This Labor Day weekend, the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston will be held, as the FedEx Cup Championship begins to narrow the field. Among those that made the cut, in the FedEx standings, Tiger Woods moved from 112 overall to 65.
Tiger Woods is now a second favorite to win the FedEx Cup Championship according to the Las Vegas Hilton Superbook, heading into the Deutsche Bank Championship. Phil Mickelson is 10-1, while Tiger is an 8-1 second favorite. Steve Stricker at 5-1 is the overall favorite to win the FedEx Cup Championship.
The Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston is a course that suits other long ball strikers and Tiger well. Tiger likes his chances of finishing in the top 30 golfers to move on to the next round of the FedEx Cup Championship and he has won on this course before.
For good reason, Steve Stricker is the favorite to win the FedEx Title. He is consistent at saving par when he gets into trouble and he is a good ball striker. Along with Rory McIlroy, Stricker should be the man to beat in Boston. All season, McIlroy has been consistent and he has a made a habit of playing his best golf with the spotlight on.
This Labor Day, two other golfers to watch are Paul Casey and Adam Scott. For the past few years, the two have been knocking on the door at majors and this could be the type of tournament that will give them the confidence for next year’s round of majors.
Tags: FedEx Cup, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Tiger Woods
This Thursday, the Barclays, the first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs will get underway from the historic Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. Despite being favored in Las Vegas, the usual favorites will be out the window. Phil Mickelson has more serious problems, although to perform well in New Jersey, a recently divorced Tiger Woods may be able to put his personal life on the back burner.
Mickelson’s outlook for the first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs is not very good and he is dealing with arthritis. Since the US Open in June, Mickelson has struggled and he has suffered through the last few tournaments. Mickelson will be hard pressed to finish well in the final standings, although Mickelson is fourth in the FedEx standings.
As the top man in the FedEx standings, Ernie Els enters the playoffs while Tiger Woods is wallowing in 112th position. Dustin Johnson could be the hot golfer heading into the event. This season, Johnson has given away two majors and with the pressure off in this event, maybe Johnson can put together four solid days of golf to win the first leg of the playoffs.
Justin Rose is another golfer under the radar and he is very popular in the PGA odds. Rose, fifth in the FedEx standings, could be the surprise winner coming out of Paramus this weekend and he has quietly put together a solid season. Rory McIlroy is one more golfer to keep an eye on this weekend. In pressure-filled situations, McIlroy thrives and he could sneak out a win.
Tags: Dustin Johnson, FedEx Cup, PGA odds, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods
Martin Kaymer of Germany won the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, in a finish that surprised everybody in attendance and watching on television.
Over American Bubba Watson, he won a playoff to win what is the last major tournament of the year. Dustin Johnson ended up being penalized two strokes for grounding his club in what was deemed to be a sandtrap on the last hole, although it appeared that he would also be in the extra hole playoff.
In what was tightly bunched, close finish, Kaymer, 25-year old from Mettmann, Germany who also lives in Arizona claimed his first major championship. To get into the playoff, Kaymer sunk a 15-foot putt on the last hole of regulation. Watson sent a shot from the rough into the water on the second hole, although he jumped out to a lead in the playoff. To earn the title, Kaymer played consistently down the stretch.
At 10-under, Zach Johnson and Rory Mcllroy tied for third. Alongside Steve Elkington and Jason Dufner, Dustin Johnson slid to a tie for fifth with his penalty.
To finish in a tie for 12th, Phil Mickelson shot a final round 5-under, playing earlier in the day. Getting to 4-under at one point, Tiger Woods made an early move, but finished 2-under for the tournament. To tie for 10th, American Matt Kuchar led after two rounds shot a 72.
Tags: Martin Kaymer, PGA Championship, PGA Golf
Rachel Rohanna needed to beat the heat. She had a ton of confidence from a 25-foot birdie putt on the first hole and importantly, a touch of luck.
During a muggy first round of stroke play, Rohanna, an all-Big Ten player at Ohio State, set a U.S. Women’s Amateur scoring record with a 7-under 65, during which the heat index approached triple digits.
Waynesburg, Pa., resident said, “If it didn’t hit that hole, it probably would have been a good 5 feet by. I was getting lucky on a few shots and I was playing for the center of the green I played well, but I’d say that it was a lot of luck.”
With a 68, Brooke Pancake, of Chattanooga, Tenn, finished as conditions eased slightly with some cloud cover and a slight breeze in the afternoon. Pancake, struck the middle of the green on No. 11, last week and played in triple-digit temperatures in the women’s collegiate championships in Dahlonega, Ga.
Pancake said, “The back side had some crucial holes where you can throw up some high scores. But I just stayed in the moment and picked a target and swung — and if I hit it well, great, and if I didn’t, then just go to the next shot.”
Jaclyn Sweeney, a senior at Arizona State from Andover, Mass., and Girls junior champion Doris Chen of Bradenton, Fla., were at 3-under. younger sister of LPGA Tour player Morgan Pressel, Madison Pressel of Boca Raton, Fla., shot 4-over 76.
The 18-hole women’s amateur mark of 66 was previously shared by Kellee Booth (1998), Natalie Gulbis (1999) and Amanda Blumenherst (2008).
In this U.S. Golf Association event, to match play after a second day of stroke play Tuesday, Sixty-four of 156 players will advance, concluding with a 36-hole final on Sunday.
Tags: Brooke Pancake, Rachel Rohanna, U.S. Women's Amateur, women's collegiate championships
The PGA Tour heads to the Whistling Straits Golf Course in Kohler, Wisconsin, August 12 for the 92nd annual PGA Championship. This will be the last Major of the year. Everyone will talk about Tiger Woods having one more shot to win a Major in 2010 but don’t be fooled. They are only discussing Tiger because he drives the TV ratings.
In Las Vegas, the Wynn sports book posted Tiger as a 6-1 favorite to win his first Major of the season also but once again, don’t be fooled. Tiger’s odds are so low because the casino’s know the public will put money on Tiger.
The European’s have shown up in all four golf Majors this season and the course for the PGA Championship could set up for a few of the better golfers from across the pond. Lee Westwood should be in contention come Sunday and Ian Poulter is another golfer showing up in the Majors of late.
One golfer no one, is paying attention to is Anthony Kim. Kim should always be considered because of his consistency and his ability to recover from trouble quite easily. KJ Choi is much the same as Kim in regards to playing out of sticky situations.
What about the “Big Lefty,” Phil Mickelson? Phil may not be rewarded for his aggressiveness on Whistling Straits. Phil is 10-1 as the second favorite, according to the Wynn but his name is worth 10 percentage points. Don’t forget about Rory McIlroy either. McIlroy is a Major magnet and he will be around on Sunday battling in the top 10.
Tags: KJ Choi, Lee Westwood, PGA, PGA Championship, Tiger Woods
Louis Oosthuizen had attempted to play in seven previous majors before the British Open at Saint Andrews this weekend. Of the seven majors Louis Oosthuizen attempted to play, he made the cut in just one. That was before July 15, 2010.
While big names, Tiger Woods and John Daly grabbed the headlines on the first day of the British Open, Louis Oosthuizen was right there with them. No one paid much attention to Louis Oosthuizen and his -7 score on the first day of The Open though.
Day two at Saint Andrews, everyone would know who Louis Oosthuizen was but no one in the ESPN booth would know how to pronounce his name. Oosthuizen shot a five under and grabbed the lead of The Open with a two day score of -12.
From that point, King Louie or Shrek, as many of Louis Oosthuizen’s friends refer to him, went on a Saturday and Sunday tear that demolished the PGA’s finest, in a performance that can only be described as “Tiger Like.” Oosthuizen increased his lead to -15 on Saturday and moved to -16 on Sunday to tame Saint Andrews and win his first British Open.
Oosthuizen’s closest competitor, Paul Casey, never had much of an opportunity to catch Oosthuizen since he never made any mistakes. Casey’s bid to catch Oosthuizen was all but over when he shot a seven on the 12th hole. Casey ended up falling to back to third eight shots out, while fellow countryman Lee Westwood finished second.
Tags: British Open, John Daly, Louis Oosthuizen, PGA, Tiger Woods
Lee Westwood, over the course of his career, is a solid golfer that has had success. He has had success in reaching the top 3 in every Major Championship tournament at some point in his career, although he has never won a major. This includes the British Open, otherwise known as “The Open Championship.”
Lee Westwood, in 2009, just last year, recorded the best finish that he has ever seen at the British Open. In 2008, at the tournament, he had managed just a 67th place finish and had not had success since 2004 where he finished fourth overall. Despite his struggles in the previous four years, somehow he managed to pull things together and bring home a 3rd place finish.
At the British Open, this is typical of Westwood. He has a tendency of putting up awful showings one year and then having a great tournament the next, throughout his career. Westwood has missed the cut 4 times at the British Open over the course of his career. He missed the cut in 1996 and 2003, but managed to bounce back the following year with a top 10 finish each time.
Westwood has finished 64th or worse 8 times out of 15 career tries at the British Open, over the course of his career. He has also had three top 10 finishes at the same tournament, on the other hand.
In the end, one thing is true: Nobody will ever know what to expect from Lee Westwood, when it comes to the British Open.
In professional golf today, Phil Mickelson is probably the second biggest name. For many years of his career he has finished as the 2nd ranked player in the world, therefore, it makes perfect sense that he is the second biggest name.
Over the course of his career, he has won Major Championships, but the British Open has not been his favorite place to play. He has won the PGA Championship once and the Masters 3 times. There have been 4 different years where Mickelson finished with a second place finish at the U.S. Open. things are a little different, when it comes to the British Open.
When the 2010 British Open starts July 15, he’ll try to turn that around at the famed St. Andrew’s old course in Scotland.
At the British Open, the best finish that Mickelson has ever mustered was 3rd place. In 2004, he managed to take home a third place finish back. It is amazing to think that a golfer that has played professionally for 18 years and has won 38 PGA tour tournaments cannot manage to take home a finish better than 3rd place at one of golf’s biggest tournaments each year.
At this tournament we can look at Mickelson’s major history from 1999-2007, to demonstrate the difficulty for sports betting star, Mickelson. He did not miss a cut at a Major Championship until 2007 when he had sustained a wrist injury, starting in 1999. In 1999 the streak only began after Mickelson missed a cut at the British Open at Carnoustie.
The results that many other places have over the course of Mickelson’s great career, the British open simply has not brought him the results.
Tiger Woods is without doubt one of the most famous golfers of all time. He has recorded more victories than any current golfer on the PGA tour and is on track to have a career equal to the legendary Jack Nicklaus.
Despite the 14 Major victories for Woods in his career, not everything has been peaches and cream for Woods at the British Open, one of the major tournaments.
He’ll be looking to change that when the 2010 British Open starts July 15 at the famed St. Andrew’s old course in Scotland.
There is no doubt that Tiger has been great at the British Open in the past. Tiger has won the tournament three times in his career, including an impressive stretch with the opening of the new millennium with all three of those victories from 2000-2006. This includes back-to-back victories in 2005 and 2006.
Tiger Woods has not missed many cuts over the course of his career. Before the year 2009 Tiger had not missed a cut for about 3 years. The previous cut he missed was an awful showing at the U.S. Open where he was 12 over. From that point on he went on a torrid streak where he did not miss another cut until the British Open in 2009. This marked just the 5th cut that he had missed in his career to that point and only the 2nd cut that he had missed in a major tournament.
Tiger has seen the good and the bad at the British Open. As the British Open approaches it will be interesting to see what side of Tiger we will see show up.
Tags: 2010 British Open, Jack Nicklaus, PGA Tour, Tiger Woods