Tiger Woods is in jeopardy of losing his number one ranking at this week’s Bridgestone Invitational. Both Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson had the chance to overtake Tiger coming into this weekend if TW, but Westwood has withdrawn with that same nagging leg injury he’s had for a few weeks. He will not be playing in next week’s PGA Championship either. Speculation is that he’s resting up the leg for the Ryder Cup.
Phil on the other hand, can overtake Tiger with a win or a top four and with Tiger finishing outside the top 37. With rounds of 74 + 72 (failing to break par in either of the first two rounds of the Bridgestone), Tiger currently sits at a tie for 72nd place.
SI has come out with their “Fortunate 50” list for 2010. Once again the top to highest paid athletes are golfers!
#1: Tiger Woods has been the highest paid athlete for seven years in a row, despite a drop in $22 million last year. Boy how much could you do with an extra $22 million per year? Was it worth it? Despite dropping $22 million, Tiger still brought in $90 million. I suspect that number will be smaller for next year.
#2: Phil Mickelson is once again #2 in earnings and brought in $61 million.
Thanks to my buddy Jason W. for referring me to an article from Joe Posnanski from SI. Had he not pointed it out I never would have read it. I rarely read articles by the regular sports media, or as they like to be called, “journalists.” I prefer to read my fellow golf bloggers. Most journalists love to point out that us bloggers are not journalists. In my case I take that as a compliment. Actually, I insist that I’m a blogger and not a journalist. That whole discussion is for another day.
All that circular gibberish aside, I officially like Joe and I’ll check out more of his pieces.
Joe’s article basically ponders the possibilities of Tiger’s “time” being over. Has his incredible run of regular PGA Tour and major championship victories ended? The bookies and many people in the media sure don’t seem to think so and neither did many of my buddies. I had Lee Westwood, Paul Casey and Padraig Harrington at the top of my list.
I reckon back to my golf round Tuesday in my men’s club when my buddy Dan asked me how Tiger would do in the (British) Open Championship. He asked me “field or Tiger?” I clearly and confidently answered “field.” Then I told him that despite the fact that St. Andrews seemed like a pitch and putt for Tiger in 2000 and 2005, I doubted Tiger would record a top 10 finish. My reason wasn’t that Tiger’s time was done, but rather his mind can’t be clear enough to concentrate at a level high enough to win a major so close to his personal issues and (apparent) divorce.
The next few years will be interesting to say the least. Can Tiger break Jack’s record or even threaten it? Many new players are surfacing and the fields do nothing but get stronger. Winning a major for anyone continues to get more and more difficult. Meanwhile, Tiger gets older. The mental drain he endures with his personal life and the ever irritating (to him) media grinds away at him and his ability to focus. It has to. He’s human.
Low scores abound in the first round at St. Andrews. Currently there are 70 players under par. A tie for the lowest round in a major championship by Rory McIlroy was posted, 63. He hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. For once I made a good fantasy pick with Rory.
Tiger Woods is in the clubhouse with a 67 as well as Sean O’Hair (also on my fantasy team). A note on Tiger: He has left his Scotty Cameron putter in the garage this week and switched to a new Nike Method putter. I guess he read my Nike Method Putter review and decided to make the switch.
John (freaking) Daly posted a 66! There’s something about JD’s and links golf which just works. All that raw talent seems to jive with links style golf. John adjusted his driver down a degree and a half and that seems to be working.
Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood are just starting their rounds and are at even par after two and four holes prespectively.
Many more rounds to go but low scores are the news. Any players who haven’t posted rounds under par have missed out on a big opportunity today.
The Hack Shack is a group of golf fans and golf bloggers who like to comment on the current events in the world of golf.
WE’VE HAD SOME TIME TO LET THINGS MARINATE FOR A BIT: WHAT ARE THE IMPRESSIONS FROM THE US OPEN THAT YOU THINK WILL STAY WITH YOU THE LONGEST?
Stefan – Pebble continues to be one of the most beautiful places in all of golf. Great win for McDowell. I’ve liked him since watching him with Rory in the World Cup last year. I go back and forth on that 14:th hole, whether it’s fair or if now and then professional golfers can just stop the whining and play the thing. Tom Watson walking up 18 was very memorable. I still maintain Tiger is not far away from being his usual world-beating self.
Jack – I thought it was a pretty memorable US Open. I love Pebble to death and, no matter how much players whinge about it, I still feel the same: you just can’t beat that place as a Major Championship venue. Woods is not himself, but I love the fact that he still has the ability to put the spark and electricity back into a tournament and its galleries with one round. Anyway, this one was all about McDowell for me. He left himself enough breathing room to make a few mistakes on Sunday, and walked away the worthy winner.
Jeff – I think this year’s US Open was great. You can’t get a better venue than Pebble Beach, and having Tom Watson there made it that much more memorable. It was great to see him not only be there because of his history at Pebble/US Open, but because he deserved to be and played quite well, all things considered.
That 14th hole is insane and I’m up in the air if it’s fair or not. I’ve heard fom Tour players that they say while it’s unbelievably difficult, it’s also very fair. But maybe it’s those guys just not wanting to make waves! I also thought the little 7th hole added some excitement. Nowhere else in the world do you see a 100 yard par 3 give the best players in the world such a headache. It was great to see Graeme McDowell play well and hold off the big guns of Woods, Mickelson, and Els. He’s been knocking on the door for a while and it was nice to see him break through. Hopefully the 2010 Open will be remembered more for his steady play under pressure, than Dustin Johnson’s complete meltdown.
Tony – I thought it was a good open but not a great one. I loved how the USGA had Pebble prepared, with the long grass around the bunkers and the difficulty level of the greens. The cool thing about this course’s length and setup was that it brought the whole field into play, not just the bombers. That being said a bomber (Dustin Johnson) was on the brink of winning the thing until he realized he was leading the US OPEN on Sunday and completely lost it. When he hit that shank/flop on #2 I knew he was toast. I almost fell out of my chair.
Regarding 14, I’m of the belief that it was fine. If all the players play the same hole in the same conditions that is fair. I personally like US OPEN golf and seeing the big boys struggle. It makes me feel like they’re actually human. I wonder how much easier 14 would have been if the players could have played it with square grooved wedges?
What I thought was most notable on Sunday was that everyone at the top of the leaderboard, including McDowell, gagged. Nobody within reach made a run at it. It was just that McDowell gagged the least and calmed himself down enough to pull it off on the back nine. Tiger, Phil and especially Ernie all had good chances to win the thing but they all made mistakes. Both Tiger and Phil had terrible putting days. It sounds like a broken record, but Tiger’s putting was “not Tiger like.” Phil has been hot and cold in US OPEN with his putting historically so it wasn’t as big of a surprise to me.
The one person who didn’t gag and was very impressive was Gregory Havret, who shot the best final round of those on page one of the leaderboard. His swing looked as good as any I’ve seen. I wonder if that was a flash in the pan or if we’ll see more of him.
I love Tom Watson. I followed Tom around on Tuesday at this year’s Masters practice round. He was so cool and nice. I think it is amazing that he made the cut in a US OPEN at that age and it shows how much of a stud he is.
WHERE DO YOU THINK TIGER’S GAME IS AT THIS TIME, AND HOW DO YOU THINK HE’LL DO THIS YEAR AND IN THE FUTURE?
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