Joey's Golf Bag

You go, girl!

Michelle, I’d like to see you qualify for the Women’s British Open as well. You only have 15 days left to apply. Get moving!

Yesterday, my wife and I went to the EDS Byron Nelson tournament. We arrived around noon on a cold, cloudy, blustery day, had some lunch and huddled in the stands above the 18th hole for most of the day. Some thoughts:

• Course changes. I only got a close look at the first and eighteenth holes, and the course conditions were absolutely stunning, perfect in every way. The rough height was perfect; not high enough to keep players from going at the hole, but high enough to keep the players from putting a lot of spin on the ball. Excellent! The USGA could learn a thing or two from the course setup here at the Nelson.
• The four-tiered lake in front of the 18th hole was a little over the top for Texas. The flowers didn’t really look natural, though I liked the reeds and if they lose the flowers and allow the reeds to grow naturally, the hole will look nice.
• These guys are slow. Jeez, I thought muni courses around town were slow, but these guys were pathetic. There was a 20 minute gap between the 4th group (Luke Donald, Ken Duke, Kenny Perry) and the third group (Dudley Hart, Jesper Parnevik, Brian Gay). It was so slow my wife took a nap. Of the 15 groups I saw come into 18, only 2 or 3 groups were on the tee when the group before them was on the green. C’mon, guys, keep up.
• The longest drive I saw on 18 was by Charlie Hoffman, who also had the best approach shot I saw. Unfortunately, he missed the short birdie putt. That cost him about $80k.
• The 18th hole played very well for a finishing hole. At least six shots were in the water while I watched. One group had all three players in the water, two off the tee and one on the approach. Kenny Perry, though, got lucky: his tee shot was left of the ponds, in the rough. Yikes!
• I was a little disappointed with Sergio’s black outfit. It’s Sunday, you’re in the next to last group, how about a little color, eh, Sergio? His putting stroke is looking a lot better, though it didn’t show up on Sunday.
• The loudest roar I heard, other than Adam Scott’s two putts for birdie on the 18th, was when Luke Donald holed his ball from the drop circle for par on the 17th. I didn’t see it live, but did see it on the TIVO afterward.
• Some drunk somewhere behind me yelled “You suck!” when Kevin Sutherland missed his birdie putt. I hope they escorted that drunk off the course.
• Around 4PM, the clouds parted, the wind eased, and the sun came out, setting the stage for the first PGA Tour playoff I’ve witnessed live. What a show!

This was the first time I’ve picked a winner not named Tiger in a PGA Tour event and had that pick win. Congratulations to Adam Scott for a fine clutch performance at the Nelson.

Adam Scott, my pick to win the tournament, is in the lead at -8, three shots ahead of four players tied at -5. My surviving dark horse picks, Luke Donald is tied for tenth at -2; my other dark horse, Scott Verplank, had a bad day and fell back into a tie for 56th place at +4. Sergio Garcia had a nice 65 today to put himself in contention at -4.

My choice to win the Byron Nelson tourney, Adam Scott, is in the lead by one shot at -5. Sean O’Hair missed the cut by one shot at +4, as did my dark horse pick Rory Sabbatini at +6. As I expected, Trevor Immelman is still in his post-Masters hangover and failed to make the cut at +13. My other dark horse picks, Luke Donald is tied for 23rd at even par, and Scott Verplank is tied for 33rd at +1.

Adam Scott is the highest ranked player in the field, and he’s my pick to win. I followed him for a couple of holes the last time he played here in 2006, and was amazed at the way he controlled his trajectory in the Texas wind. It’s supposed to be windy tomorrow, so he is likely to be high on the leaderboard.

I’ve been admiring Sean O’Hair’s game for a while as well. I last saw him in 2006 playing in the Nelson. On that day, he was hitting the ball quite high and the wind was having its way with it. He’ll need better trajectory control if he’s going to win.

I’d love to pick Trevor Immelman, but since he’s bound to be still on cloud 9 from his win at the Master’s, so he’s not my choice. I’ve admired his game since he beat Tiger at the Western Open in 2006.

My dark horses are Rory Sabbatini (a local), Luke Donald, and Scott Verplank. Scott, last year’s winner, who confessed this morning on XM PGA Tour radio, that his game isn’t great right now. But that’s what he said last year, before he won it.

Golf Magazine has an article on the renovation of the course in Organizers hope a redesign will save struggling Byron Nelson Classic. I will attend the tournament on Sunday to see the winner come in and to check out the new course design.

After holing out for a 67 and the first-round lead at the 1983 Byron Nelson Classic — the first Nelson played at the just-opened TPC Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas — the dependably impolitic Lanny Wadkins addressed the media by the 18th green. The moment begged for a kind comment about the eager-to-please new venue, but Lanny couldn’t help himself. “This is not my favorite golf course,” he said.

Wadkins was only saying aloud what others were whispering and what they would continue to mutter under their breath through the years. Although the superbly maintained course had good bloodlines — Jay Morrish designed with Ben Crenshaw and Nelson consulting, and it was a hit with members and resort guests — these are Tour players we’re talking about. They had played gems like Augusta National and Harbour Town before the Nelson, and would play Muirfield, Colonial and the U.S. Open after. By comparison, the TPC Four Seasons Resort was as clunky as its name, a themeless journey between its namesake office park and tile-roofed homes built in the Texas-giant architectural style. So when Byron died in 2006, and the tournament got an unattractive date two weeks after the Masters, a lot of the best players, by which we mean Tiger and Phil, found something else to do.

Another article from the Dallas Morning News, Golfers give TPC a round of applause.

At the TPC Four Seasons at Las Colinas on Monday, it seemed that the drugs had taken effect.

“These are some of the best greens I’ve seen,” Tour player Troy Matteson said after walking off 18.

Veteran Paul Goydos also appeared to be hallucinating as he practiced for the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, which begins Thursday.

“The conditions are mind-boggling,” he said.

Wasn’t this the course that was awash in criticism last year? The one where players cursed the brown, bumpy greens? That same course was swimming in superlatives Monday.

Players hailed the remodeling job of D.A. Weibring’s Golf Resources Group. They praised the smooth greens, lush fairways and uniform rough.

I won’t be able to take photos unfortunately, as cameras aren’t allowed during the tournament and I’m not going to be able to sneak out of work and take in a practice round.

Two articles on Michelle Wie today. The first, Injured Wie likely out until May, notes that she won’t play again until the Michelob ULTRA Open:

Michelle Wie’s withdrawal from this week’s Safeway International because of a wrist injury disrupts her competition schedule built around a leave of absence from Stanford University’s spring quarter. It likely also means she won’t return to competition until the second week of May, according to those close to the situation.

According to Wie’s managers at the William Morris Agency, Wie aggravated the left wrist she injured while running last year while practicing at Stanford earlier this month. Apparently, she was practicing shots out of the rough, where she spent much of 2007, and on one shot there was a ball embedded under the ball she was hitting, causing the injury.

That’s really bad luck hitting an embedded ball. Yikes! 😥

Another blog quotes David Leadbetter as saying:

This girl is so talented, she could do anything she wants to do in the world of golf. But people in her camp — and I’m not going to name them — have been a bit off on what she can and can’t do. It is tough that she’s a part-time golfer, unlike the other girls who work at it 24/7. In the past she’d go to school, pick it up and just play. Now there’s a lot more pressure on her. These girls — Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer, Annika — these girls are good. And it is hard for Michelle to be a bit player.

Tiger’s quest for a sixth straight PGA Tour win came to an end today when Geoff Ogilvy hung on to win at the Blue Monster.

Geoff Ogilvy didn’t think nine pars would do it. Not on your life.

With five of the top 10 players in the world chasing him as the final round of the World Golf Championships-CA Championship finally came to a conclusion, the talented Aussie wouldn’t have given you a dollar for his chances if he parred in Monday.

That’s exactly what happened, though, and as a result, Ogilvy claimed both the Gene Sarazen Trophy and a check for $1.35 million. The victory made him just the third player to win more than one World Golf Championships title, although he and Darren Clarke have a ways to go to catch Tiger Woods’ total of 15.

Nice win, Geoff!

The PGA Tour was unable to complete the 4th round at the Blue Monster today due to two weather delays. Tiger is at -12 after 11 holes, well behind Geoff Ogilvy at -17. Since the winning score is likely to be -18 at best, Tiger will probably need to score -6 on his remaining 6 holes just to tie. And with both Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh nipping at Ogilvy’s heels at -15, Geoff may need -19 or higher to win. I’m thinking -19 will get the job done for one of these guys.

I can’t count out Tiger at this stage, but things certainly don’t look good for him to keep his winning streak alive.

Tiger went backwards at the Blue Monster during the rain-delayed third round, finishing with an even par 72 (-11). You have to go all the way down the leader board to the 31st position to find a round that was higher than Tiger’s (Steve Stricker had a 73). Vijay Singh and Graeme Storm both had rounds of 63 to get past Tiger to -12, along with Adam Scott, Retief Goosen and Jim Furyk. Geoff Oglivy had a nice 68 to give himself a 4 shot lead at -16 heading into the fourth round.