The rankings: upside down

The days when golf was dominated by Annika Sörenstam and Tiger Woods are over; a long time ago -at least that's how it feels- both used to tease each other about majors. Today, things are completely different...

Woods hasn't recovered his mental side of the game due to his infidelity scandal, which came to light on November 2009, after he crashed his SUV in Isleworth; meanwhile, Sörenstam left the LPGA in 2008 to pursue two of her biggest dreams: creating her personal brand -ANNIKA- and starting a family. This brought changes in the world rankings.

In women's golf, it was Mexican Lorena Ochoa who assumed the top position, and managed to stay there for 3 years, before leaving the LPGA.

When Ochoa left, the Pandora box opened. After 11 months, we've seen 4 players atop the rankings - three Asian and one from the USA-. Still, non of them has stayed there for more than 15 weeks in a row. They are: Jiyai Shin (South Korea), Cristie Kerr (USA), Ai Miyazato (Japan) and Yani Tseng (Taiwan).

This seems to be expanding rapidly. After 5 years of dominance, Woods left the first place of the Official World Golf Rankings in October 2010, and ever since, men's golf has had an open season. Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer have had the privilege to lead golf, but haven't consolidated up there.

Throw Luke Donald in there, who has a 0.28 point difference with Westwood, and you'll get another guy on track to take over the first spot.

It's clear that the 'Monarchy' has come to an end, but far from being a mishap, it happens to be quite a treat for fans. For the first time in years, there's a range of possibilities ahead, there are no clear favorites, which brings excitement to the table, and to prove it, you have the first two majors of 2011: The Masters and the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Tweet of the week:

Anyone remember when media outlets were slagging the @LPGA for not having one definite #1 player? We are SUCH trendsetters, @PGATOUR!! -@TheChristinaKim-

Thrown in at the deep end

The Ryder Cup finally started, if today's activity can be called a start. Rain hit Wales hard enough to suspend play after completing a couple of holes. Nevertheless, the note of the day came from the USA team "flooding".

Corey Pavin, captain of the squad, decided that Sun Mountain should be in charge of his team's rain-gear. During practice rounds, some of them complain and said clothes weren't good enough, but no changes were made.

Today's rain showed Sun Mountain's manufacturing defects: they don't repel water properly and worst of all, they have leaks, so the gear becomes heavy and players get all wet. Luckily for them, rain was so heavy that play was suspended, buying them some time to come up with "Plan B".

According to Julius Mason, from the PGA of America, "officials went to the merchandise tent during the rain delay at Celtic Manor and snatched up as many suits as they could find", of course they bought other brand, which ironically is the same European team is wearing, ProQuip.

First details of the situation were given by Jason Sobel (ESPN) and Sean Martin (Golfweek), through their Twitter accounts. Meanwhile, Steve DiMeglio (USA Today), assured that "USA bags aren't resistant to water, either. Leaks soaking stored towels, gloves, etc."

Seems like play won't be resumed today and the event might finish on Monday.

Everything under the sun

Many things have happened in golf in the past few days... Tiger Woods' season was quite a mess, Kia Motors America extended its sponsorship contract with the LPGA and more, so keep reading and find out what's been going on.

The first sectional qualifier of the LPGA Q-School took place in Rancho Mirage, California. After four rounds, only 30 from the 112 players on the filed advanced to the final stage. Colombian Eileen Vargas earned medalist honors after shooting 10 under overall.

Tiger Woods left the 2010 season earlier than expected, his last event was the BMW Championship. For the first time in his professional career he didn't have a single victory and missed the final stage of the FedEx Cup.

The USA squad will try to defend its title at the 2010 Ryder Cup to be held in Celtic Manor, Wales. Euro player, Lee Westwood, might miss the tourney due to injury; meanwhile US members Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler made the event through Corey Pavin's picks.

Kia Motors has shown its trust in the LPGA with an extension of its sponsorship contract. Now, the company will move the Kia Classic to Los Angeles, California. This marks the first time the tour stops in the area since 2005.

Former world number one, Lorena Ochoa, will be part of a new reality show, exclusive for Latin American golfers. The show will be aired in 2011 in the Super Golf Star channel (Galleon Holding PLC). The winner will secure a place for the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

Taiwanese Yani Tseng managed to come from behind and defeat Michelle Wie at the P&G NW Arkansas Championship. Tseng has three victories this season, tops the "Player of the Year" points race and is second in the money list with over 1.4 million dollars in earnings.

Nothing new

Tiger Woods is close to losing the first place in the Official World Golf Rankings after some dreadful performances in the last tourneys he's played. This has also stroke sponsors and ratings as their numbers and revenues are starting to decrease.

Woods missed the cut in the Quail Hollow Championship, his second event of the season

CBS hasn't shown Tiger live on Sunday for the last 2 months, since his performance has been far below from used to. The most recent proof of this was his appearance at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, where he shot 18 over and tied the last position.

Tiger's nightmare started in the AT&T National, played in July, where he finished 4 over par and T46. Later, he repeated the score in Ireland at the JP McManus Invitational ProAm, where he was 24th.

Then, he went to Scotland to dispute the Open Championship at the Old Course, nevertheless, his luck was the same and finished T23, even when he shot a 5 under opening round.

Now, Phil Mickelson is close to taking the top position of the rankings and is 0.44 perceptual points shy from completing the feat; if he has a good week at the PGA Championship he might awake on Monday as the world's best golfer.

Meanwhile, Tiger needs a great result at this year's closing major, his in 10th place in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings and outside the automatic picks. If he stays there his only chance to play that tournament relays in captain Corey Pavin, who will announce his wild cards until September 7, leaving Woods a great opportunity to go back to the top 8 of the standings.

Out of nowhere

The 150th anniversary of The Open Championship was played at St. Andrews. The Old Course characterizes for its low temperatures due to the strong wind coming from the North Sea and the never-ending rain. Thus, the home of golf proves every golfer's abilities.

It was South African Louis Oosthuizen who lifted the Claret Jug, after breaking par in all four rounds; this gave him a seven shot advantage over Englishman, Lee Westwood.

Oosthuizen came out of nowhere to defeat Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Paul Casey, with a 16 under overall, becoming the fourth South African to win The Open, after Bobby Locke, Gary Player and Ernie Els accomplished the feat.

This was the second time "Shrek", nickname given by his friends due to the gap between his front teeth, made the cut at a major; since 2004 the only time he had done so was at the 2008 PGA Championship, where he finished at the bottom of the leader board (73).

Oosthuizen's victory came the same day Nelson Mandela turned 92, which made it even sweeter. This is Louis' first PGA triumph, nevertheless, he had already won as a pro, last March he took away the Open de Andalucía de Golf, from the European Tour schedule,where he held a three stroke victory over English, Richard Finch, and Scottish, Peter Whiteford. Furthermore, he's won five times in South Africa's pro circuit, the Sunshine Tour.

The note:

21 year old, Rory McIlroy, posted the lowest first round of the tournament's history, after shooting 9 under (63); with this he also tied the lowest round ever shot in the Old Course.

Until further notice

No, world #1 didn't come back to play, instead he apologized for his behavior; Woods stood up in front of a media frenzy that started 3 months ago, after he crashed his SUV into a tree in the gated community where he lives, or used to live, Isleworth.

 

 Woods has been in therapy for 45 days.

"Now, everyone of you has good reason to be critical of me; I want to say to each of you simply and directly, I'm deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior." Those were pretty much the first words he pronounced in a room with no more than 25 people and some cameras; there were no web statements and, certainly, his agent didn't speak for him. The world saw a shaken and profoundly ashamed man, whose voice tone changed constantly and whose eyes were full of tears.

Yes, he accepted that his actions needed to say more than words, that his wife and kids were nor responsible, therefore they didn't deserved to be chased by the media; he assured that he tried to convince himself that regular rules didn't apply to people with fame and money; he denied emphatically that Ellin had beaten him and asked for mercy and pardon to those in the room: loved ones, partners, sponsors, colleagues and others involve with the game of golf... still he made himself clear in one subject: when he'll leave the "retirement" behind him? well, that's just a mystery.

Many thought that today he was going to give a surprise, but nobody put attention to the treatment he's receiving. The Pine Grove Clinic is based on the 12 step program and it lasts for 6 weeks, in almost all cases; why is this important? well, Tiger will go back to therapy which makes clear that he's not finished yet.

What we saw today might have been his 9th step: "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others".

No more damage could be done to his family, since he aknowledge his infidelity a couple of months ago; and his sponsors are safe and sound, those who trust him keep him in the payroll; those who doesn't left quite some time ago.

The only commitment he has is with rehabilitation; the date for his come back can wait, still it wouldn't hurt to mark down April 8th, the day when The Masters begins, an event he hasn't missed since 1995 when he was still an amateur.

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Do not throw them away!

The new "groove rule" has been controversial to say the least; it was imposed by the USGA and the R&A since January 2010 and the lack of information and clarity has been the main ingredient of a mediatic war in which even some players, such as Phil Mickelson, were pointed out as cheaters

The rule applies to every single club with more than 24º of loft.

What does it regulate?

First, the shape of the grooves isn't the issue here, so it's the same if the wedge has a "V" a "U" or a square shape.
Second, it's important that the grooves aren't aligned or cut in different angles or sizes, why?, well for a very simple reason, this may affect the ball's spin. Besides, the space between them has to be consistent; in other words, the grooves must be straight and parallel in all the impact area.

How will this affect?

For starters, the way clubs are produce will be different because:

• The square grooves need to have more separation between each other, since they trap more humidity and grass, especially after a shot from the rough.
• The edges of each groove need to have a .010 in. radius, so they won't be straight anymore.

One more thing, the USGA suggests that each tour comitee decides weather they apply this rule or not. Never the less, all the tourneys sanctioned by the USGA, including the majors, will adjust to this.

What am I supposed to do with my equipment?
The clubs approved for play in 2009 can be used until 2024; and in that same year the rule will apply to all no matter the status or handicap.
Now, the amateurs playing in USGA sanctioned events will be able to use their clubs until 2013, one year after that the rule will apply to them.

It's not complicated at all and the key changes will be seen in the composition of the balls; they might become a bit softer to produce more spin and compensate the change in the clubs' constitution.

Palmer seals the deal

Ryan Palmer battled all day long with Robert Allenby at the Sony Open. Both golfers played their "A" game, but it was Palmer who finally took the trophy home. Besides, this result secured him a spot in this year's Masters which will mark his return to the season's first major after being absent since 2005.

Palmer had to wait 1 year and 2 months to grab his 3rd PGA win. Prior to this one he claimed the Ginn sur Mer Classic.

After 3 rounds Allenby and Palmer were tied for the lead, which turned into a very exciting Sunday. Even when nothing was written yet, one thing was clear, both were playing fantastic golf and it wasn't going to be easy.

Allenby started steady with some mistakes in the front nine, which finally cost him the tournament. Meanwhile Palmer was having issues with his putting and shot par-par-birdie-bogey-birdie in his first 5 holes. Then, on the back nine, he went into a lot of trouble and left Allenby a great opportunity to take the lead, after scoring birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie from 10 to 14 while Robert managed to sink a key birdie putt on 15.

The tourney went down to 18, where Palmer couldn't reach the green in 2, but had a brilliant chip that hit the pin, leaving him a tap in for birdie. Allenby didn't have the same luck and passed the green, finally the Australian couldn't convert his 10 foot birdie chance and left the course 1 shot behind the Texan who will play with an exempt card until 2012 thanks to his win.

Hawaii suits him

A new PGA season is here and so as the first 2010 winner. Geoff Ogilvy succesfully defended the SBS Championship. Nevertheless, this year things were quite different from 2009.

The last time Ogilvy won was at the Match Play Championship in February.

Last year Ogilvy won by 6 shots but this time he trailed Rory Sabbatini who shot an amazing 63, including a five birdie stretch from 11 to 15. Geoff needed a low score, fast; he started his round with birdies in 1 and 5, nevertheless, he bogeyed 6. Still he managed to comeback and birdie 8, 9 and 10. Finally he sealed the deal in 14 and 15.

Besides, Sabbatini couldn't reach the 18th green in two, and had a 10 footer birdie putt which he missed and finished with par; if he had eagled the hole he would have forced a playoff and with a birdie he would have put lots of pressure under Ogilvy. Still, Sabbatini had a great comeback, after the 3rd. round he was 6 shot behind the leader.

Sean O'Hair was also a contender but he closed his round with a double bogey which left him out. Meanwhile, Lucas Glover and Angel Cabrera also saw their chances of winning fade away as the weather conditions became tougher.

This week Hawaii will continue to host the PGA at the Sony Open where Zack Johnson will try to defend his tittle.

Penalized

Doug Barron was suspended for one year after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. The PGA didn’t released any further details.

Barron lost his PGA card three years ago and has been playing
in the Nationwide Tour.

Barron said in a statement that “I would like to apologize for any negative perception of the Tour or its players resulting from my suspension”.

The truth is he’s become the first golfer to be penalized for this matter. Never the less it really didn’t seem that the performance-enhancing substance was doing the trick, since this year Barron had only played four times at the Nationwide and once at the PGA. Besides, in 2008 he only won $33,446 dollars after making five cuts in 17 starts.

Remember a GIANT

Ten years ago a tragedy covered the PGA and turned off one of its brightest stars. Married, with two kids and a passion for golf that only a few have, Payne Stewart died abruptly.

Stewart won 11 times in the PGA and 13 more in other tours.

The last time he lifted a trophy was in the 1999 US Open, tournament in which he grabbed his 3rd major victory by defeating a young Phil Mickelson, who was waiting, along with his wife Amy, the arrival of their first child.
His class in and out the course and his dressing code, which resembled golf’s first years, were some if the characteristics that made him stand out.
Stewart’s interest for the sport came when he was only 3 years old and grew faster when his father introduced him to Herman Keiser and Ky Laffoon, both PGA members.
Then, Payne continued his formation at Greenwood High School; by this time he won the SMSU High School Relay and two years later, in 1973, he lead his school team to the victory of the same event.
His talent was recognized by some recruiters and he finally went to the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. It was precisely in that instance where he became a mature golfer.In 1979 he was the best of the Southwest Conference and he was voted All-American.
After his college accomplishments Payne decided to become professional and in 1980 he was part of the Asian Tour where we won twice as a rookie but two years later decided to go into the PGA
Q-School, where he got exempt status.
Seven years after that, and being one of the biggest golfing figures of the world, he lifted his first major trophy, by catching up with Mike Reid, who was 5 strokes ahead.It was the PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes.
His next great feat came at the 1991 US Open played at Hazeltine National Golf Club, where he defeated Scott Simpson in the second hole of playoff-
His accomplishments between 1989 and 1993, put him in the world ranking’s top ten for 250 consecutive weeks. He was part of the Ryder Cup team in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1999, making him not just one of the most recognizable faces but one of the classiest players of the event because it was not just about rivalry, for Payne it was friendship, coexisting and union.
In October 25th, 1999 Payne was flying in his Learjet 35 from Orlando to Houston, where the Tour Championship was going to take place. However the aircraft suffered a suffered a loss of cabin pressure and everybody died due to hypoxia. Some time later it was known that the Learjet was set in autopilot and it crashed in South Dakota after running out of fuel.
The memorial service was held in October 30th and it gathered around 100 golfers such as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman.
Many things have been done in his memory, but those which stand out are:

• Since 2000 the PGA gives annually the Payne Stewart Award, which is handed to an individual that has shown respect for the game’s traditions, commitment to maintain the heritage of it and personal presentation through conduct and performance.
• He was inducted into the Wolrd Hall of Fame in 2001.
• In June 2009 the Payne Stewart Golf Club was inaugurated in Branson, Missouri. Each of the 18 holes of the course is named after the most important episodes of Stewart’s life, both on and off the course.

Three out; two in

The LPGA isn’t the only tour that has been affected by the financial crisis, which reflects in fewer tournaments and less sponsors. Thus, the European Tour announced early this week that the calendar for the 2010 campaign will have some changes.

The tour was established in 1971, when John Jacobs was named PGA Director of Tournaments.

The modifications to next year’s schedule were a complete surprise, mainly because 3 traditional events won’t appear next season; these are the Johnnie Walker Classic which used to be played in Australia and the Malaysia and Indonesia Open’s.
Never the less, there’s always some light at the end of the tunnel and the European Tour managed to add a couple of tournaments to balance things.
The first week of 2010 South Africa will host the inaugural edition of The Africa Open, which will be held at the London Golf Club.
Then, on March, the Hassan 11 Golf Trophy will make it’s first appearance as a PGA event because it’s been a pro event since 1971 but it was never considered to become part of the schedule; it will be played at the Royal Dar-Es-salam Club in Marruecos and will have a ProAm celebrity format for the first two rounds.
With these changes the European Tour will have 47 events, one less than last year. Still, it’s not bad for a sport that has been badly injured and is losing money constantly.

¡Habemus golf!

Just as it was expected, last Friday the IOC approved the inclusion of golf into Rio de Janeiro 2016 program. The news buried other sport’s hopes, such as baseball, softball, squash, karate and others.Golf debuted in Paris 1900 and the last time it was part of the Olympic Games was in St. Louis 1904.

Golf’s comeback isn’t a surprise, the International Golf Federation used as many resources as it had and had the best players in the world to speak on behalf of the sport:

Here’s a time table with the highlights of the process:
11/14/08: Ty Votaw (PGA) and Peter Dawson (R&A) talked with the Olympic Program Committee.

12/22/08: a questionnaire was sent in order to contend for a spot.

02/16/09: the document was sent back to the IOC.

06/15/09: Annika Sörenstam, Colin Montgomerie, among others, talked to the Executive Board of the IOC.

08/13/09: the Board recommends golf for its inclusion into the 2016 Program.

10/09/09: Michelle Wie, Pagraig Harrington and Suzan Pettersen went to Copenhagen to give the last speech. Finally golf got a spot with 63 votes and 2 absences.
The International Golf Federation proposed a format of 72-hole individual stroke play for both men and women. In case of a tie a three-hole playoff is recommended to determine the medal winners.
The Olympic field should include 60 players for each of the men's and women's competition, using the Official World Golf Rankings as a method of determining eligibility. The top-15 world-ranked players would be eligible for the Olympics, regardless of the number of players from a given country. Beyond the top 15, each country will have a maximum of two eligible players.
If this becomes a reality, then at least 30 countries would be represented. Still there’s a doubt in the air: will Tiger, Lorena and other dominant players will continue to play until 2016? Will others, such as Annika might leave retirement? We’ll see, it’s a long ways to go and we can have a few surprises.

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FedEx Cup

Make it 3 for "Lefty"

What a surprise for Woods and Perry at The Tour Championship. Phil Mickelson played a sublime fourth round to claim the last event of the FedExCup, leaving Kenny far from his 3rd. victory of the season. Still, there was another winner, Mr. "I'm thye best of all these guys", Tiger Woods who lifted the FedEx Cup.

Mickelson driving distance average is 300 yards and 28.92 putts per round.

Kenny Perry besieged Woods from day one, after the effort he finally enjoyed the results and raised himself to the very top of the leaderboard, thanks to 72, 66 and 64 rounds. Perry was ready to battle Tiger on Sunday, not only to grab The Tour Championship throphy, but also to have a chance to take the FedEx Cup home. Meanwhile, Steve Stricker gave everything he got on Saturday, posting a 66 and eventually chasing the leaders.

The American domination on the scoreboard was undeniable, but Padraig Harrington managed to put the European Union uo there with great performances during the first to days of tournament, afert scoring 67 and 69.

Everything pointed to a Perry triumph, but no one saw Mickelson coming, unless not until Sunday when he put up his "A" game.

Mickelson showed his intentions in number 4 after making his birdie putt, this put him two strokes behing Perry and one ahead Woods. At 9 he scored another birdie and became the leader. Phil's control over the green was amazing and he sealed the job at 16 after chipping in for another birdie. Mickelson had a 5 under round and entered the winner's circle for 3rd. time this year, a feat onely reached this year by Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods.

Tiger averges 64.29% in driving accurancy and 68.43% in GIR.

As ironic as it might seem Phil's victory was actually good for Tiger, since his position at the FedEx Cup race was never at stake. This year he claimed the event again, after Vijai Singh took it in 2008 taking advantage of Woods absence due to a knee injury.

Here we go!!!

Hi there!

After thinking it a lot, actually it took me a bit more than it was supposed to, I've decided to open my blog.

Maybe some of you might have already read some of my work at LPGA.com and at mylpga.com which I truly thank. Those happy and refreshing experiences led me to this new adventure. I think this is a great time to expand my horizones and start blogging more regularly in a foreign language.

I really hope you enjoy this site and if you think something is missing or you just want to let the world of golf know something, please feel free to do so.

Let the games begin!