and the PGA Championship, Aug. 12-15, at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis.
Should a player win more than one major Championship this season, the PGA Grand Slam foursome will be completed through the Major Champions Points List composed of past major Champions who compete in the current year's majors.
Past PGA Grand Slam of Golf Champions include: Glover, Cabrera, Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Tom Lehman, Ben Crenshaw, Greg Norman, Nick Price and Ian Woosnam.
Corporate Hospitality information for the PGA Grand Slam of Golf is available at www.PGA.com or www.pgagrandslamofgolf.com. For more information regarding corporate hospitality, please call (561) 624-7631. A limited amount of tickets are available to witness golf's major Champions compete for the title Champion of Champions. To pre-register for tickets, visit www.PGA.com or www.pgagrandslamofgolf.com or call 800-PGA-GOLF (800-742-4653) or (561) 624-7601.
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10
Local Knowledge: Redstone and the Shell Houston Open (PGA.com)
March 31, 2010
Paul Casey picked up his first career PGA Tour win at Redstone last season. (Franklin/Getty Images)
There’s a lot on the line this week, as the PGA Tour travels to Texas for the Shell Houston Open at the Redstone Tournament Course. Along with attempting to win a PGA Tour event, players who aren’t already exempt have one last crack at trying to qualify for next week’s Masters. Bret Nutt, the PGA Head Professional at Redstone, talked to us about Houston’s outstanding list of champions, Redstone’s Augusta National-like conditions and how Paul Casey’s victory in 2009 was a big step for the world’s fifth-ranked player.
PGA.com: Thanks for joining us today, Bret. These last few years players have raved about what a great venue Redstone is, particularly the week before the Masters. Why is that?
Nutt: It’s got to be the condition of the course. Our guys do an outstanding job of getting it ready. Obviously being in Texas we don’t have the same elevation changes as Augusta National, but the conditions are very similar. In fact, I’ve heard a number of players over the years say that our conditions at Redstone are just as good as they are at Augusta National. There’s a lot of hard work into making the course look so good, so it’s a tremendous compliment to hear the players speak so highly of the course.
PGA.com: Last year, Englishman Paul Casey picked up his first PGA Tour win in Houston. Currently, he’s ranked No. 5 in the world and very much a threat to earn his first major win. How big of a stepping stone do you think Houston was confidence-wise for Casey?
Nutt: It was a big stepping stone, for sure. Paul has always been a player with great confidence and I think it bothered him that he hadn’t won on Tour yet. The win here definitely had to have taken some pressure off. The monkey was off his back and he’s played great ever since. He’s someone you see contending a lot these days and there’s no doubt he’ll eventually win again.
PGA.com: Casey is just one of a number of notable champions in Houston, a list that includes the likes of Curtis Strange, Payne Stewart, David Duval, Vijay Singh, Adam Scott and, of course, University of Houston product and former Masters champion Fred Couples. Obviously not all of those guys were winners specifically at Redstone. But, what is it about the Houston area that brings out the best of the best?
Nutt: Couples won here and he’s coming back this week after his third win of the season on the Champions Tour Sunday, which is pretty neat. As for what brings out the best of the best, look no further than field strength. When the big names play, they usually win. That’s been the trend in Houston.
PGA.com: What’s the most satisfying part of tournament week for you as the head professional?
Nutt: Sunday afternoon when that final putt drops. Ha. I’m just kidding. The whole week is fun. This is my eighth year here at Redstone and the tournament is something I look forward to all year long. It’s a busy, but fun week. It’s a pleasure to work with the Houston Golf Association. It’s a great organization and with all the volunteers they bring in it makes the week very enjoyable.
PGA.com: Finally, Bret, can you talk about the significance of winning the Shell Houston Open from the perspective of being the last event to qualify for the Masters, which is something Johnson Wagner accomplished just two years ago?
Nutt: I don’t remember exactly, but I guess it was a couple years ago that the Masters started giving exemptions again for winners. It’s such a great added bonus to winning, really. You mentioned Johnson Wagner. That was a tremendous story. Not only did he pick up his first PGA Tour win and the two-year exemption that came along with it, but he also got himself into the Masters. That can change your career.
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10
Golf-OneAsia starts second year with third force dream (Reuters)
March 31, 2010
By Nick Mulvenney
BEIJING, March 31 (Reuters) – Say what you like aboutorganisers of the OneAsia Tour, and their rivals at the AsianTour have said plenty, but they certainly do not lack ambition.
The tour’s second season tees off at this week’s ChengduOpen but the 10 tournaments confirmed for this year, up fromfive last year, are just the start of a bid to shift thebalance of power in world golf, according to chief executiveBen Sellenger. “Ultimately, we dream of the day when a player can play fulltime in Asia and be the number one golfer in the world. Thatvision is at the core of what OneAsia is, and it isachievable,” the Australian said.
The plan calls for 17-20 events with a minimum purse of $1million across nine countries for 2011, which would, Sellengersaid, “clearly mark” OneAsia as the “third force” in world golfalongside the U.S. PGA and European tours.
“The first steps need to be creating a platform that iscommensurate with Europe, that has the events, that has theprize money, that has the points,” Sellenger told Reuters.
“The next step is then to take that long journey which isto step up to the level of the U.S. PGA.
“Somewhere along that pathway … I would hope that ourplatform would have the strength that a player, save for theodd major, could gain that number one stature playing in Asia.
“Looking at the region, looking at the partners, looking atthe economies, it’s almost not if it’s going to happen but whenit’s going to happen.”
Sellenger’s aim would clearly be for that player to hailfrom the Asia-Pacific region.
OneAsia, a project driven by the Australian PGA along withthe Chinese and South Korean governing bodies, had a difficultstart last year due to the hostility of the Asian Tour, whichviews itself as the standard bearer of golf in the region.
Asian Tour chief Kyi Hla Han accused them of being“Australian invaders” who “cannibalised” existing events andplayers from his tour who played in OneAsia events werepunished.
“What you read in the press doesn’t reflect the discussionsthat we have behind closed doors,” said Sellenger. “Having saidthat, there clearly hasn’t been a meeting of the minds thatwe’re going to co-exist.”
ELITE PLATFORM
Sellenger is keen, therefore, to stress that the ambitionof OneAsia is to “complement” the existing structure in theAsia-Pacific.
“Existing tours in Asia-Pacific continue to be extremelysuccessful in identifying and developing leading golfers,” hesaid.
“OneAsia is about working with the existing Tours to createan elite next step. A platform that ensures Asia can retain thebest talent right here, for Asian audiences.”
The 10 tournaments this year will be played in fourcountries—Australia, China, South Korea, Thailand—butthere are none in Japan, initially announced as a foundermember last year.
Sellenger remains “very, very” confident the Japanese willeventually get on board.
“We’re progressing slowly towards that mark. Japan has avery strong schedule,” he said. “They’re taking a cautious andconservative path.”
That progress, he believes, can only be helped by the“unparalleled” television platform the tour has created.
“All OneAsia events will be broadcast live for over fourhours a day to more than 260 million homes in more than 40countries across the globe,” he said.
OneAsia must succeed, Sellenger said, or the current majorinternational tours, who already sanction several events inAsia, will step in to fill the vacuum. “If we don’t seize the opportunity, it’s going to continue tobe a trickling of European or U.S. events to take over thisregion.”
(Editing by Patrick Johnston; To query or comment on thisstory email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10
Golf-Opportunist Westwood so ready for Masters (Reuters)
March 30, 2010
By Andrew Both
HUMBLE, Texas, March 30 (Reuters) – After a flying visit tothe venue of the season’s first major at Augusta National inApril, world number four Lee Westwood said he was more readythan ever before to tackle the U.S. Masters.
Last year’s European number one made a two-day pit stop inAugusta on his way to this week’s Houston Open, playing thefamous course twice with barely anyone in sight.
“It really is a bit of an advantage to be able to do yourwork with nobody watching you. I feel more ready for the Mastersthis year than ever before,” the Briton, who has yet to win amajor, told reporters on Tuesday ahead of Thursday’s openinground in Houston.
While most top players regularly enjoy a practice roundthere in peace and quiet prior to tournament week Westwood wasdoing so for the first time, and he wonders why it took him solong.
“It was good to get out with no crowds there and just wanderaround,” he said.
“I never really thought about doing that before.”
The Houston Open has taken advantage of its date on theschedule to attract a top-notch field for this week’s PGA Tourevent.
The tournament goes out of its way to set up the Redstonecourse to resemble Augusta as much as possible in the finaltune-up for next week’s Masters, with fast greens surrounded byshaved run-off areas.
“That’s why they’ve got such a great field here this week,”Westwood said.
“I don’t want to call it a warm-up for the Masters, but itis reflective of next week’s course,” the Briton added.
“It’s a great test of golf. If you hit the ball well you getrewarded and if you hit it poorly you get penalized. That’s allyou can really ask for from a golf course.
“The greens will firm up and they’re obviously running veryquickly. They do that to help us with next week in mind.”
South African Ernie Els, coming off his Arnold PalmerInvitational victory on Monday, headlines a field that alsoincludes American Phil Mickelson, Irishman Padraig Harringtonand Argentine Angel Cabrera, who defends his Masters greenjacket next week.
(Editing by Tom Pilcher; To query or comment on this storyemail sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com) (tom.pilcher@thomsonreuters.com; + 44 207 542 7933 ReutersMessaging: tom.pilcher.reuters.com@reuters.net; For the Reuterssports blog Left Field go to: http://blogs.reuters.com/sport/))
Please double click on the news links below:
[GOLF-LEN] for more golf stories
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10
Golf-Woods ready for media spotlight at Masters, says Player (Reuters)
March 30, 2010
By Mark Lamport-Stokes
RANCHO MIRAGE, California, March 30 (Reuters) – Tiger Woodswill not be distracted by the intense media scrutiny when hesteps into the unknown at next week’s U.S. Masters, accordingto golfing great Gary Player.
South African Player believes Woods will be more focused onthe game than ever before when he makes his highly anticipatedreturn from self-imposed exile in the wake of his stunning fallfrom grace at the end of last year.
Woods, who has not played competitive golf since hisvictory at the Australian Masters on Nov. 15 following tawdryrevelations that he had a string of extra-marital affairs, willface the Masters media at Augusta National on Monday.
“Tiger will have to deal with a much different kind ofmedia pressure when he returns,” Player, 74, told Reuters onTuesday. “Throughout his career the focus of every interviewwas his golf game, now it will be on his personal life.
“This will be a challenge for him because he will have toanswer questions that he is not comfortable answering, but Idon’t think that it will have a negative effect on his abilityto win.
“Tiger has one of the best minds in the game and when youlearn how to master the mind you learn how to win while dealingwith distractions,” said Player, a nine-times major champion.
“I really believe Tiger will return to golf and be evenmore focused and I would not be surprised to see him win one ofthe four grand slam events this year.”
Woods, a 14-times major winner, became engulfed in a mediafrenzy following a bizarre early-morning car crash outside hisFlorida home on Nov. 27.
SERIAL PHILANDERING
As allegations of his serial philandering escalated, theworld number one took an indefinite break from the game whilehe tried to salvage his marriage to his Swedish wife Elin.
Woods, a four-time Masters champion, said earlier this yearhe was undergoing therapy for sex addiction.
Player, who was one of golf’s so-called ‘Big Three’ withfellow greats Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer in the 1960s,firmly believes the private lives of high-profile sportsfigures should remain private.
“The media, and the public for that matter, tend to getcaught up in people’s private lives far more than what Iconsider to be acceptable,” he said in an interview by e-mail.
“Tiger’s situation is a private matter between him and hiswife Elin and it should remain that way. All too often oursociety puts athletes on a pedestal and then waits for thepedestal to crumble.
“Everyone is imperfect and everyone makes mistakes. Theappetite today for sensationalism is incredible and our societythrives on it.
“I would much rather see our focus be about events orpeople who inspire us and help make us better human beings.”
The Masters, the year’s first major, runs from April 8-11at Augusta National. (Editing by John O’Brien; To query or comment on this storyemail sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10
Kim defends her heritage (Yahoo! Sports)
March 30, 2010
I’m not sure what it is about being in Korea that inspires self-improvement.
It must be something cultural – everyone over there works so hard and takes such pride in their craft, whether it’s a shoe shiner or manicurist or bellhop. I wish American golf fans and sportswriters could spend some time in Korea to get a better understanding of the country that continues to change the face of the LPGA. There are so many misconceptions and misunderstandings, and it’s been that way for far too long.
By the time I reached the LPGA Tour, the stereotype of the emotionless Korean golfer with an overbearing father was already an enduring cliche. Like pretty much all things concerning Korean golf, it can be traced to Se Ri Pak. When she won the 1998 U.S. Women’s Open and LPGA Championship as a steely twenty year-old rookie, she sparked a golf boom in her homeland that is still being felt. During Pak’s rookie year she was one of only two Koreans on tour. Now there are four dozen, and this immigration is going to continue inexorably given the infrastructure in Korea: a vast number of golf academies and junior programs and playing opportunities on the KLPGA.
Virtually every story about Pak’s breakthrough focused on her overzealous father, Joon Chul, who famously made Se Ri spend a night alone in a graveyard when she was a teenager because he thought it would make her tougher mentally. He also bragged about never allowing Se Ri to use the elevator in their apartment building so as to strengthen her legs, which doesn’t sound like a big deal but for the fact that they lived on the fifteenth floor.
The next great player to come out of Korea, Mi Hyun Kim, had her own tale of woe: Her dad vowed not to let her get married until she won a major championship. Super Peanut, as we all call Mi Hyun because she’s only five foot one, won eight LPGA events from 1999 to 2007 but could never break through in the majors, and no wonder, given the pressure. She was finally allowed to get married in December 2008, when she was pushing thirty- two, her dad having had a change of heart when Peanut was courted by Won Hee Lee, a national hero in Korea for having won a gold medal in judo at the 2004 Athens Olympics. (Se Ri caught the bouquet at the wedding, though she remains unmarried, like the vast majority of her countrywomen on tour.)
As more Koreans arrived every year on the LPGA, the culture clash began to produce some strained feelings. Jan Stephenson, the veteran from Australia, created a media firestorm in 2003 when she was quoted as saying, “The Asians are killing our tour. Absolutely killing it [because of] their lack of emotion, their refusal to speak English …” Since virtually every Asian on the LPGA was in fact Korean, it was quite clear whom Stephenson was talking about.
In the aftermath of those imprudent remarks, there were more efforts by the tour and individual players to foster communication and cultural understanding. There was some halting progress on those fronts, but in the summer of 2008 another media controversy raged when word leaked out that the LPGA was on the verge of enacting a policy mandating that all players – Korean or not – be conversant in English, with suspensions to be doled out for those who failed the tour’s oral exams.
The LPGA is always dying for mainstream exposure, but charges of xenophobia are not the reason we want to land on A1 of the New York Times. In defending the LPGA’s thinking, commissioner Carolyn Bivens said, “The language is part of the control the parents have over their young daughters. If they don’t even know survival English, they’re totally dependent on the dad.”
Because of the public outcry the LPGA eventually modified its stance, making fluency an aspirational goal but not mandatory while also dropping the threat of punitive suspensions. No doubt the whole thing could have been handled more delicately, but I don’t think it’s outrageous to ask that the players on tour be able to speak some English.
The LPGA is based in the U.S. and the majority of our tournaments are still conducted in America. We’re in the entertainment business, and it’s important to be able to communicate with our fans and the media. It’s also vital to be able to properly understand tournament and rules officials, which is why at the Japan LPGA Qualifying tournament players who don’t speak the language are mandated to pay for a translator (at upward of five hundred dollars a day).
Many of the Korean players and parents who were most outraged by the LPGA’s proposed policy were unable to convey their thoughts to American reporters and thus couldn’t be part of the public dialogue, which in a weird way validated the LPGA’s whole point. English remains a defining factor for the Koreans on tour. I’d estimate that only 10 percent of them are comfortable enough with their English to interact with all of the other players.
The other 90 percent of Koreans break down into two distinct groups. About half of them lead very solitary lives. They are usually the youngest girls – around twenty years old or even younger, having left school in their mid teens to turn pro – and they travel with one or both parents. If they’re not on the golf course they are on the range or putting green or in their hotel room resting so they can practice even more the next day.
The other Koreans move in small, insular groups of four or five or six girls, and they’re as self- contained and dependent upon each other as a bobsled team. They play practice rounds together, hit balls next to each other, and eat every meal together. Some of the cliques even have nicknames. One is the self- styled GMG, for Golf Maniac Girls. Some of these little gaggles are known to enjoy a series of wagers at every tournament, paying each other up to a hundred dollars per birdie and assigning cash values to statistics like fewest number of putts per round.
Naturally, the Koreans speak their native tongue when they are together, and I can understand why non- Koreans might hesitate to try to insinuate themselves. I’ve had to work hard to develop friendships with many of the Koreans because they’ve never known quite what to make of me. I look like them – well, I do have the same dark hair, slanted eyes, and cute button nose – but I definitely don’t sound like them or act like them or dress like them. Spending just a little time among the tour’s many Koreans makes it very obvious that this group is not nearly as monolithic and homogenous as people think.
Angela Park was born in Brazil; she is a committed Christian who is also well- known for shaking her thing on the dance floor. Jane Park is a brainy California girl with a UCLA education, and she’s as apple- pie American as any of the blonde- haired, blue- eyed chicks on tour. She also has an edgy, sexy side that has melted many hearts. Grace Park projects an image of beauty and glamour, but she has an R-rated sense of humor and is one of the LPGA’s original divas, having single- handedly introduced Prada and Gucci to the tour.
The fans and reporters who grouse, “Oh, those Koreans are all the same” are just too lazy or narrowminded to make the effort to get to know the individuals. It also bugs me that the Koreans are collectively demonized as “robotic” because they spend so much time trying to improve as players. This is America – don’t we celebrate hard work and initiative?
The Korean work ethic is certainly respected by the other players. At the 2009 Kraft Nabisco, where five of the top seven finishers were from the U.S., Texas’s own Angela Stanford was quoted as saying, “The negativity you sometimes hear about the Asian players is so sad, because by working so hard they have made everybody better. They’ve forced all of the rest of us to keep up with them, and you’re seeing the results now.”
No doubt there are still some over-the-top Korean fathers who exploit their daughters’ cultural deference by pushing them too hard. There is an infamous story from a couple years ago when one of the overzealous dads was caddying for his girl in a practice round at the Dinah Shore. Unhappy with her play, he simply dropped the bag and walked off the course, forcing her to enlist a gallery member to carry her clubs. But there are plenty of American girls with big, round eyes whose parents are a little too pushy or claustrophobic and I’ve seen their ranks increase in recent years as the money has gotten bigger and bigger.
Oh, and here’s one thing that every player is very aware of but most fans don’t know: The LPGA’s biggest revenue stream is from Korean TV networks paying for the rights to broadcast our tournaments in Korea. So the next time someone grouses that the Koreans are killing the LPGA, I hope it will be pointed out that, in this economy, it is Korean money that is keeping the tour afloat.
Adapted from the book Swinging From My Heels by Alan Shipnuck. Reprinted here by permission of Bloomsbury USA. Available wherever books are sold.
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10
Masters Qualifiers
March 30, 2010
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The 98 players who have qualified and are expected to compete in the 74th Masters, to be played April 8-11 at Augusta National Golf Club (players listed in only one category). A player can still qualify by winning the Houston Open: Masters champions: Angel Cabrera, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Mike Weir, Vijay Singh, Mark OMeara, Ben Crenshaw, Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd. U.S. Open champions (five years): Lucas Glover, Geoff Ogilvy, Michael Campbell. British Open champions (five years): Stewart Cink, Padraig Harrington. PGA champions (five years): Y.E. Yang. Players Championship (three years): Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia. U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up: a-Byeong-Hun An, a-Ben Martin. British Amateur champion: a-Matteo Manassero. U.S. Amateur Public Links champion: a-Brad Benjamin. U.S. Mid-Amateur champion: a-Nathan Smith. Asian Amateur champion: a-Chang-won Han Top 16 players and ties from 2009 Masters: Chad Campbell, Kenny Perry, Shingo Katayama, John Merrick, Steve Flesch, Steve Stricker, Hunter Mahan, Sean OHair, Jim Furyk, Camilo Villegas, Tim Clark, Todd Hamilton. Top eight players and ties from 2009 U.S. Open: David Duval, Ricky Barnes, Ross Fisher, Soren Hansen. Top four players and ties from 2009 British Open: Chris Wood, Lee Westwood. Top four players and ties from 2009 PGA Championship: Rory McIlroy. Top 30 players from the 2009 PGA Tour money list: Retief Goosen, Nick Watney, Brian Gay, David Toms, Dustin Johnson, Rory Sabbatini, Kevin Na, Paul Casey, Jerry Kelly, Matt Kuchar, Ian Poulter, John Senden, John Rollins, Justin Leonard. Winners of PGA Tour events that award full FedEx Cup points since the 2009 Masters: Nathan Green, Ryan Moore, Heath Slocum, Ryan Palmer, Bill Haas, Ben Crane, Ernie Els. The field from the 2009 Tour Championship: Scott Verplank, Jason Dufner, Marc Leishman, Steve Marino, Luke Donald. Top 50 players from the final 2009 world ranking: Martin Kaymer, Robert Allenby, Anthony Kim, Robert Karlsson, Ryo Ishikawa, Yuta Ikeda, Adam Scott, Soren Kjeldsen, Francesco Molinari, Graeme McDowell, Anders Hansen, Oliver Wilson, Simon Dyson, Michael Sim, Edoardo Molinari, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Ben Curtis. Top 50 players from world ranking published a week before the 2010 Masters: Charl Schwartzel, Alvaro Quiros, Louis Oosthuizen, Thongchai Jaidee, K.J. Choi. a-amateur ^End Masters-Field
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10
Els sticking with caddie plan
March 30, 2010
ORLANDO, Florida (AP)—Fresh off his second straight victory, Ernie Els headedto Augusta National for a quick practice round Tuesday and planned to take hiscaddie with him.
Only it’s not the caddie who has been on the bag for those two wins.
Els has been using two caddies this year—former NHL player Dan Quinn, whomhe met in South Florida; and Ricci Roberts, his longtime looper from SouthAfrica. Els plans to play 26 times this year, and each caddie gets half of thetournaments, including the majors.
Quinn was to caddie at the Masters. Even after two straight wins withRoberts on the bag, Els said that won’t change.
“I know a lot of guys said I should take Ricci, but we have made adecision,” Els said. “I’ve spoken to Ricci and Dan about it, and they arehappy and we’ll stick with it. I don’t think anybody can tell me anything moreabout Augusta than I already know. I’ve had local caddies take me through there.I’ve had everybody take me through there. So I know exactly where everythinggoes.”
Els first used Quinn late last year, and he came within one 5-wood into thewater of winning the HSBC Champions.
Quinn, a 44-year-old Canadian, spent 14 seasons in the NHL, scoring acareer-high 40 goals with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1987. He took up golf whenhe retired and played on the Celebrity Tour.
Els met him a few years ago and started playing golf with him.
“Found out that he was a very good hockey player. I didn’t quite knowthat,” Els said. “And he played for such a long time, but he was retired for awhile. Pretty easygoing guy, although he’s serious about what he does.”
Quinn caddied for Els before the Florida swing, and will work the Mastersand the PGA Championship.
SHANGHAI CHANGE: The HSBC Champions in Shanghai, the fourth World GolfChampionship on the calendar, now counts as an official PGA Tour victory—aslong as it is won by a PGA Tour member.
The PGA Tour’s policy board decided last week to count as official the onlyWGC event overseas. However, it will only count as an official win and offer athree-year exemption on tour if a member wins.
Phil Mickelson won the HSBC Champions last year, but only 24 players—justover one-third of the 67-man field—were PGA Tour members. PGA Tour spokesmanTy Votaw said the decision is not retroactive, meaning Mickelson still has 37tour victories.
Votaw also said prize money from the $7 million purse would not count towardthe money list, even if a PGA Tour member wins. The HSBC Champions is held oneweek before the tour’s final event at Disney.
STRONG START: J.P. Hayes disqualified himself from the second stage ofQ-school in 2008 when he realized he used a a prototype golf ball that had notbeen officially approved on one hole.
That gave him limited status last year, and he finally regained his PGA Tourcard at Q-school in December.
At this rate, Hayes might not be going back.
The 44-year-old Hayes tied for seventh at Bay Hill for his third top 10 ofthe year. He tied for fourth in Mexico, one week after he tied for fifth in thePebble Beach National Pro-Am.
He is 40th in the FedEx Cup standing and has $596,230.
“Very encouraging,” Hayes said. “I was looking for a good start on theWest Coast, but I’ve never played well over there. To get off to a start likethat is awesome. It’s quicker than I anticipated.”
Hayes is probably about $100,000 away from locking up his card for 2011, andthe season is only three months old.
“It definitely makes the rest of the year … I wouldn’t say moreenjoyable, but certainly from the standpoint of not having to play catch-up likeI’ve been doing the last couple of years,” he said.
PEREZ ON TWITTER: Pat Perez is on Twitter (PatPerezGolf), but he had onlyeight tweets in seven months until finding a new purpose in social networking.
“Going to start using Twitter for random phrases that make no sense,” heposted a week ago, and he has not let up.
Among his questions:
— “What the hell does ‘lay it on the line’ mean? Lay what on the line andwhat line are we talking about?
— “I’ve been injured a bunch, but I’ve never ‘licked my wounds.’
— “I went to Arizona State. It’s in Tempe. Where the hell is the School OfHard Knocks?”
STAT OF THE WEEK: There has not been a playoff on the PGA Tour this year,heading into the Houston Open. The last time there were no playoffs before theMasters was in 1974, and Lee Elder broke the string when he won the MonsantoOpen a week later.
FINAL WORD: “I watch my friends play. I watch more Champions Tour golf thisyear.”—Davis Love III, who turns 46 next month.
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10
Finding the 2 players in Tiger’s group at Augusta
March 30, 2010
ORLANDO, Florida (AP)—Dean Wilson was in his hotel room getting ready topractice one Tuesday afternoon seven years ago when a PGA Tour official calledto let him know the pairings were about to be released.
Wilson didn’t understand why he was being contacted until he heard thenames.
One was a fellow rookie, Aaron Barber. The other was a sponsor’s exemption,Annika Sorenstam.
“Someone from the tour contacted me and said, ‘The draw is coming out andyou’re paired with Annika. We want you to talk to the media when the tee timescome out, rather than it coming out when you’re on the course,”’ Wilson saidlast week. “I knew it was going to be a big deal. I didn’t know it was going tobe a giant deal.”
Imagine how massive the Masters will be.
The two situations are nothing alike. Colonial was a celebration ofSorenstam becoming the first woman in 58 years to compete on the PGA Tour. TheMasters could be a circus when Woods returns to golf for the first time sincebeing exposed as a serial wife cheater.
Even so, not since Colonial in 2003 has there been so much interest in teetimes.
Wilson’s name essentially came out of a hat, thrown in with other rookiesand players with the lowest level of status. Augusta National has no policy withits pairings, other than the defending champion traditionally plays with theU.S. Amateur champion.
How will they decide who plays with Woods?
“With great care,” said Colin Montgomerie, who is not eligible for theMasters this year. “You’d almost have to ask for volunteers. There’s a numberof players that will be looking at the draw sheet—I believe it comes out onTuesday afternoon—and will be delighted if they are not playing with Tiger onthis occasion.”
So who gets him? Perhaps the better question is who wants him?
“I would say it would be a tough pairing, to tell you the truth,” said49-year-old Kenny Perry, who lost in a playoff last year. “I’m old enough tomaybe handle that. Maybe you need some hillbilly like me to do that. But it willbe different, because I’m sure the players will be focused on Augusta, yetfocused on what’s going on with him and paying attention to what he’s doing outthere.”
Since his first Masters as a pro in 1997, Woods has played with only twoAmerican pros—Stewart Cink in 2000 and 2009, and Tim Herron in 1999. In eightof his 13 trips to Augusta, Woods has played with an amateur the first tworounds.
“I’d be OK with it,” Cink said. “I’ve known him for a long time. You haveto remember this: At the Masters, playing with Tiger Woods is always a littledifferent than it is anywhere else because there’s always more of the peoplethat want to see him play there than anywhere else.
“This year, I don’t expect it to be a whole lot different than other yearsjust because it’s always a little different. There would be more scrutiny, butI’d be fine with it.”
It’s unclear whether the men in green jackets have asked for a show ofhands.
The prevailing thought is they will put Woods with two players not expectedto contend, such as a former Masters champion. Where’s Doug Ford when you reallyneed him?
Mark O’Meara comes to mind. Few players have been closer to Woods since hefirst turned pro, although the relationship is not as strong as it once was. TomWatson is another possibility. If nothing else, he can supervise Woods for anysalty language.
Another thought is for the Masters to put an Asian player with Woods as apayoff for its Far East television deals. Then again, that opportunity wasaround before Woods got into trouble. The only two Asian players to be in hisgroup the first two rounds were Jeev Milkha Singh of India last year and ToshiIzawa of Japan in 2002.
Phil Mickelson volunteered, perhaps because he thrived playing with Woods inthe final round a year ago. And when Mickelson won the HSBC Champions inShanghai last year, it was the first time he had won a tournament while playingin the last group with Woods.
To be sure, some players might want to be in that group just out ofcuriosity.
They also want to win.
“There’s a part of me that would be like, ‘That would be a good show to bea part of to just watch.’ The best seat in the house,” Geoff Ogilvy said.“Then there’s a part of me that if you truly, truly, truly want to win the golftournament, surely you want to stay as far away from it as you can.”
Despite all the interest in the pairing, it might prove to be of littleconsequence to the players along for the ride.
Augusta National is different. The fairways are wider than other majors,meaning the gallery is farther away. No one is allowed inside the ropes exceptfor caddies and a television camera.
Paul Casey likes playing with Woods. Most players do. And while players maygrumble about the movement of the media and the gallery, any athlete prefersplaying before a full house.
“The sort of scrutiny will be on a level we’ve never witnessed before,”Casey said.
Then he spoke for whoever gets thrown into the group with Woods by adding,“But they won’t be watching me.”
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10
Sleeper Picks: Shell Houston Open (PGATOUR.com)
March 30, 2010
The PGA TOUR heads to Texas for the Shell Houston Open this week. Here’s how the PGATOUR.COM experts size up the top contenders:
EXPERT PICKSHow it works: Our experts from PGATOUR.COM select the player they think will win this week’s event. By using a draft process, no two picks can be the same. The player who wins the previous week picks last the following week. Click hereSLEEPER PICKSOf the players who didn’t make the cut for our top picks, which have the best chance as sleepers? Here’s how our experts see it.MORE SHELL HOUSTON OPEN: Power Rankings | Inside the Field | Inside the course | FANTASY GOLF: Play our game—FREE! Sleeper picks: Shell Houston Open Expert Pick order Player selected CaseyBlack 
D.J. TRAHAN. Trahan is quietly putting together a solid year. He’s ended up in the top 20 in his last four starts, including a T7 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. AnneSzeker 
KEVIN STREELMAN. Duke made it to the Final Four, so hopefully Duke grad Streelman can steal some of their momentum for another good finish this week. He’s has two top tens in his last two starts. MikeMcAllister 
HENRIK BJORNSTAD. In each of his last two starts, the Norwegian has finished tied for 17th, and he knows how to hit greens in regulation, ranking third on TOUR in that category. John Swantek 
CHAD CAMPBELL. Grinding through a disappointing year, Campbell has missed 3 cuts and cracked the top 20 only once. My gut says the Texan finds something at Redstone, where he was runner-up in 2008. Brian Wacker 
FRAN QUINN. He won on the Nationwide Tour a few weeks ago and should be able to ride that momentum in Houston, where his ball-striking ability should be an advantage. LaurenDeason 
AARON BADDELEY. Once one of the top young guys on TOUR, Badds hasn’t won since 2007 and hasn’t contended since July 2009. But he did tie for 14th in Houston two years ago and has made three of four cuts this year—maybe it’s time for a comeback. RyanSmithson
BRINY BAIRD. Briny had a shot to win here last year before he shot 80 in the final round. This is a course that has been kind to first time winners, but it will be tough for a sleeper to beat this field. NickZaccardi 
MATT EVERY. The University of Florida alum rebounded from missing the cut at Transitions—his only missed cut in his last seven starts—to play fairly well at Bay Hill until a final-round 79 dropped him to T52. Helen Ross 
STUART APPLEBY. He showed some signs of life last week until he closed with a 76. But Appleby has a comfort zone in Houston with two wins and a runner-up in nine previous starts so maybe this is where his comeback begins. Standings after Week 12 LAST WEEK: Points leader Ryan Smithson picked up 53 more with his D.A. Points pick: Position Name Wins Top-5s Top-10s Top-25s FedExCup points 1 Ryan SmithsonSite Producer, PGATOUR.COM - 1 1 3 473.92 2 Brian WackerSite Producer, PGATOUR.COM - 2 2 2 295.5 3 Lauren DeasonEditorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM - 1 1 1 271.07 4 Mike McAllisterManaging Editor, PGATOUR.COM - - 1 2 236.33 5 Nick ZaccardiAssociate Site Producer. PGATOUR.COM - - - 1 216 6 Helen RossChief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM - - 1 1 200.5 7 John SwantekHost, PGA TOUR Today - - 1 1 156.33 8* Anne SzekerSite Producer, PGATOUR.COM - - - - - 9* Casey BlackHost, PGA TOUR Today - - - - - * – Joining the game a little late
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10
