The Barclays

The First Leg of the Schmed-Ex

Date Written: August 25, 2008
Jason Sobel of espn.com sums up the first week of the Schmed-Ex:

"Up is down. Left is right. In is out. Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh each made clutch putts under pressure on the first extra hole at The Barclays on Sunday. Welcome to PGA Tour Bizarro World, where the game's most maligned putters each proved their mettle with the flat stick at crunch time during the first FedEx Cup payoffs event.

We're still unsure as to whether these two top talents are consistently inconsistent or inconsistently consistent, but it might be a little of both. Singh's victory on the second playoff hole gave him two wins in the past four weeks -- his first two titles of the season -- sandwiching them around a pair of missed cuts at the PGA and Wyndham. Meanwhile, Garcia continues to pile up runner-up results like Michael Phelps collects gold medals, but he's got to be pleased at ranking first in the field in putting average and second in total putts per round at Ridgewood Country Club."

Couldn't have said it better, Jason. Eleven guys ended up within 2 shots of making the playoff. Pretty good theatre as I fast-forwarded between the thousands of Cialis and Village's commercials to actually see a golf shot.

Congrats to two of our fellow bottom-dwellers, T & A and Doc 'N Jill, for climbing up the standings in our funky pool with their winning pick of V.J. at the Barclay's. Nice goin' kids!

Danny Lee, pictured above. Get used to seeing his face. The young phenom from New Zealand, became the youngest player ever (just over 18 years of age) to win the USGA Amateur Championship which was played at Pinehurst this past week. In the 36- hole final against Drew Kittleson who plays at Florida State, Lee was 11-under for 32 total holes until he won easily, 5 & 4. One of the perks for winning will be to be paired next year at The U.S. Open with one Mr. Tiger Woods. Can you imagine the introduction: "Mr. Woods, shake hands with Mr. Lee, the umpteenth youngster who might succeed you."

To read more about Lee click on the link below:

http://www.usamateur.org/news/sun_lee_final.html

Onward to the second leg of the Schmed-Ex...The Deutsche Bank. Do you think the Germans (along with the Scots, the Chinese, the Saudi's, etc.) want to manage our money? Eight of us (including me, figured that Brett Wetterich would play back to his Deutsche finish of last year. Lo and behold, according to Rotoworld.com, Brett doesn't make the Schmed-Ex field because....

"Brett Wetterich is suffering from tendinitis in his right wrist and has been treating it under doctor's care," his agent, Terry Reilly, said in an email. Wetterich injured his wrist on June 10 while practicing at Torrey Pines and has withdrawn early from all five events since. "We are unsure as to his return," Reilly added. Wetterich did not qualify for the British Open and has committed to next week's concurrent U.S. Bank Championship but that start is in doubt. He's halfway to a minor medical extension (two-month minimum layoff) and will need to make a decision soon if he's going to sit the full four months to qualify for a major medical. That would shelve him through October 1. It's quite possible that the wrist injury will also force a decision to have his shoulder repaired."

Sounds to me like Brett's body parts are going out of warranty. He won over $2 mil in '07 and tied for second at last year's Deutsche. Brett's swing speed has always appeared to me to be way too hard and too fast. A bit of elderly advice to...bring it down a notch pal. When you get older (the only thing I can absolutely guarantee), you'll want to be able to enjoy the game and a cocktail without being in pain.

Wyndham Championship

The Tar Heel State

Date Written: August 18, 2008


One of the biggest intra-state rivalries in collegiate sports takes place within the "Tar Heel State." In Carolina, your blood runs either baby blue or red hot...UNC or NC State. I know what a Wolfpack is (NC State) but I've always wanted to know, what's a "Tar Heel" Do you know? And who's the most famous "Tar Heel Golfer?" I'll provide the answer at the end of this weeks missive. In any event, the Wolfpack prevailed this past weekend at the Wyndham, aka The Greater Greensboro Classic.

If there was ever a case to be made for the gambling theory of, "horses for courses," the Wyndham was it. Swedish-born but locally-raised, Carl Pettersson, who's probably played the course a gazillion times and also played at N.C. State, smoked the field. Transplanted Tim Clark from So. Africa, who also attended N.C. State, finished T-6.

The remarkable news is that seven of our pool players picked Pettersson to win. Not since the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, where twelve of us picked Tiger in his historic, one-legged win, and the Sony in Hawaii where eight pool players picked K.J. Choi, have we seen as many "winners" in one week. The bad news is that our esteemed pool leader, Lord Arthur of Kerrick was one of the seven Pettersson-pickers. Lord Arthur pads his lead to nearly $1.6 Mil over his next closest competitor, his pal, Perry Sato. Master Sato also had Petterssson to add to his extraordinary late run and has now leapt into second place. Lord Arthur and his trusty crystal ball have now picked four outright winners this season. Go direct to Vegas, Art...don't fool around with the peanuts you are going to win in our funky pool. My horse Mayfair was last seen limping into the barn in last place, apparently all tuckered out from putting on the Donald Ross track. Wavy putting strokes do not work on undulating greens.

Another N.C. transplant, Brandon de Jonge, who was bornded in Zimbabwe, but now calls Charlotte home, won the Nationwide event in Rochester, NY. Which brings me to hokey song:

"Nothing Could be Finer
Than the Golf in Caroliner
...in Au-August?"

Onward to the first leg of the SCHMED-EX Cup, starting at the Barclays at a storied venue, Ridgewood C.C., across the river in Paramus, NJ. I blatantly make fun of the "Schmed-Ex" format because, in a word...it's sooo STUPID! Most of you know from my comments last year that I hate the contrived points system. It smacks too much of NASCAR commercialism. Aren't there enough commercials between shots on TV? I once counted two putts and then five commercials. And what about the phony, re-set point system? Would someone write and explain that concept to this witless reporter? If you're having trouble too and don't understand, let's start a letter-writing campaign to our Congressmen! At the very least, do as I do, set your TIVO to fast-forward through the Schmed-Ex commercials. Even though they are funny, they do not deserve our patronage. Ship UPS or DHL.

Finally, from our very own, "Diamond Jim Brady" comes an interesting LA Times article linking sex with good health: Dah!

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-mating18-2008aug18,0,4651977.story

I would have added that five rounds of golf a week is good for the "unit" too!

In answer to the question posed in the first paragraph, what is a "Tar Heel" click on the "Ask Yahoo" link below. And, the most famous Tar Heel Golfer...Davis Love, of course, who also has a second home here in Sun Valley. Maybe Davis will join our pool next year and try his hand at de-throning Lord Arthur?

http://ask.yahoo.com/20040316.html

The PGA

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

Date Written: August 11, 2008

"Hear Ye, Hear Ye!" All those who thought Padraig of Harrington was not for real, raise your hand? Paddy has a new mission: he has to hire a finished carpenter to build more cabinetry in his den. Where else to place his new PGA Wanamaker trophy to rest aside his back-to-back Claret Jugs.

Some commentator, somewhere, suggested that there be an asterisk (*) by the name of any major winner if Tiger was not in the field. I don't think so. Winning three majors in a little over one year certainly qualifies Paddy to stand alone as Tiger's "prime contender." Step aside Lefty, Veej, Jimmy Furyk, and any other "wanna-be." Paddy's matching 4-under-par 66's over the final two rounds on the Oakland Hills monster removes any doubt that he's the world's second best player. There's even speculation amongst the media of the possibility of "The Paddy-Slam." The next leg being the '09 Masters. Tiger's return to Major competition and Paddy's emergence will surely be the story next April. Paddy can obviously can handle pressure. His putting down the stretch yesterday at Oakland Hills was the stuff of dreams. The following his from his own lips:

"I know I love the idea of the back nine of a major on a Sunday. I love it so much that I'm actually disappointed I'm seven months away from the next major, and I don't know what I'm going to do. I've really focused hard on the majors the last two years. My whole schedule is built around majors. And definitely I've turned up at other events, and unless I get into contention, you know, sometimes it feels like a race, like a sprint, whereas a major feels like a marathon. I feel like I can be patient and take my time. And I love the feeling of knowing that it's going to come down to the back nine; it's going to come down to who can do it under pressure in the last nine holes."

Our very own black Irishman, Lord Arthur of Kerrick, was sweating bullets over the weekend because his horse, Vijay, was last seen stumbling at the halfway mark. On his way to 5-putting one green and failing to make the cut, The Veej was last seen muttering to himself as he slammed his left-hand-low, belly putter into the trunk of his expensive rental car. You can breathe now Lord Arthur, your lead is still intact. Now that "double-payoff" Majors are out of the way, your chances down the stretch appear fairly solid to garner substantial, first place pool money.

Booby Prize poem:

Doc 'N Jill
Ran up a hill
trying to avoid disaster

When they came down
Their Sergio did frown
to have to kiss Paddy's aster...again.

Doc N' Jill make enough "double-money" on Sergio to climb out of the Pool basement, leaving Matt Kendrick alone, looking up. Perry Sato also had Sergio and makes a giant leap from 10th to 4th. That is huge at this late stage of the game!

Speaking of Booby Prizes, anyone remember the Cropper Bros. from years past? They decided to sit out this year, restore their collective egos and try to figure out a better approach to picking guys who will just show-up for a tournament, let alone make the cut. I miss the Cropper's and their wild-ass, off-the-wall picks. Remember the famous cowboy movie in the 50's, "Shane?" The famous line at the end was, "Come back, Shane!" I'm gonna change it to, "Come back, Croppers," if only for the laughs.


And finally, a forwarding laugh from John Manocheo entitled:

When your ball ends up in the 3" rough, here's the club for you!
http://www.bigdaddydriver.com/see-the-video.aspx

WGC/Bridgestone

Putt Like a Dog

Date Written: August 4, 2008


The Associated Press summarized this past week's "Tiger-less" WGC/Bridgestone event as follows:

"With par putts on the final two holes, Singh closed with a 2-under 68 to hold off hard-charging Lee Westwood and Stuart Appleby and the fast-fading Phil Mickelson, who lost a one-shot lead with three bogeys on his final four holes."

The quote above really doesn't tell the full story. Despite Veej making two 4-footers at the end, his putting stroke looked, over the last nine holes, to be as scary as "Sweeney Todd." He missed enough short putts from 4-8 feet to land him a free pass to the seventh floor at Bellevue. If it weren't for his playing partner, "Lefty- Mick," falling all over himself coming in, he loses. Lefty played bogey-free for 14 holes and had a one-shot lead until making bogey from the bunker on three of the last four holes. So much for Lefty's famous, flawless short game.

Veej's 'wavy-gravy' putting stroke reminded me of me. As a kid, I used to make everything. Now if I make a putt, it's headline news. To me, forget reading greens; the hole looks to be the size of a thimble. My young (soon to turn forty) playing partner, Mikey P. says the hole looks as big as a trash can. I wonder if he's just delusional or trying to psyche me out. Veej and I can barely bring it back and through straight on three-footers let alone middle-of-the-green efforts. Veej claimed in a pre-game interview Sunday, that he's gonna stick with his belly putter. I have two belly putters...both have been banished permanently to a very dark closest as punishment for their bad behavior. Belly or no belly, cross-handed or upside-down, whatever Veej needs to be reminded that it's the Indian, not the arrows. He might consider therapy. We both putt like dogs!

Lefty's endgame meltdown caused our Mikey P. to lose a golden chance at winning for the week. Our esteemed pool leader, Master Arthur, padded his lead to over one million smackers with his lucky pick of "The Goose" who tied Lefty for fourth place.

This week, the PGA Championship outside Detroit, is the last Major tournament that will count for double pool money. Someone needs to make a dent in Master Art's million dollar lead. My prediction...Singh's wavy-gravy putting stroke won't work here on greens rolled to 13 on the Stimp. Thankfully, Master Art picked "The Veej" this week. Hah! He will not win in back to back weeks.

HOW WERE THEY TO KNOW DEPT: Mikey P. and Monte Train picked Tiger this week.

Hooray! Boise's Ryan Hietala won the Nationwide Cox Classic event in Omaha. Click on the link to read more:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/sports/story/459599.html

And finally (I promise), this from the LA Times:

"Michelle Wie failed in her eighth attempt to make the cut on the PGA Tour, shooting a second-round 80 at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. A quintuple-bogey nine helped push Wie to nine-over 153 at the par-72 Montreux Golf & Country Club."

Click below for more on Wie-Wie:

http://www.pgatour.com/2008/tournaments/r472/08/01/wie.sider2/index.html
Michelle reminds me of an old Japanese proverb, "Women who drive upside down, have crack-up." I know, bad form, bad joke. Personally, I'd give her one more pass to play a Men's event...but from the Women's tees.