Tiger 3.0 looking more like Vista

Now that Tiger has completed his second tournament since his knee surgery, the evaluations of the new and improved TW have been less than stellar. The new version seems to have more kinks then a Microsoft operating system that will need to be worked out before we’ll see the world number one in the winner circle anytime soon.
For the second consecutive week we saw Tiger Woods find himself just outside of the lead to start the final round, well within the normal striking distance, actually see the field come back to him, only to have him have a terrible final 18, and finish in the pack. Normally, if you were in the final pairing with Tiger and didn’t finish the tournament with a sub par round, then you found yourself in the gallery watching him hoist another trophy with everyone else, but not any more. Since returning from surgery T-Money has not been the same, killer he was before. Not only does he not close but the pressure usually applied by his consistency has been the exact opposite, where he has actually opened the door by inconsistent putting and not being able to find the fairway off the tee. His lack of accuracy has not allotted him many scoring opportunities and when they do come his putter has not answer the call. Hats off to Henrik Stenson, and Angel Cabrera for their victories and final round performances but if this is the new TW, then the fear factor of his final round heroics are a thing of the past and we may see a much more even playing field in the future, or wait for the service pack to come out. Has Tiger lost his stigma as unbeatable? Let us know here and in the PGA chat rooms.

After sleeping through first 3 rounds Masters finishes strong

As they teed off Sunday’s round the marquee names were deep in the Woods (no pun intended) well out of the line of vision of the leaders, but then the opening act stole the show from the headliner. The Tiger & Phil show was round of the tournament as Phil shot a front nine (30) worthy of Masters’ folklore and found himself two strokes behind the leaders, torching Tiger in the process. Then Woods fought back, in Ali/Fraiser fashion, to even the score and put himself in contention. While Kenny Perry and Angel Cabrera battled for the lead in front of an empty gallery so quiet birds felt comfortable resting on the putting greens, attendants were limiting the spectators four holes ahead. The combination made for the perfect day of golf, Mickelson’s record tying 9, Tiger’s eagle comeback, while the heavyweights slugged it out at one point outscoring the leader pairing -9 to +3, meanwhile the leaders played par golf allowing the heavy’s to get within one shot to keep the entire course at a fever pitch. A shot drive at a par 3 for Lefty and Tiger’s continued problems finishing a round took the favs out of contention, leaving Perry and Cabrera to give us one of the classic finishes. Did you enjoy watching Phil and Tiger more than the leaders? Let us know here and in the PGA chat rooms.

2009 Master Final Scores

The 2009 Masters Final Scores
Player Score Earnings
1 Angel Cabrera (ARG) -12 $1,350,000
T2 Chad Campbell (USA) -12 $660,000
T2 Kenny Perry (USA) -12 $660,000
4 Shingo Katayama (JPN) -10 $360,000
5 Phil Mickelson (USA) -9 $300,000
T6 John Merrick -8 $242,813
T6 Steve Flesch (USA) -8 $242,813
T6 Steve Stricker (USA) -8 $242,813
T6 Tiger Woods (USA) -8 $242,813
T10 Jim Furyk (USA) -7 $187,500



US stuns Europe to win first Ryder Cup since 99

The US Ryder Cup team competing without the world’s best player, Tiger Woods, and heavy underdogs, got off to a fast start on day one and never looked back en route to a 16 ½ to 11 ½ victory over the European side. Captain Paul Azinger’s choices proved to be wise as his last selection to the club, Chad Campbell, won his match against Padraig Harrington, and other selection Ben Curtis bettered Lee Westwood in his as well, to produce the final margin of victory that was the largest since 1981. Most importantly in was Azinger’s idea to overhaul the qualifying system, which he believed was hindering the Americans from fielding their best team. Lastly, he doubled the captains picks and those four players produced 1/3 of the 16 ½ points. We this the type of change the US needed all along? Have the players been there but has the good ol’ US bureaucracy gotten in the way? Or was this simply more of a TEAM without a ‘go to’ guy and just had better symmetry?

'Tigerless' US Ryder Cup team hits the links as a huge underdog

The 2008 Ryder Cup begins today as Europe attempts to continue its dominance. The Europeans have not lost in the last seven cups (4-0-3), have a stronger team than the US faced last time around, and to make matters worse the world’s number player is on the DL and won’t be suiting up for the Stars & Stripes. Even with Tiger the US has been dominated, and hasn’t won the tournament since 1999, so the prospect of pulling off an Appalachian St. seems unlikely. The Olympics, particularly the US Men’s Basketball team, at least marked a break in the trend of the US ‘mailing it in’ in international competitions (please see World Baseball and Basketball Championships, afore mentioned Ryder Cup, etc), but unless this Paul Azinger lead club can get up first and make the Euros play under a little be of pressure for once, it will be business as usual.