Joey's Golf Bag

Camilo Villegas won an exciting Tour Championship over Sergio Garcia on the first playoff hole. Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim just missed birdie putts to join the playoff.

Vijay, of course, won the FedEx Cup, posting any score got it done, and he did. Camilo finished second in the FedEx Cup, followed by Sergio Garcia and Anthony Kim. Phil Mickelson finished sixth.

More at Villegas makes it two in a row at Tour Championship.

Too far behind to do anything about the FedEx Cup, Camilo Villegas put together a stirring rally Sunday that was good enough to win the Tour Championship in a playoff over Sergio Garcia for his second straight victory.

Villegas overcame a five-shot deficit by making six birdies over his last 11 holes for a 4-under 66, then beat Garcia with a par on the 233-yard 18th hole used in the playoff.

The 26-year-old Colombian, who had gone 85 starts on the PGA Tour without winning, picked up his second in a row with a finish that brought the gallery to life on a sunny afternoon at East Lake.

This morning, I practiced and played nine at North Texas Golf. The day was warm and sunny, with almost no breeze. I hit a few balls, working on the same Tour Tempo L- and Y-drills that I’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks. I putted a few and then played.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

My round:

• First hole. I hit a 9-iron to a center pin position a little long and right of the pin, chipped to about 2 ft and tapped in for par.
• Second hole. I hit an 8-iron 33 ft over the pin onto the green, and two-putt for par.
• Third hole. I hit a fat 9-iron well short of the green, hit a poor chip the right distance but well right of the pin. My putt was on the right line but a foot short. I tapped in for bogey.
• Fourth hole. I hit an AW 30 feet past the hole on the left fringe. I putted from the fringe and tapped in for par.
• Fifth hole. I hit a SW over the green up onto the bank behind the green. I chipped to 6 ft and missed the breaking putt and tapped in for bogey.
• Sixth hole. I hit a 9-iron over the green, narrowly missing one of those ball-eating grass monstrosities that terrorize the course. I’d planned to hit a pitching wedge, but grabbed the wrong club. I chipped short and two-putt a very difficult downhill putt.
• Seventh hole.Hit an AW over the green (again!), hit a chip to 2 ft and tapped in for par.
• Eighth hole. Hit an AW onto the green 27 ft short of the pin, and two-putt for par.
• Ninth hole. Hit a 9-iron long and right, chipped to two ft and tapped in for par.

My practice on improving impact by running the L- and Y-drills is working, as my distances are improving, as evidenced by flying four greens today. I’m going to need to recalibrate my distances. I also need to get in more short game practices to improve my chipping. My putting was good today, the shortest putt I missed was 6 ft and I had no 3-putts.

This afternoon, I played in a scramble tournament at Indian Creek Golf Club on the Lakes course. The weather was sunny and warm, with a slight breeze on a couple of holes. We played from the blue tees. My team won the tournament with a score of 60 (12 under par)!!! We went off on a shotgun start off the 16th hole. We were lucky in that there wasn’t another team on the 17th or 18th hole, so we were able to play about 6 or 7 holes before we caught up with the group ahead of us that started on the first tee. The most exciting hole for me was third hole, on which we made an eagle (that’s a first for me). We made 10 birdies, 1 eagle and 7 pars. This is by far the best scramble team I’ve been on.

Our score:

This tournament was four person teams, however, our fourth player did not show, so we rotated hitting the fourth ball between us. My contribution to the team score were: four drives that were the best on the team, three approach shots that were closest to the pin, and one 2nd shot on a par-5. I didn’t hit a single birdie putt, though. Both of my teammates were better players than me, so I was happy to contribute where I did. We hit all 18 greens in regulation, and two of the par-5 holes in two. This is the first time I’ve been on a winning team in a scramble event, and the first time that none of my putts mattered.

On Sunday afternoon, I played 18 at Coyote Ridge Golf Club on a sunny, warm afternoon. The course was in good condition, with fast fairways and greens. The greens were a bit bumpy from the last aeration, but not too bad.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I had a mixed day off the tee. I hit nine fairways, using a variety of clubs including the driver, thriver, 4-hybrid and 5-iron. I hit only one of the par-3 holes in regulation, though I was just a foot off the green on the 7th. I had one penalty off the tee on the 2nd hole, where I hit a huge booming hook with the driver onto someone’s roof. Oops!
• Approach shots. I didn’t do particularly well with approach shots, tending to hit longer clubs with a hook and shorter clubs with a push. I hit three of the four par-5 holes in regulation, with wedges or short irons. The remaining GIR was on a par-3 hole. I had one penalty on an approach shot, when I hooked a 4-hybrid into the swamp next to the 8th fairway (I’d hit a sky ball on the drive, which is why I had to hit a hybrid into the green). My goofiest approach shot was a hybrid from a tall mound on the 4th hole. I had a severe uphill lie, and I launched the ball high into the air, where it landed on the green about 40 ft from the hole. On the 17th hole, I hit a six iron off the tee and was just in the left rough. Because of trees, I didn’t have a straight shot at the green, so I hit a high hook with the 8-iron that curved a good 30 yds to the left and landed just off the right edge of the green. That was a cool shot.
• Wedges. I had a mixed day with the wedges, tending to be a bit short.
• Sand shots. I didn’t hit into any bunkers.
• Chipping. Mixed day chipping. The good: I chipped in for birdie from the rough on the 7th hole. The bad: I chunked one about 2 ft on the 9th hole, and then hit a second chip two feet from the pin. Most of my chips were a bit long, as the greens were faster than I usually encounter. I got up and down six times, though not usually for par.
• Putting. Mixed on putting as well. Although I had 31 putts, I missed a couple of short putts, though I did hit a couple of long putts. I had two three putts: again, the bane of my golf is three-putting holes I reach in regulation, and yes, both were GIR. AAAIIIEEEYYYY!!!!

I wasn’t too happy with my play on the front nine, but I did pretty well on the back, so I left the course happy.

Michelle, congratulations on making the LPGA Q-school finals yesterday. More in Michelle Wie does it right.

Michelle Wie was 1,744 miles from golf's Valhalla on Friday, but she was happy and possibly on her way to something mystical of her own.

On a sweltering, sunny day in the quiet of the Coachella Valley, with the eyes of the golf world focused east on the men and the Ryder Cup in Louisville, Ky., Wie made it through the semifinals of qualifying for the LPGA Tour.

Playing at the Mission Hills Dinah Shore Course in Rancho Mirage, she shot a one-under-par 71, totaled an eight-under 280 for the four-day event and easily gained a spot among the top 30 for the tour's final qualifying event in Florida in December. Get through that and you have the right to play on the tour all of 2009.

Last Sunday, John and I played 18 at North Texas Golf, going around twice on a gorgeous, sunny day. Due to rain from Hurricane Ike on the previous day, the range was not open, and we weren’t able to warm up before we played.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Tee shots. I wasn’t able to warm up, and it showed with my poor performance off the tee. I hit only 5 of 18 greens (I’d hit 5 of 9 the last time I’d played this course). My worst two shots: a pull out of bounds on the 2nd hole (first time around), and a dead shank on the 6th hole (second time around). I had all sorts of faults, but the main one was poor trajectory control, as I was hitting the ball way too high, which left me short on many holes.
• Chips. I had some good chips, as I got up and down six times (not always for par). My finest shot was on the sixth hole. I’d shanked the tee shot onto the middle of the 7th “fairway” in some deep rough, but I hit a nearly perfect 40 yd sand wedge to two feet and tapped in for birdie.
• Sand shot. None, as I didn’t hit into any bunkers.
• Putting. On the first nine, I had 15 putts, including a three-putt on the eighth hole. On the second nine, I had 18 putts, which included 2 three-putts, both on greens I hit in regulation. I was not happy with the way I putted, although I was pretty respectable on the first nine, but the second nine was really poor. And there is simply NOTHING I hate worse than 3-putting a green I hit in regulation.

Not getting a chance to warm up was really disappointing, as I almost have never played a round of golf without hitting some balls to get loose. Afterward, the range was open and we did get to hit a few balls. I worked out whatever faults I had and hit some nice balls on the range. I’ll need to figure out how to get my swing going when I’m not able to hit some balls before a round.

Golfweek reports Wie second at LPGA Q-School after 65.

Michelle Wie shot a bogey-free 7-under 65 Wednesday in the second round of the first stage of LPGA Q-School, putting her in second place in a field of 164.

Displaying the ability that has put her in contention in major championships, Wie birdied five of her final nine holes on the Palmer Course at Mission Hills Country Club to finish at 9-under 135. The 18-year-old Wie was three shots behind South Korea’s Sun-Ju Ahn halfway through the 72-hole competition.

Good playing Michelle, and good luck the rest of the way!

I’m happy to find out that Michelle is going to enter the LPGA Q-School. Some details can be found in the CBS Sportsline article No more messing around: Wie’s heading to Q-School.

After two largely checkered seasons wracked by injury and mostly disappointing play, some of the exemption opportunities for Wie had begun to dry up. As a non-member of the tour, she was limited to six LPGA tournaments a year on sponsor exemptions.

The first-stage qualifier will be held [Sept. 16-19] at the same facility where the first women's major of the year is staged, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, an event Wie nearly won in 2006.

If she advances, the finals are Dec. 3-7 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.

A second first-stage qualifier is set for Venice, Fla., on Sept. 30-Oct. 3. Players who pay a $5,000 Q-school application fee can enter both first-stage qualifiers if they don't advance out of the Palm Springs event.

It was unclear whether Wie, believed to be the highest-paid athlete in women's sports, paid the extra $1,000 that would allow her to take two cracks at the first stage if she fails to advance in California next week. Otherwise, the entry fee is $4,000.

Good luck, Michelle! I still believe in you!

Camilo Villegas won the BMW Championship in fine fashion yesterday, going wire-to-wire to win $1.26M by 2 shots over Dudley Hart. My pick to win the FedEx Cup, Padraig Harrington, finished T55 and will not make the Tour Championship, ending up in 50th place in the FedEx Cup standings. While Vijay didn’t clinch the FedEx Cup, he merely has to post a score to win it, as no one can catch him unless he declines to play, withdraws or is DQ-ed.

The PGA Tour posted a list of those who played themselves in, and out, of the Tour Championship. It is interesting that no one outside of the top 70 at the start of the playoffs made the Tour Championship.

Yesterday morning, I played 18 at the Grapevine Golf Course in Grapevine, TX. We played the Mockingbird and Pecan courses. The day was hot and muggy, with little breeze. The greens had been punched and sanded and were pretty bumpy, and surprisingly soft.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I hit six fairways, using mostly the Thriver but also hit two fairways with the driver. The sixth hole on the Mockingbird course was where disaster struck: I hit two nasty shanks into the hazard on this par-3 hole.
• Approach shots. Not very good at all. I hit only three greens in regulation, and one of those was a par-3 hole. Aside from the two shanks off the tee, I also had a shank that nearly hit one of my playing partners on the par-5 hole next to the dam.
• Wedges. A very mixed day with the wedges. I hit a couple of good wedges from the fairway, but also left a couple short.
• Chipping. I did have a good day chipping, getting up and down six times (though not usually for par).
• Sand shots. I hit into three greenside bunkers, and got out each time, but failed to get up-and-down on any of them.
• Putting. I had a pretty good day on the greens (once I got there), despite the greens having been punched and sanded earlier in the week. I had only one 3-putt and 31 putts total.

I was not very happy with my game yesterday. I should have had a REALLY bad score (not that 98 is anything to be happy about), but my chipping and putting redeemed my round. 31 putts on punched and sanded greens is pretty darn good.