Posts tagged Tiger Woods

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Wrong Fairway Picks for the WGC Accenture Match Play

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9 hours ago
by Chris Chaney in

It would be tough to argue against March Madness being the best time of the year for drama in sports. It’s win or go home, no tomorrow and all those other sports clichés.

While we only get a handful of match play events a year, there’s no doubting that the format is one of the best we have in professional/high-level amateur golf. Some will clamor for more of the match-play because of the differing strategies that are involved in playing one-on-one, but that won’t work because of reasons we saw two weeks ago at Pebble Beach.

The PGA Tour is a business. Businesses strive to make money and while there are a handful of people in this 64-man field that will bring not only hardcore golf fans, but also fringe sports fans to watch the matches, no one is skipping out on work to watch Robert Karlsson and Fredrik Jacobson.

If we get Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson (who isn’t playing this week) and maybe five or size others, then yes, more match play might be a viable option, but as it stands, it’s not economical to have more match play tournaments than we have already. Plus, the lack of match play events is exactly what makes the Accenture Match Play, US Amateur and Ryder and Presidents Cups special.

That being said, above you’ll see the picks for this week. I wanted to get them up as soon as I could, so when it ends up being the perfect bracket, you can check the post date.

A few highlights.

  • Yes, that’s Tiger winning. Why? Because it’s going to happen sometime, he’s a match play god and it’s one round at a time. He doesn’t need to string together six rounds of 68. He needs to be better than one person each day. He can do that and it would make Sunday a lot more fun for Johnny Miller
  • Got Freddy Jac beating Lee Westwood in the second round. Why? Because I’m kind of thrown off by Freddy to be honest. Kind of looks like a bad guy from a movie (that I can’t put my finger on), but his painters hat and jerky move at the ball seem to work for him. Plus, Westwood’s soft.
  • Have G-Mac going to the semis. An off year in 2011 after a dream 2010, seems like he’s ready to get back on track and what better way to do that than one match at a time.
  • Woods and A. Scott in the finals. Just cause.

Coverage starts today at noon on Golf Channel, so check out the best Wednesday of the year.

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Just for Chips and Giggles: Tiger, Bubba’s Driver and Rocketballz

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3 weeks ago
by Chris Chaney in

Tiger's probably not reading Haney's book. (SI/Peter Read Miller)

Welcome to the newest addition to Playing From the Wrong Fairway, Just for Chips and Giggles. Basically, this feature is going to consist of a few links and thoughts on some of the stories in the world of golf that slipped through the cracks. Let’s see what we’ve missed…

Tiger is playing at Pebble

-Normally this story would have warranted its own post, simply because it’s about Tiger, but with all the changing storylines that would go along with it, the timeliness of a post never felt right.

The simple fact being that Woods agreed to start his PGA Tour season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is nice enough, but then rumors started to circulate about who Woods’ pro-am partner would be. Tony Romo? Tim Tebow? Tom Brady?

Originally, it was reported that Woods would tee it up with Romo, a solid pairing for both because of Romo’s reputation as a good player. Then, Tebow fever took over with the Broncos winning their first-round playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and people started throwing out the notion of a Tebow-Woods pairing. Those rumors were eventually squashed and the Romo-Woods pairing was confirmed.

Hank Haney is writing about his time with Tiger

-In other Tiger news, last week it was announced that former Woods swimg coach/reality television star/Five Guys promoter Hank Haney was authoring a book about his six years working with Tiger.

As we know, Tiger hates it when anyone tries to use his name to make money or gain notoriety. This is no exception. Woods called the book “unprofessional” and said he was disappointed in Haney trying to make a money grab out of their time spent together.

As for credibility’s sake, Jaime Diaz is co-writing the book.

Diaz, who is to receive the PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, has been the most prominent voice in Woods’ career from a writing perspective. Diaz first started chronicling Woods’ career when Eldrick was a teenager. Diaz also spoke at Earl Woods’ memorial service, so it’ll be interesting how his relationship with the former world No. 1 evolves.

The book, titled “The Big Miss” is slated to come out just before the Masters.

Bubba Watson is putting a pink-headed driver into play

US Presswire

-We all know about Bubba’s pink shaft in his driver. Now, the long-hitter is putting a newly-designed Ping driver in his bag that sports a full pink head.The whole deal is part of a charity iniative started by Watson, himself, and his main sponsor, Ping. During “Bubba & Friends Drive to a Million,” Ping will donate $300 for the first 300 drives Watson hits over 300 yards during the 2012 season.

Lexi Thompson and family reveal a big secret

-Randell Mell of GolfChannel.com wrote an awesome piece about the plight that phenom Lexi Thompson and her family have been dealing with for the last 29 years when Lexi’s mom lost her husband to a skiing accident.

Do yourself a fever and read that story.

Rapid Fire

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The First Must-See Weekend of 2012 Raises Appearance Fee Questions

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4 weeks ago
by Chris Chaney in

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We’ve had the Hawaii Swing and a nice little pro-am in California so far in 2012, but all these tournaments have lacked the star power that drives people to their television sets to watch golf in the middle of winter.

All that changes this weekend as there are two tournaments taking place on opposites sides of the globe that are sure to catch the attention of the hibernating golf fan, the HSBC Champions in Abu Dhabi and the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Both tournaments are boasting pretty strong fields with players that are capable of stealing away some viewers from the misery of watching the NFL Pro Bowl.

The question that arises from the split fields of the two tournaments stems from a purely financial point of view and involves Tiger Woods.

Imagine that.

During his press conference earlier in the week, Woods was asked a number of questions about his health, his swing and the state of his game, but an interesting line of questioning came up when the former world No. 1 was asked if appearance fees have an impact on the scheduling of high-profile players.

Woods was pretty forthcoming when asked if it affects how he schedules tournaments, saying, “You know, I’d have to say yes, it certainly does. That’s one of the reasons why a lot of the guys who play in Europe. I think the only tour that doesn’t pay [appearance fees] is the U.S. Tour.

“But, you know, a lot of the guys play all around the world and they do get appearance fees. Only place we don’t get it is the U.S.”

As I’ve said many times before, the upper echelon of professional golfers are independent contractors, setting their own schedule, rarely taking into consideration what their respective tours would like from them.

This week is the perfect example, especially in Woods’ case.

Growing up in southern California and playing on Torrey Pines all of his life, including some of his most iconic victories, you would think that Eldrick would like to take every opportunity to tee it up at Torrey.

However, as Tiger said in his presser, the PGA Tour will not pay their members or members of any other tour to simply show up, something PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem is adamant about.

“From the standpoint of professional athletic competition, it raises the specter in the fans’ mind that the player is only there because he was paid to be there and not there to really compete,” he said. “If the player doesn’t play well, in light of that perception, then there is a secondary perception that he didn’t even come to compete, he just showed up to get his appearance money. That is not a good thing for your image.

“This is something that’s been part of the PGA Tour since its inception in 1968. We think our image is the most important thing we have, and we’re not going to take the risk.”

First of all, the image of the PGA Tour is certainly not the most important thing they have, it’s the players, but the commish does make a good point.

People are cynical and if someone like a Tiger Woods shows up at an off-brand tournament and collects and appearance fee only to shit the bed, excuse the expression, people are going to go into full cynicism mode.

It will become a common thread around the golf world that Woods only showed up because he was paid to be there, not to try and win a tournament, regardless if that were true or not.

The European Tour combats that with paying enough high-profile players to make it worth their while to not only show up for the money, but to compete because of the world ranking points on the line.

This is all just a long way of saying that both systems work when implemented properly. As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

As it stands now, if players are going to get paid good money to show up and play against good fields, they will continue to pass up the Torrey Pines’ of the world to play in Abu Dhabi for a nice pay day before the tournament even starts.

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Just for Chips and Giggles: Catch-Up Edition

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1 month ago
by Chris Chaney in ,

Welcome to the newest addition to Playing From the Wrong Fairway: Just for Chips and Giggles. Basically what this feature is going to be made up of is stories that slip through the cracks. It might become a weekly thing, but it just depends on how things go. Beings that I haven’t had the chance to update in a while, the first edition of this new segment will take the shape of a gigantic link dump. Usually, there will be a little more opinion added to each segment, but with so much time off and everything that needs to be touched on, this is the most simplified way it can happen.

Without further ado, here. we. go.

It’s good to be back. More tomorrow.

Thanks for checking in. 2012 should be fun.

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Tiger Winning Can Only Be a Good Thing

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2 months ago
by Chris Chaney in

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Tiger Woods claimed his first victory in 749 days on Sunday with his win over Zach Johnson at the Chevron World Challenge.

The win marked the first time Woods held an individual trophy in over two years, dating back to his win at the JBWere Australian Open in 2009.

It was after that win that the National Enquirer ran their story about Woods’ infidelities that would subsequently end his marriage, his life as he knew it and his winning ways for quite some time.

However, we’re not here to talk about Tiger’s transgressions or his flaws. This a golf blog, so let’s concentrate on the golf.

Now, there have been those who said that this win means nothing for Woods. That he isn’t automatically “back” with a silly-season victory over a hand-picked group of just 17 other golfers.

That’s fine. No argument here. There are more than a few shortcomings with his win in Thousand Oaks. First of all, there were only 18 people in the entire tournament. The Chevron is not a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. Taking place in December, there is little doubt that those 18 players are not as honed-in as they would be on a normal event.

All of that is true, but the one thing that remains is that Woods won.

He won. End of story. There’s no reason to talk about him being “back,” or if this means he will go on to break Jack Nicklaus’ major championship record. The simple fact is that this win on December 4th, 2011 is a start.

It’s a start back on that path of winning tournaments and maybe even majors. No one can say definitively if Woods is “back” after the first 72 holes he has put together that was (barely) enough to take a tournament, but again, that’s not the point.

No one will agree that Tiger’s back until he has another season like he had in 2007 or 2008. Woods needs to win multiple times on Tour and add another major to his total.

Then, maybe, people will start to come around to the idea that he is “back.”

That scenario is a big “IF.”

No one knows what the future holds for Tiger Woods. Sure, it looks as if his swing is back in check, his short game has returned and he’s able to will the ball into the hole like he used to, but what’s to say that it wasn’t a fluke?

The younger competitors aren’t scared of Woods like his comtemporaries appeared to be in 2000-2008. That newly-formed competitor may make it harder on Woods to regain his grip on the golfing world.

No one knows.

All this win can be seen as is a start. A step in the right direction. A win is a win is a win, no matter who he did or didn’t beat.

To look at Woods’ victory at the Chevron as anything other than a good sign would be cynical and misguided. One tournament isn’t going to dictate whether or not Woods’ game is where it needs to be to compete on the toughest courses in the world, week in and week out, but one thing is for sure: it’s definitely not a bad thing.

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An Awesome Weekend for Golf

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2 months ago
by Chris Chaney in

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First of all, I want to apologize for the lack of posting over the past two weeks. In the way of excuses, I have had a decent amount going on. This time two weeks ago I had two part-time jobs that gave me a pretty good amount of time to blog on a daily basis. Now, I have one full-time job that I’m still trying to get acquainted with, therefore the posting here has slowed down.

The longer I’m here (here being The Clermont Sun), the more comfortable I will be with my duties and as a result, have a better idea of when I can post. I hope to that daily posting can still be the case, but things could be spotty for the next few weeks as I get settled in as well as move into a new house.

Enough about me, though, how about this past weekend in golf, huh?

Three of the top players in the world were able to pull out victories, Rory McIlroy at the Hong Kong Open, Lee Westwood at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and some guy named Tiger Woods at the Chevron World Challenge.

McIlroy shot a blistering 5-under par 65 on Sunday to come from three behind of third-round leader Alvaro Quiros and win by three shots. McIlroy had five birdies and no bogies in his final round. Quiros shot a Sunday 73 to drop out of contention, but France’s Gregory Havret closed the gap with his own final-round 65 to finish two shots behind McIlroy.

Hitting his approach into the green-side bunker on the 72nd hole, McIlroy looked to leave the door open for Havret, but the Northern Irishman holed out from the bunker to slam that door shut and win by two strokes.

Westwood built up a seven-shot lead heading into the final round at the Nedbank. Thank goodness for that, because Westwood stumbled to the finish line with a 1-over par 73 to finish at 15-under par for the tournament to win by two strokes over Robert Karlsson, who shot a 4-under par 68 on Sunday in Sun City, South Africa.

Two of the three tournaments mentioned here were limited field contests, but it would appear as if the Nedbank was the best. Westwood outclassed players like Luke Donald (T7), Graeme McDowell (T2), Jason Dufner (T2), Martin Kaymer (8) and Darren Clarke (DFL, 12).

In the last to finish chronologically, Tiger Woods finished birdie-birdie on his last two holes to claim his fifth Chevron World Challenge beating Zach Johnson by one stroke. Woods, who notoriously hasn’t won an event in the last two years, put an end to his losing streak with the win coming 749 days after his last victory at the Australian Masters.

Johnson took a one-stroke lead through 16 holes, but Woods birdied out to best Johnson by a stroke. Woods and Johnson had distanced themselves from the rest of the limited field by Sunday, making it a two-horse race that Woods was able to win by the narrowest of margins.

Among the other notable finishes at the Chevron were Paul Casey (3), Hunter Mahan and Matt Kuchar (T4), Jim Furyk, Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson (T6) and Jason Day (15).

More on the Tiger victory should be coming later today, so check back. Thanks for coming back!

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Presidents Cup Day 4: Sunday Singles Predictions

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3 months ago
by Chris Chaney in

Reuters

The best day of any of the Cup events is upon us. It’s singles day.

The best test of one-on-one golf there is. Just you and one other person, playing a completely different style of golf than you would in a tournament. You don’t have to worry about the rest of the field or even the rest of your team.

The cliche of ‘one hole at a time’ is not just a saying, but a strategy. You blow up one hole, shake it off and get it back the next. Match play takes the big number’s bad repercussions out of play.

It’s a beautiful thing.

After the first three sessions, I have a perfectly mediocre picking record of 9-8. I finally got off the .500 schneid yesterday with a 3-2 performance in the early foursomes (hold your applause) and I’m looking to build on it.

Here we go with today’s matches predictions…

Match No. 1: Webb Simpson vs. KT Kim

  • Simpson continues his tradition of heading out first, but this time he’ll be without Bubba Watson. KT Kim showed signs of life in the afternoon four-balls and he got a point over Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson. If the Internationals want to come back, it needs to start early. Predicition: Simpson 2 and 1.

Match No. 2: Dustin Johnson vs. Charl Schwartzel

  • Schwartzel has played well this week, garnering 2½ points of a possible 4. Johnson has been hitting the ball well, but he hasn’t been able to finish off opponents because of his sub-par putting. Prediction: Schwartzel 3 & 2.

Match No. 3: Bubba Watson vs. Ryo Ishikawa

  • Both players have played well this week, but Bubba has the upper hand having beaten the young gun from Japan twice already. I just love the way Ishikawa putts. I don’t doubt how much Bubba wants it, but Ryo has to have it. Prediction: Ishikawa 1 up.

Match No. 4: Bill Haas vs. Geoff Ogilvy

  • The Mustachioed Ogilvy has beaten Haas once and halved the other in their head-to-head match-ups so far this week. Add on the fact that he’s playing in his back yard, literally, and his experience, the FedEx Cup champ, Haas has a tall order. Prediction: Ogilvy 2 and 1.

Match No. 5: Hunter Mahan vs. Jason Day

  • Two of my favorites coming into this week as far as point-earners go, this one shouldn’t be short on emotion. Day, playing for his home country and Mahan playing for Ryder Cup redemption. Who pulls it out? I have no idea. Prediction: Day 1 up.

Match No. 6: Nick Watney vs. KJ Choi

  • Watney turned in an impressive four-ball performance yesterday, but the Tank is solid all the way around. I like KJ. Prediction: Choi 1 up.

Match No. 7: Phil Mickelson vs. Adam Scott

  • This should be a really fun match to watch. Scott is playing some of the best golf in the world and Mickelson has reaffirmed this week why you can never count him out. The match play format favors Mickelson’s risk/reward style of play, but only if he gets enough rewards. Prediction: Mickelson 1 up

Match No. 8: Matt Kuchar vs. Retief Goosen

  • Two laid-back, yet fire burning on the inside guys. Kuchar is a younger version of the Goose, so I’ll ride that rosey-cheeked goofball all the way. Prediction: Kuchar 2 and 1.

Match No. 9: Jim Furyk vs. Ernie Els

  • Furyk could go 5-0-0 with a win over the Big Easy in singles. It appears as if both of these guys have reverted to their 2010 form this week when they were two of the best in the world, regardless of age. Another great battle. Prediction: Els 2 up.

Match No. 10: David Toms vs. Robert Allenby

  • Two guys who have gone pretty unnoticed this week. Toms has played well alongside Hunter Mahan and Allenby can’t get a putt to drop. Stick with what got you here. Prediction: Toms 3 and 2

Match No. 11: Tiger Woods vs. Aaron Baddeley:

  • Surprising that Tiger isn’t going out last, but Baddeley should give Eldrick all he can handle. Even when he’s not at his best in tournament play, Woods is still the greatest match-play golfer ever. No questions asked. Prediction: Woods 2 and 1.

Match No. 12: Steve Stricker vs. YE Yang

  • Coming down to the anchor match, I have the Americans barely reclaiming the Cup. This match could mean everything or nothing, like we saw last year with Mahan at the Ryder Cup. Tough pick here, anyway. Yang has been hit or miss this week and we don’t know what to expect from Stricker. Prediction: Yang 1 up.

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By my count, I have the US winning the Presidents Cup again, but you never know. The Internationals have some strong players and favorable match ups. Any way you slice it, it should be a fun night of golf. Enjoy.

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Presidents Cup Day 4: Americans Extend Lead on Marathon Saturday

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3 months ago
by Chris Chaney in

AP

A marathon Saturday at the Presidents Cup saw 10 points up for grabs as the players had to deal with Royal Melbourne in some interesting conditions.

The storm that caused play to be moved up on Friday lingered into Saturday, leaving both the Americans and Internationals learning how to play the same course in different conditions for the third straight days.

Interestingly enough, by all accounts the rainy weather made the course easier. The greens had been the story over the first few days. Putts would roll out much further than players expected, however, on Saturday the soggy conditions allowed the players more control on their approaches as well as the ability to be more aggressive on the greens.

In short, Royal Melbourne’s teeth had been taken right out of her mouth, to the advantage of the Americans.

Going out in the early morning Down Under, the Americans grabbed four of the five possible points in the foursomes matches, putting International captain Greg Norman in a bigger hole than he was expecting.

The stand-out pairing of Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson went out and defeated Robert Allenby and Geoff Ogilvy 3 & 2 in the first match of the day to set the tone for the US as they had the first two days previous.

Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa secured the lone point for the Internationals in the second match, defeating Matt Kuchar and Bill Haas 1-up. Ishikawa can flat roll the rock. He’s been really impressive.

The rest of the foursome matches were not relatively close. Hunter Mahan and David Toms got back in their groove defeating Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel 5 & 4. Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk concluded their partnership with a third-straight win, topping Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day 2 & 1.

Even Tiger Woods got in on the action with new partner Dustin Johnson. Despite Woods and Johnson seemingly unable to hole a putt, they were able to avenge Woods’ first day loss to Adam Scott and KJ Choi, 3 & 2, giving the Americans another full point.

After the morning matches, captain Fred Couples and the Americans enjoyed an 11-6 lead of Norman and the Internationals. Norman was forced to put the pedal down in the afternoon four-balls to ensure the Internationals had a chance in the Sunday singles.

Still, the Americans seemed perfectly content to put the eighth installment of the Presidents Cup in the bag getting out to some early leads. However, the Internationals buckled down and kept all of the matches within striking distance.

With Watson and Simpson out first for the fourth-straight session, Goosen and Schwartzel sent a message that the rooks weren’t going to roll through their team matches unscathed. The Internationals got to as many as 4-up through 11 holes. The Americans tried to put some pressure on late in the round, winning two holes, but by then it was too little, too late and the Internationals drew first blood in the afternoon, 2 & 1.

Mahan kept to his script, except this time with Bill Haas as his partner, taking care of the impressive team of Jason Day and Aaron Baddeley. Day and Baddeley always seem to find themselves in a dog fight and despite their stellar play, it’s seemed as if they’ve had bad luck in their draw. That was the case in this match, as well.

A back-and-forth match throughout, 10 of the 17 holes played were won outright. Day made a huge putt on the 17th for birdie that forced Hunter Mahan to make a birdie putt of his own on top of Day to end the match and draw a very un-Hunter Mahan-like celebration in the 2 & 1 win.

The other three matches were just as intense with all of them going the full 18 holes.

Woods and Johnson teamed up again in what many expected would be a walk-over of YE Yang and KT Kim, but Kim showed some signs of life, sinking putts and shocking the Americans in a 1-up win.

Steve Stricker, who sat out the early session, paired back up with Matt Kuchar in the afternoon four-balls against Choi and Ogilvy. The Americans took an early 1-up lead with a rare birdie from Kuchar on the par-3 5th hole, but the Internationals won two of the next six to switch the flag from the American side to the Internationals. With the US unable to get a hole, the Internationals hung on to win 1-up.

In the last match of the day, Jim Furyk was paired with Nick Watney after his regular partner, Phil Mickelson, opted to sit out the afternoon matches to be fresh for Sunday singles. No matter. Furyk and Watney took on the capable duo of Els and Scott. Watney showed his mettle early on winning the fourth and fifth holes with birdies, giving the US an early 2-up lead.

The Big Easy answered in similar fashion with back-to-back wins on the ninth and 10th holes to square the match. Watney kept his solid play going, birdieing two of the next four holes to put the US 2-up once again with four holes to play. Once again, Els answered with a birdie on the 15th to put the match in the balance, down one hole.

The Internationals couldn’t get another birdie putt to drop in the final three holes and settled for a loss to the Americans, 1-up.

After the dust settled, the Americans added to their lead on Saturday going 6-4 in all the matches, moving to 13-9 overall. With the Americans as the reigning Cup holders, they only need 17½ points to retain the cup, meaning only 4½ of the 12 matches need to go the Americans way.

The Internationals aren’t dead and buried, but their clinging to life by a thread. The Sunday singles, as always, should be quality entertainment.

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Presidents Cup Day 3: OMG Tiger Doesn’t Have a Point!

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3 months ago
by Chris Chaney in

AP

On a tough and windy day at Royal Melbourne, the Americans managed to ham and egg their matches to a 3-3 split with the Internationals, neither improving on their lead nor allowing the Internationals to close the gap.

US captain Fred Couples sent out the rookie duo of Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson, perhaps the most exciting, yet least televised pairing of the event, to get another point on the board early for the Americans. Facing off against some stout in Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa, the Americans went 2-up through the front nine.

Ishikawa and Els, who haven’t played poorly this week, cut the US lead to 1-up with four holes to go, but Watson closed the door, birdieing 15 and 17 to win 3 & 1.

Other American pairings to gain a full point were the oldie but goodies, Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson who held a comfortable 3-up lead until the last three holes when the Internationals put some pressure on, putting the Internationals within one hole. Furyk dispelled that pressure with a birdie on the 17th to give the Americans a 2 & 1 win.

The other American point came courtesy of one of the two jumbled pairings from Thursday’s foursomes. The hybrid of Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar dominated YE Yang and Robert Allenby, closing out their match early, 4 & 3 in the biggest blowout of the day.

As for the Internationals, The Moustache (Geoff Ogilvy) and KJ Choi took it to Bill Haas and Nick Watney early on, only to see the two rookies get the match to all-square through 11 holes. Choi answered with a birdie on the very next hole and matched the Americans from there on in to get a 1-up victory.

Maybe the biggest surprise of the day came in the last match as the American power-couple of Hunter Mahan and David Toms fell to Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel, 2 & 1. Goosen flew out of the gate, winning two of the first three holes to give the Internationals a 2-up lead. Schwartzel added another hole to their lead with his birdie on the 11th. The lone win for the Americans came on the 14th hole with a par by Toms, but the US couldn’t get any other putts to drop in a frustrating defeat.

The marquee match of the day pitted Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson against Aussies Jason Day and Aaron Baddely. Woods made an impressive curler for birdie on the fourth hole to give the US an early 1-up advantage, but that would be the lone win of the day for the Americans. Day won the 8th hole with a par, evening the match back to all-square.

With both teams unable to one-up the other for a few holes, Baddely took advantage of a Woods miscue on the 13th hole. After a drive into the right rough, Tiger missed the green, finding a green-side bunker. DJ could only manage his approach to 52 feet with Badds looking at 11 feet for birdie. Johnson lagged his birdie putt to inside a foot and was conceded the par. Baddely, probably the best putter in the competition, calmly rolled in his putt for birdie and gave the Internationals all the cushion they would need, halving out the match en route to a 1-up victory.

After two days, Tiger Woods is the only American not to have secured some kind of point for the US side. While it might seem pretty disappointing for Woods, the Internationals are having a little more trouble with five of their players yet to secure any kind of point for their team (Els, Ishikawa, Allenby, Yang, Kim).

Tiger’s lack of production could be tallied up to a few different reasons, but in reality they are all excuses. He was chosen as a captain’s pick because he’s expected to secure points. Although Couples has the opportunity to sit out two players for Saturday’s foursome and four-ball matches, he did not in the first session.

Instead, Woods will play and Nick Watney and Steve Stricker will sit out the morning foursomes. For Greg Norman’s international side, he will sit YE Yang and KT Kim.

Yesterday, I again went 3-3, putting me at a perfect .500 for the first two days. Let’s break that spell of mediocrity by predicting what we will see today, shall we?

Match No. 1: Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson vs. Robert Allenby and Geoff Ogilvy

  • Couples is putting riding the rookies until they buck him. Apparently, Simpson told Couples yesterday that if he doesn’t play them together, he’s going home. He was joking, but why wouldn’t Freddie play them til they lose? Ogilvy’s not playing bad, but I still don’t trust Allenby. He hasn’t turned into the Poutler-esque player I originally thought. Prediction: Americans 3 and 2.

Match No. 2: Bill Haas and Matt Kuchar vs. Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa

  • Interesting move by Couples to mix up Kuchar and Stricker despite their win yesterday. It makes me wonder about Stricker’s health and how that disc is holding up. Els and Ishikawa have been playing pretty well together, but have just been out-played over the past few days. I think that ends in foursomes Saturday. Prediciton: Internationals 2 and 1.

Match No. 3: Hunter Mahan and David Toms vs. Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel

  • Mahan and Toms couldn’t get any putts to drop yesterday in four-balls, but the alternate shot foursomes is where they thrived on Thursday. Goosen and Schwartzel are similarly mannered players with solid, got-about-my-business games, so they should be a tough beat. Prediction: Match halved. 

Match No. 4: Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson vs. Adam Scott and KJ Choi

  • The road doesn’t get any easier for Woods and Johnson who will be playing in their first foursomes match together. Scott and Choi were the most impressive pair on Thursday and with Tiger and DJ not all that familiar with the format together, they might struggle again. Then again, it’s Tiger Woods and you don’t want to count him out. But I will. Prediction: Internationals 2 and 1.

Match No. 5: Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk vs. Aaron Baddely and Jason Day

  • Maybe the hardest-fought match of the day. While everyone will be wondering about Tiger and DJ, Furyk and Mickelson have proved to be a pretty formidable team themselves. Badds and Day are playing really well despite only getting half a point on Thursday. If this turns into a blowout, I will be shocked. Shocked, I tell you. Prediction: Americans 1 up.

Predicted Score after Friday: America 7½, Internationals 4½

Actual Score after Thursday: America 7, Internationals 5

Predicted Score after Saturday Foursomes: America  9½, Internationals 7½

*****

An early start to this one, so if you can get out of work a little early and get home by the 3 p.m. start, good for you. For everyone else, this is the marathon day. Following the morning foursomes, there will be afternoon four-balls. Unfortunately, you won’t get my expert breaking down of the morning matches and predictions for the afternoon matches because of the time squeeze, but don’t worry, I’ll have your final day break down early tomorrow. Enjoy your day of golf.

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Presidents Cup Day 2: A Look Back and Ahead

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3 months ago
by Chris Chaney in

Things turned out so well for the Americans, even Tiger and Phil hugged it out. (Getty Images)

4-2 is all that matters, but…

All you’ll hear about on Sportscenter today as well as in many golfing circles is that Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, somehow dubbed the Americans best team, got waxed by Adam Scott and KJ Choi, 7 & 6.

Never mind that Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson, two Presidents Cup rookies, went out in the first group and beat Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa handily, despite the International team playing some really good golf.

Never mind Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk turned back the clock and turned on their putters to beat Retief Goosen and Robert Allenby 4 & 3 and that Hunter Mahan and David Toms laid the smack down on KT Kim and YE Yang to win 6 & 5.

Never mind that two American teams fought back from having their backs on the mat to scratch out two half points, essentially erasing the early advantage the Internationals appeared to have.

No, forget all that. Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker got beat. That’s all we’ll hear about, but that might be the least compelling storyline of the entire day.

First of all, who decided that the Woods/Stricker team was America’s best twotsome?

Woods hasn’t won in two years and regardless of his recent play, he still needs to depend on his partner for half of his team’s shots. That partner hasn’t played a competitive round of golf in six weeks. The rust showed as Stricker sprayed his ball all over Royal Melbourne. The pair were unable to card a single birdie in the 12 holes they played before conceding defeat.

Many are saying that this is a bad sign for the Americans, but I’d argue that it would be just the opposite. Woods doesn’t do too well with getting badly beat. He responds to that kind of disappointment with great play. The end of the Stricker/Woods pairing may be over, but I’m not so sure that it will be to the detriment of the Americans.

US captain, Fred Couples, has to be pleased with where his squad stands after the first day. Losing just one match, although it was the most notable one, is really not that bad of a way to start an event in enemy territory. The strong play by Watson and Simpson, Mahan and Toms, Mickelson and Furyk  and even the comeback by Bill Haas and Nick Watney allowed Captain Couples to implement the ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ mentality with his second day pairings.

I went 3-3 on my predications yesterday if were going solely upon picking the winning team, so I’ll try and improve on that today. Let’s look ahead at the matches for this afternoon.

**Also, make sure you’re aware of the change in schedule. Due to pending inclement weather in Melbourne, the tee times have been moved up two hours for the Friday four-ball matches meaning the broadcast will come on live at 5:30 p.m. on the Golf Channel. Plan accordingly.**

Match No. 1: Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson vs. Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa

  • A rematch of yesterday’s opening match, Els and Ishikawa jumped out to a two hole lead early and played pretty well throughout, shooting 3-under. However, the pair of Watson and Simpson were synced up beautifully. Bubba hit iron shots with steely-eyed confidence and they both rolled in the meaningful putts. The question is can they do it again? Prediction: Americans 1 up.

Match No. 2: Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson vs. Jason Day and Aaron Baddeley

  • No real surprise here with the Woods/DJ pairing beings as Couples hinted at it earlier in the week and both struggled with different partners in the foursomes. This should be a very entertaining match with Woods trying to redeem himself from yesterday, but the Aussies are also in the mood for some redemption as they lost the last two holes of their match to settle for only half of a point. Prediction: Match halved.

Match No. 3: Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk vs. Adam Scott and KT Kim

  • An interesting move by Norman to split up Scott and Choi, but it might have been in order to put a sizzling hot A. Scott with a struggling Kim to pick him back up. Mickelson and Furyk said after their match yesterday that they’ve wanted to play together in these events for years, but haven’t had the chance to yet. They got it both days so far. Predicition: Match halved.

Match No. 4: Bill Haas and Nick Watney vs. Geoff Ogilvy and KJ Choi

  • Perhaps the strongest team for the Internationals, Ogilvy and his moustache add KJ Choi to their wild ride Down Under. Haas and Watney showed some nerve coming back to get a halve yesterday, but the combination of Choi, Ogilvy and his moustache should give the youngsters all they can handle. Prediction: Internationals 3 and 2.

Match No. 5: Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar vs. YE Yang and Robert Allenby

  • Going strictly off of yesterday’s play, this has to be the weakest team the Internationals will put out. This is a good spot for Stricker and Kuchar who both left some shots out on the course yesterday. Yang said he doesn’t like the course and Allenby has been struggling. I like the Americans here. Predicition: Americans 4 and 3.

Match No. 6: Hunter Mahan and David Toms vs. Charl Schwartzel and Retief Goosen

  • My guy Hunter Mahan makes his triumphant return to the last match with partner David Toms. They absolutely smoked Kim and Yang yesterday. Schwartzel is playing some decent golf, but the Goose has been struggling. I don’t see Schwartzel doing it all on his own and the Americans are on a roll. Prediction: America 2 and 1.

Predicted Score after Thursday: America 3½, Internationals 2½

Actual Score after Thursday: America 4, Internationals 2

Predicted Score after Friday: America  7½, Internationals 4½

*****

That’s all for today. Don’t forget the change in tee times, which will probably be a welcomed switch for the older golf fans who want to get to bed early. Enjoy the Presidents Cup.

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