Category: Golf

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Golf

Nobody cares what Greg Norman thinks


Hey look, it’s Greg Norman opening his mouth — and it’s not even cause he’s choking away another major! Norman said that golf was in big trouble in America because of Tiger Woods and better technology.


With fewer and fewer people watching golf in America, the sport has become stagnant…Players need to bring the spirit back. There have always been great players to bring people to the game to lighten it up so that it’s not so serious.

Look at what (Rafael) Nadal has done for tennis because of the way he is, like a boxer. You never hear anyone coming out and saying I want to beat Tiger Woods — I haven’t heard that. Nadal comes out and says he wants to beat Roger Federer because he’s No. 1 and that’s great for tennis.

…
I have a problem with someone winning a golf tournament without using a driver. The game has always been dominated by power-hitter players, but today you can’t tell the difference between the players because of the technology.

Yeah, Greg, cause pro tennis is doing so great in America. We’re all riveted watching Nadal and Federer. Would that be the tennis that has rackets with sweet spots the size of trampolines? When an actual legend like Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer has something to say about the state of golf, let us know.

Links:
[Sportsline]: Norman: Technology, Tiger stagnating PGA Tour in U.S.

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Golf

Sep 26 in Sports History: US wins its last Ryder Cup



Man those were ugly uniforms

In 1999: In a stirring Sunday comeback predicted the day before by captain Ben Crenshaw, the United States defeated Europe 14 ½ to 13 ½ to win its 25th (and most recent) Ryder Cup. Trailing 10-6 going onto Sunday’s singles matches at the Country Club in Brookline, MA, the U.S. won 8 ½ points, the most ever for a final round. Justin Leonard’s dramatic 45-foot putt on the 17th green to defeat Jose Maria Olazabal was the signature moment, as the United States team swarmed to Leonard (and stepped on Olazabal’s lie, miffing the Europeans) as the putt dropped.

In 1981: Nolan Ryan of Astros no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-0 at the Houston Astrodome. It was Ryan’s fifth career no-hitter, surpassing Sandy Koufax’s record of four. Ryan would go on to throw two more no-hitters in the 1990s, becoming the only player to throw no-no’s in three different decades.

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Golf

Tiger says: lay off my wife


Tiger Woods is furious at The Dubliner, an Irish magazine that called his wife “filth” and published a photo of Elin Nordegren nude that wasn’t really Elin Nordegren. A columnist for the Dubliner protests that he didn’t know that photos that have been floating around the internet of a “topless Elin Nordegren” are really some other blond with large cans. He put the photo next to copy that read “Most American golfers are married to women who cannot keep their clothes on in public. Is it too much to ask that they leave them at home for the Ryder Cup? Consider the evidence. Tiger Woods’ wife can be found in a variety of sweaty poses on porn sites.”

Tiger Tiger Woods yall was not amused.


My wife, yes, she has been a model prior, and she did do some bikini photos. But to link her to porn Web sites and such is unacceptable, and I do not accept that at all. Neither does our team.

The Dubliner responded by issuing a lame apology that the piece was satire. I realize the Ryder Cup stirs up some American-European rivaly and fun but this was really weak. Do you really want to rile up Tiger? He’s going to destroy the Euros now.

By the way, how could the Dubliner possibly not know the topless photo wasn’t of Elin Nordegren? If such a photo existed, we’d have found it by now. After all, she is a woman we love.

Links:
[AP]: Woods rips Irish mag for story on wife

[Fox News]: Irish Magazine Calls Tiger Woods’ Wife ‘Filth’

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Golf

Odds and Ends: Can we put a moratorium on Michelle Wie coverage?



Al Czervik is more interesting that Wie

The latest headline from ESPN says that “Michelle Wie getting buried at 84 Lumber“. As of press time she is 13 over par. So besides the fact that she’s young and (fairly) good, what is the fascination with Michelle Wie? How did it become that her losing was news? When Tiger Woods loses it is news because he’s earned that right. He is so dominant that an off day like the one he had at the Match Play Championship is newsworthy. (By the way, Bill Simmons has a great article on Tiger Woods that reminded us how good Bill Simmons can be when he’s not writing about the Red Sox or the Yankees.) But Michelle Wie? Please. She hasn’t won a single thing since she announced she was going pro.

We are proposing a moratorium on the Michelle Wie coverage. It’s never going to happen though. People don’t call ESPN the Worldwide Leader in Hype for no reason.

In other news…

[Sign On San Diego]: Woman gets $2.75M for her house and land where new Cowboys stadium will be built

[Fox Sports]: Police think backup punter/stabber had an accomplice

[Cubbiepalloza]: Nobody Likes Jay Mariotti

[NY Post]: CBS’s NFL Pregame show gaining traction

And finally, via Twin Cities, Minnesota, a video of Brad Johnson throwing a TD to himself in 1997.

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Golf

Odds and Ends: Tiger Woods finally loses



Bitter beer face? Switch to
Keystone Light

Tiger Woods is human. After a two month winning streak, Tiger played his worst golf since the U.S. Open. Tiger lost in the first round of the World Match Play Championship to Shaun Micheel 4 and 3, his worst loss ever in match play. Micheel is ranked 77th in the world golf rankings.


I just had a hard time with my pace, and if you have a hard time with your pace, it’s hard to read greens,” Woods said. “It got a little better in the afternoon on the back nine, but by then it was already too late.

Asked what he would do, Woods said he was going to go home, roll around in his money and then bang his ridiculously hot wife. Or maybe he said he’d go hit the gym. We’d choose the former though.

In other news…

[Detroit Free Press]: A state representative is proposing a bill that allows Lions fans to start drinking and dawn and wave signs ripping management. Re-election!

[SignOnSanDiego]: Former home of Bush’s parents put on market for $775,000

[Inside Bay Area]: Chargers’ Steve Foley might face DUI since getting shot wasn’t punishment enough

[The Offside]: Celtic (Scottish soccer team) fan will only eat green foods for an entire season

[No Man’s Land]: Who the hell thought of Beach Tennis?

[Flyers Fan Central]: So long Primeau, you will be missed

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Golf

August 11 in Sports History: John Daly wins PGA Championship


In 1991: An unknown rookie qualifier named John Daly shocked the golf world by winning the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick in Indiana. Daly, who only made the field when another golfer dropped out, shot a 276 and defeated Bruce Lietzke by 3 shots. Known as Long John for his booming drives off the tee (at least we think), Daly would become one of the most popular golfers on the tour despite only five wins in 15 years. He would be just as well known for his life off the golf course. Daly has battled alcoholism, a gambling addiction and a slew of ex-wives throughout his professional career.

In 1951: The New York (baseball) Giants lost to the Phillies 4-0, while the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Braves 8-1 (in the first ever game televised in color). The loss put the Giants 13 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the National League standings with 49 games left to play. The Giants would eventually make one of the biggest comebacks in baseball history, leaping over three teams to tie the Dodgers on the last day of the season. The rivals would play a best-of-three playoff, with the Giants winning the pennant on Bobby Thompson’s famous home run, which became known as “the shot heard ‘round the world.”

In 2005: Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receiver Terrell Owens was sent home for the week during training camp after a shouting match with Head Coach Andy Reid. Owens, who reported to camp unhappy with his current contract (“only” seven years, $49 million), supposedly told Reid to “shut up” in a team meeting. Owens returned to his home in New Jersey, where he did a bizarre series of interviews while working out in his front yard. Owens would continue his feud with Reid and quarterback Donovan McNabb throughout the regular season. He was suspended from the Eagles for the remainder of the season in November for criticizing the team for not recognizing his 100th career touchdown reception and for reportedly getting into a fist-fight with Hugh Douglas. He signed with the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason.

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Golf

July 18 in Sports History: Defining choke

In 1999: In one of the biggest meltdowns in sports history, Jean Van de Velde of France triple-bogeyed the final hole at the British Open, thus forcing a playoff with Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard at Carnoustie in Scotland. Van de Velde only needed a six on 18 to win. His tee shot went left, his second shot hit the grandstand, his third went into the water (where he actually took off his shoes and rolled up his pants as if to play it out of the water), his next shot chunked into the deeper rough and he barely recovered to “force” the playoff. He never regained his composure, and Lawrie became the first Scot to win on his home turf since 1931. Down 10 shots at the beginning of the rfinal ound, his comeback was the largest in major history. Curtis Strange, covering the tournament for ABC, summed it up perfectly, saying, “this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Also in 1999: On a day when Don Larsen was on hand at Yankee stadium to throw out the first pitch, David Cone went out and mimicked the former Yankee World Series hero by throwing a perfect game. Cone did not allow a single base runner as the Yankees blanked the Montreal Expos 6-0. Cone only threw 88 pitches, 68 of them strikes. It was the 14th perfect game in Major League history and the second in Yankee Stadium in two years (David Wells did it in 1998).

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Golf

Natalie Gulbis almost wins her first LPGA Tour event

Is it wrong that we root for Natalie Gulbis because she’s smoking hot? On Sunday, she came oh so close to winning her first title but lost to Mi Hyun Kim in a sudden death playoff. Kim said that she was surprised by the sheer number of people rooting for Gulbis.


I understand that I’m Korean and that many Americans fans are rooting for Natalie,” Kim said. “I was happy that a few people said my name or my nickname, or ‘Go Mi Hyun Kim.’

Actually, Kim, it has nothing to do with being Korean or American, it’s because Natalie is hot as all get out. We’d root for someone from Iraq if she looked great in a short skirt… (Although perhaps that’s our male bias.)

In any case, a 2nd place showing is still good enough to avoid the Anna Kournikova tag and she will still move plenty of calendars and get plenty of modeling gigs.

Links:
[USA TODAY]: Kim beats Gulbis on third LPGA playoff hole
[FHM]: Natalie’s FHM pictorial

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Golf

June 20 in Sports History: Payne Stewarts final major win

In 1999: Payne Stewart sinks a dramatic 25-foot par putt to win the U.S Open at Pinehurst no. 2 in North Carolina. On a misty Sunday afternoon, Stewart held off Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods with a one-under 279. Stewart’s putt capped off one of the most memorable finishes in golf history. Mickelson, who had been up one with three to play, now needed to make par to force a playoff, but bogeyed the 72nd hole. Stewart leaned forward, pumped his fist in the air and kicked his right leg back in celebration as the putt disappeared into the hole for his second national golf championship. Sadly, it would turn out to be Stewart’s last hurrah, as he tragically died in a plane crash later that year. His winning moment was immortalized in a statue at Pinehurst.

In 1982 Tom Watson defeats Jack Nicklaus with a stunning birdie chip on the 17th hole at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Watson, always known for coming close but not winning the U.S. Open, was tied for the lead with Nicklaus going into 17. With Nicklaus safely on the green and Watson in the rough, it looked liked the Golden Bear was in the driver’s seat for his fifth Open title. A confident Watson felt that he could make it and rolled the chip in for a birdie and a one-shot lead. He then birdied 18 to take his first and only national title by two strokes.

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Golf

Odds and Ends (06.19.06): Mickelson’s deal with the devil has expired



The old Phil is back

All Phil Mickelson had to do was par to win the U.S. Open. Even a bogey would put him into a playoff. But Lefty is back to his choking ways as he double-bogeyed the final hole and ended up 1 back and tied for second. A lot of people on the tour must be ecstatic as Phil is one of the ten most hated athletes.


I still am in shock that I did that. I just can’t believe that I did that. I am such an idiot.

By the way, there is no truth to the rumor that Phil Mickelson’s U.S. Open Strategy Includes Telling Loud, Touching Stories About Living Father.

In other news…

[Kuklas Korner]: Stanley Cup Game 7 tonight: Why You Should Watch

[Sun UK]: France gets screwed by ref in the World Cup

[World Cup Blog]: USA gets screwed by ref in the World Cup

[Cincinnati.com]: Carson Palmer out-cornholes 12 year olds

[Yay Sports]: Mark Cuban is going to be lighter in the wallet in 5…4…3…2…