The Players Championship. Sergio Surges, Castro Crashes.

Sergio Garcia surged to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage of The PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP at TPC Sawgrass, while Roberto Castro, yesterdays first round hero crashed down the board.

Sergio Garcia / Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Sergio shot a second round -7 under par 65, to surge to the top of the leaderboard with a tournament total of -11 under par.

Sergio, a past winner here, in 2008, is his own man, and fears no one, not even second placed Tiger;

“I don’t have to measure myself against anybody, I know what I want to try to do, and any given day I can shoot a round like this and any other day he can shoot a good round and beat me. Like we always say, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. So there are going to be good days and not so good days, so just got to enjoy the good ones as much as possible. Fortunately for me, I’ve managed to play quite decent on this golf course, so any good thing that you can get in your head, it’s obviously positive and those kind of things always help. But it’s a different year. We’ll see if we can manage to do something similar.”

Tiger is just one shot adrift of the leader, at -11 under par, after his second round of -5 under par 67.

Tiger was pretty happy to be where he is;

“ I’m pretty pleased with where it’s at right now, I’ve just never been able to put it all together for this one particular week. But so far this year, I’m right there. Even though I haven’t played well in the past, I’ve still won here, actually, I’ve won here twice, technically. { Tiger was referring to the U.S. Amateur in 1994 }  I haven’t played my best here, but I’ve always felt that courses, even though it’s been a while I’ve won on them, I’ve still won on them, I know how to get around this golf course. This course, more than most, really tests every facet of your game. You have to drive the ball well. You have to hit your irons in the correct spots, and if you don’t hit your irons in the correct spots, you’re going to have some really funky up-and-downs. It’s trying to manage the ball in the correct spots, and I’ve done that the first two days.”

There are three players tied in third place, at -9 under par for the tournament; they are, Kevin Chappell, second round -6 under. Lee Westwood also with a -6 under,66, and Henrik Stenson, -5 under par second round.

Roberto Castro crashed down the leaderboard, struggling with a second round +6 over par,78, but he did make the cut.

Big name cut casualties include, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell and Ernie Els. Quite a star-studded list.

Tomorrow is moving day, who will move out of the reckoning ?

 

Volvo China Open. Broomstick Brett Wins Again.

Broomstick Brett Rumford won the Volvo China Open, the first Australian in 42 years to win back to back Tour titles.

Brett Rumford / Getty Images

Brett Rumford cruised to victory with a final round of  -4 under par 68, on the Binhai Lake Golf Course on Sunday in the Volvo China Open. His winning total was -16 under par, four shots clear of the field.

Brett said that he was more than happy;

” As with last week I’m kind of speechless at the moment. It’s quite surreal, it’s the first time I’ve actually played the week after a win so I’m more than pleased. It’s hard to get my head around it at the moment. I managed to get up and down when I really needed to. There are some very tight lies round the perimeters of the greens, so it was tricky. My putter was also really on song, as it was last week. It puts a lot of pressure on your opponent when you’re saving par all the time.”

In second place was Finn Mikko Ilonen, a final round effort of -1 under par left him with a total of -12 under par, just one shot ahead of third place. Mikko was disappointed he did not take the opportunity to win, but was full of praise for Brett;

” I had a chance to win, disappointed not to do so but I couldn’t do much more, you saw what Brett did there on the back nine for three holes. I’m speechless, I couldn’t force the issue. I had a number in my mind, which is what Brett finished on. It’s my second second place this year, so hopefully there’s a win round the corner. The confidence is building.  I’ve been hitting the ball nicely most of the time this year. Today I drove the ball really well, and I feel a lot more confident all round. Brett did so well not to make more bogeys, his short game, bunker play and wedges were unbelievable today. I don’t see too many better players than him in the world in that area of his game. So he definitely deserved to win today.”

Third place went to Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, a last round of -4 under par helping him to achieve a tournament total of -11 under par, and third position to himself.

I guess this win will encourage more players to change to the long putter, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington have already made the change. They said if it gives them an edge to win a tournament, it can only be good. Unless the R&A and the USGA actually get around to banning it, it which case they will have to change back again.

 

Wells Fargo Championship. Quail Hollow Asides, The TV Sleuth Strikes Again.

 

Sergio Garcia was the recipient of a ruling from the Lazyboy TV referee. He called in because he thought Sergio had marked his ball incorrectly, he made this judgement after watching the slow-motion replay a couple of times. Sergio marked his ball prior to attempting a 4-footer for par at the 17th hole on Friday during the second round of the Wells Fargo Championship, apparently incorrectly. The TV sleuth thought Sergio had marked the ball to the side, and not behind the ball. Sergio said he had marked slightly to one side, but still behind the ball, because the marker would have been on the line of the putt of Bill Hass. He reported;

“Then I put it straight up or straight down where I thought it was the same spot. I thought I put it as close as I could, obviously, with the coin still behind the ball. It looked like it might have moved a tiny bit, but the rules officials felt that obviously I didn’t gain anything by it. There are obviously a lot of times that you try to put it in exactly the same spot but it’s difficult to do, not just for me, but for everyone. They thought that it was fine.”

Sergio had a discussion with the two Rules officials, who had to watch the slow-motion replay several times to even see the so-called infringement;

” And I said if you guys feel like I gained something by, obviously, moving it, I don’t know how much, like a centimeter or couple centimeters, whatever it is, I’m fine with the two-stroke penalty. I’d rather take the two-stroke penalty than come out here like I was a cheater. Obviously, they felt that wasn’t the case. I told them exactly what I did, and they felt it was fine. That’s pretty much it.”

I think it really is time to ignore these slow-motion TV viewing idiots, if the infringement is not called on the course during play, then as Paul McCartney famously said ” Let It Be”

Lee Westwood is battling against a chest infection, but nothing, not even the unfortunate state of the greens is going to stop him;

“I like this golf course way too much. It’s a lot of money that we’re playing for and a title at the end of the day. Somebody’s going to say a speech and thank everybody and thank the greens keeper and Wells Fargo for putting up the cash at the end of the week, and somebody’s going to be happy with the way the course is set up. Certainly helps when everybody in the group is playing well. You’re seeing good shots all the time, and you get the feeling that the course is giving up birdies and isn’t playing quite as hard as it might be. I just won’t do too much practice this afternoon, I’ll just go back to the room and lie down, really.”

Lee Westwood / Ehrmann / Getty Images

A sad sight to see at Quail Hollow, was Padraig Harrington using a long putter, despite saying that he felt long putters were bad for the game;

“In terms of the mechanics, it was a far better stroke, it wasn’t very good today. I just wasn’t quite as comfortable, which I kind of knew was coming. The grip of my normal putter is open and the grip of this is square, so I’m not quite used to it yet. There was a bit of resetting when I was over the ball, which, obviously, I prefer not to have. But that’s just familiarity, and it will be interesting to give it another go tomorrow. I think it’s bad for the game of golf, but I’m going to use everything, if something’s going to help me for the next three and a half years, I’m going to use it.”

Sounds similar to Ernie Els statements.

Wells Fargo Championship. Philly Mick Posts his Intentions

Phil Mickleson has posted his intentions in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.

Phil Mickelson / Getty Images

Phil shot a second round -5 under par, 67 which moved him to the top of the leaderboard, leading by two shots at the close of play in the Wells Fargo Championship.

Phil is happy with his putting, despite the poor state of the greens, but his driving still leaves a lot to be desired;

” I got off to a good start. I birdied the first two holes, so that set a good tone for the round. The first 27, 28 holes I have not driven the ball very well which is, most people would say, not surprising. But before I came here, I was driving the ball phenomenal. I really am excited about the way I’ve been hitting it off the tee, and I’m looking forward to this weekend. After the 28th hole, after I played 10, I made a slight alignment adjustment and I was able to get it back to where I had been driving it. I think if I drive it well this weekend, it’s going to be a fun weekend and I fully expect to. I’ve putted really well. It’s been fun.”

Phil is a from horse, and it is difficult to beat a form horse to the finish line, unless of course there are some real thoroughbreds coming up behind. There are a few in this field, so Phil had better be aware.

Three players share second place at Quail Hollow, all at -7 under par for the tournament, they are; Scott Gardiner, Nick Watney and George McNeill. A -5 second round from Scott, -4 from George and a modest -2 under par from Nick.

Nick is excited about the week-end;

” I’m excited for the weekend. It’s always fun to play with Phil and Rickie. We had a good time, and I’m in good shape, so I’m excited.”

Scott was surprised to be where he is;

” Probably nobody’s more surprised than I am. But it’s really a treat to play on such a great golf course. I’ve watched this tournament for many years, and I’m just it’s great to be out here on the PGA TOUR and to play some good golf is nice too.”

George said there were some low numbers to be had out there;

“ There are some low numbers out there because the greens are soft. They’re not putting great, but the greens are soft, so you can still aim at the flags and try to get close in. So I didn’t feel like I had to shoot a low one. I just kind of plodded along and made some birdies here and there and not too many mistakes and we’ll see where I end up.”

A bunch of players are at -6 under par, including Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy. Lee had a second round of -4 under par while Rory could only manage a -1 under par 71.

Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Lucas Leads.

Lucas Glover leads the Zurich Classic of New Orleans after the completion of the second round at TPC Louisiana.

Lucas Glover / Graythen / Getty Images

Lucas shot a second round of -5 under par 67, to lead the Zurich Classic tournament by just one shot at -12 under par, from Boo Weekley.

After his round Lucas emphasized the importance of good putting;

“I’ve been hitting it good for a couple months and finally started making some putts. I mean I was hitting it as good as I can hit it, but at the same time, if you putt poorly!”

Boo Weekley kept in touch with the leader with a total of -11 under par, carding a second round of  -4 under par 68. Boo successfully holed out with a wedge from 105 yards for an Eagle on the par-4 10th, and that was his first hole of the round. He could not see the bottom of the flagstick, so had no idea that it had gone in;

“I couldn’t tell it went in because it’s got a little bit of an upper lip in the front of it. I saw it bounce, and then I didn’t see it no more. Then the people in the background started hollering and whooping, I was like, `Wow, that really went in.’ I didn’t believe it.”

In third place alone is D.A. Points, at -10 under par, Darren also had a second round of -4 under par 68, to stay within sight of the leaders.

Morgan Hoffman occupies fourth spot at -9 under par, with Ernie Els close behind him at -8 under par. Big Ernie was the runner-up here last year, losing out to Jason Duffner in a play-off. Jason is a little off the pace this year with a modest tournament total of -3 under par.

Ernie said he really likes the TPC Louisiana course lay-out, and is expecting to challenge again this year;

“I like the course, I obviously played well here last year and I’m just trying to set that same game plan and really wait for the course to come to me.”

Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old Chinese amateur has completed the second round with a score of -3 under par 69,to go with his even par opening round, and has made the cut once again.  Two weeks ago in the Masters he became the youngest player to ever make the cut at Augusta National, and said Thursday that he will play in a U.S. Open qualifier in two weeks in Dallas. He reported that he played well;

” I think I played a very good round today. I made a lot of birdies and a couple of good up and downs.”

The 2011 winner here, Bubba Watson recovered well from his opening round of +1 over par 73, with a second round -7 under par 65 and tournament total of -6 under par. Bubba said that yesterday he was scared of the course;

” It was good, yesterday, I played really scared. I’m trying to play good. When you do that you don’t hit quality shots and you just struggle.”

 

RBC Heritage. Three Tied at the Top, in Storm Hit Harbour Town.

Play has been suspended for the day with three players tied at the top of the leaderboard at the RBC Heritage on the Harbour Town Golf Links, at the rain affected end of the day. Kevin Streelman, Charley Hoffman and Steve LeBrun are at -6 under par for the competition.

Steve LeBrun, Kevin Streelman and Charley Hoffman / Lecka / Getty Images

In the wet, windy and difficult conditions Kevin and Charley both had second rounds of -1 under par, 70 for their totals, with Steve LeBrun shooting a second round -3 under par 68.

Luke Donald also had second round of -3 under par, and shares T4 with Bill Haas, who came home in -2 under par for the day, both of them at -5 under par.

The next group of players, seven in all, are at -4 under par, they are all handily placed to go forward in this competition tomorrow. They are; Johnson Wagner, Rory Sabbatini, Graeme McDowell, D.H. Lee, Pat Perez, and two Aussies, Stuart Appleby and Marc Leishman. All these players are in the clubhouse, but the cut line has still to be determined  with 17 players still to complete their second rounds. The current cut line is at +1 over par, but could easily move to +2.

Pat Perez said his trying to stay calm;

” I’m trying to stay level, which is always, for me, trying to stay on a high, I’ve really worked hard on it this year. I don’t have the ups and downs. It’s hard, especially for me, because I’ve done it my whole life. But to say, that’s not going to bring me down, let’s try to make 5 instead of 6. And the next hole it’s basically done. I didn’t think I’d make a lot of birdies, but I seem to be hitting it closer than I ever have out here.”

One of those players teetering on the current cut line at +1 over par is Jesper Parnevik, and he is on the 18th hole with an agonising five foot putt left for his par. If he misses that tomorrow, he would drop to +2 over and that would move the cut to that number as well.

Obviously there are other players on the course who could make a birdie and change things back again, it will be a very interesting early start tomorrow.

Of those who have definitely missed the cut are; Vijay Singh +4, Ernie Els +4, John Daly +10, those are just a couple of the higher profile guys who have struggled in this competition.

Putting Updates, Ernie and Phil making Changes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ernie Els, The Open Champion, is going to use his Belly Putter for the last time at a Major, during the Masters at Augusta National next week. He intends to  phase out the controversial Belly Putter ahead of a proposed ban by the R&A, and USGA.

Ernie Els / getty Images

The Big Easy used a conventional putter for his first three rounds at the Chiangmai Golf Classic in Thailand before taking 29 putts with his belly putter on Sunday in a closing two-under-par 70 to finish tied 14th in the Asian Tour event. Ernie explained about that last round use of the Belly Putter, and also said he went to Thailand to get his swing under control;

“I just wanted to play with the belly putter since it was my last competitive round before the Masters. Mentally, I was going to do the long putter at the Masters. I wanted to feel what it is like under a little bit of pressure. So far this year I’ve played some decent golf in parts, but I’m not quite there on the consistency front. All you can do is keep working hard, though. As we saw last year, your fortunes can change quickly in this game. I came here to get my swing under control, which I think it did. The short game is not too bad, everything is kind of there, it’s just the confidence search now. I’m hitting it nice again, I’m really glad I came here. I’ve had a great experience in Chiangmai,  I just wished I made more birdies.”

If you are still searching for a new putter Ernie, take a look at our website, and contact me.

Phil Mickelson has changed to a jumbo grip on his putter, but intends to keep using the claw grip, he explained;

” I’ll go back and forth because, again the claw grip, what it does is gets me in a better address position where I get rid of too much forward press.  I want a little bit but not as much as I’ve been getting.”

Phil Mickelson and jumbo grip / Scott Halleran / Getty Images

Looking at Phil in the picture above, I think he is a little too bent over, he needs to stand taller, looking straight down at the ball, this will free up the arms to get a nice pendulum motion. He looks to be reaching for the ball, standing taller will get his feet closer to the ball.

 

Rory Regrets Folly about Wisdom Teeth.

Rory McIlroy regrets walking off the course at the Honda Classic, and lying to all and sundry about the reason for his sudden withdrawal, initially saying his game was in a dark place. Then his management company came up with the novel idea that Rory had sudden toothache, it just had to be his wisdom tooth, such irony.

Rory McIlroy / Getty Images

The Worlds Number One ranked golfer, Rory McIlroy had to eat humble pie, with no sign of teething problems, when he fronted up to the media to announce the truth behind his Honda Classic withdrawal.

” I realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t the right thing to do,’ no matter how bad I was playing, I should have stayed out there. I should have tried to shoot the best score possible even though it probably wasn’t going to be good enough to make the cut. At that point in time, I was just all over the place, I saw red, it was a mistake and everyone makes mistakes and I’m learning from them. Some people have the pleasure of making mistakes in private, most of my mistakes are in the public eye. I actually think in the long run, Friday will be a blessing in disguise, it was like it just sort of released a valve and all that sort of pressure that I’ve been putting on myself just went away. And I was like, just go out and have fun. It’s not life or death out there. It’s only a game. I had sort of forgotten that this year. I’ve learned from it and as I said, it won’t happen again.”

A contrite Rory spoke for 25 minutes,  with two of his agents from Horizon Sports, Colin Morrissey and Sean O’Flaherty in close attendance, along with Nike representatives and his coach Michael Bannon. Rory said he will have to learn to tough it out;

“I learned that when the tough gets going, I’ve got to stick in there a bit more and I’ve got to grind it out. There’s no excuse for quitting and it doesn’t set a good example for the kids watching me, trying to emulate what I do. It wasn’t good for a whole lot of reasons, for the tournaments, the people coming out watching me. I feel like I let a lot of people down and I am very sorry. Me and all you guys are hopefully going to have a working relationship for the next 20 years, so I don’t want to jeopardize that by being closed. I feel like I’ve always been open and honest and given you guys all my thoughts. I don’t want there to be friction, it’s not like I want it to be a strained relationship because it’s going to be a long one, I hope.”

Ernie Els,  a four-time Major winner, who is also playing in this week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral’s Blue Monster said he regretted not stopping Rory from walking off.

“It was obviously a heat of the moment thing, he is who he is. You’ve got to respect what the individual at that moment is like, and he wanted to get off. And we obviously heard that he had his wisdom tooth was bothering him, and if that was the reason, that was that. I would have been out of my depth at that stage to say something to him if something was bothering him. So I didn’t, but I thought I should have.”

Ernie and Mark Wilson were the three-some on the ill-fated round, Ernie went on to say when he was young he had done some silly things, and his experience in the game could have helped out Rory;

“That’s why I thought I needed to say something. Listen, I was also 23; I’m 43 now. I look back, I did a lot of silly things and what he’s done is nothing compared to what I did; speak to my parents. But when it comes to being where he’s at, you’ve got to maybe think a little bit more than two minutes. In a couple of years’ time, he won’t even think about this or talk about this. If he wins this week, it will be the last thing we talk about, it will be history and that’s what it should be. It’s something that’s happened and we should move on from that. He’s a great kid, he’s a great player and if he admits he’s made a mistake, then that’s that and let’s move on.”

 

 

 

Sony Open, Russell Henley Hijacks the Lead

Russell Henley / Hugh Gentry/Reuters

Russell Henley hijacked the second round lead in the Sony Open in Hawaii, from his friend and first round leader Scott Langley, with another round of -7 under par 63. The two rookies continue to defy all the odds and dominate the leaderboard between them. Russell, who is just  two days into his PGA Tour career is already in the record books, breaking the 36-hole tournament scoring record by two shots, at -14 under par and a total of 126, the previous 36-hole record at the Sony Open was 128, shared by five players, most recently John Cook in 2002.

Russell said it all seems a bit unreal;

” It’s pretty surreal.”

The two Scotts, Langley and Piercy are now tied two shots behind on -12 under par, Scott Langley followed his opening round 62, with a second round of 66, and Scott Piercy had another round of 64, both players total 128.

Scott Langley admitted it was hard to match his amazing first round 62;

“It’s never easy to back up a really good round, I kind of got off to a little slower start, but it was certainly nice to finish the way I did and kind of get back in it with Russ. He played so well, and I was just trying to keep pace as much as I can. To finish that way was really good.”

Scott Piercy had to admit he knew very little about the two new rookies;

” It’s Russell something and Langley?  I think Russell won when he was in college, right? Hey, they’re playing well. I think I played in five final groups as a rookie and didn’t come through. There’s a learning curve, but maybe their curve is quicker than mine.”

Matt Kuchar is in fourth place alone on -11 under par, with his second round score of -7 under par, 63. Matt was real happy with the conditions here at the Waialae Country Club in  Honolulu, coming from last weeks windy weather in Maui;

” Coming from last week, it feels really easy out there, this course, is not as simple as it seems, it’s one of the tougher courses on tour. If you’re not playing well, you’re going to make some bogeys. I understand the wind is supposed to really die down over the weekend, so I certainly expect low scoring. The course is in great shape, greens are beautiful, so there’s going to be a lot more birdies and your foot has definitely got to be down on the pedal.”

One sad note today, Dustin Johnson who won last week at Kapalua, withdrew after nine holes today, suffering from the flu. Dustin will now not  get a chance to match Ernie Els as the only players to sweep the two Hawaii events.

He said of his malaise;

” I feel like I’m coming down with whatever my caddie’s got, just not feeling well. Stomach hurts, headache, tired.”

I think that as long as Scott and Russell are paired together one of them will win this tournament  they are helping each other and are not too bothered about the rest of the field. But if they are split up for the last round, competing against a seasoned Tour professional, then the going will get a little tougher coming down the stretch on Sunday.

“As long as it’s legal, I’ll keep cheating like the rest of them.”

Ernie Els and his Belly Putter /

 Kyle Terada, US Presswire.

Ernie Els said in 2011 ” As long as its legal, I’ll keep cheating like the rest of them.”  Seems as if Ernie may now be voicing some concern about the banning of his Belly Putter, a complete 360 on his original quote.

This is what Ernie now has to say;

” For a lot of guys they thought it was a magic wand, you put your hands on it and you’re going to make putts. But it’s taken me a long time to get used to it. So in all honesty, I’m not for it if they change it, but if so then so be it. I’m not the rules maker, there are people that want to look after the game and the future of the game, and if they feel that they need to ban it, I’ll go with it, but I’m definitely not for that.”

Ernie jumped camp and turned to the belly putter two years ago, the use of this putter ended more than a two-year Tour winless drought, with his Major victory at The Open last July at Royal Lytham and Saint Annes.

Although the  proposed ban on anchoring, Rule 14.1b, by the sport’s governing bodies. the R&A and the U.S.G.A, is not due take effect until the year 2016, the Tour could create its own rule and outlaw the method much earlier, perhaps as soon as October. Ernie has admitted he has recently played a couple of rounds at the Johor Open with a conventional putter;

 ” 

It felt quite good”

But Ernie has no plans to change back to the conventional putter anytime soon, may be the Tour could force him into the swap sooner than he thinks.