Can Phil Mickelson Crack the Open Championship Code at Muirfield?

Can Phil Mickelson Crack the Open Championship Code at Muirfield?
The 43-year-old American Has a One-Sided Love Affair With Links Golf

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Chris Chaney July 15, 2013 9:59 PM




COMMENTARY | One of the biggest enigmas in professional golf remains why Phil Mickelson, one of the most creative and talented players of his era, has (up until last week) largely struggled playing links golf.

By most accounts, links golf is the purest form of the game; the challenge is a shot-maker's dream and one that more often than not rewards players with the vision and wherewithal to pull off difficult, albeit unusual shots (by PGA Tour standards).

Mickelson, a winner of more than 50 professional events and four major championships, has had a one-sided love affair with the oldest form of the game. Heading into the Scottish Open -- which he would go on to win in a playoff over Branden Grace -- Mickelson continued to reaffirm his love for golf in Scotland in general and with links golf, in particular.

"I think it would be one of my greatest accomplishments to be able to conquer links golf and to win an Open Championship over here," Mickelson said. "Although I've come close maybe twice, I have not really played my best golf. I think I've identified a couple of reasons why. It's time to shoot the scores and hit the shots that I've spent 20 years working on."

Mickelson has played in the Open 19 times, beginning in 1991, and despite making the cut in all but four of his starts, he averages a finish of 38th and boasts just two top 10 finishes. His best finish came two years ago when he tied as runner-up at Royal St. George's to Darren Clarke. His other top 10 came in 2004 when he finished solo third. The last time the Open was at Muirfield in 2002, Mickelson finished in a tie for 66th.

The San Diego native has a habit of talking a good game going into the Open, saying he is embracing playing the game along the ground, despite the fact that his entire golfing career has been played nearly exclusively through the air.

The question becomes whether he is truly embracing the style of play necessary to succeed on the British Isles or supremely confident enough to believe he can use his Americanized-through-the-air style to win an Open Championship.


Mickelson seemed to find a solid mixture of the two styles last week at Castle Stuart. The premium links golf places upon driving accuracy has long been one of Mickelson's biggest bugabboos in past failures at the Open but thanks to his new Phrankenwood, Mickelson has been able to find a more consistent ball flight while not sacrificing much of his distance.

This week at Muirfield, accuracy off the tee promises to be a large contributor to success, but according to reports from the ground, the course is running firm and fast, forcing many players, including Mickelson, to rethink their equipment makeup.

The Golf Channel's Todd Lewis reported that Mickelson will once again go driver-less at a major championship and even Phrankenwood-less at the Open, opting instead to -- wait for it -- put a fifth wedge in the bag.

The Mickelson mix, while not the conventional recipe for Open success, might figure to provide the 43-year-old his best chance at a Claret Jug this week at the home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

Of course, we must consider the source. No player has ever won the week before the Open Championship and gone on to win golf's oldest major. Then again, no player has ever brought as much flair and unpredictability to the Open as Mickelson.

Could this be the year that Mickelson breaks through and solves the Open puzzle, or are we destined to be left scratching our heads once again at week's end and wondering if Mickelson truly has embraced links golf?

Chris Chaney is a Cincinnati, Ohio-based sportswriter. He has written for multiple outlets including WrongFairway.com, Hoopville.com, The Cincinnati (OH) Enquirer and The Clermont (OH) Sun.

Follow him on Twitter @Wrong_Fairway.

Muirfield brings out best in those who conquer

Muirfield brings out best in those who conquer

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PGA.COM July 15, 2013 10:46 PM

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All seven players who've won an Open at Muirfield since World War II are all in the World Golf Hall …


By Doug Ferguson, Associated Press

MUIRFIELD, Scotland -- One of the best players who never won a major would love a crack at one now.

Colin Montgomerie used to say it was harder than ever to win a major because each year it seemed that Tiger Woodswon two of them, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson or Vijay Singh won another and that left only one for everyone else.

Those days, at least for the moment, are gone.

Over the last five years, 18 players have won the last 20 majors, none of them named Woods. And the winner? It could be anybody. Darren Clarke won in his 54th major. Keegan Bradley won in his first. Rory McIlroy won when he was 22. Els won when he was 42.

The next chance is the 142nd Open Championship, which returns next week to Muirfield for the 16th time dating to 1892.

Muirfield is reputed to be the fairest of the links courses on the rotation, mainly because there are no tricks and very few blind shots. The course consists of two loops running in opposite directions so that golfers will face the wind in every direction by the end of the day. Muirfield is perhaps more predictable than the others.

Not so predictable is finding a player at the top of his game.

The search ordinarily would start with Woods, and for good reason. The world's No. 1 player already has won four times this year.

Now, more mystery envelops Woods. He offered limited details at the U.S. Open about an injury in his left elbow that had been bothering him for a month.

McIlroy is one of two players to win multiple majors in the last five years - Padraig Harrington, with back-to-back major wins in 2008 is the other - only Boy Wonder has become an afterthought this year. After building a big lead atop the world ranking at the close of 2012, he made a wholesale equipment change at the start of the year and has had only one reasonable chance to win, at the Valero Texas Open.

After missing the cut at the Irish Open, he said he felt ``lost.''

Graeme McDowell has three wins, second only to Woods this year, though even he isn't sure what to expect. In his last eight tournaments, McDowell has won three times and missed the cut the other five times. At this rate, there's simply no telling what kind of game he'll bring to links along the Firth of Forth.

"When it's been good, it's been really good,'' McDowell said.


If there is a trend in this year's majors, it is the emergence of quality players whose careers were elevated by winning a Grand Slam event.

Most players would have been devastated to lose a four-shot lead with four holes to play as Adam Scott did last year in the Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Scott later said he would have been crushed had he been watching a performance like that from home. Poised as ever, he realized he played the best golf for 68 holes and took that to understand he could do it again.

And that's what he did, winning the Masters in a playoff to end more than a half-century of Australian misery at Augusta National. Scott hasn't been Down Under to celebrate since he slipped on that green jacket. In his mind, the year was still young. There was much left to achieve, more majors to win. And there is a feeling of redemption he brings to the Open, even though he seemingly atoned for that collapse by winning his first major.

"I'm really looking forward to going back and trying to get myself in a similar kind of situation, a chance to win the Open,'' Scott said. "The hardest thing is going to be curbing the expectations right from the start. But it's exciting. Every tournament, I feel, is an opportunity for me now ... to just build on this.''

Not long after winning the Masters, he sent a text to Justin Rose that ``this was our time.''

Rose lived up to his end of the prediction by winning the U.S. Open with three clutch shots at the end for a two-shot win. They have been friends and colleagues throughout their careers, born two weeks apart, both having endured their share of struggles.

"It hit me really at the U.S. Open that if you're not willing to experience the heartache and heartbreak of losing a major, then you can't really truly play your best stuff and be free enough in the moment to get it done,'' Rose said. "If you're kind of apprehensive to what it might feel like to lose, I think for me that's just what struck me. I was good with the fact that you just have to put yourself in that moment time and time again, and be willing to just keep knocking down the door.

"That's kind of what I learned as well from Adam.''

Woods can't relate to any of this, of course. He won his first major as a pro with a record performance at the Masters. He had the career Grand Slam when he was 24. He was on his way to a calendar Grand Slam in 2002 when Muirfield and some fickle weather stopped him.

But he is seeing more players emerge to challenge him - McIlroy the last two years, Scott and Rose this year.

During the 12 years that it took Woods to win 14 majors, only three players who won majors were younger than Woods - Ben Curtis in the 2003 Open, Geoff Ogilvy in the 2006 U.S. Open and Trevor Immelman in the 2008 Masters.

Since his last major in the 2008 U.S. Open, there have been 12 players younger than Woods who won majors, including six of the last seven. This is as deep and well-rounded as golf has been in years. And Woods isn't getting any younger.

"If you look at most golfers, their prime years are usually in their 30s,'' Woods said. ``It takes a while to learn how to win at this level and learn how to do it consistently. I think that you've got to learn what you can and can't do. There's so much to learn out there, and I think that generally you see some of the guys don't mature into their games until their 30s.''

That doesn't make this major any easier to predict.

Even so, Muirfield has a way of bringing out the best. Dating to World War II, the seven players who won an Open at Muirfield are all in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Captain's Blog: Andy North added as vice captain

Captain's Blog: Andy North added as vice captain

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PGA.COM July 16, 2013 7:45 AM

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2014 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Tom Watson has named his good friend and two-time U.S. Open Champion Andy …


By Tom Watson 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. - The Greenbrierseemed to be the logical place for me to announce my good friend, Andy North, as a vice captain for the 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup Team.

I have close ties to The Greenbrier. Plus, I wanted to make this announcement at a PGA Tour event and here we are this week for The Greenbrier Classic. This is a place where a lot of young guys are just getting started on the PGA Tour. To me it's a wonderful place to watch the passion and the way the young players approach the game out here - the seriousness of it; the newness of it to a lot of them. I remember when this was all new to me. You can see it here at The Greenbrier.

I wanted to make this announcement at a regular PGA Tour event, because the players - or the actors, so to speak - will be coming from the PGA Tour. I'm going to be the stage manager and try to create all the cues for the players to hit and all that, but they have to go out and perform. The bottom line is, can they perform better than the other team? The other team has been performing better than our team. I'm going to try everything in my power - and Andy will as well - to create a situation where our team will perform better than theirs.

My friendship with Andy dates back to 1967. Any time you have a friend, you can talk honestly to that friend about anything. Whatever conversations I have with Andy, I've always known that they're private and they're not going to go anywhere else. I really, truly value Andy's observations.


Already we've been talking about players who have played on the Ryder Cup team before, potential new players who may play on the Ryder Cup team. That process has started. I value Andy's input. He's been out there and he's watched a lot of these players play. As an analyst and announcer at ESPN, he watches the leaders play. He sees how they play under the heat. A Ryder Cup is all about heat - pressure. I want the best pressure players possible. Andy sees that up close and personal. What better person to have as a vice captain than a guy who's been doing this for many, many years?

When I asked Andy to be a vice captain, I was elated. It was an easy choice for me to make. He brings a value to the process because, like I said, he's up close and personal with these players as a walking announcer for ESPN. He knows what players are doing. He knows their mannerisms. As a two-time major champion, he knows what they're feeling too. He sees things we might not see on TV. He talks to their caddies sometimes. All of that is invaluable information in making choices for the team. Nine players will make the team and then there will be three captain's choices. With those choices, there's going to be a lot of input in making the decision on who those players are going to be based on the criteria I've given: heart and guts; who's going to make the 5-footer every time when they have to; can they play in bad conditions and can they play with a lead?

In the next few weeks I'll be playing in the Open Championship, the Senior British Open and I'll also stop to take a look at Gleneagles and the Centenary Course for the first time since being appointed captain. Andy and his wife, Sue, will be joining me at Gleneagles.

We'll get a good look and start talking about logistics. We'll see how the flow goes over there. The logistical flow. How do you get from point A to point B? What are the rooms like? What type of team rooms do we have? Timing will be a lot of it too. The clubhouse is about 300-400 yards from the hotel. Logistics will be the key consideration on this trip - the course won't be much. (Editor's note: The PGA Centenary Course has been undergoing renovations for the 2014 Ryder Cup and was scheduled to re-open on July 5, 2014).

We'll get a look at the course, but I'm not going to tell the players how to play the golf course. That's not my job. They'll figure out how to play the golf course. If they ask me, I'll certainly have an understanding of the golf course.

I'm going to do everything I possibly can as a stage manager to make it so that these guys can perform their best.

Follow 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Tom Watson on Twitter, @TomWatsonPGA.

Golf-More pain for Westwood as Open dream fades away

Golf-More pain for Westwood as Open dream fades away

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July 21, 2013 2:58 PM


By Martyn Herman

GULLANE, Scotland, July 21 (Reuters) - Lee Westwoodwill never give up on the British Open but, if victory continues to elude him, he will recall a grey Sunday at Muirfield when he reached the seventh tee with a three-shot lead.

With others at the top of the leaderboard, most notably world number one Tiger Woods, struggling the 40-year-old Englishman, playing in the final pairing, seemed perfectly placed to finally realise his boyhood dream.

Just as it had on numerous other occasions in his 61 previous bids to win one of golf's four crown jewels, hope was devoured by bunkers, tangled rough and the brilliance of others.

Westwood is used to answering questions about his ability to close out majors and shrugged off his latest setback, although this one will surely hurt more than most.

"I'm not too disappointed. I don't really get disappointed with golf any more," said the third-round leader who ended up joint third after a four-over 75.

"I'll keep putting myself in contention. I didn't do a lot wrong today. I just didn't do enough right," he told reporters.

Westwood glanced at the scoreboard on the seventh to see that he was alone on three-under, the only player left in the tournament below par after four days on a brutish links course.

He took an age to size up his tee shot at the 184-yard par-three that was playing into the wind.

Finally he settled over his ball and hit what looked to be the perfect shot, launched directly towards the pin.

Sadly his ball stalled before the green and landed in one of the deep crater-like bunkers that litter the course.

SO CALM


Westwood had seemed calm and collected until then, refusing to panic when he bungled the third hole and hitting back with a birdie at the fifth to roars from the expectant galleries.

However, as his ball plugged in the sand in front of a sheer face, he turned around and snapped at a photographer who he said had clicked his shutter at the top of his backswing.

Suddenly former world number one Westwood looked vulnerable.

Faced with a horrible bunker shot, his first attempt saw his ball roll back into the sand. His second was better and he courageously holed a sizeable bogey putt to limit the damage.

His ball was sucked into sand again at the eighth, resulting in another dropped shot.

The round was fraying and it began to unravel at the ninth when he found the rough, then a bunker and walked off with only a par from a hole playing partner Hunter Mahan eagled after a magnificent second shot.

Seemingly in the blink of an eye his lead had gone but, unlike Saturday when he also surrendered a three-stroke advantage before forging ahead to start the fourth round with a two-stroke lead, there was to be no grandstand finish.

After a missed birdie putt at the 10th, Westwood glanced over his shoulder to see Australian Adam Scott had moved into the lead.

The shouts of 'C'mon Lee' from the crowd took on a forlorn tone and when the Englishman bogeyed two par-threes on the back nine, his intended victory march had begun to resemble a wake.

Phil Mickelson was rightly lauded for a breathtaking final round of 66, snatching the title by three shots, but Westwood will again face sniping about his failure to seize his big chance.

A subdued Westwood, veteran of eight Ryder Cups and with 22 European Tour titles to his name, took some consolation from 43-year-old Mickelson's perseverance.

"They should rename this the over-40s championship because it seems you have to be 42 or 43 to win it these days," he said through gritted teeth referring to last year's victory by Ernie Els and the 2011 triumph of his close friend Darren Clarke. (Editing by Tony Jimenez)

Poulter's Sunday charge comes up just short

Poulter's Sunday charge comes up just short

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PGA.COM July 21, 2013 3:01 PM

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Ian Poulter had his best finish at his home major since 2008.(Getty Images)


By Steve Douglas, Associated Press

GULLANE, Scotland -- As his long putt for eagle dipped into the heart of the cup on the ninth green, Ian Poulter strode after the ball with purpose and wound up a huge fist pump in celebration.

The Englishman was starting a hot streak of putts to muscle into contention at the Open Championship on Sunday.

"They were going in the middle, like they were in Medinah,"Poulter said, recalling his memorable barrage of hole-winning putts for Europe during last year's Ryder Cup. "The excitement, the atmosphere, the fans out there were certainly giving me a lot of electricity and pumping me up."

After starting the final round eight shots off the lead on 5 over par, Poulter had given himself next to no chance of reeling in the leaders at Muirfield as he went to bed on Saturday.

But by the time he was teeing off on No. 13, having made that eagle and then birdies at the next three holes, he was level par and two strokes off imploding leader Lee Westwood. As Poulter fiddled with his sunglasses while walking down the 13th fairway, he had that determined look on his face that has been seen so many times during Ryder Cups.

"As I rolled that putt in right there to get myself back to level par, I was right there in the mix," Poulter said. "I think Westie had made bogey at that stage and was at 2-under par. Yeah, I realized then that they've got a lot of tricky holes to play to get to the position that I was in."

All sorts of things were going through Poulter's mind -- Paul Lawrie's victory in the 1999 Open at Carnoustie after starting the final round 10 shots behind Jean van de Velde, the six-shot swing in last year's tournament that enabled Ernie Els to edge Adam Scott to the claret jug.


"This tournament does it year in, year out, and it creates a lot of drama," Poulter said.

He bogeyed No. 16 after an errant tee shot but still posted a 4-under 67 for a total of 1 over.

A flight that was booked for 8:00 p.m. local time -- about two hours after the last group was due to finish -- was swiftly canceled, with many of the contenders starting to drop behind Poulter. First Tiger Woods, then Adam Scott, Hunter Mahan and countryman Westwood.

Phil Mickelson, though, stayed strong down the stretch and finished four shots ahead of him. There was to be no first major for Poulter.

But he was at least able to celebrate his best finish at his home major since 2008, when he was second behind Padraig Harrington at Royal Birkdale.

"I managed to chop into the guys' lead somewhat around the turn ... I really put myself in a nice position. It's a shame to bogey No. 16, not birdie No. 17," Poulter said. "But 4-under par in those circumstances was obviously a very good round of golf. I'm pleased but I can certainly look back and look at a couple of putts that probably slipped by, which might be what's required to have put my hands on the trophy."

Like in the lead-up to the 2008 Open, Poulter changed his putter before arriving at Muirfield.

"Maybe," he quipped, "I need to change my putter every week."

Westwood's Open hopes dashed by Mickelson

Westwood's Open hopes dashed by Mickelson

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PGA.COM July 21, 2013 3:18 PM

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Lee Westwood came to grief in a deep bunker on the seventh hole Sunday.(Getty Images)


By Steve Douglas, Associated Press

GULLANE, Scotland -- While Phil Mickelson was hoisting the claret jug on the 18th green to roars and applause, Lee Westwood was about 40 yards away in the corner of a press tent, explaining how yet another major championship got away from him.

"I wanted to be there on the 18th green right now, that's pretty obvious," Westwood said, briefly turning his eyes to a nearby TV screen to see Mickelson parading the trophy.

Seeking a first major title to erase his "nearly man" tag, Westwood began the final round of the Open Championship with a two-stroke lead. But he shot a 4-over 75 to finish four strokes behind the fast-finishing Mickelson, tied for third place with Ian Poulter and Adam Scott.

"I'm not too disappointed," Westwood said. "I don't really get disappointed with golf anymore."

Westwood has come to live with near misses at golf's biggest tournaments. This was his eighth top-three finish in 62 majors and, at 40, he may never have a better chance again.

File this in the same drawer as the 2009 Open at Turnberry, where he three-putted to miss out on a playoff, and the 2010 Masters in which he led after 54 holes.

Never has he had such a cushion going into a final round, but he couldn't build any momentum and regularly put himself in trouble. Three plugged lies in bunkers on Nos. 7, 8, and 9 resulted in two dropped shots, relinquishing his lead, and many of his drives dribbled off the fairways into the light rough or, even worse, the thick stuff.

Westwood didn't make a birdie on a back nine he has struggled with all week.


"I wouldn't have done anything different for breakfast, or carried three markers in the pocket instead of two," Westwood said. "I never second-guess myself. So there's no point in doing it, you just do what feels right at the time."

Westwood has 38 wins around the world, climbed atop the rankings in 2010 to end Tiger Woods' five-year reign and has been an integral part of a string of Ryder Cup-winning Europe teams. But that first major remains elusive, just like it does for compatriot Luke Donald.

He moved to Florida ahead of the 2013 season, seeking a warmer climate and to test himself on PGA Tour 20 years after turning professional.

And his recent decision to use former Open champion Ian Baker-Finch as a putting coach has improved his posture to address the worst department of his game. For the first three rounds at Muirfield, Westwood was solid on the greens but his touch deserted him when it mattered most.

"Sometimes you play well and somebody plays a bit better, and sometimes you play poorly. I didn't really do either today and Phil obviously played well," Westwood said. "But you've got to play well to give yourself your own momentum, and I just couldn't get there today."

As Westwood addressed a putt on No. 14, a huge roar came from over on No. 17. Mickelson had just made birdie to move to 2 under and stretch his lead.

Westwood missed.

He'll try for a 63rd time at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill next month.

"I'm a philosophical person," Westwood said. "It just doesn't wind me up or get to me anymore."

Mahan baby present on way after Snedeker's Canadian win

Mahan baby present on way after Snedeker's Canadian win

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Steve Keating July 28, 2013

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Hunter Mahan of the U.S. greets fans as he walks off the eighteenth green at the Canadian Open golf tournament …


By Steve Keating

OAKVILLE, Ontario (Reuters) - Brandt Snedeker will use some of the $1 million purse from his Canadian Open win on Sunday to buy Hunter Mahan's new baby daughter Zoe a gift after his rival surrendered a shot at a big payday to return home for her birth.

"Zoe will be getting a very nice baby gift from me," saidSnedeker after his three-shot victory at Glen Abbey Golf Club. "I can't thank Kandi (Mahan) enough for going into labor early, otherwise I don't know if I'd be sitting here if she hadn't.

"But that is a way more important thing than a golf tournament. I missed a golf tournament when my first was born and it was the best decision I ever made."

Snedeker, in fact, might well have thought it was his birthday with all the gifts he received at the Canadian Open.

After Mahan walked away from a two-shot lead on Saturday and cleared the way for Snedeker to take over top spot,Dustin Johnson, tied for the lead, triple-bogeyed the 17th on Sunday to gift the FedExCup champion a three-shot victory.

"I've been through this before when Kyle Stanley made a big number on the last hole and some people say he gave me the tournament," said Snedeker. "This is kind of right there with that.

"When Hunter was playing so great, he would have been tough to catch over the last two days but he's not here so there is no point in going down that road."


With his victory, the 32-year-old American joins Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar as the only players with multiple wins season. Since 2011, only Woods, with seven titles, has had more wins than Snedeker with five.

One of the game's best putters, Snedeker started the season as the PGA Tour's hottest player with a win, two runner-up finishes and a third place from five starts to race to the top of the FedExCup standings.

But following his victory at Pebble Beach in February, Snedeker put himself on the sidelines to rest his sore rib cage to be ready for the year's first major.

He missed five weeks and ever since has been working at returning to his dazzling early season form.

"It feels like two completely different years for me," said Snedeker. "First part of the year, I couldn't do anything wrong. I was playing fantastic, and I got injured.

"I feel like I've been fighting to get myself back to the way I was at the beginning of the year.

"I'm not saying I'm there but I'm close to the way I was playing in the beginning of the year.

"It feels great to get a win. To validate all the hard work I've put in over the past three months where I haven't played my best and know that I'm working on the right stuff and able to hold up under some pretty serious pressure this afternoon."

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Lateral Hazard: Hunter Mahan's $1 million decision opens door for Brandt Snedeker win

Lateral Hazard: Hunter Mahan's $1 million decision opens door for Brandt Snedeker win

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Brian Murphy July 28, 2013Yahoo Sports



Brandt Snedeker took advantage of Hunter Mahan's departure by winning the Canadian Open. (AP)
Brandt Snedeker attacks a golf course like a man having fun. He walks briskly, he takes no longer than 10 seconds to hit crisp golf shot after crisp golf shot, and he’s more than likely to roll in that putt, thank you very much, and darn near skip to the next tee box.



It seems like good things happen to guys like that. Put positive energy into the universe, maybe some positive energy comes back your way.

And so it was that Saturday afternoon outside of Toronto, at Glen Abbey Golf Course, at the Canadian Open,Snedeker was blistering his way to a third-round 63 when he glanced at the leaderboard and noticed something was missing.

Namely, the leader.

By now, surely you know that Hunter Mahan, owner of a healthy 36-hole lead in Canada, 13-under entering Saturday, two up on John Merrick, four up on Bubba Watson, eight up on Snedeker and playing great golf just a week after playing in the final twosome at the British Open, left Canada moments before his third-round tee time when he got word his wife was in labor with their first child.




Hunter Mahan had a healthy lead before bolting for Texas. (AP)Imagine Snedeker’s feeling when he glanced at that leaderboard and picked up on the fact that Mahan was not only not in the lead anymore, he wasn’t even in the country. Snedeker had to see this as an open invitation to go ahead and win the gosh darn Canadian Open, right? I mean, when the guy you trailed by eight strokes vanishes from the premises and you’re carving a tight little 63 on Moving Day, you’ve got to start thinking it’s your weekend.



For ‘Sneds’, this had to be the golf equivalent of cruising through the players’ lounge, seeing a giant piece of peanut butter-chocolate cake sitting, untouched, in front of Mahan, and seeing Mahan excuse himself from the table. In that situation, you have no choice but to eye the cake, stop Mahan on his way out and ask, almost incredulous: “Dude … you gonna eat that?” When Mahan answers in the negative, if you’re Snedeker, well, then, dive right in. Cake, ahoy. Tuck in the napkin. Eat up.

Next thing you know, Snedeker’s Sunday 70 was enough to hold off a charging Dustin Johnson – who went right into the ditch with a triple-bogey on the 71st hole – and the kid outta Vanderbilt with the country club name, Tom Watson’s swing and a growing résumé had his second win of the year, a nice companion piece to go with February’s AT&T triumph at Pebble Beach.

Moreover, his five wins since the start of 2011 trails only Tiger Woods’ seven on Tour. He and Tiger have something else in common, too: they’re both major-less in that time. Granted, Tiger has a 14-spot of majors to fall back on, while Snedeker, at 32, has yet to win one.

But the PGA Championship starts a week from Thursday at Oak Hill, and you’d of course be silly to overlook the seventh-ranked player in the world who, statistically, is about as overall solid as they come – third in birdies, 17th in putting, 26th in greens in regulation. And he’s been knocking on the major doors for a while now, including a tie-6th at the Masters, a tie-17th at the U.S. Open and a tie-11th at the British Open just this year.

If Snedeker sticks to his game plan – fairways, greens and having leaders vanish on weekends – I don’t see any way he keeps being denied.

SCORECARD OF THE WEEK

67-64 – W/D – Hunter Mahan, 13-under, 36-hole leader, Canadian Open, Glen Abbey GC, Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

And a hearty congratulations and mazel tov and all that to Kandi and Hunter Mahan, proud parents of baby girl Zoe Olivia, born Sunday at 3:26 a.m. Central time in the Mahan’s hometown of Dallas. Daddy made it to the hospital in time, experienced the miracle of child birth, and now, like all new parents, has to be asking himself the questions we all ask: How amazing was that? How much more can I love my wife for being so tough and brave? How beautiful is our little daughter? When will she stop crying? Do I really have to change diapers for the next three or four years? What have I gotten myself into?

Rimshot! Just kidding, Hunter. It just gets better and better and you are a lucky man.

Now, the question: Will Zoe always realize that Daddy passed on a possible $1.008 million payday for her sake, and will she keep that in mind when, as a teenager, she slams her bedroom door because Daddy won’t let her use the car?




Hunter and Kandi Mahan pose for a picture after Hunterwon the Shell Houston Open in 2012. (Getty)Deservedly, Mahan received plaudits from around the golf world for putting family first. Times have changed, though. Just 30 years ago, players in all sports routinely missed births. In baseball, San Francisco Giants pitcher Mike Krukow once learned of his wife’s successful birth of their child by reading it on the Candlestick Park scoreboard – while he was on the mound.



Some wondered aloud if Mahan would have had the same paternal instincts were he leading the Masters, or U.S. Open. I’d think he would. There will always be another major. There won’t always be another Zoe.

Phil Mickelson set the precedent back in 1999 when he carried a beeper (so late ‘90s!) at Pinehurst to alert him if his wife, Amy, were to go into labor – while he played in the final twosome with Payne Stewart on Sunday at the U.S. Open. Lee Westwood skipped the 2001 Masters for the birth of a child. So, it has happened. What made Mahan’s more notable is that he was halfway home to a big payday and a nice win.

But via the miracle of social media, we all saw Mahan’s maternity ward photo of his wife and he and Zoe, surrounded by loving family, smiles all around. It was clearly the right call, and with $2.3 million in the bank already in 2013 for Mahan in 19 starts, I’m presuming the Mahans can afford a nanny while he takes aim at a PGA Championship in August.

BROADCAST MOMENT OF THE WEEK

“I can’t see it” – Mark Wiebe, teeing off in the dark, replayed on The Golf Channel, in Senior British Openplayoff with Bernhard Langer at Royal Birkdale.

If you’re reading this column, you’re more than likely a golf junkie. And if you’re a golf junkie, you’ve more than likely tried to squeeze in that last hole well after sunset, when you have no chance of finding your tee ball. So what you do is, you hit, you hope to find it in the fairway with your night-vision goggles, and if you don’t you drop another one and keep hitting, emptying your bag of all those scuffed Pinnacles you’ve kept in your bag for just this special moment.

But for Wiebe and playoff foe Langer, there was no “Hey, I can’t find this, let’s just drop one, hit and go get dinner” moment. This was the Senior British Open! In a playoff! In the dark!

And for anyone who’s been in the United Kingdom in the summer, you know it stays light quite late, so Langher and Wiebe were bumping up against 10 p.m., which is sort of late on a Sunday to be playing major championship golf.

A couple of key notes here: One, Wiebe found his ball, because he striped it, center cut. New slogan: These Guys Are Good, Even in the Frickin’ Dark. And two, the only reason they were in a playoff was because Langer pulled one of the biggest meltdowns of the year, making double bogey on the par-4 72nd hole at Birkdale to blow a two-shot lead and allow Wiebe into a playoff.

TV cameras caught Wiebe’s face as Langer made a mess of the 18th – misplayed second shot from the fairway into a greenside bunker short; a bunker shot off the face; a missed 6-footer for bogey – and even he seemed to be thinking: “Man, what a mess. Now I have to go play nocturnal golf?”

Of course, as Wiebe and Langher are members of the 50-and-over crowd, you could make plenty of jokes about strained eyesight, driving in the dark, you name it. It ended with no resolution, either. They played two playoff holes with essentially no daylight, and both made pars, even without coal-miner’s helmets.

MULLIGAN OF THE WEEK

I can’t mathematically prove this, because it would take re-reading all of my columns over the last four or five years, and Lord knows nobody wants do to that, least of all me. But, I’m pretty sure Dustin Johnson is my all-time leader in Mullys o’ the Week.

There’s something so alluringly tragic about Johnson’s game. He’s got monstrous amounts of talent, mixed with heaping helpings of mental breakdowns. We were all introduced to this in the summer of 2010, when his third-round U.S. Open lead at Pebble Beach was immolated Sunday in startlingly quick fashion; and we doubled down on this when he decided to not read the local rules at Whistling Straits at the 2010 PGA Championship, and couldn’t tell a bunker from a patch of dirt.




Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky pose for a picture while in Germany. (Getty)Since then, we’ve gotten to know Dustin Johnson, in all his glory. He can win, and even did so just weeks after Whistling Straits in the FedEx Cup playoffs. He won a FedEx playoff event in 2011, too. He won at Memphis in 2012, and won at Maui earlier this year to keep his six-year win streak alive. He also keeps company with the beautiful and glamorous Paulina Gretzky, and keeps the world informed of their 20-something whirlwind trip through their hormones with Instagram after Instagram.



Put simply, Johnson can win anytime he tees it up. Or, he can implode.

Fast-forward to the Canadian Open, final round. Here came Johnson, off a Saturday 63, making his move on Sunday. He birdied Nos. 2, 5, 13 and 16 and was four-under coming to the 17th hole, tied with Snedekerfor the lead. With the par-5 18th looming, and with Johnson as one of the biggest bombers on Tour, he was sniffing victory, big.

And then Dustin Johnson added a chapter to his lore. He used driver on the par-4 17th when driver wasn’t entirely necessary, and he hit what he called “by far” his worst drive of the week. It went right, way right. Way, way right. O.B. right. He made triple-bogey on the hole, and that was that.

Afterward, Johnson told The Golf Channel he’d hit driver again. Then, in that South Carolina drawl of his, he said in a sort of charming way to Scott Walker of The Golf Channel: “I guess it went into y’all’s compound, didn’t it?” Yes, the golf ball was so O.B., it did land near the TV compound. That Johnson pointed that out is all part of the Dustin Johnson persona. You wonder if he’s devastated by these events, or mildly amused, or nonplussed, or all of the above.

So, let’s head back out to 17 tee, remind Johnson that he’s good enough to win anytime, anywhere, that we’d love to see him head to the 72nd hole with a chance to win, maybe suggest holstering the driver and . . . give that man a mulligan!

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

It’s big boy time at Akron.

The World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational, at a golf course where Tiger has won seven times but not since 2009, is a mighty thing. All of the top 50 players in the world, save for the injured Louis Oosthuizen, will play. That means we get to see British Open champ Phil (Everybody’s Hero) Mickelson, and maybe he’ll replicate his Claret Jug-toting visit to Callaway and play in flip flops. Tiger will be hungry, of course.

And Rory McIlroy will be there, a week after Gary Player told a British radio station some of Rory’s decisions to de-emphasize golf and over-emphasize his love life have “perturbed” him. Listen up, Rors. When the 77-year-old guy who’s good enough and fit enough to go starkers on the cover of ESPN’s The Body Issue talks, you’d better listen.

A Lesson Learned: Holistic Golf

A Lesson Learned: Holistic Golf

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Christian Czaja, PGA July 28, 2013


One of the things that strikes me about Brandt Snedeker, this week's champion of the RBC Canadian Open, is that he is a complete golfer. That may read incredibly obvious, but I'm saying from a PGA Instruction perspective, it's obvious he has no weakness anywhere in his golf game. There is a great amount of attention given to his putting (rightfully so!) but he is a complete golfer in every sense. He drives the ball straight, has plenty of distance, has solid iron play, a very good short game and of course, a sometimes magical putting stroke. Wouldn't we all love to say we had those golf skills?

And this leads to this week's "A Lesson Learned".

Golf is a game played from tee to green (and to the hole) and it amazes me how many amateur golfers seem to forget that while practicing on their own. How much time do you spend on your tee shots vs. on the putting green? How about your bunker practice? Do you hit chip shots and pitch shots and lob shots too?

The name of the game in golf is scoring. Why don't you score better? Most of my students say - "putting." It makes sense, right? Actually, maybe you don't putt better because you keep leaving yourself ten feet on your chips. Or maybe your irons, when they do find the green, leave you too far away to reasonably expect to two-putt. Or maybe your irons aren't very good because you keep having to hit approach shots out of the trees or deep rough.

The bottom line is, golf is a holistic game and there's a very good chance you do not really know what the weakest areas of your game might be.


One of the things I recommend to students who are serious about becoming better golfers is to take a few playing lessons with a PGA Professional, a total golf immersion experience in fact, so that they can give you a top to bottom assessment of your golf game.

We can keep statistics, help you play the percentages, work on your mental game and composure as well as teach the basic skills for a consistent, repeatable swing or putting stroke. When you put ALL of those elements together, you will become a better golfer.

Brandt Snedeker could take your tee shot and still shoot a good score. He could chip/pitch/putt from where your approach shots end up and put up a strong number. Why? Because he's a complete golfer - which he showed time and time again. He doesn't lose his cool, he never gets flustered and he has the skills to play any number of shots from any spot on the course.

You may never develop all the skills of a Brandt Snedeker, but you should develop all the skills that you can to get the most out of your time on the course. Think of golf as a building, each shot a brick in the foundation - all of the bricks needed to complete the project.

Get a professional eye to be the architect, to look at each brick, each wall, each wing until the building is complete. I think you'll be happy you did.

Christian Czaja is the PGA Golf Instructor at Boca West Country Club in Boca Raton, Florida and is a popular SwingFix Instructor for the Golf Channel. Czaja was voted 2010 South Florida PGA Section Teacher of the Year. Chris conducts Teaching Seminars and is often asked to share his coaching secrets with otherPGA professionals around the country. You can sign up for lessons by contacting Chris via his websitewww.christianczaja.com

Park's run ends as Lewis wins at St Andrews

Park's run ends as Lewis wins at St Andrews

August 4, 2013







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South Korea's Inbee Park plays her approach shot to the 16th hole during the Women's British Open golf …


(Reuters) - Park Inbee's run of consecutive major victories ended after Stacy Lewis of the United States came from behind to win the women's British Open by two shots at St Andrews on Sunday.

Park, aiming to become the first golfer of either gender to win four majors in a calendar year, was never in contention in Scotland, a final round six-over par 78 consigning the world number one to six-over for the tournament and share of 42nd place.

World number two Lewis was one of a number of players forced to play their third round on Sunday morning after high winds caused the suspension of play on Saturday.

She was one shot behind leader Morgan Pressel heading into the final round, but at one stage found herself three shots behind 36-hole leader Choi Na-yeon.

Lewis birdied the final two holes to finish the round on par and with an eight-under par total of 280 for the tournament, while Choi produced three bogeys in the final six holes as she recorded a one-over 73.


"It all happened so fast there at the end, you're fighting for every shot and then all of a sudden you make a couple of birdies and it's over with," Lewis said in the televised victory presentation.

Lewis, whose other major victory came at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2011, had to wait while Choi finished her final holes.

"Those last few holes are playing so hard and with the pressure, but obviously I did it so it was doable, so I tried to stay in the moment and be ready for a playoff if it happened," she said.

South Korea's Choi tied for second at six-under with compatriot Park Hee-young.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman and Josh Reich in London; Editing by Clare Fallon and Brian Homewood)

Golf-Players with most PGA Tour wins

Golf-Players with most PGA Tour wins

August 4, 2013









Aug 4 (Reuters) - Most career victories on the PGA Tour, following the 79th win by Tiger Woods on the U.S. circuit in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Clubin Akron, Ohio on Sunday:

82 - Sam Snead

79 - Tiger Woods

73 - Jack Nicklaus

64 - Ben Hogan

62 - Arnold Palmer

52 - Byron Nelson (Compiled by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Julian Linden)

Golf-Most wins in a single PGA Tour event

Golf-Most wins in a single PGA Tour event

August 4, 2013









Aug 4 (Reuters) - Most wins in a single event on the PGA Tour, following the seven-shot victory by Tiger Woods in theWGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio on Sunday:

8 - Sam Snead, Greater Greensboro Open (1938, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1965); Tiger Woods, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013); Arnold Palmer Invitational (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013)

7 - Tiger Woods, Farmers Insurance Open (1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013); WGC-Cadillac Championship (1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013)

6 - Harry Vardon, British Open (1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914); Alex Ross, North and South Open (1902, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1915); Sam Snead, Miami Open (1937, 1939, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1955); Jack Nicklaus, Masters (1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986) (Compiled by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Julian Linden)

New dad Mahan back to golf at PGA Championship

New dad Mahan back to golf at PGA Championship


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Hunter Mahan displays a photo of his daughter Zoe during a press conference at the PGA Championship golf tournament at Oak Hill Country Club, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013, in Pittsford, N.Y. Mahan withdrew from the Canadian Open to be with his wife when Zoe was born. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
RACHEL COHEN (AP Sports Writer) August 6, 2013AP - Sports








PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) -- The Mahan family still awaits that promised baby gift from Brandt Snedeker.

''I have not received it yet,'' proud papa Hunter Mahan said with a grin, ''but I am waiting patiently.''

Mahan feels as though he hasn't played golf in a month. In fact, it's been only a week-and-a-half since he pulled out of the Canadian Open with the 36-hole lead, opening the door for Snedeker to win.

A lot has happened since then, of course. Mahan rushed home to Dallas in time to witness the birth of his first child.

He skipped the Bridgestone Invitational last week to be with his daughter, Zoe Olivia. His parents visited from California, and Mahan, an only child, loved the sensation of having a big family around.

Now he feels primed to resume his chase of that elusive first major.

''I really soaked it in and appreciated it and used it wisely,'' Mahan said Tuesday, two days before he opens the PGA Championship at Oak Hill. ''I felt like I got that out of my system to where I can come back to here and be focused and play. I knew if I tried to maybe force it and play last week, I would have wanted to be two places at once, and it just wouldn't have worked out. But I felt prepared to leave them and I felt prepared to be here.''

His wife keeps sending photos and videos, which also helps. And, Mahan noted, ''it's easier now, because Zoe can't tell me how much she's going to miss me.''

Mahan's third-round tee time had been pushed back because of the threat of lightning on July 27 in Oakville, Ontario. He'd just finished lunch with agent Chris Armstrong and headed for the driving range. Then Armstrong got a call from Mahan's wife, Kandi, who was several weeks from her due date.

Once they found out her water had broke, the decision to leave was easy: The baby was coming soon.

There was just the matter of figuring out how to get back quickly to Texas. They were looking into private jets, commercial flights, trying to sort out how to rush through customs. Then a buddy told Mahan that he could get on a friend's company plane that was leaving in about 90 minutes.


Mahan landed in the Dallas area around 6:30 p.m. and was at the hospital by about 7:15, where his wife had just received an epidural. Zoe was born at 3:26 a.m., though it was all such a blur Mahan could've sworn only a half-hour had passed since his arrival.

A few hours later, Snedeker won the Canadian Open and promised a ''very nice baby gift'' for the Mahans. He said last week he had yet to decide on what it would be.

Tiger Woods, a father of two, said Tuesday: ''He made the perfect choice. Actually, there wasn't any.''

Mahan acknowledged he later went on Twitter, curious to see the reaction to his decision.

''Usually Twitter, they tell me how much I suck all the time and how dumb I am, so I figured somebody would say, 'You're an idiot. You didn't know what you're doing. You can't throw away (a potential win),''' he said. ''But I didn't see that.''

''Maybe,'' he added, ''I didn't look far enough down.''

But Mahan isn't really surprised by the response. He figures most everyone can relate to his situation.

''I think people are just ready for a great story in sports,'' he said.

The 31-year-old Mahan is now looking to write a great sports story on the course. He played in the last group at the previous two majors but couldn't put together a strong enough final round either time.

Mahan shot 75 on Sunday at the U.S. Open to tie for fourth, four strokes behind Justin Rose. At the British, he shot another 75 that left him tied for ninth, six strokes back of Phil Mickelson.

''I can't really point to one thing,'' Mahan said. ''I just know that I've played exactly how I wanted to play, and I didn't let the situation kind of overrun me, and I had a great time doing it. Those types of experiences are just invaluable to have. I feel very excited and encouraged about what I've done and excited about this week.''

Golf-Elusive 15th major title proving toughest to win for Woods

Golf-Elusive 15th major title proving toughest to win for Woods

August 6, 2013








By Mark Lamport-Stokes

ROCHESTER, New York, Aug 6 (Reuters) - The stars could hardly be better aligned for Tiger Woods to end a five-year major title drought at this week's PGA Championship, though he feels the task has been the most difficult of his career.

Woods has not won one of golf's elite championships since his remarkable playoff victory at the 2008 U.S. Open, often playing his way into contention over the first two rounds in recent years only for his game to fade over the weekend.

"It kind of seems that way," he told reporters on Tuesday. "It's been probably the longest spell that I've had since I last won a major championship.

"I came out here (on the PGA Tour) very early and got my first one back in '97."

Woods turned professional in late 1996 and romped to a record 12-stroke victory the following April as he became the youngest ever winner at the Masters, aged 21.

He piled up a further 13 major titles over the next decade at an astonishing rate before his barren run began, hardly helped by the breakdown of his marriage in early 2010, assorted injury problems and the fourth swing change of his career.

"I've had my opportunities there on the back nine on probably half of those Sundays for the last five years where I've had a chance, and just haven't won it," he said.

"But the key is to keep giving myself chances, and eventually I'll start getting them."


RUNAWAY VICTORY

Woods comes into Oak Hill for the year's final major on a high, having romped to victory by seven shots in the elite WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday.

Every aspect of his game appeared to be in top order last week as he clinched the 79th PGA Tour victory of his career, and a record eighth title in the World Golf Championships (WGC) event.

"Obviously I feel pretty good about winning by seven and coming here," smiled Woods, who claimed the most recent of his four PGA Championship titles in 2007.

"Overall, I feel very pleased with where my game is at. I've played well in the last two tournaments I've played in, especially coming off a little bit of an injury (wrist) at the (U.S.) Open. I'm very pleased about that."

Woods tied for sixth in last month's British Open at Muirfield, where he was ultimately undone by poor putting as his title bid unravelled with a three-over-par 74 in the final round.

The in-form Woods, who has been installed as the PGA Championship favourite at 7-2 by British bookmakers William Hill, said he would describe his year as "great" even if he failed to triumph this week.

"This year, for me, has been a great year so far, winning five times," he explained. "And you look at the quality of tournaments I've won, a Players (title) and two World Golf Championships in there, that's pretty good."

Pressed on whether it would still be a great year for him if he ended his 2013 campaign without a single major title, Woods replied: "Yeah, I think so.

"We certainly have, what, four more big events after this," he said, referring to the PGA Tour's lucrative end-of-season playoff events. "A lot of things can happen, but I'm focused on this week and trying to win this one." (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Julian Linden)

Elusive 15th major title proving toughest to win for Woods

Elusive 15th major title proving toughest to win for Woods

Mark Lamport-Stokes August 6, 2013







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By Mark Lamport-Stokes

ROCHESTER, New York (Reuters) - The stars could hardly be better aligned for Tiger Woods to end a five-year major title drought at this week's PGA Championship, though he feels the task has been the most difficult of his career.

Woods has not won one of golf's elite championships since his remarkable playoff victory at the 2008 U.S. Open, often playing his way into contention over the first two rounds in recent years only for his game to fade over the weekend.

"It kind of seems that way," he told reporters on Tuesday. "It's been probably the longest spell that I've had since I last won a major championship.

"I came out here (on the PGA Tour) very early and got my first one back in '97."


Woods turned professional in late 1996 and romped to a record 12-stroke victory the following April as he became the youngest ever winner at the Masters, aged 21.

He piled up a further 13 major titles over the next decade at an astonishing rate before his barren run began, hardly helped by the breakdown of his marriage in early 2010, assorted injury problems and the fourth swing change of his career.

"I've had my opportunities there on the back nine on probably half of those Sundays for the last five years where I've had a chance, and just haven't won it," he said.

"But the key is to keep giving myself chances, and eventually I'll start getting them."

RUNAWAY VICTORY
View gallery."
Tiger Woods of the U.S. watches his putt on the 14th green during a practice round for the 2013 PGA …

Woods comes into Oak Hill for the year's final major on a high, having romped to victory by seven shots in the elite WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday.

Every aspect of his game appeared to be in top order last week as he clinched the 79th PGA Tour victory of his career, and a record eighth title in the World Golf Championships (WGC) event.

"Obviously I feel pretty good about winning by seven and coming here," smiled Woods, who claimed the most recent of his four PGA Championship titles in 2007.

"Overall, I feel very pleased with where my game is at. I've played well in the last two tournaments I've played in, especially coming off a little bit of an injury (wrist) at the (U.S.) Open. I'm very pleased about that."

Woods tied for sixth in last month's British Open at Muirfield, where he was ultimately undone by poor putting as his title bid unraveled with a three-over-par 74 in the final round.
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Fans look on as Tiger Woods of the U.S. walks on the 13th hole during a practice round for the 2013 …

The in-form Woods, who has been installed as the PGA Championship favorite at 7-2 by British bookmakers William Hill, said he would describe his year as "great" even if he failed to triumph this week.

"This year, for me, has been a great year so far, winning five times," he explained. "And you look at the quality of tournaments I've won, a Players (title) and two World Golf Championships in there, that's pretty good."

Pressed on whether it would still be a great year for him if he ended his 2013 campaign without a single major title, Woods replied: "Yeah, I think so.

"We certainly have, what, four more big events after this," he said, referring to the PGA Tour's lucrative end-of-season playoff events. "A lot of things can happen, but I'm focused on this week and trying to win this one."

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Julian Linden)