28 May
Matteo Manassero has become the youngest ever winner of the BMW PGA Championship at just 20 years and 37 days after a four hole play-off including Simon Khan and Marc Warren.
•Manassero birdied fourth extra hole to win having gone 4, 5, 4, 4 in the play-off
•Simon Khan found the water at 18 fourth time round posting figures of 4, 5, 4, 6
•Marc Warren fell out of the play-off on the first extra hole after his drive found the trees at 18
16 May
By Shane Bacon | Devil Ball Golf – 20 hours ago
Tiger Woods — Getty ImagesIt’s the story that will not die, and a new wrinkle has emerged in what has become a big battle between what Tiger Woods said during the third round of the Players Championship and what really happened.
On Saturday at TPC Sawgrass, Tiger was paired with Sergio Garcia and on the second hole, a par-5, Garcia was going for the green in two while Woods was left in the trees trying to figure out his best chance of getting his ball back in play.
Garcia was about to hit his shot when Woods pulled a club out of his bag, a fairway wood, and the crowd erupted just as Sergio was swinging. During a weather delay, Garcia blamed the bad shot and eventual bogey on the hole on Tiger, saying he pulled the club knowing that Garcia had yet to hit.
“I wouldn’t say (Tiger) didn’t see that I was ready, but you do have a feel when the other guy is going to hit. Right as I was on top of the backswing, he pulled a 5-wood or 3-wood out of the rough and, obviously, everybody started screaming, so that didn’t help very much.”
Woods defended himself after the round by saying, “The marshals, they told me he already hit, so I pulled a club and was getting ready to play my shot, and then I hear his comments afterward and it’s not real surprising that he’s complaining about something.”
On Monday, Sports Illustrated talked to the head marshal at the Players Championship, John North, who refuted the claim by Tiger that any marshal was asked about Sergio’s golf shot before he hit it.
“Nothing was said to us and we certainly said nothing to him,” North said. “I was disappointed to hear him make those remarks. We’re there to help the players and enhance the experience of the fans. He was saying what was good for him. It lacked character.”
That might have come from the boss, but it wasn’t the end of what marshals on the grounds had to say.
Garry Smits of the Florida Times-Union talked to two other marshals that were assigned to the Tiger-Sergio group and they said Woods did get info on Sergio’s golf shot, just that the order of things seemed mixed up.
“It is not true and definitely unfair to Tiger,” said Brian Nedrich, who was a marshal at the second hole. “That’s because I was the one Tiger heard say that Sergio had hit.”
The Times-Union article goes on to say that Nedrich, and marshal Lance Paczkowski, told Tiger that Sergio had hit so there was definitely communication between the marshals and Tiger at the time of the shot.
Nedrich, who said he could barely see Garcia, got a glimpse of him swinging, then saw the ball in the air. When fans behind Woods began to stir, Paczkowski, his view of Garcia blocked by bushes, tried to quiet them and said, “the other player [Garcia] hasn’t hit yet.”
“That’s when I yelled back at Lance, ‘No … he’s already hit,’ ” Nedrich said. “Tiger had already taken his club, but we did tell him that Sergio had hit.”
The battle between what was said and what wasn’t said is sure to continue at this point considering marshals are backing Tiger but it’s definitely interesting to hear this many people come forward on what seemed to be such an innocent act at the time.
If nothing else, we can simply hope that at some point this year we get Tiger vs. Sergio, 2.0, and it is just a fraction as exciting at the first 2013 battle the two had.
15 May
By DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer) | The Associated Press – 12 hours ago
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods has faced more scrutiny that any other golfer from his generation. Maybe ever.
Just not this variety.
Woods must long for the days when the golf world obsessed over his swing changes (all four of them) and questioned his coaches (all three of them). He was criticized for not playing enough tournaments and not giving the tournaments he did play enough notice that he was coming.
Some complained he practiced so early in the morning that paying customers didn’t get a chance to see him. Others complained he didn’t sign enough autographs. Most of it was petty.
But this is different.
Now it’s his integrity on the golf course that’s being questioned.
Woods won The Players Championship on Sunday for his fourth victory this year. Making it even more memorable, Woods ended his public spat with Sergio Garcia by posing with the crystal trophy. They were tied with two holes to play, and Garcia hit three shots in the water.
That all seems like B-material compared with the buzz over the drop Woods took on the 14th hole of the final round.
He hit what he called a ”pop-up hook” with a 3-wood from the tee, and the ball landed in the water left of the fairway. Consulting with Casey Wittenberg, he dropped it some 255 yards short of the green. Woods then hit a remarkable shot short of the green, pitched on and missed a 6-foot putt to take double bogey.
The Internet has been alive with video showing the ball’s flight on the 14th, along with analysis dissecting what was and was not said by a TV analyst, and seemingly endless theories how the ball could possibly have crossed land where Woods took his drop.
The chatter won’t stop, even though there is nowhere to go with it. Consider this statement put out by Mark Russell, the tour’s vice president of competition: ”Without definitive evidence, the point where Woods’ ball last crossed the lateral water hazard is determined through best judgment by Woods and his fellow competitor,” the statement said.
Woods conferred with Wittenberg, his playing partner.
”I saw it perfectly off the tee,” Wittenberg said. ”I told him exactly where I thought it crossed, and we all agreed. So he’s definitely great on that.”
And if video suggests otherwise?
Decision 26-1/17 says a penalty would not be appropriate because it comes down to an honest judgment.
Of course, this might not be that big of an issue except that Woods in his most recent tournament – the Masters – was guilty of taking an illegal drop on the 15th hole at Augusta National. He eventually was docked two shots, but spared disqualification by the Masters because officials said they erred in not talking to Woods about the drop before he signed his scorecard. The rules back up that decision, though this one (Rule 33-7) is subject to interpretation. It could have gone either way.
That debate rages on. Should he have withdrawn for his own benefit? Did the Masters bail him out? Meanwhile, Adam Scott has a green jacket at his place in The Bahamas and he apparently wears it every morning. Good for him.
Back to Sawgrass, where there was that Saturday incident with Garcia which was one case where Woods shared some responsibility.
The scene on the par-5 second hole was chaotic. Woods was so deep in the trees that it appeared it was his turn to hit. Garcia stood over his second shot for the longest time. There was a burst of cheers when Woods pulled out his 5-wood. Garcia finished his swing and looked over at the crowd, clearly frustrated.
Woods and Garcia don’t like each other and haven’t for the better part of 13 years. That much can be established.
Garcia suggested in a TV interview during the storm delay that Woods pulled the club at just the right time to fire up the crowd and disrupt his swing. Woods said in a TV interview that evening, ”The marshals, they told me he already hit, so I pulled a club and was getting ready to play my shot.”
Sports Illustrated talked to the chief marshal for that section of the course, John North, who said he stood over the ball to keep the gallery away from it and was 5 feet away when Woods played his shot.
”Nothing was said to us and we certainly said nothing to him,” North said. ”I was disappointed to hear him make those remarks. We’re there to help the players and enhance the experience of the fans. He was saying what was good for him. It lacked character.”
To suggest Woods purposely tried to distract Garcia is a stretch. It was hard to even see Garcia from where he was in the trees. But it was silly to hang this on ”the marshals,” unless he mistook any of the hundreds of people around him as marshals.
Woods’ mistake was not doing what just about every other tour player would have done – look over to the other player to determine who was away. This would require eye contact, and there wasn’t much of that in the third round.
Garcia’s mistake was not doing what just about every other tour player would have done – say something to Woods, instead of calling him out on TV. The ball was back in Woods’ court at this point. Instead of telling Garcia he didn’t see him (if he didn’t) or apologizing (if he did) he threw out the line about the marshals and couldn’t resist taking a shot.
”Not real surprising that he’s complaining about something,” Woods said of Garcia.
Both of them should have been put in time-out.
”It’s very unusual for an individual spat to get out,” Padraig Harrington said. ”There’s no winners when that gets out there. I think when players have an issue, they find things. So if you don’t like somebody, you read things in, and you make more of a situation than there is.”
Lost in this mess is that Woods is playing golf at a very high level. He is four short of Sam Snead’s record for career wins. He is a month away from the next major, where he will be the heavy favorite again. Woods is motoring right along.
But it sure is a bumpy ride at the moment.
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15 May
MELBOURNE, Australia — The World Cup of Golf will be held at Royal Melbourne in November the week after the Australian Masters.
The International Federation of PGA Tours said in a statement Sunday that the World Cup will be held from Nov. 21-24 at the sand-belt course that hosted the 2011 and 1998 Presidents Cups.
That’s the week after the Australian Masters on the same course, and where U.S. Masters champion Adam Scott is expected to defend his Australian Masters title.
The World Cup will use an individual, stroke-play format and a team component akin to that to be used for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro when golf returns to the event.
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press
14 May
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Video Video 14 May
Tiger Woods hits his second shot on No. 2 on Saturday at TPC Sawgrass — Getty ImagesWe have a new wrinkle in the Tiger Woods-Sergio Garcia drama from the third round at the Players Championship and it comes from neither of the players caught up in the war of words at TPC Sawgrass.
Garcia, who went out of his way to blame Tiger for a bad shot he hit early in his third round, might be justified for going after the eventual winner according to the marshals at Sawgrass.
Sergio said on Saturday that, “I wouldn’t say (Tiger) didn’t see that I was ready, but you do have a feel when the other guy is going to hit. Right as I was on top of the backswing, he pulled a 5-wood or 3-wood out of the rough and, obviously, everybody started screaming, so that didn’t help very much.”
[Related: Woods’ win, Garcia’s collapse at TPC should surprise nobody]
Tiger responded, “The marshals, they told me he already hit, so I pulled a club and was getting ready to play my shot, and then I hear his comments afterward and it’s not real surprising that he’s complaining about something.”
Sports Illustrated’s Michael Bamberger talked to the marshals involved and, well, Tiger’s story doesn’t exactly check out.
Gary Anderson, one of the marshals in the group, told SI, “He didn’t ask us nothing, and we didn’t say nothing. We’re told not to talk to the players.”
That might be fairly condemning, but listen to what Anderson’s boss said of Tiger after the round.
From the Sports Illustrated report …
Anderson’s boss, John North, was the chief marshal for the first three holes. He stood over Woods’s ball to protect it from the throng and was five feet away when Woods played his shot. North has worked the tournament as a volunteer marshal for 30 years, he’s a graduate of the Naval Academy, he served in Vietnam, he’s a FedEx pilot and he donates his round on the Stadium course for being a volunteer to the Wounded Warriors project.
“Nothing was said to us and we certainly said nothing to him,” North said. “I was disappointed to hear him make those remarks. We’re there to help the players and enhance the experience of the fans. He was saying what was good for him. It lacked character.”
It does make more sense when you watch the video of what happened. Tiger pulled his fairway wood out of his bag and actually tried to quiet the crowd a little as Garcia was going after his second shot on the par-5. NBC did a great job at the time of showing a split-screen of Tiger pulling the club just as Garcia was about to hit his shot, so it’s pretty clear that Garcia wasn’t completely making the story up.
[Related: Images from Tiger Woods win, Sergio Garcia’s collapse at TPC]
As for Tiger saying he asked the marshal? That sure seems like it didn’t happen at this point when you read those quotes, and the gamesmanship legend of Woods on the golf course grows larger and larger.
If nothing else, Garcia’s quote about Tiger not being, “my favorite guy to play with” sure seems to be a bit more legit at this point
11 May
Kierin Ombu of MTN & Abdulkarim of Kinetic Logistics Int’l Ltd.
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