Golf 2014

[atisha]

jur ca n-am habar cine castiga la Masters... la cate surprize au fost anul asta. aproape ca as paria pe Jimenez.

[atisha]

Incalzire cu folos pentru starurile Europei in vederea Cupei Ryder: 5-0 dupa fourballs in meciul pentru Eurasia Cup... cu o echipa a Asiei cam incropita (aia de la Royal Trophy, din decembrie, era mult mai buna). Jimenez a jucat superb, ca un jefe ce este.

[miril]

La jumatatea turneului Valero Texas Open lupta stransa. Conduce Steven Bowditch -8 dupa un dubblu bogey la ultima cupa, urmat indeaproape de Chad Collins si Andrew Loupe cu -7, plus un grup de trei, Beckham, Perez si Summerhays cu -6. Dar stirea zilei este aceasta:

Mickelson makes Valero cut in dramatic fashion

http://www.pgatour.com/tourreport/20...exas-open.html

http://www.pgatour.com/content/dam/p...renCarroll.GIF

[miril]

Steven Bowditch won his first PGA TOUR title Sunday at the Valero Texas Open.

http://www.pgatour.com/content/dam/p...rencarroll.jpg

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/03/...exas-open.html

Intre timp, inca un mare favorit, incert pentru Masterul de la Augusta, Phil Mickelson.

[atisha]

urata ca naiba runda finala de la Valero... bine macar ca a fost stransa.

meciul Europa - Asia a fost minunat insa, superba revenirea asiaticilor la singles si scorul egal, 10-10, foarte corect.

[miril]

A cam batut vantul. La propriu si la figurat.

[miril]

Injured Tiger Woods ruled out of Masters after back surgery Alex Lowe The Times

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multim...ds_559780c.jpg

Tiger Woods will miss the Masters for the first time since he was in high school after undergoing surgery to correct a longstanding back injury. The world No 1 had been struggling with a pinched nerve for several months and doctors had warned him that he risked doing more damage if he continued to play through the pain.

Phil Mickelson is also an injury doubt for the Masters after withdrawing from the Texas Open last Saturday with a torn muscle in his right side. Jason Day (thumb), Bubba Watson (allergies) and Hunter Mahan (hip) are all uncertain of being fit to tee off at Augusta National in eight days’ time.

Woods, four times a Masters champion, withdrew from the Honda Classic in Florida last month with five holes remaining and suffered more back trouble a week later as he recorded a round of 78 at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, the worst final-round score of his professional career.

When Woods then pulled out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational two weeks ago, his participation in the Masters was clearly in doubt, and the surgery, performed in Utah on Monday, is set to keep him out of competitive action until the summer. The US Open is in June and the Open Championship, at Royal Liverpool, a month later.

“After attempting to get ready for the Masters, and failing to make the necessary progress, I decided to have this procedure done,” Woods said.

“It’s a week that’s very special to me. It also looks like I’ll be forced to miss several upcoming tournaments to focus on my rehabilitation.”

Woods underwent a microdiscectomy, a procedure to relieve the pressure and pain on the spinal nerves caused by a herniated disc.

He hopes to be chipping and putting in three weeks, but whether Woods is fit to compete at the US Open — which was the most recent of the 14 majors he has won, in 2008 — or at Royal Liverpool remains to be seen.

However, Woods insisted that he is still chasing Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major titles and Sam Snead’s 82 PGA titles. “It’s tough right now, but I’m absolutely optimistic about the future,” Woods, who has won 79 titles, said.

“There are a couple [of] records by two outstanding individuals and players that I hope one day to break. As I’ve said many times, Sam [Snead] and Jack [Nicklaus] reached their milestones over an entire career. I plan to have a lot of years left in mine.”

Woods won the last of his four Masters titles in 2005, since when he has recorded seven top-six finishes in eight appearances. Last year he finished fourth after being given a two-shot penalty for taking an incorrect drop.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/...cle4051412.ece

[miril]

Inca un favorit clacheaza pe final dupa un avans confortabil dupa primele trei runde:

Jones chips-in to win in Houston
Matt Jones got to chat with former President George H.W. Bush after his victory

http://www.pgatour.com/content/dam/p...7-Halleran.jpg

HUMBLE, Texas – Matt Jones called it.

He predicted a chip-in as he approached his ball, which sat in the rough right of the 18th green, on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff against Matt Kuchar at the Shell Houston Open.

“I walked up there and told my caddie I was going to chip it in,” Jones said. “My chipping has been pretty good for a while. … When I know what I have to do, I seem to be able to pull it off moreso. Especially playing golf with my friends, if I have to birdie to beat them, somehow I do it. It was nice to be able to do it on this stage.”

Jones wasn’t involved in some casual round, though. He was trying to beat one of the world’s best players to earn his first PGA TOUR victory. Jones’ 42-yard hole-out gave him that victory, and his first trip to the Masters. He also moved from 75th to 16th in the FedExCup standings.

The chip-in was Jones’ second consecutive unlikely birdie on the Golf Club of Houston’s difficult 18th hole. Jones closed regulation by making a 46-foot birdie putt.

“I was going to three-putt before I left it short,” he said. “I didn’t care about finishing second or third or fourth, it didn’t matter. I was only trying to get the win.”

Jones (66) and Kuchar (72) finished regulation at 15-under 273.

Jones narrowly missed his first Masters bid last fall, missing a 6-foot putt on the BMW Championship’s final hole that cost him a spot in the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola; the TOUR Championship’s 30 qualifiers all earn Masters invitations. Jones finished 32nd in last year’s FedExCup.

His two unlikely hole-outs on the last two holes of the last PGA TOUR event before the Masters earned him an invitation to Augusta.

“I was going home to play with my 2-year-old and 3-week-old,” Jones said of his pre-victory plans for Masters week. “So, bit of a change now that I think they’ll be on a plane to Augusta as well.”

CLOSE AGAIN: This was the second consecutive week that Kuchar was in the lead on the back nine Sunday and lost to a winless Australian.

Kuchar was tied for the lead with nine holes remaining in last week’s Valero Texas Open before being passed by Steven Bowditch. Kuchar led by one shot Sunday when he made the turn in 1-over 37. He still had a one-shot lead as he stood in the Golf Club of Houston’s 18th fairway. He pulled his 214-yard approach shot into water left of the green, though. He got up-and-down from 64 yards to save bogey and force a playoff.

“It’s smarter to bail out and give yourself a chance,” Kuchar said, “but I was looking to try to make 4 and win the tournament. Looking back, you can make par from the right bunker and not from the water. I tugged it a little too much.”

Kuchar hit the 18th fairway in the playoff, but hit his approach shot into a bunker right of the green. The tournament ended when Kuchar failed to hole his bunker shot.

Kuchar has finished fourth and second in his two appearances leading into the Masters. He also has finished in the top-10 in his previous two Masters appearances.

“I’m hoping to keep the train going,” he said.

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/04/...l-houston.html

[atisha]

al treilea australian care castiga in ultimele 4 saptamani in PGA Tour... si puteau fi foarte lesne patru daca Adam Scott facea o runda finala normala la Arnold Palmer Invitational acum 2 saptamani. Mai lipseste sa castige Jason Day la Augusta, in weekend.

[miril]

Golf cu intepaturi, dupa iguanele dorince de mingii de golf, a venit randul barzaunilor sa intre in actiune:



http://hotlinks.golf.com/2014/04/18/...aysia/?sct=hp1

[miril]

Hristos a inviat! Sarbatori de Paste fericite, prietenilor de pe "Golf"!

Happy Easter, Bubba Watson!

Unlikely hero David Walsh The Sunday Times

Bubba Watson will always do things his own way and it has led to him getting a bad press

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/...BA_698295k.jpg

You could spend a lot of time trying to figure out why Bubba Watson can hit the ball so far. The same amount of time could be devoted to working out whether he is, as he says, little old Bubba from Bagdad, Florida, or another spoilt athlete. Within the game, there are plenty who don’t warm to him.

Mild-mannered Brad Faxon tried to be diplomatic on Monday. “A peculiar guy and an interesting guy,” he said. “He has some growing up to do, how he handles some situations. Don’t we all?” There have been occasions in tournaments when Watson’s frustration led him to spit venom at his caddie Ted Scott, as he did at last year’s Traveler’s Championship. Leading the tournament on the final day, he put a tee shot on the par-three 16th in the water, then his third over the green. “So you’re telling me that’s the right yardage,” he said to Scott, each word laden with contempt.

Such was the spitefulness that CBS commentator David Feherty spoke for everyone in the game when he said: “Wait a minute, hey, you hit it bud.” There have been other times when Watson blames the crowd. After a bad shot his hearing becomes Montgomerie-esque, and he has a touch of that old Colin Montgomerie tendency to see a bad shot as someone else’s fault.

Watson speaks often of his Christian beliefs but then offends many when pointing to a passage in the bible that says homosexuality is wrong and sinful. In 2011, he came to Europe to play the French Open and didn’t know how to pronounce the Louvre, instead calling it “the building starting with an ‘L’.” The Eiffel Tower became “that big tower” and to read reports at the time you would have thought him the ugliest American to ever cross the Atlantic. He’s not. And though there are faults, there is much to like.

One answer from his victory press conference at Augusta last week transcended all. He was quizzed about his tendency to get emotional at big moments in his career, though the question came with less sensitivity than you might imagine: “Obviously there were tears after the first one [2012 Masters] and there’s tears after the second one. Are you going to cry every time you win this thing?” Watson began by explaining that he cried the day he earned his PGA Tour card because it had been his dream to play on the Tour. “Winning the Green Jacket is a little bit bigger deal. So, yeah, I’m going to cry, because why me? Why Bubba Watson from Bagdad, Florida? Why is he winning? So I just always ask the question, ‘Why, why me?’ That’s why I’m always going to cry. I’ll probably cry again tonight, just thinking about it.”

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/...OT_699644a.jpg

This is the era of entitlement in elite sport. We put them on a pedestal and because they work hard they feel entitled to the wealth, the fame and the privilege. When it goes wrong and questions are asked, they can’t understand why this is happening to them. “Why me?” is a common question in the locker room of elite sport but rarely in the sense Watson meant.

Looked at more closely, his bad moments weren’t quite what they seemed. The camera caught him turning on Scott at the drop zone of the 16th in the Traveler’s Championship but didn’t catch their exchange on the 17th tee. “Teddy was like, ‘I’m so sorry’. I was like, ‘Teddy, we can birdie the last two holes and win this thing’.” Scott is an admirer, and not just of the golfer. “A lot of people misunderstand Bubba. He’s just different. A lot of times people take that the wrong way but I love that about Bubba. That he’s such a caring person. That’s why I like working for him.”

There are plenty of reasons for giving Watson a break. It’s hard to dislike a man who, on being told by Angie Ball on their first date that she could never have a child, said: “That’s not a problem for me,” and meant it.They adopted their first child two years ago.

It was interesting, too, to hear him explain why after dropping out of his degree course at the University of Georgia he returned years later to complete it. “I got tired of going to schools, telling kids how important their education was when I hadn’t finished college,” he said.

Accepting him for who he is, you can love all the more the way he plays. After eight years on the bag, Scott has seen most of the shots. “Freak show. I mean I can’t describe it any other way. I played golf with him 40, 50 times. And we have been together that long and every single day I play with him or watch him play, I go, ‘How do you do that?’ ”

The right side of the 13th at Augusta is always densely po****ted and when Watson’s drive came over the trees on Sunday, slicing 80 yards off the corner, it came to land in a place that left everyone shaking their heads in wonder. Some say it clipped a tree on its way but where it landed was well clear of the trees and further down than anyone had ever seen.

A 507-yard par five reduced to a drive and sand wedge. That drive set up the birdie that gave him a three-shot lead.

Watson could become one of the game’s great players but says he has no wish to be. “I’m not trying to play golf for everyone to tell I’m one of the greats of the game. I’m just trying to keep my card every year.”

More and more, the best players use the same teachers and their swings become ever more alike. Bubba Watson taught himself a swing that no self-respecting teacher would have allowed and he’s now got two majors. Leaving Augusta, the nicest thought was that we will get to see a lot more of his golf.

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/...cle1401621.ece

[miril]

In sfarsit, Kuuuuch, dupa o lovitura magistrala, din bunker, la ultima cupa, devansandu-l pe Luke Donald, ambii fiind protagonisti principali la RBC Heritage.

Kuchar turns another heartbreak into ecstasy at Harbour Townhttp://www.pgatour.com/content/dam/p...eeterLecka.jpg

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Just when it looked like Matt Kuchar might blow another Sunday lead, he finally closed one out in style, holing a bunker shot for birdie on the 18th hole to cap a 64 and what turned out to be a one-stroke victory at the RBC Heritage.

"I told my caddie before that last shot, 'I'm about due to make one of these,’" Kuchar said."I knew it was at least an easy par. Bunker game is good. No problem.

"I went up and took a good read, knew it would release and break right to left, played it just right of the hole, watched it roll. I heard the crowd go crazy when the thing disappeared. I went crazy myself. It was just an incredible feeling."

And an incredible ending, especially considering a few minutes earlier Kuchar inexplicably three-putted from four feet for bogey on the par-3 17th.

Instead of his extending his lead, Kuchar, who had started the day four back of Luke Donald but passed him with a front-nine 30, dropped into a tie with the Englishman.

“A little bit of shock,” Kuchar said of his reaction to the bogey."But I think I do a really good job of shaking things off.”

That’s an understatement.

In each of his previous three starts, Kuchar had at least a piece of the lead in the final round, including two weeks ago in Houston, where he squandered a four-shot advantage on the last day and hit his approach shot into the water on the 72nd hole before losing in playoff when Matt Jones chipped in for birdie.

This time, Kuchar was on the other end.

Donald, who began the day with a two-stroke lead over John Huh and was four groups behind Kuchar, was on the 15th green when he heard the roar from Kuchar’s chip-in.

"I probably should have backed off that putt, because I did hear it, " said Donald, who has finished in the top three at Harbour Town five of the last six years."Someone told me he holed out from the front bunker.

"I knew what I had to do. On 17 when I hit the tee shot, I was one back and I needed to birdie my last two."

Instead, he managed only par, including on 18, where his approach to the difficult closing hole came up short of the green and his birdie chip slid past the hole.

"Disappointing, obviously, not to have won, " said Donald, who finished with a 69."Usually a solid 69 on a windy day with a two-shot lead is usually enough to get it done on Sundays."

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/04/...ritage-64.html

[miril]

Noh si-a pastrat cumpatul si a castigat.

Noh shows veteran calm under pressure

http://www.pgatour.com/content/dam/p...die-Sunday.JPG
Seung-Yul Noh and caddie Scott Sajtinac had plenty to smile about on Sunday at TPC Louisiana. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR)

ZURICH CLASSIC: Results, points | Photos | Event video | Koepka's membership | FedExCup standings


AVONDALE, La. – Everyone on the leaderboard at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans showed some Sunday nerves except the guy who walked away with the trophy.

Seung-Yul Noh earned his first PGA TOUR win Sunday at TPC Louisiana by playing a round of golf that made him look more like a 10-year veteran than a 22-year-old ranked No. 176 in the world.

“He was unflappable,” said caddie Scott Sajtinac, who is in his first week working with Noh. “He was calm 100 percent today. Even to the point where he laughed a little bit. I hadn’t seen him laugh the whole week.”

Noh played in the final group with Keegan Bradley, who started the day two off the lead, but finished in a tie for eighth after a final-round 75. When asked Saturday about the pairing with Bradley, Noh joked that it was “no problem.” After all, his friend Sang-Moon Bae was paired with Bradley in the final group at last year’s HP Byron Nelson Championship and Bae got the job done and claimed his first PGA TOUR win.

Noh followed suit on Sunday, moving to No. 16 in FedExCup points and earning a spot in THE PLAYERS Championship, the PGA Championship and next year’s Masters.

“The whole last season was very good experience for my game, especially mental,” said Noh, referring to the struggles he went through in 2013, when he finished the season No. 160 in the FedExCup race. He had to regain his card at the Web.com Tour finals. “My mental game is stronger (after last season). So I’m never nervous.”

After the win Sunday, TOUR players Charlie Wi and Y.E. Yang ran out on the 18th green to celebrate their friend’s win with a beer shower. Yang was scheduled to take a 6:30 p.m. flight, but came back to celebrate with Noh.

“I know he struggled last year, but for him to bounce back this year, that’s what golf is all about,” Wi said. “I thought his demeanor today was awesome. I would have been rattled and nervous, but he sure didn’t look that way.”

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/04/...ns-zurich.html

[miril]

J.B. Holmes, o victorie miraculoasa, o victorie pe terenul de golf dar mai ales impotriva suferintei.

Holmes' recovery now complete Helen Ross

http://www.pgatour.com/content/dam/p...847-Upshot.jpg
J.B. Holmes has fully recovered from multiple surgeries and is now a TOUR winner again. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)


CHARLOTTE -- That piece of his skull doctors removed in 2011? Well, it's stashed on a shelf in a closet in J.B. Holmes' Orlando home.

But that big silver trophy he earned for winning the Wells Fargo Championship -- the one that signifies the completion of his comeback from two brain surgeries, one broken ankle and an elbow surgery, to boot -- is sure to get much more prominent display.

Holmes took a one-shot lead into the final round and had lengthened it to three late Sunday afternoon with Quail Hollow's toughest stretch standing between him and victory. Turns out, he needed all of that as he played "The Green Mile," too, where a two-putt bogey from 45 feet at the 18th hole ended up sealing a 71 and a one-stroke win.

"Nobody is comfortable on those last three holes," Holmes said.

Jim Furyk was watching in the locker room after posting a 65, the day's low, which put him in the clubhouse at 13 under nearly two hours earlier.

"I know he was probably dying a million deaths out there but he sucked it up and made a good two-putt," said Furyk, who won the Wells Fargo Championship in 2006. "(He) made that last putt with authority and knocked it right in the middle."

The victory was the third of Holmes' career and the 500 FedExCup points he earned moved him from 83rd to No. 18 in the standings. After starting the season on a major medical extension, Holmes has job security now through the end of the 2015-16 season.

In retrospect, Holmes calls the roller-blading accident last March a "blessing in disguise." He went nearly five months without hitting balls and got to recharge his batteries even more than he had two years earlier while recuperating from brain surgery to repair the Chiari malformation that push part of his brain into the spinal canal.

He basically had to have the same surgery twice since the adhesive the doctors originally used caused an allergic reaction. They had to go back in and stitch him up, but at least the vertigo and throbbing headaches would be gone.

Small wonder, then, the Wells Fargo Championship felt so good.

"It's been a long road," Holmes said. "It's nice to get in the winner's circle again and my game is in a good spot, and I worked really hard on it on the offseason last year -- the whole year was my offseason, I guess -- but it's nice to have that hard work pay off."

Holmes now heads to THE PLAYERS Championship with considerable momentum. He's played in the PGA TOUR's showcase event seven times and finished 16th or better on four occasions, including a tie for sixth in 2011.

Holmes needed just eight FedExCup points to get make the field -- and ended up with 492 to spare.

"I really like that tournament, I like the golf course, so it's nice," he said. "I get to go home for a day and I can drive up; it's not too far from the house. It's a good week. I enjoy going there and the TOUR does a great job.

"It's a great golf course, just ... a little different than this last three holes but exciting finishing holes there, too."

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/05/...lls-fargo.html

[miril]

Felicitari mirelui si miresei, casa de piatra si un teren de golf bine ingrijit unde sa se joace copiii!

Miguel Angel Jimenez and Susanna Styblo get married at Miguel Angel Jimenez Golf Club on May 3, 2014 in Torremolinos, Spain.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...AIN_MAY_03.JPG

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/ma-...tyblo/#slide-1

[miril]

Tiger ramane pe pozitie in ciuda absentei dar si neputintei lui Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Bubba Watson si Matt Kuchar de a-l detroniza macar pentru o scurta perioada. Pe aceeasi pozitie, locul unu, a revenit si un fost Number One, Martin Kaymer, castigatorul lui The Players, dupa o disputa mai mult decat palpitanta de-a lungul celor patru zile de concurs si unde neamtul a condus cu exceptia a cateva...gauri, in mijlocul rundei a patra, de la cap la coada dar competita pentru primul loc a fost acerba, mai intai Jordan Spieth si in final Jim Furik amentintandu-i suprematia.

Kaymer's journey comes full circle at THE PLAYERS

http://www.pgatour.com/content/dam/p...-kevinccox.jpg

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- What does it take to play the kind of golf to be a major champion at age 26, become the second-youngest player to reach No. 1 in the world and now, three years later, winner of the PGA TOUR’s flagship event, THE PLAYERS Championship?

In Martin Kaymer’s case, blood.

“Extremely hard,” Kaymer’s caddie Craig Connelly said when asked how hard his boss worked to get to where he was standing Sunday night. “His hands can bleed. He’s always on the range when he’s away from tournament play. The calluses can open up.

“You don’t get to No. 1 in the world for no reason, and I think he appreciates the good things a little more now. He’s a brand new Martin. He’s obviously a much-improved golfer, but the mindset is the old Martin.”

Kaymer is also a winner again, ending a two-year drought after a wild 1-under 71 at TPC Sawgrass, where he held on for a one-shot victory over Jim Furyk.

“The belief is always there,” said Kaymer, who, after reaching the top of the Official World Golf Ranking in early 2011, held onto that position for just eight weeks before eventually plummeting outside the top 60. “I knew that I could win a golf tournament again.”

Like the first big victory in his career, he had to sweat this one out as well.

After a double-bogey 6 on the 15th hole following a lengthy weather delay, Kaymer’s lead went from three strokes to just one.

Two holes later, he survived another scare when his tee shot to the island green par 3 took an unexpected bounce sideways and nearly spun into the water. Chipping from the other side of the green, his ball stopped 30 feet short before he poured in the lengthy, bending par putt.

The 18th was far less dramatic for Kaymer, who had just over 3 feet for par. It stirred memories of his winning putt to beat Steve Stricker and clinch the Ryder Cup for Europe at Medinah two years ago. This celebration was different, but no less fulfilling.

“A lot of satisfaction,” said Kaymer, who ended the week at 13-under 275. “(My caddie and I) worked so hard and we went through up-and-downs the last two years. It's very tough because as an athlete you always want it now, but in golf you just cannot force it.”

It just took Kaymer a while to figure that out. Success wasn’t as easy as he sometimes made it look, which is a trademark of German engineering. It only goes so far in golf, though.

Four years ago, Kaymer holed a putt to force a playoff at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits that he would eventually win. Six months later, he was the top-ranked player on the planet.

“He became everything at age 26,” said Bernhard Langer. “That’s not easily done.”

Staying there proved even tougher.

Kaymer tried to change his swing because he could only hit a fade. Soon the results disappeared, too. A feel player by nature, he became too mechanical and lost his way.

He also struggled with his newfound celebrity status and the demands that go with being a major champion and No. 1 in the world, a position he was admittedly unequipped to handle.

Before Sunday’s victory, Kaymer hadn’t won anywhere in the word since late 2012 and by then was outside the top 30 and soon the top 40 and 50. He came into this week ranked 61st in the world.

But his game had started to come around in recent months after spending time with longtime swing coach Gunter Kessler in Phoenix and then again in Germany. He also played a couple of practice rounds with Langer at this year’s Masters. “We’ve had lots of talks,” Langer said. “Most of it was very positive.”

So, too, was Kaymer’s outlook, even when everything around him seemed to be collapsing -- whether it was Sunday at TPC Sawgrass or during the journey back to being able to beat the deepest field in golf.

“The mindset was fine,” he said of his near-collapse at THE PLAYERS. “I was not very nervous. I didn't think that I would screw up anything here.”

The only time Kaymer almost lost his composure and was nearly reduced to tears Sunday was when he talked about his mother, Rina, who died of skin cancer six years ago.

Stitched into his bag is a sunflower; her favorite flower. His brother, Phillip, also sent him a text that he described as “very emotional.”

“To win on Mother's Day ... we show our parents way too little,” Kaymer said. “We always need some occasions to show them, which is what you realize when they're not there anymore. So to win on those days, it adds a little bit of a nice thing to the whole week.

“I think about her every day. I don't need a Mother's Day.”

Sunday belonged to Kaymer.

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/05/...er-column.html

[atisha]

nu credeam sa cedeze Spieth cum a facut-o... dar deh, tanar inca.

frumos turneu, merituos invingator. par-ul ala la 17 e de antologie.

[miril]

Excelentul joc in ultimele doua runde i-a adus outsider-ului Brendon Todd prima victorie in PGA Tour.

Creativity lifts Todd to first title

http://www.pgatour.com/content/dam/p...Pennington.jpg
Brendon Todd was nothing short of spectacular around the greens Sunday at TPC Four Seasons. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)


IRVING, Texas -- He holed out from a greenside bunker Sunday. Then hit a chip left-handed -- and with the back of his club -- to save par. Oh, and he led the field in scrambling all week.

"I have a great short game," Brendon Todd said, "and even I'll say it was special this week."

Indeed, it was special for 72 holes at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, special enough to allow Todd to enjoy the moment while walking up the 18th green Sunday at the TPC Four Seasons Resort, knowing he was safely on the green with a two-shot lead and about to claim his first PGA TOUR win.

He fought back the emotions. Relief. Excitement. Joy. "Joyful tears," said Todd, thinking back to the last few years he bounced back-and-forth between the TOUR and the Web.com Tour.

On a crowded Sunday leaderboard that had a potpourri of past major winners, established stars and guys looking to break through, Todd seized the opportunity and never flinched. He posted the only bogey-free round among the contenders, and he made the biggest shots.

With Mike Weir making an early charge two groups in front of him, Todd holed out from the bunker for birdie at the par-3 second. At the fifth, he rolled in a birdie putt inside 14 feet. At the ninth, he stuck his approach inside 6 feet.

And then at the par-4 13th, he got creative. After his tee shot landed 12 inches from a tree, giving him no chance to hit right-handed, Todd took a 4-iron and went southpaw. He didn't even flip the club over, instead using the back of it. His chip from 65 feet finished inside 8 feet. He buried the par putt.

It was his time.

"My brother-in-law is left-handed," Todd said when asked how he came up with the shot. "I putted with his left-handed putter before and I'm pretty good at it. So I tried to use that stroke."

If there was any doubt on whether he could slam the door, Todd delivered his final statement at the 17th, drilling a par putt from 13 feet, 9 inches. That gave him breathing room and a chance to enjoy the moment.

As most golfers on TOUR, he's had his share of wins -- junior golf, college events, etc. He's even won twice on the Web.com Tour, five years apart and was the medalist at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament in 2011. All that success helped him deal with the pressure of being in contention on the back-nine Sunday on the PGA TOUR.

"I drew on those experiences and none of them were as nerve-wracking as this one," he said. "I couldn't explain how I felt on the back nine today."

No explanation needed. He let his short game do the talking.

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/05/...on-nelson.html

[miril]

Adam Scott invingator la Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial dupa meci de departajare cu Jason Dufner.

Monday Finish: Being Scott is as good as it gets

http://www.pgatour.com/content/dam/p...tthalleran.jpg
Adam Scott, the world's No. 1-ranked player, defeated Jason Dufner in a playoff at Colonial. (Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

My memory isn’t great, but I think there’s a famous Oscar Wilde line that says something to the effect of how you should “be yourself” because “Adam Scott is already taken.”

Unless there is a decaying, Dorian Gray-like painting sitting in Scott’s attic (which is really the only explanation for his unfairly enjoyable life at this point), I don’t even think Wilde could find many downsides to living the life of our current World No. 1.

Of course, he keeps fans and media at arm’s length and maintains an ultra-private lifestyle, but here’s what we do know:

His golf swing looks like this.

His biceps are almost too big to fit in a Green Jacket (almost).

His wife, whom he married at a secret wedding in the Bahamas a few weeks ago, is a gorgeous architect.

He plays the guitar. He goes on surfing trips with Kelly Slater. Perhaps most puzzling is the fact that he’s just as genuinely nice in person as you always hope superstars will be.

In other words, being Adam Scott right now is just as good as it seems.

For nearly 15 years, Scott’s life has been full of the distractions that make themselves readily available to young stars. But he’s not only survived, he’s come out as the balanced, experienced player (and person) that other players try to emulate.

The proof of his few mistakes is there; just read his quotes about the complacency that came with winning THE PLAYERS at age 23. Since then, he’s dealt with very public and private heartbreak, a split from instructor Butch Harmon, a stretch in 2008 when he slipped all the way to No. 76 in the world, a four-bogeys-in-a-row The Open Championship meltdown, an anchoring ban witch hunt, an overly quotable caddie and anything else that Scott kept to himself.

But is any of that what you saw Sunday at Colonial? Not a chance. Scott seemed entirely comfortable with the moment and his new job title, World No. 1.

On his opening nine holes this week (4-over 39), Scott looked like someone in over his head. On Sunday’s back nine (and in the playoff), he looked like the best player in the world. He looked like someone capable of going on a tear this summer, particularly with all of his low, running Pinehursty and Hoy Lakey irons off the tees.

He looked like someone you’d like to trade places with.

“I enjoyed Monday night and celebrating (becoming No. 1) with close friends, but you've got to do that ... otherwise everything becomes very monotonous,” Scott said in his pre-tournament press conference. “Nothing’s great, nothing’s bad. You can't feel like that. You have to go through the highs and the lows.”

The lows he’s covered. The highs could just be getting started.

http://www.pgatour.com/monday-finish...-colonial.html

[miril]

Invingator mai mult decat meritat, Hideki Matsuyama, la "The Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance", dupa un final electrizant cu schimbari de lider de la o cupa la alta incepand cu cupa 14 si cu invingatorul decis in meci in doi cu Kevin Na in prelungiri, ultimul reusind o runda finala excelenta de 64. Din pacate, preferatul meu, Bubba Watson, lider pana la cupa 14, s-a transformat din hero in zero dupa mai multe greseli pe "Back nine", cea fatala fiind pe cupa 15 unde a reusit un "out of bounds", desi in zille precedente facuse doi "eagle" si un "birdie".

Matsuyama clutch in breakthrough

http://www.pgatour.com/content/dam/p...7-Nicklaus.jpg
Hideki Matsuyama, left, gets congratulated by tournament host Jack Nicklaus after his maiden TOUR triumph. (Lyons/Getty Images)

Just when it looked like Hideki Matsuyama might miss out on his first career victory on the PGA TOUR, the 22-year-old birdied the 18th hole at Muirfield Village for a fourth straight day to shoot a 3-under 69. He then beat Kevin Na on the first hole of sudden death to claim the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance and move to 14th in the FedExCup standings.

Na, who finished off a 64 nearly two hours earlier, pulled his tee shot left on 18 in the playoff and watched it bounce into a creek.

Matsuyama, playing without a driver after the head snapped off when he gently slammed it to the ground following his tee shot on the 72nd hole, drove into a bunker and missed the green left. But he got up-and-down from the rough, flopping his third shot to 10 feet before sinking the par putt for the win.

“I’m really, really happy,” Matsuyama said through his interpreter. “It’s a dream come true to win at Mr. Nicklaus’ course.”

With the win, Matsuyama became the first player to win the Memorial in his debut since the first year of the event in 1976. Though it was his first Memorial, it wasn't the first time the Japanese phenom had seen the host venue.

Last year, Matsuyama teamed with Adam Scott there for the International Team at The Presidents Cup.

“It had a great effect on how I played this week,” Matsuyama said of the time he spent with Scott last fall. “I owe a lot to him.”

Scott helped him again Sunday, hitting his tee shot on the par-3 12th into the water and making double bogey to drop out of a share of the lead.

The world No. 1 also bogeyed the 14th, 15th and 16th on his way to a 71 to tie for fourth.

As for Matsuyama’s driver, he could have replaced it for the playoff if he wanted. Only he didn’t have a spare one in his locker.

“I was really shocked, because I really didn't hit it that hard,” he said. “And I did okay with the 3-wood, so.”

NA’S CONSOLATION: The only consolation for Na? His runner-up finish moved him high enough in the Official World Golf Ranking that he’s now exempt for the U.S. Open. He was planning to play a 36-hole qualifier on Monday.

“That’s a big step, obviously,” he said. “I’m playing well, so obviously I'm having a good year. Hopefully I'll get a W soon.”

As for Pinehurst?

“I think it’s a good golf course for me,” Na said. “It requires a lot of good short game, good chipping around the shaved areas. And I love chipping around the tight lies so I'm looking forward to it.”

WHERE IT WENT WRONG FOR WATSON: Bubba Watson began the day with a one-shot lead and still appeared to be headed toward his third win of the season until a bogey on the 14th hole and a double bogey on the next after hitting his tee shot out of bounds.

“I made one bad decision,” Watson said of his tee shot on 15. “If I hit the 4-wood off the tee instead of the driver on the par 5, we make five and we win by one. But I made a double, so we lost by one.”

A victory would have been Watson’s third of the year -- one better than he has ever had in one season on the PGA TOUR.

Instead, he settled for third -- his best finish at the Memorial Tournament by 20 spots.

“It’s about getting better at the game of golf,” Watson said. “And earlier this year I haven’t played good; I love LA, but I haven’t played good there, and then somehow I won there. And here, I haven’t played good here, but I competed this week and had a chance to win. Obviously it shows my all-around game is getting better, getting more consistent.”

http://www.pgatour.com/the-upshot/20...l-playoff.html

Watson's wayward drive at 15 costs him dearly

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/06/...im-dearly.html

[Dorin]

Nordea Masters, cel mai important turneu European Tour din Suedia s-a desfasurat in weekend-ul trecut si eu m-am scaldat in lumea celebritatilor din golf. Cateva exemple: selfie cu Jimenez, in verde Stensson , in negru Dubuisson. Invingator surpriza tailandezul Jaidee dupa play off cu Dubuisson. Stenson in pozitia a cincea dupa ce a ratat surprinzator pe ultima gaura unde avusese birdie trei zile la rand...