New Equipment Gallery: TaylorMade Driver, More
What else? There's a golf ball whose makers claim it is "eco-friendly." Some new wedges from Wilson Staff. More golf balls - from Bridgestone - plus shoes, electric caddies and a golf simulator that allows you to play along with the pros on your television set.
From the Rules Forum: Hazard(ous) Drop Ruling
I hit my ball into a lateral hazard, got a new ball from my bag and dropped it near the point of entry. The ground was so steep that the ball I dropped began rolling into the lake.Seeing that I was going to lose my brand new ball without ever hitting it, I naturally stopped it from rolling with my foot.
This was a casual round with friends, so I just picked up the ball and dropped it again. This time it didn't roll, so I played on.
Had this been a tournament or competition of some kind, I would have given the situation more thought. What is the official rule for losing a dropped ball into a lake? I assume you're not expected to take another stroke penalty, but what about the ball? Are you supposed to just stand there and watch it roll into the lake? I'm an amateur and have to pay for my golf balls!
This Week: The Barclays Opens FedEx "Playoffs"
The FedEx Cup point series now moves into the "playoffs" portion of its schedule, with PGA Tour golfers seeded from one to 144 based on their "regular season" finish, and now embarking on the first of four playoff tournaments.
The Barclays leads off the playoff schedule, with a field of 144. One-hundred 20 players move on to the Deutsche Bank Championship, then 70 to the BMW Championship, and finally 30 to the Tour Championship.
The No. 1 player in FedEx Cup points won't be playing any of them. Because the No. 1 player is still Tiger Woods. Check out the full FedEx Cup points standings on pgatour.com.
The Tour tweaked the points formula for the playoffs this year after 2007's playoffs failed to produce much movement in the week-to-week standings. The two changes made should result in a few more players moving up the standings each week, more players falling down the standings when they fail to perform, and a few more players having a chance to win it all by the time of the Tour Championship. See the explanation of changes, and some examples of how they would have changed 2007's results.
Wie Fails in Bid for Tour Card
And outside the Top 10, tied for 12th place, was Michelle Wie. Wie played well in Canada save for her opening-round 75. And she earned $36,475, her biggest payday of 2008.
But far, far less than she needed. Wie was trying to win enough money to earn an LPGA Tour card for 2009 without having to go through the LPGA Qualifying Tournament. She needed to finish at least fifth to have a shot. She needed at least $110,000 in total 2008 earnings.
Instead, she finishes her seven LPGA appearances with only around $60,000, a total that will likely rank around 115th on the money list at the end of the season.
And that means that if Wie wants LPGA membership in 2009 - which she has indicated she does - she'll have to get it the old-fashioned way: Q-School.
But will Wie enter Q-School? There have been conflicting indications. A couple months ago Wie pointed out that Q-School dates conflict with important Stanford University dates, and she plans on going back to Stanford the Fall semester. That was before Wie realized she wouldn't make her money goal, however. Lately, she has demurred when asked about Q-School, saying she hasn't made a decision yet. Her father, earlier in the year, suggested that Wie would enter Q-School if necessary.
What do you think - will Wie enter Q-School? I think she will. I believe her agents plus her coach, David Leadbetter, will prevail upon her to do so, stressing the importance of earning LPGA membership the "right" way.
So I think Wie will enter Q-School, and that she'll easily get through Q-School. And in 2009, we'll finally get to see what Wie can do with a schedule that doesn't rely on sponsor exemptions.
Pettersen Ties Tour Record at Wyndham
The other golfers to post 125 in the first two rounds of a PGA Tour event are:
- Tiger Woods (64-61), 2000 WGC Championships-NEC Invitational
- Mark Calcavecchia (65-60), 2001 Phoenix Open
- Tom Lehman (63-62), 2001 Invensys Classic at Las Vegas
- Corey Pavin (61-64), 2006 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee
Pettersen's 61 also set a new 18-hole tournament record in the Wyndham Championship, previously known as the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro and the Greater Greensboro Open. Davis Love III (1992), Mark O'Meara (1996), Jeff Maggert (1999) and Charles Warren (2005) shared the previous mark of 62.
Architecture Aficionados: The PGA Tour Wants You!
The PGA Tour wants to hear from you. The Tour will even let you design a golf hole for one its of new TPC courses - and if your design impresses Pete Dye, he'll build your golf hole right into his course.
The golf course in question is the AT&T Canyons Course at TPC San Antonio, a 36-hole complex scheduled to open in 2010. Greg Norman is designing one course, which will become the host site of the PGA Tour Texas Open. Dye is designing the other course, which will likely become the host of the Champions Tour stop in San Antonio.
Ground has been broken on both layouts, but the PGA Tour is giving amateur architects the opportunity to submit designs for the 13th hole of Dye's course. Dye and Steve Wenzloff, Vice President of PGA Tour Design Services, Inc., will judge the entries. And the winning entry will become the No. 13 hole. The person whose design is chosen will also get to spend a day on site with Dye.
Want to enter? Visit pgatour.com/tpcdesign and download the entry form, which includes contest rules and submission instructions. Entries must be postmarked by Sept. 12, 2008.
Note that you can't just sketch out something on the back of a napkin. You'll have to put in quite a bit of effort to win: Entries must, the Tour says, "illustrate yardages, tee box, fairway, green and other elements, with a clear scale and topography of the hole. The various elevation levels and angles of the hole should be noted, along with a description of landscaping and other design/environmental factors."
Is Annika Already Planning Comeback?
But anyone who heard her full remarks during that news conference several months ago came away with a sense of finality. It sure seemed like Sorenstam would be gone for good.
But perhaps it only "seemed." In remarks made from the site of the Canadian Women's Open, Sorenstam reminded everyone that she's never used the word "retirement":
"In my announcement, I said I was stepping away. I never used the R-word."
And wrapped around that comment were these:
"If I will come back in the future, I guess time will tell. ... I never used the R-word. That gave me an opening. But I don't have a timeframe. I have a lot on my plate and I’m excited about the next chapter."
Has Annika been watching Brett Favre? (Don't worry, anything Annika does will be done with far more class than was displayed by either Favre or Packers management.) More likely she's been paying attention to Juli Inkster and Kenny Perry, two late-40s golfers still enjoying success.
Sorenstam is getting married next year. And she has spoken often of her desire to start a family, so expect a baby to follow. And she'll be working on expanding her business ventures, including her course design work and her Annika Academies.
So let's say she steps away for, oh, five years - starts that family, grows her businesses. Sorenstam thrives on the challenge, on the chase. What would be a greater challenge for Sorenstam in her early to mid-40s than to try to win again on the LPGA Tour?
Last Chance for Wie Begins Thursday
Wie is not a member of the LPGA and therefore does not appear on the tour's money list. However, if a non-member earns enough money that she would rank 80th or better on that money list, were she eligible, she gets a Tour card for the following season.
So that is what Wie has to do to avoid Q-School: Win enough money that she would finish 80th or better on the money list. Wie appeared primed to do just that, cruising along in the State Farm Classic back in July, finishing the third round in second place, before being disqualified for one of the bonehead moves of the year - forgetting to sign her scorecard following the second round.
So Wie has only around $26,000 in LPGA earnings this year. The player currently 80th on the money list has around $110,000, or $84,000 more than Wie. The player who was 80th on the money list in 2007 finished with $117,000 and change, or $91,000 more than Wie currently has.
To secure that tour card without going through Q-School, Wie probably needs to make about $100,000 at the Canadian Women's Open, which means finishing inside the Top 5. Is that doable? She certainly seemed on her way to a Top 5 finish at the State Farm.
But ... the CWO has a much stronger field than the State Farm had, and Wie is coming off a questionable outing at the PGA Reno-Tahoe Open a couple weeks ago. Had Wie not played in Reno, she would enter the CWO with three rounds in the 60s as her most recent tournament scores. Her confidence would likely be sky-high. Instead, she enters the CWO with rounds of 73 and 80 as her most recent tournament scores.
That might not matter at all. Wie is nothing if not resilient. It's the strength of field that matters. If Wie's game is as sharp as it was at the State Farm, a Top 5 finish - even a victory - is possible. If her game is off just a notch, Top 5 won't happen.
And Then There's This ...
On a totally unrelated note, our friends at oobgolf conducted an interview with yours truly recently, and the Q&A is posted here.
This Week: Wyndham Championship
And while the tournament isn't returning to its GGO monicker, it is returning to Sedgefield this year after an absence of 30 years.
Sedgefield, a Donald Ross design, has a great history with this tournament. Among the winners of the event at Sedgefield were 11 Hall of Famers: Sam Snead, Ralph Guldahl, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Lloyd Mangrum, Billy Casper, Julius Boros, Gene Littler, Gary Player, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Bob Charles.
Of course, Sam Snead won this tournament a lot. Eight times, to be exact, the last time in 1962 at nearly 53 years of age. Yes, those are records (see links at bottom of post).
Brandt Snedeker is the defending champion, and the Wyndham is the final tournament of the FedEx Cup "regular season." You can check the FedEx Cup point standings here. There's a very good chance that the injured Tiger Woods will end the "regular season" atop those standings.
Check out the Wyndham Championship profile to view the full list of past champions along with other tourney info and trivia.
PGA Tour Records
• Most wins in one tournament
• Oldest golfers to win on the PGA Tour
Woods Won't Swing a Club Until 2009
"As far as swinging a club, that's not going to happen until next year. I just don't have a choice. We simply don't know what type of swelling there would be or if there would be any residual effects the next day once you start wheeling and dealing on the knee. Everyone's body reacts differently. I could putt right now but I'm not going to do it."I don't know what the doctors are going to tell me about playing golf down the road. I'm taking it day-to-day, week-to-week. All I'm doing every day is looking forward to my next day."
Imagine the frustration that must be involved when you're the greatest golfer of all-time and one of the most intense competitors in sports, and can't do something you love. It's a sign of Tiger's self-discipline that he is succeeding in taking his doctors' advice to go very slow.
But Woods' recovery is progressing. He notes in the blog post that he is now gingerly riding a stationary bike, the first exercise activity (other than walking) he is able to add back to his routine.
While Woods is unable to do anything with his golf game now, he's still saying very busy. He says that he recently visited Congressional Country Club to discuss with club members keeping the AT&T National there from 2012 through 2017; he's been working with Gatorade on a new drink; he's been working on his course design projects in North Carolina and Dubai.
And he's even watched a little golf on TV. And playing with daughter Sam? "I can't catch Sam yet, but I'm getting close."
He also recently rinsed, lathered and repeated; and this morning Tiger clipped his toenails. The clippings will be auctioned next week on eBay. OK, I made up this part.