Pressel, Lennarth lead as Park fades at British Open

Pressel, Lennarth lead as Park fades at British Open

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August 1, 2013

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Morgan Pressel of the U.S. reacts to her putt at the 18th hole during the Women's British Open golf championship …



(Reuters) - American Morgan Pressel and Sweden's Camilla Lennarth shared the lead at the women's British Open on Thursday as grand slam-hunting South Korean Inbee Park slumped to finish three shots off the pace in the first round.

Pressel and Lennarth carded six-under 66s at St Andrews to lead by one stroke from a chasing pack that includedAmericans Nicole Castrale, Stacy Lewis, Ryann O'Toole and Sydnee Michaels as well as Park's compatriots Mi-Jeong Jeon and Na Yeon Choi.

World number one Park finished on three-under-par after a fast start as she bids to become the first player of either gender to win four majors in a calendar year.

The South Korean was six-under through 10 holes but dropped shots at the 13th, 16th, which she double bogeyed, and 17th before picking up a birdie at the 18th.

Pressel hit seven birdies and one bogey in her opening round at the Old Course in Scotland.


Eight players finished the day at four under, including Scotland's former British Open winner Catriona Matthew, English pair Liz Young and Georgia Hall, and former U.S. Open champion Paula Creamer of the United States.

The 25-year-old Park won the first three majors of 2013 - the Kraft Nabisco title, LPGA Championship and U.S. Open.

Officially, victory at St Andrews this weekend would not constitute a grand slam, since the Evian Masters in September has this year been granted the status of the fifth major.

But securing a fourth successive major in a calendar year would be heralded as an unprecedented achievement.

Park has already matched the feat of Babe Zaharias in 1950 of winning the first three majors of the year.
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Sweden's Camilla Lennarth tees off at the 17th hole during the Women's British Open golf championshi …

(Writing by Stephen Wood in London, editing by Ken Ferris)

Firestone specialist Woods back in contention

Firestone specialist Woods back in contention

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Mark Lamport-Stokes August 1, 2013

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Tiger Woods of the U.S. watches his second shot on the 13th hole during the first round of the WGC-Bridgestone …


By Mark Lamport-Stokes

AKRON, Ohio (Reuters) - For Tiger Woods, it was back to business as usual at one of his happiest hunting grounds as he moved ominously into contention at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday.

The world number one has triumphed a record seven times in the elite World Golf Championships (WGC) event atFirestone Country Club and looked as good as ever here on the way to an opening four-under-par 66.

Woods took advantage of greens softened by overnight rain with some pinpoint iron play to put himself in a good position to push on for his fifth PGA Tour victory of the season.

"I felt pretty good today," the 14-times major winner told reporters after carding six birdies and two bogeys to end a warm, breezy day at Firestone two strokes behinds pacesetting American Webb Simpson.

"It was a little blustery, the wind was up and the greens were soft but at least the ball was flying. I feel very good about what I'm doing with basically my whole swing. I hit a lot of good shots.

"I had a really good feel for the distance today, and (caddie) Joey (LaCava) and I really read the wind right today. We changed a few shots out there, and we both had a really good handle on what we were doing feel-wise with the wind."

Woods, who last won here in 2009, birdied four of his last nine holes to surge up the leaderboard at a heavily tree-lined venue where he has always felt extremely comfortable.

"I've played terrible coming in here and I've played really well coming in and, for some reason on this golf course, I just see it," the 37-year-old said. "It's just one of those venues.

"Luckily over the years I've taken advantage of it. I have played well and I've scored well, and I've won my share of tournaments here."


SWING CHANGE

Woods has posted 11 top-10s in 13 appearances at Firestone, his rare bad weeks here coming in 2010 and 2011 when he was battling back from the breakdown of his marriage and assorted injury problems, while also working on his fourth swing change.

"Unfortunately some of those times were when I was changing my swing and I was going through that change," he explained. "It's one of those things where you've still got to play well.

"But I still felt comfortable with what I was seeing out there even though I didn't play well. It's hard to explain, but I just feel comfortable seeing the shots here.

"You still have to execute, obviously, and over the course of my career here, I've done all right at doing that."

Woods, who is also aiming to build momentum for next week's PGA Championship at Oak Hill, was especially pleased with the improvement in his putting, which had cost him dearly in his title bid for last month's British Open.

He ended up in a tie for sixth at Muirfield in Scotland where his challenge for a first major victory in five years unraveled in the final round as he closed with a three-over-par 74.

"I thought I putted well," Woods said of his performance at rain-softened Firestone. "I had a good speed to it. I did some good work last night, had a really good handle on the feel.

"Obviously it changed overnight with the rain and I spent a little more time hitting some lag putts with a little moisture on it to see what it would do. Downhill putts were quick, but uphill putts were much slower than yesterday."

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Julian Linden)

Golf-Firestone delight for in-form Stenson

Golf-Firestone delight for in-form Stenson

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August 1, 2013


By Mark Lamport-Stokes

AKRON, Ohio, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Resurgent Swede Henrik Stenson could hardly be in a more different position at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational since he most recently competed in the World Golf Championships (WGC) event three years ago.

In 2010, a dispirited Stenson finished stone last in an elite field of 80 at Firestone Country Club and he later regretted playing in the tournament that week as he had been battling a lingering viral infection.

On Thursday, however, he buried all those painful memories by firing a five-under-par 65 in the opening round, continuing the excellent form he has produced over the past month.

"Five-under and bogey-free around here is not something you do every day, I guess," a smiling Stenson told reporters after making an explosive birdie-eagle start before finishing a stroke behind pacesetting American Webb Simpson.

"My game's moving in the right direction for sure."

Stenson, who has endured two lengthy slumps in form during an otherwise successful career that has earned him seven European Tour titles, arrived at Firestone in upbeat mood after recording top-10 finishes in his last three events.


"The final round in Munich, I played really, really solid tee to green," the 37-year-old said, referring to the BMW International Open where he tied for 10th place.

"Scottish Open, I had a great scoring round the second day but more than anything the third round was really good there tee to green. And then at the British I hit a lot of good shots but I didn't feel like I played perfect there by any means.

"But I felt very comfortable being out there and the way I played in the final round (at the British Open). That's something I will take with me for future big events if I can put myself in that position again."

Stenson, who won the biggest title of his career at the PGA Tour's 2009 Players Championship, tied for third in last month's Scottish Open before finishing joint second in the British Open at Muirfield the following week.

It has been a long road back for the Swede who struggled for form for much of 2001 and 2002, and again during his 2011 campaign.

"We all go through ups and downs," said Stenson. "Back in '11 and for parts of last year, as well, I wasn't in the big ones (elite events). We all want to win major championships, and you've got to be in the tournaments to start with.

"So that was the first goal, to get back into the top 50 to be in for all the big events," said the Swede, who has climbed to 19th in the world rankings after plummeting to 230th early last year. It's been a lot of hard work and a couple of changes.

"I went back to my old sports psychologist last summer and put a more of a long-term plan in place for all the different areas of the game. It's been some good work there that's starting to pay off big time." (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Julian Linden)

PGA Championship could use some separation

PGA Championship could use some separation
DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer) August 5, 2013AP - Sports








PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) -- Phil Mickelson was elated. Tiger Woods was frustrated. Lee Westwood was trying to pretend he wasn't disheartened.

That was the British Open. That was only 15 days ago.

Time to move on to the next major. Monday was the first official day of practice for the PGA Championship, which feels more like the next page than a new chapter.

''They come fast and quick once the U.S. Open hits,'' Graeme McDowell said.

No need explaining that to Ernie Els. He is playing for the seventh time in the last nine weeks, three of them major championships.

And no need complaining to Jack Nicklaus. He had it far worse.

In his second year as a professional, already a Masters and U.S. Open champion, Nicklaus had his first good shot at winning the British Open until he stumbled down the stretch at Royal Lytham & St. Annes and finished one shot behind Bob Charles.

Ten days later, he won his first PGA Championship.

''They used to have the British Open and the PGA back-to-back, which was really kind of silly,'' Nicklaus said. ''I was fortunate to be able to get back.''

He was equally fortunate to be 23 with a strong body and a clear mind. One week, Nicklaus was playing links golf with a small golf ball in temperatures in the mid-50s in the northwest of England. The next week he was playing the final American major at Dallas Athletic Club, where the temperatures topped 100.

''It was a big change,'' Nicklaus said. ''I think a lot of the guys got back, and I think they were probably pretty tired from the British Open and I think they were pretty tired from ... the weather just absolutely beat them down. I guess I was a young guy and I handled those conditions pretty well.''

That was 50 years ago. So maybe now, having a whole two weeks between majors, represents progress.

But the PGA Championship can do better - not only for the players, but for the marketing of a major that lags well behind the other three in popularity.

McDowell was trying to pay a compliment to the PGA Championship last year at Firestone when the truth got in the way. Asked about the final major of the year, he said, ''There's not a guy standing on the range that wouldn't put it head-and-shoulders over any tournament in the world - apart from the other three major championships.''

Perhaps that's because the other three majors have such a clear identity.

The British Open is links golf. The U.S. Open bills itself as the toughest test in golf. The Masters is played on the magical stage of Augusta National every year, making it the course golf fans know better than any other in the world. And the PGA Championship? Geoff Ogilvy once referred to it as ''the other one.''


How to fix that? Consider making less money from TV revenue and move it to October.

The Masters has loads of built-in advantages, and one that gets overlooked is the anticipation. After the Wanamaker Trophy is awarded Sunday at Oak Hill, golf fans have to wait eight months before the next major. The excitement for the Masters only builds when CBS starts airing promotions in the months leading to it.

There are roughly two months before the U.S. Open, and then a month before the British Open - and barely time for a nap before the PGA Championship.

''It is quick,'' Padraig Harrington said after the British Open. ''You think of the guys who are going to play next week (in Canada) and that's four big tournaments in a row. It's a lot of golf. The great thing about being at thePGA and the U.S. Open is they tend to set the course up very uniformly. You can definitely go play these tournaments from a yardage book. ... We know what we're going to get.''

To be clear, having these majors stacked on top of each other is not a great burden on the player. It's golf, not a triathlon.

It just keeps the PGA Championship from getting the buildup it deserves. And the PGA deserves better.

As much as the final major gets overlooked as ''the other one,'' look back over the last five years and try to find anything dull about the PGA Championship. Rory McIlroy, the rising star with a record win at Kiawah. Keegan Bradley's remarkable recovery from a triple bogey to win in a playoff. Martin Kaymer's win andDustin Johnson's fiasco in the bunker at Whistling Straits. Y.E. Yang taking down Tiger Woods at Hazeltine. Harrington ripping out Sergio Garcia's heart for the second straight year in a major.

Here's why October works.

In this global game, it fits the international schedule perfectly. A month after the British Open, the PGA Tourbegins its lucrative FedEx Cup playoffs until the end of September. A month later, the European Tour begins its Race to Dubai with a series of tournaments in Asia.

In between would be the final major of the year - a real ''Super Bowl'' to end the U.S. season.

For those who care nothing about golf except for the majors - and it's a larger population than the PGA Tour wants to believe - this gives them one last event to anticipate in the fall. And in Ryder Cup years, the matches could be played in August instead of a month later. That could help avoid weather issues, particularly in Europe. The only concern is shrinking daylight, though the PGA could reduce the field. Even at 124 players, it would still be the strongest of the majors.

Here's why it probably won't happen.

''I assume these things are based on TV ratings, financials, things like that,'' Harrington said.

Correct.

The PGA Championship is not just the final major of the year. It's the final major before the American football season begins. The ratings wouldn't be quite as high. The revenue would not be as great. Then again, it's not as if the PGA of America would go broke by taking less money to elevate its major championship. One only has to look at the clothing budget for the Ryder Cup, or the party it throws in October at Bermuda called the Grand Slam of Golf.

''That's true. They don't look like they need (money) that week,'' Harrington said. ''But it's all part of making a tournament prestigious. If they move it to October, could they make it a bigger tournament? Who knows? But it wouldn't be a bad thing for us.''

It wouldn't be a bad thing for anyone who loves golf.

Niebrugge wins 2013 Western Amateur

Niebrugge wins 2013 Western Amateur
August 5, 2013AP - Sports









ROLAND, Ark. (AP) -- U.S. Public Links champion Jordan Niebrugge won the Western Amateur final Monday, 3 and 2 over Sean Dale for his third win in three weeks.

Niebrugge and Dale were tied playing the ninth hole Sunday when the final was suspended because of threatening weather. They resumed play Monday and Niebrugge won the first three holes, including birdies on the 10th and 11th, to take a 3-up lead with seven holes to play. Dale, a recent North Florida graduate, birdied 15, but bogeyed the par-3 16th to end the match.

Niebrugge, the 6-foot-4 Oklahoma State player from Mequon, Wis., followed his Public Links win with a victory in the Wisconsin State Amateur tourney. His next stop is the U.S. Amateur Aug. 12-18 at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

For Micheel, PGA win opened door to charity

For Micheel, PGA win opened door to charity

PGA.COM August 5, 2013







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Shaun Micheel has helped raise more than $2 million for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.(Getty Images)


By Stan Awtrey, PGA.com Contributor

Shaun Micheel said his victory at the 2003 PGA Championship ''defined me as a golfer.'' It also started the process of defining him as a humanitarian.

Micheel has not built on that victory as a player. In fact, that win at Oak Hill remains the only victory of his career. However, he continues to use that one shining moment to generate funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a charity for which he's raised more than $2.1 million.

The melding of Micheel and Make-A-Wish is nothing short of serendipity.

Micheel got involved with it in 2002 through a Memphis charity tournament hosted by two-time major champion John Daly. Micheel, who lives in Memphis, was eager to assist the local fundraiser and was happy to help.

''My wife (Stephanie) and I love families and we love kids and wanted to do anything we could to help,'' Micheel said.

He didn't know it, but his chance was right around the corner. Daly decided to end his involvement with the Memphis event in order to start his own charitable foundation. Daly's departure left the Make-A-Wish people scrambling to find a replacement.

''Ironically, I won the PGA Championship and it seemed like a perfect opportunity for me and them to get together,'' Micheel said.

Micheel and Make-A-Wish hosted their first tournament in 2004. They decided to take the event a different way, opting to go away from inviting celebrities (which cost thousands in expenses for flights and rooms) to placing the focus on the children who are being helped.

''We decided to make the Make-A-Wish children the team captains,'' Micheel said. ''We get 15 or 20 of them who are well enough to attend and make them the captains. I think we surprised people that we were able to raise as much money as we did without celebrities or professional golfers.

''I'm not saying people wouldn't want to play with a PGA player, but that's not what it's about. This gives people a chance to see where their money is going. That's huge.''


The fundraiser makes it a point to grant one wish each year. Last year they enabled a young man with cystic fibrosis to take his rock band to Nashville in a tour bus and record an album. This year they were able to fund a Disney cruise for a young girl.

''When we grant the wish and people see what we've done, there's not a dry eye in the place,'' said Micheel, who admitted than he often allows his emotions to seep through his eyes.

Micheel is proud that his fundraiser at TPC Southwind is the top producer for the Make-A-Wish Mid-South Chapter. The event is sold out every year and all the spots were gone in 2013 before the first committee meeting occurred. It proves they must be doing something right.

Micheel will draw more interest as a player this week at Oak Hill, where his victory shocked the golf world in 2003. He has fought through a variety of injuries; he had major surgery on his left shoulder and must deal with a troublesome right shoulder that recently required a cortisone shot.

His 2013 results haven't been up to his standards. He's played three events on the PGA Tour and is yet to make a cut, and he's missed the cut in four of five starts on the Web.com Tour. But when it comes to a return to Oak Hill, Micheel said, ''I'm looking forward to it.''

Micheel's situation has changed over the last decade. He and Stephanie have two children; she was pregnant with son Dade in 2003 and daughter Marin was born in 2007. His mother died in 2010, but his father will able to attend this time. The in-laws are coming and everyone will stay in a rented house.

It will be Micheel's first trip back to the Rochester course since 2004, when he visited in a rain-soaked event to commemorate his win. Despite the miserable conditions that day, Micheel was enticed to return to the spot on No. 18 where he struck his epic 7-iron that landed within inches of the hole and ensured his victory.

Once he reached the place where history had been made, Micheel was surprised to see a commemorative plaque marking the spot.

''I drove out to 18 that day and was like, 'Wow. I didn't know that was there,''' Micheel said. ''And I turned around and there were about 30-40 carts sitting behind the green. Somebody knew about it.''

That place has become a favorite for visitors to Oak Hill, who are eager to take their own swing at the shot. ''There are a lot of divots around that spot,'' said longtime Oak Hill PGA Professional Craig Harmon.

Visitors see the marker as a place where golf history was made. But Micheel's vision of the spot goes deeper than that. He views it as a place that opened the doors that enabled him to make life a little better for children who have been dealt a bad hand.

''It makes Stephanie and I feel very good that we're doing our part,'' he said.

A 1-week break for the Ryder Cup next year

A 1-week break for the Ryder Cup next year


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DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer) August 7, 2013AP - Sports








PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) -- For the first time in five years,PGA Tour players will face four straight weeks of golf in theFedEx Cup playoffs in 2014.

The tour has been scheduling a week off between its four playoff events since 2010, mainly to keep players in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup from too much competition. The last two times in Ryder Cup years, the matches were held a week after the Tour Championship.

The PGA of America, on behalf of Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson, asked PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem to consider giving players a week off before the matches.

''Our captain felt like that it was imperative that our players had a week off prior to the Ryder Cup,'' PGA president Ted Bishop said Wednesday.

The tour acquiesced, and during the course of more conversations, the PGA of America decided to drop ''Glory's Last Shot'' as its slogan for the PGA Championship. While the PGA Championship is the final major, the rest of the calendar year featured the FedEx Cup playoffs and even the Ryder Cup itself.

The PGA Tour is not releasing its full 2013-14 schedule until next month, but this means there will be four straight weeks of playoff events in August and September, followed by a week off before going to Scotland for the Ryder Cup.

Bishop said Finchem was ''provocative'' in stating the PGA Championship had the strongest field among major championships and could stand on its own merit without a slogan.

''I think that we feel that our championship does stand on its own merits and there is other golf that's played after this championship, albeit not major golf,'' Bishop said. ''And so that was just one example of some of the many things that I feel like we have been able to work together and accomplish hand-in-hand with the PGA Tour.''


The last time the PGA Tour had four straight playoff events was in 2009, when Tiger Woods won the $10 million bonus.

Bishop has been concerned about the energy level of the American team since last year at Medinah, where Europe staged a record-tying comeback. That would go against another school of thought, however, that the matches have been close ever since the FedEx Cup began because all the top players are in form.

So does the tour's big bonanza at the end of the year hurt or help?

''I don't think that it's probably impacted the Ryder Cup that much one way or the other,'' Bishop said. ''I know Tom was very emphatic about this in my discussions with him that he did think that due to number of weeks in a row - or six out of eight weeks that these guys play leading up to the Ryder Cup - that he had some concerns that our players, particularly when we were playing a foreign Ryder Cup and you had to deal with the time change and the travel, that there was a fatigue factor.''

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RICKIE'S FRESH SET OF EYES: The only swing coach for Rickie Fowler was Barry McDonnell, who taught him on the Murrieta Valley Golf Range in southern California. McDonnell died at age 75 two years ago.

Fowler still doesn't have a coach, though he did seek some help.

Butch Harmon said he was asked to take a look at Fowler's swing during the British Open, during which Harmon recommended the club going back a little more straight so that Fowler doesn't have to drop it back into position on the downswing.
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Tom Watson talks during a news conference at the PGA Championship golf tournament at Oak Hill Countr …

Harmon did not classify it as a formal teacher-pupil relationship.

Nick Watney, meanwhile, was seen twice on the practice range working with Todd Anderson, the Sea Island swing coach whose clients include Brandt Snedeker. Watney worked with Harmon for years, and lately had been seeing his son, Claude Harmon III.

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WHAT'S FOR DINNER: A tradition like one other took place Tuesday night when defending champion Rory McIlroy hosted a dinner for past winners of the PGA Championship. McIlroy was in charge of the menu, similar to the Champions Dinner at the Masters, the difference being he didn't have to pay for it.

So what was for dinner?

A goat's cheese and beet root salad for a starter. Irish tenderloin as the main course. Sticky toffee pudding for dessert.

''It was good,'' McIlroy said, speaking at least for himself. ''Everybody definitely enjoyed the last two courses. I don't know how the appetizer went down.''

He also gave them each Bose speakers that were personalized. McIlroy signed a deal with Bose earlier this year.
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Tom Watson talks during a news conference at the PGA Championship golf tournament at Oak Hill Countr …

Keeping with the tradition, McIlroy asked two former champions to make speeches. He selected two-time winnerDave Stockton, who coaches McIlroy on his putting; and Keegan Bradley, who won the PGA Championship prior to McIlroy winning last year at Kiawah Island.

''It was cool,'' McIlroy said. ''You have the most recent PGAchampions like myself, Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer. And then you have someone like Doug Ford. It was his 91st birthday yesterday.''

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NO SOUVENIRS FOR YOU: U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson tried to do some advance scouting during a visit to Gleneagles, the famed Scottish resort that will be the site of next year's matches.

While his hosts couldn't have been more gracious showing Watson around, the hospitality dried up pretty quickly when he asked to see the pin sheets from a previous tournament. By seeing where the putting cups were located during the Johnnie Walker Championship, played over the same Centenary Course, Watson was hoping to make an educated guess where they might be when the U.S. and European sides clash a year from September.

''I looked at them with a smile and said, 'You're not going to give it to us?'''

''They said, 'No.'''

Watson laughed off the exchange, saying it was ''no big deal. ... I've been assured that the golf course will be set up not with any particular bias in mind.''
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Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, hits to the 18th green during a practice round for the PGA Champi …

But that doesn't mean the Europeans won't enjoy a significant home-court advantage.

''At that time of year,'' Watson added, ''it can get cold there.''

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GREEN SPEED: The PGA Championship took a page out of Augusta National when asked about the speed of the greens at Oak Hill.

Kerry Haigh, chief championships officer for the PGA of America, offered a different twist.

''Championship speed,'' he said.

Asked for a number, Haigh said he didn't believe it was appropriate to give a number on the Stimpmeter.

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OH, BROTHERS: The sons of famed teaching pro and former Masters champion Claude Harmon - Butch, Craig, Billy and the late Dick - were known to give each other the needle. Nothing has changed over the years.

Butch Harmon is the most famous of them having worked with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Greg Norman and a host of other major champions. Billy Harmon once said the oldest brother wasn't a great teacher, he just had the best students. Craig Harmon is the longtime head pro at Oak Hill.

That led Billy Harmon to offer this nugget Wednesday: ''Best thing about being at Oak Hill this week is that I'm Craig's brother, not Butch's brother.''

To which Butch replied smugly, ''When you're the oldest, you don't have to do much talking.''