TED BITS, Ted McIntyre – Tiger wins again, without playing well.
TIGER WINS AGAIN
I know the headlines all talked about Tiger’s surgical performance at Southern Hills in taking his 13th major championship yesterday, but if that’s the case, Woods should be sued for malpractice. I mean, he was all over the place with wayward drives the first three times he brought the big stick out, and a host of other mis-hits during the day. He played his ass off to shoot one-under-par, scrambling most of the round. Five holes in, he scrambled successfully enough that he still where he started—at seven under par, with exactly the same three-shot lead on second place and four-shot lead on third. Woody Austin made it interesting—the lone player in the field to challenge all day long. I love his fire—reminds me of Hal Sutton. Ernie Els did what he usually does: fold as soon as it occurs to him that he might be in position to win the thing. I’m so sick of almost every PGA Tour player conceding victory before the final round even gets underway (“We’re not safe when Tiger’s five strokes behind going into the last round,� suggested Stephen Ames). Let’s be realistic, here—Woods is mortal; he does not shoot 58 in the final round of majors; all the rest of you shoot 78. He is beatable. Trevino, Watson and Player were capable of shooting mid-60s to beat Nicklaus in the final round of majors. Why can’t you?
WEIR OVER AMES
Gary Player must have hated Mike Weir for the way he played down the stretch heading into Player’s announcement for his two captain’s picks for the international side of the upcoming Presidents Cup. Player desperately wanted an excuse to pick Canada’s favourite golfing son (certainly not its best the past couple of years, but definitely the most popular). Unfortunately, Weir stumbled in, having not been a factor at the Canadian Open and missing the cut badly at the PGA Championship. With Ames having succumbed to the pressure of playing with Tiger on the last day, Player would likely have preferred to pick someone other than a Canuck, such as the next guy on the list after his first captain’s pick (Nick O’Hern), Argentinian Andres Romero, but he probably knew that fans in Montreal would end up pulling for the American side if neither Weir nor Ames were in the field. Consequently, he had to bypass four Australians (Aaron Baddeley, Richard Green, Robert Allenby and Rod Pampling) and two more South Africans (Richard Sterne and Tim Clark), as well as Ames, who at 36th overall was a full 10 spots ahead of Weir.
Is it fair to those other players? No. Is it a smart move? Yes. Despite Weir’s inconsistency, he will probably be a better match-play player than any of the others would have been. He also has a proven track record in Presidents Cup play (8-6) and would undoubtedly be a safer pick from a team-player standpoint than Ames. It’s unfortunate for Ames, though, who has comfortably positioned himself as the top Canadian player at this stage of the season.
COLOMBIA IS KICKING ASS
While we ponder why more Canadian youth aren’t rising to the top of the international golfing stage, maybe we should be spying on the Colombians. Medellin native Camilo Villegas is starring on the PGA Tour, 17-year-old Maria Uribe wins the U.S. Women’s Amateur yesterday and 15-year-old Laura Blanco of Bogota wins the Canadian Junior Girls Championship last week. Maybe it’s cartel money helping fund the development programs.
CANADIAN WOMEN’S OPEN ROCKS
Check out the 2007 CN Canadian Women’s Open at Royal Mayfair Golf Club in Edmonton this week. It’s sort of the opposite field from the men’s event, with pretty much every top player on the LPGA Tour in attendance except for Annika Sorenstam. This tournament may not be a major anymore, but it’s always conducted like one, with arguably only the U.S. Women’s Open running as slickly.
GOLF THROUGH THE LENS, Chris Gallow – Hello all golf nuts!