Golf Blog

Archive for April, 2008

Trevor Immelman became the youngest man to win his first major championship since Tiger Woods.

Gary Player gave Immelman some advice before he played his final round yesterday. “Take your time today, Trevor,” Player said. “Keep your eye on the ball for an extra second when you are putting. Remember, you will have bad breaks and try and put them out of your mind and, above all, remember you are an excellent player. I know you can do it.” Player closed the message with an optimistic “good luck”. As it happened Immelman did not need any luck. Although he wobbled slightly midway through his round, none of his rivals provided a significant challenge.

Brandt Snedeker, the 2007 Rookie of the Year, who was nine under par and in the final pairing with Immelman, showed his inexperience and fell away, finishing four shots behind in a tie for third place. Paul Casey’s challenge withered. Four strokes behind Immelman, Casey blossomed at first, getting to eight under par after three holes, but then collapsed spectacularly to return a round of 79.

More surprising than this, however, was the failure of Woods to mount a challenge of note. The world No 1 was chasing a fourteenth victory in a major championship. When he wanted to be at his best so that he could send signals back to Immelman, who was playing two groups behind, Woods was not. He holed a 15-foot putt for a birdie on the 18th green to secure second place. Immelman won the 72nd Masters with a round of 75 that gave him victory by three strokes. He had become the first man since Severiano Ballesteros in 1980 to lead from start to finish and the first South African to win since Player 30 years ago.

A defining moment for Immelman came on the 9th when his second shot ended in the first of the two bunkers on the left-hand side of the green. “Trev’s in trouble now, I’m afraid,” Nick Faldo said on American television. “You can see the tension in his shoulders.”

With a good bunker shot and an even better eight-foot putt that had a couple of feet of break on it, Immelman holed out for a par, steadying himself, and moved to the 10th tee with a two-stroke lead. Immelman dropped a stroke on the 12th when his tee-shot ended in pine needles at the back of the green.

On the 16th, the last time he would have to play over water, he made a bad mistake. The safe shot on this hole is to the middle of the green. Immelman’s ball flew to the left, ending in the water perhaps 15 yards from where it should have landed. He got away with a five, dropping two strokes — his lead was now three.

When his drive at the 18th found the fairway, Immelman gave a visible exhalation. He had driven beautifully all week and, when he most wanted to, he had found the fairway. All that remained was a walk of 485 yards with the prospect of a green jacket waiting for him at the end.

Lorena Ochoa began playing golf at the very early age of five winning her first state event at the age of six and her first national event at seven and now holds the title of the number one ranked female golfer in the world. Ochoa secured her first major title in last year’s Women’s British Open and is a hot favourite for this week’s Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills Country Club after claiming a seven-shot victory at the Safeway International.

Ochoa has used Ping equipment in all 18 of her professional wins and has been using Ping clubs since she was 13 years old. Lorena Ochoa had 14 Ping clubs in her bag when she won the HSBC Champions tournament in Singapore recently but it was her use of the new Ping Redwood ZB putter that made the greatest impact.

Ochoa’s bag also includes:

• Ping Rapture Driver,
• Ping G10 3-wood,
• Ping Rapture 5-wood,
• Ping Rapture 21° Hybrid,
• Ping S58 irons (4-9, PW)
• Ping Tour Wedges (50° and 56°).

Titleist player Johnson Wagner earned his first PGA Tour victory and his first invitation to the Masters Tournament with a fantastic win at the Shell Houston Open. The 313th-ranked Wagner, who fired a course record-tying 9-under-par 63 in the opening round closed with a 1-under 71 to finish at 16-under 272, two shots clear of two players. One of his keys to victory was Titleist’s Z Blend Forged irons as well as the rest of his arsenal of Titleist equipment.

Wagner’s bag contains:

• Titleist Pro V1x balls,
• PRO Titanium 905R Driver,
• Pro Trajectory 904F Fairway,
• Z Blend Forged Irons,
• Vokey 200 Series Wedges,
• Vokey Spin Milled Wedges,
• Scotty Cameron Prototype Putter.

There are only 100 days to go until the 137^th Open Championship begins at Southport’s Royal Birkdale Golf Club. The Royal Birkdale Golf Club is one of Britain’s finest golf clubs and host to two Ryder Cups, the Walker and Curtis Cups, the Women’s British Open and the Open Golf Championship on eight occasions and has been voted the No 1 course in Britain as well as being considered one the best in the world.

The history of the Open Championship dates back to 1860 when Prestwick Golf Club put on an event for leading golf professionals. Eight players turned up and completed three rounds of the 12-hole course. In an effort to increase the number of entrants, the following year’s event was thrown open to professionals and amateurs alike around the world.

The 2008 Open will be the ninth time Royal Birkdale has been the host, the first time being in 1954 and then again in 1961, 1965, 1971 (The 100th Open), 1976, 1983, 1991 and 1998.

The Golf Buy It Online blog will be counting down to the 2008 Open looking at player profiles and the history of the championship. Once the Open begins we will be keeping an eye on the latest goings on, equipment used and the results.

Footjoy have been successfully providing thousands of Footjoy fans with personalised Myjoy golf shoes for three years now and it looks as though they’ll carry on providing them for years to come.  Recently added to the Myjoy Contour Series is the Myjoy Dryjoy Series complete with the Flextability of the PODS technology outsole.

Myjoy Dryjoys are offered in three base colours (white, dark brown and black smooth), are available for both men and women and you’ll be able to customise the saddle colour as well as adding a logo or flag and/or text embroidery.

The Myjoy Contour Series offers the widest range of base colours including red, pink, putty, black, white and dark brown. They are available for men and women, and like the Myjoy Dryjoys you’ll be able to customise the saddle colour, logo and/or text embroidery and you’ll also be able to change the accent colour.

Golf Buy It Online are the largest supplier of classic and customised Myjoy golf shoes in Europe and the largest independent supplier of Footjoy shoes throughout the whole range in the European market place so you’ll be able to get your hands on the perfect golf shoes for you!

Callaway Golf designs, creates and builds top of the range golf equipment designed to make every golfer a better golfer. Whether you’re looking for a golf ball to help provide maximum distance or increased greenside spin, Callaway produce golf balls for every player type. Callaway have received feedback from tour professionals such as Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson to ensure that their golf balls deliver high performance in the harshest courses.

The Callaway Golf Ball range features Tour i Golf Balls, Tour ix Golf Balls, HX Hot Bite Golf Balls, HX Hot Golf Balls, HX Pearl Golf Balls, Big Bertha Golf Balls and Warbird Golf Balls so there are plenty Callaway Golf Balls to choose from.

The technologically advanced Tour i Golf Ball provides the perfect balance of breakthrough distance and control. The Tour i Golf Ball will be released in July 2008. The Tour ix Golf Ball features 4-piece inertia technology and dual core construction designed to optimise distance. The new HX Hot Bite Golf Ball features a softer, proprietary cover that delivers exceptional feel and control as well as a high speed core. The new HX Hot Golf Balls feature a fast core, soft and resilient boundary layer, and a firm cover. HX Pearl Golf Balls are exclusively for low swing speed and lady golfers. The Big Bertha Golf Balls feature HEX Aerodynamics that helps reduce drag so your shots go further than ever. The Callaway Warbird Golf Balls are 2-piece golf balls built for distance.

Oliver Fisher hopes to bounce back from the disappointment of the Andalucía Open to win a European golf title before the end of the year. He is a young but hugely talented golfer who many believe is destined for greatness and amongst those believers is Nike. As most people will know, Nike tends not to pick lesser players to endorse their golf equipment. Fisher has already made history by becoming the youngest golfer ever to play in the Walker Cup at the age of just 16 and also became the youngest British golfer to play on the European Tour.

Fisher’s golf bag contains:

• Nike SQ SUMO Driver,
• Nike SQ Woods,
• Nike Forged Blade Irons,
• Nike SV Wedge.

The design of the Nike SQ SUMO Driver moves the Centre of Gravity lower and further back and increases Moment of Inertia for greater forgiveness and increased distance. The new SasQuatch Fairway Woods feature a new Monorail Sole design which cuts through all types of lies. Nike Forged Blade Irons are meticulously crafted and tour tested. Nike forged irons provide performance for shot to shot consistency and are also used by Tiger Woods. Nike SV Wedges have classic profiles and grinds which provide a clean look with maximum versatility. They provide control, confidence and accuracy necessary for a solid short game.

All these golf clubs and more can be found at Golf Buy It Online.

The numbers are in and TaylorMade’s new Tour Burner is the No. 1 driver model at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with 14 of them being used. This is the first time Tour Burner has earned that distinction, but it probably won’t be the last as more and more golfers are discovering the benefits of its Dual Crown technology. Golfers such as Mike Weir, Jason Day, Andres Romero, Brian Bateman, Chip Sullivan, Tag Ridings, Justin Bolli, Jay Williamson and Peter Lonard all continue to trust it.

The Tour Burner driver was also the No. 1 TaylorMade driver model at the WGC Championships at Doral with six in play. TaylorMade Staff player Retief Goosen put the new driver in play for the first time and had his best finish of 2008 carding a 16-under par total and earning a tie for 2nd place.

With wins like this, the new TaylorMade Tour Burner Driver looks as though it’s going to carry on being the No. 1 driver throughout the 2008 golfing calendar.