Joey's Golf Bag

OK, Tiger says his streak was over when he lost at the HSBC World Match Play Championship. But that’s not a PGA Tour event, and neither is the Ryder Cup. So, as far as the PGA Tour is concerned, he just won his seventh consecutive event at the Buick Invitational. Let’s keep the count going…

1. British Open
2. Buick Open
3. PGA Championship
4. Bridgestone World Championship
5. Deutsche Bank Championship
6. American Express Championship
7. Buick Invitational

Tiger’s website says his next PGA tournament is TBD (he is playing on the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic this week), but will probably be the Nissan Open or the Accenture Match Play Championship. Tiger has never won the Nissan Open, despite playing eight times.

Can he run the streak to eight PGA tournaments?

Tiger’s last event on the PGA Tour seems like ages ago, but now Tiger tees it up at Torrey Pines. Let’s see if he can make it seven PGA Tour events in a row, or if someone step up and end the streak.

OK, Tiger says his streak was over when he lost at the HSBC World Match Play Championship. But that’s not a PGA Tour event, and neither is the Ryder Cup. So, as far as the PGA Tour is concerned, he just won his sixth consecutive event at the American Express Championship. Let’s keep the count going…

1. British Open
2. Buick Open
3. PGA Championship
4. Bridgestone World Championship
5. Deutsche Bank Championship
6. American Express Championship

Tiger’s website says his next tournament is TBD, but will probably be the Tour Championship. Can he make it seven?

Yo, Michelle Wie! Happy 17th Birthday! Good luck in the Samsung World Championship this week!

Here’s an excellent article on her first year as a pro in “A win may be Wie’s birthday wish”.

OK, Tiger says his streak was over when he lost at the HSBC World Match Play Championship. But that’s not a PGA Tour event, and neither is the Ryder Cup. So, as far as the PGA Tour is concerned, he just won his sixth consecutive event at the American Express Championship. Let’s keep the count going…

1. British Open
2. Buick Open
3. PGA Championship
4. Bridgestone World Championship
5. Deutsche Bank Championship
6. American Express Championship

Tiger’s website says his next tournament is TBD, but will probably be the Tour Championship. Can he make it seven?

Let’s keep a count…

1. British Open
2. Buick Open
3. PGA Championship
4. Bridgestone World Championship
5. Deutsche Bank Championship

Next up for Tiger is the HSBC World Match Play Championship. Can he make it six?

Tiger Woods won his third Open Championship, hitting driver only once. This was the most impressive display of shot-making with long irons I’ve ever seen.

Tiger wins third British Open, 11th career major

Woods was ruthless as ever on the brown, baked links of Royal Liverpool, relying more on brains than brawn.

He hit driver only one time the entire week — the 16th hole of the first round — and relied on iron play that was so impeccable his caddie kept a sheet of paper of all the shots Woods missed.

There were only three of them.

“I don’t think anyone has ever hit long irons that well,” Williams said.

It carried Woods to a 5-under 67 and a two-shot victory over Chris DiMarco, making him the first player since Tom Watson in 1982-83 to win golf’s oldest championship in consecutive years.

Yesterday, I went to the Byron Nelson Tournament for a few hours to enjoy the golf and the stellar weather. I arrived at the course at about 9:30, watched some groups tee off on the first hole of the TPC. Byron Nelson himself pulled up while Jerry Kelly’s group was teeing off and he chatted with the players while they waited to tee off. After that, I went to our pavillion, grabbed a bottle of water, and headed over to Cottonwood to watch Adam Scott (one of the leaders) tee off on the first hole. I arrived a bit early and watched a group or two tee off before Adam Scott, Sean O’Hair and another player who’s name I’ve forgotten, arrived at the hole. All three players hit good tee shots into the fairway. Adam hit a nearly perfect iron shot from about 190 yds to about 8 ft (and made birdie from there); Sean O’Hair and the other player hit good shots, but more toward the center of the green. The way Adam was hitting the ball, I’m thinking he’s going to be hard to beat at this tournament.

Next group had Chris DiMarco in it; he hit his tee shot into the fairway but his iron approach was just short of the green and rolled back down into the rough.

I watched a few more groups on the first hole, (at least two players putting shots into the water) and went back to TPC to catch up with Camilo Villegas’ group. I caught up with him on the 2nd hole and followed his group to the 4th hole. Villegas hit a long fade off the tee into the water on the right of the fairway, proceeded to chunk his approach shot into the rough short of the hole and make double. He recovered nicely on the 4th hole, hitting a very long tee shot within easy sand wedge distance, but his sand wedge was long and ended up in the rough just over the green. I was a bit concerned that Camilo wasn’t playing particularly well this day, and indeed, he didn’t make the cut.

I headed back to the 18th hole pavillion to get some lunch, watching a few groups along the way. I saw Charles Howell III make a fine approach shot to about 25 ft on the 3rd hole and then knock it in for birdie. There were some other very nice putts on that hole as well, but don’t remember the players.

I grabbed some lunch and watched players coming home on the 18th at TPC, before I had to head out to run some errands with my wife.

The day was fine, the golf was good, and fun was had by all.

Augusta, GA — In an stunning, exclusive report from Augusta National, home to The Masters, Joey’s Golf Bag reports that Tiger Woods today shot a 54 during a practice session, achieving golf nirvana, and will retire permanently from golf. Said the whiskered one, “Having shot 54 at Augusta, I have nothing left to achieve in golf, so I am putting away my clubs forever.” He is later reported to have said he’ll be running for president in 2008 on the Libertarian Party ticket, saying “I’ll be the youngest president in history”.

His amazing score card:

Golf Digest has a scathing report of the changes to Augusta in Collision Course.

After doing anything almost 70 times, it’s normal to wish for at least one do-over. But in that many years of preparing its course for the Masters, the tournament has never ended with the Augusta National Golf Club in clear need of the imaginary mulligan. When it comes to setting up the game’s ultimate competitive arena, Augusta always seems to get things right.

Because the course is a shrine, the club’s major projects–like converting the greens from Bermuda to bent grass 25 years ago, creating a second cut in 1999 and adding 285 yards in 2002–have all provoked much hand-wringing. So it was predictable after the club lengthened six holes by a total of 155 yards for this year’s Masters that old heads would decry the defilement and current players would assert that fewer of them had a chance to win.

But with each overhaul, the Masters has proved it runs the best laboratory in golf. Chairman Hootie Johnson might have the final say on course decisions, but a very thoughtful if publicly silent brain trust–conspicuously devoid of ex-champions–painstakingly guides the process. When it comes to the world’s best golfers, Augusta knows them better than they know themselves.

Of course, it’s possible the club has gone too far by perpetrating the two longest expansions in its history within five years. Tiger Woods thinks the latest changes will be fair if conditions are dry. “But if it’s soaked again,” he warns, alluding to the rain that has plagued the tournament the past four years, “I think that eliminates a lot of guys who have the skill to play but just don’t hit the ball far enough.”

From the looks of it, Augusta has not been “Tiger-proofed”, but instead has been made more “Tiger-friendly”. I’m a big Tiger fan, but I’d prefer that the course be kept to play the way it was originally invented, and not made so only long hitters can win.

Next year should be a fascinating one for the LPGA, with teens Michelle Wie and Morgan Pressel joining the tour to do battle with Rookie of the Year and fellow teen golfer Paula Creamer.

ESPN reports that Morgan Pressel closes out amateur career with victory. A quote:

Morgan Pressel closed out her amateur career with a victory Wednesday, making a 10-foot putt on the second playoff hole to win her third straight Florida high school girls 1A tournament title.

The 17-year-old Pressel, who finished second at the U.S. Women’s Open and won the U.S. Women Amateur this summer, represented Boca Raton’s St. Andrew’s School. She defeated Vicky Hurst of Holy Trinity Episcopal (Melbourne) in the playoff.