Was this really the US Open we wanted to see?

The second round played much like the first with the exception for those who were fortunate enough to get on early while there were still some good scoring opportunities. Ricky Barnes and Lucas Glover ( I know I’ve never heard of them either) were two of those people and took full advantage by shooting a 65 and 64 respectively to sit atop the leader board at the end of the second round. An attempt to get the scheduled third round in was thwarted by mother nature. And that’s my point if you can’t play the rounds consecutively, without delay, and you’re going to have to postpone/extend the tournament beyond Sunday anyway, then why not delay the start until all rounds can be completed as planned. Firstly, the delays alone with all of the starting and stopping, make it impossible to get a rhythm. Moreover, it’s not a level playing field, as the players with the luck of the draw in regards to tee time coincidentally have the best scores and sit in the lead. I’m a terrible golfer but if I got to play with stiff greens, no wind, no rain, and sunny I would beat Tiger and Phil too if they were playing in a torrential downpour. This is not what our nation’s national tournament is supposed to be like. The trophy should have an asterisk engraved on it. Would you delay the start of the tournament? How would you deal with the delays/cancelations?

US Open players get a break in the weather but not on ‘The Black”

The weather has cleared and the current conditions look conducive for a long day of golf as the players will need to complete their first round then play a complete round 2. However what they didn’t get a break on was Bethpage Black, as the course was beating up the best in the world early in the morning as Tiger (+4), Vijay (+2), Cabrera (+4), and Westwood (+2), are among those who can’t find red numbers. Phil Mickelson is on the course completing his first round with cheering galleries on every hole. For the second consecutive tournament Tiger is in trouble of missing the cut as he finds himself eight shots back of the leaders, I know what happened at the Memorial but this course is a whole different animal. There are no guarantees they’ll be able to get the full day in or tournament for that matter as the weather looks dicey at best for the weekend. One thing is for sure if there is a break in the clouds you had better get your scoring in as there has been a distinct advantage for those on the course when the sky is clear. Can Tiger pull a rabbit out of his hat for two tournaments in a row? Can Phil ride the wave of momentum to the top of the leader board? Let us know here and in the US Open Live Chat Room.Also view the up to date Leaderboard.

Tiger shows his woodwork in final round victory at the Memorial

With Phil taking the tourney off and the US open around the corner the Memorial need a great showing other than Jack pairing with Tiger in the first round, and it didn’t look good but after barely missing the cut, Tiger displayed his best driving accuracy since returning from his injury, particularly his move in the final round where he came from 5 shots back to win the Memorial with a final round 65 (2nd lowest round of the tourney to Ogilvy’s 63) was one for the ages. The storyline was good enough in itself but the manner in which he did it was fodder for folklore. Hitting 49 of 56 greens in regulation (87% ranking second in the field for the week), once on the green Woods’ irons and putter took over including the shots of the tourney as he chipped in from the rough for eagle, or stuck his 2nd from 175yards out leading to a 9ft birdie put for the lead that he would not relinquish. This answers many questions and comments from pundits on weather Tiger 3.0 has more quirks than Vista or is he ready for the US open. Who do you think is the favorite to win the US Open? Let us know here and in the Golf chat rooms.

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.

Vijay chokes less than Pill and backs in to victory

It what surely would have been the consolation bracket had Daddy not been out sick, Vijay Singh made the put when he had to as he was on the verge of throwing away a World Golf Championship. To say that Singh overcame some shaky putting would be an understatement but he made the only one that mattered, giving him the one shot victory. Phil Mickelson pushed the “self-destruct” button again, but took it to a new level by bogeying three of the last four holes and letting his one shot lead disintegrate. At least at the British Open the scores could be excused due to the weather, but this was just plain choking and poor play. If anyone still thinks that the PGA tour can hold viewers while Tiger is re-habbing think again. This was just plain hard to watch. You almost come to give Lefty a 40/60 chance of blowing up but this was a tournament that was up for the taking for anyone showing enough sac to step up and stake his claim. Vijay didn’t exactly step up to the plate as he did accept what no one else seemed to want. At least we know that it’s not the mere presence of Tiger that makes some of them quake in their spikes, they seem to be able to do that all on their own.

Harrington wins his second consecutive Claret Jug

Padraig Harrington cut an understandably delighted figure after shooting a final round of 69 to defend his Open crown. The Dubliner finished four shots clear of Ian Poulter after a stirring finish that saw him play his final six holes in four-under-par. Harrington admitted he had tried not to think about the magnitude of claiming the Claret Jug for a second straight year. The £750,000 winner's check also guarantees Harrington's place on Europe's Ryder Cup team in September and lifts him from 14th to a career-high third in the world rankings. All of this is fine but there were three major things wrong with this year’s BA that made it difficult to watch. Firstly, no Tiger, even if you are sick of seeing him lift the trophy time after time, in a fashion similar to Ali, when someone rises up to challenge him even though you know it’s just for ONE round or ONE tournament, you’re pullin’ for the dog and it’s exciting. Secondly, the weather was horrible. I don’t want to watch professions battle 20mph winds and hack out grass 2 feet high. If you didn’t know what you were watching you would have thought the tournament was held in Nebraska. Lastly, once Norman was out of contention there was just no more story there. Sorry Padraig, but your second consecutive was not a good enough reason to stick with this bore. Ernie Els was right when he said “Golf will survive without Tiger”, but the question is, in what condition?