Golf Capsules: Potential picks not making Pavin's job easier
NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Too bad Ryder Cup eligibility is based on passports instead of property taxes. There still might be hope for Paul Casey, who has been living in Arizona for most of his adult life.
Ditto for Justin Rose, who makes his home in Florida.
Alas, those English-born stars were left off the European team when Colin Montgomerie had five worthy candidates as captain's picks and could only take three. Montgomerie famously referred to his dilemma as an "embarrassment of riches."
For U.S. captain Corey Pavin, there's more emphasis on "embarrassment" than "riches" at the moment.
Some people thought Pavin was lucky he didn't have to announce his picks the day after the PGA Championship, instead having three additional tournaments to allow players to state their case.
It isn't getting much clearer.
Arjun Atwal won the Wyndham Championship at Greensboro. He was born and raised in India and now lives in Isleworth, making him eligible for the Tavistock Cup, but not the Ryder Cup. Turns out Atwal wasn't even eligible for the FedEx Cup.
Then came The Barclays, where the only Ryder Cup chatter was the coincidence of a Scot — Martin Laird — leading the tournament. The winner turned out to be Matt Kuchar, who already is on the team.
The Deutsche Bank Championship, which starts Friday on the TPC Boston, could go a long way toward helping Pavin figure out his picks. Pavin will make the announcement a week from Tuesday at the New York Stock Exchange.
It's looking very much like a bear market at the moment.
Tiger Woods figures to be a lock to make the team, for no other reason than he wants to play. And it helps that Woods took a significant step last week toward at least starting to resemble the world's No. 1 player. Woods spent his final few minutes at Ridgewood cleaning out his locker and going over the possibilities of Pavin's picks.
Like everyone else, he didn't come to much of a conclusion.
Anthony Kim, the catalyst of the U.S. victory at Valhalla in 2008, won the Houston Open and was third at the Masters. Then he had thumb surgery, sat out for three months, and has made only one cut since his return — at Firestone, which has no cut. He is all but forgotten now, although a good week at the TPC Boston might put him back on the radar screen. The Ryder Cup does not start until Oct. 1.
Most players believe Zach Johnson is the logical pick behind Woods. The former Masters champion has a splendid short game and won at Colonial, then finished one shot out of the playoff at the PGA Championship.
The rest of them?
Former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover had a chance to make the team until he missed the cut at the PGA Championship. He had a chance to show he was worth picking at Greensboro when he took the lead in the final round, only to shoot 38 on the back nine.
Stewart Cink, a British Open champion and steady influence in the Ryder Cup, struggled badly with scoring earlier in the year. His game is rounding into form, but he still has only three top 10s this year.
Rickie Fowler? Really? On a U.S. team that already has four Ryder Cup rookies, does Pavin take a 21-year-old who has never won a tournament? Fowler had a chance to win the Phoenix Open when he opted to lay up on a par 5 instead of hitting 4-iron, and he failed to hold a three-shot lead at the Memorial, hitting into the water on the 12th hole. This is not passing judgment. These are facts.
Nick Watney could have earned a spot at the PGA Championship, where he had a three-shot lead going into the final round. He shot 81. Watney has two top 10s in the majors, but he has not won. Sean O'Hair is more than capable, but he hasn't won this year, either, and hasn't come particularly close.
Ben Crane won in San Diego and is a great putter. He has never played on a Ryder Cup team.
Can anyone find two players who stand out above the rest? Can anyone find two players who stand out at all?
The Americans were in about the same place two years ago. Paul Azinger had his eight players, and while Steve Stricker was a logical pick, no one else had really distinguished himself. Turns out it wasn't entirely up to Azinger, anyway. He revealed later that he let his three "pods" pick their fourth player.
This time, it's up to Pavin. He is looking more for a team of 12 than 12 players on a team.
"Whoever I choose is not a bad reflection on them if I don't pick them," Pavin said the day after the PGA Championship. "It's not a slap in the face. It's just who I think is going to make for the best team."
Pavin invited 21 top players from the Ryder Cup standings to a barbecue during the PGA Championship, and said everyone there would get a phone call with either good news or bad news.
"I told them they all are deserving, and the hardest thing for me is to pick four and leave some guys off the team," Pavin said. "I felt everyone in that room deserved to be on the team."
That may be true.
But unless something changes drastically this week, no one will have much room to complain if they don't get picked.
Doug Ferguson covers golf for The Associated Press.
After long wait, Charlotte gets PGA Championship
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue remembers sitting with Johnny Harris in 1993 as the Quail Hollow Club president gushed about his ambitious plans.
"He said, 'Bev, we're going to make us a prize. We're bringing in a great golf designer and we're going to change this course,'" Perdue recalled. "He said, 'We're going to have us an international tournament here.'"
Two redesigns and 17 years later, Perdue sat next to Harris on the same stage Tuesday with PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka, who announced the 2017 PGA Championship will be played at the old-style, private course.
"Charlotte deserves this," Steranka said. "Quail Hollow deserves it."
It will mark the third time the PGA will be in North Carolina, and the first for the state's largest city. The event will draw about 50,000 a people a day, millions of television viewers worldwide and tens of millions of dollars in economic impact.
No wonder Harris was smiling at an event that included numerous state dignitaries, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson and Charlotte Bobcats president Fred Whitfield.
"We wanted to have a golf course that could host a major championship," said Harris, a real estate developer and member of Augusta National. "Everything we've done has been done to improve the experience of players and patrons."
The PGA of America was drawn to Quail Hollow after watching its success as one of the top non-majors since its return to the PGA Tour in 2003. It came after famed designer Tom Fazio made major renovations to the course starting in the late 1990s which added length and new greens, but kept much of the natural landscape.
"Their commitment to the two renovations that Tom did and their support of doing additional things that would improve Quail Hollow as a championship venue is what we looked for," said Steranka, who first discussed bringing the tournament here two years ago. "We've had the benefit of seeing Quail Hollow prove itself as a test of players of every ability."
There could be several changes, however, by the time the first ball is struck in August 2017. Harris hinted the PGA Tour event could end once the sponsorship deal with Wells Fargo & Co. expires after the 2014 tournament.
"I'm saying I have a contract that runs through 2014," Harris said. "I haven't been contacted by anyone that suggested anything different than that."
Harris added there certainly won't be a PGA Tour event in 2016-17 as the course transitions from playing in overseeded rye for a May event to Bermuda grass for the heat of the midsummer.
They also expect to rebuild all 18 greens with a new type of bent grass more resistant to the intense heat Charlotte is accustomed to. Harris wants a new entrance for fans to get onto the course, and may ask for state aid in getting the road outside the club widened.
But Steranka stressed he doesn't want a lot of changes for a 7,469-yard, par-72 layout that has received mostly positive reviews by the game's top players. The closing three-hole stretch, called "The Green Mile," is one of the most difficult on the PGA Tour and could provide drama with the Wanamaker Trophy on the line.
"Quail Hollow could host the PGA Championship next year. It's that good," Steranka said. "We would give it three years of new greens to do it because more than likely you're going to have to transition to a new type of turf. The Green Mile is famous in golf for a reason. It's got everything that it needs to test the world's greatest players."
That's just as Harris envisioned three decades ago.
"We didn't have to build what the TPC (Sawgrass) built," Harris said. "What we did was take our natural characteristics and Tom Fazio enhanced that."
-- Mike Cranston
Kerr, Mahan win Begay Challenge
VERONA, N.Y. (AP) — Annika Sorenstam still has game, even if she rarely plays.
Sorenstam had three birdies and playing partner Rickie Fowler added an eagle — all in the first eight holes — before Cristie Kerr and Hunter Mahan rallied with six birdies on the back nine for a 10-under 62 and a two-shot victory at Notah Begay's NB3 Challenge.
"It all comes down to the back nine because everybody plays well in a format like this," Kerr said. "It just comes down to who's gonna make a couple more putts coming in. We were fortunate enough today to do that. We gave ourselves a good look at birdies."
Kerr and Mahan trailed Sorenstam and Fowler by two shots at the turn before pulling away in the closing holes to win the $100,000 top prize in the best-ball competition at Atunyote Golf Club.
Sorenstam and Fowler (64) were second, followed by Vijay Singh and Suzann Pettersen (66), Camilo Villegas and Anna Rawson (67), Anthony Kim and Morgan Pressel (68), and Begay and Lorena Ochoa (69).
The event is the chief fundraiser for Begay's foundation, which is dedicated to helping fight obesity and diabetes in the Native American community. He was presented a check for $1.25 million afterward.
"We feel we can make an impact on their lives," Begay said.
The field was grouped into six mixed teams, with the ladies hitting from the shorter tee boxes.
The 39-year-old Sorenstam, who retired after the 2008 season, apologized to Fowler before they teed off.
"I haven't played. Sorry Rickie," said Sorenstam, who also was preparing for her daughter's birthday on Wednesday.
There wasn't much to apologize for.
Shortly after a fan shouted "great to see you back," Sorenstam hit inside 3 feet at the 198-yard, par-3 third hole for an easy birdie. Not to be outdone, Ochoa matched her with a birdie putt from just inside 10 feet.
At the 185-yard, par-3 sixth hole, Sorenstam and Ochoa both drove into the right rough beside the green. This time, Sorenstam reached back into her glorious past with a beautiful chip that bounced on the green and rolled in the cup for another birdie.
Sorenstam raised both hands in appreciation of the roar of the crowd, which hovered around 3,000 on a hot, hazy day with temperatures in the high 80s, then tossed her ball to a fan and headed for the next tee.
Something happened to Sorenstam's second shot at the par-4 eighth hole as it landed well short of the green. It didn't matter when Fowler rattled home a 40-foot uphill eagle putt that put them at 6 under and gave them a two-shot lead over Mahan and Kerr and Begay and Ochoa heading to the back nine.
"I made four birdies, chipped in twice. I'm not complaining, its my best finish all year," Sorenstam said with a smile. "I love it. It's always fun to see my friends, but I'm tired. My feet hurt. I'm not used to it. I'm a little rusty."
Begay and Ochoa made bogey and double-bogey in the first three holes on the back to fall out of contention. Kerr had three birdies on the front nine and five on the back as she and Mahan surged into the lead.
"We gave ourselves a good look at birdies. We leaned on each other all the time," Kerr said. "We were just having a lot of fun helping each other read putts. I think that's what this event is all about, teamwork."
Fowler, who is part Navajo, missed short birdies putt at Nos. 15 and 16 before making birdie at 18 as he and Sorenstam fell just short.
Just being part of the fundraiser was all that mattered to every player.
"I was pumped to be part of it, especially to have Annika as a partner," Fowler said. "It's pretty special to be here."
Ochoa, who retired four months ago at the height of her game, said the transition to private life had been "way easier than I thought."
"I made the right decision," she said. "I'm still very competitive. I think I did my job inside the ropes. Now it's time to work outside the ropes."
-- John Kekis
Notebook: Tour does about-face on pro-am policy
NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Retief Goosen knows what a lousy feeling it is to oversleep and miss a pro-am time on the PGA Tour.
The reigning U.S. Open champion recalls hustling to Riviera, arriving when his group was on the first green. Because of a new tour regulation, Goosen was ineligible for the 2005 Nissan Open. It was a blow to the sponsors because Goosen was among only three players from the top 10 in the world that week.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem heard the outcry and said officials would take another look at the rule, although he didn't expect a change. "The rule was put into effect, and it accomplished its mission. And you can't argue with that," Finchem said.
Jim Furyk did the same thing last week at The Barclays. The reaction was entirely different.
Less than a week after Furyk, the No. 3 seed in the FedEx Cup, overslept and missed his pro-am time, Finchem announced he was suspending the regulation that led to Furyk being unable to play.
For the rest of the year, any player missing his pro-am starting time will be subject to punishment under "conduct unbecoming a professional." What that means is unclear, for the tour does not discuss disciplinary action. The player will be required to finish the pro-am round and may be required to do additional sponsor activities.
Anyone who misses his pro-am entirely is out of the tournament, unless he was excused.
"Certain players have a higher stature than other players," Goosen said Tuesday at the TPC Boston. "Some players make a noise and nobody listens, and other players make a noise and everyone listens."
Goosen thought it was unfair for Furyk to miss the tournament, just as he did at Riviera more than five years ago.
Nick Price went to bat for Goosen back then, suggesting that every player get one absence during the year. That's what Goosen would like to see now.
"You should have at least one chance a year that something like this happens. At least you're not disqualified," he said. "Furyk being up there in the FedEx Cup, there was great sadness he wasn't there. It was a great golf course for him. I'm sure he would have been up at the top with the leaders."
Most peculiar about last week? Furyk wasn't nearly as outraged as some of his colleagues. He blamed no one but himself when the charge on his cell phone — which he uses for an alarm clock — became disconnected and his phone went dead.
It was only the second time he had overslept for a pro-am in his 17-year career. The tour did not adopt the pro-am regulation in 2004 because of players such as Furyk.
Phil Mickelson was among the most outspoken last week, noting that the rule only applies to those players — 54 out of 122 at The Barclays — who were in the pro-am. "I have no idea how the commissioner let this rule go through. It's ridiculous," he said.
Pat Perez said the tour suspending the regulation was "long overdue," and not many would disagree. In the case of Furyk and Goosen, both made a spirited attempt to get to the golf course. Furyk didn't even take time to put on a belt or tie his shoes.
In a statement provided by the tour, Furyk said he was glad the PGA Tour has changed the rule, pleased that Finchem and his staff reacted swiftly.
As for conduct unbecoming? That suggests a fine would be in order, and that left Goosen skeptical.
"Certain players with so much money, they'll pay $5,000 10 times a year not to play in the pro-am," he said. "At the end of the day, you should get one relief a year for accidentally missing a tee time."
Finchem has asked the Player Advisory Council and board to evaluate the rules to be discussed at the November board meeting.
The question is why the tour chose to suspend the regulation after Furyk was eliminated from the tournament, yet did not see a need to do anything after Goosen was suspended.
Furyk's case brought more attention to the regulation because of his No. 3 ranking and the start of the playoffs, where every tournament helps a player get in position for the $10 million prize. A player has been knocked out of a tournament seven times for missing his pro-am, but this is the first time in happened in the playoffs.
As for Goosen?
Since missing his pro-am time at Riviera, he has requested afternoon pro-am times at every tournament.
A GLASS HALF-FULL: Despite wild rumors on the Internet, Deutsche Bank is expected to pick up the final two years of its option this week, which will keep it as the title sponsor of the Deutsche Bank Championship through 2012.
It would continue an impressive run by the PGA Tour in a tough economy, the 19th piece of business — either a new title sponsor or an existing sponsor — since the start of 2009.
The tour is closer than ever to finding a sponsor for the World Golf Championship at Doral. That would leave only Hilton Head, St. Jude and the Bob Hope Classic as regular events without sponsorship.
MR. OCTOBER: Steve Stricker is golf's version of "Mr. October," even though he's usually in a deer stand that month. Golf's version of the playoffs are in August and September, but that's when Stricker seems to play his best.
He is the only guy to have played all 52 rounds of the 13 playoff events since the FedEx Cup began in 2007. Stricker has won twice ('07 Barclays, '09 Deutsche Bank), has one runner-up finish and has twice tied for third.
His earnings from the playoffs alone are $5,142,790 — or 19 percent of his career earnings on the PGA Tour. And that doesn't include more than $5 million in FedEx Cup bonus money.
Stricker's scoring average in playoff events is 68.9.
DIVOTS: Tiger Woods is a combined 1-over par in 37 rounds he has completed this year. Not that it matters — he became ineligible for the Vardon Trophy when he withdrew in the middle of the fourth round at The Players Championship. ... Woods was No. 1 in driving accuracy at The Barclays, hitting 79 percent of the fairways. In his previous two tournaments, he was last among 71 players at the PGA Championship, and 79th out of 80 players at the Bridgestone Invitational. ... U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein, runner-up David Chung and Scott Langley will represent the United States at the World Amateur Team Championship, which will be Oct. 28-31 in Buenos Aires. ... Along with going atop the PGA Tour money list, Matt Kuchar now leads the race for the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average.
STAT OF THE WEEK: Cameron Beckman, Derek Lamely, Matt Bettencourt and Bill Lunde are the only PGA Tour winners this year who did not advance out of the first round of the playoffs. They all won opposite-field events, which award only half of the points.
FINAL WORD: "Our decision is based on 14½." — European captain Colin Montgomerie on his three wild-card picks, referring to the points required to win the Ryder Cup.
-- Dou Ferguson
NW Arkansas LPGA event releases field
ROGERS, Ark. (AP) — Michelle Wie and player of the year front-runner Ai Miyazato headline the field for the LPGA Tour's NW Arkansas Championship next week.
The tournament announced its field Tuesday, which also includes defending champion Jiyai Shin. Wie is coming off her second career victory last weekend at the Canadian Women's Open.
The NW Arkansas Championship, sponsored by P&G and presented by Wal-Mart, will be played at Pinnacle Country Club. The field also includes Cristie Kerr and former University of Arkansas standout Stacy Lewis.
Golf Glance
PGA Tour
Deutsche Bank Championship
Site: Norton, Mass.
Schedule: Friday-Monday.
Course: TPC Boston (7,207 yards, par 71).
Purse: $7.5 million. Winner's share: $1.35 million.
Television: Golf Channel (Friday-Saturday, 3-6 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m.) and NBC (Sunday, 3-6 p.m.; Monday, 2-6 p.m.).
Last year: Steve Stricker won the last of his three 2009 titles, birdieing the final two holes for a one-stroke victory over Scott Verplank and Jason Dufner.
Last week: Matt Kuchar won The Barclays for his third career PGA Tour victory, beating Martin Laird with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff. Tiger Woods tied for 12th in the FedEx Cup opener at Ridgewood in Paramus, N.J.
Notes: The top 100 in the FedEx Cup points qualified for the tournament. The field will be cut to 70 for the BMW Championship next week at Cog Hill in Lemont, Ill., and to 30 for the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. ... Kuchar leads the FedEx Cup standings with 3,937 points, followed by Stricker (2,572) and Laird (1,977). Kuchar also leads the money list with $4,244,798. ... Woods won the 2006 tournament and finished second in 2004 and 2007. He's 65th in the FedEx Cup standings. ... Phil Mickelson won the 2007 title. ... Stricker has two victories this year. ... Tour player Brad Faxon teamed with architect Gil Hanse to rework the Arnold Palmer-designed layout. ... Vijay Singh won in 2004 and 2008, setting the tournament record of 22 under in 2008.
Online: http://www.pgatour.com
| CHAMPIONS TOUR |
|---|
| First Tee Open |
Site: Pebble Beach, Calif.
Schedule: Friday-Sunday.
Courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links (6,837 yards, par 72) and Del Monte Golf Course (6,365 yards, par 72).
Purse: $1.8 million. Winner's share: $270,000.
Television: Golf Channel (Friday, 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Saturday, midnight-2 a.m., 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2-4 a.m., 7-9:30 p.m.; Monday, midnight-2 a.m.).
Last year: Jeff Sluman overcame a six-stroke deficit to successfully defend his title. He aced the fifth hole and finished with a 4-under 68 for a two-stroke victory.
Last week: Bernhard Langer won the Boeing Classic for his firth victory of the year, shooting 66-63-69 to match the tournament record at 18 under. Nick Price finished second, three strokes back.
Notes: Mark O'Meara won the PGA Tour's Pebble Beach event a record five times, the last in 1997. He also won the 1979 California State Amateur at Pebble Beach. ... Tom Watson won the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and took the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am on the course in 1977 and 1978. ... Tom Kite won the 1983 Crosby and 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. ... The final round will be played at Pebble Beach. ... Seventy-eight junior players will play alongside the professionals. ... Langer is taking the week off. ... The Songdo Championship is next week in South Korea.
Online: http://www.pgatour.com
| PGA EUROPEAN TOUR/ASIAN TOUR |
|---|
| European Masters |
Site: Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club (6,822 yards, par 71).
Purse: $2.53 million. Winner's share: $421,830.
Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 8-11 a.m.).
Last year: Sweden's Alexander Noren won his first European tour title, closing with a 6-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Bradley Dredge.
Last week: Italy's Edoardo Molinari won the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, beating Brett Rumford by a stroke. After the tournament, Colin Montgomerie selected Molinari, Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald as captain's picks for the European Ryder Cup team.
Notes: Greg Norman, the 1986 and 1993 winner, is in the field along with British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen. ... The KLM Open is next week in the Netherlands, followed by the Austrian Open and the Vivendi Cup.
Online: http://www.europeantour.com
Asian Tour site: http://www.asiantour.com
| NATIONWIDE TOUR |
|---|
| Mylan Classic |
Site: Canonsburg, Pa.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Southpointe Golf Club (6,946 yards, par 71).
Purse: $600,000. Winner's share: $108,000.
Television: Golf Channel (Thursday, 3-6 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 2-4 a.m.; Sunday, midnight-2 a.m., 4-6 a.m., 1-4 p.m.; Monday, 2-4 a.m.).
Last year: Inaugural event.
Last week: Hometown favorite Chris Kirk won the Knoxville News Sentinel Open for his second victory of the year, birdieing the final two holes to beat Travis Bertoni by two strokes. Kirk won the Fort Smith Classic in June.
Notes: Kirk leads the money list with $400,475, followed by Jamie Lovemark ($393,288), Tommy Gainey ($331,182) and Martin Piller ($320,504). The final top 25 will earn 2011 PGA Tour cards. Kirk, Gainey and Piller each have two victories this year, putting them a win away from an immediate PGA Tour promotion. ... The Utah Championship is next week, followed by the Boise Open.
Online: http://www.pgatour.com
| LPGA TOUR |
|---|
Next event: NW Arkansas Championship, Sept. 10-12, Pinnacle Country Club, Rogers, Ark.
Last week: Michelle Wie won the Canadian Open at St. Charles in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for her second LPGA Tour victory. Jiyai Shin, Kristy McPherson, Suzann Pettersen and Jee Young Lee tied for second, three strokes back.
Online: http://www.lpga.com
| OTHER TOURNAMENTS |
|---|
| Men |
NGA HOOTERS TOUR: Kandy Waters Memorial Classic, Thursday-Sunday, Mount Vintage Plantation and Golf Club, North Augusta, Ga. Online: http://www.ngahooterstour.com
JAPAN GOLF TOUR: Fujisankei Classic, Thursday-Sunday, Fujizakura Country Club, Yamanashi, Japan. Online: http://www.jgto.org
SUNSHINE TOUR: Telkom PGA Pro-Am, Wednesday-Friday, Centurion Country Club, Gauteng, South Africa. Online: http://www.sunshinetour.com
PGA EUROPEAN SENIORS TOUR: Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters, Friday-Sunday, Woburn Golf Club, Duke's Course, Woburn, England. Online: http://www.europeantour.com
PGA EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR: European Strasbourg Golf de la Wantzenau, Thursday-Sunday, Golf de la Wantzenau, La Wantzenau, France. Online: http://www.europeantour.com
| Women |
|---|
DURAMED FUTURES TOUR: Price Chopper Tour Championship, Friday-Sunday, Capital Hills at Albany, Albany, N.Y. Online: http://www.duramedfuturestour.com
LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR: Austrian Ladies Open, Friday-Sunday, Raiffeisen Golf Club Fohrenwald, Wiener Neustadt, Austria. Online: http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com
JAPAN LPGA TOUR: Golf 5 Ladies, Friday-Sunday, Mizunami Country Club, Gifu, Japan. Online: http://www.lpga.or.jp
