Harrington Defends Open Title
Padraig Harrington successfully defended his Open Championship title with a four-shot victory over Ian Poulter at Royal Birkdale, becoming the first European to successfully defend The Open since James Braid in 1906.
Harrington, who beat Sergio Garcia in a play-off to win at Carnoustie last year, was a major doubt in the days leading up to the event after injuring his wrist winning the Irish PGA. It seems that history has repeated itself as Harrington missed out on practice time leading up to The Open at Royal Birkdale and at Carnoustie last year. The victory all but assures Harrington of a place in Nick Faldo’s European Ryder Cup team for the defence of their title in September.
Choi, who was tied with Harrington on four over after three rounds, fell back with a 79 to end 13 over. England’s Simon Wakefield, third overnight, partnered Choi in the penultimate group on Sunday but plummeted with a disastrous back nine of 43, including a triple-bogey eight at the 17th to end 14 over. South Africa’s two-time Open champion Ernie Els ended in a tie for seventh on 12 over despite a first-round 80 after carding a closing 69. England’s Paul Casey also finished tied seventh after a 70, as did countryman David Howell who climbed back up the leaderboard with a 67.
Another nice story from The Open was that of the English amateur, Chris Wood, who finished tied for 7th. He birdied the par-five 17th hole and parred the last at Hillside to secure his place at Birkdale through LFQ with rounds of 71-72 and was the winner of the Welsh Stroke Play Championship at Conwy in 2008, he moved to seventh spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking to become England’s leading player.
The 2008 Open Starts Tomorrow
So, it’s finally upon us. The 2008 Open begins tomorrow and promises to be just as interesting and exciting without Tiger Woods. Last year’s winner Padraig Harrington is off to a very similar start to the 2007 Open as he is suffering from an injury on his wrist which means he is missing out on practice time just like last year. Can lightning strike the same place twice?
There seems to be a healthy mixed opinion of who might win this year’s tournament at Royal Birkdale. There is a lot of press surrounding both Lee Westwood and last year’s runner-up Sergio Garcia. Westwood finished 3rd at this year’s US Open at Torrey Pines which was his highest finish so far of any of the 4 majors. Sergio Garcia has not won a major either, but did finish runner-up at the 2007 Open. He finished tied for 18th at this year’s US Open and won this year’s Player’s Championship after a playoff against Paul Goydos. Both golfers will be working hard to make this year’s Open Championship their first major win.
Lee Westwood’s golf bag currently contains:
Sergio Garcia is currently using:
Driver: TaylorMade Tour Burner TP
Woods: TaylorMade Burner TP and TaylorMade r7 TP
Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport
A lot of golf fans are saying that The Open this year will not be as challenging or rewarding with Tiger Woods not playing. What a load of rubbish. This year’s Open will be just as interesting as any other and for whoever wins, it will most certainly be rewarding, after all it’s not the “Who Can Beat Tiger Woods Tournament”!
McDowell wins Scottish Open
Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell all but secured his place in Europe’s Ryder Cup team after he clinched a two-shot victory at the Scottish Open. McDowell shot a final round of 68 to finish the tournament on 13 under. The money has lifted the 28-year-old from 10th to sixth in the Ryder Cup standings and only an extraordinary series of results can deny him a place in Nick Faldo’s side in September.
Ernie Els, a two-time winner of the tournament, finished joint ninth, while world number two Phil Mickelson ended the day 11 shots off the pace.
The golf clubs McDowell used to get his victory were:
Driver: Callaway FT-3
Irons: Callaway X-Forged
Woods: Callaway X-Tour
Hybrid: Callaway FT
Wedges: Callaway X-Forged
Putter: Odyssey White Hot XG
Tiger Woods Turns Down Ryder Cup Invite
Tiger Woods has turned down an invite from US Ryder Cup skipper Paul Azinger to act as a vice-captain for the match against Europe in September. Woods said he would not do it because he is not on the team and insists the event is about the competitors.
Is Tiger throwing his dummy out of his pram? That sounds like he’s saying if he can’t play and be the star of the show, then he’ll stay at home. What’s that? Something about his knee? Yes, I know but there’s nothing stopping him from being on hand to offer his professional advice to the US team.
For those having Tiger withdrawal symptoms here’s a video of him showing off some “unconventional” golf skills.
8 Days Until The 2008 Open
Royal Birkdale, one of Britain’s finest golf clubs has been voted the Number One course in Britain, and is among the best in the world. Having already hosted The Open Championship 8 times, Royal Birkdale is again to host The Open 2008 Championship.
No two players prepare the same. Every one of them wants to go into next week’s Open at Royal Birkdale feeling that he could not have done his homework better. Sergio Garcia, an obvious favourite for Birkdale would not want to do things like Ben Hogan, the winner of the 1953 Open who arrived weeks ahead of time, and will not be putting in an appearance until Sunday. He said: “If you go too early you feel like the tournament never starts and the week never ends.”
Yet, as you would expect after his fifth-place finish in 2005 and 2006 and his near-miss in 2007, a lot of thought has gone into his plans over the last few weeks. He had four days of links golf in Ireland at the end of June and opted to play in the European Open above the Scottish Open because the London Club has linksland characteristics.
Garcia may be a favourite, but a workman is only ever as good as his tools. Recently Garcia has been using the following golf equipment:
Driver: TaylorMade Tour Burner
Woods: TaylorMade Burner TP
Irons: TaylorMade rac MB TP
Wedges: TaylorMade rac TP
Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport
Can all the practice he’s been putting in make perfect? Only time will tell.
Pablo Larrazabal secures Tour win
It seems like this weekend was Spain’s weekend. Spain claimed their first major Football title for 44 years after winning Euro 2008 with a deserved victory over Germany. And on the same day rookie golfer Pablo Larrazabal won his first PGA European Tour title as he clinched a shock victory at the French Open in Paris.
The French Open or Open de France was established in 1906 and is the oldest national golf open in Continental Europe and has been part of the European Tour’s schedule since the tour began in 1972.
Larrazabal sank seven birdies on his way to victory and will now compete in his first major, The Open in a few weeks time. Starting three strokes ahead of the rest of the field, Larrazabal extended his lead to five with three birdies in the first five holes. However, Larrazabal, the world number 481, hit a double bogey on the ninth to allow Montgomerie to within two shots of his lead. But the Spaniard held his nerve to sink birdies on the challenging 15th and 18th holes at Le Golf National and putted for par at the final two holes to win the £527,800 prize.
Tiger Who?
There seems to be a lot of talk at the moment about Tiger Woods winning the US Open and also missing the rest of the golfing season. What I would like to say is does it really matter? Surely this takes the edge off the British golfers and Irish golfers knowing that Woods won’t be taking part. Isn’t it time that we got behind our own golfers and stopped worrying about Tiger Woods and his knee?
There are similar trends in other sports, like football for example. There are a large number, if not more Manchester United supporters that either do not live in or come from Manchester. Whatever happened to supporting your local team or local sports players? You can look at this in two different ways. Firstly, it is always easier to support the winning team or player and this can usually be applied to people who don’t really have any genuine interest in the sport. Secondly, it would appear that celebrity has crept into the sports we follow and therefore become engaged with their lives due to the number of column inches and news minutes they receive.
So yes, Tiger somebody or other is out for the rest of the golfing season, but let’s not forget, there are a fair few British golfers and Irish golfers in the top 100 all hoping to better their position and give us all a good round of golf to watch. These British golfers and Irish golfers are Justin Rose (9th), Padraig Harrington (13th), Lee Westwood (17th), Luke Donald (18th), Ian Poulter (39th), Paul Casey (43rd), Oliver Wilson (46th), Nick Dougherty (58th), Steve Webster (85th), Alastair Forsyth (91st), Bradley Dredge (97th) and Darren Clarke (100th).
When The Open begins in 3 weeks time remember, golf’s not just about Tiger Woods.
*Positions correct as of June 23rd 2008.
Tiger Woods might be out, but he’s still Number One
As we all know, Tiger Woods is out for the rest of the golfing season but his display at Torrey Pines was nothing short of spectacular. Even though it was clear his knee was causing him grief he managed to show the world just why he’s golf’s Number One.
With a 7,643-yard layout to contend with the emphasis was on both length and accuracy so Tiger Woods had to choose his golf clubs very carefully. Unlike Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods rarely makes changes to his golf clubs. When courses are running fast and the rough is not especially wet or deep, he normally takes out his 19° 5-wood and puts in a 2-iron. Tiger Woods used the 2-iron off the tee on many occasions at Royal Liverpool when he won The Open in 2006.
Here’s what Tiger Woods put in his golf bag at Torrey Pines:
Driver: Nike SasQuatch Tour (7.5°)
Fairway woods: Nike SasQuatch Sumo (15°, 19°)
Irons: Nike Forged Blades (3-PW)
Wedges: Nike Forged (56°, 60°)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2
23 Days Until the 2008 Open
Vijay Singh may have 3 major wins under his belt, but The Big Fijian is without a major win this year and with only 2 more major events to go this year he’ll have to work harder than he is already doing, which apparently, is harder than British golfers. Singh is no stranger to opening his mouth and causing a stir. In 2003 he was quoted as saying, “I hope she misses the cut … because she doesn’t belong out here” regarding Annika Sörenstam. Due to this Singh became known as “pro golf’s bad guy” as well as a “sexist oaf”, a “big, whiny, whimpering baby” and “Vijay the Villain”.
Singh uses a Cleveland 900 Tour Action Gun Metal Wedge. The unique finish on the gun metal version reduces glare and helps frame the ball at address. The treatment to create this finish is a proprietary process that retains the softness of the inner core while strengthening its exterior. Two solid years of research on the PGA Tours helped Cleveland develop the 900 series wedges with the consistency of Form Forged Irons and a new shape, size sole design. The 900 Form Forged Wedges feature a loft and bounce selection system that allows all golfers a simple way to select wedges for their own short games.
24 Days Until the 2008 Open
Phil Mickelson was paired with Tiger Woods at the recent US Open at Torrey Pines, struggled mightily even though he was seen as one of the top favourites to win; unfortunately he even notched a quadruple bogey. Finishing tied for 18th place he will be looking to improve on this if he is to beat his highest win at The Open which was 3rd place in 2004.
Mickelson’s putter is the White Hot XG putter by Odyssey which is the latest generation of White Hot Technology that uses a multi-layer insert and takes feel, feedback and distance control to the next level. The White Hot XG is Odyssey’s latest putter that uses a insert made up of multi-layers which results in excellent performance on the putting green. It combines two materials with different properties to take the level of feedback, feel and distance control to an all-new, extreme level.
