20 Major Champions Under Age of 25

GOLF.COM PUBLISHED A PHOTO GALLERY of “Notable Major Champions Under the Age of 25.” I’ve included their list below, but in a different order, from youngest to oldest. I’ve also added each player’s majors total. Plus I’ve included a handful of players (at bottom) Golf.com didn’t list.

(I’m not sure why they didn’t mention Ernie Els, who I believe won his first U.S. Open at the age of 24.)

(Photo: Morgan Pressel.)

Many of the retired players on the list went on to win five or more majors. So obviously it’s good to win early. Maybe you’ll win often. Tseng is the quickest to four. McIlroy has one and a world of potential. But there’s no guarantee you’ll win many or any after the first. Just ask Jerry Pate, who won his first and last major, the U.S. Open, at the tender age of 22.




Young Tom Morris, 17, 1868 British Open
Total majors: 4

Morgan Pressel, 18, 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship
Total majors: 1

Yani Tseng, 19, 2008 LPGA Championship
Total majors: 4

Francis Ouimet, 20, 1913 U.S. Open
Total majors: 3 (includes amateur titles)

Gene Sarazen, 20, 1922 U.S. Open
Total majors: 7

Bobby Jones, 21, 1923 U.S. Open
Total majors: 13 (includes amateur titles)

Nancy Lopez, 21, 1978 LPGA Championship
Total majors: 3

Tiger Woods, 21, 1997 Masters
Total majors: 14

Se Ri Pak, 21, 1998 LPGA Championship
Total majors: 5

Jack Nicklaus, 22, 1962 U.S. Open
Total majors: 18

Seve Ballesteros, 22, 1979 British Open
Total majors: 5

Rory McIlroy, 22, 2011 U.S. Open
Total majors: 1

Gary Player, 23, 1959 British Open
Total majors: 9

Brittany Lincicome, 23, 2009 Kraft Nabisco Championship
Total majors: 1

Paula Creamer, 23, 2010 U.S. Women’s Open
Total majors: 1

Annika Sorenstam, 24, 1995 Women’s British Open
Total majors: 10

Others who won a major early: John McDermott (19), Jerry Pate (22), Johnny Goodman (23), Ernie Els (24). (Feel free to help with this list of others, which is probably incomplete.)

−The Armchair Golfer

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

2011 U.S. Open: USGA Can’t Stop Low Scores

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.

PLAYERS WHINING ABOUT THE U.S. Open setup is nothing new. It’s been going on for more than a half century. Horace Rawlins, winner of the inaugural U.S. Open in 1895, probably would have griped about the Newport Country Club had he not won. But the complaints at the 111th edition of the national championship are strangely different.

Congressional Country Club is way too easy. This is not a U.S. Open test, an unfair fight to the finish. Rather, it’s a different kind of bloodbath, a sea of red on the scoreboard resulting from an onslaught of birdies. As one person in the media center put it, the Blue Course is handing out birdies like they’re Halloween candy.

Defending champion Graeme McDowell admitted as much after his 69 on Saturday.

“I’ve been a little disappointed with the golf course the last couple of days,” McDowell said. “It wasn’t as firm and fast as I would like to have seen it. The storms on Thursday night really softened the place. So it’s not a true U.S. Open test out there, to be honest. There were some tough pins out there, no doubt. I’d like to see it tougher than it was.”

World No. 1 Luke Donald, who at 7 over for the championship is not exactly lighting it up, said the rough is not as difficult as at past U.S. Opens.

“It has that different feel,” Donald said of the course. “It almost feels like the Firestone or something.”

Firestone, as in the home of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Due to the rain and cooler temperatures this week, Congressional is playing much softer than expected. The greens are receptive to approach shots, and are not the rock-hard, dry, brownish putting surfaces seen at past U.S. Opens. Rory McIlroy and others are, in effect, playing darts.

The USGA said it can’t be helped.

“I think it’s the oppressive heat we had last week that started us off on this dynamic of weather that we’ve experienced,” said the USGA’s Tom O'Toole, “and then of course making sure that we maintain the health of those greens by hydrating them and raising the cut of our mowing, not rolling, and the number of times we’ve mowed and rolled. So we’ve done all those things to maintain the health of Congressional’s greens.”

In its previous three majors (two U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship), Congressional has yielded scores of 276, 278 and 281. The winning scores ranged from 4 under at the 1997 U.S. Open won by Ernie Els to 1 over at the 1976 PGA Championship won by Dave Stockton.

This week the winning 72-hole total will likely be much lower and could break the U.S. Open record of 272 set by Jack Nicklaus and tied by Lee Janzen, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk. Rory McIlroy needs a 72 in the final round to eclipse the U.S. Open standard of Nicklaus and Woods, golf’s two greatest champions. But what McIlroy wants more than anything is his name on the large silver trophy.

−The Armchair Golfer

Related:
Rory McIlroy Extends U.S. Open Lead to 8 Shots
Comeback Award Goes to Marcel Siem
2011 U.S. Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

2011 U.S. Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

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

THE 2011 U.S. OPEN tees off on Thursday at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. Ernie Els took home the trophy on the national championship’s most recent visit to Congressional in 1997. In 1964 Ken Venturi survived triple-digit heat to win at Congressional, the last U.S. Open to include two rounds (36 holes) on the final day.

Purse: $7.5 million
Winner’s share: $1.35 million
Defending champion: Graeme McDowell

2011 U.S. Open Leaderboard

Field
Course overview
Course tour
Tee times
U.S. Open history
U.S. Open news
Official U.S. Open website
2011 U.S. Open Spectator Guide (PDF)


TV SCHEDULE

TV coverage of the 2011 U.S. Open is on ESPN and NBC.

Thu, 6/16
10 AM-3 PM ET (ESPN)
3-5 PM ET (NBC)
5-7 PM ET (ESPN)

Fri, 6/17
10 AM-3 PM ET (ESPN)
3-5 PM ET (NBC)
5-7 PM ET (ESPN)

Sat, 6/18
2-8 PM ET (NBC)

Sun, 6/19
1:30-7:30 PM ET

−The Armchair Golfer

Related:
2011 U.S. Open: Play the Groupings Name Game

A Quarter Century of World No. 1 Golfers

THE OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING (OWGR) debuted in 1986. Masters champion Bernhard Langer was the first world No. 1. Langer’s reign only lasted three weeks. Seve Ballesteros, who died three weeks ago, grabbed the top spot and held on to it for more than a year. Then Greg Norman was king of the hill for much of the 1990s.

Luke Donald will now take a turn at the top, thanks to his dramatic playoff win over former No. 1 Lee Westwood at the BMW PGA Championship. Donald is the 15th player to claim the No. 1 ranking.

Here are all 15, including the number of weeks they were on top:

Bernhard Langer, 3 weeks
Seve Ballesteros, 61 weeks
Greg Norman, 331 weeks
Nick Faldo, 97 weeks
Ian Woosnam, 50 weeks
Fred Couples, 16 weeks
Nick Price, 44 weeks
Tom Lehman, 1 week
Tiger Woods, 623 weeks
Ernie Els, 9 weeks
David Duval, 15 weeks
Vijay Singh, 32 weeks
Lee Westwood, 17 weeks
Martin Kaymer, 8 weeks
Luke Donald, took over yesterday (May 30, 2011)

Since the decline of Tiger Woods, it has been Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood and now Luke Donald. How long will Donald be No. 1 and who will displace him?

It might be Westwood again, especially if he can finally get the “major” monkey off his back. Of course, The Donald would also like to win his first major.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Source: Golf.com)

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

Doug ‘About Time’ Ford Enters World Golf Hall of Fame

DOUG FORD, 88, FINALLY HAS a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame. And not a moment too soon. When told last year by PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem he was one of six 2011 inductees, Ford replied, “About time.”

I wholeheartedly agree.

Monday night was the big night. Friend and 1968 Masters champion Bob Goalby presented Ford during the induction ceremony at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida. Also enshrined were Ernie Els, Jock Hutchison, Jumbo Ozaki, the late CBS-TV pioneer Frank Chirkinian and former President George H.W. Bush.

Ford had been on the ballot before—and passed over. He expressed doubt about ever getting in and wondered why his record didn’t sway voters.

“I’ll put my record up against just about anyone’s in the Hall,” Ford told GolfChannel.com’s Randall Mell after being turned away in 2009. “I think I have a hell of a record. I don’t know what they’re looking for. I don’t know what the knock on me is, but I’m just not that enthused about it anymore. If they don’t appreciate what I’ve done, I can’t do anything about it.”

Let’s look at Ford’s record. Nineteen PGA Tour wins. Two majors: the 1957 Masters, beating Sam Snead by three shots, and the 1955 PGA Championship, beating Cary Middlecoff in the final (when the PGA was a match-play event). Also four Ryder Cup teams.

Awfully good, isn’t it?

Ford played in the era of Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Cary Middlecoff, Arnold Palmer, Julius Boros, Tommy Bolt, Gene Littler and others. All winners and tough competitors. It was back in the day when you sometimes needed to win or finish high just to make enough money to get to the next event, as Bolt told me before he died.

There were already several players in the Hall who were elected with fewer wins or majors (or both) than Ford: Tom Kite (18 wins, one major), Tommy Bolt (15 wins, one major), Bob Charles (18 wins, one major), Gene Littler (29 wins, one major) and Chi Chi Rodriguez (eight wins, no majors).

“It’s a travesty Doug’s not in,” Goalby said in recent years. “Evidently, he alienated some people.”

Probably so. Ford was known for his feisty personality. It’s part of what made him a great player. But now ruffled feathers don’t matter. The feisty Ford is in, a deserving and long overdue selection.

−The Armchair Golfer

8,300 Golfers from 67 Countries Enter 2011 U.S. Open

THE USGA REPORTED TODAY that 8,300 golfers have submitted entries for the 2011 U.S. Open Championship, which is returning to Congressional Country Club near Washington, D.C., where Ernie Els won the second of his two U.S. Open titles in 1997. The year’s second major will be played June 16-19.

All entrants are professionals or amateurs with a USGA Handicap Index no higher than 1.4. Sixty-five are fully exempt, including nine past champions: Graeme McDowell (2010), Angel Cabrera (2007), Michael Campbell (2005), Ernie Els (1994, 1997), Jim Furyk (2003), Lucas Glover (2009), Retief Goosen (2001, 2004), Geoff Ogilvy (2006) and Tiger Woods (2000, 2002, 2008).

Entries poured in from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 66 other countries. More than 700 applicants listed foreign addresses. The USGA accepted online entries for the first time. Amateur Herbie Aikens submitted the first entry on March 2. Hawaiian Kevin Hayashi barely beat the 5 p.m. EDT deadline, transmitting his entry with only 15 seconds to spare.

An 18-hole local qualifier will take place at 111 sites on May 6-19. A 36-hole sectional qualifier will follow at two international sites (May 23 in Japan and May 30 in England) and 11 U.S. sites on June 6.

The number of exemptions has increased. It includes the top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking, the top 10 money leaders on the 2011 PGA Tour and the top five money leaders on the 2011 European PGA Tour. (The cutoff date is May 23.) Other exemptions include the winner of the 2011 Players Championship and any multiple winner of official PGA Tour co-sponsored events between June 20, 2010, and June 12, 2011.

There will only be one winner. Any early predictions?

More info about the 2011 U.S. Open

−The Armchair Golfer

2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

THE 2011 ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL is underway at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida.

Purse: $6 million
Winner’s share: $1.08 million
Defending champion: Ernie Els


2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational Leaderboard


Inside the field
Inside the course
Tee times
Interviews
Tournament overview
Tournament news
Tour report
Live@ Arnold Palmer Invitational
Arnold Palmer Invitational website



TV SCHEDULE

TV coverage of the 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational is on Golf Channel and NBC.

Thu, 3/24:
GOLF 3p - 6p ET

Fri, 3/25:
GOLF 3p - 6p ET

Sat, 3/26:
NBC 2:30p - 6p ET

Sun, 3/27:
NBC 2:30p - 6p ET

SIRIUS-XM broadcast times

−The Armchair Golfer

2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

THE 2011 WGC-CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP is underway at TPC Blue Monster at Doral in Miami, Florida. A strong wind storm delayed first-round play, which will be completed on Friday. Hunter Mahan leads at 7 under par.


Purse: $8.5 million
Winner’s share: $1.4 million
Defending champion: Ernie Els

The field
The course
Tee times
Interviews
Tournament news
Shot Tracker
Video
Photo Gallery


2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship Leaderboard


TV SCHEDULE

TV coverage of the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship is on Golf Channel and NBC.

Fri, 3/10
GOLF 2pm – 6pm ET

Sat, 3/11
GOLF 2pm – 6pm ET

Sun, 3/12
NBC 3pm – 7pm ET

SIRIUS-XM broadcast times

−The Armchair Golfer

Golf Fix: 100th South African Open

IF YOU’RE A GOLF nut who can’t get enough golf on the tube, my tip is the 100th playing of the South African Open, this week’s event on the European Tour and Sunshine Tour. (The PGA and LPGA tours, of course, are idle. The Asian Tour is playing its season finale, the Black Mountain Masters, which is televised throughout Europe, Asia and Australia.)

Played at Durban Country Club, the South African Open field includes South African golf stars Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Tim Clark, Trevor Immelman and Louis Oosthizen, the current British Open champion. Thursday’s first round was delayed by heavy rain and will resume on Friday.

Dating back to 1903, the South African Open is one of the world’s oldest golf championships. (The oldest, of course, is the British Open, or The Open Championship, as non-Yanks call it.) Gary Player has won his homeland’s tournament 13 times. Player’s first victory came in 1956, the last in 1981. Fellow South African Bobby Locke won nine times from 1935 to 1955. Els has four South African Open titles. Goosen, Immelman and Clark have two wins apiece.

Els assessed his year and chance this week in his online diary.

“I came out of the blocks pretty fast and won twice in March during the Florida swing,” Ernie wrote, “but after the US Open my game went off the boil and it’s been a struggle to get things back on track. But, as I’ve said in my last few updates, during the last month or so there have been signs that the hard work I’ve put in has started to pay off. If I can roll the ball well on the greens this week, then I can finish the year on a high note and hopefully win my fifth national championship.”

2010 South African Open TV Schedule

All U.S. TV coverage is on Golf Channel.

Friday, 12/17
9:30 AM – 12:30 PM ET

Saturday, 12/18
9:30 AM – 12:30 PM ET

Sunday, 12/19
9:30 AM – 12:30 PM ET

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Harry Lime/Flickr)

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

Jim Furyk Snags PGA Player of the Year Award

CONGRATULATIONS TO JIM FURYK for winning the PGA Player of the Year, an award given by the PGA of America. Furyk earned 60 points under the PGA’s points system. Matt Kuchar and Steve Stricker each collected 50 points. Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson tallied 46 and 42 points, respectively.

Furyk ended a three-year drought when he won the Transitions Championship in March. That was just the beginning for the 40-year-old. He went on to capture the Verizon Heritage in April and the season-ending Tour Championship, making it his first three-win season in 18 years on the PGA Tour. He also won the FedEx Cup and its $10 million payoff. It was a career year for Furyk, and the player of the year award caps it off.

Kuchar won the Vardon Trophy, which is given to the player who has the lowest adjusted scoring average and has played a minimum of 60 rounds. Kuchar had a 69.61 scoring average. Stricker was a close second at 69.66.

In 2009, Tiger Woods won both the PGA Player of the Year Award and Vardon Trophy.

Ben Hogan won the inaugural PGA Player of the Year Award in 1948. Harry Cooper was the first recipient of the Vardon Trophy (named for British great Harry Vardon) in 1937.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Keith Allison/Flickr)

Oosthuizen Joins Venerable South African Open Champions

IT MUST BE SINKING in for Louis Oosthuizen. Not only is his name engraved on the Claret Jug along with golf’s greatest players, Louis has added himself to the esteemed list of Open champions from the Republic of South Africa.

They include Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Ernie Els and now the low-key, machine-like Oosthuizen.

(Photo: The great Bobby Locke.)

Between 1949 and 1957, Locke won four Open titles. Some of the old-time pros have told me that Locke was the greatest putter they ever saw. After playing exhibition matches with Locke, Sam Snead told the South African he ought to come to America. Sam said his peers ended up mad at him because Locke took Sam’s advice and not long after took home a lot of money from the States.

A nine-time major winner, Player won three Open Championships over a 15-year span. Gary could keep the ball low and was a short-game magician, including one of the greatest bunker players of all time.

Els won his Claret Jug in 2002 at Muirfield and couldn’t be prouder of Oosthuizen. Louis got a jump start in golf through Els’ foundation. Today Ernie wrote about the newest South African champion in his weekly diary:

I take great pleasure in congratulating Louis Oosthuizen on his fantastic victory. Honestly, it could not have happened to a better person. I played a practice round with him last Sunday and, typically for him, he didn’t give himself a chance. He is a quiet and unassuming guy, but he has shown everyone what a great champion he is.

In closing, Ernie added:

I’m so pleased for Louis and, as I said before, it couldn’t have happened to a better person. As Open Champion his life will change, but he won’t. He’s simply a wonderful kid and what he’s done will inspire so many young kids back home in South Africa.

As Mike of Ruthless Golf has been saying since springtime, here come the South Africans.

−The Armchair Golfer

Nightmare on Pebble Beach Drive

THE BEST THING FOR me about this year’s U.S. Open was that I got to watch most of the final round with my dad. We live on opposite coasts so I don’t see him all that often. He lives in California; I live in Virginia. I can’t recall the last time I spent Father’s Day with him. My brother and sister-in-law were also here on Sunday afternoon when we arrived after the two-hour car trip from LAX, making it even more special.

Before I ramble on, let me congratulate Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell for his U.S. Open victory. If you watched it, you know there were many others who had a legitimate chance to win the trophy. Yet McDowell survived the weekend better than the rest. His long game was pretty darn steady and he kept big numbers off his card. He grudgingly took a few bogeys on the difficult Pebble setup but kept grinding. It’s been a long time coming for Europe to have another U.S. Open champion, a full four decades since Englishman Tony Jacklin won at Hazeltine. This year’s trend of European winners on the PGA Tour continues: Ian Poulter, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood and now Graeme McDowell.

We officially set out on family vacation on late Saturday afternoon. We drove to Charlotte to spend the night since we had an early morning flight to L.A. Consequently, I missed much of the third-round coverage. I did watch some in the hotel room with the volume turned down and the lights off until my kids asked, “Dad, when are you going to turn off the TV?” (The glow of a TV screen in a dark hotel room can manage to distract tired kids.)

Early Sunday morning I picked up the Charlotte Observer at the airport and was both surprised and impressed by Dustin Johnson’s late spurt that propelled him to a 66 and three-shot lead. McDowell, too, was hanging tough, and Els, Mickelson and Woods were lurking. And there was that fellow named Gregory Havret, a Frenchman. Wasn’t he the guy who beat Lefty in a playoff? I wondered.

About five hours later we were in Southern California and on our way north to my parents’ house in Lancaster. I arrived just in time to see the leaders tee off. It became apparent early on the only movement on Sunday for all the leaders was backwards. Davis Love was one exception, shooting an even-par 71. No one else at the top of the leaderboard matched or bettered par. Ah, the final day at the U.S. Open.

So, except for one Graeme McDowell, Sunday at Pebble Beach was a nightmare in broad daylight, but mostly for Dustin Johnson who completely came undone on the opening nine. Johnson coughed up all of his lead on the 2nd hole and fell off the radar of serious contenders a few holes later, having self-inflicted too much psychological damage. As we watched, we asked ourselves, “How does a guy shoot 66 one day and 82 the next?” Of course, we knew the answer: U.S. Open pressure.

McDowell was just McDowelling along, nice and steady, hitting fairways and many of the greens, making pars. Ernie jumped into the lead and had as good a chance as anyone until a bad stretch at 9, 10 and 11 and too many putts that burnt the edge over the final holes. Phil was hanging around but made nothing on the greens. Tiger played another dismal front nine and his putting was what you would expect from his playing partner, Havret. For now, it’s certainly a different Tiger on Sunday at the majors. The putts aren’t falling. And it’s been that way for much of the last two years.

But how about Havret? A qualifier playing in his first U.S. Open, the Frenchman ranked 300-odd something in the world very nearly sneaked into a playoff. He performed admirably in the Tiger and U.S. Open vortex.

In the end, McDowell was the only man who could shoot even par in the U.S. Open. Just the way the USGA likes it. For everyone else who had a real chance to win, it was a nightmare on Pebble Beach Drive. And the memories may haunt them for a little or long while.

−The Armchair Golfer

Golf Pet Peeve: The Wannabe Golf Instructor

Robert Bruce of Game Under Repair has something he needs to get off his chest. Maybe you can relate.

By Robert Bruce
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

RIGHT OFF THE CLUB, you know it’s going to be a bad shot. The ball starts left, continues hooking left, and disappears into the thick woods 15 yards left of the fairway. You’re frustrated, maybe even a little pissed. This hook has been driving you crazy.

As you reach down to pick up your tee, you hear a voice behind you: “Know what you did wrong there, don’t you? Your stance is too narrow, and you’re not keeping your head down. And that grip of yours. Look at that grip.”

Meet The Wannabe Golf Instructor.

I think there are two unwritten rules in golf instruction: First, never give unsolicited advice. Second, never EVER give unsolicited advice to a better golfer. But The Wannabe Golf Instructor scoffs at such unwritten rules. The Wannabe Golf Instructor knows just enough about golf to make him dangerous.

His own golf swing has more flaws than Tim Tebow’s throwing motion, but he watches the Golf Channel religiously, making him the self-appointed mouthpiece of all things related to golf swing instruction. He’s a close relative to the The Golf Channel Guy. He has a library of Hank Haney, Butch Harmon, and David Leadbetter instructional videos. His swing is mechanical and slow. His scores suck. He putts like a bull in a china store. And, yeah, that probably doesn’t make much sense.

The Wannabe Golf Instructor has zero self-awareness. None. The Wannabe Golf Instructor offers unsolicited golf instruction at every opportunity. Even though he averages a 98, he will freely offer poor advice to a 10 handicap on the driving range. He will sit in the bar and analyze Ernie Els’ shoulder turn and Justin Leonard’s putting stroke.

You’ll nod your head and act like you’re listening. That is, until he tells breaks down your swing after that nasty hook on the 4th hole. Then, you might just have to tell The Wannabe Golf Instructor to shut up. Good luck with that.

Robert Bruce is a full-time writer and part-time golf blogger in Nashville, Tennessee. Visit his golf blog at www.gameunderrepair.com.

(Image: klavr/Flickr)

America the Birdieful: Rory McIlroy Romps at Quail Hollow

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a regular contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece is excerpted from his blog, Irish Golf Desk. 

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

RORY MCILROY ANSWERED HIS CRITICS in emphatic fashion when he closed with an incredible run of six successive threes to win the Quail Hollow Championship by four shots from Phil Mickelson—smashing the course record by two with a scintillating, bogey-free 10 under par 62 to secure his maiden PGA Tour victory in grandstand fashion on 15 under par.

The Holywood star, who does not turn 21 until Wednesday, became the youngest winner on the PGA Tour since world No. 1 Tiger Woods claimed the Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic at age 20 years, nine months and 20 days in 1996.

Flabbergasted that he had played the last 36 holes in 16 under par, McIlroy said: “I just got in a zone and didn’t realise that I was going eight, nine, 10 under. I just knew that I got my nose in front and I was just trying to stay there.”

Asked if he’d dreamt of such a day as a youngster, he said: “I did. Ever since I was 10 or 11 years old I wanted to be a professional golfer. It’s been a crazy run to up this point and I am just delighted to get here and get my first win in the US on a course like this is really special.”

As for his closing 62, which featured 12 threes, he said: “It’s ridiculous. I shot 61 around Portrush when I was 16 in the North of Ireland and it felt pretty similar today. I was just seeing my shots and hitting it and seeing the line of putts really well and everything was going in. It was one of those days where everything went right.”

Congratulated by Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Jim Furyk at the finish, McIlroy beamed: “I just said to Westwood: ‘That’s how you finish off a golf tournament! Padraig said, ‘That was some bit of stuff.’ I appreciate the guys that stayed around to see me in. It means a lot.”

Tied with the lead with Angel Cabrera heading down the stretch, McIlroy was six under for the day when he birdied the 14th to go two clear of a chasing pack that included the Argentinian and Masters champion Phil Mickelson. But the best was yet to come as he spectacularly eagled the par-five 15th to go three clear, birdied the 16th from four feet, lipped out with a 54-foot birdie try at the dangerous par three 17th and then capped a remarkable performance by draining a long bomb from 42 feet for a roof-raising birdie at the 18th.

Weekend Turnaround

Just three weeks after threatening to take time out to sort out his head after missing the cut at the Masters, McIlroy stormed home in 30 blows to underline just why players like Woods, Ernie Els and Geoff Ogilvy have hailed him as a world No. 1 in waiting.

After missing the cut in his last two starts, his season changed utterly on Friday when he eagled the par five seventh, his 16th, to make the cut on the one over par mark. After that he was off and running and no one could live with him.

He fired a six under par 66 on Saturday to scorch up the leaderboard and go into the final round just four strokes behind overnight leader Billy Mayfair on five under par. But in the final round he was simply unbeatable as he tore Quail Hollow to shreds with one of the greatest final round performances ever seen on the PGA Tour.

He birdied the fourth from 10 feet and then moved into top gear with a hat-trick of birdies from the seventh, surging to the top of the leaderboard alongside two-time major winner Angel Cabrera on nine under par. He failed to birdied the par-five 10th and Cabrera, who was playing in the group behind, took advantage there to edge a stroke clear. But McIlroy had the bit between his teeth and after a 142-yard wedge to three feet gave him a birdie at the 11th and a share of lead with the Argentinian, he found an even higher gear. After a par four at the 12th, he finished with an incredible run of six successive threes to complete a victory for the ages.

Cabrera missed a four foot birdie chance on the 11th and then fluffed a delicate chip at the 12th and bogeyed to leave McIlroy alone at the top. McIlroy then drove into the greenside bunker at the 284-yard, par four 14th, splashed out to ten feet and rolled in the putt with a clenched fist salute to go two clear of Cabrera, Brendan de Jonge, Bo Van Pelt and Mickelson on 11 under. His lead was reduced to just one shot moments later when Cabrera birdied the driveable 14th but McIlroy responded with one of the shots of the season at the par-five 15th. After a 325 yard drive, he rifled a 207-yard five iron at the pin and watched as the ball took the slope and rolled up to just three and a half feet, setting up a facile eagle three which put him three clear on 13 under. But there was more to come. At the 16th he drove into a fairway bunker but clipped a perfect 167-yard seven iron to four feet and rolled the putt home.

For a while it looked as though Harrington would set a formidable clubhouse target when he birdied the sixth, eagled the par-five seventh and then racked up three birdies on the trot at the 13th, 14th and 15th to get to eight under par. But the Dubliner, who was seven strokes behind Mayfair starting the day, failed to get up and down for par at the treacherous 16th and 17th, carding a 68 that eventually left him tied for seventh on six under par.

Harrington: ‘It’s a Big Deal’

Harrington was one fo the first to slap McIlroy on the back as he walked off the 18th. But as he waited to see if McIlroy could close the deal, Harrington said: “I think it means a lot for him. We can talk about European golf afterwards, but it’s a big deal for him to come over here and start winning over here.

“He wasn’t contending, wasn’t winning, and if he can get across the line it makes it a lot easier for him going forward, and I think it could make a big difference to his career.

“It’s a lot of pressure on him, a lot of focus on the home, and it’s putting him under enormous pressure to deliver, and obviously every week that he doesn’t deliver, it’s getting on him. But you know, if he can win here, it eases it all off.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

(Image: nsaplayer/Flickr)

Furyk Wins Plaid, Davis Wins Praise

2010 Verizon Heritage Recap
Winner: Jim Furyk
Score: 13 under, 271 (67, 68, 67, 69)
Quote: “I think my confidence level is obviously very high.”
Fact: Ranks 4th all time in career PGA Tour earnings.
Thought: Are the recent and soon-to-be 40-year-olds (Els, Mickelson, Furyk) taking over?

I SPENT PART OF SUNDAY afternoon (and evening since I watched the replay on Golf Channel because I didn’t see the last few holes) wondering about two things: 1) Is Jim Furyk going to win again so soon? 2) Who the heck is Brian Davis?

Let’s start with the latter. After the CBS crew explained that Davis had finished second on the PGA Tour three times, I felt as if I should know something about the Englishman. But it didn’t rattle anything loose in my brain. Turns out he finished 43rd on the PGA Tour money list in 2009 and has won twice on the European Tour. Maybe I should have noticed. It’s a reminder that there are a bunch of Brian Davises, top 100 players who are good enough to win on tour at any moment. One good week can change everything.

Furyk is a prime example. He ended a three-year win drought a month ago at the Transitions Championship, and now he has another. Home of the Verizon Heritage, Harbour Town Golf Links is old-school golf, not a long track by any means (under 7,000 yards, actually) but narrow, breezy, sandy and watery, perfect for the boring, down-the-middle, short-knocking style of golf Furyk plays. I’m impressed, not just because Furyk won again so soon but because he did it the week after missing the cut at the Masters with ugly rounds of 80 and 76. Talk about shaking it off. Just throw the clubs in the trunk and head to the next event. Tomorrow is always a new day. Furyk demonstrated perhaps the most important attribute in golf: a short memory.

Getting back to Davis, we now know something else about him. He called a penalty on himself on the first playoff hole, certainly a laudable thing to do. Davis suspected a loose impediment moved in the hazard on his back swing and immediately called over the PGA Tour’s Slugger White after the ball came to a stop on the far side of the green. When the situation was finally sorted out, Davis was assessed a two-stroke penalty and Furyk was the new owner of a plaid sport coat.

The self-called penalty seems to be the bigger story in the tournament’s aftermath, and I get that, sort of, since it came at such a highly visible, climactic moment. But wasn’t Davis just doing what most golfers would do under the circumstances? I hope so. And do there really need to be so many lofty commentaries about the integrity and honor of golf? We know this.

I like the quote I saw at ESPN Golf about Bobby Jones, who called a penalty on himself during a playoff in the 1925 U.S. Amateur. When he was praised afterwards, Jones said, “You may as well praise a man for not robbing a bank.”

So I say well played and well called, Brian Davis. And I say the same to you if you’ve ever called a penalty on yourself on the golf course, even if it didn’t cost you the club championship.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Keith Allison/Flickr)

Els on Masters Readiness: ‘Whole Package Is There’

ANYONE ELSE READY TO fit Ernie Els for a Green Jacket? He’s a popular pick this week after two impressive wins in Florida. When I first heard that Ernie had made a caddie change (from Ricci Roberts to Dan Quinn), I thought it was an April Fools’ joke. Then I learned more and it made sense.

I asked PGA Tour caddie Mark Huber what he thought about the change. “These guys have been off again on again throughout Ernie’s career,” Mark said in an email. “This was an arrangement agreed upon before the year and if I know Ricci he’s more than satisfied with the schedule. Augusta is the toughest walking major course and he would probably want to work Pebble and St. Andrews instead. Ricci will probably be at Augusta, but enjoying the nightlife instead of trudging the fairways.”

Ernie said in his weekly diary that Ricci and Dan are happy about it and so is he. “I've been to Augusta so many times that I don’t think anybody can tell me anything more about this golf course than I already know.”

The Big Easy also said he rolled down Magnolia Lane with more confidence and game.

“I honestly can’t wait to tee it up. This year I’m going in with a fair bit more confidence and momentum than I have had for a while. You know, I think the whole package is there. My mindset is a lot better. I’m hitting the ball well and the key thing is my short game and putting are both a lot sharper than they have been for a couple of years. Obviously that is the key ingredient to success at Augusta. You’ve got to chip and putt really well to compete here. I’m looking forward to it.”

This will be Ernie’s 17th start at the Masters, and there have been many Aprils that I thought he might break through. But he never has. It’s unfortunate, because I’ve always thought his game was tailor made for the place. Did you know Ernie hasn’t made a cut at Augusta since 2006?

Maybe this will be his year. Fingers crossed.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: scotchollie/Flickr)

Ernie Els Kicks Blue Monster Where It Hurts

2010 WGC-CA Championship Recap
Winner: Ernie Els
Score: 18 under, 270 (68, 66, 70, 66)
Quote: “I just felt different today.”
Fact: First name is Theodore.
Thought: Legit chance at Augusta if Ernie keeps his head straight.


ERNIE ELS CLOSED OUT a golf tournament on Sunday. His 66 in the final round of the WGC-CA Championship at Doral was statement golf. The Big Easy didn’t plunk one into the water on the 18th hole, nor did he back into a win. It was an impressive display from a talented player who has had his share of struggles.

“The wind was blowing and I hit solid shots,” Ernie said. “Charl [Schwartzel] came at me all day. I had to come up with the goods.”

The win vaults the tall South African from 20th to eighth in the world rankings as he sets his sights on Magnolia Lane and maybe, just maybe, a long-awaited Green Jacket. Yet Els will not swagger after putting up two 66s and an 18-under total at the feared Blue Monster.

“Two years ago when I won,” he said, “I got all carried away and thought I was going to win Augusta. This time, I just want to take it in.”

So, what does this win mean?

It means Ernie is still very competitive at age 40, his first win after reaching that milestone, and his first world golf championship title against an elite field—minus Tiger Woods, of course.

It means Ernie will head into Augusta National and Masters week with confidence. And confidence is huge. I heard Jason Gore talking about the “c” word just the other day on Golf Channel. Confidence is the intangible that Els and all players need to win a major—or any tournament.

There’s one other possibility. The win means basically nothing. It might only mean that Ernie put it all together for four rounds in Miami. My sense is that it’s something more than a great week against a great field. We’ll see if Theodore Ernest Els can build on his success over the next few weeks and the balance of the season.

–The Armchair Golfer