Sun, 14 Jun 2009 03:01:49 -0500 IP.Blog 60
Well I have to say Kevin's choice has paid off so far. After 18 holes in Memphis. Triefenback is tied for 11th place after an opening round 71. Tied with the likes of John Daly and PGA Champion Shaun Micheel. To give you an idea of the caliber of player in Memphis, here are some other names...James Driscoll, Frank Lickliter, Bob Estes, Harrison Frazar, Jason Gore, Vaughan Taylor, Alex Cejka, Paul Stankowski, Brian Gay and Jeff Maggert just to name a few.

Only 45 or so scores are in but you have to be proud of a local PGA Professional taking the tough road and holding his own.

Good Luck to Kevin for the rest of the day, if would be great to have another local player in the US Open in 2009.]]> Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:37:00 -0500
The LPGA Tour was in Springfield, Illinois this weekend and the final two rounds could not have been more different. On Saturday there were just three rounds of 66 or better among the top 20 and on Sunday every one of the top 8 players fired 68 or better including two 65's and a 63. Se Ri Pak finished just one of the winning score of In-Kyung Kim, but Suzanne Pettersen and Paula Creamer performed well and tour hottie Anna Rawson fired a final round 65 for her best finish on the tour this year and should probably more than double her season long earnings of $6,432 with a tie for 13th place. Go Anna.]]> Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:22:00 -0500
#5 - Greg Norman plays well at the British Open

I know he didnt win and you could almost say he had another Sunday collapse, but regardless of the outcome, The Shark had me glued to the TV for two straight days as he did the unthinkable and played in the final group on Sunday in another Major, at age 53 no less. The beauty of it was that he had not been playing much golf at all and wasnt even sure if he would play the British. Sure, Paddy Harrington won with an amazing finish to grab it, but come on, we were all hoping that some how the Shark could pull it off the most unlikely major win in decades.

#4 - Michelle Wie qualifies for LPGA Tour by going to Q-School

Michelle Wie has finally got it right. After years of trying to live up to her 'phenom' tag when she burst on to the scene as a 16 year old, the last couple of years have been dreadful for Wie. Her last positive golf story was nearly qualifying for the US Open a few years ago, but since then she has not only played poorly agains the Men, she has played poorly against the Ladies too. Perhaps her father and her handlers have given her bad advice in choosing how to start her career, but I am glad that she has finally done something by earning it. I never felt like she did not earn those sponsor exemptions because she was going to be a bigger draw than 99% of the field anyways so you would be crazy to not invite her, but now she can be a member of the LPGA Tour, pick her schedule and not be a side show, hopefully. I see multiple wins in 2009.

#3 - Sergio wins Players / Gets murdered at Ryder Cup

First off I will say that I think Sergio Garcia is good for the game. He is the only one that seems to be brash enough to challenge Tiger, at least until AK jumped on the scene. But he has never played well enough to live up to the expectations. Sure he has won a few times, challenged in the majors and dominated the Ryder Cup, but he typically does it all without Tiger anywhere near. Since the 1999 PGA, when has he stared Tiger down and not folded? I am not jumping on his bandwagon because he won the Players Championship. He had a great week and Stan Utley did miracles with his putting for a week. Once again he folded in a major championship and then got the ultimate spanking by Anthony Kim at the Ryder Cup. That was great. He got beat so bad, Kim did not even realize the match was over so quickly. Good luck in 2009 Sergio and enjoy the fans at Bethpage Black in New York again, maybe it will go better this time around.

#2 - US Wins Ryder Cup

My top two picks are probably cliche, but if you guage the interest level in golf in 2008 I think it can be summarized by the two most exciting events and one of those was the Ryder Cup. Back in the US, without Tiger Woods at a bombers paradise, Valhalla. Paul Azinger brought a new method to the madness and seemed to out maneuver any captain from any team in Ryder Cup history. He created his pods, he modified the course set up to favor a birdie barrage, he switched the order of the formats the first two days, he held a huge pep rally and embraced Louisville. He pushed all the right buttons and the team executed nearly flawlessly, save the embarrasing performance on the 18th hole collectively. He got steve stricker to do a fist pump and jim fyruk to dance around the green, that takes something special to get those two guys to show some emotion. He even had me rooting for Lefty for a few minutes as he paired with Anthony Kim, but that has already faded. Watching the last few holes as Holmes and Weekley and Mahan made clutch putts was as much fun as I had watching golf all year.

#1 Tiger limps to victory

I know big surprise. But when I heard that the US Open Playoff on Monday was the single most Live Streamed Sporting Event on the Internet - Ever! That spoke volumes. They talk about March Madness and how much work time is lost, think about how many people were glued to their computer screens all day. Then we hear after the fact, following a ton of speculation, that he was winning on a fractured leg and a torn up knee. Anyone of us wouldn't have even flown to San Diego much less compete in the US Open and then Win. It was fun watching before we knew of the severity of the injury, but then to think back on what he overcame to do it? Every time he has done something to change his swing, he has had doubters upon his return. This time, there will be a small minority that challenge what he will achieve when he finally returns to action in 2009. I would guess that Tiger will be favored to win at least 2 majors per year until his leg falls off or he just quits playing whichever comes first.]]> Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:14:00 -0600
Jay Williamson played relatively well to earn his way into the BMW Championship at his home club of Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, but failed to make a cut in his last 6 events dropping him out of the top 125 by about $90K. While he is going to have some status on tour in 2009 a strong finish at Q-School could dramatically improve the number of events he gets in on the West Coast, early in the season. Firing 4 rouds in the 60's with two rounds left, Williamson is in great position to finish in the top 5 (3rd alone through 4 rounds).

This has been more compelling to me than any of the lame Fall Series events on the PGA Tour.

Note: Jay Desling improved from T-102 up to T58th to give himself an outside shot at moving into the top 25 with two good rounds on Sunday and Monday.

Good Luck Michelle, Jay and Jay!]]> Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:31:00 -0600
A driving range is a great way for parents to introduce their kids to the game and to know there is a perfect training ground including a 9-hole course there, I can see families flocking to Ruth Park to enjoy the game together. I hope that Ruth Park is able to capitalize on this great resource to help grow the game.

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Then I got to sneak over to Mission Hills before it got dark and wow! what a beautiful looking course and the clubhouse was amazing. They redid the entire golf course in 2006/07 and apparently took an OK golf course and made it into something very special. I have gotten to play several of the old clubs in St. Louis and now look forward to making the trek and playing a few in KC as well. I guess I better fine tune my game and start playing in the MGA, KCGA and KGA events in 2009.]]> Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:04:00 -0500
Every time it seemed like a match was out of hand the other team found a way to get back in it. To hear mickelson talk about Karlsson's 7 or 8 birdie round and how proud he was that they halved the match was cool. if there was only some way to bring that kind of excitement to the tour each week. i know its a pipe dream and i dont mean for this to become critical of the pga tour, because i am a big fan and watch every chance i get. but there is something just amazing about the ryder cup, especially when both teams play well.

could valhalla be the difference? i mean they were in detroit at oakland hills in 2004 and that was no fun for anyone. even the pga this year was dreadful golf because of how hard the course is. maybe they just need to go to courses with a lot of birdies out there. the players were hitting a lot of wedges into par 4 greens and all the par 5's were reachable and that was exciting. like augusta before tiger came along.

thats what the tour needs! us open once a year and a birdie fest every other week. thats what we want is scores like 12 - 15 - 18 - 24 under par. no one wants to watch an event where 5 under par wins like at Memphis this year. That is like playing golf when it is cold, windy and wet. Yeah we'll still play, but it sure as hell is not going to be as much fun.

There's my suggestion. Keep the ryder cup at great venues, but not u.s. open type set ups. Hopefully Medinah (2012), Hazeltine (2016) and Whistling Straits (2020) will be set up for excitement and not punishment.]]> Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:30:00 -0500
I learned my lesson, I took my medecine, and now I have to learn how to step in and keep my player from making a bad decision. Like hitting 3-hybrid from a plugged lie on 18 with OB to the right and the trees blocking the left side of the green. GO HERE and look at the 18th hole in the 3rd round to see what I am talking about.

I guess I have more to learn.]]> Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:44:00 -0500
If there was a playoff today or if Appleby, Westwood and Vijay all make birdies on 18 then you might have heard some roars, but if you listened to the crowd when Vijay's putt went in, it was the sound of utter disappointment at the lack of drama. I am pretty sure there are not that many die hard Vijay Singh fans that were sitting there seating his final putt followed by a fist pump from the couch after it snuck in the right side.

The only drama was to see who would play the worst down the stretch. Somehow I knew I was not going to get the playoff I deserved for watching nearly the entire final round. I actually wished I had gone out to mow the grass instead and I hate to mow the grass. Oh well.

I will stay positive for the PGA this week, but I sure hope it is not a finish like what happened at the SR US OPEN. Glad I did not DVR that awful display.

With all the Brett Favre coverage, where are the camera's outside Tiger's compound trying to get the story on his first step without crutches, first putt on his home putting green and first 350 yard drive into the intercoastal waterway behind his house? Actually I am glad he is finding a way to stay out of the spotlight.]]> Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:25:00 -0500
We have been kind of lucky since Tiger went out with his knee injury because Anthony Kim won for a 2nd time at the AT&T and Kenny Perry has won twice so there have been some good story lines. Then Greg Norman contends at the Open Championship giving us another compelling week for golf on TV. Unfortunately Norman did not win and we saw Jay Williamson of St. Louis not win in another playoff at the John Deere. So the story lines are there, we just need a few of them to play out the way we want.

Anthony Kim has a realy chance today to put a stamp on the PGA Tour season and with a win this week, I would put him as a top contender at the PGA Championship. Who knows, he could win the PGA, win one or two Fed Ex cup events, take home the Fed Ex Cup and who knows Player of the Year.

That is all wishful thinking, but it sure would make the rest of the season more interesting than it appears it will be.

GO A.K.!!!]]> Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:21:00 -0500