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.

The Memorial Tournament. Kooch Claims it.

A smiling Matt Kuchar, Kooch, claimed the Memorial Tournament title at Muirfield Village Golf Course on Sunday.

Smiling Matt Kuchar / Getty Images

Matt fired a 68 on Sunday that included a 21-foot birdie on the 72nd hole and allowed him to claim the win at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance. His last round of -4 under par gave him a tournament total of -12 under par, to win by two shots over the field.

Kevin Chapple was in second place at -10 under par, he matched Matt’s final round score of -4 under par 68, but it was not enough to snatch the victory.

Kyle Stanley was alone in third place at -7 under par, after his final round of -1 under par 71.

Both of the World’s best players, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, ranked No. 1 and 2,  finished well back in the pack. Tiger, who was the defending and five-time Memorial champ, shot 8 over and was tied for 65th. While Rory was two strokes better as strangely each player only broke par once in the four rounds at Muirfield Village Golf Course.

The Memorial Tournament. Its Kooch by Two

Matt Kuchar, Kooch to his friends and fans leads the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Course, in Ohio.

Happy Matt Kuchar / Getty

Matt managed to survive a  nasty combination of swirling wind and fast greens at Muirfield Village for a -2 under par 70, giving him a two-shot lead at -8 under par for the tournament over Kevin Chappell and Kyle Stanley, heading into the final round on Sunday.

Matt admitted it was like a survival course;

“It was a bit of survival, I was fortunate to make a handful of birdies. I think anytime you make a birdie in these conditions, you feel like you’re really up on the field here. Most of these holes, you’re looking at just getting out with a par.”

Kevin and Kyle are two shots back at -6 under par, Kevin with a great round of -4 under par 68, while Kyle struggled to +1 over par 73.

There are three players at -5 under par, including Bill Hass, the first round leader who could only manage a +4 over par round today. Joining him on that -5 under par score are Justin Rose and Matt Jones.

The next group of players are all at -4 under par, J.J. Henry also had a -4 under par round 68, Adam Scott was -3 under, Scott Piercy had a -1 under round while Charl Schwartzel collapsed with a +4 over par round.

Missing the cut are; Sang-Moon Bae, Geoff Ogilvy, Branden Grace, Brandt Snedeker, Guan Tianlang (a), Dustin Johnson, and Vijay Singh. Quite a high-profile list.

Tiger Woods +8 over and Rory McIlroy +6 over par, the world’s number one and two were lucky to make the cut.

Tiger reported after his poor round;

“The conditions were tough and when I missed it cost me. I caught the wrong gusts at the wrong time, made a couple bad swings and all in all, it just went the wrong way.”

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.

 

Tiger is The PLAYERS Champion. Sergio Shoots Himself in the Foot.

Tiger Woods won The PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP at TPC Sawgrass on the Stadium Course, in the end by a canter.

Tiger Woods acknowledging his win / Getty Images

Tiger finished The PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP with a final round of -2 under 70, for a  tournament total of -13 under par. He said he was trying to get better each year;

“Each year I’m tying to get better, so far this year, I’m off to a pretty good start.”

Talking about his errant tee shot on 14, which found water;

“Just hit absolutely the worst shot I could possibly hit, but it was the only bad swing I made all day. I told myself I could still win the tournament.”

Sergio Garcia stood on the tee box at the 17th par 3 Island hole tied with Tiger at the top of the leaderboard. Two lazy tee shots later and a couple of putts and it was all over, a quad bogey deflating Sergio. His slump was so bad he double bogied the 18th as well, dropping six shots on the final two holes, crashing down to tie for eight place at -7 under par. Sergio’s tender temperament under pressure was in question again. Why did he take a pitching wedge to the 17th green, when just about everybody else used a nine iron. He came up short, and in a strange move decided to replay the shot from the tee, ignoring the easier option of walking over to the drop zone, he failed again, his tournament was all over.

Three players tied in second place, Kevin Streelman, Jeff Maggert and David Lingmerth, all at -11 under par. Kevin put together a very good last round of -5 under par, 67. Jeff was in the hunt for most of the day, he finished with -2 under par of 70. David Lingmerth was unable to improve on his third round total and finished the day with an even par round of 72.

Martin Laird, Henrik Stenson and Ryan Palmer were the next bunch of players, they completed the tournament at -10 under par.

Joining Sergio on -7 under par were; Ben Crane, Rory McIlroy, Brandt Snedeker, Marc Leishman, Lee Westwood and Casey Wittenberg.

Not sure if this tournament will be better remembered for Tiger’s second win at The Players, or Sergio’s monstrous  meltdown on the intimidating island green par three 17th hole.

The Players Championship. Castro’s Revolution at TPC Sawgrass.

Roberto Castro started a revolution at The PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP at TPC Sawgrass, shooting a first round of -9 under par 63, to lead the tournament by three shots.

Roberto Castro / AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

Roberto tamed the famous TPC Sawgrass course, he even birdied the infamous par three 17th island hole, and Eagled the par 5 second, his eleventh hole of the day. He spoke about a mental game he plays where he tries to birdie every other hole;

” ‘I hit it close a lot,when I eagled, I was like, oh, now I’m 7 under through 11, so that’s keeping ahead of that 50 percent mark, but this is a different golf course. The golf course is much harder than most of the other times I’ve kind of taken that attitude. It gets proven out here every week, Derek Ernst won last week in his eighth event and no one ever heard of him. There are a lot of good players out here.”

Tied in second pace are Rory McIlroy and Zach Johnson, both of them at -6 under par after their rounds of 66. Very good rounds but still three shots behind the leader. Rory did not hit his driver once on the front nine, a new strategy of his;

”  W hen you hit the shots, it seems very simple. I had a lot of good shots out there, lot of iron shots that were 12, 15 feet away from the pin and I got myself a lot of looks for birdies. I adopted maybe more of a conservative strategy off the tee this year. But once you put your ball in the fairway that means you can be more aggressive into the greens. So it sort of balances itself out.”

Tiger Woods is in the bunch of six players a further shot back at -5 under par for the tournament, four shots off the pace of the leader at the top of the board.

Tomorrow is another day, it would be good to see Roberto Castro put together another good round of golf and stay at the top of the leaderboard.

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.