The U.S. Open Championship. Everything Came Up Roses For Justin.

Everything came up roses for Justin Rose as he won the 113th U.S. Open Championship at Merion Golf Club. Winning by two shots from Phil Mickelson and Jason Day, who were tied in second place at +3 over par.

Justin Rose and his 1st Major trophy / Getty Images

Justin is the first Englishman in 43 years to win the U.S. Open, The last English U.S. Open winner was Tony Jacklin in 1970. Nick Faldo was the last Major trophy winner in 1996 at Augusta. An even par total for the championship was the winning score for Justin, a great effort on the difficult and punishing course at Merion.

Justin said that when he walked over the hill down the 18th fairway to check on his tee shot, he knew it was his moment;

“When I came over the hill and saw my ball laying in the fairway, I thought. This is my moment. It was me hitting from the middle of the fairway. It wasn’t lost on me that today was Father’s Day. A lot of us come from great men and we have a responsibility to our children to show what a great man can be. For it to all just work out for me, on such an emotional day, I couldn’t help but look up to the heavens and think that my old dad Ken had something to do with it.”

On an amazing  day at Merion Golf Course, all the home supporters were rooting for birthday boy Phil Mickelson, sadly for him a couple of mistakes left him sitting in second place, again. Today was Phil’s 43rd birthday and it should have been a great day for him, but this is the sixth time Phil has been in second place at this event, the most coveted trophy missing from his display cabinet;

“Heartbreak, this is tough to swallow after coming so close. This was my best chance of all of them. I had a golf course I really liked. I felt this was as good an opportunity as you could ask for. It really hurts.”

Luke Donald was in position to challenge for this Trophy, but after his tee shot hit a female volunteer official on the third hole. It seemed to wreck his concentration, and everything fell apart after that incident.

As I predicted at the beginning of the week, the winner was not under par for the tournament.

U.S. Open. Phil is in Charge

Phil Mickelson is in charge, and the only player at the U.S. Open who is in red figures at Merion Golf Club, after three rounds have been completed.

Phil Mickelson / Getty Images

Phil had an even par round today, which was good enough to elevate him to the top of the leaderboard at the U.S. Open. He has recorded five previous second place finishes in this tournament, but is now in control at Merion, leading by one shot going into the final round. Saturday is usually referred to as moving day, but no one at  the top of the board moved forward today. The good thing for Phil is that this is the first time ever he has enjoyed having the 54 hole lead at a U.S. Open, that must auger well for him;

” It’s a hard challenge, but it’s a lot of fun, every shot requires such great focus because a penalty can bite you quickly. I can’t wait to get back and playing. I feel good ball-striking, I feel good on the greens. I think it’s going to take an under-par round tomorrow.”

One shot back at even par, and tied in second place for the tournament are; Hunter Mahan, Charl Schwartzel and Steve Stricker.

Another shot further back on +1 over par are; Justin Rose, Billy Horschel and Luke Donald.

Luke was cruising through his round, having had the outright lead until two equally poor swings on the last two holes. A 2-iron into the bunker on the par three 17th, that led to a bogey, and followed that with a shot into ankle-deep rough down the right side of the 18th green that led to a double bogey. And just like that, one of the best rounds of the day turned into a 71, and he was suddenly two shots behind. He also managed to miss three short putts as well earlier on, which in the end really hurt his final score.

Best round of the day went to Ricky Fowler, a -3 under par 67, but he is still at +3 over par for the tournament. It was tough going today for the players, but tomorrow will be even tougher, with some pins in the usual most difficult places. As I said a couple of days ago, the winner of this tournament may well not break par at the finish.

Asides;

Sad Sergio Garcia took a beating on the 15th hole, carding a 10 after going out of bounds with his tee shot,three times. He finished the round at +11 over par, when he could have been in contention.

World number one Tiger Woods had another disappointing day, a third round of +6 over par 76 has destroyed any ideas he may of had about making a late charge here on Sunday. He is currently at +9 over par for the tournament. Not fairing much better was his business buddy Rory McIlroy, the World number two finished one shot better at +8 over par, after his third round 75. The way these two are actually playing they may not be numbers one and two for too much longer.

Tiger Commented;

“It certainly is frustrating, I’m playing well enough to do it, and unfortunately just haven’t gotten it done.”

 

U.S. Open. Tight As At The Top, 2nd Day.

It’s Tight as at the top of the leaderboard when play was suspended due to darkness in the second round of the USGA U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club.

Billy Horschel and Phil Mickelson, tied at the top / Getty Images

Billy shot a second round of  -3 under par 67 for his -1 under par total, hitting all eighteen greens in regulation,while Phil had a disappointing +2 over par to slip back to -1 under par.

Billy actually said he was not in the zone today;

“I was not in the zone, trust me, the golf course, even though it’s soft, is still a tough golf course. I know what in the zone is for me, I don’t get nervous, I just see the shot and go. And I saw the shot and went with it, but I was still nervous with a lot of them. Your misses here can be bad if you miss in the wrong spots. I was just focused on what I tried to do. I didn’t know I hit every green until I walked off 18. It’s a cool thing. I’ve done it plenty of times in my career; obviously it’s a U.S. Open, but I think the softness of the greens helped that.”

Phil managed to birdie the last hole to back into a tie for the top spot, at -1 under par, Billy and Phil are the only two players to finish under par on the day.

There are five players tied in third place, just one shot back at even par; Luke Donald, Steve Stricker, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter, who was one of those who have not completed the second round, currently played 14. The Chinese amateur Cheng Tsung Pan, he played nine, and John Senden who had finished his round before the gloom took over.

Luke said it is getting harder;

” U.S. Opens get harder as the week goes on, the pins today were a lot more tucked. They were tougher to get to. A few were on little hills or slopes. It’s very difficult to make those putts when the ball is breaking so much.”

Tiger Woods, currently tied in 17th place at +3 over par, agreed with Luke’s statement about it being tough;

“It’s hard with the wind and the pin locations, they’re really tough. We knew they were going to be in tough areas, but we didn’t think they were going to be as severe as they are. Am I surprised? absolutely not. Unless you played practice rounds out here and you’ve seen the golf course, you don’t realize how difficult it is. Because the short holes are short, but if you miss the fairway, you can’t get the ball on the green. And the longer holes are brutal. And this is probably the stiffest set of par three’s we ever face. And then they’ve thrown some of the pin locations in that they have, and it’s really tough. Just keep grinding, you just don’t ever know what the winning score is going to be. You don’t know if the guys are going to come back. We have a long way to go, and these conditions aren’t going to get any easier. They’re going to get more difficult. As the fairways start drying out, the ball is going to pick up mud and you’re going to get bad breaks.”

Rory McIlroy is just happy to be tied with Tiger on +3 over par;

“I’m very happy, right in there for the weekend. I don’t think I’ll be too far away by the end of the day. In a nice position going into the last two days.”

The projected cut is at +7 over par, at the moment, but there are plenty of payers who still have to complete their second rounds, some of them only at the half way stage. It will be another long day tomorrow for them. My prediction of the winner not finishing under par still looks like a good bet.

 

 

 

 

U.S. Open. 1st Round Suspended, Luke Donald at the top.

1st round play was suspended at the 113th U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club with Luke Donald leading the way at -4 under par, after completing 13 holes. It is actually just like I thought it would be, a rain-fest tournament.

Luke Donald / Getty Images

Luke said he thought the greens were a bit slow, because of the rain;

“The greens are a lot slower than we thought they’d be, because of the rain. And you could be an a bit more aggressive with the stroke. I saw the lines pretty well today and made some good putts.” 

Phil Mickelson was tied in second place after he had completed his opening round at -3 under par, 67. Sharing the second spot with him is Adam Scott, who has yet to complete his round, having only played eleven holes.

Phil Mickelson / Getty Images

Phil is determined to win a U.S. Open but has some strange preparation ideas. He traveled to the course from San Diego, about 2,400 miles in the air and then another 7,000 yards on the golf course. He took a short nap on his private jet from San Diego and grabbed another one during a rain delay when he found a secluded corner of the library room in the Merion clubhouse. Phil has five wedges in his bag, but no driver.

“If I’m able, and I believe I will,  if I’m able to ultimately win a U.S. Open, I would say that it’s great, because I will have had a win and five seconds. But if I never get that win, then it would be a bit heart-breaking. Being able to tune in and tune out was kind of nice the last hole or two, it’s been a long day.”

The opening round will not be completed until Friday morning, giving Phil plenty of time to catch up on his sleep as he won’t have to tee it up again for another 24 hours.

Players from the afternoon tee times were the ones left with holes to complete, the farthest anyone had got around the course  was 14 holes and the last group to tee off was through just four. All will now have to return at 7:15 a.m.tomorrow to complete their opening rounds.

There are three players tied in fourth place, at -2 under par, Webb Simpson, eight holes, Matthew Goggin, six holes, and Alistair Presnell, who has also played six holes.

Rory McIlroy is at even par through eleven holes, with business buddy Tiger Woods struggling at +2 over par, and has a four-foot par putt to make on number ten when he returns first thing in the morning.

The leaderboard is tightly bunched, and the way things are going the winner may not even break par over the four rounds, to lift the Trophy.

BMW PGA Championship. Francesco Molinari Leads at Wet Wentworth.

Francesco Molinari leads at the BMW PGA Championship after the conclusion of the second round at the Wentworth Club on the West Course.

Francesco Molinari / Getty Images

On a wet and cold second day at Wentworth Francesco Molinari leads the BMW PGA Championship by just one shot after his second round of -4 under par, for a tournament total of -6 under par.

Francesco is happy to be at t he top, but is under no illusions as to how hard it will be to stay there on this difficult West course;

” I’m really happy with yesterday and today. The conditions were quite tough but I hit the ball well and the putter is working well so I am really happy at the moment. Six under is a good score given the conditions, I live over here now so I am used to it,  and I’m in a great position going into the weekend, but it’s a really tough course so anyone six or seven behind is still in it.”

Tied in second place is George Coetzee, at -5 under par, the South African has fared better than his compatriot James Kingston, who topped the leaderboard yesterday but collapsed today with a second round 77. Ten shots worse than his 66 of yesterday, he now has a tournament total of -1 under par.

Joining George at -5 under par are Alejandro Cañizares, Marc Warren and Mark Foster.

Lee Westwood is lurking at -3 under par and thinks he could be dangerous if his short game keeps improving, and his long game comes together;

 ” My short game’s been red-hot. I played some nice pitches and walking off the back of the 12th green, where I pitched to about four feet, Ernie said ‘Bit of a short-game wizard now.’ I also got up and down on 18 after hitting it in the hazard and those sorts of things can make a big difference to your week and going into the weekend with momentum. If my long game starts to come together, I could be dangerous.”

Lee’s Ryder Cup team-mate Luke Donald made a premature exit in his bid for a hat-trick of titles and fellow heroes of the Miracle at Medinah also made an early departure from The European Tour’s Flagship Event, with Rory McIlroy (75), Graeme McDowell (75), Ian Poulter (76) and Paul Lawrie (72) all joining Luke in missing the halfway cut.

BMW PGA Championship. Play Suspended, Kingston Claims Lead.

 

Play in the first round of the BMW PGA Championship has been suspended due to darkness on a dramatic opening day on the West Course at Wentworth Club. Currently James Kingston of South Africa has claimed the lead.

 

James Kingston / Getty Images

James Kingston has completed his first round at the BMW PGA Championship with a leading score of -6 under par, 66 at the Wentworth Club in England.

A 90-minute delay at Wentworth, due to the threat of lightning meant the last group, who had only just then teed off, could not complete the course in daylight hours. They will return early on Friday morning to complete their first rounds, and with second round tee times unchanged, all should go smoothly.

In second place is Mikko Ilonen at -5 under par, with Scott Henry and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño a shot further back at -4 under par. All of these players have completed their rounds.

Also at -4 under par is Austrian Martin Wiegele, Martin has only completed 13 holes, so has a chance tomorrow of climbing further up the leaderboard. There were five groups still on the course when play was suspended.

James recieved an invitation to play in this event, he lost his card for the Tour and currently has to survive on these kind of opportunities. He was feeling pretty upset about losing his Tour card;

“I never felt like I played poorly enough to lose my card and that’s what makes it even more frustrating. I felt like I played half decent throughout the whole season, but just never managed to put a score on the board. It does make it a little harder to accept. Getting an invite into this event, what a great feeling to be back here. I think I’ve made the most of it today.”

Mikko was happy to survive in the very cool Wentworth temperatures;

” It was pretty nippy when we started and stayed that way, ”all day I was thinking ‘Can I get these waterproof trousers off?’ and never managed it. We even had hail on the ninth tee. I said to a friend last night it was going to snow today and she laughed at me. It’s British summer and we have proof of that.”

Scott Henry, who graduated from the Challenge Tour last season, only found out he was in the tournament as he boarded a flight from Madeira on Monday morning. He is another player who has grabbed an opportunity, and played well;

“It was nice to see my name on the leaderboard on the back nine, it was a bit surreal. I was pretty nervous this morning, it’s a big tournament and the first time I have been here. It’s a great test of golf and for the first time this year I could put everything together.”

All but one of last year’s victorious Ryder Cup team are in the 150-man field, but several of them fell victim to the closing stretch at Wentworth Club’s famous West Course.

Justin Rose at even, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, last weeks winner started with rounds of 74, Ian Poulter 76 and Luke Donald 78.

 

HP Byron Nelson Championship. Keegan Crumbles, Korean Bae Wins.

Korean Sang-Moon Bae won the HP Byron Nelson Championship at TPC Four Seasons Resort in Texas, with a last round of -1 under par, 69,  for a total of -13 under par. Keegan Bradley crumbled under the pressure and could only manage a last round of par, finishing two strokes behind the leader at -11 under par.

Sang-Moon Bae with his first PGA Tour Trophy/ Pennington / Getty Images

Sang-Moon said winning a PGA Tournament was something he had always dreamed of;

“It’s something I’ve always dreamed of, winning on the PGA TOUR. It was surreal to have Mrs. Nelson there and with all the history, I was in awe, actually, so almost I didn’t know how to react.”

Sang-Moon’s  previous best finish on the PGA TOUR was a playoff loss to Luke Donald at the 2012 Tampa Bay Championship. He said he was happy that he played the back nine better;

” When my iron play came back in the latter part of the round, I had confidence. On that shot on 17, I knew it was short, and the wind pushed it over to the right, and I was happy and relieved that it turned out OK.”

Despite struggling all day Keegan was uplifted by a birdie putt on 15, and thought he could then go on and be the first player since Tom Watson in 1980 to win this competition wire to wire;

“I’m pretty disappointed but Moon played very well. I just didn’t play great today, but I hung in there. I chipped away. When I made that putt on 15, I was pretty confident that I was going to win.”

South African Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters Champ, shot a last round of -2 under par, 68, to finish in third place on his own third at -10 under par.

 

 

 

RBC Heritage. G-Mac wins in Play-Off

G-Mac, Graeme McDowell, won the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on the first hole of a sudden death  play-off against Webb Simpson at Hilton Head Island.

Graeme McDowell / Lecka / Getty Images

Graeme and Webb both finished the RBC Heritage tournament at -9 under par, in very windy and inhospitable conditions.

Graeme reported how hard it is to win;

” This game kicks you more often than it gives you a pat on the back, it’s hard to win. I guess the weather was what the doctor ordered. I needed that to get close to the leaders. It’s funny the way things happen, I wouldn’t swap this for a top ten last week.”

The reigning U.S. Open Champion, Webb Simpson, had a chance to win in regulation play, but his twenty two foot putt for birdie went three feet past the hole and set up the sudden death play-off.

Webb stated that he had no confidence coming in to this tournament, but was convinced that the last putt was going in;

” I came in with not too much confidence, but I just stayed true to the process of what we’ve been working on. I never thought I made a putt more than that birdie putt, it was in. With a foot to go, it was in the left side. Coming back, that was a hard putt, because by the grain and the wind it’s supposed to break, but the regulation putt didn’t break. So I was kind of stuck with, ‘What do I do?’ I tried to play it left center. It broke. My caddie and I called 18 holes today 18 acts, as if we were in a play, just because you really cannot think ahead out there. It’s as hard as we’ll ever play.”

A dejected Webb Simpson / Lecka / Getty Images

Luke Donald tied for third place with Kevin Streelman at -7 under par, Luke admitting that the weather forecast from the National Weather Service advising of gust up to 45 mph were accurate, the worst playing conditions all year;

” Extremely difficult, strongest wind I’ve played in all year.”

The 54 hole leader Charlie Hoffman nose dived in the final round, shooting a lackluster 77, which left him tied in sixth place.

Charlie said he played OK, just did not make the putts he needed to;

” I actually hit the ball all right today, I just didn’t make the putts like I needed to make yesterday. It was tough conditions and I didn’t capitalize on the situations that I had. The shots I hit good didn’t turn out like I thought they were going to turn out.”

 

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.

RBC Heritage. Davis Deserves Lead.

Brian Davis deserves the lead at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, after his super opening round of -6 under par 65.

Brian Davis / Lecka / Gett Images

Brian Davis leads the RBC Heritage after the opening round, and once again is in contention in this event which he lost in spectacular fashion in 2010 at Harbour Town when he called a penalty on himself, and consequentially lost out out to Jim Furyk. Brian wants to win this tournament, so that people remember him for winning rather than conceding.

“I’d like to do something else in this tournament so I don’t get remembered just for that. People do remember it, but for me, I’m just trying to move on from that, and trying to win a golf tournament. I wasn’t worried about my score or about my misses, I was just playing.”

Tied in second place at -5 under par are Charley Hoffman and Kevin Streelman.

Charley thinks he has at last learned to play this course;

” I had zero success early here. I didn’t have the patience to play this golf course. Now I know which side of the fairways to hit it on, and now I can hit it on that side of the fairways sometimes.”

Personally I hope Brian Davis can go on and win his first PGA Tour event, he feels that Harbor Town owes him one.

Looking forward to tomorrow’s play, should be very interesting. Luke Donald has made a good start to this event, currently at -2 under par.