‘TEE IT FORWARD’: Joint PGA-USGA Initiative Begins July 5th

By PGA of America

“TEE IT FORWARD,” A NEW national initiative to help golfers have more fun on the golf course by playing from a set of tees best suited to their abilities, kicks off on Tuesday, July 5, at golf facilities nationwide.

Launched in May at the Senior PGA Championship, the new initiative encourages all golfers to play the course at a length that matches their average driving distance. Golfers can enjoy the game more and potentially speed up play by using tees that offer greater playability.

“We are excited that TEE IT FORWARD has been enthusiastically received by both PGA Professionals and consumers,” said PGA President Allen Wronowski. “The PGA would like to thank the USGA and Barney Adams, founder of Adams Golf, for their efforts in helping generate the tremendous interest in TEE IT FORWARD.”

Through TEE IT FORWARD, amateur golfers can play a golf course at the same relative 18-hole yardage as a tour professional. Golfers tee off from distances that are aligned with their abilities, resulting in fewer shots, shorter distances traveled on each hole, and, potentially, fewer lost balls.

The PGA and USGA are providing TEE IT FORWARD information, including a suggested distance chart, to more than 11,000 U.S. facilities. Jack Nicklaus, Paula Creamer and Dustin Johnson are featured on the poster.

To see a chart that provides guidelines for aligning driving distance with total course length, visit PlayGolfAmerica.com/TEEITFORWARD.

TEE IT FORWARD Feedback and Sweepstakes

Golfers who TEE IT FORWARD are encouraged to provide feedback about their experience at PlayGolfAmerica.com/TEEITFORWARD.

A sweepstakes will be conducted of all eligible persons who submit their comments prior to July 17, 2011. One Grand Prize winner will receive a stay-and-play package for four at Kiawah Island (South Carolina) Golf Resort. One runner-up will receive two tickets to the 2012 U.S. Open Championship. A second runner-up will receive two tickets to the 2012 PGA Championship.

2011 U.S. Open: Rory McIlroy Beats Up ‘Neighborhood Bully’

Editor’s note: I’m at Congressional Country Club this week covering the 2011 U.S. Open. Share your U.S. Open thoughts: Comment below or email me at armchairgolfer@gmail.com.

RORY MCILROY HAS POSTED some astonishing numbers at the midway point of the 111th U.S. Open Championship. McIlroy’s 65-66 for 131 sets a 36-hole record. He leads the tournament by a whopping eight shots.

“I don’t really know what to say,” McIlroy said. “It’s been two very, very good days of golf. I put myself in a great position going into the weekend.”

You’re not supposed to do this to U.S. Open courses. Not the Blue Course at Congressional Country Club, not any of them. U.S. Open courses are the biggest and baddest golf courses around. They’re the neighborhood bully, that cruel dude in school everyone feared because he made a sport of hurting people with his fists. The bully was an intimidator, an evil force to be respected and, if possible, avoided.

But on Friday afternoon as the enormity of McIlroy’s 36-hole tear sinks in, it’s as if young Rory sized up the Blue Course and said to himself, “I can take this bully.” On Thursday afternoon playing alongside Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, the Irish tour pro extracted six birdies from Congressional on his way to a bogey-free 6-under 65 and a three-shot lead.

In Friday’s second round, McIlroy picked up where he left off on a course that was softened by rain on Thursday night. He made two birdies and an eagle on the outward nine to card a 4-under 32. After a string of four consecutive pars, he reeled off three birdies in the next four holes to go 7 under for his round and 13 under for the tournament. No one had ever reached 13-under par in the 111-year history of the U.S. Open. Not even Tiger Woods.

The neighborhood bully was on the receiving end of a serious thumping, and the crowd loved it. They cheered and cheered and cheered. The young lad had knocked Congressional down, stomped all over it and taken all the lunch money it had stolen through the years. No doubt, our hero Rory would donate the recovered funds to the Haiti relief effort.

But just when we thought that big, bad Blue Course was down for the count, bloodied and completely humiliated, it reached out and tripped McIlroy on the way to the clubhouse celebration. Rory stumbled at the last hole, making a double bogey, the first blemish on his scorecard in two days.

The bully will be waiting for him tomorrow. You can count on it.

“I know more than probably anyone else what can happen,” McIlroy said. “So I’ve got to stay really focused and try and finish this thing off.“

To be continued.

−The Armchair Golfer

Related:
2011 U.S. Open: A Rock and a Hard Place
2011 U.S. Open: Day One Belongs to Rory McIlroy
2011 U.S. Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes
2011 U.S. Open: A 16-Year-Old Player and Other Notes
2011 U.S. Open: ‘Big Blue’ Ready to Challenge Field of 156

2011 U.S. Open: Day 1 Belongs to Rory McIlroy

Editor’s note: I’m at Congressional Country Club this week covering the 2011 U.S. Open. Share your U.S. Open thoughts: Comment below or email me at armchairgolfer@gmail.com.

WHEN Y.E. YANG CAME HOME in 68 strokes earlier in the day, I thought the score might hold up for the first-round lead. But then along came Rory McIlroy who played what he termed “stress-free golf.” (I didn’t know there was such a thing at the U.S. Open.)

The supremely talented Irishman blitzed the difficult Blue Course, carding a 6-under 65 to take a three-stroke lead over Yang and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, who also posted a 68.

Here’s what McIlroy said in a “flash” interview immediately after his round.

Q. That was spectacular, six birdies, no bogeys. Talk about your experiences in this round.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was a good round of golf. I didn’t really put a foot wrong. The only mistake I made was missing the green on 14, and I held a nice sort of 15 footer for par there. Apart from that it was pretty much stress free golf. It was nice. I feel like I’m driving it well. I’m hitting my iron shots good, holing a few putts. So it’s a nice combination.

Q. Is the course set up perfectly for you?

RORY McILROY: When I got here last week on Wednesday, I felt like the golf course set up good for me. It sort of worked out that way.

Q. I don’t know if you ever get comfortable on a U.S. Open golf course, but you looked comfortable, did you feel that way?

RORY McILROY: I did, yeah, I felt very comfortable. I said this in the press conference Tuesday. It doesn’t feel like a typical U.S. Open, for some reason. The golf course is going to get harder and it’s going to get firmer and it’s going to get trickier, but I still feel that it’s very playable and fair. If you don’t hit a fairway, you’ve still got a chance to hit it on the green and give yourself a chance for birdie. I like the way they’ve set up the golf course this year.

Meanwhile, McIlroy’s playing partners in the marquee grouping struggled to post a good number. Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson shot 74 and 75, respectively. With a ball in the water at the challenging par-3 10th (his first hole of the day), Mickelson’s round and 41st birthday got off to a rocky start. Lefty made a double bogey and had to steady himself the rest of the way.

The boys had a huge gallery, as you might imagine. I followed along for a few holes, but it was difficult to get a good look at the action.

In addition to McIlroy, Yang and Schwartzel, six players broke 70 in scoring conditions made easier by overcast skies and relatively cool temperatures. British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and Sergio Garcia are among the group of players who are at 3-under par after 69s.

−The Armchair Golfer

Related:
2011 U.S. Open: ‘Big Blue’ Ready to Challenge Field of 156
2011 U.S. Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes
2011 U.S. Open: A 16-Year-Old Player and Other Notes

2011 U.S. Open: ‘Big Blue’ Ready to Challenge Field of 156

Editor’s note: I’m springing out of my armchair to spend the week at Congressional Country Club covering the 2011 U.S. Open. Share your U.S. Open thoughts: Comment below or email me at armchairgolfer@gmail.com.


























“BIG BLUE” WAS A NICKNAME coined for IBM back in the 1960s and 1970s. This week the nickname fits the Blue Course at Congressional Country Club, site of the 111th U.S. Open Championship. It’s a big, hairy, manly golf course that will test the skills of 156 of the world’s best golfers when they tee off on Thursday.

I’ve read about Congressional, seen it on TV, and heard plenty of chatter about it today on the PGA Tour network while I was driving to Bethesda. But until a few hours ago I had never set foot on the championship layout. I arrived on site in the mid afternoon and a short while later hiked all 3,872 yards of the back nine, which plays to a par of 35.

It was a perfect afternoon, about 80 degrees. Following are my notes on the golf course and a few other stray thoughts on the eve of the championship.

No. 10 is a 213-yard par 3 that features the course’s largest lake, which fronts the green. I didn’t get a good look at this hole, but I’d say it’s far from an easy start to the back nine.

No. 11 is a 494-yard par 4. A pond guards the right side of the green. The hole was deserted, so I crossed the fairway and walked down the left side to get an up-close look at the graduated rough. The first cut is a few yards wide and not long at all, a collar of sorts. The second cut, which is five to seven yards wide, looks to be about three inches deep. The last cut is the nastier five-inch variety.

The rough didn’t look that bad to me—but then I don’t have to play out of it. Several players have praised the course setup, including the rough, so I figure it’s not as wicked as in the past. The gallery ropes are set far off the fairways, which means that crooked drives won’t benefit from relatively playable lies in trampled rough.

No. 12 is a 471-yard par 4, a tight driving hole that doglegs lefts. This one looked tough to my eye. Narrow and curving.

No. 13 is a 193-yard par 3 with a two-tiered green. It doesn’t appear to be that difficult from the tee. Yet when you reach the putting surface you can see the potential challenges. The pin locations will make all the difference. Many of the greens, in fact, are tiered and undulating. They’re only going to get harder and faster as the week progresses.

No. 14 is a 467-yard straightaway par 4. From the tee the fairway looks only slightly wider than a cart path. There are openings into some of the greens, like at the 14th, but it’s going to be difficult to bounce the ball in on many holes because of rather severe slopes.

No. 15 is a straightaway 490-yard par 4. The fairway looked generous compared to the 14th. Four fairway bunkers guard the right side.

No. 16 is a 579-yard reachable par 5. No. 17 is a 437-yard par 4, and where I caught up with Rory McIlroy and company. At least one player teed off with an iron.

“This is going to be a great finishing hole.”

That’s what I overheard one spectator say about the 18th. I agree. It’s a 523-yard par 4, much of it downhill on the approach shot. The drive doesn’t look that difficult. The second shot is another story. Club selection will be crucial because a small lake wraps around the left- and back-side of the green. I predict there will be lengthy player-caddie discussions on the 18th fairway as they stare down the hill at the smallish green.

The front side, which I haven’t walked yet, measures 3,702 yards and plays to a par of 36. The course totals: 7,574 yards, par 71. It’s the second longest U.S. Open course. Torrey Pines played slightly longer in 2008.

So who can win on “Big Blue”? Will it take a bomber like Dustin Johnson? Can a short hitter with a golden short game get it done?

I’ve heard some say world No. 1 Luke Donald (a short hitter) can’t win here. That’s true if he makes too many visits to the rough. But, whether a short or long hitter, I think the winner will have to be great on the greens this week. That’s always the case at the U.S. Open.

That guy will be easy to spot. He’ll be the one with the lowest score.

−The Armchair Golfer

Related:
2011 U.S. Open: Play the Groupings Name Game
2011 U.S. Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes
Donald Would Swap No. 1 for Mickelson’s Record

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

A Comfortable Conversation with Davis Love III

LAST WEEK I HAD THE opportunity to interview Davis Love III as part of the Dove® Men + Care™ media outreach. Called “Journey to Comfort,” the ad campaign features Love, Stewart Cink and other athletes such as Magic Johnson and Bobby Hurley. We discussed the campaign, his mom, his golf game, the U.S. Open and his 2012 Ryder Cup captaincy.

Love has 20 PGA Tour titles, including one major, the 1997 PGA Championship. He also has played on six U.S. Ryder Cup teams and was an assistant captain for Corey Pavin’s 2010 squad.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I heard you had the stomach flu. How are you feeling?

DAVIS LOVE: I’m feeling better, practicing every day, getting ready for a big stretch—Charlotte, Players, Fort Worth, Memorial, all those good ones. I’m excited for the rest of the year.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Yeah, a bunch of good tournaments coming up. I’m going to get to your playing, but I wanted to ask about this campaign you’re working on. I’m old enough to remember the Dove soap ads growing up. You’ve had a lot of golf-related sponsors, but I’ll bet you could never have anticipated having someone like Dove as a sponsor. What has it been like for you?

DAVIS LOVE: It’s been great to be in national ads for a national brand that, as you said, we both grew up with. To be in a campaign like this that has other athletes … Joe Girardi and Bobby Hurley and Magic Johnson and Davis Love and Stewart Cink, it’s pretty amazing. The response has been incredible. So many people come up to me and say, “I’m comfortable in my own skin, too.” People are asking me which soap I like best. They’re saying I sure like that one [TV spot] about your mom. Not only is it brand building, it’s also telling my story. People know that my dad was a pro, that I got lessons from my dad. But my mom was such a big part of my golf life. It’s great to give her some credit and tell that story. It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve been good friends with the Cinks for a long time. It’s been fun to partner with them on this.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I think my favorite one [commercial] was with your mom. Of course, I knew about your father. A lot of people have heard about him. But you say that you got your talent from your mom. Obviously, she was a pretty good golfer herself. How would you say that she helped you in the game?

DAVIS LOVE: In reality, she was the one who taught us to compete, because she was the one who took us out on the course. My mom was a single-digit handicap for 50 years. She didn’t start playing golf until she was in her early 20s. She just picked up the clubs and immediately started playing well. She was very competitive. Not in a U.S. Amateur or tour pro sense, but just competitive with herself. She just wanted to play her best every single day. My dad was a great player and a great teacher, but we didn’t get to play nearly as much with our dad as we did with our mom. My dad was working at the shop, or practicing, or playing. When we were 10 years old, it was a fantasy to try to beat your mom. Not worried about beating your dad. Got to beat your mom first. She didn’t want to get beat by her kids or the ladies she played with. She drove us all over the Southeast to play in tournaments. She was the one to make it happen, for sure. Nice for her to get the credit she certainly deserves.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: It’s a nice story, especially with Mother’s Day coming up. I saw a couple of weeks ago you were concerned about your chipping. How’s your game right now, and what are you working on?

DAVIS LOVE: Right now I am working on chipping. I was chipping yesterday and my son walked up and said, “So how are you chipping?” I said, “That’s the problem. I’m thinking about my chipping, I’m talking about my chipping [chuckling], everybody’s concerned about my chipping.” Yes, I need to work on my short game. As Bob Rotella says, the scoring clubs is what I need to be working on. I can hit the ball plenty far, hit plenty of good shots. I know how to play. I just got to work on the scoring clubs, and that’s as much mental as it is physical. So it’s pre-shot routine, playing games, hitting bunker shots. Not just hitting 50 bunker shots. Trying to hole one to each hole, trying to chip some chips in, play some putting games. With my son or Brad Faxon, I just love to play this back and forth putting game. Practice is more practicing shots and playing games. Hitting high cuts instead of just standing there and smacking 7-irons.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Is all that work still fun for you?

DAVIS LOVE: It’s a lot of fun. I find myself lost in the practice, just like when I was a kid. Yesterday when I was on the range, the high school team was practicing, a little clinic of 10-year-olds, and the 47-year-old tour player that’s been doing it forever. I still love doing it, I still love the challenge, I still love competing. If you don’t go out and practice your chipping, you’re not going to be competitive. As I said, I’m looking forward to this next big stretch of tournaments. I’m excited about the year. I still have goals in my career that I haven’t reached. I’m not going to sit back and relax. I don’t like missing cuts. I don’t like not winning. The tough thing is to try not to work so hard that you’re trying too hard. Get the work done, be consistent with your work, be prepared when you get to the tournament, and then go play. That’s what’s been disappointing since the Florida Swing started. I just don’t feel like I’ve gotten to a tournament 100 percent prepared. So that’s my goal for Charlotte, Players, right on through the summer, getting ready for the U.S. Open. Just be prepared and go out and play and get your confidence back.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I was looking ahead to the U.S. Open. You had a nice finish there last year. You tied for sixth. I looked at 1997 to see how you did, and you had a top-20 finish at Congressional. How do you like Congressional, and how does it set up for your game?

DAVIS LOVE: I think it really sets up well. It’s a big, long, hard course. It looks like a major championship, whether you’re playing Tiger’s AT&T tournament or a major. I’ve always liked it. I’ve played there all the way back to ’86. Pebble has always set up well for me, and I played well there. I felt like at the Players and at the Open last year at Pebble I was right there, like Dustin Johnson and so many other guys. A double here, a double there—I could have won the tournament. I’m excited about Congressional. I’ve always enjoyed playing there and I feel like it suits my game. In the U.S. Open, it comes down to hitting fairways and making putts. That comes with confidence. I think I have the experience. Once I get near the lead, I do pretty good. I just got to get a little more consistent on the Thursday, Friday.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I have to ask you one Ryder Cup question. You’ve been a part of a lot of Ryder Cups and now you’re captain. What does the Ryder Cup mean to you, and what does it mean that it’s your turn to be at the helm?

DAVIS LOVE: It means a lot to me. It means a lot that six captains that I’ve played for, and then Corey that I was assistant for, have put so much into making those seven weeks of my golf career so incredible. I want to give these next 12 guys—who hopefully six or seven of them have played before—I want to give that back to them. I want it to be … an incredible week for the players. Of course, we want to win. But I think, whether win or lose the Ryder Cup or the President’s Cup, it’s still an incredible week for the players. I want to do everything I can to give that back to the game and to the Ryder Cup and to the players what was given to me by the Kites and the Crenshaws and Watsons, Curtis Strange.

I want the guys to feel like they’re a little bit more prepared for Friday this time than they were last time. It’s not a normal week. It’s a Super Bowl week. I want our Super Bowl week to at least have enough normalcy that we can feel like when we go to the first tee on Friday that we’re ready to play. I know what it feels like not to be prepared. I want these guys to feel like we’ve done everything we can to prepare. Let’s just go have fun and play and win this thing. Take a little pressure off of them. Let them just go have fun. I think we’ll do well.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I wish you all the best, Davis, with that, and also with this next stretch of golf. Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it.

DAVIS LOVE: Thank you very much.

−The Armchair Golfer

Coming soon: Stewart Cink

Identifying Golf’s True Young Guns

NICK WATNEY RALLIED AT DORAL with a final-round 67 to win the WGC-Cadillac Championship by a shot over Dustin Johnson. It was Watney’s third and most significant PGA Tour victory. He faltered in the final round at last year’s PGA Championship. This time Watney struck the clutch shots and, more importantly, sank the clutch putts to close it out.

The young talent is highly touted—and for good reason. With Watney and Johnson dueling at Doral—and players such as Martin Kaymer, Hunter Mahan, Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar, Francesco Molinari and Rickie Fowler in the mix—the youth movement is on the rise. In Miami, another title went to a young gun.

(Photo: Dustin Johnson)

But here’s what I realized. Nick Watney isn’t that young. He’s 29. And he’ll be 30 shortly after he makes his last loop through Amen Corner at the upcoming Masters. He seems young because we haven’t noticed him much until the last two years. Just like Sergio Garcia seems ancient at 31, a mere 16 months older than Watney.

It’s easy to be enamored with the fresh faces, but the winners in this year’s first dozen events are closer to Tiger’s age. Here’s a list of the winners and their ages:

Hyundai Tournament of Champions: Jonathan Byrd, 33
Sony Open in Hawaii: Mark Wilson, 36
Bob Hope Classic: Jhonattan Vegas, 26
Farmers Insurance Open: Bubba Watson, 32
Waste Management Open: Mark Wilson, 36
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am: D.A. Points, 34
Northern Trust Open: Aaron Baddeley, 29
Mayakoba Golf Classic: Johnson Wagner, 30
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship: Luke Donald, 33
The Honda Classic: Rory Sabbatini, 34
WGC-Cadillac Championship: Nick Watney, 29
Puerto Rico Open: Michael Bradley, 44

The average age of winners thus far this PGA Tour season is 33. Think Luke Donald. Toss out the 44-year-old Michael Bradley and it’s still 32. Think Bubba Watson.

So here’s what I’m thinking about this young-gun business: You have to be young in a golf sense. (Not just younger than Tiger.) I don’t think Nick Watney fits, even though he’ll probably get carded at Safeway until he’s 47. I’m arbitrarily making Martin Kaymer and Dustin Johnson the cutoff. If you’re their age (26) or younger, you’re a young gun. It you’re older than Kaymer and Johnson, you’re just a gun.

That includes you Matt Kuchar, Hunter Mahan, Camilo Villegas, Aaron Baddeley, Adam Scott and Molinari brothers. But don’t feel bad. At least I didn’t call you old guns.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: zzazazz, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Louis Oosthuizen Fires 67 With Eye Closed

ON SATURDAY MORNING IT seemed doubtful that Louis Oosthuizen would tee it up in the third round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship. The reigning British Open champion has been sick for a while. Last week he withdrew from the Honda Classic after the second round. Antibiotics had helped, but the infection had moved from his left eye to his right, which was swollen shut.

“It looked pretty bad,” Oosthuizen said at PGATour.com. “It was swollen badly and I couldn’t really see through it. I just iced it and got some eye drops put in.”

The eye felt OK an hour before his tee time, so the South African decided to start the round. But he also suspected he would hang it up after a few holes. “I just wanted to give myself a chance,” he said.

Putting five birdies on his card, Louis recorded a 31 on the opening nine. “The first seven holes I could have been seven under.” He took dead aim and didn’t worry about a thing, even though his right eye was swollen and watery, blurring his vision.

Oosthuizen got to 7 under on his round at the 16th before making a pair of closing bogeys to notch a 67. Still, not bad for a player whose right eye was described as a slit when he finished. Beware the ailing golfer.

Dustin Johnson (13 under) leads by two over Luke Donald, Hunter Mahan and Matt Kuchar heading into the final round at the Blue Monster.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Bob Stapleton, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

2011 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

Tiger made a clutch birdie on 18 to square his match
with Thomas Bjorn, and then lost on the 19th hole.

THE 2011 WGC-ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY Championship is underway at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, in Marana, Arizona. The field of 64 sliced in half. Early high-seed exits: Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Ian Poulter, Dustin Johnson and Retief Goosen. This is match play, folks. Anything can happen.

Purse: $8.5 million
Winner’s share: $1.4 million
Defending champion: Ian Poulter

The brackets
The course
Tournament overview
Tournament news
Video
Interviews
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship website


2011 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship Live Scoring


TV SCHEDULE

TV coverage of the 2011 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship is on Golf Channel and NBC. All times Eastern.

GOLF
Wed 12 – 6 pm
Thu 2 – 6 pm
Fri 2 – 6 pm
Sat 12 – 2 pm
Sun 9 – 1 pm

NBC
Sat 2 – 6 pm
Sun 2 – 6 pm

−The Armchair Golfer

2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

THE 2011 AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AM gets underway on Thursday on three gorgeous golf courses on the Monterey Peninsula: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Defending champion Dustin Johnson headlines a strong field that includes major winners Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk, Geoff Ogilvy and Vijay Singh.

Purse: $6.3 million
Winner’s share: $1.16 million
Defending champion: Dustin Johnson


Inside the field
Inside the courses
Tee times
Tournament overview
Tournament news
Interviews
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am website



2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Leaderboard


TV SCHEDULE

TV coverage of the 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is on Golf Channel and CBS.

Thu, 2/10:
GOLF 3p - 6p ET

Fri, 2/11:
GOLF 3p - 6p ET

Sat, 2/12:
CBS 3p - 6p ET

Sun, 2/13:
CBS 3p - 6:30p ET

SIRIUS-XM broadcast times

−The Armchair Golfer

2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

THE 2011 WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN is scheduled to start on Thursday at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona. Currently, the start time has been pushed back at least two hours due to frost. A strong field will play in front of the largest crowd on the PGA Tour, including Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, defending champion Hunter Mahan, Dustin Johnson, Geoff Ogilvy, Jhonattan Vegas, Bill Haas and Camilo Villegas.

Purse: $6.1 million
Winner’s share: $1.08 million
Defending champion: Hunter Mahan


Inside the field
Inside the course
Tee times
Tournament overview
Tournament news
Interviews
Waste Management Phoenix Open website


2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open Leaderboard


TV SCHEDULE

TV coverage of the 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open is on Golf Channel and CBS.

Thu, 2/3:
GOLF 4p - 7p ET

Fri, 2/4:
GOLF 4p - 7p ET

Sat, 2/5:
CBS 3p - 6p ET

Sun, 2/6:
CBS 3p - 6p ET

SIRIUS-XM broadcast times

−The Armchair Golfer

Players Select Jim Furyk as 2010 POY

IN A VOTE BY PGA Tour players, Jim Furyk was awarded the 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. Others on the ballot included Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson, but Furyk was the clear choice in my mind. Jim’s victory at the Tour Championship sealed the deal. He also walked off with the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus. His two other wins came at the Transitions Championship and Verizon Heritage.

“The year just keeps getting better is all I can say,” Furyk told reporters at the Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, California. “I’m not sure I want 2010 to end at this point.”

In a year defined by Tiger Woods’s free-fall off and on the golf course, the 40-year-old Furyk had the best season of his 18-year career to rise above other contenders for the tour’s largest pot of gold (FedEx Cup) and top award. No one—not even Furyk himself, I expect—could have seen it coming. No knock on Jim, but I wouldn’t expect him to win POY again. The Tiger vacuum created unexpected opportunities this season for Furyk and other veteran players and rising stars. What happens in 2011 is anyone’s guess.

Rickie Fowler won PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

−The Armchair Golfer

How Pete Dye’s Dog Killed Herb Kohler’s Sheep

Editor’s note: This tale originates with Monte Burke at Forbes.com. Visor tip to John Strege at Local Knowledge.

HERB KOHLER LOVED HIS black-face sheep that wandered Whistling Straits, the Wisconsin golf course that hosted the 2010 PGA Championship won by Martin Kaymer in a sudden-death playoff against Bubba Watson. (And, of course, the home of the bunker controversy that ruined Dustin Johnson’s bid for his first major.)

The sheep made the Kohler property on the edge of Lake Michigan seem more like Scotland. They also provided photo-ops for golfers. They even trimmed the rough.

(Photo: The black-face sheep of Whistling Straits /
Dan Perry, Flickr)

In advance of the 2004 PGA Championship, famed course designer Pete Dye was summoned to Whistling Straits to build an ambulance road. Dye brought along one of his Belgian shepherds for company as he mapped the road. It was a habit of his. Apparently, Pete loved his dogs. But a problem arose.

“I wasn’t paying attention to my dog,” Dye told Monte Burke. “And the next thing I know, that dog is chasing the sheep.”

Desperate to escape the canine, one of the sheep plunged into Lake Michigan. The dog jumped in after it! The sheep swam out farther. The shepherd followed.

“I ran down and jumped into the lake and grabbed the dog, but by that time, the sheep had gone upside down,” Dye said.

Uh-oh.

Steve Friedlander, general manager of Kohler’s golf courses, descended a hill and made a beeline for the course architect. You are in big trouble, he told Dye. Dye: I know. I’ll tell Mr. Kohler. But that wasn’t what Friedlander meant. An editor for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was playing the course and saw the entire dog-sheep episode.

Dye trailed the editor and approached him on the 14th. He asked the editor not to make a big story about what he saw, otherwise Dye could write the following day’s headline: “Herb Kohler shot Pete Dye.”

The editor smiled and returned to his mediocre golf game. The anecdote ran as a small item the next day, and Dye surely breathed a sigh of relief.

−The Armchair Golfer

Martin Kaymer’s Quiet Golf Takeover

MARTIN KAYMER IS A SOFT-spoken German with the skills and nerve of an international cat burglar. On Sunday, the 25-year-old was spotted slipping away from the Old Course with yet another piece of valuable hardware, his third trophy caper in 56 days. He is the first player since Tiger Woods in 2006 to win three consecutive titles on the European Tour.

While Lee Westwood is poised to take the No. 1 ranking away from Woods, Kaymer is sneaking up on both of them. His victory at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship moves him to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking behind Woods, Westwood and Phil Mickelson.

At St. Andrews on Sunday in cold and blustery conditions that produced plenty of sock hats and occasional over-sized mittens to warm hands, Kaymer posted a clever 66 that featured a birdie-birdie finish to win by three strokes. On the 17th, the famous Road Hole, he rolled in a lengthy putt from off the back of the green for an improbable birdie three. Then, at 18, Kaymer struck his approach shot from the paved road that crosses the fairway. The ball stopped six feet from the hole and rolled into the cup on the next stroke.

The German golf star flashed a grin like he had just cracked a safe and slipped the diamonds into his satchel, which, in a way, he had. The win was worth €580,046.40 and raises his season money total to €3,134,447. Kaymer now leads Graeme McDowell in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai by a wide margin.

“It was always one of my dreams to win here at St. Andrews,” he said.

Sure, why not? Martin Kaymer is checking a lot of things off his list in recent days. First major. (Check.) First Ryder Cup. (Check.) First win at the Old Course. (Check.)

In addition to winning the PGA Championship in August and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship this weekend, Kaymer took the KLM Open in the Netherlands in September. Except for a thrashing in Ryder Cup singles at the hands of Dustin Johnson, it’s been a near-perfect two months for the Dusseldorf native.

At the moment, Kaymer is the world’s hottest player. Perhaps he’s also on his way to being the world’s top-ranked player.

−The Armchair Golfer

VIDEO: Random Stuff About Dustin Johnson

DUSTIN JOHNSON IS FRED COUPLES 2.0. He hits it a mile and could shrug off the end of the world. He’s that easy going. And, like Freddie, he’s probably going to win a bunch of golf tournaments and make it look a little too easy. Watch the video to learn a bit more about Dustin. An incomplete recap is below.

The stuff you probably know:
From Myrtle Beach. Works out but takes a week off here and there. First PGA Tour win at Turning Stone. Likes to spend downtime in the great outdoors.

The stuff you probably don’t know:
All jobs growing up were golf related. (Toughest was kitchen duty.) His dad was a club pro, which is how Dustin got started in golf. Favorite TV shows are Entourage and True Blood. No nickname. Just DJ. Likes (and has played golf with) South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier. Knows South Carolina Gamecocks fight song, but won’t sing it on camera. “No chance,” Dustin said, laughing.

−The Armchair Golfer

Was This BMW a Clunker?

2010 BMW Championship Recap
Winner: Dustin Johnson
Score: 9 under, 275 (68, 70, 68, 69)
Quote: “To finally get it done, after all the things I’ve gone through this summer, it can’t feel any better.”
Fact: Was singing Usher song on last two holes.
Thought: Game and attitude make DJ attractive Ryder Cup partner.

WAS THIS BEAMER A CLUNKER? Certainly not for Dustin Johnson, who wheeled his way to the biggest win of his career after runner-up Paul Casey rode the bogey train for three consecutive holes after holding the lead on the final nine. Good for Dustin. I think everyone feels that way after the tough summer he’s had. It was the fourth PGA Tour title for the 26-year-old touted by many as the next big thing.

The reason I wonder if the BMW Championship was a clunker is because so much of what I read was negative and then some. (I admit I didn’t see a lot of the third leg of the FedExCup playoffs.)

Much of the negativity had to do with the course. The Cog Hill renovations by Rees Jones were ripped by the players. Jones lengthened the course to 7,600-plus yards, worked on the bunkering and rebuilt all the greens. Phil Mickelson said in his pretend diplomatic style the course was “interesting” and that there was a lot of talk in the locker room. The undiplomatic Paul Casey said there are two things you don’t want to hear as a player. One of them was “Rees Jones.” Ouch. Even Mr. Nice Guy, Stewart Cink, called the place a “wreck.” Whoa. I guess they really didn’t like the course?

Among other unhappy campers were Charlie Wi and J.B. Holmes. Wi bogeyed the last two holes to shoot 74, finish T8 and lose his spot in the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta in two weeks. Charlie was so upset he left Cog Hill without speaking to PGA Tour officials or the media.

Holmes talked, more or less calling the playoffs points system “absolutely ridiculous.” J.B., who started in 18th place and is now history, said people who have played well all year can have a couple of bad tournaments and be eliminated. (Isn’t that like other sports?) The 2008 Ryder Cup hero has yet to play in a Tour Championship.

So, is the FedExCup an unfair system? Sure. No matter what the PGA Tour brass tries, they’ll never devise a playoff system that everyone likes or thinks is fair. It just won’t happen. They’ve already tried and tried and tried. It’s a convoluted system to wring out every last bit of interest there might be in professional golf at the end of a long season.

Geoff Ogilvy agrees. “Look, there is no exact, perfect way to do it.” If guys are choking (and they are) while trying to advance and chase $10 million, then something must be working. That’s my overly simplistic observation.

Everyone should take a page from Dustin. When golf seems unfair and things don’t go your way, shrug it off. Go trim your sideburns and spend time on your boat. Another tournament is coming. Well, unless you’re outside of the top 30 in points. In that case, there’s the Fall Series. And next season.

−The Armchair Golfer

Rules Fatigue Grips Golf World

IF JIM FURYK’S CELL PHONE didn’t lose power last week at The Barclays, would the PGA Tour have suspended its pro-am policy for the rest of the season? In a word, no. I don’t think so. No one would be talking about the rule and the so-called unfairness of it. Popular, headline-grabbing Phil Mickelson wouldn’t be sounding off and the PGA Tour wouldn’t have a PR problem.

(Photo: Dustin Johnson is in a bunker, and knows it / Gordons, Flickr)

Furyk is a good guy, a gamer who fulfills his tour obligations. His cell phone battery failed him. That, and his lack of a backup. To play the PGA Tour, you need to guard against equipment failure on and off the course. In addition to carrying those three or four wedges, you’d be wise to have two alarms.

It was an odd incident, just like the Dustin Johnson bunker incident at the PGA Championship, and Juli Inkster’s donut DQ at the Safeco Classic, and last weekend’s cheating allegations at the LPGA event in Canada, which is a different kettle of fish.

People are fed up. Stupid rules. A guy doesn’t know he’s in a bunker. A gal is trying to warm up after a 25-minute delay in the middle of her round. A guy overslept and showed up five minutes late for the pro-am. Rules, rules, rules.

The golf world is ready to throw the book at the rules book. Granted, golf does have some odd rules. And the PGA Tour does make up its own policies concerning things like pro-ams to protect its interests. But it’s not like this stuff is new.

What if this last month has simply been an odd confluence of rules violations affecting name players? Unfortunate, yes. Time to throw out the rules? Maybe not so fast. The bunker fiasco was by far the worst situation. The PGA of America needs to think hard about how they’ll conduct future championships at Whistling Straits.

As far as the PGA Tour pro-ams, here’s what Stewart Cink told Michael Whitmer of Boston.com:

I’d say less than 50 percent of the players really understand how important they are, and that’s a shame. And despite the tour’s efforts, I think that trend is going down. I don’t think players make the connection between the pro-am and the support. We aren’t born into this world with the entitlement of playing golf on the PGA Tour. All this happens through hard work and sponsorship, and we have to be attractive to business sponsors who want to put their name and their money behind us.

Did the PGA Tour buckle due to the backlash? Did Dustin get shafted by an unusual local rule? Should Juli have known to stay away from donuts?

I say yes to all three. And all because the past month in tour golf has been as odd as some of the rules.

−The Armchair Golfer

Q&A: Sandy Lie on Bunker Controversy at PGA Championship

IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, Sandy Lie spoke to ARMCHAIR GOLF about the bizarre ending to the 92nd PGA Championship.

Q: What did you make of the controversial ruling involving Dustin Johnson?

SANDY LIE: That’s golf. It can ruin your life. It has mine.

Q: Can you elaborate?

SANDY LIE: The game is run by people obsessed with arcane rules and played on alien landscapes designed by men who like to push massive amounts of dirt around and shovel me into odd-shaped holes of all sizes. Look, I feel sorry for Dustin Johnson, but he chose to be on the golf course. I sure didn’t.

Q: How has golf harmed you?

SANDY LIE: You mean, besides not knowing who or what I am? Everywhere else in the world I’m just Sandy, but in golf they’ve put all kinds of crazy labels and definitions on me. Two words: identity crisis. The players don’t even read the rules. They admitted it on TV! What kind of game is that?

Q: What do you think of Whistling Straits?

SANDY LIE: Don’t get me started.

Q: How about Pete Dye?

SANDY LIE: I wish he’d leave me the hell alone. I’ll bet he never got to play in a sandbox growing up.

Q: So how do you deal with it?

SANDY LIE: I’m in therapy.

Q: How’s that going?

SANDY LIE: I make some progress, then something like Whis … Whis … Whis… sorry, I can’t say the words. Then I regress. It’s a process.

Q: Do you think Dustin Johnson got a raw deal?

SANDY LIE: Hey, did you hear the PGA has a new headliner at their Las Vegas show this week?

Q: No. Who?

SANDY LIE: The Blue Dot Men Group.

Q: Pretty funny.

SANDY LIE: Thanks. Saw it online today. I don’t what it means.

Q: Getting back to the Dustin Johnson thing, David Feherty said he, Feherty, didn’t know it was a bunker.

SANDY LIE: Who?

Q: Feherty.

SANDY LIE: The burrowing animal?

Q: No, that’s a ferret. Nevermind.

SANDY LIE: Are we about done here?

Q: Pretty close. Do people get you mixed up with Sandy Lyle?

SANDY LIE: Our names are somewhat alike and we’re both involved in golf, but that’s where the similarities end.

Q: Sandy Lyle’s Masters victory was directly from a sandy lie on the 72nd hole. Coincidence?

SANDY LIE: You’re overreaching.

Q: Do you prefer to be raked or unraked?

SANDY LIE: This interview is over.

−The Armchair Golfer

(This is an ARMCHAIR GOLF spoof.)

(Image: rsutton 198/Flickr)

PGA Championship: Young Guns Dominate at Birdie Straits

NICK WATNEY PUTTED AND GRINNED his way to a 66 at the PGA Championship to take a three-shot lead into the final round at Birdie, er, Whistling Straits. The Pete Dye track had no defense against the precocious genius of the young guns. The wind was down, the greens were soft, and the scores were low.

Tied in second place, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy are Watney’s closest pursuers. Three more of the youth movement—Martin Kaymer, Jason Day and Wenchong Liang—are T4.

(Photo: This is going to hurt, ball. Dustin Johnson tees off at the Quail Hollow Championship / Ed McDonald, Flickr)

The young guns rode into Whistling Straits on Saturday and loaded up on birdies like it was the dessert buffet at Golden Corral. Leader Watney carded eight on his way to a 66. Johnson had five and no bogeys for a 67. McIlroy had six in his round of 67, as did Kaymer (67) and Day (66). And, with eight birds on his card, Liang set the course record of 64.

There are fossils in contention: the ancient Steve Elkington, a 47-year-old former PGA champion; world No. 5 Jim Furyk, 40; and Masters champion Zach Johnson, 34. Yes, even Mr. Johnson is an old man. I’m telling you, anybody over 32 on this leaderboard is old, old, old.

Which of the boys will pass the examination tomorrow? Nick? Dustin? Rory? Martin? Jason? One of the fossils?

This is going to be fun.

−The Armchair Golfer

The Odd and Fragile Life of the Tour Caddie

Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from Whiffling Straits, a golf blog authored by Mike Zimmerman.

By Mike Zimmerman
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

DURING THE FATHER’S DAY blowout at the House of Whiffle that kept me from fully engaging in the final round of the 2010 U.S. Open, I had an interesting discussion with my sister-in-law. Though she’s not a golfer, she was curious about the events unfolding on the TV in the kitchen (where I was in charge of the food preparation). In particular, she was asking about the role of the caddie.

“Do the players have their own regular caddies, or do they have different ones every week?”

Most full-time tour pros have their own caddies who travel with them, I explained. Though they sometimes change from time to time.

“Do they tell them which club to use?”

Not exactly, but they do usually provide input. And certainly the yardages. A lot of it depends on the player, and how much he expects from the caddie, and what kind of a relationship the two of them have.

“Is the caddie like a coach?”

Well, a little bit, sometimes. They won’t typically give the player advice on their swing, but they often help them read the green and make strategy decisions. More than anything—again, depending on the player—they’re like an on-course sports psychologist. At least the good ones are.

Blame and Shame at Pebble Beach

After the tournament, a couple of caddies got some extra attention in the press: Steve Williams, because of how Tiger Woods seemed to blame him, at least in part, for a couple of poor decisions made during Sunday’s disappointing final round; and Bobby Brown, Dustin Johnson’s caddie. Brown’s role was notable because he had previously spent three years as a full-time caddie at Pebble Beach—and because Johnson had won the two previous AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am titles. Certainly, it seemed their combined experience at the famous course would help Johnson carry the day on Sunday.

But, as we all now know, it was not to be. Johnson, who began the day with a three-shot lead, shot a disastrous 82 to finish in a tie for 8th.

Williams was typically mum. But Brown later spoke to the Monterey Herald about his player’s ill-fated left-handed chip on the second hole:

“I was a little bit shocked to see him go at that thing left-handed, because the first thing I thought he was going to do was take an unplayable, or chip it back into the bunker,” Brown said. “It all happened so fast. I was about ready to say something, and he kind of told me to get out of the way and said, ‘I got this.’ At that point, you kind of get out of the way. Maybe next time I won’t get out of the way. I’m not sure.”

How hard should a caddie push when he thinks his golfer is making a bad decision?

Bones Lets Phil Be Phil

If Jim “Bones” Mackay had gotten his way at Augusta earlier this year, Phil Mickelson would have laid up on that now-famous 6-iron from between the trees on 13. But Bones has been with Phil ever since he turned pro in 1992, and he knows by now just how hard to push—and when to step back and say, “OK, you’re the boss. Now give it a good rip!”

Edwards Curses Watson

In the Golf Channel documentary “Caddy for Life” (based on the book by John Feinstein), Tom Watson tells of a time when his long-time caddie Bruce Edwards cursed him out in the middle of the round.

It seems a discouraged Watson was dithering about whether to go for it or lay up on a par 5. Edwards felt strongly that Watson should do the former—and that his golfer needed a good kick in the pants, as well! So Edwards read him the riot act (including a few expletives), threw Watson’s 7-iron and 3-wood at his feet, and then stormed down the fairway with the bag, leaving Watson to make up his own dang mind.

Again, it takes a special relationship for something like this to transpire—without a subsequent termination.

The Caddie’s Dilemma

Maybe Brown should not have been so quick to “get out of the way” on the second hole. But it’s impossible to say. If he had talked Johnson into trying something different and it hadn’t worked out, it might have rattled Johnson just as much. It’s kind of a no-win situation: Caddies are often quick to get the blame but rarely get proper credit when they contribute to a win.

Swing coach? No. Sports psychologist? Absolutely. Scapegoat? Sometimes. No doubt about it, a successful tour caddie is a special breed.

Mike Zimmerman is a writer who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Visit his golf blog, Whiffling Straits.

(Image: nsaplayer/Flickr)

No Collateral Damage for Graeme McDowell

“I really stuck to my plan which was to stay patient, stay calm and really put some nice calm swings on it and not really get sucked in by what the rest of the guys were doing.”
−Graeme McDowell, 2010 U.S. Open champion

YOU HAVE TO STAY on task to win a U.S. Open. Play your own game and stick to your game plan, whatever that may be. Block out the distractions. Try very hard not to let the pressure overwhelm you. And also shake off the bad bounces, bad shots and bad holes. Graeme McDowell was able to do all those things well enough to outlast the other players and win the title.

One of the bigger challenges McDowell overcame early on was his pairing with Dustin Johnson. Poor Dustin imploded on the 2nd and 3rd holes. It was hard to watch. At the time, I wasn’t just thinking about Dustin. I was thinking about Graeme and how hard it could be to watch the disaster up close and wait out Johnson’s muffed shots, ball searches and more. It could have had an ill effect on McDowell, but the Irishman held his game and himself together while the talented 54-hole leader self-destructed and put up an 82.

Graeme McDowell has updated his website with photos and news following his U.S. Open win.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: heraldonline.com)