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24

Feb
Sun

The Week In Style: 02.26.13

Mr. Style's weekly look at what people are wearing on and off the golf course.

24

Feb
Sun

How Finchem upstaged Kuchar and why

By John Strege The overriding question that evolved from the extensive coverage of the PGA Tour's response to the USGA regarding a ban on anchoring the putter was this: Why couldn't this have waited until Monday? What an odd final day for one of the showcase events in professional golf, one that carries the prestigious designation of World Golf Championship. The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship began on Wednesday with 64 of the best players in the world and ended on Sunday with PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem making the most news. In the midst of the Match Play final between Matt Kuchar and Hunter Mahan (Kuchar prevailed, 2 and 1), Finchem held a news conference outlining the PGA Tour's position on the USGA's proposal. Then he was summoned to the NBC booth for an extensive discussion that relegated the golf to a secondary role. "We did give the USGA our position last week and our board and player advisory council concluded that we should be opposed to it, which we articulated," Finchem said. "We're very supportive of the USGA. We hold it in high regard. We were asked our opinion and we feel strongly that going down that road would be a mistake. "If there's one thing that would prevail across a lot of our players and a lot of our board members is that it's been around for a generation and the game of golf has done quite well. Unless you have a compelling reason to change we shouldn't. And the USGA has indicated there's no performance advantage to using anchoring...What the data shows is there isn't an anchoring putter on the PGA Tour that's in the top quartile in the putting stats." OK, but why now, when this viewpoint was relayed to the USGA several days earlier? Finchem might have been using the WGC television stage to bolster the tour's position by lobbying golfers at large. The USGA countered via Twitter, then with a statement that read in part: "We continue to listen to varying points of view, and have had many productive conversations across the golf community, which is a reminder of just how much people care about the game - regardless of their position on this issue. â¿¿"As we consider the various perspectives on this issue, it has always been our position that Rule 14-1b aims to clarify and preserve the traditional and essential nature of the golf stroke, which has helped to make golf a unique and enjoyable game of skill and challenge." So we have an apparent stalemate, with the next move up to the USGA. It said it would have a final ruling in the spring, and should it choose to stand by its intention to ban anchoring, it would not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2016, nearly three years hence. So, again, why the urgency for Finchem to outline the tour's position? Would his urgency have been the same had it been Rory vs. Tiger rather than Kuchar vs. Mahan in the final? So it was less than compelling, a match between two players who weren't ranked in the top 20, one of them, Kuchar, taking a 4-up lead through eight holes to quell the drama for much of the afternoon. Was that sufficient for Finchem to interject himself into the proceedings by calling a news conference? For an old political hand from the Carter administration, one apparently set on working the crowd, the answer was yes. Follow @JohnStrege!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

22

Feb
Fri

WGC Match Play: Ian Poulter continues his match-play dominance

By Alex Myers Here's a look at what transpired on Friday at Dove Mountain and what we can look forward to on Saturday: Revelation of the day -- Ian Poulter is a match-play god: Does this guy EVER lose in this format? The Ryder Cup hero's only PGA Tour win came at this event in 2010. That means that somehow he was beaten in each of the last two years, but we wouldn't bet against him. While this format makes predicting a winner even harder than usual, the Englishman has emerged as the clear favorite heading into the weekend. "Nice try, Bo. Who's next?" (Photo: Getty Images)"That's soooo match play" moment of the day -- Bubba Watson and Jim Furyk: The match looked all but over when Watson, 1 up, stuck his approach on No. 18 to about three feet. But Furyk answered with a great shot of his own and when "the Grinder" made his putt and Watson missed, the two went to extra holes. Watson wound up winning on the 22nd hole, but only after putting himself through some unnecessary stress. Weirdest Day -- Rickie Fowler and Francesco Molinari: Thanks to late tee times and a rare snow storm, these guys both managed to make it to Day 3 of the event without winning a single match. They showed up to the course on Friday to play a combined six holes before bowing out, but we don't feel too badly for them. The $46,000 for simply competing in the tournament is a nice parting gift. Related: A better way to fill out your bracket Shot of the Day -- Scott Piercy: The 34-year-old holed his approach from 228 yards on the fifth hole to go 4 up in his match against the 2011 champ, Luke Donald. Piercy didn't stop, shooting six under on the front nine and winning 7 and 6 -- the most lopsided victory of the tournament. There's a scientific term for what the former No. 1 player in the world ran into: a buzzsaw. Saturday's sneaky-good best match of the day -- Matt Kuchar vs. Nicolas Colsaerts: The long-hitting Belgium became a household name during the Ryder Cup when he made eight birdies and an eagle on his own ball in a match against Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood. He'll need to showcase some of that firepower vs. Kuchar, who has an 11-3 record in this event and has been ousted by the eventual champ in each of the past two years. Saturday's best chance for an international incident -- Hunter Mahan vs. Martin Kaymer: It seems impossible for Mahan to look at his German opponent and not begrudge him for sinking the putt that won Europe the Ryder Cup this past fall. If Kaymer really wanted to get under Mahan's skin -- and that might be a good idea considering he's won eight straight matches in this event -- he'd show up to the first tee decked out in Ryder Cup gear. Follow @AlexMyers3 !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

22

Feb
Fri

How To Fill Out Your Match Play Bracket: A Refresher

By Sam Weinman After so many upsets in the first round of the Accenture World Match Play Championship, you may think there's no rhyme or reason to who wins these things. Quite the contrary! There is in fact a formula for determining a match's outcome. It's just not the one you'd expect. (Photo by Getty Images)Below we provide our basic guidelines for the next time you fill out your bracket. 1. If there's a golfer you have never heard of before this week, he will likely win. 2. If a golfer comes into the week enjoying a "hot start to the season," he will lose. Related: Golf Digest's all-time match play "Dream Team" 3. The guy who is in worse physical condition is a lock. 4. Always take the guy with the belly putter. If it's two guys with a belly putter, take the guy in worse shape. 5. If at any point analysts cite a golfer's "impressive match play record," that guy will lose. Unless that guy is Ian Poulter. 6. If a guy was a late addition to the field by virtue of Phil Mickelson going on vacation with his kids, he will win at least one match. 7. Always take the plucky European player over the American. Unless he's a plucky European player with "an impressive match play record." Again, exceptions are made for Ian Poulter. Related: Dove Mountain among the least-favorite PGA Tour courses 8. If it's two Americans, take the guy who is considered the worse putter. 9. Also, give the edge to a guy who has any of the following: -- A hyphen in his last name. -- The guy with the more garish assortment of logos on his shirt. -- An inordinate number of vowels and/or consonants in his last name.   -- A painter's cap. Follow @samweinman !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

22

Feb
Fri

The Syllabus: 61 special

By RYAN HERRINGTONIt's been five days and I still can't get over one simple fact about Stanford freshman Mariah Stackhouse's NCAA record setting final round at the Peg Barnard Invitational.Forget the 10-under 61 at Stanford...

22

Feb
Fri

Fitness Friday: Hitting the gym with Lee Westwood

You don't need to take Lee Westwood's word for it when he says he has made a real commitment to fitness and living healthier. Just look at the difference in photographs of Westwood from early...

21

Feb
Thu

WGC Match Play: The snow melts, but the big stars disappear

By Alex Myers Here's a look at what transpired on Thursday at Dove Mountain and what we can look forward to on Friday: Biggest loser of the day -- NBC: With match play, there's always a danger the marquee names won't advance to the weekend, but to lose the two best players in the world in a span of five minutes was virtually unthinkable. But that's what happened as Rory McIlroy fell to Shane Lowry and Tiger Woods lost to Charles Howell III shortly after. At least Phil Mickelson is still around to boost TV ratings. Oh, never mind. . . "I'm. So. Happy. For. You." (Photo by Getty Images)"That's soooo match play" moment of the day -- Fredrik Jacobson and Ernie Els: All squared on the 17th hole, each player faced a par putt of about three feet. After a few moments of sizing them up, both players agreed to a "good-good," conceding each other the putts and moving onto the final hole of regulation. It was a curious decision by Jacobson considering he ranks first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting and Els had just missed a similar-length putt. No matter. Els three-jacked No. 18 to allow the Swede to move on. Easiest day -- Bo Van Pelt: Off the green on the par-5 13th hole in three, BVP began his day by cozying his chip to gimme range. That would be all the golf he would play. When John Senden missed his par putt moments later, Van Pelt won 6 and 5. Now that's making quick work of someone. Shot of the day -- Keegan Bradley: Bradley knocked in his approach shot with a wedge for an eagle on the par-4 10th, landing the ball in the rough and spinning it down a slope and into the hole. OK, so we're not sure we heard him call "bank," but we'll give him credit anyway. Not that he cares. Bradley lost his match to Marcus Fraser. Friday's best chance for an international incident -- Sergio Garcia vs. Matt Kuchar: There isn't a lot of history between these two, but as we've seen at the Ryder Cup, a riled up Garcia has the capability to get under anyone's skin. Given their love of tennis, there's also a bit more potential for trash-talking over who has the faster serve. Friday's best sneaky-good match -- Hunter Mahan vs. Richard Sterne: Sterne vs. Mahan. People in the U.S. might not know too much about Sterne, but the South African already has a win and a runner-up on the European Tour this season. Meanwhile, Mahan is the defending champ in this formula and a convincing win over Matteo Manassero in his opening match, along with four-straight top-16 finishes on the PGA Tour, have him poised to make another deep run in the desert. Follow @AlexMyers3 !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

21

Feb
Thu

David Graham still waiting for his Hall call

By Dave Shedloski Former U.S. Open and PGA champion David Graham read with keen interest Raymond Floyd's recent published comments critical of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Perhaps because it hit so close to home. "It's an interesting scenario because Raymond basically said some things that I have thought all along," Graham said by phone from his home in Whitefish, Mont. "The thing is Raymond has big boots in golf. He's a purist, and for him to say something like that was quite a statement." Photo by Getty ImagesFloyd, a four-time major champion who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989, recently was quoted by Golf Magazine as saying, "the bar has been lowered" on qualifications. "Guys get voted into the Hall of Fame who don't belong, who lack the numbers. I'm very upset at the Hall of Fame for that. . . . I'll just say that you should have at least two majors. . . . There are guys in there that it's a joke. It takes integrity away from the term, 'Hall of Fame.'" This year's inductees include Fred Couples, who won the Masters among 15 PGA Tour titles, and Colin Montgomerie, who won the Order of Merit on the European Tour a record eight times but neither captured a major nor won an official event in the U.S. Related: The case against Monty as a Hall of Famer Graham, meanwhile, competing in his prime when the eras of Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson overlapped in the 1970s and early '80s, won eight times on tour, including the 1979 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills CC and the '81 U.S. Open at Merion, the latter with a punctilious final round of 67 that was so impressive that Ben Hogan called to congratulate him on the performance. With 25 other worldwide victories, Graham, a native of Australia, joins Gary Player as the only men to win tournaments on six continents. He teamed with Bruce Devlin to capture the 1970 World Cup for Australia, and in 1994 he captained the International Team in the first Presidents Cup. He also earned five Champions Tour titles before congestive heart failure in 2004 ended his competitive career. "It's hurtful," Graham, 66, said of his omission from the Hall of Fame. "When you have a record that should mean something and it doesn't, you have to wonder what's going on." Graham isn't even on the Hall of Fame ballot, having fallen off in 2000 after failing to garner five percent of the vote in consecutive years. His only avenue to Hall inclusion is the veteran's category -- the route through which Ken Venturi will be inducted in May with Couples, Montgomerie, former European Tour executive director Ken Schofield and Willie Park Jr., who won two Open Championships in the late 1880s. According to Brody Waters, director of museum operations at the World Golf Hall of Fame, Graham also has fallen off the ballot on the veteran's category because of lack of voting support. He can be reconsidered either by a nomination from a current Hall of Fame member or a member of the hall advisory board. Other multiple major winners yet to be voted in include Padraig Harrington, Retief Goosen, Mark O'Meara, Fuzzy Zoeller, John Daly and Andy North. The latter two men also have fallen off the main ballot, Daly in 2007 and North in '97. This is a big summer for Graham, who will return to Merion in June to host the past champions dinner with Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer prior to the 113th U.S. Open on Merion's East Course. The Open was last played at Merion in '81, when Graham overcame a three-shot deficit to George Burns and won by three strokes with a 7-under 273 total. Related: The most grueling U.S. Opens ever "I'd had a conversation with (USGA executive director) Mike Davis about the possibility of being reconsidered this year with Merion hosting the U.S. Open," Graham said. "I don't know what happened to that. I don't really understand how it all works. In my mind, it's a bit of a fiasco. It's been disappointing to not even be considered, and I think Raymond made some very good points. But for me to say it doesn't carry the same weight as a player who already is in the Hall of Fame. All I have is my record, and it'd be nice if someone could explain to me how it's not good enough." Follow @DaveShedloski !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

21

Feb
Thu

Working on your golf swing? BenderStik can help

By John Strege Mike Bender is not only a renowned instructor, No. 4 in Golf Digest's 2011-2012 ranking of America's 50 Best Teachers, but he also has an inventive mind, to wit his new...

21

Feb
Thu

Inside Golf World Podcast: A Roundtable Talk About The West Coast Swing

By Ryan Herrington As the PGA Tour closes out the West Coast portion of its season at Dove Mountain outside Tucson with the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, it gives us at Golf World a natural chance to break down what's happened thus far in 2013. In this week's edition of the Inside Golf World podcast, senior writer Tim Rosaforte and executive editor Ron Sirak debate the various storylines that have stood out to date--most notably victories by top talents Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and the continued emergence of Brandt Snedeker after claiming last year's FedEx Cup title--and discuss what they potentially mean as the tour heads east with four stops in Florida during the next month. As the run-up to the Masters begins in earnest, Rosaforte and Sirak also offer their early faves to succeed at Augusta. Listen to the podcast Follow @GWCampusInsider !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");